Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation by Josef Pieper

Only the Lover Sings: Art and Contemplation by Josef Pieper

Author:Josef Pieper [Pieper, Josef]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Catholicism, St, Aquinas, Medieval Philosophy, Philosophy, Religion, Aesthetics
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00


MUSIC AND SILENCE

MUSIC AND SILENCE: these are two things which, according to C. S. Lewis, cannot be found in hell. We ought to be somewhat surprised when we first read the phrase: music and silence — what a strange pairing! But then the heart of the matter becomes more and more clear. Obviously, what is here meant by silence, stillness, hush, is something quite different from that malignant absence of words which already in our present common existence is a parcel of damnation. And, as far as music is concerned, it is not difficult to imagine that in the Inferno its place is taken by noise, "infernal noise", pandemonium. But then, almost imperceptibly, another aspect of the issue emerges, namely, that music and silence are in fact ordered toward one another in a unique way. Both noise and total silence destroy all possibility of mutual understanding, because they destroy both speaking and hearing. Did not Konrad Weiss aptly remark that it is precisely in the midst of an age of loudness that an unbounded muteness can reign? In the same way, to the extent that it is more than mere entertainment of intoxicating rhythmic noise, music is alone in creating a particular kind of silence, though by no means soundlessly. ... It makes a listening silence possible, but a silence that listens to more than simply sound and melody. (As a basic condition, anyone must be quiet who wants to perceive sound, whether the patient's heart-beat or a human word.) Far beyond this, music opens up a great, perfectly dimensioned space of silence within which, when things come about happily, a reality can dawn which ranks higher than music.



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