Professor of music at Colgate University, Joscelyn Godwin is also the author of Harmonies of Heaven and Earth. Although complete in itself, Cosmic Music is his contribution to a larger movement that seeks to deepen and broaden our consciousness of what music is, and what it can be.

The idea that the universe is created out of sound or music (and therefore is music) is a very ancient one. In this book, Joscelyn Godwin brings together three contemporary German thinkers who exemplify this tradition in its modern variants: Marius Schneider, Rudolf Haase, and Hans Erhard Lauer. The selections draw on ancient Indian sources and mythology; Kepler's Platonic vision of a musical, geometric universe; and the evolution of the tone systems of music.

While every music lover senses the power and truth that reside in music, very few actually approach music as a path to cosmic knowledge. Godwin takes literally Beethoven's assertion that "Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom or philosophy." Godwin writes, ". . .to penetrate the mysteries of music is to prepare for initiation into those fathomless mysteries of man and cosmos."

Introduction by Joscelyn Godwin

Marius Schneider:

The Nature of the Praise Song

Acoustic Symbolism in Foreign Cultures

Rudolf Haase:

Harmonics and Sacred Tradition

Kepler's World Harmony and its Significance for Today

The Sequel to Kepler's Harmony

Hans Erhard Lauer:

Mozart and Beethoven in the Development of Western Culture

A Meditation on Cultural History for Mozart's 200th Birthday

The Evolution of Music Through Changes in Tone-Systems

Appendix and Index:

Johannes Kepler:

Mysterium Cosmographicum

Harmonies Mundi (1619), Book V

Index