The Music Of The Spheres

For centuries, scientists and philosophers believed the universe was a stately; ordered mechanism - mathematical and musical. The smooth operation of the cosmos created a divine harmony (perfect, spiritual, eternal) which composers sought to capture and express. With The Music of the Spheres, readers will see how this scientific philosophy emerged, how it was shattered by changing views of the universe and the rise of Romanticism, and to what extent (if at all) it survives today. From Pythagoras to Newton, Bach to Beethoven, and on into the twentieth century, it is a spellbinding examination of the interwoven fates of science and music throughout history.

London, the summer of 1795: a season of revolutionary fervour, scientific discovery and vicious murders. The British government is in disarray, unable to stem the flood of secrets to Paris; betrayals that doom her war efforts to failure. In rural Kensington a group of French emigr-s are pursuing a scientific dream, the discovery of a planet they call Selene. The group has fallen under the spell of a beautiful and amoral woman - Auguste de Montpellier who is at once their muse and dark angel. Meanwhile a killer lurks in the back streets of the capital: the victims are all prostitutes and have been paid in French Louis d'Or, the currency of France's spies. Jonathan Absey is a Home Office clerk whose official task is to smash the French spy ring. Privately however, he has become obsessed with the murders. These interests intersect when he finds himself drawn into the Montpellier circle, yet his pursuit for truth remains obscured through coded letters, opium and conspiracy. Absey must uncover the mystery before the summer dies; an invasion fleet is being prepared to set sail across the channel and the lives of those on board now rest on his discoveries.

The roots and evolution of two concepts usually thought to be Western in origin-musica mundana (the music of the spheres) and musica humana (music's relation to the human soul)-are explored. Beginning with a study of the early creeds of the Near East, Professor Meyer-Baer then traces their development in the works of Plato and the Gnostics, and in the art and literature of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Previous studies of symbolism in music have tended to focus on a single aspect of the problem. In this book the concepts of musica humana and musica mundane are related to philosophy, aesthetics, and the history of religion and are given a rightful place in the history of civilization. Originally published in 1970. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Leonard B. Meyer's writings on the theory, history, perception, and aesthetics of music have inspired and provoked generations of readers. The Spheres of Music makes available a selection of his most important essays (originally published between 1974 and 1998). Gathering them together in one volume not only enables the essays to "converse" with and illuminate each other, but also allows Meyer to revise, recant, and comment on the ideas they present. With the same sensitive insight and searching intelligence he has exhibited throughout his career, Meyer transcends the boundaries that so often separate fields of inquiry. The Spheres of Music joins music theory to history, history to culture, culture to aesthetics, aesthetics to psychology, and psychology back to theory. In so doing, the book highlights the complex interrelationships at the heart of the creation, comprehension, and history of music. Diverse and adventurous, The Spheres of Music presents an intriguing and impressive collection of Meyer's work. "Ever since the publication of his Emotion and Meaning in Music . . . I have considered Leonard B. Meyer one of the keenest thinkers about music among us."—Winthrop Sargeant, The New Yorker

Is the solar system ordered? Or is it simply the result of random and chaotic accidents? This book takes the reader on a compelling and powerful journey of discovery, revealing the celestial spheres in their astonishingly complex patterns. Movements of the planets are found to correspond accurately with simple geometric figures and musical intervals, pointing to an exciting new perspective on the ancient idea of the "harmony of the spheres." Hartmut Warm's detailed presentation incorporates the distances, velocities, and periods of conjunction of the planets, as well as the rotations of the Sun, Moon, and Venus. Numerous graphics--including color plates--illustrate the extraordinary beauty of geometrical forms that result when the movements of several planets are viewed in relation to one another. Moreover, the author describes and analyzes concepts of the "music of the spheres," with special emphasis on Kepler's revolutionary ideas. The book also discusses current scientific beliefs about the origin of the universe and the solar system, enabling the reader to understand fully how this remarkable research supplements contemporary materialistic views of the cosmos. The appendix includes his mathematical and astronomical methods of calculation, as well as a detailed discussion of their accuracy and validity based on modern astronomical algorithms.

The authors have presented and interpreted Johannes Kepler's Latin text to English readers by putting it into the kind of clear but earnest language they suppose Kepler would have used if he had been writing today.