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Te Deum: the Church and Music
Written in an instructive yet pastoral style, this guide will appeal to clergy, church musicians, and students of worship and worship music. Te Deum will become a primary classroom text for teaching church music at the college, seminary, and graduate level.
412 pages, Hardcover
First published June 3, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 3, 2012
I wanted to like this book, but it was just too dry. I kept comparing it to Hughes Oliphant Old's Worship: Reformed According to Scripture and found it lacking. Old's book is clear, concise and alive. Westermeyer's felt like I was reading a textbook. There was a lot of good information, but the delivery was not very good and there was not enough clear analysis of what was good and bad within the musical movements and time periods.
May 18, 2012
A good standard work on a vast subject. Westermeyer stays focused throughout and weaves the themes of church music over the centuries. His analysis of current trends is most helpful, as he shows how they are in line with both the arc of church history and the present cultural trends of the church and world at large. A survey beyond the music of the Western church would have enriched the discussion, but that would have made the work unwieldy. Much to praise here.
July 8, 2022
This foundational work surveys the role of music in church history. It also explores music’s interaction with theology. Adopting a chronological scheme, Westermeyer summarizes Christianity’s understanding of music’s significance, from the isolated congregations of the early church, through the cathedrals of the middle ages, to our current digitally-flavored age. In the earliest apostolic period he deals with the lack of musical notation by relating how such key writers as Ambrose conceptualized music. Along the way Westermeyer never shirks from providing necessary technical explanations, whether in music theory or in theology. The work is ambitious, calling for familiarity with multiple disciplines, from hymnody to ethnomusicology to theology to social history. Westermeyer pulls this off with extraordinary precision and smoothness while providing fascinating detail. We learn for instance of the early Church fathers’ criticism of the use of pagan instruments and the music of popular entertainment. The theatre, writes Basil the Great, is nothing less than “a common school of vice.” Augustine famously struggled between the sensual pleasures of music and its ability to lead listeners to devotion. There were similar strains and disagreements over music’s role in every period. Yet throughout its history music is depicted primarily as an expression of Christian worship, one anchored firmly in the Old and New Testaments.
The second half picks up with crucial 18th century developments in England and Wales. This period saw the outpouring of new works by John and Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, John Newton, Willian Cowper, William Williams, Pantycelyn, and Ann Griffiths. By the end of that century the English-speaking world had a considerably enlarged corpus of hymns, most of which were meant to be sung “lustily, modestly, in time with the leaders, not too slow, and spiritually.” A large number of schismatic groups from Europe, from the Moravians to the Bohemian Brethren to Pietists, and Jansenists, also developed unique perspectives on church music. While such leaders as Philip Spener and the Wesleys transcended many of the existing theological categories, they all contributed to a move of the “heart” to center stage in church worship. “Heart religion,” which does not want religion mediated by set forms from the past, would find a welcome reception on the American frontier. A stream of innovations, from singing schools, “catgut churches,” to camp meetings and black spirituals accompanied America’s Great Awakenings in the 18th and 19th centuries. But the move away from liturgical worship would inevitably reassert itself. This trend took shape in the Lutherans’ Common Service of 1888, the Oxford Movement, and the Ecclesiological Society, as well as Pope Pius X’s motu proprio. The result was, inevitably, a further explosion in the number of hymns published, especially at the turn of the 20th century. Westermeyer notes that American religion has always shifted uneasily between these poles of revivalism and the need for normative worship.
Throughout this thorough work Westermeyer nimbly moves from historical accounts to descriptions of musical forms, practices and composers. Yet his primary focus is on the theological import of music in worship. Because of this, many of the events of the late 20th century clearly leave him unsettled. Debates over all kinds of social issues continue to divide and disrupt every denomination and congregation. In terms of musical practice, experiments from the 1960s on saw polka masses and teeny hymns and, more ominously, the wholesale adoption of market standards in the rise of megachurches. Westermeyer offers no simple solution to such cacophonies of this age of the “paradigm shift.” He does provide one abiding consolation, though: a faith that new songs of praise will come forth, for these lie at the heart of worship.
The second half picks up with crucial 18th century developments in England and Wales. This period saw the outpouring of new works by John and Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, John Newton, Willian Cowper, William Williams, Pantycelyn, and Ann Griffiths. By the end of that century the English-speaking world had a considerably enlarged corpus of hymns, most of which were meant to be sung “lustily, modestly, in time with the leaders, not too slow, and spiritually.” A large number of schismatic groups from Europe, from the Moravians to the Bohemian Brethren to Pietists, and Jansenists, also developed unique perspectives on church music. While such leaders as Philip Spener and the Wesleys transcended many of the existing theological categories, they all contributed to a move of the “heart” to center stage in church worship. “Heart religion,” which does not want religion mediated by set forms from the past, would find a welcome reception on the American frontier. A stream of innovations, from singing schools, “catgut churches,” to camp meetings and black spirituals accompanied America’s Great Awakenings in the 18th and 19th centuries. But the move away from liturgical worship would inevitably reassert itself. This trend took shape in the Lutherans’ Common Service of 1888, the Oxford Movement, and the Ecclesiological Society, as well as Pope Pius X’s motu proprio. The result was, inevitably, a further explosion in the number of hymns published, especially at the turn of the 20th century. Westermeyer notes that American religion has always shifted uneasily between these poles of revivalism and the need for normative worship.
Throughout this thorough work Westermeyer nimbly moves from historical accounts to descriptions of musical forms, practices and composers. Yet his primary focus is on the theological import of music in worship. Because of this, many of the events of the late 20th century clearly leave him unsettled. Debates over all kinds of social issues continue to divide and disrupt every denomination and congregation. In terms of musical practice, experiments from the 1960s on saw polka masses and teeny hymns and, more ominously, the wholesale adoption of market standards in the rise of megachurches. Westermeyer offers no simple solution to such cacophonies of this age of the “paradigm shift.” He does provide one abiding consolation, though: a faith that new songs of praise will come forth, for these lie at the heart of worship.
April 26, 2020
Dr. Westermeyer's book contains numerous endnotes and footnotes. So it stands up to the criteria of the academic community he represents. Because textbooks are written for a captive audience attention to the flow, style and focus of the book are all considered secondary. I expected this to be a concise history of church music in Western Christianity. The topic itself is very broad. Some areas are covered in detail and others in brief summaries. Sometimes he disgresses and the original point is lost. He tends to have a flourish in his writing which is distracting and dull. I did learn things from this book and I felt like applauding his conclusions in the postscript. Although the material is sound, reading this was a chore.
April 15, 2022
A truly exceptional history of music in the church. The fact that this textbook is almost pastoral in style is as much a wonder as a boon. I cannot recommend this highly enough. Could be a fun game to peg your church music style as following Ambrose, Pajmbo, or Augustine; or even with thier Reformation era counterparts Buther, Zwingli, or Calvin.
I found the tension between “the people’s song” and the tiniest musical skill to be particularly enlightening when thinking through the history church music. And the brilliant way Westermeyer ties that to Eucharistic theology is as startling as it is profound.
I found the tension between “the people’s song” and the tiniest musical skill to be particularly enlightening when thinking through the history church music. And the brilliant way Westermeyer ties that to Eucharistic theology is as startling as it is profound.
October 18, 2020
Westermeyer excellently takes the reader through the chronology of music within the church throughout history. He Helps give a christocentric as well as historic and upfront view of how each culture and time placed music in the church. He understands music’s purpose in worship to be just that—worship. Rather than a tool for conversion or mere entertainment, the song of the Church is Christ and it stretches across time and space, past, present, and future proclaiming the gospel of our Lord Jesus. I’m a big fan of this book. Great tool for worship leaders. I believe every worship leader and church congregant would benefit from reading it.
March 17, 2016
This book is a survey of music through the Old Testament, New Testament, and 2000 years of Christian history. It is strong in pointing towards some of the main themes of Christian music, and points the reader towards many more specific studies of various topics. But like most surveys, it is a mile wide and an inch deep.
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November 15, 2020A broad and comprehensive history of music in Christian Worship, tracing the American protestant stream until the 20th century. Westermeyer regularly pauses throughout his narrative to reflect on how the musical debates spotting our shared history still resonate with the pastoral issues facing church music today.
February 25, 2008
A comprehensive overview of the history of church music, primarily in the West. Written in an easy-to-read style, with footnotes gallore for you to do your own research.
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June 21, 2013This is a good overview of the history of church music.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews