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The Art of Musical Ciphers, Riddles and Sundry Curiosities
-
R. Larry Todd
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2026
About this book
Offers the first comprehensive account of a centuries-old tradition of encrypting covert messages into music, from the Middle Ages to the present day.
What do J. S. Bach, beef cabbage, coffee, the SATOR Square, and Marlene Dietrich have in common? Composers have enciphered these and many other words into music.
Since time immemorial riddles have intrigued us, partly for their mirthful manner of connecting incongruous ideas, partly for their arresting way of opening fresh perspectives on our shared human condition. When we think of riddles, we normally recall verbal conundrums from cultures around the globe. But riddles can penetrate non-verbal aspects of our existence as well. Masking messages in music so that they lurk beneath the sonorous surface is an august Western tradition spanning the Middle Ages to the present. Known as musical cryptography, these puzzling pursuits form the subject of this book, construed broadly enough to capture not just musical ciphers and codes but also a curiosity shop of related techniques, which arguably can advance the greater virtue. They entertain, edify, and enthral, but also bewitch and bewilder, and, when unsolved, perplex and perturb.
What do J. S. Bach, beef cabbage, coffee, the SATOR Square, and Marlene Dietrich have in common? Composers have enciphered these and many other words into music.
Since time immemorial riddles have intrigued us, partly for their mirthful manner of connecting incongruous ideas, partly for their arresting way of opening fresh perspectives on our shared human condition. When we think of riddles, we normally recall verbal conundrums from cultures around the globe. But riddles can penetrate non-verbal aspects of our existence as well. Masking messages in music so that they lurk beneath the sonorous surface is an august Western tradition spanning the Middle Ages to the present. Known as musical cryptography, these puzzling pursuits form the subject of this book, construed broadly enough to capture not just musical ciphers and codes but also a curiosity shop of related techniques, which arguably can advance the greater virtue. They entertain, edify, and enthral, but also bewitch and bewilder, and, when unsolved, perplex and perturb.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: R. Larry Todd
R. LARRY TODD is Arts & Sciences Professor at Duke University
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Contributor: Katharina Uhde
KATHARINA UHDE is Associate Professor of Violin and Musicology, Valparaiso University; and Akademische Oberrätin, LMU Munich
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
vii -
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List of Illustrations
viii -
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List of Music Examples
ix -
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List of Tables
xviii -
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Preface
xix -
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Acknowledgements
xxiii -
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chapter 1 A Musical Riddle
1 -
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chapter 2 The Riddles of Music
17 -
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chapter 3 The Rise of Cryptography
49 -
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chapter 4 Sounding Numbers, Fickle Anagrams, Chameleonic Alphabets and Carved Vowels
69 -
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chapter 5 Sonic Monuments, Alchemy, Hexachords and Lunar Discourses
101 -
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chapter 6 BACH: His Way and Ours
129 -
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chapter 7 Enlightened Ciphers, Ars combinatoria and Masonic Secrets
147 -
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chapter 8 Censors, Unsinn, Nominal Ciphers and Solrésol
175 -
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chapter 9 Riddles of the Sphinx
203 -
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chapter 10 Stenographic Mysteries, Dark Sayings, Magic Squares and Foul Balls
229 -
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chapter 11 Queer Liaisons, Mystic Chords, DSCH and Tombstone Monograms
261 -
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chapter 12 Hommages, Tombeaux, Triskaidekaphilia and Langage communicable
291 -
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chapter 13 (12a) Mystics, Numerologists and Modernists
321 -
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chapter 14 Round Trips, Gothic Skyscrapers, Thunderwords and Fallen Angels
347 -
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Bibliography
377 -
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Index
417
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
February 10, 2026
eBook ISBN:
9781805437833
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook ISBN:
9781805437833
Keywords for this book
Musical Cryptography; Middle Ages; Present Day; J. S. Bach; SATOR Square; Marlene Dietrich; Riddles; Non-verbal Communication; Western Tradition; Music Codes; Hidden Messages; Musical Puzzles
Audience(s) for this book
For an expert adult audience, including professional development and academic research
