Music

 

We have a sense that there is something in music that is familiar, of rhythm and melody, harmony and timbre - and yet it is not obvious what exactly it mirrors. The human voice is of course musical to an extent, but the fact that music stirs the human soul, that vibrations encompassing the air around us can compel us to feel or understand something about the world is something we take for granted. If music is mimetic, it is imitating something that is nearly hidden from us and yet is also undeniably present- like air, or breath, or spirit.

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The act of singing can be called glorified speech. The nature of song is that it involves both breath and word, the breath of man glorifying the word of man just as the Breath of God (Spirit) glorifies the Word of God (Christ). St Paul writes to the Ephesians, connecting Spirit and song: be filled with the Spirit, singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs. This symbol floods the Old Testament narratives. Elisha asks for the king to send a musician and as he plays, the "power of the Lord came on him." When Saul is tormented by an evil spirit, it is only the harp of the psalmist David, the music sent from the Lord's anointed, that is a salve. When David becomes king of Judah, the first thing the people do is sing the song he gives to them. This is mirrored when Christ returns to His throne in Revelation and the saints all respond with a song. The symbols find their fulfillment in Christ and the order solidifies in the gospels- when Christ offers Holy Communion to His disciples, they sing a hymn. After He is resurrected, He breathes the Spirit on them. As Christ ascends as King, He sends the Spirit to the disciples. The Word is made manifest, then it is glorified by the Spirit's song; the King comes, then the music begins.

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These two symbols of word and song find their cosmic significance in the Church. The many voices in Liturgy sing by the Spirit to glorify the One Christ Jesus. Music is what draws the diversity of voices into one, it fills the room, invisible yet potent, it is the deified speech from many tongues of fire, the mystery of the Spirit resting on the body of Christ.

(Part 8 of 14 of Mimetic Reality series)