At the end of the experiment, the control group had cut its navigation time in half. The Mozart mice did even better, cutting their time by 8½ minutes. But the hard rock group did much worse — taking 30 minutes to complete the maze, bumping into walls, staggering aimlessly about.

It gets worse: This is the second time Merrell tried the experiment. The first time, “I had to cut my project short because all the hard rock mice killed each other. None of the classical mice did that at all.” This time he kept the mice separate.

The same experiment is now mentioned on various websites. You can read a summary, “About Mice and Music“; and there is a longer explanation of the experiments over at The Schiller Institute.

A critic might say, “True, but people are not mice.” And so it is. But neither are mice fans of Mozart. How do we explain the mice’s increased performance with the classical music? At the least, the experiment suggests that music may affect brain functions of animals. And if that is so, it probably affects our own as well.

At a broader level, it suggests to me (and to others) that the civilization associated with classical music, and the hedonism and sociopathic behavior associated with the more aggressive forms of pop, are not cultural coincidences. In music history, the correlation between music forms, music purposes, and culture are striking. (As the Richmond Times-Dispatch article says in closing, “Who ever heard of a classical pianist choking to death on his own vomit?”) At some level music seems to influence and/or reflect mental and emotional states, and behavior, each type of music relating to a special group of thoughts and feelings.

I posted a reply, stating my concern with the Christianity Today article. Another FIG subscriber, Stevan Mirkovich, and I had a short exchange of posts on FIG about this topic. Stevan cited research in a then-unpublished manuscript by Dr. Lilliane Doukam, entitled “In Tune With God: The Challenge of Music in Worship.” Apparently a chapter of that manuscript is devoted to the subject of Martin Luther’s use of contrafacta (popular melodies). According to Doukam, Luther used existing tunes, both sacred and secular, and substituted his own lyrics for “trivial and indecent ones.”

What follows is a reposting of my response to Stevan. I’ve edited out some irrelevant material (we had a discussion about my citing a page from the website av1611.org, which was probably not the best source to quote). I’ve also clarified, revised, and expanded what I originally wrote.

* * *

My views on Luther and his musical borrowing are primarily due to a seminar by J. Bruce Ashton, professor of music at Southern Adventist University, as well as other sources that I cannot now recall. Ashton presented this subject in one of his lectures at the 2006 GYC convention, in which he dealt specifically with the question, “Did Luther use bar tunes?” You can find the complete set of lectures on the GYC website, under the heading “Heavenly Harmony.” The particular lecture in which Ashton discusses this topic is the one entitled, “Selling Worship or Selling Out Worship?” The discussion about Luther occurs between 24:47 and 30:47.

The book manuscript Stevan cited in our FIG discussion sounds intriguing, and I would be interested to see the proof of Luther’s borrowing. Of course, there is no doubt that Luther borrowed “some” of his music. But the extent of his borrowing, and the nature of the music borrowed, is another matter. That his music came from “drinking songs,” or the wild, worldly music of his day, as implied in the original Christianity Today article I was responding to, seems to lack evidence.

As to Luther’s use of contrafacta, I offer the following quotes:

* * *

It has been claimed by many people over the years that Martin Luther boldly seized songs commonly sung in taverns and by simply replacing the secular lyrics with spiritual ones made these tunes the basis of congregational song in worship. In the interest of historical accuracy, in fairness to the reformer, and for the purpose of conversation about appropriate worship music today, this claim must be challenged, or at least be carefully qualified. At its worst this claim is a misrepresentation of fact. At its best, it is a misleading oversimplification of Luther’s intention and his practice of liturgical music.

From the official website of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America: http://www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Worship/Learning-Center/FAQs/Tavern-Tunes.aspx

[The article goes on to give examples and more explanation. The whole is too long to include here, but is certainly worth reading to anyone who wants to better understand this particular topic.]

* * *

Luther developed a unique style of church music, known as chorale, by borrowing some familiar, singable tunes, to which he added a Christian text. Defenders of “Christian” rock argue that since Luther borrowed tunes from the barroom songs of the day and added Christian texts to them (known as contrafacta), we can also borrow tunes from the rock music of our day and add to them Christian lyrics….

This argument that since Luther borrowed from the secular, popular tunes of his day, we can also borrow from the popular rock tunes of today, is misleading and inaccurate, for at least five reasons.

First, Luther used what may be called the “classical” music of his day, and not a sacrilegious type of music like most of secular rock music today. Luther did not adopt the sensual, erotic music of the day. On the contrary, he warned against the use of “erotic ranting,” as being the devil’s means to corrupt human nature.

The tunes adopted by Luther, writes Ulrich Leopold, “were folky, but never vulgar. Rollicking drinking songs were available in the sixteenth century too. Luther steered clear of them. He never considered music a mere tool that could be employed regardless of its original association … but was careful to match text and tune, so that each text would have its proper tune and so that both would complement each other.”

Second, of the thirty-seven chorales composed by Luther, only one tune came directly from a secular folk song. Fifteen were composed by Luther himself, thirteen came from Latin hymns or service music, two had originally been religious pilgrim’s songs, four were derived from German religious folk songs, and two are of unknown origin.

These facts discredit the popular assumption that Luther borrowed the majority of his songs from secular sources. In actual fact he derived very little from secular sources. Luther’s favorite composer was Josquin de Prez, who is regarded as the most competent composer of that century.

Third, Luther changed the melodic and rhythmic structure of the tunes that he borrowed from secular sources, in order to eliminate any possible worldly influence. In his scholarly book, Martin Luther, His Music, His Message, Robert Harrell explains: “The most effective way of [negating] worldly influence would be to ‘de-rhythm’ the music. By avoiding dance tunes and ‘de-rhythming’ other songs, Luther achieved a chorale with a marked rhythm, but without the devices that would remind the people of the secular world. So successful was the work done by Luther and other Lutheran musicians that scholars were often unable to detect the secular origins of chorales. The other way in which Luther sought to remove secular associations from the mind of the congregation was through the use of Scripture and scriptural allusions in the texts. By filling his chorales with the written Word, Luther sought to direct the thoughts of his people toward the Living Word.”

Harrell concludes his well-documented study, saying: “A study of Luther’s chorales reveals two important facts about Luther’s use of secular elements in his sacred music: (1) Although there was much popular music available to him, from drinking songs to dance tunes to religious folk songs and carols, Luther chose only those tunes which best lend themselves to sacred themes and avoided the vulgar, ‘rollicking drinking songs’ and dance tunes. (2) No material which Luther used for a chorale remained unchanged, except for the one case noted previously. Rather, ‘he carefully tested the melodies he considered, and when necessary molded them into suitability…. Alteration were freely made.”

Fourth, it is important to note that Luther lived in the “Age of Faith,” and not in the “Age of Skepticism” like ours. The culture of Luther’s time was influenced by religious faith and moral values. The major universities and the fine arts were controlled or sponsored by the church. The distinction between secular and religious music was relative….

Fifth, Luther arranged the music for the young people of his time in a way to lead them away from the attraction of worldly music. This can hardly be said of “Christian” rock music today which retains the melody and rhythm of secular rock. Luther explained why he changed the musical arrangements of his songs: “These songs were arranged in four parts for no other reason than that I wanted to attract the youth (who should and must be trained in music and other fine arts) away from love songs and carnal pieces and to give them something wholesome to learn instead, so that they can enter with pleasure into what is good, as befitting to youth.”

From Dr. Samuele Bacchiocci’s website: http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/endtimeissues/eti_33.html

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In the days of Martin Luther, congregations were not allowed to sing at all in Roman Catholic services. Their “musical training” consisted only of secular tunes they picked up on the street. Blume points out that “people accustomed to singing only in secular surroundings and to remain[ing] silent in the traditional church … now had to learn how to sing in the church” (Blume, Protestant Church Music, p. 65). It is in this context that Luther made the statement, “Why should the devil have all the good tunes?” We must remember that there were no tunes which the people were allowed to sing, and in their services only Gregorian chant and similar austere musical forms were heard at all — and those in the Latin language which the average person could not understand.

Luther’s idea was to use more familiar, singable tunes to teach the people quickly the new German texts he was compiling or writing. His plan was to develop a unique style of music for use in worship. LUTHER DIDN’T RELY ON THE SENSUAL, EROTIC MUSIC OF HIS DAY. HE DIDN’T LOOK TO THOSE WHO WOULD REBEL AGAINST HIS VERY CULTURE TO SERVE AS A MODEL FOR HIS MUSIC. It is more truthful to say that Luther used as his example the “classical” music of his day.

Even then, the practice of borrowing from secular sources — contrafacta — was short lived. Blume refers to the “quick rise and decline of contrafacta” (Blume, ibid., p. 45) and admits that those tunes borrowed from secular sources “rarely attained the timeless greatness” (Blume, ibid., p. 44) of Luther’s original compositions — which were, by far, the greater portion of his work.

SO TO SIMPLY MAKE THE STATEMENT THAT “LUTHER BORROWED FROM THE BARROOM TUNES OF HIS DAY, SO WE CAN TOO” IS DISHONEST. Luther’s favorite composer was Josquin de Prez, who is widely acknowledged as the most competent composer of that century.

From: http://www.musicaeadoracao.com.br/ingles/luther_music.htm

[Use of ALL CAPS is from the original website source.]

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Summary

If, in fact, Luther did use drinking songs as the basis of his music, I would like to know. But there seems little evidence to support this. Moreover, even the music he did borrow and adapt apparently bears little resemblance to the worldly (rebellious, profane) music of his day or the popular music of today. There is no parallel between Luther’s use of folk music style and the presence of worldly music in worship today. And finally, even if Luther made a mistake of combining holy and profane (as the Wesleys apparently did), it would not excuse the extremes of so-called Christian rock and other CCM music.

Those wishing to get an authentic taste of what Martin Luther’s music sounded like may wish to purchase the 4-CD collection, Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth. The producers of that collection even aimed to reproduce the types of instruments in use in Luther’s time. I purchased this collection some years ago, and can attest that these songs are simple, gentle melodies — not the kind of music one would expect to find in a tavern, either in our day or Luther’s. Interspersed with the musical selections are short readings from Luther’s writings on the use of music in worship.

The fine folks over at Vision Forum have launched an interesting website: Behemoth.com. I’m kind of a fan of Vision Forum because they have such cool stuff and high Christian values.

Behemoth.com, which opened earlier this month, is a place to buy conservative Christian media in digital format. Their movie and music sections look really good. And every day they have free items available for download as well.

The kind of topics you’ll find here include:

• Church history
• Creationism
• Church standards
• Government
• Parenting
• Courtship and dating
• Classic children’s books that promote a Christian worldview

Some of their children’s products are fiction, and a bit on the trivial side. But there are lots of gems in there as well. It’s worth checking out.

Abigail Miller Music – Bible Verses Put To Music

The style is not what some would consider “pure” Scripture songs, because it seems that many of them contain some additional lines along with the words of the Bible. However, they do seem to be based, for the most part, on the KJV. The style is very conservative (no drums). There is almost 100 songs listed, along with lyrics and soundtracks for free download as well. 

You can also git yer free Country-Western style (with a li’l bluegrass — but mostly without drums) Scripture songs here.

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I was a bit nervous about starting with this one, but the title begins with “A,” so there you have it. It isn’t my all-time favorite album or anything. It just happens to be my first review.

Amarantine, by Enya

I didn’t buy all the tracks on this album; in particular I skipped tracks 1, 2, 5, and 8. The nice thing about buying music on iTunes is that you can choose which tracks you want. (Of course, you get only 30-second previews, so it’s still sometimes hit-and-miss.)

Enya is one of those artists who produces some really beautiful songs, but also some songs that I would never listen to. This album, Amarantine, is one of her latest. The songs seem to have a more pensive, wistful, nostalgic, remorseful, hopeful theme to them — and in that same vein, some of her more gentle, flowing music.

I’m not going to describe every track. You can listen to them on iTunes or wherever you like to buy music. LIke most Enya albums, there is a mix of songs with English lyrics, Gaelic/other language lyrics, and instrumental pieces. If you don’t like new age or Celtic-inspired music, you probably won’t like this. On the other hand, if those genres are among your favorites, Enya is an artist worth checking out.

The final track, “Water Shows the Hidden Heart,” is a song I find incredibly beautiful. I’m always tempted to play it again each time I hear it. The lyrics are not in English, and I have no idea what the meaning of the lyrics is. But it has the most amazing harmonies. At about 1:40 into the song there is a really beautiful segue that I totally adore, that lasts about 35 seconds. I’m actually listening to it right now … it is sooo amazing! Beautiful.

There are a couple touching love-related songs on this album. “If I Could Be Where You Are” is a song of longing for a (physically or emotionally) distant love. “A Moment Lost” is probably one of the most heartbreakingly beautiful sad songs I’ve heard. Here are the lyrics:

It’s only now when words are said
that break my heart in two,
I wonder how you can endure
all I’ve said, all I say to you.

How strong, how brave, how true of you
to bear the hurt I gave.
I know it tears your heart in two;
all I’ve said, all I say to you.

After all the words are said,
after all the dreams we made:
every one a precious one,
every one a summer sun…

A moment lost, forever gone
can never be again,
so know how much it means to me;
all you said,
all you gave,
all your love to me.

“Long, Long Journey” describes the sense of hope and optimism of someone beginning a long sea voyage  home. “Amid the Falling Snow” is a cute and sweet song reminiscing about childhood memories of a winter night’s snowfall.

It was great having them join my adult lesson study class on Sabbath as well. They made some great contributions to the discussion. And turns out that at least one member of the family, Billy, knows my brother Eugene as well. Small world….

You can find some videos on MySpace and YouTube. They were also taped while here at 3ABN, so you can look for them on 3ABN’s broadcasts sooner or later. They are on the second broadcast of the new “Where Are All His Miracles?” series that is currently being taped at 3ABN.