Congregational singing

Congregational singing at a church in La Matanza, Argentina, 1972

Congregational singing is the practice of the congregation participating in the music of a church, either in the form of hymns or a metrical Psalms or a free form Psalm or in the form of the office of the liturgy (for example Gregorian chants).[1] It is contrasted with music being sung exclusively by a choir or cantor(s). Congregational singing was largely the invention of the Protestant Reformation. Before then, singing in churches, especially in larger urban churches, was largely left to professionals.[2] The reformers in Strasbourg, in particular, reduced the church service largely to a sermon bookended by congregational singing and prayers.[2]

  1. ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Congregational Singing" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  2. ^ a b Pettegree, Andrew (2005). "Militant in Song". Reformation and the culture of persuasion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. pp. 42, 47. ISBN 0-511-12596-8. OCLC 61408995.