Music, Cosmology and Architecture in the Renaissance

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The renaissance effects are felt up to this day in almost every discipline. Renaissance was the period that followed the Middle Ages in Europe and the rest of the world. This era is notably referred to as the rise of a new dawn which signified new ideas. These ideas, however, had their origin from the classic period that was characterised by the Greek culture and knowledge. Renaissance thus was about the creation of creativity and fresh thinking into the classical Greek and Rome. Renaissance is placed in the years of 1400 to 1600 AD and thus architecture changed under the influence of the thinking at this era (Botton, 2006). This work aims at discussing how music, cosmology and architecture related in the ideas of renaissance before, during and after this period.

Music, cosmology, art are some of the major disciplines that related and influenced architecture in these historical years. Of importance in this work are music and cosmology and how they impacted or were related to architecture. Music in the classical Greek had been widely studied and documented by Pythagoras. Pythagoras studied proportions which were a method that sort to make different pitches on stringed instruments.

In his study, this would be through varying the length of the strings to create new tones with a higher octave than an original if the variation was by half. As a result, therefore, Renaissance put this into practice by seeking to create sound spaces that incorporated harmony in them. In this effort, the renaissance architects sort to demonstrate the human intellect by portraying beauty in structures and, hence, renaissance was referred to as the age of balance and order.

Architects relied on proportions as a way to achieve symmetry since they believed that it represented beauty and that the human body was a perfect example. The proportions in a building meant that any attempt to remove parts of it would lead to collapse or destruction since the ratios of the length and the width were carefully designed. These ratios were expressed in the equivalents of music intervals hence the proposition that musical relationships and architecture was rife (Botton 2006).

Renaissance writings illustrated the aspect that the understanding of music as a system that incorporated numerical relationships in accordance with the universe led to such techniques in music. Renaissance architects thus interpreted music in such numerical ratios which was far from the material realisation of music in sound. In his writings, Palladio Andrea (1508-1580) beauty in buildings was achievable through the formal ordering devices like symmetry, squares and harmonic proportions that made up the harmonic spaces. These led to the architecture connecting with the country side.

Music had advanced by renaissance period to complex polyphonic compositions like that of Maddalena Casulana (1540-1583) who set her pieces into intricately woven four voice contrapuntal textures. These pieces would be performed in sacred places like the church and therefore the architecture of the church would be influenced by the need to stay in line with new creativity and ideas of the renaissance. The cathedrals reverberations inform informed the change and need to create and design music that would led to new techniques and these transformations also influenced dramatic performances leading to the rise of opera in Italy. This in relation to the new techniques led to the creation of opera houses like that of La Scala in Milano in 1776 and 1778 and thus solidifying the case for music, architecture and dramatic arts interaction for many years (Muecke, and Zach 2007).

The idea of music influencing architecture dates back even before the classical Greek and Roman period. In his article, Mikesch illustrates that the power of voice and sounds was discovered in the Paleolithic era. In this primitive age the art found in caves was suggested to have been the result of particular acoustic and cultural conditions. The primitive man painted animals from the sounds he received in the cave although he could not see them and hence sound was his sole guidance into the mental description of the animal art that he painted.

The same concept was thus taken up years later by the Greek society and through PolyKleitos the same design would be used. In 300 BCE, the engineer designed an amphitheatre at Epidauros that had a semicircular shape and carved out of a hill side (Muecke and Zach, 2007). Its shape similar to the surroundings acted as an accurate amplifier of sound during performances. Nature was used to extend the boundaries of art and in this case aural concerns just like in the Paleolithic era. In Rome the famous architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollo (ca 80 to 25 BCE) observed in his book about musical theory. In his works, he was guided by the Greek nomenclature in order to explain modulation, notes and tetrachords. He observed that architects required to know basic principles in acoustics just like the way actors conjured resonance in their theatrical performances in order to enhance their voices (Muecke and Zach, 2007). This was special fodder for renaissance in thinking about music and architecture as two arts that interrelated in such concepts.

In 1436, Guillaume (1397-1474) integrated both fields in the motet Nuper Rosarum Flores which was to be performed in the Cathedral of Florence. The motet had two tenor parts incorporated with same cantus firmus and isorhtyhmic symmetries which were guided by the double skinned dome of the cathedral which had been designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in the years from 1420 – 1461. Music and architecture were thus to be conceived in terms of numbers rather than from an acoustic point of view. By quoting, Alberti Rudolf in his book wrote that music is similar to geometry only that it is translated to sound and that the harmonies which are audible in music are the ones that inform the geometry of the buildings (Muecke and Zach, 2007).Wittkower as indicated in Mitrovic (1999) asserts that the renaissance architects purposively selected and used designs that used ratios which corresponded to musical intervals.

In his book, Bussagli (2005) explores the theme of beauty in architecture through various methods. Beauty according to him is characterised by harmony of the its shapes and proportions as well as a sense of balance in the rhythmic arrangement of its elements. Through his philosophical discussion he lets the reader understand that the human being is a rhythm creature that constantly is guided by its requirements and, therefore, has a life of searching for the same (Brussaglio, 2005). In building therefore this rhythm is sort and dates back before the 15^th century. According to him, the Greek temple exploits the idea of fullness and void to achieve harmony in its architectural design. The concept of alternating columns and spaces in the temple served to fulfill aesthetic and structural requirements. In Rome, he details that the building Palazzo Venetia designed by Pietro Barbo between 1455 and 1464 has the description of achieved harmony through fullness and emptiness (Botton, 2006).

In terms of space and time, an architectural structure should imposes rhythm and tempo to the perceptions of the eye. This perception must be accompanied and enhanced by appropriate spacing of elements. In this interpretation, then, Bussagli (2005) continues to illustrate that music and architecture are interrelated through two different ways. In the first way, the geometric relationships between architectural spaces and the arithmetical ones of musical notes and tempo can be resised to simple numerical concepts. Secondly, a building conceived as a sort of small universe reflects the musical harmony of the cosmos.

The Golden section as well as the Fibonacci’s series described ratios that informed of harmony in mathematics and dated back to the Greek and the Roman era. These ratios in the search for harmony were considered to influence architecture and hence music. Warren observed that music and architecture influenced one another hence the creation of a system where the two arts would act from the influence and develop from the insights of the other (Forsyth, 1985). This is backed by Leo Braneks book, Music Acoustics and Architecture in which he details the relationship and development of the three in the rise of modernity (Forsyth, 1985). This was to continue and inform the later years of architect and its relationship with music leading to new developments and changes as Renaissance gradually gave way to Modernism (Stakhov and Stakhov, 2009).

During the Renaissance, as illustrated above, the theme was searching for beauty, order and balance. In great thinking of this period, these concepts found form and structure leading to unique designs and systems of the era. This search for beauty and harmony was not new to Renaissance as it had preoccupied the earlier world of the primitive, Greek and the Rome classical age.

For many centuries, the central notion interpretation was organised and understood in the spatial sensibility view which included an awareness of space as a complex multilayered worldview (Akkach, 2005). In his book, Akkach (2005) checks the ideas of cosmology in the pre-modern Islam and their relation and influence to the daily lives of the Islam hence their impact to architecture. The mystical ideas must be placed in a context that can inform the relationship between creative religion and mysticism hence its importance to the subject of this paper. The Pre-modern Muslims conceived the universe as finite, bounded and with astronomical definable limits. In response, therefore, the cosmos according to them was comprehended through geometry, numbers and the alphabet. This informed the concentric circles that formed the human dwellings with the rest of the divine Throne being the realm of divine beings. In the Sufis, belief of the underlying order God is central to the human needs and therefore the humans need Him more than He may need them.

They universe was tied together through divine, cosmic and human manifestation and hence they believed that the architects performs the same job like God by first sketching his design on a white piece of paper just like God formed everything from plain formations of the nature. God’s wisdom in Islam is praised and extolled in writings such as the Ottomans writings on architecture. The Islam architecture reveals the smoothness of the universe which to the Islam was represented by the gazing sky. As a result, therefore, the architects strove to reproduce flawless designs in the search for this higher order perspective.

In ordering spaces, Islamic buildings reveals a discernible preference for geometrically shaped spaces that tend to be organised from a central point and the cross of directions either from the cardinal points or not. Despite the many regional and tectonic variations in sacred and secular buildings, the consitent spatial order in these buildings is an allusion of the interrelationship of cosmology to architecture in pre-modern Islam

Prior to Premodern Islam cosmological influence to architecture, ancient architecture reveals the sacred the ideas that went into great usage in their construction. The ancient structures of architecture were idealised as places of dwellings of supernatural beings which included gods and other super naturals. The humans visualised the structures as places of awe and respect hence sacrifices would take place in these buildings. The temples thus reflected the religious beliefs of the people and their societies. Besides the temples, the tombs as well as burial places often reflected the religious inclinations of the societies.

In the classical architecture the Greek temples informed the ideas that were used by the Roman and the Hellenistic periods (Piotrowski, 2000).

By clearly looking for the interrelationship between cosmology and architecture, different ancient cultures structures reveal ideologies that influenced by divine and religious concerns. In Buddhism and Hinduism, the architectural structures are guided by principles based and founded in their religion. In Buddhism, the viharas and the stupas were buildings that were designed for monks and other religious purposes. The architecture of the Hindu was guided by Sthapatya Veda book which detailed a divine architect Vishvarkarma. The Hindu building rules are guided by rigid religious requirements which incorporate astronomy and sacred geometry (Piotrowski, 2000).

Piotrowski (2000) continues to detail the Byzantine architecture as one that took great care and detail. The churches of the Byzantine societies were designed with the idea of divine orientation where the dome defined a magical space (p. 18) for the worshipper to feel at the center of creation surrounded by the example of Christ’s life and hence a direct axis to the Lord. The Byzantine went further to incorporate colors in the Katholikon as a way to suggest the colors of the earth to the audience and hence the church was designed to resemble a place where the human world the spiritual realm composed of the divine light met (Williams, 2006).

The interrelation of cosmology and architecture continued to influence medieval architecture and later gothic architecture which progressed to renaissance architecture. It is worth noting that the interrelationships did not stop at Renaissance but rather they formed the basis of platforms for future architecture. On the other hand, it should be clear that the ideas of a particular age did not exist in isolation but rather occurred through a continuum of history and ages hence the influence either directly or indirectly. Cosmology, therefore, like music had a special interrelation with architecture and thus in Renaissance ages the search for balance, order and beauty as guided by the classical periods included cosmology.

The interrelation between cosmology and music dated back into the oldest civilisations. Music was thought as a reflection of harmony of the cosmos. In the Greek society, Plato described the universe as a great carillon that produced and endless melody from the motion of the planets. This is also found true in the ancient Chinese writings like the Yoki that observes that “Music is the harmony of the sky and the earth…that human beings were born and transformed through harmony… and that Music draws its effective virtue from the heavens.” (Brussagli 2005 p. 20). In Medieval, Indian writing music is regarded as a sign of immortality and so is everything joined in celestial music which humans try to reproduce.”

This brings music and cosmology to the same platform and thus by processing their different interactions to architecture the three become interrelated. Music and cosmology thus influenced architecture as buildings strove to illustrate this symbolism that was thought in terms of music and cosmology. Renaissance was characterised by round arches, classical tympanum over the rose window, the portal without embrasure, the lunette coping over the windows and the style of the pinnacles. It retained some of the antiquity elements and at the same used the Greco-Roman alphabet in the language of description. It revived the classical orders like the Doric, Corinthian and Composite together with coffered ceilings and the repertoire of decorative elements like the dintels, moldings, egg and dart motifs, metopes, triglyphs, architraves. Columns. Capitals and pilasters (Bussagli 2005, p 141). Renaissance chose to use rhythm and balance hence the pointed arch became the round arch and the barrel vaults changed to cross vaulting.

The ideas in music and cosmology interrelating with architecture continued to other eras and did not stop in the 15^th century. Rennissance as a culmination of new ideas from the classical pasts influenced the other ages like mannerisms which was immediately after. The late Renaissance in 1527 saw the spread of the many artists in Rome to other parts of Europe like England, Spain and France. The architectural projects resembled elements that were characteristics of Renaissance like the chiaroscuro which was conspicuous in Giorgio Vasari’s great design of the Florence’s Uffizi Palace. In his design, striking contrast came through the use of white walls and gray pietra serena elements on the outside. The architects sought to bolden scenographic effects besides innovating the ancient orders. Mannerism was coined in the mid 18^th century and the architects of these period sort to incorporate striking impact as well reinventing new designs that went over the canons of the predecessors.

Mannerism gave way to Baroque period which had many interpretations of the origin of the name. However, it was identified to barocco which meant irregular shape in Portuguese terms hence it came to be characterised by affectation, caprice, pretension and extravagance. This translated to bad taste and ugliness. Baroque despite its criticism transcended bounders to New World, India and the Phillipines as well as England (Muecke and Zach, 2007).

In 1657, the Great French architect Louis Vau sought inspiration in the Italian Baroque for the distribution of space in the Chateau of Vaux-le-Vicomte. These were inspired by suburban villas such as Palazzo Barberini in Rome (Brussaglio, 2005, p. 149). In England, Inigo Jones introduced “Palladianism” although the great representative of Baroque was Christopher Wren. In Portugal, Spain and the New World new solutions of splendour and redundancy that resulted to “Churrguerism” characterized by highly decorative sculptural style which was enriched by the Native American.

The late Baroque style was actively redesigned to conform with individual countries and it assumed religious, political and economic positions. The great architects of Europe took much of inspiration of late Baroque to form Rococo style. Rococo became popular in the 18^th century although it was a name that was derogatory in a sense. Emanating from French Rococo meant decorations using grottoes and pavilions in gardens which were used back in the 16^th century. This style thus embraced interior decorations by using branching ornamentation, tailing branches, leaves, flowers, vines and tendrils as well as other shapes like cherubs and Chinese motifs. The point is that the styles that arose from renaissance continued to use the creative imaginations that saw the rise of Renaissance back in the 15^th century. This style resulting from Renaissance strove to create new designs that overturned or made better the previous style. It is thus important to note that interrelationship between music, cosmology and architecture characterised at the height of renaissance continued to influence later styles directly and indirectly. Architecture in the modern and post modern eras was and continues to mirrors these ideas as the society of humans looks for history to get inspirations.

In conclusion, therefore, the interrelationship between music, cosmology and architecture influenced one another to lead to the rise of the age of balance and harmony. These ideas were entrenched in the tenets of life of classical societies and influenced the art of building. This influence led to great designs of music instruments and advancement of music composition in the Renaissance leading to great Baroque composers. Music and cosmology led to the design of churches that greatly sought to explain divine ideas and realms in its nature and to audience. This would be effective by incorporating structures that rhymed with the natural environments hence the search for unison with nature and the universe just as conceptualised in the classical thoughts.

References

Akkach, S 2005, Cosmology and architecture in Pre modern Islam: An architectural Reading of Mystical Ideas, University of New York Press, New York.

Botton, J 2006, Renaissance: A very short introduction to architecture, Oxford University Press, New York

Bussagli, M 2005, Understanding architecture, I.B. Tauris, Londo.

Forsyth, M 1985, Buildings for Music: The Architect, the Musician, and the Listener from the Seventeenth Century to the Present Day, CUP Archive. Albany.

Muecke, W. M and Zach, S. M 2007, Essays on the Intersection of Music and Architecture, Culicidae Architectural Press, Ames Street

Stakhov, A and Stakhov 2009, The Mathematics of Harmony: From Euclid to Contemporary Mathematics and Computer Science. World Scientific, New York.

Williams, K 2006, Two Cultures: Essays in Honour of David Speiser, Birkhauser Verlag, Basel.

Piotrowski A 2000, Architecture of thought, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis

Mitrovic, B 1999, Canon of the five orders of architecture. Paris: Acanthus Press.

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Music, Cosmology and Architecture in the Renaissance

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