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Gospel Proclamation through Music

Hymnody is a rich and important part of the Divine Service. Week after week, you hear the beauty of these settings and texts that have been passed down to you from generations of Christians. Yet there’s a lingering question about how music integrates itself with the proclamation of Scripture and what its meaning is in the service.

Join Daniel Zager, retired professor of music with a PhD in musicology, as he digs into the history of hymnody and its meaning—both the text and the music. He will guide you through a detailed analysis of the value our hymns bring to the Divine Service. Whether you’re a cantor or a congregation member who loves singing, this book will open your eyes to the joys of Lutheran music.

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“Given this omnipresent link between music and texts in Lutheran music, we don’t ask merely, ‘What does the music of a particular hymn mean?’ Rather, we explore how that music—hymn tune and setting—participates in signaling and conveying the meaning of an associated text (or texts). We ask how the music supports and enhances the sacred nature of the text in a way that is distinct from the secular culture in which we live.”

—From the Introduction

Chapter Titles and Topics

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  • Chapter 1:
    Does Lutheran Music Have Meaning? The Case of Hymn Tunes and Their Texts

    Chapter 2:
    Luther and Hymns for the Congregation

    Chapter 3:
    Music for Voices and Instruments in the Lutheran Service: What Does It Mean?

    Chapter 4:
    Liturgy, Church Year, and Lectionary as Contexts for Meaning

    Chapter 5:
    Singing and Listening in the Divine Service

Featured Listening Examples

In Lutheran Music and Meaning, Zager recommends listening to a particular tune alongside his analysis. Listen to them below to see what’s in store for your reading experience.

What Others Are Saying

As Lutherans, we are rightly proud of our rich heritage of sacred music. But what does it mean (if it means anything at all)? In this volume, Dan Zager demonstrates how Lutheran music is contextualized within theology and liturgy, allowing it to proclaim the Gospel in a distinctively Lutheran way. Zager’s discussion will help musicians, clergy, and congregants articulate what makes Lutheran music significant.
—Jonathan Wessler, kantor, First Lutheran Church of Boston

I have long appreciated Dr. Zager’s work—especially in the area of hymnody and its role within Lutheran worship, piety, and witness. In this book, Dr. Zager moves the conversation beyond the text or even text and tune together to ask what music contributes to its meaning. Dr. Zager has forced us to think more deliberately about how the music gives theological meaning to the hymns and songs of Lutheran worship. For that alone, Dr. Zager’s book is a must-read for all involved in the planning and leading of Lutheran worship.
—Rev. Larry A. Peters, senior pastor, Grace Lutheran Church, Clarksville, Tennessee; author of Pastoral Meanderings blog

[Zager] has turned a complex and often controversial subject into a calm, thoughtful laying out of the musical, historical, and theological elements involved. Zager knows that the Lutheran difference is a beautiful one, but he also knows that one has to first understand it to see its beauty. A highly recommended book for Lutheran pastors and church musicians, but especially for congregational singers and listeners of Lutheran church music.
—Richard C. Resch, professor and kantor emeritus, Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, Indiana

About the Author

Daniel-Zager

Daniel Zager is retired from the Eastman School of Music (University of Rochester), Rochester, NY, where he served for twenty-one years as associate dean and head of the Sibley Music Library and associate professor of music. He holds a bachelor of music degree in organ performance from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an MA and a PhD in musicology from the University of Minnesota.

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