REL 201 - The Sacred in Music: The Liberal Arts as Portal to the Sacred

FDR: HU
Credits: 4
Planned Offering: Spring 2014 and alternate years.

This course offers an immersion in the sacred music of the West, viewed through the lens of the liberal-arts tradition and considers the liberal arts as a portal to the sacred. We begin with Pythagoras and his monochord in the portal of Chartres Cathedral and progress through the development of melody, harmony, and rhythm from early chant (Hebrew and Christian) to Bach choral music (The Passion According to John) and finally to the American forms of Spiritual, Sacred Harp, and American Opera. While attentive to contributions from science, philosophy. psychology and religious theory concerning the connection of music to religious experience, we also take advantage of musical performances in the area and, with the help of professional conductors and musicologists, perform music ourselves. Brown.