Singing and the Imagination of Devotion

by Susan Tara Brown

Overview

Using early Anglican and Puritan sources, Singing and the Imagination of Devotion poses questions about the meaning and significance of singing during a seminal period in English culture. While early modern England witnessed many political, cultural and artistic upheavals, it also produced a substantive body of devotional music, ranging in complexity from simple psalm tunes to sophisticated art songs. Controversialists wrangled over the appropriate role of singing in worship at the same time that writers of 'affectionate divinity' gloried in the beauty of Christ and traced the workings of the inner landscape. Period accounts indicate that singing played a vital role in this devotional life, and was specifically cultivated as a means to impress the soul with Christian truths and lead believers to a state of 'heavenly-mindedness'. Singing became viewed as a spiritual balm, kindler of religious passion, and the ultimate embodiment of an innocent and wholesome sensuality. In examining a body of devotional literature which has been neglected by music historians, Brown discerns an aesthetic of singing and vocal expression which has ramifications today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781606083147
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	12/01/2008
Series:	Studies in Christian History and Thought
Pages:	150
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Susan Tara Brown is a musicologist on the faculty of Fullerton College.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ix

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The State of Singing in England c. 1575-1710 9

Chapter 2 Applying the Word 23

The Word 24

The Word in Literature 30

The Word Sung 33

The Personalized Voice 40

Three Examples from the Literature: Hall, Wither, and Bunyan 50

Chapter 3 Sounding the Inner Landscape 57

Background: Music and the Motions of the Soul 57

The Case of Vocal Music 59

'Me thinks I should see his soul ready to fly out of his mouth in an heavenly ravishment': The Verbal Orientation of Early English Protestantism 62

The Anatomy of the Soul 70

Anglican and Puritan Methods of Meditation 72

The Role of Reason 77

The Role of Imagination 80

The Role of the Affections 83

The Voice in Active Contemplation 90

Chapter 4 'This Sacred Sensualitie' 95

Aesthetic Principles 100

Sensory Allusions within the Literature 105

Baxter contra Augustine 108

Reading the Creatures 114

Chapter 5 Through the Gates of Paradise 117

Singing and the Christian Duties 117

'An Entrance into Glory' 120

Conclusion 123

Bibliography 127

Index 137

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

'This book makes me want to take singing lessons—really. Many contemporary churches are wracked by "worship wars" (controversies concerning the complex relation between music and devotion). Here in Susan Brown's book is a history of the early modern relation between these two deep realities that can help us find a way of the discordant sounds of war and into the healing and beautiful sounds of music.'
— Frederick Dale Bruner, Adjunct Professor, School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary.

'While the Christian story was inculcated visually in the Middle Ages, the vernacular proclamation, singing, and reading of Scripture created a radically new soundscape. Drawing together various disciplines for her conclusions in this book, Susan Tara Brown has further undermined the usual contrast of anti-aesthetic Protestantism and an artistically rich Catholicism. Specialists will put this book in their required reading lists and informed lay people will be captivated by the way Brown's narrative opens up this important era.'
— Michael Horton, Professor of Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary, and editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation magazine.

'England's Reformers, Anglican generally and Puritans in particular through the seventeeth century, valued sacred song as a devotional mountaintop. Dr. Brown has written a masterful exploration of the theology, psychology and spirituality which that estimate expressed.'
— James I. Packer, Regent College

Editorial Reviews

'This book makes me want to take singing lessons—really. Many contemporary churches are wracked by "worship wars" (controversies concerning the complex relation between music and devotion). Here in Susan Brown's book is a history of the early modern relation between these two deep realities that can help us find a way of the discordant sounds of war and into the healing and beautiful sounds of music.'
— Frederick Dale Bruner, Adjunct Professor, School of Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary.

'While the Christian story was inculcated visually in the Middle Ages, the vernacular proclamation, singing, and reading of Scripture created a radically new soundscape. Drawing together various disciplines for her conclusions in this book, Susan Tara Brown has further undermined the usual contrast of anti-aesthetic Protestantism and an artistically rich Catholicism. Specialists will put this book in their required reading lists and informed lay people will be captivated by the way Brown's narrative opens up this important era.'
— Michael Horton, Professor of Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary, and editor-in-chief of Modern Reformation magazine.

'England's Reformers, Anglican generally and Puritans in particular through the seventeeth century, valued sacred song as a devotional mountaintop. Dr. Brown has written a masterful exploration of the theology, psychology and spirituality which that estimate expressed.'
— James I. Packer, Regent College

From the Publisher