Musical Scores and the Eternal Present: Theology, Time, and Tolkien by Chiara Bertoglio

Abstract

Reviewed by: Musical Scores and the Eternal Present: Theology, Time, and Tolkien by Chiara Bertoglio Eileen Marie Moore Musical Scores and the Eternal Present: Theology, Time, and Tolkien, by Chiara Bertoglio. Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2021. xv, 192 pp. $26.00 (softcover). ISBN 978-1-7252-9502-5. While the self-stated purpose of this book is to present music and its notation as a symbol for "a transcendent and consoling reality: the supreme beauty of God, his providence, and our final destiny as singers in His eternal symphony" (xiii), its title hints towards a fascinating intersection between apologetics, philosophy, and fantasy. A note of particular interest in the title is the mention of J.R.R. Tolkien. Part 2 dwells upon this subject, comparing Tolkien's "Ainulindalë" with the Genesis Creation story and Dante's Commedia—all three heavily laden with musical and religious themes. More intriguing to me is the concept of the eternal present as it applies to musical notation, [End Page 211] the reading and performing of music, and the appearance of musical scores in art. A score, though composed in the past, contains the potential for future performance. The musician, trained to apprehend the whole of the score at a glance and interpret its organizational structure, may refer back to what has already been played while in the process of currently performing and, simultaneously, look ahead to plan the execution of parts yet to come. This non-linear temporal state, existing in the musical score itself as well as the act of performing, may be analogous to the Eternal Present as realized by God. In developing these themes, Bertoglio offers a crash course in music theory, beginning with the history of musical notation (in Western music) and traveling through the works of composers, artists, and theoreticians who examine how music captures time and allows the performer (more so than the listener) to experience the whole and its parts simultaneously. Thoroughly cited and sourced and not given to unfounded supposition, this book provides for the curious reader ample points of departure for further research. Many of the religious references and allusions seem like studies of comparative literature and may prove more generally accessible than not. Bertoglio undertakes a philosophical definition of Time and the eternal present—a noble (yet somewhat unsatisfying) undertaking hardly exhaustive of the subject matter, given such a breadth of material. Along the way, we encounter writings of St. Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and other Church Fathers, and of a wide range of philosophers. We consider religious and philosophical concepts such as the Trinity, Incarnation, and (from Greek thought) the organization of the heavenly bodies, contemplation and praise of God, and the beauty of music as symbolic of perfect harmony in heavenly society. All of the mysteries of Christian theology—Transfiguration, Incarnation, Passion, Eucharist—are presented as moments when chronological time intertwines with eternity. Bertoglio also takes on the thorny task of defining the origin of Evil and discord in the heavenly choir, the role of artists, musicians, and writers as sub-creators, and posits that the creation of music is a religious act, a theological undertaking, a quest for meaning. Delving into the subject of Myth (that they may speak real truths about the meaning of life even though lacking hard facts like a chronicle) brings us to J.R.R. Tolkien. "[C. S.] Lewis, Tolkien and Hugo Dyson had a famous night stroll …" (146). Tolkien saw creation myths as narratives woven by humans as a "fragment of the true light" (150). This concept was new to C. S. Lewis despite its roots in writings of the Patristic era, Jewish theology, and Greek philosophy. Tolkien's emphasis on "sub-creation" (149) as the [End Page 212] process by which humans are "called to fulfil their Creator's likeness" (147) is borne out in his "Mythopoeia" and "On Fairy-stories." Bertoglio spends some time comparing Tolkien's poetry to passages from Genesis and moves on to specific musical symbolisms with which he narrates the creation of Arda. His "Ainulindalë" (Music of the Ainur, a musical myth by which the Elves express their beliefs of the origin of their world) is used as a filter...