Church Music

History > Religion
Music Studies > History
Religion and Theology > Christianity

Church Music

Compares controversies about the music in the Church during the Reformation period to controversies about current church music.

1,190 words () | 10 sources | APA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that controversies have been present in church music throughout history and continue today. The paper points out that members of the Reformation movement were critical of the increasingly elaborate music of the Catholic church service and sought to use music that was simpler and more accessible to the common people. The paper describes this simpler form of worship music known as the Protestant hymn. The paper then discusses universal complaints about church music, such as volume, lyrics used, focus, simplicity and types of instruments played, which continue today.

From the Paper:

"Before the age of microphones, sound systems, and amplifiers, elevating the sound of the worship music was limited to structural acoustics and/or the vocal strength and quantity of the people singing. In almost any given church of today, some sort of electronic amplification can be found. "The music is too deafening" or "the volume of the music is not loud enough" are complaints that might have been uttered after a service 500 years ago."

Sample of Sources Used:

Hanover College. (1995). Sacred music of the reformation. Retrieved August 3, 2007, from: http://history.hanover.edu/courses/art/346mus.html
Hanover College. (1995). The German mass and order of divine service, January 1526. Retreived August 3, 2007, from: http://history.hanover.edu/texts/luthserv.html
Indelible Grace Music. (2002, November). Some thoughts on musical style as it relates to worship and hymns. Retrieved August 2, 2007, from: http://www.igracemusic.com/resource/articles/musicstyle.htm
Kennemur, A. (2001). Music in the church: Pre-reformation, post-reformation, and today. Find Articles. Retrieved August 2, 2007, from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4033/is_200110/ai_n8982805/pg_5
Morrison, J. A. (Ed.). (1994). Martin Luther: The great reformer. Arlington Heights, IL: Christian Liberty Press.