Baptist Congregational Song

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David W. Music is a professor of church music at Baylor University. As a researcher in hymnology he wrote several articles and books related to music history and congregational song. Paul A. Richardson teaches voice and church music at Samford University. He was also the president of the Hymn Society in the United States and Canada. In this chapter, Music and Richardson point out specific historical characteristics that describe the development of the Sunday school song and the gospel song during the nineteenth and twentieth century in America. According to them, these two styles of congregational song are closely related, and they are significant components of Baptist congregational song (307). Therefore, the authors’ purpose is to illustrate …show more content…

First, they explain the influences of the camp meeting hymns and the revival movements in America during the early nineteenth century (307). According to them, the revival movement had a significant impact on congregational song since several collections of revival hymns were created, such as the Christian Lyre and Village Hymns (308). They also assert that the camping meeting hymns were based on folk hymns and secular folk songs. Moreover, the authors describe the origins and the purpose of the Sunday school that initially, was focused on children (310). They explain the development of the Sunday school song in the North and in the south of the United States and according to them, the Sunday school tune style emerged in the 1860’s. The Sunday school tunes could be described as simple melodies based on basic harmony, repetitive rhythms, and simple meters …show more content…

The authors accomplish their goals by illustrating and discussing a list of hymn collections and their compilers’ contribution to congregational song (322, 337-338). This list reinforces the authors’ thesis that the Sunday school song and the gospel song play an indispensable role in the current America Baptist hymnody. Moreover, the author’s sources of study are reliable and concrete since those hymnals and collections are fundamental resources that confirm the history and the uniqueness of the American Baptist hymnody. Although the authors consider the influence of the camp meeting hymns on the Sunday school song and the gospel song, they could also explore with more details the major aspects that motivated the camping meetings and its developments on congregational song (307-308). This, would clarify their studies, by enriching the discussion and adding more complete information to the work. Nonetheless, further research on the topic is necessary to strengthen the authors’

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