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Tuesday March 3, 2026
“The heavenly motions are nothing but a continuous song for several voices, to be perceived by the intellect, not by the ear; a music which, through discordant tensions, through syncopations and cadenzas as it were, progresses toward certain pre-designed six-voiced cadences, and thereby sets landmarks in the immeasurable flow of time.”
– Johannes Kepler (Harmonices Mundi)
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
Johannes Kepler was a 17th century scientist who basically defined the laws of cosmology with his Three Laws of Planetary Motion: without knowing about the force of gravity. He was also influential in providing evidence that supported Nicolaus Copernicus’ argument that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system. This leads him to reconsider the ideas of Pythagoras from this new heliocentric perspective of the solar system.
Kepler, like Pythagoras, focused on the idea of mathematical ratios as a fundamental factor in how things worked in the universe.
“Kepler believed that the ratio of the size of the circles matched the ratio of the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn, and imagined that between each planet’s orbit was a ‘platonic solid’ — a three-dimensional polyhedron. Kepler interpreted this as part of God’s underlying geometric design supporting the orbits of the planets. In 1596, he published his ideas in his book ‘Mysterium Cosmographicum.’”
–Keith Cooper (Johannes Kepler: Everything you need to know)
Kepler began to reconsider the original musical ratios related to Pythagoras’ Music of the Spheres from a new point of view, with the sun at the center of the solar system.
CONSIDERATION #230 – The Kepler Connection
One of the problems with Pythagoras’ conclusions regarding the actual tones of the music of the spheres was that the earth was considered to be the center of the universe at the time, which affected the measurements related to the planets. Later, using the measurements of a heliocentric model of the universe, Kepler attempted to correct this mathematical inconsistency.
“In the 17th century, Johannes Kepler picked up the idea, setting about to prove it in his Harmonices Mundi. Now working from a heliocentric, Copernican model of the universe, Kepler used Platonic geometry to determine the distances between planets and to further refine the harmonics of the universe, resulting in his ‘Third Law’ determining the elliptical – not circular – motion of planets.”
– Sensory Studies.com (The Music of the Spheres)
Like Pythagoras, Kepler saw the universe as a kind of eternal Cosmic Symphony of creation composed of divine mathematical abstractions.
“The great Johannes Kepler followed these leads in developing his laws of planetary motion, describing the relationships of planets and their orbits through numbers and ratios and using them to create geometric figures of two and three dimensions. He also employed musical references and even desired to create a ‘symphony of the cosmos,’ stating that ‘the movements of the heavens are nothing except a certain everlasting polyphony.’ Sir Isaac Newton was likewise inspired by the cosmic music of the ancients, as set forth in Proposition VIII of his Principia.”
– Stephanie Chase (What is the “Music of the Spheres”?)
Kepler also agreed with Pythagoras that the divine music of the cosmos was imperceptible to the human senses. We could not hear the music of the spheres.
“The heavenly motions are nothing but a continuous song for several voices (perceived by the intellect, not by the ear); a music which… progresses towards certain pre-designed, quasi six-voiced clausuras…”
Stephanie Chase (What is the “Music of the Spheres”?)
Pythagoras argued that the reason we could not hear the music of the spheres is because we have heard it constantly since being born and therefore do not notice or recognize it as a sound. The entire experience of sound, from our perspective, has never existed without it. Therefore, we can’t recognize it as a separate, or unique, sound of its own.
Later, St. Augustine would argue that the sound of the music of the spheres could be heard by human beings; just as they were dying and transitioning into the divine. However, modern science would argue that these sound vibrations are imperceptible simply because they fall too far above or below the threshold of human hearing.
POSTSCRIPT
Although many considered both Pythagoras’ and Kepler’s ideas about a musical universe to be a completely whacky scientific notion, scientists have recently used new computer technology to actually generate the sounds of the universe that could not previously be heard.
“The idea that there is a music of the spheres is ancient, but before Kepler it was generally believed to be one never‐ending chord. Each planet’s song was based on the speed of its orbit because the vibrations caused by its motion through space would create sound waves. Before Kepler, people believed that the planets move in circular paths at constant speeds. Accordingly, they believed that each planet sang one note.
When Kepler discovered that planets move in elliptical paths with different speeds, the concept of the celestial chord had to change. Kepler calculated the changing speeds of each planet and converted those speeds into tones. His theory was that the music of the spheres was a continuous and everchanging song.
Kepler never heard the music he had created in theory because he did not have the technology to produce the sounds…The professors, who had access to computers and synthesizers, were able to make Kepler’s music for the ear as well as the intellect… Each planet’s song is the direct result of the size, shape and changing speed of its orbit.”
– Jane Bianksteen (New York Times: Computer Synthesizes the “Music of the Spheres”)
According to the New York Times, the recording of “The Harmony of the World, a Realization for the Ear of Johannes Kepler’s Astronomical Data from Harmonices Mundi 1619,” is now available from Mr. Ruff at the Yale School of Music in New Haven for ten dollars, on the “Kepler” label.
Next week we will consider how Pythagoras’ Music of the Spheres influenced Plato’s concept of a World Soul…
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