Untune that String. What happens when we disconnect music from the created cosmos? In this final Sunday School lesson from Cornerstone Presbyterian, I cover the implications and attitudes that result when music becomes more about personal expression than a reflection of the order of creation. “Take but degree away, untune that string,And hark what discord …
Rise of Hymnody To understand the changes and developments in church music, we start with the ideas of Humanism, the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and Revivalism and what impact these movements had on what we sing. In addition to Gospel hymns, the role of the great 19th century hymn text translators and the publication of Hymns Ancient …
Reformation and Worship in Leipzig under Bach Leading up to a quick summary of the music of the Reformation and beyond, I cover the ideas of biblical craftsmanship and some of the ways that the Enlightenment began to shift the idea and focus of music. Calvin, Zwingli, English Puritans, and Luther express their various thoughts …
The Advent of Harmony and Polyphony In this lesson, I cover the advent of harmonypolyphony as well as the different kinds of music—from monophony to homophony to polyphony. Aspects of the Ars Antiqua, Ars Nova and notation are covered. In addition, I reference the idea of thematically linked compositions of liturgy and use the Franklin …
Codification of Church Music In this Sunday School Lesson on Church music from Cornerstone Presbyterian, we go through a quick overview of liturgical and musical reforms by Ambrose and Gregory, Augustine and Boethius. This includes the parts of the mass and how they were linked to Psalms and Scripture readings as well as the idea …
From Synagogue to Early Church Recently, I had the opportunity of teaching a short Sunday School series here at Cornerstone Presbyterian. The topic was a short history of music in the Church. The goal was to give an overview of how music has historically been used in the Church but more importantly to lay a …