The holiday season is in full swing, and many of the upcoming holidays are steeped in tradition - religious and cultural.
Our traditions remind us of who we are and often times we guard them as if they were sacred; I know that I do. I cherish my memories of my grandmother and the time I spent with her was more sacred than much of church work I did growing up. In terms of music, there are both religious and "secular" compositions that are dear to my heart and Saturday on Q2 with Terrance McKnight I'll share some of those with you. What do you regard as sacred - music or otherwise? Thank you.
Terrance McKnight's varied musical experience, from glee club soloist and accomplished pianist, to professor at Morehouse College, and finally as producer and host of several music programs for public radio, opens his listeners' minds and ears.
Comments [5]
Chants, chants, chants are my sacred music.
Thanks, Terrance, for bringing us on a journey of "sacredness" and reflection. What is sacred? Definitions include ..."of or relating to religion"...or "that which brings us to holiness". Your times with your grandmother in Mississippi were sacred because of their intimate connection with your soul ("the breath of life", the Spirit within you). The nighttime journey together last evening was sacred to those who listened and "heard" the Spirit singing through the inspired works of the artists, calliing us to whole-iness.
I regard music as beautiful, sometimes transcendently so, but only love as sacred.
You are correct in saying "religious" compositions, rather than "sacred." Musical compostions aren't sacred, we don't worship them. They are not even consecrated (except for the wonderful story of Mozart and the Pope and the Allegri: "Miserere." Look that one up!) They are religious, or devotional, if you like. I don't understand how the misuse of a word can become so universal.
What I regard as sacred, Terrance, is Homo Sapiens neocortex, with its billions of neuronal connections and synapses, the source of all the beauty of music, of all arts and the power and majesty of science.
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