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Music leads pianist to a life of Catholicism (former atheist converts)
SF Chronicle ^ | 6/20/05 | David Ian Miller

Posted on 06/20/2005 10:35:27 AM PDT by TFFKAMM

Classical pianist Jacqueline Chew rebelled against her Christian upbringing and became an atheist while attending the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the 1970s. But her love of music eventually led her back to a spiritual life.

Chew was so taken with the work of Olivier Messiaen, a pioneering French composer known for his sacred Catholic music, that after hearing his composition "Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus" ("Twenty Contemplations of the Infant Jesus"), she began questioning her belief that God does not exist. The more she learned about the music, the more religious she became.

Next month, Chew, who released a CD of "Vingt Regards" last year, will take her interest in Catholicism to a new level. She will be received as an oblate, a layperson living outside a monastery who promises to follow the rules of St. Benedict in her private life, at the New Camaldoli Hermitage, a community of monks in Big Sur.

Tell me about your upbringing. Were you raised in a religious family?

Yeah, my whole family is Christian. My parents came from different places, but they ended up in Oakland and met at a Chinese Presbyterian church there. They were very active in the church while I was growing up.

Do you remember any spiritual experiences as a child?

Well, I remember that when I was in the sixth grade, I did a report on different religions. I decided that even though I was brought up as a Presbyterian, I wanted to make my own decisions about what I believed...


(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; Philosophy; US: California
KEYWORDS: atheist; catholic; christian; christianmusic; classicalmusic; convert; god; music; pianist; religion
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To: Thorin

"...fashionably agnostic contemporaries..."

I doubt that anyone on this thread could name THREE of the above...myself included, certainly.


41 posted on 06/20/2005 12:30:57 PM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, Tomas Torquemada Gentlemen's Club)
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To: Tamar1973

Well, it seems that she was raised "Christian," meaning that her move to the RC was more a half-step than a whole one.


42 posted on 06/20/2005 12:32:50 PM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, Tomas Torquemada Gentlemen's Club)
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To: ccmay; Thorin; ArrogantBustard

Whew!

For a moment there, I thought you were describing the ooze of the St Louis Jesuits...


43 posted on 06/20/2005 12:37:30 PM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, Tomas Torquemada Gentlemen's Club)
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To: ninenot; ArrogantBustard; johniegrad

I actually like Messiaen's organ music. It is quite severe
and intellectual in its structure, but I do like
his rhythmic sense and non-traditional sound inventions.

I never feel the presence of God through his music though.

Only Machaut can do that for me. Maybe Leonin and Perotin.
Or some of the dutch masters.


44 posted on 06/20/2005 1:07:47 PM PDT by aristotleman
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To: aristotleman

The lady is a pro musician, with far more refined tastes and greater sensitivity than average. Praise God for her aesthetic sense, and we'll be looking for her continued creative effort in her new role as an oblate. It is her gift, and we hope her gift to Catholic music. It will be good to have a serious classical contribution to modern Church music in addition to the semi-pop, feel-good stuff that has come on since Vatican II.
Try this http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000005J1C/qid=1119297434/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-2662497-7898469
for a definitely modern but definitely religiously exalted composition.


45 posted on 06/20/2005 1:13:56 PM PDT by Prod Convert (On wings of song......)
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later read/ping.


46 posted on 06/20/2005 1:28:54 PM PDT by little jeremiah (A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, are incompatible with freedom. P. Henry)
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To: Borges; Republicanprofessor; sitetest; Blue Champagne; GaltMeister; Doctor Stochastic; ...

Classical music ping. Let me know if you want on or off the list.


47 posted on 06/20/2005 1:29:03 PM PDT by Republicanprofessor
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To: aristotleman

JOHANN SEBASTION BACH....


48 posted on 06/20/2005 1:29:45 PM PDT by little jeremiah (A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, are incompatible with freedom. P. Henry)
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To: Republicanprofessor

Thanks for the ping. Interesting thread.


49 posted on 06/20/2005 1:42:27 PM PDT by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: Republicanprofessor

Please add me to the list


50 posted on 06/20/2005 1:52:58 PM PDT by good old days
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To: Betaille
I think that the main feature of the Catholic Church that excites the intellect of many is its mysticism--the Catholic Church, as far as I know, is the only Christian Church that believes in the transubstantiation--that part of the Mass where the Eucharistic wafer and the wine become the body and blood of Christ--it is not merely a symbolic re-enactment--it is a sacrament--only baptized Catholics who have received the sacrament of Holy Communion (now called Eucharist) are permitted to receive communion in a Catholic Church.

Plus we have a lot of great art including beautiful churches all over the world. Also St. Thomas More, Aquinas, Pascal, de Chardin, and other great theologians.

51 posted on 06/20/2005 2:35:40 PM PDT by foreshadowed at waco
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To: ninenot
I thought you were describing the ooze of the St Louis Jesuits...

I don't have the remotest idea what you mean here.

-ccm

52 posted on 06/20/2005 3:26:30 PM PDT by ccmay (Question Diversity)
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To: aristotleman

It's rather difficult to define "the presence of God...[felt] through music, I think.

But Gregorian Chant (not psalm-chant--the real stuff) can give one a lift, anyhow.


53 posted on 06/20/2005 3:26:47 PM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, Tomas Torquemada Gentlemen's Club)
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To: foreshadowed at waco

De CHARDIN???

Are you out of your mind? The guy is a friggin' HERETIC!


54 posted on 06/20/2005 3:28:04 PM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, Tomas Torquemada Gentlemen's Club)
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To: ccmay
Here's your quote:

and were some of the most banal and repetitive dreck I've ever heard. The simple melodies were as dull as dishwater. Even so, barely one in ten people was really singing whole-heartedly. These are not churches for people who wish to contemplate the Infinite in music

...which describes to a "T" the dreck hymnody of the "St Louis Jesuits."

Take, PLEASE take, "Yahweh, I Know You Are Here."

55 posted on 06/20/2005 3:30:01 PM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, Tomas Torquemada Gentlemen's Club)
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To: aristotleman

Or some of Durufle...


56 posted on 06/20/2005 3:30:47 PM PDT by ninenot (Minister of Membership, Tomas Torquemada Gentlemen's Club)
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To: Betaille

Dick Morris, Sam Brownback, Peggy Noonan to name a few more.


57 posted on 06/20/2005 4:39:07 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: ccmay
You may be mistaken here: Looks like he converted in his late, late years:

http://www.rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/exposes/lewis/general.htm - By the time of his death, Lewis had moved from Idealism (no idea of a personal God) to Pantheism (an impersonal God in everything) and then to Theism (the existence of God). In Letters to Malcolm (p. 107), Lewis indicates that shortly before his death he was turning toward the Catholic Church. Lewis termed himself "very Catholic" -- his prayers for the dead, belief in purgatory, and rejection of the literal resurrection of the body are serious deviations from Biblical Christianity (C.S. Lewis: A Biography, p. 234); he even went to a priest for regular confession (p. 198), and received the sacrament of extreme unction on 7/16/63 (p. 301).

58 posted on 06/20/2005 4:44:56 PM PDT by Salvation (†With God all things are possible.†)
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To: Betaille
For some reason Catholicism has a strong link to intellectuals... examples: William F. Buckley, JRR Tolkein, CS Lewis"""

CS Lewis wasn't Roman Catholic. Never became Roman Catholic. Made it clear in his letters that he thought that Roman Catholics believe in doctrines that go beyond Christian doctrice - for instance, he said in one letter that Roman Catholicism, or at least its practice in some place, raises Mary the Mother of Jesus to "co-redemtrix."

59 posted on 06/20/2005 4:52:27 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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To: foreshadowed at waco
the Catholic Church, as far as I know, is the only Christian Church that believes in the transubstantiation"""

Eastern Orthodox believe in something akin to transubstantiation. Many Anglicans do as well.

60 posted on 06/20/2005 4:53:52 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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