The Music and the Venue

Here is David Byrne (once of the band “Talking Heads”) speaking on how precisely the music is crafted to fit the venue. His treatment of cathedral acoustics is as superficial as his understanding of liturgical music. But his point is still a strong one: the space and the music are one. This is critical to remember when we try to make sense of the historical coincidence of strange church architecture, carpeted rooms, amplification systems, and pop music in liturgy. This issue also weighs heavily on new scholas who are attempting to sing in church environments that have been constructed around the expectation of pop music.