Classroom Deck Flashcards
context for the 8th and 9th century (west)
Charlemagne building up the Carolingian Empire
uniformity of ritual, music and language
beginnings of western Europe as we might understand it now
Concentor: Isidore of Seville (c.560-636) quote about categories of singer
‘A precentor is one who leads the voice in a song: while a succentor is one who responds by singing afterwards. Now he is said to be a ‘concentor’, who harmonizes: but he that does not harmonize, and does not sing together with others, will not be a ‘concentor’.
organum etymology
used first to denote a musical instrument in c.400
then a song of praise, psalm or book of
sound measured in ratios
rational order of sound
change in the 9th century - Beckow and Roesner (2001) Grove
vox organalis as independent moving voice allowing for different ways of shaping counterpoint
Musica Enchiriadis
handbook of science and understanding of music
music in the 10th century
knowledge of measuring well
measured sound that is rationally ordered
polyphony as beginning of symphonia concept - blended song
mode system in Enchiriadis
plainchant scale - two octave A-A with additional G at the bottom and potential Bb
greater perfect system
descending tetrachords in de institutione musica
less perfect system
descending tetrachords from A-A in T T S pattern
Hucbald 8 modes from tetrachord system
each mode has plagal mode starting 4th below
1 starting on A - protus
2 starting on B - deutrus
3 starting on C - trittus
4 starting on D - tetradus
Enchiriadis/Dasian scale
made up of Dasian signs
each note has a sign and set out intervals between
constructed over wider scale
tetrachords of the same quality
tetrachord of four final tones, which differ in quality, is repeated upwards and downwards
organum in Musica Enchiriadis
Dasian system
beginnings of concept of music today - lines, reading left to write
singing at fifth below]singing in fourths, fifths and octaves
organal voice never descending below boundry tone
variable fourths
diaphonic song in Musica Enchiriadis
different from organum - using dissonance
diaphony at the fourth as variable organum - all in fourths until tritone and then changes
singing dissonantly in concordant fashion
artistic
Scolica Enchiriadis
uses same scale
likely also from North-East France/Belgium
coming together in definitive form
some internal contradictions
vitia as pitch alterations in the tone series - introduction of the F#
singing at octave but with Dasien signs
similar concepts with slight shift in practice
implications for historical practice from Enchiriadis treatises
using teaching to decorate chants
illustrating with examples
perception while singing
genres of organum at the 4th - te deum, psalm 103, v.15
rex caeli
psalm 15 v.18
ferial office antiphons at 5th and 8th
sequence
sung after alleluia in the mass
Frankush cantor adding in own tunes
Notker’s sequence to Christmas day as one of the earliest
adding words to melisma over time
instrumental scales on C - de harmonica institutione (c.900’)
hinting at C system - other systems start start A
cithara of six strings tuning (and water organs C-C scale)
C, D, F, G, A
taking to vocal context these notes often used as starting notes^
opening sequences in Winchester Troper - not modern pitch so notated A was a c. notation from instruments
Bamburg treatise
continues Dasien scale and teaching
Enchiriadis scale and treatise
2 treatises - 1 scholarly teaching and 2 simpler
C and G boundary tones, introduces F (new)
selestat treatise
modal finals
Germany
10th century
inserted into organ pipe treatise
only organum at fifth and fourth
can use 2nd and 3rd but ‘unnatural’
Cologne treatise
modal finals
9th/10th century
self-standing at the end of another manuscript
hinting at simlper organum
unison modal finals
no lower than tone blow final
colon as longer phrase and comma as shorter
go in fourths until end
coming together at end of phrase
companion tones - tones one above and below the final for cadence
Paris treatise
not more than one below final
repetitions characteristic of sequence style
principle under organal voice
tritone
middle, higher and lower regions of organum
Guido of Arrezo Micrologus
2 octave A-A system
hard polyphony - 4ths and 5ths
soft polyphony - using other intervals
Bb means F used more
elongating cadence by extending through dissonance
relaxing rules of going into cadences
Office antiphon examples
chant varied according to word meaning
two types of alleluia melodies
earlier more like elaborate psalmody
larger body with more repetition - simple set of gestures with slight variation
Winchester Troper
1020s-1030s
Two manuscripts - one in Oxford (Bodley 775) and one in Cambridge (473). The latter contains the organum (without the chant notated) and the other contains the chants
originally from Old Minster in Winchester (New Minster next door later replaced by cathedral)
organum in the Winchester troper
variable lower fourth organum
voices can cross
prolonging cadences
reading difficulties with the Winchester Troper
ambiguity about neumes - what is notation and what is not
starting pitch hard to identify
some relation between the height of the neumes
letters giving clues to pitches
transcribing the Winchester Troper
Holschneider did the most
the ones with the most repetition as the most convincing as they evidence underlying rules
oriscus - vocal emphasis or repetition?
Bishop Aethelwold (d.984)
reforms
removes secular clergy from old and new minsters and installs monks
spreading Benedictine rule
reformed liturgy
pupil Wulfstan composed and made another work on the harmony of tones, author of tropes
973 - Regularis concordia
sanctioned by the Council of Winchester
based on customs of Fleury and Ghent
expanded Benedictine ritual and rule
Fleury had own polyphony which links closely to Winchester
Winchester CCC473 order
chants by soloists, Alleluias, TRopes, Sequences and organa arranged by liturgical order and genre
174 organa copied separately from their chant
when would polyphony be sung (1020s)
feasts - festal occasions
Temporale - christ’s life
sanctorale - individual saints
ritual and elaboration for high days
Schneider Winchester transcription
organum above the chant
variant heteropony
5th and 8th interval
assumed scribe made errors
lack of uniformity
Jammers Winchester transcription
lower fourth as predominant interval
unison as favoured final sound, more rarely the lower fourth when voices run parallel for a long time
tone repetition
oriscus inserted before the final note of a section - more notes in organal part
opening lower 4th or unison
Holschneider transcription of Winhester
more reliable transcription
recognises similar chant phrases mean organum does same thing
oriscus at cadences forming occursus
parallel thirds to avoid tritone
extra oriscus in the organal voice delays joining both voices together in the final tone
Fuller transcription of Winchester
boundary tones of C F D
lower second theory
restricted limits
editorial choices in transcription
Rankin (2007) transcription of Winchester
showing different solutions for chant melodies
rhetorically influenced style
differences in transcripts
Sancte Bonifati martyr - polyphonic piece before Winchester
oldest found a few years ago
Paleo-Frankish notation below and other notation above
grouping of dots
added in at the end of manuscript
end of words as cadenecs
fourth as underlying interval
notation evolving
Fleury polyphony
Abbey of Fleury
Benedictine rule
Bishop of Worhester went to learn
Dunstan also went
List of Officials including Cantor - role expanding
organum below
thirds and seconds (some flat 2)
variety
organal voice repeating tones
cadencing to unison from lower note
Fleury tract example
Tract for Septuagesmina
many parallel fourths
some speculation over correctness
tract sung at Winchester with organal voice - not completely the same but related
Chartres polyphony
loss of sources
11th century
ornate and refined organum
fourths
longer phrases
verse and polyphony alternating
Chartres example
six aleluia melodies
2 voices
Alleluia V. Multifarie olim
coming together on unison every neume end
smaller sections
Chartres 109
Reconstructions difficult to see.
Cycle of liturgical order.
Organal voice predominantly above.
Cadence at octave
Expanding range to 10th
Contrary motion principle.
Liberating organal voice?
Joining odd word together.
Expanding ‘free’ writing over whole phrase.
ad organum faciendum group
Milan prose and verse treatise
Montpellier treatise
new teaching in ad organum faciendum treatises
rationalization of practice through observation and classification rather than instruction
coincides with earliest notations of New Song - on the edge of liturgy
Montpellier treatise c.1100
France (Aquitaine?)
organum as duplex cantus or two-fold song
phrase boundaries and tonality the same
fourth and fifth preferred
third and sixth permitted
final and first note roughly the same
forming copula whenever
eight note phrases
Milan prose treatise, c.1100, France
five ways of doing organum
conjunct beginning - unison/octave
disjunct beginning - 4th/5th
switching voices
more than one note against note
organal voice above
copula new word for occursus
some internal copula
range huge
Milan prose treatise Benedicamus Domino example
three different ways of realising
taking big chant melisma and singing to Benedicamus
polyphonic melisma
versions or revisions?
sense of direction and voice leading
Milan verse treatise
for memorisation
yellow line for c and red for f
minor third used
treatise showing compositional play
organal voice as dominant
Johannes, De Musica, c.1100
updates Guido
different musicians practice differently
contrary motion
regions with unison cadences
teaching by example not definition
copula at end of word
almost every type of interval
oblique motion cadence
Aquitaine rep examples for Ad organum faciendum treatises
Boethian metra, c.1100
Horace Ode 3.13, c.1100
example of secular organum
Boethius De consolation philosophiae
singing through poetry
contrary motion
fourths dominate
Montepellier treatise is closest
Aquitaine (location)
Middle third of France
rich, wealthy, independent land owners
resisting regime power
Duke William IX of Aquitaine as the first known troubadour writing the first crusade songs
Eleanor of Aquitaine - court sponsoring troubadour song
connection of crusade, troubadour song and Latin repertory
Aquitanian versaria A
Paris, Latin 1139
probably copied at the Abbey of St-MArtial of Limoges
A-I and A-II
Early polyphony
c.1100
Aquitanian versaria B
Paris, Latin 3549
probs copied in Aquitaine
Middle (c.1150)
Aquitanian versaria C
Paris, 3719
probs copied in Aquiaine
C-I and C-II as early (c.1100)
C-III and C-IV as middle (c.1150)
Aquitanian versaria D
London, BL Add. 36881
notational features common to Catalonia and Apt (France) manuscript
D-I and D-II
Late (c.1200)
square notation with straight line of atalonian repertory
oblong punctus and vertical ligature between diagonal punctus and pes.
score notation
contents of Aquitanian polyphony
consists of 9 libelli (booklets)
sections with polyphony and these are fetsal books for Christmas and Easter
major feasts
Benedicamus worked into many - used at end of office or meal
Aquitanian notation changes
begins with text and score line
dry point line for orientation
mathematical use of space
successive notation - Aquitaine (early sources)
verses following structure per line or strophe
writing out first voice for first strophe and second voice for second
looks like monophony but is actually polyphony
key change at major point of articulation such as between strophes
Aquitaine middle source notation
dots in parchment indicating lines
four or five lines - beginning of modern stave
text line
dividing line between voices
poetry (Aquitaine)
rhythmic or accentual
accent is penultimate (p) and antipen (pp) e.g a strophe could be 2x 8p + 7pp.
rhyming units building new forms
Aquitaine finals
D and G
strongest consonance at end of neume
changes with Aquitanian polyphony
florid counterpoint
mixture of textures
variety in versus form - strophic and through-composed examples
contrary motion and perfect consonance
stock figures expanding and contracting
voice crossing
terminal melismas
interdependence of voice - simultaneous construction of parts (Fuller)
Lux refulgent, D-I, fol. 8v
first two lines sound like cantus firmus with elaboration in upper but other six lines more note against note
poetic not strophic
5ths and octave cadences marking consonance
overlapping voices
music articulating structure
Cantu miro, summa laude, D-I, fol. 12v
song about St Nicholas
paired strophes
stave verse structure
interval rhyme between each 4, final line of paired strophes rhymes with each other
musically paired also
texture from sequence
Benedicamus Domino/Stirps less A-I 60v and B 166v
double text - lower and upper difference
not a motet as the Benedicamus melody is from the Stirps Jesse responsary so texts are related
florid style
Aquitanian versus
on edges of liturgy
through-composed melody repeated between strophe pairs
poetry
features in all 4 Aquitanian songbooks
themes mainly xmas
Sequences Aquitanian
clear liturgical function
prose
collected in blocks
spread throughout year
Codex Calixtinus
5 books written mainly by a single scribe and notator
11th century
Book 1 contains monophonic items for Mass and Office for feasts of St Hames and later polyphonic voices
Book 5 includes polyphony, 14 pieces for St James and 4 unassigned
Codex Calixtinus polyphony
solo sections of chant genres
florid upper voices for Responsaries
conductus not versus
central French notation
various people attributed
Congaudeant Catholici, fol.165r Codex
2 part polyphony with extra notated part in red
not all three together, red lines as alternative for second voice?
Winchester rep as cultural practice
Comes out of series of reforms from Benedictine order.
Expansion of ritual with Aethelwold.
Dunstan at Ghent
Oswald of Worchester at Fleury
new benedictine reforms via Dunstan and Oswald writings and experiences
earlier Carolingian spread
cadences in Winchester vs Guido
Prolongs occursus by giving extra note, 3rd, 2nd, unison (after end of chant).
Different to Guido – 3rd, 2nd, unison
Winchester Troper is closely connected to…
…Fleury
Arlt 1993 Winchester Troper place
Winchester organa is somewhat isolated in its presentation in comparison to scattered sources
sources that we have from across Europe also suggest that the Winchester repertory clearly defines principles for an localised method of polyphonic singing
Alleluia V. Dies Sanctificus comparison of Winchester and Chartres 130
both manuscripts show core similarities in organum construction, such as the structural arrangement and intervallic patterning, in the Winchester repertory phrases are longer
Fuller 1990 quote on treatise teaching
‘individual features cannot be regimented under set rules and procedures’, suggesting that in the true practice of polyphony rules manifested slightly differently from theoretical suggestions
occursus in Winchester Troper (Arlt 1993)
When looking at the way in which the Winchester Troper approaches these endings, in comparison to polyphony from the rest of the continent, the English style adds notes at the occursus to extend the passage of parallel movement
, this practice also contrasts to the theoretical underpinnings and suggestions for polyphonic singing in Guido’s Micrologus, a treatise from around the same time period
…
In the Winchester repertory, the treatment of occursus is less strict in practice and suggests that standard patterns could be rejected in favour of more common melodic solutions, as musical options, such as the presence of the minor third, go far beyond what Guido suggested (Rankin, 1993).
individual singers (Rankin 2007)
cultivating what is now preserved
scribes notation
It is likely that a maximum of five scribes worked on the Winchester Troper specifically and one in particular is responsible for 165 out of the 174 notations before then perhaps being altered and changed by others
scribes also likely singers - ongoing adaptation of style
tag aquitanian rep
Sentence at end of conductus that identifies whether it comes before a reading.
The reader now reads the powerful words of God.
Aquitanian melismas
Becoming foundation for new creations.
E.g motet taking out these melismatic chants and adding parts to them.
Internal patterns of repetition within them – not in any other aspects of chant.
Expanding final melisma for more patterns of repetition and creating own.
Constructivist art and art of making patterns.
Crossing and exchanging of patterns.
exchanges playing with musical possibilities
Codex and Aquitaine
Codex as liturgised practice of some Aquitanian song.
Theory treatises giving note by note and Codex expanding it.
note by note version as a basic framework elaborated by different singers?
ad organum faciendum and de musica
instead of dictating and defining the practice, seems to rationalise it through classifying with examples that often provide more knowledge of the practice than the text
upper and lower parts not organal and chant
Codex evidence of organisation
Montpellier says the clausula cannot extend beyond 8 notes.
Milan prose - internal copula
evidenced in Nostra phalanx
Annua gaudia which does not follow the same balanced phrase structure, with the use of six and five syllable phrases
joining octave and unison in both
Iacobe Virginei florid upper - responsary not conductus
tonal planning
cadences on different degrees at the ends of internal phrases clearly play a role in structuring songs though differing degrees of openness and closure. This is an important consideration that is not brought to the fore by treatises, especially since they tend to assume a given voice. We might look at examples in the treatises to see how they manage tonal planning.
