Music of the Spheres

This is a podcast from Dr. James Schaap\u27s Small Wonders, a series of historical vignettes about regional history for KWIT/KOIA public radio in Sioux City, Iowa. Podcasts of these and other stories from the collection, read by the author, can also be found on the station\u27s website, www.KWIT.org, by entering Professor Schaap\u27s name in the search field

Time's Arrow, Music of the Spheres, December 8, 1994

This is the concert program of the Time's Arrow, Music of the Spheres performance on Thursday, December 8, 1994 at 8:00 p.m., at the Tsai Performance Center, 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts. Works performed were Primo Intermedio by Antonio Archilei and Cristofano Malvezzi, Time Circles by Menachem Zur, Variations for Piano and Woodwind Quintet by Martin Amlin, Celestial Mechanics by Donald Crockett, and Celestial Mechanics, Cosmic Dances for Amplified Piano, Four Hands by George Crumb. Digitization for Boston University Concert Programs was supported by the Boston University Humanities Library Endowed Fund

Shakespeare\u27s Philosophy of Music

Shakespeare is one of the most widely read figures in literature, but his use of music is not usually touched on in literary discussions of his works. In this paper, I discuss how Shakespeare portrays music within the context of his plays, both through dialogue and songs performed within each work. In Shakespeare’s time, Boethius’ philosophy of the music of the spheres was still highly popular. This was the idea that the arrangement of the cosmos mirrored musical proportions. As a result, every aspect of the universe was believed to be highly ordered, and this idea is prominent throughout Shakespeare’s works, from Hamlet to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. To make this clear to the reader, I discuss dialogue symmetry weaved throughout The Merchant of Venice, clear allusions to the music of the spheres in Pericles, and the use of music as a signifier of the strange and mysterious – from madness to love – in numerous works, always relating these topics back to the philosophy of the music of the spheres. In order to compile this information and make it clear, I researched the philosophy of music during Shakespeare’s era. I also researched how he uses music thematically to emphasize different characters’ struggles as well as plot details. After examining his plays as well as the other sources available on the subject, it is clear that Shakespeare was highly influenced by the philosophical and practical ideas regarding music of his time, specifically the theory of the music of the spheres

Shakespeare\u27s Philosophy of Music

Shakespeare is one of the most widely read figures in literature, but his use of music is not usually touched on in literary discussions of his works. In this paper, I discuss how Shakespeare portrays music within the context of his plays, through both dialogue and songs performed within each work. In Shakespeare’s time, Boethius’s philosophy of the Music of the Spheres was still highly popular. This was the idea that the arrangement of the cosmos mirrored musical proportions. As a result, every aspect of the universe was believed to be highly ordered, and this idea is prominent throughout Shakespeare’s works, from Hamlet to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. To make this clear to the reader, I discuss dialogue symmetry weaved throughout The Merchant of Venice, clear allusions to the music of the spheres in Pericles, and the use of music as a signifier of the strange and mysterious – from madness to love – in numerous works, always relating these topics back to the philosophy of the music of the spheres. In order to compile this information and make it clear, I researched the philosophy of music during Shakespeare’s era. I also researched how he uses music thematically to emphasize different characters’ struggles as well as plot details. After examining his plays as well as the other sources available on the subject, it is clear that Shakespeare was highly influenced by the philosophical and practical ideas regarding music of his time, specifically the theory of the music of the spheres

Shakespeare\u27s Philosophy of Music

Shakespeare is one of the most widely read figures in literature, but his use of music is not usually touched on in literary discussions of his works. In this paper, I discuss how Shakespeare portrays music within the context of his plays, both through dialogue and songs performed within each work. In Shakespeare’s time, Boethius’ philosophy of the music of the spheres was still highly popular. This was the idea that the arrangement of the cosmos mirrored musical proportions. As a result, every aspect of the universe was believed to be highly ordered, and this idea is prominent throughout Shakespeare’s works, from Hamlet to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. To make this clear to the reader, I discuss dialogue symmetry weaved throughout The Merchant of Venice, clear allusions to the music of the spheres in Pericles, and the use of music as a signifier of the strange and mysterious – from madness to love – in numerous works, always relating these topics back to the philosophy of the music of the spheres. In order to compile this information and make it clear, I researched the philosophy of music during Shakespeare’s era. I also researched how he uses music thematically to emphasize different characters’ struggles as well as plot details. After examining his plays as well as the other sources available on the subject, it is clear that Shakespeare was highly influenced by the philosophical and practical ideas regarding music of his time, specifically the theory of the music of the spheres

All too human?

Review of three books: 'Music and humanism: an essay in the aesthetics of music' by R A Sharpe; 'The spheres of music: a gathering of essays' by Leonard B Meyer; Critical entertainments: music old and new' by Charles Rosen, which appeared in Musical Times Autumn 2001