THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES

Sit, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with patens of bright gold.
There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st
But in his motion like an angel sings,
Still choiring to the young-eyed cherubins.
Such harmony is in immortal souls,
But whilst this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it. (Shakespeare, from The Merchant of Venice – 5.1.57)

Amidst humanity’s current turmoil and crises, and in stark contrast with our daily experiences, the idea of singing stars or a harmonia mundi might seem a naïve dream. Is a Music of the Spheres, described throughout history by many cultures, not just an illusion and a longing for a utopia where harmony reigns and life is predictable? On the contrary, the realisation of a musically ordered universe can still be a beacon for everyone seeking a deeper truth to reveal a new relationship between order and disturbance, or in musical terms, between harmony and dissonance.

We can consider that the inspiration for all earthly music, sacred or profane, might be this Music of the Spheres, which, as some suggest, can only be heard by the soul. But should music therefore always be sweet, harmonious and devoid of dissonance? It seems not, because even in Early and Classical music, dissonances were always points of tension necessary for musical expression representing a pair of opposites in sound to enrich our experience. Yet, for a long time, dissonances were considered as phenomena needing resolution. This was the basis of the Harmonic system. At the end of the nineteenth century, however, Schönberg proposed that music based on this system alone could no longer serve to connect our minds to the divine because it had become too comfortable and predictable. Humanity needed an emancipation of the dissonance as a valuable and independent sound in its own right, a principle that has been integrated in much music ever since.

What we might conclude is that dissonance and disturbance have infinite potential to be integral to harmony itself. And the fabric of any true utopia would also include such elements of disturbance, with life’s hardships being understood as opportunities to learn and grow. Their contribution is not to make life more chaotic, but, rather, to make it richer and more complete. They are steps on the path to love and to a deeper connection with the divine, just as the work of Triangles aims at infusing the world of all experiences with the wisdom and love of the spiritual realm. So, when we imagine and perhaps even experience the Music of the Spheres, let us welcome the dissonance and its integration into a harmony of reality.