Gems of Exquisite Beauty

How Hymnody Carried Classical Music to America

Peter Mercer-Taylor

Offers the first study of a central phenomenon of nineteenth-century American music
Uncovers the little-known stories of pivotal figures of American music history
Draws on rare archival materials
Includes access to a companion website that contains recordings and scores of over 270 antebellum psalm and hymn tunes

Gems of Exquisite Beauty

How Hymnody Carried Classical Music to America

Peter Mercer-Taylor

Description

In the decades leading up to the Civil War, most Americans probably encountered European classical music primarily through hymn tunes. Hymnody was the most popular and commercially successful genre of the antebellum period in the United States, and the unquenchable thirst for new tunes to sing led to a phenomenon largely forgotten today: in their search for fresh material, editors lifted hundreds of tunes from the works of major classical composers to use as settings of psalms and hymns. The few that remain popular today — millions have sung "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" to Beethoven and "Hark, The Herald Angels Sing" to Mendelssohn — are vestiges of one of the most distinctive trends in antebellum music-making.

Gems of Exquisite Beauty is the first in-depth study of the historical rise and fall of this adaptation practice, its artistic achievements, and its place in nineteenth-century American musical life. It traces the contributions of pioneering figures like Arthur Clifton and the impact of bestsellers like the Handel and Haydn Society Collection, which helped turn Lowell Mason into America's most influential musician. By telling the tales of these hymns and those who brought them into the world, author Peter Mercer-Taylor reveals a central part of the history of how the American public first came to meet and creatively engage with Europe's rich musical practices.

Gems of Exquisite Beauty

How Hymnody Carried Classical Music to America

Peter Mercer-Taylor

Introduction

Chapter 1: Antebellum Psalmody in its Cultural Context
Chapter 2: An Immigrant's Musical Memoir: Clifton's 1819 Original Collection and the Modest Launch of a Tradition
Chapter 3: Institutional Certification: Mason's 1822 Handel and Haydn Society Collection and the First Wave
Chapter 4: Heyday: Kingsley's 1838 Sacred Choir and the Midcentury Mania
Chapter 5: Psalmodic Adaptation as Musical Translation
Epilogue

Appendix 1: Classical Music in Antebellum American Psalmody: The Repertoire
Appendix 2: The Repertoire by Composer
Notes
Works Cited
Index

Gems of Exquisite Beauty

How Hymnody Carried Classical Music to America

Peter Mercer-Taylor

Author Information

Peter Mercer-Taylor is Professor of Musicology at the University of Minnesota. His teaching and scholarship have been divided between the nineteenth-century classical tradition--Felix Mendelssohn in particular--and contemporary popular music. Mercer-Taylor's articles have appeared in a range of journals, including 19th-Century Music, Popular Music, Musical Quarterly, The Journal of Musicology, Music & Letters, and Music Theory Spectrum.

Gems of Exquisite Beauty

How Hymnody Carried Classical Music to America

Peter Mercer-Taylor

Reviews and Awards

"An extensive companion website offers recordings and scores for more than 260 hymn tunes, making this erudite study accessible to a wide audience." -- P. D. Sanders, CHOICE

"Fascinating and beautifully written. A major achievement!" -- Stephen A. Crist, Emory University

"Mercer-Taylor's well-researched and erudite text is a revelation. Tracing the fascinating rise in popularity of European classical music in the US during the antebellum period, Mercer-Taylor provides a rich and informative explanation of how hymnody brought this music to a wide audience. Especially useful are the appendices and web site which tabulate the entire repertoire. Highly recommended." -- Andrew Shenton, Professor of Music, Boston University

Gems of Exquisite Beauty

How Hymnody Carried Classical Music to America

Peter Mercer-Taylor

From Our Blog

Nineteenth-century US hymnody's fascination with classical music

How could it ever have seemed like a good idea to set one of the most familiar Christmas hymns in the English language to a tune intended by Mozart (a genius at close-binding music to drama) as a vehicle for a seductive outpouring of double-entendre?

Posted on December 11, 2020

Read the blog post