music of the spheres

American  

noun

1. a music, imperceptible to human ears, formerly supposed to be produced by the movements of the spheres or heavenly bodies.

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music of the spheres British  

noun

1. the celestial music supposed by Pythagoras to be produced by the regular movements of the stars and planets

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Etymology

Origin of music of the spheres

First recorded in 1600–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

music of the spheres

Overhead, a stylized starry sky—gold against deep blue—illustrates the Pythagorean idea of the music of the spheres.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026

The fact that each of these planetlike orange circles is itself made up of tiny orange circles makes clear that the music of the spheres is also the music of atoms, and vice versa.

From New York Times ● Aug. 3, 2023

Never before has humanity reached out to so deliberately strike such a lasting chord in the music of the spheres.

From Scientific American ● Dec. 19, 2022

His music of the spheres not only sounds like music of the spheres but looks like it too.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 8, 2022

One struck the dead globe, causing it to sing its strange filamental music of the spheres, fragile and high-pitched above the outside noises.

From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin