So important is an understanding of how the noble art of music works, and so important do we consider familiarity with great composers in the Western tradition, that all of our students here at the College are required to take two semesters of Music Theory & History in their junior year. True, this is only a beginning, but a serious beginning must be made—one that stretches from the fundamental ingredients of music (rhythms in simple and compound time signatures, pitch in bass and treble clef, key signatures, the circle of fifths, scales and intervals) all the way to some of the greatest masterpieces of the art, like the St. Matthew Passion of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Unlike less complex forms of aural stimulation, “art music”—a better term than “classical music”—needs, and deserves, to be given multiple hearings, with full attention. One needs to give this rich music a chance to speak to one’s soul, to convey its beauties to one’s mind, to mould one’s heart. It’s not supposed to be instant gratification; there is more intellectual substance to it. A cartoon, for example, tells you right away what it’s about, and you laugh at the joke. In contrast, an artfully written novel or play takes time to enter into and appreciate. Like a good wine, it must “breathe.”
Just as there are great books, which are known to be great by the common consensus of scholars and thoughtful people across the ages, and just as there are great paintings and great sculptures, so too there are great works of music, known and felt to be such by educated musicians and music lovers—works notable for their depth of feeling, nobility of sentiment, exquisite artistry. Ignorance of these is as bad, for someone who seeks to be educated in Western (and Catholic) culture, as ignorance of Dante and Shakespeare in literature, Plato and Aristotle in philosophy, Augustine and Aquinas in theology.
One often hears a false claim: today’s popular music is “more emotional,” some say, while traditional music is “less emotional.” In reality, the emotions evoked in today’s popular music are more crude and monotonous. The emotions elicited by the music of Bach or Mozart, being more intellectual, are actually more profound and pure—therefore, more variegated, subtle, and rich. There is no expression of joy or sorrow as profound as what you find in Bach’s cantatas, Mozart’s piano concertos, Beethoven’s string quartets. Intellectual pleasures are the highest pleasures but the awareness of them requires a certain limiting and purifying of the passions as such. Nevertheless, the final result of this is the ability to experience passions that are more subtle, more all-encompassing, more fully what passions are supposed to be.
Although one cannot train the ear in a day, a week, a month, or even a year, a beginning must nevertheless be made in developing the skill of attentive listening to beautiful sound that is inherently worth listening to. That is what we attempt to do, and it is certainly my hope and prayer that our students will become, not only witnesses to what is true and lovers of what is good, but also ambassadors for the beautiful, captivated by the reflection of the face of Eternal Beauty.
Dr. Peter Kwasniewski is Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Wyoming Catholic College, as well as Instructor in Music History and Theory.
Subscribe