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Sacred Music in Schools

Music with a Sacred Text Does music with a sacred text have a place in the public schools? It is the position of MENC: The National Association for Music Education that the study and performance of religious music within an educational context is a vital and appropriate part of a comprehensive music education. The omission of sacred music from the school curriculum would result in an incomplete educational experience. The First Amendment... The First Amendment does not forbid all mention of religion in the public schools; it prohibits the advancement or inhibition of religion by the state. A second clause in the First Amendment prohibits the infringement of religious beliefs. The public schools are not required to delete from the curriculum all materials that may offend any religious sensitivity. For instance, the study of art history would be incomplete without reference to the Sistine Chapel, and the study of architecture requires an examination of Renaissance cathedrals. Likewise, a comprehensive study of music includes an obligation to become familiar with choral music set to religious texts. The chorales of J. S. Bach, the "Hallelujah Chorus" from George Frideric Handel's Messiah, spirituals, and Ernest Bloch's Sacred Service all have an important place in the development of a student's musical understanding and knowledge. In order to ensure that any music class or program is conforming to the constitutional standards of religious neutrality necessary in public schools, the following questions raised in 1971 by Chief Justice Warren E. Burger in Lemon v. Kurtzman1 should be asked of each school-sanctioned observance, program, or institutional activity involving religious content, ceremony, or celebration: 1. What is the purpose of the activity? Is the purpose secular in nature, that is, studying music of a particular composer's style or historical period? 2. What is the primary effect of the activity? Is it the celebration of religion? Does the activity either enhance or inhibit religion? Does it invite confusion of thought or family objections? 3. Does the activity involve excessive entanglement with a religion or religious group, or between the schools and religious organizations? Financial support can, in certain cases, be considered an entanglement. If the music educator's use of sacred music can withstand the test of these questions, it is probably not in violation of the First Amendment. Since music with a sacred text or of a religious origin (particularly choral music) constitutes such a substantial portion of music literature and has such an important place in the history of music, it should and does have an important place in music education. Legal History In the first court case that dealt specifically with music, Roger Florey, the father of a primary student, challenged the rules set up by the Sioux Falls, South Dakota, school board. The plaintiff, an avowed atheist, touched off a statewide furor in 1978 when he complained about the use of the hymn "Silent Night" in the school's Christmas program. He contended that the use of the song violated the doctrine of separation of church and state. At a hearing on the plaintiff's motion for an injunction in December 1978, the motion was denied. The plaintiff's request for declaratory and final injunctive relief was denied in February 1979. The case Florey v. Sioux Falls School District 49-52 was appealed to the Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. This court, in April 1980, upheld the Sioux Falls school policy, allowing religious songs for educational purposes. The Appeals Court said the policy was not promulgated with religious purposes in mind. In a more recent court case (1995), U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Greene dismissed a lawsuit (Bauchman v. West High School) filed by 15-year-old Rachel Bauchman over Christian songs performed by the choir at Salt Lake City's West High School. Ms. Bauchman claimed that the songs were sung prayers and therefore constituted a violation of the establishment clause. Rejecting this argument, the court said that music has a purpose in education beyond the mere words or notes in conveying a mood, teaching cultures and history, and broadening understanding of arts and that the selection of the music had a primarily secular purpose of teaching music appreciation.3 Several other cases, most notably Brandon v. the Board of Education of the Guilderland Central School District,4 involving free exercise of religion, and Widmar v. Vincent,5 involving freedom of speech, suggest that in the court's opinion, college and university students have the maturity to understand the religiously neutral role that public schools must play in dealing with the subject of religion, where younger students may not. Therefore, college teachers may not be required to emphasize this neutrality so much. According to the Brandon decision, "Our nation's elementary and secondary schools play a unique role in transmitting basic and fundamental values to our youth. To an impressionable student, even an appearance of secular involvement in religious activities might indicate that the state has placed its imprimatur on a particular creed." Teachers of young children have a special responsibility in treating this sensitive subject. Young students (and their parents) sometimes become confused and upset by what they view as contradictions to their religious teaching. It is important to communicate that music learning, not religious indoctrination, is the motivation in choosing repertoire. One way to reinforce this is to list the music concepts/skills associated with each song in a printed program. Religiously Neutral Programs With this volatile topic, music educators should exercise caution and good judgment in selecting sacred music for study and programming for public performances. During the planning phase of each program, the following questions should assist the teacher in determining if the program is, Article continued at www.menc.org/about/view/sacred-music-in-schools

Ten Tips for Composition

Career Advice

Jennifer Higdon, biography

Jennifer Higdon (b. Brooklyn, NY, December 31, 1962) started late in music, teaching herself to play flute at the age of 15 and then beginning formal musical studies at 18, with an even later start in composition at the age of 21. Higdon makes her living from commissions and her music is known for its technical skill and audience appeal. Hailed by the Washington Post as "a savvy, sensitive composer with a keen ear, an innate sense of form and a generous dash of pure esprit," the League of American Orchestras reports that she is one of America's most frequently performed composers. Higdon's list of commissioners is extensive and include The Philadelphia Orchestra, The Chicago Symphony, The Atlanta Symphony, The National Symphony, The Minnesota Orchestra, The Pittsburgh Symphony, The Indianapolis Symphony, The Dallas Symphony, and The Oregon Symphony. Most recently, Higdon wrote a violin concerto for Hilary Hahn which was commissioned by the Indianapolis Symphony, Toronto Symphony, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and the Curtis Institute Symphony Orchestra. This new work was recorded during the 2008-09 season by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. She has received awards from the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts & Letters (two awards), the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, Meet-the-Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts, and ASCAP. In addition she has received grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Higdon has been a Featured Composer at festivals including Tanglewood, Vail, Norfolk, Winnipeg and Cabrillo. She has served as Composer-in-Residence with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (2005-06 season), the Green Bay Symphony Orchestra (2006-07 season), and the Philadelphia Orchestra (2007-08). Higdon enjoys more than two hundred performances a year of her works. Her orchestral work blue cathedral is one of the most performed contemporary orchestral works in the United States, having been performed by more than 200 orchestras since its premiere in 2000. Her works have been recorded on over two dozen CDs. In Spring of 2003 Telarc released blue cathedral with the Atlanta Symphony, Robert Spano, conducting, on a disc that made the Classical Billboard charts. In 2004 the Atlanta Symphony released the Grammy-winning Higdon: Concerto for Orchestra/City Scape. December 2006 saw the release of a compact disc of Higdon's chamber music on Naxos, as well as a Grammy-winning recording with eighth blackbird. During the 2008-09 season, Naxos released Higdon's Short Stories performed by the Ancia Saxophone Quartet and Koch released a recording of Higdon's flute and chamber works. The 2009-10 season will feature two releases from Telarc, Higdon's Dooryard Bloom and The Singing Rooms. She currently holds the Milton L. Rock Chair in Composition Studies at The Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

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