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Wiser Than Despair: The Evolution Of Ideas In The Relationship Of Music And The Christian Church, Quentin Faulkner

Glenn Korff School of Music: Faculty Publications

The fact that human beings want to make music, as well as all other forms of art, is a given of human existence. Artistic expressions, however, are not isolated or autonomous. They are conditioned, among other things, by social and cultural factors, and these factors have a powerful influence in shaping any art form.

There is no more compelling example of a culture's power to condition art than the evolution of European art music during the Middle Ages under the influence of the Christian church and its theological stance with regard to the arts. The church's ideas about the purpose …