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Musica universalis—which had existed as a metaphysical concept since the time of the Greeks—was often taught in
quadrivium, and this intriguing connection between music and astronomy stimulated the imagination of
Johannes Kepler as he devoted much of his time after publishing the
Mysterium Cosmographicum (Mystery of the Cosmos), looking over tables and trying to fit the data to what he believed to be the true nature of the cosmos as it relates to musical sound. In 1619, Kepler published
Harmonices Mundi (literally Harmonies of the World), expanding on the concepts he introduced in
Mysterium and positing that
musical intervals and
harmonies describe the motions of the six known planets of the time. He believed that this harmony—while inaudible—could be heard by the soul, and that it gave a "very agreeable feeling of bliss, afforded him by this music in the imitation of God." In
Harmonices, Kepler—who took issue with Pythagorean observations—laid out an argument for a Christian-centric creator who had made an explicit connection between geometry, astronomy, and music, and that the planets were arranged intelligently.
Harmonices is split into five books, or chapters. The first and second books give a brief discussion on
regular polyhedra and their
congruences, reiterating the idea he introduced in
Mysterium that the five regular solids known about since antiquity define the orbits of the planets and their distances from the sun. Book three focuses on defining musical harmonies, including
consonance and dissonance, intervals (including the problems of just tuning), their relations to string length which was a discovery made by Pythagoras, and what makes music pleasurable to listen to in his opinion. In the fourth book, Kepler presents a metaphysical basis for this system, along with arguments as to why the harmony of the worlds appeals to the intellectual soul in the same manner that the harmony of music appeals to the human soul. Here, he also uses the naturalness of this harmony as an argument for
heliocentrism. In book five, Kepler describes in detail the orbital motion of the planets and how this motion nearly perfectly matches musical harmonies. Finally, after a discussion on
astrology in book five, Kepler ends
Harmonices by describing his
third law, which states that—for any planet—the cube of the semi-major axis of its elliptical orbit is proportional to the square of its orbital period. In the final book of
Harmonices, Kepler explains how the ratio of the maximum and minimum
angular speeds of each planet (i.e., its speeds at the perihelion and aphelion) is very nearly equivalent to a consonant musical interval. Furthermore, the ratios between these extreme speeds of the planets compared against each other create even more mathematical harmonies. These speeds explain the
eccentricity of the orbits of the planets in a natural way that appealed to Kepler's religious beliefs in a heavenly creator. While Kepler did believe that the harmony of the worlds was inaudible, he related the motions of the planets to musical concepts in book four of
Harmonices. He makes an analogy between comparing the extreme speeds of one planet and the extreme speeds of multiple planets with the difference between
monophonic and
polyphonic music. Because planets with larger eccentricities have a greater variation in speed they produce more "notes." Earth's maximum and minimum speeds, for example, are in a ratio of roughly 16 to 15, or that of a semitone, whereas Venus' orbit is nearly circular, and therefore only produces a singular note. Mercury, which has the largest eccentricity, has the largest interval, a minor tenth, or a ratio of 12 to 5. This range, as well as the relative speeds between the planets, led Kepler to conclude that the
Solar System was composed of two basses (
Saturn and
Jupiter), a tenor (
Mars), two altos (
Venus and
Earth), and a soprano (
Mercury), which had sung in "perfect concord," at the beginning of time, and could potentially arrange themselves to do so again. He was certain of the link between musical harmonies and the harmonies of the heavens and believed that "man, the imitator of the Creator," had emulated the polyphony of the heavens so as to enjoy "the continuous duration of the time of the world in a fraction of an hour." Kepler was so convinced of a creator that he was convinced of the existence of this harmony despite a number of inaccuracies present in
Harmonices. Many of the ratios differed by an error greater than simple measurement error from the true value for the interval, and the ratio between Mars' and Jupiter's angular velocities does not create a consonant interval, though every other combination of planets does. Kepler brushed aside this problem by making the argument, with the math to support it, that because these
elliptical paths had to fit into the regular solids described in
Mysterium the values for both the dimensions of the solids and the angular speeds would have to differ from the ideal values to compensate. This change also had the benefit of helping Kepler retroactively explain why the regular solids encompassing each planet were slightly imperfect. Philosophers posited that the Creator liked variation in the celestial music. Kepler's books are well-represented in the
Library of Sir Thomas Browne, who also expressed a belief in the music of the spheres: For there is a musicke where-ever there is a harmony, order or proportion; and thus farre we may maintain the musick of the spheres; for those well ordered motions, and regular paces, though they give no sound unto the eare, yet to the understanding they strike a note most full of harmony. Whatsoever is harmonically composed, delights in harmony. ==Orbital resonance==