Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Waters, Sarah Anne

Titel

A Lutheran "Hymn Book Misery:" The Transition to English-Language Hymnals in the Norwegian Lutheran Churches of the Upper Midwest, 1890-1920

Ort / Verlag

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses

Erscheinungsjahr

2024

Link zum Volltext

• ProQuest

Quelle

ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• As the second generation of Norwegian-American immigrants in the Upper Midwest began to lose their connection to Europe towards the end of the nineteenth century, a rancorous debate over hymnody exploded in this community. These Lutherans divided over numerous issues relating to church music. Although some embraced American Gospel hymnody, others wished to preserve the centrality of the traditional chorale in worship. Many Norwegian-Americans perceived that Norwegian was being eclipsed by English, yet a significant minority sought to preserve the use of Norwegian language texts in congregational song. This community also sharply disagreed on the proper role of music in educating and shaping Christian children and youth. This dissertation contains an analysis of the music and texts of five Christian songbooks and hymnals of the era between 1890 and 1920, all of which were published for the benefit of the Norwegian-American Lutheran population. The quarrels that developed over these musical books were predicated on the historic theological disagreements in Lutheranism itself, between Pietism and Lutheran Orthodoxy. Each of the musical books under analysis reflected a distinctive theological perspective, with editors carefully selecting music that communicated a coherent response to the hymnological debates of their community