Zwingle and music

Some of Zwingle's enemies said, "He is too fond of music!" ...  He continued to cultivate music "with moderation," says Bullinger; nevertheless the opponents of the Gospel took advantage of this, and called him "the evangelical lute-player and fifer."  Faber having one day censured him for this taste, he replied with noble frankness: "My dear Faber you do not know what music is.  True, I have learnt to play on the lute, the violin, and other instruments, and they serve me to quiet little children; but you are too holy for music!......Do you not know that David was a skilful player on the hsrp, and how by this means he drove the evil spirit out of Saul?......Ah! if you did but know the sounds of the heavenly lyre, the wicked spirit of ambition and love of riches which possesses you would soon depart from you likewise."  Perhaps this may have been a weakness in Zwingle; still it was with a spirit of cheerfulness and evangelical liberty that he cultivated this art, which religion has always associated with her sublimest devotion.

  • D'Aubigne's History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, Vol. 2, pp 272,276.