.. [leading to] persecution of the Druids, Witches, Gypsy, and Jewish cultures that still continues today." Curiously, it may be that very historical hostility towards the primal which has corroded the power of Catholic sacred music and turned new catholics and protestants alike against it.
In the Jewish ritual, music of all sorts has long played an important part. The majority of each service is sung. The Jewish Encyclopedia described the history of this tradition and describes the way that (in antiquity) the singers-of-songs were slowly absorbed into the priesthood because of the importance of their role. From the ancient days cantors (those who sing the Torah scriptures) have received tunes from their ancestors and embellished them to fit the present eras. Thus one can see in such Jewish rituals generation upon generation of social change and pilgrimage. In the Jewish heritage, "the prayers and praises, equally with the lessons, have been... musically declaimed," (Jewish Encyclopedia, 119) and the most important focus of the music is on giving expression to the words of the scriptures. Even reform churches today generally have a great deal of singing, though the face of music is changing significantly, as are the roles of the cantors. One such cantor writes, "Today our people call out to be included. They ask us to enrich their sense of meeting. Whether they know it or not, they do not wish to abandon either the majestic or the meditative moods of prayer." (Schiller) Despite some apparent paternalism on the part of its cantors, Judaism really has done a better job of preserving its musical heritage than Christianity. Of course, this may also be bound up with the degree to which Judiasm understands the sacred texts as simultaneously inviolate and open to further revelation.
Bibliography
Brown, Karen McCarthy. "Drum Is the Ear of God: Africa's Inner World of Music." Harvet Moon. http://www.harvestmoon.net/Vodou/Articles/Women/women.html
Hull, Arthur. "RHYTHMACULTURE: The Birthing of American Rhythmaculture," Percussion Source Magazine, Spring 1997. http://www.drumcircle.com/arthurian/rhythmaculture.html
Jewish Encyclopedia (1901). archived at http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/index.jsp
Schiller, Benjie-Ellen. "Some notes on the future of Jewish sacred music." Union for Reform Judaism. http://urj.org/worship/letuslearn/s9sacredmusic/
Schuler, Richard. "What is Sacrad Music," Catholic Culture [online] http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=3555
Music and Censorship (Question 2) The most "dangerous" aspect of art, or at least the aspect of art most threatening to entrenched power, is the way in which art is able to point out how all meaning is socially constructed, and that there is nothing inherent to reality constituting borders or boundaries of human thought or action. In order to see how this is the case, one need only look as
The Black gospel music is an efficient tool that can be used in order to explore the roots of the Black religious culture, social as well as political concerns. This makes it an effective tool for passing messages from the scriptures too. Miller (2007) explores the debate surrounding the contemporary Christian music. His book presents a look at the contemporary music in the Christian churches with a view of aiding
Classical Symphony Music, like other forms of art, evolved from numerous traditions that, when taken together, formed a new way of thinking about, and performing, certain types of works. Audiences change over time, and certain musical compositions that sound odd or strange to one audience are often accepted by others (e.g. The rioting during the premier of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring). When people think of classical music, for instance, they tend
Ethnic Music Humanities a) Origin and Development of Traditional and Contemporary Ethnic Music My personal experience in learning this subtopic reveals to me that music is a global cultural practice found in every known culture, both in the past and present, but with a wide variation with regards to time and place of practicing it. Since every ethnic group around the world, including some of the most secluded tribal groups, depicts their
Censorship in Music Censorship Under the Guise of Protecting the Children Rock and Roll Culture Hip Hop Culture Is Censorship in Music Viable and Does it Make a Difference? There have been many attempts by society control music. Governmental statutes, agency regulations, business controls and parents have all tried to censor the music. Sometimes they have succeeded and sometimes they have not. The examination of various aspects of rock and rap music censorship involves general
East/West An Analysis of Eastern Influence in Western Art The American/English poet T.S. Eliot references the Upanishad in his most famous poem "The Wasteland," a work that essentially chronicles the break-up of Western civilization and looks to Eastern philosophy for a kind of crutch in the wake of the abandonment of Western philosophy. Since then, Westerners, whether in literature or in film, have continued to look to the East for inspiration and
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now