Declaration of Musical Instruments

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reason seems to be given by Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD), a Roman author who wrote on natural history. Pliny, saying: The sound of the heavens is so excessive that it exceeds the capacity of our hearing. For as the philosopher: Aristotle, whom medieval and Renaissance scholars often referred to simply as "The Philosopher." the philosopher says, a thing can be so excellent that it causes harm to the sense that perceives it (as is seen with the sun and human sight); thus our hearing would receive detriment if we were to hear the said sound. The Pythagoreans: Followers of Pythagoras who believed the universe was structured according to mathematical and musical ratios. Pythagoreans, who held this opinion, give another reason, saying: We do not hear the harmonic sounds of the heavens because of the habit we have of hearing them. From our birth we hear these sounds, and they exist without ceasing for even a little time; therefore, we no longer hear them. To persuade us of this, they give an analogy of the blacksmith: who, because of the long habit he has of hearing the blows of the hammers, no longer perceives them, nor would he judge that he hears such a thing. True are the sounds of the hammers, but the blacksmiths will not testify to them. In this way, they say, it happens to us with the harmonic sound of heaven. They affirm that at one time Pythagoras of Samos (c. 570–495 BC). Pythagoras heard this sound; and by becoming accustomed to hearing it, a time came in which he no longer heard it. I know well that the philosopher, in the second [book] of original: "celo & mundo" — Aristotle's De Caelo (On the Heavens). On the Heavens and the Earth in the third treatise, and some other naturalists say the heavens have no sound, nor can they have it: because (although there is movement in them) there is no breaking of air, or of any other suitable thing to make sound: which is a condition for such a sound. But they will not deny me (although he proves his intent excellently) that the proportion in which God created the heavens and elements is celestial harmony: which can fill us with knowledge of the Creator. Those contrary movements of the heavens, the starry sky, the sun, and the other planets, are a harmonic composition. In short, there is nothing in the heavens and elements that is not a powerful harmony to lead us to God. If all created things are in some way, as The Apostle Paul. the Apostle says, sufficient for us to come to the knowledge of God through them: how much more so will be the beauty of the heavens adorned with stars, sun, and moon, in which the power and goodness of God shine? What great obedience we can draw from this consideration! If the insensible heavens, without soul and without reason, hold perpetual obedience to God: why do we men, who have received more from His divine hand, not obey Him in everything? Thus God placed the elements in their proportionate places,

so that when they concur in the production of some thing, it is not without harmonic proportion. God created all things in number, weight, and measure. The second [type of] Music is called "human": which each person can experience in themselves, and fully know by understanding their own composition. What else is it to unite the subtlety and sublimity of the spirit with the lowliness and heaviness of the flesh, if not to join high original: "letras agudas" — literally 'sharp letters,' referring here to high-pitched musical notes. notes to the low ones, so that they may make consonance? Just as deep music sometimes attracts and calls to the high notes: so the heavy and corruptible body causes the soul to be cast down to the earth: as it is written in the ninth chapter of Wisdom of Solomon 9:15: "For the corruptible body presseth down the soul." Wisdom. What is it that contains and preserves the four elements in one body in peace for so long, if not the proportional Music in which God placed them? Have you not considered the natural friendship that the rational power, being spirit, has with the irrational, being flesh, in man? Certainly these two things, so distinct, are not bound with any bodily link: but with a virtue caused by the proportion in which God placed the humors in man. A spirit, says Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430 AD). Augustine, which is very close to God, and a body which is original: "quasi nihil" almost nothing: to put them in proportion, only divine wisdom and power were sufficient for it. So it is that from distinct things, such as the soul and the body in man, this human Music is born. Just as God has placed this natural Music in man, so man has a natural inclination and friendship toward it. Every like seeks and desires its like, and rejoices with it: and is troubled by its unlike. From this it follows that hearing dissonances gives us pain and sadness, and consonances give us joy: because we feel a similar concord within ourselves. Thus Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, the most influential music theorist of the Middle Ages. Boethius Severinus proves the resemblance that man has with Music. We have certain experience, he says, that the state of our soul and body is in some way composed of proportions: with which man produces harmonic modulations. He who sings, or plays a joyful and happy mode: do not think he does it so that the Music gives him joy, says Possibly a reference to Papinius Statius or a medieval commentator; in this context, it emphasizes the internal source of musical expression. Papinius, but so that the harmony which is in the heart of the one who sings or plays may be produced in some way: in which he may delight. The same is true of the sad singer, who seeks modes proportionate to his sadness: to awaken it.