Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Sacred Entertainment: Tallis Scholars

h/t the Jeff Smith

Now isn't it sad that these people have to be entertaining on the the sanctuary rather than singing at worship that is happening on the sanctuary. I have a theory that the Catholic Church has been the main exponent of secularism in the 20th Century and we are reaping what we have sown. I mean that we have turned our backs (often literally) on the great art that has been a necessary adjunct to our worship. The culture of two millenia of Christianity is now simply frivolous decoration that is deprived of meaning which has become at best a museum exhibit or sacred entertainment a has been replaced by the nonsense in the video below, we have replaced the sacred with profane, the beautiful with the banal, the transcendent with the trite. The sacred, the beautiful and the transcendent move the soul of man to God. They are necessary for us to become truly human.

It is almost impossible nowadays to use this type of music in the liturgy without protracting it to such an extent that it becomes an interruption to worship rather than an aid to it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is significant that secularists and non-Catholics continue to listen to great religious music whilst we have abandoned our own heritage. The growth of Classic FM suggests that beautiful music is popular with ordinary people as well as a middle class elite.

roydosan said...

The York based choir the Rudgate Singers (www.rudgatesingers.co.uk) sing a wide variety of 'Church' music under the strict proviso that it must take place as part of, or within the context of, a religious service. They are the only choir I have ever come across with such an admirable rule.

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