Echoes of an invisible world : Marsilio Ficino and Francesco Patrizi on cosmic order and music theory / by Jacomien Prins.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

Preface; List of Figures, Music Examples, and Tables; Chapter 1 Introduction; 1.1 Nature and Scope of the Book; 1.2 The Tradition of the Harmony of the Spheres; 1.3 Status Quaestionis; 1.4 Methodology; 1.5 Structure of the Book; Part 1 Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499); Chapter 2 The Universe as a Musical Creation; 2.1 Introduction; 2.2 The Timaeus as a Source of Perennial Harmonic Wisdom; 2.2.1 Prisca Theologia; 2.2.2 A Hymn to the Creator of the Cosmos; 2.3 A Divine Geometrical Method for a Philosophy of Nature; 2.3.1 The Divine Composer-Architect as First Cause of the Universe.

2.3.2 Seven Cosmic Principles2.3.3 Number over Matter; 2.4 Cosmic Harmony in Terms of the Four Mathematical Disciplines; 2.4.1 Arithmetic: Numbers Bridging the Conceptual and the Physical World; 2.4.2 Music: Harmonies as Intermediaries between the Intelligible and the Sensible Realm; 2.4.3 Geometry: Cosmic Harmony Expressed in Terms of Continuous Quantity; 2.4.4 Astronomy: The Planetary Spheres as Harmonic Forms in Motion; 2.5 A Fifteenth-Century Dynamic Interpretation of the Music of the Spheres; 2.5.1 The Harmonic Structure of the World-Soul; 2.5.2 Four Cosmic Harmonizing Powers.

2.5.3 A Magical-Astrological Interpretation of the Music of the Spheres2.6 Conclusion; Chapter 3 Man as a Co-Creator of His Harmonic Nature; 3.1 Introduction; 3.2 Man as a Harmonic Microcosm; 3.2.1 Man Made in the Image and Likeness of God; 3.2.2 Musical Creativity; 3.3 Contemplative Ascents; 3.3.1 The Transmigration of the Human Soul: a True and Likely Story; 3.3.2 The Soul's Journey Through the Heavenly Spheres; 3.4 A Fifteenth-Century Dynamic Interpretation of Musica Humana; 3.4.1 The Harmonic Structure of the Human Body and Soul; 3.4.2 A Scientific Model of the Sense of Hearing.

3.5 Music's Power to Shape and Condition the Human Body and Soul3.5.1 Music as Medicine; 3.5.2 Therapeutic Planetary Music; 3.6 Conclusion; Part 2 Francesco Patrizi (1529-1597); Chapter 4 From the Music of the Spheres to the Mathematization of Space; 4.1 Introduction; 4.2 The Reception of Ficino's Interpretation of the Notion of Pythagorean World Harmony; 4.2.1 An Elaboration of the Myth of the Prisca Theologia; 4.2.2 Critique of Ficino's Interpretation of the Harmony of the Spheres; 4.3 A Revision of the Traditional Theory of the Four Mathematical Disciplines.

4.3.1 Questioning the Primacy of Number4.3.2 The Universe is not Ordered by Numerical Ratios that Produce Musical Consonances; 4.3.3 A New Geometry; 4.3.4 The Harmony of the Spheres as Remedy for Astronomical Chaos; 4.4 A Sixteenth-Century Interpretation of the Harmony of the Spheres; 4.4.1 The Harmonic Structure of the World-Soul; 4.4.2 Harmonizing Powers Explaining Cosmic Motion and Dynamic Interplay; 4.4.3 A Debate with a Member of the Index of Forbidden Books on the Harmonic Design of God's Creation; 4.5 Conclusion; Chapter 5 Man's Nostalgia for a Lost Musical Paradise; 5.1 Introduction.

In Echoes of an invisible world Jacomien Prins offers an account of the transformation of the notion of Pythagorean world harmony during the Renaissance and the role of the Italian philosophers Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) and Francesco Patrizi (1529-1597) in redefining the relationship between cosmic order and music theory.

English.

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