Sacred Song in America ─ Religion, Music, and Public Culture

In Sacred Song in America, Stephen A. Marini explores the full range of American sacred music and demonstrates how the meanings and functions of this musical expression can contribute to a greater understanding of religious culture.

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Marini examines the role of sacred song across the United States, from the musical traditions of Native Americans and the Hispanic peoples of the Southwest, to the Sacred Harp singers of the rural South and the Jewish music revival to the music of the Mormon, Catholic, and Black churches. Including chapters on New Age and Neo-Pagan music, gospel music, and hymnals as well as interviews with iconic composers of religious music, Sacred Song in America pursues a historical, musicological, and theoretical inquiry into the complex roles of ritual music in the public religious culture of contemporary America.

Stephen A. Marini is Elisabeth Luce Moore Professor of Christian Studies and a professor of American religion and ethics at Wellesley College. He is the author of Radical Sects of Revolutionary New England.