ABSTRACT
Musical performance is frequently regarded as an expression of the entire tribe; non-participation by even a single individual is thought to greatly damage the group. In such settings, a separate audience does not exist; performers and listeners form a total unit. Popular theater groups, or concerts for the performance of musical compositions that originated in and were expressive of the higher classes, were organized and offered to the lower classes at very low prices. Musical instruments were probably much used for Western religious services during the Middle Ages. Again and again bishops elaborated synods and regulations forbidding the abuse of music, which suggests that music was customarily used in church services—if such customs did not exist, it would hardly have been necessary to protest so often against too great a use of them. The language used in religious singing is not a problem of major significance in non-Christian religions.
