SYMMETRIES OF MUSIC

ERNŐ LENDVAY: SYMMETRIES OF MUSIC.  An Introduction to Semantics of Music

After publishing the analysis and computer program of Verdi's Falstaff and Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, the author completed the computer model of traditional harmony, taking into account some hitherto unidentified qualities Classical and Romantic music, primarily the dual aspects and symmetrical organization of our tonal system (its melodic and harmonic structure, oriental and occidental origin, etc.). Beyond the arithmetical construction of the harmonic elements, the author directs attention to the physiological, historic and aesthetic grounds of our musical language. Mathematical methods she their value in that, like keys, they help to unlock so far unintelligible connections. The author had in mind the goal of systematizing the phenomena within the scope of this tonal world (one may without exaggeration speak of a "we tempered Universe") — suggesting that an analysis is justified only if it leads closer to the content authentic interpretation of music.