Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue
- 1 Multilingualism: An Introduction
- 2 Huygens’s Language Acquisition
- 3 The ‘Multidimensionality’ of Huygens’s Multilingualism
- 4 Huygens’s Multilingualism in Music, Science, and Architecture
- 5 Huygens and Translation
- 6 Code Switching in Huygens’s work
- 7 The Multilingualism of Huygens’s Children
- Epilogue
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - Huygens’s Multilingualism in Music, Science, and Architecture
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 February 2021
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Prologue
- 1 Multilingualism: An Introduction
- 2 Huygens’s Language Acquisition
- 3 The ‘Multidimensionality’ of Huygens’s Multilingualism
- 4 Huygens’s Multilingualism in Music, Science, and Architecture
- 5 Huygens and Translation
- 6 Code Switching in Huygens’s work
- 7 The Multilingualism of Huygens’s Children
- Epilogue
- Appendix
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In this chapter we pick up one of the threads from Chapter 3: namely, that one of the ways in which Huygens used his multilingual skills was to engage in various spheres of cultural and intellectual activity. Consideration will be given to how he did this in three of these spheres; music, science, and architecture. In relation to music he corresponded with composers and musicians across Western Europe in a range of languages. He also composed music himself, although unfortunately many of his compositions are now lost. Those that survive give us a flavour of how he used a number of languages, particularly Italian, French, and Latin, to compose songs. In the field of science, or ‘natural philosophy’, as it was then commonly called, Huygens himself did not publish any works. However, he established contact with a range of leading figures in the field, such as the French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650), who lived in the United Provinces between 1628 and 1648. He also undertook correspondence with a number of those who, like himself, were amateurs in this field, most notably Margaret Cavendish. Huygens also had a lifelong interest in architecture, so much so that he was involved in designing his own townhouse in The Hague and his country residence, Hofwijck, which stands to this day in Voorburg, a suburb of The Hague. Huygens used his knowledge of Italian and Latin in particular to educate himself about classical architecture and the appropriation of it by Renaissance architectural theorists, such as Palladio and Scamozzi. In each of these spheres of cultural activity Huygens had a range of books in his library in different languages. Details are provided for some of the books on music and architecture that he owned.
Multilingualism in Huygens's Musical Composition and Correspondence
We begin by considering how Huygens used his multilingual skills in the sphere of music. He had shown an early talent for music and began taking lessons in it at the age of four. By the age of eleven, he had developed his skills to such an extent that he was asked to perform music for a Danish diplomatic delegation (Strengholt 1987b: 13).
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- Information
- The Multilingualism of Constantijn Huygens (1596–1687) , pp. 137 - 176Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2014