MUSICAL EXCELLENCE – RAISING THE BAR

through PRAYER, PREPARATION AND PERFORMANCE

 

Yesterday, I opened up the Hymn book and was surprised to read a hymn I have not thought about for a long time (hymn 183):

 

Make haste, O man, to do

whatever must be done;

Thou hast no time to lose in sloth,

When all to Truth must come.

 

The useful and the great,

The thing that never dies,

The silent toil that is not lost,

- Set these before your eyes.

 

Up, face the task and work;

Fling ease and self away;

This is no time for thee to sleep;

Up, watch, and work, and pray.

 

 Well, it met a particular need yesterday and today it told me to get to work and dig up notes from long ago to share them on this blog.  So here it is! 

 

About four years ago, the branch church I belonged to held a meeting with the above title.  It was a landmark meeting and a lovely opportunity to consider how to think and pray about music at our church services.  Here is a brief summary of some of the ideas shared at that meeting. 

TOPICS:

1. What qualities are required of the church musician?
2. What are the Church Manual provisions for church music?
3. What does Mary Baker Eddy have to say about music?
4. What practical steps can the musician (soloist or organist) take to promote a high musical standard?
5. What is the purpose of music at church services?

FRUITAGE:

A professional musician and church member shared her thoughts via email:

 

I have found myself more nervous before a church congregation than any other “audience”.  The answer has been to be still and feel love for the congregation – an assurance that we are all one, not divided or separated into performer and listeners with a scary gap in between.  We are all one, listening for the beauty of Soul to be made evident to us. And I stay still until love sills my thought and rules out the nervous claims, which are, after all, only a suggestion coming to us, and which we are free agents to either accept indulge and wallow in in, or reject.

 

Hymns: Music in church can be, and very often is THE most inspirational, uplifting part of the service.  For many, singing lifts their spirits much more than the sermon, and I am very aware that familiar melodies that are easy are important inclusions often, for those who don’t have much musical confidence, as much as are more contemporary musical rhythms for younger congregants.

 

Have you noticed how the lesson sermons themselves have been breaking out into new rhythm and meter over the past months? No more drifting off to sleep with the same 6 moderato sections.  Now we might find punchy little allegro phrases interspersed with more lengthy developments and perhaps a sweet little coda, or a jaunty dance in 10 sections, as in a lesson on the Ten Commandments.

 

I feel we can let these patterns and moods influence our choice of music for the service.  Be creative and original and most of all, fresh, in your presentation.

 

Solos: It’s the THOUGHT you communicate, as much as the words.  I know I have sung The Communion Hymn (Don Humphreys setting) as though I was on holy ground simply by being totally immersed in the spirituality of the words and letting that lead and inspire my interpretation.  Even if your voice is not that great, holy inspiration can transcend that and touch the listener.  Sincerity wins every time.

 

Rehearsal: If I’m the soloist, I always go over the solo several times with the organist til we feel united in purpose, knowing where we are “breathing”, where we are changing the mood and colour, what the shape of the phrases is and the direction.  Sometimes a listener can contribute very helpful comments and observations at this point.  And I often ask for feedback if someone happens to be there in the church.

Topic 1 – What qualities are required of the church musician?

Some of the qualities mentioned were: Listening, assurance, peace, calm, diligence, joy, unity, freshness, excellence, harmony, intelligence, practice, professionalism, expressiveness, innovation, inspiration, thorough preparation and musicianship, and dignity.

 

Topic 2 – The Church Manual*

See Page 61: Article XIX, lines 16-5.  Note especially the following requirements –

·        “appropriate religious character”

·        “recognized standard of musical excellence”

·        “dignified and suitable manner”

 

Topic 3 – RELEVANT REFERENCES FROM Mrs EDDY’S WRITINGS

Throughout her prolific writings Mrs Eddy makes numerous references to music and musical terms e.g. harmony, tone, rhythm etc either in a specific context, or as a means to demonstrate the principles of Christian Science. Using the Concordance to all her works, the following is a selection of quotes referencing the words “music”, “musical”, “musician” and “harmony”:

 

Science and Health

144: 30-7           natural understanding of music vs. theory

213: 16-30         spiritual understanding of music e.g., Mozart & Beethoven

276: 12-16         discord is unreal and mortal

304: 20-4          to be master of chords and discords, the “science of music” must be understood

452: 32-5           reliable authority

298: 4-7            immutable harmony

563: 1-2            harmony is the real and discord the unreal

217: 1-5            the origin of harmony

VIII: 4-8            harmony of spiritual sense

60: 24-28           life’s sweeter harmonies

Miscellaneous Writings

106: 28-4          “Music is the harmony of being; but the music of Soul affords the only strains that thrill the chords of feeling and awaken the heart’s harpstrings....”

116: 11-19         “...Are we filling the measures of life’s music aright.... As crescendo and diminuendo accent music, so the varied strains of human chords express life’s loss or gain...”

187: 3-12           “...in Science a chord is manifestly the reality of music...”

206: 19-23         “The real Christian Scientist is constantly accentuating harmony in word and deed, mentally and orally, perpetually repeating this diapason of heaven: ‘Good is my God, and my God is good.  Love is my God, and my God is Love.”

287: 8               “To an ill-attuned ear, discord is harmony...”

Retrospection and Introspection

27: 21-28           music in nature – “As sweet music ripples...like the brooklet...”

Unity of Good

13: 8-11            “The principle of music knows nothing of discord.”

Message for 1900

11: 3-20            “Music is more than sound in unison. ...I want not only quality, quantity, and variation in tone, but the unction of Love.  Music is divine.  Mind, not matter, makes music...”

 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL ON THE SUBJECT from The Christian Science Journal:

v  June 1968     “The Importance of Church Music”

v  Sep 1977      “The Organist Prepares”

v  Sep 1980      “We organists can do better”

v  Sep 2007      “The Music of Soul”

v  March 2009   “Building on the Fundamentals” (Editorial)

 

Christian Science Publishing Society booklet “ART AND BEAUTY” (1978)

v  Pg 3              recipe for beauty

v  Pg 7              Soul as the art aspect of God

v  Pg 8/9           Definitions of musical terms

 

Topic 4 – What practical steps can the musician take to promote a high musical standard?

         

Prayer		Preparation		Performance
Prayer involves being still enough to really listen (a musician’s essential tool kit).  With the listening come ideas for what to play and how to play it.  We must listen and then follow the guidance given.  Don’t go off on your own tangent.		Be familiar with the Lesson.  Choose music that is relevant to its message.  Music is part of the service and it complements the readings.  Confer with the First Reader or Music Committee in regard to the selections.  Unity of purpose strengthens the service.		Aim for freshness, rhythm, dynamic contrasts.
vExpect to be directed. vExpect assurance and peace. vExpect to be freshly inspired.		Hymns: Thoroughly learn the notes and study the words of the hymns.  The organist must “breath” with the congregation - practice singing the hymn; it is not enough merely to be able to play the notes.  Allow time at the end of each verse for the congregation to catch their breath.  Remember that speed alone doesn’t always mean liveliness; the character of the piece must be caught in the phrasing, dynamics, colour, and choice of stops.		Organists: Communicate confidence to the congregation – it’s a joint effort!  Recognize the phrasing and be familiar with the words.  Give a long last note at the end of each verse and pause between verses.  Keep the pace.  Look at the words for breathing spots and for the meaning.
Music in church heals, calms, uplifts, cleanses, purifies and brings joy.		Solos: Always allow enough time for thorough rehearsal together in order that you can get beyond the notes to the inspiration, the “feel” of the music and its message.		Don’t leave anything to chance.  Have your music prepared physically before the service starts.
The musician can be the channel for blessings.		Schedule diligent and intelligent practice sessions.		Bring expressiveness.  Sing with the spirit. Sing with the understanding.
Avoid stale repetition; this supports healing.				Be professional.  It doesn’t matter how many or how few are in the congregation; your job is to perform to the highest level you can because this heals.

 

Topic 5 – What is the purpose of music at our church services?

Music in church heals, calms, uplifts, cleanses, purifies and brings joy.  It also offers an opportunity for everyone to participate, to SING OUT.  Let us pray that everyone leaving the service will take with them the sweet assurance of harmony and beauty.

 Julie Swannell– with contributions from Marie Fox and Colin Stephenson

*Readers will be interested to read Stephanie Johnson’s lovely article on the Church Manual in the December issue of The Christian Science Journal (see p. 53-55) where she writes about the Manual directive that the music “shall not be operatic, but ...of a recognized standard of musical excellence”.  She looked up the dictionary and found that “operatic” can mean “showy”.  She writes “So, I began to cherish the idea that everything I do should have a recognized standard of excellence to it without being showy... I found that calm, quiet eloquence and love speak louder and touch hearts more deeply than the obtrusive performance of mortal selfhood.”