Sacred Music
Sometimes meditative, sometimes exalted, sacred music is the reflection of the human spirit and its passions. The musical representation of Faith has as many faces as there are historical eras, religions, geographic regions, and composers. Indeed, the great musical eras saw the birth of diverse forms of music that changed and evolved under new influences and styles of different periods.
The world heritage of sacred music is rich with Christian masses, Lutheran choirs and cantatas, Afro-American gospel, the music of Sufism, the chants of Buddhist Shomyo, and many others. Despite all this diversity, one constant emerges from the world’s sacred music culture. Indeed, a predominant place is given to chants.
In order to give us a more precise idea of one part of the history of sacred music, let us look at a few highlights of the evolution of European sacred music.
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Highlights of sacred music in western Europe
Let us begin our voyage in the 9th century when the first real collection of sacred music appeared. During this period of the Middle Ages, the music was monodic, that is, there was just one line of musical song, most likely without accompaniment. A part of this monodic music is “Gregorian chant”, named for Pope Gregory II (715-731). Little by little, music grew more complex. Léonin (c.1135-1201) and Pérotin (in Paris 1180-c.1208), two well-known composers at Notre-Dame in Paris, added musical lines in different ways to create polyphony. This technique of music writing was perfected at the end of the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance.
While the musical community was just exploring the possibilities offered by polyphony, the continent was undergoing tremendous upheavals. The Great Schism (1378-1418), the Reformation (Luther, from 1517), and the Counter Reformation (Council of Trent – 1545-1564) each modified the cultural and musical landscape of the times, especially in diversifying it. Then, in the 15th C., the composition of masses reached its peak. Indeed, any self-respecting composer of the period had to write all the movements of a mass as a unified whole. Composers such as Guillaime Dufay (c. 1400-1474) and Josquin DesPrez (c. 1440-1521) marked this prolific period.
Nevertheless the Reformation allowed the creation of a new musical tendency. The Lutheran religion was created, and with it came a new push for simplicity and the participation of the lay congregation, as well as the formation of the first choirs. At the end of the Renaissance, the Council of Trent tried to end the ostentation and pomposity of Christian sacred music. Giovanni Palestrina (c. 1512-1594) was recognized for being able to inject the musical sobriety and contemplation that the Counter-Reformation had tried to attain.
The music at the beginning of the Baroque period was marked by the creation of the first operas. The Italians, with Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643), and the French, with Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) were particularly fond of them. Sacred music nonetheless continued to be the most popular among musicians. Lutheran sacred music at the end of the Baroque period meanwhile was marked by prolific writing and was inspired by Johann Sebastien Bach (1685-1750). His cantatas and choral works are known and while Bach composed them for the Lutheran religion, we still find borrowings of his pieces today in the Catholic religion.
Then, with the coming of classicism, new musical genres appeared, such as the “modern” symphony. Opera also had its golden age with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) who pushed dramatic and musical effects to new levels. These more flamboyant and more theatrical musical styles influenced sacred music. In fact, accompaniments for large orchestras became common in this period. The practice of alternating the choral and solo parts, as with operas, was also abundantly used. Mozart’s Requiem, which has gained so much attention, is an example of classical sacred music.
At the turn of the 19th C., the artistic world was perturbed by a double ideological current – a wave of humanism and a renewed thirst for past artistic styles. Music was not spared by the winds of romanticism that were blowing. Sacred music remained popular with many composers as it was a great musical tradition to which many pious composers (Mendelssohn (1809-1847) and Liszt (1811-1886)) and the less pious (Saint-Saëns (1835-1921)), wished to contribute.
Nonetheless, sacred music was very different from what it had been. Certainly, masses, oratorios, cantatas, and choral works remained, but the texts were no longer necessarily sacred. Composers took more liberties as to the choice of texts and they evoked varied personal reasons in doing so. This differentiation was notable because it allowed the personality of each composer to shine through. The significance of this diversification of literary and musical texts became clear in the contemporary era.
Finally, in the 20th C., music burst forth. There were a number of writing styles and a succession of new musical currents. Liturgical music, as well, was totally transformed. From then on, the terms “musical spirituality” or “religious music” better represented the reality of numerous compositions which no longer had any relation to sacred texts or ceremonies. Indeed, composers hardly had any more need to compose for religious celebrations because many pieces of a spiritual nature were destined for concert halls. Nevertheless, many composers who opted for the composition of religious music did it out of conviction or personal development. Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992) and Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) were but two examples of composers for whom spiritual quests and mystic beliefs were translated into religious music.
Marie-Maude Goulet
Research and writing
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