Te Deum: The Church and Music

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Resource...
Review: Paul Westermeyer's Te Deum: The Church and Music demonstrates the utter importance of music throughout the church's turbulent history. He details the music of the Old Testament, New Testament, the church fathers, reformation, and briefly describes the modern period. Westermeyer masterfully interweaves his philosophy of music with a moving commentary and the pertinent details of history. He explains the worship of the Old Testament choosing to highlight the use of the Psalms in worship. He moves to the New Testament age and the early church and helps the reader to understand the important role that music played in the church.
Westermeyer's commentary on the medieval times was helpful. He adequately illustrates the progress of music in that age and helps the student to realize that the music (style, rythm, notes) were completely different. He explains the different views of using instruments, non-instrumental vocals, and silence. His balanced approach to history makes one really ponder the circumstances that the different ministers in different ages had to deal with.
Dr. Westermeyer cover the Reformation period and gives information on some of the Reformers and their particular views. His section on Luther was fascinating, thought-provoking, and well-written. He ties in the theology, philosophy, and the musical abilities of each Reformer. His work on the modern age was rather brief and incomplete; however, he does give information on the early hymn writers and the development of different kinds of hymns and other church music.

Dr. Paul Westermeyer is more than qualified to write such a book. His work is excellent. He is an able historian, theologian, and philosopher--not to mention his abilities as a musician. His stated purpose in writing the book was to present a workable text for students and laymen alike. His careful historical treatment with just the right mix of commentary makes for excellent reading. I was amazed to realize my own lack of knowledge about church music. He really drove home the point of understanding your philosophy of worship. He backs up all of his statements with evidence and provides ample footnotes for further research. His treatment of the differing views was also quite fair.
I felt as though he may have gotten a little too technical at times. He feared "oversimplifying" some of his explanations from time to time, but I rarely found this to be the case! His explanation of Luther's views (and those of the major Reformers) was exceedingly helpful. He managed to successfully navigate the troubled water of church history with ease. His comments about modern music were quite incomplete. I would really enjoy reading his opinion about different modern day streams of thought with regard to worship. His emphasis on Lutheranism was interesting, but when it comes to the modern age he should have dedicated more time to discussing mainline evangelical musicians and their philosophies of worship.

Paul Heier, author of Leading Out of Love

Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Resource...
Review: Paul Westermeyer's Te Deum: The Church and Music demonstrates the utter importance of music throughout the church's turbulent history. He details the music of the Old Testament, New Testament, the church fathers, reformation, and briefly describes the modern period. Westermeyer masterfully interweaves his philosophy of music with a moving commentary and the pertinent details of history. He explains the worship of the Old Testament choosing to highlight the use of the Psalms in worship. He moves to the New Testament age and the early church and helps the reader to understand the important role that music played in the church.
Westermeyer's commentary on the medieval times was helpful. He adequately illustrates the progress of music in that age and helps the student to realize that the music (style, rythm, notes) were completely different. He explains the different views of using instruments, non-instrumental vocals, and silence. His balanced approach to history makes one really ponder the circumstances that the different ministers in different ages had to deal with.
Dr. Westermeyer cover the Reformation period and gives information on some of the Reformers and their particular views. His section on Luther was fascinating, thought-provoking, and well-written. He ties in the theology, philosophy, and the musical abilities of each Reformer. His work on the modern age was rather brief and incomplete; however, he does give information on the early hymn writers and the development of different kinds of hymns and other church music.

Dr. Paul Westermeyer is more than qualified to write such a book. His work is excellent. He is an able historian, theologian, and philosopher--not to mention his abilities as a musician. His stated purpose in writing the book was to present a workable text for students and laymen alike. His careful historical treatment with just the right mix of commentary makes for excellent reading. I was amazed to realize my own lack of knowledge about church music. He really drove home the point of understanding your philosophy of worship. He backs up all of his statements with evidence and provides ample footnotes for further research. His treatment of the differing views was also quite fair.
I felt as though he may have gotten a little too technical at times. He feared "oversimplifying" some of his explanations from time to time, but I rarely found this to be the case! His explanation of Luther's views (and those of the major Reformers) was exceedingly helpful. He managed to successfully navigate the troubled water of church history with ease. His comments about modern music were quite incomplete. I would really enjoy reading his opinion about different modern day streams of thought with regard to worship. His emphasis on Lutheranism was interesting, but when it comes to the modern age he should have dedicated more time to discussing mainline evangelical musicians and their philosophies of worship.

Paul Heier, author of Leading Out of Love