Was Vincenzo Galilei—composer, lutanist, and father of Galileo—an experimental scientist? Historians of science and music alike have agonized over this question. In 1589, Vincenzo recounted observations, taken from sonorous objects including lute strings and organ pipes, that seemed to contradict classical laws of harmony. Intriguingly, he claimed to have obtained these results from "the teacher of all things": 'esperienza delle cose maestra.' Vincenzo’s word 'esperienza' has been translated as “experience” or “experiment” based on whether it appeared in practical contexts—dealing with composition and performance—or speculative contexts—concerning the natural cause of musical consonance. My talk reinterprets Vincenzo’s approach to music as a dual speculative/practical research program. Extending beyond scientific experimentation as usually defined, Vincenzo's notion of 'esperienza' entailed a balancing of mathematical reasoning, sense perception, and instrumental skill that bridged the chasm between musical sciences and arts. Just as Vincenzo used instruments to disprove contemporary theories of harmony, he implored musicians to deploy 'esperienza' towards the composition of 'vera musica,' or the "true music" given in nature. In short, Vincenzo proffered a musical art-science in which theory and practice converged towards the formation of natural knowledge. His vision of 'esperienza' would inspire many experimental philosophers in the following century, most notably his son. My talk, by investigating the musical roots of experimental philosophy, demonstrates how entangled premodern speculative science and musical practice truly were.
