JOHN WILFRED HEATON (1918 - 2000) PART ONE

JOHN WILFRED HEATON (1918 - 2000)

John Wilfred Heaton was a composer of refined sensibility and technical skill the true extent of whose creative gifts has only emerged since his death in May 2000. As his many admirers suspected the music currently in print represents just a small part of what he actually composed. Wilfred's life in music was underpinned by wide-ranging interests in the arts in philosophy and by his strong religious background and faith...

Born in Sheffield to Salvationist parents Wilfred Heaton's musical talents were first nurtured through the Salvation Army. His piano teacher Salvationist songster Mrs Bennett guided him to his first musical milestone an LRAM in piano awarded when he was just 18. He left school to become an apprentice in a small brass instrument manufacturer and repair business in Sheffield.

It was expected that Wilfred would dedicate his musical talents to the Salvation Army and in his own words he continued to "do a good job" for the Army throughout his life. The technical and musical complexities of his best work whilst placing him firmly in the European classical mainstream were often thought to be too radical for Salvation Army performance. Those pieces that were published like the March Praise and the Meditation Just as I am  have become firm Salvation Army favourites but several more were rejected. Others like Toccata eventually found their way into print many years later.
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From a SA internet site-

I see that Wilfred Heaton's "Just As I Am" is on the list of own-choice test pieces at the 2012 European Brass Band Contest. I doubt whether the composer, or many others traditionally familiar with it, would have imagined such usage. Based on a theme so closely linked to the altar calls of Billy Graham and SA prayer meetings, some might see an incongruity there. On the other hand, it's noticeable how many contesting bands have recorded and performed it in recent times, presumably for its intrinsic musical values. And so many years after it was first published by the SA.

Brian Bowen (former NYSB Bandmaster and well known composer)

Some of the comments that followed;

•        Great music by composers such as the atheist Mahler and the Catholic Beethoven can, I believe, convey a spiritual message, whether those composers intended it to or not. But there's something about Army music that can touch peoples’ souls like nothing else. •         A non-Christian reading this blog post (and seeing that this is genuinely a question we wrestle with) will probably think “What on earth! How offensive that the Church wouldn’t want me to help them with my musical skills… I always knew they were a closed group…now I know it for sure!”

• ·            It brings them in to our community and gives them a chance to see what      church is all about, when otherwise they’d be unlikely to come into a church at all.

•        We want out musical offerings to be as excellent as possible. We are moved and stirred by listening to a secular composer or orchestra playing a classical piece  or by a secular band rocking out a big anthem. Why can’t we be moved in our worship by someone really skillful who isn’t a Christian, playing an instrument?

•        We are often afraid of the world outside the walls of our churches, and in the worst case, treat non-Christians like they are ‘lesser’ or some kind of aliens who might rub off on us and pollute our spirituality. This isn’t true and needs to stop! Having different people on our music teams helps us get over those awful, wrong stereotypes.

•        The divide we have put up between the sacred and the secular is wrong anyway. We can’t compartmentalize life like this. it’s a very ‘Greek’ approach –  in contrast, he Hebrew worldview was wholistic – everything is part of the same whole. So we need to see that things and people outside of the church can reflect God in very real ways, as their gifts came from HIM regardless of whether they believe in him or choose to use their gifts for him!

•         Having the best skilled musicians on the stage/up the front, will create a culture where musicians in the church want to get better as they have a standard set, and someone to look up to skill-wise.

•        We can learn loads from non-churched people…they can help us see how coming to our churches feel to a non-believer, and whether our culture, language, approach and community feel, all need to change in order to help other non-Christians come and visit.

•         Putting people up the front is saying to the church that they are role models who can be totally trusted and their lifestyles copied. Putting people in that position, when they don’t share our beliefs, could be dangerous and damaging.

•         It suggests that we value skill level above heart and motives, when really it’s more important that someone is worshiping on their instrument, not how good they are at playing it.

•         Being in upfront leadership should be a reward for people within the church who work and serve hard, not people who don’t even usually attend or tithe or serve.

•         It might cause Christian musicians to want to start playing more in the secular scene…which some people wouldn’t see as a ‘good thing’…the non Christian musicians might be a gateway into those kind of gig opportunities…then the parents/friends/pastors of the Christian musicians might be uncomfortable with them playing secular clubs and festivals.

•         It’s awkward and tricky… what do you set as ground rules?? “Please don’t use bad language or blasphemy here..” or “please close your eyes when we pray”.. or “you can only keep playing here if you enroll in this ‘seeker’s course”. It’s hard to know where the lines are, and what should and shouldn’t be said…it’s easier to just have people like us doing those kind of roles as we know what’s expected and what the protocol is.