Music in American Religious Experience

Abstract

Abstract Since the appearance of The Bay Psalm Book in 1640, music has served as a defining factor for American religious experience. Music is crucial to the maintenance of the belief systems that account for multiculturalism in American denominationalism. The sacred musics of North America symbolize the unifying factors of worship shaping the historical landscape, and give voice to the diversity that distinguishes the religious experiences as American. This book studies the ways in which music shapes the distinctive presence of religion in the United States and Canada. The sixteen contributors of this book address the fullness of music's presence in North American religion and religious history. Sacred music is considered in the broadest aesthetic sense, from more traditional studies of hymnody to new forms of musical expression, such as ritual in nonsectarian religious movements. Musical experience intersects with religious experience, posing questions about the ways in which Americans, historical communities and new immigrants, and racial and ethnic groups construct their sense of self. This book features an interdisciplinary approach that includes scholars in both musical and religious studies; a broad range of methodologies; historical breadth extending beyond denominational and church studies, and beyond Judeo-Christian traditions; and a comparative study of traditional religious communities and of emerging groups representing multiethnic America.