Shakespeare and Church Musicians

In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” we find Juliet in a conundrum.  The problem?  Romeo, the love of her life, is a Montague — the family that is warring with her family, the Capulets.  Juliet determines (in a soliloquy no less) that the name Montague is the issue, not Romeo himself.

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

In other words, the name is not important as the underlying object.

So how does this relate to church musicians?  Here’s your test:  How many different names can you find for “church musician?”  Think about it — I’ll wait.

Depending on your church’s traditions and how broadly you’re thinking, you might say organist, pianist, instrumentalist, soloist, choir director, choirmaster, Minister of Worship, Minister of Music, Director of Worship, Director of Music and Worship Arts, Director of Celebration Ministries, or a host of other words chained together to create a job title.

These names have their merits and and to some extent describe the underlying person/job, but they lack the church musician’s essential purpose — leading the people’s song.  In “The Church Musician,” Paul Westermeyer writes,

Most contemporary terms for the church musician . . . point either to a post-Enlightenment mentality in which music is for entertaining, or to a neutral conception that relates to music alone.  Our terms do not point to the role of the church musician in the body of Christ (p. 15).

Westermeyer contends that “none of these terms relate primarily to the people’s song.”  However, the people in these roles are often actively involved in this leadership responsibility.  His preference, and the precedence in Lutheran history, is to call these leaders “kantors” (or “cantors”).  Find out more about kantors here.

Whether named or not, your church does have kantors (and you may be one of them).  The point is not to start a crusade to have a title changed, but to understand the essential role of the church musician as a leader of the church’s song.  Names are important (no offense to Juliet).

I will let Paul Westermeyer conclude and provide some encouragement to all the kantors out there:

To lead the people in song is at once simple and complex . . . Men or women can do it, and those with the most creative capacities will never cease to be challenged by it.  It encompasses the simplest amateur expression and the most perfect possible professional performance.  It is for the part-time amateur and the full-time J.S. Bach.  And it is one of the most rewarding things you will ever do. (p. 16, The Church Musician)

Related posts:

1. Nurturing Future Church Musicians
2. Buszin on Church Musicians
3. The Other Essential Lutheran Library – Musician Edition
4. LSB Resources: Additional Indexes
5. So What Does a Kantor Do?