Handel’s masterwork isn’t just great music. It can also help us grow in faith this Advent season – but only if we know how to listen to it. Advent is hard. It’s a time in which we are called to ponder the darkness of the world, waiting in sober yet joyful expectation for the coming of Jesus. But that’s really difficult when your neighbor’s house is flashing red and green like the runway at LaGuardia. Our whole culture skips over Advent... Read more
Doom. Darkness. Tyranny. Misery. Ransom. Exile. Gloomy clouds. Dark shadows. The grave. Hell. Satan. All are words that appear in the great Advent carol O Come, O Come Emmanuel. If you are looking for a song to get you ready for Christmas, you can’t do much better than the 12th-century Latin hymn “Veni, Veni Emmanuel”, known to most of us in the 1851 English version by J.M. Neale (who also wrote “Good King Wenceslas”, by the way.) It’s dark. Heavy metal... Read more
As professional musician and scholar, I’d like to address some of the problems in a recent posts about worship music from the Ponder Anew blog. Its author, Jonathan Aigner, is passionate about his topic. And I’m glad that he provokes others to think intentionally about music and worship. I agree with many of his points. But on many we differ. And while I find his method of argument to be based too often on generalizations, my real problem is the... Read more
Sometimes our desire to praise is simply too great for words… I created this musical response to Psalm 150 for flutist Elizabeth Ostling from the world-renowned Boston Symphony Orchestra. There is no singer in this musical composition, and the words of the psalm do not appear. Yet the music, accompanied by nature images, still brings the Scripture to life. Read the psalm below, then the note I have written about the composition. You can then watch a video of the piece. If... Read more
From “Jesus Walks” to “Dropkick Me, Jesus,” popular musicians in every genre have written songs about Jesus. I’ve analyzed over 500 of these songs. The results are fascinating. This is the first in a series of articles based on my findings. (You can read a summary of my research in this recent issue of Sojourners, and an academic version of my work will be appearing in a book appearing in 2021.) A NEW PHENOMENON Musicians have been writing songs about... Read more
If we listen carefully, Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” has much to teach us about race in America. And it even gives us hope. This article is a continuation of my piece “The Problem with Ebony and Ivory.” If you haven’t read that yet, please do. I’ll wait. Welcome back. The song proposes the piano as a metaphor for the possibility of racial reconciliation. Just look at all those rows of alternating black and white notes, side-by-side, “living in perfect... Read more
Christians should look elsewhere for a more powerful and timely musical metaphor for racial harmony. Though well-intentioned, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney’s “Ebony and Ivory” has been justifiably criticized since its release. Yet it remains one of the most popular songs of all-time, and a quick scan of the YouTube comments section shows that it continues to bless listeners with its message of hope. Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh... Read more
Avoiding hip-hop lets us white Christians ignore the people and the places that aren’t important to us. Doing so helps us maintain a comfortable distance from the dark realities of the world that we have created for our non-white brothers and sisters: a world of racism, poverty, violence, illness, and death. Yet we do so at our peril. As the Bible tells us: A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge. ... Read more
This is the second part of an article about the value of listening to sacred music – rather than just using it as an aid in worship. If you haven’t read Part 1, I suggest you do that before moving on. My main point is that sacred music can do more than just function as a part of a worship. While I am not disparaging that important role, I am encouraging us to view sacred music as a resource... Read more
No matter what kind of music your church uses in worship, you’re still missing out on the full power of sacred music to form your Christian faith. How do I know? Because, by definition, the way we experience music in worship is fundamentally limited. I don’t mean that our use of music limits worship. For most Christians, music is one of the primary ways we worship God. In fact, in common evangelical parlance, the word “worship” is often used synonymously... Read more
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