The musician draws the bow across
the violin string and immediately
the inert atmosphere becomes vibrant
and transparent, “…as if sound from nonspatial
realms shines through a window into the
world of space.” 1 What is being demonstrated
is a phenomenon known as the overtone series,
in which any tone, played or sung, activates a
column of mathematically-related notes which
vibrate sympathetically with the sounded pitch
and create resonance. Octaves throughout the
universe respond, in a modern, scientific “music
of the spheres,” echoing the hypothesis that dates
back to ancient times.