Singing to the King of Kings

An English author came to America to study the musical offerings of the most promi­nent churches, in an effort to determine the trend of music in its relationship to the church service. After personal visits to many of the churches of our land, he said: "The American churchgoing public to a large extent puts music in too prominent a place; instead of making music 'the handmaid of religion,' it makes ' religion an excuse for music."

We should not find it difficult to discover that balance which will make a richer and more spiritually impressive service in the min­istry of music. The instant the preacher feels the importance of himself in his min­istry, that moment the effectiveness of his service is curtailed. He has cluttered the mes­sage with himself. The musician must learn the same lesson—self in the'background ! He must be possessed with the message of the song, and remember that he is singing to the King of kings. He should quietly and un­obtrusively take his place as though no eye could see him, and then pour out the message of the song from an honest heart.

We are told, "The success of Methodism must be largely attributed to the adoption of a medium through which it was able to keep alive in the popular mind the evangelical mes­sage of the preacher." A statement from Cardinal Cajetan concerning Luther's success is noteworthy : "By his hymns he has con­quered us." How mighty a force hymns were considered to be back in those days of strain and stress! But today hymns have been thinned out and diluted, until sweetness has robbed them of their dignity and power. Beauty lies in strength as much as in grace­fulness. The vigor and stability of the best church hymn are missing in the popular evan­gelistic type of song. Some of these songs have "plucked eyebrows and painted faces." They sound out of place in a church service. There may be a place for such songs, but it is surely not in the dignified worship of a church service. As someone has cleverly said, "By their rhythms ye shall know them."

It is well said that "feelings of devotion and aspiration find natural expression in song. In worship, music exercises its most catholic appeal. Here it may foster or destroy most easily the very spirit which it sets itself to serve." I have heard a camp gathering sing­ing a so-called hymn while the ministers came to the rostrum, which had more dance sugges­tion in it than the spirit of prayer, in which attitude the workers all knelt at the altar. Music is useless if it "adds no fuel to the fire of worship; it is worse than useless if it degrades worship to the level of mere emo­tionalism."

So far as I know, there is not such great need of sounding a reform in choir music as in other fields, except to continually raise the standard; but there is great need of very definite work along this line. Apart from our institutions of learning (and even in some of these the choir renditions are far below par), there are few places where the choir music makes a real contribution to the service of worship. When the minister can say, as he rises to preach—"I could as well pronounce the benediction and let you go home, for you have already had a sermon in this beautiful choir offering, which is sufficient in itself"—when this can truthfully be said, then the choir offering has reached its goal of expres­sion and service. Anything short of this needs improvement.

Naturally the field looks to our schools for standards which they can copy in their home churches. Our choir numbers should first of all be orthodox in content. The texts of the songs should be carefully scrutinized, lest the choir sing a message contrary to our belief. Usually such unorthodox spots can be changed with little trouble. The type of choir music is not so much of a problem, for most sacred music is in harmony with the spirit of worship. There may be a tendency in some instances in which musicians are numerous, to use the music more for artistic display than for a Spirit-filled contribution to a religious service. But the church is not to be made a concert hall. The musical performance should be lost in the deep spiritual emotions which it arouses, rather than have the designed sacredness lost in the artistic performance. Those who attend our schools carry home the standards of music which are set up by the school. Thus the school becomes a torch to the surrounding territory. It would be of real benefit to our cause if we could have some plan whereby all the choir directors in local churches could be offered a course in conducting church music.

The same principles that govern the choir music and its rendition should apply to solos as well. Much sacred music fits the concert hall better than church worship, in calling for con­siderable technical background and artistic display. The church is not the place for "sounds that tickle the ear." Secular asso­ciations should not be called forth, either by the music or by the dress of the singer. Re­ligious fervor is apt to grow cooler as me­chanical skill predominates. This is as true instrumentally as it is vocally. It is said that "assenting ears of the artistically minded churchgoers, who cannot lose art in worship, encourage this sort of thing." The human element should not be elevated. Music best expresses the Infinite when it is "freed from the features of the finite." There it suggests the spiritual because it does not present the tangible; the unseen, because it does not pre­sent the visible. Demonstration should be at a minimum, to coincide best with ideal wor­ship.

There is a type of sacred song which does not speak of the deepest devotion. This highly artistic song fits the concert hall better than it does the church. Good judgment must be exercised in determining where this line of demarcation is—which song is appropriate and which is not appropriate. Take the oratorio, "The Messiah," by Handel, for instance; it has many florid passages which partake of operatic display. It would be difficult to find much difference between some of the great oratorios and some operatic passages, were they to be judged solely by the music. When songs of this type are used, they speak of artistic accomplishment in their beauty. When their art has been completely submerged in the spirit of worship and comes forth surcharged with the sacred, it has attained.

I believe we should make a definite effort, through every available medium, to counsel and educate those who have the musical serv­ice of our churches in their hands. It is one thing to recognize a condition and to diagnose it; but our work has only begun if we stop there. We should seek an efficient remedy and take steps to apply it. We have a responsi­bility to our music service which reaches be­yond our studio walls or the campuses of our institutions, and we should not rest or consider our duty discharged until something more is done than has been accomplished thus far.