Music in the History of the Western Church: With an Introduction on Religious Music Among Primitive and Ancient PeoplesDickinson, Edward
History
Music in the History of the Western Church: With an Introduction on Religious Music Among Primitive and Ancient Peoples
Dickinson, Edward
Church music
The musical problem of the non-liturgic Church in America is, therefore,
not one of creation, but of administration. Whatever the mission of the
Church is to be in our national life, the opportunities of its music are
not to be less than of old, but greater. It is evident that the notion of
conviction of sin and sudden conversion is gradually losing the place
which it formerly held in ecclesiastical theory, and is being
supplemented, if not supplanted, by the notion of spiritual nurture. The
Church is finding its permanent and comprehensive task in alliance with
those forces that make for social regeneration; no longer to separate
souls from the world and prepare them for a future state of existence,
but to work to establish the kingdom of God here on earth; not denying
the rights of the wholesome human instincts, but disciplining and
refining them for fraternal service. In this broader sphere art,
especially music, will be newly commissioned and her benign powers
utilized with ever-increasing intelligence. The Church can never recover
the old musical leadership which was wrested from her in the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries by the opera, the choral society, and the
concert system, but in the twentieth she will find means of coöperating
with these institutions for the general welfare.
The council of Carthage in the fourth century laid this injunction upon
church singers: “See that what thou singest with thy lips thou believest
in thy heart; and what thou believest in thy heart thou dost exemplify in
thy life.” This admonition can never lose its authority; back of true
church music there must be faith. There comes, however, to supplement
this ancient warning, the behest from modern culture that the music of
the sanctuary shall adapt itself to the complex and changing conditions
of modern life, and while it submits to the pure spirit of worship it
shall grow continually in those qualities which make it worthy to be
honored by the highest artistic taste. For among the venerable traditions
of the Church, sanctioned by the wisdom of her rulers from the time of
the fathers until now, is one which bids her cherish the genius of her
children, and use the appliances of imagination and skill to add strength
and grace to her habitations, beauty, dignity, and fitness to her
ordinances of worship.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
List of books that are of especial value to the student of church music,
not including works on church history. Books that the author deems of
most importance are marked by a star.
*Ambros. Geschichte der Musik, 5 vols. and index. Leipzig, Leuckart,
1880-1887.
*Archer and Reed (editors). The Choral Service Book. Philadelphia,
General Council Publication Board, 1901.
*Bacon and Allen (editors). The Hymns of Martin Luther set to their
Original Melodies, with an English Version. New York, Scribner, 1883.
Bäumker. Das Katholische-deutsche Kirchenlied. Freiburg, Herder, 1886.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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