Choral Dissonance: Separating Musical and Biblical Literacy

March 16, 2023

Choral Dissonance: Separating Musical and Biblical Literacy

After a weekend of choral music, I’ve been reflecting on this old post. Share your thoughts in the comments!

“Who’s Goliath?”

The past week, I’ve entrenched in Christmas concerts and rehearsals with a community college, a public high school, and a community choir. It is the first Christmas in a long time when I have not been busy accompanying a church choir, where the question “Who’s Goliath?” would never need to be asked.

And yet, in the midst of rehearsing “Little David Play on Your Harp,” one high schooler finally worked up the nerve to ask her director about the names in the song.

“Who’s Goliath?” was quickly followed by more questions, most significantly, “Who is David?”

The teacher carefully sought to explain these characters without referencing the Bible…with little success. The students looked more confused than ever but continued to sing about the mysterious David and his musical prowess. I can only imagine how much bafflement they must have felt as they sang about “Joshua the son…

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Ryanne_JM

Hello and welcome! I don’t love that I my name is also my website because I always thought that being a writer was about muttering to myself in the artistic anonymity of a dark corner, but here we are in this year of our Lord 2023. So who am I? Instagram wanted me to select “what” I am and gave me a set of limited options: artist, writer, blogger, or musician. The reality, though, is that I am a human person, not an internet personality. I am not a “what” but a “who,” with an eclectic and evolving set of passions. Just when you think you know what to expect from me, I’ll probably surprise you. (Getting used to articles on worship music? SURPRISE: spooky short story! Expecting another theological sonnet? SURPRISE: a random musing on my fascination with Bigfoot.) I’m going to organize my website so that it is easy to navigate and simple to find the content that you find the most interesting. However, because I am a collaborative pianist, worship director, pastor’s wife, speaker, and writer of all genres, there’s a good chance you’ll stumble upon writing that falls beyond your usual reading material…and that’s okay. I’m so glad you’re here, and I look forward to sharing my work with you!