"What good are the arts?" is the title of a recent book by Oxford professor John Carey. In the tradition of English skepticism, Carey goes about tearing shreds from the hapless hides of artistic elites and lampoons fuzzy thinking about the arts in Western societies with wonderful gusto. It's an accessible, racy book which made me wince at my artistic assumptions. Despite eight years of tertiary musical training in four institutions across two countries little of what I knew seemed to stand up.
Engagement with Carey prompted me to apply the same question in a faith context: what good are the arts to Christians? As the title suggests, the purpose of this article is to explore the degree to which the arts, particularly music, can be integrated into everyday Christian life. In doing so I summarise some of the changes that have gone on in church music in evangelical circles and try to contextualise these changes with recent secular writings and parallel developments in the classical music industry. Although I am no longer a professional musician, I also share my personal experiences as a music promoter and commissioner of new music, activities I undertake in partnership with my wife, Jennifer.
Musical revolutions: sacred and secular
We are in the midst, or perhaps at the end of, a revolution in church music. Over a single generation church choirs, pipe organs and ancient sung services have all but died out in many evangelical churches and seem to face inevitable decline in High and Catholic churches. In the face of the demise of this once rich set of church music resources, one genre - the post 1950 popular song " has thrived. Written in any number of styles including country rock, heavy metal, blues, middle of the road, Celtic or even calypso, the three minute popular song has taken root in churches and spawned a whole new market for Christian CDs and live performances. We have made once despised secular music sacred. Of itself this trend should not necessarily concern us. It was Martin Luther, one of the founders of congregational singing, who is reputed to have quipped, "Why should the Devil have all the good tunes", when criticised for setting hymns to the tunes of the popular songs of his day. However, I remain unconvinced that the head long rush to adopt popular music as the dominant mode of worship music is without problems. For one thing, although the aesthetics of popular music genres in worship services seem remarkably un-problematic to many evangelicals, there appears to minimal theological engagement with aesthetics in general. Perhaps popular music is acceptable because it is easily harnessed to the Gospel outreach yoke and aligns seamlessly and painlessly with mainstream society.
The changes to traditional Church music are paralleled in classical music, now often referred to as "fine music" or "art music". Great orchestras and opera houses now jostle for dwindling funding and waning public interest with sporting events, commercial musicals, the ubiquity of rock and popular music, and even the IPod. The number of new classical music recordings commissioned by record companies continues to fall away. Audiences are ageing; even patterns of ticket sales have shifted with single ticket sales increasingly dominating sales of season tickets. It would seem that "arty" church music and secular art music share similar concerns.
Founding an ensemble in faith
Given this period of immense and intense change in both the sacred and secular music domains, in 2000 my wife Jennifer formed a chamber music ensemble called The Marais Project, named after a famed French viola da gambist and composer of the time of Louis XIV. Several years ago I took over the administration and marketing of the ensemble and now run it through my business office. This unlikely endeavour has experienced modest success in the tough world of Australian chamber music. The ensemble has given two one hour broadcast concerts for ABCFM, appeared live on Radio National and now attracts audiences of over two hundred to its twice yearly concerts.
It would be nice in hindsight to be able to say that we formally, that is to say, consciously, stepped out in faith in founding "The Marais Project' but it just happened. Simply put, musicians need opportunities to play their music but in hindsight, we have seen God's hand at work in this aspect of our lives.
Why am I relating these irrelevant facts for a Christian audience? Both of us believe that designing, promoting and performing in fine music concerts is an important expression of our Christian faith. We believe that the human creative drive is placed in us by an infinitely creative God. Similar to other God-given gifts such as intelligence, personality traits, sexuality and commercial business skills, we believe that all of God's creative gifts to his people can and should be directed to His glory. As Paul affirms in Col 3:23-24:
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord you are serving.
Faith versus art
Are artistic activities with their inevitable focus on personal excellence and self expression indulgent in the face of a sinful, starving world? No doubt there are complex issues of role, function, and cultural expectations to be addressed here. A musician who is a Christian whose work product includes Christian songs for use in communal worship or private meditation has an increasingly accepted place in our Church communities. But what of the Christian artist who paints, writes, plays or composes .for the cultural and largely non-Christian "elite"? Perhaps we are guilty of a dualistic attitude that rates some forms of work as more Christian than others? Perhaps, too, there is an iconoclastic streak lurking beneath some expressions of Christian faith that discounts the sensual as dangerous or distracting.
In recent times evangelical author Tom Wright has revisited the notions of creativity and aesthetics in his new book, "Simply Christian". Following on from writers such as Reformed art historian, H.R. Rookmaker and Francis Schaeffer, Wright made the following comment in an interview with Gordon Preece, Director of the Macquarie Christian Studies Institute:
We are made to be both procreative and creative " to celebrate the good world as Adam named the animals. Genuine art is a response to the beauty of God. Creation is good, but not God. It is transient. Creation is beautiful but in pain. But by the Spirit, God comes to the heart of the pain to "wipe away every tear'.
Societal debate on the arts
The contentious matters I describe are also part of a parallel debate on the arts and music that is going on right now in secular society. As noted above, John Carey, an Oxford professor of literature, recently published a scathing critique of elitist views of the arts, while respected Australian composer, writer and broadcaster Andrew Ford has written, "In defense of classical music", which lays out his concerns about art music's diminishing place in our society. Conductor Daniel Barenboim has entered the fray in 2006 with his globally broadcast Reith Lectures for the BBC in which he explores the future of classical music. Perhaps as a response to feelings of meaninglessness and despair, genuine attempts are being made to re-interpret and re-position the role of the creative arts in our time poor and selfish world. These sweeping debates go far beyond the somewhat limited discussions I observe in our Diocese about the need to create a uniquely evangelical worship "song book" with uniquely evangelical lyrics. Such discussions presuppose that the legitimate aspiration for evangelically-inspired songs is the only issue at hand rather than the expression of a more substantial challenge. Christians enter into and make thoughtful contributions to debates on stem cell research, homosexuality, abortion, commerce and the environment, but as to the arts, with the exception of popular music, films, and television, we are too often absent or uninformed.
What is missing in my view is a more strategic dialogue on the creative aspect of Christian life, a willingness to explore aesthetic meaning, and particularly the abstract meaning conveyed by a piece of music without words, a sculpture or a painting. This is especially difficult for reformed evangelicals due to the emphasis rightly placed on understanding and teaching the Word of God as revealed in the Bible. No doubt for some, the diligent, orderly pursuit of God's Word sits in stark contrast to the ill-defined meanings and feelings expressed by works of art. But perhaps we are dealing with a paradox here, not an absolute contradiction. The same God who breathed life into the Scriptures also created music and musicians; He fully understands the potential benefits and pitfalls of human artistic expression.
What good are the arts in everyday life?
In the past months, Jenny has commissioned a new vocal work with overt Christian content which will be premiered by "The Marais Project" in October 2006. Given the past years of steady growth and experience, we feel more confident to declare our Christian hand. Leading jazz composer and pianist, Kevin Hunt, who is also a believer, has set a poem by James McCauley. Titled, "To the Holy Spirit", the stanzas describe in ecstatic terms the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Great South Land. McCauley was a controversial giant of Australian literature, a man who struggled to find a balance between his poetry, his devout Catholicism, and his strident conservative political ambitions. Like McCauley, we seek to find our own balance between art, faith, family and financial accountability as we live out the lives God has entrusted to us. Arthouse and Churchhouse can be compatible: that is our faith journey.
Philip Pogson
Further Reading
· Rainbows for a Fallen World by Calvin Seerveld
· The Creative Gift by H.R. Rookmaker
· Simply Christian by Tom Wright
· What Good are the Arts? by John Carey
· In Defense of Classical Music by Andrew Ford
· Music: Healing the Rift by Ivan Hewett
Philip Pogson and Jenny Eriksson met while students at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. They subsequently undertook post-graduate musical studies in Holland where they also acted as caretakers for Christ Church, Amsterdam, in the inner city. They attend St Annes Anglican Church, Ryde, where Philip is a member of the Parish Council and is involved in music ministry. Jenny was director of music at St Annes 10.00am service for several years. She is founder and Director of "The Marais Project" and also directs "Sounds Baroque", a chamber music/opera ensemble that is part of the Musica Viva in Schools program. Philip's day job is Director of a strategic management consulting firm.
