Music Theory and Natural Order from the Renaissance to the Early Twentieth Century (Volume 0)

Music theorists of almost all ages employ a concept of "Nature" to justify observations or statements about music. The understanding of what "Nature" is, however, is subject to cultural and historical differences. In tracing these explanatory strategies and their changes in music theories between c. 1600 and 1900, these essays explore (for the first time in a book-length study) how the multifarious conceptions of nature, located variously between scientific reason and divine power, are brought to bear on music theory and how they affect our understanding of music.

"...the variety and high-quality of the nine articles in this volume are impressive indeed...The excellent essays which form this volume, although focused specifically on music and music theory, are case studies of the universal tendency to substantiate ideology by means of appeals to "nature" and "natural order" and, as such, are certainly of general interest." Renaissance Quarterly