A Czech religious sect which originated in Bohemia around 1450. Based on the doctrine of Petr Chelčický (c1390–c1460), a radical Taborite and eminent writer, the Bohemian Brethren initially represented an extreme type of the official Utraquism and as such were at first tolerated. Their basic beliefs included Chelčický's thesis concerning the equality of all mankind, and the primacy of the Bible in every argument and in the moral life of mankind (for whom the exercise of any form of power was sinful). Thus they did not recognize class distinctions and were consequently regarded by their contemporaries as enemies of the existing class-bound society. From 1460 until their expulsion from Bohemia and Moravia after 1618, they were persecuted, imprisoned and executed, by Catholics and Utraquists alike, especially after they had established an independent church and lay priesthood, but they succeeded in winning over some of the most influential figures of the day. They attached great importance to correct translations of the Bible and sought as collaborators adherents with good Greek and Hebrew. They formed alliances with the Lutherans in Germany, sent missions far abroad, and led active intellectual lives; they established printing presses and created their own document archive.
The Brethren's great interest in hymns is of decisive importance in the history of music. Singing formed an integral part of their daily life, in family circles and particularly in meetings in church and school. During the 16th century they compiled and published extensive hymnbooks which often ran to several editions. The earliest (1505 and 1519) were edited by Luke, their bishop; later editions were by Jan Roh (1541) and Jan Blahoslav (1561 and 1564); at least seven hymnbooks based on these appeared between 1576 and 1618. They were exceptionally comprehensive for the time: the edition of 1541 contained 308 hymns and that of 1561 nearly 750. In addition to large hymnbooks, the Brethren also published separate occasional pieces, such as hymns and dirges. The melodies reflected 15th-century Hussite songs and the remarkably careful editions showed a tendency towards simplification, elimination of complex liturgical melodies and careful correspondence of text and music. (The texts and their alterations reflect theological controversies within the brotherhood.) During the 16th century hardly any polyphonic singing existed among the Brethren. Only from illustrations is it known that schoolchildren were also taught part-singing.
The Brethren continued their publishing activities after their enforced emigration. Jan Amos Komenský, for example, published a hymnbook (Amsterdam, 1659) which broke with tradition and represented a new style of singing in the brotherhood. The Brethren tried to spread their publications still further in Bohemia and Moravia with hymnbooks printed in pocket-size editions intended for secret distribution. In these hymnbooks Czech translations of German Protestant hymns occupied a conspicuous place.
The Brethren's songs spread to Germany through the hymnbooks of the German Brethren, who formed a separate congregation after 1510. Their first hymnbook, compiled by Michael Weisse, appeared in 1531 (ed. K. Ameln, Gesangbuch der Böhmischen Brüder 1531, Kassel, 1957). It went into numerous editions, some printed on the Brethren's own presses and some elsewhere in Germany. The basic edition was the German version of the 1541 hymnbook brought out by Roh.
After the brotherhood was re-established in Herrnhut in 1722, a German Pietist congregation was formed to maintain traditional congregational singing, deriving its repertory almost entirely from the hymnbook of its first bishop, Count Zinzendorff. The count published many large hymnbooks, the first of which, containing 972 hymns, came out in 1735. By virtue of additions and supplements, the repertory increased to over 2200 hymns (1741), but all the hymnbooks were printed without tunes. The Herrnhut Brethren carried their love of spiritual songs with them when they emigrated to America in the 18th century, and their traditions have persisted there into the 20th century (see Moravians, music of the).
During the 19th century the Czech brotherhood was revived within the area of the present-day Czech and Slovak Republics, and it still exists. By dispensing with German-Lutheran influence it has attempted to remove the traditions of the original brotherhood.
BlumeEK
MGG1 (W. Blankenburg)
repr. in Musik und Kirche, xxi (1951), 67–71
B. Stäblein: ‘Die mittelalterlichen liturgischen Weisen im Gesangbuch der Böhmischen Brüder von 1531’, Mf, v (1952), 138–44
J. Kouba: ‘Vzájemný poměr kancionálu Šamotulského a Ivančického’ [The relationship between the Šzamotuly and Ivančice hymnbooks], MMC, no.1 (1956), 25–32
D.M. McCorkle: ‘The Moravian Contribution to American Music’, Notes, xiii (1955–6), 597–604
K. Ameln: ‘Der Taufgesang der Böhmischen Brüder’, JbLH, iii (1957), 120 only
C. Schoenbaum: ‘Die Weisen des Gesangbuchs der Böhmischen Brüder von 1531’, Jb für Liturgik und Hymnologie, iii (1957), 44–61
J. Fojtíkowá: ‘Hudební doklady Husova Kultu z 15. a 16. století’ [The German influences on Czech song in the 16th century], MMC, no.29 (1981), 51–142
J. Kouba: ‘Nejstarší české písňové tisky do roku 1550’ [The oldest Bohemian songbooks, to 1550], MMC, no.32 (1988), 21–90
F. Schulz: ‘Singen wir heut einem Mund: hymnologisch-liturgische Studie zu einem Osterlied der Böhmischen Brüder’, Jb für Liturgik und Hymnologie, xxxii (1989), 29–71
A. Moeseritz: Die Weisen der Böhmischen Brüder von 1531: ein stil- und quellenkritische Untersuchung der nichtliturgischen Melodien des Gesangbuches von Michael Weisse (Bonn, 1990)
A. Marti: ‘Der Gesang der Böhmischen Brüder und die mittelalterlichen Anfänge des volkssprachlichen Gemeindegesangs’, Jb für Liturgik und Hymnologie, xxxiii (1990–91), 206–8
CAMILLO SCHOENBAUM/CLYTUS GOTTWALD