As to musical "ideology," I don't perceive that Schönberg, a champion of Bach and scholar and teacher of the classical forms, possessed the misguided zeal of, for example, the Minimalists like the ridiculous Philip Glass or John Adams. ("Nixon in China," indeed!)

(By serendipity, my wife and I were invited last week to a New Year's Eve party at a wealthy home and were treated there to a talented trio of musicians. When I complemented them on their play, saying, "You guys really swing," the leader asked "What would you like to hear?" to which I replied, "Anything by David Raskin." He ventured, "Like 'Laura'?" to which I responded, "How about 'The Bad and the Beautiful'?" [The theme of the classic 1952 flick of the same name, which every cultural maven should view.] Well, my evening was fulfilled when he said, "I know it but nobody ever asks me for it." [He then played it better than I could have hoped for.] It so happens that the great Hollywood composer Raskin studied with Schönberg and who knows how less our satisfaction of that important musical genre would have been without those insights? To grasp what I'm saying, think of the 50s and try to rid your mind of Burt Bacharach and John Williams.)

Though not having sufficient grounding in philosophy to recognize Hegelianism in all its manifestations, I seriously wonder whether Schönberg, though growing up in that milieu, could have cared less. My point is that we who care about true worship, including we confessional Lutherans (myself a former LCMS elder, now WELS) in looking for what is good and righteous, should avoid being distracted by academic prejudices from discovering the true source of defective forms. "Atonality" has practically nothing to do with current musical deficiencies; after all, even rappers use tonic chords, not to mention Bill Gaither.

I would look to Madison Avenue as a source of cultural decay before I would bother with attacking Arnold Schönberg, who had more knowledge of our Western, classical tradition in his little finger than all the multitude of "praise "practitioners, not to mention many current professors of liturgy.

I cannot ever advocate an appreciation of the father of atonality. That his music moves us on some level, with our postmodern ears and hearts, says more about us than about his "genius." A.S.'s twelve tonery is a musical ideology that smacks of Hegelianism and defies the natural law. The harmony and order of nature that is the heritage of Western music and its development by the Church from pagan sources is first ignored and then subverted by this technique, which was far too self-aware as the self-proclaimed apotheosis of composition.

Torture! Now I need to listen to the Well-Tempered Clavier and, following the advice of my favorite composer, "smoke my pipe and worship God" (wink).

"Tortured Night"? Granting that Schönberg’s Opus 4, Transfigured Night, is based on a silly melodramatic poem, if one is willing to discount an unfortunate motivation for a young man's talent then the piece must surely rank as one of the most beautiful of all musical works, if nothing else for the serenity of its extended finale. If anyone is worried about his children listening to it, then let him merely lock up the album notes and let them enjoy the inspiring sound.

Since surely there is more glory given to God in the four symphonies of the syphilitic Robert Schumann than in all the likely thousands of works among the "Praise" genre, why don't we limit our musical references to such as Amy Grant's and Sandy Patty's trivialities, as well as those of Marty Haugen and David Haas, whose works--unlike Schönberg’s--actually serve to displace true worship?

I share your love of Josquin's music. You might enjoy this piece, Enixa est puerpera, by "Anonymous" at this site: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=177830
It is only a 32 second sample but after listening to it I immediately ordered the package. I also enjoy your regular columns in Chronicles.

Especially since "pretty" can age, while "hot" tends to cool down--something my fellow indulgent nilly martini-shilling young men don't seem to understand.

No, not exactly. "Hot", in the usage employed by the sign above the display rack of CDs, is simply retail shorthand for "in heavy demand and prone to selling out". Wholesalers use the term "Hot" to spur their sales to retailers and retailers use the same term to spur sales to consumers.

When a young male uses the term in reference to a young female, he means "sexy". That is obviously not the usage involved in a record store display of a Christmas music CD.

I pray the Lord's gracious blessing on him and his family until we see His kingdom in full. Thus within.

From the windswept and warm confines of McKinney, Texas...

Merry Christmas