#secular music

[seventhdiscipleworldwide]

people after going to the Rema's (ritual) concert

[milkandheavysugar]

“I wanted to sing so badly. But to sing anything but gospel scared me to death. I’d seen what they did to Sister Rosetta Tharpe after she crossed over in Europe and came back to the US and sang the blues. The audiences were booing, they started throwing things at her, glasses, napkins… One time, she fled the stage in tears. I didn’t want that to happen to me. I wasn’t going to sing the blues.”  But in 1968, aged 28, she took the plunge at a talent show at Birmingham, Alabama’s 27/28 Club. 

“My brother instigated it. He got me to go up on the stage. I sang Aretha Franklin’s Do Right Woman, Do Right Man. I was nervous and excited. I realised then it was just a mindset. This wasn’t the devil’s music, it wasn’t evil, I wasn’t going to go to hell. Instead, I was making people happy.” Candi Staton on transitioning from Gospel to secular music [X]

[tanalovee]

Why I try to be careful about secular music.

“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭10:17‬ ‭KJV‬‬

- If we can gain faith by hearing...what can we gain from secular music??

- This verse shows me that what you hear can impact you and how you think.

It distracted me in different ways.

One way is that it makes me forget about focusing on my faith walk and makes me focus on other things. For example, secular songs might make me daydream about having a boyfriend or being a fun social person that everyone likes (which I am not lol). In the Bible it says “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”Matthew‬ ‭6:33‬ ‭KJV‬‬. We need to focus on God first, then everything else will fall into place. Don’t try to change the order in which it happens. And what you’re daydreaming about and being distracted about might not even be His will for your life too. The other way I get distracted by secular music is usually something which only happens to me when I listened to K-pop. Usually when I listened to this genre I would ALWAYS forget the next song I wanted to listen to next. I would be in the middle of listening to one song and thinking “next I want to listen to __,” and then when the song would end, I would forget what song I wanted to listen to next.

It kind of made me sin?? It was not my intentions, but I ended up doing it.

Like if you were to listen to an artist refer to themselves as something (queen, king, idol, etc.) you kind of go along with it. For example, I used to listen to Kpop and even though in my head, I did not truly see/value these singers as idols, I kept referring to them as such. This was because I had listened to the genre for a while and was used to calling them as such. This can be concerning because there is power within your tongue. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”Proverbs‬ ‭18:21‬ ‭KJV‬‬. Considering the verses 1 John 1:8-10, Matthew 12:36, and 2 John 1:7, it can be seen that our words come with consequences. Therefore, where I’m coming from with my example is it is not really beneficial to refer to these singers as idols because of the verse “Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.”1 John‬ ‭5:21‬ ‭KJV‬‬. Along with this, there is also “For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.”2 Kings‬ ‭17:12‬ ‭KJV‬‬.

It makes you sing along to their lyrics, which may not be good lyrics.

These incorrect/contradicting lyrics promote concepts that are not true. Ex. “Nobody’s perfect” by Hannah Montana is not true because Jesus is perfect!!!. Also many songs will say “follow ur heart,” uh no!! “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jeremiah‬ ‭17:9‬ ‭KJV‬‬. Examples pain pain by “E-girl” https://www.jpopasia.com/egirls/lyrics/368379/pain-pain/pain-pain/, in the song they are blatantly different from scripture when they say they don’t produce/bear fruit and we can see this in the verses 1 Colossians 1:10 KJV and John 15:1-5 KJV. This is concerning because we are supposed to bear fruit.   “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;”Colossians‬ ‭1:10‬ ‭KJV‬‬ and “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”John‬ ‭15:1-5‬ ‭KJV‬‬. 

Secular music reminded me and made me think of things I used to be passionate about, which are things that I don’t think is His will for my life.

It would affect me a lot because I used to want to be a singer. Every time I heard certain songs, I wanted to wear revealing clothes, dance to music in an immodest manner, and essentially be like the females in the music video or song I was listening to. Along with this it would make me want to act/do certain things that are not pleasing or helpful with my walk. For example, even if I hear a song that does not have sexual lyrics, sometimes the beat may have those undertones which cause me to think about dancing in a 18+ manner or have an 18+ mindset. Also “My baby don’t like it” by NCT 127’s Mark, Taeyong ft. Doyoung. Along with this, there is the song called Mad city by NCT 127, where it makes me start to think about events/memories which induce anger in me and make me feel mad. This is not got good because we can’t the clearly when we’re mad.

I hope you guys took some of these factors into consideration, God bless you guys. Please pray about it and don’t go off of my word completely 🙏🏽

[lieder-mit-worte]

Visit Original Link

Cantata For Soprano, 2 Oboes and Basso Continuo: Hai Finito di Lusingarmi

Fabio Ciofini (Director), Marta Mathéu (Soprano), and Accademia Hermans

Agostino Steffani, Composer

[themusicwelove]

John Reuben - John Reuben

“There’s always something to get nostalgic about” sings John Reuben on track 9, Looking at Now. I remember sitting in the lounge of a Uni dorm in Illinois, two hours outside Chicago back in July 2000 and my friend from Ohio hands me a CD with a grayscale photo of a beanie wearing man staring at me on it. My friend was keen for me to hear it, the artist was a fellow native of Ohio and had just released their debut album two months before. It was of course John Reuben, and once I first heard “Do Not” I knew the first thing I’d be doing when I got home was buying that CD! 

John Reuben has always had a tongue in cheek style, he just has funny bones it seems. He sees the world slightly sideways, and enjoys it. But that’s not to say that he’s a comedy rapper - far from it. The guy has bars, and knows how to write a hit record that’s for sure. Which brings us onto the track I linked in the video above - Secular Music. It’s classic John Reuben, it’s funny, but it’s also got some cutting insight into the Christian Hip Hop scene. “How you gonna front when the church nursery's your green room. And the set time's early cause the kids got curfews?” Good question John, good question. At a time when some artists seem to carry themselves with a slightly self important air, John Reuben is a breath of fresh air. His self awareness and willingness to say what others are not saying makes this whole album a joy to listen to. 

But don’t go thinking that this album is all style and no substance - that would be a mistake. Other people (featuring Alon) is an excellent example of John tackling big issues with just as much skill and deftness of touch. He and Alon ask the question: “who are my people?” To be honest, I found the song pretty moving and really appreciate the honesty both artists show. 

If you hadn’t already guessed, for me the three tracks which have stood out over the first week of listening would be:

Secular Music

Other People

Looking At Now

Those are the tracks I’ll be adding to our TOP3 playlist. I’d also like to give an honourable mention to Highlight Reel. But don’t take my word for it, dig into the Spotify playlist below and pick your own TOP3.

Before I go I can’t help but get nostalgic and say… basically John Reuben was ahead of his time. Do yourself a favour and go and check out his back catalogue. His old music videos are gold! Watch: Good Evening, Doin’ & Word Of Mouth for your homework. 

Check out these lovely links:

instagram.com/johnnyreubonic/

twitter.com/johnreuben

youtube.com/JohnnyReubonic

#MusicWeLove by Dave Hellyer

[mikrokosmos]

Schoenberg - Gurre-Lieder (1910)

The audiences at the premiere were clenching their teeth. A new work by Schoenberg. The madman, writing “music” without keys. His second string quartet had a soprano, his song cycle Pierrot Lunaire was “absurd”. Many brought noise makers to this premiere, ready to jeer and cat call. But, everyone was taken aback when the music started. A traditional piece, not just that but also a masterpiece. With one concert, Schoenberg managed to turn the hostile audiences of Vienna a full 180 degrees. They even chanted his name during the standing ovation. But when he came onto the stage, he turned his back to the cheering crowd, instead bowing to the musicians and thanking them, then walking off. A bizarre gesture, done out of spiteful annoyance for the public who loved music that he had moved on from and had grown tired of. Schoenberg’s early stile followed the trail of post-Wagnerian German Romanticism. He had started writing the Gurre-Lieder in 1900, first as a song cycle of 9 songs for two singers and piano, which he had intended to submit to a contest held by the Vienna Composers Association. Unfortunately he didn’t finish it by the deadline. He decided to keep working on it, and what was a song cycle grew into the skeleton of a gargantuan symphonic cantata. Daunted by the idea of orchestrating it, he set the score aside. And so, part one is written in a lush, Post-Romantic style. In the next few years, he became acquainted with Mahler, and the chamber-like sonorities of his late symphonies. He also started working on early atonal works, the ones radical enough for him to lose public favor. Then by 1910 he decided to come back to the project and finish its orchestration. And so, part 3 is written with more “Modern” orchestration. 

The cantata is huge, and a bit exhausting to listen to, but it is rich with melodies and is a great musical portrait of the artist in transition. It could also help listeners catch the same expressivity that he writes in his later works that are thought of as inaccessible to the average person. The cantata is scored for five soloists, a narrator, a choir, and orchestra. The songs are poems by Jens Peter Jacobsen about the legend of King Waldemar and his mistress, Tove, along with the supernatural aftermath. Two historic kings of Denmark bear the name Valdemar. One is said to roam the castle grounds with ghostly horsemen on moonlit nights, as punishment for defying an oath against God. The other king had a mistress named Tove, who was murdered by the jealous queen. Over time, the two stories got mixed up, and both Valdemars became one figure with their stories becoming the Gurre legend. Gurre is a lake in North Zealand. There is an island in the middle holding a medieval castle where Danish kings of yore lived. Today, the lake is nearly dried up, and the castle is in ruins. It opens with an orchestral prelude, snippets of motifs come and go here, plenty of bird-song in the flutes. It is so serene and soul-lifting, I cannot listen to it without thinking of how the sunlight glows between tree leaves, or how the wind plays with the grass. Part one consists of the nine songs, Waldemar and Tove taking turns singing about love, but also dread, fate, and a sense of impending doom. The songs here are full of orchestral build ups and climaxes and powerful singing. A dramatic orchestral interlude takes us to the last song of the first part; the wood dove’s song, the trauma of Tove’s death. A constant drum beat with long pauses is almost like her dying heart. The bleakness of the music emphasizes finality.

The second part is brief, like an intermezzo, but the orchestral drama here is as operatic as it gets. It opens with the same motif of the Wood Dove’s song, and Waldemar cries out in pain over a heartbreaking melody. Then, the story gets weird. The “other” side of the Gurre legend enters, where in rage, Waldemar summons ghosts to ride through the castle grounds at night, and a choir of men sing out the hunting song over heavy and epich orchestral storms. Then we get two contrasting soloists; first a peasant singing about his fear of the spectral wilde jagd, and second the ghost of a court jester singing a lighthearded macabre song about how annoyed he is to be summoned to ride when he’d rather stay resting in his grave. The end of the cantata shows Schoenberg thinking away from literal interpretation, to more abstract and expressive writing. Instead of “ending” the story “stops”, and the last portion [The Summer Wind’s Wild Hunt] acts as a coda, focusing on the theme of redemption, love, and how life moves on after tragedy. First we get another orchestral interlude, this time with chamber sonorities. Then, a melodrama starts, a narrator speaking in rhythm over the music, a “sprechgesang” technique that Schoenberg uses in full with Pierrot Lunaire. Here, the poem is about the morning wind. That eventually leads into the final chorus, the sun rises, the darkness of envy, death, revenge, and rage are forgotten. It relishes in the glory of sunlight and the passage of time.

Part I

Orchestral Prelude

Nun dämpft die Dämm'rung (tenor = Waldemar)

O, wenn des Mondes Strahlen (soprano = Tove)

Ross! Mein Ross! (Waldemar)

Sterne jubeln (Tove)

So tanzen die Engel vor Gottes Thron nicht (Waldemar)

Nun sag ich dir zum ersten Mal (Tove)

Es ist Mitternachtszeit (Waldemar)

Du sendest mir einen Liebesblick (Tove)

Du wunderliche Tove! (Waldemar)

Orchestral Interlude

Tauben von Gurre! (mezzo-soprano = Wood Dove)

Part II

Herrgott, weißt du, was du tatest (Waldemar)

Part III

Erwacht, König Waldemars Mannen wert! (Waldemar)

Deckel des Sarges klappert (bass-baritone = Peasant, men's chorus)

Gegrüsst, o König (men's chorus = Waldemar's men)

Mit Toves Stimme flüstert der Wald (Waldemar)

Ein seltsamer Vogel ist so'n Aal (Klaus the Jester)

Du strenger Richter droben (Waldemar)

Der Hahn erhebt den Kopf zur Kraht (men's chorus)

Des Sommerwindes wilde Jagd / The Summer Wind's Wild Hunt

Orchestral Prelude

Herr Gänsefuss, Frau Gänsekraut (speaker)

Seht die Sonne! (mixed chorus)

[the-soul-doctor]

[daily-classical]

Kabalevsky: Requiem (Part I)

Terrifying!