ORCID

Abstract

The natural world has always been a rich source of inspiration for music. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony immediately come to mind as two examples of classical music inspired by nature. And of course there is Holst’s The Planets, which is one of the most celebrated examples of music inspired by the Solar System that I can think of. The ancient Greek philosophical maxim, that astronomy is for the eyes what music is for the ears, still inspires composers today. Indeed, a plethora of approaches to composing music that is inspired by natural science has emerged since The Planets was composed a century ago, and there are many works inspired by physics in particular. The emergence of powerful computing technology enabling the manipulation of large volumes of data, combined with the development of sophisticated modelling and simulation technology, allowed composers to develop approaches to musical composition that are more objectively informed by science rather than merely inspired by it.

DOI

10.1038/nphys3848

Publication Date

2016-08-02

Publication Title

Nature Physics

Volume

12

Issue

8

ISSN

1745-2473

Organisational Unit

School of Art, Design and Architecture

First Page

721

Last Page

721

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