„Doktor Faustus” – muzyka, metafizyka i mistyka liczb

The first part of the article presents the tradition in which music is linked with metaphysics and the numerical model of understanding the world, as well as discusses the issues connected to number symbolism and to gematria. Subsequent to that, the paper refers to the way Adrian Leverkühn, Thomas Mann’s portagonist, composed his works. At this point the author formulates a hypothesis, the core of which is a relationship, also crucial for dodecaphony, of a magic square rules with the square from Albrecht Dürer’s Melencolia 1. Such relationship is held due to the use of number counterparts of a musical figure, namely haetera esmeralda. The final part of the paper contains remarks on the meanings of Roman numerals used in chapter numbers as well as considerations on the novel’s structure. Developing Jean-Yves Masson’s hypothesis, the author formulates a view about a possibility of using golden ratio in the narration of Doktor Faustus.