MoTab Isn't for Everyone...

Last Saturday, I had a very interesting experience which fed my ever-growing curiosity about the psychology of music: how people can have such different aesthetic preferences, how the same music effects people differently, what role music plays in our social psyche, etc. I was asked to speak at a New England young single adult conference for my church, hosted in New Hampshire, and I chose to conduct a workshop on the difference between "Sacred" music (i.e. the genre, marketing label) and "sacred" music (meaning any music that is meaningful or inspirational to the individual listener).

First of all, my workshop went head to head with Roger Porter's (a Harvard prof who was economic advisor to Ford, Reagan and Bush I). Hmmm. Yes, people did still come to my class (although I probably would have chosen Porter's over my own!). My attendees were college-aged, and in preparing for the presentation I wanted to work with the fact that most people of this age group these days are steeped in commercial musical genres that are not part of the church's emphasis on the traditional, classical arts.

I divided the workshop into two themes:
1. Encourage participants to find the "sacred" in the popular music that they listen to everyday, and not feel limited to finding spirituality in the "Sacred" music genre.
2. Conversely, encourage participants to value "Sacred" music more and gain a deeper appreciation for the church's classical art tradition.

The first part was fascinating: I played 30 second clips from 12 songs that you all recommended and asked each participant to jot down silently whether or not the clip represented "sacred" music to them. Then, after I'd revealed what the songs were, we had a terrific discussion about what people responded to and why.

Here's the playlist of the 12 songs:
1. Crucifixus -- Choir of St. John's College, Cambridge (medieval church music)
2. Sweet Little Jesus Boy -- Jesse Norman (traditional Negro spiritual solo)
3. Hey Mama - Kanye West (current hip hop song)
4. Piano Sonata no 7, 3rd mvt - Prokofiev (example of no words)
5. Come Thou Glorious Day of Promise -- Mormon Tabernacle Choir (traditional choral hymn)
6. Jesu Me Kanaka Waiwai -- Gladys Knight and Saints Unified Choir (Hawaiian hymn)
7. Every Time I Feel The Spirit - Little Richard (traditional spiritual with Baptist choir)
8. Umbrella- Rihanna (Pop)
9. Down to the River to Pray -- Allison Krauss (Bluegrass)
10. I Will Follow You Into the Dark -- Death Cab for Cutie (Alternative rock)
11. Cast Thy Burden On the Lord -- Mendelssohn's Elijah (traditional oratorio)
12. Blessed Assurance -- Gladys Knight (traditional spiritual with choir)


Some of the responses:
"No way #1 is sacred cause it's clearly just a movie soundtrack"
"MoTab is way too bland to be sacred" vs. "Only reverent music is sacred so none of the Gospel music is sacred"
"Kanye West's message about loving his mother makes his song the most sacred on the list"
"Death Cab for Cutie's song is the most authentic, real, therefore the most sacred"
"Anything that sounds like opera totally drives the spirit away"
"That Elijah song could be good if it had a little rhythm behind it." (I have to say that was one of my favorite comments)

We also talked about the idea of how Mormon culture contributes to our responses (i.e. sacred = quiet), and how our own family culture contributes. Then we switched gears and talked about the response each of the participants has to the hymns. The general consensus seemed to be that the kids don't enjoy singing them at church on Sundays ("boring, no energy") but that they are the first thing they turn to when they need personal comfort or inspiration ("I read through the poems or sing them to myself"). We talked a lot about the hymns as an important cultural record of our church's history, why it's important to preserve that musical aesthetic, and our role in making Sunday singing more enjoyable.

After such an experience, it's hard for me to deny that music I consider to be universally appealing... well, isn't. On the other hand, I'm grateful that the generation after me continues to find spiritual meaning in the music of their own time.

Musical Diplomacy in North Korea

I guess it takes a visit of the New York Philharmonic to North Korea for classical music to make the front page. There's been no shortage of discussion about this week's visit: Alex Ross calls out several of the national music commentators who have weighed in on whether or not the Phil's visit is a good idea, or just a pandering to the North Korean PR machine. The discussion ranges from critiques on the light-weight program (Dvorak, Gershwin, Wagner's overture to Lohengrin) to a condemnation of the West's effort to civilize the barbarian regime with the elevating effects of classical music. Perhaps I'm naive about the art of diplomacy and the need for political statements through programming, but I do believe in symphonic music's ability to communicate our democratic values. Not in a preachy, proselytizing way, but in an open-hearted representation of what we find uplifting. Who knows, maybe there'll be some common ground there. Isn't that diplomacy in itself?

See my posting from Dec. 13, 2007 for additional thoughts. For photos of the audience and the performers and a liveblog description of the concert, visit Pete Matthew's blog.

Also: Update to my post on La Vie en Rose, the movie about Edith Piaf. Marion Cotillard won the Oscar for Best Actress. So I wasn't the only one moved by her performance!

Church Music for Today?

I'm going to be a bit sparse with my blogging for the next couple of months because I am now fully entrenched in my music class, The Future of Music, at the Harvard Extension School. But I couldn't resist writing about this fascinating article from this week's New Yorker magazine. Nico Muhly is a twenty-six year old composer who is primarily inspired by the Renaissance religious music and and by contemporary minimalism. His own compositions are receiving wide acclaim, as well as ample performance. He's got such powerhouses as Philip Glass and John Adams behind him, so watch out, he's here to stay.