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The Nature of the Relationship
Between Music and Theology
According to Oskar Sôhngen
and Oliver Messiaen
Heidi Epstein
Religious Studies
McGill University, Montreal
February, 1990
A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies
and Research in partial fuI filment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Arts
Heidi Epstein 1990
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Abstract
This dissertation investigates a "universal" question--
what the exact nature of the relationship between music and
theo~ogy iS--by examining two particulars: 1) the music and
thought of the French Roman Catholic composer Olivier
Messiaen, and 2) the theology of music of Protestant
theologianjmusicologist Oskar sohngen.
It should be emphasized, however, that the main focus
of the paper is upon the "particulars," since the primary
objective of this study is to demonstrate the remarkable
similarity of thought which exists between the theory of
Sohngen and the musical practice of Messiaen. After an
exposition of S6hngen's three categories of relationship
between music and theology (music as science, as worship,
and as creatura) there is an extensive examination of
Messiaen's compositional techniques which reveals the
latteras implicit use of these same three categories.
In the final chapter of this work, after a discussion
of several problems which are inherent in each of the
particular approaches to music and theology, there is a
return to the universal question, in response to which a
precise, working definition is finally established.
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Résumé
Cette Thése explore la question universelle de la
nature précise de la relation entre la musique et la
théologie en regardant attentivement deux particularités:
1) La musique et la pensée du compositeur français,
Catholique Romain, Olivier Messiaen, et 2) La théologie de
la musique du théologien/musicologue:, protestant, Oskar
Sëhngen.
Il faut cependant souligner que ce papier analyse
surtout les "particuliers" puisque l'objectif principal de
ce travail est de démontrer la similitude remarquable qui
existe dans les pensées entre la "théorje" de Sohngen et la
pratique musicale de Messiaen. Après la présentation des
trois catégories de relation entre la musique et la
théologie chez Sohngen (musique en tant que science, culte
et creatura), il en s~it une vaste étude des techniques de
composition de M~ssiaen. Elles révèlent l'usage implicite
des mêmes trois catégories chez ce dernier.
Dans le dernier chapitre de ce travail, après
discussions des différents problèmes inhérents à chacune des
approches spécifiées à la musique et à la théologie, il y a
un retour à la question universelle en réponse à laquelle
suit une définition précise et fonctionnelle.
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Preface
The topic of this paper has developed out of a personal
desire to apprehend the nature of the relationship between
music and theology. While a large number of books have been
written about the history of church music, and of Many other
kinds of religious music, few attempt to articulate the
nature of the deeper union between music and theology which
so much of this sacred music presupposes. A Protestant
theologi3njmusicologist named Oskar Sohngen, however, has
written two exemplary works which do indeed convincingly
tackle this more abstract aspect of religious music, namely,
his book--Theologie der Musik--and his article-- IIMusic and
Theology: A Systematic Approach". The latter work has
provided the fundamental framework of my own exploration of
the nature of the relationship between music and theology,
and for this l shall remain eternally indebted to Dr.
Sohngen. The other two books which have proved essential to
this study are: Claude Samuel's Conversations with Olivier
Messiaen, and Robert Sherlaw Johnson's book: Messiaen. These
works are full of informa~ion concerning the thought and
compositional technique of Olivier Messiaen. They gave me
ample material with which to demonstrate the striking
similarity which exists between Olivier Messiaen's approach
to music and that of Oskar Sohngen.
Before beginning, it is perhaps also important to
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mention that the scope of this paper has been necessarily
limited to an exploration of the nature of the relationship
between music and Christian theology since both Sèhngen and
Messiaen are working from within this contexte
In my view, the originality of this work lies in its
attempt to arrive at a very basic, precise definition of the
relationship which exists between theology and music, and in
its thorough comparison of the ideas of Oskar Sohngen to the
thought and compositional technique of an actual composer,
namely, Olivier Messiaen.
Acknowledgements
First of aIl, l would like to thank Professor D.J.
Hall, not only for his support and encouragement, but also
for his inspiring love of words, and for the elegant,
compelling way in which he reaches out to us through them.
l would also like to thank Dr. Richard Cooper who
graciously agreed to help me with certain matters of style
and content while Dr. Hall was on sabbatic leave.
l am also grateful to William Spat for his
encouragement and for his personal interest in the music of
Messiaen which proved to be seminal to the development of
this topie. l owe very special thanks as weIl to my dear
friends Toddy Hagans, Lisbeth Dalgaard and Gretchen
Brabander.
Finally, l must express my gratitude to my husband,
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Thomas Annand, for his many hours of consultation with me,
and for his help gathering certain research materials. It
was this project which brought us together, and it is his
undying patience and faith in me that has brought it to
completion.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One: Introduction .••....•..................•...... 1
1. II.
III. IV.
Oskar Sohngen ..............•.....•........•...... 1 Olivier Messiaen .••..••••.....•••••.......•...•.. 3 statement of thesis ....•....•..••.•..•...••....•. 4 Procedure ........................................ 5
Chapter Two: The Natùre of the Relationship between Music and Theology hccording to Oskar Sohngen ....•. 7
1. Music as Science ................................. 7 A. The components of musical sound ........•...••. 9
1. Pulsus and tone production .•....•..•....••. 9 2. The law of sound and number •....•.•.•..... 11 3. Intervals ................................. 11 4. Scales .................................... 12 5. Partials .................................. 13
B. Uni ty, Number and Order ......•........••....• 14 c. Conclusion ................................... 16
II. Music as Worship ....... ft ......................... 18 A. Music as a vehicle for primal sensation ...... 19 B. Music preserves dogma .......•...............• 20 C. Different types of music as worship •......... 21 D. Conclusion ................................... 22
III. Music as Creatura ............................... 23
IV. Conclusion ...................................... 26
Chapter Three: The Musical Language and Thought of Olivier Messiaen ...•.....•.•.......••.•.....••.•.. 28
1. Messiaen's Understanding of Music as Science .... 28 A. The charm of impossibilities ••............... 28
1. Modes of limited transposition ............ 29 2. Non-retrogradable rhythm ••................ 30
B. Harmony: Messiaen's use of harmonies ........ 34 1. Chords of resonance and added resonance ... 36 2. Timbre .........•.•........................ 38
C. unit y, number and order ......••........•...•. 39 1. Unit y •....•••••••••••••.•••••.•••.••••..• • 39 2.0rder ..................................... 39 3. Numbe r. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1
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( Chapter Three, l, cont'd.
D. Messiaen retrieves ancient ideas for his musica scientia •...••..•.....•.....•...•.•..• 43
E. A new scientific aspect: colour .......••...•• 44 F. Nature--a model for composers •.•...•..••...•• 47
1. Imitating nature--birdsong •........••.•..• 48 2. Natural light in music ....••.......••..... 50 3. Nature--a symbol of the Divine ..••.••...•• 51 4. Time--music expresses eternity .....••.•..• 52
G. Summa ry ....................................... 54
II. Messiaen's Understanding of Music as Worship ...• 55 A. Fellerer's classifications ..••.....•..••.•..• 58 B. Nature, mystery and magic ....•.....•..••...•• 59 C. Suule musical examples ..•.....•••...•..••...•• 60 D. Summary: Messiaen's music is music as
worship" " " " " " " " . " " " " . " " . " " " " " e " " " " " • " " •• " " " " .63
III. Messiaen's understanding of music as creatura .•• 64 A. Music ~xpresses the invisible ••.•..•...•...•• 65 B. Messiaen's prefaces .•.......••••...•..••...•• 66
IV" Summary""" " " " " " " " " • " " " " • " " " " " " " " •• " " " " • " " " • " • " " • 6 8
Chapter Four: An Evaluation of the "Particulars" and a Ret urn to the "uni versaI " ••••••..•..•••..•• 70
I. Oskar Sohngen ....••.••••......•••••...•..••.•.•• 70
II. Olivier Messiaen .•••..••.••.....••........•....• 72
III. Defining the Relationship between Music and Theology" " «1 " " " .... " ••• " " •• " " • " " " • " • " " " " " " " " •• " • " " .76
IV. Further possibilities ..•.......••.•...•.••••..•• 82
V. Conclusion: "Music--A Highly Theological Concern '1 •• " " " " " " ...... " ••• " •• " " " ••••• " " • " " " • " " " •• 83
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Chapter One: Introduction
In the past, if one were to ask a Christian the
question "What is music?", the believer might reply: "Music
is a gift from God". Indeed, it is commonly acknowledgect
that to be talented in performing, oc in compo~ing music, 1s
to be musically "gifted". For anyone who is interested in
both the nature of music, and in theology, however, such an
answer is much too superficial, and cries out for a more
thorough response to the question: "What 1s music?"
That one says music is a gift from GOd, already implies
that music possesses an inherent "theological dimension". 1
lf this is accepted as a basic presupposition, then to
inquire into the nature of music 1s actually to consider its
relationship to theology, and this is precisely what the
scholar Oskar 30hngen has attempted to do.
Oskar Sohngen
In the introduction of an article entitled "Music and
Theology: A Systematic Approach" , Oskar Sohngen makes the
following statement:
In a dialogue between the composer Adrian Leverku'-hn and the devil in Thomas Mann' s novel Doktor !austus we find the remark: "Music--a
. This is a very good, concise term which 1 hdve borrowed from Oskar Sohngen, in his article "Music and Theology: A Systematic Approach", Sacred Sound: Music in Religious Thought and Practice, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Thematic studies, ed. by Joyce Irwin, (Chico, CA: Scholars i
Press, 1983), Vol. 50, no.1, 1.
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highly theological concern." (374) This description rnay appear surprising to us rnoderns; we are prepared to concede to music an aesthetic, perhaps even a philosophy, but we react with initial surprise to the idea of ft theology of music. By contrast, people of earlier tirnes--in the Renaissance period--took this for granted. Music was considered by them not primarily as ars but rather as scientia .•• When a modern writer such as Thomas Mann claim~ a theological dimension for music in his key novel--whùse hero bears resemblanco to the composer Arnold Schoenberg--the question of the contemporaneity of s\lch a mode of thinking cannot be discarded. 2
Sohngen concludes his introduction with the remark:
But more is intended by the assertion that music is a highly theological concern than that intellectual historical influences from the realm of treology have occasionally given the development cf music another, a new direction. The asse~tl0n claims no less than that the strange occurrences which have their basis in ordered vibrations of air--which are transmitted through our hearing organs and registered in our consciousness as musical processe~ of experience and knowledge--have in substance theological content and belong in the comprehensive system of theology.3
2
Oskar Sohngen is a contemporary Protest.ant mus icologist
and theologian who has analyzed the historical development
of religious music in great oetail, and sUbsequently hQs
attempted to articulate the theological dimension of music
systematically. Both his book--Theologie der Musik--and his
article--"Music and Theology: A Systematic Approach"--
2. Sohngen, 1.
3. Sohngen, 2 •
develop this relationship in an illuminating way.4
According to Sohngen, music possesses an undeniable
"theological dimension", and throughout the history of
music, a relationship between music and theology has always
existed. He identifies and discusses three of its forms in
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his article: 1) rousic as science, or as the imitator of
divine laws,5 2) music as a forro of worship, that is, music
serves the believer's desire to "enter into immediate
relationship with GOd,,6, and 1) music as creatura, as a
"miracle of creation"; it is one of God'p "audible
mysteries" which is capable of "seizing and spreading the
Gcspel.,,7
Olivier Messiaen
The ideas about which Sohngen writes have been
expressed and incorporated more freely and less
systematically in the thought and music of Olivier Messiaen
--a twentieth-century French composer. In one of his
interviews with Claude Samuel he states:
4 While l have read only parts of the German work, it is Sohngen's article which proved to be more concise and more directly relevant to my own inquiry into the nature of the relationship between music and theology. The book explores many more aspects of this relationship which are different from those which l have chosen to consider in this dissertation.
5 . Sohngen, 4.
6. Sohngen, 8.
7 . Sohngen, 13 ff.
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The first idea that l wished to express (musically), the most important because it is placed above aIl else, is the existence of the truths of the Catholic faith ••• A certain number of my works are destined therefore to highlight the theological truths of the Catholic faith. This is the main aspect of my work, the most noble, without doubt the most useful, the most valid, the sole aspp.ct which l will not perhaps regret at the hour of my death. 8
In these words, Messiaen clearly recognizes that music
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and theology are inextricably related to one another. After
studying not only his ideas about the nature of music--its
essence, its expressive capabilities, but also Messiaen's
actual compositional techniques and considerations, it has
become evident that Messiaen has indirectly acknowledged the
validity of the three categories which Séhngen has called
the three "forms of relationship" which exist between music
and theology. While Sohngen has traced their presence
throughout the history of music, Messiaen's ideas and music
attest to the possibility of their continuing relevance for
the sacred music of today.
There is no denying, however, that in Messiaen's
interpretation, the content, that is, the ideas which are
involved in these three forros of interaction between music
and theology, differs from the historical content which
Sohngen presents. This would seem understandable, given
that Messiaen is writing in the twentieth century. What is
8. Olivier Messiaen, from Claude Samuel's Conversations with Olivier Messiaen, transe by Felix Aphrahamian, (London: stainer and Bell, 1976), 2.
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significant for this study is the fa ct that the forma of
relationship are still useful, valid ways of understanding
how music and theology interact.
Statement of Thesis
5
What becomes evident after reading Sôhngen's ideas and
comparing them to Messiaen's, is that Sôhngen seems to have
articulated the "theory", so to speak, which lies behind
Messiaen's musical practice, or, in other words, Messiaen's
music can be se en as a musical expression and a musical
synthesis of the ideas which form Sohngen's interpretation
of the theological dimension of music. The intention of
this dissertation, therefore, is twofold: to investigate a
'universal' question--the nature of the relation between
music and theology--by examining two particulars--the music
of Olivier Messiaen, and the theology of music of Oskar
Sôhngen. In the interchange between these two it is
possible, in my view, to evince a response to the larger
question that is both provocative and timely.9 It is
important to emphasize, however, that the main focus of this
dissertation is upon the "particulars" as l attempt to
demonstrate that Olivier Messiaen, both in his understanding
of the nature of music and in his musical ideas and
9. These two men have not been chosen arbitrarily, but rather, because they are writing now, in the twentieth century, at a time when defining what is genuinely "sacred music" has become very controversial.
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compositional techniques, actually makes use of Oskar
Sohngen's three forms or categories of relationship between
music and theology--music as science, as mode of worship,
and as creatura. (Messiaen does so without having a prior
knowledge of Sohngen's work.) This striking similarity of
thought will also serve to confirm the cogency of Sëhngen's
interprp.tation.
Procedure
Chapter Two of this dissertation will consist of an
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outline of Sohngen's interpretation of the theological
dimension of music which he has based upon his theory of the
way in which music and theology have been related in the
pasto In the third chapter, there will be an examination of
the content of both Messiaen's understanding of the nature
of music and his musical language. The same three
categories which characterize Sohngen's systematic approach
to music and theology will be used to examine Messiaen's
ideas and music. In the fourth and final chapter, having
demonstrated the similarity which exists between Messiaen's
music and Sbhngen's ideas (the main objective), the
universal question of determining the nature of the
relationship between music and theology will be addressed
once again (the secondary objective). Chapter Four will
also conta in sorne brief reflection upon the material which
is presented in Chapters Two and Three.
Chapter Two: The Nature of the Relationship Between Music
and Theology According to Oskar Sôhngen
7
As has already been mentioned in Chapter One, Oskar
Sôhngen has identified three different forms which serve to
clarify how music and theology are related to one another:
1) music as science, 2) music as worship, and 3) music as
creatura. It is these aspects of the theological dimension
of music which shall be presented and discussed in this
chapter.
MUSIC AS SCIENC~
The definition of music has grown increasingly Iimited
in today's society. Today, there is a tendency to dismiss
music as merely an artistic pursuit. In essence, however,
music is, above aIl eIse, a science, which owes its
existence to the existence of sound itself. And the realm
of sound is a universe of firm, numerically structured
order; the interval is an audible law. 10 Thus, one may
conclude that music is closely linked to theology first and
foremost because it communicates to us principles which
ch~racterize the ways of God as Creator.
In the past, the nature of music was thought to convey
10 • sohngen, 2.
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to humanity the secrets of the cosmic order, and this is no
less true today. The study of music was the study of musica
mathematica, according to Pythaqoras. Later on, in the
Middle Ages, it became known as musica speculativa, or
theoretica, where "again and again in the music
treatises ••. we me et the idea that music as art is the
practical application of the teachings and rules of music as
science. ,,11 Music revealed the secrets of the structure of
the world, because the mathematical principles governing
music also governed the "order of the cosmos up to the
movement of the stars." 12 Hence, in the time of Pythagoras,
three types of music existed: two were inaudible: musica
mundana--that is, the music of the spheres, and musica
humana--IIthe well-ordered interrelationship of the human
body and soul". 13 The third of course was musica
instrumentalis, which humans composed, and which was
believed to "bind heaven and earth ontologically. 1114
The treatment of music as science continued up to the
Renaissance. What is even more important, however, is the
fact that certain physicists today still believe that the
order of numbers, and the laws which determine the
11 Ibid. · 12 Ibid. · 13 Sohngen, 3. · 14 Ibid. ·
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relationship between sounds, also establish order in
chemistry, crystallography, botany, astronomy, and even
atomic theory. 15 Of course, this ls due to the fact that
not only music, but aIl of nature is in agreement with
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mathematics. This concept was first developed by Galileo in
1632 in his Dialogue concerning the two chief world
systems. 16
Although Sôhngen does not do so in his article, it
seems important at this point to discuss briefly some of the
basic scientific principles which music exhibits in order to
show without question that music is indeed a science.
The Components of Musical Sound
The Basics: Pulsus and Tone Production
Music naturally participates in the physics of sound.
In his book Music--A Science and an Art, John Redfield
identifies the "characteristic phenomenon of sound" as
pulsus, a term which Newton also used for it in his
principia. '7 It is relevant ta our discussion to note that
this musical pulsus is actually analogous to the beating of
the pulse in our wrists. (Music imitates nature yet again.)
The beating which we can feel corresponds ta the instant of
15 • Sôhngen, 7.
16 • Sohngen, 5.
17. John Redfield, Music--A Science and an Art, Newed., (New York:Tudor,1935), 10.
greatest pressure which results from an increase in the
density of the b100d f10winq through the arteries.
Similar1y, changes in the density of air passing through a
flute can a1so be graphed in pulsations:
Fig.l Tracing from phonodeik graph of f1ute tone, John
Redfield, Music: A Science and an Art, Newed., (New York:
Tudor, 1935), p.13.
10
Only tremulous bodies can produce tones. This is
something which Newton established in Prop.43, section 8,
Book II of his Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica.
"Every tremulous body in an elastic medium propagates motion
of pulses straight forward in every direction ••• " 18
Redfield stunmarizes Newton' s description by stating that "in
air, a tremulous body produces pulsations equidistant from
each other and spreading from a common center in all
directions l ike expanding spheres." 19
18. Redfield, 32.
19. Redfield, 33. For a musical instrument, this tremulant body is, for examp1a, the air or string, which represents its "qenerator" of sound. To be heard, however, the sound of the instrument must be amplified by means of a "resonator". In a violin, the string is the generator, and the viol in itself is the
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The Law of Sound and Number
These observations remind us that music is a science
because it is sound. It is also therefore subject to
certain laws; consequently, it can be approached using
mathematics and various means of measurement. It is
interesting to realize and important to remember that
11
musical intervals and scales can be represented by a series
of numbers. "The Pythagoreans were convinced that the
essence of music was grasped in its arithmetic proportions."
For them, "numbers were the foundations of the musical
arts." The Pythagorean law of sound and number was
established according to "the basic relationships of simple,
small, finite whole numbers to the basic musical
relationships of the octave, fifth, and fourth: 2:1=(4:3) x
(3 : 2) • ,,20
Intervals
Pythagoras allegedly discovered the basic laws of music
by listening to the sounds made by a blacksmith's hammers.
When sounded together, they produced "agreeable
resonator--its bridge, belly, and back.
20. Sôhngen, 2.
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consonances".21 He represented the different tones which
they produced by relating each of the hammers' weights to
one another. Four of them weighed twelve, nine, eight, and
six pounds respectively.
12:6=2:1
12:8=9:6=3:2
12:9=4:3 9:8
The consonance produced by these two was called the octave. This consonance was called the fifth.
This one was called a fourth. The consonance produced by these two was called the whole tone.
Another way of obtaining these ratios is, of course, by
listening to the different tones which are emitted by
vibrating strings having the same tension but different
lengths. A string half the length of another will produce
the sarne tone an octave higher: 2:1. A string which is 2/3
the length of another will produce atone which is a fifth
above it, and one 3/4 its length will produce atone which
is a fourth above it.
Scales: Formation of the Pythagorean Scale
As we have seen, Pythagoras had four intervals with
which to work. He developed what we know as the Pythagorean
scale by deriving its tones from the interval of the pure
21. "Pythagorean hammers ll , The Harvard Dictionary of Music, 2nd ed., Revised and enlarged, ed. willi Apel, (Cambridge:Belknap Press of Harvard University press,1978).
13
fifth. After establishing the basic relationship between a
tone and the fifth above it, Pythagoras then determined the
fifth above that fifth, and so on. If the interval of the
fifth is expressed numerically as 3/2 (3:2), then Pythagoras
expressed each successive fifth as a multiple of the
previous one. He established the following relationships:22
c 1:3/2 9 a' 3/23 : 3/24 e' 1
9 3/2: 3/22 d' e' 1 3/24 : 3/25 b "
d' 3/22 : 3/23 a' The lower fifth, below c, would be f: 2/3:1
In a different format:
f c 9 d' a' e' 1 b 1 1
2/3 1 3/2 {3/2)2 (3/2)3 (3/2)4
These tones: c,g,d,a,e,b,f, would then be reduced by octave
transposition into a single octave. (Of course, Pythagoras
would probably have realized these relations by initially
experimenting with different lengths of vibrating string.)
Partials
It is interesting to note that the same intervals which
Pythagoras established also represent the distance between
the various partials of a note. Almost every vibrating body
produces a composite tone rather than a pure tone, that is,
atone which consists of several pure tones. The harmonie
~ 22. This example is based on equations presented in ~.. "Pythagorean scale", The Harvard Dictionary of Music.
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of lowest frequency in atone is called the fundamental, and
because it is the loudest of all the other tones, it
determines the pitch of the composite tone. (Partials are
also known as harmonies or overtones.)a Between the first
and second partial there is an octave, and between the
second and third, a fifth. Between the third and fourth, a
fourth. When a low C is sounded on a double bass the
following partials can be recorded:
IfP .. ·1 Il Il ,. t e " •
:1 3 4 5 6 '7 8
Q ... tua. l\O. :!!: 1-V
M Il •• (; ..
9 10 Il 12 13 14 IS 16
Fig.2 First sixteen harmonies of the tone C, "Acoustics",
Harvard Dictionary of Music, ed. willi Apel, 2nd. ed.,
Revised and enlarged, (cambridge: Belknap Press, 1978).(It
is important to note however that the harmonies which are
represented by black notes are only approximately identified
by our means of notation.)
Unity. Number. and Order
In his section on music as science, Sohngen briefly
( 23 This information is contained in "Acoustics", ~ Harvard Dictionary of Music.
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discusses Augustine's six Books On Music. Sôhngen states
that these books "stand in the tradition of Pythagorean
music theory. ,,24 For Augustine, "the resounding order of
the cosmos, however, no longer rests in itself but is the
work of the Divine Creator." God "has created the harmony
and consonance in microcosm and macrocosm", and "earthly
music thereby becomes an image of the heavenly. ,,25 sohngen
states that Augustine believed that the principles of
"unit y, number and order rule everywhere in material
nature. ,,26 Everything that has just been presented about
the scientific nature of musical sound would attest to this
truth. We shall see in Chapter Three how Messiaen himself
incorporates his own concept of unit y, number and order in
the creation of his compositional techniques.
This naturally occurring unit y, number, and order in
music which has just been explored was probed and
manipulated by the earliest musicians according to what
their ears and their bodies deemed to be euphonious and
consonant. Interestingly enough,
24 · 25 · 26 ·
the order in which the intervals are found in the harmonie series27 agrees at aIl points with the accepted order in which these intervals were
Sohngen, 3 •
Ibid.
Ibid.
27. The harmonie series is made up of the complete series of partials, the resultant chord of which is sometimes called the "chord of nature". Redfield, 48.
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historically accepted by the ear in concerted music. The historical development of harmony up to present time would appear to have been determined by the relative strength of the partials found in the musical tone.~
What this indicates is that the natural unit y, number, and
16
arder whlch was discovered ta exist within musical tone, has
governed our approach to composition. Our naturally
negative or positive response to certain pitches and
combinations of pitches has affected how we write music. We
have been able to understand why this is so through
scientific and mathematical inquiry into the nature of
n,~ural and musical sound; in short, scientific phenomena
have actually influenced our artistic use of the medium.
Conclusion
Having explored the basic scientific elements of music,
it should now be obvious that, because of music's
essentially mathematical structure, and, because of the
centrality of numerical, mnthem:tical arder throughout all
Creation, rousic ber.omes a microcosm which reflects the
"fundamental experience of the world as cosrnos--as order,
ornament, decoration ... ,,29 As Sohngen expresses it, "(the)
order and harmony of Music is the audible expression of
28 • Ibid.
29 • Sôhngen, 8.
.......
--
-
17
Creation t S inaudible \ song of praise'. ,,30 By composing
music, humans are actually imitating and reflecting on God's
ideas of Creation. 31
The same mathematical laws •.. which determine the structure of music, also determine the or der of the cosmos up to the movements of the stars. Whoever occupied himself with music also stood in the workshop of the secret structures of the
32 world ... ... If God created the world according to the rules of music and the audible mu&ic of humans therefore has only representative significance in the hierarchy of creation, the musician, who is initiated into the mathematical myster~ of music, has the task of imitating divine laws. 3
Earthly music becomes an image of the heavenly. This is a
crucial aspect of music's nature which must be retrieved
from ancient history, for it reveals music's essentially
theological dimension: music as science communicates the
divine, creative principles of unit y, number, and order. In
other words, music has cosmological significance. Because
of its quintessentially arithmetic proportions, music
implicitly teaches us something about the ways of Deus
artifex. 34 It enables us to make abstractions about the
nature of God. In doing so, it serves to complement the
30 Ibid. · 31 S6hngen, 4. · 32 Sohngen, 2. · 33 Sohngen, 4. · 34 · Sôhngen, 3.
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18
Gospel.
MUSIC AS WORSHIP
The second aspect of the theological dimension of
music, or the second form which its relationship to theology
takes, is a more obvious one. Music has always been related
to matters of theology by its liturgical use; music
functions as a means of worship.
Here we confront the conception of church music, one of the grandest conceptions of intellectual history, consisting of the transformation of worship into music. Wherever we look in the wide world of religion, cultic activity is Eresented everywhere in the language of song •••• 5
It is important to understand this forro of
interrelationship between music and theology more deeply,
however. What exactly is worship? According to Sohngen, it
is one aspect of a believer's desire to "enter into
Immediate relationship with GOd.,,36 He contends that the
purpose or goal of worship is for the individual to achieve
adoration of, and submission to God. 37 This is no small
35 . Sôhngen, 8. 36 .. . • Sohngen, 8. It goes w1thout saylng that worsh1p does not
need to be musical.
37. Ibid. While petition and intercession also form part of many acts of worship, Sohngen's definition is in keeping with the standard definition of this word. It would seem that the word worship has predominantly positive connotations, which exclude the expression of need or lack. 50 The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines it as: "to adore as divine; to pay religious hornage to; te idolize; to regard with adoration." ("Worship", The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 5th ed., 1964)
-ft ... ~
19
task, and Augustine for one realized that, along with its
ability to express the creative principles which God used to
create the resounding order of the cosmos, music also
provides a "means of intellectual ascent to God--anagoge,"
and a means for the "mystical return of the soul into
God. ,,38 Sacred texts, when sung, "move the mind 'more
devoutly and ardently in the flames of piety. ,,,39
Music as a Vehicle for PrimaI Sensation
Of course, the neoplatonic character of Augustine's
thought is most evident in such a statement. Nevertheless,
music does seem to possess some undeniably special power
which can inspire and move the human spirit. Music can
"raise hearts to devotion. ,,40 This basic idea was shared by
Augustine, Aquinas, the young Luther, and John Calvin.
Sôhngen considers it to be a known fact that sound is "the
vehicle for a primaI sensation. ,,41 He states that this is
perhaps another reason why aIl religions employ sorne kind of
language of song to be used for worship. He notes that in
rabbinic tradition, it is blasphemous to address God through
speech, rather than through chant or song. It seems that the
38 Sôhngen, 3. · 39 Sëhngen, 10, quoting from Augustine's Confessions, X,33. · 40 Sëhngen, 10. · 41 Sëhngen, 8 • ·
1
,{
language of tones has always been regarded as an elevated
form of speech.
In worship the human being is confronted with God as the Wholly Other, who quaiitatively is infinitely superior to the human creature. The collective primaI fears and primaI raptures of the creature, however, cannot be articulated in the words of colloquiai speech; only the elevated language of tones is fitted for speaking with God. 42
Music Preserves Dogma
20
Sohngen aiso points out that "Iiturgical praise is the
most important root of the formation of confessions and thus
of theological assertions. 1143 Indeed, the Greek word for
"hymn" in worship was homologia--the same word which was
used for "confession of faith." Apparently many Christians
believed, and still believe, that the joining of words to
music preserves doctrine in its originally "glowing and
fluid state. ,,44 In a hymn, doctrine is expressed as the
result of an "immediate encounter with the mystery of God
and Christ, rather than as a statement of dogma which later
becomes cold and rigid. 1I4S Hymns are a more spontaneous
response to one's encounter with the GOdhead--namely, they
express the adoration and worship of God which such an
42 Sohngen, 8. · 43 Sëhngen, 9. · 44 Sôhngen, 9. · 4S Ibid. ·
/ \
21
encounter elicits quite naturally. Sôhngen elaborat~s upon
this point by mentioning the contention of Wilhelm Stâhlin:
To speak theologically about God as about a substance is designated by Wilhelm Stàhlin as an abuse of the divine name and therefore an offence against the Second Commandment, saying, nif God exists, l must fall on my knees and adore him" (150). He considers it the function of hymns ta preserve theology from this linguistic "fall into sin"--and we can a,0 further to include liturgical music in general.
Different Types of Music as Worship
It will be important for the comparison of these ideas
with those of Messiaen ta have some idea of the different
types of religious music. Karl Gustav Fellerer
distinguishes between three su ch types, and Sohngen uses
Fellerer's classification in his own article on theology and
music. They are: 1) music of worship, 2) music for worship,
and 3) music in worship.47 The first category includes
Roman chant, hymns in the vernacular, and early polyphonie
works which use only parallel organum. 48 In these musical
forms, music is used solely to envelop the texte Speech
patterns and the language's structure are carefully
46 . Sëhngen, 9.
47 . Ibid.
48. Organum was the earliest type of polyphonie music (800-1200} , consisting of a plainsong tenor to which one or more contrapuntal parts were added. Parallel organum (900-1050) involved the addition of a voice (vox organalis) which moved at the lower fifth or fourth in parallel motion to the tenor, note against note. "Organum," The Harvard Dictionary of Music.
1
(
(
L
preserved, and are only "made clearer through musical
punctuation." 49 The composer is not seeking to interpret
the text musically.
22
In the other two types, Sôhngen remarks that there is a
"translation" of liturgical texts into musical language, so
to speak. 50 Music in worship comprises aIl compositions to
be used for the ordinary, proper and daily offices from the
time of classical polyphony onward. Music for worship, such
as that of J.S. Bach, for example, exhibits great autonomy
in relation to the text, and appeals to human affections in
both the composer and the listener. Because of this, it can
no longer be classified as liturgical music. Calvin
objected to instrumental music and polyphony in Church
worship because he believed that music could only be
worshipful if it were joined te) the word of Gnd and, if this
music was polyphonie, the clarity of the text became
endangered. 51
Conclusion
Here, then, in this study of music as worship, one of
the most natural means of hU1man response to God, one
realizes that aIl three types of music as worship maintain
49 Sohngen, 9. · 50 Sohngen, 10 · 51 Sohngen, Il. •
.......
-~- -~----,
23
sorne kind of union with the Ward. (This is even true of
music for worship, as shall be seen in some of the works of
Messiaen.) Throughout musical history, however, sorne have
held that an even deeper, "organic" unit y exists between
music and the Word, and it is to this third and final aspect
of Sohngen's interpretation of the relationship between
music and theology that we shall presently turne
MUSIC AS CREA TURA
The third, more abstract aspect of the theological
dimension of music has Lutheran roots. According to Luther,
music is most intimately related to theology because, like
the Gospel, it is received by the ear, and also, like the
Gospel, it has a heavenly origine Luther regarded the
Gospel as an "advanced school of singing. ,,52 To him, both
the Gospel and music share the same basic heredity; music
possessed a "likeness of the freedom of the Gospel. ,,53 For
Luther, music is full of "audible mysteries".
Theologically, he identifies music as creatura, creature of
God. Because we receive music with our ears, it is a far
greater miracle than any of those which we receive visually.
That which we receive audibly--auricularia--(musi~ and the
Gospel, for example) have a heavenly origine "Gospel and
52. s6hngel1, 13.
53 S6hngen, 15 •
}
,1 " ,
(
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24
music, theology and music: point one to another ... 54 Johann
Walter also sought to describe the unique union which
existed between theology and music: "Music which 'actually
and hereditarily' belongs to sacred theology, is 'entwined
and locked up in theology so that whoever desires, inquires,
and learns theology thereby captures the art of music, even
if he doesn't see, feel or understand it. '''~
Sohngen calls this phenomenon which Luther sought to
articulate "the specifically decldrative nature of music. ,,56
Because of this essential, declarative nature, the highest
purpose of music is to be kerygmatic or evangelical, just as
the Gospel is. Indeed, music can "seize and spread the
Gospel", as aIl the reformers acknowledged. 57 The degree of
its proclamatory power will depend on how closely the music
is linked to the Word. According to the Lutheran Reformers,
music was especially suited to spread the Gospel for four
reasons: "(1) it can be combined with the Word, (2) it
enters the ears sweetly and enticingly, (3) it moves the
spirit, and (4) it 'causes the texts with which it is
connected to be retained more firmly by the memory than
54 Ibid.
55. Sëhngen, 13, quoting from Johann Walter's Preface to Lob und Preis der loblichen Kunst Musica.
56 . Sohngen, 13.
57 . Sëhngen, 14.
-......
25
texts which are only spoken. l ,,58
This kerygmatic function of music takes its theological
import beyond its liturgical or chur ch setting, and out into
the whole world. Music now attains the status of the
sermon. It becornes a principle organ of the Holy Spirit.
For Johannes Brenz, congregational singing was a "piece and
form of the sermon. ,,59 "Just as the sermon is a praecipium
organon spiritus sancti, so also is music i~s means and
tool. ,,60 Sohngen goes on to make the fOllowing conclusion:
The original task of music--to glorify God--is by no means abandoned, but the making of music now receives a second pole in the task of proclamation. Music is "an organ through which the name of God is celebrated, and doctrine about God is sung to humankind. ,,61
Once again, in this third aspect of the theological
dimension of music, we are confronted with its unique power
over the human spirit. It has long been accepted that music
is a universal language which transcends national and
cultural differences. This fact would attest to that
"likeness of the freedom of the Gospel" which music is said
to possesse Sohngen believes that music is also an
ecumenical lé'nguage which unites "those of different
58 sohngen, 14. · 59 Sëhngen, 14. · 60 Ibid. · 61 Ibid •
(
(
confessions in the praise of God. ,,62 And, because of this
naturally binding torce in music, Sohngen, along with
medieval and Lutheran theologians, perceived the actual
destiny of music to be the drawing together of humankind
into ecumenical unit y:
(The) ability (of music) to unite people of different confessions in the praise of God ... is by no means an unintended side effect, a mere anthropological facto Rather, both medieval and Lutheran theology saw therein the actual destiny of music. To this extent, music even after the division of Christendom represents to sorne degree the paradisiacal original condition of ecumenical unit y among rival churches and confessions.~
CONCLUSION
26
These reflections have served to present the three main
forms of relationship which theologian and musicologist
Oskar Sôhngen has perceived to exist between music and
theology. Each of these forms--music as science, as
worship, and as creatura evangelistica~ can be linked to
theology even further, owing to their participation in three
other, more specifie areas of theological study. This,
however, is something to be discussed in Chapter Four, where
the universal question, the secondary issue of this
dissertation, will be considered anew. The primary issue is
62 • Sohngen, 15.
63 • . Ib~d.
~. l have created this new term to describe the concept behind Luther's understanding of music as creatura more explicitly.
27
at hand: it is time ta turn to the music and thouqht of
Olivier Messiaen in arder to demanstrate his implicit use of
these sarne three categories of Oskar Sohnqen.
l
INCLUDED IN THIS THESIS IS CASSETTE RECORDING OF MUSIC FOLLOWING THIS CHAPTER.
IF YOU WISH ACCESS, PLEASE CONTACT THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY.
INCLUS DANS CETTE THESE EST UNE CASSETTE DE MUSIQUE.
SI VOUS DESIRER AVOIR ACCES A LA CASSETTE CONTACTER LA BIBLIOTHEQUE DE L'UNIVERSITE.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA CANADIAN THESES SERVICE
BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE DU CANADA LE SERVICE DES THESES CANADIENNES
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Chapter Three: The Musical Language and Thought of Olivier
Messiaen
Messiaen's understanding of Music as Science
The Charm of Impossibilities
In his treatise entitled Technigue of my Musical
Language, Messiaen begins by discussing his attraction to
the "charm of impossibilities": "This charm ... resides
28
particularly in certain mathematical impossibilities of the
modal and rhythmic domains. ,,65 Messiaen believes that it is
the charm which these impossibilities exude that gives his
music the "spell-binding power" which listeners have
attributed to it. Such impossibilities, says Messiaen,
possess an occult power, a calculated ascendancy in time and sound ... There's nothing of a magician about me, and this spell-binding power doesn't come stupidly from repetitions, as has been pretended, but perhaps from these impossibilities within this or that formula. u
The "modal and rhythmic domains" of which Messiaen speaks
refer to those impossibilities which characterize his use of
"modes of limited transposition", and of "non-retrogradable
rhythms". Both aspects of Messiaen's musical language
reflect the composer's adherence to basic principles of
65. Olivier Messiaen, Technique of my Musical Language, Trans. by John Satterfield, (Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1956),1, 13. AlI subsequent verbal quotations are from volume l, and any musical examples will be from volume II .
66 Samuel, 22.
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29
unit y , number, and order which were mentioned earlier in
Chapter One.
Modes of Limited Transposition
There are seven modes of limited transposition:
Mode S
Mode J (lbe wIIok·IOIIt ale)
14 _ 'Ii 1_;Ii il 1 • 0 l' _ '0
.L.-----~-Mock6
'! .. J .. 7
tJ .. :>OU ,. P ..J
~ _ l'y = .. -;; 1
Il ;;0 qo ,,8- '(' - ::
Fig.3 Modes of limited transposition, Robert Sherlaw
Johnson, Messiaen, (Berkeley: Univ. of California Press,
1975), p.16.
In these modes, Messian remains within the twelve-
semitone system of Western music, but forms his own modes by
grouping together several symmetrical groups in each mode,
the last note of each group within a mode always being
common with the first of the following. (See groupings,
Fig.3.)~ Each mode can be transposed a limited number of
times before the same notes in the original series are
67 • . Mess~aen, 63.
30
repeated enharmonically. The first three modes can only be
transposed three times, while modes four to seven are
transposable six times. According to Messiaen, the greater
transposability of the latter four makes them less
interesting for the composer, and thus, he pre fers using
modes one to three, two being the one which he u~es the
most.~ The reason for the limited transposability of these
modes lies in their inclusion of the notes of several keys
at once, and also, in the existence of smaller
transpositions within each mode itself. 69
Messiaen uses these modes both melodically and
harmonically so that the harmonies in a composition will
always be built on the notes within its particular mode.
According to Messiaen, using the modes in this way allows
the composer to allude to several tonalities, to emphasize
one, or "to leave the tonal impression unsettled as he
chooses . " 70 This innovative concept of harmony will be
discussed further later on in the chapter.
Non-Retrogradable Rhythms
In analogous fashion, Messiaen has devised a system of
~. Robert Sherlaw Johnson states that Messiaen uses mode two the most (16), and MeSS~den himself states that modes four to seven are less interesting in his Technique, l,58.
~. Messiaen, 62f.
70 Messiaen, 58.
(
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31
non-retroqradable rhythms. That i5, rhythms which, if
notated in reverse order (readinq right to left), would
produce the same rhythmic pattern as when they are read left
to right.
Non-retrogradable rhythms can be formed by using the
following rulcs:
(Make the) other values identical,and the middle value free. AlI rhythms of three values thus disposed are non-retrogradable:
tri r 1
If we go beyond the figure of three values, the principle grows, and we should say: aIl rhythms divisible into two groups, one of which is the retrograde of the other, with a central common value are non-'retrogradable. 71
lé r' r Ur' Fr' 1;" ;3
Figs.4 and 5 Non-retroqradable rhythms, Messiaen, Technique
of my Musical Language, Trans. John Satterfield, (Paris:
Alphonse Leduc, 1956), II, ex.30,31.
It would seem that Messiaen intentionally established a
princlple of unit y here betweeu his rhythmic, harmonie and
maladie compositional techniques. In his words:
These modes realize in the vertical direction (transposition), what nonretrogradable rhythms
71 • . Mess~aen, I,20 •
realize in the horizontal direction (retrogradation) •.. These modes cannat be transposed because they are--without polytonality --in the modal atmosphere of several keys at once and contain in themselves small transpositions: these rhythms cannot be retrograded because they contain in themselves small retrogradations. These modes are divisible into symmetrical groups; these rhythms also, with this difference; the symmetry of the rhythmic groups is a retrograde symmetry. Finally, the last note of each group of these modes is always common with the first note of the following group; and the groups of these rhythms frame a central value common to each group. The analogy is now complete. 72
32
A third limitation which Messiaen places upon rhythm in
compositions is through his use of "symmetrical
permutations", where a chromatic sequence of note values
unfolds always in the same order. In his piece
Chronochromie (1960) for example, Messiaen uses three such
permutations which continuously recur, but are coloured
differently each time according to his use of birdsong,
instrumentation, pitch and harmony.~
The following table displays how Messiaen arranged a
series of symmetrical permutations in his Ile de Feu l et
II. Having established an initial series of durations, he
would take the "midpoint" in the series, initially the
number six, and then, alternating from left ta right,
successively list the numbers to either side of his starting
point. Thus, permutation II takes the "midpoint" of
72 • • Messl.aen, 21.
~ Johnson, 159f.
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33
permutation l (the number three) as its first duration, and
th en 9, 10, 4, 2, etc., according to which numbers lie to
either side of the number three successively, alternating
from left to right.
--- -----, lnitwaeries of durations: 12 11 la 9 8 7 6 !5 " 3 2
Permutations ('Intervenions '): 1 6 7 5 8 " 9 3 la 2 Il 1 12
n 3 9 la " 2 8 Il 5 1 7 ·12 6 ID 11 8 S 2 1 4 7 10 12 9 6 3 IV 7 .- la 1 12 2 9 5 6 8 3 11 V 9 2 5 12 6 1 8 la 3 " 11 7
VI 8 1 la 6 3 12 " 5 11 2 7 9 vu .- 12 5 3 11 6 2 la 7 9 8
VUI 2. 6 10 H 7 3 5 9 12 8 .. IX 1 3 S 7 9 11 ~l 10 8 6 .. 2 X 12 11 la 9 8 7 6 5 .. 3 2 1 - - ---
Fig. 6 Table of symmetrical permutations as found in
Messiaen's Ile de Feu l et II, Johnson, Messiaen, 109.
Messiaen attaches great significance to non-~etrogradable
rhythms. They are of East Indian and classical Hindu
origine Messiaen considers nonretrogradation to be a very
natural occurrence. For example, in architecture and in
art, two symmetrical decorative figures often frame a
"central motif". In ancient magical formulae, magic words
which had exactly the same sound and lettering when read
right to left and left to right had occult power. In
nature, butterflies' wings are stuck together in the
chrysalis and therefore emerge symmetrically opposed,
34
sharing the sarne thorax and antennae. He also mentions the
human face: "having two eyes, two ears, with the nose at the
centre, opposite hands with thumbs closest to each other,
two arms separated by the thorax, and the tree's symmetrical
branchings sharing its central nervous system. ,,74
Here then, Messiaen's use of the charm of
impossibilities as they are found in his modes of limited
transposition, his nonretrogradable rhythms, and his
symmetrical permutations, reflect his scientific or
mathematical approach to music. (AIso, in keeping with his
interest in the charm of impossibilities is Messiaen's
strong fascination for prime numbers.) Like Sohngen,
Messiaen recognizes and explores certain aspects of the
fundamental scientific nature of music in his work. Unlike
Sohngen, however, Messiaen has not Iimited his own
mathematical and scientific exploration to those principles
which forro the basis of Greek, medieval, and tonal music
theory. His unique approach to musica scientia will be even
more evident in his treatment of both harmony and timbre,
which shall be examined next.
Harmony: Messiaen's Use of Harmonies
Messiaen's understanding of harmony and of timbre
focuses upon the harmonies which a given chord produces. As
74 Messiaen provides all these examples in Samuel, 44.
( 35
was seen in Chapter One, harmonics are an important
phenomenon in the study of the musica scientia, and at least
three of Messiaen's compositional tools are governed by
them.
One technique which Messiaen uses in writing harmony
involves the addition of notes to the basic chord: the
sixth, ninth, seventh for example. While this is not
exactly an unusual practice, in his book, Robert Sherlaw
Johnson cites an example from one of Messiaen's compositions
wherein Messiaen adds an f# to a C major ehord whieh has an
added sixth. Messiaen has added this fi beeause he knows
that one can hear an fi in the resonance of a low C. (F#,
however, is its alaventh harmonie. See Fig.7.)~ He
"resolves" this f# with a q although in classical harmony,
there would be no need to resolve this f# in such a way.
(Chord resolution is hardly governed by a chord's remote
harmonies. )
Fig.7 JOhnson, Robert Sherlaw, Messiaen, 14.
It is important to note that aIl the notes of this
75 • Johnson, 14.
-
chord also lie within the second mode of limited
transposition. This is in keeping with Messiaen's
thoroughgoing and unifying use of his modes of limited
transposition.
Chords of Resonance and Added Resonance
36
Another exa~ple of harmonics-oriented harmonies can be
identified in Messiaen's use of "chords of resonanee": a
chord built on a fundamental note to which aIl its odd
harmonies up to the fifteenth have been added. Rere again,
such a chord is actually being derived from the notes which
form the third mode of Iimited transposition.
4 bl' iju . ., Il iiiI ~e 1 &0 il., -., ii e
Fig.s Messiaen, Techniqge, II, eX.210, 211.
Added resonance is another harmonie technique in which
Messiaen adds a note or chord which is to be quietly played
ab ove a louder principal note or chord. It is also in
effeet when a chord is played loudly in the bass against
37
( other material "( inferior resonance)" .16
-~ >
.. _ ........ !
..
lIP ,..:
Fiqs. 9, 10, 11. Messiaen, Technique, II, ex. 217, 220,
221.
( 76 • Johnson, 17.
......
38
Timbre
Messiaen also unifies his eompositional considerations
of harmonies with those of timbre. This is beeause he
pereeives timbre to be the result of one's ehoiee of
harmonies. "It mustn't be forgotten that timbre is the
result of a ehoiee of harmonies; if you add or subtraet this
harmonie or the other, it is obvious that the timbres
themselves will be very mueh altered. "n Consequently,
Messiaen's awareness of harmonies has also affeeted his
orchestration techniques. Owing to his background as an
organist, Messiaen developed the following way to work with
timbre: by removing the fundamental note from an organ stop
mixture, for example, one is left with its harmonies.
Knowing this, Messiaen proeeeded to ereate a "family
eonsisting of only harmonies, of only artificial resonances"
which he would use in composing his orchestral works. 78
Clearly then, sinee harmonies are very mueh a
seientifie aspect of musical sound, we see that in his
treatment of harmony and timbre Messiaen has retained
another element of musiea scientia in his own understanding
of musical expression and composition.
n • Samuel, 25.
78 Samuel, 29 •
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unit y, Order and Number
unit y
39
In Messiaen's compositional technique it is possible to
discern not only a regard for the natural unit y, number and
order which occur in music, and in aIl creation, but also
Messiaen's own application and development of these concepts
in his actual methods of composition. For example, just as
Messiaen unified his compositional elements of melody,
harmony, and rhythm through his use of modes and non
retrogradation, his treatment of harmony and timbre also
exhibits a movement toward unity. Classically speaking,
harmony and timbre were considered to be separate aspects in
musical composition. Following in the footsteps of Debussy,
however, Messiaen ceases to regard these two elements as
distinct. We have also seen how Messiaen has united harmony
and melody by using the modes of limited transposition as a
common resource for both musical elements (harmony and
melody).
Order
An examination of Messiaen's understanding of rhythm
has aiso reflected his awareness of order in Creation, and
of its expediency as a guiding principle in composition.
For Messiaen, rhythm is essentially "the ordering of
movement."N This concept of rhythm actually originated in
~ . Samuel,35.
40
the ideas of Plato and the ancient Greeks. By this,
therefore, we see that, while Messiaen does not verbally
acknowledge the Greek system of intervals, proportions,
consonances and dissonances, he has obviously adopted the
Greek understanding of rhythm (and of time in general as we
shall see later).
Messfaen's definition of rhythmic music, on the other
hand, seems much less rooted in tradition: "Schematically,
rhythmic music is music that scorns repetition,
straightforwardness and equal divisions. In short, it is
music inspired by the movements of nature, movements of free
and unequal durations. ,,80 Of course, for Messiaen, such a
definition of rhythm would imply that "the great classical
masters" (Bach, Beethoven, Prokofiev, for example) are "bad
rhythmicians. ,,81 Messiaen' s definition of rhythmic music,
however, is derived from a "kinematic" understanding of
rhythm. Kinematics is the study of "motion considered
abstractly without reference to force or mass. ,,82 For the
Greeks, kinematics referred to the phenomenon of the
alternation of impulses and rests--arsis and thesis. Thus,
it follows that for Messiaen, plainsong is that form of
80 • Samuel, 33.
81. Samuel, 34. Messiaen does, however, believe that Mozart was a superb rhythmician.(35}
~. "Kinematic", The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 5th ed.(1964}
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41
music which exemplifies truly rhythmic music.~
From Messiaen's definitions of both rhythm and rhythmic
music, it is clear that he definitely applies a sense of
order to rhythm in his composing (though perhaps not in the
classical sense of the word which one would have used to
describe the rhythms in Bach, Beethoven and Prokofiev) •
Rather, Messiaen's rhythmic intention is to order movement
so that it imitates the natural order which he has
identified in Creation. Marches, and any other types of
music which use an uninterrupted succession of equal note
values is "anti-natural" according to Messiaen. M
consequently, Messiaen believes that Debussy and stravinsky
were the first composers to rediscover and honour the true
nature of rhythm. 85 Messiaen's desire to imitate the
natural rhythms of Creation resonates with another of the
ideas which Sàhngen discusses in his article, namely, the
ancient composers' belief that music as science imitates
divine laws and principles.
Number
As will be seen in the fOllowing section, Messiaen
incorporates the concept of number in his understanding of
63 • Samuel, 35.
M • Samuel, 34.
85. Perhaps this idea of movement inspired by nature corresponds to the music of the spheres, to the music mundana which Sôhngen discussed in his treatment of music as science.
42
music as science through his use of Greek metre and Indian
rhythms, both of which are linked to the system of prime
numbers. Number also has a symbolic function in his
compositions; for example, in his Méditations sur le mystère
de la Sainte Trinité (1969), traditionally sacred numbers
are llsed to define the forro of the work. To symbolize the
Trinit y , Messiaen composes a piece in nine movements (3x3).
Movements one, three and seven (aIl prime numbers and étlso
having religious symbolism) are supposed to contain the most
mysterious musical expression, and share the common subject
of meditation upon the Trinit y and "the relationships
between i ts members. ,,86 In movements four and seven
Messiaen makes use of a "trio texture", the three voices of
which symbolize the three members of the Trinity. Messiaen
"alerts listeners to the 'Three in One' by repeating a
section of three chords which have the ternary rhythms u - u
(Fig. 12)", and he also uses "seven 'mysterious' chords" to
begin and end the seventh movement. 87
86. These examples of the numerical symbolism in the Méditations are from Janette Fishell's "Old Symbols--New Language: An Examination of Olivier Messiaen's Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité", The Diapason, December 1988, 13.
87 . • Ibld.
•
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43
Fig.12 Excerpt from mvt.8 of Messiaen's Méditations sur le
mystère de la Sainte Trinité (1969), Janette Fishel, "Old
Symbols--New Language: An Examination of Olivier Messiaen's
Méditations ••• ", The piapason, December, 1988, 13.
Messiaen Retrieves Ancient Idea~ for his Musica Scientia
It is also important to point out the ways in which
Messiaen has consciously retrieved and made use of other
ancient musical traditions in his understanding of rhythm,
as if he, like Sëhngen, realized the lasting significance
which these early musical theories and teChniques posseSSe
Messiaen has always been fascinated by Greek metres and
Indian rhythms called deçl-tâlas.~ He describes metre
simply as the grouping of two feet. 89 Messiaen particularly
enjoys experim~nting with those metres and feet which were
~. ~ means rhythm, and ~ designates a regional rhythm. Messiaen is also interested in Hindu rhythms. Samuel, 42.
89. Samuel, 40. "Greek metres were based on a second principle whence comes the word metric: poetry, music and dance, which were closely linked, relied on metre. (A foot is) ••. a rhythm composed of a certain number of short and long values, each having a precise name."
......
-44
"based exclusively on prime nUmbers.,,90 He traces the use
of arsis and thesis, and the blends of twos and threes in
plainsong back to the Greek metres (and he sings the praises
of the sadly forgotten piece of Le Printemps by Medieval
composer Claude LeJeune which used Greek rhythms "almost
exclusively") . 91 Messiaen admires the Indian system of
deçî-tâlas because the Indians were the first ta devise
their system using the principle of non-retrogradation. 92
To study them, once again he delved into the past, going
back to a thirteenth century treatise which was written by
Carngadev. Both of thcse rhythmic systems appealed to
Messiaen because of his love for prime numbers. As was
mentioned previously, here we note the influence of number
upon the composer. "Even "s a child l loved prime numbers,
these numbers which, by the simple fact of not being
divisible into equal fractions, emitted an occult power (for
you know that divinity is not divisible .•. )."93
A New Scientific Aspect: Colour
One very distinctive influence upon Messiaen's
90. Cf.Samuel, 40ff.
91 . Samuel, 41.
92. Samuel, 44. Messiaen was not, however, particularly interested in using the cosmic and religious symbolism inherent in these rhythms.
93 • Samuel, 47.
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compositional technique is the intrinsic interrelationship
which he knew to exist between sound and colour. According
to Messiaen, both are essential elements of nature, and are
linked together in their significance to humankind. This
conviction is the result of Messiaen's own personal
experience.
When l hear a score or read it, hearing it in my mind, l also see in my mind's eye corresponding colours which turn, mix, and intermingle, and at the same time as them. 94
This relationship between sound and colour is a very
cornplex one in Messiaen's work. For him, his second mode of
limited transposition evokes certain shades of violet, blue,
and purple in his mind, while mode three suggests to him
orange with red and green, and spots of gold, and also a
milky-white iris reflection like an opal. 95
A less sUbjective manifestation of the influence of the
soundjcolour relationship on Messiaen's compositional
techniques lies in the colouristic rather than functional
concept of harmony which he uses, something which he was
continuing to pur sue aft~~ Debussy. Rather than writing
harmonies which continuously involve the build-up of tension
which is then released when these harmonies are resolved,
~. Samuel, 14. It should be noted that Messiaen does not suffer from synopsia, a physical "disorder of the optic and aurai nerves" which causes one to "see col ours and shapes" when hearing music. (13)
9S . Johnson, 19.
.....
-........
46
Messiaen builds chords from his modes which will "surround a
melody with colour"96
MI
~'~~~~~~~~~§1
.. ~I~
1L..,;1:.=..1 ___ _
Fig. 13 An example of chord clusters, Messiaen, Technique,
II, ex. 222.
This deep union between sound and colour, or, more
simply stated, between sound and light, and the profound
effect which it has on MeJsiaen's concepts of timbre,
harmony, and melody show once again that there 1s an
underlying drive toward unit y in Messiaen's writing and
thought. Furthermore, his treatment of these musical
elements utilizes and reflects a unit y between the natural
elements of sound, colour and harmony within Creation.
Indeed, nature was and 1s one of the foremost influences
upon Messiaen's composition, and it is also a source of
inspiration for him, just as it was for the earliest
96 • Johnson, 19.
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musicians whom Sôhngen has discussed (though perhaps these
men were influenced by different aspects of the natural
world, owing to their own particular chronological place in
the history of Western music). We have already seen the
influence of nature at work in Messiaen's use of elements
wh'ich might be considered as elements of musica scientia:
harmonies, non-retrogradation, modes of limited
transposition, and his understanding of rhythm and rhythmic
music. In addition to the role which nature plays in these
compositional tools, several other beliefs about the
influence of nature upon music are operative in his
composition. These beliefs are vel.'y similar to those of the
ancient and medieval composers, in that they imbue music
with the potential of communicating something to humanity
about the ways of Deus artifex.
Nature: A Model for Composers
In his discussion of musica scientia, Sohngen alluded
to the early musicians' deep sense of the quintessential
relationship which existed between music and nature.
Messiaen is an equally strong proponent of this belief. As
Robert Sherlaw Johnson states: "Messiaen claims that he not
only loves nature for its own sake, but because he sees in
it, as God' s creation, a manifestation of the Divine. ,,97 In
97 • Johnson, 41.
- his conversations with Claude Samuel, Messiaen attributes
the perfect harmony in nature to "the divine mystery of
Creation. ,,98 "You' Il notice as l do, that there are never
48
any errors of taste in nature; you'll never find a fault in
lighting or colourin9, or in birdsong, an error in rhythm,
melody or counterpoint. ,,99 Like the ancient philosophers
and medieval composers, Messiaen regards nature as first and
foremost a "marvelous teacher", and as "a great power in
which one can lose oneself. ,,100 For Messiaen, "Nature 1 s
first contribution is to provide sounds of aIl kinds", and
he makes no distinction between noise and sound: "for me,
aIl this always represents music. ,,101
Imitating Nature: Birdsong
Messiaen has limited himself to the accurate imitation
of birdsong in his compositions, since the sounds of wind
and water are extremely complex and therefore too difficult
to represent accurately in music. He believes that birds,
for that matter, are actually the greatest musicians on the
98 • Samuel, 11.
99. Ibid.
100. Samuel, 12.
101. Samuel, 13. This idea is aiso reminiscent of the musica mundana mentioned earlier.
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planet. 102 An accomplished ornithologist, Messiaen has
devoted much of his life to transcribing the songs of many
bird species, without the use of a tape recorder. 103
Interestingly enough, Claude Samuel has described Messiaen
as "a man of science" in his approach to birdsong. Due to
49
the extremely high registers, the small intervals, and the
fast tempi in which birds sing, however, Messiaen was forced
to modify aIl the se elements in his reproductions of
birdsong, to such an extent that an ornithologist does not
easily recognize them. Messiaen, therefore, responds to
samuel's compliment by qualifying that he reproduces
birdsong as accurately as possible in some of his pieces and
manipulates it more artistically and imaginatively in
102. Samuel, 51. While this statement may seem trite, l think what Messiaen is trying to say is that despite the brilliance and genius which has been displayed in the great musical masterpieces of Western music, for Messiaen, the greatest musicians which exist will always be birds and not humans. "In dark hours, when my uselessness is brutally revealed to me and aIl the musical languages of the world seem to be merely an effort of patient research, without there being anything but the notes to justify so much work, l go into the forest, into the fields, into mountains, by the sea, among birds •.. it is there that music dwells for me, free, anonymous, improvised for pleasure ... The birds are my greatest, my best masters ..• If you want symbols, let's say the bird is the symbol of liberty. We walk, he flies. We make war, he sings. And sa, in spite of my profound admiration for the world's folk-lare, l don't think that one can find in any human music, inspired though it may be, any melodies and rhythmns which possess the sovereign liberty of the song of a bird." Messiaen, from Gillian Weir, "Messiaen's Language", Organists' Review, October (1974), 14.
1~ Samuel, 13. Messiaen can identify 50 species of birds in France, 550 of France and Europe, and many others from such countries 3S Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and on the continents of North and South America.
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50
others. '04 Messiaen's use and imitation of birdsong in his
music reflects his strong belief that part of the composer's
task is to "rediscover an element deeply enclosed in nature"
which civilisation has stifled for us--namely, our
"freshness of conception". It would seem that Messiaen has
sought to recapture this freshness through his use of
birdsong in composition and in his new treatment of rhythm,
harmony, and colour. 105 Indeed, Messiaen believes that
nature has kept a "freshness, a springing forth, a purity
which we have lost. ,,106
Natural Light in Music
It is also important to remember the influence which
light, another natural element, has had upon Messiaen's
compositional technique. For Messiaen, light is a gift, and
in ancient times it was considered to be the principal
attribute of the Heavenly Bodies. These bodies had four
attributes, two of which Messiaen continues to express in
his music, namely, the gifts of light and agility. 107
Because he is so sensitive to light and colour in nature,
and so aware of their influence upon music, Messiaen wanted
104 Samuel, 63. · 105 Samuel, 64. · 106 Samuel, 11. · 101 Samuel, 98 •
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his piece Et eX1ecto resurrectionem mortuorum (1964) to be
played in Paris at the ste. Chapelle:
in a place very suited to my religious thought and to the colours which I love: in the midst of the most beautiful stained glass in Paris, in a place where the light is irradiated in blues, rens, golds and extraordinary violets ••• I even wanted it to be played in the open air on a mountain height, on the Grave, facing t~e Glacier de la Meije, in those powerful and solemn landscapes that are my true homeland. There, by the play of the sunlight on the whiteness of the ice, I would obtain visually the second symbol which circulates in my music, the Gift of Light •.. 108
Thus we can see how deeply indebted to and rooted in
51
nature Messiaen's music really is. Nature is a resource and
also a teacher both for his musical sound and for the images
which he can musically express.
Nature: A Symbol of the Divine
In addition to this, nature is a source of inspiration
for Messiaen and a powerful symbol through which the divine
can be communicated. This is also another belief which
Sohngen discussed. Messiaen describes his understanding of
how nature manifests the divine in the following statement:
10S
Samuel: Is your love of nature closely linked to your Catholic faith? Messiaen: Linked, yet at the same time independent. I love nature for itself. Certainly, like st. Paul, I see in nature a manifestation of one of the aspects of divinity, but it's equally certain that God's creations are nct God himself. Moreover, aIl God's creations
• Samuel, 98.
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are enclosed in Time, and Time is one of God's strangest creatures because it is totally opposed to Him who is Eternal by nature, to Him who is without beginning, end, or succession.l~
From this quote one also detects another aspect of nature
which has influenced Messiaen's musical composition: Time.
This is a new aspect of musica scientia's relationship to
theology which Sohngen did not discuss at length in his
article.
Time: Music Expresses Eternity
Robert Sherlaw Johnson states that in much of
Messiaen's music one experiences the "suspension of
52
psychological time", which is the result of his "non
functional concept of harmony. ,,110 Because there is very
little sense of the presence of tension and relaxation or of
dissonance and resolution, principles which normally
predominate in tonal music, Messiaen's music is static,
rather than dynamic, and sectional rather than organic in
formaI structure. The religious symbolism of such an
overarching concept of time is quite clear; as Robert
Sherlaw Johnson puts it:
A sense of time, marked by an evolving texture, is fundamental to Bach and Beethoven, but it has
109. Samuel, 11. It should be noted that this quote reveals Messiaen's presupposition that Time and Eternity are in opposition to one another. In theology this is a debatable assumption.
110. Johnson, 13.
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always been Messiaen's aim to suspend the sense of time in music (except in those works which are based on birdsong in relation to nature), in order to express the idea of the "eternal "--in which time does not exist--as distinct from the "temporal" • 111
Along with this desire to symbolize the eternal
53
musically, Messiaen looked to nature once again to learn the
true nature of rhythm as weIl, as we have already seen. In
fact, Messiaen believes that the innovations which he and
other twentieth-century composers have made in their
attitude toward the treatment of time (and rhythm)
constitute their greatest contrjbution to the development of
Western music, for, as Messiaen says, "we are creatures in
time".112
Thus, for Messiaen, time, or more precisely, eternity
and temporality, have symbolic input in his music, and, his
contemplation of both of them has guided his understanding
of rhythm:
111
112
Let us not forget that the first, essential element in music is Rhythm, and Rhythm is first and foremost the change of number and duration. Suppose there were a single beat in aIl the universe. One beat; with eternity before it and after it. A before and after. That is the birth of time. Imagine then, almost immediately, a second beat. Since any beat is prolonged by the silence which follows it, the second beat will be longer than the first. Another number, another
• Johnson, 183.
• samuel,124.
....... 54
duration. That is the birth of rhythm. 113
In his pursuit of the true nature of rhythm, Messiaen
was also informed by Debussy, whose similar love of nature
"led (Debussy) to the irregularity of note values •.. which is
the nature of Rhythm, allowing it to avoid repetitions •.. ,,114
In doing so, Debussy captured the "mobile aspect" of rhythm
(and nature), and gave his music "a perpetuaI undulation". 115
AlI this correspo~ds to Messiaen's definition of rhythmic
music quoted earlier: "it is music inspired by the movements
of nature, movements of free and unequal duration. ,,116
Summary
This concludes the examination of the different ways in
which Messiaen, like sôhngen, has also approached music as a
science. Messiaen's approach involves almost aIl of the
concepts which sohngen discussed, and Messiaen even added
new scientific considerations to those of Sohngen. Like the
composers of ancient and medieval times, Messiaen perceived
music to be a microcosm of the macrocosm. Elements of
unit y, number and order abound throughout his compositional
113. Johnson, 32, quoted from a lecture which Messiaen gave at the 'Conférence de Bruxelles' in 1958.
114 • Samuel, 36.
115 • . Ib1d.
116 Samuel, 33.
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language: rhythm, harmony, and timbre aIl make use of
harmonics, and Messiaen's modes of limited transposition and
non-retrogradation reflect the "charm of impossibilities"
found in nature. Messiaen's music imitates nature, learns
from it, draws upon its elements, and reflects it as a
symbol of the divine by means of his use of birdsong,
colouristic harmonies, and because of his sensitivity to
light and to time. Indeed, David Palmer is most accurate
when he states:
Messiaen shared a general interest with many composers of the time in the mathematical structures of musical form, thought processes which linked themall, as Rowell observes, to their counterparts of the ancient world, when music was studied for its numerical properties as much as for anything else. 117
Now it is time to see in what ways his ideas about music and
his musical language reflect an understanding of music as a
mode of worship.
Messiaen's Understanding of Music as Worship
We shall now demonstrate the similarities between the
second aspect of Sohngen's outline of the relationship
between theology and music and the ideas of Olivier
Messiaen. Sohngen defined worship as being one aspect of a
117. David Palmer, "Olivier Messiaen: A Tribute on his 80th Birthday", The Diapason, Dec. 1988, 10.
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believer's desire to enter into immediate relationship with
God. If this is true, then Messiaen's music most certainly
reflects this desire to be in relationship with God, and
Messiaen would undoubtedly agree that his music has
fulfilled this desire to enter into relationship with God in
many ways. Earlier in the introduction of this paper, it was
seen that for Messiaen, the main aspect of his work has been
the highlighting "of the theological truths of the Catholic
faith." 118 Robert Sherlaw Johnson makes the following
important statement in an explanation which he gives for why
Messiaen's music is more theological than mystical. It is
significant for our discussion because it supports the ide a
that Messiaen's music serves as a means of worship.
Mysticisrn seeks the annihilation of being which, in its perfection, is the contemplation of ecstasy and unites man to the Godhead. Messiaen on the other hand, is concerned with the truths of the Catholic faith which relate to Cod's act of redemptjon in the world by the Incarnation and Sacrifice of Christ. It is The expression of God's relationship with man that gives his music its theological, rather than my~tical orientation. 119
Clearly then, Messiaen's works are the fruit of his personal
118. See p. 3 of this paper.
119. Johnson, 40. (It should be noted that mysticism which seeks "the annihilation of being" is only one type of mysticism.) Johnson goes on to point out that sorne movements of Messiaen's compositions tend to be more rnystical, while remaining "wi thin a theological framework of the ~.'hole." As examples of this, he ci tes "Combat de la Mort et d·~ la Vie", from Corps Glorieux~ and "Je dors" (a dialogue of rnystical love) from Vingt Regards.
1
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C1early then, Messiaen's works are the fruit of his personal
re1ationship with God. In his music he has desired to
worship the Creator, and often he expresses the desire
itself to enter into a persona1 relationship with God, as
many of the titI es of his pieces suggest. 120
For Messiaen, the truths of the Catho1ic faith are
marvel10us and wonderfu1, and he has tried to capture this
aspect of their glory in his music. "1 won't say that l've
succeeded, for in the 1ast ana1ysis, they're inexpressib1e
(these marve1s). ,,121 Messiaen knows that many 1istencrs find
his music start1ing, but, to th~ believer, this is only
because the truths of the Faith are "harrowing, glorious and
sometimes terrifying", always based on "a luminous,
unchanging Reality. l am perforee a hundred thousand
degrees below each Truth. ,,122 Bence, Messiaen' s music, as
worship, expresses awe, wonder, and submission, as Sôhngen
stated such music should do.
120. Two very good examp1es are his "Amen de désir" from Visions de l'Amen, and "A11é1uias sereins d'un âme qui désire le ciel" from L'Ascension. The second theme of the former is supposed to express "the thirst of the sou1 for union with God." (Robert Sher1aw Johnson in his record notes for Olivier Messiaen's, Visions de l'Amen, John Ogdon and Brenda Lucas, ArgojDecca, ZRG 665, 1971.) The "Alléluias" are prefaced with the fo11owing prayer: "Nous nous en supplions 0 Dieu, faites que nous habitions aux cieux en esprit."
121 • Samuel, 7.
122 . Samuel, 6.
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It should be mentioned that while Messiaen explores and
boldly expresses these truths musically, he is also
fascinated by the idea of human love, and by the world of
nature as we have already seen. Yet he believes that these
are "finally resolved in on~ and the same idea, (namely)
Divine Love. "123 By this comment one can see once again that
Messiaen is continually praising or worshipping the acts of
the divine Creator in nature and in human love; his ::.-.1sic is
his means of worship, and the 1istener is invited to share
in Messiaen's experience.
Fellerer's Classifications
If one applies Gustav Fellerer's three classifications
of music as worship to Messiaen's music, it is interesting
to remark that his music is actual1y a combination of two of
its types. This is because, along with birdsong, Messiaen
makes great use of plainsong in his compositions, precisely
because he too, like the medieval composers, considers it ta
be probably "(the) only really religious music", since nit
is detached fram aIl exterior effect and aIl intention."1~
Hence, while his music would be considered in many ways as
music for worship according te Fel1erer's classification
(i.e., music which is autonomous from the scriptural text,
123. Samuel, 14.
124 Samuel, 8.
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and which appeals to human affections), Messiaen,
recognizing the purity and religious significance of
plainsong, wishes to incorporate this music of worship into
his compositions. Furthermore, while it is tr~e that
Messiaen's music does not envelop a text (as music of
worship should, according to Fellerer), most of his
religious compositions are prefaced with a scriptural
quotation which, Messiaen would probably say, is a vital
element to grasping fully aIl that he is seeking to express
in a given piece.
Nature. Mystery, and Magic
Messiaen indicates in a number of ways as weIl that
music is a means of adoration and thanksgiving for him.
This is evident in his personal relationship to nature:
The phenomenon of nature is indeed marvellously beautiful and calming, and, for me, ornithological work is not only an element of consolation in my researches into musical aesthetics, but also a factor of health. 125
Messiaen is strongly attracted to nature at its wildest-
"in its most secret and grandiose and .•. when unsullied by
man"--and Messiaen seeks to express this in his music. 126
~hroughout his life, Messiaen has always been
125 . Samuel, 10.
lU. Samuel, 12. Messiaen also seeks to express the "violence contained in the Holy Scriptures" in his music (8) •
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60
fascinated by the mysterious and the magica1. As a chi1d he
was continua11y attracted to the marve11ous, to mystery and
to poetry. Fina11y he set aside Ham1et and Macbeth,
however, stating that
in the truths (of the Catho1ic Faith), l found this attraction of the marve110us mu1tip1ied a hundredfold, a thousandfold, and it's no longer a matter of theatrica1 fiction but of something real. l chose what was true. '27
In musi.cal language, Messiaen uses the percussion
instruments--vibraphone, bells, gongs, tam-tams, and other
new timbres--to evoke a mysterious and magica1 atmosphere.
Their exatic resonances "produce a certain mystery" and
"offer us power, paetry and unrea1ity." Their strange
sounds are reminiscent "af the enormous and strange noises
like waterfalls and mountain torrents. Asians and Africans
have always considered these instruments to be rnagical. ,,128
This desire to express the numinosity of the faith shows yet
another way in which Messiaen expresses his personal awe and
wonder, his "music as worship".
Sorne Musical Examples
Several of Messiaen's pieces which he thinks especially
reflect this worshipful quality and intent bear mentioning.
In the second movement of L'Ascension (1934), plainsong
127 . Samuel, 7.
128 Samuel, 30.
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Alleluias are supposed to express the joy of praisinq God.
(Tape Example '1) The birdsonq incorporated in "Reqard sur
le Fils" from Vingt Regards (1944) is meant to convey "the
experience of a more mystical joy".'~ (Tape Example *2)
Further evidence of Messiaen's use of Sôhnqen's second
aspect of Music's theoloqical dimension includes Robert
Sherlaw Johnson's description of some of Messiaen's slow
movements; Johnson says that they are "less mystical in
character and usually imply an element of praise". Two of
them explicitly state that intention in their titles:
"Louange a l'Eternité de Jésus," (Tape Example iS) and
"Louange a l'Immortalité de Jésus", both from Quatuor pour
la fin du temps (1941).'30 It has also been said that many
lUS SI UA«
of Messiaen's compositions express a basic desire for divine
love and for its fulfilment--a vital motive for and
expression of human worship. 131
The most explicit reference to music as worship,
however, might weIl be in Messiaen's "Les mains de l'Abime",
1~ • Johnson, 42.
130. Johnson, 43.
131. llU"g. Messiaen expresses God 1 s love for humanity as it reveals itself in the Eucharist in such pieces as ~ banquet céleste, 0 sacrum convivium, and "Le baiser de l'Enfant Jésus" from Vingts Regards. A piece which expresses the des ire for fulfilment of the divine love is "Combat de la Mort et de la Vie" frOID Les Corps Glorieux. (These examples are qiven in JOhnson, 42)
r
,
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from his Livre d'Orgue (1951, Tape Example 14). If worship
expresses a desire to be in relationship te God, in this
piece Messiaen expresses the distance which has been
overcome so that such a relationship might be possible. In
it, he tries to represent two gulfs: that of human misery
and that of divine pity. Messiaen recognizes the symbols of
a spiritual abyss in two scriptural texts: Habakkuk 3:10
("The deep uttered his voice"), and Psalm 42:7 (Deep
calleth to deep"). The deep of humanity calls to the deep of
God and this is an act that represents the initiation into
worship. Messiaen then translates this idea into music:
To translate these vertiginous sentiments into music, live juxtaposed the extremes of the organ, taking advantage of the wide range of stops of the instrument: so live given simultaneous sound to a very low voice which represents the bottom of the abyss of human misery, with a deep and terrifying sound ••. and above, the voice of God replying. But it isn't a terrifying voice of thunder and lightning. It's a voice that is mysterious, distant, very high, almost tender and hardly audible. One has absolutely no idea what one is hearing: one voice is so low, and the other so high, and the timbres are so strange, that it's impossible to make out the notes. This strikes me as marvellously conveying the ideas of penitence, reverence and of vertigo before the Holy.132
Before proceeding to the third and final aspect of
music's theological dimension--music as creatura-- a more
direct association between Messlaen's music and Sohngen's
second classification of music as worship should be
mentioned. lt can be seen in André Hodeir's distinction
132 Samuel, 79.
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between the "evolutive contemplation" of Bz!ch's organ
chorales and the "frozen contemplation" of Messiaen's music.
Hodeir means to criticize Messiaen here, but actually, as
Robert Sherlaw Johnson points out, Hodeir pays him a
compliment. Obviously, contemplation i.s a form of worship,
and frozen contemplation or, more positively stated,
"timeless contemplation" is precisely what Messiaen wanted
to achieve in much of his music.
A sense of time, marked by an evolving texture, is fundamental to Bach and Beethoven, but it has always been Messiaen's aim to suspend the sense of time in music (except in those works which are based on birdsong in relation to nature), in order to express the idea of the "eternal"--in wp-ich time does not exist--as distinct from the "temporal". 133
Messiaen's Music is Music as Worship
To summarize, we have seen how similar Messiaen's music
and ideas about music are to Sôhngen's understanding in six
ways. First of aIl, Messiaen seeks to express God's
relationship with humankind in such works as L'Ascension,
Quatuor pour la fin du temps, and Les mains de l'abime.
secondly, he expresses the marvels and wonders of the truths
of the catholic faith and his awe before them. Thirdly, he
praises and gives thanks to God for nature and for human and
divine love. Fourthly, his music contains two forms of
music as worship in Fellerer's classification which Sôhngen
133 Johnson, 182ff.
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discussed. Fifthly, he seeks to share his fascination for
the mystery and the numinosity of the truths of the Catholic
faith. Finally, it has been said that Messiaen's music is
essentially timeless contemplation of these truths, and such
a comment in itself attests to his music's intrinsically
worshipful character. Now it is time to consider Messiaen's
music and ideas in light of the third and final categ'Jry of
Sohngen's forms of relationship between music and theology,
music as creatura.
Messiaen's Understandincr of Music as Creatura
In Chapter Two it was established that Sohngen's third
way of relating music and theology was by comparing the
former to the Gospel. Because music exhibits a likeness of
the freedom of the Gospel, and because it is received
aurally like the Gospel, music is inherently declarative in
nature. When it is linked to the Word, it can seize and
spread the Gospel. This would be its highest purpose.
As we have already seen, Messiaen desired above aIl
else to express the existence of the truths of the Catholic
faith through his music. Robert Sherlaw Johnson makes the
observation that: "the whole of Messiaen's output is
concerned with the revelation of God through Christi~nity,
the action of God in man in the form of love, or the action
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of God in nature.,,134 These two observations would clearly
indicate that Messiaen perceived music ta be creatura, and a
medium for seizing and spreading the Gospel. A statement
which David Palmer made in his tribute ta Messiaen on his
80th birthday establishes this fact even more firmly:
Messiaen has always seen himself as a musical evangelist. During Mass one sunday in 1974 (as Rossler tells it), the priest referred to Messiaen's improvisations as bein~ particularly apt for the readings that day. Messiaen said, "That's one of the greatest joys of my life ••• I'm recognized as a co-messenger of the Word ••• ,,135
Music Can Express the Invisible
Like Luther, Messiaen realizes the unique power which
music has that enables it to express religious ideas better
than any other medium of art: according to Messiaen, music's
freedom and its power stem fram the fact that it is the
"most immaterial" of the arts, something which he believed
makes it the best-suited artistic medium for expressing the
invisible. Messiaen chose ta write very little liturgical
music (music in worship), because he preferred to
134
135
impose the truths of the Faith on the concert room ••• My chief originality is ta have taken the idea of the Cathalic liturgy from the stone buildings intended for religious services and to have installed it in other buildings not intended for this kind of music ••• which, finally, have
• Johnson, 41.
• Palmer, 11.
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received it very wel1. 136
Thus, in his own way, Messiaen composes with a sense of
music's freedom, with a sense of the Gospel's freedom, and
with the intent of spreading the latter beyond its
traditional confines. Furthermore, Robert Sherlaw Johnson
states that Messiaen purposely wrote non-liturgical music
out of a "desire to express his religion more freely from
the point of view of both the forces involved and of the
subj ect matter. Il 137
Messiaen's Prefaces
Another unique and telling feature of Messiaen's music
as worship is the way in which he prefaces each work with
verses from Scripture, or with short descriptions of the
spiritual mood, image or activity which he is expressing in
the music. This would indicate just how seminal the Gospel
has been to the piece's conception, while also informing the
performer and the listener about the music's content;
content which, as we have seen, Messiaen hopes will move,
startle and even engage the listener. Even though the words
are not sung or read aloud before a performance, their depth
and significance are still proclaimed. Messiaen never
136 . Samuel 1 4.
137 • Johnson, 43.
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speaks of his music without mentioning his faith, and this
is no less true of his writing. In a score, the two are
inextricably bound together. Thus, both the composer and
his music evangelize; they seize and spread the Gospel.
Even in a treatise on his musical language, which he said
would treat only technique and theory, Messiaen cannot
resist introducing his essay with these words:
l shall content myself, on this last point, with citing an article in which l formerly glorified sacred music. After having asked for "a true music, that is to say, spiritual, a music which may be an act of faith; a music which may touch upon aIl subjects without ceasing to touch upon God; an original music, in short, whose language may open a few doors, take down yet some distant stars," 1 stated that "there is still a place, plainchant itself not having told aIl." And 1 concluded: "To express with a lasting power our darkness, struggling with the Holy Spirit, to raise upon the mountain the doors of our prison of flesh, to give our century the spring water for which it thirsts, there shall have to be a great artist who will be both a great artisan and a great Christian." Let us hasten by our prayers the coming of the liberator. And, beforehand, let us offer him two thoughts. First, that of Reverdy: "May he draw in the whole sky in one breath!" And then that of Hello: "There is no one great except him to whom God speaks
1 and in the
moment in which God speaks to him." 38
67
Such fervour further attests to Messiaen's firm belief that
music as creatura has been given the higher purpose of
evangelizing.
138 • • Messl.aen, 7ff.
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Summary
This brief examination of Messiaen's theological
approach to music, and the effects which it has had upon his
compositions serves to demonstrate that his music also
embodies elements which are characteristic of music as
science, as worship, and as creatura evangelistica.
In this first category, we remember his extensive,
creative use of the charm of impossibilities through the
modes of limited transposition and non-retrogradable
rhythms: his consideration for harmonies as a guiding
principle in his harmony: the merging of harmony, timbre
(and melody) by means of his modes; his treatment of rhythm
as ordered movement: his "incorporation" of light, and
colour into his music in his treatment of timbre and
harmony. The roots of these ideas can be traced t~ nature,
just as nature proved to be the source of inspiration and
theoretical understanding for the ancient and medieval
theorists and composers. (Indeed, we have also seen how
Messiaen retains both the ancient composers' concepts of
rhythm, and the medieval composers' use of plainsong in his
own music.) One perce ives in aIl these techniques the
overarching principles of unit y, number and order as they
have been shaped by Messiaen.
Messiaen's music reflects an understanding of music as
worship because it depicts, sometimes very pointedly, the
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individual's relationship to God and to Jesus. More
importantly, Messiaen's music represents the fruits of his
personal relationship with God and with Jesus Christ, while
also serving as the outlet for his own thanksgiving, awe,
and wonder for the Incarnation, for nature, and for our
Redemption.
Finally, in Messiaen's primary desire to highlight the
truths of the Catholic faith, in the close union which he
maintains between music and the Word through the prefaces of
his compositions, in his transferral of the musical "Word"
to the concert hall, and in his belief that music is the
best-suited artistic medium for expressing the invisible,
Messiaen's music embodies the third aspect of music's
theological dimension which Sôhngen discussed, namely, music
as creatura evangelistica.
.......
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Chapter Four: An Evaluation of the "particulars" and a
Return to the Universal
70
In the previous two chapters l have attempted to
demonstrate the striking similarity which exists between the
interpretation of the theological dimension of music by
Oskar Sohngen and by Olivier Messiaen. A preliminary
expobition of Sohngen's threefold understanding of the forms
of relationship existing between music and theology was
followed by a thoroughgoing examination not only of the
ideas which Messiaen has about the nature of music, but also
of the manner in which they influence his musical language.
This examination was designed to highlight the ways in which
Messiaen implicitly made use of these same three categories
in his own work. Before turning to the universal question
of what the nature of the relationship between music and
theology actually is, there are several comments which need
to be made regarding these two "particulars", that is, the
views of Messiaen and Sôhngen.
Oskar S6hngen
Some may complain that there remains a certain
vagueness surrounding this analysis and comparison of music
and theology, and it would seem to me that this stems from
sorne of the terminology which Sohngen has used. For
example, he speaks of three "forros of relationship" between
music and theology which he believes have gradually
( developed during the course of musical history. Yet, to
speak of three different forros of relationship is in some
ways to imply that the relationship between music and
theology may take only one of three forms. While Sohngen
does concede that "some overlapping" may occur139, it still
71
would seern that Sôhngen's use of the word "forms" does not
easily permit an understanding of the relationship between
music and theology which integrates aIl three "forms" at
once. One such integration has been proven to exist in the
music and thought of Olivier Messiaen. It is highly
unlikely that Sohngen intentionally incorporated this
element of limitation into his concept of forms. The danger
of looking at the relationship between music and theology as
it has developed historically and chronologically, however,
is that one is less inc]ine~ to realize that aIl three forms
of relationship are still evident in the music of today,
and, in addition to this fact, it is possible for aIl three
of them to co-exist within one composer's music.
Thus, it \<Jould seem infinitely better in my view simply
to say that "the theological dimension which is inherent in
music can be divided into three basic aspects", or that
"music and theology are interrelated in three ways".
Consequently, l have used the former 'terminology qui te often
in this paper. These terms seem less ambiguous, less
139 Sohngen, 2.
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cumbersome, and more comprehensive in their meaning.
Olivier Messiaen
It would be unwise to examine the musical language and
thought of Olivier Messiaen without subsequently
acknowledging that certain elements within it are sornewhat
problematic for the comparison which this paper has
attempted to make.
First of aIl, it bears repeating that Messiaen has not
approached his beliefs and their relationship to his music
in a systematic way, using a predetermined set of
categories. While Gillian Weir acknowledges that "Messiaen
asks to be considered a rhy~hmist, a colourist and a
theologian", we know that his thit"d request cannot be
granted if the word "theologian" is preserved in its
strictest sense. 140 Messiaen 1 s implicit use of Sohngen 1 s
categorization of the aspects of music's theological
dimension is just that: impllcit and non-systematic.
Messiaen's reflections about both his music, and about its
confession of his faith are subjective and often full of
emotion, as can be se en from some of the quotes in this
paper: from the preface of his Technique of my Musical
Language for example, (see p.67), from his words about the
charm of impossibilities (p.28), and from such a statement
140. Gillian Weir, "The Organ Music of Messiaen-1", Organists' Review, 3 (1981), 13.
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as "There are never any errors of taste in nature." (p.48).
Messiaen speaks as an artist and as one who would find it
extremely difficult to analyze his work purely objectively.
This is not necessarily a hindrance to the present task of
compa:rison, however, but one of the reasons why he is such a
good candidate with whom to compare Sohngen's historical
observations. As David Palmer writes:
The wellspring for his vast creative output is, of course, his undoubting religious faith, a frame of mind more common in the Middle Ages than in our century ..•. Interestingly enough, Messiaen's fascination with matters of faith, so out of step with this century, May actually turn out to be a harbinger of a general shift in consciousness away from a materialistic approach. Rossler notes a "deeper understanding" of Messiaen's music as part of a "more intuitive, emotional way (of seein~ things) extending far into the subconscious." 1
Despite the fa ct that Messiaen's "more intuitive, emotional
way" of seeing things may not seem compatible with the
requirements of an academic study such as this one, it is
David Palmer's opening statement which defends the
appropriateness of Messiaen's thought for the purposes of
this paperi Messiaen's attitude toward the relationship
between his faith and his compositions has much in common
with that of Medieval composers and music theorists, and,
therefore, it is easy to apply Sohngen's categories of
relationship between music and theology to Messiaen's work.
While the next point is not entirely relevant to the
141 David Palmer, 10.
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process of comparison which has just been executed, it is
nonetheless an important issue which should not be
overlooked in any evaluation of Messiaen's thought and
music. Any examination of his compositional technique
leaves the reader with a nagging concern that a complex,
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involved technique such as that of Messiaen seems contrived
and overly cerebral. This was especially the conoern of
those who reviewed his composition entitled Méditations
sur le mystère de la Sainte-Trinité (1969), wherein Messiaen
uses an even more complex musical language, one in which
musical motives and specifie notes are used to spell out
words and letters respectively which form statements taken
from Aquinas' Summa Theologica. In an article which
discusses Messiaen's Méditations extensively, Gillian Weir
writes:
142
(Messiaen's) technique has consisted principally of special harmonies and rhythmic patterns: both of them hand-maids to music's first lady, melody, rather than her formulators or supplanters •.. Both fugal subjects and tone-rows are chosen for their musical properties, whereas th~ melodic lines created by Messiaen's alphabet (in Méditations) are quite arbitrary. Challenged on that point he did not deny it, but insisted that to make music against such odds was the whole point. A dangerous game indeed, but one he had already provided evidence in plenty of his ability to win; in fact, considering the extreme complexity of his material it is extraordinary that neither his most devoted admirers nor his most ardent detractora have ever charged him with academicism, but always cited the emotional impact of his music. 142
Gillian Weir, "Messiaen's Language", 14.
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Thus, it is the widespreaà acclaim and appeal of Messiaen's
music which diminishes any criticism that his compositional
techniques are overly intellectualized. Accusations of
over-intellectualization can be further mitigated if one
continually keeps in mind that Messiaen operates at two
levels:
The first sentence (af his preface to La Nativité) epitomises Olivier Messiaen and the two leve1s on which he operates. H~ writes, "Emotion, sincerity, above aIl. But transmitted to the listener by distinct and infallible means." First, the visionary poet perce ives the emotional essence of the subject, and proclaims its importance, and then the clear-headed craftsman sets to work to transmit it with greatest possible precision. 143
Disciplined, rigorous technique has always been a pre-
requisite to effective composing. Messiaen has simply
chosen to develop his technique using new forms from many
different traditions.
It is understandable that he should find a strict framework and a new set of rules an aid to composition, just as the challenge of fugal farro nourished Bach's inspiration, and that of the tone row, the serialists'. Rigorous discipline (bath musical and doctrinal) has always been an essential spur to Messiaen, and to provide it he has from the start warked within one of the most closely argued and observed compositional techniques known. w·
This last point brings us to one more debatab1e issue
143. Gillian Weir, "The Organ Music of Olivier Messiaen-1", 14.
144 weir, "Messiaen's Language", 12.
about Messiaen's own understanding of his technique and
message. Gillian weir has articulated it most succinctly:
Messiaen draws on a vast store-house of material-all that is in nature, and ideas from many ages and ~raditions--and is happy to explain it aIl in terms of French Catholicism. A thinker of another persuasion might easily take the philosophy, but change the terminology, and be as convincing and conv inced. 145
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This, however, is not a major problem, because the intention
of the composer and his source of inspiration cannot be
questioned. So Gillian Weir concludes, "What is certain is
that the composer is serious, and that his work does carry a
message and provoke a serious response, which need not be
pietistic. ,,146 Hugh Canning asserts that Messiaen' s music is
"a portrait of his beliefs", and if this is what Messiaen
has chosen to depict in his work, then as an artist he is
perfectly enti tled to do so. 147
Defining the Nature of the Relationship between Music and
Theology
It is now necessary to return to the subordinate
objective of this paper: narnely, to establish in sorne
definite terms what it means to say that music is a gift
145. Weir, "The Organ 1I1usic of Olivier Messiaen-l", 14.
146 • • Ibld.
147. Hugh Canning, "A Portrait of Grace", Manchester Guardian Weekly, Dec. 1988, 24.
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from God; in other words, to describe the nature of the
relationship between music and theology more specifically.
Before we can proceed, however, l would like to suggest how
the three aspects of music's theological dimension--music as
science, worship, and creatura evangelistica--can be further
related to theology in terms of three theological
categories: theology proper (i.e., the study of God) ,
spirituality, and soteriology.
First of aIl, as Sohngen states:
the theology of music seeks to remind us that music in its elemental foundations is a gift of God in creation. As the givenness of language is a pre-requisite of aIl speech, so the ontical quality of music is the given p~e-requisite of aIl music-making. 148
That is to say that music is ontologically scientific, and
mathematical, following principles of unit y , number, and
order. As Redfield expresses it:
... each of these types of musical art (performance, interpretation and composition) utilizes physical things as their vehicles and means of expression. And the study of these physical things constitutes musical science ... (AlI) instruments are pieces of physical apparatus subject to the same physical laws as other machines ... ('rhe composer) uses rhythms and musical notes, both of them atmospheric phenomena as truly physical in character as electricity, heat, or gravitation,~ and both of them quite as properly subjects for laboratory investigation as any of the latter phenomenon (i.e.~ the study of the mechanics of instruments). 14
148. Sohngen, 6.
149 Redfield, 4ff.
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Thus, music forms part of the Fundamentum--the ontic
foundations of Creation, and consequently it speaks to us of
the ways in which God creates. 150 The "numerical-theolagical
evaluation"151 of music reminds us of how much music, like so
many ather human disciplines (most especially the physical
sciences), tells us something about God the Creator. Ta put
it very simply, because music is ontoloqically scientific,
that is, because its essential nature manifest~ an adherence
to laws of sound and number, music is therefore inherently
theological; it can be related to the study of God, the
study of theology proper, because fram music we learn
-something about the ways of Deus artifex, as it was stated
earl ier. 152
Such is the way in which the basic ontology of music
relates it to theology. Its functional usage by humanity
and the psychological and spiritual effects which have been
150 • • l am grateful te Dr. D.J. Hall for help~ng me to articulate this idea.
151. Sëhngen, 5. This is just another way to say music as science.
1~. In the past, th~ology proper has often been subdi vided into two types: natural theology, "the body of knowledge about God which may be obtained by human reason alone wi thout the aid of Revelation •.. ", and revealed theology, "the corpus of truth about Himself which God discloses to us •.. " If one chooses to maintain these traditional distinctions, then technically music as science would be related to natural theology. (These definitions are from The Oxford Dictionary of Christian Church, 2nd ed., ed. F.L. Cross and E.A. Livingstone, (London: Oxford University Press, 1974). (Revealed theology is defined under the entry "Revelation". )
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observed in its use for worship constitute its second
element of theological interest. From earliest times, the
perceivable, spontaneous or natural effects of musical sound
on the listener, and on the performer, led to the
realization of its perfect suitability as a means of
worship. In this way, music is functionally theological,
or, more specifically, functionally spiritual. It forms a
vital aspect in the study of human spirituality and in the
actual practice thereof.
Here it is possible to question whether music which is
spiritual is necessarily theological. The two are not
always synonymous. It was established earlier, however,
that, according to Sohngen, the second form of relationship
between music and theology was music as worship, and worship
was defined as "one aspect of a believer's desire to enter
into relationship with God". If it is agreed that worship
is one facet of human spirituality, and, in turn, that human
spirituality constitutes one facet of theological
anthropology, then music as worship can be considered as
essentially theological, or of theological concerne
This can be asserted in yet another way as weIl.
worship itself presupposes what is known in theology as the
vital relational conception of the imago Dei. To describe
it briefly, the primary concern of this relational
conception of the imago Dei, is a "quality of relationship."
(my emphasis) That is, humans "mirror" most fully the image
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of God in which they were created when their thoughts,
words and deeds do not alienate them from God, from other
people, and from their environment. 153 Thus, by virtue of
the fact that the imago Dei in which humans are created is
relational, music as worship by definition becomes a natural
area of theological study. As stated earlier, music is
functionally theological because it plays a part in human
spirituality.
Thirdly, music is essentially soterio1oqica1 because it
provides a medium through which the saving mission of Christ
can continue, even outside the Church. This is accomplished
by virtue of the kerygmatic possibilities and the universal
accessibility of music. These were discussed earlier in
Chapter Two, section III: Music as Creatura154• Music is
capable of seizing and spreading the Gospel when it is
153. Douglas John Hall, Imaging God, (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., 1986), chs. 4-6. Professor Hall takes care to emphasize that these three dimensions of "beingwith" are interrelated and cannot be separated.
1~. Soteriology, as defined in the ODCC, is "the section of Christian theology which treats of the saving work of Christ for the world." Its primary focus is upon the doctrines of Atonement, Grace, and human nature and destiny. It has been brought to my attention by Dr. Richard Cooper, however, that soteriology "cannot be confined strictly to either kerygma or eschatology, though it is connected with both." Consequently, he prefers to relate the evangelizing influence of music ana1oqica11y to the saving mission of Christ. While this is a very good point, l would still maintain that since music is unquestionably another medium through which "the saving wark af Christ" continues, then music can still be considered saterialogical in nature, or at least af soteriological interest.
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united with the Word (via a text or, as in the case of
Messiaen, via a preface). It is universally accessible
because the power with which it conveys any of its religious
content and inspiration lies in the musical sound itself, a
language which aIl peoples can understand. "Music is an
organ through which the name of God is celebrated, and
doctrine about God is sung to humankind.' ,,155
It has aise been pointed out that if its actual destiny
really is to unite many different confessions, music thus
conveys an eschato1ogica1 rea1ity which is a1ready with us;
i t is an If intimation of that which transcends speech". 156 It
is aise "untouchab1e", and, therefore, something which
cannot be contained.
If it is agreed that music participates in such a
present eschatological reality, then it also becomes even
more evident how music in essence does share a common
heritage with both the Gospel (the printed and oral Word)
and with Christ himself (the Word made flesh). To be sure,
these two have also been expressing an omnipresent
eschatologicai reality for near1y two thousand years.
Now that theology and music have been more specifically
related in terms of actual theological categories--theology
proper, Christian spirituality, and soteriology--it is
155 . Sohngen, 14,
156. This is another idea which Dr. Hall helped me to formulate.
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possible to begin answering the universal question at hand.
It wouid be good to begin by stating one of the simplest,
yet Most rUdimentary observations which can be made as a
resuit of this entire study: Music is related to theology
beeause both its ontic eharacteristies and its funetional
uses by humans ean be linked indisputably to certain
theologieal coneep~b: to theology proper, to Christian
spiri tuaI i ty, and ta soteriology. Music is a "theologieal
eoncern" beeause it actually partieipates in these three
established realms of theological study. Chapter One and
Chapter Two allowed us to learn just exaetly what these
antic eharacteristics and funetional uses are. If one were
to make the basic premise whieh has just been est'lblished
even more specifie and comprehensive, it might read: Music
is related to thealogy insofar as its essentially scientific
nature, its use as a rneans of worship, and its capacity ta
seize and spread the Gospel, ean be directly related to the
theologieal concepts of God as Creator (theology proper),
Christian spirituality, and soteriology respectively.
Further possibilities
The enly ether point of interest whieh should be
mentioned is the fact that sôhngen is a Protestant
theologian and Messiaen a Roman Catholie musician. This
might lead one to wonder whether or not it might be possible
to develop a distinctively Protestant or Catholie theology
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of music. It is not the intention of this paper to explore
su ch an involved question further. It is nevertheless
evident that su ch an endeavour wouid be an extremely
difficult one since so many different strains of Catholicism
and Protestantism exist, each with their own, different
attitudes towards music. An attempt to de scribe a Lutheran
theology of music has been made, but even it is riddled with
many opposing ideas. 157 The very fa ct that sohngen' s
classification, with its clearly Lutheran elements, can
still be applied to a French Catholic's ideas about music's
purpose actually serves more to justify the maintenance of a
very general "theology of music" which can function freely
above other denominationai considerations. Such a "neutral"
position would be in alliance with Sohngen's belief that
music possesses ecumenizing capabilities.
Conclusion: "Music--A Highly Theological Concerne ,,158
Perhaps the most direct c.onclusion that could be drawn
from the foregoing is that, as an answer to the question
"What is music?", a statement as seemingly simple as, "A
157. See Joyce Irwin' s article entitled: "Shifting Alliances: The struqqle for a Lutheran Theology of Music"(my emphasis), Art/Literature/Religion: Life on the Borders Journal of the American Academy of Religion/Thematic studies, ed. by R. Detweiler, (Chico,CA:Scholars' Press, 1983), Vol.49, no.2, pp.55-69.
158. Sohngen, 1. This is a quote from 'l'hornas Mann' s Doktor Faustus (cf., p.1 of this paper) which I used in the introduction of this paper as a proposaI which, in my view, has now been strongly asserted.
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gift from God", is actually full of hidden meaning. It has
also been demonstrated that scholars and composers of this
century continue to bear witness to the fact that music
possesses an inherent theological dimension; that there is
indeed a deep and abiding relationship between music and
theology. For many composers, theologians and music-Iovers
throughout history, there has never been any questioning of
this facto Since the beauty of musical expression often
lies in the fact that it does not always lend itself easily
to verbal description, it seems only fitting to close with a
more artistic form of words which can affirm the eternal
union between theology and music far more powerfully than
any length of prose ever possibly could:
... Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part With aIl thy art.
The crosse taught aIl wood to resound his name, Who bore the same.
His stretched sinews taught aIl strings, what key Is best to celebrate this most high day. Consort both heart and lute, and twist a song
Pleasant and long. Or, since aIl musick is but three parts vied
And multiplied, o let thy blessed Spirit bear a part, And make up our defects wi th his sweet art. 159
159. George Herbert, "Easter", Herbert The Laurel Poetry Series. Selected with intro. and notes by Dudley Fitts, (New York: Dell, 1966, 38; selected from The Works of George Herbert, ed. F.E. Hutchinson, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1941). Even in this poem, one can catch glimpses of Sohngen's threefold classification: 1) music as science-"music is but three parts vied and multiplied", 2) music as worship--the taking up of the lute to celebrate and sing praise on Easter, "this most high day", 3) music as creatura--here it shares a common heredity with the Word made flesh: "His stretched sinews taught aIl strings ... "
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Bibliography
Art/Literature/Religion: Life on the Borders. Journal of the American Academy of Religion Thematic Studies. Ed. R. Detweiler. 49, no.2. (1983). Pp.7-17.
Griffiths, Paul. Olivier Messiaen and the Music of Time. London: Faber and Faber, 1985.
85
Herbert, George. "Easter ll , Herbert. The Laurel Poetry Series. Selected, with introduction and notes by Dudley Fi tts. New York: Dell, 1966. P. 58. (Selections were taken from The Works of George Herbert, ed. F.E. Hutchinson, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1941.)
Johnson, Robert Sherlaw. Messiaen. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press, 1975.
Messiaen, Olivier. Technigue of my Musical Language. 2 vols. Trans. John Satterfield. Paris: Alphonse Leduc, 1956.
NichoIs, Roger. Messiaen. Oxford Studies of Composers 13. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1975.
Redfield, John. Music: A science and an Art. New ed. New York: Tudor, 1935.
Sacred Sound: Music in Religious Thought and Practice. Journal of the American Academy of Religion Thematic Studies. Ed. Joyce Irwin. Chico,CA: Scholars' Press, 1983. 50, no.1. Pp.1-19, 21-33, 55-69.
Samuel, Claude. Copversations with Olivier Messiaen. Trans. Felix Aprahamian. London: Stainer and Bell, 1976.
Sohngen, Oskar. Theologie der Musik. Kassel: Johannes Stauda Verlag, 1967.
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Journals
canning, Hugh. "A Portrait of Grace", Manchester Guardian Weekly. 18 Dec. 1988, p.24.
Fishell, Janette. "Old Symbols--New Language: An Examination of Olivier Messiaen's Méditations sur le Mystère de la Sainte Trinité", D~apason. December 1988, Pp. 12-14 ..
Melos: Zeitschrift fur Neue Musik. Heft 12j25.Jahr (1958) Pp.386-92, 393-96, 397-9.
Palmer, David. "Olivier Messiaen: A Tribute on His 80th Birthday", Diapason. December 1988, Pp. 10-1~.
Religion. London: Academic Press, 1984. NO.14. Pp.245-67, 269-92.
86
Ruppel, K.H. "Rede auf Olivier Messiaen", Internationale Katholische zeitschrift. "Communio". 15, no.5. (1986), 440-46.
Sohngen, Oskar. "Music and Theology: A Systematic /l.pproach", Sacred Sound: Music in Religious Thought and Practice. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 'rhematic Studies. Ed. Joyce Irwin. Chico, CA:Scholars Press, 1983. 50, no.1, Pp.1-19.
weir, Gillian. "Messiaen's Language", Organists' Review. Oct. ( 1974), 11-15 .
"The Organ Music of Messiaen-1", organists' Review, 3 (1981), 13-14.
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Recordings
Messiaen, Olivier. L'Ascension. Performed by Thomas Annand at st. Matthias Anglican Church. Westmount: private recording, 1990.
Livre d'Oroue. Performed by Olivier Messiaen. Paris: Ducretet-Thomson T DUC 7, n.d. Phonorecord.
Quatuor pour la fin du Temps. Performed by Luben Yordanoff, violin; Albert Tetard, violoncello; Claude Desurmont, clarinet; Daniel Barenboim, piano. N.p.: Deutsche Grammophon 2531 093, p1979. Phonorecord.
Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant Jésus. Performed by John Ogdon, piano. London: Argo ZRG 650-651, 1969. Phonorecord.
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