Ok, where to start?

I don’t mean any disrespect by posting this reply, and indeed my dissent here falls outside the scope of this blog, however in the brief statement supplied with this work there are a few assertions that are grounded in disputed premises. (Please read to the end where I make more positive comments concerning this piece.)

Firstly, there is no reputable evidence that the fifth so-called “Solfeggio frequency” of 528 Hz can repair DNA. These frequencies are actually derived from the new age practice of numerology, which though interesting, is hardly considered a science. Numerology was cool in the eighties and nineties, but seems to have less followers now. Anyway, there are a series of “Solfeggio” frequencies, beginning at 174 Hz, the series built by adding a 1 to each numeric column, but skipping zeros (so a 9 moves back to 1). So next is 285 Hz, then 396 Hz, 417 Hz, 528 Hz, 639 Hz, etc. The quoted frequencies used in this piece are 417 Hz, 528 Hz and 639 Hz. These three frequencies seem to roughly equate to an A flat major triad in twelve-tone equal temperament. This might be why the piece sounds pleasing to the western ear – we might get a different reaction from a resident of Indonesia, or the The Middle East, where tuning systems are vastly different.

Secondly, the claim (and I realise that this is not the claim of the composer, but of the below mentioned Dr Horowitz) that these frequencies are found in Gregorian Chant is also conjecture. Obviously, the capability of frequency measurement and calibration is far more recent than chants from 10th to 13th century Europe. Chant and Plainsong might contain intervals closely resembling these frequencies, but I think this is more coincidence than design.

Despite the conjecture found on countless websites, there is no ancient Solfeggio scale in Gregorian Chant. The term “Solfeggio” in describing a series of frequencies is attributable to Dr Leonard Horowitz (and Dr Joseph Puleo) in a book titled “Healing Codes for the Biological Apocalypse” (1999) – NB: this is a self-published, non-peer reviewed book. Horowitz is primarily known for the conspiracy theory that H.I.V. / A.I.D.S. was engineered by the US government as a biological weapon, rather than the accepted scientific belief that it is a mutation of the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus that effects primates. My objection to theorists such as Horowitz is that such claims as his provide false hope to those in real need of concrete medical solutions. I do not discount the value of placebo and belief in healing, but I reckon that the real hope for sufferers of deadly cell-attacking diseases lies with proper, peer-reviewed scientific method.

Having said all this, as an experimental composer who has dabbled in microtonal tunings derived from systemic and arbitrary sources, I find this piece compelling food for thought in a musical context. I would be interested in hearing a piece using the full range of these Solfeggio frequencies, particularly in as much as the intervals between notes would diminish as the frequency values increase. There is also that chaotic and unpredictable step caused by skipping the zero (9 goes back to 1) between 639 Hz and 741 Hz (a very slight variation), and between 396 Hz and 417 Hz (a very narrow interval compared to the previous and subsequent).

Please accept my best wishes,
Brent Williams