Explorations in Music and Esotericism (Eastman Studies in Music, 192)

Scholars explore from many fresh angles the interweavings of two of the richest strands of human culture - music and esotericism - with examples from the medieval period to the modern age. Music and esotericism are two responses to the intuition that the world holds hidden order, beauty, and power. Those who compose, perform, and listen to music have often noted that music can be a bridge between sensory and transcendent realms. Such renowned writers as Boethius expanded the definition of music to encompass not only sounded music but also the harmonic fabric of human and cosmic life. Those who engage in pursuits called "esoteric," from ancient astrology, magic, and alchemy to recent and more novel forms of spirituality, have also remarked on the relevance of music to their quests. Esotericists have composed music in order to convey esoteric meaning, performed music to create esoteric influences, and listened to music to raise their esoteric awareness. The academic study of esotericism is a young field, and few researchers have probed the rich interface between the musical and esoteric domains. In Explorations in Music and Esotericism, scholars from numerous fields introduce the history of esotericism and current debates about its definition and extent. The book's sixteen chapters present rich instances of connections between music and esotericism, organized with reference to four aspects of esotericism: as a form of thought; as the keeping and revealing of secrets; as an identity; and as a signifier. Edited by Marjorie Roth and Leonard George. Contributors: Elizabeth Abbate, Malachai Komanoff Bandy, Adam Bregman, Charles E. Brewer, Benjamin Dobbs, Anna Gawboy, Pasquale Giaquinto, Adam Knight Gilbert, Joscelyn Godwin, Virginia Christy Lamothe, Andrew Owen, Christopher Scheer, Codee Ann Spinner, Woodrow Steinken, and Daphne Tan. "Scholars explore from many fresh angles the interweavings of two of the richest strands of human culture-music and esotericism-with examples from the medieval period to the modern age. Music and esotericism are two responses to the intuition that the world holds hidden order, beauty, and power. Those who compose, perform, and listen to music have often noted that music can be a bridge between sensory and transcendent realms. Such renowned writers as Boethius expanded the definition of music to encompass not only sounded music but also the harmonic fabric of human and cosmic life. Those who engage in pursuits called "esoteric," from ancient astrology, magic, and alchemy to recent and more novel forms of spirituality, have also remarked on the relevance of music to their quests. Esotericists have composed music in order to convey esoteric meaning, performed music to create esoteric influences, and listened to music to raise their esoteric awareness. The academic study of esotericism is a young field, and few researchers have probed the rich interface between the musical and esoteric domains. In Explorations in Music and Esotericism, scholars from numerous fields introduce the history of esotericism and current debates about its definition and extent. The book's sixteen chapters present rich instances of connections between music and esotericism, organized with reference to four aspects of esotericism: as a form of thought; as the keeping and revealing of secrets; as an identity; and as a signifier. Edited by Marjorie Roth and Leonard George. Contributors: Elizabeth Abbate, Malachai Komanoff Bandy, Adam Bregman, Charles E. Brewer, Benjamin Dobbs, Anna Gawboy, Pasquale Giaquinto, Adam Knight Gilbert, Joscelyn Godwin, Virginia Christy Lamothe, Andrew Owen, Christopher Scheer, Codee Ann Spinner, Woodrow Steinken, and Daphne Tan"-- Provided by publisher Explorations in Music and Esotericism Contents Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction Part One. Esotericism as a Form of Thought 1 The Hermaphroditic Nature of the mi-fa Complex 2 Athanasius Kircher and the Nature of Ecstatic Listening 3 Claude Bragdon’s Images of the Seven Degrees of the Scale 4 Music Analysis as Esoteric Activity: Victor Zuckerkandl at Eranos Part Two. Esotericism as the Keeping and Revealing of Secrets 5 Concealment Revealed Sound and Symbol in Ockeghem’s Missi Quinti toni and Missa Prolationum 6 Air and Eros. Musician as Demiurge in Renaissance Magic 7 “De septenario illo et sacro numero” The Divine Septenarius in Pleiades musicae 8 The Hoard and the Grail: A Wagnerian Conspiracy in Five Parts Part Three. Esotericism as an Identity 9 Tommaso Campanella, the Barberini Palace, and the Soul’s Perception of Music 10 Sonic Symbolism: Matthew Cooke’s Music for the Scottish Rite Craft Degrees 11 New American Eden: Katherine Tingley in Lomaland 12 Theosophy and the Esoteric Roots of Sun Ra’s Afrofuturism 13 “Im Himmel und auf Erden”: Geometry, Alchemy, and Rosicrucian Symbol in Buxtehude 14 (In)Audible Sound and Spiritualist Acoustemologies 15 As Above, So Below: Magic Squares and Immutable Laws of Nature in Webern’s Opus 24 16 The Osiris-Light in Nino Rota’s Music Contributors Index