I personally think John Taverner is a troubled soul. His music is nto suitable in any way for use in worship. Much of it requires musical instruments, thus limiting its liturgal use. His music is also very \"intellectual\" for want of a better term. I studied to be a musicologist and I very much enjoy a lot of contemporary \"classical\" music. Taverner is not among those I chose to listen to.
Arvo Part is also a very contemporary \"classical\" composer. In my opinion, Arvo Part IS playing with a full deck. He\'s a gifted composer and not a nut like Taverner. Part uses the forms most often associated with the very long traditions of \"classical\" music. I see no problem with this. I think he keeps his faith seperate from his art.
Stravinsky also composed a few pieces based entirely on church forms. He wrote a MASS. He also composed a \"Bogoroditsa Devo\" and an \"Otche Nash\". Unfortunately, the demands of western music lovers forces crude modifications of these texts to fit Latin texts! As a most astonishing and truly bizarre twist, Stravinsky\'s \"Otche Nash\", written in Church Slavonic, is titled \"Notre Pere\" in library catalogs because the French appears on the title page. American academic libraries conform to the rules and pracitces of the \"Library of Congress\" in such matters of \"Name\" or \"Title\" \"Authority.\"
Those people who compose music as an art form rarely apply their talents to the specific needs of the Orthodox Church. Even the most famous pair from Russia - Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky - are seldom acutally used for worship. Why? Not because the music is very difficult but because the artfullness of the music draws too much attention to itself.
I very much appreciate and understand the complexities of Western church music. One of my favorite locations in the Renaissance and early Baroque for music is Venice. There composers such as Giovanni Gabrieli and Claudio Monteverdi wrote church music which stands the test of time well. As a trumpet player I get excited when I can play Gabrieli! Claudio Monteverdi\'s \"Vespero dell beate Virgine\", the religious twin to his opera \"lOrfeo\", is a remarkable piece of art music! I can\'t help loving this music, especially in performance by the Monteverdi Choir and orchestra led by John Elliot Gardiner.
Oh. But I strayed. Forgive me.
Reader Michael
Be the first person to like this.