- Christians began to develop their own hymnody
after the DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWISH TEMPLE in 70 CE
- The earliest Christian hymns are
NEW TESTAMENT HYMNS and are so intricately woven with
scripture as to be mostly indistinguishable.
- The earliest Christian hymns probably developed
in association with the primitive Eucharist (Lord's Supper) where
complete hymns (such as CANTICLES)
would have been sung by individuals with the congregation joining
in responses.
- After about 300 CE, hymn traditions started developing
separately in the Eastern (Greek/Byzantine) and Western (Latin)
Churches [See Languages
of the Early Church]. After the GREAT
SCHISM (1054 CE), the two traditions are totally separate.
- The study of Christian hymnody to around 300
CE is mainly the study of GREEK
HYMNODY.
- The study of Christian hymnody between 300 - 900
CE is the study of both GREEK
HYMNODY and LATIN
HYMNODY. [See Languages
of the Early Church]
- The study of GREEK
HYMNODY is mainly the study of the hymnody of the GREEK
ORTHODOX CHURCH and is associated with the study of BYZANTINE
music. However, there are other “orthodox” traditions:
COPTIC
(Egyptian), SYRIAN,
ETHIOPIAN, RUSSIAN,
SERBIAN,
ARMENIAN....
- The study of Christian hymnody between about 900
- 1500 CE is the study of LATIN
HYMNODY in the ROMAN
CATHOLIC CHURCH.
- With the advent of the PROTESTANT
REFORMATION in the 1500's, the study of Christian hymnody
is mainly the study of PROTESTANT HYMNODY.
- With the success of the PROTESTANT
REFORMATION, there was a COUNTER
REFORMATION in the ROMAN
CATHOLIC CHURCH which resulted in the COUNCIL
OF TRENT in 1545-1563. This codified ROMAN CATHOLIC
LITURGY AND MUSIC (including hymnody) until the SECOND
VATICAN COUNCIL in 1962-1965. Consequently, the study
of ROMAN CATHOLIC HYMNODY from about 1500 to 1965 becomes
a specialized study with few major developments (for example the
"Cecilia
Movement" during the late 19th and early 20th centuries).
- Metrical
Psalmody was the mainstay of English hymnody from about 1550
- 1700.
- Isaac Watts
was mainly responsible for the introduction and popularization
of true hymns in the English Protestant tradition through his
paraphrased psalms and hymns [Hymns and Spiritual Songs,
1707; Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New
Testament - 1719].
- Charles
Wesley and those who were influenced by him were responsible
for the development of the Evangelical hymn after about 1750.
- By 1830, the popularity of the Evangelical
hymn in England gave rise to alarm among the Established
Church of England. Through the influence of the Oxford
Movement, a new type of Liturgical
hymn developed and became the mainstay of non-evangelical
churches.
- Early American Protestant hymnody to about 1700
was more or less identical with it's European antecedents, particularly
Metrical Psalmody,
and Lutheran and
Anabaptist
hymnody. Lutheran and Anabaptist hymnody have their own specialized
traditions because the majority of Lutheran and Anabaptist hymnals
were printed in German or other Scandinavian languages. Consequently,
the study of American hymnody after about 1700 is primarily the
study of hymns in the English language.
- A New England 'Singing
School' movement developed after about 1720 in an effort to
improve congregational singing. This gave rise to a 'school' of
American composers who produced many Singing School manuals.
- Singing
Schools became extremely popular throughout New England and
eventually spread to the South through the Shenandoah Valley of
Virginia as settlers began to move 'westward' after about 1815.
- In America from about 1865-1880, the combination
of folk hymnody,
camp
meeting hymnody, Sunday
School hymnody, and popular secular music influenced by American
Romanticism came together with the development of the Gospel
Song.
- Gospel
hymnody became popular in the United States in last decade
of the 19th century and grew in popularity through the 1st half
of the 20th century in part as a result of the success of the
revivalist movement and the success of a plethora of gospel hymn
publishing companies. By about 1920, 'gospel hymn' or 'gospel
song' was generally recognized as a specific type of hymn associated
with a specific style of music (see New Baptist Hymnal,
1926).
- Together, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians,
Episcopalians, and Lutherans comprised by far the majority of
non-Roman Catholic Christian groups. Methodists and Baptists printed
gospel songs along with mainline hymns in their hymnals as early
as the 1920's. Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Lutherans did
not. Although, it was not uncommon for individual congregations
to supplement their 'official' denominational hymnal with one
or more of the popular gospel song collections.
- Few great English language mainline hymns were
written between about 1900 - 1960 (here we are not considering
the gospel
hymn tradition). But since about 1965 some of the greatest
hymns in the English language have been written -- in EITHER style
(mainline or gospel). This period is known as the NEW
ENGLISH RENAISSANCE and the phenomenon has also been called
the "HYMN EXPLOSION".
- In the early 20th century, Afro-American
gospel hymnody was indistinguishable from other gospel hymnody
as represented by gospel hymns appearing in print. However after
1930, Afro-American gospel hymnody developed separately with the
influence of blues, the introduction of the Hammond Organ, the
growth in the popularity of the "Jubilee" style of singing,
and the growth of pentecostalism
in many Afro-American churches.
- Gospel
hymnody grew in popularity during the latter half of the
20th century, paralleling the growth in the number of churches
espousing Christian fundamentalism
and pentecostalism.
A direct outgrowth of this was the creation of a "Contemporary-style"
worship service which predominantly uses contemporary-Christian
music (see 20th
Century Gospel) and praise-and-worship
music, both of which evolved from the gospel
music tradition.
- After World War II, two separate "communities"
in Europe spontaneously created a new type of church song based
to a large degree on ancient chant and folk music: the Tieze
Community in France and the Iona
Community in Scotland. Although there is no connection
between these two communities in terms of how they originated,
both have explored the traditions of contemplative
prayer
and meditation as well as experimenting with new musical
forms. The congregational song from these two communities has
grown in popularity, particularly in the United States, and has
resulted in its own type of "contemporary" worship style.
This style of contemporary service has become an alternative for
mainline churches not interested in fundamentalism
and/or gospel
music. In addition, many of these mainline churches have
also developed a growing interest in contemplative
prayer
and meditation.
- In the last decade of the 20th century (and continuing
in the 21st century) many churches have struggled with which type
of worship style is best suited to their needs. The main struggle
seems to be between "traditional" vs. "contemporary",
particularly as it relates to the MUSICAL STYLE:
1. those who want to continue with the traditional
styles of worship practiced in the past as exemplified by such
things as pipe organs, hymn books and traditional
hymns or new hymns written in a traditional (i.e., classical)
style. The American
Guild of Organists has established goals and principles
for preserving traditional (i.e., Western European) forms of
worship. Here is an excerpt from their "Declaration of
Religious Principles" :
"... We believe that at all times and in
all places it is our duty to work and pray for the advancement
of Divine Worship in the holy gifts of strength and nobleness;
to the end that God's house may be purged of its blemishes,
that the minds of all may be instructed, that the honor of
that house may be guarded in our time, and in the time to
come..." (see the complete statement here
or here).
2. those who want to move to a contemporary service
exemplified by instruments other than a pipe organ (especially
electronic instruments and drums), easily memorized
choruses or projected lyrics, no hymnbooks (or
indeed, nothing held in the hand), and a contemporary musical
style such as contemporary Christian music or "new-age
music" (what an unfortunate term).
- As described above, "contemporary" does
not mean the same thing to everyone. For churches in a fundamentalist
or pentecostal
tradition it means contemporary GOSPEL complete with "worship
team", "worship leader", "praise band"
(and in particular, DRUMS -- as in a drum set in
a pop/rock band) and overhead projector for "lyrics"
so that hymnbooks are not necessary. For mainline churches it
might mean contemporary (often experimental) classical, folk
and/or new-age music, liturgical movement (dance),
labyrinths, Tieze
and/or Iona chants
and choruses, artworks, banners, etc.
- A compromise of sorts seems to have been reached
in many churches as they practice a style of worship called BLENDED
WORSHIP -- a mix of all styles.
- The phenomenon of the struggle between worship
styles (often in the same church) has been called worship wars
and seems to be dominating the discussion in liturgics, worship,
and church music. This is having a profound effect on the kind
and scope of congregational song here at the start of the 21st
century.
See Felix
Hell and the Worship War
See The
Worship Wars
See Menu
Driven Worship
See Worship
Essay #1
See Hymns
to Choruses
See Christianity
101 - God Centered Worship