Title: Chapter 20 Angels and the Muses of Zion: Michael Praetorius and Cultural Exchange between the Danish and German Lutheran Courts before the Thirty Years’ War
Abstract: The chapter focuses on the vision of a New Jerusalem of sound as developed by the Wolfenbüttel composer and court master Michael Praetorius (1571-1621), and the role of this vision within a distinctly Lutheran cultural exchange between German courts and Denmark at the beginning of the seventeenth century. This cultural exchange, involving the giving of valuable musical instruments, musical books, and other gifts, solidified the dynastic relationships between the Danish court, the Dukes of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, and Electoral Saxony. Praetorius used these relations to promote his music. However, unlike any of his contemporaries, he also infused this exchange with an aspirational theological, almost utopian interpretation of the role of music in sacred history, which he communicated through various texts. According to Praetorius, the practice and promotion of (good) music, especially sacred music, is inseparably linked to the heavenly city of God both in its current existence and with respect to God’s eternal kingdom after the Last Judgement. Music in this eschatological sense as “music of Zion” furthers the future Jerusalem in preparing the believers for their role in the heavenly chapel and the eternal praise of the Lord. Good practice of music was thus a key prerequisite to achieve this vision. It had to be defended against philistines and the Calvinist critics of lavish music in church service. Praetorius believed that this message would be especially well received at King Christian IV’s (r.1588-1648) court in Copenhagen.