Essay about Music: The Change from Spiritual to Secular

Music and religion are often intertwined, whether it be religious chanting or hymns used to worship. However, in the case of Islam, the relationship between religion and music is more strained, as Islamic law strictly forbids listening to music. However, there is a very strong religious debate on what constitutes music as diversion and what is acceptable to use in worship and religious purposes. There are two concepts in Islam which are relevant to this conversation: sama and ghina. The ghina is the simpler of the two, referring to music and performance associated with secular art music; this is normally banished. Ghina is the only genre which is referred to as “music”. The sama, on the other hand, is more complex. Sama, which literally means “listening” and thus, includes the music being listened to (as well as dance as performed by mystic societies) is more complex. The abundance of writings about the sama is chiefly due to the debate surrounding the legality of music and dance from a legal, mystical, and religious perspective. Some elements of music have been categorized as acceptable sama by religious authorities, including Koran cantillation, singing of unaccompanied hymns, old Bedouin songs, and simple functional folk songs used to mark events in a community or individual’s life, thus considering them to be “non-music”.

In the sixteenth century, the Protestant Church of England was using new music and hymns that would still be used today. According to “Elizabethan”, this time was the “high point in the English Liturgical Style”. The Mass Ordinary was created in the fifteenth century. There are five sections that go in a cycle basing each movement on the same musical material. The five sections, according to Raeburn, include Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei (11). For more somber religious events, such as funerals, a requiem mass would be used. This mass was relatively peaceful and the melody would tend to wander. Ongaro tells un in his book “Music of the Renaissance” that choirs in this era had up to sixteen members that would dance, sing, and act (32). Religious music was the work of many composers that would give us hymns and musical works that we use

These different mindsets concerning the music caused a division to occur in the church. This example ties in with another point addressed in the Declaration and Address. And that is the point concerning what to do with doctrinal differences that are not based on clear and exact teachings in the New Testament and how that leads to division. There are a lot of things that come about in life that we can clearly read in the Bible is right or is wrong. With that being said it is simple to make definite rules and it is also simple to clear up arguments and disagreements when the answer is clearly seen in the Bible, because it is really hard to argue with a clear answer in the Bible when you are trying to use the Bible to back you up. However, what happens when there is not a clear teaching in the Bible? That is what happened with the

African American religious music is the foundation of all contemporary forms of so called “black music.” African American religious music has been a fundamental part of the black experience in this country. This common staple of the African American experience can be traced back to the cruel system of slavery. It then evolved into what we refer to today as gospel music. The goal of this paper is to answer three main questions. What are the origins of African American religious music? How did this musical expression develop into a secular form of music? What is the future of African American religious music? These questions will be answered through factual research of African American traditions, artists, and various other sources.

The Medieval period began in 500 A.D. and ended in 1450 A.D. During this time in particular, the Catholic Church had significant influence on how music was used and created. Sacred music, for example, was most prevalent because of this. Due to the religious nature of this period, music in the church had to adhere to very specific regulations, some of which included prayers such as plainchants or Gregorian chants. A single melody without harmony, or one musical part sung together in unison, is called a Monophonic melody, which was sung primarily by monks. Some time later, around 900 A.D., the using of two melodic lines was permitted by the church, this music was called organum. A low, continuous note called a drone, was sung at the same time as the main melody. The two melodies were often moving in contrasting motion to each other. By the Late-Medieval period, 1100 A.D., the music of the church had shifted from monophonic to more polyphonic, often two or more varying parts.

Music is an everyday occurrence for most people. In some way, shape and form, people listen to music. For Christians, specially those at bible college, this can be in chapel day to day. For others it may be in a car or even in the workplace, which can be the case for Christians also. Music for me is an everyday occurrence, not only in chapel but also in other places such as my dorm room and when I get ready for sports.

​ Life in the Middle Ages revolved around the Church, which was the Roman Catholic. So, we can imagine early music was pretty much from church. Every morning at 9 o’clock was Mass, a significant ceremony done to commemorate the Last Supper. At this church service, the music was the Gregorian Chant. The Gregorian chant is performed in the Latin language, unison voice and accompanied by no instruments which was believed that the text of the song which carried the divine message from God was more important. The music was just to help you get to a spiritual place (Wright, 4-1a).

During the middle Ages, the Catholic Church was the sole contributor to musical development. The music of the early church was monophonic, and had nonmetric melodies set in one of the church modes, or scales. The rise or development of polyphony came about during the Renaissance period; the Council of Trent wanted polyphonic church music to be created and Palestrina composed the Pope

The Musical Composition that has changed my life to how I see music is the song The Stroke from Billy Squier. I did not really know the meaning of the song, but it really Widened my Horizon in terms of music from only before listening to The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and The Monkeys. Then later being able to listen to Rush, AC/DC, Aerosmith And Other Really good rock bands that I still love today. Then I started collecting Records then I started collecting CDs, the first album I bought for myself is the majestic Black Sabbath Album “Paranoid” The album with the musical compositions Paranoid, Iron Man, War Pigs/Luke’s Wall, Planet Caravan, Rat Salad, Electric Funeral, And Fairies Wear Boots. This album was such an amazing introduction to Black

After the Black Plague crippled Europe, a new period of time erupted known as the Renaissance slowly developed. The Renaissance is known as the “rebirth” for Humans. The reason for this meaning during the 14th century was because of the radical changes in the culture of Europe. The Middle Ages was surrounded by religion in many aspects. The Black Plague helps stimulate the idea that religion is through the individual. Religion in Europe was starting to becoming not so literal, but more of a personal connection with God, instead of a strict public connection. The starts of the renaissance, commoners or nobility were not focused on taking over the family business, but focusing on other career options of interest. The ideas and the development of Humanism were established during the renaissance through the idea of religion being more personal.

The oratorio and cantata of the eighteenth century were both linked, unlike opera, to religious themes. Although intended for very different uses and circumstances of performance, all three genres contained musical commalities. Not surprisingly, the three genres would

England did not have a Renaissance or a “rebirth” during the 1300’s to the 1500’s. Instead, England was fairly typical with having most of its population in rural areas and being rooted in agriculture and textiles. Even for those not in the agriculture and textile industries, other aspects associated with the Renaissance, such as the resurgence of classical education, hardly touched the English. They also suffered a major loss in their population because of the plague, which helped to caused economic growth but only due to immense

Music not only has issues in discrimination and racism but also in religion. In an article by Lake State Publications (2002), the transformation of music started during the early Christian era. It said that only Gregorian Chants were recognized in sacred ceremonies. However, secular and non-religious songs became rampant when the church had an unlikely encounter with the French Nobles called troubadours causing them to write the very first secular songs and ask the ministers to sing them to the public. Secular music continued to gain importance to the masses and vocal music became more important

“The purpose of music is to touch hearts” (Johann Sebastian Bach). Music is a reflection of life, and feelings. Throughout the years music has played a very important part in every human culture, both past and present. The question is why, what does it do to people, and what makes music so special? In this essay I hope to answer these questions and explain just how music affects the brain and its benefits. Music affects the brain in many ways, but here are the three most important things music does to the brain, music can improve your mood, enhance learning, and help various mood and brain disorders.

These music forms relied on the human voice but contained complex music structures. The complexity of these music pieces would create states of wonder and awe to the church members. These musical forms, like all of the future music genres, relied on the musical scales; however it started using complex math formulas to add another degree of complexity. An example of these musical forms is the Gregorian chant. Gregorian chants originated from the Catholic Church during the reign of Pope Gregory I, a great scholar and musician (“St. Gregory the Great – Pope and Doctor of the Church”).