Music and Contemplation 2: The Metaphysics of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The purpose of my previous article on music and contemplation was to bring out the metaphysical meaning of traditional music and its link with contemplation, but since I lack the patience to really flesh out my ideas the post did come across rather brief and unfocused, so here I just want to elaborate on the symbolism of music in a more concentrated way.

My main point was that religious chant and Indian classical music both point to the same truth that there is an immutable and primal God, and that there is a world of multiplicity that stands in relation to Him. This is probably the most basic outline of reality that can be drawn, and pre-modern contemplative music represents this outline in audible form. We can visually manifest this basic outline in the form of the Cross and all its variants, wherein the vertical portion of the Cross stands for God and the horizontal for manifestation (the melody). The melody of chant surrounding its harmonic centre is not a chaotic motion, the world did not emanate in a random fashion, and this is manifested by the use of modes in music, therefore, to break the mode is to break the order of creation. This latter point is made more explicit when we consider the esoteric meaning of the modes: their correspondences with the planets and elements. These correspondences and their place in traditional cosmology (I would like to more specifically comment on the meaning of the modes but I lack the knowledge) bring more depth to scales than if we viewed them merely as tools to make the music sound pleasing. Again, we can clearly see this in the Indian tradition, as different ragas are set to be performed at different times of the day and in different seasons, the music is in tune with the world...

Music and Contemplation

Saraswati: goddess of music, wisdom, art, and knowledge

The spirit that animates the music of traditional civilizations is very different than the one which dominates our modern Western culture. I think that one of the factors behind this great difference is the West's exaltation of action which has become opposed to contemplation.

It does not take great powers of perception to see that Western society is propelled by action, there is a tangible and inescapable obsession with work and production, and we see the fruits of this all around us: from our private time spent gazing into the void of virtual worlds to the sparkling towers which dominate the horizon of the earth. Activity which is not entertainment or work has no place in such a world, intellectual activity is not understood and even looked down upon, this is the natural result of the unnatural glorification of action, and it poisons everything it comes into contact with. Much has been written on this wide and important topic, and it is not my purpose to set forth a full exposition of the significance of contemplation and action (for this I would recommend Pieper's Leisure the Basis of Culture and Guenon's The Crisis of the Modern World), here I wish only to focus on how these principles apply to music and see what deeper meanings we can draw from them. As always, what I say here is only some aspects of the greater picture, not an exhaustive or perfect treatment.

Chant in its Natural Environment

 

Religious chanting is an event, therefore the music only fully conveys its power in the context of the divine services they are appointed for. It is best heard by listening to those who really live within it, complete with all the mistakes, coughs, hoarseness, and movement around the choir.

Beauty in the Spaces

 

Pancho and Lefty is a masterpiece of story-telling; it leaves all the work to the listener. The identity and relationship of the two men are left wonderfully vague, Townes only gives us the barest outline of a story that could last for pages upon pages. As a result, the mind populates these plain verses with images and feelings more vivid and powerful than if they had been displayed with the most dramatic lucidity.

This is a technique present in all good art, of any medium

Gould Plays Bach

Far from being the flat, uninspiring, academic music that it’s made out to be, Glenn Gould showcases Bach at his most dynamic and powerful, with dramatic force and emotion that rivals the works of the great romantics.

This is a video I’ve returned to again and again over the years, it's probably my favourite recording of classical music. 

The performance starts at about 5:08.

A North American Raga

A strange and beautiful piece of American folk. Robbie Basho's music is virtuous and eclectic, with influences ranging from country music to Indian raga.

Basho's (and John Fahey's) music has the same hypnotic quality that I find in listening to Bach's fugues: from a simple theme you are carried down a relentless stream of dense, interweaving lines that work together to create a harmonious unity. Heavily layered music like this has tremendous re-play quality because all of the parts simply cannot be taken in all at once, for they reveal themselves gradually with every listen.

Post-rock before Explosions in the Sky-esque tremolo picking over-kill was easily one of the most interesting genres of music.