Early in his Meaning in Technology (23), Arnold Pacey points to the connections between music and the development of technology. Some of the leaders in the development of machine industry were organ makers, including James Watt. But the connection between music and technology began much earlier . . . . Continue Reading »
Trinity Reformed Church recently had Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio out to Moscow for a series of lectures on music. They were spectacular, and are now available online at Canon Wired . . . . . Continue Reading »
In his Christianity and History (94), Herbert Butterfield gives this wonderful musical analogy of history: “We might say that this human story is like a piece of orchestra music that we are playing over for the first time. In our presumption we may act as though we were the composer of the . . . . Continue Reading »
Drawing on the work of Christopher Page ( The Christian West and Its Singers: The First Thousand Years ), Wilken ( The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity , 152-3 ) points out that musical notation and the musical staff was an invention of early medieval monks. He quotes a letter . . . . Continue Reading »
After beginning with the lament “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22 turns to thanksgiving and praise: “I will declare thy name unto my brethren” (v. 22). In his study of Hebrews 2:12 ( Proclamation and Praise: Hebrews 2:12 and the Christology of Worship ), . . . . Continue Reading »
When King Asa of Judah heard the prophecy of Azariah, he “took courage and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin” (2 Chronicles 15:8). Then he gathered the people to Jerusalem to re-enter into the covenant with Yahweh, promising to hold to the terms of the . . . . Continue Reading »
When Yahweh urges Israel to “go forth from Babylon” and “flee from the Chaldeans,” He also exhorts them sing and shout (Isaiah 48:20). The songs of deliverance are not merely expressions of joy, though they are obviously that. They are also declarations of Yahweh’s . . . . Continue Reading »
Well enough worryin’ and map-surveyin’ for the moment, let’s at least get the tunes set. Impossible to even hope to survey the Jazz contributions—just stand around in the NOLA airport diggin’ the vintage Pops—so we’ll start instead with 50s-era, or 50s-esque . . . . Continue Reading »
In his study of Classical Music and Postmodern Knowledge (p. 11), Lawrence Kramer describes the shift from modern to postmodern in terms of speech-act theory. Modernism privileged the constative and subordinated the performative; postmodernism deconstructs the hierarchy and especially highlights . . . . Continue Reading »
The NYT Book Review has a fascinating review of Bernie Krause’s The Great Animal Orchestra: Finding the Origins of Music in the World’s Wild Places , which argues that “the healthier the habitat, the more ‘musical’ the creatures, the richer and more diverse their . . . . Continue Reading »
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