Pantheon Afternoon

Author: Xiao Fengxiu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-08-01
Features: The Moonlight Series: Midday of the Shepherd is a musical miscellany by writers and scientists. Countless writers have expressed their emotions and inspirations in describing and depicting music, even considering it a part of their own works. Take Romain Rolland, for example; his novels are imbued with musical qualities, and the words dance with transparent yet vibrant musical hues. Less known, however, is that many scientists similarly depict music and believe that music, especially classical music, has influenced their creative choices: Kepler firmly believed that music is the harmonious echo of celestial movements, even composing his third law of planetary motion into sheet music; Einstein developed his intellectual dreams within the framework of musical harmony. Opening the biographies of many scientists, you will find it explicitly stated: He/She loves music and plays an instrument. Almost all outstanding Western philosophers have discussed the essence and beauty of the musical art world. A renowned Chinese science popularizer once asserted that there are few important scientists and philosophers in the world who do not love music. Many great scholars have written books attempting to analyze the relationship between music and literature, music and mathematics, and music and physics, as if dissecting the structure of a symphony. Clearly, these relationships cannot be precisely depicted. This is the eternal mystery of music transcending language. Romain Rolland therefore wrote: Music is an inspiration higher than all wisdom and all philosophy.