Church Music Research Articles

Erasmus on Sacred Music

Erasmus censures the musical practice of the medieval Church from ethical and rhetorical perspectives on music, and highlights decorum in delivery at the liturgical performance. His criticism of instrumental music echoes the patristic views of music, which are essentially logocentric and opposed to the use of musical instruments within the Church. The Erasmian ideal of church musicians lies in the classical model of the sacred-musical orator, with great emphasis on musicians’ moral status and intellectual ability. In relation to music (especially the Psalms) in the context of Christian worship, Erasmus regards music as a ‘spiritual sacrifice’ in which leading godly lives is combined with singing hymns and praises.

Anglican ‘Establishment’ Reactions to ‘POP’ Church Music in England, 1956–C.1990

The use of popular styles of music in the Church has often proved contentious, and perhaps particularly so in the later twentieth century. Anecdotal evidence abounds of the debate provoked in churches by the introduction of new ‘happy-clappy’ pop-influenced styles, and the supposed wholesale discarding of a glorious heritage of hymnody. In addition, a great deal of literature has appeared elaborating on the inappropriateness of such music. Welcoming a historical study of hymnody in 1996, John Habgood lamented the displacement of traditional hymn singing by ‘trivial and repetitive choruses’. Lionel Dakers, retired Director of the Royal School of Church Music, also saw choruses and worship songs as ‘in many instances little more than trite phrases repeated ad nauseam, often with accompanying body movements’. This paper investigates the reactions of the musical and ecclesiastical establishments to the use of popular music in public worship in the Church of England from 1956 to c. 1990. The period began with a new wave of experimentation epitomized by Geoffrey Beaumont’s Folk Mass and the controversy surrounding it, and ended in the early 1990s, by which time the pop-influenced worship music of the renewal movement had become firmly established in some sections of the Church, with its own figure-heads and momentum.

Book Review: The Theological Significance of Church Music

Book Review: The Theological Significance of Church Music

More on the Lambeth Choirbook

InEM, xxxiii/1 (Feb 2005), p.155, Dr David Skinner wondered about the reasoning informing some observations arising tangentially in the course of my review of Early English Church Music, xliii (Robert Fayrfax I: O bone Iesu, ed. Roger Bray), published in EM, xxxii/3 (Aug 2004), pp.471–3. These concerned the provenance of the Lambeth Choirbook; the identification of the category of liturgical use intended for the anonymous setting of Resurrexio Christi; and the origins of the composition by Robert Fayrfax of his Mass, Magnificat and antiphon O bone Iesu. Only brief comments are possible here; I hope to amplify my response to the first and third into journal articles in due course, fully annotated and referenced. In short, however: (1) there can be found no good reasons whatever to associate the Lambeth Choirbook with either Arundel College or Edward Higgons; (2) there appear to be no good reasons to believe that Resurrexio Christi was created to be an ‘elevation motet’, rather than a simple votive antiphon; and (3) there appear to be no good grounds for belief that the London Fraternity of the Holy Name of Jesus had anything to do with Fayrfax's creation of his three O bone Iesu pieces.

The arcane colours of Fayrfax

One of Tudor England's most eminent composers, Robert Fayrfax (1464–1521), is at last fully emerging from the shadows, thanks to a variety of recent enterprises. First came a series of recordings of his complete works, sung by The Cardinall's Musick and issued on the ASV label during the later 1990s. In 2003 the Roxburghe Club published a luxurious full-colour facsimile of The Arundel Choirbook (better known as the ‘Lambeth Choirbook’; London, Lambeth Palace Library, Ms.1), in which most of Fayrfax's sacred music is to be found. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Roger Bray has long been at work on these same pieces, editing them for the series Early English Church Music. Volume 1 of his edition was welcomed in this journal last year (see Roger Bowers's review in EM, xxxii/3 (Aug 2004), pp.471–3), and volume 2 must now be greeted with equal warmth—not only for its own sake, but also for the way it complements the other enterprises. With recordings, facsimile and editions all now readily to hand, the resources needed to explore Fayrfax's music could hardly be bettered.

The English and American Hymnody Collection of the Pitts Theology Library, Emory University

Introduction Collecting is a hobby many enjoy. The object may be coins, stamps, dolls, antiques, baseball cards, and many other objects of perceived value. It is the rare individual who collects hymnals. Most hymnals are not especially valuable monetarily, but some, such as the first edition of the Bay Psalm Book of 1640, are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Apart from any monetary value, however, hymnals are valuable historical documents, for they tell us the hymns that were available for singing by congregations of various religious denominations through the centuries. Hymnals express a congregation's theology, its literary and musical preferences, and its style of worship and witness, and often its cultural and societal values. Although hymnal collecting is primarily the domain of pastors and church musicians, private collections typically become part of an institutional collection through a purchase or a bequest. Of the three largest institutional hymnal collections in North America,1 two are heavily indebted to one or more private collectors. An exception is the largest institutional collection of hymnals in the United States, that of the Library of Congress with its 16,500 hymnals, which grew primarily as a copyright depository for hymnals. The third largest—Princeton Theological Seminary's Speer Library with its 12,000 hymnals—grew for the most part from the personal collection of Louis F. Benson (1855– 1930), a Presbyterian minister generally recognized as America's greatest hymnologist.2 The second largest—Emory University's Pitts Theology Library with its 15,000 hymnals—is the result of interesting historical developments involving several private hymnal collections. [End Page 958] The purpose of this article is to provide a basic understanding of the development of Emory University's English and American Hymnody Collection and to introduce its great potential for research. The Background of Emory's Hymnody Collection The major part of the English and American Hymnody Collection at Emory was acquired in 1975 with the purchase of the Case Library of Hartford Theological Seminary that included 9,000 volumes in hymnody. Hartford Seminary, founded in 1834 and one of the first in the nation, was already becoming an important center for the study of church music in the 1890s under the leadership of its professor of sacred music, Waldo Selden Pratt (1857–1939).3 As early as 1891, Pratt led the seminary to purchase the collection of Silas H. Paine, an executive at a lubricating plant in the Rockefeller Group. Paine's collection, assembled over a forty-year period, included more than 5,000 titles of English and American hymnals, compilations of sacred poetry, and books on hymnology. To further enlarge its holdings, Hartford Seminary in 1894 opened negotiations to purchase the library of the Philadelphia accountant and well-known hymnology researcher James Warrington (1841–1915).4 According to the final 1899 agreement with Warrington, his library would remain in his possession for five years while he completed his projected book, A History of Psalmody among English Speaking Peoples.5 When the time was approaching for the removal of Warrington's collection to Hartford, he apparently resisted. His collection was removed, Warrington filed suit, and the details of what followed are uncertain. The Warrington Collection was not unpacked at Hartford until 1926, and the great value of his books was not assessed until 1951, when American music scholars Irving Lowens and Allen P. Britton visited the seminary.6 The Hartford Hymnody Collection also included volumes donated by Professor Pratt and by the American Antiquarian Society. The collection came to be known as the Warrington–Pratt–Soule Collection, the last name being that of William Soule, a retired Episcopal clergyman who on a volunteer [End Page 959] basis was responsible for the organization of the collection after years of neglect. Since purchasing the Hartford library, Emory has continued to expand its English and American Hymnody Collection. As stated in the Pitts Theology Library's collection development policy: The primary focus of...

John Taverner: His Life and Music (review)

John Taverner: His Life and Music. By Hugh Benham. Burlington, VT: Ashgate , 2003. [xvii, 332 p. ISBN 0-7546-0142-0. $94.95.] Music examples, illustrations, notes, appendices, bibliography, index. John Taverner (ca. 1490-1545) gained a degree of unexpected notoriety in the twentieth century when Sir Peter Maxwell Davies wrote his opera Taverner based on the Tudor composer's life. While biographical clarification was not the result of that work, the long-term interest in Taverner's music was affirmed. Hugh Benham, arguably one of the most notable Taverner scholars, has provided an intensely detailed study of Taverner's music in the publication under review. While this monograph can stand alone, its strength is increased when used in conjunction with volumes 20, 25, 30, 35, and 36 of Early English Church Music (London: Stainer & Bell, 1962- ) in which the full musical scores edited by Benham can be found. Directed at the informed amateur, student, and scholar, this publication will also find a welcome place in the hands of choral directors who seek to present informed and accurate performances of Taverner's music. In this publication, Benham places emphasis on the music with only one chapter devoted to biographical material. While this may seem a shortcoming, detailed information regarding Taverner's life is simply not available. For example, an exact birth date cannot be established. Nonetheless, it is known that he was born in Lincolnshire where he received a good musical education and established his reputation. This, ultimately, led him to a musical position in the highly regarded Cardinal's (now known as Christ Church) College, Oxford that was under the direct patronage of Cardinal Wolsey, who was, until his demise, arguably the most influential and powerful figure in England aside from the king. While there, he became indirectly involved in a Lutheran controversy connected with singers he had recruited from Lincolnshire. Subsequently, after Wolsey's fall from favor, and as a result of the lack of financial support given to Cardinal's College, Taverner returned to Lincolnshire. There he became successfully involved in music and also became a civic leader. Under Henry VIII, life in England was uncertain due to the political climate, itself inseparable from the religious pluralism that was evolving as a result of the religious reformation taking place in Europe. In the present publication, Benham does not deal with this at any length. While this exclusion does not diminish the value of the book in any way, it would have been helpful to have a summary of the social, political, and religious uncertainty of the time in order to better contextualize Taverner's life and music. As it is, this information will have to be found elsewhere in a work such as G. R. Elton's book on the Tudors (G. R. Elton, England Under The Tudors, 2d. ed. [London: Methuen, 1974]). Conversely, the author may assume that the reader already has this knowledge. Organizationally, the book is divided into two large sections. Chapters 1 through 5 provide a background against which details of style and technique are discussed in chapters 6 through 12. The introduction gives a concise synopsis of each of the chapters and Benham's editorial policy regarding music examples, Latin translations, spelling, manuscript references, and collected editions. Preceding the introduction are complete lists of plates, tables, music examples with measure numbers from the relevant score editions, and abbreviations including library sigla. Performance issues are clearly addressed by dealing with such questions as modern editions, pitch, reduced passages for semi-chorus and chorus, as well as the lack of evidence about sixteenth-century rehearsal techniques, tempi, time signatures, text underlay, and Latin pronunciation. …

An Annotated Bibliography of Church Music

An Annotated Bibliography of Church Music

Early Masses and Mass-Pairs (review)

Reviewed by: Early Masses and Mass-Pairs J. Michael Allsen Early Masses and Mass-Pairs. Transcribed and edited by Gareth Curtis . ( Fifteenth-Century Liturgical Music, 4.) ( Early English Church Music, 42.) London: Published for the British Academy by Stainer and Bell, c 2001. [Foreword ( John Caldwell ), 1 p.; acknowledgments, 1 p.; contents, 1 p; introd., p. ix–xiii; scores (each preceded by sources and crit. notes), p. 1–177 Cloth. ISMN M-2202-1931-3; ISBN 0-85249-846-2. £55.] This volume of early Masses and Mass-pairs edited by Gareth Curtis is the start of a new editorial direction, and a distinctly new "look" for the venerable series Early English Church Music, inaugurated in 1963 with John D. Bergsagel's edition of the first volume of Early Tudor Masses (London: Stainer and Bell) to make available church music by British composers of the Middle Ages and Renaissance in a form designed to serve both scholarly and practical needs. The series is intended to complete the publication in modern editions of all early sacred music in Britain from the Norman Conquest to the Commonwealth. (vol. 1 of series, p. iv) Since then, Early English Church Music has proved to be a valuable resource for students and performers of this music, providing a clear and well-edited entry into this large repertory. The first forty-one volumes comprise many subseries, including five volumes devoted to the sacred music of John Taverner (ca. 1490-1545) and six to Thomas Tomkins (1572-1656). Curtis's new volume is a continuation of another of these subseries devoted broadly to fifteenth-century liturgical music. These volumes, including Curtis's previous edition of the Brussels Masses from the manuscript Bibliothèque Royale Albert 1er 5557 (Early English Church Music, 34; hereinafter EECM), as well as two volumes published much earlier (Antiphons and Music for Holy Week and Easter, ed. Andrew Hughes, EECM, 8 [1968] and Four Anonymous Masses, ed. Margaret Bent, EECM, 22 [1979]), cover repertory that would otherwise fall through the cracks of editions of collected works and monuments devoted to a single manuscript: anonymous and occasionally fragmentary music, as well as works by composers who are largely unknown aside from a piece or two. With the exception of a single volume devoted to facsimiles of late medieval fragments (Manuscripts of Fourteenth Century English Polyphony: A Selection of Facsimiles, ed. Frank Llewellyn Harrison and Roger Wibberley, EECM, 26 [1981]), and the recent edition of Thomas Morley's (1557/8- 1602) Services edited by John Morehen (EECM, 41 [1998]), the series has heretofore been weighted toward the "practical." Volumes appeared in a roughly octavo-size [End Page 219] format in paper covers, with large, clear typography eminently suited for singers. The music itself was presented in modern notation and clefs, with bar lines, two-to-one or four-to-one reductions of note values, and the standard equipment of scholarly editions (brackets above ligatures, barring that reflects modus-level notation, etc.). Though each volume included a full critical apparatus, and occasionally appendices with plainchant sources, the music itself seems to have been set out primarily with performance in mind. Many of the volumes, for example, include a keyboard reduction to facilitate rehearsal and performance. Along with Morehen's Morley edition, Curtis's Early Masses and Mass-Pairs represents a new style for Early English Church Music editions (see Lionel Pike's review of the Morley in Notes 58, no 1 [September 2001]: 176-79). It is a weighty, large-format (9" X 12.5"), hardcover volume. Critical notes are now integrated into the edition, directly preceding each piece or set of pieces. The most important change, however, is in the method for transcribing the works. While score format and modern treble and bass clefs are retained, the music itself appears in the original mensural notation. In his foreword to the edition, John Caldwell, general editor of Early English Church Music, explains this change in editorial procedure (p. v): It was widely felt that traditional methods of transcription . . . were no longer adequate to convey the essential nature of this freely flowing yet mensurally disciplined music. In these new editions, note-values will be unreduced, the...

Review: Fayrfax at the Chapel Royal

In the vibrant liturgical life of early 16th-century Catholic England, nothing was more natural than that a feast newly elevated to prominence by evolving devotional priorities should stimulate the employers of professional church musicians to cause the observance of its day to be distinguished with performances of polyphonic settings of suitably imposing character. Thus contemporary intensification of devotion to the figure of Jesus as intercessor led to widespread introduction of the observance every Friday of both a polyphonic votive Mass 'of the Name of Jesus', and also of an evening antiphon; further, a Mass of festal proportions was appropriate for High Mass on the two 'new' feasts of Jesus-the Transfiguration and the Holy Name (6 and 7 August)-with also a Magnificat with which to mark first Vespers on their eves. The role of the Chapel Royal as cynosure of devotional practice necessarily involved its composers in the supply of music for such occasions, and from the hand of Robert Fayrfax there survives a votive antiphon on the text O bone Iesu, and, derived from it and each so titled in at least one source, a Magnificat and a Mass. The works are unified by features such as their particular five-voice scoring and use of the uncommon F5 lattice of clefs ('low clefs'), as well as by much cross-quotation of musical material. Given the prevailing scarcity of music yet composed for so recently aggrandized a devotion it is not surprising that Fayrfax's compositions, especially the Mass, were eagerly copied for performance elsewhere. Indeed, there survive of the Mass no fewer than six pre-Reformation manuscript sources, and such a degree of popularity renders the whole complex of three compositions a subject eminently suitable for issue as a unit in the series Early English Church Music (EECM), as an inaugural contribution to a complete new edition of Fayrfax's works now projected. The music bears all the characteristics of cool detach-

Catalogue of vocal solos and duets arranged in biblical order

The second edition of A Catalogue of Vocal Solos and Duets Arranged in Biblical Order serves as a companion volume to A Catalogue of Choral Music Arranged in Biblical Order (Second edition, 1996, and supplement, 2001, both published by Scarecrow Press). It is a necessary tool for the church musician to coordinate music with the scripture readings and/or the sermon topic and a valuable aid to the vocal soloist seeking a work using a particular biblical text. The book serves as a working document for the church musician, soloist, or voice teacher.

Congregational Song as Shaper of Theology: A Contemporary Assessment

The faith and identity of Christian communities are formed and defined in large degree by musical forms and patterns. Music shapes and conveys theology, and is a point of engagement with broader culture. This is especially true in Free Church evangelicalism, where musical styles have nearly replaced denominational distinctives as the demarcating lines among various groups. This essay argues that music and worship are “active theology.” Worship and its music should over time express the full range of Christian truth and form worshipers truthfully. The essay explores and catalogues principal influences and concerns pertaining to musical form, style, and content. Church musicians are encouraged to see themselves as shapers of contextual theology in their communities.

Early English Masses

An extended review of Fifteenth-century liturgical music, iv: Early Masses and Mass pairs, ed. Gareth Curtis, Early English Church Music, xlii (London: Stainer & Bell, for the British Academy, 2001), £55

The Hymn Tune Index, and: Hymntune Index and Related Hymn Materials (review)

The Hymn Tune Index. By Nicholas Temperley. Charles G. Manns, associate editor. Database and interface design by Joseph Herl and David Zeiders. http://hymntune.music.uiuc.edu. [Requires standard Web browser. Free.] Hymntune Index and Related Hymn Materials. By D. DeWitt Wasson. Michael Fry, technical advisor. (Studies in Liturgical Musicology, no. 6.) Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2001. [CD-ROM. Requires standard Web browser with full Javascript support. ISBN 0-8108-4144-4. $350.] The two indexes reviewed here seem destined to be compared to one another. Both are monumental sacred music reference tools, each was published in print in 1998 (Nicholas Temperley, The Hymn Tune Index: A Census Of English-Language Hymn Tunes in Printed Sources from 1535 to 1820 [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998]; D. DeWitt Wasson, Hymntune Index and Related Hymn Materials [Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1998]), their titles are nearly identical, and now both are available in electronic formats. Yet significant differences exist between the two, and they are complimentary rather than competing resources. They differ in the periods covered: their intended audiences diverge; and their scopes vary. Now the formats chosen for their new versions differ, as do their costs. The present review will summarize the purpose, goals, strengths, and weaknesses of the print tools, and then compare and contrast the Web and CD-ROM versions. If scholars of sacred music and church musicians were happy with the appearance of these two indexes in 1998, they should now be thrilled with the access provided by these new versions. Because both print indexes were compiled from databases, the publication of the data in digital format not makes electronic access possible, but the end result is easier to use than the paper counterpart. In the case of the Temperley Web site, users are able to search the database directly. While the Wasson electronic book does not allow the reader to search the database, the HTML version is easier to use than the bound volumes. Because of the enormous amounts of data in each, both print tools are complicated and somewhat convoluted. I greatly prefer the electronic versions to their print counterparts. Both electronic publications are easy to use and have minimal system requirements. They both work well with any platform and with standard Web browsers. The Wasson CD-ROM does not require software to be installed, but does require Javascript support for its Jump to...and Go! buttons to work properly. The electronic book has been tested for compatibility with HTML 4, but uses only the older and most common HTML elements according to Michael Fry's accompanying notes. The home page of the Temperley site includes four search options (Tune Search, Text Search, Source Search, and Composer Search) as well as search examples and a number of links, including a tutorial and information about the index. After starting the Wasson CD-ROM, a user agreement is displayed that must be accepted before proceeding. The next screen includes the Table of Contents and ten search options. The ten are grouped into four categories: tunes (by tide or melody), sources, the three hymnal indexes (alphabetical, by code, an d by denomination), and hymn materials. Given a choice between a Web or CD-ROM tool, most every librarian would agree that Web access is preferable. Yet a subscription-based Web site might not be viable for either of these indexes. Temperley did not have to face this issue. Given his institutional support at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the stipulation of the supporting grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that the result of his work be available free of charge, he has offered the best possible scenario: a definitive reference tool with stable institutional support-for free. That's as good as it gets. Wasson and Scarecrow Press did have to make this decision, and they opted for an electronic book on CDROM, offered at the same price as the three-volume print tool. …

Performing Renaissance Church Music in Nineteenth‐Century Germany: Issues and Challenges in the Study of Performative Reception

Crucial to understanding the reception of early music in the nineteenth century is an appreciation of the complex plurality of approaches to its performance. In contrast to our received view, musicians seeking to revive the works of Palestrina, Lassus, and contemporaries engaged seriously with the aesthetic and historical complexities of this task. The varied strategies of performers and the ideological factors shaping them are explored via a series of case studies: Thibaut, Zelter, and Vormärz choral societies; Proske, Haberl, Witt, and the Allgemeine Deutsche Cäcilien‐Verein; the arrangements and adaptations of Wagner and others. Fundamental is a broader consideration of the pertinence and value of studying performative reception.

A Historical Anthology of Irish Church Music. Edited by Gerard Gillen and Andrew Johnstone. Irish Musical Studies 6. Dublin: Four Courts, 2001. 335 pp. $45.00 cloth.

A Historical Anthology of Irish Church Music. Edited by Gerard Gillen and Andrew Johnstone. Irish Musical Studies 6. Dublin: Four Courts, 2001. 335 pp. $45.00 cloth.

The Role of the Trombone and its Affektin the Lutheran Church Music of Seventeenth century Saxony and Thuringia: The Mid- and Late Seventeenth Century

The Role of the Trombone and its <em/>Affekt<em/>in the Lutheran Church Music of Seventeenth century Saxony and Thuringia: The Mid- and Late Seventeenth Century

The lost voice: a history of the castrato.

Under the influence of testicular secretion, the male vocal cords increase in length by 67% in adult men compared with prepubertal boys, whereas in the female the increase is only 24%. This greater length and an increase in vocal cord mass is responsible for the lowering of pitch of the male voice during puberty. From the late 16th century, castration was carried out in Italy to preserve the unbroken male voice into adult life, but the high pitch was accompanied by fully grown resonating chambers and a large thoracic capacity, giving rise to the unique voice of the castrato. The initial stimulus for the production of castrati came from the Sistine Chapel in Rome, to provide singers for the complex church music of the time. The second reason was the coming of opera to Italy at the beginning of the 17th century. Boys were castrated between the ages of 7 and 9 years, and underwent a long period of voice training. A small number became international opera stars, of whom the most famous was Farinelli, whose voice ranged over three octaves. By the end of the 18th century, fashions in opera had changed so that the castrati declined except in the Vatican, where the Sistine Chapel continued to employ castrati until 1903. The last of the castrati was Alessandro Moreschi, who died in 1924 and made gramophone recordings that provide the only direct evidence of a castrato's singing voice.

'A MONUMENT OF ENTHUSIASTIC INDUSTRY': FURTHER LIGHT ON 'TUDOR CHURCH MUSIC'

Journal Article ‘A MONUMENT OF ENTHUSIASTIC INDUSTRY’: FURTHER LIGHT ON ‘TUDOR CHURCH MUSIC’ Get access RICHARD TURBET RICHARD TURBET Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Music and Letters, Volume 81, Issue 3, August 2000, Pages 433–436, https://doi.org/10.1093/ml/81.3.433 Published: 01 August 2000

The Present State of Church Music in Ghana

The Present State of Church Music in Ghana