Sacred music has long contributed fundamentally to the making of Europe. The passage from origin myths to history, the sacred journeys that have mobilized pilgrims, crusaders, and colonizers, the politics and power sounded by the vox populi all have joined in counterpoint to shape Europe s historical longue duree. Drawing upon three decades of research in European sacred music, Philip V. Bohlman calls for a reexamination of European modernity in the twenty-first century, a modernity shaped no less by canonic religious and musical practices than by the proliferation of belief systems that today more than ever respond to the diverse belief systems that engender the New Europe. In contrast to most studies of sacred musical practice in European history, with their emphasis on the musical repertories and ecclesiastical practices at the center of society, Bohlman turns our attention to individual and marginalized communities and to the collectives of believers to whose lives meaning accrues upon sounding the sacred together. In the historical chapters that open Revival and Reconciliation, Bohlman examines the genesis of modern history in the convergence and conflict that lie at the heart of the Abrahamic faiths Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Critical to the meaning of these religions to Europe, Bohlman argues, has been their capacity to mobilize both sacred journey and social action, which enter the everyday lives of Europeans through folk religion, pilgrimage, and politics, the subjects of the second half of his study. The closing sections then cross the threshold from history into modernity, above all that of the New Europe, with its return to religion through revival and reconciliation. Based on an extensive ethnographic engagement with the sacred landscapes and sites of conflict in twenty-first-century Europe, Bohlman calls in his final chapters for new ways of hearing the silenced voices and the full chorus of sacred music in our contemporary world. Ethnomusicologists from different traditions as well as scholars of religious studies and the history of modern Europe will find Revival and Reconciliation a fascinating exploration of the connections between sacred music and the role it plays in the formations of the modern self."

This book explores the alliance of theology and music in the Christian liturgical tradition, interrogating the challenges posed by the gendered nature of church leadership in many areas of its life. It examines the relationship between theology, spirituality and music, concentrating on women's perceptions of these. The title draws on the Report of the Archbishop's Commission on Church Music from 1992 which was entitled In Tune with Heaven. It questions the absence of women's voices and experiences from the literature and attempts to redress this. It sets out the values that underpin Christian musical liturgical traditions primarily in Europe and the USA with a view to understanding where women are situated within or outside these traditions. It draws on material from many interviews with contemporary practitioners from a variety of contexts. It does not set out to be a definitive history of women in these traditions but simply to give some small vignettes that illustrate a variety of positions that they have occupied in various denominations - and thus make their often hidden contributions more visible.

Each of the six movements of this fine suite is an exquisite character sketch based on a Psalm text. The movements are easily diverse enough to make the entire suite a very satisfying, and indeed virtuosic, recital piece. The highly original language is replete with piquant harmonies and bracing rhythms, and the composer explores a wide variety of organ texture with great deftness.

Resounding Transcendence is a pathbreaking set of ethnographic and historical essays by leading scholars exploring the ways sacred music effects cultural, political, and religious transitions in the contemporary world. With chapters covering Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist practices in East and Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, North America, the Caribbean, North Africa, and Europe, the volume establishes the theoretical and methodological foundations for music scholarship to engage in current debates about modern religion and secular epistemologies. It also transforms those debates through sophisticated, nuanced treatments of sound and music - ubiquitous elements of ritual and religion often glossed over in other disciplines. Resounding Transcendence confronts the relationship of sound, divinity, and religious practice in diverse post-secular contexts. By examining the immanence of transcendence in specific social and historical contexts and rethinking the reified nature of "religion" and "world religions," these authors examine the dynamics of difference and transition within and between sacred musical practices. The work in this volume transitions between traditional spaces of sacred musical practice and emerging public spaces for popular religious performance; between the transformative experience of ritual and the sacred musical affordances of media technologies; between the charisma of individual performers and the power of the marketplace; and between the making of authenticity and hybridity in religious repertoires and practices. Broad in scope, rich in ethnographic and historical detail, and theoretically ambitious, Resounding Transcendence is an essential contribution to the study of music and religion.

for SSATB and organ This attractive and uplifting anthem sets the text of the Eastertide Vidi aquam antiphon. Different parts of the text are treated to contrasting musical ideas, including extended melismatic upper-voice passages and mainly homophonic full-choir sections, and the undulating organ part represents the flowing water of the text. A welcome addition to a service or concert programme for all fans of Gabriel Jackson's music. Commissioned by the Friends of Lincoln Cathedral for their 75th anniversary and first performed by the Choir of Lincoln Cathedral with Charles Harrison (organ), directed by Aric Prentice, on 25 June 2011.

The 20th century, especially the latter decades, was a time of explosive growth and importance in hymnody, and yet published material about the hymnody of this period has been scattered and difficult to come by. The present volume catalogues and categorizes the available writings to guide students and scholars in their research. Furthermore, this reference does not depend primarily on the view of the author/compiler, but guides users toward a broad spectrum of viewpoints about 20th-century hymnody. Listing the principal writings on the repertory, language, practice, and people of hymnody during the last century, this annotated bibliography offers students and researchers alike a handy reference for a vast and varied field.

Beginning with a unique introduction to and summary of hymnody in the 20th century, Music arranges the entries by topic, dividing each chapter by helpful subject headings. The repertory of the twentieth century, and language issues are discussed. Practical elements of hymnody are covered, while the final chapter lists writings about individual hymn writers and other influential persons in the field. Music provides a brief annotation for each entry and uses numerous cross-references, guiding the reader to relevant material in other sections of the book. A comprehensive index concludes this essential reference.

Unique yet diverse in its approach, The Crucifixion in Music examines how text is set in music through the specific musicological period from 1680 to 1800. The treatise focuses specifically on the literary text of the Crucifixus from the Credo of the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Mass. Combining analytical theory and method to address musical rhetoric, semiotics, and theory, author Jasmin Cameron follows the Crucifixion through many settings in Baroque and Classical music. In this first title in Scarecrow Press's new series, Contextual Bach Studies, Cameron studies musical representations of the text, first through a discussion that establishes a theoretical framework, then by applying the framework to individual case studies, such as Johann Sebastian Bach's B Minor Mass. By studying the musical representation of the text, and the concepts and contexts to which the words refer, Cameron examines the way the treatment of a literary text fuses into a recognizable musical tradition that composers can follow, develop, modify, or ignore. With equal time given to the settings of the Crucifixus by composers before and after Bach's time, the reader is provided with a fuller historical context for Bach's genius. Cameron also combines the beliefs of past theorists with those of today, reaching a common ground among them, and providing a basis and analytical framework for further study.

Milton, Music and Literary Interpretation: Reading through the Spirit constructs a musical methodology for interpreting literary text drawn out of John Milton's poetry and prose. Analyzing the linkage between music and the Holy Spirit in Milton's work, it focuses on harmony and its relationship to Milton's theology and interpretative practices. Linking both the Spirit and poetic music to Milton's understanding of teleology, it argues that Milton uses musical metaphor to capture the inexpressible characteristics of the divine. The book then applies these musical tools of reading to examine the non-trinitarian union between Father, Son, and Spirit in Paradise Lost, argues that Adam and Eve's argument does not break their concord, and puts forward a reading of Samson Agonistes based upon pity and grace.