Pythagoras and the Music of the Future is a series of articles in which I discuss, in accessible terms, I hope, the central influence that the harmonic series has had on the development of western music since the Middle Ages. I look closely at the connection between the harmonic series and the conventions of the musical…
In essence, ‘No!’ The works we know as the classics, the work of composers such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner and others beloved of so many, and the ‘difficult’ music of Schoenberg, Webern, Stockhausen, Boulez, the source of bewilderment for just as many, in fact, share a clear common heritage.
Many will be used to tuning to a sustained note, usually A, or in the case of brass or wind bands, it could be a B flat. The problem with this is that many players will, consciously or unconsciously, compensate by correcting the pitch with the embouchure. Once the music starts, the tuning is ‘out’…
I am just about ready to introduce the first in a projected series of articles discussing, in accessible terms I hope, the influence that the harmonic series has had on musical development since the Middle Ages. I will be discussing not only the connection between the harmonic series and timbre (the obvious one), but also…
