Only it speaks to me, When the others are afrаid to аррrоach.
When the last friend removed his eyes, It was with me in my tomb
And sang like the first thunder-storm, Or like flowers speaking.Аnna Ahmatova “Music”
Pythagoras was the first who told about celestial music, or Harmony of Spheres., He believed that the universe is Harmony sounding. His opinion was that planets, going round the Sun, touch ether and so cause sounding. As planets have own orbit of rotation, its radius represents a length of sounding string and consequently each planet has own diapason, and together they produce some harmonious accord the majority of people can not hear by force of habit.
However, how does the Pythagorean concept of Music of Spheres touch us, the people living in the 21st century? We think, directly as after Pythagoras the European science took the way developing rationally logic and intellectually conceptual approaches to the world and methods of knowledge. That resulted in that a man got departed more and more from reality which lies behind borders of his proximate environment. By the 20th century, the humanity had forgotten that the Earth is a cosmic body along with other planets and ceased thinking about the universe as about our common home. Having forgotten about primordial connection with Space, the humanity began to break laws of the universe which nobody has annulled yet and which continue to control the world. Such forgetfulness resulted in ethic degradation, earthliness and amorality in human society, oblivion of Harmony and Beauty in art what catastrophically affects our planet.
At the same time, by the end of the 20th and especially at the beginning of the 21st century, more and more people are coming to the idea that frequent acts of God are somehow connected with spiritual impoverishment of today’s humanity and we have only way out – to return to harmonious relations of a man and Universe, to learn the fundamental laws controling the world and person and to follow them in our everyday life. Only that will help to keep the human dignity and to take the way of spiritual evolution which could bring us to discovery of some secrets of the universe. One of such mysteries is art of sounds, i.e. music, which came into existence long ago, at sources of human civilization. Unfortunately, we do not know whether initial music was “noise” or melodious and we do not know true reasons of its origin. At the same time, the fact that ideas of ancient Oriental and Greek philosophy more and more often find confirmation in today’s science could prove that formation and spreading of musical art in human society was not spontaneous, but systematic.
Let’s remark that ancient Indian and Greek philosophy as well as Sufism affirmed that the universe was not silent. The universe is penetrated by vibrations of celestial bodies which sing creating unusually beautiful and harmonious sounding. At the end of the 20th century, science came to the same idea. Thus, today’s physics discovered that cosmic vacuum does not mean absence of matter, i.e. emptiness. Physical vacuum means rarefied matter. Greek philosophers knew that but specified it in own way – ether. Therefore, it is possible to imagine Pythagorean concept of Harmony of Spheres as friction of planets and rarefied matter in process of their rotation round the Sun what creates harmony of perfect sounds.
Obligate formation of musical art on the Earth is seen in the fact that musical art and Space have some identic parameters testifying to universality of space laws equally influencing the nature and human society. So, HARMONY, RHYTHM and INTONATION are equally inherent to Space and music as well as to artistic activity of a person. Harmony of the Universe is in well ordered system. Order and system, being opposite to disorder and chaos, make SPACE HARMONY. If the universe operates as the ordered system, this property covers all its places and all its components, including the nature, human society and art. Certainly, today’s human society can hardly be characterized as harmonious and ordered system. The same relates to samples of 20th century’s art which stay out of harmony, perfection and beauty. However, more cataclysms on our planet show that the mankind has turned from the destined path. Rhythm of the universe is traced everywhere: in rotation of planets round axis and round the Sun, in periods of progress and regress in life of celestial bodies, in circle of seasons, etc. Obviously, if rhythm and harmony are universal, they involve all components of the universe, including a man and art. There is no society and art which are free of rhythm in this or that form. Rhythm in music is a fundamental property which makes possible existence of musical art in general.
Another universal property is space intonation which is present in all forms of the universe. On the one hand, it seems beyond belief that the universe is able to intone, like a human voice or musical instrument. On the other hand, we can again remember ancient affirmation that Space sounds and, furthermore, we can try to reason this idea. The word “intonation” goes from Latin intono – “to speak loudly”. Later this term obtained additional meaning – “to sound at some pitch”. Space is sounding as all bodies in the universe are permanently vibrating. What is such vibration? This is a sound of definite pitch. None of celestial bodies or organisms, from atom to planets, galaxies and metagalaxies, stays in condition of profound rest. Everything is vibrating! This vibration, otherwise sounding of space bodies at definite pitch, makes SPACE INTONATION. Obviously, music as a kind of art is not exception and, like the other space bodies, has the intonation. Moreover, intonation in music, similar to rhythm and harmony, is essential property of music.
In addition to said above, besides Harmony, Rhythm and Intonation there is one more property uniting universal laws and music – this is Beauty. F. M. Dostoevsky told: “Beauty will rescue the world” and N. K. Roerich continued: “Comprehension of beauty will rescue the world”. Though the modern humanity has not acquired comprehension of beauty which still remains a mystery, we can say that Beauty is a Space Law, and, so a law of music as music is a part of the universe.
Moreover, we suppose that music as a kind of terrestrial art was not just a direct reflection of space laws, but also a result of contact and unity between a man and boundless space. As this unity could not be achieved mentally, the art of sounds arouse, i.e. music, which refined vibrations and connection with Universal laws promoted elevation of vibrations of human body. Such change of vibrations of human body caused profound transformation of a person. The people which are able to elevate inner vibrations, are more moral, and consequently, more spiritual. The key role of music in mystic practice of different countries and peoples perfectly prove this idea. Properly speaking, first Eleusinian mysteries in Ancient Greece were exclusively exercised by temple priests. Later when they realized necessity to influence ordinary people, special mysteries were created which put foundations of famous Greek tragedy, which influenced the people spiritually and aesthetically, making them to experience more refined vibrations.
For hundreds and thousands of years, music has been executing its major mission – to bring harmony and beauty into human society, rarefying and spiritualizing the people and giving them understanding and comprehension of universal laws needed by humanity to join integral space family. Perhaps, that determines unique features of music as a kind of art. Music is free of concept, unlike literature or poetry. It has neither visual images, unlike painting or sculpture, nor staginess, unlike theatre or circus. We do not mean that only music is able to turn a person to Space and its laws. Certainly, no! All kinds of artistic activity bear harmony and beauty by own means and bring a person closer to Supreme Spheres. Nevertheless, all scholars of the past and present note surprising otherness of music and recognize its spiritual content as a basic feature. Some researchers of the past rhetorically inquired where existed that reality which found reflection in music? In this connection, the concept of Platon about ideas creating worlds comes back. This concept was unexpectedly confirmed by science in the 20th century. V. N. Vernadsky put forward the idea of Noosphere, or Rational sphere, which keeps in memory everything what happened in the past and is running today on our planet, and moreover operates as self-developing system. N. Kozyrev told about existence of lepton, or information-energetical fields in our environment which bear all information on the world, including scientific and technical ideas, which will be discovered ahead. Honour of discovery will belong to those scientists whose intuition, i.e. high internal vibration, and its tuning to space vibrations, will allow them to perceive that information which is translating to us from these N. Roerich. Brahmapootra. 1945.
fields. If to continue the concept of N. Kozyrev logically, we could suppose that information-energetical fields bear not only scientific and technical, but also art information. Hence, talent of an artist or scientist is an ability to tune his instrument, i.e. organism, properly to perceive information going from Space, whether artistic or scientific and technical. Another important feature of talent is readiness to perceive new, sometimes absolutely original information.
Logic is a question: if an artist and scientist just reads information from the space and transmits it as radio by means of art or scientific works – where or what is his own creativity? We think, perception of information always has individual and exceptional character, especially in art activity and always imply creativity. The same information can come to different artists and being processed by means of personal perception and estimation, it resulted in unique work of art which remains unique for hundreds and thousands of years. Works of outstanding writers, poets, artists and composers prove that. There are thousands of poems on love and each of them is unique as is colored by idea, experience and creative individuality of the poet. The same can be related to art in general, including music.
Considering all above said, we could conclude: pieces of music, which vibration corresponds with vibrations of Space, reflect “Harmony of Spheres” according to Pythagoras, otherwise, “Celestial music”. Folklore music, which has been forming for centuries and millennia, has humanistic, aesthetic and harmonious properties. The same relates to classic music which is often based on folk songs and tunes. Moreover, classic music and folklore are perceived as carriers of humanism and aesthetics due to their property to reflect supreme harmony of Celestial Music.
Not each piece of music bear Supreme Harmony. That depends on a talent of this or that artist, his world vision, ethic and aesthetic views. Among artists of different countries and peoples there were such artists which heard or felt harmony of Supreme order, were able to correlate own vibrations with space and created perfect works of art which are able to influence people positively. At the same time, there were such artists, which experienced inner dissonance or their organism had disharmonious vibrations, unstable and unbalanced mind, sometimes with low aesthetic and ethic values what resulted in their works.
Meanwhile very few of today’s artists think of personal responsibility before people, humanity and universe in general. If human thought is material, the artistic idea, including musical, does not make exception. If thoughts of a person with seeds of aggression and violence, pollute environment and cause cataclysms and acts of God, that equally concerns artistic ideas, which vibrations do not correspond to harmonious vibrations of Space Music.
Therefore true art, which was given to people from time immemorial, elevated human spirit, gave understanding of laws of Universe and Earth and led them to Harmony, Perfection and Beauty. Such art promoted evolution of each person and society in general. In this sense, music played exclusively significant role as music is so thin matter that caused intuitive understanding of its Divine, i.e. Cosmic, origin. Art is given to a person not only to have fun or just to seek time-killing amusement. Art in general and music in particular are given in order a person can keep his nature, and always remember that the Earth is only a small piece of the Universe where we live and which is our home.
Tatyana Rasulova