A Brief History of Christian Music

Download or read book A Brief History of Christian Music written by Andrew Wilson-Dickson and published by Lion Books. This book was released on 1997-01-01 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the centuries, some of the most creative musical geniuses have produced works to be performed as part of the life of the Christian church. The result is a great wealth of hymns, anthems, oratorios and other sacred music, from which organists and choirmasters throughout the world draw the hymns and other music for worship today. How has this magnificent tapestry developed? And where does the relatively small part of the pattern with which each Christian tradition is familiar fit into the tremendous variety of the whole? These are among the questions addressed by Andrew Wilson-Dickson in this absorbing account, as he takes the reader through each period of European musical history, as well as the Orthodox tradition, the growing African scene, and the many-sided American picture - North and South.