The True Science of Music

D. C. Hewitt

ISBN 10: 1108038662 / ISBN 13: 9781108038669

Published by Cambridge University Press, GB, 2011

About this Item

The physics of music has fascinated scholars and scientists since ancient times, from Pythagoras' concept of celestial harmony, to the work of Galileo, Mersenne, Euler and Ohm, culminating in the nineteenth century in Helmholtz's definitive work, On the Sensations of Tone. Daniel Chandler Hewitt (1789-1869) was a piano maker who also devised improvements to the seraphine (a form of reed organ). This idiosyncratic work, first published in 1864, only a year after Helmholtz's German text (also reissued in this series in the 1875 English translation), discusses the mathematics of musical intervals according to Hewitt's 'Triune', or three-fold, system of calculation using his Musical Ratiometer (included at the end of the volume). Musical examples, gathered at the end of the work, illustrate his arguments and include a close analysis of the intervals and chord structures of the Moonlight and the Appassionata piano sonatas by Beethoven.

Seller Inventory # LU-9781108038669

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The True Science of Music
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, GB
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1108038662
• ISBN 13: 9781108038669
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 810 grams

About this title

Synopsis

The physics of music has fascinated scholars and scientists since ancient times, from Pythagoras' concept of celestial harmony, to the work of Galileo, Mersenne, Euler and Ohm, culminating in the nineteenth century in Helmholtz's definitive work, On the Sensations of Tone. Daniel Chandler Hewitt (1789–1869) was a piano maker who also devised improvements to the seraphine (a form of reed organ). This idiosyncratic work, first published in 1864, only a year after Helmholtz's German text (also reissued in this series in the 1875 English translation), discusses the mathematics of musical intervals according to Hewitt's 'Triune', or three-fold, system of calculation using his Musical Ratiometer (included at the end of the volume). Musical examples, gathered at the end of the work, illustrate his arguments and include a close analysis of the intervals and chord structures of the Moonlight and the Appassionata piano sonatas by Beethoven.

Book Description

The physics of music has fascinated scholars since ancient times, from Pythagoras' concept of celestial harmony to Mersenne, Ohm and Helmholtz. Hewitt's work, first published in 1864, proposes his mathematical approach to determining the nature of musical intervals according to his 'Triune', or three-fold, system of calculation using his Ratiometer.