Music and Esotericism

Laurence Wuidar, Ph.D. (2007) in Philosophy & Letters - Musicology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, is Research Fellow at the FNRS. Her publications include the books Musique et astrologie après le Concile de Trente (Brepols, 2008), Canons énigmes et hiéroglyphes musicaux dans l'Italie du 17ème siècle (Peter Lang, 2008) and L'Angelo et il Girasole. Conversazioni Filosofico-Musicali (ESD 2010).

Having read the book with much pleasure, I would like to applaud the authors for their expedition into this intriguing field of relations between music, science and ‘esotericism’. I hope that the essays will be read not only by scholars interested in the individual philosophers and musicians analysed, but also by those concerned with general patterns within the European history of religion and the theoretical considerations arising from a study of this researchfield. - Isabel Laack, Universität Heidelberg in: Religion, Volume 42 (2012), Issue 1.

• Acknowledgements Introduction Laurence WuidarPART ONEEARLY MODERN OCCULT KNOWLEDGE AND MUSICMusic and Magnetism, from Abu Ma‘shar to Kircher Charles BurnettLe medecin et les sons : Musique et magie dans Le Livre des eschez amoureux moralisés d’Evrart de Conty Amandine MussouProphecy, Harmony, and the Alchemical Transformation of the Soul: The Key to Lasso’s Chromatic Sibyls Marjorie A. RothDwelling in Darkness: Dowland’s Dark Songs as Hermetic Pessimist Gnosis, and Could this be ‘Evidence’ of the Esoteric ‘School of Night’? Anthony RooleyOrpheus “Recured”: The Healing Art of Thomas Campion Barbara KennedyGiovambattista della Porta e l’efficacia terapeutica della musica Concetta PennutoTommaso Campanella (1568–1639) e la musica Marta MoisoRepresentation esoterique et pensee scientifique. Le cas de la vibration par sympathie chez les savants et theoriciens de la premiere moitie du 17e siecleBrigitte Van WymeerschMusical Theory and Astrological Foundations in Kepler: The Making of the New Aspects David JustePHILOSOPHICAL INTERMEZZOApercu sur le role de l’harmonie musicale dans l’oeuvre de Proclus Maël Mathieu and Daniel CohenQuelques philosophes du XIXe siecle et la musique comme esoterisme moderne Jacques AmblardPART TWONINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH CENTURY MUSICAL ESOTERICISMThe Mysteries of Sound in H. P. Blavatsky’s ‘Esoteric Instructions’ Tim RudbøgEvoking the Mystical: The Esoteric Legacy of Ferruccio Busoni Judith CrispinMusica pietrificata, sculture sonore: Aleksandr Skrjabin tra estasi e teosofia Barbara AnielloThe Unspeakable and the Law: Esotericism in Anton Webern and the Second Viennese School Wouter J. HanegraaffMusic, Magic and Postmodern Historical Metafiction: Helmuth Krausser’s Melodien (1993) György E. SzönyiIndex