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Views from the Choir Loft

Seven Theses for the Evaluation of Music

Dr. Peter Kwasniewski · March 6, 2014

T CAN BE HELPFUL to have a complex worldview broken down into a number of distinct theses to be pursued. My worldview, as readers of this blog will have discerned, is that our mental and spiritual health depends radically and essentially on listening to and producing beautiful music, by which I mean music that is in continuity either with the rich Western tradition of authentic folk music or with the even richer “classical” or high cultural music of the great composers from the Middle Ages to the present day―“from Perotin to Pärt,” one might say.

The following theses are an attempt to focus attention on distinct elements of this view; each, of course, would require and reward a fuller consideration.

Thesis #1. Music is the most telling expression of cultural health and spiritual vigor. By taking its pulse, one evaluates an entire age and people.

Thesis #2. Genuine folk music―that is, music produced live by amateurs on natural instruments, in continuity with local tradition, and in connection with real human events of communal importance―is intrinsically superior to technologically produced and mass-marketed music, even if the latter claims to be folk or folk-inspired.

Thesis #3. Johann Sebastian Bach’s music is superior to that of his German contemporaries, for all of their undoubted excellence; Mozart’s to Salieri’s; Brahms’s to Rheinberger’s, Busoni’s, or Rubinstein’s. Such examples could be multiplied for all of the fine arts, but the point is clear: there exists a real hierarchy of genius, of mastery and merit, of universal appeal, in the artistic world. It is not purely by chance that certain composers’ works have stood the test of time and continue to be enjoyed centuries later.

Thesis #4. The great composers of Europe wrote the noblest and most beautiful music the world has ever known, and their greatness had everything to do with the phenomenon of Christianity and, more specifically, the Catholic Church, in its cultural ramifications.

Thesis #5. Periods of cultural vitality, intellectual acuity, and spiritual depth produce correspondingly vital, profound, and complex music. Think of Renaissance polyphony, Baroque concerti, classical string quartets, Romantic symphonies. A corollary: periods of cultural stagnation and retrogression, intellectual morbidity, and spiritual anguish produce two kinds of music: ugly nonsense and the rebellion of searching souls. Think of twentieth century pop music versus the always earnest and often sublime music of such composers as Pärt, Górecki, Tavener, Vasks, Rautavaara. Some composers are a mixed bag because they cannot make up their minds between the genuine musical impulse and trendy popularity or avant-garde exhibitionism―John Cage comes to mind.

Thesis #6. The music of each major historical period is not susceptible to a judgment that is altogether outside all periods and therefore capable of claiming absolute objectivity―an illusion to which nineteenth-century historians and theorists were especially vulnerable. Rather, the organically evolved and artistically adept music of each period is incommensurable with that of any other; each period can therefore manifest “the greatest works,” the best music ever written with its musical language and its distinctive purposes. It can never make sense to say “Which is greater: a Byrd piece for viol consort or a Beethoven string quartet?” They are incommensurably different. To the question “Who is your favorite composer?,” an entirely appropriate response would be: “Of which period? And in which genre?” Unlike the goodness of the God who is simple, greatness among creatures is greatly multiplied and varied, as, indeed, are mediocrity and triviality.

Thesis #7. It is a matter of immediate and certain intuition based on educated sense-experience that the music of Byrd, Bach, Beethoven, Bruckner, or Brahms (just to stick with B’s) is infinitely more beautiful, skillful, and rewarding, not to mention perfective of the spiritual soul, than any atonal noise or so-called popular music. For this reason, in our times of leisure and recreation we would be foolish not to prefer, as a general rule, music that is more beautiful, skillful, and rewarding, within the confines of its period and purpose. There is only so much time in one’s life―barely enough to become familiar with the greatest works of art in any domain or from any period, let alone all of them. Let us take up the best and make it the exemplar, the teacher, the inspiration and the consolation of our interior life as aesthetic beings. We need not condemn the less worthy when it has a due place in our recreations, but we should avoid what is cheap, shallow, frivolous, or ugly.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Johann Sebastian Bach Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Dr. Peter Kwasniewski

A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College (B.A. in Liberal Arts) and The Catholic University of America (M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy), Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is currently Professor at Wyoming Catholic College. He is also a published and performed composer, especially of sacred music.

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Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

    Hymn by Cardinal Newman
    During the season of Septuagesima, we will be using this hymn by Cardinal Newman, which employs both Latin and English. (Readers probably know that Cardinal Newman was one of the world's experts when it comes to Lingua Latina.) The final verse contains a beautiful soprano descant. Father Louis Bouyer—famous theologian, close friend of Pope Paul VI, and architect of post-conciliar reforms—wrote thus vis-à-vis the elimination of Septuagesima: “I prefer to say nothing, or very little, about the new calendar, the handiwork of a trio of maniacs who suppressed (with no good reason) Septuagesima and the Octave of Pentecost and who scattered three quarters of the Saints higgledy-piddledy, all based on notions of their own devising!”
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • Candlemas (2 February)
    “Candlemas” • Our choir sang on February 2nd, and here's a live recording of the beautiful INTROIT: Suscépimus Deus. We had very little time to rehearse, but I think it has some very nice moments. I promise that by the 8th Sunday after Pentecost it will be perfect! (That Introit is repeated on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost.) We still need to improve, but we're definitely on the right track!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Simplified Antiphons • “Candlemas”
    Anyone who desires simplified antiphons (“psalm tone versions”) for 2 February, the Feast of the Purification—which is also known as “Candlemas” or the Feast of the Presentation—may freely download them. The texts of the antiphons are quite beautiful. From “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium” you can hear a live excerpt (Mp3). I'm not a fan of chant in octaves, but we had such limited time to rehearse, it seemed the best choice. After all, everyone should have an opportunity to learn “Lumen Ad Revelatiónem Géntium,” which summarizes Candlemas.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

The Sacrifice is celebrated with many solemn rites, none of which should be deemed useless or superfluous. On the contrary, all of them tend to display the majesty of this august sacrifice, and to excite the faithful, when beholding these saving mysteries, to contemplate the divine things which lie concealed in the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

— Catechism of the Council of Trent (1566)

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