Religion Sacred Music and Literature Term Paper

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...social conditioning was effected in such a way, that any thing that was considered primal, pagan, or unchristian, was frowned upon... [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.

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" (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.

In conclusion, one can clearly see how in the oldest cultures sacrd music was a form of revelation and divine communication. In later culture, music came to be seen as a way to bolster the message of divine communication. In the overly modern world, music may be increasingly seen as merely an additive to divine communication, and something which takes place around the edges of faith rather than at its center. It is a pity that there is no room here to go into the relationship between Islam and sacred music/texts, or perhaps more inspirationally to delve into the use of music and song as a fundamental pillar of the faith and a necessary deed in Sikhism, or to speak of the subtle interweaving of song and life in Shinto or Hinduism. Suffice to say that in each of these instances as well one might see a relationship between the degree to which music is considered to represent the actual voice of God and the degree to which that culture ascribes to a firm and unwavering perception of their scripture and truth......

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