Classical Music Era

In my Music History class at college we are learning about the Classical Era of music. The dates of this time are 1750-1800. Around this same time period other events were happening such as the Industrial Revolution and Enlightenment Era. In broad terms, the Enlightenment spoke for reason over faith, individual liberty, self-fulfillment, and a weak church and state. These philosophies are quite evident in the Classical Era of music as well. The reason I say this is because this is the time period during which the Church became less influential in creating cutting edge music. Churches actually became known for being behind the times. I could go into many paragraphs of why and how they were behind, but for now, just know that they were in fact behind (and showed no interest in keeping up).

Before the Classical Era of music was the Baroque Era. During this era composers like Johann Sebastian Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi were prominent figures. And guess what, they were all in the Church. By “in the church” I mean that they were very vocal about why they composed music. At the beginning of every composition, Bach would write “God in His grace, please help me” and at the end “Glory to God alone”. Bach in all his wonderful knowledge still realized his gift came from the Lord, and it was Him who would give and take melodies.

So what am I saying? Well, for hundreds of years prior to the Classical Era, Christians were the leading figures in producing music. They did not just produce it for “the sake of it” or because they had to, but because they believed that it was a divine gift that could be used to shape the culture around them. In the Classical Era all of that leadership dissapeared and the Church started to imitate the culture around them, rather than shaping it. All the music sung in church followed after what non-christians were producing. The Western Church has never recovered from that. We still play music amongst believers that imitates the styles we hear in the secular music world. You might say, “but I listen to Chris Tomlin.” Cool, I do too, but Chris Tomlin listens to U2 and the Beatles. So where does he get his musical influence?…….

I’m not really sure yet where the line is with Christians creating and leading cultural reforms like music and art. But what if a bunch of Christ followers who feared nothing but God and loved nothing but His glory created music that captured the entire Western World. By “capture” I mean, you could be downtown San Fransisco and overhear two men talking……
“Did you hear that song on the radio by ***?”
“Yeah! It was incredible. I had never heard anything like that played on a guitar before!”
“I know! And the keyboardist created some amazing ambient textures underneath it all!”
“Aren’t they Christian though?”
“yeah, but they play incredible music. I think I might just check them out some more.”
Now I don’t think creating cutting edge music just so some christian name can be at the top of a hit chart is right, but if done with eternal things in mind (ie: proclaiming the truth of God) then it will be powerful.

Anyways, enough rambling. It was just a thought that my Music History class provoked me to think about. Darn Classical Era!

If you are interested in hearing a musician who is a Christian and is making huge statements in musical skill amongst what we would call the “secular market”, check out Sufjan Stevens. He is incredible. Plays over 21 instruments, has a degree in oboe performance, decided picked up the banjo, has a degree in literature……..