The "Principia" of physiological acoustics

HELMHOLTZ, Hermann von.

Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen als physiologische Grundlage für die Theorie der Musik.

Braunschweig: Vieweg, 1863.

1st Edition. Hardcover. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Very Good. Item #001874

8vo (216x139 mm). xi, 600 pp. Contemporary half calf over marbled boards, spine gilt, inner hinges cracked but firm; interior slightly foxed, dedication inscription in ink to first flyleaf. ----

Garrison-Morton 1562; Horblit 49a; Norman 1044. - First Edition. "This exhaustive study of acoustics ranks as one of the greatest books on the subject and shows that Helmholtz was, besides being a great physicist and physician, an accomplished musician" (Garrison-Morton). Helmholtz's resonance theory of hearing, expounded in this work, remained unchallenged for decades. Helmholtz also explained that differences in timbre result from differences in upper partial tones, which depend in turn on how the fundamental is produced., and he applied this observation to music theory to explain that consonance and dissonance are produced by more or less coincident upper partial tones. "This foundation treatise on audition has been termed the Principia of physiological acoustics" (Grolier/Horblit).

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