I've been confronted this week with my deep poverty of imagination and understanding on the concept of "power" as it relates to art. Part of my deep frustration with the powerlessness of which I wrote a few days ago is that I don't rightly know what the concept means as related to art, music, church music, the church itself, etc.
“You can kill people with sound.”
And so it seems to us at the blog at Sinden.org that the time is right hold a colloquium on the questions of power and art, and explore how these concepts relate to music within the liturgy of the church.
The ever helpful Maria Popova gets us started on the value of arts
This is the power of art: The power to transcend our own self-interest, our solipsistic zoom-lens on life, and relate to the world and each other with more integrity, more curiosity, more wholeheartedness.
Wholeheartedness leads to thoughts of Brené Brown, and (artistic) vulnerability of which I expect we will have plenty to say later. Note that the title of her TED talk uses the P word: The Power of Vulnerability
Which leads us to think maybe the power of art as found in its vulnerability could really be thought of as "weakness". I'd love to unpack the paradox here, and I may later reach for a title by theologian Marva Dawn, Joy in our Weakness.
There are moments on this blog when "power", as it is connected to art, music, and the church, has already surfaced.
Here are a few:
“If we consider what sort of music we should want to hear on entering a church we should surely, in describing our ideal, say first of all that it must be something different from what is heard elsewhere; that it should be a sacred music devoted to its purpose, a music whose peace should still passion; whose dignity should strengthen our faith; whose unquestioned beauty should find a home in our hearts to cheer us in life and death. What a powerful good such music would have”.
“You can kill people with sound.”
It makes you appreciate the tremendous power of particularity. If your identity is formed by hard boundaries, if you come from a specific place, if you embody a distinct musical tradition, if your concerns are expressed through a specific paracosm, you are going to have more depth and definition than you are if you grew up in the far-flung networks of pluralism and eclecticism, surfing from one spot to the next, sampling one style then the next, your identity formed by soft boundaries, or none at all.David Brooks, we of course interpreted his remarks are referring to Anglican church music, others related it to Anglican liturgy
And these words of music critic Alex Ross, which find their way on to this blog for the first time:
“Art does not stand apart from reality; if it did, it would have no life in it, no light, no darkness, no power.”"As If Music Could Do No Harm." The New Yorker, Cultural Comment Blog, 20 August 2014
“Art does not stand apart from reality; if it did, it would have … no power.”
As I look back over the ten year history of this blog (has it really been that long?) it seems that strands of this colloquium have been emerging for some time. I'm happy to try to collect these different strands into a more directed conversation. I am eager to see what emerges.
To bring this brief tour full circle for now, art, which Alex Ross so powerfully notes "does not stand apart from reality", has a peculiar kind of power. I believe this power is best explained by Thomas Merton summarizes when he says
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
Labels: Alex Ross, authenticity, church music, David Brooks, identity, liturgy, Marva Dawn, music, power and art, Thomas Merton, wholeheartedness
Had this been our first Sunday at St. Mark’s it’s unlikely we would have returned.So what went wrong? This little church was trying to be something it’s not.
St. Mark’s is a traditional church. And it’s very good at being a traditional church. But it’s a lousy contemporary church.
Murrow, David. "Why traditional churches should stick with traditional worship". A Few Grown Men, from Patheos. 17 April 2013.
A timely note on this, the Feast of St. Mark. May this St. Mark's, all parishes named after that Evangelist, and all worshipping communities, be most authentically themselves, and not try to violently sever themselves from their pasts.
I believe that we on Sinden.org have already covered this territory: see Brooks, David - on why Anglican Church music helps form our identity
Labels: authenticity, liturgy, Mark
Starting today I'm at the American Sarum conference. I'll be tweeting using the hashtag #AmSam.
While is unclear whether tweeting was part of the Sarum rite, this is one of the things I hope to learn at the conference.
Update: 2 Mar: Here, for posterity are my tweets with the hashtag #AmSam
Terrific few days in Bronxville for American Sarum conference. Great to learn so much, spend time with old friends & meet new ones #AmSam 4:13 PM Jan 18th #AmSam dinner (@ J. C. Fogarty's) http://4sq.com/eNLSpH 11:46 PM Jan 17th from foursquare 15th Century Mass recreation #AmSam 9:01 PM Jan 17th Rubrics advanced course #AmSam (@ Blue Moon Mexican Cafe) http://4sq.com/ijBqGb 8:22 PM Jan 17th from foursquare 2 hour session on rubrics beginning #AmSam 6:53 PM Jan 17th Technology can make bridges to modern liturgical principles. #AmSam 4:56 PM Jan 17th We have more resources than Percy Dearmer. Too many really. This is a burden and a blessing. #AmSam 4:54 PM Jan 17th Text is common. Use is specific. Is diversity pastorally advisable? #AmSam 4:50 PM Jan 17th John Austin Baker (frmr Bishop of Salisbury) "Christian Faith" disposes with penal substitution theory of Atonement - Davies #AmSam 4:46 PM Jan 17th Roman Church core is atonement. Sarum Rite (Anglicans) core is incarnation. But it's about theological perspective #AmSam 4:43 PM Jan 17th Gathered circle doesn't leave room for hiding behind pillar. No theological place for choir. #AmSam 3:52 PM Jan 17th Harper: priesthood of all believers: laity need to be formed to shape the liturgy #AmSam 3:52 PM Jan 17th Davies: someone has to make liturgical decisions - that process and input is theological #AmSam 3:48 PM Jan 17th Whirmore: fads are a part of human culture. We have to reach back to find enduring principles in order to go forward #AmSam 3:39 PM Jan 17th Whitmore: Music and liturgy are not separate things #AmSam 3:36 PM Jan 17th Harper: don't draw lines of style. Community has to decide. Start with music of liturgy #AmSam 3:32 PM Jan 17th Liturgy is shaping of sound and silence. Already music. (Harper) #AmSam 3:31 PM Jan 17th Harper: music in liturgy is perhaps our least developed side of theology. #AmSam 3:28 PM Jan 17th Harper: 1906 English Hymnal plainsong. Intended as congregational music. Martin Shaw had a different aesthetic. Look to 1549 music #AmSam 3:27 PM Jan 17th Harper: experience in liturgy is Primary Theology. Early Music grounded in hist principles. Liturgy never static. Always changing #AmSam 3:25 PM Jan 17th Davies: places to go. Staging posts from medieval rite. Enfleshing the theology through liturgy. #AmSam 3:22 PM Jan 17th Davies: at Salisbury we get the chairs out of the way. The people move. Color, texture, darkness, mystery. Moving across thresholds. #AmSam 3:21 PM Jan 17th Davies: liturgical principles come first. Moving away from text. Preparation behind presentation important. Senses engaged. #AmSam 3:19 PM Jan 17th Doig: rich, dense, layered symbolism express the theology being worked out by congregation. Expressions beyond words. #AmSam 3:17 PM Jan 17th Liturgy: orderly, complete, uncluttered by ideas. Reaching back in order to go forward. #AmSam 3:12 PM Jan 17th Generational differences have emptied our churches of people under 35. GenX & Millenials interested in experience #AmSam 3:09 PM Jan 17th Bishop Whitmire: AAM 2003 Indianapolis (after General Convention) was life-giving. Musicians are your best partners in the church #AmSam 3:06 PM Jan 17th Morning Prayer at AAM midwinter conference. Voluntaries by Marcus Karl Maroney (b 1977) and Hindemith #AmSam 1:50 PM Jan 17th American Sarum dinner. Great food. Keeping the roast beef warm on the fireplace. #AmSam (@ Bronxville Field Club) http://4sq.com/fbU3GW 1:24 AM Jan 17th from foursquare Final work is Pierre Cochereau (1924-1984) Variations sur un vieux Noël. #AmSam 11:15 PM Jan 16th Great use of French Horn stop. Howells a bit too fast and accelerandi too exaggerated for my taste. #AmSam 11:11 PM Jan 16th Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele, BWV 654. Flutes, 8, 4 accompanying cornet. Mr Forster seems to be using a few main note trills #AmSam 11:04 PM Jan 16th Organ recital beginning on the new Casavant organ at Christ Church, Bronxville. Stuart Forster. Buxtehude Magnificat is first. #AmSam 10:53 PM Jan 16th Evensong: Byrd responses; Hostis Herodes impie - Sheppard; First Service - Parsons; #AmSam 9:54 PM Jan 16th Appreciate space through teaching #AmSam 8:47 PM Jan 16th Easter Vigils held here in 1935. #AmSam 8:37 PM Jan 16th CS Lewis: unaware of details (dance steps, shoes). Attention on God #AmSam 8:35 PM Jan 16th Deliberate study of liturgy is a matter of pastoral care, worship, theology #AmSam 8:34 PM Jan 16th "We are overwhelmed with choices today" - Fr Bird #AmSam 8:34 PM Jan 16th "Christian worship can never be passive" -Fr Hohly #AmSam 8:22 PM Jan 16th Fr Hohly inspired to congregation to embrace change #AmSam 8:21 PM Jan 16th Morton Stone wasn't willing to stay only with the English expression - he looked East. Hymn 324. CCBNY willing to take risks #AmSam 8:20 PM Jan 16th Hohly moved to more Roman expression to what he would term English use. Reredos added during his time & moved the Altar further East #AmSam 8:17 PM Jan 16th CCBNY built 1925/6. Percy Dearmer's ideas prevalent in building of US churches. #AmSam 8:14 PM Jan 16th Now Fr Michael Bird, rector on the history of the parish. #AmSam 8:11 PM Jan 16th Watched a cool video of mediæval liturgy reenactment: Reconciliation of Penitents on Maundy Thurs #AmSam 8:10 PM Jan 16th "you have to go through the threshold of boredom to discover the beauty and the power" #AmSam 7:17 PM Jan 16th Most solemn feasts have more voices in music of Sheppard. Music reflects added solemnity. #AmSam 7:02 PM Jan 16th Compline separate and more solemn in Lent. In manuas tuas. #AmSam 7:00 PM Jan 16th Services are mostly plainsong or improvised polyphony. Lady chapel is small! Not music for whole cathedral. #AmSam 6:53 PM Jan 16th Pricksong (notes are "pricked") Lady Mass at Workdays, Holy Days & Antiphon on Holy Days #AmSam 6:52 PM Jan 16th Now: deployment of the choral body at Rochester Cathedral 1540s (no longer Benedictine, adopts Sarum liturgy) #AmSam 6:45 PM Jan 16th Cathedral doesn't provide candles for the parish Mass in the Nave. #AmSam 6:43 PM Jan 16th "Polyphony of prayer" was common in cathedrals. #AmSam 6:42 PM Jan 16th Sonic Ceremonial: music and ritual in late medieval England. John Harper #AmSam 6:36 PM Jan 16th Church is out. #AmSam 4:19 PM Jan 16th #AmSamStealth http://twitpic.com/3qmacl 3:57 PM Jan 16th May sit in the balcony and tweet this service. #AmSamStealth 2:32 PM Jan 16th Still waiting to catch the shuttle to Christ Ch, Bronxville for this morning's 10 am liturgy. Jeremy Davies is preaching. #AmSam 2:31 PM Jan 16th 40 days of Christmas at Salisbury #AmSam 8:35 PM Jan 15th We come to God with our empty spaces. God gives us the resources. #AmSam 8:18 PM Jan 15th Jeremy Davies lecture is like poetry, or one of his beautifully crafted prayers. #AmSam 8:07 PM Jan 15th Sarum liturgy orderly, but highly elaborate. #AmSam 8:01 PM Jan 15th God's Patterns - Jeremy Davies. Salisbury: inhabit use work (building & liturgy) #AmSam 7:53 PM Jan 15th The Lord does not speak to us without a parable. Eucharist the "acted sermon of the church" #AmSam 7:07 PM Jan 15th "We have a ritual, and we must use it whether we like it or not" #AmSam 7:06 PM Jan 15th Churches become overlaid with symbolism and are themselves sacramental vessels. #AmSam 7:04 PM Jan 15th Oxford mvt strove for apostolic succession. Dignity of priestly office and sacraments #AmSam 6:47 PM Jan 15th Churches (good ones) "spatial embodiments of sacramental worship." #AmSam 6:43 PM Jan 15th 1824 grant for 450 churches fostered an architectural style known as "commissioner's gothic" (see Thomas Rickman) #AmSam 6:30 PM Jan 15th Revival of Sarum Rite in 19th C. Dr. Doig #AmSam 6:19 PM Jan 15th Conf participant stands to recommend Dr. Harper's "City of the Lord" publ RSCM #AmSam 5:01 PM Jan 15th Medieval liturgy is a sensory "polyphony". Layering of words and action. Elevation is a moment of focus. #AmSam 4:56 PM Jan 15th Britten took Ceremony of Carols procession from an actual processional chant. #AmSam 4:50 PM Jan 15th Procession is its own rite. #AmSam 4:46 PM Jan 15th Meanwhile, Salisbury continues to change. Incense happens at offertory, not Credo #AmSam 4:41 PM Jan 15th 8 to 9 thousand churches then adopt their cathedral's liturgy in the middle ages. #AmSam 4:38 PM Jan 15th Salisbury offered a ready model for non-monastic cathedrals to adopt in the 13th C. #AmSam 4:36 PM Jan 15th Canons were likely living common life by a "monastic-style" rule. #AmSam 4:34 PM Jan 15th John says look at the library of St Gall online #AmSam 4:27 PM Jan 15th Time: Large clock in north nave aisle. Big bell tower outside (demolished 1790) #AmSam 4:23 PM Jan 15th They are obsessed by who does what. Also there's not much separation between things musical and liturgical. #AmSam 4:21 PM Jan 15th Books are very sacred objects #AmSam 4:16 PM Jan 15th Key people: Osmund, Roger le Poer, Jocelin de Bohun & Richard Poore #AmSam 4:09 PM Jan 15th Old Sarum 1075-1220, New Sarum 1220 onward #AmSam 4:03 PM Jan 15th "Use" is Materials (texts, objects) People (office, individual) Place (location, space) & Time (general, local) #AmSam 4:02 PM Jan 15th Previous tweets from Fr. Cody Unterseher's talk. Now, "The Medieval Use of Sarum" by John Harper #AmSam 3:57 PM Jan 15th If in liturgy we do something from the past, we do it *in the present* #AmSam 3:23 PM Jan 15th Brian Spinks has a liturgy shopping mall analogy. What do we have to offer? Clinging to "we've always done it this way" won't cut it. #AmSam 3:18 PM Jan 15th Dearmer sought an English use, not a Baroque Continental one. #AmSam 3:12 PM Jan 15th Percy Dearmer was distressed by ritualism "naughty child of Protestantism" "unworthy of our self-respect" #AmSam 3:11 PM Jan 15th What the ritualists appealed to was forbidden. #AmSam 3:10 PM Jan 15th Processions and ringing of bells forbidden in 1547 by parliament #AmSam 3:09 PM Jan 15th "ornaments" rubric points to Edward VI way of doing things. Points to an unbroken continuity which didn't really exist #AmSam 3:08 PM Jan 15th "Ultimately the Oxford Movement was in search of authentic tradition." #AmSam 3:05 PM Jan 15th Radically different theological and liturgical hard to reconcile. "An idea as impossible as it is noble" #AmSam 3:04 PM Jan 15th "diversity of use" alluded to in first BCP. Movable type theoretically allows for liturgical conformity. #AmSam 3:03 PM Jan 15th Local uses had a lot in common with each other, but not with the Roman Rite. #AmSam 3:01 PM Jan 15th Bradshaw (West. Abbey) points to early Eucharists of fish and water (John 6). #AmSam 2:58 PM Jan 15th Tradition is fundamentally relational. See Fiddler On The Roof. But there is a fundamental lack of liturgical continuity. #AmSam 2:57 PM Jan 15th Liturgy is enacted as received #AmSam 2:53 PM Jan 15th Mundane behaviors acquire sacredness. #AmSam 2:53 PM Jan 15th Brian Harlow is playing Whitlock pieces as voluntaries for AM prayer. New organ is delicious. Sarum Rite: no tweeting during liturgy #AmSam 1:47 PM Jan 15th I'm the cantor for Morning Prayer. #DangersOfTheAfterParty #AmSam 3:19 AM Jan 15th Michael Steele: Tallis Masses are Sarum Rite Masses. No Kyries. #AmSam 2:09 AM Jan 15th Robert Wylkinson (1475-1515) Salve Regina. Glorious. #AmSam. 1:10 AM Jan 15th First half: a brief history of Sarum music (from the 13th C to the Eton Choirbook) #AmSam 12:28 AM Jan 15th Concert by Trinity, Wall Street about to begin. #AmSam 12:20 AM Jan 15th RIC to LGA. headed to American Sarum conference, or #AmSam 5:53 PM Jan 14th Getting all excited for the American Sarum conference, or as I call it on Twitter #AmSam
Labels: authenticity, church music, liturgical space, liturgy, Salisbury Cathedral
American composer David Diamond was born on July 9, 1915 and died only four summers ago.
It may interest readers to know that the increasingly popular Eric Whitacre was one of his composition students.
Diamond was prolific, writing eleven symphonies (take that Beethoven!), various concertos, instrumental works large and small (including one of my favorites Rounds for String Orchestra), and even a smattering of choral music. He never achieved the fame of his contemporaries Leonard Bernstein or Aaron Copland, but his voice, like theirs, is authentically American.
Because of this hiding in plain sight, there are some blind spots in his oeuvre. Conductor Gerard Schwartz championed David Diamond and recorded the symphonies with the Seattle Symphony. But only eleven of them.
There is another.
And, as you may have guessed, it is an organ symphony. It's a great big mammoth organ work -- an American version of a late Widor symphony, maybe.
It has all of the hallmarks of Diamond's style, and some great moments. I'm enjoying getting to know this major work of American organ repertoire which, to the best of my knowledge, has never been recorded.
The work was premiered by Leonard Raver in 1988 and reviewed not entirely favorably in the New York Times.
Labels: authenticity, David Diamond
Merton Monday, the second Monday of every month on Sinden.org, features an excerpt from the writing of Thomas Merton:
The Church indeed likes what is old, not because it is old but rather it is "young." In the Psalms, we drink divine praise at its pure and stainless source, in all its primitive sincerity and perfection.Merton, Thomas. Praying the Psalms, p. 7. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1956.
I think it would be an apt reversal of Merton's thinking to say that what is young ("Praise music") is "old". Tired, worn-out, inauthentic.
You gotta love the Psalms. The source.
Labels: authenticity, Psalms, Thomas Merton
Frank Gehry
What makes artistic creativity authentic? What is creativity's relationship to the self? to society?
In this country, what makes creativity American? and must it be American to be authentic? How much can contemporary creative output be influenced by historical models and still retain a current authenticity?
I want to explore some of these questions this summer, especially with regard to organ improvisation.
With this in mind, I'm especially excited by the upcoming documentary Sketches of Frank Gehry.
I am especially intrigued by phrases like "it was like jumping off a cliff" and "Frank believes in accidents, but some of his accidents are failures" and "there is a certain threatening to taking a leap, but once you try that, you can't stop."
Labels: authenticity
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