If culture is simply a matter of private enthusiasms and hobbies, of small details and specialties, then what of a common culture? What about the collective project and shared sense of purpose that built Western civilization? “The expert takes a little subject for his province, and remains a provincial for the rest of his life.”—Jacques [...]
Classical music should not be an arcane special interest but an art form of universal and humane concern. Classical music provides a central cultural focus as do the classics of literature and art, and like those fields, ought to have a touchstone, an enduring norm and standard, and a repertoire of works which everyone should [...]
Gustav Mahler's Fourth Symphony is his most sheerly delightful and accessible creation. It is written on a human scale and brings us on a clear and cogent musical and emotional journey. What’s more, this relatively traditional work still shows many of the ways in which Mahler was one of the most original and inventive composers [...]
To be sure, the Bible is a challenge to us: it presents us with a world we did not create, did not reason ourselves into. It is in some places thorny and obscure, in others lucid and consoling, and very often majestic and grand. The world of reason and research can help us make sense [...]
We spend much of our time concerning ourselves with places and people far removed from us. The things closest to us, by contrast, often become negligible and disposable. If you make an effort to reconnect with your neighborhood, town, and community, you may come to see your home in a new light—hallowed by time and [...]
The important thing to remember, if you are sorting through the rich world of classical music, is that style periods are much less real than the music they describe. The job of labels should be to give us some orientation in our listening, but ultimately the music must stand on its own. When I think [...]
Throughout his work, Samuel Adler shows himself a composer unafraid to engage with the deepest spiritual questions. His ecumenicism is based on a commitment to truth, to humanity, and to the word of God, and his music is based on perennial aesthetic values of clarity and beauty. For that reason, his music speaks to our [...]
At its best, Aaron Copland’s Americana style is one of the great, ingenious, and enduring achievements in music. Its greatness is not diminished by its widespread imitation by lesser talents in movies, television shows, and commercials, where it has served as a ready way to evoke the Far West, small-town life, or other phases of [...]
Like prayer and meditation, writing helps make sense of things, to cut through the clutter of life, to find mental clarity and order—both for the writer himself and in turn for the readers. The act of writing helps the writer to know himself and the reader in turn to know himself, to know that he [...]
At worst, “faith” can become a bland word standing for little more than a vaguely pleasant and praiseworthy feeling; thus, people are described as having faith in themselves, faith in life, etc. This is a debasement of the term, however. Properly, faith is the state of soul and act of will that accepts and hopes [...]
The development of mechanical reproduction and transmission at the dawn of the 20th century changed how we experience music. It remains true that technology has allowed us to extend, amplify, and disseminate the experience of art. This is, in itself, a good thing. The question is how we use this gift. In the past, when [...]
Author Neil Butterworth alerts us to a classical side of Americana which is too often ignored, certainly compared to the attention given our accomplishments in literature. Our achievements in serious music are in no way inferior, and they deserve to be passionately sung. The American Symphony, by Neil Butterworth (366 pages, Routledge, 2020) The contribution [...]
I am frequently surprised when Christians speak as if civilization and life on this earth is going to continue in perpetuity. Are we not living and striving for another and better life—one conditioned, it’s true, by what we do here in this earthly city? My basic outlook on life could be characterized thus: pessimistic about [...]
As we know, the question of what progress is, and whether it exists at all, is a vexed one. This goes also for the arts, and specifically music. Music, particularly our Western classical tradition of music, certainly develops through time. The music of Wagner sounds very different from the music of Palestrina, and in turn [...]