Parallels In The History Of Music And Science
Parallels In The History of Music and Science
What are (if any) the relations in between the history of science (i.e. inventions) and music? Music truly evolved and changed shape throughout history. Are any (or all) those changes have anything to do with the ones in the fields of science?
The analogies I will set below will hopefully demonstrate that there is a parallel which can not be due to only chance between science (discoveries) and music style changes.Still hopefully that may demonstrate that thinking about music and ignoring what gets on the other (specially scientific) fields will lead to only errors.
Let us start with the Baroque period. Dividing the octave interval to 12 equal intervals, which is known as the well-tempered tuning system, is based and could only be made possible by the knowledge of the logarithm tables. Because, in a well-tempered system, every musical sound can be expressed by a number on logarithm 12. Andreas Werckmeister (1645-1706) who created and developed this system made possible all musical and tonal modulations and practically shaped the language of music.
This system made the tonalities in Western music radically different from the Eastern "maqams". Tonalities are interchangeable and equivalent among themselves. The most well known example is of course by J. S. Bach (1685-1750) who in his Das Wohltemperierte Klavier displayed the usage of every key.
The scientific basis of this unique and most important musical possibility has been set in 1614 by the discovery of logarithms by the Scott mathematician John Napier (1550-1617) who published the first "logarithm tables".
The era called in music Baroque with J. S. Bach, J. Ph. Rameau, G. Handel, A. and D. Scarlatti and others, has been also the time of radical discoveries: the orbits of planets, the microscope, the thermometer, fractions by tens, sliding-bar calculating machines, the analytical geometry (last theorem by Fermat) and many other things.
Can anyone miss the piercing rationalism aspect, quality, style in all works of that epoch?. Even though religious aspects are still heavily present, the music started to get out of churches. The music reflects by being amazingly more complex and sophisticated compared to earlier times the amazing discoveries about numbers and the universe.
Specially the French composer J. Ph. Rameau, in parallel with his contemporary countryman, well known philosopher, Descartes, has elaborated a fantastic "Cartesian" structure in his music and published a theory book.
Music notation, on paper, again following the changes in sciences, started to get much more precise and able to display sophisticated rhythmical and phrasing structures. The ryhtmical notation could only became so elaborated with the advances in numbers and fractions theories. Fractions (1586) negative numbers (1545) are the most important among these. Algebraic notation (1591) most probably also influenced musical notation and/or understanding (theorization). Again on the rhythmical area, mechanic time measuring devices (1335) and their usage as watches and clocks (1504) radically changed the way musical time and meter is applied. Musical rhythm, in a world with only sand and sun horloges, could only be set based on the words pronunciation in vocal music music and transmitted orally. Now it was possible to precisely notate the music and even indicate the speed of it!
By mid-1700's science was galloping at incredible speed. Rationalism and free-thinking specially with the printing device by Gutenberg started to retract dogmatism.
The speed of light was measured (1675), Kepler (1571-1630) published his theory of orbits in 1609, 1687 was the year Newton formulated motion-principles.
The first calculating device saw light in 1693. Called "The Age of Reason", the years: 1701-1780 was the time were masterworks like J. S. Bach's Goldberg Variations and The Art of Fugue as well as G. F. Handel's Messiah Oratorio among many others were born.
The industrial revolution (1781-1850) was the time when L. van Beethoven (1770-1827) composed his greatest works: symphonies from 5 to 9, piano concertos from 3 to 5. The French revolution (1789) will of course be a milestone in that (and later) periods. The scientific thinking which previously over-casted the religious authority will now wipe out the aristocracy as well. No wonder a composer like Beethoven will be deeply impressed with that big event which will shake whole Europe. That was the time of the discovery of double-starts, Uranus in astronomy (1781). 1791 is accepted as the starting of the industrial revolution. Earth's mass had been calculated at 1798. The electrical battery discovered by G. Volta at 1800; at 1803 the atom theory by J. Dalton; the evolution theory at 1809.
C. Babbage invented the mechanical computer at 1822, five years before Beethoven's death, when Schubert was 25 and had 6 years to live and when F. Chopin (1810-1849) and F. Liszt (1811-1886) were "prodigies".
In the late nineteenth century (1851-1894), in music, the classical forms (specially sonata) were expanding, the tonality concept was going towards intensified chromaticism, of course F. Liszt (1811-1886), R. Wagner (1816-1883), H. Berlioz (1803-1869), G. Mahler (1860-1911) and A. Bruckner (1824-1896) were the composers for that. In sciences there are more practical inventions rather than drastic discoveries at that particular time. Evolution theory has been entirely formulated Ch. Darwin, published his most important work in 1876.
In 1895, "X" rays; 1896, uranium radiations; 1897, the first sub-atomic particle: electron; 1898, Polonium and Radium; 1901, the radio-active energy; 1906, radio waves and sound propagation... In music the previous language was only (and is still in our days) used by only the most reactionary composers.
A brand new musical language emerged. Tonality is a thing of the past and the new language by A. Schoenberg will mark the centuries to come. Still interesting to note a musical grammar of 300 years of age, the tonality is dead and the formulation of atonality is almost year by year contemporary with A. Einstein's formulation of the first relativity theory (1905).
by: Mehmet Okonsar
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