MUSIC IN THE CHURCH

Abstract

Concerning this subject, floods of ink have flowed; and yet more shall flow. Vast, immense, is the field, innumerable are the points of view; every one regards it in his own way, according to his artistic education, his belief, his temperamentaccording to the time and place in which he has lived. Hence it is impossible, in a few lines, to do justice to such a subject, a labyrinthine forest into which we shall take only some cautious steps, without adventuring ourselves amid its formidable depths. What music is most suitable for the church? Shall it be that which is executed by voices alone, as in the Greek Church? Or chorals, accompanied by instruments and the organ, as in the Lutheran Church? Or the anthems, correctly written and sung, of the Anglican Church? Or the florid counterpoint of the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century? Or pure Gregorian plain chant? Should we admit or exclude the light and ornate music of the eighteenth century, and our contemporary music? All this is very difficult to decide; or, rather, impossible to decide--and for the very simple reason that in reality there is no religious art, properly so called, absolutely to be distinguished from secular art. There is good music, and there is bad music; for the rest, it is a matter of fashion, of convention, and nothing else. In England they would not build a chapel otherwise than in the Pointed Style, considered to be the essentially religious style. That is a