I look forward each week to reading The Alabama Baptist. I found myself going back and rereading the first paragraph of Bob Terry’s editorial “Music of the Church” (2/14/08) several times through to make sure I understood his description of “crude” in reference to such hymns as “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
I find that both amusing and bewildering. These hymns have complex harmony suitable for analysis in early college
music theory courses. I have used them as such. On what basis are they crude?
While I enjoy some contemporary choruses, I find most of them rather in the “crude” category, musically speaking, as well as in the theology of the texts. Most have basic harmonies (as do many of the old hymns) and almost no concept of melody.
As a music teacher, I am concerned that the use of screens for words with no printed music is resulting in a continual decline of music abilities. Historically the church has sponsored singing schools for the development of sight singing and music reading, which continues in some traditions such as sacred harp schools. Even in the last half-century, many churches had outstanding church music programs with children and teens who could both read music and perform choral works from the great sacred choral repertoire. While there are still some rare examples of such today, they are becoming practically extinct. As more and more schools drop the arts from their curriculums, we find adults who no longer read music. Churches, too, have mostly neglected music education and now major on performance of musicals, learned largely by rote. The decline in music literacy can have only negative results.
We make the mistake of assuming younger people only like contemporary choruses. I have spoken with many young adults who do not like them and prefer the majestic hymns accompanied by pipe organ. I agree with those who predict that the pendulum will swing back to a blend of keeping the good hymns of the past as well as those of the present. But without an educated basis for musical judgment, I fear that we’re losing our aesthetic sense of what is good. I would love to see churches return to teaching music skills such as music reading and offer courses of study in theology and the arts, such as you see increasing on theology campuses.
Elizabeth Hostetter
Guntersville, Ala.
EDITOR’S NOTE — The word “crude” did not refer to the music but to the copy of the composition, which was written on coarse paper while riding horseback through the American wilderness.
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