Mass, Music, Materiality & Time
Music is unquestionably an integral part of the Catholic celebration of Mass, and is included in a rather formal way, through specific structure. It generally includes the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus/Benedictus, and the Agnus Dei (Lamb of God). All of these parts work together as one “conduit through which various stages of the ritual could be signaled to attentive observers…(and) a means of drawing them in, directing their thoughts and prayers to the key moments of the Mass that, verbally, were beyond their reach” (Kirkman 188). It is only through the materiality of music that we are able to experience the mass in a more intimate way, and are able to enter into the understanding of God’s time. Mass is ultimately the union between many art forms that allow the unveiling of that which is not visible.
Oftentimes music is viewed as an escape from time, but Begbie argues against this assumption. Rather, music gives us a material way of dealing with and counting time, allowing us to live and abide in time itself. Music and time are not separate entities, but rather “the production and reception of music deeply implicates physical realities and these realities are themselves time-laden” (Begbie 31). In essence, music is not outside of time. The goal of music is to receive time back, in a new understanding of ‘time that is redeemed’ and given to us through Christ’s sacrifice. Looking further into the materiality of music, such as rhythm, meter, melody, & pitch, we can enter into this more intimate theological understanding of mass.
Let’s look at some particular masses, and their musical structures to gain a deeper understanding of this intimacy. Musical time is “not essentially about a line split into equal parts, but about waves of tension and resolution” (Begbie 44). We sense these waves of tension and resolution through the Missa Caput by Johannes Ockeghem, through the development across all parts of the mass which includes the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus/Benedictus, and the Agnus Dei. In order to fully grasp the intentional nature of the musical characteristics of this mass, we must first be opened to the sophisticated nature of the Caput masses. Caput, which means head, is given meaning first through altarpieces depicting the crushing of the heads of dragons, which are symbolic of Satan and the concept of evil. Music and altarpieces, in this Caput form of mass, “work together to form the spiritual senses to actually recognize what is taking place at the Eucharist” (O’Malley Lecture). Over the course of the mass, the ear attends to the descendance of the the tenor line, which “be interpreted as a “head of sin” and, figuratively, as the standard theological image for original sin, the caput draconis” (Robertson 570). This recognition of the tenor, along with the altarpieces, causes us to enter into this deeper understanding of the worship taking place before us. Why does the tenor line seem to descend, and why do these altarpieces carry a consistency of suffering dragons? What does this have to do with the Eucharist? In the attuning of our spiritual senses, which work together through our earthly senses as explained by Balthasar, we are able to recognize in a more intimate way the power of the Eucharistic sacrifice taking place during mass: Christ’s sacrifice powerfully ‘crushes’ satan and evil, the dragon and the tenor line. The tension that is built up through the other grammatical elements of the music is resolved through this descent and ‘release’ of the tenor line. This materiality of seeing and hearing, through music and altarpieces, “allows God’s people to see their holiness through the elevation of their sacred words” (Swain 104). It brings the experience of Mass to a more holy level, and cause us to ask ourselves: In what way can we ‘slay’ the dragon in our own existence?
Another specific mass we could look at is John Tavener’s Missa Wellensis. People have interpreted this mass & music in a wide variety of ways. Some find his music to be “a route to eternity”, while others describe it as “drastically limited” (Begbie 129). Regardless, the mass is one that is defined by many distinct characteristics, including symmetrical structure, multiplicity, suppression of change and motion, as well as clear beginnings and endings. All of these elements help to unveil and build human understanding of ‘God’s time’, which extends far beyond our comprehension of temporality. The materiality leads us into this new understanding of time, especially Taverner’s use of repetition, as well as elongated refrains. The elongation of refrains and repetitions we see in the music of these masses is akin to Christ’s time in terms of eternity. There is no end, nor beginning, therefore this music is eternal in the sense that it is going on for all of time and space. Thus, we are entering into ‘God’s time’, as “the music emerges out of silence and drifts seamlessly back into silence, giving the impression of being in the midst of previously (and subsequently) unheard music” (Begbie 139). We must embrace the silences we find Tavener’s mass as an opportunity to hear God. No longer are we on our own schedules, we are on God’s time. It is through silence and the seemingly empty space of song that God speaks, because the “act of speech appears itself as rendered possible by the silence of divine listening” (Chretien 28). To pray is to recognize that there is a being listening to us. Tavener’s mass reminds us of this, and gives us the opportunity to be open to the silence, instead of trying to fill it in fear of wasting time. Our sense of temporality is not Christ’s.
Ultimately, the material nature of the structured music we hear throughout mass helps us feed our spiritual senses and lead us into a more intimate experience. We enter into a world beyond our understanding of temporality, and are called to not escape our worldly time, but rather live more deeply within it. Music “offers a challenge and alternative to the destructive, distracting and alienating busy-ness…of our culture (which is) surely far from what God intends”(Begbie 144). Let this music inspire and bring us into this new concept of time in God’s eyes, and be open to his gaze.
