The Original 'Elite Eight': Reflections on the First Lutheran Hymnal

Many false masters now hymns indite
Be on your guard and judge them aright.
Where God is building his church and word,
​There comes the devil with lie and sword.

— Martin Luther, Preface to the Babst Hymnal
​

Fans of the NCAA Basketball Tournament are familiar with the field of 64 teams and the nick names associated with the final weekends of the tournament: The Sweet Sixteen, The Elite Eight, and The Final Four. This process of numerical reduction also conveniently applies to the first Lutheran hymnal (1524), usually known as the Achtliederbuch (“Book of Eight” or, more literally, “Eight-Song-Book”). As faithful sons of the Reformation celebrate the 500th anniversary of the first Lutheran hymnal, it seems fitting to survey its contents to help us understand why Lutherans sing what they sing.

The original title literally reads, “Several Christian Songs, Hymns of Praise and Psalms, in Accordance with the Pure Word of God, from Holy Scripture, Produced by Various Highly Learned Individuals, for Singing in the Church, as in Part Is Already the Practice in Wittenberg.” Although Wittenberg is mentioned in the title and even depicted on the cover, the hymnal later known as the Achtliederbuch was actually published in Nuremberg. Obviously the publishers would wanted to be associated with Luther’s Wittenberg, the epicenter of the Reformation. This title divides roughly into three sound principles for Christian hymnody. Christian hymns should (1) preach the right doctrine and confession in accordance with the Word of God (2) be indicative of the best poets and musicians in the service of the church and (3) be sung in the Church. All eight hymns in this hymnal meet this three-part standard for Lutheran hymnody.

So which hymns qualify as The Elite Eight? The following summary is based in part on the research of Jane Schatkin Hettrick, a prominent Lutheran church musician in New York, who was kind enough to examine the facsimile edition of the first Lutheran hymnal for this issue of “Lifted Voice.”

1.

Nun freut euch, lieben Christen g'mein (Martin Luther, 1483-1546)
“Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice” (Lutheran Service Book [LSB] 556)
The same tune is given that is usually sung today, as seen in this image:

2.

​Es ist das Heil uns kommen her (Paul Speratus, 1484-1551)
“Salvation unto Us Has Come” (LSB 555)
Again, the same tune is provided that is usually sung with this hymn today. In the following video, notice the image of this hymn from “The Book of Eight” in the upper-right hand corner and try to follow the melody (including the repeat of the first phrase) while the organist plays a nineteenth-century version of the chorale.

3.

In Gott gelaub ich, das er hat (Paul Speratus)
“In God I Believe that He has Created” (tune provided)

4.

Hilf Gott, wie ist der Menschen Not (Paul Speratus)
“God Help, as the Need of Men is so Great” (text only)

5.

Ach Gott, vom Himmel sieh darein (Martin Luther)
“O Lord, Look Down from Heaven, Behold” (The Lutheran Hymnal [TLH] 260, with tune provided)

6.

​Es spricht der Unweisen Mund wohl (Martin Luther)
“The Foolish Mouth Speaks” (Psalm 14:1)
The singer is instructed to sing this text to the same tune as Ach Gott, but the tune is not reprinted.

7.

Der Psalm De profundis (Martin Luther) or Aus Tiefer not
“From Depths of Woe I Cry to Thee” (LSB 607)
The tune is given, but it is a different tune than the one used today. Readers might recognize the original tune from its use in the 2003 movie, Luther:

8.

In Jesu Namen wir heben an (anonymous, setting for two voices)
“In Jesus’ Name We Begin”
The two-part setting was certainly intended for a choir, but the book as a whole was certainly intended for individuals to purchase and bring to church.

A number of unique features of this hymnal are probably striking to the modern reader. The lengthy title for such a small hymnal (only 27 pages of text) seems rather lopsided. Only two poets are definitely represented, which would be narrow by modern standards of catholicity (the third poet is unidentified). A few pages of the hymnal are devoted entirely to the scriptural foundations of selected hymns, as opposed to the modern practice of listing a few references at the top or bottom of the page. And referring the singer back to a previous tune without reprinting it, or providing no tune at all, would no doubt take “Grandma Jones” directly to the pastoral “complaint box” today!

Of these eight hymns, it is fairly easy to determine The Final Four by noticing the four hymns which have English hymnal references. Luther’s “Out of the Depths” has stood the test of time as a superb Psalm hymn, although the tune included in the first Lutheran hymnal is rarely used today. The textual fidelity to Psalm 130, combined with a tune that musically rises “out of the depths,” is in no danger of oblivion. By contrast, “O Lord, Look Down from Heaven, Behold” seems to teeter on the brink of elimination since it is not included in most Lutheran hymnals on American soil today (with a few exceptions), although it still seems to be holding its own in Europe.

​The two hymn that have probably had the most impact through the centuries are the first two hymns in this hymnal, “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice” and “Salvation unto Us has Come,” which are also adjacent to one another Lutheran Service Book, but in the reverse order. Listen, for a moment, to “Dear Christians,” Luther’s first congregational hymn, as sung in the following video by Lutheran youth at a Higher Things youth conference. 

Now consider this hymn’s unofficial counterpart (they even have the same meter, 87 87 887) and the most famous of hymn of Paul Speratus, “Salvation unto Us Has Come.” Its superscription in subsequent hymnals was “A Hymn of Law and Faith, Powerfully Furnished with God’s Word.” It also came to be known as “the true confessional hymn of the Reformation.” In the following recording of the opening movement of J. S. Bach’s cantata on this hymn, listen for the melody in one voice, the accompaniment in all other voices, and the joyful dance rhythms in the instruments.

​And so our metaphorical field of eight, four, and two hymns has narrowed to one and only one message which must emerge as the heart of the Reformation. The title of the best book on the subject is an apt summary of the legacy of the Achliederbuch why Lutherans sing what they sing: Singing the Gospel: Hymns and the Success of the Reformation. This remarkable volume by Christopher Boyd Brown of Boston University describes how hymns were a primary vehicle to spread the Gospel and grant success to the Reformation. About a century after Luther, for instance, one Roman Catholic monk marveled at how securely Luther’s hymns had planted Lutheranism in Germany as hymns “poured forth from Wittenberg to fill the German houses, workplaces, markets, streets, and fields.” Still another Roman Catholic, taking stock of Europe’s religious landscape a century after Luther’s 95 Theses (1517), lamented that “Martin Luther had destroyed more souls with his hymns than with all his writing and preaching.” And perhaps most remarkable of all, those who lived through the turbulent 17th century said that they could identify the Lutherans not by their Bratwurst dinners or their German origins, but rather by their singing of hymns (Singing the Gospel, p. 1). That is to say, even when the devil comes with his lie sword, the singing of the Gospel simply cannot fail to bring all nations to Christ and Christ to all nations.
​

​All blessing, honor, thanks and praise
To Father, Son, and Spirit
The God who saved us by His grace
All glory to His merit.
O triune God in heav’n above,
You have revealed Your saving love;
Your blessed name we hallow. (LSB 555.10)