Reflection This Week
IS THIS TRADITION DYING?

   We’ve been having a long, long discussion on the Vestry, spread out over several meetings, about what to do with our pipe organ. The instrument is over one hundred years old, was moved to our building from an old Methodist church fifteen or so years ago thanks to a family’s generous donation, and replaced an electronic organ that had seen its better days. (Some would say it never saw even one good day!) In the ensuing years we’ve spent over $100,000 in upkeep and repairs and it is still giving us trouble. Age has a way of doing that, and not only with organs. How much longer it will hold on is anyone’s guess.

   That uncertainty moved the Vestry to commission a task force to look into what it would cost to replace the organ with another pipe organ. They dutifully did their work and came back with two possible replacements each costing close to a half-million dollars. We swallowed hard, thanked them not enough for their work, and began the discussion. Both the Vestry and the task force knew that a capital campaign was not an option. But what to do?

   After much discussion we still have not come to any consensus. Some believe that our Anglican Tradition almost impels us to provide the best possible music in the classical tradition, meaning, of course and if possible, a pipe organ. Others believe a good electronic organ is sufficient. Some think the piano is really good enough. Others are adverse even to writing a letter to the parish to ascertain whether or not there might be someone or someones willing to donate such an instrument, as those funds could better be used for our many outreach ministries. That is where the discussion remains.

   As I thought about the dynamics involved, I was reminded of an excerpt of an article in The New Republic by Edward Rothstein on Lawrence Kramer’s Why Classical Music Still Matters (in Context, October 2007). Both men are lamenting the passing of the classical musical tradition in Western culture. Rothstein: “What has changed is not how much the tradition means to its devotees, but how little it means to everyone else. From being the center of cultural aspiration, art music has become almost quaintly marginal….” Or, as another article asks, “How many people listen to organ music on their Ipod?”

   Traditions die. That is a given. Some are forcefully put to death – changing Prayer Books, for instance. Others die of their own natural accord: there is no one around any longer to keep the tradition alive. We can’t meet at Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving any longer because Grandma has died and we all live all over the country. Some traditions die because they no longer have any meaning for those who would be their heirs.

   When those who are the heirs do not see eye-to-eye, and perhaps cannot or will not, for whatever reasons they can’t or won’t, the tradition becomes imperiled. The question always remains as to the importance of a specific tradition and the obligation of the upholders of that tradition to continue to uphold it.

   The Vestry’s lack of consensus on the issue of maintaining the tradition of excellence in music raises even further questions: Should we care? Why should we care? Is this a tradition we should allow to die by doing nothing and allowing the organ to go to its rest naturally, a tradition that we should deliberately put to death or a tradition we should preserve? Comments and conversation is most welcomed.            WJP