Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Nov/77

Contributor - Herman Mulder

Title - Part 1 - The Early Christian Church

Topic - The Growth of Sacred Music PART 1

"All creatures of our God and King Lift up your voice and with us sing, Alleluia ! Alleluia !"

The music rises to the rafters of the church. The congregation is standing, hymn books firmly clasped in their hands, mouths wide open, heads tilting back as they sing the alleluias. The organist is involved in his usual task - being louder than the congregation without becoming offensive.

Hymns are an integral part of our church service; they are the lifeblood of our religion. "A Mighty Fortress is our God", "Abide with me", "Now thank we all our God", "Onward Christian Soldiers", the mere mention of these hymns sends the melodies thundering through one's head.

As far as we know, music was an important part of the Christian Church from its earliest days. The Christian Church established itself in Rome after the fall of the Roman Empire. Historians tell us that the music of the early church had many influences Greek, Hebrew, Syrian, Oriental. Hellenistic - to name -a few.

The worship services of the earliest Christians were closely modelled on the Jewish synagogue services. Like them, they included readings from the Holy books, psalms, hymns, prayers, and almsgiving. Among the Hebrews, psalms were sung in alternation between a soloist and the congregation. The leader sang the first line -of each psalm verse and the congregation responded by singing the second line.

"Bless the Lord, 0 my soul And all that is within me, bless his Holy name

Bless the Lord, 0 my soul And forget not all his benefits."

Still another usage inherited by the early Church from the Jewish service was the reciting of certain passages of Scripture by a soloist, using certain melodic formulas. This chanting became an important part of the Catholic service.

Hymn singing is the earliest recorded musical activity of the Christian Church (Matthew 26 : 30); Mark 14 :26). The apostle Paul told the Ephesians to be filled with the Spirit by "speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." It is likely that some of the hymns of the early Church were sung to what would now be called folk melodies.

The oldest surviving example of Christian church music is a hymn of praise to the Trinity, with Greek words and in Greek vocal notation, found on papyrus at the site of the ancient Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchos. The date of the papyrus is toward the end of the third century.

Many monasteries became the centres of the early Christian Church. The monks further developed and eventually refined much of the early Christian music. Much of the music used in the worship service was sung by the choir. The congregation only participated during the singing of responses, such as "amen" or "alleluia". Such refrains were chanted responsively after the choir sang the psalm. These responses developed into elaborate independent song types and once again were sung by the choir rather than the congregation.

From the fifth to the seventh centuries, with ever greater numbers of converts and ever growing riches, the Church began to build large basilicas. The music became more sophisticated. The post of Cantor, or chief solo singer (an institution inherited from the synagogue) was officially established; boy choirs, common at Jerusalem by the beginning of the fifth century, were introduced in the West; by the eighth century there existed at Rome a "Schola Cantorum", a definite group of singers and teachers entrusted with the training of boys and men as church musicians.

With the music wealth increasing it became necessary to assemble the ever growing body of chants into an organized liturgy. The task extended over several generations, but is traditionally associated with Pope Gregory the Great, who reigned from 590 to 604. The Gregorian chants are one of the great treasures of Western civilization. They stand as a monument to medieval man's religious faith; they were the source and inspiration of a large proportion of all Western music up to the sixteenth century.

The foundation of sacred music was laid, all it needed was a reformation to set it ablaze and make it the lifeblood of our services as we know it today.

Next month Part 2 "Christmas is a Time for Singing".

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