SACRA music: definition, history and characteristics

Music is an art that the human being has used not only as a form of expression but as a companion for practically all areas of his life. We use music as part of festivities, ceremonies, important events, or even just to hang out.

In this lesson from a TEACHER, we will talk about a type of music one of these types of reasons, you will be able to learn the definition of the sacred music and its characteristics so that you know the concept of another facet of this art.

Index

1. What is sacred music: definition
2. Sacred music history and development
3. Sacred music in the Middle Ages
4. Other types of sacred music
5. Sacred music today

By sacred music we also mean "sacred" music which, by definition, is everything related to divinity, a cult or religion. Therefore, sacred music is all that music that is interpreted in the religious or liturgical context.

Since this art is related to the divine, we can know that music establishes a link between the humanity and deities and that it is as old as the need of being to want to relate to a sense higher.

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In the prehistoric music sounds and dance were used as a form of communication with deities, still without a name, and representing nature and phenomena still without explanation. With the development of civilization, and therefore of religion, sacred music would evolve to a more structured discipline, accompanied by more ceremonial rules and processes.

Due to its popularity and number of followers, perhaps the sacred music that has most influenced history is that in which Christian religion, heritage of Jewish music and developed in the centuries to come through other towns, mainly in the western area.

By the vested power in the church as an institution, religion played a very important role in the development of music, especially from the Middle Ages as it is used as an indispensable means during events such as Masses and accompanying sacred texts. At this stage of development, musical composition was a fairly exclusive discipline, being entrusted mostly by the monarchy and the church. In such a way, almost all the great musical works in this stage of history were created in the name of religion.

Over time, music gradually became detached from religion and composers also gained independence, resulting in a greater variety of forms and motifs in addition to the liturgical such as large-scale entertainment (theater, ballet, opera, concerts, etc.). Despite this, the role played by religion and the heritage it has left in the development of music is undeniable.

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As we mentioned, the history of Western sacred music practically begins in the Middle Ages when the Catholic Church incorporates singing to recite sacred texts in Latin during ceremonies. In fact, thanks to this, the first system of musical notation to find a way to standardize and write down these songs so they can be played.

It is to this type of music that we call Gregorian singing or plain song. At that time the musical notes were called neumes and a tetragram was used instead of the staff we know today (4 lines instead of 5).

In addition to musical writing, sacred music motivated the study in depth of music to perform more complete works on behalf of the church, having strong academic ties with universities and resulting in the exploration of techniques such as the polyphony(several melodic lines or voices sounding simultaneously) and the counterpoint(the analysis of the relationship of the notes to each other).

Thanks to notation, its standardization and studies of polyphony and counterpoint, eventually musical forms directly related to religion emerged, such as like the mass, the magnificat, the motet, the requiem, the psalm or the carol among other. Great works were created in the name of Catholicism by now iconic composers, such as Johann Sebastian Bach's Magnificat, The Messiah of Georg Frederic Händel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem, Ludwig Van Beethoven's Missa Solemnis or Hector Berlioz's Te Deum among many other

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Although Christianity was one of the protagonists of the development of music, we must bear in mind that the world of sacred music is as wide as the variety of religions that exist.

If we refer to geographical areas we can find great examples in Asia, in historically rich civilizations such as China, India or the countries of the Middle East. We also find sacred music that has managed to maintain with fidelity many folk elements, as is the case of some religious rituals in Africa or South America.

Although formal musical creation is no longer an exclusive good of religion as it was in the past, today we still find music performed for liturgical purposes, something that we can assure will exist as long as humanity continues to seek a relationship with a higher being.

Even today, after centuries, the Christian mass accompanied by music and, outside the church, genres themselves emerged such as contemporary Christian music and subgenres that gain notoriety as the Christian music of American Protestantism or Protestant music Brazilian.

Once again we were able to verify that music is a method of expression that allows us to create links with various human motivations. After all, it is motivation and the pursuit of things greater than yourself that allow you to advance and evolve.

If you want to read more articles similar to Sacred music: definition, we recommend that you enter our category of Music history.