Lavoisier and Music: an Analysis of Notes sur la Musique (1778) within Its Cultural Context

Notes sur la Musique are a set of notes devoted by the French chemist Antoine Laurent Lavoisier (1743–1794) to music theory and in particular to the rules for correct composition. Given its subject matter, Notes constitutes a unicum in Lavoisier’s corpus that has been little studied and never published. This essay will present the initial results of an in-depth analysis of this manuscript, followed by a transcription of the text. It will be argued that a large part of the Notes were derived from the writings of Alexandre Théophile Vandermonde (1735–1796), a mathematician who collaborated with Lavoisier on his scientific experiments, but who also developed his own system of harmony. After a brief examination of Vandermonde’s contributions to music theory, various passages from Lavoisier’s Notes will be evaluated in order to show the link between the two scientists’ perspectives on music. Some of Vandermonde’s unpublished papers will also be taken into consideration. On the basis of this analysis, hypotheses will be advanced regarding the circumstances that could have led Lavoisier to take an interest in music theory. Overall, this paper will shed light on a little-known side of Lavoisier’s cultural interests and activities and provide elements that could contribute to a better understanding of his Notes sur la Musique.