Exam Deck

Question 1

meaning of the word organum

Answer 1

changes throughout history. Beginning to be a musical instrument as referred to in c.400 by Augustine. Then became a song of praise, a psalm of book of psalms. By the time of the Enchiriadis treatises was used in reference to proportional order and mathematical exactitude in relation to music, a way of demonstrating pre-conceived rational order

Question 2

Enchiriadis and rationally organised sound

Answer 2

Dasian tetrachord system

Question 3

diaphonic song

Answer 3

two voice, concordant song
utilises dissonance
organum is 4th, 5th and octave
diaphony - singing dissonantly in concordant fasion

Question 4

‘Natural law’ of organum

Answer 4

embedded into practice - description of what already exists
singingin at the fourth until change is required - usually becuase of tritone

Question 5

addition in the scolica

Answer 5

adds vitia (corruptions) as pitch alterations in the tone series
F#
chromatic inflection arising

Question 6

instrumental scales beginning on C

Answer 6

Hubald
all other systems start on A
Semitone on the cithara of six strings between 3rd and 4th string and on water organs.
Describing the tuning of the cithara.
Hinting at dual system.
Later, some vocal music shows evidence of the influence of a C focused scale. Starting notes of CDFGA for example.

Question 7

implications for practice enchiriadis

Answer 7

using teaching to decorate chants
illustrating practice through example
examples enhancing understanding

Question 8

basics of enchiriadis organum

Answer 8

Pitch system and interrelationships between elements.
Organum as embodying properties of symphoniae.
The quality of sounds generated from mathematical relationships.
Organal voice below.
4th and 5th movement, doubled at octave.
Daseian tetachord system.
C and G boundary tones.
Scolica – notes not fitting in the eight note systems known as vitia (corruptions) or pitch alterations in the tone series.
Organum 5th below principle voice.
Octaves favoured.
Boundary tones C and G.
Singing at 5th below

Question 9

example of organum at fourth (ME)

Answer 9

Tu patris sempiternus
variable organum
eighth doubling possible
movement in fourth to meet on unison

Question 10

Sit gloria domini (ME) - fifth

Answer 10

composite parallel organum at the fifth
organanum with octave doubling

Question 11

Rex caeli (ME) - boundary tones

Answer 11

example of boundary tones in variable fourth organum
shows lower voice not below C and upper not above A
starting on unison and holding until reaching fourth

Question 12

Bamburg and Enchiriadis examples

Answer 12

commonalities between examples
Gratuletur omnis caro and Rex Caeli similarities.
Open in same way and curve but then cadence differently (both end on unison).
Low C with hexachord above and low G rising to top C – emphasises fundamental tonalities.

Question 13

Reckow and Roesner (2001) on separation of voices

Answer 13

‘only now could the vox organalis be thought of as an increasingly independent moving ‘voice’; only now did alternative ways of singing polyphonically become thinkable and feasible; only now could different ways of shaping a counterpoint be tried out in practice and formulated as theory, and hence the ‘history’ of polyphony really begin.’

Question 14

Paris Treatise 11th century

Answer 14

In version of ME, chapter heading replaced with ‘On organum’.
Modal final idea.
Variable organum at the fourth with high, middle and low organum regions.
Ideas of tetrachord prevail with organum not depart ascending or descending on a sound lower than the one under the terinal except when closing on 3rd, 4th or 5th under final.
Use of tritones.
Sequences to move from one modality to another to put more intensity into the melody.

Question 15

Bamburg treatise 10th century

Answer 15

Insertions in copy of ME in dialogue like SE.
Voice paths permitted to cross (NEW).
Boundary tone F (NEW)
Enchiriadis scale used.
Uses non-liturgical examples in explanation.
Enchiriadis scale.
Wandering phrases – might wander but hold G on both sides.
First example of holding note and chant can go below.
First time of upper boundary tone.

Question 16

Cologne treatise late 9th century

Answer 16

Expanding the 4th rule.
Diaphony only at the fourth.
One pitch/voice responds to another at the fourth, at the end of most phrases voices join together on modal final or on notes adjacent.
When phrase descends to end on final or on pitch directly adjacent to it the organal voice may descend no lower than note immediately below final.
Moving around until final.
Colon and comma – phrases. Colon is longer phrase and comma shorter.
No lower than tone below final.
Companion tones.

Question 17

Changes with Micrologus - Guido (1026)

Answer 17

Major third as new consonance and minor third tolerated.
Voices sometimes crossing.
New cadential theory firming up.
Patterns in which extra notes extend cadence.
Internal cadences at the 4th for stepwise part writing.
Occursus as the joininh in unison at the end of phrase.
New Bb means F used more.
Chant varying according to the meaning of the words.

Question 18

whats not new Micrologus

Answer 18

Organal voice still below.
Boundary tones (C and F)
Hard and soft polyphony (use of only 4ths and 5ths vs other intervals).
Hierarchy of intervals: 4th as principle. Tone favoured in occursus. Major third allowed.

Question 19

Guido and examples

Answer 19

tests through the use of examples
they tell much more than the words

Question 20

Guido example 10

Answer 20

boundary tones
not descending below the C tritus

Question 21

Guido example 12

Answer 21

cadences on the 4th
uses major third on ‘si’ two note melisma
use of second on the word ‘me’

Question 22

Guido example 14 and 15, 17 and 18

Answer 22

pairings that show different options for the same chant

Question 23

Guido example 14

Answer 23

holding until fourth
cadencing from major third to unison adding extra note

Question 24

Guido example 15

Answer 24

adding extra note at cadence
cadence adds extra note to go from second to unison (two seconds in a row)

Question 25

Guido example 16

Answer 25

cadencing in smaller units
nos melisma moving through fourth third and to unison

Question 26

Guido example 18

Answer 26

voice crossing and long melisma on ultimate syllable
lower voice remains on tritus F whilst upper goes as low as c
long melisma on final syllable ‘um’

Question 27

Guido example 20

Answer 27

example of Bb use
lower voice Bb paired with C and D

Question 28

alleluia melodies

Answer 28

Like elaborate psalmody, smaller number.
Christmas Day ones for example.
More are a larger body with much repetition and feature a simple set of gestures with slight variation.

Question 29

Old Minster in Winchester, New Minster built next to it in 901 so close that you could hear both choirs.

Answer 29

The Old Minster updated into a bigger structure and so by 980 two massive abbey’s next to each other. Until 1079 when the new minster was demolished and the cathedral built, later the old minster was taken down.

Question 30

English Benedictine Reform in the second half of the 10th century spreading the Benedictine rule across England.

Answer 30

Bishop Aethelwold Bishop of Winchester (963-84)
Removes secular clergy from old and new minsters and installs monks from other institutions.
Spreading Benedictine rule.
Reformed liturgy.

Question 30

Winchester Tropers basics

Answer 30

1020-1030 is date for copying of the Corpus manuscript – earlier in practice. Plausible that it preserves practices of Wulfstan.
Bodley is mid-11th (later).
Go to Bodley to get monophonic chant voices.
Oxford, Bodley 775 (mid-11th century)
Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, 473 (early 11th century)

Question 31

973 regularis concordia

Answer 31

sanctioned in Winchester (Bishop Aethelwold, King Edgar, Dunstan, Oswold of Worchester)
based on Fleury and Ghent
expanded Beneditine ritual and rule to be followed by all monasteries in England
ritual order brought to and installed in England

Question 32

instrumental C scale

Answer 32

Letters written correspond A to C.
This system found in treatises measuring organ pipes, tuning organs and the monochord.

Question 33

Fleury and Winchester

Answer 33

St Benedict’s relics Oswald Bishop of Worchester goes and spends three years at Fleury to learn their customs.
Benedictine rule in England.
Rise of the cantor role.

Question 34

Aethelwold, King Edward, Dunstan (Archbishop of Canterbury), Oswald of Worchester.

Answer 34

Dunstan had been at Ghent.
Oswald at Fleury.
New Benedictine reform document come via Dunstan and Oswald writings and experiences.
Thought that music moved with the liturgy.
Have organum from Fleury.

Question 35

Books of Winchester

Answer 35

Chant books for solo use.
Corpus manuscript contains the organum, chant often found in the Oxford one.
Organal voices notated in liturgical grouping and not paired with principal voice.
Shows standard technique for realizing organum on any chant but an element of individual choice and composition in the notation.
CAMBRIDGE CORPUS 473 and OXFORD BEDLEY 775
Non-liturgical settings.

Question 36

what’s new with Winchester

Answer 36

Use of structures such as parallel thirds to avoid the tritone – against what was written in treatise but often makes the most sense (Holschneider)
Boundary tones of C, F and D (Fuller)
Extending cadences by another note.
Indication of parallelism – reiterated pitches in organal voices by series of virgae or puncta constructed as boundary tones for organum at the fourth.
Some practices in the troper find no support in theory.
Chant includes repeated passages with organal voice varying – exploring options.
Sensitive setting to the meaning of the text.
Extending cadences by an extra note.
Delayed arrival at unison – Guido says organal voice held back from the tone on which unison will sound until chant reaches it but Winchester adds another organal note to delay cadence.
Adherence to rules NOT creation of them.
Treatment of occursus less strict in practice.
Use of minor third as much as tone and major third, not shown in theory. Going beyond rules.
Cadences – Winchester prolongs occursus with extra note (oriscus). Guido said different but unlikely to be known in Winhester at this time.

Question 37

Fuller on Winchester

Answer 37

‘Their individual features cannot be regimented under set rules and procedures. Nevertheless, they adhere to fairly restricted limits, for organa fashioned to concordant chants tend to be largely the same. On the whole, the modal final teaching articulated in the Paris and Cologne treatises seems to agree best with the Winchester repertory.’

Question 38

whats not new Winchester

Answer 38

Organum at the 4th and 5th still priority.
Adheres to fair restriction.
Some practices in the troper find no support in theory.
Organal voice below.
Freely parallel.
Note against note style.

Question 39

Rankin and scribes (2007)

Answer 39

Balance of work on the organa is heavily on the side of the main notator (S8) who is responsible for 165/174 notations.
Five scribes adding or reacting to this indicates concern with and understanding of the notation.
Possible that the chants were not available to the notator when writing the organa down.
Marginal annotations in this part of the book in contrast to a lack thereof in other areas.
Not all made by S8 – many were.
Alteration of the organal voice through addition or subtraction of notes (attempting to match with different version of the chant melody).
Procedures followed by the organal voice creating different melodic pattern
Notation to clarify meaning.

Question 40

Fuller 2011 quote

Answer 40

‘Their individual features cannot be regimented under set rules and procedures. Nevertheless, they adhere to fairly restricted limits, for organa fashioned to concordant chants tend to be largely the same. On the whole, the modal final teaching articulated in the Paris and Cologne treatises seems to agree best with the Winchester repertory.’
‘Sonic elaboration’ of chant.
Creativity of organum practice.

Question 41

Winchester Verse 1 and Chartres 109, fol.75 in their setting of Angelus domini.

Answer 41

Chartres moves organal voice above.
Chartres much more expressive in its setting, use of Bb and varied movement whereas Winchester has a lot more held tones.
Chartres showing beginnings of contrary motion and voice crossing.
More ornate polyphony in Chartres.
Chartres little note repetition in organal voice
Chartres meeting on unison G at the end of almost every word - internal cadences giving increased freedom of movement within

Question 42

Rankin (1993) sint lumbi vestry

Answer 42

Diverges from Guido’s teaching with ‘holding tones’.
Guido advised holding tones to be C F and G. Does not forbid the minor third but opposes it.
This example uses the available notes more freely than Guido would have liked.
Typical of Winchester organa.
Holschneider points out that holing tones – ‘a governing element of this style’ can be pitched on other notes than C, F and G as Guido suggested and that their function as boundary tones is lost since the organum moves often below a held pitch in the chant.
Uncertainty over notation in this piece means boundary tone uncertainty.

Question 43

Arlt (1993) Alleluia V. Dies Sanctificus – Chartes 130 and Winchester

Answer 43

organum in Chartres 130 exemplifies the disparity between highly differentiated polyphony and traditional singing based on simpler models as well as the distance from this to the ‘new organum’ of the twelfth century.
Parallel arrangement of the Alleluia and verse typical of structure of the Chartres 130 organa.
Winchester – Alleluia first phrase stretches as long as 12th note. Shaping opening through repetition of the first three notes by the organal voice. In the second part phrases independently constructed.
Similar structural arrangements in both by different means.
Missing a feeling of correspondence between Alleluia and its verse in the Alleluia V. Dies Sanctificus in the Winchester rep compared to Chartres 130.

Question 44

Alleluia angelus domini Winchester

Answer 44

Shows oblique organum.
Long melisma on final syllable, meeting together from below on the final.
Extending cadence by one note at the end of verse lines.
More than one note against note in title poetry in verse.
Prolonging cadences at the end of words e.g ‘angelus’

Question 45

Comparison of two Chartres 4 openings with Winchester organa

Answer 45

gives first impression of similarity in general aspects of style
Same tessitura.
Register of oganal voice depends on that of chant.
Chartres 4 more clearly divided into sections.
Chartres no extra notes at occursus
different sound with short groups and varied procedures than Winchester extended phrases

Question 46

Fleury 11th century

Answer 46

Housing Benedictine rule.
Bishop Oswald went to learn practices.
Official position of Cantor established (one of the earliest references to such a position)
Liturgy and musical demands expanding role of the cantor.
Tract and responsory scraps.
Musical relations between Fleury and Winchester (W later).

Question 47

Tract for Septuagesima

Answer 47

relating the Winchester and Fleury repertoire – sung at both in related way (not identical)
organum mainly below
modally derived
strong parallel 4ths
organal voice linked to Winchester (Fleury earlier)

Question 48

Fleury organa

Answer 48

Organal voice mainly below.
Small range of organal voice.
Some use of the flattened second.
Variety beyond fourths.
Organal voice having a lot of repeated tones.
Cadencing at unison, coming together from lower note.
Beginnings of a pulling apart of extra notes in one voice or another.
No predominant interval.
Modally derived.
Similar phrase endings across chants.

Question 49

Chartres (109, 4, 130) mid 11th century

Answer 49

Polyphony in the community in religious services preserved through canons of the cathedral.
Some pieces are in the Winchester repertory.
Double notation for the first time.
Emphasising contrary motion – mirror image polyphony.
Still parallel fourths.
Creating longer phrases out of shorter ones to then meet on occursus.

Question 50

Arlt (1993) differences with Chartres 130 (slightly later than 4)

Answer 50

continued Chartres 4 of breaking polyphony into smaller groups (unlike Winchester)
drone repetition effect almost disappears
short phrases mostly close on unison

Question 51

Chartres six alleluia melodies (130)
Alleluia V. Multifarie olim

Answer 51

Notated in 2 voices.
Vox organalis occasionally above principalis.
Coming together on unison at the end of every neume.
Broken down into smaller sections.
Not long passages of parallel fourth.
Difficult to distinguish the two voices.
Moments where they cross before coming back.
contrary motion on ‘ti’ of ‘multi’

Question 52

Arlt 1993

Answer 52

Vast contrast to the scattered continental examples.
Isolation of the Winchester organa.
A way of saving performance practice based on simple rules and clearly defined conventions.
Similarity in style between Chartres 4 polyphony and Winchester organum.
Continental examples demonstrating richness of composition
English source motivated by wish to make written record of practice
need comprehensive examination of chants to bring more insights

Question 53

Fuller (2011) quote on polyphony origin

Answer 53

‘Polyphony as an extempore (and characteristically ephemeral) means of sonic elaboration practised in ecclesiastical spheres and of the persistence of the earliest protocols for generating organum alongside more complex procedures’.

Question 54

Schneider (1934/5) transcribing

Answer 54

notates organum above creating reliance on the 5th
passages not in parallel taken as inaccurate
lack of uniformity in procedure attributed to differences in the chant between versions

Question 55

Jammers (1955) transcription

Answer 55

first to presume it was fourth below
lower fourth as predominant
unison favored final, rarely lower fourth (when voices run parallel for sometime)
oriscus before final note of section - emphasis through extension
organa contain repeated notes
organal voice freedom in range and passing dissonant tones
organal voice breaks chant into 8-10 notes

Question 56

Jammers (1955) quote

Answer 56

‘the melody, enlivened by ornaments but generally flowing evenly, becomes architectonic and logical’

Question 57

Holschneider (1968) transcription and quote

Answer 57

Organum was added to short phrases distinguished by stereotyped rising cadences, in which an extra oriscus in the organal voice frequently delays joining both voices together in the final tone.
‘allow the general conclusion that each cantus section could only be set to counterpoint in a very specific, melodically hardly alterable way, and that the contrapuntal style was thus subject to extremely fixed rules’

Question 58

Fuller (1990) transcription quote

Answer 58

‘the details of any particular realization of Winchester organum result in large degree from deliberate editorial choices and are thus conditioned by the editor’s own concept of ‘the style’. Yet despite this fact, notation and theory agree closely enough to cast a fair image of the repertory as a whole, and to permit plausible, if far from definitive, reconstructions of the music’

Question 59

Rankin (2007) transcription quote

Answer 59

‘In the context of common procedures, specific examples could, on occasion, behave differently, or, to turn it around, rules could be present in enough numbers to allow for a variety of possibilities in specific situations’

Question 60

Rankin (1993) on Enchiriadis

Answer 60

‘two or more voices singing together’ - Enchiriadis formulating second voice to pre-existing first
presumes unusually close relationship between theory and practice
‘lateral rather than direct’ interest in polyphony
prescriptive appraoch

Question 61

Rankin (1993) on Micrologus and Cologne

Answer 61

rules allowing for exceptions
related to ‘the singers’ experience or judgement
Cologne treatise advises for care and reflection in performance of organum, rejecting the mechanical

Question 62

Eggebrecht (1984) on theory

Answer 62

denies existence of examples that show practice extending beyond theory - does not believe in the creativity or originality in practice

Question 63

Hughes (1954) on notation of Winchester

Answer 63

issues in the beginning with notation and deciphering it, as well as identifying the appropriate melodic versions of the chant

Question 64

where is other Winchester corpus voice found

Answer 64

Worchester antiphonal
Winchester Bodley

Question 65

Guido principles of ‘diaphonia mollis’

Answer 65

parallel fourths
holding tone
meeting on unison

Question 66

Guido vs Winchester holding tones

Answer 66

Guido holding tones of C F G, Winchester extends to add D and A
Winchester holding tone D in sint lumbi vestri plays important role
relation between holding tone and pitch choice with the arrival at unison

Question 67

Fleury Viderunt Omnes V Novum fecit - separation of voices

Answer 67

3rd mass of Christmas
evidence of pulling apart of voices ‘Notum fe’ shows the two lower voice notes against one upper voice syllable
melisma on penultimate syllable - ‘om’ of ‘omnes’
use of Bb in long ‘do’ melisma of ‘dominus’ - relating to religious meaning
voice crossing
coming back together at the end of melisma during word - shorter phrasing

Question 68

Fleury Omnes de saba V Surge inluminate - holding tone

Answer 68

epiphany
holding tone F in organal voice ‘et in lumina’
repeated notes in organal against more florid other voice e.g melisma on last syllable of ‘iherusolem’

Question 69

Winchester Alleluia Surrexit dominus - boundary tones

Answer 69

evidence of boundary tones - final is G and F is kept as lower limit in both voices
shows different organal solutions to parallel passages throughout

Question 70

Winchester Alleluia Justus ut palma - boundary tones

Answer 70

The ‘iubilus’ shows the limit of C exceeded - only briefly and is perhaps to continue preserving the fourth

Question 71

Winchester Allleluia Angelus domini - holding tone F prolonging second

Answer 71

the alleluia shows example of holding tone F whilst chant moves to G
organal voice prolongs unison with an extra F before joining at the start of the final melisma

Question 72

Winchester Alleluia Dies sanctificatus - intervallic variation

Answer 72

intervallic variation linked with occursus
repeated movement towards and away from unison prolongs occursus on end of ‘sanctificatus’ before meeting on D - again at ‘in luxit’
uses minor third in melismas of ‘alleluia’ (final syllable)
‘gentes’ uses minor third at oriscus
uses major third for oriscus at occursus of ‘sanctificatus’

Question 73

Rankin (2007) Alleluia Dies sanctificatus and Video celos - differences in moving across boundaries

Answer 73

Christmas Day and St Stephens Day
share same chant melody
organal alleluia voices close but not identical
Dies Sanc jumps to F in alleluia organal voice then uses F and C as limits (move from 6th from A to reach it) but Video Celos has organal voice staying above on D and C so no occursus on low A and smaller jump to F

Question 74

Grier (2018) on Winchester

Answer 74

the physical separation of voices is no issue for their successful combination in polyphony - singers experts and points to the separation later of instrumental parts for example
question over mode of performance - Winchester dominated by repertory for solo singer
special status of preservation in writing
departure from Guido and Enchiriadis
against Holschneider idea of chronological proximity to Guido due to litterae significative before some organa indicating a particular relationship to the chant and lack of strong connection

Question 75

purpose of Winchester Troper 473

Answer 75

perhaps for solo singer
following the practice of wulfstan known cantor and composer
contains lots of solo chant