Profound Music Lends Itself to Being Worthwhile Music—part 1

Profound Music Lends Itself to Being Worthwhile Music—part 1

Let us consider some of the aspects of well-written music that make it worthwhile music.  First, there is the word “profound” that we will define as music that searches into the deep and subtle areas of truth and beauty.  Truth and beauty are included in the definition of profound although the study of aesthetics of music generally does not deal directly with truth. However, the Christian must include truth with beauty because aesthetic beauty often reveals truth to the viewer or auditor. Also, profound music composed without words will require deep thought and knowledge of its formal properties in order for the auditor to be able to unlock its information that makes it understandable.

If the listener believes that the trombonist he is watching is swallowing the slide as he plays, that person is not knowledgeable enough of instrumental music to make   decisions about the profundity of the performer’s playing.  With the popularity of “dumbing down” church music, profundity in music is not often high on the priority list of many church musicians.  Furthermore, evaluating the profoundness of a selection of sacred music is not the popular music praxis of many very knowledgeable Christian musicians who are worship leaders.