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Number symbolism in music : the harmony of the spheres and George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume I

The Pythagoreans, for whom certain numbers held a mystical significance, stressed the connection between music and mathematics. Their concept of the universe was of an integrated, well-ordered system, which expressed the rules of music and mathematics on earthly and planetary levels. This philosophy...

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Main Author: Pienaar, Elizabeth Angele
Other Authors: May, James
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: College of Music 2023
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access_status_str Open Access
author Pienaar, Elizabeth Angele
author2 May, James
author_browse May, James
Pienaar, Elizabeth Angele
author_facet May, James
Pienaar, Elizabeth Angele
author_sort Pienaar, Elizabeth Angele
collection Thesis
description The Pythagoreans, for whom certain numbers held a mystical significance, stressed the connection between music and mathematics. Their concept of the universe was of an integrated, well-ordered system, which expressed the rules of music and mathematics on earthly and planetary levels. This philosophy was adapted by the early Christian church, and numbers that symbolise elements of the Christian faith can be found in medieval compositions. Bach's use of symbolism in sacred works is a continuation of this tradition, but there are numbers of personal significance as well. The numbers ten and twenty-three in Berg's music refer specifically to Hanna Fuchs and himself and have an important structural function. Crumb's compositions are characterised by allusions, especially to music of the past; the symbolic qualities are visual, aural and numerical. Makrokosmos, Volume I (Twelve Fantasy-Pieces after the 'Zodiac for Amplified Piano) is the first in a cycle of four compositions inspired by the stars. Astrological and spiritual numbers-three, four, twelve, seven and five appear to have determined the structural parameters of the pieces.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:48.735Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2023
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publisher College of Music
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/39101 Number symbolism in music : the harmony of the spheres and George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume I Pienaar, Elizabeth Angele May, James Music and science The Pythagoreans, for whom certain numbers held a mystical significance, stressed the connection between music and mathematics. Their concept of the universe was of an integrated, well-ordered system, which expressed the rules of music and mathematics on earthly and planetary levels. This philosophy was adapted by the early Christian church, and numbers that symbolise elements of the Christian faith can be found in medieval compositions. Bach's use of symbolism in sacred works is a continuation of this tradition, but there are numbers of personal significance as well. The numbers ten and twenty-three in Berg's music refer specifically to Hanna Fuchs and himself and have an important structural function. Crumb's compositions are characterised by allusions, especially to music of the past; the symbolic qualities are visual, aural and numerical. Makrokosmos, Volume I (Twelve Fantasy-Pieces after the 'Zodiac for Amplified Piano) is the first in a cycle of four compositions inspired by the stars. Astrological and spiritual numbers-three, four, twelve, seven and five appear to have determined the structural parameters of the pieces. 2023-12-04T09:51:26Z 2023-12-04T09:51:26Z 1997 2023-12-04T09:24:29Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MMus http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39101 eng application/pdf College of Music Faculty of Humanities
spellingShingle Music and science
Pienaar, Elizabeth Angele
Number symbolism in music : the harmony of the spheres and George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume I
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Number symbolism in music : the harmony of the spheres and George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume I
title_full Number symbolism in music : the harmony of the spheres and George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume I
title_fullStr Number symbolism in music : the harmony of the spheres and George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume I
title_full_unstemmed Number symbolism in music : the harmony of the spheres and George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume I
title_short Number symbolism in music : the harmony of the spheres and George Crumb's Makrokosmos, Volume I
title_sort number symbolism in music the harmony of the spheres and george crumb s makrokosmos volume i
topic Music and science
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/39101
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