A Mighty Fortress Is Our God

Several years ago I had the privilege of visiting Eisenach, Germany, which was the home of J.S. Bach, but was also the city where Martin Luther took refuge as the leaders of the church were trying to kill him because of his profound, new theological thought of people having direct access to God's Word.

Martin Luther was an amazing proponent of the scripture that says that we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ and that this is the only way we can truly know Him. Luther was also a strong believer in the power of music in the life of a Believer. He stated, "Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise."

It's because of this that I particularly love the song "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God". How can that phrase be anything less than a powerful musical statement? I wanted to match the music to reflect the powerfulness of the words. This arrangement opens with a bold brass line of the melody with a rhythmic undercurrent of timpani driving the music forward.

As the music enters the second section of the melody, it broadens and becomes very legato, but then returns to the feel of the opening fanfare. The second verse is carried by the woodwinds and strings, which segues into the rhythmic undercurrent similar to the opening before broadening into a majestic third verse.

The final coda begins with the timpani music once again before concluding with a shout of hallelujah to our mighty fortress, our God. This is a powerful arrangement that you will enjoy!