ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Martin Luther's views of music influenced editorial strategy and practice in the decades of confessional strife leading up to the Thirty Years War. The role of music in the spread of Friedrich Lutheran ideas in the first half of the sixteenth century is undisputed. The chapter also argues that while the sound of their volumes borrowed heavily from contemporary Italian practices, the editorial selection of images, lyrics, and packaging remained deeply indebted to Luther's theology of music. The timing of Neander's new appointment suggests he used the publication of the Canzonetten Horatii Vecchi both to honor his new patron and to provide suitable music for spiritual recreation at court. The process of fitting Vecchi's melodies to the German language required a high degree of textual and musical sophistication. Scholarship has suffered from disciplinary boundaries that overlook the interaction of Rinckart's religious, musical, pedagogical, and literary roles.
