2017 marks the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Aside from the political and theological significance of Martin Luther’s ideas, the history of music would not be the same without Luther’s contributions to music. Lutheran chorale tunes not only gave voice to the people to sing in their own language during a church service, but also provided material for the greatest composers, such as J.S. Bach, and continue to inspire composers to this day. Many churches today, both Catholic and Protestant, now include hymn- singing in worship, even the old tunes and texts by Martin Luther.

GVOC’s program will provide examples of early Protestant music, but will equally reveal the importance of the Catholic Counter-Reformation. As some of the greatest music for the Lutheran church was written by Heinrich Schütz, Michael Praetorius, and Bach, their writing style happened to be heavily influenced by Catholic composers such as Giovanni Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi.

The program will conclude light-heartedly with Craig Courtney’s “A Musicological Journey through the 12 Days of Christmas.” Every verse of this holiday tune is whimsically set in the style of a famous classical composer. There is a Mozart-like verse, a Viennese Waltz verse, a Nutcracker verse, and even a John Philip Sousa verse!