In north america place like canada, people dont go to Church anymore so churches should have a purpose, we should transform our white Church into black Church.
I will explain, notice in some black Church there is music, this is what drawn people to Church not the sermons.So we should use these Church for concert , classical concert that is.
Notice how a Church is an idea place for a classical concert since it's spacy, just notice how the Church organ sound rad so imagine Messiaen concert in your local Church is organ work or
whatever, you get the idea.
Im sad to see Churches are close here in north america most of the time because of thieves, churches should be a place of music and classical fit in sutch a place.
Than charge money for admission so the churches could give it to the poor or the third world country that struggle(hypotetical i dont know).
Here in the UK we regularly go to concerts in churches. Many of them are ancient buildings and subject to planning permission - so they have insufficient toilet facilities. Same thing applies to some theatres as well.
There is also the question of interval drinks - many will not have wet bar facilities.
Basically a good idea and adopted by many churches here. Some churches have been de-consecrated and turned into dedicated arts centres.
You're probably in a different region of the country. Out in Nashville, we don't have that many empty churches. Also, a lot of our bigger mainstream churches regularly host classical music. So I guess I can't help you with your problem.
Trying to lure people to Church by playing music most of them don't care about doesn't seem like a winning idea. Charging them money in the process only makes it worse.
Apart from Sunday services, Churches as long as I can remember have provided space to play for classical music commercial interests. Such as recording, or performances for a paying audience.
These have been wins, wins, wins for everyone. The churches make money, the producers make money. And sometimes, the artists even make money.
As HP points out, some of the finest recorded sounds are from churches.
Closed churches are a sad affair. Turning them into restaurants, retail shops, whatever.
WARNING: Mini-rant for today. Pews are the most uncomfortable seating option known to man. I'd rather sit on a rock. Pews are meant to keep people awake/tortured for The Word of God. No doubt they're successful in that venture, and also reducing repeat visits.:devil:
All other considerations aside (such as lack of capacity for bathrooms) I am for church buildings being rented out for classical concerts. It would bring some extra income to the church, and some who come to the concert may return for a Sunday service.
Some "working" churches do a disservice to musical performances by their physical structure. I once attended an orchestral classical concert in Gloucester cathedral (U.K.) where the prolonged reverberation simply produced a muddled mush of sound. Smaller venues, however, can be modified, once deconsecrated, to tame the acoustics and the results may be fantastic - e.g. the well-known St George's, Brandon Hill, in Bristol.
I saw a performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 8 (Symphony of a Thousand) at York Minster a few years ago. Unfortunately the first movement did not sound good at all, the voices got mixed up and mushed due to the acoustics. This was particularly obvious during the "Accende Lumen Sensibus" section where you couldn't hear what was being sung.
However the second part of the work sounded much better where in general the music is much quieter and less intense.
I am a huge fan of the Rothko Chapel and I heard that the acoustics are good there but I never have been there.
I love the art in it... at least from what I have seen in the photos.
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