I ran across this, and it’s just too good to pass up. It is from a letter by Martin Luther of the Reformation. Parts of these can be found at http://www.thrivent.com/heritage/music/16/church.html – I consider the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans website to be a solid reference source.
The thought of the day for this is: Music is not our gift to God, but God’s gift to us. Interesting things to think about.
Here is my absolute favorite excerpt:
A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Foreword to Georg Rhau’s Collection, “Symphoniae iucundae”.
“I, Doctor Martin Luther, wish all lovers of the unshackled art of music grace and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ!
I truly desire that all Christians would love and regard as worthy the lovely gift of music, which is a precious, worthy, and costly treasure given to mankind by God.
The riches of music are so excellent and so precious that words fail me whenever I attempt to discuss and describe them…. In summa, next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. It controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits…
Our dear fathers and prophets did not desire without reason that music be always used in the churches. Hence, we have so many songs and psalms.
This precious gift has been given to man alone that he might thereby remind himself that God has created man for the express purpose of praising and extolling God.
However, when man’s natural musical ability is whetted and polished to the extent that it becomes an art, then do we note with great surprise the great and perfect wisdom of God in music, which is, after all, His product and His gift; we marvel when we hear music in which one voice sings a simple melody, while three, four, or five other voices play and trip lustily around the voice that sings its simple melody and adorn this simple melody wonderfully with artistic musical effects, thus reminding us of a heavenly dance, where all meet in a spirit of friendliness, caress and embrace.
A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard music as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being; he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs.”
– Martin Luther
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And one more for good measure:
I am not satisfied with him who despises music, as all fanatics do; for music is an endowment and a gift of God, not a gift of men . . . I place music next to theology and give it the highest praise.” – Martin Luther