Outer Rim Territories

Similarly a couple of the examples took the piece and did a decent job of it. Would they work ina worship setting? Maybe... But none of the examples were hymnody. I'm not arguing the appropriateness of a well-played arrangement of Bach on guitar. We're more concerned whether by virtue of volume, character, arrangement, or acoustics the musicians wrestle the song away from the congregation and make a performance.

The aesthetics of this are difficult to discuss but are more a matter of practice relative to the space, musical talents available, and such.

Musical geneology is indeed important. I would like to see more music composed specifically for "modern" instruments but drawing on the forms, musical character, emotional quotient, and other aspects of historical church music.

Thanks for the comment.

I might argue that it 'has not been tried and found wanting, but rather found difficult and not tried' to adapt GK Chesterton. Music is, after all, an art form.

The examples given were expedient hints at what might be done if a rightly inspired artist had the liturgical setting in mind. There aren't dare say, any in existence to my immediate awareness. Hence your excellent encapsulation of the same principle: "We're more concerned whether by virtue of volume, character, arrangement, or acoustics the musicians wrestle the song away from the congregation and make a performance."

It will take a truly mature composer to do so, in a balance between the two. In fact, among the more classically trained rock musicians, typically working in the "prog rock" genre, I've been amazed and delighted at the rich, full-bodied classical themes and obvious roots from that geneology that are becoming more frequent (if not common). Your call for new compositions is certainly embraced. But alas, we may be much farther away from musicians with the requisite artistic and spiritual maturity (or at least awareness) to hear much of what we are hoping for in the near term.

On the other hand, one might plunge into the deep divide over what is subjective vs objective with respect to music (or any art form for that matter) and "beauty".

I've spent a little time trying to put forth an argument that there is an objective Good, True, and Beautiful. But it is at best, an extraordinarily involved exercise. I believe there is a certain essence that can ultimately be distilled that might satisfy an objective test, but suspect it is not universal, but rather intimately tied to the individual artist himself, rather than the beholder.

Thanks for the pleasure!
-Gary

As I mentioned, some of the YouTube examples were quite nicely done. I especially liked the electric with the tapping. This is excellent playing and might be a suitable pre-service selection for some settings.

No doubt you are correct. I know of a few composers who might be up to the task. On occasion they are successful. Maybe this is why I am partial to the prog-rock folks myself. They have an artistic sensibility often lacking in most the popular music fare. My friend Timothy B. Eisman, whom I recorded, is a good example. He's got such diverse tastes and training that he can synthesize forms and styles with such ease and at the same time, be extremely considerate of the text. From my recording experience with him, I can say that the text is always primary and he is most considerate of the theological implications of particular musical character. A great church musician is necessarily a great theologian.

Listen to his clips on Timothy B. Eisman - Sing Out My Soul - MUSIC. Especially poignant (although perhaps not the best recordings!) are "Sing Out My Soul", "Joy of the Redeemed", and "Who Do You Say that I Am?" All three are completely textual and valiant attempts at sensibility with creativity.

Perhaps part of the problem is the disconnect between artistic forms of the secular world and the liturgical world? Berlioz's Requiem comes to mind as an early example of church music being transformed into performance music. It did cause quite the stir when first performed. How often has the church appropriated secular music? Don't go citing Luther and bar/folk tunes! Recent scholarship has shown this to be rare and without exception he replaced the borrowed tune with an original composition later. Unlike Luther we are not in a deplorable state in regards to hymnody. No, we have quite a broad and largely unused repertoire to choose from.

As a classmate has said, "we need a new Bach" after a performance of Bach's St. Matthew (?) Passion. This student's hymn lyrics are pretty solid too. He just needs a composer to match!

Ah, yes... Subjective versus objective... Music seems to have long been left in the subjective realm. Not to early both church musicians and secular composers found particular keys, intervals, and tonalities to be conducive to conveying a particular emotion reaction. I know there have been psychological studies which have tried to draw the link. Unfortunately I have not further delved into this subject.

On in particular I did read and found interesting (albeit tangental) was done with mental patients in an institution. Here the study conclusively showed the behavior and number of outbursts to be greatly diminished when music was used to temper the patients.

Even more interesting, as the effects were nearly reversed with CDs were used over LPs. For whatever reason, the positive effects of "analogous" music over a "facsimile" was dramatic.

Similar studies have been done with incandescent over fluorescent lighting.

Either way, I agree there to be an objective "good, true, and beautiful"... Now our task is to convince the world who says "whatever is best for me is best for everyone. Shove off!"