Music and Mathematics:
"Constants" and "variables" between Bach and Mozart

Ulrich Leisigner, International Mozarteum Foundation
Online lecture and in presence

Music and mathematics are closely linked in theory and practice, even at a superficial glance, by numbers, be it intervals, proportions or tunings. In view of the fundamental change in music between the Baroque and Classical periods, it is appealing to trace the constants and variables in the relationship between music and mathematics in a generally understandable way using two artists as different as Johann Sebastian Bach and Wolfgang Amadé Mozart. One key to this is perhaps Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's definition "Music is a secret arithmetical activity of the soul, which does not know that it is counting" and his understanding of perfection.
Ulrich Leisinger studied musicology, philosophy and mathematics in Freiburg, Brussels and Heidelberg. Since July 2005 he has been Head of the Academic Department at the Mozarteum Foundation Salzburg and thus project leader for the Digital Mozart Edition, which is being compiled in Salzburg in co-operation with the Packard Humanities Institute, Los Altos/CA.

This lecture is part of the Music & Mathematics series, which focusses on the interdisciplinary approaches and perspectives between music and mathematics. It will be organised in collaboration with international experts from the fields of mathematics, statistics, computer science, composition and music research and will provide insights into current research and developments in the border areas between the scientific disciplines.

In cooperation with the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Interfaces, Paris Lodron University Salzburg

Participation free of charge