Do atheists listen to any atheist composer?

[arkiv]

Question from a sociological curiosity.

[Daverz]

Question from a sociological curiosity.

Brahms?

But I have no problem with most religiously-inspired classical music, just as I have no problem with all the gods and goddesses of Homeric literature.

[Brian]

While I have a problem with a lot of church music, the problem isn't that it's religious - the problem is that it's boring. Maybe a few more decades of maturity/senility is what it takes for me to not fall asleep during Bach's St. John Passion.

But I do listen to plenty of church music: in particular I seem to love everybody's Te Deum, from Haydn to Dvorak, from Berlioz to Kodaly, from Bruckner to Havergal Brian. Morten Lauridsen's stuff is wonderful. Everything by Poulenc. For some reason I prefer Zelenka to Bach; is that crazy? But yeah, okay, if forced to choose, my favorite sacred music is the Glagolitic Mass, and Janacek was an atheist.

EDIT: Forgot Zelenka.

[Mirror Image]

I'm hardly an atheist, but I'm not a Bible-thumper either. I do like some so-called 'religious music' in particular requiems, but, like Brian, I find most religious music boring and rather tedious.

[Wendell_E]

my favorite sacred music is the Glagolitic Mass, and Janacek was an atheist.

Yeah, Janáček was my first thought.  I love pretty much everything of his I've ever heard, starting with the operas, but our common atheism has nothing to do with it. I'd love it even if I discovered he was a closet bible-thumper.  I like a lot of religious music, and don't listen to composers based on their religious views.

[The new erato]

I like a lot of religious music, and don't listen to composers based on their religious views.

Same here. I love a lot of religious art (including paintings, eg Caravaggio, etc, etc) despite being a convinced atheist. Good art transcends mundane things (!) like religion.

[milk]

Xenakis, lately.

[milk]

Hmm...lots of big names in the wikipedia list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_atheists_in_music

[Brian]

Same here. I love a lot of religious art (including paintings, eg Caravaggio, etc, etc) despite being a convinced atheist. Good art transcends mundane things (!) like religion.

Oddly enough, and perhaps to my discredit, I love a lot of religious music, and love a lot of religious literature (think Dostoevsky), but medieval and Renaissance religious paintings bore me. Usually I briskly walk through those rooms of the museum while thinking "oh, look, it's Mary again... oh, look, it's Jesus being sad again." But I do love Salvador Dali's "The Temptation of St. Anthony."

[The new erato]

Yes that's to your discredit. I spent some timne in Prado recently, and it is beyond me how one can avoid being moved by stuff like Velasques, Riera, el Greco et al. It is not about Jesus being dead, but about he loss of a dear one. And the craftsmanship is so superb that one is at a loss of words whatever the subject. But you cannot walk thorugh those large halls, you must pick a few paintings and spend time with them only.

[Ken B]

Bach, Josquin, Palestrina, Ockeghem, Schütz, Stravinsky, Purcell, Bruckner, Dufay, Lassus.

All of these worthies disbelieved in Zeus or any of the other classical gods and were, in Roman terms, atheists. (I prefer to see the best in people  )

[Karl Henning]

Well, I'm a huge Shostakovich fan, and he was very likely an atheist.

And a great RVW fan, and he was an agnostic.

[milk]

Yes that's to your discredit. I spent some timne in Prado recently, and it is beyond me how one can avoid being moved by stuff like Velasques, Riera, el Greco et al. It is not about Jesus being dead, but about he loss of a dear one. And the craftsmanship is so superb that one is at a loss of words whatever the subject. But you cannot walk thorugh those large halls, you must pick a few paintings and spend time with them only.

That's always been my strategy. I love those donation museums like MMA in New York. Go in, sit in front of one or two paintings for some time, and then take a walk in the park!

[Karl Henning]

Oddly enough, and perhaps to my discredit, I love a lot of religious music, and love a lot of religious literature (think Dostoevsky), but medieval and Renaissance religious paintings bore me.

What have I missed? Why should this be to your discredit?

[milk]

Oddly enough, and perhaps to my discredit, I love a lot of religious music, and love a lot of religious literature (think Dostoevsky), but medieval and Renaissance religious paintings bore me. Usually I briskly walk through those rooms of the museum while thinking "oh, look, it's Mary again... oh, look, it's Jesus being sad again." But I do love Salvador Dali's "The Temptation of St. Anthony."

The thing that sticks out in my mind most from my short visit to Florence is Fra Angelico. I'm an atheist and I was utterly moved by those frescoes.

[The new erato]

The thing that sticks out in my mind most from my short visit to Florence is Fra Angelico. I'm an atheist and I was utterly moved by those frescoes.

One of the outstanding pictures that I still remember as outstanding from the Prado was a Fra Angelico.

[Gurn Blanston]

Yes that's to your discredit. I spent some timne in Prado recently, and it is beyond me how one can avoid being moved by stuff like Velasques, Riera, el Greco et al. It is not about Jesus being dead, but about he loss of a dear one. And the craftsmanship is so superb that one is at a loss of words whatever the subject. But you cannot walk thorugh those large halls, you must pick a few paintings and spend time with them only.

Yes, it is so. I am an atheist who loves music, so I have some interest in this thread. For many years I avoided anything which smacked of religion. Then I discovered how splendid most of this music is, and now I am as big an enthusiast as there is, albeit of a very narrow range of time and place. It stands to reason; like it or not, the Catholic (and later, Protestant) rulers were the ones with the time, money, interest and I will say, vested interest, in commissioning art in all forms. For most people, Mass was their only exposure to music, and to art, too. If one was to effectively shut out this entire genre for quasi-philosophical reasons, it doesn't hurt the religions any, it only deprives you of a big chunk of art!

[Brian]

Yes that's to your discredit. I spent some timne in Prado recently, and it is beyond me how one can avoid being moved by stuff like Velasques, Riera, el Greco et al. It is not about Jesus being dead, but about he loss of a dear one. And the craftsmanship is so superb that one is at a loss of words whatever the subject. But you cannot walk thorugh those large halls, you must pick a few paintings and spend time with them only.

Oh, I love Velazquez, every time. I am thinking more of the Italian Renaissance.

[The new erato]

Oh, I love Velazquez, every time. I am thinking more of the Italian Renaissance.

Yes, that can be more formalized, particularly the early stuff. In this connection eg Caravaggio probably is considered baroque.

[Sergeant Rock]

Oh, I love Velazquez, every time. I am thinking more of the Italian Renaissance.

Brian, did you make it to Colmar? If so, what did you think of the Isenheim Altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald (Mathis der Maler)?








Sarge