“Hear his faith within" - A look at choral music and religion

By James Chater 

This weekend, Southern Sinfonia is extremely excited to be performing Mendelssohn’s oratorio ‘Elijah’ with the Pangbourne Choral Society. Completed in 1849, it is a large and powerful work, and so popular that it has remained in the standard choral repertoire ever since its first performance (at the then Birmingham Festival). Like many religious works, or any work with a text for that matter, the strength of it lies not solely in the music itself, but more so in its ability to elucidate the text. The extent of Mendelssohn’s religious beliefs is contentious, but it is likely that he was a practising Christian, albeit aware of his Jewish ancestry. Is it possible that Mendelssohn’s religious convictions are present in this work? Is the work better off for the fact that Mendelssohn was conscious of the potency of the text? Or, in other words, does a composer require strong religious beliefs in order for the work to be effective?

Before answering this, it is worth bearing in mind a little history. Prior to circa 1650, a large portion of music was written exclusively for the voice, and was largely sacred vocal music. Take a handful of the major Renaissance composers: Josquin, Byrd, Tallis, Palestrina, Lassus. All of them are renowned for their sacred vocal music, and it is fairly certain that they were all religious men too. Does it correlate then, that all their religious music is convincing, owing simply to their belief? This seems unlikely.

And yet, when I list some of the most powerful works I can think of (despite not being a chorister in any way, shape or form) I am inexorably drawn to choral works. The haunting beauty of Lauridsen’s ‘O Magnum Mysterium’, the majesty of Mozart’s Requiem, or the mellifluous Requiem by Fauré. Fauré is perhaps the key to this question: his Requiem is arguably his most popular work, despite evidence suggesting he was not enamoured with the Christian faith. Fauré “was regularly seen stealing out during the sermon for a cigarette” and was fired from his post as organist at a Church in Rennes, Brittany when “he turned up to play at Mass one Sunday after arriving still in his evening clothes.” Albeit not conclusive, it is perhaps fair to say that Fauré was not as pious as someone such as Bach. But still, his Requiem never fails to move me and many others to this day; the final movement, ‘In Paradisum’ was even part of Baroness Thatcher’s funeral last year. Perhaps this is a testament to religious texts themselves; an indication that they are so ripe for musical interpretation, that a composer only needs to be relatively skilful to create a successful musical work.

I have mentioned Bach, one of the most prolific composers of all time. His sacred output is enormous with, over 200 cantatas, motets, the St John Passion, the St Matthew Passion and the Mass in B minor all to his name. This huge amount is due in part to his employment at St Thomas Church in Leipzig, where he was ‘Kappellmeister’; a position which, at times, demanded him to write a cantata per week. It is often questioned how Bach maintained such a high level of productivity throughout his time in Leipzig, and many answers centre around Bach’s faith. Bach was a devout Christian, and it is his faith that is said to have given Bach the tenacity to create this extraordinary body of works. Furthermore, it is often said of Bach’s music, that you can “hear his faith within it”; this may sound bizarre on paper, but if you do listen to some of Bach’s sacred works, you become oddly convinced by this. There is an indescribable sense of otherness about the works that is quite amazing to experience.

Of course, one thing I have ignored throughout this short piece is this question; by whose standards is it convincing? Surely everyone has varying religious beliefs and musical tastes? And you’d be right - an endless discourse could ensue as to why or when or how we are affected by sacred works, but ultimately it comes down to the individual. This however, I think is not a ‘cop-out’ answer; it is just testament to the fact that atheists can be moved by, and even write, music that would bring the most devout Christian to tears.

To find out more about tomorrow's concert, click here. 

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