Secret in music

Secret in music

Of all the arts, music has the most secret signs and ciphers. Many pieces of music from different eras contain hidden messages that historians have been able to decipher. Of course, they are known to most professional musicians, but the average listeners are unlikely: well, the piece sounds, it is pleasant to listen to it, notes and notes, but about its ciphers, as they say, they "have never heard of". But agree, if you know the hidden meaning of the essay, or the secret meanings deftly hidden in it by the author, then it is more interesting to listen to it!

One of the most popular encryption, common in the art of music since the seventeenth century, is a monogram. Surely, you are familiar with this concept. It means connecting the letters of the name or surname into a single character. How did the composers create it and use it in their compositions? It's simple: as you know, Latin letters have always been used to refer to musical sounds (from - to, d - re, e - mi, f - fa, g - salt, a - la, h - si), if the composer found these letters in his or someone's name, he was the code.

The most famous monogram of all times and peoples originates from the name of the greatest German composer I.S. Bach - "B A C H". Peer into it: each letter means a certain note: B - B flat, A - A, C - C, H - C. If you play these notes in order, you get a musical theme-monogram. Bach himself repeatedly used it in his compositions; it often sounds, for example, in the “Credo” of the Mass in B minor. Researchers believe that the composer ciphered the symbol of the cross in this thread, because he was a very religious person and brought sacred meanings to his scores. Many composers took this sequence of sounds as the basis of their works. To date, such works, there are about four hundred.

Created monograms and romantic composer R. Schumann. For example, in his "Carnival" the following motif all the time sounds: "A Es C H" - "In E-flat to C". And the composer hid several meanings in this topic: these are his initials - "SCHA" (SCHumAn), and the name of the city - "ASCН" (Ash is a city in Bohemia), where he once met his first love.

From his initials he created a monogram of D. Shostakovich. And it sounds like this - "D Es C H" (DShostakovitch) - "D in E flat to si". If you want to hear this famous tune, listen to the Scherzo Symphony No. 10.

But the outstanding contemporary composer R. Shchedrin went further - he wrote “Dialogue with Shostakovich”, using not only the monogram of his name, but his own one - SH CHED. This is how the two largest figures of the 20th century not only met, but also "talked" on the pages of the score.

The history of music knows and very curious and funny case of using monograms. The famous composer N. Myaskovsky, as a student, used this technique to make fun of his strict teacher of composition - AK. Lyadov. The basis of his work, he put the motive - B-re-gis La-do-fa. Already deciphered? Yes yes exactly - "Watch out Lyadov". If you want to find out how this warning sounds in the original, listen to Part 1 of the Third String Quartet.

There are many similar ciphers in music. Composers encrypted names, numbers, rebuses, religious symbols and more in it. Music is an amazing language. Listen to this speech, and perhaps hear something special and hitherto unknown.