Chant, Shimmer, and G.K.

The following quote from G.K. Chesterton was on my Facebook wall this morning. It's worth repeating here ...

"ARCHITECTURE is a very good test of the true strength of a society, for the most valuable things in a human state are the irrevocable things—marriage, for instance. And architecture approaches nearer than any other art to being irrevocable, because it is so difficult to get rid of. You can turn a picture with its face to the wall; it would be a nuisance to turn that Roman cathedral with its face to the wall. You can tear a poem to pieces; it is only in moments of very sincere emotion that you tear a town-hall to pieces. A building is akin to dogma; it is insolent, like a dogma. Whether or no it is permanent, it claims permanence like a dogma. People ask why we have no typical architecture of the modern world, like impressionism in painting. Surely it is obviously because we have not enough dogmas; we cannot bear to see anything in the sky that is solid and enduring, anything in the sky that does not change like the clouds of the sky." ~G.K. Chesterton: 'Tremendous Trifles.'

I note that Chesterton doesn't mention music. If I had the opportunity to sit down for tea and a chat with G.K. I might venture for his consideration that music may be even more irrevocable than architecture. It has the possibility to last longer, and it can be heard in multiple places around the world simultaneously. He might remind me that a composition is always different, living and breathing its life in the hands of the artists who are currently bringing it to life.

His wider point certainly gives me pause to reflect.

The Chesterton FB page includes this photo and this comment:

 November 9th: Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran Basilica: St. John Lateran is Christendom's earliest basilica. Ordered by Rome's first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, it became the Popes' own cathedral and official residence for the first millennium of Christian history.

A lovely combination of art and architecture in my current home area is the Cree Shimmer Wall on the new Convention Center in downtown Raleigh. 

 From the Convention Center's website:

The Cree Shimmer Wall is a 9,284-square-foot piece of art adorning the side of the Raleigh Convention Center. This spectacular piece is made up of 79,464 light and dark aluminum squares that change shape and disappear as the squares flap in the wind. The piece looks high-tech, but it's not.

Raleigh is called "The City of Oaks."  This piece of public art reflects that theme so beautifully. Perhaps this piece of public art is one example of impressionistic architecture that Chesterton didn't get to consider and enjoy. I wonder what he would say about it?

It is at our peril that we fall into the trap of thinking these ancient forms have nothing to do with us today. Equally perilous is the notion that there aren't any new art forms of similar merit. Surely artisitc blunders and ho-hummers have existed all along. That which is worthy will endure long beyond it's creator's lifetime. The important thing is to recognize beauty, skill, and merit wherever it is found, delight in it, and grow in character and thought from encountering it.

I'm looking out a second story office window at golden trees with leaves gently dancing in the morning sunlight and breeze. Reminds me that the fingerprints of the Greatest Artist have been present through the ages for our joy and inspiration.

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MUSIC LINK

The Shimmer Wall brings to my mind this morning the opening theme to the 1995 BBC production of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," with its fluttering melody reminiscent of a hunting call. Shared here for Annie and Callie who stayed up late for a P&P marathon on their last visit:

Pride and Prejudice Opening Theme - by Carl David


Here is an exquisite example of Byzantine chant. With video showing numerous examples of remarkable religious architecture and art in this genre that extends back many centuries:

Psalm 148:1 - Byzantine Chant