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'Sing To The Lord A New Song': The Regular Singing Movement In Colonial New England, Katie Farrer
'Sing To The Lord A New Song': The Regular Singing Movement In Colonial New England, Katie Farrer
The Gettysburg Historical Journal
“Outward Melody in Religious Singing is no small Help to inward Devotion. In this our imbodyd [sic] State the Senses do very strongly impress the superior Power of the Mind; especially the Ear and Eye do variously affect the Heart.” Cotton Mather penned these words in April of 1721 as part of a sermon that he wrote endorsing Regular Singing, or singing by note rather than by ear. Mather, along with several other Puritan ministers were the driving forces behind the Regular Singing movement, which in essence was a sea change for music in religious services in New England, involving …