Christian Music

Trust me.

You're scraping the bottom of the barrel.

I am directing this page toward those who feel that the music they skate to can either endanger or lift up their souls in the faith they believe in. These are people for whom their spiritual input is a matter of life and death.

Musicians: If anyone reading this page feels the same way about their music that these kids do about their performance standards, then get recording. There is a serious market for you. These kids have needed recordings for a long damn time. (Sorry. I forget my audience.)

The only wholly reliable musicians I can think of are Johann Sebastian Bach (and I specify very carefully), Mozart, and Handel.

That's Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and George Frederich Handel. Be very, very careful.

My advice to you is find out which of these musicians' works you prefer most (and watch the recordings: original instruments had better have been completed before 1801, and I mean playable in a concert three hours later) and you had better know who is conducting. Modern conductors have almost distorted Bach's interpretation to the point of uselessness from this context. It's very, very difficult to "undo" Handel and almost impossible with Mozart, but Bach is so much fun to play with (and again, watch it -- make sure it is Johann Sebastian Bach, as there were literally a ton of other Bachs running around and some of their music has crept in under his name) that unless you are sure of the conductor's philosophy and where they are coming from, and possibly unless the recording has been done in a consecrated building (and there are still a few of those rolling around that are being recorded in -- they also give the best acoustics, by the way, and the best old consecrations were almost universally Catholic) you had best steer away from it.

From there....it is a very, very long road indeed to tracing what you feel most comfortable with. My advice has always been to absorb this music for a good 30 minutes or so and then pray like mad. You will, from what I have seen, be led to music within three days or so (generally) that is the direction you most need to go in. Most of these kids wind up rooting around in the period before 1901. Most modern music is almost useless to you guys. Be very, very careful about even gospel, as I have seen less than 20% of this population wind up with even the Mahalia Jackson-type stuff. They just don't feel comfortable with it, and Mahalia came from a tradition that really emphasized musical technique, when it came right down to it, over strength of faith. I think they felt they had to get the music out somehow. My advice has always been to root around in the Elvis Presley catalog -- the boy may have had a life, but what he meant, he meant. And in some cases there is the strangest attraction to 80s Britpop....other than that, you're on your own, except for one solid, solid album that has come to my attention over and over again. This is a very small tradition, and it is a doggoned shame that there is really only one solid album that I know of -- and I think I'd have found number two by now. It is Amy Grant's "Age To Age." It was originally released in 1983 and was rereleased in 1993. This is the original 10-track album, not some compilation (I checked CDNow -- does that tell you how serious the problem is?). I have personally tested this album and find it no problem to do stretching exercises with, choreographic loosening up and improv with, and even performance with. And every song on that album is of the same caliber.

Serious, huh?

This speaks to an entire culture. You have lost your faith and you have abandoned your young.

Who needs the four-letter words? These will suffice.

One album.

One album.

I believe my point is made.

Quit yer bragging and get back in the recording studio.

Now.


A page of safe graphics and at least one graphic set assembled for those who follow this tradition is given here, along with suggested HTML colors. I'm getting there...it'll just take time....

This particular "Moyra's Web Jewels" logo is linked straight into the "Absinthe Fauvism" graphics set. It is the only one of Moyra's works that I feel is appropriate at this time to link this page to. It does not contain a lot of obvious symbolism appropriate for this faith, but it fits in as closely as I know how to gauge it -- and there is no other that does. Moyra is not a bad person at all; she puts her spirit into every graphic and her stuff is all I feel comfortable using on my site. I consider it a tremendous gift that she, with her definite mystical bent, has produced even this one set. I will say this: Pay special attention to all ethical warnings and requests, as Moyra double-emphasizes everything on the main site header -- the one I'm cutting you in past. But it is all linked to from the page -- make sure you read the page full of requests and standards before you link, so that you are sure what you are doing. Moyra's standards are a prerequisite for using this stuff properly, and I have linked you straight into one of her graphics set pages and taken you past at least half of her "gatekeep" stuff on that matter. Just to make sure everybody's covered...I will also look out for other suitable sets for this tradition, as people who follow things this closely are generally very, very picky. And may need to find something fast. I do not recommend it for these people in particular, but the first other set I thought of was the "Metal & Amethyst Extravaganza" set in her Stoneweb section -- too Celtic and pagan for this gang, but powerful nonetheless, and I can see nothing wrong with the color work. My second thought was the "7 Subtly Colored Seamless Papers" backgrounds in her Textures & Abstracts section. Even the "Appassionata" set doesn't cover it -- the flower arrangement is a bit too showy for what these people need on a daily basis. Not Moyra's fault. She just doesn't work that way. And I assume you realize the same can be said for a lot of her other "but isn't that appropriate?" stuff. I believe, knowing Moyra's style somewhat from practically living on that site choosing graphic stuff, we're going to be looking at future acceptable graphic sets coming in her Textures & Abstracts section. They are generally linked into their home section from the moment Moyra puts them up as set of the week late Sunday or early Monday. Those are the clearest sets for this group that I can see. These kids need something that has been superlatively checked out. Done my best. "Absinthe Fauvism" is it so far that I can recommend for this population, but I will most definitely be on the lookout.