The Bible and Music

The conversation we are having about whether or not people, including musicians, are passionate about what they do is really interesting. Is it a problem if you are not currently super passionate about what you’re doing? This conversation is so great because it really can be applied to life no matter what it is that you do. I think I am passionate about what I’m doing with my life and what I’m working towards, but I think everyone has moments of lack of passion and energy. In regards to musicians, another big part of this is that musicians will often try to please other people more than themselves…. could this put their passion and love for what they do at risk? I think it is important to check in with yourself regularly and make sure you are living the life you want, and you’re happy and passionate about what you’re doing. This kind of thinking is something one can gain from a course like this. Even if music and the bible isn’t exactly one’s expertise, exploring new things that are different from your normal focus can provide new and interesting ways of thinking. Overall, I have definitely gained things from this course that I didn’t necessarily expect to gain.

I grew up going to church with my family every week and a big part of every mass was the music.  It was played when you walk in, between readings, during communion, and as you left.  Music was always there, but I didn’t realize how important it was to the experience until I was older.  Part of this is because my church did not have the best music for the first half of my life.  It detracted from my enjoyment of mass, but it also caused me to have an unfair negative stereotype towards all church music.  As my church brought in new musicians, I realized that biblical music can be very beautiful.  Something that once made me cringe is now a comfort and adds into the entire atmosphere.

Music was not always a part of mass.  As we talked about in class, instrumental music was not always welcomed in the church.  It was often frowned upon, but I think it makes the experience more enjoyable or spiritual.  After witnessing church with and without music, I find that I get lost in the ceremony of it all much easier when there is music.  A sung prayer accompanied by music has more of an impact on me than a prayer said in a monotone voice.  For example, Christmas mass has upbeat, happy songs to compliment the feeling of the season.  Ash Wednesday has a more serious tone, because it is not quite as joyous of a time.  Being able to hear these different tones put into music is what helps me feel the emotions of the mass more authentically.

I found the title of this upcoming class discussion interesting: Comparing Musical Cultures. With every type of music is a culture that comes with it. You will find a different demographic of people attending a Screamo Rock concert versus an Opera performance. Those who are die-hard Beatles fans may not be the same people who love Kanye West. Of course there are cross-overs. The beautiful thing about music is that you do not ever have to confine yourself to one category, you are free to like as much or as little music as possible. One particular category has always been less popular in the public sphere, and that is contemporary Christian music. I am a religious person, and I am not a big fan. I find that it is common that most of my Christian peers know Kings of Leon, Fall Out Boy, and Jay-Z, but do not know any big names in the gospel artists category. Why is this? I recently found an article that tries to dissect why modern Christian music is failing:

Why is “Christian” Music so Awful?

The author says there are a few reasons why the industry is not so popular. One is that “the musicians and their audience mistake a worthy message for talent.” Even though singing about God is a great inspiring message, their vocal range might not be as divine as they think. Another reason is what the author calls “market forces.” “Market forces often have a surprisingly sharp and salutary critical effect. Market forces weed out the junk, but in the Christian market they’re doing it for love, not money, so no one is telling them to get off the stage ’cause it won’t sell.” However, the biggest problem according to our author, is that “most ‘Christian’ music is that it is secular music with Christian words. In any decent art style and substance are supposed to match up. The meaning and the media are supposed to harmonize.” The author believes that the Christian Rock bands will never fully integrate into the music world because they are two separate entities that do not mesh well.

The rest of the article is a great read for anyone who is interested. The answer to all of this is laid out in the end, which is to place your appreciation into the traditional, sacred classics instead of trying contemporary Christian rock. I wonder what the future holds for contemporary Christian music and if it will continue to have a following in the secular public sphere.

Today in class we also talked about how artists sometimes only see what they lack in their talent instead of what they bring to the table. I found this to be very relevant to my life in terms of football. I am my own toughest critic when looking at my abilities. Although my coach tells me that I’m making a lot of progress, I don’t see it a lot of the time. Instead, I just look at what I lack in comparison to some of the other best players in my position group. Hearing this gave me a lot of clarity because I have never thought of myself like this much before. This outlook is also one of the best ways to lack complacency with your abilities. Composers constantly want to get better at their trade, and that is an admirable trait.

Today in class we talked about not following your passion if there are hiccups or specific parts thatyou don’t like about it.  I can relate to this because even though I love computers, I extremely dislike coding, however my passion for computers is greater than my dislike for coding.  This is kind of like John Rutter who is atheist however likes making music based off of the bible. His passion for music is greater than his religious beliefs.

I was familiar with all of the titles of John Rutter’s compositions. I was unaware that some of the hymns were based on Bible verses. I conducted some research on the biblical origins of all of the selections. I determined that “The Lord is My Shepherd” is based on Psalm 23:1-4, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green -pastures; He leads me by still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his names sake”. Psalm 118: 24 provided the inspiration for “This is the Day”, the song included in the royal wedding procession. The psalm reads, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it”. “To Everything There is a Season” is derived from Ecclesiastes 3:1, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven”.

I decided to focus the Biblical roots of “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” because this hymn has a special significance for me. This piece is based on a passage from Numbers 6: 24-26, “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace”. This hymn was performed during the baccalaureate mass on the eve of my high school graduation. The choir performed this song during the presentation of roses to parents. This was a particularly emotional moment in what had already been an emotional service. My parents and I experienced a mix of emotions. I believe that John Rutter’s piece expresses this mix of emotions. I think his piece takes on the perspective of a parent. It communicates the celebration of a new phase and new opportunities in life while expressing the hope that children will be protected and experience the fulfillment of their desires. When I listen to the song, I travel right back to the baccalaureate mass and seeing tears in the eyes of my parents. It is quite interesting to experience the nostalgic power of music.

Even though I wasn’t in class on the 23, I still listened and enjoyed John Rutters music posted on the moodle.  My favorite was the lord bless you and keep you because it had many varying vocals and I also thought that it was so ironic that despite him being an agnostic or atheist, he still produces music from the bible.  This is really unlike other people that we looked at.  I really relate to John Rutter because I am also agnostic however enjoy many songs produced from the bible.

The magnificat, also known as the song of Mary, is one of the most famous songs in Christianity. The words were first put into song during the Renaissance era. There are numerous artists who have made different renditions of the Magnificat. After listening to some of the different composers on youtube, the one that stuck out to me the most was the Arvo Part rendition. I found this the most interesting because after hearing about him during class last week, I knew more about his composition style. My favorite part of the magnificat I listened to by him was No. 6. O Konig. I liked how all of the voices in the choir were layered to create a more complex build than the other parts I listened to. All of the voices came together to make a beautiful song.

The Ten Commandments are one the most important set of biblical principals set for us as Catholics, and there are many songs that focus on teaching them. A lot of these songs are meant to be a teaching tool for children, which goes along with one of the lessons we had a few weeks ago about children music. These songs are great for teaching the children what the Ten Commandments are, and more importantly what they mean to us as believers in God. The songs reword the commandments to make them easier to understand for children to understand what they mean and how you should act in order to follow them. The songs use catchy beats to grab the attention of the children so they will hopefully learn the lyrics and sing along. Although they probably don’t realize it, they are learning the the basic principals to living out the teachings of God.

Although in this class we focus mostly on the songs that connect to music, we rarely look at the bible verses that talk about music. There are many bible verses that tell about how singing is an important form of worship. There have been many times in the past where I wondered why there was so much music throughout the masses I attended at my local Catholic Church. I never really thought of it as a form of worship until I got into this class. One of the bible verses that preaches song as a form of worship is Ephesians 5:19 which states: “Speak to one another with Psalms, Hymns, and songs from spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the lord.” Seeing the verses like these and listening to the topics in class, I now look at singing as a form of communication with God, where before I saw them simply as a another way to talk about God and his message.