Posted on 05/06/2005 4:50:01 PM PDT by ELS
ope Benedict XVI is a pianist with a penchant for Mozart, which he is said to find more manageable than Brahms, given the limited amount of time he has to practice. (Until his election, he was one of the busiest cardinals in his role as chief interpreter and enforcer of doctrine.) His brother, a priest, was a church Kapellmeister. The Ratzinger boys were born in the part of Bavaria long under the influence of Salzburg, Mozart's birthplace.
As a theologian, he has occasionally revealed some of his thinking about music. When it comes to popular forms, he can be harsh. In his 2001 book "Introduction to the Spirit of the Liturgy," he called rock 'n' roll "an expression of base passions which, in large musical gatherings, has assumed cultlike characteristics or even becomes a counter-cult that is opposed to the Christian" worship. Pop music was a "cult of banality."
On the classical side, he played music critic in a message to Pope John Paul II on the 25th anniversary of John Paul's pontificate in 2003, when a concert in his honor by the Mitteldeutscher Rundfunkorchester included Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Addressing the 83-year-old pope, Cardinal Ratzinger described the symphony as echoing "the inner strife of the great maestro in the midst of the darkness of life, his passage, as it were, through dark nights in which none of the promised stars seemed any longer to shine in the heavens." But in the end, he said, "the clouds lift. The great drama of human existence that unfolds in the music is transformed into a hymn of joy."
Then he took a knock at Schiller, the poet of the "Ode to Joy," saying that his "true greatness blossomed" thanks only to Beethoven's music. Unlike Bach's "Christmas Oratorio" or the Passions, which contain "the intact presence of the faith," Schiller's ode is characterized by the era's humanism, "which places man at the center," he said with some disapproval. But Beethoven was a believer, he said, so the "good Father" of the ode is not just a supposition but an "ultimate certainty." After all, he pointed out, Beethoven composed the "Missa Solemnis."
Bach lovers will also be pleased by the new pope's taste. In the message, he called Bach "perhaps the greatest musical genius of all time." And in fact, as he was driven around St. Peter's Square after his installation last weekend, loudspeakers played Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor for organ. When he received dignitaries later in St. Peter's Basilica, the Hallelujah chorus filled the air. It was not known whether he had made the program choices.
Infallibility in matters of faith and morals aside, he's wrong about Rock 'n Roll. Nothing banal about Stevie Ray Vaughn, Hendrix or Clapton.
Well I agree with Pope Benedict. Most modern music has become an idol which people dance around. And the theme of rock and roll music is anti-war, anti-tradition, free love, and anti-Christian.
Hopefully, he's not into Wagner...
A blanket statement like that about an entire genre is so prone to error I can only be thankful I didn't make it.
Agree with him 100% regarding rock and roll.
"Bach lovers will also be pleased by the new pope's taste. In the message, he called Bach "perhaps the greatest musical genius of all time." And in fact, as he was driven around St. Peter's Square after his installation last weekend, loudspeakers played Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D minor for organ. When he received dignitaries later in St. Peter's Basilica, the Hallelujah chorus filled the air. It was not known whether he had made the program choices."
The way that paragraph reads, it appears that the reporter believes the "Hallelujah chorus" was composed by J.S. Bach. In fact, it is from Handel's "Messiah".
I keep thinking what a joy it could be to be a mouse in the room (preferably under the piano!) if Condoleeza and the new Pope ever get together with enough time to talk about and play piano.....
Well, he is a NYT reporter. If one wants to give him the benefit of the doubt then one could assume the editor cut out some stuff about Baroque music and Handel...
Dueling pianos? LOL!
Well, he can stick to religion, and I'll stick to music, and we'll both be happy. He probably wouldn't like Charlie Parker either.
Regrettably, the Cardinal is correct.
You'd be AMAZED at the number of very good Catholic folks who think the Cardinal is nuts on this topic--but he's not, and he can prove it.
Of course, one begins with an understanding of the term "art" and works forward from there.
Hint: it is NOT "Ars pro gratia artis" which is the underlying principle...
Harrumph. All true Germans love Wagner.
For that comment, you get to spend a few thousand years sleeping on a rock, surrounded by magical fire, until a beautiful blonde woman in a suit of armor awakens you with a kiss.
And if you do it again, my next punishment will be even worse. Be very afraid!
Of course, one begins with an understanding of the term "art" and works forward from there.
Hint: it is NOT "Ars pro gratia artis" which is the underlying principle..."
Regretably, you are incorrect. Art is whatever the HUMAN spirit finds it to be.
To quote Mel Brooks, "After the birth of the arts came the inevitable afterbirth of the critic."
Most certainly, and LOL
Imagine the joy of being in the presence of the Holy Father while the music of the spheres is lifting up your soul.
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