The power of music in "Alice Dancing Under the Gallows"

Watch this trailer for "Alice Dancing Under the Gallows."

This short film is a trailer for a documentary coming out next year. It's about Alice Herz-Sommer, the oldest Holocaust survivor in the world. What looks to add an extra intriguing element to the film, is its focus on music - Alice is an amazing pianist, and speaks quite a bit (even in the trailer) about the power of music. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to seeing this film.

Here are some things I found exceptionally compelling in the trailer, and bear with me to see the connection to church music:

1. Alice's thoughts about Beethoven. He has always been my favorite composer, and Alice expresses my own reasons why, in ways I don't think I could have. She says that Beethoven's music is so much more than melody - there's so much fullness in it that goes deeper than simple melody.

2. Alice's genuine love for people. Alice comments that she loves people: that she loves getting to know people, and loves hearing about people's lives. This was convicting for me - how much to I genuinely just love getting involved in the lives of people?

3. Alice's comment that music is god (with which I disagree). She says that music can give a person hope, can transport them away from a hopeless circumstance, can give life to a soul. However, I do agree with some of this - music is powerful, and I believe God created music to affect and stir our souls in some of these ways. Overall, what Alice says is a testament to how powerful music can be; though music is not a god in any sense of the word, God created it to powerfully stir our affections for Him. All truth is God's truth, and truth is true, even when communicated by an unbeliever; and I see some very true things being said here about music.

4. The role that music played in the lives of those in the Nazi concentration camps. One of Alice's friends (a fellow Holocaust survivor) comments that in their hopeful attitude, that music fed, they were "dancing under the gallows." Music gave joy to them in the midst of the hopelessness, which leads me to think about the singing of a church.

How many times have we attended church on Sunday, but have felt completely discouraged by things going on in life? We come and hear about the joys of knowing God and being saved from our sins, but often still feel discouraged? Sometimes it's hard to reconcile that conflict in our hearts, at least for me. We want to sing about having joy, and hear it preached about, and actually feel some of that joy!

When we sing as the redeemed body of Christ, music can help us do that. Our affections can be stirred with the hopeful truths of Scripture, and our hearts and minds can unite as we joyfully praise and worship our Savior through song. This is also why the songs we sing in church should be full of specific, Biblical lyrics.