Music of Christian Hymns

Recently, I've been reading a book, The Music of Christian Hymns, by Erik Routley. It was recommended to me some time ago by my good friend Rob. It's a sort of musicologist's look at the development of Christian hymn music from the Gregorian chant days onward. I read (the term "waded through" comes to mind) the first 3 chapters awhile ago, and just picked it up again recently. Parts of it are interesting, parts are dull, and I know I'll never retain 99% of what I'm reading. But, it makes me feel like I'm not operating in a constant state of intellectual stagnation. Anyway, I found this quote:

The tune...is affected by the four-bar form, so that in its second phrase it has to spread a syllable over a long series of notes, while in the last it requires the repetition of two syllables. We associate this most with the later evangelicals, who could hardly ever manage without repeated words, but it appears at this early stage as a consequence of music's new freedom and confidence. It is becoming less a mere servant of the text, more as it were an adult person having conversation on equal terms with the text (and later on an overbearing creature positively drowning the words).

It made me laugh a bit because it seems like the intellectual retelling of the joke about the farmer who goes to the big, new church in town... Anyway, the author, who is British, seems to look down his nose a bit at evangelicals. This is not at all uncommon among French Protestants of the historical sort (think French Reformed Church), who often see themselves as being much more cultural and much smarter than evangelicals. One could ask the question, "What is an evangelical anyway?" but we're not going to go there.

Do we need to guard against letting poorly-written music with mindless repetition creep into our worship services? YES! But do we also need to guard against empty intellectualism and a smarter-than-thou attitude? YES! Honestly, if we read the psalms, there are certain psalms that are repetitive. Sometimes human beings need repetition to let a concept really sink in.

In any case, this quote made me laugh, and I thought I'd share. If anyone would like an explanation of the developments in the Scottish psalter throughout the 17th century...well...you'll have to ask someone else.