Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Bulgarian Musicology
Abstract
Although theorists’ interest in musical affect waned in the first half of the twentieth century, Mattheson’s cognitive approach to emotion in music was to be reflected later in the century in the writings of several modern theorists. Among the more often discussed of the emotions, considered both abstractly and in connotation with instrumental or texted music, it that of hope. In this paper, old and new notions of affect in its representation in music are brought together and applied to the field of popular music analysis. The study culminates in an analysis of several aspects of three songs from the genre of contemporary Christian music whose texts deal with three different types of hopelessness (respectively, frustration, despair, and disillusionment), each of which is subsequently transformed into a distinct type of hope. The analyses, which take into account several parameters of the songs, demonstrate that the factors that convey the processes of movement from hopelessness into hope are the same factors that give these songs their interest and appeal. Among the analytical techniques applied to the songs are those of Heinrich Schenker. The study moreover examines the changing relationship of Christian pop music to mainstream pop music through a brief look at the career of the songs’ performer and co-author of two of the songs, Amy Grant.
First Page
181
Last Page
200
Publication Date
Spring 2001
Recommended Citation
Novak, John K., "The Depiction of Hope in Three Christian Popular Songs" (2001). Faculty Peer-Reviewed Publications. 1232.
https://huskiecommons.lib.niu.edu/allfaculty-peerpub/1232
Department
School of Music
Rights Statement
In copyright
Comments
The citation for the version of record for this article is: Novak, John K. "The Depiction of Hope in Three Christian Popular Songs." Bulgarian Musicology 25, no. 2 (Spring 2001) 181-200.