The very concept of “gospel” comes from the Anglo-Saxon and means “good news”. This concept is widely understood and closely related to the Christian tradition. The good news that gospel is carrying implies the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God on earth. The genre trait of gospel music thus implies the praise and celebration of Christian doctrines. Gospel has developed from the very beginning of the Christian tradition and implies the establishment and expression of faith in the basic symbols of Christianity. A separate place in the gospel tradition is occupied by the figure of Jesus Christ, and the recognition of his immortality, the fact of his death for the sins of people and the subsequent resurrection. The most common idea of this genre is within the tradition of the Baptist Church, where gospel was formed into a peculiar genre with a melodic thematic and performative tradition.
However, throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the gospel tradition has taken on an impressive number of ramifications. In the current situation of many musical genres and the fullness of the music industry, gospel could not remain in an isolated state and develop on its own. It is known that in the Western cultural tradition of our time there is a fairly large demand for music with a Christian message. There are even separate charts for Christian music that does not imply that this music is traditional or sacred like a church choir.
However, many of the Baptist gospel traditions find their way into contemporary popular music. Many funk, rock and soul performers have used gospel elements in their music, re-arranging gospel songs for a live band. There are many relevant examples of the integration of gospel traditions into popular music, from the conservative to the experimental. The Australian group Hillsong Worship deserves special attention, as their songs and live performances, when viewed, reveal strong similarities with the traditional song mass in the southern Methodist church.
Hillsong Worship is a group that is obviously quite popular in particular circles. Judging by their performance, it is obvious that they bring together people from a wide variety of classes and demographics in their audience. Their target is a Christian audience, and therefore the differences in the statuses of people are not important for them. This underlines one of the main messages of this group – their desire to convey the unifying and transcending idea of the Christian religion.
The musical group essentially continues the tradition of modern gospel, which uses modern technological innovation to expand its audience. Their performance is a full-fledged stadium show, with light and music, detailed visuals. It is also noteworthy that the very organization of the songs at the concert makes it similar to the performances of world-famous rock bands performing in arenas and stadiums. Most of the band’s songs follow the format of popular rock songs with a clear verse-chorus backbone. The band’s choruses have an explosive quality, mostly working on the dynamics of a strong emotional crescendo versus a quiet and melodramatic verse. This strategy of emotional dynamics is synchronized with the textual message, which appears to be more or less homogeneous in the textual work of the group.
Hillsong Worship’s lyrics are centered around the figure of Jesus Christ and his salutary role in the lives of song heroes and all of humanity. Some songs concentrate on the figure of a hero who previously lived in ignorance or sin, but now has received his sight and is grateful to Jesus for it. The main male vocalist Reuben Morgan performs at the concert several heartfelt piano ballads about his spiritual quest. The gospel tradition does not imply the logic of countercultural protest or any kind of doubt or experience, unlike rock music. Using rock instrumentation, Hillsong Worship amplifies the emotional charge of their music to match the stadium scale of their concerts.
Hillsong Worship use a range of different musical instruments at their concerts for a variety of creative purposes. The main female vocalist Darlene Zschech is the frontwoman of the band, who also provides an acoustic guitar backing for a more grounded atmosphere. The band uses expansive string arrangements to give their music a cinematic, epic feel. The cello occupies a special place in their group, the low timbre of which emotionally resonates with the crescendo of other instruments in the refrains. Speaking about the choruses, it should be noted that the songs of the group are aimed at the most comfortable perception and are very easy to remember. The songs are written in fairly simple progressions of three or four chords. However, the thoughtfulness of the arrangements and the melodic qualities of the material make the simplicity of these songs grandiose. Following the tradition of gospel music and at the same time maintaining the format of a rock concert, the band broadcasts all the lyrics of their songs on huge screens. This makes it possible for absolutely every spectator to become an accomplice of the concert by sharing the general experience and receiving indescribable impressions.
Hillsong Worship performs music that is categorized into the Praise and Worship genre. Such music focuses on glorifying God’s greatness, but more importantly, it has real connections with religious institutions. This group is formed as an offshoot of the Hillsong Church, a Methodist group of 150,000 in Australia. This makes one think about how powerful instrument music can be in influencing human souls. The concert of this group combines the traditions of a rock concert and a religious mass in a modernized church. The group also brings together performers from different ethnic groups and cultures – many of the performers are cultural stereotypes in terms of visual representation. Such an image decision is also aimed at expressing the message about the unimportance of the social status of race or gender in front of the greatness of the Christian God.
The band strives to create a sense of the grandeur of the moment in the audience during the concert. The refrain “What a beautiful day it is, what a powerful day it is” from the opening song characterizes this aspiration, amplified by powerful tribal percussion and the support of a string ensemble (“Hillsong Worship Best Praise Songs”, 2020). Thus, the concerts of this group are a kind of remakes, reimagining of the traditional gospel in the form of a bombastic show, using sensation to convey a religious message. The leaders of the group, Morgan and Zschech, are also the main pastors of the church, which only underlines the significance of the concerts for the church members. Thus, what might seem like a concert by a Christian rock band turns out to be a more serious event. Hillsong concerts have the sacral characteristics of the official religion’s celebrations and ceremonies.
Work Cited
“[LIVE] Hillsong Worship Best Praise Songs 2021 Playlist – Best Christian Easter Worship Songs.”YouTube, uploaded by Worship Music Hits, 2020.