Revivalism, the Gospel Songs and Social Reform

Abstract

n recent months there have been notable attempts to define and to establish it as a separate discipline. In a sense, this paper is presented with the same objective in mind. It is my belief that the subject will be defined and delineated by the nature of the studies which are made by its proponents in the early years of this society rather than by the resolution of certain polemics which have resulted from our discussions. In like manner, the claim of the ethnomusicologists to a separate existence will rest more upon the universality of our precepts than upon a predetermined restriction to particular areas, methodology, or values. My purpose, therefore, is to encourage the members of this society to extend their studies into the musics of those strata of Western society which have not been objectively documented and thereby to demonstrate the efficacy of ethnomusicology in areas often neglected by traditional musicologists. In the area of American music, the researcher is frequently confronted with harmonic and melodic elements of Western music employed in a context that subordinates musical values--as defined by traditional musicologists--to their function in a society. As has been pointed out by members of this organization, research in these neglected areas is the province of the ethnomusicologist, whose perspective allows him the freedom to seek out relationships other than those inherent in the music itself. As an illustration of a study in such an area, I have chosen the music of Protestant revivalism of the late nineteenth centurythe gospel songs--to show how a practice on the periphery of Western musical development may acquire significance only as it is related to the religious and social mores of a nation. We are fortunate that much of the music from this period of revivalism exists today in printed form as well as in actual practice among various evangelical groups. We are not to assume, however, that the taxonomic stages of this study may be by-passed; on the contrary, the separation of the songs from their original function in the revival service by those who wished to exploit them commercially, and the acculturation which occurred when the music was used by ethnic groups other than Anglo-Saxon Protestants, offer numerous opportunities for the field worker. For the purpose of this paper, discussion will be limited to the music used in revival services by Dwight L. Moody, Billy Sunday, and their followers between 1875 and 1930. I do not propose to present a description of these songs based on a musical analysis or performance practice except as these elements are related to our particular problem--the establishment of a triangular relationship; that is, the relationship between the gospel songs, the forces of social reform, and revivalism. A revival meeting may be described as a mass assembly of people of various ages who gather to hear the forceful preaching of an evangelist who