B30 Christian symbolism in music theory?
Introduction
Christian symbolism in our tonal system? This is not as unusual as it might seem at first glance. Seen from a greater distance, we are dealing with a worldview.
So let's approach the topic from the cosmic side first: The astronomical conditions are what they are. However, the heaven of gods of the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans and the Christians was each their own. We hear about the Egyptian sun god Ra, the Greek sun god Helios, the Roman sun god Apollo and Christ who says of himself: "I am the light of the world". Joh.8,12 The astronomer Andreas Cellarius (1596-1665) designed Christian constellations, the generally binding implementation of which would have enabled us to identify Noah's Ark in the night sky.
It's no different with music. The physics of the vibrating string is what it is. Pythagoras, Euclid, Aristoxenos, Archimedes and many others have dealt with it and given the manifestations names. As we know, these were adopted by the Romans because, as the Roman writer Aulus Gellius (2nd century) tells us, the Latin language had no equivalents for their expressions. The nomenclature still used today (prime, second, third, etc.) and the reference to. Scripture therefore falls into the period of early Christianity.
A comparison reveals what changed compared to the Greeks. The sequence of tones attributed to Pythagoras consists of 5 whole steps and 2 half steps. 5 wholes and 2 halves make 6. However, the Christians decided to number the steps consecutively, with halves being counted as wholes. With the inclusive counting of the time (which also counts the starting point) one came to 8, corresponding to the 8 heavenly spheres, the 8 days of the week, the resurrection on the 8th day and the 8 beatitudes. But how does one attain salvation? About the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit: fear of God, piety, charity, bravery, mercy, love of enemies and wisdom.
Jacob's Ladder
Due to the analogy to Jacob's ladder, we speak today of scales - imaginary ladders to heaven - for this you need church modes - the right one for every occasion. A physicist cannot do anything with "high" and "low" tones, because he only knows faster and slower oscillations. And mathematicians have trouble with the «minor 2» and the «big 3», with the minor second and the major third. The reason for such anomalies is that symbols are intentional relationships and not causal connections that could also be independently proven elsewhere.
The A and Ω
C like Christ at the beginning and end of the C major scale: This refers to the A and the Ω. In music, consonance embodies the end of all tensions: acoustic peace. The C like Christ also appears at the zenith of the circle of fifths. Arabic music does not know any of this and opens up access to its own tonal spaces. 8 bliss
Where else do we encounter the 8 that was so important for Christians?
- in the 8 heavenly spheres: For each of the 7 so-called wandering stars: Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn were assumed to have their own sphere. Because in the 8th sphere, in where the fixed constellations are located, no movement was discernible, one took there Eternity: The kingdom of the gods or the kingdom of God.
- in the 8 days of the week (according to biblical counting from the day of the Lord, to which dies dominicus
- the 1st and 8th day of the week coincide) - Sanctification of the temple on the 1st and 8th day (1 Kings 8) - Octagonal baptismal font - Octagonal pulpits - 8 parts of speech - 8Pass forms on round altar panels (Besancon) and in stained glass windows (Sion) - 8-sided imperial crown
- Octagonal architecture: baptisteries, church towers, Palatine Chapel at Aachen, Castel del Monte - 8 recognized keys out of 14 (as reported by Heinrich Loriti from Glarus, 1488-1563)
- 8 bliss (fixed on 8 here, although more are mentioned)
St. John's Hymn
Ut, Re, Wi, Fa, So, La, Si, Do
Ut queant laxis, resonare fibris mira gestorum, famuli tuorum, solve polluti, labii reatum, Sancte Ioannes. lit. "That the disciples with loose vocal cords may resound the wonders of your deeds, redeem the guilt of the tainted lip, Saint John." In the 17th century, Otto Gibelius replaced the UT with the DO.
Gospel
If we look at the piano keys through symbolic glasses, we encounter: the 13-1 (13 keys with only 12 note designations) corresponding to the participants at the Last Supper minus Judas, the 5 black keys corresponding to the 5 wounds and the 8 white keys corresponding to the resurrection on eighth days. Betrayal-Death-Resurrection: The Gospel Abridged. This symbolism can also be found in an instrument construction by Arnaut de Zwolle from 1440. Numerous instruments with specific references to the Bible have been preserved.
Heavenly Jerusalem
The immaterial city of God with 12 gates (Rev. 21). Closed to form a circle, the coincidence of the 1 and the 13: 12 The chandelier in the Hildesheim Cathedral (around 1050) symbolizes the heavenly Jerusalem. Thus, despite the description of the city as "square in plan and as long as it is wide," it was also imagined to be round, an equally perfect shape. Musica Praeludium Vitam Aeternam - the music allows for a premonition of paradise.
Conclusion
Overall, the concern to make the cultural heritage of the Greeks compatible with monotheism is recognizable, whereby the ethical content could be adopted unchanged. But what is this?
Harmony takes its name from the Greek goddess Harmonia, the goddess of harmony. She is introduced to us driving a chariot drawn by a bull, a griffin, and a tiger. She is therefore credited with the ability to pull together incompatible characters. This can be explained by her origin, because her father Ares was the god of war, her mother Aphrodite the goddess of love. Parents with such disparate natures must have developed a special way of getting along with them.
The reference to Christian symbols has the character of a purposeful construction: the counting of steps by the Greeks was converted into a counting of steps.
Please click on the pictures to enlarge
Comparison of the Greek and the early Christian reading of the tonal system.
With the addition of chromaticism, a different picture emerged:
The Gospel of Music
In the course of the French Revolution, the symbolism was deliberately eliminated - the prim became a unisono - just as efforts were made to introduce a new calendar and the introduction of a 10-day week and a 10-hour day. The worldview had already been shaken by Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler. Charles Darwin's work "On the origin of species" was published in 1859 and thus also questioned the story of creation.
The ethical content, on the other hand, has lost none of its topicality and importance in view of the armed conflicts.
© 2023 Aurelius Belz