Music and theology in monophonic chant

This article by Alexandre Damnianovitch focuses on the relationship between music and theology within the framework of liturgical monodic chant. The author develops a theological reflection on the nature and proper function of music in Christian prayer, examining the relationship between the sonic dimension and the text it carries. The central idea is that liturgical music cannot be reduced to an ornament of the prayed word, but constitutes a fully expressive medium in its own right, simultaneously engaging the intellect and the sensibility of the one who prays. On the theological level, the article provides an analysis of the anthropology underlying monodic chant: the human person is considered in their entirety, as a subject capable of an encounter with the divine through sensory experience, thus opening onto a reflection on participation in divine life within the Orthodox liturgical tradition.