James Sallee
Published: 1978
Total Pages: 112
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Throughout history men and women have expressed their deepest religious experiences with songs. In this thoroughy researched survey the author examines the development and expansion of gospel music, an often-neglected area in church hymnody research. The author's thesis is that American hymnody has reflected the independence of churchgoers, and that the birth and development of the gospel song coincided with a grass-roots rebellion against traditional religious forms. The chapters cover four broad categories: evangelistic hymnody in the eighteenth century; American departures from psalmody; the culmination of evangelistic hymnody; the gospel song (1875-1975). The appendix contains a musical and textual analysis of the gospel song. A comprehensive bibliography is also included. As the author traces the development of the gospel song, he touches on many of the movements and personalities that shaped American religious history: John and Charles Wesley, camp meeting revivals, George Whitefield, D. L. Moody, the Sunday school movement, Billy Sunday, etc.