Blog #5 — Theology, Worship & the Arts

In Jeremy Begbie’s discussion on the importance of time, music, and theology, he makes an interesting point while describing James MacMillan’s work. He states that the best stories — or for our purposes works of art or songs — have meaningful resolutions of conflict, and not just conflict in themselves. He ties this point in with MacMillan’s fixation on the year long narrative of the Church, the story of Christ’s sacrifice. The theme of time is further expressed through the emphasis of the three aspects of the narrative, Christ’s life, death and resurrection. The tension in MacMillan’s music allows us as listeners to better grasp the ideas of resolving conflict — and can allow us to theologically contemplate the Christian narrative.

I wish to apply MacMillan’s musical theology to a different style of music, as I believe the message translates well. The Caput Masses — both the Missa Caput by Ockeghem and the Missa Caput by Obrecht — similarly discuss the Christian Narrative of Christ overcoming the evil forces of the world. Robertson’s elaborates on the Caput Masses, stating there’s an unknown origin of the original English Caput Mass that included the latin word draconis following caput. The entire theme of the Caput Mass is that Christ is able to overcome the chaos through his Baptism. The Caput Mass uses the lyrics of caput draconis to show that Christ destroys the head of the dragon, symbolizing the evil. This has the same narrative and idea that MacMillan was trying to get across — there is something great about a story, a song, that incorporates the resolution of some conflict. Both MacMillan and the Caput masses involve resolving the conflict of evil, and both use the temporality of the liturgical year to help express these themes. In thinking of this conflict in relation to the liturgy, we get to celebrate Christ’s triumph annually — or in the case of the Caput Masses, weekly at mass.

While the Caput Mass has a general structure and usage of the different vocalists, the music within the Caput Masses by Ockeghem and Obrecht slightly in how they convey this resolution of conflict. The similarities arise in the importance of the Tenor, as Robertson notes. The tenor allowed for more independence and freedom, and the songs would utilize the new, low voice to add new cadences, working around the dominance of the cantus firmus. The tenor in both of these pieces act as the telltale to inform the listener about the conflict with the draconis. In Ockeghem Caput, the tenor is symbolically the dragon, and over the course of the Sanctus portion, the Tenor slowly descends and fades away — representing the defeat of the dragon. On the contrary, Obrecht utilizes the tenor as Christ or as the one who defeats the dragon. In this case, the tenor’s pitch is used a way to mark the resolution of the conflict. The conflict is resolved in a serpentine manner, in which the tenor’s voice starts at pitch, moves lower during the middle of the sanctus, and then ultimately finishes at the original pitch. This snake-like vocal represents the killing of Satan.

The timing of both work’s symbolism is important to the mass, taking place after the Sanctus and before the Eucharist, further stressing the victory of Christ. In theologically understanding the meaning behind the Caput, as well as understanding how the utilization of the music expresses the liturgical themes at play allow the listener to deepen his worship. However, it must be noted that this worship adheres to the temporality of the world we live in. As mentioned earlier, the liturgical year allows us to celebrate this narrative constantly, though Christ lived, died and ascended way before our time. It is material works like this, that expand our understanding of our human temporality, and allow us to grasp theological concepts that are unveiled. The connection of the Caput Masses to Christ’s victory, to his triumph over evil, allow us to celebrate in the Eucharist a past event, that has meaning for us in the present, that helps us shape our lives for the future.