If you are a classical musician, you have no doubt encountered a vast numbers of religious works. Religion and music are as intertwined as peanut butter and jelly, and just like in a pb&j, some people are deathly allergic to one of the parts.
From a historical standpoint, it makes sense for religion to be a major part of classical musician's repertoire; it used to be a major part of everything. The only difference is that the theocracies of Medieval Europe did not live on, while the religious music did. One cannot perform choral music without singing at least part, if not all, of the Latin Mass. Every professional singer I know can recite most of the Catholic Mass, and Requiem, by memory.
Now, for someone who is Catholic, that’s not a problem. Problem is, not everyone is Catholic, Christian, or even religious in the least bit. The 21st century has brought some major changes into the way Freedom of Religion plays out. Being an atheist is no longer the dirty word it was in the 1950’s, and that’s great. However, it does pose something of a problem in the realm of music. A classical musician cannot hope to become successful without encountering a lot of religious music and texts, so here is a short guide on getting through it for all the atheists or otherwise non-Christians out there.
The first step is to try to connect with a piece. If you’re religious, this part is easier. If you’re not religious, it might take some doing. Connecting with a piece is the most important part of performing it, and musicians are performers after all. If you’re singing a joyous text like a Sanctus, sing it with joy! Think about some time in your life where you were happy and focus on that. If you aren’t singing in a language you’re fluent in, you can even pretend you’re singing an entirely different set of words that is unrelated to religion. Connecting to a piece is what allows a performer to really move an audience. How can you expect the audience to cry when you don’t even feel what you’re singing?
Connecting to a piece extends to all works, religious or not. It can get difficult for young people especially, as they don’t have the same experiences to draw on, but it is important to do nonetheless. I recently performed a piece called “Skye Boat Song,” which refers to when Scottish rebels were banished to the Isle of Skye after defeat by the British. This song was incredibly easy to perform poorly, as it didn’t have much in the way of melodic or harmonic text painting. This made it even more important to make that connection. Once the guys had learned the history and the true feeling of the piece, they were able to relate their own lives to it and gave a performance that was moving and enlightening.
The issue that many non-religious people have when singing Christian works is that they don’t look past the text to the underlying meaning. Take the Magnificat– the song of Mary. On the surface, this piece is just about some chick who is praising God and spouting classic religious idioms about Abraham and the Covenant. The beauty of the piece lies in the story behind the praise. This phenomenon was best explained to me by a choir director I had during my Sophomore year, who explained it, “This is about a girl who was around 14, no older than any of you, who just realized she got knocked up, but knows she didn’t do anything to get pregnant. Imagine how you would feel, how you would worry about what people would think about you or whether or not they would stone you to death.” This powerful speech was able to move half the choir to tears and resulted in one of the most heartfelt and powerful performances of a text that is grossly overperformed.
Understanding the context in which a text is written is key to determining how it should be performed. The important thing to remember about singing is that a singer is a performer, just like an actor. You should always be performing, regardless of whether you agree with the message or not, you have to portray what the piece is saying. Just remember your duty as a performer, and everything else will fall neatly into place.
