The Chord of Evil: Why did the Catholic Church Ban a Musical Chord?

History Revealed

Music has the power to move. Harmonies, chord progressions and songs can transport the listener, changing their mood and their outlook in a way which seems entirely beyond their control.

Nobody would dispute that music has the power to evoke emotions, but some also consider it a dangerous tool. If used in the wrong way, it could create a sensation that might even be thought of as corrupting.

This of course seems a little bit like lunacy to anyone listening to music in the modern world. But there have been times where music was banned, as its power to evoke emotions and perhaps to compel was seen as evil.

Rock and roll music was thought to corrupt the youth of the 50s and 60s. It was blamed for encouraging fraternization between the sexes in the way that their parents, with more than a passing hint of hypocrisy, found inappropriate.

But this was just for the behaviors the music encouraged, and not for the music itself. However if you thought that music could not be inherently evil, than the Catholics of the Renaissance would disagree.

They thought that a single chord, somewhere between the Augmented 4th and the Diminished 5th, but not quite either, was not just inappropriate. It was the “Diabolus in Musica”, the Devil in music. It was the Chord of Evil itself, and it should never be heard.

Diabolus in Musica

The Chord of Evil, also called the Tritonus, is certainly not easy on the ear. It spans three entire steps on the musical scale, making it one of the most dissonant harmonies which can be produced.

In this we find the root of the problem the Catholics had with the Chord of Evil. It was an ugly sound, and its very ugliness spoke against its association with the divine.

Music at the time, specifically church music, was considered an act of worship, a way of praising God and bringing yourself, and your congregation, closer to His grace. Its composition should be in accordance with the Renaissance view of Him: as God was beautiful, so would the music associated with God be beautiful.

And the Chord of Evil is most definitely not beautiful. There was no way, the Catholic Church reasoned, that this sound could be the work of God. Such an awful noise must be the work of the Devil, and as such it had no place in a church.

Of course, in reasoning so the Church was tying itself in dogmatic knots: God had after all created everything, and this “everything” also included the Chord of Evil. That the Devil must have corrupted it in some way was their best, admittedly weak, attempt at an explanation.

And, in a final irony, the very unpleasant nature of this chord led to its being found a use in an unexpected modern arena. The jarring dissonance made it very noticeable, and this meant the horrible noise tended to draw attention to itself. This can be useful.

Specifically, many sirens on emergency service vehicles today use the Chord of Evil in the spacing between their notes. So, if you were wondering why you notice the siren of an ambulance or fire truck so keenly, you have the dissonance of the Tritonus to thank for that.

It seems it was doing God’s work, after all.

Top Image: The Chord of Evil is certainly difficult to hear, but is it actually the work of the Devil? Source: Colorful Graphics / Adobe Stock.

By Joseph Green

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Joseph Green is editor for Historic Mysteries, which combines his background in English Literature with a lifelong fascination for the strange and the unexplained.

References

• Guardian.co.uk notes and queries, 2023. Why is the Augmented 4th the “chord of evil” that was banned in Renaissance church music? Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-1767,00.html

• Wiederhorn, J, 2023. THE DEVIL’S CHORD: THE EERIE HISTORY OF ‘DIABOLUS IN MUSICA’. Available at: https://www.fender.com/articles/chords/the-devils-chord-the-eerie-history-of-diabolus-in-musica

• Open Culture, 2021. The Medieval Ban Against the “Devil’s Tritone”: Debunking a Great Myth in Music Theory. Available at: https://www.openculture.com/2021/10/the-medieval-ban-against-the-devils-tritone-debunking-a-great-myth-in-music-theory.html