In ancient times, the harmony of the spheres was revealed by Pythagoras, then by the Arab scholars and philosophers Al-Fârâbî and Al-Kindi. They conceived that each planet in the solar system – the Moon, Mercury, the Sun, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn – corresponded to the seven notes of our scale. Their intervals were determined by the distance between each of these planets.

Everything in this world had its own sound and its own form. The mingled sounds of the oceans, rivers, wind, storms, animals, and humans created a harmony that was reflected in the stars, in a true cosmic symphony.

“Then,” said Plato:

“the Soul, extending from the center to the periphery of the sky, began to turn in a circle upon itself for all time.”

From ancient India to Greece, from the Judeo-Arabic to the Christian Andalusian world, the same stellar philosophy endures the belief that music echoes the harmony of the heavens.
The stars served as the original score, inspiring a music and philosophy aligned with celestial dance such as the Mevlevi Whirling dance of Mevlânna Jalâl al-Dîn Rûmî or the sacred dance of The Majuli monks of Assam.

In Arabic maqāmat and Indian ragas, each mode is a constellation, rising and setting in harmony with cosmic time, as we will discover through the music and poetic tradition of Spanish Andalusia meeting dhrupad and the Carnatic violin challenging the Tunisian fiddle.
From sunrise over Jaswant Thada to a starry night at Zenana Deodi Courtyard, we will journey through the intoxicating harmony of ancient nature; from the deserts of Rajasthan and Kutch to the Pamir Mountains, from Chinese court music inspired by the sounds of the natural elements to the Sufi lyrics of Punjab.

— Alain Weber