John Coltrane's Wisdom Psalm: A Love Supreme (1965)

Abstract

John Coltrane's classic recording, "A Love Supreme" (1965) has only one line of lyrics, namely, "A love supreme," which appears at the end of the first part of his four-part jazz suite. To be sure, these words are not a direct quotation of any biblical text. Nevertheless, this study treats the album as an expression of the musical reception history of the Bible. The essay provides a musical analysis of the album's four parts, entitled "Acknowledgement," "Resolution," "Pursuance," and "Psalm," alongside a textual analysis of the liner notes. The analysis shows how Coltrane's work reflects the tradition of sapiential psalmody. This album reveals numerous similarities in form, texture, and theme with the wisdom psalms, especially Psalm 119, the psalm supreme.