Gregorian Setting of the Lutheran Divine Service

Here is a Lutheran setting of the Divine Service in Gregorian form, “authorized by the Commission on Worship.”

Here is a CTQ Article about some of the liturgical debates and discussions that went into the making of TLH - involving the subcommittee on liturgics. One of the members of that committee was the Rev. Carl Bergen (who produced this Gregorian Mass setting). Another member was the Rev. Dr. Adolph Wismar, who served my congregation, Salem Lutheran Church in Gretna, Louisiana from 1910-1918. Fathers Wismar and Bergen are both mentioned in this 1934 Time Magazine article. Neither Wismar’s proposed Eucharistic Prayer nor Bergen’s Gregorian setting of the Mass made the final cut of TLH.

Another member of the committee, the Rev. Gervasius Fischer wrote, concerning the final edition of TLH:

The music of Liturgy herein is not that which we recommended. Committee favored Gregorian tones to English chants, also that music be not printed with the Liturgy to allow for greater variety of melodies to be used. Music for liturgy was to be printed in a special section of book. Committee favored some form of Eucharistic Prayer.