In the aftermath of a storm comes a symphony of color |
The Sound of a rainbow After thunder, lightning And the roar of falling rain Comes a time of stillness As the last of the rain Drips from the verdant Green of my garden Cloud curtains open wide Letting the splendor of sunlight Fall on the back of the storm As it passes over a distant hill The stillness is broken By an orchestra of color Playing across the sky In perfect time with The music of the spheres The notes are bold And sooth my tired soul This is offered to define "music of the spheres" for those unfamiliar with the concept "Music of the Spheres" Musica universalis (lit. universal music, or music of the spheres) or Harmony of the Spheres is an ancient philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies—the Sun, Moon, and planets—as a form of musica (the Medieval Latin name for music). This 'music' is not usually thought to be literally audible, but a harmonic and/or mathematical and/or religious concept. The idea continued to appeal to thinkers about music until the end of the Renaissance, influencing scholars of many kinds, including humanists. An Engraving from Renaissance Italy shows Apollo, the Muses, the planetary spheres and musical ratios. The Music of the Spheres incorporates the metaphysical principle that mathematical relationships express qualities or ‘tones' of energy which manifest in numbers, visual angles, shapes and sounds – all connected within a pattern of proportion. Pythagoras first identified that the pitch of a musical note is in proportion to the length of the string that produces it, and that intervals between harmonious sound frequencies form simple numerical ratios.[1] In a theory known as the Harmony of the Spheres, Pythagoras proposed that the Sun, Moon and planets all emit their own unique hum (orbital resonance) based on their orbital revolution,[2] and that the quality of life on Earth reflects the tenor of celestial sounds which are physically imperceptible to the human ear.[3] Subsequently, Plato described astronomy and music as "twinned" studies of sensual recognition: astronomy for the eyes, music for the ears, and both requiring knowledge of numerical proportions.[4] |