Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: daemon@garage.att.com (Joseph H. Buehler) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Some thoughts on "Christian Music" (was Re: Petra Praise) Message-ID: Date: 22 Feb 90 09:23:47 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Lines: 57 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Whoa, this is a dangerous generalisation to make (as are all generalisations, of course). For a start, you are trying to pigeonhole music under a set of labels, which may or may not be successful (let me see you place Kate Bush, Philip Glass, Tangerine Dream, Peter Gabriel under those categories then). Secondly, you are categorising I spoke, as you say, in general. I didn't mean to pigeonhole every possible composer, dead, living, or yet to be born, into 3 categories. I was merely expressing the idea that, speaking of music specifically "Christian", we are on a downhill slide, as can be seen by comparing musical styles of the last 500 years or so. the ways in which music "appeals" to higher faculties, sense, passions, and so on; any music lover knows that music appeals on several levels at once, and I can think of counter-examples to the above categorisations. Thirdly, you seem to imply that the bad *style* of some music derives from the bad lifestyles and immorality of the performers. This in itself is passing judgement which we are not qualified to do. I don't know what you mean by *style*. What I meant was that the disorder in the composer's souls comes out in the music. When a person is turned away from God, an incredible disorder is present, and it manifests itself in the person's behaviour. People who love sin speak of sin. People who love God speak and think of God. I am, of course, not competent to judge the state of people's souls. But when I hear of the kinds of things rock stars do for amusement, I am not surprised at the kind of music they write. >As for evidence, well, listen for yourself. Get some Gregorian chant >and compare the music with some of the more popular rock groups. What about the latest Kate Bush album (popular rock) where she uses Bulgarian chant? What about Orff's Carmina Burana which uses chant together with heavier percussive orchestration? (isn't the Carmina Burana a piece about love and, er, pleasure, by the way?) What about Vangelis' Heaven&Hell, with chant and electronic arrangements? What about my own little ditties with synthesisers, atmospherics, "classical" orchestration and sequenced rhythms and percussion? I've never listened to the pieces you speak of, so can't comment. Different kinds of music are appropriate for different things. (Hard rock is appropriate for Hell :-) I am merely pointing out that monastery music is the most specifically "Christian" music, be it Eastern or Western style. If anyone is in the market for plainchant, some of the more well-known pieces are the Mass (well, kyriale) of the Blessed Virgin, the solemn tone Salve Regina, or the ordinary Preface to the Canon. (A priest I know once told me that a famous classical composer (whose name I forgot long ago) stated that he would have given all his works to have composed the Preface. It is made up of only four different notes.) Joe Buehler jhpb@granjon.att.com