[Musical therapy in Marsilio Ficono's Compendium in Timaeum].

Abstract

In this article, I will discuss music therapy in Marsilio Ficino's Timaeus-commentary. Ficino's model of sound perception is reconstructed. It lays the foundation for the medical and mind-expanding function of music in his philosophy. Ficino's music therapy follows from his ideas about the harmony of the spheres, a concept that was used in Western culture well into the fifteenth century for rather static descriptions of the cosmos, mainly meant to praise God and his creation. The traditional view about celestial harmony provided hardly any possibility for active human involvement. Ficino changed this significantly when he united Platonic ideas about the music of the spheres with biblical ideas about the imprint of God's image on human beings. Thus, knowledge of the harmonic structure of the cosmos became possible. I will argue that Ficino's reconciliation of the Timaeus with the book of Genesis allowed for the connection of the ancient doctrines of cosmic harmony and the power of music. This resulted in new possibilities for music therapy.