Anna Vilenskaya in Helsinki. "The physics of music, or why there are seven notes" 1 November 2025

Anna Vilenskaya is a musicologist, lecturer and researcher of contemporary music. She has changed the approach of storytelling about music towards visualization, simplicity, emotionality and practical benefits for the listener.

Lecture topic: The physics of music, or why there are seven notes

Why are there seven notes - and is it just Europeans? Is there something objectively pleasant or unpleasant in music for all people? Let's dive into the history of temperament - find out how people have been arguing for centuries about how to tune the harpsichord, why the clarinet and French horn do not have the same A as other instruments, and why the piano is tuned differently. And what does wood have to do with it? Let's talk about music as physics, tuning as drama, and sound as a cultural mystery.