It’s always something
So Catholics think they have a monopoly on organ music? They think they get to dictate who can and can’t compose and play organ music? Why would that be the case? Who has the authority to make it the case? What’s next, we have to seek permission from religious fanatics to play any instrument at all, and to sing, and to hum under our breath?
After Catholic fundamentalists prevented Swedish musician Anna von Hausswolff from performing in a church in Nantes on Tuesday, the Paris church Saint-Eustache has cancelled her planned 9 December concert, citing concerns over security.
On Tuesday, a group described by Nantes’ deputy mayor, Bassem Asseh, as “intolerant radicals” blocked the entrance to the church Notre-Dame de Bon-Port ahead of von Hausswolff’s show, accusing her of making “satanist” music, despite the show being organised in accordance with the Nantes diocese.
Why didn’t the police remove the bossy censors from the entrance?
Von Hausswolff’s primary instrument is the pipe organ, largely found in places of worship. British music publication the Quietus described the Swedish Grammy nominee’s music as exploring “unmapped territory where post-rock, prog, doom metal, modern classical and high church music all coexist in uneasy alliance”. Her lyrics have touched on gothic themes.
And she doesn’t need anyone’s permission for any of that.
“Yesterday night the far-right Catholic integralism won over art, but not over love,” Von Hausswolff wrote on Instagram, alongside a photograph of herself sitting in the empty church “while listening to about 50-100 integralists chanting and screaming outside the church’s doors, blocking the way for almost 400 people”.
She said it was tense and scary and that they had no choice about canceling because they didn’t have security. Who knew organ music required security?
Well, the Christchurch Town Hall has some of the best acoustics in the world and a wonderful pipe organ to boot. If von Hauswolff wants to come all the way out here, I’ll not only happily buy tickets, but promote the concert as well. I’m sure other NZ venues, both secular and mock-gothic churches would happily allow her to perform.
Maybe it’s just me, but why do I have the instinctive feeling that these people likely have more of a problem with this music than they do with child-fucking priests?
Fuck that sounds good. New genre added to the collection! Thanks, morons turning this into news; I’d not have discovered this otherwise.
So much for laicism.
YNnB, I suspect those people would be apoplectically angry with you for suggesting that priests fiddle with kiddies. And if they did, it was because those slutty children seduced them.
Up there in Heaven is Mary, sitting on her Queen’s Throne, she having been crowned Queen of Heaven a while back by Pope Pius the somethingorother. She takes note of all this praying, and mutters under her breath: “What bloody good would that do? I have been listening to this sort of thing now for over 2,000 years, passing endless such prayers to the Trinity upstairs. And do they give a stuff..? Not bloody likely..! Every prayer comes back down with dove shit all over it..! They must be cacking their holy pants..!
Rob, Brisbane City Hall has what is apparently a very fine pipe organ (though unfortunately legendarily bad acoustics) so don’t forget to send her across the Tasman.
What the hell has happened to the great tradition of lapsed Catholics?
It goes: you’re indoctrinated, realise how it’s all bullshit by the time you’re 8, spend several years in therapy unfucking your mind, live happily ever after as an atheist except for occasional surges of mother-induced guilt.
How on earth does anyone seriously continue with that shit to the point you stop a concert?
I’m going to look at kittens.
The pipe organ is descended from those whistle collections known as ‘pan pipes.’ Pan was the ancient Greek god of the wild
It is easy to see how uptight Catholics would fall to perceiving music as an invitation to the Devil. (Much the same as the Islamists there.) Forget about the musical heights reached by JS Bach on these glorified pipes of Pan.
Of course, some revernd fathers would be too busy buggering (literally) the lives of chiorboys to appreciate the finer points of the pipe organ and its music.
https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/gods/pan/
Apparently the objection is to lyrics like this:
https://genius.com/Anna-von-hausswolff-pills-lyrics
Not a huge surprise that Catholics wouldn’t want that performed in their churches.
Skeletor: you may have a point there.
But then again, if God is omniscient and omnipotent, when He created the Garden of Eden, complete with the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil AND a rather persuasive talking snake, He must have known what the outcome would be.
Anna von Hausswolff’s devil-ditty just bears that out. Everyone except God has a right to be shocked; to the bone. I am shocked. Shocked..!.
But it gets von Hausswolff publicity, which is the life-blood of anyone in the performing arts.
Not wanting X is one thing, and forcibly preventing X is another.
Also “their” churches is questionable. They don’t own them.
Also I might (slim chance, I admit) feel more sympathy if it weren’t for the lurid history of Catholic priests and nuns tormenting children to death in residential schools and industrial schools, and little peccadilloes like that.
As a matter of fact, the Catholic Church does claim a monopoly on organ music, and is still seriously pissed off at that uppity Lutheran J.S. Bach.
They’re nothing if not presumptuous.
But… the Catholic clergy IDENTIFY as celibate. Therefore there can be no problem about pedos in the pulpit.
QED
I’ve listened to a couple of her albums due this. The music is beautiful.
I was in a Catholic Rock group. Yes. That’s what it was. This was as a teen. I think we were pretty good. We played at many masses, but there were some priests who didn’t think electric bass and guitar were appropriate in their churches, so they kept us out and wouldn’t schedule us.
Some people are weird about this stuff.
The Diocese approved the performance. There is no reason I can see that the “objectionable” lyrics would be performed in the concert. This is a bunch of outside extremists overruling the decision of the local clergy because this musician wrote other songs they don’t like.
I was wondering if the protestors had heard my playing at mass for the nuns, way back in the mists of time, and objected in principal to any female organist who wasn’t herself a nun.