Musica Sacra


Book Description




Anthems


Book Description

Thomas Hastings (1784–1872) was one of the foremost advocates of “reform psalmody,” which sought to replace the “crudities” of the Billings-Read-Holden school of American sacred music with a more graceful melodic style and the common practice harmonic idiom characteristic of European music. The present edition makes available for modern study and performance a selection of Hastings’s choral music, chosen from a single genre—the anthem—to facilitate comparative study, both within his corpus and with similar pieces by others. Hastings’s anthems are typically for four-part mixed choir, with the melody given to the treble (unlike early American psalmody). Many of the works include a keyboard part, either fully notated or in the form of a figured bass.




Glory to God: A Companion


Book Description

This informative resource provides a brief history of each hymn in the popular hymnal Glory to God. Written by one of the foremost hymn scholars today, the Companion explains when and why each hymn was written and provides biographical information about the hymn writers. Church leaders will benefit from this book when choosing hymn texts for every worship occasion. Several indexes will be included, making this a valuable reference tool for pastors, worship planners, scholars, and students, as well as an interesting and engaging resource for music lovers.




Christian Sacred Music in the Americas


Book Description

Christian Sacred Music in the Americas explores the richness of Christian musical traditions and reflects the distinctive critical perspectives of the Society for Christian Scholarship in Music. This volume, edited by Andrew Shenton and Joanna Smolko, is a follow-up to SCSM’s Exploring Christian Song and offers a cross-section of the most current and outstanding scholarship from an international array of writers. The essays survey a broad geographical area and demonstrate the enormous diversity of music-making and scholarship within that area. Contributors utilize interdisciplinary methodologies including media studies, cultural studies, theological studies, and different analytical and ethnographical approaches to music. While there are some studies that focus on a single country, musical figure, or region, this is the first collection to represent the vast range of sacred music in the Americas and the different approaches to studying them in context.







A Companion to the New Harp of Columbia


Book Description

"The shape-note tradition first flourished in the small towns and rural areas of early America. Church-sponsored "singing schools" taught a form of musical notation in which the notes were assigned different shapes to indicate variations in pitch; this method worked well with congregants who had little knowledge of standard musical notation. Today many enthusiasts carry on the shape-note tradition, and The New Harp of Columbia (recently published in a "restored edition" by the University of Tennessee Press) is one of five shape-note singing-manuals still in use."--Jacket.




Musica Ecclesiae, Part 1


Book Description

xxi + 211 pp.Published in three parts, vols. A48, A49, A50




The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music


Book Description

This volume makes available the full range of the American/Canadian musical experience, covering-for the first time in print-all major regions, ethnic groups, and traditional and popular contexts. From musical comedy to world beat, from the songs of the Arctic to rap and house music, from Hispanic Texas to the Chinese communities of Vancouver, the coverage captures the rich diversity and continuities of the vibrant music we hear around us. Special attention is paid to recent immigrant groups, to Native American traditions, and to such socio-musical topics as class, race, gender, religion, government policy, media, and technology.