The Harmony of God: the salvific beauty of liturgy and music
Fr. Anthony Perkins (Spiritually Speaking, 12/27/2015)
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” St. John 1:1-5.
“In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing…it seemed to come from all directions at once…Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful Digory could hardly bear it.” C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew.
“And it came to pass that Ilúvatar called together all the Ainur and declared to them a mighty theme, unfolding to them things greater and more wonderful than he had yet revealed; and the glory of its beginning and the splendour of its end amazed the Ainur, so that they bowed before Ilúvatar and were silent.
Then Ilúvatar said to them: ‘Of the theme that I have declared to you, I will now that ye make in harmony together a Great Music. And since I have kindled you with the Flame Imperishable, ye shall show forth your powers in adorning this theme, each with his own thoughts and devices, if he will. But I will sit and hearken, and be glad that through you great beauty has been wakened into song.’ …
But when they were come into the Void, Ilúvatar said to them: ‘Behold your Music!’ And he showed to them a vision, giving to them sight where before was only hearing; and they saw a new World made visible before them, and it was globed amid the Void, and it was sustained therein, but was not of it. And as they looked and wondered this World began to unfold its history, and it seemed to them that it lived and grew.” J.R.R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion (pps 3-4).
“Beauty will save the world.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Idiot.
Divine Liturgy “The Holy Work of the People:
- The Lord made the world in a Liturgy “He spoke and it was created” (Psalm 33:5).
- He made us the “royal priesthood” of this creation and the Liturgy
- The Liturgy defines, sustains, and – because it is a realization of the Incarnation of Christ – perfects the world (and us)
- This is necessary because there are other forces that try to redefine and tear down the world and us
Music is a HUGE part of this process; by looking at how music works, we can get a better feel for how all these things work.
How Music Perfects Us:
- Listening
- Matching
- Harmonizing
- Submission (tempo, key, needs) … and expressiveness
- Offering our best; participation in beauty, harmonious unity, and perfection
The Harmony of Spheres: How Music Witnesses to the Perfection and Beauty of God
- The Overtone Series: the stamp of the logos on every sound
- Built-in Harmony: we are ever really alone… and others bring out the best in us
But There’s More: Worship is Incarnational
- Music is the Logos; prophetic of His nature, purpose, and His Trinitarian context
- The Words describe the Logos … and celebrate His salvific presence among us
- Put the words to the music… and have a group of Christians sing them in praise of God!!!
