**Maeve Louise Heaney**

**Abstract:** A theological exploration of the potential of non-liturgical instrumental music for the transmission of religious Christian faith experience, based on a hermeneutical tool drawn from Jean-Jacques Nattiez as applied to Arvo Pärt's *Spiegel im Spiegel.* The article explores musical composition, reception, as well as the piece of music in itself, to discover common traits and keys to understanding its "meaning", and relate it to current thought and development in theology; in particular to themes of creativity, theological aesthetics, the Ascension, the artistic vocation and meaning-making in contemporary culture, through music and films.

Reprinted from *Religions*. Cite as: Heaney, M.L. Can Music "Mirror" God? A Theological-Hermeneutical Exploration of Music in the Light of Arvo Pärt's *Spiegel im Spiegel*. *Religions* **2014**, *5*, 361–384.

### **1. Introduction: Can Music be "Spiritual"?**

Instead of "starting anywhere", as John Cage might advise, let's start at the end: I invite the reader to listen to a recording of Arvo Pärt's *Spiegel im Spiegel* [1] (Mirror in the Mirror), before, or during the reading of this article, and to sit for a while with whatever it touches, provokes, or mirrors in you.Each listening to any piece of music, recorded or live, is a new moment of "reception" and therefore of meaning-making [2]. It may lead you to agree or disagree with what is written here, but at the very least it may help you echo with and "understand" it, and in any case, in the context of reflecting on Music and Spirituality, it allows us to enter into our theme through the doorway of experience and to allow that experience to colour, challenge or enrich our theoretical reflections.

What is it about a piece of music that leads it to be recorded in twelve different versions (*cf.* [3,4], p. 32) and used in or as the soundtrack of fourteen films, (and counting) [5]? Is it already a "classic", in Gadamarian philosophical or theological terms, or is it too soon to pass judgement? Can we even decipher the reasons behind its "success", and if, in fact, such proliferation of (also) commercial use implies musical quality or rather commodification hinting at the lack thereof [6]? Is the explicitly spiritual and religious inspiration of its composer relevant, making it more "religious" or "Christian" than other music or should we leave that source aside in our reflection? And how do we even begin to answer these questions?

Alongside the general popularity and growing interest in the person and music of Arvo Pärt, there is an increasing volume of scholarly interest and research being published (of particular interest are [7], and the already cited [4]. In relation to the chosen piece of music, *Spiegel im Spiegel*, and its use in film, an excellent recent study is [8] as it brings together approaches from musicological and film studies). This last study covers a vast range of topics, from biography, through musical theory and musicology to themes of meaning and spirituality. I draw from these sources with the specific aim of identifying and bridging with theological principles and notions which can help orientate and better guide us through the ongoing encounter of Spirituality (in my case, Christian) and the Arts. I am neither a musicologist nor a semiotician, but I am convinced of their importance in a theological understanding of music [9], and hence of the need to collaborate with those who are experts in these fields new to us, challenging as this may be. Music is a powerful symbolic form which I believe can and does enrich human living and mediate the Christian faith experience, perhaps not as an explicit, "complete and computed" proclamation of the kerygma, but as part, or carrier, or even at times as a form of "development" of the same [10]. However, in order to grasp how, we need to take it "on its own terms", rather than trying to "make it fit" into verbal or linguistic paradigms, and open to learning methods of approaching music that can help us do so, and perhaps to recognise the positions or presuppositions underlying our opinions on music and the variety of ways in which a piece of music can be approached.

Why is this important? What are the concerns that underlie this article on music's capacity to reveal God's presence, as exemplified by a hermeneutical exploration of *Spiegel im Spiegel*? Firstly, the basic and essential one of the Church's relationship with and need to understand culture, as an ongoing "first step" in the dialogue between both; one of theology's tasks is to constantly take that step. Secondly, the conviction that God *is* present in culture, and that much of our work is to learn to discover that Triune presence, in the many concrete ways that open us to it. And thirdly that music is one of these ways, and this particular piece of music can help us access and understand that. Why is a hermeneutical approach important? Because many of the challenges facing theology and spirituality in our world now are about understanding and interpretation, which in the words of Lawrence Kramer, finds itself "caught between the extremes of resurgent dogmatism and overambitious empiricism" ([11], p. 3). Hermeneutics is a mediator between these two, so although understanding music in itself is already something, it has more to offer, and will enrich in turn our very comprehension of interpretation and meaning:

Nothing is more meaningful than music…not in spite of our clumsiness at saying what it means to us…but because that clumsiness takes us to the very heart of what meaning is… If anything can vindicate meaning, music can, and if it can't, nothing can ([11], p. 7).

So, the underlying thesis that these pages seek to unfold is the following: music can "mirror" the presence of God, but/and a careful hermeneutical approach to how that happens can help both spirituality, music and theology grow and expand our understanding of revelation and our access to it.

#### **2. Tripartition Theory as Applied to** *Spiegel im Spiegel*

For that reason, this reflection will be framed by a hermeneutical tool found in the work of musicologist Jean-Jacques Nattiez [12]. His thought is a tremendous resource for spirituality and theology for the understanding of musical meaning, because not only is he aware of the threefold dimension of any act of human expression common to hermeneutics ("author", "text" and "reader") as applied to music: "composer", "piece of music" and "audience", but in recognition of the complexity

of musical performance and meaning, he includes the on-going making of meaning that happens in every arrangement and performance, and organises the variety of ways in which one can receive or "comprehend" music accordingly (*cf*. [13], pp. 3–53). His approach, known as the Tripartition Theory, or Method, draws from the work of Jean Molino and applies it to musical analysis, developing six possible approaches to understanding music that unfold when the three hermeneutical standpoints of literary criticism mentioned above are applied to musical analysis. He uses the names "poietic processes" for the compositional and creative elements in music (in recognition that this includes composer/s and performers), "trace" for the piece of music itself [14] and "esthesics" [15] for the process of reception. These six approaches depend on whether one:


The beauty of this method, above and beyond its obvious thoroughness, is that it calls us to an awareness of the presuppositions that colour our opinions and appreciation of music, and in the quest for a fuller, more truthful understanding of meaning [17], does not allow us to remain complacently or at least unquestioningly in any given position. Why is such diversity or complexity necessary or helpful, when a more simple threefold approach suffices in literary criticism? Because the non-discursive and non-referential nature of music means its meaning is not linguistic, and therefore less easily discernible. Although all communication, including the verbal or discursive can be ambivalent or ambiguous, music is both freer and more embodied, and therefore although we "feel" it more viscerally (I contend), precisely *what* we are feeling or experiencing, and *why*, is harder to pinpoint—therein its strength and its challenge. And the need to be careful and thorough about where we draw our conclusions from when we pronounce a word on the spiritual or theological meaning of music.

My choice of Nattiez as a framework is due to the comprehensive nature of his work and its provision of a hermeneutical "tool"—a method—as opposed to the equally necessary defence of hermeneutics. There are other musicologists who take important hermeneutical approaches to musical analysis and criticism: Rose Rosengard Subotnik's work in challenging structural listening as the sole mode of accessing musical meaning was ground breaking (*cf.* [18], pp. 148–76) and animates even now reflection on a variety of approaches to musical scholarship [19]. Susan McClary's work is paradigmatic in expanding a hermeneutic approach to music and introducing feministic perspectives to musicology [20]. And the aforementioned book by Lawrence Kramer offers the best defence of hermeneutics, including but not limited to, musical hermeneutics that I have found ([11], pp. 1–19). However, hermeneutics as a way of proceeding is widely accepted in theology—what is new is the knowledge of how to approach music in that way, for which I believe Nattiez's tripartitional method is exceptionally suited. Despite explicit recognition of the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and its potential to enrich theology, too often theologians have little time or capacity to *actually* appreciate and integrate musicological perspectives. I would hope that a concentrated focus on this particular approach bridging hermeneutics with musicological studies, applied to a particular piece of music, could prove to be an accessible and beneficial entrance point.

Within this framework, without aiming to be comprehensive, the article will explore aspects of Arvo Pärt's *Spiegel im Spiegel* ("Mirror in the Mirror") as the particular focus of exploration. The reason behind the choice of music, apart from the obvious one of it being a personal favourite, lies in all three hermeneutical viewpoints: the music is interesting in both style and execution, the composer is explicitly religious in his inspiration and states (without imposing) it, and its reception, omnipresent outside the liturgical and even religious realms. It is also one of those that has attracted more scholarly analysis [21,22]. At each point I will bring the music into dialogue with authors or theological notions that can help its understanding.

In order to understand this approach in relation to *Spiegel im Spiegel*, we need to distinguish:


The focus guiding our explorations is that marked by the title: whether and in what way this music can "mirror", or evoke for us the Presence of the divine—or conversely, facilitate our being present to God, and this outside or beyond the realm of the liturgy. Is something of the God revealed in and through Christ accessible in the music, as it is written? Does the spirituality of the composer filter through to those listening, whether or not they share the same beliefs? How does the way in which this music has been received in contemporary culture speak to these questions, and if so, can we draw conclusions about music in general? Although attempting to be as open and critical as possible, my own intuition is twofold: unless we wish to dissect and divide human living, our interiority has to somehow be expressed and accessible in all we do and create, and music is an exceptionally powerful symbolic form; and that God is "more omnipresent" (an oxymoron, I know) than we are aware of, and at work long before ever being identified or named. The fact that this piece music is instrumental and therefore devoid of explicit conceptual meaning (beyond the title), as well as the fact that its reception has been largely extra-liturgical, is an aid in exploring this hypothesis.

As will be clear, the choice of a hermeneutical approach recognises and seeks to honour the contextual and multifaceted nature of our experience of music and our apprehension of meaning in life, all of which, however, must not impede our seeking it. It also has something to say, or mirrors the complexity of Christian living itself, and therein lies the one of the riches of theology's engagement with musical meaning. In relation to any given piece of music, one can be composer, performer, or listener, or all three at the same time—the experience is different, even when the same music is played. As well as this, it is an experience that is "acted out", "performed". Kramer speaks of meaning as "performed" rather than discovered ([11], p. 12). Christian faith is more than the range of doctrines many denominations profess each Sunday in the creed, because any one of these essential truths of our faith can be experienced in a number of ways—from different perspectives. Trinitarian faith allows us to experience life as welcomed by the presence of a God that is family, or as instrumental in welcoming others to that presence; faith can enable us to experience ourselves as children or as sharing in a parenthood that is human-divine. Faith is embodied and enacted—the words we pronounce can come alive in and through us as we perform them. Understanding the multi-faceted nature of music can help us to somehow grasp that complexity, or as we shall see, even experience it.

#### *2.1. Spiegel im Spiegel: The Music*

In order to base our reflections on the piece itself and the musical genre it belongs to, we will start with "the trace". It is probably worthwhile mentioning that as a new form of music, there is much debate, not only around its meaning, exemplified in those exalting its "transcendent" or "sacred" tones and those who consider it "simple" or "flat" (*cf*. [22], p. 65), but even among those extoling its worth, the issue of how to analyse it remains a challenge [24,25].

*Spiegel im Spiegel*, depending on the speed it is played at, is a nine or ten minute long piece of chamber music for violin and piano (although it can be played an octave lower by a cello) and has been adapted for other instruments such as clarinet, alto-flute, horn and double bass. It is instrumental, and therefore the only textual reference it has is the title: *Mirror in the Mirror*. It is the last work that Pärt completed before leaving Estonia, considered one of the earlier pieces of his renowned tintinnabuli style [26]. Much has been written about this style of composition, created by Pärt in the mid seventies and for which he has become renowned, so that a comprehensive description of what it implies and the positions surrounding it exceed the limits of this article, but by way of introduction, it is a deceptively simple style consisting of a combination of what Paul Hillier calls "the horizontal and vertical manifestations of pitch" ([7], p. 90); that is to say, melody and the type of "harmony", or better said, sound that emerges by the interaction of both. Two voices blend together: triadic arpeggios, repeatedly unfolding the major triad (Do-Mi-Sol), and a melodic line, which moves diatonically (along the tonal scale) in stepwise motion (*cf*. [7], p. 93).

The style has been coined "holy minimalism" by many, in reference to both its links with minimalist music as a musical style and the religious inspiration of its composer. Above and beyond the connotations of these names, "minimal" seems a good description of the music, which is carefully built, and moves slowly, silence and space being equally important to its development. Kaire Maimets-Volt integrates this dimension of silence, making it perhaps the most complete linguistic description for our purposes:

In short tintinnabuli is a peculiar kind of stringent diatonic polyphony, created from tonal material outside the paradigm of functional harmony, and built on strictly defined principles around three essential elements: (1) the triad which rotates; (2) the linear melodic line which moves in stepwise fashion; and (3) silence which is used as musically creative element ([8], p. 10).

So the overriding quality of this music is what one could call its "harmony-made-melody". *Spiegel im Spiegel* is a melodic-harmonic whole—"the harmonic framework tilted sideways to form a musical line" ([7], p. 90), an open melody consisting, precisely in the unfolding of its harmony. "In principle these two parts join to form an inseparable whole—a twofold single entity" ([8], p. 58). This is reflected by the nomenclature theorists use to analyse the music: "M-voice" (for melody) and "T-Voice" (for triad) as opposed to melody and harmony.

It seems to me that it is precisely this harmonic space that opens in tintinnabuli music that makes it so apt for spiritual interpretation, and specifically one involving open space and presence. The relationship of the arts to time and space is an ongoing theme in theology. Jeremey Begbie's development of music's relationship to time is well-known [27]. Before him, Bernard Lonergan related different art forms to dimensions of time and space: painting, sculpture and architecture to space, and music to time, respectively [28]. Music is temporal—it implies time to play, listen and experience it, but perhaps the strongest aspect of human life that music affects and makes us aware of is our bodies and therefore how we experience the space we're in, the way we exist and move in space. Now it seems to me that there are types of music that accentuate more our corporality, invading our sensorial space with rhythms or harmonies that awaken us, literally, by stimulating and moving us physically, (one of the reasons that jogging and iPod culture work together so well?). And that there are other types of music that somehow do the opposite: they slow us down; they stretch our awareness of ourselves, those around us and the world we inhabit, precisely because of their "emptiness". We wonder what's coming next, and wait for it; we become more aware of the other notes and their relationship to each other, precisely because there are so few, rather like being in a room with one other person as opposed to a crowd: attention is heightened. Musical semiotics identify relation and integration (in comparison to definition) as one of the characteristics that differentiate music from verbal communication: music works with relationships and tensions "between" notes—one always understood in relation and curving towards the other, be it in melody or harmony. A genre or style of music whose main focus is precisely in a "harmonic melody" could be expected to facilitate or engender a heightened awareness of our presence in relation to the world and each other ([9], pp. 120–27; [29]). Could we not suggest a musical parallel to negative theology's conviction that no matter how much we say about the divine, there is always more we will never be able to express, so let us start in that more humble and truthful humble space…which God inhabits more easily than our words; or at least more silently. After all, the empty tomb is a "sign" of the resurrection of the body, as we shall see later.

Let us look at *Spiegel im Spiegel* itself. Tintinnabuli music has had more than one manifestation or stage of development. Hillier identifies three: the first works of the later 1970s and early 1980s, those of the mid-1980s to early 1990s, and finally the mid-1990s to the present time. However, the compositions always circle "around the same basic set of images and never entirely quitting the basic tenets of the tintinnabuli aesthetic established in the 1970s" [30]. In this article we focus on a piece from the earlier period, composed in the 1970s. *Spiegel im Spiegel* itself is written in F major, and the tonic note or root (F) is maintained in arpeggios by the piano, around which the violin constructs a melody circling the third (A) as its centre, to which it always returns. Cizmic notes that although "Pärt places his composition squarely within the tonal world" he refuses "the hierarchical and teleological conventions of functional tonality" ([22], p. 69). That is the case here: in the melody, although F is the base note of tonal music, and therefore the tonic note, Pärt gives more emphasis to another note, taking the third as the centre-point of the melody, to which he constantly returns at the end of each musical "phrase", creating what I can only describe as an open, or stretched harmonic space, since it is neither dissonant, nor unfinished, but "stretched", and that in being so, it seems to "leave space" in which we can *feel* or *experience* something.

For a full theoretical analysis of the music, I refer to the excellent and thorough presentations available in that field to be found in both Cizmic ([22], pp. 68–71), her exploration of its use alongside pieces by Shostakovich and Góreck [31], and Maimets-Volt ([8], pp. 64–68), showing several convergences despite the diversity of their analytical aims. Cizmic contains insightful elements of both *inductive poietics* and *inductive esthesics*. Based on an *immanent analysis* of the score, she questions two anthropological and epistemological presuppositions that condition, albeit often implicitly, positive and negative evaluations of his music (and music in general): a neoplatonic Augustinian model and an autonomous modernist one. She recognizes in the music an opening of time and space:

The pacing—the unwaveringly slow speed and rhythmic tempo—provides *time and space* for a listener to focus in on a single note *and experience it*, its overtones, and any sort of nuance (such as vibrato or lack thereof) that the performer chooses to enact, before hearing it slide on to the next note ([22], p. 105; [32]).

This opening can create "a static state of being" underlining the experience of time and endurance ([31], pp. 31–32; [33]).

Maimets-Volt offers two different analyses: the first based on the field of musicological cognition, suggesting meaning within *Spiegel im Spiegel* as a piece of concert music (*inductive esthesics*). The second is based on its reception in films and using analysis based of film study and cultural semiotics, which we will look at in the section on reception. In the former, she focuses on the overall perceived "sound" of tintinnabuli music, including the score but not limited to it, which she defines as the "complex acoustic phenomenon depending on compositional and performance features, yet irrespective of a particular instrumental/vocal timbre" that makes tintinnabuli music "immediately recognizable for listeners" ([8], p. 56). In the words of Hillier: "a sound which appears hauntingly simple, though it stirs complex emotions, and is immediately recognizable" [34]. She explores its emotional meaning, recognizing that, although the relation between music and emotion is not the only one of importance, it is one of the overriding aspects of human living that has been consistently explored in musicology. Some of the musical attributes of *Spiegel im Spiegel* that she identifies are the following:


Following the analytical tools of Gabrielsson and Lindström ([35], pp. 235–42), she associates these musical features with the following discrete emotions, albeit in terms of possibility (what it *may* evoke), and not necessity (See Table 1), and contrasts this with what is said or commented on in its reception, within which she notes that some reactions are more "expected" than others. She also points out the poetic nature of its description. In the following chart, I take her findings on both (analytical tools and features gathered from commentaries on its reception), and organise them according to Nattiez's tripartitional method.


**Table 1.** Inductive Esthesics and Free Commentary.

I have some reservations about even such carefully suggested correlations between musical attributes and emotions, due to the complexity of human emotion and the contextual nature of our making of meaning in culture. However, that emotion and meaning are correlated is undeniable, and her attempt to integrate both musical analysis, anticipated reception/esthesics and free commentary, in the awareness that she is speaking mainly to western cultural sensibility, is thorough, to say the least [36].
