The Bible in Music

There have been numerous publications in the last decades on the Bible in literature, film, and art. But until now, no reference work has yet appeared on the Bible as it appears in Western music. In The Bible in Music: A Dictionary of Songs, Works, and More, scholars Siobhán Dowling Long and John F. A. Sawyer correct this gap in Biblical reference literature, providing for the first time a convenient guide to musical interpretations of the Bible. Alongside examples of classical music from the Middle Ages through modern times, Dowling Long and Sawyer also bring attention to the Bible’s impact on popular culture with numerous entries on hymns, spirituals, musicals, film music, and contemporary popular music.

Each entry contains essential information about the original context of the work (date, composer, etc.) and, where relevant, its afterlife in literature, film, politics, and liturgy. It includes an index of biblical references and an index of biblical names, as well as a detailed timeline that brings to the fore key events, works, and publications, placing them in their historical context. There is also a bibliography, a glossary of technical terms, and an index of artists, authors, and composers.

The Bible in Music will fascinate anyone familiar with the Bible, but it is also designed to encourage choirs, musicians, musicologists, lecturers, teachers, and students of music and religious education to discover and perform some less well-known pieces, as well as helping them to listen to familiar music with a fresh awareness of what it is about.

Author Biography

Siobhán Dowling Long is an Irish musicologist and musician, known primarily for her work on the reception of the Bible in music. A contributor to scholarly journals and edited collections she is the author of The Sacrifice of Isaac: The Reception of a Biblical Story in Music (2013). She lectures in University College Cork, and lives close to Blarney Castle with her husband Fiachra, son Cillian and daughter Bláthnaid.

John F.A. Sawyer is a Scottish biblical scholar, best known for his pioneering works on reception history including The Fifth Gospel: Isaiah in the History of Christianity (1996) and A Concise Dictionary of the Bible and its Reception (2009). He is also editor of the Blackwell Handbook of the Bible and Culture (2006) and co-editor of the Blackwell Bible Commentary Series. He is now retired and lives with his wife Jean on the North East Coast of England within easy reach of New College Edinburgh where he is an Honorary Fellow.