Seth Rourk

Music 1306
Pilot Lewis
February 12th, 2012
The historian Edward A. Lippmann has made the claim that, among the
peoples of ancient cultures, unique styles of music and dance were ingrained
with morals and values. This statement appears absolutely accurate, for
ethics and music have long been related, each evolving through the other.
However, this statement also suggests that this blend of music and culture
may have stayed in history, which may be a demonstrably false claim. Even
today, cultures both eastern and western (and northern and southern, for
that matter!) create new music that puts what they feel and what they see in
the world around them into song, and these new works co-exist alongside
concepts that may be hundreds of years old but have never lost their
message.
In the ancient world, culture and music were strongly intertwined, and
each reflected the other. For instance, much of the music to come out of the
Middle Ages was sacred in nature, because the Catholic Church of this era
was was of vital important in the preservation of the arts, particularly music
and literature, through the dark ages. The Church's influence is felt in the
few pieces of music to come out of that era, and the sombre spirit of the
Middle Ages, one born of survival in spite of frequent war and disease, was
reflected in its songs giving thanks and praise to those few supernatural
beings looking out for the common man.
More instances of values in music can be found amongst compositions in
the secular realm. The madrigal of the Renaissance was often sung of
subjects such as love, death, politics, and history. This music strongly reflects
the thoughts that dominated this era: a fascination with the human
experience. The conditions of humanity were the subject of much study and
thinking in the Renaissance as humanism rose in popularity, and this was
reflected in music which spanned a diverse range of emotions and
sentiments. Additionally, it was found that music might be played and
enjoyed simply as a means of pleasure, an attitude that may have even been
considered sinful a few centuries prior!
A modern example of morals in music may be the country music style
which is prevalent in the Southern and Midwestern regions of the United
States. The ethics of an individualistic region of the United States are found
in songs putting family, love, and home first. Its morals are presented

through songs espousing conventional Christian values in a upbeat tempo, a

far cry from the sacred Gregorian chants of thousand years old ago. Similar
instances of sacred subjects addressed in secular-born styles might be found
in folk music of peoples found in all four corners of the Earth, possibly the
result of a humanity enlightened by secularization such as that found during
the Renaissance, but never forgetting its ancient roots and beliefs.
A last, but hardly final, example of modern values in music exists in the
pop music that is enjoyed by millions in countries the world over Songs
involving simple, universal, and positive subjects such as love and fun are
found addictive by young and old in across the globe. This music may be
considered a result of globalization, with strong 'beats' easily digestible by
people of many backgrounds and with free-spirited values representing a
generation of diplomacy and technology, rarely touched by large-scale war
or other epidemics. A pursuit of happiness might be found in these tunes,
again comparable to similar values first formulated during the Renaissance.
In short, ethics and music have always been closely related. Cultures sing
about what they think and feel and believe, and their ethics ultimately find
their way into music both sacred and secular. The values of peoples
populating virtually each and every period of human history, including the
21st century, can be revealed through careful analysis of their music. Edward
A. Lippmann was absolutely correct in his statement, but neglected to state
that this phenomenon occurs every day in music. Musical genres and lyrics
have evolved alongside progresses in culture for centuries, and likely will for
many more to come.