If music be the food of love

17 February 2017

This month we look at different styles of musical accompaniment. 

The Dictionary includes many articles on composition, notation and musical styles: to explore this topic further start with the category musical topics.  

Accompaniment
We do not know how hymns were performed in early Christian times. The first clear sign of instrumental accompaniment was the introduction of organs to the liturgy in the 10th century...

Craft of composing hymn tunes
Composers often use contrafacta, matching a new text with existing music, especially folk tunes from an oral tradition, to form localized Christian identity and thereby creating hymns that are relevant, meaningful and heartfelt. However, the success of such undertaking depends on...

Jazz and congregational song, USA
Although not the first to bring jazz into the church, bandleader and composer Duke Ellington was a major promoter of sacred jazz through his ‘sacred concerts’, which featured his song ‘Come Sunday’...

Gresford   
Gresford is the name of a British hymn tune without words, to be played (usually by a brass band) while the congregation are silent in memory of a tragic event. It was written in the north-east of England in 1936...