A few thoughts on Church Music History

Driving to Brady for the service this morning, I began thinking about church music and a little of the changes that have taken place the last few years. As a student of American history, focusing primarily on the late 19th and early 20th centuries, I often contemplate how labor laws, government intervention, race relations, and wars have shaped our country and our culture. We cannot escape, nor should we, our National past, a past that although dark and dramatic replete with pain and suffering, joys and victories, labor and leisure, has made us the nation we are today. Looking a little more microscopically, the same is true in church music.

Superficially knowledgeable in the Reformation and the changes wrought in the Religious world following the escapades of the radical and brilliant monk Martin Luther, I choose to deal with, at least for now, the last 40 years of Protestant church music in America. Forgive me for ignoring other denominations and developments around the world and for imagining such a myopic time period, yet that is what I know. To quote from the intellectually sophisticated show Rugrats, "This is our world, and it is all we know!"

The anger rages forth in church music today as congregations grapple with their own personal preferences of church music, wondering what is right, what is best, and what will accomplish the greater good. That said, it seems to me that aside from the "youth" music that jumped into the mix in the late 60s and early 70s, most of the music of 40 or 50 years ago was designed around the organ, an instrument often considered the King of all instruments or the grandest of instruments. The organ, replete with a multitude of sounds and possibilities reigned supreme in the design of all church music dating back to its inception before the Baroque period. Not to say other instruments were not also used, but the music was typically suited and conceived with the organ as the centrality for the musical experience. The organ is a smooth, rich instrument with a wealth of sounds that allow for complex polyphony and a multitude of musical events at one time. I suppose mention should be made that prior to the use of the organ in churches, the human voice was the preferred medium. The organ came along and enhanced the vocal experience. But let's jump forward again to the 1970s!

As youth music began to move in and pianists found themselves in the forefront of artistry, composers of church music began writing music more for a piano. The piano became the central concept of church music, with the organ taking a back seat and not playing quite the dominant role it did earlier. Some of this is due to the percussive nature of the piano and some due to the sustaining of sounds while other sounds take place. Of course fine pianists do not blur the chords, preferring a cleaner approach to music, but many people almost embrace the idea of a "wash" of sustained sounds at times. Sadly, during this period, the organ began to be considered the instrument of choice for weddings and funerals. While certainly legitimate for this purpose, it did and does relegate the organ to a more functional role, far away from its value as a solo or accompanying instrument.

Time moved forward, as it is wont to do, and the organ and the piano remained true to church music. But soon another instrument jumped into the mix--the guitar and with it the trap set. Since composers do not and likely will not be able to design musical melodies around a trap set, the guitar became the driving central force. And we are in this world today. An added complexity, probably similar to the controversy that existed many years ago in the organ world is whether to use only acoustic guitars without extra amplification or should we allow electric guitars?

And now we live in this strangely wonderfully eclectic world with music designed around the guitar, some music around a piano, and still others emphasizing the organ. And sitting in our congregations are people who have a particular preference for a sound, a type of music, and a genre. While we can formulate a model church around something--organ music of mostly hymns, or piano music of a mix of hymns and older choruses, or guitar music of primarily modern choruses, it seems to me the best approach and likely the inevitable one is to create a gloriously complex church world that includes all three.

Although the risk involved is the possible alienation of those strongly preferring one over another, the gain is unification of the people and the ultimate cultural and spiritual growth. For each instrument, organ, piano, or guitar, has value and regardless of the choice, an expression of musical talent serving Christ's Kingdom in our church is a grand and glorious exercise. So I urge people to consider the role of the diversity in our church music and the inclusion of all kinds of instruments (apologies to my Church of Christ friends) in the worship of our Lord and Savior.