John Smith Gallery

Music and Universal Harmony.

Many in the 17th century saw in the music theorising of Descartes, Mersenne and Kepler a continuity from the harmonic universe described by ancient Platonists. The latter had famously perceived the cosmos as well as the human body as subject to the same laws of proportion that govern musical consonance. Along with Shakespeare, Milton and many others of his time, Smith’s references to music reveal a distinct interest in this philosophical tradition.

“And we should further inquire, How these moveable & rambling Atomes come to place themselves so orderly in the Universe, and observe that absolute Harmony & Decorum in all their Motions, as if they kept time with the Musical laws of some Almighty Mind that compos'd all their lessons & measured out their Dances up and down in the Universe.” (Smith’s Discources, p. 58)

Diagram (from Mersenne, Harmonicorum Libri [D. 1. 17.]) shows mathematical relationships between notes of the 12 note chromatic scale.