Opinions on Church Music: Comments and Reports from Four and a Half Centuries

The place of music in worship has varied widely throughout the centuries. In the last two decades,music for the church has undergone drastic changes in style, in function, and in the attitudes of the people who perform it and listen to it. Understanding these changes is easier if we know the viewpoints of the past.

Opinions on Church Music will help the reader do just that. In a representative selection of letters, essays, sermons, memoirs, dedications, prefaces, and other documents taken from the writings of musicians, critics, historians, clergymen, and the lay public, this anthology reflects a wide range of reactions to the musical scene as it touches upon the church.

From Erasmus's criticism of choirboys to Stephen Koch's evaluation of Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, Dr. Wienandt has brought into focus a picture of the changing course of music with a religious message.