Who said it first?

St. Pius X (born June 2, 1835, Riese, Venetia, then of the Austrian Empire now in Italy—died August 20, 1914, Rome, Italy; canonized May 29, 1954; feast day August 21) was the Italian pope who reigned from 1903 to 1914.  Known for his staunch political and religious conservatism, he was ordained in 1858, made bishop in 1884, cardinal and patriarch of Venice in 1893, and pope in 1902.  His eucharistic decrees eased the regulations governing daily communion, and his revival of the Gregorian plainsong and his recasting of the breviary and of the missal were important liturgical reforms. His decision to adapt and systematize canon law led to the publication of the new code in 1917, effective in 1918. His reorganization of the Curia modernized the church’s central administration, including a codification of the conclave.  He advanced the Liturgical Movement by formulating the principle of participatio actuosa (active participation of the faithful) in his motu proprio, Tra le sollecitudini (1903).  In his illuminating document, Tra le Sollecitudini, Pope Pius X writes, “Sacred music, being an integral part of the solemn liturgy, participates in its general scope… but its purpose is to add greater efficacy to the text… music is merely a part of the liturgy and its humble handmaid.” (TLS 23) 

However, coming 350 years before Pius X, there was another voice speaking similarly of music.  Instead of merely accentuating the role of music to the liturgy, this individual insisted that music was a servant of God's Word and theology.  In his profound remark, Martin Luther emphasizes the immense value of music, stating, "Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world." This quote encapsulates Luther's profound appreciation for the power and significance of music in society.  Even more profound, however, is Luther's other quote.  "Music is a handmaid of theology."  Luther's Latin preface is in some respects an expanded version of his "Frau Musica" poem, in prose rather than verse. Of the Protestant reformers around his time, it is only Luther unhesitatingly commended the use of music in the life and worship of the church and who articulates something that might be presumed from some in Rome but had not been addressed in such way before.

Do you suppose Pius X read it first in Luther?  Were they both drawing on similar points within the theological and liturgical tradition of the West, each in their own time?  Or could it be that each saw this differently and separately but articulated it in remarkably parallel terms and ways.  In any case, their successor communities of faith seem to have forgotten these words.  For some in Rome, the hymn either does not matter all that much at all and can be disposable song.  The great hymns of Roman tradition and the great hymns of the Christian West overall have been replaced with pop songs and eminently forgettable hymns written not as handmaid to either the liturgy or theology but reflections of the moment which can and probably should be forgotten as time goes on and the song is replaced.  For others in Rome, the congregational hymn has no place at all in the liturgy (Latin Mass folk).  For Lutherans it is not much different.  Those who separate style from substance find cause to introduce pop songs for the moment and musical styles that agitate against their sacred usage because they are not all that important after all and those who insist that only the Lutheran chorale should be used have narrowed their acceptable choice to a very small pool because they are too sacred to be added to in the present day or to borrow from anyone outside the Lutheran tradition.  In either case, both Rome and Wittenberg seem to have forgotten Pius and Luther.