We have before us the fiendishness of business competition and the world war, passion and wrongdoing, antagonism between classes and moral depravity within them, economic tyranny above and the slave spirit below.
Karl BarthRead
It may be that when the angels go about their task praising God, they play only Bach. I am sure, however, that when they are together en famille they play Mozart.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that while Bach represents the formal praise of God, Mozart embodies the joy of familial connection.
In this quote, Karl Barth reflects on the differences in musical expression, positing that the structured and devotional works of Bach align with the divine praise of angels. Conversely, he implies that the lighter, more playful compositions of Mozart resonate with a sense of familial joy and intimacy, suggesting a duality in the experience of music—one that is both sacred and personal.
Themes
MusicPraiseAngelFamilyJoyBachMozart
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the role of music in spirituality, this quote can illustrate varying perspectives on sacred and secular music.
More from Karl Barth
All quotes →When we speak of our virtues we are competitors, when we confess our sins we become brothers.
Karl BarthRead
Conscience is the perfect interpreter of life.
Karl BarthRead
That the zeal for God's honor is also a dangerous passion, that the Christian must bring with him the courage to swim against the tide instead of with it... accept a good deal of loneliness, will perhaps be nowhere so clear and palpable as in the church, where he would so much like things to be different. Yet he cannot and he will not refuse to take this risk and pay this price... he belongs where the reformation of the church is underway or will again be underway.
Karl BarthRead
In the Church of Jesus Christ there can and should be no non-theologians.
Karl BarthRead
Christian worship is the most momentous, most urgent, most glorious action that can take place in human life.
Karl BarthRead
Similar quotes
You ask for your audience's investment in your music; you're in a relationship with them. And their relationship with the E Street Band is separate from whatever else I might do. I like the idea of us being something that people rely on.
Bruce SpringsteenRead
I've never mastered the guitar. Either I was playing it, or it was playing me; it depends how you look at it. As a kid, the only things I had to do was go to school, do my homework, and play guitar.
Jimmy PageRead
Technically, I'm not a guitar player, all I play is truth and emotion.
Jimi HendrixRead
I come to sing for the people, not for the government. God made the sunshine for everyone and made the moon for everyone. We have to follow his example so we have to play music for everyone too. We have a message, and in order for our message to reach the people, we have to play.
Ziggy MarleyRead
I think, for one thing, all of us remember those teenage years and those songs that we fell in love with and the music scene that we were part of. So, in a certain way, music cuts through time like almost nothing else. You know, it makes us feel like we're back in an earlier moment.
Jennifer EganRead
The tone is in your fingers, not in your amp or effects.
Steve VaiRead