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July 22, 2008 at 7:11 PM

Music is mathematical
Composers write music
Therefore, composers are mathematicians

Okay, so logic wasn’t my strong suite in school. But seriously, I’ve found myself reflecting lately on what made some of our greatest composers – great.

Is it not possible that our many great composers were extremely analytical in nature and might have been considered mathematicians in their own right? When the music of Beethoven, Shostakovich, Mahler, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Bach (just to name a few) is analyzed – what is it that sets their music apart?

Is it the complex and analytical perfection of their compositions that causes the listener to rise to euphoric heights of pleasure, or could it be that their music is infused with their faith and a belief in something greater than themselves? Maybe a little of both, or something in between?

I have no answers – perhaps we’re not meant to know the answer…

But it is food for thought.

It isn't faith and it ain't maths. It is art.
If you have trouble visualizing what composition is, think of painting instead. The mathematics or physics of music is like the chemical components of paint. Not much importance unless you come at it like a chemist. Theory and harmony is like getting lots of brushes and knowing what they all can do, should you want them. I think a compositon might be harder to fail with because it's fundamentally more abstract than painting - a failed attempt at comp. that's really percieved as such would have to be something like a child's scrawling.

A pop song might be something like a motel room painting, but can have some suprising things. Stravinsky might be like Picasso, or a mobile by Alexander Calder. Bach is like a picture of another galaxy, pretty on its own, but at the same time with science required to get all of it. Folk music is this kind of thing -> link. Mozart is like a painting that needs really great lighting (performance) to show its best.