Musica enchiriadis: Difference between revisions
Added Odo of Cluny reference. |
mNo edit summary |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
'''''Musica enchiriadis''''' is an [[Anonymity|anonymous]] musical [[treatise]] from the [[9th century]]. It is the first surviving attempt to establish a system of rules for [[polyphony]] in [[western music]]. The treatise was once attributed to [[Hucbald]], but this is no longer accepted. <ref name=hoppin>Hoppin, Richard H. ''Medieval Music''. Norton, 1978, pp.188-193.</ref> Some historians attribute it to Odo of Cluny (879-942). <ref name=finney>Finney, Theodore M. A History of Music. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1935, p. 61</ref> |
'''''Musica enchiriadis''''' is an [[Anonymity|anonymous]] musical [[treatise]] from the [[9th century]]. It is the first surviving attempt to establish a system of rules for [[polyphony]] in [[western music]]. The treatise was once attributed to [[Hucbald]], but this is no longer accepted. <ref name=hoppin>Hoppin, Richard H. ''Medieval Music''. Norton, 1978, pp.188-193.</ref> Some historians attribute it to [[Odo of Cluny]] (879-942). <ref name=finney>Finney, Theodore M. A History of Music. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1935, p. 61</ref> |
||
This [[music theory]] treatise, along with its companion commentary, ''[[Scolica enchiriadis]]'', were widely circulated in medieval [[manuscript]]s, typically coupled with [[Boethius]]' ''[[De Institutione Musica]]''.<ref name=grove>Erickson, Raymond. "Musica enchiriadis, Scholia enchiriadis". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. London: Macmillan, 2001.</ref> It consists of nineteen chapters; the first nine are devoted to [[musical notation|notation]], [[mode (music)|mode]]s, and [[monophony|monophonic]] [[plainchant]].<ref name=grove/> |
This [[music theory]] treatise, along with its companion commentary, ''[[Scolica enchiriadis]]'', were widely circulated in medieval [[manuscript]]s, typically coupled with [[Boethius]]' ''[[De Institutione Musica]]''.<ref name=grove>Erickson, Raymond. "Musica enchiriadis, Scholia enchiriadis". ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians''. London: Macmillan, 2001.</ref> It consists of nineteen chapters; the first nine are devoted to [[musical notation|notation]], [[mode (music)|mode]]s, and [[monophony|monophonic]] [[plainchant]].<ref name=grove/> |
||
Revision as of 14:45, 8 September 2008
Musica enchiriadis is an anonymous musical treatise from the 9th century. It is the first surviving attempt to establish a system of rules for polyphony in western music. The treatise was once attributed to Hucbald, but this is no longer accepted. [1] Some historians attribute it to Odo of Cluny (879-942). [2]
This music theory treatise, along with its companion commentary, Scolica enchiriadis, were widely circulated in medieval manuscripts, typically coupled with Boethius' De Institutione Musica.[3] It consists of nineteen chapters; the first nine are devoted to notation, modes, and monophonic plainchant.[3]
Chapters 10-18 deal with polyphonic music. The author shows how consonant intervals should be used in order to compose or improvise polyphonic music in early Middle Ages.[3] The consonant intervals identified by the treatise are the fourth, the fifth and the eighth, and sometimes the third and the sixth. A number of examples of organum, an early style of note-against-note polyphony, are included in the treatise.[3] Musica Enchiriadis also shows rules for performing music and gives some early indications of character for some works, as the Latin words 'morosus' (sadly) or 'cum celeritate' (fast). The last, nineteenth, chapter relates the legend of Orpheus.[3]
The scale used in the work, which is based on a system of tetrachords, appears to have been created solely for use in the work itself, rather than taken from actual musical practice.[1] The treatise also uses a very rare system of notation, known as Daseian notation. This notation has a number of figures which are rotated ninety degrees to represent different pitches.
A critical edition of the treatises was published in 1981, and an English translation in 1995.[3]