The eloquence of music in contemporary culture

The aim of this article is to reflect briefly on the potential of music to offer a specific form of wisdom to spirituality and theology in the contemporary Western cultural context. It begins by situating the importance of music in that context and offering some premises or principles regarding the very attempt to ‘talk about’ music in a theological context. It then addresses the importance of semiotics in the area of theological aesthetics with regard to music, and touches on some elements of comparison between the semiotics of verbal communication and that of musical semiotics. Finally, it identifies some areas of theological and pastoral reflection on music that are in particular need of attention