Theology in Music

A blog considering theology as illustrated by Western Art Music

  • As we continue in Easter Season I turn this week to a choral work by a contemporary composer: Easter Light for choir and organ by Cecilia McDowall. Capturing the mystery of that early morning in a garden rather than the triumph of Christus victor more often presented in Easter works, the composer’s usual rich (though… Read more

  • One of the questions I sometimes challenge myself with is, if music is itself making a theological contribution, and not only the texts which might be set to music, what theological difference is there to singing the same text to a different tune? This is a parallel version of a set of questions often asked… Read more

  • Having started to think about appropriate works with which to ponder through the theology of the resurrection in Easter week the plan has been altered by news of the death of Pope Francis. No doubt any pontiff would appreciate a meditation on resurrection as an epitaph, and Francis’s musical taste was both admirable and sufficiently… Read more

  • As we journey through Holy Week, the blog is taking a slightly different format with short reflections on Marcel Dupré’s Le chemin de la croix, a musical version of the Stations of the Cross. Instead of one reflection released on Wednesday, these episodes are to appear through the week from Palm Sunday until Good Friday.… Read more

  • As we journey through Holy Week, the blog is taking a slightly different format with short reflections on Marcel Dupré’s Le chemin de la croix, a musical version of the Stations of the Cross. Instead of one reflection released on Wednesday, these episodes are to appear through the week from Palm Sunday until Good Friday.… Read more

  • As we journey through Holy Week, the blog is taking a slightly different format with short reflections on Marcel Dupré’s Le chemin de la croix, a musical version of the Stations of the Cross. Instead of one reflection released on Wednesday, these episodes are to appear through the week from Palm Sunday until Good Friday.… Read more

  • As we journey through Holy Week, the blog is taking a slightly different format with short reflections on Marcel Dupré’s Le chemin de la croix, a musical version of the Stations of the Cross. Instead of one reflection released on Wednesday, these episodes are to appear through the week from Palm Sunday until Good Friday.… Read more

  • As we journey through Holy Week, the blog is taking a slightly different format with short reflections on Marcel Dupré’s Le chemin de la croix, a musical version of the Stations of the Cross. Instead of one reflection released on Wednesday, these episodes are to appear through the week from Palm Sunday until Good Friday.… Read more

  • As we journey through Holy Week, the blog is taking a slightly different format with short reflections on Marcel Dupré’s Le chemin de la croix, a musical version of the Stations of the Cross. Instead of one reflection released on Wednesday, these episodes are to appear through the week from Palm Sunday until Good Friday.… Read more

  • As we journey through Holy Week, the blog is taking a slightly different format with short reflections on Marcel Dupré’s Le chemin de la croix, a musical version of the Stations of the Cross. Instead of one reflection released on Wednesday, these episodes are to appear through the week from Palm Sunday until Good Friday.… Read more