On Monday, 2/25, Joseph Maurer wrote: > Hi Ham and all. > > IMO In the octave of universal creation the sixth place is earth, > starting from an Absolute, Do (1), -(shock), Si, 3 (level of all > possible system of worlds), La 6 (Level of our Milky Way), > Sol 12 (level of our Sun), Fa 24 (level of Planets as one mass, > Mi 48 (level of our earth), Re 96 (Level of our Moon), the final > note. (The Commentaries by Maurice Nicoll Vol 1 p 122.) > The numbers refer to laws. I don¹t know if this schema is taken > from Pythagoras¹ Harmony of the spheres. It has been a staple > in esoteric literature for a long time.
Joe, except for Earth's moon and the sun, what were referred to as "spheres" in Pythagoras's time are actually planets, of which Earth is third from the sun. So that applying numbers to them according to some "divine law" is, indeed, an esoteric concept more characteristic of Astrology than Science. On the other hand, numbers do have validity in acoustical science, because they express the frequency relationship between tones in a scale. Thus, if middle C is tuned to 440 Hz, the C an octave above is 880 Hz (double the frequency), and the seven notes below it are tuned to approximate equal proportioning between them. I say "approximate", because it is impossible to create a chromatic scale in which all the intervals are "justly intoned". The deviation from "just" intonation is precisely controlled by tempering, which allows music to be transposed between keys without having to retune the instrument. The so-called tempered scale was invented at about the time of Bach, who composed a set of preludes and fugues called "The Well Tempered Clavier" in each of the 12 keys to demonstrate this principle which has been the standard of Western music ever since. I am persuaded that such intellectual precepts as Harmony, Symmetry, and Balance have importance because of man's value-sensibility, not because they represent the "divine order" of the universe. It is man who makes physical order out of an amoral universe, just as it is man who makes moral order out of a disparate collective society. The "laws" involved here are human laws, and they are not so much concerned with "balancing nature" as they are with sanctifying the value of human life. The law of nature is survival of the fittest, which means that if a particular species is ill-suited for its habitat, incapable of fending off aggressors or finding food sources, it dies out to make room for other, more adaptable species. Civilized man does not--at least should not--operate that way. Not only do we have the capacity to adapt the environment to our needs, we can raise our children to respect the lives of others and educate them to deal competently with the adversities of society. And we establish laws by consensus to protect the individual's right to free speech, private property, and the religion of his choice. Individually man is driven by his values, but reason tells him he must temper his behavior if he is to live peaceably with his fellow creatures. The use of power to control others, historically the strategy of monarchs and tyrants, is no longer reasonable or acceptable to civilized people who believe in individual freedom. In my book I call the moral principle underlying this behavior "rational self-directed value". Jose, these are my views on the laws of harmony as applied to music and human society. They represent "where I'm coming from" on the subject of morality. Do you have a major disagreement with anything I've said? Regards, Ham Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
