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Bach's music greatly appeals to me as a mathematician because of the sense of universal harmony it irradiates. Many of JSB's compositions are based on precise c
by alberto-m 6y ago
Bach's music greatly appeals to me as a mathematician because of the sense of universal harmony it irradiates. Many of JSB's compositions are based on precise constraints (symmetries, translations). I think many technical people can somehow perceive the schemes underlying the music, even if they are not musically trained enough to identify them consciously. This is at least how I explain my love for Baroque music.
I found it surprising nobody yet mentioned the “Gödel, Escher, Bach” book by Douglas Hofstadter. Not sure how popular the work is today, but some years ago it was really famous.
- alanbernstein 6y agoYeah, thanks for mentioning GEB, it was really the original inspiration for my previous question. I read the book years ago, and loved it. Learning about Gödel's incompleteness theorems had already my blown my mind; Escher already was, and still is, my favorite visual artist. I remember well, at a general level, the book's explanations of counterpoint, constraints, and logic in Bach's compositions. In stark contrast to the rest of the book's content, that was all somewhat academic since the book didn't play any music. Ever since reading the book, it has greatly saddened me to think about how much enjoyment I get from the work of Gödel and Escher, and that I'm missing out on the third component of Hofstadter's holy trinity of self-reference.