Today I saw a video of a renown Catholic theologian playing a Christian Rock song with an equally renown Catholic musician. You can see it here. Below is the comment I left on the post, which I also wanted to include here.
BJN
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Without any personal criticism intended toward the theologians/performers involved, this is one of many examples of something that troubles me in the Church today.
On the one hand, we have very theologically orthodox people here (performers, theologian-performers and audience alike, I am quite sure). The words of the song reflect this, albiet in a very simplified form. However, the music itself (the actual sound in the air as a communication from performer to listener) is indistinguishable from Rock, with all of its sexual, industrial, and nihilistic connotations, not to mention its overwhelming volume. The “scene” in the room is also very difficult to distinguish from a typical rock concert (i.e. the darkness, smoke, many young people up on their feet, waving their hands to the music).
What concerns me about this trend, of which this particular event is merely one example, are the unacknowledged contradictory messages being sent: an orthodox, Catholic message in the words, and an utterly worldly one in the music itself. Indeed, the presence of a Christian text does little to negate what the music itself is saying.
To illustrate this point, I would ask the reader/listener this question: If you did not understand spoken/sung English or the written English on the projection screen, and you did not already know the song being sung as a “Christian” one, would you recognize this music as Christian?
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a classically trained, Catholic composer, steeped not only in chant but in the great musical tradition that has grown out of it during the past thousand years.
In light of this, I invite the reader to consider a statement from a far greater man than myself.
“Rock” [music]. . . is the expression of elemental passions, and at rock festivals it assumes a cultic character, a form of worship, in fact, in opposition to Christian worship. People are, so to speak, released from themselves by the experience of being part of a crowd and by the emotional shock of rhythm, noise, and special lighting effects. However, in the ecstasy of having all their defenses torn down, the participants sink, as it were, beneath the elemental force of the universe.”
~ Pope Benedict XVI
Can we really say that “Christian Rock,” in the music itself, is communicating something substantially different, however pious the lyrics may be at a particular moment?
Friends, let us not so uncritically accept the artistic and musical presuppositions of our culture—importing them more or less wholesale into our entertainment and even our Liturgy—because it seems to stir up the faithful (especially the youth) in the short term. This is even more important when it comes to music, since it largely bypasses the rational faculties and goes “straight to the heart” (a subject for a separate post).
My prayers for your thoughtful consideration.
Brian J. Nelson – Composer
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Dear Mr. Nelson,
Having listened to some of your compositions, I can say, without a doubt, that none of them spoke to me musically or spiritually. That said, I would never make the wholesale condemnation of Christian classical composers the subject of a blog. I can’t understand any of the lyrics on “Vocalise” so it might just as well be some of the soft-core porn written by one of Mozart’s contemporaries. I find your intolerance for Christian Rock music very un-Christlike.
The Church is bleeding teenagers. It has been for as long as I can remember. Programs such as Lifeteen that use modern music in a liturgical setting are helping to reduce the number of teens turning their back on Christianity. In a recent survey of current seminarians, over half said they had participated in Lifeteen and cited it as one of the primary reasons for choosing the priesthood.
There’s no way that I would be able to play any of your compositions at our Lifeteen Mass and hope to reach any of the kids who attend. I probably wouldn’t go to that Mass either.
I’m not saying that your music is bad. It’s just not for me. Playing nothing but classical music in Church would be the same as pulling out a whip and chair and just driving me and the 300 kids who attend our Lifeteen Mass out the front doors.
Our youth are the future of the Church.
Hi Michael,
Thanks so much for your post and your thoughts.
As far as the pieces on Vocalise, that album represents primarily my “concert” music, although still with a good deal of references to Chant. Most of the pieces, save Truly, Truly (Vocalise track 5) and Alleluia (track 7) and perhaps Vocalise for Solo Cello (track 1, perhaps during a Lenten communion) would not be appropriate for Liturgical use, either because of length or level of musical intensity and complexity (both of which can be distracting in a liturgical setting).
I might suggest that you listen to some of my responsorial psalms like this one:
http://nelsonmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/psalm89.mp3
However, in order to get a sense of your reactions beyond my own music (very important to this discussion, since I am understandably attached to my own work and potentially un-objective as a result) what do you think of this piece by Anton Bruckner?
Getting back to your post, I have to say that your comments fail to address the central point of my original post: the actual meaning and content of Christian rock. You correctly note the connections with vocations to the Church coming out of Lifeteen, but that is not the only place they are coming from by any means. Moreover, yours is a classic “end justifies the means” argument, which the Church does not accept as a matter of course. Thus, if the actual content of Christian Rock is communicating something contrary to the faith, as Pope Benedict suggests, then we have a decision to make.
Along similar lines, by the way, I would hesitate to use many “classical” pieces in the Liturgy as well, both for the reasons
mentioned above regarding Vocalise (length, liturgical appropriateness) and for reasons of content. That being said, there is so much quality music out there that flows from the long-standing tradition of the Church. We impoverish our Liturgy and ourselves when we so uncritically supplant it with the fruits of popular culture.
You also mentioned that you find my “intolerance for Christian Rock music very un-Christlike.” Is Pope Benedict likewise intolerant and un-Christlike in his thoughts? Personally, I find his comments primarily motivated by concern for young people and their spiritual well-being. He doesn’t want them to be subject to “the elemental force of the universe,” a reference at least to blind natural forces that overshadow the human person, and possibly worse in light of Gal. 4
Finally, I must say some of your statements, such as the one below, seriously reduce your credibility because of their coarseness, overall content, and lack of logical connection to the subject at hand.
“I can’t understand any of the lyrics on “Vocalise” so it might just as well be
some of the soft-core porn written by one of Mozart’s contemporaries.”
I ask you honestly, how do such comments advance an intelligent debate about music and meaning vis a vis the Catholic Faith?
Thanks again for your post and I look forward to continuing this
discussion in all charity and respect.
Sincerely,
Brian J. Nelson
Composer