How Bach Used the "Devil's Music"
During the middle of the sixteenth century, there was intense debate about music in the church. Several issues were on the table:
Four Ways Instrumentalists Can Raise the Bar
by Greg Howlett
Music is a lightning rod for controversy on SharperIron, and I am hopeful that this article will lead to some thoughtful discussion and introspection. However, I have challenged myself to write about music in a way that is relevant to the average fundamentalist church while avoiding the normal debates about CCM and stylistic preferences.
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Grateful Dead Themes in New "Classical" Symphony
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The symphony should appeal to “Deadheads,” whose attention to the band’s improvisations has given them listening skills surpassing many classical aficionados, [the composer] said. Click here.
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Rap Music Is Waning
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Thoughts on why mainstream rap music is being rejected by consumers. Click here.
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Dan Forrest at Carnegie Hall
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Dan Forrest’s Arise, Shine premiered at Carnegie Hall yesterday. Click here to read his thoughts on the event.
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Bible Study on Worship and Music Now Available
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David Ledgerwood, fine arts department chair for Maranatha Baptist Bible College, and his wife Kim, have published a 30-day Bible study on worship and music. See here for more information and sample pages.
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Copland, Pluralism, and Musical Meaning: Implications for Christian Aesthetics
Aaron Copland was a composer, not an aesthetician or theologian. But as the honorary “Dean of American Composers,” he was often called upon to discuss musical meaning, and his thoughts on the matter were well-informed, both by his study and experience. In the view of this writer (also an American composer, but of a much smaller order!), Copland’s ideas have great value for Christians who make aesthetic judgments in accordance with Scriptural revelation. In a 1951 speech at Harvard, Copland said,
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"The older lyrics... help us remember why it is symbolically right, even if historically wrong, to celebrate Christ’s birth in winter."
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Touchstone reminds of the importance of keeping darkness in Christmas
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"Worship is often shaped more by what people desire than by the nature of God’s self-disclosure found in the Bible."
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I found this succinct statement of how one church is addressing the matter of corporate worship to be very helpful.
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