The Bible and Music

Reviewed by Paul Bempechat, Visiting Lecturer, Massachusetts College of Art and Design on 6/11/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This is an excellent study but lacking in presentation of the early centuries of music history.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I took exception to the lack of emphasis on Josef Haydn's "The Creation" and to other important works which were neglected.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This book must remain interactive as the historical literature on music and the Bible will inevitably grow. The author is absolutely genuine and sincere in his devotion and commitment and I am certain will assure his tome's growth and success. I view this contribution as extraordinary and indispensable, despite my criticisms.

Clarity rating: 5

Nothing to add other than a few typos and a misnamed Harvard organist!

Consistency rating: 5

The material could be more technical, but this is not the book's intent. It serves well the intended, relatively neophyte audience.

Modularity rating: 5

Ideal.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Excellent.

Interface rating: 5

Excellent.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No problems. British spelling is fine with me as I was schooled in Canada. I doubt U.S. readers will mind (unless they vote for tRump.)

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book aims to enlighten the reader to the Judeo-Christian Good Books and fulfills its aim. The scope being encyclopedic, not every aspect can possibly be addressed in depth, but the material informs and instructs as it is required and intended to do.

Comments

I would welcome more detail on the composers' spiritual lives and inclinations and more background information on the individual works cited, even in the final Appendix. Here is my written narrative:

Book review: The Bible and Music, by James F. McGrath (2023)
By Paul-André Bempéchat, Harvard University/Massachusetts College of Art and Design (June 2024)
The Bible and Music is as remarkable an accomplishment as it is an indispensable teaching tool for pedagogues of both music and Biblical studies. Its scope, assuredly, invites both commendation and controversy.
Professor McGrath (Butler University, Indiana) has created a textbook interactive and compliant with online media resources, accessible and instructive to professional academics of both disciplines and their students. In fact, he generously suggests (as Appendix I) a semester-long course plan easily adaptable to undergraduate and graduate instruction.
Learned yet never condescending (as many theologians and musicologists can be), Professor McGrath’s tone is inviting, insightful, and provocative. His historical expanse encompasses the earliest Scriptural writings and their musical intonations until the Modern Age. However, the Medieval and Renaissance eras are sorely lacking in presence, and the eternal significance of Josef Haydn’s oratorio, The Creation is understated. But this book’s strength lies in the breadth of his inclusiveness of genres and styles, most admirable for a study which, quite readily, can span several volumes, if not become an actual encyclopedia. Professor McGrath meticulously intertwines the musical material with Biblical history and mythology, situating bibliographic, sonographic, and iconographic sources both online and at museums and institutes of higher education and research across the world. This is a truly global, interdisciplinary study.
The Bible and Music guides one through both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament fluidly and aptly conjoins the two eras through well-chosen repertoires and styles. Professor McGrath has divided his study into three sections, History – Texts – People and Genres. I would be happier with Peoples but this as this is an online forum, such nuances, if accepted by the author, are easily adapted. Each chapter begins with highlighted instruction as to what will be explored and in which contexts. Hyperlinks further and systematically guide the reader to online resources thus facilitating enhanced study. Chapters conclude with detailed suggestions for yet further readings. Each of these sections appropriately traces, simultaneously, the rise of sacred music through the chapters of the Hebrew Bible through to the Protestant Reformation, Spirituals and contemporary Christian repertoire (Part I). Part II elucidates through analyses of the texts, the Biblical characters and families as projected in music, most notably King David’s. Part III unites us with the composers whose inspiration led to the creation of some of the finest glories of our civilization.
Jewish and Christian cantillations assume an important and strategic position in Chapter 2 (“Chanting in Synagogues”). I question, however, the absence of Eric Werner’s monumental The Sacred Bridge: The Interdependence of Liturgy And Music In Synagogue And Church During The First Millennium (1959) which is indispensable as background material and should have been cross-referenced. I also question the absence of discussion of the Italian rite (rito italiano) when discussing the branches of Judaism (p. 24), one which developed quite independently from the Sephardic and Ashkenazic rites. In contradistinction, many facts and figures elucidate the expansion of Church rites across the world (Ch. 3). We discover the Bay Psalm Book as the first to be printed in Colonial North America and that the first printed psalm book in the Americas was in Mexico. In this chapter, Professor McGrath curiously points us to a recording by the Harvard University Choir (p. 39) conducted by my esteemed colleague Edward Elwyn, whose surname is, in fact, Jones.
In his chapter Spirituals we are guided to multifarious adaptations of the genres (and guided to audop links) through to the blues, jazz and rock ‘n ‘roll (p. 45). Respectful attention to U.S. history is afforded in referencing Eileen Southern’s research (p. 47); the Book of Job, its inspiration for the song “Blessed Be Your Name” by Matt and Beth Redman, reflects the trauma of September 11, 2001 (p. 51).
Among the main events of the Bible, Professor McGrath brings to our attention the adaptations of the Creation, not just by Haydn (understated, as mentioned) but also by Aaron Copland, Darius Milhaud, Alexandre Tansman, Arnold Schoenberg (all Jews), and a host of others, including Igor Stravinsky. The following Chapter 8, Psalms, brings to light, especially, the adaptations of Leonard Bernstein and Stravinsky, with appropriate links to online, historic performances.
The chapter devoted to Elijah is particularly ingratiating as it explicates the centrality of Felix Mendelssohn’s oratorio to ecumenism. Born a Jew and converted to Protestantism as a young boy for reasons more pragmatic than spiritual, Professor McGrath’s lengthy citation of the correspondence between Mendelssohn and Pastor Julius Schubring affirm the composer’s allegiance to ecumenism and sets the reader on the correct path to understanding Mendelssohn’s Quixotic quest for acceptance by both faiths. Professor Jeffrey Sposato’s research is cited without mention of his controversial status among Mendelssohn scholars, notably Leon Botstein.
As enlightening is the chapter on the Song of Songs. Here, composers as little known as Romania’s Laurenţiu Ganea and Yehezkel Braun are introduced. In the succeeding chapter on Salome, this iconic figure is elucidated through, naturally, Richard Strauss’s opera based on Oscar Wilde’s text; yet, no mention of the Franz Waxman’s extraordinary score for Sunset Boulevard (1950) which, through studying its stunning extrapolation of symbols, would have added a modern-day, cinematographic counterweight to the evolution of the Biblical legend.
“Our Father” and its cross-cultural and multilingual adaptations are afforded meticulous attention. The setting by the Latvian Peteris Vasks is truly prodigious and citing his personal reflections on religious life during and after the Soviet era are particularly poignant. This section will be particularly appreciated, especially during these troubled times when the Baltic nations remain fearful for their prized independence.
Synthetic to Professor McGrath’s study is Chapter 22 and its focus on Johannes Brahms’ A German Requiem (op. 45) which I believe to be the spiritual and ecumenical successor to Mendelssohn’s Elijah (op. 70). Insightfully, the excellent research by Daniel Beller-McKenna is cited (p. 181).
Part III (p. 185ff.), People and Genres is truly ambitious as it may, for some, disappoint. The sheer scope of the material available is daunting and, as the author aptly stresses, is truly encyclopedic. Traversing the eras via subsections devoted to Hildegard of Bingen, Salamone Rossi, J. S. Bach (and beyond), the Bible as Musical, Oratorio and Opera, Handel’s Messiah, Lili Boulanger – truly a welcome inclusion, Arnold Schoenberg, the author’s countryman John Rutter, Christmas Carols, Arvo Pärt, Andrea Clearfield and Roxana Panufnik, Professor McGrath conspicuously omits very significant works, notably Beethoven’s Christ on the Mount of Olives, op. 85, and Joseph-Guy Ropartz’s setting of Psalm 136, 'Super flumina Babylonis' (1897) and Hugo Distler’s The Christmas Story, op. 10. Though informative, the subsections are uneven in their depth.
As mentioned, Appendix I, as a guideline for course preparation, is highly useful; Appendix 2 directs the reader to effective usage of modern online technologies. By the author’s own admission, Appendix 3: “For Further Listening” is problematic. Professor McGrath earnestly informs that “This book will continue to grow and expand, another advantage of its digital-first format… Any arrangement—alphabetical, chronological, by religious background composer, by text(s) set – offers an organizational system optimal to some needs while being inconvenient for others. Eventually, it would be wonderful to have an interactive database of music related to the Bible, where all the information can be rearranged with a click or two. Perhaps some reader of this book will be inspired to create that. Perhaps one day I will find the time to do it.” In my opinion, this study should not have been released without this mechanism already in place and kept interactive (as with Wikipedia) with the readers who could – albeit monitored – make further contributions.
While the General Bibliography is lacking – some of the most esteemed textbooks, notably by Andrew Hughes and Jeremy Yudkin, are missing - most useful is the Media Bibliography which offers Internet links to each cited work.
All told, Professor McGrath must be commended for his monumental research and interactive introductions. For an era often confounded by technologies, The Bible and Music represents an invaluably good start for putting these technologies to proper usage, and most especially, towards a more enlightened appreciation of the Biblical stories and their musical incarnations.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul-André Bempéchat
Cambridge, Massachusetts
June 2024

Reviewed by Adrian Guiu, instructor, City Colleges of Chicago on 3/8/23

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The author seems to have a very general knowledge of the subject; although he is a scholar of religion, it seems he is not a scholar of music; his approach to music is rather general and amateurish. He seems to rely on secondary sources a lot: the book does a good job of sending students to these.
It skips Eastern Christianity almost completely and overall it stays at a very general/superficial level.
There is no glossary or index provided.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

Yes the content is overall accurate and unbiased but I am not sure how informative is it given that it is so general and paints in such broad strokes.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The content is relevant but it stays at a very superficial level: it offers generalizations and broad observations about the influence of the Bible in music.
I do not believe this is enough for a textbook.
The content is up to date and does connect to a variety of resources; in many ways this is what this book does best; it provides a plethora of resources in various formats.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is written lucidly and clearly; it is easy to follow but it does not go into too much depth.

Consistency rating: 3

The book is not very consistent, rather it appears more random: it seems the author collects his ideas and comments about the subject. Some of these are interesting but it is not enough for a text book.
A constant refrain of the book is ‘this is complex and we cannot do it justice.’ Thus the book stays at an overall superficial level.

Modularity rating: 5

The text provides very good modularity; it uses a variety of divisions in order to enhance organization and clarity.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

It is overall good with one proviso: it skips from early Christianity and Judaism to Protestantism; this hiatus is between chapters 3 and 4. This historical gap breaks the narrative; it will be hard for students to see the continuity.
Generally the organization seems a little random: e.g. part III, People and Genre: why not have separate chapters? As it is this part seems random and confusing. It talks about people and suddenly it goes into genres.

Interface rating: 4

The interface of the text is excellent; it makes very good use of technology and of graphic features to enhance the accessibility; it includes many hyperlinks [maybe too many].

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text contains no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The text is not culturally insensitive...to the contrary! Nevertheless it is focused on Western religion; one wished a little more branching out and discussions of Eastern forms of Christianity or Christianity in other parts of the world.

Comments

To have a textbook connecting the study of the Bible and its influence is a great idea and this textbook is a very nice beginning; however it needs improvement: especially the first and third part of the book; in the first part, the historical continuity has to be developed a little more.
Besides the part which focuses on people, a part which could focus on genre could be added.
One option is to have two authors: the current one as scholar of the Bible and a scholar of music who is aware of the historical, stylistic and genre complexities and is able to convey this to the audience.