Dimostrationi Harmoniche

...for while they were still among mortals, they called them Gods; and after their deaths, they placed and consecrated them among the Gods with certain of their ridiculous ceremonies (as Herodian, the Greek writer, relates). This was the reason why—just as men were naturally invited to offer gifts, vows, and sacrifices to God so that they might find Him favorable—they were also moved to offer to these rulers during their lives those gifts which seemed most suitable. Wherefore an almost infinite number of writers (leaving aside many other things that could serve this purpose) dedicated and consecrated their works to their Princes as if to their Gods. Thus, Vitruvius dedicated his volume on Architecture to the Emperor Octavian Augustus; Valerius Maximus dedicated his books on the Notable Sayings and Deeds of the Ancients to Tiberius Caesar; and Pliny dedicated his Natural History to Titus Vespasian. Therefore, moved by the example of these men—having in years past, after my Institutions Referring to the author's previous work, Le Istitutioni harmoniche (1558), composed these present Demonstrations of Music—and it being now time for them to be published for the benefit of those who are students of this noble Science, I wished to offer and dedicate them to Your Sublimity, as to an Excellent Prince and my Lord. And I hope that they will be no less pleasing to you than the labors of those excellent writers were to those great Emperors; for Music is in no way inferior to Architecture in any respect; rather, it is by far su-

Architecture, Book 1, Chapter 1.

perior. For although Vitruvius says that Architecture is a science adorned with many disciplines and varied learning, it is not, however, a Science In the Aristotelian sense, a "Science" (Scientia) deals with certain, unchanging truths, whereas an "Art" deals with making things., but a productive Art original: "Arte fativa" which holds the third place among the Arts. But

On the Laws, Book 1. Referring to Plato's De Legibus.
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Music—besides the fact that it cannot be treated (according to the opinion of Plato) without universal discipline—is a Science. Because of its Subject and the certainty of its Demonstration, it is without any doubt much more noble and excellent than Architecture. And if the labors of Valerius and Pliny in gathering various things together from different Greek and Latin authors were pleasing to the world along with those of Vitruvius, I believe for certain that these works of mine will similarly please and be of great use: not only for the delight that the study of this Science brings to man in itself, but also for the convenience and utility that students of the o-