Make a Joyful Noise
Massey Shepherd writes in The Worship of the Church:
“It is a mistake, however, to think that there is any specific style of music that is properly liturgical. The splendid liturgy of the Jewish temple was accompanied, as we know from the Psalms, with trumpets, cymbals, strings, and pipe. It must indeed have been a joyful noise unto the Lord. Yet the medieval monastic choir employed no instruments in its liturgy, nor any harmonies, but only the pure, serene melodies of plainsong. Music is liturgical in character not because of its style, but by the effective way it expresses the meaning of the sacred text. It is music married to words, so that they take hold of the worshipper’s whole being and lift it up to God. Music rendered for its own sake, as music, however fine it may be, is not properly liturgical. Music has no place in worship if it is designed to entertain or to call attention to itself. Its fitness must be judged by its power to communicate the Word, illuminating the mind to truth and stengthening the will to holy obedience and charity.” (53-54)
{HT: Craig Beaton}
Come, Holy Ghost
Come, Holy Ghost, who ever one
Art with the Father and the Son;
Come, Holy Ghost, our souls possess
With thy full flood of holiness.
In will and deed, in heart and tongue
With all the powers, thy praise be sung;
And love light up our mortal frame
Till others catch the living flame.
Almighty Father, hear our cry
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord most high,
Who with the Holy Ghost and thee
Doth live and reign eternally.
Melody: Saint Venantius L.M.; Music: Clausener Gesangbuch, 1653; Text: St. Ambrose (?); Translator: J. H. Newman, 1801-1890
The Next Mozart
Calvin and Musical Instruments
One of my strongest disagreements with Calvin concerns his rejection of musical instrumentation (though Calvin was not gifted musically, yet his music leaders/liturgist put all the psalms into music; it is known as the Genevan Psalter). For instance, in his observations on Psalm 98:4, Calvin writes:
When he speaks of musical instruments the allusion is evidently to the practice of the Church at that time, without any intention of binding down the Gentiles to the observance of the ceremonies of the law.
Calvin overlooks the dynamic nature of instrumentation as tools of warfare. Thus, he misses the Davidic theme in these psalms, since it is David’s instrumental music that frightens the evil demons. Musical instruments keep the rhythm for the armies of Yahweh throughout sacred scriptures. Fortunately, Luther preserved instrumentation in the Church, and this Lutheran reformation is precisely the one the modern Reformation must follow.
Pachelbel Rant. Pagagnini
{HT: Jim Jordan}