An Investigation of Christian Sacred Music from the Renaissance Until Today

The purpose of this investigation was to become familiar with
Christian sacred music written from the period of the Renaissance
through the twentieth century.
The procedure for obtaining the information necessary to complete
this investigation was through extensive study and research from many
books of several libraries. This type of investigation is based upon
historical facts rather than philosophy and supposition.
This investigation has revealed that the major periods of musical
history are as follows:
(1) Renaissance
(2) Baroque
(3) Classical
(4) Romantic-Impressionism
(5) Contemporary.
The major types of sacred music that resulted from these periods
are the Mass, oratorio, Passion music, cantata, sacred opera, anthem,
chorale and motet.
Some of the important conclusions of this investigation are that:
(1) Each period is a product of the times, influenced
by wars, religion and politics, which affected the
types of music.
(2) The classification of music in accordance with
productions for concert, small and formal churches
are as follows: Concert: Oratorios, Mass, sacred opera, Passion music.
Formal Church: Mass, cantata, anthem, motet and chorale.
Small Church: Cantata, anthem, motet, chorale and hymn.
(3) Italy, France, England and Germany had the greatest
influence on the types and styles of music.
(4) The most significant types of music from these periods
are the Mass and Oratorio (in that order).
(5) The Renaissance produced the most sacred music of all
these periods.
(6) The Romantic period produced the least amount of sacred
music of these periods.
(7) The source of the major sacred works were mostly from
the Bible; more specifically from Psalms and the
Gospels.
(8) Bach is the composer who has retained the most popularity
and is significant in composing the largest number of
sacred works throughout these periods.
(9) Of the major composers listed in the thesis (excluding
those of the Contemporary period), Liszt probably
wrote the least amount of sacred music, although he
was deeply concerned with the Divine Service of the
Church.