Intergenerational Worship and Congregational Singing

Recognizing the broad potential of singing as a facilitator of moral instruction, academic learning, and societal participation, New Hampshire native Asa Fitz (1810–1878) was committed to advancing music and music education. A prolific publisher, editor, and author, he was involved in the production of dozens of works filled with songs and music, designed to further everything from reform movements to congregational singing, spiritualism to family life. As a singing master and music teacher, he instructed both children and other teachers, promoting his song books, his instructional techniques, his personal principles, and his overriding belief that everyone could, and should, learn to sing. Yet, for all that he was well known during his lifetime, little scholarly attention has been paid to the man, his philosophical underpinnings, or his disparate publications. This article focuses on the development of his “new system of figured music,” culminating with the publication of School Songs for the Million! in 1850. It briefly reviews the concept and expressions of alternate systems of musical notation in early to mid-nineteenth-century America and then places Fitz within that context, as he created, developed, and promoted his system to children and teachers. Though School Songs for the Million! was not as commercially successful as some of his other titles, it serves to demonstrate Fitz’s willingness to experiment with unconventional and controversial ideas in an effort to advance participation in music.

Download Full-text

Eileen Southern

Popular Music ◽

10.1017/s026114300300326x ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 378-379

Author(s):

David Horn

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

African American ◽

Black Americans ◽

American Music ◽

Black Music ◽

College Administration ◽

Music Department ◽

African American Music ◽

Congregational Singing ◽

Renaissance Music

Eileen Southern, who died in Florida in October 2002, was widely recognised as a pre-eminent figure in the study of African-American music. Her seminal history, The Music of Black Americans, first published in New York in 1971, was the first academic study to give serious scholarly attention to the totality of African-American music – from the congregational singing of slaves to all-black Broadway musicals, from blues and jazz to experimental composers – and was hugely influential. Resolutely unpolemical and meticulously balanced, it did more to establish the validity of the subject in the academy than any other single book. It had its genesis in a course which Dr Southern (who had a Ph.D. in Renaissance music from Harvard) developed in the late 1960s at Brooklyn College. She herself later described how she was put under pressure to devise the course by a college administration somewhat desperate to find ways to meet the demands of black students for the inclusion of Black Studies in the curriculum. The idea met with disbelief among colleagues in the music department, and the particular scorn of an unnamed Englishman, holder of a Ph.D. in musicology from Oxford, who opined that a course in black music presented ‘nothing of substance to deal with’. Declaring ‘I'll show them’, a furious Eileen Southern was determined to design a course that demonstrated the range of black music. The result turned out to be so rich that a more sympathetic colleague suggested one day to Dr Southern that she turn the course into a book – and The Music of Black Americans was the result (Standifer, n.d.).

Download Full-text

Die lied in die erediens: Die rol wat dit gespeel het in die Afskeiding in 1859 in Suid-Afrika

In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi ◽

10.4102/ids.v33i4.645 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 33 (4) ◽

Author(s):

H.A. Louw

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Old Testament ◽

Eastern Cape Province ◽

Eastern Cape ◽

The North ◽

North Eastern ◽

Congregational Singing ◽

The Church

The role of hymns in public worship and the influence it had on the Schism in 1859 in South Africa During the Middle Ages congregational singing was replaced by choir singing. Both Luther and Calvin agreed that the members of the congregation should actively participate in the worship service by means of song. Calvin limited congregational songs to the Psalms of the Old Testament. The church in Netherlands followed his example, but added some hymns, excluding the Apostles Creed, that comprises also lyrical parts from Scripture. In 1807 a hymn book was implemented and used in the Netherlands. This was one of the reasons for the Schism which took place in 1834. During 1814 the hymn book was implemented in the Cape resulting in discontent in the border districts. Some discontented people took part in the Great Trek. A congregation mainly consisting of these people was established in Rustenburg in 1859. In this congregation only Psalms were sung during services. Soon Reformed congregations having the same objections regarding hymns came into being in the Free State and the north-eastern Cape Province. For the founder of these congregations, Rev. D. Postma, the singing of free hymns was a mediance matter. For the “Doppers” as the conservative people were called, the singing of Psalms only was a serious matter of principle. Times have changed and the Reformed Churches in South Africa will have to reflect whether it is really a matter of principle to sing Old Testament Psalms only. The suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ should also be celebrated in song. The existing 48 scriptural lyrics do not satisfy these requirements. Free hymns of the other Afrikaans churches will definitely have to be taken into consideration.

Download Full-text