a non-religious but spiritual quandry

[cotten]

Originally Posted by Nyghthawk

Art inspired by one's faith is often quite amazing. Think Taj Mahal and Sistine Chapel. Music is the same. Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi, etc. Modern 'inspirational' music is not in the same category at all. JMHO.

I get what you're saying, completely, but only with a small caveat: there is a very small percentage of today's "inspirational" music, for lack of a better term, that is of such high quality - in terms of both the lyrics and the music - that it is likely to still be used twenty or more years from now.

That's a very high compliment, and it is equally true of today's "secular" music. The vast majority of both "inspirational" and "secular" music heard today will simply evaporate like the morning mist, only to be heard again on rare occasions. This is not new. J.S. Bach is held in almost universal high regard, yet many of his over 200 cantatas are seldom performed today. The same is true of hymn writers like Fanny Crosby or Charles Wesley. They wrote some great hymns, but the vast majority they wrote has not stood the test of time.

Among the best of today's Christian composers today, I think, is the Irish/Nashville husband and wife team, Keith and Kristyn Getty. http://www.gettymusic.com/home I think several songs they have written and performed will still be sung twenty or more years from now.

cotten