The Well-Tempered Ear
Is the math-music link real?
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By Jacob Stockinger
The blog post before the last one was about solving the “beautiful mathematics” in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Here is a link: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/2024/02/18/solving-the-beautiful-math-in-bach/
But does a link between math and music really exist?
And if such a link does exist, how strong is it?
Can one discipline be used to teach the other?
Many readers have no doubt heard of how devoted Albert Einstein (below) was to his violin, even playing string quartets at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. He said he thought about physics in musical terms and found his greatest joy in music. He also played duets with physicist Max Planck, who was an accomplished pianist as were Werner Heisenberg and Edward Teller.
Dr. Francis Collins, the well-known geneticist and former head of the National Institutes for Health, is known for playing the guitar. As the 2020 winner of the Templeton Prize for scientific and spiritual curiosity, Collins accompanies superstar soprano Renée Fleming in the Stephen Foster song “Hard Times, Come Again No More” in the YouTube video at the button.)
Locally, the late pioneering University of Wisconsin-Madison geneticist Jim Crow (below) played the viola, even sitting in with the Pro Arte Quartet.
The Ear also knows of many middle schoolers, high schoolers and UW students, especially undergraduates, who pursue dual majors in music and math, science or medicine — often to pursue a more practical and better paying career than being a professional musician.
Personal anecdotes can be dramatic and convincing.
But anecdotes and evidence are not the same thing.
Here is a more formal study:
https://www.iflscience.com/is-there-really-a-link-between-math-skills-and-musical-skills-73069
What do you think?
Are math and music linked?
Do you know of other famous examples?
What has been your own experience with math and music?
If you are a music, math or science teacher, have you noticed such a link among your students?
What do students themselves — for example, those in the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras (WYSO) — say about such a math-music link?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, accompany, Albert Einstein, anecdoite, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, beautiful, blog, career, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, composer, Concert, concerto, convincing, curiosity, discipline, doctor, Dr., dramatic, duet, Early music, Edward Teller, Einstein, equation, evidence, exist, experience, Facebook, faculty, Francis Collins, genetics, guitar, hard times, high school, Institute for Advanced Study, Jacob Stockinger, James Crow, job, Johann Sebastian Bach, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, manuscript, math, mathematics, Max Planck, medicine, Middle school, Mozart, Music, music students, musical score, Musician, National Institutes of Health, New Jersey, NIH, ohysicist, opera, Orchestra, Overture Center, pay, physics, Pianist, Piano, pioneer, practical, Princeton, Pro Arte Quartet, professional, Renée Fleming, science, scientific, score, singer, Sonata, soprano, spiritual, spirituality, Stephen Foster, string, String quartet, strings, strong, students, superstar, symphony, tag, Teacher, Templeton Prize, The Ear, truth, undergraduates, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, Verdi, vioa, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Werner Heisenberg, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, WYSO, YouTube
Classical music: Trevor Stephenson’s next “house concert” is this Saturday night and features America classics for voice and solo piano by Gottschalk, Foster, Ives and Joplin.
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By Jacob Stockinger
Classic American songs and solo piano pieces will be featured this coming Saturday at one of the appealing “house concerts” by keyboardist Trevor Stephenson (below), an early music expert who also founded and directs the Madison Bach Musicians, and tenor Peter Gruett.
The concert is at 7 p.m. at Stephenson’s home at 5729 Forsythia Place, on Madison far west side. Admission is $35 per person. Refreshments will be served.
Reservations are required: You can make them by sending an email to trevor@trevorstephenson.com or by calling (608) 238-6092.
I have attended several of these concerts, and I can attest that they are both fun and informative as well as thoroughly enjoyable and congenial in a pleasant and comfortable, informal setting (below).
Here is a more detailed description of the concert and program written by Stephenson:
“Please join us on Saturday evening, August 4, for a program of American music featuring works for solo piano as well as songs for tenor and piano.
“We’re delighted that outstanding tenor Peter Gruett (below) will join us — many of you have heard Peter frequently with the Madison Bach Musicians.
“I will play Louis Moreau Gottschalk’s other-worldly F-sharp major piano arrangement of “The Star-Spangled Banner” (from “Union,” which Gottschalk (below) performed for Lincoln at the White House during the Civil War); two piano rags by Scott Joplin (the “Sycamore” Rag and the “Wall Street” Rag); and Charles Ives’ “The Alcotts” movement (at bottom) from his Piano Sonata No. 2 “Concord.”
Peter will sing selections by Stephen Foster (below), as well as Ives, and other masters.
I will play on two of the historical pianos here at the house — the Victorian English Parlor Grand (c. 1850), below top; and the English Cottage Upright (c. 1840), below bottom.
I’ll also talk about the spirit of the age in the late 19th century, the process of rebuilding these wonderful pianos, and the historical tunings (forms of Well Temperament) that we’ll use for the concert.
Tags: Charles Ives, Keyboard, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Madison, Music, Piano, Scott Joplin, Stephen Foster, United States, White House
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