It was G. K. Chesterton who said: “When men choose not to believe in God, they do not thereafter believe in nothing, they then become capable of believing in anything.” And so now we have people who fetishize any number of things as replacements for religion--sometimes even the religion of other cultures! We have people that worship their own bodies, their appearance generally, their material acquisitions, the environment, food and wine, and a host of other things. Set alongside this, the idea of art as religion is really not so bad!
Imagine that you pursue art or music as a vocation. It provides a daily discipline in your life. You study it in either a practical or scholarly manner (or both). You use it to take you on aesthetic and spiritual journeys. You debate the finer points, including the moral implications. All this is really positive. You could, of course, pursue some of the other things I mentioned in similar ways and derive similar benefits, though many of the things we pursue we do in an unhealthy way. I suppose I would take a kind of Aquinian approach. Thomas Aquinas reconciled the philosophy of Aristotle with the theology of the Catholic Church. If you pursue art with a reasonable and intelligent approach, it need not become a fetish, but rather a benefit in life. Same with everything, really.
But art and music have very special potential benefits that most other activities do not. There is a long and rich history to explore with all sorts of aesthetic and social implications. There is the challenge of performance which rewards not only the artist, but the audience as well. There is the challenge of understanding music from the point of view of the listener and the analyst. Writing about music is another multifarious challenge.
As religions go, you could do a lot worse than choose art and music.
Woody Allen once said that Mozart was proof for the existence of God. I lean more to Bach myself. Here is the Magnificat in D major with Concentus Musicus Vienna and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt:
Talk about serendipity! Just after I posted this I ran into this supporting argument:
Artists by nature are giving people - even if their giving only takes place during the creative moment. This alone nudges them closer to the Almighty than a time-is-money person. Of course, exceptions abound - which makes life interesting. I've been an artist and a businessman and I would say that the business world treated me much more kindly, extending me much more equanimity than the artistic world ever did. Why? Not sure. Maybe because the stakes are higher in the artistic world; you are trying to astound the world and maybe even eternity while doing your best. In business, you just have to do your best. This is not to let business (the time-is-money people) of the hook. Business can indeed be heartless, ruthless. Writer John Cheever had a funny way to describe this difference; he said (my paraphrase), 'Artists have very big egos but I know an investment banker whose ego could crack a crystal vase across a room.'
ReplyDeleteBack to the subject. Art does approximate religion in that the artist is immersed in as much human creativity as he or she can handle. Wouldn't musicians love to have a history of music extending at least as far back as Homer? King David in the Bible was a great musician - where is his sheet music? Real artists gain a glimpse of eternity by having a sense of stepping into a long flowing stream of creativity. But I am some kind of believer; while I take great joy in sharing in creation, I know I am not in competition with God, I bow to Him.
Thanks, Dex. Funny, my experience was quite different. Most of the real nasty types I have met, sociopaths, were all in the business world. I have nearly always been treated well by fellow musicians. Of course the business people in the music world are a different story.
ReplyDeleteSibelius famously said when he wanted to talk about music and art he invited businessmen and doctors because musicians only talked about money. I think our host is rather an exception in his wide interests among musicians because the ones I know/knew were quite involved with their instrument, performance issues and the like, not to mention money, even though quite pleasant. Of course our host is now in the business world so there you go. Yes when the musicians are playing they are in another zone or plane often but that is a personal experience. Composers though are a different type than the typical musician and are harder to categorize.
ReplyDeleteWe probably shouldn't make these crude generalizations. Some of the finest people I have met have been in the business world. But I think I was particularly fortunate in my friends in the music world. Not always the case.
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