A Radical Theory: Lippius’s Misunderstood Theory of Roots

Johannes Lippius is widely acclaimed as the first author to articulate fully the modern concept of the musical triad. Lippius speaks of the triad’s fundamental pitch, which maintains its status even when not present in the lowest voice. He also he uses the term “root” (radix), but not for that fundamental pitch: curiously, Lippius’s notion of the triadic root scarcely overlaps at all with our modern idea. Attending to the complexities of Lippius’s conception of the root, I demonstrate its hitherto overlooked relationship to Nicholas of Cusa’s notion of the “unitary root” in his idiosyncratic and influential fusion of Trinitarian doctrine and Neopythagorean numerology. I reveal that for Lippius the root is the first unfolding of the principle of number itself and thus is a powerful expression of music’s relationship to the divine.

Jul 3, 2020

Music Theory Midwest annual conference