30 Spirituality Studies 9-2 Fall 2023 1 Introduction: From the Spanish Golden Age to Musical Practices The tranquil night At the time of the rising dawn, Silent music, Sounding solitude, The supper that refreshes and deepens love. [1] This poem by Juan de la Cruz (1542–1591), the famous Spanish mystic, contains some paradoxes that originate the very question of this paper. Firstly, the “silent music” concept poses the question about the relationship between silence and music. Beyond that, “the murmuring solitude” forces us to question not only music in general, but more specifically the music performed by the voice, i.e., singing, which is at the same time the most primitive and the primigenius way of music making. For that same reason we have used in our title the paradoxical expression “silent singing”. The quest for spirituality, evidently present in recent decades, stems from several factors, among which we can highlight two: on the one hand, the obsolescence of the forms of the great religions that seem not to impact the new generations, or at least not in a deep and significant way; on the other hand, the scandalous, consumerist vortex of globalized neoliberalism, which from its onset stifles any perspective of transcendence throughout our entire lives. Many voices and strong schools of thought have arisen against that: ecologism, peace and conflict theory, decolonization theories, gender equality movements, among others. In this context we can cite the quest for spirituality and a lifestyle that can overcome the consumerist trend. In the West – and now almost around the world because of globalization – life seems to make sense only by filling it with activity (academic life being no exception), so that with considerable overstimulation we hardly really perceive the passage of time, as we are only able to string events together, with hardly any discernment of before and after. Life appears as a race that seems to be running away from itself and has led many people far beyond the mental clarity that comes through calm and intentional living, with the aim of having a spiritual and fuller lifestyle. Traditional wisdom casts light on the present-day reality: “the ultimate meaning of the active life is to make possible the happiness of contemplation” (Pieper 1958, 93). Within this framework and considering our context and background that we will explain shortly, the main objective of our research is to find out what kind of singing can serve as a tool for contemplation, under what conditions, and if it could prove attractive to new constituencies. The specific objectives are the following: a) Identify the kind of contemplation that we are dealing with here, and outline its definition, relationships with other similar concepts (mindfulness, mysticism), as well as the broader conception of spirituality and religions. b) Carry out an exploratory study of other practices connected with musical experience through the contemplative prism, specifically silence and deep listening. c) Establish the theoretical philosophical and musicological foundation of the kind of singing can promote contemplation. d) Propose a project or model of contemplative musical practice, as an open suggestion rather than an experimental investigation, through a different use of Gregorian chant. In general terms, the methodology used is descriptive and analytical as corresponds to research in the humanities, particularly when dealing with an interdisciplinary study through philosophy and musicology. This is consistent with the planned objectives: forming theory, developing understanding, and proposing social/particular practices. The methods or, rather, the best strategies for investigating the problems set out, on the one hand, will be the extrinsic or contextualistic approach and, more specifically, the history of ideas. On the other hand, we will also use the intrinsic approach when studying the specific characteristics of Gregorian chant. The background of the authors also justifies this methodological design, having studied both music and philosophy, with musicology being the disciplines of academic specialization. Both the contemplative orientation and the practice of singing are also shared. Placing ourselves int the cultural framework of Western Christianity (and more particularly Catholicism) has logically influenced the prior understanding of the phenomenon to be dealt with, although extensive bibliographical research has allowed us to contrast these previous conceptions scientifically, either to corroborate them or to dismiss them.
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