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History of Church Music
Music in the Bible
•  Several practices described
–  Singers and instruments used to praise God
–  Professional class of musicians sings and plays
for temple rituals
–  Antiphonal singing described
–  Music’s power to heal
Psalm 150:3-6
Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him
with lute and harp! Praise him with
tambourine and dance; praise him with
strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding
cymbals; praise him with loud clashing
cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise
the LORD!Praise the LORD!
Dr. Mark Harbold
Professor of Music
Madras Christian College
Elmhurst College, Chicago, USA
The Psalms
Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of
my pleas for mercy. The LORD is my strength and
my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to
him. (Psalm 28:6-7)
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody
to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new
song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
(Psalm 33:2-3)
David as Biblical Orpheus
Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful
spirit from the Lord tormented him. ... So Saul said to his
servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring
him to me.” ... And David came to Saul and entered his
service. ... And whenever the harmful spirit from God was
upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So
Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit
departed from him. (1st Samuel 16:14, 17, 21, 23)
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“Professional” musicians
David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint
their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on
musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise
sounds of joy. ... The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan,
were to sound bronze cymbals; Zechariah, Aziel,
Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah
were to play harps according to Alamoth; but Mattithiah,
Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to
lead with lyres according to the Sheminith. Chenaniah, leader
of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he
understood it. (1st Chronicles 15:16-22)
Philo Judaeus
Some one rising up sings a hymn which has been made in
honor of God ... for they have left behind them many poems
and songs, and psalms of thanksgiving and hymns, and songs
at the time of libation, and at the altar, and in choruses,
admirably measured out in various and well diversified
strophes. ... Everyone listens in decent silence, except when it
is proper to take up the refrain of the song, and to join in at
the end, for then they all, both men and women, join in the
hymn.
Jerusalem Churches c. 400 A.D.
Detailed descriptions by Spanish nun Egeria
•  Morning vigil with psalms, antiphons, and
hymns, prayers and scripture readings
•  Mass already separated in two sections,
Mass of Catechumens & Mass of Faithful
•  Evening vespers
•  Readings & songs “suitable” to theme of the
day
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Solomon’s Temple
All the Levitical singers, ... with cymbals, harps, and lyres,
stood east of the altar with 120 priests who were trumpeters;
and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make
themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the
Lord), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and
cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the Lord,
“For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,” the
house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, ... for the glory of
the Lord filled the house of God. (2nd Chronicles 5:12-13)
Sacred festival
Philo Judaeus, contemporary of Christ, goes on to
describe a sacred festival with a chorus of men &
another of women, singing hymns & dancing
together & in alternation. Finally they join together
to re-enact Moses’ victory at the Red Sea, making “a
most delightful concert, and a truly musical
symphony, the shrill voices of the women mingling
with the deep-toned voices of the men.”
Egeria
“But among all these details this is very plain,
that suitable psalms or antiphons are always
sung; those at night, those in the morning, and
those throughout the day, whether at the 6th
hour or 9th hour or at vespers, being always
suitable and intelligible as belonging to the
matter at hand.”
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St. Basil (c. 330-c. 379)
•  “When, indeed, the Holy Spirit saw that the
human race was guided only with difficulty
toward virtue, and that, because of our
inclination toward pleasure, we were
neglectful of an upright life, what did He
do? The delight of melody.”
•  Like honey to make bitter drugs palatable!
Blessings of Psalms?
•  Refuge from demons; Help from angels
•  Fights night fears; Rest from toils by day
•  Safeguards infants; Consolation for elderly
•  Most fitting adornment for women or those at the
height of their powers
•  Start for beginners; Improvement for the
advancing; Solid support for the perfect
•  The voice of the Church
St. John Chrysostom c. 345-407
•  In all services—vigils, morning canticles,
nerals, burials, etc.—and in monasteries &
convents, “David is first, middle, and last.”
–  “Many who have no knowledge of letters
nonetheless know all of David and can recite
him from beginning to end.”
–  “In all seasons and for ages past, David has
illumined all our lives.”
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St. Basil on Psalms
“A psalm implies serenity of soul; it is the author of peace,
which calms bewildering and seething thoughts. For, it
softens the wrath of the soul, and that which is unbridled it
chastens. A psalm forms friendships, unites those separated,
conciliates those at enmity. Who, indeed, can still consider
him an enemy with whom he has uttered the same prayer to
God? So that psalmody, bringing about choral singing, that
bond ... toward unity, and joining the people into a
harmonious union of one choir, produces also the greatest of
blessings, charity.”
More St. Basil on Psalms
–  “It brightens the feast day; it creates a sorrow which is
in accordance with God. For a psalm calls forth a tear
even from a heart of stone. A psalm is the work of
angels, a heavenly institution, the spiritual incense.”
–  “Oh! The wise invention of the teacher who contrived
that while we were singing we should at the same time
learn something useful; by this means, too, the
teachings are ... impressed more deeply in our minds.”
•  (Song of Proclamation!)
Psalms and instruments?
–  “Of useless arts there is harp playing, dancing,
flute playing, or which, when the operation
ceases, the result disappears with it. ... The
result of these is destruction.” (St. Basil)
–  “Give thanks to the Lord on the harp; with the
ten-stringed psaltery chant his praises. The
harp is the active soul; the psaltery is pure
mind.” (Origen)
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St. Augustine 354-430
•  Shortly after baptism, “lost in wonder and joy,
meditating upon your far-reaching providence ... ”
“The tears flowed from me when I heard your hymns
and canticles, for the sweet singing of your Church
moved me deeply. The music surged in my ears, truth
seeped into my heart, and my feelings of devotion
overflowed, so that the tears streamed down. But
they were tears of gladness.”
St. Augustine on music
•  “For he that sings praises, not only praises, but only
praises with gladness; he who sings praise, not only sings,
but also loves him of whom he sings.”
•  “So I waver between the danger that lies in gratifying the
senses and the benefits which, as I know from experience,
can accrue from singing. ... I am inclined to approve of the
custom of singing in church ... Yet when I find the singing
itself more moving than the truth which it conveys, I
confess that this is a grievous sing, and at those times I
would prefer not to hear the singer.”
Middle Ages c. 476-1400
•  Church held a central position in daily life
•  Best known musicians trained in the Church
•  Development of music notation, polyphony
•  Most notated music was church music
–  Sung every day in cathedrals, churches,
monasteries, convents, etc.
–  Thousands of melodies, mostly memorized
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Milan & Eastern Rite
“In those days your faithful people used to keep watch in the
church, ready to die with their bishop [Ambrose], your
servant. It was then that the practice of singing hymns and
psalms was introduced, in keeping with the usage of the
Eastern churches, to revive the flagging spirits of the people
during their long and cheerless watch. Ever since then the
custom has been retained, the the example of Milan has been
followed in ... almost every church throughout the
world.” (St. Augustine)
St. Benedict c. 480-547
•  Monastic movement
•  Rule of St. Benedict
–  Guide book for life in an abbey
–  Rules for harmonious living, spiritual
development
•  Monasteries made invaluable contributions
–  Rite, church calendar, liturgy
Church Year
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Daily services
•  Matins (after midnight); Lauds (before dawn);
Prime (6 am); Terce (9 am); Mass; Sext (noon);
None (3 pm); Vespers (sunset); Compline (before
retiring)
•  Ordinary = Songs & texts used every day
(ordinarily)
•  Proper = Songs & texts that change with every
service, appropriate to that day of the church year

Pope Gregory r. 590-604

•  “St. Gregory compiled a book of antiphons. He
founded a schola which to this day performs the
chant in the Church of Rome according to his
instructions. He also erected two dwellings for it,
at St. Peter’s and at the Lateran palace, where are
venerated the couch from which he gave lessons in
chant ... and the authentic antiphonal.” (John the
Deacon)
•  Thus, Gregorian Chant

Plainchant
–  Plainchant (Gregorian chant)—the chant sung
in Catholic Church from Middle Ages to 1964
–  Rich palette of possible scales (for the West!)
•  Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, and Mixolydian
–  Legato melody moves mostly by step
–  Nonmetrical, rhythm follows text
–  Unaccompanied, monophonic music
–  Sung by male (or female) voices

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Salve Regina (Marian antiphon) As chant became fixed ...

•  Salve, Regina, Mater
misericordiæ,
•  vita, dulcedo, et spes
nostra, salve.
•  Ad te clamamus exsules
filii Hevæ,
•  Ad te suspiramus,
gementes et flentes
•  in hac lacrimarum valle.
•  Hail, holy Queen, Mother of “When I was still young, and very long melodies—
Mercy, repeatedly entrusted to memory—escaped from my
•  Our life, our sweetness and our poor little head, I began to reason with myself how I
hope. could bind them fast. A certain priest from Jumièges
•  To thee do we cry, poor
came to us, bringing with him his antiphonary, in
banished children of Eve;
which some verses had been set to sequences; in
•  To thee do we send up our
sighs,
imitation of them I began to write
•  Mourning and weeping in this
[sequences].” (Notker Balbulus, c. 900)
valley of tears.

St. Hildegard of Bingen 1098-1179 Hildegard, O ecclesia (Sequence)

The words I speak come from no •  O Ecclesia, O Beloved,
human mouth; I saw and heard oculi tui similes your eyes appear as
them in visions sent to me…God
saphiro sunt, sapphires,
moves where He wills, and not to
the glory of earthly man. I am ever et aures tue monti your ears as the mount of
filled with fear and trembling. I Bethel, Bethel,
have no confidence in my own et nasus tuus est sicut your nose as mountains of
capacities—I reach out my hand to mons mirre et thuris, myrrh and incense,
God that He may carry me along et os tuum quasi sonus and from your mouth sound,
as a feather is borne weightlessly
aquarum multarum. as a multitude of waters.
by the wind.

Hildegard, O ecclesia (2) Hildegard, O ecclesia (3)

•  In visione vere fidei
Ursula Filium Dei
amavit
et Virum cum hoc
seculo reliquit
et in solem aspexit
atque pulcherrimum
iuvenem vocavit,
dicens.
Enraptured by true faith,
Ursula gave to the Son of
God her love,
with men the things of this
world leaving behind,
and she gazed into the sun,
the fairest
youth summoning,
saying:
•  In multo desiderio “With the greatest longing
desideravi ad te venire I have desired to come to you
et in celestibus nuptiis and in heavenly marriage
tecum sedere, cleave to you,
per alienam viam on this unknown path
ad te currens hastening to you,
velut nubes que in like clouds that in the
purissimo aere purest air
currit similis saphiro. appear to fly in sapphire.”

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St. Hildegard on music Renaissance c. 1400-c. 1600

•  The canticle of praise, reflecting celestial
harmony, is rooted in the Church through the
Holy Spirit.  The body is the vestment of the spirit,
which has a living voice, and so it is proper for the
body, in harmony with the soul, to use its voice to
sing praises to God.
•  All arts pertaining to things useful and necessary
for mankind have been created by the breath that
God sent into man’s body. For this reason it is
proper that God be praised in all things.
–  French word means “rebirth”
–  Revival of ancient Greek and Roman culture
•  Slow move away from centrality of Church
•  Church less & less a musician’s training ground
•  Secular music more popular with printing press
–  Mostly polyphonic Masses & motets for church
–  Reformation: Luther, Calvin, King Henry VIII
•  Many new genres for church music

Renaissance Church Music Imitation

–  Favors beautiful, a cappella sonorities
•  Type of polyphonic
–  Consonant harmonies prevail, dissonances
texture
carefully controlled
•  Voices enter one after
–  Varied textures mix imitative polyphony and
another with same basic
homophony
melody
–  Rhythms fluid & metric, no strong accents
•  Voices vie for attention
–  Increasingly attempts to express human feelings
•  Beautiful blend between
parts

Giovanni da Palestrina (1525-1594) Sicut cervus

•  Most influential Catholic composer of the
late Renaissance (with Lassus, Byrd,
Victoria)
•  Helped define High Renaissance style
–  The most widely imitated style to date!
•  Unlike his peers, Palestrina favors musical
perfection over emotional expression
•  Latin motet based on text from Psalm 42
•  Pervasive imitation
–  Each new line of text gets its own “tune”
–  New sections begin with new line of text (and
new “tune”)
–  Sections overlap, creating continuous sound
–  Beautiful polyphonic texture and rich
harmonies

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Sicut cervus text (Part I)
Sicut cervus, desiderat Like as the hart desireth
ad fontes aquarum, the waterbrook,
Ita desiderat anima mea So longeth my soul after
ad te Deus. Thee, O God.
All polyphony, all the time?
•  Congregation rarely sang in major churches
by the mid-Renaissance
–  Cyclic Masses were used for the Ordinary, and
motets for the Proper of the Mass
–  Music was almost all polyphonic, could only be
sung by trained musicians in the choir
–  Choir screens separated altar from congregation
Reformation
•  “For who doubts that originally all the
people sang those which now only the choir
sings?”
–  Luther’s Formula Missae, 1523
•  Luther openly broke with Church in 1517
–  Without support of Frederick the Wise of
Saxony, Luther might have been burned at the
stake!
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Renaissance Masses
•  Same musical style as motets
–  Maybe a bit more conservative
–  Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei
•  Cyclic Masses—same tune used in every
movement
–  At first used in tenor line only, but gradually
motives from the tune infuse every part, a treat
for singers when the tune is dearly beloved!
The People’s Song
•  A big challenge to find things to sing
•  The ideal—familiar tunes with new words
–  Old chant melodies were often not familiar
–  Some new tunes, but harder to learn new words
and a new tune—Luther’s A mighty fortress
–  Little change needed for sacred Lieder
–  Contrafacta were the ticket!
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Contrafactum Mein G’müth vs. O Haupt

•  An old, familiar song, maybe with secular I’m all mixed up;
This a tender maid has
words, but now “christlich revidierte”!
done!
–  Could be love songs, folk songs, fraternal songs
I’m totally lost;
–  Some were even drinking songs
My heart is sick and sore.
–  Isaac’s “Innsbruck, ich muss dich lassen” I get no rest day or night,
became “O Welt, ich muss dich lassen” My pain is always so great.
•  These new hymns were called chorales I sigh and cry all the time;
I’m almost in despair .
O sacred Head, now wounded,
with grief and shame weighed
down,
Now scornfully surrounded
with thorns, Thine only crown;
O sacred Head, what glory,
what bliss till now was Thine!
Yet, though despised and gory,
I joy to call Thee mine.

Singing chorales? Purpose of Church Music

•  In unison by the congregation •  To praise God
•  In simple harmony by choir or congregation •  As an offering by the congregation
•  Polyphonic motet-like arrangements
•  For Christian education
•  Service music played on the organ
–  “…these songs were arranged in four parts for no other
•  “I also wish we had as many songs as
reason than that I wanted to attract the youth…away possible in the vernacular which the people
from love songs and carnal pieces and to give them could sing during the Mass”
something wholesome…”
•  Luther’s Formula Missae, 1523
•  (Geistliche Gesangbüchlein, 1524)

Luther on Church Music Jean Calvin 1509-1564

“Next to the word of God, music deserves the highest
praise. ... For if you wish to comfort the sad, terrify
the happy, encourage the despairing, humble the
proud, calm the passionate, or appease those full of
hate ... what more effective means than music could
you find? ... Therefore we have so many hymns and
Psalms where message and music join to move the
listener’s soul.”
•  More radical yet—the only thing you can sing in
church are words from the Bible intended to be
sung: especially the Psalms
•  Geneva Psalter, 1539
–  Metrical translations of Psalms, some set to music
–  1551 edition supervised by Loys Bourgeois
–  1562 edition the first complete psalter
–  Geneva jigs!
•  Metric psalters used by others, e.g. Puritans

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Calvin on Church Music
–  “Nor does St. Paul himself speak only of prayer
by word of mouth, but also of singing. Song has
a great power and strength to move and inflame
the hearts of men to invoke and praise God with
a heart more vehement and ardent.”
–  “Among all the other things appropriate for
giving man pleasure, music is among the most
important, and we must consider it a gift of
God.”
English Reformation
•  No Luther or Calvin, only King Henry
VIII’s anger with the Pope
•  Seesaw between Protestant and Catholic
until Elizabeth I took the throne in 1558
•  Catholic church music same as in Europe
•  Anglican church music introduced English
anthems and Book of Common Prayer
Tallis, If Ye Love Me
•  Simple 4-part anthem in two sections
–  First section begins with homophony
–  Second section is imitative, and repeats
–  I. If ye love Me, keep My commandments, and I
will pray the Father, and He shall give you
another Comforter,
–  II. That He may ’bide with you forever: e’en the
spir’t of truth.
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Psalm 100, Bay Psalm Book
Make yee a joyfull sounding noyse
unto Iehovah, all the earth:
Serve yee Iehovah with gladness:
before his presence come with mirth.
Know, that Iehovah he is God,
who hath us formed it is hee,
& not our selves: his owne people
& sheepe of his pasture are wee.
Anthems
•  The Anglican church’s answer to the motet
–  Full anthem, much like a motet, alternating
between homophony & imitative polyphony
–  Verse anthem, alternates between verses for
soloist and chorus
–  Examples by leading composers Thomas Tallis
and William Byrd
Baroque Era 1600-1750
•  Age of absolutism
–  Divine right of kings, splendor of royal courts
•  Age of science
–  Scientific method, Newton, Leibniz, et al.
•  Moves further yet away from Church
•  Music becomes decidedly more modern and
dramatic
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Baroque Music Baroque Style Features

–  Focus on expression of strong emotion, not
mere text painting
–  New emphasis on solo singing; opera emerges
–  Idiomatic instrumental writing
•  Dance more important, growth of orchestra
–  Invention of modern time signatures
–  Major/minor scales replace modes
–  More extended, logical musical forms
•  Ornate, asymmetric melodies, ornamented
•  Steady beat, strong meter, rhythmic vitality
•  Polyphonic texture, melody/bass polarity
–  Basso continuo, development of orchestra
•  Dynamics loud or soft
•  Strong tonic makes modulation possible
–  “Functional” harmony of major/minor scales

Baroque Church Music Bach vs. Handel

•  Still Masses and motets in Latin •  Bach—the consummate church musician
•  Other genres become more prominent and devout Lutheran; master of the fugue,
–  Church cantata perhaps the leading composer of keyboard
–  Oratorio music
–  Passion •  Handel—man of the theater and the most
–  Chorale Settings gifted opera composer of his day; as
–  Organ music London’s Italian opera audience dwindled,
he turned to the English oratorio

Glory to God Ehre sei Gott/Glory to God

•  Bach’s setting from
Christmas Oratorio
•  Motor rhythms
•  Dense polyphonic
texture
•  Lightens up at “Friede
auf Erden”
•  Shortened repetition in
2nd half
•  Handel’s setting from
Messiah •  Ehre sei Gott in der •  Glory to God in the
Höhe highest
•  Dramatic differences
between phrases •  Und Friede auf Erden •  And on earth peace,
•  Glory—high, homophonic •  Bei den Menschen •  Good will towards
Seines wohlgefallens. men.
•  Peace—low, unison
(Luke 2:14)
•  Good will—imitative
•  Theatrical fade-out at end

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Chorale Prelude
•  Short work for solo organ based on a hymn
–  Plays through the hymn once
–  Introduction to singing of hymn or general
service music
•  Bach pays scrupulous attention to the words
–  Writes motives and figures that point to
theological symbols embedded in the text
Through Adam’s Fall
Through Adam’s fall human nature
and character is completely corrupted,
the same poison has been inherited by us,
so that we would not be able to recover health
without comfort from God, who has redeemed
us from the great harm.
Classical Music
•  Two central concepts
–  Pleasing variety & naturalness
–  These color all music elements
–  Result is a new flexibility and a more natural
expressiveness
–  Music can now express multiple emotions–in
the same work!
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Durch Adams Fall
•  Hymn tune in soprano, Adam’s fall from grace
•  Windy alto, tenor suggest slithering serpent
•  Pedal line mostly diminished 7ths, the most
dissonant, disorienting interval possible!
Classical Era 1750-1810
•  Age of Enlightenment
–  Reason, science to be used for human benefit
•  Public morality, education, & politics
–  Social injustice & religion came under fire
•  Music as a pleasing entertainment
•  Expansion of orchestra, symphony emerges
Classical Style Features
•  Clear, memorable tunes and motives
–  Simple patterns of repetition & contrast
•  Contrasting rhythms used side by side
–  Unpredictable, real surprise is possible
•  New dynamic gradations: ff, f, mf, mp, p, pp
–  Crescendo and decrescendo
•  Real melody & accompaniment texture
–  Can quickly vary patterns and moods
–  Switch to polyphony for extra drama
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Mozart & Haydn Mozart, Ave verum corpus

•  Church music written almost exclusively for •  Ave verum Corpus •  Hail true Body born of the
the Catholic Church natum de Maria
Virgine: Vere passum,
–  Latin Masses, motets, and so on
immolatum in cruce
•  More old-fashioned, emphasis on pro homine: Cujus
polyphony & imitation latus perforatum unda
•  Haydn, The Creation; Mozart, Requiem fluxit et sanguine: Esto
nobis praegustatum in
•  Ave verum corpus in simple binary form mortis examine.
Virgin Mary: Having truly
suffered, sacrificed on the
cross for humankind:
From whose pierced side
water and blood flowed:
Be for us a foretaste [of
the Heavenly banquet] in
the trial of death.

Romanticism 1810-1910 Romantic Composers

•  Romantic themes include:
–  Individual feeling
–  Revolt (rebels against established order)
–  The supernatural (dreams, nightmares, Faust)
–  Freedom from artistic barriers
•  Constant search for higher experience & more
intense expression
•  Boundlessness of music often noted
•  “Rules” were not to be trusted
–  Broke down barriers of harmony and form
–  Music must mirror inner feeling
•  Cult of genius (after Beethoven)
–  Must be original & individual at all costs
–  Emphasis on innovation
–  Little sense of shared international style

Romantic Style Features Romantic Church Music

•  Rubato–flexible, expressive use of tempo
•  Surging, emotional, wide-ranged melodies
build dramatically to sustained climaxes
•  Chromaticism used to expand expressivity
•  Sensuous tone color assumes importance
–  New sounds & sound combinations
–  Orchestra expands to gargantuan proportions
•  Masses and motets much larger scale
–  Beethoven Missa solemnis or Verdi Requiem
are concert works, not designed for church use
•  Much more personal religious expression
–  More fanciful interpretations of theology
–  Some “religious” works by non-Christians
attracted to Christian themes, imagery

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Mendelssohn Mendelssohn, There Shall a Star

•  Born in a respected Jewish family in
Leipzig, converted to Christianity
–  Fascination with Bach passions and cantatas,
wrote in a somewhat more old-fashioned style
–  Wrote two big oratorios: Elijah and St. Paul
–  Reformation Symphony celebrates Lutheran
Reformation
–  A number of Church anthems
•  There shall a star come out of Jacob, and a
sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and dash in pieces,
princes and nations. There shall a star ...
•  [Chorale:] How brightly beams the morning star!
What sudden radiance from afar with light and
comfort glowing! Thy Word, O Lord, radiance
darting, Truth imparting, Gives salvation; Thine
be praise and adoration!

Anton Bruckner Locus iste features

•  Devout Catholic wrote many Masses,
motets, and organ music
–  Fan of Wagner, brings his style into his works
–  Continuous melody
–  Extreme chromaticism, frequent key changes
–  Rubato–flexible, expressive use of tempo
–  Surging, emotional, wide-ranged melodies
build dramatically to sustained climaxes
–  Chromaticism used to expand expressivity
–  Sensuous tone color assumes importance
–  Motet in three sections, 1st more diatonic, 2nd
very chromatic, then returns to opening words
and music
–  Mystical, reverent quality

Locus iste 1st Great Awakening

•  Locus iste a Deo •  This place was made •  1730s and 1740s in Britain and colonies
factus est, by God, –  Built on traditions of Puritanism, pietism, &
•  Inaestimabile •  a priceless sacrament; Presbyterianism
sacramentum, •  it is without reproach. –  Leaders included John Wesley, George
•  irreprehensibilis est. Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards
–  Leading hymnodist Isaac Watts
•  Joy to the World, O God Our Help in Ages Past,
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Jesus Shall
Reign Where’er the Sun

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2nd Great Awakening
•  Gospel hymns emerged in 19th century
–  Used for all kinds of revival meetings, camp
meetings, tent meetings, and so
–  Whites and blacks gathered under the same
“roof,” and African Americans often led the
singing
–  Memorable tunes and refrains
–  Designed to “warm up” the audience
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
•  Miraculous victory by the Israelites
•  Performance by Fisk Jubilee Singers
–  Fisk University a historically black school
–  Student choir has toured the U.S. promoting
spirituals since late 1800s
–  Verse and refrain structure, catchy tune
–  Joshua fit the battle of Jericho, and the walls
came tumbling down.
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Revive Us Again
•  Words by Rev. William Mackay; music by
John J. Husband
•  First published in 1875
–  Gospel Hymns and Sacred Songs: as used by
them in gospel meetings
–  Edited by P.P. Bliss & Ira D. Sankey
•  Later appeared in over 1000 hymnbooks
–  For both white and black churches!
African-American Spirituals
•  Roots in the slave era before Civil War
•  Religious themes prominent
–  Moses and victory over Pharaoh and other
stories of God’s miraculous intervention
–  Sometimes happy, sometimes full of sorrow
–  Code words for escape to freedom: Jordan
River symbolizes Ohio River, North-South
boundary
African-American Gospel Music
•  Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993)
–  Early career as blues musician
•  After “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,”
devoted his life to church music
–  Pilgrim Baptist Church, Chicago, U.S.A.
•  Fused white gospel music with expressive
style of the blues
•  For solo voice or chorus with instruments
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Go Where I Send Thee
•  Nice black gospel style piano
accompaniment with bluesy harmonies
•  Predominantly white choir here, but with an
African American conductor who gets them
to adopt mannerisms of black gospel style
–  Closer to the sound you might get in your choir
•  Gospel arrangement by André Thomas of an
African-American folk carol
English Church Music
•  Many composers: Vaughan Williams, Holst,
Britten, Howells, John Rutter
•  Wide range of expression, but not overtly
modernist
•  Vaughan Williams, Five Mystical Songs,
Antiphon—“Let all the world in every
corner sing, My God and King”
Contemporary Christian Music
•  Many recent Christian singer-songwriters
–  Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Michael Card
•  Rock and folk elements predominate pop-
style guitar or piano accompaniments
•  Fettke, Majesty and Glory of Your Name
–  More Romantic in its rich harmonies & slow
buildup to a climax
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20th century highlights
•  Surge of classical church music, especially
in England
•  Vatican Council II, 1962-64, saw Catholics
abandon Latin language & Gregorian chant
•  Growth of Christian popular styles, from
folk to rock and even rap
•  Advent of the praise band!
Catholic Church Music
•  After Vatican, a surge of new church music
for Catholic worship
–  Richard Proulx especially important
•  This new repertory’s “greatest hit” is “On
Eagle’s Wings” by Michael Joncas
–  Verse-refrain structure
–  Comforting, inspirational words
Final Thoughts
“I am never so convinced of God's presence, God's
love, God's mercy, or God's grace as I am when I am
singing or remembering favorite songs of the church.
They might be the songs I learned growing up in my
father's church, or they might be new Christian
songs, but in either case the music, that divine gift of
God, gives wings to the words, and they fly straight
into my heart and soul.”
Mark Harbold, Lockwood Lecture, 2015
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The End

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