Where do we begin?

Who is this blog for?

This blog is for musicians who want to know more about sacred music and the Church theology behind sacred music. This blog is also for church leaders who know a little about music, but need more context on music history and how church history plays into it. This blog is to be used as a resource, but also for those with a high curiosity. 

What is sacred music? 

Sacred music can be depicted among any type of music for any religion around the world. However, we are going to be focusing distinctly on the sacred music of the Church over the ages. Church music, in that matter, is a focus on theological engagement in worship, reflecting on implications on music and life. Church music also explores historical contexts. The Church as a whole explores its theology and history within the bible, predominantly the New Testament and Old Testament books. Some traditions will focus on the apocrypha, or often called the longer canon. The prose written within acknowledges “these very personal praises (that) give way to more general characteristics of God in his interactions with humanity.”

If you have ever attended a Christian Church service, you have most likely witnessed sacred music in some form or another. Perhaps you grew up in a Catholic Church with a pipe organ, cantors, and a boys choir, with oftentimes everything recited in Latin. Maybe you are a Quaker and have a silent meeting in the Meeting House, and then follow up the service by singing hymns and folk songs with a guitar at the potluck. Maybe you are from the African American Baptist tradition singing gospel and R&B worship music. Perhaps you are from a traditionalist Presbyterian Church singing hymns every week. Or perhaps you come from the Orthodox tradition where most of the music is recited by the cantor and the priest. Even if you are non-religious and have never stepped foot into a Church in your life, I am sure that you have heard sacred music depicted in secular music. You see a pattern? 

Church music has not always been the same. It varies throughout traditions, and even varies throughout congregations. Why is this? Well first we must look into how it was developed for worship at the very beginning of the Christian movement just 2000 years ago. 

Now how did sacred music in the Church develop?

Sacred music in the Church developed at the beginning of the Christian faith itself. 

Judaism was already a religion full of music, developing prose that encapsulated the solidarity between the Israelites coming home from enslavement in a strange land. The Israelites wrote music for special holiday celebrations and for hailing God as king. They had numerous psalms and laments to sing in responsible, didactic, and antiphonal form. Christianity was able to start off their musical journey from this 1500 year-old tradition of worship, primarily with singing the psalms for the sake of praise and thanksgiving, pastoral care, lament, encouraging obedience, teaching doctrine, preventing idolatry, and basking in the affection of God. Music was then created to depict the glory of God in song as well. 

Though it was not so long after that the Church took a turn when there came the first major division, that is, the Jews and the Gentile Christians. The Jewish Christians focused mainly on the psalms and their own traditionals songs passed down over centuries throughout the Jewish community. They were filled with instrumentation, harmonies, and robust vigor. The Gentile Christians were unaware of this type of music living in the Roman Empire outside of Palestine. Their hymns were the Psalms of the Old Testament along with the New Testament writings that were soon developed. Their music was much simpler. They were people from the Gentile traditions, so they sang the music styles that Gentiles knew. They sang a cappella, without instrumentation. These differences in their music were the pinnacle of traditional Jewish traditions and Gentile innovation basing themselves on Greco-Roman style and Judeo-Christian theology. The Gentile innovations were just the beginnings of the music that grew into the incredible worship music we have seen over the centuries. 

Why are we all so different in our music? Can’t we all just get along? 

Wherever you are from, I am sure you have experienced differences within the Church. Though why is that? So often we Christians hear the question, “Can we please just get along? We can all share our traditions together.” That is easier said than done. Divisions in the Church have been around since the founding of the Church, and sacred music is no exception. It is inevitable that music will always change and will evolve into something new. This also means there will always be backlash towards the new music. 

This was certainly prevalent within classical music. When the Baroque era’s music began its formation, many people found it to be too experimental and strange compared to the polyphonic madrigals performed in the day. That same genre then grew to become the standard cornerstone of Western music theory and practice. Fast forward about three hundred years, when Igor Stravinsky presented the opening night of his ballet of The Rite of Spring in Paris in 1913, the audience was so disapproving of the dissonance of the notes, the primitive nature of the dancing and the rhythmic structure, that the audience started a riot. Humanity has a constant pull within itself between its desire to create and its desire to keep what is familiar. The same happens with music within the Church. When the Church is faced with a new genre of music, many congregants will usually react negatively, and that is because of change. Many churches have split due to the changes. Many churches come through feeling better than before, growing in something new by joining together different genres of music. Many scholars are calling this the worship wars. I have seen the worship wars in my home church in Massachusetts, and in my church of employment in Pittsburgh. There is never one simple solution to fix the issues because each church is unique. Every faith tradition has their own traditions of music that help them come to their roots in grounding them in their faith, connecting them to the Christians and saints over the last 2000 years. Though every faith tradition has their own innovations of exploring outside of the box and creating music that reflects the faith and beliefs settled within their hearts. 

So why are we here?

My job, therefore, is to explore these many facets of tradition and innovation within sacred music throughout history. They say that history repeats itself. Perhaps if we are to learn from our ancestors, the Church Fathers, the saints, previous composers, and other people of Christian faith within history, we may be able to find fitting solutions to the worship wars. My next post will be about the early church’s developments from plainsong, with only chanting and the banning of instruments in the first few centuries; to polyphony, the multilayered sounds of music. Be prepared to find out what makes the Church Fathers tick about instruments, how Gregorian Chant became the standard, and how the innovations of hymns started coming into the framework of the church. 

Until next time, 

            Practice, pray, and be at peace. 

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