John Dillenberger

I note the recent death of John Dillenberger, prominent theologian of the arts. Obituaries have appeared in the Times and the Boston Globe. A tribute also appeared from the Graduate Theological Union, of which he was founding President.

Mary Berry

I note the passing of musicologist and champion of plainsong Mary Berry - see an obituary in the Times. It notes the impetus given to preservation by the liturgical changes within the Catholic church during the 1960s and early 1970s.

Contemporary Church Music

I note the current London Festival of Contemporary Church Music, happening at St Pancras' church on Euston Road in London. An annual event, it has commissioned new work from many of the most prominent British composers, and there are several premieres this time. Full programme details are available from the festival site, and Radio 3 will be broadcasting a Festival Eucharist on Sunday, at 4pm.

Sacred Music

I've recently been following the BBC4 series on sacred music, presented by Simon Russell Beale. The series, whilst not quite being a 'history' as such, spent time on Perotin, Palestrina, Byrd, Tallis and Bach. Russell Beale presented most engagingly, with an enthusiasm hard to resist, and the performances from The Sixteen were splendid, as usual.
The series has been trenchantly criticised by Peter Phillips in the Spectator, and many of his criticisms of it are justified, although, with a later letter writer (23rd April, not on the website), I rather doubt the appeal of his proposed TV music history, with lots of straight-to-camera discussion of musicological detail from a group of experts, after Ken Burns.
Most interesting for me was the near-constant urge, never quite indulged, to say something theological about the music itself. In many places the music was described as 'spiritual' (whatever that means, really), and the final sign-off was (quoting from memory) to the effect that when this music is performed "it's as if someone is listening." It is symptomatic of the general vagueness in our public discussion about the nature of sacred music, and testament to the degree to which most theological discussion of the problem has never really been communicated outside the academy.

The poetics of Nonconformity

I note a couple of recent items in connection with Tom Paulin, and the relationship between English Nonconformity and its poetic results. Paulin touches on it in a review of the recent edition of the letters of Ted Hughes, in which it is Hughes' religious background which allows him to write in a "spontaneous, direct, unforced and unflinching manner." See also a review of Paulin's own work in the Dublin Review of Books, and most recently, Terry Eagleton on Paulin, the "Puritan at play", and its political subtexts, in the Guardian Review.
I should be very interested to learn of any work that has tried to explore such a relation more generally, as I'm not aware of much to date. It could have interesting implications for thinking about religious poetry, but also more broadly about liturgical change and other religio-cultural issues. That a connection between background and poetic output can be made is evident from a recent article on George Barker.

See also an earlier post on William Empson.

Pentecost Festival

I note in passing some events relating to the arts as part of this Festival in London, on the weekend of May 9th-11th. There is a day event on 'Sacred Spaces', focussing on the new interior of St Martin-in-the-Fields. There is also the grand final of the Hope Academy competition (a Christianised Fame Academy) and Luv Esther, which is described as a pop opera.

George Bell, Bishop of Chichester

2008 sees the fiftieth anniverary of Bell's death, and there are two strands of academic events dealing with his legacy, which includes his work as patron of the arts. Chichester Cathedral are to hold a series of lectures, including one by Sir Christopher Frayling on the arts.
There is also to be a major conference in June, also in Chichester, organised by the George Bell Institute and the University of Chichester. I myself will be speaking at that event, on Bell's work in religious drama, and in particular on The Coming of Christ, the 1928 play that Bell commissioned from John Masefield for Canterbury Cathedral.

Conference on twentieth century stained glass

I note this conference, due to happen in London in July/August this year - details available on the site of the British Society of Master Glass Painters. I would be particularly interested to hear the contribution from Patrick Reyntiens.

Post-1945 war memorials

I'm bound to draw attention here to my own article on the Church of England and war memorials after 1945, which is now available online (to subscribing libraries), ahead of print publication in the Forum for Modern Language Studies. I've tried to explore the debates that took place between planners, artists, architects and clergy between 1940 and 1947, and the differing emphases on beauty and utility. Despite the relatively small number of new memorials that were actually built, there seems to have been a much livelier debate than was often supposed; the question was not at all settled in favour of new village halls or social clubs, and against new lumps of 'useless' carved stone. It also in passing suggests that the war had not been a straight-forwardly 'secularising' influence on elite discourse.

The next stage in the enquiry is to conduct some local research into the processes by which the advice coming from the 'establishment' is received and enacted or ignored at a local level. I shall be presenting some initial findings from Sussex to the IHR Locality and Region seminar at the beginning of May.

Auden's religion

A couple of interesting recent items on Auden. The first is the Guardian's decision to ask Rowan Williams, a poet himself, to write a preface to the Auden booklet in their recent series. The second thing is the recent publication of the third volume of Edward Mendelson's edition of Auden's prose (1949-55), which covers some of the most interesting of Auden's theological writing. It was reviewed by Frank Kermode in the LRB (subscription needed for full article)