Singing and musical instruments have been vital components in the life of the believing community as far back in the Bible (Genesis 4:21) as Jubal who played the kinnor or harp. King David wrote many psalms, one of which is Psalm 150, and it charges us to praise the Lord with the trumpet, cymbals, stringed instruments, and organs. An engraving in this show has drawings of many biblical instruments.

 

Artists from the earliest times have portrayed musicians and used music as a focus of their work: from the 15th century illuminated French Book of Hours with David’s Psalm 51, to the plaster cast of Donatello’s St. Cecelia who was the patron saint of musicians, to Barbara Zuber’s joyful depiction of African Americans’ animated singing and dancing. There is no end to the list of artists who have offered us remarkable art celebrating the joy of music. one of which is Matisse’s Jazz poster from 1981, which commemorates his beloved lithograph suite, Jazz.

 

It is impossible to imagine the church without music. The monastic tradition used Gregorian chant and choral singing to enhance worship as seen in the elaborate Bifolium Antiphonal Leaves that a choir used in the 16th and 17th century. De Hooghe’s 18th engraving of the title page to the book of Psalms shows how the Dutch imagined music in biblical times. Not only the church, but also the Jewish community applauds music’s significance as seen in Rosenstein’s serigraph, Sing to the Lord a New Song and Marc Chagall’s two lithographs, one of David playing the harp and the other of an angel with a horn .

 

Artists from the 21th century continue to be inspired by the depth and joy of music. Marianne Lettiori, Doug Giebel, and Ed Knippers are examples of this rich tradition.

 

It is the hope of Bowden Collections that the art in this exhibition of twenty-five pieces from six centuries and many countries will help the observer appreciate how artists find inspiration in music, and that each viewer will be further inspired to celebrate and Fill the Earth with Music.

1. David and Harp, lithograph, Marc Chagall,

2. Angel with Trumpet, etching, Marc Chagall

3. A New Song, Serigraph, Mordecai Rosenstein

4. Antiphonal Leaves/Bifolium, music illumination,

5. Page 296 Alleluia, Unknown

6. Psalm 51, illumination, Unknown

7. Highland Park with Three Figures, Douglas Giebel

8. String Quartet, etching, Douglas Giebel

9. King David Playing the Flute, etching, Nissen Engel

10. Saint Cecelia, plaster cast after Donatello

11. Chorus, graphite & gouache on hymnal pages, Marianne Lettiori

12. Tent Meeting, Acrylic on paper, Barbara Zuber

13. Piano, sculptured book, unknown

14. Treble Clef, artist book/folded pages book, unknown

15. Psalms Title Page, vignette page, engraving, De Hooghe

16. A Heavenly Concert with Instruments, engraving, Dutch Old Master

17. Practice for the Second Coming, pen and ink, Edward Knippers

18. Musical Angels, lithograph, Freiman Stoltzfus

19. Musical Instruments of Biblical Times, Engraving, unknown

20. Hittite Horn Player, collagraph, Sandra Bowden

21. With Stringed Instruments, mixed media collage, Sandra Bowden

22. King David and His Harp, etching, Irving Amen

23. Summer Sonata, serigraph, Marcus Uzilevesky

24. Holy, Holy, Holy (Sanctus), collagraph mixed media, Sandra Bowden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antiphonal leaves
Unknown
Spanish
Calligraphy on vellum
1500-1600s
30 x 22 ½  each leaf,  open with two pages

 

Before the 15th century western music was written by hand and preserved in manuscripts, usually bound in large volumes. This striking and rare bifolium (two adjoining leaves) of musical score in Latin lyrics is from a Spanish Antiphonary. Since there was no commercially printed music, these choir books were placed on a large music stand while the choir stood in a semi-circle singing from the score.

 

 

Angel with Trumpet

Marc Chagall (1887-1985)

Russian/French

Etching

1989

8 ½ x 11

 

 

David with a Harp

Marc Chagall (1887-1985)

Russia/France

Lithograph Published by Verve in 1956

13 7/8 x 10 1/4

 

David was a writer and musician, composing major parts of the Psalms. Chagall portrayed David with a harp that he knew how to play ingeniously. His face is glowing in white, which is a sign for enlightenment, bestowed by God? The purple background symbolizes the presence of God, the King and leader of Israel.

 

Chagall is perhaps the foremost interpreter of the Bible in the 20th Century.  With wit and joy he has given us the stories that we know so well from the Old Testament and has even, as a Jew, created a memorable body of work on the Crucifixion.

 

 

Psalms Title Page

Romeyn de Hooghe (1645 –1708)

Netherlands

Engraving

1704

14 1/8 x 8 3/4

 

 

King David Playing the Flute

Nissen Engel

Israel/United States

Etching

12 ½ x 9 7/8

 

Nissen Engel was born in Israel but moved to New York City in 1965. He had an intimate acquaintance with the Scriptures. This delicate etching invites us to envision David playing a flute or wind instrument, perhaps recalling the times he spent time making music alone in the fields as he watched over his father’s sheep.

 

 

A Heavenly Concert with Instruments

Unknown Old Dutch Master

Netherlands

Engraving

1713

6 x 7 ½

This small, wonderful engraving from the Dutch Golden Age, showing voices and instruments, led by the prophet Habakkuk,  making music to God (represented by the pyramid form, top center). Music history mavens will be interested to note that the prophet is leading the ensemble with a baton, like a modern orchestral conductor. Everyone seems to be having a fine time. The two lads to the right of Habakkuk seem to be sharing a private joke. There is lots to look at and enjoy in this picture.

 

 

Make a Joyful Noise

Barbara Zuber

United States

Acrylic on paper

1980”s

 

Barbara Zuber’s depiction of a local tent meeting near Albany, NY, celebrates the vibrant black tradition of dancing and singing with jubilation and joy…all join in the song. Barbara is a Black American and was trained as an artist at Yale University.

 

 

Page 296/Alleluia, Alleluia

Unknown calligrapher

Illuminated manuscript on paper

c. 17th Century

19 5/8 x 12 ½

 

The translation of the Vulgate text reads, Alleluia, Alleluia. I will love thee, O Lord, my strength, and my refuge: my Lord is my firmament, and my deliverer. Glory. Alleluia, Alleluia

 

 

Santa Cecilia

Donatello

Italy

Bas-relief reproduction

Donatello’s bas-relief of Contessina De Bardi is portrayed as St Cecilia, who is the patron saint of musicians.

 

 

Treble Clef Book

Unknown artist

United States

Artists book with folded pages

2018

 

Cleverly folded pages of this book combine to form a treble cleft as the book stands on end.

 

 

Piano Book

Unknown Artist

England

2018

Carved book

 

This English artist cleverly cut the pages of a book to form a grand piano with the black cover of becoming the lid of the instrument.

 

 

 

Chorus

Marianne Lettieri

United States

Graphite and gouache on Episcopal hymnal pages

2013

22 x 15 inches

 

 

Maybe the angels sing along when mortals worship, repeating refrains and amplifying their voices.

 

 

Practice for the Second Coming

Edward Knippers

Pen and ink

2021

13 ¼ x 10 7/8

 

Knippers swiftly sketched pen and ink drawing recalls 1 Corinthians 15:52... In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised ...

 

 

Sing to the Lord A New Song

Mordechai Rosenstein

United States

Serigraph calligraph

Late 1980s

24 x 20

 

Mordechai Rosenstein’s unique style evolved as a result of various influences. He was a member of the first graduating class of Akiba Hebrew Academy. While studying at The Philadelphia College of Art, Abstract Expressionist professor Franz Kline profoundly influenced Rosenstein. By uniting his interest in Judaica and painting, Rosenstein has given a contemporary meaning to the art of Hebrew calligraphy.

 

Musical Instruments of Bible Times

Unknown engraver

Copper Engraving from Dictionary of Sacred Scripture

1759

14 ½ x 9 ½

 

This page from an 18th century Dictionary of Sacred Scripture gives us a detailed look at instruments that were used in Biblical times.

 

Alleluia, Page 307

Unknown calligrapher

Spain

Illuminated manuscript on paper

16th/17th century

19 5/8 x 12 ½

 

This illuminated music manuscript was created using paper so dates later than those on vellum. The text is from the Vulgate that was the liturgical language of the church.

 

Page 307 reads: strength; The Lord is my rock, and my refuge, and my deliverer. Glory. Alleluia, alleluia. He proved me, as one that had the owner of the gold that was through the fire,  Psalm 18 : 2 and 1 Peter 1:7

 

 

Hittite Horn Player

Sandra Bowden

Oil mixed media

1989

22 x 30

 

This collagraph uses an image found in Carchamesh of an 8th or 9th century BCE Hittite horn player.

 

 

Holy, Holy, Holy (Sanctus)

Sandra Bowden

Collagraph mixed media

1990

30 x 22

 

The Greek passage from Revelations 4 known as the Sanctus: "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord, God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come," and Benjamin Britten’s Sanctus exchange voices in this mixed media collagraph.

 

 

String Quartet

Douglas R. Giebel

Etching

8 x 10"

 

A family of musicians play in the open air surrounded by gardens, trees and a pond filled with natures reflections.

 

 

Highland Park with Three Figures

Douglas R. Giebel

Oil on Canvas

2008

14 x 16"

 

Music-making in a pastoral setting traditionally evokes the idea of humanity in harmony with God’s good creation, an echo of Eden. Highland Park, Rochester, NY, was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted with these reflections in mind. The figures included her are family members adding some emotional weight to the landscape.

 

Musical Angels

Freiman Stoltzfus

United States

Lithograph  14/100

2002

18 x 22

 

The delicate Musical Angels of Stoltzfus recall Fra Angelico’s angels in Convent of San Marco in Florence, Italy. They float in mid-air as they play their instruments, and one can almost hear the gentle sounds fill the air. Freiman Stoltzfus is a renowned artist from Lancaster, PA who was raised Amish-Mennonite.

 

King David and His Harp

Irving Amen (1918 – 2011)

Woodcut 139/200

1969

17 5/8 x 13 ¾

 

This etching and aquatint of King David and His Harp depicts a musician totally absorbed as he plays and sings a psalm. Amen was a prolific artist who worked in oils and various printing techniques. Most of his subjects were biblical characters and studies of people.

 

 

Sonata

Marcus Uzilevsky

United States

Serigraph 29/90

1980c

25 ½ x 15 ½

 

Uzilevsky is known for his fluid interpretations of musical scores with flowing calligraphic lines, notes, accidentals, and other imagined elements. Aside from being an artist this California artist was also a musician.