A Discussion of Purposes By EDMUND S. LORENZ Author of "Getting Ready for a Revival," "The Editor of "The Choir Leader," "The Choir Herald" NEW YORK TR CHICAGO TORONTO Fleming H. Revell Company LONDON AND EDINBURGH PREFACE OME one has said that in a preface a writer always comes forward with a halter in his hand; if he is sensitive and self-conscious, he pleads guilty to sundry faults and presents the reader with the halter to execute the sentence; if he is combative and aggressive he proceeds to hang the reader! Some shrewd person will be sure to say that in this preface both sides suffer. However that may be, it seems to me proper to hide away in this preface some personal statements that ought to be made and yet do not seem to fit into the general discussion. They will enable the few wise men who read prefaces to understand the situation better and to reach a juster conclusion regarding the practical study that follows. The writer was asked by the faculty of the Theological Department of Vanderbilt University to prepare a series of lectures on church music. He gladly accepted the opportunity and delivered the lectures before the students and faculty in the autumn of 1903. Somewhat rewritten and enlarged they were subsequently given to the students of Union Biblical Seminary. The kindly interest shown in the discussion at both seminaries led me to thoroughly recast and largely amplify the materials contained in the lectures for the benefit of the larger clerical and musical public who it seemed to me needed the help they were intended to afford. I have not tried to escape the influence upon style and |