Julian Perlmutter has taught philosophy and theology at the University of Cambridge, UK, and has held a research fellowship in the philosophy of religion at King's College London, UK.

Julian Perlmutter has produced a fascinating and carefully argued examination of the relationship between sacred music and the way in which an individual can experience a longing for knowledge of God arising in the heart … [This book] will fascinate anyone who would be engaged by a rigorous, academically robust, but always pastorally motivated exploration of why it is that the choral tradition does what it does.

• 1. Introduction 2. Sacred music, longing and openness 3. Desire and knowledge 4. Music and affect 5. Sacred music and knowledge by desire: The account applied 6. Religious desire and contemplative prayer 7. General conclusion

Julian Perlmutter has taught philosophy and theology at the University of Cambridge, UK, and has held a research fellowship in the philosophy of religion at King's College London, UK.

Julian Perlmutter has produced a fascinating and carefully argued examination of the relationship between sacred music and the way in which an individual can experience a longing for knowledge of God arising in the heart … [This book] will fascinate anyone who would be engaged by a rigorous, academically robust, but always pastorally motivated exploration of why it is that the choral tradition does what it does.

• 1. Introduction 2. Sacred music, longing and openness 3. Desire and knowledge 4. Music and affect 5. Sacred music and knowledge by desire: The account applied 6. Religious desire and contemplative prayer 7. General conclusion