In Spring 2001, I’Onissimo!, the Chamber Music Ensemble of I’On Village, Mt. Pleasant, SC, will present four concerts on the theme, Music in Proportion.  All concerts will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoons and are free and open to the public.

The Greek philosopher Pythagoras and his followers originated seminal ideas in western music, architecture and mathematics. His followers defined a golden section proportion, related angles and spirals which became the basis of western music, architecture and natural science.

Image Left - Diagram of shell showing golden section spiral.

The familiar curled volute of the Ionic Column follows these mathematical principles.  The Pythagorean golden section, regularly divided, produces the musical scale and, as the basis for a construction, the same spiral.  The Pythagoreans also found this curve in seashells, plants and flowers.

Most string instruments, which still play music based on the scale devised by Pythagoras, feature this same spiral in the carved scroll that decorates the fingerboard. These proportions give music its harmony.  On March 25th. the I’Onissimo Strings will play richly harmonic music by Bocorini, Bernstein, Joplin and Borodin that’s beauty is based on the same set of relationships as the decorative scrolls on their instruments.  This concert will be held on the porch of the unusual octagonal home of the Ranis family, designed around clusters of Pythagorean triangles and proportions.  More detials on the March 25th. String Concert.

Image, Right, cochlea of human ear

On April 8, Lon Shull and Wayne French will direct the premier of the vocal group, I’Onissimo Sings with a program featuring music about love from the last six centuries.  Even with the human voice as an instrument, the golden section spiral is still present.  To sing in harmony, the I’Onissimo singers must hear.  Within the human ear, the shell like spiral of the cochlea follows the same proportional curve.  This vocal concert will be performed indoors at the new Shelmore Creek Club building.  The neopalladian pavilion on the dock there is also designed around the golden section proportion.

The I’Onissimo Brass, under the direction of Dr. Tom Kindel, will bring brass music from the American and International traditions to the edge of Eastlake on April 29th. Brass instruments are created based on the curves and proportions of the Pythagorean section.  While valves and other advances have altered the original simple form, it is still the gradual proportional flare of the golden spiral which gives brass instruments their resonance and power. 

The proportions of Eastlake and its surrounding houses (also based on designs incorporating the golden section) gives a peculiar resonance and depth to music.  I’Onissimo fans call this "The Eastlake Effect."  The brass players will use this effect to add an extra dimension to their music, selecting pieces which harmonies capitalize on the 18 acre lake’s transparent, resonating quality in a program entitled Golden Brass / Silver Lake.

All the I’Onissimo musical groups will unite for a Finale Concert presented as part of the Piccolo Spoleto Festival on Sunday, May 27th.  The regular scales and musical principals of Pythagoras will allow the audience to experience the varied music of the afternoon as a harmonious whole, even though it originates from vastly different instruments and historical periods.  Featured on the program will be a new piece of music for Brass Quintet composed by Julia Hamilton and Dr. Tom Kindel, "A Fanfare for I’On Village."  In composing this piece of music, they will rely on the same harmonic principals Pythagoras used to begin the structured study of music in ancient Greece. The audience will be able to listen to this concert seated beneath the grand oaks of Eastlake Park, whose curved branches and trunks follow the same rules of proportion as the music they will hear.

Image, Right, Ionic volute designed by Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio, showing proportional relationships derived from theories of Pythagoras. Click this image for a larger view.

Thus in four free concerts the ancient principals of harmony and beauty discovered by the secretive Pythagoreans will be shared with audiences in I’On. In a pedestrian friendly landscape, featuring houses designed around the same golden section proportions, the public is invited to experience music in proportion.

Image left- House in I'On designed using palladian / golden section proportions.  Note how the rectangular spaces between the columns have the same proportions as a rectangle bounding the outer edges of the ionic volute spiral above would have.  The second floor is shorter and the proportional relationship between the two is also related to the structure of the spiral and the difference in pitch of musical notes.

For a lot more information on the golden section and its complex manifestations in nature, art, music and architecture see the fascinating Fibonacci Numbers Page These graphics come from that page and show how the golden section rectangles create the spiral.

I’Onissimo welcomes musicians living in and outside of I’On of all skill levels to join them for practice and performance.  It is supported by the I’On Trust, Inc., a non profit community foundation.

For more information on I’Onissimo and the series, check the web at www.awod.com/hamilton or call (843) 849-8481.

Return to Main I'Onissimo Web Page