It was Ambrose who provided a musical compromise, after Constantine made Christianity the state religion. Some Christians wanted to ban music completely, because music during the Roman Empire was associated with the arena, the (anti-Christian) theater, and with parties/orgies, so those who wanted it banned thought it would be irredeemable. (Sounds like today’s situation, but I digress.) Other Christians wanted music to be part of the church experience, because of all the references to praising God in music throughout the Bible. Ambrose’s compromise was to allow sung music, but ban musical instruments, so that there would be music, but it would not sound like secular music. As a result, instruments were rare to nonexistent in Europe (except for Muslim Spain) for over five centuries, and all church music was a cappella until at least the 1100s, when Leonin began the Ars Antigua movement with 2 or 3 simultaneous voice lines. Here endeth the music history lesson :-)
Thank you very much for that information. I learned something.
Interesting. Thanks. I suppose that is where some of today’s sects get the idea that instruments should be banned.
Another Advent beauty: “O Come, O Come Emanuel...” (15th century)