Andreas Karlstadt’s Fifty-Three Theses against Gregorian Chant of 1521: A Disputation on Spirit, Body, and Their Relation to Singing in Worship

Abstract

Andreas Bodenstein von Karlstadt (1486–1541) was a radical reformer in the Wittenberg reformation movement. During Martin Luther’s absence from Wittenberg in 1521 to 1522, he published fifty-three theses against contemporary singing practices in church: De cantu gregoriano disputatio (Disputation on Gregorian chant). This treatise is notable not only for its arguments on music (starkly contrasting with those of Luther), but also for the information it provides concerning choral foundations, diocesan singing traditions, liturgical uses of secular music, and other topics touched upon amidst a zealous quest to curtail or even abolish Gregorian chant. The present article analyzes the arguments put forward in the treatise, and also offers a complete English translation of the fifty-three theses. Karlstadt’s positions prefigure many tropes of later Swiss Reformed and Lutheran Pietist traditions. Even if their impact on singing and music was limited, they shed light on how Lutheran thought sometimes turned in directions very different from those normally associated with the Wittenberg reformation.