Oxford Handbook: Christianity and Music Notes

Core Musical Streams in Christian Worship

• Two Primary Streams of Expression:     * The Assembly: This stream consists primarily of non-musicians who sing without practice. It is closely aligned with the artistry of "folk music."     * The Choir: This group practices to assist the assembly and to perform complex music that the congregation cannot sing. It is aligned with "art music."
• Worship Structures:     * Word and Table Sequence: The normative Sunday gathering, known variously as the Eucharist, Mass, Liturgy, or Holy Communion.     * Daily Prayer Services: Brief morning and evening services for the general church. Monastic communities may observe up to $8$ services throughout the day.
• Liturgical Components:     * The Ordinary: Parts of the service that happen regularly or "ordinarily." These are generally congregational.     * The Proper: Parts that are specific to certain days of the church’s calendar. These are generally choral, though "Proper" hymns are congregational.     * Tradition Variations: In some Orthodox and Anglican traditions, choirs may sing both the Ordinary and the Proper.
• The Oratorio Tradition:     * Relies on the worshiping tradition but does not presume congregational participation.     * Involves music practiced by a group that performs for an audience of listeners.     * This concert-like stream allows for an obvious focus on artistry, though the author notes that worship dynamics can drive artistry even more strongly.

Notable Composers and Artistic Idioms

• Significant Western Composers: The history of Christian music includes anonymous plainchant and works by:     * Hildegard ($1098–1179$)     * Perotin (fl. c. $1200$)     * Machaut ($1300–1377$)     * Binchois (c. $1400–1460$)     * Dufay ($1400–1474$)     * Ockeghem (c. $1410–1497$)     * Josquin (c. $1440–1521$)     * Palestrina ($1525–1594$)     * Victoria ($1548–1611$)     * Schütz ($1585–1672$)     * Lassus ($1532–1594$)     * Pachelbel ($1653–1706$)     * Purcell ($1659–1695$)     * J. S. Bach ($1685–1750$), whom Robert Shaw called "the single greatest creative genius" of the Western world.     * Handel ($1685–1759$)     * Haydn ($1732–1809$)     * Mozart ($1765–1791$)     * Bortniansky ($1751–1825$)     * Mendelssohn ($1809–1847$)     * Franck ($1822–1890$)     * Brahms ($1833–1897$)     * Rachmaninov ($1873–1943$)     * Vaughan Williams ($1872–1958$)     * Stravinsky ($1882–1971$)     * Duruflé ($1902–1986$)     * Distler ($1908–1942$)     * Messiaen ($1908–1992$)
• Congregational Folk-like Idioms: Detailed miniatures that have stimulated traditions of singing, including:     * Unaccompanied unison plainchant.     * Chorales and metrical psalm tunes.     * Black and white spirituals.     * Lining out and part-singing.
• The Role of the Organ: Organists have historically provided artistic introductions, hymn stanzas, and free-standing pieces. The $19$th century saw an increase in the use of the organ to accompany congregational hymns artfully.

Theological and Philosophical Perspectives

• Nicholas Temperley’s Three Attitudes:     * Exclusion: Mistrust of music’s power, despite biblical calls to praise God with instruments and song (Psalm $150:3–5$; Colossians $3:16$).     * Utilization: Harnessing music for the benefit of human souls.     * Ornamentation: Denying music as a vehicle of expression but valuing it as decoration for the "beauty of holiness."
• Karl Barth’s View: Barth considered singing the "highest form of human expression" dedicated to the vox humana in ministry. However, he also viewed revelation as the "abolition of religion" and "Religion as Unbelief," complicating the classification of his views.
• The Scholar-Musician Dichotomy: McKay and Crawford describe the relationship as an "uneasy truce" or a "classic dichotomy between musician and theologian."
• Robert Jenson’s Theological Theory:     * Argues that prayer and proclamation "regularly burst into beauty" and "insist on music."     * Contends that music originates from God.     * Metaphor: "God is a great fugue. There is nothing so capacious as a fugue." Creation is the opening of that fugal "room."     * Singing hymns is described as "doubling the Son’s praise," where rhythm and melody are the "surge of the Spirit's glorification."

Historical Evolution: From Jewish Roots to the Middle Ages

• Jewish Origins:     * The Psalter contains $150$ psalms covering the full range of human emotion (praise, sorrow, horror).     * Temple Worship: Led by highly trained Levites with instruments; aligned with art music.     * Synagogue Worship: Led by lay persons without instruments; aligned with folk music.
• New Testament Community: Inherited vocal synagogue practices (no instruments). Added Christocentric canticles:     * Magnificat (Luke $1:46–55$)     * Benedictus (Luke $1:67–79$)     * Nunc dimittis (Luke $2:29–32$)
• The Reaction Against Instruments: By the end of the $2$nd century, there was a strong reaction due to the association of instruments with idolatry, immorality, and pagan frenzy (e.g., priests of Cybele).
• Early Church Musical Identity:     * Edward Foley describes music as the "aural aspect" of worship.     * Joseph Gelineau notes an "intense lyrical quality" in the apostolic church.     * Lessons were cantillated and prayers were intoned.
• Reactions of Church Fathers:     * Ambrose (c. $340–397$): Affirmed the sound of music and wrote congregational hymns.     * Augustine ($354–430$): Nervous that musical delight might obscure textual meaning.     * Pambo (c. $317–367$): Represented the minority report, comparing singing to the "lowing of cattle" and arguing it turned away from the Holy Spirit.
• The Medieval Organ: Around the end of the first millennium, the organ was introduced in the West. It became the primary instrument and developed a massive artistic repertoire.

The Reformation and Post-Reformation Eras

• Martin Luther ($1483–1546$): Renewed congregational and choral practice. He promoted "alternation" between the congregation (unison), choir (polyphony), and instruments/organ.
• John Calvin ($1509–1564$): Erased choirs, polyphony, and instruments from public worship. Restricted music to the unison singing of metrical psalms, which he felt provided the "weight and majesty" required for worship.
• Ulrich Zwingli ($1484–1531$): Despite being a skilled musician, he erased music from public worship entirely, viewing it as "play" suitable only for outside the service.
• The Roman Catholic Church: The Council of Trent ($1545–1563$) supported polyphonic choral art (e.g., Palestrina) but focused little on congregational singing.
• Anglicanism: Maintained a choral tradition (Tye, Tallis) while incorporating Calvinist psalm-singing.
• Seventeenth-Century Sects:     * Baptists: Initially thought pre-composed texts "quenched the spirit." Benjamin Keach ($1640–1704$) eventually introduced hymn-singing, shifting the denomination's stance.     * Quakers: Avoided music at worship in favor of "internal centering." However, the Shaking Quakers (led by Mother Ann Lee, $1736–1784$) developed complex dance and thousands of spirituals, such as "’Tis the Gift to Be Simple."

The Modern and Contemporary Context

• The Wesleys:     * John Wesley ($1703–1791$): Emphasized monophony and set rules for hymn-singing (lusty, modestly, in time, not too slow).     * Charles Wesley ($1707–1788$): Wrote highly artistic hymn texts that required sophisticated tunes.     * Samuel Sebastian Wesley ($1766–1837$): Grandson of Charles, an Anglican organist famous for the tune AURELIA.
• Large-Scale Choral Works ($18$th-$19$th Centuries):     * J. S. Bach’s B Minor Mass and Passions.     * Handel’s Messiah.     * Mozart’s Requiem.     * Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis.     * Brahms’s German Requiem.     * Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
• Revivalism and Liturgical Movements:     * $19$th-century revivalism used music as an emotional tool for persuasion with little artistic focus.     * The Oxford-Cambridge, Solesmes, and Caecilian movements sought a return to chant with higher artistry.
• Spiritual Traditions:     * White spirituals utilized shape notes.     * Black spirituals were transformed into artistic concert pieces by groups like the Fisk Jubilee Singers.
• Twentieth Century:     * The German Confessing Church used prophetic service music to resist Hitler.     * Music was used in the American fight for justice, though the author notes it was also sometimes misused as a "sales technique."     * Contemporary worship integrates global music from diverse ethnic sources.