Designed for the Christian student, this course incorporates the appealing music and activities from Alfred's All-in-One Course with lyrics and illustrations that reflect spiritual and inspirational themes. Students will be exposed to Christian values and principles as well as Biblical lessons while learning basic musicianship skills. This course is most effective when used under the direction of a piano teacher or experienced musician.

The history of American church music is a particularly fascinating and challenging subject, if for no other reason than because of the variety of diverse religious groups that have immigrated and movements that have sprung up in American. Indeed, for the first time in modern history-possibly the only time since the rule of medieval Iberia under the Moors-different faiths have co-existed here with a measure of peace- sometimes ill-humored, occasionally hostile, but more often amicable or at least tolerant-influencing and even weaving their traditions into the fabric of one another's worship practices even as they competed for converts in the free market of American religion. This overview traces the musical practices of several of those groups from their arrival on these shores up to the present, and the way in which those practices and traditions influenced each other, leading to the diverse and multi-hued pattern that is American church music at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The tone is non-technical; there are no musical examples, and the musical descriptions are clear and concise. In short, it is a book for interested laymen as well as professional church musicians, for pastors and seminarians as well as students of American religious culture and its history.

Sacred music is a universal phenomenon of humanity. Where there is faith, there is music to express it. Every major religious tradition and most minor ones have music and have it in abundance and variety. There is music to accompany ritual and music purely for devotion, music for large congregations and music for trained soloists, music that sets holy words and music without words at all. In some traditions-Islamic and many Native American, to name just two--the relation between music and religious ritual is so intimate that it is inaccurate to speak of the music accompanying the ritual. Rather, to perform the ritual is to sing, and to sing the ritual is to perform it. This second edition of Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 800 cross-referenced entries on major types of music, composers, key religious figures, specialized positions, genres of composition, technical terms, instruments, fundamental documents and sources, significant places, and important musical compositions. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about sacred music.

Originally published in 1927. This book recounts the story of the long development of Christian Hymnody, so far as it is illustrated by the contents of the revised Church Hymnary. It provides a continuous narrative setting out its contetnts in historical perspective. Contents include: The Church's First Heritage of Song: The Psalms - Hymns of The New Testament - Hymns From The Days of The Great Persecutions - A New Hymnody Is Born Of Controversy In The East - Ambrose Of Milan And The Pioneers of The West - Gregory of the Great And his Contemporaries - The Monasteries And Some Immortal Hymns We Owe To Them - Nameless Poets And Musicians Of The Cloisters - What The Friars Bequeathed to Us - How Martin Luther Started The Popular Hymn - How German Religious Life After Luther Is reflected In Its Hymns - Why The Reformed Church Did Not Use Hymns - The Battle of The Psalters In England - The Metrical Psalters Of Scotland - How The Psalters Led The Way To Paraphrases And Hymns - The Gathering Stream of English Hymnody - How Isaac Watts Opened the Sluice Gartes To Let The Stream Flow Free - The Great Revival: The Wesleys and Their New Song - The great Revival: The Hymns of the Calvinists - The Romantic Revival - The Oxford movement - Main Currents in Nineteenth Century Hymnody - The American Contribution - Some Distinctive Notes In Twentieth Century Hymnody.

The only sourcebook that provides information necessary to make "Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete" a useful research tool and an aid to the study of popular culture in the United States during the last half of the 19th century. For the first time, students and scholars will have access, in a single source, to biographical, historical, and bibliographical data concerning the writers of the hymn texts, the composers of the hymn tunes, and the various routes by which the hymns found their way onto the pages of that large collection of gospel and traditional hymnody. DEGREES"Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete" contains 739 songs gathered from a series of six earlier published works.

The data in this volume will add to the breadth and depth of "Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete" and thus, for the first time, identify the significance of its contributions to the history of American culture. A strong introduction establishes the historical significance of the collection of gospel hymns and songs. The entries for both the authors of the words and the composers of the music are arranged alphabetically, followed by the dates of birth and death (if known), a biographical sketch, and references to the number of the hymn, its title, first line, and accompanying tune. Dates of composition and initial publication are included where possible.

Exploring the parallel development of the brass band movement and religious fervor in late 19th-century America, this work includes illustrations from original materials as well as scores for 22 works. While the choral tradition has remained strong in churches, in this earlier period both choral and instrumental forms were equally popular. This study begins with solo cornet parts, used by men like George Ives to lead the singing at revival meetings, and ends with an extensive band arrangement of Pleyel's Hymn. Extensive historical notes, old-time illustrations, and sacred music make this a most interesting and useful reference book. An enormous amount of music was written and arranged for the popular brasswinds at the time, some of which was sacred music for the church. Changing taste and secularism resulted in the loss of the entire body of written and arranged sacred music for brass, once as cherished in church performance as the choral tradition is today. For scholars and performers interested in the variety of music produced in the United States during the 19th century.

Tawa considers the musical and social ramifications influencing the American composer between 1950 and 1985. He draws information from composers, music reviewers, and from his own listening experiences. Tawa's common theme is the gulf between what the composer (or critic) says about the music and how the public experiences it. . . . More than 50 composers are considered. . . . Tawa . . . goes beyond biographical detail to help the reader to `understand the reasons for the deep abyss separating contemporary composer and listener'. Choice The decades following World War II witnessed an explosion of musical creativity in America. Unfortunately, they also witnessed a widening abyss between the contemporary composer and his or her audience. Confusion on the part of the modern listener is an all-too-frequent phenomenon when he or she is confronted by the extraordinary profusion of contemporary musical styles. This useful volume is intended to relieve some of that confusion. Insightful commentaries and a highly readable text combine to focus on all contemporary musical styles from the most traditional to the most experimental in relation to modern American life. Taking the position that music is a transaction between creator/composer and listener, the author considers ways in which each faction may become more aware of the other's imperatives, thereby sponsoring a new and mutually meaningful music.