Musikkens Kairos
Musikk og religion: Tekster om musikk i religion og religion i musikk 2022 DOI: 10.23865/noasp.177.ch5 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that music can convey forms of transcendental experience that overlap with religious experience, particularly Rudolf Otto's concept of the "numinous," a state felt as ganz Andere, wholly other. Proposes that language often falls short in capturing music's meaning because the phenomenon is nameless, and draws on the author's personal musical and religious experiences to open an investigative horizon (Fragehorizont) for multiple perspectives on this overlap. |
Abstract
This essay contemplates the potential of meaning in music. Most of us would agree that something significant happens in the meeting between music and listener, a phenomenon that can be said to be rooted deeper than human culture and language. With reference to philosophers like Nietzsche, Heidegger and Rudolf Otto, I aim to establish an investigative horizon (Fragehorizont) connected to the enigmatic response music can trigger. In many ways music offers a confrontation with objective reality, and I will discuss music’s distinctive ability to convey various forms of transcendental experiences. There have been numerous attempts to approach this issue, and the philosophical study of music has many connections with philosophical questions in metaphysics and aesthetics. The challenge is that when it comes to the relationship between music and meaning, language often falls short because the phenomenon is nameless. Rudolf Otto uses the term numinous to describe a mental state that presents itself as something ganz Andere, wholly other, a condition absolutely sui generic and incomparable. At this point the musical and the religious experiences overlap. Based on my personal musical and religious experiences, this essay tries to expand on some thoughts that hopefully can accommodate different constellations of perspectives concerning commonalities between musical and religious transcendent experiences.