The Advantages of the Catholic Artist

Christians in this century have had to come to terms with living in a world where beliefs concerning man’s relationship with his Creator, previously thought to be so fundamentally beyond question, have been systematically uprooted, undermined, and rejected. So, too, the artist in the 1990s is working in an environment where the understanding of the true role and function of the arts within human activity has been distorted almost beyond recognition.

The revolution which has taken place in the attitude of the artist in the Western world since 1860 is so vast, and the fracturing of a tradition going back to the ancient Greeks so substantial, that at first sight, as in any volte face, the casual observer could be forgiven for not noticing the change. The object appears to be where it was before; this time, however, it is facing in the opposite direction.

In the later decades of the 19th century, due to the corrupting influence of modernism, the weakening of Christian belief, and the growth of explicitly anti-Christian sentiments among intellectuals, the idea took root that, far from it being the duty of the artist to express the glory of God’s creation and in so doing serve his public, it was rather the duty of the public to give homage to the artist as a seer, a secular mystic, whose word had to be taken on trust. In short, the arts were elevated to the status of a pseudo-religion with artists as the high priests.

In the case of music, after hearing the results of the “high priest’s” artistic revolution, the general public turned smartly on its heel in the opposite direction, the result being an almost complete divorce of the contemporary composer from the general audience.

The primary role of the arts is to entertain, to divert, to stimulate man’s innate sense of the transcendent and sublime. From the Christian point of view the danger comes when the subliminal element which is indeed an integral facet in art is automatically thought of as “spiritual.” This is an unhelpful and potentially dangerous confusion. There is a world of difference between claiming that the sense of meditative calm that may be experienced when listening to great music is conducive towards fostering the mind for contemplative prayer and claiming that such activity is in fact prayer because it “feels like it.” This risks inviting the emotions to triumph over reason. Artistic talent is like sporting prowess, business acumen or physical beauty — it is a gift from God which can be used or misused, and the idea that artistic talent is somehow more spiritually elevated is erroneous and highly misleading. Being tone deaf and illiterate is no bar to entering the Kingdom of Heaven.

In his 1942 essay “First and Second Things,” C.S. Lewis makes the astute point that when art is taken too seriously (in the spiritual sense of being elevated into a pseudo-religion), not only does one manifestly fail to get a spiritual benefit that art of itself cannot give, but one does not actually get the more modest but still highly important and rewarding fulfillment and deep pleasure that art provides. In the act of falsely elevating art one turns in into an idol and, in fact, debases it. Of course, it is true that many other things (money and sex surely the most common present-day examples) can be turned into idols, but the danger is in a sense greater in the case of art because of the widespread though spurious belief that any activity claiming to be artistic is invariably morally good.

The Christian artist today needs a healthy degree of skepticism toward many of the assumptions and mantras of the modern intellectual climate. The timelessness of the Church is a great help in this, for as Chesterton reminds us, religion can save us from the degradation of being a child of one’s time. One of the most common of these assumptions is that art is at heart subversive and revolutionary. This no doubt is linked to the false doctrine of “progress,” which C.S. Lewis so wittily describes as “chronological snobbery.” Of course, art has revolutionary elements, its capacity to challenge and change perceptions is one of its most invigorating powers; however, the misconception lies in believing this to be its primary function.

Rather, it is art’s capacity for integration, for containing and blending disparate elements and, out of the dialectic between them, fusing a unified whole, which is its most profoundly defining feature. The works of art in the Western canon which have established themselves over time as indisputably great are precisely those in which a whole world seems to be contained and in which the internal conflicts so necessary for drama achieve resolution.

From the Christian perspective this is precisely where art fulfills a unique, vital, and beautiful function in the scheme of God’s creation. Great art is capable, while not denying and indeed embracing the complexities and seeming contradictions of life, of showing the sense of a deeper order at work. Art can teach us that to have a truly balanced outlook on life we must have a sense of the numinous.

It is precisely for the reason that art is at heart a reflective image of a deeper reality that it distorts if it is removed from its true role as a civilizing and ennobling entertainment. There is no such thing as “art for art’s sake.” Art must serve, and if it is removed from the service of God it is capable of serving Satan. A Christian artist must never forget that it is not enough for one to nourish one’s sense of the transcendent. If the artist is not as concerned with reason and truth as with sensual experience it is quite possible the transcendental reality being celebrated is occult rather than sacred. This, sadly, has been the case in much 20th-century art where, either because the artist’s principal concern is the imposition of his own will in the Nietzschean sense or because of a blind trust in the sensual power of art divorced from morality, the effect and impact of much art has been nihilistic and corrupting. Art is explosive material. Music particularly, being perhaps the most elemental of the arts, goes directly into the bloodstream like alcohol (witness the hysteria that rock music is capable of generating) and should be handled with care.

Composer Benjamin Britten once commented that, in a way, he regretted the easy availability of so much music via recordings and radio since it could diminish the listener’s receptive qualities. This problem is heightened by the near-impossibility these days of avoiding piped muzak in public places. This aural wallpaper which is designed to be semi-ignored means that we hear music almost continually but are simultaneously losing the capacity actually to listen with concentration and sensitivity.

The daily work of the Christian artist, both creative and recreative, is helped by his faith. It is worth considering that, until the fracturing during the 19th and 20th centuries, the Church had been closely aligned with the artistic and intellectual life. This is scarcely surprising since the parallels and similarities between the artistic life and the spiritual life are so strong. In both, the starting point is intuitive rather than intellectual, and yet this intuition needs to be married with reason or it is capable of misfiring. For the artist this polishing of an “educated intuition” is a lifetime endeavor. Because as an artist one is expressing one’s self at the deepest level of one’s personality, and because the public expression of the artist through his creation or performance has to be intuitive, it is vital that the artist refines and deepens his sensibilities which are the source of his communicative powers. Again, as in the spiritual life, the exact balance between what is intuitive and what is learned, and how both are expressed, is never the same in any two people and the resulting individuality is a testament to the fact that while made in God’s image we are all gloriously different — but in art as in life, individuality can only be achieved if it is not being pursued for its own sake.

To paraphrase “First and Second Things” again: if a smaller excellence (in this case individuality) is allowed to usurp the place of a greater (truth) then not only is the greater excellence lost but the smaller one is also lost, for it will result not in genuine individuality but simply in a perverse desire to be different. Again, there is a strong parallel with the spiritual life, because it is the intention behind the action which is often the crucial element.

Another area where the teachings and example of the church can be of assistance to the artist is in understanding the nature and importance of tradition. Until this century it was taken for granted that a fundamental part of artistic training was to teach an appreciation and understanding of tradition. The “chronological snobbery” endemic today, however, tends to dismiss this element, preferring to stress the elements of novelty, to the extent of sometimes deliberately violating the composer’s or author’s clear intention. Obviously, this is an area where an element of balance is needed, but nevertheless, the fundamental misunderstanding concerning tradition needs to be addressed. The notion that tradition is simply copying old habits, either simply for the sake of it, or, as perhaps more commonly expressed, because of a fear of the new is wrong. Artistic tradition does indeed consist of a collection of old habits and customs but not simply any old habits and customs, but rather those which were regarded as obvious and indispensable by the composers of the works in question. Just as in the spiritual life, since scripture can at times be confusing and the Church’s magisterium can clarify and throw light on the truth of a biblical passage when a misguided literalism could impede understanding, so a knowledge of musical tradition is of importance in understanding the real intention of the composer which often go beyond literal instructions in a score. In either case we need to possess the humility to learn from the past.

So for the Catholic artist, his faith can be a constant source of inspiration and guidance in how to conduct his professional life. From the point of view of a performer the calm and sane influence on one’s faith can be crucial where the public nature of the work can so easily lead to pride and narcissism, and the emotional intensity involved can threaten a journey on a merry-go-round passing between elation, frustration, and near-despair. Also, as in any competitive arena, one’s faith can help to remind one that one should strive primarily for the “higher things” and never get fixated with the goals of worldly success.

Perhaps the most critical attribute for the Catholic artist is to strive for the gift of simplicity, of having the humility not to be afraid of appearing to be lacking in sophistication in the eyes of the world, but to have the courage to follow one’s inner convictions. As Igor Stravinsky said, the artist is the “vessel” into which art is poured, and the more an artist can overcome the inhibiting influence of egotism and willfulness, the more effective he will be as a medium. Far from being emasculated, only then can the artist’s voice ring out powerfully and confidently in praise of God.

Author

  • Ronan O'Hora

    At the time this article was published, Ronan O'Hora, a pianist living in Manchester, England, had recently recorded the Greig and Tchaikovsky piano concerti on the Tring International Label.

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