Mersenne, Marie

1588-1648

Franciscan monk; interesting as the author of a rare and voluminous history of music, now very valuable because of the specimens of compositions it contains, also because of its rarity. He lived in Paris and is said to have known Descartes. Among his works are his curious Preludes de I'Harmonie Universelle with its quaint discussion of the horoscope necessary to produce the perfect musician and his L'Harmonie Universelle, which appeared in 1636 and which contained over fifteen hundred pages.