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Timothy Sharp
Stephen Town(EDITOR)
Albert L. Blackwell
Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1999. 255 pp. including Bibliography, Index of Biblical Passages, and General Index. ISBN: 0664221718.
T HE SACRED IN Music is a rich, complex book. Author Albert L. Blackwell, a theologian by vocation, is equally articulate in the areas of music theory and philosophy. These ingredients combine intelligently in this erudite book. Add to this list Blackwell's expertise in physics, acoustics, and general knowledge of classical literature, including Greek philosophy, and all this adds up to a theological and musical perspective of Wagnerian proportions.
The Sacred in Music is a compilation of a variety of resources with some original theological and musical insights to form a unique interpretation. Blackwell's theology degree is from Harvard, his physics degree from MIT, and although no credit is given for his musical training, his biography states that he has translated one book on Bach for publication. In addition, Blackwell acknowledges that he directs a small church choir.
Blackwell states his religious predilections at the outset of the book, admitting that he is a Protestant (Baptist turned Episcopalian) Christian (Augustinian, Trinitarian) [pp. 15-20]. However, even though he uses examples from his tradition and theological leanings, I found nothing uniquely Protestant, Baptist, Episcopalian, Augustinian, Christian, or Trinitarian about his writing, other than the fact that all the above betray a Western approach to faith. Even with this bias, The Sacred in Music has a universal quality that should prove invigorating to any person of faith.
The difficulty in combining the terminology and vocabulary of three very different disciplines--physics, theology, and philosophy of art--is that few readers are equally conversant in all three. The motivation to read this book is likely to be the reader's interest in the combination of theology and music. However, Blackwell's grasp of physics energizes many theological and musical ideas developed throughout the book, and this added dimension will fill in many gaps for most readers.
Blackwell states his purpose at the beginning, attempting to work toward something of a systematic theology of music. He offers that this is a work of ''theological interpretation in a musical mode'' (p. 13). This poetic statement of purpose means more than meets the eye...