it of hymnody was beginning to stir in the soul of another German
poet--Joachim Neander. This man, whose name will always be remembered as
the author of one of the most glorious hymns of praise of the Christian
Church, was the first hymn-writer produced by the Reformed, or
Calvinistic, branch of the Protestant Church.

Hymnody in the Reformed Church had been seriously retarded by the
iconoclastic views of Calvin and Zwingli. These Reformers at first
frowned on church choirs, organs, and every form of ecclesiastical art.
Even hymns, such as those used by the Lutherans, were prohibited because
they were the production of men. God could be worshiped in a worthy
manner, according to Calvin's principles, only by hymns which were
divinely inspired, namely, the Psalms of the Old Testament Psaltery.

This gave rise to the practice of versifying the Psalms. Calvin's
insistence that there should be the strictest adherence to the original
text often resulted in crude paraphrases. The exclusive use of the Psalms
explains the development of so-called "psalmody" in the Reformed Church
as over against "hymnody" in the Lutheran Church.

Psalmody had its inception in France, where Clement Marot, court poet to
King Francis I, rendered a number of the Psalms into metrical form. Marot
was a gifted and versatile genius, but not inclined to piety or
serious-mindedness. However, his versified Psalms became immensely
popular with the French Huguenots and exerted a great influence in the
struggle between the Protestants and the papal party. When Marot was
compelled to flee to Geneva because of Roman persecution, he collaborated
with Calvin in publishing the famous Genevan Psalter, which appeared in
1543.

Following the death of Marot in 1544, Calvin engaged Theodore de Beza to
continue the work, and in 1562 the Genevan Psalter was published in
completed form, containing all the Psalms in versified dress. The musical
editor during the greater part of this period was Louis Bourgeois, to
whom is generally ascribed the undying honor of being the composer of
probably the most famous of all Christian hymn tunes, "Old Hundredth."

The Genevan Psalter was translated into many languages, and became the
accepted hymn-book of the Reformed Church in Germany, England, Scotland,
and Holland, as well as in France. In Germany the most popular version
was a translation by Ambrosius Lobwasser, a professor of law at
Koenigsberg, who, oddly enough, was a Luthe