Reading Belief through Structural Ordering,1700–1850, by Ruth Tatlow at SCAS, 200331

Abstract The ancient belief system of Universal Harmony, based on the proportions of musical acoustics, wasgenerally thought to have died out by 1699. I was therefore surprised to discover tha t J. S. Bach used the old proportional principles in the structures of his publications, until his death in 1750. Music treatises of his time show that the belief system had become intertwined with the Lutheran view of music. But what happened after Bach? I thought that even if the proportional ideals were transmitted by his sons and students, the transmission would stop there, not least because of the increasing secularisation of society. But the reality turned out to be far more complex. In this illustrated exploration I will demonstrate how structural ordering can tell us about a composer’s philosophy and choices, and why this is important. Musical examples will include Bach’s Prelude in C major, BWV 846 (1721) and Chopin’s 24 Préludes, Opus 28 (1839). About Ruth Tatlow After studying the cla