Disciplines
• Music
• Music History
• Music Performance
• Music Theory
Religion and music:
Religion has a long-held role in the history
of music. Many major musical works have
been composed for religious occasions or
with religious themes. Music is often used
to convey the glory of God. It is part of
many types of religious celebrations and
observances, and music and songs are used
to pass on religious stories, teaching and
values.
At the same time, music
of all sorts - from classical to contemporary
pop - can be used to explore feelings about
religion. Musicians may intend to pose questions
or provoke thought about religious beliefs
and practices through music. This may incite
more conservative believers of religious
traditions to protest, particularly when
religious values are challenged or confronted
in an unorthodox way. Religion continues
to impact the music industry in many ways.
Music and morals:
Music is often judged by religious standards.
As such, it can both define and defy status
quo beliefs of its time.
Baroque composer Johann
Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is known for
his hundreds of compositions, many of them
deeply religious in origin. A devout Lutheran,
Bach felt compelled to express reverence
and celebration of God's glory in his works
- influencing the beliefs and styles of
many later composers and musicians.
By contrast, some notes
in music have been considered evil by religious
standards. In the Middle Ages, the Roman
Catholic Church banned a musical interval
of the augmented fourth spanning three tones,
called a tritone, considering it the "Devil's
Chord" or "Devil's Interval."
Experts say before it was outlawed, the
dissonant tritone was used to portray the
devil or evil. But the ban impacted both
secular and religious music of the time.
By the Romantic era, composers stopped avoiding
the tritone, which appeared in music from
then to the modern day, including classical,
blues, jazz, musical theater and rock.
"Blue notes,"
a slight drop of pitch on the third, fifth
or seventh tone of the scale, common in
blues and jazz music, were also considered
by some to be "devil's notes."
The term "devil music" has been
applied to music ranging from 1950s rock
and roll to contemporary heavy metal.
Music as a cultural force
continues to be debated in recent decades.
In the political arena, it has been argued
that music that promotes "bad"
values should be censored or banned. Some
in the religious community continue to believe
that particular beats and rhythms are inherently
evil, and some believe evil and sin can
be avoided by conscious avoidance of particular
music. These issues are important for the
artist/musician because they deal with freedom
of expression, a key tenet in artistic exploration,
and because social and political climates
historically have impacted how musicians
operate.
Religion and notation:
Music notation as we know it in Western
traditions is descended from Medieval Christian
Gregorian chant, or plainsong, an early
form of liturgical music. Greeks and Romans
had named notes after letters, but as liturgical
chants became more complex, church musicians
invented symbols - or neumes - to indicate
changes in pitch and duration within each
syllable. A long horizontal line to indicate
fixed pitch was introduced by the 10th century,
followed by a four-line staff in the 13th
century and fifth line in the 16th century,
making what we recognize as the musical
stave. The bass clef, flat, natural and
sharp symbols we use today derive from Gregorian
notation.
This notation allowed for
more complex compositions and introduction
of polyphonic hymns, as well as a system
of recording parts for instrumentation.
These innovations led to major developments
in religious and secular vocal and instrumental
music. According to some reports, the naming
of "do re me fa so lat ti do"
notes also came from an eighth-century Latin
hymn to John the Baptist, in which the sounds
were named for the first syllables of each
of the song's lines.
Other Western musical notation
forms related to religious practice include
that used by Shakers, a Protestant religious
denomination that believed in the importance
of recording spiritual revelations in the
form of musical inspiration. They used alphabet
letters and notation of rhythmic values
similar to ancient Greek notation. Also
of note is the "shape-note" system
popular in the American south, which uses
various-shaped notes to show the position
notes on a scale. Found in church hymnals,
sheet music and song books, shape notes
are also often used in Amish and Mennonite
traditions.
Music and philosophy:
Music has the capacity to reflect society
and to influence society. Its development
is often related to similar movements in
literature, art, philosophy and religion.
Examples include the classical and romantic
movements of music and corresponding themes
of religious thought.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
typified the classical movement (roughly
1750-1820), with his invention of the sonata
form. Classical music was defined by order,
balance and elegance, also reflected in
philosophical and religious ideals of the
time. It corresponded with the Age of Enlightenment,
a period based on belief in rationality
and order. Deism - the belief that religious
beliefs should be founded on human reason
and observed features of the natural world,
rather than divine revelation - was popular,
as was the idea of God as the master mathematician.
The Romantic period of
music (roughly 1820-1901), gave up symmetry
and reason in favor of release of emotion
and individualization of expression. It
relied on virtuosic performances and personal
interpretation without orderly themes and
variations. The time period corresponded
to the Second Great Awakening in the United
States, an evangelical Christian period
defined by revivalism. The movement focused
a message of salvation on the individual
rather than the congregation, emphasizing
personal experiences of conversion that
were animating and emotionally jarring.
Leading evangelist Charles Finney - known
for throwing his whole body into eloquent
and hypnotic preaching - urged people away
from scriptural structure to personal revelation.
Religion and music today:
Religions continue to use music to foster
values taught in religious communities,
both to minister to believers and to share
values and beliefs with the larger world.
A recent development is the popularity of
music that combines contemporary secular
formats with messages that make it acceptable
to those within religious communities. Christian
rock and pop music, for example, attempts
to imitate popular forms while focusing
on lyrics that reflect shared Christian
values. A booming industry, Christian music
has also produced "crossover"
artists popular in the secular genre, which
has both been seen as "selling out"
faith and sharing a message of faith with
others.
Today's music blends sounds
and traditions from many cultures representing
many religious beliefs. Examples range from
samples of traditional Arabic and Asian
music spliced into American pop songs; to
Muslim hip-hop group Native Deen, whose
music calls to remembrance of Allah; and
Hasidic Jewish rap/reggae performer Matisyahu,
who sings about Jewish prophecy, the Torah
and devotion to God.
Current issues:
Researchers interested in music history
could partner with the Center on Religion & the Professions to explore
what music trends in past and current times
explain about the status of societies. Researchers
can work with the Center to help create
tools and curriculum that improve religious
literacy among musicians as well as musical
literacy among the religious.
Work could also focus on
debates over whether certain words or expressions
ought to be censored in popular forms of
music, a debate which likely will be ongoing
and influential in today's culture. Researchers
could look at whether today's religious
music is viewed as "serious" artistic
endeavor, and whether there are quality
educational programs available for those
wanting to go into industries that focus
on religious music.
Our increasingly diverse
and global society means exposure to a variety
of musical traditions, which can be a gateway
to learning more about other cultures. Study
of music and religion can help us better
understand our traditions and those of others.
It can also explore the impact of religious
traditions on development of music, as well
as music as a force in impacting perspectives
about religion. Researchers may also be
interested in exploring music's ability
to aurally communicate spiritual experience.
Journal
of Ritual Studies
Religion
& the Arts
American
Academy of Religion Syllabi Search
Christian
Hymnody
Kenneth Hull
University of Waterloo
Music
in the History of Christianity: Johann Sebastian
Bach
E. Ann Matter
University of Pennsylvania
American
Indian Music
Victoria Levine
Colorado College
Music,
Religion and Ritual in Africa
Dr. Daniel Avorgbedor
Ohio State University
Association of Muslim Social Scientists of North America
Christian Academics
Christian Fellowship of Art Music Composers
Christian Performing Artists’ Fellowship
Faith Centered Music Association
• See a full list of professional associations and resources here.
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