I once attended a liturgy seminar at Yale University where the panel of very distinguished speakers, one Episcopalian, one Presbyterian, and one Roman Catholic, turned to the topic of beauty and why it is essential in our liturgies. The discussion went on and on about beauty, but I wasn’t following where they were going. Finally, I put up my hand and asked the million-dollar question, “What IS beauty?” Silence. A sunset, a sunrise, a soaring bird, John Coltrane keeling at the grave of his friend… The responses offered around the lecture hall could not have been more varied. I guess beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
Recently, I read some musings written by a colleague, Mark Stahura, on the topic of beauty. He related the story of a comment made following a Broadway gala evening celebrating Stephen Sondheim’s 90th birthday. The person commenting found the event to be “Two hours of no-melody singing.” Granted, Sondheim’s music has long been labeled as non-hummable and too dense for mass appeal. But really? This is the man who wrote ‘Send in the clowns!” Beauty is also in the ear of the beholder.
Stahura expanded his thoughts:
“When we meet our life partner, many of us say that they brought out things in ourselves that we didn’t even realize were there. Things often start with a superficial attraction but beyond that comes discovery and wonderment and challenge. The mystery of this endless adventure takes our breath away. This is what separates true love from infatuation. With luck and hard work, we continue to find new and fascinating angles, and we grow in ourselves as well."
“This is Beauty. By contrast, Pretty is about the surface, the immediate impression. Commercials are pretty. Most popular culture is pretty, in the sense that its fascination is fleeting. I think the [Sondheim] commenter was looking for pretty music. Beauty can be quite entrancing at first impression, too, but it isn’t just that. Instead, Beauty invites us beyond the surface, into relationship with it rather than merely being an object. It becomes something more interesting and continues to become more interesting the deeper we go. Beauty doesn’t take the obvious path but surprises us with new journeys that make us think and feel differently.”
England’s Poet Laureate, Robert Bridges, put it this way:
I love all beauteous things,
I seek and adore them;
God hath no better praise,
And man in his hasty days
Is honoured for them.
I too will something make
And joy in the making;
Although tomorrow it seem
Like the empty words of a dream
Remembered on waking.
Music making is ephemeral. It is an emotional catalyst that stimulates feelings from deep within the soul and animates the emotions. At The Church of St. Michael & St. George, the musicians continue to strive for excellence in all we do. These days, it is through our weekly preparation of a recorded hymn and anthem for the online services of Morning Prayer. When our individual, constituent recorded parts are combined to form the whole, we discover things that we did not know were there and we are moved. Beauty.
I invite you into this beauty! Each Sunday the online Morning Prayer service features beautiful music provided by our choir, unseen but very much at work. Please join us and discover something new in yourself!
Rob Lehman
Organist and Choirmaster
