The Pursuit of Beauty

There was a time when Irish monks and clerics held on to the last vestiges of Western culture in their monasteries, waiting for a time when people would once again be able to understand and cultivate their cultural and spiritual heritage.  What level of degeneracy forced these men into a social cocoon?  Are such times upon us again?

The times are so thickly dark that your critical spoon can stand straight up in them.  Engaging in social criticism becomes a more personally weighty affair when you cannot find anything positive to write about.  Recent months have brought me to the question:  On the macro-social level, are we really doing everything wrong?  It certainly appears that way.

I am starting to believe that many individuals choose to live in ignorance in order to protect their hearts.  When your eyes are open and your heart is attuned to truth, then just going into the world can be a heart-rending experience.  True love -- rather than being a vehicle for blind acceptance -- causes us to desire the ideal for each person.  We want men to live informed, beautiful, faithful, and inspired lives, and at the end we want their souls to peacefully drift into an ecstatic meeting with their Creator.  Certainly this isn't too much to ask?  Why can't every man be lead to the truths of his origin, potential, and destiny?

Yet with the sheer difficulty of life -- just dealing with administrative tasks alone can be spiritually crippling -- the urge for escapism can be great.  When what you escape to dwells in the lowest reaches beneath human dignity, the large scale social effects are soon to follow.

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As a lifelong hockey fan, I journeyed joyfully into the streets of Chicago, happy to be here to celebrate the long-awaited Stanley Cup.  I came to celebrate and soak up the joy.  What I came away with was a sour feeling in my stomach.  While the parade was a joyous affair, it all degenerated from there.  As the masses pressed upon themselves and the alcohol flowed freely, joy was the last thing that people were feeling.  You could see it on people's faces as we inched closer to the main stage -- there was a real tension present.  People pushed and shoved and nearly stampeded at one point.  Many who did not show up already drunk struggled to catch-up to their belligerent compatriots.  One man joyfully climbed and defaced public property, while ten yards away from him some drunken college girls clambered upon a city vehicle, beginning a mock strip-tease.  The shirtless young men next to me yelled "take it off," while I couldn't help but marvel at their shallow, sunken, and clueless eyes.  These people weren't fans, and they were hardly people.  Through it all, the sheer joy of victory was forgotten, the greater spiritual lesson lost before it could even be considered.

Such mass gatherings of people are a good place to gauge the state of a society.  Where do our general values lie?  What is our capacity to experience beauty, victory, and joy?  Can anything be done to reverse our cultural degeneration, or has it reached a terminal velocity on the path to social collapse?

At such times, I am reaffirmed in my mission as an artist.  I cannot be certain whether my music shall find mass appeal or a small niche audience, or whether it will ever be counted worthy of remembrance.  Yet the sheer audacity to follow the certain call of Beauty inspires me.  Beauty has been rejected by the modernists and twisted by popular culture, yet it still desires to be manifested truthfully.

What is Beauty, you say?  It is not subjective in the least.  It is not an opinion.  Beauty is Truth.  Truth is Love, and Love is God.  Beauty cannot be represented unless one is turned in the direction of God.  Some artists do this purposefully, while others -- in imitating nature -- do so inadvertently.  Yet there is no other way to Beauty, because Beauty is the person of divinity.

The creation and cultivation of Beauty is my part to play in this game.  Perhaps we are the vanguard of a revolution in Truth, where beauty, faith, and reason will once again be the ruling pillars of Western society.  Yet if these pillars erode entirely, our society will collapse.  The trial and cleansing by fire will come, as it has throughout history whenever man forgets his place.

The Irish monks truly did save civilization, preserving the blueprints to the pillars of western society.  The world around them was drunken, brutal, and indifferent.  Yet these men retained their sanity, preserved what was good, and prayed for a better day.  Regardless of what happens, we must do the same.

What is musically proper for the Liturgy?

The below video is an excellent introduction to what is both proper and improper regarding music for the Catholic liturgy.  Rather than delve into "new-age" vs. "traditionalist" approaches, it illustrates the Church's aesthetic guidance while showing the way to new yet relevant musical expressions.  At only a few minutes in length, it is a valuable introduction to a quality Catholica aesthetic.

New book on Art, Music, and Faith!

The Holy Father is set to release his next book, in which he will meditate on art, music, and the path of faith.  It promises to be a goldmine of contemplation.  Here is the most recent press release through CNA:

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/holy_father_reflects_on_love_for_music_art_in_new_book/

Music and Pain: The Polish Tragedy at Smolensk

In preceding days I must have heard fragments of the Mozart Requiem and the Barber Adagio more times than I can count.  As Polish media outlets struggled to find music to frame the astounding events unfolding on their screens and a nation came to grips with their tragedy, a predictable thing happened:

They reached for the greatest music possible.

Inasmuch as terrible tragedies have a way of revealing truth for a short period of time, so too do they lead us to the greatest artistic expressions available to our society.  I couldn't help but feel, as I mourned along with my kin and country, that it was truly sad that this tenderness, mutual understanding, and outpourings of faith would soon be gone from the public square.  With nothing to sustain them in everyday life, such noble passions fade away in the onslaught of our modern relativistic culture.

It is also deeply unfortunate that a nation's collective good taste -- and mutual seeking after the infinite -- lingers only so long as the tragedy is present.  Can it be that the very music which we use to help us cope during difficult times can be -- by virtue of its unparalleled depth and expressive power -- capable of helping us retain the best sentiments brought about by tragedy?  I firmly believe that God calls artists to create works to help us penetrate more deeply into the fiber of reality, in the process seeking greater meaning and depth to each and every day.

Rather than write further on this impossible loss, I offer two more pieces to help us cope not only with an international tragedy, but to take with us into everyday life, to use as tools of deeper spiritual communion with the ultimate reality.

The first work, by Wojciech Kilar, is one of the most moving renditions of Agnus Dei I have ever heard.  It is written in the new contemplative spiritual style of other composers like Henryk Gorecki and Arvo Part.

The second work -- Memento Mori -- is from the progressive klezmer band the Bester Quartet.  Beginning in a modernistic noise sculpture meant to evoke a physical crash, a heartbreaking melody emerges from the wreckage to bring sense to the difficulty encountered.

As to the Poles lost, I can only say:  "Hail the Victorious Dead -- may Christ bring them to their eternal rest."

The Way of Beauty - A Great New Blog!

David Clayton -- head of the "Way of Beauty" program at St. Thomas More College -- has a new blog up, and it is well worth your time to become acquainted with. His latest entry, Creativity in Science through Beauty," explores the depths of classical beauty and modern physics. The gem of a quote below (from the afformentioned article) will give you an idea of what to expect:

...'Christian culture, like classical culture before it, was also patterned after this cosmic order; this order which provides the unifying principle that runs through every traditional discipline. Literature, art, music, architecture, philosophy –all of creation and potentially all human activity- are bound together by this common harmony and receive their fullest meaning in the liturgy…When we apprehend beauty we do so intuitively. So an education that improves our ability to apprehend beauty develops also our intuition. All creativity is at source an intuitive process. This means that professionals in any field including business and science would benefit from an education in beauty because it would develop their creativity. Furthermore, the creativity that an education in beauty stimulates will generate not just more ideas, but better ideas. Better because they are more in harmony with the natural order. The recognition of beauty moves us to love what we see. So such an education would tend to develop also, therefore, our capacity to love and leave us more inclined to the serve God and our fellow man. The end result for the individual who follows this path is joy.’

Great work! Please visit and bookmark David's blog at:
http://thewayofbeauty.org/

Stravinsky's Crawl

"You know, I can tell when you're just composing to compose, and when it really means something."

...So said the punctually wise fellow-composer Michael Bratt to me one week, after I had just been criticized during a particularly unsuccessful group composition lesson.

My own inner-voice told me: "You know, if you had to stand there and explain what you were after, it doesn't work."

Yeah. I get it now. And Mike's words have made all the difference.

I could easily turn this into a commentary on words. Words have power, after all, and we should never underestimate the power of a personal statement. I can easily list the handful of personal and courageous statements which have changed the course of my life.

That being said, I'd like to talk about notes.

I'm generally full of theories as to why so much modern music doesn't work, yet given the nature of art, I'm willing to admit that often it's nothing more than opinionated grasping at aesthetic straws.

As to why certain music does work, however, things are far less mysterious in nature. There are really two levels of musical intent, and modern classical music seems to often miss the boat on both counts.

The first, as my good friend Mike expressed to me, has to do with personal meaning. Clearly, I'm an expressionist. When I acted on such things first and foremost, my work resonated with others. When I didn't, it fell flat.

I can follow this line of thought: clearly, all of our greatest musical expressions, be they the impossibly controlled fugues of Bach or the ripping-raw energy of my favorite Metallica song, all are works of deep personal expression.

I've received two kinds of post-concert handshakes. The first is the polite, contrite "I liked your piece" greeting. The second is the full-grinned and enthusiastic acknowledgment of a deeper connection. For me, there is nothing more gratifying.

I was shocked, when at ISU for the premiere of my Aevum, a woman came up to me after the concert. She said: "I'm a pianist I loved your piece. It grabbed me, and seemed to describe the very turmoils I've gone through this year. Thank you."

Wow. I was speechless. More often, after new music concerts, I'll hear things like "that piece was neat" --or-- "where did you derive your pitches from?" Ouch. I know what kind of comments I prefer.

How much serialism is concerned primarily with deep human expression and connection, as opposed to the extended expression of technique?

Reading the composer posts on www.newmusicbox.org, one can quickly identify the "self-conscious ipod listening-lists" given by so many, as if to prove they can feel as well as think. (For instance, it seems that every instance of Boulez must be balanced by the mention of a punk band. Fascinating.)

Where does such an implication come from? Has new music stopped being primarily concerned with expression? If so, what's the point of writing it?

Yet there is a second and more powerful element, though it is more rarely (in modern times) spoken of. This is the deific element in music, and the lack of it is the main reason that so much modernism falls flat.

When Kandinsky wanted an icon in his workspace, he asked for a solid black portrait. (I'll spare you the details of Kandinsky's and Schoenberg's mutual occult associations, though I'll give a special prize to the first person who can identify the mass-murdering dictator who followed the same philosophical principles!) John Cage, despite all of his ingenuity, ultimately embraced and propagated a relativistic and anti-humanistic philosophy in his life and work. Schoenberg may have been searching for new levels of meaning, but Boulez took his numbers and ran to a place of stifling formalism and seemingly meaningless abstraction.

This is not to say that these artists did not produce instances of haunting, beautiful, and deeply expressive work. It's to say that on the whole, something was certainly missing.

The reason so much modern art and music falls flat is simply because of the direction it points -- which is so often either nowhere, or to the figure of the artist.

Beethoven, for all of his supposed megalomania, never lost sight of his place in the universe, his music consequently pointed from the human creator to the one who created him. When I see Boulez conduct great music, I see a revelry which is ultimately self-contained (though brilliant nevertheless.) When I saw a tape of Boulez conducting his own music, I perceived a joy taken in human ingenuity.

Yet it went no further. The creator was present, but he did not acknowledge his place, only his own ingenuity. It was beautiful, in a way, but ultimately meaningless.

(Not to pick on Pierre: he's merely the great talent by which all of my statements can be tested.)

Take by contrast the (relative) soaring popularity of the "new spiritualists" in Gorecki, Tavener, Part & co. Certainly their compositional chops do not approach that of a Boulez or Ades, nor are they technical innovators. Yet their music rings clearly in places far deeper and lasting than the halls of academia.

I was told a story -- by a nun who once studied with Nadia Boulanger -- of Igor Stravinsky's attitude towards God. He and Nadia (a daily communicant) entered an Orthodox cathedral together one afternoon. Nadia sat to the side, while Igor slowly moved forward to the altar to pray. The closer he got, the more bent he became, as if a giant hand were pressing down upon him. He veritably crawled on all fours to the altar to grovel before his lord. When the entire display was done, the two went merrily on their way, thinking nothing of it. (Think of this the next time you listen to the Symphony of Psalms.)

Stravinsky knew his place.

In fact, if you compare the students of Boulanger to the students of Schoenberg & Co., you have a startling study in musical purpose. While I admire the technique and ingenuity of one side, my heart flutters to the music of the other.

...for a tree is judged by its fruit...

An analogy is perhaps helpful here. I was once told that an artist is like a small child, drawing a picture or doing a dance for their parent. To the parent's refined sensibilities, even the greatest effort of the child will fall artistically short. Yet the parent takes delight in the child's effort, praise, and love.

Some truths, while difficult to prove logically, resonate clearly in the realms of analogy, anecdote, and metaphor. So it is with music.

Regardless of your line of work, one should frequently ask: Are you the joyful child dancing for the love of your parent, giving forth your best effort out of the intuitive knowledge that it is good?

Or are you the selfish child, dancing only for yourself?

If we want to strengthen and build new audiences for modern art, there is only one sure way:

"Soli Deo Gloria."

The Pope Opines on Music, Art, and Aesthetics

Whenever I read something like this, I am giddily happy to be a Catholic. The following transcript was sent to me today; it is an excerpt of an open forum between the Holy Father and seminarians. Speaking off the top of his head, the Holy Father demonstrates not only a razor-sharp intellect, but also a deep consideration of aesthetic issues, as well as how the aesthetic realm can both augment and exceed the theological one. Brilliant, and worth a read (or three.)

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Fr Willibald Hopfgartner, O.F.M.: Holy Father, my name is Willibald Hopfgartner, I am a Franciscan and I work in a school and in various areas of guidance of my Order. In your Discourse at Regensberg you stressed the substantial link between the divine Spirit and human reason. On the other hand, you also always underlined the importance of art and beauty, of aesthetics. Consequently, should not the aesthetic experience of faith in the context of the Church, for proclamation and for the Liturgy be ceaselessly reaffirmed alongside the conceptual dialogue about God (in theology)?

Pope Benedict XVI:

Thank you. Yes, I think these two things go hand in hand: reason, precision, honesty in the reflection on the truth - and beauty. Reason that intended to strip itself of beauty would be halved, it would be a blinded reason. It is only when they are united that both these things form the whole, and precisely for faith this union is important. Faith must continuously face the challenges of thought in this epoch, so that it does not seem a sort of irrational legend that we keep alive but which really is a response to the great questions, and not merely a habit but the truth - as Tertullian once said. In his First Letter, St Peter wrote the phrase that medieval theologians took as a legitimation, as it were, a responsibility for their theological task: "Always be prepared to make a defence to any one who calls you to account for the hope that is in you" - an apologetic for the logos of hope, that is, a transformation of the logos, the reason for hope in apologetics, in response to men. He was obviously convinced of the fact that the faith was the logos, that it was a reason, a light that came from creative Reason rather than a wonderful concoction, a fruit of our thought. And this is why it is universal and for this reason can be communicated to all.

Yet, precisely this creative logos is not only a technical logos - we shall return to this aspect with another answer - it is broad, it is a logos that is love, hence such as to be expressed in beauty and in good. Also, I did once say that to me art and the Saints are the greatest apologetic for our faith. The arguments contributed by reason are unquestionably important and indispensable, but then there is always dissent somewhere. On the other hand, if we look at the Saints, this great luminous trail on which God passed through history, we see that there truly is a force of good which resists the millennia; there truly is the light of light. Likewise, if we contemplate the beauties created by faith, they are simply, I would say, the living proof of faith. If I look at this beautiful cathedral - it is a living proclamation! It speaks to us itself, and on the basis of the cathedral's beauty, we succeed in visibly proclaiming God, Christ and all his mysteries: here they have acquired a form and look at us. All the great works of art, cathedrals - the Gothic cathedrals and the splendid Baroque churches - they are all a luminous sign of God and therefore truly a manifestation, an epiphany of God. And in Christianity it is precisely a matter of this epiphany: that God became a veiled Epiphany - he appears and is resplendent. We have just heard the organ in its full splendour. I think the great music born in the Church makes the truth of our faith audible and perceivable: from Gregorian chant to the music of the cathedrals, to Palestrina and his epoch, to Bach and hence to Mozart and Bruckner and so forth. In listening to all these works - the Passions of Bach, his Mass in B flat, and the great spiritual compositions of 16th-century polyphony, of the Viennese School, of all music, even that of minor composers - we suddenly understand: it is true! Wherever such things are born, the Truth is there. Without an intuition that discovers the true creative centre of the world such beauty cannot be born. For this reason I think we should always ensure that the two things are together; we should bring them together. When, in our epoch, we discuss the reasonableness of faith, we discuss precisely the fact that reason does not end where experimental discoveries end - it does not finish in positivism; the theory of evolution sees the truth but sees only half the truth: it does not see that behind it is the Spirit of the Creation. We are fighting to expand reason, and hence for a reason which, precisely, is also open to the beautiful and does not have to set it aside as something quite different and unreasonable. Christian art is a rational art - let us think of Gothic art or of the great music or even, precisely, of our own Baroque art - but it is the artistic expression of a greatly expanded reason, in which heart and reason encounter each other. This is the point. I believe that in a certain way this is proof of the truth of Christianity: heart and reason encounter one another, beauty and truth converge, and the more that we ourselves succeed in living in the beauty of truth, the more that faith will be able to return to being creative in our time too, and to express itself in a convincing form of art.