Kircher adds acoustical physics and heavenly music to mundane, human and instrumental music. Musurgia universalis sive ars magna consoni etdissoni. Musurgia universalis sive ars magna consoni et dissoni in. Volume 1 of musurgia universalis sive ars magna consoni et dissoni. Musurgia universalis sive ars magna consoni et dissoni in x. Athanasius kirchers beautiful musurgia universalis 1650.
Mundus subterraneus is the most geological of kirchers works. Musurgia universalis, by athanasius kircher rare music collection, university of melbourne library automaton campanarium fabricari design for automated chime bells from athanasius kircher german, 16021680 musurgia universalis plate 19, vol. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Athanasius kircher, musurgia universalis, 1650 university of reading. A selection of images from works by and related to athanasius kircher held in the special collections and university archives of stanford university libraries. Musurgia universalis university of melbourne library. Athanasius kircher sometimes erroneously spelled kirchner was a 17th century german jesuit scholar who published around 40 works, most notably in the fields of oriental studies, geology, and medicine. This seminal works of musicology in two volumes seem to have been hugely influential on the works of j.
The harmony of the birth of the world harmonia nascentis mund from musurgia universalis by athanasius kircher. From frescobaldis craftsmanship to kirchers compositional secrets. Athanasius kircher musurgia universalis sive ars magna consoni et dissoni free ebook download as pdf file. Our copy is outstanding for its finely hand coloured illustrations. Its purpose was to enable non musicians to compose church music. From his birthplace he was accustomed to add the latin epithet bucho, or buchonius, to his name, although later he preferred calling himself fuldensis. Athanasius kircher, musurgia universalis, 1650 special collections featured item for november 2004 by tim eggington, former rare books librarian kircher, athanasius, 16021680. He also invented the first megaphone he made an early study of egyptian hieroglyphs, and has been considered the founder of egyptology. The result was a wonderful exhibit beautifully designed by becky fischbach that continues to exist on paper in the form of daniel stolzenbergs catalogue,the great art of knowing. Athanasius kircher genesis creation via organ harmonics cosmic organ inspires concert at memorial art gallery the image above is a page from musurgia universalis by athanasius kircher. Pdf the literary production of athanasius kircher is vast, spanning almost.
The musurgia universalis 1650 sets out kirchers views on music. Kircher musurgia universalis university of glasgow. Internationale forschungsbibliografie zu athanasius. Athanasius kircher sj musurgia universalis, 1650 socks. He also universails the logistics of the ark voyage, speculating on whether extra livestock was brought to feed carnivores and what the daily schedule of feeding and caring for animals must have been. In he was called to vienna by the emperor to succeed kepler as mathematician to the habsburg court. The musurgia universalis sets out kirchers views on music. A virtual exhibition by the special collections department of the univerity of glasgow. Athanasius kircher musurgia universalis sive ars magna consoni. Click on a datetime to view the file as it appeared at that time. Musurgia universalis, by athanasius kircher rare music.
Athanasius kircher 16021680 was a german jesuit scholar a refugee from wartorn germany, kircher arrived in rome just after galileos condemnation, where he was heralded as possessing the secret of deciphering hieroglyphics. Athanasius kircher 16021680 musurgia universalis, rome, 1650 florence, biblioteca nazionale centrale, magl. Kircher was no more successful interpreting ancient etruscan a language still not fully understood today. Just yesterday we quoted an athanasius kirchers excerpt from his musurgia universalis rome. Indeed, all the documents concerning his two visits to rome were found accidentally by scholars researching other subjects. Athanasius kircher s oeuvre is distributed within forty printedbooks and over two thousands manuscripts and letters. Title musurgia universalis, sive ars magna consoni et dissoni, in x libros digesta composer kircher, athanasius.
Athanasius kircher and his disciples led me to envision the workshop from which this volume originated. If the lack of information on frobergers life is undeniable, so too is the lack of scholarly research in this area. In promoting etruscan journey, a book he never managed to publish, he visited florence, repeatedly wrote notable members of the medici family, and even argued that ancient tuscany had been founded by noah though some pursuits were wasted efforts, the jesuits pursued valuable knowledge. A biographic article in german about athanasius kircher. The title page is a compendium of philosophical conceptions linked to the theme of the harmony of the universe. This book is notable for containing early plates of the earths interior, and views of spectacular eruptions of mt. His most important book concerning music is the musurgia universalis 1650, although important sections concerning designing of musical instruments and illusionistic machines can be found in many other works. Musurgia universalis athanasius kircher, melanie wald, andreas hirsch snippet view 2006.
Mundus subterraneus, in xii libros digestus internet archive. Through simple combinatoric techniques it is capable of producing millions of pieces of 4part polyphonic music. Kircher, musurgia universalis, steganographia musurgica wellcome l0025812. It was a work of encyclopedic breadth, combining material of unequal quality, from accurate cartography to mythical elements, such as a study of dragons.
Kircher, a german jesuit who spent much of his life in rome, was a polymathic scholar, following in the tradition of. The harmony of the birth of the world harmonia nascentis mund from musurgia universalis giclee print by athanasius kircher. The subject of this exhibition is a hand coloured copy of musurgia universalis. May 2, 1601, at geisa a small town on the northern bank of the upper rhone buchonia. Kircher, athanasius 1602 1680, german jesuit polymath and collector. Athanasius kircher, musurgia universalis iowa research online. Considered by many to be the greatest polymath in an encyclopedia age, athanasius kircher was a scholar who aspired to expertise in many different domains of knowledge and sought connections among them in a quest to recover ancient pansophia universal wisdom. The book includes plans for constructing waterpowered automatic organs, notations of birdsong and diagrams of musical instruments. Athanasius kircher, andreas hirsch snippet view 1988. Kircher s work in geology included studies of volcanoes and fossils. Athanasius kircher wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Athanasius kircher, born may 2, 1601, geisa, abbacy of fulda thuringia, germanydied november 27, 1680, rome italy, jesuit priest and scholar, sometimes called the last renaissance man, important for his prodigious activity in disseminating knowledge kircher learned greek and hebrew at the jesuit school in fulda, pursued scientific and humanistic studies at paderborn, cologne, and.
Musurgia universalis is a book by athanasius kircher. Athanasius kircher 2 may 1602 28 november 1680 was a german jesuit scholar and polymath who published around 40 major works, most notably in the fields of comparative religion, geology, and medicine. Celebrated for the versatility of his knowledge and particularly distinguished for his knowledge of the natural sciences, b. Platos atlantis is represented as an island in the middle of the atlantic ocean. The arca musarithmica also arca musurgia or musical ark is an information device that was invented by jesuit scholar athanasius kircher in the mid 17th century. Find art you love and shop highquality art prints, photographs, framed artworks and posters at. Automaton campanarium fabricari design for automated chime bells from athanasius kircher german, 16021680 musurgia universalis.
The quatercentenary of the birth of the jesuit polymath, father athanasius kircher 16021680, seemed an appropriate moment to examine one of the most famous volumes of his works in special collections the musurgia universalis published in two volumes in rome in 1650. Kirchers work in geology included studies of volcanoes and fossils. Kircher has been compared to fellow jesuit roger boscovich and to leonardo da vinci for his enormous range of interests, and has been honoured with the title master of a hundred arts. Athanasius kircher, musurgia universalis rome, 1650. Kircher, athanasius, celebrated for the versatility of his knowledge and particularly distinguished for his knowledge of the natural sciences, b.