As I mentioned in a previous post, angels’ Keys are the core of their Graces. It’s part of what makes them immortal, and on a certain level, it operates as a guiding principle. If we humans were able to sense Graces and detect the Key beneath them, they would sound distinctly musical. Nadiel has described the music within them as reminiscent of a humming, chanting engine at work, and the angels refer to this audible quality of the soul as the Magnificat. I’ve always imagined that a Magnificat might sound like a large stadium crowd in which, if you listen carefully, you can pick out various bits of speech. Since Keys are related to Graces, Keys are the music within those Graces, or the song that’s sung by the most hopeful person in that crowd. If you aren’t listening for it, you won’t hear it, but it’s there.
Each of the twelve Archangels has a different Key with Graces that correspond to it, which isn’t the case with the other angels in all the other Orders. Some angels have Graces and Keys that don’t quite match up. For example, the Watcher Kivati, who had a role in Nadiel’s most recent tale, has a key of Freedom with the Graces of Sympathy, Mercy and Interdependence, which can seem a little contrary.
The Key that’s associated with the Archangel Camael is Joy. Ironically, if one were to seek expressions of Camael’s brand of Joy within music, one of the last places I’d look would be Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and its Ode to Joy. I invite you to disagree with me, but Beethoven’s 9th Symphony is anything but joyful, for it is a devastatingly beautiful piece that is marked by alternating passages of angst and triumph. Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is about the search for joy in adversity, which isn’t quite the same thing as Joy for Joy’s sake. If I were to identify a piece that embodies Camael’s Joy, it’d have to be Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro. Pick any part of it, and it’s joyful. Yes. The whole thing. He wrote it while he was still a newlywed, after he had a child who survived infancy and while was enjoying a more than decent amount of acclaim in Vienna at the time. It’s easy to infer that he was expressing his joy within the music of that entire opera. Even the tense parts of the opera can’t refrain from expressing Joy. I invite you to have a listen to the Overture. You’ve probably heard it before somewhere, and this particular version features an orchestra that’s about the same size as would have played in Vienna when the opera opened in 1786.
But what if you were looking to listen to something composed within human memory? Well, the Beatles are a good band to listen to if you want to hear some Joy. I recommend earlier Beatles, though. They stopped being explicitly joyful around the time of Revolver. If I had to choose one song, though, it’d most definitely be this one.
Nadiel has informed me that she might be going away for spring break next week. If she’s isn’t, you’ll get a fresh recollection from her. If she’s out of town, you’re stuck with me for another week. Either way, have a great one!
♥
