Musica enchiriadis

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Musica enchiriadis is an anonymous musical treatise of the 9th century. It is the first surviving attempt to set up a system of rules for polyphony in classical music. The treatise was once attributed to Hucbald, but this is no longer accepted. [1] Some historians once attributed it to Odo of Cluny (879-942). [2]

This music theory treatise, along with its companion text, Scolica enchiriadis, was widely circulated in medieval manuscripts, often in association 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 here shows how consonant intervals should be used to compose or improvise the type of early-medieval polyphonic music called [3] organum, an early style of note-against-note polyphony several examples of which are included in the treatise.[3] (Scolica enchiriadis also observes that some melodies should be sung sung "more quickly" (celerius), others "more slowly" (morosius).) The last, nineteenth, chapter of Musica enchiriadis relates the legend of Orpheus.[3]

The notation used in Musica enchiriadis. The scale comprises four tetrachords. The symbols indicating the notes are rotated and mirrored depending on the tetrachords. A modern transcription of the notes is below.

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]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hoppin, Richard H. Medieval Music. Norton, 1978, pp.188-193.
  2. ↑ Finney, Theodore M. A History of Music. Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1935, p. 61
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Erickson, Raymond. "Musica enchiriadis, Scholia enchiriadis". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: Macmillan, 2001.

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See also

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