Fundamentals of Musical Acoustics. New York: Dover
Publications Ferrara, Lawrence (1991). Philosophy and the
Analysis of Music. New York: Greenwood Press.
Johnston, Ian (1989). Measured Tones. New York: IOP
Publishing. Rowell, Lewis (1983). Thinking About Music.
Amhurst: The University of Massachusetts Press. "Music is
the harmonization of opposites, the unification of disparate
things, and the conciliation of warring elements...Music is
the basis of agreement among things in nature and of the
best government in the universe. As a rule it assumes the
guise of harmony in the universe, of lawful government in a
state, and of a sensible way of life in the home. It brings
together and unites." - The Pythagoreans Every school
student will recognize his name as the originator of that
theorem which offers many cheerful facts about the square
on the hypotenuse. Many European philosophers will call
him the father of philosophy. Many scientists will call him
the father of science. To musicians, nonetheless,
Pythagoras is the father of music. According to Johnston, it
was a much told story that one day the young Pythagoras
was passing a blacksmith's shop and his ear was caught by
the regular intervals of sounds from the anvil. When he
discovered that the hammers were of different weights, it
occured to him that the intervals might be related to those
weights. Pythagoras was correct. Pythagorean philosophy
maintained that all things are numbers. Based on the belief
that numbers were the building blocks of everything,
Pythagoras began linking numbers and music.
Revolutionizing music, Pythagoras' findings generated
theorems and standards for musical scales, relationships,
instruments, and creati ...