Forums | Thinking Theology

03 February 2023, 12:19

For Mayfair Village Christian Fellowship

Hymn 21: Brother let me be your servant - R Gillard; Reading: Psalm 69. 30

The Mayfair Village Christian Fellowship spends much of its time discussing what it thinks Christianity is. For the above topic to be understood in depth there needs to be a similar look at music. It may surprise you that the variety of opinions about music matches the different views about Christianity.

Historically, music has been seen as part of a cultural complex of ingredients alongside language, myth, ceremony, religion, rhythm, dance, melody, harmony, timbre, dynamics - all combined in a recognisable form with a particular texture and in a recognisable style. This is the case with Maori music where the term ‘waiata’ covers as diverse musical examples as haka, chant, instrumental piece, and song. Here music is functional – e.g. it challenges a stranger, welcomes a friend, threatens an enemy, and sooths a crying child. Similarly, today’s programme music, pop music and dance music are linked to somethings outside their own sound, hence, Referential Music.

On the other hand, other cultures, particularly in Western Europe, from the 1400s on, increasingly separated out some of their music to include only those elements that were products of organised sound, viz rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, dynamics and combined them in a way which gave them pleasing form, texture, and style. Thus a Bach Prelude and Fugue, a Mozart symphony, a Haydn String Quartet, and a Beethoven Piano Concerto were listened to and responded to for their own musical sake and not for any referenced idea. In contrast to Programme Music it is not about anything other than its own sounds. It is non-representational Art Music or Absolute Music.

Both kinds of music can have an emotional, intellectual and physical effect on people.

So, is there such a thing as Christian Music?

My mother, bless her, thought that Christian music had to have a religious text. However, I once conducted an opera where the same tune was used for the following words - Listen to this:

“Fill every glass for wine inspires us,

And fires us with courage love and joy.

Women and wine should men employ,

Is there on earth ought else desirous?”   (The Beggar’s Opera – John Gay)

And for a Christmas programme for the newly appointed Elizabeth II, where I sang with others,

“Whence is that goodly fragrance flowing,

Stealing our senses all away?

Never the like did come a blowing,

Shepherds in flow’ry fields of May.”  (18^th c French Carol)

Is the music in these examples Christian, secular or neutral? If possible, discuss with someone else.

Where do you agree? Where do you disagree?

Another approach to considering Music and Christianity could be through looking at a few historically important musical examples taken from church records.

1 Music from the early Roman Church.  Early Christian chant. e.g. Benedictus domino (Sing example)

Music has been associated with worship for as long as we have written records. The Jews mentioned harps, trumpets and cymbals and we particularly associate music with the Psalms of King David. Pope Gregory is remembered through Gregorian chant which has one sophisticated melodic line. In Gregory’s time all music sung in church worship was monodic. Any harmony was accidental and although the melody sung together by men and boys, or monks and nuns, was an octave apart, it was not perceived as different.

2 The emergence of harmony and later, polyphony

The first shift from monody was the addition of a fifth (the first harmonic originally described by Pythagoras).     a. Sing ‘Amen’ together in two equal groups, a fifth (5 notes) apart.

Higher voices     G AG F G____

Lower voices      C D C Bb C____                                                                (Rhythm follows word syllables)

When the second harmonic was added, (i.e. the third E, in CEG), the triad sounded.                  

1. Listen to  notes   C     E     G (C cord) played together on piano.                        

Whereas the octave and fifth were considered perfect intervals, the thirds were less straightforward. There are major thirds, minor thirds and even neutral thirds used by Arabs. Thus, thirds were often left out of final chords of ‘church’ music because some were viewed by the authorities as sensual and sinful. Further ‘referential’ church influence was shown by preferring 3/4 to 4/4 Time Signatures to acknowledge the Trinity. This gives a simultaneous vertical mix of sounds - harmony

When melodies (from the development of chant singing) were sung together but starting at different times, harmony was also produced but not from chords but horizontally from the tunes – polyphony

Think of a round such as Tallis’ canon: “Glory to Thee my God this night”. With the development of writing rhythmic notation (beat had replaced free plainchant) in the 1400s, church and secular music gradually established 2,3, and 4 (and more) part writing for choral and instrumental composition.

3 With the influence of the Renaissance and later Rationalism, music became freer from non-music influences and we have the present situation illustrated by the Mayfair Christian Fellowship Hymnbook. The main contributing sources of its music have been the Roman Catholic Church, The Reformation Protestants; Anglican, Methodists, Presbyterian, Baptist, Pentecostal, and other recent New Zealand Christians.

Despite the existence of the different ways of interpreting both Music and Christianity, the Christian story still inspires musicians to produce some of their best compositions. Undoubtedly, the legacy of the past would be decidedly poorer if these two great influences had not been continually merging. I consider that some of my deepest spiritual feelings have come from the combination of ‘voice and verse.’ We are so different from other religions (Buddhism, Islam) who do not use music in worship.

Note: Richard Gillard, started writing songs as a NSTC music student. With another student, John Lethaby, we wrote a College music drama ‘Earth Blue’ in 1973. It has since been forgotten, but his Servant Song (1977) remains popular, a sure indicator of high quality. When I listen to the best of Bach, Handel, Mozart, Brahms, Elgar, Wesley, Murray, Gibson, and Gillard, I am already in heaven!

Here is a video with similar content