Theologico-ecclesiological analysis of the term 'Church music' in the light of anthropological understanding of music

Abstract

Throughout centuries, the concept of church music has held significant importance within the Orthodox Church. Its positive reception in the life of the Serbian Orthodox Church is evident by its frequent usage to describe various musical practices, such as: 'church singing, 'choral singing, 'polyphonic singing (or singing from sheet music)', 'Serbian folk singing', 'Karlovac chant', 'Belgrade chant' or 'Byzantine chant'. Drawing from anthropological research, we establish the definition of music through two interdependent approaches. Music is a cultural construct that lacks uniqueness and universality, but rather possesses a multitude of meanings dependent on collective and individual perspectives. Simultaneously, music is a cultural phenomenon that engenders diverse forms of identity, ranging from ethnic, gender, individual, collective, to local or global identities. From the perspective of Eucharistic theology, the Church is presented as the Mystery of unity between the created and the uncreated, founded in the Trinitarian nature of existence. The identity of the Church is not confined to historical and institutional frameworks, but is found in eschatology - the Kingdom of God. The Eucharistic church singing is examined in relation to church music and its connection with the anthropological understanding of music. The findings are analyzed from the standpoint of Orthodox ecclesiology. This paper aims to explore whether the identification of Eucharistic church singing with music, as a human category, can be positively argued within Orthodox theology.