Ernest Glenn McClain (August 6, 1918 – April 25, 2014) was aprofessor of music atBrooklyn College from 1951 to 1982. McClain is known for his efforts to analyze music in the context of ancient knowledge of mathematics and philosophy.
McClain was born on August 6, 1918, inMassillon, Ohio.A 1936 graduate ofWashington High School, Ohio, he studied at theOberlin Conservatory of Music, where he graduated in 1940 with a degree in Music Education. After graduation, he worked in theWadsworth, Ohio, school district, but soon joined theAir Corps forWorld War II, where he became a lieutenant and was stationed inNew Guinea and thePhilippines. On his return from the war, he studied for a Master's degree in Music Education (1947) fromNorthwestern University, then took music instructor positions atDenison University inGranville, Ohio, and theUniversity of Hawaii. After receiving a doctorate in Music Education fromTeachers College, Columbia University, he joined the Music Faculty of Brooklyn College (part of theCity University of New York) in 1951, where he taught until his retirement in 1982. He died on April 25, 2014, inWashington, D.C.[1]
McClain credits colleaguesErnst Levy andSiegmund Levarie and their writings for introducing him toPythagoreanism via the insights of 19th century theoristAlbert von Thimus, who provided the keys to unlocking Plato's mathematical riddles. His three books were published during a decade of further collaboration withAntonio de Nicolas, that opened a window into other ancient philosophical and religious writings.[citation needed]
His writings offer a musical-mathematical explanation of crucial passages in texts of world literature, including theBible, theRig Veda, the EgyptianBook of the Dead, andPlato. All of these passages deal with numbers that he claimed had either been ignored or misinterpreted throughout the centuries. McClain's explanation is based on the meanings of these numbers within the context of thequadrivium, the four ancient mathematical disciplines of arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy. He argued that his discovery of identical or similar numbers and parallel mathematical constructs in Sumer, Egypt, Babylon, Palestine and Greece, suggests the historical continuity of a common spiritual tradition linking the microcosm of the soul to the macrocosm of the universe.[citation needed] His work provides much of the missing mathematical detail for what scholars often call theMusic of the Spheres.[2][3][4]
