# Classical Spirituality



## Hazel

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/26/a...?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120726


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## Manxfeeder

Amen! I'm surprised this concept hasn't been explored more: different faiths being represented by their best composers. Musicians have always transcended dogmatic barriers, like Heinrich Schutz, the Protestant, who learned from Monteverdi, the Catholic.


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## Hazel

Manxfeeder said:


> Amen! I'm surprised this concept hasn't been explored more: different faiths being represented by their best composers. Musicians have always transcended dogmatic barriers, like Heinrich Schutz, the Protestant, who learned from Monteverdi, the Catholic.


And look at next year - Buddhism. Now, that is really branching out. It is the same in art. While there is much great music and art in Europe/America, there is so much in other countries that we know little or nothing about. This does my heart good.


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## elgar's ghost

It's a heartwarming concept, and I hope it helps to not just build/rebuild bridges but also sustain existing ones. Nevertheless, I was still annoyed by the reference to the London disruption of Barenboim and the Israelis - were these idiots aware of Barenboim's work with the West-Eastern Divan and/or were they just the usual Highgate set being fashionably right on until it was time to dash home once the chablis was at the right temperature?


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## BurningDesire

Then on the atheist program they can play some Beethoven and Zappa :3


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## MelloHero

BurningDesire said:


> Then on the atheist program they can play some Beethoven and Zappa :3


And Berlioz. Don't forget Berlioz.


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## Manxfeeder

BurningDesire said:


> Then on the atheist program they can play some Beethoven and Zappa :3


Beethoven was an atheist?


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## Manxfeeder

MelloHero said:


> And Berlioz. Don't forget Berlioz.


And you'd have to have Delius' Mass of Life for the grand finale.


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## BurningDesire

Manxfeeder said:


> Beethoven was an atheist?


I've read that somewhere. I've also read something on a fundamentalist christian site about him writing letters about his belief in a god, but I don't put alot of stock in fundamentalists, and even if it were true, it only proves he's a deist, not that he's of any organized religion.


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## Ramako

BurningDesire said:


> I've read that somewhere. I've also read something on a fundamentalist christian site about him writing letters about his belief in a god, but I don't put alot of stock in fundamentalists, and even if it were true, it only proves he's a deist, not that he's of any organized religion.


Haydn called Beethoven an atheist, however I have seen this dismissed as over-piety on his part. Beethoven was not an out and out atheist - the fundamentalists are correct - whether or not he was a deist I can't comment. He was nearly excommunicated once, but he avoided it. He does talk about God however, in his letters etc. He died as a Roman Catholic.


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