'Servanthood of Song'

Music is a foundational piece of the human experience, especially woven into the fabric of American church and congregation history.

Stan McDaniel, a former artistic director of Chorale Coeur d'Alene, has chronicled that history in his comprehensive 800-page book, "Servanthood of Song."

On the cover is a 19th-century painting depicting an 18th-century gallery choir in an English parish church.

“The reason I used it on the cover is because in the Colonial period in the United States, this is what choirs looked like," McDaniel said Monday in a Press interview.

Few people knew how to read music in America's early years, McDaniel said. Churches set up what were called "singing schools" led by singing masters. In Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," Ichabod Crane was described as a singing master.

“I quote him in the book because there’s a point when they talk about the singing school,” McDaniel said.

He dedicated a whole chapter to the Civil War, when church music was a source of comfort and expression for those living in a tumultuous time.

“Do you know what they heard after Pickett’s Charge?” McDaniel asked. “It was a terrible defeat for the Confederacy. The Confederates are backing up off the field after so many of them had been killed and the Union soldiers hear a Confederate band playing a hymn.”

An abundance of Civil War literature exists, but it is seldom mentioned that both armies agreed they wouldn’t fight on Sundays, McDaniel said.

"As a general rule, they had to have worship service, even if they were on the battlefield," he said. "That’s unheard of."

"Servanthood of Song" was first released May 24. The initial spark that motivated McDaniel to write the book goes back to the U.S. Bicentennial in 1976, when there was a widespread emphasis on American music. He was in Williamsburg, Va., that Fourth of July.

"I got to hear a lot of Colonial music," he said. "I got really interested in it at that time.”

McDaniel wrote his dissertation on church music when he was a student at the University of Southern California in the '80s.

“By 1982, I was already starting research for this book,” McDaniel said. “Full-time writing started in 2017. Many sabbaticals just to write. My wife, thank goodness, has been supportive.”

While "Servanthood of Song" weaves together history and music, it’s not a music history book. McDaniel said it's meant for anyone interested in church history, from any denomination.

“I talk a lot about social forces, like slavery, and how that affected the music of the church, and all kinds of churches, not just one," McDaniel said. "Same thing with social justice. I talk a lot about how wartime has affected church music."

McDaniel, who was a musician at various churches throughout the country for 50 years, conducted the Chorale Coeur d'Alene from 2015 and retired when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. He stepped in for the Chorale where needed until the present Artistic Director Joshua Chism took over in fall 2022.

Chism said McDaniel is a tremendous scholar and musician.

"He is exceptionally knowledgeable about this area," Chism said. 

He said through this book, McDaniel is able to showcase how different individuals, genres, churches and theological movements influenced each other throughout history.

"It’s just really an excellent publication, one that will be used in musical and religious settings for many years," Chism said.

The Chorale will honor McDaniel's work and his book Oct. 12 during two concerts of the same name, "Servanthood of Song," at 2 and 7 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 812 N. Fifth St., Coeur d'Alene.

Ticket prices for the concerts vary. Visit choralecda.com for info.

"Servanthood of Song: Music, Ministry, and the Church in the United States" is available from Wipf and Stock Publishers as well as online at such websites as amazon.com.