Simon Dunbavand - Angels and Incense

Towards a theological interpretation of

masterpieces of organ music

When man, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, transforms creation into a work of art and imprints on it the seal of God, he reveals in this act of worship that all creation can and must sing out the glory of God.

Jean-Marie Cardinal Lustiger, Archbishop of Paris

Surely it is, in some sort, a pedestal on which the soul poises for a flight forth into space, essaying on her course to draw picture after picture in an endless series, to paint human life, to cross the infinite that separates heaven from earth!
Honoré de Balzac, describing the grandest of all instruments

Éveille-toi, instrument sacré. Entonne la louange de Dieu notre Créateur et notre Père
Orgue, instrument sacré, célèbre Jésus Notre Seigneur, mort et ressuscité pour nous.
Orgue, instrument sacré, chante l'Esprit Saint qui anime nos vies du souffle de Dieu.
Orgue, instrument sacré, élève nos chants et supplications vers Marie, la Mère de Jésus.
Orgue, instrument sacré, fais entrer les fidèles dans l'action de grâce du Christ.
Orgue, instrument sacré, apport le réconfort de la foi à ceux qui sont dans la peine.
Orgue, instrument sacré, soutiens la prière des chrétiens.
Orgue, instrument sacré, proclame Gloire au Père et au Fils et au Saint-Esprit.
from the rite of solemn blessing of an organ

The pipe organ is to be held in high esteem in the Latin Church, for it is the traditional musical instrument, the sound of which can add a wonderful splendour to the Church's ceremonies and powerfully lifts up men's minds to God and higher things.
Sacrosanctum Concilium, December 1963

The angels in Bach's final masterpiece for organ, the so-called Canonic Variations and the angel of Messiaen's L'Ange aux parfums are powerful images: angels both as messengers of the Incarnation and as beings worshiping before the throne of the Divine. The perfume of angels is described in various ways: the scent of flowers, perhaps, or sweet myrrh. Fragrance indicated the presence of God at the consecration of the Temple of Solomon, and according to St Paul, Christians themselves spread the fragrance of Christ's knowledge since they themselves are that sweet perfume. It is the archangel Michael who has charge both of good souls and of chaos, who is one of the four faces close to the throne of the holy of holies. St. John the Divine's vision of the angel priest with the golden censor depicts the smoke of incense mingling with the prayers of the saints before God. Is this angel the archangel Michael himself? Michael is both priest and warrior, significantly taking both the prayers and souls of the righteous upwards to heaven. He is High Priest at the altar in heaven, possessing the keys of the Kingdom and gathering the prayers of the faithful in a vast bowl, returning with the oil of life. Michael also appears in Sura 2:92 of the Koran, and in Muslim tradition he has beautiful wings of green and saffron.

The birds are the avatars of angels, singing praises to their divine creator from the cathedral of nature, deep within the forest. The wind of Pentecost rushes beneath a flight of skylarks who sing Alleluia to the joy of the Holy Spirit. The music of the Alleluia of the Dedication glistens with light: Jesus as the Light of the World and that Light's power at the Feasts of Epiphany, Candlemas and Dedication, which reflects the Feast of Lights: Hanukkah. In Revelation 5, St John's vision of the Lamb enthroned has seven horns and seven eyes representing the unity of the seven spirits of God, which are likewise beams of light radiating the sevenfold divine Light of the World. Zechariah 4 sees the seven individual torches of the menorah as the Light of the World and as the seven archangels.

Whilst the children of Israel lamented on the banks of the Euphrates, we are reminded that water sustains, refreshes and cleanse all life. Over water the Holy Spirit moved in the beginning of creation; through water the children of Israel were led from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land; in water Jesus received the baptism of John and was anointed by the Holy Spirit as the Messiah, the Christ, to lead us from the death of sin to newness of life. The Chorale melody which depicts the streams of Babylon was also associated in post-reformation Germany with Jesus as the Lamb of God, two ideas which are united in Revelation 7:17: For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne ...shall lead them unto the living fountains of waters. The New Jerusalem, built of gold and precious stones is bisected by the river of the Water of Life, which then waters the Tree of Life, which is to heal the nations with its leaves. Messiaen chooses both water and birdsong from the Bendedicite of The book of Daniel for his Communion at the mass of Pentecost. In French, the Cantique des trois enfants otherwise known as the Hymne de L'Univers contains the verses: et vous, sources et fontaines, bénissez le Seigneur! and, a little later: vous tous, les oiseaux dans le ciel, bénissez le Seigneur!

At mass we echo the song of the angels: Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr and Vous êtes le seul Saint, le seul Seigneur, le seul Très-Haut: Jésus-Christ. It is at the celebration of this sacrament which offers us a true glimpse of eternity, for here Christ from outside of time and location becomes real for us in our daily lives. We sing the ancient music of the ninth-century Archbishop of Mainz, Rabanus Maurus at Vespers, Pentecost, Dedication of a Church, Confirmation, and Holy Orders and whenever the Holy Spirit is solemnly invoked. Furnishing all this is the music of the King of Instruments with its solemn and joyful voice, not as an adjunct to the liturgy but as a living component of the splendours of Mother Church. J. S. Bach himself, even in the composition or performance of a free piece of dazzling virtuosity would have had in mind the phrase he carefully placed upon the score of each cantata: Soli Deo Gloria.