Christmas music

so.. you just becry it as a bash-fest instead of anwering me?
i guess bemoaning things trumps everything?come on...

FaithI must be very non-aesthetic since my favorite music runs to simple tunes such as Mull of Kintyre by Paul McArtney and the haunting tones of the bagpipes that break in with just the perfect blend of emotion and force.There is also Did She Mention My Name by Gordon Lightfoot that is my vote for favorite verse. Is the landlord still a loser, do his signs hang in the hall?
Are the young girls still as pretty in the city in the fall?
Does the laughter on their faces still put the sun to shame
And by the way,did she mention my name?To each their own eh?

quote:

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I believe Western classical music achieved its heights because of its Christian inspiration, although its aesthetic achievements were also expressed in "secular" music -- in fact the Reformation inspired a greater appreciation of the natural and secular worlds, but all based on the revelation of Christ who reigns over it all.

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Oh, what a wonderfully generalised sweeping statement. Well done for saying that this is what you believe rather than actual fact, otherwise I would ask you to support it.Surprise surprise, many people disagree, myself included. Just because a piece of music is religiously inspired doesn't make it good music; likewise just because a piece of music is secularly inspired doesn't make it bad.I would suggest that you have the idea backwards here - I would think that Western classical music would have developed to great heights anyway, but the culture was very much Christian-centred so the fact that a lot of it is religiously themed isn't surprising.To be honest, this is all just pissing in the wind (as we say in Ireland) unless someone has any solid facts one way or another. Which may not be all that likely considering the subjective nature of music.

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"Those who fear the darkness have never seen what the light can do."

How on earth would you go about proving that? Keeping in mind how objective a researcher should be.Brian.

That "evidence" was but your opinion, and others responded with their opinions. Did you miss those posts, or do you demand a higher standard of evidence from those who disagree with you?

i like whiter shade of pale even though i still don't understand it. oh and i started a joke. gets me everytime. especially on this scratchy old best of album i have. pops like crazy. so beautiful.

she prolly thinks rennaisance art surpasses impressionism just because monet painted nature and chicks and those old dudes painted naked angels and god.

Does anybody read? Oh never mind.

Maybe I haven't been clear but this is mostly a historical point. Since you bring in painting that too fits the pattern. Without getting into the evidence question, I've been contending that it was the celebration of Christ that originally inspired Western classical music, and also inspired it to the heights it reached. I've said also that there is certainly a lot of junk religious music (and that goes for the other arts as well), and that great "secular" music was a product of the tradition too. I theorized that the sublime themes of the religion inspired the sublime heights of the music. I thought I made it clear enough what I meant but I guess not, and I don't want to get into it further right now. I know classical music is a taste, but it's also a big part of the history of western civilization that can be studied. I didn't expect to run into so much objection to the idea that it all began in Christian worship as that is practically axiomatic to me. But nobody has given a historical reason to think otherwise.

i think perhaps the problem is not that we don't read but that you aren't very good at making statements.

i think it's interesting though, since you state it that way, that secular music has continued to progress and become even more sublime and christian music has petered out into the meaningless, repetitive drivel that makes up modern worship music. not only is it bad music with bad repetition, but it takes poetic liscence and doesn't even accurately represent scripture. terrible shame.

On a side-note...i've found a horrendous version of "O holy night".
Please download and listen to it It's so badly performed that... i can only quote the blog where i found it: I laughed myself to tears listening to it, enjoy!the mp3:
http://www.fredmckinnon.com/media/OHolyNight.mp3at:
The Sneeze - Half zine. Half blog. Half not good with fractions.