Music - can it be food offered to idols?

[Ian]

Non-professing Christians often have a knack of expressing Christian truths, even if only metaphorically:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoKp1C6zrTc

[Ian]

Sorry folks I take that back (the link). That song fits better in a Hindu paradigm than a Christian one

[Jepne]

Hammock and Schiller - music that does not really go anywhere - more like sound effects - with that eeeerie held note that makes me think someone is going to pop out of the bushes with a knife. So, you credit Schiller for his music and some new Christian goes to that youtube with the shave head guy and the tiger and his eyes and he's casting some kind of fortune sticks - it is fascinating - I could have been fascinated by this when I was doing acid and pot.

Maybe you won't appreciate my remarks. I am older. You asked and I reacted. Bless you - I hope you find a piece that says, "This is it! I'm the one you want" and you would know that you did not have to ask anyone else - I PRAY this for you. I am sure you are going to put together a very effective piece!

I am sorry, I do not know Lewis' "Weight of Glory" - but you speak of a deep yearning in the writings.
OK - I will expose my tastes to you - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2_F42A6cFs this is only part three and four to the wonderful violin concerto by Shostakovich, played by David Oistrakh who was a friend of the composer. Stalin the murderer was picking off their friends and associates left and right - they lived under immense pressure. The first movement is very moving - very introductory to a great mystery; the second very playful. Three is my favorite and it speaks of incredibly deep longing and sadness and maybe even hope (the best version I cannot find but I will continue looking). Four is wild beyond all!

Oh dear, but is it 'Christian' ? Our Lord was acquainted with grief - these people suffered greatly and somehow channelled it into their music. Was their music idolatry? How do I know how the Lord will judge it?

At one time I only could listen to (of all classical music) Bach, Vivaldi and Handel because they were Christians, or, they wrote for the Church. But, oh dear, the Brandenburg concertos were written for a duke or some such and they are some of his best pieces. But The Messiah is best of all.

Bless you again.

[Ian]

Hi Jepne,

There`s no risk of not appreciating your post just because we don`t share the same taste in music. For one thing,if everyone had the same artistic taste, far fewer people could make their living from it, to cater for that taste.

The music that most appeals to me doesn`t sound like it is being played on musical instruments. I know that is a tall order, but some ambient music achieves that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zVvqu1LNvg

Like most adults, I am familiar with the sound that each of the classical instruments make. The numinous is not there for me as a result. I can`t help it, I`m sorry (I know TK will relate to what I`m saying).

It is ok for the music pieces I`m looking for to sound periodically eerie, but they should not be sinister-sounding. Maybe the one with the bald-headed musician/fortune seeker in the video is though.

[Jepne]

So glad you wrote back! Oh yes yes - I like! Reminds me of playing my flute in a prophetical fellowship where the instruments spoke volumes in coordination with the spoken and sung prophecies - it was heaven. I play the cello now too and longing to get proficient enough to get it to 'speak' - but alas, we are in a Mennonite fellowship - no instruments - but lots of love to go around and some of the best smoked sausage I never dreamed of.

This piece brought to mind the sounds in "The Passion" - and - just found this goodie from long ago - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNaZqq-iqMw - Celestial Soda Pop - the slow pieces from his "Deep Breakfast" are neat too - they used to play this in drawing class in college.

Here - see your own images -at least, that's what I did in art class = http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUmXFv7X ... wiax5I05wW

Love music - so much fun to talk about it - it has been so long. . . .

[Jepne]

Oh no - and here he has a cello alongside - too lovely.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXFWrVTq ... wiax5I05wW

[Ian]

Hi Jepne,

In relation to the music of Thomas Bergersen, someone posted wittily on youtube:

"Amazing... how could I have missed this? How could I have drowned myself in pop, unaware of THIS astounding beauty!?"

One of my favourites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHsc3XmALC0

I have an English rocker friend who hates female vocals in music so I occasionally send him links to such on youtube, to wind him up. But even Mr Megadeth fan has to give a big hand for this artist. The Illusions album is a work of art.

[TK]

Jepne wrote:

Hammock and Schiller - music that does not really go anywhere

I chuckled when I read that because that is almost exactly how "ambient" artists describe their work.

In his liner notes for the album "Discreet Music," Brian Eno writes:

It is a point of discipline to accept this passive role, and for once, to ignore the tendency to play the artist by dabbling and interfering. In this case, I was aided by the idea that what I was making was simply a background for my friend Robert Fripp to play over in a series of concerts we had planned. This notion of its future utility, coupled with my own pleasure in "gradual processes" prevented me from attempting to create surprises and less than predictable changes in the piece. I was trying to make a piece that could be listened to and yet could be ignored... perhaps in the spirit of Satie who wanted to make music that could "mingle with the sound of the knives and forks at dinner."

And, in "Ambient 1: Music for Airports" he writes:

Over the past three years, I have become interested in the use of music as ambience, and have come to believe that it is possible to produce material that can be used thus without being in any way compromised. To create a distinction between my own experiments in this area and the products of the various purveyors of canned music, I have begun using the term Ambient Music.

An ambience is defined as an atmosphere, or a surrounding influence: a tint. My intention is to produce original pieces ostensibly (but not exclusively) for particular times and situations with a view to building up a small but versatile catalogue of environmental music suited to a wide variety of moods and atmospheres.

Whereas the extant canned music companies proceed from the basis of regularizing environments by blanketing their acoustic and atmospheric idiosyncracies, Ambient Music is intended to enhance these. Whereas conventional background music is produced by stripping away all sense of doubt and uncertainty (and thus all genuine interest) from the music, Ambient Music retains these qualities. And whereas their intention is to `brighten' the environment by adding stimulus to it (thus supposedly alleviating the tedium of routine tasks and levelling out the natural ups and downs of the body rhythms) Ambient Music is intended to induce calm and a space to think.

Ambient Music must be able to accomodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.

TK

[Jepne]

Hi Ian - I like the remark "wow! better than most of the s--- on the radio" How people can use the most crude language when talking of beauty ----. But also the guy who said he felt it was so beautiful his heart would cave in.
I just played a few of them, the comments are priceless.
The beginning of it is much like a fifteenth century piece I have on a CD of music by a Catholic nun - can't remember the name - well-known in certain circles. Her music was Gregorian chant-esque - no real verses with chorus, or concerto form. This piece also reminds me of the music behind the movie of the British boy who got separated from his parents during the Japanese occupation of China and in the end is reunited with them in England - with lots of adventure in between.

Then I was thinking of Chariots of Fire - the first 'new age' music I ever heard, I think. Loved it, loved the movie.

Many twentieth century symphonies seem to go nowhere and change themes a lot.

TK - Very interesting about 'ambient music' - most movie music would be 'ambient', no? I love to play in the background, pieces that do not demand attention and, thus, applause - but the greatest love was playing behind a prophetic man when he 'called for a minstrel'. That was real music with purpose.

Was visiting with my somewhat estranged husband (in another life) and as we were talking i noticed we were getting agitated almost to a fight and then I noticed that the classical station was playing some weird stuff - the person who wrote it must have been 'disturbed' - when we turned it off or down, the mood changed immediately.
Thanks - this has been interesting! Jepne