FMS-Blog : The Wildly Whimsical, Mostly Musical WebLog
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Christmas Carols
It's been another busy time for me of late and so getting around to doing regular blogs has been a bit more tricky than usual. Not so much because of a busy working schedule but because of the chaos that inevitably ensues around Christmas time. Only last night I was at a party at my cousin's house and got chatting to a lady there who is a devout catholic. When the issue of the Christmas mass came up she started to ask me about my religious convictions, or rather my lack of religious conviction.
One of the things I didn't bring up in that conversation (and now wish I had) is that my beliefs on this matter stretch as far as this: Christmas carols and other songs / foods / traditions associated with the festival are not just for Christians. A secular humanist, I am without faith in a God and do not subscribe to any religious group, but I love going to carol concerts, either as a member of the audience or as one of the performers, and I think that the sound of the Salvation Army Brass Band in the town centres lights up the atmosphere as much as the electric illuminations manage to. Indeed, when I sang with the Salt Grammar School Choir (some years ago now!!!), I would most enjoy this time of year because the repertoire we performed was just wonderful - as well as the traditional 'hymn-type' carols, such as Hark the Herald Angels Sing and When Shepherds Watched Their Flocks, we sang loads of the more recently composed works by the likes of John Rutter, such as the Nativity Carol and the stunningly beautiful Candlelight Carol.
You could argue that I'm a hypocrite and/or somehow missing the point - if I don't have a belief in Christ then presumably these pieces of music (or, at least, their lyrics) are meaningless to me and not worth singing. But, on the contrary, many of these songs mean a great deal to me. Not because I believe that Jesus was born at this time of year 2000 years ago but for other more personal... more humanistic, relevant reasons. I don't personally think that the story of the birth of Christ is a true one, but it is a great story and it offers the contemporary generation some thoughts that are still crucial: the importance of being respectful and kind to your fellow man now and always.
So, my thought on midnight mass or the local carol service is this: you don't need to have a strong religious conviction to get something great out of participating in religious songs and ceremonies. Let's face it, if classical choirs stopped performing sacred works today then they'd have to find a replacement for over half of the current repertoire! There are many beautiful works there to be enjoyed and you can take pleasure from them based on their own merits. They have, after all, come about as a result of someone's personal inspiration, whatever that might be, and as you listen to them they become part of your world - you own that experience and can take from it as much or as little of the original religious meaning as you wish.
Personally, my favourite song for this time of year is by John Lennon and Yoko Ono: Happy Xmas, War is Over. Now that's a thought that is definitely relevant to our modern times.
Merry Christmas everone!
One of the things I didn't bring up in that conversation (and now wish I had) is that my beliefs on this matter stretch as far as this: Christmas carols and other songs / foods / traditions associated with the festival are not just for Christians. A secular humanist, I am without faith in a God and do not subscribe to any religious group, but I love going to carol concerts, either as a member of the audience or as one of the performers, and I think that the sound of the Salvation Army Brass Band in the town centres lights up the atmosphere as much as the electric illuminations manage to. Indeed, when I sang with the Salt Grammar School Choir (some years ago now!!!), I would most enjoy this time of year because the repertoire we performed was just wonderful - as well as the traditional 'hymn-type' carols, such as Hark the Herald Angels Sing and When Shepherds Watched Their Flocks, we sang loads of the more recently composed works by the likes of John Rutter, such as the Nativity Carol and the stunningly beautiful Candlelight Carol.
You could argue that I'm a hypocrite and/or somehow missing the point - if I don't have a belief in Christ then presumably these pieces of music (or, at least, their lyrics) are meaningless to me and not worth singing. But, on the contrary, many of these songs mean a great deal to me. Not because I believe that Jesus was born at this time of year 2000 years ago but for other more personal... more humanistic, relevant reasons. I don't personally think that the story of the birth of Christ is a true one, but it is a great story and it offers the contemporary generation some thoughts that are still crucial: the importance of being respectful and kind to your fellow man now and always.
So, my thought on midnight mass or the local carol service is this: you don't need to have a strong religious conviction to get something great out of participating in religious songs and ceremonies. Let's face it, if classical choirs stopped performing sacred works today then they'd have to find a replacement for over half of the current repertoire! There are many beautiful works there to be enjoyed and you can take pleasure from them based on their own merits. They have, after all, come about as a result of someone's personal inspiration, whatever that might be, and as you listen to them they become part of your world - you own that experience and can take from it as much or as little of the original religious meaning as you wish.
Personally, my favourite song for this time of year is by John Lennon and Yoko Ono: Happy Xmas, War is Over. Now that's a thought that is definitely relevant to our modern times.
Merry Christmas everone!
