G. Rybintseva

Mathematical harmony of the musical Classicism

The concept of “harmony” has two main aspects, they are: right measure (perfect proportions) and order (perfect structure). The desire to create an image of harmony of the universe and its objects has realized more amply in the art of classicism, which relied on the rational abilities of the person. In accordance with the statutes of the era, the master of classicism regarded thinking as the highest form of activity, which makes a man closer to God. And the highest manifestation of cognitive abilities has always considered to be embodied in mathematics as the focus of the most objective, God-given regularities of the world. And respectively two main sections of mathematics are the laws of measures (arithmetics) and the most ordered structure (geometry). In this regard, mathematics can be considered as the science of the laws of harmony, while the art of classicism (and particularly music) being the implementation of these laws in the material of art. Based on the laws of mathematics, the master of classicism provided the arithmetically perfect proportions and geometric correctness to create artistic structures. In the field of music art the predominance of consonances based on arithmetic patterns (proportions of prime numbers), that determined the sweetness of the music of classicism. Using the principle of symmetry in the field of music forms provided the higher level of structuring for the musical material, as well as the possibility of their assimilation with the most correct geometric shapes, particularly square ones. It is no coincidence that the music of classicism is regarded as the most significant result of creative activity of the mind in the sphere of music art.

Key words

music, classicism, harmony, mathematics, arithmetic, geometry, measure, order, proportion, symmetry.

• Read full article