eBible, again

I have two more invites to eBible, if anyone wants them.

Organ music

Our first night in St. Andrews, we attended a concert at the Holy Trinity Church of organ and choral music. It was a beautiful venue, and the music was good, too. The organist was excellent, and he played some Vierne, along with several other pieces by lesser known composers, among them one by the choral director, David Gascoigne.

It's a beautiful instrument, with amazing French-influenced stops besides the "Bobby Jones Bombarde" (donated by the golfer's widow), well-suited to the Vierne he played, Clair de Lune. I thoroughly enjoyed it, although it was rather lengthy. Amy, on the other hand, did not enjoy this Vierne (although she did like the other pieces). And, as I glanced around the audience, it appeared she was not the only one. Granted, most of the attendees had gotten off a plane that same day, and were fighting back jet lag, but I saw several people "praying" or nodding in agreement.

So, Amy said to me, that that was why people don't like organ music—organists play long pieces that don't quickly move through expected cadences and melodies, but rather are a bit "noodly," as my first composition teacher would call them. My first thought was that people just don't understand music, and this should help them in their music education. But, then I considered that perhaps she's right. I've always tried to play easily apprehendable pieces for church, but, sometimes I know that I think, "well, this could be a little strange for people, but, they should be exposed to new things." Maybe this isn't good, though. In 2006, pipe organ music is definitely on the decline, if not at the bottom.

We went to a concert in Ocean Grove last summer, which I found to sometimes be a little cheesy, although that organist and organ were quite fabulous, too. But, maybe that's the idea. People don't want challenge in their music listening—they want to be entertained. That, however, goes against what I think about music in the church. It's not there for our entertainment, but rather, for the worship of God. So, if a piece is well-crafted, maybe it should be played regardless of whether or not people like it. I think that is what I wonder about organ music, however. Some pieces, like those by Vierne, are wonderful to show the colors of an organ; their form, however, might not be incredibly sophisticated, often being through-composed (realizing, that many do follow standard forms—I'm not doing a music theory analysis here). Is that a well-crafted piece? I tend to like pieces that do use a standard form, because I fell as if those forms give pieces a continuity that is sometimes lacking otherwise. But, the beautiful tone colors that arise from French organ music could possibly make up for this lack of form. Is all French organ music good for church? I'm undecided.

Let All Mortal Flesh...

One of my favorite hymns is "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence," taken from the 5th century Liturgy of St. James. I like it both for its text and for the French carol it's set to, PICARDY. The current, common harmony is taken from The English Hymnal, 1906 (see my post, below). Here is the text, as presented in a few hymnals, translated by Gerard Moultrie (1829-1885) (some have some verses, others have others):

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
And with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder nothing earthly minded,
For with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
Our full homage to demand.

King of kings, yet born of Mary,
As of old on earth He stood.
Lord of lords in human nature,
In the body and the blood,
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heavenly food.

Rank on rank the host of heaven
Spreads its vanguard on the way,
As the Light of light descendeth
From the realms of endless day,
That the pow'rs of hell may vanish
As the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six-winged seraph,
Cherubim, with sleepless eye,
Veil their faces to the Presence,
As with ceaseless voice they cry,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Alleluia! Lord Most High.

These verses are taken from the Anaphora of the liturgy. Notable is the second verse, Christ giving himself for heavenly food. It is absent from some hymnals, among them the Baptist, while included in others (even those of the Protestant type). However, in Protestant hymnals (Episcopalians, Lutherans and the new Methodist hymnal excluded), this hymn is usually placed in the Advent section, or Christmas if there is no Advent section.

I've had churches sing this during Advent, and they generally react positively to it. The last couple of years, I've had our church sing it on our communion Sunday in Advent, which is more fitting given its history. But, should Protestants be singing it at all? Christ giving his own self for heavenly food doesn't bother me, because that can be interpreted many ways; but, does it confuse? Noone has ever asked me about it. I would prefer it to go away from the Advent section, personally, especially in those hymnals that leave out the second verse—the only one which specifically mentions the first advent.

But, would singing it at communion be appropriate at a Baptist church? I often feel like people have no idea what they're singing, anyway, so would it wake them up? And, I wonder how Orthodox Christians would feel about Baptists singing part of the Divine Liturgy?

Music Maps

For my new favorite web toy, check out Live Plasma. You can make interactive maps of bands and their relationships, or movies, directors, etc., based on Amazon's database. It's pretty fun, although the classical catalog doesn't seem to work too well.

Fireworks!

We spent Sunday-Tuesday in one of our favorite places to be, Boston, with our friends John and Amanda. We had lots of fun, and Tuesday evening, saw the most absolutely amazing fireworks display on the famous Esplanade with the Boston Pops. As the entire sky lit up, brighter than day, with fireworks that looked like shimmering water, Amy was jumping up and down in sheer joy. She said to me, "I'm not trying to be sacrilegious, but do you think that things like that will be in heaven when we see God?"

I was reminded of a conversation with millinerd, in which we were discussing craftmanship, whether it be of art, music, food, or anything. If we have been put on earth to glorify God, and will spend all eternity doing so, then are we just practicing for our more perfect job in eternity? As God has given us gifts and interests to perform our duties on earth, are those not the things that we will continue to do? And, those things that are beautiful because of the God-given gifts of the creators, will they themselves not remain to God's glory for eternity? In reading the scholastics (for an upcoming comp), they felt that all true creativity was from God—which would indicate more strongly that these works of art would last.

In thinking about music, as some pieces have lasted for hundreds of years (e.g., the music of Pérotin), will not some of it last into eternity? And others, like "Breathe" (sorry Mike), will they last? Or what about Tarkus? It's a work of amazing craftmanship, but it already seems to have faded. Of course, we have no way of comprehension of what eternity will truly be like; however, these things which are glorifying to God's creative spirit seem likely to be a good starting point.

So, whether or not Pyro Spectaculars will be doing shows in heaven or not, at least their ingenuity will be helping, along with musicians, carpenters, bakers, and everyone else. Amy will be glad, at least.