The Catholic Culture Podcast: Ep. 68

February 28, 2020

Thomas recently had the privilege of playing piano on Catholic composer Mark Christopher Brandt’s latest album. butterfly It consists of a suite for string quartet and piano, and two piano solo pieces. The suite, which uses the transformation of a butterfly as an allegory of conversion, was described by Catholic poet Dana Gioia as “fresh, inventive, and lively.”

In this episode, you can hear the beautiful Butterfly Suite in full, and then Thomas shares what he learned from Mark during this project, and Mark (as always) shares a lot of wisdom about music and the Christian life. An equally beautiful conversation ensues as we share. Here are examples of his journey in both.

Central to the conversation about music is the continuity of historical artists and the deeper continuity of Christian artists. This means that regardless of what reception our art receives in this world, our work is timeless because our first audience is the heavenly courts.

content

[2:51] Attached text butterfly

[4:38] butterfly suite

[21:09] Why Mark wanted another pianist (Thomas) to play on this project

[23:22] Gives string players more room for personal creativity than is usual in the classical world

[28:06] What Mark taught Thomas in the studio: Making mistakes is not a sin

[36:54] Benefits of documenting practice results moving forward

[41:59] A timeline of Mark’s albums over the decades as a composer

[47:09] Being part of music’s historical “continuum” and its evolution

[52:38] Mark’s advice for those starting to learn composition

[1:02:41] Modern pop has lost its connection to what came before.

[1:07:17] Joyful Christians are mistaken for naivety