Arrangements
The hymn has been used by numerous composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach as the source for his chorale cantata Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, BWV 80. Bach set the tune twice in his Choralgesänge (Choral Hymns), BWV 302 and BWV 303 (for four voices). He used strains of the tune in his Weihnachtsoratorium (Christmas Oratorio). Bach also wrote a version for organ, Chorale Prelude BWV 720. This is nowadays believed to be by his uncle Johann Michael Bach. Two orchestrations of Bach's settings were made by conductors Leopold Stokowski and Walter Damrosch. Dieterich Buxtehude also wrote an organ chorale setting (BuxWV 184), as did Johann Pachelbel. Felix Mendelssohn used it as the theme for the fourth and final movement of his Symphony No. 5, Op. 107 (1830), which he named Reformation in honor of the Protestant Reformation started by Luther. Joachim Raff wrote an Overture (for orchestra), Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, Op. 127. Giacomo Meyerbeer quoted it in his five-act grand opera Les Huguenots (1836), and Richard Wagner used it as a "motive" in his Kaisermarsch (Emperor's March), which was composed to commemorate the return of Kaiser Wilhelm I from the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. Two organ settings were written by Max Reger; his Choral Fantasy "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott", Op. 27 and a much shorter Chorale, Op. 67, No. 6. Claude Debussy quoted the theme in his suite for piano duet, En blanc et noir. Ralph Vaughan Williams uses the tune in his score for the film 49th Parallel, used most obviously when the German U-boat surfaces in Hudson Bay shortly after the beginning of the film. Flor Peeters wrote an organ chorale setting "Ein feste Burg" as part of his Ten Chorale Preludes, Op. 69, published in 1949. More recently it has been used by band composers to great effect in pieces such as Psalm 46 by John Zdechlik. In 2007, Bradley Joseph arranged an instrumental version on his album, Hymns and Spiritual Songs. It is also used as the final theme in Jazz pianist Bob James' composition "Valley of the Shadows."
Read more about this topic: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
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