Marin Mersenne: Mechanics, Music and Harmony

Abstract

Mersenne accomplished the harmonization of mechanics through the mechanization of music. Not merely for him another of the quadrivial disciplines, music was central to Mersenne’s mathematical endeavors because it provided the paradigm of harmony by which the rest could be developed and judged. Mersenne wrote more on music than on any other single subject, starting with the search for its psychological powers derived from the humanist project to restore ancient music.¹ Even after rejecting the humanist path, he continued to pursue the notion of a “musique accentuelle” directed towards similar ends, and in Harmonie Universelle, building on material presented in La verité des sciences, he discussed combinatorics and its role in determining the most beautiful melody possible, again attempting to bring the effects of music under disciplinary control.² He also, especially in Harmonie universelle, considered tuning systems and described specific instruments.

From Peter Dear, Mersenne and the Learning of the Schools (Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1988), pp. 139–141, 149–160, and 160–169.