How do we understand the sacred? What, therefore, should we do?
Dr. Baumer - Fine Arts How individuals and societies treat
differing notions of the sacred has been a fundamental problem
in human existence, one that animates many of today’s conflicts.
Addressing this problem may well begin with understanding
different religious traditions, and music is a significant
window into this realm. In virtually all societies, religious
music intensifies the experience of the sacred, grounding
metaphysical concepts in physical and emotional sensation.
Unfamiliar musical expressions of the sacred are often difficult
to accept; the non-believer can hardly be expected to feel as
the believer does. In light of this, we will examine how music
facilitates contact with the sacred in Mozart’s Requiem, African
American Sanctified worship, the Sufi tradition of Islam, and
Tibetan Buddhist chant. We will also consider recent arguments
that sacred experience is a “natural” and ingrained part of
human life. Just as the notion of the