Aesthetics and the Christian Musician—part 4

Aesthetics and the Christian Musician—part 4

          What does all this mean to church musicians in the 21st century?  Why should we care what “serious academic music” composers do?  The reason we care is that in order for us to know how contemporary Christian music derived its philosophical basis, we must understand the history of music.  With these basic understandings of 20th century philosophical despair in music philosophy, we are able to know how 21st century church musicians derive their synthesis music philosophy.

          Contemporary Christian musicians have accepted many elements of the anti-music despair of the 20th century.  They believe, like Stravinsky, that the music part of music is not efficacious i.e. it is incapable of expressing anything at all.  Furthermore, these Christian musicians believe, like John Cage, that nothing is “sacred” or “profound” about the music part of contemporary Christian music.  Finally, like the religious music of Pierre Henry, these contemporary Christian’s religious music is grotesque and dissonant but the words are clear and clean!  To them this sanctifies the deed!  If the words are clean, nothing else matters.

          Under this lack-luster philosophy religious music no longer has to be aesthetically beautiful.  Although almost all Christian musicians who perform rock-based music would deny it, they don’t believe in a music aesthetic based on any definable traditional standards of beauty.  If they do believe in a Christian music aesthetic, it is most certainly a redefined beauty based on a synthesis somewhere in between beauty and ugliness.  How did music degenerate in its aesthetic beauty from the music of J.S. Bach to the anti-music of composers like John Cage?  I believe that Achille-Claude Debussy (1862-1918) was one of the early composers who started in the direction of despair music.  He became interested in the literary works of the symbolist writers of the 19th century.  These writers addressed their writings to a system of symbols and symbolic meaning as a negative reaction to naturalism and realism in literature.  This school was nonliteral and figurative thus developing a network of vague images.

Thought for the Day

It is a short-sighted and faulty notion that a Christian musician can operate successfully as a ministering musician and make wise music ministry decisions without a long broad study and understanding of the history of music.