O sing unto the Lord : a history of English church music / Andrew Gant ; with a new preface.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gant, Andrew, 1963- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Church music--England.

Church music.

England.

Physical Description:

x, 454 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some color), music ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Chicago : The University of Chicago Press, [2017]

Summary:

For as long as people have worshipped together, music has played a key role in church life. With O Sing unto the Lord, Andrew Gant offers a fascinating history of English church music, from the Latin chant of late antiquity to the great proliferation of styles seen in contemporary repertoires. The ornate complexity of pre-Reformation Catholic liturgies revealed the exclusive nature of this form of worship. By contrast, simple English psalms, set to well-known folk songs, summed up the aims of the Reformation with its music for everyone. The Enlightenment brought hymns, the Methodists and Victorians a new delight in the beauty and emotion of worship. Today, church music mirrors our multifaceted worldview, embracing the sounds of pop and jazz along with the more traditional music of choir and organ. And reflecting its truly global reach, the influence of English church music can be found in everything from masses sung in Korean to American Sacred Harp singing. From medieval chorales to "Amazing Grace," West Gallery music to Christmas carols, English church music has broken through the boundaries of time, place, and denomination to remain familiar and cherished everywhere. Expansive and sure to appeal to all music lovers, O Sing unto the Lord is the biography of a tradition, a book about people, and a celebration of one of the most important sides to our cultural heritage.

Contents:

In the beginning

Music for a new millennium

The fifteenth century: possibilities and promise

Keeping your head: the approach of the Reformaiton, 1509-1547

The children of Henry VIII: Reformation and Counter-reformation, 1547-1558

Church music and society in Elizabeth's England, 1558-1603

Plots, Scots, politics and the beauty of holiness, 1603-1645

Interregnum, 1644-1660

Restoration, 1660-1714

The enlightenment, 1712-1760

West galleries and Wesleys, Methodists and Mendelssohn, 1760-1850

Renewal, 1837-1901

Composers from S.S. Wesley to Elgar, 1830-1934

The splintering of the tradition, 1914-2015.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780226469621

022646962X

OCLC:

958876588