Brazilian Music in the Church
Greetings from Atibaia!
Today was a full day, but at a Brazilian pace. Micheli and I were the first ones to arrive at the church at 7:50 this morning, and the last to leave at 6:15. I got to give private lessons in flute, clarinet, trumpet, tuba, and a 5-minute piano lesson to Micheli, who successfully learned the first 6 notes of Chopin's Nocturne in Eb major in the key of F.
I also got to spend some time talking to Cleia, who is the director of music at PIBA. I told her about everything I had been thinking about during the year in regards to music, Brazil, and the church. The public schools in Brazil have two very interesting things about the way they are run: 1) Music is not taught in Public schools 2) Religious education is required in the public schools, and it is mostly accomplished from volunteers from surrounding churches (whether it be Christian, Catholic, Candomble, Satanism, whatever) who are willing to go into the schools every so often and do programs for the children. This means that there's a completely open door for anyone who has the time to come and bring the Good News. I met someone here last year who did this 5 days a week. He said that there were so many schools that wanted people to come in to teach "religion," but a huge shortage of willing volunteers. My dream is to one day do this as a full-time ministry--going into schools and of course using music to teach the Bible. Music reaches down deep, and it is something that kids can take home with them to even share with their families. This has been my dream ever since coming back last year--I don't know if or when it will ever happen, but it was really neat to talk with Cleia today about how she had also felt a great need in this area as well.
Anyway, what was interesting was that last night in the service at PIBA, the youth choir sang a piece with text taken from Psalm 40, but the music was distinctly samba, complete with samba rhythms and instruments like the Tamborim and Pandeiro. This created a slight controversy, even though the performance of this song was fully supported by the Pastor.
You see, last year, I had noticed that all of the music sung in the churches was distinctly American (though translated into portuguese), and I wondered why people didn't write Christian songs in the style of Brazilian music. Then, I realized that the Brazilian mind immediately associates the sound of Samba with the event of Carnival, which is a big lascivious festival in February, like Mardi Gras ...without as much clothing. Anyway, for a lot of Brazilians, samba music (as opposed to other types of Brazilian music like Bossa Nova) is inseparable in their minds with Carnival, and so to think of it appearing in church makes them horrified. On the other hand, there are many people who believe that Samba is an important part of a Brazilian's life, and so it should be used for the glory of the Lord like any other form of music.
I had given a presentation on this subject (Brazilian music in the church) at a conference last year, and I had thought about it so much that it was really cool to actually see a real-life example of this problem, since yesterday was the first time Samba had ever been performed at a PIBA church service. As an American, never having experienced Carnival, I have no problem supporting all kinds of music, including Samba, for the glory of God, but it gave me a new perspective to talk to some people today who disagreed.
I think this Blog entry has rambled on long enough! Keep in touch, and thank you SOOO much for all of the comments!
Abraços,
--Joy
Today was a full day, but at a Brazilian pace. Micheli and I were the first ones to arrive at the church at 7:50 this morning, and the last to leave at 6:15. I got to give private lessons in flute, clarinet, trumpet, tuba, and a 5-minute piano lesson to Micheli, who successfully learned the first 6 notes of Chopin's Nocturne in Eb major in the key of F.
I also got to spend some time talking to Cleia, who is the director of music at PIBA. I told her about everything I had been thinking about during the year in regards to music, Brazil, and the church. The public schools in Brazil have two very interesting things about the way they are run: 1) Music is not taught in Public schools 2) Religious education is required in the public schools, and it is mostly accomplished from volunteers from surrounding churches (whether it be Christian, Catholic, Candomble, Satanism, whatever) who are willing to go into the schools every so often and do programs for the children. This means that there's a completely open door for anyone who has the time to come and bring the Good News. I met someone here last year who did this 5 days a week. He said that there were so many schools that wanted people to come in to teach "religion," but a huge shortage of willing volunteers. My dream is to one day do this as a full-time ministry--going into schools and of course using music to teach the Bible. Music reaches down deep, and it is something that kids can take home with them to even share with their families. This has been my dream ever since coming back last year--I don't know if or when it will ever happen, but it was really neat to talk with Cleia today about how she had also felt a great need in this area as well.
Anyway, what was interesting was that last night in the service at PIBA, the youth choir sang a piece with text taken from Psalm 40, but the music was distinctly samba, complete with samba rhythms and instruments like the Tamborim and Pandeiro. This created a slight controversy, even though the performance of this song was fully supported by the Pastor.
You see, last year, I had noticed that all of the music sung in the churches was distinctly American (though translated into portuguese), and I wondered why people didn't write Christian songs in the style of Brazilian music. Then, I realized that the Brazilian mind immediately associates the sound of Samba with the event of Carnival, which is a big lascivious festival in February, like Mardi Gras ...without as much clothing. Anyway, for a lot of Brazilians, samba music (as opposed to other types of Brazilian music like Bossa Nova) is inseparable in their minds with Carnival, and so to think of it appearing in church makes them horrified. On the other hand, there are many people who believe that Samba is an important part of a Brazilian's life, and so it should be used for the glory of the Lord like any other form of music.
I had given a presentation on this subject (Brazilian music in the church) at a conference last year, and I had thought about it so much that it was really cool to actually see a real-life example of this problem, since yesterday was the first time Samba had ever been performed at a PIBA church service. As an American, never having experienced Carnival, I have no problem supporting all kinds of music, including Samba, for the glory of God, but it gave me a new perspective to talk to some people today who disagreed.
I think this Blog entry has rambled on long enough! Keep in touch, and thank you SOOO much for all of the comments!
Abraços,
--Joy
posted by Joy | 6:09 PM
2 Comments:
Hi Joy!
I was disappointed I had to miss PIBA online last night...I was on the road.
Yesterday's photo of you and Ben combined with the word boyfriend has generated a few comments, hasn't it? Here's another one: This morning when I went to visit Grandpa Wilson in the hospital, I brought my laptop with yesterday's blog page loaded, and read him the blog and showed the pictures. When I got to the picture of Mi, you, and Ben, Gpa asked me to bring the computer closer so he could see. Then he mumbled something which I thought was, "he's a good looking guy," so I answered, "Yes, he is good looking," after which Gpa answered much more loudly, "I'd said he's a darn lucky guy!"
Love, Mom
P.S. Praying for you constantly, Joy. Praying for you too, Ben, and also Micheli & parents. May God expand your energy and see fit to use you for His glory this week.
aww joy wilson, first off can i just say your mom and grandpa are ADORABLE! so i see where you got it from :) I am so proud of you and all that you are doing....those are some long days! but I know that you are just loving every minute of it. I pray that GOd will continue to give you excitement and energy and just complete guidance to do His awesome work! God bless you always always always and know that you are in my prayers! Miss you !
aidin
Post a Comment
<< Home