The Extravagance of Music

Description

This book explores the ways in which music can engender religious experience, by virtue of its ability to evoke the ineffable and affect how the world is open to us. Arguing against approaches that limit the religious significance of music to an illustrative function, The Extravagance of Music sets out a more expansive and optimistic vision, which suggests that there is an ‘excess’ or ‘extravagance’ in both music and the divine that can open up revelatory and transformative possibilities. In Part I, David Brown argues that even in the absence of words, classical instrumental music can disclose something of the divine nature that allows us to speak of an experience analogous to contemplative prayer. In Part II, Gavin Hopps contends that, far from being a wasteland of mind-closing triviality, popular music frequently aspires to elicit the imaginative engagement of the listener and is capable of evoking intimations of transcendence. Filled with fresh and accessible discussions of diverse examples and forms of music, this ground-breaking book affirms the disclosive and affective capacities of music, and shows how it can help to awaken, vivify, and sustain a sense of the divine in everyday life. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxv Introduction: An Art Open to the Divine (David Brown, Gavin Hopps)....Pages 1-29 Front Matter ....Pages 31-34 A Generous Excess (David Brown, Gavin Hopps)....Pages 35-80 Types of Extravagance (David Brown, Gavin Hopps)....Pages 81-131 Discovering God in Music’s Excess (David Brown, Gavin Hopps)....Pages 133-160 Front Matter ....Pages 161-165 Cultured Despisers (David Brown, Gavin Hopps)....Pages 167-227 Spilt Religion (David Brown, Gavin Hopps)....Pages 229-295 Conclusion (David Brown, Gavin Hopps)....Pages 297-309 Back Matter ....Pages 311-325