The Bible has inspired an immense body of beautiful music (Christmas, classical, etc.) What are some other examples of works of fiction that have inspired great music?

Submitted by upvoter1542 t3_zunako in books

The Bible has inspired an immense body of beautiful music (Christmas, classical, pop, etc.) What are some other examples of works of fiction that have inspired great music? I have heard some great Lord of the Rings inspired music. One of my favorite works, Goethe's Faust inspired a wonderful opera by Charles Gounod. What are your favorite examples of music inspired by fiction?

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sisharil t1_j1l9r0s wrote

This is a weird phrasing.

The Bible isn't specifically what inspired all the beautiful music. The religion of Christianity and the many localized pre-Christian religions that became absorbed into Christianity and were an influence on the adoption of many Saints' Days and other religious festivals, including Christmas, inspired an immense body of beautiful music.

The same is true of other religious traditions. Both Islam and Judaism have beautiful music traditions, to name a couple of other major world religions, as do probably many or perhaps even most other religions.

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Ferrettbueller t1_j1k98gq wrote

Lord of the rings. Amon amrth is names after mount doom Most of led zep is eother sex or LotR

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upvoter1542 OP t1_j1k9sj2 wrote

I love Amon Amarth! I'm also a fan of Rhapsody of Fire, we could argue that their narrative albums are essentially inspired by Lord of the Rings. They even had Christopher Lee sing with them! https://youtu.be/Z93SdirnzTw

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j0m1n1n t1_j1mu8rk wrote

Don't forget "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy.

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Instameat t1_j1kalft wrote

Yeah but only because it is full of stories that were themselves inspired by other religious texts, and fables.

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Whaffled t1_j1kam4r wrote

Gabriel Fauré's incidental music to Pelléas et Mélisande, a Symbolist play by Maurice Maeterlinck about forbidden, doomed love.

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boxer_dogs_dance t1_j1k9pa2 wrote

The legend of don Juan inspired plays and an opera

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Antfarm1918 t1_j1kbszf wrote

Before the Romantic period of the 19th century much serious’ (as opposed to comic) opera was inspired by classical mythology. There are several works inspired by the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, for example.

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ItsMeTK t1_j1kzg1p wrote

Orpheus is a great pull. It’s still happening today with Hadestown.

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More-Assistant-8573 t1_j1kdwuk wrote

The Game of Thrones orchestra music is amazing.

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Orbeef t1_j1kk24h wrote

Anything Ramin Djawadi does is phenomenal. That man has too much talent for one person.

The melody he composed for The Rains of Castemere is one of the most hauntingly beautiful things I've ever heard.

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remibause t1_j1kildm wrote

Wuthering Heights inspired both the Kate Bush song of the same name and It’s All Coming Back To Me Now most famously covered by Celine Dion, as well as some other stuff.

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ItsMeTK t1_j1kze37 wrote

The Secret Garden inspired a musical with a lovely score. The music is the best thing in that show.

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anachronic t1_j1ls0od wrote

I mean, if you take into account the full historical context, and ignore the fact that they'd literally burn you at the stake for NOT praising Jesus, then I guess so. I think Beethoven could've done a lot better if he wasn't boxed into a Christian context for all his music.

"Christian pop" these days is super bland and not at all good, so /shrug/

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dogface2019 t1_j1kghao wrote

The Outlaw Ocean - not fiction but super cool project intentionally made to inspire music to spread the story

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CodexRegius t1_j1l5fug wrote

The Eddas. Check out Richard Wagner!

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awfullotofocelots t1_j1l5wyi wrote

A lot of Metal is inspired by fantasy fiction. Copy pasting from elsewhere on reddit, thanks to u/esa1996:

Evertale's (Power Metal) first album is about Dragonlance Chronicles, and their second is mostly about Warhammer 40k.

Lyra (Power Metal / Melodic Death Metal) has two songs about Wheel of Time (Betrayer of Hope and The Sword That Could Not Be Broken)

Caladan Brood's (Atmospheric Black Metal) entire discography is about the Malazan: Book of the Fallen series.

Blind Guardian (Power Metal) has songs about Dark Tower, Wheel of Time, ASOIAF, and Otherland (And an album about the Silmarillion).

Nightwish (Symphonic Metal) has a song about Kingkiller Chronicle (Edema Ruh)

Dragony (Power Metal) has a song about Wheel of Time (Flame of Tar Valon).

Katana (Power Metal) has a song about Wheel of Time (Wisdom of Emond's Field)

Beast in Black and Battle Beast (Both are power metal) both have plenty of songs about Berserk.

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Esa1996 t1_j1lgp3k wrote

Hey, thanks for quoting my comment! :D

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Here is some more fantasy inspired metal:

Blind Guardian's (Power Metal) latest album has a songs about The Witcher and American Gods.

Bloodbound (Power Metal) has songs about A Song of Ice and Fire and Lord of the Rings.

Cain's Offering (Power Metal) has a song about The Sandman (Morpheus in a Masquerade).

Crystal Eyes (Power Metal) has a song about Forgotten Realms (Forgotten Realms).

Eternity's End (Power Metal) has a song about The Dark Tower (The Dark Tower).

Sabaton (Power Metal) mostly sings about history but they have a song about Lord of the Rings as well (Shadows).

Wind Rose (Power Metal) has a song about Lord of the Rings (The Breed of Durin, probably others as well).

Summoning (Atmospheric Black Metal) reportedly has plenty of songs about LOTR (I only know one song so I can't confirm that, but that's what I've heard).

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There are also dozens of metal bands that create their own fantasy stories* and then write songs about them. Some examples of these are Dragonland, Fairyland, Rhapsody, Twilight Force, and Marius Danielsen.

*These stories aren't usually released as books however, only as songs.

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throwhand1 t1_j1l2aqj wrote

The Bible is not fiction. Why would you assume or merely incorporate the Bible into the same category as "other examples of fiction that have inspired great music?" Good post, but it seems rather broad.

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saalamander t1_j1lofik wrote

I came here looking for someone to say something like this lol. I’m fairly positive the OP intended this title to ruffle people’s feathers.

Granted, I’m not religious and I think the Bible is nonsense, but I think the OP knew what he or she was doing

Though there are definitely parts of the world and social circles in which it’s taken for granted that the Bible is nonsense, so maybe the OP had no ill intent

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kace91 t1_j1m9gp6 wrote

>Though there are definitely parts of the world and social circles in which it’s taken for granted that the Bible is nonsense, so maybe the OP had no ill intent

I could be this person. I can see how the title can be disrespectful now, but it didn’t cross my mind until reaching your comment.

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throwhand1 t1_j1mdb50 wrote

Lol. Well, it's almost the Christmas Season and seemed ill-mannered and disrespectful for the OP to categorize the Bible among works of fiction. People died and lost their lives to have the Holy Book compiled. Thanks.

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cadmiumredorange t1_j1ncwd3 wrote

Wait, what do you mean by "almost the Christmas Season"? It looks like OP posted on Christmas Eve, but do you not start celebrating anything until Christmas day? Do you put decorations before December 25th?

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throwhand1 t1_j1netf6 wrote

Lol! Yeah, you're right. It IS the Christmas Season now.

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OverthinkingMadMan t1_j1nibzg wrote

Lost their lives to have it compiled?

Well, not matter if you think it being historic or fictional, there are at least fictional parts and hardly anyone outside of the most extreme groups, take it all at face value. Just take Christmas. They changed the date of when Jesus was born so that it would be easier to convert people. In Northern Europe we even have kept the name the holiday had before Christians turned it into Christmas

And a lot of people were killed to force us to be Christian as well. Wars, assassinations, beheadings. I'm sure there might be people that get triggered when the Bible is called factual as well, for reasons like this, or how they were treated growing up. All those honosexuals go to hell, cause hurricanes and so forth, people might make it so that just mentioning the Bible being true can be seen as offensive. With that I just mean that what is seen as offensive to you, might be the norm for them. And if you were to switch it around to what you believe, then others might take offense

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throwhand1 t1_j1nk4fk wrote

I appreciate your comment. Sadly, the status quo now views the Bible as to be abhorrent and detestable these days. What was right is now wrong and what is wrong is now right. Despite Christianity's dark past, atheism has staticially killed millions upon millions more than religion has ever done. But you have the right to your opinion. I pray that you find your eternal destination and will always find peace and happiness. Happy new year.

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OverthinkingMadMan t1_j1nlm95 wrote

Atheism hasn't statically killed millions more than any religion. Not even by a long shot. The only real place that someone points to atheist killing people, because of their atheist beliefs is in the Soviet Union. And they just changed the dogma of religion with communism. Some people try to say Germany during ww2, ignoring that they saw themselves as Christians and that one of the reasons the jews were bad and needed to go, was because they killed Jesus. Not to mention the pope supported them! So statistically a lack of belief in any God has not killed more people that he Christianity.

When it comes to what was right is nor wrong and what was wrong is right, you have to remember that the Bible was used to argue for why slavery was okay. It mentions you can buy slaves from tribes that are not your own. Our morality changed. So what was right became wrong. Now very few try to argue that slavery is good. Our beliefs have evolved and we have gone outside of religion to find compassion.

I hope you as well will find compassion for those with different beliefs and seek the truth. Have a great Christmas and new year

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throwhand1 t1_j1nnb4o wrote

Thanks for commenting. Without God, everything becomes permissible and sin flourishes. Like Alistair Crowley once said, "Do as thou wilt." God doesn't want us to be robots, which is why we have freewill. But I believe we were designed for a higher purpose.

(1) I'm sorry but the Inquisition, the Crusades, and the Salem Witch Trial's deaths pale in comparison to the atheistic ideologies and the systemic murders of 150 million people in the 20th century alone.

(2) Hitler and his people were not Christians. On the contrary, Hitler despised Christianity and viewed it as meek and feeble.

(3) No where that I can recount does the Bible ever condone slavery. There is a passage in the NT where God tells one of the Apostles to free his slave. Moreover, slavery in the Bible times isn't the same as modern slavery. It was a debt slavery where the individual had the right to work for their debt and become free after it was paid.

(4) I hope you have a Happy New Year too. You are free to your opinions and I am not judging you. I hope you stay safe and have peace.

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OverthinkingMadMan t1_j1nttp0 wrote

God is omnipotence, knows everything we will ever do, but somehow our wills are free.

  1. Atheism isn't an ideology. You are atheist about every other God than your own. Do you follow on ideology about none belief in all of those? Do you believe in lizard people walking among us, or are you in an ideology that is specifically about a non belief in those lizard people? When it comes to soviet union, which is the only real argument you have (not even close to 150 million, so you need some sources there) they killed religious believers to try and make the focus the state, and not religion. They tried to make the state take the place of religion. I am willing to grant you that they did it because of "atheism", but then you will have to grant that all deaths by the hands of any Christian nation is done by Christian beliefs. The slave trade, both sides of both world wars, pretty much all wars that any Christian nation has been in. Because then we would be comparing them comparatively. If not, then the soviet union didn't do it to further atheism.

1.1 not to mention that Christianity has helped spread polio, aids and other diseases, with the pope and other religious leaders making statements about condoms being wrong and so forth. Many diseases that we have cures for have spread because religious beliefs, generally Abrahamic ones, have spread their doctrine. There have also been major backlash and protests against scientists creating cures, since God ead the only one that could heal and everything else is against God and what is natural. One can only guess about how many that kind of sabotage has killed. 1.2 the US often segues that it spreads Christian ideas like freedom and democracy. The arguments used by the US foreign wars are often very close to what people argue about the soviet union. That means that in the 90s Christianity killed more than 500 000 children, just in Iraq. Of course, if one beliefs there were other motivations for the attacks, then those aren't counted against Christianity. Then you will have to remove the millions in soviet as well, since they are both just as tied to religion. There are many more examples though and not only done by the US. 1.3 genocide of Jews and other groups inside Christian nations. There were massive ones in what is now Russia or/and Eastern Europe. There are genocides in the Middle East even now. Muslims killing Muslims. Christians killing Muslims. Muslims killing Christians. 1.4 the dark ages and persecution of those that held different, correct beliefs about the world was prevalent. Some argue that Christians helped with science and that a lot of science was mainly done by Christians in the middle ages. While true, that doesn't really hold. All the farming was done by Christians as well as all building, crimes, heroic deeds and so forth. Those were the only people around, since anything else could mean death. Newton stopped with his thinking and trying to figure out the world at quite an early age. Why? Because if God created the universe, then there couldn't be any more to explain. Explaining more would be blasphemy.. Just imagine the countless deaths keeping us 200 years in the past will have brought with it. 1.5 the prohibition gave us the mafia, drug cartels and tens of millions of dead over the last 100 years. It was mainly the idea if Christian interest groups.

  1. Mein Kamf speaks favorably about Christianity and Hitler was against atheism. Hitler said that everyone believes in God. While Hitler later on in his "career" thought that the state was what should take the place of the belief in God. You also cannot avoid that Hitler made multiple speeches where he talked about God and praised him. So while his stance on God changed, his stance on atheism being the worst didn't. Also his whole deal about the Jews is a common Christian belief up until ww2. Colleges in the US voted Hitler as the best European thinker, above Einstein. The pope had favorable things to say about th rhetoric used (until the wars started at least)

  2. Seems to me you need to read the Bible more. Leveticus says the following: "Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves" "You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly" So you can buy slaves and your children can inherit them. The slaves just need to be from a different religion. Some argue that the word slave is wrong and that they are bondsmen. Well, bondsmen are not inherited by your children and they are not slaves for lives.. There are a great many more passages about slaves in the Bible. Even a passage about how you can make you countrymen into slaves for life as well! On of the US states quoted the Bible for why they went into open revolt and why keeping slaves was a good thing! Now, they also used the Bible to argue against slavery, but they just had to skip all the positive to slavery parts. Did you know that a lot of the laws about slavery in the US was taken from the Bible? Some southern states even found the Bible to be to harsh, so they made softer rules. There are some great articles and videos that go through all of this. If you don't think the Bible is pro slavery, then you either haven't read it or ignores what it says.

And again: atheism is the lack of belief in any deity. If you believe the lack of belief in God leads to sin, then you will have to have atheism grouped with all other religions. Being an atheist says nothing about your moral beliefs one way or another. Grouping ahtiests is like grouping everyone that doesn't have green as their favorite color into one group. Do you imagine they have a lot in common? You should also check yo some facts. The least religious countries in the world are among those with the least crime, the best health, are the happiest, least murders and generally have higher well being. Now look to the most religious. More death, lower living standard and well being.

Edit: forgot one thing. Most Germans were Christian. So even when Hitler went from Christian to just having respect for Christians, the monstrosities were still done by Christians

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throwhand1 t1_j1o2znp wrote

>Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves" "You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life

Here's the thing... Slavery was a common practice long before the Mosaic Law was established. Therefore, the Law never instituted slavery nor ended it; rather it regulated it. In other words, in Leviticus, it merely mandated the proper treatment of slaves. Summary: Hebrews could sell themselves into slavery for six years as a form of indentured slavery as I mentioned before. Slaves were treated well and could be set free on the 7th year.

Hebrews could also take Gentile slaves whenever they conquered the lands. In the non-Christian lands that had slaves, they treated them cruelly. However, the Law gave slaves basic rights and allowed them to marry, etc.

I appreciate your comments and believe we both made some good points. Only a fool would argue with an atheist, since they are stubborn and cannot face the proposition that a higher Being created this beautiful universe. I believe all people are created equal and think we should strive to be more compassionate and loving to everyone in the coming year. Have a good day.

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OverthinkingMadMan t1_j1pai26 wrote

No one has said that there wasn't slavery before the Bible. It only proves that our morals now are better than what we see in the Bible. It isn't like the new testament went against slavery either. So with not condemning slavery and instead said it was okay, God kept slavery around for another 2000 years. You are mentioning slaves that were set free after 7 years. That were only Hebrew slaves. As I mentioned, non Hebrew slaves were not set free and were slaves for life. And yes, slaves could marry, but on the 7th year when they were set free, they could not take their wife with them! The Bible mentions however that they could beg to become slaves for life, so that they could stay with their wife.

One also needs to remember that the US has slave laws based on what the Bible said. Would you have wanted to be a slave in the US? Was that moral? You mentioned that everything that was right is now wrong. Well, slavery is right in the Bible. No matter if it was around before the Bible or not. There is no "thou shall not hold slaves". We got to that one despite the Bible, not because of it.

There might be that the Bible gave us some nice foundations over 1000 years ago. Though our morals today are far better than the Bible. Again, just look at slaves, the treatment of honosexuals, the treatment of women and more. Christianity paved way for medicine and school, the same way that the major religion in any region did so. When everyone is religious, then only religious people can do something. We do however have evidence that Christianity held back, not advanced, a lot of medicine and science. To this day, thousands die each week in Africa because Christian and Muslim groups are against medicine. You are not allowed to ignore the facts of the world, and say that "sometimes it did good". Just as you cannot ignore they the Germans in ww2 were Christians. I would not say their Christian belief is what drove them, but you seem eager to say anything good a Christian does is proof of the good of Christianity. Well, then you have to look at it the other way as well.

You have such arrogance and hubris, which seems common in many religious. You are certain that you are right, though giving factually wrong points without sources. I will write the following in the same style you answered me, and you can judge yourself: Only a fool would argue with a theist. They are stubborn and diluted and have not even read their own holy text. They cannot face the proposition that they are responsible for their own morality and action and have to blame it on a higher being. Maybe one day you will ponder the meanings of life and find the truth. That is the style you write

I agree with the created equal part. Which is why I'm glad we, dispite the Bible, have given equal rights to women, have laws that treat honosexuals equally and more. Women are allowed to be themselves, not timid, silent and submissive. Only as the world has become more secular have we opened up to give other people equal rights and the ability to do what they want and not punish them. To again use your voice: Christians seem blind to the fact that what we call morals today is found outside of the Bible and are ignorant on purpose to the fact that their Bible is immoral. The laws we had, as more religious nations and based on belief, are seen by most as immoral. The hubris with saying that others refuse to see your belief because they are stubborn, and not for the fact that it is immoral and lacks evidence, will just drive more people away. Calling out the character of the other person instead of arguing the points, is a sure way to make it seem like your arguments aren't worth anything

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throwhand1 t1_j1qgzic wrote

Despite some of the things you may say, I still find the Bible to be as relevant and timely as ever before. I can see that this conversation is going no where but appreciate your time and honesty. For the record, I don't condone slavery and believe everyone should be treated equal. I am proud of my Christian heritage and know that in the end times, I will be hated and mocked. But that is fine too. Secularism to me is the shunning of morals in exchange for ethics, which are loosely based on Christ-based principles but with the denial of His Name and divinity. But that's another debate for another day. No hard feelings.

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OverthinkingMadMan t1_j1qikm4 wrote

Glad to know that you condone slavery and that your morals, or ethics if you want, is better than then that of God and the bible.

If you believe that you need God for there to be morals, then you can call the behavior ethics if you want. The fact that you think acting decently comes from Christ, then it will come to a shock to you that many of our morals are shared with people that are not from western countries. Buddhism for example. You might need God to watch over you and the fear of hell to act morally, but I, and many others (different religions and without religion) do not need it. I deny any God, or person, that threatens to get love, that has stoning for homosexuality, tells women to be inferior to men and who doesn't condone slavery. You are free to say that since I lack God, you won't call it morality. Well, I still say that things in the bible are looked upon as, if not immoral, then let us use words like evil. If there cannot be evil without God, well then it is unjust, cruel, untrue and vile.
Since the secular countries are the happiest and with the least crime, then the shunning of morals seems to make us better people, care more for those around us, take better care of the planet and act as what Christians call better people. Then it might seems that shunning morals is what is best for society and the planet at large.

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throwhand1 t1_j1ql20e wrote

You are welcome to your opinions and secular mindset. However, I think it's a terrible travesty that people are shunning Jesus Christ in exchange for plastic, materialism, and hedonism. Unfortunately, there will be more crime, since everything is permissible under the sun when people don't submit to God. In the coming decades, you will see that the Secularization Theory is failing and isn't working out as atheists have predicted. We both have said our fill and I am done here. Please have a nice day and stay safe.

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OverthinkingMadMan t1_j1qo9ej wrote

There will be more crime? When? The trend is that there is less crime the more secular a country is. Everything statistics shows us the opposite and your whole argument is "it won't last"? Secularism has given us the democracy we have today. Kings were chosen by God. The US is a great example, since they strived to keep God and Government seperate.
We have so far seen that religious countries give rise to dictatorships. The peace we have had the last 80 years and the spread of democracy is because of secular beliefs.
It might be that countries that are more atheistic will be worse in 30 years. That just proves that neither religion or secularism works. As it stands, secularism is the better choice and has given us a more peaceful society.

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throwhand1 t1_j1qp9v4 wrote

Hmm... crime and religion are somehow correlated? I think that's yet to be determined, but who knows. Anyway, you do you. Thanks for your time.

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OverthinkingMadMan t1_j1qqjz1 wrote

You just said that crime would go up because of atheism and now you are debunking your own claims?
I was showing you that YOUR claim isn't valid, since what we actually do see is the opposite, and now you say that they aren't correlated.
Since there isn't a correlation and most people would say that most laws are morally good, then that means that your claim about atheist not being moral also comes into question.
That is some massive backpeddling.

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throwhand1 t1_j1qr0ig wrote

lol! Honestly, I think your information about crime and religion being correlated has too many variables and is yet to be determined. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and say that it's probable, but I don't know if it's 100% correct. That's all I will say about the issue. Thanks.

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throwhand1 t1_j1o3jrh wrote

I simply don't understand why Christianity is regarded nowadays as a vile and outdated religion? It has paved the way for nonprofit organizations, medicine, schools, loving our neighbors and enemies, and instilling peace and compassion. Is that so wrong? It has promoted things that were ahead of its time (including the equality between man and woman, Hebrew and Gentile) and is still used in businesses and organizations today. The corporate social responsibility model and corporate stewardship are loosely based on helping our fellow man. For the sake of etiquette, I bid you a good day. Merry Christmas. Maybe one day you will ponder its meaning and what it really means. Thanks.

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throwhand1 t1_j1mdf5z wrote

Yeah, it really caught me off guard, lol. It's sad that the status quo holds little regard for such a Holy Book that has spanned millennia. Appreciate your comment all the same. Yeah, I'm pretty triggered right now by the OP.

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ToadofToadsHall t1_j1lgp97 wrote

You should really check out how much was inspired by the Bhagavad Gita.

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