Song That I Am

Élisabeth-Paule Labat (1897–1975) was born in Tarbes, France. After the Great War, she moved to Paris and studied at the Schola Cantorum. A brilliant pianist and composer, Labat also studied Gregorian chant. In 1922 she entered the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Michel de Kergonan in Brittany, and took Élisabeth as her religious name. Labat is also author of Presence of God (Paulist Press, 1980).

• ContentsTranslator’s Preface   ixIntroduction   xxviiOn Music Considered as Language   1Situating the Perception of Beauty   28Music, Relation, and Tears   48Music and Ultimate Values   55Music’s Mission   74Music and the Sacred   80Music and Liturgy   92The Music of Eternity   108

“A breathtaking  surge of inspired (and learned) exploration, triggered by the sound of a violin playing Mozart during an evening walk in wartime - pithy, challenging, and quite fascinating, carrying us, through music, towards ‘not something, but Someone.’”Jennifer Smith. Professor at the Royal College of Music, London