I was delighted to receive this note from my colleague Dr. Shawn Eaton and wanted to share it. He comments on a topic that is central to what many of us do, and I would invite others to join in the discussion.

I just finished reading Hank’s blog on Morten Lauridsen‘s “O Magnum Mysterium.” This is one of my all-time favorite choral pieces! I share the strain that the article presents between your perspective and Hank’s perspective regarding the order in which we ought to experience: 1.) listening to a piece of music for the first time; and 2.) learning about the composer’s background/intentions for a piece of music. As Hank alluded to, indeed there are fundamental worldview issues that have shaped the way we understand music today, especially (as he stated) the modern misconception, “. . . that music (or any art) is primarily about the composer’s self-expression.” Certainly there are objective realities regarding the aesthetics of art, namely beauty (and truth about the created order) that once pointed us to God, but that now are marginalized as elements of subjective expression or mere preference. Understanding these realities is a part of learning the historic Christian or Classical worldview.