Every spring semester here at Herbert W. Armstrong College, I teach a Music Appreciation course. It’s a two-hour a week course which is required of every two-year graduate at ac. They face it during their last semester before receiving the two-year diploma that ac offers.
Why require Music Appreciation? It’s worth considering, especially for young people interested in attending college here.
Our namesake, Herbert W. Armstrong, required this of all his students at Ambassador College. Though that’s partly why we require it here, we also see great value and benefit in it. What is that benefit? Why would he, and we, require it of those receiving this education?
Recapturing True Culture
Mr. Armstrong said modern education perpetuated “false values, the teaching of distorted history, warped psychology, perverted arts and sciences, worthless knowledge” (The Wonderful World Tomorrow—What It Will Be Like; emphasis added throughout). His Ambassador College, as well as Armstrong College today, was designed to change that.
In stating the purpose of Ambassador, just three years into its existence, Mr. Armstrong said the school’s “well-rounded education” was “development of personality, ability to express one’s self, instilling character, training in true culture” (letter, June 29, 1950).
In the second volume of his autobiography, he emphasized that one of the aspects of the school’s education was “true culture.” When referring to the college, he commonly used phrases like “cultural development,” “cultural advantages” and “cultural surroundings.”
Culture, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary refers to “enlightenment and excellence of taste acquired by intellectual and aesthetic training.”
Yes, culture requires training.
Mr. Armstrong agreed with this. In his February 1981 Good News Personal, he asked, “Is it wrong to be a cultured individual?” He pointed out that, though some cultured people have a serious vanity problem, those who refuse to become cultured also do so because of vanity. “When people brag about being … uncultured, that is merely vanity. It is usually to excuse shiftlessness, neglect, lack of effort.”
It takes effort to be cultured. That means education. Appreciation of the finer things is utterly impossible without education. Some of these things can be enjoyed with little effort, but there is a difference between enjoyment and appreciation. You can appreciate the value of something (vegetables, correction, etc.) and not necessarily enjoy it as it happens.
Appreciation, however, can lead to enjoyment. In the realm of music, often it does.
Why should music appreciation take such training—such effort? It is because we live in the midst of a cultural crisis, and true values need recapturing.
A Modern Problem
In The Wonderful World Tomorrow, Mr. Armstrong considered what a universal language would mean, if it happened in our world today—a world cut off from God: “Evils would multiply. Universally there would be a new age in art and perverted literature (pornography), godless education, Satan-inspired music—such as the U.S. and Britain are spawning over the world now—of quarreling and hostility and war between nations.
In that hypothetical situation, if the world had one language in its current state, what would happen in music is already happening: The United States and Britain are spawning Satan-inspired music worldwide. They are spawning a cultural crisis the world over!
The crisis is also more relevant to our day than any other. Speaking of Lucifer’s fall, Mr. Armstrong wrote, “When, in pride and greed, his whole character changed, and he fell from his estate of perfection to become Satan, he became corrupted and perverted in all his ways (Ezekiel 28:13, 17). Satan is the author of perverted, discordant, degenerated modern music—of a wail, a dirge, a moan, a squawk or a rhythmic erotic fast beat.” This is a modern problem. Satan’s hold on music did not climax until the “modern” age.
This modern phenomenon was caused in large part by the “new morality”—where all society’s prudish views of sex were completely reversed in the early-to-mid-20th century. With it came the youth influence over what became “popular” music. “Why did 10-, 12- and up to 15-year-old little girls go virtually insane, and actually invite demon-possession, over the British Beatles? That could have never have happened 50 years before ….”
Again, this is relatively new to the past several decades.
Right Use of the Senses
Music Appreciation helps restore and recapture the value of true culture for its students. It does this by requiring students to develop one of the five physical senses that God created for them to use lawfully to its fullest enrichment.
In The Missing Dimension in Sex, Mr. Armstrong wrote: “God equipped humans with the sense of hearing. How much inspiring, uplifting, pleasurable enjoyment we receive from beautiful music! But of course, this sense, too, may be used for good, or for evil.”
All senses have a right and pleasurable use. As far as gaining pleasure from hearing, we are talking mainly about music.
Now consider the ramifications our senses have on our moral and character development. The senses of taste and smell have implications beyond the tongue and nostrils. How they are used impact the physical health of the body itself. The senses of sight and touch also impact the mind and intellect. Likewise, hearing impacts the mind and intellect, and also the emotions. Through this sense and through music—which expresses deep emotional content—our emotions can be affected or manipulated. Since Satan broadcasts through moods and emotions, guarding this sense—and the music it consumes—should be a high priority in our lives.
Music Appreciation teaches “true values” for the enjoyment of this one vital sense.
And our senses must be exercised: “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). The Greek word inspired here means vigorous athletic training. So to tell if something is good or evil for the senses requires the senses to undergo a lot of training. And, as this verse points out, they are exercised so they can discern both good and evil. The Greek word for discern means judicial estimation. It’s like you are a judge being presented with all the evidence, facts, angles, considerations, and you make a decision based on your training and everything before you whether what is going into your senses is good or evil.
As the November 1965 Plain Truth commented about this verse: “God wants us to exercise our five physical senses. He wants us to learn what the true values for the enjoyment of the senses are. One of these senses is hearing. And one of the ways we need to exercise our hearing sense is in the appreciation of quality music.”
Can Any Music of This World Be Good?
But with Satan being the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4)—the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2)—could any music composed by men and women cut off from God be worthwhile?
Human beings cut off from God have been able to harness the laws of art and music, the science of sound, to create songs that are beautiful and edifying, paintings that are inspiring, and to create architecture that is impressive and stable. As the August 1982 Plain Truth said, “To say one should reject all art produced by unconverted minds—minds of people cut off from the knowledge of God—would mean that most art on Earth would have to be rejected, since humanity as a whole has been cut off from God. This is certainly not the criterion for making a judgment. Even the Apostle Paul was familiar with and quoted from the poetic artistry of the pagan Greek writers (Acts 17:28). … We should appreciate that which is an expression of the spirit in man, that which reflects his incredible human potential and God-like creative talents.”
Shouldn’t Good Music Be Immediately Enjoyable?
What kind of music should we learn to appreciate? And why do we have to learn to appreciate it? Shouldn’t music, if it is good and right, have immediate appeal? Doesn’t having to learn about it defeat the whole purpose of music?
If you were to judge the health factors of a food item based purely on whether it tasted good, you would probably think ice cream is the most nutritious thing ever, and you wouldn’t be that healthy or fit. The same applies to the musical diet. We can’t base our judicial estimation purely on whether it sounds good or if we immediately like it.
“Some say art is good if it gives pleasure. On this basis pornography is art since it gives temporary pleasure to a certain small segment of society …” (ibid).
Many things in this world have immediate appeal. “[I]nferior music often has an immediate appeal. But this appeal is usually based on something trite. It soon wears off. This is why 300 new rock ‘n’ roll records are produced each week. … On the other hand, it requires time and effort to develop an appreciation of good classical music, for example. This is because it is more challenging—there is more to listen to. Quality music also has a lasting appeal. Once you have learned to enjoy it, you don’t tire of it easily. The more you hear it, the more you enjoy it” (Plain Truth, November 1965).
Effort and time are required to appreciate an art form that is known for its length. Aside from a few short pieces, classical music is generally long and daunting for those accustomed to our modern, fast-paced, abbreviation-happy society. At one time, this kind of music may have had more immediate appeal. But with the collapse of true culture in our world, we need to work hard to restore this kind of appreciation and culture into our lives.
“High quality is generally classical music’s strong point. It has been composed by the best musicians of each age, and has stood the test of time. It is usually well performed and heard in pleasing surroundings” (ibid).
When you listen to music that has survived for hundreds of years, keep in mind that you are not judging this music; rather the music is judging you.
Music appreciation should therefore be measured against a standard of quality and excellence, as is portrayed in God’s character—not on whether it gives momentary pleasure or has immediate appeal. When you do that, a truly edifying and profoundly cultural experience awaits!
‘Quality’ Music
Please understand that “quality” music doesn’t refer to “classical” music only. Though music is generally categorized into three traditions (fine art, popular and folk), these categories can cause some to assume that one tradition is more “quality” than another.
There is quality music in all three of these traditions. The Bible discusses all three in a positive sense: full-time, highly trained temple musicians performed what we might call “fine art” music (1 Chronicles 15; 25); King David as a shepherd also wrote music we might consider “folk” music; and Christ referred to music intended to be danced to at social occasions—“popular” music).
In Music Appreciation at ac, we could spend many a semester on each tradition and discuss how to appreciate it. Instead, we focus on how to appreciate the highest quality music that exists in the “fine art” or “classical” tradition. Why? Because this music takes the most education and effort to appreciate and enjoy. It takes more time than teaching an appreciation of popular and folk music. If you can learn to understand, appreciate—and eventually enjoy—fine art music, then you can certainly take that education into the other realms of music and appreciate the quality music that exists in them.
Removing the Prejudices
Finally, consider what might be holding you back from appreciating classical music. I challenge our Music Appreciation students to do just that. In most cases, the prejudices have to do with two things: 1) fear of what appreciation and even enjoyment of fine art music will do to their current tastes and 2) not knowing what to expect when listening.
First, consider your favorite flavor of ice cream. If a new flavor comes along, do you never try it simply because you’re afraid your favorite won’t be your favorite any more? Of course not. If you like mint-chocolate chip ice cream, trying a new flavor doesn’t mean you have to reject mint-chocolate chip as a tasty option.
Second, think of the different styles of music as different sports. If you liked baseball and disliked basketball because it lacked all the elements you liked about baseball, then that wouldn’t be fair to basketball, would it? Sure basketball doesn’t have gloves, bats, bases, etc., but it has its own set of objectives, strategies and team sizes that can be equally exciting. Even if you like one sport over another, once you learn all the aspects of a game, you should be able at least to appreciate it.
This is how we approach Music Appreciation. If you’re judging classical music by the rules of modern pop, country or jazz, then classical music will fail miserably—just as basketball fails as a sport if judged by the rules of baseball.
So the students’ job in Music Appreciation is to learn the rules of the game—what are the objectives of this style of music, what are the strategies implemented to achieve those objectives, who are the players and how have they worked within or improved upon those elements? Whether it’s the Super Bowl or a Brahms symphony, to appreciate the event truly, a solid understanding of all these factors makes the experience that much more rewarding.
In the case of fine art music, again, it takes time and effort—learning the handful of composers, the foreign terms, the time periods in history. And that’s why it’s a class at ac. Our students are required to put forth that effort before they can have a two-year diploma with their name on it. And for those willing to apply themselves, what a fascinating study awaits!