Sacred Harmony: Music and Spiritual Transformation

Dear Colleagues,

The recent rise in interest in the combined study of religion and music has led to the book, Musicology of Religion: Theories, Methods, and Directions (2023), authored by our own Guest Editor, in which the historical background of religion and music is surveyed and developed methodologically in terms of a distinct subject area. A principal focus in this book is the near-universal pairing of music and religious ritual over centuries. The link is so widespread that the argument can be made that, until modernity, there was virtually no ritual without music or chant, and almost no music without ritual. Since ritual or liturgy is a primary operative dimension of religious, and many secular, activities, this realization underscores the potency of music as a near-indispensable component of spiritual transformation. Beside the principal world religions, there are countless lesser-known examples of how music and chant are interwoven with religious practice and ritual behavior throughout history and across the globe. As this approach is in the nascent stage, it is hoped that more research will be forthcoming, as proposed in this Special Issue.

We are pleased to announce this Special Issue, “Sacred Harmony: Music and Spiritual Transformation”, which seeks original contributions that provide new insight into the topic of music as part of religious or spiritual transformation. Spiritual transformation refers to all forms of life-changing experiences involving the sacred, including conversion, a deepened relation to God or the Absolute, religious ecstasy, or a change in worldview or ideology enabled by music. To assist in this project, the term ’harmony’ is employed, not in reference to modern harmonics or counterpoint, but to its original Greek understanding of harmonia as the ‘fitting together’ of two items or elements. In the material sense, this meant the fitting together of wooden beams; in the metaphysical interpretation, the link between the soul and the divine. Basic questions are advanced: what role does music play in spiritual transformation? In singing or chanting, is it the words or strictly the musical features that act as agents of transformation? Exploring the depth of one tradition, or comparing traditions, the methods of approach may include phenomenology, history of religions, philosophy, esthetics, theology, ritual studies, liturgical studies, social sciences, ethnomusicology, and cognitive studies. Any example of the confluence of music and religious practice worldwide is welcome, whether traditional or popular, and may involve references to sacred songs and chants, musical instruments, rites of passage, or liturgical action. Beside ritual or ceremonial activity, other forms of practice can be included: meditation, contemplation, solo performance, etc. The contributions need not be representative of a particular world religion but may instead focus on an example of religious practice that is tangential to or outside of an established religion. This Special Issue complements and enlarges upon the two previous MDPI Special Issues by this Guest Editor: “Tuning In the Sacred: Studies in Music and World Religions” (2021) and “Musicology of Religion: Selected Papers on Religion and Music” (2024).

References

Engelhardt, Jeffers, and Philip V. Bohlman, eds. 2016. Resounding Transcendence: Transitions in Music, Religion and Ritual. New York: Oxford University Press.

Godwin, Joscelyn. 1987. Harmonies of Heaven and Earth: The Spiritual Dimension of Music from Antiquity to the Avant-Garde. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions.

Godwin, Joscelyn, ed. 1986. Music, Mysticism, and Magic: A Sourcebook. New York and London: Routledge.

Guzy, Lidia. 2008. Religion and Music: Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary Workshop at the Institute for Scientific Studies of Religions, Freie Universität Berlin, May 2006. Berlin, Germany: Weißensee Verlag.

Jimenez, Raquel, Rupert Till, and Michael Howell, eds. 2013. Music and Ritual: Bridging Material and Living Cultures. Berlin: Ekho Verlag.

Ralls-MacLeod, Karen. 2000. Music and the Celtic Otherworld: From Ireland to Iona. Edinburgh: Polygon.

Ralls-Macleod, Karen and Graham Harvey, eds. 2000. Indigenous Religious Music (with CD). London: University of London.

Stone-Davis, Ferdia J., ed. 2020 (2015). Music and Transcendence. London and Oxford: Ashgate, New York: Routledge.

Wuidar, Lawrence, ed. 2010. Music and Esotericism. Leiden: Brill.

Prof. Dr. Guy Beck
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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• music
• spirituality
• sacred sound
• ritual
• liturgy
• philosophy of music
• theology of music
• religious studies
• ethnomusicology
• musicology of religion