According to Constitutional scholar and business entrepreneur, Patrick Byrne, the freedoms we enjoy in America and in the Western countries throughout the world, can be traced from Jerusalem, to Athens, to Rome, to the Netherlands, to England, to America.
The Christian influence, historically, follows a similar pattern. One can argue that the foundational ideology of the West can be traced back to the Judeo-Christian tradition, or more specifically, the Bible.
There is a rich heritage of the use of music throughout the Bible, specifically dealing with worship. In fact, King David wrote many songs and even created musical instruments for worship.
“And the priests stood at their posts and the Levites, with the instruments of music to the Lord, which King David had made for giving praise to the Lord.” (2 Chron. 7:6)
In fact, David himself was an accomplished musician.
“Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him.” (1 Sam. 16:18)
The historical nature of the Christian faith emanated directly from Judaism. Jesus, of course, was a Jew, and early Christianity was birthed within the context of Judaism.
While we do not have specific historical documentation of the way the Hebrews produced their music, it is evident that there was a high degree of organization in their worship.
“So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were appointed to sound aloud cymbals of bronze; and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with harps tuned to alamoth; and Mattithiah, Eliphelihu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah, to lead with lyres tuned to the sheminith. And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful.” (I Chron. 15:19-22)
What is known in the early church is the use of the “Church Modes.” These very likely came from Hebrew roots; although, there is little evidence of it. Nevertheless, the Church Modes: Ionian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aeolian, and Locrian provide a framework for the intervallic relationships in our earliest understanding of Christian worship. Gregorian chants showcase these modes well, and they existed through European culture into the earliest beginnings of what we know of Classical Music. We teach these scales and modes in our music school in Odessa, Texas.
Palestrina was one of the earliest examples of the Classical Music tradition, using modal scales in the context of church worship. J.S. Bach studied his music deeply and was inspired to take contrapuntal writing even further.
Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525 – 1594) was an Italian composer of late Renaissance music. The central representative of the Roman School, Palestrina is considered the leading composer of late 16th-century Europe. Born in the town of Palestrina in the Papal States, Palestrina moved to Rome as a child and underwent musical studies there. In 1551, Pope Julius III appointed him maestro di cappella of the Cappella Giulia at St. Peter’s Basilica. He held similar positions at St. John Lateran and Santa Maria Maggiore in the following decade. Palestrina returned to the Cappella Giulia in 1571 and remained at St. Peter’s until his death in 1594.
Primarily known for his masses and motets, which number over 105 and 250 respectively, Palestrina had a long-lasting influence on the development of church and secular music in Europe, especially on the development of counterpoint.
Music in the early Church was predominantly monophonic. In other words, there was no accompanying harmony. Later, perfect fifths were added, vocally, mirroring the movement of the melismatic lines. Then, the 3rd scale degree was finally added to the linear melodic line, creating parallel harmonic motion.
The introduction of counterpoint, however, was a unique moment in musical history. Even though the music was using the intervallic scaler relationships of the Church Modes, each line took on its own unique personality and direction. The original Latin for counterpoint was: punctus contra punctus, that is, point against point. Instead of triadic parallelism, it became a drama of several melodic lines against each other. There were clashes in the musical space, creating an undulating sequence of dissonance/consonance, or terseness and resolution, much like actors in a play fighting with one another then resolving their conflict. Counterpoint is one of the things students will study in our music school in Odessa, Texas.
What is interesting about this musical development is that it parallels a similar idea in the Christian West: the concept of individualism.
The emergence, musically, of equal-temperament that Bach used in pioneering ways, along with the invention of the printing press and the Lutheran beginnings of Protestantism, all centered on the empowerment of the individual. We value each individual in our music school in Odessa, Texas.
This was not a unique concept, Biblically, even though it seemed like a forgotten truth in the 16th Century.
“Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him.” (Gen. 1:26-27)
The value of each individual began to be reflected in music through the introduction of counterpoint. Bach Chorales give us some of the most spectacular uses of early counterpoint. As Bach would train his choirs, each section, Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass would have their own uniquely designed part, reflecting the uniqueness of each section. The lines were so strong, that at times they defied (or dramatically stretched) the rules of contrapuntal composition they were founded upon. These are foundational principles we teach in our music school in Odessa, Texas.
Historically, the Western mindset of freedom is unique. Throughout the history of mankind, the predominant organizational structure for society was one of autocracy (i.e. a King and slaves). Western culture, through the foundational concept of the value of the individual (made in the image of God), gave rise to the value of each individual’s unique voice. It was this value of voice-writing that revealed a new freedom, through the advent of counterpoint in Western Art Music.
J.S. Bach systematized and put forth an enormous volume of materials, written in this framework, which became the foundation upon which the rest of Classical Music was built. Succeeding composers studied Bach, so they could bring inspiration and compositional technique to their own writing. Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelsohn, Stravinsky, Bartok, and Berg, among many others, all had the highest regard for Bach’s work, incorporating his technique in various ways into their own compositions. Dulce, our music school in Odessa, Texas highlights these techniques in our teaching.
Arguably, Classical Music’s unique intertwining of worship and Western Tradition highlights freedom, the voice and sanctity of the individual, like no other music in the history of the world. Dulce School of Music in Odessa, Texas builds these concepts into our work with each student as they grow and develop into mature musicians.