The music of the spheres, first described by Plato, had an enormous influence on the history of science, arts, literature, and philosophy. Leo Spitzer devoted his magisterial Classical and Christian Ideas of World Harmony (1944) to this exalted theme, which has been addressed by numerous articles and chapters but no single collection of essays—until this volume. Of the thirteen essays, five treat ancient and medieval works, four those from the Renaissance, and four the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Francesco Pelosi begins with a fine summary of the Platonic and Neoplatonic sources for cosmic harmony, as well as Aristotle's critical response. Pelosi gives a balanced account of a long-controversial subject, including the valuable information that Porphyry considered the cosmic music to exceed human capacity not in volume but in pitch, passing beyond the upper range of human hearing (23). Charles Burnett then describes the ways sympathetic vibration was used to explain the effects of the heavens on the earth. Beginning with Latin sources (especially Hermann of Carinthia), Burnett's paper is particularly useful because it brings forward Arabic sources, as does the contribution of the late Amnon Shiloah. Beginning with the Qumran writings through the Zohar, Shiloah includes a rich collection of Jewish sources such as Isaac Cohen, Judah Moscato, and Moses Cordovero. These essays open new doors, allowing us to see the ways that cosmic harmony was considered and reconsidered in texts that deserve wider study. Shiloah uses them to argue that man is no mere passive receptacle but “an active co-creator of his own being, who was capable of creating world harmony both in himself and in the cosmos through praying and singing of hymns” (58). Gabriela Currie addresses the ancient paradox of sounding yet inaudible cosmic music, making telling use of astronomical arguments by Eriugena and Oresme. The sisterhood of music and astronomy in the quadrivium means that we cannot neglect their important interactions. Wolfram R. Keller reads Chaucer's treatment of “noyse” in House of Fame and Parliament of Foules as subverting cosmic harmony in favor of “a universe of disharmonic combinations” (91), but does not help us consider the ironies the poet might have intended thereby.
Beginning the Renaissance section, Maude Vanhaelen discusses how Ficino's theurgy operated through musical invocation of planetary demons. Drawing on Neoplatonic sources, Ficino's songs aspired to echo the divine music and help the soul to ascend even in a world ruled by divine omnipotence. Leen Spruit then describes how Francesco Giorgi followed Ficino and Pico but ran afoul of Catholic censorship because his notions of universal harmony drew too strongly on heterodox views, especially cabalistic and astrological. These censors thought the Cabala could enable the discovery of the secret harmonic principles of creation, which they believed humans were incapable of fathoming (127), a critical issue for the new philosophy. Jacomien Prins illuminates Francesco Patrizi's somewhat ambiguous relation to cosmic harmony: though drawing on the ancient ideas, Patrizi considered music as operating more through the subjective expressivity of a gifted performer than via resonance with primordial harmonies. Grantley McDonald presents the reception of Ficino's ideas in Germany, especially by Cornelius Agrippa, leading to their influence on Athanasius Kircher and Johannes Kepler.
In the final section, Concetta Pennuto shows the continued interest in cosmic harmony in the seventeenth century through Andrea Torellli's treatment of the Orphic lyre and eloquence. Linda Báez-Rubí gives a fascinating description of the reception of Nicolas of Cusa and Kircher in New Spain, especially in the writings of Sor Juana Inés. Cosmic harmony also thrilled intellects in the New World. Turning back to the old, Benjamin Wardhaugh gives a helpful account of the treatment of the music of the spheres in English musical mathematics from 1650 to 1750, including Isaac Newton, John Birchensha, and Robert Boyle. Finally, Tom Dixon presents William Stukeley's manuscript on the music of the spheres, in which the ancient ideas showed their power even around 1720.
This superb collection is a great contribution, a treasure trove of helpful information, lucidly and concisely presented. Thanks to the editorial efforts of Prins and Vanhaelen, we can now better appreciate the whole sweep of cosmic harmony to the early eighteenth century, in texts that range the world and disclose the continuing variations on this ancient theme.
