This dissertation investigates a "universal" question--what the exact nature of the relationship between music and theology is--by examining two particulars: (1) the music and thought of the French Roman Catholic composer Olivier Messiaen, and (2) the theology of music of Protestant theologian/musicologist Oskar Sohngen. / It should be emphasized, however, that the main focus of the paper is upon the "particulars," since the primary objective of this study is to demonstrate the remarkable similarity of thought which exists between the theory of Sohngen and the musical practice of Messiaen. After an exposition of Sohngen's three categories of relationship between music and theology (music as science, as worship, and as creatura) there is an extensive examination of Messiaen's compositional techniques which reveals the latter's implicit use of these same three categories. / In the final chapter of this work, after a discussion of several problems which are inherent in each of the particular approaches to music and theology, there is a return to the universal question, in response to which a precise, working definition is finally established.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.59296 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Epstein, Heidi |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Faculty of Religious Studies.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001073309, proquestno: AAIMM63510, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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