Part of a continuing programme of research under the general editorship of Bennett Zon, this collection of essays lays no claim to completeness. It does however give scholars who have already contributed to the project the opportunity to take their research a stage further. In the case of Peter Horton, whose work on Samuel Sebastian Wesley has been particularly welcome, this means that his present essay does in fact give a shape to the wider study of music and theology in the nineteenth-century. His detailed comparison of anthem texts in the early, middle and high Victorian periods sketches in developments which hitherto have been overlooked, such as the shift in the later period toward metrical texts, with significant accompanying musical consequences. His explorations of previously unexplored sources gives his work added depth. Although the editor's own essay concentrates on two Anglican sources, giving Bickersteth and Neale their due, he has endeavoured to illustrate his own perception of the theological role of hymnody through denominational affiliations by including major participants in the century's history. This invited Bradley to extend the theological vocabulary of United Reformed Church critique of hymnody, Muir to trace the movements towards Vatican II, Hawe and Hobbs to consider American women hymn-writers and the ecclesiological and musical effects of four-part congregational singing, and Stopa to relate voice and faith at the Welsh Revival. Oratorio with its varying audiences received from Brown a continuation of his five-volume relating of faith and ordinary life, and from Begbie an attempt to distinguish confidence from anxiety in Elgar's Gerontius. Throughout the essays social, political, industrial and pedagogical questions are broached. But it is left to Bennett Zon to use Goddard's work as a sounding board for discussions of Darwinianism, and for the questions of physicality, spirituality, science and culture. Where the subject of technology fits into this programme – and it is a subject which is given an airing by some essays – is not at all clear. Particularly as recording of music began in that period and technology played a part in accompaniments during that period also, that presumably must provide another stage in the development of this important series. The bibliography and index are accurate and useful for reference.