Dansk Kirkesangs betydning for det 20. århundredes liturgiske reformer

Abstract

In 2022, the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Samfundet Dansk Kirkesang was celebrated. The establishment took place on the church hymn reformer and composer Thomas Laub’s 70th birthday on December 5, 1922. According to the society's statutes, the purpose of Samfundet Dansk Kirkesang is to promote understanding of the distinctive nature of the folk church service, based on the church music and theological tradition, with a constant focus on its continuation and renewal as a versatile form of expression. Drawing inspiration from Thomas Laub, Samfundet Dansk Kirkesang aims to emphasize the artistic harmony between words and music in the church service and in other church musical expressions.

In his article, Peter Weincke explains the background of why a church hymn reform took place in Denmark in the early 20th century. Furthermore, the purpose of the article is to demonstrate the extent to which Thomas Laub and Dansk Kirkesang have influenced the liturgical music of the entire church service.

Although it is a fact that five sources, Wiberg (1832), Bay (1840), Berggreen (1867), Sanne (1879), and Hartmann (1881), all document a willingness to work with liturgical singing in Denmark, they showed anyhow that liturgical singing had developed more into artistic vocal music than into liturgical recitation rooted in Gregorian chant.

The church hymn reform in Denmark took place in two phases, 1900–1949 and 1950–1992, and was the result of collaboration between Samfundet Dansk Kirkesang, theologians, and church musicians based on Thomas Laub’s close relationship with Gregorian chant and the perception of liturgical recitation as stylized reading.