The development of plainchant
Little is known of the earliest forms of sacred music as most notated pieces have not survived. Music in the early Christian church probably had much in common with the Jewish music found in the synagogue. By the 6th century, Gregorian chant emerged as the dominant form of worship music in the Western Church. Named after Pope Gregory I, these chants were sung a cappella (unaccompanied) by priests in churches and chapels and monks and nuns in monasteries and abbeys all over Europe for centuries. It is likely that the singers would have committed a vast repertoire to memory, as they were not written down until the 9th century.
The chants vary in complexity and style. They are monophonic (made up of a singly melodic line) and based on the eight church modes (scales each with a unique range and arrangement of tones and semitones). There is evidence from the 9th century that some singers may have ‘harmonised’ chant by singing a ‘in parallel’ a perfect fourth below the plainchant melody.
Hildegard of Bingen is the most well-known composer of sacred music from the 12th century and her works represent the earliest surviving notated music by a named composer. She ran a convent near Bingen, in modern-day Germany, composing sacred music for the other members of the convent to sing during worship. Like plainchant, her music is monophonic but is more expansive and ambitious than most liturgical plainchant.
The dawn of polyphony
This new musical style, polyphony (multi-voiced music with rhythmically independent vocal lines), probably grew out of improvised embellishments to plainchant. Early composers include Léonin and Pérotin, who worked at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris in the twelfth century. By the 13th century, polyphony was sung in cathedrals, churches and chapels across Europe, particularly for festivals and other important occasions. Plainchant, however, was not completely superseded. Indeed, much polyphonic music of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance is based on plainchant melodies.
Polyphony reached its zenith during the late Renaissance with composers such as Giovanni Pierluigi of Palestrina, whose output is considered a pinnacle of sacred music. Although popular from an aesthetic perspective, polyphonic music was sometimes met with resistance by those who feared it might obscure the meaning of the liturgical text, a key consideration for any religious music.
The Reformation
Protestant reformers were keen to involve congregations more actively in worship. This led to the introduction not only of singing in the vernacular, rather than exclusively in Latin (as was the case within the Catholic tradition) but also the development of congregational singing. In Lutheran Germany, this took the form of hymns (often known as chorales): metrical texts set to simple tunes that are easy to join in singing. Many chorale texts were written by Martin Luther himself and the melodies were either specially composed or ‘borrowed’ from popular secular melodies of the day.
In England, the earliest type of congregational music were ‘metrical psalms’, versions of psalm texts presented in meter and verse. A famous example is the hymn ‘The Lord’s My Shepherd’, a metrical version of Psalm 23. Hymns based on non-biblical texts became popular with the rise of Methodism in the eighteenth century and found their way into Anglican worship during the nineteenth century.
There was still a place for choral music and polyphony within the Protestant tradition. In mainland Europe, composers such Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and Heinrich Schütz composed complex choral music for Protestant worship, a practice continued and taken to new heights in the later Baroque era by Johann Sebastian Bach, whose cantatas, passions and motets demonstrate masterful polyphonic writing as well as exquisitely harmonised settings of chorale melodies. Bach’s organ music also draws heavily on chorale melodies for inspiration.
Although it was seldom heard in public worship, in Reformation England, composers were afforded the opportunity to write polyphony for the Chapel Royal (sometimes even in Latin). Thomas Tallis adapted the Catholic polyphonic music that had formed the foundation of his musical training into a format more acceptable to the newly formed Church of England. Perhaps the best known of his ‘Protestant’ works is the anthem ‘If ye love me’. Both Tallis and his younger contemporary, William Byrd privately retained their Catholic faith while publicly writing music for the Protestant church. Byrd, in particular, continued to write Masses and motets in Latin for worship in the private homes of wealthy Catholic families. This ‘secret’ music represents some of the finest examples of late-Renaissance polyphony.
The rise of the soloist
This introduced a greater variety of textures to worship music. Vocal works juxtaposed music for individual or small groups of solo voices with music for full choir. Soloists were often accompanied by an organ and/or an instrumental ensemble. A famous early example of this kind of writing is Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610. In England, a style of writing known as the ‘verse anthem’ was widely employed. This alternates passages for solo voices accompanied by the organ with choral writing. Henry Purcell, for example, composed a number of verse anthems.
Solo voices also played a significant role in the development of secular music, particularly opera, and there was much stylistic crossover between sacred and secular genres during the Baroque period. Sacred oratorios (such as those by George Frederic Handel) and cantatas (most famously by Johann Sebastian Bach) include dramatic ‘theatrical’ writing, particularly for the solo voice. These multi-movement works added a new dimension to sacred music, setting texts that were a personal reflection on bible passages rather than biblical texts themselves. This was a significant departure for religious music and reflected the changing cultural life of Western Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The Classical era and beyond
Classical era composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the lesser-known Marianna Martines continued to compose sacred music for the church: Mozart as a court musician for the ruler of Salzburg and Martines for the church of the Imperial Court in Vienna.
The worship music by Classical composers included masses, motets and settings of psalms. Masses in particular were often written on a grand scale with parts for soloists and orchestral accompaniment.
The Romantic era continued to expand the emotional and expressive range of Christian music, with composers such as Fanny Hensel and Felix Mendelssohn (her younger brother) contributing to the sacred music repertoire.
In the nineteenth-century, the tradition of worship within the Church of England was influenced by the Oxford Movement, which sought to introduce more liturgy and ceremony into services. This, alongside an increasing standard of training for cathedral choirs, led to the spawning of a large repertoire of choral music for worship. Composers such as Charles Villiers Stanford and Hubert Parry were significant figures in this revival of sacred choral music. Edward Elgar, himself a Catholic, also contributed important works to the Anglican choral tradition.
The influence of this resurgence in sacred choral music continued throughout the twentieth century to this day, with some of the most respected composers (for example, Benjamin Britten) choosing to write for the Church. New sacred choral music is composed by a wide range of skilled composers, including, for example Judith Weir, James MacMillan and Jonathan Dove. Where the number of church and cathedral choirs in many European countries was reduced to a few centres of excellence, in the United Kingdom, the choral tradition was upheld and strengthened throughout the twentieth century, such that almost every Anglican cathedral and many Roman Catholic cathedrals maintain a choir singing daily services to a high standard.
The 20th century also saw a wide proliferation of styles in Christian worship music. Gospel music, rooted in African American spirituals, brought a powerful, emotive dimension to worship. The rise of worship music known as Contemporary Christian Music in the latter part of the century introduced rock, pop and folk influences, aiming to connect with younger generations and those looking for spiritual music to enhance their lives.
Throughout its history, Christian worship music has continually adapted, reflecting broader cultural shifts while maintaining its core purpose of glorifying God and fostering communal worship. Many individuals who would not consider themselves religious find solace in the spiritual music of Hildegard of Bingen with an album of her music, recorded in 1981, selling half a million copies.
Today, worship music incorporates both traditional and contemporary styles, reflecting the diversity of the modern church. Cathedral music includes the mass settings, anthems, canticles, chants and hymns from the past 1000 years sung by choirs and congregations in churches around the country. In addition, worship bands, multimedia presentations, and the use of technology in services can be found in some churches, often in big cities. This blend of old and new, local and global, allows worship music to remain relevant, fostering a sense of unity and spiritual engagement among diverse Christian congregations.
Get Involved
