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David Huckvale
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The Occult Arts of Music: An Esoteric Survey from Pythagoras to Pop Culture Paperback – October 10, 2013

by David Huckvale (Author)
3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
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Occult traditions have inspired musical ingenuity for centuries. From the Pythagorean concept of a music of the spheres to the occult subculture of 20th-century pop and rock, music has often attempted to express mystical states of mind, cosmic harmony, the demonic and the divine--nowhere more so, perhaps, than in the music for films such as The Mephisto Waltz, The Devil Rides Out, Star Trek, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Omen and The Exorcist.

This survey explores how such film music works and uncovers its origins in Pythagorean and Platonic ideas about the divine order of the universe and its essentially numerical/musical nature. Chapters trace the influence of esoteric Freemasonry on Mozart and Beethoven, the birth of "demonic" music in the 19th century with composers such as Weber, Berlioz and Liszt, Wagner's racial mysticism, Schoenberg's numerical superstition, the impact of synesthesia on art music and film, the effect of theosophical ideas on composers such as Scriabin and Holst, supernatural opera and ballet, fairy music and, finally, popular music in the 1960s and '70s.

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  1. Print length
    224 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    McFarland & Company
  4. Publication date
    October 10, 2013
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 0.45 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    078647324X
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0786473243
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Huckvale presents a fascinating survey of the relationships between ancient, medieval, early modern, and contemporary ‘occult arts’ and Western music”―Reference & Research Book News.

About the Author

David Huckvale has worked as a researcher, writer and presenter for BBC Radio and as a lecturer for various universities in England. He lives in rural Bedfordshire.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ McFarland & Company (October 10, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 078647324X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0786473243
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.45 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars 4 ratings

About the author

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David Huckvale

David Huckvale

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David Huckvale is the British author of fourteen books, all published in the U.S.A. by McFarland

James Bernard - Composer to Count Dracula (2006)

Hammer Films and the Musical Avant Garde (2008)

Touchstones of Gothic Horror - A Film Genealogy in Eleven Motifs and Images (2010)

Ancient Egypt in the Popular Imagination - Building a Fantasy in Film, Literature, Music and Art (2012)

Visconti and the German Dream - Wagner and the Nazi Catastrophe in Film (2012)

The Occult Arts of Music - An Esoteric Survey from Pythagoras to Pop Culture (2013)

Hammer Films' Psychological Thrillers (2014)

Poe Evermore: The Legacy in Film, Music and Television (2014)

A Dark and Stormy Oeuvre - Crime, Magic and Power in the Novels of Edward Bulwer Lytton (2016)

Music for the Superman - Friedrich Nietzsche and the Great Composers (2017)

A Green and Pagan Land - Myth, Magic and Landscape in British Film and Television (2018)

Movie Magick - The Occult in Film (2018)

Dirk Bogarde - Matinee Idol, Art-House Star (2019)

Terrors of the Flesh - The Philosophy of Body Horror in Film (forthcoming in 2020)

He has also worked for BBC Radio, education and in the arts.

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
3.7 out of 5
4 global ratings

Top review from the United States

shadedmuse
5.0 out of 5 stars Enraptured
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2014
Music lovers, musicians, composers from all branches of the Music World! This "grimoire" is here to serve as open-knowledge to all. Even if you yourself are not exactly skilled at the working "magic" of a simple ostinato, it is a given that you will feel a sense of music knowledge advancement after reading this book by David Huckvale. Any written and published discussions on the topic of the role which music has played in the history of the occult is rare enough. Making this book all the more intriguing. In this book, Huckvale covers all the right "points" about music's possession over our senses.. as well as some secret insight into the formulas of these "conjurers" from music history.

Worth a second, third, fourth read.
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