Musical Correspondences

Trying to find a good system of correspondences between music and other symbols is hard.

Paul Foster Case tried to do this by using the chromatic scale (all the white and black notes of the piano) in the key of C, attributing each Hebrew letter to each note in sequence. However, the result of this system is often atonal (it doesn’t have the feeling of resolution that our western ears search for in a musical piece).

But there is an indication of a working system somewhere in the Western Mystical Tradition, the idea of the Music of the Spheres, a relationship between the movement of the astrological planets and musical harmony.

There are multiples theories about this idea. Johannes Kepler, in Harmonices Mundi, puts forward the concept of the “Celestial Choir”:

The celestial choir Kepler formed was made up of a tenor (Mars), two bass (Saturn and Jupiter), a soprano (Mercury), and two altos (Venus and Earth). Mercury, with its large elliptical orbit, was determined to be able to produce the greatest number of notes, while Venus was found to be capable of only a single note because its orbit is nearly a circle.

Franchinus Gaffurius, in Practica Musicae, relates the spheres with the (extremely convoluted) medieval modes.

Both theories are useful, Kepler’s more than that of Gaffurius, but Pythagoras, through observation, found a very useful correspondence, which, coincidentally or not, have an important relationship with one of the most important symbols in western mysticism.

In the Pythagorean concept of the music of the spheres, the interval between the earth and the sphere of the fixed stars was considered to be a diapason — the most perfect harmonic interval. The allowing arrangement is most generally accepted for the musical intervals of the planets between the earth and the sphere of the fixed stars: From the sphere of the earth to the sphere of the moon; one tone; from the sphere of the moon to that of Mercury, one half-tone; from Mercury to Venus, one-half; from Venus to the sun, one and one-half tones; from the sun to Mars, one tone; from Mars to Jupiter, one-half tone; from Jupiter to Saturn, one-half tone; from Saturn to the fixed stars, one-half tone. The sum of these intervals equals the six whole tones of the octave.

Therefore, in the key of C:

Planets (Ascending/Descending)

Stars: C/C
Saturn: B/Db
Jupiter: A#/D
Mars: A/Eb
Sun: G/F
Venus: E/Ab
Mercury: D#/A
Moon: D/Bb
Earth: C/C

It’s important to note that the Sun and the Earth, and the Moon and the Sun form an interval of 3:2 (fifth), the most harmonic ration according to Pythagoras.

There are two main ways of connecting the planets with the other symbols. One can connect them directly to the Hebrew letters by using the Tree of Life, or, through mathesis, isopsephy and gematria, link them to the Greek letters and, then, to the Hebrew alphabet.

The first way is problematic:

Hebrew Letters (Ascending/Descending)

Aleph: C/C
Beth: D#/A
Gimel: D/Bb
Daleth: E/Ab
Heh: A/Eb
Vau: E/Ab
Zain: D#/A
Cheth: D/Bb
Teth: G/F
Yod: D#/A
Kaph: A#/D
Lamed: E/Ab
Mem: C/C
Nun: A/Eb
Samekh: A#/D
Ayin: B/Db
Peh: A/Eb
Tzaddi: B/Db
Qaph: A#/D
Resh: G/F
Shin: C/C
Tau: B/Db

First, the note attributed to the mother letters is arbitrary. It makes sense that it is the root (C in this case), but it is not dependent on the logic of the Pythagorean Music of the Spheres. But the worst problem is that the interval between Yod and Heh is a tritone (A to D#/Eb), a dissonant juxtaposition of notes that was once called “The Devil in Music”. Ideally, the names of God should be consonant when sung, alluding to the harmony of creation.

The mathetic correspondence solves the latter problem in an elegant way:

Greek Letters (Ascending/Descending)

Α: D/Bb
Β: A/Eb
Γ: E/Ab
Δ: D#/Ab
Ε: D#/Ab
Ζ: D/Bb
Η: E/Ab
Θ: C/C
Ι: G/F
Κ: G/F
Λ: D#/Ab
Μ: E/Ab
Ν: A/Eb
Ξ: C/C
Ο: A/Eb
Π: A#/D
Ρ: B/Db
Σ: B/Db
Τ: A#/D
Υ: A#/D
Φ: C/C
Χ: C/C
Ψ: C/C
Ω: B/Db

In this case, IAΩ, the Greek variation of the most powerful name of God, is either a G major chord (ascending) or a Bb minor chord (descending). The former is the fifth chord of the major scale, which forms the perfect cadence by resolving to the root chord.

The first problem, however, remains. It is possible to attribute the elemental letters to chords, but Ψ (Spirit) would not have a correspondence. Since Earth (planet) contains all the elements, and it is the root (C in the key of C), then it is not too much of a stretch to attribute them to that note. I wish there was a more logical way of fitting them in this system however.

One way these correspondences could be used is by employing the ascending scale when the mood of the ritual is joyful, heroic, active, energetic, and the descending scale when it is lamenting, somber, passive, dark. Other way would be to use the ascending note when going from a closer planet to a farther one and the descending note when doing the reverse. I personally prefer the first method, but both would be perfectly fine.