Music and Space: An Astrocultural History
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2020
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$121.55 USD
This book explores the relationship between music and outer space, showing how cosmic ideas have influenced music, philosophy, science, film, and popular culture throughout history. It explains that the ancient concept of the "music of the spheres" viewed the universe as a harmonious, musical system, an idea that shaped thinkers such as Pythagoras, Plato, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton.
The book is divided into three units:
- Unit One examines the history of the music of the spheres and how music was once closely connected to astronomy, mathematics, religion, and philosophy.
- Unit Two explores how music is used in science fiction films to express themes of space exploration, alien life, fear, adventure, and human evolution.
- Unit Three focuses on outer space themes in popular music, showing how artists use space as a metaphor for loneliness, identity, social justice, hope, and escape from everyday life.
Overall, the book demonstrates that music has long helped people understand their place in the universe and continues to use cosmic themes to explore human emotions, culture, and society.
UNIT ONE: A History of Cosmic Unity and the Art of Music
Chapter One: The Ancient World and the Music of the Spheres (antiquity to the 15th century)
Chapter Two: The Persistence of the Music of the Spheres (15th century to mid-18th century)
Chapter Three: Tonality and the Artist-Centered Universe (18th century to the 20th century)
Chapter Four: New Musical Conceptions of the Cosmos (20th century and beyond)
UNIT TWO: Outer Space Music in Science Fiction Film and Television
Chapter Five Fantasies and Fears of Space in Science Fiction Film and Television
Chapter Six Cinematic Visions of Space in the late 1960s and early 1970s
Chapter Seven Sci-Fi Blockbusters and the Heroic Revival from 1977 to the 21st Century
UNIT THREE: Space in Popular Music
Chapter Eight: Space as Escape in Popular Music: Fantasy, Alienation, and Rebellion
Chapter Nine: Avatars of Afrofuturism: Sun Ra, Lee Scratch Perry, and George Clinton
Chapter Ten: Spacey Sounds: Space Rock, Progressive Rock, and Cosmic Music
Chapter Eleven: David Bowie and Glam Rock
Chapter Twelve: Aliens, Androids, and Electronica from the 1980s to the present
Professor in the Music department at University of Colorado - Boulder