The Extravagance of Music
This book explores the ways in which music can engender religious experience, by virtue of its ability to evoke the ineffable and affect how the world is open to us. Arguing against approaches that limit the religious significance of music to an illustrat
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The Extravagance of Music “In this timely and fascinating book, Brown and Hopps argue persuasively that music—both in its form and in the event of listening, in wordless and ‘secular’ works as well as those with deliberate religious associations, and through popular genres just as much as high art—can ‘lead us to the edge of the infinite,’ providing a place not only of religious encounter but also divine revelation. Essential reading for anyone interested in the relationship between theology and the meaning-making possibilities of music.” —Maggi Dawn, Associate Professor of Theology and Literature, Yale Divinity School, USA “When I read this book, I was reminded of Faber’s fine hymn ‘There’s wideness in God’s mercy.’ In the face of literature that would limit the revelation of the Divine in music to a few musical works of a particular style with an approved theology, it widens the scope of the spiritual in music to include the musicker as well as the sound of the music itself. It opens up the possibility that a variety of musics can generate a transcendent experience, depending on the musical experience and preferences of the musicker. In this book God is seen as extravagantly generous with grace which cannot be limited in its scope. I recommend it heartily for anyone interested in music and the spiritual; it will challenge and intrigue them.” —June Boyce-Tillman, MBE, Professor of Applied Music, University of Winchester, UK “David Brown and Gavin Hopps have given us a wise, well informed, and wide-ranging treatment of the possibilities of music as a mediator of the divine. Opposing the reductionism of both ‘catechetical’ religious approaches and secularist exclusions of the sacred, they provide cogent arguments for the positive significance of music for awareness of God. A major contribution of the book is the richness of examples from both classical and popular genres. The authors place their topics within the large context of theological and especially musical aesthetics, but they are not content with the general observations that frequently characterize theological treatments of music. Both musicologists and theologians should appreciate their detailed descriptions of exactly how various kinds of music can achieve spiritual effects. They invite us to recognize the possibility of musical experiences of different kinds and levels of depth that can reveal varied but complementary aspects of divine encounter. Avoiding simplistic positions, the authors explicitly take into account the inevitable social and individual
contexts that condition all experiences. But they argue effectively that within such contexts, for those disposed, truly revelatory moments through music are possible and real.” —Richard Viladesau, Professor Emeritus, Fordham University, New York, USA “As a music therapist one of the most common things people say to me is ‘music takes me somewhere else’ or ‘music is spiritual for me.’ Such music may be Bach, The Grateful Dead, or a spontaneous improvisation. The relationship between music and spiritu
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