ghot@s.ms.uky.edu (Allan Adler) (02/15/91)
Some scientists and mathematicians have also been composers. I am interested
in collecting and studying examples of their compositions. I don't confine my
inquiry to the ones that were famous or particularly talented in music.
Here is all I know:
(1) Borodin was a chemist who also wrote music. He is quite famous for music
and also known for his work in chemistry. So I probably can find out what
I want from a library with no trouble in his case and I am not asking about
him.
(2) Herschel, the astronomer, was also a choir director, or so I have heard.
Apparently he made lots of arrangements for the choir but I don't know
if he composed. Question: Where can one find the arrangements he made and
what, if anything, did he compose himself ?
(3) Max Dresden was lecturing on historical aspects of thermodynamics and
quantum mechanics at SUNY Stony Brook and mentioned, in a biographical
sketch of Boltzmann, that Boltzmann took a year off to write a symphony.
None of the historians of science I have spoken to can confirm or deny
this. I can't find out from Dresden because he normally does not reply
to correspondence from the likes of me. Question: Did Boltzmann write a
symphony and if so how can one take a look at the score ? And was it
ever performed ?
(4) In his autobiographical essay, Gotthold Eisenstein mentions that he also
wrote music. People interested in Eisenstein are usually only interested
his mathematics and not in his music so whatever there was may not have
been preserved. But was it ? Are there any archives that might have such
gems ?
I welcome any comments on the above questions and any suggestions for other
scientists and mathematicians who composed music.
Allan Adler
ghot@ms.uky.edujensen@milton.u.washington.edu (Lars Jensen) (02/15/91)
ghot@s.ms.uky.edu (Allan Adler) writes: >Some scientists and mathematicians have also been composers. I am interested >in collecting and studying examples of their compositions. I don't confine my >inquiry to the ones that were famous or particularly talented in music. I believe Monteverdi was a mathematician. Lars %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Lars Jensen, University of Washington FM-15, Seattle, WA 98195. jensen@milton.u.washington.edu
abrodnik@watdragon.waterloo.edu (Andrej Brodnik (Andy)) (02/15/91)
In article <16456@milton.u.washington.edu> jensen@milton.u.washington.edu (Lars Jensen) writes: >I believe Monteverdi was a mathematician. Don't forget signore Bounarotti or even more Leonardo ... Andrej
allyn@milton.u.washington.edu (Allyn Weaks) (02/15/91)
A slight reversal of the subject: Galileo's father was a composer (I hear some of his lute pieces on the radio every now and then). There's a possibly appocryphal story that Galileo originally (pre-pendulum) timed his acceleration experiments by singing to himself and counting the beats. Allyn Weaks allyn@milton.u.washington.edu
mls@cbnewsm.att.com (mike.siemon) (02/15/91)
In article <16456@milton.u.washington.edu>, jensen@milton.u.washington.edu (Lars Jensen) writes: > I believe Monteverdi was a mathematician. I don't. -- Michael L. Siemon "O stand, stand at the window, m.siemon@ATT.COM As the tears scald and start; ...!att!attunix!mls You shall love your crooked neighbor standard disclaimer With your crooked heart."
eapg034@orion.oac.uci.edu (Franz A. Delahan) (02/16/91)
In article <1991Feb14.203016.7687@ms.uky.edu> ghot@s.ms.uky.edu (Allan Adler) writes: >Some scientists and mathematicians have also been composers. I am interested >in collecting and studying examples of their compositions. I don't confine my >inquiry to the ones that were famous or particularly talented in music. > ... >Allan Adler >ghot@ms.uky.edu When I was a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh about twenty years ago there was a professor there, a mathematical logician named Asenjo, who had composed music, which had been performed by symphony orchestras. Franz Delahan, eapg034@orion.oac.uci.edu
shenkin@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Peter S. Shenkin) (02/16/91)
John Dunstable (mathematician, astronomer, composer). ************************f*u*cn*rd*ths*u*cn*gt*a*gd*jb************************** Peter S. Shenkin, Department of Chemistry, Barnard College, New York, NY 10027 (212)854-1418 shenkin@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu(Internet) shenkin@cunixf(Bitnet) ***"In scenic New York... where the third world is only a subway ride away."***
ilan@Gang-of-Four.Stanford.EDU (Ilan Vardi) (02/16/91)
In article <1991Feb14.203016.7687@ms.uky.edu> ghot@s.ms.uky.edu (Allan Adler) writes: >Some scientists and mathematicians have also been composers. I am interested >in collecting and studying examples of their compositions. I don't confine my >inquiry to the ones that were famous or particularly talented in music. > Nilsson wrote ``One is the Loneliest Number'' performed by Three Dog Night.
ee5391aa@triton.unm.edu (Duke McMullan n5gax) (02/16/91)
Not a composer, but someone's bound to mention that Einstein was a violinist. A tale I've heard (possibly tall) concerns Heifez, a violist whose name escapes me (all violist's names escape me ;^) and Piatagorski (sp?) all paying A.E. a visit. Aware that he was an amateur violinist, the three asked Ein- stein to join them in playing a string quartet. Much flattered, Einstein agreed. They sat down, unpacked, stretched, tuned up, opened music, tuned up a little more, and got down to notes. Needless to say, Einstein was not in the league of the other three, and more than a little nervous to boot. The fourth time he got lost, Piatagorski looked up and asked, "What's the matter, Dr. Ein- stein? Can't you count?" Years ago, during my Bright College Days, it occurred to me that I knew a lot of science types who were accomplished musicians and graphic artists, but not a single musician or artist who had any detailed understanding of either math- ematics or science. One day in DifEQ class, I asked the professor why this was so. (I should have known better than to give this particular prof such an opening.) He replied, "That's easy. Everyone knows scientists are smarter than artists." d PS -- Hey! That's one hell of a crosspost. I hope this doesn't get out of hand; you'll have me feeling guilty. ;^) d -- Sociology, that descriptive pseudo-science that disguises its uncertanties in statistical mists as it battens on the narrow gap of information between psychology and anthropology. -- Trevanian, from _Shibumi_ Duke McMullan n5gax nss13429r phon505-255-4642 ee5391aa@triton.cirt.unm.edu
mcfarl@leadsv.UUCP (Lincoln McFarland) (02/16/91)
In article <27BC196A.16966@orion.oac.uci.edu> eapg034@orion.oac.uci.edu (Franz A. Delahan) writes: >In article <1991Feb14.203016.7687@ms.uky.edu> ghot@s.ms.uky.edu (Allan Adler) writes: >Some scientists and mathematicians have also been composers. I am interested >in collecting and studying examples of their compositions. I don't confine my >inquiry to the ones that were famous or particularly talented in music. > >... >Allan Adler Don't forget mathematics professor Tom Lehar (sp?) poisoning pigeons in the park. -LRM
dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Sam Conway) (02/18/91)
I might recommend Walter Stockmayer of Dartmouth College. He's quite an accomplished pianist, as well as one heck of a polymer-jockey! -- Sam Conway * What shape do you usually have? dragon@eleazar.dartmouth.edu * Mickey Mouse shape? Smarties Chemistry Dept., Dartmouth College, NH * shape? Amphibious landing craft Vermont Raptor Center (VINS) * shape? Poke in the eye shape?
rosenblum@zodiac.rutgers.edu (02/18/91)
In article <506@spam.ua.oz>, plangsha@spam.ua.oz (Peter K Langshaw) writes: > In article <1991Feb14.203016.7687@ms.uky.edu> ghot@s.ms.uky.edu (Allan Adler) writes: >>Some scientists and mathematicians have also been composers. I am interested >>in collecting and studying examples of their compositions. I don't confine my >>inquiry to the ones that were famous or particularly talented in music. >> >>Here is all I know: > > All sorts of info deleted Wasn't Emil Artin an accomplished flutist? (I realize that's not a composer, but it's a musician). -- Daniel M. Rosenblum, Assistant Professor, Quantitative Studies Area, Graduate School of Management, Rutgers University (Newark) ROSENBLUM@DRACO.RUTGERS.EDU \/ same machine, ROSENBLUM@DRACO.BITnet /\ different networks ROSENBLUM@CANCER.RUTGERS.EDU \ / CANCER & PISCES are machines in a ROSENBLUM@PISCES.RUTGERS.EDU >< VAXcluster called ZODIAC, so these ROSENBLUM@ZODIAC.BITnet / \ 3 addresses all go to the same place.
trevisan@Snake.mcs.kent.edu (Vilmar Trevisan) (02/18/91)
Professor PER ENFLO is a well-known mathematician and a (just as good) pianist. Vilmar Trevisan
dvf@unhd.unh.edu (David V Feldman) (02/19/91)
The mathematician John Myhill was an active composer; so of his music is on a recording primarily devoted to works of Lejaren Hiller. Jaron Lanier, of virtual reality fame, was writing music when I was last in touch with him, some ten years ago. Noam Elkies is a composer; since he is a frequent contributor to sci.math I will leave it to him to say any more than that if he wishes. For the record, I am also a composer. David Feldman University of New Hampshire
morrow@shawm.misemi ( config) (02/19/91)
>John Dunstable (mathematician, astronomer, composer). > > Rimsky-Korsakov was a naval officer and professor at the Naval Academy. Cui, I believe, was a colonel or general. Mussorgsky had a brief time as a subaltern in the Guards Regiment. Indeed, I seem to recall that one of the other Russian composers of this group (who's name, embarassingly enough eludes me) was a professor of chemistry. Usually military officers needed some form of mathematical knowledge. Leonardo da Vinci wrote a few ditties as did Frederick the Great of Prussia who was known for his scientific mind. BOB
afsipmh@cid.aes.doe.CA (Patrick Hertel) (02/19/91)
Well, I understand that Roger Whittaker was a biologist and that at least two of the group Queen were biochemists. -- Pat Hertel Canadian Meteorological Centre Analyst/Programmer 2121 N. Service Rd. phertel@cmc.aes.doe.ca Dorval,Quebec Environment Canada CANADA H9P1J3
bk7295@csc.albany.edu (Brian A. Kell) (02/19/91)
In article <1991Feb19.142806.20208@cid.aes.doe.CA> afsipmh@cid.aes.doe.CA (Patrick Hertel) writes: > Well, I understand that Roger Whittaker was a biologist and that at > least two of the group Queen were biochemists. And apparently the group Boston was formed by a bunch of electrical engineering students at MIT. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian Kell SUNY/Albany Department of Computer Science kell@cs.albany.edu .... bk7295@sarah.albany.edu .... BK7295@ALBNYVMS.BITNET --------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Brian Kell SUNY/Albany Department of Computer Science kell@cs.albany.edu .... bk7295@sarah.albany.edu .... BK7295@ALBNYVMS.BITNET
sethr@cbnewsl.att.com (seth.r.rosenthal) (02/20/91)
In article <6608@shawm.misemi>, morrow@shawm.misemi ( config) writes: > Leonardo da Vinci wrote a few ditties as did Frederick the Great of > Prussia who was known for his scientific mind. > Who by the way was a Flutist (F the G) and a student of Joachim Quantz. Wasn't Doppler one also? Did anyone mention Bernoulli (one of them)? Seth Rosenthal
joan@ocean.med.unc.edu (Joan Shields) (02/20/91)
In article <1991Feb19.142806.20208@cid.aes.doe.CA> afsipmh@cid.aes.doe.CA (Patrick Hertel) writes: > > Well, I understand that Roger Whittaker was a biologist and that at > least two of the group Queen were biochemists. > I'm an analytical biochemist and a classical guitarist. How many other scientists out there are musicians as well? What kind of music do you prefer playing? Are most scientists classical musicians or do they span all the genres of music? Joan Shields UNC-CH Dept. of Anesthesiology
spike@brahms.udel.edu (Todd M Nelson) (02/20/91)
There was a Russian composer by the name of Borodin who was a chemist and a composer. Todd M Nelson spike@brahms.acs.udel.edu spike@chopin.acs.udel.edu spike@freezer.acs.udel.edu
bauman@shell.com (Evan G. Bauman) (02/20/91)
Being a chemical engineer and an amateur flutist, I'll throw another name in the pot. George Blytas is the top technical guru in our Separations/Data Research group and is also the conductor of the Houston Sinfonietta, a composer, and as I have been told, quite a piano player. I asked him what he has composed. Here's some of the works: Background Music for Antigone Choral Pieces for Ancient Tragedies 2 Greek Suites for Piano Quintet for Piano, Percussion, and Strings Preludes for Piano He also has a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from Wisconsin to go along with his patents which number in the hundreds. Evan G. Bauman - Combustion/Reaction Engineering Shell Development Company - Westhollow Research Center PO Box 1380; Houston, TX 77251-1380 bauman@shell.com "Why is abbreviate such a long word?"
jeff@zem.uchicago.edu (Jeff Adler) (02/21/91)
There is a string quartet attributed to Benjamin Franklin. It is unconventional in that the players retune their strings in a nonstandard way so that every note is played on an open string. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jeff Adler jeff@zaphod.uchicago.edu Math Department jeff%zaphod@midway.uchicago.edu University of Chicago jda3@midway.uchicago.edu
duncan@daredevil.crd.ge.com (Art Duncan) (02/22/91)
Victor Ewald, a contemporary of Rimsky-Korsakov, was an engineer, as well as a composer, cellist, and horn player. - Art
dem@caen.engin.umich.edu (Darryle E Merlette) (02/22/91)
Herbie Hancock holds a degree in electrical engineering. You'll probably find a lot of computer musician types (and I consider myself one) are accomplished scientists/engineers and composers. D. Merlette
chrba@IDA.LiU.SE (Christer Backstrom) (02/22/91)
Newsgroups: rec.music.classical,sci.math,sci.chem,sci.bio,soc.history Subject: Re: Scientists and Mathematicians Who Wrote Music Summary: Expires: References: <1991Feb14.203016.7687@ms.uky.edu> Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Organization: CIS Dept, Univ of Linkoping, Sweden Keywords: The swedish composer Kurt Atterberg was an engineer working at the patent office in Gothenburg.
batali@parc.xerox.com (John Batali) (02/23/91)
Some of the most famous composers were major contributers to science and technology. Beethoven, for example, carried on an extensive correspondence with Lagrange and Edmund Halley about the dynamics of the early solar system and one of his letters contains the earliest written account of the theory that the sun and planets formed from a rotating, condensing, mass of gas. C. F. E. Bach was almost as well known during his lifetime for his investigations of the mechanisms of inter-cellular transport of cyclic-ATP as for his music. Georg Telemann's work on the accustic properties of metals at high temperatures was motivated by his horn concertos, and Vivaldi's invention of the hypersonic wind-tunnel was one of the reasons that Italy in the 18th century was so dominant in the aerospace industry. And of course I don't need to remind everyone about Mozart's early years as a UNIX pioneer. He wrote the first version of GREP at the age of 9. His programming career was cut short when he discovered and exploited the famous `ping' security trapdoor and brought the entire Salzburg network down the day before the state visit of the crown prince in 1769.
smortaz@handel.Eng.Sun.COM (Shahrokh Mortazavi) (02/26/91)
another one is Al Kharazmi (800 AD?), the great persian mathematician, chemist, philosopher, writer, etc. who invented logarithms, and after whom the language Algol was named...
pfleury@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Patrick J. Fleury) (02/26/91)
I notice that nobody has mentioned Marin Mersenne yet. He has Mersenne primes named after him and he is also the author of an "aria" on which part of "Ancient Airs and Dances" by Respighi is based. (For more information see the album notes on the Ozawa recording of AA&D put out by DG. )
midkiff@portia.Stanford.EDU (Neil Midkiff) (02/27/91)
In article <1991Feb26.013102.7369@ddsw1.MCS.COM> pfleury@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Patrick J. Fleury) writes: > > I notice that nobody has mentioned Marin Mersenne yet. He > has Mersenne primes named after him and he is also the author > of an "aria" on which part of "Ancient Airs and Dances" by > Respighi is based. He also, I recall from something I've read, was the first to describe the mathematical details of equal temperament. -Neil
ghouse@cs.jhu.edu (Mujtaba R. Ghouse) (02/27/91)
In article Message-ID: <8594@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> smortaz@handel.Eng.Sun.COM (Shahrokh Mortazavi) writes: >another one is Al Kharazmi (800 AD?), the great persian mathematician, chemist, >philosopher, writer, etc. who invented logarithms, But this thread is about scientists who were also musicians: did AlKhwarizmi write music? (I am asking, *not* flaming. I don't know the answer, and you didn't post the names of any works on/of music that he wrote...) > and after whom the language Algol was named ... Algol is an acronym for `ALGOrithmic Language'. Although the word `algorithm' comes from his name, Algol was not named after AlKhwarizmi directly. (Also, I'm not sure he was Persian: he came from Khwarizm in central Asia, and wrote in Arabic.) refs : Webster's ninth collegiate dictionary, `The Venture of Islam' by Marshall Hodgson, volume 1. -Mujtaba Ghouse "Somewhere else, the tea is getting cold. Come on Ace, we've got work to do!"
smortaz@handel.Eng.Sun.COM (Shahrokh Mortazavi) (02/27/91)
> >But this thread is about scientists who were also musicians: did AlKhwarizmi >write music? (I am asking, *not* flaming. I don't know the answer, and you That's what I remember reading about him. He was one of those jack of all trades characters. hey, if people are nominating themselves because they are studying physics and can are taking piano lessons too, i think Al is entitled too! >didn't post the names of any works on/of music that he wrote...) Im afraid i cant name any of his works. not many can from somebody who lived in 800 AD. > >> and after whom the language Algol was named ... > >Algol is an acronym for `ALGOrithmic Language'. Although the >word `algorithm' comes from his name, Algol was not named after AlKhwarizmi >directly. you could be right. i employed trasitive clousre: alkharzmi -> algorithm - - -> algol i should have said the name algol is partly based on algorithm which comes from alkharazmi's name... > >(Also, I'm not sure he was Persian: he came from Khwarizm in central Asia, >and wrote in Arabic.) back in 800 AD all that area was known as the persian empire... most scientists nowadays write in english. that doesnt make them english. back in 800 AD, most scientists of the area wrote in arabic, it being the richest languages for such use.