Theosony: the sound of God

The Sound of God

In this audio feature we meet singer Noírín ní Riain, during her partnership with the monks of Glenstal Abbey and her exploration into the phenomenon of God's sound. It's a profound experience for which she has coined a new word, theosony: literally meaning the Sound of God.

Noírín ní Riain

Noírín ní Riain was born in the south-west of Ireland in the early 1950s. She was an accomplished singer in her childhood, and studied music for her university degree. Part of her repertoire were songs from the Irish tradition, passed on but not written down. Some of these are featured in her recording Stor Amhran, and she developed a notation for these songs in her book which accompanied it.

Glenstal Abbey

One of Noírín ní Riain's favourite childhood haunts, not far from her village, was the estate of Glenstal Abbey, home to a community of Benedictine monks, 10 miles to the east of Limerick. In her twenties she began a musical partnership with the community which has continued to this day, and she has made a number of recordings with them. Recently a cottage on the estate has been her home while writing her doctoral thesis in theology.

Theosony

The Christian tradition has been dominated by the visual, Noírín ní Riain believes, and for her thesis she came up with a new word, theosony. (It has Greek and Latin elements, like television.)

'God's sound', she believes, can be heard in nature, in human speech, and in contemplative silence. She says of herself that from before she learnt to speak she was always 'sounding'. The transparent sound of Noírín ní Riain's voice has been described by her friend the poet John O'Donohue as "a celestial staircase, leading to the presence of the divine", and we hear it juxtaposed at times with "the frogs' chorus" (as another contributor describes it) of the sound of the monks and their traditional chant.

Recordings

Some of the music in this programme was specially recorded and is not available commercially.