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 […]
A Short History of Music in the Church Part 6 Read More »
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
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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
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The following post first appeared with Christward Collective last year. The season of Easter draws to a close with the Ascension and Pentecost—the final days of the earthly ministry of Christ and the birthday of the church. There’s a very real sense in which the work of the resurrection is not complete until the ascension
Hymns for Ascension Read More »
The idea of consonance reaches far beyond the idea of pleasant sounds or music. To be sure, consonance in music can be readily expressed and comprehended—partly because we have an innate sense of what accord or agreement should be. However, consonance, or harmoniousness, is a principle that pertains to much of life: health, relationships, society,
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God commands His people to worship and our response to that call is much more about obedience than our feelings. One could argue that when we do not feel like going to church or participating in worship that that is indicative of our very need to do so—to obey the command to worship, to heed
Acting and Feeling Read More »
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
A Short History of Music in the Church, Part 3 Read More »