- 1 - Approaches to Music in Modern Theology by Danielle Anne Lynch Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds Theology and Religious Studies May 2015 - 2 - - 3 - Intellectual Property and Publication Statements The candidate confirms that the work submitted is her own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement © 2015 The University of Leeds and Danielle Anne Lynch The right of Danielle Anne Lynch to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. - 4 - - 5 - Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to my doctoral supervisor, Dr Rachel Muers, for her support and encouragement with this research. Her critiques of my work have proved an invaluable source of inspiration. I would also like to thank Dr Al McFadyen and Prof Johanna Stiebert for informal encouraging conversations along the way. I must also thank my colleagues and friends with whom I have shared my research, especially those who have read and commented on my work, Dr Linzi Dodd, Joanna Duncan, Sr Mary Francis RSM, Dr Rhiannon Grant, and Esther Zarifi. A special thanks also to my family for their encouragement and support. Most of all, thanks to my husband Dr Mike Lynch for his patience and love through every stage of this research. - 6 - - 7 - Abstract This thesis contends that music is a theologically significant human experience. It uses Gordon Lynch’s definition of theology as “the process of seeking normative answers to questions of truth, goodness, evil, suffering, redemption, and beauty in the context of particular social and cultural situations.” It draws from theologies of popular culture an emphasis on the embodied, social and contextual nature of musical experience, and treats music as event rather than object. The insights from an approach to popular music are applied to a study of classical music. Music is considered as more than abstract form, in general concept or as a written score, but in relation to particular works and contexts, and, most importantly, in relation to a human subject. Music is considered to be sacramental rather than sacred in this thesis, and all music, not only religious music, is considered to be a means of revealing the invisible God; it is the nature of music rather than its quality or special qualities that allows it to be sacramental. This thesis argues that music suspends the boundary between the human subject and the divine object, and in this way allows for experience of the transcendence of God. Three case studies of eras of Western classical music form the second part of the thesis, and demonstrate the differing relation between embodiment and musical form in each era. The Requiem is a common theme, as it shows the progression of this relationship. It is a liminal form, dealing with the most liminal of subjects – life and death – in the modern era through the most liminal musical technique – silence. Methodologically, this thesis brings into dialogue theology, musicology and composers’ own writing. It proposes that the key to interpreting music theologically is an understanding of the relationship between embodiment and musical form. - 8 - - 9 - Contents Introduction 15 1. Thesis Overview 16 2. Summary 21 Chapter One: Theologies of Music: Approaches 23 1. Music as Theologically Significant or Revelatory Experience 24 1.1 Friedrich Schleiermacher 24 1.2 William James 31 1.3 Rudolf Otto 31 1.4 Paul Tillich 37 1.5 David Brown 39 1.6 Férdia Stone-Davis 43 1.7. Summary 47 2. Music as Expounding Given Theological Truths 48 2.1 Hans Urs von Balthasar 49 2.2 Karl Barth 51 2.3 Jeremy Begbie 53 2.4 Summary 57 3. Theologies of Popular Culture and Popular Music 59 3.1 Timothy Gorringe 60 3.2 Gordon Lynch 64 3.3 Kelton Cobb 71 3.4 Clive Marsh and Vaughan Roberts 75 3.5 Michael Iafrate 76 3.6 Myles Werntz 77 3.7 Gina Messina-Dysert 79 3.9 Jeffrey Keuss 81 3.10 Summary 82 4. Conclusion 83 - 10 - Chapter Two: Theologies of Music: Concepts 89 1. Knowing and Relating to God: Transcendence 89 1.1 The Concept of Transcendence 90 1.2 God’s Transcendence as Unknowable 92 1.3 God’s Transcendence Revealed in Human Creations 94 1.4 Self- Transcendence 96 1.5 Issues with Transcendence 100 1.6 Summary 103 2. Knowing and Relating to God: Liminality 105 2.1 The Concept of Liminality 105 2.2 Music and Liminality: Affective Space 106 2.3 Music and Liminality: Subject and Object 108 2.4 Music and Liminality: Time 109 2.5 Summary 111 3. Knowing and Relating to God: Revelation 111 3.1 Revelation from Above 112 3.2 Revelation from Below 115 3.3 Revelation Through Music 117 3.4 Summary 119 4. Knowing and Relating to God: The Sacred and the Sacramental 120 4.1 Sacred music 120 4.2 Sacred in Theologies of Popular Culture 121 4.3 Summary of Sacred Music 122 4.4 Sacramental Music 123 4.5 Summary 125 5. Embodied Ways of Knowing God: Understanding Embodiment 126 5.1 Augustine and the Body 128 5.2 Augustine’s Influence on Contemporary Theology 130 5.3 Embodiment and Music 132 5.4 Incarnation and Embodied Music: God Communicating 136 5.5 Summary 139 - 11 - 6. Embodied Ways of Knowing God: The Beautiful 139 6.1 Objective Beauty 140 6.2 Beauty as Transcendental 141 6.3 Beauty as God-given 145 6.4 Subjective Beauty 146 6.5 Human Experience of Beauty 146 6.6 Musical Beauty 148 6.7 Summary 150 7. Embodied Ways of Knowing God: The Sublime 151 7.1 Eighteenth-Century Accounts of the Sublime 151 7.2 The Sublime and the Numinous 155 7.3 The Sublime Moment 156 7.4 The Sublime and the Beautiful 158 7.5 The Musical Sublime 159 7.6 Summary 160 8. Conclusion 161 Chapter Three: Classical Music 165 1. Theological Aesthetics and Classical Music 168 1.1 Classical Music, Form and Theology 169 1.2 Abstract Form 170 1.3 Incarnate Form 174 1.4 Summary 178 2. The Creation: Embodied Participation in Musical Form 179 2.1 The Historical Context 179 2.2 Form, Embodiment and The Creation 180 2.3 The Sublime Moment 182 2.4 Summary 184 3. Don Giovanni: Understanding Human Embodiment through Opera 185 3.1 Content and Form: Explicit Meaning of Don Giovanni 186 3.2 Embodiment and Form: Implicit Meaning of Don Giovanni 190 3.3 Revelation and Concealment in Don Giovanni 191 3.4 Summary 193 - 12 - 4. Requiem: Understanding Death 194 4.1 The Legend: Context of Mozart’s Requiem 194 4.2 The Musical Sublime in Mozart’s Requiem 196 4.3 Summary 198 5. Conclusion 199 Chapter Four: Romantic Music 203 1. Romanticism in Music and Theology 205 1.1 Key Features of Romantic Music 206 1.2 Romantic Thought on Music 209 2. Exploration of the Self in Romantic Music 212 2.1 The Self in the Pastoral Symphony 216 2.2 The Sublime in the Pastoral Symphony 218 2.3 Summary 219 3. The Individual Self and Embodied Form 220 3.1 Heroic Form in the Eroica 221 3.2 Heroic Form and Self-Development 224 3.3 Heroic Form: Ethical or Embodied? 226 3.4 Summary 227 4. Death and the Self 228 4.1 The Development of the Requiem Form: Individualisation 229 4.2 Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem 230 4.3 The Self and Ein deutsches Requiem 232 4.4 Summary of Death and the Self 233 5. Conclusion 235 Chapter Five: Modern Music 237 1. Theology and Musical Silence 238 2. Modern Music and Silence 241 2.1 Silent Music: Allais 242 2.2 Silent Music: Schulhoff 243 2.3 Silent Music: Messiaen 245 2.4 Silent Music: Denver 248 2.5 Silent Music: Lennon 249 - 13 - 3. Embodied Silence in Cage’s 4’33” 250 3.1 Cage’s Writing on Silence 251 3.2 Resisting Human Nothingness 253 3.3 Denying Material Finitude 254 3.4 Celebration of Limits of Embodiment 255 3.5 Zen Silence: Empty or Full? 256 3.6 Zen Silence: Participation in the Mystery of God 258 3.7 Summary 259 4. Silence and the Requiem for String Orchestra 260 4.1 Ma: The Boundary Between Sound and Silence 261 4.2 Blurring the Boundary Between Life and Death 264 4.3 Summary 265 5. Conclusion 267 Conclusion 269 1. Thesis Summary 269 2. Contribution to Knowledge in Theology of Music 272 3. Further Research 274 4. Coda 275 Bibliography 277 - 14 - - 15 - Introduction Modern theologians have often studied the world of human imagination in the arts.1 Whilst these theological accounts are often relevant to music as an art form, and sometimes explicitly discuss music, there are particular features of music that set it apart from other forms of art. These features – its temporality and embodied nature – are not exclusive to music, but together create a particular impact that is distinctive to music. I argue in this thesis that different emphases arise from focusing on different musical eras. Two key issues in this thesis are musical form and embodiment. They relate in different ways in different musical eras. I argue that there cannot be an all-encompassing theology of music, as music cannot be generalised, but must be analysed with regard to its particular context and in relation to particular musical experiences.