Hymni et Sequentiae

Hermann Bonnus

doi:10.5771/9783487424118

Summary

The book HYMNI ET SEQVENTIÆ published in Lübeck by Georg Richoff in 1559 contains not only the two advertised genres of hymns and sequences but also further liturgical forms, a monophonic repertoire for daily services in Latin Schools. The pieces appear according to the order of the liturgical year including the many feast-days (such as those of the Apostles) – a glimpse into the astonishing variety of the exercitium quotidianum, the daily exercises in Bible-reading and singing practice for the school choir, which had never before been identifiable in this detail. The compiler was Hermann Bonnus, who had studied with Luther and Melanchthon, was a colleague of Bugenhagen, the first Rector of the Catharineum in Lübeck in 1531 and Superintendent in the city in 1532, and also editor who revised the titles in the work in the spirit of Reformation theology or on the basis of Biblical texts (Bonnus correxit). This collection is an important document of the reception of the old church liturgy by the young evangelical protestant church. The only surviving copy in Germany is believed to have been lost since 1945, but recently an original copy was found in the Royal Library in Stockholm and has been used for this reprint.