Musical Sympathy and Occult Knowledge
Read MoreSometimes referred to as ‘the last Renaissance man’, the German Jesuit Athanasius Kircher extended the boundaries of knowledge through his researches into a diverse range of subjects. His encyclopaedic Musurgia universalis presents music as a reflection of the divine cosmos but assimilates into this scholastic view elements of natural magic and experimental science. For Kircher the harmonic universe comprised a network of unseen correspondences linking different parts of the natural world. By decoding symbols and allegories to be found in ancient texts and nature, man could gain a deeper understanding of God’s creation. The areas Kircher covers include sound and voice as found in nature, acoustical science, and the ‘magic’ of consonance and dissonance. His discussion of the origins of human music in Greece and Egypt leads to a comparison of ancient and modern music together with explanations for the different effects music can have on listeners. The final chapter portrays the Creation of the world in terms of a pipe organ.
Kircher’s illustrated title-page incorporates Catholic doctrine into a cosmic scheme that focuses on the Trinity in the form of a triangle. Nine choirs of angels sing a complex part song in thirty-six parts. Through the art of part song (polyphony) man imitates cosmic harmony.
Author: Athanasius Kircher
Title: Musurgia universalis [The complete science of music] (Rome, 1650)
Shelfmark: D.4.22
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