Mindful Music launches new "Sacred Classical" playlist for Christian/Catholic schools.

Long-time Mindful Music listeners from Savage Family Homeschool recently visited The Well to talk about the new "Sacred Classical" playlist. 

Inspired by Christian/Catholic schools that use Mindful Music Moments, in January 2023 we began piloting a "Sacred Classical" playlist themed around the seasons of the Christian calendar. With this playlist, we emphasize the sacred origins of many classical pieces and connect that to the modern-day need to help K-12 students in a Christian/Catholic school setting find strategies to regulate themselves and have the capacity for higher learning.

The Savage family talked especially about the moving selection "Lift Every Voice and Sing," a popular hymn in 42 different Christian hymnals and commonly known as the "Black national anthem." The hymn speaks to themes of thanksgiving, but also resilience and freedom. For these students, this piece–written in 1905–was a powerful reminder of "the unspeakable difficulty and sacrifice of fighting for true freedom in our country for so many."

Did you know that many classical music selections are inspired by old hymns, requiems, organ music, and biblical texts from the Christian/Catholic church? Composers from as far back as the European Renaissance and Baroque eras–Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Vivaldi–wrote music influenced by the church. And creating music inspired by church settings has not stopped. Newer hymns based on classical music–"Be Still My Soul" based on "Finlandia" by Sibelius or "God Beyond All Praising" from "The Planets: IV. Jupiter" by Holst– and the rise of gospel traditions have infinitely expanded the Christian/Catholic canon of music that could speak to a Mindful Moment.

With this unique version of Mindful Music, we are more explicit in the audio journeys about Christian themes within the music like faith, holiness, prayer, grace, and Latin texts. We connect those themes to practices within a Christian/Catholic school setting like morning mass, prayer, and self-reflection–all meditative, mindfulness techniques that offer an opportunity to self-reflect on our emotions and state of mind which is what Mindful Music aims to do.

Read the music selections from our pilot playlist here.

If you and your Christian/Catholic school are interested in this playlist for 2023-24, you can sign up today or contact bryce@thewell.world for more info.