GOD IN THE GENTLE WIND

THE SACRED IN MUSIC AND ART

 by

REV. CHARLES J. MATONTI, Ed. D.

 

 

Then the Lord God said to Elijah ‘Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord for the Lord will be passing by.’

A great and mighty wind was ripping the mountains apart, crushing rocks before the Lord, but the Lord God was not in the great and mighty wind.

 After the great and mighty wind, there was an earthquake. But the Lord God was not in the earthquake.

After the earthquake, there was fire. But the Lord God was not in the fire.

 After the fire ,there was a gentle, whispering wind. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and walked over to stand at the entrance of the cave.

 

I Kings 19: 11-

DEDICATION

 

 

TO GOD WHO IS LOVE

 

AND

 TO GOD’S WORKS OF ART:

 HUMAN BEINGS

 LUCE

 MICHELANGELO

 AND

 MOZART

 AND

YOU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Introduction

1. Cave Artists and the Cattle of Lascaux
2. Egyptian Tombs: Art for Eternity
3. A Medieval Pieta: God as Man and Man as Child
4. Music of Pure Prayer: “Christus factus est obediens” and the Medieval Chant “Requiem”
5. Giotto: A Pre-Renaissance Pieta
6. Michelangelo’s Pietas: Scale and the Supernatural
7. Music of Perfection: Victoria’s “Requiem” and Palestrina’s
8. Creation of Adam: Humans in the Image of God
9. Bruges Madonna and Child: God in Human Image
I0. At Supper with the Lord – and Leonardo: “God and Man at Table Are Sat Down”
11. Eternity in an Hour: El Greco’s “Burial of the Count of Orgaz “
12. Music of Power: Gilles: A Baroque “Requiem”
Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” and “Worthy is the Lamb”
and Bach’s “Mass in B Minor”
13. Power in Weakness: Bernini’s “The Ecstasy of St. Teresa”
14. Human Passion in Sacred Art: Caravaggio’s “Deposition” and “The Supper at Emmaus”
15. Music of Precision: Mozart’s “Ave verum corpus” and “Requiem”
16. Classical Balance: David’s “The Death of Marat”
17. Music of Passion: The “Requiems” of Berlioz and Verdi
18. Music of Peace: Faure’s “Requiem”
19. Let There Be Light: Monet’s “Rouen Cathedral”
Rouault’s “Christ Mocked by the Soldiers” and Kandinsky’s “Accent in Pink”
20. Like a Dream: Dali’s “Corpus Hypercubus” and
“The Sacrament of the Last Supper”
21. Music of Pain: Britten’s “War Requiem”and Gorecki’s “Symphony Number 3: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”
22. A Conclusion and a Beginning: Lovers in the Hands of God and Rodin’s “Hand of God”

Afterword: Mary’s Music: “The Rock that Blocked the Cave” and Diana’s Sculpture: “Judas Begging Jesus for Forgiveness”