Protestant churches arose as a result of the Reformation in
the early 16th Century
á The Reformation:
á A protest against Roman Catholic church and various perceived abuses
á Reformers took two paths:
á Churches that stayed close to Roman rites, e.g. Lutheran, Anglican; European music continued to flourish in these churches
á ÒReformedÓ religions including esp. Calvinists: Rejected prescribed liturgy; they also took Bible (and not Church tradition) as central authority
á They especially believed that Òcharming the sensesÓ in the name of religion would not please God (or other earthly works); they were distrustful of music in this setting
European Music of 17th and 18th Centuries
á Prior to the Reformation, there was lots of polyphony in music and lots of instruments were used in church music
á Reformation churches differed from one another in many ways, but all agreed congregational participation was important
á They translated psalm texts (esp. in Calvinist churches), added simple melodies, sung in unison without accompaniment
á Particularly in Calvinist churches, the translated texts of psalms were adapted to metric poetry; collections of this poetry were called Psalters
á The first Psalter in French included melodies; this was Geneva Psalter (1562)
á Geneva Psalter is prototype for Psalters in other languages including English; Pilgrims brought one with them in 1620
á Bay Psalm Book was a Psalter published in Colonies (1640); first indigenous Psalter, first book printed in North America
á Like the Geneva Psalter, Bay Psalm Book contains translations of psalms converted into metered verse; there were 6 metric schemes, with 75% of psalms in this book in one of the six schemes; book also referred users to (48) melodies that fit those meters: tunes could be used interchangeably
á Since they didnÕt have song books, they used a method of presentation called Lining Out. One singer (precentor or cantor) sang line of melody, congregation repeated.
á Precentors were not trained musicians, and the quality of singing in church became very poor, causing the beginning of the singing school movement
Singing School Movement (1720Õs on) (ÒFirst New England SchoolÓ)
á So far, music discussed was written by Europeans; Singing School movement led to composition by local composers or tunesmiths.
á Classes taught by itinerant Òmusic master.Ó
á Classes included
á learning to sing music using syllables,
á how to read music notation,
á learning to keep steady beat and to count
á melodies were needed for instruction; they were written, edited, or collected by tunesmiths and collected in Òtune books.Ó
á Tunesmiths were usually self-taught . Leading tunesmith of the movement was William Billings (1746-1800)
á He was a local farmer, not a trained composer
á He ÒrediscoveredÓ counterpoint: wrote two types: simple round, fuging tune
á Fuging Tune: by this time, hymns could be sung in church; many were made into fuging tunes:
á first line was harmonized Soprano/Alto/Tenor/Bass;
á next was a passage of overlapping entrances that sounds like fugue
á Billings published his first music collection in 1770: The New-England Psalm-Singer (120 songs); published 5 more books over next 25 years.
á Daniel Read (1757-1836) was another tunesmith/composer of fuging tunes
á He taught singing schools, composed and compiled some very influential tune books: The American Singing Book (1785) and The Columbian Harmonist (1793)
á Other famous or interesting tunesmiths/singing masters: Supply Belcher (tavern keeper; moved to Maine and became known as ÒThe Handel of MaineÓ), and Justin Morgan (breeder of Morgan horses)