Instrumental accompaniment
In the West, the majority of Christian denominations use instruments
such as an organ, piano, electronic keyboard, guitar, or other
accompaniment, and occasionally by a band or orchestra, to accompany the
singing. But some churches have historically not used instruments,
citing their absence from the New Testament. During the last century or
so several of these groups have revised this stance.
The singing of the
Eastern Orthodox is also generally unaccompanied, though in the United States organs are sometimes used as a result of Western influence.
Instrumental music
Some worship music may be unsung, simply instrumental. During the
Baroque period in Europe, the
chorale prelude
(for organ) was widely used, generally composed by using a popular hymn
tune thematically, and a wide corpus of other solo organ music began to
develop across Europe. Some of the most well-known exponents of such
organ compositions include
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Dieterich Buxtehude,
George Frideric Handel,
François Couperin,
César Franck and
Charles-Marie Widor to name a few. Up to the present time, various composers have written instrumental (often
organ) music as acts of worship, including well known organ repertoire by composers like
Olivier Messiaen,
Louis Vierne,
Maurice Duruflé, and
Jean Langlais.
The church sonata (for orchestra and chamber group) and other sacred instrumental musical forms also developed from the
Baroque period onwards.
Contemporary Christian music
From the latter half of the 20th century to the present day in
Western Christendom—especially in the United States and in other
countries with evangelical churches—various genres of music originally
often related to
pop rock,
have been created under the label of Contemporary Christian Music
("CCM") for home-listening and concert use. It can be divided into
several genres and sub-genres, although the dividing lines and
relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to
individual interpretation, and occasionally controversial. These genres
(sometimes referred to as 'style') like other forms of music may be
distinguished by the techniques, the styles, the context and the themes,
or geographical origin. Specific sub-genres of CCM may include (but are
not limited to):
Christian country music,
Christian pop,
Christian rock,
Christian metal,
Christian hardcore,
Christian punk,
Christian alternative rock and
Christian hip hop.
Called Christian pop or gospel in a generalized form, this is a
relatively new musical movement and has now evolved into a large number
of musical genres by region that comes in a Christian context. This
movement appeared as a form of
evangelization for the young but the genre is best known and seen in the
Evangelical or
Protestant proselytizing movements, often using rhythms similar to those in secular music.
CCM is not a musical genre like the other genres. When a song is
identified as "Christian" it takes into account the lyrics and the
song-writers and performers, rather than musical style. Therefore, one
can say that CCM is diverse and there are Christian songs that are sung
to the rhythm of salsa, reggae, rock, folk, hip-hop or rap, ballads,
pop, singer-songwriters and even extreme music such as punk or heavy
metal.
Industry
Christian music is supported by a segment of the general music
industry which evolved as a parallel structure to the same. Beginning in
the 1970s and developing out of the
Jesus Movement, the
Christian music industry
subsequently developed into a near-billion dollar enterprise. By the
1990s the genre had eclipsed classical, jazz, and new age music, and
artists began gaining limited acceptance in the general market.
Media
Today, Christian music is available through most available media.
Christian music is broadcast over the radio, television, or the
Internet. Christian Albums and video recordings (
CD,
LP,
digital download,
DVD, etc.) have been increasingly more popular and have continued to increase in sales.
[2]
Christian Musicals is another growing area, especially with the help
of the internet. Church drama groups frequently enjoy performing musical
dramas which can be downloaded on-line for free use.
[3]
Music festivals and conferences
In the US several Christian
music festivals
have been organized. They are common in the summertime and draw many
different people, specifically those from organized groups such as
church
youth groups and campus groups. In addition to music festivals like those that are part of the
Christian Festival Association, there are also many Christian
conferences which focus more on speakers, but usually also have musical performances, especially for a
Worship service.
The
Ichthus Music Festival started in 1970. Today festivals are held annually around the world, and may draw upwards of 100,000 people.
New Zealand's
Parachute Music Festival,
the largest Christian music festival in the Southern Hemisphere, began
in 1989 and is held annually at Mystery Creek Events Centre outside the
city of Hamilton.
England's
Big Church Day Out Festival began in 2009 and has annual attendance of approximately 20,000.
Concerts
Like any musical group or act, many Christian musical artists perform concerts in
concert halls,
bars & clubs, or outdoor venues, as well as in Church-related
venues. Sometimes it may be for pure entertainment, other times with the
intention of
witnessing (evangelizing by bearing witness of one's faith), and other times may be part
worship as well.
Source: wikipedia.org
