Beschreibung:

(John, horologist, bap. 1693, d. 1776) [Notes and amendments to his working manuscript, 'True and Full Account of the Foundation of Music'], autograph manuscript, 4pp., Britannia watermark (both pp. cut from the same sheet and sharing the watermark), folds, browned, a few small tears at edges, 210 x 164mm., n.d. [1770s]. *** John Harrison the musician. John Harrison had a life long interest in the theory of music but extraordinarily, although a player of the viol and choir master at Barrow upon Humber, by his own conclusion was "no great lover of Musick... [though] it pleased God to give me a good Ear." He would need a good ear for the musical hypothesis that he pursued. Harrison's research proved to him that the approximation to perfection in music required the division of a scale into nineteen or even twenty five parts as opposed to the twelve standard intervals. For very many years the twelve standard intervals dividing the octave have always left players struggling with a theoretical deficiency. Harrison distinguishes between pure and tempered intervals, a perfect interval although not pure was musically correct the system. Noting that a perfect note is only perfect with one other - Harrison preferred the term 'natural' to 'perfect' - he also proportioned the minor third and major sixths on the mathematical formula of pi which at a little more than the sum of 3 whilst not directly related to harmonic proportion is "yet still a wonderfully strong and stable foundation indeed". Harrison wrote a comprehensive manuscript on his theory and practice of music extended to more than 160 pages plus extra notes and amendments (the manuscript is in the Library of Congress, Washington DC, ref. ML95. H267). These four pages are further amendments which at some time have become separated from the original manuscript. None of the treatise or the amendments has been published.- Andrew King