Research Guides: Christian Music: Dictionaries

Dictionaries

Worship Music: A Concise Dictionary.
By Edward Foley.
Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2000.
This book provides over 2,500 entries with concise information on the people, terms, places, and elements of music in the Jewish and Christian traditions. It focuses especially on English-speaking North Americans.
The online version is available on the Internet Archive, a trusted source, but one for which it is necessary to create a free account and login.
Dictionary of Western Church Music.
By David Poultney.
Chicago: American Library Association, 1991.
Concise, readable entries about terms, genres, and composers.
The online version is available on the Internet Archive, a trusted source, but one for which it is necessary to create a free account and login.
A Dictionary of Protestant Church Music.
By James Robert Davidson.
Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1975.
Brief definitions of terms with suggestions for further reading. Particularly strong for the Anglican and Lutheran traditions.
The online version is available on the Internet Archive, a trusted source, but one for which it is necessary to create a free account and login.
Historical Dictionary of Sacred Music.
By Joseph P. Swain.
Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2006.
Articles about the music of Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism.
The online version is available on the Internet Archive, a trusted source, but one for which it is necessary to create a free account and login.
Liturgical Terms for Music Students.
ISBN: 0364307307

By Anselm Hughes.
Boston: McLaughlin & Reilly, 1972.
A thin book of only 40 pages, it offers paragraph-length descriptions of various liturgical terms encountered by students of music.
The online version is available on the Internet Archive, a trusted source, but one for which it is necessary to create a free account and login.
Compendium of Liturgical Music Terms.
By J. Robert Carroll.
Toledo, OH: Gregorian Institute of America, 1964.
Brief definitions of liturgical terms for musicians and of musical terms for liturgists. Now somewhat dated.
Key Words in Church Music: Definition Essays on Concepts, Practices and Movements of Thought in Church Music.
Revised and enlarged edition by Carl Schalk.
St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004.
Essays on over 100 topics including historical periods, types of music, and musical instruments.
The online version is available on the Internet Archive, a trusted source, but one for which it is necessary to create a free account and login.
Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology.
Edited by J.R. Watson and Emma Hornby.
Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2013.
Articles about hymn writers and composers, as well as individual hymn titles.