Mutual resonances: remarks on the relationship between music and theology

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper offers a brief survey of some of the main points of the argument of David Brown’s and Gavin Hopps’ The Extravagance of Music. It tries to show that an understanding of the extravagance of music must be based on an appreciation of the pervasiveness of music. Martin Luther’s theology of music is offered as an example of such an integrative view of music, comprising the music of creation, birdsong, the human voice and instrumental music-making. Music is seen as a divine gift and the ruler of the affections. Johann Sebastian Bach’s music is presented as a paradigmatic example of the mutual resonances between theology and music, mediated through the rhetorical figures of music which are related to specific human affections. It is argued that paying attention to the particularities of music and to the specific understanding of transcendence in the religions opens up even richer possibilities of mutual resonances between theology and music.