Ioan Mihai COCHINESCU
Alchemy and Music
Institution:
Musicologist, Esthetics Teacher, Art High School, Ploieşti, Romania
Author's email:
cochinescu@yahoo.com
Abstract:
The paper deals with the connection of alchemy and music in the spiritualistic musical composition of Michael Maier: Atalanta Fugiens. The piece is based on the myth of the metamorphosis of Atalanta and Hippomenes. The author found in this myth the most suitable symbols to alchemy, composing a series of fugues for three voices. A principal characteristic of this music is its auxiliary feature, since it is composed as background for concentration or meditation. Atalanta Fugiens can be regarded the result of musical alchemy and bears the roots of the Baroque as a literary-graphical-musical composition. Michel Maier’s work grounds new musical philosophical concepts in pursuit of the metaphysics of universal harmony.
