R. Allen Lott

R. Allen Lott

Senior Professor of Music History

Allen Lott New Headshot

CONTACT

EDUCATION

Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology, City University of New York, 1986 

Dissertation: “The American Concert Tours of Leopold de Meyer, Henri Herz, and Sigismond Thalberg 

Master of Philosophy in Musicology, City University of New York, 1980 

Bachelor of Music in Piano, Trinity University, 1977 

RESEARCH INTEREST

My research interests include nineteenth-century music, sacred choral literature, American church music, the role of music in culture, and musical theater. 

Dr. Lott serves as a senior research professor of music history in the School of Church Music and Worship. Dr. Lott’s research interests include nineteenth-century music and American music. His most recent book, Brahms’s “A German Requiem”: Reconsidering its Biblical, Historical, and Musical Contexts (University of Rochester Press, 2020), thoroughly documents the early reception of the work and for the first time explains why a Christian interpretation is not only logical but historically defensible. 

Dr. Lott is now working on a critical edition of nineteenth-century American hymnody for the series Music in the United States of America, drawing on the rich hymnological resources of Southwestern’s Bowld Music Library. Previous publications include a festschrift for H. Wiley Hitchcock as a co-editor (A Celebration of American Music) and articles in various scholarly journals including American Music, Journal of the American Musicological Society, 19th-Century Music, and The Journal of Musicology. Other research, teaching, and personal interests include the role of music in culture, American church music, sacred choral literature, and musical theater. 

Dr. Lott attends Gambrell Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas where he serves as pianist. He also enjoys performing on the piano and clarinet in various ministry settings.

Ministry Experience

Allen Lott has been a church pianist for much of his life. He has served in that capacity at Gambrell Street Baptist Church in Fort Worth since 2011.

Authored Books
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Brahms’s A German Requiem: Reconsidering Its Biblical, Historical, and Musical Contexts. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2020.
From Paris to Peoria

From Paris to Peoria: How European Piano Virtuosos Brought Classical Music to the American Heartland. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003
Edited Books
A Celebration of American Music

Co-editor (with Richard Crawford and Carol J. Oja): A Celebration of American Music: Words and Music in Honor of H. Wiley Hitchcock. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press,1990.
Life and Death of a Small Magazine

Editorial Assistant: The Life and Death of a Small Magazine (“Modern Music,” 1924-46) by Minna Lederman. Brooklyn: Institute for Studies in American Music, 1983.

Editor: Symphonie Concertante in B-flat Major for Two Clarinets by François Devienne. In The Symphony: 1720-1840. Barry S. Brook, Editor-in-Chief. New York: Garland, 1982. 

Assistant Editor: American Music Recordings: A Discography of 20th-Century U.S. Composers. Carol J. Oja, Editor. Brooklyn: Institute for Studies in American Music, 1982.  

Books Contributed
New Perspectives on Old Princeton

"Jonathan Edwards, Old Princeton, and American Calvinism," in New Perspectives on Old Princeton, 1812-1929, edited by Kevin DeYoung, Paul Kjoss Helseth, and David P. Smith, 69-83. New York: Routledge, 2024.
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"Death and Resurrection in Jonathan Edwards's 'Miscellanies.'" In The Miscellanies Companion, Volume 2, edited by Robert L. Boss and Sarah B. Boss, 1-19. Fort Worth: JE Society Press, 2021.
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"Pneumatology." In The Oxford Handbook of Jonathan Edwards. Edited by Douglas A. Sweeney and Jan Stievermann, 151-64. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.
Regeneration, Revival, and Creation

"Regeneration, Revival, and Creation: After Jonathan Edwards." In Regeneration, Revival, and Creation: Religious Experience and the Purposes of God in the Thought of Jonathan Edwards. Edited by Chris Chun and Kyle C. Strobel, 263-84. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2020.
Spirit-Baptized Church

"'Some Thoughts' on the Retrieval of Jonathan Edwards by Pentecostals." In Pentecostal Theology and Jonathan Edwards, edited by and Steven M. Studebaker and Amos Yong, 262-70. Systematic Pentecostal and Charismatic Theology. New York: T&T Clark, 2020.
Legacy of Preaching

"Charles Finney: Persuading Sinners to Submit Immediately to Christ." In A Legacy of Preaching: Historical and Theological Introductions, edited by Kevin King, Benjamin K. Forrest, Bill Curtis & Dwayne Milioni, vol. 2, 162-78. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2018.
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"Original Sin." In A Readers Guide to the Major Writings of Jonathan Edwards. Edited by Nathan A. Finn and Jeremy M. Kimble, 153-74. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2017.
Academic Articles

“Anton Rubinstein in America (1872-1873).” American Music 21 (2003): 291-318. Anton Rubinstein's Reward - WPR 

“‘A Continuous Trance’: Hans von Bülow’s Tour of America.” The Journal of Musicology 12 (1994): 529-49. 

“A Berlioz Premiere in America: Leopold de Meyer and the Marche d’Isly.” 19th-Century Music 8 (1984-85): 226-30.

“‘New Music for New Ears’: The International Composers’ Guild.” Journal of the AmericanMusicological Society 36 (1983): 266-86. 

Meet R. Allen Lott

After serving Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for over 37 years, R. Allen Lott, professor of music history, continues to enjoy teaching and research at the highest levels. Writing books, researching and studying musicology, and teaching students at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels are some of the things Lott most enjoys.

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