Luther’s Theology of Music: Spiritual Beauty and Pleasure (Theologische Bibliothek Töpelmann 161)

"For many, the spiritual dimension of life manifests itself through music. While the power of religious institutions, symbols, and practices is in decline, music keeps offering comfort to the stressed and creating at least an illusion of sense in a senseless world. To some extent, the same applies to the arts in general. Deprived of religious beliefs, people today encounter what remains of the sacred in works of art. The modern idea of an artist is suggestive of a visionary, a prophet, or a priest more than it is of an artisan. However, that has not always been the case. Historians of art and aesthetics date the origin of the quasi-religious understanding of art to some time in the eighteenth century. According to musicologist Carl Dahlhaus the romantic view of music employed words such as “devotion” and “contemplation ” to describe it even as religious sentimentality became more aesthetic around the year 1800.1 Herbert Marcuse’s The Aesthetic Dimension gives a closer examination of art’s important spiritual dimension: Art breaks open a dimension inaccessible to other experience, a dimension in which human beings, nature, and things no longer stand under the law of the established reality principle. Subjects and objects encounter the appearance of that autonomy which is denied them in their society. The encounter with the truth of art happens in the estranging language and images which make perceptible,visible, and audible that which is no longer, or not yet, perceived, said, and heard in everyday life.2 As a form of art, music has the advantage of being easily accessible, facilitated by electronic portable devices. In that regard it surpasses not only sculpture and literature, but even television. In terms of omnipresence, it is the supreme art. Given its ubiquity and the spiritual dimension assigned to it, studies in theology of music that address this spiritual dimension are long overdue. ..." 1 Introduction 1.1. Theology of music 1.2. Music and Luther studies 1.3. The relationship between music and the Word of God in previous scholarship 1.4. The aim, method and sources of the present study 2 Voluptates aurium: the pleasures of music in Antiquity and the Middle Ages 2.1 Song of the heart: the appreciation of music in the early church 2.2 Evaluation of aural pleasures in Augustine 2.2.1 The temporal and eternal numbers of De Musica 2.2.2 The scruples of Confessions 2.2.3 The importance of delight 2.3 The development of the concept of music from speculation to practice 2.3.1 The Mathematical concept of music: Boethius and his legacy 2.3.2 High medieval ideas: Bernard of Clairvaux and Thomas Aquinas 2.3.3 Fifteenth century musical theology: Jean Gerson and Johannes Tinctoris 2.4 Medieval theological aesthetics 2.4.1 Theological treatment of beauty 2.4.2 The aesthetics of proportion 2.4.3 The aesthetics of light 2.4.4 Some traits of Renaissance aesthetics 2.5 The Medieval theory of affects 2.5.1 The problematic affectivity 2.5.2 Defining affects 2.5.3 Evaluating affects 3 Optimum Dei donum - the essence of music 3.1 Gift (donum) in Luther’s theology 3.1.1 To be God is to give 3.1.2 To receive is to participate 3.1.3 To be given is to give back 3.1.4 The gifts of humans as the gifts of God 3.2 Music as a gift of God 3.2.1 The four-stage division of music 3.2.1.1 The phenomenon of sound 3.2.1.2 Music of nature: birdsong in particular 3.2.1.3 The human voice 3.2.1.4 Art music 3.2.2 The excellence of music as a gift of God 3.2.3 The reciprocity of the gift of music: Praise. 3.2.3.1 Singing praise as Christian service 3.2.3.2 Critical comments on music 3.2.3.2 Eschatological and ecstatic dimensions of praise 4 Domina et gubernatrix affectuum humanorum - the power of music 4.1 The affects in Luther’s thinking 4.1.1 The affectivity of Luther’s theology 4.1.2 The affect and emotions 4.2 The affective power of music 4.2.1 Music moves the human heart 4.2.2 Music raises a variety of emotions 4.2.3 Above all, music delights the human heart 4.2.4 Canticum novum as the song of joy 4.3 Music combined with the Word of God 4.3.1 Verbum vocale as the primary form of the Word 4.3.2 Das Wort im Schwang: Singing as the optimal form of verbum vocale 5 Joy (gaudium) and Pleasure (voluptas) in Luther’s theology 5.1 Joy 5.1.1 The Gospel is good news 5.1.2 Characteristics of Christian joy 5.1.3 Joy and love 5.2 Pleasure 5.2.1 Pleasure and will 5.2.2 Holy pleasure 5.3.3 Sensuous pleasures in Luther’s thinking. 5.3 The delight of music is sensuous and innocent 6 Theology of beauty and the virtues of music 6.1 Luther as an aesthetic thinker 6.1.1 Luther and beauty 6.1.2 Young Luther and the beauty of the cross 6.1.3 Old Luther and appreciation of outward beauty 6.2 In search of the aesthetical criteria of music 6.2.1 Simplicitas - communicativeness 6.2.2 Libertas - freedom 6.2.3 Suavitas - pleasantness 6.2.3.1 Excursus: A comparison of the way Calvin and Luther value music 6.2.4 Exultatio - the creative joy 6.3 Luther’s musical aesthetics as an aesthetics of light Conclusion Abbreviations Sources Martin Luther’s works Ancient and medieval authors Literature Subject Index Index of Names

The sweetness of music is something that has puzzled Christian theologians for centuries. In this study, Luther’s theology of music is approached from the point of view of pleasure. It examines the significance of joy, beauty and pleasure in relationship with music and Luther’s theology. The notion of music as the supreme gift of God requires also a discussion about the idea of ‘gift’. Music opens up new perspectives into Luther’s thinking. Luther has seldom been reckoned among aesthetic theologians. Nevertheless, Luther has a peculiar view on beauty, understanding faith as a kind of aesthetic contemplation.

"Lutheran theology is joyous spirituality, that fully appreciates the beauty of the world and is deeply affective by nature, cherishing the human emotions and imagination. This is the view that is opened by theology of music. Music was for Luther an excellent gift of God that was close to theology. This study examines the depths of this notion and attests the theological significance of pleasure, establishing also Luther as an aesthetic thinker"--Provided by publisher Introduction -- Voluptates Aurium : The Pleasures Of Music In Antiquity And The Middle Ages -- Optimum Dei Donum : The Essence Of Music -- Domina Et Gubernatrix Affectuum Humanorum : The Power Of Music -- Joy (gaudium) And Pleasure (voluptas) In Luther's Theology -- Theology Of Beauty And The Virtues Of Music. Miikka E. Anttila. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.