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GENERAL HISTORY
OF THE
SCIENCE AND PRACTICE
OF
MUSIC,
BY
SIR JOHN HAWKINS.
A NEW EDITION,
WITH THE AUTHOR'S POSTHUMOUS NOTES.
VOL.
LONDON :
NOVELLO, EWER 4 CO., i, BERNERS STREET (W.), A»D 35, POULTRY (E.C.)
NEW YORK, J. L. PETERS. 843, BROADWAY.
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HOVULLO, EWER AHO CO.,
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LIFE OF
SIE JOHN HAWKINS,
OOKPOXD nON
ORIGINAL SOURCES.
SIR JOHN HAWKINS, the Mend and i
Dr. JohuMn, and a descendant of the Sir John Hawkini
who commanded th« Victory, and one of the four dlTi-
Mon* of the fleet, ai vice-admiral, at the dettnictioii of
the Spanitb anuada, vai bom in 1719. Hb father, an
architect and mrveyor, at fint brought hii son iqi to hii
own profession, bat eventoallj bonnd him to so attorney,
' a hard taibnaiter and a pennriaus hontekeeper. ' At
the expiration of the mual tenn, the clerk became a
Mlicitor, and by unremitting assiduity, united to the molt
inflexible probity, he, unfiiended, eitabliihed himself in a
respectable bniinesa, trbile by his character and ^quire-
ments he gained admission into the company of men emi-
nent for their accomplishments uid intellectual attain-
ments. He was an original member of the Madrigal
Socie^, and at the age of thirty was selected by Mr.
(afterwards Dr.) Jotmion as one of the nine who formed
hiiThnrsday^^rening Club in Ivy-lane; a most flatter-
ing distinction, which confirmed his literary habi^ and
powerfully influenced his Aiture pursuits when, not many
yean after, he relinquiihed his profession.
In 1753, Mr. Hawkins married Sidney, the second
daughter of Peter Storer, Esq., with whom he received
an independent fortune, which was greatly augmented in
1759 by the death of hb wife's brother. He then retired
from aU professional avocations, giving up his business to
hii clerk, Mr. Clark, who subsequently became chamber-
lain oCthe city of London. With thb increase of wealth
_ u connected an anecdote of far too hanoraUe a nature to be
omitted here. The brother of Mn. Hawkins made a will,
giving her the whole of his fortune, except a legacy of
£500 to a sister from whom he had become alienated,
and commnnicated the fact to Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins,
who, by representing the injustice of thb act, and by
adding entreaty to argument, prevailed on him to make
a more eqititable dbtiibution of hb property, and an equal
diviaitm was the consequence. 'We lost by thb (says
Miss Hawkini, her &ther's biographer) more dian £1,000
B-yesr; but our gain b inestimable, and we can ride
Ihroogh a manor gone from us with exultation,'
Upon retiring from the law, Mr. Hawkins purchased a
house at Twickenham, intending to dedicate his fiiture
life to literary labour and the enjoyment of select society.
But in 1771 be was inserted in the commbsion of the
peace for the county of Middlesex, and immediately be-
came a most active magistrate. Here hb independent
spirit and charitable disposition were manifested. Acting
as a magbtraCe, he at first refused the cnstomary fees ;
but finding that thb generous mode of proceeding rolhci'
increased the litigious disposition of the people in lib
neighbourhood, he altered his plan, took what was his
due, but kept the amount in a separate piuse, and at fixed
periods consigned it to the clergyman of hb parbb, to be
distributed at hb dbcretion.
Being about this time led, by the defective state of the
Highways, to consider the laws reapecting them, and their
deficienciee, he determined to revbe them, and accord-
ingly drew up a scheme for an Act of Parliament, to con-
solidate the several former statutes, and to add such other
regulations as appeared to him necessary. His ideas on
this subject he publbhed in 1763, in an Bvo. volume en-
tituled ' Observations on the sUte of Highways, and on
the Laws for amending and keeping them in repair;'
subjoining a draught of the Act before-mentioned. Thii
very bill was afterwards introduced into the House of
Commons, and passing through the usual forms, became
the Act under which all the Highways in the kingdom
we*e for many years regulated, and which forms the
nucleus of the statutes now in force.
Some time after thb, a cause as important in its nature,
if not so extensive in its influence, induced him again to
exert himaelf in the service of the public. The Corporation
of London, finding it necessary to rebuild the gaol of New-
gate, at an expense, according to their own estimates, of
£40,000, had applied to Parliament, by a bill brought in
by their own members, to throw the onus of two-thirds of
the outlay on the County of Middlesex. Thb the Magis-
trates of the County thought fit to resbt, and accordingly
a vigorous oppontion was commenced undet the conduct
of Mr. Hawkins, who drew a petition accompanied by a
case, which was printed and diataributed among the mem-
l)ers of both Housas of Parliament Thb memorial be-
came the subject of a day's discusdon in the House of
Lords, and in the Commona produced such an effect, that
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
LIFE OF BIB JOBN HAWKINS.
the City of London, by their own memben, moved for
leave to withdiaw the bilL
He irai, in I76S, elected chairman of the Middlesex
Not long after Aia event the rector and officers of the
parish of St Andrew's, Holbom, in which he wat then a
reaident, tolicited his assistance in opposing an attempt of
the Corporation of London, to carry out a design which
was fraught with injury to their interests. The City
had projected opening a street &om Blaekfnars-bridgc
(then lately huilt} aoross the bottom of Holbom-hiU,
and as much farther northward as tbey might think
proper. In the execution of this scheme, they had con-
templated, among other changee, the bestowal of the Fleet
prison (an intolerable nuisance) on their neighbours, the
parishioners of St Andrew's, by its removal to the spot
on which Ely House then stood. They had accordingly
entered into a treaty viUi the then bishop of Ely, and
were exerting all their influence to drive a bill through
the House of Commons, which should confirm that con-
tract, and enable the bishop to alienate the inheritance.
The inhabitants of the neighbourhood, together with the
earl of Winchebea, the ground landlord, reasonably
alarmed at this project, determined to oppose it through-
out, and to this end applied to Mr. Hawkins for his aid.
He accordingly drew two petitions, one in behalf of the
rector and churchwardens, and the other in that of lord
'Wincbelsea, with a case for each, containing the reasons
on trhich they rested their opposition. These, like his
previous endeavours, were successful, and the application
of the City of London failed. For this assistance, the
parish not content with returning him thSir thanks, de-
termined to expend £30 in the purchaseof a silver cup
to be presented to him, a resolution which was shortly
afterwards carried into effect. During this time hb
literary reputation had become so highly established, that
the University of Oxford, meditating a re-publication of
Sir Thomas Hanmer's Shakespeare, in 6 vols. 4to, with
additional notes, appUed to him to fumtsh them. This He
accordingly did, and on the issue of the work, received
from the University a copy as a present — a favor the
more to be esteemed as but six copies of the impression
were thus given. Of these the King received one, the
Queen another, the King of Denmark a third, and Mr.
Hawkins a fourth. To whom the other two were pre-
sented is now not known. In 1770, a charge was de-
livered by him, in his capacityof Chairman of the Quarter
Sessions, to the grand jtuy of Middlesex, which, at thdr
general request, was printed and published. During the
yeara of which we have been speaking, popular dis-
content bad occasionally risen high, and in the execution
of bis duty as a magistrate Mr. Hawkins had more than
once been called into service of great personal danger ;
but his was not a character to shrink from peril in a good
cause, and when the riots at Brentford broke out, ss they
did with great violence on various occasions, he and some of
his brethren presenting themselves on the spot, effectually
suppressed the tnmult by their reioluta demeanour.
When, too, the rising of the Spitalfields weavers tuok
place, the Middlesex magistrates, and he at their head,
attended at Moorlields, the scena of the disturbance*,
with a party of the Guards, and succeeded by their firm-
ness and conduct in dispersing the mob, and repressing
an outbreak which at one time seemed to threaten for-
midable results.
Having thus, on many occasions, given proofs of his
courage, loyalty, and ability, be in 1772 received from his
Majesty, George III., the honor of knighthood.
A fresh edition of Shakespeare being contemplated by
Dr. Johnson and Mr. Stevens in 1773, he was, for the
second time, requested to furnish notes to that author,
which he accordingly did.
In 177S, the year in which it was determined to com
mence the disastrous American war, it bMOg thought
proper to carry up an address from the county of Mid-
dlesex to the King on the occasion, the magistrates, at
his instance, voted one which he drew up, and had the
honor of presenting to bis Majesty in the October of
tiiat year.
It may not be out of place to notice here, an assertion
made by Boswell in his Life of Johnson, vol. i. p. 168,
that ■ upon occasion of presenting an address to tlie
King, he (Hawkins) accepted the urual offer of knight-
hood.' Without remarking on the spirit which has evi-
dently actuated Bosnell whenever he has spoken of Sir
John, it is enough to state that no address whatever was
presented in 1772 (the year in which he was knighted),
or for some years previously ; and, moreover, that there
is strong reason to believe that the address of 177A, men-
tioned above (which was presented exactly three yean
o/ier the date of his knighthood), was the only one in
which he ever was concerned. Be this last as it may, the
fact above mentioned sufficiently disproves the allegation.
Even, however, if the honor bad beeu attained as Boswell
describes, it woiJd have mattered little; for that he was
not unworthy of it may he gathered from the ihct, that
the Earl of Roebford (then one of the Secretaries of
State), when presenting him to the King for knighthood,
took occasion to describe him as the best magistrate
in the kingdom.
In the memorable year 1780, an order from the Privj
Council having been issued through the Secretary of
State's office, requiring the Middlesex magistrates to
assemble for the preservation of the public peace, he and
some others met early in the morning of Monday, the
5th of June, and continued sitting at Hicks's Hall, their
Sessions House, till late in the evening. On the following
day they did likewise ; but at night, instead of returning
to their own homes, they determined to form parties of
two each, and thus to distrihuto themselves in those
places where mischief was to be apprehended. This re-
solution was taken in consequence of the prevalence of a
report that the mob intended to attack the bouses of Lord
North and of other members of the Administration, and
also that of Lord Mansfield. As Sir John had long
been honored with the friendship of the latter, he fixed
dbyGooi^le
LIFE OF 8TR JOHN HAffEI»S.
npoD him a* the ol^ect of his attention, and accordingly
proceeded to hia home, accompanied by a bnitheT magis-
trate Tbo tended in the neighbouThood. On thrir ar-
rivsl they fond Lord H>mfield nriting to the Secretary
of War fbr a party of the Guardi, and the interval between
the despatch of the application and the arrival of the
troopi waa spent in conferences with hia Lordship and
the Arcfahiahop of York (his neighbour), on the plan to
be adopted. On Lord Mansfield's asking Sir John his in-
tentiona, he answered that his deugn wa* to place the men
britind the piers which divided the windows, and to hold
them in readiness to fire on the mob directly the demon-
tirationa of the rioters rendered such an act necessary.
To this, however, Lord bf analield objected, from a dislike
to bloodshed, and on the arrival of the troops, declined to
take them into the house, sending them to the veatry
at Bloomshury, to remain there, in readiness to act, if
their services should be required. As it appeared he did
not wish to retain the magistrates, they retired, having
arranged that Sir John ahonld remain at the house of his
eoHeague in Soatiiampton-row, close by, till 12 r.w., at
which time he intended, if all remained qoiet, to return
to hie own borne, aa his Lordship would still have one
magiatrate in his immediate vicinity in case of any emer-
gency. In Southampton-row he accordingly staid till
past midnight, when, no disturbance having occurred at
Lord Mansfield's, and a messenger arriving from North-
mnberlaud House to say that it was beset, and that the
Duke had sent for Sir John, he proceeded thither.* On
hia arrival there, be found that a considerable mob was
assembled in front of the house, but that no assault had .
yet beeu attempted. Proper precautions were imroe- -
diately taken for its defence, and in order that the pro-
jected measures might h« duly carried out, in the event
of an outbreak, the Duke pressed Sir John to stay there
the remainder of the night, which he accordingly con-
sented to do. He was, however, very near paying
dearly for hia conduct, for, notwithstanding the lateness
of the hoirr at which he entered Northumberland House,
he had been recognised by the mob, who were heard to
menace him with their vengeance. This threat they evi-
dently intended to carry out, for on his return to hia
honae in Queen '»-tquare, Westminster, he discovered that
it had been marked with a red crosi, tiie symbol by which
during that period the rioters devoted property to de-
struction. Being, fortunately for him, Mly aware of the
meaning of the sign, he immediately saw the necessity of
erasing it Tlus, however, was no easy matter, for, from
the crowds of people who had assembled in all parts of the
town, there was great danger of any attempt to efface it
Mng Bt once discovered. Placing himself, however,
with his back against the wall, in the careless way in
which an indifferent spectator might be supposed to stand,
■ It WH ■ftsimrdi diKarnid thu thm hud bMn *a nrcir in tha
T*tf*f* wUcb be tta&Yti. It bmi nail j basa smt ffom Lord North'!,
tn Ovniag-ient, tai dm tbt Data of Kgrtbnmbsilud'i. Tha ilml-
laMr Id t^ Bams pntaUj oilglDatad tha mlnika, vUiA mlfht ba
bnbarcaiillnnedbrlhabctlhstth* Duki^ aa Lord LlanlaniBt oT llu
aaiullT. ma > llkelr okjact rt attack, at a tima vhaa irny nuglatntt
«ia bnmd wltli tha dctaitatlan ef the ptqiolio.
he passed his hand, in which was a bandkerchief, behind
him, and thus succeeded in totally obliterating the ill-
omened symbol. Fortunately, hia having done so was un-
noticed ; the mark was not renewed, and bis house escaped
(he destruction which, the following night, overtook all
others similarly distinguished.
' When these tnmnlts had in some measure subsided,
it became necessary to bring to trial many persons who,
by their participation in them, had become involved in
the gnilt of high treason ; and it was therefore im-
perative that the grand jury of Middlesex, to whom
the indictmenta were to be presented, should be in-
structed in the state of the law as bearing upon the
offence in question. A message, at the instance of the
Attorney-General, waa accordingly aent to Sir John,
deairing him to deliver, at the then ensuing session,
a charge to the grand jury, explanatory of the duties
required of them. Thia deure, at the moment it was
made, waa roffidendy embarrassing, for be was away
from home, and consequently at a distance from the books
he wished to consult ; and, moreover, he bad but forty-
eight hours in which to prepare bit addreas. Notwith-
standing tiieie diudvantsges, be, however, constructed a
charge which on its delivery was highly commnnded, and
which the grand jury, after pasnng a vote of thanks to
him for its 'learning and eloquence,' desired to have
printed and published.
t But to return to the narrative of hia youth ; from
which thia digreauon ha* been made in order to relate
uninterruptedly the incidents of his magisterial career.
Very early in life he cultivated music as the solace of
his severer occupations — the recreation of bis leisure
hours. It was the society of the eminent that young
Hawkins courted, and jn the practice of the classical
mnsic of bis day that he took delight Immyns, and
through him Dr. Pepuscb, were his earlieat muucal
associates. His daughter records on interesting anecdote
of bis acquaintance with Handel. She says : —
" Were I to attempt enumerating my father's muMcal
fHendships, T should copy, a second time, the greater
part of the last volume of his History of Music ; I will,
however, record what I have heard and known of those
between whom and himself this powerful union aubsiated.
Handel had done him the honor frequently to try his new
producliona in hia young ear ; and my father calling on
him one morning to pay him a visit of respect, he made
him ut down, and listen to the air of Ste the conqutrmg
Hero comet, concluding with the question, ■ How do you
like it!' my father answering, 'Not so well a« some
things I have beard of yours;' he rejoined, 'Nor I
neither ; but, young man, you will live to see that a
greater favorite with the people than my other fine
He was an original member of the 'Madrigal Society,'
founded by the former in 1741. With Stanley he en-
gaged in 1742, in the joint publication of some Canconeta
of which Hawkins fiimished die greater portion of the
words, while Stanley composed the music.
dbyGooi^le
LIFE OF SIR JOHN HAWKINS.
Young men, eccomplislied in rouiic, frequently find it
■n eiceUent [utroduction to eompuiy wUeh otherwise
they would liaTdlj Tesch, and a recommendatioD to
patroiiB by whom tbeii legal or merctntile abilitiei might
be overlooked. And bo young Hawkins found : hia Can-
zonets were ning and encored at Vauzball, Ranelagh,
and other placet. The author of ' Who'll buy a heartf '
wai enquired after: amongst others, a Mr. Hare, a
brewer, and mutical amateur, who had often met Hawkini
at Mr. Stanley'!, invited lum to hie house. At Mr-
Hara'i he met hit ftiture father-in-law, Mr. Storer, who
being a practitioDer in a high grade of the law, but de-
clining into year«, found in the young amateur of music,
first a valuable aimstant, and afterwards a welcome hus-
band for his daxighter, and sharer of hii opulence.
Some lime previous to the publication of the Canioneta
mentioDed aboTe, he had been well known in the literary
world a* the author of various contributionB to the ' Gen-
tleman's Magazine,' and other periodicals of similar de~
scriptian. IHiese, being mostly anonymous, are now,
of coune, not easily traced. This much, however, is
known : that diey were not confined to any one subject,
but embraced many different topics, and that they
comprised both prose and poetiy. A copy of verses to
Mr. John Stanley, inserted in the Daiig jideertiier for
Feb. 21, 1741, and bearing date Feb. 19, 1740, is sup-
posed to have been the earliest of his productions now
known. But it wa* not only to the lighter occupation of
literature that his attention was directed; for when, la
the eveutAil year of 1745, the young Pretender published
his manifesto, an answer to it, written by Mr. Hawkins,
was widely drcnUted and read; and a series of paper*
on the same inbject, Aimished to the magasines and
newspaper* of the day, attested his attachment to die
House of Hanover. Hii conduct, indeed, at this critical
period, attracted the notice of the Duke of Newcastle,
who wished to bring; hiro into public life — 'which at-
tempt,' Mys a fHend and contemporary of Sir John's, in
writing to his son, ' waa frustrated by your fiither's
predilection for a ttudious life, and ftom a reserved
dispodtion.' Nor was this the only occanoD on which
the honor was offered him, for in Uie same letter,
dated Feb. 4, 1796, the correspondent, Mr. T. Gwatkin,
of Eign, near Hereford, says — 'When the noise waa
■ loud about Wilkes and liberty. Sir John's conduct a«
' a magistrate, and his subsequent charges, met with
' the approbation of the Duke of Northumberland, the
' Lord Lieutenant for the county of Middlesex, who
' wished to introduce bim into Parliament. I strongly
' urged him to accept the ofi^ : my arguments made some
' impreaaion ; but he was then deeply engaged in the
' History of Music ; beside* be was, as I could easily
' collect &om repeated conversation* — although both from
'habit and theoretical reasoning entirely attached to the
' Honae of Hanover — jealous of his own persoual in-
' dependence. If, merely from petional inlereat, he could
' have been returned for a coonty or city, I believe he
' would have had no objection; but although he was a
* ftiend to the Administration, he did not chooae to come
'into Pailiament under the auspices of any minister.
' An offer was made him of placmg you and your brother
■ upon the fbundatiou of King's Scholars at Westminster,
' and I pressed him to accept it, ftom the example* of
' Lord Mansfield and other great men who were upon
' the foundation, yet from (he same principle of inde-
' pendeuce be rejected it.'
This letter, which certainly gives great insight into Sir
John'* character, would not have been quoted so mnch
at length, did it not furnish the best possible refutation of
the stigma cast upon him by Boawell — that, in his inter-
course with Johnson, he betrayed an unworthy spirit of
subserviency. Of this, however, it will be requiaila to
■peak hereafter.
The motive that induced him to decline the offer of the
presentation, wa* the feeling that the intention of the
founder would be violated, if thote who were in a podtion
to pay for the education of their children, placed them on
a foundation designed exclusively for ' poor scholars. '
In 1760, being in poaseuion of some authentic and in-
teresting documents relating to the author, he published
an edition of Waitoa's ' Complete Angler,' with the
second part by Cotton. To the original work he added
notes, and wrote a life of Walton ^pending one of
Cotton hy the well-known Mr. W. Oldys : and that no
mean* of making the work attractive might be neglected,
he embellished it with cuts, designed by Wade, and
engmved by Ryland, which are even at this time, when
art has so much advanced, remarkable for their elegance.
Of this work, three edition* were sold off before the year
1764, when he published a fourth. For this, he had revised
the life of Walton, and the notes throughout the work,
and made large additions to both, while he re-wrote the
life of Cotton in order to compress it, retaining, however,
every &ct respecting him mentioned in the former im-
preacions, end Hibjoining *ereral more. After hi* death,
a fifth edition was published by his eldest son, who
inserted the laat correction* and additions found in Sir
John's papers.
About the year 1770, the Academy ot Ancient Music
finding that, owing to the increase in the number of
placet of public amuaement, and the consequent enlarged
demands for eminent performers, their subtcription
of two guinea* and a half was not aufScient to carry
out the plan they had adopted, were obliged to solicit
farther atnstance. To this end Mr. Hawkins, then a
member, drew up and published a pamphlet entitled
' An Account of the institution and progre** of the
'Academy of Ancient Muric, with a camparative view of
'the Music of the past and pretent time*.* This waa
published in octavo in 1770, but without any author's
Hawkins had long been a member of all the best con-
cert* in London; and when drciunstanee* permitted him
to make hi* own house a central point of aaiemhly, the
first musical men of the day flocked with pleasure to
Austin Friar*. Dn. Cooke and Boyce were among hi*
dbyGoot^le
LIFE OF SIB JOHX HAWKINS.
jntimate fiiends ; and Bortleman, then a boj, his protegf.
He collected all the itandard compotitioni of hit own
day, and of former time*, and purchased, attar the death
-of their owner, Dr. Pepuich'i invaluable collection of
theoretaeal treafitea.* The idea of becoming the historian
iif the art he cultivated with bo much ardour, is taid to
have been fint luggetted to him bj the celebrated Horace
Walpole : and when the inheritance of hii hrother'in-
law rendered him independent of any involuntary labour,
lie seriously applied himself to the task. Of itself it was
no easy one, and the multiplied demands which the
duties of an active and presiding magistrate mode upon
hi« time considerably prolonged its duration. In this, as
in all bis other literary labours, his daughter, t^ether
wi^ hia sons, afforded the uaiatance of amanuensis, col-
lator, and i»>rrector of the press. In collecting bis ma-
terials Sir John Hawkins waa indefatigable —
' Nil actum repnbUM, u quid snperesset ageDdnm.'
He corresponded with ev ery one from whom information
could be hoped, and amongst others with Dr. Gostling,
of Canterbury,! frani whose collections and recollections
he obtained much curious matter that no other petMn
could have Aimished. Correspondence led to personal
intimacy, and Sir John visited Mr. Goatling at Canter-
bury in 1772 and the following year. He also, in 1772,
resided a considerable time in Oxford, making extracts
from MSS. in the Bodleian and other libraries, and ac-
companied by an artist from London to copy the portraits
in the Music School.
In 1776 he published, in 5 vols. 4lo, his ' History of
Music,' a work npon which he had been engaged for
the apace of sixteen years. Three years before, he
had obtained permission to dedicate his book to George
III. ; and he now presented it to his Majesty at Buck-
ingham House, during a long audience granted for the
purpose. The King, no doubt, appreciated the work
as it deserved, and the University of Oxford showed
-their estimation of it by offering to confer on the author
the degree of Doctor in Law, which he had reaaons for de-
clining ; but that learned body paid him the compliment
of requesting his portrait, which now hangs in the Music
School.
In this deligbtAil book, authorities have been consulted
and brought togedier from various libraries and museums,
with a diligence in research, and a solicilnde almost affec-
tionate in tbeir collection and arrangement, forming
together a mass of the most curious and entertaining
• TtiicallRtlM, whnbliHlit(RTarMiulewupubIlitHd,Bli Jrtn
(IT* la tfac Britlik If uHim, »d tliu fnnrni it from tht ftiM vUcli
Mund^d Ihe mt af U> Ubtiiy.
t Tha R*T. WUIUm OaatldR, Hlaar Cuob »t CutaAur Cslfcadia),
VH tba aoB of Uiat Mr. OMtUnff Tot vham Purecl] wnim kU edalnirad
■ntbrm, ' Thty ihii go dsvn la Iha ks In lUpi.' uid of whan Cbailn
le lenntKDtb crnlncy.
information upon a subject the most enchanting. No
pains have been spared to render the work complete. It
bears evidence of being a labour of love ; of being one of
those tasks, which are none to the compiler, — but tt
delight. The evident pleasure he takes in his work,
refiects itself upon the reader ; rendering it light and
agreeable, — nothing wearisome, however long and minute-
There is evidence of toil, but the perusal is not toilsome ;
for the author's toil is so willingly undertaken, and so en-
joyingly pturaued, that the effect upon the reader is un-
alloyed enjoyment. No amount of care has been deemed
too much ; and the reader feels grateful for being spared
the trouble of seeking, while he luxuriously profits by the
result He rits in his arm-chair, comfortably ruminating
the stores of knowledge which have been culled for him
from various wide-spread sources, by patient, worthy Sir
John ; who, — the beauty of it is, — has evidently had as
much gratification in gathering the materials for the feast,
as the reader finds from the feast itself. Besides the in-
formation contained in the book, there is abundance of
amuung reading. It was a favorite with Charles Lamb,
who, though no musical authority, was an eminent lite-
rary one, of unstupassed refined taste and high judgment.
In the shape of notes, there is a fkmd of anecdote, and a
large amount of incidental miacelluieotts matter, scattered
through the work, that pleasantly relieve the graver mwn
theme. Anything entertaining, that can by posoibility be
linked on to the subject of muric, u easily and chattily
introduced; as though the author and his reader were
indulging in a eheerfkil gossip by the way. We have, in
quaint succesnon, such things aa that romantic love-
poasage of Giuffredo Rudello, the troubadour poet ; or
that wondrous account of the Moorish Admirable Crichton,
Alpharabius, — which is like a page out of the ' Arabian
Nights ;' or that naive detail of hluff King Harry's fancy
fbr my Lord Cardinal's minstrels, and of his setting off
with them for a certain nobleman's house where was
a shrine (o which he bad vowed a pilgrimage, and where
he spent the night in dancing to the sound of the min-
strels' playing.
Sir John had no prototype of his great work. The
design, as the execution, was entirely his own ; end when
the large extent, and various nature of hia materials are
considered, the plan will be allowed to have been devised
with conuderable alnlity.
It is not an unuanol, and at fint sight appears not an
unreasonable prejudice, to suppose that, in order to
qualify a man to write upon any art, he should be a pro-
fessor of^ or at least have been r^ularly educated to, the
art of which he treats. A lawyer aeems as little qualified
to write a history of Music, as a composer would be
to expound the nature of Uses and Trusts, or a violin
player to explain the principles of Architectural beauty.
To write on the practical department of an art certainly
requires experience and information which an artist alone
can acquire ; and bad Sb John Hawkins publiahed a new
book of instnictions for the organ or violoncello, he would
probably have anbjectad himself to being deserve^ ac-
dbyGoot^'le
Till.
LIFE OF SIB JOHN HAWEDIS.
cus«d of presumpdon. The theoiy of an art, even, can
hardlj be tatufactorily explained, except by one wba baa
tbat intimate fomiliarit; with its practice and it* nomen-
clature whicli ia rarely, if ever, attained by an amateur.
But with the hietorian the case ii different : it is to be
presumed that a man who voluntarily dedicates years of
labour to collect from all quarters the scattered records of
nn art, must be, on the one hand, himself attached to it,
and fiuniliar with its practice, in a degree amply sufficient
to secure him against the danger of misinterpreting aay
technical or conventional phrases i n-hile, on the other
hand, the babits of research, the knowledge of languages,
and the various literary acquirements Tequisite for the
historian, are but seldom to be found united in the mere
artist. Captain Cook used to say that the best weather-
glan in the world would be made by the amalgamation
(or, as he called it, stewing down together) of a sailor
and a shepherd: for the one spent his whole life in
studying the prognostics of wind and rain, and the other
those of sunshine and riun. So the beau ideal of a his-
torian of music would be found in a man who united in
his own person the composer, performer, linguist, and
philosopher, together with the leisure and shidiotis habits
of the man of letters. But if we cannot find this phcenii,
if we must rest' contented either with the artist or the
student, the balance of qualification is highly in favour of
the latter. Sir John Hawkins, however, was made to
feel the weight of the prejudice we have alluded to : in
immediate competition with his Hutoi^ of Music, another
work under the tame title was published by Dr. Burney.
The public did not even compare the respective merits of
the works ; they eagerly purchased the professor's history,
while that of the amateur was left unasked for, or sneered
at, on the publisher's counter.
The fate of the work, however, was decided at lost, like
that of many more important things, by a trifle, a word,
a pun. A pun condemned Sir John Hawkins's sixteen
years' labour to long obscurity and oblivion. Some wag
wrote the following catch, which Dr. Callcott set to
» Bui IhIwwi + + till tht Srd ViiM n
Have you Sir John Haw-kius' hist'ry, some folks thiok it quite a myst'ry, Sir Joim Hawkins,
• J' JllJ J^Hff:
; Bll'd hb woQ-d'rou« braio, bow d'ye like him
^
tiowd'yelikebim,bow d'ye
- gren that Bur-ney'a his-t'ry pkas-es me,
^^
:=fefe
Sir John Hawkins,
Sir John Hawkins,
=g
like him, how d'ye like him, how d'ye like him,
how d'ye like him,
1^
ig=iN=J^£B^-g-g-g-g-+f3g-t ; rXJ^
Bur-ney's bis-t'rv, Bumey's his-t'rv, Buraey's his-t'rv. Bumey's his-t'rj', Bntney's
I
m
Hawkins, Sir John ECswkins, Sir Jolin Hawkins, some folks tliink it quite
like him, how d'ye lilce him, how d'ye like him, how d'ye like
^m
=g=rrt~g""
1 .ji
his- fry, Bumey's his- t'ry> Bumey's bb- t'rj-,
Bur - ncy 's his - fry pless
I, W. ClLUIMT, B
Aura Ait Aufory was straightway in every one's mouth; the impression in the profoundest depths of a damp cellar,
and the bookseller, if he did not literally follow t)ie oa an article itever likely to be called for ; so that now
adfioe, actually 'vailed,' as the term is, or sold for hardly a copy can be procured undamaged by damp and
waste paper some hundred copies, and buried the rest of mildew. It has been for some time, however, riung — is
dbyGooi^le
UFK OF SIR JOUH HAVEIKS.
raing — and the more it U read and known, the more
it will rite in public eitiinatioii and demand.
Itniajnot,howeTer, begenenlljr knowni that Buraejr'i
Hiatory, which waa more lucceuful at the time, waa not
began till many yeara after this, nor till ita anlbor had
been allowed constant and uureitrained acceu to the
materiali collected by Sir John for hia work. Moreover,
the firat volume only of Bumey'a Hiatory waa pnbliahed
rimoltaneoualy with Sir John's complete work, while the
remaining three followed at intervala of two yeara between
each volume.
The unfah: competition, all thinga coniideTed, t£ Dr.
Bumey, and the prejudices it engendered, rendered it
acarcely surpruing that Sir John's Hiitory of Muaic did
not even furnish a pur of carriage borsea to its aathor ;
who had often declared that if, in a pecuniary point of
view, he obt^ned that tri&ing reward of hia aixteen years'
labour he should be well satisfied.
Which of the rival hiitorie* is intrinsically the better,
and consequently the more calculated to secnre an en-
during meed of approbation, has been earefiilly con-
sidered ; and the rMult ii, the re-prodnetion of Sir John
Hawkins's valuable work. The great progreaa which
hu been made in the art nnce that period, as well as the
consequent increate in the number of accomplished mu-
Mciana, formed the tnming-point in favor of thia deciiion.
When it is conndered that the science of Music is one
that has pervaded all time, and been to a greater or len
extent the common property of all nation*, it is evident
that one who could hope to succeed in recording ita
Uslory, must bring to his undertaking a competent know-
ledge of both ancient and modem languaget; an ac-
quaintance with history cridcaUy exact with regard to its
perioda and their peculiarities; and a familiarity with
blackletter and obsolete signs and abbreviations, sufficient
10 discover and decipher any documenia relating to the
art which might be recorded in them. To this were to be
added a carefiil asaidnity — which, unscared by its details,
and undeterred by its intricacies, should follow the ait
m ita progreaa through centuries extending tnta Jubal
down to Handel; — a laborious Mai, which might know
neither fatigue nor rest, in investigating not only the pro-
perties of the science itself, but likewise all circumstances
respecting the subject which might in any way, however
remotely, relate to it; — a keen, discriminating action,
which should unhesitatingly and accurately determine
anthenlicities and affix dates; — and, finally, a judicious
method, which should first arrange and syatematiae the
knowledge acquired, and then present it in the clearest
form to the contemplation of the world. Sir John
Hawkins united in himaelf most of these qualities in an
eminent degree.
In the month of December, 1783, Dr. Johnson, with
whom he had for many year* been on terras of great
friendship, tent for him, and imparting to him that he
had diacovered in himself aymptoms of dropsy, declared
hi* desire of making a will, and his wish that Sir John
should be one of his executors. On his consenting, the
Doctor entered into en account of his circumstances. «tS
mentioned the disposition he intended to make of hia
effects. Of this matter Boswell has thought fit to say
' that by assiduous attendance upon Johnson in hia laat
illness, he (Hawkins) obtsined the -post of one of hit
Now (he impreanon created by this statement on the
mind of a person not acquainted with the facts would b«,
firstly, that up to the period mentioned, the acquaintance
between the Doctor and Sir John had been slight, and
secondly, that the attention paid by the latter to hi*
dying IViend proceeded f^m an unworthy motive. With
regard, then, to the fbrroer portion of the inrinuation, it
may be sufficient to state that the acquaintance between
them had subsisted for more than thirty years, and that
up to a comparatively recent period, there were thoae
living who had been in the habit of frequently meeting
Johnson at Hawkins's house, and who could teatifj to the
closenese of their intimacy. To the latter, we have tht
whole tenor of Sir John's life to oppose; and itianot
very probable that he, who hvta a scruple which the
worid may connder overstrained, but muat admit to b«
honorable, had used, and succesafblly uaed, all his ener-
gies to dissuade another who waa bent on enriching him,
ttrom carrying hia intentiona into effect ; who had, fivm
a spirit of independenoe, twice declined a aeat in Parlia-
ment, then a much greater object of ambidon than now ;
and who, as a matter of conscience, had preferred de-
fraying the expense of his sons' education at one puhEc
school to accepting a free preaentation for them to ano-
ther ; — it is not likely, we say, that the man who had
acted in this way, would stoop to the moral degradation
imputed to him. To these general facts, indeed, hia
vindication might well be left ; but there are others of
a more particular nature. In the firat place, then, the
conversation in wliich Dr. Johnson engaged Sir John to
be his executor, took place in December, 1783 ; and about
the middle of 17B4 he was 'so well recovered from all
bis ailments' that 'both himself and his friends hoped
that he bad some years to live.' Thus it appears that,
far from the appointment being the effect of anything
that occurred in his last illness, it in fact, preceded it ;
for although the will was not executed till December,
1784, all the arrangements had been made the year befbre.
In the second place, itis established by the testimony of one
of Sir John's sons, that Johnaon had for many yeara been
accustomed to consult him on all important matter*, and
more especially those connected with butinesa ; and in
the third, it can be stated on the same authority, that
' the office had been wholly unsolicited by words or
To take, however, Boawell's assertion a* it stands —
if it really be the case that Johns<m was moved to select
Sir John as he descrilies, it argues a weaknesa on the
great Doctor's part which Boswell, as liia Mend, would
have done well to conceal ; a, weakness, by the way, tho
supposition of which is far from being borne out by his
choice of the co-executot*, Dr. William Scott (afterward*-
dbyGoo*^lc
LIFE OF SIE JOHH HAWKIHS.
Lord StoTell) and Sir Joshua Reynoldi. If it be not so,
•nd Johnnii, in the fuU enjojinent of hi* onial itrength
■of mind, deliberately prefaned Hawkins to Bosvell,
[and hinc Ula laerynue'] the ioference h obvious that
he lelected the penon in whom he had the greateiit con-
fidence. Neither ia Bosirell'a aaiertiDn correct, that in
-coniequence of hia appointment aa an esecutor, the
bookaellers of London employed him to publish an
edition of Johnaon's vorka and to writ« his life. The
ftct is, that a number of slanders and calumnies had
been propagated against Johnson during his life, and be
was apprehensive that mtaty more vould he circulated
after hu deceaae. With this impression on his mind,
lie frequent!]', in the manj interviews which took place
between the friends during the last year of his life, com-
mitted in e«prest («mt, 'the oareof bisfune' to Sir John.
It was, therefore, to this injunction, and not to a contract
with the iMxAsellerB, that the life of Johnson and edition
of his works, published by Hawkins in 1787, owed its
euatence.
He had scarce entered upon his taak when his own
library, (bat dearest pride and most cherished worldly
good of a literary man — a lahonr which it had been the
toil and delight of more than thirty yeara to collect, and
which comprised among its books, prints and drawings,
many articles that no money could replace — was de-
-atroyed by fire, at the time his house in Queen Square,
Westminster, was burnt down. The blow was a severe
■one, but the sufferer was never heard to murmur or com-
plain, and as soon as he was settled in another habitation,
tie sought in renewed study the solace of his misfbrtune.
In 1787 he closed his literary career, by publishing his
life of Johnson and edition of hia works. Immediately on
its appearance, it was virulently attacked by Boswell and
«thers ; but the author was repeatedly accosted in the
■treela hy utter strangers, who thanked him for the
amusement and iufbrmation he afforded them. No one
can doubt Aat there existed, at the time of its publica-
tion, many causes, totally irrespective of the merits of the
book, which may account for ila being so violently de-
cried. In the first place, he who undertakes to give
-to Ae world accounts of bis eontempotaries invariably
runs the risk of incurring great animosity : and the more
•candidly and impartially be performs his task, the greater
is his danger in this respect ; for while the fHends of the
.fleceased condder that his virtues and amiable qualities
.are not sufficiently enlarged upon, those who disliked
lum, on the other hand, determine that his failings have
been too much glossed over. This was eminently the
case with Johnson : there can be no question that his
strong sense, bis wonderful acquirements, and hia gigantic
intellect, had ezdted the unbounded admiration and se-
cured the enduring love of many ; but it is equally cer-
t^n that his dictatorial spirit and his boorish manner,
under which some had personally smarted, had created
Ilim enemies iu an equal proportion. With Hawkins's
work, then, both parties were dissatiafied— the one, that
n given of him fell so far short of their
extravagant ides of hia perfeelioD, the other that it ex-
ceeded what they considered his deserts. Agmn, there-
were, no doubt, others who had pleased their imeginationii
with the hope, that the slight acquaintance they might
have with Johnson, would induce the writer of his life to
hand them down to posterity as the friends of the great
Lexicographer, and who, having travelled through the
biography without attaining the ' wished-for consum-
mation' of seeing their 'names in print,' were not
mclined to view with very favorable eyes the labours of
his historian. Another, and the not least bitter class, was
composed of those who, iufBciently aware of the extent o>
Johnson's reputation, had conceived the design of pro-
filing by his celebrity. Of these projected biographers
the number was not small, and it cannot be supposed that
tbey could he other than hostile to a work which, by
superseding the necessity for a second, defeated their hope
of fhme or emolument, whichever might be their object.
Before concluding this uarratiou, it may be allowable to
remark, that while few persons have been, both during life
and after death, so rancorouely attacked as Sir John Haw-
kins, none have come out of an ordeal so severe as that to
which bis reputation has been exposed, more thoroughly
unscathed than he has done. Some of the most probable
causes of bis being so virulently assailed, have been stated
above : but there are doubtless others ; and the one wbicli
drew upon him the enmity of Stevens is too important to be
omitted. It appears thatan inexplicable coolnesshadarisei.
between Gtrrick and Hawkins, who had formerly been on
very intimate terms, and on some accidental circumstances
leading the latter to investigate the source of this, it was
discovered, on irrefragable evidence, that Stevens had
made mischief between the two. With this he was taxed
by Sir John ; and unable, to refute the impeachment, wai
by bi'm ejected from bis house. This, Stevens was not
likely to foi^ve ; more especially as he must have been
conseiotu that he had been detected in another act of most
disgraceful nature. A day or two before the intended
presentation of the addrees of 1779, mentioned above,
he had called on Sir John. A manuscript copy of the
address lay on the table in the room into which he was
shown. This after his departure was missed and was
never found sgaln. On the publication of the St. Jaaut'*
Chronicle, the paper with which Stevens was connected,
a copy of the missing address was found inserted, with
an account of its presentation. Now it to happened that,
owing to some accident, the reception of the address by
the king had been postponed, and that at the lime the
public were reading this account, the address had not
yet been presented at alL He address too, only existed
in manuscript, and in Sir John's possession : under these
circumstances there can be no doubt that Stevens had
purloined the copy, trusting that the addresa would be
presented at the time proposed, which was anterior to
the publication of his paper, and that on its appearance
in the St. Jama't ChrottieU, it would be supposed thai
he had received it fWm some person about the Court.
The accidental delay had however defleated this hy-
dbyGoot^le
LIFB 07 SIR JOEK BAWEISB.
Xi.
potheui ; and, vith the other drcumitHiCM, fixed the
guilt of the then upon hiin.
At vtother initance of Mr. Steveiu'i mode of pro-
cedure, the foDoviDg ii nibjoiued ; —
9, Bndge-ftreet, Westmiiuter, April 3, 1863.
Hi Deak Sr, — I eDcUwe you the uiecdole vhich I i>ro-
mised. Any inforoutioa in reUttoD to your edition of
Hankiiia that I am able to tSori, dkall be cheerfnlly eon-
trilated in aid of lo spirited and uaefDl a publication.
Hort troly jooia, W. ATHTON.
To Hr. J. Al&ed Norello.
Baiokint't Hittory awt Geviyt Sl—mt.
" WhenHawkina'sHirioirof Uunc ira» read; for priotiBg,
Stevena— who contrilvted to it antel of the literaiy portion —
that ii, the litem; fact* and the result of his research — went
to Thomas Payne (■ Old, boneet Tom Payne, of the Mews-
gate'), andsizongly reoommended him to potchase the worlc,
at the prioe of SOO gnineas, extolling it as exhibiting great
learning, and abounding in intemsting detail.
" The week alter the work appeared, a letter wis published
in the Sl Jtma't Evemag Pott, attacking it wiUi great tio-
lerce. Stevens, in Payne's shop, entered oa the sotgect of the
tetter, condemning in strong terms the injustice and Tiolence
of the critique. Shortly after, a seoond attack appeared in
the aame Joonial, and fiterens, at liis naoal — alnuaC daHj —
visit to the Usws-gate, where many of the Utenti naed
to siWimlilri and coDierse, again e^iressed his turpise and
disgiut at the oootinuanoe of nuh wanton hostility, saying,
■ It ii a most nnUr and moat malignant enemy who writes
in the St. Jame^i Eoaunff Pnt.' ' Yet,' said Mr. Payne,
•It is most malignant and m^jost; and I have the best
pcoola, Mr. Stevens, that you are the author of those letter*,
and I never widi lo see your face again in this place 1 '
" Stevens never after repeated his vints ; but wishing to
■leet, as usual, his Mead, the Bev. Hr. Cracherode, nscd to
walk on the side oppodle Payne's shop at the time when Cra-
chorode generally called there, in order to eiyoy his almost
dally Uteraiy diat with him.*
" The (bracing I had from Mr. Thomas Payne, who sue-
eeedcd hi* hthar in the busines*, wUch he removed to Pall
Hall. The account was given to me, in nesrly the Mmewwdt,
by Mr. Evans, bookseller in Pall Hall, who had been a dtop-
msn of the elder Pa;ne ; and this ha* been oonflnned by
Mr. Henry Fob, who, on the death o( (he second T. Payne,
oanied on the business, in partnership with Mr. John Thomaa
Payoe, in Pall Hall.
" I have a clear recollection of Sir J. Hawkins, who was a
constant drtffr-im at my Other's hmse, James-street, Bock-
inghaa>-gale. He was generally thought somewhat austere ;
but to me,as a child, he was gentle and kind. After the des-
truction, by fire, of his house In Qoeen-square, Westminster,
and of hk earioBs Etnary, he resided in the Broad SaiMteaty,
doee to the Abbey ; which bouse was recently pulled down,
lo make way Ibr the Improvements in that quarter.
'■ W. A."
• Mr. Cattuot* (qj- Di- T> Uvrf st No. M, Qnio-iqiun, Vnt-
■tnativ, md it fliptsni i mi a bsn of luffl fbrtone, ud poostivd
IB* tl tta Oacst UtnilH thn nlitbi*, irhbb, si hli dssth, ns pur-
•kucd by tks BriUih Mmnm, (tr «l4,«et.
All this wa* surely siifficient to mmke Stevens rqinee
in the opportunil; of aaaailing Hawkins, and to induce
him to use any means to injure one who had such just
reason to regard him with contempt
Where Boawell and Stevens led, others have been found
to follow ; but it may be remarked that their assaults con-
■ist more of violent expressions of opinion, than of records
of facts calculated lo affect his personal or litera^ fiume.
The term* of friendship, indeed, on which he stood
with thoae who were the best men of the day, both a*
regards high character and literary attainment, form the
surest criterion of the estimation in which he was held
by thote person* whose good opinion was most to be
Sir John Hawkins had always been a piou* man : aa
advancing year* brought him nearer and nearer to the
event which no care can avoid, he became more and
more attentive to the duties of religion, and to devotional
and theolt^cal studies, to which he latterly dedicated
every hour which some imperative duty did not clum.
On the morning of the 14th of Hay, 1789, he wa*
attacked, while away from home, by a paralytic affection :
he immediately returned and was carried iq) to bed,
but rallied so far in the course of the day a* to get up
again to receive an old friend who had promised to
visit him in the evening : he wa* however again seized,
and was compelled to return to his bed from which he
never again rose, for his malady becoming aggravated
by apoplectic symptomi, put a period to his life on the
21st of May, just one week from the data of hi* firtt
attack.
He left behind him — to use the word* of Chalmers —
'A high reputation for abilities and integrity, united with
the weU-eajned character of an active and resolute magis-
trate, an affectiouate husband and father, a firm and lealoua
friend, a loyal subject, and a sincere Christian, and rich
in the friendship and esteem of veiy many of the fint
ehancten for rank, worth, and abilidea, of the age in
which he lived.'
He was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey,
in the North Walk, under a atone which, by his exprea*
direction, hears no more than the Slllowing inscription : —
J. H.
Oaiit III Mai I, mdcclxxxis,
.£tati* Lxx.
His wife, who nirvived him four years, i* buried in the
same grave.
He left two sons, John Sidney and Henry, and one
daughter, Iietitia Matilda; all, but especially the latter,
well known in the literary world. Miss Hawkins's novel*
evbce talent ; while the cause of virtue, u*efulnets, and
right feeling ha* never found a more xealous, and but
teldom, very teldom, a more efiicient advocate.
By this imnmary of the circumstance* which marked
Sir John Hawkins's life, one of the great end* of
Biography ia achieved : serving to stimulate men by a
worthy example ; and showing, that, however contem-
poraneoua meanness, envy, or detraction, may cause ftill
dbyGooi^lc
LIFE OF SIR JOHK HAWKINS.
jmUce to be delayed, it cannot prevent eventual honor
from Bccruinf; to ODe who itead&atly msintaini hi*
virtuou* integrity. It aupplieB a pregnant instance of
the unfailint; comfort of conscious rectitude, beneath
untbunded aspemoo and venomous assault. It inspires
a coDsoling reliance upon ultimate equitable eatiinate,
however long deferred. It furnishes a sustaining moDi-
tion, that patient desert, whatever may be the amount
of injutious misapprehension it chances temporarily to
encounter, is sure in the end to triumph, and to secure to
itselfagenuine though tardily-yielded acknowledgement
The paltry malice, and base tricks, of such men as
Boswell and Stevens, in their endeavour to degrade an
honorable gentleman in the eyes of the world, — to obtain
an undervaluing and hise opinion of him, — and to pro-
cure the failure of hli productions, would not have been
recorded here ; were it not that there are times when
ouch candour of revelation is absolutely needful. No
occasion could be more tilting than this, when' relating
Sir John'* biography, and re-prinling his great work.
Not only was it requisite in justification, — to rescue a
worthy, honest name from unmerited imputation, and
to reclaim bu literary effortstVom unfair slight; butitwaa
proper, in order to show how uniformly the machinations
of mch insidious maligners, after a period of apparent
success in prevailing against the object of their attack,
ate sure to recoil upon their devisera' own heads, when
the verdict of the world shall at last adjudge the cause,
in a clearer knowledge of the truth.
Posterity awards honoring repute and distinction to
Sir John Hawkins, as an excellent upright man, in hia
private character; and lestijies value for his literary
capacity, by giving the palm to bis admirable History
over the one which cluros to be its rival, — a fact proved
ttoia the present demand for this re-print of the work
here offered to the Public.
ANNOUNCEMENT.
In the present age, when pubbc attention is w exten-
•ivety directed towards the study and practice of Music,
it hat been thought that a new edition of Sir John
Hawkins's valuable History of the Science and Practice
of Music would prove peculiarly acceptable, as being by
" ■■ • ■" ■ yof the * ■ ■ —
The whole of the original Text has been printed in
of I ■
far the best history o
int^rity, together with the Illustrations of Instruments
(for which more than 200 Woodcuts have been engraved),
the Musical Examples, and the Fac-similes of Old
Manuscripts.
The form adopted, super-royal 8vo., has the advantage
of bringing much more matter under the eye et one view,
and in pomt of economy the 2722 pages of the Quarto
are comprised in 1016 page "" ■ » <
tinued from the beginning I
reference, and to enable those who like such information
in one volume, to bind it in that form ; but provision has
been made, fay adding a second title after page 486, to
divide the work into two volumes, an arrangement which
may generally be preferoble.
The Medallion Portraits of Musical Composers, which
were in the Quarto edition, have been printed in a sepa-
rate volume i these may be purchased optionally, and
thus decrease the price of the History to those with whom
economy must he a cousideratiDn. They consist of up-
wards of sixty portraits, printed from the orifpnal copper-
plates engraved for the 1 776 edition ; to which has been
added a portrait of Sir John Hawkhis himself firom the
painting in the Oxford Music School, through the
courtesy of the surviving roemben of his family. All the
additional manusoipt notes which adorn the Author's
own copy left to the British Museum, are inserted (by per-
iniaaion of the authoritiei; in the edition now presented
to the public : it may therefore be considered what a new
edition edited by Sir John Hawkins himself would hate
been ; the additions in text or notes are distinguished by
being printed in italics.
To ensure the careflil reproduction of matter of such
varied character, the atsittaoce of many correctors has
been secured. The general correction of the press was
confided to Mrs. Cowden Clarke, but the pages also
passed under the eye of the musician, the mathe-
matician, and the classical linguist. In these depart-
ments, various portions have had the care of Mr. Edward
Hohnes, Mr. Josiab Kttman, Mr. W. H. Monk, and Mr.
Burford G. H. Oibsone, with occasional suggestions from
other well-wUhers ; and the whole work, such ad-
Tantaffe as might be derived from the Publisher'! printing
experience.
There has been added a Memoir of the Author, com-
piled from oricinal sources, which will be read with in-
terest ; but It is anticipated that the most valuable
addition to the book will be found in the careflitly-made
general and other Indexes. Tbe large subject of a
History of Mode, embracing heterogeneous matter and
tbe irault of wide research, makes it a storehouse to
which a definite clue is required in giving ready access.
The Indexes have been gams on cotemporaneously with
the printing of the book ; and Mrs. Cowden Clarke's ex-
oerience derived from her Concordance to Shakespeare,
itted her especially for the task of their compilation.
possets the Quarto edition.
In concluding these brief but necessary words of ex-
planation, the warmest thanks are offered to the editorial
friends above specified, at also to those kind supporters
wbo have subscribed for the work during ita penodical
ittue by the Public's, and their obedient servant,
Tbi Pobl
G9, i>win Stitet, Saie, Laitdat.
August, 11)13.
dbyGoot^Ie
w piupowi will tw found lo coniiat In u
AUTHOR'S DEDICATION AND PEKPACE.
Ta GEORGE THK THIRD, Klo( nf Qn*> BriUtn, ««., ■ Prlnn Dot fMnotofakettn word In eipicu ft by. n ull Tulc; ind wU
iOd» diidnfiiiilud by hli pAlroiu|« of tbofle cleguit tiu wbtcb klonfl, ud without um« pKnciple Lo dlml ud conLrouL il, mutl o*
cxiK honUHiUT ind adinlidHn ta tbo imiflBUln focultlo lb« bodoaHdacapriclmuiitiiKr. Anoibtr nd of tbii work litbc hMU]
*tatiia,ihitMI«wtn(HiiiaiTi>.wttkaUdiui«BinicoHid|ni1la«e, othn nmai Uwn tbw, like mnik, ibey conuibuio 10 <bo dillgbt
ilsdiaudtqrhiniwhaHIHniiltaiiuUTia hoiiaurind ■ ftlldtr 10 mukliid, an tomtd Uiiuiutuu^ lonpniliau Ike Tulgar neUoa th
■ubKfllK btautir Rb U^aty'i flltbAil ud doroied lubjact and lu ultinita tnd !• mtnlr to nclu mirth ; ud. iboTo all, to dtBsniin
•nraot. Tmi AVTBa*. Ibal lu pitndplH an raundad In cotaln fODanl and ■inlnnal lawa, la
whlcbaU Ukatwcdia»Tulat)iaiua(ei[iir*aTld,of huisOD]', irmmotr
pnpaKiDB.«ll ■ ■
A RisToii or Mmic b; vtj but a nnihiiiiT of the lefeoce, mar Tba mMkoi
uitls RnOfe that on*, wha li pob^a bntat known to the woid a* nana and hiilortcal bcli. In a clinniolocleal kiIii, i
oerapTiu a pnUle atatkn thaa aa a wrlttr, ahould chooae to be the nmarbi and aTidenceft, aa might wrte to llluiltate the one and authcn-
aulhu of a woA of Ihii kbid. and An wbkh tba eonne at hia iludlea ttcala Um other. With theae an iDlamInd a Tartelr of Diolal compo-
eaa haidli be tuppoaed to haie lo an; difna qotUlkd him. aitlone. loidliig aa wall la CHmpluy tbat divenity oT ilylo whieh ia
In JnatMuUoB of the attempt, and ta aeeoaDt ftii tbii •aenlnf In- comnuni bath to mule and Ipaacb «t wttllai lanfuage. aa H> DlanlfHt
«nid*t«KT, tba icadn- ii to know, Ibal Iha uibotba<>iD(entertalD*d tbe fndual tmpmieiiMDte In Ibeattof eomUBlngmuiicalHDidi. The
an eailjr lone of muilc, and baiiof in bla mnn adTaoced i«e not onlj' material! wblth bate fumlibtd tbl< inlelll(eim miiel neceaiuilT b*
inleadedbr the AlinlfbtTlt^UHdeli<fatand edlflcatlon of hli nlional quuUIr: 10 ipeak ahme of tbe treatiui Ibr lb* poipw, tba autboi m^
ncalom, bad fanned a dealcn or una luih work at thU man* fean with bo leea pioprietT than tnilb Haen, tbat tlie leleetlon of them waa
a(o. bQt aaw main to defR tba eiteglloD thnn>r loafatuK period. an sieniieot d«p ikiU, the null of mueb enidillo*. aod tiMeflbetd'
About tbe raai VM, ha EniDd bbnulf In a illiuiion Ibal lilt hia freat labour. ■abaTlafbaoo fOcainatHRofblaHtbthaeniplarinentoI
eBplojmeDti, hia iludtet, and bla amuienienU lo a great seeiun to that citeUent Ihaorial In the Kience, Dr. Pepuach. TbHO baie been
bli awn ctolee; andhanafln acounaof yean been u iDduitriiiai in aKomulatlng ud eneitailng fiir ■ •attea of yean pail: foe olberaof a
maklnf eollacOoDa for tho pDlpoae aa enuld >ell conilil wllb th* ei- dLffensI kind, nconne hat been had lo tbe Bodleian llbntraod tbo
b^an tbe woAt but before any eoniidenble piaEim eould be mad* font; tolbcBritbb MHHun. and to (he public llbrarki and repoiitaTJ
tlweln, be waa inteiTupted by a call to preaLdt in tbe magisrncy of the of noordaand public papen In Londod and Weatminiiflr ; and, for I
anunr at bla mMonee. wbldi, ■■■ ■■ h-.-j — ti _ i u • .._.i-i — /.^. i. j..^ . ,.j j .... .
DM decline wllhout belnyinf
lie, and Inmaiiy npnacbW. knowi not the ricbH at thii couoiir.
r of Iboae iDterrala of leliun A comapondenca with learned foreiEnen, ind tuch communicmtiont
lie or bla ofBu aflbrded. and from abroad aa tuft with the liberal lentlmcnti and dispoildon of the
ither in ilotb and Indolence, or proent afe. tocher with a freat variety of oral tnteltigcnee reapecdoy
menla, 10 which he waa eter peruni and facta yet Temenjbered. have contributed in lome decreo
,. ... .. __. ._ .. ,■ , . .. _,. __j ._ |m,|^ ,|.. .,.,...,.. . .
diapoaed to pnbr the porrail of lileratDn, har< , , .._,_, ._ . — — __-_ _
viuk tba IJeaiIng of bealib. fcarcaly Interrupted for a aetiea of year*. General Hillary
11 the fmit Dl
, . deHiTodly 11
, wbleb. In conDadiiliDctian to the manual uti, and 0
ea of year*, General Hillary ; which yet It duy be thought would ^ave been more
rhieb It DOW properly Iti doe, had the plait of Lfao work boeo mora eicenalTe. and
" jhaoded the alate of mutic lo countrict where Lhe apptoachea to
ImpaftaDce, hafa lone heao dIgnUed with tho cbaTaeleriitic of liberal ;
and ae lb* utility of Hoiie la jneiappDied In the tery attenpl to Inee
thoDriil Mcaaiaiy ; the ntbet pcthipa aa ite pialiei. and the power It
exerdaea over the human mind, have been eelcbntcd by the iblttl
panefyrtata.
Vaitbai than the dRamtlaneoa altrndlnn lhe Beeuilal aituition oTIbe
mtbarand the work may be allowed 10 cntUke nim 10 li, the fovoor or
hulnlaMiM. or whatcTer elie it la the practice of wrlteri to crave of the
It mual be ooaf^aaad Un
mannan, IbanwaicbeeoL .._
valid cieoae for a pabllealion wiitiDgLy imperfn:!
. . mo work by tbe use of ^mlaitlcal phraaea and modca of
worthy tegard than It waa In hli power to make IL thai, companllTely ipaaklof, wen Inienlod yoiterday,
To be abort, Ibo enauinj Tolomee an lhe produce of iliteen yean to-momw ; Ibeae maki no part of any lan(UB«. Ihey conduce nuLbing
labooT, and an complied tnm mateilali which wen not collected bi to Information, and in in truth nnnHnao luMlnuUed.
donbla Uiat tin*, ne motlToa to lb* oadenikinK wen genuine, and For tba inaartloni of hlographtcal memoln and cbaiaden of amlnnt
the pmaeeuUon of it bai been aa animated aa Iha loie of the an. and muiiolana, it may ba giien ae a rtaaoD, that, baling bencdiad Diankina
a Wtil MlndDtM to IncntWe liewi, could randei It. And perbapa the by Ibelt iludica, ii ia but )ujt that tbeli mamorica ibould Hie : Cieeio,
bai Bietue th* anibor can make tor the defKti and airon that maybe aharDemoithenea.iayt tbat" bona hmaptopiiapoaaeaalodafunclonim;'
found to baT* eaeaped him, muit be dnwn from the noielly of^hia and for baitowing It on men of tblt fhenltr. we bane the auihorliT or tbat
cnltfect, tbaiariety of hli mailer, and tba neceaaltr he waa under of acriptnn which eihorl<uatDJ7raiH"i
II oiay perbapa be objected th
RB^band that all our daaitei, all our punulti, out occupation*, and Ii nmalu now that due acksowiodgment be mad* of th* aaaltia
yw tbaiD an bw men to laln at tbat they bad nthei b* wllhout than for which h* baa obtained no peimleilon, he ii aecaiallaled to dec
}!iJj"— n..nt.|ljnT trilri tmm the faiea. lhe MHtcilea and tteuhlei of llf* : harlBf Diad of aaalataaae bi the correction ot the muilo plalea, ho
bvw aupport eunelvei hi •olltDde.oTundeilhepreeianof aflicUon,— in aundiy IntlanMa Mi**d of that trouble by tba kind oflcee of one, '
or bow preaene that equanimity, which li neeeiiary 10 keep ut in «»d ii both aa boaeni to bii pcoftaeion and hie country, Dr. William Boj
btUDOni with ounelfCB and mankind t Atio th*abaaeiDrtbiicTcallinl widotibediacaltyofdeeyphefing, at it won, and rendering In mod
gift, ODOOgh II lapniumed litaldln Ibatniulng work by way of caution charactan the aompoeltieBt of greateit anilqully amongit Ihoae which
JWbUt whatever that man Improret the lenipen of men, rendering Cooke, of Wealminater Abbey, ur. ifarmaduka Ovcnnd, organial of
Soi gr*n, diacTHI, mild, and plield, ao ia there none that allada IilewortblD tUddiaaei, and Hi. John Suflhid Smith, oflbe royal cbipel.
ttfB^l4* and a deductioD of tbe jHOgreaa of
tn^nalaly cenDecled with dvil lUb, bat acara
ataod tar tbe generality, at to he thought ■ HI luUecI, sot to tay of
erilldim, but of lober dlanaaion : Inttaad ot eierdaing tbo powen of Hatlam Sardn,
natoo. It bat in genetil eniaged only that tbeally of the mliiil, which, Mfb Aug., I
deiriMionrf tbeMoirr™ of a KtaJce whiih^ 1^^^ ' CharictetiiUci, toL I. paje MI. t EeeleaUiiicm, ebap. iHt. »««•.
dbyGoo<^Ie
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
Tbb powera of the imeeinaUoD, with great appearance
of reason, ore said to hold a middle place between the
oi^|»ni of bodily seme and the faculties of moral per-
ception ; the euDJecta on which the; are sevetally exet^
cited are common to the senses of seeing and hearing, the
office of trhicli is simply perception ; aU pteaiure thence
arising being referred to the imagination.
The arts which administer to the imaginative faculty
the greatest delight, are confessedly poetry, painting, and
mtuic ; the two former exhibiting to the mind by their
respective media, either natural or artificial,* the resem-
blancea of whatever in the works of nature is compre-
hended under the general division of great, nen, and
beautiful ; the latter ai operating upon the mind by the
power of that harmony which results from the concord of
sounds, and exciting m the mind those ideas which cor-
respond with our tenderest and most delightful affections.
Sleamire ; but each of the above arts may in a different
egree be said to afford another, namely, that which con-
usts in a comparison of the images by them severally and
occasionally excited in the mind, with their architypes ;
thus, for instance, in poetry, in comparing a descnption
with the thing described; in painting, a landscape and
the scene represented by it, or a portrait end its onginal ;
and in music, where imitation is intended, as in the songs
of birds, or in the expression of those various infiexions
of the Toice which accompany passion or exclamation,
weeping, laughing, and other of the human affections, the
sound and the thing signified.
It is easy to discover that the pleasures above described
are of two distinct kinds, — the one original and absolute,
the other relative ; for the one we can give no reason
other than the will of God, who in the formation of the
universe and the organization of our bodies, has esta-
blished such a relation as is discoverable between man
and bis works ; the other is to be accounted for by that
love of truth which is implanted in the human tnind.-t-
In poetry and painting therefore we speak, and with pro-
nrietv. of absolute and relative beauty ; aa also of music
; for as to harmony, it is evident that
■ Tbeutnnl
the attribute of relation belongs not to it, as will appear
by a comparison of each with the others.^
With regard to poetry, it may be s^d to resemble
painting in many respects, as in the description of ex-
ternal objects, and the works of nature ; and so far it
must be considered as an imitative art ; but its greatest
eicettence seems to be its power of exhibitiDg the in-
ternal constitution of man, and of making us acquainted
with characters, manners, and sentiments, and working
upon the passions of terror, pity, and various others.
Painting is professedly an imitative art ; for, settiDg aside
the harmony of colouring, and the delineation of beautiful
forms, the pleasure we receive from it, great as it is, cou-
sistE in the truth of the representation.
But in music there is little beyond itself to which we
need, or indeed can, refer to heighten its charms. If we
investigate the principles of harmony, we team that they
are general ana universal ; and of harmony itself, thst
the proportions in which it consist* are to be found in
those material forma, which are beheld with the greatest
pleasure, the sphere, the cube, and the cone, for instance,
and constitute what we call symmetry, beauty, and regu-
larity ; but the imagination receives no additional delight;
our reason is exercised in the operation, and that faculty
alone is thereby gratified, in short, there are few things
in nature which music is capable of imitating, and those
are of a kind so uninteresting, that we may venture to
pronounce, that as its principles are founded in geome-
trical truth, and seem to result from some general and
universal law of nature, so its excellence is intrinsic,
absolute, and inherent, and, in short, resolvable only into
His will, who has ordered all things in number, weight,
and measure.}
Seeing therefore that music has its foundation in nature,
I NiTCTllieleH Ihecg hiTi not been wuting thDM. wbs, not conUm-
Diuic Inio lbs pavn at luliuli
been inlTodu«d iDto pncti«j tl
; wd to gmiry>Deb..iubJicu bsn
to injudkioui «n have slfbrdn] no
d the nolle of tbonder, the roarinf of
■tioDi of multiliidei. ibe vsllliigi of
aiirn'of [he hm, Ibt nam of [lD(lng-
' Saebt tar hiili
r ud perfbetion, btf ali
Inibi ud fKultiH. .'
■ Btben. Ibe Joj in Tounlnr, ubdng tbe energ; of Ihil prlndpil fttculV,
' oat iBtellMt or undentudiiw. Tbia iaj cilendi, not onlf to Ibe wlie,
• bol u tbi mulKtuda. For tU meo b*<e u nirriloa to J|Donnce and
'icnwi endln loniedtj™, howeiMmoderile, Me gl»dlDleini«Bdto
iDlbnD UwDualfEL
■ Henn thoelbn the dallgbt uiiinRfrom Ibeie ImlaHODi i HHeue
' P^of 1<» HPr ^'>> >)" mbilTpc In onr mlndi, to into tbU Ibii
- aru In Ibalt £11 ud tuUnt daji.'
H for tbp barptic
ViTaidl,lniwoL__...
-■■'-- rear. PageKT.
Jcnualen inte
nniical noto. Pue »\6. And Mr. Haadd btmiclf. In bts linel in
"gTpt, baj undeitaken to npreaent two of tbe ten pJagoea of Eerpt by
itai, Inltndad u Imitate the buuing of Blea and Ibe bopping of rnga.
But tbeie poweia of ImiUtioD, admitting Ibem to eitat in ali Ibl
iriDua in gtucn above enumenlad, eoniiituM hut a veiy aoMll put of
iiwerotAretUaat, kiDg of Snma. neorded In Plutarch, to one vbe ».
.... .,_ ._ . .._. , .._ „|i(..
lonn more pToperlr to th
Thlcb naHin Kr. Uarrli
ItoD. that at bMl it la but an
Uualc, Paintlni. and Poetiy, f
■ DrpiieirjrandpaiiiU
- ' -*fli thin J ,
tf.na
g bia Dlisouiie «
dbyGoot^le
P&ILIMmABT DIBOOtTBSS.
<ielubt
end that reMoa recDgnues what the wnte l^provea, what
trondei i> it, that in alt ages, and even by the least en-
lEghtened of mankind, iti efficacy should bs acknow-
iSfed ; or that, aa well by thote who are capable of
reason and reflection, as thoee who seek for no other
^ratificatioDs than what are obviima to the aeDBoi, it
ahimlil be considered as a genuine and natural source of
ligbtf The wonder ii, that leu of that curiosity, which
to the history and progress of art«,
and their gradual advances towaida perfectioa, has been
cKerdaed m the instance now befi»e us, than in any other
ufefliial importance.
If we take a view of those autbon who have written on
mmic, we shall find them
classea, consisting of those
ciplei of the science into certain mathematical nropor-
ilons ; of others who hare treated it ayitemalically, and
vidi a view to practice ; and of a third, who, considering
uqnd as a branch of physics, have from various pheno-
laena explained the manner in which it is generated and
communicated to the auditory faculty. But to whom we
are indebted for the ^adual improvements of the art, at
what periods it flourubed, what checks and ohitructions
it has at times met with, who have been its patrons or its
enemies, what have been the characteristics of its moat
eminent professors, few are able to tell. Nor has the
knowledge of ita precepts been communicated in such
a manner as to enable any but such as have devoted
themselves to the study of the science to understand
them. Hence it is that men of learning have been
betnved into numberless errors respecting music; and
abeu they hare presumed to talk about it, have dis-
covered the grossest ignorance. When Strada, in the
penon of Clandian, recites the fable of the Nightingale
and the Lyriit, how does his invention labour to describe
the contest, and bow does he err in the confusion of the
terms melody and harmony ; and in giving to music
either attKbutes that belong not to it, or which are its
least excellence ! and whnt is his whole poem but a vun
attempt to excite ideas for which no correspondent words
are to be found in any languaeet Nor does he, who talks
of the eenius of the world, of the first beauty, and of uni-
versal barmony, sjfmnietr^, and order, the sublime author
of the Characteristics, discover much knowledge of his
anbject, when after asserting with the utmost confidence
thst the ancients were acquwnted with parts and sym-
phony, he makes it the test of a good judge in music
' that he understand a fiddle.'"
Sir William Temple speaking of music in his Essay
upon the ancient and modem Learning, has betrayed bis
ignorance of the sul^ect in a comparison of the modem
music with the ancient; wherein, notwithstanding that
Pslestrina, Bird, and Gibbons lived in the same century
with himself, and that the writings of Shakespeare and
the Paradise Lost were then extant, he scruples not to
assert that 'the science is wholly loet in the world, and
' that in the room of music and poetry we have nothing
'left hut fiddling and rhyming.'
Ur. Dryden, m those two admirable poems, Alexander's
Feast, and his lesser Ode for St. Cecilia's day, and in his
Elegy on the death of Purcell, with sreat judgment |^ves
to £e several instruments mentioned bv him their proper
attributes ; and recurring perhaps to the numerous conv
nton places in his memory respecting music, has described
its ettects in adequate terms ; but when in the prefaces to
bis i^eraa be speaks of recitative, of song, and the com-
liaratnemerit of the Italian, the French, and the English
MnpoaeTs, his notions are so vague and indeterminate, as
to convince us that he was not master of his subject, and
does little else than talk by rote.
7sl. III., TSE> IS3, In note HS.
Mr. Addison, in those lingnlarly huntorous papers ilk
the S^tator, intended to ridicule the Italian opera, ia-
necessitated to speak of music, but he does it in such terms
as idainly indicate that he had no judgment of his own
to direct bim. In the paper, Numb. 18, the highest en-
comium he can vouchsafe music is, that it is an agreeable
entertainment ; and a little after he complains of our fond-
ness for theforeign music, not caring whether it be Italian,
French, or High Dutch, by which latter we may suppose
the author meant the music of Mynheer Hendel, as he
calls him.
In another paper, vii. Numb. 29, the same person
delivers these sentiments at Urge respecting Recitative ; —
' However the Itaiian method of acting in RteitalijKt
' might appear at first hearing, J cannot but think it more
'just than that which prevuled in our EnglUk Opera
' Before this innovation ; the Transition from an air to
' Recitative Musick being more natural than the passing
' from a Song to plain and ordinary Speaking, which wa*
' the common Method in PurcelT* operas.
' The only Fault I find in our present Practice, is the'
' making use of the Ilalian BteitaliBO with EngUth words.
' To go to the Bottom of this Matter, 1 must observe that
' the Tone, or, as the French call it, the Accent of every
' Nation in their ordinary Speech is altogether different
' from that of every other People, as we may see even in
' the Welsh and Scotch, who border so near upon us. By
' the Tone or Accent I do not mean the Pronunciation of
' each particular Word, but the Sound of the whole Sen-
' tence. Thus it is very common for an English gentle-
' man, when he bears a French Tragedy, to complain that
'the Actors all of them speak in aljone; and therefore be
' very wisely prefers bis own countmnen, not considering
' that a Foreigner complains of the same Tons in an
' English Actor.
' For this Reason, the Recitative Music in every Lan-
' guage should be as different as the Tone or Accent of
' each Language; for otherwise what may properly ei-
' press a Passion in one Language, will not do it in
' another. Every one that has been long in Italy knows
' very well that the Cadences in the Recitativo bear a
' remote Affinity to the Tone of their Voices in ordinary
' Accents of their Language n
'Tuneful,
' Thus the Notes of Interrogation or Admiration in the
' Italian Musick (if one may so call them), which re-
' semble their Accents in Discourse on such Occasions,
' are not unlike the ordinary Tones of an English Voice
■ when we are angry ; insomuch that I have often seen our
' Audiences extremely mistaken as to what has been
' doing upon the Stage, and expecting to see the Hero
' knock down his Messenger when he has been asking
■ him a question ; or fancying that he quarrek with his
' Friend when he only bids him Good-morrow.
'For this reason the Italian artists cannot agree with
' our English musicians in admiring Purcell'a Compoai-
' tiona, and thinking his Tunes so wonderfully adapted
'to hia worda, because both Nations do not always ex-
* press the same Passioni by the same Sounds.
' I am therefore humbly of opinion that an English
' Composer should not follow the Italian Recitative loo
' servilely, but make uae of many gentle Deviations from
' it in Compliance with his own Native Language. He
■ may copy out of it all the lulling Softness and Dying
' FalU (as Shakespeare calls them), but should still re-
' member that he ought to accommodate himself to an
' English Audience, and by humouring the Tone of our
' Voices in ordinary Conversation, have the same Regard
' to the Accent of hia own Language, as thoae Persons
'had to theirs whom he professes to imitate. It ia ob-
dbyGooi^le
PBKLIHIHABV DI800UB8B.
■ served that Mveral oT the linnn^ ffirde of our own
Country learn to sweeten their Voices, and mellow the
■ Hanhness of their natural Notes by proctisinK under
-* those that come Irom wanner Climates. In the same
* manner I would allow the Italian Opera to lend out
' English Musick ai much as may grace and soften it, but
■* never entirely to annihilats and destroy it. Let the
' Infiinon be as strong as you please, but still let the
' the People, and consider that the Delicacy of Hearing
'and Taste of Harmony has been formed upon those
' Sounds which every Country abounds with. In short,
- that musick is of a relative Nature, and what is Harmony
' to one Ear may be Dissonance to another.'
Whoever reflects on these sentiments must be inclined
la question as well the goodness of the author's ear as his
knowledge of subject. The principle on which hi* re»-
soning is founded, is clearly that the powers of music are
local ; deriving Iheir efficaey from habit, custom, and
whatever else we are to understand by the genius of
a peoplej a position as repugnant to reason and ex-
perience as that which concludes his disquisition, rii.,
that ■ what is harmony to one ear may be dissonance to
may produce different effects on different persona; and
that one may be excited to mirth by an air that has
drawn l«ars from another.
A late writer, in a strain of criticism not less erroneovis
than affectedly refined, forgetting the energy of harmony,
independent of the adventitious circumstances of loudness
or softness that accompany the utterance of it; or per-
haps not knowing that certain modulations or combma-
tions of sounds have a necessary tendency to inspire
grand and sublime sentiments, such, for instance, as we
hear in the Exaltabo of Falestrina, the Hosanna of
Gibbons, tbe openine of the first concerto of Corelli, and
many of Mr. Handel's anthems, ascribes to the buriU, as
he calls them, of Boranello," and the symphonies of
Yeomellif the power of dilating, a^tating, and rousing
the soul like thepuntings of Timomachus and Aristides,t
whose works by the way no man living ever saw, and of
whose very names we should be ignorant, did they not
occur, the one in Pliny, the other in some of the epigrams
in the Greek Anthologia.
In a manner widely different do those poets and philo-
sophers treat music, who, being susceptible of its charms,
and considering it as worthy the most abstract specula^
tion, have made themselves acquainted with its principles.
Milton, whenever he speaks of the subject, and there ai
expressing an enthusiastic fondness for music, talks the
language of a master.
His ideas of the joint efficacy of music and poetn, and
of tlie nature of harmony, are manifested in the following
well-known passage: —
And ever sgainit eating cares
L^> me in soft Lydian aires ;
Harried to immortal verse,
Such OB tbe meeting soul may pierce
In notes, with many a winding bout
Of linked sweetness long drawn out.
With wanton heed, and giddy canning,
The melting voice through mazes running ;
Untwisting all the chains, that tye
The hidden soul of harmony.
• L(. Biiiiii*l]o,&iUiriplaBtLottl.
t Bh n Inqvirf Into tha D«anU« at Piintlni b^ Dsalel Webb, Eiq.
Cathedral music and choral aervice he describes in
terms that suSciently declare his abilities to judge of it,
and its effects on his own mind : —
la service high, and anthems ciear.
As may with sweetness throogh muo cm
Dissolve me ioto eitasies,
And bring all heav'n before mine eyes.
The fallowing sonnet, addressed to his friend Ifr.
Henry Lawes, points out one of the great excellencies in
the composition of music to words : —
Harry, whose ttmefol and well-measar'd song
First taught our Ei^lish music how to span
Words with just note and accent, not to scan
With Hidas' ears, committinK short and long ;
Thy worth and skill exempt thee from the throng.
With praise enough for envy to look wan ;
To after-age thou shalt ba writ tie man.
That with smooth air could humour best our tongiic.
Thou honour'st verse, and veise must lend her wing
■To honour thee, the priest of Phcebns' choir,
That tim'st their happiest lines io hymn or story.
Dante shall give Fame leave to set thee higher
Than his Casdla, whom he woo'd to sing,
Met in the milder shades of Purgatory.
His sonnet to Mr. Lawrence Hyde conveys bis sense of
the delights of a musical evening : —
Lawrence, of virtuous father virtuous son,
Now that the fields are dank, and ways are mire.
Where shall we somelimea meet, and by the (ire
Help waste a sullen day ; what may he won
From the hard season gaining? time will run
On smoother, till Favoniua re-inspira
V The frozen eai-Ui; and clothe in fredl attire
The liiie uid the rose, that neither soVd nor spun.
What neat repast shall feast us, light and choice.
Of Attic taste, with wine ; whence we may rise
To hear the lute well toucht, or artful voice
Warble immortal notes and Tuscan ^r?
He, who of those delights can judge, and spare
To interpose them oft is not unwise.
And in his tractate on Education, he recommends the
practice of music in terms that bespeak his skill in the
science. 'The interim of unsweatmg themselves re^u-
' larly, and convenient rest before meat, may both with
'profit and delight be taken up in recreating and com-
■ posing their travail'd spirits with the solemn and divine
' harmonies of musick heard or learnt ; either while the
' skilful organist plies his grave and fancied descant, in
' lofty fugues, or the whole symphony with artful and un-
■ imaginable touches adorn and grace tbe well studied
' chords of some choice composer ; sometames the tute, or
'soft organ-stop waiting on elegant voices either to
'religious, martial, or cinl ditties: which, if wise men and
'prophets be not extremely out, have a great power over
'dispositions and manners, to smooth and make them
'gentle from rustic harshness and distempered passions.'
Lord Bacon, in his Natural History, has given a great
varie^ of experiments touching music, that shew him t«
have been not barelv a philosopher, an enquirer into the
phenomena of sound, but a master of the science of har-
mony, and very intimately acquainted with the precepts
of musical composition.
That we have so few instances of this kind is greatly to
be wondered at, seeing that in poetry and painting the
caseisfarotiierwise; in the course of a classical education
men acquire not only a taste of the beauties of tbe Greek
and Roman poets, hut a nice and discriminating faculty,
that enables them to discern their excellencies and defecli;
and in painting, an attentive perusal of the works of
eminent artists, aided by a sound judgment, will go near
dbyGoo*^le
?KUJ1II1IART DIBGOUBSB.
b (bnn the tihafacter of a eonnoittMu, and render the
poweMor of it auKeptible of all that delight which the art
n capable of afibnung; and this we tee exemplified in
nnmberleM instances, where penoii* unskilled in the
practice of punting become enaoled to diitlngtiiah hands,
to compare at^lea, and to mark the beautiet of conipoii-
ctiaracter, drawing, and colouring, with a degree ot
acy and precirion equal to that of masters. But few,
except the tnuters of the science, are possessed of know-
ledge sufficient to enable them to ditcouree with pTDprieiy
on music ; nor indeed do many attend to that which i«
h) neatest excellence, its influence on the hnmtn mind,
or thoae irreststable chsmii which render the pasuani
sahservient to the power of well modulated sounds, and
e mind with the most exalted sentiments. One
I fine voice, another a delicate touch, another
what he calls a brilliant finger ; and many are pleased
wiUi that music which appear* most difficult in the
execution, and in judging of their own feeling*, mistake
wonder for delight
To reroore the Dmnherlesa prejudices respecting music,
which those onlj entertain who are ignorant of the
science, or are mistaken in its nature and end ; to pobt
eat its Tarious excellencies, and to assert its dignity,
as a science woithr the exerdse of our rational as well as
audible facultiea, the only e&ctual way sMma to be to in-
TcstifFale ita nrindi ' ' ' ' '
able
>tinle ita principles, as founded in general and inrari-
le law*, and to trace the improvements tliernn which
re resulted from the aecumulated stndiee and experience
«■ a lone snccesdon of age*, such a detul is necessary to
rednce the science to a certainty, and to fumiah a ground
fat criticism ; and may be considered as a branch of
Starair history, of the defidencv wheceof Lord Bacon has
dedsred his sentiments in the follawtng emphafical tenna :
' History is Natural, Civil, Eccleiiastical, and Literary ;
'whereof die three first I allow as extant, the fourth I
'note as deficient. For no man hath propounded to him-
'self the general state of learning to be described and
'represented from age to age, as many have done the
' works of nature, and the state civil and ecclesiastical ;
'without which the hiatoir of the world seemeth to
' me to be as the statue of Polvphemus with his eye out,
' ttiat part being wanting which doth most ihew the spirit
'andOfe of the person. And yet I am not ignorant, that
'in divers particular iciences, as of the jurisconsults, the
'mathematicians, the rhetoricians, the philosopher*, diere
'sre set doWn some small memorials of the schools,
'aolhors, and books; and so likewise some barren relations
'loucbing the invention of arts or usages,
'But ajuat story of learning, containing the antiquities
' and orieinals, of Knowledges and their sects, their inven-
'tions, their traditions, their diverse administrations and
'managings, their flourishings, their oppositions, decays,
'depressions, oblivions, removes, with the causes and
'occasions of them, and all other events concerning
' learning, throughout the ages of the world, I may truly
'affirm to be wanting.'*
If anything can be necessary to enibrce argnroenta so
wci^ty as are contained in the above passage ; it must
be mstancea of error, resulting from the want of that
intelligence which it is the business of history to commu-
nicate ; and it b greatly to be lamented that music affords
more examples of this kind than perhaps any science
ehatever : for, not to remark on those uncertain and oon-
tradictory accounts which are given of the diacovery of
the consonances, some writers attributing it to Pytha-
goras, others to Diodes, that relation of the fkct which
haa gained most credit with mankind, as deriving its
authority tVom the Pythagorean school, is demonstratahly
• OItb*tl*uMHatafI,<unlD|,l»«klI.
fklse and erroneous.t Again, as to the inventjon of sym-
phoniae harmony, or, as we now call it, music in parts,
many ascribe it to the ancients, and say tfaat it was m nse
among the Greeka, though no evidence of the fact can be
drawn f^m thur writing* now extant. Others assert it
to be a modern improvement, but to whom it is due no
one has yet been able to ducover.
As to the modem system, there is the irrefragable evi-
dence of bis own wntinin extant, though not in print,
that it was settled by Guido Aretinua, a Benedictine
monk of the monastery of Pomposa in Tuscany, who
flouriahed about the year 1028; ^et this fact, which is
also related as an important event m the Annales Ecclesi-
Bstici of Cardinal Baronius, has been rendered doubtful
by an assertion of a writer now living. Signer Martinelli,
that one of the same name and place, Fra Guittone
d'Aretio, an Italian poet of great eminence, and who
Uved about two hundred years afler, adjusted that musical
scale by which we now sing ;I and fltrther that the same
Fra Guittone waa the inventor of counterpoint. Again,
those who give the invention of the modem tyttem, and
the application thereto of the syllables used in solmisation
to the true author, ascribe also to him the invention of
and also of the Clavicembalum or
in Gower'a time by the name of the Qtole, from Cist ells,
ft liUle chest. Another writer asaerta, on what authority
we are not told, that counterpoint, which implies music in
conaonance, was invented by John of Dunstable, who
flourished anno 1400; and another,! mistaking the name,
attributes it to St. Dunstan, archbishop of Canterbury.
Mr. Marpourg of Berlin, a person now living, has taken
up this relation, groundless as it is, and in a book of his
writing, entitied 'Tralti deta Fugue et du Counterpoint,'
baa done little less than assert that St Dunatan invented
counterpoint, by reducing into order the rulea for compo-
sition in four ports, and not a few give credit to nis
testimony. ||
Again we are told, that whereas the Greeks tigni6ed
the several sounds in thmr scale by the letters of their
^phabet, or by characters derived from them, Guido in-
vented a more compendious method of notation by points
stationed on a ttave of five lines, and occupying both the
lines end the spaces. This assertion is true but in part ;
for the stave, and that of many lines, was in use near half
a century before Guido was bom ; and all that can be
ascribed to him is the placing point* as well in the spaces
ud li oWtmUd tmmt a
una work. lU. III. pus ITS. !■ i hiiiiM of bli Tiitlng; nd la Mi.
BiRlll'i BliuiT of Uh luUsn Tonfu. praliad lo hl> fuliu nbiUT.
page li. ti ■ (sUa of 7n OidlUM, «Uih SaiMQ hj* mil tia ukan fin
a oanpaailkaB af jaatardijr.
f WBUgMiOaapwPnols.faikkHhton'srHiule.nUuntatkaOai-
■nui lanan^M. and nohUahad at Dnaden is tbe Tear ISSO, wbo has
> tha 7(a[ ornir Wd, SM, Dmiiiaa,
■ aalt 10 Ilia atudj tf moak, sod ilMntar aaqidnii IibiuriI bma. Ha
■ wii tha flm that cooiBoaed aonin if dilbngt pant, UuU it U i^, Bati,
■Tnwr, DaaasDi. tDdTacaaior A1t,'Hn1M, laai. U. Thawbalen.
lilkiD It aa emt, atWsf fnm a mMikni ttnio If a !■
PDEMptloDaa Hiuloai PrMttca of Jobuiiiai Nnaiui
IbayaailSIlL VUalnfti, pa«elTa Id aoW, I74bi
I 'Dnaitaa, AntHrSn* ^ CutsibofT, qui *1
• tUslt, t IsSJeun an inmnaoi d'vroii aomisaD .
'flajt lacbimUiaaiiatna. II ladlgv an ordia lei tMlia
, ... . . .__ « pia li dauu on, DouvaQet;
m k quartn partlBi,
ua.' rtrOt II. paca
dbyGoot^le
X7U1.
PKBLIHIHABT DISOODKBB.
u on Iha linei, which it muit be owned it an ingenioui
and Ulefil contrivuiM.
To uiut the memorj mi facilitate the practice of lol-
misation, it ia also aaid that Guido made use of the left
hand, giving to the top of the thumb the note Tan ut,
to the joint below it A ai, to the next B mi, and lo on,
placing the highest note of hia lyitem, E la, at the ex-
tremity of the hand, vix., the tip of the middle finger;
but nothing of thii kind ii to be found, or indeed ii men-
tioned, or even hinted at, in any of his writingB, and
we may therefore conclude that the whole ij an invention
of some other penon.
Little leM eonfluion aUende the relationa extant re-
•peeling the bvention of the Cantua Mennirabilis, and
those marks or characters used lo signify the several
lengths or durations of notes. The vulgar tale is, that
Jolm de Murii, a Norman, and a doctor of the Sorbonne
about the year 1330, invented eight musical characters,
namely, the Maxima, or as we call it, the Large, the
Long, the Breve, Semibreve, Minim, Semimiuim or
Crotchet, Chroma or Quaver, and the Semichroma,
assigning to each a several length in respect of time
or £iration.* Now upon the face of the relation there is
great reason to conclude, that in the oruinal inititution
of the Cantus Meniurabilis, the semmreve was the
sboneit note ; but there is undeniable evidence that as
well the minim as the notes in suceesuon after it, were of
comparatively late invention.
But this is not all ; De Muris was not a Norman, but
an Englishman : be was not the inventor of the Cantus
Meneurabilis ; not he, but a penon of the name of
Franco, a icholaitic, as he is called, of Liege, about the
middle of the eleventh century invented certain characters
to ngnify the duration of sounds,! that ie to say, the four
first above mentioned.
Another prevailing error reipecting music has got pos-
session of the minds of many people, viz., that thoic sin-
gularly sweet and pathetic mtuodies with which the Scots
music abounds, were introduced into it by David Rizzio,
an Italian musician, and a favourite of Mary, queen of
Scots ; the reverse is the trath of the matter, and that by
the testimony of the Italians themselves ; the Scots tunes
are the genuine produce of Scotiand; those of greatest
merit among them are compositions of a king of that
country ; aiia of these some of the most celebrated madri-
gals of one of the greatest of the Italian composers are
avowed imitations.!
Again, few are sufficiently acquainted with the history
of the science, and in particular how long the several
musical instruments now known by us have been in use,
to prevent being imposed on bv pretended new inventions :
the harp of £oIus, aa it is called, on which so much has
been lately smd and written, was constructed by Kircher
above a century ago, and is accurately described in his
Musurgia ; aa is also the perpendicular harpaicbord, and
an instrument so contrived as to produce sound by the
friction of wheels, from which the modem lyricbord is
manifestly taken. The new system, as it is called, of the
flute abec, proposed about forty years ago by the younger
Stanesby, is in truth the old and original system of that
instrument, and is to be fonnd in Hersennns ; and the
clarinet, an instrument unknown in England till within
these last twenty years, was invented by John Christo-
pher Denner, a wind muvcal instrument maker of Ldpaic
above a century ago.t
• NlsdsTlBiaHBo, ■■iHetor Hia liitwintb cmtvr. 'rith hhh d».
fm of fausBnltir, stlBTDpti to ihoT Fbit these ohinelcn an but dlf-
fcuntwMlfltstkm odbBmand ud mum b, >Ucli lud bMi Ininidoecd
lata OgUah Halo ftic uotlHr pnipoM.
t ntoUt*, tw*»'< ■>!<»«■
t VUs tutu, pwtMt.
f ru» laAs, p(C*<l>-
Farther, it has for the honour of this our native cotintr^
been said of Pureell, that bis music waa very different
from the Italian ; that it was entirely English, that it was
masculine.il Against the two first of these assertions we
have his own testimony in the preface to one of his works,
wherein he says that he has endeavoured at a just imita-
tion of the moet famed Italian masters, with a view, as he
adds, to bring the gravity and seriousness of that sort of
music into vogue.! As to the third, the judicious peruser
of his compositions will find that they are ever suited
to the occasion, and are equally calculated to excite
tender, and robust or manly affections.
Laatlj, of the many who at this time profess to love
muuc, few are acquainted with the characters, and even
the names of those many eminent persons celebrated for
their skill and great attainments in the science, and who
flourished under the patronage of the greatest potentate*,
previous to iJie commencement of the present century ;
and, with respect to those of our own country, it is true
there is scarce a boy in any of the choirs in the kingdom
but knows that Talliiand Bird composed anthems, and
Child, Batten, Rogers, and Aldrich services; but of their
compositions at large, and in what particulars they ex-
celled, even their teachers are ignorant
Under a thorough conviction of the benefits that most
result from the kind of intelligence here recommended,
attempts have been made at different periods to tnue the
rise and prf^essofmuMC in ecourse of historical narra-
tion; andletit not be deemed an invidiousofflce, if thoer
defects in the attempts of others are pointed out, which
alone can justify the present tmdertakmg.
In the Menagiana, tome I. page 303, mention is mad*
of a canon of Tonn of the name of Ouvard, who wrote
a history of mnsic : Mattheson, in his Volkommenen
Capellmeister, takes notice of this work, and says that it
comes down to the end of the seventeenth cenuiry, and is
Eerhaps extant in MS. in some library at Paris, But the
rst attempt of this kind in print is a treatise of Jobannea
Alhertus Bannius, ' De Musics origine, prograssu et
■ deniqui studio bene instituendo,' publiabea in 1637, in
octavo.
Next to this, in point of time, is the History of Music
of Wol^ang Ca^ar Printz, chapel-master and director of
the chou of the church of Sorau, printed at Dresden
in the ^ear \090, in a small quarto volume, with the title
of ' Historiche Bescbreibung der Edelen Singund Kling-
'kunst' Neitherof the two Utter works can be conuder^
as a history of the science ; the first of tbem is a very
small volume, and tbe othei not a large one, containing
littie more than a list of writers on music disposed in
chronological order.
The appendix of Dr. Wallit to his edition of Ptolemy,
published in 1682, though not a history of the science,
contains many historictu particulars refl{>ectiQg mnsiG,
besides that in sundry instances it renders intelligible the
doctrines of tbe ancient writers. It is written with great
penetration for which the author it
celebrated.
In 16S3, the Steur Gabriel Gmllanme Nivera, onanist
of the chapel of Lewis XIV. published ■ Dinertation
' snr le Chant Gregorien,' a small octavo volume, but in
effect a history of ecclesiastical music, with a relation of
the many corruptions it has undergone. In it are many
curious passages relating to the subject, extracted from ,
the fathers and the rituMists, with the observations of tbe
author, who appears to have been a learned man in his
profession.
I Oniwor'i Biapniilila] HUlnj of EnfUod, u it ii olhd, Tol. U..
put II., ilus X. tit. ■niciiHi, ut. Hisucti) Pobcill.
% VUa tnna, pKi >4t.
dbyGoo^le
PKXLIIIINABT DI8C0DBSK.
In 1695 Oio. Andrea Angeliiii Bontcnipi, of PenislB,
pnbliahed in a Uun volume a work of tome merit, entiued
* Hiatoria Hanca.' Berardi DMOtion* a work of one
Pietm AiragODa, a Flarentine, antitled ' Istoria ArmomcB,'
bat BrMMid doabti th« ezUUooe of it*
A hiitory of the pontifical chapel, and <^ the eolletfe of
ringen thneto belonging, b contained in • work entitled
' OMorranoni per ben regolare il Coro de i Cantori della
'Cappella PoDtiticia, tantoneUe Funrioni oi'diiiarie cha
* ■bBordiaarie,' b]r Andrea Adami da Bobena, Haeatro
della C«ppella Fantificia, published at Rome in 1711, in
a ^oarto Tolsme. In thi* bo<A are many euriou*
particalara.
Tbera la also extant in two rohnnet duodecimo, but
dirided iato four, a book entitled ' Hiitoire de la Munque
<etde •« Bfieta,' printed fint at Pari* in 1719, and
I 1725, The materialt fi>r
tbe AbU Bourdelot, and othen of hii nephew Bonnet
Boordelot, phyiician to the king of France, the letten of
the AbU Bagnenet and others, on the comparatiTe merit*
of the Italian and French opera and muiic, together with
•undrT other paperi on tbe aame lubjeet The publitker
waa Bonnet, a ttephew of the Abbt Bourdelot;
and the beat that can be laid of the work ii, that the whole
~ intelligenee and eontrovenv ; and,
_ I aoma cnriona memoin of Lnlly,
and a few other of the Frenafa miMJciawa, haa very little
daim to attrition.
About the year 1730, Mr. Peter Prelleur, an able
muiician and oi^jnniat, puhliahed a work enticed 'The
'modem HiMi»4nMter, eontaining an introduction to
' iinging, and inatnietiona for DMWt of the inatrnment* in
'nae.' At the endof thii bookiiabrief hiitoryof mniic,
in which are stmdrj particuUn worth noting : it ha* no
name to it, but was nevertbcleia compiled by the above
John Oodfrer Walther, a profemn- of moaie, and or-
ganist of the church of St. Peter and Paul at Weimar,
publiahed in 1732 a muncal Lexioon w Bibliotheque,
wherein i« a great variety of information reapecting i
and muiiciani of all countriei and uet. Hatthei
Hamburg, in bii 'Critiea Muiica,' bu 'Orcbeatre,' and
a work entitled 'Volkommenen Capeltmriitet,' ■'. «. the
perfect Cbi^lmaater, ha* brought together man; parti-
culan at the like kind ; but the want of method render*
Iheae oompoaitiana, in an hiatorical view, of little oae.
In tbe year 174<^ an iogeniou* ;^oung man of the name
of Graasincau,t publiahed a Dictionary of Muiic in one
octaro volinne, with a rectamnendation of the work by
Dr. PepuBch, Dr. Oreene, and Mr. OalUard. The book
had the appearance of a learned work, and all men won-
dered who the author eoold be : it aeemi he bad been an
amaaBenaia of the formra of theae peraoni. The founda-
tion of Ihia dictionary it « tranatation of that of Sebaadaii
Broaaaid ; the additian* include all the muiieal article*
contained in the two Tcdnmea of Chamhera't Dictionary,
with perluipe a few hint* and emendatioBs fimiifbed bv
Dr. Pepnach. The book neverthele** abounda with
enoia, and, tboneli a n*cfid and entertunlng publicatiiw,
b not to be relied on.
In 1756, Fr. Wilfaelm Haipourg, a mnaician of Beilin,
pttbtbheid in a thin quarto roluma, ■ Trait6 d« la Fugue et
* du Conlrepoint,' the aecond part whereof b a brief Uatory
ctf conuterpoint and flign*. The tame peraon b abo the
aothor of a work entiued * Oitische EinleitunK in die
' Geachidite und LehtMke der alten und neuen M uaick,'
printed at Berlin in 1759. It b part of a larger work,
and the remainder u not yet publiahed.
* Caa^nu (f mlMn <m BBds it tbi md at hll • Dhttamilw d*
) relate and
The ' Storia della Muaica ' of Padre Martini of Bologna,
of which aa yet only two Tolnme* hare been publiabed,
and thoae at the diitance of thirteen yean from each
other, 18 a learned and curiout work ; but the greet ttudy
and labour beHowed by the author in compiling it, make
ua deipair of ever aeeins it completed.
The ' Hiitoire generale, critique, et philologique de la
' Mudque,' of Mans. De Blainville, printed at Pari* in
1767, in a thin quarto volume, ha* very little pretence to
the title it bear* : like aome otJier work* of the kind, it b
diffiue where it ought to be sncdncl^ and brief where one
would wi>h to find it codou*.
A character very different b dne to a work in two
volamea, ouarto, entitled 'De Cantu et Muiica aacro,
' a prima Eccleaiv Atata oaque ad prsaeni Temoua :
' Auctore Martino Geiberto, Honaiterii et (
' Sancti Karii in SUva Nigra Abbate, Saerique
' Imperii Princepi. Typb San-Blaaianb, 1774.' In thu
moat valuable work ttie author haa with great learning,
judgment, and candour, given the hutory of ecdedaatical
mnaic ; and the author of the preeent work felicitatea
hiraaelf an finding Ma aentimenia on the subject, particn-
larly of tbe church compoaen, and the emrupliona of the
ebureh atyle, confirmed by the teatimuny of ao able
a writer. He b farther bappj' to aee that without any
communication with thb ilhutnott* dignitary, and withont
having peruaed hb book, by tt" *"' — ' ~-*--i-'-
thb coonti^ alone ha* fnrn' '
punue a aunilar tnok of n
•uthenticata many fact* a
At theb««inningof tbia preaentyear 1770, tbe mnaical
worid were bvourad with the fint volimiB of a work en-
tided ' A General Hiatory of Music from tbe earliaat
' Age* to the present Period, with a Dissertation on the
' Mnric of the Ancienta, by Charlea Bnrney, Mua. D.,
' P. R. S.* lie author in the proposal* for hb aub-
acription has given aiaurancea of the publication of
a aecond, which we doubt not he will make eood.
From those who have thus taken upon tnem to trace
the rbe and progreaa of muaic in a, courae of hbtorical de-
duetian, we pass to other* who appear to have made col-
lection* for the like purpose, but were defeated in their
intentiona of benefiting the science by their laboura.
And fint Anthony Wood, who hinuelf wa* a proficient
in music, and entertained an enthnuastic f«idne** for the
art, had it seems meditated a hittor^ of muddana, a work
whicb bis curiosity and unwearied industry rendered him
vetT fit for : to this end he made a collection of memoir*,
which is extant, in hb own hand-writing, among the
manuscripts in tbe Ashmolean Museum; and in tbe
printed catalogue thereof btbua numbered anddeacribed:
' 8568. 106. Some materiab toward a hutory of the lives
' and compositions of all English musicians ; drawn up
' according to alphabetical order in 210 page* by A. W.'
Of these materials he seems to have availed hmiielf in
the Fasti Oxoniensea, wherein are contained a great
number of memoin of eminent English musicians, equally
curious and tatiabctory, the peruwl whereof in die origi-
nal MS. has contributed to render thb work aomewhat
less imperfbct than it miut have been without such infor-
mation aa they afford.
Dr. HeniyAldrich, dean of Chrbt Church, an excellent
acbolai, and of aucb skill in music, that he holds a place
among the moat eminent of our Englub church musicians,
had formed a design of a hutory of muiic on a most ex-
tensive plan. Hb papen in tbe library of Christ Church
college, Oxford, have been careMI; peruaed ; among
them are a great number of loose notes, hints, and memo-
: Ttw &M II, Ihit the Iflh TshmH of lUi wnk wh prinud off in
dbyGooi^le
PBBLIHINABT DI8C»tIBSB.
randft nJatiD^ to muric and the profsMon of the ideiice ;
in the collecbon whereol lie leemi to have ponued tiie
coune recommended bv BroMird in the catalof^ue of
writen on music at the end of bii DictiaDnaire de
Munque, nage 367 ; but among- a great multitude of
SiBpera in bit own hand-writing, there are none to be
□und from whence it can with certainty be concluded
that he had made any progreaa in the work.
Niaola FranceBco Hajm, a musician, and a man of
•ome literature, publiihed, above forty yean ago, jiro-
poaali containing the plan of a history of muiic written
by himself, hut, meeting with little encouragement, he
denited from hii dedgn of printing it.
Much intelligence respecting mumc might have been
hoped for from the abilities and industry olAshmole, E>i.
Hooke, and Sir William Petty, the two former oi whom
had been choristers, the one in the cathedral of Litchfield,
the other of Christ Church, Oxford : the lait of the
three wa« professor of munc at Gresbam college; but
theu person! abandoning the faculty in which they had
been instituted, betook thenuelves to studiei of a different
kind : Aihmole, at fint a aolicitor in Chancery, became
an antiquaiYi a herald, a virtuoso, a naturalist, and an
Hermetic philosopher : Hooke took to the «tudy of
natural p)ulo«ophy, mechanics, and architecture, and
attained to great skill in all :* and Petty, choosing the
better part, laid the foundatioa of an immense estate by
a vaiioua exertion of his very great talents, and waa
aucceaniely a phyrieien, a mathematician, a mechanic,
a projector, a contractor with the government, and an
iiin«over of land.
Enough it la presumed has been said to prove the
utility, and even the necesnty, in order to a competent
knowledge of the science, of a History of Music, m the
deduction whereof the first object that piesents itself to
view is the system of the andent Qreeks, adjusted, it
must be confessed, with great art and ingenuity, but
labouring under many defects, which, if we are not
greatly aeceived, are remedied in that of the modems.
Of the ori^n of this system we have such authentic Intel'
ligence as leave* little room to doubt that it was invented
by Pythagoraa, a name sufficiently known and re»ered,
sad the subsequent deduction of the progress of the
science, involving in it the names and improvements o '
men well known, such as Philolaua, Archytaa of Tarentum,
Aristozenus, Euclid, Nioomachua, Ptolemy, and many
J Wood of Dr. Hoski, thU. beins sc Wot.
. _„-_ ud dIMsd In tlM houH or Mr Bubr, th>
■nuin', iBd thU tlwra, «t hi* 0*i •ocaid, h* Joined to pUr tvontr
InooDi on tbo orns, and bivonlod thirtr Hfcnl wttjt of flying;.
At)wB.Oioo.TOI. II. ool. lau. The litter or UuoahcNiniutiUnd on
tb* ■uiborin or till nlUor. or nihn hti uLtaan, Dr. Biubr ud Ihg
fTMl Di. WUUh of Widliui «[]«(« 1 bnl Uh ronner l> nndond
blftilr pnbibli b* lb* f)ilh>iilng iMcdote lapKUng Di. Buibf, thi
eomnuBlmlni wbsnof ve ova to Dt. WManbsU, ono oT Bnttir'i
KboUn, ud •ftomrdi blibop or Caik snd Rou, Tii. : tbai ■ the dm
■oi(SBlH<Tau«arbwd vutabthDi. BulT'ibaiuei sodthwtbg
•OUB* *« kmt for ucnd dh, and that «en vbon it vu loteidlcUd.'
Dodlulln of a mtUrn (DtltM • Or Oltta and OBcea In tba natdlo
'WonUf tt Ood. br BdwHd WamliaU, D.D„ Chuilv of Ckrirt
■CbnRA, DobllB. ITD. isn.' Thai be nt alio emlnenUr ikilled In
.._^ . .. rtlon of m. Ward, In hli lUb
rreaion, vli. : tbal ta
DDblleediaeH. Wood
« flw « to lar that Hooka dealgnMl Na> Bedlam. HanlaciM-
•^reltigtet ni]ratelaH,MidllwpmaionnitaitneiBUIi but
•f ib* Istm o( tbeee edUaea !• MClfbMl to Sir Chrinophar
10 MoDtacnfr-kiniM and iha CoUesa of Phnletoat. than sn
""•■—•' -lovbea, mdai the bead ol Blkklsrn^ WoiA,
reboclidedgnedbj'HMket aad 81im b bis
. .™j_ ..1 . .-.-v, iJ^Hj rt
wai perbapa one of the
i. iwaalitiii of
n JaigD of D
teacb us to distinguish between fact and fable.
It is much to be lamented that tlie greater part of
what we believe touching music, is founded on no
belter authority than the fictions of poets and mytho-
logiats. whose relations are in most instances merely
typical and figurative ; such must the stories of Orpheus
and Amphion appear to be, aa having no foundation in
truth, but being calculated solely for the purpose of
And with r^ard to fiwta themselves, a distinction is to
be made between such at are in their own nature in-
teresting, and those that tend only to gratify an idle
curiosity : to instance in the latter, what satisfaction does
the mind recdve from the recital of the names of those
who are said to have increased the chords of the primitive
lyre from four to seven, Cborehus, Hyagnis, and Ter-
pander ; or when we are told that Olympus invented die
enarmonic genus, as also the Harmatian mood ; or that
Eumolpus and Melampus were excellent musieiaBS, and
Pronomus, Antigenides, and Lamia celebrated players on
the flute t In all these instances, where there are no
circumstances that constitute a character, and familiarise
to us the person spoken of, we naturally enquire who he
is ; and, for want of farther information, become in-
different as to whet is recorded of him.
Mr. Wollaston haa a remark upon the nature of
fiune that seems to illustrate the above observation, sod
indeed goes far beyond the case here put, maamuch as
the persons b^ him spoken of, are become wellknown
choracten : his words are these : * When it is said that
' Julius Cfesar subdued Qaul, beat Pompey, changed the
' Roman commonwealth into a monarchy, &c. it is the
'same thing as to say, the conquerer of Pompey was
' Casar ; that is, Cssar and the conqueror of Pompey are
■ the same thing ; and Caesar is as much known by one
'designation as the other. The amount then is only
'this : that the conqueror of Pompey conquered Pompey:
' or somebody conquered Pompey ; or rather, rince
'Pompey it as little known as Cssar, somebody c«n-
Di at lb* Duko^ lb
That memorials of persons, who at
must appear thus Indifferent to us, should be transmitted
down to posterity, together with those events that moke a
Krt of musical history, is not to be wondered at; and
utarch could never have recorded the &cts mentioned
by him In his Dialogue on Music, had he not also given
the names of those persons to whom they are severally
ascribed ; and if they now appear oninterestiug we may
reject them. But the case is far otherwise with respect
to what Is told us of the marvellous power and efficacy of
the ancient music. Aristoxenux expressly asserts Ihat
the foundation of ingenuous mannera, end a regular and
decent dischai^e of Uie ofRces of civil life, are laid in a
miiaica] education ; and Plutarch, speaking of the educ*^
(ion of Achilles, and relating that the most wise Chiron
was oarefUl to instruct him in music, says, that whoever
shall in his youth addict himself to the study of music, if
he be properly instructed therein, shall not fail to appUud
and practise that which is noble and generous, and detetl
and shun their contraries: music teaching thoee that
pursue it to observe decorum, temperance, and regularity;
for which reason he adds, that in those cities which were
governed by the best laws, the greatest care was taken
that their youth should be taught music. Plato, in hit
treatise De Legihus, lib. II., insists largely on the udlity
of this practice; and Polybius, lib. IV., cap. iiL, scmples
not to attribute the misfortunes of Uie Cynetheant, a
people of Arcadia, and that general corruption of Oirii
[alU.
dbyGoo*^le
PKELIMUIABT DISOOCBBI.
laaniien, bj bim described, to the neglect of the djtd-
pline and eserciw of nraiie ; which he uyi the ancient
Arcsdiani were bo indiutrioui to cnltiTate, tb»t tbc]' in-
corporated it bio, aad made it the v«rv estenee of, their
gaTemment ; obliging not their children onlj, bat the
^oung men tiU they attained the age of thirtr, to peniit
in the study and practice of it. InnumeraUe also are
tbe panagei in the ancient writers on harmonics wherein
the power of determining tbe minds of men to virtue or
▼ice ii ascribed to mniic with as HtUe doubt of its eSlcacy
in diis respect, as if the homan mind was possessed of no
such power as the will, or was totally diTCsted of those
passions, inclinatioiu, and habits, which constitnte a
moral character.
Now, forasmuch as we at this day are incapable of dis-
covering any such power as is here attributed to mere
musical sounds, we seem to be warranted iu withboldinK
OUT assent to these retalionB, till the evidence on which
they are grounded becomes more particular and explicit;
or It shsll be shown that they are not, what some men
ctmceive them to be, hyperbolical forms of speech, iu
which the literal is as far Ittan the true sense, as it is in
the stories of the effects of music on inanimate beings. If
indeed fay music we are to underrtand musical sounds
jointly operating with poetry, for this reason that i
ever spoken of bv the ancients as inseparably unit
poetry ; and farlAci^ because we are told that the ancient
poets, for instance, Demodocui, Thaletas of Crete, Pindar,
and others, not only composed the words, bnt also the
mniic to thdr odes and p<Eans, and sang them to the
l^re; a degree of efficacy must be allowed it, propor-
tioned to Uie advantages which it could not but derive
from such an union.* But here a difficulty will arise,
which, though it does not destroy the credit of these re-
KRs, as they stand on the footing of other historical
Its, would incline us to suspect that the music here
•poken of was of a kind veiTf different from what it ii in
general conceived to be, and that for the following reason.
We know by experience that there is no necessary cotv-
nection between musie and poetry ; and such as are coni-
ilcfatl* npnHad bk tam* of Uw (oIbI eOcur of
■ thfr nllovlu pAius* : * HuBqiu et voa H
■ nut, jDCDBJa dnldur, modnaU tnlWr cult.
petant judge* of eilber, ksow tt»o itial thotagh the powan
of each are in eome instances concurrent, each is a sepa-
rate and distinct knguase. The poet affects the passions
by images ezdted in the ntind, or by the forcible im-
pression of moral sentimeuta; the musician by sounds
either simple and baiinonical only in succession, or com-
bined : these the mind, from its particular constitution,
supposing it endued with that sense which is the perfec-
tion of the auditory faculty, without referring to any other
subject or medium, recognisei as the language of nature;
and the affections of joy, grief, and a thousand nameless
sensations, become subservient to their call.
As the powers of music and poetry are thus different,
it necessarily follows that they may exist independently of
each other ; and the instances are as numerous of j>oeta
incapable of articulatina musical sounds, as «f musicians
unpossessed of a talent for poetry.
If then the poets of the ancients were oi\\y^ such as to
tbe harmony of their verse, were capable of joining that of
music, by composing musical airs, and also sin^g them,
and that lo an audience grounded and well instructed in
muMc, what can we suppose the music of their odes to
havebeenT Perhaps little else than bare redtatien ; not
in true musical intervals, but with such iafleetions <rf the
voice as accompany speech when calculated W make a
forcible impression on the hearers.
As t« tbe relations of the effects of music in former
ages on the passions of men, and of its provoking them to
of desperation, it may be said that they afford no
* of its influence on the pasMons than
is capable of ftimisbing.t Bui there are
VliK mm. ps|M I IS, I » ; u>d Flatucb nlW« that AnflcnHM, tb*
'-■-*- plwIBf SstO- ■' ■■- "■- "— ' • - —
llHdVUMU
t proon o
■n history is
■ nansy of sasraf* it
D*PoinB.vdTrrftit . ,_.
To tluM iMtsnoM ms|P it oppaM Um (BDawlBi, whieh
kkWfT ilKiidi. TIm list ii n&Ui al Bitcu. khii of I ,
nnimad i)M Oa«4, wba isfpiwl stou IIW, ud la I* tba bdlnlif
^aipait. Wbaa Briau na latnnad Iota bla khuAom. aad bald tbs
jaarlj aaaamtily. ba waa gnallj plaaaaJ with Iha Induatrj baft of bla
•oldlan and snUMn. Anions olbR «t bia stdndsnl* na s modelam
wbe aiaartarl Ibat bjlbapi ' "' "- ' "- "
<>r^b.I. ea
Iba povaii of Dsata wlU In
".rss
■rbich. at b
rffs
an) am drin tban IsM a isfisc wnl
on bii abUhla tba gnalai «aa tba UaCi
now bama to rapaol Ua bavtss Dim bu(
dansK at maklr *■ "^ — • "
tatAiltdlatba
I to tr^ than. Tba aitial
..sadbavwaAaUiSslir
ha bad nodaitakaD, ba abonid bs
Wbam KlawiDc ambaia ninnd Iba xtara
Taaeb U(bt U cnutaiftll ■ gloom.
▼hera I nuj oft otHnlab tba baw,
WMh 11iil«i iT-*t ReroKa, and unapber
Tba apltit of Plato lo aotoM
Wbat vorida or vbit vut Tsvlant hoLd
nw Imiiuirtal d
Ing miactalaf mlfbt ba n
pmoni afaanlil be ylaead out of tha baariu of tba Cllbata. irtaa dIiIiI
ba calM In la hU aaaialanca, and wan, U namallT rcqnired it, W
analcta tba taalnmanl flam bb bandi. and bnak k aa bla htad. V.yay
tblii( bsbif Ibu fTvpand, tba althiilat bafan li> maka rraaT Hi hli art
Tanlni hli modulallni, aa Iba )Dddaii ba laiplnd iht Use olib fair
and iallfiialloa, abkb ha aantfaiud to work up lo blm till (I waa eaajr
to aae ha waa apptoachlDf to tmiT- Tha alga waa than flreB tat Ihoaa
■howaninwiliiaf loanlari tharflnt hnk* iba CtUun aMOrding U
tbatr dliaattou, and than aalaad m Iba ktag i bot locb waa bla atnngib,
Ibat ha kUMaonaottbanwIIta bla Sail balB( sftcrwarda airaralulnad
a paoliM. aadr laoorailBg hb naaon.
IvatEaofca,' -B. .
" ' r« thougbi that (he moale bad
ihamndau " " ■ ■- ■
of kir. Hand^ coopoatd In bla |ronl_ , ^ .. ^ _^ , _. -^
„tt, ' Than lanf ttamllj.' in th« aana onlorlo : bnbai, tha obona
In Alaundat'a Faaal. 'Iiat oM ThnolhcH flald Iba prisa.' aaTln( Iba
addWaa of ana ad Iha hnaaioi part), wu orlsjnal^ an Ilillan Ir1»! ii
wu alio that in ihe II Panaema. ' Thiai pTtuDrca nelaacholi ^ve.'
Phianr, a fTtat pan of tbe mualc lo Hi. DTrdan'a lawrr od> Mr
8i. Cacilla'a Dar wm oilaliuill; compHcd hr He. Dandal roi aa o|«a
anilikn Aloeala, wiltlaB bj Di, Smatlal, bat IMT« paifbnnad.
tba tOm, • Thi
the baad of Iboaa
dbyGoot^le
PBBUMIMABT DI800UB8E.
othen 6M tUgger human bdief, and leave ui in donbt
whether to mve or refliie credit to them ; such, for in-
■tanee, are the storie* of the cure of diiewet, namelj, the
■ciatica, epilepsy, fereTB, the bitei of viper*, and even
petlilencei, hy trie power of b>mioii7.
What an implicit assent has been given to the reports
of the sovereign efficacy of music in the cure of the
(renxy occasioned by the bite of the Tarantula ! Baglivi,
on eminent phyaician, a native of Apulia, the country
where the Tarantula, a kind of ipider, la produced, has
given the natural history of this supposed noxious insect,
and a variety of cases of pereont rendered frantic by its
bite, and restored to sanity and the use of their reason ;
and in Kircher's Muaurgia we have the very air or tune
by which the cure ia said to be effected. Sir Thomas
Brown, that industrious exploder of vulgar erron, has let
lUs, perhaps the most egregious of any that he has ani-
madverted on. paas as a fact not to be controverted ; and
Dr. Mead has strengthened the belief of it hv his reasoning
on the nature of poisons. After all the whole comes out
to be a Able, an imposture calculated to deceive the cre-
dulous, and serve the ends of designing people inhabiting
the country.'
The natural tendency of these reflections is to draw on
a comparison of the ancient with modem mudc ; which
latter, as it pretends to no such miraculous powers, hat
do they Judge of the characters of men, and the state of
human manners at remote periods, when they compare
the events of ancient history, ^e actions of heroet, and
the wisdom of legislators, with those of modem times,
inferring from thence a depravity in mankind, of which
not the least trace is discernible.
This mistaken notion seems to be but the necessary
conseijuence of that system of education which directs the
atteDUon of young minds to the discoveries and trans-
actions of the more early times ; asHigning, as the rule of
civil policy, and the standard of mor^ perfection and ex-
cellence in arts, the conduct, the lives, and works of men
whose greatest achievements are only wonderfU as they
were rare ; whose valour was brutality, and whose policy
was in general fraud, or at best craft ; and whose inven-
tions and discoveries have in numberless instances been
superseded by those of later times. To these, which we
may call classical prejudices, we are to impute thow nu-
merous and reiterated complainta which we meet with of
the degeneracy of modem times ; and when they are
once imbibed, complaints of the declension of some arta,
and of the Iom of others, as also of the corruption of
manners, appear Co be but of course. Whether, therefore,
our reverence for antiiiuity has not been carried too far
both ai to matters of science and morally, comprebenfng
in the latter the virtue of justice, and the qualities of i>er-
•ooal eoorwe, general benevolence, and refined humanity,
of which the examples are not less numerous and con-
spicuous in modem than in ancient history, i* • questimi
well worthy eonndention-f
TtBM. iMt. Hh. IT. esp. iiu.
ABd, IhUj, k k nliuaA, ikU U tb* oMntlm <f Iba buiIm* of tbg
dnk* tt JoyraH. • notkmin wm ■■ tnnapanad with the nnile of
Cluid* )a Jsuoa, pvnimHd St that soltmBitT, tbit M hUmI hti iwcnd,
sod mn Uksl. unliu ftmaiti, be rnul IgM wttb kub* «m pment ;
but (bu % ■■MiB (banc* fa tb* Bails csIbmiI taim. Burls, mrt.
QMr»tliaL, In dol Vldelafn, pifB 484.
• Vlda taifn, ft* U>, in noM.
t In > hook, wfakib m mltft U ibU itj iblnb wonh looklni Into,
Dsfefaiidlj b-m
or the loss (rf many arts, dist contribute h well to tlM
benefit a« delight of mankind, much has been said; (wd
there is extant a large volume, written in Latin by Guido
Paneirollus, a lawyer of Fadna, entitled ' De rebtu inemo-
' rabilibus deper£tis et noviter inventis,' which haa not
escaped ccuture for the mistakes and peurilities witk
which it abounds, the tendency thereof being to shew that
many arts known to the ancients are either totally lost, or
BO greatly depraved, that they csn scarcelv be said to
have en existence among us.I In this book, which haa
E roved a plentiful! source of intelligence to such as have
iboured to depreciate all modeni attainments, it is
roandly asserted of mnmc, which was anciently a science,
tiiat there are not the least footateps remaining : and far-
tlier, that the Cardinal of Ferrara, by whom it u suppoMd
is meant IlippolytodeEste, the patron of Vicentino, took
great aains to recover it, but all to no pui^Mme.l
SucD as seem to have adopted the opinion of Paneirol-
lus with respect to music, for example, Ih. Pepusch, and
r Uw nild, SB bsTina tba htotMT
'FwOnWIbU
MT sod meUM o( II>nBCrsc«
,^ ^„ , . . dlunmnf tbs pmat times
disgneg uthjoHr prmgriy to aslM.' Book v. jun 1M.
H ib> liaimd sikI u|ael<ni( all TbUBSS BnWD
'Tbfl mortslst atanj
Islovk ussa Ma past, ihu tb* ainborttlH iT tba aos
it tba tVutx wboa( panoni taida*d beioc Ibr
id fnia •HI UBua, ihilt mrti,
nlad, allbar br naiampanrlH, « uud.
acMH out ^ tba dlilanca of aavtH ; and
mant tbMi, an conaalTad is •ppmuh i
Now berabr rngtblnlu ■« muifeiUj d
rtdoiD wUh Di pass
' For, Inl, maa banbj ImpOM ■ thnMniB M ibalr liowa, wbteb tba
^ Innnulij sir ns sfa abseld andura, or bidaad tba pnsimiptlon of aaj
' did aiai nl ealoin. Tbus BlppDErat*)i aboot two ihotnaiid rean aaoL
■asMalvad ll h lajnalka alttic to aianlaa or nfcU tb* dMtrtaaa o(
'bispndasaaasn; GalM tb» Uka, and AriMotla tba moat ef aaf. YM
'did Dst anr sf tbcae omcalTi tbemaalTM InUUble. or an down tbek
■ dteoiat u TetMH InaOacable ; but wban tba; altbar dallTR ibelr
■awd ibtnlloii*, oi ndocl otber man'i spliilou. Ibcf prseasd irtita
'Jndgmont and IngaunllT : attabHablng thslr aiHrtloni. not onlr with
* fltat Hlldtlj, but ftsbmitlin^ them alas unto tba aoTTestka of ftttufv
'Baoo»Ur, man that adon ttmaa pail, coiuUei not that Iboaa ttmea
■ onraalni unto Iboae to oome, a> ttaaj nnta B( at pmast ; ai we retf
< OB tban, mo te vm iboaa on ua, aad mafiiUy hi banaftar, whs
■at jiniant condanii ounalvn. Wbloli tot alnaidUy it dally com.
' Aod. to (peak impaMUIl)', old maa, fRoa whom wa abmld aipacl tb*
'(laalaat aumple of wladom, do moat Olosad in tbla point of MUj;
• laait weU ondentood not i axlatUng tbota ttmaa thali Taupni jmn
'bSTobaaid thab lb>b« aoDdenn.aad ooDdamnlng tboae dmta tba
•mj iMods df »uli poatMl^ iball connnaDd. And Ibui ii U tba
' botDOOt of BLBBjr tksada to extol tbe d^aa of tbair fn^fktbera, and
' lUDdlnf thaf cunot bandaomalj do, wltboul tba be
'•atimi^ llmaa luut, cDi^araBtngdia (loea ot Ibe^ OI
l-bT tba
ff snj tbame, ai.
> Tulfai and Common Bnoun
I or Iba manj Imlaniiaa of arte or invt
dapnTltr at tbti tlmt, tban aia vanr fkw, irinr. of «l
be Cnnd, Of at leHt tbat biTt Dot bsen at
r appnacb to the and i and u gny
._.li ipaeiilar ator , _ . ,
tbttnuMnrad time by »ba dHOTtoi __ „ _. ,
clockt and watcbei. At to Ibe Bit of (talntiif or palntlnf flua, wbleh
eeaaad 1o be pnetlaad about tba KeformatlSfi, aDdbaaakuat ever tinf*
bean daplortd aa a loat lovintkn, it it eAetad bf cbevlcil miiint, and
la at thta day In aa gnat nerfeetlon aa orar. Vlda Cbambaia'a Urt.
Tocaauit. ADoodotatofhilallnglBBn^andbyHr.HstaoaWtipala,
loL II. page 18.
i A like alumpl n> made lo Piuea Is tba yeai IHO, I9 tb«
dbyGoot^le
PEKUHrKART DI8C0DBSK.
• tew of hk diidplM, have aMertcd i
■npport of it, th«t the chronulic and <
•re now nsitlier prmdued nor kcoarUelj known, ^wther
tbej add, that of the vuiooi modes of the uidoits, only
two we remMning, rix., thote which uiiwer to the kejts
A uid C ; for, n.y ther, the andente took the toan and
■emitonw in order ai they naturally ariae in the diapaaon
■ntem, and, without any dillocation of either, coniidered
le progreaaim from any fundamental chord _
or key, and formed their melodies accordinrly.
With regard to the enaimonic genua, it w
tuuing wor: ' ' • ■
iBeredit to
tayi Hiat Ibcli pb^iteUu pRi
jttn ■ DUD la perfect wmLni he
BT TiiilnKK. Ku^ of Hntile VIH— .
Tbc IbUowtng anioiuiT of Chine
»rtt*ri. Thej mTTT Ibdi biitoFT In _ .^ _„.. .
"— .. .. ij,u^ Riitoita. Tol. I. pua I*.
I> bi tuBTin m dnfoa ot n iD
The U^ct iDiiatsd on by Sir Wniiun Tompla, in that
part of hw Eaaay on Heroic Virtue, where he takea occ»-
■iaa to apeak of Ibe ChiiMM, are their wiidom, their
knowledge, their wit, their teaming, ingenuity, and
civility, on which be beatnwi the m-* -'
will in the
work be ahewn that the andenta the)niel*ea
mBered it to grow into dintae by reoion of its intricacy ;
and therefore it eannot hi properly be laid to hare twen
loet, ai that it i* rqected, and the rather &■ we are auured
that Saliow and Mhers haTe accurately determined it :■
of the chromatic aa much aeema to have been retained at
ii neeeaaary to the perfection of the diatonic ; and aa to
the modes, it will abo be ihewn that there never waa, nor
can there in nature be niore, or any other than the two
d conaequen"' -' - " ■' ■
muaic haa auitatned no bjurr i
The loea of arta i« a planiible topic of declamation, bnt
the poedbility of ineh a calami^ by other mean* than
a aecond delnge, or the interpodlion of any leta powerful
agent than God himaelf, ia a matter of doubt ; and when
^qiearaneea every where around ua favour the opinion of
onr inrprovenoit not only in literature, but in the idencea
and all the mannal arta, it ia wonderful that the contrary
itotioD should ever have got footing amoof mat.kind.
Aa to the general prejudices in bebatf of antiquity,
it haa been hinted above that a raoaon for them ia to
be found in that implidt belief which the courae of
modem education diaposea ui to entertun of the nperioT
riitac. wiadom, and ingendty of tboae, who in all theae
instance* we are taught to look on aa patterns the molt
worthy of imitation ; but it can never be deemed an ex-
fmae for tome writen for complimenting nationa leas en-
liebtened than ouraelves with the posaession or enjoyment
of arts which it ii pretended we have lost ; as they do
when thev magnify the attainmenta of nations compara-
tively barbarous, and making those countries on which
the beams of knowIed"p cnn scarcely be naid to have yet
dawned the tlieatres cj virtue and the schools of science,
recommend them aa fit exemplaN ftiT our imitation.
Oftfaisclau of authors, Sir William Temple and Isaac
Voeshia seem to be the chief i the one a statesman retired
from buainess, an ingenious writer, hut poaaeased of little
learning, other than what be acquired m his later yean,
and which it ia luspected waa not drawn from the piwest
source* ; the other a man of great erudition, hut little
judgment, the weaknea* whereof he manifested in a
childiah credulity, and a dispodtion to believe thing* in-
credible. These men, upon little better evidence than
the reports of traTellera, and the relationBof misuonariea,
who might have purposes of their own to serve, have
celebrated the policy, the morality, and the learning of
the Chinese, and done little lea* than proposed them a
example* of dl that is excellent '- "■ ' — *
Voadua ia more particular, and says that ' the Chineae
'deplore the loss of their miuic, the superior merit
' whereof mav be inferred from the relics of it yet re-
' muning, which are ao excellent, that for their perfection
' in the art, the Chinese may impose silence on all
Europe.' Farther he aays of their pantomimes, or
theatrical representations by mute peraous, in which the
sentiment* are expressed by ge*bGulBtioDs, and even
nods, tlial ' theae dadara their s^ in the rythmua, which
' is the soul of muaic. 't Elsewhere he takea occaaion to
celebrate this people for their skill mi the tibia, and
beatowi on their performance the followine enthuaiaatic
encomium ; ' The tibia, by far to be preferred to the
'stringed instruments of every kind, is now silenced, so
' that, excepting the Chinese, who alone excel on it,
' scarce any are to be found that are able to please even
' an ordinary hearer. 'f
Another writer is mwe particular, and give* u* for his-
tory this nonsense ; that Foit.Hi, the first of the emperors
and legislators of China, delivered the precepts of miidc,
and having invented fiahbg, composed a song for those
who exercised the art ; and to banish all impurity from
the heart, made a lyre mth string* of silk ; and farther
that Chin-Nong, a succeeding emperor, celebrated the
fertility of the earth in songs of his own composing, and
made a beautiful lyre and a guitar enriched with precious
stonea, which produced a noble harmony, cumed the
passions, and elevated manv to virtue and heavcaiiy
truth. K
Theae are the opiniona of men who- have acquired nc
small reputation m the world of letter* ; and therefore
that errM might not derive a sanction ftum authority, it
seemed necessary to enquire into the evidence in mpport
of them j of what sort it is, the passage above dted may
serve to show. It remdns now to make the compariaon
above proposed of the modem with the ancient music
The method hitherto pursued by thoae writers who
have attempted to draw a pardlel between the andent
and modem music, has been to bring together into one
point of view the testimonies in favour of the former, and
to strengthen them hy their own sufll'ages, which upon
examination will be found to amount to juat nothing ; for
theae testimonies being no more than verbal decUrationa
or deacriptions, every reader ia at liberty to supply
them by idea* of hi* own ; idea* which can only have
been ezdted by that musio which he has actually hear^
m ■flllp*e of tithtr hsppenSf thn tapptmt b bmA nt the planet lietw
nil leeiti, snd, to mske blm quit kfa hold, ther beU inmrn ud In
— ,.„ ,.^ ,. „ ._-,«., "i.nu,ptttf>.*U. I-
ot the ChiletlaD KtOglan, toL I. h|( Ut. Tbty u
meehsalB, Uuil iba toak a nlen, tHonglit Into th«lr hhuiIit
S( JauU, Ibr u snlmBL ntj an Rnnnn to Uh ' -"
t elcmenu id w«dij SAd hive *t«d st ttale d^ nA
~ lonom Umt nsuad tg 1m Ux Invaiian or mute i
nt In lb* ophdoo of Psiher La Comti llH} bsvc uUl
Idstl pnpmdtr u fnnd ud dOMlt in their dalliife, there ua
Dndut oumplea in Le Caau and Lord AnuHi'I vojin; ud of (ball
iimlUr and rirtl pollcT, which un H hlghlr eitolied. snr one m^
Ige, vhen be !• told (bu In Pekln snd othsr luge elUei then \t an
Ih* iliiieti <n the pieced bi| nlfbl. Hod.
I>. Hjitanl, page M.
t Dapoemat. ci
( Ihld. !-(■ I«,
I Eltnitida>Blst.ChlBOI>.PBMUbedtrr:
- mbt UBlm, Sis. of PoeliT— * "
and Hmbc, |>age 1ST-
dbyGoot^le
PBKLIMIHAKT DISOOCBSE.
or at lent perased and contemplated. An instance
boTTuved from the practice of aomB critics in painting,
may poniblj illmtrBte tliii sentiment : the works of
Apellei, Pairbasiua, Zeivtii, and Protosenei, together
with those of other artiits less known, lucn as Bularchns,
EuphranoT, Tiraanthes, Poiygnotui, Polycletef, and
Anstides, all famous painters, have been celebrated in
terms of high applause by Aristotle, PhilostratUB, Pliny,
and the poets ; and those who attend to their descriptions
of them, associate to each subject ideas of excellence as
perfect as their imaginsdons can suggest, which can only
be derived from such works of later artists as they have
seen ; in like manner as we astist the descriptions of
Helen in Homer, and of Ere in Milton, with ideas of
female beauty, grace, and elegance, drawn from our own
observation :* &e result of such a comparison in the case
of punting, has frequently been a determination to the
Brejudice of modem artists ; and the works of Raphael,
omenichino, and Giudo have been condemned as not
answering to those characten of sublime and beautiful,
which are given to the prodactions of the ancient artists.t
In like manner to speaK of music, we can fbrm ideas of
the perfection of harmony and melody, and of the gene-
ral efiect resulting from the artftd combination of musical
sounds, from that music alone which we have actually
beard ; and when we read of the music of "nmotheus or
An tigenides, we must either resemble it to that of the most
eioelient of the modem artists, or forbear la judge aI)oiit
it; andif in the comparison such critics as Isaac Vossius,
Sir William Temple, and some others, reject the music of
the modems as unworthy of attention or notice, how
•gregiously are they deceived, and what do they but
forego the substance for the shadow t
Other writers hare taken a different course, and endeft-
1, the
ID of the powers of each ii
priviog men of the exerdse of Uieir rational faculties,
and by impelling them to acts of violence. To these it
may be said, that, admitting such a power in music, it
._ i_ jjjji ju g^^g degree to that of alt aees
n the most savage ; but the fact is, that
these efiects are adventitious, and in all die instances
Sroducsd will be fbnnd to have followed from some pre-
isposition of the mind of the hearer, or peculiar comd-
denoe of circumstances, for that in truth music oretends
not to the power of working miracles, nor is it the more
to be esteemed for exciting men to frensy- Those who
contemplate it in a philosophical and rational manner, and
attend to its genuine operation on the human affections,
are abandanUy satisfied of its efiicacy, when they di»-
cover that it has a tendency to exhilarate the mind, to
calm the passions, to assnage the pangs of aSiction.i to
• Ifr. HuTktolUtpuIMHhHtlTcnUanBtlnmtiliitherollowIng
jndldouasbHnritioa; • Whan vt rHd la MUtpo St En. that
I Oruini la sH horiltiM, Iihi'd In tan tft,
• In bt'ij galun dlgnltr »ii4 lo« i
lie u Imsjie Dot at UM |(t wbieti If UtOD Moctlnd, IidI of rack
VB cmlj m vfnr *hm W hit Dvn proper fenlna !■ able to repRiMt
reBMling on thou Meat whlek he hta sum—' — -"- '
. _. of partiapa a Tiiiln
and Patti7. page 7T, hi not.
f VUa InqnlTj IdU tlia BaMltlea vt Palnllng. by Dsalel Vi
paailid.
t To thlt pnrpota v« meet Id Pncaplut with Iha followliiB afltelinf
nUUon, Tti : Ihut Oeliner. king et Ihe Yindali, bdng il wu viih th*
tmpenir Jnatfniaii, and hsvlaf baan drSvop lo fhf ""'"" '"~
Rellaarliu, hia geneni, and reduced to great itnlu. n
intsr by s Mmd of tali nanwd Pharai to make laimi
■ ■- — la of hU aplitt diidili
assist devotion, and to inspirv the wind with the moat
noble and exalted sentiments.
Others, despairing of the evidence of fads, have re-
course to ai^oment, contending that the same superiori^
with respect to music is to be yielded to the ancienta as
we allow them in the arts that afibrd delight to the ima-
gination ; poetry, eloquence, and sculpture, for instance,
of which, say they, their works bear luculent testimony.
To this It may be answered, that the evidence of works
or productions now existing is irrefragable, but in a ques-
tion of this kind there is no reasoning by analogy; and
farther, that in the case of music, proixTof the superiority
of the ancients is not only wanting, but the weight of the
argument lies on the other side ; for where are uiose pro-
ductions of the ancients that must decide the question T
Lost, it will be said, in the general wreck of literature and
the arts. If so, they cease to be evidence. Appeal we
then to those remaming monuments that exhibit to us
the forms of their instruments, of which the lyre and the
tihia are the most celebrated ; and that these are greatly
excelled hy the instruments of the modems will not bear
a question. As to the lyre, considered as a musical
instrument, it is a very artless invention, consisting
merel]^ of a few chords of equal length but unequal ten-
dons, in such a situation, and so disposed, as, without any
contrivance, to prolong or reverberate the soimd, to vi-
brate in the emptv air. The tibia, allowing it the per-
fection to which the SuCe of the modems is arrived, could
at best be hut an imperfect instrumentif and yet we are
told it was in such estimation among the ancienta, that at
Corinth the sum of three, some say seven, talents was
given by Ismenias, a musician, for a flute.
But a weightier aigument in favour of modem mudc,
at least so far as reg^^ the impravements in theon and
preotice tiiat necessarily result from the investigation -^
and order of
things, which is ever towards perfection, aa is seen in
other sciences, physics and mathematics, for instance ; so
that of music it may be said, that the discoveries of one
age have served but as a foundation for improvements in
the next; the consequence whereof is, that the fbnd of
harmony is ever increasing. What adventaget must
accrue to music from this cirenmstanoe, may be discerned
if we inquire a little into those powers which are chiefly
exercised in practical composition. The art of invention
is made one of the heads among the precepts of rhetoric,
to which munc in this and sundry instances btars a
thlainiwn: 'QuodmlhJ
' 8i Deoa faToret, repatere, poenaa
a pnebDit, maqo* In huiic itstnn reda^II,
n&aoqsa Ballawio. Man Impt^"
■luun homliivm m prlndptra.
qnlt ultn srogrsdl ttjrlni, anAn
mniTenlL Tela, amlaa Phan, at nihl qntd
um aa •iwngUm mitt*.' Piocoplnsdaaariea.
I.Ub. it. cap. tL page lie, edit. P«ifa,IUt, which WL ..
■ neil klnd»H that 70U TODEhMtt ma nur advice, ncom-
•obmiaalaa to mr enem;, unjiut aa he hai been 10 me. bat
* •<■——' I- '.ilalarabla. If it pita** Ovd I su pispsi^ ta
V- V... I — iBjniadV me. baa
dbyGoo^le
PESUNINART DISCODRSK.
resemblance; tfae end of penuanon, or afieding the
pasiioiu, being common to both. Thit faenlty CMiaieti
in the enumeration of ctnninoD places, which are reTolved
over in the mind, and require! both an ample ttore of
knowledge in the lubject upon which it i) exerrised, and
a power of applying that knowledge ai occasion may re-
qiiire. It differs from memory in this respect, that
whereaa memory does but recall to the mind the imaf^es
or remembrance of things as tbey were first perceived, the
ftculty of invention divides complex ideas into those
whereof thej are composed, and recommends them again
•fter different fashions, thereby creating variety of new
objects and conceptions. Now, the greater the ftind of
knowledge above spoken of is, the greater is the source
frtnD whence the mvendon of the artist or composer is
supplied ; and the benefits thereof are seen in new com
binatioRs and phrases, capable of variety and permutation
without end. And thus much must serve at present
touching the comparative merits of the ancient anil
modem music.
In tradng the proeress of music, it will be observed,
Ihat'it naturally divides iUeif into the two branches of
■peculation and practice, and that each of these requires
■ distinct and separate consideration.* Of Che dignity
and importance of the former, Ftolemr, lib. I. cap ii. has
delivered fab sentiments to the following purpose : ' It is
' in all things the business of contemplation and sdelice
■ to show that the works of nature, well regulated as they
' are, were constituted according to reason, and to answer
'some end; and that nothing has been done by her
'without consideration, or as it were hy chance; mors
' especially in those that are deemed the finest of her
' works, as participating of reason in the greatest degree,
' the senses of sight andhearing.' And Sit Isaac Newton,
sneaking of the examination of those ratios that afibrd
pleasure to the eye in architectural designs, say* it tends
to exemplify the simplicity in all the works of the
Creator. And farther he give* it as his opinion, ' that
■some general laws of the Creator prevail with respect to
' the agreeable or unpleasing affections of all our senses. ' f
Byjiractical music we are to understand the art of com-
position as fbunded in the laws of harmony, and deriving
Its grace, elegance, and power of affecting the passions
troia the genius and invention of tiie artist or composer ;
in the exercise of which faculty it may be observed, that
the precepts for combining and associating sounds are as
it were the syntax of his art, and are drawn out of it, as
the rules of grammar are from speech.!
In muiic^ history the several events most worthy of
attention seem to be those of the first establishment of a
sTstem, the introduction of music into the church service,
the riie of dramatic music ; under these several heads all
that intelUgence which to us is the most interesting may
he comprehended. As touching the first, it is certain
that we owe it to the Greeks, and there is nothins; that at
this distance of time can he superadded to the rehtions of
the ancient writers on tfae subject; nor can it be safe to
deviate, either in respect of form or manner, from the ac-
* TbD* int bu r>w iiuiuia ot moileliiu Ihu have txen nnliieiitiT
disthifubbad («f iklll both In Uit thenrr uid pntctkaiirDiuk, Zarllno.
Tulbil. ud Kmuhu siccpied. Tht two bnnchn of tba idtm hi»
C*rtahil7 no canDeetioD tIiIi ueh (Mm, ai maj be guthnrd fron
' or piKtIcsl miala intn tbt or vllliaal Kquilnllni
' h™ whst pnutnknu they arise, or *v«q lo mneh
'li Itc cuHd Ihcmi Dili Itw phliHsphH DlMcrTi _
. 1__ —J .1 v_i. . ^- uugtil. ftir the fnniinf
ddtehl*
It J«sniln| u well ,
i..fl,tc
itudr. ueept hi
msthnnillr*! Proponlani, b^ The
counts from them transmitted to us of the origioal ctmsti-
ttttion of the If re, or of the invention and successive pro-
gress of a musical scale ; much less can we be warranted
in speaking of the ancient practice, and the more abstruse
porta of the sdeuce, namely, the genera and the modes,
in any other terms than themselves make use of. Were
a liberty to do otherwise allowed, the same mischief would
follow that al
languages, nhere a new sense may be imposed upon the
text by different transcribers and Cranslators in succession,
till the meaning of the original becomes totally obscured.
Vitrtivius, in Dis treatise De Architectura, has a chapter
0)1 music, wherein he laments the want of words in the
Roman language e^uivaleot to the Greek musical terms ;
the same difficulty is experienced in a greater or less de-
gree by all who take occasion to speak of the ancient
music, whether of the Hebrews or the Greeks. The
Rnriish translators of the Bible were necessitated to
render the words ^^3^ Kinnor and ^IS Gnugab, by
haip and organ ; and a translator of musical appellative*
will in many inatances he reduced to as great difficulty
as the Laplander, who in rendering a passage in the
Canticles, ' He looketh forth at the wbidows, shewing
himself at tfae lattice,' could find no nearer a resemblance
to a lattice than a snow-shoe, a thing like a racket used
in the game of tmnis, and translated it accordincrly.
The complaint of Vitruvius above mentioned fumishea
I occasion of enquiry into the state of music among the
Itomaiu ; and Ibis will appear, even in their most flourish-
ing eondition, to have been, both in theory and practice,
very law, there being no author to he found till after tiie
destruction of the common wealth who has written on the
Bubject; and of those that lived in the time of Auguttua
and afterwards, the number is so (mall, and, if we except
Boetius, their writings are so inconsiderable, as scarce
to deserve notice. Vitruviut wrote not profe*«edlv on
music ; sll that he says of it is contained in die third,
fourth, and fifth chapters of the third Iniok of hi* treatise
l)e Architectura ; witereii) laying down the rules for the
constructien of theatres, he speaks of harmony in genwal
terms, and anerwarda of certain hollow veaselt dispMed
in niches for the purpose of reverberating the voice of the
singers or actors ; and thenoe takes occasion to mention
the genera of the andeuts, which he illustrates fay
a scale or diagram, composed, as he says, by AHstoxenus
himself, though it does not occur in the vafiiable edition
of that author published by Meibomius. In the same
work, lib. X. cap. ii. entitled De Uydraulicia, be de-
scribes the hydraulic organ of the ancients, but in auch
terms, that no one baa been able aaUsfactorily to ascertain
either its figiu^ or the use of its parts.
Of Censorinus, Macrobius, Martianus Cappella, and
CasaiodoruB, it was never pretended that thev had made
any new discoveries, or contributed in the least to the
improvement of music. Boetius indeed with great In-
duitrv and judgment, collected the sense of the ancient
Greek writer* on Harmonics, and from the several works
of Aristoxenus, Euclid, Nicomachus, Alypiua, Ptolemy,
and others whose discoutaes are now lost, compiled his
most excellent treatise De Musica. In this he deliver*
the doctrines of the author above mentioned, illustrated
by numerical calculations and diagrams of hia own in-
vention ; therein manifesting a thorough knowledge of
the subject. Hence, and because of his great accuracv
and j^recision, this work of Boetius, notwithitani^ng it
contains littie that can be said to be new, has ever been
looked upon asa valuable repository of musical erudition.)
I Tht-oiksof BhUu wenpuMlihvUnsfaliDTolninotVnilca, In
Minlu u* lundr; dlignnii
to thn MluitrUhn of bis sut
oiud by ih* editor, wl
dbyGooi^le
xxn.
PBXLIHINART D1S00DB8I.
Long befbre the time of Boetiiu, the eDarmonie uid chio-
inatic genera bad growD into diiuae ; the diatonio «t»u
im\j remuniuK, the rnudeal choractera wete greMj re-
duced in number ; and the natation of mniic becanie lo
nmple, that the Romans were able to reprewnt the whole
■eries of louiidi contained in the iy«Um of a double
octave, or the biidiapuon, b; fifteen characters ; re-
jecting therefore the character* UMd by the Greeki for
the purpoK, they assumed the first fifteen letters of their
own alphabet ; and thU i« the only improvement or in-
novation in muue that we know of that can be ascribed
to the Roman!.
Ab to the practice of mutic, it eeenu to have been
carried to no very great degree of perfection by the
Romans ; the tibia and the lyre Mem to have been the
only inatnimenta in uee among thetn ; and on the**
there were no performen of such distinguished merit as
to render then worthy the notice of posterity, which
perhaps is the reaeoo that the names of bat few of them
are recorded.
Caspar Bartbolintu has written a treatise ■ De Tibiis
' vetenim et earmn autiquo usu,' in which he has brought
together a great variety of intelligence respeetbg the
flutes of the andenta : in this tract is a ch^ter entitled
< l^bia in Ludis Spectaculis atqne Comediia,' wherein the
author takes occasion to speak of the tibise pares et im-
parea, and also of the tibis dextrs et sinistra, used in
the representation of the comedies of Terence, which he
illustrates by plates representing the forms of them
severally, as also the manner of inflating them, taken
from cows and other authentic memorials. In particular
he gives an engraving from a manuscript in the Vatican
htirary, of a scene m an ancient comedy, in which a
tibicinist i* delineated standing on the stage, and blowing
on two equal flutes : what relation bis muNC has to ths
action we ar« to seek. He also gives ftum a marble at
Rone the Sgaxe of a man with an inflected ham near
him, thus inscribed, m.
It appear* from a passage in Valerius Haximus, that
there was at Rome a college of tihidnisti or playen on
the Ante, who we may suppose were favoured witli some
special privileges and immunities. These seem to have
bieen a distinct order of musicians from the farmer, at
least there are sundry inscriptions in Omter purportinr
that there was at Biome a college comprehending both
tibicinisls and fidicinists ; which latter seem to have been
no other than lyrists, a kind of musicians of less account
among the Romans than the fdurers on their favourite
instrument the flute. Valerius Haximus, lib. II. cap. v.
relates of the tihicinists that they were wont to play on
their instrument in the forirni, with their heads covered,
and in party-coloured garments.
That the tibiciniats were greafly indulged by the
Romans, may be inferred from the nature of their office,
which reqnirM their attendance at triumphs, at saoiiiices,
and indeed all public solemnities ; at leaat tha sense of
their importance and useflilness to the state is the only
importance an<
■ fled from their duty : at first persuasions «
e tried, but
both Livy and Valerius Maximus ha'
narration to the following purpose. ' The censors had
' reftised to permit the libicines to eat in the temple of
' Jupiter, a privilege which ther claimed as founded on
' andent custom ; whereupon the tihicines withdrew to
' Tibur, a town in the neighbourhood of Rome, now
' Tivoli. As the tihicines were necesuary attendants on
' the sacrifices, the magistrates were at a loss how to pcr-
' form those solemnities in their absence ; the senate
' therefore tni embasiadon to the Tiburtines, requesting
* them to deliver them up as officers of the state who had
- - - . - E?"^ - -' —
these provme ineSectual, the Tiburtines had recourse to
stratagem ; they appinnted a public feast, and inviting
' tha tibidnes to assist at it, plied them with wine till tbe j
' became intoxicstod, and, while they were asleep, put
' them into carta, which conveyed them to Rome. The
' next day, having in some degree recovered their reason,
' the tihicines were prevailed on to stay in the city, and
' were not only restored to tbe privilege of eating in the
■ temple, but ware permitted annually to celebrate tbe
' day of their return, though attended with circumstances
'so infamous to their office, by processions in which the
' meet licentious excesses were allowed.'*
The secession of the tibicinisls was in the consulate ot
Caius Junius Bubnlcus and Quintua ^milius Barbula:
that is to say in the year of the world 3640, three hun-
dred and eight years before Christ ; and serves to shew
the extreme licentiousness of Roman manners at (hat
period, as also the low state of their mmic, when the best
mstruments they could find to celebrate the praises of
their deities were a few sorry pipes, little better than
those wbicb now serve as playthings for children.
But, leaving the tibidnes and thdr pipes to thrir ad-
among the Romans at any given period of their history,
we shall find that, as a sdence, they held it in small esti-
mation. And to this fact Cornelius Nepos bears the
fullest testimony; for, relating in his life of Epaminondas
that he could dance, play on the barp and flute, he adds,
that in Greece these accomplisbmeDta were greatiy ea-
teemed, but by the Romans they were little regarded.
And Cicero, in his Tnsculao Questions, lib. I. cap, L to
the same purpose, observes that the ancient Romans, ad*
dieting themselves to the study of etiiics and politics, left
mnsie and the politer arts to tbe Greeks. Farther we
may venture to assert, that neither thdr religious solemni-
ties, nor their triumphs, their shows or theatrical repre-
sentations, splendid as tiiey were, contributed in the leaat
to the improvement of music either in theory or practice:
to say the truth, they seemed scarcely to have considered
it as a subject of speculation ; and it was not until it re-
ceived a sanction from the primitive fathers of the church,
that tbe science began to recover its ancient dignity.
The introduction of music into the service of the church
afibrds ample scope for reflection, and comprehends in ita
history a great part of what we know of modem music
All that need he mentioned in this place respecting that
important event is, that alter the example of the Jews,
and upon the authority of sundry passages in scripture,
and more especially in compliance with the exhortation
of St. Paul in his Episties, St. Basil, St Ambrose, and
St. Chrysostom about the middle of the fourth century in-
stituted antiphonal singing in their respective churches of
Cesarea in Cappadocia, Milan, and Constantinople. St.
Ambrose, who must be supposed to have been eminentiy
skilled in tbe sdence, prescribed a formula of singing in
a series of melodies called the ecclesiastical tones, appa-
rendy borrowed from tbe modes of tbe ancient Greeka;
these, as constituted by him, were in number onl^ four,
I speak of theCantus Ambrosianus;
re meant when w
^>'^°'7i ""BT two centuries after, increased them
to eight. The same father drew up a number of precepts
respecting the limits of the melodies, the fundamental
note, and tbe succession of tones and semitones in each ;
and, with a view to the establishment of a settled and
uniform musical science, that would apply to all the
several offices at that time used in divine worahip,fbnnded
and endowed a school for the instruction of youth in the
• Ll.T. Hti. IX. e
MtUmBtHAj at li
.>, Ub.II.aii.*
dbyGoo^le
PBBLDflBABT DIWOUBBl.
TOdiineBlB of miMC, u con^nsA in IhU ftwmula, which
WM dbtingnuliMl bj the appflU»tioii of tha Cautu Ee-
deriaMictu, aad in later tune* bj that of the Cantui
OKgonaom.
Before thi* time mune had ceased to be a nibject of
Ptotei» wa* the iMt of the philoeophen
d written pnrfeatedly on it ; and thoosh it maj be
necnUliaii : Ptotei» wa* the iMt of the philoeophe
oat bad written pnrfeatedly on it ; and thoosh it maj I
■aid that hi> thiee booli of Harmonici, >■ abo Ihow of
AiUtoxeniu, Euclid, Nicbomacfaiu, Ariitidei Quintiliamu,
and olhert, bring extant, muiic wa* in a wa; of improre-
■nent from the ttodiei of mm no len diapoaed to think
and reflect than theoMelrei ; yet the faet u, that among
the Roman* the Mtenee not oaij had made no
prog me at all, but eren before the diiaolution of tbe
eonunonwedth, with them it (earned to be extinct. Nor
let the nq^>o*itioa be Aonght groandleaa, that dming
■ome of Ae eneeecding ase* the book*, the verj rapoMto-
riea of what we call rouncal ioience, might be loet ; the
bietoty of the lower empire (uraiibiDg an inatance, the
more remarkable, ai it rdate* to tbeir own, the Roman
einl Uw, which prove* at leait the poeaibility otiaeh a
miafbrtone.'
To theee caosea, and the laal of the father* above men-
doaed, and more especially ot St Gregory, to diaieminate
ita precepts, it i* to be ascribed that the eultiration of
mnsK became the peculiar care of tbe clergy. But here a
dittinctioo i* to be noted between the study and practice
of theecienee; for we find that at tbe tine of the inatiu-
tion of the Cantus Ambroafancu, an ordnr of clergy was
also established, whose eoiployinent it was to peribrm
sach parts of the serrics as were required to be sung.
Tbeae were called Psalau*l«i; and thoagb by Bellarmine
and a few other writer* thiy are con£unded with the
Lectors, yet were they by the eanaoists accounted a sepa-
rate and distinct order. The reason for their inititutum
was, that whereas in the apostolical ige the whole oaa-
gregatitm sang in divine service, and Kte*t concision and
diaorder followed tiiwefrom, it was found necesaary to
settle what the church calls a regular and decent song,
which, as it wa* framed by rule, and founded b the prin-
eiples of harmony, required skill in the parfonnance; and
•ccwdingly we find a canon of (be oouncil ot Laodices
held a* early h the beginning of the fourth century, for-
bidding all except the canonical singer*, that is In say,
those who were stationed in the Ambo, where the ■ingiuB'
desk was placed, and who sang out ot a book or parcn-
ment, to join in the psalnu, hymns, and other part* of
mnncal divine service. We may well mppose that this
order of men were endowed with all the requisites for the
diacharse of their function, and that the peculiar form
which tne council of Carthage directs to be used for the
ordination ot Psalmistv ox singen,t was in effect a reeog-
niiiM) of tbeir skill and abilitia*.
The order of man above mentianed can be considered
in no other view than as mar* practioal musicians, the
prindpal object of whose attention wa* to make themselves
acquainted with the songs of the church, and to utter
tbem widi that decency and gravity, and in such a
manner as tended most to edificstiou. From the frequent
lepatitioa of the same offices it must l>e supposed that in
general they^ aang by rote ; at least we have no better
reason to atdgn Uun that thev muethaveeo done, for the
establishment of a school by St. Gregory for the instruO'
tion of youth in the Cantus Ecclefiasticus, as reformed by
himself, and for that sedulous attention to their improve-
ment in it which he manifested in sundry instances.
At tbe same time that we applaud the seal of this
father of the church, we cannot but wonder at that of hi*
predecessors, which is not more apparent in tbeir com-
mendations of muMC, a* associated with religious worship,
than in their severe censures of that which was calculated
for private recreation. As to the songs of the stage id
" ' ' " ', the Christian era, wc
general that they were
suited to the oorrupt manners of the time* ; and these, by
reason of their lewdness, and perhaps impiety of sentiment,
might be a just subject of reprehension ; but against
'*" " ' '' " " ^ " which they were uttered, or tha
lat assisted the voice in singing
n objection can scarce be thought of; and yet to
frequent and so bitter are the invective* of the primitive
fkthen, namely, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, St.
Cyprian, Lactantiua, Epipbanius, Or^ory Naiianien.
and of Sb Basil, St. Angutline, and St. Chrysoetom, who
were bvos and promoten of the practice of music, waintt
wicked measures and eftnunate melodies, the noise of
flutes, cymbals, harps, and other instrnmenle of deceit,
■educing the hearers to intemperance, and even idolatry,
that if credit be given to their opinions of tha nature and
tendency of secular muiic, we must be inclined to believe.
" they m good earnest p ~
invention of the Devd
The cultivatiou of music as a science waa the employe
ment of a set of men, in whom all tha learning of the
times may then be said to have cantered ; these were the
r^(ular uergy, of such of whom as flourished in tha
eleventh cantivy afterwards, it must in justice be said,
that what they wanted in knowladge, tbey made np in
industry; and that those flrequent barbarism* which ocow
in their writings, were in no small degree atoned for by
the cleames* and precision [ with whico on every occaiion
thev delivered their santiinenl*. Nor wa* tbe conciseness
and method of the monkish treatises on music a lee*
recommendation of them than their petspicuitv ; they
consisted either of such maxims as were deemed of graatest
importance in the study of tha science, or of familiar
colloquies between a muter and hi* disdple, in which in
an orderly course of gradation, first tbe dements, and
then the precepts of the art were delivered and illustrated.
To enumerate the inttanae* of this kind which have
oceurred in the course of this work, would be an andlaa*
task ; let it suffice to say that the Histoire Litteraire de
France, and the Memoir* of Bale, Pita, and tbe Bibliotheca
of Tanner abound with reference* to a variety of manu-
Bcript traeta deposited in the public and other libraries,
that abundantly prove the mode of musical instructbu to
have been such as is above described.
Before the period above spoken ot, music bad for very
good reasoiu been admittad into tbe number of the
liberal sciences ; and accordingly in the scholastic division
of the art* into the trivium and quadriviuin, it held a place
in the latter ; neverthelets, till the Greek literature began
to revive in jEkirope, saving tbe summsry of harmonics
contained in the treatise De Musiea of Boetiu*, the
students in that faculty had scarce any source of in-
telligence ; and to thia it must be attributed that in none
of the many tracts written by the monks of those times,
and afWwards by the professor* or scholastics as they
ware called, do we meet with any of those profound dis-
quisition* on harmony and the proportion* which resolve
uie prindples of mumc into geometry - nor any of those
nice calculations and comparison* of ratios, or subtile
di*linctionB between the consonances of one kind and
those of another, which abound in the writings of the
•ndent Oreeka ; so that were we to judge from the many
t Tbn> qudtllH Kcm Ig bt bvl tha dhkuut >«b1i of the old Hho-
lutlo mttboi of biitltulkm.ln vhltb logic msdr ■ ooiuld«ib1c»n, and
in SBd plni4b(i ; of wblob Sir Hutbn Hsk,
'. ob*p.T. mnukilliU tbajr vcn vnr iboit, but
vn. ..-■....t.-^uam, nrdaclr dl(«tiid, plihj. d»r, *nS raUooiL
I HUT b« hU Id (nanl of Om m«* iiicImi iuidih.
dbyGooi^lc
PBSLIumABY DISCOURSE.
diMonrte* written during that iaA period, and bearing
the titles of Microlo^ua, Metroloeui, and othen of the
like import, wa ihould conclude that the tcience of har-
monica nad warce any exiatence among mankind. Nor
could any great advantage remit Irom the writiiiga of
Boetiiu, leeing that there wanted light to read bv ; and
this was not obtained till Franclitnua introduced it, by
procuring tranilationa of those authors trom whose
writingi Boetiui had compiled hii work.
That the studies of the monkish musicians must have
been confined to the Cantus Gregorionus is evident from
thia consideration, that they were strangers to music of
every other kind; an assertion which will l>c the more
readilv credited when we are told that till the middle of
the eleventh century rythmic or mensurable music was
not known. Their method of teaching it was by the
monochord, withoQt which they had no method of deter-
mining the progression of tones and semitones in the
octave, nor consequently of meuuring by the voice any
of the intervals contained in it.
The reformation of the scale by Onido Aretinus, and
more especiallv his invention of a method of singing by
certain ■yUables adapted to the notes, facilitated the
practice of linginr to such a degree, that, as himself
relates, the boys of his monastery were rendered capable
in a month's time of nnging in a regular and orderly
■ucoenion the several intervals with the utmost accuracy
and precision.* We are told, though not by himself, that
he also by an ingenious contrivance transferred the notes
of his scale to the left hand, making a several ioint of
each of the Angers the position of a note. Whether this
Invention is to be ascribed to him or not, it is pretty cer-
tain that it followed soon after the reformation of the
scale, and that it gave rise to a distinction of music into
manual and tonal, the Hrst comprehending the precepts of
singing by the syllables, the other the Cantus Eccleaias-
licus, as instituted in the fni-mniii of St. Gregory.
At this time the world were strangers to what we call
rythmic music, the practice of singing, and thereby of as-
sociating music with poetry, which till tlien had universally
prevaSed, rendering any such invention nnnecessary.
Nevertheless, there were some writers who had entei^
tained an idea of transferring the prosody of poetrv to
music; and a ftw scattered Din Is of this kind, which
occur In the writings of SL Augustine and our countryman
Bede on the subject of metre, suggested the formation of a
system of metrical laws, such as would not only enable
mwAc to subsist of itself, but aid the powers of melody
with that force and energy which it is observed to derive
from the regular commixture and interchange of long and
short quantities.
This improvement was effbcted in the institution of
what is called the Cantus Mensurabilis ; a branch of
musical science which subjected the duration of musical
sounds to rule and measure, by assigning to those of the
I portions of time, and ti
a regular gradation, and
wnien taugntametnoaoinKtiimng by characters, varying
In form and colour, the radical notes, with their several
ramifications, terminating in those of the smallest value,
s all that could then ba
flourish : it is true that the state of the mechanic arts
then very low, and that the instruments in common use
were so rudely constructed, as to be scarcely capable of
yielding musical sounds. Bartholomeus, in bis book De
WoprletatibuB Rerum, in an enumeration of the musical
instruments of his time, hat described the flute as made of
the boughs of an elder-tree hollowed ; and an instrument
• Tiih Infn. rsfs IM.
called the Sympboaia, at made of a b<dh>w tree, c^«J
in leather on either side, which he says i* beaten of
minstrels with sticks, and that * by accord of hygbe and
lowe thereof comyti) fitll swete notes,' And again, de-
scribing the Psalterium or Sawtrie, he says it differs from
the hatp, for that it is made of an hollow tree, and that
' the sowne eomyth upward, the strynges being smyMe
downwarde ; whereas in the harpe the hollownesse of the
tre is byneatbe.' These deacriprions, and others of the
like kind which are elsewhere to be met with, are evi-
dence of the inartificial construction of musical instru-
ments in those days, and leave it a queation what kind of
harp or other instrument that could be on which King
Allred bad attained te such a degree of eicetlenee «a t*
rival the musicians of bis time.
Nevertheless it appears that there were certain iiiatn>-
ments, perhaps not m common use, better calculated I*
produce melody than those above-mentioned, namely,
those of the viol kind ; the specific Afierence between
which and other stringed instruments is, that in tW
former the sound is pfoduced by the action of a plectrum
or bow of hair on the strings : of these the mention is nnt
only exjH'esB, but fretruent in Chaucer, by the names of
the Fithel, Oetron, Ribible, and other appeHations, clearly
synonymous : the invention of this clAaa of iaMniments is
by some, who make the viol the prototype of it, ascribed
to the French ,- but there are other writers who derive
the viol itself from the Arabian Rehab, from whence
perhaps Ribible and Rebec, the use whereof it is said the
Christiana learned fVom the Saracens in the time of tha
Crusades ; but it is more probable, bv reason of ita-
antiquity, that it was brought into Spain by the Moors,
To ascertain the desree of perfcctioa to which tile
practice of instramental music had atluned at any period
before tiie sixteenth century, would be very difficult.
The Provenfal songs, as being mere vocal compomtiooa,.
afford no ground on which a conjecture mivht he formed :
and as to their p^ular lunea, the aira of we Muean anit
Violers, besides that they seem to have been mere melodies,
for the most part the efiusions of fancy, and not regulated
by harmonical precepts, the impression otAetn can hardly
be supposed to have been either deep or lasting , anA
this may he the chief reason that the knawledge of them
has not reached posterity.
That the practice of instramental music was becoma
familiar with such persons of both sexes aa had received
the benefit of a good education, is clearly intimated bj
the old [Miels. Not only the Squire, hot the Clerk,
Abaolon, in Chaucer, are by him described, the one aa
floyting, i. e. Rutin? all the day, the other as playing
sonK* on a small Ribible, and elsewhere on the Oeteme if
and in the Confessio Amantis of Gower, fol. 178, b.i«
a plain intimation that the Citole, an instrument nearijT
resembling the virginal, was in his time the recreation ot
well educated yoting women. t
We are also told by Boccace, in his Account of the
Plague at Florence in 1346, that the ladies and renllemen
who retired fhim that city, and are relators of the several
stories contained in his Decameron, amang other re-
the intervals of their diaconrse^ intermixed
danced tt
played on the lute and the viol. Iliey also
the music of the Comamuaa or bagpipe, an in-
which we may infer to have been held in but
ordinary estimation from this drcumstanee, that it is put
into the hands of Tinderus, a domestic of one of the
ladiea ; bendes that Chaucer in characterising his Miller
says,
' A baggepipe well couth he blowe sad soime.'
t VMe Ixfn. px* W.
dbyGoo*^le
PBBLIKIKABT DISOOUBSI.
Of Toeal eoiiMttt, I
or peikaps eaitier, • Judgment may be formed from tbe
madrigȣi of that time, whicb abound with all the graces
ofhaimonj. CoDcerta of inttnunenti alone a«em to be
of Ut«r invention, at least there ii aa clear eridence of
the fonn in which thejr existed, other than treatiaea and
eonpceitiona for coocerta of yitAa called Faotuiai, few
whereof were published till thirt;^ ye«j» after,*
Gio. Maria Artuii, an eccleuaitic of Bologna, and
a writer on music about the year ISOO, dmcribei the con-
eerta of hia time as abounding in iweetneaa of harmony,
■ad coBsirting of cemela, trumpets, violins, vtob, harpa,
hues, flutea, and harpiiehords ; these, as also organ*,
T^als) and guitar*, are enumerated in the catalogue of
fawtrumenti prefixed to the opera, L'Orfeo, oompowd by
Claudia Monteverde, and represented at Mantua in 1607.
Tom Coryat apeak* also of a perfbmance at Venice,
chiefly ^instrumental mude, wtuch ha protests be would
hATe travelled a bondred miles on foot to hear, but with-
out any mch particular desniption as can enable ni to
emnpare it with the concerts tt more modern tines.
As touching the theory of the science, it has above been
said to have eoniisted in manu^ tonal, and mensurable
music, with this fiuther remark, that, as it wss included
in the very nature of their profession, and besides required
some degree of literature, the great culdvaton of it were
the regtdar clergy. These men contented thpmaelvei
with that small portion of knowledge which wa* to be
attained by the perus^ of Boetiui, Cassiodonis, Ouido,
•nd a few others, who wrote in the Latin tongue ; tbe
little they knew they fredy commtmicated ; and it was
not till the beginning of the fourteenth century that men
b^an to suspect that the science was capable of fkrtber
improvement.
About this time Johannes Da Muris improved tbe
Cantos Mensurabilis, by reducmg it to form and de-
monstrating that the measures thereof, like the ratios of
the consonances, were founded in number and proportion :
from the rules laid down by blm in a treatise entitled
Practica Mentturabilis CantOs, are derived tbe di*-
tinctions of duple and biple proportion, a* they respect
the duration of sounds, with all the various modifications
thereof. On this tract Pronlocinius Beldimandis wrote
a commentary, and farther illustrated the doctrines con-
tained therein in sundry discourses on the subjects of
plain and mensurable music. It appears that both these
persons were philoeopher* at luge, and eminendy skilled
m tbe mathematics ; and the Eberal manner in whicb
they wrote on music, treating it as a subject of deep
speculation, was an inducement with many learned men,
who lived under no ecclesiastical rule, to enter into an
investigation of its principles. . Some of these assumed
the character of professors of tbe science, and undertook
by public lectures to disseminate its principles. The
most eminent of these persons were Marchettns of Padua,
Johannet Tinctor, Oidielmus Oanerius, and Antoniu*
Snardalap&s, to whom we may add Politian, whose skill
in music is manifested in a discourse De Musics, contained
m bis Paaepirtemon or Prnlectiones, extant in print.
But notwithstanding tbe pains thus taken to revive the
science, the improvement of' it went on very slowly;
whatever advances were made in the practice, the theo-
retical topics of disquisition were soon exhausted, and the
science orbarmonics may be said to have been for some
^es at a stand.
At length tbe beam* of leaning began to dawn on the
TAntuis psj« UcU, TiEUBla.
■HH.' whilh CHliH lh> «.
nopoiltloiiialM Futulu,
western empire : tbe dtj of Constantinople had beoi tbe
seat of literature for some ages, but the sack of it by tbs
Turk* in tbe year 1453, bad driven a great number itf
learned Oreeu thence, who bringing with them an im-
mense Qreeaure of manuscript*, took reftige in Italy.
Being settled then, they opened their stores, took
posseasioQ of the public school*, and became tbe pro-
fessors and teacher* of the mathematical and other
sciences, and indeed of philosophy, eloqoence, and
Uteratun in eener*!, in all tbe great cities. Of the many
valoable books of Harmtmics tlut are known to have been
written by tbe mathematicians and other ancient Greeks,
some have escaped that fate whicb learning i* *ure to
experience from the ravages of conquest, t and the con-
tents of these being made public, the principles of the
science began to he known and understood br many,
who till then were scarcely senilble that it nad any
principles at all.
This commonlcatlon of intalligenee was very propitious
to mnnc, aa it determined many persons to tile study of
the science of harmony, ne tonal law* and the Cantus
Mensurabilis were left to those whose duty it was to
understand tfaem ; the ratios of sounds, and the nature of
consonance were considered a* essentials ui music, and
the investigation of these was the chief pursuit of luch as
were sensible of tbe value of that kind of learning.
Of the many who had profited in this new science, aa
it may be called, one was Franchinus Gafihrius, a native
of Lodi, who having quitted the tuition of a Carmelite
monk, who had been his Instructor, became soon dis-
tinguished for skill in those theoretic principles, the
knowledge whereof be bad derived from an attendance
on tbe Greek teachers. And having procured copies of
the treatise* on harmonics of Arutides QuintJlianus,
Ptolemy, Manuel Bryennius, and Bacchina senior, he
caused them to be translated into Latin ; and, besides
discharging tbe duty of a public professor of music in the
several cities of Italy, became the revivor of musical
erudition ; and that as well posteriw, as those of bis own
time, might profit by his laboun, be digested the Bub-
stance ofni* lecture* into distinct treat!***, and gave them
to the world.
The writings of Franchinus, as they wera replete with
learning drawn from the genuine source of aoti^uity, and
contained tbe clearest demonstrations of the ptinciples of
harmony, were so generally studied, that music began
now to assume the cnaracter of a secular profesnon. The
precept* therein delivered afibrded a greater latitude to
the inventive facutt^r than the tonal laws allowed of; and
emancipating the science from the bondage thereof, many
who bad no relation to the church set themselve* lo frame
compositions for it* service, in whicb the powers both of
harmony and melody were united. And nence we may
at least with a show of ^bability date the origin of an
office that yet subsists m the cborsl establishments of
Italy, namely, that of Maestro di Cappellai tbe duty
whereof seems uniformly to have been not only that the
person appointed to it should as precentor regulate the
choir, but also adapt to music the office* performed both
on ordinary and solemn occasions. Of the dignity and
importance of the office of Maestro di Capella a judgment
may be formed from this circumstance, that the persons
elected to it for some centuries past appear to have been
of distinguished eminence;! and of it* necessity and
utility no stranger argument can be offered, than that
'■□<« vH laid hr Cudlnst Hulben (Iml
, 4 In tli« hiitartoil prvfUe to hU ■ OuervAjf
■ par bm ni^olsn 11 Can da I Ciuiiarl dalla CiptUa FDnlUcts.' UHrU i
SDclaDtlj u IbB ooU^a ol poDtUcal Klngen the msairo dL appeIJA wi
dbyGoot^le
PBELIKIHABI DISOOUBSI.
among the Geraiaiii, to wtium the knowledge of mnuc
wu verjr iooo eommiuticated after iU revirfti m Italy, th«
office was recognized bj the appointment of a director of
the choir in the prindpal cburehei of idl the proTincei
and dtief. The tama udm of the importance of this
office appean to have heen entertained bj the proteitaiit*,
who at the time of the Reformation we find to have been
no leas seduloiu in the cultiTation of moaic with a view
to religious worship, dutn Ae church that had eatabliih«d
it. It is tnte that Calvin ««i for tome time in doubt
whether to adopt tha lolenui choral aervicc, or that plain
metrical psalmody which ii recommended by St, Paul to
the ColoMiuM, •• an incentive to sneh mirth aa wm con-
nstent with the Chriitian profeaaion, and at length deter-
mined on tb« latter.
But Luther, who wu excellently skilled in music, con-
■idered it not merely is a relief under troable and anxiety,
but as the voice of praiae, and ai having a tendency to
excite and encourage devout affectioni, i>etid«a that be
had translated into the Oerman language the Te Deum,
and compoaed sundry hymns, u also tunei to some of the
German paalmi,* he, with the approbation of Meluicthon,
received mto hia church a solemn service, which included
anthems, hymns, and ci
s^ks vary feelinglj, and of m
his opinian in ti ' '
nibu* etiam invii
>, of which be
1 general be gives
words : ' Scimus musicam dsmo-
et intolerabilem eaie.'t That the
office of a oh^el-maatar waa recognised by the pro-
testants in the manner above mentioned ia hardly to be
doubted, seeinit that it wai exerdaed at Bavaria by
Ludovicui Senfelius, a disciple of Henry Isaac, and an
intimate friend and correspondaut of Luther,! and sub-
sjsta in Germany to this day.
For the reasons above assigned, we may without scruple
attribute to Francbinus a share of that merit which is
ascribed to the reviven of Literature in the fifteenth cen-
tury; and the rather aa bis writings, and the several
translations of ancient treatises on harmonics which be
procured to be made, furnished the students in the science
with aueh a copious fimd of infbrmatian, aa enabled them
not only to reason justly on ila prineiple*, but to extend
the narrow bounds of harmony, and lav a foundation fbr
Aoae improvementa which it haa been uie felicity of later
limes to experience. And it is not a groundless suppo-
ailion that the reputation of his writings was a powerfiil
incentive to lbs publication of those numerous ducour«es
on music of which the ensuing work contains a detail.
Indeed so general was tbe propensity in the professors of
the acience in Italy, and in Qermany more especially, to
the compilation of musical institutes, dialogues, onddis-
eouraas in various forms, that the science was for some
time rather hurt by the repetition of the same precepts,
than benefited by anyintelngence that could In strictness
be said to be new. The writings of Zarlino and Salinas
are replete with erudition ; the same, thoiu;h in a lesa
eminent degree, may be said of those of Oureanus and
the elder Galilei ; hut of the generality of tbe Introduc-
tioiu, the EncUridions, and the Erotomala published in
Italy and German; from about tbe year 1950 to the
middle of the next century, the perspicuity of tbem is
tbeir best praise.
Ilk Id hk lite g( LulkM, hH iDHttol > iMtar bsm
allwnla. Thtan
Id 111* Fulmi Into Finteh.
lloi. Uiulcuf, dUd tv Dr. Weuntull fnic
Ai the revival of the theory of miirie it to be aseribad
to the Italians, so also are those improvements in the
practice of it that have brought it to the state of perfec-
tion in which we behold it at this day. It is true that in
the practice of particular inUrumenti the masten of other
countries have been eminently distinguished, as namely,
those of Germany for skill on tbe organ ; tbe FrMicb for
tbe lute and harpsichord; and we arc indebted for many
Valuable discoveries touching the nature and properties of
sound, of consonance and duBonanee, the meuiod of con-
structing the various kinds of musical inBtrunients, and,
above all, for a nice and accurate investigation of tbe
prindplea of harmonics, to the learning and induatiy of
Menennoa, a Frenchman ; but in the sdenoe of compo-
sition the musioaus of Italy have uniformly been the
instructors of all Europe.
To relate the aubeequent inatancet of improvement in
music, or to enumerate the many oersons of distinguished
eminence that have excelled in the theory and practice
thereof, would be to anticipate that informatiim, which it
b the end of history to communicate ; and to animadvert
on the numberlcM defects of tbe ancient music, may seem
unnecessary, seeing that as well the paucity as the
structure (^ the ancient instruments affords abundant
evidence of a great disproportion between tbeir practice
and tbeir theory ; it u nevertheless worthy of remark,
that they who were so skilful and accurate in the in-
vention of characters and symbols, the types not only of
things, but of image* or ideas, as the Gieek* are allowed
to have been, have, in the instanoe of muuc, manifested
a great want of that faculty, inasmuch u there is not to
be found in any of the characters in the ancient moaical
notation, the least analwy or relation between the sign
and tbe sound or thing ngnified j a perfection so obvious
in the practice of the modems, that we contemplate it
with astonishment, there being no possible arrangement
or diapoution of musical sounds, nor no series or succession
of equal or unequal, similar or disnmilar measures, but
M^!Gas.tnbls
a( oin ohuRli, Hid on lb* witl
- 1 csu iiud icsliut.
ts Dt bb eempoiltloa a
n lb* Dodnscbgnln
directed by the rules of the Cantos Meniarabilis ;
somucb that the modem system of notation, compre-
hending in it tbe Qq>es or symbols of things, and not of
notions or ideas, may be said to possess all the advantages
of a real character.
To celebrate formally the praises of music in a work,
the design whereof is to display its excetlenciea, may seem
imnecesaary ; and the rather, as it has from tiie infancy
of tbe world, with liistoriana, orators, and poets, been
a subject of panegyric : beddes the power and effect of
musical sounds to assuage grief and awaken the mind to
tbe enjoyment of its faculties, is acknowledged by the
most intelligent of mankind ; and, were it necessary, to
prove that tine love of muiic is implanted in us, and not
the effect of refinement, examples thereof might be pro-
duced fhim the practice of those, who, from their par-
ticular situation of country, or circumstances of life, are
presumed to approach nearly to that state in which the
natural and genuine suggestions of the will are supposed
to be moat clearly discernible. To say nothing of the
Turks, who are avowed enemies of literature, or of tbe
Chinese, who, as baa been shewn, notwithstanding aD
' asserted of them, are lo circumstanced, as seem-
iver to be able to attain to any degree of ex-
. nations the most savage and barbarous profess
to admit music into their solemnities, such as they are,
their rejoicings, tbeir triumphs for victories, the meetings
of their tribes, tbeir feasts and their marriages ; and to
ise it for their recreation and private solace. | St. Chry-
t Euh*Ti;«IIUii,lDfal>H(«n
Lst girtyi s fail dwiipElop of tti
aiulc. of tfa* Iroquoli. HnroDC,
inirly D
iM«%
H of AiMIIaa BTSasii
dbyGoot^le
PBSLIMINABT DIStXIDBBB.
WMbim, in hit Uornily on pulm xlL MtiMimtM the im-
ptnUnce of music by fti tmivemlity, and, in • atrain of
•implicit]', correipoudine vitli the inaiui«n of the timea
in which he lived, aaft Mat human nstnre ia to delighted
with eandde* and poema, that by them infanta at the
bieaat when the; ar* froward or in pain, are luUed to
f«at; that traTeUen in the heat of noon, driving their
beaita, «ucb M are occupied in rural Ubrnvt, at trettdinc
or preadng grapea, or bringing home the nntage; and
even marmen labouring at the oar, aa also women at
their diita^ deceive the time, and mitigate the MTeiity
of their laknir bj songi adapted to their aevetai amploy-
ments or peculiar oonditioni. Clearchna relatol that at
LeslKia the poople b»d a song which they rang while
dwy w«M grinding cwn, and for that reason cdied
twifi6\iar; and Thue* afSrma that he had beard a fomate
■Uve of tJMt eonntry singing it, turning a mill : it began
■ Mole pistrinnm mMe, nam et Fittacus molit rex magna
' Mityleoo,' and aUuded to the practice of that king, who
wM used (o grind com with a iiand-mill, MtMming it a
hesllby exercise.
Other writers go farther, and affect to disoern the prin-,
ciple* of music not only in the songi, but the occupations
and exercises of artificera and even labourers ; '
these in a vein of " '
* witb tbeir wbina, hempknocken with their beetel*,
■ spinner* with tawt wheels, barbm with their aiisen^
' smitbea with their hamrooriT where methiiikes the
* moster-smitb witb his treble hammer sings deakant
' wbilest the greater bm upon the plainaong ; who doth
* not rtnutwaiet ito^in upon muticR when ne hean bu
' maids either at the woolhurdle or the milking pailt good
' God, what distinct intention and remiadon is there of
' their strokes I what orderly dividing of tbeir itraineaT
' what artificial pitching of their stops?'*
tnd la Ib> Kajrd ComniBaUrin sT Pen, toot II. akip. ttt. Ita snlkn,
-" '- '- V«(i, boidH InKnktu ua tint Oil lUnlMu -am
„. — e, and «snM In tbera th* •Tidenst tl ■ Hrua ipini,
pBtlcBlHlJ gf tlHlr DUrit : 'In niulck Otrrr-^"' '~ ~
BH*. Ib wfaok Ika iBdlw of Coll* dU ntgn
■be Boun of nuiai, luda ■ plmbig Bxltk br Uw dtmt—CT at
lod*, lb* tnblg, toor uhI bMWBattwoBiwfiw<iai»nJmw«fan
each lo olber ; wlu that plp« ititj aim pUld In ooncBrt, and nude
' Ulnatde oo^ik, tkmch IIm* «uud iba qnnuti — ■ -' —
aat mimj tthm, vhM pofM IM bnaimijf aaiM
taofhldiRudl
ei|l(wd
•amiqiiimn. •btt,
■■■■ IB. Thi7 kid
Duui vMi ftnr « Hn Miq^ liktUMplpta
kiha oDiBt udtso Ui BdU, «m dolgHi is anitM -
n « dlKsotoDtptUa mlnd.wkkli wnv not M intaUlclbta
■JSCfK
M DduielMlr M AdifnliMH of the t
..iOkud (BiBlahiUuawHumndaalDuaBwnHa
of Cnc^ ud weoll hST* iMsaglit hw back to hit Indftnfi I
«DI. " For Ood'a laka, BIr, kt ■» go. for IhM Of whkb
Mtb«w«rds,al
■Wd. Awtiria
blkaatnrt.afC__._^__ ,
tat iteciTSdMi. ■• For Ood'a laka, Bb-, kt ■» go. for ihM DiH I
'I«a bw ti Tnte ton* ulk ma witb Bnet fustoD. audi a
nCMa tha aanwaa, tar Ian cMiatBkia na Is ■•, that I mv ba bl* iHfo,
eiplea are founded in the very frame and constitution of
the universe, and are a« clearly demonstrable as mathe'
matieal truth and eertunty can render them ; and in this
respect mtudc may be said to hare an advantage over
many sciences and Ikculties in the pursuit whereof the
attention of mankind haa at different periods been deeply
engaged. To say nothing of school divinity, which, hap-
pily for the world, has given place to ratiDnsi theology,
what can be i«id of law in general, other than that it is
mere hnman invention t a ftbric ot science erected it it
true on the basis of a few uncontrovertible principles of
morally, and of that which we call natural jnftice, but so
accommodated to particiilar eircnmstance*, to the genina,
dtuation. temper, and capacities of those who are the
objects of it, at that what u permitted and enconraged in
i wbkb tb«]> «oaiKi**d at tbalr wsn and gnnd anhkraiDaiiti
aal la iha aina d^ Ifaili tataa. bA« tao nan and aartosa ••
lad vUb lb* plaaanaa and sattsiiiai at fata } lor Ihoae wan
' gMdji *nB( a> tbab pilaclHt IkatlTSk, wbaa Ibaj eomiiHiDonted ihali
' vicMatn IT tibiTba. whan I aana flan Kib. whkb waa hi Aa yta
' iM*. ibaa wan tbn fln ladboa laaidlnf si Camn, who wan (iM
' Baatan oo tba Aula, sad aonld plaj nadOj hr hoah any time that waa
Udbcfimlhami th^bakwal to ana JsaaltodiWiias. whallTad ata
vBtataeaUsdLeboa.BatftiftomthailQ: aod aow M Ihk ilaa, balaf
,.,. .._ ,.. 1 ..... .... .-., , „ ,rtl hnrnTid Id
> Bound diTan klnda of
I la an Ubs, parbua
tbali^ Iha bohctUi,
Indlao blood, bad Iba
aggravate the guilt of the same offence ; and custom and
usage shall preserve the inheritance of the parent for the
benefit of the eldest of his male descendants with the lame
pretence to justice aa the law of nature and reason diitri-
Dutes it among them all. Finall;r> what shall we say to
that system nf jurisprudence, wlticb, being flowed to be
imperfect, craves theaidof equity to reguiateitsoperaticin,
and mitigate its rigonn f or of those glosses and commenta
which in the civil and canon law sra of little less authorily
than the laws themselves t
As lo medicine, setting aside the knowledge of the
hnman frame, and the uses of ita oonstitutent parts, a
noble subject of specnlation it must be confessed, the
wiser part of men, rejecting theory m vain and de-
lusive, resolve the whole of the science into observatian
and practice; thereby confessing that ita prindplei are
either very few, or so void of certainty, as not with safety
to be relied on.
Of odier liberal arts, such as grsmmar, logic, and rhe-
toric, it must be allowed that uey are of singnlar use ;
bat, aa being the mere inventions of men, and at bett
auxiliaries to other arts or faculties, they are in their
nature sulwrdinate, and in that respect do but resemble
the art of memory, which all men biow to be founded on
principles not existing in nature, but assumed by o
From this view of the comparative excellence of music,
and its pre-eminence over many other sciences and facul-
ties, we become convinced of the stability of its prin-
ciples, and are therefore at a loss for the reasons why, in
these later time* at least, novelty in music thoold he its
best recommendation ; or that the love of variety should so
possess the generality of hearers, as almost to leave it a
question whether or no it has any principles at all.
To satisfy these doubts, it may be sufficient to observe
that the piindples of harmony allow, as it is fit they
should, great scope for the exercise of the invention ; and
thoDgh few pret^d to skill in the arts without being in
some d^ree or other possessed of it, yet ss all tLj imagin-
ative arts presappose a disposition in mankind to receive
their impressions, all claim a right, and many the abiliqr,
as IMS, at OifonL ftn joaoph Caaa. wl
epic poet, trusting that the mind of his reader i*
eo-eitensive with bis own, sndeavours to excite in bim the
ideas of sublimity and beauty ; the dramatic writer hope*
to move the affections of his audience to terror and pity
by the representation of actions, the reflection on which
BaiM*, bnl umilwiluiad to ban baan wilttaii brDc. Joba Caaa, paga/t.
Ot tbk penoB tban la a mrkui aaasnnl Id Alban. Oion. ooL m.
Tbaraaa kainiiD»ft, In Iba Apolofla pnOud u bli dkaonne on tha
troa abaracrkrlnf of mtuk, pdbUahad ui ItH. dtaa It aa a voik of Dl.
dbyGoot^le
PKBLIHINABY DISCOOESX.
nspirad hi* miad with those pauiom ; and ihs painter,
giving form to thoae ideas of grsce, greatueu, and cha-
racter which occupr hii mind, or lalecting the beautjei of
nature, and traoiferrine them to canvaJ, or at other
timai conlentioK himseu with ample imitation, in all
theae exerdieB of imagination and art, expeati from the
judgment of the weU-mfortned connoiueur the approba-
tion of hij work.
Now in the aeveral initancei abore addaced, notwith-
(tanding the conceMions mode to them, we may diicern
m the generality of men the want of that aenie to which
the appeal a made ; for, with reipect to the epic poem,
few are endowed wilh an imagination lufficiently capa-
cious to discover its beauties i and a* t« dramatic repre-
sentation, the most fkvourite of all public entertainments,
although all men pretend to be judges of nature, and the
cant of theatres has persuaded most that they are so, few
■re Boquoiuted with her operations in the various in-
stances exhibited on the stage, or know with any kind of
certainty in what manner the actor is to speak, what
tones or inflections of the voice are appropriated to differ-
ent passions, or what are the proper gesticulation* to express
or accompany the sentiinent whicn be is to utter. How
many individuals among those numerous audiences, who
for a series of years past have affected to admire our great
dramatic poet, may we suppose capable of discerning hi*
tenae, delivered in a style of dialogue very little resem-
bling that of the present dav, or of relishing those high
philosophical ■entiment* with which his oomposidons and
those or Milton abound?* The answer must be, very few.
Even humour, a talent which lies level with the observa-
tion of the many, is not alike intelligible to all; and
somearedisgustedwith those deliueadon* of low manners,
however just and natural, that afford delight to others, a*
exhibiting to view the human mind in ue simplicity of
nature, and ttee £rom tho*e rettrainla which are imposed
on it by education and refinement.
The painter, in like manner, submitting hi* work to the
public censure, shall &Dd for one that will applaud the
grandeur of the design, the fineness of the composition, or
Uie correctness of the drawing, a hundred that would have
dispensed with all these exceilenciea for a greater glare of
colouring, and attitudes suited to their own idea* of grace
and elegance.
The case is the same in aculpture and architecture ; to
speak of the first : — In Roubiliac's statue of Mr. Handel
at Vauxhall, few are struck with the ease and gracefulness
of the attitude, the dignity of the figure, the artlul dispo-
sition of the drapery, or the manly plumpness and rotun-
dity of the limbs, but all admire how naturally the slipper
depends from the left fooL In works of architecture we
look for elegance joined with stability ; for symmetry,
harmony of parts, and a judicious and beautiful arrange-
ment of pleasingformsj but to these a vulgar eye is blind;
whatever is greater massy, it rejects as heavy and clumsy.
Such judges a* theae prefer tor its lightness a Chinese to
a Palladian bridge ; and are pleased with a diagonal view
of the towers at the west end of St. Paul's cathedral,
for the same reason as they are with a bird cage.
Finally, with respect to music, it must necessarily be,
that the operation of iti intrinsic powers can extend no
* TiM niBHiiH of Conus, wiUm to th* aaiwulsainu of ■ aakk
tutaj, loi ■ oompuT of chosni ipMUMn, vliMi wttbhi ItwH fn
jnn VM iptrDdueHl «i Itia public itiffe, iii4y Hem to contndkt this
otatmUoi, ftir ihla nuaa. iW ■Jthausta >lw sntlnantt emislBM In
It an wall luawn u b( dnwn Inmi Iko PluoBk, Ihi niblinHR ot nil
phiMHiilij ; mil Uw tmsgny >•• «■ ImnwdUu ua miftwn nltnnct n
the aeUou d( mjtlwlgcr, li nflniM (lOI anlnt^nnnl to Iht uppn
fsUani Bod Ika pnfiJnuikoa nva rlaa Id nudrr maatlnaa for tlia
pupaH «r drintlu and •lliftk«, hum at wkieb mat dlgnUlHl *llb
tba Bams or Comui'i Court. ItatantHiM H DSr ta Hptwd lliat tha
. "liHl^tliainul-
b tha end of tha
farther than to those whom nature baa endowed with the
faculty which it is calculated to delight; and that a pri*
vation of that sensB, which, superadded to the hearing, ia
ultimately aSbcted by the harmony of musical aounda,
must disable many, and, as some campute, not fewer
than nine out of ten, from receiving that gratification in
music which others experience. Such hearers as these ere
insensible of it* channs, which yet they labour to per'
suade themselves are very powerful; but finding little
efiect from them, they seek for that gratification in novelty
which novdty will not afford ; and hence arises that in-
ccssant demand for variety which has induced some to
imagine that music ia in its very nature as mutable at
fashion itself. It may be sufficient in this place to have
pointed out the reasons or causes of this erroneotis opbion
of the nature and end of music, the effects and operation
thereof will be the subject of future disquiution.
In the interim it must be confessed that there 1* some-
what humiliating In a discrimination of mankind, that
tend* to exclude the greater number of them from the en-
joyment of those elegant and refined pleasures which the
worksof genius and mvention afford; but this condition
of human nature is capable of proof, and is justified by
that partial dispensation of those faculties and endow-
ment* which we are taught to consider as bleisinf^ and
which no one without impiety can censure. Seeing this
to be the case, it may be asked how it ctmies to pass that
a sense of what i* true, just, elegant, and beautiful in any
of the above-mentioned aria, enst* as it does at this day T
or that there are any works of genius which men with one
common consent profess to appland and admire as the
standards of perfection T To this it may be answered, that
although the right of private judgment is in some degree
exercised by all, it is controtiled by the few ; and it is the
uniform testimony of men of mscemment alone that
•tampi a character on the productions of genius, and
consigns them either to oblivion or immortality.
It IS beside the purpoae of the present discourse to
enter into a minute investigation of any particular branch
of the science of which this work is the history ; what ia
here proposed is the communication of that intelligence
which seemed hut the prerequisite to the understanding
of what will be hereafter said on the subject. This waa
the inducement to the above observations on Taate, and
the motives that influence it; and this must be the
apoltwy for a fiirther examen, a pretty free one it may
he said, of those musical entertainments, and that kind
of musical performance which the public are at present
most diposed to favour.
The present great source of murical delwht thnmgbout
Europe is the opera, or, as the French ealfit, the musical
tragedy, concemine which it is to be known, that, if
regard be due to the opinions of some writers, who are
yet no friends to this entertainment, it is a revival of the
old Roman tragedy ; and it seems that the inventtHv of
the modem recitative, Jacopo Peri and OuiHo Caccini,
wished to have it thought so; forasmuch as they pro-
fessed in this species of musical intonation to imitate the
practice of the andents, remarking with great accuracy
the several model of pronundBtian, and the notes and
accents proper to express grief, joy, and the other affec-
tions of the human mind ; but by what exenmlars they
regulated their imitation we are no where told : and it
ia to be conjectured that those general directions for pro-
nunciation, which are to be found in many discounes en
the subject of oratory,- were the chief sources whence
their intelligence was derived.
In what other respects the muucal representation* of
the andents and modems bear a resemblance to each
other it is not necessary here to enquire ; it may suffice
to say of the modem opera, that by the sober and judicious
dbyGoot^le
PRELIUIHAJtY DIBCOURSfi.
part of mankind it bai ever been considered u the mere
o&>ring of luxury ; and those who have examined it
vith a critical eye, scrapie not to pronounce that it IB of
all entertainments the inott unnatural and absurd. To
descend to particulars in proof of this assertion, would he
but to repeat argumects which have abeedy been urged,
with little succMS it ia true, but with great force of reason,
^ded by all the pojren of wit sud hnmour.
The principal objsettoDs asainst the opera are summed
up by an authot, «bo, thdugL a professed lover of music,
has ihown his candour in describing the genuine effect of
repreaentationi of thii kind on an unprejudiced ear. The
person here spoken of is Moni. St. Erremond, and the
following are his sentiments ; —
' I MO no great admirer of comedies in music,* such as
low-a days are in request I confess 1 am not dis-
' pleased with their magnificence ; the machines have
leUiing that is surpriiing ; the musick, i
ces, is charming, the whole together ii woi
* but it must be granted me also, that this wonderful ii
gather is wonderful :
' very tedious ; for where the mind has so little to do,
' there the leuses must of necessity languish. After the
' first pleasure that mirpriie gives us, the eyes are taken
' ap, and at length grow weary of being continally fixed
' upon the same object In the beginning of the consorts
' we observe the justness of the concords ; and amidst all
' tbe varieties that unite to make the sweetneu of the
■barmony, nothing eacapes ua. But 'ds not long before
* the instruments stun us, andthe musick is nothing else to
■ but a coniiised sound that suffers nothing to be
lished. Nowhowititposeible to avoid being tired
le Becitativo, which nas neither the charm of
* singing, nor the agreeable energy of speech J The soul
* fatigued by a long attendon, wherein it finds nothing to
' affect it, seeks some relief within itself; luid the mind,
' which in vain espected to be entertained with tbe abow,
' either gives way to idle musing, or la dissatisfied that it
* Mid the only comfort that is left to the poor spectators,
' is the hopes that the show will soon be over.
' Tbe reaaon why, commonly, 1 soon grow weary at
' operas ia, tbut I never vet saw any which appeared not
' to me despicable, both as to the contrivance of the
' subject, and the poetry. Now it is in vain to charm
' the eara, or gra^fy the eyea, if the mind be not satisfied ;
' for ray soul oeing in better intelligence with my mind
' than with my senses, struggles against the impressions
■ which it may receive, ot at least does not sire an
' agreeable consent to tham, without which even the most
' delightful object* con never afford me any great pleasure.
' An extravagance, set off with music, dances, machines,
' and fine scenes, ia a pompoua piece of folly, hut 'ti* still
* a folly. Tbo' tbe embroidery ia rich, yet the ground it
' ia wrought upon is such wretched stuff, that it offends
' the sight.
' There is another thing in operaa so contrary U> nature,
' that 1 cannot be reconcued to it, and that is tbe singing
' of tbe whole piece, from beginning to end, as if the
' peraona represented were ridiculously matched, and had
' agreed to treat in musick both the most common, and
' moat important afihirs of life. Ia it to be imagined that
■ a master calls bis servant, or aenda him on an errand,
' singing ; that one friend imparts a secret to another.
' liogin^ ; that men deliberate in council tinging ; that
order* in time of battle are given aingins ; and that men
' are melodiously kill'd with swords and darts. This ia
' which without doubt
' for harmony ought to be no more than a bare attendant,
■ and the great maslera of the stage have introduced it as
' pleasing, not as necessary, after they have perform'd all
' that relates to the subject and discoune. Nevertheless
' our thoughts run more upon the musician than the hero
' in the opera ; Luigi, Cavallo, and Cetti, are still preaent
'to our imagination. The mind not being able toconceive
'a hero that sings, thinks of the composer that set tbe
' song ; and I don't question but that in tbe operas at the
' Palace Royal, Baptist is a hundred times more tbonght
' of than Theaeus or Cadmus.' f
ig,t but somewhat unknown to the ancients,
which may^K defined to be an aukward use of muaic and
speech. {
It may perhaps he ssid that music owes much of its
late improvement to the theatre, and to that emulation
which it haa a tendency to excite, as well in composers
{as performers ; but who will pretend to say what direcLion
^he studies of the most eminent musicians of late yeara
would have taken, had they been left to themselves ; it
being most certain that every one of that character haa
two tastes, the one for himself, and the other for the
public! Purcell haa given a plain indication of his own,
in a declaration that tbe gravity and aeriouaness of the
more pstbetic or omplKllul lanci. F
Mr. CoDtme. Hi. Hu^ei m lt» hi
Knlhmnu; 'Tbt redlatlvt Itfli Id compolliao b foundM on Ihu
■ with u Uttl* dFititlan Aom it u pculble, Tbt dlOkrent lonH of xbi
, ntget It sur be nrnukid, UiA In tbe «
i« puiiou PAturti doth Dot oBbi music*'
iiuiiiui aii Kn tboufh Ibe mlunl Umn of (rfct ud Joy, tht (no
ID muiicsl pnelilon Itau ui olhat, fM itiU tbty an inooDilBiiaiia and
inmualul. Farther, thu Uia loundi of the TDtoa la aptteh an bn-
mutlcti Ii lUKtud \>t LiRd Bacon in the followbii nueice ; ■ All asnndi
>er equal, ai ilnging, the So
lept ihey be lin^nf biida ,
InKrrala. lo make a part of U; and oTlbla opinion la Mopa. Duclta. who.
In the EnoTohipedia, ut. DacLiHiTiaH nu ihcihi, for tbta reaeon
denka Iba poaalliUlljr at a netatloD Ibi epsecb.
Upon the whole, the haautin of the reetuttve itrle In mualc eonllM
applMloiad
t Thoe Ob
tbe Italian! h
Tew— tatattoD ; a tmer da«
MMtqiK! IhoK sf Lnllr ar
U bplalD br Ibe Nnleii lb
dbyGoo^le
PB&LIUIHARY DISCODRSE.
own delight nere not longi or ain calculated to utonish
the hearera with the tricks of the linger, but cantatas and
duets, in whieli the Bweetnem of the melody, and the iust
expression of fine poetical Bentimenta, were their chief
ptaiie ; or madri^ala for four or more voices, nhereiii the
various excellencies of melod; and harmony were united,
■o Bi to leave a lasting impression on the mind. The
Borne may be (aid of Mr. Handel, who, to go no farther,
has given a specimen of the style he most affected in a
volume of lessons for the harpsichord, with which no one
will say that any modem compositions of the kind can
Btand in competition. These, as they were made for the
practice of an Illustrious personage, as happy in an
exquisite taste and correct judgment as a tine hand, may
be supposed to he, and were in fact compositions eon
amort. In other instances this great musician com-
pounded the matter with the public, alternately pursuing
the suggestions of his fancy, and gratifying a taste which
he held in contempt.f
Whoever is curious to know what that taste could be. to
which so rnat a master as Mr. Handel was compelled
oceasionairy to conform, in prejudice to his o
it to have been no other than that which ii
every promiscuous auditory, with whom it is a notion that
the right, u some may think, the ability to judge, to
applaud and condemn, is purchased by the price of ad-
mittance; a taste that leads all who possess it to prefer
light and trivial airs, and such as are easily retained in
memory, to the finest harmony and modulation ; and to
be better pleased with the licentious excesses of a singer,
than the true and just intonation of ths sweetest and most
pathetic melodies, adorned with all the graces and ele-
Sincies that art can suggest Such critics as these, in
eir judgment of instrumental performance, uniformly
'~ e in favour of whatever is most difficult in the
, and, like the spectaton of a rope-dance, are
re delighted than when the artist is in such a
IS to render it doubtful whether he shall incur or
escape disgrace.
To such s propensity as this, the gratifications whereof
are of necessity but momentary, leaving no impreesion
upon the mind, we may refer the ardent tnirst of novelty
in music, and tiiat almost general reprobation of whatever
is old, against the sense of the poet: —
Now. Kood Ceeuio, bnt ihst pjeoe of song,
That old Hid antique sung we hod last night,
Methonght it did relieve my pssnon much ;
More than light ain, and recollected terms
Of theae must brisk and giddy-paced times.
TwauTH KioHT, Act II. Scene iv.
But to account for it is in no small degree difficult : to jus-
tify it, it is said that there is a natural vicissitude of things,
and that it were vain to expect that music should he per-
manent in a world where change seems to predominate.
But it may here be observed, that there are certain
laws of nature that are immutable and independent on
time and place, the precepu of morality and axioma in
physics for instance ; there never was since the creation a
time when there did not exist an irreconcileable difference
between truth and falsehood; or when two things, each
mMt KTUltilsof tbvtfflcBcy arrnuilc. npflir nnirbnul'
an tnlelwituj, ud ooDKqucnlly. I hiIdiu pleuurE, i
ths UlmUon r>I Ilia *sr, but Ihr pDwcn uj [uullLo
Ihli end. Slid DD( rot IhepuipoH or (lolling nlnta, II
lutincn tntrodoced by HKikmpHn ; ud unoiii ib<
U i>w flitllM • At ■ Klann Miulo.'
t ADliitliDUsfiisndi>rilr.Hindd,liMklBgDmtb
but to Ib'nt,' tuiqlni la oihen of • tnlBu cut. ' ih
equal to the same third, were unequal one to the other;
or, to carry the argumeLt farther, when consonance and
dissonance were not as enentially distin^shed fVom each
other, both in their ratios and by their effects, as they
are at this day ; or when certain interchanges of colours,
or forms and arrangements of bodies were less pleasing
to the eye than the same are now ; from whence it should
seem that there are some subjects on which this principal
of mutation does not operate ; and, to apeak of music
alone, that, to justify the love of that novelty which seem*
capable of recommending almost any production, some
other reasons must bo resorted to than ^ose above.
But, declining all farther research into the reason or
causes of this principle, let us attend to its effects ; and
these are visible in the almost total ignorance which pre-
vails of the merits of most of the many excellent artists
who flourished in the ages preceding our own : of Tye, of
Bedford, Shephard, Douland, Weelkes, Wilbye, Est,
Bateman, Hilton, and Brewer, we know little more than
their names ; these men composed volumes which are
now dispersed and irretrievahly lost, yet did their com-
positions suggest those ideas of the power and efficacy of
music, and those descriptions of its manifold charms that
occur in the verses of our best poets. To say that these
and the compositions of their successors Blow, Purcell,
Humphrey, Wise, Weldon, and others, were admired
merely because they were new, is begging a question that
will be best decided by a comparison, which some of the
greatest amoug the professors of the art at this day would
shrink from.
Upwards of two hundred years have elapsed nnce the
anthem of Dr. T^e, ' 1 will exalt thee,' was composed ;
and near as long a time since Tallis composed the motetl
' O sacrum convivium,' which is now sung as an anthem
to the words ' I call and cry to thee, 0 Lord ;' and it is
comparatively but a few years since Geminiani was heard
to exclaim in a rapture that the author of it was inspired, t
Amidst all the varieties of composition in canon, which
the learning and ingenuity of the ablest musicians have
produced, tnst of Bird, composed in the reign of his mis-
tress Elizabeth, is considered as a model of perfection.
Dr. Blow's song, 'Go, uetjured man,' was composed at the
command of king Charles the Second, and Purcell's ' Sing
' all ye Muses,' in the reign of his successor , but no man
has as yet been bold enough to attempt to rival either of
these compositions. Nor is there any of the vocal kind,
consisting of recitative and air, which can stand a com-
petition with those two cantatas, for so we may venture to
call them, 'From rosy bowers,' and 'From silent shades.'
Of poetry, painting, and sculpture, it has been observed
that they have at different periods flourished and declined ;
and that there have been times when each of those arts
has been at greater perfection than now, is to be attributed
to that vicissitude of things which gave rise to the present
enquiry, and is implied in an observation of Lord Bacon,
that in the youth of a state arms do flourish, in its middle
age learning, and in its decline mechanical arts and
merchandise-S And if this observation on the various
• ta tbe Iwyi, utd (her, irilb at ds
) EiuTof ViolulnidsatTliinft.
le vif hed Cuitertmry ; bo
rtalned ben by ucbbUlK
. our Holy FjiS« Ibt Po]
by him replied. ■* Ah, dojt
dbyGooi^le
PRBLIUINARY DISCOURSE.
ffttes of poetry, paintiiig, and icnlpture be traa, vhy is it
tu be assumed oi music that it is continually improTing,
or that every innovation in it must be for the better!
That the music of the church has degenerated and been
rrently coimpted by an intermixture of the theatric style,
has long been a sul^ect of complaint ; the Abbat Gerbert
laments this and other innovations in termi the most
affecting ; * and indeed the evidence of this corruption
must be apparent to every one that reflects on the stvle
and stmcture of those compositions for the church that
are now most celebrated abroad, even those of Pergolesi,
his masses, for instance, and tho«e of lomelli and Perez,
have nothing that distinguishes them but the want of
action and scenic decoration, from dramatic represent'
atioiu : like them thejr abound in symphony and the
accompaniment of various instruments, no regard is paid
to the sense of the words, or care taken to suit it with
correspondent Hound* ; the clause* Ryrie Eleison and
Christe Eleison, and Miserere mei and Amen are uttered
in dancing metre* ; and the former not seldom in that
of aminnet or a jig. Even the funeral service of Peref,
lately pabHihed in London, so far as regard* the measures
of the sevenil airs, and the instrument^ aids to the voice-
parts, differs as far from a sacred and lolema composure
as a burletta does from an opera or musical tragedy.
From these premise* it may be allowed to follow, that
a retrospect to the musical productions of past age* i* no
■oeh absurdity, as that a curious enquirer need decline it.
No mMD Bcmples to do the like in painting ; the con-
noisseurs are as free in remarking the ezcellenciet of
Ra^httel, Tidan, Domenichino, and Guido, as in com-
paring succeeding artist* wi^ them ; and very con-
■iderable benefits are found to result from this practice :
our present ignorance with respect to music may betray
u* into a eonnision of time* and characters, but it is to be
avoided by an attention to those particular circumstances
that mark the several period* of its progress, its perfection
and ita decline.
Of the monkish music, that is to aay the Cantus
Eccletiaitieus, little can be said, other thau thai it was
solemn and devout: after the introduction into the church
of music in consonance, great skill and learning were
exercised in the composition of motetta ; but the elaborate
contexture, and, above all, the affectation of musical and
arithmetical subtilities in these compositions, a* they con-
duced but little to the ends, of divine worship, subjected
them to censure, and gave rise to a style, which, for its
■implicihr and grandeur many look up to as the perfection
of eccleaiosticai harmony ; and they are not a few who
think that at the end of the sixteenth century the Romish
churcb-music wai at its height, a* also that with us of the
reformed church its most flourishing state was during the
reign of Eliiabeth ; though others postpone it to the time
of Charles 11. grounding their opinion on the anthem* of
Blow, Humphrey, and Purcell, who received their first
notions of fine melody from the works of Carissimi, Cesti,
3tr»dell«, and others of the Italians.
For the perfection of vocal harmony we must refer to
a period of about fifty years, commencing at the year
1560, during which were composed madrigal* for private
recreation in abundance, that are the mi<dels of excellence
in their kind ; and in this species of music the composer*
improvement
country appear to be inferior I
' of melody is undoubtedly owing to the
with harmony and an assemblage
of all Ae graces and elegancies of both we may behold
in the madrigals of Stradella and Bononcini, and the
cbomsae* and anthem* of Handel ; and among the com-
poutions for private practice in the duets of Steffani and
Handel. Aa to the harmony of instrument*, it is the
least praise that can be bestowed on Hkt works of Corelli,
Geminlani, and MartiDJ, to lay that through all the
vici**iludes and fluctuation* of caprice and fancv, they
retain their primitive power of engaging the afiections,
and recommending themselves to all sober and judicious
hearers, f
Tu music of such acknowledged excellence aa this, the
preference of another kind, merely on the score of its
novelty, i* surely absurd ; at least the arguments in
favour of it seem to be no better than those of Mr. Baye*
in behalf of what he calls the new way of dramatic
writing; which however were not found to be of such
strength a* to withstand the force of that ridicule, which
which was very ecasonably employed in restoring the
people to their wits.
The performance on the organ i* for the most part un-
premeditated, as the term Voluntary, which is appro-
firiated to that instrument, imports; we may therefore
ook on this practice as extemporary composition ; and it
is not enough to lie regretted how much the applauses be-
stowed on the mere powers of execution have contributed
to degrade it Bird and Blow, as organists, are celebrated
not so much for an exquisite hand, a* for their skill, and
that fulness of harmony which distinguished their per-
formance, and which this noble instrument alone i* cal-
culated to exhibit.! The canzones of Frescobaldi, Kerl,
Krieger, and Thiel, and alcove all, the fiigue* of Mr.
Handel, including those in his lessons, shew us what is the
true organ *tyle, and leave us to lament that the idea of a
voluntary on the organ i« lo«t in tho*e Capriccio* on
a aingle stop, which, as well in our parochial as cathedral
■ervice, follow the psalms. As to what is called a con-
certo on the organ, it is a kind of composition consiitinr
chiefly of solo passages, contrived to display what i
It two part*.
It of all the I
5 inju
abtues of instrumental perfc
nus to music than the practice of single
lemplifled in solo* and solo concertos, ori-
ginally intended for private recreation, hut which are now
considered as an essential part of a musical entertainment.
Music >;ompased for a single initniment, as consisting of
the mere melody of one part, is less complicated than that
which is contrived for many ; and melody is ever more
pleasing to an unlearned ear than the harmony of different
parts. The uniformity of a minuet, consisting of a deter-
mined number of bars, the emphasis of each whereof
returns in on orderly succession of measures or times,
corresponds with some ideas of metrical regularity which
all mindi, and affords a reason for that
t or the Inalruiuentsl niiuUr df th« prvKDI dsr. notwIthiUndlng tba
luniiw uhI sblllUn af muif HunpHEti. tbe ehuKHilitlsi of It an
Boiic nilhout hanDonr, eiempllIM In the fiHtarinn of puHgn lot*
notci, ntulriiiR •iicb in iMisntueoui ulteniin, ttaU ItalrtT-lwo at
them ire rrequenIlT heird In Ihe >tn» which II would tslw ipadentsiT
to count Four ^ lod orthliiut ue theSrmphonlee, Period Icil OieniuH,
QuineRoi, Quistettoe, ud ihe nit ot tha Irub dsllj ohtnided sn Ibe
IB irliii • gituttt pniH.
The iHioni Itai Dm hirjHichnd of Mi. Hiudel. iboondlnK with rnjtUH
dFKndQ inTnitrumenl Inverted (brlhaBlenDlrecmllonDriherDutbftil
ot the cKhei mtx, ind to render It what it beat It now nppoAii lo be. ud
mij u truly u empbulcill; be termed, i tinkling ermlsl.
I Old Mr. Anhnr Bedrord, clupllln to Atte'i Hoipitilal HaitDn,lad
wbo died not miny jun i«o, wu aciiuiliiled with Dr. Blow, ind h^ ot
Um that he >ii nekoTied the greitni nuler In tbe wotld for Mqitnn
moot InT(]T uid lerlniulT in hli loluntuiei. Tbe Oiest Abuse ol
UuikE, br Anbui Bedloid, U.A. Loud. Sio. 1)11, pigs ttt.
dbyGoo*^le
PBELtMINARY DISCOURSE.,
delight vliich the e
such comnoaitions on the public ear as fumUh opportu-
nities of displaying mere manunt proficieiicy in the artist ;
a Bolo or a concerto on the violin, the violoncello, the
hauthoy, or some other 9uch instrument, iloes this, and
gives scope for that exercise of a wild and exiibersnt fancy
which disUnguishes, or rather disgraces, the instrumental
perfonnance of this day.
The first essays of this kind were solos for the violin,
the design whereof was to affect the hearer by the lone of
the instrument, and those graces of expression which are
its known characteristic; but it was no sooner found that
the merit of these compositions was estimated by the diffi-
culty of performing them, than the plaudits of the auditory
became an irresistible temptation to every kind of extra-
vutance. These have been succeeded by compositions of
a rike kind, but ftaraed with a very difierent view, Solos
and Concertos,containingpBK9nge5 that carried the melody
beyond the utmost limits of the scale, indeed so high on
(he instnimenl, that the notes could not he distinctly arti-
' ciliated, in violation of a rule that Lord Bacon has laid
down, that the mean tones of all instruments, as being
the most sweet, are to be preferred to those at either ex-
tremity of either the voice or instrument," The last im-
provement of licentious practice has been the imitation of
tones dissimilar to those of the violin, the flute, for in-
stance, and those that resemble the whistling of birds ;
and the same tricks are played with the violoncello. To
what farther lengths these e^itravagances will be carried,
lime only can discover.
Amidst that stupor of the auditory faculties, which
leads to the admiration of whatever is wild and irregular
in music, a judicious hearer is necessitated to seek for de-
light in those compositions, which, as owing their present
existence solely to their merit, must, like the writings of
the classic authors, be looked on as the standards of per-
fection; in the grave and solemtrstrunt of the most uele-
braled composers for the church, including those of our
own country, who in the opinion of the best judges are
inferior to none it or in the gayer and more elegant com-
positions, as well instrumental as vocal, of others con-
trived for the recreation and solace, in private assemblies
and select companies, of persons competently skilled in
the science.
How far remote that period may be when music of this
kind shall become the object of the public choice, no one
con pretend to tell. To speak of music for instruments,
the modem refinements in practice, and the late improve-
ments in the powers of execution have placed it beyond
the reach of view : and it affords but small satisfaction to
a lover of the art to reSect that the world is in possession
of such instrumental compositions as those of CorelM,
Bononcini, Geminiani, and Handel, when not one prin-
cipal perfonner in ten has any relish of their excellencies,
or can be prevailed on to execute them but with such e
degree of unfeeling rapidity as to destroy their effect, and
utterly to defeat the intention of the author. In such
kind of performance, wherein not the least regard is paid
to harmony or expression, we seek in vain for that most
excellent attribute of music, its power to move the pas-
sions, without which this divine science must be con-
sidered in DO better a view than as the means of recreation
' a gaping crowd, insensible of its charms, and ignorant
Hitlary sf Lord Buui, conistnt * gnu viriel.
hsrmonr. The follaving judldoai rnnufc nutj Hne u ■ ipctlnKn of
-• "— ■■ ' "— "^ •- -H tha pafMtlon Uieieot to eoiuiii.
tetul sad best haniH
t H«ur>l ' ^^f "^ 'I''")' •"
ume ptrHD ipaki of Iht love iihlF)i that gnst jmluc bon lo
tut, tail be. ■ Uut Ooil miftal tie pralud nitn a chnsful nalae In
I of rii paita thai Mn- wm hoard In an English rjuLni. InthoH
Lll^ ol the Lord Knpot WUIIi
lemulem C
at the cbolci
Villlitna, br
MillOD ha> be
of petTune*. or ttn takhig
tIco was thuHubou
ante, pago ill. In no
:t, Dlihop af LitctiDeld ud
o bs pRfoTmad. Tldg
dbyGoo<^Ie
GENERAL HISTORT
SCIENCE AND PEACTICE OF MUSIC.
BOOK L CHAP. L
TimB is scarce any consideration that affords
greater occasion to lament the iuevitable vlcissitade
of things, than the obscurity in which it involves,
not only the history and the real characters, but
even the discoTcries of men. When we consider
the TarioQB porsnils of mankind, that some respect
merely the interest of individuals, and terminate
with themselves, while others have for their object
the investigation of tmth, the attainment and com-
mnnicadon of knowledge, or the improvement of
useful arts ; we applaud the latter, and reckon upon
the advantages that posterity must derive from them :
but this it seems is in some degree a fallscious hope ;
and, notwithstanding the present improved state of
learning in the world, we nave reason to deplore the
want of what is lost to us, at the same time that
we rejoice in that portion of knowledge which we
observation on the subject of the present work, if
he does not see cause to acquiesce in it, will at least
be nnder great difficnlttes to satisfy himself how it
comes to pass, tliat seeing what miraculons effects
have been ascribed to the music of the ancients, we
know so little ooncemiiig it, as not only to be
ignorant of the use and application of moat of their
instruments, but even in a great measure of their
system itself.
To say thst in the general deluge of learning,
when the irrqptions of barbarous nations into civi-
liEed countries, the seats and nurseries of science,
became freqnent, mnsic, ss holding no sympathy
with minds actuated by ambition and the Inst of
empire, was necessarily overwhelmed, is not solving
the difficulty ; for though barbarism might check, as
it did, the growth of this ss well as other arts, the
utter extirpation of it seems to have been as much
then, aa it is now, impossible. That conquest did
not produce the aame effect on the other arts is
certam ; the architecture, the sculpture, and the
poetry of ancient Greece and Rome, though they
withdrew for a time, were yet not lost, but after
a retirement of some centuries appeared again. But
what became of their music is still a question : the
Pyramids, the Pantheon, the Hercules of Glycon,
the Grecian Venus, the writings of Homer, of Plato,
of Aristotle, and other ancients, are still in being ;
but who ever saw, or where are deposited, the com-
posidooa of Terpander, Timotheus, or Phrynis?
Did the music of these, and many other men whom
we read of, consist of mere Energy, in the extempo-
rary prolation, of solitary or accordant sounds ; or
had uiey, in those very early ages, anr method of
notation, whereby their ideas of sound, like those of
other sensible objects, were rendered capable of com-
munication ? It is hard to conceive that they had
not, when we reflect on the very great antiquity of
the invention of letters ; and yet before the time of
Alypius, who lived a. o. 116, there are no remain-
ingevidencee of any such thing.
The writers in that fomoiia controveny set on foot
by Sir William Temple, towards the close of the
last ccntnry, abont the comparative excellence of the
ancient and modem learning, at least those who sided
with the ancients, seem not to have been aware of the
difBcotty they bad to enconnter, when they under-
took, as some of them did, to maintain the eaperiority
of the ancient over the modem music, a difficulty
arising not more from the supposed weight on the
other side of the argument, uan from the want of
sufficient Data on their own. In the comparison of
ancient with modem mnsic, it was reasonable to ex-
pect that the advocates for the former should at least
have been able to define it ; but Sir William Temple,
who contends for its superiority, makes no scruple to
.confess his utter incapacity to judge about it: 'What,'
says he, ' are become of the charms of music, by which
' men and beasts, fishes, fowls, and serpents were eo
■ frequently enchanted, and their very natures changed ;
* by which the passions of men sre raised to the greatest
' height and violence ; and then so suddenly appeased,
' so as they might be justly said to be turned into
'lions or lambs, into wolves or into liarts, by the
■powers and charms of this admirable art? 'Tis
' agreed of all the learned that the sdence of music,
< so admired by the ancients, is wholly lost in the
' world, and that what we have now is made up of
' certain notes that fell into the fancy or observation
dbyG00*^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Boor L
of itpoorjriar in chanting hie mattins : bo m thoee
'tno divine excellences 'of uinBic and puetry are
' ^rown in a manner to be little more but the one
\fiddli7tg, and the other rhyming, and are indeed
' vei7 worthy the ignorance of the friar, and the
' barbaronsneBa of the Goths that introduced them
' among us.'*
Whatever are the powers and chamu of this
admirable art, there needs no further proof than
tbe passage above-cited, that the author of it was
not very Busceptible of them ; for either the learned
of these later times are strangely mistaken, or thoee
certain natet, which he speaks so contemptuously of,
have, under the management of skilful artists, pro-
duced effects not much less wonderful than those
attributed to the ancient music And it is not to be
imagined but that Sir William Temple, in the course
of a life spent among foreigners of the first rank, and
at a time when Eurofte abounded with excellent mas-
ters, must have heard such music, as, had he bad any
ear to appeal to, would have convinced him that tbe art
had still its charms, and those very potent ones too.
But, not to follow the example of an aotbor, whose
eeal for a favorite hypothesis had led him to write on
a subject he did not understand, we will proceed to
trace tbe various progress of this aK : its progreei, it
is said, for the many accounts of the time of the in-
vention, as well as of the inventors of music, leave
US in grest uncertainty as'to its rise. The authority
of poets is not very respectable in matters of history ;
and there is hardly any other for those common
opinions that we owe the invention of mnsic to
Orpheus, to Amphiou, Linus, and many others ; mi'
less we except that venerable doctor and schoolman.
Thomas Aquinas, who asserts, that not music alone,
but every other science, was onderBtood, and that by
immediate revelation from above, by the first of the
human race. However, it may not be amiss to Inen-
tion the general opinions as (o the invention of muBic,
with this remark, that no greater deferene« is due to
many of them than Is paid to other fables of the
ancient poets and mythologists.
There can be no doubt but that vootl mnaie is
more ancient than instrumental, since mankind were
endowed with voices before the invention of instru-
mente ; but the great question is, at what time they
began to frame a system, and this naturally leads to
an inquiry Into the time of the invention of instru-
ments ; for if we consider the evanescence of sound
uttered by the human voice, the notion of a system
without, is at this day not very intelligible.
But previous to any such inquiry, we may very
reasonably be allowed the liberty of conjecture, in
which if we indulge ourselves, we cannot suppose
but that an art so suited to our natures, and adapted
to our organs, as music is. must be nearly as ancient
as those of Agriculture, Navigation, and numberless
other inventions, which the necessities of mankind
suggested, snd impelled them to pursue : the desire of
the conveniences, the comforts, the pleasures of life,
U a principle little less active than that which leads
• EiuT on HKlni ud iB«l*ni Inmlng.
US to provide for ila wants ; and perhaps it might be
even before they had learned to ' go down to the tea
in ships ' that men began to ' handle the harp and
organ,* which it cannot be supposed they could do to
any other delightful purpose, without some knowledge
of thoM harmonicu relatione and coincidences of
sound, which are the essence of the arL Such a
knowledge as this we may easily conceive was soon
attained by even the earliest inhabitants of the earth.
The voices of animals, the whistling of tbe winda,
the fall of waters, the concassion of bodies of various
kinds, not to mention the melody of birds, as they
all contain in them the rudiments of harmony, may
eaaily be supposed to have furnished the minds of
intelligent creatures with such ideas of sound, aa
time, and the accumulated observation of succeeding
ages, could not fail to improve into a system.'l'
t Lnflntim luppovn Ih
A took Uwli am DOUoDi at muk
nlmttulnan
Bt Hph^ zvrm pfT GtUmoniiB tItilU pFluum
acislela docuan uiu JnOvc ciculu,
Indo nlnuUilm duliafi dMlccn quenlu.
TlbU q|iu4 fuwtil dlffu* puluta annnm. iM
Thro' ill Iko vgodi Uuf baud ttw obuiBliif noli
OTclilrhiliiiblrdi.udlrT'dulVBHIktli' iok*
And InllUo. mtu Wiei taMnctod BUn,
And uiubt than ■»« baftn thalr ut Ih
kai whlbt ntt •*«&( ■*!(• Uaw o'lr i)
Ibob]
e Hum of boi Uflnf , li thni dttoftad W btm r-
fitTiUt. ta Slotb, of which b( (Ith ths foUowing curioai (ocauBI :—
' fitfon I link Bt kli volH 1 wUI fix ■ d«Kiipiim> oC tUi wbote
'anliDAi, whvb (hl> tvtt jtn T netlTed ttm tbe numtb of fhtb«
' Jobuui Tonu. pneuntat of tba pTovlnea of Hu naw Uofdom in
■ Amnlci. vbo hid NDH <rf tlHH ufnall In bli poaMHkn, and maiM
■leianl Iriala «f tbeir nitnna and propaRlea, Tba Ann of tbli nlnri
•kiinBniinon,UiaTcall It Pigritia, on icmul of tba downaaa wt ha
■ nslkni. It ia of tba (lit at • «t, baa an njlr coonleiuBea, and dim
' BnjHtini In ibe llkarmi of Bnfan : it baa hair » tba back pan of lia
■ haad, which eoTan Iti OKh ; 11 hnitbca tbe toy gnund with Iti bt
• ball/. It noTti tiaca upon Ita (tet, but naT» fstward to aloirl/. that
dbyGoot^le
Chap. J
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
A reason has already been given to show that the
notion of a musical syetem does necesaarily pre-
suppose musical inatruments ; it therefore becomes
necessary to trace the invention of such instrnments
as are distingaished by the simplicity of their con-
struction, and whose forma and properties at this
distance of time are moat easily to he conceived of,
and these clearly seem to be reduced to two, the lyre
and the pipe.
The lyre, the most considerable of the two, and the
prototype of th^JidKinal or stringed species, is said
to have been invented about the year of the TTorld
2000, by Mercury, who findiog on the bank of the
river Nile a shell-fish of the tortoise kind, which an
inundation of that river had deposited there, and ob-
serving that the Sesh was already consumed, he took
np the bock shell, and hollowing it, applied strings to
it ;' though concerning the number of strings there
is great controversy, some asserting it to be only
three, and that the sounds of the two remote were
acnte and grave, and that of the intermediate one
a mean between those two extremes : that Mercury
resembled those three chords to as many seasons of
the year, which were all that the Greeks reckoned,
namely. Summer, Winter, and Spring, assigning the
acute to the first, the grave to the second, and the
mean to the third.
Others assert that the lyre htdjbur strings ; that
the interval between the first and fourth was an
octave ; that the second was a fourth ^ from the first.
■BU ; tlKT tor the mcMl put krcp on the lopt ct lira, ind u* Ivo di;i
• ftmilitiJ ihtm wUhtwokfndi of anni orwimponi •gilnit Mhcr bum
' Mrepsth, thtl whlUoeta uloul thw lif hold on th^ knp It h fUt,
■ dwi it li nnoi aftn Mc to tnt iuclf rron iticic nilli. bui It I* un-
■ ptIM la db ilinu(h liiui|«r ; ud iba oih« k, thu Ihli bsul h (naltr
■ aflccli the man Ibut in eunlna Imuilt It bj lu counleiunH, Ihu In
■ punmnpiHlsii ibar nrnln iTam Bolnllni It, ud mllr pmiuidi
■ lltemulia not to b* ullelloiii ibout 1)1*1 vhlch Mtun hu lulilKUd In
I luto of bndf.
Dur ■DcMr u CarthaitRij
rgiunurr luneniloPiVu pUnd bctwccii
M tu*pmd«d for rorlr Aayt togother, wit
and the fourth the ^me distance from the third, and
that from the second to the third was a tone.}
Another class of writers contend that the lyre of
Mercury had seven strings : Nicomachus, a follower
of Pythagoras, and the chief of them, gives the
following account of the matter : ' The lyre made
'of the shell was invented by Mercury, and the
' knowledge of it, as it was constructed by him of
' seven strings was transmitted to Orpheus ; Orpheus
' taught the use of it to Thamyris and Linns, the
' latter of whom taught it to Hercules, who com-
' municated it to Amphion the Theban, who built the
' seven gates of Thebes to the seven strings of the
' lyre.' The same author proceeds to relate ' that
' Orpheus was afterward killed by the Thracian
' women, and that they are reported to have cast his
' lyre into the sea, which was afterwards thrown op
' at Antissa, « city of Lesbos : that certain fishers
* finding it, they hronght it to Terpander, who carried
' it to Egypt, exquisitely improved, and shewing it
' to the Egyptian priests, assumed to himself the
' honour of its invention.'§
And with respect to the form of the ancient lyre,
as little agreement is to be found among authors as
about the number of strings ; the best evidences con.
ceming it are the representations of that instrument
in the hands of ancient statnes of Apollo, Orpheus,
and others, on bass reliefs, antique marbles, medals
and gems ; || but of these it must be confessed that
they do not all favour the supposition that it was origi*
nally formed of a tortoise shell ; though on the other
band it may be said, that as none of those monuments
can pretend to so high an antiquity as the times to
which we assign the invention of the lyre, they are
to be considered as exhibitions of that instrument in
a state of improvement, and therefore are no evidence
of its original form. Qalilei mentions a statue of
Orpheus m the Palauo de Medici, made by the
Cavalier Bandinelli, in the left hand whereof is a lyre
of this figure.^ (No. 1.) He also cites a passage from
Pbilostratus, impordng that the lyre was made of the
boms of a goat, from which Hyginiiu undertook thus
to delineate it. (No. 2.)
10 vltli bit HiTovrul up«<, thu 11
•A wliU hlTfea
Ura. Boing u Isapb
poiifl or PTj but In the n'lghU ui<l Ihml with a iiAa lutefniplcd nnl; bT
.n._ „f ailgb orKTDl-pAUK. Ii perfbdl^ Intonalvi, V Iflarnen
third, 1 fbnrtb, ud • flftb
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book L
MeraennnB Bays that by means of his frieDds Nandg
and GaEFarel, he had obtained from Rome, and other
parts of Italy, drawings of sandry ancient instruments
from coins and marbles ; among many which he has
given, are these of the lyre ; the first is apparently
a part of a tortoise shell, tlie other is part of the head
with the horns of a bull.
The ahoye-«t«d authors mention also a Plectrum,
of about a span in length, made of the lower joint of
a goat's leg ; the use whereof was to touch the strings
of the lyre, ss appeared to Galilei by several ancient
bass-reliefs and other sculptures discovered at Ronie
in his time.
Kircher has prefixed as a frontispiece to the second
tome of the Musuigia, a representation of a statue in
the Mattbei garden near Rome, of Apollo standing
on a circular pedestal, whereon are carved in basso
relievo a great variety of ancient musical instnimente.
But the most perfect representation of the lyre ie
the instrument in the hand of the above statue, which
is of the form in which the lyre is most nsnsUy de-
lineated. Vide Mnsnrg. torn. I. psg. £36. *
The pipe, the original and most simple of wind
instruments, is said to have been formed of the
shank-bone of a crane, and the invention thereof is
ascribed to Apollo, Pan, Orpheus, Linus, and many
others. Marsyas, or as others say, Silenus, wss the
Apollo Id Ilia guden o
isrs, (pnlNAlT
•HbhgMlncml^
!■■■■ mulOHid,
ddcilbcd tbetn :
ieli[nd Ibe thtn palm if Wfaltihill)
of ihcH kiiq[TuiD«bti «u then In tha
D The tiililge u lo lh« f
first that joined pipes of different lengths together
with wax ; but Virgil says.
Pan prima* cahmot cera ctmjungere plure*
Inttitvit^
forming thereby an instniment, to which Isidore,
bishop of Seville, gives the name of Pandorinm, and
others that of Syringa and which is frequently repre-
sented in collections of antiquitiea4
As to the instruments of the pulsatile kind, such
as ore the Drum, and many others, they can hardly
he ranked in the number of musical instruments ;
inasmuch as the sounds they produce are not re-
ducible to Any system, though the messure and
duration or succession of those sounds is ; which is
no more than may be said of many sounds, which yet
are not deemed musical.
Such are the accounts that are lefl us of the in-
vention of the instruments above-mentioned, which
it is necessary to moke the basis of an enquiry into
tlie origin of a system, rather than the Harp, the
Organ, and many others mentioned in sacred writ,
whose invention was earlier than the times above
referred to, because their resptective forms are knows
even at this time of day to a tolerable degree of pre-
cision ; a lyre consisting of strings extended over the
concave of a shell, or a pipe with a few equidistant
perforations in it, are instruments we can easily con-
ceive of ; and indeed the many remaining monuments
of antiquity leave ns in very little doubt about them ;
bnt there ie no medium through which we can deduce
the figure or construction of any of the instrumenta
mentioned either in the Pentateuch, or the less
ancient parte of sacred history ; and doubtless the
translators of those passages of the Old Testament,
where the names of musical instruments occnr,
after due deliberation on the context, found tbem-
selves reduced to the necessity of rendering those
names by such terms as ^ould go the nearest
to excite a correspondent idea in their readers :
so that they would be grossly tnistoken who should
imsgine that the organ, handled by those of whom
Jubal is said to have been the fBther,§ any way re-
sembled the instrument now knomi among us by
that name.
Those accounts which give the invention of the lyre
to Mercury, agree also in ascribing to him a system
adapted to it; though with respect to the nature of that
system, as also to Uie number of strings of which the
lyre consisted, there is a great diversity of opinions ;
and Indeed the settling the first of these questions
would go near to determine the other. Boetius in-
clines to the opinion thot the lyre of Mercury had
only fbqr strings ; and adds, that the first and the
fourth made a diapason ; that the middle distance
was a tone, and the extremes a diapente.||
Zarlino, following Boetius, adopts his notion of
a tetrachord, and is more particular in the explana-
tion of it;^ his words are OS followB : — 'From the first
< string to the second was a diatessapon or a fourth ]
f EclD* II.Ter.I).
iVldc Hcnan. da Initrum. pumoD. Ub. II. p
Onaili. cb». It- fcr-^l.
De Huilci, m. I. ap. M. BantampI, M.
% initDlloBl HanwnlElK, pK- '*■
cbyGoogk
Ohap.il
AUD PEACTICE OP MUSIC.
' from the second to the third was a tone ; and from
' the third to the fbnrth was a diatessaron ; bo that (he
' first with the second, and the third with the fourth,
' contained a diatessaron ; the first with the thiid,
' and the second with the foorth, a diapente or fifth.'
Admitting all which, it it clear that the first and
fourth strings most have constituted a diapason.
1
6 Trite
1
/^
8 Lychanos
2
<
'i
9 ParhvpaU Meson
3
K^
'i
si
12 Parhypate Hypaton
4
It it to be observed that the above diagram ia used
by Boetius, and is adopted by Zarlino, Kircher, and
many other writers ; • but that though the appli-
cation of the letters 0 G F 0 in one edition of
Boetius, is plainly intended to shew that the strings
immedi&tely below them were supposed to corres-
pond with those notes in our system, yet the anthors
who follow Boetius have not ventured to make use
of them ; and indeed there is great reason to reject
them ; for in the earlier editions of Boetins de Musica,
the diaj^m above given is without letters. It seems
as if GUreanus, who assisted in the publication of the
BmiI edition of that author, in 1570, thought he
should make the system more intelligible by the
addition of those letters ; but there is no ground to
sappose that the Mercurian lyre, admitting it to con-
sist of fonr strings, was bo constructed.
Boatempi, an author of great credit, relying on
Nicomachus, suspects the relation of Boetius, as to
the number ef the strings of the Mercurian lyre ; and
farther doubts whether the system of a diapason, as
it is above made out, did really belong to it or not ;
and indeed his suspicions seem to be well grounded ;
for, speaking of this syetem, he says that none of the
Greek writers say anything about it, and that the
notion of its formation seems to be founded on a dis-
covery made by Pythagoras, who lived about 500
years before Christ, of which a very particular rela-
tion will be given in its proper place ; and farther to
shew how questionable this notion is, he quotes the
very words of Nicomachus before cited, concluding
with a modest interposition of his own opinion, which
is that the lyre of Mercury had three strings only,
and was thus constituted ; — f
G
Interval of a tone.
Interval of a hemitone.
. E
However, notwithstanding the reasons of tiie above
• VU* BoctiDi d> Uulu, Ub. T. »p. N. KiRhar. MsMirnU ORlftr
all*, torn. I. lib. 11. ™|i. «. Zullao IiUI. UKmon. paf. H. 71.
author, the received opinion seems to have been that
the lyre consisted of four strings, tuned to certain
concordant intervals, which intervals were undoubt-
edly at first adjusted by the ear; but nevertheless
bad their fouDdatiou in prinoipleB which the inventor
was not aware of, though what that tuning was, is
another subject of controversy. Succeeding musicians
are said to have given a name to each of these fonr
Btringe, which nameB, though they are not expressive
of the intervals, are to be adopted in our inquiry
after a system : to the first or most grave was given
the name of Ilypate, or principal ; the second was
called Parhypate, vis., next to Hypate ; the third was
called Paranete, and the fourth Nete, which signifiea
lowest ; it is observable here, that it seems to have
been the practice of the ancients to give the more
grave tones the uppermost place in the scale, con*
trary to the modems, by whom we are to nnderetand
all who sucooeded the grand reformation of music by
Guide, in the eleventh century, of which there will
be abundant occasion to speak hereafter.
The several names above-mentioned, exhibit the
lyre in a very simple state, viz., as consisting of four
strings, having names from whence neither terms nor
intervals can be inferred.
HYPATE-
-PARHYPATE-
— PARANETE—
NETE
Those who Bpeak of the lyre in the manner above-
mentioned, seem to imagine that its compass included
two diatessarons or fourths, which being comoined,
extended to a seventh, differing from that of Boetius,
in that his diatessarons, being separated by a tone,
took in the extent of an octave, and thereby formed
a diapason. They proceed to relate farther, that
Chorebus, the son of Atys, king of Lydia, added
a fifth atring, which he placed between Parhypate
and Paranete, calling it, from its middle situation.
Mese ; that Hyagnie, a Phrygian, added a sixth, which
he placed between Mese and Parhypate ; this string
he called Lychanos, a word signifying the indicuil
finger, viz., that on the left hand, next the thumb :
and lastly eay these writers, Terpander added a
seventh string, which he placed between Mese and
Paranete, and called Parnmese : the lyre, thus im-
proved, included a septenary, or syetem of seven
terms, disposed in the following order ; —
-HYPATE -
-PARHYPATE-
— LYCHAN08 —
-MESE-
-PAEAMESE-
CHAP. II.
Tai system-above exhibited was the Heptachord
Synemmenon of the Greeks ; it connsted of two
tetrachords or fourths, conjoined, that is to say, the
middle term vna the end of the one, and the begin-
ning of the other; and as tiie last string waa added
dbyGoo^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
by Terpauder, the aystem was disUngnisbed by bia
name, and considered as tbe second state of the lyre.
Here then we may discern the fonndation of a
system, viz., a succession of seven sonnde, including
two tetrochords, conjoined, by having tbe Mese or
middle tenn common to botb, thus represented by
Glareauue in his edition of Boetius, lib. i. cap. 20 : —
y"'"^
Mi
Hypaie
/ / M
2 F>
Parhypato
^ 1 W
3 Sol
Lyoh.no.
1 ^
4 L«, Ui
Hcse SynaphB
6 F.
^\
e Sol
Panmeta
T La
Nete
The seeming perfection of this system, aa also the
consideration UiAt in musical progreBsion every eighth
sound is but tbe replicate of its unison, has served to
confirm an opinion that there ie somewhat mysteriona
in the number seven -. to aay the truth, for different rea-
sons an equal d^pee of perfection has been ascribed
to almost every other of the digits : the number
four was greatly reverenced by Pythagoras and his
disciples, as that of three is at this day by many
Christians. Seven and nine multiplied into them-
selves made sixty-three, commonly eateemed the grand
climacteric of our lives ; the ground of superstitious
fears in persons of middle age, and the subject of
mnch learned disquisition : and there is now extant
a treaUse in folio, intitled, Mifgtund nMmerorum
rignifiiationii, written by one Peter Bongus, and
published at Bergamo, in the year 15SS] the sole
end whereof is to unfold the mysteries, and explain
tbe properties of certain numbers ; and whoever has
the curiosity, to search after so insignificant a work,
will find that in the judf^ent of its author this of
Seven is intitled to a kind of pre-eminence over
almost every other number.
Had these opinions of numerical mystery no better
K foundation than the suffrage of astrologers, they
would hardly deserve confutation, even though per-
haps in the case of errors so glaring, to expose is to
detect them ; but when we find them maintained
not only by men of sound understandings, but by
the gravest philosophers, they become matter of
importance ; at least there is somewhat of curiosity
in obeerving the extravagancies of an heated imagin-
ation, and marking the absurdities that a favourite
hypothesis will frequently lead men into.
There is not perhaps a more pregnant instance of
this kind, or of the misapplication of learned industry,
than tbe work above-mentioned ; as a proof whereof
the following chapter is selected, as well by way of
specimen of the manner of reasoning usual among
writers of his class, as to explain the properties of
the number seven, the only one which we are here
concerned to enquire about If tbe arguments in
favour of its perfection are not so conclusive as might
be expected, the reader may rest assured that they
are some of the best that have yet been adduced for
the purpose : —
' The number Seven,' says this learned author,
' has a wonderful property, for It neither begets nor
' is begotten, as the rest are, by any of the numbers
' within ten, wherefore philosophers resemble it to the
' ruler or governor of ell things, who neither moves
' nor is moved. Philolaus the Pythagorean, no
'ignoble author, testifies thus, and writes that the
' eternal God is permanent, void of motion, similar
' to himself, and different from others ; and Boetiua
' has a passage much to the same purpose. The idea
'of virginity bad such a relation to the number
' Seven, that it waa also named Pallas ; and the Py-
' thagoreane, initiated in her rites, compare tbe virgia
' Minerva to that number, seeing she was not bom,
' but sprung from the head of Jnpiter. God rested
' on the Seventh day, wherefore it is named Sabbatb,
'a word signifying rest. The Seventh petition of
' the Lord's Prayer is, deliver ne from evil ; becauae
' the number Seven denotes rest, and all evil being
' removed from man, he rests in good ; and farther,
' the seventh day or sabbatb represents death, or
' the rest of tbe soul from worldly labours. In
' Seven days after Noah entered the ark the flood
' began : in the Apocalypse Seven trumpets are men-
' tioned : Job speaks of the visitation of six tribnla-
' tions, which six succeeding days brought on him,
' but on the Seventh no harm could touch the just :
' God blessed only the Seventh day, wherefore tbe
' number Seven is attributed to the Holy Ghoat.
' without whom there is no blessing. This St. John
' proves, when in the Apocalypse he calls the Seven
' home and the Seven eyes the Seven spirits of God.
' The fever left the son of Regulos, according to St.
' John, at the Seventh hour. Eliaha breathed Seven
' times on the dead man. Christ after his resurrection
' feasted with Seven disciples ; and Seven brothers
' were sent to baptise Cornelius. The Seven hairs of
' Sampson ; Seven golden candlesticks : and in Le-
' viticiis command was given to sprinkle the blood
' and oil Seven tiroes. The Seven stars in the bear ;
'the Seven principal angels who rule the world
' under God, and have charge of the Seven planets,
' as namely, HoTophiel the spirit of Saturn, Anael
' the spirit of Venus, Zachariel of Jupiter, Raphael
' of Mercury, Samael of Mars, Gabriel of the moon,
'and Michael the spirit of the snn. The mooa
' changes its form Seven times, and completes its
' Josephus writes that a certMn river in S}'ria is dry
' for six days, and full on the Seventh. Farther, the
' great artist did not only dignify the heavens, but be
' also adorned with the number Seven his favourite
' creature man, who has seven inward parts, or bowels,
' stomach, heart, lungs, milt, liver, reins, and bladder ;
' and seven exterior, as head, back, belly, two hands,
' and two feet. There are seven objects of aight, as
' body, distance, figure, magnitude, colour, motion.
dbyGoo^le
Chap. It.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
' umI rest : and Sereu epedes of colonr, taking in the
' two extremee of white and black, viz., yellow, sky-
' Uae, green, purple, and red. No one can without
'eadng live after the Seventh day. PhyeicianB
'reckon ten times Seven years to be the period
' of hoinan life, which Hippocrates divides into
■ Seven stages. The ancient lyra, naed both by
' Orpheoa and Amphion, had only Seven chords,
'answering, as it is said, to the Seven gates of
' Thebes. Every Seventh daughter, no son coming
' between, hath, by virtue of Uie number Seven as
' I imagine, a great power in easing the pains of
'child-birth: auid every Seventh son, no danghter
• coming between, has the power of curing the scurvy
'and leprosy by the bare touch; so that diseases,
' incurable by physicians, are curable by the virtue
' contained in the number Seven. A right-angled
' triangle is constituted of the sidea three, four, five,
' bat three and four contain the right angle, which is
' perfection itself, and therefore their sum seven,
• mnst as a nnmber be most perfect Evetr active
' body has three dimensions, length, breadth, and
' thickness, and theae have four extremes, point, line,
' surface, and solid, and these together m^e up the
' nnmber Seven.'
By such ailments as these do many of the
mosical writers endeavour to excite a mysterious
reverence for that number which is confeasedly the
limits of a system, ee far as it goes, perfect in its
kind ; in answer to which it may be said, that this
enperstitioQs regard for certain numbers seems to be
very deservedly tanked among those vulgar and
common errors, which it is professedly the end of
• very learned and justly celebrated pnblication of
the last century to refnte, wherein it is said, that
• with respect to any extraordinary power or secret
' virtue attending the number sixty-three, or any
'other, a serious reader will hardly find anything
' that may convince his judgment, or any farther
' persuade than the lenity of his belief or pre-judg-
'ment of reason inoHneth.'*
But to return from this digression : the rudiments
of the present greater musical system are discernible
in that of a septenary, adjusted, as we are told, by
Terpander, in the form above declared ; and as to
the intervals of which it was constituted, modern
anthors have not acmpled to assert that they were
pre^sely the same as those contained in a double
diateeaaron, according to the present practice ; the
conseqnence whereof must be, that each of the two
tetrachords, of which the above system is supposed
to have been formed, consisted of a hemitone and
twi> tones ; which will be readily conceived by such
aa reflc-jt, that in the passage either upwards or
d<iwnw<mls from any given note to its fourth, in
that progression which is most gratefol to the ear,
those intervals must necessarily occur. Persuaded
of the truth of this supposition, succeeding moaicians
have ventured to apply the modern method of no-
tation to the terms of the andeote, and are pretty
well agreed that the term Mese answered to a, or la,
• Kr Tluna BimrM't Mafalij lats Vmlfa Emn, ITl.
in nnr scale. Taking this for granted, the system of
Terpander will appear in the following form : —
SYSTEM OP TERPANDER.
- E Hypete.
here it is necessary to observe, that though, as
haa been said, it was the practice with the eucieuts to
give the grave tonee the uppermost, and the more
acute the lowermost place in their scale,f which they
mightveiyproperlydo. if, as there is the greataet rea-
son to believe, their music vna solitary, and they were
strangers to the art of combining sounds in con-
sonance. Yet the modems, immediately on the
making that most important discovery, found it
necessary to differ from them, and accordingly we
now place the grave tones at the boUom, and the
acute at the top of our scale ; t the consequence of
this diversity has been, that whenever any of the
modem authors have taken occasion to exhibit the
whole or any part of the ancient Greek scale, they
have done it in their own way, placing Hypate at
tiie bottom of the diagram; and this will be the
method we shall observe fur the inture.
Great confusion has arisen among the writers on
music, in respect to the order of the several additions
to the system of Terpander. That it was perfected
by Pythagoras will be related in due time ; hut the
eagerness of most authors to explain the improve-
ments made by him, has betrayed them into the error
of confounding the two systems together, whereby
they have rendered their accounts uniutelligible.
Boetius has erred in this respect ; and Bontempi,
a modem Italian, notwithstanding he professes to
have followed the Greek writers, more particularly
Nicomachns, has made the same mistake ; for in
every one of the representations of the improved
system of Terpander which he has given, is contained
an exhibition of the Synemmenon or conjunct tetra-
chord, which before the invention of the Dieiieug-
menon, or disjunct tctrachord, by Pythagoras, could
have no existence. He indeed confesses as much
when he admits that the distinction imported by its
name was rather potential than actual ; or, as wo
perhaps should say, rather contingint than aiitalKte.
* VtBCtnHa Oi]U«L DUog. dilli Uuilca, p*(. 1
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Boor I.
To refbte this error it is neceesuy in some sort to
ftdopt it, and proceed after BoQt«mpi to describe
what he calh the first addition to the eyslem of Ter-
pander. HiH words are nearly these :—
' To the lyre of seven stringa, forming a conjunct
tetrachord.were added two tetrachords ; the most grave
was joined to that tetrachord, which for its gravest,
or, to nee the modem method of position, its lowest
sound, had Hypate, and the moat acate tetrachord
was joined to that which for its most acute aoand,
had Nete : the acuter of these two additional tetra-
chords, from its sitnation named hyperboleon, pro-
ceeded from Nete by three other terms, viz., Trite,
Paranete, and Nete, to each whereof was given the
epithet Hyperboleon. to diatingQish them from the
sounds denoted by the same names in the primitive
septenary. The other of the additional tetraohorde,
which began from Mese, was called Synemmenoa
or conjunct, and proceeded likewise by the same
terms of Trite, Paranete, and Nete ; and each of
these had, for tie reason just given, the epithet of
Synemmeiion, as in the following figure appears :' —
ADDITION I. to the SYSTEM of TERPANDER.
t/'Nete hyperboleon g
Tone
n I Paranete hypeitoleon f
i\ fieraitone
I I Trite hyperlvileon e
I Neta d Nete syiiemmenoQ <'
a I Tone Tone
. I Parani'ie o Fannete nuemmenan i
t< Tt«B Tone
B I Trite b Trite syaemmenoD
^ I Hemitone it..,..!*
>Me>e
Tone
Tone
* I Lychanc
I I Psrhypate
'-Hrpito E
It is ofwervable in the above scheme, that Iwtween
the Synemmenon tetrachord and that marlced B,
which was originally a part of the system of Terpen-
der, there is not the least difference : the interval of
a hemitone between a and b being common to both ;
of what nse then this auxiliary tetrachord was, or how
it became necessary to distinguish it by the epithet
Synemmenon or conjoined, from that which as yet
had never been disjoined, is hard to conceive ; the
only addition therefore that we consider ia that of
the Hyperboleon tetrachord, which increasd the
□amber of terms to ten, as above is shown : how-
ever, after all, aa the lyre thus limited to the compass
of a masical tenth, reaching from E to g, Aas not
commensurate in general to the hnman voice, a
farther extension of it was fonnd necessary; and
another tetrachord was added to this, which began at
Hypate in the former system, and proceeded by
a repetition of the same terms as that did, with the
addition of hypaton. This addition begat also a dis-
tinction in the terms of the tetrachord, to wliich it
had been joined ; which, t« shew their relation to the
Mese, had each of them the adjunct of meson, and the
tetrachord to which they belonged was thence called
the tetrachord meson. This last addition of the te-
trachord Hypaton increased the number of terms to
thirteen, in which were included four conjunct tetra-
chords, the Mese being the seventh from each ex-
treme, and carried the system down to B ; though to
show that hypate Hypaton was a hemitone below
Parhypate or C, the Italians generally denote it \^
the character Jj.
j Paranete bj^rbeleon f
I
Trite hyperboleon
Tone
Nete
I
I ™
T I Paranete
1 [Trite
Netei
Tone
Paranete iijiieninienoD
Tooe
Trile ajuammeiuiB
1 j LychanoB
I p.
Tone
Tone
_ Parhypate ine«iin
H I Tone
^ iHypate meBon
Tone
Lychanoa byp*toi
Tone
Hemitone
If: ™.
^ I Parhypate hypaton
*■ '-Hvoate hvDiton ■
'-Hypate hypaton
In this diagram also the synemmenon Tetrachord
is inserted : we forbear to repeat the reasons against
connecting it with the system of Terpander, with
which it seems absolutely incompatible, and shall
hereafter endeavour to shew when and how the in-
vention of it became necessary, and what particular
ends it seems calculated to answer. In order to this
it must be observed, tnat the system, improved even
to the degree above related, wanted much of perfection :
it is evident that the lower sound Hypate hypaton,
or as we should now call it, Bt], was a hemitone
below 0, and that b, which in the order of succession
upwards woa the eighth term, was a whole tone below
the term next above it, consequently it was a hemi-
tone short of a complete muaical octave or diapason ;
to remedy this defect, as also for divers other reasons,
Pythagoras ia said to have reverted to the primitive
system of a septenary, and with admirable sagacity,
l^ interposing a tone in the middle of the double tetra-
chord, to have formed the system of a Diapason or
Octochord.
But before we proceed to relate the particidars of
this and other improvements of Pythagoras in music,
and the wondernil discovery made by him of the
proportions of musical sounds, it may be proper to
take notice of two variations in the septenary, intro-
duced W n philoaopber, and a disciple of Pythagoraa,
named Fhilolaus ; the one whereof, for ongbt we can
discover, seems to have been but very inconsiderable,
that ia to say, no more than an alteration of the term
dbyGoo*^le
Chap. II.
AND PRACTICE OF MU8ICL
Mese, wlucfa, becaiue that sound was a, third diaUnt
rrom Nete, be called Trite ; the other consisted in
an extension of the diateasaron included between the
ileee and Nete to a diapente, by the insertion of
a trihemitone between ParomeBe, or as he termed it,
Trite and Paranete ; by which the system, though it
laboured under the inconvenience of an Hiatus, com-
prehended the interval of a diapason, the extreme
terms whereof formed a consonance much more
gr^eful to the ear than any of those contained in
that of Terpander- Nicomachue speaks more than
once of Pbilolaus, and saye that he woe the first who
called that Trite, which before was called Parameee,
as being a diateEsaron distant from Sete, But aU
though it is certain that he was a contemporary of
Pythagoras, we must snppoee that this improvement
of his to be prior to that of Pythagoras above hinted
at ; for the latter adopted the appellation of Trite,
though by restoring the ancient name Paramese,
which he gave to ^e inserted tone, he altered the
sitnation of it, as will be shown hereafter.
SYSTEM OP PHILOLAUS.
ps-e Nete
Tone
^^
d Paranete
3^
Trihemitone
■sW
h Trite
^^? 1
Tone
^^jC
^ a Mese
^
Tone
G Lychanos
Tone
P Psrhypate
MI
^^
Hemitone
^
^ E Hypate
The gradual improvements of this system from the
tJme of Terpander to that of Pbilolaus baving been
severally enumerated, and its imperfection noted, we
are now to speak of those made by Pythagoras. His
regulation of the octave by the insertion of a tone
has been just hinted, and it will be necesssry to be
more particular ; but previous to this it is requisite
to mention tb^ discovery of his, which though
merely accidental, enabled him to investigate the
ratios of the consonances, and Xo demonstrate that
idations of musical harmony h
r before his time been imagine
Of the manner of this discovery Nicomachue has
given a relation, which Mr. Stanley has inserted in his
HiatoryofPhilosophyiu nearly the following terms: —
• Pythagoras being in an intense thought whether
'he might invent any instrumental help to the ear,
'solid and infallible, such as the sight hath by a
' compass and a role, and by a Dioptre ; or the touch,
'or by a balance, or by the invention of measures ;
'as be passed by a smith's shop by a happy chance
' he heard the iron hammers striking on the anvil,
* ftod rendering sounds most consouant to one another
'ia all combinations except one. He observed in
' them these three concords, the diapason, the diapente,
' and the diatessaruu ; but that which was betweeu
' the diatessaron and the diapente be fonnd to be
' a discord in itself, thoug!] otherwise useful for the
' making up of the greater of them, the diapente.
' Apprehending this came to him from God, as
' a most happy thing, he hastened into tbe shop, and
' by various trials finding the difference of the sounds
' to be according to the weight of the hammers, and
' not according to the force of those who struck, nor
' according to the fashion of tbe hammers, nor ac-
' cording to the turning of tbe iron which was in
' beating out : having ta^en exactly tbe weight of the
' hammers, he went straigbtway home, and to one
' beam fastened to the walls, cross from one comer
' of the room to the other, lest any difference might
' arise from tbence, or be suspected to arise from the
* properties of several beams, tyiug four strings of
' the same substance, length, and twist, upou each of
' them be hung a several weight, fastening it at the
' lower end, and making tbe length of tbe strings
' altogether equal ; then striking tbe strings by two
' at a time interchangeably, he found out the afore-
' said concords, each in its own combination ; for
'that which was stretched by tbe greatest weight,
' in respect of tiiat which was stretched by the least
' weight, he fonnd to sound a Diapason. The greatest
' weight was of twelve pounds, the least of six ; thence
' be determined that the diapason did consist in
' double proportion, which the weights themselves
' did shew. Next he found that the greatest to tbe
' least but one, which was of eight pounds, sounded
' a Diapente ; whence he inferred this tj> consist in
' the proportion called Sesqnialtera, in which pro-
' portion the weights were to one another ; but unto
■ that which was less than itself in weight, yet greater
' than the rest, being of nine pounds, he found it to
' sound a Diatessaron ; and discovered that, propor-
'tionably to tbe weights, this concord wss Sesqui-
' tertia ; which string of nine pounds is naturally
' Seequialtera to the least ; for nine to six is so, viz.,
' Sesqnialtera, as the least but one, which is eight,
' wss to that which had the weight six, in proportion
' Sesquitertia ; and twelve to eight is Sesqnialtera;
' and that which ia in tbe middle, between Diapente
' and Diatessaron, whereby Diapente exceeds Dia-
' teesaron, is confirmed to be in Sesquioctava proper-
' tion, in which nine is to eight The system of both
■ was called Diapason,* that is both of the Diapente
' and Diatessaron joined together, as duple proportion
' is compounded of Sesqui<era and Sesquitertia ;
' SDcb as are twelve, eight, six, or on the contrary,
' of Diatessaron and Diapente, as duple proportion is
'compounded of Sesquitertia and Sesquialtera, as
' twelve, nine, six, being taken in that oi^er.
' Applying both bis bond and ear to the weights
' which he had bung on, and by them confirming tho
' proportion of the relations, be ingeniously trans-
' fen«d tbe common result of tbe strings upon the
' cross beam to the bridge of an instrument, which be
'called XopSoravr, ClwrdotoTiot ; and for stretching
'them proportionably to tbe weights, he invented
dbyG00*^lc
10
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book L
*p«gs, by the tarning wbereof he diatonded or
'relaxed them st pleuare. Making ubc of this
' foundation as an infallible rule, he extended the
' experimeot to many kinds of inatnimentB, as well
' pipes and flutes, as those which have strings ; * and
' he fbaud that this conclusion made by numbers was
■ coDBonant withont variation ia all. That sound
' which proceeded from the number six he named
' Hypate ; that from eight Mese, being Sesquitertia
' to Ibe other ; that from nine Paramese, it being one
' tone more acute, and seaqniocCave to the Meae ; that
' from twelve he termed Nete ; and supplying the
' middle spaces with proportionable sounds, according
' to the diatonic genus, he so ordered the octocbord
' with convenient numbers. Duple, Seequialtera, Ses-
' quitertJB, and the difference of the two last, Seequi*
'octava.
' Tfaos by a kind of natural necessity he found the
' progress from the lowest to the highest, according
' to the diatonio genns ; and from thence he proceeded
'to declare the chromatic and enharmonic kinds.' f
Hist, of Philosophy, p^. 387. folio edit 1701.
bregoUud
Ihi irtDd -
rtppllnl
nnlnl of pipvfl ud flute*
lunft fot tb« tmlicloD uf
. _j R*u1t of Ibii _.
nometrlc*] pTinrlpIca, tlia cdntemplsilon wfatraof. uid the miklnr thon
Itae tot of beuilT uhI humonj. !■ i plmun Hpuue and dbliuet tnn
Uut «liie)i n »«1» liy tha huh. TU* fMnMtlctl RlntloD sf ttas
wDHKiun* hu ben biiher UlnMntod ^ ATstdmedct, who hu de-
pDODitnted that thvpropoTllofiaofnTVali HHd bodls ue tbd ums with
tk»> <^ iti* mtul«l eonuuBou ) lo tpMk Bttt of tM dUpuoi.
By m GoioUirr from llit IblitT'fOunb proportion of Archlnvdn It !■
■h*wa, Alt tha proportloD of tha octava la u the whole vaptrtieita of
■ ricbl crHiular AMCilbed tlMut a apliaia. ia to the vhola iDperBclea ofaa
nliiliUtenleTUiHleilutTlhHl, ihula lo aay. aa I ia to I. For thr di-
cuDiacribeduioihaiptaeileiupeifldMaal) latsBi but tha apheriolato
•Dpeifldea of a iquii
bj > apben. ■ rifbl erliDda, aod an -liilUtatal on* thai diapoaad .—
Ihtaa: 'An aoullat
rill crUndar In Ilka
Bpbtn. and a rUhl crUndar
ta wit. the iMqulaKan], ai wall ai Id
wbola luptiAdea.
■ Far br u «r thla book, Iba ilfbt
aphan, la to Ibe aphan. aa well la i
anpaifeiea, aa I la ts t, IT
cona B A t> dmiDiecribi ,
■ad reapaeta, aa 0 k to 4. Therefbrt tba aa
bmli la Kapset of aaUdltr and nulH*, aa
leapeet of loUdltr, aa if the '
But br tba lbngi4iiK. lb* a^i
9 apban, ta to tha apban. In mn tna
. . . - , »lxl ihtm.
I >. d. f ! and EonHqoaillT eonllBue the ■hodI-
_, ft. B. D. Pnip. ilv. al ■— -'^-
•Diana ef ArcUniedea bf Tacquel.
irther tba aaiae aithor ihowi, that tba «
la bttwlit an equlUiatsI eona and cjUnder dtcunucnuao annii ini
B iphen. 1b raapect of their vtiolt aoifacva, tlieii almple auilheca.
of Um
OUier writers attribute the discovery of the con-
sonances to another, named Diocles ; who, asy they,
passing by a potter's shop, chanced to strike his
stick agunst some empty vessels which were standing
there ; that observing the sounds of grave and acute
resulting from the strokes on vessels of different mag-
nitudes, he investigated the pr9portionB of music,
and found them to be as above related ; } notwith-
standing which testimony, the uniform opinion of
mankind has been, that we owe this invention to
Pythagoras ; the result whereof may be conceived
by means of tba following diagram : —
DIAPASON.
DIATES8AR0N TONE DIATESSARON
DIAPENTE
It is observable tbst there is nothing in this
account to authorise the supposition that the lyre
of Mercury was tuned in any of those proportiona
which this discovery hod shewn to be consonant,
Bontempi, who, as we have hinted before, had his
doubts atxtut it, says expressly that none of the Greek
writers assert any such matter ; and Zarlino, though
he adopts the relation of Boetiue, does it in such
a way as sufficiently shews it stuck with him : we
may therefore justlv suspect that Boetius went too
far in assigning to the stnngs of the Mercurian lyre
the proportjons of six, eight, nine, twelve.
CHAP. in.
Ir we conuder the amount of this discovery, it
will appear to be, that certun sounds, which the
human ear had previously recognised as grateful and
harmonious, were, by uie sagacity of Pythagoras,
found to have a wonderful relation to each other in
certain proportions ; that those proportions do really
subsist between the musical concords above-mentioned
is demonstrated by Ptolemy, and will be shown here-
aller ; but then it baa been by experiments of a
different kind from that of strings distended by
hammers or other weights in the proportion of six,
eight, nine, twelve, and such as prove a most
egregious error in those sud to be mode by Py-
thi^ras; ao that though his title to the discovery
of the proportions above-mentioned is not contested ;
yet that it was the result of the experiment above
related to have been made by him, u demonstrably
false.
For suppose, as will be shown hereafter, that the
sounds of four strings, in every other respect alike,
and in length as these numbers, six, eight, niqe,
twelve, will mate the intervals above-mentioned, vix.,
a fourth, fifth, and octave ; yet let weights in these
proportions be hnng to stnngs of equal length and
thickness, and the intervals between the sounds pro-
I Vlnanl. OaUM. DM. daUa Huatea, ft- If.
dbyGoo^le
OaAP. III.
AND PRACTICE OP MOSIC.
II
duced by itriDgs thoB distended will be far difierent
from thoM aboTe-men^oned.
It u eaid that we owe tbe detection o( thia error
to the penetration and industry of Galileo Galilei,
whose merits as welt aa aufFerings are eufficienlly
known. He was tbe son of a noble Florentine
named Vinceutio Galilei, the author of a moat learned
and valuable work, intitled Dialc^ della Muaica antica
e moderaa, printed at Florence in 1561 and 1602 ;
and also of a tract, intitled Discorso intomo all' Opere
del Zarlino ; and of his father, who was an admirable
performer on the Inte, learned both the theory and
practiue of mosic ; in the latter whereof he is said to
have been each a proficient, as to be able to perform
lo a great de^ee of excellence on a variety of inetni-
ment£ ; however, notwithetonding tbi* bis propeneity
to mnsic, hia chief puranits were natural phitoaophy
and the matbematica. The inqnisitivenesa of his
temper leading him to the makmg experiments, in
the cooreo thereof he made many noble discoverlea ;
that of the telescope seems to be universally attributed
lo him ; his first essay towards an instmment for
viewing the planets was an organ pipe with glasses
fixed therein ; and it was he that first investigated
thoee laws of pendulums, which Mr. Huygens after-
wards improved into a regular and consistent theory.
In a work of the younger Galilei, intitled Discorsi
e Dimostrazioni Matematiche intomo, k dne nuove
Sdenze, attenenti alia Mecanica, ed i Movimenti
locali, ia contained a detection of that error, which it
is here proposed to refute.
It is true some writers refer this discovery to
Tincentio Galilei ; and first Bontempi says, that in
his discourse on the works of Zarlino, he affirms, that
in order ' to find the consonances by weights hung
'to chords, the weight to produce the diapason
'ought to be in quadruple proportion; that to pro-
' dace the diapente ought to be m dupU seeqniqaarta ;
' for the diateesaron in sesquisettima partientenono
'and for the tone in sesquisettima partiente 64.'*
Malcolm al«o, speaking of the discovery of the
conaononces by Pytb^oras, makes use of these words :
* Bat we have found an error in this account, which
' Vincenso Galileo, in his Dial<^ee of the ancient
'and modem Music, is, for what I know, the first
' who observes ; and from him Meibomius repeats it
' in his notes upon Nicomachos.'f
Here it may be observed, that this author Malcolm
baa himself been guilty of two mistakes ; for first, it'
is not in his not«s on Xicomachus, but in those on
Gaodentius that Meibomius mentions tbe error now
under consideration : and farther, in the passage of
Heibomius, which Malcolm meant to refer to, the
diacovery is not ascribed to Vinceotio Galilei, but to
Galileo Galilei his son. To take the whole together,
Gaodentius, speaking of the experiment of Pytha-
goras, and asserting, that if two equal chords be dis-
ended by weights in the same proportion to each
other as the terms of the ratio, containing any inter-
val, those chords when struck will give that interval,
Meibomiua upon this passage remarks in the follow-
ing words : ' Mirandum sane, banc experientiam, tot
' gravisumomm anctomm adeertione confirmatam,
' nostro primum seculo deprehensam esse falsam.
' Inventionis gloriam debemus nobilissimo methema-
' tico Grolileo Galilei, quem vide pag. 100. Tractatus
' qui inscribitur : Discorsi e Dimostrazioni Matem-
'atiche intomo k due nuove Scienze.'f
But notwithstanding Bontempi has given from tbe
elder Gialilei a passage wbich seems to lead to a dis-
covery of the error of Pythagoras, yet he himself
acquiesces in the opinion of Meibomius, that the
honour of a formal refutation of it is due to the
yonnger, and is contained in the passage above
referred to, which translated is as follows : —
' I stood a long time in doubt concerning the forms
' of consonance, not thinking tbe reasons commonly
' brought by the learned authors who have hitherto
'wrote of music sufficiently demonstrative. They
' tell us that the diapason, that is the octave, is con-
' tained by the double ; and that the diapente, which
' we call the fifth, is contained by the sesqnialter :
' for if a string, stretched upon tbe monochord, be
' sounded open, and afterwards placing a bridge
' nnder the midst of it, its half only be sounded, you
* will hear an eighth ; and if tbe bridge be placed
' under one third of the string, and yon then strike
' tbe two thirds open, it will sound a fifth, to that of
' the whole string struck when open ; whereupon
' they infer that tbe eighth is contained between
' two and one, and the fifth between three and two.
' But I do not think we can conclude from hence
' that tbe double and sesquialteral can naturally
'assign the forms of the diapason and diapente ; and
' my reason for it is this : there are three ways by
* which we may sharpen tbe tone of a string, viz., bv
'shorteuiug it, by stretching it, or by making it
' thinner : if now, retaining the same tension and
' thickness, we would hear an eighth, we must make
'it shorter by half; i e., we must first sound the
' whole string, and then its half. But if, keeping tbe
' same length and thickness, we wonid have it rise to
' an eighth from its present tone, by stretching it, or
' screwing it higher, it is not sufficient to stretch it
' with a double, but with four times tbe force : thus,
' if at first it was distended by a weight, suppose of
' one pound, we must hang a four pound weight to
'it, in order to raise its tone to an eighth. And
' lastly, if, keeping the same length and tension, we
' would have a string to sonnd an eighth, this string
' mnst be but one fourth of the thickness of that
' which it must sound an eighth to.§ And this that
' I say of the eighth, I would have understood of all
' other musical intervals. To give an instance of the
' fifth, if we wonld produce it by tension, and in order
' thereto hang to the grave string a four-ponnd
' weight ; we must hang to the acute, not one of six,
' which yet is in sesquialteral proportion to four, viz..
1 !■
xnD, Not. tn OuidAnt. pif. IT.
« Voului uft tluc fn tblf puufc (Iw i
Bt Viilliui HTIIiinl. pM- I
B tipirliiHnl, uut w
dbyGooi^lc
13
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book L
' tliree to two, but one of nino ponnda. And to pro-
' duce the above iatervala by strings of the some
'length, bat different thicKnesB, the proportion
' between tbe grave and the acute etring must be
' that of nine to four. These tbtnge being really so
' In bet, I saw no reason why these sage philosophers
'should rather constitute the form of tbo eighth
* double than quadruple, and that of the fifth rather
' in sesquialtera than in double sesquiquarta, &c' *
Diacorsi e Dimostrazloni Matematiche del Galileo
Galilei, pag. 75.
To give yet farther weight to the above objection,
it may be necessary here briefly to explain a doctrine
yet unknown to the ancients, vis., that of pendulums,
Mtween the vibrations whereof, and those of musical
chorda, there is an exact coinddence,
Sound ia produced by the tremulation of the ur,
excited by the insensible vibrations of some elastic,
BouorouB body ; and it has been manifested by re-
peated experiments, that of musical aonnda the acute
are produced by awift, and the grave by comparatively
aiow vibrationa.f A chord distended by a weight or
otherwise, is, with respect to the vibrations made
between ita two extremitiea, to he conaidered aa
a double pendulum, { and aa subject to the aame laws.
The proportions between the lengths of pendulums,
and the number of vibrations made by them, are in
an inverse duplicate ratio ; so that if the length be
quadrupled, the vibrationa will be aubdupled ; on the
contrary, if the length be aubquadupled, the vibra-
tions will he duplod.g
The aame proportions bold also with respect to
a chord, but with thia difference, that in the caae of
pendulums the ratios are inverse, the greater length
giving the fewer vibrations ; whereaa in that of
chorda they are direct, the greater tenuon giving
the greater number of vibrationa ; thus if the tensive
power be aa one, if that be quadrupled, the number
of vibrations ia duj>led ; and the sound produced by
the greater power will be duple in acumen to that
produced by the lesser. In a word, the same ratios
that anbaist between the vibradons of pendulums and
their respective lengths, are to be found inversely
between the vibrationa of chorda and the powers that
distend them i what those ratios are, so far aa they
•Uiwk ngiliiil Ikt »m>lDin( [no pioduad
■Hlfiwd lo k iha ■HquUltvrft propaTtioo,
MMi DO baltn nuoB tH Um PTIh*ior
•giuDm, Itaui IhM II \t rmmiM In tbc u
tk> prindslH 1^ dan bf wriWn
b uMi (yUmiU* tntm, tku to p
(feai gondltlaiwd, «al(tala niilt IM
Imnlbownid MIUTttom tiknbr Pjtii.,
Ai Id tbe pntponlotii, than du bi no b«M bnl thai Umt
■hoia-iutad: bal tha amw ehufeiblr — ■■■- -""^
Dwkiiif tha ilmrny gf (bm t)i> mnli
hiT* (cslgcad, lutaid of •
ha PJUunBreaiii It tha
d FriBdplM of Bin
reapect the acnteneaa of gravity of aoond, ifill shortly
be made appear.
In order to apply the doctrine of tensive powers
to the question in debate, it ia necessary to state the
ratios of the several conaonances, and those are de-
monstrated to be as followa, viz., that of the diapent«
3 to 2, and of the diateaaaron 4 to 3, that of the dia-
pason 2 to 1, and that of the tone 9 to 8 ; or in other
words, a chord being divided into five parts, the sound
produced at three of tbeee parte will be a diapente
to that produced at two ; if divided into seven parts,
four of them will sound a diatessaron against tha re-
maining three ; and if divided into three parts, two
of them make a diapaaon against the other one :
farther, if the chord be divided into seventeen parts,
nine of them on one aide will sound a sesqoioctave
tone to the eight remaining on the other. These are
principles in harmonica which we may safely aaanme,
and the demonstrations may be aeen in Ptolemy'a
description of the nature and use of the Harmonic
Canon. ||
It is equally certain, and is deducible from the
doctrine of pendulums, that if two chords, of equal
lengths, A B be eo distended aa that their vibra-
tions shall be aa three to two, that ia, that A shall
make three vibrations while B is making two, the
consooauce produced by striking them together will
be a diapente.
IF the vibrations be as four to three, the consonance
will be a diateaaaron.
If the vibrationa be as two to one, the consonance
will be a diapason ; and lastly —
If the vibrations be as nine to eight, the interval
will be a sesquioctave tone.
We are now to enquire what are the degrees of
tensive power requisite to produce the vibrations
above-mentioned ; and here we must recur to tha
principle above lud down, that the aquaree of the
vibrations of equal chords are to each other aa their
respective tensions : if then we auppose a given sonad
to be the effect of a tension by a weight of aii pounds,
and would know the weight neceaaary to produce the
diapente, which has a raljo to its unison of 3 to 2,
we must take the aqnare of those nnmbera 9 to 4^
and seek a number tfaat bears the aame ratio to six,
as nine does to four, and this can be no whole number,
but ia thirteen and a half.
By the aame rule we adjuat the weight for the
diatessaron, 1 to 3, which numbers squared are six-
teen aud nine, and as 16 is to 9, so is 10| to 6.
For the diapason 2 to 1, which numbers aqnared
are 4 to 1, the weight muat be twenty-four ; eo aa 1
is to 1, so is 21 to 6.
The several weights above adjusted, have a re-
ference to the unison expressed in the scheme of E*y-
thagoras, by the number six, supposed to result from
a teneion of six ponnda. But the aesquioctave tone,
as it ia the difference between the diapente and dia-
tessaron, takea ita ratio from the aound espreaaed by
I KaneaniuncamminlafortliapuirMaerinlUBf llHMaifMfaHBti,
the UK or two chorda lUhR ttain ana. fbr thlj lauoD. that whan cs*
an lutd, both aouodi ua hcaid t> tho tima Inataot, md tboabj' tha
eoDaonuiet li pandisd. Hanoanla ontitantll*, Tnil* dn luinuBam,
dbyGoot^le
Chap. ni.
AND PHACTICE OF MUSIC.
18
tbe Dumber eight, u the diapente does from that ex-
pressed by nine ; in order then to adjust the weight
for this interval, we most square those numbers ; and
as 81 is to C4, so ie 134 to 1<^.
Whoever is dtspoeed to prove the truth of these
positions, snd doubts the certaiuty of nnmerical
cnlcntAtion, may have recourse to experiment; In
which, however, this caution ia to be obeerved, that
in tJie making it the utmost degree of accnrsOT is
necessary ; for it should seem that one of the aatbors
•bove-cited failed in an attempt of this sort, which
is not to be wondered at, if we consider the nature of
the subject
The author here meant is Bontempi ; who, after
citing the authority of Vfncentio and Galileo Galilei,
adda, that, ' prompted by curiosity, he made an eX'
' periment by hanging weights to strings of equal
' lengths and tbickneea, the result whereof waa, that
' the first and second strings, having weights of 12
' and 9, produced not the diatessaron, but the trihemi-
' toue ; the first and third 12, 8, not tbe diapente bat
' the ditone ; the first and fourth, 12, 6, not the dia-
' pason but the tritone ; the second and the third, fl, 8,
' not the tone, but the defecUve or incomplete hemi-
' tone ; the second and fourth, 9, 6, not the diapente,
' but tbe semiditone ; and the third and fourth, 6, 6,
' not the diatessaron. but the distended or excessive
* tone, as the following figure demonatratee : — •
TRITONE.
TKIHEMITONB.
\2
JncQinplvt*. TOHB ftXHulTa,
BEMIDITONE.
Cnt that die proportions of a diatessaron tone and
diatessaron would reanlt from an experiment made
by strings of several lengths of twelve, nine, eight,
MX ; or rather by a divtBion of the monochord, ac-
cording to that mle, is demonstrable. This invention
of Fytfaagoraa, aa it regarded only the proportions or
radoB of sounds, was applicable to no one system in
dl^cnte, In dsptl toquiaout* i pn li dluoumi. Id hhuI 1 pu-
tiEntc « ; • pan nimw. In IH^ i putknitt 04, B nol. nlnll ulli
cnzkvlli Bnaaa bi Dpim anulo iimlnnto co' pnl d* HuUlli. habbluio
titiiinta clw ^ prism «1 11 Kpnntla II. >, puuilKono bod 1* dkucuuon :
Bx U triFDiftnona; 0 prima tA U Imo. II, 8, non !• dltpcDli: m n
" jrimg b"! murto ■" ' - - '- " _. n ■
i».M»nilr
I i> ntnmglr dWculi i
>«l|nn«D»Blof«r-'— '- -" — ■• ->-■■—-
ill tnail fomidi I — ,
1* llM «HiM wtlghtn will U dUtavnt tinwi T<cld dlflccml inundi.
^1^*1. Htnnanloir. lib. I. c^. I. Bx Ten. WtlUi. Uer»nD. Hum.
BDiTcndle. TnttCdH lnilniiii«ii>. Fnp. It. go IkM ()» •u«'H of «-
BcrtaMn;* IBc tiT**ti^tlV <h> e«uonuc«, In Uw nwuu of vdihW
kDBf M ehatdt, amM Ix Twrprmiiinii. ind !• Util> ta ba dapended aa.
particular ; however it produced a discovery, which
enabled him at once to supply a defect In even the
improved system of Terpauder, and lay a foundation
for that more enlarged one, which is distinguished by
hb name, and has never lince his time been capable
of any substantial improvement We are here to
remember that the diapason or octave had been found
to consist in duple proportion, or in the ratio of 12
to 6 ; and that the interval between the diatessaron
twelve, nine, and that other eight, eix^ viz., nino,
eight, was a complete tone, or aesquioctave ratio.
Pythagoras, in consequence of this discovery re-
curring to the ancient septenary, found that its ex-
tremes were discordant, and that there wanted but
little to produce that aupremely sweet concord the
diapason, which the means above bad enabled him to
investigate. Otwerving farther that in the septenary
the interval between Mese and Paramese was but
a hemitone, be immediately interposed between them
a whole tone, and thereby completed the diapason.
It must be confessed that some authors have id
general terms ascribed the addition of an eighth
string to the heptachord lyre to others ; Boetina
gives it to Licaon, and Pliny to Simouides ; hut
Nicnmacbos, from whom the following relation is
taken, does most expressly attribute it to Pythagoras.
History has also transmitted to us the bare namee
of sundry persons, by whom at different times the
strings of the lyre are said to have been encreased
to eighteen in number ; as Theophrastus, who added
a ninth : Hestius, who added a tenth, and so on ;t
but as to the ratio subeisting between them, or any
^stem to which they could be said to be adapted,
there is a total silence. Indeed we have the greatest
reason to think that these additions were not made
in any ratio whatever, bnt served only to increase
the variety of Bouiidsf. That innovations were made
in the heptachord is certain ; and when we are in-
formed that Tirootheus, for his presumption in adding
to the strings of the ancient lyre, bad a fine imposed
on him by the magistracy, we may fairly conclude
that those innovations tended rather to tbe corruption
than the improvement of music
But tbe case is different with respect to him of
whom we are now speaking ; the system of Pytha-
goras had its foundation in nature : 'Ca% improvement
of an instrument was not his care ; be was a phi-
losopher and a mnsician in the genuipe aense of the
word, and proposed nothing leas than the establish-
ment of a theory to which the practice of succeeding
ages should be accommodated. His Qiot]vee for
attempting it, and in what manner he effect^ this
great purpose, shall now be given in th^ words of
his learned biographer : —
' Pythagoras, lest the middle sound by conJuncdoD
' being copipared to the two extremes, shoqtd Tender
'the diatessaron concent both to the Nete fmd
* the Hypate ; and that we might have a greater
' variety, the two extremes making the fullest con-
' cord each to other, that is to say, a diapason, which
Hiuk>.p!
, Bad. lib. [., op. M. Badl.
Vlnwn. OmlUal, pu. d(
dbyGoo*^le
u
HISTORY Of THE SCIENCE
' coneists in duple proportion, inserted an eighth
' Bound between the Meee end the Foramese, placing
' it from the Mese a whole tone, and from the Pora-
' mese a semitone ; so that what was formerly the
' Psrameee in the heptachord, is still the third from
' the Nete, both in name and place ; but that now
' inserted is the fourth from the Nete, and hath a
■ concent to it of diatesaoron, which before the Mese
' had to the Hypat« : but the tone between them,
- that is the Mese, and the tone inserted, called the
' Paramese, instead of the former, to whichsoever
■ tetracbord it be added, whether to that which is
' at the Hypate, being the lower, or to that of the
' Nete, being the higher, will render the concord of
' diapente ; which is either way a system, consisting
< both of the tetracbord itself, and of the additional
' tone : and aa the diapente proportion, viz., aesqui*
' altera, is found to be a system of seaquitertia and
' sesquioctava, the tone therefore is sesqnioctava.
' Thus the interval of four chords, and of five, and
*of both conjoined together, called diapason, with
' the tone inserted between the two tetrachords,
* completed the octochord."*
SYSTEM OP PYTHAGORAS.
Tone
d Paranets
Tone
0 Trit«
Arithmetiod Hemitoua ^^4|X(
Mean 9 b PanunMs
Tone
Bannonlcal
Hevt 8 a Hcm
Tone
Q Lychanoa
Tone
F Partiypata
Hemitone
19 B HTpate
It remains now to enquire what this variation of
pnd addition to the septenary led to. Pythagoras
immediately after he had adjusted his system of the
octochord in the manner above related, transferred to
it the addiUons which had been made to that of Ter-
rider ; and first he connected with it tbe tetracbord
_ patou, which carried the system down to B, and
placing at the other extremity the hyperboleon
tetracbord, he continued it up to a a, as is here
ehev
• RUnl. nbt. Df nOMapfif, pug. IM, flsm Nlccrm. Ub. L
GREAT SYSTEM OF PYTHAQORAa
.£ j-Nela hyperboleo
II
ifi[
Paranete diezengmen
B I Trite diezengm«Qon
^Panunc«e
"i I Lychanoa meson
I |paAypaUme»on
' JHypale meaon
^ I Lychauos hypaton
"S I Paihypate hypatoD
Hypate bypaton
Hemltoi
Tons
H I]
In consequence of the separation of the e}'stem of
the octochord above noted, we see that in the above
diagram the tetracbord B is separated from the
tetracbord A by a whole tone : this disunion of the
one diatessaron from the other, gave rise to the
epithet of Diezeugmenon or disjnnct, whereby the
former of the two tetrachords is distinguished : we
are therefore now to look for the invention of that
other tetracbord, which hitherto has been represented
as part of a system, to which it could never with any
propriety be applied.
No one in the least acquainted with the principles
of harmony need be told, that that relation which
iQodem musicians denominate a Tritonus, can have
no place in any regular series of progression, either
ascending or descending ; for of the effects of sonnds
produced at the same instant we are not now speak-
ing : that such a relation immediately arose from the
separation of the Diezengmenon and Meson tetra-
chords, will appear by observingthat In the progression
upwards through the Meson tetracbord, beginning
at Parhypete Meson, and proceeding to Paramese,
that interval which should be a diatessaron, and con-
sist of two tones and a bemltone, will contain three
tones, and have for Its ultimate sound what in this
^ace is to be considered aa an escessive fourth.!
The conseqnence of this was, that the lowef sound
oould never be used as a fundamental ; and so far the
system must be said to have been imperfect. To
remedy this defect in part, collateral or auxiliary
tetracbord was with great ingenuity constituted, in
which the sounds followed in the older of hemitone,
tone, and tone, a succession whltdi a true and perfect
diatessaron requires.
PJi'ss
1 frAquntlr occur
Lrrlhg. Jt nurnolbvlmprapeihf
nitiol, (Od I), a, <, Oi*
In gtiwn] HmUlapcDti
dchctfia aftb >n dl
rs finuth, ud lb*
tf. lU.
dbyGoo^le
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
16
MeM a
Th« intervals that compote this Bystam Till appear
npancDmiMriBon to b« precisely the same with those
of the tetrachord B, in the conjanct syetem ; whereas
between the tetrachord B, in the disjonct system, and
that at present nnder consideration, this d^erence ia
apparent ; in the former the distance betneen a and h
is a whole tone, in the latter it is a hemltone: if
therefore this qnestion shonld be n^ed, Wherein did
the merit of the improvements made by Pythagoras
to the ancient system consist ? the answer would be,
first, in the invention of the disjunct system, and the
consequent completion of the octoohord ; next in the
introdnction of the octochord into the system of
Terpander ; and lastly, in such a disposition of the
disjunct tetrachord as was yet consistent with the
re-admission of that part of the system which it
■eeme to exclude whenever the perfection of the har-
mony sbotild require it After what has been said
it will be needless to add that this oollateral tetra-
chord was distinguished by the epithet of Synem-
menon or conjunct. With these miprovements the
Pythagorean system assumed the following form : —
ADDITION to the GREAT 8TSTEM of
PYTHAGORAS.
t^Nete hjperbolMm aa
Tons
^ I Psnnate hvpartmleon g
Ai Tone
I I Trite bTperboleoD f
S I Hemitoqe
>Nete dies
B 1
leisiignuiKio
Toiw
Psranstadiennigineii. d
Tone
Hemitoiie
Toqe
,'Msse a
Tops
Ljnhaqn* mason O
Tone
Psrhjrpato neaon F
Hemilooe
-Bypste mesoD E
Tone
LycbsiMS hjMtMi D
Tone
Psrfaypsto hvptton C
HenitoDe
Eypata hypston ]]
Nete synsTamenoD d.
Tons
ParanetA i^rn'mmenon
Tone
Trite ■jntemmenon
Semitone
a still farther improvement ; the one was that hy the
sepan^on of the Diezeugmenon and Meson tetra-
chords there followed an unequal division of the
system ; for, ascending from Mese to Nele Hyper*
Ktleon, the distance was a complete Octave ; whereas
descending to Hypate Hypnton it was only a Seventh ;
from hence arose another inconvenience, a false rela-
tion between Hypate Hypaton and Farhypate Meson,
which though to appearance a fifth, was in truth an
interval of onlv two tones and two hemitones, con-
Btitoting together the very discordant relation of
a defective fifUi. To supply this defect nothing
more was required than the addition of a tone at
the lower extremity of the system. Pythagoras ac-
cordingly placed another chord at the distance of
a tone below Hypate Hypaton, which he named
Proslambanomenos, a word signifying additional or
supernumerary, it not being includable in the divinon
of the system by tetrochords ; and thus was completed
that system of a Bisdiapaaon or double octave, which
the Italians distinguished by the several appellations
of Systema immntabile, Systema diatonico, Systema
Fitagorico, and Systema n
IMMUTABLE SYSTEM OF PYTHAGORAS.
if
,-Hete bjrperboleon aa
I Tone
j Parasate hyperbolaoD g
\ Tons
I Trite hyperboloon f
I Hamilone
>Ket« dicsengmenon e
I Tone
j Panuiets ^eieug.
< Tone
] Trite dieMui
Here it la to be observed, that although In this
and the preoading scale the Bynemmenon tetrachord
is given at large, yet the generality of writers either
insert it entire In its place, immediately above the
Meson tetrachord. ptacmg the Diezengmenou tetra*
chord above it, as Kircher in hie Mnsurgia, tom. I.
lib. Ill, cap. xiii. or else following perhaps the ex>
ample of Quido, whose reforniation of the scale might
suggest this latter method as the most concise, they
have borrowed from the synemmcnon tetrachord
one onlv of its terms, Trite, and inserted it imi
mediatelv after Mese, with Faramese next above it ;
There were two reasons that seemed to suggest thereby leaving it to the imagination to select which
dbyG00*^lc
16
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
of tbe two BOnads the nature of the progression might
require ; however, the better to explain its con-
struction &nd use, it was here thought proper to
exhibit the synemmenon tetrachord in that detached
situation which aeeiuB most agreeable to its original
fonnatioft."
CHAP. IV.
But here it may very naturally be asked what
were the marks or characters whereby the ancients
expressed the different positions or powers of their
Sinsical sounds ? An answer to this question may
be produced from an author of undoubted credit,
Boetius, and also Alypius, an ancient Greek, of whose
writings we shall have occasion to speak more par-
ticuUrly, and these inform ns that the only characters
in use among the Greeks to denote the sounds in
music, were the letters of their alphabet, a kind of
Brachygraphy totally devoid of analogy or re-
semblance between the sign and the thing signified.
Boetius da Musica, lib. IV., cap. ui., gives an account
of the andent method of notation in the following
words :— ' The ancient musicians, to avoid the
' necessity of always writing them at length, invented
' certiun characters to express the names of the chords
' in their several genera and modes ; this short method
• was the more eagerly embraced, that in case a mu-
' sicisn should be inclined to adapt music to any poem,
' he might, by means of these characters, in the same
' manner as the words of the poem were expressed
' by letters, eipress the music, and transmit it to
' posterity. Out of all these modes we shall only
* specify th« Lydion.' This description of the ^nnds
consisted in Uke different application of the Greek
letters to each of them ; Boetius proceeds thus : — ' To
express Proelamhiuiomenos, which may be called
' Acqiiiei'^<ie> was used Z imperfect, and taulyipg hj.
'Hypate hypaton, T reversed and r right 74.
' Psrhypato hypaton, B imperfect r supine, £ Hy-
' pston enarmonios, V supine and r reversed, having
' a stroke Hypaton chromatice, y, having a line
' and r reversed, having two lines \ Hypaton dia-
' tonos, f Greek, and dlgamma X. Hypate meson C
'and 0, n. Parhypate meson P and 0 supine ^*
' Meson enarmonios, n Greek and C reversed. ' Me-
0
' son chrquDsilce, n having a stroke, and C reversed,
' having a stroke through the middle p|t^> Meson
'diatonos, M Greek and n drawn open _ . Mese,
' I and A If i^Si << ■ Trite synemmenon, 6 and A
' eufnne y . Synemmenon enarmonios, H Greek and
' A lying, with f stroke through the middle !^*
t Maitaa. Hingsii. Itb. tL Da Oowiibni M Usdii, paf. IN.
' Synemmenon chromatice, H Greek and A reversed
' with a stroke 4^ Synemmenon diatonos, r and
' N _ . Nete synemmenon, O supine and Z, ». Para-
' mese, Z and T Greek lying & Trite diezengmenon,
' E square and T supine t Dieseugroenon enanso-
' nioe, A and r Greek lying reversed ^ . Diezeug-
' menon chromatice, A with a stroke, and n Greek lying
' reversed with an angular line ^n* Diezeugmenon
' diatonos, O square and Z, „. Nete diesengmenon, ^
'lying and N inverted draw open «. Trite hyperho-
'leon, r looking downwards to the right, end half A
'to the left . Hyperboleon enarmonios, T supine
' and half A to the right supine, ^^« Hyperboleon
' chromatice, T supine, having a line and half A to the
' right supine, having a line drawn backward ^^
' Hyperboleon, di&tonos M Greek having an acute,
' and r having an acnte ^ . Hete hyperboleon, I hav-
' ing an acute, ^d A lying having an acute also ^.'\
Here it is to be remarked, that although the above
passage of Boetius is giveu, not from any of the
printed copies of his works, but from a very ancient
manuscript, which Mr. Selden collated, and is pr»-
fixed to Meibomius's version of Alypius : there
occnr ia it some instances of disagreement between
the verbal description of the character and the cha-
racter itself; some of these Meibomins in his notea
has remarked, and others have escaped him ; never-
theless it was not tbonght advisable to vary the
representation which Boetius has given, and there-
fore the following schema of the ancient musical
characters is inserted, as he has delivered it in
lib. IV. cap. iii. of his book De Musica.
t B(Kai»uhag«iilsii||fii>Hl
Lita«a, whkb It «M Ihooghl prop«r
» tiliD ilpiMntlni gf tlw U
a PiuTOH, vtaarda lb* LaUi
nin which thar ariK Id tlia hi
Tatnchardon f Pinnate hrperth
1 Trite ij
Ucion F Pirhjpftla meton, live aeemiSi maitlaniai.
E HTP^ta tatun, tlia gnrli medlarnm.
TatnchordoD D Ljchanoa hTpaton, iLva [tidBK fTITlan.
Hn*iaa C tuJtnM* bjipMoD. liTe aacund* (nilBB
B Brpata hrpalw, alva gtaila (imThun.
dbyGooi^lc
ASH PRACTICE OF MUSia
"X. Proslanibaiioineaas
■Xt Hjrp&te Hypaton
IH Farhypate Hypaton
V/ LychanoB hyp, enann,
Xf Lychsnos hyp. chrom.
qP Lychanoa hyp. diat.
G Hypate mesoa
Lychanoa meeon diaton.
:H Mese
-TT- Trite HynemmeDon
I "H Paranete dieceug. enarm.
f^^ Pannete diezeng, chronu
^P Paranete diezeng. diat.
;3^ ParaneU aynem. eosrm. TVT Nete dieaeugmanon
/TXa Paraneto aynem. chrom.
Paronete
Net« Bynem. extenta
"P Parhypate meaon
O
T^ LycbanoB meaon enarm.
J LychauoB meson chrom.
"T^ Trite hyperbolwn
-ry- Paronete hyperb. diatoD.
\^1- Paranete hyperh. chrom.
J^^ Paranete hyperh. diatom.
V^ Nete hyperboleon
y^^ Nete aynem. ultima
f7 ^ Paramess
tJ^I^ LychauoB meaon chrom. f^ Trite diezengmenoD
There h thie remarkable difference between the The deBcription above given of the ancient mn-
method of notation practised by the ancients, and sical charactera, is derived, through Boetina, from
that now in nse, that the characters osed by the Alypina, the most copioos and intelligible of all the
former were arbitrary, totally destitnte of analogy, Greek writers on this branch of music : his autho-
and DO way expressive of those essential properties rity, so far as it goes, has been implicitly acquiesced
of eonnd, gravity and acnteneas ; which is the more in ; and indeed from his testimony there can lye no
to be wondered at, seeing that in the writings of the appeal. The reader will naturally expect to be in-
ancienta the terms Acumen and Gravitas are per- formed of the method by which the ancients denoted
petnally occnring, whereas the modem scale is so the different degrees in the length or dundon of
adjusted, that those sounds, which in their own their musical sounds ; but it seems they were stran-
natnre are comparatively grave or acute, have such gers to mtisic merely instrumental : the lyre, and
a situation in it, as does most precisely distinguish other instruments in use among them, was applied
them according to their several degrees of each ; in aid of the voice ; and the ode, or hymn, or pean,
ao that the graver sounds have the lowest, and the or whatever else the mnsician sang, determine by
acnter the highest place in onr scale. But here it its measure, and the feet ol the verse the length of
may be asked, does this distinction of high and low the sonnd adapted to it, and took away the necessi^
properly belong to sound, or do we not borrow those for such marks or characters of distinction in this
epithets from the scale in which we see them bo respect as are used bv the modems. Nor need we
posited ? It should seem that we do not ; for if we any farther proof of tiiis assertion, than the abeolnte
attend to the formation of sounds by the animal
organs, we shsU find that the more grave are pro-
dnced from the lower part of the larynx, as the
more aonte are from the higher ; so that the diffe-
jlence of ^e Greek writers as to any method of
denoting what we now understand by the Time or
measure of sounds. It is true that those among the
learned who have undertaken a translation of some
into
rence between the one and the other Beems to be few remainii^ fragments of ancient
more than ideal, and to have its foundation in — •' •"- ' "■ •—•'""''■- ;>."♦-"
natnre : tbe modem mneicians seem however to pay
ft greater regard to this diversity than is either
reqnisite or proper ; for where is the necessity that
in a Tocal composition such a eentiment as this,
' They that go down to the sea in ehips,' &c. should
be expressed by such sounds, as for tfae degree of
gravity few voices can reach f much less can we see
tbe reaaouablenesa of that precept which directs that
the words Hell, Hesven, are invariably to be ex-
presaed. the one by a very grave, and the other by
a very acnte sound. Those who affect to be severely
lodem notes, have, in particular instances, ventured
to render the characters in the original by notes ot
different lengths ; but it is to be presumed they were
determined so to do rather by the cadenoe of the
verse, than by any rythmical designation observable
in any of those characters. Mr, Chilmead, the pub-
lisher of the Oxford edition of Aratus, and of Eratos-
thencB de Aetrie, in octavo, 1672, bos given at the
end of it three hymns or odes of a Greek poet named
Dionyslus, with the ancient musical characters, which
he has rendered by eemlbreves only ; but Kircher, in
his Musnrgia, torn. I. pag. 641. from a manoscript in
eritit^ on the compositions of this later age, allow the library of the monastery of 6t Salvator, near
no greater merit to this sort of analogy than is due the gate of Messina, in Sicily, has inserted an ancient
to a pnn, and their censure seems to be no more than fragment of Pindar, with the musical notes, which
tfae error will warrant. he has explained by the different signs of a breve,
dbyG00*^lc
i8
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
£o€« L
seroibreve, crotchet, and quaver, as understood by as
modems. Meibomios also has given from an ancient
monuBcript a Te Denm, with the Greek charactere,
and in modern notes, the former of which appear to
be more simple and less combined than those de-
scribed by BoetiuB ; which is the less to be wondered
at considering that St Ambrose, who is said to have
been the author of that hymn,* was coneecrated bishop
of Milan, a. o. 371, and Boetius douriehed not till
abont the year 600; so that there ia a period of more
then one hundred years, during which every kind of
literature suffered from the rage of conqaeet that pre-
vailed throughout all Europe, to induce a euspicion
lliat the Greek characters were not transmitted down
to the time of Boetius uncorrupted. In the trans-
lation of these muaical charactera of the above-men-
tioned Te Deum, Meibomius has made use of the
hreve, the eemibreve, and minim : upon what autho-
rity those several modes of translation is founded we
do not pretend to determine ; it seems that nothing
is wanting to enable us to judge with certainty in
this matter hut a perfect knowledge of the powers of
the ancient characters, with respect to the sounds
which they were intended to signify ; and concerning
these BJrcher seems to have entertained no kind of
doubt : he had access to two manuscripts of great
antiquity, and hb judgment of their authority, and
the use that may be made of them, he has given
in the following words: — 'The ancient muaical
' characters were no way aimilar to thoae of the
' modems ; for they were ceitain letters, not indeed
' the pure Greek ones, hut those sometimes right,
'sometimes inverted, and at othera mutilated and
' compounded in various manners, each of which
' characters answered to one of the chords in the
' muaical system. I laid my hands on two manu-
' scripts, which by God's mercy, were preserved
' from the injuries of time, the one in the Vatican
' library, the other in ours of the Roman college :
' the author is Alypius ; he, in order to give the
' harmonical characters of the ancients in great per-
'fection, has exhibited with wonderful care every
' tone in the Octodecachord, according to the different
' genera. He keeps a twofold order in these several
' characters ; the first as they were nsed in the Can-
' tus ; the second as adapted to inatruments, differing
' from the former almost after the eame manner as at
' this day the notes of vocal music do from those
' characters called by us the Tablature, which are
' used only in instrumental music. Several writers,
' not understanding this order of Alypiua, have con-
' sidered this twofold series as a single one : among
' these are Liardus, and Solomon de Caus, who has
'followed him, both of whom have given to the
' world most fslae and corrupted specimens of ancient
• music. Alypius wrote an entire volume on the
' musical characters or notes, which, together with
' other manuscripts of the old Greek
• Tha Ts Daum t> comini
r itrled Uia flsng of SI. A
' remain preserved in the library of the Roman
' college ; a translation of this volume into the Latin
' language, I will, with the permission of God, at
' a convenient opportunity give to the learned world;
' in the interim! trust I shall do a lavonr to posterity
' by exhibiting a specimen of the characters in the
' order in which they lie in the manuscript, correcting
' from the interpretations thereto annexed such errors
' aa I found required iff
The specimen, the whole of which seems by bis
account to be taken from Alypius, contains the cha-
racters through alt the fifteen tones in the diatonic
and chromatic genera in two separate tables. (Bee
Appendix, Nos. 35 and 36.)
Kircher gives the following explanation of these
characters : —
The top of the plate contains the names of the
fifteen tones or mcKles; the side exhibits eigbteea
chords, answering to every tone, and expressed by
their Greek names, to each of which, the Guidonian
keys now used by the Latins answer, la the Aral
column. To know therefore, for instance, by what
characters the ancients expressed the Mese in the
Phrygian tone, we must look in the side for the
chord Mese, and on the top for Tonus Phrygins, and
where they meet we shall find the character sought
for, and so for the rest
Having exhibited this key to the ancient charac-
ters, Kircher gives the fragment of Pindar above-
mentioned in Uie Greek notes, and also in those of
the modem scale, as is represented. (See Appendix,
No. 37.)
And the Ubles (35 and 36) given from him seem
to have been his authority for rendering the ancient
charactere in modem notes, as shewn in 37. By
way of illustration he odds, that the Chorus vocolia
contains the characters written over each word ;
and that the Chorus instrumentalis, which is notbi^
else liut the antistropbe to the former, was played
according to the strophe, on tite cythara or the pipe.
As the characters agree vrith those of Alypius, he
says he has no doubt about their meaning ; and oa to
the time, he is clear that it was ^ven by the measurea
of the syllables, and not by the characters.
The eeveral variations of the system of music have
been traced with as much accuracy aa the nature of
the subject will allow of: the improvements made by
Terpauiler and others, more especially FythagoioB,
have been distinctly enumerated, we are therefore
now to proceed in our narration.
Pythagoras having, as has been related, investigated
the proportion of sounds, and extended the narrov*-
limits of the ancient system, and also demonstrated,
not merely the afSnity of sounds, but that a harmony,
analogous to that of music, was to be found in other
subjects wherein number and proportion were con-
cerned ; and that the coincidences of sotmds were
a Al^iiul bad n(
F3rld ■> imi'lailon of It,
b waj loDf iftvF ihc timo <
dbyGooi^lc
AND PRACmCE OF MUSIC.
19
1 physical demonstration of thoea proportions whicb
•litluDetic and the higher geometry had till then
enabled mankind only to speculate, it followed that
music from Uienceforth became a subject of philo-
sophical contemplation. Aristotle, by several pas-
sages in his writings now extant, appeara to have
considered it in this view : it is even said that he
wrote • treatise professedly on the auhject of music,
but that it is now lost.
Fsbricios has given » catalogue of snudry writers,
u namely. Jades, I^sns Hermionensis, Miatanor,
Diocles, Hagiopolites, Agatho, and many others,
whose works are lost ; and in the writings of Aris-
toienns, Nicomachns, Ptolemy, Porphyry, Mannel
firyenniua, and other ancient authors, we meet with
the names of PhiloUns, Eratosthenes, Archytas of
Tirentum, and Didymus of Alexandria, who seem
moetly to have been pbilosophera ; but ae they are
also enonierated among the scriptores perdid, nothing
caa he said about them. In those early times the
principles of learning were very slowly disseminated
among maoktnd, and it does not appear, that from
the time of Pythagoras, to that of Aristoxenns, which
included a period of near tiiree hundred years, the
mntic of the ancienla underwent any very considerable
alteration, unless we except that new arrangement
and subdivision of the parts of the great system,
whidi conetitnted the Genera, and those dissimilar
progreesiona from every sonnd to its diapason, which
are distingQished by the name of Modes. Of these
it is necessary now to speak ; and first of the Genera.
Till the time of Pythagoras, the progression of
soQnds was in that order, which as well the modem
ss the ancient writers term the diatonic, as proceding
by tones, ft progression from the miison to its fourth
by two tones and a hemitone, which we should now
express by the syllables do, be, m, n, confessedly
very nataral and extremely grateful to the ear;
thoogh it aeenu not so mnch so as to hinder succeed-
ing musicians from seeking after other kinds of pro-
gression ; and accordingly by a different division of
the integral paria of each of the tetracfaords, they
formed another series of progression, to which, from
the flexibility of its nature, they gave the epithet of
Chromatic, from Chroma, a word signifying colour ;
sod to this they added another, which was termed
enharmonic ; besides this they invented a sabvanation
of each prc^reasion, and to distinguish the one from
the other, they made use of the common logical term
genns, by ^hich we are to understand, as Kircher
tells us, torn. I. lib. III. cap. xiii. a certain con-
stitntion of those sounds thai compose a diatessaron,
or mnsical fonrth ; or, in other words, a certain
relation which the fonr chords of any given tetra-
^ord bear to each other. The Oenera are elsewhere
defined, certain kinds of modulation arising from the
different disposition of the sounds in a tetrachord ;
every Oanttis or composition, says Aristoxenns,* is
either Diatonic, Chromatic, or Enharmonic; or it
nay be mixed, and inclnde a community 'of the
genera. Aristoxenns, for aught now discoverable.
is the first that has written professedly, though
obscurely, on this part of music. Ptolemy, as he
is in general the most accurate and methodical of
all the ancient writers, eo is he more copious in his
explanation of the Genera. Nicomachns has men-
tioned them, but in a very superficial manner ; and
as to the latter authors, we are not to wonder if they
have contented themselves with ths hare enumeration
of them ; since before the times in which the greater
number of them wrote, the Diatonic was the onlyone of
thethreegeneraincommonuse. Nor does it any where
appear, that even of the five Species, into which Uiat
Genus was divided, any more than one, namely, th6
Byntonous or intense of Ptolemy, was in general
estimation. It must be confessed that no part of the
musical science has so much divided the writera on
it as this of the genera ; Ptolemy has exhibited no
fewer than five different systems of generical har-
mony, and, after all, the doctrine on thit subject is
almost inscrutable : however, the substance of what
these and other authors have related conoeming the
nature of it, is here, as in its proper place, referred
to the consideration of such as are desirous to know
the essential difference between the music of this and
the more early ^ea.
But before this doctrine of the Genera can be
rendered to any degree intelligible, it is necessary to
observe, that hitherto we have spoken only of the
more common and obvious musical intervals, the
tone and hemitone ; for the system of Pythagoraa is
formed of these only ; and a more minute division of
it was not till after his time thought on, nevertheless
it is to be noted, that in order to the completion
of his svstem, it was found requisite to instituta
a roethoa of calculation that should as it were resolve
the intervals into their elements, and adjust the ratios
of such sounds as were not determinable by the
division of a chord in the manner herein before-
mentioned. That division was sufficient, and it
answered to the greatest degree of matbematic exact-
ness for ascerttuning the ratios of the diateasaron, the
diapente, and the tone : and, agreeable to what has
been already laid down concerning the investigation
of the consonances by Pythagorae, it will most
evidently appear upon experiment, that if a chord he
divided into twelve equal parts, six of those parts
will give an octave to that sound which would have
been produced by the same chord, if struck before such
division ; from whence it appears, that the ratio sub-
sisting between the unison and its octave is duple :
again, that eight parts of the twelve will give a
diateasaron, which bears to the unison six a ratio of
4 to S ; and that nine parts, according ti> the same
division ; will produce the diapente, which hears to
the oniBOD six a ratio of 3 to 2 ; and lastly, that the
sound produced at the ninth part will be distant
from that at the eighth, and so reciprocally ; a tone,
in the ratio of 9 to 8, called a Besqnioctave, and
often the DleEeuctic tone, which furnished the ear
at least with a common measure for the greater
intervals.
But we are to note, that the system of Pythagoras
was not completed, till, by the very artful contrivance
dbyG00*^lc
20
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book L
of two tetracfaorda, to be used alternately, m the
nature of the melody might require, a dividon of the
tone between a and || wae effected. By this an
interval of a Hemitone wag introduced into the ays'
tern, with which DO one section of the chord, suppoaing
it to be divided into twelve parta, would by any
means coincide : with great ingenuity therefore did
Euclid invent that famous division the Sectio Oanonia,
by means whereof not only the positions of the several
Bonnda on a supposed chord are precisely ascertained,
but a method is suggested for brioging out those
larger numbers, which alone can shew the ratios of
the smaller intervals, and which therefore make a
part of every represeutation that succeeding writers
have given of the immutable system.
The Sectio Canonis of Euclid ie a kind of appendix
to his Isagoge, or Introductio Harmonica, containing
twenty theorems in harmonics. Neverthelesa the
title of Sectio CanoniB was by him given to the fol-
lowing scheme of a supposed chord, divided for the
pnrpoee of demonstrating the ratios of the several
intervals thereby discriminated, which scheme ia
inserted at the end of his work.
SECTIO CANONIS OF EUCLID.
Nete sjneuimenon.
Tilte diRealmi
Meton diatonoa.
Parhypate meson.
ByjHtoo diatoQoa.
Parhypate hypatoo.
ProsUmbanomenoa.
The foregoing canon or scheme of a division is
introduced by a series of theorems, preparatory to an
explanation of it, which explanation is contained in
Tlieorcms XIX and XX ; the flret of these refers to
the imraovcablo sounds, that is to say, Proelambano-
menos, and the other sounds to the left of the line,
and the latter to the moveable, which are Parbypate.
and the rest on the right thereof; the sum of which
two species compoaed the great or immutable system.
Theorem XIX directs the adjustment of the canon
for the Stabiles or immoveable sounds, and that in
then
r folloi
Let the length of the canon be A B, and let it be
'divided into four equal parte at G D E, therefore
' B A, as it will be tbe gravest sound, will be the
' sonns bombns. Farther, A B is snpertertius of G B,
' therefore G B will sound a diatessaron to A ^
' towards the acumeo, and A B is Proalambsnomenoe ;
'wherefore G B will be Hypaton Diatonos. Again,
' becanse A B b duple of B D, the former will sound
'a diapason to tbe latter, and B D will be Heee.
' Again, because A B is quadruple of E B, E B will
'be Nete Hyperboleon; therefore G B ie divided
'twofold in Z, and G B will be duple of Z B, eo as
' G B will sound to Z B the interval of a diapason,
' wherefore Z B is Nete Synemmenon. Cut off from
'DBa thirdpartDH, andDB willbe sesqnialterA
' to H B, so as for this reason D B will sound to H B
' the interval of a diapente, therefore H B will be
' Nete diesengmenon. Farther, make H 6 equal to
'H B, therefore 9 B will sound a diapason to H B,
' so that 0 B will be Hypnt« meson. Again, take the
'third part of O B, 6 E, and then e B will be
' sesqnialtera to E B, so that K B will be Parameee.
'Laatly, cat off LK equal to £ B, and then L B will
' be Hypate the most grave, and tbna all the immove-
' able sounds will be taken in the canon.'
Theorem ^X contains the following directions
respecting the Mobiles or moveable sounds : —
' IHvide E B inio eight parts, of which make E H
eqnal to one, so as M B may be superoctave of E B.
And again, divide M B into eight equal parts, and
make one of them equal to N M, therefore N B will
be a tone more grave than B M, and M B will be a
tone graver than BE; so as N B will be Trite
hyperboleon, and M B will be Paranete hyperboleon
diatonos. Farther, divide N B into three ^rts, and
make N X equal to one of them, so as X B will be
snpertertina of N B, and the diatessaron will he pro-
duced towards the grave,. and X B will be Trite
diezeugmenon. Again, taking half of X B, make X O
eijual to it, bo as for this reason O B will give a
diapente to X B, wherefore 0 B will be Farhjrate
meson ; then make 0 P equal toOB,*soasPB
wilt be Parhypate hypaton. Lastly, take the fourth
part of G B, G R, and B B will be Meson dJatonoa.*
CHAP. V.
The Sectio Canonis of Euclid, in the judgment of
the most eminent writers on harmonics, was the first
essay towards a determination of the ratios by the
supposed division of a chord; and, aosuming tbe
proportions of the diapason, diapente, diatessaron,
vltb ill b1*cuT, has midv ft mltUilie. which ibe follovlnf^ piif, to iio ii«
of AritddM Qulnlillinui. »hkli hu Ihe numben lo II, Trile dkmc-
nKnan, mirked X In ibit •>{ Euclid. Ii 3889. od Pftrhrpate bnwton
dbyGoo*^le
Chap. V.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
diezenctic tone, and limma, «8 laid down by the
PythagoreanB, Uie division will be found to answer
to the ratios : yet this does not appear by a bare
inspection, but can only be proved by an actual
admeasurement of the several intervals contained in
the canon. Now as whatever is geometrically divi-
sible, is also divisible by numbers, sacceeding writers
in assigning the ratios of the intervals have taken the
aid of the Utter, and Lave applied the numbers to
each of the sounds, as they result from a division of
the canon. How they are brought out will hereafter
be mode appear.
Bnl here it is necessary to add, that the Sectio
Casonis of Euclid, perfect in its kind as it may eeem,
is snppoeed to have received some improvement from
Aristidea Qaintilisnoa, at least with respect to the
manner of dividing it ; for this we have the testimony
of Meibomios, who speaks of a canon of Aristidea,
which had been, once extant, but waa perished, or at
least was wanting in all the copies of hia work : and
which he his editor had happily restored. The fol-
lowing is a representation of the Canon, ^th the
numbers snnexed : —
-D
230*.
BTperbol. diatoiios.
-1.
2692.
TrttthTPCTbOlooB.
Ml*.
0.
»7t.
Nele >ynemmeiion.
-F.
34E6.
k «e»uiin. rligionoi.
TritadiFi. ftSjs. diit
SSM.
1.
«WS.
Trite aynemmenciD.
■ o.
4374.
Hae.
-C.
4608.
Hnon diatonoa.
■ P.
6184.
• q.
E832.
Hyprtemeiou.
-H
St44.
BTpaton dUtonoa.
■ E.
(912.
PaAypata hj-p«on.
■r.
7776.
Hypate hypaton.
-K
8192.
Proal amhanomenca.
It does not appear whether the numbers were
originally part of the canon, or whether they were
inserted by Meibomius. However, from several
passages in Ptolemy, particularly in Book I. Chap. 10,
where he demonstrates the ratio of Uie limma, we
meet with the number 2048, which is the half of 4096,
1944, the half of 3888, and others, which shew the
antiquity of this method of numerical division.
The following is an explanation of the canon aa
given by Meibomius, in his notes on Aristides Quin-
tilianus, page 312, et seq. ; —
'The standing sonnds are first set down in the
'division of the canon, and after them the moveable
'ones; we have marked the standing sounds by
' capital letters, and to these are added the moveable
'-ones. The Hypaton diatoDoe and the rest are
' marked by the small letters. They are thus to be
'taken : —
' I. ProslambanomenoB, A B, which is the whole
' length of the chord or line.
' II. Mese, 0 B, half thereof.
' III. Nete hyperboleon, D B, the foarth paK of
'the whole chord.
' IV. Hypaton diatonos, E B, three fourths thereof.
' V. Nete synemmenon, F B, the said three fourths,
'E B, divided into two equal parts.
' VI. Nete diezeugmenon, G B, two thirds of half
'the chord, that ia one third of the whole chord;
' bnt this may be perceived by multiplying an half
' by two thirds, thus, i 1 1 i.
' VII. Hypate meeon, IIb, two thirds of the whole
'chord, or the two thirds, G B, of the half, chord
' twice set off, which chord therefore we take in the
' opening of the dividers, and set off twice.
'VIII. Parameaos, I B, {one third I H, being
' taken out of ^e two thirds H B of the whole chord)
'is two thirds of two thirds of the whole.
' IX. Pypate hypaton, KB; two thirds I B of the
' two thirds H B twice set o£F,
' In order to assume the lesser intervals, the fol-
'lowiof; method must be made use of: —
' I. The 4th part D B of the whole chord being
'divided into eight eqnal parts, I set off 1 below
' D equal to one of those parts, and 1 B will be
' Paranete hyperboleon.
'II, Trite hyperlxileon m B is assumed in the
'same manner, viz., by dividing the line 1 B into
part - ■ ■ ■
'them out o
' III. Trite diezeugmenon, and the following
'moveable sounds, are easily to be assumed in the
' same manner.'
Besides the foregoing explanation of the canon,
Meibomioa lias given the following, which he calls a
Siantljf twin O Z 6 P iDuit be equl lo X B. And lutlf. bt SiHli Iba
• TtwdlTlilsnafEuclMumiirltblhitsnt
nitldu
•fubuinlDstliciundl
l!.bDtdinr
orcMr cbonli,
tar Eui'id flndi the Tr
ODn, hymt
DKOffl
Tnie bjpeib.
l»D;ben
-ud.ihcini
re.dUp<n
ctlornl
.Trludlc»ug-
awui.wbichmlfmtl)'
by KlUng
bjiMklngOP
■II th> (Our
toundi. u
nil u the Mber
Artitm«.bT
tiihi pani, thii
wnM, It«
milta«Tt'
, upon tbE -hole,
cltd, but nd
iSS
tihl. r««
. Ihil tb/V-Mb
r 10 Iboii! u
bt praporlla
di^ilnUlDcllhU
otM\<,..ta
ofburtngonlj.
dbyGoot^le
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book L
Notable Theorem, and wye of it that it is very aaoful
in facilitatiog the Boction of the canon.
' The difference between two lines that are to each
'other in a Besquitertia ratio, being divided into two
' equally, will ^ve the eighth part of the greater line.
C
A ■ I I I r I I B
]>__+_H- !--*-+— E
' A B is BCBquitertia to D E ; C B is (lie exceaa of
'A B above D E, C B divided into two eqoally will
' exhibit the eighth part of A B,
' We shall see the same in the lection of onr canon.
' Let the line G B be divided into eight equal parts,
' I uy the part Q D thereof will contain two eighth
'parte; so that this need only be divided into two
' equally, as appears by this following demonstration ;
' for as G B ia eeaquitertia to D B, tiiat is aa 4 to 3,
'if G B be divided into twice four parts, that is
' eighths, D B will contain six of those eighths, and
'consequently D Q two eighths, and its half will
'contain one eighth. Also if F B is to be divided
'into eight equaJ parte, its part F 1 need be divided
'only into two equally, in order to have one eighth
'part, which I set off from F to n, to find the excess
' of the tone above F B. The same method may be
' need in the following ones.
' Moreover, the Meson diatonoe, and the other two
' moveable chords may also be obtained by the follow-
' ing method, namely, Meson diatonos, by setting off
' the pert 1 B, twice from B ; Parhypate meson, by
' setting off the part m B, twice ; Parhypate hypaton,
' by setting off die part n B, twice.
' But whatsoever is here shown in lines may, by
'the ingennity of the intelligent reader, be easily
' af^lied in finding out the numbers.'
The canon of Aristides Quintilianns, with the
numbers afltxed, supposes the whole chord to con-
tain 9216 parts, and being struck open, to produce
the most grave sound of the system, viz., A ; the in-
terval then of a tone at Jj, the next sound in suc-
cession, as being in the proportion of 8 to 9 to A, will
require that the chord be stopped at 8192 ; and,
■apposing it to answer, we may with the utmost
propriety say, that the ratio of a tone is as 9216 is
to 6192. or in other words, that \i is produced at
8192 of those parts whereof the "^ord A contains
9216 ; and these two numbers will be found to bear
the same proportion to each other as those of 9 and
8. Again, for the diapason a, the nnmber is 4608,
which is jnst the half of 9216, as 6 is the half of 12 ;
for the diatessaron D, the nnmber is 6912. which is
three fourths of 9216 ; and for the diapente E, the
number is 6144, which is two thirds of 9216. Hence
it appears that the numbers thus taken for the tone,
or for the consonaiicea of the diatessaron, and the
diapente, or their replicates, as often as it may be
thought necessary by the reiteration of an octave, or
any less system, to extend that of the bisdiapason,
answer in like manner to the ratios of 9 to 6, 6 to
12, 12 to 9, and 12 to 8, in the primitive system.
These proportions we are told vrill be the resnit
of >n aclnal diviuon of a string, which whoever is
desirous of making the experiment, is hereby enabled
to try ; though, by the way, it is said by Meibomios
that for this purpose one of two ells in length will
be found necessary. Nevertheless, by the help of the
principles already laid down, namely, that the dia-
pason has a ratio of 2 to I, the diapente of 3 to 2,
the diatessaron of 4 to 3, and the tone of 9 to 8,
which are to be considered as data that all hannonteal
writers agree in, it is very easy, by means of arith-
metic alone, to bring out the numbers corresponding
to the intervals, in the diatonic bisdiapason. Bon-
tempi has f^ven a very particular relation of the
process in an account of the method taken by the
ancients for that purpose ; and immediately after, an
exhibition of that system with the proper numbers in
the following scale : —
'2S(M. Nate hi
1^
2S92. Psrtnete hyperb. g
Tone
2916. Trite hyperb. (
Uemilone
3072. Nete diezeug. e
Tone
34S6. Pannete diezeug. d
Tone
Trite diezeug. o
Hemitoue
4093. Paramen b
Tone
'4608. Ueie a
Tone
G184.Lycliano»me«m G
Tone
6832. Parhypate meson F
Hemitone
'6144. Hypsts meaon E
Tone
6912. Lycbanoehypat. D
Tone
7776. P»riiyp«t8hypit. C
imitone
9216. ProslambaDa.
3466. Nets iyoem. d"
Tone
3888. ParaneteiyDcm. e
Tone
4374. Trite ayoem. b
Hemitone
4608. UesB a.
His description of the process is in these words :
'The Dombers affixed to the several chords in the
■ system draw their origin from the sesqnloctave pro'
* portion, which is the relation that the second chord
' bears to the first ; and, proceeding from the acute
' to the grave, the numbers will be found to be in the
' ratio of subsesquioctave, suheesquitertia, snbsesqni-
' altera, and suhduple. But to be more particular : —
'As the third chord was to be the sesquioctave
' of the second, and as the second had not an eighth
'part, the ancients multiplied by 8, and set down the
' number produced thereby i if the fourth chord was
' to be the eesquitertia, they multiplied the numbers
' by 3 ; If it was to be sesquialtera the numbers were
' doubled ; and if by chance there W;ere any fractions,
* they doubled them again to find even numbers, and
' so they went on ; but as all these operations belong
' to arithmetic, and of course must be known, there
' is DO necessity to explain them farther.
' However, aa all this is different from any prudce
dbyGoo*^le
Ca*F. V.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSia
' in the modern moBic, in order that thoee who are not
' perfectly veraed in arithmetic may nnderstand the
' uiuadntionof this science, itwill not be aniinB here to
' explain it. Yon mnat then know, that aa harmonic
' mouc waa gubordinate to arithmetic, the ancients
' shewed only the intervals by nnmbera arising from
' the meaGores they had fonnd oDt by experiments
' upon the monochord.
' When they wanted therefore to demonatrate in
' the constitution of the system what chord wis either
' double, or eesqnialtera, or sesquitertia, or sesqui-
* octave to another by arithmetical namben, they
' ased multiplication, or the doubling of the nnmbera,
' in order that they might rise by degrees one above
' the other. They began from the most acnte chord,
' which h the Nete hyperboleon, going on as far as
' the Trite synemmenon ; which operation is demon-
' strated by the following columns of nambers : —
64
192 676
1152
2304
f 81 243 729 1458 2916
e 266 768 1636 3072
d 288 864 1728 3456
c 324 972 1944 3868
h 1024 2048 4096
T 2187 43T4»
'The method which they nsed in tbese multipli'
' cations and reduplications was this ; as g was to be
' sesquioctave of aa, and ( Besquioctave of g ; and as
' g had not an eighth part, to find it they multiplied
*aa and g hy 8; from which molti plication the
'nnmbers of the second order were produced, and
' they put down 81 sesquioctave of 72. As e was to
' be sesquitertia of aa, and had not a third part, they
' mnltiplied all the second order by 3 ; from which
' multiplication was produced the third order, and
■ there came out the number 256, sesquitertia of 192;
' in tike maojier d was foond to be sesquitertia of g,
' and c of f.
' As h was to be sesquitertia of e, and bad not a
' third part, they multiplied all the third order by 3,
' from which was produced the fourth order, and
' there came out 1024, sesquitertia of 768 ; as b was
' to be sesquialtera of f, there came out fractions, to
' avoid which all the fourth order was doubled, and
' so the fifth order was produced ; and there was the
'number 2187, sesquialtera of 1458.
' In a word, give me leave te repeat again this
' operation, with common explications for those who
'are quite unacquunted with the rules of arithmetic;
' by maltiplying eight times 8 they bad 64 for aa ;
' by multiplying nine times 8 they hnd 72 for g ; and
' adding to 72 ike number nine, they had 81 ^r f.
' The sesquitertia, which is nothing but the pro-
' portion 4 to 3, constitu^ng the diatessaron from e
* to aa, was produced by giving to aa three timee G4,
' which made 192, and to e four times 64, which made
'256.
' That of d to g was prodnced by giving to g three
' times the number 72, which made 216 ; and to d
' four times the same, which made 288.
' That of c to f was produced by giving to g three
' times 81, which made 243 ; and to c four times the
' same, which made 324.
• That of J] to e was produced by giving to e three
' times 256, which made 768 ; and to }] four times
' the same, which made 1024.
' The sesquialtera, which is nothing but the pro-
' portion 3 to 2, constituting the diapente from b to f,
' was produced by giving to f twice 729, which made
' 1458 ; and to b three times the same, which made
' 2187.
' Finally, in order that this kind of numbera might
' do for the chords of the chromatic and cuharmonic
' genera ; to avoid fractions they doubled all the fifth
* order, and thereby brought out the sixth ; so that
' the second order is the produce of the first multi-
' plied by 8 ; the third order is the produce of the
' second mnltiplied by 3 ; the fourth order is the
■ produce of the third mnltiplied by 3 ; the fifth
' order is double the fourth, and the sixth double
' the fifth ; and the numbers of the sixth order are
' the same as those of the tetracbords Hyperboleon,
' Dieseugmenon, and Synemmenon, in the foregoing
'scale.
' There is besides these the Mese, the number of
'which is 4608, which is the double of 2304, the
■ number of the Nete hyperboleon, because there is
' between the one and the other chord the interval of
' a diapason.
' The number 5184 of the Lychanos meson is twice
'the number 2692 of the Paranete hyperboleon, he-
' cause there is between them the same interval of
■ the diapason ; and so the following numbers towards
' the grave are double to the numbers belonging to
' the acute chords, following from the Paranete hyper-
' boleon in succession ; because there is between them
'all, in their respective degrees, the nsrwl interval of
' the diapason. As the sounds of the diatonic genus
' have their numbers, so likewise have the sounds of
• the other genera nnmbers, which are peculiar to
' them, except the Neto hyperboleon, the Neto die-
' zeugroenon, the Nete synemmenon, the Paramese,
■the Mese, the Hypate meson, the Hypate hypaton,
'and the ProsIaml»nDmenos, whose numbers aro
'common to all the genera, as their sounds are
' fixed. Every thing relating to them may he seen
' in their respective systems."
It is to be remembered, that it was for the purpose
of expluning the doctrine of the genera that the fore-
going enquiry into the proportions of the intervals
was entered into ; this enquiry respected the diatonic
series only, and the proportions thereby ascertained
aro the diapason, diapento, diatessaron, and tone ;
besides these, another interval, namely, that whereby
the diatessaron exceeds the ditone, and which is
generally supposed to be a semitone, for now we
E^l use the appellation given to it by the Latin
writers, has been adjusted, and in general shewn to
have a ratio of 256 to 243.
But here it is necessary to mention, that the ratio
of this interval was a subject of great controversy
with the ancient muricians. What were the senti-
mente of Pythagoras about it we are nowhere told ;
Digitized
byGoo^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book L
thuDgh if it be true that he conatitated the diateasaron
ill llie ratio of 1 to 3, and made each of the tones
cont^Qed in it eeeqnioctave, it will follow as a cooae-
queuce, that the interval neceesary Co complete that
ayatem must have been in the ratio of 25G to 2i3 :
this is certain, that Boetiua, and the rest of the
followere of Pythagoraa, deny the poBaibilitv that
it can conaiet in any other : out this is a method of
dedactiou by numerical calculation, and the appeal
is made to onr reason, which, in a qaeslioa of this
nature, *ay some, has nothing to do.
The first who asserted &i doctrine, and he has
done it in terms the most explicit, was Arietoxenus,
the disciple and sucoessor of Aristotle; he taught
that aa the ear is the ultimate judge of conaonance,
we are able by the sense of hearing alone to de-
termine the measure both of the consonants and
dissoDanta, and that both are to be measured or
estimated, not by ratios but by intervals,* The
method he took was this, he conudered the diapason
08 consisting of the two systems of a diatessaron and
diapeute ; it was easy to discover the difference
between the two to be a tnne, which was soon found,
allowing the ear to be the judge, to be divisible
into semitones. These two latter intervals being
once recognized by the ear, became a common mea-
■ure, and enabled him to determine the magnitude
of any interval whatever, which he did by various
additions to, and snbductions from, those .''.hove
mentioned; in like manner as is practised l-> the
singers of onr tjmea, who by an instantaneous efifort
of tiio voice, are able not only to utter a fourth, a
fifth, a greater or lesser third, a tone, a semitone, and
the rest, but by habit and practice are rendered
capable of aeparating and combining these intervsls
at pleasure, withont the assistance of any arithmetjcal
process or computation.
It must be confessed that there seems to be a kind
of retrogradation in a process which directs the
admeasurement of a part by the whole, rather than
of the whole by a part, as this evidently does ; but
notwithstanding this seeming irregularity, the ad-
herents to the former method are very numerous.
The principles on which these two very different
methods of judging are founded, became the subject
of great contention ; and might perhaps give rise to
another question, as extonsive in its latitude, as im-
portant in its consequences, namely, whether the
nnderstanding or the imagination be the ultimate
judge of harmony and beauty ; or, in other words,
what are the peculiar ofBces of reason and sense in
subjects common to them both. The consequence of
thb diversity of opinions, so far as it related to music,
was that, ^m the time of Aristoxenus the musicians
of earlier times, according ss they adhered to the one
or the other of these opinions, were denominate
uther Pythagoreans or Anstoxeneans,by which appeU
lations Uie two sects continued for a long time to be
as much diatinguished as those of the Peripatetics
and Stoics were by their respective names.f
But it seems that as welt against the one as the
other of the positions maintained by the two parties,
there lay strong objections ; for as to that of Pytha-
goras, wat reason, and not the hearing, is to determine
of consonance and dissonance, it was erroneous io
this respect, it accommodated harmonical proportions
to incongruous intervals ; and as to Aristoxenus, he,
by rejecting reason, and referring all to sense, ren-
dered the very fundamentals of the hanaonical science
incapable of demonstration. The several offices of
reason and sense, by which we are here to under-
stand the sense of hearing, are very accurately
discriminated by Ptolemy, who undertook the ta^
of reviewing this controversy ; and the method he
took to reconcile these two militant positions will be
shewn at large in that extract from his treatise,
which we mean hereafter to exhibit in its proper
place ; (he only question at present to be discusaed,
IB that relating to the measure of the diatessaron.
That it exceeded two of those t«)nes,one whereof
constituted the difference between the diapente and
diatessaron, was agreed by both parties; but the
measure of this excess was the point in debate: the
Pythagoreans asserted it to be an interval in the ratio
of 256 to 2^, to which, for want of a better, they
gave the name of Limma ; the Aristoxeneans, on the
other hand, contended that it was neither more nor
less than a semitone. The question then became.
Whether is the system of a diatessaron compounded
of two tonea and a limma, or of two tones and a
semitone ?
Ptolemy has entered into a very minute examin-
ation of this question ; and though he professes to be,
as he certainly is, an impartial arbiter between the
two sects, and is very free in his censures on each ;
yet has he most irreti^gably demonstrated the Pytha-
gorean tenet to be the true one. The method he has
taken to do it may be seen in the first book of his
Harmonics, chap, x., but the following process vrill
enable any one to judge of the force of his reasoning.
Let the number 1636, which it is said is the
smallest that will serve the purpose, be taken, and
after that 1728, its eesquioctave, to express a tone ;
and again, the seaqnioctave of 1728, which is 1944,
for another tone ; the nnmbers 1536 and 194i will
then stand for the ditone. The diatessaron is sesqui-
tertian, or as 1 to S. it is therefore necessary to seek
a number tliat shall contain four of those parts, of
which 1536 is three, and this can be no other than
2(H8; so that the interval whereby the diatessaron
exceeds the ditone, is in the ratio of 2018 to 1944 ;
or, in smaller numbers, as 256 to 243. £ut to judge
of the magnitude of this interval, let the eesquioctave
of 1944, 2187 be taken for a third tone ; it will then
remain to enquire the diflerence between the two
ratios 2187 to 2048, and 204S to 194i and the
former vrill be found the greater ; for 2187 exceeds
2048 by more than a fifteenth, and by less than a
fourteenth part ; whereas 204S exceeds 1944 by more
than a nineteenth, and by lees than an eighteenth ;
and consequently that which, together with the ditone
completes the diatessaron, is &e lesser part of the
third tone^
dbyGoo^le
Chap. VI.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
Bttlinas calls this demoturtration of Ptolemy an
excelleat one, u most andonbtAdlf it is, and in hia
Treatise de Musica, lib. II., cap. xx., exUbils it in
the following diagram : —
DIATE88ARON.
OBEATER TONE. ORKATEE TONE.
OREATER TONE. '
APOTOME.
UMMA.'
To this leaser part of tbe third tone 2018 to 1944,
or in lesser numbers, 266 to 243, was given the
name of the Limms of Pythagoras ; though some
writers, and those of the Pythagorean sect, scrupled
not to term it a Diesis. The greater part of the tone
reeolting from the above division was termed Apo-
tome, a nord signifying the residue of what remains
a( a line after part has been cut off.
Salinas, lib. II. cap xx., remarks, that both the
theoretic and practical musicians among the moderns
are deceived m thinlcing thst the Apotome of the
ancients is that interval, which, in ench mnsicsl in-
struments as the organ, and others of the like kind,
is foand between ^ snd b ; or, in other words, ttiat
tbe interval between >| and b is greater than that
between J^ and c, anothan that between h and a ;
when, says he, the thing is qnite the reverse, and may
be proved by the ear.
Farther, lib. IL cap. x., he observes of the Limma,
that as Pythagoras had divided the diapason into two
diatessarons and a sesqnioctave tone, he discovered
that the diateesaron was capable of a like method of
division, namely, into two continued tones, and that
interval which remained after a subtraction of the
ditone from the diates&aron. And this which he
calls a semitone, ia that which Ftoiemy calls the
•emitone accepted and best known ; and of which
Plato in Timeus makes mention ; when having fol<
lowed the same proportion, he says thst all the duple
ratios were to be filled up with a sesqnitertiss and a
sesqaioctave, and all the sesquitertias with sesqni*
octaves, and the interval 256 to 243. He adds, that
Cicero mentions this semitone in his book de Uni-
versihite, as does Boetius in all his divisions ; and
that there were none of the ancients to whom it was
not known, for that all the Philosophers embraced
tbe Pythagorean traditions of music. The same
author adds, that the Pythagorean Limma was
esteemed by the Greeks, particularly Bacchins and
BtyenniuB, to be irrational ; and tbi^ Plato himself
dared not to call it a proportion, for the reason, as
he conceives, that it was not superparUcnlar.
Hitherto we have spoken of the tone in general
terms, and as an intervsl in a eesqaioctave ratio, such
as constitutea the difference between the diatessaron
and diapente, and it is said that the Pythagoreans
acknowledged do other ;* it is nevertheless necessary
to mention that there is a lesser interval, to which
the appellation of tone is also given; the ratio
whereof ia that of 10 to 9. It is not sufficiently
dear who it was that first diacovered it, bnt, from
several passsgee in the harmonics of Ptolemy.f it
should seem that Didymus, an ancient musician,
whom he frequently takea occasion to mention, was
the first that adjusted its ratio.
Dr. Wallis, who seems to have founded his opinion
on that of Salinaa, snd certainly entertaineid the
clearest conceptions of the subject, has demonstrated
very plainly how both the greater and lesser tone
are prodocM ; for assuming tbe diapente to he in the
ratio of 3 to 2, or which is the same, Uie numbers being
doubled, 6 to 4 ; by the interposition of the arithmeticid
mean 6, he shows it to contain two intervals, the one
in the ratio of 6 to 5, the other in that of 5 to 4.(
I DIAPENTE. ]
I Semiditone | Ditone |
1 Sesquialtera. I
The latter of these, which constituted the ditone
or greater third, eubtracted from the diapente, left
that interval in the ratio of 6 to 5, which by the
Greeks was called a Trihemitone, and by the Latins
a deficient, or semi ditone, but by the moderns a
lesser or flat third.
The consideration of the aemiditone will be here-
after resumed ; but as to the ditone it had a snper-
particular ratio, and consequently would not, any
more than the diapente, admit of an equal division. §
In order therefore to come st one that should be the
nearest to equality, Dr. Wallia doubled the terms 5,
4, and therehy produced the numbers 10, 8, which
have the same ratio. Nothing then was wanting
bat the interposition of the arithmetical mean 9,
DITONE.
Greater Tone. | Lesser Tone.
I 9
Sesquioctave | Sesquinonal
Sesquiquarta.
and a division was effected which produced the
greater or sesquioctave tone, 9 to 8, and the lesser or
sesquinonal tone, 10 to 9.j|
CHAP. VL
Havnia thus sdjusted the proportions of the greater
and lesser tone, it follows next in order to consider
the several divisions of each, the first and most obvious
whereof is that of the semitone ; but here two things
are to be remarked, the one that the adjunct tmii,
though it may seem to express, aa it does in most in-
stances, the half of any given quantity, yet in musical
^ Ub. II., op. II, 14. Sillnu, lib. II . ttv- II.
iWill!^ Appmi. d> V«. B»rm. quiHo. pag. SJl.
Tliat • niptrwtlGuUr li Incapable of an equal i
demfltucnud bf BoetLua, lib. 111., cap. I. anil mual 1i
Snl pilndpla In hamionlet. Vldi Haenblua In So
lib. II.. cap. I.
I WilllaA|ip<od.d*Vrt.H*nn.4uang,paC.Ut. I
Bb. II., c^ If.
dbyGoo^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
language has a eignificatioii the same with deficient
or iDcompIete : the other ia that although as the leaser
is always contuned in the greater, and conaequeDtly
the toDe comprehends the semitone and more, yet the
aemitone is not, nor cui be found in, or at least can-
not be extracted from, or produced by any possible
division of the tone. The Aristoxeneans, who asserted
that the diatessarou consisted of two tones and a half,
had no other way of defining the half tone, than by
taking the ditone out of the diatessaron, and tlie
residue they pronounced to be a hemitone, as it
nearly is ; and the Pythagoreans, who professed the
admeasurement and determination of intervals by
ratios, and not by the ear, were necessitated to pro-
ceed in the same way; for after Pythagoras had
adjusted the diezentic tone, and found its ratio to be
seaquioctave, or as 9 to 8, it nowhere appears that he
or any of his followers proceeded to a division of that
interval into semitones, and indeed it is not in the
nature of the thing possible to effect any such division
of it by equal parte. Ptolemy, who, so far as regards
the method of defining the intervals by their ratios,
most be said to have been a Pythagorean, haa had
recourse to this method of subtracting a lesser inter-
val from a greater for adjusting the proportion of the
Limma ; for after having assumed that the ratio of
the diatessaron was aesquitertia, answering to the
numbers 8 and 6, or which is the same, 1 to 8, he
measures out three sesqnioctave tones, 1636, 1728,
1944, 2167, and sabtracta from them the diatesearon
2048 to 1536, and thereby leaves a ratio of 21S7 to
2048, which is that of the apotome ; the limma 2048
to 1944, then remains an adjunct to the two sesqui-
ocUve tones 1726 to 1S36, and 1944 to 1728 ; and
the ratio of 2048 to 1536 is 8 to 6, or 4 to 3 ; and
would we know the ratio of 2048 to 1944, it will be
found to be 256 to 243, for eight times 256 is 2048,
and eight times 243 is 1944.*
And Didymos, who after he had discovered the
necessity of a distinction of tones into the greater and
lesser, and found that it required an inter^ different
in magnitude from the limma, to complete the dia-
tessaron, had no way to ascertain the ratio of that
interval, but by first adjusting that of the ditone ; in
the doing whereof he also determined that of the
semitone, for so are we necessitated to call the inter-
val by which the diatessaron is found to exceed the
ditone. With respect to this interval, which in the
judgment of Salinas, is of each importance, that be
seems to thiuk it the hinge on which the knowledge
of all instromenlal harmony turns ; it seems clearly
to have taken place of the limma, immediately after
the discrimination of the greater and leeaer tone :
and there ia reason to think it was Investigated by
Didymna in the following manner. First he con-
sidered the ratio of the diatessaron to be, as haa been
shewn, sesquitertiao, or as 8 to 6 ; or, which is the
same, those numbers being doubled, 16 to 12. The
ditone be had demonstrated to be in seaquiquarta
proportion, as 6 to 4. It remtuned then to find out
a number that should contain 6 of these parts, of
■ Sh tt* prandinf dnuDitnUini sf lb* ntko oT tha PflhifDnai
which 12 contained fbnr, and this could be no other
than 15, and these being set down, demonstrated the
ratio of the semitone to be 16 to 15.
I DIATESSARON. j
1 Ditone [ Greater Semitone [
12 15 16
ISeequiquarta [ Sesquidecimsquinta I
Sesqnitertia. .
This interval is also the difference between the
semiditone 6 to 5, and the sesquioctave tone 9 to 8,
which, multiplying the extreme numbers by 3, ia
thus demonstrated : —
SEMIDITONE.
Greater Semitone
Sesqnidecimaqninta ]
Sesquiquinta.
But it seems that this interval, so very accurately
adjusted, did not answer all the onmbinationa of
which the greater and lesser tones were capable ; nor
was it adapted to any division of the system, other
than that which diHtingnishes the diatonic genus.
These considerations gave rise to the invention of the
lesser semitone, an interval bo peculiarly appropriated
to the chromatic genus, that Sslinns and Mersennus
scruple not to csll it the Chromatic Diesis ; the
measure of it is the difference between the ditone
and semiditone, the former whereof is demonstrated
to be in sesquiqnarta proportion, or as 5 to 4 ; or,
which ia the same, each of those numbers being
multiplied by 5, 25 to 20. The semiditone u sesqui-
quinta, that is to say, as 6 to 5 ; or multiplying each
of those numbers by four, as 24 to 20 ; from a com-
parison therefore of the semiditone with the ditone,
it will appear that the difference between them is an
interval of 25 to 24, the ratio sought, and which ia
the measure of the lesser semitone.
DITONE.
I Semiditone | Lesser Semitone |
20 24 25
I Sesquiquinta J Sesquivigesimaqnarta [
Sesquiquarta { g
Salinas remarks that tills lesser semitone of 25 to
24, and the greater one of 16 to 15, compose the
sesquinonal or leaser, and not the sesquioctave or
greater tone, between which and the former he
demonstrates the difference to be a comnui, or an
interval in the ratio of 81 to 80.
Salinas, Mersennus, and other writers, chiefly
modems, speak of a meau semitone in the ratio of
1 Tlilt uif nmt of tbe dlifruni for deinonitntliif the oth«T iBtarrmli
ut ItluD Horn Sillui, wha. 11 li w bs i«ii>rk(d. dllhn ftsm nur
Mbn vttMn Id Uw mdu of Ihe numbui of nUu, pluinf llu innllint
dbyGoot^le
Chap. VI.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
13S to I2S, which with that greater one of 16 to 15,
conipletee the aesquioctave tone ; and of another la
the ratio of 27 to 25, which added to the lesser
aemitone 25 to 21, also makes np the greater or
aeequioctave tone.* Salinas aacribea the invention
of thitt latter to Lndovicua Follianua, a very in-
genious musician of the sixteenth century, of whom
an account vrill be hereafter given ; but he says it is
unfit for harmony : and indeed it does not appear to
have ever been admitted into practice. Salinas de
Musica, lib. III., cap. 7.
We are now to speak of the Dieaie, as being an
interval less in qnan^ty than a aemitone : though it
is to be remembered that the word aa it importa in-
definitely a Particle, f is of very looae signification,
and is used to express a great variety of dissimilar
intervals. Artstotie calls dieses the Elements of
song, as letters are of speech ; but in this the modems
differ from liim. Others of the Greek writers, and
Vitravins, a Latin, after them, make the diesis to be
a quarter of a tone, and Salinas less. The Py-
thagoreans use the word Dieaia and Limma in-
discriminately to express the interval 256 to 243.
In the subsequent division of the tone into lesser
parts, the name of diesie has been given sometimea
to one, and at others to other parte arisii^ from that
division ; and hence those different definitions which
we meet with of this interval ; hut the general
opinion tonchbg it is that it is less than a semitone,
and more than a comma. We will consider it in all
ite variety of significations.
Boetiue, in the third book of bis treatise de Mnsica,
baa related at large the method taken by Philolaus
the Pythagorean for dividing the tone into nine
parts, called commas, of which we shall speak mors
particularly hereafter ; according to this division,
two commas make a diaschisma, and two diaschiamata
a diesis. This is one of the aensee in which the term
diesis ia naed, but it is not easy to discover the use
of this Interval, for it does not seem to be adapted
either to the tetrachord composed of seaqoioctave
tones, or that later one of Didymns, which supposes
a distinction of a greater and lesser tone ; so that in
diis instance the term seems to be restrained to its
primitive signification, and to import nothing more
than a particle; and Salinas seems to concur in this
sense of the word when he says that in each of the
genera of melodies the least interval is called a dieaii.
In other instances we are to imderstand by it such
an interval as, together with others, will complete the
syatom of a diafessaron. There are required to form
a diatesssron, or tetrachord in each of the genera,
tones, semitones, and dieses. In the diatonic genus
tite diesis is clearly that, ha it either a semitone, a
Kmma, or any other interval, which, together with
two tones is necessary to complete the tetrachord.
If wilt the Pythagoreans we snppoae the two tones
to be aesquioctave, it will follow that the diesis and
the limma 250 to 213 are one and the same interval ;
on the other hand, if with Didymns we assign to the
• SiUnM. lib. II. cms. W, Ub. HI. c^ 7, Mate. HuhuibIb. lib. V.
0« DiiHnmiitib, plf. f.
1 Mxisb. la Somn. Seiplon. lib. II. ap. 1
two tonea, the different ratios of 10 to 9, and 9 to 8,
the interval Deceaaary to complete the diatessaron
will be 16 to 15 ; or the difference between the ditone
in the ratio of 5 to 4, and the diatesaaron above
demonstrated. In short, this sappletory interval,
whatever it be, is the only one in the diatonic genus,
to which the appellation of diesis is ever given.
To the chromatic genus belong two intervals of
different m^nitudes, and the term diesis is common
to both ; the first of these is that of 25 to 24, men-
tioned above, and shewn to he the difference between
the ditone and semiditone, and is what Salinas haa
appropriated to the chromatic genus. Gaudentiua
mentions also another species of diesis that occnrs in
this genus, in quantity the third part of a tone,} in
which he haa followed Aristoxenus ; but as all the
divisions of the Aristoxeneans were regulated by the
ear, and supposed a division of the tone into equal
parts, which parts being equal, moat neceasarily be
irrational, it would be in vain to seek a numerical
ratio for the third part of a tone.
We are now to speak of that other diesis incident
to the eoarmonic genus, to which the term, in the
opinion of moat writers, seems to be appropriated ;§
for whereas the other diesis obtained that name, only
aa being the smallest interval required in each genos,
this other is tbe amalleat that any kind of musical
progression will possibly admit of. Aristides Quin-
tilianos says, a diesis is as it were a dissoln^on of the
voice. II
According to Boetins, who must everywhere be
understood to speak the sense of the Pythagoreans,
tbe two dieses contained In the tetrachord of the
enarmonic genua muat have been unequal, for he
makes them to arise from an arithmeticu division of
the limma, 256 to 243.^
Ptolemy has exhibited,** as he has done in each of
the other genera, a table of the enarmonic genus,
according to five different musicians, all of wbom,
excepting Aristoxenus, make the dieses to he unequal,
those of Ptolemy are,24 to 23, and 46 to 45.
Salinas uaes but one enarmonic dieais, which he
makes to be the difference between the greater semi-
tone 16 to 15, and the lesser 26 to 24.
r"
GREATER SEMITONE.
I Lesser Semitone | Diesis [
120 125 128
ISesqnivigesimaqnarte I Supertripartiens 125 |
Sesqnidecima quinta. \^^
Which nnmbers are thus produced, 15 and 16
each multiplied by 8 will give 120, and 123, for the
greater semitone ; we are then to seek for a number
that bears the same ratio to 120, as 25 does to 24,
which can be no other than 125, so that the ratio of
the diesis will stand 125 to 128.
Brossard has applied the term diesis to those signs
Ei Vin. Haltmn. fi»- 9.
Boetiiu lib. II. nji. 19. hu i
Ei V«n. Hllboni. pig. 19.
BoMIUl, Ub. IV. up. t.
' Lib. II. op. 14.
I Silinu, Ub II. c*p )l.
dbyGoo^le
HISTORY OP' THE SCIENCE
Bocn L
or cliaracterB used by the moderns to denote the
several de;i;reee by which a sound may be elevated
or depreaaed above or beneath ils natural Bitnatiou ;
for the doing whereof he seema to have had no better
authority than that of the practitioners of hia time,
who perhaps are the only persons entitled to an
excuse for having given to the sign the name of the
thing signified. He profeaaea to follow Kiroher,
when he says that there are three sorts of dieses,
namely, the lesser enannonic or simple diesis, con-
taining two commaa or about a quarter of a tone ;
the chromatic or double diesis, containing a lesser
semitone, or nearly four commas, and the greater
enarmonic dieaia, containing nearly three fonrtba of
a tone, or from ^x to seven commss ; but this defi-
nition is by mnch too loose to satisfy a speculative
muaician.
Theae are all the intervals that are requisite in the
constitution of a tetrschord in any of the three
genera : it may not be improper however to mention
a division of the tone, invented perhaps rather as an
essay towards a temperature, than as necessary to the
periectjon of the genera; namely, that ascribed by
Boetius, and others to Philolaus, by which the tone
was made to consist of nine parts or commas.
The account of this matter given by Boetiua is
long, and rather perplexed; but Glareanus,* who
has been at the pains of extracting from it the history
of thia division, apeaks of it thna : ' A tone in a sea-
'qnioctave ratio is divided into a greater and lesser
* semitone ; the greater was by the Greeks called an
'apotome, the lesser a limma or diesis, and the
'difference between these two was a comma. The
' diesis was again divided into diaschismata, of which
'it contMned two; and the comma into tchismata,
' two whereof made the comma.' The passage, to give
it at length, is tfans : —
' It is demonstrated by musicians, for good reasons,
that a tone cannot be divided into two equal porta,
'because no superparticular ratio, such as is that of a
' tone, is capable of such a division as Divus Severinus
'Boetins fully shews in his third book, chap, i., ft
' tone which is in a aesqaioctave ratio is divided into
' a greater asd lesser semitone. The Greeks call the
' greater semitone an apotome, and the lesser a diesis
'or limma; but the lesser semitone is divided into
'two diaschismata. The excess whereby a greater
' semitone is more than a lesser one b called a comma,
' and this comma ia divided into two parte, which are
'called schismata by Philolaus. This Philolaus,
'According to Boetius, gives us tiie definitions of all
'those parts. A diesis, he says, is that space by
'which a sesqnialteral ratio or diateasaron exceeds
'two tonee; and a comma is that space whereby
* a eesqaioctave ratio ie greater than two dieses, that
'is than two lesser semitones. A schisms is that
half of a comma, and a diaschisma is the half of a
'diesis, that is of a lesser semitone; from which
'definitiuoB and the following scheme yon may easily
' find ont into how many diaschismata, and the other
'smaller spaces, a tone may be divided, for the same
' Boetins uiews that it can he done many waya in bta
'treatise, lib. III. cap. viii., Irom whence we hava
' taken these descripdons. It is to be observed that
* the name of diesis u proper in this place ; but when,
'as the ancients have done, we give it to the enar-
' mouic diaschisma, it is improper : —
mi ti 4096
( Schiama
( Bchian
d 4330
e 4352
/4S74
y 91
4608
' Let a li be a tone, }] d, oij'% a lesser semitone,
'or as the tireeks call it, as Boetiua witnesseth lib. II,
' cap. xxvii., a limma or diesis, }] y, or ij a, a greater
' semitone, cslled by the Qreeks an apotome, h e and
' c d, stso f g and g a, diaschismata, or the bolves of
'a diesis, dy'a comma, whose halvea deajiA e^are
'schismata; but it is necessary for our purpoae
' to obaerve this, let a he Mese, ot a la mi re, f
' Trite synemmenon or_^ in \>fa ]] mt J] Parameaa
' or mi in hfa \\ mi, therefore the note r^ in a Za Bit
're is distant nom Ja in h^ Jj «it by a lesser
' hemitone, and from mi in the same key by a tone ;
'from whence it foUowa, that the two notes in hja
' fi mi, which seem to be of the same key, are farther
' distant from each other than from the extremes or
' neighbouring keys above and below, vix., mi from e
'solja Ut, and Jit from a la mire, for mi and^a are
' separated from each other by a greater semitone, and
' from the extremes on either side by only a lesser
' semitone, for which reason this theory is not to be
'despised. We must not omit what the same ijeve-
' rinua tells us in lib. III., cap. xiv. and xv., to wit,
' that a lesser semitone is not altogether four commas,
'but somewhat more than three; and that a greater
' semitone is not five commas, but somewhat more
' than four ; from wheuce it comes to pasa that a tone
' exceeds eight commas, bnt does not quite make up
' nine.'
This of Philolaus ie generally deemed the true
division of the tone, and may serve to prove the
truth of that position, which aU the theoretic writers
on music seem to agree in, namely, that the sesqni-
octave tone, as being in a superparticular ratio, ia
incapable of an equal division. But nnfortimately
the numbera made nse of by Glareanoa do not answer
to the division, for those for the diesis or limma Vj d
4330, 4096 have no such ratio as 266 to 243, which
is what the limma requires, and that other J" a, has.
and it seems that in hia assertion that ]} and b are
farther distant from each other thou from c and a.
dbyGoo*^le
Chap. VL
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
respectively, he U mistaken. This is noticed by
BalioAB, who indsts that the converse of the propo-
sition is the trutii. De Musica, lib. II. cap. xx.*
As to the comfaa, it appears by the foregoing
calculation to be in the ratio of 4374 to 4330.
Nevertheless, Salinas, for the purpose of accommo-
dating it to practice, has assumed for the comma an
interval in the ratio of 81 to 80, which is different
from thai of Qlareanna and Boetios, bnt is clearly
shewn by-Salinas to be the difference between the
greater and lesser tone. Ptolemy looked apon this
latter comma as an inseosible interval, and thought
that therefore it was a thing indifferent whether the
aeaqnioctave or sesqninonal tone held the acntest
situation in the diatonic tetrachord ; bnt Salinas
•seerts, that though it is the least, it is yet one of the
sensiUe intervals, snd that by means of an instrument
which he himself caused to be made at Rome, he was
enabled to distinguish, and by his ear to judge, of
the difference between the one and the other of the
Mersennns says that the Pythagoreans had another
comma, which was in the ratio of 631441 to 524288,
and was between sesqui i^ and sesqui ^ ; and that
Cbrfstopher Mondore, in a book inscribed by him to
Hai^aret, the sister of Henry III. of France, speaks
of another between sesqui ^, and sesqui ^f As
to the first, though he does not mention it, it is clear
that he took the ratio of it from Salinas, who in the
nineteenth and thirty-first chapters of his fourth book
speaks very particularly of the Pyth^orean comma,
and says that it is the difference whereby the apotome
exceeds the limniib
We have now investigated in a regular progression
the ratios of the several intervals of the greater and
lesser tone, the greater and lesser semitone, the
apotome and limma, the diesis, and the comma ; and
thereby resolved the tetrachord into Its elements. It
may be worth while to observe the singular beauties
that arise in the course of this deduction, and how
wonderfully the lesser intervals spring out of the
greater ; for the difference between
f Semiditooe and greater lone, f
The i and ■!»> between the dio- [-■>
t tessoroD and ditone, }
f Lesser tone oud greater^
The i semiMne, and also b«tv««n \i»
j the ditone sod Bemidibme, J
~, _ f Greater lone and 1 .,
^^ILesMTtMie (" ■
The{^™^^
Salinas remarks much to the same purpose on the
regnlar order of the simple consonances in these
words. ' It seems worthy of the greatest observa-
' tion, that the differences of the simple consonances,
' each above that which is the next under it, are
' found to be in the proportions which the first square
' numbers hereunderwritten bear to those that are the
oTIt pBg. tS of tha pmcnt voA.
' next less to them : to instance in the diapason, the
' excess above the diapente is the diatcssaron, which
' is found in the ratio between the first square nnm-
' ber 4, and its next less number 3. The excess of
•the diapente above the diatcssaron is the greater
' tone, which is found in the ratio between the num-
' bers 9 and 8. Again, that of the diatessaron above '
* the ditone is the greater semitone, found in the ratio
' 16 to 15 ; farther, the excess of the ditone above the
' semiditone is the lesser semiditone 26 to 24. All
' these will appear more clearly in the following dia-
' position of the numbers : —
2 8 i Diapason Diapente Distesnaron
6 8 9 Diapente Diatevaron Tone liaim
12 15 16 DitteMorou Ditone SemiUme m^jos
20 24 2S EHtone Semiditooe Semitone minus
'In the above disposition, the last numbers are
' sqnare, the first longilateral, and the middle ones
' less than those that are square by unity, but greater
' than the longilateral ones by as many units as there
' are numbers of squares above them. The greatest
'ratios are those between the longilaterals and the
'sqnares, the lesser between the longilaterals and
' middle numbers, and the least or differences those
' between the sqnares and the middle ones. Of the
' ratios the greatast are marked A, the lesser B, and
•the least C.'}
Observations of this hind are perpetually occurring
in the course of harmonical calcnUtions ; and it can-
not but he a matter of astonishment to an intelligent
mind to find, that those combinations of musical
sounds which afford delight to the sense of hearing,
have such a relation among themselves, and are
disposed with such order and regularity, that they
approve themselves also to the understanding, and
exhibit to the mind a new species of beauty, such as
is observable in theorems, and will for ever result
from design, regularity, truth, and order. It is said
that the senses are arbitrary, and that too In so great
a degree, as to give occasion to a well-known axiom
that precludes all dispute about them ; but that of
hearing seems to be on exception ; for what the ear
recognises to be gratefnl, the understanding approves
as true. To enquire farther into the reasons why
the sense is delighted with harmony and consonance,
would be vain, since all beyond what we are able to
discover by numerical calculation is resolvable into
the will of Him who has ordered all things in
number, weight, and measure.
The genera, as has been mentioned, were three ;
the dbtonic, the chromatic, and the enharmonic.
We are farther to understand a subdivision of these
into species. Gaudentiui expressly says, 'The
'species or colours of the genera ore many,'§ and
an author of much greater authority, Aristoxenue,
has particularly enumerated them. According to him
the diatonic genus had two species, the soft and the
I Da Mnilu, lib. n. dp. XI.
dbyGoo^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book T
int«D3e ; the chromatic three, the soft, the bemiolian,*
and the tonic ;t as to the euharmoDic. it had no
Buhdi vision. Indeed, the repreBentations of the
genera and their species, as well by diagrama as in
words, are almost as numerouB as the writers on
mosic. Monsieur Brossard has exhibited a view of
the Aristoxenean division, taken as he says, &oin
VitmviuB ; and the same is to be met with in an
English dictionary of music, published in the yt-ur
1740, by James Grassineau.J
But this representation is not near so particular
and accurate, as the Aristoxenean Synopsis of the
Genera given by Dr. Wallia in the Appendix to hia
edition of Ptolemy, and hers inaertad : —
EDumonic
Oenns
Cbromatic Genus
DisloDio Qenua |
SoR
Heniolian
Teniae
Soft
Inteiue
Nele
_ Paranete
Mete
22
Psnuieta
Nete
21
Paranete
Mete
18
Paranete
Nete
15
Paranete
Nete
12 ..
Paranete - -
12 '.'
Trite
9
Trite
6
TriW
4|
Tnte
4
Trite
- Lichuos
8
Trite
P«hypate
Parh^
Parhypale -
'T"
Parhypate
In order to understand this scheme, we must snp-
Cthe tetrachord hypaton, though any other would
served the purpose as well, divided into thirty
eqnal parts : in the primitive division of this system,
according to the diatonic genua, the stations of the
two intermediate sounds parbypate and licbanos, for
it is to be noted that those at the extremities termed
Btabiles, or immovables, were at 6 and 18 ; that is to
say, the first interval in the tetrachord vras 6 parts,
and each of the other two 12, making together 30 ;
so that the second interval was the double of the
first, and the third equal to the second, answering
precisely to the hemitone, tone, and tone ; this is
spoken of the intense diatonic, for it is that species
which the ancients are enppoBed to have meant when-
ever they spoke of tbe diatonic generally.
The soft diatonic has for its lirat interval 6, for its
second 9, or a hemitone and a quadrautal diesis, or
three fourths of a tone, and for its third 15, viz., a
tone and a quadrantal diesis.
We are now to epeak of tbe cbromatic genns, tbe
first species whereof, the tonic, had for its first inter-
val 6, or a hemitone ; for its second also d, and for
its third 18, a trihemitone, or tone and a half.
In the hemiolian chromatic, called also the ses-
quislteral,§ the lirat and also the second interval was
4 J, which is a hemiolian or sesquialteral diesis ; and
the third 21, or a tone, a hemitone, and a qnadrantal
diesis.
UnMwhcn
lli« iboTe b
wknt
puMtihed tbe
nfi!
■",'=
■i^'n::;'*;.
i-ch, Md per
>pi. In a inuU
sar:
Jlcji'™
"J
pWMIll lo (hs
nmlDtl woiM.
eMdS'ili
mqnUltcT^ u AndRA* OrntthCppaiGiu
dbyGooi^lc
Ca*p. VII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSia
81
The Bofl chromatic maJteethe first and abo the
Becond interval a triental diesis, or third part of a
tone, by sBsigning to povypdt^ and lichados, the
BtatioDB of 4 and 18 ; and g»f« to the third twenty-
two twelflhs of a tone, or, which is the'saOie, twenty-
two thirtieths of the whole -l^tracbord, wlfich amovint
to a tone, a hemitooe, and a triental diegia.
In the enharmonic gemis, which, in the opinion of
moat authors, had no division into species,- the first
and second intervalB, being terminated by 3 and 6,
were each qoadrantal dieses, or three twelfths of
a tone, and the last a ditone. Of the diesis in
this genns it is said by Aristozenns and others, that
it is the smatlest interval that tbe human voice ie
capable of expressing ; and it is farther to ba re-
marked, that it is ever termed the eaannonic diesis,
as being appropriated to tbe enarmonic genns.
Euclid's account of the genera is not much different
from this of Aristoxenns. The diatonic, he says,
proceeds ^m the acnte to the grave by a tone, a
(one, and a hemitone ; and, on the contrary, from the
grave to the acnte by a hemitone, a lone, and a tone.
The chromatic from the acute to the grave by a tri-
hemitone, a hemitone, and a hemitone : and con-
trarywist^ from the grave to the acute by a hemitone,
a hemitone, and a trihemitone. The enharmonic
progression, he says, is a descent to the grave by
a ditone, a diesis, and a diesis; and an ascent to the
scomea by a diesis, a diesis, and a ditone. He speaks
of a commixtnre of the genera, as namely, the diatonic
with the chromatic, the diatonic with the enarmonic,
and the chromatic with the enarmonic
He exhibits the bisdiapason according to each of
the genera, enumerating tbe several sounds as they
occnr, from Proslambanomenos to Nete hyperboleon,
and observes that some of them are termed Stantes
or standing sounds, and others Mobiles or moveable ;
the meaning of which is no more than that the ex-
treme sounds of each tetracbord are immoveable, and
that the difference between the genera consists in
thooe several mutations of the intervals, which are
made by assigning different positions to the two
intermediate sounds.
Colour he defines to be a pcrUcnlar division of a
genns ; and, agreeable to what is sdd by Aristozenns,
he saye that of the enarmonic there is one only ; of
the chromatic three; and of the diatonic two. He
says farther, that the enharmonic progression is by
a diesis, a diesis, and incompoeite ditone; that the
chromatic colonrs or species are the soft, proceeding
by two dieses, each being the third part of a tone,
and an tocomposite interval equal to a tone, and its
third part ; and the sesqiiialteral, proceeding hy a die-
eis in a eeaqntalteral ratio to timt in the enarmonic,
another each diesis, and an incomposite interval con-
sisting of seven dieses, each equal to a fourth part of
a tone ; and the tonic by a hemitone, a hemitone, and
a trihemitone. Of the diatonic he says there are two
epeciea, namely, the soft and the intense, by some
called also the syntonons; the former proceeding by
ft hemitone, an interval of three quadrantal dieses,
and by another of five such dieses ; and tJie latter by
imon division, with ita genus, namely, a tone,
1, and a hemitone.
And here it is to be observed, that these several
definitions of the genera are taken from some one or
other of their respective species; thus, that of the
tonic chromatic is the same by which the genus itself
is defined ; and the definition of the syntonons or
intense diatonic is what is osed to denote the genus
itself. From hence it should seem that of the specie*
some were deemed spurious, or at least that some
kind of pre-eminence among them, nnknown to us,
occasional this distinction ; which amounts to no less
than saying that the soil chromatic is more truly the
chromatic than either of the other two species of that
genus ; and that the intense or syntonons diatonic is
more truly the diatonic than the soft diatonic : as to
the enarmonic, it cannot in strictness be said to
have had any colour or species, for it admits of no
specific division.
To demonstrate the intervals in each species by
numbers, Euclid supposes a division of the tone into
twelve parts. To tbe hemitone he gives six, to the
quadrantal diesis three, end to the triental diesis four ;
and to the whole diatessaron he assigns thirty. In
the application of these parts to the several species,
he Bays first, that the intervals in the soft chromatic
are four, four, and twenty-two; in the sesquialteral
four and a half, four and a half, and twenty-one ; and
in the tonic siz, siz, and eighteen ; in the soft dia-
tonic six, nine, and fifteen ; and in the syntonooB Biz.
twelve, and twelve.
CHAP. VII.
Aristides Quintilianus, who, in the judgment of
Dr. Wallis,* seems in thia respett to have been an
Aristoxenean, speaks of the genera and their species
in the following manner: — 'Genus Is a certain di-
vision of the tetracbord. There are three genera
of modulation, namely, the harmonic, chromatic,
and diatonic ; the difference between them consists
in the distances of their respective intervale. The
harmonic is that genns which abounds in the least
intervals, and takes its name from adjoining together.
The diatonic is so called because it proceeds by, or
abounds in, tones. The chromatic is so termed,
because, as that which is between white and black
ie called Colour, so also that which holds the middle
place between the two former genera as this does,
is named Chroma. The enarmonic is sung by a
diesis, diesis, and an incomposite ditone towards the
acute ; and contrarywise towards the grave. The
chromatic towards the acute by a hemitone, a hemi-
tone, and trihemitone ; and contrarywise towards
the grave. The diatonic by a hamitone, a tone,
and tone towards the acute : and contrarywise to-
wards the grave. The diatonic is the most natural
of all, because it may be sung by every one, even
by such as are nnleamed. The most artificial is
the chromatic, for only learned men can modulate
it ; but the most accurate is the enharmonic : it is
approved of by only the most skilful musicians;
for those who are otherwise look on the diesis as
an interval which can by no means be sung, and to
dbyG00*^lc
fflSTOBT OP THE SCIENCE
BooE I
' tbeee, by reason of the debility of their faculties,
'the nae of this genus is impowible. Each of the
'genera may be modulated both by consecutive
' sounds and by leaps. Moreover, modulation is
* either direct or straightforward, reverting or tum-
' ing back, or ciroumcurrent, running up and down :
' the direct is that which stretches towards the acute
' from the grave ; the reverting that which is contrary
* to the former ; and the ciroumcurrent is that nbidi
' is changeable, as when we elevate by conjunction,
' and remit by disjunction. Again, some of the
' genera are divided into species, others not. The
'enarmonic, because it consists of the smallest
'dieses, is indivisible. The chromatic may he
'divided into as many rational intervals as are
' found between the beraitone and enarmonic diesis ;
' the third; namely the diatonic, into as many rational
'intervals aa are found between the hemitone and
' tone ; there are therefore three species of the chro-
' matic, and two of tbe diatonic And, to sum np
' the whole, tiiete added to the enaimonic make six
* species of modulation ; the first is distinguished hy
'qnadrantal dieses, and is called tlie enarmonic;
' the second by triental dieses, and is called the soft
' chromatic ; the third by dieses that are sesquialteral
'to those in the enarmonic, and is therefore called
'the sesquialteral chromatic Tbe fourth has a pe-
' cnliar constitution of two bemitones, it is called
* the tonic chromatic ; the fifth coneists of an bemi-
' tone and three dieses, and the five remaining ones,
' and is called the soil diatonic : the sixth has an
' hemitone, tone, and tone, and is called the intense
'diatonic But that what we have said may be
* made clear, we shall make the division in the
' nnmbers. Let the tetrachord be supposed to con-
' sist of sixty units, the division of the enarmonic
' is 6, 6, iB, by a qnadrantal diesis, a quadrantal
' diesis, and a ditone. The division of tbe soft cbro-
' matic S, 8, 44, by a triental diesis, a triental diems,
' and a tribemitone and triental dieus. The division
'of tbe sesquialteral chromatic is 9, 9, 42, by a
' sesquialteru diesis, a sesquialteral diesis, and a tri-
' hemitone and qnadrantal diesis. The division of
' tbe tonio chromatic is 12, 12, 36, hy an hemitone,
' an hemitone, and a tribemitone. That of the soft
'diatonic is 12, IS, 80, by a hemitone, and three
'quadrantal diesea, and five qnadrantal dieses. That
' of the intense diatonic is 12, 24, 24, by a hemitone,
' a tone, and a tone.'*
It is obeervahle in this division of Aristidea Quin-
tjliauus, that the numbers made use of by him are
double those nsed by Enclid ; the reason is, that the
two dieses in the sesquialteral chromatic are not so
well defined by four parts and a half of thirty, as by
9 of 60 ; and it is evident that preserving the pro-
portions, whether we take tbe number 30 or 60 for
the gross content of tbe tetrachord, the matter is
jnst the same,
Ptolemy, tbe most copious, and one of the moat
accurate of all the andent harmonicians, has treated
• ArijHdn aulDlUlinui « Ten. Udb. pin IS, cl Kt).,!!! which pu-
iNlHn tvap/unHa, to dfntly the «uiinaDic irniu.
very largely of the genera ; and has, for the reason
above given, adopted the number 60 for the measure
of the tetrachord ; be has represented the Aristox-
enean constitution of the aix speciea by the following
proportiona :—
Acute
48
6
6
u
8
8
12
9
9
3i
12
12
30
18
12
24
24
12
60
60
60
60
60
60
ss
Chn-
loft
Chr*
milk
isi
Cbn>.
UK
Dti-
Intaut
In which proportiona be agrees both with Euclid
and Aristides Quintilianus ; Uiongh, for the purpose
of ascertaining them, be has preferred the nnmbers
of the latter to those nsed by Euclid.
In chapter xiv. of hia second boob, Ptolemy has
given the genera, with each of their several species,
according to tbe five different mnsiciane, namely,
ArchytBs,f Aristoxenns, Eratosthenes,} Bidymus,
and himself. The snm of his account, omitting the
division of Aristoxenns, for that is given above, is as
follows :—
/ Enarmonic i^ X |f X i=i
Arcbytaa I Chromatic }• x J^ X ff = J
\ Diatonic J-f x f x | =|
Enarmonic ^j x S| X |f = J
Chromatic f| X H X i=\
Diatonic ^\ x 8 X | = |
Enarmonic |Jf X SJ X j = J
Chromatic ^ x i| X i=i
Diatonic -^i X V" X | = J
In his own division Ptolemy snppoaes five species
of the diatonic genua, which, together with the en-
harmonic, and two species of the chromatic, be thus
defines : —
^Enarmonic |{ x }| X f = J
Eratoatbenes
Didym
Pt'emy
Intenae ^ x ^ X i=l
Soft Hx V X »=J
Tooic ifx »x f = f
Dltonlc IH X I X I = }
Intel.™ K X I X V = }
Eqi..ble H X H X V - J
cnt of Tinnlutn. i P)rlhlgonu,
... which hud the powtr of lljtaf M
I menUDDsd bj DIonDO LKrtlu. Iiui 11 it not ctnils which rrf Ibi
WM th« ■ulhiir of tlie diiiilon lictc giicD.
Enthmilicnn. * Crrf«sn phUotopbcr, ud ><U>rlpl(of Aridoial
biwchui, wH tibniun u Aluuidrla to Ptottmr ETcriFtu. Bi
suiH oTlili li ntinl In tht Oitanl gdhion of ia.au ; pntite ta
ch !• in accDunl of tutor «lh« booki of Ui wiMnf BOw Iw. B*
ilduluvcUTH ["Ihcwtofelghtf-t-o; tnit, tcconllnii to Hchrieu,
ifihadibout th' Olrmplad ciiitUI. ihu li to ut, iboui (we hnikdnd
ihlitj jcmn hrfcn ChrUt.
11 Oelllui ud still
id In th« Oifbrd puhlkAtli
untrrnun of the Ap«OF.
Vide BenileT'i aamvn u Sorted
dbyG00*^IC
Cbav. VII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
MartiaaoB Capella gives thu expUnation of the
genera : — ' The enarmoiuc abaunda in small intervaU,
' the diatonic in tones. The chromatic consists wholly
' of semitones, and is called chromatic, «g partaking of
' the nature of both the others ; for the some reason
' OS we call that affection colour which is included
'between the extremes of white and black. The
' enarmonio is modnlated towards the acumen, or, as
' we should now say, ascends hy a diesis, diesis, and
'an incompoeite ditond; thCf diiomatic by a semi-
' tone, semitone, and an incompoaite tribemitoue :
'and the diatonic, content with larger intervals,
' proceeds by a semitone, tone, and tone : we now
' chiefly ose the diatonic' He says iarUier, — ' The
' possible divisions of the tetrachora are innumerable,
' bnt there are six noted ones, one of the enarmonic,
'three of the chromatic, and two of the diatonic.
' The first of the cbromatio is the soft, the second
' ia the bemioUan, and the third the tonian. The
' divisions of the diatonic are two, the one soft and
' the other robust. The enarmonio is distinguished
' by the quadrantal diesis, the soft chromatic by the
' triental diesis, and the bemiolian chromatic I^ the
'hemiolian diesis, which is equal to an enarmonic
' diesis and a half, or three eighths of a tone.' * la
all this CapelU is but a copier of Ariatides Quin-
tilt&nus ; and, in the judgment of bis editor Mei-
bomius, and others, be is both a servile and an
injndicions one.
Boetius f has treated the subject of the genera in
a manner less satisfactory than could have been ex-
pected from so scientific a musician : be mentions
nothing of the species, but contents himself with au
exhibidon of tne enarmonic, the chromatic, and
diatonic, in three several diagrams, which are here
given. He says that the diatonic b somewhat hard,
iiat that the chromatic departs from that natural in-
tension, and becomes somewhat more soft ; and that
the enarmonic is yet better constituted through the
five t^tischords. The diatonic progression, he says,
is by a semitone, tone, and tone ; and that it is called
diatonic, as proceeding by tones. He adds that the
chromatic, which takes its name from the word Chroma,
ragnf fylng colour, is, as it were, the first change or in-
flexion from that kind of inteusion preserved in the
diatonic : and is song by a semitone, a semitone, and
three semitones ;$ and that the enarmonic, which in
his judgment is the most perfect of all the genera, is
sung by a diesis and a ditone ; a diesis, be says, is the
half of a semitone. The following is his dlviuon of
the tetracbord in each of the three genera : —
} DIATONIC [
Semitone ( Tone | Tone |
»■ IfnptUi niMagim M IfamiiU, lib. IX. Da Omeifbiu Tctn-
r<pRHnU» BocUni'i dlTUlon «f ths
Lib. I. Of. uL
dUcnnl oT?
I, tka lul fat
plnuy iku Ibt HI
Uk* llM Ho^ wtlbntnni^ ioiu MuKiMnrputir D* H
CHROMATIC 1
Semitone
Semitone | Three um
itenei
io«>.p<«.e|
1
EN ABMON
c
1
He is somewhat mora particular in his fourth book,
chap, v., and again in the seventh chapter, for in the
chromaljo tetracbord he makes the semitones to be,
the one a greater and the other a lesser ; and the
trihemitone he makes to consist of one greater and
two lesser semitones.
tetrachor:
VeU faTpertnlssn H*(a hrpclMKD
KeU hTpabolflon
!?
J
Il
»n
11
1
Fuutuin-
1
UM
1
Pn»l.hrp.
p
Trite hjperb.
li
Ti«.byp«h.
S07»
1
Pm»t.I.n>.
1
TrtuhTpert.
MM
N«*dlM>UI.
NCtOdlHtUf.
Hel.di»«M,.
It is somewhat remarkable that this author baa
said nothing of the colours or species of the genera,
about which so much ia to be met with in Ptolemy
and other writers, except towards the couclnsion of
his work, where he professea to deliver the sentiments
of Aristoxenos and Archytaa on this head ; bnt he
seems rather to reprehend than adopt their opinions,
for which it seems difficult to assign any reason,
other than that he was, as his writings abundantly
prove, a most strenuous aasertor of the doctrines of
Fythagoias.
'Mersennas§ has given a scale of the succession of
sounds in each of the three genera, as near as it could
be done, in the characters of modem notation, which
is here iusertod, and may serve to shew bow ill the
division of the tetracbord in the chromatic and enar-
monic genera agree with the notions at this time
entertained of harmony, and the natural progression
of musical sonnda.
dbyGoo^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
DIATONIC GENUS.
Tetrachord. Tetrachmd. Tetrtebord.
ptrhfp&ton.
MI FA BOL LA, lU FA SOL LA, HI FA SOL LA, HI FA aOL LA.
Otber authors there are, particolarlv Franchinna,
Vicentino, ViDcentio Qalilei, and Zarlino, that pro-
fess to treat of the genera; bnt it ie to be noted
that all their iatelligence is derived from the same
soarce, namely, the writinga of AristozenoB, Euclid,
Arietidee Qnintiliaaus, and more especially Ptolemy ;
and therefore we find no other variation among them
than what seems necesaarity to arise from their dif-
ferent conc«ptions of the subject Boetins himself
can in this respect be considered no otherwise than
as a modem ; and hs himaelf does not pretend to an
investigation of the genera, bnt contents himself with
a bare repetition of what is to be found in the writings
of the ancients respecting them : and when it is con-
mdered that in his time only the diatonic genus was
in nse, the other genera having been rejected for
their intricacy, and other reasons, long before, it
must appear next to impossible that he conld contri-
bnte much to the explanation of tbia moet abstmse
part of the scienoe ; and the excessive caodon with
wbich he delivers his sentiments tonching them,
is a kind of proof of the difficulties he had to
enconnter.
If this was the cose with Boetins, how liUle is to
be expected hom the writers of lal«r times. In
short, for information as to the doctrine of the
genera, we are nnder an indJspensible necessity of
recurring to die ancients ; and it will be mnch safer
to acquiesce in their relations, defective and obscure
as they are, than to trust to the glosses of modem
authors, who in general are more likely to mislead
dian direct us : for this reason it has been thought
proper to reject an intimtnde of schemes, diagrams,
and explanations, which the fertile inventions of the
modems have produced to exemplify the constitution
of the chromatic and enarmomc genera, and that
from a thorough persuasion that many of them are
erroneons.
fint it aeema the consideradons above anggested
were not snfBcJent to deter a writer, who flourished
in the sixteenth century, who, to say the least of him,
appears to have been one of the ableat theorists of
modem times, from attempting to develope the
doctrine of the genera, and deliver it free from tJioee
The author here meant is Frandscus Salinaa,
a Spaniard by birth, and who, under all the dis-
advantages of incurable blindness, applied himself
with the most aatonishing padence and persevemnce
to the atudy of the theory of music ; and in many
reapects the aucceas of hia researches has been equal
to the degree of his reaolntiou. His system of tho
dbyGoo^le
Chap. VU.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
86
genartt is mncli too copioos to be inacrtod here ; it u
Uierefore referred to a part of tbis work reserved for
an Bcconnt of him and his writJogB.
Kircher has given a compendiona view of the
genera,* together with the proportions of their com-
ponent intervab, in the tetrachord of each genua, by
the help whereof we are enabled to form an idea of
those varions progresBions that conatitnte the dif-
ference between the one and the other of them. But
though he profeEses to have in bis poaseaaion, and
to have perused the manoscripta of Aristoxenne,
Archytaa, Dtdymns, Eratosthenes, and others.f be
gives the prelereoce to Ptolemy in respect to his
division of the genera, and apparently follows the
elder Galilei, not indeed in the order, bat in the
method of representation. According to him the
species of the diatonic genns are five, namely, the
ditonlc or Pythagorean, the soft, the syntonous, the
toniac, and the equable. The following is his defi'
nition and representation of them severally In their
order, with his remarks on each : —
DITONIC or PYTHAGOREAN DIATONIC I.
* The Pythagorean or dltonic diatonic consists in a
' prc^resMon from the grave to the acute, through the
' tetracbord, by the interval of a lesser semitone, and
'two tones, each in the ratio of 8 to 9; and con*
' trary wise from the acaU to the grave by two tones
' and a lesser semitone, as in the following example : —
6144 Hypato meson
SYNTONOUS DIATONIC III.
'The third species, distingoiehed by the epithets
'syntonum incitatum, or hastened, proceeds from the
■grave. to the acute by an interval in the ratio of 15
' to 16, or greater semitone, a greater tone 8 to 9, and
' a lesser 9 to 10 ; and descends from the acute to the
■ grave by the same intervals.
GreatOT terms.
Seaqnioctave tone, 8 to 9
6912-
Besqnioctave tone, 8 to 9
— Lychanos bypaton
Lesser semitone, 243 to 256
8192 Hypato hypaton
■ This kind of progression is said to have been held
' in great estimation by the pbilosophera, particularly
'Plato and Aristotle, as having a conformity with the
'compMidon of the world and with nature itself.
SOFT DIATONIC IL
'The second or soft species of the diatonic genus
'proceeds from the grave to the acute by an interval,
' m the ratio of 20 to 21 ; the other intervals have
' a ratio, the one of 9 to 10, and the other of 7 to 8,
' as is hers represented : —
^63 Hypato meson
Ed 1 72 -
Sesqniseptima, 7 to 8
Sesqninona, 9 to 10
Seaquivigeeima, ^ to 21
—Lychanos hypaton
— Parypate hypaton
— Hypate hypaton
KriptgnsHnUU. It t« trot tint. Mum
BM t> !• bU ta*> In t h* Utamr of St. UiA, al^f
■ fiat BtUDber ot Greek BunuRlpU Out mn
84 ' ■ ■ ' ' Hypate niesoa
^ 8«*qniDoiia, 9 to 10 tone minor
a 40 Lfchaoot hypaton
^ SesqnioGtavB, S to 9 toiiG mqor
'g 45 Parypate hypaton
fSesquiquindecima, 16 to IG greater Kmit.
48 Hypate hypaton
TONIAO DIATONIC IV.
'The toniac, the fourth species of the diatonic
' genus, supposes snch a diapoaition of the totrachord
* as the first and aecond chords shall include an inter-
' val of 27 to 28 ; next an interval of 7 to 8, and
'lastly one of 8 to 9. Thus adjosted it will ascend
'from the grave to the acnte, and on the contrary
'descend from the acute to the grave, as in the
' example ; —
Greater tenna.
'168 -
! til]Kioriti«ii la uint.
iilc»,tbsainsnBiHnr
IIMalUlfOMi
— Parypato hypaton H
189 -
BesqniocUve, 8 to 9
)
Sesquiseptima, 7 to 6
- Hj'pate meson
- Lychanos bypaton
- Parypate hypaton
Sesqnivigesimaaeptima, 27 to 28
224 Hypate hypaton
EQUABLE DIATONIC V.
'The fifth and last species of this genus is the
' equable, proceeding in arithmetical progression from
' the grave to the acute, by the ratios of 11 to 12, 10
■to 11, and 9 to 10; and contrarywise from the
' acute to the grave ; —
6 55 9 Hypato mes^n
- '•^ Beaaninona
- Lychanos hypaton
- Parypate bypaton
12 Hypate hypaton
■ Ptolemy, whose fondness for analogies has already
'been remarked, reeembles the tetrachord thus con-
' stitnted to Theology and PolitJca.'
The chromatic genne, in die opinion of tbis anther
had three species, the ancient, the soft, and the ayn-
tonons, thus severally described by him : —
ANCIENT CHROMATIC I.
'This species proceeded by two semitones, and
' a trihemitone, that is to say, it ascended from the
' grave to the acnte, by a lesser semitone ; then by an
' interval somewhat ^eater, as being in^e ratio of
DntzrchyLlOOQlC
Sesqui
iondecima
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
BooKt.
'81 to 76 ; and lastly by an incomplete trihemitons,
' in the ratio of 19 to 16 : —
6144 Hypate meson
Trihemitone, 16 to 19
7296 LychanoB hypaton
Semitone, 76 to 81
Parypate bypaton
), 213 to 256
Hypata hypaton
SOFT OHROMATIO II.
' The chromatic molle was bo disposed, as that the
' lowest chord and the next to it had a ratio of 27 to
' 2^ the second and third 14 to IB, and the third and
' fourth 6 to 6 >-
SoaqniBexta, 6 to 7
77 -
- Hypate meson
- LycbanoB hypaton
4 — — Hypate meson
Ditone
6 Lychanos hypaton
Diesis
4 - ■ ' ■ '- Farypate hypaton
Diesis
2 Hypate hypaton
ENARMONIO OP PTOLEMY II.
' The Ptolemaic enarmonic, which was scwce
' formed before both the chromatic and enarmonic
' grew into ^s-esteem, ascended from the most grave
' to the next chord by an interval in the ratio of 45
' to 46, thence by one of 23 to 24^ and lastly by one
< of 4 to 5, which is scud to be a tme enhannonio
' ditone :— «
106 Hypate meson
Besquiqninta, 5 to 6
126 LychanoB hypaton
Sesqniqaartadodma, 14 to 15
136 Parypato hypaton
gegqniyigesimaseptima, 27 to 28
140 Hypate hypaton
SYNTONOUS CHEOMATIO III.
' In the chromatic syntonum the first and second
chords, reokonii^ from the lowest, were distant by
an interval in the proportion of 22 to 21, the second
was removed from the third by an interval in the
Sroportion of 12 to 11, and the third from the fourth
y one of a sesqnisexta proportion, which is as 6 to
7, OS here is shewn : —
(276 -
Sesqniqnarta, 4 to 6
Sesqnivigedma tortia J
- Hypato meaon
LychsnoB hypaton
tto24
Farypats hypaton
Besqoiundecima, 11 to 12
84 . Parypate hypaton
SeBqnivigesima prima, 21 to 22
88 Hypato hypaton
' Of this genus it is sud by Macrobins that it was
' deemed to be of an effeminate nature, and that it had
' a tendency to enervato the mind ;* for which reason
' the ancients very seldom nsed it ; Ptolemy resembles
' this tetrachord to ceconomics.'
The enarmonic the third and last in order of the
genera, seems to have been originally simple or
undivided into species; but the refinements of
Ptolemy led to a variation in the order of the «iar-
monic progression, which formed that spetnes dislin-
gniehed by his name, so that it may be said the
enarmonic contained two species, the andent and
the Ptolemaic. Kircher thus defines it ; —
ANCIENT ENARMONIC I.
' In this species the tetrachord ascended by two
'dieses, and an incomplete ditone, the seven! »•
'tioB whereof were as denoted by the following
' nnmbers : —
• Tide HMTOb. Id Somn. Sclpl«n tab. II. «p. It.
R I Sesqniqoadrageumaqninta, 45 to 46
^ (368 ■■ Hypato hypaton
Dr. Wallia has treated this subject of the genera
in a manner worthy of that penetration and sagacity
for which he is admired. It has been mentioned,
that of all the andents Ptolemy has entered the moet
minutely into a discussion of this doctrine ; he has
delivered the sentiments of many writers, which but
for him we should scarcely have known, and has
adjusted the species in such a way as to leave it
a doubt whether even Aristoxenus or he be the
nearest the truth : Dr. Wallis published an ediUon
of this Tsluable author, with a translation and notes
of his own ; to this work he has added an appendix,
wherein is contained a very elaborato and judicious
disquisition on the nature of the ancient music, snd
a comparison of the ancient system with that of the
modems. In this he has taken great pains to explain,
as far as it was posrible, the genera : the enarmonic
and chromatio he gives up, and speaks of as irre-
coverably lost ; but of the diatonic genus he ez-
presses himself with great clearness and precision;
for, after defining, as he doea very accnratoly, the
several spedes of the diatonic, he says, that one only
of them is now in practice; and, as touching the
question which of ^em that one is, he gives the
opinions of several musicians, together with his own;
and lastly shows how very small and inconsiderable
must have been the difference between those diviaons
that distinguish the spedes of the diatonic genus.
His words are nearly .dieee : —
' It now remains to discuss one point, which we
'have referred to this place, the genera and their
'colours or species. We have before sud that for
' many years only one of them all has been received
'in practice, and this is by all allowed to be the
' diatonic ; the enarmonic and all the chromatics, and
'the other diatonics, being laid aside. But it is
' matter of dispute whether it is the intense diatonic
' of Aristoxenns, or the ilitonic diatouic of Ptolemy,
Digitized
byGoo*^le
Ghat. Vni,
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
' or the inteiue distonic of the same Ptolemy ; that
' is to ny, when we sing a diuteeaaron from m or la
' in the grove towards the scute in the eyllablcB fa
' eoL LA, which ezpreu so many intervals, to ascertain
'the degree of m^:Ditnde which each of these in-
' tervals contains. The first opinion is that of Arie-
'toxenns, who, when be made rthe diatessaron to
'consist of two tones and a half, would have the
' greatest sonnd fa, to be a hemitone, and the other
' two BOL u, to be whole tones, which is the intense
'diatonic of this aatbor.* And In this manner
'n>eak all mnsicians even to this day, at least whea
'they do not profess to speak with nicety. Bot
'those who enter more minntely into the matter,
'will have what is nnderetood by a hemitone to be,
'not exactly the half of, but somewhat a little less
■than a tone; and this is demonstrated by EncHd,
' who in other respects was an Aristoxenean, though
'I do not know whether he was the first that did
' iL Euclid, I say, admitting the principles of the
'Pythagoreans in estimating the intervals of sounds
'by raUoe; and admitting also that a tone is in
'a seeqnioctave ratio, in hts harmonio introduction
'treats of the tones and hemitones in the same
' manner as do the Anstozeneans ; yet in his section
'of the canon he shows that what remuns after
' subtracting two tones from a diatessaron is less than
' a hemitone, and is called a limma, which is in the
'ratio of Mgi for if a diatessaron contains two tones
' and a half, then a diapason, which is two diatesaarons
'and one tone, must contain six tones; but a diapason,
' which has a duple ratio, is less than six tones, for
'a seaquioctave ratio six times compounded is more
'than daple;t a diapason therefore is less than six
'tones, and a diatessaron lees than two tones and
'a half.
CHAP. vni.
' Tbs next opbion is that of those, who, instead
'of a tone, tone, and hemitone, sobetitute a tone,
'tone, and limma. And these, if at any time they
'call it a hemitone, would yet have ns understand
' them to mean a limma, which differs very little from
' a hemitone, and therefore they will haye the syU
' table LA to express a limma,and the syllables sol la
'two tonea, that is |M^$X|^> ""^ *^ )» ^^
'ditonic diatonic of Ptolemy, bnt which was shewn
'by Euclid before Ptolemy; and it was also the
'diiatonic of Eratosthenes, as has been said above;
'and these have been the sentimenta of musicians
'almost as low as to our own times. Ptolemy
' himself, though he has given other kinds of diatonic
'genera, does not reject this ; and the rest who have
'spoken of this matter in a different way, did it
' more out of compliance with custom, than that they
'adhered to any contrary opinion of their own, as
'Ptolemy himself tells ns, lib. I. cap. xvi. And
'thus Boetius divides the tetrachord, and after him
'Guido Aretinue, Fabcr Stapulcnsis, Glareanns, and
'others; it is tnte, however, that, about the begiu-
* See lb* STnopdi, p. M, of Dr.
'■ AppendUj hertin^bvfon
t Ttdi li cictUtDtlr denmutiiM bj BotHui, lib. tll.'c
'ning of the sixteenth century, Zarlino, and also
'Kepler, resumed the intense diatonic of Ptolemy,
'and attempted to bring it into practice;^ but for
'this they were censured by the elder Galileo. §
'The third opinion, therefore, is that of those
'who, following Ptolemy, substituted in the place of
' a hemitone or linmia, a ecsquidccimaquinta ratio
MS' which they also call a hemitone; and for tho
'tODOS, both which the others had made to be in the
'ratio {, one they made to be in the ratio i^, so
' that ^ey compounded the diatessaron by tlie rotios
'15X1X^=4. "pressing by the syllable ha tho
' ratio \^, by sol that of jt, and by la ^, [| which
'is the intense diatonic of Ptolemy, and the diatonic
'of Didymns, except that be, changing the order,
'has«xVx|=J.
'And as they called ^ a greater hemitone, they.
' made the lesser |4> ^hich with ^ completes the
' lesser tone, as -fj X §^^ X = V> M>d is the difference,
'aa they say, between the greater and the lesser
'third. MersennoB adds two other hemitones, one
'in the ratio \^, which with -^ completes j the
' greater tone, and the other |4, which with || also
'makes up $ the greater tone.'^j
The above is an impartial state of the several
opinions that at different times have prevailed among
the modems, touching the preference of one or other
of the species of the diatonic genus to the rest.
Dr. Wallis is certunly right in saying, that to tb«
time of Boetioa, and so on to tho end of the sixteenth
century, the ditonic diatonic of Ptolemy prevailed,
for so much appears by the writings of those several
authors; and as to the latter part of his assertion, it
is confirmed by the present practice, which is to
consider the tetrachord as consisting of a sesqui-
decimaquinta ratio, a tone major, and a tone minor,
and to this method of division he gives the pre-
ference; bnt he closes his relation with a remark
that shews of how very little importance all enquiries
are, which tend to adjust differences too minute for
a determination by the seneee, and cognizable only
by the nnderetanding, and that, too, not till aftor^
a laborious investigation. His words are these : — [
'But as those species which we have mentioned'
' differ so very little from one another, that the nicest
' ear can scarcely, if at all, distinguish them, since the
'ratio {i from the ratio of a limma |M, as also the
' ratio of a greater tone f from ^ differ only by the
' ratio i^, which is so small that the cor can with
'difficulty discriminate between the one and the
' other of the two tones ; we must therefore judge
' not BO much by our senses, which opinion ought
I Dr. WalUa hai ■ Uttia mlatilun Kaplai Id Dili piKe : U ith nM (he
lotTDH dlibndc of Ptolcmr, but vt JMjmnt -fl X y X | =^ Out
t Oi)U» did not conUnt tor tha dltoiitc dlrklan of Ih* dlUoitc, bnt
dlrtilon.™™"" ' " ™ ™'
U. ni^ b* propel la murk, tbu In Ihli Mid Mher Innueei of lol-
on tbu ocenr In the puu^ nov qaoHni. Dr. Willli una the
mMbad of KbnlHtkiD bj Iba letncbordt, In ohtcb tha tylltblta vr ai
Are raj»ctad, and whLcb took pUc* about Iha yeu 1SA0. Sae Gliflbcd'a
CollactlDn of DlTlna Sarrkfa and Anthanu, pilDWd In tba jTMr Ittt.
dbyGooi^lc
mSTOBY OP THE SCIEKCE
'moBt to bo regarded, because the Benees would
'withoat any difficnlty admit any of them, but
' reamn greatly fevours the last.'*
There is yet another writer, with whoae senti-
ments, and a few observations thereon, wo shall con-
clude onr account of the genera; this was Dr. John
Christopher Pepasch, a man of no small eminence
in his profession, and who for many years enjoyed, at
least in England, the reputation of being the ablest
theorist of his time. In a letter to Mr. Abraham
de Moivre, printed in the Philosophical Transactions
of the year 1746, No. 481, he proposes to throw
Boms light upon the obscure subject of the ancient
species of muuc ; and after premising that, ac-
cordii^ to Euclid, the ancient scale must have
been eomposed of tones major and limmas, without
the intervention of tones minor, which in numbers are
tiius to be expressed, f 5?f I f M§ ^ h ^^ proceeds
in these words: — 'It was usual among (tie Greeks to
' consider a descending as well as an ascending scale,
tbe former proceeding from acute to grave pre-
ciMly by the same intervals as the latter did from
grave to acute. The first sound in each was the
proslarabanomenoB. The not distinguishing these
two scales, has led several learned modems to sup-
pose that the Qreeks in some centuries took the
proslambanomenoe to be the lowest note in their
system, and in other centuries to he the highest ; but
the truth of the matter is, that the proslambano-
menos was the lowest or highest note according aa
they considered the ascending or descending scale.
The distinction of these ia conducive to the variety
and perfection of melody; but I never yet met
with above one piece of music where the composer
appeared to have any intelligence of this kind.
The composition is about one hundred and fifty
or more years old, for four voices, and the words
are, — ' Yobis datum eat noecere mysterinm regni
' Dei, cceteris antem in parabolis ; ut videntee non
' videant, et audientes non intelligant' By the
choice of the words the author seems to allnde to
his having performed something not commonly
nnderstood.* The doctor then exhibits an octave
of the ascending and descending scales of the diatonic
genns of the ancients, with the names of their several
sounds, aa also the corresponding modem letters, in
the foUomng form : —
A Froslambanomenos ^ g
B f Hypate hypaton ^ f
0 ^^ Parhypate hypaton ^ e
D { Lychanos hypaton % d
E f Eypote meson f^ c
F 141^ Parhypate meson ^ b
G I Lychanos meson | a
a {- Mese G
He observes, that in the octave above ^ven, the
ProslambanomenoB, Hypate hypaton, Hypate meson,
and Mese, were called Stabiles, ^ra their remaining
fixed throughout all the genera and species; and
• Appaad. d* Vtt. Hum. til.
Lychanos bypaton, Parhypate meson, and Lydi
meson, were called Mobiles, because they varied
according to the different species and varieties of
music
He then proceeds to determine the question what
the genera and species were, in this manner : — ' By
' genus and species was understood a division of the
' diatcBsaron, containing four sounds, into three in-
'tervals. The Greeks constituted three genera,
' known by the names of Enarmonic, Chromatic,
' and Diatonic. The chromatic was subdivided into
' three species, and the diatonic into two. The threo
' chromatic species were, the chromaticnm molle, the
' seequialterum, and the tonieeum. The two diatonic
' species were, the diatonicum molle, and the inten-
' sum ; BO that they had six species in all. Some of
' these are in nse among the moderns, but Others are
' as yet unknown in theory or practice.
'I now proceed to define all these species by
' determining the intervals of which they severally
' consisted, beginning by the diatonicum intensum aa
' the most easy and familiar.
' The diatonicum intensum was composed of two
' tones and a semitone ; but, to apeak exactly, it con-
' sists of a semitone major, e, tone minor, and a tone
'major. This is in daily practice, and we find it
' accurately defined by Didymus in Ptolemy's Har-
' monies, published by Dr. Wallis.f
' The next species is the diatonicum molle, as yet
' undiscovered, as far as appears to me, by any
' modem author. Its component intervals are the
' semitone major, an interval composed of two semi-
' tones minor, and the complement of these two to
' the fourth, being an interval equal to a tone major
' and an enarmonic diesis.
' The third species is the chromaticnm toniieum,
' its component intervab are a semitone major buc-
' ceeded by another semitone major, and lastly, the
' complement of these two to the fourth, commonly
' called a euperflnons tone.
' The fonrth species is the chromaticnm sesqui-
■ alternm, which is constituted by the progression of
' a semitone major, a semitone minor, and a third
'minor. This is mentioned by Ptolemy as the
t Dr. WbHIi bu nmnrknl In thi puufn nbore dltd, that U imi Isnc
been unalter of coniroienj wlielhct Ihe ijitomof Ihemodenn cortei-
poDded wLtb t1i« Intcnfle UUlonlc i>r ArUtoicnna, the ditonlc dUIonic of
PtdlemT, or iHtbei Pyttauoru, orthe LuteoH of Ptolemy; and though ta«
no (Kbvr tiiu the InteBK dikraiie of PtoLem;, It li Ckr ttttm clear Ihkt
Ihe modam hiT* mm tuthn than btnly lo utmli In ihwrf nd In a
man* of muHried odcnUdoa the luter u Ihe moil ellgihle. Siliiui.
lib. III. cap. xitt. eontoidi tn lUfqiuUtTortixuii, uid titr ihe nnteqaent
necenityofdlMribntliif throufhout thedlapBjQD ijitem thote loterrila
bj wtakh the inMer tonea meted th« lM«er.
Boawmpi, Hilt. Mui. ISS. em thit that tempenmeni irblch makia
Ibe tnteiTili lirnthniaL ii to M looked npon m > dlTlM thtnf, and
juierta tbaC nowbere In EtaJj, Dorlndeed la Ennpe, doei tbe pnean af
dlacriadniUnc betirMti (be cnal*r atid leawt usa p(«*U in iba loidDC
Dl Ibe ornn, and that Ihe organ ut St. If aik*! cbapal at Venice, when
be hinuelt tang tor KTen jiean. conttnuad to he tuned vliboul leiaid to
tbii lUttihciion, notTltbitaniUnc what ZaiUno had wilttanand iheefbrta
be made lo nt it Tarled-
Tbg pnciM ba> lani been in tunln* tbe armn, and neb like inilra-
menti. lo mate the Afthi ai flat and the Ihlide u ihup at the eu win
c, ac., baTelniUrhsaiUlil tilde. Sothitafln
J eonirarj, It majr mj irell bt dndtted wbatttn
10 ii In dalljr piactlct or ngi.
dbyGoot^le
Chap. VIII.
AND PRAOTICE OF MUSIC.
39
'cbroDutic of Didymns.* Exunples among the
' moderaa axe freqnent
' Tb>'> fifth BpedcB is the chrometJcnm molle. Its
' intervob are two mtbeeqaent aemitones minor, and
' the complements of these two to the fourth, tlut is
'aa intern] componnded of a third minor and an
■ enarmonic diesla. This epeciea I never met with
' among the moderns.
'The sixtb and last species is the enarmonic.
' Salinas and others have determined this accnrstely.f
' Its intervals are the semitone minor, the enarmonic
' dieais, and the third major.
' Ebumplss of fonr of these species may be foond
'in modem practice. But I do not know of any
' theorist who ever yet determined what the chro-
' maticom toni»<im of the ancients was ; nor have
'any of them perceived the analogy between the
'diromattcnm aeaqnialtenun and onr modem chro-
' matic The enarmonic, so ranch admired by the
' andents, has been little in use among oar mtuiciane
' as yet As to the dlatonicmn intensnm, it is too
' obvions to be mistaken.'
The above-cited letter is very far from being
iriiat the title of it indicates, an explanation of the
varions genera and species of mnsic among the
ancients. To say the best of it, it contains very
little more than is to be met with in almost every
writer on the subject of ancient mnsic, except that
seemingly notable discoveiy, that the ancients made
nse of both an ascending and deacending scale, the
condderation whereof will be presently resumed,
Aa to the BIX Bpecies above enumerate^ the doctor
■ays four are in modem practice, bat of these four
be haa thought proper to mention only two, namely,
the diatonicnm mtenstun, and the chromaticnm ses-
qaialt«nun ; and it is to be wished that he had
Inferred to a few of those examples of the foar,
which he ex^ are to be fonnd ; or at least that he
• Uh. IL 09- x<v.
1 SiUbw da UhIs*, Ub. UL tap. OIL
had mentioned the authors in whose woi^s the latter
two of them occnr; and the rather, because Dr.
WalUs asserts that the enarmonic, all the chromatics,
and all bat one of the diatonics, for many years, he
might have said centuries, have been laid aside.
As to his asserUon that the Greeks made use of
both an ascending and descending scale, it is to be
remarked, that there are no notices of any such dis-
tinction in the writings of any of the Greek har-
moniciana. The ground of it is a composition about
one hundred and fifty years old, in the year 1746, to
the words of a verse in the gospel of St. Mark,} so
obscure, if we conuder them as referring to the
mnsic, that thw serve more to excite, than allay
curiosity ; and Dr. Pepusch coidd not have wished
for a fairer opportunity of displaying his learning
and ingenuity than ^ solution of this musical
enigma afforded him. Nay, bad he condescended
to give this compoeitioii in the state he found it, or
had he barely referred to it, the world would have
been sensible of the obligation. The only excuse
that can be alledged for that incommnnicative dis-
position which the whole of this letter betrays, is,
that the author of it subsisted for many years by
teaching the precepta of his art to young students,
and it was not his interest to divulge them. How
Isr the composition above-mentioned, which is not
yet two hundred years old, is an evidence of the
practice of the ancient Greeks, will not here be in-
quired into ; but it may gratify the curiosity of the
reader to be told that the author of it was Costanzo
Porta, a Franciscan monk, and chapel-master in the
church of St Mark, at Ancoua, and that it is pub-
lished at the end of a book printed at Venice in IfiOO,
entitled, ' L' Artusi, overo delle Imperfettioni della
modema Musica,' written by Giovanni Maria ArtuN,
an ecdesiastic of Bologna, of whom a particular
account will hereafter be given. As to the com-
position, it is for four voices, and ia as follows ;—
=|=-f^^=N^=^^^i '! 1 1 ' ^
Ml da-tom ert
Vo - Ui da-tunt eat
: M' • I M' t-f^iq=i-n-rn~^T^
^m
To • Ma da-tnm ert uo-aoe Mis ■ te • 1I urn, no • see Uls-te - rl - am)
dbyGoot^Ie
HIBTOEY OF THE SCIENCE
tcl • li • g«Dt, Dob Id ■ tel
dbyGooi^lc
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
tel - li - gont.
ArtDsi observes upon (his composition, which, the
better to shew the contriTuice of it, is here given
in score, that it ia a motet for four voices, and that
it my be snug two ways, that is to s&y, first, as the
cMi direct that are placed nearest to the notes, and
ifterwards tuming the top of the book downwards,
icom the right to the left ; taking the extreme cliff
for a gnide in naming the notes ; the consequence
whereoT will be, that the base will become the soprano,
the tenor the contralto, the contralto the tenor, and
llie soprano the base. Besides this, be says that the
second time of singing it, b must be assumed for &
and in other instances ba for ml He concludes with
a remark upon the words of this motet, that they
indicate that it is not {^ven to every one to under-
Btand compoutions of this kind.
Upon the example above adduced the remark Is
obnoQs, that it falls short of proving the use of both
an sscending and descending scale by tbe Greek
humonicians. In a word, it is evidence of nothing
more than the antiquity of a kind of composition, of
wliich it is probable Costanzo Porta might be the
mventor, namely that, where the parla are bo con-
trived as to be sung as well backwards as forwards.
In this he has been followed by Pedro Cerone, and
other Spanish mnmcians, and by our own countryman
Elway Bevin, and others, who seem to have thought
that the merit of a musical composition consisted
more in the intricacy of its construction than in its
■ptitode to produce the genuine and natural effects
of fine harmony and melody on the mind of an
unprejudiced hearer.
From tbe foregoing representations of the genera,
the reasons for the early preference of the diatonic
to the chromatic and enarmouic are clearly dedncible;
but notwithstanding these and the consequent rejec-
tion of the latter two by Guido and all his followers,
the ingenuity of a few specnlative musicians has
betraved them Into an opinion that they are yet
actually existing, and that with tbe addition of a few
intervals, occarionally to be interposed among those
that constitute the diapason, both the chromatic and
enarmonic genera may be brought into practice.
The first of these bold assertors was Don Nicola
Vicontino, an author of whom fwlher mention will
hereafter be made. . In a work entitled ' L'Antica
Musica ridotta alia Modema Prattlco,' published by
him at Rome in 1555, we find not only the tetra-
chord divided in such a manner as seemingly to
answer the generical division of the ancients, but
compositions actually exhibited, not only iu one and
tbe other of the genera, but in each of them severally,
and in all of them conjunctly, and this with such
a degree of persuasion ou his part that he had accur-
ately defined them, as seems to set all doubt at
defiance.
It is true that little less than this was to ha
expected from an author who professes in the very
title of his book to reduce the ancient music to
modem practice, but that he has succeeded in his
dbyG00*^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Boca L
attempt so few are disposed to believe, that in the
general estimation of the moat skilfnl professors of
the science, Vicentino's book has not its fellow for
musical absurdity.* And of the justice of this
uenanre few can entertain a donbt, that shall peruse
the following account of himself and of his studies : —
' To shew the world that I have not gmdgod the
' Ubonr of many years, as well for my own improve-
' ment, as to be useful to others, in the present work
'I shall publish all the three genera with their
' several species and commixtures, and other inven-
' tions never given to the world by any bod^; and
'shall shew in how msny ways it is possible to
• compose variously in the sharp and flat modes :
'though at present there are some professors of
' music that blame me for the tronble I take in this
'kind of learning, not considering the pains that
' roanv celebrated philosophers have taken to explain
' the doctrine of harmonics ; nevertheless I shall not
' desist from my endeavours to reduce to practice the
'ancient genera with their several species by the
' means of voices and instruments ; and if I shall
' fail in the attempt, I shall at least give such hints
' to men of genius as may tend to the improve-
' ment of music Wo see by a comparison of the
' music that we use at present, with that in practice
' a hundred, nay ten years ago, that the science ie
' much improved ; and I donbt not but that these
* improvements of mine will appear strange in com-
' psrison with those of our posterity, and the reason
'IB, that improvements are continually making of
' things already invented, but the invention and be*
'ginning of every thing is difficult; therefore I re-
' joice that God lus so Jar bvoured me, that in these
' days for his honour and glory I am able to ahew
' my honourable iace among the professors of music.
' It is true that 1 have studied hard for many years ;
' and as the divine goodness wss pleased to enlighten
' me, I began this work in the fortieth year of my
'age, in the year ISfiO, the jubilee year, in the
' happy reign of Pope Jtilius the Third ; since that
' I have gone on, and by continnal study have en-
' deavonred to enlarge it, and to compose according
'to the precepts therein contained, as likewise to
' teach the same to many others, who have made
'some progress therein, and particalarly in this
' illnstrions town of Ferrara, where I dwell at pre-
' sent, to the inhabitants whereof I have explained
' both the theory and practice of the art ; and many
' lords and gentlemen who have heard the sweetness
' of this harmony have been charmed therewith, and
' have taken pains to learn the same with exquisite
' diligence, because it really comprehends what the
' ancient writers shew. As to the diatonic genus, it
' was in nse in the music sung at public festivals, and
' in common places, but the chromatic and enarmonic
' were reserved for the private diversion of lords and
' princes, who had more refined ears than the vulgar,
'and were used in celebrating the pnuses of great
' persons and heroes. And, not to detract from the
• Tbii l> mnuked br Ci' Billlita Donl, In Um IndH mtlllcd
virtues of the ancient princes, flio most excellent
prince of Ferrara, Alfonso d'EsU, after having very
much countenanced me, has with great favour and
facility learned the same, and thereby shown to the
world the imago of a perfect prince ; and he, as he
has a most worthv name of eternal glonf in anna,
BO hos he acquired immortal honours by his skill m
the ftciences.'t ,■, , ■ t
In the prosecution of this his notable design of
accommodating the ancient mnuc to modem practice,
Vicentino has exhibited in the characters of modern
notation a diatonic, a chromatic, and an enarmonic
fourth and fiftii in all their various forms. 'The
following is an example of their several varieties,
taken from the third book of his work above-cited,
pdgfe 69 a, 69 b, 62 b, et seq. ;—
\DIATONIC FOURTHS.
CHROMATIC FIFT.^S.
B^
i^
ENARMONIC FIFTHS.;
Having thus adjusted the several intervalr^ **' "
fourth and fifth in each of the three gener *• ^'^^
author proceeds to exhibit certain compositions ."' '"^
own in each of them ; and first we have a ^™°^'
ipoeed by himself, and snug, as he says, ^^ "^'
dbyGoo^le
AND PEACrnCE OF Musia
chnrdi on the day of the regnrrection, u a Bpecimen
of the true chromatic i^
-t, et iB-temiii in
Ab an example of the euarmouic, he gires i
lowing, which u the beginning of a madrigal
parte: —
Allsluia.
the fol-
ia four
8o-it' e doWar do
ch« {n, plants xie - [d - ri -
nui^ of ^' notn in thli uid thfl roUndnf eumplq of tht
la psuit li InltndH Is dtnola Iha cnumonlB dloili u itEfimil !■
dbyGoot^le
M HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
And as a proof of the practicability of uniting all JULj_[__
the genera in one composition, he exhibita the fol- ffffP ^^
lo^ng madrigal for fonr voices, which ho says may "^ — ~
be snng in five ways, that is to say, as diatonic, as
chromatic, as chromatic and enamionic, as diatonic 4Ja
and chroma^c and lastly as diatonic, chromatic, and
enarmonic : —
chs dol-cemen-te, che dol
KircheF seeniB to think that Vicentino has suc-
ceeded in this his attempt to reatore the aacioDt
genera ; and if he has, either the discovery waa of
no worth, or the modems have a great deal to
answer for in their not adopting it The following
are the sentiments of Kircher touching Vicentino
and his cndeavonra to reduco the ancient music to
modem practico : — ' The first that I know of who
' invented the method of composing music in the
' three genera, according to the manner of the ancients,
' waa Nicolane Vicentinns ; * who when ho perceived
' that the division of the tetrachords according to tlie
' three genera by Boetiaa conld not suit a poly-
'phononi melotheaia and our ratio of composition,
' devised another method, which he treats of at large
' in an entire book. There were, however, not
' wanting some, who being strennons admirers and
ricmtlnoim llie flnt who
r«ritKnrilti>taii)TUin<
■lunipt If tliU Unl, bul
ft Muriu ill GbntnlUu MuHnl, to
a 111* tvs «
qoeKi dol-d In-mi, i
■nmsM ■ MnnirMitlciii Id ■
Krajub, itblck u prlBl«d In
dbyGoot^le
CUAP. IX.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSia
' defenders of andent mnaii:, cavilled at him wrotig-
'Mly and nndeeervedly for having changed the
'geDera that had been wisely instituted by the
' anciente, and pnt in their stead I know not what
' spurious genera ; but those who shall examine
' more closely into the affair will be obliged to con-
' fees that Vicentinus had very good reason for what
* he did, and that no oilier ciiromatic enarmonic
* polyphonons melothesia could be made than as he
'taught.'*
This declaration of Eirdier is not easily to be
reconciled with those positive assertions of his in the
Musnrgia, that the ancients were strangers to poly-
phonouB music ; and the examples above given are
all of that kind.
Bat waving this considerodon, whoever will be at
the pains of examining these several compositions,
will find it a matter of great difficulty to reconcile
them with the accounts that are given of the manner
of dividing the tetrachord in the several genera ; he
will not be able easily to discover the chromatic in-
terval of three incompoeite semitones; much less
will he be able to make out the enarmonic diesis ;
and much greater will be his difficulty to persuade
himself, or any one else, that either of the above
compositions can stand the test of an ear capable of
distinguishing between harmony and discord.
But all wonder at this attempt of Yicentino must
cease, when it is known that he contended with some
of the greatest musiciaus, his contemporaries, that the
modem or Guidonian Bystem was not simply of the
diatonic kind, but compounded of all the three genera.
He has himself, in the forty-third chapter of his
fonrth book, given a moBt curious relation of a dia-
pate between him and a reverend father on this
subject, which produced a wager, the decision
whereof was referred to two very skilful professors,
who gave judgment agtunst him. An account of this
diapate is contained in a sutweqnent chapter of the
present work.
O^^AT. IX.
It does not anywhere appear that the music which
gave rise to the controversy between Yicentino and
his opponents, was any other than what is in use at
this day ; which that it is the true diatonic of the
andenU is more than probable ; though, whether it
be the diatonicnm Pylhagoricum, or &e diatonicum
intensnm of Aristoxenus, of Didymus, or of Ptolemy,
has been thought a matter of some difBculty to
ucertain, bnt ia of little consequence in practice.
But we are not to understand by this thst the
music now in use is so purely and simply diatonic,
as in no d^^ree to participate of either the enarmonic
or chromatic genus, for tbere is iu the modern scale
such a commixtnie of tones and semitones as may
■erre to warrant a supposition that it partakes m
some measure of the ancient chromatic ; and that it
does BO, several eminent writers have asserted, and
seems to be the general opinion. Mondenr Brossard
laya, that after the division of the (one between the
Hese and Faramese of the ancients, which answer to
our A and ^ into two semitones, it was thought
that the other tones might be divided in like manner;
and that therefore the modems have introduced the
chroniatic chords of the ancient scale, and thereby
divided the tones major in each tetrachord into two
semitones : this, ho adds, was effected by raising the
lowest chord a semitone by means of this character,
tg, which was placed immediately before the note
so to be raised or on its place immediately ailer
the cliff. Again he says, tlist it having been found
tliat the tones minor terminating the tetrachorda
upwards were no lass capable of such division than
the tones major, they added the chromatic chords to
the system, and in like manner divided the tones
minor, so that the octave then became composed of
thirteen sounds and twelve intervals, eight of which
sounds are diatonic or natural, distinguished in the
following scheme by white notes thus, o and five
chromatic by black ones thus, • with the sharp sign,
which Brossard calls a double dlesu prefixed to each
of the notes so elevated : —
This, though a plausible, is a mistaken account of
the matter ; for first it la to be observed, this intro-
duction of the semitones into the system, was not for
the purpose of a progression of sounds different from
that in the diatonic genus : on the contrary, nothing
more was intended by it than to render it subservient
to the diatonic progresaion ; or, in other words, to
institute a progression in the diatonic series irom any
given choni in the diapason, and we see the deaign of
Uiis improvement in its effects.
For, to assume the language of the modems, if we
take the key of E, in which no fewer than four of the
sharp signatures are necessary, it is evident to demon-
stration that in the system of the diapason the tones
and semitones will arise preciselyin the same order .
as they do in the key of G, where not one of those
signatures are necessary, and the same, mutatis
mutandis, may be said of all the other keys with the
greater third ; and the like will be found in those
with the lesser third, comparing them with that of
A, tiie prototype of them alLf
From hence it follows, that the use of the above
signatures has no efiect either in the intension or
remission of the intervals ; but the same remain, not-
withstanding the application of them the same as in
the diatonic genus.
It is true, that since ttie invention of polyphonons
or symphoniaca) music, a species of harmony of
which the ancients seem to have been totally
ignorant ; among the vanous combinations that may
occasionally occur in a variety of parte, some may
arise that shall nearly answer to the chromatic in-
tervals, and it shall sometimes happen that a given
note shall have for its accompaniment those sounds
that constitute a chromatic tetrachord ; and of this
opinion are some of the most skilful modem organists,
r t Dlcilaiutn it Hnilqiw, Anlett Srni
1 ISutb- ■ -' ■ —
dbyGoo*^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
wbo are mclin«d to tliink that Uiey eometimes use the
chromatic iotervalB, without knowing that the; do
BO.* But the qneation in debate can only be da-
termined by a compariBon of the melody of the
moderns with that of the ancients ; and in that of
the modems we meet with no each progression as
that which is oharactcriaed by three incomposite
semitones and two semitones, which is the least
precise division of the tetracfaord that any of the
ancients have given us.
Out comitryman Morley gives hie opinion of the
matter in the following words ; — ' The music which
' we now use ia neither just diatonic, nor right
' chromatic Diatonicnm is that which is now in use,
'and riseth throughout the scale by a whole noto, a
' whole note, and s lesser or half note. A whole note
'is that which the Latins call Integer Tonus, and
'is that distance wliich is tietwixt any two notes,
'except mi tnija; for betwixt mi tad Jit is not a
' full halfe note, but is lease tiun halfe a note by a
* comma, and therefore called the leaser halfe note, In
'this manner : —
'Chromationm is that which riseth by semitoninm
' minus, or the less halfe note, the greator halfe note,
' and three h^s notes thus ;—
'The greater halfe noto betwixt Ja and mt in b
'Ja J] fflt. Enormonicnm is that which riseth by
'diesis, diesis (diesis is the halfe of the lesse halfe
' noto) and ditonus ; but in our mnsicke I can give no
'example of it, because we have no halfe of a lesse
' semitonum ; but those who would shew it set down
' this example
' of enarmonicnm, and mark the diesis thus x as it
' were the halfe of tbe apotome or greaUr halfe noto,
' which is marked thus A. This sign of the more
'halfe noto we uow-a-daies confound with onr b
' square, or signe of mi in \j mi, and with good
' reason ; for when mt is sung in b /a h *nt, it is in
' that habitude to a la mi re, aa the doable diesis
< msjceth F Ja vt sharpe to £ la mt, for in both
'places the distaoce is a whole noto; but of this
' enough : and by this which is already set downe, it
'may evldentlie appeare that this kind of musick
' which is nsnol now-a-daies, is not fully and in
' every respect the ancient diatonicnm ; for if you
' begin any four notes, wnging «*, re, mi, Ja, you
' 8^1 not find either a flat in £ la mt, or a sharp in
'V fa vt; so that it must needes foUow that it is
'neither just diatonicnm nor right chromatioom.
• It ta ilH bU, thM In pwum al notat In ncstola) O* cliraDiMie
lam eeeur. Tb« fnllnrlac sat DBSommco |i>iu|* !•
impli of lb* hnnlollu « H«qiililtBil chmUlc !—
' Likewise by that which is udd it appeueth Uui
' point, which our organista its&—
' is not right chromatics, but a bastard point, patched
< up of halfe chromaticke and half diatonick. Lastlie,
' it eppearetb by that which is said, that those vir-
' ginals which our unlenmed mnsytlans cal cromatica
' (and some also grammatica) be not right ohromAtica,
' but half enharmonica ; and that al the chromatica
' may be expressed uppon our common virginals ex-
' cept this : —
' for if you would thinke that the sharpe iu g lol re
' ut would serve that tume by experiment, you shall
' find that it is more than halfe a quarter of a noto too
'low.'t
From hence we may conclude in general, tliat the
system as it stands at present, is not adapted to the
chromatic genus ; and were there a possibility, which
no one can admit, of rendering the chromatic tolerable
to a modem ear, the revival of it would require what
has often been attempted in vain, a new and a better
temperament of the s}-8tem than the present
From the several hypotheses above stated, and the
difiereut methods of dividing the totrachord in each
genus, it clearly appears that among the most ancient
of the Greek harmonicious there was a great diversity
of opinions with respect to the constitution of the
genera. And it also appears that both the chromatic
and enarmonic gave way to the diatonic, as being the
most natural, and best adapted to the general sense of
harmony ; indeed it is very difficult to account for
the invention and practice of the former two, or to
persuade ourselves that they could ever be rendered
grateful to a judicious ear. And alW all tiiat has
been said of the enarmonic and chromatic, it is highly
probable that they were subservient to oratory, or tn
short that they were modes of speaking and not of
ainging, the intervals in which they ooneiat not being
in any of the ratios which are recognized by the ear
as consonant
Another subject in harmonics, no less involved in
obscurity, is the doctrine of the Modes, Moods, or
Tones, for so they are indiscriminately termed by
such as have professed to treat of them. The appel-
lation of Moc^ has indeed been given to the various
kinds of metrical combination, used as well in music
as poetry, and were tlie word Tone less equivocal
than Mode, it might with propriety be substituted in
the place of the former. Euclid has given no fewer
than four senses in which the word Tone is accepted; (
whereas that of Mode or Mood is capable of bnt two ;
and when it is said that these appellations refer to
subjects so very different from each other aa sound
i PIdM >Bd tuit Intndoethm In PncOoIl Unilekt^ AniiotMfcai
(DPutl.
t laoos. HinaoB. si. nn. Kdbom, ;■(. It. it tU* 1Mb. Ib Im
dbyGoot^le
CuiP. IX.
AND PRAOTICE OP MUSIC.
and duration, that is to say tone and time, there can
be little donbt which of the two is to be preferred.
To consider the term Mode in that which ia con-
ceiTod to be ita moat eli^ble senae, it signifies a
certain series or progrsaaon of soonds. Seven in
number at least are necessary to determine the nature
of &e progression ; and the distinction of one mode
from ano^er arises from that chord in the system
from whence it is made to commence ; in this respect
the term Mode ia strictly synonymous with the word
Key, which at this day is so well understood as to
need no explanation.
Aa to the number of the modes, there hu snbusted
a great variety of opinions, some reckoning thirteen,
others fifteen, others twelve, and others bnt seven ;
and, to speak with precision, it is as illimitable as
the namber of aoonds. The sounds that compose
any given series, with respect to the de^p-ee of
Bcnmeu or gravity assigned to meb, are capable of
on innamerable variety; for aa a point or a line may
be removed to places more or leas distant from eatm
other od infinitnm ; in like manner a series of sounds
may be infinitely varied, as well with respect to the
decree of acnmen or gravis, as the portion of each
in the system ;* we are therefore not to wonder at
tlie diversity of opinions in this reepect, or that
while some limit Uie modes to seven, others contend
Cor more than double that nnmber.
At what time the modes were first invented does
DO where clearly appear. Bontempi professes him-
self at a loss to fix if ;-|' bnt Aristides Quintilianni
intimates that they were known so early as the time
of Pythagoraa;} and considering the improvements
he made, and that it was he who perfected the great
or immutable system, it loight natoially be anpposed
thai he was the inventor of them ; but the contrary
of this is to be inferred from a paas^e in Ptolemy,
who says that the ancients supposed only three modes,
the Dorian, the Phrygian, and the Lydian,§ denomi-
nations that do but ill agree with the supposition
that any of them were invented by Pythagoras,
who it is well known was a Samion. Bat Jarther,
Aristides Qnintilianus, in the posaoge above referred
to, has given the choracteristical letters of aU the
fifteen modes according to Pythagoras; so that ad-
nutdng him to have been the inventor of the ad-
ditional twelve, the institution of the three primitive
modes is referred backwards to a period anterior
to that in which the system is sud to have been
perfected.
Euclid relates that Aristoxenos fixed the nmnber
of the modes at thirteen, that is say, 1. The Hyper-
mixolydian or Hyperphrygian. 2. The acuter Mix-
olydiui, called also the Hyperiastian. 3. The graver
li^xolydian, called also the Hyperdorian. 4. The
acoter Lydian. fi. The graver Lydian, called also
the .^olion. 6, The acuter Phiygian. 7. The
graver Phrj^ian, called also the Lulian. 8. The
Dorian. 9. T^e acuter Hypolydian. 10. The graver
Hypolydion, called also the Hypoceolian. 11. The
• WalUi. ApHid. it T*t H«ra. pu. 111.
f BtoMc. Hu. rt- IM.
I Llk I. f€- A a. >«n- Hclbim.
acnter Hypophrygian. 12. The graver Hypophry-
gian, called also the Hypoioetian. 13. The Hypo-
aorian.|| The moet grave of these was the Hypo-
dorian ; the rest followed in a succession towards the
acute, exceeding each other respectively by a hemi-
tone ; and between the two extreme modes was the
interval of a diapason.^
The better opinion however scema to be, that
there are in nature bnt seven, and as touching the
diversity between them, it is thus accounted for. The
Proalambanomenos of the bypodorian, the gravest of
all the modes, was, in the judgment of the andents,
the moet grave sound that the human voice could
utter, or that the hearing could distinctly form a judg-
ment of; they made Uie Proslambonomenos of the
hypoiastian or graver hypophrygian to be acnter
by a hemitone than that of the hypodorion ; and
conaeqnently the Hypate of the one more acute by
a hemitone than the Hypate of the other, and so on
for the rest; so that the Proslambonomenos of the
hypoiastian was in the middle, or a mean between
the Proalambanomenos of the hypodorian and its
Hypate hypaton. The ProslambaDomenoe of the
acnter hypophrygian was atill more acute by a hemi-
tone, and consequently more acute by a whole tone
than the hypodorian, and therefore it coincided with
the Hypate hypaton of that mode, aa is tbns re-
presented l^ Ptolemy, liK II. cap. xi**
- Hypermixolydian
- Mixolydian
- Lydian
■ Phry^an
- Dorian
■ Hypolydian
- Hypophrygian
■ Hypodorian
Those who contended for fifteen modes, among
whom Alypins is to be reckoned, to the thirteen
above ennmerated, added two others in the acute,
which they termed the Hyperlydian and Hyper-
ieolian.f|-
But against this practice of increasing the modes
2r hemitonea, Ptolemy argues most strongly in the
eventh chapter, and also in the four preceding
chapters of the second book of his Harmonics : and
indeed were it to prevail, the modes might be
multiplied without end, and to no purpose. Not-
withstanding this, Martianus Gapella contends tot
fifteen and Gloreanus for twelve modes ; bnt it is to
i. da ViUHum.' pa|. lU
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book I.
be observed, that both these latter writers are, iu
roapect of the Greek harmoiitcians, coDBidared as
mero modernB ; and beeidca these there are certain
other objections to their testimony, which will be
mentioned in their proper place.
As to the two additional modes mentioned hy
Alypins, they aeem to have been added to the former
thirteen, more with a view to regularity in the names
and positions of the modes, than to any particnlar
use; and perhaps there is no assignable period of
time dutiug which it may with truth be said, that
more than thirteen were admitted into practice.
Ptolemy however rejects as spurious six of the
thirteen flowed by the Aristoxeneans, and this in
consequeDce of the position he had advanced, that
it was not lawful to encrense the modes, by a hemi-
tone. It is by no means necessary to give bis
reasons at large for limiting the number to seven, as
his doctrine contains in it a demonstration that the
encrease of them beyond that number was rather
a corruptjon than an improvement of the harmonic
science. As to the three primitive modes, the
Dorian, the Phrygian, and the Lydian, each of them
was situated at the distance of a sesqnioctave tone
from that next to it,* and therefore the two extremes
were distant from each other two such tones ; or, in
other words, the Phrygian mode was more acata
than the Dorian by one tone, and the Lydian more
acute than the Phrygian by one tone ; consequently
the Lydian was mora acute than the Dorian by two
tones.
To these three modes Ptolemy added four others,
making together seven, which, as he demonstrates,
are all that nature can admit of. As to the Hyper-
mixolydian, mentioned by him in the tenth cluptar
of bis second book, it is evidently a repetidon of the
hypodorian.
MIXOLYDIAN
LYDIAN
PHRYGIAN
DORIAN
HYPOLYDIAN
HYPOPHRYGUN
HYPODORIANf
The above is the order in which they are given
by Euclid, Gaudentins, Bacchins, and Ptolemy him-
self, though the latter, in the eleventh chanter of hia
second hook, has varied it by {facing uie Dorian
first, and in consequence thereof transposing all the
rest ; but this was for a reason which a closer view
of the Buliject will make it unnecessary to explain.
Having proceeded thus iar in the endeavour to
distinguish between the legitimate and the spnrioua
modes, it may now be proper to enter upon a more
particular investigation of their natures, and see
if it be not pcusible, notwithstanding that great
divernty of opinion that has prevailed in the world,
to draw from those valuable sources of intelligence
iho ancient harmonic writers, such a doctrine as may
• VlBH. Appod. p«f . 111.
afford some degree of satisilfition to a modem en-
quirer. It must bo confessed that this has been
attempted by several writers of distinguished abil-
ities, and that the success of their labours has
not answered the expectations of the world. The
Italians, particularly Fianchinns, or aa he is also
called, GaffurioB, Zaccone, Zarlino, Galilei, and others,
have been at mfinite puns to explain the modes of
the ancients, but to llUle purpose^ Eircher has also
undertaken to exhibit them; but notwithstanding
bis great erudition and a seeming certunty in all he
advances, his testimony is greatly to b9 suspected ;
and, if we may believe Meibomius, whenever he
Erofcsses to explain the doctrines of the andents,
e is scarcely intitled to any degree of credit The
reason why these have failed in their attempts is
obvious, for it was not till a^r most of them wrote,
that any accurate edition of the Greek harmoniciana
was given to the world : so lately as the time when
Morley published his Introduction, that is to say in
the reign of queen Elisabeth, it was doubted whether
the writings of some of the most valuable of them
were extant even in manuscript ; and it seemed to
be the opinion that they had perished in that general
wreck of literature which has left us just enough
to guess at the greatness of onr loss.
To the several writers above-mentioned we may
add Glareanus of Basil, a contemporary and intimata
friend of Erasmus ; but he cotuesseB that he hod
never seen the Harmonics of Ptolemy, nor indeed
the writings of any of the Grpek Harmoniciana, and
that for what he knew of them he was indebted to
BoetiuB and Franchinus. From the perusal of tfaeee
anthers he entertained an opinion that the number
of the modes was neither more nor less than twelve ;
and, confounding the ancient with the modem, or, aa
they are denominated, the ecclesiastical modes, which,
as originally instituted by St Ambrose, were only
four in number, but -were afterwards by 5t Gregory,
about the year 600, encreased to eight, he adapted
the distinction of authentic and pl^al modes, and
left die subject more perplexed thim he found it
To say the truth, very few of the modem writ«ra
in the acconnt they give of the modes are to b«
depended on ; and among the ancients, so great ia
the diversity of opinions, as well with respect to the
nature as the nnmW of them, that it requires a great
deal of attention to understand the designation of
each, and to discriminate between the genuine and
thoee that are spurious. In general it is to be
observed that the modes answer to the species of
diapason, which in nature are seven and no more,
each terminating or Iiaving its final chord in a re$;nlar
succession above that of the mode next preceding :
for instance, the Dorian, which iiad its situation in
the middle of the lyre or system, hod for its final
note hypate meson or E ; the Hypolydian, the next
in situation towards the grave, had for its final chord
parhypate mason or F ; and the Hypophrvgian, the
next in situation towards the grave to tna Hypo-
lydian, had for its final chord lychanos hypaton ot Q;
so that the differencea between the modes in suc-
cession, vrith respect to their degrees of gravity,
Digitized
byGoo^le
Chap. X.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSia
corresponded with the order of the tonee and semi-
tonee in the diatomc series. Bnt it seems that thoee
of the ancient barmoDiciaiiB, who contended for
K grenter number of modes than seven, effected an
encreaae of them by making the final chord of each
in Booceeeioa, % semitone more acute than that of the
next preceding mode : and against this practice of
augmenting t£e modes by semitonea Ptolemy has
expressly written in the eleventh chapter of the
•eooud book of his Harmonics, and thM with ench
force of reason and u^nment, aa cannot fail to con-
vince every one that reads and nnderstanda him, to
which end nothing can so moch conduce as the
attentive pemsd of that learned Appendix to his
Harmonics of Dr. Wallis, so often cited in iJie conrse
of this woi^
Beradea Uus Appendix, the world is happy in the
posiMsion of a discoarse entitled. An Explanation of
the Modes or Tones in the ancient Gnedan Music,
by Sir Francis Haskins Eylee Stilea, Bart, F. R. 8.,
and published in the Philoeophical TransactioDa for
the year 1760; and by the aadstance of these two
valuable tracts it !s hoped that thie abetrnse part of
mnsical science may be rendered to a great degree
intelligible.
CHAP. X.
To conceive aright of the nature of the modes, it
most be understood, that as there are in nature three
different kinds of diatessaron, and also four different
kinds of diapente ; and as the diapason is composed
of these two systems, it follows that there are in
natore seven species of diapason.* The difference
among these several systems arises altogether from
the different position of the semitone in each species.
To explain this difference in the language of the
ancient writers would be very difficult, as the terms
naed by them are not so well calculated to express
the place of the semitone as thoee syllables invented
by the modems for that sole purpose, the practice
whereof is termed solmisation. We must therefore
eo far transgress ^lainst chronological order, as, in
conformity to the practice of Dr. Wallis, to assume
these syllables for the purpose of diatingnishlng the
several species of diatessaron, diapente, and diapason,
reserving a particular account of their invention and
oae to its proper place.
To begin with the diatessaron ; it contuns four
chords and three intervals ; its species are also three :
the first is sud to be that which has la, the character-
istical ratio or sound of the diatesaaron, as mi ia of
the diapente and diapason, in the first or more acute
place ; the second which hath it in the second, and
the third which hath it in the thlrd.f
Enclid defines these several speciee by the appel-
latrvee that denote their situation on the lyre, viz.,
BapvTwrvoi fiarypyknoi, MtaowvKyoi Meeopyknoi,
and OlumKyoi Oxypyknoi4 meaning by the first
the series from Hypaton hypaton to Hypate meson,
• Vld< PtolnB. Hum. Ub. II. tmr- li. n Ten. WiUli. WtllU.
Apwod. de Vet. Hiim. i»g. ll<l. Euclid. Intrdd, Hum. pu. If.
a Ten. Hdbetn. Klich. Xuiorg. lam. I, cap. it. xA.
i Will. Appvnd. d* Vet. Hum, pu. nO,
I InttDd. Bum. pig. IJ. ex len. Melb,
which we eing in asoending from the grave to the
acute h^ the syllables fa, bol, la; by the second,
the senes from Parhypate hypaton to Parhypat«
meson, sol, la, fa; and by tiie third, that from
Lycbanos hypaton to Lycbanoe meson, fa, sol. la.§
As to the other series here under exhibited from
Hypate meson to Meae, it is inserted to shew that
the diatessaron is cspable of bnt three mutations ;
for this latter will be found to be precisely the same
as, or in truth but a bare repetition of, the first, || as
is evident in the following scales, in which the
extreme or grave sound from whidi we ascend, is
distinguished by a difference of character ; the syl-
lables being ever intended to express the intervals
or ratios, and not the chords themselves.
SPECIEa of the DIATESSARON IIL
Mesa a la
Oeol
F fa
Hypate meson E la li
Dsols<
C fa
Hypate hypaton B w hi
1
The above is the l^racbord hypaton of the great
system ; bnt as a diapente contains five chords and
four intervals, to explain the nature of the several
species included in that system a greater series is
reqm'red ; it is therefore necessary for this purpose
to moke nse of ihnaa two tetrachords between which
the diezeuctic tone may be properly interposed ; and
these can be no other than tiie tetrachord Meson, and
the tetrachord Diezeugmenon. It bos been jnst said
that the characteristic syllable of the diapente is U,
and this will be found to occur in the first, second,
third, and fourth places of the following example of
the poedble variations in that system, the consequence
whereof is, that the first species is to be sung fa, sol,
LA, m, the second sol, la, hi, fa, the third la, m,
FA, SOL, and the fourth mi, fa, sol, la, as in the
following scales : —
SPECIES of tiie DIAPENTE IV.
b
■ol
■ol
h
&
&
u
U
1.
L*
»I
.,1
.».
b
•i
S
HI
2
Kete dieuogmenoD
• U
U
dKl
sol
•d
c fa
^
b
&
Fumot
bmi
mi
mi
mi
mi
Hw
• U
!•
Ia
1.
LA
Oiol
K.1
■ol
BOL
i
F i
&
FA
3
Hypite meEOD
Ela
LA
2
1
These sre aU the mntstioiiB of which the diapente
is capable ; that an additional series, namely, that
from ]} to f, was not inserted se a proof of it, agree-
able to what was done in respect to the next pre-
ceding diagram, was becanse between \j and f the
diazeuctic tone marked by the syllable xi doea no
where oconr: or. In other words, thst series is
» semidiapente or fidse fifth, containing only three
tonee, which is lees by a semitone, or, to speak with
I WaJUi. Immi. d. Trt. Hum. gtf. SIS.
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OF THE 8CIEKCE
Book L
pradBion, a Umma, than a true diapente. Ab for
example:
\j Semitone c Tone d Tone e Semitone f
and were another aeries to be added, it must begin
from HI or |[] ; now the d'azenctic tone is the interral
between a and \j, and conseqnenlil; is out of the
pentachord.*
To distJognish the seven apecies of dinpaaoD, two
■coiyunat diapasons are required; for example, from
Pr^kmbanomenos to Nete hyperboleon, to be sung
bjr the ayllablee i.a, h, r^ sol, la, mi, fa, soi^ la,
TA, BOL, LA,f in which series will be foond all the
seven apedee of the diapason ; and that there are no
more inll appear by a repetition of the experiment
made in the c«ee of the diatesBaron ; for were we to
prooeed farther, and after the seventh begin from
a or LA, the Encceuion of eyllablea wodd be in pre-
cisely the same order as in the first series, which is
a demonstration that those two apecies ard the same,}
SPECIES of the DIAPASON VII.
Nete hyperboleon aa la
g sol
f fa
HSM
b mi
a la
Gsol
F &
E la
D sol
C bTi
B mi|n
ProdambukomenoB A
From hence it appears, that to exhibit all the
various species of diapason, a less system than the
disdiapaeon would have been insnfBcient ; for though
the same sonnda, as to power, return after the single
diapaeon, yet all the spedea are not to be found
therein. Ptolemy defines a system to be a con-
sonauoe of consonances ; adding, that a system is
called perfect, as it oonlaius all the consonances with
their and every of their ape(»es;|| for that whole
can ouly be said to be perfect, whidd contuns all the
parts. According therefore to the first definition,
the diapason is a system, aa is also the diapason and
diateeearon, the diapason and diapente, and the dis-
diapason ; for every of these is oompoeed of two or
more consonances ; but, according to the second defi-
nition, the only perfect system is the disdiapason;
fOT that, which no lew system can do, it contains six
consonances, namely, the diatessaron 1, diapente 2,
diapason 3, diapason and diatessaron 4, diapason and
diapente $, and disdiapason 6 ;^ and nature admits
of no other.
The above scales declare the spedfio difference
between the several kinds of diatessaron, diapente,
and diapason, by shewing the place of the semitone
Salinas,** by a discrimination of the greater and
lesser tone, has increased the number of combinations
of the diatessaron to ux in this manqer : —
■ WiUk. AppBid. da Vat. Hns. trng. 11).
Three speuea of Diatessann
VX Six species of Diatessaron.
|240
[216
J 192 ]!»> M16Q 1 1** I 135 )120 | Ipg
-^v_1
Tone major. Semit, Tone
I. I.
Tone min. Semit. Tone maj. Tone ■
3
dbyGoot^Ie
Okaf. X.
ANP PBAOTIOE OP MUSia
a
) which, each of the diateasaroiu is Beeidea these, Salinaa hu Bhewn the following six
nude to consist of s hemitone, tone, end tone ; yet other apedee of diateMaron ; in his opinion not leu
ont of the above mx combinations, we see that these true thu those above exhibited : —
futerv^ do xtot oocur twice in the same order.
_ I 27 |24
0108. D8np.160. E144. P13S. G 120. a 108. Jh96. c 90. d81. 672.
Tom nujor. Tone minor. Semk. Tone najor. Tone miii. Tone aai. BamiL Tone mio. Tone nujor.
It seems however that he has considered that as
It diateesaron, which in truth ia only nominally so,
sunely, the Tritontu between F and ]] ; * l^e sitn-
•tioB whereof, in reapect to the others in the above
diagram, seems to have sDggested to him a motive
for inserting ftom Bede an acconnt of a very oorioas
method of divinaiion, fonnerly practised, which ie
here, with some amsll variation, translated from
'It ia very credible that this disposition gave
' rise to that well-known gam:e, the design whereof
' is to divine when three men placed in order have
' dietribated among themselves Uiree lots of different
'magoitadee, which of those lots each person has
' received ; which most be done aAer eix manners,
'and those the same by which the diatessaron ia
'divided, and its intervals placed in order as we
' have shewn, that ia to say, each lot may be twice
' placed in each of the three sitnations ; for the three
'men answer to the three places, the first to the
' grave, the second to the mean, and the third to the
' acnte ; and the three lots of different magnitndee to
' the three intervals also of different quantity ; the
' greater to the greater tone, the middle to the leseer
' tone, and the least to the semitone. This method
' of divination is performed by the help of twenty-
'four little stonee, of which tiie diviner himself
' gives one to the first, two to the second, and three
'to the third, with this injunction, that he who has
'received the ereateat lot, do take np ont of the
'ranaining eighteen atones as many as were at first
' diitribated t« him; he who has the lot in the middle
'degree of magnitade, twice as many as he has ; and
'he that has Uie least lot, four times aa many as he
'also baa. By this means the diviner will be able to
'know from the nnmber of stones remaining, which
' of the things each person has ; for if the distri-
'bnUon be made after the first manner, there will
• Balfnu na Muriu, lib. IV. i^. lU,
' be one left ; if after the second two, if after the
' ^rd three, if after the fourth five, if after tho fifth
' six ; and, lastly, if after the sixth seven ; for there
' can never four remain, for which a twofold reason
' may be assigned ; the one from the disposal of tho
' inatitnent, who from tho truth of the thing, though
' perhaps the reason thereof was not known by him,
' was impelled to constitute the game in this manner.
" Htuid equidem dne msate reor, siae unmme divQm."
'The other taken from the constant and settled
' order of the harmonioal ratio ; but four cannot
' possibly remain, because the first and third persons
' having received an uneven number of stones, either
' of them must, if he have the greatest lot, take up
' an uneven nnmber also ; as by die injunction of the
'institnent, he was to take np as many stones aa
* were at first distributed to hmi ; and an uneven
'niunber being taken ont of an even one, the re-
' mainder mnst necessarily be uneven ; but as each
'of them may have the greatest lot twice, there
■must be four oneven remainders of stones out of
' the six changes ; as to the second, he can have it
' oidy twice ; because as he has an even nnmber, and
'lakes up a nnmber equal thereto, there must an
' even nnmber remain ; for the others must also take
* up even numbers, as they are enjoined to take np
' twice, and fonr times as many as they had received ;
'and the greatest lot may fall to the second person
'in two cases, for either the first may have the
' middling, and the third the smallest, and then the
■ remainder will be two ; or oontrarywise, and then
' there will remain six ; and as the greatest lot can-
* not come three times to the second, it is plain that
' the third even number, which is four, cannot by any
■ means be left. But the other reason taken from
' the harmonical ratio, is much truer and stronger ;
' for as it is shewn in the seven sounds of a diapason
'from 0 to c, that a diatessaron may be produced
' towards the acute from six of them, that is to say.
dbyG00*^lc
HISTORY OF THE SOIENOE
'the fiist, Bocond, third, fiflh, nxth, and eeventh, the
'fourUi being passed over becaose the diategaaron
' cannot be produced therefrom ; bo also in this play
' the uomber four is poseed over as having no con-
■cera therein; bnt it does not happen bo in the
'compoBition of instromental harmony, for though,
' as is shewn in tlie last example above, the fbnrtfa
' sound from 0 mahes a tritone, with its nominal
' fourth above it, it is not to be excluded from the
'seriea. Neither is the diapason from this fourth
*.unnd from 0, viz., F, to be totally rejected; for
though hy reason of the tritone it cannot be arith-
'metically divided as the other six may, yet may
' it be divided harmonically. Z should by no means
'have made mention of tiiis game, being appre-
' henrive that I may be tbought to trifle on so seriona
'an affair, but that I look upon it as an example
'very mnch suited to explain the subject we are
'trealiiw of; and I did it the more willingly, be-
'cause I fonnd it particalariy treated of by Bede,
'sumamed the Venerable, a most grave man, and
'deeply learned both in theology and secular arts,
'iVom whence we may conjectore that it has been
' invented above one thousand years," *
Bnt, to return from this di^ession, notwithstand'
ing the species of diapason are manifestly seven, the
modes seem originally to have been but three In
inqnr i ■! idIbm, hx : •« ■! denlaiu
•utOiHpian. N«aa aiutiuriuiqiuinBotnnBt •npanue, cBjiu dupln
ntia poUituriniaiL Allan, si uUtito Initmnitla it Ibu nl nrtuu
hnitu IIU sum oofiilta id limm •tc InKUoMiiliiin Impnlii.
■ Bud «qnlil<iB liiM DieDla not, ihw nuBilu dl*11m.'
•d liiUltiinidiim>ltb>t,tiuu>M IddroomuiHn nan pomint, qDimiiim
■rimiu.*ti«nlul«illlalmpu«iiu«p(n»l: (t BDm « ]•§• tst, gnat
kabant, acdpan lanautur. il mtiliMni hibebiuil, utuinanl fmiiuH :
qniboa « pullHU nblalla, Irapana nltuiai oaMaia eat, quod ullemtrl
MUm Ml mulmam poMlt aectpu*. qnanlam babat nana, loitdnn
■animpni raUlittMatBr pana i ub raHqnM uaaaaaa aal pwia aiannien,
«imdaBUcin.«qiudiupUon*lwUloa,qnoabatinl,l«iaainDr. Quod
Ui arenln oaotlBfWj antanlBiprlBnanedlnnbabaUt, at icnliumtnl-
wuu, at raatatautdnst ant Ham, M tMtatant lax. EteDmnuxima
aagondo tar anab* ntqntai, MniM, taRbm panm. qol qiuniar eat,
noDo m«do poaaa rtlMitnL Bad mnllo Ttilsr, el totAn ait, que ti
m^wt, i a« mornm dtotCMUos In ■oalnn protnhl
:)>itiiUcal
-llui, cum
pnttnltnr qnirta dtetla
InTanlilnr. Unde tilaain laptam i
koiiniinic.aniaittluiielleldlTblpa ,
tUH rat M4i*>nBni, qw a C enn priraa alt, prentllaiido In aeutun,
arilqnBta. Holna auum IMM iHallquB «(> manUineni ftdMm. na
In ra tarn anla laden Tilta (Idarar, nWl ad rem, qu da agtanii, befflAi
•xpneandan, apriaalDnuB Mtet cinnpliim fiood «t Hbaniiiu hel,
qiuHdiB sun eompnl ex proAaao indltaia 1 Beda, eacBanento Venan-
biU. (In iraTladino el In aiiinb> llterii, le aecnlulbtit dlaclnlinli erndl-
tlaalnw. TJnda enlNtMt Ikd, inu r'" •■'• — --■--
•attnH d* Modo, Ob. IV. eap. t.
number, namely, the Dorian, the Phry^an, and the
Lydian : f the first proceeding from £ to e, the
second from 0 to d, and the third from 0 to c, ^ how
these are generated shall be made appear.
And first it is to be remarked that the place of the
diasenctic tone is the characteristic of every mode.
In the Dorian the diazeuctio tone was utoated in the
middle of the heptachord, that is to say, it was the
interval between mese or a, and paramese \j, the
chords mese and porameee being dme stationed in
the middle of the system, three in the acnte, namely.
Trite diezeugmenon, Paranete diezengmenon, and
Kete diezengmenon ; and three in the grave, namely,
Lychanoe meaon, Parhypate meson, and Hypote
meson, determined the speciee of diapason proper to
the Dorian mode. The series of intervals that con>
stitnted the Dorian mode, hod its station in the
middle of the lyre, which consisted, as has been
already mentioned, of fifteen chords, comprehendii^
the s^tem of a disdiapason ; and to characterise the
other modes, authors make nse of a diapason with
precisely the same boundaries ; and that because the
extreme chords, both in remission and intention, are
less grateful to the ear than the intermediate ones.
Ptolemy takes notice of this, saying, that the ear is
delighted to exercise itself in the middle melodies : §
and he therefore advises, for the investigation of the
modes, tbe taking the diapason as nearly as may bo
from tiie middle of the lyre. I{
The Dorian mese being thus settled at a, and the
position of the diazenctic tone thereby determined,
a method is sng^ted for discovering tne constitution
of the other six modes, namely, the Hixolydian,
Lydian, Phrygian, Hypolydian, Hypoj^rygian, and
Hypodorion, making togeUier with the Dorian, seven,
and ODBwering to the species of the diapason ; all
above which number, aooording to the exprees de-
claratiDn of Ptolemy, are to be rejected as spurious.^
But in order to render this constitution istelligihle,
it is neceasaiT to take notice of a distinction made
by Ptolemy, lib. IL cap. xi. between the natnial, or,
which is the same, tiie Dorian Mese and the modal
Mese ; as also between every chord in the lyre or
great system, and its corresponding sound in each of
the modes, which he bas noted by the use of the two dif-
ferent termsPositionsandPowers. Znihe Dorian mode
these ooiudded, as for example, the Mese of the lyre,
that is to say the Meee in position, was also the Mese
in power, the Froslambanomenos in position was also
the Proslombanomenoe in power, and so of the rest**
Bnt in the other modes the cose was br othenvise ;
to instance, in the Phrygian, there the Meee in
poution was (he Lychanot meson in Power, and the
Proslambanomenos in position the Paranete hyper-
boleon in power. In the Lydian the Mese in position
4 Ptolem. Raim. Bb. II. ean. vL WalUi Append, da Vet. Hum. p. 111.
t Vide Klreb. Uunu*. torn. I. ap. xli,
iHmnaiilciir. lib. ir cap. il.
IMd. IDi. II. Of. iL
* Ub. IL cap. rfii. Ii. XL ex. •««. WallU.
• • Vide Bli Pnocli Btllaa en the Uodei. pan. m.
By the line In power la to IM nndunoed DMth* aetoal Heee « On
middle cbdrd at the •apXnaiT, but thatwhkch marti the pcxlilan or tin
dlueucdc tone whkh tbxIh ui each node. In Ihe Deilan, forlnataaoe.
It boldi Ibe middle ar bnrtb. In Ibe Phmiu the Ibtid. ud la tiM
L^dlRi the ncond place, recXonlngfroD cbeaoute toward the gtBTe. Sec
the dlignm of Um ipaatw of dU^uoB In tbe tana Purianiak Beda*
dbyGoot^le
(toAP. X.— Book II, Gbap. XL
AND PRAOnOE OP MD8IC.
was die Pariiy^ate meeon in power, and the Proe-
lunbaaomenos in position wns the Trite hyperboleon
in power ; and to the rule for tranapoadon of the
Heae the other interrala were in like manner mbject.
Prom this dietinction between the real, and the
nominal or potential Meeet followed, aa above is
noted, a change in the name of evetr other chord on
the Ijre, which change was r^^olated by that relation
which the aeveral chords in each mode bore to their
reapective Meiea, and the term Mese not implying
any thing like what we call the Pitch of the sound,
bat only the place of the diasendic tone in the lyre,
thia change of the name became not only proper, but
aheolntely necesaary : nor ia it any thing more than
is practised at this day, when by the introdnction of
a new cliff, we give a new name, not only to One,
but a aeries of sounds, withont diatnrhing the order
of encceseion, or aasigning to them other powen than
natare has established.
The following «!»le taken from the notes of Dr.
Wallis on the eleventh chapter of the second book
of the Harmonics of Ptolemy, exhibits the position
on the lyre, of each of the modal Meses : —
. Nete hyperbole!
S Paraneto hyperboleon
f Trite h^rboleon
e Nete diesengmenon
d Paranete diezeogmenon
Mixolydian
a Trite diesaogmenoti
Indian
Phrygian
h Parameae
a Meee
Dorian
G Lychanos meson
P Parhypate meson
E Hypate meson
HypophiTgian
HypodorUn
D Lychanos hypaton
C Parypate hypaton
h Hypate hypaton
intervale of the diapason above and below it, follow
of course as they arise in tiie order of nature ; and
we are enabled to eay not only that the species of
diapaaon answering to the several modes in their
order are as follow i—
Mixolydian \ /■ B to b
Lydian | 0 to D
Phrygian I D to d
Dorian > from < E to e
Eypolydian I | Ftof
Hypophrygian | I G to g
Hypodorian J V. Atoa,oratoaa}
But that the following is the order in which the
tones and semitones occur in each series, proceediug
from grave to acute : —
Mixolydian — Semitone, tone, tone, semitone, tone,
tone, tone,
Lydian — Tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone,
semitone.
Phrygian — Tone, semitone, tone, tone, tone, semi-
tone, tone.
Dorian — Semitone, tone, tone, tone, semitone, tone,
ton&
Hypolydian — Tone, tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone.
Hypophrygian — ^Tone, tone, semitone, tone, tone,
semitone, tone.
Hypodorian — ^Tone, semitone, tone, tone, semitone,
tone, tone,§
And this, according to Ptolemy, is the constitution
of the seven modes of the andente.
I air F. a. OB Um MnJw, 7W. Klnti. Unnig. MB. I. «p. itL
■net Hit itma naitttt"'* tUBcnltr
lo tbBTnlH of humoakalprofnHlBB,
- -H I^SIiPnBdiatUn, Inlila
ta blnnd bwD «k*t FMlMiy
■"- II. ou. I. thii Oa Miio-
tnmSnta krpMan <•
Now that divers!^ of si
s for the Mese above
represented, necessarily implies the dislocation of the
diasenctic tone for every mode ; and from the rules
in the tenth chaptor of Uie second book of Ptolemy,
for taking the modes, it follows by necessary con-
aequenoe that in the Mixolydian mode the diazenctia
tone must be the first interval, reckoning from acute
to grave ; in the Lydian the second, in the Phrygian
tjie third, in the Dorian the fourth, in the Hypolydian
the fifUi, in the Hypophrygian the sixth, and in the
Hypodorian the lastf
The situation of the Mese, and consequently of the
diazeuctic tone being thus adjusted, the component
' • Plokm. Humonie. n rm. WtlUi, fg. 117, la sst.
t all rnadM atOet im tht Uoda, p>t' 70*. And •« tha dlafim of ._. ...
tbe HTm Pukimile owdoi iHnlaiftot bucrt^d. nulTiblt Into two.
MOm HUWfli to tha nada of dlifaoD
PuHUH. that li la uj> •""> fa to h and
(taaflntaod tODitblntarTaldiitliat HtlMj MwtriUiIalba
moat clcBl; It la. the ialaml bMnan Ika akotd h aod Ik
Pufpaia DMM at F, mut bt ■ MmUtoFaBlo, vhiok Sit Uia i
aiidnc fimn two luxBdinuiu eboida, and oooaaquanlly la i
Attia, In tba HnnlTdlao, (tOBi PartypaM maaon to Tilta
nlatiDn, and tndan thli aiicelM •tiitll)' wini tlielbnaai nnlll (or
Di, WiUli muni la ban teaa avara ef lUa dUlcoIlr, and baa i
tampttd lo aidTa (t In a diacnn of bU, emuMnt a oonpuailTt ilnt
(h* uiolait madaa vHta Iba aaTaralk^ofttaanmlann, bjpnSllnfll
flat iliro b, ta Hnalt bnuon ; ajiiMbla to vhat he uji Jn aiioili
place, that In th* MliolrAaD ■< fa planed la E la ■<, and lo (al rid
IbatiltaH In the lauai aweba tmmt a aaooDd flatlnE lairf,a
eluding tbarabr ml (ton tbolea, and pladnf it Id A la aii n.
Bti Fnnola Slylai baa dMM Iba ^fama, and tUtber
its,
fir It la lo be noted
-cnte ilgnfifi^ribn — ,— , — —
tb« an JiiilUled ij the pnstiee ef the andmU .
A that tber bed a wtkulu tnnlnf ta aTerr ker,
diramotlFe
BOOK II.
In the foregoing enquiry touching the modee,
endeavours have been used to demonstrate the coin*
ddenoe between the seven genuine modes and the
seven speciea of diapason. Bat snpposing the rela*
naa between them to be made out, a qnestion yet
remains, namely, whether tlie progreodon in each of
the modes was in the order prescribed by nature or
not. In what order of eucceesion the tones and
semitones arise in each species of tiie diapason has
already been declared ; and it seems from the repre-
dbyGoo*^le
M
HISTORY OF THE 8CIBN0E
BcKs n.
wntatioD abore given of the Bpecies, that as the keys
of the moderns are nltinuttely redninble to two, do
m, asoA re fa, so the seven modes of the aacientB by
the dislocation of tlie Mese for each, and that con-
sequent new tuning of the diapason for each, which
is mentioned by Ptolemy in the eleventh chapter of
his second book, are by such dislocation of the Mese
and a new tuning rednced to two. To this purpose
Dr. Wallis seems uniformly to express himself, and
particularly in this hJa description of the modes taken
from Ptolemy : —
'Ptolemy, in the eleventh chapter of his second
' book, and elsewhere, makes the Dorian the first of
'the modes, which, as having for its Meee and
* Paramese the Meee and Faramese both in position
'and power, or, to speak with the modems, having
' its mt in J], may be said to be situated in the midst
' of them all ; he therefore constitutes the Dorian
* mode BO as that between the real and assnined names
' of all the chords, there is throughout a perfect coin-
'cidence : and to this mode answers that key of the
'modems in which no signature is placed at the head
' of the stave to denote either flat or sharp.
' Secondly he takes a mode more acute than the
' former by a diatessaron, which therefore bae for its
'Meee a chord also more acute by a diatessaron,
'namely the Paraoete dteeeugmenon of the Dorian,
'and coneeqnently its Paramese, which is our mi,
'must answer to the Kete dieEcngmenon, that is as
' we speak, mi is placed in £ /a mi, and this he calls
'the Mizolydian, The modems for a similar pur-
* poee place a flat on B_/a, and thereby exclude mi.
'And from hence he elsewhere, lib. II. cap. vi.
' concludes, that there is no necessity for that which
' the ancients called the conjunct system, namely, the
'system from Proslambanomenoe to Nete synem-
'menon, since ihat is sufficiently supplied by the
' change made in Mese from ihe Dorian to the Mixo-
' lydian mode ; for here follows a^r the two conjunct
'tetrachorda in the Dorian, from Hypate hypaton to
' the Mese, that is from B mi to A lamire,a. third in
'the Mixolydian from its Hypate Meson, which is tbe
' Mese in the Dorian to its Mese, that is from A la
' mi re to D la lol re ; so that there are three con-
' junct tetrachorda from B mi, the Hypate hypaton
' of the Dorian, to D la eol re, the Mese of the
' Mixolydian.
' Thirdly, aa another diatessaron above that in the
■acnte, could not be taken without exceeding that
'diapason in the midst whereof the Mese of the
' Dorian was placed, Ptolemy aseomea in the room
' thereof a diapente towards the grave, which may
' answer to a diatessaron taken towards the acute, in
' as much as (he sounds so taken, differing from each
' other by a diapason, may in a manner be accounted
' the same. The Mese therefore of thie new mode
'mnet be graver by a diapente than that of the
' Mixolydian ; that is to say, it is the Lychanos
'hypaton of the Mixolydian, or, which Is the same,
' the Lychanos meson of the Dorian, and consequently
' its Parameee will be the Mese of tiie Dorian ; that
' ie as we should ^y, mi ia A la mi re. This is
' iriiat Ptolemy calls the Hypolydiao mode, to denote
' which we pat besides the Sat placed before in B Jh
' b ntt, a second flat in £ /a m, to exclude mi from,
' thence, and thereby mi is removed into A la mi re,
■Fourthly, as he could not from hence towarda.
' the grave, take either a diapente or diatessaron,.
' without going beyond the above diapason, Ptolemy
' takes a mode more acute than the Hypolydian by
■ a diatessaron, which he calb the Lydian, the Mea»
'whereof is the Paranete diezeugmenon, and ita
' Parameee the Nete diezeugmenon of the Hypo-
' lydian ; which latter is also the Paranete diezeDg->
■ menou of the Dorian, tMt ia as we speak, mt in D
' la sol re. We, to denote this mode, besides the-
' two flats already set in b and e, put a Uiird in A £>
'mi re, whereby we exclode mt from thence, and
' transfer it to D la eol re.
' Fifthly, as the Mixolydian was taken fr^mi tbe
' Dorian, and made a diatessaron more acute, so is th&
'Hypodorian to be taken from the same Dorian
' towards the grave, and made more grave than that
' by a diatessaron : the Meee therefore of tiie Hy.>
' podorian is the Hypate meson of the Dorian ; and
' its Paramese, whidi is our mt, ia the Parhypate-
■ meson of the Dorian, that is as we speak, nu in F
'Jit ut. We, to denote this mode, leaving out all
' the flats, place an acute signature or sharp in FJa
' vt, whidi would otherwise be elevated by a hemi-
' tone only, and called^, but it is now called mi, and
' elevated by a whole tone above the next note under
' it ; by reason whereof the next note in the acnte^
'will be distant only a hemitone from that next
' under it, and be called Ja, and mt will return in
' a perfect diapason in the FJa ui next above it
' Sixthly, as another diatessaron towards the grave-
' cannot he assumed from the Hypodorian thoa
' situated, without exceeding the linuta of the above
' diapason, he takes the Phrygian mode a diapentA
' more acute, which is the same thing in effect, nuce
' between any series in the fifth above and in the
' fourth below, the distance is precisely a diapason ;
' the Mese therefore of this mode ia the Nete die-
' zeugmenon of the Hypodorian, that is the Paramese-
' of the Dorian, and consequently ita Paramese is the
' Trite diezeugmenon of the Itorian, that is as we-
' speak, miijt 0 fa tU ; to denote which, besides the
' sharp placed before in F fa vt, we put another
' sharp in 0 ^ ttt, which would oUierwise be
' elevated by only an hemitone above the next note
' under it, but is now elevated by a whole tone ; and
' as before it would have been c^led^, it must now
' be called mi ; and from hence to g tol re tU ia now
' only a hemitone, which is therefore to be called Ja,
' mi returning either in et tolja above, or in zja vt
' Seventhlv and lastly, the Hypophrygian is taken
' from the Phrygian, aa above defined, and is distant
' therefrom by a diatessaron towards the grave. Its
' Meae therefore is the Hypate meeon of the Phrygian,
' that is to say the Parhypate meson of the Dorian,
' consequently ita Parameee, which is onr mi, is the
' Lychwos meson of the Dorian. That ia aa A-e
' speak, mi xaQtolreut, to express which, the rest
' Btaading ae above, we place a tUrd sharp in Q eat
Digitized
byGoo*^le
AND PaAOTIOE OP MUSIC.
* "0 ut, which otberwiBe, hy reason that F^ ut wu
' made sharp before, would be elevated by only a
' hemitone, and caUed_/a, ia now elevated by a whole
' tone snd called mi, and therefore A la mi re, diatant
' &oin Q tal re ut hy A hemitoae, ia oalled fa, and
' mi returns in gaol re at above, or in r ttf below.
' The modee being thiiB determined, we gather
' from thence that the Mixolydian mode ia distant
' from the Lydian as in Ptolemy, lib. IL cap. x. by
' a lirnnia^ qt Dot to speftk BO nicely, by a hemitonff,
' the Lydian from the Phrygian by a tone, the
' Phrygian from the Dorian by a tons^ ihe l^rian
' from the Hvpolydian by a limma, the Hypolydian
' from the Hypophrygian by a tone, and the Hypo-
' Phrygian from the Hypodorian ^so by a tone.
' From these premises Ptolemy concludes, not only
' that the Beven modes above enumerated are all that
* are necessary, but even that there is not in nature
' room for any more, by reason that all the chorda in
'the diapason are by thia disposition occupied : for
' since aU the chords, from the Hypato meson to the
' Paranete diezengmenon indnaively, are the Meae of
* Bome mode, there is no one of them remaining to
' be made the mese of any intermediate mod*: for
' example, the Ueae in power of the Hnmdorian ie
' in position the Hypate meaon, and the Alese in
' power of the Hypofduy^Hi ie the Farhypote meeon ;
' and as there ia no ttorA lying between these two
' there is none left, nor can be found to be the Mese
' of any mtermediate mode, or which, as Aristoxenns
' aapposee, may with propriety be called the graver
' Hypophrygian or Hypoiastian ; and what has been
' oaid of the Mese may with equal reason be said of
' the Panunese, which is onu mi.' •
Thus &r De. Wallis, who has nndonbtedly de-
livered, thoagh in very concise terms, the sense of
his anthor ; nevertheless as the whole of the arga-
ments for restraining the number of modes to seven
is contained in the eleventh, chapter of the second
book of Ptolemy, and Sir Francis Stiles has bestowed
hie pains in an English version thereof, it may not
be amiss to give it as translated by him, and his
words are as follow : —
'Now thcee being the modes which we have
' established, it is plain, that a certain sound of the
'diapason is appropriated to the Mese in power,
' of each, by reason of their bebg equal in number
' to the species. For a diapason being selected out
'of the middle parts of the perfect system, that
' is the parts from Hypate- meson in position to Nete
'diezengmenon, becanse the voice is most pleased
■ to be ezerdsed abont (iie middle melodies, seldom
'moning to the extremes, because of the difficulty
'and coDstEsint in immoderate intensions, and re-
' minions, the Mese in power of the Mixolydian will
' be fitted to the place of Paranete- diezengmenon,
'that the tone may in this diapason make ^ first
'species ; that of ue Lydian, to the place- of Trite
'diezengmenon, according to the second species;
•that of tiie Phrygian, to the place of Paramese,
'according to the third speciea; that of the Dorian,
' to the place of the Mese, making the fourth and
• WlUli Apptnd. A* Vm. HumoiL puf. 114, •! i*].
• middle species of the diapason ; ihat of the Hy*
' polydian, to the place of Lychanos meson, aooord-
' mg to the fifth speciea ; that of the Hypophrygian.
' to tbe place of Pbrhypate meson, according to the
' sixth qiedee ; and that of the Hypodorian, to the
'place of Hypate meson, according to the seventh
' species ; that so it may be posnble in tfaa-otteradons
' required for the modes, to keep some of the sounds
'of tbe ^rstem unmoved, for preserving the mag-
'nitnde of the voice, meaning the pitch of ^
'diapason; it being impossible for the same powasi,
'in alfferent modee to fall upon the places of <he
'same sounds. But should we admit mon modes
' than these, as tliey do who augment dub excesses
'by hemitonea, the Meses of two Modes must of
' necessity be applied to the jJaoe of one sound ; so
'that in intsbchakoino twe tukinob of those two
'modes, the whole aj^taa in each must be removed,
' not preserving aey one of tbe preceding tensions
' in conunoo, ay which to regulate tbe properpttch
' of tbe voice. For the Mese m power of the Hypo*
'dorian for instance, being fixed to Hypate meson
'by position, and that of the Hypophrygian to
'Parhypate meson, the mode taken between these
' two, and called by them the graver Hypophrygianr
'to distinguish it from the other acuter one, must
'have its Mese either in Hypate, aa the Hypodorian,
' or in Parhypate, as the acuter Hypophrygian ;
'which being the case, when we interchange the
■ tuning of two such modea, which use one common
' sound, this sound is indeed altered an hemitone in
' pitch by intension or remission ; but having the
'same power in each of the modes, viz., that of the
' Mese, all the rest of the sounds are intended or
' remitted in like manner, for the sake of preserving
'the ratios to the Mese, tbe same with those taken
' before the mutation, according to the genns common
' to both modea ; ao that thia mode is not to he
'held different in speciea from the former, bat the
' Hypodorian again, or the same Hy]>ophrygian, only
'somewhat acuter or graver in pitch, that these
'seven modes therefore are sufBcient, and such as
'the ratios require, be it thus far declared.'!
Dr. Wallis continues hia argument, and with
a degree of perspicuity that leaves no room to doubt
but that he ia right in his opinion, shows that the
modes of (he andents were no other than the seven
species of diapason : for, as a consequence of what
he had before laid down, he asserts that the syllable
mi, to speak, as he aays, with the modema, baa
occupied all the chonda by the modes now determined,
aince in the Hypodorian, mi ia found in F, and also
in f, which is a dii^ason distant therefrom. Li the
Hypophrygian it is fonnd in Q, and therefore also
in V and in g, which are each a diapason distant
therefrom. In the Hypoplirygian it is found in
a, and thesefore in A and aa, each distant a diapason
therefrom. In tbe Dorian it is found in J], and
tiierefrom in "h and h\t ^ '^^ Phrygian mi is
found in c, ana also in O and ce. In the Lydian it
is fonnd in d, and therefore in D and dtf. And
lastly, in the Mixolydian it ie found in e^ and ooo-
I sir F. B. w »■ UodM, pig. 114.
dbyG00*^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book IL
seqaentl]' in E and ee ; from «U which it is evident phrygittn and Phiygian modes, their true poaitioiw
thi^ there can no one chord remain whereon to place
mi for any other mode, which would not coindde
with some one of these above Bpeciiied.*
will be found to be in g| and oA and their replicstoa.
The following scheme is exhibited by Dr. Watlia
Nothing need be added to illustrate this account
of the modes bat an observation, that instead of
g and 0 for the respective places of mi in the Hypo-
to show the correspondence between the Berural keyi
as they arise in the modem system, and the modes of
the ancients : —
By which it should seem that the k^ of A with the
lesser third answers to the Dorian ; D with the lesser
third to the Mizolydian ; G with tiie lesser third to
the Hypolydian; C wiUi the lesser third to the
Lydian ; E with the lesser third to the Hypodorian ;
B with the lesser third to the Phrygian, and Fit with
the lesser third to the Hypophrygian.
These are the sentiments of those who tanght that
the modes were coincident with the species of dia-
pason. Another opinion however prevuled, oamely,
that the word Mode or tone signified not so properly
any dsterminate Succession of sonnds, as the Place
of a sound ; and indeed this is one of the definitions
given by Euclid of the word Tone or Mode ; J or, in
other words, the difference between one tone and
another consisted in the Tensioti, or, as we shoold
say, the Pitch of the system. § The occasion of this
diversity of opinion seems to be this, Aristozentu.
the father of that sect which rejected the messare
by ratios, and computed it by intervals, in his treatise
on Harmonics, book the second, divides the science
into seven parts, 1. Uf sounds 2. Of intervab
3. Of genera. 4, Of systems. 6. Of tones. 6. of
mutations. 7. of melopoeia.|| Kow lud he con-
udered the species of diapason to have Deen the
same as, or even connected with, the modes, it bad
been natural for him to have placed them under the
fifth division, that is to say, of tonee, or at least
under the sixth, of matatioDB . instead of which we
i them ranged under tbe fourth, namely, that of
terns ; and even there it is not expressly said,
thoagh Irom their denominations, and other circum-
stances it might well be inferred, that the species of
diapason had a relation to the modes.^ The silence
of Aristoxenus, and indeed of oU his followers, in
this respect, has created a difficulty in admitting a
connexion between the species of diapason and the
modes, and has led some to suspect that they were
distinct ; though after all that can be said, if the
modes were not the same with the species, it is
extremely hard to conceive what they could be ; for
a definition of a mode, according to the Aristoxeneans,
* ABpmiL it T*t. Him. 119.
t Ftofni. Hinnanic. a Ten. WilKt, ipi«. Ill, hi itM.
t Intiod. Hun. pu. 19, ei Ten Ifribem.
f SU FniwO StIlH on Uh Hadet, jtt. US.
I Lib. II. Ml. lUT. el leq. ei Tan. Uribam.
1 Vide Blc rniiele BlUn on Ibe Model, pe|. TM.
tnon^
does by no means answer to the effects ascribed by
the ancient writers, such as Plutarch and others, to
the modes ; for instance, can it be said of the Dorian
that it was grave and solemn, or of the Phrygiaa
that it was warlike, or that the Lydian was son and
effeminate, when the difference between them con--
sieted only in a different degree of intension or
remission ; or, in other words, a difference in respect
of their acumen or gravity ? On the other hand, the
keys of the modems, which, as already has been
shewn, answer to the modes of the ancients, have
each Uieir characteristic, arising from the different
measnreB of their component intervals ; those with
the minor third are all calculated to excite the
mournful affections ; and yet amongst these a dif-
ference is easily noted . the funereid melancholy of
that of F u very distinguishable from the cloying
sweetness of that of A ; between those with the
great«r third a diversity is also apparent, for ndther
is the martial ardour of the key D at all allied
to the hilarity that dlsdngniehes ^e key £, nor the
pluntive eoitaiess of E b to the mascnline energy
of B b , bat surely no snch diversi^ could exist,
if the sole difference among them lay in the Fitch,
without regard to their component intervals.
This difficulty, whether greater or less, seems
however to be now removed by the industry and
ingenuity of the above-named Sir Francis Stiles,
who in the discourse so often above-cited, namely,
his Explanation of the Modes or Tones in the
ancient Grtecian Music, has reconciled the two doc-
trines, and Bu^ested a method for demonstrating
that to adjust Uie pitch of any given mode is also
to adjust the succession of its intervals, the oonse
quence whereof is a discovery that the two doctnues.
^ough seemingly repugnant, are in reality one and
the same. The reasonings of this vety able and
accurate writer are so very dose and scientific, that
it is not easy to deliver his sense in other terms than
bis own ; however it may not be amiss to give
a short statement of bis arguments.
The two doctrines which he has undertaken thus
to reconcile, he distinguishes by the epithets of Har-
monic and Musical ; the former of Uiese, which he
says had the Aristoxeneans for its friends, taught
that the difference between one mods and another.
dbyGoo^le
Chap. XIL
AND PRAOnCE OF HUBIU
lay in the teonoQ or pitch of the wjtfuaa ; tlu Utter,
sod which Ptolemy with great force of reasoning
contends for, teaches that t£s difference consiated in
the roaoner of dividing an octave, or, as the ancients
express it, in the different species of dia|»eon : the
task whidi this writer hss undertaken la, to shew
that between these two definitions of a musical mode
thne ia a perfect agreement and coincidence.
In order to demonstrate this he shews, pag. 701,
from Baochins, pag. 12, edit Meibom. that tjie Mixo-
lydian mode was the most acute, the Lydian graver
by a hemitone, the Phrygian graver than the Lydian
by a tone, the Dorian graver than the Phrygian by
a tone, the Hypolydian graver than the Dorian
by a hemitone, we Hypo^irygian graver than the
Hypolydian by a tone, and the Hypodoriau graver
than the Hypophrygian by a tone.* He adds,
' that as ih» Gmdonian scale answers to the ^stem
' of the anciente in ite natural aitoation, wbidi was
' in the Dorian mode, and our A. la mi n conse*
'qnently answers to die pitch of the Dorian Meee,
' we have a plain direction for finding the absolute
'jdtch of the Meies for all the seven m onr modem
' notes, and they will be fonnd to stand thus ^—
Mixolydian Uese in - • d
Lydian in - - - 4
Phrygian in - - - b
Dorian in - • • a
Hypolydian in - • - SQ
Hypophrygian in - • ft
Hypodorian in - - - ^ t
Bnt to understand this doctrine as delivered by
the andents, the same author says it will be necessary
to examine bow the Uesee of the seven modes were
etationed upon the lyre ; and in order to that, to
consider the stmctore of the instnmient ; this he
explaina in the following words : — The lyre, after
' ite last enlargement, consisted of fifteen strings,
which took In the compose of a disdiapaaon or
donble octave ; theae strmgs were called by the
same names as the fifteen eomids of the system, and
when tuned for the Dorian mode corresponded
exactly with them. Indeed there can be no doubt
bnt that the theory of the 83:stem Iisd been origi-
nally drawn from the practic of the lyre in ^is
mode, which was the favourite one of tlie Greeks,
aa the lyre was also their favourite instniment. In
Ibis mode then the Meee of the system waa placed
in the Meee of the lyre, bnt in every oue of the
rest it was applied to a different string, and every
sonnd in the system transposed accordingly. Hence
arose the distinction between a sound in Power and
a sonnd in Position ; for when the system was
transposed ftom the Dorian to any outer mode,
anppoee for instance the Phrygian, the Mese of the
lyre, though etiU Meee in position, acquired in this
case the power of the Lychanos meeon ; and the
• Str r. a. OB tbt Msdo, 701.
t Tbid. Dr. WiUi, !■ hta MJim at Ptolanj^Hg. IV. uilnu a. ■.
■id r uUiml, fiu tlu puitiDd) oT tk» Lfdlu, Hjpalyi
phrrrdu Mew : but Sir Fnndi BHlM. (Or ihihiiu mi
Ili^Mun, m- 'M. piwi Uhb m ol ft)!. Dim
Imai InHik
Porameee of the lyre, though atUl Poramese in
position, acquired the power of the Mese. In these
transpositions, one or more of the strings always
required nan twmngt, to preserve the relations of
the system; but notwithstanding this alteration of
their pitch they retained their old names when
spoken of, in reepect to their poaitionB only ; for the
name implied not any partacnur pitch of the string,
bat only its place upon the lyre in the numerical
order, reckonmg the Proslambanomenoe for the
first.' t
These are the sentiments of the above-cited anthor,
with reepect to the Harmonic doctrine : the Mnucal
has been already explained ; or if any thing should
be wanting, the scale hereinafter inserted, shewing
the position of the Mese, and the Buoceasion of chorda
in each of the modes in a comparative position with
those in the natural system, wUl render it soffiiuenUy
intelligible.
CHAP. xn.
It now remains to shew the method by which this
author proposes to reconcile the two doctrines. He
says that by the Harmonic doctrine we are told the
5 itch of tlie syetem for each mode ; and by the
[oeic^ in what part of Htm system to take the
species of diapason, and that \iy comhining the two
directions we gain the following plun canon for
finding any mode required :^ — §
CANON.
' Rrst pitch the system for tiie mode, aa
' directed by the harmonic doctrine ; then select
' from it the diapason, directed by the musical ;
* and we have the charocteristio species of the
' mode in its true pitch.' [[
To make this more plainly appear, he has annexed
a diagram of the species of diapason, which is here
slso exhibited, and which he says will shew at what
pitch of the Qnidonian scale each sonnd of the dia-
pa4on is brought out by the canon for each of the
seven modes ; and that as in the conatmction of tlua
diagram the directions of the canon have been strictlv
pursued, so it will appear that the result of it is in aU
respects conformable to the principles of both doc-
trines. ' Thns,' continues he, ' in the Dorian, for in-
' stance, it will be seen that the Mese is placed in A
'land re, and that the reet of the sounds exhibited
' in that diapason, are placed at the proper distancea,
' for preserving the order of the system as required
' by tne harmonic doctrine. It will also be seen that
' the diapason selected lies between Hypate meson
' and Nete diesengmenon ; that the semitones are the
' first interval in the grave, and third in the acute ;
' and that the DiaEeoctic tone is in the fourth interval,
' reckoning from the acute. All which circnmstancea
' were also required by the moracal doctrine for this
' mode ; and in the reet of the modes all the dr-
* cnmstancee required by each doctrine will in like
' manner be found to obtain : 60 that no objection
I eii Frmndi StllH on the Uodat, ft- K^
dbyGooi^le
HISTOBT OF THE SOIENOB
' can velt be iwed to the priodpleB on which the ' aignment kl jnaUficttion of the nunner in whkh
' ■iifgiTi" has beea framed, bj tiie favonrera of either ' I have combioed them in the canon.' *
' daotnine Beparatdy : and Uie very coincidence of Here follows the diagram of the Beven epedaa of
' tiie two doctrioee- thwein ought fnniiah a probable diapason aboTe-niiwtionsd : —
>< HYPODORIAN..
1
1
{
1
1
1
1
™,™i
HYPOIBBY. I
OIAN. J
1 1
HVPOLYDIAN.
!!
1
1
1
1
™™i
i
i
I i
1 1
1
1
1o
i
s
1
i
1
1
™.™l
1
1
i
!
1
1
1
1
i
]
-H
!
1
e
I
f
1
1
a UIXOLYBIAII.
»™«l
1
1
f
1
1
i
1
1
1
1
By the help of the above diagram it is no very
diffiralt matter to ascertun, beyond the poeribility of
donbt, the eitnatioUB of the different modes with
respect to each other ; or, in other words, to demon-
strate that six of them were but so many trans-
positions from the Dorian, which occupies the middle
station : whether after sudi tranepoeition the intemls
remained the same or not, is a enliject of disnuto.
With regard to this question it may be umerved,
that thronghont the whole of Ptolemy's treatiac.
dbyGoo*^le
Chat. XII.
AND PRACTICE QP MUSIC.
nothing u to be net with tkal leads to ■ compaiiaon
between the modee of the ancients and the keys of
the modema ; for it Beema that with the former the
characteristic of each mode was the position of the
diBseactic tone, and the consequent arrangement of
tihe tones and semitonea corresponding with the
eeveral spedes of diapason, to which they respectively
anewer. BatthekeyBofthemodemearediatingaiBhed
by the final chord, and therefore unless they conld
be placed in a state of opposition to each other, it is
Tery difficult to demonstrate that this or that key
■B to this or that of the ancient modes, or nnleaa
, to aacertain the constituent intervals ■
&tter. Bir Francia Stilea seems to have been aware
of this difficulty, for thongh in page 708 of hb dia-
conrae, he haa given a diagram in which the Mixo-
^dian mode is made to answer to the series from \j
to h, and the others in snccession, to the succeeding
species, he means nothing more by this than to com-
pare them severally with a species of diapason
selected from the middle of the lyre, withont regard
to the fandamental chord or key-note.
Neither does the diagram of the seven ipeciee of
diapason, given by him and above inserted, afford
any int«Iligeace of this kind ; and bnt for a hint that
he has dropped at the close of his disconrae, that the
Hypodorian answers exactly to onr A mi la, with
R minor third, and the Lydiau to our A mi la, with
a major third,* we should be totaUy at a loss with
respect to Ms sentiments toachiug the affinity between
the ancient modea and the modem keys.
That there was some such a&iity between the
Qne and the other is beyond a doubt ; f and we see
Dr. Wallis's opinion of the matter in the diagram
above inserted from his notes on the eleventh chapter,
Kb. H. of his author, containing a comparative view
of the keys with the modes. And though it is to be
■ H*c Dortom,
lU (hi Ifodu Dnrioi uimnd aiHtlr
Uiiid, ind tlia Uodu Plirnlui lo oiu A
U niMlj 1U« !• « miudcil nnir,udsili
-* ^^ -*■ U UnillBDtfl, IllflOII
feared that there is not that precise agmemenl
between them which he hsa stated, there is good
ground to suppose that, as in the keys, the snccession
of intervals ia m the order which the aenae approves,
so the succession in the modes conld not but have
been in some degree also grateful to the ear.
This supposition is founded on a, passage in the
eleventh chapter of the second book of Ptolemy,
importiug no leaa dkan that each of the modes re-
quired a peculiar tuning, and thjese tunings have
been severally investiKated, and are given by Sir
Francia StUea ; for what purpose, then, it majr be
asked, but to render the intorvala grateful to ttie
sense, was a new toning of the lyre for every mode
nece8sar|r ; and what conld that terminate in, but
two conadtotiona, in the one whereof the interval
between the fundamental chord and ita third was
a semiditone, and in Uie other a ditoae ; and when
the lyre waa so tnned, what became of the seven
spedea of diapason? The answer to this latter
demand is, that as there seem to be in nature but
the two species above mentioned, proceediiig, as will
presently be shewn, from A and C respectively, the
remaining five were rejected, and conaideced aa sub.,
jects of mere speculation.
But before we proceed to refute the opinion of
those who without knowing, or even suspeoting, that
the tuning of the lyre was dilbiaot in each mode,
contend, that there are in natnie seven, sot merely:
nominal, bnt real modes, it ia but just to stiite the-
reasons on which it is founded.
And first it ia said on die authority of thoaa
ancient writers who define' a mode to be a given
species of diapason, that as tiwiK sn in nature aevea
such species, so are there seven modes, in each whsreof
the snccession of tones and semitones must be in that
order which nature has estftblished, or as they arise
in the scale, without interposing any of those sig-
natures to denote remission or intemtion, which are
used for that purpose by the modems. They say
fiuther that none of the species were at any time
rejected by the ancients as unfit for practice ; and
from thence take occasion to lament the depravity of
the modem svatem, which admits of no other diversity
of modes or keys tJian what arises from the difference
between the m^or and the minor third ; for, say they,
and they say trnly, the modem system admite in &ct
of bnt two, namely A and C ; the first the protoype
of the flat, as the latter is of the sharp keys, all the
rest being respectively resolvable into one or the
other of Uieee.}
la Chnt QiMitea of Hnukni Nltaia.
•<-" rba dint anladutle*! una*, wUah
hi tb* andgBI modaa. an TadueRiM
'Dblqua; Modnbrtmla jnggrenni. quod EiorillDin. el quia FInl
' voffwHcai ad ^nan madom irfBntur. lode mim tun prteurtiun
bwi aflhh Dplolim Id I)i( bllDwlDs
■p)aa ot HniJe, pac M. In he :— ' In
iriilsni huk Ani dxHtu, qui tint
italDlns Iha aUsT ndaa fbr ta.
which thsoihat Inl prinledln 17
putablr Iha woik ot Dr. Pcpuaeh. ud 1
tPT Ihv purpoaa of n
nnlidAtlan of Ih
KianlaAcU. lUd.
IktTXI
1 all Uia ihup [roni ihu s( C Thli
liU BO one cu ba tk* wliai fir barlnc parfimnM U, WM
DigilizocbyGoOl^lC
60
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
BwK XL
Bat whit, if after all, the ear will not recogiuM any
other BDooeaion of intervals than is fonnd in the con-
Btitntion of the keyB A and C ? The conBeqnence
li ntkn iilmiTiTfil to diipilse tlun eipUIn the Inw method of nducLiuf
> tmupealUaa to Ut lutiml tay. But In i imull tnst, mtltlgd,
EloDHDli OB PilDotpea do Unilgu* mil dui un nsTOI Onln. jtx 11.
Italia, pilnlod M ADUtardun, Id 18M, n attt with ■ notabl* rulo oi
aaau ta tU> pnipOH, which faU; uiwon (h> dnlgs of Iti InTontlaii.
" n piwBfiH out tha dluca, <n whw ws ihimld nil tht tbmt,
^. 1.J-. . .1 j„. _j._v_ —V, begfnntog
ishuodat
, mi but • :
, , „ ■ sturu thahedof tha l
11 hi a ragolir aouna of h^DnliAtlon, will mi^ It u. To five >0 hi-
— -t* of th* k*T «f E *lth lb* B^or third;—
■lH*d M th* hiiliilin of Iha maieA tUT*. uIm hr U
ftom F, thai ta to *v, C a D A E, ud that the B mola oi
ftOTltaa, bafliiiif (Hm B ia thk oidar, B A D G C. The
would ttj MI, and plaia or n
Iw pncnMbia of tonaa ud (amltoiHa will ha naetlr Id tha lame ordai
w b the har of C, tKoi which thia of B li Ibnalttn'MU to ha a
Tha eaaoB fhrthar dlreoti Id tba fcaji with Iha iat ilfiMtarea, to ehU
Han the iDlamla hetwau the eaeoiil and tUid, aad alio batwaas tha
Il,yi.lli> B*(MMiTt»|dMa tha tou elWoa tha Bnith Udo af iba
4bon IL*T <r f l> • tmupoalUoB tnu that at A with tha BilBor tUid ;—
Another tdIo fOr tha ahora poipoaa, uid vhieh todead Dr. PepUMk
woald ooniiniminii* to hit hTOrite dlidplea. fa, ia the eaie of teri with
tha iharp ilfaanna, to call tha Imi duup B, and coanl Iha Vam Md
naaea npwaidi or dvwnwtidi till the itatlaa Itf ■ eltf la ftiiiDd ; aad
IS* placloc that eUr BOaoidlDilj aaaihllatN th* •haipa, *b4 baapaaka th«
aatDialk^. Ia kaya wiih tha Oat dRHnna tha nJa dfaoeta to tall th*
.aat lit F, andMBBt at battn.
Bat aauBfit the ke^ with Hat dfBatima, a dlnraln I
lhatiatoti7,bttwHntbo**wltbasi^orBDdthoaewlt&i
lar In tha temar Ih* pmoeia iBDtl ba laraaud, u in ihla of A b wHh I
au}ofthltd>- ^^
la diiaett to eall tha Itit Oat, irtkh li Iha kar-
tathaplaoeotaeiur: la dDtai|thltth* cliff -it-
then teems to he that there are in nature no other.
Now if it be tme that the sense of hearing is averse
to tiioae modulations that hare no relation to any
ftmdamental chord, and th&t it expects, nay longs for
some one aonnd that shall at stated periods determine
the natore of the progression, there is an end of the
qaeetion. In short, a single experiment of the effect
of the Mizolydian mode, which answers to the seriea
from J] to J], in its natural order, and gives to the
diapent« a semitone less than its tme content, will
offend the ear, and convince any impartiBl enquirer
that the existence of seven modes is, in the sense con<
tended for, nominal and not real.*
Bnt notwithstanding the nniformity of keys in the
modem system, there is a diversity among them worth
nodng, arimng &om that surd quantity in the dia-
pason system, which it has been the labour of ages
to attemper and distribute among the several inter-
vats that compose it, so as not to be discoverable ;
the conseijuences of which temperament ia such a
diversity in the several keys, as gives to each a
several effect ; so that upon the whole it seems that
the modem conslitntion of the modes or keys is
liable to no objection, save the want of such a division
of the intervals ss seems to be inconsistent with the
prindplee of harmonics, and the established wder of
The several effects of the modem keys are dis-
coverable in the tendency which each haa to excite
a peculiar temper or disposition of mind ; for, not to
mention (hat soothing land of melancholy which is
felt on the bearing mnsio in keys with the minor
third, and the gaiety and hilarity excited by that in
keys with the greater third, f each key in the two
several spetnes is possessed of this power in a different
degree, and a person endowed with a fine ear will be
• VIda aata, paf. », and Dt. WaDla tiaarti flitt then an aawaaea la
Ptolnair which ^aialT ladlcata tbal tha aDdeaU had a ■nnal ta^aafac
araiT mode, whlah eoold Bot hare haaa BaeeaaaiT bad tbar IbUawadth*
■hnaanlai. Parthar.totUaptupoaaHalcdaiaiptauaaUiaaalfla tht
STtmaikaMeraaiagn- — ^Ifmiy rmjhiy In ona moda, than
. ._- ._ li thn* tnanoatttaBB arereiy iMda
toarnrehaid m^b* eatUr peilBnaad i and ihanapAmalnal^of
"xt mj to And what chorda n* to b* altaad hi thair tnalaf la aibet
Ilia. Iqr th* Tarlona dgnaturea of S iDd ]> : Bat If wa tupoaaa IhU In
' -* « • omr aHcA ta btonfht in, thU can aalj ka
n ehordi tbaa In the Ized agntam, aa aa ban my
IiB&ipoaiilaB frooa ;
' tha Iat b P, aad pi
naoppoaalh _ _
1 It ta ha eomapoBdlaf to th* oaUTO a, of what
alaaala; betagatlherillBtatathaotdeToftbaantaina
n lathedla|iaBi,aoaaiIan*wantaBu>oMa>*.' ItUtST.
I Vt Jontn haa dlaeorand • aaw chaiartnktla kr thaia two apaela*
oTkara; ha callt on* tha male, tha atbtr tba fimalt: Iht thon^ ta
hiKeaknu. and la thni eipreaiad br hin In a 1ett« pubUthad at Iht aid
■ .... ■ - imtikaoDllB^alKipfaaalBB;— 'Br
In from tha htj of C alao.
' toDea, a m^or and a miaoF, wlileli put be
' BKbu ED haTc IntaniM. Into male and fti
. Tbtli
dbyGoo*^lc
c^Ap. xin.
AM) FRAOTIOE OF HUSm
61
Tsriondy Affected ty the keys A and F, each with
the lener, as also t^ thoee of 0 and E with the
greater third. ~^
Effects like theee, bnt to a degree of extravagance I
fliat ezoeeds the bounds of credibilitjr, are aHcribed
to the modea of the aacienta : that the Dorian was
grave and aolemn, and tiie Lydian mild and eoolhing,*
may be believed, but who can credit the relation,
though of Cicero hinuelf, and alter him BoetiDB,f
that by an air in the Phry^pan mode played on
ft (olitary pipe (one of the ancient tibin) a dmnken
yonng nun, of Tanromeiiima, was excited to bom
down the bonse wherein a harlot bad been shut np
by bia rival, and that Pythagoras broasht him to bis
reason, by directing the Ubicenist to phy a spondens
in a different mode ? Or that not the flunes of wine
or a disturbed imagination, rather than the flnts
oi Timotheus, played on in the Phrygian mode,
provoked Alexander to art fire to Fersepolis. J
OHAP TTTTT
Havdio thns collected into one point of view the
Bentimenta of the ablest writers on those two moot
important demderata in the andent mnsic, the genera
and the modes, in order to trace the snccessive
improvemente of the science, it is necessary to recur
to thoee only gamine sources of intelligence, the
writings of the Greek barmoniciaDS. And here we
Tbeoretica :
Nevertheless, the moet general is that threefold
division of music into Harmonica, Rhytbmica, and
Hetrica ; die two latter of which, as they relate
chiefly to poetry, are but anperficially treated of by
the harmonio writers. Upon this division of mnsia
it is observable that the more ancient writers were
veiy careful in the titles of their several treatises :
such of them as confined their disconrsee to the
elementary part of the science, as namely, Aris-
■ mtsn idiiiiU Uhh dmntoibtls sf tlu Dorlu •
[A MTtoot phjUnx tQ tlu Dorian BHnd
Tahtiffats(Batitertn_,
. Analnc W tMU*. FuuBtu Lon, B. L Hm U
Ii^ OM h (Oft Iijdln *ln. L'AiiiMui.
AbI Drjim daoDiH ttie LjAlu bj to •flboU, tn Ihna wmdi;
Saftlr (WaM m LMlu
Sob* ba ■oMh'd Ut m
Rm vUsbDUns* tl k to
Om ■■■Bw, A«w It I
cannot but applaud the ingenuitj and indnstnr of
those learned men, Hieir remote sucoeaaora, who from
ancient mauuscripta, din)er8ed throughout the world,
have been able to eetue the text o( their several
works ; and who with a great decree of accuracy
have given them to the public, together with Latin
venions, illustrated with their own learned anno-
Those whom we are most obliged to in this
respect are, Marcus Meibomins, a Oerman ; and our
countryman Dr. John Wallis : the former of these
has (^ven to the world seven of the ancient Greek
writers, namely, Aristoxenus, Enclid, Nicomachus,
AlypiuB, QaudentiuB, Baccbins Seniori, and Aris-
tides QaintilianuB ; as also a Disconrse on Music,
which makes the ninth book of Martianns Capella's
Latin work, entitled De Nnptiis Philologies et Mer-
ourii ; and the latter a complete translation of the
harmonics of Ptolemy, wiui notes, and a most
valuable appendix ; as also tianslations of Porphyry
and Hanuel Bryennins in like manner.
Oonceming these writen, it is to be observed that
the Greeks are by far of the greatest authority ; and
that their division of music into several branches,
as being more scientific than that of the Latin
writers, is entitled to the preference. The moet
ample of these is the division of Aristides Qnin-
tilianus, which is thus analyzed by his editor Hei-
bomins, in bis notes on that author, peg. 20? : —
Physics : i Arithmoticum.
qu* drUIMi is 1 Physicam, nnal oofBamlDaai.
Enarraliva:
/ Harmonicom.
{ Bythmicam.
I Metricam.
/ Melopcda.
t Bhydunopoeia.
Poeds.
/ Oivanica.
{O^oa.
( Hypocritica.
Uasaw, Euclid, Nicomachus, Gandentins, Ptolemy,
and Biyennins, call the several treatises written 1^
^em Harmonica ; whereas Aristidea, Bacchins, and
Martianus Oapella entitle tbeira Muslca ; as does
Boetius, although he was a strict Pbythagoiean.
Porphyry bdoM, who professes nothing more than
to be a commentator on the harmonics of Ptolemy,
institutes another mode of division, and, without
distinguishing the speculative part of tbJs scienoe
from the practical, divides it into six general beads,
namely. Harmonica, Rythmica, Hetrica, Organica,
Poetica, and Hypocritica; Rythmica be apfJies to
dancing, Metrica to the enunciattve, and Poetica to
veraes.^ The branch of the science, which baa been
1, bnt pnim to It tbn <<
, . tba nllowiaf eoDdH ul
lonuiT :— • AHMtUm ooiulden mniki & Ik> lunH
. »^ '■-u^ It IBM Mmlimflilfm whI wMm. TU
orarttMal; thi mtltnl It oHIImiH—L
.. . ..._. T,fitf„f^ wlrtrt
S^.
dbyGoot^le
62
HISTORY OF fHB SCIENCE
Book IL
moet l&rgely treated by the ancienta, ia the Hu^
nonica, as will appear by the eztracte hereinatter
g^ven from their worka.
From the relation hereinbefore given of the in>-
Vention of, and encceaBive improvementa made in,
fnuaic, a veiy accnrate judgment may be formed of
the natnre of the ancient eyatem, which, together with
the raUoa of the oonaonances, and the doctrine of the
genera and the modea, constituted the whole of the
harmonical KJence as it stood abont the year of the
world 3600. After which AristoxenDi, Enclid,
NicomachuB, and other Greek wntere, niade it a
eabject of Philoaophical enqniry, and composed those
treatdses on harmonics which are severally ascribed
to them, and of which, as also of their reapecttve
authors, a fall acconnt will hereafter be f^ven.
What was the state of the science previous to l£e era
above-mentioned, can only be learned from those
parUcnlars relating to mnsic, which are to be met
with in the several acconnts extant of the life and
doctrines of Pythagoras, who, for any thing that can
now be collected to the contrary, seems indisputably
intitled to the appellation of the Father of Mnsic.
Ptthaooras, according to the testimony of the
generality of writers, was born about the third year
of the fifty-third Olympiad, which answers to the
year of the world 3384, and to abont £60 years
before the birth of onr Saviour ; and although he
Was of thiU class of philosoDhers called the Italic
eect, he is supposed to have been a native of Bamos,
and in consequence of this opinion is nsnally stited
the Samian sage or philosopher. His fother, named
MnesarchuB, is reported to have been a merchant, or,
as some say, an engraver of i^ngs. Of his travels
into various parts of tiie world for the acquiring of
knowled^ ; of the wonders related of hun, or of
his doctrines in genersl, it is needless to give an
account in this phtce. It seenu to be agreed that he
lefl not any thing behind him of bis writing, and all
that is to be known of his doctrines is grounded on
the testimony of his disciples, who were very many,
and were drawn to hear htm ftom the most distant
parts of Greece and Italy. Of theee Nicomachus
was one, who because he iumself has written on the
science of harmonics, ma^ well be supposed to under-i
stand the doctrines of his master ; from him there-
fore, as also ftom others, as namely, Ptolemy,
Uacrobins, and Porphyry, who, though they lived
many years after Pyth^orss, were of bis sect, we
may with some degree of confidence determine
as to the tenets of his schooL A summary of these
is given by his learned biographer Stanley, in the
passages here cited ; and first as to those respecting
mnne in general, he givea them in theee words : —
' The IMhagoreans define musio an apt oom-
' position of contraries, and an union of many, and
' consent of differents ; for it not only eo-ordinates
' rythms Mid modulation, but all manner of systems.
' Its end is to unite and aptly conjoin. God is the
■ ftatoabom). To what pnipoH tomi xM tiribultnl t do DM uiiSm-
'iUiid.fbilhb<i1niliapKl«DrUieoiKUliaJ, iDwlikhwiInliHniavaT
■ th>r all Uum, in Milapmi*. whkh glm i
■otniH.' TmtlHf
'reconciler of Aings discordant, and this is hia
' chiefeat work, according to music and medicine,
' to reconcile enmities. In music, say they, consista
' the agreement of all thingS) and aristocracy of the
* universe. For what is harmony in the world, in
' a ci^ ia good goVerment ; in a family, temperance.^
' Of many sects, suth Ptolemy, that were con-
'versant about harmony, the most eminent were
' two, the Pythsgoric and Aristozonean ; IVthagoras
'dijudicated it by reason, Ariatoxenus by sense.
* The Pythagoreans, not crediting the relation of
' hearing, in all those things wherein it is requisite,
' adapted reasons to the difTerenoss of sounds, con^
' trary to those which are perceived by the senses ;
* so that by this criterion (reason) they gave occasion
' of calnmny to such as were of a different opinion.
' Hence the Pythagoreans named that which we
* now call harmonic CanoniO) not from the canon or
' instrument, as some imagine, but from rectitude ;
' since reason finds out that which is right by using
' harmonical canons or rules even of all sorts of in>
' etroments frtuued by harmonical rules, pipes, flute^
■ and the like. They call the exercise Canonic, which
' although it be not canonic, yet is so termed, because
' it is niade according to the reasons and theorems of
' canonica ; the instrument therefore seems to be
' rather denominated from its canonic affection. A
' canonic in general is a harmonic who is conversant
' by ratiocination about that which consists of har-
' mony. Mnsicians and harmonics differ ; musicians
' are those harmonica who begin from sense, but
' cononics are Pythagoreans, who are also called
'harmonics; boUi sorts are termed by a general
' name musicians.' *
As touching the human voice, the same author
delivers Uie foUowing as the Fytiiagorean tenets : —
' They who were of the Pythagorean school said
' that there are (as of one genus) two species. One
'they properljr named Continuous, and the other
' Diastematic (intemussive) framii^ the appellationa
* from the accidents pertaming to each. The Dia-
' stematio they conceived to be that which is sung
' and rests npon eveiy note, and manifests the mnta-
' tion which is in all its parts, which is inconfnsed
' and divided, and disjoined by the magnitudest
' which are in the several sounds as coacerved, but
' not commixt, the parts of the voice being applied
'mntually to one another, which may easily be
' separated and distinguished, and are not destroyed
' together ; such is the musical kind of voice, which
' to the knowing manifests all sounds of what magni-
' tnde every one participates : For if a man use it
' not after this manner, be is not ssid to nng but to
'speak.t
' Human vdce having in this manner two parts,
'they conceived that diere are two places, which
'each in passing noeseeseth. The plaee of ooa*
' tinnous voice, wbicn is by nature infinite in magni-
' tude, receivetii its proper term from that wherewitit
' (he speaker b^an until he ends, that is the place
' from the beginning of hb speech to his conclnsivv
' silence. Bo that the variety thereof is in our power,
• Htn.ftfPUm.brThomHSUDlt)', E«i.MioMUt. ini.FI«.M».
dbyGoo*^le
C^p. XIIL
AND PRACTICE OP MDSIO.
'bnt the pUce of diaBtematie voice is not in onr
' power, but natnral ; and this likfiwiae is bonnd by
' aiSerent effects. The beginning is that which is
' firat heard, the end that ^Mch is last prouosnced ;
' for from hence we b^^ to perceive the magmtadea
* of sounds, and their mntnal conunntations, from
* whence firat onr heuing seems to operate ; whereas
'it is poestble there may be some more obecore
' sonnds perfected in natnre which we cannot perceive
' or hear : as for instance, in things we^hnl there
' are some bodies which seem to have no weight, as
' straws, bran, and the like ; hot when as by appo-
' sition of sach bodies some bennning of ponderosi^
'appears, then we ssy they first come within the
'compass of static. So when a low sonnd increaseth
' by degrees, that which first of all may be perceived
' l^ the ear, we make the b^isning of the place
' which moeicAl voice Teqnireth.' *
These were the sentiments of the Pythagoi«aBB,
with respect to mosic in general, and of voice tn
particalar. Farther, they munbdned on opinion
which numbers, especially the poets, have adopted,
and which seems to prevul even at tMs dsy, namely,
(hat mnsic, and that of a kind for sarposBing mortal
oonoeption, is produced by the motion of the spheres
in their several orbits. The snm of this doctrine
is comprised in the following acoonnt collected by
Stanley fnra Nicomachiu, Macrobitu, Pliny, and
Porphyry : —
■ rThe names of sounds in all probabtUty were
' derived iVom the seven stars, which move circularly
' in the heavens, and compass the earth. The dr-
' cnmagitotion of these bodies must of uecesrfty cause
' a sonnd ; for ur being struck, from the intervention
'of the blow, sends forth a noise. Natnre herself
' coDBtraining that the violent collision of two bodiee
* should end in sound.'
' Now, say the £Nrthagoteans, all bodies which are
'carried round with noise, one yielding and gently
' receding to the other, must necessarily cause sounds
''difFerent from each other, in the magnitude and
' Bwiftnees of voice and in place, which (according to
* the reason of their proper sonnds, or their swiftness,
' or the orbe of repressions, in idiich the impetuons
■ transportation of each is performed) are either more
'fluctuating, or, on the contrary, more reluctant
* Bat these three differences of magnitude, celerity,
'and local distance, are manifestly existent in the
'planets, which are constantly with sonnd circnm-
' agitated through the nthenal difFnsion; whence
'«very one is called &tip, as void of ordmc, station,
'«nd &t\ €(wf, always m conrse, whence Qod and
-• .£ther are called Ococ and Ai'Oi^.'t
' Moreover the sound which is made by striking
'the air, induceth into the ear something sweet and
' musical, or hsrah and discordant : for if a certain
' observation of numbers moderate the blow, it effects
'a harmony consonant to itself; but if it be teme-
' rarious, not governed by msasares, there proceeds
' a tronbled nnpleassnt noise, which offends the ear.
'.Now in heaven nothing is produced casually, no-
* thing temerarions; bat all things there proceed
' according to divine mlea uid settled proportions :
'whence irrefragably is inferred, that the sounds
' which proceed from the conversion of the celeatial
' ^theres are musical. For sonnd necessarily proceeds
' from motion, and the proportion which is in all
' divine things canseth the harmony of this sonnd.
' This Pythagoras, first of all the Greeks, conceived
'in bis mind; and onderstood that the spheres
' sonnded something concordant, because M the
' necessity of proportion, which never forsakes oe-
' leetiol beings. }
' fVom the motion of Saturn, which is the highest
'and farthest from ns, the gravest sound in the
'diapason concord is called Hypate, because vrorov
' ugnifieth highest ; but from the lunary, which is
' the lowest, and nearest the earth, Neate ; for fcorov
'signifieth lowest From those which ore next these,
'vis., from the motion of Jupiter who is under
' Satum, Parypate ; and of Venus, who is above the
'moon, Paroneate. Again, from the middle, which
' is the sun's motion, the fonrth from each part Meee,
' which is distant t^ a diatessaron, in the heptachord
' from both extremes, according to the ancient way ;
' as the sun is the fourth from each extreme of the
'seven {Janets, being in the midst Again, from
' those which are nearest the snn on each side from
' Mora, who is placed betwixt Jnpiter and the sun,
'Hypermeee, which is likewise termed Lidionns;
' and from Mercury, who is placed betwixt Venus
' and the sun, Paramese.^
• Pythagoras, by musical proportion, calleth that
' a tone, by how much the moon is distant from the
' earth ; from the moon to Mercury the half of that
' space, and from Mercury to Venus almost as much ;
'from Venus to the son, sesqniple; from the sun
' to Mars, a tone, that is as far as the moon is from
'the earth : from Mars to Jnpiter, half, and from
'Jupiter to Batnm, half, and thence to the sodiao
' sesqniple. Thus there are made seven tones, which
'they call a diapason harmony, that is an universal
' concent, in whidi Satam moves in the Doric mood,
' Jupiter in the Phrygian, and in the rest the like.'||
' Uliose sounds ^irtiich the seven planets, and the
'sphere of fixed stare, and that which is above
'OS, termed by them Antichton, make, Pythagoras
' affirmed to be tiie nine Muses ; but the composition
'and symphony, and as it were connexion of them
'oil, whereof, as being eternal and nnbegotten, each
'is a part and portion, he named Mnemosyne.' IT
That the above notion of the music of the epneree
Was first entertained by Pythagoras, seems to be
agreed by moet writers. The reception it has met
with has been different, according as the temper of
the times, or the different opinions of men have
contributed to favour or explode it Cicero mentions
it in snch a way sa shews him inclined to adopt it,
as does also Boetius, lib. I. cap. ii. Macrobins, in
his Commentary on the Sonmium Scipionis, lib. IL
cap. iiL speaks of it as a divine and heavenly notion.
Valesins, on the oontraty, treats it as an ill>grounded
conceit Sacr. Philosoph. cap. xxvi Ao. peg. 446.
edit 1588. Notwithstanding which It has ever been
J lUd. i IMi. I IMd. f lUd.
dbyGoo^le
HI8T0BY OP THE SCIENCE
Boos U.
Inrmmd hy the poeta: HUton, who waa & gnat
■dmiror of mosic, while at coiege compoaed and
read in the public echool, a nDall tract De Spharanim
OoDcentn, wliich with a tranalation thereof ia pab-
liabed in Peek's Memoira of him. Mr. Feoton, in
hie notea on Waller, anggeets that E^rthagoraa might
poaaibly have grounded hia opinion of the mnaic of
the epberea apon a paaaage in the book of Job, the
reasona for thu conjectore are very ingeniona, and
will be beat given in hie own worda, whit^ are
theae:—
' PytbaKoiaa was the first that advanced thia doc-
' trine of Uie moaic of the spheres, which he probably
' grounded on that text in Job, ondentood literally,
'"When the morning ttara sang together," Ac
'cbMp. xziz. ver. 7. For sinoe he itadied twelve
' yeara in Babylon, onder the direction of the learned
' mipoator Zoroaebrea, who ia allowed to have been
* a aervant to one of the propheta, we may reaaimably
'oondnde that he waa conversant m the Jewi^
'writingB, of which the book of Job waa ever
'eateemed of moat anthentic antiqnity. Jamblicna
' ingeDnooBly oonfseseth that none bat Pythagoras
'ever perceived this celeetial harmony; and aa it
' leema to be a nadve of imagination, ttie poeta have
'appropriated it to thtai own province, and onr
'admirmble Milton employa it very hapi^y in the
' fifth book of hia Paradise Loet : —
Hut day, aa other solemn days, they spent
In song and daoce about the sacred hiU :
MvftieBl danoe I which ponder starry tphere
Or planets aod of fix'd, m all her wheel*
Eeseroble* nearest, maae* intricate,
Eccentric, iutetvolv'd, vet rerular
Then most, when moat irregidar they seem ;
And in their motions harmony divine
So smoodi* her chonning tones, that Ood's own ear
Listens delighted *
Cenaorinns anggeets a notable reason why thia
heavenly mnsio ia inandible to mortal eare, viz., its
londnesa, which he says ia ao great aa to canse dcaf-
neea. De Die Natal. c«p. xL whicli Bntler baa tiios
ridicnled ■ —
Her voice, the munc of the spheres,
So loud it deafens mortal ears.
As wise philosophers have thought,
And thats the cause we hear it not
HoDtsau, Part II. Cant i. line 617.
After all, whether the above opinion be philo-
aophicatly tme or not, the conception ia nndoubtedly
very noble and poetical, and ae soch it appears
in tiie paaaage above-dted from tiie Paradise Loat,
and in thia other of Milton, eqnally beantiM and
sablime : —
Ring out, ye chrystal spheres,
Once bless onr hninan earsf
If ve have power to touch our sense* so ;
And let year silver chine
Move iu melodions time.
And let the base of heav'n'* deep o^an blow.
Htmh oh tub NATirrrv,
TonclunR the divirion of the diqnaon, the follow-
ing ia the doctrine of the Pythagoreans : —
(•, wiiUk Dr. HfwUn hM nUlwdr—
Mn la ■ tnt In Job ihtUI. H, IhU H>mi to hTOU
H Pyihiiirsiii*, iio«wi*liif the mulal moUoa of I
' The diabmic genna aeona nattmlly to have Umb <
'degreee and progreeeee, hemltone, tone and tone,
' (half note, whole note and whole note) ; thia ia the
' system diateeaaron, consisting of two tonea, and that
' which ia called a bemitone ; and then, another tone
' being inserted, diapente is made, being a system of
'three tones and a bemitone. Then in order after
' this, Uiere being another bemitone, tone and tone^
•they make another disteesaroo, that is to aay,
'anther Seeqniterda : so that in the ancienler
'heptachord, ul foortha from the lowest, aonnd »
•diateeaaron one to another, the bemitone taking
■ the first, second, and third place, according to the
' projfrcflsion in iha tetrachord. But in the Pytha-
' gone octochord, which is by a oonjnncllon a system
' of the tetrachord and the pentachord, and that either
'jointly of two tetrachorda, or diajointiy of two tetza-
chords separated from one another by a tone, the
' proceeaion will b^n from the lowest, so that every
'into
'the foortL'f
sotmd will make diapente, the bemitone passing
' into four placee, the first, the second, the third, and
It appears also that Pythagoras institated the canon
of the Monochord, and proceeded to a snbdivision of
the diateeaaron and diapente into tonea and semitonea,
and thereby laid the foundation for the famous Sectio
Canonis, which Euclid afterwards adjusted, and u
given in his Introduction, aa alao in a for^^ing
chapter of this work. Duris, an author cited by
Porphyry, mentions a brasen tablet, set up iu the
Temple of Juno by Arimneatua, the son of Pytha-
goraa, near two cubits in diameter, on which waa
engraven a musical canon, which waa afterwards
taken away bjr Simon, a Thradan, who arrogated
the canon to himself, and pnbtished it as his own. }
Stanley speaks &rther of Pythagoiaa in these
words : ' Pythagoras, eaith CensorinuB, asserted that
this whole world is made according to musical pro-
portion, and that the seven planets betwixt heaven
and the earth, which govern the natdvitjes of mortals,
have an harmonious motion, and intervals corree-
pondent to mtisicol diastemes ; aud render varioas
Bounds, according to their several heights, so con-
sonant that they make most sweet melody ; bat to
us inaudible, by reason of the greatness of the noise,
which the narrow passage of our ears is not capable
to receive. For, aa Eratosthenes collected that the
largest circumference of the earth is 252000 stadia,
BO I^hagoraa declared how many stadia there are
betwixt the earth and every star. In this measure
of the world we are to nnderstaiid the Italick sta-
dium, which consists of 625 feet, for there are others
of a different length, aa the Olympic of 600 feet, the
I^rthic of 600. From the ^r^ therefore, to the
Moon Pythagoras conceived it to be about 126000
atadia; and that distance, (according to musical
proportion) is a tone. From the Mocm to Mercury,
•tUlllw
obiinad V >^ bMmiT boUM in Otit
Tb» itmra !• tha Tulfila InntUtiBB ; tint if Basi la kw W ttlB
baaplnbm
la ipaeraa.
dbyGooi^le
CtaAP. XIV.
AND PRACTICB OF MU8I0.
•who ifl uUed imXptiv, half as inach, u it were
' K hemitone. From thence to PboBphoruB, which is
' the etu VenDs, otmoat aa much, that is another
' hemitoDQ : from thence to the Sun twice as much,
' aa it were a tone and an half. Tbtis the Sun is
' distant from the Earth three tones and a half, which
' i« called Diapente ; from the moon two and a half,
* which ia Dlateasaron. From the Son to Mars, who
* is called Ili^pijnci there is the same interval aa from
' the Earth to the Moon, which makes a tone. From
' thence to Jupiter, who ii called ^tSiay, half as
* much, which makes a hemitone. From thence to
' the sapreme heaven, where the signs arcra hemitone
' also ; BO that the diasteme IVom the supreme heaven
' to the Son is Diatessaron, that is two tones and a
' half : from the supreme heaven to the top of the
' earth six tones, a diapason concord. Moreover
' he referred to other stars many things which the
' tnosters of mtisic treat of, and shewed that all
' tbia world is enarmonic.' * Thus Cansorinns : ' bnt
' Pliny, delivering his opinion of Pythagoras, reckons
* seven tones from the earth to the enpreme heaven ;
' for whereas Ceueorinns acconnta but a hemitone from
' Uatom to the zodiac, Pliny makes it SeBquiple.'t
Stanley repreeents the intervals of the scares in
Hbe following <'*
* Theae posMom of lb* Wthigonazu, Out thfl rndtanB 1
-— " — 'A DHMicil propoftkB, Mud Ihp> aU tliii wmlA !• a
t fRwn] tnmt lod conlcxlun of tb* whola. Bot
lin HrrieL H< ku ■ itigk ■• til( •omu'i
_.. u Iha (ad Un« Ihu ■ ■im'a flat, luatewUli
wVh niaU Doidi i wtth thli Iw tOfkn th* fmg m hi
L««alT ilnkn, tMflnDbif to itrilo lelnrrij tlw fflnt
Vaiftt, wL I. pag. il
Dff UU Lhm haon itftar.' Dunpler'i
Stba nkt. or ihi TibnUon
■m. II it enHblj nportad
^ol'i orgma lUI ho bod bnkon o poDO of (liH Ln tbo iuh tbot
t BtuL Ub of PjrtbH- ft- )M-
CHAP. XIV.
Is what manner Pythagoras discovered the con-
sonancea, and adjusted the system, has already been
mentioned. The particulars of his life are related
bv Jamblicbna and other authors ; and a summary
of bia doctrines is contained in the acconnt given
of him by the learned Stanley, In bis history of
Philosophy. Pythagoras lived to the age of eighty,
or, according to some writers, ninety years. The
manner of fais death, which all agree was a violent
one, is as variously reported ; acme say, that being
with others at the bouse of hJs friend Milo, one who
had been refused admittance among them set it on
fire, and that Pythagoras, nmning to escape the
flames, was overtaken and killed, together with
forty of his diBcijJes, among whom was Aicbytas of
Tarentnm.t Olliers say that be 6ed to the Temple
of the Muses at Metapontnm, and died for want of
food, having lived forty days without eating. § He
bad for one of bia diaciplee Pbilolans, a Orotonian
(although he is classed among those of Tarentum,
bia followers) whose system of a septenary is herein-
before inserted ; and who was also the inventor of
that division of the seaqnioctave tone into commas,
which Boetius has recognieed, and is approved of
even at this day. This Philolaus is said to have
been the first that asserted the circular motion of the
earth, and to have written of the doctrines of the
Pythagorean schooL One of his books was pur-
chased by Plato of his relations, at forty Alexandrian
Minse, an inunenae price. |[
Among many tenets of the Pythagoreans, one wai
that there is a general and universal concent oi
barmooy in the parts of the universe, and that
the principles of music pervade the whole material
world ; for which reason they aay that the whole
world is enarmonic. And in the comparison they
assert that those proportions into which the con-
sonances in music are resolvable, are also to be found
in those material forms, which from the symmetry
of their parts excite pleasure in the beholder. The
effect of this principle is in nothing so discoverable
aa in the works of the architects of ancient times,
in which the proportions of 2 to 1, snaweriDg to the
diapason ; of 3 to 2, or Sesquialtera, 4 to 3, or
Sesquiter^a, are perpetually resulting from a com-
parison between the longitude ood latitude of the
whole or constituent parts, such aa porticos, pedi-
ments, halls, vestibules, and apertures of all Unds,
of every regular edifice.
At a time when philosophy had derived very
little assistance from experiment, such general con-
clusions as these, and that the universe was founded
on harmonic principles, had little to recommend
them but the hare probability that they might be
well grounded ; bnt how great mnst have been the
astonishment of a Pythagorean or a Platonist, could
be have been a witness to those improvements which
a more cultivated philoaophy has produced I And
how wonid he who exulted in the discovery that the
dbyGoo*^le
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book IL
coneonaocee had a ratio of 12. 9. 8. 6, ha-re beea
pleased to hear the coDBonanceB at the eame inatsat
in a Eonorous body ; or been transported to find, by
the help of a pnsm, a Bimilar coincidence of pro-
portions among colours, and that the principles of
harmony pervaded as well the objects of sight as
hearing ? For Sir Isaac Newton happily discovered,
that the breadtha of the seven primary colours in the
son's image, produced by the refraction of hie rays
through a prism, are proportional to the seven difFer-
ences of the lengths of the eight mosical strings,
D, E, F, Q, A, B, C, d, when the intervals of their
sounds ard T, H, t ; T, t, H, T."
The earliest of the harmonic writers, whose works
are now extant, was Aristoxbnxjs ; he was the son
of a musician of Tarentum, in Italy, called also
Spintharus. Aristoxenns studied music first nnder
Mb father at Mantinea, and made a considerable
proficiency therein : he bad also diverse other tutors,
namely, Lamprius, E^rythrnoB, Xenophilus the Pytha-
gorean, and lastly Aristotle, whom, as some say, he
greatly reviled after his death, for having left his
Bchool to Theophrastua, which Aristoxenus expected
to have had, he being greatly applauded by his
hearers : though others on the contrary assert, that
he always mentioned Aristotle with great respect
He lived In the time of Alexander the Great, viz.,
about the hundred and eleventh Olympiad, which
answers nearly to a.m. S610. There are extant of
his wridng Baements of Harmonics, in three books.
He is said to have written on music, philosophy,
history, and other branches of learning, books to the
number of four hundred and fifty 'three, and to have
expressly treated on the other parts of music, namely,
the RyUimic, the Metric, and the Organic ; but
that above-mentioned is the only work of bis now
remuning.
Touching the elements of Aristoxenus, there is
great diversity of opiniouE : Cicero, who, as being
a philosopher, we may suppose to have studied the
work with some degree of attention, in his Treatise
de Finibus, lib. Y. 19. pronounces of it that it is
utterly unintelligible. Ueibomins, on the other hand,
speaks of it as a most valuable reliqne of antiquity,
and scruples not to style the author the Prince of
Musicians, And the principal end of Euclid's Intro-
duction is to reduce the principles of the Aristox-
eneans into form. Notwithstanding all this, a very
learned writer, namely. Sir I^Vancis Stiles, of whom
mention has already been made, hesitates not to say,
that the whole three books of harmonics ascribed
to Aristoxenus are spnrions. On what authority
this assertion is grounded he has forborne to mention;
however, as the work is recognized by Ptolemy, and
is constantly appealed to by him, as the test of the
Aristoxenean doctrine, its authenticity will at this
day hardly bear a question.
lu [he first book of the Elements of Harmonics
of Aristoxenus, is contained that explanation of the
genera, and also of their colours or species, which
has already been given from him. The rest of that
book consists of some general definidons of terma,
particularly those of Bound, Interval, and System,
which, though in some respects arbitrary, ^1 the
sabseqnent writers seem to have acquiesced in.
In his second book we meet with an assertion <^
the author, which at this day most doubtless appear
unintelligible, namely, that music has a tendency to
improve or corrupt Uie morals. This notion, strange
as it may seem, runs through the writings of all the
ancient philosophers, as well those who did not, as
those that did, profess to teach music. Flutuch
insists very largely on it ; and it is weU known what
effects the Spartans attributed to it, when they made
it an essential in the institution of their yonth.
Aristophanes, in his comedy of The Clonds, puts
into the mouth of Justice, whom he represents as
engaged in a contest with Injustice, a speech so very
pertinent to this subject, that it is here inserted it
length, OS Mr. Theobald has translated it :—' I'll tell
Jou then what was the discipline of old, whilst
flonrished, had liberty to preach up temperance
to mankind, and was supported in it by the laws ;
then it was not permitted for the yonth to speech it
in public, but every morning the young people of
each borongh went to their muaic school, marched
with a grave composed eoQutenanca through tfaa
streets, decent and lightly clothed, even when the
snow fell thick. Before their master they sat with
modesty, in proper ranks, at distance from each
other; there they were t&ught to sing in lofty
strains some hymn to the great and formidable
Pallas, or other canto of that kind, in concert with
the strong and masculine music of their comitry,
without pretending to alter the tones that had been
derived down to them by their forefathers. And
if any one were obeerved to wanton it in his
performance, and sing in an effeminato key, like
those that now sing your corrupted airs of Phrynis,
he was immediately chastised as one that depraved
and ruined music You would not then have seen
a single instance of one Qiat should dare commit
the least immodesty, or discover ought that honesty
enjoined him to hide : they were so Bcmpulonsly
nice in this respect, that they never forgot to sweep
np the Band on which they had sot. None then
assumed the lawless minion, or defiled himself with
wanton glances ; none were suffered to eat what
was an incentive to Inxnry, or injured modesty:
radisheB were banished from their meals; the aniee
and rock-porsley that are proper for old constita-
tions, were forbid them, and they were strangers
to high and seasoned dishes : they sat with gravity
ot table, never encouraged an indecent posture,
or the tossing of their legs lazily np and down.'f
t PoItWm In hia fonrth hook, chjp. 111. hu giian ■ dncrlptlDii of
Uw UKVnt AmulLu diidpline oT jvuth, neuly eormpDndb^ vltk
Uiu or Ibc SmiUiii mbovc died. In ■ puu^ ahlch, u ll licHn
ftlludH to by tna writer* on mualc. Id hvn inteilH] bi (hd worti pT Ui
alagut CnDilfttor Ur. Hampbon ■- —
'All men know thu AicriU ia ilmMI the only oounlrr In uhleh
m the eonge and bjnins (hat en compwd In honoDr (^ tbclr
muile of Tlmoltie.
III aim
Iher
oiuelD
n tke puMk Ihul
cmulUlao to the
thefciu
fiu
them d
proper age, Iho
hlldm
iho,;
th
tire
purti
dbyGoo^le
Chap. XIV.
AND PRAOTICE OF MUSItt
It has elreaAy been aud that this philosopher did
by no means acquieecc in the opinion of Pythagoras
and his folloners, that the nuderetanding is the
nlttmate judge of intervals ; and tliat in every Hyatem
there most be found a mathematical coincidence
before such syetem can be uiid to be harmooical : thie
position AristoxenuH and all of hia school denied.
The phil<Mopher himself, in this second hook of his
Elements, ezpreealy asserts, that ' by the hearing we
jndge of the magnitude of an interval, and by the
miderstanding we consider its several powers.' And
^;ain he says, ' that the nature of melody is best
discovered by the perception of sense, and is re-
tained by memory ; and that there is no other way
of arriving at the knowledge of mnuc ; ' and though,
he says, 'others affirm that it is by the study of
' instruments that we attain this knowledge ;' this, he
Mys, is talking wildly, ' for that as it is not necessary
for him who writes an Iambic to attend to the
■rithmetical proportions of the feet of which it is
compoBod, BO it is not necessary for him who writes
a Phrygian Oantns to attend to the ratios of the
sounds proper thereto.' The meaning of this
passa^ is very obvious, and may be farmer illus-
tratod by a comparison of music with painting,
the pisctioe whereof is so little connected with the
llteoTy of the art, that it requires not the least skill
in the former to make a painter. The laws of vision,
or the theory of light and coloun, never snggest
tkenuelves to him who is about to design a picture,
whether it be history, landscape, or portrut: the
common places in his mind are ideas of effect and
harmony, drawn solely &om experience and observa-
tion ; and in like manner the musical composer
adverts to those harmonies or melodies, those com-
binations, which from their effect alone he has found
to be the most grateful, withont recurring to the
ratios that subsist among them.
Ajistozenus thnk proceeds to a general division
of mnsic into seven parts, which be makes to be,
1. Tbe Genera. 2. Interrals. 3. Sounds. 4. Bys-
leme. B. Tones or Modes. 6. Mutations. And
7. Melopceia ; and in this method he is followed by
AristideB, Nicomachos, and most other ancient writers.
The remainder of the above-mentioned work, the
ESemeuts of Aristoxenns, is taken up with a dis-
coBsion of the several parts of music according to tbe
order which he hod prescribed to himself. But it
must be owned,so great is the obscurity in which his
doctrinea are involved, that very little instruction is
to be obtained IVom tbe most attentive perusal of
him ; nor will the truth of this asBortion be ques-
tioned, when the reader is told that Cicero himself
baa pronounced his work unintelligible.* The nse,
however, proposed to be made of it is occasionally to
jovmv nMH Uw nuolr gunei. And eren li thalr prlvite fcaiti BnS
RHHbui th>r 1" oern known la nnploji uu Und bukda or
fm UwEr CBUrulninnit. but uch mu b bfanHlT obliged to itDg t
Poc tboDfh IbtT m»r wtlhool tb •" -" •—
' of Ttrj othor^tdennj^ Hwr din
i« bMd, rrfuM
uie niillUT)' iMpa ud — " — '■- " * -
li UkrwiH pncHjod *' _., ,
id in ilfht of (U thg dOMiu.' Hsmploo'i Poljbiiu, pus. t.
refer to each parts of it as are least liable to Qiis
censure, and this will be done as often as it shall
appear necessary.
Tbe next in order of time of the writers on mnuc
is EcoLiD, the author of the Mements of Geometry.
He lived about the year of the world 3617, and
wrote an lutroductjon to Harmonics, which be b^ns
with some necessary definitions, particularly of tbe
words Acumen and Gravitas, terms that frequently
occur in tbe writings of the ancient harmonicians :
the first of these be mokes to be &e effect of intension
or raiung, and the other of remission or falling the
voice. He then proceeds to treat of the genera and
the modes ; what he has said of each is herein-before
mentioned. His Isagoge or Introduction is a very
small tract, and little remains to be said of it, except
that it contains the hmona Sectio Ganonis, a geo-
metrical division of a chord for the purpose of
ascertaining the ratios of the consonancee, herein-
before inserted. In this, and also in his opinion
touchii^ the diatessaron and diapente, namely, that
the former u leSB than two tones and a hemitone, and
tbe latter less than three tones and a hemitone, he is
a Pythagorean, but in other respects he is apparently
a follower of AristoxennB,f 'Die fimdamental prin-
ciple of Euclid's preliminary discourse to the Sectio
Canonis is, that every concord arises either from
a multiple or superparticular ratio ; the other ne-
oessary premises are, 1. That a multiple ratio twice
compounded, that is multiplied by two, makes the
total a multiple ratio. 2. That if any ratio twice
compounded makes the total multiple, that ratio is
iteelf multiple. 3. A superparticular ratio admits of
neither one nor more geometrical mean proportionals.
i. From tbe second and third propositions it follows,
that a ratio not multiple, being twice compounded,
the total is a ratio neither multiple nor superpar-
ticular. Agun, from the second it follows that if
any ratio twice composed make not a multiple ratio,
itself is not multiple. 5. The multiple ratio, 2 to 1,
which is that of uie diapason, and is the least of the
kind and the most simple, is oomposed of tbe two
greatest superparticular ratios 3 to 2, and 1 to 3, and
cannot be comftosed of any other two that are super-
particular.}
Tbe foregoing acconnt of tbe nature and design of
Blnclid'a division is contained in a series of theorems
prefixed to the Sectio Canonis, and are reduced to
ft kind of Summary by Malcolm, who appears to
have been extremely well versed in the matiiemstical
part of music
Whu !a to be uDdintood b; (ban kJndi rt
b they w tcTctrtllr applt^, will henafY«r bo
Hultipla pTDpoRiiin !•
Mquent, (he qnottent Ei
Supcrpirtlcaki ptwortloB li when one numlKr or qiuDth
lOtber OM, HAd u utqllDl psft. whoH ndleil or leoit nunl
• thu lh< nmnbci whicb it » contilDod io Ibr SRiIri, li u
•npeniarClculii pnpoRk ~
hne nwj bo odded nipi
tupeiponloiit proportion) i
dbyGoot^le
68
HISTORY OF THE SOIENOE
Book IL
It was not till the time of Meibomiaa that the
world was poaaesBed of a genoinff and accurate edition
of the laagoge of Euclid ; it seetOB that a MS. copy
of a Treatise on Harmomca in the Vatican had written
in it ' Incerti Introductio Harmonica ; ' and that
aome person bae written therein the name of Oleouidaa,
and some other, with as little reoeon. Pappus Alex-
ondrinns. Of this MS. Georgius Valla, a physician
<tf Plocentia, published at Venice, in 1498, a Lstin
translation, with the title of Cleonidn Hannonicnm
IntrodQCtonnm ; wliich after all appears to be a brief
oompendinm of Euclid, Aristides Qointiliauos, and
Honnel BryennioB, of very little worth : and as to
Oleonidas, the reader is as much to seek for who he
was, and where he lived, as he would have been bad
Valla never made the above translation.
DiDYHUB of Alexandria, on antbor to be reckoned
among the scriptoreB perditi, inaamacb as nothing
of his writing is now extant, must nevertheless be
mentioned in this place : he flourished abont the year
of the world 1000, and is said to have first discovered
and ascertained Uie difference between the greater
and leaser tone. Ptolemy takes treqnent occasion to
mention him, and lias given his division of the dia-
tessaron in each of the three genera.
CHAP. XV.
Maboub ViTBonuB PoLuo, the arcliitect, has
usually been ranked among the writers on mosio;
not so mnch becanse he appears to have been skilled
in the art, but for those chapters in his work Be
Architectura, in ten books, written in Latin, and
dedicated to the emperor Angnstus, in which be
treats of it; He iloarished in the time of Julius
Ctesar, to whom he says he became known by bis
skill in bis profession, which it is agreed was super-
latively great ; though, to consider him as a writer,
it is pteorked that liis style is poor and vulgar.
In some editions of his work, particularly that of
Florence, 1496, and in another published at Venice
the year after, by some nnaccoantahle mistake he is
called Lndos, whereas his tme name was Marcos,
and so by common consent he is called. In the fifth
book of the above-mentioned treatise, diap. iii. entitled
De Theatro, he takes occasion to treat of sound,
particularly that of the human voice, and of the
methods practised by the ancients in the constntction
of their theatres, to render it more audible and
musical : the various contrivances for tliis purpose
will doubtless appear strange to modem apprehension,
and give an idea of a theatre very different from any
that can be conceived without it His words are aa
follow ; — ' The ancient architects having made very
'diligent researches into the nature of tlie voice,
' regulated the ascending gradations of their theatres
'accordingly, and sought, liy mathematical canons
' and musical ratios, bow to render the voice ^m the
'stage more clear and grateful to the ears of the
' audience.' Chap. iv. humony, he says, is a musical
literature, very obscure and diSficult to such aa under-
Btand not the Greek longn^e ; and, if we ore desirous
tc explain it we must necessarily use Greek words.
some whereof have no Latin appellatdons ; where-
fore, says he, ' I shall explain it as clearly aa I am
' able from the writings of Ariatoxenus, whose dio-
' gram I shall give, and shall define the sounds so as
' tiiat whoever diligently attends may easily conceive
' them.' He then proceieda, ' For the changes of the
' voicea, some are acute and others grave. The genera
' of modnlations are three ,' the first, named in Greek
' Harmonica, the second C^iroma, the third Diatonon ;
' the iiormonic genus is grave and solemn in its
' efi'ect ; the cfajomatio has a greater degree of
' sweetness, arising from the delicate qnickneaa and
' frequency of ita tronsitiona ; the diatonic, as it ia
' the moat natural, is the most easy.' He then pro-
ceeds to describe the genera in a more particular
manner. Chap. v. intitied De Theatri Vasis, he
speaks of the methods of asdsdng the voice in the
manner following : — ' Let vesaela of brass be con-
' structed s^^reeably to our mathematical researchea,
' in prtniortion to the dimensions of the theatre, and
' in each manner, that when they shall be touched
'they may emit auch aounda as shall be to each
' other a diatessaron, diapente, and so on in order,
' to a disdiapason ; and let these be disposed among
' the seats, in cells made for that purpose, in a musical
'ratio, BO aa not to touch any wall, liaving round
' them a vacant place, with a apace overhead. They
' must be placed inversely : and, in the port tliot
' fronts the stage, have wedges put nnder them, at
' least an half foot high ; and let there be apertures
' lefi: before these cells, opposite to the lower beds ;
' these openinga must be two feet long, and half a foot
' high, but in what places in particular they are to
' be fixed is thus explained. If the theatre be not
'very large, then let the places designed for the
' vases be marked qnite acroaa, about naif way up
' ita height, and let thirteen cells be made Hierein,
'having twelve equal intervals between tbem. In
' each of these, at the extremes or comers, let there
'be placed one vaae, whose echo shall answer to
' Nete hyperboteon ; then on each side next the
' comers place another, answering to the diatessaron
' of Nete aynemmenon. In the third pair of cells,
'reckoning, as before, from the angles, place the
' diatessaron of Nete parameson ; in the fourth pair
' that of Nete aynemmenon ; in the fifth the dia-
'tessaron of Mese; in the sixth the diatessaron of
' Hypate meson ; and in the middle the diatessaron
' of Hypate hypaton. In this ratio, the voice, which
' is sent out from the stage aa from a centre, nndn*
'lating over the whole, will strike the cavities of
'every vase, and the concords agreeing with each of
'them, will thereby return clearer and increased ; but
' if the size of the tiieatre be larger, then let its height
'be divided into four parts, and let there be made
' three rows of cells across the whole, one whereof is
' designed for Hormonia, another for Chroma, and the
' other for Diatoaoe. In the first or lower row, which
' ia for Harmonia, let &e vases be placed in the some
'manner aaie above directed for the lesser theatre; bat
' in the middle row let those be placed in the comers
'whose sounds answers to the Chromatioon hyperbo-
leon ; in the pair next to the comers the diatessaron.
dbyGoo^le
Obaf. XV.
AND PRACTIOE OF MUSIC.
in the Cbromaticon difsengroenon ; in the third the
diateaaaroa to the Chromaticon synemmenon ; ia the
fonrth the diateeearoa to the Ohromaticoii meson ; in
the fifth iJie diatesearon to the Ohromaticoii hypaton ;
and in the sixth the diateaaaron to the Chromaticon
Parameaon ; for the Chromaticon hyperboleou dia-
Dente has an agreement of consouancy with the
iromaticoD meson diateaaaron. But in &» middle
cell nothing need be placed, hy reason that in the
chromatic genua of symphony no other quality of
■otinda can have any concorduice. Aa to the upper
' division or row of cells, let vasea be placed in the
extreme corners thereof, which answers to the soonda
Diatonon byperboleon ; in the next pair to them the
diateaaaron to Diatonon dieEengmenon ; in the third
the diatessaron to Siatonoa synemmenon; in the
fonrth the Diateaaaron to Diatonon meson ; in the
fifth the diateaaaron to Diatonon hypaton ; in the
sixth the diatessaron to FrosUmbenomenos : the
diapason to Diatonon hypaton has an ^p'eement of
aymphony with the diapente. Bat if any one would
easily arrive at perfection in these things, let him
carefally inspect the diagram at the latter end of the
book which Ariatoxenua compoaed with great care
and skill, concerning the divisions of modnlatioos,*
from which, if any one will attend to his reasoning,
he will the more readily be able to effect the con-
atroctions of theatres according to the nature of the
voice, and to the delight of the hearers.' Thna for
Vitmvina.
We are too little acquainted with the nature of the
ancient drama to be id>le to account particularly for
the effects of this aingnlar invention : to suppose that
in their theatrical representations the actors barely
pronoonced their apeochea, accompanying their ntter-
aocfl with correspondent geeticnlationa, and a proper
emphasis, as is practised in our timee, would render
it of no ose ; for the vases so particularly described
and adjusted by thia anthor, are evidently calculated
to reverberate, not the tonea used in ordinary speech,
which have no musical ratio, but sounds abeolntely
muaical: and on the other hand, that the actor
ahould, instead of the leaaer inflexions of the voice
proper to discourse, make use of the consonances
diateaaaron, diapente, and diapason, and consequently
ting, aa wdl the familiar apeechea proper to comedy,
as those of the more sublime and halted kind whidi
distinguish tragedy, is utterly impossible for ns to
eoBceive.
If it was for the purpose of reverberating the murao
used in the dramatic repreeentations of the ancient
Romans, that thia disposition of hollow veaaeU, di-
rected by VitruviuB, was practised, we may fairly
pronounce that the end was not worthy of the means ;
for however excellent the muucal theory of the
ancients might be, yet in the number and perfection
of their instruments they were greatly behind the
moderoa ; and were it a question, we need look no
farther for a proof of the fact than the comedies of
Terence, where we are told that the musie performed
at the acting of each of them waa composed by
Flaccns, a freed-man of Claudius ; and that it was
played in aome inatancea, aa at the Andria, tibiis
paribus, dextris et sinistris ; and in others, tibiis
paribus generally ; and at the Fhonnio tibiis impa-
ribus, that is to say, by flutes or pipes right-handed
and left-handed, in pairs, or of nneqiml lengths. This
was not at a time when the ancient music was in its
infancy : the system had been adjaBt«d many ages
before ; and we may look on this refinement men-
tioned by Vitruvitu as the last that the art waa
thonght capable of. It is not here meant to anticipate
a comparison, which will come more properly here-
after ; but let any one take a view of the ancient
music at the period above referred to, with even the
advantage of this improvement drawn from the
doctrine of Phonics, aiid compare it with that of
modem times ; let him reflect on the aeveral im-
provemente which distingoiah the modem from the
ancient mnaic, snch as the multiplication of parts, the
introdnction of instrnmenta, some to extend the com-
pass of sounds, others to increase the variety of tones,
and others more fordbly to impress the time and
measure, aa the dmm and other iostrnments of the
pulsatile kind are manifestiy calculated to do; the
use of a greater and lesser chorus ; that enchanting
kind of symphony, known only to the modems,
called thorough base ; and those very artful species
of composition, fugue and canon. Let thia com-
pariaon be made, and the preference asaigned to that
sra which has the best daim to it.
Although this work of Vitravius is professedly
written on the subject of architecture, it is of a very
miscellaneous natore, and treats of matters very little
allied to that art, as namely, the constmction of the
bolieta, the catapulta, and other warlike engines;
docks and diala, and the nature of colours. In chap.
xi. lib. X. intitied De Hydraulids, he nndertakea to
describe an instroment called the hydranlic or water-
organ, but so imperfectiy has he described it, that to
understand hie meaning has given infinite trouble
and vexation to many a learned enquirer, f
For the existence of this strange instrument we
have not only the testimony of Vitmvina, but the
following passage in Claudian, which cannot by any
kind of constmction be referred to any other : —
Tel qui magna levi detrudeni murmtiTa tactu,
Innnineraa voces legetiB modnlatur ahente ;
Intonat erranti difi;ito, penltluque trabili
Teete laboTontei m cannina concitat undai.
It is sud W some that the hydranlic organ was
invented by Hero, of Alexandria ; others aaaert that
Cteeibna, about the year of the world 3782, invented
an instrument that produced mnsio by the compres-
sion of vrater on the ur ; and that uis inatmment,
which answers precisely to the hydraulic organ, waa
improved by Archimedes and Vitruvlns, the latter of
whom has given a very particular description of it.
CtesibuB the inventor of it was a native of Alex-
andria, and the son of a barber. He waa endowed
thu Itae eommoD piwuiutic OTgan. uid (but he h« Iftboimd to dciciIlM
A cblng verv obfttmn, Ktid tb« todanljitf ot «bleh be ooulil Dot coma Vu
Ihougb iih1i(«1 bj Uh comiamtUT of Dul«l Barbuo. DtlnitninHnOi
Banoontoli, pog. IM. Ha futbu uji Out PoUUu) lu Ul PHMpllMDOD
dbyGooi^le
70
HISTORY or THE SCIENCE
Boos U.
with an excellent geniuB for mechanic ioTentions,
which he Boon diBcovered in the contrivance of a
looking-glass for his father's shop, so hung as that it
might be easily pulled down or raised higher by
neans of a bidden rope. The manner of this inven-
tion is thus related by Vitruvins. He pnt a wooden
tube tinder a beam where he had fastened some
pnlliea, over which a rope went that made on angle
in ascending and descending into the tnbe, wMch was
hollow, so tiiat a tittle leaden hall might run along it,
which ball, in passing and repassing in this narrow
cavity, by violent motion expelled the air that was
incltwed, and forced it against that without ; these
oppositions and concussions made an audible and
distinct sound, something like the voice. He there-
fore on this principle, invented engines which re-
ceived motion from the force of water inclosed, and
others that depended upon the power of the circle or
lever ; and many ingeniooe inventions, particnlarly
clocks that move by water. To set these engines at
work he bored a plate of gold or a precious stone,
and chose snch kind of materials, as not being subject
to wear by constant passing of the water, or liable to
contract filth and obstmct ita passage ; tiiis being
done, the water, which ran through the small hole,
raised a piece of cork, or little ship inverted, which
workmen call Tympanum, upon which was a rule
and some wheels equally divided, whose teeth mov-
ing one another made these wheels turn very leisurely.
He also made other rules and wheels, divided after
the same manner, iriiich by one single motion in
turning ronnd produced divers effects ; made several
small imagea move ronnd about pyramids, threw
up stones like egg^ made trumpets sound, and
performed several other things not essential to clock-
work. Vitrnvius de Architectnra, lib. IX- cap. viii.
But to return : The following is the description
given by Vitruvins of the hydraulic organ : —
'Autem quas habeant ratiocinationes, quam bre-
' vissimfe proxime que attingere potero : et soriptura
' consequi, non prtetermittam. De materia compact*
' baai area in ea ex »re fabricata coUocatur. Supra
' basin erignntur regolie dextra ac sinistra scalari
' forma compactsa : quibus includuntnr lerei modioli
' fundulis ambulationibus ex tomo subtiliter subactis
'hahentibua infixes in media ferreos an cones; at
' verticulis cum vectibus conjunctoe petlibusque lana<
' tia involutoe. Item in snmma planitie foramina cir-
' citer digitoram temnm, quibus foraminibns proximo
' in verticulis cotlocati terei delphini, pendentia habent
'catenis cymbalia ex ore in fra foramina modiomm
'cetato. Intra aream : quo loci aqua suetinetnr in
* est in id genus uti infundibulum inveraum : quem
'enpcT tranlli alti circiter digitoram teraum su^
'poaiti librant spatium imnm, Ima inter labra phi-
' gnos et am fandnm. Snpra autem cervicnlum ejus
' co^menta arcnla sustinet caput machinie qua Greed
'Canon Musicns appellatur : in cujus longitudine si
' canalis tetrachordos est fiunt quatuor. Si exachordos
'sex. Si octochordos octo. Singulis autem canalibns
'singula epithonia sunt inclusa manubriis ferreis
' collocata. Qnie manubria com torquentnr ex area
'patefaciont naree in canalea. Ex canalibns antem
'canon babet ordinata in transverso foramina res-
' poudentia in naribas ; qnee sunt in tabula snmma :
'qnte tabula Grscd Pinas dicitnr. Inter tabulam
' et canons reguln sunt interpositte ad enudem modum
' foratte ex oleo snbactie : ut facOiter impellantnr :
' et rursns introreua reducantnr : qnoe obturant ea
' foramina : plinthidesque appellautur. Qoanim itus
' et reditns alios obtarat : alias operit terebrationes.
' HfB Tcgnlse habent ferrea choragia fixa et inncta
'cum pinnis quamm tactus motiones efficit Begn-
'larum continentnr snpra tabulam foramina qua>
' ex canalibus habent egreBSum apiritns sunt annuli
' agglutinati : quibus linguln omnium includuutur
'oi^anorum. E modiolis autem fistolte sunt conti-
' nentes conjnnctse ligneis cervicibus : pertinentesque
' ad narea ; qnes sunt in arcula : in quibus axes sunt
' ex torno subocti : et ibi collocati. Qni com redpit
'arcula animam epiritnm non patientur obturantea
' foramina ruraus redire. Ita cum vectes extolluntur
'ancones educnnt fondos modiolorum ad imum. Del-
'pluniqae qni sunt in verticulis inclusi calcantea
'in eoe cymbals replent spatia modiolorum : atque
' ancones extollentes fundos intra modiolos vehemenii
' pulsus cerebritate : et obtnrantes foramina cymbalis
'superiora. Aera qni est ibi clausus pressionibus
'coactnm in fistulas cogunt : per qnas in Iigna
'concurrit : et per ejus cervices in arcam. Uotione
'vero vectium vehementiores apiritus f requeue com-
' presBUS epithoniorum apertnrisiuflnit^et replet aninua
' canales itaque cum pins manibua tactte propellunt
'et redncunt continenter regulas alteriua obturant
' foramina alterins aperiendo ex musicis artibus molti-
'plicibuB modnlorum varietatibus sonantes ex<ntant
'voces.* Quantum potui niti, ut obecura res, per
' scripturam diludic^ pronunciaretnr ; contendi. Bed
'luec non est focilis ratio: neque omnibus expedita
' ad intelligendum prster eoe, qni in bis generibna
'habent exercitationem. Qnod ei qni param intel-
* lexerint e scriptis cum ipsam rem ct^noscent : pro-
' tectb invenient curiose et subtiliter omnia ordinata-'f
This description, which to every modern reader
must appear unintelligible, Eircher has not only
undertaken to explain, but tiie strength of his imagi-
nation co-operating with his love of antjqnitj', and
his desire to inform the world, he has exhibited in
the Mnsuigia an instrument which no one can con-
template seriously; and, after all, he leaves it a
question whether it was an automaton, acted upon
by that air, which by the pumping of water waa
forced through the several pipes, or whether the
hand of a sMlful musician, sitting at the front of
it, with the quantity of some tons of water in
a reservoir under him, was not necessary to produce
that music which the bigoted admirers of antiqnitr
ascribe to this instrument, and affect to be so fond of.
Isaac Vosaius, in his treatise De Pocmatum Coutn et
ViribuB Rytbmi, pag. 100, has given a repreaenta-
tion of the hydraulic organ, no way resembling that
of Kircher, but which he yet says is almost exactly
conformable to the words of Vitruvins ; ofler which
follows a description thereof in words not leea
• Tllniiliu de Aj
1 Ibid. Of. xl
Digitized
byGoo^le
IBAP. XV.
AND PRACrriOE OF MDSia
71
n)>Fcnro tlum thooe of VitruTios and Kircher : neither
one nor the other of the diagranu will bear the teat
of sa impftrdal examination, or it vorthy to be in-
serted in any work inteaded to convey information to
A sober enquirer aft«r truth ; but the confidence with
which VosaiuB epeaka of his discovery will moke
it necessary to give his delineation of the hydraulic
organ, together with a deecripdon of it in his own
words.
Kircher indeed, after all the pune he had taken,
has the modesty to confess the inferiority of the
ancient hydraulic to the modem oi^an ; for he says
that if the former be compared to the latter it mnat
seem a very insignificant work, for, adds he, ' I can-
'not perceive what harmony a dispoeition of four,
' five, tax, or eight pipes could prodnce, and I very
' much wonder how Nero ehouid be so exceedingly
'afiected by so small and poor an hydraulic, for
' Vitruvins testifies that when Ms life and empire were
* both in danger, and every thing at the last hazard
' by a sedition of his generals and soldiers, he did not
' relinquish bis great care and affection, or desire
' thereof. We may from hence easily form a judg-
' meat what great pleasure he must faave taken in our
•modem organs, not composed of foiu', five, six,
' or eight pipes, but atich as our greater organs of
' Germany, consisting of eleven hundred and fifty-two
'double pipes, animated by the help of twenty-four
' different registers ; or had he seen our aotonuita. or
'engines of this kind which move of their own
'accord without the help of any lund. Certainly
' these moat enlightened ages have invented several
'things to which the inventions of the ancients can
'in no manner be compared.'*
Of a very different opinion is the before-cited
Vossins, who declares himself not osluuued to assert,
not only that the tibiia alone of the aucionta ore b^
very far to be preferred to all the instmmcuta of his
sige, but that, if we except the pipes of the oi^iis,
commonly used in churches, it will be found that
scarce any others are worthy to be called by the
same of tibin. And be adds, 'even those very
organs which now please so much, can t^ no means
he compared to the ancieut hydraolica. And the
modem Organarii, to apeak after the manner of the
ancients, are not in reality Organarii, but Ascauln
or Utriculani, that is to say. Bag-pipers, for by
that name were those called who furnish wind to
the tibin by the means of hags or wallets, and
bellows, as is done in churches.' He farther says
that 'those are ridiculous who suppose the above
appellations to belong to those mendicants who
go about the streete with a Comamusa, and with
their arms force out continued and unpleasing
sounds.' No, says this sagacious writer, ' the
Ascauls or Utriculani did not in the least differ
from our modem organiata ; and the ancient Or-
ganarii were those only who played on the hydraulic
organ, and they were so called from Organnm, a
brazen vessel, constructed like a round altar, out of
which the air by the help of the incumbent water is
pressed with great force, which yet flows equally
' into the tibis.f After remarking on the bad suc-
cess of many who had attempted to find out the
meaning of Vitravins in his description of this
instrument, and to restore it te practice, he says very
confidently that he himself has done it, and accord-
ingly ezhibite it in the following form : —
And describes it in these words: 'fiat basis lignes
'ABODE F, et in ea constitnatnr ara rotunda
G H I K ex sere fabricata et tomo fideliter expolita.
Fiat quoque clibauus sen hemiBpluerium sereum
L M N O, quam exactissime huic adaptatum. Bit
vero in medio peiforatua his clibanus, et insertum
habeat tnbum et ipsum ereum et utrinqne aprertum
M P. Habeat quoque clibanus alterum foramen, cni
insertus sit siphon N I Q, cuins narea pertingunt ad
modiotum eereum Q R 8 T. Biphon hie habeat
asaarinm seu platysmation ad N. Modiolo vero
Q R g T aptetur embolus V cui affixa sit regula
firmiter admodum compacta V \, ita ut k vecte
X Y Z embolus V commode moveri possiL Mo-
diolus autem Q R S T habeat in superiori superficie
alind foramen 3, 4, cum platysmatio per quod aSr
ingredi possiL Iste vero ingredietur com vectis
X Y Z in Z attollitur. Quando vero idem de-
primitur, platysmation hoc clauditur, et ingresens
aer ^r siphonem Q I N, aperto platysmatio ad N,
exprimitur in clibannm L M N U, unde per tubum
M P influit in arcam A a 0 c E e, cujiis aSaiJx
tibife animantur. Clibano vero L M N 0, qnamvis
mogui sit ponderes, velnti uneo, quo tamen fortius
snbjectum premat a6rem et fidelius ne effluat cns<
todiat, Buperinfunditur aqua, puta ad f f, vel altiue
si fortiores velimos efficere sonos. Fiat itaque ex
continna vectis agitatione, ut attollatur tandem
clibanus L M N 0, immoto interim perstante tubo
H P, et siphone N I Q, et notandum simulac
vehementia ingressi spiritus attollitur clibanus, turn
quoque aeqnalem fieri compressionem seris qui in
area continetur. Licet enim efflueute per ttbias
agre clibanus descendat, idemque mreus agitations
vectis attollatur, quamdiu temen clibanus suspensus
et k fnndo separatns manet, tandiu propter cequali-
tatem prementis ponderis, squalis etiam manet, in-
clusi aSris constipatio, ipsaque clibani et superinfiuB
1< Focnuit. g»f. n.
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OF THE SOIENOE
Book IL
' aqiue inconstAns et mobilia altitado efiOcit eequalitatem
' flatoB, quo Ubite aspirantnr.' *
The same atitboT affects to be very meny with
thoae who hare aeaerted that this organ was mounted.
only with six or eight tibiie, and cites the foregoing
verses of Claudian, and the following exclamation of
Tertnllian, to prove the contrary; — ' Specta porten-
' toaam Archimedia (Ctesibii rectioB dixisset) muni-
flcentiam : organtim hydraulictun dico, tot membra,
tot partes, tot compaginea, tot itinera vocom, tot
compendia aonomm, tot commercia modomm, tot
ades tibianuQ, et noa molea emnt omnia, Spiritna
ille qui de tonnento aqiue anhelat, per partes ad-
minietratnr, snbBtantiasolidus, opera divistiB-'f He
aays that the use of the hydraulic organ ceased be-
fore the time of Casnodoms; and that the same ap-
pears from a passage in a discourse of that antboi on
the hundred-and-mtietb Pealm, wherein, without
making the least mention of the hydraulic, he bestows
the following very high commendations on the pneu-
matic organ, then in common use : — ' An organ is aa
' it were a tower composed of several different listuhe
01 pipes, in which the most copions sound is furnished
by the blowing of bellows : and that it may be com-
posed of a graceful modoUtion, it is constmcted with
certun wooden tongnee in the inner part, which
being skilfully pressed down by the fingers of the
master, produce a great sounding and most sweet
cantilena.' ^
He notwithstanding asserts that the hydranlic
organ continued in use lower down than the time of
OassiodoruB ; for that in the French annals of a
certain anonymone writer, he is informed that in the
year 826, a certun Venetian, called Qeorgins, or rather
Gregorins, censtructed a hydraulic organ for Lewis
the Pious, at Aix la Chapelle, and that after the
manner of the ancient8,§ He elsewhere says that the
tnrdranlic organ of Daniel Barbaro, described in his
Commentary ou Vitrnvios, is with great reason ex-
ploded by all ; II and that those who in his time had
in their writings concerning music, inserted the con-
stmction of the Vitruvian organ, while they de-
preciate the inventions of the ancients, may serve as
an example to shew how customary a thing it is for
men to despise what they themselves do not under-
stand. This passage is manifestiy intended as a
censure on Kircher's description of the hydraulic
organ, and proves nothing but the extreme bigotry
• IM PdDDIt. flig. IDI.
Im Um nbbwl otGhilitliu, qtManatSwHlen. inu fDnncrlr a bMDtlflil
hTlnoBc oi(U>, with tvo m™. ono an &t right, the otbor on lbs l*(t
•Id* Ihavof; — *«*"fl to pump lh« valer whiob 1^71 It, uid to lliwm to
tiM lound of It. II had oiil; "Mlht plp«. and tho« wan placed on
■ nuDd podoftal ; Iho tnacriptloD pLxcia SrxVKi.
Ilbld. nag. 101. lBED(1lilitl>i»: Behold the wiHu1atrii1iiitiiiUI«n«i
of AToUioodHl (he ihould haie aald of Cteilblui) I mam the hydiaullo
nadi or pauaget foi tbo Toloaa, mch a ooenpondliim of loundf, inch an
tntercouiH at moda, inch tnaf of tlhiu. and all CDrnpnlng one great
wholat The ipirit or air which ia tireubed out fmm thlt engine of
valu, )i lulinlnittend through the paiti. loUd In lubitanu, but dlilded
In DporallDD.
J Organum ftaque ttt qoa^ tunia dlvenla flitulii fabrlcata, qatbua
Oaln MUum toi ciploilailnu dHtinatur. et ul Mm modulatlo decora
of VoBsius.^ As to the hydranlic organe of modem
Italy of which Grassineau says there are several in
the grottos of vineyards, particularly one belonf^ng
to the family d'E^, near the TiW, described by
Baptista Porta, he says they are very different, and
no way resemble the ancient hydraulic organ. These
perhaps will be found to be nothing more than the
common organ played on by a barrel, which W
a very easy contrivance is set in motion by a small
stream of water: and that these for more than a
century past have been in use in various parts of
Italy there is additional evidence. In a book
supposed to bo written by one Dr. Thomas Powell,
a canon of 8t David's, entitled Human Industiy, or
a History of the Manual Arts, it is said that Pope
Sylvester IL made an organ which was played on by
warm water ; and that such hydraulics, freqnent in
Italy, ore sounded with cold water. Oldy's British
Librarian, No. I. pag. 61. And in an old £lDgIish
comedy of Webeter, printed in 162S, intitled the
Devil's Law-Oase, Bomelia, a wealthy merchant of
Naples, speotdng of the greatness of his income says,
My factors' wires
Weare ihaperoones of velvet ; and mj icrivenert,
Meerely through my employment, rtow bo rich
Thev build their palaceB and belvi^n
With mtuical waUr-workeM.
Comedy, which in general exhibits a very just repre-
sentation of contemporary manncis and characters, is,
in coses of this sor^ authority : and the poet, in the
paaaage above-cited, would hardly have pointed out
this instance of Ittdian profosion, had he not hod
some example in his eye to vrarrant it.
CHAP. XVL
But to return to the ancient hydraulic organ,
a hundred questions might be asked touching the
use and application of its several parts, as also what
system it woe adapted to ; and particularly whether
those who have audertaken to delineate it with such
exactness, have not formed an idea of it from the
organ of onr own times, and done a violence to
historical tmth by incorporating two instrumenta,
which cannot possibly exist in a state of union.
And ailer all that can be said in favour of it, the
censure of Eircher above-<at«d, must undoubtedly
appear to be very just, and may serve to show what
1 The tnihiulaade attashmemt to antlqidty of ibia antliot la etnofly
oTlncod br the xnUmenta be anlertaln* of the energr oC tba andeot
Tibia, which be aeruptea nol to pnCn to tnrt Initnimoit of madam
' lbs Ttbia which la blown upon bf the nunth. 1 tbiak It naj be tnUy
' art li baniiheir anmog the mendlcanU ; and tb« TlUa, which wai bj
' of moilc, It now rilBnced lo luch ■ degree, that, If you eiaepl lb*
■Chlneao alone, who excel In Ihli part, jou will llBd none In thlaa(
heTUn
dbyGoo*^le
Chap. XVL
AND PBAC3TICE OP MUSia
73
little reason there ie to lament the loas of muiy in-
Tsntioua of the ancients, particnkrly those in which
the knowledge of mechanice is Euiy way concerned.
The hydraulic organ is one of those ancient inventions
mentioned by Fancirollns as now lost,* a misfoTtnne
whicb at this day we lament perhaps with as little
reason as we should have for saying that the loss of
the ancient Clepeydna f is not amply compensated
by the invention of clocks and watches. With
respect to this instnunent, it cannot so properly be
sud to be lost, as U> have given way to one of a more
artificial constmction, and nobler in its effects, as tm-
qneetionably the modem organ is. It is remarkable
that those who would infer the debility of the later
agea, from the few remuning monmnenta of ancient
tngennity, generally confine themselves to poesy,
scnlptnre, and other arts, which owe their perfection
rather to adventitioas circamstances, than to the
yigorooB exertion of the powers of invention ; bnt,
wiUi respect to instmments, machines, and engines
of v&riona kinds, it is not in the nature of things
possible bnt that mankind mnst contdnne to improve
as long as the world shall last
NiooMAOHOs G^MRASxirufl, so called frtan his having
been bom in Oerasa, a city of Arabia, lived about
A. G. 60. He was a philosopher, and wrote an In-
tooduction to Harmony, at the request, as it should
seem by the beginning of it, of some learned female
contemporary. He was a follower of Pythagoras ;
and it is by this work alone that we know how, and
by what means, his master discovered the consonances.
He ^>^^ his work with an addresa to hia female
fnend, whom he styles the most virtuons of women ;
and reflects with some concern on the difference in
sentiment of the several writere on the elements of
harmony. He ezcnses bis inability to reconcile them
by reason of the long jonmeys he is obliged to take,
and hie want of leisare, which ha prays the gods to
vouchsafe him, and promises to complete a work
which he has in contemplation, of which what he now
givea seems to be bnt a part. Professing to follow
the Pythagoreans, he considers the human voice as
emitting sonnds, which are either commensurable by
intervals, as wbcn we are said to Mn^; or incom-
mensurable, as when we converse by speech. In
this latter nse of the voice, he says, we are not
obliged by any rule ; bnt in the former we are bound
to an observance of those intervals and magnitudes
in which harmony does consist.
1 Clapardn, la hmu^Ua* Bid* v
wm TI17 uMlnt. uid •nunc Uis Himuu than w*n HTsnl uitti of
tbnn 1 to KHMnl Umt MwUtd ■ uad bnu-glH*, whloli li oompgHd
of cwo TMHla, » Jolud a tot tot >»(*«■>. •• tbu whlsh la BonUfaHd
The sounds and their names, continnes this author,
are probably taken from the seven planets in the
heavens which surround this earth ; for it ie said that
all bodies which are carried round with any great
degree of velocity, must necessarily, and by reason of
their magnitude, and the celerity of their motions,
cause a sound, which sound will vary in proportion
to the d^rees of magnitude in each, the celerity of
thdr motions, or the rq)resdon of the orb wherein
they act. These differences, he says, are manifest in
the planets, which perpetnally tnm round, and pro-
duce their proper soudob : for example, the motion of
Saturn, the planet most distant from ns, produces
a sound the most grave, b which it resembles the
consonance diapason ; as does Hypate, which signi-
fiee the same as principal To the motion of the
moon, the lowest of the planets, and nearest the eartli,
we apply the most acute term, called Kete, hi
Neaton is the same as low.
He then proceeds to declare the supposed analogy
between the rest of the planets and the intermediate
chords, as mentioned in the foregoing account of
Pythagoras. Bnt here it may be proper to take
notice that the ancient writers were not unanimous
in opinion that the graver sounds were produced
by the bodies of greatest magnitude : Oicero, in
partdcnlar, is by Glu«anus{ said to have maintained
that the lesser bodies produce the graver sounds, and
the greater the more acute. And from this dictum
of Oicero, Glareanus bos been at the pains of forming
a diagram, intended to represent this fanciful coinci-
dence of revolntiouB and harmonies, which is given
in a subsequent page of this work.
In the Somnium Scipionis, which is what Glareanns
means when he refers to Cicero de Repnblica, lib. VI.
is a great deal concerning the mnsic of the spheres
in general; and Macrobius, in his commentary
on that fragment, has made the most of it. Never-
theless the general sentiment of mankind seems till
very Istelyg to have been that the whole doctrine
is to be regarded as a poetjcal fiction ; and as to
the fact, that it has no fonndation in reason or
philosophy.
But to return to our author Nicomachtis, and his
opinion of the harmony of the planets : it ia tme,
says he, that it is inaudible to our ears, but to our
reason it ie clear.
Nicomachus proceeds to define the terms made
use of by him, distinguishing, as others of tha
ancients do, between sound and noise. Speaking
of instmmenta, he says they are of two kinds, vis.,
such as are blown, as are the flute, trumpet, organ,
and the like ; or such as are strung, to wit, ^e lute,
lyre, and harp ; of the latter kind are also the
monochord, by many called the Pandora, |[ and by
t DodaudionloD, Ub. II. »p. lUL
TtKH ClapijdniwanDliMljiiHdliiicUrainiit AclmU, bayotii] Iba
mil. In <bl> dtv Ihne vu a hnga Tcnal of Uib kind. Into Thlali
Uimi hondnd and aUty-llTe prkau StOj bnniAt ■War ngmtlw HUa,
vhlch ninning out of tb« TuaeL again. dacUzad tba ~
I An appallUlTD from which lh> KcgUita wsnl Bandon leanu ela«ly
iHdarlved. UtllMinlua gkra tb* (oUcurinc nou no tblapuaaca;—
'*arillpHe- [Phandaurnui.l HaajEtilnl ipiiakaotil thiui "l>aiidDni
callnl Phanduu.
lb. IV. cap. Ii.
ud the uiolMtd
dbyGOO*^IC
74
HISTORY OP THE 80IENCB
Book IL
the FythsgoruDS the Cbood, and also the Tngon
or triangiJAT duldmer. He &bo mentions crooked
and other flntes made of the box-tree, of which
he proposes to speak again. Of the stringed species
he says those with the greater tenaioos express the
more acute sounds ; on the contran, those with the
lesser give the more langaid and grave; and in
instromenta that are blown, the more hollow and
long, the more languid and grave are their sounds.
He then proceeds to relate how Pythagoras du-
covered the consonances, and to give that accoont
of his system which Stanley has taken into his life
of that philosopher, and is inserted in the foregoing
part of this work, together with some remarks, the
result of late experiments, which in some degree,
though not essentially, weaken the credit of the
relation.
fiat without enqniring farther into the weight
of the baaunera, and other circumstances attending
the discoveiy of the consonaoces, we may very
safely credit Nicomachos, so far as to believe that Py-
thagoras, by the means of chords of different lengths,
did discover them ; that the philosopher to tbe sonnd
produced by the first number six, gave the name
Hypate ; to eight he gave Mese, which is sesqoi-
tertian thereto ; to nine Parameee, which is a tone
more acute, and therefore sesquioctave of the last ;
and to the last number, twelve, he gave the name
Nete; and afterwards filled up the intermediate
spaces with sounds in the succession proper to the
diatonic genus, and thereby completed the system
of eight chords. The diatonic genus, as this author
describes it, is a natural progression to the system
of a diatessaron by a semitone, tone, and tone ; and
to a diapente by three tones and a semitone. This
is the manner in which it is said the ancient system
was adjusted and extended to that of a complete
octave, an improvement so mnch the more to be
valued, as we are told that in the andent or pri<
mitive lyre, all tbe sounds from tbe lowest were
fourths to each other ;* whereas in the Pythagorean
lyre, composed of a tetrachord and pentachord con-
joined; or, which is tbe same, of two tetrachoTds
disjoined by an intervening tone, we have a continued
prugreesion of sounds.
Nicomacbns proceeds to relate that the magnitude
of the scale in the diatonic genus is two diapasons,
for that the voice cannot easily extend itself either
upwards or downwards beyond this limit; and for
this reason, to the ancient lyre formed of seven
strings, by the conjnncdon of two tetrachords,
each extending from Hypate to Mese, and thence
to Nete, were adjoined two tetrachords at the
outward extremity of the former ; that which began
at Nete was called Hyperboleon, si^ifying ex-
celtenL This tetrachorcC he says, consists of three
'triba AHTilut, whoBTeltUunaBasf Fudun." HajBitlfwi
thu Fuilun WH u Ai>Ti1*a mrd. Bnt Um nuM Ituud nl tb*
HabRvi do DM HUH infllclniUT Is nndtntuMI tlw ttgnUatiini of U ;
Hwy FXf '•IB ii >>T > **<( "' ™- ^'■■'Pi ^"Ht ■' l«l>iB> *■ ■ppan
rram ButOff ta Iha Tumiidksl LcxkOD. mm Talanid HknnL
1 imuliH U» Du «Mb of tlila upeUatlaB to bs lUh the lutntmsBt
WM monawd or untebtA wbk ibnn df boll'* Uda, in Um udw
mumer u Ika pmlKluirt of tba BuTthtuw, eoBoMnlDa wbkta tb*
HUM Fallui ipu) lliiu : — " Tba ptnuchord la u InimtbiD gf tb*
■ gertkUu. It «h Mntdwd H moamed wttb lbon() n*da of tba nw
■bidM «r am. but Ihtit pl«tn mr* th« law boaa* of ■iH.fiiUi.-
• Mkgiucb. HanBDola. Maniial. pa(. I, « Tin. Mclbom.
adjoined sounds, whose names are worthy to be
remembered ; as first, Trite hyperboleon, then Para-
nete hyperboleon, and lastly, Nete hyperboleon. The
other tetrachord was joined to the chord Hypate,
and was thence called Hypoton ; and each of the
three adjoined sounds bad the addition of Hypalon
to distinguish it from the chord of the same denomi-
nation in the lower of the two primitive tetrachords ;
thus Hypate hypaton, Parhypate hypaton, Diatonos
hypaton, or Lychanoe hypaton, for it matters not
which it is cdled ; and this system from Hypate
hypaton to Mese is seven chords, making two con-
joint tetrachords ; and that from Hypate hypaton
to Nete is thirteen; so that Mese having the middle
place, and conjoining two systems of a septenary
each, reckoning either upwards from Hypate hypaton,
or downwards fi^m Nete h}'perboleon, each ^stem
contained seven chorda.
From this it is evident that the additional tetra-
chords were originally adapted to the system of
Terpander, which did not s^arate Mese from Trite
by a whole tone, as that of Pythagoras did. What
advantages coold be derived from this addition it is
not easy to say ; nor is it conceivable that that
system could be reducible to practice which gave
to a nominal diapason four tones and three bemitones,
instead of five tones and two bemitones.
Bnt the addition of the new tetrachords to the
two disjunct tetrachords of Pythagoras was very
natural, and made way for what ^is author next
proceeds to mention, the tetrachord synemmenon,
which took place in the middle of that interval of
a tone, by which Pythagoras had divided the two
primitive tetrachords. The design of introducing
this tetrachord synemmenon, which placed Trite bat
a hemitone distant from Mese, was manifestly to give
to Pariiypate meson what it wanted before, a perfect
diatessaron for its nominal fourth ; and this opinion
of its use is maintained by all who have written on
the subject of music.
The author then proceeds to a verbal enumeration
of the several chorda, which l^ the disjunction made
by Pythagoras, and the addition of rroslambono-
menos, it appears were encreased to fifteen, with
their respective tonicol distances : it has already
been mentioned, that, contrary to the method now
in Qse, the ancients gave the most grave soonds the
uppermost place in their scale ; he therefore begins
with Proslambanomenos and reckons downwards to
Nete hyperboleon;
He gives the some kind of enumeration of the
several sounds that compose tbe tetrachord ^Dem-
menon, having first Trite synemmenon at tbe distance
of a hemitone from Mese, then after a tone Paronete
eynemmenon, and after another tone Nete synem-
menon of the same tenor and eoond as Faranete
diezeugmenon.
Mese
Hemitone
Trite
Tone
Paranete
Tone
Nete
Digitized
by Google
Chap. XVI.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIO.
7ff
80 Qiat tbero exist five tetracbordB, Hypotou,
Meeon, SjmemmenoD, Diazengmenon, and ilypeT-
boleon ; dioogh it b to be remembered that the
third of these is bat aoxiUary, and whenerer it is
need it is only in the room of the fonrth, forreasona
before given ; and in these tetrachorda tJiere are
two diejonctioiu and three conjunctions; the dis'
jnnctioDB are between Keto synemmenon and Nete
diezeogmenon, and between Proslambanomenoa and
HypMe hypaton : the conjimclioDa are between Hy-
paton and Meeon, and, which ia the same, Meeon
and Synenunenon, and between Bieeengmenon and
Hyperboleon.
We most nnderatand that tbe foregoing ia a repre-
sentation of the tetrachords as they are divided in
the diatonic gentu, the characterislic whereof is a
prc^reenon by a bemitone, tone, and tone ; for as
to the other genera, the chromatic and enharmonic,
this anthor professes not to deliver hia sentiments,
but promisee to give them at large, together with
a regular progression in all the three in his Commen-
taries, a work be often speaks of, as having onderUken
it for the information of his learned correspondent :
he also engages to give the testimonies of the ancients,
the most learned and eloqnent of men on this subject,
and on exposition of Fythogoras's section of the canon,
sot as EnUoethenes or Thrasyllns badly nnderstand
H, but according to Locrus iWeeus, the follower of
Flato, althongh nothing of his on the subject is re-
maining at this day ; however he baa given an idea
of the genera in the following words : — ' The first
■ and most rimple of consonances is the diatessoroa.
' The diatonic tetrachord proceeds by a hemitone, tone,
' and tone, or fonr sounds and three intervals ; and
' it ia called diatonic, as proceeding chiefly by tones.
' The chromatic progression in the tetrachord ia by
' a hemitone, hemitone, and an incomposite trihemi-
'tone, and therefore, though not constituted as the
'other, it contains an equal number of intervab.
' The enharmonic progression is by a diesis, which
' is half a hemitone, another diesis, also half a bemi-
' tone, and the remunder is on incomposite ditone ;
' and these latter are also equal to a hemitone and
' two touee. Amongst these it is impossible to adapt
' sound to sound, for it is plain that the difference of
' the genera does not consist in an interchange of the
' four sounds, but only of the two intermediate ones ;
* in the chromatic the third sound is changed from
'the diatonic, but the second is the same, and it
' has the same sound as the enharmonic ; and in
* the enharmonic the two intermediate sonnds are
' changed, with respect to the diatonic, so as the
' enhuTnonic is opposite to the diatonic, and the
' chromatic is in the middle between thsm both ; for
' it diiFers only a hemitone from the diatonic, whence
' it is called chromatic, from Chroma, a word sig-
' nifying a disposition flexible and easy to be changed :
' in opposition to this we coll the extremes of each
' tetrachord Stantes, or standing sonnds, to denote
' their immovable position. This then is the system
' of the diapason, whether from Mese to Prc«lam-
' bonomenos, or from Mese to Nete hyperboleon ;
' and as the diatessaron is two tones and a hemitone,
' and the diapente three tones and a hemitone, the
' diapason shonid seem to be six whole tones ; but in
' truth it is only five tones and two hemitones, which
' hemitones are not strictly complete ; and therefore
'the diapason is somewhat less than sir complete
' whole tones :* and with this i^ee the words of
' Fhilolaus when he says that harmony hath five
' enperoctavee and two dieses ; now a diesis is the
' huf of a hemitone, and there is another hemitone
' required to make up the number six.'
His second book Nicomadina begins with an ac-
count of the invention of the lyre of Mercury,
already related, and which has been adopted by
almost every sncceedii^ writer on music, adding
that some among the audente ascribed it to Cadmns
the son of Agenor. He proceeds to state the pro-
portions, whiui he does in a way not easily recou-
cileable with the practice of the modems : he then
reconsiders the supposed relation between the sonnds
in the harmonical septenary and the motions of the
planets ; and endeavours to account for these different
denominations, which it seems were given them in
his days. He says that the chord Hypate is applied
to Satnm, as the chief of the planets, and Nete to
Luna, as Uie least Mese is Sol, Parhypate is attri-
buted to Jove, Paromese not to Mercury but to
Venus, by a perverse order, says his editor, unless
there is an error in the manuscript. Faramese to
Mors, Trite to Venus, Luna or the Moon is said to
be acute, as it answers to Nete ; and Satnm grave
as is Hypate. Those that reckon contrarywise,
applying Hypate to the Moon, and Nete to Saturn,
do it, because say they the graver sounds are pro-
duced from the lower and more profonnd parts of
the body, and therefore are properly adapted to the
lower orbs ; whereas the acute sonnds are formed in
the higher parts, and do therefore more naturally
resemble the more remote of the heavenly bodies ; —
Satnm - - . . Nete
Jupiter . . - - Poranete
Mars .... Paromese
Sol .... Mese
Venus .... Lichanos
Mercury ... - Pariiypate
Luna . - - . Hypate
Nicomachns then proceeds to enumerate the several
persons who added to the OTstem of the diapason,
completed as it was by Pythagoras ; but as he ex-
pressly says the additional chords were not adjusted
m any precise ratio, and as their names have already
been given, it seems needless to be more particoW
about them. Speaking of the great system, viz., that
of the disdiapason, he cites Ptolemy, to show that it
must necessarily consist of fifteen chords ; but as it
is certain that Nichomacbus lived a. o. 60, and that
Claudius Ptolemesus flourished abont one hundred
and forty years after the commencement of the
Christian j£rm, there arises on anachronism, whidi is
not to be accounted for but upon a supposition that
the manuscript is corrupted. From divers passages
in this author, and others to be met with in the Greek
dbyGoo^le
76
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE.
BooE n.
writers, it is evident that the ancieats were not whoUy
nnacqatuDted with the doctrine of the TibratioDS of
chorda : they had olwerved that the acute Bounds
were produced by quick, and the grave by alow
motions, and that the consonances arose from a coin-
cidence of both ; bat it no where appears that they
made any nee of the coinddenceB in adjnstiug the
ratios of the consonances ; on tiie contrary, tiiey
seem to have referred the whole to the ratio of lengths
and tennons by weights, and a division of the mono-
chord ; and in this respect it is onqnestionahly tnie
that the speculative part of music has received con-
siderable advantages from those improvements in
natural philosophy which in the latter aces have been
made. The iuqnuilive and acnrate GsUleo was the
first that inveatigatad the laws of pendnloms : he
found out that all the vibrations of the same string,
the longer and the shorter, were made in equal time,
that between the length of a chord and the number
of its vibrations, there subsiete a duplicate proportion
of length to velocity ; and that the length qnadmi^ed
will snbduple the velocity of the vibrations, and the
length Bobqnadmpled will duple the vibrations ; for
the proportion holds reciprocally : adding to the
length will diminish, and shortening it will encrease
the frequency of vibrations. These, and numbers of
other discoveries, the result of repeated experiments,
have been found of great nse, as they were soon after
the making of them applied to the measure of time,
and other most valuable pnrpoeee.
Having given an extract which contains in snbetance
almost the whole of what Nicomachus has given ns on
the subject of harmony, it remains to observe that
his work is manifestly incomplete : it appeare from
his own words to have been written wmle he was
upon a jonmey, and for the paiticolar information of
the lady to whom he has, in terms of the greatest
respect, inscribed it ; and is no other than yihat he
himself with great modesty entitles it, a Manual ; it
is however to be esteemed a very valuable fragment,
as it is by much the most clear and intelligible of the
works of the Greek writers now remaining. Boetius,
in his trestise De Mnsica, cites divers passages &om
NicomachuB that are not to be fooud in this discourse
of his, from whence it is highly probable that he had
seen those commentaries which are promised in it,
or some other tract, of which at this distance of time
no account can be given.
CHAP. XVIL
Pldtabch is also to be numbered among the
ancient writers on mnsic, for in his Symposiacs is
a discourse on that subject, which is much celebrated
^ Heibomius, Doni, and others. A passage in the
French translation, by Amyot, of the works of that
philosopher, has given rise to a controversy con-
cerning the genuineness of this tract, the merits of
which will hereafter be considered. This discoorse
oontaine in it more of the history of the ancient
munc and musidans than is to be met with anywhere
elsc^ for which reason it is here meant to give a
oopions extract from it. It is written in diafogne ;
the speakers are Oneeicratee, Soterichns, and Lysias.
The latter of these, in answer to a request of One-
sicmtee, gives a relation of the origin and progress
of the science, in substance as follows : —
' According to the assertion of Heraclides, in a
' Compendium of Music, said to have been written by
' him, Amphion, the son of Jupiter and Antiope, was
' the inventor of the harp and of Lyric poesy ; and
' in the same age Linus the Enbean composed elegies :
' Anthes of Anthedon in Bceolda was the first author
' of hymns, and Pierins of Pieria of verses in hononr
' of the Muses ; Philamon the Delphian also wrote
* a poem, celebrating the nativity of Latona, Diana,
' and Apollo ; and was the original institutor of
' dancing abont the temple of Delphos. Thamyria,
'of Thracian extraction, had the finest voice, and
' was the best singer of his time, for which reason he
' is by the poets feigned to have contended with the
' Mnsee ; he wrought into a poem the war of Qis
■ Titans against the gods. Demodocus the Corcyrean
'wrote in verse the historv of the deetmotion of
' Troy, and the nuptials of Vulcan and Tenua. To
' him succeeded Phemius of Itiiaca, who composed
' a poem on the return of those who came back with
' Agamemnon from the siege of Troy ; and beside*
' that these poems were severally written by the
' persons above-named, they were also set to musical
'notes by their respective authors. The same
' Heraclides also writes that Terpander was the
' institutor of those laws by wluch the metre of versea,
'and consequently the musical measure, were re-
' gnlated ; and according to these rules he set mnsical
' notes both to his own and Homer's words, and song
' them at the public games to the music of the lyre.
' Clonas, an epic and elegiac poet, taking Terpander
'for his example, constituted rides which should
■ adjust and govern the tuning and melody of flntea
' or pipes, and snch-like wind-instruments ; and in
'this he was followed by Polymnestee the Colo-
' phonian.
' Timotheus is s^d to have made lyric preludes to
'his epic poems, and to have first introduced the
' dithyrambic, a measure adapted to songs in the
' praise of Bacchus, which songs required a violent
' motion of the body, and a certain irregularity in the
'measure.
' Farther of Terpander, one of the most andent of
' mnsidans, he is recorded to have been four times
' a victor at the Pythian games.
'Alexander the historian says, that Olympni
'brought into Qreece the practice of touching the
' strings of the lyre with a quill ; for before his time
' they were touched by the fingers : and that Hyagnia
* was the first that sang to the pipe, and Manyas his
'son the next, and that both fliese were prior to
' Olympns. Hs &rther says that Terpander imitated
•Homer in bis verses, and Orphvis in his mosic;
•but that Orpheus imitated no om. That Clonas,
' who was some time later than laniander, was, aa
' the Arcadians affirm, a native of d^gea, a city <^
' Arcadia ; though others contend tut he was bom
' in Thebes ; and that after Terpctder and Clonaa
' flourished Archilochus : yet sous writers affirm
dbyGoo^le
teAP. XVIL
AND PRAOnOE OP BfUSIO.
77
'that Ardalns tiie Troezenun taoght wind-moBic
' before Clonas.
' The music Appropriated to the lyre under the
' regolsdons of Terpander continaed without any
' variation, till PhryniB became famooB, who altered
' both the ancient rolea, and the form of the inatru-
' ment to which they were adapted.'
Having thus discoQised concerning the andent
mosicianB, and stringed and wind-inBtromenta in
general, Lysisa proceeds, and confining himself to
the inatmments of the latter kind, speaks to this
dfect: —
' OlympoB, a Phrygian, and a player on the flote,
invented a certun measm^ in hononr of Apollo,
which he called Polycephaltis or of many heads.
This Olympne, as it is said, was descended from the
first Olympns, the son of Muayas, who being
tanght by his &ther to play on the Ante, first
brought into Greece the laws of harmony. Others
ascribe the invention of the Polycephalna to Orates,
the disciple of Olympns. The same Olympns was
the anther of the Harmalian mood, as Glaocos
tealifieB in his treatise of the ancient poets, and u
some think of the Orthian mood oLbo.* There was
also another mood in use among the ancients, termed
Gradiaa, iriuch Hipponax the Mimnermian greatly
delighted in. Sacadas of Argoe, being himself a
good poet, compoeed the mnsic to eevenl odes and
Regies, and became thrice a victor at the Pythian
gamea. It is said that tins Sacadas, in conjunction
with Polymneetas, invented three of the moods, the
Dorian, the Phryj^an, and the Lydian ; and that
the former compoeed a strophe, the mnsic whereof
was a commixture of all the three. The original
conatitntion of the modes was undoubtedly by
Terpander, at Sparta ; bnt it was much improved
by Thales the Oortynian, Xenedamus the Oyuierian,
XenocrituB the LoOTian, and Folymnefltes Uie Colo-
pbonian.
' Ariatoxeuns ascribes to Olympus the invention of
the enarmonic genus ; for before his time there
were no other than the diatonic and chromatic
genera.
' As to the measnres of time, they were in-
vented at different periods and by different persons.
Terpander, amoi^t other improvements wnich he
made in mnsic, introduced those grave and decent
meaenrea which are its greatest ornament ; after
him, beeides those of Terrander, which he did not
rqect, Polymnestes brought into nse other measures
of his own ; as did also Thalee and Sacadas, who,
though of fertile inventions, kept within the bonnda
of decorum. Other improvements were also made
by Stesicboms and Alcmas, who nevertheless re-
FIbUi^'i Dtiiogiw go Hate, •* K iiudi In Um IiM nrions of bta
Honta, L<«d. t«4, wu Iha tDBmn Umwd b; ZuIIbo, La Cnnita, |g
vUeh It la inppoMd vM *ttu Ih* •tor of BieWt dttib, and ef ihe
dncslncUdtlnaohulalTDDadlhtvaUaotTivr: at tlw Oittalu nwDd
-*- 1 tmuMiii ctTM Ih* MlBwliicd«a^doB:— ■Ttdimocidoni-
I awSfl md biid notai. Hid ■■« ii*ed to Inluno tbo oonnfi of
(idDf to InttI*, Md it BwoUiHiod bj Homn In ib* Mmtb
Iha llUdi Bid dHcitbad bf EBtlMhlm. Tbb mood Artoo
_H of whod ba flmu UraHjf bilo Uw oei, u Auhii GcUhlfi
wiltn, im. XVI. en. iii.l£< Um* «t U <m two down udfniriip.'
'ceded not from the ancient forms; but Crexus,
' Timotheos, and PhUoxenos, and others of the same
' age, affecting novelty, deputed from the plaiunesB
'and majesty of the ancient music'
Another of the interlocators in this dialogue of
Plutarch, Boterichoe by name, who is repreaented
as one not only skilled in the science but eminently
learned, speaks of the invention and progress of
momc to this effect : —
'Music was not the invention of any mortal,
' bnt we owe it to the god Apollo. The flute was
'invented neither l^ Maisyas, nor Olympus, nor
'Hyagnis, but ApoUo invented both that and the
'lyre, and, in a word, all manner of vocal and
'inatmrnental mnuc This is manifest from the
'dances and eacrificee which were solemnized in
'honour of ApoUa His statne, placed in the tem-
' pie of Deloe, holds in his right hand a how, and
'at his left the Graces stand with each a musical
' instrument in her hand, one bearing o lyre, another
* a flute, and another a shepherd's pipe ; and this
'statue is reported to be as ancient as the time of
' Hercnlea. The youth also that carriee the tempic
'laurel into Delphos is attended by one playing
' on the flute ; and the sacred pieseute of the Hyper-
•boreans were sent of old to Delos, attendod by
' flutes, pipes, and lyres ; and some have asserted
■ that the God himself played on the flute. Venerable
' therefore U music, as being the invention of Gods ;
'but the artists of these later times, contemning
'its ancient majesty, have introduced an effeminate
' kind of melody, mere sound without energy. The
' Lydian mode, at first inatitnted, was very doleful,
' and suited only to lamentations ; wherefore Plato
'in his Repnbuc ntterlj^ rejects it Aristoxenns
'in the first book of his Harmonica relates that
' Olympns sung an el^y in that mode on the death
' of Pvthon ; though some attribute the invention of
'the Lydian mode to Menalippidee, and others to
'Torebns. Pindar asserts that It was first used at
'the nuptials of Kiobe; Aristoxenns, that it was
' invented by Sappho, and that the tragedians learned
' it of her, and conjoined it with the Dorian ; but
' this is denied by those who say that Pythocleides
' the player on the finte, and atao Lysis the Athenian,
'invented this conjunction of the Dorian with the
' Lydian mode. As to the softer Lydian, which was
' of a nature contrary to the Lydian properly so
'called, and more resembling the Ionian, it is said
'te have been invented by Demon the Athenian.
'Plato deservedly rejected these effsminate modes,
'and made choice of the Dorian, as more suitable
' to warlike tempers ; not that we are to suppose him
' ignorant of what Aristoxeuus has said in his second
' book, that in a wary and circumspect government
'advantages might be derived firom the nee of the
' other mode* ; for Plato attributed much to music,
'ae having been a hearer of Draco the Athenian,
'and Metelltu of Agrigentnm ; bnt it was the con-
'aideration of its anperior dignity and majesty that
' induced him to prefer the Dorian moda He knew
' moreover that Alcmas, Pindar, Simonides, and
' Bacchylides, had composed several Parthenioi in
dbyGooi^lc
78
HffiTOBY OF THB SOIBNOE
L IL
' the DOTiaa mode ; and tiiat BnpplicstioiiB and hymiu
'to the Gods, tragical lamentations, and sometimee
' love-rerseB were oUo composed in it ; but he con-
' tented himself with ench songs as were made in
'honoDT of Mam and Minerva, or those other that
'were nenally snng at the solemn offerings called
'Spondalia. The Lydian and Ionian modes were
' chiefly used by the tragedians, and with these also
' Plato was well acqnwited. As to the instruments
' of the ancients, th^ were in general of a narrow
'compass ; the lyre used by Olympns and Terpander,
'and their followers, had bnt three chords, which
' is not to be imputed to ignorance in them, for those
' musicians who made use of more were greatly their
* inferioTs both in skill and practice.
"The chromatic genus was formerly nsed by those
' who played on the lyre, bnt by the tragedians never.
'It is certunly of grater antiquity than the enar-
' monic ; yet the preference given to the diatonic and
' enarmonio was not owing to ignorance, but was the
'efiect of judgment Telepluuies of Megara was
'so great an enemy to the syrinx or reed-pipe, that
' he wonld never suffer it to be joined to the tibia ;
* or that other pipe made of wood, generally of the
* lote-tree, and for that reason he forbore to go to
'die Pythian games. In short, if a man is to be
'deemed ignorant of that which he makea no use o^
'there would be foimd a great nnmber of ignorant
' persons in tlus age ; for we see that the admirers
'of the Dorian mode make no use of (he Anti-
' genidian method of compoution : and other musi-
'dans refose to imitate IHmothens, being bewitched
' with the trifles and idle poems of Folyeides.
' If we compare antiquity with the present times,
' we shall flnd that formerly there was great variety
' in music, and that the diversities of measure were
' then more esteemed than now. We are now
'lovers of learning, they were lovers of time and
* measure ; plain it is therefore that the ancients did
' not becanse of their ignorance, but in consequence
' of their judgment, ren^ from broken measures ;
* and if Plato preferred the Dorian to the other modes,
' it was only because he was the better mnsician ; and
' that he was eminently skilled in the science appears
' from what he has said concerning the procreation of
' the soul in his Timeeus.
'Aristotle, who was a disciple of Plato, thoe
'labours to convince the world of the majesty and
' divine natnre of music : " Harmony, saitu he,
" descended ^m heaven, and is of a ^vine, noble,
" and angelic nature ; being fourfold as to its efflcacy,
" it has two mediums, the one arithmetical, the other
"harmonical. As for its members, ita dimensions,
" and excesses of intervals, they are best discovered
" by number and equality of measure, the whole
" system being contuned in two tetrachords."
' The ancient Greeks were very carefiil to have
' their children thoroughly instructed in the principles
' of music, for they deemed it of great use in forming
their minds, and exciting in them a love of decency,
' sobriety, and virtue : they also found it a powerful
'incentive to valour, and accordingly made use of
' pipes or flutes when they advanced to battle : the
' Lacedemonians and the Oretans did the same ; and
' in our times the trumpet succeeding the pipe, as
' being more sonorous, is nsed for the same purpose.
' The Aivivee indeed at their wrestling matches made
' use of fifes called Schenia, which sort of exercise
' was at first instituted in honour of Danaus, bat
' afterwards was consecrated to Jupiter Schenius or
' the Mighty ; and at this day it is the custom to Tise
' fifes at the games called Pentathla, which consist of
' cuffing, running, dancing, hurling the ball, and
' wrestling. But among the ancients, murac in the
' thestres wss never known ; for either they employed
'it in the education of their youth, or confined it
' within the walls of their temples ; but now our
' muricians study only compoeitionB for the stage.
' If it should be demanded, Is music ever to remun
' the same, and is there not room for new inventions ?
' The answer is that new invendons are allowed, so
'aa they be grave and decent; the ancients them-
' selves were continually adding to and improving
' their music Even the whole Mixolydian mode was
*a nerw invention; such also were the Orthian and
' Trochean songs ; and, if we may believe Pindar,
' Terpander was the inventor of the Scolian song, and
' ArchilocQS of t^e iambic and divers other measures,
'which the tragedians took from him, and Grexns
' from them. The Hypolydian mode was the inven-
'tiou of Polymnestes, who also was the first that
'taught the manner of alternately soft and loud.
'Olympus, besides that he regulated in a great
'measure the ancient Greek music, found out and
' introduced the enarmonio genus, and also the Pro-
' aodiac, the Ohorian, and the Bacduan measures ; all
'of which it is manifest were of ancient invention.
' But LasoB Hermionensis* applying these meaanree
' to his dithyrambic compositions, and making use of an
' instrument with many holes, by an addition of tones
' and hemitonee made an absolute innovation in the
' ancient music. In like manner Menalippides, the
'lyric poet, Ftuloxenus, and Timothens, idl forsook
' die ancient method. The latter, until the time of
' Terpander, of Antisss, used a lyre with only seven
'strings, but afterwards he added to that number.
' The wind-instnunente also recdved a great alter-
' ation ; and in general the plainness and simplicity
' of the ancient music was lost in that affected variety
' which these and other musicians mtrodnced.
' In ancient times, when Poetry held the precedency
' of the other arts, the roasicianfl who play^ on wind-
' instmments were retained with salaries by the poets,
'to assist those who taught the actors, till Menalip-
' pides appeared, after which that practice ceased.
' Pherecrates, the comic poet, iutroducee Music in
I the habit of a woman with ner face torn and bruised ;
' and also Justice, the latter of whom, demanding the
'reason of her appearinff in that condition, is thus
'answered by Music : — f
• Luiu duibinl, from HomlonB, ■ eltr at AeluU, Und ■bsnl th«
Ulb Oljmplnl, Id Ihc tlmo o[ Diiliu H;-- — ■— '■'-
■ gtma uid ciocUa. vhnc be nu ■ ]ud«« or i
olentlciiu dlipuUllou. Thii Luni ni a muilcuu ni giw man:, i
■MDUnied tiT Piuunb u ili« Am who obuigsd mj ctalai Is i
iBtent muks. llEllKini. oo AriiMimui, tnm Suidu.
I ThkPbonenta, UwcaDlgpoM, llTtdliilhatl
dbyGoot^le
Chap. XVII.
AHD PRACTIOE OF MUMU
7a
" It is my part to speak and yonre to hear, thero-
"fore attend to my complaints. I hsre soffered
" mach, and have long iem oppreaaed by that beaat
" Menalippides, who dragged me from the fountain
"of Parnasaas, and has tormented me with twelve
"strings: to complete my miaeriea, Oiueaian, the
" Athenian, a pretender to poetry, composed sach
" horrid strophM and numgled vereea, that I, tortured
" with the pain of his ditbyrsmbics, was bo distorted
"that von wonld have ewom that my right side was
"my left: nor did my niiefortnnes end here, for
" PhrynSs, in whose bruns is s whirlwind, racked me
" with small wir«e, from which he produced twelve
" tiresome hanoonies. Bat him I blune not so mnch,
"because he soon repented of hie errors, bb I do
"Timotbens, who has thus furrowed my bee, and
"plongfaed my cheeks; and Fyrrias, the Milesian.
" who, as I walked the streets, met me, and with bis
" twelve strings bound and left me helpless on the
"earth."
' That virtoona manners are in a great measure the
'effect of a well-gronnded musical education, Aris-
' tozenns has made apparent He mentions Teleeiae,
'the Tbeban, a contemporary of bis, who being a
'youth, had been taught the noblest excellenciea of
'mnsio, and had stodied tlie best Lyric poets, and
' withal played to perfection on the fluto ; bnt being
' past the prime of his age, he became infatuated with
' the corrupted music of the theatres, snd the inno'
' vationa of Philoxenus and Timothens ; and when he
' laboured to compose verses, both in tlie manner of
' Pindar and of fiiiloxenus, he could succeed only ia
' the former, and this proceeded from the truth and
* exactness of his ednc^on ; therefore if it be the aim
' of any one to excel in mneic, let him imitato the
'ancients; let him also study the other sciences, and
'make philosophy his tutor, which will enable him
' to jti'lgo of what is decent and usefiil in music.
* The genera of music are three, the diatonic, the
' chromatic, and enarmonic ; and it concerns an under-
• standing artist to know which of these three kinds
' is the most proper for sny given subject of poetry.
'In mnsiod inst Taction the way has sometimes
Ud, h wa ■» told. In hit opcdlUoni, CBold. fai
_ — . — iponiT witfa AriitnhuM, Plato, EupoUt
m [Id. fn Flua]. Thrrnli. vho p1»«I on
1 (Id. In PkiTBli], ud hiIuIb of Aliite-
IM rf a* (UDi))' a[ TopMda. and wu >
kln( of Slcllr, u HDH KtoaDU un w. which
nu MM kmdnd lod tttj jtm In tt«H btfsn
bat ir w« auj tnUsTg Pluttnh, ha ibmld Ii«t*
witli tbe poet At kait. If he panoiullT ciHil«id«d
u. tSaUln?
- ■-- _■ ■«™..™.u«eim— *"--
oat«ied~th« rrion^Ki
PIUT«l> ttwmllht '-- "
for hit ion uditficMd
, ibboTTCDt rrom Fho ttmiilLcltj of ih«aii«lnit
; tar U> lincmlngltaig ud cmfbundini iba modxi ud IDi
' been for the tutor first to consider the genius and
' inclination of the learner, and then to instruct him
' in eud) parts of tbe science as he should discover
'most sffection for; bnt the more prudent sort, ss
'the Lacedemonians of old, the Msntinseana, and
' Pellenians, rejected this method.'
Here the discourse of Sotorichus grows very
obscure, and has a reference to tenns of which a
modem can eutort«n no idea. Farther on he reemnes
the conrideration of the gener^ which he speaks of
to this effect : —
' Now then, there being three genera of harmony,
'equal in the quanti^ of systems or intervals, and
' number of tetrachords, we find not that the aadentB
'disputed about any of them except the enarmonic,
' and as to that they differed only about the interval
' called the diapason.'
The speaker, by whom all this whQe we are to
understand Soteri(^ns, then proceeds to shew that a
mere musician is sn incompetent judge of music in
genersl ; and to this purpose he asserts that Pytha-
goras rejected tbe judgment of mnsio by the senses,
and maintained that the whole system was included
in the diapason. He adds, that the later muBidans
had totally exploded the most noble of the modes ;
that they made hardly the least account of the enar-
monic intorvals, and were grown so ignorant as to
believe that the enarmonic diesis did not fall within
the apprebenuon of sense;
He then emimeratee tbe advantages that accrue
^m the use of music, and cites Homer to prove its
effects on Achilles in the height of his lury against
Agamemnon : he speaks also of a sedition among the
Lacedemonians, which Terpander appeased by the
power of his mnuc ; and a pestilence among the same
people, which Tbales, the Cretan, stopped by the
same means.
Oneucrates, who hitherto apipears to have acted
the ^tart of a moderator in tins colloquy, after be-
stowing his commendations both on Lyuas and
Soteridius, addresses them in these terms : —
' Bnt for all this, my most honoured friends, yon
' seem to have forgotten the chief of all music.
'Pythagoras, Archytas, Plato, and many othere of
' the ancient philosopers maintun that there could be
■ no motion of the spheres without music, since that
'the supreme Deit^ constituted all things harmo-
■nionsly ; but now it would be unseasonable to enter
' opon a discourse on that subject.'
And so singing a hymn to the Qode and the
Muses, One«CTat«e dismiseee the company.
Thus ends the Dialogue of Plntarch on music,
which, though a celebrated work of antiquity, is in
the jodgment of some persons rendered still more
valuable by the passage from Fherecrates, which he
has introduced into it. The least that can be said of
which is, that without a comment it is next to im-
possible to understand it : the fotlowing remarks,
which were communicated to the late Dr. Pepusch
by a learned but anonymous correspondent of his,
may go near to render it m some degree intelligible : —
' 'Ihe poet, speaking of the successive abuses of
' mnsic, mentions first Phrynis, and aftorwards Timo-
dbyGoo<^le
HISTORY OF THE 80IEN0E
Boc« n.
• thetiB ; 10 thkt PhryniB should wem to have led the
' way to the abosea which Timothetu is repreheoded
' for, or rather gave into, to the prejudice of mueio ;
' and it is probable he did so, from a speech of Agia
' ' made to Leonidas, which ia trauBmitted to us by
' Plutarch in the life of AgiB.
' What we want the explanation of, ia that passage
* of Pherecrates which relates to the five strings and
' tlie twelve harmouiea.
' From the time of Terpander, and npwarda, we
'know that the lyre had seven strings, and those
' adjoeted to the number of the seven planets, and as
'some snppose to their motions also. For though
' EInphorion in Athengena is made to say, that the use
' of the instruments with many strings was of very
' great antiquity, yet the lyre was reckoned complete,
' and to have attained the full measure of perfect
' number of chords, and because that was the number
' of old used.
'And therefore when Timotheos added four
' strings to the former seven, that innovation was so
' offensive to thg Lacrademonians, that be was formally
' prosecuted for the presumption ; and it was one of
' the causes for which they were said to have banished
' him their state. The edict by which they did so,
' still extant, is transmitted to us as a curiosity l^
' Boetius ; * some however have said that Timotheus
' cleared himself from this sentence by producing a
' very ancient statue of Ap<^o found at Lacedsmon,
' holding a lyre with nine stringB.f Bat if he
'avoided this sentence of banishment, he did not
' wholly escape censure ; for Fausanias, wbo wrote
' as early as AthenteuB, tells us where the Lacedse-
■ monions bung up bis lyre publicly, having punished
' bim for superadding four strings, in compoeitions
' for that instrument, to the ancient seven ; and
' Plutarch likewise tells us that before this, when the
' above-mentioned Phrynis was playing on the lyre
' at some public solemnity, one of the Epbori, Eo-
' prepes by name, taking up a knife, asked him on
' which side ha should cut off the strings that ex-
' ceeded the number of nine.t
' But though these iuiovations of Timotheus were
■ BofUiu. ia hi) tn
slMul Onek; ud
PiJnclplM tnd PDW
of ll:-
tli* indent mmk ; ud lirlni oUe ih« a» of tb> Hien-iulnged Ifi
ud intndiicln; ■ molttoUeKT of soUa, mdaTaun u eorrnM tha at
of mat youth ij mau* of tlua* kia notil ud OMoplkUad connli
liDliRinun&tijli ^-,
otd«^, and ilinpla mmde : and vharaai, fts. [t thnrian aannslb niod
ta na the Uns aod Epburt, tftar biflDf cnl off the mperliunii itriagi
erUalyni and leaTtn^cmlTanaitbanoD, ta liaiikk the aiM Tbnatbeua
snt of ant danlirioBB, thai eiarr ob» MwMlilf the vholeaanH aareTitr
of thli ojtj, m^ be dataRed fftm bringliis la anuragat tia anj Djiw-
«0iDlnc cuatoDia, fca. Ii^pagtut,
t Caaaab. ad AthanBiiiii. Ub. VIII. cap. xL
t Thla IhM !• aUallad ta br Afia Uoi of Span*. In a apeaah of hb ts
TrrH'^ffi Ihiia laesidad bj FhUaidi t—
• And roa that naa to ptdaa Bapiepaa. who b«ln( Bpbore, cat all tm
of the nlna atnli* ban the InatniBaDt of PhlTBia the muilclaa. and
MoouBand thoaewliadkdaltarvinlaiinUalahlmlBeniiiBcaiaMrins)
of Tbnstbant't batp, with what Ike* eu yon blame me findeetgninc to
mt off Bopadliillj and loiniT ^'"^ ^^ eamnuBwaalth r Do T°a Dunk
aeaa mm nta u Hmaantad anl* itenl * Sddle-ftilng, or Intended
way thbif viae thao bj ohecktng the ToJuptnouinaia of muiie. to keep
out a war af llThig whkb BilsU dMtnr tha haiDKniT of the cltjT
Flntueh bi VIU A^dla.'
' said to be BO oSenuve to the Lacedsemonians, it was
' not the first time of their having been put in practice ;
' for Phrynis had before done the like, and been
' pnnished, as we shall find, in the same manner.
' These accounts therefore go thus iar towards on
' explanation of one part of the passage before na ;
■ that as to the five strings, we ntay be pretty certain
' that the lyre of Phrynis was not confined to that
'number, nay we have particular testimonies tliat
' Phrynis himself was noted for playing on the lyre
' with more than seven strings ; the system of the
' lyre, from the time of Terpander to that of Phrynis,
'lud continued olt^^ther simple and plain, but
' Phrynis beginning to snbvert this umplicity by
' adding two strings to bis instrument, we are told
' by Plutarcb, in more than one passage, that Ecprepes
' the magistrate cnt off two of his nine strings.' §
' The next thing therefore to be enquired into, is
' what the poet could mean by playing twelve bar-
' monies on five strings ?
' Perhaps by Harmonies we are to understand
' Modes ; and if so, Phrynis may be ridiculed for
' Buch a volubility of bond, and such an affectation of
' variety, that be extracted a dozen tones from five
' strings only, or that he played over the whole
'twelve modes within that compass. For besides
' the seven principal modes, it is said that Aristoxenos
' by converting five species of the diapason, intro-
'duced five other secondary modes; and that the
' intermingling of the modes is the sense of ipfutviae
' here, seems plain from another passage in Plntarcb,||
' where he says, " That it was not allowed to compose
" for the lyre formerly, as in bis time, nor to inter-
" mingle the modes &(ifioviat and measures of time,
" for they observed one and the same cast peculiar to
" each distinct mode, which had therefore a name to
" distinguish it by,; they were called ttofiol or rules
" and limitations, because the composers might not
" transgress or alter the form of time and measure
" appointed to each one in porticnlar,"
' For we are certun that both the Athenians and
' Lacedeemonians had their laws by which the
' particular species of music were designed to b«
' preserved distinct and nnconfnsed ; and ueir hymns,
'tbreni, pfeans, and di&yrambe kept each to their
' several sort of ode ; and so the composers for the
' lyre were not permitted to blend one melody with
' another, but they who transgressed were censured
' and fined for it'
It has already been mentioned that the genuinenesa
(^ this dialogue bas been questioned, some writers
affirming it to be a spurious production, and others
contending it to be a genuine work of Plutarch,
worthy of himself, and in merit not inferior to the
best of the treatises contuned in the Bympoeiacs.
It is therefore necessary to take a view of the con-
troversy, and to state the ailments of the contending
parties in support of their several opinions. It seems
that the original ground of this dispute was a note
firefixed to Amyot's French translation of this dia-
ogne in the following words : ' Oe traits n' appartjent
dbyGoo^le
ctaip. xvin.
AND PRACTICE OF MD8I0.
poiot, on bien pea k U mneiqiie de plnsieim voix
accord^ & entrelac^ ensemble, qui eet anjonrd'hoi
en nuge ; oius & la fafon imcienne, qd coneutoit en
U cnnvenance dn chant avec le sens & la meanre de
la lettre, & la bonne grace dn geete ; & le style ne
semble point etre de Flutarqne.'
Amyot's translatioa bears date in 1610 ; not-
withstanding which, FabriciuB, in his catalogue of
the writingie of Plntorch, has mentioned this dis-
eoorse withont snggesting tiie least doubt of its
authenticity.* But a diepote having arisen in the
French A<»demy of Inscnptions and Belles Lettres,
OD the qnestion, whether the ancients were ac-
qoainted with music in consonance or not, this
tract of Plntarch, in which there is not the slig^teat
mention of any snch practice, was nrged in proof
that they were strangers to it While a donbt re-
roaimd of the gennineness of this disconrse, its
•Bthority could not be deoned conclusive; thoee
who maintained the affirmative of the principal
question, therefore insisted on the objection rused
by Amyot ; and this produced an enqoiry into the
groimd of it, or, in other words, whether Plntorch
was really the author of that discoDTse on mneie
which is generally ascribed to him, or not ; tiiis
enquiry is contuned in three papers written by
Monsieur Burette, and inserted in the Memoirs of
the above-mentioned Academy, tome onzieme, Amai
1T36, with the following titles. Eiamen dn Traits
de Plntorque sur la Mneique — Observations touchant
I'ffiMoire litteraire du Dialogue De Plutarqne snr la
Mmiqne — Analyse dn Dialogue de Plutarqne sur la
Hasique, the publication whereof has put an end to
• qacation, which bnt for Amyot had probably never
beea started.
Meibomius. in the general preface to Us edition
of the mosical writers, and Doni, are lavish in their
•nmrnendations of this treatise : the latter of them,
in his discourse De Pmstantia Mnsicse Veteris,
[•g. 66, calls it a golden little work ; bnt whether it
merits snck an encomium mnst be left to the jud^-
meot of anch as can truly say they understand it.
As to the historical port, it is undoubtedly curious,
acept in some instances, tlut seem to approach too
Dor that spedea of history which we term fobuloos,
to merit any great share of attention ; bnt as to that
other wherein the author professes to explain the
utore of the ancient music, it is to be feued he is
mnch too obscnre for modem comprehension. The
particulare moat worthy of observation in this work
of Plutarch are, the perpetual propensity to inno-
ntion, which the moBiciauB in all ages mem to have
discovered, and the extreme rigour with which those
in aathority have endeavoured to guard against such
iimovatione : ^le famous decree of the Ephori against
'Hinathens just mentioned, which some how or other
WM recovered by Boetios, and is inserted in a pre*
ceding note,t is a proof that the state thought itself
coDcemed in preserving the integrity of the ancient
msric ; and if it had so great an influence over the
■uiuiers of the Spartan youth, as in the above trea-
tise is snggeeted, it was doubtless an object worthy
of their attention.
CHAP. XVIII.
Aribtidbs Quiktiuands is supposed to have
flonrisbed, a. o. 110. This is certain, tliat he wrote
after Cicero, for from his books De Bepublica he
has abridged all the arguments that Cicero had
advanced agunst music, and baa opposed them to
what he urged in behalf of it in hie oration for
Boaoius. It ia farther clear that Aristides mnat
have been prior to Ptolemy, for he speaks of Aris-
tozenne who admitted of thirteen modes, and c^
those who after him allowed of fifteen, bnt he takee
no notice of Ptolemy who restrained the number of
them to seven. His treatise De Musica consists
of three books. The first contains an ample dis-
cnssion of the doctrine of the modes : speaking of
the diagram by which the sitnation and relation of
them is explained, he says it may be delineated in
the form of wings, to manifest the difference of
the tones among themselves ; bnt he has given no
representation of it
All that has been hitherto said of the modes ie to
be imderatood of melody, for there is another and
to us a more intelligible sense of the word, namely
that, where it is applied to tbe proportions of time,
or Uie snccession and different duration of sonnde,
of which whether they are melodious, or such as
arise from the simple percnssion of bodies, the modes
of time, for by tliBt appellation wa choose to dis-
tinguish them from the modes of tone, are as so
many different measures. The effect of the various
metrical combinations of sounds is undoubtedly what
the ancients, more particularly this author, meant by
the word Bythmus. Of time he says there are two
kinds, the one simple and indivisible, resembling
a point in geometry ; &e other composite, and that
of different maaeures, namely, duple, treble, and
quadruple, f The ryUmiic genera he makes to be
three in number, namely, the eqnal, the sesqnialteral,
and the duple ; others he says add the snpertortian :
theee are constituted from the magnitude of the
times ; for one compared to itself begets a ratio of
eqnality, two to one is duple, three to two is ses-
quialteral, and fonr to three anpertertian : He speaks
of the elation and position of some part of the body,
the hand or foot perhaps, as necessary to the rythmus,
probably as a measure ; and this corresponds with
the practice of the modems in the measaring of time
by the tactns or beat The remunder of the first
book of this work of Quintilian contains a very
laborious investigation of measures, with aU their
various inflexions and combinations, in which the
author discovers a profound knowledge.
The second book treats of music as a means to
•ddihe. Ibli wTttnlilft loMnDHhtnMltwIlhbBSttlnMnibluni
ud ktTlBC Brn iBUfliwd IknowBot whMuahinrbttwHnil
meaiun* of Urn*, md tlM t<m diMgt. Inui wUoh atana ma «
H dlvlMlilo, b* niiut nndi (ij u miklni " '
wsnli. ObHrnUoiu on Fgetijr Mp*eU]l;r Ibi
dbyGooi^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book XL
regolate the external behavioiir, as that of philosophy
is to improve the mind. Music, he uys, by its
honnony polishes the tmuiners, tad its rythmos
ronderg the body more agreeable ; for yontb being
impatient of mere admonition, and capable of in-
etraction by words alone, require such a discipline
as without distnrbing (jie ratJonal part of their
natures shall familiarly and by degrees instruct them :
he adds that it is easily perceived that all boys are
prompt to ring and ready for bri^ motions, and that
it is not in the power of their govemors to hinder
them from the pleasure which they lake in exercises
of this sort In human things, continnee this anthor,
there is no action performed without music; it is
cerbun that divine worship is rendered more solemn
by it, particular feasts and public conventions of
cities rejoice with it, wars and voyages are excited
by it, Ue meet difficult and laborious works are
rendered easy and delightful by it, and we are
excited to the use of music by divers causes. Nor
are its effects confined to the human species ; irra-
tional animals are affected by it, as is plain from the
use which is made of pipes by shepherds, and horns
by goatherds. Of the nae of mnric in war, as
practised by the andente, he has the following pas-
sage : — ' Numa has said, that by music he corrected
' and refined the mannere of the people, which before
were roi^h and fierce : to that end he used it
at feasts and sacrifices. In the wars where it is
and will be used, is there any need to say how
the Pyrrhic music is a help to martial discipline?
certainly it is plun to every one, and that to issue
commands by words in time of action would intro-
duce great confusion, and might be dangerous by
their being made known to the enemies, if they
were such as use the same language. To the
tmmpet, that martial instmment, a particular cantus
or melody is appropriated, which varies according
to the occasion of sounding it, so^ as for the attack
by the van or either wing, or for a retreat, or
whether to form in this or that particular figure,
a different cantus is requisite; and all this is so
skilfully contrived, as to be unintelligible to the
enemy, though at the same time by the army it
is plainly understood.'
Thus much of this author is intelligible enough
to a reader of this time ; but when he speaks, as he
does immediately after, of the efficacy of music in
quieting tumults and appeasing an incensed multi-
tude, it must be owned his reasoning is not so clear :
as littie can we conceive any power in music over
the irascent and concupiscent affections of the mind,
which he asserts are abeolntely under its dominion.
The remainder of this second book consists of a chain
of very abstruse reasoning on the nature of the human
soul, no way applicable to any conception that we at
this time are able to form of music, and much too
refined to admit of a place in s work, in which it is
proposed not to teacl^ but to deliver a history of,
the science.
The third book contains a relation of some experi-
ments made with strings, distended by weights in
given proportions, for finding out the ratios of con-
sonances ; a method which this author seems to
approve ; and to recommend this practice, he cites
the authority of Pythagoras, who he says, when he
departed this life, exhorted his disciples to strike
the monochord, and thereby rather inform their
understandings than trust to their ears in the measure
of intervals. He speaks also of an instrument for
the demonstration of the consonances, called a heli-
con, which was of a square form, and on which were
stretched, with an equal tension, fonr strings.* For
the reason above given, it seems no way neceeaaiy
to follow this author through that series of geome-
trical reasoning, which be has applied for the inves-
tigation of his subject in the succeeding pages of his
book, wherefore a passage relating to the tetrechords,
remarkable enough in its kind, shall conclude this
extract from his very learned but abetruse work.
'The tetrauhords are agreed to be five in number,
'and each has a relation to one or other of the
' senses ; the tetrochord hypaton resembles the touch,
'which is elfected in new-born infimta, when they
'are impelled by the cold to cry. The tetrachord
'meson is like the taste, which is necessary to the
'preservation of life, and bath a similitude to the
' touch. The third, called synemmenon, is compared
'to tiie smell, because this sense is allied to the taste;
' and many, as the sons of art say, have been restored
'to life by odours. The fourth tetrachord, termed
' diezeugmenon, is compared to the hearing, because
'the ears are so remote from the other organs of
'sense, and are difjoined from each other. The
' tetrachord hyperboleon is like the sight, as it is the
■ most acute of the systems, as the sight is of the
' senses.' Farther, this author telb ne that ' the five
'tetrachords do In like manner answer to the five
'primary elements, that is to say, hypaton to the
' earth, as the most grave ; meeon to the water, as
' nearest the earth ; synemmenon to the air, which
' pasBeH through the water remaining in the profun-
'dities of the sea and the caverns of the earth, and
' is necessary for the respiration of animals, which
' could not live without it ; dieseugmenon to the fire,
* the motion whereof, as tending upwards, is against
' nature ; lastiy, the tetrachord hyperboleon answers
' to the sther, as being supreme and above the rest.'
There are, he says, also analogies between the three
several systems of diapente and the senses; but we
hasten to dismiss this fandfol doctrine. Moreover,
adds he, 'in discoursing of the human soul, systems 'ore
' not improperly compared to the virtues. Hypaton
' and meson are to be attnbnted to temperance, the
'efficacy whereof is double, and consists in an ab-
'stinence from unlawful pleasures, resembling the
' most grave of these two systems ; as also in a mo-
' derate use of lawful enjoyments, not improperly
' signified by the tetrachord meeon ; but the tetra-
' chord synemmenon is to be attributed to justice,
'which being joined with temperance, exerts itself
'in the discharge of public duties, and in acts of
' private beneficence : the dieseugmenon has the
■ resemblance of fortitude, iriuch virtue delivers the
' soul from the dominion of the body ; lastiy, the
• Bh tl in ■ inbH^iiuit ehiri« at tUi Hcond bosk.
dbyGoo*^le
cbap. xvm.
AMD PRACTICE OF MUSia
' hyperboleon emnlateB the nature of prndenoe, for
'thtt totTkchord ia the end of the acumen, and
'thig virtue is the extremity of goodnesB. Again,
' these virtues may be asamUated to the three Bystema
' of diapente ; • the two first, jnitice and temperance,
* which are always placed together as being a check
'to the ccncnpiscent port of the mind, resemble the
' firrt of these syBtems ; fortitude may be compared
'to the second, as that virtue denotes the iraacent
'put and refers to each of our two natures; and
'prudence to the third, aa declaring the rational
'essence. Add to this, that the two species of
' diapason answer to the twofold division of Uke mind;
' the first resembling (he irratdonal, and the second
' the rational part thereof.*
It has been remarked of Qointilian that he is ex-
tremely fond of analogies, vide pag. 81, in a note ;
and the above pessagee are a proof that thia charge
■gainst him ia not ill-gronnded.
Altpics, the next in sncceesion of the authors now
remaining to him above cited, or, as some suppose, a
contemporary of his, as flourishing abont a.o. Ilfi.f
compiled a vrork, entitled an Introduction to Mosic,
which seems to be little else than a set of tablee
expUinii^ the order of the sounds as they arise in
the several modes of their respective genera in the
■neient method of notation. The musical characters
need by the ancients were arbitrary ; they were
nothing more than the Greek capitals mutilated,
invert^ and varionsly contorted, and are estimated
■t no fewer than twelve hundred and forty. A
apecimen of them is herein-before inserted in two
plates from Elreher. (Appendix, Nos. 36 and 36.)
Mandkl Brtshhids, another of the Greek writers
on music, ia snppoeed to have flourished under the
elder Paleeologus, vis., about the year of Christ 120.
He wrote three books on harmonics, the first whereof
ia a kind of commentary on Ehiclid, as the second
uid third are on Ptotemy4 He professes to have
studied perspicuity for the sake of young men, bat
has given very little more than is to be found in one
or other of the above authors. Meibomius had given
the public expectations of a translation of this work,
but not living to complete it, Dr. Wallis undertook
it, and it now makes a part of the third volume of
his works, published at Oxford in three volumes in
blio, 1699.
Baooeiiis Sehiob was a follower of Aristoxenoa ;
Fabricius supposes him to have been tutor to the
emperor Marciu Antoninus, and consequeDtly to have
lived about a.c. 140. § He wrote in Greek a very
short introduction to mnsic in dialogue, which, with
k Latin translation thereof, Meibomius has published.
It Been» it was first published in the original by
Mereennns, in his Commentary on the six first
chapten of Genesis ; and that afterwards he published
ft translation of it in French, which Meibomius, in the
preface to his edition of the ancient masical authors,
censures as being grossly erroneous.
It m^ be qBsttaud wbj b (hit pU« Um lUlbR ba UmtUd tben to
1 Flint. BlUMh. OiH. Bb. IIL «p. K.
\ lUd!
GAuniNTiui, the philoeopher, according to fUm-
dos, 11 seems to have written before Ptolemy, and
treading in the steps of Aristoxeuns, composed an
introdnction to harmonice, which Caaaiodorus com-
menda as an elegant little work ; though he does not
Eretend to say who be was, or where he lived;
9wever upon his authority Caaeiodorus relates that
Pythagoras found out the original precepts of the
art by the sound of hammers and the percussion of
extended chords ; and indeed * as to this matter
Gaudentius is very explicit. For his work in general,
excepting a few definitions and a representation of
the mnsical characters in the method of Alypius, it is
little more than an abridgement of Ariatoxenua, and
that so vet^ short and obscure, that little advantage
can be denved from the perusal of it
Olaudiub Prouumrs was an Egyptian, bom at
Pelnaiom ; not one of the Ptolemiw, kings of Egypt,
with some one of whom be baa been confounded ;
nor the same with Ptolemy, the mathematician and
astronomer, who, as Plutuch relates in his life of
Galba, was the constant companion of that emperor,
and waa also attendant on the emperor Otho, ia
Spun, and foretold that he should survive Nero, as
l^itus tells us, lib. I. cap. xxii The Ptolemy here
spoken of flourished in tlie reign of the emperor
Marcos Aurelins Antoninus, as Suidaa testifies ; and
also himself in his Megnee Byntaxis, where he says
that he drew up his astronomical observations at
Alexandria, for which reason he ia by Suidae and
others called Alexandrinus, in the second year of
Antoninus Pins, which answers to the year of Christ
139.^ He was the author of a treatise on harmonica
in three books, a work mnch more copious than any
of thoae above-mentioned ; and it must be allowed
that he of all the ancient writers seome to have entered
the most deeply into the subject of hannonica. In
the firat chapter of hie first book, he assigns the
criteria of harmony, which he makes to be sense and
reason : the former of these, he says, finds out what
is nearly allied to truth, and approves of what is
accurate, as the latter finds out what is accurate and
approves of what is nearly allied to truth. Chap. iii.
speaking of the causes of acnteness and gravity, he
takes occasion to compare the wind-pipe to a flute ;
and to remark as a anbject of wonder, that power or
faculty which enables a singer readily and instan-
taneously to hit snch degrees of dilatation and
contraction as are necessary to produce sounds, grave
or acute, in any given proportion.
In the sixth chapter of ue same book he condemns
the method of the Pythagoreans, and in the ninth
that of the Aristoxeneans, in the adjusting of the
consonances, but thinks the former the less erroneous
of the two ; the Pythagoreans, he sayi, not sufficiently
attending to the esr, often gave harmonic proportions
to incongruous sounds ; on the contrary, the Aris*
toxeneans, ascribing all to the esr, applied numbers,
the images of reason, not to the diffeTencee of sound,
but to their intervala. To correct the errors of these
two very different methods, he contrived an inatrU'
ISIbUMlL Om. Ub. ill. at. i.
IHId. Mp. liT.
dbyGoo^le
mSTORT OF TH£ 80IEN0E
Book IL
ment very aimple &nd ioartifidal in ita constrnction.
but of Bingnlar use in the Adjusting of ratios, whicli,
tboogb in truth but a monot^ord, as coneisttDg of one
string only, he with ^eat propriety called the Har-
monic Canon, by which appellation it is constantly
distinguiBbed in the writings of succeeding anthors.
Hia descriptioa of the inatrninent and its use, as also
the rsasona that ted him to the invention, are con-
tained in the eighth chapter of the same first booh,
and are to the following effect : — ' We omit to explain
' what is proposed, by the means of pipes or flutes, or
by we^hte afOxed to strings, because they cannot
make the necessary demonBtrations with sufficient
accuracy, but woidd rather occasion controverey;
for in pipes and flutes, aa also in the breath which is
injected into them, there ie great disorder ; and as
to strings with weights affixed to them, besides that
of a nomber of each striags, we can hardly be soie
that they are exactly equal in size, it is almost im-
possible to accommodate the ratios of the weights
to the sounds intended to be produced by tiiem;
for with the same d^ree of tension two strings of
different thickness would produce sounds differently
grave or acute : and farther, which is more to the
present purpose, a string, at 6rst of an equal length
to others, by the affixing to it a greater weight than
is affixed to the rest, becomes a longer string, from
whence arises another difference of sound besides
what might be deduced from the ratio of weight
alone. The like will happen in sounds produced
from hammere or quoits of unequal weights ; and
we may obeerre the same in some vessels that are
first empty, and afterwards filled ; and certainly it
is difScidt in all these caeee to provide against the
diversity of matter and fignre in each ; but in the
canon, as I term it, the chord most readily and
accnrately demonstrates the ratios of the several
consonances :' —
E E L G
A FB K L CH D
A B 0 D The Ime of the canon.
A G a D The chord.
A £, G D Tba ligament ot place where it is
if from the points AD a chord be struned over the
middle points £ and Q of the said curved super-
ficies, the part E 0 will be parallel to the right line
A B, 0 D, because of the eqiud height of the magades,
and will have its limits at £ and G. Transfer then
the line E G to the line A B C D, and having first
bisected the whole length at E, and the half of that
distance at L, place under the chord other magades,
which must be very thin, and somewhat higher, bat
in every other respect like the former, ao that both
the intermediate magades may be stra^ht with the
middle of the external ones ; now if the part of the
chord £ E be found eqnitenal to E G, and the part
E L to L G, then ore we convinced that the chord
is equable and perfect as to its constitution and make,
and coneequently fit for the experiment ; but if it
should not prove so, the trial is to be transferred to
another part, or even to a new chord, till we obtun
this condition of equability under the ciroumetancea
of similar moveable magades, and ■ similar length
and tenuon of the parts of the chord. This being
done and the chord divided according to the pro-
portions of the consonances, we shall by the appli-
cation of the moTcable magades prove 1^ our ears
the rations of correaponding sounds ; for giving to
the distance £ E four of su^ parte whereof E G is
three, tbe sounds on both sides will produce the
consonance diatessaron, and have a eesqoitertian
ratio ; and giving to £ E three parts whereof E G
is two, the sounds on both sides will moke the con-
sonance diapente, wliich is in sesquialteral ratio.
Again, if the whole length be so divided as that
£ E may be two parts and £ G one of them, it shall
be the unison diapason, which consists in a duple
ratio. If it be BO that £ E be eight parts whereof
K Q is three, it will be the consonance diapason and
diatessaron, in the rado of eight to three ; farther if
it be divided so as that £ E be three parts and E G
one of them, it will be diapente and diapason, in
■ triple ratio ; and lastly if it be so divided as that
£ E be four and E G one, it will be the unison dis-
diapason in a quadruple ratio.
RATIOS. THE PROOF.
E B, G 0 Perpendiculars of the immoveable ma-
gades or bridges.
E K, L L The moveable magades.
B K, L 0 The canon or rule divided.
Suppose A B 0 D to be a right line, at each end
thereof apply magades or little bridges, eqnal in
height, and having surfaces as nearly spherical as
possible ; as snppose the surface B, £ to be described
round the center F, and the sar&ee 0, G round the
center H. Let then the paints E G be token in the
middle or bisection of the^e curved superficies, the
magades being so placed as that lines £, F, and
G, H, drawn^m uie sud bisections £ and G, may
bt perpendicular to the right line A B, 0 D. Now
t E
8 E
t E
i
i E
CONSONAHCEa
1 ODisdiajMeoD
G SinpaaoD and
dupente
Q DuposoB and
dJat«£Aaxoii
G DiapsBon
zi
G Diapente
Q Diatessaron
X
How the monochord of Pythagoras was <
atructod, or in what manner he divided it, we
dbyGoo*^le
Ohap. XIX.
AND PRAOTICE OP MUSia
no where told : it seems difficult to conceive that
for producing the co&aonancea it could be divided in
any other manner than thia of Ptolemy, and yet thia
author ceneoree the followers of Pythagoras for not
knowing how to reason about the consonftncea, which
one would think they could not fail to do from prin-
ciples BO clear as thoee dedadble from experiments
OB tbe monochord. But as to the Ariatoxeneans,
he c«nsnres them for rejecting the reaeoningB of tbe
Pythagoreans, at the ume tim« that they would not
endeavoar to find out better. To nndeTstond these
and other invectives against this sect, it is to be
observed that tbey measured the intervab by the
ear as our practic^ musicians do now, that ie to say,
the greater by fourths or fifths, and the less by tones
and semitones ; thtu to ascertain the measure of an
octave, tbey applied that of a diatessarou or fourth
above the unison, and another below the octave, and
between the approximating extremities of these two
intervals they fonud the distance of a tone, which
famished a common measure for the less intervals
of a fourth, a fifth, and the rest ; and enabled them
to say that a tone is the difFerenoe between the
diatessaroB and the diapente: this Ptolemy calls
remitting one qoeetion to another, and be adds that
tbe ear, when it would judge of a tone needs not the
help of a comparison of it with the diateasaron or
any other consonance, and yet adds he, ' if we wonld
' ask of the Aristoxeneans what is the ratio of a tone,
' tbey will say, perhaps, that it is two of those in-
' tervals, that is to say, hemitones, of which the dia-
' teeearon contains five, and in like manner that the
' diatessaron ia five, of those of which the diapason is
' twelve, and so of the rest, till at last they come to
' say that the ratio of a tone is two, which is not de-
' fining those ratios.'
Ptolemy, lib. L cap. x. farther denies the assertion
of the Anstoxeneans, that the diateasaron contains
two tones and a half, and the diapente three and a
half; as also that the diapason consists of six tones,
as the several contents of those two systems of two
and a hslf, and three and a half, supposing this
estimation of them to be just, would make nn-
donbtedly six; bat by his division of the mono*
chord, he clearly demonstrates that the term bv
which the diatessaron exceeds the distone, and whtclt
he calls a limmo, is less than a hemitone, in tbe same
proportion as 1944 bears to 2048, a difference how-
ever much too small for the ear to distdnguish. His
demonstration of this proposition is given in a pre-
ceding chapter of this work.
To enter into a discnedon of that very abatmse
subject, the division of the diapason, would require
a much more minute investigation of die doctrine of
ratios than is requisite in this place ; it must how-
ever be observed, that supposing tbe ear alone to
determine the precise limits of any system, that of
the diatessaron for example, and that such system
were transferred to tbe monochord, a repetition of the
system so transferred would fail to produce a series
of systems consonant in the extremities. Thus let
a given sonnd be, ae we should now call it O, and let
tbe monochord be divided by a bridge according to
the rules above prescribed, so as to give its fourth 0 ;
and let a tone, D, be set on by another bridge in like
manner, and after that another fourth, which woold
terminate at G, and wonld seem to make what we
should call a diapason : we should find upon tAting
away tbe intermediate bridges at C and D, that the
interval &om Q to G would bs more than a diapason ;
and that were this method of ascertaining the tenns
of tbe consonances repeated through a series of
octaves, the dissonance woold be increased in pro-
portion to the number of repetitions. Ptolemy has
taken another method, chap. xi. of this his first
book, and by an accumulation of sesquioctave tones
has clearly demonstrated that six such exceed
the consonance diapaaon. This deficien(^, if it
may be so called, in the intervals of wluch the
diapason is compounded, and the difference between
tuning by tbe ear and by numbers, has so^^ted to
mathematicians what is called a temperament, which
proposes a certain number of integral parts for the
limit of the diapason, and the division of the amount
of the several limmas that occur in the progression to
it, in such a manner ae to make the consonances con-
tained in it as nearly perfect as possible.
The remainder of Ptolemy's first book treats of tbe
genera. Chap. xii. exhibits the division of Aris-
toxenns, which he condemns ; and chap. xiii. that of
Archytas of Tarentom, whom he censures for defining
the genera by the inteijacent intervals rather than by
the ratios ^ the sounds among themselves, and
charges him with raahneaa and want of thought.
The use and application of the genera ia at this
day so little understood, that we are greatly at a lees
to account for any other diviuon of the tetrachord
than that which characterizes the diatonic genns :'
Nor does it seem possible, with the utmost strength
of the imagination, to conceive how a series of soonda
so extremely tmgratefdl to the ear as those of which
the chromatic and enarmonic genera are said to be
formed, could ever be received ae mnsic in the sense
in which that word ia now understood.
CHAP. XIX
In the first Chapter of his second book, Ptolemy
nndertakee to shew by what means the ratios of the
several genera may be received by the sense, in the
course of which dranonstration he points out the
different offices of sense, or tbe ear, and reason, in
the admeasurement of intervals, by which it should
seem that the former is previously to adjust the con-
sonances, and that these being transferred to the
canon, become a subject of calculation ; and thia
position of his is ondonbtedly true ; for the de-
termination of the senses in all subjects where har-
mony or symmetry are concerned is arbitrary, and it
is the business of reason, assisted by nimtbers, to
enquire whether this determination has any founda-
tion in nature or not ; and if it has not, we pronounce
it fantastical and capricious ; for example, we perceive
by the ear a consonance between the unison and its
octave, and we are conscious of the harmony resulting
from those two sounds ; but little are we aware of
dbyGoo*^le
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
the wonderfiil relation that mbsiats between them, or
tbat if an experimant be mAde by siupending we^hta
to the cborda that prodace it. whoee lengths are by
the lawB of harmony roqnired to be in the proportion
of 2 to I, that the ahorter would make two Tibratione
to one of the longer, and that the vibrationa wonld
exactly coincide in that relation oa long aa both chords
■honld continQs in motion. Again with rcepect to
the forma of bodies, when we prefer that of a sphere
to one less regnlar, we never attend to the properties
of a sphere, bnt reason will demonstrate a perfection
in that figure which is not to be found tn an irregnlar
polygon.
In the second chapter of his second book he de-
scribes an inetnunent or diagram called the Helicon,
invented aa it sbonld seem by himself, for demon-
strating the coDBOnancee, so simple in its oonstmcdon
that its very figure seems to speak for itself, and to
render a verbal ezplanalion, thongh he has g^ven a
very long one <rf it, nnneceesary. It is of this form : —
The side of the sqnare A C 12 shews the diapason ;
the half of B D, that is to say B F or F D 6 the unison.
The line G H 6, terminated by the diagonal B C, the
diateeearon. The line E E divides the quadrangle
equally, and H K 9, terminated by the line A F,
shews the diapente. The lines L O and £ H are in
the ratio of 4 to 3, whidt is that of the diatessaron ;
and lastly the linee H E 9 and O M 8 shew the ses-
qnioctave tone.
To this diagram Ptolemy has added another not
lees easy to be comprehended than the former, in
which the lines B D, N H, L G, and A G, are supposed
to be chords of ee^el lengths bnt bisected by the line
A F in Hie direction A E : this line may be supposed
to be a bridge, or snbductorium, stopping the four
chords at A E M F, and 'thereby giving the pro-
portions 12 9 8 6 ; which proportions will also re-
Bolt from a sabdnctorinm placed in the direction X E,
for X C will be dnple of 0 D, and the two inter-
mediate chorda seaquialtera and sesqnitertia, and with
respect to each other, eesquioctave ; in all agreeing
with the ratioe in the former diagram.
In the ninth chapter of book IL Ptelemy takes
occasion to say that there ai« only seven tones or
modes, for that there are bnt seven species of dia-
pason ; a position that will be easily granted him by
the moderns who suppose the woM, tone or mode,
when applied to sound, to answer to what we term
the key or fundamental note. What he says farther
concerning the modes has alre«dy been mentioned in
a preceding chapter of thia book.
Chapter xii. Uie same author speaks of the mono-
dionl ; and here he proposes, but not for the purpose
says he, Moording to one tone or mode only, bnt ac^
cording to all die tones together; by -winch one
would imagine he meant somewhat like a tempera-
ment of its imperfections, and a design to render it
an instrument not of roeculation but practice ; and
indeed besides exhibitmg it in a form more adapted
to practice, and more resembling a musical instm-
its primitive one : — •
I I-
He speaks, thon^^ not very intelligibly, of the
manner of performing on it, and recommrads, to con-
ceal it« defects, the conjunction with it, either of
a pipe or the voice. A littie af^r, he speaks of
DidymuB a musician, who endeavoured to correct this
instrument by a different application of the magadea ;
but for the greater imperfections he says Didymns
was not able to find out a cure. Towanls the close
of this second book he exhibits a short scheme of the
three genera, according to five musicians, namely,
Archytas, Aristoxenus, Eratosthenes, the same Didy-
mQ^ and himself; and a litUe iarther on, tablM
of the section of the canon in all the seven modes
according to the several genera.
In the third book chap. iv. he speaks in general of
the faculty of harmony, and of mathematical reasoning
as applied to It ; the use whereof he says is to con-
template and adjust the ratios. In the next ensuing
chapter he proceeds, in the manner of Qnintilian, to
state the analogy of music with the affections of the
human mind, the system of the universe, and in abori
with eveiT other sobject in which number, proportion,
or coincidence are concerned. In the course of this
his reasoning, he mentions that Pythagoras advised
his disciples at their rising in the morning to use
music, whereby that perturbation which is apt to
affect the mind at the awakening Axim sleep, might
be prevented, and the mind be reduced to ite wonted
state of composure : besides which he says, that it
seems the Gods tiiemselves are to be invoked with
hymns and melody, such as that of fintes or Egyptian
trigone, to shew uat we invito them to hear and b«
propitious to our prayers.
Upon a very careful review of this work of Ptolemy,
it will appear that the doctrines contained in it, ao
for as they are capable of being rendered intelU^ble.
are of singnlar nse in the determination of ratios, and
his very accurate division of the monochord carries
demonstration with it It was doubtiess for this
reason that our countryman Dr. Wallis, a man to
whom the learned world are under high obligations,
undertook the publication of it from a manuscript in
the Bodleian libraiy, in the original Greek, whh a
Latin translation of his own, together witii copious
notes, and an appendix by way of commentary,
• Thm It Ttn Ullk Joubi but thu the L
!• Uw poBdan «t the Anbluu. nKnUoiieil »
• puun in HlunMehu, fin imons tb* AnMw
mcDU 4«eiUi>d br HoHului 4n mu/ In Uil (0
Digitized
byGoo*^le
JlsAP. XIX.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC
h Bbnndaotly Appears, aa w«Il by divers other of his
writangs in the Fhiloeophical TrBosactione, as the
work we are now speakiiig of, that he was very pro<
foondly skilled in the science of mnsic. How far
he is to be depended on when he nndertakes to
render the ancient modes iu modem cbaracters seems
very questionable, for were the Doctor's opinion
right in that matter, all that controversy which baa
sabeiBted for these many centuries, not only tooching
tiw specific differences between them, but even as to
their number, most necessarily have ended ages ago ;
whereas, even at this day, the ablest writers on the
subject do not hesitate at saying that the doctrine of
the modes is absolately inecmtable ; and perhqie it
is for this reason only that so many have imagined
that with them we have loet the most valnable part
of the art ; bat on the contrary it is worth remarking
that the Doctor, though he was perhaps the ablest
geometer of bis time, and had all the prejudices in
&vonr of the ancients that a man conversant with the
beat of their writers conld be supposed to entertain,
ncrver intimates any such matter ; nay, so far is ha
from adjudging a preference to the ancient music
over that of ^e modems, that he scmples not to
ascribe the relations that are given of the effects of
the former to the ignorance of mankind in the earlier
ages, the want of refinement, the charms of uovel^,
and other probable causes. Dr. WaUis gave two
aditiona of this work of Ptolemy, the one published
in quarto at Oxford in 1662 ; another, as also the
nommentary of Porphyry, and a treatise of Manuel
Bryennius, makee port of tlie third volume of his
woib, pobliBbad in three volumes in folio, 1699.
Cbksobihdb, a most famous grammarian, lived at
Rome about a.o. 238,* and wrote a book entitled De
Die Katali. It was published by Erycins Puteanns,
at Lonvain, in 1628, who styles it Doctrinse rarioris
Theeauras ; and it is by others also much celebrated
for tbe great light it has thrown on learning. It is
» very amaU work, consisting of only twenty-four
chapters; tbe tenth is concerning music; and the
subsequent chapters, as far as the tbirteenth inclusive,
relate to the same subject.
He profeaaes to relate things not known even to
mnsidana themselves. He defines music to be the
science of well modulating, and to consist in the voice
or sound. He says that sound is emitted at one time
graver, at others acutei; that all simple Bounds, in
what manner soever emitted, are called phthongoi;
and the difference, whereby one sound is either more
grave or more acnte than another, is called diastema.
The rest of his discourse on music is here given in
bis own words : — * Many diaatemata may be placed
'in order between tlie lowest and the highest sound,
' some whereof are greater, as the tone, and others
' less, as the hemitone ; or a disatem may consist of
' two, three, or more tones. To produce concordant
' effects, sounds are not joined together capriciously,
' but according to rule. Symphony is a sweet concent
'of sounds. The simple or primitive aympboniea
'are three, of which the rest consiat ; the firat, having
* ribridiu. BIblMli. Ut. lorn. I. iMf. S37.
' a diastem of two tones, and a hemitone, is called a
' diatessaron ; the second, containing throe tones and
' a hemitone, is called a diapente ; the third is the
' diapason, and connats of the two former, for it is
' constituted either of six tones, as Aristoxenus and
' other musicians assert, or of five tones and two
' hemitonee, as PyUugoraa and the geometridaus aay,
' who demonstrate that two bemitones do not com-
' plete tbe tone ; wherefore this interval, improperly
' called 1^ Plato a hemitone, is traly and properly a
' diesis or limma.
' But to make it appear that sounds, which are
'neither sensible to tbe eyee, nor to the tonch w
' feeling, have measures, I shsll relate the wonderfol
' comment of Pythagoras, who, by eearching into the
' aecrets of nature, found that the aonnds of the
' musi(UanB agreed to the ratio of nnmbera ; for ho
' distended chords equally thick and equally long, by
' different weights, these being frequently struck, and
' their sounds not proving conoordant, he changed
' the weigbts ; and having frequently tried them one
' after another, he at length discovered that two
' chords struck together prodnoed a diateaaaron ;
' when their weighta being compared together, bore
■ the aame ratio to each otber as three does to four,
' which the Greeks call arirptTot, epitntos, and the
' Latins snpertertium. He at the same time found
' that the symphony, which they call diapente, waa
' produced when the weighta were in a seequialteia
' proportioa, namely, that of 2 to 3, which they called
' heijaiolimn. But when one of the chot^ was
' etretohed with a weight duple to that of the other,
' it sounded a diapason.
' He also tried if these proportions would answer
' in the tibin, and found that they did ; for he pre-
' pared four tibiae of equal cavity or bore, but unequal
'in length; for example, tbe first was six intjies
' long, the second eight, the third nine, and the
'fourth twelve; these being blovm into, and each
' compared with the others, he found that the first
' and second produced the symphony of the diates-
' saron, the first and third a diapente, and the firat
' and fourth tbe diapason : but there was the difference
' between the nature of the chords and that of the
' tibiK, that the tibiee became graver in proportion
' to the increase of their lengtbe, while the chorda
became aonter by an additional augmentation of
. . ■ ■ i, I
same each way.
' their weights ;
3 proportion however vras the
'These things being explained, though perhaps
' obscurely, yet as clearly as I was able, I return to
' shew what Pyth^^ras thought concerning the
'numberofthe days appertaining to the partus. Firs^
' he says there are in general two kinds of birth, the
' one lesser, of seven montlia, which comea forth from
' the womb on the two hundred and tenth day after
' conception ; the other greater, of nine months, which
'is delivered on the two hundred and seventy -fourth
' day.' Censorinua then goee on (o relate from Plato
that in the work of conception there are four periods,
tbe first of lax ^ye, the Becond of eight, which two
numbers are the ratio of the diatessaron ; the third
of nine, which anawers to tbe diapente, and the
dbyGoo*^le
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book II
fourth, at the end whereof the fcetns is formed, of
twelve, answering to the diapason in dnpte proper-
tion. AfUr this he pToceede to declare Uie relation!
of the above nnmberB in these words : —
' These four numbers, six, eight, nine, and twelve,
' being added together, make np thirty-five ; nor is
' the number six undeservedly deemed to relate bi
' the birth, for the Greeks call it rtXtiot, teleioe, and
* we per&ctnm, because its three parts, a sixth,
' a third, and a half, that is one, two, three, make up
'itself; but as the first stage ia the conception is
' completed in this number six, so the former number
' thirty-five being multiplied by this latter six, the
' product b two hundred and ten, which is the
' number of days required to maturate the first
'kind of birth. As to the other or -greater kind,
' it is contained under a greater number, namely,
■ seven, as indeed is also the whole of human life,
' as Solon writes : the practice of the Jews, and the
'ritual books of the Etmecaus, seem likewise to
' indicate the predominancy of the number seven
' over the life of man ; and Hippocrates, and other
' physicians, in the diseases of the body account the
' seventh as a critical day ; therefore as the origin of
' the other birth is six days, so that of this greater
' birth is seven ; and as in the former the members
' of the infant are ibrmed in thirty-five days, so here
' it is done in almost forty, and for this resson, forty
'days are a peried very remarkable; for instance,
' a pr^nant woman did not go into the temple till
' after the fortieth day ; after the birth women are
' indisposed for forty days ; infimts for the most part
'are in a morbid state for forty days; these forty
' days, multiplied by the seven initial ones, make
' two hundred and eighty, or forty weeks : but
' because the birth comes forth on the first day of
'the fortieth week, six days are to be subtracted,
' which reduces the number of days to two hundred
' and seventy-four, which number vary exactly cor-
' responds to (he quadrangular aspect of the Ohal-
' deans ; for as the sun passes through the zodiac
' in three hundred and sixty-five days and some
' hours ; if the fourth part of this number, namely,
■ ninety-one days and some hours, be deducted there-
' from, the remainder will be somewhat short of two
' hundred and seventy-five days, by which time the
* sun wiU arrive at tlut place where the quadrature
■ has sn aspect to the beginning of conception. But
' let no man wonder how the human mind is able to
' discover the secrets of hnmsn nature in this respet^
' for the freqnent experience of physicians enables
' them to do It
' It is not to be doubted but that music has an
' effect on our birth ; for whether It conusts in the
' voice or sound only, as Socrates asserts, or, as
' Aristoxenus says, in the voice and the motion of
' the body, or of both these and the emotion of
' the mind, as Theophrastus thinks, it has certainly
' somewhat in it of divine, and has a great influence
' on the mind. If it had not boen grateful to the
' immortal Gods, scenical games would never have
'been instituted to appease them; neither would
' the dbita accompany our supplications in the holy
' temples. Triumphs would not have been celebrated
' with the tibia ; uie cithara or lyre would not have
'been attributed to Apollo, nor the tibia, nor the
' rest of that kind of instruments to the Muses ;
' neither would it have been permitted to those who
' play on the tibia, by whom the deities are appeased,
' to exhibit public shows or plays, and to eat in the
' Capitol, or during the lesser Qninquatria,* that
' is on the ides of June ; to range about the city,
' dnmk, and disguised in what garments they pleased.
' Hmnan minds, and those that are divine, though
' Epicurus cries out against it, acknowledge their
' nature by songs. Lastly, aymphouy is made use
' of by the commanders of ships to encourage the
* sailors, and enable them to bear up under the
■ labours and dangers of a voyage ; and while the
' legions are engaged in battle the fear of death ia
'dispelled by the trumpet; wherefore Fytht^raa,
' that he might imbue his soul with its own divinity,
' before be went to sleep and after ha awaked was
' accustomed, as is reported, to sing to the cithara ;
' and Asclepiades the physician relieved the dis-
' turbed minds of frenetics by symphony. Etophilns,
' a physician also, says that the pulses of the veins
' are moved by moeical rhythm! ; so that both the
' body and the mind are subject to the power of
' harmony, and doubtless music is not a stranger
' at our birth.
' To these things we may add whst Pythagoras
'taught, namely, that this whole world was con-
' stmcted according to musical ratio, and that the
' seven planets which move between the heavens and
' the euth, and predominate at the birth of mortals,
' have a rythmical motion and distances adapted to
' musical intervals, and emit sounds, every one dif-
' ferent in proportion to its height, which sounds are
' so coDcordant as to produce a most sweet melody,
' though inaudible to us by reason of the greatness
' of the sounds, which the narrow passages of oui
' eats are not capable of admitting.' Then follows
the passage declaring the Pythagorean estimate of
the distances of the planets and their supposed
harmouical ratio, heretn-before cited from him.f
Censorinus concludes his Discourse on Music with
saying that Pythagoras compared many other things
which musicians treat of to the other stars, and de-
monstrated that the whole world is constituted in
harmony. Agreeably to this he says Dorylaus writes
that this world is (he instrument of God : and others,
that as there are seven wandering planets, which have
regular motions, they may fitly be resembled to a
dwce.|
T TbB genenl opLnhm of the lunied bi ri>nner iftt, CDDChlaf tha
hHrmonj ot Iht nihvm, hu bnm mvDtlQned in a pncfdins mvi tni>
then ftppean a dlapoiltiDn In (he modfrn phlloeophev ta ivme tha
Mr. Uuliurin, Id cnnromdiy -lib hie opInloD, Phi. SUtor. ot
Netrura, ftf. H, tipliint II Ihm:— ' If wo ihDuJd luuioee muiloa
' mlgbt hecDine unltan. il wmild be rniuliile to encnut or dimlniih
' their ipniLDna La the umc proportiODi ai vould be luOlelfit (0 render
' the ffnvltief of the pLaneLe equal ; and fiom the ilmllitidfl of three
' ptnpottiaat the «lehral«l doctiliw of the bannoaj of heBphcTre
■]■ tuppoeed to have been dertved,'
The aalhoi of a book lalelrjiubliihcd, entlllsd Prindplee jid Pawn
of HannoDT, hai added hii euRi^je In euppoit of the opinbii. ' Certabi
dbyGoot^le
AND PRAOnOE OF MUSIU
PoRPHTftH'a, ft very leuned Greek philoeopber, of
the PlAtonic sect, and who wrote a commentaiy on the
Hormcmicfl of Ptolemy, lived about the end of the
third centnry. His preceptors in philosophy were
Plotinos and Amolias ; he was a bitter enemy to the
Chrbtian religion, which perhaps is the reason why
St. Jerome will have him to be a Jew ; but Emiapioa
affirms that he was a native of Tyre, and that his tme
name wfts Malchos, which in Uie ISyrlaa language
signifies a king ; and that Longinus the Sophist, who
taught him rhetoric, gave him the name of Porphynus,
in alluuon to the pnrple usually worn by kings.
Beddee the commentary on Ptolemy he wrote Uie
lives of divers philosophers, of which only a frag-
ment, containing the life of Pythagoras, is now
remuning ; a treatise of abstinence from flesh, an
erpHcation of the categories of Aristotle, and a trea-
tise, containing fifteen books, against the Christian
religion, which he once professed, as 8t Angnstine,
Socrates, and others assert : this latter was answered
by Methodius, bishop of Tyre, and afterwards by
Ensebios. He died about the end of the reign of
Dioclesiau, and in 388 his books were bnmed.
With regard to his commentary, it is evidently
imperfect ; for whereas the treatise of Ptolemy, la
divided into three books, the second whereof contains
fifteen chapters. Porphyry's commentary is continued
no farther than to the end of chapter seven of that
book, concluding with the series of sounds through
each of the three genera. He seems to have been
a vimlent oppoeer of the AristoxeneaDS, and like his
antbor adheres in general to the tenets of Pyth^onw.
Porphyry baa given a deecription of the harmonic
canon much more intelligible than that of Ptolemy,
and has delineated it in the following form -. —
J
h
E
By which it appears that a chord A D, strained
over the immoveable magades B and C, which are
nothing more than two puallelograms, with a semi-
drcular arch at the top of each, together with a
moveable bridge of the some form B, bat somewhat
higher, will be snfScient for tie demonstration of the
consonances, and this indeed is the representetion
which Dr. Wallis in his notes on Ptolemy has thought
proper to give of it.
Dr. W^lie has contented himself with publishing
a bare version of this author, without the addition of
m Uloplun phlloHphn.
iS, »jre«lilj to whit C<
ie gnat iiid rdgidng
Si".';i'.
Imphi. wauld produci
not«s, except a few such short onee as he thought
necessary to correct a vidona reading, or explain a
difficult passage.
The works of the several anthors above-named
declare very Mly the ancient Greek theory ; their
practice may in a great measure be judged of from
the forms of the ancient instruments, and of these it
may be thought necessary in this place to give qome
account
The general division of musical instrmuente is into
three classes, the pulsatile, tensile, and inflatile ; and
to this purpose Cardinal Bellarmine, in his Exposition
of the CLth psalm, verse 3, says : ' Tria sunt instm-
' mentoram genera, vox, flatus, et puisne ; omnium
' meminit boo loco prophete.'
Of the first are the drum, the sistmm, and bells.
Of the second, the lute, the harp, the clavicymbalum,
and viols of all kinds. Of the tnird are the trumpet,
flutes, and pipes, whether single or collected together,
as in the ot^on.
And Kirdier, in his Musurgia, preface to bock VI.,
has this passage ; — -' Omnia instruments musics ad
' tria genera, ut plnrinm revocantur : Prions generis
'dicnntnr tyxopSa sive «>Tor<i, quae nervis, eea
' chordis constant queeque plectris, sut digltis in har-
'monicos motus incitantur, ut sunt Teetudines,
' Psslteria, Lyree, Sambuote, Pandora, Barbito,
' Nablia, Pectides, Clavioymbala, aliaque hujne
' generis innumera. Secnndi generis aunt i/i^ww^iEwt,
' irtvm^rijni, Tel tuTtyinca, fptw Inflata, sen spiritn,
'incitota sonnm edunt ut Fietuln, Tibiae, Cbmua,
' Litni, Tnbse, Buccinee, Classica. Tertii generis
' sunt t/mta, sive pulsatilia uti sunt Tympana, Sietra,
' <>^bala, CampanK, Ac'
This division is adopted by a late writer, Fran-
decus Blanchinns of Verona, in a veiy learned and
curious dissertation on the miuical inatrimients of the
ancients ; * which upon the authority of ancient
medals, intaglios, bass-reliefs, and other sculptures of
great antiquity, exbibite the forms of a great variety
of musical instruments in use among the ancient
Greeks and Romans, many whereof are mentioned,
or alluded to, by' the Latin poets, in such terms as
contain little less than a precise designation of tlieir
respective forma. He has deviated a little from the
order prescribed by the above diviaion of musical
instruments into classes, by beginning with the
inflatile speoies instead of the tensile ; nevertheless
his dissertation is very curious and satjafoctory, and
contains in it s detail to the fol- pig. i. pjg. j.
lowing effect : —
One of the moat aimple musical
inatrumentg of the ancients is the
Calamus paatoialis, mads of an
oaten reed ; it is mentioned by
Virgil and many others of the
Latin poets, and by Martianus C^-
pella. See the form of it fig. 1.
Other writers mention an instm-
ment of veiy great antiquity by the
name of Oasea tibia, a pipe made
of the leg-bone of a crane. Fig. 2.
DiiHiUlloi Boinio, i;u.
• lutiumgnlamn Mnika
cbyGoOgI
90
fflSTORY OP THE SCIENCE
The Syiinga or pipe of Pan is ''<■>■
deecribed by Virgil, aiul the use of it
by Lacretiiw, lib. V,
£t nipra caUmoa unco peroorrere labia
The fignre of it occors so freqnently
on medale, that a particular description
of it IB unnecesBUy. Fig. 3.
I^e Tibin pareB, mentioned by
Terence to have been played on, "* *
the one with the right, and the other
with the left hand, are divensely
repreBOnted in Mereonnaa De In-
etnuaentis harmoniciB, ^g. 7, and
in the DiasertatioD of Blanchinos
now dling ; in the former they
are yoked together towards Uie
bottom, and at the top, as fig. i, |
In the latter they are mnch Blen- (
derer, and are not joined. Fig. fi.*
The author laat men-
tioned apeaks also of
other pipes, namely,
the TibiR biforea, fig.
6, the Tibiie gemine,
fig. 7, instnunents used
in dieatrical repre-
sentatioDs; the latter
of these seem to be
the Tibin impares of
Terence ; he also de-
scribes the Tibi» ntri-
cnlarin, or bag-pi pea,
fig. 8, anciently tiie entertunment of ah^jherda and
oUier mstics.
The Horn, fig. 9, was anciently nsed at funeral
solemnities ; it is alluded to by Statins. Ilieb. lib. VL
Pig. S. Fl(. *.
The ancient finccha or hom-tmmpet, fig. 10, ia
mentioned by Ovid, Vegetina, Macrotnus, and others
Flf. i«.
The Tuba commnnia, sen recta, so called in oon-
tradiatinction to the Tuba ductilis, ie of very anoient
original ; it was formerly, aa now, made of silver or
brass, of the form fig. II. Blanchinns hesitates not to
Donit. rnam. de Traced, k Contd. The nbW i
DHUnelMatBI lliM otber h PHnji, when It <■ •
is mike l^hndnl pipe*. Uuk the ^;i^™_^J^™Tn^. ^,I<|r
uUM ; bul It
DiU M botloia. end gtev Upcrlrig iipwe
t, eoBtnry 14 the im
assert that the two trumpets of silver which God
commanded Moses to make in the wildemess were of
this form.'f It seems that the trumpet has retained
this figure withont the least external diversity, so low
down as the year 1620 ; for in a very curious picture
at Windsor, supposed to be of Usbnse, repreeenting
the interview between Ardres and Ouisnes, of Henry
VIII. and Francis I. are trumpets precisely cor-
responding in fignre with the Tuba recta above
referred to.
Of the instruments of the second class, compre-
hending the tensile species, the Monochord is the
most simple. This instrument is mentioned by
Aristides Quintilianns, and other ancient writers, but
we have no authentic designation of it prior to the
time of Ftotemy, it nevertheless is capable of so
many forms, that any instroment of one string only
answers to the name ; for which reason some have
not scrupled to represent the monochord like the bow
of Diana.
Bignres 12 and Kt. it. tk. it.
IS, are the Lyre
of three and fonr
chords, ascribed to
Mercnry, by Ni-
comachua. Macro- .
bios, Boetius, and
a nnmber of other '
writers, the forms
whereof are here i
given from ancient f
sculptures in and^
about Rome, '* » »^ '*•
referred to
by Btanchi-
nnn; as are
also those
figures 14
and 15, repre-
senting the
one a Lyre
with seven
chorda, and
the other one
with nine.
md tn tbe tounteylDf of the a
raumnrn, ciup. i. Ten
cbyGoOl^l
e
AND PRACTTICE OP MUSia
Fig. 16uth«LyTeof Antphion, "S' i<-
aod 17 the plectnim, wiOi which
Bot cdily thu, but every spedee
or the lyre was stmck, aa nuy be <»llect«d from the
following pRseoge in Ovid : —
Inatmctamqufl iidcm gemmii et dentibUB India
Siutinet i I«tA ; teauit maniu altera plectnun.
ArtiflciB rtatuE ipse fiiit, tmn Btamins docto
Pollice lollidtat : quorum dnlcedinc captui
Pane jnbet TiboIui citherB nibmittere canniu.
Met. Ub. xi. 1. 167 •
F^gnroB 19 and 20 are other fontie of the Lyre in
a Btats of itnproTement.
Kg. It. Ilg. M.
' hMnd WBTv BmplDjed In itopplng
wn nrlekm witb ^ tOcfc iiii Is
■t Ilka Ihli In the ft)Uawlii(p(M«c*
Tb«Tl
Bii tjiat injrnr>.'ud
Strike Mf*!! AitlBritU)
Vtodi which ll At leeft am
■ ■ Ul pcaltbrn. mil ths
4 Blectnim,
« A Ibr the
tath«t«M,
towlia THt,
Dijitn'i tnaaULLon, bi
n. that the biitmnin
;.%'T'.,
Lenlbu VII. TM. E
O^id. eeTi h>, >■ CI
lanol (roni lUi. thai the Unnn
fftaniicr upon the itrlnii, cue h
th> itihl
mll^ Id I
Dr. IdRId u^ II nwr ha
»(. 11.
Pig. II.
Figures 21, 22,
are two different <
repreeentatioDs of
the Lyra triplex,
the one from Blan-
chinne, the other
from a writer of
far leea reepoct-
able aothori^ ;
concerning this in •
etrament it ia ne-
cesury to he some-
what particular.
Athentatu lib.
VIV. cap. XT. de-
acribei an inetmment of a very lingolor conetmction,
being a lyre in the form of a tripod, an invention, aa
it ie said, of Pythagoras Zscynthins. This pereon ii
mentioned by Arigtoxenns, in hia Elements, page Stl ;
and UeibominB, in a note on the passage, saya, on the
anthority of Diogenes Laertius, that he was the
aathor of Arcana Philosophin, and adds, that it waa
ftora him that the proverbial saying, ipse dixit, had
its rise ; with reepect to the instrament, it is ex-
hibited, in two forms (see above), the first taken ^m
a sarcophagns at Rome, referred to by Blanchuiiu,
the other from an engraving; in the Uistoire de ]»
Mnaiqae, of Honaienr de Blainville, for whidi It is to
be suspected be had no other anthority than the bore
verbal description of Atbemeos, who has aud, that it
comprehended three distinct sets of chords, adjusted to
the three most ancient of the modes, the Dorian, the
Fhry^an, and the Lydian.
llie Trigon, an instrament mentioned by Nicho-
machos, among those which were adjusted by Pytha-
goras, after he had dircovered and ns. u.
settled the ratios of the consonaDces.
It was used at feasts, and it is said,
was played on by wonieOi and stmok
either with a qnill, or beaten with
little rods of different lengths and
weights, (o oooasion a diversity in the
sounds. The figure 23 Is taken fromj
an andent Bnman anaglyph, mentioned
by Blanchinns. fu-h. Figu.
The Cymbals
the ]jn. S(. II. which eei
UlKiD t'hli rcllo of intlqiiltT, ■ drawing whareot wu Anind in Ui
leeUun of the lue Mr. N. Htfia. II li obeenihle thU the Irn li oT i
ytcj nnilj monbllna the Tinlln, h biTlng ■ hod)', ud ilu ■
whicb !■ held Id the left hud ; the Inilnmient In the right, nndout
■ndi et one* In plAflDg upen the lyn, uid thAt the flngm of
E eniplored, not In ib^lng, bat In ilriklng the itring.
w Scnia of n udent lUloe, nrnuntlng AptUo plcjlni at
■jctij with abt tIoI di bncoio
dbyGooi^lc
fflSTOBY OF THE SCIENCE.
Book IL
of Bacohiu, fignre 26, were two
small breas veesels, somewbat in
the form of a abield, which being
Btmck together by the hande, gave
a BODOd. The well-known etatne
of the dancing fann has one of
these in each band.
The Tympanum leve.
figure 27, an instrument 3
known by the name of the I
Tambonret, and frequently
used in dancing, was alio nsed
to sing to ; it is distinguished
by Catullus. Ovid, Suetonius,
St Augustine, and Isidore,
of SovU, from the great brazen dram, properly so
called, (Jiis above-mentioned, was covered with the
skin of some animal, and was struck either with a
short twig or with pig. is, ipig. n.
the hand, as fig. 28.
Crotala, figure 29.
These were instru-
ments also of the
pulsatile kind. The
Grotalum was made
of a reed, divided
into two by a slit
^m the top, ex-
tending half way
downwards: the sides
thus divided being
strack one i^nst (
the other with dif-'
ferent motions of the hands, produced
a aonnd like that which Uie stork
makes with her bill, wherefore the
ancienta gave that bird the epithet of Crotalistria, i.e..
Player upon the Grotalum ;* and Aristophanes calls
a great talker a Crotalum.
' Futonlu n1*ta. Out BocdIh did not klU tht BlrmplulUH wlib
bb unn, Inl that h« MghUd. uid inn th™ nwij w^ tbc nglw of
b, ihst tbt cTDtiluni muil b> ■ rery uiilaDl lulninwnt, Orld Jalai thi
snulum vltb tlia cimbdi.
CfmbftUcom iroUJIft pruilentUiqu* vnu PrUpg
Fonlt, at kdduclt lympiu pulu muu.
It mBfa by in uctant p«n, snlillHl Copi, b;
Vinll, Qlu IIum wtio pUyed with t"- '- -"
It biilHi
A with Uu oouli di
■1 Iho »mt
Uention is made bv some writers on music, of an
instrument of forty cbords, called, from the name of
its inventor, the Epigoninm. Epigonins was »
native of Ambracia, a city of Epirus, and a citizen of
Bicyon, a town of Peloponnesus. He is mentioned
together with Leans Hermionensis, by Aristoxenas,
in his Elements, pag. 3. And Porphyry makes him
the head of one of those many eect« of moBiciaoe that
formerly subeistod, giving him thepriority even of
Aristoxenus, in these words : — ' There were many
eocta, some indeed before Aristoxenus, as the Epi-
goniane, Damonians, Eratocleans, Agenorians, and
some others ; which be himself makes mention of;
bat there were some after him, which others have
described, as the Archestratians, Agoniaus, Philis-
cians, and Hermippians.'
JnliuB Pollux, in his Onomastionm, lib. IV. cap. ix.
speaking of the instruments invented by certsin
nations, says, that the Epigoninm obtained its name
from Epigonius, who was the first that strnck the
chords of musical instrumenta without a plectrum, j"
The same author adds, that the Epigoninm had forty
chords, aa the Simicnm had thirty-five. AtheiueuB,
lib. rV. speaks to the same purpose.
As to the Simicom, nothing more is known about
it, than that it contained thirty -five chorda. Vincentte
Oalilei, with good reason, supposes it to be somewhat
more ancient tbim the Epigonium. Of both these
inatrumeuta he has ventured to give a representatioQ,
in bis dialogue on andent and modem mn«c ; but it
is very much to be doubted, whether he lud any
authority from antiquity for ao doing. The form
which he has assigned them severally, resonbles
nearly that of an npright barpdchord, which seems
to indicate, that when played on, it was held between
the legs of the muaician, different perhaps from the
harp, with the grave chorda near and the aonte re-
mote from him.
The foregoing account comprehends the principal
instruments in nse among the ancient Greeks and
Romans, so far aa the researches of learned and in-
quisitive men have succeeded in the attempts to re-
cover them ; their forms seem to be thereby aacer-
tained beyond the possibility of a doubt, and these it
may be said, declare the state of the ancient musical
practice, much more satisfactorily than all the hyper-
bolical relations extant, of ita efficacy and influence
over the human passions ; and leave it an an-
ChUi, to wblcb UutUl ■!
N« dii OwUb
Edan iHdTM id Bvtlu emmiu iMCut,
Ed QidluBta ludet* ilocta modU. Ub. VI. «pl|[r. Ixil.
Prum vhleh two pvugvm, Lt jippBAra ckHrly, tfut tbfl »bof e eaunn
ot ClBmBiu AlnudriDDt WBi wfilTgnnuiclad-
I Plutueh In bli dlalwns befon riUi, nUl» IhU Olyinpui Eatn-
duiMl tbv p^rtmni Inio Or««ce, vbltb It It luppoKd iru Iben daewl
> uifTul iDnntlul. CiiUIiiIt lbs lin wu orlfliiaUy UDcfasd by llw
Dngen, ud lU Uwl eu Iw mcut ben, li. thu Kpltimtui neumd to
played on with tba Sn|*n ; betwMo >1
01 qnlll, tbe dUItanee ii tait wide, u m^ be dlKovendt^ni
paibon or the liu* ar haip vitb iht tmpakliord.
dbyGoot^le
CtaiP.XIX.— BookHI.Ohap.XX, AND PRACTICE OP MDSia
qnesdooabU fact, th&t tha diBcoTeriea of Pythagoras,
and the improvements made by the Qreeke, hia
successors, terminated in a theory, admirable in
Bpecolation it is true, bnt to which such instnmieutB
were adapted, as would have di^raced any perfono-
ance, even m the least enlightened period, since the
invention of that species of bannouy, which has been
the delight of later ages.
BOOK III. OHAP. XX.
Thk gradual doclendon of learning which had
begun b«fore the time of Porphyry, tlie last of the
Greek mnsical writers, and above all, the rav^ee of
war, and the then embroiled state of the whole
chiiized worid, put an end to all farther improve-
ments in the science of harmonics ; nor do we find,
that a^r this time it was made a subject of philo-
sophical enquiry : the ancceeding writers were chiefly
utins, who, as they were for the most part followers
of the Qreeks, contributed bat very little to its ad-
vancement ; and, for reasons which will hereafter be
given, the cultivation of mnuc became the care of the
cter^ ; an order of men, in whom Uie little of
learning then left, in a few ages alter the eetablish-
ment of Christianity, centered.
Bnt before we proceed farther to trace the progress
of the science, it is proper to remark, that the
writings of the Greeks not only leave ns in great
vncertainty as to the state of music in other countries,
bnt that they do not exclude the possibility of its
having arrived at a great degree of perfection, even
before that discovery of the consonances, which is by
all of them allowed to be the very basis of the Greek
syBt«m. For let it be remembered, that Pythagoras
IB supposed to have lived so late as a.m. 3384,
which is about 560 years before the birth of Christ ;
and that long before his time, snch effects were
ascribed to music, as well by the sacred as profane
historians, as are ntterly inconsistent with the sup-
poeition, that it was then in its infancy. It were
emtlleas to enumerate the many passages in sacred
writ, declaring the power of music : the story of
David and Saul, and the effects attributed to the
harp ; bnt more especially the ireqaent mention of
instmments with ten strings, would lead ns to think,
that the art had arrived to a state of greater perfection
than the writers above -mentioned suppose. Here
thenarisea aqnestion, the solution whereof is attended
with great difficulty ; namely, whether the Jews, not
to mention the various other nations, that had anb-
aisted for many ages, previous to the times from
whence we begin onr account, in a state of very im-
proved civilization, had not a mnsical theory ? or is
It to be conceived, that mankind, with whose frame
and stracture, with whose organs and faculties, har-
mony is shewn to be connatural, could remain for so
many centuries in an almost total ignorance of its
nature and prindples 1
To this it is answered, that the knowledge of the
■tate and condition of past times, is dedncible, with
any degree of certainty, only from history ; that the
information communicated by the means of writing,
mnst depend on an infinite variety of cironmatances,
snch as a disposition in men of ability to communicate
that information which is derived from a long conrse
of study, the permanency of language, a futhful and
micormpt transmission <k lacts, and an absence of all
those acddents, that in the course of events hinder
the propagation of knowledge ; and wherever theee
&il, the progress of human intelligence most neces-
sarily be intercepted. To obatmctions arising &om
one or other of these causes, is to be imputed that
impenetrable obscurity in which the events of the
earlier ages lie involved ; an obscurity so intense,
that no one presumes to trace the origin of any of the
arts, and a vast chasm is supplied by the mytholc^ls,
the poets, and that species of history which we dis-
tingnish from what is truly authentic and worthy of
credit by the epithet of fabulons ; even antiqni^
itself, which stamps a value on some sort of evidence,
will in many cases diminish the credit o{ an historian ;
and mankind have not yd settied what degree of
assent is due to the testimony of the most ancient of
all profane historians, the venerable Herodotus.
Admitting as a foot, that E^ypt in the infancy of
the world, was as well the seat of learning as of
empire ; and admitting also the learning of the
Persian Magi, the Indian Braclunans, and other peo-
ple of the east, not to mention the Phtnnicians and
the Chinese, to be as great as some pretend, who
have magnified it to a degree that exceeds the b:>nnds
of moderate credulity ; nevertheless, the more sober
researchers into antiquity, have contented themselves
with a retrospect limited by the time when philoso-
phy begnn to flourish in Greece ; and it is only on
the writers of that country that we can depend.
An investigation of the Jewish theory would be
a fruitless attempt, but of their practice we are en-
abled to form some judgment, tiy the several passages
in the Old Testament that declare the names and
number of the Hebrew instruments, and mention the
frequent use of them in sacrifices, and other religions
solemnities ; but it is to be observed, that the cor-
respondence of the namee of their inetnunenla, with
tiie names of those in use in modem times, is a cir-
oumstance from wluch no a^nment in their fiivour
can be drawn, for a reason herein before given.
Mersennus, and after him Kircher, whose elaborate
researches into the more abstruse ports of ancient
literature, render him in some particulars a re-
spectable aotbority, have exhibited tiie forms of many
c^ the ancient Jewish musical instmments : the
latter of these authors professes to have gone to the
fountun head for his intelligence ; and the result
of an attentive perusal of as many of the Rab-
binical writers and commentators on the Talmud
aa he could lay his hands on, he has given to the
public in the Uusurgia, tom. L pag. 47. How
tar the authoritiee adduced by him will warrant
snch a precise designation of their respective forms,
dbyG00*^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Bow UL
u verges in some uutancee too near our own times,
ia left to the decuion of those who shall have cd-
nonty enough to penue tham ; but lest it shonld
be sold that the subject is too important to be passed
over in silence, the substance of what he has de-
livered on this head is here given.
He eays that the anthor of a treatise entitled
Schilte Haggiboiim, L e. the Shield of the Mighty,
who he elsewhere makes to be Babbi Hannaae, treats
very accurately on the mosical instrnments of the
Hebrews, and reckons that thejf were thirty-eix in
number, and of the polsatile kind, and that David
WHS skilled in the use of them alL Eircher however
does not seem to aoqniesce altogether in the first of
these opinions, for he proceeds to a description
de inetnunentis Hebreonm Polychordis eive N^hi-
noth ; these it aeenu, according to hia anthor abore-
Damed, were of wood, long and round, consifiting
of three strings made of ike intesldnea of beasts :
the InstrmnentA had holes bored i]ndemea& them;
and, to make them eonnd, the strings were robbed
with a bow composed of the burs of a horse's tail,
well extended wd compacted together. Kircher
^)eaks porticnlarly of the Psaltery, or Nablinm, the
(Mhara, or, which is the same thing, the Asear,
Nerel, Chiimor, the MachnI, and the Mtnnin. He
says that no one has rightly described the Psaltery
of David, and that some have thought that the word
rather denoted certain genera of harmony, or modn*
lations of the voice, than any kind of instrument :
that according to Joiephae it had twelve sounds,
and was dayed on with the fingers ; that HiUrius,
Didymus, Sasilius, and Eothymina call it the straitest
of all musical iustruments — that Aagnstine says
it was carried in the hand of the player, and had
K shell or concave piece of wood on it that canaed
the strings to resound — that Hieronymos describes
this inatmment as having ten strings, and resembling
in its form a square shield — that Hilarus will have
it to be the same with the Nablium. Eircher him-
self is certain that it was a stringed instrument, and
ates Snidas to prove that the word Psalterium is
derived from Psallo, to strike the chords with the
ends of the fingers. He farther says, that many
writers suppose it to have had a triangular form, and
to resemble the harp of David, ae commonly painted
in pictures of him ; and that some are express in the
opinion that the Psalterium and the Nahlinm, as
being struck with the finger? of both hands, were
one and the same instrument ; and to this pnrposa
he cites the following passage from Ovid : —
Disce etiam dupUci genialia Naulia palmi
Verrere : conveniunt duleibns ilia modii.
Art. Ahat. lib. III. 1. 327.
The Novel, notwithstanding the resemblance be-
tween ite name and that of the Nablinm, and the
confusion which Eircher has created by maag them
promiscnonsly, clearly appears to have been a difier-
«nt inatniment ; for he says it was in the form
of a trapezinm ; and the Nablium, which he has
taken great pains to prove to be the same with the
Psalterium, he shows to liave been of a square form.
Of the Assar, be only says that it had ten chords ;
the Chinnor he supposes to have had thirty-two, tba
Machul six, and the Minnin three or four; and
that in their form they resembled, the one the Viol
and the other the _, „ » «
Chelys. To give a "■-"' "•"■
clearer idea, he has
exhibited, from an ^
old book in the Va-
tican library, several
figures representing
the Psalterium,
figure 32; the Chin- L
nor, figure 33 ; the
Machul. figure 31 ; the Minnin, fig. 35 ; and
Nevel, figure 36.*
Hg. M. rif . U. FIr. M.
tioned by Rabbi Hannase, who it
anthor of the book before cited, Schilte Haggiborim,
and also in the Targum, called Hagbniugab, consisting
of six strings, and resembling the greater Chelys or
Viol di Oamba, differing from it only in the number
of its chords : he says it is often confounded with the
Machul.
He next proceeds to treat of the pulsatile instm*
ments of the Hebrews, in contradistinction to those
of the fidicinal or Og. ir.
stringed kind ; and
first be speaks of
theThophorTym-
panum, figure 87, 1 j^=-.-~ — - ^^
an instrument of ~ "^ ~ ""
Egyptian ori^^nal,
and used by the
priests of that conntry in their public worship. He
relates on the authority of Rabbi Hannase that it had
the likeness of a ship ; and that by the Greeks it was
also called Cymbalnm, from cymba, a boat : be adds
that it was covered with the wn of an animal, and
was beat on with a pestle or rod of iron or brass.
He proceeds to sav that though the Machul ia
ranked among the fididual or stringed instrument^
this name was given to an Instrument of a very
different form, and of the pulsatile kind ; nay, he
adds that Rabbi Hannase asserts that it was preosely
the same with the Sistrum of the E^gyptians, or the
Eronsma of the Greeks ; and that it was of a circular
• Th> tmrh flf Ihia i*niMmi^llnn « fkr ulE nla^ to lb* H^UlBl
. ^, _., . , tonqulnthi
■Id of Uw luir ■-— - ■■'-■ -* -'— ' "■'-"■ ■■■ '— ' —
EzoD^T to b* ■uiHolBtl i th
o«. ft kind of mectnun to
iM itnoan. mUh ttt
Dinmti wbldi n l> in
dbyGoo^lc
Chaf. XX.
AND PRACJTIOK OF MUSIC.
form, made of Iron, bnae, ailrer, or gold, with little
bella hong round it. Kircher corrects this descrip-
tion, and instead of little bells, supposes a number of
iron rings, Strang as it were on a rod or bar in a
lateral poeidon tbat went acroes the circle, ri*. u.
He says that a handle was affixed to it, by
means whereof the instrument wss flung
backwftrda and forwards, and emitted a kind I
of melancholy murmur, arising from the I
collision of the rings, as well against each I
other as against the sides, the circle, and
the bar on which they moved, figure 38.
He adds, that the Thoph, or rather Sietrum
of the Hebrews wm thus
constract«d, and that the
Sistri, as we read in the
books of Exodus and Judges,
that Mary, the sister of
Hoeee, and the daughter of Jephtha, _
did : and he farther says, that
according to accounts which he hss
received from credible witnesses,
the Syrians in his time preserved
the nse of the Sistrum in Palestine.*
Onets Berusim was another of the
Hebrew pulsatile instruments ; it
eeems by Kircherthat there was some oontroversyabont
the form of it, but that Rabbi Hannase repreeents it
as nothing more than a piece of flr in shape like a
mortar. He says there belonged to it a pestle of the
■ame wood, with a knob st esch end, and in the
middle thereof a place for the hand to grasp it : that
those that beat on the instrument held it in the lefi
hand and struck with the pig. 40,
right on the edge and in the ^"^^^
middle, using the knobs alter- 1n~^£*^
nately. fignree 40, 41. Kir-
cher compares this iustrameut
to the Crotalnm already de-
acribed, but seemingly with little propriety ; and to
the Gnaccari of the Italians, of which word, con-
mdered as a technical term, it is hard to find the
meaning.
Minagnghinim was the name of another of the
Hebrew pnlsstile iuetniments, which, according to
Babbi Hannase, was a certain square «s- «■
tkble of wood, having a handle so
fitted as conveniently to be held by
it. Od the table were balls of wood
or brass, through which was put either
■n iron chain or an hempen chord,
and this was stretdied irom the bottom
to the top of the table. When the
iostmment was shaken, the striking ol
tbe balls occasioned a very clear sound,
which might be heard at a great dis-
tance. See the representation which
Eircher givee of it, figure 42.
Magrapbe Tamid, another of the pulsatile instru-
ments of the Hebrewe, is conjecCored by KJrcher tA
have been used for convoking tbe priests and Levitee
together into the temple : it is said to have emitted
prodigious sound ; and tliongb Rabbi Hannase says
no one can describe the form of it, Eircher thinks it
most have been like one of our lugest belle.
We are now to declare what iuBtmrnente of the
pneumatic kind were in use amongst the ancient
Hebrews ; and first we meet with the Masrskitbo,
which consisted of pipes of various sizes, fitted into
a kind of wooden chest, open at the top, but at the
bottom stopped with wood covered with a skin ;
by means of a pipe fixed to the chest, wind was
conveyed into it ^m the lips : the pipes were
of lengths proportioned musically to each other, and
die melody was vsried at pleasure by tbe stopping
and unstopping with the fingers the apertures at the
npper extremity. Eircher fi«. m.
thinks it differed but little
from the instrument which
Fan is constantly repre-
sented as playing on ; there
seems however to be a dif-
ference in the manner ol
using it See fig. 43.
Of the Ssmpunia, derived, as Eircher conjectures,
from the Greek Sympbonia, as also of the preceding
instrument, mention ie made, as Eircher asserts, in
the Chaldaic of tbe book of Daniel, chap. iii. He
says dso that it is described in the Schiite Haggi-
borim, as consisting of a round belly, made of the
skin of a ram or wether, into which two pipes
were inserted, one to fill the belly with win«^ the
other to emit tbe eonnd ; the lower pipe had holes
in it, uid was played on by the fingers. In short,
it seems to have been neither more nor less than the
Cornamusa, or common bog-pipe ; and Kircher says
that in Italy, even in his days, it was known by the
name of the Zampagno.
The Hebrews had also an instrument, described in
the Schiite Haggiborim, called Macraphe d'Amchin,
consisting of several orders of pipes, which wem
supplied with wind by means of bellows; it had
keys, and would at this time without hesitatiou be
called an organ. See fig, 44.t
t Ttali InitnnDBit li ddlMiM bj KbutiR, but (b* llgnn of It ibn*
TBfemd to, !■ [akeii fnm (he Matlcft Htitortea of Wnlffuif Oupu
FrtDtB. written in tba 0«nn»n UzirnBgfl. ud prlnfBd at Vtaita in 4to.
uno. leM, wbo eltaa tlu CallKIudi Fbilologtdi oT JiiSuiiu ScbCtttnu,
0 jiutVjr hU dcTlBllDiia rrom Kircbvr, Id the Htm of nme of the lulni'
laHrlbad In tba If Dinrfth Bat II U to ba feiRd, thM bli ulhor
Id In ilTiiiB to lbs Uuhul ud Mlniln aboii diocribod. Iba bair
whlsh not tha laaat baca In to b* fMind to Iba willinga of anj af
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE 80IBNOE
Book UI.
Of Fiatnlie it aeems tho
Hebrews had Bondry kinds;
thfly were chieflv Uie honu
or bone6 of animaJa, straight or
contorted, aa nature bshioned
them : the repreaentationa of
sondry kinda of them, in
fignrea 15, 46, 47, 48, are
t^en from Kircher.
1 yit-io.
In the account which Blanchiniu has given of the
Jewish mnaical instrmnents, he mentions a mallat of
wood need by them in their worship, and rig.,
which at certain times is beaten by the people
cm the beams, seats, and other parta of the
aynagogae, in commemoration of the tnmult
S receding the Gmcifixion, or, as the modem
ewB say, at the hanging of Haman, figure 49.
Instmmenta of this kind, and which produce
noiae rather than sound, are improperly
classed amoi^ inatrumenta of mnsic.
Of the Hebrew mnsiciana no very satiBfactory
accoont can be given. This of Blircher, extracted
from the Babbinical writers, is, perhaps, the beat
tiiat can be expected : ' Asaph, according to the
'opinion of tho interpreters, was the composer of
' certain psalms ; he is said also to have been a singer,
* and to have eung to the cvmbals of brass, and to
' have praised the Lord, and nuniatred in ^e sight
' of the ark.
■ Eman Eznuta, the singer, the sou of Joel, of the
'children of Oaath, was most skilM in the cymbal,
■and was in a manner equal in knowledge and
' wisdom to Ethan ; he is the supposed anthor of the
' Psalm, beginning Domine Dens salntis men, which,
' because he gave it to be snng by the sons of Coreh,
'he inscribed both with his ovm and their name.
■ E!than of Elzrachns, the son of Assiua, the son
'of Merari, played on the brasa cymbal, and was
'endued with so mnch wisdom, that, according to
'the Book of Kings, no mortal, except Solomon, was
' wiser. The three sons of Coreh, Asir, Elcana, and
'Abiasapb, were famous singers and composers of
'Psalms.'
'IdithuB was aa excellent singer, and player on
'the cythara; many confound him with Orpheus.'
Kirchor Bnppoaes, that be and the other Hebrew
musicians were inspired with the knowledge of vocal
and instrumental music, and that their performance
was equal to their skill. He aays, he doubts not bnt
that there were many other men, especially in the
time of king Solomon, who were well skilled in
divine music, for that the most excellent mnsic was
fittest for the wisest of mortals, and that of the
Hebrews must have been more efficaoions in excidng
the affections than that of the Greeks, or of later
times, but of what kind in particular it was, and by
what characters expressed, he says, its antiquity
prevents us from knowing.*
A much later writer than him above cited, and who
is now living, Qiambatista Martini, of Bologna, has
entered very deeply into the mnsic of the Hebrews ;
and it were to be wished, that he bad been able to
give a more satisfactory account of it than is to be
found in his very teamed work, the Storia della
Mueica, now publishing, but of which, as yet [in this
year, 1771]the public are in possession of only one
volume. Having few other sources of intelligence
than the Talmud, and the writing of the Rabbins, we
are not to expect mnch information in this particalar.
CHAP. XXI.
Fboh accounts so vague, and so aliounding with
conjectureSfSs are given of the ancient Hebrew mnsic
and musiduns, and more especially of their instra-
ments, even by writers of the best authority, it is
very difficult to collect any thing whereon an in-
quisitive mind may rest With regard to the Hebrew
instruments, it is evident from the accounts of Kircher,
and others, that some of them approach so nearly to
the form of those of more modem times, as to give
reason to suspect the anthentici^ of the repreaenta-
tion : others appear to have been ao very inartiflcially
constructed, ttut we scarce credit the relation given
of their effects. It is clear, that Kircher and
SchQtterus had from the Rabbinical writers little
more than the hare names of many of the instruments
described by them ; yet, have they both, in some in-
stances, ventured to represent them by forma of
a comparatively late invention. Who does not see,
that the Minnin, as represented by the former, and
the lute, are one and the same instrument ? and what
difference can be discerned between the Machul and
the Spanish Qnitar? or can we believe, that the
Macraphe d' Amchin, and such rude essays towarda
melody as the Gnets Berasim, the Sistrum, or the
Hinagnghinim, could subsist among the same people,
in any given period of civilisation ?
As to Martini's account, it spesks for itself ; it is
extracted from the sacred writings, which, at this
distance of time, even with the assistance of the most
• Tba HmTiuion of Idlthu wlib Oipbeiu, (onHU • ninuk on tha
«nd«fmin at HmWi to Hlkbllih Ibi identl^ <m emIiwDt penou vi
diltoaol nwna ud amntrtM, and pRk>p4 gf dUMnni igM, npm binllj
■nr stlm snond, Ihu mdm on* putlcBlu In ttuir htaunr comman t*
tbta bMh ; bow fu tl !■ poHtbla u aiUiid ■ taypoUitM of tU) kbd.
iht pnnt bbhop of OlannMar hu ibtnm In hli DItIih Unlkn of
MoMi, InUHCouiwof lbUirork.lhaiuUwrhutboii(hltlB*awMy
ts oontiDTan b •ucttkan ot Sir luu Hawinn : ountlr. IbU Odiii ud
a*MMtd>, bKb klllfi of Egrpl. mi* «■> ind tha laiiM penou ; In oidar
to do thb. he hu undvtAken to pro¥a tlut tba Brilkah hloa Arthur and
WOltMn tba CDBomnt mn not two dlnlnct bdofi. but Mantieallir one
unmnila wUl urTg Um, be bw taubUHi -"
Tba concluikiii fkom lUi eorreepondeiu
I Imn^lned. i .
lUliry. m
md Tet, it hu lu
od of TcawnLDg. w]
whwn
IE fienoD. Sh ih* Ute of
dbyGoot^le
Chap. XZI.
AND PRACTICE OF MDSIC
97
lesnied commeDts, fall short of affording titat aatia-
facllon, nhich ia to be wished for in an enquiry of
this kind.
Under these disadvantages, which even on enquiry
into the instruments of Ae Hebrews lies under, an
attempt to explain their musical theory mast seem
hopeless. Nor ia it possible to conceive any thing
like a system, Co which such instruments as the
Tbopb, or the Gnets Berusira could be adapted : if
the strokes of the pestle against a mortar, like those
of the latter, be reducible to measure ; yet, surely the
tattling of a chain, like the music of the iSimgag-
hinim, is not ; or what if they were, would the sonnds
prodnced in either case make music ? To speak
freely on tlus matter, whatever advantages this peo-
ple might derive from the instructions of an inspired
Law-Kiver, and the occasional interpositions of the
Almighty, it DO where appears that their attainments
in literature were very great : or that they excelled
in any of those arts that attend the refinement of
homan manners ; the fignre they made among the
neighbonmg nations appears to bAve been very in-
considerable ; and with respect to their music, there
ia bat too much reason to suppose it was very bar-
barons. The only historical relation that seems to
stand in the way of this opinion, is, that of the effects
wrought by the mneic of David on the mind of Saul,
a man of a haoghty irasdhle t«mper, not easily sus-
ceptible of the emotions of pity or complacency, and,
at the time when David exercised his art on him,
under the power of a demon, or, at best, in a frenzy.
Kircbernas taken upon him to relate the whole
process of the dispossession of 8anl, by David, and
DM done it as circainstantiaHy as if he bod been
present at the time ; his reasoning ia very curious,
and it is here given in bis own words : —
' That we may be the better able to resolve thb
* qaeslion, how David freed Saul from the evil spirit,
' I shall first quote the words of the Holy Scripture,
' as fonnd in tiie first book of Samuel, chap. xvi. ver.
' 23.' " And it came to pass when the evil spirit from
" God was upon Saul, that David took an harp,
" and played with his hand : so Saul was refreshed,
" and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him."
' The passage in the holy text informs us very clearly,
' that the evil spirit, whatsoever it was, was driven
' away by mnstc ; but how that came to pass is
' differenUy expluned. The Rabbins on thia place
' say, that when David cnred Saul, he played on
' a cythara of ten strings ; they say also, that David
' knew that star, by which it was necessary the music
' should be regulated, in order to effect the care :
' * thus Rabbi Ahenezra. But Picua of Mirandola says,
' that music sets the spirits in motion, and thereby
' produces the like effects on the mind, as a medicine
' does on the body ; from whence it may seem, that
' the comment of Abenezra is vain and trifling, and
' that David regarded not the aspects of the stars ;
' but trusting to the power of his instrument, stmck
' it with his hand as his fancy suggested.
' And we, rejecting such astrological fictions, assert,
* that David freed t^nl, not with herbs, potions, or
'other medicaments, as some maintain, but by the
sole force and efficacy of music. In order to de-
monstrate which, let it be observed, that those appli-
cations which unlock the pores, remove obstructions.
dispelvapours and cheer the heart, are best calculated
to cure madness, and allay the fury of the mind ;
now music produces these effects, for as it consists
in sonnds, generated by the motion of the air, it
follows that it will attenuate the apiriCs, which by
that motion are rendered warmer, and more quick
in their action, and so dissipate at length the
melancholy humour. On the contrary, where it is
necessary to relax the spirits, and prevent the
wounding or affecting the membranes of the brain ;
in that case, it is proper to nse slow progressions of
sonnd, that those spirits and biting vapours, which
ascend thither from the stomach, spleen, and hypo-
condria, may be quietly dismissed. Therefore', the
music of I^vid might appease Saul, in either of
these two ways of attenuation or dismission : by the
one, he might have expelled the melancholy from
the cells of the brain, or he might by the other have
dissolved it, and sent it off in thin vapours, by in-
sensible perspiration. In either case, when the
melancholy had left him, be could not be mad
until the return of it, he being terrestial, and as it
were, destitute of action, unless moved thereto by
the vital spirits, which bad led tiim here and there ;
but they had left him, when for the sake of the har-
mony they had flown to the ears, abandoning, as
I may say, their rule over him. And though, upon
the cessation of the harmony they might return, yet,
the patient having been elevated, and rendered
cbeerM, the melancholy might have acquired a
more favourable habit From all which, it is mani-
fest, that this effect proceeded not ftom any casual
Boand of the cythara, but from the great art and ex-
cellent skill of David in playing on it ; for, as he
had a consummate and penetrating jndgment, and
was always in the presence of Saol, as being his
armour-hearer, he must have been perfectly ac-
quainted with the inclination and bent of his mind,
and to what passions it was most sutject : hence,
vnthout doubt, he being enabled, not so much by
his own skill, as impelled by a divine instinct, knew
so dexterously, and with sounds suited to the hamour
and distemper of the king, to touch the cythara, or
indeed any other instrument ; for, as has been
mentioned, he was skilled in the nse of no fewer
than thirty-Mx, of different kinds. It might be,
that at the instant we are speaking of, he recited
some certain rhythmi, proper for his purpose, and
which Saul might dehght to hear ; or, tlmt by the
power of metrical dancing, joined to the melody of
the instrnment, he wrought thia effect : for Saul was
apt to he affected in this manner, by the music and
dancing of his armour-bearer ; as he was a youth of
a very beautiful as^ct, these roused up the spirits,
and the words, which were rhythmicaily joined to
the harmony, tickling the hearing, lifW up the
mind, as from a dark prison, into the high region
of light, whereby the gloomy spirits which oppr^sed
the heart were dissipated, and room was left for
it to dilate itself, which dilation was naturally
dbyG00*^lc
HISTORY OF HE SCIENCE
Bow III.
' followed by tranquillity and glaJiieas.' Musurgia,
'torn, II. pag. 214, et aeq.
Whoever will bo at tbe pains of turning to the
original from whence this very circumstantial relation
is taken, will think it hardly possible for any one
to compress more nonsenBe into an equal number of
words than this passage contains, for which no better
apology can be made than that lOrcher, though
a nutn of great learning, boundless curiosity, and
indefatigable industry, waa less happy in forming
conclusions than in relating facts; his talents were
calculated for tbe attainment of knowledge, but they
did not qualify him for disquisition ; in short he was
no reasoner. With regard to tbe dispossession of
Saul, supposing musio to have been in any great
degree of perfection among the Hebrews in his time,
there is nothing incredible in it ; and besides it has
the evidence of sacred history to support it : it
wonld therefore have argued more wisdom in the
Jesuit to have admitted the fact, without pretending
to account for it, than by ao ridiculous a theory
Bs he has endeavoured to establish, to render the
narration itself doubtful.
After this censure above passed on the music
of the Hebrews, it Would argue an unreasonable
prejudice against them, were it not admitted that
their [metry carries with it the signatures of a moat
exalted sublimity : to select instances from tiie pro-
phets might be deemed unfair, as there are good
reasons to believe that something more than mere
human genius dictated those very energetic com-
positiona ; but if we look into those of their writings
which the canon of our church has not adopted,
we shall find great reason to admire their poetical
abilities. It is true that the boldness of their figures,
and those abrupt transitions, which distinguish tbe
oriental corapositionB from those of most other coun-
tries, are not so well relished by a people with
whom the false reiinements on hfe and manners
have taken place of the original simplicity of nature;
but in the more regular and leas enthusiastic spirit
of expression, we feel and admire their excellence.
Not to mention the numberless instances of this sort
that occur in the Psalms, there is one poem among
them, which for its truly elegiac simplicity, pathetic
expression of tbe woes of captivity, and the lamen-
tations for the Buffeiings of an afflicted people, has
perhaps not its fellow in any of the dead or
living languages. The poem here meant is the
CXXXVIIlh Psalm.*
From the manner in which it appears the ancients
treated music, we may observe Uiat they reasoned
very abstractedly about it; the measure of intervale,
either by their ratios, or by their ear, was in their
judgment a very important branch of the science,
and we are not to wonder at that close connection,
which in the writings of the Pythagoreans at least,
■u «/ nuufe mat h nHrOtca omf ofAn- r/Upii)*! cn-minln, Ti Uii may
WJm J/tit uppraachfd rie Suit's hotue. in order to rrrive \U rlavgktfT,
is discoverable between the three sciences, mtisic.
arithmetic, and geometry. In this view it may
perhaps be said that the study of music had ait
influence on the minds and tempers of men, as wo
say that the study of the mathematics has a tendency
to induce a habit of thinking, to invigorate the
powers of the understanding, and to detect the fallacy
of specious and delusive reasoning, but in what other
way it could aiTect tbe manners, or indeed the mind,
unless in that very obvious one of an address to the
passions, which we at this day are all sensible of,
is utterly impossible to determine.
And indeed the investigation of proportions and
the properties of numbers may be said to be very
different from the art of combining sounds, ao as to
excite that pleasure which we ascribe to music ; and
perhaps it may not be too much to say that the
understanding has little to do with it, nay, some
have carried this matter so far as to question whether
the delight we receive from music does not partake
more of the sensual than the intellectual kindif
however this at least may be said, that it is some
faculty, very different from the understanding, that
enables us to perceive tbe efiects of harmony, and
to distinguish between consonant and dissonant sounds,
and in this respect, the affinity between music, and
that other art, which for more reasons than all are
aware of, bos ever been deemed its sister, is very
remarkable. That painting has its foundation in
mathematical principles, is certain, nay, that there
is a harmony between colours, analogous to that
of sounds, is demonstralile ; now tbe laws of optics,
tbe doctrine of light and colours, and tbe principles
of perspective, connected as they are with geometry,
all of which painting has more or less to do with,
are things so different from the representation of cor-
poreal objects, from the selection and artful arrange-
ment of beautiful forms, from the expressions of
character and passion as they appear in the human
countenance, and, lastly, from that creative iiiculty
in which we suppose the perfection of painting to
consist, that we scruple not to say that a man may
be an excellent painter with a slender knowledge
of the mathematics ; and the examples of the most
eminent professors of the art, are a proof of the
But the reason why the ancient writers treated
the subject in this manner is, that they used the
word Harmony to express relation and coincidence
in general ; nay, so extensively was this appellation
used, that many authors of treatises on this subject
have thought it previously necessary to a discussion
of music in its three most obvious divisions of
rythmic, metric, and harmonic, to treat of mundane,
humane, and jiolitical music ; the three lost of which
species, if at all intitlcd to tbe name of music,} must
• "t^Vr
lie li an InullKIDal pluiure, bv (hr
ncnm. Sk U> MlKdlBnlM. pt«. 3M
Ion li Thylhmle. nutrle. onuiic. lib. II
riheipham.beforetvnkrTiori b^Ibvt
'Iween the body i^ni thp nUoiMi] uul
HuBltd bif ibe i>lher ; fcnd aJpo IliAt nth
dbyGooi^le
Chap. XXI.
AND PBACrriCE OF MUSIC.
99
on'e it to a metaphor, and thnt a veiy bold oiio :
Aristidea Quintilianue usee another method of divi-
sion, which it must be coiifeBsed is the more natural
of the two, and says that music is of two kinds, the
contemplative and the active ; the first of these he
subdivides into natural and artificial ; which latter
he again divides into the harmonic, the rhythmic,
and the metric ; the active he divides iato tlie iisital
and the enmiciative; the neual, containing melopceia,
rhythmopteia, and poeeia ; and the enunciative the
oi:;ganic, the odiac, the hypocritic*
Thus we see that the ancients, when they treated
of music, used the word Harmony in a sense very
different from that in which it is onderstood at
this day ; fot there is donbtlesa a harmony between
sounds emitted in succession, which is discernible
as long as the impression of those already struck
remains nnefiaced ; yet we choose to distinguish this
kind of relation by the word Melody, and that of
Harmony is appropriated to the coincidence of dif-
ferent sounds produced at the same instant : if it be
asked why the ancients used the word Harmony in
a sense so very restrained, as is above represented,
the answer is easy, if that position be true which
many wTiters have advanced, namely, that their
mosic was solitary, and that they were utter strangers
to aymphonioc harmony. This the admirers of an-
tiquity will by no means allow; and, to say the
truth, there ue very few questions which have more
divided the learned world than this. In order that
the reader may be able to form a judgment on
a matter of so great curiosity, the anthorities on
both sides shall now be produced, and subniitted to
bis consideration.
To avoid confusion. It will be necessary first to
reduce the proposition to the form of a question,
which, to take it in the sense in which it has
i^nerally been discussed, seems to be, ^liether the
ancients had the knowledge of music in symphony
or coDsonsnce, or not ?
The advocates for the affinnative are Franchinus,
or. as he ia frequently named, GafFurins, Zarlino,
Gio. Battista Doni, Isaac Vossius, and Zaccaria
^bR, wbm^ inienllvi fuull; ncTcr nili him, hu ginn luls
igh hlnhlr eittcmeil for .-.■! leunlllg bj-
in Dr. R.
I. Uiiinique
hj/Bln, ptiysica. jitque techiilca Hlstorli, printed at Oppenhfloi
lepfwralLng ■ mmochoM, wilh the ilrini tcMneil up by b hind
uu« rnm the c)i>udi. Fludd luppDtn Uie lound »r the choid.
EmenlMhrouKh
InceinliULitLn
Tevo, all, excepting Yossius, musicians, and lie con-
fessedly a man of learning, but a great bigot, and of
little judgment t the sum of tlieir arguments is, ihat
it appears by the writings of the ancients that their
skill in harmony was very profound, and that they
reasoned upon it with all the accuracy and precision
which became philosophers ; that the very first dis*
coveries of the nature of musical consonance, namely,
those made by Pythagoras, tended much more natu-
rally to establish a theory of harmony than of mere
melody or hnrmouy in succession, that supposing
Pythagoras never to have lived, it could not have
happened, but that the innumerable coincidences of
sounds produced by the voice or by the percussion
of different bodies at the same instant, which must
necessarily occur in the course of a very few years,
could not fail to suggest a trial of the effects of
concordant sounds uttered together, or at one and
the same point of time ; thnt those passages of sacred
writ that mention commemoration of remarkable
events, or the celebration of public festivale, as that
of the dedication of Solomon's temple, with a great
nnmber of voices and instrumentii, hardly allow of
the supposition that the music upon these occasions
was unisonous.
All this it may be said is mere conjecture, let us
therefore see what farther evidence there is to coun-
tenance the belief that the ancients were acquainted
with the use of different parts in miisie ; Aristotle
in his trestise concerning the world, lib. V. has
this question, 'If the world is made of contrary
' principles, how comes it that it was not long ago
'dissolved?' In answer to this he shows that its
beauty, perfection, and duration are owing to the
admirable mixture and temperament of its parts,
and the general order and harmony of nature. In
his illustration of this argument he introduces music,
concerning which he has this passage : Mtunjci) oi
o^ut &fia ii €apclt, /«ii:puc Tt ^ 6pn)(«ic ^fliiyyuc
fii^aaa,fvSiai{>6paiz^yalc,fiiav antTiXtacy ip/ioyiav.
' Music, by a mixture of acute and grave, and of
' long and short sounds of different voices, yields an
'absolute or perfect concentus or coni^ert.'- — Again,
lib. VI. explaining the harmony of the celestial
motions, he says, that 'though each orb has a motion
' proper to itself, yet is it such a motion as tends to
' one general end, proceeding from a principle com-
' mon to all the orbs, which produce, by the concord
' arising from their motions, a choir In the heavens ;'
and he pursues the comparison in these words :
KadaKcp £e iv X^P*^ KOpv^aiu KarapiavTCS, aoyc]rti\ct
wat u X°P*'^ aySpiiiv lO' arc i^ yuvaijcur if cia^6paie
•puyait oKvripaic i^ gopuri'paic fia" lif(ioviav ifXfiiXii
Seneca, in his Epistles, has this passage. ' Do you
' not see of how many voices the chorus consists,
' yet they make but one sound ? In it some are acute,
' others grave, and others in a mean between both ;
' women are joined with men, and pipes are also
' interposed among them, yet is each single voice
' concealed, and it is the whole that is m8uife6t.'f
B« tlw Aulidi otQuinlillip. I
dbyGooi^k
100
HISTOEY OF THE SCIENCE
Book III.
CaggiodoroB Iiaa tho follo'wing posEage, which may
seem somewhat fltronger ; ' Symphony ia the adjust-
' nient of a grave Bound to an acute, or an acute to
' a grave Bound, making a melody.'
From the several paasages above-cited it appears,
that the aacients were acquainted with aymphonetic
music of a certain kind, and that they employed
therein voices differing in degrees of acutenesa and
gravity ; and thus far the affirmative of the question
in debate may seem to be proved.
But in support of the negative we have the au-
thorities of Glareanus, Salinas, Bottrigari, Artusi,
Cerone, Kircher, Meibomius, Kepler, Bontempi, our
coontrymen Morley, Wallis, and others, a nnmerous
band, who infer an absolute ignorance among the
ancients of harmony produced by different and con-
cordant sounds, affecting the sense at the same instant,
from the general silence of their writers about it, for
the exceeding skill and accuracy with which they
discussed the other parts of mnsic, leave no room to
imagine but that they would have treated this in the
same manner had they been acquainted with it : what
discoveries accident might produce in that long series
of years prior to the time of Pythagoras no one can
say ; history mentions none, nor does it pretend that
even he made any use of his discovery, other than to
calculate the ratios of sounds, regulate the system,
and improve the melody of his time.
That voices and instruments, t« a very great
number, were employed at public solemnities is not
denied, but it is by no means a consequence that
therefore the music produced by them consisted of
different parts ; at this day among the reformed
churches singing by a thousand different voices of
men, women, and children, in divine worship is no
very unusual thing ; and yet the result of all this
variety of sound is hardly ever any thing more than
mere melody, and that of the simplest and most art-
less kind. Thus much in answer to the arguments
founded on the improbability that the ancients could
be ignorant of sjrmphonetic harmony, in the sense
wherein at this day the term is understood.
With respect to the several passages above-cited,
tiiey eeem each to admit of an answer ; to the first,
produced from Aristotle, it is swd that the word
Symphony, by which we should understand the har-
mony of different sounds uttered at one given instant,
is nsed by him to express two different kind of con-
sonance, symphony and antiphony ; the first, ac-
cording to him, is the consonance of the unison, the
other of the octave. In his Problems, § xix. prob.
16. he asks why symphony is not as agreeable as
antiphony ? the answer is, because in symphony the
one voice being altogether like the other, they eclipse
each other ; the symphony can therefore in this place
ugnify nothing but unisonouB or integral harmony :
and he elsewhere explains it to he so, by calling that
species of consonance, Omophony ; as to Antiphony,
it is clear that he means by it the harmony of an
octave, for he constantly uses the word in that sense ;
and lest there should any doubt remain about it, ha
says that it is the consonance between sounds pro-
duced by the different voices of a boy and a man, that
are as Nete and Hypate ; and that those sounds form
a precise octave is evident from all the representations
of the ancient system that have evee been given.
The sum of Aristotle's testimony is, that in his time
there was a commixture of sounds, which produced
B concinnous harmony : no doubt there was, but what
is meant by that conciimous harmony his own words
snfiiciently explain.
As to Seneca, it must be confessed that the vox
media must imply two extremes ; but what if in the
chorus which he speaks of, the shrill tibiee were a
disdiapason above the voices of the men, and that the
women song, as they ever do, an octave above them,
would not these different sounds produce harmony ?
Certainly they would ; but of what kind '> Why the
very kind described by him, such as seems to make
but one sound, which can be said of no harmony but
that of the unison or octave.
Lastly, as to Cassiodorus, his words are ' Sym-
' phonia est temperamentum sanitus gravis ad acntum
'vel ocoti ad gravem, modulamen effidens, sive in
' voce, sive in percussione, sive in flatu : ' " aa to the
word Temperamentum, it can mean only an adjust-
ment; and Modulamen was never yet applied to
sounds but as they followed each other in succession :
to modulate is to pass, to proceed from one key or
series to another ; the very idea of modulation is
motion : the amount then of this definition is, that
the attemperameat or adjustment of a grave to aa
acute sound, or of an acute to a grove one, constitutes
snch a kind of symphony as nothing will answer to
but melody ; which is above shewn to be not in-
stantaneous, but successive symphony or consonance.
There is yet another argument to the purpose.
The ancients did not reckon the third and sixth
among the consonances ; this is taken notice of by
a very celebrated Italian writer, Giov. Maria Artnu,
of Bologna, who, though he has written expressly on
the imperfections of modem music, scruples not
therefore, and because the third and sixth are tha
beanty of symphoniac music, to pronounce QM the
ancients must have been unacquainted with the
harmony of music in parts, in the sense in which the
term is now understood :f and an author whom we
shall presently have occasion to cite more at lai^,
says expressly that they acknowledge no other con-
sonances than the diapason, diapente, and diateeaaron,
and such aa were composed of them ; X nor does it
any where appear that they were in the least ac-
quainted with the use of discords, or with the pleaaing
effects produced by the preparation and resolution o£
the dissonances ; and if none of these were admitted
into the ancient system, let any one judge of its
fitness for composition in different parts.
In Morley's Introduction is a passage from whence
nation ever produced, some deference is due to it ;
speaking of Descant,§ he uses these words : ' When
' descant did begin, by whom, and where it was in-
eti?^d:
tlUModenutfiuia. Raflaaam.fi\iao,
dbyGoot^le
Chap. XXII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
101
' Tented, is nncertaine ; for it is a great coutroversifl
' amongst the learned if it were knowse to the
' autiquitie, or no ; and divers do bring arguments to
'prove,andotherstodisprovetheantiquitieof it ; and
' for disproving of it, tiicy Bay that in all the norkes
' of them who have written of muaicke before Fran-
■ chinua, there is nu mention of any more parts then
' onA ; and that if any did sing to the harpe (which
' was their moat usual instrument) they simg the same
' which they plaied. But those who wodd affirms
' that the ancienta knew it, sale. That if they did not
'know it, to what ende served all those long and
' tedious discourses and disputations of the conso-
' nantes, wherein the moste part of their workea are
' consumed ; but whether they knew it or not, this
' I will say, that they had it not in halfe that variety
' wherein we now have it, thoi^h we read of mni^
' more strange effects of their musicke then of ours.'
Annotations on Morley's Introduction, part II.
CHAP. XXII.
The anfirage of Kircber, in a question of this
nature, will be thonght to carry some weight : thJa
author, whose learning and skiU in the science are
nniversally acknowlei^ed, poeaesaed every advantage
that could lead to satis&ction in a question of this
nature, as namely, a profound skill in languages, an
extensive correapondence, and an inquisitive dia-
poHtion ; and for the purpose had been indidged
with the liberty of accesa to the most celebrated
repoeitories of literature, and the use of the most
vuoable mannscripta there to be met with ; and who,
to earn up all, was at once a philosopher, an antiquary,
«o historian, a scholar, and a mumcian, has given his
opinion very much at large in nearly the following
'It has for some time been a question among
musicians whether the ancients made use of several
parts in their harmony or not : in order to determine
which, we are to consider their polyodia as three-
fold, natural, artiScial, and unisonous ; I call that
natural which is not regulated by any certain rules
or precepts, but is performed by an extemporary and
arbitrary symphony of many voices, intermixing
acute and grave sounds together ; auch as we observe
even at this time, happens amongst a company of
sailors or reapers, and such people, who no sooner
hear any certain melody begun by any one of them,
than some other immediately invent a bass or t«nor,
and thus is produced an harmony extemporary, and
not confined by any certain laws, and wiiich is very
mde and imperfect, as it is almuat always unison,
containing nothing of harmony, except in the closes,
and therefore of no worth; that the Greeks bad
such a kind of mnaic none can doubt. But the
question is not concerning this kind of polyodia,
but whether they had compositions for several
voices, framed according to the rules of art, I have
taken great puna to be satisfied in this matter ; and
as in none of the Greek and Latin writers I have
met with, any mention is made of this kind of music,
it seems to me that either they were ignorant of it.
' or that tlicy did nut make use of it, as imagining
' perhaps that it interrupted the melody, and took
' away from tlie energy of the words ; as to the term
' Harmonic! concentua, it is only to be understood of
' the agreement between the voice and the sound of
' the inefrnment.
' Those who attempt to prove from Euclid that the
' ancients did compose music in really different parts,
' do not seem to understand his meaning ; for when
' he mentions the foar parts of a aong, Ayiayi), Toyii,
' irtmia, irXoi^ he does not thereby mean the four
' polyodical parts of cantus, altus, tenor, and bass,
' (rat BO many different affections of the voice, certain
' harmonica! figures or tropes, whereby the song
' acquired a puticnlar beauty and grace ; for what
'else can the word'Ayuyqmean than a certain transi-
' tion of the voice from some given aound to another
' that is related to it. Tovii signifies a certain stay or
'dwelling on a sound; UXoc^, or implication, is a
' particular species or colour of the 'AywyjJ.as IIoT£ia.
' frisking or plaving on, is of Tovlj : what the 'Ayuy^
' is to Ton), aacn is the nXon) to the IlETTd'a.
' Some imagine that the ancients bad a polyodical
' instrumental music from the diversity of their pipes ;
' and are of opinion that at least an organical or
' instrumental harmony or symphony, regulated by
' art, was in use among the ancients, beomse their
'autiiora make mention of certain pipes, some of
' which were termed Tiapdtnoi, or lit for girls ; some
* QaiSiicoi, or fit for boya ; some T<\ioi, as being in a
' mean between the acute and grave sounds ; and
' others 'riripriXiot, as agreeing with the grave. The
' better to clear up this doubt, we must consider the
' organical polyodia as twofold, natural and artificial ;
' and both Uiese I make no douht were in use as well
' as the vocal polyodia ; for it is very probable that
' such as played on those pipes, becoming skilful by
' ench practice, invented certain symphonies adapted
'to their purpose, and which they played on their
' public festivals, distributing themselves into certain
' chorusaes. Symphonies of this sort are at this time
' to be heard among the country people, who, though
'ignorant of the musical art, exhibit a symphony,
' such a one as it is, on their Sutes and pipes of
' different sizes, and this merely through the judgment -
' of their ear ; and it is also probable that the ancient
' Hebrews by this means alone became enabled to
' celebrate the praises of God on so many Cornua,
'Fistulee, Litui, Tnbee, Buccinse, as they are said to
' have been U8«d at once in their temple ; and I
' remember to have heard the Mahometan slaves in
' the island of Malta exhibit symphonies of this kind.
' An affection therefore of the polyodia is implanted
' in the nature of man ; and I doubt not hut that the
' ancienta knew and practised it in the manner above
' related : but though I have taken great pains in my
' researches, I could never find the least sign of their
' having any artificial organical Melothesia of many
' parts ; which, had they been acquainted with it,
' they would doubtless have mentioned, it being so
' remarkable a thing. What Boetius, Ptolemy, and
' others speak concerning harmony, is to be under-
' stood only as to a single voice, to which an instru-
dbyGoo*^le
102
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
BooElIL
' ment was joined ; add to this tbat the ancients
acknowledged no other concords than the diapason,
' the diapente, and the diatessaron, and such aa were
' composed of them ; for they did not reckon as now,
'the dltone, semiditone, and hexachord among the
' consonances. It therefore follows that tUe ancient
' Greeks acknowledged nothing more thon the Mo-
' nodia, adapted, it must bo confessed, with much care
' and the greatest art to the soimd of the lyre or the
* tihia ; so that nothing was deficient either in the
' variety of the modulation, the sweetness of the
' singing, the justness of the pronunciation, or tho
' gracefulness of the body in all its gestures and
' motions : and I imagine that the lyre of many
' strings was sounded in a harmonical concentus to
' the voice, in no other manner than is used in our
Dr. Wallis has given his opinion on this important
question in terms that seem decisive ; for speaking
of the music of the ancients he makes use of these
' We are to consider that their music, even after it
' came to some good degree of perfection, was much
' more plain and simple than ours now-a-days. They
' had not concerts of two, three, four, or more parte
' or voices, bht one single voii-*. or single instrument
' a-part, which to a rude ear is much more taking
' than more compounded music ; for that is at a pitch
' not above their capacity, whereas this other con-
' founds it with a great noise, but nothing distinguish-
' able to their capacity.' f And again in the same
paper he says : ' I do not find among the ancients
' any footsteps of what we call sovoral parts or voices
' (au bass, treble, mean, &c. sung in concert), answering
' to each other to complete the mnaic' And in the
Appendix to his edition of Ptolemy, p^. 317, he
expresses himself on the same subject to this pnr-
(lose : — ' But that (^cement which we find in tho
' modern music, of parts (as they term it) or of two,
' three, four, or more voices (singing together sounds
'which arc heard altogether), was entirely unknown
' to the ancients, as far as I can sec.'
From the several passages above-cited, it appears
that the question, whether the ancients were ac-
quainted with music in consonance or not, has been
freipiently and not unsuccessfully agitated, and that the
arguments for the negative seem to preponderate.
Nevertheless the author of n book lately published,
entitled 'Principles and Power of Harmony,' after
taking notice that Dr. Wallis, and some others, main-
tained that the ancients were strangers to symphoniac
music, has, upon the strength of a single passage in
Plato, been hardy enough to assert the contrary ; his
words are these : —
' The strongest passage which I have met with in
' relation to this long-disputed point, is in Plato ; a
' passage which I have never seen quoted, and which
' I shall translate : " Young men should be taught to
" aing to tho lyre, on account of the clearness and
" precision of the sounds, so that they may learn to
" render tone for tone. But to make use of different
a.:
loph. Tnnaacdont
" simultaneous notes, and all the variety belonging to
"the lyre, this sounding one kind of melody, and the
" poet another- — to mis a few notes with many, swift
" with slow, grave with acute, consonant with dis-
" sonant, &c. must not he thought of, as the time
" allotted for this part of education is too short for
"such a work." Pkt. 805. I am sensible that
' objections may be made to some parts of this trans-
' lation, as of the words irvfvartjci /layoTtjQ, and
' ayrt^iiivoic, but I have not designedly disguised
' what I took to be the true sense of them, after due
' consideration. It appears then upon the whole, that
' the ancients were acquainted with music in parte,
' but did not generally make use of it' J
Whoever will be at the pains of comparing the
discourse of Dr. Wallis, above-cited, and his appendix .
to Ptolemy, vrith the several paragraphs in the
Principles and Power of Harmony, relating to the
question in debate, and calculated, as the author pro-
fesses, to vindicate the Greek music, will discover in
the one the modesty of a philosopher, and iu the
other the arrogance of a dogmatist.
Opinions delivered in terms so positive, and indeed
BO contemptuous, as this latter writer has chosen to
make use of,§ are an affront to the understand! ngfl of
mankind, who are not to he supposed ready to
acquiesce in the notions of others merely because
they are propagated with an unbecoming confidence :
and as to the judgment of this author on the qnestion
in debate, the least that can be said of it is, that it is
founded in mistake and ignorance of his subject ; for,
first, it is very strange, seeing how much the powers
of harmony esceed those of mere melody, that tlia
ancients, when once they had found themselves in
possession of so valuable an improvement as sym-
phoniac music, should ever forego it. The moderns
in this respect were wiser than their teachers, for no
sooner did they discover the excellence of music in
parts than they studied to improve it, and have culti-
vated it with great care ever since. Secondly, this
writer, in support of his opinion, has been driven to
the necessity of translating those words of his author
which he thinks make most for his purpose, in a
manner which he confesses is liable (o objections, and
into such English phrase as, in the opinion of many,
oriRliiBl,
je of which
it pnuniled that ahovfi
UH of :— Tbtiuv Toiwv III x^P'" ^"'S ♦ftSyj'Oic rjjt \ipac
i^ rov jraiifvofiivov^ dvoJiJ^vrnc vpoff^fop^ii ra ^Btyfiara
ToTs ^Bijliaaf ttjv I' iTipo^vlav ^ rouaXtav rijc Kvpat,
iWa lifv li(\JI T^v X'P^"'" iitoHv, (tXAa SI th t^ iiiX^elay
EwSivToe a-oiiirii' ^ Si) i^ jrvKviriiTa jinvonjri. ^ Taxet
PpaSvTtiTi, 1% iSfinjrB j3npuTt|ri, aiiiiiiivBV il, dwri'^hiivof
lopixof'twic. ^ rwr pi/SfiUv. lioa^Tmc irnwroiairri «■««&-
rd TBUtlira >i4 "poo^piiv roTf /liXAaa-ic iw Tpmiv Iriat t4
Tiitii»nKiit xp'f'F"' "^'ri'"'^'" ^'^ ''^XT '^ yiiplvavria,
dXXqXn TapaTTBvra liirrpaBiav wapixn' tfi H En fidXia-a
cdfittBtlc tlvai Titt fins.
(A
r LnTtboip ud Janci,
gain Dut iKlier.
tf (bgnt tmnit)'-
dbyGooi^le
Chap. SXII.
AND PRAOTICE OF MUSIC.
103
is not intelligible. Thirdly and lastly, this very
passage of Plato, npon which he lays so much stresB,
wve discovered about fifty years ago, and adduced
for the very purpose for which he baa cited it, by
Mons. I'AbM Fraguier, a member of the Academy
of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres, and occasion^
a controversy, the result whereof will presentlv be
related.
Monsieur Fraguier bad entertained a high opinion
of the Greek music, and a belief that the ancienta
were acquainted with music in consonance ; in
support of which latter opinion he produced to the
academy the passage above-cited, which is to be
found in Plato dc Legibus, lib. VII.* He also pro-
duced for the same purpose a psesage in Cicero de
Hepublica, and another from Macrobius, both which
are given in the note subjoined.']'
The arguments deduced by Mons. Fraguier from
these Beveral pass^es, were learnedly refuted by
Mons. Burette, a member also of the academy ; and
as to the interpretations which Mons. Fraguier had
put upon them, the same Mons. Burette demonstrated
ihat they wore forced and unwarranted, either by the
context or the practice of the ancients.
The substance of these arguments is contained in
a paper or memoir entitled Examen d'un Passage de
Platon sur la Musique, which may be Been in tba
History of the Academy of Inscriptions, torn. III.
pag. 118. This question was farther prosecuted by
the same parties, as appears by sundry papers in tho
aubeequcnt volumes of the History and Memoirs of
the above Academy ; and in the course of the con-
troversy the passages above-cited from Aristotle,
Seneca, Cassiodorua, and others, were severally insisted
on. As to those from Cicero and Macrobius, and
this from Horace,
Sonante miaCum tibiia carmen lyra,
Hac Dorium, iilis Barbsrum.
Ad Mccxnat. Epod. be.
which had formerly been adduced for the same pur-
pose, they went but a very little way towards proving
the affirmative of the question in debate. Mons.
Burette took all these into consideration; be admits,
that the ancients made use of the octavo and the
fifteenth, the former in a manner resembling the
drone of a bag-pipe ; and he allows that they might
accidentally, and without any rule, use the fourtli and
fifth ; but this is the farthest advance ho will alloiv
the ancients to have made towards the practice of
symphoniac music ; for as to the imperfect con-
sonances and the dissonances, he says they were
ignorant of the use and application of all of them in
harmony : and finally he demonstrates, by a variety
• laSIcpheu'inlitirinit lipog. ail, aodln tlut otMuiUiuiFicinua
' U< in adnnu. tc tIMIi Klque e
le Todbui cODWhtQB
ililuu coDcordis.' Cieer. I
B=pab. Ft
agm. p^. i!
om. III.
•Vidti
■i«Mliut
AliqD.«l
acuta. 1
Dx: inlerpo
•-.mniBiii
»pp»ronl, el
B1
conctnlu
of arguments, that the ancients were absolute strangers
to music in parts. (
Martini, in his Storia della Musica, vol. I, pag, 172,
has given an abridgement of this controversy, as it lies
dispersed in the several volumes of the Memoirs of
the Academy of Inscriptions, and acquiesces in the
opinion of Mons. Burette, who, upon the whole,
appears to have so much the advantage of his op-
ponents, that it is highly probable this dispute will
never be revived.
To speak of the ancient Greek music in general,
those who reflect on it will be inclined to acquiese
in the opinion of Dr. Wallis, who says, ho takes it
for granted. * that much of the reports concerning the
' great effects of music in former times, beyond what
' is to be found in latter ages, is highly hyperbolical,
' and next door to fabulous ; and tlierefore, he adds,
■ great abatementa must be allowed to the elogies of
' their music' Certainly many of the relations of
the effects of music are either fabulous or (o be in-
terpreted allegorical ly, as this in Horace : —
Silvestrei homines sacer interpresque Dearura,
Cfcdibus & victu fcedo detcrruit Orpheus ;
Dictum ob boc tenire tigres rabidosque teones.
Dictus & Amphion, Tficbana conditor Arcia,
SaxB movere sono testudinie, S; prccc blanda.
Ducere quo vellet.
Akte Poetic*, lib. 11. I. 391.
The wood-bom race of men, when Orpheus tjiin'd.
From acorns and from mutual blood recloim'd,
This priest divine waE fabled to assuage
The tiger's fierceness, and the Hon 'a rage.
Thua rose the Tbeban wall ; Ampbior 'a lyre
And soothing voice the list'ning stones inapire.
FaANCia.
Hyperbolical expressions of the power and efficacy
of music signify but little ; for these convey nothing
more than the ideas of the relator : and every man
speaks in tho highest terms he can invent of that,
whatever it be, that has administered to him tho
greatest delight How has the poet, in the Prolusions
of Strada, laboured in describing the contest between
the nightingale and the lulcnist '. and what does that
celebrated poem contain, but a profusion of words
without a meaning ?
To conclude, every one that nndei-stands miisic is
enabled to Judge of the utmost effects of a single
pipe, by hearing the flute, or any other single stop,
finely touched on the organ : and as to the lyre,
whether of three, four, seven, or ten strings, it is
impossible but that it must have been greatly in-
ferior to the harp, the lute, and many other instru*
ments in use among the modems.
Having taken a view of the stale of music in the
•ub)«t{ bullnfsct II ddlti
dbyGooi^lc
104
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
BookUI.
earlier ages of ihe world, and traced tho ancient
BVBteni from ita nidimenta to its perfection, and
thereby brought it down to nearly the close of the
tliird century, we shall proceed to relate the several
Bubaequent improvementB that have from time to
time been made of it, in the order in which they
occurred ; and shew to whom we owe that system,
which for its excellence is now universally adopted
by the civilized world.
We have seen that hitherto the science of music,
as being a subject of very abstracted specnlation,
and as having a near affinity with arithmetic and
geometry, bad been studied and taught by eucli only
as were eminent for their skill in those sciences :
of these the lar greater number were Greeks, who,
in the general estimation of mankind, held the rank
of philosophers. The accounts hereafter given of the
La^n writers, such as Martianus Capella, Macrobiua,
Caaaiodorus, and others, will shew how little the
Komans contributed to the improvement of mueic ;
and in general their writings are very little more
than abridgements of, or short commentaries on the
works of Nicomachus, Euclid, Ariaddes Qdntilianus,
Ariatoxenufl, and others of the ancient Greeks. As to
BoctiuB, of whom we eball apeak hereafter, it is clear
that his intention was only to restore to those barba-
rous times in which he lived, the knowledge of the
true principles of harmony, and to demonstrate, by
the force of mathematical reasoning, the proportions
and various relations to each other, of sounds ; in the
doing whereof be evidently shews himself to have
been a Pythagorean. As this was the design of his
treatise De Musica, we are not to wonder that the
author has said so little of the changes that music
underwent among the Latins, or that he does but
just bint at the disuse of the enarmonic and chro-
matic genera, and the introdnction of the Boman
characters in the room of the Greek.
It must however be admitted, that for one im-
C)vement of the system we are indebted to the
tins, namely, the application of the Roman capital
letters to the several sounds that compose the scale.
whereby they got rid of that perplexed method of
notation invented by the Greeks : we have seen, by
the trea^se of Alypius, written professedly to e^cplain
the Greek musical cliaracters, to what an amazing
number they amounted, 1240 at the lowest compula-
tion ; and after all, they were no better than so many
arbitrary marks or signs placed on a line over tho
words of the song, and, having no real inherent or
analt^ical signification, must have been an intole-
rable burthen on the memory. These the Latins re-
jected, and in' their stead introduced the letters of
their own alphabet. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K, L,
M, N, O, P, fifteen in number, and sufficient to ex-
press every sound contained in the disdiapason. If
it be asked, how could ihis email number serve the
purpose of more than 1200 ? the answer is, that this
amazing multiplicity of characters arose from the ne-
cessity of distinguishing each sound with respect to the
genus, and also the mode in which it was used ; and
before this innovation of the Romans, we are assured,
that both the enarmonic and chromatic genera were
grown out of use, and that the diatonic genus, on
account of its sweetness and conformity to nature,
was retained amongst them ; and as to the modes,
there is great reason to suspect, that even at the time
when Ptolemy wrote, the doctrine of them was bnt
ill understood; fifteen characters, we know, are at
this time sufficient to denoteall the sounds in a dia-
tom'c disdiapason, and consequently must have been
BO then.
It has already been observed, that the science ot
harmony was anciently a subject of philosoi^cal
enquiry ; and it is manifest, from the account herein
before given of them and their niitings, that the
Greeks treated it as a subject of very abstract specn-
latiou, and that they neither attended to the physical
prop^es of sound, nor concerned themselves with
the practice of music, whether vocal or instrumental.
Ptolemy was one of the last of the Greek harmo-
nicians; and from his time it may be observed, that
the cultivotion of music became the care of a set of
men, who, then, at least, made no pretensions to the
character of philosophers. This may be account«d
for either by the decline of philosophy about this
period, or by the not improbable supposition, that
the subject itself was exhausted, and that nothing re-
mained but an improvement in practice on that foun-
dation which the ancient writere, by their theory, had
so well bud. Bnt whatever may have been the cause,
it is certain, that after the establishment of Chris-
tianity the cultivation of music became the concern
of the church : to this the Christians were probably
excited by the example of the Jews, among whom
music made a considerable part of divine worship,
and the countenance given to it in the writings of
St. Panl. Nor is it to be wondered at by those who
consider the effects of music, its influence on the pas-
sions, and its power to inspire sentiments of the most
devout and affecting kind, if it easily found admit-
tance into the worship of the primitive Christians :
as to Hie state of it in the three first centuries, we are
very much at a loss; yet it should seem from the
information of St. Augustine, that in his time it had
arrived at some degree of perfection; possibly it had
been cultivating, Iwth in the Eastern and Western
empire, from ^e first prop^ation of Christianity.
The great number of men who were drawn off from
seculu pursuits by their religions profession, amidst
the barbarism of the times, thought themselves laud-
ably employed in the study of a science which was
found to be enbeervieot to religion : while some were
engaged in the oppugning heretical opinions, others
were taken up in composing forms of devotions,
framing liturgies; and others in adapting suitable
melodies to such psalms and hymns as had been re-
ceived into the service of the church, and which made
a very considerable part of the divine officee : all
which is the more probable, as the progress of human
learning was then in a great measure at a stand.
But as the introdnction of music into the service
of tho church seems to be a new Kra, it is necessary
to be a little more particular, and relate the opinions
of the most authentic writers, as well aa to the recep-
tion it at first met with, as its subsequent progress
dbyGoo*^le
Chap. XXIL
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
lOu
among the convertB to Chriatiimitj. If among the
accounts to be given of these matters, some shontd
<»ny the appearance of improbability, or should even
verge towards the regions of fable, let it be remem-
bered, that very little credit would be due to history,
were the writer to sappress every relation against
the credibility whereof there lay an objection. His-
tory does not propose to transmit barely matters of
TtM fact, or opinions absolutely irrefragable; false-
hood and error may very innocently be propagated,
nay, the general belief of falsehood, or the existence
of any erroaeons opinion, may be considered as facte ;
and then it becomes the duty of a historian to relate
them. Whoever is conversant with the ecclesiastical
historians must allow that the superstition of some,
and the enthusiasm of others of them, have some-
what abated the reverence dne to their testimony.
But notwithstanding this, the characters of Eusebins,
Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, and Evagriua, for
veracity and good intelligence, stand so high in the
opinion of all sober and impartial men, that it b im-
possible to withhold oar asaent from the far greater
part of what they have written on this subject
The advocates for the high antiquity of church-
music urge the authority of St Paul in its bvonr,
who, in his Epistle ta the Ephesians, charges them
to apeak to themselves in psalms, and hymns, and
spiritual songs, singing and makiug melody in their
hearts to the Lord ; * and who exhorts the Colos-
fiians to teach and admonish one another in psalms,
hymns, and spiritual eongs.f Cardinal Bona is one
of these ; and he scruples not to assert, on the antho-
rity of these two passages, that songs and hymns
were, from the very establishment of the church, sung
in the assemblies of the faithful. Johannes I^mas-
cenna goes farther back; and relates, that at the
funeral of the Blessed Virgin, which was celebrated
at Gechsemane, the apostles, assisted by angels, con-
tinued singing her requiem for three whole days
incessantly. The same author, speaking of the an-
cient hymn called the Trisagion, dates its original
from a miracle that was performed in the time of
Proclus, the archbishop: his account is, that the
people of Constantinople being terrified with some
portentous signs that had appeared, made solemn
processions and applications to the Almighty, be-
seeching him to avert the calamities that seemed to
threaten their city, in the midst whereof a boy was
caught from among them, and taken up to heaven ;
who, upon his return, related, that he had been taught
by angels to sing the hymn, in Greek,
AycotoViOtiayioturxopotiayiotaBavarotickciiaoriifiae-
Boly God, holy uid •troog. holy ind immortal, hiTe mercy
upon Ds.
The tmth of this relation is questioned by some,
who yet credit a vision of 8t Ignatius; of .which
Snicrates, the ecclesiastical historian, gives the fol-
lowing accoont : ' 8t. Ignatius, the third bifjiop of
' Actioch, in Syria, after the apostle Peter, who also
' conversed familiarly with the apostles, saw the
' bleased spirits above unging hymns to the Sacred
■ Clap. T. mw It. i Chf. UL nng IS.
' ^inity alternately, which method of singing, says
' the same historian, Ignatius taught to his church ;
'and this, together with an account of the mirade
' which gave rise to it, was communicated to all the
' churches of the East' X Nicephorus, St Chrysos-
tom, Amalarins, and sundry others, acquiesce in this
account of the origin of antiphonal singing ; as do
onr countrymen, Hooker, Hammond. Beveridge, and
Dr. Comber.
By the Apostolical Constitutions, said to have been,
if not compiled by the apostles themselves, at least
collectod by Clement, a disciplo of theirs, the order of
divine worahip is prescribed ; wherein it is expressly
required, that after the reading of the two lessons,
one of the presbyters should sing a psalm or hymn
of David ; and that the pe^le should join in singing
at the end of each verse. It would be too little to
say of this collection, that the authority of it is
doubted, since it is agreed, that it did not appear in
the world till the fourth century ; and the opinions
of authors are, that either it is so interpolated as to
deserve no credit, or that the whole of it is an abso-
lute forgery.
Hitherto, then, the high antiquity of clinrch-masic
stands on no better a foundation than tradition,
backed with written evidence of such a kind as to
have scarce a pretence to authenticity: there are,
however, accounts to be met vrith among the writers
of ecclesiastical history, that go near to fix it at about
the middle of the fourth century.
In short, the eera from whence we may reasonably
date the introduction of music into the service of
the church, is that period during which Leontius
governed the church of Antioch ; that is to say, be-
tween the years of Christ 3i7 and 356, when Flavi-
auus and Diodoms, afterwards bishops, the one of
Antioch and the other of Tarsus, divided the choris-
ters into two parts, and made them sing the Psalms
of David alternately, Theodoret Hist Eccl. lib. IL
cap. xxiv. ; a practice, says the same author, which
began first at Antioch, and afterwards spread itself
to the end of the world. Valesius acquiesces in this
account, and professes to wonder whence Socrates
bod the story of Ignatius's vision. Vales, in Socrat
lib. VI. cap. viii. The occasion of antiphonal singing
seems to have been this : Flavianus and Diodoms,
although then laymen, but engaged in a monastic
life, were in great repute for their sanctity; and
Leontius, their bishop, was an avowed Arian, whom
they zealously opposed : in order to draw off the
people from an attendance on the bishop, who, in the
opinion of Flavianus and Diodorus, was a preacher
of heresy, they set up a separate assembly for reli-
gious worship, in which they introduced antiphonal
singing, which so captivated the people, that the
bishop, to call them back ^ain, made use of it also
in his church. Flavianus, it seems, had a high
opinion of the efficacy of this kind of music; for it
is reported, that the city of Antioch having, W a
popular sedition, incurred the displeasnre of ^e Em-
peror Theodosins, sent Flavianus to appease him, and
implore forgiveness ; who, upon his first audience,
dbyGooi^le
106
HTSTOEY OP THE SCIENCE
Book III.
thongh in the imperial palace, directed the usoal
church -service to be enng before him : the emperor
melted into pity, wept, and the city was restored to
his favour. Other instances are to be met with ia
history, that show, the fondness of the people of An-
tioch for this kind of music ; and which favour the
Bupposition, that amongst them it took its rise.
Antioch was the metropolis of Syria ; the example
of ila inhabitants was soon followed by the other
churchea of the Eaat ; and in a very few ^ea after ite
introduction into the divine service, the practice of
ainging in churches not only received the sanction of
public authority, but those were forbidden tojoininit
who were ignorant of music. For at the council of
Laodiceo, held between the years of Christ, 3G0 and
370, a canon was made, by which it was ordained.
That none but the canons, or singing men of the
church, which ascend the Ambo,* or singing-desk,
and sing ont of the parchment, [so the words are]
should presume to sing in the church, fialaamon
seems to UiiDk that the fathers intended nothing
more than to forbid the setting or giving ont the
hymn or psalm by the laity : but the reason assigned
by Baroniua for the making of this canon, shews that
it was metint to exclude them totally from singing in
the church- service ; for he saya that when the people
and the clergy sang promiscuously, the former, for
want of skill, destroyed the harmony, and occasioned
auch a discord as was very inconsistent with the
order auJ decency requisite in divine worship. Zo-
nanns confirma this account, and adds, that these
canonical singers were reckoned a part of the clct^y-t
Balaamon, in his scholia on this canon, says, that
before the Laodicean council, the laity wore wont, in
contempt of the clergy, to sing, in a very rude and
inartificial manner, hymns and songs ol' their own
invention ; to obviate which practice, it was ordained
by this canon that none should sing but those whose
office it was. Our learned countryman, Bingham,
declares himself of the same opinion in his Anti-
quities of the Chriatian Church, book III. chap. vii.
and adds, that from the time of the council of Lao-
dicea the pselmistEe, or singers, were called Kavanicoi
ipakrai, or canonical singers, though he is inclined to
think the provision in the canon only temporary.
CHAP. XXIII.
Great stress is also laid on the patronage given
to church-music by St. Basil, St Ambrose, and SL
Chrysostom ; as to the first, he had part of his edu-
cation at Antioch, where fae was a continual spectator
of that pompous worship which prevailed there. Ho
was first made a deacon by Meletins, and afterwards,
that is to say ahont the year S71, was promoted to
the bishopric of Csesarea in Cappadocia, his own,
country; and in this exalted station he contracted
each a love for church-music, as drove him to the
necessity of apologizing for it.J In his epistle to the
Neocaisarian clergj-, still extant, he justifies the prac-
tice, saying, that the new method of singing, at which
they were so offended, was now become commOQ in
the Christian church, the people rising before d;iy
and going to church, where, having made their con-
feswons and prayers, they proceeded to the singing
of psalms : and he odds, tiiat in his holy exercise,
the choir being divided into two parts, mutually
answered each other, the precentor beginning, and
the rest following him. Ho farther tells them, that
if to do thus be a fault, they must blame many
pious and good men in Egypt, Lybia, Palestine,
Arabia, Phoenicia, and Syria, and sundry other places.
To this they urged that the practice was otherwise
in the time of their bishop Gregory Tbaumaturgus ;
in answer to which Basil tells them, that neither was
the Litany used in bis time ; and that in objecting
to music, while they admitted the Litany, they
strained at a gimt and swallowed a camel.
SL Chrysostom, whose primitive name was John,
was a native of Antioch, and received his educatioa
there, he was ordained a deacon by Melctius, and
presbyter by Flavianus ; and having been accustomed
to the pompous service introduced by the latter into
tlie Church of Antioch, he conceived a fondness for
it. When he became bishop of Constantinople, which
was about a. c. 3tiO, he found occasion to introduce
music among his people : the manner of his doing
it is thus related : The Arians in that city were
grown very insolent: they held conventicles at n
small distance without the walls ; but on Saturdays
and Sundays, which were set apart for the public
assemblies, they were wont to come within the city,
where, dividing themselves into several companies,
they walked about the porticos, ainging such words
as these : ' Where arc they who affirm three to
be one power ? ' and hymns composed in defence
of their tenets, adding petulant reflexions on the
orthodox ;§ this they continncd for the greatest part
t Valei. la SKnt. lib. IV. cap. ixtJ.
but Induitrloui In piavoklsn clieLi cnemln lo wmli. H may be iniltectcd
fIMn Ihe followinr nlUiim of Tbtodojrt ;—
'Publia, tha dcsHtncH. i vomiin sdmlnd and celilnAted for htr
' jtmt^f I sdhc church ollhc ADtlDch, ud ihouKh dFud and uouiniDuitT
■ elided In Ihe apoilolle Ihnine, ntfutnl Ihil dignli)'. She, aud i ehorui
'DfcoMccnted vErirLDt with bci, sp^nC sreaL part of Ihelr lime to tinfhiir
'aDlhema and divine longi; and once when the emperor [JtillanJ had
dbyGooi^le
Chap. XSIII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
lor
of the night; in the morning they marched throngt
the heart of the city, Bing^ing in the eame mBiiner,
uid eo proceeded to the place' of their assemhly.
In opposition to these people, St ChrysoBtom caused
hymns to be song in the night ; and to give his
peiformanve a pomp and soleninily, which the other
wanted, he procured crosses of silver to he made at
the charge of the empresa Eudoitia, which, n-ith
lighted torches thereon, were borne in a procession,
at ■which Briao, the empress's eunuch, officiated as
precentor ; this was the occasion of a great tumult,
in which Briso received a wound in the forehead
with a atone, and some on both sides were slain.*
This was followed by a sedifion, which ended in the
Gxpnlsioa of the Arians. This manner of singing,
thus introduced by them, was, aa Soznmen relates,'!'
used in Constantinople from that time forwards ;
however, in a. short lime it was [jerformed in such
an unseemly way ae gave great offence ; for the
singers, affecting strange geatnres and botstcroas
clamours, converted the church into a mere theatre ;
for which Chrj-aostom reproved them, by telling
hia people that their mde voices and disorderly
behaviour were very improper for a place of worship,
in which all things were to he done with reverence
to that Being who observes the behaviour of every
one there.
St. Ambrose, who had entertained a singular vene-
ntion for S-t. Risil, like liira was a great lover of the
church-aervice : it is true he was not originally an
ecclesiastic, but having been unexpectedly elected
bishop of Milan, he applied himself to the duties of
the episcopal function. Justine, whom the emperor
Valentinian had married, proving an Arian, com-
menced a prosecution against Ambrose and the ortho-
dox ; during which the people watched all night in
the church, and Ambroee appointed that paalma and
hymns Ebould lie sung there al^er the manner of the
oriental churches, lest the people shotdd pine away
with the tediousnesB of aorrow ; and from this event,
which happened about 374, we may date the intro-
duction of singing into western churches.
But the zoal of St Ambrose to promote this
pTsctice, is in nothing more conspicuous than in his
endeavours to reduce it into form and method ; as
a proof whereof, it is said that he, jointly with St
Augustine, upon occasion of the conversion and
baptism of the latter, composed the hymn Te Doura
laudamus, which even now makes a part of the
liturgy of our church, and caused it to be sung in
his rfiurch at Milan ; but this has been discovered
to be a mistake:} this however is certain, that he
instituted that method of singing, known by the
name of the Cantna Amhrosianus, or Ambrosian
Chant, a name, for ought that now appears, not
applit^le to any determined series of notes, but
invented to express in general a method of singing
agreeable to some rule given or taught by him.
This method, whatever it was, is aaid to have had
a reference to the modes of the ancienta, or rather
to those of Ptolemy, which we have shewn to have
been precisely coincident with the seven species of
the diapason ; but )St. Ambrose conceiving all above
four to be superfluous, reduced tbem to that number,
retaining only the Dorian, the Phrygian, the Lydian,
and the Mixolydian.§ which names he rejected,
choosing rather to distinguish them by epithets of
number, as protos, dcnteroa, tritos, tetrartos. Uia
design in this was tu introdncc a kind of melody
founded on the rules of art, and yet bo plain and
simple in its nature, that not only tbose whose
immediate duty it was to perform the divine service,
but even the whole congregation might sing it;
accordingly in the Romish countries the people now
join with the choir in chanting the divine offices ;
and if we may credit the relations of travellers in
this respect, this distinguished, simplicity of the
Ambrosian Chant is even at this day to be remarked
in the service of the church of Milan, where it was
first instituted.
A particular account of the ecclesiastical modes,
as onginally constituted by St. Ambrose, with the
subsequent improvement of tbem by Gregory the
Great, is reserved for another place : in the interim
it ia to be noted that the ecclesiastical modes are also
called tropea, but more frequently tones ; which latter
appellation was first given to them by Martianna
Capella, as we are informed by Sir Henry Spelman,
in his Glossary, voce Fbiodobj:, The following
scheme represents the progression in each : —
d
f
F
And this was the original institution of what
are called, in contradistinction to the modes or
moods of the ancients, the ecclesiastical modes or
tones. Those of St. Ambrose, however well cal-
culated for use and practice, were yet found to be
too much restrained, and not to admit of all that
variety of modulation which the several offices in
the church-sorviec eeemed to require ; and accord-
ingly SL Gregory, sumamed the Great, the first
pope of that name, with the assistance of the most
learned and skilful in the music of that day, set
about an amendment of the Cantus Ambrosianue,
and instituted what became knon-n to later times by
the name of the Cantus Gregorianus, or, the Gre-
gorian Chant : but as this was not till near two
hundred and thirty years after the time of St
Ambrose, the account of this, and the other improve-
dbyGooi^le
108
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book III.
menls made in music by St Gregory, muat be re-
ferred to ancther place.
With respect to the muaic of the primitive church,
thoDgh it consigted in the eingiiig of psalms and
hymDB, yet was it performed in sundry different man-
ners, that is to say, sometimes the psalms were snag
by one person alone, the rest hearing with attention ;
-sometimes they were sung by the whole assembly ;
sometimes alternately, the congregation being for
ihat purpose divided into separate choirs; and, lastly,
by one person, who repeated the first part of the
verse, the rest joining in the close thereof.*
Of the four different methods of singing above
enumerated, the second and third were very properly
distinguished by the names of symphony and anti-
phony, and the latter was sometimes called re^ran-
£aria;f and in this, it seems, women were allowed
to join, notwithstanding the apostle's injunction on
them to keep silence.
The method of singing in the last place above
mentioned, clearly suggests the origin of the office
of precentor of a choir, whose dnty, even at this day,
it is to govern the choir, and see that the choral
eervice he reverently and justly performed.
It farther appears, that almost from the time
when music was first introduced into the service
of the church, it was of two kinds, and consisted in
A gentle inflection of the voice, which they termed
pliun-song, and a more artificial and elaborate kind
of music, adapted to the hymns and solemn offices
-contained in its ritual ; and this distinction has been
maintained through all the succeeding ages, even to
this time.
Besides the reverend fathers of the chnrch above-
mentioned, we are told, and indeed it appears from
many passages in his writings, that Saint Adodstike
was B passionate lover of music; this which follows,
taken from his Confessions, lib. IX. cap. vi. is the
most commonly produced as an evidence of his ap-
probation of music in the church-service, though, it
most be owned,belived to recant it: 'How abundantly
' did I weep before Gkid, to hear those hymns of
' thine ; being touched to the veiy quick, by the
' voices of thy sweet church song. The voices flowed
' into my ears, and thy truth pleasingly distilled into
'my heart; which caused the affections of my de-
■' votion to overflow, and my tears to run over ; and
' happy did I find myself therein.' From hence
there is little reason to doubt, that he enjoined the
use of it to the clergy of his diocese. He wrote
a treatise Be Musica, in six books, chiefly, indeed, on
ihe subject of metre and the laws of versification, but
interspersed with such observations on the nature
of the consonances, as shew him to have been very
well skilled in the science of mudc.
It is not necessary to enter into a particular
-character, either of St Augustine or of this his work :
• BiBfbim'i Antlq, Ixuk XIV. chip. I,
t Id tUi dlitlDcUon bcCwnn lymphsiilu ud wiIiphoDil pulmody.
fnolKd In Iba Ronilihand LDibenn cfaoKbEt, and at IhoH Ihat
Ibe linglu it uiUphoiLBj, la the lAtur It lnpl>inin«tiieiJpnlTDDdy,
Id ■bich dl ioln ; » thu (SI neb pncUn tlH ■utharllr at tht pilmlilco
^uftli nuT be ippeiled to.
those who are acquainted with ecclesiastical history
need not be told, that he was a man of great learning,
for the time he lived in, of lively parts, and of exem-
plary piety. To such, however, whose cariosity is
greater than their reading, the following abort ac-
count of this eminent &ther of the church may not he
unceasing : —
He was bom at Thagaste, a city of Numidia, on
the 13th of November, S6i. His father, a burgess of
that city, was called Fatricius ; and his mother,
Monica, who being a woman of great virtne, instructed
him in the principles of the Christian religion. In
his early youth he was in the rank of the catechumens,
and falling dangerously ill, earnestly desired to be
baptized ; but the violence of the distemper ceasing,
his baptism was delayed. His father, who was not
yet baptized, made him study at Thagaste, Madaura,
and afterwards at Carthage. St Augustine, having
read Cicero's books of phUosophv, began to entertain
a love for wisdom, and applied himself to the study
of the Holy Scriptures ; nevertheless, he suffered
himself to be seduced by the Monlcheans. At the
age of nineteen, he returned to Thagaste, and tanght
grammar, and also frequented the hu : he afterwards
taught rhetoric at Carthage, with applause. Thu
insolence of the scholars at Carthage made him take
a resolution to go to Rome, though against his
mother's will. Here also he had many scholars ; bn t
disliking them, he quitted Rome, and settled at
Milan, and was chosen public professor of rhetoric in
that city. Here he had opportunities of hearing the
sermons of St. Ambrose, which, together with the
study of St Paul's Epistles, and the conversion of
two of his friends, determined him to retract his
errors, and quit the sect of the Manicbeans : this was
in the thirty-second year of his age. In the vacation
of the year 886, he retired to the house of a friend of
his, named Yerecundus, where be seriously applied
himself to the study of the Christian religion, in order
to prepare himself for baptism, which he received at
Easter, in the year 387. Soon after this, bis mother
came to see him at Milan, and invite him back to
Carthage ; but at Ostia, whither he went to embark,
in order to his return, she died. He arrived in
Africa riwut the end of the year 388, and having
obtained a garden-plot without the walls of the dty
of Hippo, ho associated himself with eleven other
persons of eminent sanctity, who distinguished them-
selves by wearing leathern girdles, and lived there in
a monastic way for the space of three years, exercising
themselves in fasting, prayer, study, and meditation,
day and night : from hence sprang up the Augustine
friars, or eremites of St Augustine, being the first
order of mendicants ; those of St Jerome, the Car-
melites, and others, being but branches of this of St
Augustine. About this time, or as some say before.
Valerius, bishop of Hippo, against his wiU ordained
him priest : nevertheless, he continned to reside in
his little monastery, with his brethren, who, re-
nouncing all property, possessed their goods in
common. Valerius, who had appointed St Augustine
to preach in his place, allowed nim to do it in his
presence, contrary to the custom of the churches in
dbyGooi^le
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
10»
Africa. He expUined the creed, in a general cxnincil
of Africa, held in 393. Two years after, VaierioB,
fsaring he might be preferred to he biihop of another
church, appointed him hta coadjutor or colleague, and
caused him to be orduned bishop of Hippo, by
Uegalius, bishop of Calame, then primate of Knmidia.
St. Augustine died the ^8th day of Angnst, 430,
aged seventy-six years, having had the misfortmie to
see hifl country invaded by the Vandals, and the ci^
where he was bishop besieged for Eeven months.
The works of St. Augoadne make ten tomea ; the
best edition of them is that of Maarin, printed at
Antwerp, in 1700; they are bat little read at this
time, except by the clergy of the Greek chnrch and
in the Spanish nniversitiee ; oar bookseUers in
London receive freqaent commisions for them, and
indeed for most of the fathers, from Russia, ani also
from Spain.
About this time flourished Ahbbosids Adbelidb
Theodosiuh Macbobiub, an author whose name ap-
pears in almost every catalogue of mosicat writers
extant ; but whose works scarcely entitle him to a
place among them. He lived in the time of Theo-
dosiuB the younger, who was proclumed emperor of
the East, anno 402. He was a man of singular
dignity, and held the office of chamberlain to the
emperor. Fabriciua makes it a question whether
he was Christian or a Pagan. His works are a com-
mentary on the Somniam Scipionis of Cicero, in two
books, and Satnmalia Gonvivia, in seven books ; in
both vhich he takes occasion to treat of mnsic, and
more especially the harmony of the spheres. The
chief of what he says concerning mnsic in general is
contained in his Commentary on the Somninm
Sdfnonis, and is taken from Nicomachns, and others
of the followers of Pythagoras. Martini men^ons
also A discourse on mundane mnsic of his, which was
trausUted into Italian by Ercole Bottrigari, vrith
notes ; but he Epeaks of it as a manuscript and by
the list of the works of Hacrobius, it does not appear
to have ever been printed.
Of snch writers as Macrobins, and a few other of
the Latins who will shortly be mentioned, that have
written not professedly on mmdc, but have briefly or
transiently taken notice of it in Uie course of a work
written with some other view than to expltua it,
little is to be ealA. There is nevertheless a Greek
writer of this class, who lived some considerable time
before Macrobius, and indeed was prior to Porphyry,
the last of the Greek mnsical writers that deserves to
be taken notice of, not so much because he has con-
tributed to the improvement of the science, as because
in a volnminons work of his there are interspersed
a great variety of cnrions particnlare relating to it,
net to be found elsewhere. The author here meant
is AthenKos the grammarian, called, by way of
eminence, the Grecian Varro ; he was horn at
Kancratis in Egypt, and flourished in the third
century; of many works that he wrote, one only
remuns, intitled The Heipnosophiats, that is to say,
die Sophists at Table, where be introdnces a number
of learned men of alt professions, who converse upon
various snbjecta at the tnble of a Roman citizen
named Lareneius. In this work there are many
very pleasant stories, and an infinite variety of facts,
citations, and allusions, which make the reading of it
extremely delightful. The little that he has said of
music lies scattered np and down in this work, whichr
with the Latin translation of it, makes a large folio
volume.
In bis fourth book, pag. 174, he gives the names
of the snppoeed inventors of the ancient mnsical in-
stmments, and, among others, of Ctesibua, and of
the hydraulic organ constructed by him ; and it is
anpposed that this is the most ancient and authentic
account of that instrument now extant. He says,
pag. 175, that the Barbiton or lyre, or, as Mersennus
will have it, the viol, was the invention of Anacreon ;
and the Monaulon, or single pipe, of the £gypliau
Elsewhere, viz., in his fourteenth book, he speaks
of the power of music, and of the fondness which the
Arcadians, above all other people, entertained for it :
and in the same book, pag. 637, he describes that
strange instrument, invented by Pythagoras Zaoyn-
thins, called the tripod lyre, corresponding in every
pardcnlar with the description of it hereinbefore
given from Blanchinus ; to which may be added, that
Athenteus expressly says that the three several sets
of chords between the legs, were in their tuning
adjusted to the three primitive modes, the Dorian,
the Lydian, and the Phrygian.
Of this learned, curious, and most entertaining
work, the best edition is that of Dalecbamp, with th&
Greek orinnal and Latin translation in opposite
columns. To this are added the animadversions c^
Isaac Casanbon, which are very curious, and make
another volume. In these it is said that the Music-
omm Siayca^^aro, or Tablatura, t. e., the art of
writing or noting down of music, was invented by
Stratonicus of Rhodes. Is. Casaub. Animadvers. is
Athenieum, lib. VIII. cap. xii,
MABTiAiroa MiNBDs Felix Capella was bom, as
Cassiodorus tesdfies, at Madaura, a town in Africa,
sitaated between the conntriee of Getnlia and
Numidia, lived at Rome under Leo the Thracian,
viz., about the year of Christ 457 ; he was the author
of a work intitled, De Nuptiis Philol<^'e et Mercurii,
the style whereof, in the opinion of some, is harsh,
and rather barbarous, though others, and Fabricius
in particular, who terms it a delightful fable,* think
it in nowise deserves such a character : this work,
which consists of prose and verse intermixed, is in
fact a treatise on the seven liberal sciences, and con>
sequendy includes a discourse on music, which mokes
the ninth book thereof, and le introduced in the
following manner : the author supposes the marriage
of Pbilologia, a virgin, to Mercury, and that Venus
and the other deities, as aUo Orpheus, Amphion, and
Arion, are assembled to honour the solemnity ; the
Sciences, who, to render the work as poetical as may
be, are represented as persons, also attend, among
whom is Harmonia, described as having her head
decked with variety of ornaments, and bearing
symbols of the faculty over which she is feigned to
dbyGooi^lc
110
HISTOKY OF THE SCIENCE.
Book HI.
preside. She ia made to exhibit the power of sounds
by Buch melody as Jupiter himself commends, whicli
IB succeeded by a request of Apollo and Minerva to
unfold the myateries of harmony. She first craves
leave to relate that she formerly was an inhabitant
of the earth, and that through the inspirations of
Pythagoras, AristosenuB, and others, she had taught
men the use of the lyre and the pipe ; and by the
singing of birds, the whistling of the winda, and the
murmuring of water-falls, had instructed even the
artless shepherds in the rudiments of melody. That
by the power of her art she had cured diseases,
quieted seditions, and compoaed and attempered the
irregular affections of mankind ; notwithstanding all
which, she had been contemned and reviled by those
sons of earth, and had therefore sought the heavens,
■where she found the motions of the orba regulated by
her own principles. She then proceeds to explain
the precepta of harmony in a short discourse, which,
if we consider the substance and method rather thsin
■the style of it, most be allowed to be a very elegant
composition, and by much the most intelligible of
any ancient treatise on the science of music now
Capella concludes this ninth book of his treatise
De Nuptiis thus : ' When Harmonia had run over
' these thin^ concerning songs, and the sweetness of
' Terse, in a manner both angnst and persuasive, to
' the goda and heroes, who were very intent, ahe de-
cently withdrew ; then Jupiter rose up, and Cymesia
modulating in divine symphonies, came to the
' chamber of the virgin, to the great delight of all.'
The above discourse of Martianns Capella is mani-
festly taken from Ariatides Quintilianus, of which,
to say the truth, it is very little more than an abridg-
ment, but it is such a one as renders it in some
respects preferable to the orij^nal ; for neither is it
so prolix as Qointilian's treatise, nor does it partake
of that obscurity which discourages so many from
the study of his work ; and when it is said, as it has
been by some, that the style of Capella is barbarous,
this must be taken as the opinion of grammarians,
who, without regarding the intrinsic merit of any
■work, estimate it by certain rules of classical elegance,
which they themselves have established as the test
of perfection. It is by these men, and for this
reason, and perhaps because he had not the good
fortune to be born at Rome, that Capella is termed
a semi -barbarian, and his writings reprobated as
unworthy the perusal of men of science.* But,
notwithstanding these opinions, one of the best gram-
marians of the present ^e, the learned and tngeuious
■ Th< IruMil biihop nf Avcnncho <• Kmcwhal !«■ larfn In hit
' MiKU^ux Opetli hu ^v" tS'-.tm or Htire'tcTbri'woTk WuicU
' ■Jtegoiical pirtoniwpi, with
uhudlTlD bcinullifitble; Mhcnii
author of Hermes, or a Philosophical Inquiry con-
cerning Universal Grammar, has forborne to pass
a censure of barbarity on the stylo of this author :
his sentiment of him is, that he was rather a philo-
logist than a philosopher; a testimony that leaves
hjsi a better character than some of those deserve
who have been so liberal in their censures of him.
It has been said above, that Fabricius has given to
the treatise De Nuptiis the character of a delightful
fable ; and Gregory of Tours delivers his opinion
of it at large in the following words : ' In gram-
' maticis decent legere, in dialecticis altcrcationum
' propositiones advertere, in rhetoricia persuadere, in
'geometricis terrarum linearumque mensuraa col-
' ligere, in astrologicis cursus siderum contcmplari,
' in arithmeticis numerorum partes colHgere, in har-
' moniis sonorum modulationcs suavium accentuum
' carminibus concrepare.' Hence it may seem that
Mr. Malcolm was rather too hasty in condemning
this work; and that in pronouncing of its author as
he has done in his Treatise on Music, p^. 4!<d, that
he was bnt a sorry copier from Ariatides, ho has
done him injustice. Of Capella's work, De Nuptiis
Philologife et Mercurii, there have been many edi-
tions ; that of Meihomius is the most useful to
a musician ; but there is a very good one, with
corrections and notes, by Grotius, in octavo, published
in 1659, when he was but fourteen years of age.
CHAP. XXIV.
The several works hereinbefore enumerated con-
tain the whole of what, in the strict sense of the
term, we are to understand by the ancient system
of music ; and as many of them appear to be of
very great antiquity, we are to esteem it a singular
instance of good fortune that they are yet remaining ;
that they are so, is owing to the care and industry
of very many learned men, who, from public li-
braries, and other repositories, have sought out the
most correct manuscripls of the respective authors,
and given them to the world in print ; As to Aris-
toxenuB. the first in the List of the harmonical writers,
it is doubtful whether his Elements ever appeared
in priut, till near the middle of the seventeenth
century, inasmuch as Moriey, who lived in the reign
of our queen Elizabeth, and was a verj' teamed and
inquisitive man in all matters relating to musical
science, professes never to have seen the Elements
of Arisloxenia ; Euclid indeed had been published
in the year 149S, in a Latin translation of Georgius
Valla, of Placentia, but under the name of Cleonidas,
It was also, in 1557, published at Paris in Greek,
with a new Latin translation by Johannes Pena,
mathematician to the French king, but in a very
incorrect manner; other editions were also published
of it, in which the errors of the former were multi-
plied. At length, with the assistance of our country-
men Selden, and Gerard Langtuiine, ^Marcus Mei-
homius, a man well acquainted with the science, and
well skilled in Greek literature, published it, to-
gether with Aristoxenns Nicomachiis, Alypias, Gau-
dcntiuB, Baccfains Senior, Aristides Quintilianus,
dbyGooi^le
Chap. XXIV.
AND PBACflOE OF MUSIC.
Ill
and the ninth book of the fable de Nnptiis Philo-
logiie eC Meruurii of Martianua Capclta, with a. Latin
tiaoslaCiou of the firiit seven of the above-named
writers, a general preface replete with excellent
learning, and cuptoua notes on Uiem all.
BesiUee the general prefaee, Meibomius has given
A particular one to each author sa they stand in his
edition, which prefaces, as they contain a variety of
particulars relating to the respective authors and
their works, and are otherwise curious, are well
worthy of attention. The Manoal of Nicomachna
was first published and trsuslated into Latin by
Meibomius, who gives tiie author a very great cha-
racter, and with great ingenuity fixes the time when
he lived ; for he observes (hat Nicomachus in the
course of his work mentions Thrasyllos, who he
says he thinks to be the same with one of that name
mentioned frequently by Suetonius in Augustus and
Tiberius, and by the old contra entator on Juvenal,
8at. VL as a famous mathematician ; and hom hence
be infers that he lived after the time of Augustus.
To the Isagoge of Alypios the preface is but very
abort, but in that to Glaadentius, which follows it next
in order Meibomius cites a passage from Caasiodorus,
a Latin writer on music, who flourished in the fifth
century, and will presently be spoken of, from whence
he thinks the age when Alyplus lived may in soma
measure be learned. He observes also that it appears
from the same passage of Cassiodorus that Gaudeatius
had been trandated into Latin by a Boman, a friend
of his, named Mutianus ; * the whole pass^e, to
give it together as it stands in Cassiodorus, is in
those wortb i ' Gradssima ergo nimis ntiljsque cog-
nitio, quse et sensum nostrum sd eupema erigit, et
aares modulatione permulcet : quam apud GrECCos
Alypius, Euclydes, PtolemEeus, et cseteri probabili
institutione, doeuerunt. Apnd Latinos autem vir
magnificoB Albinua librum de hac re, compendio,
sub brevitate conseripsit, quem in bibliotheea Ronue
non habuisse atque studios^ legisse retinemus. Qui
ai forte gentili incursione sublatus est, habetis hie
Gaiidentium Mutiani Latinnm : quem si sulicita
intensione legitis, hujus scieatife vobis atria patefacit.
Fertur etiam latio sermone et Apuleium Madauren-
sam instituta hujus operia efiicisse, scripsit etiam et
pater Augustinns de Musica sex libros, in quibus
humanam vocem, rhythmlcos sonos, et hannuniam
tuodalabilein in longis ayllabis atque brevibus
naturaliter habere monatravit. Censorinus quoque
de accentibus voci nostrie ad necessariEe subtiliter
diaputavit pertinere dicens ad musicam disciplinam :
quem vobis inter cteteros trauscriptum reliqui.'
Caesiod. de Musica.
Gaudentius is published from a manuscript, which
the editor procured of his friends Selden and Lang-
faainc, who collated it for him, with two others which
had been presented to the Bodleian library, the one
by Sir Henry Savil, and the other by William, Earl
of Pembroke, formerly chancellor of the university
of Oxford. It seems that our countryman Ghilmead
had undertaken to publish an edition of Gaudentius,
but being informed that Meibomius hod entertained
• MQHiniu slin tranilued the Hmiaiei ol SI. CbCMMtom. Ttta.
a design of giving it to the world, he generously sent
him his papers, and remitted the eare of publishing
them to him.
Bacchius Senior was first published in the original
Greek, and with a French translation by Mersennus,
in a commentary on certain chapters in the book of
Genesis, written by him to explain the music of the
ancient Hebrews and Greeks, intitled ' Questioues et
' Explicatio in sex priora capita Geneaeos, quibus
' etiam GrGeconim et Hebneorum Musica instauratur.'
Of this translation Meibomius, iu his general preface,
speaks in very severe terms ; he says be did not know
that any such was extant, till he wss informed thereof
by his friend Ismael Bullialdus ; he says that he then
had it brought to him from Paris by the courier, and
that if he had seen it before he had published his
notes on that author, they would have been made
much fuller by observations on hia errors. However
the only error that Meibomius here charges Mer-
sennna with, is that of having confounded the Stantes
with the Mobiles in his representation of the Syatema
maximum.
ArisUdes Quintilianus is taken from a manuscript
which Meibomius frequently mentions as belonging
to Joseph Scoliger, in which was contained Alypios,
Nicomachus, Ariatoxenos, Aristides, and Bacchius.
This manuscript was deposited in the library of Ley-
den, and communicated to him by Danie) Heinaius,
together with two manuscripts of Martianua Capella.
With the aasistance of the several manuscripts
above-mentioned, and a correspondence with the
most learned men of his time, namely, Selden, Lang-
baine, Salmasiua, Leo AUatiue, and many others,
Meibomiua completed his edition of the ancient mu-
sical authors, and published it at Amsterdam in th«
year 1G52, with a dedication to Chrietina, queen of
Sweden.
With respect to the other Greek writers, namely,
Ptolemy, Manuel Bryennius, and Porphyry, the
former of these was published, together with Por-
phyry's Commentary, by Antouius G^gavinua, at
Venice, vrith a Latin version in 15G2, but, as it
should seem from Dr. Wallis's censure of it, in a very
inaccurate manner : Meibomiua somewhere says that
he bad intended to publish both Porphyry and
Manuel Bryennius, but he not having done it. Dr.
Wallis undertook it, and has given it to the world in
the third volume of his works. Moat of the manu-
scripts that were made use of for the above pub-
lications, had been carried to Constantinople upon
the erection of the eastern empire, to preserve them
from the ravines of the northern invaders ; and ae
that city continued to be the seat of learning for
some centuries, they, together with an immense col-
lection of Greek and Latin manuscripts, containing
the works of the moat valuable of the Greek and
Roman writers, were preserved there with great
care. But the taking and sacking of Constantinople
by the Turks, in the year 1453, was followed by an
emigration of learning and learned men, who,
escaping from the destruction that threatened them,
settled chiefly in Italy, and became the revivers of
literature in the western parts of Europe.
dbyGooi^lc
112
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book III.
These meu upon their removal from Constantinople
brought with them into Italy an immense treasure of
learning, coneistiDg of ancient manoBcripts in all the
several branches thereof, which they disseminated by
lectures in the pnblic schools : many of these manu-
BcripU have at different periods been printed and
dispersed throoghoat Europe, and others of them
remMii unpublished, either in public libraries, or in
the collections of princes and other great persons.*
These men are also said to have introduced into
Italy the knowledge of ancient mnsic, which they
could no otherwise do than by public lectures, and by
giving to the world copies of the several treatises of
the Greek harmonicians, hereinbefore particularly
mentioned ; and the effects of these their labours to
cultivate that kind of knowledge were made apparent
by Gaffurius, or Franchinns, as he is otherwise
called, who, before the end of the fifteenth centnry,
pnbli^ed those several works of hie, which have
lastly entitled Mm to the appelUtion of the Father of
UuBic among the moderns.
Before the migration of learning from the East, all
that was known of the ancient music in tha western
parts of Europe was contained in the writings of
CensorinQS, Macrobins, Martianos Capella, Boetins,
Cassiodoms, and a few other Latin writers, who, as
Meibomius says of Capella, might very justly be
termed Pedarians, inasmuch as they were strict fol-
lowers of the ancient harmonidane ; or else in the
works of a very learned and excellent man, to whom
this censure cannot he extended, namely, Boetius, of
whom, and of whose inestimable work De Mnsica a
very particular account will shortly be given ; in the
interim it will be necessary to mention some inno-
vations that had been made in music subsequent to
Ptolemy, and before Boetius, of whom we are about
to speak ; and first it la to be noted that in this in-
ter^, if not before the commencement of it, the
genera, at least in practice, were reduced to one,
namely, the diatonic : and next it is to be remarked,
that the method of notation used by the ancients, the
explanation whereof is almost the sole purpose of
Alypius's hook, was totally changed by the Romans,
who to the great system, which consisted, as has been
shewn, of a bisdiapason, contuning fifteen sounds,
applied as many letters of their own alphabet ; so
that assigning to Proslambanomenos the letter A, the
system terminated at P. It does not appear that at
this time, nor indeed till a long time ailer, any marks
or characters had been invented to denote the length
or dnration of musical sounds ; nor, notwithstan^g
■ TfaB nkiimaorlpU ralatinff to node which KircbRpncuTeduocv to
fbrtbBpojpoHOfoaniplJinffluaHunixsiEhirB by Mm n*iA to bB«TtHiit In
ths UnUT ol Of RimiB Cotton i ud he ipaki of on* buua tomo In
__^,_....' 1 11... 1.. — .1. 1 ,„j,, |j( AriilWo* auln-
. Ji CiihIIb!
, Jl Sttnlirt
of PbOOHpb*, PTtiuutoru, cbin.
1 ._^ fc the fUni I* Hi
bu «e^cd ttio Tetcmiclin of thv
rirtbtleM, ■ phDoMplkn of that nmo oecim
■^ 'the Prtiigoremn School. Htot.
iniello »cnut,
of 111*
iplond by the fUn| if Ni^, thoooli II la ban
._B W unnfll; tall Ihs cmdltlon of ft, and tbo
pnxeai made nae of for dcrrlo^g II, render It almoel Impoidbls that
(bo woild can am be the belln for Jta eontoili. Sec the £ett« of th)
Abb« Wlnekelnmn to Couot Bmhl on thii lubjKt.
all that has been said about the rhythmiis of the an-
cients, does it in the least appear that they had any
rule for determining the length of the sounds, other
than that which constituted the measure of the versesf
to which those sounds were severally applied ; which
consideration leaves it in some sort a question whe-
ther among the ancients there was any such thing as
merely instrumental mnsic.
In this method of notation by the first fifteen let-
ters of the Latin alphabet, a modern will discover a
great defect ; for, being in a lineal position, they by
their situation inferred no diversity between grave
and acute, whereas in the stave of the moderns the
cliaracters by a judicious analogy are made to ex-
press, according to their difi'erent situations in the
stave, all the differences of the acute and grave from
one extremity of the system to the other.
AioTinB Manlids Torquatob Sbverikus Boettub,!
was the most conwderable of all the Latin vmters on
music ; indeed his treatise on the subject supplied for
some centuries the want of those Greek manuscripts
which were supposed to have been lost; for this
reason, as also on account of his superior eminence in
literature, he merits to he very particularly spoken
of. He was by birth a Roman, descended of an an-
cient family, many of whom had been senators, and
some advanced to the dignity of the consulate : the
time of his birth is related to have been about that
period in the Roman history when Augustulns, whose
fears had induced him to a resignation of the empire,
was banished, and Odoacer, king of the Herulians,
began to reign in Italy, viz., in the year of Christ 476,
or somewhat ailer. The father of Boetius dying
while he was yet an infant, his relations undertook
the care of his education and the direction of his
studies; his excellent parts were soon discovered,
and, as well to enrich his mind with the study of
philosophy, as to perfect himself in the Greek lan-
ne, he was sent to Athene. Returning young to
e, he was soon distinguished for his learning and
virtue, and promoted to the principal dignities in
the state, and at length to the consulate. Living in
great affluence and splendour, he addicted himself to
the study of theology, mathematics, ethics, and logic ;
and how great a master he became in each of these
branches of learning appears from those works of his
now extant. The great offices which he bore in the
state, and his consummate wisdom and inflexible
integrity, procured him such a share in the public
councils, as proved in the end his destruction ; for as
I, li Ihe fbllovlni
paua^e.—'lnthOTeaiia
\^\
nChTl.Otb.Td.iD.RIll (
r£
■unHllEd to hare eome h
ITaijOndautironinnioi
de Hejl. Com. pag. a
uiliin-klllntVirm
onrand
Inn toola, aod Ibe«b). gt.e a
beirinnl
tbiand
awl keeiiinf llme^'itrlkisK
'"^™
"iSlHbs
nrortt, ihijy bring in n.
ilr an
ne Iber
BMaaapthJctelinJap
caVcoi
anelnc
atmit him In their arraou
Theortninofmelricalii
and of
tailed,
i,lUBmtrefciTedtQtt.l.
butadn
lilting thti aa a ract.
It do«
iDt aicertalT. ibc tlm> -h
deefaring ibc length
rduia-
■enle-
' and ti
aiatlTdi "p4w^, a"in«
prevema
• 7».«<«M0/«1.™1«
Hima Krittn B-tnha
Hrf-
M ta ^tew <tr AuUN. and it •> » *e »M
MteMacHMoKO/tkaiFB
I^^Mit.frimM at Tnlc la 1
*», tta
m»tr«MmsUMM/«rmlf
dbyGooi^le
OHiP. XXIV.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
113
Ike ever employed his interest in the kuig for the
Erotection and encoDragemeQt of deserring men, so
a exerted his TitmoBt e&brta in the detection of
Fnmd, the repressing of violence, and the defence of
the state against invaders. At this time Theodoric
the Goth hod attempted to lavage the Campania;
and it was owing to Qie vigilance and resolntion of
BoetioB that that conntry was preeerved &om de-
etrucUon. At length, having murdered Odoacer,
Theodoric became Ung of Italy, where he governed
thirty-three yeare with prudence and moderation,
during which time Boetius possessed a large ehare of
his esteem and confidence. It happened ahout this
time that Justin, the emperor of ^e East, npon his
Bucceeding to Anaataaius, made an edict coudemmng
all the Arians, except the Goths, to perpetual banieb-
ment from the eastern empire ; in this edict Hor-
misda, bishop of Rome, and also the senate concnrred ;
bat Theodoric, who, as being ft Goth, was an Arian,
was extremely troubled at it, and conceived an aver-
sion against tiie senate for the share they had borne
in this proscription. Of this dispoaition in the king,
three men of profligate livee and desperate fortunes,
Gaudentius, Opilio, and Basilins, took advantage;
for having entertuned a secret desire of revenge
against Boetins, for having been instrumental in the
diemission of the latter ^m a lucrative employment
under the king, they accused him of several crimes,
each as the stifling a charge, the end whereof was to
involve the whole senate in the guilt of treason ; and
an attempt, by dethroning the king, to restore the
liberty of Italy ; and, lastly, they sug^ted that, to
acquire the honours he was in posseasion of, Boetins
had had recourse to magical arts.
Boetins was at this time at a great distance from
Rome ; however Theodoric transmitted the com-
plaint to the senate, enforcing it with a soggeetion
that the safety, as well of the people as the prince,
was rendered very precarious by this supposed deaign
to exterminate the Goths : the senate perhape fearing
the resentment of the king, and havmg nothing to
hope from the success of an enterprize, which, sap-
poeing it ever to have been meditated, was now ren-
dered abortive, without summoning him to his defence,
condemned Boetius to death. The king however,
apprehending some bed consequence ^m the exe-
cution of a sentence so flagrantly unjust, mitigated
it to banishment. The ^ace of his exile was Ti'
dnnm, now the city of Psvia, in Italy; being in
that jjace sep^^ted from his relations, who had not
been permitted to follow him into his retirement, he
endeavoured to derive from philosophy those com-
forts which that alone was capable of affording to
one in his forlorn sitnatiou, sequestered irom his
friends, in the power of his enemies, and at the
mercy of a capricious tyrant ; and accordingly he
there composed that valuable discourse, entitled De
Consolatione Philosophi*. To give a more par-
ticular account of this book would be needless, it
being well known in the learned world ; one re-
markable circumstance relating to it is, that, by those
nnder affliction it has in various times been applied
to. as the means of fortifying their minds and re-
conciling them to the dispensations of Providence,
atmoet as constantly as t^e scri^res themselves.
Our Saxon kii^ Alfred, whoee reign, though happy
upon the whole, was attended with great vicissitudes
of fortune, had recourse to this book of Boetins, at
a time wlien his distresses compelled him to seek
retirement ; and, that he might the better impress
upon his mind the noble sentimeDte inculcated in it,
he made a complete translation of it into the Saxon
language, which, within these few years, has been
given to the worid in its proper character : Cliaucer
made a translation of it into English, which is
printed among his works, and is alluded to in these
versee of his : —
Adun ScriTcner, vf net it tlic befidle
Boece t» Tioils for to write new,
Uaia Ihj loDge locket thoD mafl b»e dw Icalle t
But after my makynge thou write more true j
So ofte 1 daye I mMe thy werke renewe,
It to correSe, and eke to mbbe lod Tcnpe,
And al U thoiow thy negligence and npe.
And Camden relates, that queen Elizabeth, during
the time of her confinement by her sister Mary, to
mitigate her grief, read and ^rwards translated it
into very elegant English.
It u more than probable that Boetins would have
ended his exile by a natural death, had it not been
for an event that happened about two years after the
pronooncing his sentence; for, in ^e year 62i,
Jostin, the emperor, thought fit to promulgate an
edict against the Arians, whereby he commanded,
without excepting the Goths, as he had done lately,
on another occasion, that all bishops who mtuntained
that heresy should be deposed, and thdr churches
consecrated after the true Christian form. To avert
this decree, Theodoric sent an embassy to the emperor,
which, to render it the more splendid and respectable,
oonu^ed of the bishop or pope himself, who at that
time was John the Second, the immediate successor
of Hormisda, and four others, of the consular ukd
patridan orders, vriio were instructed to solicit with
the emperor the repeal of this decree, with threats,
in case of a refus^, that the king would destroy
Italy with fire and sword. Upon ^e arrival of the
ambassadors at Constantinople, the emperor very
artfully contrived to receive them in sudi a manner
as naturally tended to detach them from their master,
and make them slight the bosinees they were sent to
negociate, and he succeeded accordingly ; for as soon
as they approached the city, the emperor, the cleigy,
and a great number of the people, went in procession
to meet them. In their way to the church, the upper
hand of the emperor was given to the bishop ; and
upon their arrival there, the holy father, to shew hia
gratitude for the honour done him of sitting on the
right of the imperial throne, celebrated the day of
the Resurrection after the Roman use, and crowned
Justin emperor. Of the insufferable pride and arro-
gance of this John bo many instances are related,
that no one who reads them can lament the fata
which afterwards befel him, viz., that he died in
a dungeon. It is recorded, that upon his arrival
at Corinth, in his way to Constantinople, great
enquiry waa made for a gentle horse for him to
dbyGoo*^le
lU
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
i HL
ride <m ; upon which, a noblemau of that city sent
him one that, for the goodneas of its temper, had
heen reserved for the use of his lady ; the bishop
accepted the favour, and, after travelling as far as
he uooght fit, returned the beast to the owner : but
behold what followed, the aagaciona animal, oonecioua
of the merit of having once borne the successor of
St Peter, refnsed ever after to let die lady mount
him ; upon which the husband sent him agiun to the
Pope, with ft request that he would accept of that
which was no longer of any use to the owner. This
event, it b to be noted, ib recorded as a miracle ; but
if we allow it the credit due to one, it will reflect
but little honour on the worker of it, since the
utmost it proves is, that the Pope had the power of
communicating to a horae a quality which had ren-
dered the primitive posaessor of it to the last degree
odious.
It ia net eaay to see how, with any degree of pro-
priety, or consistent with justice, the misbehaviour
of'the ambassadors could be imputed to Boelios, who,
all this while, was confined to the place of his exile,
and aeemed to be employing his time in a way mnch
more suited to his circumatances and character than
in the abetting the misguided and malevolent aeal of
either of two enthuaiaatic princes ; neverthelBaa, we
are told, that Theodoric no sooner heard of the be-
havionr of Jotin and hla coUeaguee, than he began to
meditate the death of Boedus : he however suppressed
his resentment, till he hod received a formal complaint
from bia people of the infidelity of those tmsted by
him. Immediately on faia arrival, he committed the
bishop to close confinement, wherein he shortly after
ended his days. Had his revenge stopped here, his
conduct might have escaped cenenre, bat he completed
the ruin of hia character by sentencing fioetius to
death, who, together with Symmachus, the father of
his wife, waa beheaded in prison on the tenth of the
kalends of November, 626. In order to palliate the
cruelty of the king, it has been inainnated, that the
treachery of big ambassadors was a kind of evidence
that the conspiracy had a foundation in truth ; and
that fact once established, the intimacy which had
subsisted for several years between fibetius and the
bishop, before the banishment of the former, fiimuQied
ft ground for suspicion that he waa at leaat not
ignorant of it. It is farther Btdd, that, aa if he
believed the conspiracy to be real, die king sent to
Boetius, in prison, offers of pardon, if he would dis-
close the whole treason ; but the protestatJonB which
he made upon that occanon of hie innocence, afford
the strongest evidence that oould be given that he
was not privy to it
Bat the causes of this severe resolution of Theo-
doric are elsewhere to be sought for : he was arrived
at the age of seventy-two, and for some years had
been infected with the vices usually imputed to old
age : he bad reigned more than thirty-three years ;
and though the mildnees and prudence of his govern-
ment, and that pat«mal tenderness with which he had
ruled bis people, were greater than could be expected
from a prince who had made his way to dominion
by the murder of the rightful sovereign, the dis-
appointments he had met with, the insults that had
been ofiered him, one particularly in the peraon of
his Bister, who had received some indignities from
the African Vandals, the contempt that had been
^ewn him in this late embassy, and, above all, bin
utter inability to resent these injuries in the way he
moet desired, these misfortunes concurring, deprived
him of that equanimity of temper which had been
the chnracteristic of his reign : in short, he grew jea-
lous, timid, vindictive, and cruel ; and aaet this,
nothing he did was to be wondered at.* But to
return to Boedua.
The extensive learning and eloquence of this great
man are conspicuous in his works ; and hia singular
merits have been celebrated by the ablest vmters that
have lived since the restoration of learning. His first
wife, for he was twice married, was named Helpes, a
Sicilian lady of great beauty and fortune, bnt more
eminently diBtingaished by the endowments of her
mind, and her inviolable affection for so excellent a
man. She had a genius for poetry, and vrrote with
a degree of judgment and correctness not common to
her sex. He desired mnoh to have issue by her ;
but she d^dng young, he embalmed her memory in
the following elegant verses : —
Helpei dicta flii, Siculie regionit alumna,
Qasm procAl & patria, conjugii eeit amor.
Quo sine, mcEBta dies, nox anxia, flebOis hora
Nee solum caro, Bed BpintuB unui erat
Lux mea non claiua est, tali remanents marito,
Majorique anime, parte superatei en,
Porticibui lacrii tarn nunc peregrina quieaco,
Judicii eternt teetilicata thronum.
Ne qua manus buitum violet, nisi toHi jugalis,
Hfec iterum cupiat jungere membra buIb.
Ut Thalami cumuliq ; comeB, nee morte revellar.
Gt BocioB vita: nectat uterqae ciuii.
His other wife, Rnsticiana, was the daughter of
Quintns Aurelius Menius Symmachus, s chief of the
senate, and consul in the year 4S5 : with her he
received a considerable accession to his fortune. He
had several children by her ; two of whom arrived
to the dignity of the consulate. His conjugal tender-
ness was very exemplary ; and it may be truly eoid,
that, for hia public and private virtues, he waa one of
the great omsments of that degenerate age in which
it was his misfortune to be bom.
The tomb of Boetius is to be seen in the church of
St Augustine, at Pavia, near the steps of the chancel,
with the following epitaph : —
Mceonia et Latia lingua cUriaiimua, ct qui
Consul eram, hie peni, miBiui in exilium ;
Et quia mon rapuit? Probitat me vexit ad auras,
Et nunc fama nget maxima vivit opui.
Many ages alter his death the emperor Otho the
Third endosed his bones, then lying neglected
■ PranpturdltHtbatliewuMshtodtadiaUii tb* tnnowbis to hi*
■HDuni oT itau >tnB« ■ecWnt :—
■ Srninucbiu wid Ui Hn-lii'liw, noatliu, ]iut msn wid gmt rclknn
■HuuUDni Thmdotlc, balBf pcniuiM tbM lh«T ploRwl ifilBtt Un,
pul Ihnnto taatk, ud Hmltaeatad tbdr atita. Not lonfilln', V*
wtUm HI befan bin *i ■oppu Oh bud att gtmt IMi. *bU Mmid
ID him Id b« Ibt htad of BrninHhii*, lUelf muithend i nd wHb Ul
Unh lUeUBS out, uhI ■«» gluins tjtt, to thnMcn him. Botaifl
frlghlad, b> (!>■ EbUl, wool U bid lainonihig wtau b* had doM to
Srmiuebiu indBiictliu.uid HHB inerdleil.' Do B«llo Oottaico, lib. L
dbyGoot^le
CbAP. XXIV.
AND PBAOnCE OF MUSIC.
llfi
■moDgBt the rnbbish, in a marble chest ; upon wUch
oceasion Oerbert, an eminent scholar of that time,
and who was afterwards adranced to the papal chair
by the name of Sylvester the Second, did honour to
bU memory in the following lines : —
Roma poteiia, duni jura luo dsclarat in orbe,
Tu pater, et patris lumen, SeTerine Boeti,
Coniulis oSao, rerum diaponis htbenat,
loliindii lumeit atudiis, et cedere nescis
Grscorum ingeniJa, led mem divina coercet
Imperium mundi. Qladio bacchante Oolhorum
Libertaa Romana peril : tu consul et eiul,
Inngnet tituloi pivclara morte relinquis.
Tunc decui Imperii, summa* qui pneCTHvat arte*,
Tertim Otho sua dignmn te judicat aida ;
£ternuinque tui statnit monumenta laboris,
Et bene promeriltmi, meritiB ezomat honeatii.
The writingB of Boetina, the ^tlea whereof are
given below,* seem to have been collected with great
care : an edition of tbem was printed at Venice, in
one Tolnme in folio, 1499. In 1570, Qlareaims, of
Basil, collated that with several mannscripts, and
pobluhed it, with a few varions readings in the
nuu^n. To render his anthor more intelligible, the
editor has inserted sundry diagrams of his own ; but
has been careM not to confound them with the
original onea of Boetius.
fiat before these, or indeed the doctrines of Boetios,
can be rendered intelligible, it is necesaaiy first
to state the general drift and tendency of the anthor,
in his treatise De Mnsica ; and next ta explun the
■everal terms made use of by Mm in the demonstra-
tton of the proportions of the consonances and
other intervale, as also the proportions themselvee,
distingaisliiiig between the several species of arith-
metical, geometrical, and harmonical proportion.
The design of Boetias in the above-mentioned
treatise was, by the aid of arithmetic, to demonstrate
those ratios which those of the Pythagorean school
bad asserted subsisted between the consonances.
These ratios are either of equality, as 1 : 1, 2 : 2,
6 : 8, or of inequality, as 4 : 2, because the first con-
tains the latter once, with a remainder -. and of these
tatios, or proportions of inequality, there are five
kinds, OS, namely, multiplex, snperparticular, super-
partient, multiplex superparticnlar, and multiplex
soperportient ; all which will hereafter be explained.
■ In PaiptaTiinm i VfctoilDO tnuiilitimi, lib. II. In Potphnhmi i
UbnuD At IntcTpRtaHrme ConnDVPUrlii mlnon. Ub. 11. In timdnn de
1 <■ ..j^ mym, lib. VI. AulrtloDnmi pri-
dU> imitwt BaetUa iniopnu, lib. II.
riMotdU, Anion Hulla Svrntno BoMhlo
. Ho Id outDileo* Srlloclniiiii, lib, t. D*
t)rlli|daiiw«u«rtos, lib. II. D« SflkclBna brpoAMlu. Hb. II. Da
DiTlflaiw. Hb. f, D» Dianttkms, Ub. I. TndeonuB AiMoUKi. AnlUa
KnUo SnolBs, tnUnnia. Ub. Till. Eltnohonm SopblnkKinun
AriMoWl*, Anltla Hullo Snirino BoMhlo loloipnlo. lib. II. In
TDFla Clm^ Ub. Vt. Da DUtnBtUa Tonlcta, Ub. 17. ~ ~ ' '
BodolnUAgS^B) ConnnanUrtti lUnitiitl, Hb.
u, nm Ollbanl • " ■■
EucU Trlnl-
l» In
1, do TibilUta a UnlM* IM ; qnomodo TrbilU i
una, * DOB Tno DU. Ub. I. SacDndiB tnoUt Oaaottonam A.
* nttu.aSpMiu SaoduntiMuiliUtarpraillMiitiir, lib. I. ToUiu
a a DM doMl, In Ct
^iiu EutTchan ft Tfo
llb.1. Do Dtaeipltu ScboUrium,
llii(ia,ub. V. boOooi
onm all, lib, I.
These terms are made use of by Endid, and others
of the Qreek writers, and were adopted by Boetius,
and through him have been continued down to the
Italian writers, in whose works they are perpetually
occurring; and though the modem arithmeticians
have rejected them, and substituted in their places,
as a much shorter and more intelligible method of
designation, the numbers that constitnte the several
proportions, it is necessary to the understanding oi
the ancient writers, that the terms used by them
should also be understood.
Another thing neceasary to be known, in order
to the understanding not only of Boetius and hie
followers, but all who have written on those abstruse
parts of music the andent mod», the ecclesiastical
tones, and their divisions into authentic and plagal,
is the nature of the three different kinds of pro-
portion, namely, arithmetical, geometrical, and har-
monical ; an explanation whereof, as also of the
several kinds of proportion of ineqoality can hardly
be given in terms more accurate, precise, and in-
telligible, than tliose of Dr. Holder, in his treatise
on l£e Natural Grounds and Principles of Harmony,
chap. V. wherein, after premising that all harmonic
bodies and sounds foil under numerical calculations,
be speaks thus of proportion in general : —
' We may oompare (i. e. amongst themselyee)
either (1) magnitndea (so they be of the same
kind) ; or (2) Qie gravitations, velocities, durations,
sounds, &c from thence arising ; or, farther, the
nnmbm themselves, by which the things compared
are explicated ; and if these shall be unequill, we
may then consider either, first, how much one of
them exceeds the other; or, secondly, after what
manner one of them stands related to the other
as to the quotient of the antecedent (or former
term) divided by the consequent (or latter term)
which quotient doth expound, denominate, or shew,
how many times, or how much of a time or timee,
oue of them doth contain the other : and this by
the Greeks is called Xoyoc, ratio, as they are wont
to call the similitude or equality of ratios ayakoyta
analogic, proportion, or proportionality ; but custom,
and the sense assisting, will render any OTer-curious
application of these terms unnecessary.
From these two considerations last mentioned, the
same anthor says, there are woat to be deduced three
sorts of proportion, arithmetical, geometrical, and
a mixed proportion, resulting from these two, called
harmonicaL These are thus eipluned by him : —
' 1. Arithmetical, when three or more nnmbera
in progression have the same difference ; as 2, 4,
6, 8, &c or disconUnued, as 2, 4, 6 ; 14, 16, la*
' 2. Gleometrical, when three or more numbers
have the same ration, as 2, 4, 8, 16, S2 ; or dis-
continued, as 2, 4; 64>12a'
' Lastly, Harmonical, (partaking of both the other)
when three numbers are so ordered, that there be
the same ration of the greatest to the least, as there
is of the difference of the two greater to the dif-
ference of the two less numbers, as in these three
terms, 3, 4. 6, the ration of 6 to 3, (being the
greatest and least terms) is duple; so is 2, the
dbyG00*^lc
116
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Boi« IIL
' difference of 6 and i (the two ^eoter nambers) to
' 1, the di&rence of i and 3 ^Ihe two less numbera)
' dople also. This is proportion harraonicol, which
' diapa«on, 6 to 3, beus to diapente, 6 to 4, and
' diAtessaron, 1 to 3, ae its mean proportionals.'
' Now for the kinds of rations most properly
' so called ; t. e. geometrical : first observe, that in
'all rations, the former term or nnmber, (whether
' greater or less) is always called the antecedent ;
■ and the other following number, is called the con-
' seqnent. If therefore, the antecedent be the greater
'term, then the ration is either multiplex, enper-
' particular, mprpartient, or (what is componnded of
' these) mnldjdex saperparticmar, or multiplex snper-
' pardent.'
■ 1. Multiples ; as duple, 4 to 2 ; triple, 6 to 2 ;
' qaadmple, 8 to 2."
'2. Superparticnbr ; as 8 to 2, 4 to 3, 6 to 1;
' exceeding but by one aliquot part, and ' in their
' radical, or least numbers, always bat by one ; and
' these rations are termed sesqmaltera, sesquitertia,
' (or BQperterUa) seeqalqaarta, or (enperqnarts) Ac
' Note, that nambers exceeding more than by one,
'and hot by one aliqaot part, may yet be super-
' particnlar, if they be not expressed in their radical,
' t. e. least nambers, as 12 to 6, hath the same ration
' as 3 to 2 ; i. e. snperparticnlar ; thoi^h it seem not
' so till it be reduced by the greatest common divisor
' to its radical numbers, 3 to 2. And the common
' divisor, (t. e. the nnmber by which both the terms
' may severally be divided) is often the difference
' between the two numbers ; as in 12 to 8, the dif-
' ference is i, which is the common divisor. Divide
' 12 by 4, the quotient is 3 ; divide 8 by i, the
' quotient is 2 ; so the radical is 3 to 2. Thus also,
' 15 to 10, divided by the difference, 5, gives 3 to 2 ;
' yet in 16 to 10, 2 is the common divisor, and gives
'8 to 6, being saperpartient But in all super-
' particular rations, whose terms are thos made larger
' by being multiplied, the difference between the
' terms is always iix& greatest common divisor ; as in
' the foregoing examples.'
' The diird kind of ration is snperpartient, exceed-
' ing by more than one, as 6 to 3 ; which is called
' snperbipartiens tertise, (or tria) oontaining 3 and
' j- 8 to S, sapertripartiens qnintas, 5 and j>'
' The fourth is multiplex superparticnlar, as 9 to
'4, which is duple, and sesquiquarta; 13 to 4, which
' is triple and sesquiquarta.'
' The fifth and last is multiplex snperpartient, as
'11 to 4 ; duple, and supertripartiens quartas.'*
' When the antecedent is less than the conseqnent,
' vis., when a less is compared to a greater ; then the
' same terms serve to express the rations, only pre-
' fixing snb to them; as, eubmultiplex, subenper-
' particular, {or snbpaxticular) snbsaperpartient, (or
' Bubpartient) Ac 4 to 2 is duple ; 2 to 4 Is subdnple,
' 4 to 3 is sesquitertia; 3 to 4 is subeesquitertia, 5 to
* TIh abaw9 tBnni vm uted by the udeDt gwimetm uid brithnw-
Butlculv, it ti Terr neceHVT tbsl Ihdi mwitDg ihould be kHBiifJqed i
■ut the THuiDeT now It to eTpreei the proportkiai b^ the nmnberi tluiD'
•nbi|iudnipli raperttl putien Mptliwu,
ToL I. PuiTatnaii,
' 3 is sapetbipartieDS tertiae ; 3 to 5 is subsnpeN
' Upaniens tertias, &c.'
The ssme author proceeds to find how the habi-
tudes of rations are found in these words : —
' All the habitudes of rations to each other, are
' found by multiplication or division of their term^
'by which any ration is added to or subtracted from
' another ; and there may be use of progression of
' rations or proportions, and of finding a medium,
' or mediety, between the terms of any ration ; but
' the main work is done by addition and subtraction
' of rations, which, though they are not performed
' like addition and eobtraclion of simple numbers in
'arithmetic, but upon algebraic grounds, yet the
' praxis is most easy.'
' One ration is added to another ration, by mnl-
' tiplying the two antecedent terms together, t, e. the
' antecedent of one of the rations, by the antecedent
' of the other. (For the more ease, they ehonld be
' reduced into their least numbers or terms) ; and
' then the two consequent terms, in like manner.
' The ration of the product of the antecedents to
' that of the product of the consequents, is equal to
'the other two, added or joined together. Thus,
' for example, add the ration of 8 to 6 ; i.e. (iM
' radical numbers) 4 to 3, to the ratio of 12 to 10
' t. ft 6 to 6 ; the product vrill be 24 and 4^- I —3
' 15, i «. 8 to 5 ; you may set them thus, I
' and multiply 4 by 6, they make 24 ; G — [ — S
' which set at tiie bottom ; then multiply
' 3 by 5, they make 15 ; which likewise 24 15
' set under, and yon have 24 to 15 : which is a ratioK
' compounded of the other two, and equal to theot
' both. Reduce these prodncts, 24 and 15, to thmr
' least radical numbers, which is by dividing as br
' as you can find a common divisor to them both
' (which IB here done by 3), and that brings them to
' the ration of 8 to 5. By this you see that a third
'minor, G to 5, added to a fourth, 4 to 3, makes
' a sixth minor, 8 to 5. If more rations are to be
' added, set them all under each other, and multiply
' the first antecedent by the second, and that product
' by the third ; and again that product by the fonrth,
' and so on ; and in like maimer the consequents.'
' This operation depends upon the fifth proposition
'of the eighth book of Euclid; where be showa
' that the ration of plain numbers is componnded of
' their sidee. See these diagrams : — '
12
' Now compound these sides. Take for the ante-
' cedents, 4, the greater side of the greater plane,
' and 3, the greater side of the less plane, and they
' multiplied give 12. Then take the remaining two
' nnmMre, 3 and 2, being the less sides of the planea
' (for consequents), and tiiey give 6. So the sides ot
' 4 and 3, and of 3 and 2, compounded (by multiplying
dbyGoo*^le
Chip. XXV.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
117
' the antecedent teruu hy thenuelTW and the oon-
' eeqnents by tbemselTes) make 12 to 6; i.e, 2 to 1,
' which being applied, amounts to this ; rado aeaqm-
' altera 3 to 2, added to ration sesqaitertia, 1 to 3,
'makeB dnple ration, 2 to 1. Therefore, diapente
' added to diatessaron, makee diapaaon.'
' SubtractdoQ of one ration from another greater,
'ie performed in like manner, by moltipljug the
' terms ; but this is done not laterally, as in additicMi,
' but CToeswise ; by multiplying the antecedent of
' the former (i e. of the greater) by the conseqnent
' of the lattor, which prodnceth a new antecedent ;
' and the consequent of the former by the antecedent
' of the latter, which gives a new conseqnent ; and
' therefore, it is nsnally done by an obliqoe de-
' cassation of the lines. For example, if
' i 3 yon would take 6 to 6 ont of 4 to 3, yon
' u may set them down thus : Then i, mnl-
' " tiplied by 5, makee 20 ; and 3, by 6, gives
' 6 6 18; so 20 to 18, i. & 10 to 9, u the re-
' 20 18 mender. That is, subtract a third minor
' 10 9 ont of a fourth, and there will remun a
' tone minor.
'Multiplication of ratios is the same with their
' addition ; only it is not wont to be of diven rations,
' but of the same, being taken twice, thrice, or oftener,
• aa you please. And as before, in addition, yon added
' diven radons, by mnltiplying them ; so here, in mul-
' dplication, yon add the same ration to itself, after
' the same manner, viz., by multiplying the terms of
■ the same ratio by themselves ; t. e. ^e antecedent
' by itself, and the consequent by itself, (which in
' other words, is to multiply the same by 2) and will
' in the operation be to square the ration first pro-
' pounded (or give the second ordinal power ; the
' ration first given being the first power or side) and
' to this product, if the simple ration shall again be
' added, (after the same manner aa before) the a^re-
' gate will be the triple of the ration first given ; or
' the product of that ration, multiplied by 3, via., the
• cube, or third ordinal power. Its biqoadrate, or
' fourth power, proceeds from mnltiplying it by 4 ;
' and BO successively in order, as far as you please
' yon may advance the powers. For instance, the
' dnple ration, 2 to 1, being added to iteelf, dnpled
' or multiplied by 2, prodnceth 4 to 1, (the ration
' quadruple) ; and if to this, the first again be added,
' (which is equivalent to multiplying that said first
• ^3), there will arise the ration octuple, or 8 to I.
' Whence the ration, 2 to 1, being taken for a root,
'its dnple 4 to 1, will be theeqoare; its triple, 8 to 1,
' the cube thereof, ice. as hath been said above. And
' to use another instance ; to duple the ration of 3 to 2,
' it must be thus squared :—& by 3 j^ves 9 ; 2 by 2
' gives 4, so the duple or square of 3to2is9to4.
' Again, 9 by 3 is 27, and 4 by 2 is 8 ; so the cubic
• ration of 3 to 2 is 27 to 8. Again, to find the
' fourth power or biqaadrate, (i e. squared square,)
' 27 by 8 is 81, 8 by 2 is miteen ; so 81 to 16 is the
' ration of 3 to 2 qnadrapled ; aa it is dnpled by the
• square, tripled by the cube, ix. To apply this
' instance to onx present purpose, 3 to 2 is the ration
' of diapente, or a fifth in harmony ; 9 to 4 is the
' ratio of twice diapente, (or a ninth, viz., diapason,
'with tone major;) 27 to 8 is the ration of thrice
'diapento, or three fifths, which is diapason, with
' AxXh major, vie, IS mj^or ; the ration of 81 to 16
' makes four fifths, i e. disdiapasou, with two tones
' major, t. 0. a seventeenth major, and a comma of SI
'to so;
' To divide any ration, the contrary way must be
' taken ; and bv extracting of these roots respectively,
' division by tneir induces will be performed, E. gr.
' to divide it by 2, is to take the square root of it ;
'by 3, the cube root; by 4 the biquadratic. An.
' l^us, to divide 9 to 4 by 2, the square root of 9
' is 3, the square root of 4 is 2 ; then 3 to 2 is a
' radon just half bo mocb as 9 to 4.'
CHAP. XXV.
Tea nature of proportion being thua explained,
without a competent knowledge whereof it would be
in vain to attempt the reading of Boetius, it remains
to give Buch an account of his treatise De Mosica
as IB oonsiBtent with a general histery of the science,
and may be sufficient to invito the studious inqairer
to an attentive perusal of this most valuable work.
Here therefore follow, in regular order, the titles of
the several chapters contained in the five books of
Boetins's treatise De Miudca, with an abridgment of
such of them as seem most worthy of remark.
Chap. i. Musicam naturaliter nobis esse conjunc-
tarn, et mores vel honestare vel evertere.
Etoetins in this chapter observes, that the sensitive
power of perception is natural to all living creatures,
but that knowledge is attained by contemplation.
All mortals, he says, are endued wiuk sight, but wbe-
ther the perception be effected by the coming of the
object to the Bight, or by rays sent forth to it, is a
doubt When any one, continues he, beholds a tri-
angle or a square, he readily acknowledgee what he
discovers by his eyee, but he must be a mathema-
tician to investigate the natnre of a triangle or a
square. Having established this proposition, he
applies it to the other liberal arts, and to music in
particular; which he undertakes to shew is con-
nected vrith morality, inasmuch as it disposes the
mind to good or evil acttons; to this purpose he
expreBsee himself in these terms : ' The power or
facnlty of hearing enables us not only to form a
judgment of sounds, and to discover their differ-
ences, bnt to receive delight, if they are sweet and
adapted to each other ; whence it comes to pass that,
as Uiere are four mathemadcal sciences,* the rest
* The fbuT outbeiDitlca
■TtokDDvMgi! IlieDI
lEtlnc Die DumbR oT 1
iTtum « UmtfolS h;
Tl><, i^hnlutlg dlTUo
idon Ln WhIiiiIdiU
lO qUK
liuorlpdon Ln Wid
dladabbotstWMt
Doctm quAdzlTla n«
*. for III* ucinit H
dbyGoot^le
118
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
I Ul
labour at the inrestigation of tnith ; but tliia, besides
■ tliat it requires speculation, is connected with mo-
'nlity; for there is nothing that more peculiarly
distingnisheE human nature, than that dispotidou
obeervable in mankind to be one way affected by
sweet, and another b^ contrary sounds; and this
'affection b not peculiar to particular tempers or
' certain ages, but is common to all ; and infants,
' yomig, and even old men, are by a natural instinct
' rendered snecepldble of pleasore or disguet from
' consonant or discordant sounds. From hence we
' may discern that it was not without reason that
■J ' Hato eaid, that the soul of the world was conjoined
• with muaical proportion : and such is the effect of
' music en the human manners, that a lascivious mind
' is delighted with lascivious modes, and a sober mind
' b more disposed to sobriety by those of a contrary
' kind : and nence it is that the musical modes, for
• instance the Lydian and Phrygian, take their namee
' from the tempers or distinguishing characteristics
' of those nations that respectively delight in them :
I 'for it cannot be that things, in their nature soft,
r ehonld agree with such as are harsh, or contrary-
;' wise ; for it is similitude tiiat conciliates love ;
' wherefore Plato held that the greatest caution woe
' to be taken not to suffer any change in a well-
' moraled music, there being no corruption of man-
' ners in a republic ao great as that which follows a
'gradual declination from a prudent and modeot
</ ' music ; for, whatever corruptions are made in music,
' the minds of the hearers wUl immediately suffer the
'same, it being certiun that there is no way to
' the Sections more open than that of hearing : and
' these effects of music are discernible among different
' nations, for the more fierce, as the Getee, are de-
' lighted with the harder modes, and the more gentle
' and civilieed with such as are moderate ; aluough
' in these days few of the latter are to be found.'
■^ Boetitts then proceeds to relate that the Lacedss-
monians, sensible of the great advantages reenlling to
a state from a sober, modest, and well-regulated
music, invited, by a great reward, Taletas the Oretan
to settle among them, and bstmct their youth in
music And he relates that the Spartans were so
jealous of innovations in their music, that, for adding
only a single chord to those he found, they banished
Timotheus from Sparta by a decree ; which, however
he could come by so great a curiosity, he gives in the
original Greek, and is as follows : — EIIEI iE TIMO-
eEOa O MIAEZIOZ HAPAnMENOS EN TAN
AMETEPAN HOAIN, TAN OAAAIAN MOAnHN
ATIMAZAZ. KAI TAN AIA HAN EIITA XOPAAN
KieAPIZEI, AnorrPE*OMEN02 nOAlf*QNIAN
EIZATIQN, ATMAINETAI TAS AKOA2 TON
NEON AIA TE TAZ nOATXOPAAS, KAI TA2
KAINOTATAS TOTTQN MEAE02 AFENNE KAI
nOIKIAAN ANTIAHAOAN, KAI TETAPMENAN
AM«IAriAN MOADHN EDI XPQMATOZ ST-
NEIZTAMEN TOrTOT MEAEOZ, AIArTASIN.
■Ihqil (dnto* : CtuliMkinia. who Uvad ■bout )uir ■ nDlurr iftcr ktau,
u alKi IV Kftm IllHiplliik \ mi Mhni of the luned In Hk« min-
_ li»n wTlUBD arofdVMdlr on thno ill. Firthnt
tin BulBpWoklw, wko flODriitwd In lUt, H
— "■-■ -wP»ii«,wlHita— "- ——'"—--
ANTl TAP ENAPMONIO HGIAN ANTirrPE*ON
AMOIBAN. OAPAKAAAGEIS AE EN TON Am-
NA TAS EAET2IN1A2 iAMATP02 AIXOS ME-
*HMISATO TAN TQ MTGQ KliNHZIN: TAN
TAP 2EMEAA OiVNAN OTK ENAEKAT02 NE02
AIAAXHN EilAASE. EITA HEPI TOITON TON
BAZIAEAH KAI TOT PHT0P02 MEM*ATAI TI-
MOeEON. EnANATIBETAI AE KAI TAN ENAEKA
XOPAAN EKTANON TA2 HEPIArTAS EHIAEI-
nOMENOZ TAN EHTAXOPAON AZTOZ. TO TAP
nOAIOZ BAPOZ AIITON TETAP BHTAI E2 TAN
ZHAPTAN Ein*EPEIN : TIOON MH KAAON NH-
TQN MHnOTE TAPATTHTAI KAEOS AFOPQN.*
He then proceeds to declare the power of music in
these words : — ' It is well known that many wonderful *^
' effects have been wrought by the power of music
' over the mind ; oftentimes a song has represiAd
' anger ; and who is ignorant that a certain drunken
' young man of Tanrominium being incited to violence
' by the sound of the Phrygian mode, was by the
' singing of a spondeus appeased ; for when a harlot
' was shut up in the house of his rival, and the yotmg
' man, raging with madness, would have set the house
' on fire, Pythagoras, who, agreeable to his nightly
' custom, was employed in observing the motions of
' the celestial bodies, as soon as he was informed that
' the young man had been incited to this outrage by
' the Phrygian mode, and found that he would not
' desist from his wicked attempt, though his friends
' repeated their admonitions to him for that purpose,
' ordered them to change the mode, and thereby
' ottemperated the diepoeitioiLof the raging youth to
' a most tranquil state of mind. Cicero relates the *^
' same story in different words, but in nearly the same
' manner : — " When (says he) certain drunken men
" stirred up, as is often the cose, by the sound of the
" tibia, would have broke open the doors of a modest
"woman, Pythagoras is said to have admonished the
" tibicinist to play a spondeus, which he had no sooner
" done than the lustfiuness of these men was appeased
" by the slowness of the mode and the gravity of the
" performer." But to gather some similar examples ■'
' in few words, Terpander and Arion of MeUiymne,
' the next city in Lesbos to Mitylene for grandeur,
' cured the Lesbians and loniane of meet grievous
'diseases by the means of music; Hismenias, the ^
' Theban, by his mnsic is reported to have freed from
'their torments divers Beotians, who were sorely
■ afflicted with sciatic puns.f Empedocleg also, when
' a certain person in a fury would have attacked his
' guest, for having accused and procured the oon-
' demnation of his father, is said to have diverted him
' by a particular mode In music, and by that means to
' have appeased the anger of the young roan. And
' so well was the power of music known to the ancient
' philosophers, that the Pythagoreans, when they had
ni Id bMloiT tl the MBacj gf muli bi Um
!• nponed thai Thiln, the Cnlu, beliis br
led fs SpHU, cund ■ n(liu pnUlnn 1^
Th< UHrtlan oT Boetini Mth ntata to Out
' 'iuOtllhii.Ub.IV. chip.
dbyGoot^le
Ohit. XXV,
AND PRACl'ICE OF MUSIU
119
■ miad to refresh UiemselTea by sleep ftfler the
' labours And cares of the day, made use of certain
' BODgs to procure them an easy and quiet rest ; and
' when they awaked they also diapelled the dnlneee
* and confusion occasioned by sleep bv olliera, know-
' ing full well that the mind and the body were cou-
' joined in a musical fitness, and that whatever affects
' the body, will also produce a similar effect on the
' mind ; which obaervotion it is reported Democritos,
' whom his fellow-dlizens had confined, supposing
' him mad, made to HippociMea, the idiysician, who
' had been sent for to cure him. To what purpose
'then are all these thii^? We cannot doubt but
' that onr body and mind are in manner conetitnted
' in the same proportions by which hannonical modn-
'latjons are joined and compacted, as the following
' argnm«nt shall shew ; for hence it is that even
' infants are delighted with a sweet, or disgusted with
'a hatsh song : every age and either sex are affected
'by masic, and though they are different in their
'actions, yet do they agree in their love of music
' Kay, satui as are under the influence of sorrow, even
' modulate their complaints, which is chiefly the case
' with women, who, by the sweetness of their songs,
' find means to alleviate their sorrows ; * uid it wm
' for this reason that the ancients bad a costom for the
' tibia to precede in their funeral processions. Fa-
'pinios Statins teelifiGs as moch m the following
'verse: —
' Comu grave mug^t aduoeo,
'Ubia cm teneroi suetum producers manes.
' And though a man cannot siDg sweetly, yet while
he sings to himself he draws forth an innate sweet-
ness from his heart Is it not manifest that the
sound of the trumpet fires the minds of the com-
batants, and impels them to battle ; whv then is it
not probable that a person may be incited to fury
and anger from a peaceful state of mind ? There is
no doubt but tb^ a mode may restrain anger or
other inordinate desires ; for what is the reaaon that
when a person receives into bis ears any song with
pleasure, that he should not also be ipontancuuuly
oxiverted to it, or that the body ehoidd not form or
fashion some modon similar to what he hears : ^m
all tbeee things it is clear beyond donbt that music
is naturally joined to us, and that if we wonld we
caimot deprive ourselves of it ; wherefore the power
of the mind is to be exerted, that what is implanted
in us by nature should also be oomprehended by
science. For as in sight it is not sufficient for
learned men barely to behold colours and forms,
unless they also investigate their properties ; so also
is it not Eiu£cient to be delighted with musi(»l songs,
unless we also leam by what proportion of voices or
sounds they are joined together.'
Gap. ii. Tree eeee mnaicas, in quibns de vi musicie
narrator.
The three kinds of music here meant are, mundane,
Iramane, and instrumental ; and of each of these
mention has been made in a preceding page.
nitou fkot to pioTS Ihv tnitti of Ibli
__. whfli >h« wu dtllTvnd of hlmifas img
In tha BaBDoii liii(ait>. LUk et Utaij la Bnad bj Itaa Bllkav
Gap. iii X)e vodbus ac de mnsicc elementis. —
Cap. iv. He speciebns ineqnalitatis. — Gap. v. Qnee
inequolitatia species consonantiis aptentur. — Cap. vi.
Cur mnltiplicitae, et euperparticularitas consonantiis
deputentur. — Gap, vii. Qu« proportiones qnibus con>
sonontji* musicis aptentur. — Cap. viii. Quid sit sonns,
quid intervallum, quid concinentia. — Cap. ix. Non
omne judicium dandom esse sensibus, aed amplius
ration! esse credendum, in quo de senauum falWia.
It is the bumnees of this chapter to show, that
though the first principles of harmony are token from
the sense of hearins, for this reason, that were it
otherwise there oonld be no dispnte about sounde;
yet, in this case, the sense is not the sole arbiter.
Boetius to this purpose expresses himself very ration-
ally in the following terms : — ' Hearing is as it were
' but a monitor, but the last perfection and power of
'judging about it depends upon reason. What need
' ie Aere for many words to point out the error which
' the senses are liable to, since we know that neither
' is the same power of perception given to every one
' alike, nor is it always equal m the same man ; on the
' other hand, it is vain to commit the examination of
' tmUi to an uncertun judgment The Pythagoreans
' for this reason took as it were a middle way ; for
'though they did not make the hearing the sole
' arbiter, yet did they search after and try some
' thinga by the ears only : they measured the con-
' aonanta Uiemselves by the ears, but the distances by
' which these consonants differed from each other thev
' did not trust to the ears, the judgment whereof is
' inaccnrate, bnt committed them to the examination
' of reason, thereby making the sense subservient U>
■ reason, which acted as a judge and a master. For
' thongh the momenta of all arts, and of life itself,
' depend upon onr senses, yet no sure judgment can
' be formed concerning them, no comprehension of
' the truth can exist, if the decision of reason be
' wonting ; for the senses themselves are equally de-
' ceived m things that are very great or very little :
' ond with respect of that of hearing, it wiUi great
' difficulty perceives those intervals which are very
' small, and is deafened by those which are very great.'
Gap. X. Quemadmodum Pythagoras proportiones
consonantiomm invest! gave rit — Cap. xL Qnibus
modia vari6 k Pythagora proportiones coneonontiamm
perpensse sint
The account delivered in the two preceding chap-
ters, and which is mentioned in olmoet every treatise
on the subject of music extant, is evidently ti^en from
NioomachoB, whose relation of this supposed dis-
covery of Pythi^ras is hereinbefore given at lengUL
Gap. xiL De diviaione vocum, eorumque explana-
tione. — Cap. xiii. Qnod infinitatem vocum humana
natura finieriL — Cap. xiv. Quis sit modus audiendL--
Cap. XV. De ordine iJteorematam, id est specnlati-
onum. — Gap. xvi. De conaonantiis proportionum, et
tono et semitonio. — Gap. ivii. In qntbjs primis
numerifi semitonium oonstet — Cap. xviii. Diatessoron
a diapente tono distore. — Cap. xix. Diapason quinqne
tonis, et duobus semitoniie jungi. — Cap. xx. De ad-
ditione ohordarum, earumque nominibus.
The substance of this chapter has already bean
Digitized
byGoo^le
ISO
HISTORY OF THE 80IEN0E.
Book HI.
Cap. zzL De generibtu candlenarain. — Cap. zxil
De ordine chordaram noroimbuBqiie in tribua gene-
ribos. — Cap. xxUi Qiua Bint inter voces in ringnlia
geueribuB propoTtionee.
These tnree chapters give a brief and but a very
Boperficial account of the genera.
Cap, xxiv. Quid ait synapho. — Oap. xxv. Quid
rit diezenzii.
In these two chapters the difference between the
ooinnoct and disjnnct tetrachorde is explained.
Cap ixvL Quibns nominibna nervoa appeltaveiit
Altnnns.
Albinne is aaid by CaBaiodomB to have been a
great man, and to have written a brief diwonree on
mnaic, which he himself had seen and attentively
pemaed in one of the pnblic libraries at Borne ; and
Cassiodoras aeems to prophecy that some time or
other it wonld be taken away in an incnrmon of the
BarbariaDB : it haa accordingly sustained that fate ;
for Meibotoius, in his preface to Glaadenlitia, speaks
of that manuscript as irrecoverably lost
Gap. xxviL Qui nerri qnibns syderibtis com-
parentar.
The anbstance of this chapter ia for the most part
an extract from Oicero de Bepnb. lib. VI. and is
a declaration of the anpposed uialogy between the
planets and the sounds in the septenary.
Cap. xxriii. Que sit natnra consonantiarum.
— Gap. xxix Ubi consonantite reperiuntnr. — Cap.
zxz. Quemadmodum Plato dicat fieri consonantias.
—Cap. xzxL Quid contra Platonem NicomachiiB
sentiaL — Gap. xxdi. Qose consoDaotia qnam merito
pnecedat. — Cap. zxxiiL Qdo sint modo acdpienda
qnia dicta sont. — Gap. zxxiv. Qaid ait mnsiciiB.
In this, which is « very cnrioos chapter, the author
observes that the theoretic branch of every science
is more honourable than the pracdcal, for 'that prac-
'tice attends like a servant, but reason commands
' like a mitrtresa; and onless the head executes what
' reason dictates, its labour is vain.' He adds, 'the
'speculations of reason borrow no fud of the exe-
' CQtive part ; but contrarywise, the operations of
' the hand without the guidance of reason are of no
' avail ; ' — that the greatness of the merit and glory
■ of reason may be collected ^m this ; corporeal
' artiata in music receive that appellations, not from
' the BCtence itself, but rather fn)m the instmmenta,
' as the citharist &om the dthara ; the tibicen, or
' i^yer on tlie pipe, from the tibia; but he only is
' the tme mnaician, who, weighing every thing in
' the balance of reason, profesaee the science of mnaic,
' not in the slavery of execution, but in the authority
' of epeoulation. In like manner he says those who
' are employed in the erection of public structarea,
' or in the operations of war, receive no praiee except
' what is due to industry and obedience ; but to
' those by whose skill and conduct buildings are
' erected, or victory achieved, the bononrs of inscrip*
' tiona and triumphs are decreed.' He then proceeds
to declare that three focnlties are employed in the
musical art ; one which is ezerdsed in tlie playing
on instruments, another that of the poet, whi(£
directa the composition of versee, and a third which
judges of the former two ; and tonching these, and
that which he makes the principal question in this
:1iapter, he delivers his opinion thus : ' Aa to the
first, die performance of inetrumenta, it is evident
that the artists obey as servants, and as to poeta,
they are not led to verse so much bj reason as by
a certain instinct which we call gemus. But that
which assumes to itself the power of judging of
these two, that can examine mto rhythmus, songs,
and their verse, as it is the exercise of reason and
judgment, is most properly to be accounted music ;
and be only is a mneioian who has the &culty of
judging according to speculation and the approved
ratios of sounds, of the modes, genera, and rhythmi
of songs, and their various commixtures, and of the
verses of the poets.'
Lib. II. cap. 1. Proeminm. — Cap ii. Quid Pytha-
goras ease philoeophiam constituerit. — Cap. iiL De
differentiis quantiUtis, et qus cuique disciplinn sit
deputata. — Cap. iv. De Relatre quantitatis differ-
entiis.— Cap. V. Our multiplicitas antecellat. — Cap,
vi. Qui sint quadrat! nmueri deque his speculatio.
— Cap. vii. Omnem ineqnalitatem ex equalitate pro-
cedere, ejusque demonstratio.'^ap. viii. Kegula
quotlibet continoas proportionea snperparticularea
inveniendi. — Cap. ix. De proportione numeroram
qui ab alias metinnter. — Cap, x. Qua ex multi-
plicibns et smMrpaiticularibns mulUplicitates sianL
—Cap. xi. Qui superparticulares quos multiplicea
efficiant
The nine foregoing chapters contain demonstrations
of the five sevenl species of proportion of inequality;
of these an explanation may be seen in that extract
from Dr. Holder's Treatise on the Natural Grounds
and Principles of Harmony, hereinbefore inserted,
with a view to facilitate the stndy of Boetius, and
to render this very abstruse part of his work in-
telligibla
Gap. xii. De arithmetica, geometrica, harmonica,
medietate.
The three several kinds of proportionality, that
is to say, arithmetical, geometrical, and harmonica],
are also explained in the extract from Dr. Holder's
book above referred to.
Cap. xiiL De continuis medietatibus et disjunctia,
— Gap. xiv. Our ita appeliatn eint digestce snperias
medietatee. — Gap. xv. Quemadmodum ab eequalitate
supradictte processerant medietetes. — Gap. xvL Que-
madmodum inter duos terminoe supradicts me^e-
tates vicissim coUocentur. — Cap. xvii. De conso-
nantiarum modo secundum Nicomachum. — Cap. xviii.
De ordine consonantiarum sententia Enbulidia et
Hippasi.
IVo ancient mnsicians, of whose writings we have
nothing now remaining.
Cap. xix. Sententia Nicomachi quie qiitbue con-
Bonantiis apponantur. — Gap. xx. Quid oporteat prte-
mitti, ut diapason in multiplici genere demonstretut
— Gap. xxi. Demonstratio per impossibile, diapasoi
in mdtiptJci genere esse, — Cap. xxii, Demonstratio
per impossibile, diapente, diatessaron, et tonnm in
snperparticulari esse. — Cap. xxiii. Demonstratio
diapente et diatessaron in maximis superparticolaribns
dbyGoo*^le
CHiP. XXV.
AND PRAOTIOE OF MUSIC.
121
collocari. — Cap. xxiv. Biapente in Besqnialten, dia-
tessaron, in Besijuitertia esse, tonom in sesquioctavK.
— Cap. Txv. Diapason oc diapente in tripla pro-
TOrtione esse ; bisdiapason in qnadrupla. — Cap. xxvi
Diotessaron ac diapason non esse oonsoDautiam, ae-
candnm Pytht^oricoe.
The two last of the foregoing chapters have an
immediate connection with each other ; in the fint it
is demonstrated that the diapason and diapente con-
joined, making together the eoneonant interval of a
twelfth, are in triple proportion ; and that the dis-
diapason is in qoadmple proportion, the ratioa
whereof are severally 3 to 1 and 4 to 1 ; bnt with
reepect to the diapason and diatesaaron conjoined, the
ratio whereof is 8 to 3, the interval arising ftom anch
eonjanction is clearly demonstrated b^ BoetJna to be
dissonant : from hence arisea an evident discrimi'
nation between the diateBsaron and the other perfect
consonancee; for whereas not only they bat their
replicatea are consonant, this of tiie diateaaaron is
rimpty a consoiuuice itself, its replicates being disso-
nant. It ia tme that the modem mundane do not
reckon tiie diateaaaron in the nmnber of the con-
Mnaac«8 ; and whether it be a concord or a discord
has been a matter of controversy ; nevertheless it is
certain that among the ancients it was always looked
apon as a consonance, and that with so good reason,
that Lord Vemlam* profeaaea to entertain the same
Mnnion; and yet after all, the imperfection which
Awtitu has pointed out in this chapter, seems to
suggest a very good reason for distmgoishing be-
tween the diatessaron and those other intervals,
which, whether taken singly, or in conjmiction with
the dinpason, are consonant.
Cap. zxvii. De semitonio in qnibos minimis nn-
meria constet.
The argoments in this chapter are of snch a kind,
that it behoves every musician to be master of them.
The rstioe of the limma and apotome have already
been demonstrated in those luger numbers which
Ptolemy had made choice of for the purpose. In
this chapter fioetins gives the ratio of the limma in
the snuUleat numbers in which it can possibly con-
sist, that is to say, 256 to 243 ; and as this is the
most usual designation of the Pythagorean limma, or
the interval, which, being added to two sesqoioctave
tones, oompletee the interval of a diatessaron, it is a
matter of some consequence to know how these num-
bers are brought out ; and this will best be declared
in the words of Boetins himself, which are as follow : — ■
' The semitones seem to be so called not that they
' are exactly the halves of tones, but becaose they are
' not whole tones. The interval which we now call
' a semitone was by the ancienta called a limma, or
diesis ; and it is thus found : if from the sesqui-
tertia proportion, which is the diftteesaron, two see-
quioctave ratios be taken away, there will be left
' an interval, called a semitone. To prove this, let
' us find out two consecutive tones ; bat because
these, as has been said, are constitnted in sesqni-
octave proportion, we cannot find two snch, until
that multiple from whence they arc derived be fint
' ftrand : let therefore unity be first set down, and
' then 6, which is its octuple : from this we derive
' one multiple ; bnt becansa we want to find two,
' multiply o by 8, to produce 64, which will be a
' second multiple, from which we may brii^ ont two
' sesquioctave rados ; for if 8, which is the eighth
' part of 64, be added thereto, the sum will be 72 ;
' and if the eighth part of this, which is 9, be added
* to it, the sum will be 81 ; and these will be the two
' consecotive tones, in their lowest terms. Thna, set
'down 64, 72,81 :—
64
j 72 I 81 I
Tone. Tone.
SetqilloctavB. SaaqniocUve.
' We are now therefore to seek a sesqnilertia to 64 ;
' but it is found not to have a third part : wherefore,
' all these numbera must be multiplied by 3, and all
' remain In the same proportion as they were in
' before this multiplication oy 3. Then diree times
' 64 makee 192, to which if we add its thml part, 64,
' the sum will be 2fi6 ; which gives the sesqnit^rtia
' ratio, containing the diatessaron. Then set down
' the two sesquioctavea to 192, in their proper order,
' that is, three times 72, which is 216, and three timaa
' 61, which is that 243 : these two being set between
' the terms of the eesqnitertia, the whole will stand
Tone Tone Semit.
I 192 I 216 I 243 I 266 |
Diatessaron.
' In this disposition of the numbers, the first cou-
' etitutes a diatessaron with the last, and the first with
' the second, and also the second with the third, do
' each constitute a tone ; therefore the remaining in-
' tervals 243 and 2S6, is a semitone in its least terms.'
Cap. xxviiL Demonstrationee non ease, 243, ad
256, toni medietatem.
That the limma in the ratio 256 to 243 is lees than
a tme semitone, has been already demonstrated in the
course of this work.
Cap. xzix. De majore parte toni in qnibns
minimis nmneris constet
The apotome baa no place in the system, nor can
it in any way be conudered as a musical interval ;
in shor^ it is nothing more than that portion of a ses-
quioctave tone that remains after the limma hoe been
Uken therefrom. For this reason, its ratio is a matter
of mere curiosity ; and it seems from this chapter of
Boetins, that the smallest numbers in which it can be
found to consist, are those which Ptolemy makes use
of, that is to say, 2187 to 2048.
Cap. zzx Qnibns proportionibuB diapente, dia-
pason, constent, et qnoniam diapason sax tenia non
The demonstratdons contuned in this chapter are
levelled i^ainet the Arietoxeneans, and declare so
fully the eentimenta of the Pythagoreans, with respect
dbyG00*^lc
122
HI8T0KY OP THE SCIENCE
Book IU.
to the meaeare of the coiuonuit interv&Ia, that tiiey
are worthy of particular attention, and cannot be
better given than in the words of Boedos himself.
' The diapeute consiBts of three tones and a semi-
' tone, that is, of a diatasBaron and a tone : for let the
' numbers 192, 216, 24S, 266, comprehended in the
' above scheme, be set down thus : —
DIATE8SAB0N.
92 I 216 I 243 | 256 |
Tone Tone Semitone.
' these intervals are properly disposed in nnmbers.
' For let ux octaples be thns produced : —
1, 8, 64, 512, 4096, 82768, 262144.
' EVom this last number six tones, constituted in
' sesqoioctave proportiou, may be eat down, with the
' octuple terms and their several eighth parts, in the
' order following ; —
Octnplee.
1, 8, 64, 512, 4096, 32768, 262144.
/-262144
' In this disposition, the first number to the second
and the second to the third, bear tile proportions of
' tones, and the third to the fourth tlut of a lesser
' semitone, has been shown above. If then for the
' purpose of ascertaining the contraits of the dii4>ent«,
■ 32 be added Co 256, the sum will be 288, wMch is
' another sesqnioctava tone ; for 32 is the eighth part
' of 256, and 256 to 288, is 8 to 9. The extreme
' numbers will then be 192 to 288, which is seaqni*
' altera, the ratio of the diapente : —
Sesquioctaves. < 373246 Eighth parts. -
1419904
472392
1531441
32768
69049
192
DIAPENTE
Sesqmaltera.
' The nature of the above dispodtlon is this : the
first line contains the octuple numbers ; and the
seequioctave proportions in the first column are de-
duced Irom the last of them. The nnmbers con-
tained in the second column are the eighth parts of
thoae to which they are respectively opposite ; and
if each of these be added to the number against it,
the sum will be the nnmber of the next seequioctave,
in sncceesion. Thus, if to the number 262144
32768 be added, the sum will be 294912 ; and the
rest are found in the same manner. And were the
Isst number, 531441, dnple to the first, 262144,
then would the diapason truly consist of six tones ;
but here it is found to be more; for the duple of
292144 is 624288, and the nnmber of the sixth tone
is 531441. Hence it appears, that the consonant
diapason is less than six tones ; and the excess of
' Einally, by comparing the first number wiUi the
second, Uie second with the third, and the fourth
with tie fifth, t. e., 288, it will plainly appear, first.
that in the diapente ore three tones, and a lesser
semitone. If uien the dUtesBsron consists of two ' the eix tones above the diapason is called a coi
tones and a lesser semitone, and the diapente of three 'which in its lowest terms is 52426 to 531441
tonee and a lesser semitone ; and if the diateesaron
and diapente make up together the diapason, it will
follow, that in the diapason are five tones and two
lesser semitones, which joined together do not make
np a full and complete tone, and therefore that the
diapason does not consist of nx tones, as Aristoxenns
imagined, which also will evidently appear when
Six Octuplee.
I 524286 531441 |
COMMA, or the inter-
val by which six tones
In the third book Boetius continues his controversy
with the Aristoxeneans, who, as they assert, that the
diateasaron contains two tones and an half, and the
diapente three tonee and an half, must be supposed to
believe that the tone is capable of a division into two
equal parts, eoatrsry to that maxim of Euclid, that
' inter superparticulare non cadit medium,' a enper-
particolar ration cannot have a medie^. And Boe-
tius, in the first chapter of his third book, with great
clearness and precision demonstrates, that no such
division of the tone can be made, as that which
AristoxenuB and hie followers contend for.
Lib. III. cap. i. AdversnsAristoxenumdemonstratio,
• ThU ll alM tkB Fyttiagsnu nrnnu. wid ti tikn notka of br
HflnainUi tM« Hamwiuoor. dA DtMoouillli, pic. IS. Tt li Ish thM
thgofSl MM.MUBd Iht cDmina mijiu, or k£1hu, ud which it Ika
dbyGoot^le
&ip. XXV.
AND PBAOTIOE OF MUSIC.
128
roperparticnlareni proportionem dividi in ieqTi»
non posse, stqne iaeo nee tonnm. — Gap. ii. Ex
wsqniUTtu proportione enbUtiB dnobos tonis, toni
dimidimn nan reUnqaL — Cap. iii AdTeraum Aris>
toxenam demonitralioDeB, diateaaaron oonsonantiam
ex dnobiu tonis et aemitoiiio non conatare, cec dia-
paaaii aex tonia. — Cap. iv. Diapaaon conaotiantiam k
MX tonia conunate excedi, et qni ait minimoa namenu
commatia. — Gap. v. QQemadmodnin FbiloUna, tontiin
dividat.
Pythagonw fonnd out the tone by the difference
of a fonrth and fiiUi, snbtracting one from the other ;
I^ilolaoi, who was of bis school, proceeded fiuiher,
and effected a diviaion of the tone into commaa. The
manner of hia doing it is thus related by Boetins : —
' PhilolauB the Pythagorean tried to divide the tone,
by taking the original of the tone from that number
which among the Pythagoreans was esteemed very
hononrable : for ae the number 3 Ib the first oneveu
number, that moltiplied by S wiU give 9, which
being multiplied by 3 will necesRarily prodnoe 27,
which is diitant ^m the nnmber 24 by a tone, and
preserves the same difference of 3; for 3 is the
eighth part of 24, and being added thereto com-
pletes the cnbe of the nnmber 3, viz., 27. Philolana
therefore divided this into two parts ; one whereof
was greater than the half, which he called the apo-
tome ; and the other less, which he termed the
diesis, and those that came after him denominated
a leaser semitone ; and their difference he termed
a t»inma. The diesis he supposes to consist of 13
miitieB, becaose he supposed that to be the difference
between 243 and 266, and because the number 13
consisted of 9, 3, and unity ; which unity he con-
sidered as a pnnctnm. 3 he considered as the first
uneTen nnmber, and 9 as the first uneven square :
for this reason, when he fixed the diesis or semitone
at 13, be made the remmning part of the nnmber 27,
containing 14 unities to be Uie apotome. But be-
canae unity is the difference between 13 and 14, he
imagined nnity ought to be assigned to the place of
the comma ; but the whole tone he made to be 27
nnltiee, that number being the difference between
216 and 243, which are distant fttim each odier by
a tone.'
1 13
1
,8|
14 1 27 ]
Di«ri»
Apotome
,
Cftp. vi. Tonnm ex duobus semitoniis ac commate
conatare. — Chp. viL Demonatnttio, tonnm dnobns
Bemitomis commate distare. — Gap. vlii. De mi-
nofibuB eemittmii intervallis. — Okp, ix. De toni
psrtibos per conaonantlas sumendis. — Cbp. x. Regula
samendj eemituuii. — Gap. xi. Demonatratio Arcbytee,
snperparticnlarem in equa dividi non poise; ejnsqne
reprehensio.
It seems by this chapter, that this Archytas, who
it is supposed was he of Tarentnm, mentioned in the
account herein before given of the genera and their
species, was a Pythagorean. He it seems had under-
taken to demonstrate that proposition of the Pytha-
gorean school, that a superpartlcnlar ratio cannot be
divided into two equuly; but Boelaus says he
has done it in a loose manner, and for thia he repre-
henda him. It may be inferred from this chapter,
that eome of Uie wntings of Archytas on music were
in being in the time of Boetius ; but that there are
none now remaining is agreed by alt.
Cap. xii. In qua numeromm pro^rtione sit
comma, et quoniam in ea qun major sit quam 76
ad 74 minor quam, 74 od 73. — Cap. xiii. Quod
semitonlnm minus nmjus quldem sit quam 20 ad 19,
minus qnam 191 ad 18J. — Cap. xiv. Semitonlnm
minus, majus quidem esse tribns oomatibns ; minne
vero quatuor. — Gap. xv. Apotome majorem esse
quam 4 commata, minorem quam 6. Tonem ma-
jorem qnam 8, minorem quam 9. — Gap. xvi. Snperins
dictomm per nnmeros demonstratio.
Lib. IV. cap. L Vocum differentias in qnantitate
oonsisterc. — Gap. li. IHversse d« intervallis specu-
lationes.
This, as Its tlUe imports, is a chapter of a mis-
cellaneouB kind. Among other things, it contains
a demonstration somewhat different from that which
he had given before, that six sesqnioctave tones are
greater than a duple interval. That they ore so
will appear upon a bore inspeotion of the following
diagram : —
ocUtc. I ocUte. I etait. \ oeUTC
A B C »
E O K
mm. ] ««i 1 «17T«. 1 .,««. 1 4.m4, 1 iru«. 1 mm.
>h«.r<>n th. dUpw» 1. dolckQt ot U» i-nmlxir K b7 IIH. '
Ttaa dnpla <nMml lactn ta SUtK. .
Gap. iii. Mnsicamm per Qnecns oc Latinos Uteraa
notaram nnncopatio.
In this chapter are contained some of the principal
characters used by the Qreeks in their musical nota-
tion. It seems, that at the time when Glareanns
published his edition of Boetius, they had been cor-
rupted, which, conridering they were arbitroiy, or at
best that they were the letters of the Greek uphabet
reduced to a state of deformity, is not to be wondered
at. Molbomius had the good fortune to get in-
telligence of an ancient manuscript here in Ehigland,
in which this chapter was fbtmd, in a state of great
parity. He had interest enongh with Mr. Belden to
get him to collate his own by it : and the whole is
very correctly published, and prefixed to the Isagoge
of Alypins, in his edition of the ancient mnsical
authors.
Oap. iv. Monochordi regnlaris partitio in genere
diotonico. — Cap. v. Monochordi netamm hyperboleou
per tria genera partitio. — Cap. vi. Ratio snperius
digestfe descripdonis. — Gap. vii. Monochordi neta-
ram dleaengmenon per tria genera partitio. — Gap. vill.
Monochordi netamm synemmenon per tria genen
dbyGoo^le
1»
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book III
partiUo. — Cap. iz. Monochordi meson per tria ge-
nen partitio. — Cap. x. Monochordi hypaton per
tria genera partitio, et totiua dispositio deacrip-
tionis. — Cap. xi. Ratio Bnperius dispoBita deecrip-
donie. — Cap. xii, Db stantibus et mobilibns vocibna.
— Cap. xiii. De conaonantianim speciebus. — Cap. zlt.
De modoram exordiia, in qno dinpoeitio notarum
per ungolos raodoa ac voces. — Cap, zr. Descriptio
contineoB modomm ordinem ac differentiaa. —
Cap. xri Saperius diapoeits modoram descriptiones.
— Cap. xviL Ratio anperina diapoaitte modonun dea-
criptionia. — Cap. zviii. Qaemadmodnm Indnbitanter
musics conaonantite aure dijndlcari posaint.
lAb. V. Proeminm.
In thia Boetins gives the form of the monochord,
little differing from that of Ptolemy and Porphyry
herein before deacribed.
Cap. i. De vi barmonicss, et qaca dnt ejna instm-
menta jndidi, et qno nam nsqne aenaibna oportaat
credL— Cap. ii. Qnid ait harmonica regnla, vel qoam
intendonem harmonici Fythagorici, vel Ariatoxenne,
vei PtolemEna ease dixere.— Cap. iii In qno Aria*
tozenna, vel Pythagorici, vel Ptolemsens gravitatem
atqne acnmen constare poanerint. — Cap. iv. De eono-
nim difFerendie Ptolemssi eentenda. — Cap. v. Qnte
vocea enharmoniffi ennt aptn. — Cap. vi. Qaem nn-
memm propordonnm Pythagorici atatnunt — Oap. riL
Qaod repr^endat Ftolemsans Pythagoricoa in nnmero
groportionnm. — Cap. viii. Demonstrado aecondnm
tolenuenm diapason et diateeearon consonantisa. —
Oap. ix. Qiue sit pro^etas diapason consooantin. —
Cap.x. Quibns mcNlis Ptolemsna consonantias Btatnat
— Cap. XL Qnn annt eqnisonse, vel quee consons, vel
qoffi enunelis. — Oap. xiL Qaemadmodam Aristox-
enus intervallnm conaideret. — Cap. xiiL Deacripdo
octoehordi, qua ostenditnr diapaaon conaouantiam
mlDomm esse sex tonia. — Gap. xiv. Diatessaron
consonantiam tetrachordo condneri. — Cap. zv. Qno-
modo Ariatoxenua vel tonom dividat vel genera
ejneqne divieionis dispositio. — Cap. xvi. Qaomodo
Archytas tetracbordo dividat, eommqne descriptio.
— Cap. xvii. Qnemadmodnm Ptolemsena et Aristox-
eni et Archytse, tetrachordomm divisiones repre-
hendat. — Cap. zviii. Qaemadmodms tetrachordorum
diviaionem fieri dicat oportere.
CHAP. XXVL
Fkom the foregoing extracts a judgment may be
formed, not only of (he work from which they are
made, bat abo of tbe manner in which the ancients,
more eapecially the followera of Pythagoras, thought
of mosic. Well might tbey deem it a snbject of
philosophical apecnlt^on, when sncb abetnue reason-
ing waa employed abont iL To apeak of Boetins in
pardcnlar, it la clear that be was npon the whole
a Pythagorean, thongh he has not spared to detect
many of the errors impnted to that sect ; and his
work ia ao trnly theoretic, that in reading him we
never think of pracdce : the mendon of instmmente,
nor of the voice, as employed in singing, never
occurs ; no allnsions to tbe mnaic of bis dme, hat all
sbetract«d specnladon, tending donbdeas to t^ per-
fection of the art, but seemingly litUe connected
with it Here then the twofold nature of masic is
apparent : it has its fonndadon in number and pro-
pordou ; like geometry, it afforda that kind of Mea-
sure to tbe mind which results from the contem-
plation of order, of regularity, of truth, the love
whereof is connatnral with boman nature; like that
too, its principles are applicable to nae and pracdc&
Vie^ it in another light, and if it be possible, con-
eider music as mechaoicid, as an arbitrary cunsdtution,
as having no fonndadon in reaaon : but now exqniute
ia the pleasure it affords ! how eobeervient are tbe
passions to its influence '. and bow much is the wis-
dom and goodneaa of Ood manifested in that reladon
which, in the case of muaic, he has eetabliabed
between the canse and the effect !
That Boedua ia an obscure writer mnat be allowed;
the very terma need by him, and hia namea for the
propordons, though they are the common language
of tbe andent arithmeddana, are difQcnlt to be
understood at thia dme. Guido, who lived about
five hundred years after him, acniplea not to say,
that 'his work is fit only for philosophers.' It was,
nevertbeleaa, held in great eatimadon for many cen-
tones, and to this its reputation many causes co-
opera(«d ; to which may be added that the Greek
language waa little understood, even by tbe learned,
for a much longer period than that above mentioned ;
and to those few that were masters of it, all that
treaanre of musical erudition contained in tbe writinga
of Ariatoxenua, Euclid, Nicomachua, Ptolemy, and
the reat of the Greek harmonicians, waa inaccoaeible.
80 late as the time of our queen Elizabeth, it wai
doubted whether the writings of some of them were
any where extant in the world.*
For these reasons, we are not to wonder that the
Treatise de Muaica of Boetius was for many agea
looked upon aa the grand repository of harmonical
sraence. To go no briber thim our own country for
proofs, tbe writings of all who treated on the subject
before the beginning of the fourteenth centory, and
whoee uamee are preserved in the collections of
Leland, Bale, Pita, and Tanner, are but so many
commentaries on him : nay, an admission to the first
degree in music, in tbe universitiee of Oxford and
Cf^bridge, was bnt a kind of manuducdon to the
study of hia writings ■,'\ and in the latter tbe ezerdae
for a doctor's degree waa generally a lecture on
Boetinsj
And, to come nearer to our own times, Salinas and
Zarlino have pnrsoed the eame trmn of reasoning that
Boetins first mtrodnced. If it be asked bow haa thia
contributed to the improvement of music, (he answer
is not easy, if the question refers to the pracdce of
it; since what Mersennus and others have said ia
very true, that in the division of sounds we are de-
termined wholly by the ear, and not by ratios ; and
therefore the m^era and toners of instruments are in
• Horisj, in tin Pogntia w kk iDtiodnetkin.
t Wood, in th< Futt. Oioa. ff, U, ttf. «f bachalon of BiuiB. IhM
thfT wm iDoh who wm« ■dnltltd to tha mdlnf ui- -' "- '— •
bank! at Bonihu ; «d tai hli aeannt of John Umdoi.
vbo, uno IJM, tamOaUi (tar UiM docn*, ke hti, Ik
(hepTilUFCtoflridFniniiMlu. FhiL "
int of John MtBioM, m hciiIv pif»t,
U iwam, \t ujt, he obMlBgd ft with
dbyGoot^le
Chap.XXVL
AMD PRAOTIOE OP MUSIC.
126'
fid, dioagh they know it not, AriBtozeneana ; but if
1^ Miuic we are to naderBtand the Theory of the
science, this method of treating it has coutribnted
greatly to its improvement. Thia ia enough to
satisfy anch aa are aware of the importauM of &eory
in every edenbe : thoee whoae minda are too illiber^
to conceive any thing beyond pracdce and mere
mannal operation or energy, might perhaps demand.
What haa theory, what have the ratioa of nnmbers to
do wllh an art, the end whereof is to move the
paaaions, and not oonriuoe the nndentanding ; were
these considered, or even nnderatood, by the ablest
profesaors of the acience ; did Falestrina, Stradella,
did Coretli adjnat their hfumoniea by the monochord,
or consult Euclid or Ptolemy when they composed
respectively their motets, madrigals, and concertos ;
or ia it necesaary in the performance of them that the
nngers, or any of thoae who perform on an ioatra-
uent, the tnning whereof is not adjusted to their
hands, perpetually bear in mind tiie true harmonie
canon, and be aware of the difference between the
greater and leaser tone, and the greater and lesser
semitone ; and that whf^ in common practice is called
a semitone, is in fitct an int«rval in die ratio of 266
to 243, and nnleas so prolated is a dissonance ? And
after all it may perhaps be argued that this kind of
knowledge adds nothing to the pleasure we receive
from mnaic
To such as are disposed to reason in this maimer
it may be stud, We ml know that the dog who treads
the apit-wfaeel ; or, to go higher, the labourer that
drives a wed^e, or adds the strength of his arms to
a lever, are ignorant of all bnt the effects of their
Isbonr ; bnt we alao know that the ignorance of the
bnte uid of the miinstncted radontJ in this respect
afford no reason why others are to remain ignorant
too ; much leaa doea it prove it fhiitlese and vain for
men of a philosophical and liberal torn of mind to
attempt an investigation of the principles npon which
these machinea act.*
Farther, as a motive to the study of the ratios and
coincidences of harmonic intervals, it may be said
that the noblest of our facoltiea are exercised in it ;
and that the pleasnre arising from the contemplation
of that truth and certainty which are fonud in them,
is little inferior to what we receive from hearing the
most excellent music. And to this purpose the
learned and ingeniona Dr. Holder expresaea himself
m a passage which is inserted in a note sahjoined,t
* Tb» iMd*r irDI lad ttib ufsmant mndi batta anftmd ta th*
Imniad ud lagenbnu utbor of ■ tnMlM iDtRkd HmitM ot ■ Fhllo-
H^dal loqiiKT HOMniBi VulmBl Onmrnii. BntUniaueuuT
u niT It, in ordn to ad^ It to th*pnHnl*ul4*cti boi Uwiutlwr
^pUei It to that of Apflfloh I Uie whcria puuga la ¥«T bwiUfa], utd li
■ Ibllimr-^lldhhik)! liMUMm««tifMloc. dan*BdlB|irtili u ilt ar
' I* no ipaUng thm wHtaBOl (11 Ihli
piotHiiid phUOMplMnt W* Of HMW« br
lu part— Do not thoaa aama pool paaaanta naa th*
go, and manr DtlMS tBitiamanta. with muak baUtiial
jM kara ttaer mj aonoiptlon of lb«H gcomalrical
aclHtptoa ftom alilch thoaa nuchinM lUilTa tbalr afflocf and torn ?
' Aad ia Itia liBanBaa of thoie paauDla a iMMm tm Mhcn to mnaln
It. «r ta tandar tba (oblMI a Icaa beoomlag anqulrr I Think of
• and ngalablaa that oceor areir daji— of tbss. of plana, and of
I— of HiU, af tolmn, and af naiUatim— of onr Kniaa and in.
' tcUeel* br wiOeh w* ponln aTci; lUni ilw— That Omf an, ita all
' know and ut yntteOj aatiified-'What Iher an, li a aubjecl of much
' ohacnrtlr and dooht ; wen wo to redact thli laat queatioB baaauaa we
, ._._ -"thaSnt, wtihonld hanli'- " -'-' •^- " -"
Hatmaa, pa«. KI.
After all, we ought not to estimate the works of
learned men by the consideration of their immediate
utility : to investigate is one thing ; to apply,
another; and the love of science includes in it a
degree of enthusiasm, which whoever is without, will
wont the strongest motive to emolation ami improve-
ment that the mind is snsceptible of. Is it to be
conceived that those who are employed in mathe-
matical researches attend to the conseqneucea of their
own diacoveriea, or that their pnrsnita are not ex-
tended beyond the prospect of bare utility?* Is
short, no considerable progress, no improvement in
any sdenoe can be expected, nnleas it be beloved for
its own sake : as well might we expect the continn-
ation of our species from principles of reason and
dn^, abstracted from that passion which holds the
animal world in subjection, and to which hmnan
natare itself owes its existence.}
Taking this for granted, the merit of Boetins will
appear to consist la the having communicated to the
world such a knowledge of the fundamental princi-
ples of the ancient music, as b absolutely necessary
to the right understanding even of onr own system :
and this too at a period when there was little or no
ground to hope for any other intelligence, and there-
fore Morley has done him bnt justice in the enlogium
which he has given of him in uie following words : —
' BoedoB being by birth noble, and most excellent
'well versed in divinity, philosophy, law, mathe-
■ maticks, poetry, and matters of estate, did notwith-
' standing write more of mnsick than of all the other
' mathematical edencee, so that it may be jostiy said,
' that if it had not beene for him the knowledge of
' mnatoke had not yet come into our westeme part of
' the world. The Greek tongue lying as it were dead
* tairali of aouDdi br wlileh harmonr la mada, than la fDond ao much
' tuigi; and ontainij, and fasUtT <■ odmlatlon, thai tha eonlomplatlaa
' of Ihom JDMJ aeem not much leaa daUghtflil than tha vezj lioailiig tha
■ good mule Itaal^ whieh ipilnsa ftun thli bnataln i and thoaa wba
'harg alnadj an aAetlon tOi mnalo cannot hot Sad 11 ImpiOTod and
' much enhanead by thla pleuant and ncnaChu ehaaa, la I may call n,
■ tn tho iHga Slid ot hanaonk nOau and propoidDa, wtaaia lh*j wm
' And, to tbair gnat plaaann and latlilhcaoB, tha blddaa saoaea of hac-
'mouy (hidden to matt, aran to Haetlllanen ihemadna) ao amiily
'- Id and laid plain befDn them.' Natnial Otonndt ahd Pdn-
Sauglng of IlquoTi ;
ror maUDtf of abD^
ud conTeyaneoB.
methbig better tha
at authoiMo, thi
I, Ukazenemuan
■cnnnhen nUui^
lucnaTa or not, tb
. ^ Inwfaitofbondau
bimG to the aordld— If tha Hbaidaikfbr aomi
■ thli, wa ma* autwM, and aMai* than from tha ~
'nwraxaretiaof the mind upon thootema of acdex
■ mantj nardH of the body, tenda (o call IDrtfa ani
• orlgina] Tigoor. Be the tubjool llaelf immedlalal
* acton tn the dnma of Ufa, wbvtbar our part be ef Iha builer, or of the
' Parhapa ton there Ij a pleaaura even tn Klanov Itaal^ dittiiiet from
'anrawl to wbkti It maybe fUthei oondudT*. An not health and
' ttntisth of body dadrahle for their own ukai. though we haapen not to
■ ba talad either (bt poclara or dt^nncD I And baT* not health and
'~ ' ' d thdr Intilnalc worth alao. though not oODdonRed to
laatr Why ihauld then BOI ba a
BogniM 11) bi the men aparfyDfoui
a aoenlea of lower dagna t The iportiman be-
'Uetee therala goad bn hli cEmo! tha man of gaietjr. talili intrlguei
■eren the glutton in hia meal. Wa may Juatlyaak otthM*. why Iha)'
' ponut euch tblrga ; but If ihay aiuwar they punue them hecauae they
■ ai* good, 'twould be folly to aak Ibem Ibttber, why thcr punue whet ia
'good, it mitihl well In lucb ciaa ba replied on their behalf <how
. _.-_ — _ .* I. J ujij eppear) thai if then wat not aomelhing
ipaet uienil. even thinga useful tbemaalTaa eouM
'good, which waa ionorcapaet ui
'IhalHmelhbin an
» : and that If Ihno
Hermai, pa(. tH.
dbyGooi^le
126
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book III.
' tmder the borbarume of the Gothei and HanueB, and
' umsicke buried in the bowels of the Gieeke works
' of Ptolemsaus &nd AristoxeDus, the one of which
' BB yet hath never come to light, but lies in written
' copies in eome bibliothekes of Italy, the other hath
'b^ set out in print; bnt the copies are every
' D^ere bo scant and hard to come by, that many
' donbt if he have been set out or no.' •
Other improvements were reserved for a more en-
lightened age, when the study of physics began to bo
cultivated, when the hypotheses of tiie ancients were
brought to the test of experiment ; and the doctrine
4^ pendnlnms became another medinm for demon*
strMii^ the truth of those ratios idiich the ancient
hormonituans had investigated merely by the power
<tf numbers.
To the reasons above adduced in iavonr of the
writings of Boedns, another may be addeiJ, which
every Teamed reader will acquiesce in, namely, that
he was the last of the Latin writers whose wortu have
an^ pretence to purity, or to entitle them to the
epithet of classical.
It must however be confessed that the treatise Be
Mnsica of Boetins is but part of a much larger dis-
course which he intended on thst subject : most
authors speak of it as of a fragment, and the very
abrupt manner in which it oondudes nhews that he
bad not put the finishing hand to it. The whole of
the five books extant are little more thou an in-
vestigation of the ratio of the consonances, the nature
of the several kinds of proportionality, and a de-
claration of the opinions of tho several sects with
respect to the division of the monochord and the
general laws of harmony : these are, it is true, the
foundations of the science, bat there renuuned a great
deal more to l>e said in order to render this work of
BoetiuB complete; and that it was his design to
make it so, there is not the least reason to douU.
The desiderata of the ancient mosic seem to be the
genera and the modes, and to these may be added the
measnre of sounds in respect of their duration, or, in
other words, the laws of metre. It is to be observed
that music was originally vocal, and in that species
of it the voice was employed, not in the bare utterance
of inarticnlate sounds, but of poetry, to the words
whereof correspondent sounds in an harmonicsl ratio
were adopted, and therefore the duration of those
sounds might be, and probably wsa determined by
the measnre of the verse, yet both were subject to
metrical laws, which hod been largely discussed
before the time of Boetins, and these it became a
writer like him to have reduced to some standard.
Had Boetins lived to complete his work, it is
more than probable th^ ha would have entered into
a discussion of the modes of the ancients, and not loft
it a question, as it is at this day, whether they re-
garded only the situation of the final or dominant
note in respect of the scale, or whether they consisted
in the different position of the tones and semitones in
the system of a diapason. For the same reason we
may conclude that, had not hie.untimely death pre-
vented it, Boetius would have treated very lai^;Bly
• Sh Uh Pnomlo M hit InttedneUni, laaiid* 111* Md.
on the ecclesiastical tones : he was a Christian, and,
though not an enthusiast, a devout man ; music had
been introduced into the church -service for above a
century before the time when he lived ; 8t. Ambrose
had established the chant which is distinguished by
his name, and the ecclesiastical tones, then bnt four
in number, were evidentiy derived from the modes of
the ancients.
These are but conjectnree, and may perhaps be
thought to include rather what woe to be wished than
expected from a writer of so philosophical a turn as
Boetius ; we have nevertheless great reason to lament
his silence in these particulars, and most impute the
pesent darkness in which the wnence is unhappily
involved, to the want of that information which he of
all men of hie time seems to have been the most able
to commnnioate.
Maonub Aukblidb Casbiodorus, senator, a chris-
tian, bom at Bmtiom, on the confines of Calabria,
flourished at>ont the middle of the sixth century. He
hod a very liberal education considerii^ the growing
barbarism of the ^e he lived in, and by bis wisdom,
learning, and eloquence, recommended himself to
the protection of the Gothic kings Theodoric and
Athalaric, Amoloiraentha the daughter of the former,
TheodohaduB her husband, and Vitiges his successor.
Theodoric appointed him to the government of
Sicily, in which province he gave such proofs of his
abititiea, that in die year 490 he mode him his chan-
cellor, and admitted him to itis councils. After
having filled several important and honourable poets
in the state, he was advanced to the consolate, the
duties of which office he discharged without any
colleague in the year 511. He was continued in the
same degree of confidence and &vonr by Athalaric,
who succeeded Theodoric about the year 526 ; bnt in
the year 697, being dismissed from all his employ-
ments b^ Viti^, he betook himself to a religious
life. TnthemiUB says he Imcame a monk, and after-
wards abbot of the monastery of Ravenna; after
which it seems he retired to the monastery of Viviers,
in the extreme parts of Calabria, which he had built
and endowed himself. In his retirement from the
bnsiness of the world he led the life of a scholar, a
philosopher, and a Ohristian, amusing himself at
mtervals in the invention, and framing of mechanical
curiosities, such as sun-dials, water honr-glasses, per-
petual lamps, &0. He collected a very noble and
curious library, and wrote many books himself, por-
ticulorly Commentaries on the Psalms, Canticlee, the
Acts of the Aposties, the Epistles of St, Paul, and
the Apocalypse, and a Chronology : iarther he framed,
or drew into one body, the tripartite history of
Socrates, Sosomcn, and Theodoret, translated by
Epiphonius, the scholastic He wrote also Institn-
tionem Bivinamm Lectionum, in two books, which
Dn Pin says abounds with fme remarks on the Holy
Scriptures, and a treatise De Rations Animee, whidh
the some writer also highly commends. There are
extant of his, twelve books of Letters, ten of which
are written in the names of Theodoric and Athalaric,
he being it seems secretary to them both ; the other
two are in hie own name, and they all abonnd witii a
dbyGoo^le
Ohap. XXVI.
AND PRAOTIOE OP MU8I0.
127
Tu^ety of cnrioue imd intereeting pu-tictdKn. He
ma also the aatlior of & treatiae De septum IM«ci-
plinie, or of the Arts of Gnunmar, Rhetoric, Logie,
Arithmetic, Geometry, Mtuic, and Astronomy ; •
what he aays of moaio is contained in one chapter or
section of foor quarto pi^ee ; in this he is very brief,
referring v«ry often to Gandentins, Oeneoriiiite, and
other writefs. Hia general division of music is into
three parts, harmonic, rhythmic, and metric His
division of iostnimental mosic is also into three ^rts,
namely, percnssional, tensile, and infladle, agreeing in
this respect with other writers of the beet antbority.
One thing worthy of remark in the treatise of
Oaasioderas De Musics is, that he makes the cod*
Bonancee to be rax, namely, the diateeearon, diapente,
diapason, diapAson and diatessaron, or eleventh, dia-
pason and dispente, or twelfth, and, lastly, the dia-
diapason; in which he manifestly differs from Boetins,
whom he most have known and been intimate with,
for Boetins has bestowed a whole chapter in demon-
strating that the diapason cimi diateeearon is not
a consonant but a diaeonuit OaseiodomB makes the
immber of the modes, or, as he calls them the tones,
to be fifteen ; from which circnmstance, as also
becanae he here prefers the word Tone to Hode, it
may be condoded that he writes after Martianae
a^lla.
OasmodoroB died at bis monaatei^ of Viviers,
about the year 560, aged above ninety. Father
Simon has given a very high character of his theo-
logical writings ; they, together with his other works,
hvve been several tintes printed, hot the beet edition
of them is that of Rohan, in the year 1679, in two
volomes folio, with the notes and dissertations of
Johannes Qaretioe, a Benedictine monk.^
The several improvements of mnsic hereinbefore
„ otsf tba Ubcn] •dawa lud itm Dudabribn i1h
tbneotCudM&ru, u ^ptui br the lUitg Dt Hnptili PliUol(i(la •«
Ksmifl at Hvlluiu CaMll*. vUdi lOilDdiu * ttamtte dlKotina nn
achsT tlwm. Thk dlTUoo compnIuDdi bMh lh> UlTluni uhI tht
mudlWlDB dcHrtliMl fn ■ pniwIlBg pua. MHlltdmMlIIUM th« pn>-
SiMiiii. n KfcglHIla. M tb«r "«* cdM, of tint d>;, Ibr laclilsc Uh
poHd of irtiU UWT fitea ll»
rlo, loflc, kiithmatkr, mule.
nof vlilcb tiMjr dliEbuobhed
br thU ot quflTioiB.
■Tba «t
■nn IIIH
taaatuirof~M>ii
HsUilDitaBbtmnM. _
A)nla'>tnallM«aMnilMtti«Di Midih
'antbcmHnb>Kt,w)iJcG wm in Uh
• puml put (« ita* I '
T Ihu tba RWlnin, ud
. kaisad wittna.' Eedaalut. Hkt. Cant.
Till, pan B-c^ I.
t Dpos tba wrtttaga of Uw LuttoM tba nmait la abTlDBa. thai tbar
■ddtd nslbtiv ta miuiaal lelna ; and Indaad tbaii InfUtorilf to tba
Onvka. botb tn pbUoao^hr and "'- ■ '— ' — ' — ■- '- *"
allowBd bj tba baal ludgaa af r~^
iBSead ta Ibdr fntOet of i
■nnd «■ that of thrii srad
laiertitl™ "f tba bjdnnfla n.. .
" — - ■— ^— o( in aw of bfa •pMls*,
■Ub Uw ftnt tntteuKlDo .
The Mlawlnc It an epitapb In
enumerated, regarded chiefly the dieory of the science,
those that followed were for the most part confiued
to practice : among the latter none have a greater
title to our attention than those made about &6 end
of the airth century, by St. Gregory the Great, the
first pope of that name, a man not more remarkable
for his virtues than for his learning and profound
skill in the science of munc.
The first improvement of mosic made by this
Esther consisted in the invention of that kind of
notation 1^ the Roman letters, which is used at this
day. It IS true that before his time the use of the
Greek characters had been rejected; and as the
enarmonic and chromatic genera, witii all the various
species of the latter, had given way to the diatonic
geans, the first fifteen letters of the Roman al[^bet
had even before the time of Boetins been found
anfficient to denote all the several sounds in the
perfect ^stem ; and accordingly we find in his
treatise Be Musics all the sounds from Frostam-
banomenos to Nets hyperboleon Characterised by the
Roman letters, &om A to F inclusive ; bnt Gregory
reflecting that the sounds after Lychanos meson were
bnt a repeti^on of those before it, and that every
septenary in progression was precisely tiie same,
reduced the number of letters to seven, which were
A, B, 0, D, £, F, G; but, to distinguish the second
sept^iaiT f^m the first, the second was denoted by
the small, and not the capital, Roman letters; and
iriien it became necessary to extend the system
farther, the amall letters were doubled thos, aa, bb,
cc, dd, 60, ff, gg.
But the encreasing the number of tones from four
to eight, and the institntiou of what is called the
Gregorian Ohant, or plain song, is the improvement
for which of all others this bther is most celebrsted.
It has already been mentioned that St Ambrose
when he introduced ainging into the church-service,
selected from the ancient modes four, which he
appropriated to the several offices: &rther it is to
be olmerved, that to these modes the appellation
of Tones was given, probably on the authority of
MartisnuB Ospella, who, aa Sir Henry Spelmau re-
marka, waa the first that subetitnted the term Tones
in the room of Modes. Bnt we are much at a loss to
discover more of the nature of the tones instituted
by St. Ambrose, than that they consisted in certain
progreeeions, corresponding with different epeciea of
the diapason; and that under some kind of r^pi-
lation, of which we are now ignorant, the divine
offices were alternately cbantetl, and this by tiie
express institution of St Ambrose himself, who all
agree was the first that introduced the practice of
utemate or antishonal singing, at least into the
western church ; but it waa sn^ a kind of redtotion
as in his own opinion came nearer to the tone of
reading than aingmg.f
Cardinal Bon^ cites Theodoret, lib. IV. to prove
that the method of singing introduced by St Ambrose
was alternate; and proceeda to relate that aa the
vigour of the cleric^ discipline, and the majee^ ot
t Toiahu Da BaianUla mMbamatktIa, cap. iiL | IL
dbyGoo<^Ie
las
HISTORY OF THE 80IEN0E
Book IU.
tbe Ohrietian religion eminently shone forth in the
ecdeaiaatical aong, the Roman pontifia and the blBhopa
of other chnrchee took care that the clerks from
their tender years should team the mdiments of
onging under proper masters ; and that accordingly
a mDMo-echool was institnted at Borne by pope
Hilaiy, or, as others contend, by Gregory the Great,
to whom also we are indebted for reatorii^ the
ecclesiastical song to a better form; for thongh the
practice of unging was from tbe very foundation
of the Ghriation chnrch need at Rome, yet are we
ignorant of what Hod the ecclesiastical modes were,
before the time of Gregory, or what was the dis-
cipline of the singers. In fact the whole service
seems to have been of a very irregular kind, for we
are told that in the primilJTe chnn^ the people song
each as his inclination led him, with haraly any
other restriction than that what they sang ^ould
be to the praise of God. Indeed some certain
offices, snch as the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles'
Oreed, had been used in the church -service almost
from the first establishment of Ohristianity;* but
these were too few in number to prevent the intro-
duction of h^ns and spiritual songs at the pleasure
of the heresiarobs, who began to be very numerous
about the middle of the sixth century, and that to
a degree which called aloud for reformation. The
evil increasing, the emperor Thoodosiue requested
the then pope, Domasns, to frame such a service
OS should consist with the solemnity and decency
of divine worship; the pope readily assented, and
employed for this puroose a presbyter named
Hieronymns, a man of learning, gra^rity, and dis-
cretion, who fbrmed a new ritno], into which he
introduced the Emstles, Gospels, uid the Psalms,f
with the Gloria Patri and Allelniah ; and these,
togetiier with oertMn hymns which he thooght proper
' to retiuu, made up the whole of the service.
It is very doubtful whether any thing like an anti-
phonary existed at this time, or indeed whether St,
Ambrose did any thing more than institute the tones,
leaving it to the singers, under the regulations thereby
preecrilied, to adapt snch musical sounds to the several
(dfices as they shoold from time to time think fit ; and
to this the confusion that had arisen in the chnrch-
■ervice was in a great measure owing. What methods
were token by Gregory to remedy this evil will be
related in the following account of him.
CHAP. XXVII.
Qrboort the First, sumomed the Great, was bom
at Rome of an illnatrioos family, about the year 550.
He studied with great success, and his quali^ and
merit so recommended him, that the emperor Justin
the younger mode him prefect of tliat ci^. After he
had held this high office for some time, he discovered
that it made him too fond of the world, and there-
upon he retired to a convent which he hod founded
in his own house at Rome ; but he was soon called
out of this retirement by pope Pel^ns II., who, in
■ NIi«i nir It Chut Ongmlni. ■
682, made him one of his deacons, and sent him to
Constantinople, there to reside in the court of the
emperor Tiberius, in quality of his nuncio or surro-
gate, thongh bis inunediete business there was to
solicit succours against the Lomliards. Upon tbe
death of Tiberias in 586, Gregory returned to Rom^
and was there employed as secretary to Pelogius;
but at length he obtained of him leave to retire
agun to his monastery, the government whereof he
lud formerly bestowed on an ecclesiastic named
Valentius, whom for lus great merit he had taken
from a monastery in the country. Here he thought
to indulge himself in the pleasures of a studious and
contemplative life, bnt was soon drawn from his
retirement by a contagions disease, which at that
lime raged with such violence, that eight hundred
persons died of it in one honr.J To avert this
calamity Gregory quitted his retreat, came forth
into the city, and instituted litanies § and a sevenfold
procession, consisting of several orders of the people,
apon whose arrival at the great church it is said the
distemper ceased. Of this disease Pelagius lumself
died, and by the joint suffrage of the clergy, the
senate, and people of Rome, GJregory was chosen for
his successor ; bnt he was so little disposed to accept
this digni^, that he got himself secretly conveyed
out of the city in a basket, thereby deceiving the
guards tliat were set at the gates to hinder his escape,
and went and hid himself m a cave in the middle of
a wood ; but being discovered, he was prevailed on
to return, and was consecrated on the third of Sep-
tember, fi90, and was the first of the popes that used
tbe style ' Servus servomm DeL' He was of a very
infirm and weakly oonatitntion, bnt had a vigorous
mind, and disduurged the duties of his station with
equanimity and firmness. He poeeessed a great shore
of learning, and was so well skilled in the tempera
and dispositions of mankind, that he made even the
private interests and ambitious views of princes sub-
servient to the ends of religion. One of the greatest
events wliich by liis prudence and good management
he brought almnt during liis pontificate, was the con-
version of the English to Ohristianity, which, aa
related by Bede, makes one of the prettiest stories
in our history. But what gives him a title to a plac«
in this work is his having effected a reformation in
the music of the chnTch.[[
^^ki^^MJm^ Ib^MiitayitJlcii U iimcln Oat ian4 0/ praftr
m Xawuma, M*k« at VU*m» aUmi tit
H MULtif B/^>cnu.ar(>>Jiilob>«>e>Ha<to>«-
r r<f(r d> AX w V »«• O (*< Umt <ir A. AuU;
UU, til* XttoMT iHV utti in 9tr ekmrA wrw iuarl|r eomimonit. Cttiftr.
Btnfii. AmUa. BCB* nil. Otf, I. StQ. id. Hott. Sttl. Pol. Bint F.
ait.4l. Lvinmffi AOiioKtof IMitmtUfitm, Amul.tH Ckiir. if.
I Ishuna Dluooui, who wrots the life of Ihli pope, un that h*
ImltaMd Ui« moil win BaLamaTilnlhlirHpeirt ; ud thai he with Intlnlta
Uboni ul gTBU Inftnulcy oatafotsi tn uiitphmuy ; uid Kho wittcn
■dd > gladual ilM, not In the waj at coiii|iilulon. or by laiDcctInK the
olDm tbettdn conu^nrd, but thit he dklmtnl or poknted, Hid actuAlly
lUmnmtLtnl tbo EDiiAleAl cantiu tMth to ih« Antlpbonarjr atid ^fradutf.
Nfliiiu ii ■ word poaaihl; dffrfred from th« Oiwik Kvtvfta, and. ■■
upltlned by BJc Harj Spolmu, ilgiiiBiia in acfncMlDii of ■• bmt
dbyGoot^le
Ohap. XXVII.
ABD PKAOTIOB OF MUSIC.
139
BCaimbonrg in bie Histoire dn Pontificat de Bt.
Qr^oire has collected from Jolistmee Diacoaus tmd
others, all that he could find on this subject. The
account given by him is bb follows '. —
' He espedally applied himself to regnlate the
office and the sins^g of the church, to which
end he compoBed his sntipbonaiy — nothing can be
more admirable than what he did on this occasion.
Though he had upon his bands all the affairs of
the universal cbarch, and was still more bnrthened
with distempers thsn with that multitude of busineaa
which he was necessarily to take care of in all parte
of the world, yet he took time to examine vrith what
tmies the pealms, hymns, oraisona, verses, responses,
canticles, lessons, epistles, the gospel, the prefaces,
and the Lord's Prayer were to be sung ; what were
the tones, measures, notes, moods, most suitable to
tbe majesty of the church, and most proper to inspire
devotion ; and he formed that ecclesiastical music so
grave and edifying, which at present is called the
Gr^orian music He moreover instituted an aca-
demy of singers for all the clerks to the deacouship
exclusively, because the deacons were only to he
employed in preaching tbe Gloepel and ihe dis-
tributing the alms of the church to tbe poor ; and
he would have the singers to perfect themselves in
tbe art of true singing according to tbe notes of his
music, and to bring ^eir voices to sing sweetly and
devoutly ; which, aceording to St. Isidore, is not to
be obtamed but by fasting and abstinence : for, says
he, tbe ancients fested the day before they were to
sing, and lived for tbeir ordinary diet upon pulse,
to moke their voices clearer and uier ; whence it is
that tbe heathens called those singers bean-eaters.*
***** However, St. Gregory took care to
instruct them himself, as much a pope as be was,
and to teach them to sing welL Johannes Diaconus
Bam that in bis time, this pope's bed was preserved
with great veneration, in the palace of 8t John of
Lateron, in which be sang, though sick, to teacb tbe
singers ; as also tbe whip, wherewith he threatened
tbe young clerks and the singing boys, when they
were out, and failed in the notes.'
The account given by Johannes Diaconus is aome-
vrbat more particular than that of Maimbonrg, and is
to this effect : — ' Gregory instituled a singing school,
' and built two bouses for tbe habitation of the scho-
' lars, and endowed tbem with ample revenues ; one
' of these houses was near the stairs of the church of
' St. Peter, and the other near tbe Lateran palace.
' For many ages after his death, the bed on which he
' modulated as be lay, and the whip which he used
* to terrify the younger scholars, were preserved with
' a becoming veneration, together with tbe authentic
' antiphooary, above said to have been compiled by
'bim.'t
KHUidi ■• BUT t* attend tai ont Hagle mplntton. Bpelm. Oloai. net
;ss
QngoTiia) man ■■pknllHlml
Other additions to and improvements of the servioe
are attributed to St Gregory. It is said, that be
added the prayers, particularly this, ' Diesque nostros
in pace disponas,' and the Kyrie Eleeson, and the
Alleluia, both which be took from the Greek liturgy ;
and that be introduced many hymns, and adopted the
responsaiia to tbe lessons and gospels : nay, some
have gone so far as to assert that he invented the
stave. Kircber speaks of a MS. eight hundred years
old, which he bad seen, containing music, written on
a stave of eight lines ; but Viucentio Galilei, in bis
Dialt^ della Mnsica, shews that it was in use before
Gregory's time :f this isamatter of some uncertunty;
but the merit of substituting tbe Komon letters in the
room of tbe Greek characters, the reformation of
the andphonory, tbe foundation and endowment of
seminanes for the study of music, and tbe intro-
dnction of four additional tones, are certainly his
due; and these are the chief particulars which
historians have insisted on, to shew Gregory's
affection for mnsia The augmentation of tbe tones
must doubtless be considered as a great improve-
ment ; the tones, as tbey stood adjusted by St.
Ambrose, were only fonr, and are defined I^ a series
of eight sounds, in the natural or diatonic order of
progression, ascending from D, from E, from F, and
irom G, in the grave, to the same sounds in the acute.
But before the nature of this improvement can be
tmderstood, it must be premised, Uiat although thi
ecclesiastical tones, consisting merely of a varied
succession of tones and semitones, in a gradual ascent
from tbe lower note to its octave, answer exactly
to the several keys, as tbey are called by modem
musicians ; yet in this respect they differ ; for in
modem compositions tbe key-note is tbe principal,
and the whole of the harmony has a relation to it ;
but the modes of the church suppose another note, .
to which that of the key seems to be but subordinate,
which b termed the Dominant, as prevailing, and
being most frequently beard of any in the tone ; the
other, from whence the series ascends, is called the
Rnal§
Farther, to understand the nature and use of this
distinction between the dominant and final note of
every tone, it is to be observed, that at the intro-
duction of music into the service of the Christian
church, it was tbe intent of the fathers that tbe whole
sbould be sung, and no part thereof said or uttered
in the tone or manner of ordinary reading or praying.
< utlpbouilo nteriuur.' Joh»BB. DUeon. inVtisOreg. lib. H. o^. tL
Jobunnei IHuMiniu gouriihtd about tbe jiti SM ; 10 IhU tbeee nlia
mlgtil* Jiave been two hundied sid terentT yeut old at tha Ilioa ivbaD
li« wrote Lbe LLfft of Gn^ry.
t It ii voRhf or remuk. tluil (he mvHal ttiTe hH tuM Id tte
Umit* ilacelt vu flnt Invenlod. By the paiea^ Ln OilileL Above ro-
ftomd to. Vt wemi to bevo been orUlullj cootrlicd la IncJuda the mtem
ofidltqueon, ueoDt^ntnicelgbl nuet; on which onlr. snA not Id tbe
epuH. Ihe polnte vt not** wen arl^nelly placed. Guido Arellmu, by
meklrg uee of the ipaes, rednnd it to lire Un«. AflFi Ui lime. Uul
ft to uj in the thirteenth ccnturr. the it^Te wu Unelly lettled it toot
Ifnei. In conicauenH, U ^ ■uppoeed, of thet carrectkiDorihe,
of the Cluerdu ontei, which St. Bemud uiid^nnik ■□
forth* noUllon of the Centui OiceotUoiu.
I NiT. eur le Cfaut Qtegorhit, dup. xlL £
dbyGooi^le
180
fflSTOEY OP THE 8CIEN0E
Book UL
It seemed tberafore necessary, in the insdtaUon of
a mnsical service, so U) connect the several parts of
it as to keep it within the bonnde of the hanum
voice ; and this ooold only be done by restraining it
to some one certain sound, as a medium tor adjosting
tlie limits of each tone, and which ehonld pervade the
whole of the service, as well the psalms and those
portions of scriptore that were ordinarily read to the
people, as the hymns, canticles, spiritmd songs, and
other parts thereof, which, in their own natore, were
proper to be snog.
Hence it will appear, that in each of the tocee it
was necessaiy not only that the concords, as, namely,
the fourth, ^e fifth, and the octave, shonld be wdl
defined ; bat that the key-note shonld so predominate
as that the singers should never be in danger of
missing the pitch, or departing from the mode in
which the service shonld be directed to be sung ; this
distincdon, therefore, between the dominant and final,
most have existed at the early time of institntiiig
the Cantos Ambrodanna, and tha same prevuls at
this day.
The characteristics of the four primitive modes
were theee : in each of them the diatessaron was
placed above the diapente, which is bnt one of the
two kinds of division of which the diapason is sns-
oeptible. Gregory was aware of this, and interposed
fonr other tones between the foor instituted by St.
Ambroee, in which the diapente held the uppermost
place in the diapason : in short, the tones of SL
Ambrose arise from the arithmetical, and those of
8l Or^ory from the harmonical. division of the
diapason.* The addition of the four new tones gave
rise to a distinction which all the writers on the
subject have adopted ; and accordingly those of the
first class have the epithet of Anthentic, and the latter
that of Plagal : the following diagram mi^ serve to
shew the difference between the one and the other of
them: —
18 6 7
f" !■
(:
1'
1 ^
V
r
rN fl
1 f'l
M 0
1
|i P , ■ (
. ,
h
f B
' V
' •
(J I
'1 '■a
0 I
h
:l ■
there are three different apeciea of diatessaron, and
fonr of diapente ; and that fW>m the conionction of
these two, there arise seven spedee of diapason.
Authors lave dilfored m their manner of chaiacter-
ieing these several systems, as may be seen in Bon-
tempi, who calls the conuxirison of tiiem annnprofitable
operation, f That of^ GaSimns seems best to
correspond with the notions of those who have
written professedly on the Oautns Oregoriaaos, par-
ticularly of Ercoleo, who, in bis treatise, intjtled II
Canto £cclenastico, has thxa defined them : —
THREE Spedes of DIATESSARON.
1 has already been taken to remark, that
o aaCbentk fbrmntft of tin toiHS Ln ranBlal ehuseurt man
Fhit I« to b« Anud In Itaa wfltlngi of FmuUDo* : LlbCfe i*
US. In the Bimb HDMum, Khleh ■■• pan at Uw CoHon
It now remuns to show how the tones correspond
with the seven epedee of diapason; and thia will
dbyGoo^le
Ohap. xxvni.
AND PRACfFIOB OF MDSia
most clearly appear from the description which Qaf-
AtriuB has given of them in hie Pracdca MnaicaB
ntaiosqae Oantns, lib. I. wherein he saye,
' The first tone is formed of the first apecies of
diapente, between D bol ae and A la m rb, and
the first species of diateBsaron from the same A la
MI BE to D LA BOL BB in the acnte, conatitnting the
fonrtii spedes of diapason, D d.
'The second is formed of the same apeciefl of
diapente and ^ateasaron ; but so diapoeed as to form
tho first apeciee of diapason, A a.
' The tlurd is formed of the eeoond species of
diapente, between E la h, grave, and Ij la ; and
the second speciee of diatessaroii from the aanje \j
MI, to E LA Ml, acnte, conatitatii^ the fifth apedee
of diapason, E e.
'The fourth is formed of the aame species of
diapente and diateeaaron ; bnt so disposed ss to form
the second spedee of dii^iason, hh
' The fifth is formed of the third species of dia-
pente, between F ra dt, grave, and C sol rA nr ;
and the third epeciea of diateesaron, from the same
0 SOL FA nr to F rA DT, ocnte; constitnljt^ the
sixth apetdea of diapason, F f.
' The six^i ia formed of the aame species of dia-
pente and diateaaaron ; bat so diq>oaed as to form
the third speciee of diapason, 0 c
'The seventh is formed of the Ebnrtb species of
diapente, between O sol bb nr, grave, and D la.
SOL KB ; and the first speciee of diatesearon from
the same D la sol bb, to G bol bb nr, acuta;
constitnting the seventh apecies of diapaeon, Q g.
'The ugnth is formed of the aame ape<nes of
diapente and diatesearon ; bnt ao disposed as to
form the fourth apedea of diapason, D d, whidi ie
the charactensUc of the first tone : but the dominant
of the one being A, and that of the other Q, there
is an essential difference between them.'
Hence it appears, that the difference between the
Authentic and Plagal modes, arieea from the different
division of the diapason in each ; the Anthentica
being divided in h&rmonical, and the Flagala in
arithmetical proportion. The natnre of ^ese is
folly expl^ned in the treatise De Mnsica of Boetina,
lib.'n. cap. xii.: and by Dr. Holder, in his treatise
of the Natural Grounds and Prindples of Harmony,
chap, v.*
From the principles laid down by the latter of
these writ«rs,T it will follow, that taking the num-
bers 12, 9, 6, 6, to express the propoTtJon of the
diapason, and its component intervals, the diatessaron
and diapente ; when the divirion of the diapason
is thus, 12, 9, 6, or A D a, giving to the diatessaron
the lowest position, the proportion ia arithmetical :
'When it ia 12, 8, €, or A S a, in which the lUi^nte
holds the lowest place, it b harmonical.^
• amta atom tntaH,nta,tlliMp.ailT. I Vlda Hold. pas. a».
t HalCDim, In hta TnUn of Mukk, p^. 1(1, m]p< tint llw ultta-
— ibal illililiiii piit» thr lih niTt Ihr liiitT-T~— , — ' "" ■——'—'
MIt tb* paUB, u in Uw DnmlHn «, ■. I, II, h Ihcf aiUlalj do.
A^fn 1m uri, pf H>> Out tb( hunnonlal dlrMcin pUcH t<" '•>-
Having adjusted the number and limits of tha
tones, Gregory proceeded to the invention of a Cautus,
anch as he thought would be consistent with the
gravity and dignity of the service to which it waa
to be applied. A plain nnisonona kind of melody
frequency inflected to the concords of its key, aeemed
to him the fiUeat for thia pnrpoee; and having
prescribed a rule to himself, as well as to others,
he proceeded to apply to the divine offices that kind
of Cantilena which prevails in the Roman church
even at this day ; and which is known in Italy by
the name of Oanto Fermo, in France by that of
Plun CSiant, and in Germany and moat other conn-
triea by that of the Gantua Gregorianua. Cardinal
Bona gives this deecription of it : — ' The cantos insti-
'tnted b^ Saint Gre^ry was plain and unisonous,
• proceedmg by certain limits and bonnds of tones,
'which the mnsiciaQs term Modea or Tropes, and
'define by the octonarv number, according to the
• natural dispoeition of toe diatonic genus.'
Oonaidenng that the right underattuiding of the
eccleuastical tones is essential to the regular per-
formance of choral service, it is not to be wondered
at, that almost every writer on music, who professes
to treat the subject at lai^, has taken them under
his consideration ; and though it may aeem, that
after they were first establi^ed and promulgated
through the church, they ceased to be an object
worthy the attention of theorists in musical science
yet there is no aasignable period in which it was not
necessary to review them, and purge them from those
errors which the levity and inatt«ntaon of the singers
were from time to time inbrodncii^ ; for, for new a
century after Gregory's time, innovations of this kind
were so frequent, that it seemed hardly possible to
preserve the Oaatus Gregorianua in any degree of
parity ; and, therefore, the court of Rome was con-
tinually troubled with applications from the princes
of Enrope, expresdng tiieir fears that the Cantus
GregorianuB woa in danger of being loet, and praying
its interpoaition in order to its reetoration.
A more particular account of these applications, and
the aucceae they met with, will ahortly follow ; they
are mentioned in thia place to shew that the Cantna
GregorianUB woa eeteemed a matter of great import*
ance in divine worship, and to account in some
measure for the numerous tracts that are extant in
the world concerning it
OHAP. XXVIH.
Im the earlier ages the treatases written with a
view to preserve the integrity of the ecclesiastical
tones, were composed in monasteries : Guido Aretinus,
a Benedictine monk, in a tract entitled Microlt^os, a
very particular account whereof wQl hereafter be
f^ven, has bestowed three chapters on the explanation
of the modes or tropea, whidt are no other than the
eight ecclesiastic tones. Many other discourses on
the same subject are also extant in manuscript ; and
in print they are ionomerabte.
Of manuscripts none can pretend to greater au-
thority than the Micrologus of Guido Aretinus, the
twelfUi, thirteenth, and fourteenth chapters whereof
Digitized
byGoo*^le
133
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
conUin a genenl description of the eight eccleBiastical
modes, tropes, or tones, bnt without any distinctioD
of their respective finals snd dominants. In a manu-
script in the library of Bsliol college, contAining the
MicrologDB of Guido, snd several other musical tracts,
is a dialogoe heginning with these words, ' Qoid
est Musics?' in which the tones ftre treated with
a somewhat less decree of obscurity ; but this also
U defective in that it contsins no Formula to ascer-
tain the relation between the Dominant and the Final
in each of them. But the manuscript of greatest
value and curiosity, in respect of its copiousness and
perspicuity, of any now extant, is one on vellnm with
the following title, ' Hnnc Libmm vocitatum Musi-
' cam Quidonis scripsit Dominos Johannes Wylde,
' quondam exempt Monasterii Sancta Crncis de
'Waltham Prtecentor,' the property of Mr. West
now president of the Boyal Society, and which
formerly belonged to Tallis, as appears by his hand*
writing on a blank leaf thereof.* In this book, of
which a more partdcolar account will be given here-
after, are contiuned a great number of disconrses on
the subject of mnsic, composed by sundry persons,
as namely, the above-mentioned Johannes Wylde,
Eendale, Johumes Torkesey, Thomas
Walsyngham, Lyondl Power, ChUston,
and others ; and among these are several short tracts
on the tones or tropes as they are called. The first
in the book, which seerog to have been not barely
copied, but composed by Wylde, ia on the subject
of what he calls Guidonian music It is divided
into two parts, the one treating of Manual, i. e., ele-
mentary music, ft«m the figure of the left hand,
which Guido is stud to have made use of for ex-
pltuning his system j and the other of Tonal music,
containing the doctrine of the ecclesiastical tones.
In the thirteenth chapter of this second part of
Wylde's tract it is said that all the tones are pro-
duced from the seven species of diapason ; but as
there are eight of the former, and only seven of the
latter, the author first takes upon him to explain how
the eighth tone was generated : he says that Ptolemy
considered the seventh species as prwuced from the
third, and thooght that the fourth was also capable
of producing another tone, which he added to the
seven, making thereby an eighth : he adds, that be
dbposed one after another, the fifteen letters, which
comprehended the bisdiapason ; constitnting A for
the first note thereof, and P for the last ; and having
Jrawn seven semicircles, which pointed out seven
species or tones, he added the eighth, extending from
the middle letter f] or H to the last letter P, which
was the only eightli that wanted a semicircle ; point-
ing out thereby the fourth species, which has its
mediation in G, in which the eighth tone is ter-
minated : and this, says he, Boetins asserted to be
• TId* muuKilirt nuad
gmiuH H, talm In ^ un ._ ... .
ttUt hli dnlh n had ftir in vmat Hi. Fowla,
conramililllwRltCBof CtniiWIllliini tmmkln
ud iiltaT Ui Jumi M Sir Jowph Jak/U,
ItvubnuhtliT ■ '- "- *
Kim«uiida(MM
of Horiaji, tiid *
of'th* hou
The same author observes that though tbe species
are Eight, yet tbe genera of tones are in troth but
Four, eacb being divided into authentic and plagal ;
and that each genus is by some writers termed a
Maniera, which appellation he rejects, as coming
from the French. He says that no cantna in any of
the tones can with pn^riety exceed the limits of
a tenth ; and so indeed do all the writers on this
snbjectf
In the same manuscript are several other tracts,
one in particular composed by a certain monk of
Sherborne, in metre, tending to explain the precepts
of what was then c^ed tonal music.
Many other manuscripts on this subject there are,
which, by the assistance of the printed catalogues
may be found ; but as a comparison of the several
definitions therein contained, might introduce a de-
gree of confusion which no diligent enquirer would
wish to encounter, it is safest to rely on those authors
who have written since the invention of printing, and
whose works have stood the test of ages.
Of these Ga&iirias, as he is of the greatest anti-
quity, so is be of unquestionable authority. In his
book intitled Practice Mnsicte utritisque Cantns,
printed in the year 1502, he has entered-into a lai^
discnssion of the ecclesiastical tones, and has ex-
hibited them severally in the following forms : —
TONE 1.
tt fnm H va Uktn,
nlijo^inlit, Hr.Wiat, ud ka In (tiUnida lot
Mu, Bnaaad tha acMpUBM of U on tta praaant
CDPT of It m* tHiBd Id tka lUnfT "l Vr. Papuch
It tt horn Iha OTiglul (bit tbla ud tha •abaaqoont
t Thii nila mut bo undentood u »f<nlii« only w lb
euitiu wblcb la oaed In Iba iDtotiAttan of cbe paahoi and at
tha HTTiDa, ud not to that of tba uUphona and bytnui ;
dbyGoot^le
AND PRAOTICE OF MUSIC.
US
The mboTB chanctare exhibit the eseentutl parts of
each of the tones, that is to say, the beginniog, the
mediation, and the close, which is generally con-
tuned in the Enonae, a word, or rather a compsges
of letters, that requires bat little explanation, being
nothing more than the vowels contained in the words
Becnlomm Amen ; and which whenever it occurs,
as it does almost in eve^ p^e of the antiphonary,
is meant as a direction for ""ging those words to
the notes of the Enonae.
From Oafihrins the tones have been continued
down to this lime, throogh all the books that have
been written on the subject of mnsic at large, in
almost every country in Enrope. Of those written
professedly on the eccleeiaetical tones, there are two
that merit a particnlar attention, the one entitled
Armonia Gregoriana, by Oerolamo Oautone, Master
of the Novices, and vicar of the convent of St.
Francis, at Tnrin, pablished in 1678, oblong quarto.
The other has the title of II Canto Ecclesiastico, the
author D. Maraio Ercnieo, printed at Modena in
1686, in small folio.
The first of these books contains the mdiments of
singing, and the most important rules for the Canto
Fermo, wluch for the most part are comprised
in short memorial verses. The author has given
a brief designation of the eight tones, bat in his
twenty^econd chapter, entitled De' Toni Misti, he
has assumed a licence which seems nnwarranted by
any precedent, at least in ancient practice, of com-
bining together the first and second, the third and
fonrth, the fifth and sixth, and the seventh and eighth
tones, and thereby exceeded the limits prescribed by
the ancient writers, who all concnr in restraining the
canto fermo to the ambit of a tenth.
The latter of these books gives very ami>le ^•
rections for the singing of ^ the offices in the
Roman service, and a representation of the tones
in the following order: —
The fint Tone hu iu final in D, and its Dominant in A, the flflb above its flnal, and is Intonated by BE, LA.
BB, LA, FA, SOL, LA, LA, Ao. EDOUAE.
FlaalinD, domloMit In F, a third above, intonated RE, FA.
MI, FA, DO. RE, FA, FA, So. EUOtFAE.
final in E, dominant in A, a fborth above, iotODSted UI, LA.
t-. ■ II ■ r-«-r*-i=«^
=l=!
=1=
"MtLA, EE,DO,EE, HE. «o. EUODAE.
Final Id F, domjjiaot In C, « llftli abtre, totoiutad FA, FA.
:; ■ I ■ ■ ■ t=ft=» ■ - ■ I > » 1 1 ■ » - ■
BE. FA, FA. 4c. EUOUAE.
Flo«l in F, domlnMrt in A, « third dwre, intonmtad FA, LA.
-■ ■ |~8=gj-| ■ « J=' . I ' ■ ' I '
J, J A,FA, li,
V FA,
LA, FA,SOL,LA, LA, An.
EUOUAB.
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Unal in O, dominint in D, > fifth abore, inloiutod UT, SOL.
Tni^:
There u bIbo another tone osed in the Romish
service, called by some of the writeTs on the Oantns
Gr^orianuB, H Tnono Fellegrino, i.e^ the Wandering
Tone ; and by others Tuono Misto, or mixed ; the
manner in which it is intonated appears by the last
Btave above.
The wiit«rs on the Cantua Oregoriaaiu have
assigned to esch of the eight ecclesisstical tones
a pecnliar character, sappoeing that each is calcniated
to excite different uSectiona of the mind ; this notion
is to the last degree fandinl, as will appear from
what Bont«mpi and Kircher severally say toaching
the power and efGcst^ of each.* E^rculeo has dis-
tinguished them in the manner represented at the
end of his scheme of the species of diatesaaron, dia-
pente, and diapason, herein before inaerted.f
The consequence of these and other publications
oi the same import, waa that the doctrine of the
Oantns Oregorianns was rendered so perapicuons,
and the forms of the tones so well established, that
they became Eamiliar even t« children ; but the sta-
bility they had acqairad was not so great, but that about
the Mginning of the seventeenth centnry the levity
and wantonness of the singers gave reason to feu the
corniption of them, f It was abont this time that
the theatric etvle of mniic began to l>e formed, in the
performance whereof Caatrati, and others with flexible
and extensive voices, were principally employed ;
■ Tidt BoDtempL pig. S41. Xinh. Maiiur. Ub. VIll. pag. 141.
these singers, for very obvions reasons, made use of
divialonB and all the other nsnal artifices to excite
applause ; and these were so grstefol to the ears of
the vulgar, that the singers employed in the choral
service became infected with the like passion, and so
mntilated and distorted the Cantna Glregorianns, that
the dignity and simplicity of it was almost lost
This gave occasion in the year 1683 to an excellent
French musician, Gaillanme Qabriel Nivers, organist
of the chapel of Lewis XIV. and master of mu^c to
his queen, § to publish a book entitled Dissertation
sur le Chant Gregorien. In the composition of this
learned and judicioua work, the antlior appears to
have derived great assistance h'om the wndngs of
AmalariuB Fortunatua and Bt Bernard, and from
Cardinal Bona's book De Bebus Liturgicis, Darandus's
Rationale Divinorum Officiorum, and, above all, from
a more modern author, named Peytat, who wrote a
history of the chapel of the king of Franoe, a book
abounding with a great variety of curious particulars.
Nivers succeeded so well in his endeavours to re-
f'inn the cantus ecclesiasticus, that he was employed
by the king to correct the Roman antiphonary, for
the use of the churches in France ; and the editions
of that great volume since his time, bear testimony
to the skill and industry which he must have exercised
in so laborious and important a reformation. In
short, he has not only reduced the tones to the
standard of primitive parity, bnt has given such
directions for the performance of the C^tus Gre-
gorianuB, and goardod so well against innovations in
it, that there is very little reason to fear the loss of
this precious relic of antiquity.
gr of > book, uilltl
■b ot SI. Bnlploe. la
Uoiiiiiui. printed U ABuUidun,
*tid pu«a lot tbB orgmn, which ir
ilptoe. la Puta.
Coniparillail d(
BOOK IV. CHAP. XXIX.
Thx first eight chapters of Nivers's Dissertation
eor le Chant Gregorien, contain a history of the
primitive institution of it, and a vindication of the
practice of antiphonal singing in general, ftom
Bocrates, Theodoret, and other ecclesiastical writers,
with answers to the objections of such as either
denied its authority or had contributed to the increase
of those enois in the practice of it, which it is the
purpose of his book to detect and reform.
In the ninth chatter dte autbor enumerates the
seYeral characters necessary in the notation of it, and
describes them thus : —
'Twelve characters are sufficient for the plun-
'song; the first consists of four lines, upon which,
' and in the spaces between them, all the notes ore
' situate ; the filth line, which certain inoovaters have
' added, is usslees and embarrassing.
' The second character is the key of 0 soi. vt fa
' or else by the method of the si ; the key of 0 bol
' DT made thus IS or thus U cannot be utoate but on
dbyGoo*^le
Oeap. XXIX.
AND PRAOTIOE OF MUSIO.
US
'the fint, the second, or the third, and never or very
'rarely on the fourth, becaiue the key on the second
' Une with a b soft commonly in B, has altogether
'the aame effect as the same key on the fourth line
'withont b soft; for it is klwaye said the note on
•this foarth line is always Bm^nr, and the other
'notes cousecntiTely in oMer. This is to be nnder-
'stood of the song, but not of the orgmn or other
"The third character is the key of F ut fa, made
' thns JtS: or thus 'tjS which is generally sitaated
' on the second line, and sometime, bat very rarely,
' upon the first
' The foQith and fifth characters are the two notes,
'the long and the breve, made thns ■ ♦, bat as the
'nnmber of characters necessary in it is one of the
'grand questions relating to the cantos, we defer
'^taking of it till in the next chapter, to confute
'the opinion of those who admit but one of them,
■ namely, the long.*
'The sixth and seventh characters are the two
' bars ; the great and the leas, made thns ■ ■'|- ■ •
' which are used to denote the place where all the
' choir together ought to take breath and make a little
' pause. These are the same in a song as stops are
'to words, wherefore we always at two points or
' a ooloD, and sometimes at commas, put a great bar
'to make the song complete, answering to a full
'stop. The principal use of the lesser bar is to
■give tame for the whole choir together to draw
'breath, to the end that none of tibe angers may
'go on bster than the rest, and that the nniformity
'of the cantos may be preserved by all, and in iJl
' with «n equal measure. At the end of every piece
' there are pat two great bars to mark the end of the
' song ; these bars are the most efficacious contrivance
' that can be thought on to remedy all the cacophonies
'and contrarieties in the voices of the singers, who,
' withont them, conld not gness when to rest ; but
'the abuse of these bars is become almost general,
' for the markers or writers of notes and the printers
'imagine there must be one at every word ; so that
'if there are four, five, six, or seven monosvllables
'following one another, they put as many bars as
'there are notes, as if all the notes were not of
'themselves as well separat«d, without bars, as the
'words are. St. Bernard speaks of this oonfneioii
1, In tk* mlMHMnt dupUi, udntikci thi
_,_^ ' u tudmbUMidGvakaf ttmi
ki af Ubm wan OKaHirlii tb*
.^■1 aM mm Uua tm, dbhIt, Iba limf and
. jlalBlolI: futility Out a* tea tlOiteaaodi
u in 1M4, 1b nUeh U w dioHd UiU Ux notiii ilwaU eon-
MM kot BDB naU on • ajilabiL ul OM Um qoutltloo of tub ibeDld ba
Ilia T fa) tbo DoMtbB. Ha aaami to tbUk tbit tblo vai lb* len
nfMtnatfen bitoidod br U>« osuaeU of Tnnl, Is IbM deana of It wbkh
k BoUUMd by Falba* Paul, pw. *M. of bit UMOIT, to bait baas uda
ta 1HS> Bsabial arar^iulau and Tanlon alnxtaa Ba abo oilaa Rabanuo
Uaonu ui pnna tbat in ohitt ahonM parftoUT ondarMud tbe natnia
of tboneevma, and aaaonunodate tbali notation to It. PartfaarbniVHita,
a lb* autbnllT or BcdDlphiu, thai In tba gndnal of tb> bkiaed QngoiT
'in Uiese words: "What sort of libertjr is this
" which introduces the confnrion of uncertamty, Ac."
' Aud in efiact tiiis confusion of bars is of no service,
' since all the notes are of themselves as distinct as
' the words ; and all these bars are not only useless
' and embaiTBeaing, but they yet (which is remark-
' able) destroy the benefit of (heir institution, becaose
* the singers, no longer knowing where to repose
' themselves, some stop while others advance, which
'occasions the greatest disorders in the song; and
' the excess of bars puts the song agun into its
' former abuse, when it had no bars, which we see in
' the more andent manuscripts.
' The ei(^th charact^ is the guidon, made upon
' the line, or in the space thns^^f f or thus ■» ^r
'to mark where the following note will be situate
' in the other line.
■The ninth character is the bemol, made thus in
' a space, but rarely on a line E^E which is alwaye
' mailed in B, and very rarely in R
' The tenth is the point • between two short note* -
le ose of it is to augment the precedent one, and
' diminish that following it, to cdieerve a certain
' regulated measore, for example, that of two timet.
'Sometimes the point is also put between a long
■note and a short one; and in such case it only
'augments the long note with the half of its own
value, so that the point and the following breve
'considered together complete the just measure of
' a long note.
'The eleventh character is the bond or joining,
' made thus s.^, or thus --n, ^lioh serves to tie two
' or more notes, or long ones Boi breves on one and
'the same syllable, to keep the regulated measure.
' The last character is the dieds, made thus {, or
' thus x; the use of it is to soften the following note,
' or that above or under which it is placed ; the
'dieses are rarely marked in the plain-song, becaose
'the voice itself naturally leads to it-f
a paifKt knowlad^ tf tbaaa thlnfA, It ouAt to ba
_■..■ j.„ In ^1,, „„!„ „ loMa, whlcb ni«
tiiau ■iaaia,andeTaati)two,b*ODl]'lludlAi«ca
idtbalaaatrUilnL
If H tanned, aa balnf di
HVA
Ih tbrtt astbntlB, aiid tbu th
gdiaUBnlabad
prino^aJa: tba
eb an aaru of iobs* Iu
ba pluali balow.
tailed tba Snal Md tb
pmalto tba oftanert In tba
Ibt paalnu, enlaont, and all tbal la
inraid, or naanr atralvht fOnraid, la made.
iDi oubi to ba a Utile hlgbei Iban the middle
id nollonr. becauta tbat tai all the tana tb*
"uu above tbe demlnant i but it la
id In a food pitch.
t tbey put the dDmlnut ol tha
dbyGooi^lc
U6
HIBTORT OF THE SCIENCE
Having thne explained the characton, Nivete, in
his tweUUi book, proceeds to a, diBcriminadon of the
tones by the finals and dominantB of each in their
respective order, in the words following : —
' The first has its final in D, and its dominant in
' A, the fifth to its final ; rr la.'
' The second has its &ial in D, and its dominant in
' F, a third to its final ; hk va.'
' The third baa its &)al in E, and its dominant in
' C, a sixth to its final ; mi ut.'*
* The fourth has its final in E, and its dominant in
' A, a fonrth to its final ; u la.'
■ The fiMi has its final in F, and its dominant in
' 0, a fifth to its final ; ur sol, or else fa or with B
' ij not h.'
' The uxth has its final in F, and its dominant in.
' A, a third to its final ; ur u, or else va la, with B
• h not b.'
' The seventh has its final in Q, and its dominant
' in A, a fifth to its final ; sol rr.'
' The e^hth has its final in G, and its dominant in
' C, a fonrtii to its final ; sol trr.'
The dissertation of Nivere contains also Formnln
Cantns Ordinarii OfBcii Divini. These he has given
in Latin, together with the mosical notes : they con-
tun directions for singing the oraiaons and responses,
and for reading the prophets, the epistles, and gospels,
and for the intonation of the psalms. There are
also several litanies and andphons, and that famous
lamentation of the Virgin, in monktsh rhyme : —
Stabat mater dolorosa
Juzta cnicem lacluymoaa.
The fiirmola of the tones intitled Tahnla tonomm,
is also given in mnsical characters, and contains the
following examples : —
iDWuitlo, TiKtu NMuma, Ut
: 8»da 1 dsitiii nu - S.
klDg'i chapel, whlob ■!! ths bmou orgwu of PjitIi moA elHwdfii
* whtnrfDii Ibla tutu Ij oaJltd the ton* of Che chApclt to diitlji^
'to eoTDDMHi^ ■»! or ought to be. tbe omoi InniuiDHka; thaniuii
'hnlog gnHnll)' u oitnl of nica Ugbir by an nctm Ihtii tba
* For tb* loir *oIh tJH^ pnt tb> dombuDt in O of tbe drgui.
■ For tho high toloM tber pnl Ih* damtnuil In BoT thiorgiui.
' For Iht tSh* of nHslaui wonHB IbtT put the dnnluBt tn C. orvmi
■ IB D o( Ibo ocnoi wcorilog la ths quilli; of ibi idIch.
*ThB int tunc tbvnfon that nwht lo b« known ■■ cho dDniriiinl of
'llM cb<iii wUA !■ oolj ■ fvaaiaTiouDd, or lone if yoij wUl, and not
' And to »Mj ROM <r Jtyoe, ibal b lo an/ mlt oi btiiml on which tM>
■Ib« Mund tbftig to be obeenedli IhsmodBOr tone of theanlhnn
■ whkh li to ba (unf. tad l« ngulale ths dominanl of Iho anthem to ibe
'ttalMS of tbo denlnaBt of the oboir which peribnu It, and then to
' pcosMd tram lliti dOBbuol ittcltltf, ud VMi lluooch all the degnu
'ulhraatbanotetnirtileh tha ntkem Ol^ to besln ; tor oiainple, If
'IwouMlalraat* tbt tm uIImb of tta haal of the H^T SaeiameDt,
" Saeeidoa in atanuiii," I alni itowlr tba dmnliumi of ihii inthtm,
' tn dWTcee to the Saal of tba anthnn,
■i;Ci'."'.".lolln*tl»}i
•'Saseidoi In cummD,^ and
iDle of ibe laid anthem,
one ebould not be Ignorant of (be taicDtial cbordi of
II abrnU aaem br thaae nTenl Incta 0
other author* who ndght ba namsd, that tha <
•0 mil (tubllabad, that thn* b not lb* li
In England Iha little book a
I Initnctioa of powna of tb
B-aong, eontaiBa a Ibnnala
Uh that of Mben abon ^t
lartaa thmngiwul Italy It u _
io TvbriaiL In abort, Ita princli
HO of uilhnatb. M Bar "^"t <■>
wUh that of Mbera abon dTen ; ...
ihrongiwui Italy It u taiuhi to shDdmi In a ny
._.._ .-...— "-— Mploa aaem lobe Bi wall
To facilitate the remembrance of the formula of
each of the tones, and particnlarty to impress upon
the minds of children the finals and dominants that
characterise them, memorial verses have been oom-
poeed, of which the following are a specimen : —
Frimui habet tonui F bol la, sextus et idem ;
Ut be fa octavns ; sit tertius, atque lecundui :
La bol la quartui : dant ut hi bol dbi quintiiiQ ;
Septimus at tonus fa mi fa sol tibi monntrat.
Septimus et leztui, dant pa hi bk hi quoque primus.
Qmntus et octavus, dant fa sol fa aicque secundua.
Sol fa hi be fa tertius, aa or as hi reque quartui.
Primus cum quarto dant A la hi be, qnoque sextus
E FA UT seeundus : C bol rA ut tertiiu tib) notat,
Cum eo quintiu, oclarusque ngnat ibidem :
Septimus in D la sol be auum ponit edouai.
By the foregoing deduction of the nature of the
CantuB Gregorianos, nothing more Is intended than to
explain its ori^nal form, for it will be observed that
none of the authors above-cited presume to make any
additions to, or amendments of it ; on the contrary
they labour to represent it in its purity, and to pre-
serve it from cormption. This was evidently the
design of Nivers ; and his book, which is of the con-
troversial kind, is calcnlated to correct certain abuses
in the service that arose from the wantonness sad
levity of the singers, and were peculiar to his time ;
but the Cantns Gregorianns suffered greatly from
corruptions that were the effect of ignorance, and
which took place within a century after its institution ;
and tiiese corruptions, their nature, and causes, and
the methods token to remove them by the several
princes of Europe, especially those of Germany,
France, and England, make a very considerable part
in the History of Music, and therefore require to be
particularly mentioned ; and if the foregoing digres-
sion may seem to deviate from the rule which
chronology prescribes in the relation of events, let it
be remembered that in this case a strict adherence to
it would have been absnrd ; for who can nnderstand
a relation of the several cormptious of the Cantna
Gr^orianuB, who is not first made sensible of its
dbyG00*^lc
C^AP- XXIX.
AMD PRACTIOE OF MD8I0.
18T
nature uid application ; in ahort, wlio luw not a deor
conception of the thii^ itself, in its original state of
parity and peri'ection.
Tlut the Gantns Giegorianus became compt in
a short time after its institution, may be gathered
Irom the eccleaiaetical and other wrilers, from the
seventh cestary downwards. Saint Bernard, in a
preface to the antiphonarr of the Oietertiana, has
enumerated many abnsee, disorders, and irregularities
which had crept into the chnrch-sarrice before his
time, and this even at Borne itself : he speaks of the
singers of his time as ignorant and obetioate to a
d^^ree that is scarce to be credited ; for he represents
them as confonnding the roles, and preferring error
to troth : and referring to an Antiphon, ' Noe qni
' vivimne,' the proper termination whereof is in D,
he sdds, that those nnjnst prevaricators, the singers
of his time, wonld terminate it in G, and assert with
an oath or wager, that it was of the eighth tone.
Sir Henry Spelman (whom Gerard Voesins has
followed, in an account given by him of this matter)*
upon the authority of an anonymous commentator on
Hugo ReotlingenBis, relates that the Cantue Gre-
gorianns was very mndi corrupted by the Germans.
The words of tiie anthor thus referred to are, 'Certain
Oermans, and particularly Uie clergy of the order of
8t Benedict, who bad learned perfectly and by
heart the musical cantos, not only theoretically, but
also by practice and exercise, leaving out the keys
and lines which are required in the musical Neuma,f
ixite or character, began to note them down simply
in their books ; and t^r that, their successors sang
in the same manner, and taught their scholars, not
theoretically, but by frequent practice and long
exercise; which cantos thus learned by practice,
became various in different places, wher^ore it was
then termed practice, ubqb^ and not music. In this
cantos however the scholars afterwards began to
differ in many things from their masters, and the
masters from their scholars ; fKim which difference,
and the ignorance of the theory, the practice was
said to be conhsed, which confused practice being
despised, almost all the Giermana, who were hitherto
miserably seduced by that cantus, are returned to
the tnie art.'
These cormntions, according to the author above-
cited, seem to have been peculiar to Germany ; bat
there were others of an earlier date which prevuled
in France and also in Britain, for the latter of which
countries Gr^ory seems to have entertained such a
degree of affection, as makes it highly probable that
the inhabitants of it were some of the first people to
whom the knowledge of the Cantos Gre^riaDos was
communicated, and that they became Christians and
singers at one and the same period.
•hurla cTMpfnIHD. Vld« Spalmui'i OloM. Ton Niehi ;
Pact. Ud*. lib. I. e^. tUL Pntoblr It !• d«lT«d ft
Ditvaa.
t For vUch maon, (ha Icnni SaHibnir nn, HanfOnI
Bucoi. York. LlDcoln, n Ukan tg dEuilba tha rjtuil i
citiwdrali in tba preface lo Ihe book of Commnn Frvjar.
The history of the converrion of the Bazon in-
habitants of tins island to Christianity in the year 68S,
is related by all our historians, particnlariy by Bede,
whose account of it, as exhibiting a very natural
representation of the simplicity of manners which
then prevuled, is here inserted : —
' It is reported that merchants arriving at Rome,
' when on s certain day many things were to be sold
'in the market-place, abundance of people resorted
' thither to buy, and Gregory himself with the rest,
' where, among other thmgs, boys were set to sale
■for slaves, their bodies white, their countenance
' beautifoL and their bur very fine : having viewed
'them, he asked as is said, from what country or
' nation they were brought, and was told from die
' island of BriUdn, whose inhabitants were of such
' a presence.§ He again enquired whether those
'islanders were Christians, or still involved in the
'errore of paganism, and was informed that they
' were pagans. Then fetching deep sighs from the
' bottom of his heart, " Alas 1 what pity, said he, that
" the author of darbiees is possessed of men of snch
"&ir conntenances, and that being remarkable for
" such graceful aspects, their minds should be void
" of inward grace." He therefore again asked what
' was the name of that nation, and was answered, that
' they were called Angles : " Right, said he, for tiiey
" have an angelical face, and it becomes snch to be co-
" heirs with die angels in heaven. What is the uame,"
' proceeded he, "of the province from which they are
" bronght ? " 'It was replied, that the natives of
'that province were called I>eiri,|| " Truly Deiri^
" said he, withdrawn from wrath and called to the
" merrir of Christ, How is the king of thi^rovince
" c^ed ? " They told him his name was ^e ; and
' he, alluding to the name, said, " Hallelujah, the
"praise of God the creator must be sung m those
" parts." Then repairing to the bishop of the Roman
' and apostolical see (for he was not himself then
' made pope) he entreated him to send some ministers
' of the word into Britain, to the nation of the English,
' by whom it might, be converted to Christ.' ^
The above relation is veir characteristic of the
hamani^ and simplicity of the reverend father.
Fuller, who labours hud to make all mankind as
merry as himself, thinks that in his ready appli-
cation of the answers of the merchants to hie purpose,
his wit kept pace with his benevolence, and having
a mind to try whether he could not be as witty as
the father, he has given the whole conversation
a dramatic torn, by patting it into the form of
a dialogue.* *
The sight of these children, and die knowledge
which Gregory thereby acquired of this country
and its inhabitants, were the motives for sending
Augustine the monk hither, with whom, as we are
expressly told by Johannes Diaconus, who wrote
the Life of St Gregory, ringers were also sent
(Augustine then going to Britain), and afterwards
• ADgUeot
lieUl cudorU.'
A Hlit. of BritiilB.
ir. cm. 1,
Cant. VI. b
dbyGoo^le
HI8T0EY OF THE SCIENOK
Book IV.
dispersed throngfa the weet, who thorooghly inatmcted
the barboriaiu in the Bomau institution. The same
author proceeds to relate that after the death of
these men* the modnUtion of the weetern chorcbes
became very corrapt, and continued so till pope
Vitalianus the First, who introduced the organ into
the choral service, sent John, a fsmons Bomon singer,
together with Theodore, afterwards archbishop of
Ouiterbnry, by the way of France into Britain, who
corrected the abusee that had crept into the chnrch-
service of this, as it should seem, favourite people.
Farther he says, that afterwards the Gregorian
chant became agun corrupt, partjcnlarly in France,
for which reason Oharlemagne sent two clerks to
• Tba nuDH of tk* iliicBn wba oma Into Brtt^ <
nr na wben puHculnly maiHaHd. Ws iMin ksvi
lliat Um ^nnfa xnif «u it fint mir known In K«nt ) I
IliM l> ta Mf (boat tlia jmi tW, whan PtnUnu bsoun* a^tair ■• «»
Harthmitiiiiiu, i de*M> of hk, usud JunH. bid imdind ntmNir
niT ftmoni fcr Ui (km In tlH dmnh mbc i and Hut WIMd. ■ mg-
sMdlac Uabop e( Um noM «m, >)wiit tha jhi SH IbtIM ont oT K*nt
Eddl, •mnamcd Btnbm, tn tba pnipoM of lnf"'''"ir tha nme In the
■erawl ahmaliai af tha HittftimWMii. Farthir, Bad* rItm 1 patttenlw
or praants of tin ahniah <d tlia btHj ipoatla PataT, and abboB of tha
ntoutOT of Bt. Huttn. 4>d aUawkara lilnni at tha ftmoUc wn : ha
■^i ha ma Hot Inla Bilt^ bj pop* Agiioo, that tia migbi laich tha
netlisd if dofliic Ihiaofhoae th* vMr, u It wu pnotlKd at St. FMor'*
U Sooai and thM bo Mttkd In ■ nuntMUt* wUah BorftU t ■" of »»
Moithnmliriini had fennM M Uw mmlk of tha rlTar Win.
avn that Jokn did *• h* bad ten oannundad hr thai
nof thta jiMamlwi tba aidor and ma '
1o wiMiu alt that 1
ai Ak «i«bl -'
ho ttopa. taanhlng Iha
f imdiia and mdiaf
u requlnd throiuhout tha
nhak, all whioh ««• In
dU not oulr ttuh tha
..— ^ ■kUllniiniWnwinad
M Of the umo prorinee to hur bun.
nwma hi. (vniim, lata of Cnntnook la Kont, ho* (inn ■
7 of thb lelatlcn, with Ui on aaattawnti Ihocon, b ■ Iw*
which hvdlr uy OHO now kioki Isio, ta» whkb abooidi imh a giaat
Tadaty ofamloM learning, Ml CoUootlM of lod«itotlwlI«ni Inlbo
naonl pionoo to whldi lia int, n w tha MUlMrilT i( BoAo, that »pa
Agathot aboTe ol|)i»^ rean aftar infnttlna'i eomfaic one, i^t John,
tha pnaanlor (< Bt PeM't chnnA fai Roma, to Inumet tha monk* of
Wlimnth In the anmul coune of ilnftnt ; nd thrt ha did oocoidlnglf
leuh IhoBi tha oidei and lUe af diwhis and ndbu In Iha oelabntbii
of IMUi tbnm^ tho oinlo of tko wWa nor, (Bd that ko wrote down
and lafl behind him whatarot waa nqidlUa to thia pmpaia. And that
Aa lom af what ka tinfbt them oonditad In new tnnea oi BWdae of
■niHic, •MM railatlou of haUL ■aatnio. and Mtiiapt of tba lailH of
peiAimiIng rdlgkni ofloea aaaoidiDC ai the bakloni kad ban altered at
koBO ilMO AofsMlaA (Mdnf Ulkrc— thai ha tuifbt thm Tin *ooe,
— thw John wu aaat to on* mo
uofkt ■» bal ikt Noitbmiibitini
to CintanniiT, wkleh vai tan oi
ha oaldMatkD of Ike ttatliili
ir tweln yean befOn thli, tha Homaa
'*"'""' ~~"hn bigu Mbetauibtln
...jd Eddl, otherwbe ealM
Stephen, ent of Kent Into the NoRb, to leaeb hli pnetln then. But
thlrn^TOToan bobn Thoodon'i anlnl, Jimai, tba KnUtb dc«n,
bad ban left u Yofk by PinUnw whoa ho letlnd to Rocheater, on piu-
poee to taaeh them Ike nr of ilnclng need by the Komini ind tlu
KonOtb. Tho oamo anthor addi u i ooalwtDio of kb own, thai ft la
nobabla that naKhar of tkeae KoMlih itaulnc^uitan wmt biChei than
'-'— '■ -Innntk.
Jalni ■ daooo of Iko Roman connefl. whlek
c, and wai made to lefmn an ibue of It thil pn-
-i,ltma]'no<balnipnparbentDDen(l(iii. BTtbli
at Uikna, and all wboaoerot that pnhaa the »U(loua
rtlsBl oidoi, donot uie wnponi, us keep muilclaoi of
..- roojmiulMleODDtrtawbatMeTicnoiiloaUavaranT
btdhoBaile) 01 ptm in ihdi pnwnoo.
Of Jamea, tba deaeon af FaDUnna a
llndtobb [Bodo^] tbao. If ao, aaf
blab^idNoithDmbrlB.lavhiob(raTlu , ..._.,
It I* more than pnbablo ihw Bode and JanHa wan InlhnMely aoquatnted.
Bade alio manHn) aa IMnf In tho ttmc of Thoodoia, Pnlta, a nun af
■real ilmpllelty In bti muinen, oilnmilT wall leraed In oixhiluticil
■tbelpllno, and nrnnkably iklUUl In ebueh-gnulo. ood who, on account
of Ibeae hli eiceUndai, m* pnfenod to the aaa of Saebeiisr. Unibm
wOl be ouwte of tkli pation beieafter. In the Inleila It li to be obeorred,
Iha) tba teitiinonT of Bade li of (m( wolthl in all mitten Ibu nlite
to ehnnb dliclpllae, and tbit hudlr my nun of Ui lime wu better
of hii own Ufa, iliho end of ' - . ._.
belngi- -
ipplM
dlidpHne, lad the Mlj cue of ilnclni
deUchtod In leandnc te*chln(, uil wi
_ , of thimonulelyof WI»iw»th,tkcTeiy monaiteiy when
John the pnconta lellled upon bli url*il In Bilt^ i ind [bat ha then
ipplM bimielf loltaemidltallanotKilpton, the oburiiuce of ngulit
dlidf Hne, lad the ddy cue of ilnqlnR tn the chBRbi ud that heilwaji
Rome with a request to Adrian, the then pope, that
they might be instructed in the mdimeats of the
genuine Roman song ; these brought back the metro-
polis of Met2 to its original porily of singing, and
that city commonicatod its example to alT fVimoe.
The same anthor adds that the death of these two
men produced the same effect, thongh in a lees
degree, in France, as that of the others had done
in Bribain; wherefore the king wrote again to Adrian,
who sent him two sbgers, who found that the chnrch
of Metz had deviated a little from the troe rule of
unging, but the other churches a great deal. The
same anthor adds, that this diversity was remarkable
in his time, for that the rest of the French and all
the Qerman chnrches were then as much inferior
in the parity of their choral service to that of Met^
as the latter were to the Roman ; but for the preeent
he says theee men rednced the church of Ueti to
order.
Monsieur Nivers, from Peytat, a modem writer,
and a countryman of his, who it seems wrote aa
ecdesiaatJcal history of the chapel of the king of
France, cites the foUowiiig passage : —
Pope Stephen IL being constrained to seek to
Pepin king of France for protection of the holy see
gainst the Lombards, arrived in that kingdom so
soon after Pepin's ascent to the throne, as to perfona
the ceremony of his consecration in the abbey-church
of St Denya. From Rome the pope had brought
with him chaplains and singers, who first made it
their bnsinesa to instruct the choir of St Denys in
the Roman office ; and aHerwards, for the pope made
a considerable stay in France, ssaisted in communi-
cating the knowledge of it to the other chnrches in
that kingdom. At that time the chapel of Pepin
consisted of the very flower of the clergy, and, with
the assistance of the Romans, not only the plain-
chant but the use of instrnments was spread through-
oat the realm. This reformation it is true did not
last long, for upon the death of Pepin, his son
Charlemagne found the choral service in as ^reat
disorder as ever, which, says the monk of St Cibord
of Angonlesme, was the reason that induced thia
emperor to apply to Adrian for sasistuice from
Rtnne.
CHAP. XXX.
Thk acconnt given of this matter by another
ancient writer, a monk of Bt Gal, is that the pope
sent to France, at the request of the emperor Oharle.
magne, twelve excellent singers, answering to the
nnmb^ of the apostles, whose instraotions were
to reform the music of the French churches, and
regulate the service, so as that there might be an
umformity in this respect throughout the kingdom ;
but that these men, jetdons of the glory of France,
in their way thither plotted to corrupt and diversify
the plain-uiant in such a manner as to increase the
confusion in which it was involved, and thereby
render the people for ever incapable of performing
it correctly. As soon as they arrived in Franco
where they were received witti great honour, they
dbyGoo^le
Chap. XXX.
AND PRACTIOE OP MDSia
139
were, Inr order of the emperor, dupersad to difierent
parts of the kingdom ; bat bow well they anewered
the purpose of Bending for them, the event aoon
showed ; for every man teaching a different chant
for the true one of St. Gregory, which they were
sent for to restore to its originkl purity anil pro-
pAgate, the confosion was greater tluui ever.*
The emperor it seems was too well skilled in
mnuc for this decdt to pass upon him unnoticed :
be bad, in the life-time of bis father, beard the trne
Roman chant at Treves, irtkere be had passed the
Christmas, and at Hets also he had been present
when it was snng in its perfection; bnt after the
arrival of these people, spending port of that festival
at Paris and the rest at Tonre, he was Burpriaed to
hear a melody different from that which before be
had so mnch admired ; his disappointment excited
in him a cnriosity to hear the service as it was
performed in the other chnrchee; bnt among the
singers he fonnd ench a disagreement, that he com-
plamed to the pope of the bebaviour of those whom
be had Bent ; the pope recalled them to Rome,
and condemned some of them to banishment, and
the rest to perpetoal imprisonment. After this it
me that Adriui sent to France the two singers
who reformed the French chorcb-mnstc, as above
is related.
None of the historians who relate the transactions
of this period, except Baronios, assign the reason of
the emperor's application to pope Adrian for assistance
in the reformation of chonl mnsio in his kingdom
<rf Fnmce. It seems that that pope had established
the use of the Oantns Gr^orianns by the decree of
a cooncil, which he had smnmoned for that pnrpose,
and that bis seal to render it nniversol was the effect
of a miracle, which, if we may believe the writers of
tiioee times, had then lately been wrought in its &vonr.
It is said, that after the death of Gregory the method
of singing instituted by him began to decline, and
the Ambrosian cantns to revive. Adrian had enter-
tained an opinion of the superior excellence of the
former, &ud was determined to establish the nse of it
thronghont the t^nrch ; for this pnrpoee he summoned
a cooncil above -m«itioned, who being onabte to de-
tennine the preference between the one and the other
of the offices, referred the decision of the matter to
Ood, and a miracle annonnced that the preference waa
dne to the Or^orian office.
Dnrandos has given & very circnmstantial relation of
this eztraordinaiy event in the following words : — f
* We read in ^e life of St. Engenins that till his
time the Ambrosian office was more nsed by the
chnrch than the Qr^orian : pope Adrian smnmoned
a council, by which it was decreed that the Gr^orian
onght to be nnivarsally observed. Moreover St
Engenins coming to a certiun council, sanuDoned for
tiiis pnrpose, and finding that it had been already
dissolved three days, he persuaded the lord pope to
recall all the prel^s who had been present thereat
The council, tiierefore, being reassembled, it was the
onanimons opinion of all the Mhers, that the Am-
• Vid. NiT. lUT le Chinl. Ong. chip. It. lug. U.
t Afterandi pops : tb* iccanil oT tlut uma. Du Pin. Hln. Bed.
broeian and Gr^orian missals should be laid upon
the altar of St Peter, the apostle, secured by the
seals of most of the biehope, and the doors of the
church shut, and that all persons present should
spend the night in prayer that God would show by
some sign which of these missals he chose to have
nsed by the church ; and this was done in every
reepeoL Aecoidingly, in the morning, when they
entered the chnrch they found the Gregorian missal
torn to pieces, and scattered here and there, but
they found the Ambrosian only open upon the altar,
in the same place where it had been laid. By which
Xthey were taught from heaven that the Gregorian
e ought to be dispersed throughout the whole
world, and that the Ambrosian should be observed
only in that church in which it was first institnted.
And this regulation prevails to the present day ; for
in the time of the emperor Charles, the Ambronan
office was very much laid aside, and the Gregorian,
by the imperial authority, was brought into common
use. Ambrtiw instituted many things according to
the ritual of the Greeks.' Golielm. Durandns
Rationale Divinorum Officiorum. Lugd. 1674, lib.IL
cap. it. numb. 6,
The historians of the time take notice, that in the
year 787 a violent contest arose between the Roman
and French singers, concerning the true method of
singing divine service, which was carried on with
eo much heat and bitterness, that neither side could
be made to yield. At length, the matter was brought
before the emperor ; who, after hearing the reasons
and arguments of each party, determined in favour
of the Roman practice, by dedaring, that the French
singers had corrupted the Cantns Gregorianus.
Baronins has related the transaction at length in
these words : —
' In the ancient chronicle of Oharlee Wng of France,
' which FithoeuB pnblisbed, these things then done at
' Rome are recorded. The most pious king Charles
' returned, and celebrated Easter at Rome with the
' apoBtoli<»l lord. Behold a contention arose, during
' the time of the paschal feast, between the Roman
' and French singers : the French said that they sang
'better and more gracelnliy than the Romans; the
' Romans said they performed the ecclesiastical cantna
' more learnedly, as they had been taught by 8t
' Gregory, the pope ; and that the French sang
' corruptly, and debased and mined the tme cantilena.
' This contention came before the emperor Charles ;
' and the Gauls relying on his favonr, violently ex-
■ claimed against the Roman sii^^erg ; and the Romans,
' upon the authority of their great learning, affirmed
' that the Gauls were foob and mstics, and as un-
' learned ss brute beasts, and preferred the learning
' of St Gregory to their rusticity : and the altercation
'ceasing on neither side, the empei^ir said to his
' singers, " Tell me plainly, which is the parer, and
" which the better, the living fountain, or its rivulets
" running at a distance." They all, with one voice,
' answered the fountain ; as the head and origin is
' the purer, and the rivulets, the fitrther they depart
' from the fonntain, are by eo much the more muddy,
'foul, and corrupted wiUt impurities. "Then, said
dbyG00*^lc
>.40
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
"tiie emperor, return ye to tbe fonntain of St.
"Gregory, for ye have manifestly corrupted the
"ecclesiastical cantos."
' The emperor, therefore, Boon after desired siiig-
' ere of pope Adrian, who might reform the French
' singing ; and he sent to him Theodore and Bene-
' diet, two of the most learned singers of the Soman
' church, who had been taught by St Gregory ; and
*he sent by them the antiphonary of St. Gregory,
* which he had marked with the Soman note. The
' emperor returning into France, sent a singer of the
' dty of MetE, with orders that the masters of schools
'thronghont all the provinces of France should de-
' liver their antiphonaries to them to be corrected, and
'that (hey should learn to sing of them. Upon this,
' the antiphonaries of the Fren^ were corrected, which
' every one had corrupted, by adding or diminish-
' ing according to his own fancy, and all the singere
' of France learned the Boman note ; except that the
' French, who, with their voices, which are natnrally
' barbarous, could not perfectly express the delicate
' or tremulous, or divided sounds, in mnsic, but broke
'the sounds in their throats, rather than expressed
' them : but the greatest singing school was that in the
'city of Metz; and as much as the Roman school
' excels the Metensian in the practice of singing, by
, BO much does the Metensian excel the other schools
'of France. In like manner, the aforesaid Roman
' ungers instructed the singers of the French in the
' art of instmmeutsl music ; and the emperor Charles
' again brought with him from Rome into France,
' masters of grammar and mathematics, and ordered
' the study oflettflrs to be every where parsned ; for
' before his time, there was no attention paid to the
' liberal arts in Gaul. This account is given of these
'affairs in that chronicle. Moreover, there is an
' ordinance of Charles the Great himself concerning
' the performance of the Roman music in Gaul, in
' these werde : " That the monks fnlly and regularly
" perform the Roman singing in the nocturnal stated
" service, according to what our father king Pepin,
" of blessed memory, decreed should be done, when
" he introduced the Gallican ranging for the sake of
" onanimity in the Apostolic See, and the peacefiil
" concord of the Holy Church." *
The seal which tlus prince discovered throngh the
course of a long reign, in favour of the church, and
for the re-establishment of ecclesiastical discipline,
has procured him a place among those ecclesiastical
writers enumerated in Da Pin's voluminous history.
It was the good fortune of this emperor to have in
his service a secretary, named Eginhart, a mim not
more eminent for his knowledge of the world, than
celebrated for his skill in the literature of those times.
To him we are indebted for a life of this great prince,
one of the most curions and entertaining works of the
kind at this day extant -. in this are recorded, not
only the great events of Charlemagne's leign, but the
particnlare of his life and character, a very exact
description of his person, his studies, his recreations,
and, in short, all that can gratify curiosity, or tend to
exhibit a lively portrait of a great man. Not to
• Bmn. AduI. Eeclailut. Mm. IX. ft 411.
enter into a minute detul of his wars and ne^odadooa,
or the other important transactionBdarii^ his govern-
ment, let this short sketch of bis personal and mental
endowments, and his labours to restore the service of
the church to its original purity, suffice, as having a
more immediate relation to the subject of this work,
Chaalbkaonb was bom in the year of Christ 769,
at Ingelheim, a town in the neighbourhood of the city
of Liege, in Germany. His lather was Pepin, king
of France, sumamed the Little, by reason of the low-
neas of his stature; who, upon his decease, made a
partition of his dominions between his two sons,
bequeathing to Charlemagne, the elder, France, Bnr-
gundy, and Aqnitain, and to Carloman, Austria,
Soissons, and other territorities ; but Carloman aur-
vivii^ his fother a very short time, Charlemagne
became the heir of all hia dominions, and at length
emperor of the West
The stature and person of Charlemagne are very
particolarly taken notice of and described by the
writers of his history, by which it appears, that he
was as much above the ordinary size of men, as his
&ther Pepin was below it. Tnrpin, the archbishop
of Rheims, relates, that he was eight feet high, that
his face was a span and an half long, and his forehntd
one foot io breadth, and that his body and limbs were
well proportioned. He had a Jpeat propensity to
learning, having had some of the most celebrated
scholars of the age in which he was bom, for his
tntors ; and it is to the honour of this country that
Alcuin, an Englishman, and a disciple of Bede, sur-
named the Venerable, was his instructor in rhetoric,
logic, astronomy, and the other liberal sciences ; f
notwithstanding which, there is a very carious par-
ticular recorded of him, namely, that he never could,
though he took infinite pwns for the purpose, acquire
the manual art of writing or delineating the letters of
the alphabet ; } so that whatever books or collections
are ascribed to him, must be supposed either to have
been dictated by him, or written by others under hie
immediate inspection : indeed, the works attributed
to him are of such a kind as necessarily to imply the
assistance of others, and that they are to be deemed
his in no other sense than as they received his simction
or approbation ; for they are chiefly either capitularies.
as they are called, relating to ecclesiastical metiers, aa
the government of the ^urch, the order of divine
service, the obeervance of rites and ceremoniee, and
the regulation of the several orders of the clergy ; or
they are letters to the several princes and popes, his
contemporaries, and to bishops, abbots, and other
ecclesiastical persons.g Two works in particular are
ascribed to him, and vie opinion that they were of his
composition is generally acquiesced in ; these are
letters written in his name to Elipandus, bishop of
t Aleuin vu well mod In t)w Itbenl KlncH. puMcuUrl; in nndc
H ■ppcin b; ■ tnct << hii on Itit kk oT Uu Pulnu. uid bj Uw pnhca
10 Ciulodonu D« Kftaa DiidiilliiU, lint pdnttd In Uuttlni'i aUUiiB
of tbit luthot. aad wUck !• tipRulj' uid liy Do Fir, Fibriciiu. wmt
otbm, to han Iwen viltWii by Aleuln. IIwu (I thilutuucof Alente
dbyGoot^le
CtaAP. XXX.
AND PEACTICE OF MUSia
141
Toledo, Aud other btahops of Spain, on certain points
of doctrine ; and fonr books against the worship of
images: and it is with a view to these, and some
other compoeitions that passed for his, that Sigebert,
Dn Pin, and others, give him a place among the
eocleuastical writers of the eighth ceBtory.
The seal of this emperor to introduce the Cantos
Qregorianns into his dominions, and to preserve it in
a state of parity, has drawn upon him an impntation
of severity; and npon the authority of that single
passage in the Rationale of Ihirandiis, above-cited, he
is cenenred as having forced it npon the French with
great cmelty. But there is nothing either in his
relation of die supposed miracle in its favonr, or in
that of Baninins touching the contention at Rome,
which will wsLrrant this charge ; for in that dispute
at which Eugenius was present^ it doee not appear
that he at all intermeddled; and in the other, the
question which he put to his own clergy, is mani-
festly an appeal to reason, and no way indicates a
dispoddon to coercive measures. ' Tell me,' said the
emperor, ' which is the purer, the living fountain, or
' its rivulets ? ' They answered, ' the former,' Then
said the emperor, ' Ketum ye to the fountain of St
* Gregory ; for in the rivulets the eccleriastical cantos
' is corropted.' Eginhart has mentioned in general
that Charlem^^e laboured to rectify the disorderly
manner of singing in the church ; * but he mentions
no circumstances of bloodshed, or cmelty, to enforce
a reformation : and the &ct is, thst several churches
in his dominions, particularly those of Milan and
Corbetta, were suffered to retain either the Ambrosian
or a worse use, notwithstanding his wishes and efForts
to the contrary.'}' In short, it seems that his be-
havioor upon this occasion was that of a wise man,
or, at least, of one whose zeal had a sufficient allay
of discretion ; J and that he was possessed of a very
_ _ dbHnno
Hind ununta Ht, quod ptoiMiw HduUm dMezint
ilo comedi, prolixe SIgvbertiu,
ip. U. ^U.Lbil«i-
considerable portion of this latter quality, and enter-
tained a mild and forgiving disposition towards those
who had offeDded him, may be inferred from that
very pretty story related b^ Mr. Addison, in the
Spectator, No. 1^1 , of the pnncess Imma, bis daogh-
ter, and his secretary Eginhart, and her ingeniooa
device, by carrying him on her bock throogh the
snow, to prevent ue discovery of an amour which
terminated in their marri^e.
The purity to which the Gregorian chant was
restored by the seal of Charlemagne, snbsisted no
longer in France than to the time of Iiowis the
Debonnaire, his son and immediate heir, who suc-
ceeded to the empire of the West in 614 ; for in his
reign the music of the chnrch was again corrupted
to that degree, that the Gregorian chant snbdated
only in the memory of certain Bomans, who had
been accustomed to the singing it ; for neither were
there in France or at Borne, any books wherein it
had been written. This strange circumstance is
related by Amalarios Fortonatus, a principal eccle-
siastic in the chapel of Lewis the Debonnaire, who
himself was sent by Lewis to request of Gregory
IV. then pope, a sufficient nomber of singers, to
instroct the people ; by whom the pope sent to the
emperor for answer, that he coold not comply with
his request, for that the lost of those men remaining
at Rome bad been sent into France with Walla, who
had formerly been ambassador from Charlemagne
on the same errand. The words of Amalarius, in
the preface to his book I^ Ordine Antiphonarii, are
these : ' When I had been a long while affected
' with anxiety, on accoont of the difference among
' the singers of antiphons in our province, and did
' not know what should be rejected and what retained,
' it pleased him who is bountiful to sll, to ease me
' of my ecroplee ; for there having been fonnd in the
' monastery of Corbie, in Picardy, four books, three
' whereof contained the nocturnal, and the other the
' dinmal, office, I strove to make all the sail I could
' out of this sea of error, and to make a port of
' qniet ; for when I was sent to Rome by the holy
' and most christian emperor, to the h<Ay and most
'reverend blher Gr^oiy, concerning Uiese books,
' it pleased his holiness to give me the following
gnmlbai TMbo* •tiHIiilt : U» ■ put ■
qnl PnBcst TBZB faaUmdl ntlond fant — .
— " m pilMia MM pmlMt, lUcnun Ifou
- '-- h anuidlHir--' '-■■ -- -■-
Lb bac IgltiijDrtH omlllau MsltriMlaOtniiaiile*
-*"-Tr, qutohlcpr — ' ' '-'"-' "■ —
hne bodl* Is .
- » i^oniD
lUH.IUdsK
>(>Mw, fww tmirim nHir!~CUriai'Ekkch»nl. If fclmVliT STNoaLwi!
□if. Till JIflma W~I4~ . -
das JttfBH. {auTateiiMn pr gndat ttmjim
.._ , •iml, ud UiB
, — .—AMmAu U. bud pnKatdcd M fu
]Ad« U» Inhftbliuti of AiwoD Ijiia Ua
C*t*l(HiGiiit hud die-
„ , „ petAetloD WM
who, vltbout iDtoiniHIoa, axhoflod, IbnM
- tadSuduiDdAli^iaBwi, thaUofii ' ~
>d with ih* bnpstniBltr of thk »-■
.^X? tod
CutUa, utU,
1 Hi* beli_ _ ,
fnHn Out oT ALptumtu, kinff of Spvln, whOi In Ui« yw lOSO, banitbed
ttaa OotUs Lllnis; oat i< hl> k^igdom, ud lnuoduad ttaa Komao
_ . . . if thk mUM) bodUB. ., ....
thcOolhlc Kniealn UialtctauKhca,miidlolDtrodiiogtbiRsiiiu
wu ttta flni who whmlliwl to Ihit fsBontiaa, ud
aiHsplc wu followed bj AlphonM. Tho malbDdt
Cuuw employed to dodde Iho nuttor weia Tei?
—iidlnuT. nm, they chOH two chvnptou, wbu won todatnndna
ijontTOVRij bf ttnflo btaabti, the one flabdDg tot the RoDun lUurgr,
other hi the Oolfile, _^Tho aoi7_triiJ wu nert made iiH of to
oDiumed Ihrrorm^. 'taUe the
authorllj of llie pope, ud the Infl
rtenntned Alphonao In (Hour of lit
VideBouDoBebuiLIIuig.Ub.l.np ii.pu.Iie. :
Eiuii. peg. nt. Jo. de Ferreru, Blil. da I'Eapegna, I
U1. Z41. IM. Koih. ECEl. Hilt. •ol. 11. pec. Ul.
dbyGoo^le
142
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book IV.
answer : " I have no singers of antaphons, whom
" I can send to my son and lord the emperor ; the
'' only remaining ones that we had, were sent from
' hence into Fnnue with Walla, who was here on
'an embassy." By means of Uiese books, I dis-
covered a great difference between the anliphona of
uar singers and those formerly in use ; the books
contained a moltitade of responsftria &nd antiphons,
which ^ey could not sing : among them I found
one of those which were ordained by the apostolic
Adrian. I knew that these books were older than
that which remained in the Roman city, and though
in some respects better iostitnted, yet Ihey stood in
need of some corrections, which, by the assistance
of the Roman book, might be made of them :
I therefore took the middle way, and corrected
one by the other.' Notwithstanding this labour of
Amalarins to reform the antiphonary, Nivers asserts,
that the coimptionB of music were then so great,
that it was very difficult to say where the Qregorion
Chant lay ;* and, after all, the oorrectioos of it by
Amalarins Fortunatus were very ill received, as will
appear by the following aoconnt of him.
STifPHoetua AuALARtus, or, as he is called by
most writers, AjfALABins Fobtdkatus, was a deacon
of Metz, and, as some ancient manuscripts assert,
also an abbot. There seems to have been another of
the latter name, archbishop of Treves, with whom
he is often confounded ; they both flourished about
the middle of the ninth century. This of whom it
is meant here to speak was a great ritualist, and
wrote four books on the ancient ecclesiastical offices,
which he dedicated to Lewis the Debonnairo, by
whom he seems to have been greatly &vanred. In
these books he gives mystical reasons for tlH»e
rites and ceremonies in divine worship, which wiser
men look on as mere human inventions. To ^ve
a specimen of his manner of treating this subject,
ipeaking of the habits of the priests, he says, 'The
priest's vest ngnifies the right managwnent of the
voice ; hie albe, the subduing of the passions ; his
shoes, upright walking ; his cope, good works ;
his stole, the yoke of Jetma Cbnst ; the surplice,
readiness to serve his neighbour ; his handkerchief,
good thoughts ; and the psllinm, preMhiDg.f
• Tha una («« of iha lint eorraptloiii of the Cmtiu OncocluiDi
■» BlalDlj pvIsM oat (9 tlis 1dI«itmm of Hoc* BmiHiiic«>ni. «!><>>
In th< puuge tttti bj SlI Hrut BpelmBi, ucribn It ts QW diRiH of
tbft itave. IbA flim, ud other flhwicTfri, pteauMy Id the doUUoo of
miuhi. To the urn* pwpoeg Sinn reUt*^ thit IImt mo net nuikad
hj Dotee. bnl hj Uttle poate waA Imnilar (Oianeten t wh&di eccouM Is
MnflnMd by Kdw rauusitpte, in wHeb lb* Mtiopl nuthod at Batathn
■bon hinted U doaa DMt andtntlr npeir. Ifaitliil of Botofnn hM
tlblUtad Bme inihni nanplaa at thb Usd, and hia with no lau
lagnnllf Ihsn indotur, tram ebuactan lb* moM buIiUDBa UiM can be
...J —J _w-v .,„ Inuniad to espnat the iBltUl elbiun, ud
idrj aBttpbona, la naad In partleDlir eborebea.
id teoondlad Iban to tha true mslbed of notattoo.
.. ling Ilka tbli, tauabtaig the mTalial ilgnUkatlm
of bibllB and the mannac of mailiia them. Menu to ban boon eoMi-
tolned bT the common'law Jndgea In the reign of king Jamei. aa appeaza
bt a adoma doene or role, DUdo by all tho Jnd|ea of the count at
Weatmlnatar, on Iha IMuth difof inne. IUS,biI thopnipeaaotappolnl-
tni what robca Iber ahould tbeoeatoflb tbu, npon onUnarj and ipedal
ooeatlau. In thit decno monUon li mad* of tbo Kadet oiMlns-haod,
whkh It bf the deena dheeled to be pat ahoro the tippet, fbi >hleb it
la clTon u a raaaaa Out ■luaUe* WahMlajr and jDitlee Wubaiton, and
'afi tbejudfee befOn, did *ear them In that maOBM, and did drcUre,
" that br oaailnc the hood an the rtobt tide and abore Ibe tippet, vaa
"•liniBodmen lomponl dignity i and b*ibt tippet en ibeleR tide oniT,
"tbtladgaedidnaemlde^la.'' Dugd. Oilglnet laiUklalei, pag. I«.
Tbo utbst (too whom tlw above paoMfo li cltod. enna tanra to
But the boob of Amalarins Fortnnotns which
more immediately relates to choral service, or the
music of the church, is intitled, De Ordine Anti*
phonarii. In this he vindicates the disposition of
the anthems, responses, and psalms, which he had
made in the antiphonary, for ue use of the churches
in France. It seems, that in this and other of his
works, he liad censured the usage of the cbnrch of
Lyons : this drew on him the resentment of two
very able men, Agobard, archbishop of that city, and
Floms, a deacon of the same church ; the former of
these wrote three treatises against his book of offices,
and his correction of the antiphonary ; and the latter
accused him, in the councils of Quierci and Thionville,
of maintaining erroneous opinions touching the moral
and mystical significations of the ceremonies, and ot
insisting too strenuously on the use of the Romar
ritual, whicli, notwithstanding its authority, had
never been generally acquiesced in.
Agobard himself had corrected the antiphonary of
his own church ; and the treatises which he wrote
against Amalarins, were not only a defence of those
corrections, but a censure of his adversary. He says,
that the poetical compositions of vain and fantastical
men are not to be admitted into divine service, the
whole of which ought to be taken from the scriptures ;
he complains, tliat the clergy spent more time in the
practice of singing than in the stody of the holy
scriptures, and the discharge of their duty in the
ministry of the gospel.
The writings of Amalarius upon the of&ces had
given rise to many very captious questions ; and to
this in particular. Whether it be lawful to spit im-
mediatdy after receiving the encharist ? Hie opinion
on this point of theology is contained in one of hia
letters, wherein, after premising that he himself was
very much troubled with phlegm, he holds it lawful
to spit, when the communicant can no longer forbear
that evacuation. X
From tiie time of the attack on him by Agobard,
and Florus, his deacon, we hear no more of Amalariue
Fortunatus ; and there is good reason to believe, that
immediately after it, his memory sank into oblivion.
Before we dismiss this subject of the Oantus Gre^
gorianuB, it may not l>e improper to mention, that it
has ever been held in such high estimation, that the
most celebrated musicians in every age since its first
institution, have occasionally exercised thetosclves in
composing harmonies upon it ; and numberless are
the antiphons, hymns, misereres, and other offices,
which have one or other of the ecclesiastical tones for
,-^.,. ^1 It hai ■ nfbnao* to two bielhien,
on, named BlmpHdaa and Paoatlnaa, who nftnd DiartyT.
le emperor Dloelealtn i aid glra* Uw fbUowlng deaeriptlim
ui ■• »vu uw Buthot :— ' It «aa tbe cnatom of lluaa penma (Ibe aodeCp
' of tt. atmpllelna) lo ircu abonl tbelr neeka rflver oollan, ocdupoaod A
• doable S B, vbleh noted the nam* of St. Slnpllelnt. Betnen theae
■doable SB Iba eoUat oootaliiodtinlntmallplatia ofaDner. Inahidi
'ven engnTed tbe twelTo artlclaa of the etotd, togeUier wHh a ifaigle
■ inlbrlt. The tmage of St. Bimplkliie bung at tbe collar, and baa B
■ teren plalea, npinentlng the aenn gifta of the HolT Oboit.-
I>ugdale tddi, ■ that Ibe itaaon of irealing tbia chain waa In ngard
' that tbno Iwo btetbnn were martrred. br tylbf a tlono with a ualn
' aboBt their neeka, and catting thdr tndte) Into tbe rlTor Tlbv.'
t Db Pin. MouT. BIbUoth. daa Ant. Booleatel. Siae. IX.
dbyGoo*^le
Chap. TtTfyi,
AND FBAOTIGE OP M08IO.
their fondainental hanaoaj. In a eoUectioa of
madrigalfl, intitled Mnnca Diviuk, pnbli^ied by
Pi«tro Plulesio, at Antwerp, in 1596, is one con>'
posed hf Oianetto PaleaUiia, beginning 'Veelivs
' i Colli,' in five ports, which is evidentlj a praxis on
the fourUt tone ; and in 1694^ Oiov. Faofo Oolonna, of
Bologna, published certain of tbe twalma, for eight
Traces, ' Ad ritum eccleaiaaticn mnsiCM coudoendi.'
CHAP. XXXI.
Ir is highly probable that from the time of it«
original institntion the cantos ecclesiastioiie pervaded
the whole of the service ; but this at least is certain,
that after the final improvement of it hj 8t Gregory,
■U &e acconnts of the Romish ritual, and ^e mai)uer
of celebrating divine service in the western chnrch,
lead to the belief that, excepting the epistlee and
gospels, and certain portions of scripture, and the
puBioual or marWrology, the whole of the service,
Dsy that even the prayera and penitential offices,
were snng. Among the canons of Elfric, made anno
957,' is the following :—
'Now it concerns masB-prieBts and all Qod's
'servants to keep their chorches employed witb
'divine service. Let them sing therein the seven
'tide-songe that are appointed them, as the synod
'earnestly requires, viz., the oht-song, the primfr'
'song, the nndem-eong, Ibe midday'songit the noon-
'iong, the even-song, the seventh [or mgbt] song.'
Chn. xix. What these severally are, may be seen in
a collection of ecclesisstical laws by the reverend and
learned Mr. Johnson of Cranbrook, who has bestowed
a note on the passage.
The twenty-first of the some canons is in these
words : — ' The prieet shall hsYe the famitnre fbr his
'^toatly work before he be ordained, that is the holy
books, the psalter and the pistol-book, gospel-book,
•nd maat'book, tbe aong-book, and the huid-book,
'the kalend&r, the pasconal,} the penetential, and the
' lesaon-book. It is necessary that the mass-priest
have these books ; imd be cannot be withoot them
if he will rightly exercise his fonctlon, and duly in-
form the people that belongeth to Um.'
These injtinctions may seem to regard the cele-
bration of mass, as well on festivals as on ordinary
occasions) in cathedral and other chnrcfaee ; never-
theless die practice of singing, by which in this
tJace nothing can possibly be understood but the
Omtas GregorisnOB, was not restrained either to the
solemn choral service, or to that in parish -churches,
■ Elbic la iDppoHd to hm bsm unhtiiluv at Toik rnbonl tb« tbns
■lm»-nHidoDBa, uA WnlAnt to whom tbrj ira dineted, bUbop of ouo
tt Uk iDClcnt met at DoRbHinr or SMrtmni, bni wUeh of (ii« two ii
ntlwr mmrtidii. TUi, u alio lonu otbei eolleetloiu of s«I«Uitt«l
liwi lien (Had, m to be ftmnd In Sb Hcni7 BMbnaii'i Coondli i bul
Uh dtneti iboTc flira an tma Mr. Jobnaoii'i TalnaUa ud uefol
And long before highc noooe Ihej had
Aji bundrede fat bnckei naioe j
Paailooal in Uaitjialofj.
bnt in short it wu used in the lesser offices. In the
English-Saxon homily for the birth day of St. Gre-
gory, the people are told that it was one of the in-
jimctions of that fother that the litany should be sung,
and upon certain occasions to the number of seven
times a-day. Among the ecclesiastical laws of king
Canute, who reigned from 1016 to 1035, is one
wberel^ the people are required to learn the Lord's
prayer and tbe creed, because, says the law, ' Christ
'himself first sana pater-noeter, and taoght that
' prayer to his disciples.' Mrs. ElBtob in her preface
to the bsnelation of the above homily, pag. SS, haa
inserted this law, and on the words Jjpij-T fcalj:
j-anje Patep Noj-teji has the following note : —
' Bingitu* the service was so much in practice in these
' limes, [i e. abont the sixth century, when Austin the
' monk was sent by Gregory into Britain] that we find
' tbe same word j-injan to mgnify both to pray and
' sing, as in the present instance.'
Farther, among tbe canons of Elfric above-cited is
one containing directions for visiting the sick, wherein
that role of St. James, ' And they shaU pray over
' him,' is expressed in these words, ^ hi him oj:ep
j-injon that is, ' they shall sing over them.' The
passage above-cited is part of the thirty-first of
Eliric's canons, and is In truth a paraphrase on the
wordb of St. James in bis General Epistle, chap. v.
ver. 13, 14, ^d, to give it at length, is as follows : —
' If any of you be dieted, let him pray for himself
' witb an even mind, and pnuse his Lord. If any be
' uck among yon, let him fetch the mass-priests of the
■ congn^ion, and let them sing over him, and pray
' for him and anoint him with oU in the name of the
' Lord. And the prayer of faith shall heal tbe sick,
' and tbe Lord shall raise him np ; and if he be in
' uns, they shall be forgiven him : confess your sins
* among yourselves, and pray for yourselves among
' yourselves, that ye be healed.'
The several passages above-cited, as they show in
some measure tbe ancient manner of celebrating
^vine service, and prove that almost tbe «diole of it,
particnlarly the lesser offices, was snng to musical
notes ; so do they account for that care and assiduity
with which the stndy of music appears to have been
cultivated in the several monasteriea, schools, and
univenritiee throughout Europe, more especially in
France and England. That tiie knowledge of music
was confined to the clergy, and that monks and pres-
byters were tbe authors of moat of the treatises on
music now extant, is not so well aoconnted for by tbe
general course of tbeir livee, and the opportunities
they had for study, as b^ this consideration, it was
their profession ; and to sing was their employment,
and in a great measnre their livelibood.§ The works
of Chancer and other old poets abonnd with allusions
to ihe practico of singing divine service, and with evi-
dences that a knowledge of the rudiments of singing
was essential in every cleric, indeed little lese so than
for such a one to be able to read. In the Vision of
Pierce Plowman, Bloth, in the character of a priest.
f Ttn ■tatnlet of A:
elantorj of the uage r
bUovitdpa ilutiild be ' 1
■ uU, bau tdttlt, I
dbyGoo^le
141
HISTORY OF THE SOIENOE
Boos IV.
among other uutimceB of laziness and ignoranca,
confesses that he cannot perfectly repeat his Pater-
noster as the priest nngeth it ; and that though he
had been in orders above thirty years, he can neither
Bol-fa, nor sing, nor read the lives of saints : the
whole of his speech, which is exceedingly hnmoaroDB
and characteristic, is here inserted : —
Than cimc Sloth, ill belLbnd, with two flimy eync,
I muft fit fiid the ieg, or eU I moll ocde* nap,
1 mii oat ftoad oe IWpe, oe withoal my Hole knde,
Wer I brought i bed, but if mj' talend it made,
Should no lining do me rife, or I were ripe to dine,
He began bcnedidte with a belkc, and on hii breift knoked
And laHded and roRd, and ml at the laft.
Awak, ituk qaod Repentaoncc, and rape thee to the jhlift.
If I Ibould die by thii dajr, me lyft not to looke i
I can not perkily my patei nofter, ai the priejl it fingcth.
But I can rimei of Robcnhod, and Randal of Chelter,
But of our Lord or our £jdy, 1 leme nothing at all ;
I hare made Towa il, and fbrgooen hem on the motow ;
Ne right lory fiir my finnei, yet wu 1 never ;
And if 1 bid any bradei, but it be of wrathe
That I tel with my tong, it two mile from ny hart;
I am occupied every day, holy day and ocbet
With idle talei at llie ale, and oliiet while in chnrchea.
God'i pcyoe and hie paffion, ful felde I thiake thereon,
I viGced never Jeble men, ne fellied folk in pittea,
1 have lever hear an harlotry, or a Jbmmera game
Or lei&ngei to laagh at, and belye my neighbourci,
Thanal thai ever Maike made, Mithew,Jhon, and LucN,
And vi^lei and ftfting daiei, all thefe I let palle,
And lie In bed in Lent, and my lemman in mine armea
Till maiteni and maiTe be done, and than go 1 to the fterea.
Com I U'lte miflaeft,'^ I hold mefervedj
1 am not Ihriven fomedme, but if fickenea it nuke.
Not twife in two year, and than up guelTe I clirife me.
I lure been prieft and perlbn paffing thirty winter,
Vet can I neicbet folic nor fing, ne liundei Uvea read.
But I can £iide in a fielde, ot a futloog, an hare.
Better than in Beatui vjr, ot in Beali omnea
Con&rue one elaule, and ken it to my parliheni.
I can hold loae daiea, and hcarc a revenea rekening,
And in cannon and in decretala 1 cannot read a line
Yf I bugge and borrow ought, but if it be [ailed
1 brget it ai Tonne, and if men me it a&e
,d thnt t
inhund
that the cantns of the Greek chnrch, whatever it was,
was not near so well cultivated and refined as that of
the Roman ; this consideration, together with the
short duration of the eastern empire, may eerre to
show how little is to be expected from an enquiry
into the nature of the andeut Greek choral music
Vossins says in general, that the Greek chnrch made
ose of modnlations different from those of the
western ; % bnt for a formula of them we are very
much to seek. As to the method of notadon made
nse of by the Greeks in aiter-timee, it did not in the
least resemble that of the Latins, and was widely
different from that of the ancient Greeks. Hont-
fancon, in his Palixographia Glreeca, lib. Y. cap. iii.
gVee a curious specimen of Greek mnsical notation
am a mannscript of the eleventh centnry. (See
Appendix, No. 38.)
Dr. Wallis hod once in his hands a manuscript,
which upon examination proved to be a Greek
rittial ; it had formerly been part of the fiunons
libraiy founded at Bnda W MatUuens Corvinns, king
of Hungarv, in 148fi. In 1629 the city of Bnda
was taken Dy the Tnrks, and in 1686 retaken, after
a long si^e, by the farces of the emperor Leopold.
A description of this mannscript, and a general
account of its contents is extant in a letter of Dr.
Wallis to some person, probably the owner of it,
who seems to have referred to the Doctor as being
well skilled in music ; the doctor's opinion of it may
be seen in the copy of his letter inserted at length
at the bottom of the page.§ It has lately been
t Oer. Vdh. De SdenCUa Kathamatlala, eap, xiL t II.
{ 'Sir, I haiaiim and ennofllT pmuad dial ancint Greek muD-
■ iCTipt which la aald to have been nnnd In Boda. at the UUnff of that
^plaec ttom the Turka in the pnaent war between the German emperor
'It li ilenntly WTtlteBlnaiDiaUanekband,andlaJadgedl<>lMat
'kaat throe buddred jean Did- Thvfbrmof the letter la mnob dlShivnt
I tlie Grack hand ujcd In the mannaerlpla
And my ferraiintea lalary fometimea i» behind,
Ruth ia CD hear the rekening, when we Qui mak account ;
So with wielced wil and with wrath my workmen I pai.
Yf any man do me benefite, st heipe me at aede
I am unkind againft hit cu[teli,and cannot uaderftand it.
For I have and have had Ibme dealc haukei manen.
1 am not lured with love, but if ought be under the thombc
That kindnela that rnine even chriften, kid me ferther
Siie fithea I Sloth, have forgotten it fithe.
In jpcch and in Ijaiing of fpeoce, I fpilt many a time
Both flellk and fiJh, and many other vitulea,
Both bread and ale, butter, milke, and cbefe.
For Sleuth in my ferrice til it mighte lerve no man.
I ran about in youth, and gave me not M leaming,
And ever fith have ben a beggar ftir my Ibole OaDlh.f
The foregoing account, as it relates solely to the
Cantns Gregorianus, most be supposed to contain
only the history of the choral mosic of the western
chnrch ; for it is to be remembered that ontiphonal
dinging was introdncod by the Greek fathers, and
was first practised in the churches of the East ; and
n ot Plaroa Fleirnian, Faaana qulnlua.
' II beata, after the lint (brae laavea, Ihla title Apxi "■* But ajlm
*rtK raratixtic Tfjcv^f, whieh 1 take to fnllmate thua mneh>—
' Here begina, with the aadiUncfi of (he ucred DtUj, the patriaiebal
* art ; for I take rarac then to aignify at much aa pope or patrlareb,
which la farthor thua explained : — aKoXttOiea ^oXXd/uvaJ tv Ear-
• caiTiiHMFDXai, avtmOiuiai Topa raw wara X"*?"! rvpiaK-
,_ ntareleavea,
then In nae, Ibali llpitaa, nr
.. . b (he real of (he book would
* and even aa It la, it will require lomD aagaeiCy and acudy,
' the full import of K, and to be able (o compaje It with •
'TteraMef the book
■ The wheli esnalata of bxit hnndred and thirtam iMna,'elOM wiltta
■on both ddea In a naiU Oreek hand. In the ahua or form sf what we
■ would now call a very large octavo, on a aort of tUok paper need In Iha
' etitam esuntriet at that Una.
■Then la ISr the nwal part about tweniy-«l^> Unaa IncHh pace,
■that li thuneen Unee of Qreektext, BeooidlngV>vUcl)iliilobeaan|[i
< nut lUcta aa thiae which wi now oM. not Ilka tiait of the mm ancient
■Gnekt. which they called of which Hdbomlna glvva ua
'a laise aceounl out of Alypiua ' ' ' ■■—
le anclenl Oreeka, but
before (boaa of flulde Areibiua, wl
I do not find Id it an.
iniio i I mean (wnpoaitl«u In Iws. three, fi
loK, far ought I Had, being only aintle compoaHtoDB.
Dtatepa of what it now oemmon
nmt In iwo, three, fmu, ot m
dbyGoot^le
Chap. XXXI.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
145
diBcovered that the MS. abovementioned wfu the
property of Mr, Hamrrey Wanley, as appears by
a letter of his to Dr. AruinT Charlett, inserted also
in the note, in which he offers to part with it to tlie
tiniversity of Oxford. It is to be conjectured that
the nniversity declined parchasing it, and that Mr,
Wanley disposed of it to the eari of Oxford, for in
the printed Catalogue of the Harleian inaDiiRcripts
in the British Museum, No. 1613, ia the, following
article : —
' Codex chartaceus in 6to, ut ajunt, majori, diversts
'maaibos scriptns, et Gnecorutn mora corapactus;
' qaem DRo Henrico Worelejo in Terra Sancta pere-
'grinanti dona dedet Notars (Norapo an Horapiot;)
' tunc Metropolita Ca«arieDais ; qui exinde, da mor-
' tuo doctiseimo buo avunculo, ^tns eat Fatriarcha
' Bieroeolymitanns ; adhuc, ni Tailor, snperetea. In
' illo habentur varia Eccleaise Grecs Officii, Cantica,
'&c Qneci dcscripta, Notulisq; Grsecia Mnsicalibui
'iosignita. Non lis dico. qua prtscis secnlis apud
* EtbuicoB Poetas et Philosophos in nan fuerunt ;
'quamm atiamnum Doannlle reetant quasi e Nau-
'fragio Tabulse : sed alteriua plang fomiR, qiua ante
'plnrima eecula introductas adhuc retinet hodiema
'Grsecornm Ecclesia.'
Mr. Wanley has inserted the mbrics in the order
in which they occur ; these ate to be considered aa
■ TtaU «hlrh Rfiden It m«l Tiluble !• (hit ; we btn of th« mm
.80 many distinct heads, and give occasion for an
explanation of many difficult words made use of in
them, and also in the offices;* in which he discovers
great learning and sagacity.
dTe . tew InK
,. »). To
Dv. Vm gtaertet. at
CmMidt In Eccleil* G
nci nceiilii w
mnnnl
r4^''™.™K
Due™..
InE^lutoOrl^tali.
unel
IdTudi
'XBIl dilldcbu
■msaqat 30,
?,n.."
■" •*"■" f"
Ll»
.. ,ui IW
Choi
<■■ !n Obi. dWdui
1 Tnoi
...iA.«<inltm.»m.
J^m""M
r. eiDgDlinu
laue
T™ri.«,nl
Hoenci
,utplu™.uip»orto«.
ram Numcmi
iae
J-ltfni M V«» mii.qou
prlmi.
L1tl.rU qu«l Annuili
>Q Cing. <i AlJtUa dt OwrKlli.
'■nttBt\M Tcl Mvduliii culUlm P^mo daunuu'^DKtiu. « qnut
ir orpoiita RiiriwDiHi. Inqmi HanoiluaSiiUuriiu. Ub.ll.cr- "
ilncaln. nni n mdni ill KmiMr ib ilun Chns Rnpauta:
tT butc Unun er Rcclprocun SententiuD tvtD^r lUtUm,
avrtfotfoVf qiusi tox oPTaiiTt, ita Voeit oppotida Tocttur. E}iu
tormi ouiJli tit. » hU UjiiJllbiu Antlpbcbii (J, i. LIliuiiU S. Cbiy-
•oiUmi) tol. IM, et icq. poillii Inngtetcll. Eiut enlm ibi Pulmiu
Aya96v ri tiofioXojtiaBak rw tvpiv eujQi iLnguliB vereLbue
nrepondei avTifuvuv Talc rpiatiiaii Trjt iiordicH i$ rd ifiKi
QUi iKpiut OrromovH. Ouuniii feuti nm potiui [n adiereum
Jui fregumilm ropiilio) o?n
onlli^I) avriptivov ippelk
ttie. rartuiD t<1
T VocU SlgBlfl-
<U. TpiaiyiBV, Tbiiivctdk, Hymnl genoi. mlui hce erul
Tiitw, 'A71OC i iiiti liruic ^axupoc, djms iOdvaroc. iXtqvof,
qfiac'ln quo Syiot ^ ^'^S nferebtlur ti Deum PUnm; djiat
lvxi>p6i *d Deam FiUsm ; ayu/t ABitiaTOt id BpMluai lucluai.
Vocuui Eilun rpiBayiee iiivokejui, xifP"^! ^voc, ijyAwy
i/imXojua, Tpiaaymt aivoc ay^fXuiv Tfivwfia ni rpitfayio
#wvij. Anne eBlmTbeoilDBUJunloriiquliitD (vet thgeilmoieeiindiun
quit ABHIechllK Inin Utbem Intiebliueni, ei ulveriui Hymnum bune
Blupbemiu pmlaquennlur: Fitffi st SMppIlcilleoei In Cunipo Trt-
IXtijffov clamMjent Koili alLquet contltiuli. AdeleeemCnlui quidun In,
eontperCu omnium In Ajfnm eubifetue ett, Hudlvltque Anit'l^ee^unuitce,
Ayioc 0 libs, ayioc laxipis- iyoc aBavaro(. ttfiJODf ij/tnc.
Quell cum moi demlieue nurliui, Dmoee eodgm medo Taiiiainii
antia eapenut, el cteiiTit Terrs Uotui. Hulc Hfrnno Impeniar
Anuuilui poet ills iSyiec iSovaroc "Odi volult 0 jaupoSjic grip
ObHTTiuidam ludem dlicrlmtn quod eit iDtec ro Tpuroyiai' et
I Erivicioi, in qno ilmUllet 'Ayioc einrtatut, bunc In
iSyiilC SjIDtt dyoc Kvpiot irafiaM — Eigo rpitfayiav
diraliilvnein, Tpiaiytov quoque tuurpi
411. Xop6^f prnprie nolit CuKotlnm
but pnSunMueuTllnl-
ilqoo SaltuiUam cullnrtm
quldem Cudhd, qulbuidun In LocU. bUkrUm divieo. InipTopde uotat
Xopit, dWidebiiTiur xop"' '" ^'Culv, DEiTnuu. et itpicipof,
SlHiiTnuiI. Tilodluni In Babbits SinrU apxirai &o9it f'tri
K\as i llSiil ^Xhc a a-paroc X'P^tt ^ luo quidem Diitui as
LiHD Chosd cDDiiiiii StceidH qui laen Uluriria pTvett. Du Cu<f.
Tbe piactlce of dlridlni Ibe chorui into Iwa pani, and dlipolni Iha
la Romlah lertlce
' bitac it along with me the next week : If not, I <■
' For tb« HeT, Dr. Cliarlett. I am nitmid and
'ManerafUniienllfnlliige Yau( m«l talDifnl ar
llalLon of the prflcenl
1] Canlocli, TIU Dtea and On Pncnlor oi
mn dladniuiahed by the namea of the officara that auperlnrend them
mpectlvelT ; far liuUDce, ai the aeal of the Dean la do the rig tat. tboaa
an thai tide ate directed ahen to ting br the woid Daeaol ; and aa Itaa
lU Pracnlor art Ua
L
byGoo^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book IV.
Bat u a mere verW description of this MS.
would fail to convey an adeqiute idea of the character
in which it is written, or of the mueical notes, which
are the principal object of the present enquiry, the
initial and finu pages of the volume are given in that
kind of transcript which the curiona distin^^iish by
the appellation of fiicsimile. (Appendix, Nob. 39, 40.)
It is very clear itom that letter that Dr. Wallia
looked upon manuscripts of thia kind as a very great
cnriosity; andthis judgment ofhis is founded npon an
opinion which he says prevailed at the time of giving
it, that there was no each thing as an ancient Qreek
muaical composition extant
The causes of this scarcity of Greek ritual mnsic
are to be sought in the history of that church. It
has already been related that choral service was first
introduced by the Greek fathers, and that as the
pomp and splendour of the Greek worship was very
great, and calculated to engage the affections of the
people, the greater part of the offices were sung.
The consequence thereof was, that the clerks employed
for that purpose were of little less estimation Uian
those that exercised the sacerdotal function. This
appears from a passage in the litui^ of St Mark,
wherein is a prayer for priests, deacons, and singers.*
We may hence conclude that a ritual of some kind
or other subsisted in that very early age ; and it is
very probable that that kind of melody which St
Ambrose instituted in his church at Milan, was no
other than what was nsed by St Basil and Chrysostom
in their several churches in Asia, since it is apparently
founded on the ancient Greek modes. The music of
the Greek church might in all probability continue to
flourish until the translation of the imperial seat from
the East to the West ; and as after that important
event that church lost the protection of an emperor,
and was left in a great measure to shift for itself, its
splendour, its magnificence and discipline declined
apace, and it was not the authority of a patriarch that
was sufficient to support it
Bat the min of the Greek church was completed
in the taking and sacking of ConstiUitinople by tbe
Turks in the year 14SS, when thetr libraries and
public repositories of archives and mannecripto were
destroyed, and the inhabitants driven to seek shelter
in tbe neighbouring islands, and such other places as
their conqnerore would permit them to abide in.
From that time the Greek Christians, excejtling
those who inhabit the empire of Russia, have lived in
a state of the most absolute subjection to tbe enemies
of true religion and literature, and this to so great
a degree, that the eiierciee of public worship is not
permitted them but upon conditions so truly humili-
ating, as to excite tbe compassion of many who have
been spectators of it Maondrel in his Journey from
Aleppo to Jerusalem, mentions his visiting a Greek
church at a village called Bellulca, where he saw an
altar of no better materials then dirt, and a crucifix
of two hits of lath fastened cross-wise together, j-
A modem traveller, Dr. Frederic Hasaelquist, Who
visited the Levant in the year 1749, indeed mentions
that in tbe church at Bethlehem he saw an organ, but
it seems that it belonged to the Latin convent : as to
the Greek Christians he represents them as living in
a state of absolute poverty and dejection in almost all
the places that he visited.
Laying all these circumstances together, it will
cease to be a wonder that so few vestiges of the Greek
chnrch-mnsic are now remaining, whatever others
there are may possibly be found in the Russian
ritual ; but as no one can say how far that may have
deviated from the primitive one, it is to be feared
that an enquiry of thia kind would elnde ilie utmost
efforts of industry,!
CHAP. XXXII.
IsiDOBB, bishop of Seville, is frequently ranked
among the writers on music, for this reason, as it
seems, that he was the author of Or^num, sive
Etymologiamm, a kind of epitome of all arts and
sciencea, in which are several chapters with the
following titles, as Cap. i. De Musica et ejus Nomine.
Cap. ii, De Inventoribus ejus. Cap. iii. Quid sit
lU'ai-Uritl On ml! IkU man U> «fn ■>}
Itrm bvmmri A« '*• •UlUarf HtdfUmt
\Im: Uurt ill Oietr wrrporatt MpocUgr art tUUd i)«ii
_ " Tuonittiired la ktU On piMtt -' -^ '-
•r Cammital Slatm. >k° f ■ < Comm if Al (
*KrA(ri « •In^Mf tml rf IMl l^tliaiml ! taillf
CUUrn,. rUtBp.WHttJaU.BfmfU.
44*. Kavocdpeijc- Pi^'mtdi C.
mdn In Vl||[lii> Cinmin i
lOB. npwro+aXTlJC, PuKlimnoi C^itohdii ; flnl
t • BtlBS InfomiHi thit h«ii wm
«nnl
CHriiliin In
bii plKt, n >nit
irch. irUch ft rouni
Ihit IMR Cbriitiuilly H
snnedlobol
Lumtilatl iUtt, Ml
mm of (bout fo
ur 01 Art iuit
w>)i>diiiiti
laihlnf but Ihi Dr
'?„r^
!ment i mi 1
intr HniH nide Ini
•ind with bi
int Ih* wwbir.
□n Ibe Mil >tde
DiltiUb -llh .be
Willi tinir It •»
p.ycdiItop«kblH
■■to, (a ftie It tti<
! fK* of « 1«ble.
Intht
: middle n( tl
■"^J.':™-"?'
i«rd of IBo iMih
■ BiUid
.=g«l.B Id
, , . ... ipparled bj ft po«t. whtch wf
■comtnodlouily bnlu tbniiiA [be' oall to fSie light to tbe mricr.
' A TeiT nMii hlMIMton title fOr the Cod of hnntn I but yn held In
hy tho pBM people; who not onlj oodm
^Tfl. but UHi deposit here whiueTet I*
lU'eioumoj
I,/ U.uiid
dbyGoot^le
Chap. XXXII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSia
m
Hnaica. Cap. it. De tribna PartibuB Musicte. Cap.
T. i)e trifonni Mosics Divisione. Cap. vi. De prims
Divisione Mnsicn harmonica. Cap. vii. De secnnda
Diviuone or^nica. Cap. viii. De tertia Divigione
rythmic*. C^p. Ix. De Mosicis Numeris ; and also
a Treatise on the EcclasiaHtical Offices, in both of
which there are many things relating to mnaic, and
in the former especially, many etymologies of mosical
terms, and names of musical instrnments. His father
was Severianns, a son of Theodoric king of Italy ;
he BQCceeded his brother Leander in the bishopric
of Seville ahont the year 695, and governed that
charch near forty years : he was very learned in all
subjects, more especially in geometry, mnsic, and
astrology ; his book on the Offices contains the prin-
cipal points of discipline and ecclesiastical polity.
Moeheim in his chronological tables makes him the
principal compiler of the Mosarabic litnrgy, which
is the ancient titurgv of Bpain. He died in the
year 636, and has a place in the calendar of Romish
uinta.
Of the introdnclJon of mnsic into the chnrch-
aervice, of the institntion of the four tones by Bt
Ambrose, and of the extension of that namher to
eight by St Gregory, mention has been made ;
we are now to speak of another very considerable
improvement of church music, namely, the intro-
duction of that noble instrnment the organ, which
we are told took place about the middle of the
seventh century. Authors in general ascribe the
introduction of organs into churches to pope ViCali-
anus, who, as Da Pin, Platina, and others relate, was
advanced to the pon^Bcate in a. c. 66S : the enemies
of church music, among whom the Magdeburg com-
mentators are to bejinmbered, invidiously insinuate
that it was in the year 666 that organs were first
Hsed in churches,* from whence they infer the unlaw-
fulness of this innovation, as commencing from an
era that corresponds with the number of the beast
in the Apocalypse : but the wit of this sarcasm is
founded on a supposition that, npon enquiry, will
appear to be false in fact ; for though it is nncon-
troverted that Vitalianus introduced the organ into
the service of the Romish charch, yet the use of
instruments in churches was much earlier; for we
are told that Bt. Ambrose joined instruments of
music with the public service in the cathedral church
of Mikn, which example of his was so well approved
of, that by degrees Jt became the general practice of
other churches, and has since obtained in almost all
the Christian world besides. Nay, the antiquity of
instrumental church-music is still higher, if we may
credit the testimony of Justin Martyr and Eueebius,
the Utter of whom lived fifty, and the former two
hundred years before the time of St. Ambrose. But
to return :—
Sigebert relates that in the year 766 the emperor
Conitantinel sent an organ as a present to Pepin,
4 Surnunsd CAwnXTniui. iHauit hs b aild ta 1u*e d«IM th« Arat
W hi* impa»iB. Umh. toI. I[. pif. St tn doc.
Other wtlun apMk putkmlarir, uid h; Ihut tht Snt uh of orfiiiu In
then king of France, though the annals of Mets
refer to the year 767; from hence some with good
reason date the first introduction of the organ into
that kingdom, but it was not till abont the year 826
that organs became common in Europe.
Whoever is acquunted with the exquisite me-
chanism of this instrument, and considers the very
low state of the manual arts at that time, will hardly
be persuaded that the organ of the eighth century
bore any very near resemblance to that now in use.
Zarlino, in his Sopplimenti Musicali, libro VIll,
pag. 290, has bestowed great pains in a disquisition
on the strncture of tbe ancient organ ; the occasion
of it he says was this : a lady of quality. Madonna
Lanra d'Este, in the year 1571, required of Zarlino,
by his friend Francesco Yiota, his sentiments of the
organ in general, and whether he took the modem
and the ancient instrument of that name to be alike
or different : in giving his opinion on this question
he attempts a description of the hydraulic organ from
Vitrnviofl, which he leaves just as he found it ; he
then cites a Greek epigram of Julian the Apostate,
who lived about the year 364, in which an organ is
described. A translation of this epigram in the
following words is to be found in Mersennns, lib. III.
De Organis, pag. 113 : —
Quam cemo, alteriui naturs eit liitula : nempe
Altera produxit fortaue base lenea tellus.
Horrenduni itridet, nee noatm iRa movctiir
Fladbus, et miuui taurino e carcere ventui
Subtui Bgit Iwei calanioa, perque ima vagatur.
Mox aliquifl tcIoz dieiti*, insignia et arte
Aditat, Concordes caUmis pulutque tabellu;
A«t illn snbito exiliunt, et carmina miacent.
As to the oigan of the modems, he says the com*
mon opinion is that it was first used in Greece, and
from thence introduced into Hungary, and afterwards
into Bavaria; but this he refutes, as he does also the
supposed antiquity of an organ in the cathedral
church of Mnnich, pretended to be the most ancient
in the world, with pipes of one entire piece of box,
equal in magnitude to those of the modem church
orgiui : he then speaks of the sommiero of an organ
in his possession that belonged to a church of the
nuns in the most ancient city of Grado, the seat of
a patriarch before the sacking of it by Pepo the
patriarch of Aquileia, in the year 680. This som-
miero he dcRcribes as being abont two feet long, and
a fourth of that measure broad, and containing only
thirty pipes and fifteen keys, but without any stop ;
the pipes he says were ranged in two orders, each
containing fifteen, but whether they were tuned in
the unison or octave, as also whether they were of
wood or metal, be says is hard to guess: he says
iarUier Uiat diis instrument bad bellows in the back
part, such as ere to be seen in the modem regali, and
exhibits a draft of this instrnment in the following
form: —
th« THlmi ohoreb wu tt Ann. Iiu«. Chrmu Anno CfarUtt IH.
Cliureh Story : tml w Binik. Anllf*. Vol. I «14, a cilMnfnm TVhm
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
1 9 3 4 fi e T s e 10 II It IS i« IS
Zarlino speaks also or an ancient organ in the
church of St. Anthony of Padua, of a convenient
bigness, which had many orders of pipes, but no
stops ; and both these instrnments he makes to be
much more ancient than that of Mnnich in Bavaria ;
concerning the accounts of which he seems to be dis-
satisfied ; for as to the pipes, he says there are no box-
trees, except such as grow in the country of Prester
John, of a size sufficient to malte pipes of one piece
EO large as those are said to be ; and that, af^er such
were found, an organ ao constructed aa that a single
pipe should require a whole tree, is not easily to be
conceived of.
He farther takes some pains to shew the error of
those who im^ne that the organ mentioned by
Dante, in the ninth canto of his Purgatory, was
different in many respects from that of the ancients.
The passage in Dante is an imitation of Lucan, lib.
IIL 'Tunc rupea tarpeia sonat:' —
Non rugijio s), ni ri mottrA li acra
Tarpels, come tolto Ic fU il buono
MeCello, donde poi HmBse macra.
lo mi rivolii attenlo al prima tuono,
E, TV Deum laudamta, mi parea
Udir in vocs mista al dolce tuono.
Tale imasine appunto mi rendca
Ci& ch r udiva, qual prender u tuole
Quando a cantai con oreani si stea:
Che or si or no i' intendou le parole.
But upon the whole, he is dearly of opinion that
the hydraulic organ of Vitruvius, that other mentioned
in the epigram of Julian above-cited, the Bavarian
organ, and that in the city of Grado, were essentially
the same with the organ of hie time."
■ V ftnennui Hnnt to eMiry the uitlqattr of tbe OTfjm fBithn lack
UuB Zftrllno hu doDt In lh« pvu^ itbavF clled, uid to think that not
time ; fat ipuiinx oT thv cplirnm made In lU pniiv bj the empeTor
JuUh). ud 'hlclili iDHiivl Id hli (IfRieiiDue't) Lutn work, he idUn
■of to ktDdle 1 Are, wd ■ npneentUMn of ■ nmn plmd bcbtnil Lhe
■eaUiKi blovliii IhtlKlUiwi, ind of unmu MiKUog the keji.' He
T. 'thwon tbe botlon of the otUnel wu Iht fDlIawlnf[ InKripilan! —
API8IUB C. F. SCAPTtA CAPITOLINUS EX TESTAlitENTO
'FIERI IfONUMEN. JUSSIT ARBtTHATU HEREDVH UE-
ORUM SIBl ET eUIS ; «iuieniiii( which, kt uldi, lhe utlqiuriua
That choral music had ita rise in the chnrch of
Antioch, thp metropolis of Syria, and that from
thence it spread through Greece, and was afterwards
brought into Italy, the several testimonies above ad-
duced BufQciently shew : from thence it made its way
into France, Britain, Spain, and Germany, and at
length was received tbroaghont Chriatendom. Ab
'niy cnnjeclnn whit UutrcM; Rirtbelll li luSlelent tbw hehuftm
I the praetlM of hii own ue. whkh, he u]n. b)r tti iiitpUKi uit ihing
lib. VI. w Jlj" *" n on ■ 1. tuh «(. Hum.
The monument iboTo ipoken of h» bM>n r«M>md. Pnhiblr It <i
eiUn t In tonit oni or other of the ooll«ilon> of lb> inlliiullico. jnliUibail
found unong the Mpen of Mrole Fiucnca Heym, the inthor of II
Treon Brlluinlca ddlc Medaiille Anllche, aod u II arnitymat atiMj
with lhe detcilpllDii of It b; If emnnue, It li bcrt Inmtcd : —
L. APISIOa C. F. SCAPTIA CAPITOLINUS EX
TE8TAMEKT0 FIERI MONUMEN. JUS8IT
ABBITBATU HEREDUM MEUORUH SIBI ET BUI8;
r mlhoT takee ocodon to UHtloD Vb off(ui deurfbc
n Lb* Dijtnr bubutimi that ippear In It, be ujrt, 01
133:
To thli (coii:
In Ua Dnciipltc
n OTfan with golden pipei. Leam
. SeeOldyi'afirlUibLlhnrUn, No.
dbyGoot^le
Cbap. XXXIU.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
H9
to the time and mumer of ibi introdnction into
Britain, history has ascertained it l>eyond a possibility
of doubt ; for we are expressly told, that at the time
when Anstin the monk arrived here, charged with
a commission to convert the inhabitAnts of Britain to
Christianity, singers attended him : and bo watchful
were the Roman pontiffs over its progress in ihis
island, that in little more than half a centnry, one of
the most excellent chanters that Rome afforded was
sent hither, by Agatho, to reform anch abuses as in
that short period he might find to have crept into it
That it was received with great eagerness by the
people of this country, there are many reasons for
thii^ing; for, first, their fondness for music of all
kinds was remarkably great ; Giraldus Cambrensis
asserts, almost in positive terms, that the natives of
Wales and the northern parts of Great Britain were
bom muaicians.
Besides this, there are proofs in history that in
ft very short time after its first planting amongst ns,
moeic was observed to flourish ; snd that, in short, it
loved the soil, and therefore could not fail to grow.
It was in the cathedral church of Canterbury that
the choral service was first introduced ; and till the
arrival of Theodore, and his settlement in that see,
the practice of it seems to have been confined to the
churches of Kent ; but after that, it spread over the
whole kingdom. The clergy made music their study,
they became proficients in it, and, differing perhaps
in that respect from those of other countries, they
disseminated the knowledge of it among the laity.
Eollinshed, after Bede, describes the progress of
nnging in churches in these words : —
' Also, whereas before-time there was in a manner
' no singing in the Englishe churches, except it were
' in Kent, now they began in every church to use
• sin^ng of divine service, sfter the ryte of the church
' of Some. The archbishop Theodore, finding the
' chnrch of Rochester void by the death of the last
' bishop, named Damian, he ordeyned one Putta,
' a simple man in worldly matters, but well instructed
' in ecclesiastical discipline, and namely well seene in
' BODg, and mosicke to he used in the church, after
* the manner as he had learned of Pope Gregories
' disciples.'*
AJler this, viz., in 677, Ethelred, king of the
Mercians, invaded the kingdom of Kent with a great
army, destroying the country before him, and amongst
other places the city of Rochester ; the cathedral
church thereof nas also spoiled and defaced, and Putta
driven from his residence ; upon which, as the same
historian relates, ' he wente unto Scroulfe, the bishop
' of Mercia, and there obteyning of him a smaH cure,
• and a portion of ground, remayned in that country ;
' not once labouring to restore his church of Rochester
* to the former state, but went aboute in Mercia to
'teach song, and instruct such as would leame
' mnsicke, wheresoever he was required, or could get
' entertainment 't
* nnt Tolnme of tha Cbmnklii of Enflud, SeoUud, md Inland,
CHAP. XXSIII.
The several improvements herein before enume-
rated, related solely tu that branch of music which
those who affect to use tha terms of the sncients,
called the Melopceia; what related to the measures
of time, which, has been shewn, were regulated
solely by the metrical laws, as they stood connected
with poetry, or, to use another ancient term, the
rhjrthmopeeia was suffered to remaia without inno-
valJoQ till the beginning of the fourteenth century,
as it is said, when John De Maris, a doctor of the
Borbonne, and a native of England, though the
generality of writers suppose him to have been
a Norman, invented characters to signify the dif-
ferent lengths of sounds, and, in short, instituted
a system of metrical music
It has already been mentioned, that till within
these few years it was a dispute among the writers
on music, whether the ancients, by whom we are
to understand the Greek harmonicians and their
followers, were acquainted with music in consonance,
or not : the several argnmenta of each party have
been stated, and, upon a comparison of one with the
other, it does moet clearly come out, that music in
consonance, though as to ns it be of great antiquity,
is, with respect to those of whom we are now speak-
ing, a modem improvement.
In fixing the nra of this invention, those who
deny that it was known to the ancients are almost
unanimous in ascribing it, as indeed they do the
invention of the polyplectral species of instrumenta,
which are those adapted to the performance of i^
to Guide Aretinus. Kircher was the first propagator
of this opinion, i which he confesses is founded on
a bare hint of Guide ; but in this he is mistaken,
both in his opinion and in the fact which he assigns
as a reason for it; for neither in the Micrologua nor
in the other tract of Guido, intitled, Argumentum
novi Cantus inveniendi, of both which a very par-
ticular account will be given hereafter, is there the
least intimation of a claim to either of the above
inventions.
Not to insist farther on this mistake, the fact is,
that symphoniac music was known in the eighth
century, and that Bede does very particularly men-
tion a well-known species of it, termed Descant :
and this alone might suffice to show that mnsic in
consonance, though unknown to the ancient Greeks,
was yet in use and practice before the time of Guido,
who flourished not till the beginning of the eleventh
centnry; for what are we to understand by the
word Descant, but mnsic in consonance ?
But lest a doubt should remain touching the nature
of the practice which the word Descant is intended
to signify, let ns attend to a very particular de-
scription of it, contained in an ancient manuscript,
formerly part of the Cotton library, but which was
destroyed by the accident of fire which happened
some years ago, 23 Oct., 1781. at Ashburnham-houae,
where it was deposited. The pass^^ above men-
tioned may be thus translated. §
{ Fran ■ eon nude R>[ Ou UM of Di. IVpiuch. Vlds Hi. Cutltr'*
dbyGoot^le
160
HISTORY OF THE 80IEN0E
lIV.
' ir two or three descant upon a plain-song, they
mufct UBe their best eodeavoura to begin and proceed
by different concordances ; for if one of them ehould
concur with another, and sing the same concord to
the plain-song, then ought they immediately tQ
constitute another. If yoa would descant under
the plain-Bong. in the dnpte, [i. t. octave] in the
sixth, the fifth, the third, the twelfth, or in the
fifteenth, you ought to proceed in the same manner
as you would were yon to descant above the ptsin-
BOng ; whoever sings above it must be experienced
in uie grave sounds, their nature ond^tuation; for
on this the goodness of the harmony in a great
meaaure depends. Another method of descanting
is practised, which, if it be well pronounced, will,
though easy, appear very arti&cial, and several will
Mem to descant on the plain-song, when in reality
one only shall descant, and the others modulate the
plain<song in different concordances : it is this, let
there he four or five aingers, and let one begin the
plain-song in the tenor ; let the second pitch his
voice in the fifth above, the third in the eighth,
and the fourth, if there be four besides him who
singa the tenor or plain-song, in the twelfth, and
all begin and continue in these concordances to the
end; only let those who sing in the eighth and
twelfth break and flower the notes in such manner
aa may best grace the measure ; and note well, that
whosoever sings the tenor must pronounce the notes
full in their measure, and that he who descants
must avoid the perfect, and take only the imperfect
concords, namely, the third, sixth, and tenth, both
ascending and descending ; and thus a person who
is skilled in the practice of descant, and having
a proper ductility of voice, may make great melody
with others, singing according to the above direc-
tions ; and for this kind of singing four persons are
sufficient, provided there be one to descant con-
tinually, in a twelfth above the plain-song.'
Morlev, in his Introduction, pag. 70, speaking of
the word Descant, indeed says, that 'it is a word
'usurped of the mnsitions in divers signiScations;'
yet he adds, 'that it is generally token for singing
' a part extempore, on a playne-song ; so that when
'a man talketh of a dascanter, it must be one that
' can extempore sing a part upon a playne-song.'
The practice of descant, in whichsoever of these
two senses the word is accepted, may reasonably be
supposed to have token its rise from the choral
service, which, whether we consider it in its primitive
state, as introduced by SL Ambrose, or ss improved
by pope Gregory, consisted either of that plain and
■imple melody, which is nnderstood when we speak
of the Ambroeian or Qregorian chant, or of com-
positions of the hymnal kind, differing ^m tbft
former, in that they were not subject to the tonic
laws which at different periods had been laid dovrn
by those fathers of the church.
Continual practice and observatjon snggasted to
those whose duty obliged them to a constant and
regular attendance at divine service, the idea of
* polyphonons harmony ; by means whereof, without
disturbing the melody, the ear might be gratified
with a variety of concordant soonda, uttered by
a number of voices ; and indeed little less than
a discovery of this natnre was to he expected from
the introduction of music into the chunji, consider-
ing the great number of persons whose duty it
became to study and practise it ; considering also,
the great difference, in respect of acuteneas and
gravity, between the voices of men and boys; and,
above all, that nice discriminating sense of harmony
and discord, resulting from an attention to the sound
of that noble instrument the organ. Platina has
fixed the term when the organ was. first introduced
into churches at the year 660, and gives the honour
of it to Vitoliftnus; and in less than half a centnry
afterwards, we discover the advantages arising from
it, in that which is the subject of the present en-
quiry, the invention of a kind of music consisting of
a variety of parts, called descant, the nature whereof
is explained above, and is mentioned by Bede, who
flourished at the beginning of the eighth century,
and not only was extremely well skilled in the
science of music, but spent the fiir greater part of
his life in the study and practice of it
An Italian writer of good authority,* whose pre-
judices, if he had any, did not lead him to favour
the modems, has gone farther, and ascribed the use
of the term to our countryman; and there is extant,
in the Cambrin Sescriptio of Giraldus Oambrensis,
a relation of a practice that prevuled in his time
among the inhaDitonts of this country, not incon-
sistent with the supposition that either Bede himself,
or some of the brethren of the monastery where
he resided, might be the inventors of music in
The relation of Giraldus Cambrensis above re-
ferred to is to the following effect : —
' In the northern parts of BritMn, beyond the
'Humber and on the borders of York^ire, the
' people there inhabiting, make use of a kind of
' symphoniac harmony in singing, but with only two
' differences or varieties of tones or voices. In this
'kind of modulation, one person [snhmnnnurante]
'sings the under part in a low voice, while another
' sings the upper in a voice equally soft and pleasing.
'This they do, not so much by heart as by a habit,
' which long practice has rendered almost natural ;
' and this method of singing is become so prevalent
'amongst these people, that hardly any melody is
■ accustomed to he uttered simply, or otherwise than
' variously, or in this twofold manner.''^'
• Old. BU, Dciil. In hli Imtlii D> Oaierl < da H«H dcUa Xaikt,
. ._. ._.._ kulc •pecUUtawm comim
tjMi ppnd otnniqin InTjilnll «1 alut Jma ndim pHall. ui hL
■ImBUdtei, ubl multlpUeltn ut ^ud prinrei. ti\ ultnn duplk
uoo M^BBUa, niitlUil prshrii naiimcrtt. Pueil* MUm (quU
Mmlrkodam) t\ ferl ItifAnt&btii. (cum pridaum h flttlbuB ifi
anmpDBil cudnn uodulitloiiEii) Dlntnunllbiu. AogS lert qn
dbyGooi^le
CHiP. XXXItl.
ABD PRACTICK OP MUSIC.
in
As thia method of ainging se«ms by the account
above given of it to have been Babecovient to the
lawB of harmony, an enquiry into ita origin may
lead to a discovery when and where mnsic in con-
■onance waa first practiaed. The author above cited
would insinnatfl ibat the inhabitants of tbis country
might receive it from the Dacians, or Norweg^a ;
but he ha« not (hewn, nor is there the least reason
to think that any such practice prevailed among
■ither of those people ; and till evidence to that
purpose shall be produced, we may surely suspend
oar belief, and refer the honour of the invention to
those who are admitted to have been in poBBession
of the practice. It will be remembered, tiiat in the
for^^oing pages it has been related that the monas-
tery of Weirmontb, in the kingdom of Northumbria,
was famons for the residence of John the arch-chanter,
and other the most skilful musicians in Britain. It
is therefore not improbable that symphoniac music
mi^t have its rise there, and from thence it might
hare been disseminated among the common people
inhabiting that part of the kingdom ; nay, it is nest
to impceaible that a pracdce so very delightful, and
to a certain degree so easily attamable, could be
confined vritlun the walla of a cloister.
It is true, that the reasons above adduced will
warrant nothing more than a bare conjecture that
music in consonance had its rise in this island ; but
it may be worth considering whether any better
evidenc« than that it was known and practised in
England so early as the eighth century, can be pro-
duced to the contrary.
Bnt without pursuing an enquiry touching the
particular country where symphoniac mnsic had its
rise, enough has been said to ascertain, within a few
years, the time of its origin : it remains to account
for the error of those writers who ascribe the in-
vention of it to Gtuido,
Besides the application of the syllables ur, bk, hi,
Jk, BOL, LA, to the first six notes of the septenary, it
is universally allowed, that he improved, if not in-
vented the stave ; and that if he was not the first
who made use of points placed npon one or other of
the lines to signify certain notes, he was the first that
pisced points in the spaces between the lines, and by
the invention of the keys or cliffs, compressed as it
vere, the whole system of the double diapason into
the narrow limits of a few lines.
After he bad thus adjusted the stave, and had
either invented or adopted, it matters not which, the
method of notation by points instead of letters, it
was bnt a consequence that the notation of mnsic of
more parts than one shonld be by paints jdaced one
nnder another : and as in his time, the respective
notes contained in the several parts, being regulated
by one common measure, viz., that of the feet or
syllables to which they were to be sung, they stood
in need of no other kind of discrimination than what
arose irom their different situations on the same stave,
or on different staves, and, by consequence, the points
bitdlift rr«|uniili^ DC
ivndl pnpiiaUlaD cod u^utiiDt, C
mnst have been placed in a vertical situation, and in
oppoeition to eadi other ; and this method of notation
suggested for mnsic of more than one part the name
of Connterpoint, a term in the opinion of some
&vonring of the barbarity of the age in which it was
invented, but which is too expressive of the idea in-
tended to be conveyed by it to be quarrelled with.
What has been said above respecting the improve-
ment of Guido, will furnish a rale for judging of the
credibility of the assertion which it is here proposed
to refute, namely, that he was the inventor of po-
lyphonouB or symphoniac music, and lead to the
source of that, which by this time, cannot but be
thought an error. The writers who mtuntain this
position, and they are not a few, have mistaken the
sign for the thing signified, that is to say, Connter-
point, for Music in Consonance, the thing character-
ised by counterpoint. The fact in short is, that
music in consonance was in use before Guide's time ;
he invented the method of notation, calculated to
define it, called Connterpoint : this ia the whole re-
lating to the invention now under consideration that
can be ascribed to him ; and it must hsve been the
effect of strange inattention that a difi'erent opinion
has prevailed so long in the world.
Towards the end of the eighth century flourished
Bide, well known to the world by the epithet of
Vbhkrablb. He was horn about the year 1372, and
was educated in the monastery situate at Weirmouth,
near the mouth of the river Tyne, in the bishopric
of Durham. He studied with incredible diligence,
and, in the opinion of the famous Alcuin, was, for
learning, humility, uid piety, a pattern for all other
monks. He wrote an Ecclesiastical History of Bri-
tain, at the end whereof are some memoire of hii own
life, from which it appears that he was very assiduous
in acquiring a knowledge of music, and punctual in
the performance of choral doty in the chnrch of his
monastery. He had the good fortune to he very
intimately acqaainted with some of the singers whom
pope Agatho had sent into Britain to teach the
method of singing, as it was practised at Bome ; and
was, in a word, one of the greatest men of his time.
He died in the year 735. His works have been
many times printed, and in the latter editions make
eight volumes in folio ; the last is that of Cologne,
in 1688. The first volume contains a great number
of small tracts on arithmetic, grammar, rhetoric, as-
tronomy, chronology, music, the means of measuring
time, and other subjects. On that of mnsic, in par-
ticular, there is a tract intitled De Musics Theorica ;
and another, De Musics Quadrata, Mensurata, seu
Practica.* It is said, that be had no fewer tlian six
hundred pupils ; and that Alcuin, the preceptor to
Charlemagne, was one of them. There is a well
written life of him in the Biographia Britsnnica,
and an accnrate catalogae of his works in the Bibli-
otbeca Britannico-Hibemica of bishop Tanner.
NoTOERce, or Notker, sumamed Lb Bbouz, a
monk of St. Gal, flourished about the year 845, under
the emperor Lotharius, son of Lewis the Pious.
Among other things, he is famed for his book De
• Vhls Tu. BlbUoIh. p«i. K
dbyGoo^le
182
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book IV.
MuBica et Sympbooia. He is supposed to have been
the inventor of the SequentiK, which are those parts
or the ofBce in wbieh the people answer to the priest,
and which pope Nicolas I. ordained to be eong at raaas.
He died in !J12. Innocent III. had taken order for
his canonization, but his design wa« never carried into
execution. There waa another of the name, bishop of
Liege : Trithemins has confounded them tc^ther.
Rabascs Maurcb, is reckoned in the number of
thoee who have written on music. He was bom at
Mentz, in 788, and bred np in the monastery of
Fulda. He studied at Toure, under Alcuin, and
returning to hia monastery, was chosen abbot thereof,
in 622. Having enjoyed that dignity twenty years,
he laid it down to please the monks, who said he ap-
plied himself too much to study, and too little to the
alfaiTa of the monastery. He retired to Mount St.
Pierre ; and was at last choaen archbishop of Mentz,
in 847. In a treatise of the universe, consisting of
twenty-two books, which be wrote and sent to Lewis
)e Debonnaire,* he has comprised an infinite number
of common places, amongst which, it is supposed, are
many relating to music, since frossard has ranked
him in his second class of writers on that subject
In a commentary of his upon the liturgy, he expatiates
on the sacrifice, as it is called of the maas.t which
latter word he supposes to be derived from the ' Ite
' missa est,' Go, ye are dismissed, the form used for
the dismission of the catechumens, and to signify that
the service was ended.
Walafbidub Stbabo, bo snmamed because he
squinted, was first a monk of Fulda, and afterwards
abbot of Eicbenou, in the diocese of Constance. He
IB reckoned among the musical writers, and bad been
a disciple of Rabanus Maama. He flourished about
the year 642, and wrote De Officiis Divinis, the
twenty-fifth chapter of which tract is intitled Da
Hvmnis & Cantilenis eorumque incrementis, &C.J
The Benedictines, compilers of the Histoiie Litteraire
de la France, have discovered that there was another
of his name, dean of the abbey of St. Gal, in the pre-
ceding century, with whom he is often confounded.
Hist. Lit, de la France, torn. IV. pag. 69, in not
Bristah, or Briostab, a native of England, a
Benedictine monk, and precentor in the monastery
of Croyland, is celebrated ' by Pita as an excellent
msthematiciBn, poet, and mnsician.§ Ingulphus, pag.
■» li »n old LtiLn word, «id ilfniflu eeat-
MDd biniil.' II wu ciUlid MlH*. 01 Sf-
tpeaka thus of him : ' Bristanus, quondam cantor
asterii, musicus peritissimus et poeta focundis-
'simas.' Ha lived about 870, at the tjme when, in
one of the invasions of the Danes, his monastery was
burned, and the monks slain : he bad, however, the
good fortune to escape, and composed certain elegiac
verses, wherein he relates the crueltiea exercised by
the invaders, the sufferings of his brethren, and the
misfortunes attending tliis disastrous event
As it is proposed in this work to give an account aa
well of practical as theoretical musicians, there will
need little apology for inserting in this place a few
particularaof our own king Alfred, who is celebrated
by Bale, and other writers, for bis skill in music, and
his performance on the harp : that he was very se-
dulous in his endeavours to promote the study of
music in his kingdom, we are told by Sir John
Spelman, in his life of this great monarch, .pag. 135 ;
and particularly that he procured to be eent from
France one Grimbald,{| a man very skilful in music,
of a singular good life, great learning, and who
besides was an excellent churchman. Sir John
Spelman adds, that the king first came to the know-
ledge of this person by his courtesy, he having mad«
very much of him in hia childhood, at Rheims, when
be was in his passage towards Rome.
Again, the eame author relates, that among the
rest of hia attendants, he ie noted, Solomon like, to
have provided himself of musicians, not common, or
Bucb as knew but the practic part ; but men akilftil
in the art itself, whose skill and service yet farther
improved with his own instruction, and so ordered
the manner of their service as best befitted the royalty
of a king. Spelm. Life of Alfred, pag. 199.
That he himself was also a considerable proficient
on the harp, were other cvidencea wanting, the well-
known story related by Ingulphus, William of Malmes-
bury, and succeeding historians, of his entering the
Danish camp, disguised like a harper or minatrel, is
a proof.
The Bubslance of which relation ib, that being
desirous to know the strength and circumstances of
the Danish army, then in Somersetshire, ha disguised
himself like a minstrel, and taking with him a harp,
and one only confidant he went into the Danish
camp, the privilege of his disguise intitling him to
free admittance every where, even into the king's
tent ; and there, for many days, he ao employed him-
self as that, while he entertained his enemies with his
mirth and mnsic, he obtained the fullest satisfaction
touching their ability to resist the attack on them,
which he had for some time been meditating. This
was in the year 378.^
' penoni u bid ■ mtoid In i« ind heir. 1:
I Ot thil flrtmbald tbit honoonble mention la made iu the Rlitaiia
'Willi Uieto wordi. ■■ In, mtiainti Oo. :
mar Ibe eennon wu ended.
dela France, tom. V. pa*. Ht. AUmI had written to Kulli. aRhbMwp
of Rheima, inlreatina him 10 tend to Eufland a peraon lUllcd In tha
rt ■radiraOmd^-andlf ani
■ dElijTMl, Oiti ten urtid 10 d(put bj 111
■iloDd, " Si qul( noD communlccl dii loc'
un 1 WhMiet wUI not ncelvo.
•'Itlhtmgoout." The Romu cliuRh p
ut> a dlllkrent tenae upon IhH
Orlmbald been a mueb crealer man Ihan he waa. the Prracb would ban
■pretend la ofl» unto God ft.> body u
«nn iinrlM wtaereln Iha, do
d blood of bli Son, aa ■ pn-
Ibe ouick and dead. IlMon
Onto>i»uin.l.f.tbeFonnor
' pliluar wctU« tor the ilni, h«b ol
■ line tmka It In Uu SnI hiih, nUln| It
Orfmbald behartd Tery wall whUiI ha waa hare. In ihe^iHntcIi at
; Pnye* Bui Du PId. b, lednlnf H wl
Nlc, Haipirtold are th» hnda of a ipeeeb of hH, In a timod al Lonrlon.
'. mnch liter jut. and which ilniillbi,
'or farm ot Hiehiiting theli mui) h*ii
Hi 10 bitiif It oner to the l*tt«i,
in>«]> and wluly of the prlmlUTi dtjnaty of human niturt. and al In
'but >ofa»l lb> •■!!■€ ot St. ItUon ot a
I Vldt Du PliL BlblMb. mil. Ii. cep.
of Wtocbealor. Vide Speto, Life of Alfrtd, paf. IW, in not
f Pita. D* R*b. An(L PH. ISr. Tun
.114.
1 Vide Spelman'a Life of Alfrtd, du. 61.
dbyGoot^le
Chip. XXXIV.
AND PRACTTICE OP MU8I0.
188
HccBALD, Hdobalddi, or Hubaldds, for by all
theu naoieB is he called, ia apoken of aa the most
celebrated doctor in Prftnce at the cloBe of the ninth
century. He wae a Benedictine monk, of the ab-
bey of St. Amand, in the dioceae of Tonmay, and
fiourished sboat the year S60, under Charles the
Bald. He is celebrated for bis profonnd skill in the
learning of thoae daya, and particularly for his ex-
cellence in poetry and music.* He is said to have
invented a division of the monochord. by means
whereof muaic might be learned without the help of
% master ; and to have invented certain signs, in-
dependent of lines and letters, to mark the sounds
in the octave. Martini, who sometiinea calls bim
Ubeldo, baa given a specimen of this bis method of
CBtnation from a manoscript of bis, intitled De
monica Institutione, in the following form : —
l_
I to I 'o I f I »" I ■"
^1_
|»e|b>)l.,|»e|toHo|
Which he renders thus in modern characters :-
The BOthoTS of the Histoire Litteraire de la France
also speak in general terms of a method of musical
punctuation invented by him, doubtless the same with
that above ; and add, that be composed and noted
offices in honour of many of the saints. He died at
the age of ninety, in the year 930, and was buried in
the church of St. Peter, in his own abbey. The
merits of Hncbald, his learning and virtues, vrere
celebrated by many of his surviving friends, in
epitaphs, and other metrical compoeitions ; the two
which follow are extant in the work above -cited, end
are here inserted, not so much on account of their
elegance, as to shew the degree of estimation in which
ha stood with his contemporaries ; —
EPITAPH I.
Dormit in hac tumba simplex line felle Columba
Doctor, floi, & honcn tarn cleri qu&m monachorura
Huebaldui, faintm cujua per climata mundi
Edita ■anctorum modulamina, geitaque clamant.
Hie Cyrici membra pretioso, reperta Nivernis.
Noitru invexit ori>, scripsilque triumphuni.
EPITAPH II.
pTKcluii orator sudani opobulsama cosmo
Archaa melltfluut rhetor super Kthera notut,
~ " ncbalde pater aalve per secla ^
Tu lampaa monachU, tu flos Sc doxa neritis :
Te plebi setemiliii lugens libi defl^t ademtura,
Viee jiige, sophista, vole, Theophile care.
EdideraC stylo examusum certamen bonesto
Matris JiililK, Cirici proliaque venuitn,
Ceu doctor, celeber gnavui per cuncta magiiler.
Laudetur, vigeat, quod qusio legatur, ametur.
Hcec quisqma legia, requiem die del Deug illi,
Palmam cum superii geatet auper aalra choreii
Gloria pauper hnc peregit, metra elienter.
kS
X Hnltnld'i SD
le Inliu leiut irf liia ■mpanw'i i
The above Hucbald is usually styled Hucbald de
Saint Amand ; notwithstanding which he ta some-
times confounded with two other writers of the same
name, the one a monk of Orbais, the other a clerk in
the cfanrch of Liege, neither of whom seem to stand
in any degree of competition with him.t
AuRKUdHUB, a clerk in the church of Bheims,
lived in the year 690, under the emperor Amalpbos,
aud on to the reign of Lewis IV. Be was in great
estimation for his learning, and author of a treatise
on the tones, intitled, Tonarius regularis, which he
composed for the use of his church, and inscribed to
Bernard, the precentor of the choir. He is placed
by Tritbemius among the ecclesiastical writers.§
CHAP. XXXIV.
We are now arrived at a period, namely the com-
mencement of the tenth century, when learning
began to flourish throughout £urope. In France,
particularly, not only mathematics, but the arts of
painting, sculpture, and architecture, were cultivated
with great assiduity. The abbies of Corbie, of
Rheims, and Goni, were the great Bemitmries of that
country, and produced a succession of men eminent
in all faculties ; the former of these was so famous
for musical institution, that young monks from Eng-
land were usually sent thither to be taught the true
method of singing in divine service. Letald, Remi
de Anxerre, Notker le Begne, Wigeric bishop of
Metz, and Hucbald de St Amand, before-mentioned,
were all skilled in music, and are some of the most
celebrated names that occur in the literary history
of those times. II
Odo, abbot of Cluni, in the province of Bui^ndy,
a Frenchman of noble descent, also flourished in this
age, that is to say, about the year 920. He is highly
celebrated by the writers of those times, for his
learning, his piety, and his zeal to reform the man-
ners of the clergy. The authors of the Histoire
Litteraire de la France speak of him as one of the
great luminaries of that kingdom. As to his skill
in music, they represent him as surpassing most of
his cotemporaries : they speak also of a manuscript
of his, which is no other than the Enchiridion,
mentioned by Gerard Voeeius, and commended by
Guido himself, beginning 'Quid est musics?' as
a great curiosity, and being extant only in the
Vatican library, and in that of the queen of Sweden ;
nevertheless, it is to be found in the library of Baliol
college, and makes part of a volnme, that contains
the Micrologna, and other tracta of Guido, with
some others on the subject of music, of great value ;
and Martini refers to another, iu the conventual
library at Ceeana, near Ravenna, in Italy.
The Enchiridion of Odo is in the form of a dia-
logue l>etween a teacher and his disciple : it begins
with directions for the making and dividing of the
monochord, and contuns a general definition of the
consonances, the method of notation by the Roman
lettera, as instituted by Gregory, a formnla of the
t Slorla drill Knilo. mg. 114.
I Hiat. Ultanln it li Fiuca. lem. VI. pag 71.
dbyGooi^le
IM
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book IV
tonea, and ooncludea with general directjona for
VttiphoDAl siDging.
It is to be rem&rked, that all the tracts written
kbont this time, which profeea to teach the know-
ledge of music, and there are innumerable of them
extant, begin, u this doea, with directions for making
and dividing the monochord : tbe reason of this is,
that the method of ascertaining the places of tbe
semitones in tbe dlapasou, by tbe sjrlUbles, was not
then discovered ; and hardly any instrnment then in
use, excepUng the organ, would answer tbe end of
impressing npon the memory of a child, the difference
between ^e greater and lesser intervals ; the teachers
of mnuc therefore invariably directed their pupils
to find oot the intervals themselves, and lay the
foundation of their studies in tbe knowledge of the
monochord.
SiLVESTBR, the second pope of that name, is justly
celebrated as one of the great ornaments of tbe
tenth century. He was a monk of Aurillac, in the
province of Auvergne, a monastery which had been
founded at tbe latter end of the preceding i^e.
His pursuits were so various, and his excellence in
ail branches of learning so great, that it is difBcuH
to say in what class or learned men he merits most
to be placed ; or whether we should consider him
as a divine, a mathematician, or a philosopher at
large. It is certain that be wrote upon geometry,
particularly on the quadrature of tbe circle, on
astronomy, logic, and rhetoric ; that he was deeply
skilled in tbe science of music, as a proof whereof
it is said that he made some considerable improve-
ments of the organ, on which he was an excellent
proficient : William of Malmesbnry speaks, with
admiration, of an improvement made by him in the
bydranlic organ.* He was bom of obscnre parents,
in tbe neighbourhood of Aurillac : his name of
baptism was Gerbert, or Girbirt : his great merit,
and a disposition to communicate to the world tbe
discoveries he made in the course of his studies,
facilitated bis promotion to the highest dignities
of the church ; for he was successively archbishop
of Rheims and Ravenna, and at last pope. While
he was archbishop of Rheims, he bad tbe misfortune
to see that city sustain a close siege, which obliged
him to seek refuge in the court of the emperor
Otbo III. who had been his disciple. During his
residence there, be invented an instrument for tbe
measuring of time by tbe motion of the polar star,
which some writers have confounded with tbe astro-
labe. By the interest of his patron Otho, in tbe
year 998, he was promoted to the archbishopric of
Ravenna, and tbe following year to the papacy on
the death of Gregory V., which he held but four
years, for he died in 1003.
Mosheim has bestowed an eulogium on Gerbert as
characteristic of the age in which he lived, as of the
person he means to celebrate. He relates that be
derived his learning in a great measnre from the
Arabians, among whom at that time there were many
• 8«M U h»ic b«n pliyrd on by inm •»!«. ttoi the HImoit of ilw
Muiiul Aru, by Dt. Ttmmu PdwiU, mut», IHI, ibrUnd InOUn'i
Bitakli LtbniUn, Ho. I. p>(. *1, -™s™ m vuij. •
very considerable men ; though it is remarkable that
we meet with tbe name of but one writer on music of
that country, viz., AlfaTAbius, who is barely mentioned
ill a note in the life of Hai Ebn Yokdhan, an inge-
nious fiction translated from the original Arabic by
Simon Ockley, 8vo, 1708. A treatise of his on music
is referred to in tbe Margarita Philosophica of Gre>
goriuB Reiscbius, printed at Basil in 1517. Mosheim
speaks thus of the state of learning in Gerbert's
time:—
' It was not however to the fecundity of his genius
' alone that Oerbert was indebted for the knowledge
' with which he now began to enlighten the European
' provinces ; h^ had derived a part of his erudition,
' particularly in physic, mathematics, and philosophy,
' from the writings and instructions of the Arabians,
' who were settled in Spain. Thither he had repaired
' in pursuit of knowledge, and had spent some time in
' tbe seminaries of learning at Cordova and Seville,
'vrith a view to hear the Arabian doctors; and it
'was, perhaps, by his example, that the Enropeans
* were directed and engaged to have recourse to this
' source of instruction in after times. For it is unde-
' niably certain, that, from the time of Gerbert, such
' of tbe Europeans as were ambit4ons of making any
' considerable progress in physic, arithmetic, geo-
' raetry, or philosophy, entertained the most eager and
' impatient desire of receiving instruction either from
' the academical lessons, or from the writings of the
' Arabian philosophers, who had founded schools in
' several parts of Spsin and Italy. Hence it was tliat
' the most celebrated productions of these doctors
' were translated into Latin, their tenets and systems
' adopted with zeal in tbe European schools, and that
' numbers went over to Spun and Italy to receive
' instruction from the mouths of these &mouB teachers,
' which were supposed to utter nothing but the deepest
' mysteries of wisdom and knowledge. However
' excessive this veneration for tbe Arabian doctors
' may have been, it must be owned nevertheless that
' all tbe knowledge, whether of physic, astronomy,
' philosophy, OF mathematics, whidi fionrished in
• Europe from the tenth century, was originally
' derived from them, and that the Spanish Saracens
' in a more particular manner may be looked upon aa
' the fathers of European philosophy.' Mosh. Eccles.
Hist, vol II. pag. 199.
The diligence with which Gerbert pursued his
etndies, and bis proficiency in so many various
branches of learning, raised in tbe vulgar a suspicion
of his being addicted to magic, which Flatina has
without hesitation adopted ; for he says he obtained
the pspacy by ill arts, and that be left his monaatery
to follow the devil. Be however allows him the
merit of a sincere repentance, but mentions some
prodigies at bis death, which few can believe on the
anthority of such a writer, Naudeus has written a
justification of a great number of learned men who
have nndergoue the same censure, and has included
Silvester among them ; bat long before bis time a
certain poet had done him that good ofBce in the fol-
lowing epigram : —
dbyGoot^le
AND PBAGTICE OF MUSIC.
IBS
N« miiue Magum fktui quod inerds vidgi
Me (Teri minime gnBra) fuiise putat,
ATchimedii iludium quod eram lophiKque lequutut
Turn, cum magna mit gloria *cire nihh.
Credebant Magicum eiee nidei, aed bulla loquuntur
Quam piui, integer & religioiu* cram.
The following epiUph bespeaks bu chkr&eter, uid
u an epitome of hie luBtory :—
lite Idcu mundi SilTMtri membra Kpulli
Ventura Domino conferet ad loDitum.
Quern dederat mundo celebiem doctiuima virgo.
Atque caput mundi culmina Roraulea.
Primum Oerbertui meruit Francigena lede
Remenail populi metropoUm patris.
Inde Itavennatis meruit conicendere lummum
Eceleain regimen nobile, sicque poten*
Poit aonum Romam mutato nomine lumiit,
Ut Iota paitor fieret orbe noTui.
Cui nimiura placuit aociali mente fidelii.
Obtulit hoc Cfeiar tertiui Otho libi.
Tempui uterque comit clara virtute lophiK ;
Qaudel, et omne leclum frangitur omne reum
ClBTigeri instar erat ceelorum aede potitui,
Tema lufieotui cui vice paitor erat.
Itte *icem Petri poatquam auacepit, abegit
Luatrkli apatio ancula morte lui.
Obriguit mundui diicuaaa pace trlumpbiu
EccleaiE mutans, dedidicit requiem.
Sergiua hunc loculum miti pietate aacerdoi,
Succeaiorque luu* commit amore aui.
Quiaquia ad hunc tumulum devexa lumina Tertb,
Omnipotena Domine, die, miiere lui.
Bbrho, abbot of Richenou, in the diocese of Con-
■lance, wbo flooriabed aboat the year 1008, is cele-
brated fta a poet, rhetor, muBiciao, pbiloaopber, and
divine. He was the author of several treatises on
miuic, particularly of one De iDStrumeDtis Mnsi-
calibiu, beginning with the words ' Musicam non
'esse contempnendum ! ' which he dedicated In
Aribon, archbishop of Mentz. He also wrote Da
MeDBiir« Monocfaordi : but tbe most celebrated of his
works is a treatise De Mnaica sen Tonia, which he
wrote and dedicated to Pelegrinus, archbishop of
Cologne, beginning ' Vero mundi iati advenee et
Per^rino:" this latter tract is part of the Baliol
manuscript, and follows the Enchiridion of Odo,
above referred to : it containa a sumraary of the
doctrinea delivered by Boetiua, an eicplanation of the
ecclesiaatical tones, intermixed with freqnent exhort-
ationa to piety, and the application of music to
religiooa purposes. He was highly favoured by the
emperor Henry II. for bis great learning and piety,
sod succeeded so well in his endeavours to promote
learning, that his abbey of Ricbenon was as famous
in his time as those of St Oal and Clnoi, then the
most celebrated in France. He died in 1(HS, and
was interred in the church of his monastery, which
but a short time before he had dedicated to St. Mark.
From the account hereinbefore given of the rise
ud progress of choral service, and of the institution
of the ecclesiastical tones, modes, tropes, or whatever
else they may be termed, it b clear that before the
eleventh century they were in nnmber eight, besides
which, the actual existence at this day of manuscripts,
racb as those of Anrelianus, Odo of Cluni, and this of
Bemo above-mentioned, in wfaii^ not only eight
tones are spoken of, but a formula of each is given in
words at length, are indisputable evidence of the fact
A learned gentleman, Dr. King, the author of a book
lately published, intitled the Ritea and Ceremonies of
the Greek Church in Russia, ha* intimated, pag. 43,
that tbe addition of the four plagal tones, as the^
are called, to the four authentic of St Ambrose, is
by some ascribed to Gnido Aretinus, who, by the
way, in bis Micrologus lays not the least claim to
this improvement, but speaks of the eight eccleei*
astical tones as an ancient establishment We are
therefore necessitated to conclude that the contrary
opinion is without foundation, and the rather, as no
writer of aathority among the many that have been
consolted in the course of this work, has intimated
the least doubt but that the Oantus Qregorianns
oonsisted of eight tones.
Through all the varisUonB titat attended music,
the ancient system of a bisdiapason, constituted of
tetrachords, retained its authonty ; we do not find
that even in the time of Boetius the system itself
had received any alteration ; the Latins it is true
bad rejected the ancient Greek characters, and intro-
duced the Roman capital letters in their stead ; and
pope Gregory reduced those letters to the first seven
of the Roman alphabet, which, by repeating them
in each septenary, he made to serve the purpose of
a greet number, calling the first series graves, tbe
second scutes, and the third, distinguished by double
small letters, super-ocutes; but the tetrechord system,
said to be immutable, as also the Greek names
anciently appropriated to the several chords, con-
tinued in use till the close of the tenth centnry, soon
after which such a reformation of the ancient scale
was made, as was thought worthy of commemoration,
not only by cbronologers, but by the gravest histo-
rians. The person to whose ingenuity and industry
we owe this inestimable improvement was an eccle-
siastic, Goino Ahbtinds, a Benedictine monk. The
relation given by Cardinal Baronins of this event
is to the following effect ; vis : That in the pon-
tificate of Benedict VIII. Goido Aretinus. a monk,
and an excellent musician, to the admiration of all,
invented a method of teaching music, so that a boy
in a few months* might learn what no man, tbongb
of great ingenuity, could before that attain in several
years. — That the fame of this invention procured
him the favour of the pope, who invited him to
Rome, as did afterwards John XX. liis successor. —
That in the thirty-fourth year of his age he composed
a treatise, which he called Micrologus, and dedicated
to Theodald, bishop of Arezzo. Annal. Eccl. tom.
XI. pag. 73, et seq.
To this account Baronius has subjoined tbe epistle
from Guido to a friend of his, Michael of Fomposa, be-
ginning ' Clarissimo atque dulcissimo fratri Michaeli,'
containing the history of his invention, and of
his invitation to Rome and reception by tbe pope ;
the particnlars whereof are referred to an extract
from the epistle itself, which is given in a subsequent
• Oulda tn til* pralnsne to tha MicioUisiu ayt, In tba ipua of ou
dbyGoot^le
1£6
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book IV.
page of this work.* General accounts of the reforoi-
ation of the ticale mtule by Guido aro to be met
with in almost every treatise on the aabject com-
posed since his time ; 3'et among these some improve-
meolA are attributed to him, as namely the invention
of the stave, and of the figure of a hand, to explain
his method of notation, to the merit whereof, if we
are to judge from bis own writings, he does not
appear to have made the least claim.
It baa been related that the method of notation
among the Greeks was by the letters of their alpha-
bet, as also that the Latins in their sUad made use of
the Roman capital letters. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and
so on to P, as is mentioDed by Buetins in his foorth
book ; and thst afterwards Gregory rejected all bat
the first seven, which he made to serve for the whole
scale, distinguishing the grave series by the capitala
and the acute by the small letters, llieir manner of
singing was from A to B, a tone; from B to C,
a semitone ; from C to D. a tone ; from D to £,
a tone ; from E to F, a semitone ; from F to G,
a tone ; so that, to speak of the diapason only, the
seven capital letters served to express, ascending and
descending, either gradually or by leaps, the seven
notes ;t bat so difficult was it according to thia
method to know and to hit precisely the place of the
two semitones, that before the pupils were able to
acquire a knowledge of the Canto Fermo, ten yeara
were usually consumed. Guide studied with great
diligence to remove this obstruction ; and the current
account of this invention Is, that being at vespers,
and singing the hymn to SL John, ' Ut queant lasie,'
it by chance came into his head to apply, as being
of easy pronunciation, certain syllables of that hymn
to as many sounds in a regular succession, and thereby
' Sf Ihv *pliUa ibATfl nf^Rvd to, 11 Hppcftn, thwt BhtotiIui hu bflm
(ollly ol u ■mn Id u)ln( (bu QuldD wu InTlItd to Romt iHlli br
Duk of hiour. Ndllin il« h« ctoirlr dlnlDKuiih bdween tha Acgu-
■ " 11 ln*nikndl ud ine MitMogui ; the rormii «n-
IM ndnd 001, lUl anai Ui Inltrvi
It landHit irldnin to pro'c Ihu ifia pninlca In qu«llon prcvitlM
ttttn Ouldo'i Itmt ; (BtllicEBchlHiliciiiDf Odii,ibbolntClunE, conulni
dincOoiu In CUUing Ilu mimachDrd. ind muklBi Iha flnt icpMnui
VIbbhiUii GiUlti. In iiU Dltlofo deili Uuilu, pig. M, hu ilic'n
MIoitiBf )paciBwn of Ohio Farma : —
d e b edfdcfaab c dmOPGO
he removed those difficulties that had a long time
retarded the improvements of practical music
UT queant laxis REsanare fibril
Mlra gestorum FAmuli tuorum
SOLve polluti L&bii reatum.
Sancte Joannei.t
This is the substance of what is related by Gaf-
fnrius, Glareanns, Vicentino, Galilei, Zarlino, Kircher,
MersenDua, Bontempi, and other writers, touching
the invention of the syllables ; but the scale, as it
stood in the time of Guido, was not adapted for the
reception of six syllables, and therefore the applica-
tion which he made of them does necessarily imply
some previous improvement of the scale, either
actually made by him, or which he had at that time
under consideration. It is pretty certun that thia
improvement could be no other than the converting
the ancient tetrachords into hezachords, which, to
begin with the tetrscbord Hypaton, be effected in
this manner : that tetrachord was terminated in the
grave by Hypate hypaton, or ]n ; for though the
Proalamhanomenos A, carried tne system a tone
lower, it was always considered, as its name importa
to be, acquisitos, supernumerary, or redundant ; the
addition therefore of a tone below A immediately
converted the tetrachord Hypaton into a hexachord,
and drove the semitone into a situation that divided
the hexachord into two equal parts. To this ad-
ditional tone Gnido, as some say, in honour of the
Greeks, the fathers of music, or, as others suggest,
to perpetuate the memory of his invention, aud
thereby acquire honour to himself, afOxed the Greek
gamma P, which fortunately for each a supposition,
was the initial letter of bis name.§
By this constitution the position of the semiton«
was clearly pointed out to every theorist ; but the
thing in pursuit was a method of liitting it in practice,
the want whereof rendered the singing extempore so
very difficult, that few could attain to it without great
labour ; but the accidental hearing of the hymn
above-mentioned suggested to Guido a thought that
the six syllables therein contained might be so fitted
to the six sounds in his newly-formed hexachord, as
to fumieh a rule for this purpose ; accordingly be
t Thff vordi of the abOTe hjoiQ irtn campoHd by Paulut Diuonqt,
Paul. ( ducon of tkt church ot Aqailu. ibaat tha lar 7711, und In lb*
ntgn of Chvltmiwm, •• Paxrln nUln. Dr. WilUi. tron Atuedlui.
in Ihe room of Adonic. SancU Jiuinn. tiu InKrUd O PaUr Alms.
Broiurd, «id athat ttta him uf, ihu Angilo BuudI hu vtr; pnlldjr
oompriHd ih« tin ayllnhln In tliii linv.
" 'int HiHrum rilum ■aLiloHHt Libor-
u>, De quuuor Amtnii Popululbui, p
UMng nMi " — "' — " ■ ■ ■
7 a coinuilion of tha
oppoHilEeaHhollMt
dbyGooi^le
CflAT. XXXV.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
187
made the experiment, and applying the syllable dt
to the first note of the hesachord, and the rest to the
(ithen in Boccession, be gave to every note an articu-
late sound.
The view of Guido in this contrivancewas to im-
press npon the minds of learners an idea of the
powers of tbe several sounds, as they stood relsted to
the first sonnd in the hexachord ; for he saw that
from an habitnal application of the avllables to tbeir
respective notes, it most follow tiiat the former would
become a common measure for the five intervals in-
cluded within tbe limits of the hexachord, and that
in ■ short time the idea of association between tbe
syllables and the notes wonid become so strong as to
make it almost impossible to misapply them.
finding that this invention was likely to succeed,
he sdded two tones to the tetrachord Meson, thereby
nuking that also a hexachord, and to this also he
spplied the syllablea.
Lastly, he made a like addition of two tones to the
tetrachord Synemmenon, and thereby formed a third
hexachord.
The several combinations and conjunctions of these
tetrschords for the purpose of ascertaining the inter-
vals in any given system, exceeding the limits of the
hexschord, will be hereafter exphuied ; the result of
the invention was clearly this, that in a regular Buc-
ceision of six sounds in their natural order, beginning
either from r, from C, or from F, taking in B b, the
progression with respect to the tones and semitone !q
esch was precisely the same : and supposing tbe
learner to have acquired by constant practice a habit
of expressing with his voice the interval Q C, which
is an exact fourth, hy the syllables ut va, the two
sounds proper to the interval G C would become a
kind of tnne, which he must necessarily apply to dt
TA, wherever those syllahlea should occur ; and in
what other situation they occur the above constitution
of the different hexachords shows; for as in the
hexachord from G to B the syllables rr fa express
the fourth G C, so in that from C to A do they
express a fourth 0 F, and in the hexachord from
P to D the fourth F B b.
The introduction of B b to avoid the Tritonus has
been related at large ; and here it may be proper to
add that the exceeding discordancy or hardness of B
\y when taken as a fourth, gave occasion to the
epithet soft, which for the ssJke of distinction was
given to B b ; for this reason the hexachord from F
IS called the molle or soft hexachord, as that from G
is called durum or hard ; these appellativi " _
another, namely, that of the natural hexachord, which
is given to the hexachord from C. The method of
singing each is termed a propertv in singing, and
is thus described in the following distich : —
C Natnrum dat, f b nolle nunc tibi lignat,
g quoque b durum tu semper babes canitunim.*
The intervals thus adjusted in the several hexar
chords, become alike commensurable in each by the
syllables ; and tt m would as truly express the
ditone CEorFAasGB,to which they were
originally adapted : the same may he said of every
• Vsrin IB tl» AnnoUtlwii on Book I, of hli Inuoductlon to Prio-
other interval in each of the hexachords, and their
exact uniformity is visible in this, that the semitone
has the same situation in them all, and divides them
into two equal parts.
CHAP. XXXV.
Thk writers on music, as has been mentioned
above, have also attributed to Guido another ve^
considerable improvement of the musical scale, whii^
they Buppose to be coeval with the formation of the
hexachords, namely, the Stave, consisting of parallel
lines in a horizontal position, such as is now used in
the writing of music : in this they seem to have been
mistaken, for all the examples made use of by him to
illustrate his doctrine, are given in tbe Roman capital
and small letters, agreeably to the method of St.
Gregory. Besides which it is demonstrable that the
stave was of a much earlier invention than this
opinion snpposes. The proof of this assertion la to
be found in the Dialogo della Mueica of Vincentio
Galilei, pag, 37, which contains a diagram of musical
pnnctnation on a stave consisting of no less than
seven lines, which he says was in use long before the
time of Guido.l
• c #
• ■ —
^-T-' ■ ' *=^=^~-— ■_■■.,
# ^ «
0 . « —
— . ^
And immediately after he exhibits an example of
notation on a stave of ten lines, concerning which he
thus expresses himself : ' Eccov! I' essempio d' ona
' Cantilena tra le altre, che mi sono capitate in mono,
' la quale mi fb gia da un gentilnomo nostro F^oren-
' tino donata, ritrovata da lui in un antichiseimo euo
' libro : ed h delle pui intere, i meglio conservata d'
' altra che io abbia mai veduto.'
iznostra me-lo-dumsymphoDi-B {DaUat
■i>-lem- ni - a, Ac
If modnD noUibm. VId. Sur. dalli Mo^e^
Digitized by GoOQIc
HISTORY OF The science
Book IT
Cluigat ho-di-e voxncstrk me-lodumajraipho-Dinliutaiit
an-na-ft jam qiti-a pr»eU-
To these examples of linesl pnnctaatioa another
■nay be addaced Trom the Musiirgia, tome I. pag. 213,
wherein the points are placed on a slave of eight
lines. We owe this discovery to Kircher, who
re]a[«s that being on a voyage to Malta he went to
visit the library of S. Salvator in Messana, which
is well furnished with Greek manuscripts; and that
one of the monke there produced to him a mana-
ecript book of hymne, which had been written abont
seven hundred years, in which was contained the
following : —
which he affixed the Greek letter T, and this hn
termed the durum hexachord, to distinguish it from
that other beginning at F, in which B is flat, and
which therefore is called the molle hexachord : hut
of this, and also of the natural hexachord beginning
at G. mention is made before.
The hexachords, constituted in the manner above
deecribed, with the additional improvement of the
stave, and before they were incorporated into the
scale assnmed the following form : —
DURUM HEXACHORD.
NATURAL HEXACHORD.
n •
fi . » -^
B • > • — •
i • • • •
T » • • — ■ •-
Kircher mentions that while he was writing the
Mueargia, he received from a friend of his, the
reverend abbot Didacua De Francbis, an extract from
a very ancient antiphonary in the monastery of
VallombroBa, containing an example of interlineary
punctuation in the following form : —
In which be eaye the points correspond with the
notes of a welt-known antipbon, beginning with the
words ' Salve Regina.'
These evidences sufficiently prove that the stave
is more ancient than is generally supposed ; for it
is a^^eed that the Micrologus was written between
the years 1020 and 1030; and a period of seven
hundred years before the publication of the Mnsni^^
in IBM, will carry the nse of the stave back to the
year 950, which is more than forty years before
Guido waa born, and show the error of those who
ascribe the invention of the stave to him.
Indeed Ouido has intimated that in his method of
nota^on, points may be placed as well in the spaces
as on the lines ; and for this, as also for the con*
seqnent rednctioo of the stave from eight to five, or
rawer, for the purpose of ecclesiastical notation, to
four lines, posterity are undoubtedly obliged to him.
It will be remembered that the ancient Greek
acale was composed of tetrachords, and that it ex-
hibits a succession of chords from Proslambanomenoe,
or A, to Nete hyperboleon, or aa. As to the Pros-
lambanomenoe, it was termed Acquisitus at Assumed,
and therefore made no part of the tetrachord Hypa<
ton. In prosecution of his scheme of convertmg
the tetrachords into hexachords, with respect to the
lowest tetrachord in the scale, Guido had nothing
more to do than to add to it a single chord, (o
DT KB HI PA eOL LA
MOLLE HEXACHORD.
F O A Bt> C D
UT RB MI FA B
The power or situation in the scale, of each of
these points, is signified by the letters respectively
placed shove them : but the intention of the stave
was to supersede the literal scheme of notation ; it
may therefore be said, snppodng the letters away,
that each hexachord is but a repetition of the other
two, and that the power of each point in all the three
is similar : but the case is far otherwise ; for by a
contrivance, which shows the admirable sagacity of
the inventor, the stave of four lines is rendered
capable of expressing every one of the three differ*
ent hexachords which the reformed musical scale
requires.
To manifeet this diveruty Guido invented certain
characters called CliSs, in number three, whereof the
first was T, the other two were the letters C and F :
the first of these indicated a progression of sounds
from the lowest note in the scale upwards to E : the
second denotes a series from C to A, and the third
another series from F through Bb to I) : these cti&.
which were also termed clavea or keys, were placed
by Guido on the lower line at the bead of his stave.
It ii evident from hence, that by the application of
the characters T, C, F, the power of the six points
used to denote the hexachord, were, without the least
change of their situation in respect of the stave, made
capable of a threefold variety, and consequently re*
quired different denominations.
That Guido invented some method for ascertaining
the initial chords of each of the hexachords is certain,
but that he made use of the letters, or difis, T, C, F,
for that purpose, is rather conjecture than fact.
Indeed the contrary seems to be clear from his own
words, and that his method of discriminating the
hexachords was not by the cliffs, but by making
dbyGoo*^le
Cbap. XXXV.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSia
thone lines of tlis Oarre, which were their proper
Mationa, of a different colonr from the rest. In the
Micrologos we meet with these vereee : —
Quaidun lineai iignamni variis coloribut
Ut <]U0 loco ut BonuB mox diicernat ocuhu ;
Online tertiv voeia ■pleCidenB crocut radiat,
Sesta eju«, «ed afflnii flavo rubet minio.
To ntMiergtand which, it i? necsBeary to observe
that the third and Bixth notes here mentioned are the
third and sixth from A ; for r, as ha« been frequently
Hid, was an aeeumed chord : Hypo-Proalambftno-
menos is the appellation given to it even hy modem
magiciana, and for u>me agea after its introduction
it was not in strictoess considered as part of the
scale. That this is Guido's meaning is clear from
the following paseaf^e in the Micrologna; 'We make
'nae of two colours, viz., yellow and red, which
'famish a very oseful rule for finding the tone aud
'letter of the monochord to which every Neuma and
' note belong. There are seven letters in the mono-
* chord, and wheresoever yon see yellow it is the
'third, and wherever red it is the sixth letter.'
The third and sixth letters here mentioned are most
evidently the third and sixth from A, the first of the
seven letter* on the monochord, that is to say G and
F, which are the stations of two of the cliff's ; and
the above citations inconteatibly prove that to indicate
the bey of C, Gnido made use of a yellow, and for
that of F, a red line.*
Hitherto we have considered the hexachords as
the inte^al parts of Gnido's system, and as inde-
pendent of each other ; but their use, and indeed the
ii^enuity and excellence of his invention, can only
be discerned in that methodical arrangement of them
by means whereof they are made to coincide with
the great or immutable system : this, as has been
shewn, wa« comprehended in the Hypaton, Meson,
Diezengmenon, and Hyperboleon tetrachords; for
the tetracbord to which they gave the name Synem-
menon was merely auxiliary, as being suited to that
kind of progression only, which leads through what
we now call b flat The system of Guido, supposing
it to terminate aa that of the ancients did at aa, and
exclosive of the chord r added by him, to contain
the Msdiapason, inclades five hexachords differently
constituted, the motle hexachord being auxiliary,
and answering to the tetrachord synemmenon, which
Eva hexachords respectively have their commence-
went from r, from 0, from F, from G, and from 0 :
hot be foond it capable of extension, and by adding
four chords above aa, and a consequent repetition
of the molle and durum hexachords from f and from
g, he carried it up to ee, beyond which it was so
seldom extended, aa to give occasion to a proverbial
exclamation, by which even at this day we reprehend
the use of hyperbolical modes of speech, viz., ' that
'was a note above e la.' By this addition of chords
the hexadiords were increased to seven, that is to
npf, so many as are necessary for the conjugation
of the system included within T and ee.
Bnt between the tetrachords of the ancients, and
the hexachords of Guido,(hiadifference is most ap>
* Sm «B mflaglt at tU) Und In > nibMqiKni pafe of Ihli boot.
parent : the former were simply measures of the dm-
tessaron system ; they succeeded each other in an
orderly progression through the whole bisdiapason :
the hexachord is also, at least in the opinion of the
modems, the measure of a system ; bnt their collateral
situation, and the being made as it were to grow the
one out of the other, varies the nature of their pro-
gression, and points out, in the compass of twenty-
two notes, seven gradations or deductions, for so tiiey
are termed by the monkish writers, of six notes, each
beginning at a different place in the diapason, and
yet in all other respects precisely the same. Add to
this that the hexachords with the syllablee thus
adapted to them, become aa it were, so many different
conjngations, by which we are able to measure and
try the musical truth of the several interv«U of which
thev are composed.
The chords contained in the enlarged system of
Guido, are twenty-two in number, reckoning h in the
acutes, and bb m the super-acntes : otiierwise in
strictness they are bnt twenty, seeing that b snd >|
can never occur in one and the same hexachord : lor
the designation of them two staves of five lines each
are necessary; end in that conjoint position which
the ascending scale reauires, flie hexachords vrill
have this appearance : — f
t ThBKp«MTii«liiiitofOnldo'iiT«*inmm«ij'»oil™riomi rorlie
thoughl
luTc cnelonS cKh ODlamn at (jllibln, u thtj' ijiply to V, ud Ibi
Intan ibOTc It, In Iwe ptnM Hnn, wttlm point ubntum, auMjKta
•norgmplp*; bD1uUie»liD«Iheteut uiilogjto wunnt (bUromi,
allwrmlU'cretBcltitlt. PsUrAianindoIbnthiTrplmcKl Ihthexictianti
tempi niAliu uH of Ihe fDllovIng Khemft trf* the hviifliDrdi tonpickcnl
natttloD*, ud dtpendnj
. Hin. H
15H I
■ »l n at
»is r
fknl
MiSd
. i.":,T;
MUe
Hi b nt
Sf
Ik
MOSa
■ l.mlw
tal » ut
fkul
■ Unl
SSI) D
•al re
vn c
b n
sst
ml
lOMsr
m
n n»T HRD 1
rtnn«.»aiiIdobw
bj the ktj r, IhU Ibil of P •hould
but ib> nun Df Ibii ii, Ilut the pludnc or F od Iha fonilb li» or Iht
•[»«. dot* u 1
much diurmlnt Ibt
■erlee u T on Ib« em <rould b«>
done; th* »mt
rpo.tponin^Ui.ellB'CloF. AiU
Se nmukid Ih
>nd BBt btflm 1 ud bn* It mar
KiUiHuiudon th
Ihlri line itHiT
'tBttl. UjjS^'ilS; JSe^clIff Pm
llicfimtlb, liii:
'iSlrd. Ibi fl«»t>oti
■ STtlowetUneiof Iheiula. On*
1 F Inclniln, and one wllh t ap the
-, — lartT appear rmn Lbe two
tple of InnnullT and iwaellr
ih* ib> adrainilon nT ■irntn.
Ihouihl Ouldo'i (cbcme defert'it In tbat II glin
Wallli wu or Ibli aplBloD. and un wbat a in
He did ni
) >;llaiila t±, tnm ih
Hinnonla UnlraneUa,
labia II. which It uitd ^ tbe Pnncb at Ibit da^. Tbl «rl|i^
ElioD of thli ijUable U bj him and other wriun attribnlad id
Ualrc B French muilclin. wtaa uti ha labonnd lOr Iblrtf jnai*
to brfiis It iBIa prtctict ; but that ha •■• na uonn deal Ibaa all
(IcbH or hU nmatiT made pat of II NiiiwlthitaadlD| nblsk
dbyGooi^le
HISTOKY OF THE SCIENCE Bowt IV.
c d fl f gg aa bb bb cc dd ee
The above Bcbeme u inteoded to shew the ritnation
of the notes on the lines and spaces, and the relation
which the hexachords bear each to the others :
another compounded of two Bchemes, the one of
Bontempi, and the other of Doctor Wallis. contains
the reformed scale of Gaido in a collateral situation
with that of the ancienta. (See Appendix, No. 56.)
To the lower chord the moderns have given the
name Hypo-Proslambanonienos ; the number assigned
to it may, by the rule herein before given, be eaeily
Itw nnml opLnlnn li thai Iha irUnbl* >
bf Bildui PuiHaui of Don. vho ILiad
lit ijUiiblc II : but uoU
1. BrotHrd hu gji-nn of
•rlln, Mom. Bourdslot,
il»r 1 for he nlun (bU
iiDrd Ihe iilliblc II into
of thg chair of ihE ciihednl cbntch Df Parii, hid unrnd him Ihal thi
■yllftbit Jn quatlon vu Invnited, or perhipt ■ Hcond timt brouht knlo
truUoBp br one Melru, a Tunoiu t!n|iliiK-DU«er ia Fmrit about uib vobi
■;«. Bourdelot lAit ttwt Lo ItoLne, u «hII<iiI lulonlot, of •lity
jttn pnettH, bid uiund blm tbu he knew Helm nry well, »nd [hit
ThOHH
e?s;
t. ubolnsaorewTor
crs's
lUni wtlnea b|F OcnluUD Culoae. ind printed
found, it being nine of those p«rts of which 9216 ia
eight, and shews the ratio of P to A to be sesqut-
octave, in the proportion of 9 to 8, The same rale
will tjso Bnggest the means of bringing ont the
numbers proper to the notes Added to the Bcal« by
Guido, which are those from aa upwards ; for, to
begin with bb, it is in a snbduplicate ratio to b,
its number therefore will be the half of 4374, that ia
to Bay 2167. The next note ^ Jj having the same
ratio to K will in like manner require the sub-
duplicate of 4096, which is 2048.
From the foregoing disposition of the tetrachords
we learn the true names of the several sounds that
compose the system ; for it is observable that thongh
in fact each septenary contained in it is but a re-
petition of the former, and that therefore the generical
name of each chord is repeated, yet their specific
differences in respect of situation are admirably dis-
tinguished by the different names assigned to each :
thus, for instance, the lower chord is T ct, or
Gamut, but its replicate is for a very obvious reason
termed g sol re dt ; the replicates of A bk are a i,a
m RE, those of C fa cr are c bol va err and c sol fa ;
those of D SOL RB, d LA SOL RE, and d LA SOL 1 and
here it is to be remarked that aa well the recision as
the addition of a syllable expresses the situation of
a note ; for the last of the seven hexachords cuta off
a syllable from the names of the three upper chords,
leaving to the uppermost one only, e la, as may bo
■•mllORt betwaen A end B b. eome of the rauiicUni of hli coantir
i*aMa9[ Ihe irllltblo ia, thai of at b«rtnr appToprlaied to Bh; but
a thee
mple.
. farther improvement of hie system, and to
facilitate the practice of solmiestion, for so we are to
call the conjugation of any given cantilena by means
of the syllables ur, re, in, fa, sol, la, most authors
relate that he made use of the left hand, calling the
top of the thumb r, and applying the names of the
rest of the notes to the joints of each finger, giving to
the top of the middle finger, as beii^ the bigheat
situation, the note e la, as in the following page
ia shewn ; —
dbyGoo<^Ie
AND PRACTICE OF MUSia
161
Bat to wamnt thiB opinion there secmB to be no
better authority than bare tradition ; Tor in no part
of Gaidu'e writings doea the mention of the huid
occur ; nay, it seems from *. jmaatge in the manuscript
of Walthun Holy Crosa, herein before cited, tliat the
hand waa an invention posterior in time to that
when Guido is Buppoaed to have lived ; * its use waa
to instmct boys in the namea and respective aitBations
of the notes of hie scale ; and for choosing the left
hand ntber than the right this notable reaaoa is
given, ' that it being nearest the heart, the instmction
' derived from thence is likely to make the deeper
' impreseion on the minds of learners.'
As to the precise time when he lived, authors are
■very macb divided. Zaccone and others assert it to
have been about the year of Christ 960 ; Baronius,
that it was about 1022; Alstedius, and after him
Bontempi, place him under pope Leo IX. and the
emperor Henry III. in the year 1049 ; but Sigebert
testifies that he flonrished in the time of the emperor
ConT«de the younger, and that 1028 waa the precise
year when the reformation of Guide took place ; and
for this opinion we have also the authority of Tri-
themias.t But Gnido haa decided this question in
» relation given by bira of his invitation to Rome by
John the XX., and he it is agreed began bis pontificate
in the year 1021.
CHAP. XXXVI.
Son account of Gnido is to be gathered from his
mitingg, particularly an epistle from him to his
• Kbrhn. In Ilia Uunuiii, Ions I. Hf. 115. psti lUmpKulr.
t D< Viita Ulnnr. cud. Bawd. lib. If. ap. 74.
Mend Michael, a monk of Pomposa, and the tract to
which that is an introduction, entitled Argumentum
novi OantuB inveniendi : from these, and acme
scattered passages to be met with in ancient manu-
scripts, the following memoirs are collected : —
He WIS a native of Arezso, a city in Toscany, and
having been tanght the practice of music in his youth,
and probably retained as a chorister in the service of
the Benedictine monastery founded in that city, he
became a monk professed, and a brother of the order
of St Benedict : the state of learning was in those
times very low, and the ecclesiastics had very few
subjects for study, if we except theological contro-
versy, church history, logic, and astrology, which waa
looked on by them as ue most considerable of the
mathematical sciences : these engaged the attention
of such members of those fraternities as were endued
with the most active, not to say contentious, spirits ;
while the exercises of devotion, the contemplating the
lives of saints, and the qualifying themselves for the
due discharge of the choral duty, employed those of
a more ascetic and ingenuous torn of mind. Voasius
makes Guido to have been at first a monk in the
monastery of St Leufred in Normandy ; X hut this is
by a mistake, which will be accounted for hereafter ;
so that the only places of his settlement, of which we
can apeak vritb certaiuty, are the Benedictine mo-
nastery of Arezzo, the city where be was bom, and
that of Pomptsa in the dudiy of Ferrara.
In thie retirement he seema to have devoted him-
self to the study of music, particularly the system of
the ancients, and above all to reform their method of
notation. The difficujtiea that attended the instruction
of vouth in the churcb-ofGces were so great, that, as
he himself says, ten years were generally consumed
barely in acquiring the knowledge of the plain-song ;
and this consideration induced him to labour after
some amendment, some method that might facilitate
instruction, and enable those employed in the choral
ofBce to perform the duties of it in a correct and
decent manner. If we may credit those legendary
accounts that are extant in old monkish manuscripts,
we should believe he was assisted in his pious in-
tention by immediate communications from heaven :
some speak of the invention of the eyllables as the
effect of inspiration ; and Guido himself seem to have
been of the same opinion, by his saying it waa re-
vealed to him by the Lord ; or oa some interpret bis
words, in a dream ; but graver historians say, that
being at vespers in the chapel of his monaster it
happened that one of the otbces appointed for thai day
was the above-mentioned hymn to St John Baptist,
written by Paulas Diacouus, and that the hearing
thereof suggested this notable improvement
We must suppose hat the converting the t«tra-
chords into bezacbords had been the subject of
frequent contemplation with Guido, and tliat a
method of discriminating the tones and semitones
was the one thing wanting to complete his invention.
During the performance of the hymn be remarked
the iteration of the words, and the frequent returns
of UT, KB, Ki, FA, SOL, LA ; he obscrved likewise
I. UUlHBi. tap. ixIL f 1.
dbyGooi^le
162
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Boc« rv.
& dissimiltirity between the closeneae of the eyllable
Mt, and the broad open sound of pa, which he thought
coald not fail to impreea npon the mind a lasting
idea of iheir congniity, and immediately conceived
a thought of applying these six ayllablee to his new
formed hexachord.
Struck with the discovery, hfi retired to his study,
and having perfected bis system, began to introduce
it into practice : the persons to whom he communi-
cated it were the brethren of hie own monastery,
from whom it met with but a cold reception, which
in the Epistle to his friend, above-mentioned, he
ascribes undoubtedly to its true cause, envy ; however,
his interest with the abbot, and his employment in
the chapel, gave him an opportunity of trying the
efficacy of his method on the boys who were training
up for the choral service, and it exceeded the most
aangnine expectation.
The fame of Guido'e invention soon spread abroad,
and hie method of instruction was adopted by the
clergy of other countries : we are told by Kircher
that Hermannns, bishop of Hamburg, and Elvericus,
bishop of Osnabrug, made nse of it ; and by the
authors of the Histoire Litteraire de la Fnmce,*
that it was received in that country, and taught in
all the monasteries in the kingdom. It is certain
that the reputation of his great skill in music had
excited in the pope a desire to see and converse with
him, of which, and of his going to Borne for that
purpose, and the reception he met with from the
pon^ff, himself has given a circumstantial account
of in the epistle before cited.
The particulars of this relation are very cnrions,
and aa we have his own authority, there is no room
to doubt the truth of it It seems that John XX.
or, as some writers compute, the nineteenth pope
of that name, having heard of the fame of Guido's
school, and conceiving a desire to see him, sent
three messengers to invite him to Rome ; upon
their arrival it was resolved by the brethren of
the monastery that he should go thither attended
by Grimaldo the abbot, and Peter the chief of the
canons of the church of Arezzo. Arriving at Borne
he was presented to the holy father, and by him
received with great kindness. The pope had several
conversattone with him, in all which he interrogated
him as to his knowledge in music; and upon sight
of an antiphonary which Guido had brought with
him, marked with the syllables agreeable to his new
invention, the pope looked on it as a kind of prodigy,
and ruminating on the doctrines delivered by Guido,
would not stir from his seat till he had learned
perfectly to sing off a verse ; npon which he declared
that he could not have believed the efficacy of the
method if he had not been convinced by the experi-
ment he had himself made of it. The pope would
have detained him at Rome, but labouring under
a bodily disorder, and fearing an injury to his health
from the air of the place, and the heats of the
summer, which was then approaching, Guido lefl,
that city upon a promise to revisit it, and explaiD
to his holiness the principles of his new system.
On bis return homewards be made a visit to the
abbot of Pomposa, a town in the duchy of Ferrara,
who was very earnest to have Guiilo settle in the
monastery of that place, to which invitation it seems
be yielded, being, as he says, desirous of rendering
so great a monastery still more famous by his etndioa
there.
Here it was that he composed a tract on music,
intitled Micrologus, t. e. a short discourse, which he
dedicated to Theodald, bishop of Arezzo, and finished,
as he himself at the end of it tells us, under the
pontificate of John XX. and in the thirty-fourth year
of his age. Voesius speaks also of another musical
treatise written by him, and dedicated to the same
person.
Divers others mention also his being engaged in
the controversy with Berenger about the Eucharist,
particularly Mersennus and Voeeius ; the latter of
whom, who, by the manner in which he has spoken
of Guido elsewhere, can hardly be supposed to have
mistaken another person for him, says expressly that
in the year 1070, namely, in the time of Gregory VII.
flourished Guido, or Gnidmnndus, by country an
Aretine, first a monk of the monastery of St. Lenfred,
and afterwards a cardinal of the church of Rome, and
archbishop of Aversa ; that while he was a monk ho
wrote two books on music to the bishop Theodald,
the first in prose, the other partly in heroic verse,
and partly in rythmical trochaics ; and that he is the
same who wrote against Berengarins three books con-
cerning the body and blood of our Lord in the
sacrament of the Eucharist.f Tritbemius refers him
to the year 1030, and Sigebert to 102B, which latter
speaks also of the musical notes found out by him.
Du Pin, who in his Ecclesiastical History has
given an account of Berenger and bis errors, has
enumerated the several an^rs that have written
against bim ; among these he mentions Gutmond or
Guitmoud, bishop of Aversa, as one who, in opposition
to Berenger, maintained the real presence of the body
and blood of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist Nay,
he goes so far as to cite several books of his wrildi^
in the controversy with Berenger, aa namely, a
treatise De Veritate Eucharistise, wherein he chargea
him with maintaining, among other errors, the nullity
of infant baptism, and the lawfulness of promiscuous
embraces.
Supposing this to be true, and Guimond and Guido
to be one and the same person, the generality of
writers have done his memory an injury in repre-
senting Guido as simply a monk, who was not only
a dignitary of the church, but an archbiahop, and a
member of the sacred college. But it seems that
Vossius and those whom he baa followed are mistaken
in these particnlara : Bayle has detected this error,
and has set the matter right, by relating that Guido
and Guitmond were nearly contemporaries, but that
it was the latter who was the monk of St Leufred.
in the diocese of Evreux in Normandy, afterwarda
bishop of Aversa in Italy, and at length a cardinal,
and who wrote three books De Veritate Corporis et
Sanguinis Chrisd in Eucharistia adversua Beren*
( Ttr Sclnillli ICiihnn. ci|i. iiU. | 7.
dbyGooi^le
Cb*p. XXXVI.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
Most of the anthora who have taken
mention GuiJo, speak of the Micrologiw as ooa-
tainiag the anm of bis doctrine : what are the con-
lentg of the Micrologus will hereafter be related ;
hut it ie in a small tract, intitled Argnraentum novi
CiDtua inveniendi, that his declaration of the use of
the syllables, with their several mntationa, and, in
short, bis whole doctrine of eolmisation, ia to be
fonnd. This tract makes part of an epistle to a very
desr and intimate friend of Guido, whom he addresses
thns : ' Beatissimo atqne dnlcitaimo fratri MiehaSli ; f
and at whoae reqaeet the tract itself seems to have
been composed. In this epistle, after lamenting very
pathetically the exceeding enry that his fame had
excited, and the oppoution that his method of in-
stractioD met with, be relates the motives of hii
journey to Rome, and the reception he met with
there, and then proceeds to an explanaticoi of his
doctrine.
It seems that in the time of Gnido, mnaical in*
stmmente were either scarce or ill tuned, and Hist
the only method of acquiring a tnie knowledge of the
intervale was by meana of the monochord ; for hoUi
in the Micrologns, and in this shorter work, of which
we are now speaking, the author gives directions how
to construct and divide properly this instmment ; bnt
npon the whole he aeenu to condemn the nee of it,
comparing those who depend on it to blind m«i ; for
this reason be discovers to his friend a method of
Ending ont an nnknown cantns, which he says he
tried on the boys under hia core, who thereby became
able to sing in no greater a space of time than three
days what they could not have mastered by any other
method in leas than many weeks : and this method
is DO other than the applying the syilahlea to the
hexachords in the manner before directed. Bnt here
perh^w it may be fitting that he should apeak for
himself, and the following is a tranalation erf his
words: —
' I have known many acute philosophers, not oidy
'Italians, bnt French, Germans, and even Greeks
'themaelves, who, thongb they have been sought out
' for 08 masters in Uub art, have tmsted to this mle,
' the monochord alone ; but yet I cannot say that
' I think either musicians oc singers can be made by
' Uie help of It. A singer ought to find out and re^t
'lain In memory the elevations and depressions of
' notes, with their several diversities and properties ;
'and this by our method yon may attain to do, and
' also be able to communicats tbe means of doing it
' to others ; for if yon commit to memory any Neuma,
■ to as that it may immediately occur to yon wh^n
' yon fmd it in any cantns, then yon will directly and
' without heaitatioD be able to sound it : and this
'Nenma, whatever it be, being retained in your
'memory, may with eaae be applied to any new
iOafl IB lat Vld« «l» Hilt. Llller. it Fniur, Ion.
•*qiu d'ATItM, PM. Ml, whtn lUi tmi t> Mtdi
J IrunM tn Bnimliu ludi. '
'cantns of the same kind. The following is what
' I made nee of in teaching the boya : —
TJT queant laxii REionare fibril
Mlra geitoTum FAmuli tuonun,
SOLve poUuti LAbii reatum
KMilO
am
^r-fSc-fii^
UthKhpn
B
V.
C
qua
mt lu ■ !•
RE
-•»
M-n a
bito
0
O
a
^g^^is
pr ■■■■■■ I
lU - <« KB-i
!d In Ui ami hi HaBfur. ■
H Pnnk* Hu>I» of
upUcd to iba brmn ' Vt anttat lull.' Fink hat iHencd thli &ot db
UieiwibBritTofAlbcttiullicBa^slwwnMiHi nnil*, bX Un4 la
tk* italiuaBit onaiiT.
dbyGoot^le
16i
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book IV.
' In the above eymptony yon see six different
particles, which are to be applied to as many
different notes; and whenever the ainger ia able
to apply the«e to auch of the aix notea aa they
properly belong to, he will be able to sing hia
devotions with eaae. When yon hear any Neiima,
examine in your own mind which of these particles
does best agree with its ending, so aa that the final
note of the Neuma, and the principal particles may
be equisonooa, whereby you will be certain that the
Neuma ends in that note with which the particle
agreeing therewith begins: bnt if yon undertake
any written cantus which you never saw before,
yon must sing it oflen over, that yoa may be able
to end every Neuma properly, so that the end of
each Nenma may in the same manner be joined
with the beginning of the particle which begins
by the same note in which the Nenma ends. By
this method yon will presently be able to sing any
new cantns by the notes ; and when yoa hear any
that is not noted, yon will soon perceive how it is
to be written down, in the doing whereof this rule
will greatly assist yon. I have set down some
short symphoniea through every note of these par-
ticles, and when yoa shall carefully have looked
them over, yoa will be glad to find out the depres-
sions And elevations of every note in order in the
beginninga of these particles : bat if yoa shoold
have a mind to attemperate certun particles of
different symphoniea by connexion, you may by
a veiy short and easy rule learn all the difficult and
nianifold varieties of Neumas ; but these cannot all
be so well expluned by letter, and would be more
plainly opened in a familiar colloquy.
F Alme rector m
31 nobis aacrato ; Snmme pttar n
11 minraro ; Salus di
F D^Di, judex JQstns fortis, «t paUen* : Tlbi totiu mt-
D
A
F vlt mnndns uni, Deus. Submit jnsti ai
F Bemper Isti : Domino landn omnii oreatura diot,*
He then proceeds thus : ' In writing we have
' twenty-three letters, but in every cantos we have
'only seven notes; for as there are seven da^a in
' a week, so are there seven notes in music, lor all
' that are added above are the same, and are song
' alike through the whole, differing in nothing but
'that they are sounded doubly higher. We say
' there are seven grave and Beven acute, and that the
' second order of seven letters is written different
' from the other in this manner : —
a b c d e f g
• It !• iDiipoHd Itait t)i< ■bon u* th* I
liTiiiiH (T Btbti oSeu uidoitlT niad in tb
|i*R dT the cbonl Htrtiie. Onlda bu tntln
ssrft
Towards the end of this tract Guide directs the
manner of cooetructing and dividing the monochord,
which because be has done it more at large in the
Micrologua, we forbear to speak of here ; the rest
of the epistle is taken up with a short disqnisition
on the ecclesiastical tones, at the close whereof he
recommends the perusal of his Micrologus, and also
a Manual, written with great perepicaity by the
moat reverend abbot Obdo,'|' from whose example
he owns he has somewhat deviated, choosing, aa he
says, to follow Boetias, though he gives it as his
opinion that his work is fitter for Ptulosophers than
Singers.
The Micrologns, though, as ita title imports,
a short discourse, is considerably longer than the
former tract The title of it, aa given by some
transcriber of his manuscript, is, Micrologus, id est
brevis Sermo in Musico, editns a Domine Ouidone
piisaimo Monacho et peritiesimo Mneico.
In this tract, too, the author complains veiT feel-
ingly of the envy of the times, and the malignity
of his detractors.
In the dedication of the Micrologus to Theodald,
the bishop of ArezEO, hia diocesan, Gnido confesses
the goodness of his patron in vouchsafing to become
his associate in the study of the Holy Scriptures,
which he nttribntes to a desire to comfort and support
him under the weight of his bodily and mental
infirmities, and acknowledges, that if his endeavours
are productive of any good to mankind, the merit
of it is due to his patron, and not to him. He says
that when music was employed in the service of the
church, be laboared in the art not in vain, seeing
that his discoveries in it were made public by the
authority, and under the protection of his patron,
who as be had regulated the church of St Donatus,
over which it was his ofBce to preside, so had he
rendered the servants thereof, by those privil^es
by him conferred on them, respectable amongst the
clergy. He adds, that it is matter of surprise to faim
to find that the boys of the church of Arezzo should,
in the art of modulation, excel the old men of other
churches; and professes to explain the rules of the
art for the honour of their bouse, not in the manner
of the philosophers, but so as to be a service to
their church, and a help to their boys, for that the
art hod a long time lain hid, and, though very
difficult, had never been sufficiently explained.
The dedication is followed by a prologue, in which
the author attributes to the grace of God the snccess
of his endeavours to facilitate the practice of music ;
which succeae he says was so great, that the boys
taught by hie rules, and exercised therein for the
space of a month, were able to sing at first ught,
and without hesitation, muuc they had never heard
before, in such a manner aa to aurprise most people.
It appears, aa well from the epistie to his friend
Michael, aa from the Micrologas, that in the opinion
of Guide the only way of coming at a knowledge
of the intervals so as to aing them truly, was by
means of the monochord ; for which reason, though
of whom, ud alio gf
HEDchihdlni, HtuM
dbyGoo*^le
Chap. XXXVI.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
166
be condemnfl (be nse of it for any other purpose
than the hare initiation of learnen in the rudiments
of singing, ha constantly recommends the study
of it to yoimg people. In the very beginning of
the Micrologus he says, 'Whoever desires to be
' acquainted with onr exercise, mnst learn sacb songs
' as are set down in our notes, and practise bis hand
'in the use of the monochord, and often meditate
' ou our rules, until he is perfect in the power and
' nature of the notes, and is able to sing well at first
' eight ; for the notes, which are the foundation of
* tbis art, are best to be discerned in the monochord,
'by which also we are taught bow art, imitating
' natnre, baa distinguished them.'
Guide propose* that the monochord shall contain
twenty<one notes, concerning the disposition whereof
he speaks thus : —
' First set down r Greek, which is added by the
' modems, then let follow the first seven letters of
'the alphsbet, in capitals, in this manner, A, B,
'C, D, E, P, G; and after these the same seven
' letters in tbe smaller characters ; the first series
' denotes the graver, and the latter the acuter sounds.
' Nevertheless, among the smaller letters we insert
' occasionally b or ^ the one character being round,
' the other square, thns a, b, ]], c, d, e, f, g ; to
' these add tbe tetracbord of snperacutes, in which
' b is doubled in the same manner, aa, bb, \j^ cc,
' dd, ee. These letters make in oil twenty-two,
' r. A, B, 0, D, E, P, G, a, b, h, c, d, e, f, g, aa, bb,
'llh> *^> ^^> ^> ^^ disposition whereof has hitherto
been so perplexed as not to be intelligible, but it
'shall here be nude most clear and plain, even
'to boys.'
For tbe division of the monochord he ^vea the
following directions : —
' Gamma r being placed at one extremity of the
' monochord, divide the space between that and the
' end of the chord into nine parts, and at the end
' of the first ninth part place A, from whence the
' ancients fixed their beginning ; then from A divide
' the space to the end of the chord into nine parts,
' and in the same manner place B ; then returning to
' r ; divide tbe whole space to the end into four parts,
' and at the end of the first fourth part place C. In
' the same manner as from I' you found G, by a division
* of four parts, you will from A find D ; from B, E ;
' from C, P ; from D, G ; from E, a acute ; from F,
' b round ; the rest that follow are easily fonnd by
' a bisection of the remaining parts of the line in the
' manner above directed, as for example, in the middle
' betweeu B and the end place ]j. In like manner
' from C yon will find a new c ; from D a new d ;
' from E another e ; from F another f ; and from G
' another g ; and the rest in the same manner, pro-
' ceeding npwards or downwards, ad infinitum, un-
' lew the precepts of the srt should by their authority
' restrain it. Ont cf the many and divers divisions of
■ the monochord, I have set down this in particular, it
' being easily to be understood, and when once nnder-
' stood is hardly to be forgotten. — Here follows
* another method of dividing the monochord, which.
' though not so easily to be retained, is more ex-
' peditiouely performed. Divide the whole into nine
' parts, tbe first part will terminate in A, the second
'is vscant; the third in D, the fourth vacant ; the
' fifth 0, the sixth d, tbe seventh aa, the rest vacant.
' Again, divide from A to the end into nine parts ;
' the first part will terminate in B, the second will
' be vacant, tbe third E, the fourth vacant, the fifth
* }^ the sixth e, the seventh J] J), tbe rest vacant :
' again, divide the whole from r to tbe end into four
' parts, tbe first will terminate in C, the second in G,
' the third in g, and the fourth finishes. Divide
' from C to the end likewise into four parte, the first
' part will end in P, the second in c, the third in cc,
' and the fourth finishes. Divide from F into four
' parts, tbe first will end in b round, the second in f :
' divide from b round into four parts, in the second
' you vrill find bb round, the rest are vacant Divide
' from aa into four parts, the first will be dd, the rest
' are vacant. For the disposition of the notes these
' two methods of division ore sufficient ; the first is
'the more easy to be remembered, the second tbe
Upon this division of the monochord be observes,
that there appears a greater distance between some
of the notes, as V, A, and A, B, than between others,
OB B, C: he says the greater distance is called a
tone, and the lesser a semitone, from semis an half;
that a ditone is an interval consisting of two
tones, OS C. D, E ond that that is called a semi-
ditone which contains only a tone and half, as from
D to F. He says that when between any two notes
there occur in any order whatever, two tones and
a semitone, as frx>m A to D, from B to E, and from
C to F, tbe extreme sounds make a diatessaroo, but
that a diapente is greater by a tone ; as when between
any two notes there occur three twines and a semitone,
as from A to E, or from C to G. He reckons up
six consonances, that is tc say, the tone, semitone,
ditone, semiditone, diotessaron, and diapente, to
which number he says may also be added the dia-
pason as a seventh ; but that as it is seldom intro-
duced, it is not so commonly ranked among them.*
In the seventh chapter of the Micrologus the author
treats of the affinity of notes, or, in other words, of
tbe consonances ; those of the diatessaron and dia-
pente he explains by the following figure : —
In the eighth he shews the affinity between b and
h, and distinguishes betweeu the diatessaron and
Eapente in this diagram : —
i> pUH, ler tlw
m tabvdustd, tbit K !• lb*
dbyGooi^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book IV.
In the twelfth and thirteenth cbaptera he speaks
of ^e division of the fonr modes into eight, and saya
that as there are eight parts of speech, and eight
forma of bleeaedneas, i. e. beatitudes, so Ought there
to be eight modes in music. In the fourteenth
chapter he treats more partictilarly of the modes,
which he calls Tropes, and of the effects of muaic :
of these he says their properties are so different, that
in the same manner as a [wraon accustomed to
different countries is able out of several men placed
before him, to say 'this is s Spaniard, this an Italian,
' this a German, and this other a Frenchman ; ' so
may one that ia skilled in music by their diveraitiee
distingnieh the tropes. Farther he ascribes to the
tropes different propoitiea ; for ' one petBoa,' says he,
' delights in the broken leaps of the second authentic ;
' another in the softness of the third plagal ; a third
' shall be delighted with the garmlity of the fotirth
' authentic, and another shall approve the mellifluous
' Bweetaees of the fourth plag^.' As to the power
of music, he says it is aa great as to cnre many
diseases of the human body ; he cites a relation of
a frantic person who was restored to reason by the
music of AscleF&ides the physician ; and mentions
also that a certain other person was by the sound of
the lyre, so stirred up to lust, that he attempted to
force into the chamber of a young woman with in-
tent to violate her chastity, hut that the masician,
immediately changing the mode, caused him to desist
from his purpose.
CHAP. XXXVII.
AccoRDtNo to Guido, cap. xv. four things are re-
quired in every cantus, — soOnds, consonances, neumas,
wad distinctions : from sounds proceed consonances,
from consonances neumas, and from neumas dis-
tinctions : this it seema was the ancient scholastio
division of vocal music, and it is adopted by all the
monkish writers on the art. A Nenma is the smallest
particle of a cantos, aod is elsewhere said to signify'
as many notes as can be sung in one respiration. By
distinctions the author seems to mean nothing more
than the different measures of time, which, for au^t
that any where appears to the contrary, were regu-
lated solely by the metre of the verse to which the
notes were sung. Speaking of nenmaa, he says they
may be reciprocated or return by the same steps as
they proceeded by ; and adds that a cantus is said to
be metrical when it scans truly, which, if it be right,
it will do even if sung by itself. Neumas, he says,
shoald correspond to neumas, and distinctions to
distinctions, according to the perfectly sweet method
of Ambrosius. Farther he says that the resemblance
between metres and songs is not small, for that
neumas answer to feet, and distinctions to verses ;
the neuma answers to the dactyl, spondee, or iambic ;
the distinction to the tetrameter, the pentameter, or
the hexameter, and the like. He adds, ' Every cantus
' should agree with the subject to which it is adapted,
■ whether it be grave, tranquil, jocund, or exulting ;
' and that towards the end of every distinction the
' notes should be thinly disposed, that being the place
' of respiration ; for we see that when race-horses
' approach the end of the course they abate of their
' speed, and move as if wearied,'
Cap. xvi. he treats of the manifold variety of
sounds and neumas, and says that it ought not to
seem wonderful that such a variety should arise from
so few notes, since from a few letters syllables are
formed, which, though not innumerable, do yet pro-
duce an infinite number of parts. ' How many kinds
' of metre ' adds he, ' arise out of a few feet, and by
' how many varieties is each capable of diversifica-
' tion ? hut this he says is the province of the gram-
' marians.' He proceeds to show what different
neumas may be formed from the six consonances;
he assumes that every nenma, or, as we should now
say, every paas^e, must necessarily either ascend
or descend ; an ascending neuma he terms Arsis,
a descending, Thesis ; these he says may be con-
joined : and farther he says that by means of a total
or partial elevation or depression of any neuma,
different combinations msy be formed, and a great
variety of melody produced.
In cap. xvii. he lays it down as a rule, that as
whatever is spoken may be written, so there can be no
cantus formed but what may be designed by letters ;
and here he exhibits a role for a kind of extem-
poraneous musical composition, which must doubtieea
appear very strange to a modem : he says in singing
no sound can be uttered but by means of one or other
of the five vowels, and that from their changes a sweet
concord will ensue ; he therefore first directs the
placing the letters of the monochord, and the vowels
under them in this order : —
r A B C D E
Fga]]C defg
e i 0 u a e i o 1
fl, m eritorom tuorum oopiu, neqneo dlgoe
In this example the vowels determine the music ;
for as in the above scheme the power of each sound
is transferred to its correspondent vowel, the snccession
dbyGoo*^le
Oh*p. XXXVII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
167
of the vowels will exbibit a series of BonniU to which
every «ylkbla may be sung : —
\ A
V" V
It is clear from the connectien between the vowels
wd the letters of the monochord, that the diapeDt«
here made use of is taken from among the acutes ;
because in the disposition above made, the vowel
a answers to F ; bnt had he choBen the graves for an
example, the prt^resaion of the caotuB had been
predsely the same ; for as d is to c, bo is A to r, and
asfutoc,BoiBOtor; asgistoc, bo is D to P,
and eo of the rest
This it mnst be confesBed is but a fortnitons kind
of melody ; it aeems however to have suited well
enough with the simplicity of the timea, which
affords ub no reason to believe that the art of com-
posing tnnsic was arrived at any great degree of
perfection. By the mle here given the above cantns
may easily be rendered into modern notea, in which
it will have this appearance : —
and diateasaron, among which consonances the dia-
tessaron holds the principal [Jace. Of the modes,
which he calls Tropes, he says that some are fit,
some more fit, and otJiers most fit, for the Diaphonia ;
and these degrees of fitness seem to bear a pro-
portion to the nnmber of concordant intervals in
each. As an instance of the highest degree of this
kind of perfection, he mentions the third and fourth
tones, which he says follow kindly and sweetly,
with a tone, ditone, and diateasaron.
In the nineteenth chapter are contained sundry
examples to illastrate the precepta delivered in the
chapter preceding, among which are the following t —
FFGOFFDEFEDC
Ipsi ■» >■
CCDGOCCCCCCC
The eighteenth chapter of the Micrologtu is an
explanation of the Diaphonia, by which term we are
to understand thoae precepta th^ teach the use of the
organ, and ita application to vocal melody ; con-
cerning which Gnido says, that auppoaing the singer
to utter any given Bound, as for instance A, if the
oi^an proceed to the acutes, the A may be doubled,
as A D a, in which case it will sound from A to D,
a diateasaron, from D to a, diapente, and from A to
a, a diapason : he farther says, that these three kinds,
when uttered by the organ, commix together with
great sweetneas, and that the apt copulation of notea
is called Symphony. He gives this which follows
as an example of the diaphonia :—
fcdedodedccj]
^PGAGFG AGPFE
The several precepts conttuned in the Micrologua,
together with the examples above given, may serve
to shew the inartificial contexture of the mnsic in
thoae early days : they farther tend to confirm those
accounts which carry the antiquity of the organ back
to a time, when, from the uncultivated state of the
mechanic arts, it would hardly be Bupposed that an
instrument ao wonderfully constructed could have
been fabricated.*
After delivering the precepts of the Diaphonia, the
author from Boetius relates the discovery of the con-
sonances by Pythagoras. He exhorts such as mean
to become excellent in music to take the monochord
for their guide, and repeats hb instructions for making
and dividing it
A little farther on he resumes the consideration of
the tones, and is somewhat precise in ascertaining
their respective limits, and distinguishing between
the authentic and the plagal. He says that the same
sntiphon may be sung in different sounds without
changing the harmony : or, in other words, that it
may be bo tranaposed, as that the sotmds may bear the
And adds that a cantns may be doubled by the
organ, and the organ itself in the diapason, as much
at the organist pleases. He says that having made
tbe doubling of sounds Bufficiently clear, he will ex-
1^0 the method of adapting grave sounds to a
cantua, in the doing whereof he premises that the
Diaphonia admits not of the semitone nor diapente,
but thAt it accepts of the tone, ditone, semi^tone.
J. w hi H tbtj nlMa to t)w »
lODEDODEDOCBA ™«
opentigm of ntu EnfUih u
n Isiionat tbax (h«T ^otk with u
. A vMf curloui book, naw tiunt,
n br dime Juir*i» Bana. riiartn
dbyGoot^le
'HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book IV.
same relation to each other as if not traoaposed. He
aaya that the second letter, by which we a^ to under-
stand ]], is rejected as ignoble, and nnfit to be the
priDcipal of any tone : the reason of this is, that its
fifth is defective, as being less than a true diapeute by
ft semitone.
The reaidae of this tract, the Micrologas, consists
of miBCellaneouB reflections on the nae and efficacy of
music : towards the close of it is the following tetrastic
Quasdam lineal Bignamua varii* coloribu*
Ut ijUO loco sit aODua max discemat ocului ;
Ordine tertis vocia apUndena crocus radial,
Sexta ejus, sed affinii flavo nibet minio.
Upon which he observes, that if a letter and colour
be not affixed to a Neuma, it will be ' like a well
without a rope.' Theee verses are an absolute
enigma, and it would be a vain attempt to explain
them, did not a passage in another part of this
author's writings afford some intimation that by the
red line ho intended to denote the F, and by the
yellow the C cliff: however we are not to look on
this method of distinguishing the cliffs by lines of
different (»loura as the invention of Guido, since it
appears to have been in use bo early as the year 900,
which is at least an hundred years before the time
when tie wrote.
He seems to close his tract with an assurance that
ho has made tlio rules clear, and laid open to singers
the regular and perfect manner of singing in a method
nnknown to former times. £nt ho immediately re-
sumes his subject in these words, 'Temporibua nostris
' super omnes homines fatui sunt cantores;' and goes
on to explain some particulars that are before but
obscurely treated of; in the doing whereof Guido
takes occasion to represent the woful state of music,
and the deplorable ignorance of singers at the time
when be wrote ; the whole is curious, and will be
beat understood if given in his own words, which
are nearly these : —
' In these our times no set of men are so infatuated
■ as singers ; in every other art we improve, and in
' time attain to a greater degree of knowledge than
' we derived from our teachers : thus by reading
' over the simple psalter, boys are enabled to read
' other books ; the countryman by use and exercise
* acquires the knowledge of agriculture ; he who has
' pmned one vine, planted one shrub, or loaded one
'ass, is able not only to do the same again, but to do
'it better; bat, miserable disciples of singers, they,
' though they should practise every day for an hun-
'dred year?, would never be able to sing even one
' little antiphon themselves, nor without the help of
' a master, ont lose as much time in attaining to sing,
as wonld have enabled them fully to understand
the divine writ And what is more to be lamented
is, that many clerks of the religious orders, and
' monks too, neglect the psalms, the noctnmals and
'vigils, and other lessons of piety, by which we are
' led to everlasting glory, wliile they with a most
' foolish and assiduous labour prosecute the art of
' unging, which they are never able to attain. Who
' then can refrain from tears to see such an evil
'creep into the church? from whence such discord
' ensues, that we are nnable to celebrate the divine
' offices. Nor is this all, for this ignorance of their
'duty begets reproach, from whence proceeds con-
' tendon ; scarce the scholar with the master can
' agree, and much less one fellow scholar with another.
' Neither is there any nniformity of music at this
' day in the churches ; for there are ae many kinda
'of antiphoQS as there are masters; insomuch that
' no one can say as heretofore, this is the antiphon
' of Gregory, or Leo, or Albert, or any other ; but
' every one either varies these, or forms others at his
' pleasure. It ought not therefore to give offence if I
' contend with the corruptions of the times, and en-
' deavonr to render the practice of music conformable
' to the rules of the art : and as all these corruptions
' have arisen from the ignorance ofmnsicians, I must
' earnestly request that no one will presume to moke
'antiphons, unless ho be w^II skilled in the art of
' forming them according to the kuonn and established
' rules of music ; it being most certain that be who is
' not the disciple of truth will be a teacher of error.
'And for these reasons I intend, with the help of
' God, to note down a book of andphons, by means
' whereof any assiduous person may atUun to sing
' truly, and without hesitation ; and if any one doubts
' the efficacy of our method, let him come and sea
' what our little hoys can do, who labouring under
' their ignorance, as not being able to read the com-
' mon p^ter, are yet capable of singing the music to
' it, and can without the help of a master sing the
' notes, though they cannot pronounce the words.'
Tlie letten of Gregory, he says, ' are so disposed,
' that if a note be repeated ever so often it will dways
' have the same character; but the better to distin-
' guish the order of notes, linea are drawn near to
' each other, and notes are placed on these lines, and
' also on the spaces between the lines.' He adds, ' we
' make use of two colours, yellow and red, by mesne
' whereof I give a rule very useful and convenient
' for finding out the tone and the letter of the mono-
' chord, to which any given neuma is to be referred.
' There are seven letten in the monochord ; and
' wherever you see the yellow it is the sign of th«
' third letter, and wherever red it denotes the uxth,
' whether the colours are drawn in the lines or over
'them.'
This is the passage above hinted at as containing a
solution of the enigmatical tetroatic at the latter end
of the MicrologUB : the author has said that the letten
of the monochord are seven ; it is supposed that he
means to exclude T from the number, as the chord of
which that letter is a sign is assumed ; if so, the
letters must be A, B, C. D, E, F, G. and then the
yellow line will denote the place of C, and the red
that of F. Father Martini, who hod on opportunity
of consulting a greater variety of miaaals and other
manuscripts than are to be found in this country,
makes no scruple to assert that this is Guido's mean-
ing, and produces divers fragments from ancient
books of the church -ofQces, which have both a yellow
and a red line, the first ever with the letter C, and
the other with F, in the usual place of the cliff.
The examples of the use of the yellow and red linea
dbyGoo*^le
Chap. XXXVII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
1C9
S reduced by Martini ue very numy, but aa the lines
a all stand single, and as upon, above, and below
them divers characters are placed, irbich bear not the
least reaemblance to the points ased by Guide and
hi9 eucceason, it may be queatioDed whether this va-
riety of colors was not originally adapted to a method
of notation in nse before hia time, notwithstanding
that it coincidee so well with the stave. But Kircher,
in the Mosurgia, tome I. pag. 55S, has reduced this
qnestion to a certainty; and, notAnthstaoding the
general opinion, that before the time of Guido the
only method of notation in use was by the Roman
capital and small letters, which St Gregory intro-
daced. Martini proves that thc'Dotators, aa Uiey are
called, of that time, made use of certain marks in this
form {f JX ufm*-^-* ^d " *" 'i"*" '^^
different colours, Eircher relates that he bad fonnd
in the monastery of Vsllombrosa snndry very ancient
books, written for the nse of the cboir there, before
the time of Gnido ; and that the method of notation
in those books was by a red line, with certain notes
or points placed in different situations above and
below, according to the intervals intended to be
marked by them.f Nivers speaks also to the same
purpose ; for enquiring into the causes of the corrup-
tion of the Csntus Gregorianus, he assig^is for one,
the uncertainty of the method of notation before the
time of Onido ; for he says till his reformation of the
scale, the characters were only small points, commas,
accents, and certain little oblique strokes, occasionally
interposed ; which great variety of minute figures he
■ays was very difficult to comprehend, still more to
retain, and impossible to reduce to practice without
the asaiatance of a master. In proof of this assertion
be waives the authority of Kircher. who has mentioned
the same fact, and eaya that he engaged in an exact
and laboriooa research among the most ancient manu-
scripts in the libraiy of the king of Prance, and in
that of St, Germain De Pres, and others. Nay, he
■ays (bat he had caused the Vatican to be searched,
and had received from thence, memoirs and extracts
from manuscript sntiphonaries, and graduals, many
of which were above nine hundred years old, in
which these characters appear. He farther says, that
iu this method of notation, by points and other marks,
it was inipoadble to ascertain the difference between
the tone and semitone, which is in effect saying that
the whole contrivance was iDartificial, productive of
error, and of very little worth. Diaaertalion snr
le Chant Gregorien, chap. vi. Specimens of this
method of notation, taken from Martini, vol. I.
peg. 184, are inserted in the Appendix, No. 42.f
■ Bur.diilUMiuia.pw.lSS.
t Wh.1 OiiUo lui iM Mpedlns
•tu ttilloiiioflbte])n,u.d<h.
4I.|;buHtin»Tli'"l*«ni»rkiHl
1 lumpte. uk«n frgm t)i" Leiim
1 Wiltier, SjL Uliii. IJJS. (Sh
n lh» Ubniy of Bmnrt eMtft in
LunplH of tim mulhod of iwuifon
icpiiu In h« Codia luml
From what has been said some idea may he formed
of the nature and tendency of the Micrologus, and
other tracts of Guido. Whether he was the author
of any other than have been mentioned, is not easy
to determine ; but it seems that those from which the
foregoing extracts are taken, contain as mnch of his
doctrine as he thought communicable by writing ;
for it is to be remarked that he frequently takes oc-
caNon to say that some particolars of it are not to be
miderstood but by a familiar conversation, and it is
to be feared that moat of his readers must entertain
the same opinion.
It DO where appears that any of bis works were
ever printed, except that Baronius, Id his Annates
Ecclesiastict, torn. XI. pag. 73, has given at length
the epiatle from him to his friend Hichael of Pom-
poaa, and that to Theodald, bishop of Areczo, prefixed
to the Micrologus, and yet the writers on music speak
of the Micrologus as of a hook in the hands of every
one. Martini cites several mannecripts of Guido, as
namely, two in the Ambrosian library at Milan, the
one written nbont the twelllh century, the other less
ancient : another among the archives of the chapter
of PistoJB, a city in Tuscany; and a third in the
Mediceo -Laurentiano library at Florence, of the
fifteenth century: these are clearly the Micrologus.
Of the Epistle to Michael of Pomposa, together with
the Argumentum novi Cantns iuveniendi, he mentiona
only one, which he says is somewhere at Ratisbon §.
Of the several tracts above-mentioned, the last ex-
cepted, a manuscript is extant in the library of Baliol
college in Oxford. Several fragmenta of the two first,
in one volume, are also among the Harleian ntann-
scripta now in the British Museum, Numb. 3199, but
so very much mntilated, that they afford bnt small
latisfaction to a curious enquirer. The Baliol manu-
script contains also the Eochiridion of Odo, wbicb
Guido, at the close of the Argumentum novi Cantns
inveniendi, highly commends; at also the tract of
Bemo abbot of Richenon before mentioned.
The above particulars of the life and labours of
Guido, which have indeed the merit of being imme-
diately collected from hia own writings, are possibly
all that we shall ever be able to learn about him ; for
by a kind of fatality, very difficult to account for, his
memory lives only in his inventions, and though there
is scarce a dictionary, not to mention the innumerable
tracts that direct the practice of vocal music, bnt
mention him as having taken the syllables ut, br,
HI, FA, SOL, LA from a hymn of St. John the Baptist,
and applied them to certain notes in the scale of music,
yet no one author of credit, if we except cardinal
Baronius, and he seems more deeirona of recording
the Invention, than perpetuating the Memory of its
author, has thought him worthy of a more honourable
testimony than is every day given by the writers of
Bibiotheqnes, Memoirs, and Anecdotes, to any scrib-
bling professor of the Belles Lettres. ,
This enpinenesa, or ignorance, or whatever eke it
ilouB Tropl) n
ill plUc it InHittd tiau th
luim, et pag- 4A^i GuiBQ.
dbyGooi^lc
170
HISTOEY OF THE SCaENOE
Book V.
may deserve to be called, with respect to Guido and
bis improvements, has been the source of many mis-
takes, aa namely, that he waa the inventor of rauaio ia
consooance, and of the organ and harpsichord ; and
that be was the first that introduced the practice of
descant in siaging. Id the course of the present wurk
some of these inventions have ^een, and the others
severally will be, fiied at periods very remote from
that in which Giiido lived ; at present it ahall sufhce
to refute them by saying, that as to tbe organ, it was
invented long before;* and farther, Guido himself in.
hia Micrologus frequently mentions tbe organ as an
instmnient in common use in his time. As to the
harpsichord, the name of it, or of tbe spinnet, of
which it is manifestly but an improvement, does not
once occur in the writings of the monkish musicians
who wrote after Guido, nor in the works of Chaucer,
who seems to have occasionally mentioned all the
various instruments in use iu his time. Gower
indeed speaks of an instrument called tbe citole, in
these verses , —
Hi tiDghCc fair dlt flic wu ceRxyoe
OFharpe, dtolc, inil ofrioR,
With m»ny > ttwne, >nd miny . note.
Conreasio Amantis, fol. 176, b.
And by an ancient list of the domestic establish-
ment of Edward III. it appears that he bad in hia
service a musician called a cyteller, or cyateller : the
citole or cistole, derived from ciatella, a little chest,
might probably be an inetrumeot resembling a box
with strings on the top or helly, which by the ap-
plication of the tastatura or key -board, borrowed
from the organ, and jacks, became a spinnet. But
as to the harpsichord, the earliest description of it
which, after a careful research, could be found, is
that of OttomaruB Luscinioa, in bis Musurgia, pub-
lished at Strasbnrg, in 1536. As to descant, it was
the invention, as some imagine, of Bede, and he lived
under the Saxon heptarchy, about the year 673 ; and
lastly, whether the common use of tbe organ and the
practice of descant, do not pre-suppose music in con-
sonance, is submitted to the judgment of all who
profess to know any thing of the science.
As Guido made no pretensions to great learning,
or skill in philosophy, but seems indeed to have
been absorbed in the study of bis psalter and the
church offices, no one of the many writers who have
occasionally mentioned him, has entered into the
particulars either of his character or hie institudos ;
but bis reformation of the scale, bis improvement of
the stave, and the method of notation invented by
him, which has introduced into tbe world a kind «
universal character,! bespeak bis merit more than
the most laboured encomium could do, and have pro-
cured him a reputation that must in all probability
endure as long as tbe love of music shall subsist
t It li lltenlJj trna, tlul fin the purpove of repwmtlng mbileal
uiiikdi bf wrEIIiLg, EhE tyitanof Guido li ut unETOBAl ckuKUr; and
who ipeftk 4U^not Luiguigei, aod thenfoie an Ineipftblv of thIhI
in'n"'^Tr
iKhlbein
in 4lpbnl)eL BUhop VllUni Snt ilinHl tU*
IngnJouiir pTWKuUd In hli Inct cnlilled Tbs
. n».cnger, chip. i?lli. ud by Mr. Oldyi in llx life of
fkmiiui peunu, la tho BUjgnplii* Bi" '~
BOOK V. CHAP. XXXVIII,
Thb system of Guido, and the method invented
by him for facilitating tbe practice of vocal melody,
was received with universal applause, and in general
adopted throughout Europe. The clergy, no doubt,
favoured it as coming from one of their own order;
and indeed they continned to be the only cultivators
of mnsic in general for many centuries after bis time.
The people of England have long been celebrated
for their love of cathedral mnsic; not only in Italy,
Germany, and France, hot here also, the offices were
multiplied in proportion to the improvements made
in music; and a great emuladon arose, among
different fraternities, which should excel in the com-
position of tnosic to particular antipbons, hymns,
and other parts of divine service. It farther appears,
that abont the middle of tbe eleventh centory, the
order of worahip was not so aettled but that a latitude
was left for every cathedral cburch to establish each
a formulary for itself, which in time was called its
Use: of this practice there are the plainest inti-
mations in the preface to the Common Prayer of
qoeen Elizabeth. J And we elsewhere learn, that
I ' And «hn* hoMtefiin Iber* bilh Iwone gna dWenltle In uylnj
Hd tkiiflnK kn chufctan vllbln HdinlnM; itimo riillawh](3ill>burls
■•omiof Lj'BEalM. Now from luncsroKb ill tbo whole mime tbtU
' hsfi Inii one me.' Upon whlcb puuga h ki to be BMod thM IB lb*
of the several uses which bad obt^ned in this king-
dom, that of Sarom, established anno 1077, was the
most followed ; and that hence arose the adage
' Secundum nsum Sarum.'§
Of the origin of the nse of Sarom there are
several relations, none of which do great honour to
its inventor Osmund, bishop of that see. Bale, of
whom indeed it may be said, that almost all his
writings are libels, has given this account of him,
and the occasion of framing it : — * Olmundus was
' a man of great adventure aiid pojicye in bys tyme,
' not only concemynge robbcryes, but alfo tbe flaughter
' of men in the warres of kyng Wyllyam Conijuerouri
* whereupon he was firft the grtndc captayne of Saye,
* in Normandy, and afterwards carle of Dorlct, and
■ alfo hygh-cluuiiccllour of Englande. As Herman,
' the bylhop of Salifbury, was dead, he gaoe over all,
'and fucceeded him in that bylbopryclc, to Jyne, aa it
' were, in a fecuryce or cafe in hys hilre age; for than
' was the church become JefatxI's pleafaimt and eafy
* cowch. His cautels were not fb fyne in the other
■wrthorn p*t1i. thenieof the uthieplieoul ehorch of York pnnllod;
In Bouili Wilei, Ihit or Henrord^ In Norlb Wilei, thai i^ Bui|oi;
ud Id otlirr p1>ni, the me of oOier of the piindpal eeee, wtlcaluir
Ihil of LIncolD. AjlUGi'i PUHfOo, fif, US. Bnni'i Bed. I^w
Tol. II. PM- t'B.
J Vid. Fnlln'i Vonbie* In Vnti, pit. IM.
dbyGooi^lc
Chap. XXXVIIT.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
171
lynde for dcftniflyon of bodyw j but they were alfo
as good in thys, for deftruflyon of fowles. To
obfcure the glory of the gofpel preachynge, and
augment the filthynefle of ydolatry, he praftyfed
an ordynary of popyfh ceremonyes, the whyche he
entytlcd a Confuetudynary, or ufual bote of the
churche. Hys fyrft occafyon was thys : a great
baitayle chaunced at Glalknburye, whyh he was
byfhop, betweene TurlUnus, the abbot, and hys
monkea, wherein fome of them were flayiu, and
fome lore woimdet], as is fayd afore. The caufe of
that battayle was thys : TurAiniis contempnynge
Uieir quere fervyce, than called the ufe of Sa.iiic
Gregory, compelled hys monkes to the ufe of one
Wyllyam, a raonke of Fifcan, in Normandy. Upon
thys, Ofmundus devyled that ordynary called die
Ule of Sanun, whyche was afterwards received in
a manner of all Englande, Irelande, and Wales.
Every Syr Sander Styngefby had a boke at hys belte
thereof, called hys Por^He, contaynynge many fuper-
ftycyoule fables and lyes, the cellamcDi of Chryft let
at not^ht. For chys aAe wai that brothel byfliop
made a popyfli god at Salilbury.'*
Fox, a writer not quite ho bitter as the former,
givea the following atxonnt of the matter : —
'A great contention chanced at Glayftenbure, be-
'iweene Thurftanus, the abbat, and his convent, in
'the daiea of William Conqueror, which Thurftanus
'the faid William had brought out of Normandy,
'from the abbey of Cadonum, and placed him abbat
'of Glaftcnburyc. The caufe of this contentious bat-
' tell was, for that Thurftanus contemning their quicr
'ftrviec, then called the Ufe of S. Gregory, compelled
'his monkes to the ufe of one William, a monke of
'Fifcan, in Normandy: whereupon came ftrife and
'contentions amongft them; firll in words, then from
' words to blowes, after blowes, then to armour. The
' abbat, with his gard of hameft men, fell upon the
' monks, and drave them to the fteps of the high altar,
'where two were flain, eight were wounded with
' Ihafts, swords, and pikes. The raonls, then di
' to fuch a ftrait and narrow fliift, were compelled to
' ilcfend theinfelves with formes and candlcfticks, where-
' with they did wound certaine of the fouldicrj. One
' monk there was, an aged man, who, inftead of his
'Ifaield, took an image of the crucifix in his armes
' for his defence ; which image was wounded in the
' breaft by one of the bowmen, whereby the monk
'was laved. My liory addeih more, that the ftrikcr,
' incontinent upon the fame, fell mad ; which favorcth
'of fome monkilh addition, befides the text. This
' matter being brought before the king, the abbat was
' tat again to Cadonum, and the monkes, by the
' commandcment of the king, were fcattered in far
'countries. Thus, by ilic occafion hereof, OGnundus,
' bilhop of Salifbury, dcvifed that ordinary which is
' called the Ufe of Sarum, and was afcerwanls received,
' in a manner through all England, Ireland, and Wales."}"
* nif utaai FBit, n CmiiTDDHTan ot th< Enalrih VoUrja,
I 11 appeftn froi
■IbDAt trmuehonl
till Mihop a? Uu
ipemri fMio LTBdwooiJ, n
' And thus much for this matter, done in the time of
' this king William.' t
As to the formulary itself, we meet with one called
the Use of Sarum, tranalated into Bnglieh by Miles
Corerdale, bishop of Exeter, in the Acta and Monti-
ments of Fox, vol. III. pag. S, which in truth is but
a partial repreaent«tion of the subject ; for the TJse
of Sarum not only r^ulated the form and order of
celebrating the mass, bat prescribed the rule and
office for all the sacerdotal fnnctiona ; and these are
contained in separate and distinct volumes, as the
Missal itself, printed by Richard Hamillon, aimo
1554 ; the Manual, by Francis Regtwult, M Paris,
anno 1530 ; Hymns, with the notes, by John Kynge-
ton and Henry Sutton, Loud. 1555 ; the Primer, and
other compilations : all which are expreaaly said to
be ' ad usum ecclesin Sarisburiensis.' Sir Henry
Spelman seema to have followed Fox rather implicity
in the explanation which he gives of the Use of Sarum
in bis Glossary, pag. 501.
It is no easy matter, at this distance of time, to
assign the reasoaa for that authority and independence
of the church of Salisbury which the framing a liturgv,
to call it no more, for its own proper use, and eapecially
the admission of that liturgy into other cathedrals,
supposes : but this is certain, that the church of
Sarum was dietinguiahed by divera customs and
usages peculiar to itself, and that it adopted others
which the practice of other churches had given a
sanction to : among the latter waa one so remarkable
as to have been the subject of mnch learned enquiry.§
The usage here particularly alluded to, is that of
electing a Bishop from among the choristers of the
cKccutB thB DfflH of prHfntorp aod to fOT«rn thfl chcdf , wb«i«Ttt tha
vclibfiliiip or Cuitenurr performed divine Hrrlce In the prnennof
. l«mpojibuB quilnii arcU-
w clalmad, bjr uiciEBt
' be^nlng of Ibo ipriuir. ihej use lo ktxA Ihelr c
'AndHiao, liauri, ua k tupentltlouil; tiien, u upon thit nlKbl to
■tw's Ihcit ebUdren uked Ihc quntlon Id ibelrilccp, whetlier Ihej bavs
■pmict, but IT lot child no utwer notMDi. 01 luKhiiig lo Hut pnrpoi^
* thej put Uism OTH W the ploufh.'
dbyGoot^le
172
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book V.
catheilrRl of Samm, or Mie anniverBsry of SL Nicholu,
being th« sixth day (H* December ; who was invested
with great authority, and had the stJite of a diocesan
bishop from the time of hia election nntil Innocent's
Pay, M it is called, the twenty-eighth of the satne
month. It aeema, that the original design of this
singular institution was to do hononr to the memory
of St Nicholas, bishop of Myra, in Lycia ; who, even
ID bis infancy, was remarkable for bis piety, and, in'
the language of St. Paul to Timothy, is said to have
known the scriptures of a child. Ribadeneyra has
given bis life at large ; but the following extract
from the EngUeh Festival,* contains ss much about
him aa any reasonable man can be expected to
believe. < It is fayed, that hys fader hyght Epiphaniua,
' and his moder, Joanna, Sec. And whan he was born,
' &c. they made hym ChryAen, and called hym Nycolas,
' that is a mannes name ; but he kepeth the name of
' a chyld ; for he chose to kepe vertues, meknes, and
* symplcnes, and without malyce. Also we rede,
' whyle he lay in hys cradcl, he failed WedneCiay and
'Fryday : these days he would fouke but ones of the
' day, and iherewyth held hym plesed. Thus he lyved
' all his lyf in vertues, with thys chyldes name ; and
' therefore chyldren don hym worlhip before all other
That St Nicholas was the patron of young scholars
is elsewhere noted ; and by the statutes of St. Paul's
school, founded by dean Ck)let, it is required that the
childreD there educated, ' shall, every Chitdermaa
* Bay, come to Paulis churche, and hear the chylde-
' byshop sermon, and aDer be at the hygh-tnasse, and
' each of them offer a i. d. to the childe-byehop, and
' with them the maisters and surveiours of the scole.^
The ceremonies attending the investiture of the
EpiscopQB Fueromm are prescribed by the statutes
of the church of Sarum, which contain a title, De
Episcopo Ghoristarum ; and also by the Processional.
From these it appears, that he was to bear the name
and maiDtain uie state of a bishop, habited, with
• In St NicbnUs, lai. U.
I A cIrcnmiUna li nlstod of IhU bliliop NlrbaUi. which dim not
Tflry will ifna vUh the ftboTA ueouDt of hLi mHk ud placid temper ;
tor mt Ihe CoukU of Sin. IMi Hina Uikop, upon uine dlipule l1iu
■ha MI. B>tK TOl! II. pK. MO, Id noi.
t Bj Ihb ititDte, »bieh with the ml li prlntid u u Appendix ta
Dr. Xolflit'iUreaf dMnCglei, Hihauldeeeni, ttiituihe nihednl of
St. Paul ■]» ItaCT baS *•> Eptempiu Puerotuin ; fDrlmldtilbt menUon
■rtheMtiaoB. th* tutute dineu, Ibal ui oBning be nude lothe ehilda
brihop. Indeed Strfpe »7i, 'thit ilmoet ■ler]' pmriib had »• mint
•Nleholu.' UemorUli Bccleiiutic*) nnder Queen Marj, pur, tH. 1b
the book of Ihe boHHhold eenhliihntni of HeniT Algsnian Peicj, evi
of HeithamberUnd. compiled inno 1SI3, end Utalj pilnled, ue the
Ibllowliii anlEka : — ■ Item, M7 hud uiUh uid ■eeuilomvth jaiHt. vbtn
'hli lordthlp It It home, (0 ref uplo the teme-blihop of BenrlH, when
■be aomlih te mjr lord la Chriitmu heJlT-deret. Tbenmr Ion) kepllb
'hkluHuULekrnftild, il>. Ittn, mr lord uMIh and (ECiiIloniTtli 10
'fif Ttull'. when Ue loidihip li it home, lo (he berne-Mihop of Torke,
'■■uiliiiaiil yeuW, ue.* Hence tt upein tlut there ven fomerlr
two other bame. L e, been, or lnfU^MBh«le In Ihla kfngdom, ifae ana
•r Brmlj, the eiher of York. And Dr Ptnr, Uw leUHd editor of
the oboTe book, in a Dale an the two eitlclei taeiv cited, txeaa en eoclenl
lis. eonmnnlciled lo blm, bu KiTeQ *a InmiMiy ar ilie nlendM nbea
and onienwnM afaHeor theeelUUedlgnllutoi. Farther. ifiere li reiicn
la (unoie that the cuium abare-ipoken of pmalled. 11 veil In (iRlgn
cathednla. u in thoei ot Bnflind, (or Ih* wrller eboraK^lted, [Mr. Oro-
feryjon the anlhorit]' --"-'-- --'-- -* - -*---■ ....t —._... .
ehareh of Cambrar, ■
a pnbend <tbkb Ml n
UU ehnich, jnralU aL
■I ibroufhoul Eanpe.
rllh nun on. lo m 1 emi
in fia ef baiBc lo^nl Iw
a crosier or pastoral-staff in hie hand, and a mitre on
his head. UIb fellows, the rest of the children of the
choir, were to take upon them the style and office of
prebendaries, and yield to the bishop canonical
obedience ; and, farther, the same eervice as the very
bishop himself, with his dean and prebendaries, had
they been to ofEciate, were to have performed, the
very same, mass excepted, wae done by the chorister
and his canons, upon the eve and the holiday. The
use of Sarum required also, that upon the eve of
Innocent's day, the chorister-bishop, with bis fellowa,
sbonid go in solemn procession to the altar of tha
Holy Trinity, in copee, and with burning tapers in
their hands ; and that, during the procession, three
of the boys shonld sing certain hymns, mentioned in
the rubric. The procession was made through the
great door at the west end of the church, in such
order, that the dean and canons went foremost, the
chaplain next, and the bishop, with his little pre-
bendaries, last ; agreeable to that rule in the ordering
of all processions, which assigns the rearward station
to the most honourable. In the choir was a seat or
throne for the bishop : and as to the rest of the
children, they were disposed on each side of the
choir, upon the uppermost ascent And so careful
was the church to prevent any disorder which the
rude curiosity of the multitude might occasion in the
celebration of this singular ceremony, that their
statutes forbid all persons whatsoever, under pain of
the greater excommunication, to interrupt or press
upon the children, either in the procession or during
any part of the service directed by the rubric ; or
any way to hinder or interrupt them in the execution
or performance of what it concerned them ta do.
Farther it appears, that this infant-bishop did, to
a certain limit, receive to bis own use, rente, capons,
and other emoluments of the church.
In case the little bishop died within the month, his
exequies were solemnized with great pomp : and be
was interred, like other bishope, with all his oma-
ments. The memory of this custom is preserved, not
only in the ritual books of the cathedral church «f
Salisbury, but by a monument in the same church,
with the sepulchral effigies of a chorister-bishop, sup-
posed to have died in the exercise of his pontiii<^
office, and to have been interred with the solemnities
above noted.
Such as is related in the foregoing was the Use
of Sarum, which appears to have been no other
than a certain mode of divine service, the ritual
whereof, as also the several offices required in it lie
dispersed in the several books before enumerated.
Whether the forms of devotion, or any diing else
contained in these volumes, were so superlatively
excellent, or of snch importance to religion, aa to
justify the shedding of blood in order to extend the
use of them, is left to the determination of those whom
it may concern to enquire. It seems, however, that
contentions of a like nature with this were very fre-
quent in the early ages of Christianity ; which were
not less distinguished by the general ignorance that
then prevailed, than by a want of url«nity in all ranks
and orders of men. That general decorum, the effect
dbyGoo*^le
Cbis. XXXVIIL
AND PRACTICE OF MUSia
178
ol long civilizatioD, which is now olnervable in all
the di^rent couDtries of Europe, renders ua unwilling
. to credit a fact, which nevertheless every person con-
versant in ecclesiAstical history ie acquainted with,
and believes ; namely, that the true time for cele-
brating Easter was the ground of a controversy that
subsisted for some centuries, and occasioned great
slai^hter on both sides. The relation above given of
the fray at Glastonbory, ie not leas reproachfal to
human natnre, ia an^ of the different views that may
be taken of it ; for if we consider the persons, thej-
were men devoted to a religious life ; if the place, it
was the choir of a cathedral ; and if the time, it was
that of divine service. And yet we find that conten-
tions of this kind were frequent ; for at York, in 1190,
there arose another : and Fox, who seems to exult
in the remembrance of it, for no other reason than
that both paHies were, what at that time they could
scarce choose but be, papists, has given the following
Indicroos account of it : —
• The next yeere then enfued, which was ■ 190, in
' the beginning of which year, upon Twelfc even, fell
' ■ foule northeme brawie, which turned well neerc to
' a fray, betweene the archbifliop new elefled, of the
' church of Yorke, and hia company on the one fide,
' and Henry, dean of the laid church, with his catho-
'like partakers on the other fide, upon occalion u
' iblloweth : Ganfridus or Geoffry, fonne to king Henry
' the fecond, and brother to king Richard, whom the
' Ung had ele£W a little before to the archbifhopricke
' of Yorke, upon the even of Epiphany, which we call
'Twelfe Day, wu difpofed to hear even-fong with all
'Iblemnity in the cathedral church, having with him
' Hamon the chanter, with divers canons of the church,
' who tarrying fomething long, belike in adorning and
' attiring luralelfe, in the meane while Henry the deane,
'and Bucardus the treafurer, difdaining to tarry hit
' comming, with a bold courage luflily began their holy
' evensong with lingjng their pfalmes, ruffling of defcant,
' and merry piping of oigans ; thus this catholike even-
'Ibng with as much devotion begun, as to God's high
'lervice proceeding, was now almoft halie complete,
'when as at length, they being in the middclt of their
'mirth, commeth in the new cleft with his traine and
'gudenians, all fiill of wrath and indignation, for that
'they durft be fo bold, not waiting for him, to begin
' God's lervice, and fo cfcTooncs commanded the quicr
' to flay and hold their peace : the elianter likewile by
' Tcrtue of his office commandeth the fame ; but the
' deane and treafurer on the other fide willed them to
'proceed, and fo they fung on and would not Hint.
' Thus the one halfc crying againft the other, the whole
' quier was in a rore : their hnging was turned to fcold-
'ing, their chanting to chiding, and if inftead of the
' organs they had had a drum, I doubt they would have
' (blefaed by the ears together.
' At laft through the authority of the archbilhop,
' and of the chanter, the quier began to furccafe and
' give filence. Then the new cleft, not contented with
'what had beene fung before, with certaine of the
' quier began the eveniong new againe. The treafurer
' tipon the lame cauled, by virtue of his office, the
' candles to be put out, whereby the evenfbng having
' no power further to proceed, was flopped forthwith
' for like as without the light and beames of the funne
' there is nothing but darkncfTe in all the world, even
' fo you mufl underftand the pope's church can fee to .
' doe nothing without candle-light, albeit the funne doe
' fhine never fo eleere and bright. This being fo, the
'archbilhop, thus difappointed on every fide of his
'purpofe, made a grievous plaint, declaring to the
' clergie and to the people what the deane and treafurer
' had done, and fb upon the fame, fufpended both them
' and the church from all divine fervice, till they Ihould
' make to him due fatis&ftion for their trefpaiTe.
' The next day, which was the day of Epiphany,
' when all the people of the cide were allembled in the
' cathedral church, as their manner was, namely, in
' fuch feafb devoutly to hear divine fervice, as they call
' it, of the church, there was alfo prefent the archbilhop
'and the chanter, with the refiduc of the clergie, loot-
' ing when the deane and treasurer would come and
' fubmlt thcmfelvea, making latisfacdon for their crime.
' But they iUll continuing in their floutneiTe, refuted fo
' to do, exclaiming and uttering contemptuous words
' againft the archbilhop and his partakers ; which when
• the people heard, they ui a great rage would have
'fallen upon them: but the archbilhop would noi
' fuffer that. The deane then, and his frllowci, per-
' ceiving the flir of the people, for feare, lite pretie
' men, were faine to flee ; fome to the tombe of S,
• William of York, fome ranne into the deanc's houfe,
■ and there Ihrouded therofelves, whom the archbilhop
' then accurfed. And fo for that day the people re-
• turned home without any fervice.'*
In the year 1050 flourished Hbrhahnhs Cohtiuc-
Tus, BO Bumamed becanseof a contraction in his limbs,
whom Vossine styles Comes Herengensis, a monk also
of the monastery of St. Qal. He excelled in mathe-
matics, and wrote two books of music, and one of
the monocbord.
Michael Fsbllub, a Greek, and a most learned
philosopher and physidan, flonrished about the year
1060, and during the reign of the emperor Constan-
tinus DncoB, to wboee son Michael he was preceptor.
His works are but little known ; for indeed few of
his manuscripts have been printed, ^^llat intitles
him to a place here, is a book of his, printed at Paris,
in 1667, with this title, Michael Psellus de Arithme-
tica, Musica, Geometnca, et proclus de Sphcra, Elia
Vineto Santone interprete. The name of this anther
has a place in almost every list of ancient musical
writers to be met with ; an honour which he seema
to have but little claim to ; for he has given no more
on the subject of music than is contained in twenty
pages of a loosely printed small octavo volume.
The several improvements of Guido hereinbefore
enumerated, respected only the harmony of sounds, the
• AcU and UoiinmnW. tdL I. pm. SI
cgnpond in Pil
buiT nlilo, thu upon tht ucoat anmitt
nleiu rcom ODthitj ud iMuni tnm tha
nnlBiilloo bMwerni ihemonkmid rletki
Cliriilui Illicit anuniit.' X. Script.
ttac oDs of Richttd'i gnat vlmoiin.
Ill jeui n/lcc Itau iboTe-mnitioud.
m*
dbyGoo^le
174
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book V.
reforniBtioE of the scale, and the meang of rendering
tlie practice of mueic more easily attainable ; in a
word, they all related to that branch of the musical
science which among the ancienta waa distinguished
by the name of Melopoeia ; with the other, namely,
the Bythmopoeia, it does not appear that he meddled
at all. We nowhere in his writings meet with any
thing that indicates a necessary diversity in the length
or duration of the sounds, in order to constitute a
regular cantus, nor conseqaently with any system or
method of notation, calculated to express that differ-
ence of times or measures which is founded in nature,
and is obvious to sense. If we judge from the Ki-
crologns and other writings of that early period, it
will seem, that in vocal music these were regulated
solely by the cadence of the syllables : and that the
instrumental music of those times was, in this respect,
under no regulation at alt.
Of the natnre of the ancient rythmopoeia it is very
difficult to form any other than a general idea. Isaac
Voaaius, who had bestowed great pains in his en-
deavours to restore it, at length gives it up as irre-
trievable. From him, however, we learn the nature
and properties, or characteristics, of the several feet
which occur in the composition of the different kinds
of verse ; and as to the rythmus, he describes it to
the following effect ; —
' Rythmus is the principal part of verse ; but the
' term is differently understood by writers on the
' subject ; with some, foot, metre, and rythmus, are
' considered as one and the same thing ; and many
'attribute to metre that which belongs to rythmus.
' All the ancient Greeks assert, that rythmus is the
' basis or pace of verse ; and others define it by saying,
' that it is a system or collection of feet, whose times
' bear to each other a cert^n ratio or proportion.
' The word Metre has a more limited signification, as
' relating solely to the quantity and measure of aylla-
' hies. Varro calls metre, or feet, the substance or
* materials, and rythmus tbe rule of verse ; and Plato,
' and many others, say, that none can be either a poet
' or a musician to whom the nature of the rythmus is
AfUr this general explanation of the^ rythmus, the
same author, Vossins, enlarges upon its efficacy ; in-
deed, he resolves the whole of its influence over the
human mind into that which at beet is but a part of
music. The following are his sentiments on this
matter: — *
' I cannot snfBciently admire those who have
'treated on music in this and the past age, and have
' endeavoured diligently to explain every other part,
* yet have written nothing concerning rythmus, or if
' they have, that they have written so that they seem
' entirely ignorant of the subject : tbe whole of them
have been employed in symphoniurgia, or counter-
' point, as they term it ; neglecting that which is the
' principal in every cantus, and regarding nothing but
' to please the ear. Far be it from me to censure any
' of those who labour to improve music ; but I cannot
' approve their consulting only the hearing, and neg-
' lecting that which alone can afford pleasure to the
■ l>e PoerattDTD Ouitn *t Vfiibiii Rrthmk, pag, A. et iwi-
' faculties of the Boul ; for as unity does not make
' number, so neither can sound alone, considered by
' itself, have any power, or if it has any, it is so small
' and trifling that it entirely escapes uie sense. Can
' the collision of stones or pieces of wood, or even the
'percussion of a single chord, without number or
' rythmus, have any efficacy in moving the affections,
' when we feel nothing but an empty sound ? and
'thongh we compound many sounds that are bar-
'monical and concordant, yet we effect nothing;
' such an harmony of sounds may indeed please the
' ear, but as to the delight, it is no more than if we
' uttered unknown words, or such as have no mg-
' uification. To affect the mind, it is necessary that
' the sound should indicate somewhat which the mind
' or intellect can comprehend ; for a sound void of all
' meaning can excite no affections, since pleasure
'proceeds from perception, and we can neither love
' nor hate that which we are unacquainted with.' f
These are the sentimenta of the above author on
the rythmic faculty in general. With respect to the
force and efficacy of nnmbers. and the use and appli-
cation of particular feet, as the means of exciting
different passions, he thus expresses himself : —
' If you would have the sonnd to be of any effect,
' yon mnst endeavour to animate the cantus with
' such motions as may excite tbe images of the things
' you intend to express ; in which if you succeed,
' yon will find no difficulty in leading the affeetiona
' whither you please : but in order to tiiis, the musicai
' feet are to be properly applied. The pyrricluua and
' tnbrachys are adapted to express light and voluble
' motions, such as the dances of satyrs ; the apondeus,
' and the still graver moluasoi, represent the grave
' and slow motions ; soft and tender sentiments are
' excited by the trochtens, and aomettmes by tbe
' amphibrachys, as that also has a broken and effemi-
' nat« pace ; the iambus is vehement and angry ; tiie
' anapaeetUB is almost of the same natnre, as it inti-
' mates warlike motions. If you would express any
'thing cheerful and pleasant, the dactyliis is to be
'called in, which represents a kind of dancing
' motion ; to express any thing hard or refractory,
' the antispastus will help you ; If yon would have
' numbers to excite fury and madness, not only the
' anapeestus is at hand, but also the fourth pteoD,
~' which is still more powerful. In a word, whether
' yon consider the simple or the compounded feet,
' you will in all of them find a peculiar force and
' efficacy ; nor can any thing be im^ned which may
' not be represented in the multiplicity of their
' motions,' {
But notwithstanding the peculiar force and efficacy
which this author would persuade ns are'jnherent in
the several metrical feet, he says, that it it now more
than a thousand years since the power of exciting the
affections by music has ceased ; and that tie know-
ledge and use of the rythmus is lost, which alone is
capable of producing those effects which hftorians
ascribe to music in general. This misfortuii is by
him attributed to that alteration in respect of ita
dbyGooi^lc
Chap. XXXIX,
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
17ff
proDtinciation, which the Greek, in common with
other taogiiagea, has nndei^one ; and to the intro-
dnction of a new prosody, concerning which he thus
expresaea himself : —
'There remains to be considered prosody, the
' ratio of accents, which was not only the chief but
* nearly the sole cause of the destruction of the musical
' and poetical art ; for with regard to the change
' made in the letters and diphthongs, the cantus of
'verse might have still snlMisted entire, had not
'a new prosody entirely changed the ancient pro-
' nnnciation ; for while the affairs of Greece flourished,
' the rado of prosody, and the accents, was quite
' different from what it was afterwards, not only the
* ancient grammarians testified, bnt even the term
' iteelf shows that prosody was employed about the
' cantus of words ; and hence it may be easily collected,
' that it was formerly the province of musicians, and
' not of grammarians, to affix to poems the prosodlcal
' notes or characters. But as all speech is, as it were,
' a certain cantus, this term was traDsferred to the
' pronunciation of all words whatsoever, and the
' grammarians, at length, seized the opportunity of
* accommodating the musical accents to their own use,
' to show the times and quantities of syllables. The
' first grammarian that thus usurped the accents, if
' we may depend on Apallonius Arcadina, and other
' Greek writers, was Ariatophanes the grammarian,
' about the time of Ptolemy Philopater.and Epiphanos,
' His scholar Arislarchns, following the footsteps of
' his master, increased the number of accents ; and
' Dionysius the Thracian, a hearer of Aristarchns,
' prosecuted the same study, as did also those who
' succeeded him in the school of Alexandria. The
' ancient ratio of speaking remained till the times of
' the emperors Antnnius and Gommodus How recent
■the custom, of affixing the accents to writing is,
'appears from this, that none are to be found on any
' marbles or coins, or in books of any kind, that are
' aucienter than a thousand years ; and during that
' period which intervened between the time of Aris-
' tophanes the grammarian, and the commencement
' of that above-mentioned, namely, for the space of
' eight or nine centuries, the marks for the accents
' were applied by the grammarians to no other use
' than the instructing yonth in the metrical art.*
CHAP. XXXIX.
What marks or signatures were nsed by the
ancient Greeks to express the different quantities of
musical sounds, independent of the verse, or whether
tbey had any at all, ts not now known. Those
characters contained in the introduction of Alypins
are evidently of another kind, as representing simply
the several sounds in the great system, as they stand
distinguished from each other by their several degrees
of acutenesB and gravity. Neither are we capable of
understanding those scattered passages relating' to
the rythmns which are to be met with in Aristides
Quintilianna, and other of the Greek harmonicians.
published by Heibomine ; nor do Porphyry, Manuel
• Oe Pociutnm Cuta el Tiribiu RythnI, pa*. It.
Bryennius, or any other of their commentators, afford
the means of explaining them ; Ptolemy himself is
silent on this head, and Dr. Wallis professes to know
but little of the nmtter. In a word, if we may credit
Vossius and a few others, who have either written
professedly on, or occasionally adverted to, this subiect,
the rythmopoeia of the ancients is irrecoverably lost,
and tne numbers of modem poetry retain very little
of that force and energy which are generally attri-
buted to the compositions of the ancients : but, after
all, it will be found very difiicult to assign a period
during which it can be said either that the common
people were insensible of the efficacy of numbers, or
that the learned had not some system by which they
were to be regulated. Something like a metrical
code subsisted in the writings of St. Austin and
Bede, and, not to enquire minutely into the structure
of the Runic poetry, or the songs of the bards, about
which so much has been written, it is agreed that
they were framed to regular measures. From all
which it is certain, that at the period now speaking
of, and long before, the public ear was conscious of a
species of metrical harmony arising from a regular
arrangement and interchange of long and short quan-
tities ; and that metre was considered as the basis of
poetry in its least cultivated state. The want of this
metrical harmony was not discernible in vocal music,
because the sounds, in respect of their duration or
continuance, were subservient to the verse, or as it
may be said in other words, because the measure or
cadence of the verse was communicated or transferred
to the music. But this was an advantage peculiar to
vocal music ; at to instrumental, it was destitute of all
extrinsic aid : in short, it was mere symphony, and
as such was necessarily liable to the objection of a too
great uniformity. Prom ail which it is evident, that
a system of metrical notation, which should give to
mere melody the energy and force of metre, was
wanting to the perfection of modem music.
Happily the world is now in Dosseeaion of a system
fully adequate to this end, and capable of denoting
all the possible combinations of long and short
quantities. The general opinion is, that the author
of this improvement was Johannes de Murie, a doctor
of the Sorbonne, about the year 1330, and con-
siderably learned in the faculty of music ; and this
opinion has, for a series of years, been so implicitly
acquiesced in, that not only no one has ventured ta
question the truth of it, but scarce a single writer
on the subject of music since his time, has forborne
to assert, in terms the most explicit, that Johannes
de Muris was the inventor of the Cantus Mensur-
abilis; that is to say, that kind of music, whether
vocal or instrumental, which, in respect of the length
or duration of its component sounds, is subject to
rule and measure ; or, in other words, that he invented
the several characters for distinguishing between the
quantities of long and short, as they relate to musical
sounds. Against an opinion so well established as
this seems to be, nothing can with propriety be
opposed bnt fact ; nor can it be expected that the
authority of such men as Zarlino, Ekintempi, Mer-
eennus, and Eircher, should yield Ui an assertion
dbyG00*^lc
176
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book V.
that tends to deprive a learned man of the hononr
of ao ingenious discovery, nnless it can be clearly
pravad to have been made and recog^iized before.
^MletheT the evidence now to be adduced to prove
that the Cantos Mensurabilis existed above tvro
centariee before the time of De Marie, be less than
sufficient for that purpose is submitted to the judg-
ment of the candid and impartial enquirer.
And first it is to be remarked, that in the TCritinge
of some of the most ancient sntfaors on masic, the
name of Franco occurs, particularly in the Practica
Musicfe utriusque Gantus of OaffuriuH, lib. II. cap.
iv. where he is mentioned as having written on the
characters used to signify the different lengths of
notes, but without any circumstances that might
lead to the period in which he lived. Pass^es ^so
occur in sundry manuscript treatises now extant,
which wilt hereafter be given at length, that speak
him to have been deeply skilled in muaic, and which,
with respect to the order of time, postpone the
improvements of De Muris to certain very important
ones, made by Franco. Farther, there is now extant
a manuscript mentioned by Morley, in the Anno-
tations on his Introduction, as old as the year 1326,
which is no other than a commentary by one Robert
de Handlo, on the subject of mensurable music*
Authors are not agreed as to the precise time
of De Hnris's supposed iuvention, some fixing at
1330, others at 1333 ; but to take it at the soonest,
De Handlo's Comraontary was extant four years
before ; and bow long it was written before tiiat, no
one can tell : it might have been many years. And
still backwarder than that, mast have been the time
when those rales or maxims of Franco were framed,
on which the treatise of De Handlo is professedly
a commentary.
But all the difficulties touching the point of pri-
ority between these two writers, Frimco and De Mari^
have been removed by the care and indostry of
those learned Benedictines, the authors and compilers
of the Histoire Litteraire de la France, who, in the
eighth volume of thot valuable work, have fixed the
time when Franco flourished to the latter end of the
eleventh century. They term him a scholastic of
Liege ; for as the first seminaries of learning in
France were denominated schools, so the first teadiers
there, were called scholasCdcs, and their style of
address was Magister ; and after distinguishing with
great accuracy between him and three others of the
same name, his contemporaries, they relate, that he
lived at least to the year 1083. They say, that he
wrote on music, particularly on plain chant; and
that some of his treatises are yet to be found in the
libraries of France. They farther sa^, that in that
of the abbey De Lira, in Normandy, is a manuscript
in folio, intitled, Ars Magistri Franconis de Musica
Menearabili. They mention also another manuscript
in the Bodleian library, in six chapters, intitled,
Maglatri Franconis Musica ; and another by the same
author, contained in the same volume, intitled. Com-
pendium de Discantu, tribus capitibus.
'nneo Sin dlrUcd Um bnT* iaU h
[•Tn. and thw one lUttrt ii
These assertions, grounded on the testimony oi
sundry writers, whose names are cited for the pur-
pose in the above work, preclude all doubt as to the
merits of the question, and leave an obscure, thoi^b
a learned writer, in poseeaeion of the honour of sin
invention, which, for want of the necessary intel-
ligence, has for more than four hundred years been
ascribed to another.
The same authors speak of Franco aa a person
profoundly skilled in the learning of his time; par-
ticularly in geometry, astronomy, and other branches
of mathematical science, and in high esteem for the
sanctity of his life and manners.
In the vear 1074, under William the Conqueror,
flourished m England Obberh, a monk of Canterbury,
and precentor in the choir of that cathedral :f be
was greatly favoured by Lanfranc archbishop of
that see. Trithemius, Bale, and Pita apeak of him
as a man profoundly skilled in the science of music.
He left behind him a treatise Da Re Musica; some
add, Uiat he wrote another on the consonances, but
tiie general opinion is, that this and the former are
one and the same work. Bale, who places him above
a century backwarder than other writers do, making
him to have been familiar with Dunstan, who was
archbiehop of Canterbury in 963, insinuates that
Guido did but follow him in many of the improve-
ments made by him in music : His words are,
' Ofbemus, a monke of Canterbury, praftyfed newe
' poynces of mulyk ; and his example in Italy folowed
' Guido Arecinus, to make,' as this candid writer
asaerta, ' the vencraycyon of ydoUes more pleafaunt '§
f In tndjif thfi piofrai of chon] mule In tbli country, It It warttaj
■f Rinark that u It wu lint HtabllihnI U [hi cUhedral of CulvbBir,
whtn (hi Bnt of the Romui lingcn Ktllsd on ths eonienlon of Ibt
Engllih to chrlaiianlty ; to that choir tot a i«lea of naft pndocod ■
•uuetiloB of mm diiilngulihn! fur Ibdr sictllnm En K. Amoof Ihea*
a African bj Unh, i
' wu of Tanu, St Paol't CDonl
lied In 7M. Bed! HW. EaU t
I above cathcdnl irltli tbla >]
Bhertium, he reproTed pope Berelui hli fktherliood. fbr being a aOim
Inlleed W a iHiM obild, Iben ne-V bom. And tliii Rtamloc homo ho
nvod In gnal eiteeni until tbo day of ble death, vhlch happened aaqo
Dumint. TO«.' Bomenor hlmlnteluid, nti, andTaanir.
St. Duoetan ie not lew nlebnttd for hie IkiU bi mniic than (n hia
learning In the other lelenm. PII9 ityloi him ■ Vlt Otmet Latlniqaa
mlea. tol. 1!
■Ignle. el •><
ituarltii
^ft.™^n^
agregloiii mUl
Ue or Dun.
DUMt
an, Vil
the Inienlo
r of mu
■Ic In :
hieh ■
ss?,
na, Inal
FSSi^i«eptl.
^M«S
l."cl^porill
en. Quit™, QUI
ffto. IS!
S. will
dalloD, h>fe ai
iciibed to Jo
bnof Di
iniutiK
idtaw
ho Seiiilalltd
Id the artnnth
.poken,
litlnbl.
.place.
1 Theiecoi.de Put, or
ContjnuaejTni
of til*
EniUeh Voiaira,
dbyGooi^lc
Chap. XXXIX.
AND PRACTTICB OF MDSIC
177
Well might Fuller g;ive tlua man the lume of bilious
Bale, who, though a proteBtant bishop, and a great
pretender to sanctjty, had Dot the least tincture of
charity or moderation.
Under the emperor Henry III. in the diocese of
S[rire^Uved Gulielhiis Abbas HmsAUoiEKBis.* He
iras esteemed the most learned man of hie time in all
Germany : he excelled in mnsic, and wrote on the
tones ; be also wrote three books of philoso^ical and
astronomical institutions, and one De Uorologia.
There are extant of his writing Letters to Anselm,
■rchbiebop of Canterbury, He died m 1091, with
the repntadon of having wronght many miracles, "f"
Of the writings of the several anthora above
tnmnerated, as they exist only in mannscript, no
psrticnlar account can be given, nor are we able to
form a Judgment of their mamier of treating mueic,
oliierwiBa than by the help of those few tracts which
ire know of, and which are deposited in collections
accessible to every learned enquirer, and of these the
chief are the Enchiridion of Odo ; the Epistle from
fiemo to Pelegrinus, archbishop of Cologne ; the
Argumentnm novi Oantoe invenieudi ; and the
Micrologua and Epistle of Gmdo. The censure
which Quido passes upon the treatise De Musics of
Boetins, namdy, that it is a work fitter for phi-
loeophfflB than singers, may serve to shew that the
writers of those times m^dled very little with the
nbiloeophy of the science : as to that branch of it,
Boetius, "who had dioronghly studied the ancients,
WIS their oracle ; and the monkish writers who
succeeded him, looking upon music as subservient
to the ends of religion, treated it altogether in a
practical way, and united their efforts to preserve
the mnsic of the church in that state of purity ^m
^ch it had so oiteu and so widely deviated.
But how ineffectual all their endeavonra were,
iq^iears from the writings of St. Bebnabd, or, as he
is otherwise called, St Bernard the abbot. This
man lived about the be^mting of the twelfth century :
his employments in the church having given bim
opportunities of remarking the great disorder and
confosion of their music, ansing, among other causes,
jrom the manuscript multiplication of copies, he re-
solved to correct the aniiphonary of his own order ;
and to prove the necessity of such a work, wrote a
treatise entitled De Cantu seu Correctione Anti-
pbonarii, containing a plan for the reformation of the
Cistercian antiphonary, and an enumeration of all
the errora that had crept into the holy offices, with
Erections for restoring them to their origmal elegance
and purity.
Whatever was the cause of it, the reformation in-
tended by St. Bernard did not take effect, so as to
prevent ^tnre corruptions of the Cantns Qregorianns.
The tract however ta extant in the fourth tome of his
works. Authors speak of it as an admirable com-
position, and seem to say that we owe to it all that
with any certainty can now be said to be known
touching the subject ; part of it is as follows ; —
'The song wnich tJie chnrcbes belonging to the
* HtruD^ Tu in abbey In Oenouij.
t Ton. da Sclnt. HUbnL e^i. hit. f xlL, oip. li. f li., a^ liiL
'Cistercian order have been accustomed to sing,
' although grave and full of variety, is overclonded
' with error and absurdity, and yet the authority of
' the order has given its errors a kind of sanction.
' But because it ill becomes men who profess to live
' together agreeably to the rule of their order, to sing
' the praisee of Ood in an irregular manner, with the
' consent of the brethren I have corrected their song,
' by removing from it all that filth of falsity which
' foolish people had brought into it, and have regulated
' it BO that it will be found more commodious for
' singing and notation than the song of other churches ;
' wherefore let none wonder or be offended if he shall
' hear the song in somewhat another form than he
' has been accustomed to, or that he finds it altered
' in many respects ; for in those places where any
' alterations occur, either the progression was irre-
'gular, or the composition itself perverted. That
' yon may wonder at, and detest the folly of those
' who departing from the rules of melody, have taken
' the liberty to vary tiie method of singing, look into
' the antiphon, Nos qui vivimns, as it is commonly
' sung, and although its termination should be pro-
'perly in D, yet ttiese unjust prevaricators conclude
' it in G, and assert with an oath or wager that it
' belongs to the eighth tone. What musician, I pray
' you, can be able to hear with patience any one at-
' tribute to the eighth tone, that which baa for its
' natural and proper final the note D ?
' Moreover, there are many songs which are two-
' fold, and irregular ; and that they ascend and descend
' contrary to rule is allowed by the very teachers of
' this error ; but they say it is done by a kind of
' musical licence : what sort of licence is this, which
' walking in the region of dissimilitude, introduces
' confusion and uncertainty, the mother of presumption
' and the refuge of error ? I say what is this liberty
' which joins opposites, and goes beyond natural
' land-marks ; and which as it imposes an inelegance
' on the composition, offers an insult to nature ; since
' it b as clear as the day that that song is badly and
' irregularly constituted, which is either so depressed
' that it cannot be heard, or so elevated that it cannot
' be rightiy sung ?
' So that if we have performed a work that is
' singular or different from the practice of Ute singers
' of antiphons, we have yet this comfort, that reason
' has induced us to this difference, whereas chance, or
' somewhat else as bad, not reason, has made them to
' differ among themselves ; and this difference of
• theirs is so great, that no two provinces sing the
' same antiphon fdike : for to instance, in the co-
' provincial churches, take the antiphonary used at
' Rheima and compare it with that of Beauvais,or
' Amiens, or Solssons, which are almost at your doors,
' and see if they are the same, or even like each other.'
From the very great character given of St Bernard,
it should seem Uiat hie learning pnd judgment were
not inferior to his seal : the epistie above-cited, and
hie endeavours for a reformation of the abuses in
church-music, show him to have been well skilled ia
the science ; and it is but justice to his memory t4
say tliat he was one of the truest votaries of, and
dbyG00*^lc
178
HISTORY OF THE SOIENOE
BookV.
etrongeBt advocates for mtuic, of any whom that age
prodaced. The accounts extant of him apeak him
to have been born of noble and piooB parents, at the
village of Fontiunes in Burgnndy, in the year 1091.
At we age of twenty-three he took the habit of a
leligioDs at Citeaux, from whence he was sent to the
aew-foonded abbey of Olairvam:, of which he waa
the first abbot. The fame of bis learning and sanctity
occaaioned such a resort to this house, that in a very
short time no fewer than seven hundred novices he-
came resident in it. His authority in the church
was so great, that he was a common arbiter of the
differences between the pope, the bishops, and the
princes of those contentious times. By his advice
Innocent II. was acknowledged sovereign pontiff, and
by his management Victor the anti-pope, was induced
to moke a voluntary abdication of the pontificate,
whereby an end waa put to a schism in the church.
It was in the time of St. Semard that Peter Abae-
lard- flourished, a man not more famous for his
theological writings, than remarkable for his un-
happy amour with Heloisaa, or Eloisa, of whom more
will be Bud hereafter : he had advanced certiun posi-
tions that were deemed heretical, and St. Bernard
inetituted and conducted a process agunst him, which
ended in (heir condemnation. The story of Abaelard
and Heloissa is well known, but the character of
Abaelard is not generally understood ; and indeed
his history is so connected with that of St Bernard,
that it would savour of affectation to decline giving
an account of him in this place.
Peter Abablard was bom in a town called Palais,
three leagues from Kantes ; having a great inclination
to && study of philosophy from his youth, he lefl the
place of his nativity, and aft«r having studied at
several schools, settled at Paris, and took for his master
William of Ghampeaux, archdeacon of Paris, and the
most celebrated professor of that time. Here a differ-
ence arose between Abaelard and the professor, upon
which he left him ; and, first at Melnn, and afterwarda
at Gorbeil, set up for himself, and, in emulation of
hia master, taught publicly in the schools ; but his
infirmities soon obliged him to seek the restoration
of hia health in hie native air. Upon his recovery
he returned to Paris, and finding that William of
Champeanx had been promoted to a canonry of the
church of St. Victor, and that he continued to profees
in that city, be entered into a dispntation with him,
but was foilod, and quitted Paris. After this Abae-
lard studied divinity at Laon, under Anselm, canon
and dean of tliat city ; and meaning to emulato his
mtaeter, he there gave lectures in theology, but was
silenced by an order which Anselm had procured for
that purpose. From Laon, he removed to Paris, and
there for some time remuned in peace, explaining
the holy scriptures, and by his labouis, besides a
considerable sum of money, acquired great reputation.
It happened that a canon of the diorch of Paris,
named Pulbert, had a niece, a very beautiful young
woman, and of fine parts, whom he had brought up
from her infancy, her name was Heloissa. To assist
her in her studies this wise uncle and guardian re-
tained Abaelard, a handsome yonng joko, and pos-
sessed of all those odvantsges which the study of the
classics, and a genius for poetry, may he supposed to
give him; and, to mend the matter, took him t«-
board in hia house, investing him with so much
power over the person of his fur pupil, that though
she was twenty-two years of age, he waa at liberty
to correct her ; and by the actual use of the lash
compel her to attend to his instructions ; the conse-
qaence of this engagement was, the pregnancy of
Heloissa, and the flight of the two lovers into Abae-
lard'a own country, where Heloissa was delivered of
a son, who waa baptized by the name of Astrolabius.
To appease Fulbert, Abaelard brought back his niece
to Paris and married her ; but as Abaelard was a
priest, and had ocquired a canonry in the church,
which was not ten^le by a husband, and complete
reparation could not be made to Heloissa for the
injury sho had sustained without avoiding this pro-
ferment, the marriage was at her own request kept a-
secret, and she, to remove all suspicion, put on the
habit of a nun, and retired to the monastery of
ArgenteUil. But all this would not paciiy her unde
and other relations ; they seized and punished Abae-
lard by an amputation of those parts with which he
had offended. Upon this he took a resolution to
embrace a monastic life, and Heloissa was easily per-
suaded to sequester herself from the world; uiey
both became professed at the same time, he at St.
Denys, and she at ArgenteUiL
The letters from Abaelard to Heloissa after their
retirement, extant in the original Latin, have been
celebrated for their elegance and tenderness ; aa to
the Epistle from Eloisa of Mr. Pope, it is confessedly
a creature of his own imagination, and though a very
fine composition, the world perhapa might have done
very well without it With the licence allowed to
poets, he has deviated a littie from historical truth in
suppressing the circumstance of Abaelard's subsequent
marriage to his mistress, with a view to make her
love to him the more refined, as not resulting from
legal obligation : it may be that the supposition on
which this argument is founded is fallacious, and the
conclusion arising from it unwarranted by experience.
Bat it is to be feared that by the reading this ani-
mated poem, fewer people have been made to think
honourably and reverentially of the passion of love.
than have become advocates for that faaranating
species of it, which frequently terminates in concu-
binage, and which it is tiie drift of this epistle, if not
to recommend, to justify.
But to leave this disquisition, and return to Abae-
lard : his disgrace, though it sank deeply into his mind,
had less effect on his reputation than wag to have been
expected. He was a divine, and professed to teach
the theology, such as it was, of those times ; persona
of distinction resorted to St Denys, and entreated of
him lectures in their own houses. The abbot and
religious of that monastery had lain themselves open
to ^e censures and reproaches of Abaelard by their
disorderly course of living, they made use of the im-
poitunitv of the people to become his auditors aa a
pretext for sending him &om amongst them. He set
up a school in the town, and drew so many to hear
dbyGoo*^le
Chap. XXXIX.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
17a
him, that the pUce was not Buffident to lodge, not
the country about it to feed them.
Here he composed sundry theological treatises, one
in particnlar on the Trinity, for which he was con-
vened before a connul held at Soissons ; the book
was condemned t« the flames, and the author sentenced
to a perpetual reddence within the walls of a monas-
tery : after a few days confinement in the monastery
of St M edard at Soissons, he was sent back to his
own of St. Denys : there he advanced that St Denys
of France was not the Areopagite; and by main-
taining that proposition, incnrr^ the enmity of the
abbot and his religions brethren. Not Uiinkiog
himself safe among them, he made lus escape from
that place in the night, and fled into the territories
of Theobald, count of Cbampa^e, and at Troves,
with the leave of the bishop, built a chapel in a field
that had been given to him by the proprietor for that
purpose. No sooner wae he settled in this place,
than he was followed by a great number of scholars,
who for the convenience of hearing his lectures built
cells around his dwelling : they also bnilt a church
for him, which was dedicated to the Holy Trinity,
and by Abaelard called Paraclete. Hie enemies, ex-
S Misted at this establishment, and the prospect it
orded him of a quiet retreat from the tumult of the
times, instigated BL Norbert and St Bernard to
smugn him on the two articles of futh and manners
before the ecclesiastical judges. The duke of Bre-
tagne, in pity to Abaelard, had offered him the
abbacy of St Gildas, of Rui^ in the diocese of
Nantes, and in order to avert the consequences of so
formidable an accusation, he accepted it; and the
abbot of St Denys having expelled the nuns from
ArgentcQil, he bmtowed on Heloisss, their prioress,
the church of Paraclete with its dependencies;
which donation was cooflnned by the bishop of
Troyee, and pope Innocent IL in 1131. But tiieee
endeavonrs of Abaelard did not avert the malice of
his persecntors : Bernard had carefolly read over two
of his books, and selected from thence certain propo-
sitiooB, which seemed to bespeak their anthor at once
an Arian, a Pelagian, and a Nestorian ; andnpon these
he gromided his charge of heresy ; Abaelard affecting
rather to meet than decline it, procured Bernard to
be convened before a comicil at Sens, in order, if
he WES able, to make it good ; but his resolution
failed him, and rather than abide the sentence of the
conncil, he chose to appeal to Rome. The biahope
in the council nevertheless proceeded to examine,
and were onanimona in condemning his opinions ;
the pope was easily wrought upon to concur with
them ; he enjoined Abaelard a perpetual silence, and
declared that the abettors of his doctrines deserved
excommunication. Abaelard wrote a very submissive
apology, disowning the bed sense that had been put
npon his propositions, and set out for Bome in order
to bock it, but was atoi^>ed at Cloni by the venerable
Peter, abbot of that monastery, his intimate friend ;
there he remained for some time, during which he
fotmd means to procure a reconciliation with St
Beniard. At length he was sent to the monasteiT
of St. Marcellns, at Ohalons Upon the Boone, and.
overwhelmed with affliction, expired there in the
year 1142, and in the sixty -tiurd of his age.
Of this calamitous event Peter of Cluni gave
Heloisaa intelligence in a very pathetic letter, now
extant : she had formerly requested of Abaelard, that
whenever he died his body should be sent to Para-
clete for interment ; this charitable office Peter per-
formed accordingly, and with the body sent an
atsolnlion of Abaehud ' ab omnibus peccatis snis.' *
Soon after Abaelard's death Peter made a visit to
Paraclete, probably to console Heloissa : in a letter
to him she acknowledges this act of friendship, and
the honour he had done her of celebrating mass in the
chapel of that monastery. She also commends to his
care her son Astrolabius, then at the abbey of Cluni,
and conjures him, by the love of God, to procure for
him, either from the archbishop of Paris, or some
other bishop, a prebend in the chnrch.
The works of Abaelard were printed at Paris
in 1616. His genius for poetry, and a few alight
particnJars that afford but a colour for such a sup-
position, induced the anonymous author of the His-
tory of Abaelard and Heloissa, published in Holland
1693, to ascribe to him the famous romance of the
Rose ; and to assert, that in the character of Beoul? he
boa exhibited a picture of his Heloissa ; but Bayle has
made it suffidentiy clear that that romance, excepting
the conclusion, was written by William de Loris, and
that John de Meun put the fmishing hand to it A
collection of the letters of Abaelard and Heloissa, in
octavo, was published from a manuscript in the
Bodleian library, in the year 1718, by Mr. IRawUnson^
As to the letters commonly imputed to them, and oi*
which we have an English translation by Mr. Hughes,
they were first pnbUsned in French at the Hague in
1693 ; and in the opinion of Mr. Hughes himself are
rather a paraphrase on, than a translation from, the
original Latin. Even the celebrated Epistle of Mr.
Pope, the most laboured and pathetic of all his
juvenile compontions, &11b far short of inspiring
sentiments in any degree nmiJar to those that Iveathe
through the genuine epistles of this most eloqnent and
accomplished woman ; nor does it seem possible to
express that exquisite tenderness, that refined deli-
cacy, that exalted piety, or that pungent contrition,
which distingmshes these compositions, in any words
but her own. f
iiuuu, UaLom, For
)( DniU, 1.
B.yl8, m
. 1 deroted U ., , , ..„„„„„ „„,
nittuiUj lad to u splnlDn iliit, notwlihniuidlng bU dlHMnni
with HtkUu, t)u nnenl taHnr iT 1^ eonducl -wa in oUitr mi
' 11, bnC OB ilu BmliwT ba tfgtm M hate bHn ■ mud of
nfllgitoUft. Iai]atutftomoiiei>rtiki)H«idi,PoiU«iu(,
, lio ti ehugnt with tacli ■ piopoult)' to tli« ooa.
om, M mlucod bim ta tbs w»ni of iron food Mid
le thoDlDgr "f ihe KhooU, u Uniht In Abwlud-i
mlUc uid hid u lltllg tondency lo RKOliio Iho
bo itudhd It u ^tmnttiT, or any other of tho
M-.-v™..-. ..^^.^ ; ud lh<i li orUnit from the UcmthniineM
pf lh> ol*fg7 II lhl> lid tho wlla poiiodi of ihrittUnlty. ud tho
iitmn tancoui ud UtUmtH irhlch tbuy dlKOTutd In ill Undi of
Of tta« littw, the pereecntloii of Aboelerd by St. Btinird, ud other
'<- -''-TiHulei, li ■ pmof i ud An the (onur wi h»e the tiitinioDT of
•t uedlbla ud jmputlel of tho eccleilutki] wiiton. Uoilialni
intM of tlu dan
ihylut. ■ Ondu
udlmputlel
Ik ofl£td(«(
■uibocKr of linxj't
dbyGooi^lc
180
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book V.
But to return to St. Bernard ; his U^urs for pre-
serving the music of the church in ita original parity,
have deseiredly iatitled liim to the character of one
of its greatcBt patrons : the particulars of his life,
which appears to hare been a very busy one, are too
numerous to be here inserted ; but the ecclesiBstical
historians speak of him as one of the most shining
lights of the age in which he lived. They speak
also of another St. Bernard, at one time oiBcial, and
an,erwardB abbot of the chnrch of Piss, a disciple of
the former, and at last pope by the name of
Engenius III.
The works of St. Bernard the abbot are extant ;
the best edition of them ia that of Mabillon, in two
volumes, folio. Du Pin says that in his vmtinga he
did not affect the method of the scholastics of his
time, but rather followed the manner of the preceding
authors ; for which reason he ia deemed Uie last of
the fathers. He died 11S3, and left near one hundred
and sixty monasteries of his order, which owed their
foundation to his zeal and ladnstry.
CHAP. XL.
The eatabliahment of schools and other seminarieB
of learning in France, particularly in Normandy,
already mentioned in the course of this work, began
now to be productive of great advantages to letters
in general, for notwithstanding that the beginning
of Uie twelfth centuiT gave birth to a kind of new
Bdence, termed scholastic divinity, Of which Peter
Lomb^^ Gilbert de la Force and Abaelard are sud
to be the inventors, a new and more rational division
of the sciences thui is included in the Trivlum and
Qoadrivium, was projected and took effect abont this
time.* In that division theology had no place, but
was termed the qneen of sciences ; it was now added
to the other seven, and assamed a form and character
very different from what it had heretofore borne. It
consisted no longer in those doctrines, which, without
the least order or connection were dednced from
passages in the holy scriptures, and were founded on
the opinions of the fathers and primitive doctors ;
'iMni U thi mot «aDlill
'ponnnM. Om Holr Thun .
'fMB bnoclil Um lb* ir/Kt mm tbit ou of Ui bTOsllto mir
' blil f)M, npoa wUck h* Onw dfin Ihs Mtuifr, Wt tte Aw^ u
nn bi npton* la th* aubk. vhn* luvlu axpraM^d Uttaritthi
pmA •nut. ha ntnnwd a ths •Itir la InUb Uh dlrina HrrVa, idili
4* bid Mt iBtomptfld dining bit ibanioa-' Truiitatlon at Hoalulu
- . - - .1 D.— I., n. Muitat, ocUn, IJM, Tol II. ff. W
probaUa (1
twltluUiidlBi, tlut ihB dlitliictloiii at Tii
ibtad u UU H lh< lime of Hent* VIII. i
uad! for BkeLlon, In tlut IIM of M> ol
Why turn Ti not u Court t thiu utliUi
ihi teren Ukta] tdmcfli i^
Ht wu pudc,
NodoQoutofiliuinitif,
Nor ioetavr of the liw.
Nor of none other law,
But a pan maifter of >ne,
God wot hid licile part
Of the ^uadrivUll,
Nor yet of trivialf.
Nor of philolophye.
Nor of pbilol)^.
but was that philosophical or scholastic theology,
which with the deepest abstraction pretended to traco
divine troth to ita first principles, and to pursue it
from thence through all its various connections and
branches. Into this system of divinity were intro-
duced all the subtleties of logic and metaphysics, till
the whole became a science of mere sophistry, and ,
chicane, and unintelligible jargon, conducing neither
to the real improvement of the rational faculties, or
the promotion of religion or moral virtue. This
system of divinity, such as it was, was however
honoured witii the name of a science, and added to
the former seven ; to tliis number were added juris-
prudence and physic, taken in that limited sense in
which the wora is yet used; not as comprehending
the study of nature and her operations ; and hence
arose the three profeeuons of divinity, Uw, and
physic That the second of these was thus hononred,
was owing in a great measure to an accident, the die-
covery, in the year 1137, of the original mannscripc
of the Pandects of Justinian, which had been lost for
five hundred years, and was then recovered, of which
fortunate event, to go no farther for evidence of it,
Mr. Seldon gives the following account : — ' The em-
' perors from Justinian, who died 565, until Lo-
' tharius II. in the year 1125, so much neglected the
* body of the civil law, that all that time none ever
' professed it. But when the emperor Lothorius II.
' took Amolfi, he there found an old copy of the Pan-
' decta or Digests, which as a precious monument he
' gave to the Pisans, by reason whereof it was called
' Litera Pisana; from whence it hath been translated to
' Florence, Ac, and is never brought forth but with
'torch-light, or other reverence.' Annotations on
Fortescue de Laudibus, pag. IS, 19.
No sooner was the civil law placed in the number
of the sciences, and considered as an important branch
of academical learning, than the Boman ponlifiB and
their zealous adherents, judged it not only expedient,
but also lughly necessary, that the canon law should
have the same privilege. There were not wonting
before this time, certain collections of the canons or
laws of the chnrch ; but these collections were so
destitute of order and method, and were so defective,
both in respect to matter and form, that they could
not be conveniently explained in the schools, or be
made use of as systems of ecclesiastical polity. Hence
it was that Gratian, a Benedictine monk bel<Migtng
to the convent of St Felix and Nabor at Bolonik,
by birth a Tuscan, composed, about the year IISO,
for the use of the school^ an abridgment or epitome
of canon law, drawn from the letters of the ponti&,
decrees of councils, and writings of the ancient
doctors. Pope Eugenins lU. was extremely satisfied
with this work, which was also received with the
highest applause t^ tbe doctors and professors of
Bolonio, and was unanimously adopted as the text
they were to follow in th«r public lectures. The
professors at Paris were the first that followed
tlie example of those of Bolonia, which in process
of tame was imitated by the greatest part of the
European Colleges. But notwithstandii^ the enco-
miums bestowed upon this performance whidi wu
dbyGoo*^le
CffAp. XL.
AND PRACTICE OF MDSIO.
ISl
commonly called the Decretal of Grntian, and was
intjtled by the author tumself, the reunion or coalition
of the jarring canons, eeveral most learned and
eminent writers of the Bomish communion acknow-
ledge it to be full of errors and defects of varions
kinds. However as the main design of this abridg-
ment of the canons was to support the despotiain,
and to extend the authority of the Roman pontiffs,
its innumerable defects were overlooked, its merits
exaggerated, and, what is still more surprising, it
enjoys at this day, in an age of light and liberty,
that high degree of veneration and authority whidi
was inconsiderately, though more excusably lavished
upon it in an age of tyranny, superstition, and
Such among the Latins as were ambitious of
making a figure in the repnblic of letters, applied
themselves with the utmost zeal and diligence to the
study of philosophy. Philosophy, taken in its most
extensive and general meaning, comprehended, ac-
cording to the method nnivereklly received towards
the middle of this century, four classes, it was
divided into theoretical, practical, mechanical, and
logical. The first class comprehended theology,
mathematics, and natural philosophy ; in the second
class were ranked ethics, oeconomics, and politics ;
the third contained the arts more immediately sab-
aervient to the pnrposes of life, such as navigation,
agriculture, hunting, 4c, The fourth was divided
into grammar and composition, the latter of which
wu farther subdivided into rhetoric, dialectic, and
sophistry; and mider the term dialectic was com-
prehended that part of metaphysics, which treats of
general notions ; this division was almoet univeTsally
adopted : some indeed were for separating grammar
and mechanics from philosophy, a notion highly
condenmed by others, who nnder the general term
philtMophy comprehended the whole circle of the
This new arrangement of the sciences can hardly
be said to comprehend music, as it would be too
much to suppose it included in the general division
of mathematics ; for notwithstanding its intimate
connection with both arithmetic and geometry, it is
very certain that at the time of which we are now
speaking, it was cultivated with a view merely to
practice, and the rendering the choral service to the
utmost degree pompous and solemn ; and there is no
other head in the aoove division under which it could
with propriety be arranged. We are told that in
the time of Odo, abbot of Clunt, lectures were
publicly read in the aniversity of Paris on those
parts of 6t Augnstine's writings that treat of music
and the metre of verses ; this fact is slightly men-
tioned in the Mena^ana, tom. II. But the authors
of the Histoire Litteraore de la France are more
particular, for they say that in the tenth century
music began to be cultivated in France with singalar
industry and attention ; and that those great masters
Bend d'Auxerre, Hucbald de St. Amand, Gerbert,
and Abbon, gave lectures on music in the public
Mhools. Bnt it seems that the subjects prindpally
treated on in these their lectures had very little
connection with the theory of music. In short, their
view in this method of institution was to render
fiuniliar the precepts of tonal and rythmical music ;
to lay down rules for the man^ement. of the voice,
and to facilitate and improve the practice of plain
chant, which Charlemagne with so much difficulty
had established in that part of his dominions.*
The reformation of the scale by Quido Aretinns,
and the other improvements made by him, as also
the invention of the Cantos Mensurabilis b^ Franco,
were so many new accessions to musical science. It
is very remarkable that the Cantus Mensnrabilis,
which was all that was wanting to render the system
complete, was added by Franco, within sixty years
after the improvement of it by Glnido, and this, as it
associated metrical with harmonictd combinalionB,
was productive of infinite variety, and afforded ample
scope, not only for disquisition, but for the exercise
of (ho powers of invention in musical composition.
Bnt notwithstanding these and other advantages
which the science derived from the labours of Gmdo
and Franco, it is much to be questioned whether the
improvements by them severally made, and especially
those of the former, were in general embraced wiui
that degree of ardour which the authors of the
Histoire Litteraire de la France seem in many places
of their work to intimate ; at least it may ne said
that in this country it was some considerable time,
perha^ near a century, before the method of notation,
by points, commias, and such other marks as have
hereinbefore been described, gave place to that in-
vented by Onido ; and for this assertion there is at
least probable evidence in a manuscript now in the
Bodleian library, thus described in the catalogue
of Bodleian mAnuscripta, which makes part of
the Oatalogi Librornm manuscriptorum, printed at
Oxford 1697, viz., No. 2558, 63. ' Codex elegan-
' tissime scriptns qui Troparion appellatnr : continet
' quippe tropos, sive hymnos sacros, viz,, AUelnja.
'tractus, moduhunina proeas per anni circnlnm in
' festos et dies Dominicoa : omnia notis musicis anti-
' quia superscripts.'
The precise antiquity of this manuscript is now
very dimcult to be ascertained, and the rather as it
appears to be written by different persons in a variety
of hands and characters. There are three specimens
of its contents, which for the particnlar purpose of
inserting them, have with all possible exactness been
traced off from the book itself. (See Appendix,
No. 44.)
But upon a comparison of the character in which
the words of these specimens are written, with many
other ancient manuscripts, it seems clearly to be that
of the twelfth century ; and if so, it proves that the
ancient method of notation was retained near a cen-
tury after the time when Guide flourished.
It is farther to be observed, that the improvements
• Tha Ubwin of Ouilemicns to lUi end wen DOl menlf Iht aSicn
oT hU lul. fDT hv vpteTtilncd i Kr«Al Idv« Ten nuiLc, 4nd wh hinuelf
(kUlfd Id It. In tha unlTsillr of Puii, foundnd b; bim, ud In oltia
dbyGoo*^le
HISTORY OF THE SOIBNOB
Book V.
of Goido and Franco were at firet received only by
the Latjn church, and that it yna many centuries
before they were acqnieBced in by that of toe Greeks :
an inference to thig purpose might poseibly be drawn
from a paaeage in the letter of Dr. Wallia above-cited,
in which,' after giving his opinion of the Greek
ritual therein mentioned, he conjectures it to be at
least three hundred yeara old ; but it is a matter
beyond a doubt that die ancient method of notation
above spoken of, was refauned by the Greek church
so low down as to near the middle of the seventeeath
century. In the library of Jesna college, Ozon, is a
manascript with th!s title in a modeni character,
perhaps the handwriting of some librarian who had
the custody of it, viz., ' Meletina Monachus de Mn-
* sica Ecclesiastica, cum variomm Foetaram sacronun
' Cantids,' purporting to be the precepts of choral
eerrice, and a collection of officee used in the Greek
church, in Greek characters, with snob musical notes
as are above-mentioned. As to Meletius, he appears
clearly to be the writer and not the compoaer, either
of too poetry or the music of toesa hymns ; for
beudea that the colophon of toe manuscript indicates
most clearly that it was written and corrected with
the hand of Meletius himself, toe names of the several
persons who composed toe tunes or melodies as they
occur in the course of the book, are regularly aub-
joined to each.
The name of Meletius appears in the catalogue of
the MedicKAU libmry; and torn. III. pog. 167
toereof he is styled ' Monachus Monasterii SS. Trini-
'tatis ftpnd Tiberiopolim in Hirygia Majore, incertee
'^tatis;' notwitostanding whii£ the time of hia
writing this manuscript is by himself, and in bis own
handwriting, most precisely ascertained, as hereafter
will be made to appear.
As to the contents of the book, it may snffice to say
in general that it is & transcript of a great varietf of
hymns, pealma, and other ofBces, that is to say, toe
words in black, and toe musical notes in red «^rac-
ters. In a leaf preceding toe title b a portrait of an
eccIeBiastic, probably that of Meletius himself.
Then follows the transcriber's title, which is in red
characters, and is to this effect, ' Instructions for
' Singing in the Chnrch, collected from the ancient
' and modem Musicians ;' toese inatmctions seem to
preanppose a knowledge of the rudiments of music in
the reader, and for the moat part are meant to declare
what melodies sre proper to toe several ofBcea as they
occur in toe coarse of toe service, and to ascertain
the number of ayllables to each note. We have given
a specimen of a hynm (See Appendix, No. 43), toe
words whereof have a close resemblance to toose in
toe Harleian MS. above spoken of, as will appear by
a comparison one with the otoer.
To the offices are subjoined toe names of toe per-
sons who severally composed toe melo^es ; among
these the following most frequently occur, Joannes
LampadariuB, Manuel Ohriaaphua, Joasaph Knkn-
zelos, Johannes Knkuzeli, Demetrius Redeates,
Johaunea Damascenus,* Poletikes, Johannes Lascares,
* JghwinEi Doiuuanai li nitbniad br Da P[n u ■ lubtla dlflne,
- -'u ud mcthiKllcal orlMr. wul iljii eonipnu. Tb* nEcoual alnn oT
~ nLVULcaiUhuiiM&luM
Georgins Stauropulus, Arsenins Monachus, probably
he that was afterwards patriarch of Constantiu^lo
under Theodore Lascares the younger, in 1255, Eliaa
Chrysaphos, Theodulns, Geraaimus, Agalleanua, An-
thimns, Xachialns, Clemena Monachua, Agioretea.
The specimen given from toe above-mentioned
curious manuscript is inserted wito a view to deter-
mine a very important question, namely, what wera
the musical characters in uae among the modem
Greeka : if any circumstance is wanting to complete
lie evidence that they were toose above represented,
it can only be toe age in which Meletins Uved : but
this is ascertained by the colophon of the MS. which
is to tois effect : — ' This book was wrote and corrected
' by me Meletius, a monk and presbyter, in toe year
of our Lord 163S.' f
JoHANHXs Sabisbubtknbis, a very learned and
polite scholar of the twelfto century, has a place in
Wsltoer's Catalogue of musical writers : he was a
tntlnutkm that ht vm b«tt«T uqiulDtBd with mailc thin oUiui ei Us
liIobulaD 1 nercnheleu ■ nr; Ininod mi iieeUcBI muidHI nf Ibis
cmtiuri IfilthHon of Hisbuii;. la hli Volkoiiunoum CmpeUmeliilar,
Hambuii, iriS, pug. x, uurti thu he na not onlr to; wtll akUlad
ia U, but thit he obtoiari th< ippelJUIoa nf KAuSif, MaUdoi, bj
Uh eighth centary; tod to tlw kchuik
ftroi vl him, UDM or the loott nmukiU* BU-
tfeulan ire. thil ha
aifieam, <rb» miSM. „ —
imiS«'iionh[p. Ihe nnpanK Lm iHUriea, ■ |Rit nataj ta imifta,
proeiuttl 1 Hnm to toiulaftelt the wiltlnc itf Diiiiik«di ia ■ letinr
10 lb« cillph. piuportlnc bb Ita Ihu ■ dHlgn to btutj ihi dlr of
DimiKBi Into iho binlt of Leo, which wroiwht auch id ellM, uiac
DuBBtceBni na aentaDced lo lot* U) rlrtt nmd, nblch *u col iM
lecordlDglT, ind oipoaed on i gibbet to the Tiev of iQ the dtliedB.
Du Fin Mm, that If n bdtm tha aoUrar ot St. John DimaHane'a
lire, hla hud wia nunlted to hIa ina ^ • mlncle, fin thit u *soa u
I off h* befted il of the caliph, lod lDinad^tel|p ntlrtBg to hi*
■onfht her la stdu It
ablhldnoelndaa
: of tha ciU^ t« tb*
dwelllBC, applied it
tnllni hIniHV bafbn ai _„
to bii ana, irbleh petitton aba pmattt
beneli or thit mliMla, ha ntind tri
tmBmbtrf of St. Sabia at JeiuBBlnn, and i|
of lou^ and nrj pnbabl; to the
haTlBf aoQM fair yean before been ordained pileal by tha pamtieh of
BaUlotlnfaa, __ ,,_
Al&lni ot Balllol College,
"allege, qiuno, Oifonl. IWa,
*Nathaidel Cono^ui waa a , _.
' Ghtueh ; he heame npunaivtiXXat, a
> Cyril], nliliRb of ConelantliHiile ! u-— "-
' Tixlf. the Grand Signeur of the Turki
ipoabigi fbrhlaiUU Kl
1. allltd him ivtsiKuraTor ; bat
■lib, or UBderatoad br, laj of Iba
The anlhor
n Iba aboia ai
a milodj, Khldi. Id tha book iAn*<tt*i be bu nndned In uadBa
mnalcil cbarBcten. Wood hai taken Botlaa af (hia pi
OioiL 1140, awl Rlat« (hat whil* h* « ' ■ ■ - ^'
nade the driBk (bi hia owB nie called Bad
moiBlng. belBg the dm, aa the uetonta oi
that vu atar dmk is Oxofl. Wood, In tba aa
t peg. U, H, aaja lb
Haunt Uhinna, oi
thia peiaon, Atbeo.
U Bdial aUega h*
'Ir dnnk II trttf
Ld Intbrmed him.
byGooi^lc
Chap. XLL
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIO.
native of England, being born, as his name imports,
at Solisbmy, and about the year 1110. At the age of
seventeen he went into France, and some years ^ter-
warda was honoured with a commiuion ^m the king
hie master, to reside near Pope Eagenine, and attend
to the interests of his country ; being' retnmed to
England he received great marks of friendship and
«8teem from Becket, then lord chancellor, and became
an assistant to him in the discharge of that office. It
is said that Becket took the advice of Johannes Saris-
bnriensia abont the education of the king's eldest aon,
and many yonng noble English lords, whom he had
nndertaken to instract in learning and good manners ;
-and that he committed to him the care of his domestic
concerns whilst he was abroad in Gnienne with king
Henry IL Upon Becket's promotion to the see of
■Csnterbniy, Sariaburienais went to reside with lum in
his diocese, and retained sncb a sense of his obligation
to him, that when that prelate was mnrdered, he
intercepted a blow which one of the assassins aimed
-»t the head of his master, and received a wonnd on
his arm, so great, that after a twelvemonth's attend-
-ance on him, his surgeons despaired of healing it ; at
length however he wa« cnred, and in tiie year 1179,
-at the earnest entreaty of the province, was made
bishop of Ohartrea, upon which he went to reside
there, and lived an example of that modesty and
"virtne which he had preached and recommended in
hie writings. He enjoyed this dignity bat three
years, for he died 1182, and was interred in the
-cbnrch of Notre Dame da Josaphat. Leland pro-
feseea to discover in him ' Omnem scientin orhem ; '
■and Bale, Cent IH. No. 1., celebrates him as an ez-
•cellent Greek and Latin scholar, mnsidau, mathe-
matician, philosopher, and divine. Among other
books he composed a trealdee in Latin, entitled
Polycraticns, sive de Nngis Cnrialinm et Vestigils
Philosophoram, the sixth chapter of the first book
whereof is entitled De Mnsica et Instmmentis, et
Uodis et Fmctu eomm, and is a brief bnt very
ingenious dissertation on the subject ; and as to the
book in general, notwithstanding ijie ceneare of
Lipeios, who callB it a patch-work, contfuning many
pieces of purple, intermixed with fragments of a
better age, it may be tmly said that it is a learned,
-cnrions, and very enterttuning work; and of this
-opinion Dn Kn seems to be in the following character
which he has given of it : — ' This is an excellent book
'relating to the employments, the duties, the virtues,
' and vices of great men, and especially of princes and
"* great lords, and contains a great many moral
' thoughts, sentences, fine pass^es of authors, ex-
"* amples, apologqes, pieces of history, and common
-* topics.' * It was first printed by Constantine Fran-
dinos, at Paris, in 1513, in a sm^ octavo size.
CHAP. XLL
CoKBADDB, a monk of the abbey of BSrsan^a, in
Germany, and therefore sumamed Hirsaurgiensis,
flourished about 1140, under the emperor Oonrade III.,
whom the historisns and chronologers place between
• BiU. de* Aatenn BccL cent. XII.
Conrade II. and Frederick Barbarossa. He was a
philosopher, rhetorician, musician, and poet ; and,
among other things, was author of a book on music
and the tones, t
Adamuh Dorxnsis, Adam of Dore, Door, or Dowr,
from the British Dur, the site of an abbey in Here-
fordshire, is much celebrated for his learning, and
particularly for his skill in the science of music. The
following is the sum of the account which Bole, Pits,
and other biographical writers give of him : — * Adam
' of Dore, a mas of great note, was educated in the
■ abbey of Doie, and very profitably spent his younger
' years in the study of the liberal sciences. He was
' a lover of poetry, philosophy, and music, attaining
' to great perfection in all ; to these accomplishments
' he added piety, and strict regnlarity of life, and
' made such proficiency in all kinds of virtue, that for
' his great merit ha was elected abbot of the monas-
' tery of Dore. In his time there were great conten-
' tions between the seculars and the monks ; upon
' wMch occasion Sylvester Girald, a learned man,
' and of great eminence among the clergy, i wrote a
' book entitled Speculum Ecclesiie, in which he
' charged the regulars with avarice and lost, not
' sparing even the Cistertian monks. Adam, to vin-
' dicate the honour of the religious, and especially
' those of his own order, wrote a book agtunst the
' Speculum of Girald ; he vnote also a IVeatise on
' the Elements of Music, and some other things, par-
' ticularly satires, bitter ones enough, against Simon
' Ashe, a canon of Hereford, Sylvester Girald'e advo-
'cate and friend. This Adam flourished in 1200,
' under King John.' §
AxBERTUB SlAaNTis was bom abont the year of
Christ 1200 : a man illustrious by his birth, bnt more
for his deep and extensive learning; he was de-
scended from the dukes of Schawben, and taught at
Paris and Cologne; Thomas Aquinas was his dis-
ciple. In 1260 he was elected bishop of Batisbon,
bnt at the end of three years resigned his bishopric,
and returned to his coll at Cologne. In 1274 be
assisted at the council of Lyons, in quality of ambas-
sador from the emperor. He left many monuments
of his genius and learning, and has treated the sub-
jects of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, perspective,
or optics, and mnsic, in a manner worthy of admira-
tion. It is said that he had the secret of trans-
mutation, and that by means of that art he discharged
all the debts of his bishopric of Batisbon within the
three years that he continued to hold it. Some have
gone farther, and charged him with being a magician;
as a proof whereof they relate that he had formed a
machine in the shape of a man, which he resorted to
as an oracle for the explanation of all difficulties that
occurred to him : they say that he wrought thirty
years without interru[A,ion in forging this wonderful
figure, which Naudeus calla the Audrois of Albertus,
and th^ the several parts of it were formed under
particular aspects and constellations ; but that Thomas
t VoHfin, da BcKBt Uath. as. Ii. f 10.
I OlhcrwlH uUed alnldui CunbreuU. Turn. Btbl. In Ait. He wu
the aathor of th* tncl mlWM CMnbria DewrtpUo, died in book IV
dbyGoot^le
HISTOBY OF THE SCIENCE
Aqnina^ the disciple of Albertns, not being able to
bear its everlasting tittle-tattle, broke it to pieces,
and that too in hia master's house. The general
ignorance of mankind at different periods has exposed
many a learned man to an imputation of the like sort ;
pope Sylvester II., Robert Grosthead,* bishop of
Lincoln, and Roger Bacon, if we may believe some
writers, had each a brazen bead of bis own msldug,
which they consulted upon all difBculties. Nandeus
has exposed the folly of this notion in an elaborate
apology for these and other great men whose memo-
ries have been thus injured ; and though he admits
that AlbertQB might possibly have in his possesrion
a head, or statue of a man, so ingeniously contrived,
as that the air which was blown into it might receive
the modifications requisite to form a human voice ;
he denies that any magical power whatever was
necessary for the coDstracttoa of it Albertos died at
Cologne in the year 1280 ; his body was interred in
the choir of the church of the Dominican convent
there, and was found entire in the time of the em-
peror Charles V. Although his learning and abilities
had acquired him the epithet of Great, it is related
that he was in his person so very little a man, that
when upon his arrival at Rome he kissed the feet of
the pope, his holiness, after he had risen up, thinking
Ae was yet on his knees, commanded him to standi
The number of books which he wrote is prodigione,
for they amount to twenty-one volumes in folio, ■(
Greoobt of Bridlington, a canon regular of the
order of Bt Angostine, precentor of the church of
his monastery of Bridlington, and afterwards prior
thereof, flourished about die year 1217. He wrote
a Tre^ise De Arte Mnsices, in three books, and is
mentioned by bishop Tanner as a man of learning
and abilities.
GuALTBRus Odinotonus, Otherwise Walter of
Evesham, a writer of great skill in the science of
music, was a Benedictine monk, he flourished in
the reign ef our Henry HI. about the year 12iO.
Bishop Tanner, on the authority of Pits, Bole, and
Leiand, gives him the character of a very learned
man ; and Jihiller has celebrated him among the
worthies of Worcestershire. Tanner | refers to
a manuscript treatise of his in the library of Christ
Church college Cambridge intitled De Speculatione
Musices, in six books, beginning 'Plara quam digna
de mnsicn specula; ' and in a manuscript collectiou
of tracts in the Cotton library, Tiberius, B, IX. tract 3,
is a treatise of the notes or musicsl chsracters,
and their different properties, in which the long,
the large, the breve, the semibreve, and the minim,
• < of die gntt clerk Gnltclt
• I rede, kovre buiy thit fie wu
' Upon the clerf ie ui bead of bni
< Ta forte, and mike il for to telle
' Of fucti thinp u bcfclle :
' And leren fern befinefle
' He lijde, bat for the lichene
• Of faiir ■ minate of u hoare,
< Fn> fiift lie begin lo liboure,
• He loae aU that he had do.'
Gowa. Confods Amanlli, foL txlr.
are particularly characterised ; at the end of this
treatise we have these words, ' 'Beta Odyngtonos,*
plainly intimating that the writer, whoever he was,
looked upon Gualterue Odingtonus as the author
of it ; but there is great reason to suspect that
it is not genuine, for the initial sentence does
not agree with that of the tract Be Speculatione
Mnsices, as given by Tanner; and it is expressly
asserted by Morley that the minim was invented
by Fhilippus de Vitriaco, a famous composer of
motets, wno must have lived long after Walter. Mr.
Stephens, the translator and continuator of Dug-
dale's monasdcon, in his catalogue of English learned
men of the order of 8t Benedict, gives tiie following
account of this person: —
'Walter, monk of Evesham, a man of facedoua
'wit, who applying himself to literature, lest he
' should sink under tiie labour of the day, the watch-
' ing at night, and continual observance of regular
' discipline, used at spare hours to divert himself
'with the decent and commendable diversion oE
' mnrick, to render lumself the more cheariiil for
' other duties ; whether at length this drew him off
' from other studies I know not, bnt there appears
' no other work of bis than a piece intitled Of the
' Speculation of Musick. He flourished in 1240.'
ViNOBNTruB, archbbhop of Bcanvois, in France,
about the year 1250, was in great repute. He was
a native of Burgundy, and treated of the science of
music in his Doctrinale.
HooER Bacon, a monk of the Franciscan order,
bom at Hchester, in Somersetshire, in 1214, the
great luminary of the thirteenth century, a celebrated
mathematician and philosopher, as appears by his
voluminons writings m almost all brandies of science,
and the testimony of the learned in every age, wrote
a treatise De Valore Musices. He died about the
year 1292. He was jpreatty favoured by Robert
Grosthead, bishop of Lincoln, and underwent the
common fate of learned men in those times, of being
accounted by the vulgar a magician. The story irf
friar Bacon's brazen head is w^l known, and b to»
silly to merit a refutation. There is an excellent
life of him in the Biogrophia Britannica, written,
as it is sMd, by Dr. Campbell.
Simon TaiLnsR, a Dominican and a Scotsman,
mentioned by Tanner, flourished about the year 1240,
He wrote De Cantu Ecclesiaatico reformando, De
Tenore Musicali, and two other tracts, the one intitied
Tetracbordum, and the other Pentschordum.
JonANHEs Fkdiasiiics, a native of Bulgaria, a lawyer
by profession, and keeper of the patriarchal seal
there, is reckoned in the number of musical writers.
He flourished about the year ISOO, and wrote a Com-
pendium of Geometry and a book of the dimensions
of the earth ; the first is in the libnuy of the most
christian king, the latter, and also a IVeatise on the
Science of Music, in that of the city of Augsburg
in Germany. §
Pope John XXII. has a place among the writers
on mucdc, bnt for what reason it is somewhat diSicuIi
to shew ; Du Pin, who speaks of him among the
t Vsutni, D9 BcUnt. Uaikm. ett- Ut. | I«.
dbyGooi^le
Chap. XLI.
AND PRACTICE OP inJSIO.
\86
ecclesiastical writon of the fonrteenth centaiy, says
he was ingenioue, and well versed in the sciences ; *
but by the catalogae of his works in the chrono-
logical t&ble for that period, it seems that his chief
excellence was his skill in the canoE law; neyer-
theless be is taken notice of by Broaaard and Walther,
as haTing written on mosic ; and in the micrologna
of Andreas Ornithoparcns, who wrote about the
year 1535, a treatise of mosic of his writing is fre-
qnently referred to ; and in the aecond chapter of
uie (iret book of the Micrologus, where the antbor
proieeees to diatingnish between a mosician and
a singer, he cites a passage from pope John XXIL
to this effect : ' To whom shall I compare a cantor
' better than a drankard (which indeed goeth home)
' but by what path he cannot tell ? A musician to
'a cantor is as a pnetor to a cryer.' And in the
seventh chapter of the same book be cites him to
explain the meaning of the word Tone : ' A tone,
' says he, is the distance of one voyce from another
* by a perfect sound, sounding strongly, so called
'a tonando, that is thundering; for tonare [as
' Johannes Pontifez XXIL cap. viii. saith] signifieth
'. to thunder powerfully.'
The same author, lib. I. cap. iiL on the anthority
of Franchinua, though the passage as referred to by
him is not to be found, asserts that pope John and
Gnido, after Boetius, are to be looked on as the
most excellent muaieians.
It is said that John was the son of a shoemaker
of CahorB, and that on account of his excellence in
literature Charles II., king of Naples, appointed him
preceptor to his son; th^ from thence he rose to
the pnrple, and at length to the papacy, being elected
thereto anno 1316.
The particulars herein before enumerated respect-
ing the progress of music from the time of its intro-
duction into the church -service to about the middle
of the thirteenth century ; as also the acconnts herein
before given of the most eminent writers on music
during that period, are snfficient to shew, not only
that a knowledge of the principles of harmony and
the rudiments of singing were deemed a necessary
put of the clerical institution, but also that the clergy
were by much the most able proficients, as well in
instrumental as vocal music, for this very obvious
reason, that in those times to sing waa as much the
duty of a clerk, or aa we should now call him, a
clci^^yman, as at this day it b for such a one to read :
nerertheless it cannot be supposed but that music, to
a certain degree, was known also to the luty ; and
that the mirth, good hnmour, and gaity of the com-
mon people, especially the yonthM of both sexes,
discovered itself in the singing of such songs and
ballads as suited willi their conceptions and characters,
and are the natural ef^ions of mirth and pleasantry
in every age and country. But of these it is not
easy to give a full and aatisjactory account : the
histories of those times being little more than brief
and cursory relations of public events, or partial re-
presentations of the actions and characters of princes
and other great men, who had recommended tiiem-
• Bibllotb. im ADl«iin MClMlMtSiiM. tfat. ZtV.
selves to the clergy by their munificence; seldom
descending to particulars, and affordbg very little of
that kind of intelligence from whence the manners,
the humours, and particular customs of any given age
or people are to he collected or inferred. Of these
the histories contained in that valuable collection
entitled the Decern Scriptores, not to mention the
rhyming Chronicles of Robert of Gloucester, Peter
Langtoft, and others, are insUncee.
An enquiry into the origia of those rhyming
chrouicles, of which the two histories last above-
mentioned are a specimen, will lead us to that source
from whence, in all probability, the songs and ballads
of succeeding times were deduced : so early as the
time of Charlemagne, who lived in the eighth century,
that species of rhyming Latin poetry called Leonine
verse, was the admiration and delight of men of
letters ; but subsequent tu his time, that is to say
about the end of the tenth century, there sprang up
in Provence certain professions of men called Troji-
badouTB, or Trouverres, Jongleours, Cantadours,
Violars, and Musare, in whom the &cultiea both of
music and poetry seemed to concentre : the first of
these were so denominated from the art which they
professed of inventing or finding out, ae well subjects
and sentiments as rhymes, constituting what at that
time was deemed poetry. The Jongleours are sup-
posed to have taken their name from some musical
instrument on which they played, probably of a name
'■esembling in its sound that by which their profession
was distinguished. The Cantadours, c^ted also
Ghanterres, were clearly singers of songs and ballads,
as were also the Musars ; and the Violars were aa
certainly players on the viol, an instrument of greater
antiquity than is generally imagined.
Of the ancient writers of romance a history is ex-
tant in the lives of the Provencal poets, written in
French by Johannes Nostradamus ; f but a much
more satisfactory account of them is contained in
the translation thereof into Italian, with great ad-
ditions thereto, by Gio. Mario de Orescimbeni, and
by him published with the title of Commentari in-
tomo aU' Istoria della volgare Poesia. Of the origin
of these, and particularly of the Jonglenra or Jug-
lenrs, with the rest of the class above-mentioned, he
gives a very curious relation in the fifth book,
CM). V. of his work above-mentioned, to the following
effect : —
'After having remarked that from Provence the
' Italians derived not only the origin and ait of
'writing romances, but also the very subjects on
' which they were founded, it will not be disagreeable
' to the reader, before we proceed to speak of our
f Tlw Hirt cpf UiB Piorenpa pM<) nn writlm bj- in ecclMlmtlo of
■lu oabia fkmllT gr Ctbo In GtDS, vhd b dlttinrililitd by the fulutlal
J, nuDcd Vgn dL Buieovlo, uid ■
t tbaat tbi veu MM, umpUtd tti*
Pram tb* colUcIloni mid* bT Uuh
m, ilM jrmuini bnilbci of Hkrlusl
rtWodbl pnphai, acnnpOm ud pob-
I of tbe incfent p«u of P»iu«.
1 book Ttij dtUghifiil lo muL
dbyGooi^le
186
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book V
own, to say somewhat of the romance writers, as
well of fVance in general, as of Provence, par-
ticnlsily as to tlieir esercises and manner of living.
It is not ImowTL precisely who were the romance
writers of Provence, for aothors that mention them
^eak onl^ in general ; nor have we seen anjr ro-
mances with the author's name, other than that of
the Rose, b^on by William de Lorry, and finiebed
1^ John de Menn, u may be seen in a very old
copy on parchment in the library of Cardinal
Ottobonl
' Some of their romances however may be met with
in many of the iamons Italian libraries ; and besides
that of the Round Table, and that of Turpin, Du
Gange, Hnetioa, and Faucbet, before tbem mention
sevenl, snch as Qarilla, Locran, Tristram, Launcelot
of the Lake, Bertram, Sangreale, Merlin, Arthur,
Perceval, Perceforest, Trial Ulespieghe, Rinaldo,
and Rondsvalle, that very likely hive been the
foundation of many of those writtea by our Italians.
' These romances no doubt were sung, and perhaps
Rossi, after Malateeta Porta, was not mistaken when
be thought that the romance singers were used to
sell their works on a stage as they were eiuging ;
for in those times there was in vogue a famous art
in France called Arte de Giuglari : these jnglers,
who were men of a comical turn, full of jests and
arch sayings, and went about singing their verses
in courts, and in the houses of noblemen, with a viol
and a harp, or some other instrument, bad besides
a particular dress like that of our Pierrots in com-
mon plays, not adapted to the quality of the subject
they were singing (like the andent rhspsodists, who,
when tbey sung the Odyssey, were dressed in blue,
because they celebrated Ulysses's heroes that were
bis companions in his voyages ; and when they re-
peated Uie lUiad they appeared generally ia. red, to
f^ve an idea of the vast quantity of blood spilt at
the dege of Troy) but for the sake of entertaining
and pleasing in a burlesque manner their protectors
and masters, for which reason they were called
Jnglers, quasi Joculatores, as the learned Menage
very righdy conjectures.
' Many of the Provengal poets were used to practice
the same art, and also our Italians, who composed
verses in that language ; for we read in the Vatican
manuscripts, that Elias de Bariols, a Genoese, to-
gether with one Oliviori, went to the court of count
Amsos de Provence as jnglers, and thence passed
into Sicily. Dgo della Penno, and Guglielmo della
Torre, exercised the same profession in Lombardy ;
and cardinal Peter de Veiiac, whenever he went to
visit a king or a baron, which happened very oflen,
was always accompanied by jnglers, who sang the
songs called in those places Serventesi. Besides
those enumerated by Nostradamus, Alessandro
Velntello reckons up many others, who travelled
about and subsisted by the profession of minstrelsy,
the nature whereof is described by Andrew I>n
Chesne, in his notes on the works of Alun OhartJer,*
• AlifB CbtxUa ni bain In 13SS, ud dkd ibont 1MB. Cnolmb.
' where he cites from a romance written in the yetur
' 1230, the following lines : —
' Quand les tables ost6ei furent,
' C'il Juggleur in pies esturent,
' S'ont vielles et harpei priaes,
• Chanions, sona, vera, et reprises.
' Et de gestes chant! nos ont.
When the tables were taken avaj.
The jugler* stood up.
Took taar lyres, and harps ;
Song*, tones, venei, and catehes,
And eipltHts they sang to us.
' It ia not our intention to enqnire what sort of
music they made use of, but however, in order to
satisfy the reader's curiosity, we shall say that it
must have been very simple and plain, not to say
rough, as may be seen by a manuscript in the Vatican
library, in characters of the fonrteentl) century,
where there are written the songs of divers Pro-
vencal poets, with the masic We have cofned the
following example, which is the song of Theobald,
king of Navarre, who flourished about the year 1235,
no fees celebrated among monarchs than poets, by
the honourable praises bestowed on him by Tftnta
in his Inferno, cant, xxii : —
t plaui, M uu - pli. Dieni d
The Provencal poeta were not only the inventors
and composers of metrical romances, songs, ballads
and rhymes, to so great a number, and of such a
kind, as to raise an emulation in most countries of
Europe to imitate tbem ; but, if we may credit the
Italian writers, the beet poets of Italy, namely Pe-
trarch and Dante, owed much of their excellence to
their imitation of the Provencals ; and it is farther
said that the greater part of the novels of fioccace are
taken from Provencal or ancient French romances.*
The Glossary of Du Oange contuns a very great
number of curious particulars relating to the Trouba-
dours, Jongleurs, Cantadours, Violars, and Musare, of
Provence ; and it appears that in tiie French lan-
gui^e all these arts were comprehended under the
general denomination of Menestraudie, Menestraudise,
Jonglerie-t
• Tba Hmg duit te lupiiowit sT lli« HgplMaBTOn of Mirnnt qn«n
> cntt Dumbrr or enUrUlBlni uarlo. A gnieni •cMuni of UUfltaa
iy Bajfle, In tbe ullcle Saiawm.
dbyGooi^le
OnAP. XLI.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
187
The learned Dr. Percy, in hie Essay on the nncient
English Minstrels, has given a very canons and satis-
factory aciyxuit of these fiithen of modern poetry and
popular mosic; and although he agrees that the
aeveral professions above enumerated were included
under the general name of Minstrel, ia the notes on
that Essay, pag. xlii., he has with great accuracy
Assigned to each its distinct and pecalior office.
In the work of Crescimbeni above-cited the name
of our own Icing Richard I., sumamed Coenr de
Lion, occurs as a Provencal poet, and a composer of
verses, professedly in imitation of that species of
poetry which is the subject of the present enquiry.
It is true that the very learned and accurate bishop
banner, from whom we might have expected some
Account of this fact, has in bis Bibliotheca omitted
the mention of Richard as a writer ; and it is pro-
bable that Rymer, the compiler of the Faedera, a man
-of deep resent, thongh of all critics that ever wrote,
one of the meat wild and absnrd, is the first of our
■conntrymen that have in earnest asserted Richard's
clum to that character. The account which he gives
of it is, that Richard and his brother Geoffrey, who by
the way is also ranked among the poets of that time,
had formerly lived much in the courts of several
princes in and about Provence, and so came to take
delight in their language, their poetry, then called the
<3ay Science, and their poets, which began not long
before his time to be in great vogne in the world.*
But before he proceeds to tlie proof of the fact, that
Richard was a composer of verses, Rymer takes upon
lim to refute a charge of Roger Hoveden, importmg
nothing less than &at Richard was but a vain pre-
tender to poetry, and that whatever reputation he
had acquired of that sort, he had bought with his
money. The words of the historian are ' Hie ad
■" angmentnm et famam eni nominis, emendicata car-
'mitrn, et rithmos adulatorioa comparabat, et de
' regno Framconnn oantorea et joculatoree allexerat
' nt de illo canerent in plateis et dicebatur nbiqne
'' quod non erat talis in orbe,' ' Richard to ndse
■ himself a name, went about begging and baying
' verses and flattering rhymes ; and by rewards en-
' ticed over from Fnuioe, singers and jesters to amg
* of him in the streets. Aid it waa everywhere
' given out that there was not the like of him in the
' wOTld again.'
Bymer observes npon this pass^e, first, that the
Assertion contuned in it that the songsters and jesters
were brought from France is most false ; for that
France had no pretensions thereahoutB in those days,
those countries being fiefs of the empire : more par-
ricnlarly he adds that Frederic the First had enfeoffed
Eaimoud Beringer of the country of Provence, For-
el pral lwi™'» U T "•»■' i^ Im/mBimUuri,
n qui M 101(111,
calqniers, and places adjacent^ as not long after
Frederic IL installed William prince of Orange
king of Aries and Vlennes, which family had formerly
possessed Provence, f Again he observes, that about
the same time that tlie Frovenfal poetry began to
flonrish, the heresy of the Albingenses sprang up ;
and that Raimond count of Tholouse was the pro-
tector of the Albingenses, and also a great &vourer
of these poets ; and that oil the princes that were in
leagne ti^iether to support the Albingenses gainst
France and the pope, encouraged and patronized
these poets, and amon^ the rest a king of Arragon,
who lost his life in the qnarrel, at a battle where
Simon Mountfort commanded as chief of the crusade^
The argnment which Rymer makes use of to in-
validate the testimony of the monk, is a weapon of
such a form, that we know not which end to take it
by : he means to say, that if Richard was a favourer
of the heresy of the Albingenses, it could not but
draw npon him the resentment of the clergy, and that
tlierefore Roger Hoveden, in revenge for the en-
(»)nragement which he had shewn to the enemies of
the church, endeavoured to deprive him of the repu-
tation of a poet. But as (his is only negative evi-
dence of Richard's title to a place among the Pro-
ven^ poets, Rymer goes farther, and introduces
from a manuscript in £e possession of Signer Redt,
the testimony of Onilhem Briton, an ancient bard^ in
these verses : —
Cobloa a tiera faire adroitement,
Pou TDs oillez eutea dompua gentili.
Stanzas he trimly could invent
Upon the eyes ofladj gent.|
But, to remove all doubts about the fact, Rymer
cites the following stanza, part of a song written by
Richard himself while a prisoner in Austria : —
Or sachan ben mos horns, et mos baroiu
Anglez, Normans, Peytaviui, et Gasconi^
Qu yeu non ay ja li paure compagnon.
Que per aver lou laisaeu en preaon.
Know ye, my men, my barons all.
In England and in Nofmandj,
In Foictjers andin'Gucony,
I no companion held so small.
To let him thus in durance lie. H
Having thus far proved his point, our author is
disposed to indulge that inclination to mlrtb and
pleasantry, which seems to have dictated those two
curious works of his, the Short View of Tragedy,
and the Tragedies of the last Age considered ; and
npon the stanza above written, as facetiously as per-
tinently remarks, that our king Richard had not the
expedient of the French king, St. Lewie, who, taken
prisoner by the Saracens, pawned the enchorist, body
for body, to the infidels for his ransom.^
Ha concludes his account of this matter with
saying, that which hereafter will appear to be true,
viz., that a manuscript with king Richard's poetry,
and many other of the Provenpal poets, were in the
custody of Signor Redi, librarian to the great duke
of Tuscany.
t Sbott view of t™«. vtf. M. 1 IWfl. pw. es. I IM*. |M«. 74.
I Iku. 1 1bid. pv. IS.
dbyGoo*^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
To these evidences may be added the tcstimonv of
Crescimbeni, who in his Commentari della Volgar
Foesio, vol. II. part I. pag. 103, says, that Richard,
being strack with the sweetness of that tongue, set
himself to compose a sonnet in it, which he sent to
the princess Stephanetta, wife of Hugh de Baux, and
daughter of Gisbert, the second count of Provence,
He savB afterwards, in a chapter expressly written on
this king, that residing in the court of Raimond Ber-
linghieri, count of Provence, he fell in love with the
princess Leonora, one of the prince's font daughters,
whom Richard afterwards married : that he employed
lumself in rhyming in that language, and when ho
wae prisoner composed certain sonnets, which be seat
to Beatrix, connteee of Provence, sister of Leonora,
and in which he complains of his barons for letting
him lie in captivity.
Crescimbeni goes on to relate that there are poems
of king Richard in the library of St. Lorenzo, at
EloreiJCe, ' in uno de codici Provenzali,' and others,
' nel No. 3204, della Vaticana.' The perusal of this
passage excited the curiosity of a gentleman, to whom
the literary world is under great obligations; Mr.
Walpole procured both these repositories to be
eaarched. In the Vatican was found a poem by
Bichauts de Verbeil, and another by RichautA de
Terascon, but nothing that coold with any degree of
fropriety be ascribed to Richard I., king of England,
a the Lanrentine library were found the verses
above spoken of, which as a very singular and valu-
able curiosity, Mr. Walpole has ^ven to the world
in the first volume of nis Catalogue of royal and
noble Authors ; they are as follow : —
Reis Rizard.
Ja nus ham pii» non dira la ruion
Adreitament le com bom dolent non
Mu per conort pot il faire chanson
Pro sdamii, mas povre son li don
Onta J avTon, le por ma reezon
Soi fai dot yver pris.
Or Sanchon ben mi bom e mi baron
EnglcE, Norman, Pettavin et Gascon,
Qe ge DSToie li poTTe compagnon
Qeu laiMawe por aver en preuon
Ge nol di pas, por nulla retraiion
Mbi anquar Bolge prij.
Jan aai eu de ver certanament
Com mort ne pri» na amie ne parent
Quant il me laiueut por or ni por argent
Mai mea de mi, ma perx mes por ma gent
Qapres ma mort n auron teperibament
Tan longament loi prii.
Nom merveille teu ai le cor dolent
Qe meuen her met ma terra en torment
No li men bra del noitre legrament
Qe not feimei an doi commnnelment
Bern *ai de ver qe gaire longament
Non lerai eu la pru.
Hi compagnon cui j amoi e cui j ai
Cil de chadl e cil de pertarain
De lor ehanion qil non lont pai cert;
Unca Ten eli non oi cor fidi ni vain
Sa me guertoient il feron qe vilain
Tan com ge toie pri*.
Or lachent ben Enjevin e Torain
E il bachaliers qi ton legier e sain
Qen gombre wie pris en autrui main
11 ma juvatgen mas il no ve un grain
De belles armes tont era voit li plain
Per 10 qe ge loi prii.
Contessa soit votre prec lobrun
Sat deus e garde eel per cui me clam
Et per cui ge *oi pris :
Ge nol di pas por cela de certrain
CHAPXLII
Besides that Richard was endued with the poetical
faculty, it is recorded of him that he wae skilled in
music In the Theatre of Hononr and Knighthood,
translated from the French of Mone. Favine, and
printed at London in 1623, torn. IL pag. 18, is
a curious relation of Richard's deliverance from cap-
tivity by the assistance of Blondel de Hesle, a rhymer
or minstrel, whom he had trained up in his court,
and who by singing a song known to them both,
discovered his master imprisoned in a castle belong-
ing to the duke of Austria. This story is taken
from the Recueil de I'Origine de la Langue et
Poesie Francoise, Ryme, et Romans, &c of pre-
sident Fauohet, Paris 1681 : but Favine,* from
Matthew Paris, and other historiographers, and ^m
an ancient manuscript of old poesies, has given as
well a relation of the causes and manner of hia cap-
tivity, as of his deliverance from it The whole is
curious and entertaining, and is here given in the
words of the old English translator ; —
' Richard saved himself by a more prosperous
' wind, with one named Guillaume de I'Estang, and
' a boy that understood the Giermaine tongue, tra-
' vayling three dayes and nights without receiving
'any sustenance, or tarrying in any place. But
' hunger pressing them extreamely, they came to
' lodge in a towne being neere to the river of Dan-
' nbie, named Gynatia in Austria, as saith Mathew
' Paris, but according to the histories of Germanie,
' which I have red, it u called Erdbourg, where then
'remained Leopold, dnke of Anstria.f to welcome
' Richard thither, like him falne out of a feaver into
' a farre worse disease. Being come to his inne, h«
'sent his boy to make provision for him in the
' market, where the boy shewing his purse to be fidl
■ Tlila book of Fivina ■limnda iriOi ■ put Ttrltir of cnrisiu pn-
tteuUn nlftllv* (o chlTiliy wid muDBn In ffBoenl. Aihmrflfl ■(tpcan
to hBTQ d«riTed neki ■ulstum froB It In tu complttDC bit Hlttmy oT
tk* OidR of tho Qnl«.
f TbB nuHi of Leopold'! onmlt)' to tUchud n« TukmulJ tvUtcd,
bat thfl ftuihoi dow dunf utlfni Ibe fOlktvbg u tbc flnt occulon <^
□ thoiuuid ittlctkni, vhenof
-, -J of AuitrU aunt inlD the Hgly
n u other Chilitlui priscee did. At hie
■ra.'"""-"-- "'"■■'■
•brtelT behold
'tte data Ui jatiun, jpUmed _ ,
<A Nomu, bdng ■ Mlowor of klni RCehud. nulnlilntd (hit tho
'hMMlf plM* b*lMI|*d l« hitn. FnHn >anl> Iber fell In bloweo, ud
■ Blehud, wllbnit uidaitucUiu the reuooi of tho junia, cmecd llu
ia,'l tent ud tattgn* (0 be pull'd downe ud hul'd apos
> ditch of mln. The duke made eotnpliliii la Richiid,
' mot Ihli oftiioe, but h* nved him wtib dotiiloii :
dnk* Metaif ho wu deepUed, deilred Ood to do*
^c\,r
dbyGooi^le
Cs*p. XLIL
AND PRACTICE OF MDSIO.
' of bezans,* And baying very exquisite victasb ; he
' was Btayed by the iababiuats of the towns to
' imdeTstADd further of hia condiUon, Having cer-
' te&ed them that he belonged to a wealthie merchant,
' who would arrive there within three dayes ; they
' permitted him to depart. Richard beinz heerof
' advertised, and much diataated in his heidtb by so
'many bard anfferances on the seas, and perilloos
' paasages on the wavea, concladed to repose there
' some few dayes in the towne, daring which time
' the boy alwayes made their provision of food.
' Bnt by ill accident, on the day of St. Thomas the
' AposUe, the boy being in the marlcet, channced
* (through neglect) to have king Richard's gloves
* tuckt onder his girdle: the magistrate of the towne
' observing it, tooke the boy and gave him torment
' to make him confeese whose gloves tbey were.
' The power of poniahment, and threates to have
' bis tongne cnt out of hie head, compelled him to
' tell the traetb. So in short while after, the dnke
' of Anstria hearing the tydings, engirt the intie
' where Richard was with a bond of armed men, and
' Richard, with bis sword in bis hand yielded him-
' selfe to the dnke, which kept him strongly environed
' with well-armed soaldionrs, who watched him night
' and day, witb their swords reodio drawne. Thia
' is the affirmation of Mathew Paris, concerning the
' snrprizall of king Richard.
' But I have read an andeat manuscript of old
' poesies, written abont those very times, which re-
' porteth this bistorie otherwise ; saying that Richard
' being in his inne, disgoised hinuelfe like a servant
'cooke, larding bis meate, broching it, and then
' turning it at the fire himselfe : in which time, one
■ of the dnke of Austriess followers, being then in
' tiie inne, came accidentally into the kit^iin, who
' (ooke knowledge of diia royall cooke ; not by bis
' iace, which he porposely disfigured with the soyling
' of Oie kitchin ; bt^ by a ring of gold, which very
' unadvisedlT he wore on his finger. This man ran
' immediatelv and advertised the dnke his maister
' that the kmg of England was within the compasse
' of his power, and upon thia advertisement Richard
' In the years following, namely, one thousand
■ one hundred fonrescore and thuteen, the dnke
' told king Richard to the emperor Henry, for the
•snm of threescore thousand pounds of sUver, the
' pounds answering the weight and order observed at
' Cologne ; with i^cb snm Leopold towred the
* wab of the citie of Vienna in Austria, and bought
' the dnchie of Styria, Ncopurg, and the counties of
' Lina and 'Wels, of the Bishops of Passan and of
' Wirtspourg. So speaketh the Latin chronicle of
* Otho of Austria, bishop of Frisinghen, for these
• BcHU. beuaW, B bMUU, u* piosn of (Did c
... _. la hoU, IntiimlT IkaUnicd mud u
'ttUd aad pnpind M miTa hiim kind aTMu .
■ ettoloa ihit uar wn* •Waptd, tat Out Hht wi
'nttarr bliuiU, « BInDtlDin. ue place nbtn li
■-'--.• DiiH%jeiataUir.loBi.tm,iu.Si. :
'- -' thb cotB U <■ caitaln tlut Hrba a
^ Oat tiM Inj*! pona wu w
' perticularities were forgotten by Mathew Paris,
' who further saith, Tbii in the same yecre of
'fourscore and tbirteene, the third holy day after
'Palme-Sunday, Leopold led Richard prisoner to
' the emperor, who sent Um under sure guard to the
'Tribales. "Retrudi eum preecepit in Triballie,
"k quo carcere nullus ante dies istos exiuit, qui
"ibidem intrauit: de quo Arietoteles libro quinto.
" Bonum est mactare patrem in Triballis ; Et alibi."
" Sunt Iocs, aunt gentes, quibni eat mactare parentes.*
' The Engliabmen were more than a whole yeare,
' without hearing any tydings of their king, or in
' what place he was kept prisoner. He bad tnuned
' up in his court a rimer or minstrill called Blondell
' de Nesle, who (so saitb the manuscript of old
* poesies, and an auncient manuscript French chron-
' icie) being so long without the sight of his lord,
' his life seemed wearisome to bim, and he became
'much confounded witli melancholy. Knowne it
' was, that he came hacke from the Holy Land,
'but none could tell in what conntrey he arrived.
' Whereupon this Blondel resolving to make search
' for bim in many countries, but he would beare
' some newes of him ; after expence of divers dayes
■ in travaile, he came to a towne (by good bap) neere
' to the castell where hie maister king Richard waa
' kept. Of his host he demanded to whom the
'castell appertained, and the boat told bim it be-
' longed to the duke of Austria. Then be enquired
' whether any prisoners were therein detained or no;
' ibr alwayes be made such secret questionings where-
' soever be came, and the boste gave answer that
' there was one onely prisoner, but be knew net
' what he was, and yet be had bin detained there
' more than the space of a yeare. When Blendel
' heard this, he wrought such meaues, that he became
' acquainted with them of the castell, as minstrells
'doe easily vriu acquaintance any where; but see
' (be king he could not, neither understand that it
' was he. One day he sat direcdy before a window
' of the castell where king Richard waa kept prisoner,
' and began to sing a song in French, which king
' Richard and Blondel had sometime composed to-
' gather. [When king Richard heard the song, he
' knew it was Blondel uiat sung it ; and when Biondel
' paused et holfe of the song, tiie king entreated him
' to sing the reatf] Thna Blondel won knowle*^
' of the king his maister ; and retnming home into
' England, mode the barona of the countrie acquainted
' where the king was.'
Faucbet, in bis relation of this extraordinary event.
Bays that he had met with a narrative of it in
a French Chronicle written in the time of Philip
the August, about the year 1200.
It is generally atud that the ransom of Richard
was one hnndred thousand marks, but Matthew
Paris asserts that it was a hundred and forty thousand
marks of silver, Cologne weight, a sum so very great,
t I>r. ParoT hu glT«n Iha paunn fnnn Fauchac to hit on voidi,
Tbkli ara tltaaa ;— ' Et qUBiit BluDaeUe dt dicle La mdle da la ChanioE^
' la [Si Blabatt M plllt t diM I'mitn mollla at raehara : ' and nndan Itw
' coMTunKD n.' Eauj on BBcUah MlutKlt, pa|. ixi.
dbyGoot^le
190
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book V.
that to raise it, tho English were obliged to sell their
church plate, even to ihe very chaticea.*
The foregoiDg acconnt contuns inconteetlble evi-
dence that Bichwl waa of the class of poets, for the
reasons above given termed Proyenfal, and of these
the minstreb appear to be the genuine offspring.
The nature of their profession is learnedly treat^
on by Dr. Percy in hia Essay on the ancient Minstrels,
pre&ced to the Beliques of English Poetry. The
most generally received opinion of them is that
they were players on mnsicid instruments, and those
chiefly of the stringed kind, snch as the harp, the
cittern, and others; but the word Minstrel, in the
lu^r acceptation of it, signifies a musician in general.
Dr. Cowel in his Law Dictionary thus explains
it ; ' a musician, a fidler, a piper : ' and in the old
poem of Lydgate, entitled the Dannce of Machabres
or of Death, in the Appendix to Sir William Dng-
dole's History of St Paul's Cathedral, pag. 265,
col. i. he is said to be a minstrel, who can Dou note,
i. e. sing, and pipe.
Dr. Percy has asserted, with great appearance of
truth, that the employment of the Anglo-Saxon
bards was to sing to Uie harp the praises of their
patrons, and other distinguished persons. Nay, it is
farther clear from a passage in the Ecclesiastical
History of Bede, relating to the poet Ctedmon, cited
hy him in the notes on the Essay on the ancient
English Minstrels, pag. 50, that to sing to the Harp
at teativala even by the guests themselves, was so
cnstomary, that such as were incapable of doing it
were frequently necessitated to retire, f And that
• B«b«t «( OkncMlR ibni ipnki of th* ntaiu ■ati to niM thli
The hundred thoulend mirc were ipiid binon hond
And wcl nuwe igideied in Engclond,
Nor bcocbes, ind lintet timma ilfo.
And tlw calii ef the mod me foolde chcr to
And grcv monckd thit new come, ind pouere tba WCK
Zeue il her wdle there to of one *«re.
Cubiw. 4B8.
1 (bid bdiu wudng, wu fiopa lo
ind n lai In LjndwDdd. lib. I.
, jd to DuSi* uH of ctuUcu of
- ^T M^hn* ■■■■■!■ *lWI>*Jrf<lth*PMl>M*MMWMWlMl-
«f a* di?taitT of tbM* ttmM : fltuwM too brtlllo, «
atAjmit, auMulinim, b tUtiUoiii metal, thIsuIj oi
*• ear Ml oolumr vom. n* nUoet to nut' — ~
ttodenop 10 proToko Tomlllng. Pulla-, who li
the Ikcu irUcb
EU irUcb tbtf m elMil to ran*,
at tho qiutslloii* irtta the poet O
Qui of tha itoir Id vtikh M ii i
flTOD at liife In tlM „ .,
'.BgiWD, u b omJKluiMl, of till -— , —
' ' •••- — ' HDdi, [iltiwtod In ■ plwg
— ' — ta tho BOlth of Bdi
tutloD to that puipoH eituit,
TSTj John Sufford ijchlilihop
'^' -Tutei exeommunleitlon
VWn FailMT't Uiltolj of
the employment of the andent Minstrels also was to
sing panegyrical songs and verses on their bene~
factors, is farther clear horn the explanation of the
word Minstrel in that learned work the Law Dic-
tionary of Dr. Cowel, who concludes the article with
saying, it was nsoal with these minstrels, not only
to divert princes and the nobility with sports, but
also with musical instruments, and with flattering-
songs in the praise of them and their ancestors,
which may be aeen in these Tersee : —
Principis a facie, cytharEe celebenimui arte
Auurgit mimiu, are musica quern decoravit
Hie ergo chorda reionante subintulit ista :
Indite rex regiun, probitatia itemmale veroaDi,
Quem vi^r et virtus extollit in athera fanue,
Indole virCutis qui vincea facta parentis.
Major ut Atridea, patrem Neptunius Hero*
£gea, Pelidea excedit Pelea, Jason
Esona, nee prolem pudor est evineere patrem ;
Corde gigaa, agnus facie Laertiua aatu,
CoDulio Nestor, tie.
The history of this country affords a remarkable-
instance of favour shewn to this vagabond profession
of a minstrel. The privileges which they are
poesesecd of are of such a kind, as to entitle them
to the countenance of the legislature, and, what most
appear very remarkable, to the protection of the law ;
for although minstrels, in common with fencers, beor-
warde, and common players of interludes, are in the
law deemed rogues and v^;abonds, there is a speoiol
provision in all the statutes that declare them to be so,
in favour of common fiddlers and Minstrels, through-
conld compoH uit til'iil or nin poem, Imt onl* (bna Ibat
Rllgkm, *nd nllea hli niifioaa toofiu ; for lunnff llTtd In
... ._' hint till -wM ■diinnd in f «iin, as lud nam lewBt nr
'thlnfof KiiUyiBf i fiH whkdi KMOB being ■onHrUaiH at entaitilncHBt*.
when It WM taietd ftr the non mMk. thM lU pneent iluald liiic in
tbait toToi I when he am the lutnuneBt codh Umitde Um. ha raio
Dp tram l*Nt and retnnwd hone. HnlBf dOM eo at a eeRaln tioke,
and soIbs ont of the houaa wbera tb« •ntaitatauneat wa*, to the Mable.
tht cue of bone* UUng to him tkat nifht. and eompealBf UnedT
(hen to leat at the Hoper Ume, a panon qipaend to blu In hi* olaep,
andaalatcd tihobj fait naoCi laid, "Codmon. ■Engaomeaangtomaj''
he anairend, "I cannot ibig; (Or Ihal WM Ihe touoa wbj I Mt lb*
' entenalDniflit and nlind to Ihli plan, becauae I ctnld not alng.'
The othei who talked (o him, leplitd, "Howonr Tou oball Itat"
'What ihall I liiEt" njnioed he, "Sine the beghinfaigorcreatnna.*
■aid the oUier. Hempcai he pieeentlf Mfaa to ainc Tcnta I* the
pnlw of Ood, whi^ he had nem heard, the pupoit vhenof waa
Ihni:— "We are nov to pialiethe HakOT of tlw heaTenlj Unrico,
wwet of Iho Cnalai and hit eaiuHdl, the deedi of the PBlba oT
: how he, bclnc tba eternal God, bccam* iho uitliet of all
-^— —*■- *—' ia ahnlghtT picaerrer of the haman nr- "--■
rmeo «• the tV -" ' ■■
li of' one laniuaae Into another* wUhont laelnt miiehor
and lolUneM. AwaklBf Horn hla iteep, be mNmbend
all that^ha had bdur bi bla dream, and Boon added moeh man to Oe
ComlBii In tba numbis to tho iteward
' - * bin wHh the (Ut he had neclnd :
I, he waa ocdaiad. la ihe prcMae* of
a Boith of BDcland] Chen mlt
fbr the sneeotGod. who nawi
tell b<B dream and fepeal tl
nUgbt (It* an tbeli Jadpncnt what II waa, and ■
' that ha aald i Thej all cooelnded that ao heannlT i
tHnd eo bUn br cor Lord. Tbej aiponnded to hi:
will,eltberhleloilealor--— ^-' --'-•—"- •••
InettBCted taiin
rhareupcD the abboa, embraclDc the grace of Ood In ,
-' '-'m to quit the accnlat baut. and lahn opon htm the mo-
Li lue ; vtilch belDf aocardlng]^ done, the anaoaated hhn to tbe
the bmhrni In the monuletr. and Oldaml that ho (hODld to
ibola Kilu of the lacred hlitoij.' Bcde, HiU. EecL
if the book of Oeneiie and oeitain aolptBm
..._, .« he dMnM Iw-n (hi
I. but lhioU|h the dleiM aa^tanee ; for which
lUoned ^ BedC) bat Dr. Hlckae M
dbyGoot^le
Oh^. xlii.
AND PBAOTICE OP MUSIO.
191
uitj of Chester, of which the following is
out the I
thehiator
In the uatate of 17 Qeo. II. cap. 5, ia the following
proviso :-4-' Provided always that this act, or any
' thing thlrein contained, or any authority thereby
given, ^all not in anywise extend to disinherit,
prejudia, or hinder the heirs or aasigna of John
button, tf Dutton, late of the coan^ of Cheater,
efl^mre,|for, touching, or cpnceming the liberty,
privilege, pre-eminence or anthority, jnrisdiction or
inheritance, which they, their heirs or assigns now
lawfully use, or have, or lawfnlW may or ought to use
within the county palatine of Chester, and county of
Chester, or either of them, by reason of any ancient
chart«rs of any kings of this land, or by reason of
any prescription or lawful usage or title whatsoever.'
This right which the parliament of Great Britain
has shown itself so tender of infringing, is founded
on an event, of vrhich the following relation is to be
met with in the Historical Antiquities of Cheshire,
collected by Sir Peter Leyceeter, £art., part £L
chap. vi. and ia mentioned in a book intitled Ancient
Tenures of Land made public, by Thomas Blount,
Esq. octavo, 1679, pag. 166, et seq.
'In the time of k^g John, Randle die tMrd, sumamed
'Blundevil, earl of Chester, having many conflicts
' with the Weleh, was at last distressed by them, and
' forced to retreat to the caatte of Bothelent in Fliut-
' shire, where they besieged him, who presently sent
' to his constable of Chester, Roger Lacy, sumamed
' Hell, for his fierce spirit, that he would come with
* all speed, and bring what forces he could for his
' relief. Boger having gathered a tamultuous rout of
' Kddlera, Players, Cobblers, and debauched persons,
' both men and women, out of the city of Chester (for
' it was then the fur there) marched immediately with
'them towards the earL* The Welsh perceiving a
' great multitude coming, raised the siege and fled.
' The earl coming back with his constable to Chester,
'gave >'im power over all the E^ddlers and Shoe-
' makers of Chester, in reward and memory of his
' service. The constable retamed to himself and hie
' heirs the authority and donation of the Shoemakers,
' but John his son conferred the anthority over the
' profligates of both sexes on his steward, which then
' was Button of Dntton, by this his deed.
"Sciant pnesentes et futuri, quod ego Johannes,
" ConstabnlariuB Oeatrin, dedl et concessi, et hac
" pnesenti carta mea confirmavi Hngoni da Dutton,
" et hsredibns snis, ma^tratum omnium leccatomm
" et meretricum totius Cestershiriie, Mcot liberiua
" nium magistratum teneo de comite ; salvo jure meo
" mihi et hkredibus meis. TTiin testibus," Ssc
Blount goes on to observe, that though this original
grant makes no mention of givii^ mle over Fiddlers
and Minstrels, yet that an ancient custom has now
reduced it only to the minstrelsy ; for probably the
rout, which the constable brought to the rescue of the
■ It wami thil thii aul bwl nndDtd hfanHirtuninii liT )ili pnmu,
nd CAM falA eitiiDiii wen efllabi^Md tn ibjtatt vid lonsi down to tlw
tliiH it •OiebaA II, fOt la th« Vlilnit of Plmo Plmnnin, Fuiui
qqhitiia. Sloth uji of Umself ^^
I cuuwc fcA&f or} Pitcr-noftei tt the prift it Gngich,
Bat I con rima of Robenhod and Ruidil of Cheftei.
earl, were debauched persons, drinking with their
sweethearts in the fair, the fiddlers that attended them,
and such loose persons as he could get.
He proceeds to relate, that Anno 14 Hen. VH,
a Quo Warranto was brought agunst Laurence
Dutton, of Dutton, esq. to shew why he clamed all
the minstrels of Cheshire and the city of Chester, to
^pear before him at Chester yearly, on the feast of
Si John Baptist, and to give him at the said feast,
' Qoatnor legenas vini et unam lanceam,' i. e. four
fl^gosa of wine and a lance ; and also every minstrel
then to pay him four pence half-penny ; and why he
claimed from every harlot in Cheshire, and the city
of Chester '(officium sunm exercente)' four peace
yearly at the said feast, Ac whereunto ha pleaded
prescription.
And &rther, that ' the heirs of this Hugh de Dutton
' enjoy the same power and authority ovet the min-
' strelsy of Cheshire, even to this day, and keep &
' court every year upon the feast of St. John Bapust,
' at Chester, being the fur day, where all the Minstrel»
' of the county and city do attend and play before thfr
' lord of Dutton upon their several instruments ; he-
'or his deputy then riding through the city thus
' attended, to the Church of Bt John, many gentlemen
' of the county accompanying him, and one walking
' before him In a " eurcoat of his arms depicted upon
" taSata ; " and after divine service ended, bold his
' court in the city ; where he or his steward renews
' the old licences granted to the Minstrels, and gives
' such new ones as he thinks fit, under the hand and
' seal of himself or his steward, none presuming to
' exercise that &culty there without it. But now this
' dominion or privilege is by a daiwhter and heir of
' Thomas Dutton, devolved to the lord of Gerrard,
' of Gerrard'a Bromley in Staffordshire.'
He adds, that whereas by the statute of 39 diz.
Fiddlers are declared to be Boguea ; yet by a special
proviso therein, those in Cheshire, licensed by Dutton.
of Dutton, are exempted from that infamous title, ia
respect of this his ancient custom and privilege.
Another writer f derives this privilege from a
higher source, for among many instances of favour
shown to the abbey of St Werburg in Chester, by
Leofric earl of Chester, in the time of Edward the
Confessor, he mentions the grant of a fur on th&
festival of that saint, to be holden for three days ; to
whose HONOUR be likewise granted, that whosoever
Thief or Male&ctor came to the solemnity, should
not be attached while he continued in the same fair,
except he committed any new offence there.
Which spedal privilege, says the same writer, 'as in
tract of time it drew an extraordinary confluence of
loose people thither at that season, so happened it
to be of singalar advantage to one of the sncceeding
earlea. For being at Rodelent castle in Wales, and
there besieged by a power of the Welsh, at such
a time he was relieved rather by their number than
Etrength, under the conduct of Robert de Lacy,
constable of Chester, who with pipers and other
sorts of Minstrels drew tbem forth, and marching
towards the castle, put the Welsh to such terror that
t Dutd KlDf Id bi* Viil* Hon] of Eoglud UlnitnlKI, put IL
dbyGoo<^Ie
mSTOEY OP THE SCIENCE
Book V.
' thev presently fled, tn memory of which notable
' ez]^oit, that famous meedng of such Minstrels h&th
' been duly conUnucd to every Midsmnmer fair, i^
' which time the heir of Hugh de Dutton, accompanied
' with diveree gentlemen, having a pennon of his arms
' borne before him by one of the principal Minstrels,
' who also weareth his anrcoat, first rideth np to the
' east gate of the city, and there catuing proclamation
' to be made that all the Musicians and Minstrels
' within the counly-paladne of Cheater do approach
'and play before him. Presently bo attended he
' rideth to St John's church, and having heard solemn
' service, proceedeth to the place for keeping of his
'court, where the steward having called every
' Minstrel, impanelleth a jury, and giveth hia charge.
' First, to enquire of any treason against the king or
' prince (as earl of Chester) ; secondly, whether any
' man of that profession hath " exercised his instm-
' ment " without licence from the lord of that conrt,
' or what misdemeanonr he is guilty of. And thirdly,
' whether they have heard any language amongst
• their fellows, tending to the dishononr of their lord
' and patron (the heir of Bntton) which privilege was
' anciently eo granted by John de Lacy, constable of
' Chester, son and heir to the before specified Koger,
' onto Hugh de Dntton and hU heirs, by a special
' charter in these words, viz., " M^sterinm omnia
" leccatomm et meretricum totjus Ccstrishire," and
' haUi been thus exercised time out of mind.'
Another instance of favour to Minstrels, and of
privil^es enjoyed by them, occurs in Dr. Flofs
ffistory of StaS'ordshire, chap. X. § 69, where the
Author taking occasion to mention Tutbnry-castle, a
seat of the ancient earls and dukes of Lancaster, ia
ted to speak of Minstrels appertaining to the honour
of Tutbuiy, and of their bug, with hia aever^
officers ; of whom, and of the eavage sport commonly
known by the name of the Tatbury Bull-runmng, be
gives the following accurate account: —
' During the time of which ancient earls and dukea
' of Lancaster, who were ever of the blood royal,
' great men in their times, had their abode, and kept
' a liberal hospitality here, at their honour of Tat-
' bnry, there conld not but be a general concourse of
' people from all parts hither, for whose diversion all
' sorts of musicians were permitted likewise to come
' to pay their services ; amongst whom (being na-
' merous) some quarrels and disorders now and then
' arising, it was found necessary after a while they
■ should be brought under rules ; diverse laws being
' made for the better regulating of them, and a
' governor appointed them by the name of a king,
' who had several officers under him, to see to the
«xecntion of those laws \ full power being granted
• to them to apprehend and arrest any such Minstrels
' appertaining to the sud honour, as should refuse to
' do their services in due manner, and to constndn
• them to do them ; as appears by the charter granted
' to the sud king of the Minstrela by John of Gaunt,
' king of Castile kd^ Leon, and di^e of Lancaster,
' beumg date the 22nd of August in the 4 year of the
' raigne of king Bichard the eecond, entituled Carta
' la Boy de Ministralz, which bemg written in old
French, I have here translated, and annexed it to
' this diecoQTse, for the more universal notoriety of
the thing, and for satisfiictiou how the power of the
' king of the Minstrels and his officers is founded ;
■ which take as follows : —
" John, by the grace of God, king of Castile and
' Leon, duke of Lancaster, to all them who shall
' see or hear these our letters, greeting. Know ye,
' we have ordained, constituted, and assigned to our
' well-beloved the King of the Minstrels in our
' honor of Tutbory, who is, or for the time shall be,
' to apprehend and arrest all the Minstrels in our
''said honor and franchiae, that refose to doe the
'service and Minstrelsy as appertain to them to
' do from ancient times at Tutbury aforesaid, yearly
'' on the day of the Assumption of our Lady; giving
' and granting to the said King of the Minstrels for
' the time being, full power and commandement to
' make them reasonably to jnstiiy and to constrsia
"them to doe their services and Minstrelsies in
' manner as belongeth to them, and as it hath been
'' there, and of ancient times accustomed. In witness
'' of which thing we have caused these onr letters to
' be made patents. Given under our privy seal, at
'' our castie of Tutbury, the 22nd day of Aug. in the
" fourth year of the raigne of the most sweet king
" Bichard the second."
' Upon this, in process of time, the de&nlters
■being many, and the amercements by the officers
' perhaps not sometimes over reasonable, concerning
' which, and other matters, controversies frequentiy
'arising, it was at last foond necessary that-a court
'should be erected to hear plaints, and determine
' controversies between party and party, before the
' steward of the honor ; which is held there to thia
'day on the morrow after the Assumption, being
'the 16th of August, on wMch day they How also
'doe all the services mentioned in the abeveaud
' grant ; and have the bull due to them anciently
'from the prior of Tutbury, now from the earls
■of Devon, whereas they had it formerly on the
' Assumption of our Lady, as appears by an In-
' spezimus of king Henry the sixth, relating to the
■customs of Tutbury, where, amongst others, this
' of the bull is mentioned in these words : " Item
" est ibidem qundam coiisnetudo quod histrionee ve-
"nientes ad matutinas in festo Assumptionis beats
" Marine, habebunt onum taurum de priore de Tutte-
" bury, si ipenm capere possunt ci^ aqnam Dove
"propinquiorem Tuttebury ; vel prior dabit eis xld.
"pro qua quidem consuetndine dabuntur domino ad
" dictum festum aunustim xxd." t. e. that there U
' a certain custom belonging to the honor of Tutbury,
' that the minatrella who came to mattins there on
' the feast of the Aeaumption of the blessed Virgin,
' shall have a bull given them by the prior of
"Tutbu^, if they can take him on this side the
'river Dove, which is next Tutbury; or else the
' prior shall give them xld. for the enjoyment o'
' which custom they shall give to the lord at thi-
' said feast yearly, xxd.
' Thus I Bay the services of the Minstrels were
' performed and bull enjoyed anciently on the feast
dbyGoo*^le
Chip. XLII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
' of the AseninpUon ; but now they ue done and
' had in the manner following : on the court day,
' or morrow of the Aaeumption, being the IGth of
' August, what time all the MinstreJU within the
' honor come first to the bailifT's house of the manor
' of Tntbary, who is now the earl of Devonshire,
'where the steward for the court to be holden
' for the king, as dnke of Lancaster (who is now the
' doke of Ormond) or his deputy, meeting them,
' they all go from thence to the parish church of
' Tutbury, two and two together, music playing
' before them, the King of the Minstrells for the year
' past, walking between the steward and bailiff, or
' their deputies ; the four stewards or under ofEicers
' uf the said King of the Minstrells, each with
' a white wand in their bands, immediately following
' them, and then the rest of the company in order.
' Being come to the church, the vicar reads them
' divine service, chusing paalms and lessons suitable
' to the occasion : the pMtlms when I waa there, an.
'1680, being the 98. 119. 150: the first lawon 2
' Chron. 5; and the second the fi chap, of the Epistle
' to the Ephesians, to the 22 verse. For which
' service every Minstrell offered one penny, as a due
' always paid to the vicar of the church of Tutbury
' upon this solemnity.
' Service being ended, they proceed in like manner
' sa before, from the church to the outle-hall or
' court, where the steward or his deputy taketh his
' place, assisted by the bailiff or hie deputy, the King
' of the Minstrells sitting between them, who is to
' oversee that every Minstrell dwelling within the
' honor and making default, shall be presented and
' amerced : which that he may the better do, an.
' O Yes is then made by one of the officers, being
'a Minstrell, 3 times, giving notice, by direcldou
' from the steward, to all manner of Minstretls dwelt-
' ing within the honor of Tutbury, vis., within the
' counties of Stafford, Darby, NoUingham, Leicester,
' and Warwick, owing suit and service to his ma-
'jeaty's Court of Musick, here holden as this day,
' that every man draw near and give his attendance,
' upon pain and peril that may otnerwise ensue ; and
' that if any man will be assigned* of suit or plea,
' he or they should come in, and they should be
* heard. Then all the muBiciona being called over
' by a court-roll, two juries are impanelled, out of
• 24 of the Bufficientest of them, 12 for Staffordshire,
' and twelve for the other counties ; whose names
' being delivered in court to the steward, and called
' over, and appearing to be full juries, the foreman
' of each is first sworn, and then the residue, as is
' iisnal in other courts, upon the holy evangelists.
' Then, to move them the better to mind their
' duties to the king, and their own good, the steward
' proceeds to ^ve Uiem their charge ; first commend-
' ing to their consideration the Original of oil Musick,
' both Wind and String Musick ; the antiquity and
' excellency of both ; setting forth tite force of it upon
■ the affectiona by diverse examples ; how the use of
■ it has always been allowed, as is plain 5'om holy
' writ, in praising and glorifying Ood ; and the skill
' in it always esteemed so considerable, that it is still
' accounted in the schools one of the liberal arts, and
' allowed in all godly christian commonwealths ;
' where by the way he commonly takes notice of the
' statute, which reckons some musicians amongst
' vagabonds and rogues ; giving them to understand
' that such societies as theirs, thus legally founded
' and governed by laws, are by no means intended by
' that statute, for which reason the Minstrells belong*
' ing to the manor of Datton, in the county palatine
' of Chester, ore expressly excepted in that acL Ex-
' horting them upon this account to preserve their
' reputation ; to be very careful to make choice of
' such men to be officers amongst them as fear God,
' are of good life and conversation, and have know-
' ledge and skill in the practice of their art. Which
' charge being ended, the jurors proceed to the elec-
' tion of the said officers, the king being to be chosen
' out of the four stewards of the preceding year, and
' one year out of Staffordshire, and the other out of
' Darbysbire, interchangeably ; and the four etewards,
■two of them out of Staffordshire, and two out of
' Darbyshire, three being chosen by the jurors, and
' the fourth by him that keeps the court, and the
' deputy steward or clerk.
'The jurors departing the court for this purpose,
' leave the steward with his assistants still in their
' places, who in the mean time moke themselves merry
'with a banquet, and a Noise f of musicians playing
'to them, the old king still sitting between the
' steward and buliff as before ; but returning again
' after a competent time, tbey present first their
' chiefest officer by the name of their King ; then the
'old king arising from his place, delivereth him a
' little white wand in token of his sovereignty, and
' then taking np a cup filled vrith wine, drinketh to
' him, wishing him all joy and prosperity in his office.
' In Uie like manner do the old stewards to the new,
' and then the old king riseth, and the new taketh his
' place, and so do the new stewards of the old, who
' have full power and authority, by virtue of the
' king's steward's warrant, directed from the said
' court, to levy and distrain in any city, town oor-
' porate, or in any place within the king's dominions,
' all such fines and amercements as are inflicted by
' the said juries that day upon any Minstrells, for his
' or their offences, committed in Qie breach of any of
' their ancient orders, made for the good rule and
' government of the said society. For which said
' fines and amercements so distrained, or otherwise
■ peaceably collected, the said stewards are account-
' able at every audit ; one moiety of them going to
' the king's majesty, and the other the said stewards
' have for their own use.
' The election, Ac. being thus concluded, the court
' riseth, and all persons then repair to another fair
' room within the castle, where a plentiful dinner is
' prepared for them, which being ended, the Minatrella
dbyG00*^lc
IM
fflSTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Bats V.
'went anciently to the abbey-gate, now to a little
' barn by the towo aide, in expectance of the bull to
' be turned forth to them, which waa formeTly done,
'according to the custom above-mentioned, Dy the
' prior of Tutbury, now by the earl of Devonahire ;
' which bull, as soon as his horns are cut off, his Ears
'cropt, his Taile cut by the stumple, all his Body
' smeared over with Soap, and his nose blown fall of
' beaten pepper ; in short, being made aa mad ac 'tis
'possible Kir him to be, after solemn ProclamaUon
' made by the Stoward, that all manner of persons
' give way to the Bull, none being to come near him
* by 10 foot, any way to hinder the Slinstrells, but to
' attend bis or iJieir own safeties, every one at his own
' peril : he is then forthwith tnmed ont to them
' (anciently by the priori now by the lord Devon-
' shire, or his deputy, to he Uken by them and none
' other, within die county of Stafford, between the
' time of his being turned out to them, and the aetting
'of the BDU of the same day ; which if they cannot
' do, but the Bull escapes from them nutaken, and
' gets over the river into Darbyshire, he remains atill
' my lord Devonshire's bull : but if the said Minstrells
' can take him, and hold him so long as to cut off but
' some small matter of his Hair, and bring the same
' to the Merest Cross, in token they have taken him,
' the said Bull is then brought to the Bailiffs honse
' in Tntbnry, and there coJlered and roap'd, and so
' brought to the Bnll-Bing in the High-street, and
' there baited with doggs : the first course being
' allotted for the King ; the second for the Honour
' of the Tuwne ; and the third for the King of the
' Minstrells, which after it is done the sud Minstrells
' are to have him for their owne, and may sell, or
' kill, and divide him amongst them, according as
' they shall think good
' And thus this Rustic Sport, which they call the
' Bull-mnning, should be annoally performed by the
' Minstrells only, but now-a-days they are assisted by
' the promiscuous multitude, that flock hither in great
' nniDDers, and are much pleased with it ; though
' sometimea through the emulation in poiat of Man-
'faood, that has been long cherished between the
' Staffordshire and Darbyshire men, perhaps as much
' mischief may have been done in the trial between
' them, as in the Jeu de Tanreau, or Bull-fighting,
' practised at Valentia, Madrid, and many other
' places in Spain, whence perhaps this our custom of
' BnlLnmning might be derived, and set up here by
' John of Gaunt, who was king of Castile and Leon,
' and lord of the Honor of Tutbury ; for why might
' not we receive this sport from the Spanyarda as veil
' as they from the Romans, and the Romans from the
' Greeks ? wherein I am the more confirmed, for that
' the Tavponira )|'Jwv lifiipai amongst the Thessalians,
who first instituted this Game, and of whom Julias
Ctesar learned it, and brought it to Rome, were
' celebrated much ^ut the same time of the year our
' Bull-mnning is, vie, Pridie Idea Angnsti, on the
' 12tb of August ; which perhaps John of Gannt, in
' hononr of £e Assumption of our Lady, being but
' three days after, m^ht remove to the IStb, as after
' ages did (that dl the aotemnity and conrt might be
' kept on the same day, to avoid further trouble) to
' the 16th of August.'
The foregoing account of the modem tisage in the
exercise of this barbarous sport, is founded on the
observation of the relator, Dr. Plot, whose ciirioaitr
it seems led him to be present at it in the year 1680:
how it was anciently performed appears by an ex-
tract from the Coucher-book of tiie hononr of Tut-
bury, which is given at large in Blotmt's Collection
of ancient Tenures before dted.*
CHAP. XLIIt
SocR were the exercises and privil^nes of the
minstrels in this country ; and it will be found that
the Provencal troubadours, jongleurs, musars, and
violars, from whom they clearly appear to havs
sprung, possessed at least an equal share of favour aikd
protection under the princes and other great person-
ageswhoprofeesedtopatronizethem. The Proven9a]s
are to be considered as the fathers of modem poesj
and music, and to deduce in a regular order the
history of each, especially the latter, it is necessary
to advert to those very circnmatantbl acconnta that
are extant of them, and the natnre of their profeaaion
in the several anthora who apeak of them. It should
seem that among them there were many men of great
eminence ; the first that occurs in the history of them
given by Crescimbeni is Giuffredo Rndello, concern-
ing whom it is related that he was very intimate with
Geoffrey, the brother of Richard the ¥int ; and that
while he waa with him, hearing from certain pilgrims,
who were returned from the Holy Land, of a countess
of Tripoli, a lady much celebrated, but the story says
not for what, he determined to make her a visit ; in
order to which he put on the habit of a pilgrim, and
began his voyage. In his way to Tripoli he became
sick, and before he could land waa almost dead. The
countess being informed of his arrival, went on board
the ship that brought him, just time enough to see ><■"»
alive ; she took him by the hand, and strove to com-
fort him. The poet was hut just sensible ; he opefled
bis eyes, said that having seen her he was satisfied,
and died. The countess, as a testimony of her
gratitude for this visit, which proiubty cost poor
Geoffrey his life, erected for him a splendid tomb of
porphyry, and inscribed on it his epitaph in Arabic
verse : besides this she caused bis poems to be collected,
and curiously copied and illuminated with letters of
gold.f She was soon afterwards seized with a deep
melancholy, and becune a nnn.
Kobln BootTi CuliBil, l> > (nr ft allufilBD to Um
buU-numlBi, Id iba toUowtaf ftitttt;—
• Thia tiattll iTH (Oucht nor TutbDTT torn
< When Iht (Mg-fliKR billed Ihe bull.
' I UD kbU «( llM «lUI*R, IHl IVHII 'Ita ■ 1
' Ami all Um Ihu douMi l> m gull ;
• For I Hw thtn BgktliiK. ud Sddrd the wl
■ And all IhU m
For Km* VH* ■ bnll'tHh, J „
' And HiBi liiiglDf Aitbur ■ BndW-'
Son..
MU dtUi VolgU POMit. TOL II. put I. ^f. II.
br the «u» of
TbI^iut had or
dbyGooi^lc
Chap. XLIII.
AND PRACTICE OF HDSia
196
A canzone, which be wrote while he was npon this
romantic voy^^, is yet extant ; it i< aa follows : —
Irat, et dolent me' en partray
S' yen non vey mt' amoui delueuch,
E non lay qu* ourai la veyray
Car ton trop QMtrat terraa Ineoch.
Died que ttt tout quant Ten e vay,
E forma qnett' amour loencfa,
My don ooder al cor, car hay
Eipei, Teierl' amour de luendi.
SMnonr, tenet my pet veray
L' amour qu' ay rtn ella de lumch,
Car per un ben que m'en eibsy
Hai mille mali, taut toy de luench.
Jad' aatr' amoun aou jaunray,
S' ycu non iau deit' amour ae luench
Qu' na plui bella non en «ay,
En luec que lia, ny prea, ni luench.*
Which Rymer has thus traDslated : —
Sad and heary should I part,
But for thii love to far away ;
Not knowing what my wayi may thwart,
My native timd lo far away.
Thon that of all thingt maker art,
And form 'at thii love so far away ;
Give body's itrEugth, then shan't I itart
From seeing her ao far away.
How true a love to pure desert,
My love to her eo far away !
Eaa'd once, a thou«and time* I imart,
Whilst, ah ! she ia lo far away.
None other love, none other dart
1 feel, but hcr's so far away,
But hirer never touch'd an heart,
Than her'i that it so far away.f
The emperor Frederic I., or, as he ia otherwiae
called, Frederic Barbaroaaa, is also celebrated for his
poetical talents, of which tJie following madrigal hi
the Provea;*! dialect is given as a spedmea :^—
Plas my cavallier Francei
E la dania Catallana
E r onrar del Gynoes
E la conr de Kastellana :
Lou kantar Provenaallei,
E la dania Triuyiana.
E lou corps Araeonaei,
Et la perla Juiliana,
Las mani e kara d' Angle*,
E lou doniel de Thuscana.!
Which Rymer says is current eyery where, and >»
thus translBted by himself : —
I like in France the chivaby,
The Catalonian lais for me ; '
The Genoese for working well ;,
But for a court commend Cai^^:
For song no countrey to Provance,
And Treves must carry't for a dance.
The finest shapes in Arragon,
In Juliers they speak in tone,
The English for an hand and faco,
For boys, troth, Tuscany'* the place.)
CoBceming this priitce, it ia related, that he wis of
• ConninK. daHi Valpf Paidi, vol. 11. put I. ft- "■
t Skoit Tin (f Tnc. pw 71.
t Cmbdi. delta Volnr Foan, ni. II. put I. ft- ■<-
f Shim Vinr tl Tnc^r, ftf. ».
«)1
an invincible courage, of which he gave many signal
instances in the wars against the Turks, commenced
by the Christians for the recovery of the Holy Land.
He was elected emperor in the year 1163, and having
reigned about thirty-eight years, waa drowned as bo
was bathing in the Cydnus, a river in Asia Minor,
issuing out of Mount Taurus, esteemed one of the
coldest in the world ||
Abnaldo Dakikllo, another of the Provenfab
fiourished about the year 1169, and is greatly cele-
brated by Nostradamus and his commentator Cres*
cimheni : he compoeed many comedies and tragediee.
It is said that Petrach has imitated him in many
places ; and that Daniello not only was a vmter of
sonnets, madrigals, and other verses, bnt that be com-
posed the music to many of them. As a proof whereof
the following passages are cited : —
Gar si volei gracir lo son, e 1 moa [cOi la i .. ._
Pauc pres Arnaut eui qe plat, o que tire.
Which Creecimbem thus tianslatw, —
Mia eanion, v rego, non vi ria in noia
Che se graoir volete il suono, e 'I motto ;
Cui piaeua, o n6, appretia poco Amaldo.
And Hub other,^
Ges per maltrag qem sofri
De ben amar nen destoli
Si tot me son endesert
Per lei fax lo sea el rima.
ThoB translated by Crescimbeni, —
Gii per mal tratto ch' io sofTeisi
Di ben amar non mi distolsi
Si tosto, eh' io mi tono in solitudiue.
Per lei faccio lo suono, e la rima.**
One proof of Amaldo Danielle's reputation as a
poet is, tliat Petrarch taking occasion to mention
Amaldo di Maraviglia, another of the Provencals,
styles him ' D men famoso Amaldo,' meaning thereby
to give the former a higher rank in the class of poets.
Many others, as namely, Gnglielmo Adimaro,
Folchetto da Marsiglia, Kaimondo di Miraralle,
Aneelmo Faidit, Arnaldo di Maraviglia, Ugo Bru-
nette, Pietro Raimondo il Prode, Ponzio di Bmello,
Rambaldo d' Oranges, Salvarico di Malleone, an
English gentleman, fionifaiio Calvi, Percivalle Dona,
Giraldo di Bomello, Alberto di Sisterone, Bernardo
Rascasso, Pietro de Bonifaii, and others, to the amount
of some hundreds in number, occur in the catalogue
of Proven9al poeta, an epithet which was given to
them, not becanse they were of that conntry, for they
were of many conntriee, bnl becaoae they coltivated
that species of poetry which had its rise in Provence :
nor were they less distingnisbed by their different
tanks and conditions in life, than by the respective
places of their nativity. Some were men of quality,
such as counts and barons, others knights, some law-
yeT^ some sohiiera, others merchants, nay some were
mechanics, and even pilgrims.
All these were favoured with the protection, Bad
I It II
of which hli ph^iiclu Philip CB
<l(u PoHls, ToL II. part I. PK. M
dbyGoo^le
196
BISTORT OF THE SGIENOE
BookV
many of them were maintained in the court of Baimondo
Berlinghieri, or Berioghieri, for the orthography of
his name is a matter of qoeetioD.* This prince, who
waa the son of Idelfonao king of Arragon, was him-
self an excellent poet, of great liberality, and a patron
of learning and ingenione men. The following is the
account given of him hy NoBtradamne : —
' Raimondo Berlinghieri connt of Provence and of
' FolcBchiero, son of Idelfonso, king of Arragon, vrae
'adescendantof the family of Berlinghieri of Arragon.
' He waa a good Froveojal poet, a lover of learned
' men, and of those in particular that could write in
' the Provencal manner ; a prince of great gentleness
' and benignity, and withal so fortunate, that while he
' held the crown, which he succeeded to on the death
' of hie father, he conquered many conntriea, and
' that more by his prudence than by the force of his
' arms. He married Beatrice, the daughter of Thomas
' count of Savoy, a very wise, beautiful, and virtnons
' princes*, in praise of whom many of the Provens*l
' poets composed songs and sonnets, in recompence
' for which she presented them with arms, rich
' hahilimenta, and money. By this lady the count had
' four daughters, beautiful, wise, and virtuous, all of
' whom wers married to kings and sovereign princes,
' by means of a discreet man named Borneo, who
■ governed the palace of Raimondo a long time : the
' first of these ladies, named Margarita, was marrie I
' to Lewis king of France ; the second, named
' BleoDora, to Henry the Third, or, as others write,
' to Edward king of England ; the third, named
' Sanchia, was married to that Richard king of Eng-
' land, who was afterwards king of the Romans ; and
' the last, named Beatrice, who by her father's will
' was declared heiress of Provence, was married to
'Charles of Anjou, afterwards king of Naples and
' Sicily.' t It is B«d of Raimondo, that besides many
' other instances of favour to the poets of his time and
' country, he exempted them from the payment of
' all taxes, and other impositions of a like natQre.t
' He diei^ at the age of forty-seveu, in the year of our
'Lord 1246.
The above is the substance of the account ^ren by
Nostradamus, and other writers, of this extraordinary
personage ; and hitherto we may consider him as a
shining example of those virtues which contribute to
adorn an elevated station ; but his character is not
free from blemish, and be is not leas remarkable in
• Fsnlaninl maDlliuii iivticaUrir dd fcwar ttam Bit of th* nun* i
tbe ptnoD hen ipokm gf it Uie Uil of Iheiii. DtOt Eloqnuu II^lu*,
!• commenulot Cinrimliwil li«w >«nj»d
* inoit noH IfnDnnca at hlitoiy In Dili puugs : li li tst tnit ilut
Kdmond hid taut daufhlen, ud Itat tbtj were muiled to rniii klufi :
Bennmrls oi BennKiwIli. Singhin of Sancbo of Utttm, ind. u
lhB)r Wffre Ihua diipoaed at: — Uurwt iru mvried to Lewlj king <^
Romuie. and nephev to RIchuil kliu of Eiurlud : uid Butrics lo
Cbulo king oT K<ipl« nod Slcllj.
I It eeemt Ihit (hiae men wen u nil knlfthti u pHU. Bn vkich
rruoB their palmn ud Ihcr hme been menibled to kls( Arthui uid
Uikolffaleo/ Ibe Round Tabte. Ponlu. delliEloqu. luL pef. C3.
history for his munificence than his ingratitude ; of
which the following curious story, related hy Vela-
tello. and hy Crescimheni, inserted in his annotation!
on the life of Rumondo Berlinghieri by Nostradamue,
may serve as an instance: — §
' The liberality of Baimondo, for which he is so
' celebrated, hod r^uced him to the necessity of
' mortgaging his revenues ; and at a time when his
' finances were in great disorder, a pilgrim, the above-
' named Romeo, who had travelled from the extremity
' of the West, and had visited the church of St Jiunea
' of Compostella, arrived at bis court ; and having by
' his discreet behaviour acquired the esteem and con*
■fidence of Raimondo, the latter consulted him on
'the state of his affairs, and particularly touching
' the means of disencumbering his revenues. The
' result of many conferences on this important snbject
' was, a promise on the part of the pilgrim to reform
' his household, reduce the expenses of his govem-
' ment, and deliver the count from the hands of
' usurers, and other persons who had incumbrances
' on his estates and revenues. The connt listened very
' attentively to this proposal, and finally committed
' to Romeo the care of his most important concerns,
' and even the superintendence of his house and
' family ; and in the discharge of his engagements
' Romeo effected more than he had promised. It has
' already been mentioned that Raimondo had no other
' issue than the four daughters above-named, and it
' was by the exquisite prudence and good manage-
' ment of this stranger that they were married to so
' many sovereign princes. The particulars of a con-
' versation between the count and Borneo, tonching
■ the marriage of these ladies, is recorded, and show
'him to have been of siogalar discretion, an able
' negociator, and, in short, a man thoroughly skilled
' in the affairs of the world : for, vrith respect to the
' eldest daughter Margarita, he proposed to the count
' the marriage of her to Lewis the Good, king of
' France, and effected it by raising for her a mnch
' larger portion than Baimond ever intended to give
' her, or his circumBtances would bear : the reason
' which Romeo gave for this is worth recording ;
" If," said be to die count, "your eldest daughter be
" married to Lewis, such an alliance cannot ful to
" facilitate the marriage of the rest ; " and the event
' showed how good a judge he waa in such matters.
'The barons and other great persons about the
'count could neither behold the services nor the
' success of Romeo without envy ; they insinuated
'to the count that he bad embezzled the public
' treasure. Raimond attended to tbelr suggeetions,
'and colled him to a strict account of his odmi-
'nistration, which when he had rendered, Romeo
' addressed the count in these pathetic terms: 'Count,
" I have served you a long time, and have increased
"your little revenue to a gi^at one; you have lis-
" tened to the bad counsel of your barons, and have
"been deficient in gratitude towards me; I came
" into your court a poor man, and lived honoetiy
" with you ; return me the little Mule, the Staff, and
dbyGoo*^le
Chaf. XLUL
AND PRACnCE OF MUSIC.
197
" the Pouch, which I brought with me hither, and
" never more aspect any service from me."*
' Consciona of the justness of this reproach,
' Raimondo desired that what had past might be
' forgotten, and intreated Romeo to lay aside bis
' resolution of quitting his court ; but the spirit of
■ this honest man was too great to btook such treat-
' ment ; he departed as be came, and was never more
' heard oV
Few of the many authors who have taken occasion
to mention this remarkable story, have forborne to
blame Baimondo for bis ii^ratitude to a man who
had merited not only bis protectiou, but the highest
marks of bis favonr. The poet Dante hae censored
bim for it, and borne bis testimony to the deserts of
the person thus tnjored by bim, by placing him in
paradise ; and considering how easy it was Co have
done it, it was almost a wonder that he did not place
hie master in a leu deligbtfiil situation.
The paasage in Dante is ss follows: —
E dentro k la presenle Margarita
Luce la luce di Romeo ; di eui
Fu 1' opra gnnde, e bells mal gradits.
Mai PniTeniali, che Ter contra lui,
Non hanno rito : e perA mal camina,
Qaal ri fa danno del Dcn fare altnii.
Qusttro fislie hebbe, e ciasenna reina,
Ramonifo BcringUeri j e ciA gli feci
Romeo persona humil a e peregrins :
E poi '1 moaser le parole bieca
A' iiim»nit«T ragione k queito giuito ;
Che gli anegno sette, e cinque per dieci :
Indi partisd povero, e retuito :
E H 1 raondo Mpeete '1 cor, ch' egli hebbe
Mendicando sua vita i fruitro k fhutro ;
Assai lo loda, e plil lo loderebbe.f
Many are the stories related of the Provenftl
poets ; sad tbere is great reason to sn^ct that the
history of them abounds with fables. The collection
of their lives by Noetradamos is far from being
ft book of the highest authority, and, but for the
Commentary of OrescimbeniiWoold be of little valne:
the Ubonn of these men have nevertheless con-
tributed to throw some light on a very dark part of
literary history, and have fumished some particulars
which better writers than themselves seem not to
have been aware of.
From snch a source of poetical fiction as tba
coontry of Provence appears to have been, nothing
lees oould be expected than a vast profusion of
romances, tales, poems of various kinds, songs, and
other works of invention : it has already been men-
tioned that some of the first and best of the Italian
poets did bnt improve on the bints which they had
received from the Provencals. Mr. Dryden is of
opinion that the celebrated story of Qnaltems, mar-
quis of Ssluzzo, and Griseldo, b of the invention of
Petrarch; but whether it be not originally a Pro-
ven^ tale, may admit of doubt : for first Mr.
Dryden's aaaertion in the preface to bis Fables,
namely, that the tale of Grizzild was the invention
of Petrarch, is founded on a mistake; for it is the
last story in the Decameron, and was translated b^
Petrarch into Latin, but not till he had received it
from his friend Bo(»!«ce. This appears clearly from
a letter of Petrarch to Boccace, extant in the Latin
works of the former, and which has been lately
reprinted as an appendix to a modern Bnglish version
of this beantiful story by Mr. Ogle : this ingenious
gentleman has taken great pains to trace the origin
of the Clerk of Oxford's tale, for in that form the
story of Qriselda comes to the mere English reader ;
and every one that views his preface must concur in
opinion with him, that it is of higher antiquity than
even the time of Boccace; and is one of those
Proven^ tales which he is supposed to have ompli-
fied and adorned with his nsool powers of wit and
elegance. This latter part of Mr. Dryden's ssserdon,
which is 'that the tale of Grizsild came to Chaucer
from Boccace,' is not less true than the former ; for
it was from Petrarch, and that immediately, that
Chaucer received the story which is the subject of
the present inquiry. In the Clerk of Oxenford's
Prologue is this passage : —
I mil you Cell i die, whiche chit I
Leia«d at Pidaw, of l worthy derke.
A> pnued 11 by hit wordn uid hit werlce.
He H naw deed, ind niiled in hij chelte,
I pnye to God iende bii fouie good tefle.
Ftuncei PeCrirki, che Liureit poele,
Higbc thii clerki. whofe rhetorike fwete
InluDiined all iQlie of poccrie,
A> Uuiao did of philolbpbie.
Or bwe, or other arte perticalere ;
But delh, chac woU noc fulfre ui dwcllu here.
But nit were the Cwiokling of an eye.
Hem both batb Aaine, and il we llul dye.
This is decisive evidence that Chancer took the
tale from Petrarch, and not from Boccace : it is
certain that Petrarch was so delighted with it, that
be got it by heart, and was used to repeat it to bis
friends. In the Latin letter above referred to, be
mentions bis having shewn it to a Mend abroad;
Chancer is ssid to have attended the duke of Clarence
upon the ceremony of bis marriage with the daugh-
ter of the duke of Milan ; and Paulus Jovius ex-
pressly says that Petrarch vrae present upon that
occasion rf might not therefore Chancer at this time
receive, and that from Petrarch himself, that narrative
which is the foundation of the Clerk of Oxenford's
tale?
To be short, the Provencals were the fathers of
modem poesy, and if we consider that a great num-
ber of their compositions were calculated to be sung,
OS the appellation of ConEom, by which they are
distinguisned, imports; and, if we consider further
tlie several occupations of their Mnsars and Violars.
it cannot be supposed but that they were also pro-
dbyGooi^lc
198
HISTORY OP THE 80IEN0E.
Booc V.
fidenla in mnaio ; nay, we find that many of their
poets were also muBidsns ; and of Arnaldo Daniello
it is expressly said, and proved by a passage above-
dted from his works, that he was a composer of
music, and adapted moBical notes to muiy 8ong« of
his own writing
These particnlars afford Bnfficient reason to believo
that the Proven9als were as well mnaictans as poets;
but to speak of them as musicians, there are forther
evidences extent that they were not only singers
and players on the viol, the harp, the lute, and other
instruments, hot composers of musical tunes, in such
charACters as were used in those times. Grescimheni
speaks of a manascript in the Vatican library, in the
charactera of the fourteenth century, in which were
written a great number of Cansoni of the Frovengal
poets, together with the musical notes ; one of these,
composed by Theobald king of Navarre, of whom
it is said Uiat he was equally celebrated both as
a prince and a poet, is given at page 186 of this
work ; and may be deemed a great curiosity, as
being perhaps the most ancient eong with the
musical notes of any extant, since the invention o{
that method of notation eo justly ascribed to Gnido
uid Franco of Liege.
CHAP. XLIV.
One of the most obvious divisions of the moric of
later times, is that which dietingoishes between re-
ligiooa and dvU or secular mnsic ; or, in other words,
the muMC of the church and tbat of the common
people : the former waa cultivated by the ecclesiastics,
and the latter chiefly by the laity, who at no time can
be supposed to have been so iusensible of its charms,
ae not to make it an auxiliary to festivity, and an
innocent incentive to mirth and plessantry. Not <uily
in the palaces of the nobility : at weddings, banquets,
and other solemnities, may we conceive music to have
made a part of the entertainment; bnt the natural
intercommunity of persons in a lower statioD, espe-
dally the youthful of both sexes, does necesaarily
presnppoee it to have been in frequent use among
them also. Farther, we learn that music in those
times made a considerable part of the entertainment
of such as frequented taverns and houses of low
resort. Behold a picture of his own times in the
following verses of Chaucer : —
In Fliundtn whilom there wu a compiiij
[c folk, tbat haunted fbly.
These were the divertisements of the idle and
the profligate ; bnt the passage above-cited may
serve to shew that the music of Lntee, of Harps, and
Citterns, even in those days was usual in taverns.
As to the music of the court, it was clearly such as
the Froveufals used ; and as to the persons employed
in the performance of it, they had no other denomi-
nation than that of minstrels. We are told by Stow
that the priory of St Bartholomew, in Smithfield,
was founded about the year 1103, by Rahere,* a
pleasant, witty gentleman, and therefore in hie time
called the king's minstrel. Weaver, in his Funeral
Monuments, pag. 433. Dugdale, in his Monsaticon,
vol. II. fol. 166, 167, gives tliie further account of
him : — ' That he was bom of mean parentage, and
' that when he attained to the flower of his yonth he
'frequented the houses of the nobles and princes;
' but not content herewith, would often repair to
' court, and spend the whole day in eights, banquets,
' and other trifles, where by sport and flattery he
' would wheedle the hearts of the great lords to him,
' and sometimes would thmst himself into the pre-
■ sence of the king, where he would be very officious
' to obtun his royal bvour ; and that by these
' artifices he gained the manor of Aiot, tn Hertford-
' shire, with which he endowed his hospital.' f In
the Pleasannt History of Thomas, (J Reading, qoartn,
1662, to which perhaps no mora credit is due uian to
mere oral tradition, he is also mentioned, with this
additional circumstance, that be was a great mneicion,
and kept a company of minetrels, i. e., fiddlers, who
pUyed with silver bows.
These particulars it is true, as they respect the
cecouomy of courts, and the recreations and amnsa-
ments of the higher ranks of men in cities and places
of great resort, contain but a partial representation of
the manners of the people in general ; and leave ns
" The eurfoiu Lnmatun of antiquity inBjpouIblrtHpliaadtekilow
fhat a monument of ihl* crtrvoTdinuT pFnan, oot Id Ibfl leut ile&cnl,
tMjei icmidning la IhepiHih church of St. Bartbolomei', lo SmllhleliL
Thll moaumcDI <wmm piobiblj cncled bj BolUm, lh« lul prt« If tlul
liouH, amu Ttmaikalile for Ibe steal lumf nf irmneTwhlFbliaHpcnded
d ecUuTid the prior
Al hafard, t
Where at with hai|iei, lulo, ai
Tbei daunccn and pliiin at die
And eten alfo, OTcr tbat bet a
nd nwdnd and ealaned the priory at
neraJ munlllcenee. Ha vaa panon of
of MUdlmx. utiHb Hulah la Hi
aodbaiachureh, irhlcb Un( Cbaila (bi
topic* In the Romlih controTertr, *lt]
Vbfbla chntcb. Hall nlala Itau Bolu
Iba hlftaol hai In tb
Second, alludlns to o
night..
.. ritJTu lUBtisn that bo biiOded no
boute al tiajTov aaTe a Dore-boun. One partleuiar man of prior
Ballon! we m*et wllh 1 dlitct alluilon to blm In tbi fttUowloi pauan
Id lb> K*w Inn, a corned; of Ben JouDn :—
' Or prior Bolton with bli Bolt and Tan.'
Tbe bolt la debitins with hlmicK on a rctaut toi Ihe ilfn of bb Idb, and
havlna detsmlned on one> the Ufht Heart, Inrbnatei tbat 11 U aa fo ~
a dt^ ai that of thn Boll and Ton, wtaloh had bHn nxd to bean*
Ibe BBme of prior Bolton. Thli reini wat till of la
Her otliei ben fa jrcat and fo dampnablc,
Tbat it ii gri% for to here hem Iwere,
Our bliiTed lordei bodj tbey al to ten
Hem thought Jewi rent him not inough,
And ecbe nf bem at otben Snne lough.
And right anon conKn in tombleftcrei,
Fetn lod fmale and yonge fbiterei,
Snien with bupe), bauda, and walcren,
WUchc that bcD Tcceljr the dcuih ofiicen.
pAUKnu'i Talk.
bolt
Winfyng (he wai at i) a iolio colt.
Long a) a malt and upright a> a bolt.
where tpeabi of the arrow* of Cnpld. ai
callB then Blrd-bolla. The proverbial eintraiaiDb, "
•boC.' Ilia lb* month of oriTyanei and In oemaa
I TU* CbauUMT'i HUtoiT of BeitfMdalili*, paf- HI.
dbyGoot^le
Ch*p. XLIV.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
at a loss to giuees bow far mmic made a part in the
ordinary amnsenientB of the people ia coantry towna
and villages. But here it ig to be observed that at
the period of which we are now speaking, namely,
that between the beginning of the twelfth, and the
middle of the thirteenth century, this oonntry, not to
mention others, aboonded with monaateriee, and other
reiigiona booses ; and although these seminaries were
originally founded and endowed for the purpose of
promoting religion and learning, it was not with an
equal degree of ardonr that the inbabitanta of them
Btrove to answer the ends of so laudable an insti*
tntion. Had the temptations to the monastic life
been of such a kind as to affect only the devont, or
those who preferred the practice of religion and tlie
study of improvement to every other pursuit, all bad
been well ; hut the mischief was that they drew in
the young, the gay, and the amorous : and such as
thought of nothing so little aa counting thur roeary,
or conning their psalter ; can it be supposed that in
such a monastery as that of St Alban, Glastonbury,
Croyland, Bermondsey, Chertaey, and many others,
in which perhaps half the brethren were under thirty
years of age, that the Scriptures, the Fathers, or the
Schoolmen, were the books chiefly studied ? or that
the charms of a village beauty might not frequently
direct their attention to those authors who teach the
shortest way to a female heart, and have reduced the
passion of love to a system ?
The manners of the people at this time were in
general very coarse, and from the nature of the civil
constitution of this country, many of the females were
in a state of absolute bondage : a connection with a
damsel of this stamp hardly deserved the name of on
Amour ; it waa an intimacy contracted without
thoiight or reflection. But between the daughter of
M Villain, and the heiress of an Esqnire or Franklein,
the difference was very great ; these latter may be
supposed to have entertained sentiments suitable to
their rank ; and to engage the affections of such as
these, the arts of address, and all the blandishments
of love were in a great measure necesaary. The wife
of the carpenter Osney, of whom Chaucer baa given
the following lively description, —
Fain wu iMi jmng ink, and then withal
Al any wilclc hn
Afcin
: Ac wnred, binnl all with Gike,
t clodi, u white
nillu:
Upon htr Icndn, full of many a gore,
Whit wu bcr linock, and embrouded ill talon.
And eke behinde on her colcn about.
Of cole bbcke £lke, within and eke without g
The tipei of her white Tolipere
Were of the fame fute of her colore,
H«T filet brade of Glke, and fet flill bye
And Cckerly, Ihe had a likeroui iye ;
Full fmall ipulled weie her browei two.
And tbo were beat, and black ai any Ho.
She wai mocbe more blilifull for to fee
Then
■ them
ePerien
And foAtr tbaa the wall ii of a weather.
And by hn gicdel bong a putle of leather,
Tailed with Slke, and perlcd with latoun,
In all Ihii worlde, to feken up and doun,
There nil no man lb wile, that eootb thci
So pie a popelole, or lb gale i wencht ;
Full brighter «<• the Ihinyng of ber hewc,
Than in the toure the Noble forged newe.
But of bet fong, it wat fo loud and yeme,
Al any fwalowe fittynge on a betne i
Thereto Ihe couthe Ikippe. and make a gUM
Al any kidde ot calie fiilowyng hia dame {
Her mouih wai fwete, a> braket or the meth,
Or botde of applei, lying in haie or beth |
Winlyng Ihe waa, aa it ■ iolie cole,
Long a> a malle, and upright aa a bolt.
A braocbe Ihe bare oa her lowe eolert,
At brode ai the bollc of ■ bucklert ;
Her Ihoet were laced on ber legget hje
She wat a primrole and piggefnte,
For any lorde to Tiggen in hit bedde.
Or yet fiir any good yoman to wedde. — HtLLaa'S Tile.
is courted with songs to the music of a gay sautrie,
on which her lover Nicholas the scholar of Oxford
- - - - made on nigbtei melodic
So fwtlely that all the chamber rong,
And jtwptiB aJ firgmm h* Cmg,
And alter that he fong ibe kynget note,
Full oft bleOed wat hit mciy throle — Ibid.
Her other lover, Ahsolon, the parish-clerk sung to
the music of his geteme and his ribible, or fiddle.
His picture is admirably drawn, and his manner of
oonrtahip thus represented by Chaucer : —
A metie cbilde he wu, fo Ood me laue,
Well coud be let blood, dippc and Oiaue,
And make a chatter of lond, and acquittauncl ;
In twentie manor could be trippe and dauoce,
Afler the Ichole of DienAirde iho,
And with bii leggea caften to and iio
And plale Confa on a fmale ribible ; f
Therco he fang fometyme a loude quinihlcf
And at well coud be plaie on a geteme,
In all the loune nil ntwhonle ne tauemt
That he ne Tifiled with hii folu,
There any gaie tipftere wax. * • •
Thii Abiolon that wu ioily and gaie,
Coeth with a cenfet on a Sondaie,
Cenfyng the wiuei of the pariOie fifte,
And many a louely look on hem he calle.
And namely on thii carpenten vrife
To look on ber hym thought i meiie lift.
Shew
and fwei
weU bine
And he a catte, he would hire her bent anoi
Thii puiAe cteike, ihii ioily Abfolon,
Hath in hit han* toch a loue longying.
That of no urife he tooke none offeiyng,
For cuiteGe he fiied he would none.
The moone, when it wu night, blight Ihone,
hit OlotHTT to Chanoi
qnbitui qutnlbli mar pmilti^ be derliHl ; aiiillbU (• Ibe more pnibabli
KOHDI irin faeniftn be glTen, the acnrdi Fur ihc qualrlMI light an
ennraeratod; and qoatiltd will bardlir b« Ibought i wider derlallgi
■IlKia. PH^
If prlBl. Burr, of London, wlih Addltlmi by Slinw, book IIL
dbyGoot^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book V.
And AbTulon tiU Gettcnt* hith itake,
For panmoun he (bought Ibr lo wake,
And tODith he goeth. jclout and imeroui,
Till he came lo [fac cirpcnCer'i horn
A little alter the cockea had Icrow,
And drefled him by a Ihat windowe
That VM upon the clqKnOr'l wall :
He fingeth in hi> voice gentle and Anall,
Now deie ladic, if thy will be
I praie you that ye would rewe on me.
Full well icdordyng to hit Getemyng.
Thii carpenteie awoke and heard him (yng. — Hud.
His manner of courtship, and the arts be made nse
of to gain the (avour of bis mistresa, ara farther
related in the folloving lines : —
Fro dale to daie, thit Joily Abfolon
So mxth her, thai bym wai wo bygoa )
He waketh all the nisht, and all the daie.
He kembcth hu lockel brode, and made him gate j
He woctfa her by meanet and brocage.
And Twore that he would been her owoe page.
He Singeth brokkyug al a nightingale.
And wafr« piping hotle out of the gltde,
And for She wai of toon, he protered her mede ;
For fame folks wolle be wonac for richeOe,
And fome (be Ankei, and fome with genCcnefle. — Ibid.
If EO many arts were neceaury to wia the heart
of the youthful wife of a carpenter, what may we
suppose were practised to obtain the affections of
females in a higher station of life? Who were qua*
lified to compose verses, songs, and sonnets, bnt
S'oung men endowed with a competent share of
earning? and' who were so likely to compose musical
tunes as those who had the means of acquiring the
rudimenU of the science in those fraternities of which
they were severally members, and in which they
were then only taught ? Even the satires and bob-
bing rhymes, as Camden calls them, of those days,
though they were levelled at the vices of the clergy,
were written by clergymen. Lydgate was a monk
of Bury, and Walter de Uapes, of whom Camden
relates Uiat in the time of king Henry the Second
be filled all England with his merriments, was arch-
deacon of Oxford. He in truth was not so much
a satirist on the vices of other men, as an apologist
for his own, and these by his own confession were
intemperance and lewdness ; which he attempts to
excuse in certain Latin verses, which may be found
in the book entitled Remains concerning Britain.
From these particulars, and indeed from the gene-
ral ignorance of the laity, we may &irly conclude
that the knowledge of music was in a great measure
confined to the clergy ; and that they for the most
part were the authors and composers of those Songs
and Ballads with the bines adapted to them, which
were the ordinary amusements of the common peo-
pie ; and these were as various in their kinds as the
genius, temper, and qualifications of their authors.
ISome were nothing more than the legends of ealntd,
in such kind of metre as that in which the Chronicles
of Robert of Gloucester and of Peter Langtoft and
others are written ; others were metrical romances ;
others were songs of piety and devotion, but of snch
a kind, as is hard to conceive of at this time. And
here it is to be noted, that as the Psalms were not
then translated into the vulgar tongue, the common
people wanted much of that comfort and solaoe,
which they administred to our great grandmothers ;
and that in those times the principal exercises of
a devout heart were the singing such songs as are
above-mentioned. These had frequently for their
subject the sufferings of the primitive christians, or
the virtnes of some particular saint, but much oftner
an exhortation from Christ himself, represented in
the pangs of his crucifixion, adjuring his hearers by
the nails which fastened his hands and feet, by the
crown of thoma on his head, by the wound in bia
side, and all the calamitous circomstances of bia
passion, to pity and love him. Of the compositiona
of this kind the following is an authentic specimen : —
Wof^lly arayd
My blod man lor the ran,
Yt may not be aiyed.
My body btoo and wan,
WoAilly aiayd.
Behold me 1 pny the
With all thy hool refon
And be not lb hard hartyd.
For thyt enchefon:
Sylb 1 for thy fowli &kr,
Wai fUyn in gode fefon,
Begyld and betriyd
By Judai All trefon.
, Unkyndly entietyd
With Iharp cord fore ftettyd.
The Jewn me thretyd.
They niowed they gymed i
They Icomed me.
Condemned to deth,
Al thou mayft fee,
Wofiilly »ayd.
Tbui niyked im I nayled,
O man for thy Take,
I lore thee then love me.
Why flepilt (hou f amke.
Remember my tender hait rote
For the Indce.
What payni
Conltraynd n> crake,
Thui tuggyd to and tro,
Thui wnppyed all in woo.
In moit cruel wyfe.
Like a lambe oSei^d in laciiGce,
Woliitly anyd.
Oriharpe thorn I have vrome
A croune on my bed
So payned.
So lliayned.
So rewfully red,
Tbu bobbld,
Thui robiid,
Thui fijt thy lone dede
En&ynd.
Not deynyd
My blod for to Ihed.
My feet and bandi liir^
The fturdy nayli bore.
What might I fuSer more
Than I hiTc done O man (at tbil
Cum when ye lyft,
Welcumwme;
My bloud man for the ranne.
My body bloo and wanne,
Wofiilly arayd.f
t SkaHsa, In hli p>
Hi the Gnwn oT LannU, al
dbyGoo^le
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
am.
CHAP. XLV.
In ft manuBcnpt, of which a full accotint will ba
given hereafter, u ancient u the year 1326, mention
IB made of ballads and roundelays; these were no
other than popular souga, and we find that Chancer
himaelf composed many such. Stow collected his
ballads, and they were publiehed for the first time in
an edition of Chaucer printed hy John Kyngston in
1561 ; * they are of various kinds, some moral, others
descriptive, and others satirical.
One John Shirley, who lived about 1440, made
a Urge collection, consistiDg of many volumes of
compositions of this kind by Chaucer, Lydgate, and
other writers. Btowe had once in his posaessiou one
' of these volumes, entitled ' A Boke cleped the ab-
'stracta breyyairo, compyled of diverse balades,
'ronndets, virilays.f tragedyes, envoys, complaints,
'moralities, storyes practysed, and eke devysed and
'ymagined, as it sheweth here folio wyng, collected
'by John Shirley,*! which is yet extant, and remains
part of the Ashmolean collection of manuscripte;
and the late Mr. Ames had in bis possession a folio
volume of ballads in manuscript, composed by one
John Lncas, about the year 1150, which is probably
yet in being.
There are hardly any of the tunes of these ancient
ballads but must be supposed to be irretrievably lost.
One indeed to that in Chaucer's works, beginning,
' I have a lady,' is to be fonnd in a vellum manu-
script, formerly in the hands of Dr. Robert Fairfax,
mentioned in Morley's Catalogue, who lived abont
1500, and which afterwards became part of the col-
lection of Mr. Ralph Thoresby, snd is mentioned in
the list of his cariosities, at the end of his History
of Leeds; the tune was composed by Comysh, who
lived temp. Hen. VIII., bat then the ballad itself is
not BO old as is pretended, for in the Life of Chancer,
prefixed to Urry's edition, it is proved to have beea
written after bis death.
Nor, which is much to be lamented, have we any
dance-tunes so ancient as the year 1400. The oldest
country -dance-tune now extant being that known by
the name of Bellenger's, i. e. 8t Leger's Round,
which may be traced back to nearly the time of
Hen. VIII., for Bird wrought it into a virginal -lesson
for lady Nevil :§ that they must have had such sort
of musical compositions, and those regular ones, long
before, is in the highest degree probable, since it is
certain that the measures of time were invented and
reduced to rule at least before the year 13iO, which
MOf In ( muiiwr tint hdi to ladlisu Oui 1[ wh of hli w
•« bli pooBi, llmt. 17M. fMf. M.
• TUt b tti« tdUkn nfCmd to
1 Raaodd uid VlrDir ua wdrI
nppDted tv tifnity u ruttic iimi a
wlita tlili dlflkrcng*. Uh roandtl tr
■ODtBier, the rtriUf li undar dv »»
t Vld. Tun. Btbllolh. ft- «M.
I TIM kiMvledffl of (bit Iket it derlrid ftem
TotanM fet eitAnt, conEffniiLg ft nvLt Runiber of Iffunt ■
Bird : th> book It In the liftndwrUIni of John Bildwini. o
Swi>OTdi,'Mr I«rdeNtTell'i'i>a<At''LmprnKdb>(^ldl«iUnon tbB
liftilan H U to bo tnppoKd (tul tbo book Ittelf wtt t pmvnt from BM
hlMialf M Itdj t)«ll, vbo fntof mlfhi lura bttn hit Hhalftr,
is more than half a century earlier, and consequently
that the musicians of that time had the same means
of composing them as we have now.
The most ancient English song with the mnsical
notes perhaps any where extant, is now in the British
Museum, concerning which Mr. Wanley, who was as
good a mosician as he was a judicious collector, has
given this account in that part of the Catal<^e of
the Uarleian Manuscripts, which he himself drew up. [j
'AiUiphona Pbufick zp'ti(»la, Jfiniatia Lit'
'terU tcripta; eupra qxtam, tot SylJaUt, nigra
'Airamento teu comtnuni, cemvntur Verba Ati-
'gliaa, cunt Noti» Mutudt, A quatvor Cantoriims
^seriatim atg ; timul Canenda. Hoc genue Con-
' trapuncfwnu live Compositionit, Canombh vacant
' Mutici modemi; Anglki (eum verba, ticut in
'preesenti Cantico, tint omnino ludicra) A Citch ;
' vetuttiffribut verd, uti ex prtenenH Codvx wdere
' eit, nuncupabatvr Rota. Hanc Rotah cantare
' possunt quatuor Socij ; a paucioribns autem quam
'a Tribus, vel Saltem Duobus, non debet did, preter
' eoe qui dicnnt Pbdkil Canitur autem sic ; Tacen-
'tibos ceteris, nuns inchoat cum bijs qui tenent
* Fbdbm, et cnm venerit ad primam Notam jpost
' Cnicem, indioat alius; et eic de ceteris, SicJoL 9. b.
' Notandvm etiam, hoe Ivdicra Cantionit apud
' Anglot, Seguli* quogua Muticet quodam modo
' tutricta, amtd in luper JAngud exkibita, Exem.
'piar eue omniwn quce adhuc mVn videre amtiget
' Antiquiinmum.
The following is an exact copy of the song above
described, with the directions for singing it: —
SUUERIs t oDinen b, LhadeslDgCnccii,
Ptr-*pi-et Arii-li -to - la gw dig-na - c> • V,
groiT«thsBed and blowcth mead, and qningtli the wdenn,
iM-b'-wu a- jpi -co - la pn ri - lit et - ct - o,
Bul-lao iteTtcth, Bucks vert-eth, ma-ris aiag «ae.en,
Qma^'H-vat, Sl-mi-ti-vet, a mp-^'-ci-«.
Cuccueooca, ml nngs thu cucca.nBnriklhanaverDn.
Vi-U domal, tt ucamea-ro-nat in ca • It ta-K-o,
I Tht BDmbR ot rbs muuintpl, tt ii itndi Is iht printed alilafB*,
Uth plMt In Tbl. ni.
dbyGoo*^lc
HIErrOBT OF THE 80IENCX
Bmte rotas coHtora pemM qHatmr Kxii, A patKaorSitit mutem
ONoa a trSmi, vtl talttn daabv, wm dtbtt did, praUr om pd
iamt pidan. Canilur atilan lie ; TrKmlUna caitrii tnui tncAoat
emn Ujt gid ienrtit jttdoa, et cam etneni ad primam nolara pott
opiiMn, iacioal aUut ; a tiedi etterit. Singtii i
/owMWfu* Kripfw, << Hon all* '
It is to be noted that in the Hsrieian MS. the Etnve
on which the above compoBitjon ia written consiats of
red lines, and that the Latin words above given are
of the same colonr, as are also the directions for
singing the Fes, as it is called. Dn Gange voce
Rota, remarks that this word sometiines signifies
a hymn. The words ' Hanc rotam cantare pownnt,'
&c. may tbererore be Bupposed to refer to the Latin
' Perspice Christicola,' and not to the English ' Snmer
' is icumen in,' &c. which latter stand in need of an
explanation, and are probably to be thus rendered : —
Sununer is a-coming in.
Loud ling cuckow.
Oroweth wed,
And bloweth mead; *
And ipring'th the wood new.
Ewe bleateth aftsr lamb,
Loveth aAer calf cow :
Biillock atarteth,
Buck Terte[h,t
Meitj nng cnekow,
Well aing'it thou cuckow,
Nor ceaae to nog [or labour tfay nng] nu [now].!
As to the mnsic, it is clearly of that spedea (^
compoution known by the name of canon in the
Unison. It is calculMed for fonr voices, with the
addition of two for the Pes, ss it is called, which is
a kind of gronnd, and is the basts of the harmony.
Mr. Wanley has not ventured precisely to ascertain
the antiquity of this venerable musical relic, but
the following observations will go near to fix it
to about the middle of the fifteenth century. It liaa
already been shown that the primitive form of poly-
phonous or symphoniac music was counterpoint, i. e.
that kind of composition which consisted in the
opposition of note to note : the invention of the
cantos mensurahiliB made no alteration in this re-
spect, for though it introduced a diversity in the
measores of the notes as they stood related to each
other, the correspondence of long and diort qoantities
was exact and nniform in the several parts.
To coanterpoint succeeded the cantos fignratoa, in
which it is well known that the correspondence, in re-
spect of time, is not between note and note, but rather
between the greater meaaures ; or, to speak with the
modems, between bar and bar, in each part; and
this appean to have been the invmtion of Jobs
Dunstable, who wrote on the cantus mensurabilia,
and died in 14S5, and will be spoken of in his
place. § Now the compoution above given ia
evidently of the fignrate kind, and it follows from
the premises, thst it could not have existed before
the time when John of Donstable appean to have
lived. The structure of it will be b^t nndaratood
fay the following score in the more modem method
of notation : —
=^
*^^
^^
^^=^F¥i^i=^
-l^-^
^
=hp=J4=
^^ SUMEB
\- i
- cu-me
T, in,
Lhude nog Ok ■
1 " « 1 ■ ■ r^
ou.
W.'
o^.«li
SUMEB ii i -
c-™
^
^I4.ud, ■
M-hJ - -1
— ^
SUUER
fri.f 1
_|
_j
H— «■ 1— " '
^
[ — =-
BL.,
ClK
BO,
=h:, '» '
«a,
1 .* ~P
?=St^
Cn.
- cu.
K-g ». -
=^=^
nu.
■i«g
l> (h* ftnovliif RntAtbl* ptMiti. intndad bjr Um ntbix ■• ■■
uawa u Dm qnnUn, ■ftuam didniiu paMleim mulcum I ' ;—
■Sol Mm Mian pnonM oiuiea* apprlmt InUlllclI, MJuxMMnctt,
•« (wna msdnlitiu, Hd qol inopitt bnofl HHtnito Wntiiu, b«tm
— — ,-. -- 'aBtUeu* ndlt, tt BuMIn mm pie TnWum iniHla* mtUiat
pgJnindiatlikMiryimi » twj liwmMrltiJ to »iw*pm», ewimii 'uui. Tilnin ■Ttlflnm UlanMim iiiJiiAniinlii ifpiilliniiM <i«i ilMi
b TboDWi WHikM. oiniibt (f Chkkolu cUhcOnl Itaml tlw Jta ' Blent Phoniiel ngiiiliia cuuim IuIddu. P«rt UlM ■nlllw aluB-
MM, bitUinliif ' Thi Hl(litlD«la tbi 0t(h it Dvllfht.' tau In It Uii • tniDt. prtnun die* anBMn CbiUD IMS, am vat* jauii pou. Dux-
soekow^ •dus. aiHHktr of tlw um kind, DM IcMHolltnl, In rour 'tipll Aniliu t lunprlmDm flsunlan mudnm tnTHiUun IralaDt.'
Kt, btffiiDlnt. ' Thtnla iltepal Ih« I ' Kmn !■ tha Midrinli at Tboniu lUTcnHraft, the ■utbot af A MeI Dbaun* of iba uh bat
■ BtBoat, mibllihaS In ISM. TliaUi'i ouekow MBano b nil saflactHt tTu of thancurklni Ow Dafnaa la iMaiunbla HiMk, quMa,
kBBwn, M ki alaa Uuu ef Lampa, campoaad aMut Ihlrlj jaai* afO. lSi4, aaaana Uial John of DniuUMe na the Inl ilktt Umitad niadcat
na aeiu o( Ih* cuckow la la trutk bui ana Intacral, that Li la aa^ oonpoaltkn, In vhieh, ukinc t)M abna-aKad pawa(a Ha bia awlwiliT,
Bmlnof tUid. tamliuud Id (ha acBla )9 ■ L* ki *■ icnt*. and c am Ft. b* appaai* Btaat (lOHl]' ta hara amd. Huleal eanporitlan miM
TMa EtRb. Unanrc. torn I. leoaiam. III., MTarthclaH, In all the aartunlr ba aa anaiant aa tha foTontiaD of ehanewit lo diiiiiU tl i oar,
tttlaaoaa abon nhnad u^ tt ia daflnad bj tha Intatnl of • mijot Ihiid. Il nuj ha conlacland thai couniiqiolnt vaa knoini and pramliad bafbca
I TUa aaaanliB la fnundad on Iba autbactl* af * book Intltlod tha Uma apoka of. bnt aa to Igunta nuale. va an at a loH ta- arUaao*
Fniawtlaoaa Mndaaa Paatka, aaa da GcapoalHaM Canma, nhtan of lu Bialaaoa hofaca iba (la» of PuiMaMa, aod la tratk It la (b* l»
tr '««0BM Muaku, idMad la WU, «b«*lB, M flT* It M laaflb, vnttaa «f aionM noA Mlf Ihu la aMribad to Ub br Kodaa.
D,9,l,zcdbyG00<^lc
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIU
■eed utd Mow - eth meul, ind ipriugth the wde
Sing coo -
■Idk oho - CO, Qtow - eti)
Ik-jj— " — «-{-" — f-hp •-;, 1 -r
•eed Mid blow -eth
meid, ■DdqTiogth the wde
if i . cn-men te. Lhud.
■ing aac - en.
t..^.f^zirTt—^:n-
Grow- eth wed «nd
ip 1 1 -i =^
SDMEB
in, Lhude Oas cue-
Ift^ »^— 1--^- 1 ■' 1 ^
ig==g^
^
- - cu. Awe
ble - telh If - ter lomb. Ihouth if - ter
ulve
on.
=^
nu. ring
cue - - CO. Aim
bl«. teth
«f -
tar
1>kiw - eOi meed, and qsingtk the
wde no. ring
i — J 1 J 1 1 1 J
cue
¥
- - CD. Grow -eth
■eed and blow . eth mfi, and springth the
I—,, 1— «. 1 1
zn [^
wde
nn.
i - en nn, dog
M 1. ^ 1 — z — r
one . «, ring
cue
^ ^ ^^^=
E==
nn, ring cue . en.
lomb, Ihonth *f - ter ealre
Bol - Ino itert - eth, bucke ver - teth.
^JT^F^
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE SOIENOE
m
^=M^-=^=t=
;^s=^^
(mgi tba eno -
nrik U)o D* • Ter
i^^
CO, wel dng* thu qm -
OroT - eth aetd mod bltnr - eth mead, and tpringth Ih* wde n&.
■ on, ne nrfk lira
dbyGooi^le
Chip. XLV.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
206
The history of mnric, bo far la i^arda the qh and
practice of it, is so nearly connected with that of civil
life, as in a re^l&r deduction of it to require the
greatest de^ee of ftttentioD to the customs and
modes of liviag peculiar to different periods : a
knowledge of these is not to be derived from history,
properly so called, which has to do chiefly with great
events ; and were it not for the accurate and lively
representation of the manners of the old Italians, and
the not less ancient English, contained in the writings
of Boccace and Chaucer, the inquisitive part of man-
kind wonid be mach at a loea for the characteristics
of the fourteenth centnry. Happily these authors
have fnniiBhed the means of investigating this subject,
snd from them we are enabled to frame an idea of the
iwumers, the amusements, the conversation, garb,
and many other particulars of their contemporaries.
The Decameron of Boccace, and the Canterbury
Tales of Chaucer, appear each to have been composed
imth a view to convey instruction and delight at a
time when the world stood greatly in need of the
former ; and by examples drawn from feigned history,
to represent the consequences of virtue and vice ; and
in this respect it may be said that the authors of both
theee works appear to have had the aame common end
in view, bnt in the prosecution of this design each
appears to have pursued a different method. Boccace,
a native of Italy, and a near neighbour to that country
where all the powers of wit and invention had been
exerted for upwards of two centuries in fictions of the
most pleasing kind, had opportunities of selecting
from a great variety such as were fittest for his pur-
poee. Chaucer, perhaps not over solicitous to explore
those regions uf fancy, contented himself with what
WM laid before him, and preferred the labour of
refining the metal to that of digging the ore.
Farther, we may observe that besides the ends of
ittstmction and delight, which each of these great
masters of the science of human life proposed, they
meant also to exhibit a view of the manners of their
respective countries, Italy and England, with this
difference, that the former has illnetrated bis subject
by a series of conversaUons of persons of the most
refined nnderstanding, whereas the latter, without
being at the pains attending such a method of aelection,
has feigned an assemblage of persons of different ranks,
the most various and artfnl that can be inu^ned, and
with an amazing propriety has made each of them the
type of a peculiar character.
To begin with Boccacew A plague which happened
in the city of Florence, in the year of onr Lord 1348,
snggeets to him the fiction that seven ladies, discreet,
nobly descended, and perfectly accomplished ; the
yonngest not lees than e^hteen, nor the eldest ex-
ceeding twenty-eight years of age; their names
Pampinea, Fiammetta, Fhilomena, Emilia, Lauretta,
Neiphile, and Elisa, meet together at a church, and,
after their devotions ended, enter into discourse upon
the calamities of die timea : to avoid the infection
thev agree to retire a small distance from the town,
to live in common, and spend part of the summer in
contemplating the heaaties of nature, and in the in-
genious and delightful conversaUon of each other;
but foreseeing the inconveniences that must have
followed from the want of companions of the other
sex, they add to their nnmber Pamphilo, Philoatrate,
and Dioneo, three well-bred young gentlemen, the
admirers and honourable lovers of three of these
accomplished ladies. They retire to a spacious and
well furnished villa. Pampinea is elected their
queen for one day, with power to appoini her suc-
cessor; different offices are assigned to their at-
tendants; wines, and other necessaries, chess-boards,
backgammon -tables, cards, dice, books, and musical
instruments are provided ; the heat of the season ex-
cluding the recrea^one of riding, walking, dancing,
and many others, for some part of the day, Uiey agree
to devote the middle of it to the telling of stories in
rotation : the convenadons of this kind take up ten
days, each is the narrator of ten novels. Such is the
structure of the Decameron.
The highest sense of virtue, of honour, and religion,
and the most exact attention to the forms of civility,
are observable in the behaviour of these ladies and
gentlemen ; nevertheless many of the stories told by
them are of such a kind as to excite our wonder that
well-bred men could relate, or modest women hear
them; from whence this inference may be fairly
drawn, that although nature may be said to be ever
the same, yet human manners are perpetually chang-
ing ; particular virtues and vices predominate at
different periods, chastity of sentiment and purity
of expression are the characteristics of the age we
live in.
But to pnrsne more closely the present purpose,
we find from the novels of Boccaco that Music made
a coDsiderahle part in the entertainment of all ranks
of people. In the introduction we ere told that on
the first day after they had completed the arrange-
ment of this little community, when dinner was over,
ss they all could dance, and some both play and sing
well, the queen ordered in the musical instruments,
and commanded Dioneo to take a lute, and Fiammetta
' una vivola,' a viol, to the music whereof they danced,
and afterwards sang. And at the end of the first
Giomata we are told that Lauretta danced, Emilia
singing to her, and Dioneo playing upon the lute :
the canzone, or song, which is a very elegant com-
position, is given at length. At the end of the third
Qiomata, Dioneo, by whom we are to understand
Boccace himself, and Fiammetta, under whom is
shadowed his mistress, the natural danghter of Robert
king of Naples, sing together the story of Ouiglielmo
and the lady of Vergiu, while Philomena and Pam-
philo play at chess ; and at the end of the seventh
Qiomata the same persons are represented singing
together the story of Palamon and Arclte, after which
the whole company dance to the music, ' della Cor-
' namusa,' of a bagpipe, played on by Tindarus, a
domestic of one of the ladies, and therefore a fit
person to perform on so homely an instrument.
These representations, fled tiooa as they undoubtedly
are, may nevertheless serve to ascertain the antiquity
of those musical instruments, the Lute, the Viol, and
the Oomamnsa, or Bagpipe ; they also prove to some
degree tbe antiquity of that kind of measured dance.
dbyG00*^lc
ao6
HISTORY OF THE SCIENOB
fioonY.
which wu originally mveiited to display all the
graces and elegancies of a beaatiful form, and is at
this day eateemed one of the requisites in a polite
edn<!ation.
CHAP. XLVI.
It remains now to speak of our ancient English
poet, and from that copious fund of intelligence and
pleasantry the Canterbaiy Tales, to select such par-
ticulars OH will best illustrate the subject now nnder
consideration. The narrative supposes that twenty-
nine, persons of both sexes, of professions and em-
ployments as different as invention could suggest,
together with Chaucer himself, making in all thirty,
sat out from the Tabarde inn in Southwark * on a
pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas Becket in the
cathedral church of Canterbury, and that this motley
company conusted of a knigb^ a 'squire his son, and
his yeoman or servant ; a prioress, a nun, and three
priests her attendants ; a monk, a friar, a merchant,
a clerk of Oxford, a serjeant at law, a franklin or
gentleman, a haberdasher, a carpenter, a weaver, a
dyer, a tapiser or maker of tapestry, a cook, a ship-
man or master of a trading vessel, a doctor of physic,
the wife of a weaver of Bath, a pareon, a plowman,
or, aa we should now call such a one, a fanner, a
miller, a manciple, a reeve, a aummoner, a pardoner,
and Chaucer himself, who was a courtier, a scholar,
and a poet The characters of these, drawn with
such skill, and [tainted in such lively colours, that
the persons represented by them seem to pass in
review before us, precede, and are therefore called
the Prologues to, the Tales. Aflier the prologues
follows a relation of the conversation of the pilgrims
at their supper, in- which the host desires to make
one of the company, which being assented to, be
proposes that in the way to Canteronry each should
tell two tales, and on their return the same number ;
and he that recounts the beat shall be treated with
a supper by his companions. To this they assent,
and early in the morning set out, taking the host for
their guide. They halt at 8t Thomas's Watering,
a place well known near Southwark, and the host
proposes drawing cute to determine who shall tell the
first tale ; the lot falls upon the knight, as having
drawn the shortest, and making a brief apology
(wherein hia discretion and courtesy are remarkable)
he begins by a recital of the knightly story of Pala-
mon and Arcite.-I"
gnttlj faalfhleiisil bj It
■ -"- 11 ki wlih fniil Jiullci Ih
iDd Judickput eQumvTJktk
' nrj drm « u» pugnmi, u
'at lU Tatars* la Smlhmrt.
( II l> nrj nmiiluM* Qui Cowtaj
In the prologues the following particulars re-
lating to music are obserrable ; and first in that of
the 'squire it appears that
He coudc fonga mikc and wel cnditt,
Jufte, ind eke dauace, portny, Mnd wel write*
And that the prioress,
----- called diow Eflenline,
Fill wel Dm lan| the fervice derioe,
Of the Frere it is said that
- - - certainljr he hid a may note,
Wel coude he fioge and plaia on a Aoti.
And that
In harping whan he had G>ng
Hit ejien twinkeleil in hn hed
A> dene the ftenei in a liofty night.
ilht.
diittiMilr la IT ha bad iD
nUah tba kanout tmk no otkn tkuii
From the character of the clerk of Ozenforde we
learn that the Fiddle waa an instrument in uae in the
time of Chaucer.
for him wu leoer to haut at hii beddei heed
Twtnnr booke) dadde with blacke or reed.
Of Anflntle and of hii philolbphie.
Than robea nche, or fiddell, oi gay fautrie.
And of the miller the author relates that
A bajiepipc veil conth he blow; and aoone.
In the Cook's Tale is an intimation that the ap-
prentice therein mentioned could sing and hop, t. e.
dance, and play on the Oetron and lubible i and in
the romaunt of the Bose is the following passive : —
There mightell than ic thefe Flutoon,
Mlnftnla, and eke Joglouit,
That well to fing did her paine.
Some fong fongca of Loraine,
For in Loraine bei notei be
Fulfweter than in thii coontn.— Fol . 119. b.
From the passages above-cited we learn that the
son of a knight, educated in a manner snitahle to hia
birth, might be supposed to be able to read, writ«,
dance, pourtray, and make verses. That in convents
the nnns sang the service to the musical note*. That
the Lute, the Rote, the Fiddle, the Sautrie, the Bag-
pipe, the Gletron, the Ribible, and the Flute, were in-
struments in common use: Speght supposes the
appellative Rote to signify a mnsioal bstmment
used in Wales, mistaking the word, as Mr. Urnr
suspects, for Crota, a crowd ; bat Dr. Johnaon in bis
Dictionary, makes it to mean a Harp, and citea the
following passage from Bpenser : —
Worthy of great Phnbui rote.
The Iriumpha of Phleerean Jove he wrote,
That all the godi admired hi* lofty note.
But in the Confessio Amantia of Qower is the
following passage : —
He taught bir, til] the wu certene
OfHatpc, atolr,{ and ofRiotr,
With many a tewne, and many a note.— FVil. 176, h.
of Chaom', Drrdn rIbIh tbi hct, ud (<Tea U
dtt-'I luT. - - ' - "- ■ -
CfTOLs, in the paawn aboTMdlid fmm Oam U Aartnd rmn
-— ' eieit, aad pntaUr iwaia a dnldiHr, which ta li
■-- -HboxrUliatilniaMiheUdaiiap.
dbyGooi^le
CBAr. XLVI.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIG
ao7
Uyiutrella.
Upon which it ia obeerrabla thmt the words H«pe
Mul ftiote, or Bote, occnr in the tame line, which
circumstaDce imports at least a doabt, whether in
etrictneu of apeecli they can be said to be synony-
niooB. The word Sautrie is dearly a corruption of
Psaltery, a kind of harp ; Getron or Getem naa the
wme signification with Cittern ; and Bibible or
Rebible, is sud by Bpeght and Uny to mean a
laddie, and tometimee a Getem. The names of
certain other instramenta, not so eaay to explain, are
■llnded to in the following lilt of moeicians attending
king Edw. III. extracts from a mannscript-roU of
th4 officers of his household, commnnicated by ths
late Mr. Hardtnge of the House of Commons : — *
Trompatterg . . 5
Cytelersf - - ■ I
Pypers - - - 6
Tabrete ... 1
Mabrers - • • 1
Clarions - - -2
Fedeler ... 1
■Wayghteet - - 8
As to the organ, it was clearly need in chnrches,
long before the time of Chaucer : he mentions it in
the tale of the Ntm's Priest; and what is somewhat
remarkable, with epithet of merry, —
Hii Toice wu merler thin the mcry Orfaa
Oo mafle daici, thii in the churches gon.
Other particulars occnr in the prologues, which as
they relate to modes of life, are charBCteristic of the
times, and t«nd to elucidate the snbject of the present
enquiry ; as that at Stratford, near Bow in Middlesex,
was A school for girls, wherein the French langnage, but
very different from that of Paris was tanght, and that
at meals, not to wet the fingers deep in the soace was
one sign of a polite female education. And here it
may not be improper to remark that before the time
of king James the I^^ret, a fork was an implement
nnknown in this conntry. Tom Ooriate the traveller
leamod the use of it in Italy, and one which he
brought with him from thenoa was bare eataemed
a great GnrioBity.§ But to return to Chancer : al-
* Of til* bTen] tnitrnmenli tbaTe-ntntlflntd It leemi that (be hup
w» ib( m«l otmstd. It li nU known Ihet king Altr*d btmttU
BUrBl on the haip: ud oe in told bjr Wiltei Htmtngftird In bU
bibJelhillichad'nlnlrai;
Idlnim
■cobbi ifui
" -L'
I ilgnUy the pliren
though forbidden by the canon law to the clergy, it
appears from him that the monks were lovers of
hunting, and kept greyhounds — that serjeanta at law,
were as early as the time of Edward the Third, ooca-
sionally judges of assize, and that the most eminent
of them were industrious in collecting Doomes, i. e.
judicial determinations, which by the way did not
receive the appellation of Reports till the time of
Ptowden, who flonrished in tiie reign of Elisabeth,
before which persons were employed at the expense
of our kings to attend the courts at Westminster, and
take short notes of their decisions for the use of the
poblic : II a series of these is now extant, and known
to the profesHon of the law by the name of Year-
books— that the houses of conntry gentlemen
abounded with the choicest viands — that a haber-
dasher, a carpenter, a weaver, a dyer, and a maker
of tapestry, were in the rank of such citizens aa hoped
to become aldermen of London ; and that their wives
claimed to be called Madam — That cooks were great
cheats, and would dress the same meat more than
once— That the masters of ships were pirates, and
made bat little conscience of steoliiig wine out of the
vessels of their chapman when the latter were asleep
— That physicians made setroiogy a part of their
study — That the weaving of woollen cloth was a ve^
profitable trade, and that the neighbourhood of Bath
was one of the seats of that manufacture — That a
pilgrimage U> Rome, nay to Jerusalem, was not an
extravagant undertaking for the wife of a weaver —
That the mercenary sort of clergy were accustomed
to flock to London, in order to procnre chauntriee in
the cathedral of 6t Paall[— That at the Temple the
members were not more than thirty,** twelve of whom
for tbU iuatnimeiil Ln lome of rhoiv expfdltlon* imu ^m>^, '■ukh tiv
omlnlcHik In [he llh-Uni' of U> (aihit Hm. III. Tba euBt eulhor
nluei tlwt ll wu ikli kup« Ihu kllldl the Muufn who lUbbed
Edward vllh a polaoned knlft at Ptelemala. The manner of U It (bua
dtKilInd Igr bbn :—' After ih* tirtnec had nednd the nmnd be Treated
■the knlA Ima Iba ueaHlD. and na It Into Ui bellr : hltawTinl [lh<
' bafpvrl alanned by (be nalae of the ttmnla, nisbed Into Ibe roam, and
•with aitoolboat out UabnInL' Sm alH FoUo't HW. of th« Hair
Wat, book IV. chap. M.
t Pnnn ClTOL*, abora nplalnid.
I •WATaiTuar WiiTa,'anHaBtboli. Bntin, Pilnclpla e< Kiule,
paf. M. II l> rtmarkifala of rhli noun that It baa no abicular number ;
hi wa navR aaT a Walt, oi the Wait. Imt Ibe Walu. Tn the Eirno-
' Hemipon I myaeU^ thought good to Imttale the Italian hihlon Inr thl*
' Grnoanr. and aftcnlLmei In England Elnco I rame home ; bdng onco
'quipped for tbal fiequcnl ualna af my forke by a certain leiunfd gentle-
'man. aramlllar friend of mint, one^. Uunnce Wbllakei. wbo In hia
' mony bumoui doubled not to all n« a1 uble Furdfer, onl; lOc mine
I Pnf. to
nail for Ihe louli of tt
fiffty niaika for (wo Ihouund. Worthln In ^ex, pag. iS9.
■ ■ Thla account of tho number of mem ben In one of the principal Inna
of oouTi mull appear itiange In cDrnpariaoa wlih the iLale of Dioaa
ChauoermeanibTlhepenoDtto vhotD tbeinaneipleliBeTvani, Benehera.
and Chete bear but a imall prtnortlon ta their Dumbtn at thla day.
The reuon ginen hy FoneuiM (n the inullneaa at their number In bit
thno la ToiT ouiloBt, and la bnl DU of a Ihoueand fUti whkh might be
bnn^t to prove the raat tnereaaa of wealth In thU countrr. V' *'
voaea by the year then twenty matkot.
■bit* npon hln, aa moat of then haia, 11
"- :huna be. Now, ta naaoB of 11
nohMaan da Hady iba lawaa in the
dbyGoot^le
208
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book V.
were qualified to l>e stewards to aDy peer of the realm
— That their manciple was a rogne, and had cunning
CBongb to cheat tbem all — That stewards grew ridk
by lending their lords their own money. The sum-
moner, an officer whose daty it is to executa the
process of the ecclesiastical court, is a character now
grown obsolete ; from that which Chaucer has given
of one, we however learn that they were a sort of
men who throve by the incontinence of the common
people, that they affected to speak Latin, that is to
say, to utter a few of those cant phrases which occur
in the practice of the consistory, and other eccle-
siastical coarts ; and that they would for a small fee
suffer a good fellow to have his concubine for a
twelvemonth. That they were of counsel with all
the lewd women in the diocese, and made the vulgar
believe that the puns of bell were not more to be
feared than the curse of the archdeacon.*
These several particulars, extracted from the pro-
logues to the Tales, exhibit, as far as they go, a lively
and accurate representation of the manners of the
people of England in Chaucer's time ; but these are
few in comparison with the facts and circumstances
to the same purpose which are to be met with in the
tales themselves ; nor are the portraits of the principal
agents in the tales, and which accidentally occur there-
in, lees exact than those contained in the prologues.
The scholar Nicholas, in the Miller's Tale, is an in-
stance of this kind ; for see how the poet has de-
scribed bim.
He represents him as young, amorous, and learned ;
not a member of any college, for there were but few at
Oxford in Chaucer's time, hut living ' at bis friends
finding and his rent,' and lodging in the house of a
carpenter, an old man, who had a very young and
beautiful wife. In the bouse of this man the scholar
bad a chamber, which be decked with sweet herbs ; be
is supposed to study astronomy, or rather astrology ;
his chamber is furnished with books great and small,
among which is the Almagist, a treatise eaid to
be written by Ptolemy ; an Asterlagour, or As-
trolabe, an instrument used for taking tbe altitude of
liie sun and stars. He baa also a set of Augrim
Stones.f a kind of pebbles at that time made use of
' poor ukd eomEoon kort of tht iKdbLebi«ni}I Able tobeutognAtcbargn
•lot thi Hhimilon «r tKeIr chtUmi. And mvchint imen on uldom
■ wilhln th* THlni ikUlIUl anil eannlDf In ™a !■■«, dccpl ha be ■
in numeral computation, and to which conntera after-
wards succeeded, and above all lay bis musical in-
strument.
His rival Abeolon, the parish clerk, is of another
cast, a spruce fellow, that sung, danced, and played
on the fiddle ; that was great with all the tapsters
and brew-house girls in the town, and ' visited tbem
' with his solace.' His ingenuity and learning quali-
fied him to let blood, clip hair, shave, and make a
charter of land, or an acquittance. His employment
in the church obliged him to assist the parish priest
in the performance of divine service ; and it appears
to have been bis duty on holidays to go round tb«
church with a censer in bis hand, conformable to th«
practice of the times, ' censing the vrives of tbe pariab.'
But nothing can he more picturesque than the de-
Bcription of his person and dress. His hair c^one
like gold, and strutted broad like a fan ; his com-
plexion red, and bis eyes grey as a goose ; and the
upper leathers of his shoes were carved to resemble
the windows of St Paul's cathedral ; his stockings
were red, and hia kertle or upper coat of light watchet,
that is to say sky-colour, not tied here and there,
merely to keep it close, but thick set with points.^
more for ornament than use ; all which gay luibiU
ments were covered with a white surplice.
The Reve's Tale contains the characters of Denysa
Simkin, tbe prond miller of Trompington, and his
prouder vrife : from the poet's description of them it
appears that tbe husband, as a fashion not inconsistent
mFUc. GloMUT K> Chmen. Oown'a dcflnlthm af th* tdcnca ol
utibmatk ■eamt to rivour (hli opinion :—
OFirichmetic the malcre
Ii thit of whiche a man mijr \tn.
What Algoti&ne in nombre imounteili
Whan ihit ihc wift man iccounlech
Aftrr the formel ptoptetee
OfAlgorifaiesi, b, cj
By which mtiltipticidon
li made, and ibe diminucion
Of fmninei, by the experience
Of lliii ane, and of ibii fcience.
Crmfculo Amantli, rol. HI. b.
But In a l)«k entitled Arltlinetlck. or tbe Oround aT Ant, wtttun br
Robert Record, d«10t In pttjUt, and dedleatMJ to Uvg Edw. VI . aflet-
wardi auitmenled by Iba Amoui Dr. John nee, itid reDubllthed In IMS
' Algorlima, •• Itii Anbltni iiniiid It. which doth beukeu Ibe tdenct oT
•nuiDbertni.' P»g. a. AuKtlm ilonea leem to have been the oilglii of
(0 the titne of publlinlng the aboTs book, lot the aulbor. w. S. layi
' brought up ill the king*! hoUH. On ihe-orkln
' apply Ihenaaelvea 10 the iludy of the law ; aiid 0
' Hudy or holy •crlptui* ; iiul out aT ih* time 01
•readii.gofchronldet. Fit thtra Indeed are iln
< allied ; ti Ihal. lor the ciHloinnenI nf nrtue, ai
■ knlihti aod bironi, irilh oihel itatei. end noblri
Mlieli children In Iboee Intiea, though they del
' De Laudlbut Legum AngllB, a
I ibej "ire indnedPopE'a. tMUDIed
— - - - -ould ntTer obt-'- "
tobeaennup
le prltidpal lu
le. ..udW. and t1«. f»'
labaMdouingorTce, hen
itt the body, paitlculi ,
,. and that far a particular purpoae. On A'
im of the Inhabitant* of p«lihn -'*"■ *'■■'■ -
det to perpetuati "■■" '
! meet with Oeqaeol
i-day itti lb*
ry of their bau<v
Panion, tuepecUig thai ibty oere indued FnpE'i. reauo
tight ef fiattertoB't matiiitcrlpt, but could ncTer obtain t
Tuptlon of Aljt«lthin,by
. _ . . npadtUy boy* !
1h^ therefore to attend Ihll biulutt. tome llllle giatulltee were
rooattlon to dlitribule lo laeh a vUlon vend, aitd at Ibe and
I handful of the pointe abore ipokcn of; which were looked ca
dbyGoot^le
Chap. XLVII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
209
with his vocadon, vore both a sword and a da^^er.
As to bia wife, ahe b swd to bavo been the daughter
of the parson of the town, who on her marriage gave
her ' full many a pan of brass ;' and because of bcr
birtb and her edncation, for she is said to have been
' fostered in a nunoery,' she was insolent to her neigh-
bours, and assumed the style of Uadam. The basi-
□ess which drew the schoUrs John aod Alein to the
mill of Simkin, bespeaks the difference which a long
sQCceeuon of years has made in a college life ; for
the rents of college estates were formerly paid, not
in money, bnt in com, which it was the business of
the manciple to get ground and made into bread.
Dnring the sickness of the manciple of Soller's hall
at Cambridge, two scholars, with a sack of com laid
on the back of a horse, armed each with a aword
and buckler, set ont for the mill at Trompington,
a neighbouring village. The miller contrives to
Bteal their com, and the scholars take ample ven-
geance on him.
From the several passages above-cited and referred
to, a judgment may be formed, and that with some
degree of exactness, of the manners of the common
people of this country; those of the higher orders
of men are to be sought for elsewhere. Persona
acquainted with the ancient constitution of England,
need not be told that it was originally calculated as
well for conquest as defence; and that before the
introduction of trade and manufactures, every subject
was a soldier : this, and the want of that interconrse
between the inhabitants of one part of the kingdom
and another, which nothing but an improved slate
of civilization can promote, rendered the common
people a terror to each other : and as to the barons,
the ancient and true nobility, it might in the strictest
sense of a well known maxim in law, be said that
the bouse of each was bis castle. The many romances
and books of chivalry extant in the worid, although
abounding in absurdities, uontain a very tnie re-
presentation of civil life throughout Europe ; and the
Forest, the Castle, the Moat, and the Drawbridge,
if not the Dungeon,* had their existence long before
they became the subjects of poetical description.
It is tme the pomp and splendour of the ancient
nobility appeared to greater advantage than it would
have done, had not the condition of the common
people been such as to put it out of the power of
any of their own order to rival their superiors; but
to the immense possessions of the latter such power
was annexed, as must seem tremendous to one who
judges of the English constitution by the appearance
which it wears at this day. To be short, all the lands
in this kingdom were holden either mediately or im-
mediately of the orown, by services strictly military.
The king had the power of calling forth his barons,
and they their tenants, and these latter their de-
pendents also, to battle ; and to levy on them money
and other requisites for the carrying on dther offen-
sive or defensive war. At this time we see but little
of those pecuniary emoluments arising from the rela-
tion between the lord and his tenant, which wero
then the principal sources of splendour and magnifi-
cence in the nobility, and men of large estates;
or, in other words, it seems that anciently personal
service was accepted in lieu of rent. £ut here the
power and influence attendant on the feudal system
breaks forth ; the lord was entitled to the wardship
of the heir of bia freehold tenant under the age of
twenty-one, and to the profits of all his estates
without account Nor was this all, he had the power
of marrying bia ward to whom he pleased ; and
where Uie inberiUnce descended to daughters, the
marrying of them to any person above the degree
of a villain, was aa much the right of the lord as his
castle or mansion ; and had it been the fate of
the four beautiful daughters of the great duke of
Marlborough to have lived before the making the
statute of king Charles the Second for abolishing
tenures in capite, and to have survived their father,
being under age, not one of them could have been
married without the licence of the king, or perhaps
his minister.
A system of civil policy, like that above described
could not fail to inniience the minds of the people ;
and in consequence of that jealousy which it had
a tendency to excite, they lived in a state of hostility :
a dispute about boundaries, the right of bunting, or
pursuing beasts of chace, would frequently beget
a quarrel, in which whole families, with all their
dependants immediately became parties ; and the
thirst of revenge descended from father to son, so aa
to seem attached to the inheritance. Many of the
old songs and ballads now extant are histories of
the wars of contending families; the song of the
battle of Otterbum, and the old ballad of Cbevy-
Chace, with many others in Dr. Percy's collection,
are instancea of this kind, and were these wanting,
a coriouB history of the Gwedir family, lately pub-
lished by the learned and ingenious Mr. Barrington,
would sufficiently show what a deadly enmity pre-
vailed in those barbarous times among the great
men of this kingdom.
It has already been hinted that under the ancient
constitution the generality of women lived in a state
of bondage ; and how near that state approaches to
bondage, in which a woman is denied the liberty
of choosing the man she likes for a husband^ every
one is able to see ; most of the laws made to preserve
their ptersons from violence were the effects of modem
refinement, and sprang from that courtesy which
attended lie knightly exercise of Arms, concerning
the origin of which, as it contributed to attemper the
almost natural ferocity of the peo^e, and reflect
a lustre on the femue character, it may not be
improper here to enquire.
CHAP. XLVII.
Whether chivalry had ita rise from those frequent
expeditiouB for the recovery of the Holy Land, which
dbyGooi^lc
210
H18T0BY OF THE SCIENCE
Boos T
authors mean when they apeak of the oniBade«, or
whether crusading was the oifspring of chivalry, is
a matter of contTOTerey; but whatever be the fact,
it ie certain that for some time they had a mutual
dependence on each other ; the militarj- ordere of
religions were instituted for the sole purposes of
guarding the holy sepulchre, and protecting the per-
Bons of pilgrims to Jerusalem from violence. During
the continuance of the Holy War, as it was called,
■od for some centuries after, incredible numbers of
persona of all conditions flocked from every part of
Aurope to Jerusalem on pilgrimage; and supposing
these vast troops to include, as in fact they did, the
eons and daughters of the principal fiimilies, it might
be truly said that the flower of all Europe were at
the mercy not only of the enemies of the Christian
faith, bat of pirates and land-robbers. Injuries of-
fered to the pereons of beautiful and distressed
damsels in those perilloos expeditions, called forth
the resentment of their brave countrymen or fellow
Christians, and induced great numbers of young men
to engage in their defence, and, well ' mounted and
completely armed, to ride forth in search of adven-
tnres. To what length some were hurried by their
attention to these calls of humanity, we may in some
measnre learn from that vast profusion of fobnloue
compositions, the romances of uie eleventh and suc-
ceeding centuries, which, though abounding with
incredible relations, hod their foundation in the man-
ners of the times in which they were written,*
imhid Ki sil(tii Id thai suUnnimt gf > teiuln IwdcE or
rbleh Ju«b, 0««b, ilup iTli. H«ni to nuk* In hit
L.. L ,,4„ jg,^], ^ ^ g^g,, ^help, nd uys Z.
•kEl] tm ■ luTED far thlp^ Ii
* -"--u Bereo, who mou Uh book of Si.
- * -■^ — re >t]i)«a him milt
I inn w b9 (nind Ihrtber b
WUUuB nugiUle tm "
la ih> Un* oTChHlH Uh
Ifha. But In Oct
■nd Itio nllcMor of tlw
. noBBI of Iha oi<(1b of
wUt ■■ml nnmbtr of hit •a^octt,
or to ncoTBT It fkom the Turki, th«
litbifaWwd IteouelTH ta attdn
, but tUiinfiotlai not Moi round
id. tbn mmda uh o( lUk «Hti, vlth Ihilt
. .1.. I — I — J tnut, vhkh dlk «oU> wen
It thg «wl whkh tlM benldi
Co*l tt Anu 1 ud rnoi ihli Uow,
— _ .- r h ■nni bteuM htndttiiT. dtHRidlng
in tha unn s( OiTdUnd.' Vldt 1 lait. lU. Fnm
~ uU HHB thu nam *n mn ntlikd M iko
r, tboiigb It it tho pndlcfl of the lurtldi to
ute, it wu the nrmclJce of prtncei bv
- mMa, knlghti, ' '
r Chriiiondon
IT dallni defined
o InTlta. ufon ,_.
pgrtODi of nurHil dilpofllloni,
mtke proof of ibrii iklll ud oounc* m
putpoH ■ vlaln im uuUt ohoiwa, liau
iiWled. WKhiB Ui* litli wan pilchnl tha I
•om* tbna bafon Iba eienliat bgnn, ible
Ike doon of their tntt, with Ibrir nimi
toDlamplau tham. It wit thouibt in tddlllon tn thi pomp and iplendonr
of th( Ecnnmir that Iha lUddi ihould bi (upiwrtnj, and the 'M|nlre«
orpacai of Iha knlgbti wen thought the pmpeteil pctKni (or lUa
■mplOTnnb tacj, which wu aver *l work upon tbtie oeualDnt,
•uneilad Iha Ihoufbt at dratdiw Ibaia panoni is emblnnUlcil iubt,
iuitad to tha dRunuUneai of Ihata whom ihe^ attended. Borne of
tbcto tuppoitan wan nuda to rtpnunl wiTiicet, ot green Kon, Kern-
Inglj niked, but with fram loana on their headi. ind about their lotnt ;
torn* »Bp«art«g Uko iirmoeiu, -■"■ '"■- -"— "-
their beholdarai olhanwen 1
wen in(e1i. A llllli iirMch of iBiantkmled thnn to iiguina the siiin
of H«i, giUIni, HNl ■ woM of oUwr fomu, — ■ ' •'-- '
Hus n raaf bo i
lied lilia palmen or pUfrlmt, i
« of Iha holjr VH hid lai
Particular instances <^ that knightly braven
which chivalry inspired, are not now to be expected,
and we have no other evidence than the testimony
of the sage writers of romance to induce a belief
that Giants were the owners of Castles, that Dwarfs
were their porters, or that they kept beautiful darasela
imprisoned in their dungeons : nevertheless it is
certain that the exercise of arms had a tendency to
excite a kind of emulation in (he brave and youthful,
which was productive of good consequences, for it-
gave rise to that qnality which we term Conrtesy,
and is but a particular modiflcation of hnmanity ;
it inspired sentiments of honour and generosity, and
tanght the candidates for the favour of ladies to
recommend themselves by the knightly virtues of
courage and constancy.
Milton has in a few words described those off-
springs of chivalry, dlls and tournaments, in tha
following lines : —
Where throngs of knights and barons bold
In weeds of peace high triumphs hold,
With store of ladies, whose bright eyes
Rain influence, and judge the priie
Of wit, or arms, while l»th contend
To win her grace, whom all commend.
L'Alleqro.
From the institution of exeroisee of this and the
like kind, and from the sentimenta which they ar«
calculated to inspire, is to be dated the introdnctioc
of women on the theatre of life, and the assigning
to them those parts which nature has enabled them
to act witii propriety : and from this time they ara
to be considered as parties in the common and
innocent amusements of life, present at public fes-
tivitias, and joining in the social and domestic re-
creations of music and dancing, f
These indulgences it most be confessed were tha
prerogative of ladies, and could not in their nature
extend to the lower rank of women : the refinement of
the times left these latter in much the same state as
it found them : household tnconomy, and an attenUon
to the means of thriving, were the distinguishing
characteristics of the wives and daughters of far-
mers, mechasicB, and others of that class of life. In
a poem intitled the Northern Mother's Blessing to
her Daughter, written, as it is said, nine years before
the death of Chancer, which contains a curious re-
presentation of the manners of the common people,
are a great number of excellent precepts for forming
the character of a good housewife, among which aia
the following : —
My 4ou|bter pf thou be a wile, wifely choQ wer)(e,
Looi^c (uer tho^ loue God ind the holy kirtce,
Go to kirke when ihou miy, and let for do rane,
And tKen Hull tboa fan the bet, whan thon Ood )u( trfa i
Full well latj ihtj thrive
That fenien Ood in that line,
Mjr teue dere child.
te«dthani>mootttHH«nst«TOClDillChTUtaBdoa, anAthailfBet
Iheiincan'i headoneot tliamotleoniDionfiirlBB(ofainrinBB|l»l, it
■ pletun of ■ glut with great whitken. ind eyet (lo<nn( with fln^ fai
ihorl, he ii nprtetntad in tht act of Uaphamtait. The leaien of thb
tavf be eelleetad from the Mliiwiiu euiloiit anacdote, puhspt Otal
comiDUniceltd to wilting by Hr. Soldcn :—' When our eoontiTiiien oat
• home boDflghUng will the laimKnt, and »at« beuan by then, ihey
plEtund thnn wtth hufe Mg terrible lUai (it yon itlll aae the ilgn of
tbtiaraceo'ihewliai.whniln truth trieywanUkoaihernuB. But thia
UwydMlooTatbAawDaiBdiU,- Talite4alk, TU. War.
dbyGoo^le
Am) PRAcrnoE of m081O.
Wbta thou Gci to the feirke thjr beda ftilt tbtn bU |
Thcrtin make no iin|ltn with Aleod ne Gb.
Idugh not to Icaroe nodir old ne Toung,
Be of good bcring, ind hiue i good tongue )
Foi after thy bering
So Ihill thy oame tpnag,
My, lee,
Gif any man with woriLip defire to wed thee,
Wifely him anfwere, fcome him not what he bee,
And tell it to thy iVienilt, and hide thou it nought ;
Kl not by him, nor ftand not that Gn mow be wrought.
For ^f a daunder be once nyfed,
It it dot To lone ffilled,
My, Ac.
What nun that (hall wed the Rire God with i riDg,
Looke thou lose him beft of my earthly thing ;
And meekly him anfwere, and not too fiutehinb
So may thou (lake his yre and be hit dailing i
Faire wocdi Oaken yre,
Suffer and haue thy defire.
My, die
When thou goei by the gate, go not too M i
Ne bridle not with thy hede, ne thy Ihoulden taH,
B« not of mony wordi, ne fweare not to (tet,
Ail euill Tica my doughcer thou fbryet j
Foe gif thou hi*e an euill name,
It will tume the to gnroc,*
My.Ac.
Goe not oft to the towne m It were ■ gate,
Fro one houfe to odir for to leeke the mue,
Ne go not m market, thy barrel I to fill i
Nc afe not the taueme thy worOup to Ipilli
For who llie tauem ofit,
Hii thrift he KAifei,
My.&c.
Gif thoa be in place where good drink ii on lofti
Wheder that thoii ferue, or thou fit fafte ;
Mefurely take thou, and get the no blame J
Gif thou be drunken it tumea the to Oume.
Who fo iQua mcafnre and IkiU,
He dull ofte haue hii will,
My, JEic.
Go not to the wnftling, ne (hoting the cock,
Ai it were » ftnimpet or a giglot.f
Be at home doughler, and thy thing! tend,
For thine owne profit it the latter end.
Mery ii owne thing to fte,
My dere doughter I tell it thee,
Wj, Ik.
Horewifcly Aall thou go on the werk-day ■
Pride, nit, and idlena, put hem cleane iway.
And after on the holy day well clad dnlt thou be i
The haliday to worlhip, Cod will lone the
More for worfliip ct oar Lord,
Than tor pride of the world.
My, ftc
Look to thy meyny, and let them not be ydell :
Thy hufiwnd out, looke who doei much or litell,
And he that doet wrll quite him hii meede |
And gif he doe BmilTe atnend thou him ladde,
And ^the work be great, and the time Ibait,
let to thy bond, and make a hufwife'i biayd,
Foe they will do better ^tbou by them Aond i
The worke i> Ibnei done, there ai it many bond.
My, ax.
And looke whH thy men doon, and about hem wend.
At eneiT deede done be at the tone end i
And gi/dicra Rnde any Ault, foonc it amend )
Eft will they do the better and thou be near* band.
HikeU him behooa to doe,
A good hoofi: that will looke to.
My, ftc.
Looke all thing be well when tfaej' worice IcMn,
And take thy keya to the when it b euea ;
Looke all thing be well, and let fbt no Ihtice,
And gif thou To do thou gcB thee the lafi Ume )
Tnilt no nun bett thyfetfe,
Whileft thoa art in thy hclth.
My, die.
Sic not at euen too long at gue with the cap
For to wiOell and drinke all uppe ;
So CO bed betimn, at mome rife beliue,
And fa may thou better learne to thrine )
He that wdU i good houle keepe
Muit ofie-timei breake a fleepc,
My, fcc
Gif it be6de dovghter thy friend In the fall ,
And God fend the children that for bread will all.
And thou hane mickle neede, lielpe little ot non^
Thou moft then care and fpore haid a> the Aouci
For euill that may betide,
A man before Ihould dread,
M,,«..
Take heede to thy children which thou haA borne
And wait wtl to thy doughten that they be not Aekmet
And put hem betime to their mariage,
And ^ue them of thy good when they be of age,
For nuydeni bene louely,
But tbey ben unnufty,
My, la.
Gif tboa louf thy children hold diou bem lowe,
And ^f any of hem mlfdo, banne bem not ne blow.
But uke a good fmart rod, and beat hem arowe,
mi they cry mercy, and their pla bee know,
For gif thoa loue thy cbildnn weie.
Spare not che yard never a deale,
My,ae.J
Hie foregoing Btanzas exhibit a very lively picture
of the iDBiinerB of this conotry, au far as respects the
coaduct and behaviour of a class of people, who at
the time when they were written, occupied a etatioa
some degrees removed above tbe lowest; and seem,
to presuppose that women of this rank atood in need
of admonitions aghast incontinence and dmnkenness,
vices at this day not imputable to the wives of farmert
or tradesmen. It is much to be lamented that the
means of recovering the characteriedcs of past agee
are so few, aa every one must find who undertakes to
delineate them. The chronicles and history of this
country, like those of moat others, are in general tbe
annak of public events ; and a history of local
manners is wanting in every country that has made
the least progrese towards a state of civilization. One
of the best of those very few good aentiments con-
tained in the writings of tbe late lord Bolingbroke is
this, 'History is philosophy teaching by example.*
And men would be less at a loee than they are now
to act in many situations, conld it be known what
condnct had heretofore been pursued in similar in-
stances. Mankind are possessed with a sort of
curiosity, which leads them to a retrospect on past
times, and men of apecnlative natures are not content
to know that a nation has subsisted for ages under
a regular form of government, and a system of laws
calculated to promote vtrtae and restrain vice, bnt
they wish for that intelligence which would enable
t The peem from wtiloh the abon ilanaaa an takan waa minted.
together with tbe tUt*1y tragedy of Ooluanl and Sbi
ei^y of TCTHa entllled 'Tlw Way " " "
Kobcrt Dealer. fa I9BT! audio tbe
' of giMt aul^ul
u Tbrin,' tiy BolMt It
Northlolke gentleman.'
dbyGooi^lc
212
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book V,
them to represent to their mindB the images of past
tranaactionB with the same degree of exactness aa is
required ia pointing. Witli what view but this are
coUectioiis formed of antiquities, of varions liinds of
medals, of marbles, inscriptions, delineationa of ancieDt
strncturea, even in a state of ruin, warlike inatniments,
furniture, and domestic utensils. Why are these so
eagerly sought after but to sapply that defect which
history in general labours under ?
Some of our English writers seem to have been
Hens'ule of the usefulness of this kind of information,
and iiave gratified the curiosity of their readers by
descending to such particulars as the garb, and the
recreations of the people of this country. In the
description of the island of Britain, borrowed, as it
is supposed, from Leiaiid, by William Harrison, and
prefixed to Hollinshed's Chronicle, is a very enter-
taining account of the ancient maouer of living id
Englaind. Stowe is very particular with respect to
Loudon, and spends a whole chapter in describing
their sports and pastimes. Hall, in his Chronicle,
has gone so far as to describe the habits of both sexes
worn at several periods in this country. Some few
particulars relating to the manners of the English,
according to their several classes, are contained in
that curious little book of Sir Thomas Smith, De
Republica Anglorum ; others are to be met with in
the Intiuerary of Fynes Moryson, and others to the
last degree entertaining In that part of the Intinerary
of Paul Hentzncr, published by the honourable Mr.
Walpote in 1767, with the title of a Journey into
England in 1589.
These it is presnmed are the books from which
a curious enqnirer into the customs and manners of
our forefathers would hope for information ; but
there is extant another, which though ^ great deal is
contained in It, few have been tempted to look into ;
it is that entitled De Proprietatibus Rerum, of Bar-
tholomiBUB, written originally In Latip, and translated
into English by John Trevisa, in ^e year 1398.
or the anthor and translator the following is an
account: —
The author Bartholomteue, ST.mamed Glantville,
was a Franciscan friar, and dercended of the noble
family of the earis of Suffolk, The book, Do Pro-
prietatibos Rerum, was writt^i about the year 1366.
Trevisa was vicar of the parish of Berkeley, iu the
year 1398, and favoured by the then Earl of Bereke-
ley, as appears by the following note at the end of this
his translation, which lixes also the time of making It.*
' Endlefs grace, blvflc, ihankyng, and prayfyng unto
' our Lorde God omnipotent be giucn, by whOo; ayde
•and helpe this Irandacyon wai ended at Bcr|ielcyc
' the fyxte daye of Peucrcr, the ycrc of our Lord
' M.ccclxxxzviii, the ycrc of the reync of kyngc
' Rycharde the fcconde, after the eonquefte of Engloiide
' xxii. The yere of my lordcs aegc fyre Thomas lorde of
' Berkeleye that made me to make this tranflacyon jftvii.'
It seems that the book in the original I^tin waa
printed at Haeriem in 1485 ; but as to the translation,
it remained extant in written copies till the time of
• Vid. Tun. BIMIMli. Brit.
■IM oul Of LWIn InU EDK>li1
Eu^ph BIgdsB. Ibid. pif. r.
CaxtoD, who first printed it iu English, as appears
by the Proem of a subsequent impression of it by
Wynken de Worde, some time before the year 1500.
It was again printed in 153S by Thomas Berthelct;
and in 1582, one Stephen Batman, a profeaaor of
divinity, as be styles himself, published it with the
title of Batman upon Bartholome hia booke Da
Proprietatibus Rerum, with additions. Like many
other compilations of those early times, it is of
a very miscellaneous nature, and seems to contain
the whole of the author's reading on the subjects of
theology, ethics, natural history, medicine, astronomy,
geography, and other mathematical sciences. What
renders it worthy of notice in this place is, that
almost the whole of the last book is on the subject
of music, and contains, besides a brief treatise on the
science, an account of the instruments in use at the
time when it was written, This treatise is the mors
to be valued, as it is indisputably the most ancient
of any yet published in the English language on the
subject of music, for which reason the whole of it is
inserted verbatim in a snbsequent part of this work.
The sixth book contains twenty-seven chapters,
among which are these with the following titles : De
Puero, De Pnella, De Ancilla, De Viro, De Patre,
De Servis, De Proprietatibus Servi mali, De Pro-
prietatibus boni Servi, De Bono Domino ; these
several chapters furnish the characteristics of child-
hood, yonth, and matnre age, at the time when this
author wrote. And though it is true that this sixth
book has littie to do with mnsic, and the mention of
songs and carola does hut occasionally occur in it;
nevertheleas the style of this author is, in respect to
his antiquity, so venerable, his arrangement of the
different classes of life so just, and the picture
exhibited by him of ancient manners in thia country
BO lively, and to all appearance true, that a short
digression from the purposed work to that of Bar-
tholomeus, will carry itd own apology to every
inquisitive and curious observer of human life and
manners.
Of children he says, that when a child has passed
the age of seven years, he is < fette to lemynge, and
'compellid to take lemynge and chaltyiynge.'t At
I In iIm InfUicjr at lllerUDn Ika aiRdlOB nf chUdm. In ordn- M
tloHi Inlliliudotliaroiiiuitilni In Ihe poem ibo>e.clt*d, Iba rituhlst
■ nid.' 1. <., Bot ts ntnlD rnm bating them irllfa i MIcVwiS which
cloth if nwuund ; and h li pnbabljr owlnf lo Ur. Locke'i TreaUat OB
EduudsB Ihal ( mUitir and man lalional nelhod gf biiUlutlan praraUa
01 thii daf : It aaenii aa If men thoufht that no pnUckney uald b*
mada In ItarBing vilfaoul itiipii. ^htn Htlolua na commlttad I*
the tuition oTAballardibairaa Inieitoil byhor unelt with tl|p Mwet ef
JuH Gear comBldnid vu]' IMIniljr in Aachua oT the plachca.' ninaa,
and boblHa. and oth|n namalaii aereiltlH which iho BndRwtBt nam
her parenta In order to onlclEen har dUlieitco In learning. Baa A l«ttar
oT Robnt Aacham to bb Mend Sturmlua, in the Epiallea of tha hiimer,
and the Bcboleinaater of Aacham. Tuaaer, th* anlhar vf tha FIta
kundrEd Pninn of Hnibandn. apeaka of hll ' toiaed oara and bobbed
ardihlpa which he auttalMd in the CMUae of hla
iDtloni with ■ kind of horror the aerrrttr of IHal. lb*
XL
lere appean to haTi
a jroung gentlcnuui bi 1^
(Ilea to the
■^papUa with
he 'miin^m
tt purpoae carry thom In tlwlr pnckcta.
dbyGoot^le
Chap XLVII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
SIS
that age he u^s they are * plyaunc of body, able and
* lyghte to moeuynge, vryay to Icrne carolleg, and
' wythoute befynefle, and drede noo peryllca more
* thane betynge witb a rodde ; and they loue an apple
'more than golde.' Farther that they 'loue playei,
'game, and vanytec, and foriake worchynw; and of
' contrarite, for mooft worthy they repute leeft worthy,
* other not worthy, and dcfire thynges that is to theym
' contrary and greuous ; and fette more of the ymage
•of a chylde than of thymage of a man; and make
* Ibrrowe and woo, and wepe more for the lollc of an
•apple than for the lofle of theyr heritage; and the
' goodncfle that is done for theym they Icte it pafle out
' of mynde. They defirc all thynges that they fc, and
' praye and aflce wyth voyce and wyth honde. They
* loue talkynge and counfeylle of liich children as they
' ben, and voydc company of olde men. They kcpe no
' counfcylle, but ihcy telle all that they here : fodenly
* chcy laugh, and fodenly they wepe : alwaye they
* cryc, jangle, and jape, uneth they ben ftylle whyle
* they flcpe. Whan they ben wailhe of fylthe, anonc
' they defoyle ihemfclfc ayen ; whan the moder waflh-
* ith and iometh them they kick and fpraul, and put
' wyth fete and wyth hondes, and wyihllondyih wyth
' al theyr myghte, for ihcy thynkc onnly on wombe-
'joy, and knowe not the mefurc of their wombcs:
' they defire to diynke alwaye uncih they are out« of
' bedde, whan they crie for mete an oue.
Id the sixth chapter a damael ia thus describ«] ; —
[Di Pae/Ia.] ' A inayde, chylde, and a damoyfel
' b callyd Puelle, as it were Clene and Pure as the
' blacke of the eye. Amonge all thynges that ben
' louyd in a roayden, chaftyte and clennelle ben louyd
' moft. Men byhoue to take hede of maydeiu, tor
* they ben hote and moyite of complexyon, and tendre,
' finale, plyaunt, and fayr of difpofycyon of body.
* Shamfalte, terdefull, and mery, touchynge with afiec-
* cyon, delycate in clothynge, for, as Stnita fayth,
' that femely clothynge bylemyth to them well that
* ben chafte damoyfels. Putlla is a name of aege of
' foundnes wythout wem, and alfo of honelte. And
* for a woman is more mekcr than a man, and more
' enuyous, and more laughynge and louynge, and males*
' of foule is more in a woman than in a man ; and Ihe
' is of fcble kynde, and flie makyth more lefynges, and
' is more Ihamefall, and more Howe in werbynge, and
' in meuynge, than is a man.
' \De JhcH/h.] ' A fcfuant-woman b ordeyned to
' lern the wyues rule as it is put to ofiycc, aud werlte
' of traueylc and of defoyle, and is fedde wyth grete
' mete and fimple, and clothed in foule clothes, and
* kepte lowe under the yockc of thraldom and of fer-
* uage; and yf flic conceyue a chylde, ftie is yeue in
* ihralle, or it be bom, and take from the moders
* wombe to fcruage. Alfo yf a fcruying- woman be of
' bond condycyon Ihe is not fuffred to take an hulhond
' at her owne wylle : and he that weddyih her, yf he
' be fre afore, he is made bonde after the contraAe.
* A bondc-feruaunte- woman is bonte and folde lyke
' X becft ; and yf a bonde-leruaunt-man or woman is
made fre, and afterwarde unkynde, he Ihall be callyd
and brought ayen into charge of bondage and
of thraldom. Aifd a bonde leniant fuffrith many
wronges, and is bete wyth roddes, and conftreyned,
and holde lowe wyth dyuerfe and contrary charge*
and trauelles ; amonges wretchydnes and woo, uneth
he is fufired to reftc or to take brethe ; and therefore
amonge all wretchydnes and woo the condycyon ot
bondage and thraldom is moft wretchid. It is oo
proprite of bonde-leruynge-wymmen, and of them
thft ben of bonde condycyon, to grutche and to be
rebell and unbuxom to theyr lordes and ladies. And
whan they ben not holde lowe wyth drede, their
heries fwelle, and wer Itoute and proude ayenft the
commaundmentes of their foueraynes, as it farid of
jfgar, a woman of Egypt, feruaunt of Saira, for (he
fawe that flie had conceyued, and was wyth chyld,
and dyfpleyfed her owne lady, and wolde not amende
her; but then her lady puiie her to be fcourged, and
bete her, and foo it is writ that Saira chaftyfed her
and bete her, S:c. Pryde makyth bonde-men and
wymmem meke and lowe : and goodly toue makyth
thcim prowde, and lloute, and dyfpiteous ; and fo it
is fayd there it is wrytte, he thiat nouryflhyth his
feruant delycatly, he Ihall fyndc hym rebell at ihende.
[Pe firs.] ' A man is callyd fir in Latyn, and
hath that name of miglite and uertue, and ftrengthe,
for in myghte, and in Hrengthe a man pailyih a
woman. A man is the hede of a woman, at the
Appoftle fayth, therefore a man is bounde to rule hit
wife, as the heed hath cure and rule of the body.
And a man ia callyd Maritui, as it were wardynge
and defendyng the moder, for he taketh warde and
kepynge of Im wyfe, that b moder of the chyldren,
'■ and b callyd Spon/ttj alfo, and hath that name of
' Spandei, for he byhotyth and oblygith him&lf ; for in
■ the contrafle of weddinge he plighteth his irouth to
lede hb lyfe wyth hys wyfe, wythout departynge,
' and to paye her dettes, and to kepe and loue her afore
' all other. A man hath foo grete loue to hu wyfe,
' tliat becaufe hereof he auentryth hymfelf to perylles,
' and fettyth her loue afore his moders loue : for \^
' dwellyih with his wyfe, and forfakyth hb moder and
' his fader, for foo fayth God, a man Ihall forfake iader
' and moder, and abyde wyth hb wyfe.
' Afore weddynge the fpoufe thynkyth to wynnc the
' loue of her that he wowyth, with yefte, and certcfyeth
'of ius wyll wyth lettres and meflengen, and wyth
' diucrie prefcnts, and yeuycth many ycftes and moche
' good and catayle, and promyfcth moche more ; and
' to playfe her puttyth hym to diuerfe playes and games
• among gadering of men ; and ufe oftc dcdes of armea
' of myght and of mayftry ; and makyth hym gay and
• femely in dyuerfe clothynge and araye ; and all that
• he b prayed to giue thereto for her loue he yeuyeth,
' aitd dooth anone with all hb myght, and dcnyetii no
' peticyon tliat b made in her name, and for her loue.
' He fpekyth to her pley&untly, and byholdeth her
' cheer in the face wyth pleyfynge and glad cheer, and
' wyth a fliarp eye, and aflentyth to her at lafte, and
' tellith openly lib wyll in prefence of her frendes, and
' fpoufiih her with a rynge, and takyth her to wyfo.
dbyG00*^lc
B14
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Bo« VL
• and yeoeth her yeftM in token of contrafl of weddynge,
' and makyth her chartres and ded« of graunt, and of
' yeftM ; and makyth reucls, and feeftea, and ipoufayles,
' and yeuyth many good yeftei (o frendcs and gillea,
' and comfonyth and gladdith his giftea with fongca
' and pypes, and other mynfiralfye of mufyke ; and
' afterwarde he bringeth her to the pryuiteea of his
' chambre, and makyth her felow at bonle and at bedd;
' and thene he makyth her lady of money, and of hb
' hous meyny. Thene he hath caufc to her M his
' owne, and takyth the charge and keepynge of her,
' and fpecyally louyingly auyfeth her yf Ihe doe amys,
' and takyth of her berynge and gooyi^, of fpekynge
' and lokynge ; of her paflynge and aycncomynge, and
' entrynge. Noo man hath more welth than he that
' hath a gode woman to his wyie, and no man hath
' more woo than he that hath an euyll wyfe, cryenge
' and janglynge, chydynge and Ikoldynge, dronklewe
' and unllcdfalle, and contrary to iiym : coftlewe,
' llowte, and gayc, enuyous, noyful, lepynge ouer
' londes, moch fufpycyousj and wrathful.
' In a good fpoole and wyfe byhoueth thlle condy-
'cyona, that (he be befye and denote in Goddyaleniyfe;
'meke and fervyfeable to her huflmnde, and Ayre
' fpekynge and goodly to her meyny ; merycable and
' good to wretches that ben nedy, ealy and peafyable
' to her neyghboun, ready waar and wile in thynge*
' that {hold be auoyed, ryghtfiill and pacyent in fuf-
' frynge, befy and dilygente in her doinge, manerly in
' clothyinge, fobre in mouyng, waar in fpekynge,
' challc in lokyngc, honefle in beringe, fadde in goynge,
' ihamfallc amonge the people, mery and gladdc amonge
* men wyih her hufbonde, and chafte in pryuyte.
' Such a wyfe is worthy to be prayfed that entendyth
' more to plcyfe her huftonde wyth her homely word,
* than with her gayly pinchynge and nycetcea, and
' defyreth more with certues than with feyr and gay
* clothes. She ufyth the goodnea of matrymony more
' bycaufe of chyldren than of flelhly lykynge, and
' more lykynge in chyldren of grace than of kynde.'
BOOK VI. CHAP. XLVIIL
Tri description given by Bartholomniis of the
serend states and conditions of life, refer to the re-
ktiona of f&thar, mother, son, daughter, and female
•ervant, and the duties resnlting from each, adapted
to the manners of the fourteenth century, which,
thongh comparatively mde and unpolished, were not
■o very coarse and sordid as not to admit of those
recreations and amnsements, which are common to
ill ages and countries, and are indeed as necesBary
for die preservation of mental as corporeal sanity,
and among theee are to be reckoned mosic and
dancing.
Heution has already been made in general terms
of those songs and ballads which were the enter-
tainment of the common people ; and examples of
poetical compositions, suited to the mouths of the
Tulgar, will occur in their place.
These it may be said are very homely represent'
ations of ancient manners : it is true they are, but
they are representatives of the manners of homely and
nninstmcted people, the better sort of both sexes
entertuning formerly, as now, very different senti.
ments ; and what respect and civilities were anciently
thought due to women of rank and character, may be
learned from the feigned conversations between knights
and their ladies, with which the old romances abound.
Nay, such was die respect paid to the chastity of
women, that the church lent its aid to qualify men
for its protection ; and over and above the engage-
ments which the law of arms required as the con-
dition of knighthood, most of the candidates for that
honour, that of the Bath in particular, were obliged
to fast, to watch, to pray, and to receive the sacra-
ment, to render them susceptible of it ; and their in-
vestiture was attended with ceremonies which had
their foundation in Gothic barbarism and Komish
superstition. How long the idea of sanctity of life
and manners continoed to make a part of the knightly
charaeter, may be inferred from Caxton'a recommend-
ation of his Boke of the Ordre of Chyvslry or
Knighthood, translated oDt of French, and imprinted
by him, wherein are these words : — ' O ye knights
■ of Englond ! where is the cuftom and ufage of noble
' chyvalry that waa uied m thofe dayes ? What do you
' now, but go to the baynea, [ialhi^ and play at dyfe t
' and fome not well aduiled, ufe not honeft and good
' rule, agayn all order of knighthood. Leue this, )eue
'it, and rede the noble volumes of Saynt Qrcal,* of
■Lancelot, of Galaad, of Triftram, of Perfeforeft, of
' Percyual, of Gawayne, and many mo : There Ihall
' ye lee manhode, curtoya, and genilenes; and loke in
ball^lhBtltnithoi
Orifin of RonuM,
tut PinUpomnsn [il
knight.
uHlui, Id till TnulH on tlw
"""T"!"*]
Blgtit t» produced, but
UUt of the two book! afCbronlcleil u
a woid DantuonoiiiT. una tn like nwiDer taken
I or holy men. Other buluicH to Ihii Pvpoo*
tble Uut rallowa of St. Vennki. * hglr thibc
1 poneunl of > hiodkercliieritllb tbo ImptoMkiB
■urouui Ul of (he ktnd. Mluon. fn ^b !>■.
Holy Hudknhlef [Le Sahil Suiln) at
Imsrlnud npon it irUh Mm* c
■imprlDtad i
' Sndvliiiii 7
-' It li ■ pniendHi lell, or hudknehlef i _
the tndltioDj to our StTiour u he wu cuttIiu Ik*
lost. John)l»iim>ldmiiedVeroBi<i They prMiBd
It vlpod hli fUa with U, ud nre II bock to her who
olour. Tble U the holy bi
UMdeieultitiln.l'
' iBUf* oc i^neentitioii (•iii.. tf thehHor J»ueCbriil| tb
'dodon hiTB iBHle Voonlci. Mid ■flumidi Ihej to-*- -
' theouilTee to luTe pieaeBleL .._. __^._
•Snduium WH eurtod from Chumbetry In
' when It wAi It ChHDberry hevlnx been kc
raid (7>d<r<>> >>IUi i uiil of coatfe Piriinn 4 It.
• dlmlnutiTe of UnilKima, nu undontitedly Iha nuua of ■ voniM,
prabibly the elerenth ehUd of bar pennti, nho mUhl hsn ban a
tniuiyr. VId* Piaf. to Culla|''( Cutalona of tba HuDKilpti ii< tb
Klaf > UlmiT, p((. itU.
dbyGoot^le
Chap. XLVIIL
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
315
' latter dayn of the noble actes fyth the conquefte, u
* in king Richard's days, Cuer de Uon : Edward I. and
' III. and hit noble fonnes : Sir Robert KnoUe*, &c.
'Rede, Froiffart. Alio behold that vjflorious and
* noble king, Harry the Fifth, tec'
But to reawume the [voposed discrimination be-
tween the manners of the higher and lower orders of
the people. It is certain that the conrtesy and
tirbaiiity of the one was at least equal in degree to
the rudeness and incivility of the other ; for, not to
recnr to the compositions of the Provencal poets,
Boccace himself is in his poetical compositions the
standard of purity and elegance. He it is said was
the inrentoT of the Otisva Rims, of which a modem
writer asserts that it is the noblest concatenation of
verses the Italians have ; and the sonnets, and other
poetical compositions interspersed throughout the
Decameron, may serve to shew what a degree of re-
finement prevailed in the conversations of the better
Bort at that early period. If farther proofs were
vcanting, the whole of the compositions of Petrarch
might be brought in support of this assertion. The
Bonnets of thb elegant and polit« lover ore not more
remarkable for their merit aa poetical compositions,
than for charity and purity of sentiment : and much
of that esteem and respect with which women have
long been treated, is owing to those elegant models
of courtship contained in the addresses of Petrarch to
bis beloved Laura, which bare been followed, not
only by numberless of his own countrymen, but by
eome of the best poets of this nation, as namely, the
earl of Surrey, Sir Thomas Wiat, Sir Edward Dyer,
Vere, earl of Oxford, Spenser, Shakespeare, and
A few enqniries tonching the recreation of dancing,
will lead ns back to the subject of this hietory, from
which it is to be feared tiie foregoing disquisition
may be thought a digression; and here it is to be
observed, that even at the times now spoken of,
dancing was the diversion of all ranks of people ;
though to ascertain the particular mode of this exer-
cise, and how it differed from that now in nse, ia a
matter of great difficulty. The art of Orchesography,
or denoting the severd steps and motions in dancing
by characters, is a modern invention of a French
master, Mona. Beauchamp, who lived in the time of
Lewis XIV., though it has been improved and per-
fected by another, namely, Mons. Feuillet :* and of
the several kinds of dance in fashion in the days of
qtieen Elizabeth, we know little more than the names,
snch as the Oalliard, the Pavan,^ the Coranto, and
BOme others. Sir Thomas Klyot, iu his book called
the Governor, says in general, that dancing by persons
of both sexes is a mystical representation of matrimony,
• ratMlm, bi bli DkUanur, mciIIh tUi inTentlon to oiw TkolDet
ArbHu, ■ Frmcliiun. mtntlsiKd b^ Wilthii Is lili Huilal Lulun,
paf 43, to bftiro publUbed In ii5$, A book wltli the Illle ot Orcheio.
n^bla- FniMlvn covfHiet bo DCVR could gol « tUhtof the book; but
Mr. Wnvor, thi dudng-mMUi, who hut peiuHd it. uyi Ih*! It tmu
m duMlns IB inignl, hHthic tb* dnun, and pbijbig od thtSfci ud
omUini Dothli^ to the punMue of Ibo Orcboiomphr h«n tpokcn oL
VculUct'a book ni tntaliMdlDto Enfllob, snd publli)i«l br Hr. Wutm
■bout Ibo brflnnlni ot Ibki otDtunr. VUo Whtoi'i E«i towaidi in
-. . ._^„ .. j_ ,j,
r origlul, ud It ITtf
these are his words ; ' It is diligently to he noted that
' the company of man and woman in dancing, they
' both observing one number and time in their
' moviugs, was not begun without a special consider*
* ation, as well for the conjunction of those two per-
' sonnes, as for the imitation of sundry vertues which
' be by them represented.^
'And forasmuch as by the joyning of a man and
' woman in dauncing may be signified matrimony,
' I could in declaring the dignitie and comoditie of
' that sacrament make intier volumes If it were not
' so commonly knowen to al men, that almost every
' frier lymitour caryeth it written in his bosome.'§
And elsewhere he says, ' In every dannce of
' a most ancient custome ther daunced together a man
' and a woman, holding each other by the hand or
' by the arme, which betokeneth concord. Now it
' behoveth the dauncers, and also the beholders of
' them, to know al qualities incident to a man, and
' also al qualities to a woman likewise appertaining.' ||
A little farther he speaks of a dance called the
Braule, by which he would have his reader under-
stand a kind of dancing, the motions and gesti-
culations whereof are calculated to express something
like altercation between the parties: whether this
term has any relation to that of the Bransle of
Poitiers, which occurs in Morley's Introduction, may
be a matter of some question : Minebew and Skinner
derive it from the verb Bransler, Vibrare, to brand-
ish; the former explains the word Braule, by saying
it ia B kind of dance. Phillips is more particular,
calling it 'a kind of dance in which several persons
' danced together in a ring, holding one another by
' the hand.'
Over and above this particular specification of one
of the old dances, Sir Thomas Elyot mentions some
other kinds, as Bargenettes, Fsuyons, Turgyons,^
and Roundes, concerning which he says. ' that as for
' the special names, they were taken as they be now,
' either of the names of the first inventours, or of
' the measure and number that they do conteine ; or
' of the first words of the dittie which the song
' comprehend eth, whereoff the daunce was made.
' In every of the said dannces there was a continuitie
'of moving the foote and body, expressing some
' pleasaunt or profitable affects or motions of the
'mind.'**
This account carries the present enquiry no farther
back than to somewhat before the author's time, who
flourished under Henry the Eighth, and whose book
is dedicated, to that monarch; and therefore what
a fiamned then ia no exiilahatf
7 shephenla, tntm
In the danai nKiableil that ofa jHacoch'i'tall. Tbli dance la luppotol
the iinm la given In lb* OicheKgraphl* of Tboinst Arbeao. Etsir
Fann bat Iti Oalllaid, a Ughttc kind o? ale, mada out of Uu Dniwr.
dbyGooi^le
HISTORY OP THE SCiExVCE
Book VL
kind of dances were in xme during the preceding
centDTy cannot at this distance of time be ascertained.
It IS highly probable that in this period the
Morrice Dance was introduced into this and other
countries; it is indiepntable that this dance was the
invention of the Moors, for to dance a Morisco U
.1 term that occurs in some of our old English writers.
The lexicographers say it is derived from the Pyr-
iliic dance of the ancients, in which the motions of
combatants are imitated. All who are scqaainted
with history know, that about the year 700 the
Moors being invited by count Julian, whose daughter
Cava,Roderic king of Spain had forced, made a con-
quest of that country; that they mixed with the
natives, built the city of Granada, and were hardly
expelled in the year 1609. During their continuance
in Spain, notwithstanding the hatred which the natives
bore them, they intermarried with them, and corrupted
the blood of the whole kingdom : many of tbetr
customs remoin yet unabrogat^ ; and of their recre-
ations, the dance now spoken of is one. The practice
of dancing with an instrument called the Castanet,
formed of two shells of the chesnut, is so truly of
Moorish original, that at this dsy a puppet-show is
hardly complete without a dance of a Moor to the
time of a pair of Castanets, which he rattles in each
hand. Nay, the use of them was taught in the
dancing'Schools of London till the beginning of the
present century; and that particular dance called
the Saraband is supposed to require, as a thing of
necessity, the music, if it may he called so, of this
artless instrument*
But to return to the Morrice Dance, there are
few country places in this kingtlom where it is not
known ; it la a dance of young men in their shirta,
with bells at their feet, and ribbons of various co-
lours tied round their arms, and slung across their
shoulders. Some writers, Shakespeare in particular,
mention a Hobby-horse and a Maid Marian, as
necessary in this recreation. Sir William Temple
speaks of a pamphlet in the library of the earl of
Leicester, which gave an account of a set of morrice-
dancers in king James's reign, composed of ten men
or twelve men, for the ambignitv of Ids expression
renders it impossible to say which of the two num-
bers is meant, who went about the country : that
they danced a Maid Marian, with a tabor and pipe,
and that their ages one with another made up twelve
hundred yeaTs.f It seems by this relation, which
the author hss given with his usual inaccuracy of
style and sentiment, that these men were natives
of Herefordshire.
It seems that about the year 1400 the common
country dance was not so intricate and ma^ as now.
Some of the ancient writers, speaking of the Roun-
delay or Boundel, as a kind of air appropriated to
dancing , which term seems to indicate little more
* ' I niDBiDbvr, »M ju old beui of the lut t^v (ipal;ln| of hii
1 Vm Hulgi, I
i bi^orv him wilti a pair of Cuuneli in aai
act "— •" doLlBhUd wllh bet peifonnuiH.
t iba bad bilf ficniudcd tain tlwt be wu In
than danciug in a circle with the hands joined.
Slowe intimates that before his time the oommoa
people were used to recreate themselves abroad,
and in the open air, and laments the use of those
diversions which were followed within doors, and
out of the reach of the public eye ; and while dan-
cing waa practised in fields and other open places,
it seems to have been no reproach to men of grove
professions to join in this recreation, unless credit
be given to that bitter satire against it contained in
the Stultifera Navis. or the Ship of Fools, written
in Dutch by Sebastian Brant, a lawyer, about the
middle of the fifteenth century, afEerwards translated
into Latin by James Locher, and thence into English
by Alexander Barclay, in which the author thtia
exclaims against it : —
' Whit ell ii diunling, but eren ■ nuicety,
* Or ell I bijiEc to purchafe and nuyntaj^nc
'In yonge heirtei the vile Tinne ofiihawdty,
'Them ftttring therin, u in a deidly chaynt?
'And to fijf truth, In wordn cleare and plavaC)
' Generoui people have all their whole pleafiuace
' Their ii<e Co oorllhe by thii unciuitty daancc.
' Then it in the earth no game ii more danuiblc i
' It Icmeth no peace, but battayle openly j
< They thai it ufe ormindei feme unftable,
' At mad folk running with clamour diout and CIJ.
' What place 1< voide of thli furious folly I
' None, fo chat I doubt within a while
' Thefe roolea the holy church Hull defile.
' Of people what fort or order may we find,
Riche or poore, hye or lowe of name,
I unto the lame,
aunce han no flume {
monke in hii IVockc and cowie,
' Mult daunce in hii dodor, leplng to play the foole.
■ To ic camel children, maydei. and wivei,
' And flatiring yonge men to fee to haue their pray,
' The hande in hande great I^IOiode oft conttivei,
'The old quean alfo thii midneli will alTayt
■ For age and limcnei fiytre eyther foole or hande,
' Yet pliyeth he the tbole with other in the bande. %
' Do away with your dauncet ye people much unwilt,
• Uefifl your foolKhe pleafuR oflravayle t
' It ii melhinke an unwyfe ufe and gyfe
■ To take fuche labour and payne without anyle.
The same author censures as foolish and ridiculous
the custom of going about tlie streets with harps,
lutes, and other instruments by night; and blames
Judgei. in conpllanc
raaM-6tj In the lull a
le recreation of dandnt wu In ancient thnH
ierlnnt-e Inn. (
,■. fnn,ji.« tta
; iludy [the law) ibey have it_, , __,
reallani and dellgtal, coDinonly called nnU. alloirfd al c«<wi
■nd Ihu by ipeclal order of the toctolr. aa ijpaareth tit
D. anolherattbetbaitof St. Etken-
' bar offended by not dancing oa Candle
■ Ibii that tf Iho like fauir^era coi^
■Inad at iUUrred.' Dugd. Otif.lnil
Digitized
byGoo^le
Chap. XLIX.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSia
young mBn for ain^g songs under the windowB
of their lemiUB : in abort, the praclJce here meant
ui that of serenading, which is yet oommon in Spain,
and other parts of Earope, and is allowed by bim,
even in his time, to have been more frequent abroad
then in this country. The verses are very hnmouroDs
and descriptive, and are as follows : —
'The fiirin farfiil, fprong of the floudet of hell,
* Bertft there uigabaniiu in their miadi, lb
< That bjr 00 meine can tbey abide ne dwelt
' Wlihin theit houfet, but out they nede muft go j
' More wildly windiing then either bgcke or doe.
' Some with lh«t hirpei, inother with their lute,
' nothei with hit bagpipe, or a foollAie flute.
' Then nieafure they their fongei of melody
' Bclbre the doorei of their lemman deare;
' Howling with their fooliihe Ibnge and try,
' So that theit lemman may their great folly heue i
a Ihefe fiMlei are To unwife,
■ When all the houfu are lade with fnowe and jrfe,
' O madmen amaled unftable, and witleb !
' What pleafure lake you in thil your fbolilbtwli i
' What joy haue ye to wander thgi by night,
■ " iM that ai doen alway hate the light ?
It feoliOic youth doth not alone thil ufe,
roie of lowe birth, and Ample of degree,
' But lU'a Date* ihemfelvei therein ibuTe,
* With fame yonge fuolea of the fpirilualde t
' The ibolilhe pipe without ill gniirie
' Doth eche degree call to his tnnlic game j
'The datknet of aighl eipelleth leare of Okame.
■ One barketh, another blealelh like a Ihepe ;
ir baltadei fiiyae
Another
Bnging ge
ihhimfelfto
hath of hlE
to be llioit and playne,
■ Who that of this fort beft lan play the knave,
' Lookech of the other the mayltery to have.
' When it ii night, and eche Oiould drawe to reft,
* Many of our fiiolei great payne and watchiag take
' To proue mayfbyei, and fee who tan drinlce beft,
' Eyther at ibe laueme uf wine or the ale ftalce,
' Eyther all night watcheth for their lemmana fake,
' Standing in comen like ai it were a fpye.
' Whether that the wether be what, colde, wet. Or dry.'
The pase^es above-cited sre irrefragable evidence,
not only that dancing was a favourite recreation with
all ranks of people at the period now spoken of, bnt
that even then it was subject to rule and measure :
and here a great difficulty would be found to attend
onr researches, supposing music to have continued
in that Btate in which most writers on tba subject
have left it : for notwithstanding the Kreat deal
which Vossins and other writers luve said concem-
iug the Bythmus of the ancients, there is very little
reason to think that they bad any method of denoting
by characters the lengta or duration of sounds ; the
consequence whereof seems to be that the dancing of
ancient times must have wanted of that perfection
which it derives from its correspondence with men-
surable music. Nay if credit be given to the accounts
of those writers who ascribe the invention of the
Oantue MenEurabilis to Johannes de Muris, we shall
be at a loss to account for tbe practice of regular
dancing before tbe commencement of tbe fourteenth
century ; but if tbe Cantns Mensurabilis be attributed
to PraDco, the scholastic of Liege, who flooiisbed in
tbe eleventh century, the antiquity of regular dancing
is removed near three hundred years farther back.
This historical fact merits the attention of every
cnrious enquirer into the history and progress of
music, not only as it carries with it a reflation not
of a vulgar, but of a general and universal error,
but because without the knowledge of it the idea of
dancing to regular measures before tbe year 1330, is
utterly inconceivable.*
CHAP. XLIX.
Tbe Eera of the invention of mensurable music is
so precisely determined by tbe account herein befora
given of f'ranco, that it is needless to oppose tb«
evidence of bis being the author of it to the ill*
grounded testimony of those writers who give tba
honor of this great and last improvement to De
Muris : nevertheless the regard due to historical
truth requires that an account should be given of
him and bis writings, and the order of chronology
determines this as the proper place for it.
Johannes db Mdkis was a doctor of tbe Sorbonne,
and flourished in the fourteenth century. Mersennus
styles him ' Canonicus et Decanus Ecclesiie Paris-
' iensis.''!' The general opinion is, that be was
a native of Normandy ; but biabop Tanner has ranked
him among the English writers ; in this he bas
followed Pit84 who expressly asserts that be wss an
Englishman ; and though the Oxford antiquary,
following tbe French writers, says that he was a
Frenchman of PariB,§ the evidenoe of his being a
native of England is stronger than even Fits or
Tanner themselves were aware of; for in a very
ancient manuscript, which it no where appears that
either of them had ever seen, and of which a very
copious account will hereafter be given, are the
following verses : —
■ Ihon de Muris, variis floniitque fi^uris,
' Anglia CBUtonininomen gignitplunmoruiD.
Monsieur Bourdelot, the author of the Histoire de
la Musique et ses EfTels, in four tomes, printed at
Paris in 1715, and at Amsterdam in 172S, has
grossly erred in saying of De Muris, that he lived
in 1553; for it was more than two hundred years
before that time, that is to say in 1330, that we are
told by writers of the greatest authority he flourished.
To shew his mistake in some d^^e wc need otily
appeal to Frenchinus, who in his Practica Musios,
pnnted in 1502, lib. II., besides that he gives the
several characters of which De Muris is said to have
been the inventor, cap. 13, expressly qnotes him br
name, as be docs also Prosdocimus B^demandis, hia
commentator, cap. i. Glareanus also in his Dodeca>
chordon, published at Basil in lfi40, bas a chapter
De Notanim Figuris, and bes given compositions
<• mppnHd M liavi li
0; and It ti ctnain t]
In point of tiiDfl betvTi
' t Harmonic, lib. I.
tarlj iii(«hn u thai ihi dlfl^enc*
the otbei ihoald bo leoi than tatj
dbyGooi^lc
318
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
lVL
of flnndry mosicMiu of Uutt day, in not«B of different
lengths, that could not have existed, if we suppose
that De Muris invented these characters, and conse-
quently that they were not known till 1553.
By the account which Bishop Tanner gives of him
in his Bibliotheca, it appears that De Muris was a
man of very exteoBive biowledge ; and in particular
that he was deeply skilled in the mathematics. In-
deed the very titles of bis books seem to indtcsta a
propensity in the antbor to the more abstruse parts
of learning. His treatise on the Quadrature of the
Circle, shews him to have been a geometer ; and that
on tike Alpbonsiue Tables, an astronomer.*
The tracts on music written by De Moris exist
only in manuscript, and appear by Bishop Tanner's
account to have been four, namely, one beginning
'Quoniam Mnsica est de sono relato ad numeros.'
2. Another intitled, ' Artem componendi ^metiendi)
' fistulas organorum secundum Guidonem,' beginning
' Gognita cousonantia in chordis,' 3. Another with
this title ' SufBcientism musicK organic^a editam,
' (ita habet MIS.) k mag. Johanne de Muris, musico
< sapientissimo, et todns orbis snbtillissimo experto,'
beginning ' Princeps pbilosopborum Aristotclea.'
4. Another entitled ' Compoeitionem consonantiarum
' in eymbolis secundum Boetimu,' beginning ' Omne
' inatmmentnm musicee.' f Besides these Mersennua
mentions a tract of his entitled Specnlum Musicae,
which he had seen in the French king's library, and
attentively perused.f And Martini has given a short
note of the title of another in the words following:
' De Muris Mag. Joan, de Nonnandia alias Paris-
' iensia Proctica Mensnrabilis Cantus, cum exposit,
Proadocimi de Beldem^is.' Patav. MS. an. 1401.
The manuscripts of De Muris above-mentioned to
be in the Bodleian library, have been carefully pemeed
with a view to ascertain precisely the improvements
made by him in mensurable moslc, but tiiey appear
to contain very little to that purpose. Nevertheless,
from the title of the tract last-mentioned, there can
be scarce a doubt but that it is in that that he explains
the nature and use of the character used in mensurable
music ; and there are yet extant divers manuscripts
written by monks, chanters, and precentors in the
chairs of ancient cathedrals and abbey-churcbea,
mostly with the title of Metrologue, that sufficiently
ezpLun the nstnre of the Cantus Meosorabilis, though
none so clearly and accurately as the Practica Mu-
sices utriusqne Cantus of Franchinus. But besides
that many of them attribute to De Muris tbia im-
provement, they ascribe to him the invention of
eharacters which there is great reason to believe were
auilLtln
fOmded «i Ghn ukululoDt tit tba iblal ■
* " tint, *mr\irrtt bt Mid R« ibit pnipi
■pffiHtfl of not Ihi uad four bimdnd thlOHiui vniwni
Baaa u* ill In ih* Bodltlui Utmir. "M ittf wDr Iw toana h
in of thf prtntod aulo««, and Ibv nftamnt to thaiii In Hi
Meut, Ib Tumi') BlbUoUitc*.
. pnp. UT. p>(. S. HunL ubIt. put II. pif . i:
not made use of till many years after his decease. In
a tract entitled Regolie Mi^tri Joannes de Muris.
contuned among many others in a manuscript col-
lection of ronsicsl tracts, herein-before referred to by
the appellation of the Manuscript of Waltham Holy
Cross, mention is made of the following chatactera —
the Long, the Breve, the Semibreve, the Minim, and
the Simple, which can be no other tiian the Crotchet,
inasmuch as two simples are there made equivalent
to a minim, and the simple is eidd to be indivisible,
and to be accounted as unity.
Thomas de Walsyngham,§ the anthor of one of
the tracts conteined in the above mannscript, and
who it is conjectured flourished about the year 1400,
makes the number of the characters to be five,
namely, the Large, Long, Breve, Semibreve, and
Minim. But he adds, that ' of late a New character
' has been introduced, called a Crotchet, which woold
' be of no use, would musicians remember that beyond
' the minim no sutidivision ought to be made.*
Indeed a strange fatality seems to have attended
all the enquiries concerning the particuUre of De
Muris's improvements ; for first no writer has yet
mentioned in which of the several tracts, of which
he was confessedly the author, the^ are to be found ;
secondly, there is a diversity of opinions with respect
to the number of characters said to be invented by
him. Hay,'MerBeDnnB goes so far as to say he had
read the manuscripts of Johannes de Muris, which
are in the library of the king of Prance, bnt never
found that he invented any of the characters in
modem use.
That these mistaken opinions respecting De Muris
and his improvements in music should ever have
obtained, is no other way to be accounted for than
by the ignorance of the times, and that ineviuble
obscurity which was dispelled by the revival of
literature and the invention of printing. But the
greatest of all wonders is, that they should have
been adopted by men of the first degree of eminence
for learning, and propagoted through a succession
of ages. The truth is, thst in historicsl matters the
authority of the first relator is in general too im-
plicitly acquiesed in ; and it is hut of late years (hat
authors have learned to be particular as to dates and
times, and to cite authorities in support of the &cts
related by them.
Franchinus indeed may be remarked as an excep-
tion to this rule ; and whoever peruses his works
will find bis care in this respect equal to the modesty
end diffidence with which he every where delivers
his opinion. Now it is worthy of note that through*
out his writings the name of De Muris occurs but
in very few places ; that he ranks him with Mar-
chettus of Padua, Anselmns of Parma, Tinctor, and
other vmters on the Cantus Mensnrabilis; and that
be is as far from ^ving the hononr of that invention
to De Muris as to Prosdocimus Beldemandis, lus
commentator. Neither do the authoiB who wrote
JTht nima of thb pman S«« bm ocnir In hit ataloc» of EnftiA
ten (HI muile. Blitiop Tinns menlioni loo of ihu duii*. IM «m
u hliuilu, Ibt otber pncmtot of the •WiOT.tbuteli of St. Attma i thn
th* UlUr or Ifaae wu the wthoi of Uw ibenmaaOitsii tnsIlM b
dbyGoot^le
Cbap. XLIX.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSia
319
immedittely after FrancliiiiiiB, aa namely, Peter Anm,
Glareaoua, Jacobna Faber BtapnlensiB, Ottomaras
Lusdnioa, or any other writer of the German or
Italian schools before the year 1655, as far aa can
be collected from an attentive perosal of their works,
assert, or even intimate, that the characters now uaad
to denote the length or duration of eonnds in music
were contrived by Johumee De Muris; and the
declaration of Mersennns above-cited may almost be
said to be evidence of the contrary. Upon this
state of &ct8 a question naturally arises, to what
mistaken representation is it owing that the honoor
of this important improvement in mneic is ascribed
to one who had no title to it, and that not by one,
but many writers? for Zarlino, Berardi, and tjl the
Italians, Kiicher, Broesard, and Bonrdelot relate it
with a degtm of confidence that seona to exclude
alldonbt.
An answer to this question is at hand, which npon
the face of it has the appearance of probability. In
short, tiiifi erroneous opinion seems to have been
originally entertained and propagated by an author
whose character as a masician has held the world in
niapense for two centuries ; and it seems hardly yet
determined whether his ingenuity or his absurdity
be the greater. The person here meant is Don
Nicola Viceotino, a Roman musician, hereinbefore
■poken of, as having attempted to restore the ancient
genera, who flourished about the year 1492, and in
1SS5 pablished at Rome, in folio, a work entitled
L'Anbca Mnsica Ridotta alia modem* Prattica, con
la Dichiaratione, et con git Easempi de i tre Generi,
coQ la liiro Spetie, which contuns the following
relation : —
' After the invention of the hand by Guido, and the
' introduction of the stave with lines, the method to
' express the BOtinda was by points placed on those
' lines ; from whence it became a nsutd form of com*
' mendation of a cantus for more voices than one, to
'say, " Questo e' un bel contrapunto," " this is a fine
"counterpoint;" plainly indicating that the notes
' were placed against each other, and consequently
' that they were of equal measures. But Giovanni de
' Maria, grandissimo Filosofo in the university of
' Paris, found out the method of distinguishing by
' eight characters the notes which we now place on
' the lines and spaces, and also invented those charac-
'ters the circle and semicircle, traversed and un-
' traversed, together with the numbers, as also the
'written marks for pauses or rests; all which were
'added to bis invention of the eight characters.
' Others added the ronnd b to e la mi in their com-
' positions, and likewise the mark of four strokes,
' described in this manner It ; and so from time to
' time one added one thing, and another another, as
'happened a little while ago, when in the organ to
' the third a la mi re above g sol re ut, a fifth was
' formed in e la mi with a round b, or, as you may
' call it, e la mi flat : * and from those characters
' Q and b, and also this It, many others have been
• Thli ii ■ Ttrr curioTD anudiiM, for It gof nnmi to uccttdn Dm
Unw wb« nun; of tbt RULipoHd kcyi csuld sH Huto ailiicd. Tba
fbr It li (D tnunil eDDitmnc or hul thi» Cwhi. Bi hid bttter hin
olM It Uh fconk to b b, "»i°t> It <"»> »•
invented of great advantage to music, for I am of
opinion that the oharacters S and b were the first
principlee upon which weri invented the eight
musical figures now treating of ; for John De Muria
being desirous of distinguishing those several figures
the Large, Long, Breve, Semibreve, Minim, Semi-
minim, or Crotchet, Chroma, or Quaver, and Semi-
chroma, was necessitated to seek such forms as
seemed to him fittest for the purpose, and by the
help of these to frame such other characters as could
be best adapted to musical practice ; and to me it
seems that none could be found so well suited to his
intention as these two of h and b.
' For first it is to be observed that the breve t4 is
derived trom b, and so also are the large and the
long ; the breve being but b without legs, and the
large and the long being the same h with one leg,
with this only difference, that the large BB. exceeds
considerably in magnitude the long m . From the
other of the two characters above-mentioned, vis., b,
was formed the semibreve 0, or *, by cutting off the
leg. After the philosopher had so far adjusted the
form of the characters, he assigned them their proper
names ; and first to that note which was simply the 9
without the legs, he gave the name of Breve, thereby
meaning to express only the shortness of its propor-
tion in comparison with the figure from whence, u
has been shewn, it was derived.
' It seems that the breve and the semibreve were
the roots from whence the several other notes of
addition and diminution sprang ; and seeing ihot a
greater variety was wanting, De Muria, for the
avoiding a multiplicity of characters, as it were gave
bock the leg of the breve, and piecing it on the right
side IBS , called it a long, giving to it twice the
value or time of the breve. I^rther, he added to
the long half its breadth tSd , and called it a large,
at the same time assigning to it the value of two
longs.
' From those several characters arose the invention
of various tyiugs and bindings, and other com-
binations, called by modem writers. Ligatures, some
in a square or horizontal position, and others in a
direction oblique, and both ascending and descend-
ing, as the progression of the sounds required ; but
of theee it is not here intended to treat.
' Having spoken sufficiently of the origin and use of
the Breve, the Long, and the Large, it remains to
account for the invention of the Minim, the Semi-
minim, Chroma, and Semichromo, which, as have
already been mentioned, were generated from the
b round. As to the semibreve, it is clearly the b
round without a leg; and the minim is no other
than the semibreve with a atroke, proceeding not
from either side, but from the middle of the figure
thus i, in order that no confusion might arise from
its similitude to b. And to this character was
assigned half ^le value of the semibreve. From the
same figure diversified by blackness, and by marks
added to the leg, the pfailosopher formed three other
characters of different values, the first was the semi-
minim |, in value, as its name imports, half th«
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
220
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
BookVL
■ minim; and which is no other than &m minim
' blackened. To the leg of this semiminim he added
' a little stroke thus ^ , and thereby reduced it to half
'its value, and called the character thns varied a
'Chroma: he proceeded still farther, and by the
' addition of a little stroke to the chroma formed the
' 8emichroma ^ .' •
Eircher delivers the above as hia opinion also, for
after relating the manner of Quido's improvement of
the scale, he expresses himself to the following
purpose : —
' And these were the elements of the fignrate
> mnsic of Qoido, which, like all other inventions, in
' their infancy, bad something I know not what of
' rude and unpolished about it, while, instead of notes,
' points only, without any certain measure or propor-
' tion of time were used, which was the esse till aoont
' Iwo hundred years after, when Joannes de Muris
• resuming the invention of Guido, completed the
' musical art, for from }] and b, by which characters
' Ouido was accostomea to distinguish certain notes
' in his system, he produced those characters, whereof
' each was double to the preceding one, as to the
■ measure of its time ; the first note produced from b
' he called the minim, and the same blackened the
' aemiminim ; the latter character with a tul he
' called Fusa, and that with two tails Semifusa ; so
' that ^lere proceeded from b only four different
' species of character, namely, the minim, semiminim,
• fusa, and semifusa ; f and from b hard or square J]
' he formed the remaining notes of a longer time,
'except that from \j defective, and wanting both
' tails, he formed the breve, and from b round the
' semi breve.' {
After such a testimony as this of Eircher, it may
be nnnecessory to add that the modem writers seem
to be as unanimously agreed in attributing the inven-
tion of all the characters used to denote (he measure
of sounds to De Muris, as they sre in ascribing the
reformation of the ancient Greek scale to Guido
AretinuB. fint in this tbey are greatly mistaken,
and the account herein-before given of Franco is
undeniable evidence of the countrary.
Morley, who was a man of learning in his pro-
fession, and a diligent researcher into such matters of
antiquity aa were any way related to it, has in the
annotations on the first book of his Plain and easie
Introduction to practicall Mneicke, given a short
history of the art of signifving the lengdi or duration
of sounds by written characters, which, as it is
curious, is here given in bis own words : ' There
' were In old time foure maners of pricking [writing
• Tba viltRi on tht Cantui U ennuiUUi Mna tg h>« besn itti put
all tht lamlmlnlin Fuu. which In tht bubuoui Latin ilgnUls ■ Bpln-
rnfttij u Moog tg thi quivir. bji mun or Iti cur>«d tail. Iha word
crotcbtl belu, u Butler uji, Princ, of Ku, paf, IS, derifrd fWmi Lha
Frnwh Cm. a crook. Tlia word Chnma. wurch In the Omk ilcniSa
Med, but ooloured tUbct black or red i and If lo. ll li la iirictna*
lie. Puw, and BomlTuin, ae bubainiu.
Bt Vlrlb. Brtlimi, paf. IIS.
' of music], one al bUcke, which tfaey termed blacks
' Full, another which we use now, which they called
' blacks Void ; the third alt red, which they called
' red Ful, the fourth red, as oars is blacks, which they
■called redde Void; al which you may perceiva
'thus:—
[rftlKTSO m BLACK.] [palXTBt a BID.]
voide) happened amongst blocke full, it waa di-
minished of bolfe the value ; so that a minima waa
but a crotchet, and a semibriefe, a minime, t&c. If
a redde full note were found in blacke pricking, it
was diminished of a fourth part ; so that a semi-
briefe was but three crotchettes, and a red minima
waa but a crotchette : and thus yon may perceiva
that they used their red pricking in al reapecta as
we ose our blacke uoweadaies. But that order of
pricking is gone out of use now, so that wee use the
blacke voides as they used their blacke fnllea, and
the blacke fulles as tbey nsed the red fullea. The
redde is gone slmost quite out of memorie, so
that none use it, and fewe knowe what it meaueth.
Nor doe we pricke anye blacke notes amongst
white, except a semibriefe thus -y-p*— t^ in which
case the semibriefe so blaCke is a minime and a
pricke (tiiongh some would have it sung in tripla
msner, and stand for ^ of a semibriefe), and the
blacke minime a crotchet, as indeede it is. If mora
blacke semibriefes or briefes bee togither, then is
there some proportion ; and moat commonly either
Tripla or Hemiolia, which is nothing but a ronnde
common tripla or sesquialtera. As fur the number
of the formes of notes, there were within these two
hundred yeares but foure knowue or used of the
musytioDS : those were the Longe, Briefe, Semi-
briefe, and Minime. The minime they esteemed
the least or shortest note singable, and therefore
indivisible. Their long was in three maners, that
Is, either simple, double, or triple ; a simple long
was a square form, having a tail on the right side,
liBQging downe or Ascending ; a double long was so
formed as some at this daie frame their larges, that
is u it were compact of two longs. The triple was
I'igger in quantitie than the double ; of their value
ive shall speake hereafter. The semibriefe was nt
the first framed like a triangle thns w, as it were the
halfe of a briefe, divided by a diameter thns 0 ; but
iliat figure not being comly, or easie to make, it
^Tew afterward to the figure of a rhombe or loseng
&ua •, which forme it still retaineth. The minima
was formed as it is now, hut the taite of it they ever
made ascending, and called it Signum Minimitotia
in their Ciceronian Latino. The invention of tba
minime they ascribe to a certaine priest (for who ho
waa I know not) in Navarre, or what countrie else
it was which they tearmed Nsvemia ; but the first
who used it was one Philippus De Vitriaco, whose
motetes for some time were of al others best esteemed
and most used in the chucb. Who invented the
dbyGoo*^le
Cbap. XLIX.
ASD PRACTICE OF MUSia
221
crotchet, qnaver, and semiqnaver, is nncertaine.
Some attribute the invention of the crotchet to the
afore-named Philip, but it ia not to be found in hig
workea; and before the saide Philip the Bmallest
uot« used was a eemibriefe, which the anthore of
that time made of two sortes, more and less; for
one Francho divided the briefe, either in three eqnal
partes (terming them semibriefea) or in two unequal
partes, the greater whereof was called the more
eemibriefe (and was in value equal to the imperfect
briefe) : the other was called the leas eemibriefe, as
being but balfe of the other aforesaid. This Francho
is the most ancient of all those whose workes of
practical music have come to my bandes ; one
Boberto De Hanlo hath made as it were commen-
tariea upon his rules and termed them Additions.
Amongst the rest, when Francho setteth downe that
a square body having a tule coming downe on the
right side is a loi^, be saith thus : " Si tractum
" habeat k parte dextra ascendente, erecta vocatur ut
" hie; d ' d- ponuntur enim iste longse erectie
" ad differentjam longarum quee sunt rectse et vocamur
" erectie quod ubicunque inveniuntur per semitonium
" erignntur," that is, " if it have a taUe on the righte
"side going upwards, it is called erect or raised
"thus:
: for these raised longes be put
>r difference from others which be right , and are
" raised because wheresoveer they be found, they he
" raised halfe a note higher ; " a thing which I be-
* lieve neither he himselfe, nor any other ever saw in
' practice. The like observation he giveth of the
'briefe, if it have a tails on the left side going
'upward. The large, lung, briefe, semibriefe, and
< minime (saith Gtareanns) have these seventy yeares
' been in nee ; so that reckoning downeward from
' Glareanns his time, which was about fiFlie years
' ago, we sbal find that the greatest antiquitie of our
' pricked tong is not above 130 years old.' *
The account above-given from Morley is extremely
carious, and coincides with the opinion that De Muris
was not the inventor of the characters for notes of
different lengths ; and lest the truth of it shonld be
doubted, recourse has been had to those testimonies
on which it is founded ; and these are evidently the
writings of ecclesiastics and ottters, who treated on
Uiis part of musical science in the ages preceding
the time when Morley wrote. A valuable collection
of tracts of this kind in a large volume, was extant
in the Cotton library in the year 1731, when a fire
which happened at Ashbumham- house in West-
minster, where it was then deposited, consumed man^
of the manuscripts, and did great damage to this
and divers other valuable remains of antiquity. It
fortuned however that before that accident a copy
had been taken of this volume by Dr. Pepusch, which
is now extant,'f and it appears to contain some of the
■ Uoil, iDtnid. AnnoUtEoDl on (ha Snt jiul.
t Or Slnttl^ 1b hli CiUlOKiu of thg Caiua llbruj, w. M, hit
6TRI lbs liUe nf ttu tncUuntilntdlii tli(TDlam<; udU[. CutkT-
(bc Appmdii la hit atalognt of th« klnit'i UMtij. p«j. »l*, fan
Btrmlh. (oUowinjiioli. concernHig 1t:-'T..M.i-- "
' ■ mut. I>r. PcBUHih bu oopiw of iho 3, 1, ind !
bT Dr. Tcpiueli'i cop; ihu th* muriail Uwntt w
Laamt; do; mak* M(*ttJT I'o hnadial uiil tan i
iMuT. Mp. i
tracts expressly referred to by Morley, and by means
thereof we are able not only to clear up many diffi-
culties that must necessarily attend an enquiry into
the state of music during that long interval between
the time of Guide, and the end of the fifteenth century,
when Franchinus flourished, but to establish the
authority of Morley's testimony in this respect beyond
the possibility of a doubt.
The manuscript above-mentioned contains several
treatises, and firat that of Roberto De Haulo, as
Morley calls him, though by the way his tme name
was Handlo,^ which be says is a kind of commentary
on the rules of Franco, and are termed Additions.
It is now near four hundred and fifty years since
this copy was made, as appears by an inscription at
the end of it, inporling that it was finished on Friday
next before the feast of Pentecost, a.o. 1326.
Of this writer, Roberlus De Handlo, no account
can be found, except in the Bibliotheca of bishop
Tanner, taken from the manuscript above-mendoned.
It is however worth observing that the above date,
1326, carries the supposed invention of De Muris
somewhat farther backward than the time at which
most writers have fixed it.
But. to proceed, in a tract of an uncertain author,
part of the Cotton manuscript above spoken of,
mention is made of red notes, and the reader is
referred to the motetts of Philippns De Vitriaco fur
instances of notes of different colours,
Morley says that ' the antient musjrtions esteemed
' the minime the shortest note singable ; ' this is in
a great measure confirmed by a passage above-cited
from Thomas De Walsyngbam, and is expressly said
by Franchinus. Morley farther says that the inven-
tion of the minim is ascribed to a certain priest in
Navarre, for so he translates Navemia ; but that the
first who used it was Philippus De Vitriaco ; and
that some attribute the invention of the crotchet to
the aforesiud Philip, but it is not found in bis works.
To this purpose the following passage, which Morley
evidently alludes to, may be seen in the copy of the
above-cited manuscript: Fiffura verd minimte ett
corpus oblongvm ad moibtm losoTigce gereTU tracUtm
recte eupra capiU qui tractug siffnum minitantt*
didtvr, tit Aic I i i J5fl minana verb Maguter
Franco mCTtrionem in »wa arte nonfacU tea tan-
tVitn de lonmt et brembtu, ac temibrevilmt, Minima
autem in Naverina inventa erat, et d PmLiPPo Dr
ViTEiAoo,g qui fuit jilot.totiut mundi muticorum
apvrobata et usHata; qui avtem dicunt pmdictum
Pkilippum croehatum Hve temiminimam out drag-
I II »emi tlul Ihli PhUip wu much »lt)irU»l. In > pa
ODS Skollaii'i HDrlu. llmo. I'M, eoUtled A Tiullu botw.
1 Informiclan, uld to he written br William Comlihe. ch
I mo» bmou um nobla kT^g Honir VII., U the fDUawIm
I iflijrdc tbtii tuna, methougfat them not fwcli
The concordct were nothyngc muEcall,
I cillcd miltcn of muCke ciin^ng and djrctele ;
And the BtH pcynciple, whofe name wu Taballe,
Cuido, Bolte, John de Munii, Vnry»co, am then
I pnfcd cfacm of hslpe of thii combroui fangc,
Priked with fncc and Itttrcd with wrongc.
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE 80IEN0B
t VI.
mam feeitte avt at eoiteeaitae, errant, ut in noHt
tUM manifeste apparet.
Each of the several meunrea above- enamerated,
that is to Bay, the large, long, breve, Bemibreve, and
nunim, had then, as now, their oorrespondeDt pauBoa
or rests ; these were cootrived to give time for the
Biogers to take hreath ; beaidee thia they contributed
to iatrodace a variety of nenmas or pointa; the
difference occaeioned thereby is obvious.
But besideB the ohanctera invented to denote the
measures of time which were simple and distinct,
there were certain combinations of tbeni used by the
anciant mnracians, known by the name of Ligatures ;
of the invention whereof no wtisfsctory ac<ioant is
any where given. The earliest explanation of their
nature and use seems to be that te^ of Franoo, upon
which the additions of Robertos De Handle are a
comment. Farther back than to these rales and
maxims, or, as his commentator styles them, the
Rubric, probably irom the red character in which
they might have been written, to distinguish the text
from the comment, it would be in vain to look for
the doctrine of the ligatures, they were most probably
of bis own invention, and seem to be coeval wit^
mensurable mneic
Upon the whole it seems to be clear that Franco,
and not De Muris, is intitled to the merit of having
invented the more essential characters, bv which the
meaaares of dme are adjusted, with their respective
pauses or rests ; and it detracts very little from the
merit of this improvement to say that the lesser
measnres were invented by others, sinoe the least
attention to his principles must have naturally
si^^gested anch a subdivision of the greater characters
as could not but terminate in the production of the
lesser. We have seen Una kind of subdivision carried
much farther than either Franco, Vttriaco, or any of
their followers, thought necessary ; and were any
one to extend it to a still more minute division thui
we know of at present, the merit of auch a refinement
would hardly insnie immortality to its author.
OHAP. L.
Thi rales of Franco, and the additions of his
commentator, shew that the ligatures were in use
as early at least as the year 1236. By another tract,
of an anonymous author, written, as it is presnmed
at a small distanoe of time afler the former, and of
which an account will be given hereafter, it appears
that this invention of the ligatures was suooeet^ by
another variety In the method of notation, namely,
evacuated, or, as Morley calls them, void characters,
concerning which it is laid down as a rule, that
evety full or perfect character, If it be evacuated,
receives a diminution, and loses a third part of its
value, as for instance, the perfect semibreve *, which
when full is equal in value to three minims, is when
evacuated o reduced to the value of two ; and the
same rule holds with respect to the breve, the long,
and the large, and also to the punctum or eemiminim.
Other modes of diminution are here alao men-
tioned, as the cattjng off the half of either a full or
an evacuated character, as here w <j, by which tbey
are respectively reduced to half their primitive value.
Another kind of diminution consisted in the use of
red instead of black ink, which it seems at that time
was a liquid not always at band, as appears by this
passage of the author : 'The divereitiee of time may
' be noted by red characters, when you have where-
withal to make red characters, and these also it is
allowed to evacuate.'
The signs of augmentation are here also described,
as first thst of a point after a note, which at this day
is used to encrease its value by one half. Another
sign of augmentation, now disused, was a stroke
drawn from any given character upwards, as here J,
where a minim is augmented so as to be equal ia
value to a semibreve.
It appears very clearly from this little tract, and
also from numberless passages in others, written
about the wms time and after, that in music in
consonance, the part of all others the most regarded,
and to which the rest seem to have been adapted,
was the tenor, from the verb teneo, to hold. This
was the part which contained the melody, and to
this the otiier parte were but auxiliary.
Those who consider how very easily all the mea-
■ures of time, with their several combinations, are
expressed by the modem method of notation, will
perhaps wonder to find that the Cantus Mensurabilis
makes so considerable a part of the musical treafdses
written about this time; and that such a diversity
of opinions should subsist about it as are to be foond
among the writers of die fourteenth century. The
true reason of all this confusion ia, that the invention
was new, it was received with great approbation,
and immediately spresd throughout Europe ; the
utility of it was universally acknowledged, and men
were fond of refining upon, and improving a con-
trivance so simple and ingenious ; but tiiey carried
their refinements too far, and we are now convinced
that the greater part of what has been written on
the subject since the time of De Moris might very
well have been spared.
As to the ligatures, they are totally disused; every
Donjunction of notes formerly described by them
being now much more intelli^bly expressed by
separate chaiactera conjoined by a circular stroke
over them, and to this improvement the invention
of ban has not a little contributed. The doctrine
of the ligatures can therefore no farther be of use
than to enable a modem to decypher as it were, an
ancient composition, and whetiter any of those com-
posed at this early period be worthy of that labour
may admit of a question. If it should be thought
otherwise, enongh sbout the lieiatures to answer Oiis
purpose is to be found in Morley, and Other writen
his contemporaries.
It may however not be improper to exhibit a gene-
ral view of the simple and unligated characters of
those times, and to explain the terms Perfection and
Imperfection as they relate to time, which latter
cannot be better done than from tbe manuscript
treatise last above-cited.
It is to be obeerved that in mensamble mono
dbyGoo^le
Chap. L.
AND PBACnCE OP MUSIC.
perfection ia SBcribed to the Ternary, and imper-
tectinn to the Binary number, whether the tenuB be
apiJied to Inngs, brevea, or semibrevea ; for as to
the minim, it ia eimple, and incapable of this dis-
iJnctioD. The reason the ternary namber ii aaid to
be perfect is that it has a beginning, a middle, and
an end. If a componnded whole oontains two equal
porta, it is said to be imperfect, if three it is perfect ;
two minims m^e an imperfect, and three mininu
a perfect semibreve, and et> of tiie larger measnree;
and this mle is gener^
With respect to Ute nnligsted cbaractors, though
few in nnmber, their different adjancts and varioiu
modifications rendered their respective valnes so pre-
carious, that whole volnmes have been written to
eiplain their natnre and use. Indeed, towards the
end of the sixteenth century much of this kind of
leaniing was become obsolete, and the modes of time
with their several divereitiee were reduced within
SD intelligible compass. In order however to under-
stand the language of theee writers, it msy be necee-
auy to explain £e terms used by them, and exhibit
a genenl view of mensurable muaic in this ita infant
Kate.
And first with respect to the terms, the most
essential were Mode, Time, and Froladon; and to
each of these, as applied to the subject now under
consideration, a secondary sense was affixed widely
different from Its primitive meaning. In the first
place the word Mode was made to signify Uiat kind
of progression wherein the greater characters of time
were meaauTed by the next lesser, as largee by longs,
or longs by breves. Where the admeasurement was
of breves by semibreves it was called Time; perhaps
lor this reason, that in mneical speech Semibreve
and Time are convertible torms, it being formerly,
aa nana], to eay for instance a pause of two or more
Times, as of ao many semibreves ;* and lastly, if the
admeasurement was of semibreves by minims, it was
called Prolatton.+ Vide Morley, pag. 12. Franch.
Fract Mus. lib. II. cap. iii. ix.
Ondlhopvcoa In lUi MlflT^Atpii. IniuUilBd bj Jobn Di
_. ..... j_. . . . .k Mortey, InDDd. ug. *.
, , .._ .. cmlbnta ^ irhdg ttnl
ks Df Uw bud. Print, ot Mmic, Ub. I. up. ii. f li. And in n noM
IpHka (hiu :— ' Ai in fomu tims, wh« tlH
unind by tba iDoka of
. U»«blchb»*ilhthniiJrfiiii:— "TKln*
'D^H tMtat, and ibt mlnim-Unu out Tutiu mioor.
'The TictD* m^m of LUlBnLni, "hLch (li« > buTo hi* itroks, li
'tb« Ibne Uut li munt in tbecinontaf Algiin, a "fMgt in unlwma,
"paUdoeMmpan: i.$. poatt umflmrii.' lb. ff. IS.
( PnnL+noii, (mm ttw LiUn Pnlille, •■wUogT Biu>in>. orpio-
nnDcing, in iha lanpufv of mmlclui, ilfnuo ^cnenllr ilhglng u
msKd to piuilng 01 mtlnK. Bnt in Oa Rnc in vhieh it li hni uaed
it 11 tamouiA to nuu itBgirif bf tba notat that moH fttiiuently ooeiu,
Til.. Uinlmi ; far Liatenlni nmukl that Iba nolH InTanted lAnet tba
Hbiim aarf dd TUhar fbr initnunantal tluD vocal ranita. VLda ButL.
pa|. n. Andnaa Onltbriiiaicni In Ul Hienlafiit, lib. II. cap. It. Ibui
aiplabu Iha Icnn :— ' Ptolatlon ki Iha eaaaatial anantltla aT aemlliniM :
' ar U ia th* iMUlig of two or Ibna minimi againilonauniibni*; and
'It b twaOM, (0 wit, Uw paatai, wlikh la ■ aamilitn* mMtnnd tr
To each of thoee, that is to say Mode, l^me, and
Prolation, was annexed the epithet of Perfect or
Imperfect, according as the progression was of the
tomary or binary kind ; and amongst these such
intercbanges and commixtures were aUowed, that in
a cantus of four parts the progression was frequently
alternative, that is to aay, in the bass and contra-
tenor binary, and in the tenor and altns ternary, or
Otherwise in the bass and contra-twior ternary, and
in the tenor and altos binary.
This practice may be illuitrat«d by a very familiar
image ( a cantus of four parts may be resembled to
a tree, and the rimilitude vrill hold, if we suppose
the fundamental or bass part to answer to the root,
or rather the bole or stem, the tonor to ihe branches,
the contre-tenor to the lesser ramificationa, and the
altns to the leaves. We must &rther suppose tiie
bass part to oonslst of the greater simple measures,
which are thoae called longs, the tenor of breves,
the contra-tenor of semibreves, and the altns of
minims. In this situation of the parts, the first
admeasurement, via., that which is made by the
breaking of the longs into breves, acquires the
name of mode ; the eecond, In which the breves ere
measured by semibreves, is called time ; and the
third, in which the semibreves are broken into
minima, is termed prolation, of which it seems there
were two kinds, the greater and the lesser; in the
former the division Into minimi wu by three, in the
latter by two, answering to perfection and imper-
fection in the greater measures of the long, the breve,
and the semibreve.
Ae to the modes themselves, they were of two
kinds, the greater and the lesser ; in the one the large
was measured by longs, in the other the long was
measnred by brevee.^ There awere also certain
arbitrary marks or characters Invented for dis-
tinguishing the modes, such aa these 0 Q^ ; bat
concerning their use and application there was nich
a diversity of opinions that Morley himself profeesM
almost to doubt the certainty of tboee roles, which,
being a child, he had learned with respect to the
measures of the Large and the Long.§ And farther
he says tliat though idl that had written on the model
^ree in the number and form ot degrws, u he calls
them, yet should his reader hardly find two of them
tell one tale for the signs to know them. For time
and prolation he says there was no controversy, but
that the difficulty rested in the modes ;[| for this
reason he has bWowed great pains to explun the
several characters nsed to distinguish them, and
rejecting such as he deemed mere innovations, has
reduced the matter to a tolerabledegreeof certainty.
For first he mentions an ancient method of de-
noting the degrees, which, because it naturally leads
to an illustration of the subject, is here given in hie
own words: 'The atmoient musitians' (by whom
■ tbrca minima, or tha comprahendlng of tbrae miniinalnoneKnilbnTe,
iBnoranca In''alilng'ptolst^n lbs i
t Uotl. Inttod. pa(. II. II.
I Annout. on bosk I. paf. 11 to
I lUd.
la mlddJa of tha Uat oaDtmr.
dbyGooi^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Boor VL
we nndflTstuid those who lived within abont three
hundred years preceding the time when Morley
wrote) 'did eommonlia sette downe a particiilar
' Bigne for every degree of music in the song ; so
' that they having no more degrees th&u three, that
' is the two modes and time, (prolation not being in-
' vented,) they set down tliree signs for them : so
' that if the great moode were perfect It was signified
' by a whole circle, which is a perfect fignre, and if
' imperfect by a halfe circle. Therefore wheresoever
' theae signs O 33 were eet before any songe, there
' was the great moode perfect signified by the circle,
' the small moode perfect signified by the liret figore
' of three, and time perfect by the last. If the song
' were marked thus G 33, then was the great moode
' imperfect, and the small moode and time perfect
• Bnt if the first fignre were a fignre of two thus C
' 23, then were both moodes unperfect, and time
'perfect If it were thus C 22, then were all nu-
' perfect But, if in all the songe there were no large,
' then did they set downe the signes of such notes as
' were in the songe, so that if the circle or semicircle
'were set before one onelie cifer, as 0 2, then did it
'eignifie the leese moode, and by that reason that
' circle now last sette downe with the binarie cifer
' following it, signified the lesse moode perfect, and
'time nnperfect If thns 0 2, then was the lesse
' moode unperfect, and time perfect. If thus C 3,
' then was both the lesse moode and time nnperfect,
'and so of others. But since the prolation was in-
' vented, they have set a pointe in the circle or halfe-
' circle, to shew the More prolation, which notwith-
'slandii^ altereth nothing in the moode nor time.
' Bnt these are little need now at this present'
The above-cited passage is taken from the annota-
tions on the first Jxtok of Morley's Introduction.*
His account of the characters need to diatlaguisb the
several modes is contained in the text.f and by that
it appears that in his time, and long before, the Great
Mode Perfect, which, as he says, gave to the large
three longs, was thns signified 0 3. The Great
Mode Imperfect, which gave to the large only two
longs, thus 0 3. The leesei mode which measured
the longs by breves, was also either perfect or
imperfect; the sign of the former, wherein the
long coDttdned three breves, was tliis 0 2 ; that of
the latter, wherein the long contiuned only two
breves, was this 0 2. As to Time, which wae the
measnre of breves by semibreves, that also was of
two kiuds, perfect and imperfect : perfect time, which
was when tlie breve contained three semibreves, had
for signs these marks 0 3. C 3. 0. Imperfect time,
which divided the breve into semibreves, had tliese
0 2. C 2. 0. As to Prolation, thiJ; of the More,
wherein the semibreve contained three minims, its
signs were a circle or half circle with a point thus
O Q, . Prolation of the less, which was when the
semibreve was bnt two minimH, was signified by the
same characters withont a point, as thus 0 C.
From all which the same anther deduces the
following position, ' that the number doth eignifie
' the mode, the circle, the time, and the presence or
' absence of the poynt the prolation.'}
* Vlt„ in e*g. IS, Ttn. IS t Pas- IS- t (>«. 14.
6o moch as above is adduced for the explanation
of the degrees and the signs or marks by which
they were anciently distinguished, seems absolutely
necessary to be known, in order to the understanding
a very elaborate and methodical representation of all
the various measures of time, with their several com-
binations contained in a collection of tracts already
mentioned by the name of the Cotton manuscri[rt,
and frequently referred to in the course of this en-
quiry concerning the doctrine and practice of men-
surable music. A more particular auconnt of this
invaluable manuscript, with a number of copious ex-
tracts therefrom, is inserted in that part of this work
wherein the aid of such intelligence as it abounds
V!itii seems most necessary.
It is tme that for this purpose recourse might
have been had to the printed works of Fraochinus,
Gtareanns, and other ancient writers, who have
written on the subject, and whose suthority in Ibis
respect is nnqnestionable. Bnt to this it is answered,
that not only Glareanns, but Francbinus, who on
account of his antiquity is justly deemed the Father
of our present music, represent the Cantus Men-
Burabilis ss in a state of maturity : and onr business
here is not so much to explain the priuciptes of the
science, as to trace its progress, and mark the several
gradations through which it is arrived to that state
of perfection in which we now behold it
If this be allowed, it will follow that in a regular
deduction of the several improvements from time to
time made in music, the earliest accounts are the
best : and, setting aside other evidences, when it has
been mentioned that the MS. above referred to
abonnds with frequent commendations of learned and
skilful musicians, such as Guido, Boetins, Johannes
Be Muris, and others now less known, but who ar«
notwithstsnding highly celebrated by its author,
while the names of FrsnchiDUs and Glareanns do
not once occur in it : when all this is considered, the
point of precedence in respect of antiquity, which is
all that is now contended for, will appear to be in
a manner settled, and we shall be driven to allow
that in this particnlar the testimony of theee writers
is of less authority than the manuscript here spoken of.
For this reason the following types, as being of
very great antiquity, are here inserted as a specimen
of the method which the aneient writers made nse of,
to represent the several degrees of measures, and the
order in which they are generated. The author,
whoever be was, has given them the name of musical
trees, and although Doni in his treatise De Prsestantia
Musicce Veteris§ In ridicule of diagrams in this
form, terms them cauli-flowera, they seem very well
to answer the end of their invention : —
Ferloct Mode, Periect Tiuie, lireoMr Prolation.
dbyGoot^le
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
226
Perfect Mode, Peribct Time, LesHi' Pii>lalioD.
H il it tl li li It ti ii
The several other Bpecies of mode, time, and pro-
Ution, are represented in like manner, mutatis mu-
tandia ; and the lest or most minute diviaion of the
greater qoantity ia the Cantus Menaarabilis is exhi-
bited in a scheme tliat gives to the triple long no fewer
than eighty -one minims, and may be easily conceived,
of, by meus of the two foregoing examples.
None of the several modal characters described by
Morley, are annexed to any of the foregoing types ;
nor do any of those marks or signs, invented to de-
note the time and prolation, occur among them ; bat
the author has in a subsequent paragraph given an
explanation of them, which coincides very nearly
with that of Morley. The augmentation of measures,
by placing a point after a breve or other character,
is also here mentioned, as are likewise sundry
methods of diminution, whereby a perfect measure
is rendered imperfect ; and amongst the rest the
diminution by red characters, which be says are need
in motets, and frequendy in those of Philij)pnR de
Vitriaco, for three reasons, namely, to signify a
change in the mode, the time, or the prolation. As
to the Pauses or Rests, the marks or characters made
use of by the ancient writers to denote them, cor-
respond exactly with those which we meet with in
the works of other writers on the subject of men-
surable music.
The foregoing pages contain an account of the in-
vention of, and the successive improvements made in,
the Cantus Mensurabilis, which, as it is vollectetl
from the writings of sundry anthora extant only in
manuscript, and whose works were probably com-
posed for the instruction of particular fraternities in
diSerent countries, and at different times, and conae'
qnently had never received the sanction of public
approbation, is necessarily incumbered with diffi-
culties : the truth of the matter is, that this branch
of musical science had not acquired any great degree
of stability till towards the close of the fourteenth
century ; for this reason the farther consideration of
mensurable music, and such a representation of the
measures of time, with their several modifications as
corresponds with the modem practice, is referred to
that port of the present work, where only it can with
propriety be inserted.
In order to judge of the effects of this invention,
and of the improvements which by the introduction
of the Cantus Mensurabilis were made in mnsic, it
will be necessary to take a view of the state of the
science in the ages next preceding the time of this
discovery ; and though some of those writers, who
bod the good fortune to live in a more enlightened
age, have affected to treat the learning of those times
with contempt ; and, overlooking the ingenuity of
such men as Qnido, Franco, De Hondlo, De Moris,
Vitriaco, Tinctor, and many others, have reproached
them with barbarism, and the want of classical
elegance in their writings, perhaps there are soma
who consider philology rather as snbservient to the
ends of science, than as science itself ; and who may
think knowledge of more importance to mankind
than the form in which it is communicated ; such
men may be inclined to excuse the want of that
elegance which is the result of refinement, and may
be pleased to contemplate the progress of scientific
improvement, without attending to the structure of
periods, or bringing a Monkish style to the test of
Ciceronian purity.
The first considerable improvement after the regu-
lation of the tones by Gregory the Qreat, and the
establishment of the chant known by his name, was
the invention of Polyphonous music, exemplified at
first in that extemporaneous kind of harmony, which
was anciently signified by the term Descant.*
Onido, besides new modelling the scale, and con-
verting the ancient tetrachords into hexachords,
found out a method of placing the points in the
spaces, as well as on the lines. This, together with
the cli0B, rendered the stave of five lines nearly com-
mensurate to the whole system, and suggested tlie
idea of written descant, for the notation whereof
nothing more was required than an opposition of
point to point ; and to music written according to
this method of notation, the monks, very soon after
its invention, gave the name of Contrapunctum,
Contrapnnto, or Counterpoint ; appellations, in the
opinion of many, so strongly favouring of the bar-
tttrism of the times in which they were first intro-
duced, as not to be atoned for by their precision.
From hence it will pretty clearly appear that
counterpoint, that is to say the method of describing
descant by snch characters as we now use, was the
invention of Guido. But it does by no means follow
that be woe the inventor of symphoniac music ; on
the contrary it has been shewn that it was in use
among the northern inhabitants of this kingdom, and
that BO early as the eighth century, and that Bede had
given it the name of Descant,
To the evidences already mentioned In support of
this assertion, it may here be added, that the inven-
tion and nsc of the organ amounts to little less than
a proof that symphoniac music was known long before
Guide's time. The foct stands thus : the organ, not
to reassume the enquiry as to the time of its invention,
was added to church music by pope Vitalionos, who,
as some say, was advanced to the papacy anno 655.
though others postpone it to the year 1)63. Those
of the first class fix the ^ra of the introduction of the
organ into the choral service precisely at 660, the
others by consequence somewhat later. And Quido
DiKAHTg [lUl.] DiictiTut [Lal.1 quni BticiniDi, « •.. dmnm
eului, nol only becuii* tlils pmtt beliiK ttm bfs^"^ of muij Bdmit* of
lbaini>«Ico]antur«. lUvlBloni. ^uxfl. flud VAdKloniof uijr. bulbecauu
dbyGoot^le
926
HISTORT OF THE SCIENCE
Book VL
himself, bendoB frequently menQoaing the oi^n in
th« Hictolo^, recommends the use of it in common
with the monocbord, for tnniag the voice to the
Mventl intervals contained in the aaptenary.
It ia true when we speak of the organ we are to
nnderatand that there are two kinds of instrument
diatingnishable by that name ; the one, for the small-
ness of its size, and simplicity of its constmctlon,
called the Portative, the other the Positive, or im-
moveable organ; both of these are very accurately
described by Ottomams LneciniuB, in bi4 Mnsnrgia,
printed at Strasbnrg, in 1536. As to die first, its
nsB was principally to assist the voice in ascertuuing
the several sounds contained in the system, and
occasionally to facilitate the learning of any Oantna.
The odier is that noble instroraent, to the harmony
whereof the solemn choral service has ever since its
invention been sang, and which is now degraded
to the accompaniment of discordant voices in the
promiscnoua performance of metrical psalmody in
parochial worship.
Qnido might possibly mean that the former of
tiiese was proper to tune the voice by ; but he goes
on farther, and speaks of the organ in general terms,
as an instrument to which the hymns, antiphons, and
other offices were daily sang in cathedral and con-
veuttial charches, and other places of religions worship.
Now let him mean either the one or the other of the
above-mentioned instruments, it is scsrce credible that
during so long a period as that between 800 and 1020,
during all which the world was in possession of the
organ, neither curiosity nor accident should lead to
the discovery of mnsic in consonance. Is it to be
supposed that this noble instmrnent, bo coDstmcted as
to produce the greatest variety of harmony and fine
modulation, vras played on by one finger only ? was
the onanist, who moat be supposed to be well skilled
in the nature of consonance, never tempted by
cariosity to try its effect on the instrument the object
of his studies, and perhaps the only one, if we except
the harp, then known, on which an experiment of
tbis kind could possibly be made ? did no accident or
mistake, or lastly, did not the mere tuning the in-
Btrumeot from time to time, as occasion required, or,
if that was not bis duty, the bare trying if it were in
tune or no, teach him experimentally that the diates-
saron, diapente, and diapasou, to say nothing of the
other consonances, are as grateful to the audible as
their harmonical coincidences are, to the reasoning
&culties ?
Periiape it may be objected that this argument will
carry the nse of symphoniac mosio bade to those
times in which it is asserted no such thing was
known ; for it may be asked, does not the h^dranlic
organ mentioned by Vitnivina as neceasanly pre-
suppose music in consonance, as that in use at the
time of Ouido's writing the Micrologua ? In answer
to this it is said, that the hydraulic organ ia an in-
•tmment so very ill defined, that we are incapable of
fonning to ourselves any idea of its frame, its con-
struction, or its use. Kircher has wrested Vitruvins's
description of it, so as to make it resemble the modem
organ, and has even exhibited the form of it in the
Musnrgia ; hut who does not see that the instmrnent
thus accurately delineated by him is a creature of his
own imagination ? and does he not deny its aptitude
for symphoniac music by saying as be does in the
strongest and most express terms, that after a most
painful and laborious research he liad never been able
to find the slightest vestiges of symphoniac harmony
in either the theory or practice of the ancients ?
CHAP. LI.
It now remains to take a view of masic as it stood
immediately after tbis last improvement of Goido.
Descant, in the original sense of the word, was
extemporaneous song, a mere energy ; for as soon as
uttered it was lost ; it no where appears that before
the time of Guido any method of notation had been
thought of, capable of fixing it, or that the stave of
eight lines, mentioned by Vincentio Qalilei, or that
other of Kircher, on both which the points were
situated on the lines, and not in the spaces, was ever
used for the notation of more than the simple melody
of one part ; whereas the stave of Guido, wherein
the spaces were rendered as useful as the lines, not
only brought the melody into a narrower compass,
but for the purpose of singing written descant enabled
bim, by means of the clifb, to separate and so dis-
criminate the several parts, as to make the practice
of music in Consonance, a matter of small difficulty.
The word Score is of modem invention, and it is
not easy to find a synonyms to it in the monkish
writers on music : nevertheless the method of writing
in score most have been practised as well with them
as by ns, since no man could know what he was
about, that in framing a Cantus did not dispose the
several parts regnlarly, the lowest at bottom, and
the others in due order above it In Gnido's time
there was no diversity in the length of the notes,
the necessary consequence whereof was, that the
points in each stave were placed in opposition to
those in the others ; and a cautns thns framed was
no leas properly thui emphatically called Connler-
point.
It is needless to ear that before the invention of
the Cantus Mensurabilis this was the only kind
of music in consonance ; where it was adapted to
words the metre was regulated I^ th« cadence of
the syllables, and where it was calculated solely for
instruments, the notes in opposition were of equal
length, adjusted by the simple radical measures, ont
of which all the difierent modifications of common
and triple time, as we now call them, are known
to spring. But this kind of equality sab«stad only
between the integral parts of the Cantus, as they
stood opposed to each other in consonance, and the
radical measures were not less obvious then than
they are now. The whole of the Rythmopoieia was
founded in the distinction between long and short
quantities, and a foot, consisting solely of either, is
essentially difierent f^om one in which thev are
combined ; in one case the Arsis and Thesis ar«
eqnal ; in the other they have a ratio of two to aae.
fVom hence there is reason to conclude that ibf
dbyGoo^le
Obaf. LL
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
287
primitive cooDterpoiat, aa being subject to different
general meaaares, was of two {onni, onaweriDg pre-
cisely b> the cotninoii and triple time of the m(>denu.
The former of these may thus be conceived of : —
Bnt altboag'h these were all the varieties in respect
to time or measure, which it was originally capable
of, counterooint ws* even then sosoeptible of various
forme, and admitted of an almost endless diversity
of combinationB, arising as well from a difference
in the motion or progression of the sonnds, as in
the succession of consonances. The combinations,
in ft series of those eight sounds which constitute
the diapason, are estimated at no fewer thsn 40,820.
And in the case of a cantiis in consonance these
allow of a mnltiplication by the number of the
additional parts to the amount of four. Hence it
is that in a cantus thns constituted, the iteration of
the same precise melody and harmony is an event
so extremely fortaitous, that we estimate the chance
of its happening, at nothing.
Another source of variety is discernible in the
different motions which may be assigned to the
several parts of a cantus in consonance, which, as
they stand opposed to each other, may be in either
of the following forms : —
OF HABMONT.
These observations may serve as a general ex-
planation of the nature of counterpoint, of which it
will appear there are several kinds ; for the thorough
tuderstanding whereof it is necessary to be remem-
bered that the basis of all counterpoint is simple
melody, to which the concords placed in the order
of point against point are but auxiliary. The foun-
dation on which the harmonical superstructure is
erected is termed by the ancient Italian writers Canto
Fermo, of which the ibllowing is an example . —
4a*-'-"|ii"''M- -.g
lb, Eo • • ce appsro - bit Domi - - nus."
As to counterpoint, nclwilhstanding the several
divisions of it into Contrapunctus simplex, Contra-
pnnctos diminntus sive floridus, Gontrapunctus color-
atne, Oontrapanctos fugatus, and many other hinds,
it is in truth that spetnes of harmony only, in which
the notes contained in the Canto Fermo, and each
«f the other ports, are of equal lengths, as here : —
C0NTBAPONCTU3 SIMPLEX.
This kind of symphoniao harmony was doubtless
very giatefiil to the hearers as long as it retained the
charm of novelty, and when adaplcd tu words, was
not liable to any objection arising from its want of
metrical variety; but in mu»c merely instrumental,
the uniformity of its cadence, and the unvaried
iteration of the same measures, conld not at length
fail to produce satiety and disgust For it is not in
the bare affinity or congruity of sounds, though ever
BO well adinated, combined, or uttered, that the ear
can long find satisfaction : this is experienced by
those who study that branch of musical science
known by the name of continued or thorough bass,
the privste practice whereof, whether it be on the
organ, harpsichord, arch-lute, or any other instrument
adapted for the purpose, in a short time becomes
irksome. But the invention of the different measures
for time, together with the pauses or rests, and also
of the ligatures, gave rise to another species, in
which the rigorous opposition of point to point was
dispensed with ; and this relaxation of a rule which,
while it was observed, held the invention in fetters,
gave rise to tikoee other species of harmony above-
enumerated, improperly called counterpoint
The Contraponctus diminutos was evidently the
first improvement of the Contrapunctos simplex, in
which it is observable that the notes opposed in the
Canto Fermo ere more in number, and consequently
less in valoe, than the latter of this species. The
following, though not a very ancient composilion,
may serve as on example : —
dbyG00*^lc
888 HISTOBY OP THE SCIENCE
CONTBAPOSCTUS DIMINTJTDS riv-o B-LOEIDUa '
This wu followed by the introdnction of little
points, imitadoDe, coUigations of notes, and responsive
passages, not so elegant in tlieir stmctnre and con-
trivance as, but somewhat resembling, the fogne of
modem limes.
The mdiments of Uiis species are discernible in
the followmg Eyrie, said to have been composed
about the year 1473 : — *
TO FIGDKATO.
To this latter kind of music were given the epithets
of Figurate, Coloured, and many others of the like
import. The Italians to this day call it Canto
Figurato, and oppose it to Contrapunto or oonnter-
poiDt Other coimtriea have relaxed the signification
of the word Descant, and have given that name to
coimterpoint ; and the two kinds are now distin-
guished by the appellations of Plain and Figurate
descant
From hence it appears that the word Descant,
considered as a nonn, has acquired a secondary signi-
fication ; and that it is now need to denote any kind
of musical composition of more parts than one ; and
as to the verb formed from it, it has, like many
others, acquired a metaphoiicel sanse, as in the
following passage ;—
' And Descant on mine own deformity.'
Shakupettre, Rich, III.
But neither can its original meaning be understood,
nor the propriety and elegance of the above figure
be discerned, wiuiont a clear and precise idea of the
nature of descant, properly so called.
If we compute the distance in respect of time
between the last improvement of the C^tns Ecde-
■iuticas by 8t. Gregory, and the invention of the
Cantue Mensurabilis bv Franco, it will be found to
inclnde nearly five hundred years ; and although that
period produced a great number of writers on the
subject of music whose names and works have herein
before been mentioned in chronological order, it does
not appear that the least effort was made by any of
them towards snch an improvement as that of Franco,
which is the more to be wondered at as the ratio uf
accents, which is wbst we are to understand by the
term Prosody, was understood to a tolerable degree
of exactness, even after the general declension of
literature; and long before the commencement of
that period was deemed, as it is now, a necessary
part of grammar. St. Austin has written a treatise
on the various measures of the ancient verse, and our
countryman Bede has written a discourse De Metrica
Eatione ; but it seems that neither of them ever
thought of applying the ratio of long and short
measures to music, abstracted from verse.
Neither can it be reasonably inferred from any
thing that Isaac Vossius has said in his treatise De
Poematum Cantu et Viribus Bythmi, admitting all
that he has advanced in it to be true, that the BytJi-
mopoieia of the ancients had any immediate relation
to Music : it should rather seem by his own testimony
to refer solely to the Poetry of the ancients, and to
be as much a branch of grammar as prosody is at
this day. This however is certain that the andent
method of notation appears to be calculated for no
other end than barely to signify the diversities ol
sounds in respect of theii acuteness and gravity. Nor
do any of the fragments of ancient mnsic now extan'.
• IlinliiI,BleitadcUa]fiiiia,tgm. I.pv- Its.
dbyGoo*^le
CnAr. LI
AND PBACmCE OF MUSIC.
furnish any means of appertaining iha reap«ctjv9
lengths of the sounds, other than the metre of the
TorscB to which they are adapted. It may perhaps
be urged as a reason for the practice of adjtuting the
measures of the mnsic by those of the verse, nther
than the measures of the verse by those of the moaic,
that the distinction of long and short times or quan-
tities could not with propriety be referred to music :
but this is to supTwse that music merely instrumental
has no force or efficacy save what arises from afhnity
of sound ; the contrary whereof is at this day so
manifest, that it would be ridiculous to question it :
nay the strokes on an anvil have a metrical ratio, and
the most uniform monotony may be so broken into
various quantities, and these may again be so com-
bined OB to form a distinct species capable of producing
wonderful effects.
If this should be doubted, let it be considered that
the Drum, which has no other claim to a place among
the pulaatile musical instruments, than that it is
capable of expressing the various measures and
modifications of time, owes all its energy to that
which in poetry would be called Metre, which is
nothing more than a regular and orderly commixture
of long and short quantities ; but who can hear these
nttcred by the instrument now speaking of, who can
attend to that artful interchange of measures, which
it is calculated to express, and that in a regular sub-
jection to metrical laws, without feeling that he is
acted upon like a mere machine ?
With the utmost propriety therefore does our great
dramatic poet style this instrument the Spirit-stirring
drum ; and with no leas policy do those act who trust
to its efficacy in the hour of battle, and use it as the
means of exciting that passion which the most
eloquent oration imaginable would fail to inspire.*
• II Kaiii thU lbs old EnilLih Diirch of Ihl I
It may be remembered that in the foregoing de-
duction of the improvements made in music, counter-
point waa mentioned aa.the last that preceded the
invention of the Cantus Mensurabilis. To shew the
importance of this last, it was necessary to state the
defects in that species of harmony which admitted of
no metrical variety. It was also necessary in the
next place to shew that although the Rythmopoieia
of the ancients has long ceased to be understood, yet
that the mdiments of it subsist even now in the
prosody of the grammarians. Seeing then that the
art of oomhining long and short quantities, and the
subjecting them to metrical laws was at all times
known, it may be asked wherein did the merit of
Franco's invention consist ? The answer Is, in the
transferrirfg of metre from poetry or verse to mere
sound ; and in the invention of a system of notation,
by means whereof all the possible modifications of
time are definable, and that to the utmost degree of
exactness.
But the metit of Franco's invention, and the suh-
eequent improvement of it by De Mnris and other
writers, are best to be judged of by their consequences,
which were the union of the Metopoieia with the
Rythmopoieia, or, in other words, Melody and Metre ;
and from hence sprang all those various species of
counterpoint, which are included under the general
■nalne muiun, vhlcb wm baUn In bli pmEais it Qnoiwltb,
Id in .^ -^-- .J 1 — J rtgradouilj pleuvd, it tbe
of our ligU tranji tai iii(hi
ftrd viuDUDt WlmbJedon, 1o Hi nowD dh
iihoinit bnsuDdtc npniird. WUUnc ud
ud pncUelr u obwrvi the ume, m rU In
Id In the Hmo of ut fOimlgno piince or
pctterno ud pn«d*iil (a ill pMtnlUe. Olnan U but pklue of WeM-
mlDiter tlu lercDtlidiTofFBbiiuiT, bi tlw HTvath jemn of but raJgnc,
of Eiglmd, SMtlud. Fnim, ud Inlind.
VOIrHNTAKT befon Iba U&BCH.
byGoot^le
280
HISTORY OP THE SaENCE
Book VI,
oppwllation of Canto Figunto. Tba first and most
obvious improvement of counterpoint, which, as has
been already Bbewn, wns origiaatly simple, and con-
aistod in a strict opposition of note to note, is visible
in that which is termed Contrapunctus imiantns siva
floridos, nhereiu the notes in one part, the plain-song
for instance, are opposed by others of a leaH volne,
bnt corresponding to the former in the general
measnre of its constituent soands, of which kind
of composition an example has herein before been
given. The snbeeqnent improvements on this in-
vention have been shewn to be, the Canto Figurato,
Canon, and otber kinds of symphoniacol composition,
all which are evidently the offspring of the Cantos
Mensnrabilis, &q invention so much the more to be
valaed, sb it has rendered that fnnd of harmonical
and metrical combination almost infinite in its extent,
which else must long ago have been exhausted.
If we take a view of mnaic in the state in which
Onido left it, it will be found to have derived all its
power and efficacy from the coincidenco of sounds,
and that those soimde bdng regulated by even and
oniform measures, though Uiey might be grateful to
the ear. which is delighted witli harmony even in
cases where it refers to nothing beyond itself, must
necessarily &il of producing those effects which follow
from their being subjected to metrical regulations.
Proofs abundant of these effects might be adduced
from the compositions of the last century, as namely,
Carissimi, Stradella, Gsspanni, and others of the
Italians, and our own PurcelJ, but were these wanting,
and no evidence subsisted of the benefits which have
resulted to mnsic from the union of harmony and
metre, those of Handel are an irrefragable testimony
of the fact, the force and energy of whose most
studied works is resolvable into a judicious selection
of measures calculated to sooth or animate, to at-
temper or inflame, in short to do wttb the human
mind whatever he meant to do.
Having thus explained the nature of the Cantus
Mensnrabilis, and aiao of Descant, the knowledge
whereof is alsolntely necessary to the nnderstanding
the writers who succeeded John De lUuris, it remuns
to give an account of a number of valuable tracts,
composed, as it is conceived, subsequent to the time
when he lived and of the final establishment of an
harmonical and metrical theory by Franchinus.
Itfention has been made in the coarse of this work
9f a manuscript, to which, for the want of another
title, that of the Cotton MS. has been given, and also
of another, for distinction -sake called the mancscript
of Waltham Holy Cross. The former of these ia
now rendered useless by the fire that happened at
Ashbcmham-hoiise. But before this disastrous event
a copy thereof, not so complete as could be wished,
as wanting many of the diagrams and examples in
notes occasionally inserted by way of illustration,
had been procured and made at the expense of the
late Dr. Pepnsch. As to the other manuscript, that
of Waltham Holy Cross, it formerly belonged to
some person who was so much a friend to learning
as to oblige Dr. Pepnsch witli permission to copy it,
and his copy thereof is extant. The original is now
the property of Mr. West, the president of the Royal
Society, who, actuated by the same generous spirit as
the former owner, has vouchsafed the use of it for the
furtherance of this work. These assistances afford
the means of giving an account of a number of curious
tracts on the subject of music, which hardly any of
the writers on that science seem ever to have seen,
and which perhaps are now no where else to be
found.
The first of these manuscripts contains tracts by
different authors, moat of whom seem to have been
well skilled in die less abstruse parts of the science.
The compiler of this work is unknown, but the time
when it was completed appears by the following note
at the conclusion of the first tract : —
' Finito libro reddatur gloria Christo. Expliciunt
'Reguliecumadditionibus: finitsdie Veneris proximo
' ante Pentecost, anno domini millesimo tricentisimo
' vicesimo sexto, et cietera, Amen.'
Of the first tract, whicli bears the title of ' Regulse
'cum maximis nu^^istri Franconis, cum additioni-
'bus aliorum Musicorum, compilata a Roberto de
' Handlo,' some mention has already been made ; and
as to Franco, the author of the Rules and Maxims, an
account of him, of his country, and the age in which
he lived, has also been given.* Of his commentator
De Handle, bishop Tanner has taken some notice in
bis Bibliotheca ; bat as his account refers solely to
the manuscript now before us, the original whereof
it is probable he had seen, it seems that he was un-
able to say mure of him than appears upon the laco
of this hia work.
As to the commentary, it is written in dialogue ;
the speakers are Franco himself and De Handlo, and
other occasional interlocutors. The subject of it is
tlic art of denoting the time or duration of musical
sounds by characters, and there is little reason to
doubt bnt that it contains the substance of what
Johannes De Muris taught concerning that matter.
It consists of thirteen divisions or Bubrics, as the
author terma them, from their being in red characters,
the titles whereof with the substance of each are as
follow : —
Rubric I. Of the Long, Breve, and Semibreve,
and of the manner of dividing them.
Rubric IL Of the Long, the Semi-Iong.f and
their value, and of the Double Long.
Rubric III. How to distingnii^ the Long from
the Semi-long, and the Breve from the Semibreve ;
and of the Pauses corresponding with each ; and of
the equality of the Breve and the Breve altera.
Rubric IV. Of Semibreves, and their equality
and inequality, and of the division of the Modes
[of time] and how many ought to be assumed.
Under this head the author mentions one Petms
De Cruce as a composer of motetts ; the names of
Petms Le Visor, and Johannes De Oarlandia also
occur as interlocutors in the dialogue.
t. in fol.' irUata li pnlMblr no
dbyGoo^le
Cbap. id.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
281
Bnbric V. Of ths Longt which exceed in value
& doable Long.
This rubric exhibits a ipeciea of notation nnknown
to UB at thia day, namely, a single cbaraoter encreased
in its value by the encrease of its magnitude. A
{vactice which will be best understood from the
author's own words, which are these : — ' A figure
'having three qoadranglas in it is called a triple
' long, that is to say a note of three perfections ; if
' it twa four, it is called quadruple, tliat is a note of
' four perfections ; and so on to nine, but no &rther.
' See the fignresof all the longs as they appear here : —
qaqaiiuBni^gBinnHciijiiiiiihii
Bnbric VI. Of the beginnings of Ligatures and
Obli^ities, and in what manner they are found.
A Ligature is here defined to be a mass of fignres,
either in a right or an oblique direction ; and an
Obliquity w said to be a solid union or connexion of
two ascending or descending notes in one. Here
follow examples, from the author, of each : —
LIQATUBE8.
-^<i^^^^
Of ligatures, snd also of obliquities, some are here
said to be with propriety, others without propriety,
and others with an opposite propriety ; these species
are severally known by their o^nnings. The matter
of this rubric, and the commentary on it are of very
little import
It is farther said that no additional mark or cha-
racter is to be made at the end of on ascending
obliqtuty, except a Plica, a word which in this place
si^n^ee that perpendicular stroke which is the ter-
mination of such characters as the long.
Bnbric YIL To know the terminations of the
ligatures. Tha beginning and terminations of liga-
tnres, and also of obliqmties, declare the nature of
the time, whether it be perfect or imperfect ; or, as
we should now say, dnple or triple.
Bnbric VIII. Teaches also to know the termina-
tions of the ligatures.
Rubric IX; Concerning the Conjunctions of semi-
breves, and of the figures or ligatures with which such
semibrevea may be joined.
Here we meet with the name of Admctns de
Aureliana, who, as also the singers of Ksvemia, the
name of a country which pncsled Horley, and which
probably means Navarre, are said to have conjoined
Hinoiatas and Mininui together.
Bnbric X. How the Plicas are formed In ligatures
and obliquities, and in what manner a plicated long
becomes an erect long.
Rubric XI. Concerning the value of the Plicas.
Bnbric XII. Concerning the Pauses.
The pauses are here said to be six in number, the
first of three times, the second of two, and the third
of one. The fonrUi is of two third parts, and the
fiith one third part of one time. As to the sixth it
is said to be of no time, and that it is better c^ed an
immeasurable pause, and that the use of it is to shew
that the last note but one must be held out, although
but a breve or semibreve. The characters of die
pauses are also thus described : a pause of three times
coven three spaces, or ihe vslne of three, namely,
two and two halves, A ; a pause of two times covers
two spaces or one entire space, and two halves, B ;
a pause of one time covers one space or two halves,
C ; a pause of two perfecUons of one time covers
only two parts of one time, D ; a pause of the third
part of one lime covers the tiiird part of one space E ;
a panee, which is said to be immeasurable P, is called
the end of the ponctnms, and covers four spaces, their
five forms appear here : —
In tliis rubric the colloquium is between Franco,
Jacobns de Navemia, and the above-named Johannes
de Qarlandia.
Bnbric xm. How the Measures or Modes of
time are formed.
Here it is laid down that there are five modes of
time used by the modems, the first consisting of all
perfect longs, as the following motet : —
The second mode consiats of a breve, a loi^, and
a breve, as in this example : —
The third of a long, two breves and a long, as in
this motet : only it Is to be observed that te this
mode belongs a pause of three times, a long going
before : —
T=s=
Quid mi-ra- Ki par-torn vli • gi> ne-nm.
The fonrth mode is of two breves, a long, and two
X-m ■ H
^^
Bo4tt-Ia primn-Ia bsI-vb Jas-is vir-gn-la.
and to it belongs a pause of three times. After this
designation of Uie fourth mode there occurs a caution,
which will doubtless appear somewhat singular,
namely, that care most be taken that in the singing
the notes be not expressed in a lascivious manner.
The fifth mode consists of breves and semibreves of
Digitized
byGoo^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
BoMt VI
both kinds, that is to say, perfect and imperfect, as
appeare in the following example : —
So-la ral-TB siu-gu - Wris gratie.
From Qiie mode, it is said, proceed a great number
of melodies or airs, the names whereof can acarcely
be rendered in English, as namely, Hockets, *
Rnndelli, Batladea, Corece, Cantuefracti, Estampets,
FloritDras. It seema that these live modes may be
mixed or nsed interchangeably, in which respect
they agree with the modes in uae at this day. The
whole of the explanation of thin last mbric comes
from the month of Do Handle, the anthor of the
tract, which he conclades with words to this purpose :
Every mode of measures, and everj' measnie of
contns is included in the above five modes and
rules, and maxima for their use and application
might he given without end ; nevertheless attend
to the instructions contained in this small volume.
AH that now hear me are singers, therefore pray
fertently to God for the life of the writer. Amen.'
CHAP. LII.
To the tract of De Handle, the next in order that
occurs is a discourse by an anonymous author, entitled
'Tractatns diversarum Figurarum per quaa dulcia
'Modis discantantur.'t to appearance a compendium
of the doctrine of De Muris, containing in the begin-
ning of it a remarkable eulogium on him by tbe
name of Egidius de Mnris, or de Morino, viz., that
he, as it pleased God, most carefully, and to his
great glory, searched into and improved the musical
art. So that the characters, namely, the double
Long B^, Long B^, Breve E3> Semibreve*, Minim |>
are now made manifest.
Herein also are treated of the pauses or rests,
which, OS well as the characters to denote the length
or dnration of the several notes, are stud to be of
his invention; also of the several methods of augmen-
tation in the value of the notes by a point, and
diminution by a variation of the character in respect
of colour, that is to say, either by making it block
or red, full or void, or by making it with a tail or
without, are here enumerated. Next foUow certain
precepts, tending to facilitate the practice of descant,
whereby it appears that the tenor being in one mode
■ An cT]ilu»tlim or thl> itmiia mrd vUl lie mtt with In > inb-
M^nanlpiii.
t Thii tnet eontmlnt atut CTldcntl* i inTniniry of ths bnpraTnnenti
BfDt Uuiii on Ihs Cutai MsDiunblUi. but d; ui nniccoonlible mli-
uka h< li hen uUed EiMIiit iDiUid oT Johuino, ■ name vMoh do«
not once occur <n any of ibt uttion thU h»n been coniulled In the
glien of OUei, m be' Intended fm John, De Murit. It icemi that Mr.
CulcT, ij 1 mlitike or ■ dllfoent kind, laoka] upon thii tnet u hevini
been wiitten br ODu De UufIl Bee hli Ceteloinii. pu. IM ; but Di,
Pepueeb'i conr, for the ortximl hsi been Reorted lo und ippeen ta be
not legible, canUlna the rollnwlng mbric title of Ibo Inct tn quMlion:
' AlliU Tnotntulne de Miuks Incerta AuUwcc.'
of measure or time, the descant may he another;
this may be conceived, if it be understood that the
metres coincide in the general division of them,
otherwise it seems to be absolutely impossible.
The use of red characters is hat barely hinted at
in the tract now citing : indeed the author does no
than intimate that where it is necessary to
diminish the value of notes by a third part, making
those imperfect which else would be perfect, it may
be done either by evacuating them, or making them
red, 'when the writer has wherewithal to do so.'
This kind of alteration in the value by a change
in the colour of notes, occurs fi'cqoently in old com-
positions, and is mentioned by moat authors, who
when they speak of the diversity of colours mention
black full and black void, and red full and red void ;
Nevertheless in a very curious ancient poem, entitled
A Treatise betweene Trouth and Informatiou, printed
at the end of Skelton's works, there is the following
passage, whereby it may seem that Vert or Green,
was also used among musicians to note a diversity
of character : —
In aatyla 1 have lerned iiii colon as thii,
Blake, All blake, Vette, and in lykewyfe rcdde ;
By thefe colon naaj fabttll altencioni there ii.
That wil begilc one cbo io conying he be well fpcd.
Tbo author of this poem was William Cornysb,
of the royal chapel in the reign of Henry VII.,
a man so eminent for his skill in music, that Morley
has assigned him a place in his catalogue of hhglisn
musicians, an honour, which, to judge of him by
many of his compositions now extant, he seems to
have well deserved ; and these considerationa do
naturally induce a suspicion, if not a belief, that
notwithstanding the silence of other writers in this
respect. Green characters might sometimes be made
use of in music^ notation.
Eut a little reflection on the passage will suggest
an emendation that renders it consistent with what
others have said on the subject. In abort, if we read
nud point it thus ; —
In Riufyke 1 bive Itrned lili colon ; at this,
Blake ful, blake wiiir, and in lybewUe redde,
it is perfectly intelligible and is sound musical
doctrine.
The next in order of the tracts contained in ths
Cotton manuscript is a very copious, elaborate, and
methodical discourse on the science of music in
general, by an anknown anthor. The initial words
of it ore 'Pro oliquali notitia de musica habenda :'
it begins with the etymology of the word mnsic,
which he says is derived either from the Mnses, or
from the Greek word Moys, signifying water, because
without water or moisture to sweetness of sound
can Bubsist.f Boetius's division of music into mun-
I That then ii each a Greek word at Hon doee not anjvhare appear,
Kircher, nho adopli Ihii br-felched elTnglogr of the vord Uu^ taya
elHOhen contndlcti hlmKir, bj atiertliij; that it ii an ■n'cienl B(niUn
or Coplic word ; and thii l> nlhtr lo be rndlud becauie It it tild lo
■criptun thit MoMIi <n at he It alio called, Mormi vat to narard be-
remarkable that Ihli name *ai ^ren him, noi b; hit Hebrew paitnu.
but by Fharaoh'i daughter, an E^ptian princeti.
The meanlBg of Uio abon paauge it tcij ohKure, unleta it be kno«n
Ihal the ancient Ecrptian lltul or pipea mre made of tbe reedtand
paprnu growlnit on the bmki or tlie tlier NUc. or in olhlt maiihy
jriacee ; wherefon It it aaid that wLlhout water, tlia etteient omte vf
dbyGoot^le
Chap. Lil.
AND PRACrriCE OP MU810.
(lane, hamanc, and inBtnimental, is here adopted.
The first, says this author, resulta from the orderly
effects of the elements, the eeasona, and the planets.
The second is evident in the const! tut ion and union
of the aonl and body. And the third is produced
by the human voice, or the action of human organs
on certain instruments. He next proceeds to give
directions for the making of a monocbord, which as
they differ bnt little from those of Guido, it is not
necessary here to repeat. It is however worth ob-
serving, that he recommends for that purpose some
instrument emitting sound as a Viol [Vielle, Fr.]
a circumstance that in some sort ascertains the
antiquity of that instrument, of which there are now
so many species, and which is probably of French
invention.
He next proceeds to explain the nature of the
consonances, in which it is evident that bo follows
Boctius. Indeed we may conclude that his intelli-
gence is derived from ibe Latin writers only, and
not from the Greeks; not only because the Greek
language was very little understood, even among the
learned of thoee times, bnt also because this author
himself has shewn his ignorance of it in a definition
given by him of the word Ditone, which says he,
IS compounded of Dia, a word signifying Two, and
Tones, a Tone, whereas it is well known that it is
a composition of Dis, tmce, and Tonas; and that
the Greek preposition Dia, answers to the English
by, wherefore we say Diapason, by all ; Diapente,
by five ; Diatessaron, by four.
After ascertaining the difference between b and}],
be proceeds to a brief explication of the genera of
the ancienta, the characters of the three be thus
discriminates : the Chromatic as soft, and conducing
to laeciviousneaa ; the Enarmonic as hard and dis-
gusting; and the Diatonic as modest and natural;
and it is to this genus that the division of the mono-
chord by tones and semitones is adapted.
What immediately follows seems to be little less
than an abridgement of Boetius, whose work De
Muaica, the author seems to have studied very
diligently.
In the next place he treats of the plain cantus as
diatinguished from the Cantus Mensurabilis, which
be mi^es to consist of five parts, namely, first the
Characters, with their names; second, the Lines and
spaces; third, the Properties; fourth, the Mutations;
and fifth, the eight Tropes or Modes. As to the
first, he says they are no other thnn the seven Latin
letters A, B, C, D, E, P, G, which also are called
KevB, because as a key opens a lock, these open the
melody of music, although T Greek is placed before
A, to agaity that music was invented by the Greeks.
He then relates, that six names for the notes were
given by Guido to these seven letters, rr, re, hi, fa.
SOL, LA ; and that he placed a tone between ut and
SE, a semitone between mi and 7a, a tone between
FA and SOL, and a tone between sol and I:A, that the
muk, Chen cu IM no »MInn> or Kund. Murtlnl, Star. dell. Uui.
talniiis i^ irlld uti eitnnfuiit ciiDjnrlun. Ths m«l pnMblt
dailTUion of the waid mails la tfam MtMrai tbe Miuh, who on nid Iv
, *nd ue amMnitlir npnuDtnl pUjlDg on miukil
progreEsion might be according to the diatonic genus.
But because there are more letters used in the division
of the monoehord than there are notes or syllables ;
for no one can ascend above la, nor descend below
UT, without a repetition of the syllables, seven deduc-
tions were constituted, which appoint the place of
the syllable or, and direct the application of tbe
rest in an orderly succession. The place of ct is
either at C, F, or g ; the deductions he says might
be infinitely multiplied, but seven ere sufficient for
the bimian voice. It is well known that every
repetition of the letters in the musical scale is sig-
nified by a change, not of the letter, but of the
character ; for this reason the author of tbe tract
now before us observes, that immediately after C we
are to take the amaller Roman letters; and in the
third series we are to use other characters having
the same powers; we now double the former thus
aa, bb, \j\j, cc, dd, ee, bnt ha has chosen to express
them by Gothic characters, The first series are
termed Graves, the second Acutes, and the last
Superacutes.
Having thus explained tbe names and characters
of the musical notes, the author proceeds to shew
the use of tbe lines and spaces, which he does in
very few words ; but as sufficient has been said on
that subject by Guido himself, and the substance of
bis doctrine is contained in an abstract of bis own
work herein-before given, what this author has said
upon it is here purposely omitted. He mentions,
though without ascribing it to Guido, the invention
of the hand for the instruction of boys, and, taking
the left for an example, be directs tbe placing ut at
the end of the thumb, and the other notes in tbe
places following : —
dbyGoot^Ie
m
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book VI.
He next proceeds to treat of tbe Proprieties,
meaning thereby not tliose of the Cantos Mensnra-
bilis, bnt of tlie Monochord ; and these he defines to
be certain affections, from which every cactus takes
the denomination of Hard or Soft, according as it is
determined by one or other of these characters ]^,
or b ; or Natural, which is when the Cantas ie con-
tained within such a limit, namely, that of a hesa-
chord, aa that neither the Vt hard, nor b soft, ran
possibly occur : to render this intelligible he adde,
that every cantuB which begins in b is by Bung by ]-|
hard in V, by b sofl, and in C by natnre.*
The author then goes on to explain tbe mnUtlonB,
which are necessary, when the sis syllables are too
few to express the whole Cantus ; or, in other words,
when the cantus requires a conjunction of another
hexachord, by certain diagrams of a circular form,
sapposed to be taken from a tract intitled De Qnatuor
Principalium,'!' mentioned in the preceding note, and
which diagrams, to the number of nineteen, Morley
has given with his own improvements ; bnt Uie whole
is a poor contrivance, and bo mcch inferior to that
m(»t ingenions one, representing the three hexa*
• To eipliln th[i nittn t Utile man fully, wt muit bnmw tk»
matbu, hit ImBglnmiy pupil, telli him that ■ Ihers be th»e prindiwl
ktf. conKlnlng tho three iiMum or pnprielici of ilnglng,' Whlcli
poittiDD of hit Kcuiatia the tdnoving ahart dialiwue:-'
'Phi. Which he (be thm onpotlei of alnglns' Hin. b Qnun,
'.projwitr ef ilngtng w!
rs-BS
Phi, What ia Ticraerehaut r
•whnilbeDrTlin'cri HT, Pmi. What If ihanibeninnaikcT Maar.
*Thcn Jt la aapp«e<l Cnbe iharpe t]. Phi. What ia b MolleE
* U ■ propertlc df aLniiiiig. vhoebi r* moat alva^i he auPS 1
Upon thtt paaaufl the following ta the note of the inlhor; —
' — pcEtle oiBlnsIng la uMhLng elae but the ^_^.^^,^
A propcrtleof
" piioliI-a«ii; for you abal flnd no aang Includtd
" ton Dwaortilii aoti«a vhleta wi
">T«g^'
"b Quadratun. or b quuie. In an nlde Ircatiae, called Traelatua
" qutnoi [>iiiKlp«Uuni, I Und ihtaa mica aod Tenaa. ' OmH ul Ind-
" plau In C eanUIQi per natumm. In F pei b malle. In g per h
" qaadralun.' Ihat ia eieij tl beginninf In C la inng by proporcbiuit,
"IbiF hj b molle oi flat; In g by (he iquan^oi ihupe. The Tettca
"C. nalnrum dat F b molla none tlhi algnit, gqaoqua
*' b durum tu aempei habea caQkumin.
" Whkli If they wen no tnier In lubatanee than the; he line in vordi.
t Tbia Inct. the tlUa whenof ta aoMDOt, FllDctpalla Artli Hualcc,
and, at It la cliewhetl dlfcribed, De qnatuoT Prlndplii Aitli Huiicc
it br Wood. HIat, et. Anrtq. Oion. 11. 1, and In the Oifoid Calaloinie of
MaDoacriBU, aaeribad lo one Thomaa Teukabnty, a Fnadacaa of
Biitlol i Ibi vhat niton blabop Tanner taya he doea not duily aee ;
but nwn laaking into Ihe manntEript, tbeie appeua at leaat a eelmr foi
Wood t aiaeillDn, tor tbe name Tho. de Tewkribnrr it wiittan on Ibe
outer leaf of It. It it tnic, aa Tanner ta;!. Blbllolb. pag. 707, (ha name
e caUloguei of Ihe old Engllib mutidant ;
aboTe-menthtned la atcribed to Tho. de 1
Edwatd the Fourlh-t line. _ . . _,,._.
tnn n(a, pac- ddA, (faac Hamboyt vaa the author of a work miKloi
flnamam Artb Huiiea, the Initial aentenanberoof. ai Tanner reponi
la thU : ' auemadmadam inter Tritlea.' and Ibe Quatnoi Priadp^
Hutica bu prtdaalj the tame beginning.
chords, and directing the method of conjoining them
in plate IV. at the end of Dr. Fepusch's Short Intro-
duction to Harmony, that the not inserting the cir-
cular diagrams in this place will hardly be resetted.
Of the Tropes or Modes, though he inclndM
them in the general division of his subject, the anthor
has stud nothing in this place. But he proceeds to
an explanation of the nature of mensurable mnaic,
which, after Franco, he defines to bo a canUis
measured by long and short times. In this part
of hie discourse there will be little need to foUow
him closely, as a more distinct occoant of the modes
or ecclesiastical tones has already been given from
Fran chinos.
His first position is tliat all quantity is either con-
tinuous or discret« ; and from hence he takes occasion
to observe that the minim is tbe beginning of measured
time, in like manner as nnity is tho b^inning of
number ; and adds, that time is ae well the meoiore
of a sound prolated or uttered, as of its contrary, a
sound omitted.
The comparison which the author makee between
the minim and the unit, induces a presumption, to
call it no more, that in his time the mbim was the
smallest quantity in use. But be explains tbe matter
very fully, by asserting that the minim was invented
by Fhilippus de Vitriaco, who he says was a man
very famous in bis time, and approved of l^ all the
world ; and that the semiminim was then also known,
though Vitriaco would never make use of it in any
of his works, looking upon it as an innovation.
From hence it is manifest, notwithstanding that
formal relation to the contrary, which is given by
Vicentino, that De Muris was not tbe inventor of
the characters for the lesser quantities from the breve
downwards ; nay it is most apparent in the rules cf
Franco, and the commentary thereon by De Handio,
that even the breve was made use of by the former ;
and it is highly probable that that character, together
with the semibreve, for that also is to be found m hia
rules, was invented by bim at tbe same time with the
large and the long.
And here it may not be improper, once for all, to
observe, that the necessary consequence of the inbo-
duction of these lesser quantitjes into the Cantoa
Mensurabilis was a diminution in value of the larf^ ;
and we are expressly told by the author now citing,
some pages forwarder in his work, not only that at
the time when Franco wrote, to say nothing of the
minim, neither the imperfect mode, nor the imperfect
time were known, but that the breve and the lon^
which seem to be put as examples for the rest of the
notes, were then pronounced as quick as now they
are in the imperfect time, so that the introduction m
the imperfect time accelerated the pronunciation of
the several notes, by subtracting from each one third
part of its value. The invention of the minim, and
the other subordinate characters, was attended with
similar consequences ; so that if we measure a time,
or, as we now call it, a bar, by pauses, as Franchinus
directs, it will be found that in triple, for that is
what is to be understood by perfect time, the crotchet
has taken the place of the minim, which before had
dbyGoo*^le
Chap. LIII.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
23S
taken place of tbe Bemibnve, and so progressively
backwarda. All. which considered, it is dear that
tliOT^h by the invention of the minim, crotchet,
qaaver, and other notes of a still less valae, the
modem miuic is comparatively mach more quick
than the ancient, the ancient mnaic was not nttered
•0 alowly as the characters, which most frequently
occar in it, seem to indicate.
We meet here also with directions concerning the
nse and application of the Plica, as it is called, which
ia nothing more than that stroke, which, drawn from
the hody of a breve, makes it a long, as thns ■ ^ and
ia at this day called the tail of a note ; bnt it seems
that the dne placing this was formerly a matter of
some nicety, the reason whereof may be that it pre-
vented coi^nsion among the characters, and that fair,
curioDf, and correct writing was then a matter of
more conseqnence than it has been at any time since
the invention of printing, a fact, which all who have
been conversant with mannscripts, or have been
accnstomed to the petusal of ancient deeds or charters,
well knoTT to be tme.
Franco's definition of the Plica is, that it is a mark
of distinction between a grave and an acute character ;
bnt sorely the best distinction of a character in this
respect is its aitnation in the stave. Others term it
an Inflexion of a note ; bnt neither is this an adequate
definition, nor indeed does the subject seem to he
worth one ; all that need here be said about it is, that
ascending, the Plica of the long was drawn upwards
on the right side of the note thus M, descending, it
wae drawn downwards thns i^
Oar author next proceeds to a description of the
ligatures, taking notice of that threefold distinction
of them into those with Propriety, those without
Propriety, and those with an opposite Propriety, the
nature of which division is explained by Robert De
Handlo, adding, as bis own judgment, that every
descending ligature having a stroke descending from
the left side of the first note, is said to he with Pro-
priety, if the ligature has no stroke, it is said to be
without Propriety ; likewise every ascending ligature,
without a stroke on either side, is said to be without
propriety ; and lastly, every ligature, whether ascend-
ing or descending, having a stroke ascending from
the first note, ia said to be with an opposite Pro-
priety. To this he opposes the rule of Franco,
which agrees bat ill with this definition, bat de-
cUnee attempting to recon^e the difference, for the
reason, that, whether true or false, the rule of Franco
is grown out of nae.
CHAP. LIII.
The several measorea of time, called, rather im-
properly, the Modes or Moods, and the methods of
distingnishiug the one from the other, are now so
well adJQsted, that thwr respective characUrs speak
for themselves ; but it seems that for some time after
the invention of the Cantos Menaurabilis, these, as
being r^nlated t^ certain laws, the reason whereof
le not very apparent, were the subject of great
speculation, as appears hy the author now before
us; for, after mentioning the modes of the plain
cantus to be eight, as undoubtedly they are, being
the ssme with the eight ecclesiastical tones, and to
consist in a certain progression of grave and scute
sounds, he proceeds to speak of other modes, namely,
those of time, or which refer solely to the Cantus
Uensurabilis ; and a mode in tliis sense of the word
he defines to be a representation of a long sound
measured by short times. As to the number of these
modes, he says it bad been a matter of controversy,
that EVanco had limited it to five ; but that the more
modem writers, and the practice of the singers in the
Roman church had extended it to six.
To give a general idea of these six modes of time,
it is suiGcieut to say, that the first consisted of a long
and a breve i^«i^«; the second of a breve and a
long ■ ^ ■ ^ ; the third of one long and two breves
^ ■ ■ ^ ■ ■; the fourth of two breves and one long
■ ■ ^ ■ ■ ^ ; the filUi, of a progression by longs only
^^^^^; and the sixth of breves and semibreves
interchanged, in the following order : ■ ■ ■ « « ♦
Bnt notwithstanding this variety of six, and a
greater that might be formed, the author now citing
observes, that the modes ore reducible to two, namely,
the Perfect and the Imperfect, most exactly agreeing
with the present theory of mensurable music, accord-
ing to which it is well known that all the possible
diversities of measure are comprehended within Ibe
general division of duple and triple time; the first
whereof being regulated by a measure of two, answer-
ing precisely to the old imperfect mode, and the other
as exactly corresponding with the perfect mode, the
measure whereof is the number three.
Next follow some remarks tending to an explana-
tion of the Ligatures, so obscurely worded that it
would answer no purpose to transcribe it ; and indeed,
after reflecting that Morley lived at a time when this
method of notation was practised ; and that he,
spealdng of the ancient writers on the ligatures, ssys,
that ' scarce any two of them tell the some tale,' there
is very little ground to hope for more information
from any of them than is to he mat with in his own
valuable work.
The auihoT then goes on to shew that mensurable
music proceeds by a gradation from unity to the
binary, and from thence to the ternary number, and
that within the numbers two and three, all mensura-
ble mnsic is comprehended. To explain this, it may
be necessary to mention that where the progression
is duple, as when the semibreve contains two minims
only, it is said to be Imperfect ; and where it is triple,
the semibreve containing three minims, it is called
Perfect : and this is the author's meaning when he
lays it down as a mle that where a compounded whole
contains two equal parts it is called imperfect ; if
three, it is called perfect ; the reason of which dis-
tinction is founded in an opinion of a certain perfection
inherent in the number three, which, as well among
the learned as the illiterate has long prevailed. And
it seema that this attribute of perfection was appli-
cable in three ways, to the Mode, the Time, and the
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
HISTORV OF THE SCIENCE.
Book VI
ProUtiun ; to the Mode, when the greater measare,
the long for example, contained three brevee ; to the
Time, when the breve, which by Fmnchinns and other
ftnthore is also called a time, contained three aemi-
brevea ; and to the Prolation, when the aemibreve
coDtained three minims ; though it ie to be remarked,
that it ia more asnal to apply the epithet of Greater
and Lesser than Perfect and Imperfect to Prolation ;
bat this distinction of perfection and imperfection,
with its various modifications, will be more dearly
understood from a perusal of the musical trees, as
they are called, herein before inserted, than by any
verbal description.
It appears also from the work now citing, that the
point, by which at this day we augment any given
note half its length in value, was in use so early as
the period now speaking of. Its original and gennine
usee, according to this autiior, were two, namely.
Perfection and Division ; the first is retained by the
moderns, the latter seems to have been better supplied
by the invention of bars.
The.placingapoint after a note is called Augmeu'
tatlon ; but it appears by this author and others, that
among the old musicians there was a practice called
Diminution, to which we at this day are strangers,
which consisted in rendering a perfect note imperfect.
Of this onr author gives many instances, which eeem
to establish the following position as a general rule,
that is to say, a perfect note consisting necessarily of
three anits, is made imperfect, or to consist of only
two, by placing a note of the next less value imme-
diately before it, as in this case ■ M , where by
placing a breve before a perfect long, the long is
diminished one third part of its value, and thereby
made imperfect; and the same rule holds for the
other characters.
Other methods of diminution are here also men-
tioned, but the practice is now become not only
obsolete, but so totally unnecessary, the modern
syatem of notation being abundantly anfficient for
expressing every possible combination of measaree,
that it would be lost time to enquire farther about it.
In the former part of the tract now ciUng, the
author had given a general idea of the consonances
in almost the very words of Boetins, whom he appears
to have studied very attentively ; but proposing to
himself to treat of the practice of descant, which we
have already shewn to be in effect composition, and
consequently to require a practical knowledge of tbe
□se and application of the consonances, he takes occa-
sion in his Rules for Descant, which immediately
follow his explanation of the Cantus Mensurabilis, to
resume the consideration of the nature of the several
intervals that compose the great system. These he
divides into consonances and dissonances, and the
former again into perfect and imperfect ; the Perfect
consonances he makes to be four, namely, the diapa-
son, diapente, diatessaron, and tone, and gives it as a
reason for calling them perfect, that tbe ratio between
each of them and its unison is simple and uncom-
pounded, and by these and no other the monochord
u divided. The Imperfect consonances he makes
«tso to he four, vis., the semiditone, ditone, semitone
with a diapente, and a tone with a diapente, which he
says are called Imperfect, being commensun^le by
simple proportions, but arising out of tbe others by
such various additions and subtractions as are neces-
sary for their production.
The reason given by this author for reckoning the
tone among the consonances, is certainly an inadequate
one, since no man ever yet considered the second as
any other than a discord, and that so very offensive
in its nature, as to excite a sensation even of pain at
the hearing it. Of the perfect consonances he maket
the diatessaron to be the principal, at the same tima
that he admits it is not a concord t^ itself, or, in other
words, that it is only a concord when the harmony
consista of more than two parts ; to which position
the modem practice of using it aa a discord m com-
positions of two parts only, is perfectly agreeable. *
Boetins has by numbers demonstrated &e singular
properties of this consonance, and shewn that it can
only under particular circumstances be received as a
concord. Hia reasoning is very clear and decisive
about it ; nevertheless many, not knowing perhaps
that the contrary had ever been proved, have ranked
the diatessaron among the perfect concords, and that
without any restriction whatsoever, f
But whatever may be urged to the contrary, it is
certain that the diatessaron is not a perfect consonance ;
for wherever a sound is a perfect consonance with its
unison, the replicate of that sound will also he a con-
sonance, as is tbe case with the diapente and diapason,
whose replicates are not less grateful to the ear than
are the radical sounds themselves ; on the contrary,
the replicate of the diatessaron is so far from being a
consonance, that the ear will hardly endure it They
that are curious may see this imperfection of the
diatessaron demonstrated by numbers in the treatise
De Musica of Boetins, lib. II. cap. xxvi ^. But to
return to our author.
It is to be remarked that in this place he has not
reckoned the unison among the consonances, as all
the modems do ; the reason whereof is, that a aotmd
and its unison are so perfectly one and the same,
• VldB D[. PnnKh'l Bhon InttDdueHon to HumonT, Kcacil cdlUn.
Bag. 98.41. InthecoDiH of lb* conlnmimT txtwcmi U oiu. BniMteuul
Moni. Fngnlu, mtimaiKd in etuip. XX11. Ui* ranuR u»ni iba m
order to nrdcr Ibe fOiuUi 1 conconl it mul bg tak«n with thn aLKIi.
Ueio. in I'AadeidIo ftojftla det Insiolptioiii, ftc. tome xL.
Lord Baam pnlMH* to te of oidnlon vftb (be tnekaU. _tbu tb>
to ihE lucet oplnioii.
Ui. Tem
Ibe bookHller : It ipiianil to be ■ teiy (BIB* Mrfonunce, «>iti«n r
dbyGooi^le
OsiP. LIII.
AND PRACTTICE OP MUSIC.
S57
that they admit of no comparison ; and, according
to Boetins, coiisonaucy is a concordance of diBsimikr
■ounda.
Having explained the nature of concords, he pro-
ceede to give directiosa for the practice of descant;
and firat he snpposea a plain-song to descant on,
to which plain-song he gives the name of Tenor,
a teneo, to hold, for it holds or snetains the air, the
point, the snbetancs, or meaning of the whole Cantos
and every part superadded to it, is considered merely
aa its auxiliary : and in this disposition of parte,
which was constantly and uniformly practised by the
old mnsicians, there appears to be great propriety.
Lord Vemlam's remark that the extreme sonnds,
not only of all instruments, but of the human voice,
are less pleasing to the ear than those that hold
a middle sitoation, is indisputably tme; what there-
fore can be more ratioual than that the Air, to borrow
a word from the modems, of a musical composition,
should be prolated, not only by sounds ^e most
audible, but also the most grateful to the ear.*
After premising that the perfect concordances are
the onison, the filth, eighth, twelfth, and fifteenth,
he says that the Descantns or upper part must begin
and also conclude with a perfect concord ; that where
the plain-eong is situated among the grave sounds,
tiie Descantus may begin in the twelfth or fifteenth,
otherwise in the eighth or twelfth ; and if the plain-
song lies chiefly among the acutes, the descant may
be in the fifth or eighth. Again, the descant begin-
ning on one or other of &e above concords, the
deacanter is to proceed to the nearest concords,
avoiding to take two perfect concords of the same
kind consecutively, and so to order his harmony,
that when the ptain-song ascends the descant shall
descend, and vice versa. Farther, if two or more
ling upon a plain-song, they must use their best
endeavours to avoid taking the same concords. These,
as far as they go, are the authors* rules for descant ;
and to them succeed others more particular, which,
as they ore peculiarly adapted to, and are descriptive
of the practice of descant, are here given in nearly
his own words : —
' Let there be four or five men, and the first of
'them begin the plun-song in the tenor; let the
' second begin in the fifth, the third, in the eighth,
' and the fourth in the twelfth ; and let all continue
' the plain-song in these concords to the end, obeerv-
'ing this, that those who sing in the eighth and
'twelfth do Break and Flower the notes in such
' manner as best to grace the melody. Bnt note well
' that he who sings ^e Tenor must utter the notes full
'and distinctly, and that he who descants must take
' only the imperfect concords, namely, the third, sixth,
'and tflnth, and must proceed by these ascending
' and descending, as to him shall seem most expedient
'and pleasing to the ear.' The author adds, that
observing these rules each of the singers will appear
to deacaut, when in truth only one does so, the rest
simply modulating on the fundamental melody of
the tenor or plain-aong.
To give weight to the above precept, which re-
quires the pmrson who sings the tenor to utter the
notes fully and distinctly, the author adds, that it is
the practice of the Roman palace, and indeed of the
French and all other choirs, where the sor\'ice is
akilfully performed, for the tenor, which is to regulate
and govern the Descantus, to be audibly and firmly
pronounced, lest the descanter should be led to take
dissonances instead of concords.
From this and many other pasa^es in this work,
wherein tlie singer is cautioned against the use of
discords, and more especially as nothing occurs in it
concemiDg their preparation and resolution, without
Wiich every one knows they are intolerable, there
is good reason to infer that the use of discords in
musical composition was unknown at the time when
this author wrote, which at the latest has been shewn
to he anno 1326, But the particular «sra of this
improvement will be the subject of future enquiry.
Whoever shall attentively peruse the foregoing
pass^fes, and reflect on the nature and end of musicu
composition, in fact vrill find it extremely difficult to
conceive it possible for five, or four, or even three
persons, thus extemporaneously, and without any
other assistance than a written paper, which each
is supposed to have before him, containing the melody
upon which he is to sing, to produce a succession of
such sounds as shall be grateful to the ear, and con-
sequently consistent with the laws of harmony. Aa
difficult also is it to discern the possibility of avoiding
the frequent repetition of the same concords, the
taking whereof in consecution is by the rule above
laid down expressly forbidden.
This is certain, that notwithstanding the generality
of the practice of extempore descant, and the effects
ascribed to it, so long ago as the reign of queen
Elizabeth it was a matter of doubt witL one of the
greatest masters of that time, whether, supposing
three or more persons to sing extempore on a plain-
song, the result of tbeir joint endeavours could
possibly be any other than discord and confusion.
Having thus explained the nature of extempore
descant, the author proceeds to treat of Polyphonous
or Symphoniac music at large; and here it is neces-
sary to be observed, that although the precepts of
descant, as given by him, do in general refer to that
kind of musical composition, which is understood by
the word Connterpoint ; yet, from the directions which
he gives for Flowering or breaking the notes, and from
sundry passages that occur in his work, where ho
speaks of a Conjunction, and in others of a Conglu-
tination of notes in one and the same part, there is
ground to imagine that even so early as the time of
composing this tract the studies of mnsicians were
not confined to counterpoint, bnt that they bad
some idea of Canto Figurato. And this opinion ia
rendered to the highest degree probable by the
concluding pages of his work, which contain an
explanation of the nature and use of Hockets.
It must be confessed that at this day the word
Hocket is not verv intelligitde ; its etymology does
Digitized
byGoo^le
aas
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book VI.
not occur on pemsa], and noiie of our dictionaries,
either goneral or techDicnl, furnish tis with a definition
of it We muBt therefore be content with such an
explanation of this barbarous term as ia only to be
met with in the authors that use it ; the earliest of
these is De Handlo, who, in his twelfth rubric,
without professing to define tlio term, ssvs, that
' Hockets are formed by the combination of notes
and pauses.' The author of the trnct now citing
bag Ukis pass^e : ' One descant is siuiply prolated,
'that is wiUiont fractions or divisions; another is
' copulated or flowered ; and another is Tnincatus or
' mangled, iind such as this last are termed Hockets;'
the meaning whereof iu other words seems to be,
that one descant is simple, even, and corresponding
in length of notes with the plain-song; another
copulated, and consisting of certain bundles or Com-
pages of notes, coincidiug with the plain-song only
in respect of the general measure by which it u
regulated ; and another consisting of notes and pauses
intermixed ; and a combination of notes and pauses
thus formed is called a HockeL And elsewhere he
says a truncation [Truncatio, Lat] is a Contus, pro-
lated in a maimed or mangled manner by expressed
[rectce] notes, and by omitted notes, which can mean
only pauses; and that a truncation is the same
as a hocket, as an example whereof he gives the
following : —
^^
Upon which he remarks tliat a hocket may be
formed upon any given tenor or plain-song, so that
while one sings, the other or others may be silent;
but yet there must be a general equivuence in the
times or measures, as also a concordance between
the prolated notes of the eeveral parts.
The author next proceeds to speak of the organ
as an instrament necessary in the Cantns Eccle-
siasticus, the antiquity whereof he confesses himself
at a loss to ascertain. He says it is of Greek inven.
tion, for that in the year 797 an organ was sent by
Gonstontine king of the Greeks to Pepin, emperor
of France, at which time he says the Cantus Men-
snrabilis was unknown. He says that this improve-
ment of music was made by slow degrees, and that
Franco was the first approved author who wrote on it.
CHAP. HV.
The next succeeding tract in the Cotton manu-
script, beginsing ' Gognita modulatione Meloram
' secundum viam octo Tropormn,' by an< anonymous
author, is altogether as it should seem on the Cantus
Mensnrabilis ; and hy this it clearly appears, that as
among the ancient musicians there were eight tones,
modes, or tropes of melody, or, in other words, eight
ecclesiastical tones, so were there eight modes of time
in use among them ; and this, notwithstanding it is
sud in the former trftct that Franco had limited the
number to five ; but for this the same reason may be
given as for extending it to ux, against the precept
of Franco, to wit, that it was the practice of tho
singers in the Roman palace.*
The author speaks of one Magister Leoninna na
a celebrated musician of the time, and also of a person
named Perotinus.t whom he surnames the Great
whenever he Cakes occasion to mention him.
The tract now citing goes on to say of Leoninna,
before>mentioned, that he was a most excellent
organist, and that he made a great book of tho
Organum for the Gradual and ^e Antiphonam, in
order to improve the divine service ; and that it waa
in use till the time of Perotinus ; but that the latter,
who wss an excellent descanter, indeed a better than
Leoninus himself, abbreviated it, and made better
points or subjects for descant or fugue, and made
also many excellent quadruples and triples. The
same author says that the compoaitiona of Ferotinns
Magnus were used till the time of Robertus de
Sabilone, in the choir of the greater church of the
Blessed Virgin at Paris. Mention is here also nude
of Peter, a moat excellent notator, and John, dictiu
Primarius, Thomas de Soncto Juliano, a Parisian, and
others deeply skilled in the Cantus Menaurahilis.
These for the most part are celebrated as excellent
notators ; but the some author mentions some others
as iamous for their skill in descant, and other parts
of practical music, as namely, Theobaldos Gallicns,
Simon de Socalia, and Joannes de Franconns of
Ficardy. He says farther that there were in Eng-
land men who sang very delightfully, as Johannes
Filins Dei, one Makebtite of Winchester, and another
named Blakismet, probably Blacksmith, a singer in
the palace of onr lord Henry the last. He sp^ha of
the Spaniards, and those of Pampelnna, and of the
English and French in general, as excelling in muuc.
The author, after an explanation of the modes of
time, the nature of the ligatures, and other pardculara,
of which an account has already been given, pruceeda
to relate what must he thought a matter of some
curiosity, namely, that the stave of five lines, which
was, as indeed appears from old mneical manuscripts,
for some purposes reduced to a less number, was n«-
quently made to consist of lines of different coloai:&
As this seems to coinude with a passage in'tha
Micrologus of Quido, it is worthy of remark.
The passage in the author now citing is very
carious, and is here given in a translation of his own
words : — ' Some notators were accustomed in iho
'Cantus Ecdesiasticua always to rule Four lines of
' the same colour between two of writing, or aiiova
' one line of writing ; but the ancients were not ac-
■ customed to have more than three lines of different
' colouis, and others two of different colours ; and
' others one of one colour, their Imes were ruled with
ol bf ttw PnoUniu Mitnu ■>»» "tWnWili
dbyGoot^le
Chap. LIV.
AND PRACTTICE OF MUSIC.
289
' aoBU hud meUl, as in the Cartnmensuui and other
' books, but such books are not used among; the or-
'gaoists in France, in Spun and Arragon, in Pam-
' pelone, or England, nor many other places, accord-
'ing to what fully appears in their books, but they
'used Bed or Black lines drawn with ink. At the
' beginning of a cantos they placed a sign, as, F or c
' or g ; and in some parts d. Also some of the an-
' cients made use of points instead of notes. Observe
' that oi^puiista in their books make nse of five lines,
' bat in the tenors of descants are used only four, be-
' cause the tenor was alwajrs used to be taken ftom
' the eccleaiaatical cantos, noted by four lines, Ac'*
Farther on the aathor speaks of a method of no<
tation by the letters of the stph^wt, which is no
other than that introdnced by St. Gregory ; the ex-
amplea he gives are of letters in the old Go&ic cha-
racter, and such are to be seen in the Storia della
Hnsica of Padre Martini, vol. I. pag. 178 ; bnt he
saya that the method of notation m use in his time
waa by points, either ronnd or sqnare, somedmes
with a tail and sometimes without.
Having treated thus largely of the Cantns Mensn-
labilis, he proceeds to an explanation of the harmo-
nical concordanoes, in which as he does bnt abridge
Boetins, it is needless to follow him.
He then proceeds to relate that the word Organnm
is need in varioas sensee, for that it sometimes signifies
the instrument itself, and at other times that kind of
choral accompaniment which comprehends the whole
harmony, and is treated of in the Micrologus of
Onido. He speaks also of the Oi^^nm Simplex, or
pore organ, a term which fieqnently occars in the
monkish musical writers, and which seems to mean
the unisonons accompaniment of the tenor or other
ungle voice in the venides of the service. The pre-
cepts for the Organnm or general accompaniment are
manifestly taken from Guido, and the examples ai'e
in letters like those in the Micrologus.
Next follow the rudiments of descant, of which
snfBoient has been said already.
Speaking of the Triples, Quadruples, and Copnlee,
terms that in this place relate to the Cantns Mensn-
rabilis, he digresses to descant; and, speaking of the
concords, saya that although the ditone and semi-
ditone are not reckoned among the perfect concords,
yet that among the best organists in some countries,
aa in England, in the country called Westcontre, they
are used as snch.
And here it is to be oheerred, that for the first
time we meet with the mention of Discords ; for the
author now citing says, that many good oi^aniats and
makers of hymns and antiphons put discords tn the
room of concords, without any rnle or consideration,
exoept that the disoord of a tone or second be taken
before a perfect concord. He adds, that this practice
was much in nse with the organists of Lombudy.
A little farther on he spedks of tiie works of Pero-
tinna Magnus, in six volnmes, which he says contain
the coloun and beantiea of the whole musi^ art.
The aathor of the above-cited tract appears to have
■ n* nanlxr tt Ba« tbc tli* Ciattu X
been deeply skilled, at least in the practical part of
music, wd to have been better acquainted with the
general state of it, than most of the writers in those
dark times. It should seem by his manner of spssk-
ing of England and of the West Centre, which very
probably he mistook for the North country, which
abounded with good singers and musicians, that be
was a foreigner ; and his styling Pepin Emperor of
France, at the instant that he c^le Constantine King
of the Greeks, is a ground for conjecture that he was
a Frenchman.
What follow in the Cotton mannscripts are rather
detached pieces or extracts from some larger works,
than complete treatises themselves : the first of these,
beginning ' Sequitur de Sineminia,' is a short dis-
course, ^iefly on the use and application of the
Synemmenon tetrachord, in which it is to be re-
marked that the author takes occasion to mention
the use of a croes between F and G, corresponding
moet exactly to that acute ugnatnre which is used at
this day to prevent the tritonus or defective fifth
between \j and f.
The next, beginning ' Est autem unisonue,' treats
very briefly of the conaonanoeB, of descant, and of
Bolmisation, the practice whereof is illnstrated by the
figure of a band, with the syllables placed on the
several joints, as represented by other authors, to-
gether with examples in notes to explain the doctrine.
The last tract, beginning ' Cum in isto tractatn,'
which is chiefly on the Cantns Mensurabilis, contains
little worthy of observation except the words ' Hsee
Odyngtouus,' at the end of it, to account for which is
a matter of great difficulty.
Odingtonus [Gualterus,] Odendunas, et Gualteria*
Eoveshameneis, or Walter of Evesham, was a monk
of Evesham, in the county of Worcester, and a very
able astronomer and masician.f He wrote De Specn-
latione Musicea, lib. VI., and the manuscript is in the
library of Christ Church college, Csmbridge. The
titles of the several books are a« fallow : —
' Prima pars est de inieqnalitate numerorum et
eorum habitudine. Secunda de inaequalitate sono-
rum sub portione numerali et ratione concordiarom.
Tertia de compositione inatrumentorum musicomm,
et de . . . . Quarts de inaequalitate temporum in
pedibuH, qtiibus metra et rbythmi decurrunt. Quints
de harmonia simplici, i.e. de piano cantu. Sexta et
ultima de harmonia multiplici, i.e. de organo et ejus
BMciebua, necnou de compositione et figaratione.'l
Now it is observable that not one of the six books
professee to trest of the Csntus Mensurabilis ; on the
contrary, the title of the fourth is ' De inaequalitate
' temporum in pedibus, quibus metra et rhythmi de-
' currant ; ' terms that ceased to be made use of after
the invention of the Cantus Mensurabilis. This is
enough to excite a suspicion that Odyngtonue was
not the author of the tract in question ; but the time
when he lived is not to be reconciled to the sup-
position that he knew aught of its contents.
In short he flourished about the beginning of the
thirteenth centnry : his name occurs aa a witness to
dbyGoo^le
210
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Boos Vi.
» charter of Stephen Langton, archbishop of Canter-
bury, in the year 1220. It is aaid that Walter of
Eveabom, a monk o( Oanterburj', was elected arch-
bishop of Canterbury 12 Hen. III. a. d. 1228, but
that the pope vacated the election.* The conclnnon
dedncible Irom these premises is obvious.
A few loose notes of the difTcrent kinds of metre
conclude the collection of tracta above-cited hy the
name of the Cotton Mauoacript, of which perhaps
there is no copy exbnt other than that made use of
in this work. It contains 210 folio pages, written in
a legible hand ; and as the original from whence it
was taken is rendered useless, it may possibly here-
after be given ap to the public, and deposited in the
British Museum.
Another manoecript volume, little less curious than
that above-mentioned, has been frequently referred
to in the course of this work by the name of the
manuscript of Waltham Holy Cross. The title
whereof is contained in the following inscription on
the fiiet leaf thereof : ' Hunc libmm vocitatum Mu-
' sicam Guidonis. scripsit dominus JohamieB Wylde,
' qoondam exempt! monasterii sanctse Crucia de
' Waltham precentor.' And then follows this, which
imports no less than a curse on any who should by
string or defacing the hook deprive the monastery
of the fruit of bis labours ; —
' Quem quidem libmm, aut hunc titulura, qui
' malitioB^ abstulerit aut delevcrit, anathema sit.' f
Notwithstanding which, upon the suppression of
the monastery, violent hands were laid on it, and it
became the property of Tallis, as appears by bis
name of his own handwriting in the last leaf; and
there is little reason to anspect that ha felt the effects
of the anathema.
Of this religious foundation, the monastery of
Waltham Holy Cross, in Essex, which in truth was
nothing less than a mitred abbey, possessed of great
privileges, and a very extensive jurisdiction in the
counties of Hertford and Essex, in which last it was
situated, a history is given in the Monasticon of Sir
William Dugdalc ; and some farther particulars re-
lating to it may be fonnd in the History of Waltham
Abbey, by Dr. Fuller, at the end of his Church
History. Here it may suffice to say, that the church
and bnildings belonging to it were very spacious and
magnificent ; and here, as in most abbeys and con-
ventual churches, where the endowment would admit
of it, choral service was duly performed, the conduct
whereof was the peculiar duty of a well-known officer
called the precentor.
At what time the above-mentioned John Wylde
lived does no where appear, but there is reason to
conjecture that it was about the year 1400.
Upon the title of this manuscript, Musicam Gui-
ih In mniiD.
HiiIlKntd In
tntof triari
■ Tun. in loc ciiM.
ilpti thU tanan]! M
If. IH cit tUa mk.
k, u GODtUDlnr Ihe Inct De qiuto^
_. tut HbMiT. hM be" ti^tn to » eon
1 ISU i ind Iha iHt leiTor It I) Ihoi Intcrlked :
«i™ tolentibm prtneiBli »n
r Prtodpilta MniW Pimlur
" lunorltiu et ■
' OulDor Prtudpilla H
■ TtunDS de Kyngnttni'
'fODlUCllltfL'
donis, it is to be observed that it is not the woi^
of Guide himself, but a collection of the precepts
contained in the Microtogus, and other of his writings,
and that therefore the appellation which Wylde baa
given to it, importing it to be Guidonian music, is
very proper.
The manuscript begins ' Quia jnxta sapientisaimnm
' Salomonem dura est, ut infenus emulatio,' which
are the first words to the preface of the book, in
which the compiler complains of the envy of some
persons, but resolves notwitiiatanding to deliver th«
precepts of Boetins, Mecrobine, and Onido, from
whom he professes to have taken the greatest part of
his work ; meaning, as he says, to deliver not their
words, but their sentiments. He distinguishes mnaio
into Manual and Tonal, the iirst so-called from the
Hand, to the joints whereof the notes of the Gamut
or scale are usually applied. The Tonal he saya ia
so called, as treating particularly of the Tonea.
Upon the use of the hand he observes that the
Gamut is adapted to the hands of boys, that they may
always carry, as it were, the scale about them ; and
adda that the left hand is used rather than the right,
because it is the nearest the heart.
The tract now citing contains twenty-two chs^ra
with an introduction, declaring the pre -requisites to
the rigl^ understanding the sc^e of Guido, aa namely,
the succession of the letters and syllables in the first
or grave series, with the distinction between Jj and b.
Then follows the scale itself, called the Gamma, an-
Bwering to Guide's division of the monochord, which
is followed by the figure of a hand, with the notes
and syllables disposed in order on the several joints
thereof, as has already been represented.
In the first chapter the author treats of the inven-
tion of music, of those who introduced it into the
church, and of the etymology of the word Music.
Upon the authority of the book of Oeuesis he asserts
thai Tubal Cain invented music; and, borrowing
from the relation of Pythagoras, he interposes a
fiction of his own, saying that he found out the pro-
portions by the aound of hammers used by his brother,
who, according to him, was a worker in iron. H«
says that St. Ambrose, and after him pope Gregory,
introduced into the church the modulations of
Gradnale, Antiphons, and Hymns. As to the ety-
mology of the word Music, he says, as do many
others, that it is derived from the word Move, signi-
fying water.
In Chap. TI. the author speaks of the power of
music, and cites a passage from Macrobius's Com-
mentanr on the Somnium Scipionis of Cicero, to
shew that it banishes care, persuades to clemency,
and heals the diseases of the body. He odds that the
angels themselves are delighted with devout songs,
and that therefore it is not to be wondered that the
fathers have introduced into the church this alone of
the seven liberal sciences.
In Chap. in. it is said that the ancient Greeks
noted the musical sounds with certain charactera, aa
appears by the table in Boetins, hut that the Latina
afterwards changed them for those simple letten,
which in the calendar are made use of to denote the
dbyG00*^lc
Chip. LIV.
AND PRAOTICE OF HUSia
ail
serendaTsoftheweek, aa A, B,0, D, E, F, G; and
that the]^ aaramed only seven letters, becanae, aa
Vii^ aaya, there are only aeren differences of BOtmda ;
and nature herself witneasea that the eighth is no
other than the replicate of the first, with thia differ-
ence, that the one ia grave and the other acnte.
Chap. IV. contains the reaaons why the Greek r
ma prefixed by the Latiiu to the scale, and why that
letter rather than any other. The reasons given by
the author seem to be of his own invention ; and he
aeeme to have forgot that Guido waa the first that
loade Tise of that character.
The reasona contained in Ohap, V. for the repe*
dtioD of the letters to the nninber nineteen, are not
lees incondoaive than those contained in the former
chapter, and are therefore not worth enumerating.
Chap YI. assigns a reason why the letters are
differently described in the monochord, that is to say,
BOme greater, some leaser, some aqoare, some ronnd,
ftnd some doubled. The following are the anthor's
worda: —
' As the foundation ia more worthy and solid than
' the rest of the edifice, so in the mnaical fabric the
' letters that are placed in the bottom are not im-
' properly made luger and stronger than those which
' follow, it ia therefore that they should be made
' eqoare, as every thin^ that is square standa the
'firmeet* The other septenary ought to be made
' less, for as we begin from the Iwttom, the higher we
' aecend by regular steps, the more snbtle or acnte
' does the sound become : roundness then beet suits
'in its nature with these seven letters, for that
' which is ronnd is more easily moved about ; and the
' aounda which are placed between the grave and
' saperacute are the most easy for the voice of the
' einger to move in, seeing he can readily pass from
' the one to the other freely and at his pleasure ; the
' four remaining letters ore formed donble, and as it
' were with two bellies, because they are formed to
' make a bisdiapaaon with the grave, that is a double
■ diapaeon.'
Id Chap. Vll. we meet with the names of Guido
the Younger, and Gnido the Elder, by the latter of
whom the author certainly means Gnido Areldnus,
Xmtliiu, 1 phDotoptm, tt. ^ - -
' tha hRtw Wtilih 1 plint ftow not h Qui h thoH vhlch the Hith p
. . ^ ._..* ^j phUoiopbei molTed It Into tha dlvlna
.ludenET not bdng uHriM with Uiii umr,
li to BiT» ■ lBtt«, ref«i him to hli iliTC Xtof, who
hf nof ii. thsl iho it le— iIKtbiDaM to Ihcm tha
if to those thing! which the prodiint ipoutaaaoi
I ItaoH wtakh Ibou plutnt ahe li ■ ittp-mothcr ;
, ud tho Mbn tha illghta.' The (wtleiiat wu
lawvr aa thoae who mquin why tha f
in ananLUy 0Ta to thoaa di
for be cites the Sapphic verse, 'Ut qneaut laxie,' &e.
from whence the ^llables dt, na, m, fa, sol, la, are
universally allowed to have been taken ; who is meant
by Gnido the Younger will be shewn hereafter.
In Chap. VIII. he speaks of the six syllables, and
the uotes adapted to them, and seems to blame Guido
for not giving a seventh to the last note of the sep-
tenary. It has already been mentioned that Dr.
Wallb and othera have lamented that Gnido did
not take the first syllable of the last line of the verse
' Sancte Johannes ; ' and the author here cited seems
to intimate that he might have done so ; but it
evidently appears that he was not in earnest, for see
his words : ' The author seems here blameable for
' not marking the seventh with a sylUble, espeaually
' as there ore so manv particles in that verse ; he
' might have assigned ute first syllable of the lost line
'to the seventh note thus, Sancte Joannes, aa thia
'syllable is as different from all the rest as the
' seventh sound is. What fault, I pray you, did the
' last line commit, that its first syllable should not be
' disposed of to the seventh note, as all the other first
' ^llablea were assigned to the rest of the notes ?
' But ftur and soft, because a semitone always occurs
'in the seventh step, which semitone ie contuned
■under these two notes, fa and mi; for when the
' semitone returns to the seventh step, in the sixth
'you will have u, and in the seventh fa. £ut if
'the eighth step, a tritone intervening, makes the
' semitone, all the syllables of the notes are expended ;
' therefore whether yon will or no, nnless yon make
' false music, the semitone, to wit u, returns in tha
' seventh, if the disposition be elevated ; but if it bo
' remitted it will give fa, which nevertheless makes
' a semitone under it ; therefore these two notes, on
' whose account these names were particniarly insti-
'tuted, will have as many notes above aa below,
' marked with their proper syllables, for w has under
'it two, RE and dt; and fa has two above, sol
' and LA,'
Chap IX treate of the Mutations, which are
changes of the syllables, occasioned by Uie going ont
of one hexachord into another ; concerning which
the anthor with great simplicity observes, that as the
cutters ont of leather or cloth, when the stuff rOna
short, are obliged to piece it to moke it longer ; so
when either in the intension or remission of the scale
the notes exceed the syllables, there is a necessity for
repeating the latter. What follows on this head will
best be given in the author's own words, which are
these : — ' We must substitute for that which is de-
ficient anch a note as may supply the defect by
proceeding farther : hence it is that with the note
LA, which cannot of itself proceed any higher, yon
vrill always find such a note as can at leaet ascend
four stepe, la, hi, fa, sol, la. Id the same manner
the note dt, which of itself can nowhere descend,
will have a collateral, which may at least be de-
pressed four notes, dt, fa, h, rb, ut, the Greek r
and d saperacute are excepted ; the first whereof
has neither the power nor the necessity of being
remitted, nor the other that of ascending ; for which
reaaoD dt and la can never have the same stations.'
dbyG00*^lc
flIBTORY OF THE SCIENCE
B<M>K VL
The nine succeeding ctupteTB relate chiefly to the
mutstioDB, and the uee of the square and round or
soft b, which, as it is anfficiently iinderetood at this
day, it is needlees to enlarge upon.
Chap. XIX. treata of the Keys, by which are to
be understood in this place notlnng more than the
charactere F G g prefixed to the head of the stave :
be says these letters are called keys, for that ae a key
opens an entrance to that which is locked np, so
the letters give an entrance to the knowledge of the
whole contuB, to which they are prefixed ; and that
without them the singer would find it impossible
to avoid sometimes prolating a tone for a semitone,
and vice versa, or to dietingnish one conjunction
from another. At the end of this chapter he cen-
anres the practice of certain nnakiirul nototora or
^writers of moaic, who he says were used to forgf
adulterate and illegitimate keys, as by putting £>
^rave under F, a acute under c, and e acut« under g,
making thweby as many kejrs aa lines.
Chap. KY. demonstratee that b round and J^
square are not to be computed among the keys,
rniia demonstration Ja effected in a manner cnrions
and diverting, namely by the supposition of a combat
between tb^ two characters, a relation whereof,
with the various sucoess of the eombatante, is here
given in the author's own words : ' Observe that
*b round and Jj square are not to be computed
' among the keya ; fint, becaose they wander through
' an empty breadth of space, without any certainty
' of a line ; next because they can never be placed
* in any Uae without the support of another key, for
' it is necessary that another key should be prefixed
' to the line. Uoteover ae Jj square never appears,
' nnlesa b round come before it ; and b soft ought
' not to be set down unless we are to sing by it : can
'any thing of its coming be expected it it be not
'' immediately prefixed to the beginning of a line of
' another key, as it is never to be sung without
' a key? Likewise, as they are mutually overthrown
■ by each otiier, and each is made acindental, who
'can pronounce them legitimate keya? for nnlesa
'b round comes iu and gives the first blow as
' a diallenge, ]] square would never fumiah matter
' for the beginning of a oombat ; but as soon as it
' appears it entirely overthrows its adveraary b ronnd,
' which only makee a soft resistance. But eometimea
' it happens that b round, though lying |vostrate,
* recovering new strength, rises up stronger, and
' throws down h square, who was triumphing after
' his vict(»y.' E)3r the reasons deducible from tlus
artless allegory, which it is probable the author of
it, a simple illiterate monk, thought a notable effort
of his invention, and because \j square and b round
are not stable or permanent, he pronounces that they
cannot with propriety be termed keys.
In Ohap. XXI. the author gives the reason why
the notes are placed alternately on the lines and
spaces of the stave : bat first, to prove the neoeasity
01 the lines, he shrewdly observes, that wlthont them
no certain progression could be observed by the
voice. ' Would not,'' he asks, ' in that case the notes
' Mem to shew like kmall birds flying through the
'empty immensity of air?' Farther he aays. Hut
were they placed on (he lines only, no less confusi<m
would arise, for that the multitude of lines would
confound the sight, since a cantna may sometimea
include a compass of ten notes. He says, which is
trae, that in oraer to distinguish between each seriea
of notes, the grave, the acute, and the superacnte,
any one given note, which in the grmve is placed
on a line, will in the acute fall on a space, and that
in the superaoute it will fall on a line again. Ua
adds, that in a simple cantus no more lines are used
than four, to which are assigned five spaces,* for
this reason, tiiut the ancient musicians, by whom be
must be understood to mean those after the time of
Oregory, never permitted any tone to exceed the
compaaa of a diapason; so that every tone had as
many notes aa (bwe were tones. He says futher
that the modem mnaicians would sometimes extern!
a caatua to a tenth note ; but that nevertheless it did
not run through ten notes, but that the tenth, whicb
might be either the highest or the lowest, waa only
occasionally touched. He adds that when this la
the case, the key or letter should be changed f<^
a short time ; or, in other words, diat one letter
may be substituted for aaother on the same line.
Upon this passage is a marginal note, signifyiag
that it is better in such a case to add a line than to
transpose the letter or cliff, which is the practice
at tliis day.
To this chapter the author subjoins a cantus fur
the reader to exeroise himself, in which he says lie
will find six verses applied, two for the grave, two
for the acute, and two for the snperacute. The
cantus is without musical characters, and is in the
words following : —
For the graves.
Hie puer, arte sciei ^avium mutamina vdcub,
Quae quibui appropnes nomiaB, quemve locuot.
For the acntes,
Reddit veraulai venuta b mollis acuta,
Quas male dum mutas, mollia quadra putai.
For the superacntes,
Gntturis arteria* cmciat vox alta b mollis ;
Difflcilea coUis reddit uluque visa.
(3iap. XXIL contains what is called a cantus of
the second tone, in which the mutations of the four
grave letters C, D, E, F, are contained ; it is with
muucal notes, but they are utterly inexplicable.
CHAP. LV.
Upon the above twenty-two chapters, which con-
stitute the first part or distinction, as it is termed,
of the first tract, it is observable that they contain,
as they profess to do, the precepts of Manual music ;
and that this first part is a very full and perapicaoas
commenury on so much of the Micrologus as ratatea
to tliat subject.
The second part or distinction, intitled Of Tonal
Music, containa thirty-one chapters. In the first
• Tlut it lo Hf ihm bEtmcg ih« linn, on* U lap. HiS ustho it
bottom. MsninlH}^ <hu ItaanDmberoT itixa to denou Uhurih via
" " -iMnlurr. Sun. Soil. MiH. pi«. )W. la Bot.
dbyGoo^le
0«*p.LV.
AND PRACmOB OF HD8I0.
iriiereof is an intinuttou of the person in the Mventh
chapter of the former part, dietingnished by the ap-
peluUion of Guido Minor ; he says that he wu ior-
named AngensiB, and that by his care and industry
the cantne of the Gistertian order had been regolarly
oorrected. He cites a little book written by the same
Qnido Minor for a definition of the consonancea.
In Chap. II. be defines the semitone in a qnotation
from MacrobioB, demonatiating it to be no other tlian
the Pythagorean limma.
Chap. III. treats of the Tone, a word which the
Milhor says has two ■ignificatione, najnely, a Maniera,
a term aynonymons with ecdeuastical tone, or an
mterral in a seeqnioctave ratio.
From these two intervals, namely, the tone and
•emitone, the author aaearU that all the concords are
generated, and the whole fabric of music arises ; in
which respect, says this learned writer, ' They, that
' ia to say, the tone and semitone, may be very aptly
oomparod to Leah and Rachael, of whom it ia re-
kted in the book of Genesis that they bnilt up the
house of Israel.' It would be doing injostice to this
ingenioos argument to give it in any other words
tfa«n those of the author. Here they are, and it is
hoped the reader will ediiy by them : —
' For as Jacob was first joined in marriage
' to Leah, and afterwaids to Rachael, thns sound, the
' element of mosic, first prodnoee a tone, and ^r-
* wards a semitone, and is in some sense married to
' them. The semitone, from which the symphony t^
'all mofflc principoUy is generated, as it tempers the
'rigour and asperity of the tones, may aptly be
'assigned to Rachael, who chiefly curtiT^ed the
'h«art of Jacob, as she had a beaattM &ce and
'gracefol aspect. Uoroover a semitone is made an
'of four parte, and, nnless a tritone intervenes, is
'always in the fourth step; so also Rachael is re-
'eorded to have had four sons, two of her own, and
'two by her handmaid. " Enter in, says she, to my
" handmaid, that she may bring forth npon my knees,
"that I may at least have children from her." The
'tone rendering a rigid and harah sound, but fre-
'qnently presenting itself, agrees with Leah, who
' was blear-eyed, and was married to Jacob against
' his will ; but fniitfnl in the number of her children.
' The proportion of the tone is snperootave ; Leah
' had also eight sons, qamely, six natural sons, and
' two adopted, that were bom of her handmud : but
* the ninth parf^ vrttich is less than the rest or others,
* may aptly be compared to Dinah, the daughter of
' Leah, who bore afterwards eight sons. When Leah
' had four sons she ceased beuing children, and the
' adoptod ones followed ; when fonr steps of the notes
' an made, a semitone follows, which is divided into
'two sorts, as has been sud ; these may be compared
' to the following sons, the two natatid ones, which
' I>ah had afterwaida, and also the two adopted ones.
' Then follow Joseph and Benjamin, the natural sons
'of Kaohaei.'
Chap. IV. treats of the ditone.
Chap. V. Of the semiditone and its species, which
are clearly two.
Ohaptara VI. VIL and VIII. treat respectivelT trf
Um diatessaron, diiqiente, and diapason, with uieir
ezptatned
Ohap. IX. shews how the seven species of diapason
are generated.
Chap. X. contains a Cantilena, as it is said, of
Qnido Aretinus, including as well the dissonances os
the coDBonancee. It is a kind of praxis on the inter-
vala that constitnte the scale, snch as are frequently
to be met with in the musical tracts of the monkish
writer*, and in those written by the German mnsi-
cianB for the instruction of youth about the time of
Lather ;* but sa to this, whether it be of Gnido or
not, it is highly venerable in respect of its sntiqDiQr,
as being in all probability one of the oldest compo<
sidona of the kmd in the worid : —
■T qntm de-lectet, e-Jui buno modum ea-H ag-oos-cat
qa-anu|De tam pentdi cUotalii to-ta uido- ni-a fbrauutur,
M*c pri-iu «b hu-JQS mo-di eto-di-o qni-ei-ce-ro, doaeo
Tooum intervsllu agiuttiB Anuo-ni-Mto-ti-iu Ik-dl-U-me
,^ _. luiinl HltiouiDn, : ,
dliMnin*t« tha lUlliiinita ol
plain ud mannryila buIs.' uS to hhIb th* pnctin of iiiiglii(
haUlHtocUMni! udibotaaoDot bt Hi* Icut donM but tbn tlw
■tacHiR iBd ftulBg In h«il nok ■ CutOoni •• Ii boa dm, vu •■
riaqanit » ncRMO fee a ibUa •• tlio tealaMta at m MSB. <t th* *»-
iBfaOoo of a TOfh.
Digitized
byGoo^le
S44
BISTORT OF THE BdENOB
[ VI
Ohsp. XI. treats of the natnre of b roand, of which
enooffb baa been uid already.
Of Chap. XII. there is nothing more than the title,
purporting that the chapter is an explanation of a
certain Formnk or digram which was never inserted.
Chap. XIII. treats of the species of diapason, and
■hews how the eight tones arise therefrom. This
chapter is Tery intricate and obecnre ; and as it con-
tains a far leas satisfactory account of the snbject than
has already been given from Franchinns, and other
writers of nnqneetioned anthority, the Enbetance of it
is here omitted.
Chap. XIV. treats of the fonr Manieras, and farther
of the eight tones. Maniera, as this anthor asserts,
ia a term taken from the IVench, and seems to be
Bynonymoae with Mode ; a little lower he saye that a
Haniera is the property of a cantns, or that rule
whereby we determine the final note of any cautus.
In short, he uaes Maniera to express the Genas, and
Tone the Bpeciea of the ecclesiaatical modes or tones.
In this chapter he complains of the levity of the
modems in making nse of b soft, and introducing
feigned music,* which in his time he complains had
been greatly moltiplied.
Chap. Xv, concerns only the finah of the several
manieras and tones.
Chap. XVI. contains oerbdn curious observations
on the terms Authentic and Flagal, as applied to the
tones ; these are aa follow : —
' Some tonea are called authentic, and some
'plagal; for in every maniera the first is called
' aathentio, the second plagal. The first, third, fifth,
' and seventh are termed authentic from the word
' Authori^ ; becaose they are acconnted more worthy
' than their pkgals : they are collected by the nneven
* numbers, which among the philosophers were called
' masculine, becaose they do not admit of being di-
' vided equally into two r«rts : thus man cannot be
'easily tamed aside or diverted from his purpose;
' but an even number, because it may be divided into
' two equally, is bj^ them not nnaptj^ called woman,
' because she sometimes weeps, sometimes laughs, and
' soon yields and gives way in the time of temptadon.
' Hence it is that the second, fonrth, sixth, and eighth
' tones are ascribed Co the even number, becaose the
'feminine sex is coupled in marriage to the mas-
' online sex : they are called collater^ or plagal, that
' ie, provincials to the anthentics. And that you may
' the sooner learn the properties and natures of eaut
' of the tones, those songs are called authentic which
' aacend more freely and higher hma their final letter,
' running more wantonly by leaps and various bend-
' ings backwards and fbrwuda ; in the same manner
'as it becomes men to exercise their strength in
' wrestling and other sports, and to be employed in
'their necessary afKiirs and occnpations in remote
' parts, until they retnm back to the final letter by
' which they are to be finished, as to their own honse
* DvHtfb^ bf Vtuehlnai. Pnu. Hiu. Ub. III. o^ idi. Dg Oam
Hulk* contiuunMo, mi by AndnM OnltbspuTv. In hli Mlenilii(iii,
Kb. 1. OIL I. Uii liR« an! tt U»l Uod of nuit ...
Stmimimdqb. Dr ft nfv Ihat AbdnndB with toafaj
ftw 1u natonl k«T brb nuHl,
nsboid. tu whkh OMt B b. E k.
LTu "' ■ — "^ ~
' or home, after tbe completion of their afUrs. But
' the plagal or collateral songs are those wluch do not
' mount up so as to produce the higher parts, but tnm
' aside into the lower, in the region nnder the letter
' by which they are to be terminated, and make their
'stops or delavs and circnits about the final letter,
' sometimes below and sometimes above ; as a woman
' that ia tied to a husband does not usually go far from
' her home, and run about, but is orderly and decently
' employed in taking care of her &mily and domeetie
Chap. XVll. assigns the reasons why the final
notes are included between D grave and c acnte ; bnt
the author means to be understood that the double,
triple, and quadruple cantus, which are vocal com-
positions of two, three and four parts, are not re-
strained to this role, for in such no more is required
than that the under part be eubeervient to it It
appears that of the final notes, by which, to mention
it once for all, the terminations of the several tonee
are meant, four are grave, and three only acute : for
this inequality the author givea a notable reaaon,
namely, that by reason of the load of carnal infirmi-
ties chat weigh them down, fewer men are found to
have grave and rude, than acnte and sweet vmces.
Ohap. XVIII. the author shews from Ouido, and
other teachers of the musical art, that the oompase
of a diapason is Bofficlent for any cantus. Not-
withstanding which he says some contend that ten,
and even eleven notes are necessary. This noti<m
the author condemns, and says that the unison and
its octave resemble the walls of a city, and that the
ninth, which ia placed above the octave, and the
tenth, stationed nnder the unison, answer to the
pallisado or ditch ; and that aa it is customary to
walk about on the walls, and in the city itself, but
not in the ditch, or by the pallisado, it becomea all
who profess to travel in the path of perfection, to
accommodate themselves to tbu practice, which he
says is both modest and decent^
The following chapters, which are fifteen in num-
ber, exhibit a precise designation of the eight eocle-
siasldcal tones ; but as these have been very fully
explained from Qafiiirius, and other writers of ac-
knowledged anthority, it is unnecessary to lengtfaro
this account of Wylde's tract by an explanation ot
them from him.
There is very little doubt bnt that Wylde was an
excellent practical singer, as indeed hia office of
precentor of so large a choir aa that of Walthnn
required he should be. His book is very properly
called a System of Guidonian Music, for it elands
no farther than an illustration of thoae precepts
which Guido Aretinus tanght : hardly a pMsage
oocun in it to intimate that he was in the least
acquainted with the writings of the Greeks, except-
ing that where he cites Ptolemy by the name ot
Tliolomnns. The trutli of the matter i^ that at
oam the time when '^^Ide wrote, the writinge of Aria-
^*^ toxenuB, Euclid, Nicomachua, and the other Greek
bsn harmonicians, were at Constantinople, or Bysantiiim
dbyGoot^le
Chip. LV.
AND PEAOTIOB OF MDBia
Bis
u it was called, which was tben the teat of literatare.
How and by whom they were brought into Italy,
and the doctrineB cootained in them diffbaed throngb-
trat Enrope, will in due time be related.
The tnct immediately following that of Wylde
in the mannacript of Waltham Holy Crosa ia entitled
' De octo Tonis ubi nascuntur et oriuntor aut ef&-
dantar.'
Tlua is a abort diBconne, coutuned in two pages
of the manuscript, tending to shew the analogy
between the seven planets and the choTds included
in the musical septenary. The doctrine of the music
of the spheres, and the opinion on which it is
founded, has been mentioned in the account herein
before given of Pythagoras. Those who first ad-
vanced it have not been content with supposing that
the celestial orbs must in their several revolutioua
produce an harmony of concordant sounds ; but they
go farther, and pretend to assign the very intervais
arising from the motion of each. This the author
DOW citing baa done, and perhaps following Pliny,
vrbo asserts it to be the doctrine of Pythagoras,
be Bays that in the motion of the Earth F is made,
ID that of the moon A, Mercury B, Venns 0, the
Sun D, Mars £, Jupiter F, and Satnm g. And
that here the musical measnre is troly formed.
Next follows a very short tract, with the name
Eendale at the conclusion of it. It contains little
more than the Gamma, vulgarly called the Gamut, or
Onidonian scale, and some mystical vereee on the
power of harmony, said to be written by a woman of
the name of Magdalen. It should seem that Kendale
VOB no more than barely the transcriber of this tract,
for the rubric at the begicining ascribca it to a certain
monk of Sherborne, who professes to have taken it
from St. Mary Magdalen.
' Monachus quidam de Sherborne talem Mnsicam
profert de Sancta Maria Magdeleue.'
Next follows a tract entitled ' De Origine et
Effectn Musicse,' in four sections, the initial words
whereof are ' Mnsica eet scientia recte canendi, eive
'scientia de numero relato ad sonnm,' wherein the
author, alter defining music to be the science of num-
ber applied to sound, gives his reader the choice of
two e^mologies for the word music. The one from
tbe Moses, the other from the word Moys, signifying
water, which he wilt have to be Greek. He then
proceeds, but rather abruptly, to censure those who
through ignorance prolate semitones for tones, in
these words : ' Many now-a-days, when they ascend
'from RE by w, n, sol, scarce make a semitone
'between »a and sol; moreover, when they pro-
'nonnce sol, va, bol, or rk, ct, be, prolate a semi-
' tone for a tone ; and tbns they comonnd the dia-
' tonic genos, and pervert the plain-song. Yet these
' niay be held in some measure excusable, as not
'knowbg in what genns our plain-song ie consti-
' tnted ; and being asked for what reason they thus
' pronounce a semitone for a tone, they allei^e they
' do It npon the authority of the singers in the chapefe
' of princes, who, say tbey, would not sing so without
' reason, as they are the best singers. So that being
' thus deceived by the footsteps of others, they one
alter another follow in all the same errors, lliere
are others who will have it that this method of Mng-
iug ie sweeter and more pleasing to tbe ear, and
therefore that method beuig as it were good, should
be made nee of. To these Boetius answers, saying
all credit is not to be given to the ears, but some
also to reason, for tbe hearing may be deceived.
So also is it said in the treatise De qnatnor Prind-
palinm, cap. Ivi., and as a proof thereof, it ia farther
said that those who follow hnnting are more de-
lighted vrith the barking of the dogs in the woode,
than with hearing the office of God in the cborch.
Beason, however, which is never deceived, shews
the contrary.'
Beet. II. entitled De tribus Generibus melorum,
treats of the three genera of melody, but contains
nothing that has not been better said by others.
Sect. III. entitled Inventores Artis Musics eqne-
formis, contains an account of the inventors of the
musical art, by much too curious to be given in any
other than the author's own words, which are these : —
'There was a certain smith, Thubal by name,
' who regulated the consonances by the weights of
' three hammers striking npon one anvil. Pythagoras
' hearing that sound, and entering the house of the
' smith, found the proportion of the hammers, and
' that they rendered to each other a wonderfol con-
* sonauce. When Thubal heard and knew that Ood
' would destroy the world, he made two pillars, the
' one of brick and the other of brass, and wrote on
' each of them the equiformal musical art, or plain
' cantus ; that if the world should be destroyed by fire,
' tbe pillar of brick might remain, as being able to
' withstand the fire ; or if it were to be destroyed by
' water, the brazen pillar might remain till the deliu^
' was anbsided. After the deluge king Gyrus, who
' vras king over the Aasyrians, and Enchiridias, and
' Oonstantdnoe, and afW these Boetius, beginning
' with the proportion of nnmbers, demonstrt^ed the
' consonances, as appears by looking into the treatise
' of the latter, De Musico. Afiervrards came Gnido
' the monk, who was the inventor of the Gamma,
'which is called the Monochord. He first placed
' the notes in Qio spaces between the lines, aa is
' shewn in the befpnning of this book. AJterwarda
* Ouido de Sancto Mauro, and after these Guido
' Major and Guido Minor. After these Franco,
' who shewed the alterations, perfections, and im-
' perfections of the figures in the Cantna Men-
' snrabilis, as also the certitude of the beginnings.
' Then Philippus Vitriaco, who invented that figure
' called the Least Prolatiou, in Navarre. Afterwards
■ St. Augustine and St. Gregory, who instituted
' the equiformal cantus thronghont all the churches.
' After these Isidoms the etymologist, and Joannea
' De Muris, who wrote ingenious rules concerning
' the measnre and tbe figuration of the cantus, from
' whence these verses : —
' Per Thubal inventa mmanini sunt elementa.
' Atque collumellis nobii exempta gemellii.
' Et post diluvium tunc lubseriptus perhibetur :
' PhiliMophus princeps pater Hermes hie Trismegiitus
' Inveoit Musaa quas dedit et docuit ,
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORT UP THE SOISNGE
Book VI.
' Plctagom turn per martellu MHieaotam,
* AnUa confusu nuinerantur tetnrde mustu,
' Quern Muaii generat medium concordia ren
' Qui tropin ex parte Boiciiu edidit
' Unum componiit ad eamma vetui letrachordum.
' Et dici meruit ftiiwe Guido monochordum
' GregoriuB muui prime eu-nalitor aiaa,
' Ubu ■anetanun mntavit Baiilicaram.
' A«t Annudniu Airmam fert pMlmodisandi,
' Atque cliori regimen Bemardua Monachui oSert,
' Btbimologianim atatult oOB4jutOT laidonu
' PauBM juncturu, factunu, atque figuraa ;
' MBDiuistunun fbtmavit Franco notarum,
' Et Joltti De Murii, variiB floruitque figuiia.
' Atiglia cantonuQ nomen gignit ^urimorum.'*
BecL IV. eatitlod De Hosicta instrnmenta]] et ejna
loTentoribni, ^vee first a very enperfidal accoont
of the inveittora of some partJcnUr instramenta,
among whom two of the nine Moaes, namely, Eu-
terpe and Terpeichore, are mentioned ; the uist ■■
having invented the Taba, [trompetj and the other
the Paalteriom. This moat appear to eveiy one
little better than a mere fable ; bat the author doaee
this accoont with a positive asserlion that the Tym-
Cum, or dnun, Vfos the invetilion of Petnu de
eta Grace.
In this chapter the author takea ocoaaion to mention
what he terma the Oantna Goronatna, called alao the
GantuB Fractna, which tia definee to be a cantos tied
to no degrees or steps, but which may aacend and
descend by (he perfect or imp«r&ct eoDBOoaaoee
indifferently. This seems to be the reason for call-
ing it the Cantas FrsctDs. That for calling it Oantns
Ooronatoa is that it may be crowned, namdy, that it
may be sung with a Fabnrden, of which hereafter.
What follows next is a very brief and imme-
thodical enumeration of the measnrea of verse, the
Damee of the characters used in the Caatna Uen-
surabilia, aitd of the consonances and cUssonances,
with other matters of a miscellaneom nature : among
these are mentioned certain kinds of melody, namely
Ronndellaa, Balladas, Garollas, and Bpringaa; bnt
these the author saya are fantastic and fnvolona,
adding, that no good mnsicol writer has ever thought
it worth while to exphun their teztnre.
The next in order of succession to the treatise De
Origins et EfTectu Mosicte, is a tract entitied Spe-
cnlnm pBaHentlnm, in which is contained the Formula
of St Gregory for singing the offices, together with
certain verses of St Augustine to the same pnrpoae,
and others of St. Bernard on the office of a precentor;
the formula of St Gregory is as follows : —
' Uniformity is necessary in all things. The metre
• with the pauses most be obeerved by all in paalmo-
' dising ; not by drawing out, but by keeping up
' the voice to the end of the verse, according to the
' timet Let not one chorus bejpb a verse of a psalm
* before the other has ended that preceding it Let
' the pauses be observed at one and the same time
' by all ; and let all finish aa it were with one voice ;
bniiii of t« fHllkn thM lu» men nnlfgniilT buMed on la tlu
of tMi wort, ts wtt, thU Fnn». ud dm Da Mnrli. wtt Oh Inn
IM Cuilai UnininUita, i^ Uiu Da Mnrit wh i ~ '
a utlT> or BdiInuI.
' and, reaseuming breath, b«^ii togeUier aa one month;
' and let each chorov attend to its cantor, that, aceord-
' ing to the precept of the blessed apostle Paul, w«
' ma^ all honour the Lord with one voice. And, m
' it IS aatd the angela are continually singing with
■ one voice, Holy, Holy, Holy ; so ought we to do
' without any remission, which argnea a want ol
' devotion : whence these verses of St Angnsthu
' for the form of singing Psalms : —
' Te^a nulla cbori tibi sint, asmite labori,
' Hora dt ire foras postquam compleverii boras,
' Egrestum nobis MUndant pemidoanm
' Dyna, Chaim, Corioa, Judu, Etau, Semeyque,
' Pullite devoid, diitinct^ metre tenete,
' Vocibut estote concordea, vana canete,
' Nam vox fruitiatur, si meni hie inde vagatur,
' Vox s»pe quaisatur, ti men* vana meditatur,
' Non vox, sed votum ; nan munca, led cor
' Nod clamor, led amor aonat in aure Dei.
' Dicendit horie adait vox eordia, et oris.
' Nunquam posterior vemia priui ineipiatuT,
' Ni BUiu anterior perfeeto fine ftualur.'
The verses of St Bernard have the general title
of Versus Saitoti Bemardi ; they consist of three
divisions, the first is entitnled —
' De Regimene Chori et Officio Precentoria.
' Cantor eorde chorum roga, cantum lauda sononun,
' Concort Paalmodia, rimm ascultonda aopbia;
' Prscurrat nnliui, nee poit aliom trahat ullua,
■ Sed Kmul incipere, simul et finem retinere,
■ Nolli traclsbnnt nunii, aut feitivs lonabunt,
' Vive sed et munda cantafaunt voce rotunda
' Venui in medio, bona pausa dt ordine dicto,
■ Ultima certetur, brevior quam drca aonetur.
' Ultima dimisia tibi ijllaba lit quasi icina,
' Are turn excipiat d acandena ultima fiat,
■ Tunc producatur monoayllaba, dque teqnatnr,
' Barbara (d aequitor products) soaaas reperitnr.
ra perverse paallentes.
' Qui psalmoi resecant qkd verba recissa volutant
' Non magii illi ferent quam d male lingue tacerent
I qui psalmo* corcumpunt nequil«r slmoi.
icra acriptura damnat, reprobant quoque jura
' JangUre, cum Japere, Nappen, Galpera quoque Dralbetl
' Momlen, Forskippers, Ourenners, de Ourhippers,
' Fragmina verbonim Tutttvilldb colligit bonun.
' De leptem miiteriia aeptem horarum canonicamm.
' Hinc est septeois domino «ui paallimua hori* ;
' Pnme flagrii cedit, adducit terba mord,
' Seita legit aolem ted none videt morientem,
' Veapera deponit, stravit completa lepultum ;
' Virmm nox media devicta morte tevelat
' Si cnpia intentam psallendi reddere vocem,
' Crebro crucem pingaa, in terram lumina figaa,
' Observate preces, et ne manui aut caput ant pea
' Sit motut, pariter animi cum eorpore pungaa. t
iraniml ci
I fbtf an dnciliMn of Uio itmta of ckai^.
• loiUiG oninif , in b
B wnibt of Ihm ■"'
«r at (mt eoflMMr.
dbyGooi^le
Chap. LVI.
AND FBAOTIOG OF UU8ICL
317
Tb« next tract baa for ita tide Hetrologoo, which
any one would take to mean a diaconrae on metre ;
but die aathoT explaina it by the worda Brevie Sermo,
viaek had certoiitly been better expreeaed by the
word Microlt^oB, a tide very commonly given to
a abort diaconree on any Eubject whatever. Quido'a
treatiae bearing that name haa been mentioned largely
in its place ; and an author named Andieaa Omitho-
parcoH baa given the same tide to a musical tract of
his wiping, which naa Iranalated into English by
oar countryman Douland, the iuleniat, and published
in the year 1609:
TbiB MitlkOT wys of mti»ic, that it is so called aa
having been invented by the Muses, for which ha
sitee Isidore.
Under the head De Inventoribos Artis Monee, he
explodea the opinion that Pythagoras invented the
eonsonancea ; for he roundly asaerta, as indeed one of
the aatbors before-cited has done, that Tnbal first
diaoovered tiiem. The fblbwii^ are his words : —
' The master of history [t e. Mosea] says that
' Tnbal was the fotber of those that played on the
' cithra and other inatmments ; not that be was the
■ inventor of those Tostrumenta, for they were invented
' long after ; but that he was the inventor of music,
' that is of the eonsonancea. As the pastoral life was
' rendered delightfat by his brother, so he, working
* in the smith's art, and delighted with the sound of
' die hammers, by means of their weights carefnlly
* investigated the propordons and consonances arising
' from them. And because he had heard tliat Adam
' bad prophesied of the two tokens, he, lest this art,
' which he had invented, should be lost, wrote and
* engraved the whole of it on two pillars, one of
' wUch was made of marble, that it might not be
' washed away by the deluge, and the other of brick,
' which could not be dissolv^ by fire : and Josephus
■ eays that the marble one is still extant in the land
' of Syria. Bo that the Greeks are gready mistaken
„ ^„, J ^ u vtlh mCuInli. Jipcn
r eleailr Tfitjen. Hkrimua. BkbiMt, Too* Jira. Niq>p«i *n na-
pimd to ba drinkm, tm Nina, Iha Saion Mni In b nip. b«um>
Ssum VacabulwT. Poi Oalpcn It 1* dUBenll M Bod ut ollwt maoliii
llun Snlpan. (. t. meh u twiUsr iaigt quucHin of Hquor, tnm tki
TcTb Osu! md fat Ibb lou m hn> Iha uiUiarttr of Ihi (Liliiii tt
Plnrc Fhiwiniii. In aisll]Ui>iiiii(|iwMgi,ulMn(t«iDtli>PHiiu<tuliitut
llim VM laughiae ind looriog, aad let go chc cnppc.
And Co ficteo thtj to ctcd fong, ud Ibngen other while
Till Glotoa had igalped * gillon and a gill.
Dnlben aw; pnbablr be rnnn the w«d Dnb. Konlen miT tifnUy
Talken, Preten b the tine of dtvlne •errlpe, fttm Hie vett HtmLX,
■a UJk. iihieh K* In SUiUHi. FonUipen amj be ^iir lUpiKn. I. «.
dvicen et fiiln- For Ounoeen end Ourfalppett iko eftnlflcaUon can to
gam I a et ; aor dote It Hen peidUe » iHeRBlH, whk ear decree of
predmlnii, the wjiint of aaj -- -
of the book from vhteh ibej
run bold,
' in ascribing die invention of this art to Pythagoras,
' the philosopher.'
What follows is chiefly taken ^m the Micrologos
of Guide de Sancto Mauro : that the author means
Gnido AretinoE there cannot he the least doubt, for
some whole chapters of the Micrologos are in this
tract inserted verbatim.
Next follow memorial verses for aieertoining the
dominants and finals of the ecclesiosdcal tonee; a
reladon (rf the discovery of the consonances by
Pythagoras ; remarks on the difference between the
graves, the acntes, and superacutes, and on the dis-
tinction Itetween the authentic and plagal modes,
manifestly taken from the Micrologns ; for it is hoe
said, as it is there also, that there are eight tones, as
there are eight Ports of Speech, and eight Forms of
CHAP. LVI.
Nbxt follows a tract with this strange title, ' Dis*
' tincdo inter Colores musicalea et Armorum Heroum,'
the intent whereof seems to be to demonstrate the
analogy between music and coat armour. The an-
thor'a own words will best show how well he has
sncceeded in liis argument ; they are as follow : —
' The most parfoot number ia sixteen, because it
' may always be divided into tw« equal parts, as 16,
' 8, i, 2. There are six natural colours, from which
■ all the other colours are compounded. First, the
' colour black, secondly white, thirdly red or niddy,
' fourthly pnrple, fifthly green, sixthly fire-red. The
' colcmr black is in arms caU^ sabte ; white, silver ;
' red, gules ; green, vert ; fire-red, or ; thus called in
' cuitos in order as they stand —
e better than blaek | S BIlTer eecoad [heolca^ i
betlet Uku wfatta 1,9 Oulee third 11
le better thaor«l (9 AtanTamtb f-t
1 belter than purple I a Veit flfth I a
red betttr Ihaii giem ■' " Cold ilith -f "
int colour^ OeM li the dnl and Deal ., ,
better 1 -1 Silver leeoBd [benj^ I S
better I I Oulei third I 3
bettw-' " SaWewiirM ) "
' The musical colours ore six ; the principal of
* which is gold, the second silver, the tlurd r^, the
' fourth purple, the fifth green, the sixth black ; an
' equal proportion always falls to the principal colour,
' which ia therefore called the foundation of all the
' colours ; and it is called the principal proportion,
' because all die unequal proportions may be produced
' from it' This to die intelligent reader must appear
to be litde better than stark nonsense, as is indeed
almost the whole tract, which therefore we hasten to
have done with.
This fanciful contrast of the colours in arms with
those in music, is euceeeded by the flgaros ct «
triangle and a ahield tbos diqwsed; — '
■Fliejsd ii the
dbyGoo<^Ie
HISTORY OF THE SOIENOB
Booc VI.
The next tract in order has for ita title ' Declarado
' triangnli snperine positi et figure de tribne primia
'figariB qnac&atis et earom speciboB, ac etiam ecuti
' per Magutram Johannem Torkeaey ;' which decla-
ration translated is in the following words : —
' In order to attiun a perfect knowledge of men-
Barable mncic, we should know that to praise Qod,
three and one, there are three species of square
characteTB, from whence are formed six speciea of
simple notes. In the greatest square consists only
one species, which is called a large ; and from die
mediation of that square there are made two species,
namely, a breve and a long ; from the upper square
are nuule three species, namely, the eemibrere,
minim, and simple ; from what has bean said it
appears that no more species conid be conveniently
assigned. All these are fonnd in the small figare of
Ae three sqnaree, and in the slueld of the six simple
The author then goes on with an explanation of
the above six species of notes, and their attributes of
perfection and imperfection, wherein nothing is ob-
servable, except that the smallest note, which is in
value half the minim, is by him called a Simple ; its
■ ITMwHhMindliii ttaa opluuttm vhldi IniinBdliul* fOlloi
amn of duplH ; tor exuDple, t
D t, [• hU 10 be oBO* pintet
ii4, iiuld to ba Iwlee pgifKt . ._.
n« Snt Um ot BODbfln lialov tbo bmte at tbe tiluigle If m Hria of
■- — ■ laltBS praiMiUi '" '" '"" "" *'* ' — "■'-■■
DDlior CDatilni
tlftegnUtimi
Vs. ?i. ii
value is a crotchet, bnt its character that of a modern
quaver.
A table of the ratios of the consonancee and dis-
sonances, with their several difierencee, follows next
in order, after which occur a few miscellaneons ob-
servations on descant, among which is this rale i —
'It is to be known that no one ought to m^ke two
' concordances the one after the other.'
This, though a well-known rule in composition, is
worthy of remark, and the antiqni^ of it may be
inferred from its occurring in this place.
The above explanation of tlie shield and trian^e,
with the several matters above -enumerated, sub-
sequent thereto, are followed by a tract entitled
Regule Magistri Johannis De Muria, wduoh, thon^
it seems to carry the appearance of a tract written by
De Mnris himself, is in trath but an abridgment Of
his doctrine touching the Cantos Mensnrabilis, to-
gether with that of the ligatures, which most writers
seem to ^ree were an improvement on the original
invention.
The mles contained in this discourse are not only
to be met with in moat of the tracts before cited, hot
in every book that piofeasas to treat of mensurable
music We hovrever learn from it that originally
the minim was not, as now, evacuated, or open at tlw
top, as appears by this anther's definition of it. —
■ A minim is a quadrangular character resembling a
' eemibreve with a stroke ascending from the upper
'angle aa here — j i i~ and the simple or
' crotchet is characterised thus : "f* ^ ^ f' f A -
To these rules succeed others of an author herein-
before nuued, Thomas Walsyngham, of the same
import with those of De Muris, in which notiiing
material occurs, save that the author complains, that
whereas there are but five species of character,
namely, the Large, Long, Breve, Semibreve, and
Minim, the musicians of his time had added a sixth,
namely, the Orotchet, which he says would bs of no
use, would they bnt observe that beyond the minim
there is no right of making a division.
Here it may not be amiss to observe, that neither
of the names Johannes Torkesey, nor Tliomas Wal-
syngham occur in Leland, Bale, or Pits, or in any
other of the authors who profess to record the names
and works of the ancient Ekiglish writers. It is true
that bishop Tanner, in his Bibliothccs, pag. 752, has
taken notice of the latter, but without any porticnlar
intimation that he was the author of the tract above
ascribed to him : and it is farther to be noted that
not one of the tracts contained in this manuscript of
Waltham Holy Cross is mentioned or referred to in
any printed catalogue of manuscripts now extant.
Next follow two trade on the snlQect of deecant,
the first by one Lyonel Power, an author whose
name occurs in the catalogue at the end of Morle/s
Introduction, the other by one Chilston, of whom no
account can be given. As to the tracts themselves,
&ey are prob^y extant only in manuscript. They
are of gr^ antiquity ; for tbe style and oithc^iajdiy
of them both, render it probable that the authon
dbyGoo*^le
rktr.LVL
AND PRAOTIOE OP MD8I0.
849
wire amoD^ the first writers in the English langiv^
on thigenbject; at leastif we compare theirraepective
works with the prose works of Chancer and Lydgate,
we shall find very little reason to think they were
written a great while after the time when ths latt«r
of those aathors lived.
Power tells his reader that ' his tretis is contynned
' npon the gamme for hem that wil be syngers, or
' makers, or techers ; ' and as to what he says of
descant it is here given in his own words : —
' For the ferst ^ng of alle ye most kno how many
cordis of discant ther be. As olde men sayen, and
aa men syng uow-a-dayes, ther be nine ; bat whoso
wil syng.mannerli and rooBikili, he may not lepe to
the fifteenth in no maner of discant ; for it longith
to no manuy's Toys, and so ther be but eyght
ftccordis a^er the discant now nud. And whoeover
wil be a maker, he may nse no mo than eyght, and
so ther be but eyght Jro onlson unto the thyrteenth.
fiat for the qnatribil syght« ther be nyne accordis of
discant, the anison, thyrd, fyfth, syxth, eygbth, tenth,
twelfth, thyrteenth, and fyfleenth, of the whech
nyne accordis, fyve be perfyte and fower be im-
periyte. The fyve perfyte be the anison, fyfth,
eyghth, twelfth, and fyfteenth ; the fower imperfyte
be the thyrd, syzth, t«nth, and thyrteenth: uso
thon must ascende and descende wyth all maner of
cordis excepts two accordis perfyte of one kynde, as
two oniaons, two fyfths, two eyghtha, two twelfths,
two fyfteenths, wyth none of these thon maist neyther
aacende, neyther descende ; bat thon most consette
these acconlis togeder, and medele* hem wel, as
I shall enfonne the. Ferst thon shall medele vryth
a thyrd a fyfth, wyth a syxth an eyghth. wyth an
eyghth a tenth, wyth a tenth a twelfth, wyth a
thyrteenth a fyfteenth ; nnder the whech nyne
accordis three eygbtis be conteynyd, the mene
syght, the trebil eyght, and the qnatribil syght :
and others also of the nyne accordis bow thon sh<
hem ymagyne betwene the playn-song and the dis*
cant here folloeth the ensample. I^^rst, to en-
forme a chylde in hys connterpoynt, he mnet
ymagyng hys nnison the eyghth note fro the playn-
song, beneUie hys thyrd ; the syxth note benethe
hys fyfth ; the fowerth benethe hys syxth ; the
thyrd note benethe hys eyghth, even wyth the
playne-song ; hya tenth the ^yrd note above, hys
twelfth the fyfth note above, hys thyrteenth taa
syxth above, hys fyfteenth the eyghth note above
die playne-song.'
The conclusion of this dieconree on the pracdce of
descant is in these words : —
'But who wil kenne his gamme well, and the
' im^nacions therof, and of hys acordis, and sette
* his perfyte acordis wyth his imperfyte accordis, as
' I have rehereed in thys tretise afore, he may not
fcile of his counterpoynt in short tyme.'
The latter of the two tracts on descant above-
mentioned, viz., that with the name of Chilston, is
also part of the mannscript of Waltbam Holy Cross:
it immediately follows that of Lyonel Power, and
IS probably of little less antiquity. There is no
* l.t. UlEsla.
poBsibili^ of abridging a disconrse of this kind, and
therefore the most material parts of it are here given
in the words of the author. The following is the
introdnction : —
' Her followth a litil tretise according to the ferst
'tretise of the syght of descant, and also for the
' syght of center, and for the syght of the condrtenor,
' and of Fabnrdon.'
To expliun the sight of descant the author first
ennmeratea the nine accords mentioned in the former
tract ; disdngnishing them into perfect and imperfect,
and then proceeds to give the roles iu the foUowing
words: —
' Also it is to wete that tlier be three degreis of
descant, the quatreble eigbte, and the treble slghte,
and the mene sighta. The mene begynneth in
a fifth above tiie plain-song in vols, and with (he
phun-song in sights. Ths trebil begynneth in an
eyghth above in voise, and with the plaine-song in
sights. The qnatreble begynnyth in a twilfth above
in voise, and wyth the phiyne-song in sighte. To
the mene longith properli five accordis, scil. unyson,
thyrd, fyfthe, syxthe, and eyghth. To the treble
song longith properli fyve accordis, sdl. fyfthe,
syxUie, eyghth, tenth, and twelfthe. To the qua-
treble longith properli five accordis, ecil. eygbth,
tenth, twelfth, Uiyrteenth, and fyfteenth. Farther-
more it is to wete that of al the cords of descant
some be above the playne-song, and sume benethe,
and some wyth the playne-song. And so the dis-
canter of the mene shal begyne hys descant viytb
the plain-song in sighte, and a fyfthe above in voiee;
and so he shal ende it in a fyfthe, havyng next
afore a thyrd, yf the plain-song descende and ende
downward, as va, », mi, he, kb, ut ; the second
above in sight is a sixth above in voise ; the thyrde
benethe in sighte is a thyrd above in voise; the
fowerth above in sighte is an eyghth above in
voise; the syxth above in sight is a tenth above
in voise, the wheche tenth the deecanter of the
mene may syng yf the phun-song go low; never-
thelesse ther long no mo acordis to the mene bnt
fyve, as it is aforaaide.'
The above are the roles of descant, as they respect
that part of the harmony, by this and other anthors
called the Uene. He proceeds next to give the mles
for the treble descant, and after that for Ae quadrible.
By these latter we team that the mean deecant
most be sang by a man, and the qoadrible by a child.
Aflerwan^ follow these general directions : —
'Also yt is to knows whan thon settist a perfite
note ayenst a ta., thou must make thst periite note
a FA, as HI, FA, BOL, LA ; also it is fiayre and men
singing many imperfite cordis togeder, as for to
sing three or fower or five thyrde blether, a fyfth
or a nnyson next aflir. Also as many syxts next
aftir an eyghth ; also as many tenths uexte aftit
a twelfth ; also as many thirteenths next afdr
a fyfteenth : this maner of syngyng is mery to the
sj^ger, uid to the herer.'
And concerning the practice of Fabnrden, men-
tioned in the Ijtle of his tract, the antfaor above-cited
has these words : —
dbyGoo*^le
sw
JUarORY OP THE SCIENCE
Boos VL
' For the leest procesae of aigbtiB nttanl and most
in nee ia ezpedieot to declare the aight of FabordtiB,
the whech hath hat two mghUs, « thyrd above the
phun-aong in eight, the whecfae ia a ayxt fro the
treble in voice; and even wyth the pltun-song in
eight, the wheche ia an ejrghth tram the treble in
voiee. These two acordia of the Faburden mnat
rewle be the mene of the plaiD-aong, for whan he
shsl begin hia Fabnrdun he mast attende to the
plain-8ong, and aette hya sight evyn wyth the plain-
Bong, and his voice in a fyftb benethe the plain-aong;
and after that, whether the plain-song ascende or
descende, to sette his sight alwey both in renle and
apace above the plain-song in a thyrd; and after
that the plain-aong bannteth hys oourae eyther in
acntee, mi g aoi. rb or above, to O sol bs ut
benethe, to doee donward in sight, evyn upon the
plain-aong, upon <»■« of theee keyea, D u sol iib,
0 aoL ri DT, A LA u BK. or O sol HI TT benethe.
And yf the plam-aong haunt hya coorae from O
SOL u UT b«iethe, downe towarde A bb conveny-
ently, than to aee before wfaer he may doee wyth
two or three or fower thyrds before, eyther in F
FA OT benethe, or D sol rb, or C fa ut, or A kb,
and al these cIosIb gladli to be annge and closid at
the laate ende of a word : and as ofte as be wil. to
touche the plain-eonge and void the fro excepte
twiee togedir, for that may not be : inasmoche as
the plain-song sight ia an eygbth to the treble, and
a ^fth to the mene, and bo to every degree be ia
a perfite corde; and two perfite acordis of one
nature may not be anng togedir in no d^ree ttf
The foregoing treatise on descant of Chilaton is
immediately followed by another of the same anthor
on proportion, which is thns introdnced i —
' Now passid al maner aigbtis of deacan^ and with
' hem wel repleeahid, that natural appedde not satu-
* rate aniEcientli, but ferventli deeirith mo mosical
' conclnaions, as now.in special of proporciona, and of
' them to have plein informacion, of the whech after
' myn nnderstonding ye shall have open dedaracioo.
' But foroemoche as the namys of hem be more con-
' venientli and compendinsli aet in Latin than in
'English, therefore the namya of hem abal stonde
' BtJlle in Latin, and aa brievely as I con declare the
' natnris of them in English. First ye abal nnder-
'stond that proporcion ia a compariaon of two
' thingea be encheaon of nombir or of qoantitde, like
' or unlike eyther to other ; so that proporcion is
' seid in two maner of wyee, scilicet, Eqnalitatia and
- In eqnalitatia. Proporcion of Eqoalitie ia wban two
* evyn thinges be likenyd, either sette togedir in
' comparison, aa 2 to 2, or 4 to 4, and so of otheia.
' Propordon of Ineqnalitie is whan the more things
' is aette in comparison to the lasae, or (iie laaae to
' the more, as 2 to 4, or 4 to 2, or 3 to 5, or fi to 3 ;
' and thya proportion of ineqnalitie hath five apeciea
' or natoria or keendya, whois namya be theee in
'general: 1. Multiplex ; 2. Snperparticularis ; 3. Su-
'perpardena; 4. Multiplex anperparticalaria ; 5. Mnl-
'tiplex Buperpartiens. The first spece of every
' keende of ineqnalitie is callid Mnltiplex, that is to
sey manifold, and is whan the more nombre cob-
teynytfa the lease manyfolde, as twies 1 ; and that ia
callid in apodal, Dopla, id est, tweyfold, as 2 to 1,
or 4 to 2, or 6 to 3, and so fortbe endlesli. Yf the
more numbir conteyne thries the laase, than it ia
callid in epecial. Triple, as3tol, 6to2, 9to3;
yf it be fonr times the laeee conteinid in the more,
than it is Qoadrapla, as 4 to 1, 8 to 2, 12 to 3, and
so forthe. Qaindupla, SezdupU, Sepdnpla, Ocdupla,
and so upward endlesli. Aa for other keendis, ye
shall understond that there be two mauere of pardee,
one is callid Aliqnota, and another is callid Non
aliquota. Pars Aliquota is whan that porUe he ony
maner of mnltJplicacion yeldetb bia bole, aa wfaon
betwene his hole and him is [troporcion Multiplex,
aa a onite is Para Aliquota of every numbir ; for be
multiplicacion of that, every numbir wexeth tweyne :
or dnalite is Para Aliquota of every evyn numbir ;
and thua this partie ahol be nomyd in spedal aft«r
the numhre on whom he is multiplied and yeldetb
bia bole ; for if be yddeth bis hole be multiplicacion
of 2, it ia callid Altera, one halfe ; and yf he yeldetb
his hole be mnltiplicodon of three, it is called Tenia,
in the third part ; Seqnitur exemplum, two is the
thirde part of 6, and 3 of 9, and 4 of 12 ; and yf he
yeldetb bis multiplicacion be 4, than it is i^led
Quarta, as 2 for 8, for 4 tymya 2 ia 8 ; and if it
yeldith hia bole be multiplicacion of 6, than it ia
callid Quinto, and of 6 S^ta, and so forth endlesli.
Pars non aliquota ia wban that parde be no maner
of multiplicacion may yelde hia hole, as 2 is a parte
offi; but he ia non aOquota, for howsoever he be
multiplied he makith not evyn 5, for yf ye take him
twiea he makith but 4 ; and if ye take him thries
be paasith and makith 6. Proportio superpaHicn-
laris is whan the more nambir conteynyth the lasse ;
and moreover a party of him that ia Aliqnota, and
aflir the special name of that Parties shal that pro-
girciou be namid in epecial, aa betwene 6 and 4 is
rapordon seaquialtera ; Ses in Oreek, Totum in
Latin, al in Englisbe, ao Seeqnialtera is for to sey ol
and a bolfe, for the more nnmbir ctrnteynyth al the
lasse, and halfe thereof more over. Between 8 and
6 ia proportion Sesqnit«rcia, for the more nnmbir
conteynyth the laaae, and hys thyrd part over. Be-
twene 10 and 8 ia sesquiquarta, betwene 12 and 10
is seaqniquinto, betwene 14 and 12 b sesqnisexto, et
sic infinite. Proporcio anperpardens is whan the
more numbir conteynyth the lasse ; and moreover
the whech excesee eyther* enperplua ia not Part
aliqnota of the lasse nnmbir, as betwene 6 and 3.
But than thou must loke to that ezcesae whan the
more number pasaith the lease, and devyde it into
aweche parties that be aliquota ; and loke bow many
there he thereof, and what ia her special namys, and
whether they he thyrde, fowerth, or fyfthe, and so
fortha And yf ther be two parties aliquote, than
thon ahalt sey in spedal Soperbipardens ; uid yf
ther be three, supertripardens ; and yf ther be fonr,
auperqnortiparciens, and eo forthe. And ferther-
more tho poitiea that be tercie, than thou shalt sey
alwey at last ende, Terciaa ; and yf ther be fonr
■ Ejtha Sn or, Id ttili ud mwr UIir plim Umoi
dbyGoot^le
Chap. LVI.
AOT) PBAOTIOE OP MUSIC.
261
' Qu&rtu, and so forth eadlesli. Seqaitar exemplom,
' betwene G and 3 is propordon BaperbiparctenB ter-
' tiafi, for the more number conteynyth the laase, Euid
' two parties over that be tercie ; bat they both
' togedir be not para aliqnotB of the lasse number ;
' betweoe 7 and 5 is Soperbiparciens qnintaa ; be-
' twune 7 and 3 is Supla Besqaiterciaa ; betwene 9
' and 6 is Bnperqnartipardens qnintaa ; betwene 10
' and 6 ib SnperbiparcienB terciaa : and loke ye take
' goode hede that ye devyde the exceese into the
' gretteet partyes aliquotaB that ye may, as here, in
' this last eoBnmpIe, i is devyded into 2 dualities, that
' b«ene tercie oT six. Aiid take this for a general
' rewle, that the same ptt^rtion that is betwene
' twoe smale nnmberis, the same is betwene her
' doubles and treblie, and qnstrebilE, and qoiniblis,
' and BO forth endlesly. Seqnitur exemplum, the
' eame proporcion that is betwene 6 and 8, is betwene
' 10 and 6 ; betwene 20 and 12 ; betwene 40 and 24 ;
' betwene 80 and 48, and so forth endlesli. Multi-
' plex Bnperparticnlaria is whan the more nnmbir
' conteynythe the lasse, and a partye of him that is
' aliqaota ; as 5 and 2 is dnpla eeaqtiialtera. and bo ia
' 10 and 4 ; and bo is 20 and 8 ; hut 7 and 3 is dnpla
' seaqnitercia, and so is 14 and 6. Multiplex aoper-
' parciens ia whan the more numhir conteynyth the
'usae, and the pattiee that be over aliqoote. But
' tbei alle togedir be not one parte aliqaota, as 8 and
* 3 is dupla enperbiparciens terdas, and eo is 16
' and 6, 32 and 12.
' Here folowytb a breve tretise of propordona, and
' of their denominacions, with a lidl table folwing : —
' The proporcion betwene 1 and 1, 2 and 2, 8 and
* 3, and bo in more nnmbir, is callid evyn propordon,
' for every parcell be himselfe Ib evyn in nombir, and
' the same.
' fietwene 8 and 4 is callid dowble proporcion, for
* the more nombir conteynyth twice lie lasBe. Be-
' twene 5 and 4 is Sesqniqnarta, for the more nnmbir
' cont«ynyth the laaee, and the fonrthe parte of him
' over. Betwene 6 and 3 is Superbiparciens tercias,
* for the more nnmbir conteynythe the lasse, and 2 par-
' ties over, of the whech ache be himselfe, is the thyrde
' parte of the lasse. Betwene 14 and 4 is dnpla ses-
' quialtera, for the more nnmbir conteynyth thriee the
' lease, and the halfe over.* Betwene 8 and 3 is dnpla
' Buperbi parciens tercias, for the more nnmbir con-
' teynyth twies the laaee, and hie two parties over ;
' of the whech Pars aliqnota is not made be the lease
* nombir, but eoh be himselfe is the thyrde parte of
' the lease nnmbir. Betwene 9 and 2 ie Sesqoialtero,
' for the more nnmbir conteynyth the lesse, and the
' halfe of him over ; betwene 4 and 3 is Seeqniterda,
' for the more numhir conteynyth the lasse, and thries
' one parte over, the whech is the thyrde parte of the
' leeee nnmbir. Betwene 6 and 2 is Tripla, for the
' more nnmbir conteynyth thries the lesse nnmbir.
' Betwene fi and 3 is Dnpla, for the more nnmbir con-
* teynyth twies the lesse. Betwene 3 and 1 u Tripla,
' nt enpra. Betwene 5 and 2 is Dnpla Sesquialtera,
' for the more nnmbir conteynyth twiea the lesse, and
the halfe parti of him over. Betwene 6 and 5 is
■ Sam, If Mt TrlpM waqDUton, fn Um mioii ibn*.
' Seeqniquinta, for the more nnmbir conteynyth thries
' the lasee, and bis fifth part over. Betwene 7 and
' 2 is Tripla Sesqaialtera, for the more numhir oon-
' teynyth thries the lasse, and halfe him over. Be-
' twene 7 and 3 is Sesquiterda, nt supra. Betwene
' 8 and 5 is Snpertriparcieos qnintas, for the more
' nnmbir conteynyth the lasse, and three parties over,
' of the whech pare aliqnota is not made. Betwene
' 9 and 2 is l^iadnipla Sesqaialtera, for the more
' numhir conteynyth the lesse, [four times] and hie
' halfe over.'
Then follow two tables of the proportions in
figares, in no respect different from those that are to
be met with in Salinas, Zarlino, Uersennns, Kircher,
and other writers, for which reason they are not
here inserted.
' Thus over passid the realis of propordons, and
' of their denominadons, now ahal ye nnderetonde
' that as propordon u a comparison betwene diverse
' qnantiteis or their nnmbria, so is Froporcionalitas
'a comparison eyther a tikenees be 2 propordons
'and 3 diverse qaantit«iB atte last, the whech
' quantdteis or nnmbria been calUd the tennia of
' that propordonalite ; and whan the ferst terme
'passith the eeconde than it is callid the ferst ex-
' cease ; and whan the seconde terme passith the
' thyrd, than it is callid the seconde exoesae : eo ther
'be 3 maner of proporcionalities, sc Oeometrica,
' Arithmetica, and Armonica. Propordon^itas Geo-
' metrica is whan the same propordon ia betwene
' the feret terme and the seconde, that is betwene the
' second and the thyrde ; whan al the propordons be
' like, as betwene 8, 4, 2, is Propordonalitas Qeo-
' metrica ; for propordon dnpla is the ferst, and so is
' the seconde ; 9 to 6, 6 to 4 Sesqnialtera : 16 to 12,
' 12 to 9 Sesqnitercia ; 25 to 20, 20 to 16 Sesqui-
' quarta ; 36 to 30, 30 to 25 Seaqniqainta, and so forth
' upward, encrasing the nnmbir of difference be one.
' The numhir of difference and the ezceeae ie all oLa
'Whan the ferst nnmbir eyther terme passith the
' seconde, eyther the seconde the thyrde, than after
' the lasso excesee or difference shall that propordon
' be callid bothe the ferst and the seconde, as 9, 6, 4;
' the Usee difference is 2, and aliqnota that is namyd
' be 2, is callid the seconde or altera : put than to
' the excesee or difference one unite more, and that ia
' the more difference, and the twevne proporcions be
' than bothe callid Sesqnialtera. Than take the meet
' nnmbir of the three tertnys. and increae a nnmbir
'above what the more difference that was before,
'than hast thou 9 and 12, wbois difference is 3.
' Encrese than the more numhir be 3, and one unite,
' sdl. be 4, than hast then 16. Bo here be 3, 9, 12,
' 16, in propordonalite Oeometrica, wherof bothe
' propordons be called Beaqnitercia, after the leaae
'difference. Werk thos forihe endlesli, and thon
' ehal finde the same Sesqnisezta, Sesqniseptima,
' Besqnioctava, Beeqninona, Seaqnidecima, Seaqui-
' Another general renle to fynde this propordon-
' alite that ie callid Gleometrica is this, take whech
' 2 nnmbria that thon wilt that be immediate, and
' that one that passith the other be one unite, mnl-
dbyGooi^le
HISTORY OF THE 8CIEN0E.
Book VL
tiplie the one be the other, and every eche be him-
selfe, and thou ehalt havd 3 tennya in proporclon-
alite Oeometrico, and eyther proporcion shal be
namyd in general, SnperparticnlariB, be the lasse
nombir of die 2, that then toke fersL Exemplum,
u 3, 1 ; mnltiplye 3 be himaeliis, and it makith 9 ;
multiply 3 be 4, and it makith 12 ; mnltiplye i be
himeelfe and it makith 16 ; than thoa thon bast 3,
9, 12, 16, in proporcionalite Oeometrica, and thus
thon ehalt finde the same, what 2 nnmbrie immediate
that ever thon take.
' And take this for a general renle in this maner
proporcionalite, that the medil tenne multiplied be
oimselfe is neyther mo ne leeae then the two ex-
tremyteia be, eche multiplied be other : exemplum,
12 multiplied be himselfe ia 12 tymes 12, that is 144,
and so is 9 tymes 16, or 16 tymes 9, that ia al one.
And this renle faylith never of this maner propor-
cionalite in no maner of keende of proporcion, aaay
whoso wiL Proporcionalitas Arithmetica ia whan
the difference or the excease be like I, whan the
more uumbir pasaith the seconde aa moche as the
aeconde possith the thyrde, and ao forthe, vf ther be
mo termya than 3, exemplum 6, 4, 2. The forat
exceeae or difference is 2 between 6 and 4, and thus
the seconde betwene i and 2. Froporcionalitos
Armonica ia whan there is the same proporcion be-
twene the ferst excease or difference and the aeconde
that ia betwene the ferst terme and the tbyrd, ex-
emplnm, 12, 8, 6. Here the Srate difference
betwene 12 and 8 ia 4 ; the seconde betwene 8 and
6 is 2 ; than the same propordon is betwene 4 and 2
that ia betwene 12 and 6, for e^er is propordon
dnpla. These 8 proporcionalites fioya * callith
Medietatea, t. e. Midtia, and thei hkve these namis,
Oeometrica, Arithmetica, Armonica, Aa for the
maner of tretting of these 3 adencea, Qemetrre
tretith of lengthe, and brede of londe ; Arithmeticke
of moreneaee and lasaneaae of nnmbir ; Muaike of
Qxe highness and lonness of voyse. Than whan
thon biddest me yefe the a midle betwene 2 nnm-
bria, I may aske the what maner of midle thon wilt
have, end after that shal be tiie diveraite of myn
answer ; for the nnmbris may be referrid to lengthe
and brede of ertb, or of other meaore that longith
to Geometric ; eyther tliei may be conaidered as
they be nnmbir in himselfe, and so they long
to Arithmetike; eyther thei may be referrid to
lengthe and shortnesae and mesnre of musical in-
stnimentia, the whech canse highuesse end lowneaae
of voyse, and so thei long to Armonye and to
craft of moiike : Exemplnm of the ferat, t. e.,
Gemetrye : of 9 and 4 yt thon aake me whech is
the medle by Oeometrye, I sey 6 for thia akille ;
yf there were a place of 9 fote long and 4 fote
brode be Qemetrye, that wer 36 fote square : than
yf thon bade me yeve tlie a bodi, or another
place that wer evyn aqnare, that ia callid Qnadratnm
eqnilatemm, wherein wer neythir more space ne
lease than is in the former place that waa ferat
aaaigned, than muat thon abate of the lengthe of the
former place, and eke as moche his brede, ao that it
' be so lengir than it is brode, that mnst be by pro-
' porcion, so that the same proporcion be betwene the
' lenthe of the former bodi and a ayde of the seconde
' that is betwene the same syde and the brede of the
' ferat bodi ; and then hast thou the medil betwene
' the lengthe and the bredth of the ferat bodi or place ;
' and be that medle a place 4 square that is evyn
' thereto, as in thia enaample that waa ferat aasignyd,
' 9 and 4 and 6 ia the medil, and aa many fote ia in
' a bodi or a place that ia evyn 4 aquare 6 fote, aa in
' that that is 9 fote tonge and 4 fote brode, viz., 36 in
' bothe. The aeconde proporcionalite is omn whan
' It ia caltid the medil be Arithmetike, the wbedi
' treltyth of morenease and lassenease of nnmbir, ia
' aa moohe aa the more nnmbir pasaith the aeconde
■be as moche aa the seconde pasaith the thirds.
' Neyl^er more ne lease pasaith 12, 9, than 9 P^a^tb
' 6, and therefore 9 is Medium Aritluneticnm. The
' thirde propordonolite is callid Armonica, or a medil
' be armonye for this akille. Dyaposon, that is pro-
' porcion dupla, is the most perfite ocorde aftir tlie
' nnlaon : betwene the extremyteia of the dyapason,
' i. e. the trebil and the tenor, wil be yeven a mydle
' that is callid the Mene, the whech is callid Dyapente,
' i e. Seaqaialtera to the tenor and dyateaaaron, i a
' Seaqnitercia to the trebil, therefore that maner of
' my<Ue ia callid Medietas Armonica. Sequitur exem-
' plum : a pipe of 6 fote long, with bia competent
' bredth, ia a tenor in dyapason to a pipe of 3 fote
' with hia competent brede ; than is a pipe of 4 fote
■ the mene to bem tweyne, dyatessaron to the one
'and dyapente to the other. Ab thon shalt lynde
'more pleynii in the makyng of the monocorde,
' that ia called the Instmment of Plun-song, the
' whech monocorde ia the ferat trettyae in the begyn-
' nyng of this boke, bnt tiua aufOdui for knowleeg of
' propordons.'
OHAP. LVII.
Thi two foregoing mannecripta, that ia to aay, tlmt
in the Cotton library, and the other called the Mann-
ecript of Waltbam Holy Oroes, above-mentioned t«
be the property of Ur. West, are sach valtiabte
tresenres of recondite learning, that they wonld
jnstify a copious dissertation on the eeveral tracts
contained in them ; in the course whereof it mi^t
be demonstrated, that without the assistances which
they afford, it hiid been extremely difBcult Us have
traced the history of mnaic throngh a period of three
hundred years, the darkest in which literature of
most kinds can be said to have been involved. But
as a minnte examen of each would too much iutermpt
the course of thta work, some general remarks on
them in their order, must auffice.
And first of De Handlo's Commentary on the
nUea and maxims of Franco. The time when it
waa compiled appears to be a little before the feaat
of Pentecoat, 1326; but it is obaervahle that the
memorandnm at the end, which thus fixea the dme,
refers aolely to De Handle's tract, and how long the
rules of Franco had existed before the commentaiy,
is clearly ascertdned by the account herein befo'v
given <rf him and hia improvement
dbyG00*^lc
Chap LVIL
AND PRAOnOE OP MUSia
2SS
It miut be confeaaed Uut to cam the invention of
tbe Cuitns HensonbUis so &r b«ck ae the eleventh
century, u in eSeot to deprive De Mnris of the
hononr of that diacovery, and to contradict those
many authors who have ascribed it to bim ; bnt here
let it be remembered, tliat not one of thoee who ^ve
to De Moris the hononr of inventing the Gantna
MenBorabiliB, haa referred to the authority on which
their several aasertiona are founded. Vicantino eeema
to have been the first of the Italians that speak of Be
Mnris as the inventor of notes of different leng^ ;
and he seema to affect to say more of the matter than
it waa poesible for him to tmow, considering that he
lived near two hundred years after him ; for he not
only relates the &ct, bot assigns the motives to, and
even the progreea of the invention, in terms that
destroy the credibility of big relation. As to the
other writers that mention De Moris as the inventor
of the Oantus Mensnrabilis, as namely, Doni, Berardi,
Kircher, MersennoB, and many others, they seem to
have taken the fact for granted, and have therefore
forborne the tronble of snch a research as was neces-
sary to settle so important a qaeetion ; tiie conse-
qnence whereof is, that the evidence of De Mnria's
claim rests solely on tradition and m series of vague
reports, propagated with more Eeel than knowlei^e,
thiongh a period of fonr hundred years.
In opposition to this evidence staude, first, the fact
of Fnuico's having written on the eabject of the
Gantns Mensnrabilis in the eleventh centnry. Next,
the commentary of De Handlo on his mles, extant in
the year 1326, which is some years earlier than the
pretended invention of De Marie. Next a passage
in the succeeding tract entitled Tractatna diversamm
Fignramm, given at large in its place, and importing
that an ingenious method of notation invented by
certain andent masters in the art of music, had been
improved by De Maris ; so that the charact«rs of the
double long, the long, breve, eemibreve, and minim,
Me now made mauifest to every ona And Isstljr,
the following passage in the tract ' Fro aliquali notitia
' de Mnsica habenda,' in the Cotton manuscript,
* non enim erat mnsica tnno mensurata, sed
' panlatim crescebat ad menauram, usqne ad t«mpus
'Franconis, qui krat hcbiojb HHNBrnAniLiB paiMus
' AUOTOB APPROBATUS.'
Theee evidences may perhaps be deemed decisive
of the qaeetion, By whom was the Cantua Mensnra-
bilis invented ? but others are yet behind : in the
manuscript of Waltham Holy Oroee are certain
verses, in v^ich Franco and De Mnris are mentioned
together ; the former as the Inventor, and the other
as the Improver, of the Cantus Mensarabilis : —
Paniaa juncturaa, fecturai, atque Rgana ;
Meuiaratarum formavit Franco notarum,
Et John De Muris, variii flomitque figurii
Anglia cantoram nomen gignil plnrimonun.
The premises duly weighed and considered, the
conclusion seems most clearly to be, that the opinion
BO long entertuned, and so confidently propagated,
namely, that the characters which now, and for several
centuries post have been used to signi^ the different
lengths of musical notee, were invented by Johumes
De Huns, is no better than on fll-^nnded conjectore,
a mere legendary report, and is deservedly to be
ranked among thoee vulgar errors, which it is one of
the ends of true history to detect and refute.
The tract beginning ' Pro aliquali notitia de mn-
' sica habenda,' contuns a great variety of mnsical
learning, extracted chiefly from Boetios and Gnido
Aretinna ; for it is to be noted that the writers of
this period carried their researches no farther back
than the tdme of the former, for this obvious reason,
that the Greek language was then but littie under-
stood, which is in some measure proved by the manner
in which this author uses the Qreek terms ; we are
nevertheless indebted to him for the names of many
eminent musicians who flourished in or about his
time, as also for the honour ha haa done this country
in ranking several persons by name, in different parts
of England, among some of the best practical mu-
sicians of the age. It is farther to be remarked on
this tract, tiiat by the trebles and quadruples, which
Perotinns and LeonJnns ore by him sud to have
made, we are to understand compositions in three
and four parts, and that he has podtively asserted of
the Cantos Mensorabilis that Franco was the first
approved author that wrote on it
Of the manuscript of Waltham Holy Oroes it is to
be remarked, that it appears to be a collection of
Wylde'B mating, and that there is reason to believe
that the first treatise, consisting of two parte, the one
on manual, and the other on tonal music, vras com-
posed bj Wylde himself. In the latter of these we
meet with the term Doable Cantus, and an example
thereof in the margin, by which ia to be understood
a cantus of two parts.
Wylde's tract comprehends the precepts of prac-
tical music, and may be considered as a compendium
of that kind of knowledge which was necessary to
qualify an ecclesiastic in that very essential part of
his function, the performance of choral service. His
relation of the combat between ]^ square and b round,
thongh it seems to have been but a drawn battle, con
no more be read with a serions countenance than his
learned argnment tending to prove the reeemblance
of Leah and Bachel to the tone and semitone, and
that the sons of Jacob were produced in much the
same manner as the moeical consonances.
Of the treatise De octo Tonis nothing requires to
be said save that it contains a very imperfect state of
that &ncifnl doctrine touching the Music of the
Spheres, which very few of the many authors that
mention it believe a word about And as to the
offering of the monk of Sherborne, notwithstanding
hie having received it of St. Mary Magdalen, it ap-
pears to have been a present hardly worth his
acceptance.
The Treatise De Origine et KfFectu Musicra is
remarkable for a certain simplicity of style and sen-
timent, corresponding exactly vritii the ignorance of
the age in which it may be supposed to have been
written. Indeed it would be difficult to produce
stronger evidence of monkisk ignorance, at least In
history, than is contained in t^is tract, where the
author, confounding profane with sacred history, re-
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
SS4
HISTORT OF THE 80IEN0E
Bow VL
Utee that Thnbal kept ft amith't shop, and that
Pythagoras adjusted tlie cotuonancea by (he soond
of his hammars. The two pillars which he speaks of
are mentioned, by vsrious anthers, and Josephua in
particular, who says that one of them was remaining
in hia time; bnt no one except this author has ven-
tured to assert that the precepts of music were en-
graTen on either of them, Hia want of accuracy in
the chronology of his history would incline an atten-
tive reader to think that Gyrus, king of the Assyrians,'
lived within « few years after the deluge ; and as to
king Enchiridias, he has neither told ns when he
r^goed, nor whether his kingdom was on earth or in
the moon. Notwithstanding all these evidencea of
groBB ignorance, be seems entitled to creclit when he
relates facts of a more recent date, to the knowledge
of which he may be supposed to have arrived by
authentic tradition; and among these may be reckoned
that contained in Uie verses at the conclusion of the
third chapter of his treatise, which give to England
die honour of having produced Johumea De Mnria,
the greatest musician of his time.
But besides this relotioii, whidi gives credit to the
testimony of bishop Tanner and other writers, who
assert also that De Hnris was a native of England,
this tract furniahes the means of ascertaining, to a
tolerable d^^'ee of certainty, the time when every
line in the manuscript of Waltham Holy Cross was
written; at least it has fixed a certain year, before
which ^e manuscript cannot be supposed to have
existed ; nay, it goes farther, and demonstrates that
this, namely, the treatise De Origine et Effectu Mu-
sicsa, was composed after the year 1451. The proof
of this assertion is as follows : towards the end of the
first chapter, and in several other places, the author
citea a tract endtled De qnataor Pnncipalinm, which
by the way ia frequently referred to by Horley in
the annotations on his Introduction. This treatise,
which ia now in the Bodleian library, is ascribed to
an old author named Thomas de Tawksbury, a Fran-
ciscan friar of Bristol, who lived about the year 138S.
But bishop Tanner has ahewn this to be an error,
and that the tract, the proper title whereof is Quatnor
Principalia Artia Musicn, was written by Johannes
Hamboys, doctor of music, in the yeai llfil. Bnt to
return to the treadse De Origine et Effectu Musicse.
In the third chapter, in which the author speaks of
the supposed inventor of music, and of some who
have improved it, be mentions Guido the monk as
the composer of the Oamma, and also Ouido de
tiancto Uauro, who, as he relates, lived alter him :
besides these two, who will presently be shewn to be
one and the same person, he apeaka of Quido Major
and Quido Minor. That Guido de Sancto Manro is
no other than Qnido Aretinus is demonatrably cer-
tain; for the subsequent tracts entitled Metrologua,
contains several whole chapters, which, though aaid
to be 'secundum Onidonem de Sancto Mauro,' are
taken verbatim from the Micrologna of Guido Are-
tinns ; and as to Guido Major and Guido Minor, they
are clearly Ouido Aretinus, and tint other Guido,
snmamed Augetuds, mentioned by Wylde in the first
chapter of the second part of hia treatise, to have
corrected the cantos of the Cistercian order.
But here it Is to be remarked, that Wylde's tract
contains two designations of Guido Minor, which are
utterly inconsistent with each other, there being no
ecclesiastic or other person sumamed Angensis, men-
tioned in history as the corrector of the OistercioD
contns. On the contrary, we are told that St. Bernard
the abbot, who waa of the monaatery of Clurvaux,
and lived about the year 1120, was the person that
corrected tiie Cistercian cantus, or rather antiphonary.
On the other hand, Bemo, abbot of BicUiow, or
Rickenow, in the diocese of Constance, and therefore
snmamed Augcnsia, Augia being the Latin name of
the place, wrote several treatises on music, of which
some account has herein before been given. And he
does not make the least pretence to the having im-
proved the Cistercian antiphonary ; ao that upon the
whole it eeema as if Wylde bad confounded the two
names together, and that by Guido Minor we are to
understand St Bernard the abbot
The Speculum Psallentiom contains a few general
directions for singing the divine offices ; the verses
of St Augustine are to the same purpose, and those
of Bt Bernard a satire on disorderly aingera, who are
described in such barbaroos Latin as it seems im-
possible to translate.
Of the Metrologua little need be aaid, it being
scarce any thing more than a compendium of the
Micrologus of Guido Aretinus, with some remarks
of the author's own, tending very little to the illus-
tration of the subject. That it should be entitied
Metrologua is not to be accounted for, seeing there is
scarce anything relating to the Cantus Mensnrabilia
to be found in it
The tract entitled Distinctio inter Colores masicatoa
et Armorum Heronm, is a work of some cnriod^,
not BO much on account of its merit, for it his not
the least pretence to any, but its absurdity ; for tbo
author attempts to establish an analogy between
mtisic, the princplea whereof are interwoven in the
very constitution of nature, and those of heraldry,
which are arbitrary, and can scarce be sud to have
any foundation at all : this may in some measure be
accounted for from the high estimation in which the
science of Coat Armour, as it is called, was formerly
held. Moat of the authors who have formerly written
on it, sa namely, dame Juliana Barnes, ur John
Feme, Leigh, Boswell, and others, term it a divine
and heavenly knowledge ; bnt the wiser modenu
regard it aa a study of very little importance to the
welfare of mankind in general Morley hod seen
this notable work, and has given his sentiments of
heraldicsl, or ra&er, aa fae terms it, alcnmistical
music, in the annotations on the first part <rf his
Introduction.
The declaration of the triangle and the shield by
John Toikesey has some merit, for though the shield
be a whimsical device, the triangle, which shewa how
the perfect or triple and imperfect or duple tMvpor-
tions are generated, ia an ingenious diagram. Zarlino
and many other authors have adopted it ; and Moriey
has improved on it in a scheme iutitled a table ooa-
taining all the usual proportions.
The treatise entitled Begule Magiatri Johannes
De Uoris, con hardly be perused without a wish that
Digitized
byGoo*^le
Obap. LVll.
AND PBAOTIOE OF MUSia
86S
the author had given aoma inlinution toucluDg th«
work from whicm these rules are extracted ; not that
there is any reaaon to doabt their aathottjcity, but
th«t the world mi^t be in poaaeaaion of aome better
evidence tbui trsdition, that he was the author of
tiist improTsment in mosic which is so generally
ucribed to him.
The trealiae of tJie Mcords by Lionel Power, ae it
contains the radimente of extempore deacant, most be
deemed a great cnriosity, were it only becaose it is
an nndeoiable evidence of the existence of auch a
practioe : bat it is valuable in another respect ; it is
a kind of mosical syntax, and contains the laws of
harraonical combination adapted to the state of mnsio,
perhaps as far back aa the time of Henry IV. There
are no othw memorials of this author than the cata-
logue of mnnaans at the end of Morley'a Intro-
dactba, in which only hia chrisUan and anmame
occnr.
As to Chilaton, he seema to have been the author
of three diatinct treatisee ; the firat on descant, the
aecond on Faburden, and the third on the pro-
portions ; and each of these anbjecta reqnirea to be
distinctly conddered.
The precepta of deacant, although the pracdce ia
now become antiquated, so far ae Uiey are consiBtent
with the laws of harmony, and the roles of an orderly
modulation, are of general uae ; since they are ap-
plicable, as well to the most studied compositions, as
to extempM^ practioe ; and accordingly we aee them
I exemplified in many instances, particulariy in the
worka of Tollis, Bird, Bull, and odiers, and in a book
published in 1691, entitled ' Diven and sundrie
' Wayes of two Parts in one, to the number of fortie,
' upon one playn-aoug, by John Fanner.* In these
the office of the plain-song is to sustain, while that
part which is tenned the Deacantm Iweaka ; or, as
some of the aathora above-eited term it, flowers the
melody according to the will and pleasure of the
Biit aa to extempore descant, it seems difficult to
assign any reason for the prevalence of it, other than
thftt it was an exerdee for the invention of young
mosical stodenta, or that it (umished those a little
above the rank of common peo[4e with the means of
forming a kind of music aomewhat more pleasing
than the dry and inartificial melodies of those days ;
for aa to its general contexture, it was unqoettionably
very coarse.
Uorley, who in hia aeoond dialogue professes to
teach hia acholar the art of deecant, but in a way
emulated for written }M«ctice, has, in the onnotationa
on that part of his work, given his attiee at large on
this practioe of extempore deacant in the following
' As for singing npon a plain-song, it hath byn in
' times past in England (aa every man knowedi) and
'is at thia day in other plaoea, the greatest part of
'the usual mosic^e which in any ebnrchea ia sung,
' which indeed cauaeth me to marvel how men ac-
' qnainted with mueicke can delight to hear sucbe
'confusion, as of force must bee amongsto so many
•auging extempore. But aome have atood in an
'opinion, which to me seaneth not very probable,
' that is that men aocustomed to descanting will sing
'together upon a plain-song vrithout singing eyther
' false chorda, or forbidden deacant one to another,
' which till I see I will ever think unposeible. For
'though they should all be most« excetleat men, and
'every one of their lessons by itaelf never ao well
' framed for the ground, yet ia it nnp<»Bible for them
' to be tme one to another, except one man shoulde
' cauaa all the reate to aing the aame which he anng
' before them : and so indeed (if he have studied the
' canon beforehaud) they shall agree without errors,
' else shall they never do it'*
These are the sentiments of Horley with raspect
to the practice of descant or extempore singing on
a given plain-aong, a practice which aeems to have
obtained, not so much on the score of ita intrinsic
worth, as because it was an evidence of such a degree
of readineaa in unging as few persons ever arrive at ;
and that this was the case Is evident from the pre-
ference which the old writers give to written deecant,
which they termed Prick-aong, in regard that the
harmony was written or pricked down ; whereas in
(he other, which obtained the name of Plain-soDg,
it rested in the will of the singer. Besides many
other reasons for this preference, one was that the
former was used in the holy officoa, whereaa the
latter was almost confined to private meetinga and
societies, and was considered as an incentive to mirth
and pleasantry ; and the different use and application
of these two kinds of vocal harmony, induced a sort
of competition between the favourers of the one and
tlie other. Such persons aa were religiously disposed
contended for the hononr of prick<eong, uiat it was
[deaung to Qod ; and as far as this reaaon can be
supposed to weigh, it muat be admitted that they
had the best of the argument
Of the different eentimeuts that formerly prevailed,
touching the comparative excellence of Prick-song
and Plun-aong, somewhat may be gathered from an
interlude published about the latter end of the reign
of king Henry VII. by John Rastall, brother-in-law
of Bir Thomas More, vrith the following title, 'A new
' interlude, and a mery of the nature of the iiii els-
< menu, declsryuge many proper poynts of phylofophy
■ naturall, and of dyverg ftraunge land/a, and of dyvers
• Orauuge eStSa and caolei, whicbe interlude, yf the
' hole matKr be playde, wyl conteyue the fpace of an
' houre and a halfe, lec.'f The e^>eakers in this
ilDK the DeKi
uid UitRfOrc It iHiiu thil tif Ibe eipi
lUftbJng more u pieaal 1
iifl uj MiLglBg, perhipi K tl^ht, ttivj ihtll be tuo^t U
Lt tin ind of Ctie DnmUli Fenonig li tbli i
dbyGoot^le
86S
HlffrOBT OP THE BOIENCE
Book VI.
interlode are the Ueesengere [■>' prologue] Nature
notarate, Homanyte, Studiona Deeire, Senanall Appe-
tyte, tbs Taverner, Experyence, Tguorannce, between
whom and Hamanyte ib ^e fbilowiug dialogue : —
Honuoyte. Piick-rong mi^ not b« difpyled,
For therewith God it mil p]eCyi,
Hanomcd, pnyfd, aod fcrvjrd
In the church oft tymo Imong.
I> God well pleaTyd traweft thou thenbjr }
Niy, nij, lor there is no reaun why,
For ii it not u goad to Hj pUytiljr
Gyfmeifpade,
Al gyf me i fpi tc, n, tc, ti, ve, nde i
Bat yf chou wilt haie i fang thit ii godc,
I have one of RoUnbode,
The btit that era wu made.
Then a telelhyp, let ui hen it.
But then it a botden thou muft here,
Or ellyi it wyU not be.
Then begjn and can Dot for,
Downe, downe, downe, &c.
By means of the aereral paaaageB above-cited some
idea may be formed of the nature of extempore dee-
Tgnoraoce.
Tgn.
cant, and tbo degree of estimation in which it etood
abont the middle of the sixteenth centnry; a kind
of Tocal harmony of great antiquity, bat of which
it mnet now be said that there are not the smallest
remuns now left amongst us.
As to Faborden, a apedee of descant mentioned
by Ohilston, and which Beems not to fall within any
(^ the above rules, Morley thmi expluna it.
' It is also to be andorstood, that when men did
' sing upon their pkin-songs, he who sang the ground
' would sing it a sixth nnder the true pitche, and
' sometimes would breake some notes in division ;
' which they did for the more formall camming to
' their closes ; but every close (by the oloee in this
' place you must imderstand the note which served
' for the last syllable of every verse in tbdr hymnea)
' he must sing in that tune as it atandeth, or then in
' the eighth below. And this kind of un^ng vns
'called in Italy Falso Bordone, and in England
' Faharden, whereof here is an example ; first the
' plain -song and then the Faburden : —
'And though thia be prickt a third above the
' plain-song, yet was it alwaiea sung nnder the plain-
BOUg,'*
The treatiae of Musical Proportions is a very
learned work ; and as it is a summary of those
principlea on which the treatise De Musica of Boetdus
IS founded, and affords the means of judging of the
nature of the ancient arithmetic, so different from
that of modem times, it merits to be read with great
The two manuscripts from which tbe foregoing
extracts are severally made, appear to have been
held in great estimation. The Utter of them was
formerly the property of Taliis, aa appears by the
name lliomaa Taliis, written in the last leaf thereof.
And it evidently appears that Morley had perused
* Bmaaid lari tt Fabordu tkal it la the tuidaD or gmmS-biMi of
■ aong, net ftsnked amcdiBg la tiM ml** of bannaiir, bnt piwirlag Uia
«aiuord*rofnMUanaathaDpDaTpait,ai la otm pnotked Id ilnfliw
lb*PaaliiiaaiidoUwrpai4iori£adItiB«ea«*. Tht IlaUau, he uji,
ftra tUa name to a eolaln lunnonj peadnoed t~ "" '
(•mat alnlii lalUnrtng one anotbar, wbleh e ._
— •-•-^ ^ .. -IB toUBBadlala pan la oUlfBd t
aiUhca. DlcUgn.
them both very attentively, previous to the vmting
of his Introduction to Music That passage thereof
wherein he citee Robert de Haolo, and those other
wherein he mentions Philippus de Vitriaoo and tba
singers of Navemia, plainly shew that he had perused
the Ootton manuscript. Aa to the other, aa it was
in the hands of his friend Taliis, very little proc^
is necessary to induce a belief that he made a very
liberal use of that also ; but the express mention of
the treatise De Quatnor PrincipaHum, hia ridicule
of that heraldical musician who undertakes to diew
the analogy between mnaio and coat armour, and,
above all hie explanation of the terms Geometrical,
Harmonical, and Arithmetical proportion, in his an-
notations on the first part of his Introduction, are
proofs irrefragable that he had availed himself of
Wylde's kbonrs, and made a due use of the manu-
script of Waltham Holy Gross.
The Ootton manuscript, and that of Waltham
Holy Cross, which seem to contain all of music that
can be supposed to have been known at the time of
writing them, make bnt a very inconsiderable part of
those which appear to have been written in that
period which occurred between the time of Guide and
the invention of printing ; and innumerable are tboua
who, in the printed accounts of ancient English
writers in particular, are said to have written on
various branchea of the science. That the greater
number of these authors were monks is not to bo
wondered at, for not only their profession obliged
them to the practice of music, but their sequestered
manner of life gave them leisure and opportunities of
studying it to great advantage.
To entertain an adequate idea of the monastic tilt
dbyGoo*^le
Chap. LVII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC
in this connti^, during the three ceDturiee preceding
the ReformatiOD, it in in some measnre necesaary that
we should guard again§t the reports that were raised
to joitify that event ; as that religioaa hoases were
the retreats of sloth and ignorance, and that very
little benefit accrued to mankind from the joint
efforts of the whole body of the regular clergy of this
Thie must appear very improbable to such as are
acquunted with the state of learning at the time now
Bpoken of, since it is not only certain that all that
was to be known in those days of inevitable igno-
rance was known to them ; but that it was part of
the regimen of every religious house to assign to
the brethren employments snitable to their several
abilities ; and that while some were employed in
offices respecting the (economy of the house, and the
improvements and expenditure of its revenues, some
in manual occupations, such as binding books, and
making garments, others were treading the mazes of
logic, multiplying the glosses on the civil, and enlarg-
ing the pale of the canon law, or refining on the
scholastic subtxlties of Peter Lombard, Aquinas, and
ScotuB. Another claaa of those eng^ed in literary
pursuits were snch whose abilities qualified them to
become authors in form, and these were taken np in
the composing of tracts on various subjects, as their
several inclinations led them. Nor must those be
forgotten who labonred in the copying of music, in
&e transcribing and illuminating of Missals, Anti-
phonaries, Qraduals, and other collections of offices
need in the church-service,* the beauty and neatness
* TSuDiunbrrofbooka DauuuyfbT thtperrormftiiHof dL*lDeHrTl»
Id tiM unni cbnntm om h put, ihst the wiiiinK of ihinn muiihiK
ifbrded emplojiDail fOr mur thouuDd p«i»Di. By th« provlncUl «oiu
■itluUonnrfArchbUhopWliKbciKT, muctil Hflrtan. LP. I3M. Coait. 4.
it it fvqiliiKlUiMinvTaTchaictiLhniuEbouttbfr proTLD»of CuiMrbuij
then iboiild be bund ■ LcrtDd, >n Antiphmvyp A GtmU qf GrbliuJ, a
Pwam, ( Tram ui Ordbsl, iHlual ud ■ Muuil. And u Itam
are but Ihne d»cei« Id th&i kln^om. vbLeh uv not wilhiD the tt»-
Tibee of Cuiurburj, IhU lav viu obllfMoTT upon tImDM (he wbole
at Itw rnlm i *> lo tba religloui houiee tbe; cin haidlf be uippoHd
plHRiulai
■cCDidlDg to the Ttlue of mor
And U li elKwber* uJd tbAL
muki, iIm irlcu'« jttxif
terricB-cnoKf «u II coniuni. It appetn kit
emplDTinetit. Sir Henry BpelniAB uyi thAt
■nun. JohnKin'i Ecclidutlci] Livi.
iL ;' A Legend or Lectioiu^ caDUlned til the
Id be Md in the coune ot the frmr. The Anlipboflur ninUlned lU the
liiTiutoriee. rtepoDtoTlf I, collecttp end whaleTet elie vei eeld or eunt in
the choll. exoepl the leuont. In Ihe Gnii or Orkdual vat cODUinetf ■!]
luUe]u}Alu, Ibe eieed, offenoty, end Triiuium, ab elio Ihe on« for
tbe ehepd of TrtDity-CDllege, Oxford, by Ibe founder, mention ieoude t^
'four Graylee nf parchnient IjLed irltt gold.' Werton't ObHrretioiu OD
exEut in tlM Sodleum llbnrr e tery ourlout menuurlpt or thli kind,
irltk mn^ee] notee. vhlcb the caUJofue. page ISA, No. 3A5B, call! n Tn>-
parion s u exEnot ^m it le ^ven In tbe Appendix to tbit iroik No- 14,
andrenrred loin ehmp^ 40, book " ....-«..-. . , . . ^.
fin (b* peHbnninca of Ibe diiini
■mi with tbe Pje, irblch Ibe pr
tlau u bdni >ery InlriaUe u^
leen EUiabeth'i I
■dmlnlelietion of bi^tlim end other u
Johneon, ibid. ^tde'Lynd". Pro. lit
tiDaed in qnten EUinljeth'i Uiurgy. the i
■ and faudneu of the rulet celled tbe F
' of Out ■micok WM tbe cuue tbU to tu
(.lee ueed in prm
Lt. 17, edll, Iflfe.
whereof are known only to those who have nude it
their business to collect or peruse them. Some of
these in tbe public libraries and private collections
are, for fine drawing and colouring, as well of a great
variety of scripture histories, as of the nnmbericse
illuminations with which they abound, the objects of
admiration, even among artists themselves ; and as
to the character in which they are written, there are
no productions of modem times that can stand in
competition with it, in respect either of beauty,
neatness, or stability : others were employed in
writing the ledger books of their respective houses,
and in composing histories and chronicles of the
times. Many undertook the transcribing of the
fathers; and others, even in those times of supposed
ignorance and indolence, the classics. John Whe-
tfaamstead, abbot of Bt. Albans, caused above eighty
books to be transcribed dnring his abbacy, and fi%-
eight were copied by the care of one abbot of Qlaa-
tonbury. ' Indeed if we may believe some writers,
others were less laudably employed in the forging
of deeds and ancient charters, in order to fortify the
right of their confreres to such manors, lands, Ac
as they happened to hold under a litigious or dis-
f ratable title ; these men were both antiquaries and
awyers; they were scriveners, or, to go a step
higher, perhaps conveyancers, they made wills and
charters of land, and gave legal counsel to the neigh-
bouring fanners and others.
The benefits that accrued to learning from the
Biehop Sparrvw hu attempted to expUln thli itnnge i
order how thinpi ihould be dig etted or perronned ; bu
l.etiB vord Ee Pica, trbich he Ima^ilnei oeme from the Ipic
poeei It mlgbt eome f»m Liltere PiutA, a eTeel black
Rationale of the Common Prayer. And to Ihe une pi
go in bla Alliance of DlTinB OScta, page 24. Ibui
irlnEngllihlhePye, Ii
•dhyihiee
In party' ulouri, the Blca letters. Thirdly, t
•ho call Ihelr eallenden or alphabelicil cal
:^!S'""""''"°""""
Klhei from
kle, tbePyetnOi
ifiJohatooin bli opbiJan that the vordi
ay be added that biahop
la a table far Bndiof out
oka, and indeed other
liaed to Ihe kin^a tiie.
Did printed I
ailendera or alphebetica
ge contained In the to"-
ee II gained thla denom
the bird Pica, vartegi
Ford nivaf, conltule
lia directory bdn; nothli
n explalne tbe latter by aaying that It me
Tvica betDnflng to each d^. Codex 3K,
numben of thi
id diepened througliout
e eomnum and ordlnaii bindlDg of M
avei of encb menuacripU at are now epoKen
iilre Bie atiU eotigbt after ae macien of great curloelty ; but
more ready to purcbai* an ancient TeUum menuacript than
beaten, who make uee of them in the beating of gold Into lea*
r anlliiuHy,
DTMrlnally th*
wai u bard tf3 b<
. at IliaU bt ttl fttrlMrf UU kins't
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book VII
labours of these men mnat hsve been very great, since
it ia weU known that before the inveotion of print-
ing the only method of multiplying copies of books
was by wnting; and for the purpose of diffusing
extreme care and caution which men of learning
were wont to exert over their collections <4 books.
In those days the loan of a book was attended with
same ceremonies as a mortgage ; and a scboliir
knowledge in the several faculties, the writers of would hardly be prevailed upon to oblige his friend
manuscripts, though very slowly, did the business with the perusal of a book wi^out a formal obligation
of printers ; and the value th^ was set on their to return it at an appointed day.*
manual operations b only to be judged of by that
BOOK VII. CHAP. LVIIL
The censures of monkish ignorance and dissolute-
nesB, so frequent in the works of modem writers, are
become almost proverbial expressions ; and were we
to credit them, we should believe that neither learn-
ing of any kind, nor regularity, nor (economy bad
the least countenance among Uiem. Objections of
this kind are generally made by men less knowing
than those they thus condemn ; such as sj^eak of the
study of musty records, and researches into antiquity,
with contempt ; men of no curiosity, and who are
willing to take all things upon trust, and who palliate
their ignorance by olTecting to despise that of which
they are ignorant. That the world is under great
obligations to the regular clergy is evinced by the
nnmerone volumes yet extant, the works of monks ;
and that the strictest order and regularity was ob-
served among them, will ap[iear from the following
general detail of the monastic institntion, and of the
rule and order observed in the greater abbeys and
religious houses in this kingdom.
The officers in abbeys were either supreme, as the
abbot ; or obedientisl, as all others under him. The
abbot bad lodgings by himself, with all offices there*
nnto belonging, &e rest took precedency according
to the statutes of their convents.
Immediately next under the abbot was the prior ;
though by the way, in some convents, which hod no
abbots, the prior was principal, as the president in
some Oxford foundations ; and being installed priors,
some voted as barons in parliament, as the priors of
Canterbury and Coventry ; but where the abbot was
supreme, the person termed prior was his subordi-
nate, and in his absence, in mitred abbeys, by cour-
tesy was saluted as the lord prior; there was also
a sub-prior, who assisted the prior when he was re-
sident, and acted in his stead when absent.
The greater officers under these were generally
six in number, as in the monastery of Croyland ; and
this order prevailed in most of the larger founda-
tions ; the^ are thos enumerated : —
1. Magister opens, or master of the fabric ; who
Erobably looked after the buildings, and took care to
eep them in good repair.
2. EleemosynariuB, or the almoner ; who had the
oversight of the alms of the house, which were every
day distributed at the gate to the poor, and who
divided the alms upon the founder's day, and at other
obits and anniversaries, and in some places provided
for the maintenance and education of the choristers.
3. Pitanliarius ; who had the care of the pietances,
which were allowances upon particular occasions,
over and above the common provisions,
i. Sacrista, or the sexton ; who took care of the
vessels, books, and vestments belonging to the chnrch ;
looked after and accounted for the oblations at the
great altar, and other altars and images in the church,
and such legacies as were given either to the fabric
or nteuNls ; he likewise provided bread and wine for
the sacrament, and took care of burying the dead.
5. Oamerarins, or the chamberlain ; who bad the
chief care of the dormitory, and provided beds and
bedding for the monks, razors and towels for shaving
them, and part of, if not all their clothing.
6. Cellerarius, or the cellarer ; who was to procure
provisions for the monks, and all strangers resorting
to the convent ; viz., all sorts of flesh, fish, fowl, wine,
bread, com, malt for their ale and beer, oatmeal, salt,
&c., as likewise wood for firing, and all utensils for
the kitchen. Fuller saya that these ofScers alTect«d
secular gallantry, and wore swords like lay gentlemen.
Besides these were also —
ThesaurariuB, or the burser ; who received all the
common rents and revenues of the monastery, uid
paid all the common expenoes.
Precentor, or the chanter ; who had the chief care
of the choir -service, and not only presided over the
singing men, organist, and choristers, but provided
hooks for them, paid them their salaries, and repaired
the organ : he had also the custody of the se^, and
kept the liber diurnalis, or chapter-book, and pro-
vided parchment and ink for the writers, and coloors
for the limners of books for the library,
Hostilarius, or hospitalarius ; whose business it
was to see strangers well entertained, and to provide
firing, napkins, towels, and such like neceaaariee for
them.
Infirmariua ; who had the care of the infirmary,
and of the sick monks, who were carried thither, and
was to provide them physic, and all necessaries whilst
• In Belden'i DlMertUIcn on FleU li
Tdi following
lum Miglitri, Than
fopT of Ma Inatnuncwt
.1 ScKrdrfraiih AnM-
iD R. Dei iruli BtUiwltnit
nt fullcitir} Sat tmclin
taiaiogut of t>^' Harlriam nt
toatf of £100 M torrowlmf
li pot foriet- VbiJnli Otah—m,
men of Uu un> UmJ, dow ta A*
Ipti. Ifo. 3>e. Sir Bimamli DrRw^
iciMt ColMl'J »<N>* of Saiat Otmtmt
dbyGooi^le
Chap. LVIII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
living, and to waeh uid prepara their bodies for burial
when dead.
Refectionkriiu ; who looked after tlie hall, pro-
viding tabU'ClothB, napkins, towels, dishes, plates,
spoons, and all other necessaries for it, and even Rer-
vantB to attend there ; he had likewise the keeping
of the cnps. salts, ewers, and all the silver otensils
whatsoever belonging to the house, except the church
plate.
There was likewise Coqainarins, Gardinarios, and
Portarius, ' et in ccenobiis, qnn jus archiaconale in
'pnediis eC ecclesiis snis obttnnerunt,erat monachns
' qui archidiaconi titnlo et manere insignitna est'
The offices belonging to an abbey were generally
these : —
The hall, or refectionary, and, adjoining thereto,
the locntorium, or patlonr, where leave was given
for the monks to discoune, who were enjoined silence
elsewhere.
Oriolinro, or the oriol, was the next room, the nse
whereof was for monks who were rather distempered
dian diseased, to dine therein.
Dormitoritun, the dormitory, where they all slept
together.
Lavatorium, generally called the laudry, where the
clothes of the monks were washed, and where also at
a condait they washed their hands.
Scriptorium, a room where the Chartnkritis was
bnsied in writing, especially in the transcribing of
these books — 1. Ordinals, containing the rubric of
their missal, and directory of their priests in service.
2. ConsnetudinalB, presenting the ancient cnstoms of
their convents. 3. Troparies. 4. Collectanea, wherein
the ecclesiastical collecta were fairly written. This
was the ordinary bnsincse of the Chartnlaritis and his
aaeistant monks, but they also employed themselves
in transcribing the fathers and ctaseica, and in record-
ing historical events.
Adjoining to the Scriptorinm was the Library,
which in most abbeys was well famished with a
variety of choice manuscripts.
The Kitchen, with larder and pantry adjoining.
The abbey church consisted of — 1. Cloisters, con-
secrated grotind, aa appears by the solemn sepitltares
therein. 2. Navis eccleais, or the body of the chnrch.
3. Gradfttorium, the ascent by steps out of the former
into the choir. 4. Preshyteriura, or the choir ; on
the right side whereof was the stall of the abbot, with
his moiety of monks, and on the left that of the prior,
with his : and these alternately chanted the responsals
in the service. 6. Vestiarium, or the vestry, where
their copes, snrplices, and other habiliments were
deposited. 6. vaalta, a vanlt, being an arched room
over part of the church, which in some abbeys, as
St. Albans, was used to enlarge their dormitory,
where the monks had twelve beds for their repoee.
Concameratio, being an arched room betwixt the
east end of the church and the high altar, so that in
procession they might surround the same, founding
their practice on David's expression — 'and so will
' I compass thine altar, O Lord.'*
• TbiiruiKirtliUfnUUMVCsUwilnlolSI.PulliDalti
to Bli ChrUlopba Wnn u in omlukm, bul to I)w dliuw ol
Im vol ntMiMdclianti, Blitcb hM nadend inch apisTlitoo
To the church belonged also, Cerarinm, a reposi-
tory for wax candles. C^panile, the steeple. Poly-
andrium, the church-yard. The remaining rooms of
an abbey stood at a distance from the main structure,
and were as follow : —
Eleemosynaria, the almonry, vulgarly the ambry,
a building near or within the abbey, wherein poor
and impotent persons were relieved and maintamed
by the charity of the house.
Snnctuarium, or the sanctuary, wherein debtors
taking refuge from their creditors, malefactors from
the judge, lived in all security.
At a distance stood the stables, which were under
the care and management of the Stallarius, or master
of the horse, and the Provendariua, who, as his name
imports, lud in provender for the horses ; these were
of four kinds, namely, — 1. Hsnni, geldings for the
saddle of the larger size. 2. Rnncini, runts, small
nags. 3. Hummarii, sumpter-horses, 1, Averii, cart
or plough horses.t
Besides the buildings above-mentioned, there was
a prison for incorrigible monks. The ordinary pu-
nishment for small offences was carrying the lanthom,
hut contumacious monks were by the abbot committed
to prison.
Other buildings there were, such as Vaccisterinm,
the cow-house, Porcarium, the swine-stye, Sk.
Granges were farms at a distance, kept and stocked
by the abbey, and so called k grana gerendo, the over-
seer whereof was commonly called the Prior of the
grange : these were sometimes many miles from the
monastery. In female foundations of nunneries there
was a oorrespondency of all the same essential officers
and offices.
Besides there were a number of inferior officers in
abbeys, whose employments can only be guessed at
by the barbarous appellations used to <Ustinguish
them; such were — 1. Coltonarius [cutler]. 2. Cup-
parius. 3. PotagiarioB. 4. Bcntellarios Aulas.
6. Salsarius, 6, Porlarins. 7. Carectarius Cellerarii.
8. Pelliparius [parchment provider]. 9. Brasinarius
[malsterJ.J
ir in lb> idnilnblf caulnctlaii vt tlut hUHh piDoT oT bU lUll and
undtT wcR wirttnit, the fsllaaing noBt ons in uolhar public work
of hli mlfbt b> udducwt, thoocb kwtwD to fev :—
About HTHi rcui tfo, when the houiea an Landon-bildge wen liken
rotSt Hignuicb
Ml (Ida of Ihi ^(j|
.nghwbic
dy'o"'" n»»«lljorilolni"undlt- Upon
IrMthUl, »od pn»nil tbe ttDUbli ind ^ger
— ugtil vu bold, foe the tower nu heii7. and
•d I pfal of lam belli ; howoTor il wu at length to-
1 pull[n« down tlio houxti, Ibo iDulb ilde of the loner
iqipeind ta ba a plain luperficliii of ibe roughen niatetiali that maiona
uio, and nponthiittaecl^iuTTeyor had drawn inch viircb m bemeinl
tamt tbnmchfTomuutb tonoKh: but •■ loon u tbe workmen be^n to
eiocDte bii deol(n. lyj breaking ttanmgb tbe eilarlor lurtlKa, ibrj, lo the
}vy and idmlraOoa of orerr one. round a paiejife and in orch ready
dbyGooi^le
260
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Different ordera were bound to the obeervance of
different canonical constitutions ; however, the rule of
tht) ancient Benedictines, with some small variations,
prevailed through moat monasteries, and was in
general as follows ; —
i. Let monki praiie Ood seven timet a-day, that it
totay,—
1. At cock'Crowing. 2. Mattini, which vere per-
(brmed at the fint hour, or six o'clock. 3. The third
hour, or nine o'clock. 4. The sixth hour, or twelve
o'clock. 5. The ninth hour, or three o'clock. 6. Ves-
?en, the twelfth hour, or lix o'clock in the afternoon.
. Seven o'clock at night, when the compleiory was
The firet oi early prayers were at two o'clock in
the morning, when the monks, who weat to bed at
eight at night, had slept six hours, which were judged
ai^ciant for nature. It was no fault for the greater
haste, to come without shoes, or with unwashea
hands, if sprinkled at their entrance with holy water:
and there is nothing expressly said to the contrary,
but that they might go to bed again ; but a flat pro-
hibition afler mattins ; when to return U> bed was
accounted a petty apostacy.
ii. Let all at the aigu given, leave off their work and
repair preaeotly to pray era. t
lii. Let thoie who are ahsent in public employment he
reputed present in prayer.t
IV. Let no monk go alone, but alwaya two together.}
V. From Eaiter to WhiMunday let them dine always at
twelve, and sup at six o'clock. 1|
vi. Let them at other times fast on Wednesdays and
Fridays till three o'clock in the ^emoon.^
vii. Let them fait every day in Lent till six o'clock at
night.'"
vjii. Let DO monk speak a word in the refectory when
they are at their meals.
comjUDdAtcd vrlth ill tbe ■fornuld uppartcnuicef, uidludiiiuirdiatlndt
wCTB nt Rmcitfl, tliit the motlitr abbejr ««■ In Bnalud, uid the «L1
bfljond lh« Ku. Somft at tbtte irei« richjj rnddwed, u Ibal of Wynd-
hun, In Norfnlk, 'bleb though but ■eel] uDEied to SI. AlbiD'i, yatnit
■tilt II the dltiDlutlon (o eipend of [u own rtcouei leinilr-lwo pound)
pvt unum. TbAH w«Tv colnnln, Inla Thlch the abbeyi diKhaigei their
■upcrHuoui membu), ud whltbu the Ten retlrad when Infectlou von
but heiidei Iheia, occetlonil ejieulitioiu hj ehilitluii. u nit at the
]tL\Q u Ihi deriy, wen cuiIomuT tUI neu the end of the lut cxnturr-
■tome olhcT orcutanal fjuulitioni ; upon the putting on of k cLeen
'he wu ibic to do in ictvn lufnufn.' FuniUu Leitcn. vol. II-
■ect. tL lellcr SI. uid (hU pnetlee la tTeommtndBd hj Catbii, blihop of
IZ'CtZ
ix. Let them listen to the lecturer reading scripture (»
them whilst they feed themselves.
X. Let the septimarians dine by themselvea after the
rest+t
xi. Let such who are absent about business observe the
same hours of prayer.n.
xii. Let none, being from home ahout business, and
hoping to return at night, presume ' fori* raandicare,' to
eat abroad.}}
xiii. Let Che completory be solemnly sung about sevoi
o'clock at night. II II
xiv. Let none speak a word after the completory ended,
hut hasten to their beds.^li
IV, Let the mookt sleep in beds singly by themselves,
but all if possible in one room.
xvi. Let them sleep in their clothes, ^rt with their
girdles, but not havine their knives by their sides for fear
of hurtitig thetngelves in their sleep.
xvii. Let not the youth he by themselvM, but mingled
with their seniors.
xviii. Let not the candle in the dormitory go out all
xix. Let infanta incapable of excommunication be cor-
rected with rods.t+t
zx. Let offendera in small faults, whereof the abbot is
sole judee, be only sequestered from the table. tit
xxi. Let offenders in greater faults be suspended from
table and prayen.f f {
xxii. Let none converse with any excommunicated
under the pain of excommunication. |[||1|
xxiii. Let incorrigible offenders he expelled tha
monastery.
xiiv. Let an expelled brother, being readmitted on
promise of amendment, be set lost in order-t^^
XXV. Letevery monk have 2 coats and 2 cowls, 4c.*'**
xxvi. Let every monk have his table-book, knife, nee-
dle, and handkerchief.
xxvii. Let the bed of every monk have a mat, blanket,
rug, and pillow. -f+tt
t« Thete wan weekly offlan, aiMh h tlw leeniRt, HtvUon kl tk«
bible-cliiki in the Queen e-coilege, Cunbrtdfe, wiUed « the fellowe ■!
H Thii cmo
or lud. In ihip, houae. or Add. tber were tn b
Ibtlefl; keep tlzue with tbacanTani in Ihdrdc
w» tfterwerdt fo dlepenif-d wflh by the n
impletory. ao called, bActuh
Iff After grace aald, breaking th
a frtend, without leare of
III Tm herein hia keeper, dnutKlhylhe abbot, w
vdme] Either to eat or ipeik with hbn^ he nii|h[ Be
excepted. tC»-
he mlfht riae un,
.1 uluu Ua wliS
a day, hut the twalie dayi in
it 4aflj inoUasi nt i
Ibeot laaT* (Mm tht sb
I abatineaea on Ibsl Umai fOr Ihouh one wai waahed.
Id ba • LlDt. nl Ihli moal eapeela]!*. onea wan dnn i
, .... .. ij j|j„_ „J ^. ._
>t ones, niopi In winter, but tn eidani
id when new dolhei were dellTeied them
lepODt.
•0 eieiT Saturday waa to itiU thdr beda.
InUaa la a^ ki fll*a^.^
IJigilizocbyGoOl^ie
OiUP. LVIII.
AMD PRACTICE OF MOSItt
261
xxviii. Let the abbot be choien bj the merits of his
life and learning.
zux. Let bim never dine alone : but vhen guests are
wanting call some brethren unto his tdble.*
xzx. Let the cellarer be a discreet man to give all theii
Xjk,bllt
e be excused from tbA office of c
take his turn in bis week.t
xxiii. Let tbe cook each Saturdaj when he goetb out
of hi* office leave tbe linen and vessels clean and sound
From this view of the coDstitntion and discipline
of religiom hoaeeB, it Ib clear that they had a tendency
to promote learning and good manners among their
own membera ; but beaide« this they were productive
of mnch good to the public, seeing that they were
also schools of learning and education, for every con-
vent had one person or more appointed for this pnr<
pose ; and all the neighbonrs that desired it, might
have their children instructed in grammar and church
music without any expence to them. In the nunne-
ries also, young women were taught needle-work,
and to read Englieh, and Latin if they desired it ;
and not only tbe daughters of tbe lower class of pteo-
ple, but even those of the nobility and gentry, were
educated in these seminsries. Farther, monasteries
were in effect great hospitals, many poor people being
fed therein every day ; they were also houses of en-
terttunment, for almost all travellers : even tbe no-
bility and gentry, when upon a journey, took np their
abode at one religions house or another, there being
at that time bnt few inns in this coontry. In these,
also, tbe nobility and gentry provided for their chil-
dren and impoverished friends, by making the former
monks and nuns, and in time priors and prioresses,
abbots and abbeeBes,|| and by procariag for the latter
corodiee and pensions.^
> SDch u wen nUmd by hti liHpitiUty m bj csoonlcsl crIUci
>. Hoipttn! itiwiRn, omnliiii rnn dliuni pttit «r i)w cmmtiT.
S. FtftfTlnE, pUgniBi of SQOtliar utloa, ud genenllj tnveUiDj tta
4. MtDdkL benin, irbo ncHirad alma wtlhanl u tfaa (ale.
onir andantlT- Thia wu Iha lula In poor monaiterin, irlth an
■xaptkm Of
*UTi«
oflUi'
jon pab to wealiB twee
kind ; banler -u that
etUpio
Kl it tbiu. II
1 ?ot™lhm. " vTJm
miglil al hU own ptluncc or dimnniiim, jtt bE mull mcdil]* witu no
i Wlmc tt nJghC make h<m iMMciit In hia plaee. [Siacbuva hli
Dwi] la Halenlng to no Mculir newt, and It beulng 11 not W npon It
afibi; to canjlng tl- •■ i.v. ,-.i.-.i.i_ —j i^.i ^
and Istting noHi to
I HaiT, Iliadaa«hlRnfKliiBEdntdI„ud*lHtMrt«BniiblBaan'i
dnghlnv. wnv BE odv time tiuni al AmhmbuxT- Angl. Sacr- toT. I.
made tbife of bit daughlaia nuns- Six aoni of Henir, lonl of Harlirj,
were roonki- Anvl. Saer, vol. I. pax- i^i- Biidget, tbe fbuitb daiubtar
af Bdwaid 1V„ wai a nun at Dattfnd, U Kent.
5 A CoTodj, i eonnJendo. from eating together, li an allowance of
ofRligion. roTlhanaaon^'
ihugld benow It on. Ter
tide Hra. Angl. lol. II.
CoUler'i Eixl. Hill. Tol. I
.'■afi
I Ley, Co-el'i
a mall anahla Mrvant, the panlee mlfht btii
o and hia Mrvant, the iranlee mlfht bring to
and eoaient. a pnxn laftelad ullta the iepr
n. VUa Fioth'a Ndhoti^i*, to). It. b. 1
Notwithstanding these and other advantages re-
sulting to the public from monastic foundations, it
must be confessed that the mischiefs arising from
them were very great, for it appears that they were
very injurious to the parochial clergy, with whom
indeed they seemed to live in & state of perpetual
hostility, by accomulating prebends and oeneflceB,
and by procuring the appropriation of churches,
which they did in thia way, first they obtained the
advowson, and then found means to get the appro-
priation also. Bishop Kennet says that at one time
above one half of the parochial churches in England
were in the hands or power of cathedral churches and
monasteries. Case of Appropriations, pag. 16, 19.
And where their endeavours to get the appropriation
failed, they frequently got a pension out of it. Tbey
were forther injarions to the secular clergy by the
muiy exemptions which they had from episcopal
jurisdiction, and the payment of tythes.
The public also were sufferers by religious houses
in these respects, they drew off a great number of
persons, who otherwise would have been brought up
to arms, to labour, or the exercise of the manual arts.**
The inhabitants of them busied themselves with se-
cular employments, for they were great farmers, and
even brewers and tanners, concenuog which latter
employment of theirs, F^ler thus humorously ex-
presses himself :— "Though the monks themselves
' were too fine-nosed to dabble in Ian-fats, vet tbey
'kept others bred in that trade to follow their work;
' these oonvenls having bark of their own woods,
' hides of the cattle of their own breeding and kill-
'ing, and, which was the main, a large stodc of
'money to buy at tbe beat hand, and to allow such
■chapmen as they sold to, a loi^ day of payment,
'easily eat out such who were bred np in that
'vocation. Wkerenpon in the one-and-twentieth of
' king Henry VIII. a statute was made that no priest
' either regular or secular should on heavy penalties
'hereafter meddle vrith such mechanic employments.'
Sanctuaries, of which there were many, as at
Westminster, Croyland, St Burien's, Bt. John of
Beverley, and other places, were an intolerable griev-
ance on the public. Stowe, in his Chronicle, pag. 443.
complains of them in these words : ' Unthrifle riot,
' and run in debt upon tbe boldness of these places ;
yea and rich men run thither with poor men'^
goods, where they build ; there they spend, and
bid their creditors go whistle them; men's wives
mn thither with t£eir husband's plate, and say
they dare not abide with their husbands for beating
them ; thieves bring thither their stolen goods,
and live thereon; there they devise robberies;
nightly they steal out, they rob and reave, and kill,
and come in. agtun aa though those places gave
them not onl^ & safegoard for tbe barm they have
done, hut a licence to do more.'
Add to all these, other misohiefs, the inevitable
■I »t the Daoea la their UTcnl InTsi
dbyGooi^lc
362
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Bo(« VIL
cotieeqneiic«e of those prohibitions and restraints im-
posed on the clergy, as well secalar as regular.*
Undoubtedly these evils co-operating wi^ motives
of a political nature, were the causeB of that reform-
ation, for which even at this distance of lime we
have abundant reason to be thankful : it cannot be
denied that some of the principal agents in that
revolntlon were actuated by the noblest of all motives,
namely, eeai for the honor of Qod ; and whether
the objecUons against it, that it was effected by
unjustifiable means, sach as cormption, subornation,
and the invasion of corporate rights, sanctified by
law and usage: whether all or any of these are
admiuable in a subject of so important a nature as
the advancement of learning, and the exercise of
Ime religion, is a question that has already been
discDssed by those who were best able to decide
upon it, and will hardly ever again become a subject
of controversy.
CHAP. LIX.
The accounts herein before given of the gradual
improvement of music, and the several extracts from
manuscripts, herein before contained, may serve to
shew the stat« of the science in this couDtry in or
about (iie tifteenth century ; and it remuns now to
speak of its applioation, or, in other words, to take
a view of the practice of it amongst us. And first
it will appear Uiat as it was become essential to the
performance of divine service, it was used in all
cathedral and collegiat« churches, and that the olei^
were very zealous to promote it Of the introduc-
tion of the organ into the chorsl service by pope
Vitalianus, in the year 660, mention has already been
made ; and for the early nsa of that instrument in
this Ungdom we have the teetimonj* of Sir Henry
Spelman [in his Qlossary, voce Organum] who, upon
the authority of the book of Ramsey, relates that on
the death of king Edgar the choir of monks and
their organs were turned into lamentations.
Farther, William of Malmesbury relates that St.
Dunstan. in the reign of the same king, gave many
great bells and organs to the abnrches of ^e West ; f
which latter he so deecribes, as that they appear to
have been very little different from those now in
use, viz., ' Organs ubi per tereas fistulas mosids
'mensuris elaboratas dudnm conceptaa follis vomit
* And jet it inma tb>t tb« LkntloiuiKa of tlu reguUn wu not
fniHil thiDURtiout Ihta klDnilom, smi la Iha mml oomipl itUe d(
elcrlcal mknucn, fOr Lord Htrbnt if ChertiDry nlUH, [hu upon th>
g biWki. ptlntlDf, CITTlDf
«i: vid In the pn«inbLB to the itUate a
!■ nirurktitle d*c1uxtlai], ' Id tbe gnaiv
Bod, nllflm li rifbt mil obHned trU
UiitoiT, pif. ItS^-
'• hop fict br tha win
upon »pin did hug — «i
The harp ItnU with Ij* ad all,
ThiB mlfht have hipHDed. luppoalng two itfta^ta 1
and the wind to bave blowD hud aigalnil the Inalru
In th^oaur^wm. II. pw. «J, ud l»lelj glyen I.
dlaoBTIJ. bf tha unit of tha hup of £d1ui.
' anxins aurse.t And it is elsewhere said that they
had brass pipes and bellowB.6 The same writ«r
mentions that the organ at Malmeebury had the
following distich inscribed on brass, declaring who
was the donor of it : —
Organa do lancto prsBul Dunitanus Aldelmo
Perdat hie sternum, qui vult hinc totlere, cegnnm.|
Fuller, in his Worthies of Denbighshire, pag, 33,
mentions a famons organ, formerly at Wtexham in
that county, a matter of great curioeity, in respect
that the instrument was erected, not in a cathedral,
but ia & parochial church : he speaks also of an im-
provement of the organ by one Bernard, a Venetian,
of whom he asserts, on ihe authority of Sabellicos,
that he was absolutely the best musician in the world.
With respec t to abbey and conventual churches,
we meet with few express fonndationa of canons,
minor canons, and cbonsters ; and it may therefore
well be supposed that the choral duty in each of
these was performed by members of their own body,
and by children educated by themselves ; bat in
cathedral tdiurches we meet with very amj^e en-
dowments, as well for vicars, or minor canons,
tderks, choristers, and lay singers, as for a dean,
and canons or prebendaries. As to the value and
extent of these endowments in the metropolitical
churches of Canterbury and York, and the cathe-
drals of Durham, Winchester, London, Ely, Salis-
bury, Exeter, Norwich, Lincoln, and many others,
we are greatly at a loss, for they, having been re-
founded by Henry VIII., the andent A>nndati<»is
were absorbed in Uie modem, and it is of the latter
only that there are any avUientio memorials now
remaining; of those that retain their original cmi-
slitntion the following are some of the principal : —
Hereford, the cauiedral rebuilt in the time <d
William the Conqueror, and by the contribnU<»>s
of benefactors endowed so as to maintain a bishop,
dean, two archdeacons, a chancellor, treasurer, twen^-
eight prebendariea, twelve priest-vicars, four lay
clerks, seven choristers, and other officers. In aid M
this foundation Richard II. incorporated the vtcan-
i^oral, endovring them with lands for their better
support ; and they exist now as a body distinct in
some respects from the dean and chapter.^
Of the original endowment of the cath^ral of 8t
Paul, little is now to be known. We learn however
from Dugdale that considerable grants of land and
benefactions in money were made for its Gnpport by
divers persons at different dmes, as also for the main-
■ tenance of its members, so early as the time of
Edward the Confessor. Of the minor canons the
following is the history. They were twelve in
number, and hod anciently their habitation in and
about the church-yard ; but at length by the bounty
of well-disposed persons, they became envied to mett
and dine toother in a common hall or refectory, on
the north side of the church. In th« year 1S63
Robert de Keteryngham, rector of 8l Qngory's,
: OnL KUlBeab. Ub. V. d> PoBllt iDtar it. SerirL OtM, p^. Ml
t Oiil. Mtlnwb. In Vlia Aldhrimk PM- **■
I CbI. Ktlncab. da Fontlt. Mb. V. pig. MS.
t Tvura'a KatHk IIna«k>, ff. Itl, in.
dbyGoo^le
Chap.LIX.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
with licence of king Edward III. granted to the
dean and chapter certain meBBuagee aod lands of
the yearly value of vi. 1. xiii. a. iv. d. to the end that
the minor caooiu should ning divine eervics daily
in the church of St Paul, for the good estate of ihe
king, and queen Philippa bis conaort, and all their
children during their lives, and also for their booIb
after their decease. Richard II. by hie letters
patent in the eighteenth year of his reign, incor-
porated them by the style of the coUege of the twelve
petty canons of St Paul's church, and augmented
their maintenance by a grant to tiem of divers
lands and rents; and 24 Henry YI. the church of
St Gregory was appropriated to them.*
At WeUe also is a college of vicars, founded
originally for the maintenance of thirteen chantry
priests, who officiated in the cathedral. In 1347
Badnlphus de Salopia, bishop of Bath and Wells,
erected a college for the vicars of the cathedral
church, got them incorporated, and aiutmented their
revenues with certain lands of his own.j
The ancient foundation of Litchfield cathedral
appears to have been' a bishop, dean, precentor,
chancellor, treasurer, four archdeacons, twenty-seven
prebendaries, five priest<vicare, seven lay-clerks or
singing-men, eight choristers, and other officers and
Bervanta.f
Many collegiate churches had also endowments for
the performance of choral service, as that of South-
well, in Nottinghamshire ; Beverley in Yorkshire ;
Arundel in Sussex, now dissolved ; Westminster,
which by the way has been aucceaaively an abbey,
a cathedral, and a collegiate church.
Some of the colleges in Oxford have also endow-
ments of this kind, as namely. New coUege, for ten
chapluns, three clerks, and sixteen choristers ; M^-
dalen college, for four chaplains, eight clerks, and
Bixteen choristers ; All-Soals, for chaplains, clerks,
and choristers indefinitely ; tJure aUo mat an tntti-
tution of aome kind or other of chapMtu, clerki,
ehoriiteri at St. Jokn'i college, Oxon : but the lane
mat anmilUd in 1677, the college estate being im-
paired. jSSt W. Paddy, Pkyndan to Jamet I.,
refounded the choir. In the college at Ipswich,
founded by Cardinal Wolsey, waa a provision for a
dean, twelve secular canons, and eight choristers ; but
the college was suppressed, and great part of the en-
dowment alienated npon the disgrace of the founder.
In some free chape]s§ also wore endowments for
choral service, as in that of St George at Windsor,
now indeed a collegiate church, in which are a dean,
twelve canona or prebendaries, thirteen vicars or
minor canons, fonr derka, six choristers, and twenty-
six poor alms knights, beaidea other ofScers.
' The kynge's college of our Lady by Etone besyde
' Wyndesore,* was founded by king Henry VI, anno
regni 19, for a provost, ten priests, four clerks, six
choristers, twenty-five poor grammar -scholars, with
a maeter to teach them, and twenty-five poor old men ;
and though some of its endowment was taken away by
king Edward IV., yet it still continues (being par-
ticularly excepted in the acts of dissolution) m a
flourishing estate, with some small alteration in the
number of the foundation, which now consists of a
provost, seven fellows, two schoolmasters, two con-
ducts, one organist, seven clerks, seventy king's
scholars, ten choristers, besides officers and servanta
belonging to the college.||
The ehapel of St Stephen, near the great hall at
Westminster, first built by kii^ Stephen, and after-
wards rebuilt by Edward III. in the year 1317, was
by the latter ordained to be a collegiate church, and
therein were established a dean, twelve canons secular,
who had tbeir residence in Canon, vulgarly, Ohannel-
row, Weetminster, thirteen vicars, fonr clerks, six
cborists, two servitors, a verger, and a keeper of the
chapel. The same king endowed this chapel or col-
legiate cbnrch with manors, lands, Ac, to a very
great value : it was surrendered to Edward VI., and
the chapel ia now the place in which the House of
Commons sit.^
As to small endowments for the maintenance of sing-
ing men with stipends, they were formerly very many.
At Christ-church, London, was one for five singing
men, with a yearly aalary of eight pounds each.**
There was also another called Poultney college, from
the founder Sir John Poultney, annexed to the parish
church of St Lawrence, in Candlewick, now (^on-
street, London, with an endowment for a master, or
warden, thirteen priests, and four choristers, who had
stalls, and performed divine service in the chapel of
Jesus, adjoining to the church of St Lawrence afore-
said.fi ^^ Leadenhall Sir Simon Eyre, who had
been some time mayor of London, erected a bean^ful
and large chapel, and bequeathed to the company of
Drapers three thousand marks, npon condition to
establish and endow perpetually, a master or war-
den, five secular priests, six clerks and two cho-
risters, to sing daily service by note in this chapel ;
and also three schoolmasters and an usher, viz., one
master, with an usher, for grammar, another master
for writing, and the other for singing. The master's
salary to be ten pounds per annum, every other
priest's eight pounds, every clerk's five pounds six
shillings and eight pence, and every chorister's five
marks ; but it seems this endowment never took
efi'ect.ji^ In the cbnrch of St Michael Royal, Lon-
don, which had been new built by the famous Sir
Richard Whittington, several times lord mayor of
London, waa founded by him, and finished by his
executors a.i>. 1424, a college dedicated to the Holy
Ghost and the Virgin Mary, for a maeter and fonr
fellows, all to be masters of arts ; besides clerks,
choristers, ^,§§ In the church of fit Mary at
Warwick was an endowment by Roger, earl of
Free eh^glt VB* pUna of nliclgiH mnhlB txrnipt tnm ill Juiit-
los of Um ordliuiT, In 'bioh rkwoi they dUbnd flom cbHIlrtM,
Bh «in BmnaiM to MOM cMlwdnl. «oU^[laUi, Mpwooktal obuieh.
dbyGooi^lc
264
HISTORY UP THE SCIENCE
BooKVIt
'n'arwick, aboat the year 1123, for a dean and
KCuUr canoDs ; this fouadation was considerably
augmented by the Buoceeding earla, bo that at the
time of the dissolntioD it coDaieted of a dean, five
prebendaries or canons, ten priest-vicars, and six
cboristera.*
One thing very remarkable in all these foandations,
except that of Eton, is that they afforded no provisioQ
for an organist.^ That excellent muBician Dr. Ben-
jamin Rogers, who was very well versed in the
history of hia own profession, once took notice of
this to Anthony Wood : and, considering that the
nee of organs in divine service is almost coeval with
choral singing itself, to account for it is eomewhat
difficult ; it aeeme however not improbable that in
most cathedral, and other fonndaUona for the per-
formance of divine eervice, the duty of organist was
discharged by some one or other of the vicars cboral.
In the statutes of Canterbury cathedral provision is
made for players on sackbuts and comets, which on
solemn occasions might probably be joined to, or
used in ud of the organ.^
The foregoing notices refer solely to that kind of
music which was used in the divine offices; but over
and above the several musical confratemitieB formerly
subsisting in different parts of this kingdom, a set of
men, called stipendiary prieBts, derived a subsistence
from the singing of masaes, in chantries endowed for
that parpose, for the souls of the founderB.§ In the
catholral church of St. Paul were no fewer of tbeee
than forty-seven; and in the church of St. Saviour,
Sontbwark, was a chantry, with an endowment for
a mass to be sung weekly on every Friday through-
out the year, for the soul of the poet Qower, the
author of the Confesaio Amantis. The common
price for a mass was four pence, or for two thousand
forty marks, which it seems could be only the mode
of payment where the service waa occasional, since
t TU^iliiuliwtiiHlimifimnitfi
nnurd FiU Simat.wumliimtd ty Mr. narian ii
VfH. <u hritig organUt of Trinity CoUeyt, Oxdh;
r Pulwlcb. taundnl ^y Allien Ihi
... .lion It midc bj the itUiiui Uiu tba
1 ihould be tauabt prlek-tong ; uid for thm par-
lor pejToiiatiiff the wrrlceiH (h« gIuv*U OD«of Ibe fellawt li
lo bt ■ lUlful ocginliT. Of tkli vcinhr mu. Ur. Edwud
B Ui. Oldfi, tn tbi Bioifrapbl* Britunici.
U liftoff
• In LoDd'
laid brPirnns uhm bUa, Ihs ane In
DD Ludgiu-bill. The tlluulon of lh(
1 wM bom In tke parUh of Biibopi^e,
w M the •lin or tb« Pie. Now It mt,
nee, lliU Qie UigplF ilchoUK, ilIuiM
i Tbit ■upentltloui
» wu diueIIt performed «t fome putleulii
OLthfldnl and collejciMe, ujd Id wne pviih chi
Vide Oodolptdii'i HnwrUrUim Cknimleuill, pi«
Uliwrr, boak VI. PH. 9H. V
the endowment tnust be supposed to have in a great
measure ascertained the stipend, and tius was some-
times BO considerable, as to occasion as much soli-
citation for a chantry as for some other ecclesiastical
benefices. Chaucer mentions it to the credit of his
parson, that he did not flock to St. Paul's to get
a chantry. These superstitious foundations survived
the fate of the monasterieB but a very short time, for
they, together with free chapels, were granted to
Henry VIII. by the parliament in 1515, and were
dissolved by the statute of I Edw. VI. chap. 11.
Such was the nature of the monastic inBtitution,
and Buch the state of ecclesiastical music among us,
in the ages preceding the Reformation, in which
indeed there seems to be nothing peculiar to this
country, for the same system of ecclesisBtical policy
prevailed in general throughout Christendom. In
Italy, in Germany, in France, and in England, the
government of abbeys and monasteries was by the
same officers, and the discipline of religious houses
in each country very nearly the same, saving the
difference' arising from the rale, aa it was called, of
their respective orders, as of St Augustine, St.
Benedict, and others, which each house professed to
follow. This uniformity was but the effect of that
authority which, as supreme head of the t^urch, the
pope was acknowledged to be invested with, and
which was constantly exerted in the making and
promulging decretals, constitutions, canons, and bulla,
and all that variety of laws, by whatsoever name
they are called, which make np the Corpua Juris
Canonici : add to these the acts of provincial councils,
and ecclesiastical synods, the ultimate view whereof
seems to have been the establishment of a general
uniformity of regimen and diBcipline in all monastic
foundations, as far as was conustent with their several
professions.
In aid of these, the ritnalistB, who are here to be
considered as commentators on that body of laws
above referred to, have with great predion not only
enumerated the several orders in the church, || bnt
have also prescribed the duty of every person em-
ployed in tiie sacred officea. In conseqnenee whereof
we find that the power and authority of an abbot,
a prior, a dean, were in every respect the same in
all countries where the papal authority waa submitted
I Betjdei Ibe ordpn of btataop*, vleari, uid dcAcon*. thai* hv botli ht
the Romleb Hid Gmk ehDrehM alnen of lo iofeiior degnv, tbougb am
to tbeli nambei tben Bppein to be ■ rnaX direnlty of UDliin«ii«.
Bunniui luerli It to be Bib, tIi., tubdeuaiil. acolirUlim. eXorrilU.
Dumbei, Including Ibereln pialniiiln. or il^en, Uid the tofciloi ollloen
employed Inind >l»ui the churcb. The daif of och maj Innnenl la
to hiTe been origlnill; nothing mon thin Is light the' cudlet^lb*
Hull hu^exhibiud a Tin; "t.<^T pleiun oC u icolituw kn Ibe neciiH
ceinib
re to be •upp«ed. u (he Pie wu
i'iru"hir<lweUliig during blTllfe ; ud'tf ™
Id BUhoptgitutmt u lilel)' In be u it tb*
)B garden behl^ It wu protnbly the the c^ th«
* Aimed againtt a devout tyv deiplxht
' With a btoad Sle-Sappe nf a peacoike'i lajlo,
.,«.. — ,..,..... .,,.. _ jj prieil jpit* eT — ^~'~~
^^mm
dbyGoo*^le
Jhap. LX.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
26fi
to ; aud the same may be said of the dntiea of the
<»noDs or prebendaries, the precentor, the chorists,
and other officers in aH cathedral chnrchee. One
very remarkable instsace of that uniformity in
^vemment, diBcipline^ and practice, ie that of the
episcopoB paeronim, mentioned in a prec«ding chapter
of this volnme, which is there shown to be common
to Fruice and England, and probably prevailed
throDghout the western inarch; for the traces of
it are yet remaining in the reformed chnrches, as in
Holland, and many parte of Germany.
The role of bestowing on minor canons, or vicars
choral, livings within a small distance of a cathedral
chnrch, is generally observed by deans and their
chapters tbronghout this kingdom, and by those of
other countries.*
CHAP. LX.
Hatino treated thna largely of ecclesiastical, it
remains now to pursue the history of secular mosic,
and to give an acconnt of the origin of such of the
instruments now in use as have not already been
spoken of. What kind of music, and more parti-
cularly what instnimeute were in use among the
common people, and served for the amusement of the
several classes of the laity before the year 1300, is
very difBcnlt to discover: it appears however that so
early as the year 679, the bishops and other eccle-
siastics were used to be entertained at the places of
their ordinary residence with music ; and, as it
ebouldaeem, of the symphoniac kind; and that bv
women too, for in the Roman council, held on British
^airs anno G79, is the following decree : — ' We also
"ordain and decree that biahope, and all whosoever
' profess the religious life of the ecclesiastical order,
'do not use weapons, nor keep musicians of the
that Ihli «u tbt nugi ia Fnnai :—
In ilw chnrtb iif St. HUu)', u Palllin, wu ■ dngtng m
UMunrU
riTcninUs tBtwtn, md RointHi oT (ha flnl bnHllcsiiDut aboDlil bcconic
nant, bnl wktii ur nil h« hid the manlBulkin M m wmie Dthu
■ptnoa fta^mi to It. Finding lOmHlf Ibui frcqusnltr dlugpainted, tat
■bimthl of no rapWIhnt to mike hli good metien the cinooi uhuned of
" ' ■— Tot (»fetl»r I (»■ croioii, and ifltacllng elUl to cooit
li gueeU ■ dttta of an ui
each beno lo hope that hii own prtvbloi]
the elQging mm fan Iheui (o undcraund
■eiceltiDK thilr diiguil, be Ihui addmi
he, ■ihedlah that 1 propoied for raur ei
ontalhlDg
Ited, Bah.
iroTfilDni
'vn not weona and wUd^fOwl. are not tro
'HMip*, the riebni that e«s be made, etc
' they an io eepwatalr, bul Ifaoy are ^aua^
■epantely ha< for t h<
' Female sex, nor any musical concerts whatsoever ; f
'nor do allow of any bnfTooneries or plays in their
'presence. For the discipline of the holy church
' permita not her faithful priests to use any of these
'things, hut chai^ea them to be employed in divine
'offices, in making provision for the poor, and for
'the benefit of the church. Especially let lessons
' out of the divine oracles be always read for the
'edification of the churches, that the minds of tbe
' hearers may be fed with the divine word, even at
' the very time of their bodily repast'
Of instruments in (M>mmou use, it is indisputable
that the triangular harp is by far of the greatest
antiquity. Vincentio Galilei ascribes the inven-
tion of it to the Irish; but Mr. Selden speaks of a
coin of Cnuobeline, which he seems to have seen
with the figure on the reverse of Apollo with a
harp,^ which at once shews it to have been in use
twentv-four years before tbe birth of Christ, and
furnishes some ground to suppose that it was first
constructed by those who were confessedly the most
expert in the use of it, the ancient British bards.
The above acconnt of the harp leads to an enquiry
into the antiquity of another instrument, namely, the
Cruth or Crowth, formerly in common use in the
principality of Wales. In the Collectanea of Leland,
vol. v. peg. — amongst some Latin words, for which
the author gives the Saxon appellations, Liticen is
rendered a Iffruth.g
The instrument here spoken of is of the fidicinal
kind, somewhat resembling a violin, twentv-two
inches in length, and an inch and half in thickness.
It has six strings, supported by a bridge, and is
played on with a bow ; the bridge diifers from that
of a violin in that it is flat, and not convex on the
top, a circumstance from which it is to be inferred
that the strings are to be struck at the same time, so
as to afford a succession of concords. The bridge Is
not placed at right angles with the sides of the
instrument, but in an oblique direction ; and, which
is farther to be remarked, one of the feet of the
bridge goes through one of the sound holes, which
are circular, and rests on the inside of tbe back ; the
othei foot, which ie proportion ably shorter, resting
on the belly before the other sound-hole.
Of the strings, the four first are conducted from
the bridge down the finger-board, as those of a violin,
but the fifth and sixth, which are about an inch
longer than the others, leave the small end of the
flnr^lfrhlb ofklng Edpii'i caooni,
'bb eider/ vide Jobnaon'i E«l<
to the ttnaine of hmaln
m DiSTton'i FolrolUini, Sonf Vt.
iSbSi
tCupentier. In hli Supplement to the Oloiiaij of Dn OanEe, lalel
liiti«l, givei tbe word LHnlceoM. vhlcb be eipliiiu. plarsn on win
iitiumenu. Thli appeltatlie li not ftinned of tillctn, but of I,ltuu
re prehaUr It la
dbyGooi^le
2S6
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
neck sbont an inch to tlie right The whole six &re
wotmd ap either by wooden pegs in the form of the
letter T, or by iron pine, which are tnrned with
& wrest like those of a harp or Bpinoet. The figure,
together with the tnning of this sbgular insttument,
IB here given : —
Timing of the Cruth.
AA The apertures for the hand.
BB The Btrings conducted under
the end board,
cc The p^;s.
d d The aound-holea.
Of the tuning it is to be remarked that the sixth
and fifth strings are the unison and octave of G, the
fonrth and third the same of C, and the second and
first the same of D; so ttiat the second pair of strings
are a fourth, aad the third a fifth to the first.
Touching the antiquity of the cruth, it must be
confessed there is hut little written evidence to carry
it farther back than to the time of Leland^ never-
thelesB the opinion of its high antiquity is so strong
among the inhabitants of the country where it is
used, as to afford a probable ground of conjecture
that the cruth might be the prototype of the whole
fidicinal species of musicsl instruments.
Another kind of evidence of its itntiqnity, but
which t«ndB also to prove that the cruth was not
peculiar to Wales, arises from a discovery latejjr
made, and communicated to the Sodety of Anti-
quarians, respecting the abbey church of Melross in
Scotland, supiKMed to have beian built about the time
of Edward II. It seems that among the outside
ornaments of that church, there is the figure of the
instrument now under consideration very little dif-
ferent from the representation above given of it.
The word Cruth is pronounced in English crowth,
and corruptly crowd : a player on the cruth was
called a Crowther or Crowder, and ao also is a com-
mon fiddler to this day ; end hence imdoabtedly Crow-
tber or Crowder, a common surname.
Butler, with his usual humour, has characterised
a common fiddler, and given him the name of Crow-
dero, in the following passage : —
I'th' head of all tliis warlike rabble,
Crowdiro march'd, eicpert and able.
Instead of trumpet and of drum,
That makes the warrior's itomacli come,
Whose noise wheti valour sharp, like beer
By thunder turo'd to vinegar;
(For if a trumpet sound, or drum beat.
Who has not a month's uuud to combat t)
A t<iueaking engine he apfily'd
Unto his neck, on north east udsi
Just where the hangman does dispose,
To special friends, the knot or noose ;
For tia great grace, when statesmen straight
Dispatch a fHend, let others wait.
His warped ear hung o'r^t the strings,
Which was but souse to chitterlings ;
For guti, some writs, ere thev are sodden,
Are fit for musick, or for pudden ;
From whence men borrow ev'ry kind
Of minstrelsy, by string or wind.
His grisly beard was long and thick.
With which he strung his fiddle-stick.
For he to horse-tail acom'd to owe,
For what on his own chin did grow.
Hud. part 1. canto IT. v. 105.
Upon which passage it may be questioned why
the poet has chose to make the North-East side the
position of the instrument ; the answer may be this :
that of the four cardinal points the east is the prin-
cipal, it being from thence that the day first appears ;
supposing then the face to be turned to the east, and
in such a case as this, ceteris paribus, any circnm-
Btance is a motive for preference, the left is the north
ride, and in this situation the instrument being ap-
plied to (he neck, vrill have a north-cast direction.
The instrumeiit above spoken of is now so little
used in Wales, that there is at present but one person
in the whole principality who can play on it, his
name is John Morgan, of Newburgh, in the island
of Anglesey ; and, as he is now near aixty years of
age, there is reason to fear the sacceerion of per-
formers on the cruth is nearly at an end.
The period which has been filled up with the
account of the ancient jongleonrs, violars, and min-
strels, and more especiaHy Uie extracts from Chaucer,
and other old poets, furnish the names of sundry
other instruments, as namely, the Lute, the Cletron
or Cittern, the Flute, the Fiddle, and the Oomamnea,
or Bagpipe, which it is certain were all known, and
in common use before the year 1400.
The book herein before cited by the title of Bsr-
tholomsUB de Proprietatibns Rerum, furnishes the
names of sundry other instruments, with a description
of their several forms and uses, and contains besides,
a brief discourse on the science of music in general.
As translated into English by Trevisa, it is, for many
reasons to be looked on as a great curiosity; for not
to mention the great variety of learning contained in
it, the language, style, and sentiment are such, as ren-
der it to ft very great degree instructive and enter-
taining. Numberless words and phrases, not taken
notice of by any of our lexicographers, and which
are now either become totally obftolete, or are retained
only in particular parts of this kingdom, are here to
be met with, the knowledge whereof would greatly
facilitate the understanding of the earlier writere.
In short, to speak of the translation of Bartholomsaua
by Trevisa, it is a work that merits the attention of
every lover of antiquity, every proficient in' English
literature. The latter part of the nineteenth and
last book is wholly on music, and is unquestionably
the most ancient treatise on the subject in the KngUtft
language extant in print. The latter of these rossona
wodd alone justify the insertion of it in thia place.
dbyGoo^le
Chap. LX.
AKD PRAOnOE OF MUSia
A short account of BArtboIomRna, tnd of tiaa bu
work, together with Bome extracts from it, haa been
given in a foregoing chapter: here followa the proem
to it, a singular apecimen of old Engliah poetry : —
Etenul liwde to God, iretifll of myihc
Be hemljr veue of tuny creatun,
Whychc of hn taoint&t fcndjih gncc
To Tondty folhe M hltlTyd luennirc,
Wliorc fpyryte of counrdl cotnfertilti fiill fun,
All fuche u luftt to ftek.t hr fipicncc,
And mikylh them wjfc by (reti inCcUitcncc.
A) thiu when men tull niCunlly dcGre
Of fundry thynin tnd menicli fiir Co knowc,
Ofcnfae, of ayre, of water, and oFfire,
Ofeibe aod tree whych groureth both byge aaij lowe,
Aod otbtr thyngei u nacun hath them lowe.
Of thyfe the knowlege comyth by Goddie gnu,
And of all tbynge that mho may them bnc<.
Whan I beholde the thyn|a naturall,
Gadryd by |race fent from the Holy ChoA,
BrieAy eompyled in bokea fpecyaU,
A* Bartbotomewf Ibewetb and eke declayryth moft.
Than I njoyce, Kmemb<yn|e eotry eaftc.
How fame couolree hath jrelt commodile,
Some toce, fome frute, Ibme (toon of hy|h« detm.
Pnyfed be Cod, which hath ft. well enduyd
The auSor wyth [race de Fropriclatiliiu
To fe lb many naturall thyngea nnewd,
Whych la hla boke he hath compyled thna,
Where tbrugh by redynp we may comfocte na,
And wyth conceytei-dyueii fede our mynde,
A> bokei emptynlid (hewyth rygbt u we Qnide.
By WykeD dc Worde, which thnigh hi> dyligence
Eroptentyd hath at prayer and defyre
Of Roger Thomey, mercer, and from them
"" ' acian fpnnge to fetce the hertei on lyre
Of fuel
_ , . Toydynge ydylnefle,
Eyke aa thia bake hath Ihewed to you eiptelTe,
And many an other wonderful conceyte
Shewyth Bartholowe de ProprieCatJbua ,
Whyche befyed hymfelfe to lake the fwete receyte
Of holfom cannynge, hia tyme difpendynge thiu,
Geuynge example of Tcrtue gloiyoua,
Bokel CO cherytlh, and make in fondty wile
Veitae to fblawe and idlenelTe to difpyfe.
For in thii wotlde, to rekon euery thynge
Plefun to maa there ii ootM comparibls,
Aa ia to rede and underftoDdyDge
Id bokea of wyl3<une they ben fo deleOible,
Whiche fowne to TerCue and ben profvtaUe |
And all that loue fuche virtue ben full glade
Bokea to renewe and ciufe iheym to be made.
And alfo of your charyte call to rcmembraDnee
The foul of William Caiton, fiiK piynter of thIi bake
In Laten tonge at Coleyn hymfelf to auaunce
That tutrtf well difpofyd man may thereon lokf ;
And John Tate the yonger joye mote he broke
Whiche late hathe in Englonile doo make thH paper tbynoe
That DOW in our £nglylh thii boke U printed inae.
Thai yong and olde thmgh plente may rdoyfc
To gyue theym lelf to good occupapoo.
And ben eapertc ai lltewyth the comyn Toytc,
To TOyde alle Tyce and delimacyon.
For idylnede all lertue put idowne,
Than rede and Audit in bokei Tertuoul^
So Ihall thy name in heoen be glorintla.
For yf one thyng mygbt laft a M. yere.
Full fone comycfa acge that liettyth all away ;
But like aa Phebu) wyth hyi bemn clcre
The none rcpeyrclh at hryght aa ony day,
Whan (he it wiftyd nrght Ca may we liy
Thife bokea old and blinde. whan wf renewe
By (Dodly prynlyng they hen hryhl of l|e*r«>
«fett.
latd of God all myght.
They put aiyde both wyked thought and lyght^
And caufe fiill often ryghte good gouimaunce,
Wrouten whyche fynne wold hym lelf auaunce.
Now gloryoua God that regneft one in thre,
Unto the prynter of thll werke, that he
May be rewarded in thy beaTenly place j
And whan the worldc Ihall come befiire thy Ace,
There to ncejre according Co delert
Of grace tnd mercy make hyro then expert.
Batman, who, as is above saici, in 1682 pnbliabed
an edition of the book De Proprietatibns Reram,
took great liberties with Trevisa's translation, by
accommodating the language of it to his own time,
a very nnwarrantable practice in the editor of any
ancient book ; be may however be said in some res<
pecti to have made amends for this his error, by the
additions of his own which he has occasionally made
to several sections of his author. Here follows that
part of the nineteenth book above referred to, taken
verbatim from the edition of Wynken de Words, with
the additions of Stephen Batman, distinguished as
they oconr,*—
De Mufita.
' Ai am of nombrea and raefures ferny th to diuinite,
' lb doth the arte of melody for mdyk ; by the whyche
< tccorde and melody ia knowe in fowne, aod in longe
' is nedcful to know myftyk meanyngc of holy wriite j
* for ii is fayd that the worlde is compownyd and made
' in a ceftiyne and proporcion of armcny, as YJjder*
' Tayth librt ItrtU.
' And it u faid that heuen gooth abouK wyth confo-
< nincye and icorde of melody. For mufyk meuyth
' afieccions, and excyteth the wyttei to dyuerfe difpo-
' (ycyons. Alfo in bataylle the noyfc of the trompc
' comlbrtyth werryour*, and the more ftronge that the
' irompynge ia, the more ftronge and bolde men ben to
' fyghie : and comforcyth fliypmen to fuHrc alle the
'dyfeaiea and traucllc. And comfortc of voya pleafyth
' and comfortych the hert, and inwyttes tn all dyfcale
< and traueyllc of werka and werynefle. And mufyk
' abatyth mayftry of euyl fpyrytea in mankyndc, as we
' tcde of Pallid that delyuetcd Saul of an unclene Tpy-
* tytc by crafte of meloaye. And mufyk excyteth and
' comfortych bellis and icrpen'es, fbules and delph'net
■ Co take hede therco [ aid lo veynci and fynewea of
' chc body and pula ihcrof ( and lo all the lymmnet of
•the body ben focied togydcr by vertue ofarmenye ai
* JJider fayth. Of Mufyk ben dire partyes, Armonict,
'Rethmica, and McCiica. Armonica dyftyngueth grete
< and fmalle in fowoea, and hyghe and lowe, and pro-
' porcyonall chaungyng of voya and of fowne. And
' Armonia ia fwece aceorde of Ibngc, and cometh of
* due proporcyon m dyuerfe voycea, other blaltea towch-
' yngc and fmytynge fowncs : for, aa Ifidir fayth, fowne
' comych of voya, aa of mouthe and jowea ; other of
' blam, as of trompea and pypea ; other of touchinge
' and finytynge of cymbale and harpe ; and other
' fufhe that fowneth wyth fmytyi^ and llrokei.
dbyG00*^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book VU.
■ Voys comyth to one acconle, as Hegaejon* fayth,
' for in all melodye nedyth many voys, other fownes,
' and that accordyng ; for one voys pleafyth not fo
' moche as the voys and fonge of the Gnokken, andf yf
' many dyfcordith, the voys plefith not ; for of fuche
' dyfcorde comyth not fonge, but howlynge other
* yellynge ; but in many voyces accordynge in one is
' proporcyon of armony and melodye other fwete
' fymphonia. And fo Jfyder faych chat fymphonia is
' temperate moduUcyon, accordynge in fownes highe
' and lowe. And by this armony hyghe voys accor-
' dyth, fo that yf one difcotdych it greuech the herynge ;
' and fuche accordynge of voys hyg^te Euphonia, thai is
' fwetnefle of voys, and hyghte alfo Melodya, and hath
' that name of fweindTe and of Mel, that is Honey ;
' and the contrary is called Dyapbenia, fowle voys and
' dyfcordyng. To make melodye of armony nedyth
' diaftema, diefis, tonus, iperludius, podonus, arlis,
' ihelts, and fwete voys and ttmperatc fowne. Diaf-
' tema is a couenable fpace of two voyces, other of
' moo, acordynge. DieAs is the (pace and doynge of
' melodye, and chaungynge out of one fowne in to
' another. Tonus is the Jharpnelle of voys, and is
' difi^rence and quantitic of armony, and ftandyih in
' accent and tenor of voys. And muficyons maketh
' thereof fyftene partyqs. Iftriudius is the lalle thereof
' and moofl fharpcft ; and Padorius is moolt heavy of
' alle, as Ifydir fayth. Arfii is rcrynge of voys, and is
' the beginning of fonge. Tbefii is feiiynge, and is the
' ende, as IJjder fayth ; and fo fonge is the bendyngc of
'the
voys, for fome paflcth ftreighte, as he faych, and
• IS to fore fonge. And euery uoys ia fowne, and not
• ayen- warde ; for fowne is the objefle of hetj-nge, for
' all that is perceyued by herynge is called lowne, as
' brelcing of trees, (hiytyng togydcr of ftones, hurlynge
' and riiflivng of wauea and of wynde, chytterynge of
' byrdes, lowynge of beeftys, voys and gronynge of
' men, and fmytyngc of organcs. And a voys is
' properly the fowne that comyth of the mouthe t>{
' a beeft ; and fowne comyth of ayre fmytte ayenft on
'harde body; and the fmyCynge is foonerfeen than the
' fowne is herde, and the lyghtnyng is fooner feen than
' the thondre is herde. A voya is mooll chyne ayre,
' fmytte wyth the wrefte of the tongue ; and fome voys
' fygnvfyeth and tokenyth by kynde, as chytttrynge of
' byrdes and gronyng of fyke men. And fome tokenyth
' at wylle, as the voya of a man that is ordeyned, and
' there Ihape by hefte of rcafon to telle out certain
• wordes. The voys bcrith forthe the worde, and the
' worde that is in the thoughte maye not come ouw
' but by helpc of the voys that it oute bryngeth. And
' io fyrft the inwytte gendrith a worde in the thoughte,
• and puttyth it afterwarde out at the mouthe by the
' voyce ; and fo the worde that is gendryd and con-
' leyned by inwytte, comyth oute by the voys aa it
' were by an inftrumente,' and is knowe. The voyce
' that is dyfpofyd Co fonge and melodye hath thife
'proprycees, as I/ydtr fayth. Voyces he fayth ben
• anppOHd to be RngDtto, dokt tt Ptun, in Or«ei nniuncd
PU^sluHu. mm hia being > neoucKe Is the FlonDilDee. He Aauriihed
' fmalle, fubtill, thicke, clere, fliarpe, and fhylle. In
' fubtyll voys the fpyryte is not ftrong, as in chyldren
'and in wymmen; and in other chaC haue not grett
' fynews, Itronge and thycke ; for of fmalle ftrynget
' comyth fmalle voys and fubtyll. The voyces ben
' facte and chyck wfian moche fpyryte comyth out, as
' the voys of a nun. The voya is clere that fownytb
' well, and ryngeth wythout any hollowneHe. Sharpe
' voyces ben full hyghe, fhylle voyces ben lowde, and
' drawth a longe, and fylleth foone all the place, as die
' noyce of trumpes. The harde voys is hofe, and alfo
' the harde voys is grymme and gryfely whan the fowne
' cherof is ^^olence, and as che fowne of chondre, and
' of a felde bete with grece malles. The rough voya ia
' hofe and fparplyd by fmalle, and is ftuflyd and dureth
' not longe, as the fowne of etthen velTell. Voys
' eniuolealaX is nes^e^ and plyaunt. That name «ni-
' mknta, of ^/tf«,|[ that is a lytyll belle nesfhiy bende.
' The perfyghte voys is hyghe, fwete, and ftrongc and
' clere ; hyghe to be well herde, clere to iylle the eerea ;
' fwece to pleyfe, and not to fere the herynge, and to
'comfort the hertes to take hede thereto, Yf ought
' herof fayleth, the voys is not perfyghtc, as T/jder
' fayth. Here ouer is armonia of organes, that comych
' of blalle whan cercayn inllrumentes ben craftely made
'and duly blowc, and yeuyth by quancyce of che btafte
* craftly, dyuers by dyuerfile of organes and inftru-
' menCes, as ic farech of organes, trompcs, and pipes,
' and other fuche chac yeuyth dyuerfe fownea and noyce.
' Organum is a general! name of all inflriunentcs of
' mufyk, and ia nethelelTe fpecyally a proprytc to the
' inftrumenC thac is made of many pipes, and blowe
' wyth belowes. And now holy chyrche ufeth oonly
' this inftrument of mufyk, in profes, fequences, and
'ympnes; and forfakych for men's ufe oi^mynflraUye
'all other inftrumences of mufyk.K
' The TuTtnts founde fyrftc the trompe. f^irgU
'fpekyth of them, and fayth that the voys of the
' trompe of Turent lowyth in the ayre."" Men in olde
' cyme ufyd crompes in battayle to fere and aflVaye
' theyr enmyes, and to comforte th^yre owne knyghtes
' and fyghtynge men ; and to comforte horfe of wcrre
' to fyghte and to refe and fmyce in the batayle ; and
' tokenyth worihip wyth vyftory in the fyghtynge,
' and to call them ayen that begyn to fie. And ufyd
' alfo trompettes in feeftys to call the people loader,
' and for befineile in prayfynge of God. And for
' cryenge of welthe of joye the HebrnBti were
' commaunded to blowe trompettes in batayle, in the
' begynnynge of the newe mone, and Co crye and
' wame the comynge of the Jubile, che yere of grace
' with noyce of trompes, and to crye and refte u all
' men. As Ifydir fayth libra xviii."
' A trompe is properly an inftrument ordeyned for
' men Chat lyghcech in batayle, to crye and to wame
'of the fygnea of batayle. And wrhere the cryen
' voys maye not be herde for noyfe, the noyle of the
' trompe Iholde be herde and knowen. And Tait
' hath that name as it were Tfua, that is bolowe
t TlnolenU. BUm. ( Bod. Bilm. t Vino. B»t».
Y Addition oT Bumu. 'Or ]> tot ble loudiieiie neeieit uiariuM
the Toyn -a man.'
* * ' TltTVDUBi|ue tubs muglie per cthcn clangor.'
dbyGoot^le
Chap. LX.
AND PRACTTICE OF MUSIC.
wythin, and full fmothe for Co take the more brethe,
and is roundc wythout, and ftreyghte allc the tromp-
era month, and brode and large at the other ende ;
and the tromper with his honde pullech it to his
rooach, »nd the trompe is rulyd upwarde and down-
warde, and hoJde forth ryght ; and is dyucrfe of
noyfe, as YJjiir layth. For it is foratime blowe to
araye bataylles, and fomtyme for that bataylles (holde
iinyte togyder, and fometyme for the chafe, and Co
talce men in to the hoHie.
Dt Butema.
' Biifema hath the name as it were vofiva farua,
and is a trompe of home, of tree, eyther of braile,
and was blowen ayenll enmyes in old cyme ; for as
IfjJtr fayth. Hire dicime ailavc, the wylde Panemt
were fomtyme gaderyd to al manere doynge wyth
the blowynge of fuche a manere trompe, and Too
Buetina was properly a token to wylde men. Perjius
fpckyth herof, and fayth that fiuccina made the oldc
^wyritts araye themlelfc, namely, in armoure. The
voys of fuche a trompe, hyght Bucciniiim as he fayth,
and the Htiretaes ufed Crompcs of home, namely in
Kakadui, Jn rcmembraunce of the delyueraunce of
Yfaac, whanne an homyd wctcher was ofiryd and
made oblacion of in his ftedc, as the Gloc.* fayth
fuper Gtttifis.\
Dt Tibia.
' Tiiia is a pypc, and hach that name for it was
fyrAc made of Icggcs of hartes, yonge and olde, as
men trowe ; and the noyfc of pypcs was called Other,
as Hagucisji fayth. This name Tiiia comyth of
Tiiium, that is a rufhe, other a rede, and therof
comyih this name Tiiitm a pype. And was fom-
tyme an inllniment of doole and lamentacyon, whyche
men dyde ufe in office and fepulcures of deed men, as
the Gloc. fayth fuper Math. ix. and thereby the fonge
was fonge of doole and of lamentacyon.
De Calami.
' Calamus hath that name of thys worde Calando,
fowning; and b thcgencrall name of pypes. A pype
hyghte Fijlttla, for voyce comyth therof. For voyce
hyghte FcsX in Grtitit,^ and fend, lftola\\ in Grttee.
And foo the pype hyghte Fifiula, as it were Jendyng
autt vajce other fowne. Hunters ufcth this inllru-
mcnt, for hartes louyth che noyfe therof. But whyle
the harte takcth hede and likynge in the pypynge of
an hunter, another hunter whyche he hath no know-
lege of, comyth and flioteth ac the harte and Heeth
hym. Pypyng begyleth byides and foules, therefore
it is fayd " the pype fyngeih fwetely whyle the fowler
begyleth the byrde."i[ And ihepe louyth pypynge,
therfore fliepeherdes ufyth pipes whan they walk wyth
theyr fhepe. Therefore one whyche was callyd Pan
was callyd God of hirdes, for he joyned dyverle redes,
and arayed them to fonge flyghly and craftely. Virgil
fpekyth therof, and fayth that Pan oiJxynti fyitk to
join [in one horne]*" Pan hath cure of fhepe and ol
fhepherdes. And che fame inftrumenc of pypes hyghte
Pan donum, for Pan was fynder therof as Yfydtr fayth.
And wyth pipes waichynge men pleyfech fuche men
as reftyth in beddes, and makych theym llepe the
fooner and more fwedy by melodye of pypesiff
tit Sambttca.
' Samiaea is the Elleme tree brotyll, and the bowes
therof ben holowe, and voyde and fmothe ; and of
thole fame bowes ben pipes made, and alfo fome
maner fymphony, as Tfyder layth.
De Sjtnpbenia.
' The Sympbonye is an inftrumenc of mufyke, and b
made of an holowe tree, clofyd in lether in eyther
fydc, and mynftralles becyth it wyth ftyckes ; and by
accorde of hyghe and lowe therof comyth fiill fwete
notes, as Ifyder fayth. Neuerthelefle the accorde ot
all fownes hyghte Symphma, is lyke wife as the
accorde of dyuerfe voya hyghte Cberm, aa the Gloc.
fayth fuper Luc.
De Afmanya.
' Armanya Riibinica is a fownynge melodye, and
comyth of fmyttyng of ilrynges, and of tynklyng
other ryngynge of metallc. Anddyuerfe inftrumencea
(eruyth to this manere armonyc, as Tabour, and Tjm-
hrt, Harpe, and Satctry, and Naiyret, and alfo Siftrum.
Dt Tympant.
' Tympanum is layed ftreyghte to che tree in the one
fide, and half a tabour other halfe a fymphony, and
(hape as a fyfue,It and beten wyth a ftycke; ryght as
a tabour, as l/ydir fayth, and makcth the better
melody yf there is a pype therwyth.
Dt Cithara.
' The harpe hyghte Cithara, and was fyrfi founds
of Appallin, as the Grikts wcne ; and die harpe u
like to a mannys brefte, for lyke wyfe as the voyce
comyth of the brefte, {qq the notes comech of the
harpe, and hath therfore chat name Cithara, for the
brefte is callyed Thcrita thieariuz. And afterwarde
fome and fome,^^ came forth many manere inftru-
mentes therof, and hadde that name Cithara, as the
harpe, and fawtry, and other fuche.
' And fome ben foure comerde, and fome thre
comerde ; che ftrynges ben many, and fpecyall
manere therof is dyuerfe.
' Men in olde cyme callyd the harpe Fiiieula, and
alfo Fidictn, for the ftrynges therof accordych as well
as fome men accordyth in Fey.|||| And the harpe had
feuen ftrynges, and foo Virgil fayth libra ftpiimn. Of
fowne ben &ucn Diftrimina^^ of voys, and ben as the
dbyGoot^le
270
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE.
Book VIL
'nexte fiiynge dierio. And ftryoges ben leuen, ibr
' the fuUedi alle the note. Other for heuea fownyth
'in feoen meuyngs. A fltyngc hyghce Corda, and
' hathe the fame name of corde the herte ; for u the
' pul« of the herte a in the brcfte, foo the puis of the
' ftrynges it in the harpe. Mercuriui founde up fyrfte
' fuche ftrynge), for he ftrenyd fyrile ftryngcs, and
• made them to fowne, is T/yder fayth.
' The more drye the ftrynges ben ftrcyncd the more
• they fowne. And the wrefte hyghce PltSrum.
Dl Pfallfrw.
' The Sawtry highce P/allerium, and hath that name
' of PJalUndt, lyngyn^ j for the confonant anfweryth
' to the noK therof in fyngynge. The harpc is lyke to
' the fawcry in fowne. But this b the dyueriytee and
'difcorde bytwene the harpe and the fawtry ; in the
' fawtry is an holowe tree, and of that fame tree the
' fowne comyth upwarde, and the ftrynges ben fmytte
'dounwarde, and fbwnyth upwarde ; and in the harpe
' the liolownelle of the ere is bynethc. The Hibrtxeis
'callyth the lawtry Dttanrdti, an inflnimcnt hauinge
' ten ftrlnges, by numbre of the Kn heftes or com-
' maundemenlet. Stringet for the fawtry ben befte
'made of Uton, or elk) thole ben goode that ben
' made of fyluer.
l>t Lira.
' Lira hath that name of dyuerfytee of fowne ; for
' the Lira geueth dyuerfc fownei, u I/jder fayth. And
' fome people fuppofe that MercKriui fyrile founde up
< this inllniment Lira in this wife. The river Njliu
' was flowen and arylen, and afterward was aualyd
'and wythdnwen ayen in to hii propre channelle.
' And \efre in the felde many dyucric bccftys, and alfo
' a fnaylle ; and whan the fnaylle was roftyd the
' fynewes left, and were ftreyncd in the fnaylles houje.
' And Mtrcariui fmote the fynewes, and of thcym came
' a fowne. And Merairiui made a Lira to the lyknefle
' of the fnaylles houfe, and gave the fame Lira to one
' that was namyd Orfbtiu, whiche was mooft befy
' abowtte fuch things ; and fo it was layd that by the
' fame crafte, not oonly wylde beeftys drewe to fonge
' and melodye, but moreouer ftones and alfo wodea.
' And fyngen m fables don mcane that thyi forfayd
' inftmment Lira is fette amonge Itcrres for loue of
' ftudy and prayfynge of fong, as I/jdir fayth.
De Cjmbali),
' Cymialt) ben inllrumentea of mufyk, and ben bajue
' togider, and fowneth and ryngeth.*
Dt Sijirt.
' Sifirwm is an inftrument of mufyk, and hath the
' name of a lady that firfte broo^l it up ; for it u
• proued that Ifis, queue of Egjfte, was the firft fynder
• oi Sifirum : and Jnuenaii) fpekyth therof and fayth,
• Ifif ft iratt feridl mta lumina jiftrt. And wymmen
'dyth this inftmment, for a woman was the fyrfte
'fynder therof. Therfore among the JmaxoMti the
'hofte of wynimen is callyd to bataylle with the
• inftrument Sijlmm.f
• AdiUiliin at Bubub. ■ Caay—ti llk> > Iumh : an tlia aypn mm-
pisH. DiHttr > nrUin holawwa biii|*lh btlti balU lie or KSTtn.
De Ttniinaiuie.
' Tiulinabuiuz is a belle, other at CemptmtU ; and
' hath the name of Tivienda, tynklynge or ryngynge.
' A belle hathe this propryte, that whyie he prouflyteth
' to other in fowninge, he is waftyd ofte by fmytynge.
' Thyfe inftrumentes, and many other feruyth to mufyk
' that tteatyth of voyfc and of fowoes, and knowech
' neuertheleftc dyfpofycyon of kyndly chynges, and pro-
' porcyon of nombres, as Baicius fayth ; and lettyth
' enfample of the nombre of twelue in comparyfon to
' fyxe, and to other nombres that ben bytwene, and
' layth in this vryfe. Here we fyndeth all the accordet
' of mufyk, from eyghte to fyxe, nyne to twelue, nukyth '
' the proporcyon Sifyuitercia, and makyth togydre the '
'confonancy Djapentt; and twelue to fyxe makyth
'dowble proporcyon, and fyngych the accorde Dit-
' pa/en. Eyghte to nyne in comparyfon ben meane,
' and makyth Epogdmiu, whych is callyd Tmmi in
' melody of mufyk, and is comin mefure of alle the
' fownes. And foo it is too onderftonde tliat bytwene
' DjaltJirBH and Djapnit tonus is dyuerfyte of ac-
'cordesj ai bytwene the proporcyons SixqMitercia and
■ Sixquiahira oonly Epegdalii is dyuerfyte, hue mfqu*
• Btieiiu infitundB Jr/metnctX capiiuli ultima.
' And the melodye of mufyk is nempnyd and callyd
' by names of the nombres. Djaliffirtn, Djapnlt,
■and Djapafin haue names of the nombres whyche
'precedecfa and gooth lolbre in the bcgynnynge of
' thoft fayd names. And the proporcyon of iheyr
> fownes ii founde and had in thole fame nombres, and
' is not founde, nothcr had, in none other nombm.
* For ye fhall underftonde that the fowne and the
■ accorde in Diapafiw, a of proporcyon of the dowble
' itombre ; and the melodye of Djalejfratn dooth come
' of Spilritt) etUimie that is SexquiUrda prtptrci*,
^idfit Humirtis fefyaiaherus.
' The nombre Stxquialterui conteyneth other halft
' the lefte nombre, as thre conteyneth tweyne and the
' halfe deale of two, that is one : fo nyne conteyneth
' fyxe and the halfe deale, that is thre. And fo twelue
' to eyghte, and fyfiene to ten, and fo of other. Thife
' wordes ben in themfelfe deepe and full myftyk, derk
■ to underftondynge. But to them that ben wjfe and
' cunnyng in arfmetrik and in mufyk, they ben more
' clerer than moche lyghte ; and ben derke and alle un-
■ knowen to them whyche ben uncunnynge, and haue
' no ufage in arfmetrik. Therfore he that woll knowe
'the forfayde wordes and proporcyons of nombres of
' voys and fownes, fhall not dyfpyfe to afke counfeylle,
' and to defyre to haue knowlege by thofe whyche ben
' wyfer, and that haue more cunnyng in gemetry and
■ mufyk. And I/jder fayth that in tennes and figures
' and accordes of mufyk is fo grete, that the felfe man
' ftondeth not perfyghte there withoute, for perfyghte
' mufyk comprehendyth alle thynget. Alfo reoolue and
' contydre herof in thy minde, that mufyk and armonye
' unyeth and accordyth dyuerfe thynges and contrary ;
' and makyth the kye lowne to accorde wyth the lowe,
'and the lowe wyth the hyghe : and accordyth con-
dbyGoo^le
Chap. LXt.
AKD PRACTICE OF MUSIU
371
' traty wylles and defyres, and refreynyith and abatyth
' mieuq'oiu and tboughtn, and amendyth and com-
'fortyth ftble wyttcs of felyogc, and cryeth namely,
'and warnyth \a of the unycee of the exemplar of
'God in contrary werkynges; and dyuerfly mani-
' ftfteth tnd flieweth that erchly thyngea may be Joyned
'inaccotdetoheuenly thyngci; and caufeth and maketh
'gladde and joyfid hertes, more gladde and joyful, and
' fory herces and elenge, more fory and elenge : for as
• Jujlin &yth by a preuy and fccrece lykne& of pro-
'prytc of the ibufc and of armonye, melodye con-
' fbunnyth hfclfe to the afieccyons and defires of the
'foulc. And therfore auAorea meanych that inftru-
' iDcnKi of mufyk makyth the gladde more gladde,
' and the fory more fory. Loke other proprytees of
' armonye tofore in this fame boke, wbereai other
' wordw of Ifydn ben rehereyd and fpoken of.'
To this brief but very curioua disoonree of Bar-
IholomffiOB, his editor Batman haa added a enpple'
ment, containing his own eentimenta and those of
randry other writers on the inbject Thia supple-
ment may be considered as a commentary on his
author, bnt is too long to be here inserted.
CHAP. LXI.
Thk foregoing extract may well be considered as a
snpplement to the several tracts contained in the
Cotton mannscript and that of Walthatn Holy Crow,
of the contents whereof a copious relation has herein
before been given ; forasmucJi as these treat in gene-
ral on the nature of the consooanceB, the rudiments
of song, the Cantos Gregorianns, and its application
to the choral offices, the Cantna Bdenanrabilis, and the
iirecepta of extemporary descant, and this of Bartho-
anueuB contains snch a parUcular account of the
various instruments in use at the time of writing it,
which, to mention it again, was about the year 1366,
■s it wonld be in vain to seek for in any manuscript
or printed book of equal antiquity, as yet known to
be extant.
It is true that in the account which he has given
of the inventors of the several instmments described
by bim, BartholomteuB seems to have founded bis
opinion on vulgar tradition ; and indeed in some
respects he u contradicted by authors whose good
fortune it was to live in more enlightened times, and
from whose testimony there can lie no appeal. But
rejecting his relation as fabulous in this respect,
enongh will be left in this little work of his to engage
the attention of a curious enquirer into the history
and
progress
of music ; as it is from snch accounts
u this alone that we are enabled to form ai^ estimate
of the state of musical practice at any given period.
The several descriptions given by this author of
the ancient trumpet made of a Horn, or of a Tree ;
of the Tibia, formed of the leg-bone of a hart ; as also
of the li^atula, seem to refer to the practice of the
Hebrews and ancient Greeks ; but nothing can be
less artificial than the Sambnca, a kind of pipe, made,
u be relates, of the branch of an Elder Tree ; or that
other inatniment described by bim in the chapter De
Symphonia, made of aa ' holowe tree, doayd in lether
' in eyther syde, whych mynstralles hetyth wyth
' Btyckes ;' or of dke l^mpannm, ' layed streyghte to
' the tree, in shape as a ayve, having halfe a tabonr
'and halfe a symphony;' and which 'being beten
' with a stycke, makyth the better melodic yf there is
' a pype therwyth.'
These, and other particulars remarkable in the
above-menlioaed tract of BarthoIomKus, bespeak, as
strongly aa words can do, the very low and abject
state of instrumental music in his time ; and were it
not for the proofs contained in other authors, that the
organ, the harp, the lute, and other instruments of a
more elegant structure were in use at that time, wonld
induce a suspicion that instrumental music was then
scarcely known. But to what degrees of improvement
these rude essays towards the establishment of an
instrumental practice were carried in the space of
about fourscore years, may be collected from the Liber
Niger Domus Regis, before cited, in which is con-
tained an acconnt of tiie several musicians retained by
Edward IV. as well for his private amusement, as for
the service of bis chapel, with their duties. Batman,
in the additions made by bim, seems to have dis-
charged, as hr as he was able, tbe duty of a commen-
tator : and has given such on eulogium on the science
of music as might be expected from a man of great
reading and little skill, and such the anthor appears
to have been. The account of the household establish-
ment of Eklward IV. above-mentioned, is contained
in the following words : —
' MiNSTHELLEa-Uhlrteene, thereof one ii virger, which
' directeth them all fettyvall dayes in their statyones of
' blowings and pypyngi to Buch of^'cei as the officerei
■ m[ght be wamea to prepare for the kind's meats and
' ■oiipen ; to be more redyere in all lerTices and due
' tyme ; and all thea sytyng in the hall together, whereof
' Kime be trompets, some with tbe ihalmea and imalle
' pypes,(&d lome are itrange mene coming to thu court
' at tyve feastei of the ipar, and th«n take their wagea of
' liouibold-.aiter iiij. d- ab. by daye, after a* they have
' byne presenle til conrte,*jand then to ^oyd anere the
' next morrowe aflere the fcaste, beaydea theare other re-
' wards yearly in the king's exchequer, and clothinge
' with the householde, wintere and somere for eiche of
' them xxs., and they take nightelye amongeite them all
' iiij galSSes ale ; and for wintere seasone thre candlet
' nightelye to the oourle. Aulao having into courte ij ii
' vanls to bear their trompels, pypea, and other instni-
' ments, and torche far wintere nightea whilest they blowe
' to EUppore of the cbaundry ; and alnay two of thet per-
. to cantynewe.stylla. iu-courle at wages by the
! roUe whiles they be preiente iiij. ob. dayly, to
'. king'i ridynge houshold when he goelhe to
blUMi or ■ cnuJn knilh. Br ■ lUluU of r B.
Tallhld* muktd J. lMh| lound-lxxlled. ilull go
Til* dlillDcKon
9 coniigud In tbl>, lh*I Til>hU« «
ir, Bplliuid eut Into* proper lan)^ foi
:iDcnK. And thil fi^KDli wrn mutt,
or ihtklM, reih(|ia ii darliod ftoni tlie
dbyGoot^le
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book VU
' honbecke ai oft u it shall require, and that his hons-
' hold meny maye followe the more redyere aftere by the
' blowinge of their trompets. Yf any of thes two min-
' strellea be lete blaode m courts, he taketh two loves, i
' ij messe of greate meate, one galone ale. They part J
' not at no tyme with the rewards given to the houahold.
' Also when it pleaaethe the kinge to have ij mynstrelles
' continuinge in uourte, they will not in no wise that thes
' mynatrelleB be ao faniylliere to aske rewards.
' A_w*iTE, that nightelv from Mychelmaa to Shreve
' Thoradaye" pipethe watche within (his courte fowere
' tymes ; in the lomere nightei iij tymes, and makethe
' Bon Gayte at every chambere, ddare, and offyce, aa
' well for feare of pyckeres and pillera. He eatethe in
' the halle with mynstrellea, and takethe lyverey at nighte
' a loffe, agalone of alie.and for somere nightes ij candles
' piclie, a bushel of coles ; and for wintere nightea halfe
' a loffe of bread, a ealone of alle, iiij candles piche, a
' bushel of coles ; dai^ye whilste he is presents in courte
* for his yages in cheque roale allowed ii^ d>.cb. or else
' i'.i- d. by the discresahon of the sfeuarde and treasorore,
""uid tbat aliere his coniinee and deaerringe : • also
' cloathinge with the bousboTd yeomen or mynstreltes
> lyke to Ute wages that he takelhe ; and he be aycke he
' taketb twoe loves, ij mease of great meate, one galone
' alle. Also he parteAe with the boushold of general
' Ryttg, and bathe his beddinge carried by the comptrol-
' lerea aasygment ; and under this yeoman to be a groome
' watere. Yf he can excuse the yeoman in his absence,
' Ihen he takethe rewarde, clotheinge, meat, and all other
'things lyke to other grooma of boushold. Also this
' yeoman-waighte, at themakingof knighteaof the Bathe,
' for hia attendance upon diem oy nighte-time, in watch-
* inge in the chappelle, bathe to ms fee all Che watchinge-
' clothing that the knight shall wear uppon him.
' Deahk of the CHiiPFELLE, caled the king's Cheefe
' Chapline^ sylHii^eln Ihe hall, and served after a bar-
' roue service, begynninge the chappell bourd, bavinge
' one chappelene, and one gentlemen eatyinge in the
' halle, ^d lyverey lo his chambere for all daye and
' nighta iij loavea, ij mease of greate meate, a picher of
' wyne, two gallones of ' -^ - '--- - -
' by the deane's electtyone or denomenatyone, endowed
' with virtues morroUe and apecikatyve, aa of the muscke,
"ahewinge in descante, clean voyced, well releahed in
" pronoun aynge. Eloquent in readinge, aufiytyeute in
"organea playinge," and modestial in all other bavour^
'syttynge in the hall togethere at the deane's boardej'
' also lodginge togethere within the courte in one clmS?
' here, or else uigbe thertoo. And every eiche of them
' beinge in courte, for hia dayly wages allowed in the
■' cheque rolle, vj]. oh. And Ibr eveiy eiche of them
' oloOimge in wtncvre and aomere, or else of the comp-
' tyng-houae xs., and lyvery to their chamberea nightely
(oVche, one picher, ij candles waxeJiij^Cahdlea pich, iij
' talesheids,lyttere, and ruahes all the year of the serjante
' usher of die hall and chambere, and the dutyea of the
' king's charges ; and all the offerings of wexe in Candle-
' maa-dayeof the hole bousholde by the king's gyffe, with
' the fees of the beene aat uppe in the feastes of the yeare
' when it is brente into a shssmonde. Alao this deane ia
' vearly clothing with the boushold for winter and somere,
'or else in moneyea of the comptyng-house viij markes,
* and carradge for hia canipetente hemes in the ofiyce of
' veaterye, by overayght of the comptrolere, and keepynge
' in all within thia courte iiij peraonea ; and when himself
' ia out of court his cbamberlene eatethe with the cham-
' berlenes in the halle. The deane come azayne, he must
' have lodginge sufFylyento for hia horses by the herben-
' ger, and for hia other servants [n the tonne or contrey ;
' alao he hatbe all the swoards that all the knights of the
' Bathe offere to Gode in the kin^'a cbapelle, as ofte as
' any shall be made. Thia dean la curate of confesabon
'of Douahold.
'Thii deane hath all correctyones of chappelmen, in
' nioribus et acientia; except in some cases to the stuard
' and comptyng-houae ; he nor non of the chappell part-
' ethe with the houshold of noe general gyw eicepte
' ChAFLENES, AMD I
ingste them all ii loves of breade, j picbi
_ alones of ale. And for wintere lyvery f
' lontyde till Eatere, amongeat them all ij candles waxe.
pich, viij talsheidi. Thei parte not with any
' tvthes of houshold at noe tyme, but yf it be given unto
' the chappelle alone. Alao they pay for their carriadge
' of beddinge and harnesae, taking all the year for their
' chambere, lyttere and rushes of the aeijante usher of the
' hall ; and havinge into this courte for every eiche of
' these chaplenes, being preeate, one servante ; and for
< every twoe gentlemen clerkea df the chappelle, one
' honeste servante, and lyverye sufiytyente for their
' horses and their aervantes nighe to the towne. The
' kbg's good grace avauncethe thes people by prebends
' churches of his pat'remonye, or by his highness reco-
' mendatorve, and other free chappelles or hospitallea.
■ Oore Lady Masse preestes and the gospelleres are
• assigned bv the deane ; and if any of thea be let bloode
' in courte, he taketh dayly ij loves, one mesae of great
' meate, one mease of roste, one galone of ale : and when
' the chappelle syng mattcnes over nighte, called Black
' Mattynes, then they have allowed spice and wine,
' ' Yeomen of the chaffelle, twoe, cal1ej.EiaCeleres,t
' growinge (hjm the chiUeirc' Of the chappelle by succea-
' syone of age ; and aftere the' change of their voysea, and
' by the deane's denomenatyon, end after theire conninge
' and virtue : thes twoe yeomen ealynge in the halle at
' the cbapelle board, take dayly when they be preaente in
' court abyding the nighte, for their wages alowed in the
' cheque roles iij. d. and clothinge playne with the yeo-
' men of houshold, and carryadge for their competent^
' beddynge with the children of the chappelle; or ejae
' eiche of them at rewarde liu. s. iiij. d. by ^lie. jeai*,
' aAere the discresyon of atuard and tresorore.
' CaiLnaEN or the chaffelle vi^, founden by tlw
' king's privie coiferei for all that Idngethe to their appe-
' relle by the hands and overayghte of the deane, or b*
' the Master of Songe aasigned to teacbe them, wbi^
' mastere is appointed by the deane. chosen one of the
' nomber of the felowshipe of chappelle after rehearaed,
' and to drawe them to other achooles after the form of
' Sacotte,! aa well aa in Sonee in Orgaines and other.
' Thea childrene eate in the hall dayly at the chappell
' boarde, nexte the yepmane of vestery ; taking amongesta
' them for lyverye daylye fbr brekefaste and all nighte,
' two loves, one messe of great meate, ij galones ale ; and
' for wintere seasone iiij candles piche, iij talsheids, and
' lyttere fur their pallets of the serjante UKher, and car-
' ryadge of the king's coste for the competente beddynge
' by the oversyghte of the comptrollere. And amongeit*
' them all to have one servante into the court to trusae
' and bear their harnesae and lyverey in court And that
1 preaent leceaveth iiij. d. at the green cloQi
' fomptvnf-Jiimae for horshire dayly, as long ar
.. ---cVAnJ ' " -' ' ■"
fthe
id dcHiK. Thg mud aflir Is
' jumeinge,'. And when any of these children coraene tc
It ibla word n« eipluulon li glTU by laj at Uk .
dbyGoot^le
Chap. LXI
AND PRACTICE OP MUSia
273
' xHij yearefl of age, and their voycea change, ne cannot
* be prvferred in this chapelle, the nombere being full,
* then yf they will atsente " the kinge aasynethe Ihem Id
■ a colledge or O'xeford or Cambridge of hia foundatione,
' there to be at fynding and atudye bothe aufiytyently,
* tylte the kinge may otherwiae advaunae thein^|^
' Clerke of the kino'b closetg keepetbe the stuff of
* the elogete, arrayeng and makinge redye the aulterea,
' takings upe the travene, bering the cuBhonea and cai-
' petta, and fytethe all other thinga neceaaarye therto.
' He helpethe the chaplene* to aeye mesae ; and yf the
* darks lefe torche, tapore, mortere of waxe.-t or mch
' other gainge of the treaoroie of houshold, his charge in
' any parte, then he to anawere thearfore aa the iudgea of
' the green clothe will awarde. Also he eatethe in the
' hall with the lerjante of the vestery by the chappelle,
' and takinge for his l^verye at nighte a galone ale, and
' for wintere lyvereye ij candles piche, a talesheid, nishea
' for the closaete, and lytere for tia bede, of the aerjanta
' uahere ; and dayly for hia wages in courte by the cheque
' roule iij. d. oh. anJ cTothinglbt wintere and tomere with
' the houibold, or else xx s. and at every eiche of the iiij
' feaata in the year Wcesvinge of the great apicery a
' towelle of worke, contayning iiij elles, for the king's '
' houselynge, and that ia the clerk's fee anon the king is J
■' honaled. He partethe not with the gyfti of houahold,
' but and he be sycke in courte, he taketh ij lovet, j mease
■ of greet mette, one g^one ale, and lyverey of tne her~
' bengeie ; and for the cariage of the closete is assyned
'Mai
"quel
" eat in poeta, atque in regulis positive gramatice expe-
" ditum fore, quibuB audiencium animos cum diligentia
" inatmit ac iniermet." The king's henxemene the chil-
' dren of the chappelle aftere they cane their deacante, the
' clarlu of the Armorye) with other mene and childrene
' of the court«, diepoaed to learn in this ayence ; which
Maa
I in the king'a chappelle, or elae amonge to reade
' the goBpell, and to be at the greate processyone ; this to
' bee by the deane'a aaaygnacyone ; takinge hisr
' else n. s. cariaije for his competente beddynge and
' boEe* with the childrene of the chapelle, by comptrole-
* mente, not partynge with noe gyftes of housholde, but
' abydiiige the king'a arauncement after his demerits ;
' and lyverye for hia hoTsea by the king'a berbengere [
' and to have in his court one honeate aervante.'H
Of minstrels in general, and of the nature of their
employment, an account baa already been given, as
also of the method practised to keep up a Bucceasion
of them in the king's palace. By the above provision
■ThIiH
I ft more tl>rn»] nUtilIihni«n'
le kind tbin uif
■hfa Aucli' » U Wnlmhiitat. In 81. Buplm'i-cluiHl, wben tha
bulUDMiw Ta)ile-Tmtt.tlI.KliiggrEDglud, 14.
t- foam 1 UonahaD, a light « taper let In ebmtbM, to Imtn pos-
•IUt om tb( snta oi ilician ot tha dead. CowtL
f The word ippotn ilcnlllia n ■iiunlnn. Jn'heMrtutof itxcbniun'
or Buch u ho •hall ippolnl. to appott tbe cblld ; ODd ADcLontlj m Uihop^B
exMnin nj t^^ *n ■•• • opijxHr.
1 Vido Uiui. LItiiot. USB. Blbllotli. Hsit. Numb. t91
it appears tbnt the minBtret's was not altogether a
vagaiwDd profesBion ; but many of tboBe that followed
it were retainers to the court, and seem to have been
no other than muaician^, players on iDstrDmeots of
divers kinds. Dr. Percy, in liis Reliques of ancient
English Poetry, has obliged the world with an essay
on the ancient English minstrels, in which he has
placed in one point of view a great number of curious
particulars that tend to illustrate this subject.
And here it may be observed, that the order and
ceconomy in the families of the ancient nobility bora
a very near resembUnce to that of the royal house-
hold, of which there cannot be clearer evidence than
the liberal allowances for minstrels ; and also chapelst
with singing-men, children, and proper ofBcers for
the performance of divine service in encb families.
In that of the ancient earls of Northumberland v^as
an express establishment for minstrels, and also u
chapel ; an account fo the latter will hereafter be
given from the household- book of UencjE^the fifth earl
of Northumberland ; that relating to the minstreu,
contained in'lhe same book, is as follows : —
U Sect. V.
' Of the noumbre of all my lord's aervaunta in his cbequit^
' roul daily abidynge in hia household.
, viz., a tabret, a luyte, and a rebecc'
Sect. XLIV. 2.
' Rewardes to be given to itrangera, aa players, myn-
' strain s, or any other, &c.
' Flint, my lorde usith and accustomyth to gyf to the
' Kino's Juolck, if he have wone, when they customs to
' come unto hym yerely, vi.a. viij. d.
' Item, My lorde usith and accustomyth to gyf yerely
' to the king's or queene'a Barwarde, if they have one,
' when they custom to com unto hym yerely, vi. s. viij. d.
' Item, My lorde u«th and accustomyth to gyf yerely
' to every eilia MyHSTaELLis, when they custome to come
' to hym yerely, iij. a. iiij. d. And if they come to my
' lorde seldome onea in ij or iij yerea, than vj. a. viij. d.
' or kynsman, if they come yerely to his lordachip, .
' And if they come to my lord aeldome onea in ij or iij
' yeaies, vj. s. viij. d,
' Item, My lorde usith and accustomyth to gyf yerely
' a dooke's or erlis TauiijEiTB, if they cum vj together to
' his lordshipp, viz., if they come yerely vj. s. viij. d
' And if they come but in ij or iij yeres, than i. s.
' Item, My lorde uailh and Bccustomylh yerly, when
' his lordachip is at home, to gyf to iij the kyng's Suaueb,
' whether they com to my lorue yerely x. a.
Sect. XLIV. 3.
* Rewards to his lordship's servaunti, &c.
' Item, My lord usith and accuatomith to gyf yerly,
' when his lordschipp is at home, to his HTHatRXti-LS that
< be daly in his houahold, as hia tabret, lute, ande rebeke,
'upon New Yeres-day in the momynge, when they doo
' play at my lordia chambre doure, for nis lordachipe and
'my lady xx. s. vii., xiij. a. iiii. d. for my lord, and
' vi. a. viij. d. for my lady, if sche be at my lords fynd-
' ynge and not at hir owen ; and for playing at my lor^a
'sone and heir chaumbre doure, the lord Percy, ij. s.
' And for playinge at the chaumbre dourea of my lords
'yonger aonnea, my yonge maistera, after vilij. d. tha
' y of them. — xxiij. s. iiij. d.'
' pece for every o
dbyGooi^lc
374
HISTORY OP THE 6CIENCB
Book VII
Thia establisbment, though no older than about the
third year of the reign of Henry VIII. ia not to be
coDsidered as a novel inetitution ; on tbe contrary it
appears to be a recognition of that rule and order
which had been observed in the family for agea pre-
ceding ; and that minetrels were formerly persons of
some consideration, at least in the northern parts of
the kingdom, may be inferred from on inscription
still legible on a pillar in the ancient chnrch of St
Mary, at Beverley, in Yorkshire. It aeems that to
the expense of erecting this fabric the nobility and
gentry of the town and its neighbourhood were
Tolnntary contributors : one of the pillars that sop-
port it was built by the minstrels, in memory whereof
tlie capital is decorated with the 6gures of five men,
carved in stone, dressed in short coats ; one of these
bears in his hand an instrument of a mde form, hut
somewhat resembling a lute, and under this sculptnre
are these words in ancient characters, Sfags f glUt
niHbe the MstnUrglb.
The chapel establishment of this noble family was
perhaps less ancient, and might have been borrowed
from that of Edward the Fourth, contained in the
foregoing acconnt of his household ; it was never-
theless very noble, and will be given in a subsequent
part of this vrork.*
John of Dokstablk, bo called ftom the town of
that name in the county of Bedford, where he was
bom. seems to have been a very learned man, and an
excellent mnsician. He 0ourished about the vear
1400, and was the anthor of n tract De Mensurabilia
Musica. Gaffurius, in his Practica Mnsicse, lib. II.
cap. vii. baa cited him by the name of Donstable, and
has produced an example from a hymn of his com-
position, beginning ' Veni sancte spiritus,' to explain
a passage in that work. Morley has named him in
his catalogue of English practitioners ; and he else-
where appears to have been a very considerable man
in his time.f He is said to have died in 1455, and
to have been buried m the parish church of St. Ste-
phen, Walbrook, in London. In Fuller's Worthies,
Bedfordshire, 116, is the following epitaph on him : —
Claa^tnr hoc tnmalo qui ccelum pectore claurit,
Dunstable I, juris astrorum conacius ille,
Judice novit nieramit abiconiUta pandere coli ;
Hie vir erat tua laus, tua lux, tua muuca princepa,
Quique tuas dulces per mundum sparaerst artti
Aniio Mil. C. guater, temrl L. tria jungito ChriiU
Pridie natale itdiu Iranrmgrat ad aitra
Suscipiant proprium civem coeli libi civea.
it
And in Fnller are also these verses, written,
is said, by John Whethamsted, abbot of St Alban'a.
MusicuB hie Michalus alter, uovus et Ptolomeut
Junior ac Atlas lupportan* robore coetoa,
Pautat lub cinere ; mellor vir mulieie,
Nunquam natui erat ; vicii quia labe carebat,
Et virtu tis opes posaedit unicui omnes.
Perpetiiii annis ceUbretur fama Johannis
Dunstable ; in pace requiescat et hie sine fin*.
Fuller, who seeks all occasions to be witty, speak-
ing of these two compositions, nses these wards :
' What is true of the bills of some anconsdonable
' tradesmen, if ever paid overpaid, may be said ot
' these hyperbolical epitaphs : if ever believed over
' believed, yea one may safely cut off a third in anj
' part of it, and the remainder will amount to make
' htm a most admirable person. Let none say that
' these might be two distinct persons ; seeing beudea
' the concurrence of time and place, it would bankrupt
' the exchequer of nature to afford two such persons,
* one Phcenix at once being as much as any one will
' believe.' Morley, in his Introduction, pag. 178, baa
convicted tliis author of no less a crime tbui the
interposing two rests, each of a long, between two
syllables of the samn word. The passage is as lot-
lows : ' We must also take beed of separating any
' part of a word from another by a rest, as some
' Dunces have not slacked to do ; yea one, whose
' name is Johannes Dunstable, an ancient English
' author, hath not onlie divided the sentence, but in
' the verie middle of a word hath made two long
' reats thus, in a song of four parts upon these words :
' "Nesciens virgo mater virum": —
-B'^ nj-^a^
tB~S~^ -^rflrld
g=d=Fg=FCPg3J=tt:
Ip-mm re-gem An-ge - lo -
•for these be bis owne notes and words, which is one
' of the greatest absurdities which I have seene com-
* B«ild« the Hlnitnli lint iren T*Ulii«n ts gnat IwuKi. Iben
U Ukcn fiom the AppcoJlz to Htune'i LUki Scucuil, Numb, ^1,
■ Tba fnicmilr of th« Holj Cnxic <n Abingdon, in H. S. (yms. being
' Iben ^tn nowe the hmpiull li. did tvtrj yeate keep > feut, and Ihen
■ tbe; Died lo have tvelTs prinlei \n alng a diilga. <ot Bhich thej had
' Htvrti them TourprnDe a piece. They had aL»o twelve minitTf llj, fomff
' mim Coventre, and *Qma from Maydanhiih, who bad two ahllllitge and
■ Dm ralgne et H, S. DbiKm that in ttaoia da^el Uiflji payd then myn-
* ainlli better than therrv pitinea.'
t JihiBiMa Kuclua. In hli Pivceptionei Mu^cte Poetlca, prlntal In
lao>ta-bat
■biwn, had DO titl. to ili» merit >f It.
' mitted in the dyttying of mnsicke.' The passage
cited by Morley is certainly absurd enongh ; bat
that he was betrayed into an illiberal reflection on
his author's supposed want of understanding by the
tempting harmony of Dunce and Dunstable will
hardly be doubted.
Franchinns, or as be is otherwise called Gafftirios,
frequently cites a writer on music named Mab-
CBETTOs: this autbor was of Padua ; helived about
the year 1400, and wrote a treatise entitled Lud-
I Geiman vriler, Franeia Luatlg.
dbyGooi^le
CHir.IXIL
AND PBACTTICE OF MUSia
275
dftrmin in Arte Mnaice plane, and another Be Mn-
uu measurata.
pKOSDOdUDs DE Beldkkahdib, of Padoa, flonrisbed
about the year 1403. He wrote several tracts on plain
■ad menaurable music, and was engaged in a contro-
versary with Marchettna ; bat he is moat frequently
mentioned as the commentator of De Muria, on whose
treatise entitled Practica Menenrabilis Oantns, he
wrote a learned exposition. Besides being an ex-
cellent musician, he is celebrated aa a philosopher
and astrolt^er : the latter character he owed to a
tract De Sphtera of hia writing.
JoHAHNEB TiBCToR, a doctor of the civil law, arch-
deacon of Naples, and chanter in the chapel of the
king of Sicily, lived about this time, but somewhat
prior to Franchinoe, who cites him in several parts
of his works. He wrote much on music, particularly
on the measures of time, on the tones, and a tract
entitled De Arte Contrsponcd.*
AHTONica SnARCtALDPua, a Florentine, ahont the
year 1430, excelled so greatly in mnsic, that numbers
came from remote parts to hear bis turmony. He
published some things in this art, but the particalara
are not known. The senate of Florence in honour
of his memoty, caused a marble statne of him to be
erected aear the great doors of the cathedral church.f
Ahgklus PoLiTiAKUB, ft person better known in
the learned world as one of the revivers of literature
in the fifteenth century, than for bis skill in the
science, was nevertheless a writer on, and passionate
admirer of music. His Panepistemon, or Prfelec-
tiones, contains a disconrse De Musica natural),
mundaoa, et artificiali. Glareanns mentions bim in
two or three places of bis Dodecschordon, aa having
misapprehended the doctrine of the ancient modes.
Indeed he has not stuck to charge him with an error,
which stares the reader even of the title-page of the
Dodecachordon in the face ; for in a catalogue of four-
teen tnodes, which form the title page of that work,
the Hyperphrygian mode, with the letter F prefixed
oocnra, with this note under it, ' Hyperlydins Poli-
tiani ; sed est error.' He flouriahed about the year
1460, and acquired such a reputation for learning
and eloquence, that Laurence de Medicis committed
to hie care the education of his children, of whom
John, afterwards pope Leo the tenth, was one. The
place of his residence woe a mountain in Tuscany, to
which in honor of him, the appellation of Mons Poli-
tianue, by the Italians cormpted into Monte Pulciano,
was given. Though an ecclesiastic and a dignitary
of the church, for it seems he was a canon, be is
represented by Mons. Varillas as a man of loose
morals, as a proof whereof he relates the following
story : ' Ange PoliUen, a native of Florence, who
' passed for the finest wit of bis time in Italy, met
' with ft fate which punished his criminal love.
' Bein^ professor of eloquence at Florence, he an-
'happily became enamoured of one of hie young
'schotars who was of an illustrious family, but
' whom he could neither corrupt by his great pre-
' sents, Dor by the force of hia eloquence. The
' vexation he conceived at this disappointment was
' so great as to throw him into a burning fever ;
' and in the violence of the fit he made two couplets
' of a song upon the object with which he was trans-
' ported. He had no sooner done this than he raised
' himself from his bed, took his lute, and accompanied
' it with his voice, in an air eo tender and affecting,
' that he expired in singing the second couplet'
Mons. Balzac gives a different account of Ms death.
He aays that as he was singing to the lute, on the
top of the stair-case, some verses which he had for-
merly made on a young woman with whom he was
then in love, the inetmmeDt fell out of hie hand, and
be himself fell down the stairs and broke bis neck.
Bsyle has refuted both these stories, and assigned
good reasons to induce a belief that the sole cause of
Politian's untimely death, was the grief he bad con-
ceived for the decay of the house of Medicia, to which
he bad great obligations,
CHAP. LXIL
Th* several writers herein before enumerated, and
mentioned to have lived after the time of Boetius,
were of liberal professions, being either ecclesiastics,
lawyers, physicians, or general scholars : 'neverthe-
less there was a certain uniformity in their manner
of treating the subject of music, that seemed to
preclude all theoretic improvement. Boetius had
collected and wrought into his work the principal
doctrines of the ancients ; be bad given a general
view of the eeveral opiniAns that had prevailed
amongst them, and bad adopted such as be thought
had the most solid foundation in reason and ex-
periment The accuracy with which ha wrote,
and his reputation as a philoeopher and a man of
learning, induced an almost implicit acquiescence
in his authority.
This was one reason why the succeeding writers
looked no farther backward than to the time of Boetius
for their intelligence in harmonics; but there was
another, which, had their inclination been ever so
strong to trace the principles of the science to their
source, mast have checked it, and that was a general
ignorance throughout the western empire of the Greek
language. The consequence hereof was, that of the
many treatises on music which were written between
the end of the sixth, and the beginning of the twelfth
century, if we except such as treated of the scale as
reformed by Guido, the ecclesiastical tones, and the
Gantus Mensurabilis, the far greater part were but so
many commentaries on the five books De Musica of
Boetius : and this almost impossibility of farther
explaining the theory of the science was eo uni-
versally acknowledged, that of the candidates for
academical hononrs, the principal qualifications re-
quired were a competent knowledge of his doctrines.
But though all improvements in the Theory of
music may seem to have been at a stand during this
period of five centuries, or a longer, for it may be
extended backward to the time of Ptolemy, it is suf-
ficiently clear that it fared otherwise with the Practice.
Oiiido, who does not appear to have ever read the
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
276
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
BooE-VU.
Oreek writers, effected a very important reformation
of the Bcale ; and, by an inveotlon perfectly new,
facilitated the practice of singing with truth And cer-
tainty. Some add that he was aUo the inventor of
mnsic in consonance ; but uf this the evidence ie not
80 clenr aa to preclude all doubt. Franco invented,
and De Mnris and others perfected, the Cantua Men-
aarabilis ; and these iniprovementa were of a nature
BO important, that they extended themaelvee to every
CKtintry where the practice of music prevailed, and
in short pervaded the whule civilized world.
As to the science of harmonics, it had retreated to
that part of the world, which, npon the irruption of
the Goths into Europe, became the seat of literature,
Constantinople ; thither we may reaaonably suppose
the several works of AriatDxenns, Euclid, and other
ancient harmonicians, perhaps the only remaining
books on the subject that escaped the wreck of learn-
ing, were carried ; and these were the foundation of
that conalitution, which we are expressly told came
from the East, the ecclesiastical tones. It does not
indeed appear that the science received any consider-
able improvement from this recess, since of the few
books written during it, the greater part are abridg-
ments, or at beet but commentaries on the mora
ancient writers ; and of this the treatises of Marcianua
Capella, Censorinna, Porphyry, and Manuel £ryen-
nius, are a proof, and indeed the almost impossibility
of any such improvement after Ptolemy is apparent ;
for before his time the eoarmonic and chromatic
genera were grown into disuse, and only one species
of the diatonic genus remained : nay, it is evident
from the whole tenor of his writings, and the pains
he has taken to explain them, that the doctrine both
of the genera and of the modes waa involved in great
obscurity : if thia was the case in the time of Ptolemy,
who is said to have lived about the year 139, and the
practice of music had undergone so great a change
as arose from the reduction of the genera with their
several species to one or two at most, and Uie loaa of
the modes, all that the ancients had taught became
mere history ; and the utmost that could be expected
from a set of men who lived at the distance of some
centuries from the latest of them, was that they should
barely understand their doctrines.
All Theoretic improvement being thus at a stand,
we are not to wonder if the endeavours of mankind
were directed to the establishment and cultivation of
A new Practice ; and that these endeavours were
vigorously exerted, we need no other proof than the
zeal of the ancient Oreek fathers to introduce music
into the service of the church, the institution of the
ecclesiastical tones, the reformation of the scale, and
the invention of the Oantus Mensurabilis.
The migration of learning from the east to the
west, is en event too importuit to have escaped the
notice of historians. Some have aaserted that the
foundation of the musical practice now in use waa
laid by certain Greeks, who, upon the sacking of
Constantinople by the Turks under Mahomet the
Great, in 1453, * retired from that scene of horror
* Thli Importut erenl me lite to ■ proTeibUl Bipmdon, nnullr
*pp1lFd -■--■ -''--■- ■- ■-■- ■"- ■-"- •■ "-
it tnt Rycii
and deaolation, and aettled at Rome, and other cities
of Italy. To this purpose Mons. Bourdelot, the
author of Histoire Musique et ses ESets, in four small
tomes, relates that certain ingenioos Greeks who had
escaped from the sacking of Constantinople, brought
the polite arts, and particularly music, into Italy :
for this assertion no antbority is cited, and though
recognized by the late reverend and learned Br.
Brown, it seems to rest solely on the credit of an
author, who, by a strange abuse of the appellation,
has called that a history, which is at best but an inja-
diciouB collection of uuanthenticated anecdotes and
trifling memoirs.
To ascertain precisely the circumstances attending
the revival of teaming in Europe, reconree must he
had to the writings of such men as have given a par-
ticular relation of that great event ; and by these it
will appear, that before the taking of Constantinople
divers learned Greeks seUled in Italy, and became
Eiblic teachers of the Greek language; and that
ante, Boccace, and Petrarch, all of whom flourished
in the fourteenth century, availed themselves of their
instructions, and co-operated with them in their en-
deavours to moke it generally nndeistood. The most
eminent of these were Leontius Pilatns, Emannel
Chrysoloras, Tbeodorua Gaza, Qeorgiua Trapezuntins,
and cardinal Bessorion. To these, at the distance of
an hundred years, succeeded Joannes Argyropylua,
Demetrius Chalcondyles, and many others, whoee
lives and 1atx>urs have been snfGciently celebrated.'^'
It no where appears that any of these men were
skilled in music ; on the contrary, they seem in gene-
ral to have been grammarians, historians, and divines,
fraught with that kind of erudition which became
men who professed to be the restorers of ancient
learning. Nor have we any reason to believe that the
practice of music had so fu flouriahed in the eastern
part of the world, as to qualify any of them to become
Eublic teachers of the science. It is trne that mndc
ad been introduced by St. Basil, Chrysostom, and
others of the Greek fathers, into the service of the
church, and that the emperor Conetantina hod sent
an organ aa a present to Pepin king of France ; but
it is aa true that all the great improvements in the art
were made at home. Pope Gregory improved npon
the Ambrosian chant, and established the eight eccle-
siastical tones ; Guido reformed the scale, and Franco
invented the Contus Mensurabilis ; and the very term
Contrapunto bespeaks it to have sprung from Italy.
From these premises it seems highly probable that
it was not a Practice more refined tlian that in genera]
use, nor an improved Theory which these persons
brought from Constantinople, but that the introduo-
tion of the ancient Greek harmonicians, together with
I B*7ls hu g\nn ■ putknlar ueoant of Hoia of tbe mud amliiHit ■{
Ihllr IWn. ind • htalocr of ihit ImiwiUnt ci
vork et Dr. Humphrtr Hody, JUaLy mibllahc
UIM 'DaGndillliulrlbiuLlDKUBOneeaLltnuiuiHiatHi
< Iniuuntorllnu.' TbE nueee oT the penoiu cblellr celeln
wnk, bMidti UmM ■boTv-mnillaDal. ui Nkoliiu SieondlDU. .HSBaa'
Andronlcut Cilllilai, 'TniiiiumDi Andronlciu, Ocoigliu CbrtiloBTiBiu.
JunnM FdId. ConiUnUnni Lucuki, MIchul Minllui, HuUIdi Itlul-
liu, Mucni Uuunu, Annlui Cilibnu, Nlcoluu BopMnBi, Oeorslu
AleJVBdAT, JAUkpei HoubuB. Deihttrlm Hoacbiu, £muiiial JLdrwJttft-
tmiu. ZKhuiu Calliigiu, Nkoliiu BIhIdi. Ariitabulut Apmlolla*,
... Danutrliu Du«u, Nicclu Phtiutui, Juil[nui Caicrnaui, NieolKi-
■ Hblory of Ib« Tulki, P«tnu, AntsBliu£pircUi,U>ttli«uiATuiiu,lIiniu>awi»Zai9Btkl«>.
dbyGooi^lc
Chap. LXIL
AND PEACTICE OF MUSItt
277
SQch ft knowledge of the langaage as enabled the
proresBors of music in Italy and other countries to
understand and profit by their writings, jb the ground
of that obligation which music in particular owes them.
The probability of this conjecture will farther ap-
pear when we reflect on the opinion which the Italians
entertain of the rise and progress of music in Europe,
and that is, that Guido for the practice, and Fran-
chinns for the theory, were the fathers of modem
munic How well founded that opinion is with respect
to the latter of these two, will appear from the account
of him which will shortly hereafter be given, and from
tho following view of the state of music in those
countries, that mode the greatest advances as well in
scientific as literary improvements.
It seems that before the time of Franchinus the
teachers of music in Italy were the monks, and the
Provencal mnsars, violars, &c., the former may be
supposed ta have taught, as well as they were able,
the general principles of harmony, as also the method
of singing the divine ofBces, and the letter the use of
instruments : it seems also that about the middle of
the fifteenth century the Jews were great professors
of music, for by a law ot Venice, made in the year
1443, it appears that one of their chief employments
st that time was the teaching children to sing ; and
they are thereby expressly forbidden to continue it,
juxAer severe penalties.
In France it is observable, that after the introduc-
tion of Guido's system into that kingdom, the progress
of mnsic was remarkably slow; one improvement
however seems to have bad its rise in that country,
namely, Fauxbonrdon, or what wa in England were
need to term Faburden, the hint whereof was probably
taken from the Cornamuss or bagpipe ; and of this
kind of accompanyment the French were so estreraely
fond, that they rejected the thought ot any other ;
nay, they persisted in their attachment to it after the
science had arrived to a considerable degree of per-
fection in Italy and other parts of Europe.
In Germany the improvements in music kept nearly
an even pace with those in Italy. Indeed they were
but very few ; they consisted solely in the formation
of new melodies subject to the tonic laws, adapted to
the hymns, and other church ofBces, which were
innumerable ; hut the disgusting uniformity of these
left very little room for the exercise of the inventive
faculty :* the Germans indeed appear to have attained
to great perfection in the use of Uie organ so early as
the year 1480 ; for we are told that in that year a
German, named Berabard, invented the Pedal; from
whence it should seem that he hod entertained con-
ceptions of a fuller harmony than could be prodaced
from that instrument by the touch of the fingers alone.
This fact seems to agree but ill with Morley's opinion,
that before the time of Franchtnns there waa no such
• Bootdckx nUtt* IbH the inMmune betvein thi Fnncb ud
lUUuu duTlnf Iba nifai ot Chulii VIII.. Ltwii XII., und Pnniili I.,
•ad iRinnnli bi Uie lime or Qliccd Cithrriac ds Medldi, who w« [a
•mrmpectu Itillin, conlrlbuUil fnnU; Ainlnitha Piench muikj
nul broiijbi It to ■ nor nKinblinei wlih Uiu ot luly i but Uiil muy
mt tbt cbQicheo In Pnooo bAd fono 99 taj Ma to coutitulo buuU of mil*
•Mm* to add ■« tlu Minnnlir, but IbU ttm tomt jrout IIht wen
dImluHl. TbecbipteroIPHlt tDtertiliMdmdliUkeof ibmt tndbr
•craiu opltnlur tnolulbnu mido In tbt nir ISU, ordalnsd ttau the
FuzlwaidoB tbaulA be nii(>d ; md of tblt Uid of bamaiiT, ilnnlB
and liBiiiad u It U, tbt Innok ira ««B U thli dqrnmilkiU} lOoL
thing as mnsic in parts; bnt, notwithstanding this
conjecture of his, the evidence that music in cohmi-
nance, of some kind or other, was known at least as
far back, in point of time, as the invention of the
oi^an, is too strong to be resisted ; and indeed (he
form and mechanism of the instrument do little leaa
than demonstrate it. How and in what manner tlie
organ was nsed in the accompanyment of divine
service it is very difficult to say ; some intimations
of its general use are nevertheless contained in the
Micrologus of Guido, and these lead to an opinion
that although the singing of the church offices was
unisonous, allowing for the difference between the
voices of the boys and men employed therein, yet
that the accompanyment thereof might be eympho-
niac, and contain in it those consonances which no
musician could possibly be ignorant of in theory, and
which in practice it must have been impossible to
avoid.
Of Franchinus, of whom such frequent mention
has been made in the course of this work, of his
labours to cultivate the science of harmony, and of
the several valuable treatises by him compiled from
the writings of the ancient Greeks, then lately in-
troduced into Italy, the following is an account,
extracted immediately from his own works, and those
of contemporary authors,
Prahchihus Gapfcbids, samamed Landcnsis, from
Lodi, a town in the Milanese, where he was born,
was a professor of, and a very learned and elaborate
writer on music, of the fifteenth century. He was
born on the fourteenth day of January, in the year
1451, and was the son of one Betino, of the town of
Bergamo, a soldier by profession, and Catherina
Fixarags his wife. We are told that while he was
yet a boy he was initiated into the service of the
church; from whence perhaps nothing more is to be
inferred than that he assisted in the choral servica
His youth was spent in a close application to learn-
ing ; and npon his attainment of the sacerdotal dig-
nity, he addicted himsetl with the greatest assiduity
to the study of music. His first tutor was Johannes
Godendach, a Carmelite ; having acquired nnder him
a knowledge of the rudiments of the science, he left
the place of his nativity, end went to hie father then
at Mantua, and in the service of the marquis Ludo-
vico Gonzaga. Here tor two years he closely applied
himself day and night to study, during which time
he composed many tracts on the theory and practice
of music. From Mantua he moved to Verona, and
commenced professor of music : there, though he
taught publicly for a number of ^ears, he found
leisure and opportunity for the making lai^e collec-
tions relative to that science, and composed a work
intitled Musicte Institutionis Collocntiones, which
does sot appear to have ever been printed^ unless,
as is hereafter suggested, it might be published
nnder a different title. The great reputation he had
acquired at Verona procured him an invitation from
Pruspero Adomi to settle at Genoa: his stay there
was out short, for about a year after his removal
thither, his patron being expelled by Baptista Cam-
pofragoso aod Giovftnui Galeazzo, dukes of Milan,
dbyG00*^lc
278
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
BookVIL
he fixed bia reaidence at Naples; in that city he
found many mueiciana who were held in great estimft'
tion, namely, Johannis Tinctor, Gulielmus Garneriaa,
Bernardus Hycart, and others, and by the advice of
hia friend and townsman Pbilipinus Bononius, who
then held a considerable employment in that city,
Franchinaa mtuntained a public disputation against
them. Here he is Bsid to have written his Theo-
ricnm Opus MunicEe Diacipline, a most ingenious
work; but the pestilence breaking oat in the citv,
which, to complete its calamity, was engaged in
A bloody war with the Turks, who bad ravaged the
country of Apulia, and taken the city of Otranto;
he returned to Lodi, and took up hia abode at Monti-
cello, in Uie territory of Cremona, being invited to
settle there by Carolo Pnllavicini, the bishop of that
city. During his stay there, which was three years,
he taught music to the youth of the place, and began
his Practica Musics utrineque Cantue, which was
printed first at Milan, in 1496, again at Brescia in
1497, and last at Venice in 1512. Being prevailed
on by the entreaties of the inhabitants of Bergamo,
and die offer of a largo stipend, he removed thither ;
but a war breaking out between them and the duke
of Milan, he was necessitated to retnm home. There
he stayed not long, for Romanua Barnua, a canon of
Lodi, a man of great power, as be exerdsed the
pastoral aothority in the absence of the archbiBhop
of Milan, incited by the fame of hia learning and
abilities as a public instructor, in the year 1484
invited him to settle there ; and snch are we told
vras the high esteem in which he was held by the
greatest men there, that by the free consent of the
chief of the palace, and without any rival, he was
placed at the head of the choir of the cathedral
church of Milan. How much be improved mnuc
there by stndy and by his lectures, the number of
his disciples, and the suffrage of the citizens are said
to have afforded an ample testimony : besides the two
works above-mentioned, he wrote also a treatise en-
titled Angelicum ac divinum Opus Musicte Franchini
Q&fnrii Laudensia Regii Mnsici, EcclesiEeqne Medio-
lanensie Phonasci : Matema Lingua scriptum. From
several circnmetances attending its publication, parti-
cularly that of its being written in the Italian lan-
guage, there is great reason to believe that tbia is no
other than the Musics Institutionis Oollocutiones,
mentioned above ; and that it contains in substance
the lectures which he read to hia scholars in the
conrse of his employment aa public professor. Last
of all, and in the forty-ninth year of his age, he
wrote a treatise De Hannonia Musicorum Inatrumen-
torum, at the end whereof is an ealoginm on Fran-
chinua and hie writings by Pantaleona Melegnli of
Lodi, from which this account is for the moat part
taken. Beeidea the pains be took in composing the
works above-mentioned, not being acquainted, as we
may imagine, with the Greek language, he at a great
expenae procured to be tranalatsd into Latin the
harmonical treatiaes of many of the more ancient
writers, namely, Aristides Quintitianus, Mannel Bry-
ennins, Ptolemy, and Bacchios Senior. The author
•bore-oited, who seems to have been wall aoqatinted
with him, and to manifest an excusable partiality for
bis memory, haa borne a very honourable testimony
to his character ; for, besides applauding him for the
services he had done the acience of music by bis
great learning and indefatigable industry, he is very
explicit in declaring him to have been a virtuous
and good man. The time of his death is no where
precisely ascertained; but in bis latter years he
became engi^ed in a coDtroversy with Giovanni
Spataro, professor of mnsic at Bologna ; and it ap-
pears that the apology of Francbinus ^unat this
his adversary was written and publiabed in the year
1520, so that be must have lived at least to the age
of seventy.
After having said thus much, it may not be amiss
to give a more particular account of the writings of
so conuderabte a man aa Gafiurius; and first of the
Theorica : it is dedicated (o the famous Ludovicn
Sforza, governor of Milan, the same probably with
him of that name mentioned by Philip de Comines;
it ia divided into five hooka, and was printed first at
^aplee in 1480, and again at Milan, in 1492.
It is verv clear that the doctrines taught in this
work, the 'itheorica Mnsicse of Francbinus, are tha
same with those delivered by Boetina. Indeed the
greater part appears to be an abridgement ot Boetius
de Muaica, with an addition of Guido'a method of
solmisation; for which reason, and because copious
extracts from this latter work have been already
fiven, and Guido's invention has been explained in
is own words, it ia thought unnecessary to be more
particular in the present account of it.
The treatise entitied Practica Mnsicas utrinsqne
Csntna, so called becanae the purpose of it is to
declare the nature of both the plain and mensurable
canttis, is of a kind as different from the former ss
its title imports it to be. For, without entering at
all into the theory of the science, tha author with
great perspicuity teaches the elements of music, and
the practice of singing, agreeable to the method
invented by Guido, the rules of the Cantus Men-
snrabilis, the nature of counterpoint, and, lastiy, the
proportions as they refer to mensurable music; and
this in a manner that shews him to have been
a thorough master of his subject. But perhaps ther«
is no part of the Practica Musicse more curious than
that formula of the Ekxilcaiaatical Tones contained
in the first book of it, and which is inserted in tfas
former part of this work.*
In the first chapter of the second book of this
work of Francbinus, the author treats of the several
binds of metre in the words following : —
' The poets and musicians in times past, matoitlj
(TUC OUliOtllj. Ro
UK.U nr. of .lid
tlqoi.y:lhl.Blfci
inxi bf St. AnmrcM
i»l«tl.(«»nl.tl»tltl..
ESraSiK-ir
: but tt K Srtdb ttaU U th>T
II* not ih« moi— of
Iha uiiAtn
Ot«U
by 1 Ihouund jtm
thcfRKI
■blalliai
n K M«lr. tbit tbn (UT •■«
siuktnfBrthcuitv
. ud thtnron m
n obltel tt lUll irrManH.
lUkm. WUhnnptetUthelciu
witpm
put nf dl*lH urilc
urctaH
if'the ntformai. bat bi IkU if
nd u* d^; u b> hH«t III Badue h
tlMcliitMlaofitiamn
Duudon
rioroRH
un Cuholie princes Fim lU
111 be «
■bed ihil the InlafittrBf An
dbyGoot^le
Oip. Lxni.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSia
279
considering the time of every word, placed a long
or a short mark over each, whereby each eyllable
was denoted to be either long or short; wherefore
over a short syllable they affixed a measure of one
time, and over a long one the quantity of two
times; whence it is clear tliat the ehort eyllable
WHS found out before the long, as Diomedes the
grammarian testifies, for one was prior to two.
They accoDDt a aylUble to l>e short, either in its
own nature, or in respect to its position ; they also
make some syllables to be common ; as when tliey
ere naturally short and a liquid follows a mute, as
in " tenebne pntria." This appears as well among
the Greek as the Latin poets ; and these syllables
are indifferently measured, that is to say, they are
sometimes short, and at other times long ; and thus
they constructed every kind of verse by a mixture
of different feet, and these feet were made np of
different times ; for the Dactyl, that I may mention
the quantities of some of them, contained tbree
sylkbles, the first whereof was long, and tbe other
two short, as "arraiger, principis;" It therefore
conusted of four times. The Spondee has also four
times, but disposed into two long syllables, as
' felix, festas." The Iambus, called the qnick foot,
has three times, drawn out on two syllables, the
one long and the other short, as Musa. The Ana-
pestus, by the Greeks called also Antidactylus,
ttecause it is the reverse of the Dactyl, consists of
three syllables, the two first whereof are short, and
the last long, as " pietas, erato." The Pyrrhichius
of two short syllables, as "Miser, paler," The
Tribrachus contains three short syllables, as "Do-
minus." Tbe Amphibrachos has also three, tbe first
abort, the second long, and tbe third short, aa
' Carina," The Creticus, or Ampbiacrus, consists
likewise of three syllables; the first long, tbe second
short, and the third long, as " insuln." The Bac-
chius also has three sytlables, the tirst short, and the
other two long, as "Achates et Ulixes." The
Frocelenmaticus, agreeing chiefly with Lyric verse,
has four short syllables, as "avicula." The Dis-
pondeoB was composed of eight times and four long
syllables, as " Oratores." The Coriambus consisted
also of four syllables, the first long, the two follow-
ing short, and the last long, aa " arm i pot ens." Tbe
fiiiambos bad four syllables, the first short, the
second long, the third short, and the fourth long,
as " Propinquitas." The Epitritns, or Hippins, as it
is called by Diomedes, was fourfold ; the first kind
conusted of four syllables, the first whereof was
abort, the other three long; and it comprehended
seven times, as " sacerdotes." The second Epitri-
tns had four syllables, the second whereof was short,
and all the rest long, as " conditores." The third
Epitritns contained four syllables, the third whereof
was short and all the rest long, as "Demosthenes."
The fourth Epitritus was formed also of four sylla-
bles, the Isst whereof was short, and the three first
long, as "Fescentnus." Some of these are supposed
to bo simple, as the Spundeus and Iambus, and
others compound, as tbe Dispondeos and Biiambns,
Diomedea and Aristides, in the first book, and St,
* Augustine, have explained them alL Muiiciana
' have invented certain characters with fit and proper
' names, by means whereof, the diversity ot measured
' times being previously understood, they are able to
' form any Cantua, in the same manner as verse is
' made from different feet Philosopbera think that
' the measure of short time ought to be adjusted by
' the equable motions of the pulse, comparing the
' Arsis and Thesis with tbe Diastole and Stole, In
' the measure of every pulse the Diastole signifies
' dilatation, and tbe Stole contraction.
'The poets have an Arsis and Thesis, that is an
'elevation and deposition of their feet according to
' the passions ; and they nse these in reciting, that
' the verse may strike the ear and soften the mind,
'The connexion of the words is regulated accordiog
' to the nature of the verse ; so that the very texture
'of the verse will introduce such numbers as are
* proper to it, Rythmus, in tlie opinion of Qnin-
' tilian, consists in the measures of times ; and I con-
' ceive Ume to be the measure of syllables. But Bede,
' in his treatise concerning figures and metres, has
' interpreted Bythmns to be a modulated composition,
' not formed in any metrical ratio but to be deter-
' mined by the ear, in the same manner as we judge
' of the verses of tbe common poets. Yet we some-
' times meet with Rytbml not regulated by any art,
' but proceeding from the sound or modulation itself;
' these the common poeta form naturally, whereas the
' Rythmi of the learned are constructed by the rules
' of art. Tbe Greeks assert that Rythmus conBists
' in the Arsia and Thesis, and that sort of time
' which some call vacant or free. Aristoxenns says
' it is time divided numerically ; and, according to
' Nicomachua, it is a regulated composition of times ;
' but it is not our business to prescribe rules and
' canons, for we leave to the poets that which pro-
'perly belongs to them; yet it were to be wished
' that they who make verses had good ears, whereby
' they mig;ht attain a metrical elegance in poetry.'
CHAP. LXIIL
Is the second chapter Francbinna treats of the
characters used to denote the different meaenres of
time in the words following : —
'The measure of time is the disposition of the
' quantity of each character. Every commensurable
'description is denoted either by characters or pauses;
' the Greeks in their Rythmus used the following,
' viz., for the breve ^^^ for the long of two times
' c-P. for that of three times V/' for that of four
' times \jj, for that of five times W ^ To express
'the Arsis they added a point to esdi charactei;
'thus g'-^r-V^- The Thesis was understood by
' saronic, dispentic, diapasonic, and the rest, they
' were expressed by certain characters, which I pur-
' posely omi^ as being foreign to the present practice.
dbyG00*^lc
2cy
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book VIL
The mnsictans of this day express the measure of
one time by a square filled up ^ ; that ot* two,
called a long, hy a square with a stroke on tho
right side, either ascending or descending, which
stroke was four times as long as one side of the
square. Some however, because of tho deformity
arising from the too great length of the stroke,
made it equal in length to only three times the side
ol the square, and others msJe it but twice, thus
^ . The long of three times was expressed also
by a square and a stroke, but with this diversity,
one third of its body was white or open, thus ^1
or thus ^^ . The long of four times was signified
by a full quadrangle with a stroke, the body where-
of was double in length to its height M ; and this
was called a double long. The triple long had
a square ot triple extension ^^ , and contained six
times. There were also characters that comprehended
in them several longs, each of which was distin-
guished by a single stroke thus ^TT i- Those
that came afterwards, sabverting the order of these
characters, described the marks open, having many
short squares in one body, thus >■ ' 1 1 . They
also marked the long conjoined with the breve, and
the breve with the long, in one and the same figure
thus — iZ3 . But as these latter characters are
now disused, we will leave them, and speak con-
cerning those by which the fashion and practice of
tbuse latter days may be known to one.'
The third chapter treats of what the author calls
the five essential characters, in the following words: —
' A character is a mark used to signify either the
continuance or the privation of sound ; for tacitur-
nity may as well be the snbject of measure as sound
itself. Tlie measures of taciturnity are called pauses,
and of these some are short and others long.
' Musicians have ascribed to the breve the character
of a square Q, which they call also a time, as it
expresses the measure of one time. The long tJiey
signified by a square, having on the right side
a stroke either upwards or downwards, in length
equal to four times the side of the sqnare, thus ^ ;
it was called also the donble breve; but the writers
of music for the most part make this stroke without
regard to any proportion. Again they divided the
square of the brevee diagonally into two equal parts,
in this niannei [\[, and joined to it another triangle,
they turned the angles upwards and downwards
thus 9 and called the character thus formed a semi-
breve, and gave to it half the quantity of the breve.*
Lastly, those of latter days gave the measure of
one time to a semibreve, comprehending In it the
Diastole and the Systole;! ^°^ '^ ^^ Diaatole and
* Fnbchlniu. In hit AnfflScum «t dtTtBDm Opua, tnet III, cap- L
nembLn tliLi clmncHr to jt praln of bulor. And hen It nuy b* UDtot
Systole, or Arsis and Thesis, which are the least
measure of the pulse, are considered as the measure
of one time, so also is the semibreve, which, in
reepect of its measure, coinciiles exactly with the
measure of the pulse; and as they considered the
meaenre of the Diastole or Systole, or of the Arsis
or Thesis as the measure of the shortest duration
in metrical sound, they gave to the character which
denoted it, the name of Minim, and described it by
a semibreve, with a stroke proceeding either up-
wards or downwards from one of its angles thus
^ or thus 9.
' The short character, consisting of one time, and
the long of two times, are termed the elementary
characters of measurable sound, and their quantities
answer to the just and concinnous intervals, or rather
the integral parts of a tone ; for according to Aris-
tides and Anselm, the tone is capable of a division
into four of these diesis, which are termed enar-
monic, and answerable to this division the lung is
divided into four semibrevee, and the breve into
four minims, as if one proceeded from each angle of
the breve : therefore as everything arises or is pro-
duced from the Minimum, or least of his own kmd ;
and number, for instance, takes its increase from
nnity, as being the least, and to which all number
is nltimately resolvable ; and as every line is gene-
rated and encreaaed by, and again reduced to a
point ; BO every measure of musical time is pro-
duced from, and may agiun be reduced to a minim,
as being the least measure.
' Lastly, musicians have invented another cha-
racter, the double long, which is used in the tenor
part of motetts, and is equal in quantity to four
short times or breves. It exceeds the other
characters, both in respect of its qnontity, and
the dimension of its figure, this they call the
Maxima or Large, and describe it thus ^^ . Thia
character is aptly enough compared to the chord
Froslambanomenos, the most grave of the perfect
system ; and the rest of the characters may with
equal propriety be compared to other chords, as
having the same relation to different parts of the
system as those bear to each other ; and in thia
method of comparison the minim will be found
to correspond with the tone, the semibreve to the
diatessaron, and the large to the bisdiapason.'
In the fourth chapter Franchinns proceeds to
ezplsin the more minute characters in these words : —
' Posterity subdivided the character of the minim,
' first into two equal parts, containing that measure
' of time called tiie greater semimmim, which Pros-
' docimus describes in a twofold way ; for taking his
irUliiluidlngvhilhi of t tew Knn aboTf, ind tbt niiiuk of Llttnlni
In ths null pi(. lis, of thli worli, w* ua bin tiuibt ta omildn Dh
•emllime, oi ticlui mlniiT, u the iDcuun ol ■ llnii, oc u vs ibnulil
now Hj, or 1 bar, ooniliUnflnf Iwopulici oritroket. (ha onedovD, tha
olbar up. Tha uae of tba sbKnaUon ii IhU, tagam writun ip aamm
b>ia ^wa^a A dlTHtlon ta iha* at wbat dialanca oT time th^ nplkeaUla
to follow tht piide or prliic1|wl, iucb a( fug* Is HypodUptnia pott
tempuB. BuU.Prtiio.afliiii.7S.nifatnDDlaaDopaaldiioleinpoaa,lb-TT,
lefoi
I Thii DbaaiTilkin a( f rancUnaa ia woitliT dl
fnno: and tbai the pi„^, ,, .— .
cTuniu heia remaiLad on. may ba H«n In iundir eumplc
Is the Fnttici dl Huilea of Lodoilee Zimoim, Ubn II.
dbyGooi^le
Ckap. LXIII.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSia
2B1
' notion of a minim froin Tinctor, he first describes
' the semi>minim by the fi^nre of a minim having ibe
■ end of ita stem turned off to the right, with a kind
' of crooked tail, thue 4 ; and the lesser Bemiminim, in
' quantity half the greater, with two such tnms, thus^.
' Secondly, keeping precisely to the form of the minim,
' he makes the body full black, thns ^. and divides
' this last character into two equal parts, by giving
' to it the same torn of the stem as before had been
' g^ven to the minim, thus ^, and this they called the
' lesser eemimiuim. The former characters, viz,, those
' with the open or white body, are called by Froe-
' docimua. the miuims of Tinctor, drawn into duple
' or quadruple proportion ; but others, whose ex-
' ample we choose rather to follow, call these charac-
' ters of subdivision with a single turn ot the stem,
' ' s, as being a kind of diBJnnct or separated
and again they call the parts of these
a, from the amallness of their measure
' and quantity, semiuiDimims ; so that the seminim
' follows the minim as a greater semitone does a
' tone, and the semiminimim looks back upon the
' minim as a lesser semitone does on the tone,
' There is yet a thini, the most diminished particle
* of a minim, and which the same Prosdocimus would
' have to he called the minim of Tinctor in an octuple
' proportion ; others the lesser semiminim ; and others
's comma, which we think would more properly he
' called a diesis, the name given to the least harmo-
' nical particle in the division of a tone : this many
' describe by a full semiminim, having a crooked tail
' tamed towards the right, and a crooked stroke pro-
' ceeding from ita angle nndemeath, in this manner Tf
' bnt as the appearance of this character among die
' other diminutions is very deformed, we have ex-
' pressed it by a crooked stem drawn from its summit,
* and turned towards the left in this manner 1 , to
' denote its inferiority in respect of that character
' which it resembles, and which is turned to the nght.
' There are some who describe the measures of time
' by characters variously different from those above
* enumerated, as Franco, Philippus de Caserta, Johan-
' DCS de Huiis, and Anselmus of Parma, which last
' draws a long Plica, or winding stroke ascending,
' and also a short one, both having tails on either aide.
* Again, the same Anselmus makes a greater, a lesser,
' and a mean breve ; the greater he lus expressed by
' a square, with a stroke descending on the left side,
' in this manner O ; the lesser by a square with a
I
I
' stroke ascending from the left side thus t:j ; and
' the mean by a square without any stroke, thus O.
' Likewise the greater semibreve he describes with
two strokes, the one ascending and the other descend-
'ing, both on the right side, thQsE3; the lesser
* semibreve by a eqnare with two strokes on the left
' side, tbns E3 , and the mean semibreve by a eqnare
' with a stroke drawn through it both upwards and
'downwards in this manner Ct3 and by a like
' method he eignities the rest of the measures ; bnt
'these latter characters later mnridans have chose
' rather to reject than approve.'
The fifth chapter of the same book contains an
explanation of the ligatures, of which enough has
been said in the foregoing part of this work.
In the sixth chapter, De Pausis, Fraiichinus thus
explains the characters by which the rests are de-
scribed : —
' A pause is a character nsed to denote a stop ciade
' in singing according to the rules of art The pause
' was invented to give a necessary relief to the voice,
' and a sweetness to the melody ; for as a preacher
' of the divine word, or an orator in his discourse
' finds it necessary oftentimes to relieve his auditors
' by the recital of some pleasantry, thereby to make
' them more favourable and attentive, so a singer
'intermixing certain pauses with his notes, engages
' the attention of his hearers to the remaining parts
' of his soog. The character of a pause is a certain
' line or stroke drawn through a space or spaces, or
' part of a space, not added to any note, but entirely
' separated from every other character. The ancients
' had four pauses in their songs, which, because they
' were the measures of omitted notes, assumed the
' respective names of those notes, as the pause of a
' Minim, of a Semibreve, of a Breve, and of a Long.
' The breve panee is a stroke comprehending two
' such intervals ; the pause of three times, wliose ex-
' tremities include four lines, occupies three entire
' spacee ; this they call a perfect long, because it passes
' over in silence three equal proper tiroes, which are
' called Breves, for in the quantities of characters of
' this kind the ternary number is esteemed perfect.'
The characters of the several pauses of a perfect
long, an imperfect long, a breve, semibreve, minim,
semiminim or crotchet, and Ecmiminimim or quaver,
are thus described by Franchinus, and are in truth
with thos
By the first of which charactere is to be understood
a measure of quantity different in its nature from the
second ; for it is to be observed that in the writings
of all who have treated on the Cantus Ilensurabilia,
the attribute of Perfection is ascribed to those num-
bers only which are called Ternary, as including a
progression by three ; the reasons for which, whether
good or bad it matters not, are as follow : —
'The Ternary number in the quantities of this
' kind is esteemed perfect, first, because the Binary
' number is ever accounted feminine, whereas this,
' which ie the first uneven number, ia said to be mas-
' Guline; and by the alternate coupling of these two
' the rest of theue numbers are produced. Secondly,
' it is composed both of Aliquot and Aliquant parts.
' Thirdly, there is a relation between the numbers
' 1, 2, 3, ss they follow in the natural order, which, as
' St. Augustine testifies, is not to be found between
' any others ; for, not to mention that between them
' no number can intervene, 3 b made op of the two
' numbers preceding, which cannot be said of 4 or 6,
' nor of those that follow them. FonrlU^, there is «
IJinitizcchyGoOgle
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book VIL
'threefold eqtulity in the nnmber 3, for its begin-
' ning, middle, and end ftre precisely the same ; »nd by
' means thereof we discern the Divine Trinity in the
'BiipremeGod. Lastly, there ia a perfection in the
' number 3, ariBtng from this property, if yoa multi-
' ply 3 by 2, or 2 by 3, the product will be six, which
' msthematiciane pronoance to be a perfect number
' in respect of its aliquot parte.'
The tiiird book of the treatise De Practica contains
the elements of counterpoint with the diatlnctioQe of
the several species, and examples of each in two,
three, and four parts. The fourth chapter, entitled
' Qun et nbi in Contrapnncto admittendie eint discor-
'dantin,' though it be a proof that diecorda were
■dmiUed into mnsickl composition so early as the
author's time, shews yet that they were t^en very
cautionsly, that is to say, they never exceeded the
length of a semibrere ; and this restriction, for which
he cites Dunstable, and other writere, may well be
acquiesced in, seeing that the art of preparing and
resolving discords seems to have been unknown at
this time.
In chap. XI. De Compositione diversarum Partinin
Contrapuncti, are several examples in four parts, viz.,
Cantus, Contra-tenor, Tenor, and Baritonans, one
whereof is as follows : — *
CASTD3 TENOB
Upon these examples it is ohservsble that the
musical characters from their dissimilarity seem not
to have been printed upon letter-press ^pee, but on
wooden blocks, in which the lines, clifu, and notes
had been first cut or engraved.
The fourth hook is altogether on the subject of the
proportions, not as they refer to consonance, but as
they relate to mensurable music; and though the
various species of proportion have already heen ex-
plained, it seems necessary here to recapitulate what
has been said on that head, in order to give an idea
of the general view and design of the aidhor in this
last book of his treatise De Practica.
Proportion is the ratio that two terms bear to each
other, as two numbers, two lines, two sounds, &o. ; as
if we were to compare dt helow with sol above, or
any other two sounds at different parts of the scale.
lu general there are two kinds of proportion.
The first is of Equality, and is when two terms are
equal, the one containing neither more or lees than
* Id tbi coippwIHoB of mntl« In Epnpbanj, ]| I< to be noted thtl tb«
nuDpoalilsn li Bid to <m gf mon^ kdh of Uu put* nniit MceimUy
pHiH vbile olhen ilni.
The mut nnul DwnM Hi th> wrail puti of m Toeal nnpaaitisii u«
BABITONAHS
CONTRATENOB
put ciUlcd Ih> mcdlui oi meu li InuipoHd bMwKn iha
udtheeuitiu. In thneputi, wheniliEn iinountiu,
heuppnpail
theamnge-
the eximnle
!• > t«m riin.U»lD( thot kind or bue. whicb for tbe nUnt
Xfncoinnua
nwj b* oMiiUtnd u ftniUag et iti> uiun bath of th> bm ud mot.
cntDi it dUed Ih* Treble, which Hiinl lenne an thui
OTToleea, tbe
eiplainedb.
Bntkr Id hk Frtndplet of Mu^ lib. I. chip. UL In not.
Xba B«M la lo oUed bMnue it )• the bule or roandaiiro of tb* Km|.
'^ll^'l^
van wont to deu»nt in iiuidr)> mil of Bgum.
Ihoiuthoom.
niDnlf in )ii«hsT iHKa : or II mar be tbiu eiplalnEd, Conntectennquui
Counterteil-ientc, from lu nw mDoitr u the tenor.
Cantna aeema lo be an arWlmij t«™, tat whkh no nuoE
oreljmolosr
b uiirxd \uKij9t Ibe wiliui on muiki.
Tbe Treble baa elearlr Ita nune fmn the third or upper
•eptenuTof
DOtee In tbe aale, which are erei tbo» of tHe t»M. 0[ an
Uapart.
The term Baritonanl aniwoi predielT to tbe French Co
'J^::^^.
the other, as 1 1, 2 2, 8 8 ; the two sounds in this
proportion are said to he unisons, that is having the
same degree of gravity and acotesess.
The other is of Inequality, as when of two terms
one IB larger than the other, I. e. contains more parts,
as 4, 2 ; because the iirst contains the latter once and
something left, this therefore must be inequality. Of
this proportion there are five species, which the
Italians call Generi.
Hrst, MoUipIice or Multiple is when the larger
nnmber contains the small one twice, as 1, 2. If this
greater term do contain the less but twice, as 4, 2 ; 6, 3;
16, 8 ; &c. it is called Proporzione Dupla, if three
times Tripla, if four Quadnipla, and so on to infinity.
The second proportion of inequality is PropoTxione
del Genere superparticolare, and is that wherein the
greater term contains the lees once, and an aliquot or
exactpartofthelesser remains, as3, 2; if the number
remaining he exactly half the lees number, the pro-
portion is called Sesquialteral ; if a third part of th«
less as i, 3, Sesquiterza, and so on, adding to Sesqui
the ordinal number of tite leas term.
The third proportion of inequality is called Pro-
porzione del Geoere snperparziente, in which the
greater term contains the less once, and two, three,
four, or more parts of tbe less remuning ; or aa
Zarlino says. 2, 3, 4, or more units, Ac This pro-
portion is distinguished by tbe words Bi, Tri, Quadri,
Ac between Super and Parziente ; thus the propor-
tion of 5, 3, is called Superbiparziente Terza, because
5 contains 3 once and two units remain, which are
two parts of 3 ; that of 7, 4, Supertriparzlente Quarta,
by reason 7 contains 4 once, and three parts of 1
remun, and so of others.
The fourth and fifth kinds of proportion of inequa-
lity are compounded of the multiple and one (rf thoaa
above described, t
Morley, in the following table, has very deariy
shewn how the most usual proportions in mnuc are
i Vide Broiiaid, DIcIlDiudn de UuliDC, in ut.
dbyGoot^le
ASD PBAOnOE OP MDSia
3
4
«
6
7
8
»
10
6
e
10
13
14
16
18
20
9
12
16
18
21
24
27
80
12
16
20
24
2B
32
36
40
10
16
20
25
30
36
40
46
60
12
18
24
so
36
42
48
»
60
14
21
23
SB
42
49
66
63
70
16
24
S3
40
48
66
64
72
80
18
27
36
46
64
63
72
81
90
10
20
SO
40
60
60
70
80
90
100
wdA htM explained its use md reference to the purposes
of musical calculation is the following terms : —
' As for the uae of thia table, when you would know
' what proportion any one number hath to another,
' fiade OQt the two numbers in the table, then looke
' npwarde to the triangle inclosing those numbers,
' and in the angle of concourse, that ia where your
' two lynea meete togither, there is the proportion of
* your two numbers written : as for example, let your
' two numbers be 16 and 21 ; looke upward, and in
' the top of the tryangle covering the two lyues which
' inclose those numbers, you will find written Sesqui-
' tertia ; so likewise 21 and 42 you finde in the angle
' of coQcoursB written super tnpartiens quartas, and
* ao of others.'
There is reason to think that this ingenions and
most nseful dif^ram was the invention of Moriey
hinuelf; since neither in Franchinw, Peter Aran,
Glareanus, Zarlino, nor many other andent writers,
who have been consulted for the purpose, ia it to bo
found. Indeed in the Theorica of Franchinue we
meet with that deduction of numbers which forms
the basis oi the triangle, and nothing more, hut that
work Moriey declarea he had never seen :* it is
■ For thli m ban h[i own mrd [n ■ puuge irbloh pnm, aangk tw
life, uhlih i* -oijd lnr« ta« g1«dto
a'l own worti: -And though FtUf
TM lh»I th. Otttitt dlddt Hug by
i1>l^ 10 u
n undanusd DM
EKcona out at Fiu
«rUlH Itttcn dntfjiiig both lbs
cnflh. ud aim Ihe Jl^fatfa ud
[ and BO lach mtxut ui Fni
[for hit Thnrlci nor PncHu
lit ufumoDU) I tnon not vL_. ._ ...
Int jnt at Iba lDt»duBtl« to Fnctleal Hniie.]
Tba puu** tivn ilhidM (a br H otIct ii to br (mmd In tb* Pnttlw
dl Muiln of ZKConi. lib. I. up. IS, bnt (1 amUiiu no nfknna to ur
putknlu work oT Pmiehlniu, naionlicitu tt !• clou tbsl bo muii bin
bid bli ofo on tbo Hcond ehiplH it the oRind book of Iho PneUck
Mmtoa aithuiiBi CMtni, !■ which m oihlblud the cbmetoi oHd to
dtiwt* tk* DMMiUH «c UakM wblob coBatlMtad tb* tfOam* ol Ua
dbyGoot^le
2M
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Bern VII.
higMy probable btm'eyer that lie found these nnrobers
in Bome other old anther ; and as to the several tri-
ADgles produced therefrom, he may well be aopposed
tx> have taken the hint of drawing them ^m that
diagram in the manuscript of Waltham Holy Grose,
inaerted in page 248 of this work, in «hich a series
of dnple, triple, sesquialteral, and aeaqnitertian pro-
portions is deduced from certain numbers there
Thb use of the several proportions contained in
"he forgoing dia^^am, so far as they regard mnsic,
s originally to ascertain the ratios of the '
pason is by him demonstrated to be in dnple, which
is a species of Mnl^plex proportion ; the diatessaron
in Buperparticnlar, that is to say Besquitertia propor-
tion, 4 to 3 ; the diapente also in Buperparticnlar,
that ie to s^ Sesqnialtera proportion, 3 to 2 ; and
lastly, the Diezeuctic tone also in Buperparticnlar,
that is to say Sesqnioctave proportion, 9 to 6. All
which proportions were investigated by the division
of the mouochord, and are now tarther demonstrable
by the vibrations of pendulums ot proportionable
lengths.
That the Cantns Mensnrabilis had also a foundation
in numerical proportion is evident, tor not only it
consisted in a combination of long and short quantities,
but each had a numerical ratio to the other ; for in-
stance, to the Large the Long was in duple, and the
Breve in quadruple proportion ; this was in the im-
perfect mode, but in the perfect, where the division
was by three, the Long was to the Large in triple,
and the Breva in nonnple proportion.
There doea not seem to luve been any ori^nal
necessity for transferring the ratios from consonance
to measares, or at least of retaining more than the
duple and triple proportions, with those others gene-
rated by them, since we have found by experience
that all mensurable mnnc is resolvable into either the
one or the other of these two ; but no sooner were
they adjusted, and a dne diacrimination made between
the attributes of perfection and imperfection as they
related to time, then tl^ writers on mensurable music
set themselves to find out all the varieties of propor-
tion which the radical numbers are capable of pro-
ducing. How these proportions could possibly be
applied to practice, or what advantage music could
derive from them, supposing them practicable, is one
of the hardest things to be conceived of in the whole
sdence. Morley, in the first part of his Introduction,
pag. 27, has undertaken to declare the use of the most
umple of them, namely the Dnple, Triple, Quadruple,
Seequialtera, and Sesquitertia, which he thus explains
in the following dialogue : —
OmkL Ste Iham In ftf, tre. of thb wirk. But Zucena laanii to
b> miiuken In lupiwalDC ttiu UieM cliuuUn algniJlid « nil <ba
naloilUl diiUncM u On qwuiHty ot lb< Halo, for FnDchlnui iBtlmiua
nolhlDi lika it. on tbs nntruy ht •»■ eipnulr. lh«l thiM latMr otn
dtBoud^BTUlB chani:In>,i>lik)ibepu[poHly oniEUi uidwlultluH
ctuuuUn *•» Bu; b« k« Is BoMlui 0* Mu^CL Ub. IV. op. HI. and
ia book L obip. It, of "*'■ worjE.
' FhhiOXathks. What is proportion ?
' Master. It is the comparing ol numbeia placed
* perpendicularly one over an other.
' Phi. This I knewe before ; but what is that to
' mnsicke ?
' BfA. Indeede wee do not in mnsicke consider
' the numbers by themselves ; bnt set them for a sign
' to signihe the altering of our notes in the time.
' Phi. Proceede then to the declaration of pro-
' portion.
' Ma. Proportion is either of equality or nue-
' quality. Proportion of eqnalitie ia the comparing
'of two equal quantities togither, in which because
' there is no difference, we will speak no more at this
* time. Proportion of inequalitie is when two things
' ot unequal quantitie are compared togither, and is
' either of them more or less inEequalitie. Proportion
' 01 the more inequalitie is when a greater number ia
' set over and compared to a leaser, and in mnsicke
' doth always signifie diminution. Froportiou ci the
'lease inequalitie is where a lesser number is set
'over and compared to a greater, as f, and in
' musicke duth alwaies signiGe augmentation.
'Phi. How many kinds ot proportiona do yon
' commonly use in mnsicke, for t am persuaded it is
' a matter impossible to sing them all, espedally those
' which be termed superparcients 1
' Ma. You sale true, although there be no pro-
' portion so harde but might be made in musicke;
' but the hardenesse ol singing them hath caused
'them to be left out, and therefore there be but five
' in most common use with us, Dupta, TripU, Qua-
' drupla, Seequialtera, and Sesquitertia.
' Phl What is Diipla proportion in musicke?
' Ma. It is that which Uketh halte the value of
' every ifote and rest from it, so that two notes oi' one
' kinde doe but answere to the value of one ; and it
'is knowen when the upper number containeth the
' lower twiae, thus 4, 4, j, |, y, 4c. • • •
' Phi. What is Tripla proportion in muaicke?
' Ma. It is that which diminisheth the value of
' the notes to one third part ; for three briefes are set
' for one, and three aemibrevea for one, and is knowen
' when two numbers are set before the song, whereof
' the one contayneth the other thrise, thns f , f, {, Ac
' Pfu. Proceed now to qnadrupla.
' Ma. Quadruple ia proportion diminishing the
' value of the notes to the quarter of that which they
' were before ; and it is perceived in singing when
'a number is set before the song, comprehending
' another four timea, as \, J, y , 4c. ■ • • Quintupla
' and Sextuple I have not seen used bv any strangers
' in their songs so far as I remember, but here we use
' them, but not as they use their other proportiona,
' for we call that Sextupla where wee make sixe black
' minyma to the semibreve, and Quintupla when we
' have but five, 4c, but that is more by cnstom than
' by reason. • * *
' Pm. Come then to Sesquialtera : what ia It ?
' Ma. It is when three notes are sung to two of
' the same kinde, and is knonne by a number con-
' taining another once and bis balfe, f, |> |- * *
' Sesquitertia is when four notes are sung to thrc* of
dbyGoo^le
Chap. LXIV.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSia
ass
'the Rame kinde, and is ksowen by & number set
' before him, conUyning snotber once uid his third
* part, thus, }, {. y. And these ahall suffice at this
' time, for knowing these, the rest are easily learned.
' Bat if a man would ingulpha himselfe to learne to
' eing. Bud set down all them which Franchinis
' Gaufurius hath set dovme in his booke De Pro-
' portionibas Mnstcia, he should find it a matter not
' only bard but almost impossible.'
It ie evident from the passages above-cited, that
whatever might have been the namber of the pro-
portions formerly in nse, they were in Morley's time
rednced to five, and that he himself donbted whether
many of those contained in the Prac^ca Mnsice
ntrinsque Cantna ol Franchinus, could possibly Iw
sang ; and &rther there is great reason to think
that in this opinion he was not singnlai.
To give a short account of the contents of Fran-
chinas's fourth book, it contains fifteen chapters,
entitled as follow : —
De diffinitkine et diRinctiDne proportionii', Cspnt primnm.
Oe quinquB genenbu. promrtioniini m»- ) g^^^ wonndum.
jonE et mtnoru leeqiuillutu, j '
D« genera maltiplici eiiuc[ue gpeciebna, Caput tertium.
De genere mbmultiplici eiusque Bpocieliua. Caput qnartuui.
De genere ™p«rp«rticul«ri eliuque "P*-! Cjpotqijnlam.
De genere mUoperputiculari ein*]uo { (^ ^ «xtum.
■peciebui, / ^^
De genere laperpMtlente eliuiqae ipeoiebori. Caput •epUmnm.
De genere mbiuperpajtiente eluique ) rwa.> ,
ipeoiebuB, f-^r"
De genere multiplici Miperpartlciilsil
eJDSijDe q)eciebll^
De genere wbmultiplioi saperpirticnUn, r q ^ decimum.
eioeque specie bos J '
De genere mDltipUci superpaitienta ein>- ) Caput andeci'
que ipectebiui,
D« genere aubmultiplici niperpsrtiente
eioeque qteciebun,
De coniunctioDe plurium dioinialani
proportinDtim,
De proportion ibui mnrieu coniotuntlM
nntrientibiu,
D« productiune multiplicium proportto-
num ex muKiplicibiu Mperpsrtien-
The first chapter of this book treats of proportion
in general, with the division thereof into discrete
and continnous, rational and irrational. In this dis-
crimination of its several kinds, Franchinus professes
to follow Euclid, snd other of the ancient writers on
tha subject; referring also to a writer on proportion,
bnt little known, named Johannes Marlianus. In
the subsequent chapters are contMned a groat variety
of short musical compositions calculated to illustrate
the several proportions treated of in each : some in
two parts, viz., tenor and cantus ; others in three,
viz., tenor, coutratenor and contns. The dnplcs,
triples, and quadruples may in general be conceived
of from what Morley has said concerning them ; and
so might the others, if this explanation, which, mU'
tatis mutandis, mns through them all, were at this
day intcliigiblo, namely, that a certain number of the
latter notes in each, are equivalent in quantity and
measure of time to a lees nnmljer of precedent ones,
apparently of an equal value. To give an instance
in Beztnpfe proportion, these are the anther's words :
I Caput duodecl-
°r':
quintum
' Sextnpla proportio quinta mnltiplicia generii species
'fit qnum maior sequentiam notularnm unmeroa ad
' minorem prsscedentinm relatns : earn in se com-
' prsheadit sextes prfecise : et Kqniualet ei in quan-
' titate et tempons meneara nt vi. ad. i. et xii. ad ii.
' et xviiL ad. iii. sex enim notulee secundum banc
' dispositionem uni sibi consimili {equivalent et coie-
'quantur : ita ut singulte queeque ipsarum sex
' diminuantur de quinque seztis partibus sui quan-
' titatiui vsloris : describltur enim in notulis boo
'modo 1^ y V quod hoc monatratur exemplo: — '*
CANTUS.
'^m
TENOR.
ia pfoputtloill ut U IM lUng! bu( Hit
>J Iha help ot ilut rule. Whkh in hi
■I pin St hh Intmluciian hm layt dow
'■IfrniSeih the pro^nuion, ind ihe under the in*nture,' It li dltcoverKblft
tb«( in dupk proporEloo twa nofn In aiiB ^MTt mre lo be iiiJiff to one In
the other. In triple three. In qiudmple fimr. end In quintuple Ave. Of
tbelKoftinnei klndi he hu liTen eumplri in the iwenly^lililh and
ealteequentHfeeof hb Ihtrvductlon; udof the two latter the fbUowlof
oaeiu, pa(. >l of Ibe ume wack :—
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
As to that other work of Fntnchinns, entitled
Angelioum ac divmtim Opiu mnaic^ the ejutheU
given to it might indncb a snapiciOD that it via
a poBthnmoiiB publication by some friend of the
#ta:psaa£a:^333gg^
^^^^^^1
Id SMV^IotU u* thai rapnMDMd br htm :—
SESQUIALTERA.
duRlsni u bat tou hc tn Um Int two bum uunUlWn pnOet i
Ihat thar altti Ilia IndiictiOD IB nina to Iwi. IrUcli St qudrupl* r*.
aulMltm. tn the third iHin 71111 li*** ImkEn (ntuiBlinm, *od Uw
and ti quadniplB aaiquUllan, or, u they ternked 11. plita ro
. .iioi«t,c»iwiiH induMloii » ih" -"»>■
Li Iripla talBi bmkni in lb* m
.-- prolitlon vil mike HxtupU, and ao lj tba IndiKtlDD 10 •axtnplL'
Tba nmnl DHbol of rtconcUbu diidnllU' pnwonlimi, nkd icdiiclDi
« man tnlMloa
upla. Or In lb*
dbyGoo^le
Obap. LXIV
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIO
887
author, rather than tlint he trave it to the world
himself; bnt the dedication of thie book to Simone
Crotto, a patrician of Milan, exclodea the poaaibility
of doubt that it was published by Franchiima, and
gives occasion to remark how much the manners of
the fifteenth century are exceeded by tboae of the
present time, in which should an author of the first
degree of eminence in any faculty or science give to
a work of his own tbe character of Angelic or Divine,
he would be more censured for his vanity than ad-
mired for bis learning or ingenuity.
Tbe difference here noted carries witli it no im-
potation of exceaaive vanity in FranchinuB, as it is
in a great measure accoanted for hy the practice of
the age he lived in ; but it may serve to shew that
the refinements of literature have a necessary efiect
on the tempers and condnct of men, and that learning
and urbanity generally improve together.
To give a particular account of this work would
in effect be to recapitulate the substance of wbat baa
already been cited from tbe writings of tbe ancient
harmoniciaus, more eapecially Boetius, of whom, as
he was a Latin writer, Franchinus has made con-
siderable use, as indeed have all tbe musical writers ;
Upon whleh Morlej rnnVM tliB ftitlowhig »inin«nt : ' Hmtn jm bin
•ilicnin Tt^plii through nil the puih uiil IuiIt, In prupullotii, do put
' like uBta inoihcT, for iht mblc niiil<7nelta diiiiinul[*alB (he Swdrup)*
,__ ^... . — —.orSextui iiuli TripU jiioki ill In bluk
I* conWTiKlli dlndDUiton In Dupla pm-
Thfl TanoriDBih throng vktta hli TrtplB {which wu bcfp>iB
■ hdh tlib (Ifi ^ 4 >M bi
Bdi mtttt lU II La fxtmnelj dlttcult lo Kcmint for tbli cmFTldoiu In-
rvaiDn fdr ntaJnLiig them. Id (he on* axuDpla prodDCM bj HarUjt
annlnlneia of (be ODDtfiTvicv. than pl«aMd vrilb (ha oBbd- In ihert,
Ue maltlnllcHr of pnponlna hdidi to bite bm Um abuH tl niulc i
to ccniuiv when bo taja, IbAt ■ boliif o cblldo bt had btvd hbD fmllj
' commeDded wbo cooldt upon o ploTni kana linf hard proportloiu. and
So much tot the ute at dlflknnt proportiana In dilTiinnl pltu. Ths
■uppliat br Ihoao ebaracUra called the Induclbnu ; for Ibe dinner do but
■IdontloB. wbertaa Iba laller denoU Ibe pnpanloni themielTci. To
a iuppoMd ratio 10 thli meuuro. If the pi
MbyMlnlnK,
diH, aDd Ibo nppai Iba nnmbof of pntmalon, u In thli Ituluoe f ,
1b Ihe bar. If the prognulon bo by Cnrtcheti. the ndlol jlvea iho
aumbor or entehoti \d a baf of duple lime, and the upper the numtwr
or pngnadon, aa ^, BlgDltrtDi thai thne crolchela an mDtalaod In a
bar. II lb* pmineMlon be hy QuaTin, *^bl an contain*! In a bar tf
duple tlma, ud -^ la tba ilfuturo of a iBoveDiaBi irheRbi thne quaieia
aecuma knonkdit* of the ancient proponloni of time i> a Diiifoitun*
dlvitloB of Hma br ban. have Tendered ucelctB all the leaml
llfitiu**, all Ibe dHilncltoD* of mood, tlma, and prolailon
vartaiia ■Hthoda of aDcanontatlon and dlmlDullon by Uaeb
black Tidd. i«d ToU and nd t*U shmctan, and. fs ■ «or
doctrlDC of proportlDni aa ajmllad to ttme, vhleh FnuiebbiDB ani
kia aulboii b*fM« him bad Ubonnd lo tMch uid tatabUtb.
for as to the Greeks, it is well known that till the
revival of learning in Europe, their language was
understood but by very few: Franchinus himself
was unable to read the Greek authors in the original,
and for that reason, as has been already mentioned,
he procured translations of them to be made at hie own
expense. There are however many things in this
work of Franchinus that deserve to be mentioned.
It was printed at Milan in the year 1508; and
from tlie language, which is the Italian of that day,
and tbe style and manner in which this book is
written, there can be no doubt but that it is the same
in snlistance, perhaps nearly so in words, with those
lectures which we are told he read at Cremona, Lodi,
and elsewhere. Indeed the frontispiece to the book,
which represents him in the act of lecturing, seems
to indicate no less.
The work, aa it now appears, difl^era in nothing
from an institute on the barmonical science : it l^egiiis
with an explanation of the five kinds of proportion
of greater inequality, namely, multiple, superpar-
ticular, superpartient, multiple superparticular, and
multiple superpartient.
Tbe author then proceeds to declare the nature of
the consonances, and exhibits the ancient system,
corsisting of a double diapason, with his own obser-
vations on it He then endeavours, by the help of
Ptolemy and Manuel Bryeunius, but chiefly of Boetius,
to explain the doctrine of the three genera ; in the
doing whereof he professes only to give ^e sen-
timents of the above, and a few less considerable
writers. He also shewa the difference between
arithmetical, geometrical, and harmonical propor-
tionality.
After declaring the nature of Guide's reformation
of the scale, the use of the syllables, the cliCb, and
the order in which the mutations arise, he proceeds
to demonstrate the ratios of the diatessaron, diapente,
and diapason, and thereby leads to an enquiry con-
cerning the modes of the ancients, which, agreeable
to Ptolemy, he makes to be eight
The ecclesiastical tones come next under his con-
sideration ; and of these he gives an explanation not
near so copious, hut to the some effect with that
contained in the Fractica Mnsic» utriusque Cantua
already given at length.
The same may he said of that part of this work,
wherein the measores of time are treated on ; a brief
acconnt of them, and of the ligatures, and also of
the pauses or rests, is here given, but for more ample
information the author refers his reader to his former
The fourth part of this tract contains the doctrine
of counterpoint.
In the fifth and last part tbe proportions of greater
and lesser inequality are vety accurately discussed ;
these are solely applicable to the Cantus Mensurabills,
but, OS for reasons herein before given, the use of
intricate proportions baa long been exploded, and
the simple ones have tteen found to be better charac-
terized by numbers than by the terms formerly
used for that purpose, a particular acconnt of the
contents of this last book seems to be no way
necessary.
dbyGoo*^le
UISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book VIL
CHAF. LXV.
Of the work De Harmonia Mnsiconim Instni-
mentomni, little more need be Baid than that it was
printed at Milan in 1518, and is dedicated to Johannes
Groleriue, qnestor or treasurer of Milan to Francis I.
king of France. It is a general exhibition of the
doctrinea contained in the writings of the Greek har-
montcians, at least of such of them as may he supposed
to have come to the hands of its author ; for some of
them it is not pretended that he ever saw ; and for
the sense of those with which he appears to have been
beat acquainted, he seems to have been beholden to
Boetius, who in many respects is to be considered
both as a translator and a commentator on the Greek
writers. In this work of Franchinus the nature of
the perfect or immutable system is explained, as ars
also, as well as the author was able, the genera of the
ancients, and the proportions of the coneonances. He
considers also the division of the tone, and the dimen-
sion of the tetrachord, and shewB the several species
of diUessaron, diapente, and diapason ; and demon-
strates, as Eoetius has also done, that six sesqni
octave tones exceed the diapason by a comma. He
next explains the nature of arithmetical, geometrical,
and barmonical proportionality, and shews wherein
they differ from each other. In the fourth and last
book he treats on the modes of the ancients, in the
doing whereof he apparently follows Ptolemy, and
speaks of the Dorian as the most excellent.
Notwithstanding the great reputation which Fran-
chinus had acquired by hie writings, and the general
acqniescenceof hie contemporaries in the precepts from
time to time delivered by bim, a professor ot Bologna,
Giovanni Spataro by name, in the year 1631 made a
furious attack upon bim in a book entitled Tractato
di Musico, viierein he takes npou him an examination
of Franchinns's treatise De Practica, and chai^;es him
with groes ignorance in that part of musical science
in which Franchinus was confessedly better skilled
than any profeasor of bis time, the Cantus Mensnra-
bilis. Spataro speaks of hia preceptor Bartholomeo
Bamis, « Spaniai^, who had read lectures at Bologna,
which were published in 1482, with the title of De
Musica tractatUB, sive Musica practica, aa a man of
profound erudition ; and cites him as authority for
almost everything he advances. He speaks of Franco,
who by a mistake he makes to have been a professor of
Cologne instead of Liege, aa the unqnestionable in-
ventor of the Cantus Mensurabilis, scarcely mentioning
John De Maris in the course of his work ; and spet^
of Marchettus of Fadna as an author agunst whose
judgment there can lie no appeal.
The principal grounds of dispute between Spataro
and Franchinus were the values of the several charac-
ters that constitute the Cantns Menenrabilis and the
ratios of the consonances, which the former in some
of bis writings had ventured to discuss. Spataro was
the author also of a tract entitled Utile et breve Regule
di Ointo, in which also he is pretty free in his cen-
sures of Franchinus and his writings : and besides
these it should seem by Franchinus's defence of
himself, Dubliahed in 1620, that Spataro had written
to him several letters from Bnl(^a, in which the
charge of ignorance and vanity was strongly en-
forced. * In the man^ement of this dispute, which
seems to have had for its object nothing less than the
ruin of Franchinus as a pnblic professor, it is supposed
that Spataro had the assistance of some persons who
envied the reputation of his adversary no leas than
himself did : tliis may be collected from the title of
Franchinus's defence, which is, Apologii French ini
Gafiirii Musici adversus Joannem Spatarium et com-
plices Musicoa Bononienses, and seems to be conlirmed
by the dedication of the Tractato di Musica to Peter
Aron of Florence, a writer of some note, and who
will be mentioned hereafter, and an epistle from Aron
to him, which immediately follows the dedication of
the above-mentioned work. To epeak In the mildest
terms of Spataro's book it is from beginning to end
a libel on his adversary, who was a man of learning
and integrity ; and nothing but the manners of the
age in which he lived, in which the style of contro-
versy was in general as coarse aa envy and malice
could dictate, can excuse the terms he haa chosen to
make use of; and, to say the truth, the defence of
Franchinus stands in need of some such apology, for
he has not scrupled to retort the charge of ignorance
and arrogance in termathat indicate a radical contempt
of bis opponent
The chronology of this controversy is no otherwise
to be ascertained than by the apology of Franchinus,
which is dated the twentieth day of April, 1520, at
which time the author was turned of seventy years of
age, and the letters therein mentioned, one whereof
bears date February, and the other March, 1519;
whereae Spataro's book appears to have been pub-
lished in 1631 : eo that it is highly probable that
Spataro's book, aa it is not referred to in the apology
of Franchinus, waa not published till after the decease
of the latter ; yet it may be supposed to contain
the snbstance of Spataro's letters, inasmuch aa it
includes the whole of the objections which f^anclunns
in his apology has rehited.
It would be too much to givo this controversy at
large, the merits of it appear by Franchinus's apology,
wherein he has very candidly stated the objections of
his opponent, and given an answer to the most weighty
of them in the following terms.
'You Spartarius, who are used to apeak ill of others,
' have given occasion to be spoken against yourself,
' by falling with such madness on my lucubrations,
' though your attack has turned out to my honour.
* Your ignorance is scarce worth reprehension ; but
' you are grown so insolent, that nolesb your petulance
' be chastised, you will prefer yourself before all
' others, and impute my silence to fear and ignorance.
' I shall now make public your folly which I have so
' long concealed ; not with the bitterness it merits
' but with my accustomed modesty. How could yoa
' think to reach Parnassus, who understand not Latin ?
' You who are not above the vulgar class, profess not
' only music, but also philosophy and mathematics, and
' the liberal arts, and yet yon have deurod me to write
dbyGooi^lc
Chap. LXV.
AND PRAOTICE OP MUSIC.
' to yon in onr mother tongue. Could no one else
' declare war againBt me but yon, who are void of all
* learning, who infect the minds of your pupils, and
* pervert the art itself? But though my knowledge
' 06 small, yet I have sufficient to detect your errora,
'and likewise those of your master Bartbolomeo
' Bamis.
'When therefore in yonr fourteenth description
' yon speak of ihe sesquioctave 9 to 8 as divided into
' nine minute parts arithmetically, which yon begged
' from a mathematician, yon should know that a
' division merely arithmetical ia not acconnted of by
■ musiciaDs, because it does not contain concinnons,
' perfect intervals ; and your mathpmatician might
* have marked down that sesquioctave more clearly,
' bad be given the superparticular proportions in this
* manner, 81, 80, 79, 78, 76, 7S, 74, 73, 72, for the
* two extremes 81 and 72 conatitote the sesquioctave.
' Bat when you quote the authority of Marchettos of
' Padua you seem to despise Butholomeo Bamis,
' your master, whom you extol as invincible; for he
* in the first book of his Practica, after Guide esteems
' Marchettns (who is also accounted by Joannes Car-
'thusinuB as wanting a rod) not worth even four
'Marcheta,* and reproves him as erroneous. But
* I imagine that you only dreamt that Marchettns di-
'vided the tone into nine dieses ; for if the diesis be
' the half of the lesser semitone, as Boetiue and all mu-
' sicians esteem it, the tone would conttdn four lesser
' semitones, and the half of a semitone, a thing never
* heard of. This division of the Tone is not admitted
' by musicians; sndif you think that the tone contains
' nine commas, as some imagine, the contrary is
' proved by BoetJus. Anselmus's division of the
' system into greater and lesser semttones is no more
' the chromatic, as Marchettns intimates, than that
' of the tetrachord given by yonr mathematician ;
' for in the chromatic tetrachord the two graver
* intervals do not make up a tone according to
' Boetins, but are of what I call the mixt genua.
* Do not think that any proportions of numbers are
'congruous to musical inlervals, except the chords
' answer the natural intervals.
' In your sixteenth description, spun out to the
' length of four sheets, you ostentatiously insist on
' many very unnecessary things ; for you endeavour
' to prove that this mediation 6, 5, 3, ia harmonical,
' becanse the chords marked by these numbers when
'toncbed together produce consonance. This is
' readily granted, for the extreme terms sound the
■ diapason : the two greater sound the lesser third,
' which is greater than the semitone by a comma, 80 to
' 81 ; and the two lesser the greater sixth, diminished
' by a comma. These three chords will indeed pro>
* duce consonance, but not that most sweet mediation
' of these, 6, 4, 3, which Pythagoras, Plato, and Aris-
' totle extol as the moHtconcinnous mediation possible.
' Bnt in your seventh babbling description yon bring
' this mediation, 1, 2, 3, as truly harmonica!, having
' thi^ diapente towards the grave, and the diapason in
' the acute, which I do not admit ; for the extremes
* beiir not a dne proportion to each other. Again the
■ A coin of Vcnia, at nn*lt tiIuf
' duple 2, 1, above the eesqnialtera having no barmo-
' nical mediation, cannot be as sweet as 6, i, 3. I add
' that this happens on account of the eqnality of the
' differences (and therefore of the intervals) for the
' sesquialteral space towards the grave is equal to the
' duple immediately following it towarda the acute,
' as appears from the thirty-seventli chapter of the
' second book De Harmonia Mnsicorum Instrumen-
' torum ; neither is it equal in sweetuess to this me-
* diation of the triple, for this is truly harmonical, but
' yours is not. You moreover blame Pythagoras for
' not introducing the Sesquiqnarta and Sesquiquinta
'as concinnons in his system ; but these are distant
' from the entire and proper intervals, namely, the
' ditone and semiditone, by a comma, and he made
' use of none hut entire intervals in his mediations.
' Socratea, and the divine Plato, who also heard Draco-
'the Athenian, and Metellus the Agrigentine, fol-
' lowed him : Guido himself described the ecde-
'siastical cantus diatonically ; and before bim the
'popes Ignatius, Baailins, Hilarius, Ambrose, Qela-
' sins, Gregory, used that modulation.
' Ton seem to imitate your master Bamis (who is
' as impure as yourself) in petulance and ingratitade,
' for if he borrowed the Besquiquarta and Besqui-
' quinta, as you assert, from Ptolemy, he must he
' a plagiary in not quoting him ; and yon who
'profited by the studies of Gaffurins, yet ungrate-
' fully and enviously attack Gaffuriua. How can
' youth studying music profit by the erudition of
' thy master ? who described his very obscnre and
' confused scale by these eight syllables, " Psal li tur
' per vo ces is tas," wherein the natural leaser semi-
' tone is marked by a varions and dissimilar denomi-
' nation ; but he frighted and repenting, laid that
' aside, and was forced to return to the diatonic seals
' of Guido, in which he has introdnced the mixt
' genus, filled up with as it were chromatic, though
' false condensations, aa appears in the course of his
' practical treatise.
' In your eighteenth and last description yon attack
' me for having in the third chapter of the fourth
' book De Harmonia ascribed the chord Nete 8ynem-
' menon to the acute extreme of the Dorian mode,
'when the tetrachord of theconjunctaianot admitteil
' in any figure of intervals. This Nete Synemmenon
' miglifbe called Paranete Diezeugraenon, as they are
' both in the same place, so that there is not any ne-
' cessity for the tetrachord of the conjuncte in the
' production of this tetrachord. Your Ramis, in his
' practical treatise, constitutes the fourth species of
' the diapason from D sol be to d soi. re, mediated
'in G; whereby he makes the first ecclesiastical
'tone, for the Dorian is the fourth species of the
'diapason, become pl^;al from an authentic, and
' subverts the sacred modulation. You attack me
' for saying that Ptolemy constituted his eighth or
' hypennixolydian mode in similar intervals with the
' hypodorian, asserting that he made them of different
' diapentes and diatessarons ; but you ought to know
' that the hypermizolydian differs from the hypodo-
' rian not formally, but in acumen only, being acnter
' by a diapason. But do not think that this is the
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
390
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
B<K« VIL
eighth eccIeBiastical tone which is plsgal, for the
contrary is ehewn in lib. I. cap. vii. of our Practice.
'In your two first detractory descriptiona yon
object against some things, in themselves not ma-
terial, in onr book De Harmonia Mnsiconini In-
Btmmentoram. I shall first answer that dated at
Bologna, the last day of February, 1519. We say
that the terms tetracbord and quadrichord are in-
differently nsed, for each comprehends four chords.
But the most ancient tetrachord of Mercury sounded
the diqnson between the two extremes, as in these
numbers 6, 8, d, 12. Neither think that by the
term Tetrachord is always meant the consonance
diatesearon, for every epace containing four chords
is called a tetrachord or qnadrichord ; and even the
tritone contained under four chorda, from Parhypate
meson to Paramess is a tetrachord, though it exceeds
the diatceaaron. Johannes Cocteus Noricus, the
PhonascuB of Nuremberg, gave the name of Tetra-
chordum to his book of music, as being divided
into fonr parts. Samlus Lichaon, who added the
eighth chord to the musical system, ia imagined by
most people to be Pythagoras himself.
' I do not forget your babbling when yoa assert
that the Duple and the Sesquialtera conjoined pro-
duce the Besquitertia in thie order, 4, 2, 3, making
the Duple in i, 2, and the Sesquialtera in 2, 3 ; but
in thie yon are wrong, for 2, 3, is here Snbsea-
qnialtera.
'In yonr letter, dated the fifteenth of October,
yon say you will not answer the questiona I pro-
posed to yon, which were, whether consonance is
not a mixture of acute and grave sounds aweetly
and uniformly approaching the ear; and in what
manner that mixture is made, whether by the con>
junction, or by the adherence of the one to the
other : and agun, which condaces most to con-
sonance, the grave or the acute, and which of
the two predominates. You moreover write that
Lmurentius Gazius, a monk of Cremona, and well
skilled in music, came to you to discourse con-
cerning the canon of your master, and that Boetius
was only an interpreter, and not an author in music;
in this opinion yon are mistaken, for he was the
most celebrated lawyer, philosopher, mathematidan,
orator, poet, astronomer, and musician of his age,
as his almost innumerable works declare. And
Caseiodoms bears witness of his musical erudition
in the epistle of the emperor Theodorio to Boetina
himself, to this purpose : " When the king of
' the Franks, induced by the bme of onr banquet,
" earnestly requested a Cithamdiat horn us, the only
" reason why we promised to comply, was because
" we knew you were well akilled in the musical art."
After a very severe ceusare on a Canticum of
Bartbolomeo lUmis, produced by him in a lecture
which he publicly read at Bologna, Franchinna con-
dudes with saying, that 'the precepts delivered by
' him will, if not perverted, appear to be founded in
' truth and reason ; and that though his adversary
' Spataro should grow mad with rage, the works of
' Qaffurius, and the fame of his patron Orolerins
' will live for ever.'
PiXTBO Akoh, a Florentine, and a canon of Rimini,
of the order of Jerusalem, and the patron of Spataro,
was the author of Libri tree de Institutione har-
monica, printed at Bologna. 1516 ; Tratto della
Nature e Cognitione di tutti gli Tuoni di Cantn
figurato, Vinegia 152S. Lucidario in Moaica di
alcnne Oppenioni antiche et modeme, Vinegia 1545.
Toscanello de la Mnaica, Vinegia 1523, 1529. Nova-
mente Stampato con la gionta, 1539. Compendiolo
di mold dubbi Segreti et Sentenze intomo al Canto
Fermo et Figurato, Milano 15 — . The first of these
was originally written in the Italian language, and
is only extant in a Latin translation of Johannes
Antoniua Flaminius Forocomeliensis, an intimate
friend of the author.
The work entitled Toscanello is divided into two
books ; the first contains an eulogium on music, and
an account of the inventors of it, drawn from the
ancient poets and mythologists. In this definition
of music the author recognizes the division of it
by Boetius and others into mundane, humane, and
instrumental music After briefly distinguishing
between vocal and inatrumental music, he by a very
abrupt transition proceeds to an explanation of the
Cantos Mensurabiiis and the ligatures, in which be
doea but repeat what had been much better said by
Franchinus and others before him.
The second book treats of the intervals and the
consonances, and in a very anperficiat manner, of the
genera of the ancients. From thence the author
proceeds to a declaration of counterpoint, for the
composition whereof he delivers ten precepta; these
are succeeded by a brief explanation of tiie several
kinds of proportion, of greater and lesser inequality,
and of arithmetical, geometrical, and harmoniul
proportionality ; the remainder of the book consista
of directions for dividing the monochord according
to the rule of Guido Aretinus, with a chapter in-
titled De la Participations et Modo da cordare
r Inatrumento.
In the course of hia work he highly commends
as a theorist Bartbolomeo Ramie, the preceptor of
Spataro, styling him * Musico digniasimo, veramente
'daogni dotto venerato;' and as practical iDusiciana
he celebrates lodocns Pratensis by the name of
Josquino, Obreth, Busnoia, Ochegfaen, and Du&i.
To theae in other places he adda Giovanni Mouton,
Richafort, Pierazzon de Larve, AUeeaandro Agricola,
and some others, of whom he says they were the
most &mou3 men in their faculty.
The edition of the Toscanello of 1539 has an
appendix, which the author intitles ' Aggiunta del
' Toscanello, k complacenza de gli Amici fatta,' con-
taining directions for the intonation of the Psalms,
and the unging of certain offices on particular
festivals.
The writings of Peter Aron contain nothing
original or new; for it is to be observed that Boetiua
and Franchinus had nearly exhausted the subject of
musical science, and that few of the publications sab-
sequent to those of the latter contain anything worthy
of notice, such as treat of music in that general tatil
extensive way in which Kircher, Zarlino, and Mar-
aennus have conaidered it
The ten precepta of connterpmnt, which conatittite
IJntzrchy Google
Chap. LXVL
AND PEACTICE OP MUSia
291
the twenty-firet twd nine following chapters ot the
second hook of the Toscanello, eeem to carry in them
the appearante of novelty, but they are ia truth ex-
tracted from the writings of Francbinus, though the
anthor has studiously avoided the mention of hie
name. They are in effect nothing more than brief
directions for adjusting the parte in an orderly buc-
ceesion, and with proper intervals between each, in a
composition of many parts. Morley appears to have
studied Peter Aroa, and has given the snbatance of
his precepts, very much improved and enlarged, in
the third part of bis IctrodDCtion.
The above restriction of the precepts of mnsic to
the number of ten, ia not the only instance of the
kind that we meet with in the works of writers on
the science : Andreas Ornithoparcua, of Meyning,
has discovered as great a regard for this nnmber,
founded perhaps in a reverence for the Decalogue, as
Peter Aron has done ; for in his Micrologus, printed
at Cologne in 1535, he has limited the precepts for
the decent and orderly singing of divine service to
ten, though they might with great propriety have
be^ encreased to double that number,
CHAP. LXVL
About the same time with Franchinng and Peter
Aron flourished John Hsmboys, of whom bishop
Tanner in his £iblioUiecB gives the following
account: —
' John Haubots, a most celebrat«d musician, and
' s doctor in that faculty. Bale calls him a man of
' great erudition ; and adds, that being educated in
* the liberal sciences, he in his riper years applied
' himself to music with great assiduity. He wrote
* Summam Artis Musice, lib. i. beginning " Quemad-
" modum inter Triticnm," The MS. book in the
' Bodleian library, Digby 90, which has for its title
' Qoatnor Principalia Musicaa, lib. iv. completed at
' Oxford, 1451, has the same beginning. Wrongfully
* therefore in the catalogues, and by A. Wood, is it
' assigned to Thomas of Teukesbury.'
Hamboys was the author also of certain musical
compositions, entitled Cantionum artificialium diversi
Generis, and is ssid to have flourished anno 1470.
Bal. viii. 40. Pits, pag. 662.
In Holinsbed'a Chronicle, vol. II. pag. 1355, is an
ennmeratloQ of the moat eminent men for learning
dnring the reign of Edward IV.* in which the author
■ It l> tUftat^ pnlMblc from tha nubllibmcBl at bli chiptl, ind lbs
pnTiilon Uwcln mwl* foe ■ lucHulon of iliicRi, Ihsl thli prlncx wu
■ )onr of Bmilc. ud ■ fi»ounr o( — -'-' — ■ — ' " "— "—
Una : t ™4 W^cr*! Fuiienl Una
includes John Hamboys, aa excellent mnucian,
adding, that for his notable cunning therein be was
made doctor of music
There is reason to suppose that Hamboys was the
flrst person on whom the degree of doctor in music
was conferred by either of the universities in this
kingdom, at least there ia no positive evidence to the
contrary ; and as to the antiquity of degrees in
music, although the registers of the universities do
not ascertain it, academical honours in this faculty
may be traced up to the year 1463. for it appears that
in that year Henry Habington was admitted to the
degree of bachelor of music at Cambridge ; and that
in the same year Thomas Ssintwix, doctor in music,
was made master of King's College in the same
university.!
Such as are concerned for the honour of the science
will look upon this as a remarkable sera. And if we
conwder the low estiination in which music is held by
persons unacquainted with its principles, it must
appear somewhat extraordinary to see it ranked with
those arts which entitle their professors not merely
to the character of learned men, but to the highest
literary honours. How and for what reasons music
came to be thns distinguished, will appear by the
following short deduction of its progreas between the
year 13{X>, and the time now spoken of
As to the Cantus Oregorianus and the tonal laws,
they were a mere matter of practice, and related
solely to the celebration of the divine offices, but the
principles of the science were a subject of very
abstmse speculation, and in that view music hsd a
place among the liberal aria. This discrimination
between the liberal and manual or popular arts is at
least as ancient as the fourth century, for St Augus-
tine himself takes notice of it, and these two admitted
a distinction into the Trivium and Quadrivium, which
already in the course of this work has been noted :
in the former were included grammar, rhetoric, and
logic ; in the latter arithmetic, music, geometry, and
astronomy. Du Cange explains these terms by
eaying that the Trivium signified the threelold way
to eloquence, and the Quadrivium the iourfold way
to knowledge. In what a barbarous manner the
sciences were taught may be in some degree inferred
from a treatise on them by the famous Alcuin, the
preceptor of Charlemagne, and that other of Cassio-
dorue, entitled De eeptem Disctplinie. In the greater
part of the schools the public teachers ventured no
farther than the Trivium, confiuing their instructions
to grammar, rhetoric, and kgic ; hut those of their
disciples who had passed ^th the Trivinm and
Quadrivium were referred to the study of Cassio-
doTus and Boetius. It is easy to discover from this
account of the method of academical institution, the
Hue apHi nil ijuDd cupU ipu tibl,
AnetliR mnileUn at tha unM lutnuna li notsd b; u iBKriptlni la
tbaparlab church of Lunbclh In Surra)', in Ihaae wordi;—
Of jrour chintj pnx tor the foul of Sir AmtHoTe Piyae, puion
of Lambeth, mil bachelour of mnlick, and chaplcfn to [he lordi
cardjiul* Boulai and Mortoo, who dipaited May the uiiii.
A.D . t jtS.
ciTilalibui cDmmuiutmijuandaniinutHuePhlliutluni: atijut
'proprifiiiblilndlcenl.' VIl, Ai nature liu Implan'tad HlfJove in Iha
mlndt or all moitali, id baa aha dlipcuaeil to avs; oounlr; uid nillgB
lOiallanga tba prtrontlTa 0/ hcini Ibe moat handaome womim. at Iht
Mnn metl •ccompUahail in the lUll ot muilc, aud or klEplns tha hew
dbyGoo'^le
HKTOBY OP THE SCtENCE
track In wliicli the ftndenta of mwAo vere neceMitated
to walk : atterly ignorant oi the language in which
the precepts of harmony were originally delivered,
and incapable of viewing them otherwise than throngh
the medium oi a Latin version, they studied Marci-
anus Capella, Macrobins, Cassiodorua. Eoetins, Gnido
Aretinns, and those unmherleas authors who had
written on the tones and the Cantus Mensurabilis ;
and in these their pursuits the students in the English
tmiverBities of Oxford and Cambridge, for it nowhere
appears to have been the practice in other countries,
were revrorded with the aoidemical degrees ol bache-
lor and doctor.*
M prtMrlb* tlw axndwt foi
' be1«igtnt« ta i
■o. djiinltja, n
'«M«r tbamle
H Of itwiy nibjscted itid cutdfdAUi I
i«r degna ol htnliblp Uiu wistibli da;
0, li 1 dciciiplini ot coll
n ot college dlKlptin
leol ihudder: Aai
no hundred ilw of anoilier
I, and Did Efttherlj' di
'MpMTdllnatar
■klMttoo and halpa
• and t^ 0( llw clock In tfa
X lr>too coliega, a:
ill cone, lad a (mall nun
dhIt in collcfee, be not
B unlTFTililg for lack of
Bwhlcbrleedailj bet will
n chapell, aod
™ wlUi uJt
'haf^ge xhn pntage made of the biurhe of the i
' and oatmol, and noLhlng cUvi- Aficr ihli alender order inej » eimar
* MAcblligc or IflafnlDgc until t. of tbe clocke la the crynlog, when ai
'tliej bar* ■ inpper D«l mucke beliei tben tbclt dinner, ImrantUtElf
*afUr thfl whkBB tker fo eitkei toreaunlnglnprobl^Dui, or unto «ume
■ gtbet (tudto, until U benjne oilennc of ib> clocko, and then beyingg
'wltMni On. antUnalowalkeoimnna no and downe balfe ■ bouia to
'■M t Inta on llHir lt» when thrr Eo la
TTha lata learned Hr. Wlie of Oiford.
' England, In Ih
* Intereouraea wilt
' tlCuUllT RCOldM
I a friand of bli, fniin whlcb thi
IS of tbe Saiaoa, tkrongli mei
ime, and Ita nd^tKKirhood In
lat * pllcb of «E>ll(DO> In (1.
bilillan world during that da
lenl remalDa «l poglrjr Id 8uo
la. and vart nnmben ot fit a
k of opinion Uiat degnca In
Jawhg puaage
lay, particularly a fall minu-
irrltten in tbe rdgn of king
r. Airnd Uh OiHt, aa b* la
mueKbrwl
reitorlng the tluaea
'to their ancient aeal at OifoTd, be ahould appoint amouRit the rci of
•thcllMTaluuiprofeiainar muilcu wBcipreuly read ha did, anno
•SSS. [AnniliatUyds,quDIadhyUaipafleld]naDMlT, John, the monk
^Aa to tht Diigln of degraea In general In Ifaa unlverilclci, though
' nothing certain app<«n upon record, yet they Kem from the very naliua
* of them. Id be almnl. If not quite, aa old aa tbeunlTentleathcni^Tei;
•II being neceaiary, e>en In the Inliney of an unliec^ty. to keep up iba
* fice and farm of II, br dlatlnguijhlng the prodcienta Id eacb acienca
■according to (he dlllhrence of their abllltltt and ilrM tptnt In itudf, aa
he hmtty of irta,
ind each partlculu-
In the Fasti, at tlie end of the Athen. Oxon. vol. L
which commences at IGOO, mention ia Ireqnently
' credit to tbla Una. and with thla remiAible adTantage orer Ihe real of
waa ill oilgliial lenae.
ktEruge trom Bu Chevalier, a knight of tba loweat nnk^ Spehnu
from Bacului. ■ lUd. Cu)u frvin BucccUa, an allowance ot pTDViiioB.
The moet piobable derliallon of It aeeiiii ta be ttom Bim t,annu, tba
berryot alimelot baji baehelon being young and ol good hopn. Ilka
laurel! In the berry. In Latin Bacealaureui. lohoi. Diet. In art. VUa
AyllfTe ( aodent and prtaeni Stale of the Unlyeialtj of Oifuid, *oL IL.
fRTpr*.
aTing ao done, under tbe band* of cicdibia witneaaaa;
,-r ' -' the luppUcatlon for hla graea lawardi tUa degree
eolwol, with TocaJ and Inatiumental mnalc. Ant eauiing la bi
gitlng three daya notice of Ihe day and bom of each
a bachelor, proceeding to the degrae of doctor. It la reqiureo inai i» mail
atndy Bn yean after tba taking bli bacbelor'a degree ; ami produce Ilia
i ,_^..__ _, _., 1 In all or eight parte, and publicly pcr-
and farther, ahall «
day tit be appolnled fSr thai purpaee, prarlouily netlfylni tbe day and
hour of petfliTmanee tn Ihe manner before pmcribed. Such nerelie to
ta performed In tbe pmenoa of Dr. Heyther't vntHur M muilc. Thia
houae, which being granted by both the Savltlan profeaaon, or 1^ aDme
maaletof ana deputed by them for Ibat puipoaa, he ahall be preieoted to
The itatutea of the onlTeralty of Orford, do tn like manner preaeillH
the ciorclaea Ibr degraea In Ike other facnlliea, but In tertna at ihia day
ao little utideraiood. that ad attempt to explain them In thia place ziiar
to lome be not unacceptable. In Tllle VI. Sect. I, De Xierciilte
Diipulsllonea hi Parilalla; onlblalenn tkalbllowi^antbBenitbneita
nf glonographera : —
Sefore the achonli were ended the young itudenU held Ihdr dla-
putatloni hi Fanliiii. In Ihe porch of BL Mary'a chureb. Than thaf
aalc, ila.a-vta, one oner a«alnil iKo other. Thli miKht be eipreawd in
Idiei pcrhipi b. Par-VU, and tblt again In
harbaroua Latin 1
I algriiiy Id
oppoalta la the i
apeaking the place oflODklng.th ^_
Chaucac, ill the Prologuaa to the Canlarbnij Tales, etaaiaatatUng tte
Sargaant at Law, laya,— -
A ferfeanC of Uwe, wire and wile,
TliiC often hid ben ic die pcrrife.
And fai (he Oloaaary at the end of Urry'i
It eipladi
IWlDR tf
' in the reign of king Hen, III. the pope'a eoUeelor mat a i
'wllb aieuel othol; water, and a aprlnhler, and a loaf of brc
^bad gotten at a place for iprlnkllng aoma of bit water j for I
'go abnwUand beatow bit holy water, and recalie of tba pe.,._
'they gay* bhn, aa Ihe reputed value thereof: The pope'a eoltaetor
'aiked him what ho might gr" '" "■" "-"- •" •'■-• — -• "^ ' —
MOf
'Of arte being Iha
• Uw and phnie ei
•unlnrally.Idon-
' gainful ; and degreea
llof lEmi ... „
leat In the unlnrally. But when Iho nKtIltlea of
mIloB diTlnlly. beeauae that waa alwaya raltlTaled " lalara pro
- -~i began la decline In their cTedlt, ai beinE leu ' him to pa)
1 moat of them wet* enllraly dropl, ai logic 'iirabied a
nd aatroniimy: rhetoric Indevl maintained ita 'Parrlae.
owed to teach It unleia graduated in oi
gal in one year in that wayf The atleu
LDani [weniy anJilngi ; to which the collaMar peaaenlly to.
[beta balong) aa due oul of 11, aa the lenthi, two ahilUngi la
yearly, and oblign him to pay It aeeenllngly. naan ahtcb
I lb* paHaga. "Cogebatur Ilia panpereulu. molila dicbua
tenena. vendltia In Paitbia libellli. lilam BnoalicaB prs.
Ulh lUbalantU panolTenda." i, ; The poor prleal, to enabta
that Impnalllon, and to get a lort of lliailhood. ni cow-
take up tba liada of (cUIng Utile booki at tbe acbool hi tba
' f arrlae. And hence it la, aa aome tblnk. that the French caU tk«
'iVoaaoi. U Farrli.' Hiiioiy of Chuiebee In England, b^ Tbomaa
Gloaaaijr lo Oi. Wita'a adiiion of lluiluw f aiU, and that ot »—— rr t»
dbyGooi^lc
CHiP. LXVL
AND PRACTICE OP MUSia
898
made of admission to bachdore* degrees in tbe several
faculties, and of the privilege thereby acquired of
reading pnblicly on certain books in each of them
respectively, for insUince, in divinity the graduate
was allowed to read the Master of the Sentences ; in
civil law, the Institatee of Justinian ; in canon law,
the Decretals ; in physic, Hippocrates ; in arts, the
Logic of Aristotle ; and in music, Boetins : thns, to
give an instance of the latter, Henry Parker, of
Magdalen-hall, in 1502, John Mason, and John
Sherman, in 1508, John Wendon, and John Clawsey,
in 1509, John Dygon, a Benedictine monk, in 1512,
and Thomas Mendus, a secular chaplain, tn 1534,
were severally admitted to the degree of bachelor of
music ; and of such it is said in the Fasti, Col. 5,
and again Col. 69, that they were thereby admitted
to the reading of any of the musical books of Boetins,
which at that time were almost the only ones from
whence any knowledge of the principles of the science
could be derived.
The efforts of Franchinas for the improvement of
mnsic are related in the foregoing account of him and
bis writings, and the advantages which accrued from
bis lahoors may in gome measure be deduced from
thence as a necessary consequence ; but the dissemi*
Dating his precepts by writing throngh the learned
world, was not all that he did towards the advance-
ment of the science, for besides this he laid a foun-
dation for endless disquisition, by procuring copies of
the works of the ancient Greek harmonicians, the
masters of Boetios himself, and by causing trans-
lations of them to be made for the use of the many
that were absolutely ignorant of the language and
character in which they were written. But the ope-
ration of these his labours for the advancement of the
science must necessarily have been very slow, and will
hardly account for those amazing improvements in
the art of practical composition which appear in the
works of lodocus Pratensis, Orlando de Lasso, Phi'
lippo de Monte, Andrian Willaert, and in short, of
the mosiciana in almost every country in Europe to
whom the benefit of Ids instmctionfl had extended.
These are only to be accounted for by that part of
bis history which declares him to have been a public
professor of the science, and to have taught publicly
in some of the principal cities of Italy. This he did
to crowded auditories, at a time when the inhabitants
of Europe were grown impatient of their ignorance :
when the popes and secular princes of Italy were
giving great encouragement to learning. This dis-
posiljon co-operating with the labours of the studions
iu>d industrious in the several facnlties, brought about
a reformation in literature, the effects whereof are felt
at this day. Not to mention the arts of painting and
BCiilptnre, which were now improving apace, it may
tba X ScrlpWra, to« TuToam, ud Scldan la Ui nout bd FnUaou
Da Lmdlbnt.
Id tha Mttntei of tl» nalnnlty of OxfWd. Til. VI. S«t. 1. ' Da
' dlvpntitloiio hi pHrrlK, turn bateodLi, tuai frequeDtaodLi.' *s meet
■itb aewim DbputsIlimEi la AuguillngDilbui ; tbm
■tjltofipBikLnE. wen dispulation- "'■'" '^- ' "
■equind gntt Rnutition for ncn
^ DHmutOT At Oithrd, the ilLe «
thepnipOHornRiiniWHllumCallFgs. With
dtopatukoii u the pleo. ind In Ihe miiintr ihove
kind, mil had fimncrlf
e."^
nt jouBg KheUn, ■ lamrisi AlViMR'u'e'
suffice to say, that at this time men be.cran to think
and reason justly on literary subjects ; and that they
did BO in music was owing to the discoveries of Fran-
chinuB, and his zeal to cultivate the science ; for no
sooner were his writings made public than they were
spread over Europe, and the precepts contained in
them inculcated with the utmost diligence in the
many schools, universities, and other public semi-
naries throughout Italy, France, Germany, and Eng-
land ; and the benefits resulting from bis labonra
were manifested, not only by an immense number
of treatises on music, whidi appeared in the world in
the age next succeeding that in which he flourished,
but in the musical compositions of the sixteenth cen-
tury, formed afler his precepts, and which became the
models of musical perfection. Of these latter it will
be time enough to speak hereafter : of the authors
that immediately succeetled him, and the improve-
ments made by them, it is necessary to say some-
thing in this place.
The first writer on mnsic of any note after Fran-
chinns and Peter Aron seems to have been Jacobus
Fabrr Stapulensis, who flourished about the year
1503. Among other works, he has left behind him
four books on music, entitled Elementa Musicalia,
frinted at Paris in 1496 and 1551, a thin folio,
a the beginning of this work he celebrates bis two
masters in the science, Jacobus Labinios, and Jacoboa
Turbelinus. Joeephns Blancanus held it in anch
estimation, that he recommends to students that they
begin with the study of it above all other things;
and that after reading it, they proceed to Boetius,
Aristoxenus, Ptolemy, and Euclid. Balinas speaks
very differently of the Elementa Musicalia, for he
says it discover* that the author knew more of the
other parts of mathematics than of music ; he how-
ever commends the author for having treated the
subject with a degree of perspicuity equal to that
of Euclid in his Elements of Geometry. He adds,
that he does not seem to have read Ptolemy, or any
other of the Greek writers, but is entirely a Boetian,
and does nothing more than demonstrate what he
has laid down. This is certainly a very favourable
censure ; Salinas might truly have called the book
a partial abridgment of Boetius, for such it most
appear to every attentive peruser of iL Faber was
of Picardy; his name, in the language of hie own
country, was Jacques Le Fevre D'Estaplee; he waa
a doctor of the Sorbonne, and beloved by Erasmus.
Bayle relates that he was once in the hands of
the inquisitors, but was delivered by the queen of
Navarre. Buchanan has celebrated his learning in
the following elegant epitaph : —
Qui ttudiis priinna lucero intulit omnibas, arte*
Edoctum cunctos bsc tegit uma Fabrum.
Heul tenebrie tantum potuere exCinguere lument
Si Don in tenebris lux tamen ista micet.
The improvements made by Franchinus were
followed by another of very considerable import,
namely, the invention of Fugue, from the Latin
Fuga, a chace, a species of symphoniac composition,
in which a certain air, point, or subject is pro-
pounded by one part and prosecuted by anotbwr.
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
394
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book VIL
ZarliDO reeemDies it to an eclio ; and it is not im*
probable that the accidental reverberatjon of some
passage or particle of a miuical tone might have
originally suggested the idea of composition in fngne.
The merit of this invention cannot, at this disbmce
of time, he ascribed to any one mnsician in pre-
ference to another, but the antiqnity of it may. with
great appearance of probability, be fixed to ahont the
beginning of the sixteenth century : this opinion ia
grounded on the following observations.
Franchinna, the meet ancient of the mnsical writers
who have expressly treated on composition in sym-
phony, eeems to hove been an absolute stranger to
this epecies of it, for hia precepts relate solely to
connterpoint, the terms fugue or canon never once
occnrring in any part of hie writings; and the last
of his tracts, viz., that De Harmonia Mnsicomm
Instramentomm, as already has been remarked, was
pabliehed in 1518. On the other hand, in the Dode-
cachordon of Glareanna of Basil we meet with fognes
to a very great nnmber, and indeed with a canon
of a very extraordinary contrivance, compoeed by
lodocus Pratensis, for the practice of bu master
Lewis XII. king of France.
But to draw a little nearer towards a conclusion,
there is extant a book entitled Micrologna, written
by Andreoa Omithoparcns of Meyning, a master of
arte, and a professor of mnsic is several universities in
Gennany. This book was first published at Cologne
in 1535, and contains, lih. II. cap vii. a definition
and an example of canon to the following pnrpoee : —
'A canon is an imaginary rule, drawing that part
' of the song which ia not set down out of that
'which is set down. Or it ia a rule which doth
' wittily discover the secrets of a song. Now w«
' nse canons either to shew art, or to make shorter
' work, or to try others cunning, thus : —
Comparing therefore the date of Francfainne'e last
treatise with that of the Micrologna, the interval be-
tween the publication of the one and theother of them
appears to be seventeen years, a very short period
for so considerable an improvement in the practice
of mnsical compoeition.
It is natural to enppose that the first essays of this
kind were fugues in two parts ; and a fugue thus con-
structed was called two parts in one, for this reason,
that the melody of each might he fotind In the other.
In the framing of these ports, two things were necee-
tury to be attended to, namely, the distance of time
or number of measures at which the reply was to foU
low the principal subject, and the interval between the
first note in each : with respect to the latter of these
particulars, if the reply was precisely in the some
notea with the Hnbject, the composition wasj called
a fngne in the unison ; and if In any other series of
concordant intervals, a* namely, the fourth or fifth
above or below, it was denominated accordingly, oa
hereafter will be shewn. The primitive method of
noting fugues appeora by the following examples of
two parte in one, contained in an ancient manuscript
on vellum, of one Robert Johnson, a priest, the an-
tiquity whereof may be traced hack to near the
beginning of the sixteenth century ; the first of
these is evidently a fugne in the unison, of twor
parts in one, and the latter a fiigue of two parts
in one in the eleventh, or diapason cum diatasssron,*
* In campoiitioiu of th
plitn-tons on i
le li ta«ipo»«J [■ Utm Itam th*
n HbhitVIII. Ia
Slullan'i poem, emlllad. The Booft of Ceuit. Kkit b
luda, dl»[d*ilT folloi', und o» lliu could spoil oocuion tlBi
' Counter ho coulde O Lni apon i paCCe,'
And Blid, whoH «i»llnic< In Ibli kind of utnpatltliHi li »
ud dlrliloni tor In-
le at ConUI, nhoH tw«m> wlo I
a will appear by comparing the latter with the for-
Der part of each respectively.
Two put»iDoae,inoiievoyee, A royDiirmiAeT another.
Parlnori GrooDd ; h b ilM tbi twdfth of VInMl'i Snoaita di
OpenpdmL
Ttait PoiMll wu raj fond of tbli Und of eompoilHOB, npiu*
throuxtaout tho Orphoui BriunnWui, and >!Beirhera ID hit won*. ■■
«eUfoU»eluin±u tbeUiatn. In Ihe tut ISSr ■ ImA wu pablbhod
In L«bi ind Sngltoh, b; ChtUtonbcr Blmpion. i fUDoat iMUn. *•■
tlUod^^ClMly^nilJiucdtloDiuii mUda noniiu.' or. tbe Ditklon nA
eicrt^ of pnctltlonni, u well en tbe tMIb ■■ lb*
.. - —■ 1 '-'-'need Into EBtUnS.
»«.ho.Sapl.T
tM. tUI tht tiino t
IB of Um conntiT^dvia tn
ontboklnd hJUi
dbyGooi^le
CniF. LXVL
AND PKAOTIOE OF MUSIC.
29S
ig^^^^gjgsj^i^
ThiB whhih immediately foUown Is the reiolutioii
of a canon of two parts in one, compoeed by Bird, on
the same plain eong as the former, with this difference,
that the reply is in longer motea than the principal,
for which reason, itia called a fugue by dimSnntion.
Of these two kinds as also of fugue of fonr parts in two,
and of three in one, the ancceeding are examples : —
OOgU
296 HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE.
^ HISEKEEE.
Of Uie foregoing canons of Bird it may be remarked,
that as the former examples of two parts in one are
■todies on (be well-known pkin-Bong of 0 Lux, so
tbis is an exercise on a plain-song of Miserere, for the
origin whereof we are to seek : the celebrity of it
may however be inferred from this circumstance, that
Dr. John Boll, who waa exquisitely skilled in canon,
made a variety of compositions on it, some whereof
will hereafter be inserted. Bnt we are told by
Morley that Bird and Alpbonso Ferabosco made
canons, each to the number of forty, and his friend
Mr. George Waterhouse above a thousand, upon the
same plain song of Miserere, and it is probable that
this of Bird is one of the number. The passt^ is
carious, and ta sa follows : ' If yon thinke to imploy
' anie time in making of parts on a plain-song,
'I woald eoonsell yon diligentlie to peruse those
wsiee which my loving muster ^never without
' reverence to be named of mnsitians) M. Bird and
' M. Alphooso, in a virtuous contention m love between
' themselves, made upon the plain-song of Miserere;
• but a contention as I said in love, which ceased
' them strive everie one to surmount another without
' malice, envie or backbiting : but by great labour,
' atadie, and paiues each malung other censure of that
Wn.uut BiBD.
' which they liad done. Which contention of theirs,
' speciallie without envie, oaused them both become
' more excellent in that kind, and winne such a name,
' and gaine such credits, as will never perish so long
' fu musicke induretb. Tberefore there is no wue
' readier to cause you become perfect than to contend
' with some one or other, not in malice (for so is
' your contention upon passion not for love of vertoe)
'but in love shewing your adversarie your worke,
' and not scorning to bee corrected of bim, and to
' amende yonr fault, if bee speake with reason : bat
'of this enongh. To letnm to M. Bird and M.
' Alphonao, though either of them made to the nam-
* ber of fortie waies, and could have made infinite
' more at tbeir pleasure, yet bath one manne, my
' friend and fellow, M, G^corge Waterhouse,* upon
'the same plain-song of Miserere for varietie sar^
' passed all who ever laboured in that kinde of stadia.
_ . . tbo iiud; Mid iincUn or mute,
in Cberear 1503 he luppllated it Oxford for tbe dame of l»chtd«. bat
Wood Ku aoi lUe to diKDTet Ifait ba wm kdndtlec lo tt. FmL A»aa
118). Bj th< iDtiT in »i« cbcqiw-boiik ot the elupal njii, It unean
that hg died tti> dgfatuntlidir or rAnuuT, ISO),
dbyGoo^le
Chap. LXVL
AND PRACnCE OF MUSIC.
' For hee hath already made a thousand woies (yea,
' nnd though I shoulde talk of halfe as manie more,
' I should cot bo far wide of the truth) everie one
' different and several from another. But because
' I do hope very shortlie that the same shall be
' published for the beuefite of the worlde, and hie
' owne perpetnal glorie, I will cease to speaks anie
' more of them, but onlie to admonish you, that
* whoso will be excellent must both spende mnch
' time in practice, and looks over the doings of
Touching these exercises, it is to be observed, that
they are calculated to facilitate the practice of com-
posing in fugue, by exhibiting the many various
ways in which the point may be brought in ; or, in
other words, how the replicate may be made to
correspond with, or answer, the principal. The
utility of this kind of ttndy may be in some measure
inferred from a variety of essays in it by Bird, Bull,
and others, yet to be mst with in ancient collections
of music ; and to a still greater degree from a little
book entitled 'Divers and snndrie waies of two
'parts in one to the number of fortie uppon one
'playn-song; sometimes placing the ground above
'and two parts buietbe, and otherwise the ground
' beuethe, and two parts above. Or t^ine, otherwise
' the ground sometimes in the middest betweene both.
* Likewise other conceitas, whioh are plainlie set
' downe for the profile of those which would attaine
'London, 15m,' small
E^way Bevin, a discipU of Tallis, a gentleman
extraordinary of the royal chapel in 160S, and
organist of the cathedral church of Bristol, published
in the year 1631, a book, which, though entitled
a Brief Introduction of Mnaic and Descant, is in
truth a treatise on canon, and contains a manifold
variety of fugues of two, three, and more parts in
one, upon one plain-song most skilfully and in<
genioqsly constructed ; but of him, and uso of this
bia work, an account will be given hereafter.
Fugues in the unison were also called rounds,
from the circqlar progression of the melody; and
this term snggest«d the method of writing them in
a circular form, of which the following canon of
ClemeuB Non Papa, musician to the emperor Charles
V. with the resolution thereof in modem characters,
IB an example : —
CANON IN THE UNISON, FOB ITIVE VOICES.
A fugue written in one line, whether in a circle or
otherwise, with directions for the other parta to
follow, is called a Canon. Morley ascribes the in-
vention of this compendious method of writing to the
Italian and French musicians ; hie account of it is
curious, and is here given in his own words : ' The
'Frenchmen and Italians baVe used a waie, that
'though there were four or five partes in one, yet
' might it he perceived and suuk at the first ; and th^
'manner thereof is tbis. Of now manie parts the
' canon is, so manie cliefes do they set at the beginning
' of the verse ; sUll causing that which standeth nearest
'tmto the mnsick serve for the leading parte; the
' next towards the left hand for the next following
'parte, and so conseqnentlie to the last. But if
'betweene anie two cliefes you finde rests, those
' belong to that part which the cliefe stamUng next
' tmto them on Uie left side, signifieth.
EXAMPLE.
' Here be two parts In oi)e in the Diapason cum dia-
' tessaron, or, as we tearme it, in the eleventh above ;
' where you see first a C sol fa nr cliefe standing on
'the lowest rule, and after it three minime rests.
'Then standing the F fa or cliefe on the fourth rule
* iioD below ; and because that standeth neerest to the
'notes, the base (which that cliefe repreaenteth) must
' begin, resting a minim rest after the plain-song, and
' the treble three minim rests. And least yon ^onld
' misse in reckoning your pauses or rests, the note
' whereupon the following part must begin ia marked
< with Mils sign 2, It ie true that one of those two,
dbyG00*^lc
HISTORY Oif THJi HOIENCE
BooE va
'the sign or the rests is anperflaotia; but the order
' of setting more clittes than one to one verse being
* but of late devised, was not used when the eigne
■was most common, but instead of them, over or
'under the song was written in what distance the
'tollowjng parte was from the leading, and most
' commonlie in this manner, Oanon in," oi ' superiore
'or inleriore. But to shun the labour of writing
' those words, the cliffes and reele have been devised,
'soewing tlie same thioge. And to the intent yon
' may the better conceive it, here is another example
'Wherein the treble beginneth, and the mesne Jol-
'loweth within a semibreve after, in the Hypodia-
' ]>ente or tifth below'; —
The above relation ot Morley oceonnts for the
origin ot the term Canon, which in truth signilies
no more than a rule ; bat no sooner was it invented,
than it was applied to perpetual tugne, eves in the
score; and perpetaai fngne and canon were then,
and now are, looked on as convertible terms; than
which it eeeme nothing can be more improper, tor
when A fugue is once scored it ceases to be a canon.
From fngnes in the unison, or ol many parts in
one, musicians proceeded to the invention at such
as gave the answer to the subject, at a prescribed
distance of time, in some concordant interval, as
namely, the fourth, fifth, or eighth, either above or
below ; and to distinguish between the one and the
other the Greek prepositions Epi and Hypo were
added to the names ol the coDsonancea in which the
parts were to follow ; for instance, where the reply
was above the principal, it was said to be in the
epidiatessaroD, epidiepente, or epidiapason ; when
it woe below, it was called hypodiateesaron, hypo-
diapente, hypodiapaaon ;* addmg in either case,
where the number of ports required it, a farther
direction : tor on example ot one ot these kinds we
have that celebrated compodtion of our countryman
William Bird, to the words 'Non nobis Domine,'
which in the manner of speaking above described
would be called a canon ot three parts, viz., in the
hypodiatessaron et diapason, post tempus, and in the
Musnrgia, torn. I. page 389, is a canon ot four parts
in the hypodiapente, diapason, et hypodiapason cum
diapente, composed bv Emilia Roesi, chapel-master
of Loretto, remarkable for the elegance of iu con-
texture, the resolution whereof is here inserted :
^
-^lf'.rr-l-"^^'-^4
a -It
mi Abw-lon fi - 11 mi Alxs-laii
■ ^ ^- if-f'i-r-f ■■"—{■-■(* Try
mi
e-liml Ab-M-loD fi-llmi
^^»Sm «i
— [ ■ ^--wTTy-^ pt^ ^
- - li n
<« ft-li miAb-M- Ion fi-
:::=i
,n-7-o„ a — , „ ,.
\&rf-r-
^fe^- l-^3^=^lrrrr'l=
- - sa-1oD fi - • H
Ab-BS-lonfl-U
CHAP. LXVII.
Soon after its invention farther improvements were
made in this epecies of composition, by the con-
trivance of fugues, that sung both backward and
forward, or, in mosicol phrase, rect« et retro; and
ot others tiiat snng per Arsin and Tbesin, that is to
say, so as that one part ascended while the other
descended. Of the former kind the following conoa
ot Dt. John Bull, with the resolution thereof in the
present method of notation, is an example -. —
dbyGoo<^Ie
AND PRACTICE OF JTOSIO.
800
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Of fu^e per Argm et Thesin, or, as it ia called
by tiie Italiima, per Mnovimenti conCrarii, this from
the Istitutione Harmoniciie of Znrlioo, terza parte,
cap. Iv. pag. 277, may aerve aa a apecimen : —
FUGA PER MUOVIMENTI CONTBABH.
^m
Here follows a fagne of Dr. Bull on the aams
plain'SODg with that, of his above given, of both
kinda, y'tz., recte et retro, and also per arsia et tfaesia ;
the canon whereof, to ehew the artificial construction
of its parts, ie in Uie mannacript whenc« it was t*ken
exhibited in the form of a tritmgle, and immediately
following it, ia the reaolntion thereof i'
characters : —
CANON FOB
OF FOUR PAET8
ET BETRO, BT FEB
POOTOB JoHD BVU..
dbyGoo<^le
AND PRAOnOE OF UUSia
RESOLUTION.
— pg»
&L r r r-hf-B-r 1 r r-)
m=f r 1 r !• J~ff^?=
,i_t --i^^
■B j 1 1 C ^
k J F l^.-^J4=:^
-1 J ■; 1 j-rr^i^fes
a*EE*^
? -^-tfJ-^^
rfri* p II ^— H— —
c-.^^-.g>-r r 1
pi2V-| J IJ P_LJJ=^;
Mr rrif F=r^=
3^==N
^^^=F=f?^^
i^
^^
-rT-n'^-r'
i^g
Thu and the former by the same author, in the
mtintiscnpt from which they were taken, ure given
in a triangular form, with a view to exhibit the
aiogularity of their contextnre, and the mutual rela-
tion and varioiia progTeeaions of the several BonndB ;
and that figure la here preserved in both instunces :
hnt leet this representation should appear too enig-
matical, the resolution of each canon in score ie
above given.
Morley, in the second part of his Introduction,
p^. 103, has given a fugue of Bird's composing,
of two parts in one, per Arsin et Thesin, with the
point reverted, note for note, of which he says, ' that
' whoever Bhalt go alx>nt to make snch another upon
a common knowne plaine-song or hymne, shall
find more difficnltie thsn he looked for; and that
althongh he shonlde aseaie twentie several hymnee
or plain-BongB for finding of one to hie purpose,
be doubts if he should anie waie goe beyondu the
ezcellencie of that which he speaks of, for which
reason he has given it in this form ; —
dbyG00*^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book VU.
Butler is lavigh in hia commendatione of this
fiigue ; indeed hie words are a sort of commeat on
it, and as they are calculated to point out and oofold
its excellenciea, they are here Riven from his Prin-
ciples of Mnaic, lib. I. cap. iii. aecL i. in his own
wonis : —
'The fifth sod last observation is, that all sorts of
■ Th. •nnml txiMplc of cuic
n by Dr. B
• TOIJ eurtou. MB. fominj In tba
.TJ^^'il
tlHi futuH upoD O iui and Hlun
uTr. aalUutl. otio [Iieemi IboDgbt
II >• pwwT hm to nm^
hittbw
lerml aiempli
nsfftKtu.
™!iriw'°hough"ni'flieCr
■ fngaea (reports and reverts of the aame, and of
' divers points in the same, and divers canons, and in
' the same and divers parts) are somedmea most
'elegantly intermedled, as in that inimitable leaaon
'of Mr. Bird's, containing two parta in one upon
'a plain-song, wherein the first part beginneth with
'a point, and then reverteth it note for note in
' a fourth or eleventh ; and the second part first
'reverteth the point in the fonrth aa the first did,
'and then reporteth it in the aniaon ; before the end
' whereof, the first part having rested three minima
'after his revert, singeth a second point, and re-
'verteth it in the eighth; and the second first re-
' verteth the point in a fourth, and then reporteth
' it in a fourth : lastly, the first aing^th a third point,
' and reverteth it in the fifth, and then reporteth it
'in an unison, and so closeth with some annexed
'notes; and the second iirst reverteth it in • fifih,
'and then reporteth it in an onison, and so cloaetk
' with a second revert ; where, to make up the full
'harmony, nnto these three parta is added a fourth,
■which very musically toucheth still upon the points
' reported and reverted.
Bnt here a disdnction is to be noted between
perpetual fagues, auch as those above given, in which
every note in Uie one part has its answer in the
other part ; and that other transitory kind of fhgae,
in which the point only, whatever it be, is repeided
in the succeeding parts ; in this case the intermediate
notes are composed ad placitum, for which reason
the former kind of fugue is termed by Zarlino and
other Italian writera, Fuga legata, and the oOta
Puga sciolu. that is to say, strict or constrained, and ..
free or licentious fugue.
The Italians bIbo give to the leading part of
a fngne and its replicate or answer, the appelladona
of Gnida and Conseqnenza; Morley, and others
after him, distinguish them by the names of prin-
cipal and reply : and with the appearance of reason
it is said that the notea in each should sol-fa alike;
that is to say, the intervals in each part ought to be
precisely the same with respect to the sncceaaion
of the tones and semitones; nevertheless, this rule
is not strictly adhered to, a spurious kind of fugue
having, in the very infancy of this invention sprung
up, known hy the name of Fugs in nomine, as being
to appearance and nominally uolv, fugue, and not
that species of composition in tlie strict sense of
musical language.
Zarlino and other Italian writers apeak of a kind
of fugne called Contrapuuto doppio, double counter-
point, which supposes the notea in each part to be
uf equal time, but that the subject of the principsl
and the reply shall be different in respect of the
point, being yet in harmony with each other: the
exact opposition of note to note in this kind of com-
position was, soon after its invention, diapensed with,
and the principal and ita reply made to consist of
notes of different lengths or times; after which it
obtained the name of donble descant, the terms des-
cant and counterpoint being always nsed in oppo-
sition to each other. 8ethus Calvisius includea both
under the comprehensive name Harmonia Gemina ;
and to fi^ea of thia kind, whera a third point or
l3,g,tizccbyG00*^le
Chap. LXVH.
AND PRACTICE OP MD8IC.
SOS
subject is introduced, he gives the name of Ter-
gemina. MoHey has given examples of each at the
end of the second part of his Introdnction.
From the foregoing explanation of the nature of
canon it must appear to be a very elaborate Epecies of
mueical composition, and in which perhaps, substance,
that ifl to say, fine air and melody is made to give
place to form ; jast ss we see in those fsnciful
poetical conceits, acrostics, anagrams, chronograms,
&c. where the sense and spirit of the composition is
ever subservient to its form ; but the comparison
does not hold throughout, for the mnsical com-
positions above spoken of derive an advantage of
a pecntiar kind from those restraints to which they
are subjected ; for in the first place the harmony is
thereby rendered more close, compact, and full ; nor
does this harmony arise merely from tlie concordance
of sounds in the several parts, bnt each distinct part
produces a succession of harmony in itself, the laws
of fngne or canon being snch as generally to exclude
those dissonant intervals which t^e away from the
sweetness or melody of the point In the next place
the ear is gratified by the successive repetition of the
point of a fiigue through all its parts ; and the mind
receives the same pleasure in tracing the exact
resemblsnce of the several parts each to the other,
as it does in compariag a picture or statue with its
archetype ; the truth of this observation must he
apparent to those who are aware of the scholastic
distinction of beauty into absolute and relative.
The general directions for singing of fngne when
written ia canon are such as these : Fnga in tertia
enperiore post tempus. — Fuga in Hypodiapente, post
tempus. — Fnga 5 vocum in tertia superiore, post
tempus. — Fuga in Unisono post dnb tempera, et per
contrarium motum. But many musicians have been
less explicit, as choosing to give them an enigmatical
form, and leaving it to the peruser to exercise his
patience in the investigation of that harmony which
might easily have been rendered obvious. Morley,
]>ag. 173 of his Introduction, has given an enigmatical
canon of lodocns Pratensis ; and he there refers to
others in the Introductions of Raselius and Bethus
Calvisus : he has also given a canon of his own in-
vendon in the figure of a cross, with its resolution ;
but there is one in that form infinitely more curious
in a work entitled El Melopeo y Maestro, written by
Pedro Cerone, of Bergamo, ma.ster of the royal chapel
of Naples, published in 1613.*
It now remains to speak of a species of fugue in
the nnisun, wherein for particular reasons the strict
rules of harmony are frequently dispensed with,
namely, the cat/^ or round, which Butler, al\cr
Calvisus thus defines : ' A catch is also a kind of
' fuga, when upon a certain rest 'the parts do follow
' one another round in the unison. In which concise
' harmony there is much variety of pleasing conceits,
* the composera whereof assume unto themselves
'a special licence of bre^ng Priscian'a head, in
'unlawful taking of discords, and in special con-
(Dnnlti. wbleh vhncTii hu ■ mind to dlveil himielf vliti them. M'i
Mdtaiti* tBiBij-HMnd Mok, nititUd 'QiumIh mliBiu mudcaUt.'
' secntions of unisons and eighths, when they help to
' the melody of a part.'f
This, though the sentiment of both Calvisus and
Butler, is by no means a true definition of a catch ;
and indeed the term itself seems to indicate a thing
very different from that which they have described,
for whence can ccme the appellauon hut from the
verb Catch ? yet is there nothing in the passage
above-cited to this purpose. A catch, in the musics!
sense of the word, is a fugue in the unison, wherein,
to humour some conceit in the words, the melody is
broken, and the sense interrupted in one part, and
caught again or supplied by another : an instance of
this may be remarked in the well-known catch ' Let's
'lead good honest lives,' ascribed to Furccll, though
in truth composed many years before his time, by
Cranford, a singing-man of St. Paul's, to words of
a very different import. See a collection of catches
and rounds, entitled Catch that Catch can, or the
Musical Companion, printed for old John Playford,
Lond. 1677, oblong quarto ; in this both the words
and the music catch, as they do also in another
elegant composition of this kind, ' Come here's the
' good health, &c,' by Dr. Ctesar, and ' Jack thou'rt
' a toper,' both printed by Pearson in 1710.
Butler refers to three examples of this kind of song
in Calvisus ; hut the truth of the matter is, that it
n Valanllnl of Romt,
^^^^^^^^
' aDlMly ntrnded. The ncond voice ti relniirule to the flnt. Ou third
■ it Invctu of the Am, at proceed! hy CDnlnij' mallon (t <i i th* fimilh
■ If retrofiule Is the Ihlrd, u mar he hh bnaundei i—
Spls^'fc^S
KlrchR, 1b (he Uutniglh (am.
out thit the UBH> euiMi might
tolcee, or. which U Iht Mm* tbli
twanty^lthl ebaln; ud tlurwm
uE™
117»lS
la hi»tfe elnr, ^l, elMp. xl-, - ,
■with Ihallhupi, wd the} lung ■• It wen . .»- .■,~t. •..,•..>■ ,.v ......
■could leun ibii loni but th« one hundred and hin;-riiut ihauaawl
'which wen rodtemidrTainthetarth.' Klrcherauertithatlb]epaiaa(»
ahoTe deierihad m>r ha lo diapaied aa tu ba (uii( \>J we huidnd UKl
fonj-fnu Uiouwad voicea. Uuut|. Mm. I. pag. 4H.
dbyGooi^le
8M
HISTORY OP THE 8CIENCB
Boc« TIL
wa known in EngUnd long before his time. Of
this the catch ' Burner is icumen in,' ia evidence ; and
it has been eaid, with some shew of probability, that
the English w'ere the inventors of it. Dr. Tudway,
formerly moeio professor in the oniTersity of Gam-
bridge, and who for many years was empl^ed in
collecting musio books for Edward earl of Oxford,
has asserted it in positive terms in a letter to a son
of hie, yet extant in manuscript ; and it may with no
lass degree of certainty be said, that as' this kind of
mnsie seems to correspond with the native humour
and fteedom of English manners, there are more ex-
amples of it here to be found than in any other
country whataoever. The following specimens of
Tonnds or catches in three, four, and five parts, may
snffice to give an idea of the nature of this species of
composition : others will hereafter be inserted, as
occasion shall require. As touching the first, it may
he deemed a matter of some cariosity. In Shakes-
peare's play of Twelfth Night, Act II. Scene iii. Sir
Toby and Sir Andrew agree to sing a catch : Sir
Toby proposes that it shall be ' Thoti knave,' open
which follows this dialogue : — *
CixiwK. Hold thy peace thoa knave? knight,
I shall he conatrsin'd in't to call tbee knave, knight
Sir Ahd. 'Tis not the first time I have conatrain'd
one to call me knave. Begin, fool ; it begins ' Hold
'thy peace.'
Clowh. I shall never begin if I hold my peace.
Sir Akd. Good I'faith : come begin. [They sin^
a catch.]
The above conversation has a plain allusion to the
first of the catches here inserted, ' Hold thy peace,*
the humour of which consists in this, that each of tha
three persons that sing calls, and ia called, knave in
turn: —
CANON IN THE UNISON.
JB^jg^NEEJEfe
CANON IN THE UNISON,
O mj fear-ful dreanu :
me thought I heard
^ - demu'd to
the rott it bunu, turns round
mch M mn (anilllir In lili lime, la clearl; ihe'ii b) Dr. Pflrcji. [- *-'
lUHquH of Ancient Enilieb FKlry. who hu been ar, ftartunale
Kcoier niui|r ut llwm i Ihc *l»v« naj be idded id the number u
*Uo Ihia iljuiled lo_ Intht^ uma usna oT Twtinii Nlghl, b; (he
dbyGoo*^le
Chip. LXVII. AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
fe "" [ JH — f ^^^^ 1 '-'
SOS
SOL FA MI
BE
UT.
if my L> - dy Iovq me well. Lord K> Ro - bin
^==^ =
low res.
3^^— ^=^
Thomas be her boote. She met vith EiU of
Malmea-bu-O'.wliy
vreep-rtthou ma - pie?
U=±^^^=^
*T-^.-'H=ff=^
bout. O Fry-er, how fares thy ban-de-low, ban-de-low, Fry-er, how fares thy ban - de-low, ban - de-luw ?
CANON IN THE UNISON. A 6 Voo.
dbyGoo<^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book VUL
Of the eeveral examples of fngnes and rounds, or
to adopt the commoii mode of speech, of fagncs on a
plain-Bong, and canons in the unison, above given, it
is neceBaary to remark that the former are adduced,
as being some of the most ancient specimens of that
strict kind of composition perhaps any where to be
met with : farther than this, they are studies, perhaps
juvenile ones, t-l Bird, and are alluded to by Morley
in his Introduction. And here it is to be noted, that
the plain-eong of the fugne in page 295, differs from
that of the others, and from its serpentine figure is
said to be ' per naturam synophe.' It seems that
Mr. Galliard had some trooble to resolve or render
these several compositions in score, for in his manu-
script he remarks that tbey are very difficult ud
curious : and it is more than conjectured that many
of the grave and acute signaturea that occur in some
of them, were inserted by him with some degree of
hesitation ; it was nevertheless thought proper to re-
tain them, even under a doubt of their propriety,
rather than attempt to correct the studies of so ex-
cellent a judge of harmony. As to the rounds or
canons in the unison that follow, they are exemplars
of that species of vocal harmony which they are cited
to explain : they are of the sixteenth century, and we
know of no compositiouB of the kind more andent,
except the canon given in book V. chap. xlv. of the
present work.
BOOK VIII. CHAP. LXVIIL
HAviHa in a regoJar course of succession traced
the several improvements in music, including therein
the reformation of the scale by Guido, and the in-
vention of counterpoint, and of the canto figurato,
with all the various modifications of fugne and canon,
it remains to speak of the succeeding writers in their
order.
AiANicB Varenhjs, of Montaubon, in Tholouse,
about the year 1503, wrote Dialogues, some of which
treat of the science of harmony and its elements.
LuDOviccB CiELiDB RnoDioiNTB fiouriahed about
the year 1610 ; he wrote nothing professedly on the
Bubject of music, yet in his work De Antiquarnm
Lcctionem, in thirty books, are interspersed many
things relating thereto, particularly in lib. V. cap,
23, 25, 26. Kireher, in the Musurgia, torn. I. pag. 27,
cites from him a relation to the following effect, viz. :
That he, Ccelius Rhodiginus, being at Rome, saw a
parrot, which had been purchased by Cardinal Asca-
niuB, at the price of an hundred golden crowns, which
parrot did meet articulately, and as a man wonld,
Te])eat in words tbo Creed of the Christian faith.
OtcliuB Rhodiginus was tutor to Julius Cffisar Scaliger,
and died in 1525, of grief, as it ia said, for the fate
of the battle of Favia, in which his patron Francis
0)0 First, from wh^ he bad great expectations, was
taken prisoner. He; ia taxed with having borrowed
some ihisgB from Erasmus, without making the usual
acknowledgments.
Gbbooricb RBiBCHins, of Friburg, was the author
of a work entitled Margarita Philosopbica,* t. e. the
Philosophical Pearl, a work comprehending not only
a distinct and separate discourse on each of the seven
liberal sciences, in which, by the way, judicial astro-
logy is considered as a branch of astronomy, but a
treatise on pbyaics, or natural philosophy, metaphy-
sics, and ethics, in all twelve hooka ; that on music is
taken chiefly from Boetiua, yet it seema to owe some
part of its merit to the improvements of Franchinus.
The Margarita Philoaophica is a thick quarto ; it
was printed at Basil in 1517, and in France six years
after; the latter edition was revised and corrected by
Orontins Fimeus, of tlje college of Navarre, f
• Thitbook, tbeUuniits Pbilouphica. !• fnqunillT mentioned In
■ nort ■nlitlnl II MuiEto TutarE, by Zicciria Teto, prlnled »t Venice
t Dijrle Oloici iiKi.
Johannes Coohledb, of Nuremberg, was famous
about the year 1525, for bis Polemical writit^ He
was the author of Rudimenta Muaicse et Oeometria,
printed at Nuremberg, and the tntor of Glareannft. as
the latter mentions in his Dodecachordon, a doctor in
divinity, and dean of the church of Francfort on the
Maine. He vras bom in 1503, but the time of his
death is uncertain, some writers making it in 1552,
and others sooner. From his great reputation, as a
scholar and divine, it is more than probable that he
was one of the learned foreigners consulted touching
the divorce of Henry the Eighth, for the name of
Johannes CochlieaB occurs in the list of them. Peter
Aron, in his Toscanello, celebrates him by the title :
of PhonascuB of Nuremberg.
Lunovioua Foliahub, of Modena, published at
Venice, in 1529, in folio, a book intitled iStusica
Theoretica; it iawritten in Latin, and divided into
three sections, the first contains an investigation of
those proportions of greater and lesser inequality
necessary to be understood by musiciauB; the second
treats of the consonances, where, by the way, it is to
be observed that the author diecriminates with re-
markable accuracy between the greater and lesser
tone ; and by insisting, as he does in this section De
Utilitate Toni majoria et minoris, plainly discovers
that he was not a .Pythagorean, which is much to be
wondered at, seeing that the substance of his book
appears for the most part to have been taken from
BoetiuB, who all men know was a strict adherer to
the doctrines of Pythagoras. It is therefore said, and
with great appearance of reason, that it is to Folianus
that die introduction into practice of the intfinse or
ayntonous diatonic, in preference to the ditonic dia-
tonic, ia to be attributed. This particular will appear
to be more worthy of remark, when it is known, that
about the middle of the aixteenth century it became
a matter of controversy which of those two species of
the diatonic genus was best accommodated to praaice,
Zarlino contended for the intense or syntonous dia-
tonic of Ptolemy, or rather Didymus, for he it was
that first diatinguiahed between the greater and lesser
tone. Vincentio Galilei, on the other hand, preferred
that division of Aristoxenns, which, though irrational
according to the judgment of the ear, gave to the
tetrachord two tonea and a half. In the couree of
dbyGooi^le
Chap. LXVIII.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
307
the dlspcte, which woe conducted with great warmth
on both aides, Galilei takes great pains to inform his
reader that Zarlino was not the first that discovered
the sappoaed excellence of that division which ha pre-
ferred, for that Lndovico Fogliano, sixty or seventy
years before, had done the same ;* and in the table
or index to his )x>ok, article Lodovico Fogliano,
which coutuns a summary of his arguments on this
head, he speaks thus : ' Lodovico Fogliano fa il primo
' che consideraase cbe il diatonico che ra cauta hoggi,
' DOD era il ditoneo, ma il syntono ;' which asaertion
contains a solution uf a doubt which Dr. Wallis en-
tertained, namely, whether Zarlino or soma more
ancient writer first introduced the syntonons or in-
tense diatonic into practice, f
The third section of Folianns's book is prindpally
on the division of the Monochord, in which ho under-
takes to shew the necesaity of setting off D, and also
of Bb twice.
Many of the divisions, particularly in the first
chapter of the second section, are exemplified by
cats, which as they shew the method of tiaing the
Monochord, with the ratios of the consonances, and
are in other respects curious, are here inserted.
t Append. &B Vet«r. HumoDr qiuito, psf. SIS.
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book VriL
JoHANtiEa FKOscmuB, a doctor of divinity, and
prior of the Carmelitea at Augnburg, was the author
of OpuBculnm Remm Musicaliam, printed at Stras-
bnrg in 1535, a thin folio, and a very methodical and
concise book, but it contains little that can be sud to
be original.
Andreas OnKiTHOPARCtrB, a master of arts in the
nniveraity of Meyning, was the author of a very
learned and instructive treatise on rauaic, intitled
Micrologns, printed at Cologne in 1535, in oblong
qnarto. It is written in Latin, and was translated
into English by our conntryinan John Donland, the
celebrated lutenist, and published by him in 1609.
This work contains the substance of a course of lec-
tures which Omithoparcns had publicly read in the
universities of Tnbingen, Heidelberg, and Mentz. It
is divided into four books, the contents whereof are
as follow.
The first book is dedicated to the governors of the
state of Lunenburg. The first three chapters contain
a general division of music into mundane, humane,
and instrumental, according to Boetius, which the
anthor again divides into orgsnical, harmonical, spe-
culative, active, mensural, and plain music, and also
the rudiments of singing by the hexachords, accord-
ing to the introductory or scale of Guido- In hie
explanation whereof he relates that the Ambrosions
distinguished the stations of the cliffs by lines of
different colours, that is to say, they gave to F fa ct
a red, to G sol fa ct a blue, and to bb a sky-colonred
line ; but that the Gregorians, as he calls them, whom
the church of Rome follow, mark all the lines with
le followliig. wbUrh !i the fouTl
one colour, and describe each of the keys by its first
letter, or some character derived from it.
In the fourth chapter he limits the number of tones
to eight ; and, epeaking of the ambit or compass of
each, saye there are granted but ten notes wherein
each tone may have his course ; and for this assertion
he citea the authority of St, Bernard, brit adds, that
the licentious ranging of modem musiciana hath
added an eleventh to each.
The fifth and sixth chapters contain the ralea for
solfMng by the hexachords, and for the mutations.
In the seventh chapter he speaks of the consonant
and dissonant intervals, and cites Ambroaiua Nolanus
and Erasmus to shew, that aa the disdiapason le the
natural compass of man's voice, all music should be
confined to that interval.
In the eighth and ninth chapters he teaches to
divide, and recommends the use of the Monochord,
by the help whereof he says any one may by himself
learn any eong, though never so weighty.
Chapter X. is intitled De Musica ficta, which he
thus defines : ' Fained musicke is that which the
' Greeks call Sjmemmenon, a song made beyond the
' regalar compass of the scale ; or it is a song which
' is full of conjunctions.'
By these conjunctions are to be understood con-
junctions of the natural and moUe hexachords by the
chord Synemraenon, characterized by b ; and in this
chapter are discemihle the mdiments of transposition,
a practice which seems to have been originally
suggested by that of snbstituting the round, in the
place of the square b, from which station it was firBt
removed into the place of E la mi, and has since been
made to occupy various other situations ; * as has
also the acute signature 1)!, which although at first in-
vented to perfect the interval between J^ mi and F
FA UT, which is a semidiapente or imperfect fifth, it
is well known is now made to occupy the place of
G SOL RB nr, C sol fa ut, and other chords.
The eleventh chapter treats of transposition, which
the author says is twofold, that is to say, of tlie song
and of the key, but in truth both are tnuispositions of
the song, which may be transposed either by on actual
removal of the notes to some other line or space than
that in which they stand, or by the removal of the cliff
to some other line, thereby giving by elevation or de-
pression to each note a different power.
The ecclesiastical tones are the subject of the
twelfth and thirteenth chapters of the first book :
in these are contained rules for the intonation of
the Fsalms, in which the anthor takes occasion to
cite a treatise of Pontifex, Le. pope John XXII.,
who it seems wrote on music, and an author named
Michael GalHculo de Mnris. a most learned man,
author of certain rules of the tnie order of singing.
In treating of the tones Omithoparcns follows f'>r
dbyGooi^lc
Chap. LSVIIL
AND PKACTICE OP MUSia
309
the most part St. Bernard and Francbinus ; bis for-
mola of ^e eight toneB, as aiso of tbe Peregrine or
wandering tone, differs but very little from that of
FranchinuB in his Froctica MuBicat, bereia before
exhibited.
In the thirteenth and last chapter of this book the
author Ghews that divere men are delighted with
divers modee, an observation that Gnido had made
before in the thirteenth chapter of bis Micrologtts,
and to this purpose be says : ' Some are delighted
' witt the crabbed aad courtly Wandering of the
' first tone ; others do affect the hoarse gravity of
' the second ; otberB take pleasure in the severe, and
' as it were diedunful staking of the third ; others
' are drawn with the flattering sound of the fonrth ;
' others are moved with the modeat wantonness of the
' fifth ; others are led with the lamenting voice of the
' aixth ; others do willingly bear the warlike leapings
' of tbe eeventh ; others do love the decent, and as it
' were matronal-like carri^e of the eighth.'
Tbe second book b dedicated to the author's
' worthy and kind friend George Brachius, a most
' skilful musician, and chief doctor of the Duke of
' Wittenberg his chappell.'
In the second chapter of this book tbe author
explains tbe nature of mensural mnsic, and the
lignres used therein : these he says were anciently
live, but that those of ofUr ages have drawn out
others for quickness sake ; those described by him
are eight in nnmber, viz., tbe large, long, breve,
semibreve, minim, crotchet, quaver, and semiquaver;
but it is worthy of notice that he gives to tbe semi-
breve two forms, the one resembling a lozenge, agree-
able to the character of tbe semibreve now or lately
a nae, tiie other that of an equilateral triangle or half
Tbe third chapter contains an explanation of tbe
ligatures Irom Francbinus, bat much too concise to be
intelligible.
The fourth chapter treats of mood, time, and pro-
lation, of which three terms the following is bis
definition : ' The degrees of music, by whicb we
know the valne of the principal fignres, are three, to
wit, mood, time, and prolation. Neither doth any
of them deale upon all notes, but each onely with
certaine notes that belong to each. As mood dcaleth
with larges and longs, time with breefea, prolation
with semibreefes.' This general definition is fol-
lowed t^ one more particular, which is here given in
the translator's own words : —
'A Moode (as Franchinus salth in the second
' booke, cap. 7. of hia Praot.) is the measure of longs
' in larges, or of breefea in longs. Or it is the
' beginning of the quantitie of larges and longs,
' measuring them either by the number of two, or
the number of three.
' Time is a breefe which containes in it two or three
* semibreefes. Or it is the measuring of two or three
' semibreefes in one breefe. And it is twofold, to
' wit, perfect : and this is a breefe measured with
' three semibreefes- Whose eigne is the number of
'three joined with a circle or a eemicircle, or a
' perfect circle set without a number, thus 0 3. C 3. 0.
' The imperfect is wherein a breefe is measured only
' by two semibreefes. Which is knowne by the num-
' her of two joyned with a perfect circle, or a semi*
' circle, or a semicircle without a number, thus O 2.
'C2.
' Wherefore prolation is the essential quantitie of
' semibreefes ; or it is the setting of two or three
' minims against one semibreefe ; and it is twofold,
' to wit, the greater (which is a semibreefe measured
' by three minims, or the comprehending of three
' minims in one semibreefe) whose eigne is a point
' inclosed in a signe thus, 0 Q . The lesser pro-
' lation is a semibreefe measured with two minims
' onely, whose signe is the absence of a pricke. Fot
' Franchinus saith, they carry with them the imper-
' fecting of the figure when tbe signes are wanting,'
In the course of this explanation the author ti^es
occasion to mention the extrinsical and intrinsical
signs in mensural music ; the former be says are the
circle, the number, and the point As to the circle,
when entire it originally denoted perfection, as it was
called, or a progression by three, or in what we now
call triple time. W^hen Uie circle was discontinued,
or cut through by a perpendicular or oblique stroke,
it signified imperfection, or a progression by two, or,
as we shonld say, in duple time ; when the circle had
a point in the centre it signified a quicker progression
in the proportions of perfect and imperfect, according
as the circle was either entire or mutilated, as above.
As to the figures 3 and 2, used as extrinsic signs, they
seem Intended only to distinguish the greater mood,
which gave three longs to the large, from the lesser,
which gave three breves to the long ; bat the pro-
priety of this distinction is not easy to be discovered.
As utese characters are now out of use, and are
supplied by others of modem invention, it is not
necessary to be very inquisitive about them;" it
is however very certain that the musicians, from
the beginning of the sixteenth century, downwards, .
seem to betray an universal ignorance of their original
use and intention ; and since the commencement of
that period, we nowhere find the circle used to denote
perfect or triple time ; on the contrary, the character
for the several species of it are intended to bespeak
the relation which the intended progression in triple
time bears to common or imperfect time ; for instance
I is a progression by three of these notes, tWo whereof
would make a bar or measure of duple time, that is to
say, minims ; f and 4 are progressions in tri{>Ie time
by crotchets and quavers ; and this observation will
■ It nuy not fee tnipnip«r hen lo utc nnlln, UiM DotwiiblUadlng
BicwenilBl lo the DoUUoD «[ mutic.
dbyGoot^le
SIO
fflSTOHY OF THE SCOENOE
Book VIIL
serve ta explain various other signatures not here
mentioned. As to these other nnmbers 4 V' *^^ ^^*
nominator in each having a dnple ratio, they are clearly
the characteristica of common time ; but thongh the
entire circle is no longer used aa a characteristic of
time, yet the discontinued or mntilated circle is in
daily practice. Borne ignorant writers on music from
ile resemblance to the letter G, suppose to be the initial
of the word Common ; adding, tlwt where a perpen-
dicular stroke is drawn through it, it signifies a quick,
md where it is inverted a still quicker aucceseion of
notes.* But t}as appropriation of tkemithet coKHotk
to duple time U unwarrantable, for tn truth duple
tims is no more common than trtple, the one occur-
ring aa often, in musical compositions as the other.
The intrinsic signs used in music are no other than
the reeta which correspond with the measures of notes,
and that alteration of the value of notes, which con-
fliste in a variety of colour, as black full, black void,
red full, and red void, mentioned by Morley and other
writers.
The sixth chapter treats of Tact, thns defined by
the author : ' Tact is a successive motion in singing,
* directing the equality of the measure. Or it is a
' certain motion made by the han4 of the chief singer
' according to the nature of the marks, which motion
' directs a song according to measure.
' Tact ie threefold, the greater, the lesser, and the
' proportionate ; the greater is a measure made by
' a slow, and aa it were reciprocal motion ; the writers
' call this tact the whole or total tact ; and because it
' is the tme tact of all aongs, it comprehends in hia
' motion a semibreefe not diminished, ot a breefe
'diminished, in a duple. The lesser tact ia the half
' of the greater, which they call a semi-tact, because
' it measures by its motion a semibreefe diminished
' in a dnple ; this ia allowed of only by the unlearned.
' The proportionate is that whereby three semibreefea
' are uttered against one, as in a triple, or against two,
< as in a sesquialtera.'
In the seventh chapter the author takes occcasion
to define the word Canon in these words : —
' A canon is an imaginary role, drawing that part
' of the song which ia not set downe, out of that part
' which is set downe. Or it ie a rule which doth
' wittily discover the secrets of a song. Now we use
' canons either to shew art, or to make shorter worke,
' or to try others dinning.'
From this, which is an excellent definition of the
term, we may learn that it is very improperly
applied to that kind of perpetual fngae which is
generally understood by the word Oanon ; for it is
a certain compendious rule for writing down a com-
position of that kind on a single stave, and for siugiug
It accordingly ; and hence it seems to be a solecism
to say a canon in score ; for when once the com-
position is scored, the rule or canon for singing it
does not apply to it.
■ Thia tuppmltiDn h
hi* nlBlh (^ incl
ibed bj hlroKlt Ip tcan.
As in the former chapter the anthor had mentioned
ongmentation of the value of notes by a point in the
signature, and other marks or directions, in thia,
which is the eighth of the second book, he speaks of
diminution, which he also calls Syncopation, and
divides into virgular, the sign whereof is the circle
mutilated, or having a perpendicular or oblique
stroke, as before is mentioned ; and numeral, ^gnified
by figures. In this chapter the author takes occasion
to mention a man living in his time, and hired tn he
organist in the castle of Prague, of whom, to nso his
own words, he thus speaks : ' Who though he knew
' not, that I may conceale his greater faults, how to
' distinguish a perfect time from an imperfect, yet
'gives out publickly tliat he is writing the very
'depth of music, and ia not ashamed to say that
' Franchinus (a most famous writer, one whom he
' never so much an tasted of) is not worth the reading,
' but fit to he sciilli' 1 at and scorned by him. Foolish,
' bragging, riilic^N^ius rashnes, grosse madnes 1 whi<^
' therel,)rc only doth snarle at the learned, because it
' Jvtiows not the means how to emulate it. I pray
' God t!ie wolfe may fall into the toiles, and hereafter
' commit no more such outrage, nor like the crow
'brag of borrowed feathers, for he must need he
' counted a dotard that prescribes that to others the
' elements wliereof himself never saw.'
The ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters treat <^
rests, and of the alteration of notes by the addition of
a point ; and of imperfection by the note, the rest,
and the colour, that is to say, the subtraction of a
third part from a given note agreeable to the rule in
mensural music, that perfection consists in a ternary,
and imperfection in a binary progression of time.
The twelfth chapter spe^ of a kind of alteration
by a secondary singing of a note for the perfecting
of the number 3. These four chapters refer to a
method of notation which is now happily superseded
by the rejection of ligatures and the insertion of bars.
The Bubject of the thirteenth chapter is propoitiou,
in the explanation whereof he follows Euclid, Boetius,
and Frauchinns. Speaking of proportion in general,
he eays it is either of equality or inequality ; but
that because the dissimilitude and not the siniilitude
of voice doth make harmony, so music considers only
the proportion of inequality. And this he says ts
two-fold, to wit, the proportion of the greater and of
the lesser inequality : the proportion of the greater
Inequality is the relation of the greater number to
the less, as 4 to 2, 6 to 3 ; the proportion of the lesacr
inequality is contrarily the comparison of a less
number to the greater, as of 2 to 1, of 3 to 6.
Of the proportions of the greater inequality, he
says, as indeed do all the writers on the subject, that
it is of five kinds, namely, multiplex, superparticular,
Buperpartiens, multiplex superjurticnlar, and multi-
plex superpartiens, the latter two compounded of
the former three, which are simple.
To these he says are opposed five other kinds of
proportions, to wit, those of the lesser inequality,
having the same names with those of the greater in-
equality, save that they follow the prepoution onb-
multiplex, die.
U,g,t,zccbyG00*^le
C^AP LXIX.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSia
311
CHAP. LXIX.
As the subject of proportion has already been
treated of, this brief account of the author's sentiments
concerning it may snfiice in this place, the rather as
it ia a enhject, about which not only arithmeticiaDs
and mnsiciana, but all mathematicians are agreed.
Bat under this head of proportion there is one
observation touching dnple proportion, which will
be beat given in his own words. ' Dnple proportion,
' the first kind of the multiplex, is when the greater
* number, being in relation with the less, doth com-
' prebend it in iteclfe twice, as 4. to 2, 8 to 4 ; but
* musically, when two notes are uttered gainst one,
' which is like them both in nature and kind. The
* eigne of this sbme say ia the number 2 ; others
' because proportion is a relation not of one thing
' but of two, aifirm that one number is to be set
' nnder another thus f ) f, and make no doubt bnt in
' all the rest this order is to be kept.
' I would not have you ignorant that the duple
' proportion, and all the other of the moltiplex kind, are
' marked by certain canons, saying thus, Decrescit in
' dnplo, in triplo, and so forth. Which thing, because
' it is done either to encrease men's diligence, or to
' try their cnnning, we mislike not. There be that
' consider the whole proportion in figures, which are
' tnmed to the left hand-ward, with signs and crookes,
' saying that this C is the duple of Uib q, and this
' i" of ^ ; and in rests, that this T is the duple of
' this 1 I think only upon this reason that Fran-
' chinus, Pract. lib. it cap. iv. saitb that the right
' side is greater and .perfecter than the left, and the
' left weaker than the right, against which opinion
' neilJier myself am. For Valerius Probns, a most
' learned grammarian, in his interpretation of the
' Roman letters, saith that the letter 0, which hath
' the form of a semicircle, signtfieB Cuus, the man ;
' and being turned, signifies Caia, the woman ; and
' Fabius Quintilianus, in approving of Frobns his
* opinion, saith Cains is shewed by the letter C,
' which being turned signifies a woman ; and being
' thai men are more perfect than women, the per-
' fection of the one ia declared by turning the aemi-
' circle to the right baud, and the weakness of the
' other by tnming it to the left.*
** Book III. is dedicated to Philip Sums of Milten-
bnrg, ' a sharp-witted man, a master of art, and a
' most cunning mnsician, chapel-master to the count
* palatine the duke of Bavaria.'
The first chapter contains the praise of accent,
which is delivered in the following fanciful allegory.
' Accent hath great afBnity with Concent, for they
' be brothers, because Sonus or Sound (the king of
* Lib. II. up. illL
)t dtEtlngulihlnK I
vlilcli >n ctMintiT Onniddl In tba iden
of peifKtkm ind Imperfrction above alLoded to, thou^b ili^iAed br ui
nottos tbe man, and Ibc ttmlcircle, whjcb li lin|«rJecE, tlie woman.
' ecclesiastical iiarmony) ia father to Viiom both, and
' begat the one upon Grammar, the other upon
' Music ; whom after the father bad seen to be of
' excellent gifts both of body and wit, and the one
' not to yeeld to the other is any kind of knowledge ;
' and further, that himselfe (now growing in yeeres)
'could not live long, he began to think which he
' should leave his kingdom unto, beholding some time
' the one, some time the other, and the fashions of
' both. The Accent was elder by yeares, grave,
' eloquent, but severe, therefore to the people less
' pleasing. The Concent was merry, frolicke, lively,
* acceptable to all, desiring more to be loved than to
' he feared, by which he easily wonne unto him all
' men's minds, which the father noting, was daily more
' and more troubled in making his choyce, for the
' Accent was more frugal, the other more pleasing to
' the people. Appointing therefore a certaine day,
' and calling together the peers of bis realme, to wit,
' singers, poets, orators, morall philosophers, besides
' ^clesiastical governors, which in that function held
' place next to the king ; before tbese king Sonns is
' said to have made this oration : " My noble peers,
" which have undergone many dangers of warre by
" land and sea, and yet by my conduct have carried
" the priEc throughout the whole world ; behold the
" whole world is under our rule ; wee have no enemy,
" all things may goe prosperonsly with yon, only upon
" me death encreaaeth, and life fadetb ; my body is
" weakned with labor, my soul consum^ with care,
"I expect nothing sooner than death. Wherefore
" I purpose to appoint one of my sonnes lord over
" you, him I say whom you shall by your common
" voyces choose, that he may defend this kingdome,
" which hath been .purchased with your blood, from
" the wrong and invasion of our enemies."
' When ho had thus sjud, the nobles began to con-
' suit, and by companies to handle concerning tlie
' point of the common safety, yet to disagree, and
'some to choose the one, some the other, for the
' orators and poets would have the Accent, the mnai-
' tians and the moralists chose the Concent. Bnt the
' papal prelates, who had the royalties in their hands,
' looking more deeply into the matter, enacted that
' neither of them should be refused, but that the king-
' dome should be divided betwixt them, whose opinion
'the king allowed, and so divided tiie kingdoms,
' that CoDcentus might be chiefe ruler over all things
' that are to be sung (as hymnes, sequences, antiphones,
' responsories, introitos, tropes, and the like), and
' Accent over all things which are read, as gospels,
' lectures, epistles, orations, prophesies ; for the func-
' of the papal kingdom are not duely performed with-
' out Concent : so these matters being settled, each
' part departed with their king, concluding that both
' Concent and Accent shonld be especially honoured
' by those ecclesiasticall persons. Which thing Leo
' the Tenth, and Maximilian the most famous Roman
' emperor, both chiefe lights of good arts, and espe-
' cially of musicke, did by general consent of the
' fathers and princes, approve, endowe with privi-
' ledges, and condemned all gainsayers as guilty of
• high treason, the one for their bodily, the other for
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
3ia
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Boos. VIIL
' their epiritual life. Hence was it that I marking
' how mauy of those priests which (by tlie leave of
' the learned) I will eay doe reade those things they
' have to read so wildly, so monatrously, so fcultily,
' that tliey doe not ouely hinder the devotion of the
' faithful, bnt also even provoke theiu to laughter and
' scorning with their ill rea<iing, resolved after the
' iloctrine of concent, to explaine the rules of accent,
' inasmuch as it belongeth to a. musitiau, that together
' with concent accent might also, as true heire in this
' ecclesiastical kingdome be established. Desiring
' that the praise of the highest king, to whom all
' honour and reverence is due, might duely be per-
' formed.'
Accent, 'as this author explains it, belongs to church-
men, and ia a melody pronouncing regularly the
syllnliles of any word, according as the natural accent
of them requires.
According to the rules laid down by him, it aeems
tliat in the reading the holy scriptures the ancient
practice was to utter the words with an uniform tune
of voice, with scarce any inflexion of it at all ; which
'manner of reading, at least of the prayers, is at this
(lay observed even in protestant churches. Nevcr-
'(beloss he directs that the final syllable, whatever it
be, should be uttered in a note, sometimee a fourth,
and at others a fifth lower than the ordinary intona*
tion of the preceding syllablee, except in the case of
interrogatory cUiuses, when the tone of theliiial syl-
lable is to be elevated ; and to this he adds a few
other exceptions. It seems by this author that there
was a method of accenting the epistles, the gospels,
and the prophecies, concerning which last he speaks
in these words : ' There are two ways for accenting
prophesies, for soma are read, £fter the manner of
epistles, as on the feast daies of our Lady, the Epi-
j)haDy, Christmas, and the like, aud those keep the
accent of epistles ; some are susg according to tbo
manner of morning lessons, aa in Christ's night, and
in the Ember fasts, and these keep the accent of
those lessons. But I would not have you ignorant
that in accenting, oftentimes the manner and cos-
tome of the country and place ia kept, as in the
great chnrch of Magdeburg ^ Tu antem Doroine ia
read with the middle syllable long, by reason of the
custome of that church; whereas other uttions doe
make it short according to the rule. Therefore let
the reader pardon me if our writings doe sometime
contrary the diocese wherein they live. Which
though it be in some few things, yet in the most
they agree. For I was dravrae by my own expe-
rience, not by any precepts, to write this booke.
And if I may speake witbout vain-glory, for that
cause have I seen many parts of the world, and iu
them divers churches, both metropoUtone and cathe-
drall, not witbout great impeachment of my state,
that thereby I might profit those that shall live after
me. In which travaile of mine I have seen the five
kingdomes of Pannonia, Sarmatia, Boemla, Den-
marke, and of both the Germanies, 63 diocesaea,
cities 340, infinit feshiona of divers people, besidea
Bayled over the two seas, to wit, the Balticke, and
the threat ocean, not to heape riches, but increase
' my knowledge. All which I would have thus taken
' that the reader may know that this booke ia more
' oat of my experience than any precepts.'
The fourth book is dedicated ' to the worthy and
' isdDstrious master Arnold Schlick, a most exquisite
' musician, organist to the count Palatine,' and de-
clares the principlea of counterpoint: to this end the
author enumerates the concords and discords ; and,
contrary to the sentiments of the more learned among
musicians, reckons the diatessaron in the latter class
Of the concords he says, ' Some be simple or primorie,
' as the unison, third, fifth, and sixth ; others ate re-
' peated or secondary, and are equisonous with thwr
' primitives, as proceeding of a duple dimensioD ; for
' an eighth doth agree in sound with an uniaon, ft
'tenth with a third, a twelfth with a fifth, and &
' thirteenth with a sixth ; others are tripled, to wit, a
' fifteenth, which is equal to the sound of an unison
' and an eighth ; a aevcnteenth, which is equal to a
' third and a tenth ; and a nineteenth, which is equal
' to a fifth and a twelfth ; a twentieth, which is equal
' to a sixth and a thirteenth, and so forth. Of con-
'corda also, some be perfect, aome imperfect; the
' perfect are those, which being grounded upon cer-
' tain proportions, are to be proved by the help of
' numbers ; the imperfect, as not being probable, yet
' placed among the perfects, make an unison sound.' *
Touching &e fourth, be says, ' It may be used as
' a concord in two cases ; first, when being shut be-
' twixt two eighths it hath a fifth below, because if
' the fifUi he above, the concord is of do force, by that
'reason of Aristotle, whereby in hia problems he
' shews that the deeper discordant soimda are more
'perceived than the higher. Secondly, when tha
' tenor and meanc do go by one or more eixths, then
' that voice which is middling shall alwayea keep a
'fourth ^mder the cantos, and a third above tha
Speaking of the parts of a aoDg in the fifth chap-
ter, he says, ' They are many, to wit, the treble, tenor,
' high tenor, melody, concordant, vagrant, contra-
' tenor, base, yea and more than these.' Of the dis-
cantus he says in general ' That it is a song made of
' divers voyces, for it is called Discantua, quaai diver-
' siis cantuB, that is as it were another sung, hot we,
' because Discantus is a part of a song severed from
' the rest, will describe it thus, Discantus is the
' uppermost part of each song, or it is an harmony to
' be song with a child's voyce.' Of the other parts
he speaks thus : ' A tenor ia the middle voyce of each
'song; or, as GafForus writea, lib. III. cap. v. it is
* the foundation to the relation of every song, so called
' ' k tenendo, of holding, because it doth hold the con-
' ' Bonance of all the parts in itselfe in some respect.'
' The BassuB, or rather Basia, is the lowest part of
* each song, or it is an harmony to be sung with a
' deepe voice, which is called Baritonus, a vari, which
' is low, by changing V into B, because it holdeth
' the lower part of the song, 'The high tenor ia the
' uppermost part save one of a aong, or it is the grace
■ OniLthopucas hu not illittngulilin] wlr"' ■iiOi--5-'»i --v»rr>i..« hf>Ew«.
the petrecl and LmperTecl coDcordi, thuugh
l> properly Bsiigned by htm; lbs ImpelfBel
•UUi, wjib ibeli npllcalet.
mcotdi *n Uw Ihinl wd
dbyGoot^le
Chap. LXIX.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
SIS
' of the base, for motst commonly it graceth the base,
' mftking a double concord with it. Tbe other parts
' every student may describe by himaeire.'
Tbe rules or special precepts of counterpoint laid
down by this author, are bo very limited and me-
chanical, that at this time of day, when tbe laws of
harmony have been extended, and tbe number of
allowable combinations so mnltiplied as to afford
ample scope for the most iuventive genius, they can
hardly be thought of any use.
The eighth chapter has this title ' Of the divers
' fashions of singing, and of the ten precepts for
' singing,' and is here given in the words of the
translator,
' Every man lives after his owne homour, neither
' are all men governed by the same lawes ; and divers
' nations have divers fashions, and differ in habite,
' diet, studies, speech, and song. Hence is it that the
' English do carroll ; the French sing ; the Spaniards
' weepe ; the Italians which dwell about the coasts of
' Janiia caper with their voyces, the other harke ; bat
'the (jermanes, which I am ashamed to utter, doe
'howle like wolves. Now because it is better to
'breake friendship than to determine any thing
'against truth, I am forced by truth to say that
' which the love of my countrey forbids me to pub-
' lish. Germany nourisheth many cantors but few
'Tansicians. For very few, excepting those which
' are or have been in the cbapelB of princes, do truely
' know the art of singing. For those magistrates to
whona this charge is given, do appoint for the govem-
' ment of the service youth, cantors, whom they chuse
' by the Bhrilneaae of their voyce, not for their cun-
' ning in tbe art, thinking that God is pleased with
' bellowing and braying, of whom we read in the
' scripture that he rejoyceth more in sweetness than
' in Qoyse, more in the affection than in the voyce.
' For when Salomon in the Canticles writeth that the
' voyce of the church doth sound lu the earea of
' Christ, bee doth presently adjoyne the cause, because
' it is sweet. Therefore well did Baptista Mantuan
'^that modem Virgil) inveigh every puffed up igno-
' rant bellowing cantor, saying,
" Cur tantia delubra bourn mugitibus implcs,
" Tu ne Deum tali credis placftre tumultu,"
'Whom the prophet ordained should be praised in
' cymbals, not simply, hut well sounding.
' Of the ten precepts necessary for every singer.
' Being that divers men doe diversly abuse them-
' selves in God's praise, some by moving their body
' undecently, some by gaping unaeemely, some by
' changing the vowels, I thought good to teach all
'cantors certain precepts by which they may err
' 1. When you desire to sing any thing, above all
'things marke the tone and his repercussion. For
' he that sings a song without knowing the tone, doth
'like him that makes a syllogisme without moode
' and figure.
'2. Let him diligently marke the scale under
' which the song runneth, least he make a flat of
' a sharpe, or a eharpe of a SaL.
•3. Let every singer conforme his voyce to the
' words, that as much as he con he make the concent
' sad when the words are sad, and merry when they
' are merry. Wherein I cannot but wonder at the
' Saxons, the most gallant people of all Germany
' (by whose furtherance I waa both brought up and
' drawne to write of musicke) in that they use in their
' funerals an high, menie, and jocunde concent, for
' no other cause I thinke, than that either they hohi
' death to be the greatest good that can befall a raan
' (as Valerius, in his fifth book, writes of Cleobis and
' Biton, two brothers) or in that they believe that Uie
' soules (as it is in Macrobius his second hooke De
'Somnio 8cip.) after this body doe retume to the
' original sweetness of music, that is to heaven, which
' if it be the cause, we may judge them to be valiant
' in contemning death, and worthy desirers of the
' glory to come.
■ i. Above all things keepe the equality of measure,
' for to sing without law and measure is an offence to
'God himselfe, who hath made all things well in
' number, weight, and measure. Wherefore I would
' have the Easterly Franci (ray countrymen) to fol-
' low the best manner, and not as before thev have
' done, sometime long, sometime to make short the
' notes in plain-song, but take example of the noble
' church of Herbipolis, their head, wherein they sing
' excellently. Which would also much profit and
' honour the church of Prage, because in it also they
' make the notes sometimes longer, sometime shorter
' than they should. Neither must this be omitted,
' which that love which we owe to the dead doth
' require, whose vigils (for so are they commonly
' called) are performed with such confusion, hast, and
' mockery (I know not what fury possesseth the
' mindes of those to whom this charge is put over)
'that neither one voyce can be distinguished from
' another, nor one syllable from another, nor one verse
' sometimes throughout a whole Psalme from ano-
' tber ; an impious fashion, to be punished with the
' severest correction. Think you tiiat God is pleased
' with such howling, such noise, such mumbling, in
' which is no devotion, no expressing of words, no
' articulating of syllables ?
'5. The songs of authentical tones must be timed
' deepe of the subjugall tones, high of the neutrall
' meanly, for these goe deep, those high, the other
' both high and low.
'6. The changing of vowels ia a signo of an
'unlearned singer. Now though divers people do
'diverselv offend in this kinde, yet doth not the
'multitniie of offenders take away the fault. Here
' I would have the Francks to take heed they pro-
'nonnce not u for o, as they are wont saying nuster
'for noster. The country churchmen are also to
' be censured for pronouncing Aremus instead of
' OremuB. In like sort doe all the Renenses, from
' Spyre to Coofluentia, change the vowel i into tbe
'dipthong ei, sayiug Mareia for Maria. The Wost-
' phalians for the vowel a pronounce a and e together,
'to wit, Aebste for Abste. The lower Saxons, and
' all the Suevians, for the vowel e read e and i, saying
' Deius for Deus. They of Lower Germany do all
Uigiti.
cbyGoo*^lc
814
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book VIIL
'expresse u and e instead of tbe vowel u. Which
' erroure, though the Gennan speech duth often re-
'quire, yet doth the Latin tongue, which hath the
'Puttie with ours, exceedingly abhorre them.
' 7. Let a singer take heed least he begin too loud,
' braying like an asae ; or when be bath begun with
'an uneven height, disgrace the Bong. For God ia
' not pleased with loud cryes, but with lovely sounds ;
'it is not saith our Erasmus the noyse of the lipe,
'but the ardent desire of the heart, which like the
' loudest voyce doth pierce God's earea. Moses spake
' not, yet heard these words, " Why dost thou cry
"unto me?" But why the Saxons, and those that
' dwell upon the fialticke coast, should eo delight in
'such clamouring, there is no reason, but either
' because they have a deafo God, or becanse they
* thinke he is gone to the south side of heaven, and
' therefore cannot so easily heare both the easterliugs
' and the southeTlings.
'8. Let every singer dieceme the difference of
'one holiday from another, least on a sleight holiday
'he either make too solenme service, or too sleight
'on a great
' 9. The uncomely gaping of the mouth, and un-
'graceful motion of the bmly is a dgne of a mad
'10. Above all things let the singer study to
please God, and not men (saith Guido) there are
'foolish singers who contemne the devotion they
' should seeke after, and affect the wantonesse which
'they should shun, becauae they intend their ^nging
'to men not to God, seeking for a little worldly
'fame, that ao they may lose tbe eternal glory,
' pleasing men that thereby they may displease God,
'imparting to others that devotion which themselves
'want, seeking the favour of the creature, con-
' temning the love of the creatour. To whom is due
' all honour, and reverence, and service. To whom
' I doe devote myself and all that is mine ; to him
'will I sing as long as I have being, for be hath
' raised mee (poore wretch) from the earth, dnd from
'the meanest basenesse. Therefore blessed be his
'name world without end. Amen.'
To speak of this work of Omithoparcus in general,
it abounds with a great variety of learning, and is
both methodical and sententious. That Doultmd
looked upon it as a valuable work may be inferred
from the pains he took to translate it, and his de-
dication of it to the lord treasurer, Robert Cecil,
earl of Salisbury.
It appears by tbe several dedications of his four
books of the Micrologus, that OrnitboparcnB met
with much opposition from the ignorant and envious
among those of his own profession ; of these be
spealu vrith great warmth in each of these epistles,
and generally concludes them with an earnest request
to those to whom they are addressed, that they would
defend and protect him and his worics from the
malicious backbiters of the i^e.
Stefpano Vannko, director of the choir of the
church of St. Mark at Ancona, was the author of
a book in folio, intitled Recanctam de Masica anrca,
published at Rome in 1533. It was written origi-
nally in Italian, and was translated into Latin by
Vincentio Rossetto of Verona. The greater part of
it seems to be taken ^m Franchinus, though the
author hss not confessed his obligation to hun, or
indeed to any other writer on the sabject.
Giovanni Maria Linpranco, was the author of
Scintiile di Musica, printed at Brescia in 1533, in
oblong quarto, a very learned and curious book.
It is well known that about this time the printers,
■nd even the booksellers, were men of learning;
one of this latter profession, named Gborob Rbaw,
and who kept a shop at Wlttemberg, poblisbed in
1536, for the use of children, a little book, with this
Ijtie, Enchiridion utriusque Musicte Practicm Geor-
gio Rhaw, ex varijs Musicorum Libris, pro Pueris
in Schola Vitebei^ensi congestum. In the size,
manner of printing, and little typbographicat or-
naments contuned {n it, it very much resembles
the old editions of Lilly's grammar, and seems to
be a book well calculated to answer the end of itt
publication.
One Lahpadiub, a chanter of a church in Lone-
burg in 1S37, published a book with this title.
Compendium Mnsices, tarn figarati qnam plan! Gaa-
tns ad Formam Dialogi, in Usnm ingenuai Pnl^
ex eruditissimis Musicorum scriptis accurate con-
gestum, quale ante hac nunquam Visnm, et jam
recens pnblicatum. Adjectis etiam R^pilis Oou-
cordanljarum et componendi Oantus artificio. smn-
matim omnia Musices preecepta pulcherrimis Exem-
plis illustrata, succincte et simpliciter complectens.
Sbbaldub Uetdbn, of Nuremberg, was the author
of a tract intitled Mnsicse, id est, Artis CanendL
It was published in 1537, and again in 1540, in
qoarto ; the last of the two editions is by much the
best. In this book the author has thus defined the
word TactuB, which in music signifies the division
of time by some external motion : ' Tactua est di^-
' timotus aut nutns, ad temporis tractatum, in vices
' lequalee divisnm, omnium notularum, ac pausarnm
' quantitates coaptans.' An explanation that carries
the antiquity of this practice above two hundred
and thirty years back from the present time.*
NicoLAOs LisTEHiua, of Leipeic, in 1543 published
a treatise De Musica, in ten ciupters, which he
dedicated to tbe eldest son of Joachim II. duke of
Brandenhnrg. It was republished in 1577, with the
addition of two chapters, at Nuremberg. Glareanoa,
in his Dodecochordon, has given a Miserere, in three
parts, ^m this work of Listenius, which, whether
* Thit bAok U dedicated to HIeroDjmut Baomnftnet, a fit*! «».
cdunger ol leunlng, wid ana Bt Av* mercbuiu of Aumburg. «ba, m
msncT u dte of Ibe giutnt kinH in ChriitenilDm,
Ihnt thete brethren, or at InM ant o[ Ihem. pnueued tlie lanH pctncelT
nne cbne Id number, mi an mrnlioned In the puiege abciTe.cllnl
> liighMt triendahlp and bei
. Jorttn-i lire cl Enamui.
a drink Bautic4 a !■
HoUuulolH. BeeDi. J(irtlii-<UltiiCBraunii>.Tol. [. p^. Mf.
dbyGoo^le
Obap. LXIX.
AHD PRAOTIOE OF MUSIC.
815
it be a compoeidon of his own, or of some other
person, does not clearly appear.
The effects of these, and namberlees other pnh-
licatioos, but more especaally the precepts for the
compoBition of counterpoint delivered by Pranchinus,
were very soon discoverable in the great increase of
practical musicians, and the artfnl contexture of
their works. Bnt although at this time the science
was improving very fast in Italy, it seems that
Germany and Switzerland were die forwardest in
producing masters of the art of practical composition ■
of these some of the most eminent were lodocus
Pratensis, otherwise called Jusqiiin de Prez, JaSoh
Hobrecth, Adamns ab Fulda, Henry Isaac, Sixtua
Dietrich Petrub Platenela, Gregory Meyer, Gerardns
4 Salice, Adamna Loyr, Joannes Richafort, Thomas
Tzamen, Nicholas Craen, Anthony Bmmel.
The translation of the works of the Greek har-
moniciana into a langu^;e generally nndcrst^aod
throughout Europe, and the wonderful effects ascribed
to the music of the ancients, excited a general en-
deavour towardB the revival of the ancient modes ;
the conseqaence whereof was, that at the beginning
of 'lie sixteenth century, scarce a mnss, a hymn, or
a psalm was composed, but it was Iramed to one or
other of them, as namely, the Dorian, the LydJan,
the Phrygian, and the rest, and of these there are
many examples now in print This practice seems
to'have taken ita rise in Germany ; and the opinion
that the music of the ancients was retnevnhle, was
confirmed by the pnblicatidn, in the year 1,147, of
a very curious book entitled AOiEKAXOPiON, the
work of Glareanns, of Basil, the editor of Boetins
before mentioned. The design of this book is to
CBtablish the doctrine of Twelve modes, contrary to
the opinion of Ptolemy, who allows of no more than
there are species of the Diapason, and those are Seven,
The general opinion is, that Glareanus has failed in
the proof of his doctrine ; be was nevertheless a man
of very great erudition, and both he and his work
arc entitled to the attention of the learned, and merit
to be noticed in a deduction of the history of a
science, which if he did not improve, he passionately
"admired.
He was a native of Switzerland, his name Henrioub
LonrrUB Glabeahob. The time when he flourished
wae about the year 1540. Gerard Voeeiue, a very
good judge, styles him a man of great and nniversal
learning, and a better critic than some were vnlling
to allow him. He was honoured with the poetic
laurel and ring by the emperor Maximilian I. His
preceptor in music was, as he himself declares,
Joannes CochUens above-mentioned ; and he ac-
knowleges himself greatly beholden for his assistance
in the prosecution of bis studies, to Erasmus, with
whom he maintained at Basil an intimate and
honourable friendship. For taking occasion to
mention a proverbial expression in the Adt^a of
Erasmns, wherein any sudden, abnipt, and unnatural
transition from one thing to another is compared to
' the passing from the Dorian to the Phrygian mood,'*
mentioned also by Franchinus, from whom possibly
• Tbe DorUn i> uid lo be gmc md lobw i the Phtjgiiio lime will
Erasmus might have taken it, he acknowledges hia
obligation to them both, and speaks ot hie intimacy
with the tatter in these words : ' I am not ignorant
* of what many eminent men have written in this
'our age cvnceming this Adaginm, two of whom
' however are chiefly esteemed by me, and shall never
' be named without some title of honour, Pranchinus
' and Erasmus Roterodamus ; the one was a mute
' master to me, bnt the other taught me by word of
' month ; to both of them I acknowledge myself
' indebted in the greatest degree. Franchinus indeed
' I never saw, although I have heard that he was at
' Milan when I was there, which is about twenty- two
' years ago ; but I wae not then engaged in this
' work : however, in the succeeding years, that I may
' ingenuously confess the truth, the writings of that
' man were of great use to me. and gave me so much
' advantage, that I would read and read over again,
' and even devour the music of Boetius, which had
' not for a long time been touched, nay it was thought
' not to be understood by any one. As to Erasmus,
' I lived many years in familiarity with him, not
'indeed in the same house, but so near, that each
' might be with the other as often as we pleased, and
''inverse on literary subjects, and those immense
' labours which we sustained together for the com-
' mon advantage and use of students ; in which con-
' versations it wae our practice to dispute and correct
' each other ; I, as the junior, gave place to his age ;
' and he as the senior bore with my humours, some-
' times chastising, but always encoun^ng me in my
' studies ; and at laat I ventured to appear before the
'public, and transmit my thoughts in writing; and
' whatsoever be had written in the course of twenty
' years, he would always have me see before-hand ;
' and really if my own affairs would have [Permitted
'it. I would always have been near him. I have
' been however present at several works i he did not
' take it amies to be found fault with, aa some wonld
' do now, provided it were done handsomely ; nay he
'greatly desired to be admonished, and immediately
' returned thanks, and would even confer presents on
'the persons that suggested any correction in bis
' writings. So great was the modesty of the man.'
But notwithstanding the prohibition implied in
this adage, it seems that lodocus Pratensis paid bnt
little regard to it; nay Glareanus gives an instance
of a composition of his, in which by passing imme-
diately from the Dorian to the Phrygian mode, he
seems to have set it at defiance.
A little farther on, in the same chapter. Glareanns
relates that he first communicated to Erasmus the
true sense of the above ad^e ; hut that the latter,
drawing near his end, when he was revising the last
edition, and having left Fnburg, where Glareanns
resided, to go to Basil, the paper which Glareanns had
delivered to him containing his sentiments on the
passage, was lost, and his exposition thereof neglected.
In another place of the Dodecachordon Glareanus
gives an example of a composition in the ^'^olian
mood, by Damianus a Goes, a Fgrtuguese knight and
nobleman, of whom a particular occconnt will be
shortly given. This person, whu was a man of leorn-
dbyGooi^lc
S16
HI6T0EY OF THE SCIENCE.
Book VIH.
ing, and had resided in most of tbe courta of Europe,
came to Friburg, and dwelt some time with Glareanus,
who npoa his arrival there, desirous of iDtroducing
bim to the acquaintonce of this iUustrions stranger,
invited Erasmus to his house, where he continued
some months in a sweet interchange of kind offices,
which laid the foundation of a Mendsbip between the
three, which lasted to the end of their lives. In a
letter now extant from Erasmus to the bishop of
Paris, he recommends his friend Glareanus, on whom
he bestows great commendations, to teach in France.
It seems that Erasmus himself bod received invitn-
tiooa to that purpose, but that he declined them. His
letter in favour of Glareanus has this handsome con-
clusion : ' Sed heus tu, vacuis epistolia non eat arces-
' sendus (Glareanus :) viaticum addatur oportet, velut
'arrhabo reliqui promissi. Vide quam familioriter
' tecum agsm ; ceu tmesollicitudimB oblitus. Sed ita
' me tua oolrupit humanitos, quae banc docuit impu-
* dentiam : quam aot totam ignoscai oportet, aut
' bonam certe partem tibi ipsi imputes.'
Ho died in the year 1563, and was buried iu the
church of tbe college of Basil, where there is the fol-
lowing sepulchral inscription to his memory : —
' Henricns Glareanus, poeta laureatug, gymnasii
'bujus ornamentum eximium, expleto feliciter su-
' premo die.componi hie ad spem futurje resurrectioniB
' providit, cujos manibns propter raram eruditionem,
' candoremque iu profitendo, senatus reipublicw lite-
' rarite, gratitudinis et pietatie ergo, monumentum
' hoc seternse memorise consecratnm, posteritati ut
'extaret, eri^ curavit. Excessit vita anno salutis
' MDLXIII. die xxviii mensis Martii, cetatis sose
LXXV
CHAP. LXX-
Thk design of Glareanus in the Dodecachordon
was evidently to establish the doctrine of Twelve
modes, in which he seems not to have been warranted
by any of the ancient Greek writers, some of whom
make them to be more, others fewer than that num-
ber ; and after Ptolemy had condemned the practice
of increasing the number of the modes by a bemitone,
that is to say, by placing some of them at the distance
of a bemitone from others ; and in short demonstrated
that there could in nature be no more than there are
F|)ecies of the diapason, it seems that Glareanus had
imposed upon himself a very difiicult task.
In tbe eleventh chapter of his first book, premising
tliat no part ol music is so pleasant or worthy to be
discussed as that relating to the modes, he admits
tliat they are no other than the several species of the
diapaaon, which latter do themselves arise out of the
difi'erent species of diapente and diatessaron. He
says that of the fourteen modes arising from the
species of diapason, the writers of bis time admit
only eight, though thirteen have been used by some
constantly, and by others occasionally. Ha odds that
those who confine the number to eight, do not dis-
tinguish those eight by a true ratio, bnt by cert^n
rules, which are not universal. He farther save that
the modems call the modes by the name of Tones,
and persist in tbe tise of that appellation with such an
invincible obstinacy, as obliges him to acquiesce in
their error, which he says was adopted by Boetins
himself, who, in the fourteenth chapter of his fourth
book, says that there exist in the species of the dia-
pason, the modes, which some call Tropes or Tones.
Chapter XVI. directs the method of infallibly dis-
tinguishing the musical conaonances by the division
of the monochord ; and here the author takes occasion
to lament, that for more than eighty years before lus
time, the sciences, and music in particular, had been
greatly corrupted ; and that many treatises on music
had been given to tbe public by men who were not
able to decline the very names or terms used in the
science ; a conduct whicli bad sometimes excited his
mirth, but oftener his indignation. Indeed for Guido,
Bemo, Theogerus the bishop, Vuillehclmus and
Joannes, afterwards pope, he offers an excuse, by
saying that they lived at a time when all the liberal
sciences, tc^ether with correct language, lay more
than asleep. Of fioetius he says, that no one taught
music more learnedly or carefully : Francbinus be
also commends for bis skill and diligence; but ha
censures him for some grammatical inaccuracies,
arising from his ignorance of the Greek language.
He then proceeds according to the directions of Boe-
tins, to explain the method of distinguishing the con-
sonances by means of the monochord, for the division
whereof he gives the following rules : —
' Boetius, the true and only artificer in this respect,
' in tbe last chapter of his fourth book teaches in what
' manner the ratios of the consonances may undoubt'
' ediy be collected by a most easy and simple instrn-
' ment, consisting of a chord stretched from a Magaa
' to a Magaa, at either end of the chord, each im-
' moveable, but with a moveable Magaa placed be-
' tween them, to be shifted at pleasure. The instru-
' ment being thus diapoaed, if the intermediate space
' over which the chord ia stretched, and which lies
' between the immoveable Magades, be divided into
' Three equal ports, and the moveable Magas be
' placed at either sec^on, so that One part of the
'divided space will be left on one aide of the Magas,
' and Two parts on the other; for thus the duple ratio
' will be preserved, the two parts of the chord being
' struck by a Plectrum, will sound the consonant dia-
' pason. But if tbe space between the immoveabia
' Mogades bo divided into Four parts, and the move-
' able Magas l>e so placed, as that One part may be
' left on one side thereof, and Three on the other,
' then will tbe triple ratio be preserved ; and the two
■ parts of the chord being struck by a Plectmm will
' sound the consonant diapason cum diapente. More-
' over, if the some space be divided into Five part^
' and Gnu thereof be left on one side, and Four on
' the other, that so the ratio may be Quadruple, the
' same two parts of the chord will sound a Disdiapaeon,
' the greatest of all consonanta, and which is in a
' quadruple ratio ; and thus all tbe consonants may
' be had. Again, let the same division into Five
' parts remain, and let Three of those parts be left on
' one aide, and two on the other ; in that case yon
'will find the first consonant diapento in a Bn|>er-
Digilizcd
byGoo*^le
OtaAP. LXX.
AND PRACTICE OF SIOSIC.
317
* particular genns, viz., in a Sesquialtera ratio. Bat
' if the space between the immoveable Magades be
' divided into Seven parte, and the moveable Magas
' leave Four of them on one side, and Three on the
' other, in order to have a 8es(]iiitertia ratio, those
' two parts of the Chord will sound a diatesaaron con-
' aonance. Lastly, if the whole apace be divided into
* Seventeen parta, and Nine of them be left on one
' aide, and Eight on the other of the moveable M^as,
' it will shew the tone, which ia in the Sesqnioctave
' ratio. But that theae things may be more clearly
' understood, we will demonetrate them hy letters, as
' he [Soetius] has done. Let A D be the regula, or
' table, upon which we intend to stretch the chord ;
' the immoveable Magades, which (he aame Boetius
'calls hemispheres, are the two E and F, erected
' perpendicular to the Regula at B and C. Let the
* chord A £ F D be stretched over these, and let K
' be the moveable fitagas to be uaed within the space
* B 0. If this be eo placed, and the space be divided
' into three, ao that one part may remain on one aide,
' and two on the other ; tliia chord by the application
' of a plectrum will sound a diapason, the queen of
' conaonanccB ; but if the space be divided into Four,
' and the chorda on each side be as Three to One, the
' consonant diapason with a diapento will be produced.
' Moreover, if the apace be divided into Five parts,
' Four against One will give a disdiapason, and Three
' to Two a diapentc ; and when the space is divided
' into Seven, Four against Three, produces a diates-
'saron; and lastly, when the space is divided into
' Seventeen, Nine to Eight, gives the tone : we here
' sabjoin the tyyie : —
Chapter XXI. which is the last of the first hook, is
a kind of introduction to the author's doctrine of the
Twelve modes, in which, speaking in his own person,
he delivers hie sentiments in these words : —
' When I had put the last hand to this book,
' I obtained unexpectedly, by means of my excellent
' friend Bartholomseus Lybis, Franchinua's work
' De Harmonia Musicomm Instrumentomm, which,
' though I had eagerly sought after it many years,
' I could never procure. This I take to have heen
' the last work of Franchinua, for he dedicated it in
'the year of Christ, 1518, to Joannes Grolcrius of
' Lyons, who was treasurer of Milan to Francis king
' of Prance, having more than twenty years before
' that published a treatise of practical music. I waa
' more overjoyed than I can express at the receipt
' of it ; for I expected to have found certain passages
' of aome authors, more especially Greek ones, cleared
up by him, as they had given me a great deal of
trouble for aeveral years ; and my hopes were
' greatly increased on reading the firat chapter, where
' he ABys, that he had translated Bryennius, Bacchina,
Ariatides Quintilianus, and Ptolemy, from the Greek
' into the Latin language. I began to peruse him very
' carefully, and found in him his usual exactness and
diligence; more especially in those things which
' Boetius treats of in the three genera of modulation
' by the five tetrachords, and in what related to the
' proportions and Proportionalities, for so they call
' them ; hut when I perceived that in his last book
' he had undertaken to discuss that abstruse subject
' the musical modes, I flattered myself with the hopes
' of finding Franchinus similar to himself in that
' part, and that he had produced somewliat worthy
' to be read from bo many authors ; but my expec-
' tations were not answered, and as far as I can con*
'jectnre, he does not seem to have understood the
' words of Apuleins in his Florida,* lib. I. concem-
' ing Antigenides, or those of Marcianns Capella,
' LucianUB Athenieus, and Porphyrins ; for he no
' where quotes those places which require explanation,
' which I greatly wonder at. He indeed several
' times quotes Plato, but not in those placea where
' the reader ia puzzled, such as that is in lib. iii,
' De Rep. concerning the authors of the six Modes.
' Truly, what Franchinus says in that hook, except
' what is taken from Boetius, I may say without any
'error or epleen, for I much eateem the man, are
' words compiled by sedulous reading from various
' commentaries, but in no manner helping to clear up
' the matter. As that compariaon of the four modes
' to four complexions, colours, and poetical feet, three
' other modes being banished undeservedly. I had
' much rather have had him ingenuously confess,
' either that he did not know the differences of those
' modes, or that they were Aristoxenean paradoxes,
' the opinions of which author were laughed at, re-
' jecled, and exploded by Boetins and Ptolemy, men
' eminent in this art Franchinus himself doubted as
' much about the eight modes as the common people
' did ; for in this book, which is the last of his works,
' he does not dare even so much as to mention the
' Hypomixolydian, which he had named in his book
' entitled Practica, lib. I, chapters 8 and 14, confiding
' implicitly, as he himself confesses, in the opinions of
' others. But if it be not permitted to repeat the
' species of diapason, which objection he himself
' seems to make in bis last work, then the Hyper-
' mixolydian will lie no mode, since its diapason is
' wholly the Hypodorian. But FranchiDue in this
' work leaving out the Hypomixolydian, which has
' the same diapason with the Dorian, and is our
' eighth, takes in the Hypermixolydian, that we may
' collect and confirm by his own authority the number
' of all the modes to be eight, according to the common
' opinion ; but as there are in fact no more than seven
' species of the diapason, so there can be only seven
' modes, after that fiiim which the church still retains,
' together with an eighth, which has a system inverse
' to that of the first mode. Franchinus soya that to
'the seven modes of Boelius, via. the Hypodorian,
' Hypophrygian, Hypolydian, Dorian, Phrygian,
' Lj-diau, and Mixolydian ; and that of Ptolemy,
• Florid*. Uk naire of ■ book of ApoMo*. Fibddu,
dbyGooi^le
318
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
BookVIIL
'named the Hypermixolydian, Aristoxenus added
' these five, the HypoiaBtian, the Hyposeoljan, laetiau,
' ^olian, and Uyperioatkn, and bo made the number
' thirteen ; but as five of these were, according t« the
' authority of Bryennius to be rejected, and as he
' could not find out the name of the Hypermixolydian,
' not knowing that it was the same with the Hyperi-
' astian of Arietoxenus, he has recourae lo the Hyper-
' misolydian of Ptolemy, that the pretty octonary
' number of modes ehould not be lost : but the reader
' will bear our opinion concerning those things in its
' proper place. We shall now subjoin the words of
' FranchinuB, that the reader may himself discern the
' opinion of this man concerning the modes ; for after
' he has numbered up the species of the diapason that
' constitute the seven modes of Boetias and the eight
' of Ptolemy, he suhjoina these words : " Posterity
" has retained only these eight modes, because as
" tbey return in a circle, they comprehend the intire
" diatonic extension of an immutable and perfect
" system of fifteen chorda ; wherefore tbey esteemed
" the other five modes, viz., Hypoiastian, Hyposeoliao,
" lastian, .^olian, and Hyperiastian as useless to the
" sensible harmony of a fall and perfect system, to
" use the words of Bryennius ; and as affording only
"an idle demoDstration of harmony. But Marcianus
" numbers up indeed those fifteen modes, which Cas-
" siodurus so ranged, that the conslitutions of each
" would differ by only the intension of a semitone :
" but as every constitution, according to Aristoxenua,
" makes up a diapason of twelve equisonant semi-
" tones, those two acuter modes, the Hypersoliaa and
" Hyperlydian ore rejected, seeing they do not com-
" plete a diapason in the full system of fifteen chords,
" and are found superfluous, for they go beyond the
" disdiapason system by two semitones."
' Thus far FranchinuB : in which discourse be
' plainly shews that he was not able to clear up the
' difBculties in which the doctrine of the modes ia
' involved, all which arise, not so much from the sub-
' ject itself, as from the many different appellations,
'for there are more than twenty, of these modes.
' We shall however follow the nomenclatura of Aria-
' toxenUB, which does not contradict ua in what cun-
' cema the modes, nor yet BoetJus, although they do
' not agree in other things. Moreover, neither
' Francbinus nor Capella, in my opinion, understood
' Aristoxenus. The constitution of CaBBiodorus is
' throughout repugnant to Boetius, yet, which I
' greatly wonder at, Francbinus did not dare to
' reprehend him, though he was a great aseerter of
'the erudition of Boetius; and we do not think it
' convenient to refiite him till we have laid the foun-
' datioD of oar hypothesiB, as we shall do hereafter.
' But in the mean time we admonish the reader that
' the number of names, though very many, does not
'change the nature of modes; nor can there really be
' more modes than there are species of the diapason,
' for whatsoever Harmonia has instituted concerning
' them, must fall under these seven species of the
' diapason ; this is the isaue and the snm total of the
' whole buBiuese. Wherefore the same Francbinus ia
' not without reason accused of not having reflected
' on these things, when be has argued on others most
' shrewdly, and improved them with exact care. For
' the arithmetical and harmonical division in the
' species of the diapason were no secret to him, since
'he has taught them himself in his other works; but
' this also is worthy of reprehension, that agreeing
' with the common custom, he puts only four final
' keys in the seven modules of the diapason, rejecting
' the other three, when that of Jj only ought to he
' rejected.
' But however, as Franchinus cites Marcianns
'Capella, and omits his words, I thought proper
' to subjoin them here, that the reader may ju(^
' for himself, and at the same time see how well, or
' rather how ill, Cassiodoros has adapted them to
' that form described by Franchinus. " Tbere are,
" says Marcianus Capella, fifteen tropes, bat five of
"them only are principals, to each of which two
" others adhere, first, the Lydisn, to which the
" Hyperlydian and Hypolydian adhere ; second, the
"lastian, to which are associated the Hypoiastian
"and Hyperiastian; third, the ^oliau with the
" Hypoteolian ; fourth, the Phrygian, with the Hy-
" pophrygian and Hyperphrygian ; fii^h, the Dorian,
" with the Hypodorian and Hyperdorian ; " thus far
' Marcianns, who made five principab with two
' others agreeing with each, that they might ■!•
' together make up the number fifteen. But we, as
' Aristoxenus has done, shall put six principals with
'each a plagal, that the number may be twelve.
' omitting the Hypermixolydian of Ptolemy, and the
' Hyperaolian ana Hyperphrygian, which are after-
' wards superadded. The six principals are the
' Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, .^^lian,
' and lastian ; by some writers termed the Ionian ;
'and the six plagals compounded with the prepo-
' position Hypo, the Hypodorian, H vpophrygian, Hy-
' lydian, Hypomixolydian, Hypoteolian, Hypoiastiaji,
' which iB also the Hypoionian. These are the true
' ondonbted twelve modes, which ^e undertake to
' comment on in the following book.
' Aristoxenus calls the Hypomixolydian the Hy-
' periastian, in the manner of the rest of the modes
' compounded with Hyper ; for if any one componnda
' those principals with the word Hyper, he will find
' six other modes, but they fall in with the others.
' Thus the Hyi"!riastian of Aristoxenus Ealls into the
' Hypomixolydi.m ; and the Hypomixolydian of
' Ptolemy into the Hypodorian ; in the same manner
' the Hypodorian into the Hypoeeolian ; the Hyper-
' Phrygian into the Hyperlydian ; the Hyperlydian
' mto the Hypoionian or Mixolydian ; and the
' Hyperieoliau into the Hypophrygian Hence it
' appears that many of the difficulties which attend
' the modes, aiise from the multiplicity of their names,
' and not from the modes themselves.'
But notwithstanding this assertion of Glareanus,
it is very clear that the doctrine of the modes was
incumbered with other difficulties than what aroao
from the confusion of their names. For as to ths
number thirteen, which Aristoxenus assumed, and
the fifteen of Marcianus Capella, they arise frcnm
a practice, which Ptolemy in the slxongeet terms
dbyGoo*^le
Chaf. L£X.
AND PRACTIOE OF MUSIO.
319
condemos, Darnel}', the atigmenting the namher of
the modes by Bemitones, t£at is to say, by making
many of the modes a semitone oDly distant from each
other ; departing from the order in which the aeven
species of diapason ari>e; bnt Olareanns, tbougb
a bigutted admirer of the aacients, has declined this
method, and has borrowed his division of the modes
from that of the ecclesiastical tones, introdaung the
arithmetical and harmonical division of each species
of diapason, pre<uBely in the same manner as St
Gregory had done by the four primitive tones in-
stituted by St. Ambrose*
This contrivance of Glareanns, which, to say no
worse of it, has bat little to recommend it, did not
answer the end of vindicating the ancient practice ;
for the amnber of the modes thns adjoeted, coincides
neither with the thirteen modes of AriBtoxenas, nor
the fifteen of Marcianns Capella ; in short, it givee
but twelve, and that for this reason, the diapason
from ]j to }-), is clearly incapable of an arithmetical
division, by reason uf the aemidiapento between ]-|
and F ; and it is as clear that the diapason between
F and f is incapable of an harmonical division, by
reason of the ezceasiva fourth between F and K the
consequence whereof is, that admitting five oT the
species to he capable of both divisions, and h and F
to be each capable of bnt one, the nnmber of cuvisions
can be bnt twelve ; f but these, in the opinion of the
author, are so emphatically true and jnst, as to afford
a reason for intitlmg his work Bodecochordon.
Glareauus has in several parts of his book admitted
that the species of Diapason are in nature but seven,
or, in other words, that in every progression of seven
sounds in the diatonic series, the tones and semitones
will arise in the same order as they do in one or
other of those seven species; it therefore seems strange
that he should endeavour to effect that which his own
concession supposes to be impossible; but it seems
he meant nothing more ty this manifold distinction
of modes than to assign to the final note of each
a different pitoh in the scale or system: in this be
makes himself an advocate for the Musical doctrine,
as it is called, of the ancienta, which however mis-
taken has been shewn to be reconcileable to that
other known by the name of the Harmonic doctrine
of the same subject
Kot to pursue an enquiry Into the nature of a
subject which has long since eluded a minute in-
vestigation, and which neither Franchinna, nor this
antbor, nor Doni, nor Dr. Wallis, nor indeed any of the
most learned mnsicians of modem times, could ever
yet penetrate ; the following scheme, containing
Glareanne's system of the twelve modes, is here
exhibited, and is left to speak for Itself : —
HypodorUn. Qypophrygiau Uypolydlan.
3i
LIS
■J IB
11
H}^-
11
* The irfthmetjcal lU
^J,«V
ic Md pligBl. ii here given In
led by Ih« f pede* <
imetical Oiviiioai <
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book VIIL
Bat if the ancient modes required each a. new
toning of the lyre, and that they did is expressly said
by Ptolemy and others, there is great reason to be-
lieve the tones and semitones by every such tuning
enllone) and b, w
^^^.•^
1, th« fslloirbii
"CS,
ris 6.b :'^
\t Km K
mftibly; tm
b — t — t~t '■" '""^ " f»' " "I' «""» slW's. '' "" n>'«l
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ' IhMB model. 01h«i. coruWeTlng how tnditptnHble
' B chord l)ie tth la in eieiy tUDdt, itaej look roi Iba
•fliul orK«T-notain the ulihnetkillT dlilded «Utc>, nolllnlotren
■ elibrd er thai oetiiit. bul thai mf 4th \ tor eimrple ihe oeure f It
■ 9ih belon the upper g. ihia c tbentore the:r mode Iha Anal chord sf the
■ mode, vhleh ther«ron properivapeaklnjilieandiiotii: theonlydlfl^.
' mevtheD in thia method, betwixt Ihe auliwntk and plairal modn ia. that
'theButhenUcBoea ahofeiti SiuU - - - -
rhlch Indeed will be atleBded with dlS'<iKni e9«i
ally Ike aame, hiving the iime dnal, to whk
ot low'tr tn'the Kile, i, i. the dlBerenl ten<i<
he !!'«>'<" ■"'t lO"
Jun proportion, iin)c
modn depend upo
;i;»
1 7 take la the actlfl
clal noln « i
■Oat.' TrHlUsotMiulc, cl
mnst have been dislocated; and in all probability for
the purpose of preserving the order of nature, which,
after a!l that has been said, will scarce allow of bnt
two kinds of progression, namely, that in the diatonic
aeries from A to a, and from C to c, the former the
prototype of all flat, as the other is of all sharp keys.
If this was the case, the only discrimination of the
modes was their place in the syslem with respect to
acntenesB and gravity.
The partiality which Glareanns thronghont his
book discovers for the music of the ancients ia thus ia
be accounted for. He waa a man of considerable
learning, and seems to have paid an implicit regard
to the many relationa of the wonderfnl effects of
music, which Plutarch, Boetins, and many other
writers have recorded ; and no sooner were the
writings of the ancient Greek harmoniciane recovered
and circulated throngh Europe, than he flattered
himself with the hope of reatoring that very practice
of music to which such wonderful eflects had been
ascribed ; and in this it seems he waa not singular,
for even the musicians of hts time entertained the
same hope. Franchinus by his publications had not
only considerably improved the theory of the science,
but had communicated to the world a great deal of
that recondite learning, which is often more admired
than understood ; and although he had delivered the
precepts of counterpoint, and thereby laid the founda-
tion of a much nobler practice than the ancients
could at any time boast of, many of his contempo-
raries forbore for a time to improve the advantages
which he had put them in possession of, and vainly
attempted lo accommodate their works, which for th«
most part were compositions of the symphoniac kind,
te ft system which admitted of no such practice : that
this waa the case, is most evident from that great
variety of compositions contained in the Dodecachor-
don, which, though they are the works of lodocoa
Prateneis, Jacohns Hobrechth, Adamus ab Fulda,
Petrua Platensia. Gerardua k Saltce, Andreaa Sylva-
nuH, Gregorius Meyer, Johannes Mouton, Atlamua
Luyr, Antonius Eramel, Johannes Ockenhctm. and
many others, the far greater number contemporaries
of Glareanus, are nevertheleaa asserted te be in the
Dorian, the Lydian, the Phrygian, and other of the
modes, and that with as much conlidence as if the
nature of the ancient modes had never been a snbject
of dispute. The following cantus for four voices, the
work of an anonymous author, has great merit, and is
given by Glareanns as an exemplar of the Dorian : —
dbyG00*^lc
AND PBAOTICE OP MDSIO.
~=
1 - J-rl-^
J" P
1 " ■ ^_\ " — c^^rlf " — Tr±
t=
- aa
MT
A - d1 - n«. EO - - - -
1 1 J 1 ill 1 c^-^** rT?* f^ " h
1=
Do
mi-na De-ni wr - y>
A - ni -
munoMTu A^-"- ui-ma* no ... -
p=
Do
- - - ml - m^^r^.
De - -
- lU MT - T» A - DUmU BO -
^ — ■■ [ " — -. — If r " ±
T*i; —
tu . o Do .
lLd^
va MT ' n A - ni-niM no - -
t^
A Db .
s^i
-^M^r-|J^=M#
. » lirr-p-,
.
. » |.. — 1 H+^
fe^
1~!— -
A Dm -
— ^; ^
lo Ab
1 r f
Ho .
^ —
==! ii— 1 »j F
mi . OS 1 . - m . -
- -rtrai.
A D^
1° ..
. lo
Ab 'Ho-mi .'db f?
^- »~.
A Db
^— ^S-
Ab Ho - - . mi-Do.
dbyGoQl^lc
HISTOIIY OF THE SOIENGE
BockTUL
Many of the compositions of this kind contained in
the Dodecadiordon are to be admired for the fineueea
of the harmony, and the artfnl contexture of the parte,
bst they smell of the lamp ; and it ia easy to see that
they derive no advant^e from an adherence to those
roles which constitute the difference between one
and the other of the ancient modes. The mneicians
of the sncceediug age totally disregarded them, and
laid the foundauon of a practice independent of that
which GlareanuH had taken bo mnch pains to eetablish,
and which allowed of all that exercise for the invention,
which in (he composition of elegant music must ever
be deemed necessary.
The Xllltb chapter of the second book has the
following title, 'De Sono in Casio dnte Opiniones,
'atqne inibi CHoeronis Plinjjqne Loci excusfli,' and
contains bis sentiments on that favom^te opinion of
the ancients, the mnsio of the spheres, which the
antbor has entered very deeply into, thongh he cites
Aristotle to shew that the whole is a fiction, and
thereby has niggested a very good reason for the
omission of it in this place.
Chap. XXXIX. entitled ' De inveniendis Tenoribns
ad Pbonascos Admoni^o,' contains advice touching
the framing of tenors, of little worth or importance.
To illnatrate his precepts Qlareauns baa inserted
three odes of Horace, with the mnsic thereto, of hla
own composition, which be gives as exemplan of the
Dorian, the Phrygian, and Ionian modes.
As to the musicians contemporary with Gloreonns,
and celebrated by him, short memorials of some of
them ore dispersed np and down bis book ; those of
whom any interesting particulars are to be collected
from other writers will be spoken of hereafter. Bnt
he has noticed two that fall not under this latter class,
namely, Antonius Bmmel and Henricus Isaac, as men
of singular eminence: of the latter he thus speaks: —
' HBNBiona IsAAO, a German, is said to have
' learnedly composed innnmerable pieces. This
' author tdiiefly affected the church style ; and in his
■ works may be perceived a natural force and majes^,
' in general superior to any thing in the compositions
' of this our age, though lus style may be said to be
' somewhat rough. He delighted to dwell on one
' immovable note, the rest of the voices running as it
' were about it, and every where resounding as the
' wind is used to play when it puts the waves in
' motion about a rock. This Isaac was also famons
■ in Italy, for Polltian, a contemporary writer, cele-
' brates him.' The following hymn is given by
Gloreanus as a specimen of his style and manner : —
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
ttt la
FJ-y^t"^^^^^P=!3^;^i
GlareanoB concludes this elaborate nork with a
very cnrioua relation of Lewis XII. kine of France,
to dtia effect. It eeems that that moDarcb had a very
weak thin voice, hut being very fond of music, he
reqnested lodocna Fratensis, the precentor of his
choir, to frame a composition, in which he alone
might sing a ptart The precentor knowing the
king to be absolutely ignorant of mosic, was at first
astonished at this request, bat afteralittle consideration
promised that he would comply with it. Accordingly
he set himself to study, and the next day, when the
king after dinner, according to his wonted custom.
called for some songs,* the precentor immediately
■ The nutom of hiring muilc st meili K«Dt Id hiio been kIthoii
ontiaul In [be wil*Hir>r kinfiud other neat peraonige*: Theodort*,
Ung ol the Ootht, u ippean trvm an eplit^ of bla nmoiiff IhoH oT
In Mend Agricolii, vhenln h
at the bjdnnllc sigio, ud or than
de Irn and vtka knelnuavnte, tor t
Henbiods Isuc.
produced the composition here subjoined, which
being a canon contnved for two boya, might be sang
without overpowering the weak foice of the king.
The composer had so ordered it, that the kings
part should he one holdiug note, in a pitch proper
for a Contratenor, for that was the king's voice.
Nor was he inattendve to other pai^culara, for be
contrived bis own part, which was the Baas, in such a
manner, that every other note he sung was an octave
to that of the king, which prevented hie majesty
from deviating from that single note which he was
to intonate. The king was much pleased with the
ingenuity of the contrivanee, and rewarded the
The following is the canon which lodocus, or, as
the French call him, Josqatn or Jnsquiu, made upon
tliis occasion : —
muDBT of ilIlliiK U dlnnei of Fndlnsnd prion of Spulii, m the dv «<
hli luteitltuie vith the habll and etidgne of the OTder. In thli engrar-
iag the pTinn App«an litlfng under n canopy with tho fonr nnunl*.
•lonen of legation, V ■ - ■ -
lepieaeullng the IlK abvliil-
■b hand of him; t
« paper, and behind Ihem tluH otber p<
dbyGooi^le
HISTOKT OF THE SCIENCE
^
.J^LLe^^-Efefes;^
V« ijrlr-
EE "«'•
iflfPIIPPiiPP^iPIE^SPiSSEKig
CHAP. LXXL
NoTwiTSSTANSiHo the great repntation of Gla-
reauos, the above-mentioned work of bi« has not
escaped the cenanreB of some who aeem to have
understood the music of the ancients better than
himselt The first of tbeee is Giovamii BaUUta
Doni, who in a very learned and entertaining work
of lus, intitled De Prsatantia MobIcw Veteris,t
accDsea him of adopting the errors of modem
mnnirgiBts, in a work designedly written to ex-
pose them ; and laments that the author spent
twenty years in composing a work entirely useless ;
and farther he reprovea him lor asserting that
ligarate music wae arrived at perfeotion in hia time,
when it was notorious that it had not then been iu
use above a hundred years, and must in the nature
of things have been susceptible of still farther im-
provement.
Salinas also, though he bears a very hononrable
testimony to his emdition, has pointed out some
most ^regions errors of QIareanus in the Dode-
cachordon, particularly one in the tenth chapter of
• Anduitly prlncM JoIn»4 1b the chonl (MYle^ uiil Ktmllrmg tin
ottca in lurpKcei ; tbi> li utd of C1url«ufD», lbs mpenc Otho III.
■Dd Ucnrr fl. wid of Kunlguudi. Ibe »D(on of Iha lutu, by Luitlg,
Id bli MutikkuDde pu. ?M>; uid to thU puzpoia Bourdolol nlatci tbfl
fcUoniDit itorY. U™ IV. iKlnl «t Toun wl* hli »ort, ibout the
nuMoriamcofbucaunleneDleRd iDlo Hweharebar SLllutln i(
•h. •!.... «r .:T..Hns fh* nfliM* Hnd vcn much lurprtud lo lee Ihpr*
vw of cuoni. ^ginc tbc offlee
old tha king tbu Uie coudi of
" !ii«d u itas nlulm: u
I Mil d** b* wnle Um
wardi: 'Sfvhef irin. qu'iin
' Tin auihor ujt lh«i 'M
a""llih,dutliig'lb«t™ubl*»lnPiinM,bidih« tduc * --■■-■---
pHrpoMlT biongbt him up in igiKiiuice, but IbBi
look tb* nnoot in good put, ind dsclutd (a bli
IbU go»Mii othm iluiiiH bo iDon bnoirlng ihu .""- -•■-.« "■.,
■OTRn. Hirt. Hiu. «1 •» EOM«, lom. I. ttf. IDS. An Imliom of
■ limOa kind ii nlitid of Sir Thomu bf on, "li.. ihit on Sundii^. evtn
wben bo vu lonl cbwiegllor. Iw won ■ •arpILco, ud lung vlth lli«
•irgen *t lb* Ugb-mu> ud BlUtlni lo (h* ehuieb of CbslMT, vhicli.
wn Ibe nUt«t, 'the diiko of Norfolk on ■ tinw flndlng. wyd, Ood bodii-,
< Ood bodlg, mj lad ehuincebn-s puiah cluks ! <nni dlignn ihe king aiid
'TouiofflH.' Tovtalch bin loidiblp uinnd Id ibe vordi of Divid.
• VUlot Bun In occulta nsli.' Uh of Sir Tbomu Hon bj hit gie«-
gnndwn Ttaorau Uor. E*q. p>g. l/». Tho ume ilory, Bllh « lilile
---i-.i^^ ■ — 1..-J i_ .h^ i.b j.t Bi. Th..ni« iiA>* written by WlLilam
be CDUnl of Anjou. Fouliiuo II. li
kalou «u rnnod pTion. ud tho Ung w« dimio
rblcb Uh count wu b dkiguitod, that od ibo u
bDf ■ lni«, whmin TUyIng Iho wr" i—— -~-
lingh.
his first book, where he asserts the semitone w fa to
be the lesser semitone, than which he says there can-
not be any thing said more abhorrent to the jndgment
of sense and reason. He enumerates several other
mistakes in this work, but insists most on his con-
stitution of twelve modes, which he not only aaeerta
are not taken according to the doctrine of the ancients,
but adds that he did by no means understand the
ancient modes ; and for this opinion of his, Salinas
gives as a reason the confession of Glareanns him-
self, that he bad never read the three books of
Ptolemy, nor those of Aristozenns, nor Manuel
Bryennins, nor indeed any of the ancient Greek
authors.)
After so severe a cenaUre as this, it miiifht seem
like heaping disgrace on the memory of this anthor
to declare the opinion of other writers with respect
to his work ; but there is a passage in the notes of
Ateibomins on Euclid, which it would be an injury
to historical truth to suppress. It may be remembered
that in a foregoing page Glareanus is said to bave
asserted that the word Tone was scarce used to
signify Mode till the time of Boetins, and that the
obstinacy of ignorant people had compelled him in
the Dodecachordon to accept it in that sense. In
answer to this Meibomius says, and indeed with
great ingenuity demonstrates, that the term was used
by the ancients, and Euclid in particular, long before
the time of Boetins, and gives as a reason for it, that
originally the modes were three, namely, the Dorian,
the Phrygian, and the Lydian; that these, being
a snperoctave tone distant from each other in auo-
cession, acquired the name of Tones ; and that this
term, being once recognized, was applied to the other
of the modes, even though some of them were re-
moved from those that next preceded them by a leas
interval, namely a Semitone. The introductjon of
Mdbomiua to his argument is severe, but curious :
' A certiuu very teamed Switzer, but an infant in
' ancient music, set himself in the front of those who
' maintain this opinion, one Glareanus, who, in lib. IL
• cap. ii. of his book, disputes thus,' &c.
To say the tnitii of the Dodecachordon, it is more
to be regarded for the classical purity of its style,
than for the matter contained in it ; though with
respect to the former, it is so very prolix, that it is very
difficult to give the sense of the author in terms that
wonid not disgust a modem reader ; not to say that
it abounds with egotisms and digressions, which
detract from the merit of it even in this respect ; but
t tM Hukt, lib. It. ap. xiiL p^. U).
Digitized
byGoo^le
Chap. LXXI.
AND PRACTICE OF MUBia
when we conrider the aabBtence of the work, wd
reflect on the very many erroneonB opinions con-
tained in it, the anthor'e confessed ignorance of the
sentiments of the ancients, more especially Ptolemy,
with respect to the modes, and his endeaTonr to
eetablish his hypothesis of twelve modes npon a
fonndation that has given way onder him ; when all
this is considered, the authority of Glareanus will
appear of very little weight in matters relating either
to the music of the ancients, or that system which is
the foundation of modem practice.
In another respect this work most be deemed
a great cnriosity, for it contains a nnmber of com-
positions of some of the moat eminent musicians of
the sixteenth century, many whereof are of that kind
of mnsic, m which less regard is paid to the melody
than to the harmony and cnrious oonteztnre of the
several parts, and in this view of them they are as
perfect models as wa may ever hope to see. And
besides this, their intrineic merit, they are to be
esteemed on the score of their antiquity ; for, ex-
cepting a few examples contained in the writings of
Fraachinns, they are the most ancient musical com-
positions in symphony any where extant in prink
Bat here it is to he noted, that the musical com-
positions of these times derive not the least merit
from their being associated to words ; nor does it
appear that the authors of them had an idea of any
power in music, ooncnrrent with that of poetry, to
move the passionB. This appears in their choice of
those hymns and portions of scripture to which
musical notes are by them most frequently adapted,
which, excepting the Miserere, De Frofandis, Stabat
Mater, Regina C(e1i, and a few others, have nothing
affecting in the sentiment or expression, but are
merely narratoiy, and incapable, with all the aids of
melody and harmony, to excite joy, devotion, pity,
or, in short, any other of those afTections of the mind
which are confessedly under the dominion of music.
To give a few instances of this kind ; in the second
hook of the Dodecachordon is the Kicene Creed in
the ^olian mode, as it is there called ; and in the
third is the genealogy of Christ, as it elands in the
first chapter of 8t Matdiew's Qospel, set to music
by lodocns Pratensis, and given as an exemplar of
the Hypophrygian, Doni has mentioned this latter
as an evidence of barbarism, and the ignorance of the
mnBicians of those timea with respect to the power
and efficacy of their own arL But this defect, namely,
the want of energy in their compodtions, was but
the consequeoce of those rules which such writers as
Glareanus had prescribed to them, and these were of
snch a kind as to exclude all diversity of style : no
man coold say this or that mass or hymn is the com-
position of Jusqnin or Clement, of Qetard, of Andrew,
or Gregory; they were all of the same tenor, and
seemed as if cast in one mould. In short, in the
composition of music to words, two things only
were attended to, the correspondence of the notes,
in respect to time, with the metre or cadence of
the syllables, and die rules of harmony, as they re-
ferred to the several modes. Whoever is susceptible
of the power of mnric, is able to judge how mnch it
must have suffered by this servile attention to the
supposed practice of the ancients ; and will clearly
see that it must have siiepeuded the exercise of the
inventive faculty, and in short held the imagination
in fetters.
liVom hence it appears that two things are to be
objected to the compontions of the fifteenth, and the
beginning of the sixteenth century ; namely, a choice
of words for the subjects of musical compositions, by
which no passion of the human mind can be either
excited or allayed, and the want of that variety, and
those discriminating characteristics of style and
manner, which are looked for in the compositions
of different masters.
These defects in the music of which we are now
speaking, are in some measure to be occouuted for by
the want of that nnion and connexion between mnsic
and poetry, which vras effected by the invention of
the musical drama ; in the conduct whereof the com*
posers considered their art as subservient to that of
the poet, and laboured at a correspondence of senti-
ment between their music and the words to which it
was adapted : and hence we are to date the origin of
pathetic music ; and were the pathetic the only
characteristic of fine music, wa might pronounce of
that of lodocns Pratensis, Okenbeim, and others their
contemporaries, that it was very little worth, and
should resolve those efi'ects which were vrrought by
it into novelty, and the ignorance of its admirers.
But whoever is capable of contemplating the
Btmctnre of a vocal composition in a variety of parts,
will find abundant reason to admire many of those
which Glareanus has been at the pains of preserving,
and will discover in them flue modulation, a close
contexture and interchange of parts, different kinds
of motion judieiooaly contrasted ; artfal syncopations,
and binding concords with discords sweetly prepared
and reaolved ; points that iuBensibly steal on the ear,
and are dismiesed at proper intervale ; and such a
full harmony resulting from the whole, as leaves the
ear nothing to expect or wish for : and of these ex-
cellencies Mr. Handel was so sensible, that he could
never object to the compositions of this period any
defect but the simplicity of the melody, the restrainta
on which have been shewn to arise from what were
then deemed the fundamental precepts of mnsicat
composition.
It is easy to discover that the nmsic here spoken
of was calculated only for learned ears. Afterwards,
when the number of those who loved music became
greater than of them that understood it, the gratifi-
cation of the former was consulted, passages were
invented, and from these sprang up that kind of
modulation called air, which .it is as difficult to de-
fine, as to reduce to any role : this the world were
strangers to till tbey were taught it by the Italian
masters, of the most eminent of whom, and the
successive improvements made by them, an account
will hereafter oe given.
It may be remembered that in the accoimt of
Glareanus above given, very honourable mention is
made of a learned and ingenioue Portagaese, a com-
mon friend of him and Erasmns; the following is
his story.
Damiahus a" Gobs, a PoTtugoese k^ght, diatm-
IJ,9,tizccbyCjOO»^le
826
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
I Via
fished in the sixteenth centnry for hie learaiug and
other accomplishments, was chamberlain to Bmannel
king of Portugal, to whom, as abo to his successor,
he so recommended himself, that he was by them
severally employed in negociations of great moment
at foreign courts, particularly in France, Germany,
and in the Low Countries, and iu Poland. During
the time of his abode in Italy he contracted a friend-
ship with the Cardinals Bembo, Sadolet, and Madruce ;
and while he was resident in die Low Countries mar-
ried Jane d' Hargen, of the house of Aremberg, with
whom he led an easy, qnlet, and pleasant life. He
loved poetry and music, composed versee, sung well,
and was in general estimation among ibe learned.
Nor was he more celebrated for his learning and in-
genuity than for bis person^ valour and skill in
military afiurs, which he tesdfied in the defence of
the dty of Louvaln in 1S12, when it was besieged
by the French. From this important service he was
recalled into Portugal to write the history of that
kingdom, but he lived not to finish it ; for in the
year 1596, being in his study, and, as it b ima^ned.
seized with a fit, he fell into the fire, and was found
dead, and his body half consumed. Of his works
there are extant, Legatio magni Indomm Imperatorit
sd Emanuelem Lusitaniie Etegem, anno 1513. Eldee^
Religio, Moresque ^thiopum. Commentaria Rerum
Gestarnm in Indift a Lueitanio. The Histories of
Emanuel and John II. kings of Portugal; and a
Relation of the Siege of the Gty of Louvain. In the
course of bis travda he made a visit to Glareanos at
Friburg, and there contracted a friendship with him
and Erasmus, of which the former in his Dodeca-
ohordon speaks with great satisfaction. Etasmus ac-
knowledges the receipt of a very handsome preaent
from Damianus in one of his Epistles ; and Damianu^
in one to him, tells him that he should be glad to
print his works at his own ezpence, and if be oat-
lived him to write hia life.* In mnsio he was
esteemed equal to the moet eminent masters of his
time. The following bjrmn of his compodliou i«
published in the Dodecachordon ; —
^
NE
la -
=^r—r^
te
s^a
D^--^
n'\r ^-i"
- - ■■f-fUl-
T" 1^ f° PTT
NE
^ NE
1b
-■■ 1 ,.— ^===f
ru,
1— rld-
ne la
~i — J f ■ ■ * 1 —
1 — Ti — r— tF
Ieb -
te - ri^ . .
ne Ue
- rij.
' 1 ^-^
ne la -
a
,„--p
.
^
», . . .
su - per DM, eu - per me, IU • - per me,
- P~
^
a, su - per in
■-T rr f r r "4- 1 -yrrJ
. ra - per me, m-per
per mo
^
J* 0 — L_,-«—
1 ' • r 1 " 1 M f " 1 „
F
dbyGooi^lc
AHD PRAOTIOE OF MUSIC.
r TTTW-ii
tf. rjr
-n — « — \—n
r=^=
=TrT-*=oz=p
-^ 1 »
J 1
k:^
- per ^_^ ma.
qnJ -.
brF
di.
qoi -
hf-. rr °-rt^—- fHr-^J^; .j l .. ^rrt.J r v ^ 1 f ' rrr-iJI
M-i^ -
p«r_^n
e, qui - • 0
e-cl -
1 1 1
-di, ce-^l
„— g^-
- di_,-
> M -id-
qui -
. ce-^ ' -
":a — £+-
nr^r,
ci -
'" '^ ' J
m la • dfl •
ro,
conmrgam
com as - da ■ ro in te < -
^^
■ '^ —
^fe&
L.^LU..Lnj\j^l^~M-
1 J 1
Do
mi-noi lu. me-« ««. Do-
1 - .. J I.J 1 1 1 F
=f^
ro in ta -
- na
- brii
Do < mi • DOS Inx me -
=F^
-1- f-^-
=^---—
\'" ■
:.=^
^ipF^
feg=l— " 1 - J -J J 1
w
• bS^
Do
- mi
DOS Ini
ma - a aat, Ibz me-a
^ <~V ,r^ r' -- rH'r
■ J .1 J 1 —
-f» . ■ 1 J J,- ,11 ... J_^ ■ r- C&:
1 — Tf
It-I, .. 1
mi - nm
r. . J 1.1-1
Ini me-a art. Do - -
- mi-
-M [-
?VV 5r-^
Mt T"
Do - mi - una
■^^11 — 1 1 1 1
~r. — n ;•:'• — ~~\ "Tf'"**' .. J i i
j__
^ eat.
Do - - mi
Dm Iqz me - a est. Do - mi - mu lux
_Jx_L
D«5.^«(9'^C
HISTORY OP THE 8CIBN0E
Book VIIL
In tbe course of this work it has been fonnd neces-
sary to attend to the distinction between vocaJ and
instrnmental music. The preference which has ever
been given to the former, and the alow progress of
instramentBl muBic in those agea when the mechanic
arts, on which it greatly depends, were in their in-
fancy, has determined the order in which each is to
be treated, and will suggert a reason why the priority
is given to that Sfiecies, to the performance whereof
the animal organs alone are adequate. Nor was it
easy till tbe period at which we are now arrived, to
give any such description of the instruments in gene-
ral use, aa might be depended on. The author of
whom we are about to speak has prevented many
difficulties that wonld have interrupted the course of
this narration, by giving accurate delineations, which
are now to he considered as tbe prototypee of most of
the instmments now in use. Of him and his works
the following is an account.
Ottokabus LusoiNiua, a Benedictine monk, and a
native of Strashurg, was the author of a treatise in-
titled Musurgia, seu Praxis Musics, published at
Strasbnrg in 1536, in two parts, the first containing
a description of the musical instmrnents in nee in his
time, and the other the rudiments of the science ; to
these are added two commentaries, containing the
precepta of polyphonous music* It is a small book,
of an oblong quarto size, containing about a hundred
pages, and abounds with curious particulars ; the
Musurgia ia in the form of a dialogue, in which the
interlocutora are Andreaa Silvanus, Sebastianua Vir-
dung, Bive mails, to use his own espression, Bar-
tholomeus Stoflerua, Ottomarus Lusciniua. They
meet by accident, and enter into conversation on
music, in which Stoflerus, acknowledging the great
skill of his friend in the science, desires to be in-
structed in its precepts, which the other readily con-
sents to. The dialogue Is somewhat awkwardly con-
ducted, for though Stoflerus ia supposed to be j'uat
arrived from a foreign conntry, and tbe meeting to
be accidental, Lnscinius la prepared to receive him
with a great basket of musi<^ instruments, which his
friend seeing, desires to he made aoqaainted with its
oontents. The instmmeDta are severally prodaced
by LnscinioB, and he complies with the request of
hi^ friend by a discourse, which is no other than a
Ici-tnre on them. The merit of this book Is greatly
enhanced by the forms of the several instruments
deecribed in it, which are very accurately delineated,
and are here also given. In the first class are the
plectral inatrumente, exhibited in this and the follow-
ing page :—
Of the above two inatrnments it b to be observed,
■ Ludntni
ie Bjjapotiaca of
Behllm Mm Mil b'iwdiii
lUtet compLiliu ot Luicii
EiauBiu. Tol. II. ttf, 7U.
E, hr tba
that they are both in fact Spinnets, though the latter '
is hy Lnscinius termed a Virginal, which is but
another name for a small oblong spinnet Scaliger
speaks of tbe Clavicitheriam, which appellation seema
to comprehend as well the one as the other of the
above inatrnments, as being much more ancient than
the triangular spinnet, or the harpsichord ; and
indeed the latter eeem to be an improvement of the
former.
Tbe first of the three following instmments, called
by Lnscinius a Clavichord, and by others sometimee
a Clarichord, ia used by
the nuns in (
1 position to it, is
and that the practitioi
on it may not disturb the ^
usters in the dormitory, I
tbe strings are mufQed ^
with small bits of fine
woollen cloth.
The Glavicimhalum, tba next i:
no other than the harpsichord,
Clavicimbalum being the common
Latin name for that instrument ;
the etrings are here represented
in a perpendicular situation ; and i
there is good reason to suppose t
that the harpsichord was originally j
BO constructed, notwithstanding
that the upright harpsichord haa of
late been ob^ded upon the world I
as a modem invention. There is a very accurate repre<
sentation of an upright harpeichord in the Harmonici
of MersennuB, vis., in the tract entitled De Instnimentis
Hermonicis, lib. I. prop. xlii. and also in Kircher.
The last of the above
three instruments is the
Lyra Mendicorum, ex-
hibited by Hersennus
and Kircher ; the *=
strings are agitated by
the friction of a wheel, which either is or shoold be
rubbed with powder of rosin ; all these he says have
chords, which being touched with keys, make complete
harmony.
There are others be says that require to be stopped
at certain distances by the fingers, and of these he
3^ves the following instmment,
which he calls Lntina, and se
to be a small lute or mandc
as an example : —
As to the above instrument, both the name and
the sise import that it is a diminutive of its epeciea :
that the lute was in use long before the time of
Lnscinius there is the clearest evidence in Chancer
and other ancient writers. In Dante is tbe following
passage : —
' lo vidi nn fatto i, guiu di liuto,'
to denote the figure of
dropsy. The Theorbo and Arch-lute are of more
modem invention, and will be spoken of beresiler.'f
Inferno, Canto xiz.
person swoln with the
mm of U> ^UU>h Jortjn'i LUB <X
dbyGoo*^le
AND PEACTIOE OP MUSIC.
Those Btringed itistniiDentfl, in which the vibration
of the string it caneed by the Mction of a hur bow,
as the following^
oonstitnte, in the order
observed by JJiiBciniufl,
another claaa ; the iint
of theee inBtrameDts ia
a Monochord, fot a
reason, which it is very
difBcnlt to diacover,
called the Tmmpet Marine. The second, thoagh of
a very singular form, can be no other than tlie treble
viol or the violin, for bo Lodwig explains the term
Oeig ; * and the third is clearly a speciee of the
Cbelys or bass vioL The elder Galilei ie of opinion
that this inetrnment was invented by the Italians,
or rather in particnlar by the Neapolitans, f
In another
class he places
those inatrn- '
mente in which
every chord pro-
duces a several
sonnd, as do for
example the an-
nexed, the latter
whereof is no
odier than a hori-
Bcmtal harp.
The inetrnment herennder delineated corresponds
exactly with the modem dulcimer ; bnt Luscinine
says it ia little esteemed, becanse of the exceeding
londnesa of its sound, liie name given by him to it
is Hackbret, a word which
in the German language
signifies a Hackboard, i. e.
a chopping board used by
cook84 to which it I>ear8 an
exact resemblance. It is
Btmck with two small sticks.
After having briefly mentioned these instruments,
tlcDlH (pvde* of Sib, tUi B<^. Lai. Art. AXc. ud Lmla (■ tha lUUu
nrd far > IQU ! Iba MTmolofD' la rinnulu, uil mnli uithorltr. ud li
tha nlbar lo In doutrttd. bccHua Vlncends ealUel In Iba moal aijinu
tunu ucribci tbE tnTCBaoB at lbs lute lo tha EngUib. and addi thai lo
Enffluid Jntaa vera nuda Id pmx poTfodlon, thaofh ume peitona In hli
tiina («■ tha pialsreim lo tboia nudi in tha natehbODrtiagd of BnacU.
Tba aama aallioi obMTtn IhM Ihs lata 1* but UtUa naad In OoiBiDT,
uul tSitt lUa atrnifa naioii fSt 11, that Itau oDOntiT la K said, thM th*
inhiUtaota cmmot tUt out of IhElt muni, whkh ue baaMd vltb •Iotm,
for eight nwnlhi in IbaTcar, Bfthii ilihouU •■esi that no pamB who
data not CO moeh Abnwd un be ■ profldenl on lb* lulo. Ha had naTar
haard parnmpa that Lulhar, wbo lived much la hli atadj, played very
Anel; on Ihli Inatiument ; and that upon hU bd>v anmniDncd to tvnder
■Hi nlm hla mEnd, ba ipant tha greater part of tha nljrbt piwriUn^ hla
Luscinins proceeds to describe those from which
sonnd is produced by the means of air; those h«
save claim the first place tliat are acted upon by
bellows, which force the air into them, and when
filled, answer a touch of the finger with a musical
sonnd. These instruments he adds, as they are more
costly than others, eo they exceed all others in har-
mony. He says that other instniments are for tha
use and pleasure of men, bnt that these are generally
dedicated to the service of God.
Stoflems upon ttiis remarks, that the 01^^ is
almost every where made use of in divine service ;
and that our religions worship is no way inferior to
that of the ancient Romans, which was always cele-
brated with mnsic. As a proof whereof he says it is
recorded that when Cains Junins, Publius Terentins,
and Qnintns .Emilias were console, the Tibidnes
employed in the public worship, being prohibited
eating in the temple of Jove, went away m a body
to the dty of Tibnr ; the senate, growing impatient
of their absence, besought the inhabitants of ttiat city
to give them up, and &a Tibidnea were summoned
to appear in the senate-house, bnt they refused to
obey. Upon this the Tiburdnes had recourse to a
stratagem ; they inrited them to a musical entertain-
meut, and made them drook, and while they were
asleep threw them into a waggon and sent them to
Rome, and on the morrow tiiey found themselves
in the midst of the Fomm. The populace hearing
of their arrival ran to meet them, and by their tears,
and an assurance that they shonld be permitted to
eat in the temple of Jove, previuled on them to re-
tom to their duty.
This relation of Stoflerus leads him to aak the
opinion of his friend upon this question, whether
music has a tendency to cormpt the minds of those
that apply themselves dosely to tha study of it, or
not?
To this Luscinius answers, that no one was ever
yet so senseless as to separato music from the other
liberal arts, the great end whereof is to recommend
integrity of life. He adds that the Pythagoreans
deemed it one of the chief incentives to virtue ; and
that were any person of his time to make a catalogue
of exceUent musicians whom mnsic itself had estranged
from every vice, he would begin from Paul Hofhaimer,
a man bom in the Alps, not far from Salteburg. But
his character will be beet given in the words of
Lusdniue himself, which are &ese : ' He has received
great honours from the emperor Maximilian, whom
he delights as often as ha plays upon the organ. Nor
is he more remarkable for skill in his profession,
than for the exteneivenees of hie genius, and the
greatness of bis mind. Rome owes not more to
Romnlns or Camillas, than the musical world doea
to PattluB. To speak of his compositions, they are
neither so long as to be tedious, nor does the brevity
of them leave ought to be wished for : all ie full and
open, nothing jejune, or frigid, or latignishing. His
style is nor only learned but pleasant, florid, and
amazingly copions, and witlial correct, and this
great man during thirty years, has suffered no one
to exceed, or even equal him. In a word, what
dbyGooi^lc
830
fflSTORY OF THE 801ENGE
BcK« VUL
■ QaiDtiliim says of Cicero I think is now come to
' pass ; and a person may judge of his own pro-
' ficiency in music according as he approves of the
' compositions of Paul, and labours day and night to
'imitate them. This Paul has bad many disciples,
' who are every where very honourably supported,
' and conduct our church in large citiee and public
' places. Of these there are several, whom I am
' very intimate with, and reverence for their great
' ingenuity and purity of manners, to wit, Johannes
' BuBchner, at Constance, Joannes Kotter, Argentius
' of Bern, Conrada of iSpires, Schachingcrus of Padua,
' Bolfgangus of Vienna, Johaunea Coloniensis, at the
'court of the daka of Saxony, and many others
* whom I pass over, aa having no intimacy with
* them ; I think it is of great importance iu delivering
*ihe precepts of any art to give an account of its
' several professors, that a learner may know whom
' he onght to imitate, and whose examples he should
' follow.'
After this enloginm on his friend Hofhaimer,
LusciniuB proceeds in his description of the o^^,
of which be says there are two kinds, the Portative
and the Positive, the first whereof, as its name im-
ports, capable of being carried about like other
musical instruments, the other fixed as those are in
churcbea. The figures of Hotb are thus delmeated
by Lnacinius : —
Besides these be gives
the figure of an instru-
ment ^led the Regal or
the Regale, Regale,* as
Tbia it seems is a kind of diminutive portable
organ, and is at this day in commou use in many
parts of Germany. The second of the above fignrea
represents the instrument entire, the first the bellows
and wind-chest in a state of disunion from iL In an
account of queen Elizabeth's annual expence, published
by Peck in his Desiderata Cnrtosa, voL I. Itb. II. page
12, among the mnsicians and players there occur
' Makers of inetrumenta two,' which in a note on the
passage are said to be an organ-maker and a rigall-
maker, the former with a fee or salary of twenty, the
latter with one often pounds a year : and in the lists
of the establishment of hia majesty's royal chapels
is an officer called Tuner of the ifegals, whose bunneH
at this day is to keep the organ of the royal chapel
in tune.
Having dispatched those instramente which are
rendered sonorous by means of wind collected and
' Diua Funit ante or^uu □!■ pDmoitlciaDa Ibodlfl (Uiupafltar/ ■■■-
•OTlnui.Hb.VI. D(Krl*[. VgnnluBin. Tbat it M imj, ta the ekarrk rf
St. Ri^tHl mt Vnin mi to bt Men the Ogiin at '— ' ' — '
_.i_. . ..._,.... ■_., id in chureSa Iml
{■n mlied Oh Vox hn
■ennui uui II In bli Himtonie DBlTeneUa, H*. VI. Dm Oiiihi, Pnn.
VIII. Ai tone>ilD( Uie UH of the Bcfil. Ilia ftUowtiK k tlH lenaM
which a Terjr Inmnlaiu ai|;aa4iiiker, ■ Oenun, lunr IMnf ts Lenaoii.
cliai of it 'In OetminT, and otliet pan* at Eutspa, on Cvpoa CkrMl
^anil othar fntivali. pnctulou an mada. in nbleli a nt«l ti bona
' tlumgh the atnaU an the ahouldera of a nun : iibamw Ibe pncaHdaa
■ Mopa the Inalmment It eat down on ■ ilool, and aama ana it tbt vnta
■atepabmraiduHt plart on it, he ibat oanlad it blowinc tb* baOowL'
The nma panon ia^i he oooa lapatnd B Nfil, fo eoatilTcd aa >o ahat or
and fonn a cuahioii, idikfa whan open dlaeovarad th* pipca and keyi on
one ilda. and tbilMlhnii and ii>lnil.ehaal m tlu ether. Walikta^daio
hii deicrlpilan of ibla Initrnninit, fhim Ukbiel Pnetoriua, that ite
Dim* of It la inppoaed to hava ailton tPnn the drcunutanee of la
baring bean prcamitcd t^ Iht InTenlor to acmie Ung. ■ Bagsle, «iihI
dlinun tagt. Rectum Tel legale opai.'
Thea* anlborlliet, and tha nnnaantation of it by Lui
luffleient (o prora that Ibe leg^ ti a pDeimutH and n
But Uanennui relal« lh.1 Iha yiemli.
RogalH d* Boll. nnaUllDg of affiontean eyllndrlcal
decreaalng gradually In Jength. u ai to produoeaiL"
□gtha, ttnmfi tc^lLer. vmcl
h a itlck hoTlng a ball at Ibe end, pnxlueed mi
Jgon. In hii Hlatory of Btibadogi, pag, 4a. relalea a pntlr itoiy of
IndUn, vhD hHTing a miulcal ear, t^ ttae toen fttnw of hia gcaiaa
'entad an Inatniuient oompoHd of woodn bIQeta, rielding moi^ ^y
'-' ipondbig irtlh Uieee aboia daiciUied. Ibi apcaUng tt Ite
lUanden be aaya, • I lUHhl Haoov [lb* Degn) twi ■>( Ma
.. J — ._ ,_ — ._ _ 1^^ y,, ijj^jj (wMch noDc tf IM
'-— ■ -|a^,ia«aa
■at paiting) w
'gio»e,)ilttlngan
>. tarafnahmelnthat eaolihada, andlo'dBlMi bi^
I wttb the iliht of IhoH planti. ttUeh an eo baaalttaU. ae thMgk thiy
' ntiaw aometbbig la dlaean'd la Ihdi baaulk mo* than I mwAand
" — "^^ — ■-■'h eauiod na to make often raaalr thtthar ; I fanad ttt
■fllct It waa to attend than. Mnc tha kaaw ^ ««
a the Ronnd, aiM) bafMa hhn a bIic* of luge ttetar.
lad Ibh cnwa ilx Ulleu, and haTlaf a ^find tair ^ a
hatchet hy talm, would cut the bWata by little and Uttle, till ha M
brought tham to tha Innaa b* would St ibem to ! for tha •iHHto' tkti
wen the bighertbanolea, which ha tiiid by knocking Bpoa thaaa^ W
Ihem with a allek which ha bad In bla band. Whan f dwad ktaalll I
to baie III dliKncl natei one atova anotb«r^lih puu'StmS
■hewed him the dU'ercnoe between flata and ihatm, whkfa Ivpav^^v
■ apprehended, aa between r* anil ii i ; and he woiUd ba*B em two aan
dbyGoot^le
Chap. LXXI.
AND PRAOTICE OF MUSIC.
881
Forced itito them by bellows, be speaks of anch as are
filled with air blown into them by the month ; and
oi these he gives (i great nnmber, particularly the
Schalmey, t. e. Chalamean, and Bombardt, flutes of
varione kinds, cornets, the Comamnaa, or bagpipe,
and some other instnunents, for which no other than
Gennan names can be found, all which are herenndet
repreeected, according- to their respective classes.
eSsflU
on a very large scale pnblisbed some years ago, of a
tessellated pavement of a temple of Fortuna Virilis,
erected by Sylla at Borne, in which is a representation
of a young man playing on a traverse pipe, wil^ an
aperture to receive his breatii, exactly corresponding
with the German flate.
Of the Zuuerchpfeiff, the second of the above in-
struments, no satisfactory account can be given.
Lnscinius next exhibits the forms of four other wind
instmments, namely, 1. The RnspfeifT. 2. The
Kmmhorn. 3. The Gemsen horn. And 4. The
ZincLe : —
The second of the two instruments above delineated
is the Schalmey, so called from Calamns a reed,
which is a part of it ; the other called Bombardt is the
bass to the former ; these instinments have been im-
proved by the French into the Hautboy and Bassoon.
Next follow flutes of various sizes, all of which,
bating the simplicity of their form, as being devoid
of ornaments, seem to bear an exact resemblance to
the flnt« &hec,* or, as it is called, the common
Fnglish Ante. Whether this instmment be of
English invention or not, is hard to say. Galilei
calls it Flautv dritto, in contradisliDction to the
Flanto traverse, and adds it was brought into Italy
by the fVench. Notwithstanding which, Mereennus
scmples not to term it the English flute, calling the
other the Helvetian flute, and takes occasion to
mention one John Price, an Englishman, as an ez-
celteutperfonner on it-f The word Flute ie derived
from linta, the Latin for a Lamprey or small eel
taken in the Sicilian seas, having seven boles, the
precise nomber of those in front of the flute, on each
aide, immediately below the gills. Lnscinios has thus
represented this species : —
The lai^;est instrument of the four is the bass flute.
These are sacceeded by two other flutes, the first
called the Schunegel, the other the Zuuerchpfeifi' ;
the former hears a resemblance to the traverse or
German Ante, though it is much slenderer and does
not agree with it in number of holes : —
It seeiDB that the invention of the traverse flute is
not to be attributed either to the Germans or the
Helvetians, notwithstanding that the elder Galilei
and Mersennus ascribe it to uie latter ; the well-known
antique statue of the piping faun seems to be a proof
of the contrary ; and there is now extant an engraving
• Bic li »n old OiiiUih word, •Ignlfylng Ihe beak of > Wrd oi (Owl ;
but more etp«l»lly i eoct Mmuw Iil irtlculo. The Imn Plule * bM
muit tbenfiin ilgnit> llie Bsknl Flule. w F^lihet whkli ippun upan
coinuiing It vL'li llie LnTeiat tvitt to be veiy propflr.
I BinDOnlc. Dt InilnuHnlii Humonldi, Ut>. II. pm;. U. ri-
By the name of the first nothing more is meant
than the black-pipe, Rns in the German language
signifying Black, and Pfeiff a Pipe. The word
Erumhom is compounded of the adjective knirn, i e.
crooked, and bom, and signifies a comet or small
shawm ; and it is said that the stop in an organ
called the Principal answers to it. 0«ms, in the
German language, signifies the Shamoy or wild goat ;
and this appellation denotes theGemsen horn. Zincken
are the small branches on the head of a deer, and there-
fore it is to be supposed that the inattnment here
called the Zincke is little better than a child's toy, or
in short a whistle, t
Luscinius gives the Krumhom in a mora artificial
form, that is to say, with the addition of a reed, or
something tike it, at one end, the other being con-
torted to nearly a semicircle, with regular perfora-
tions, oa here : —
But for these, as also for the Flaterspil, the lowest
in position of the instruments above delineated, the
baro representation of them must here suffice.
The Comafflusa, or Bagpipe, is in the German
langnage very properly termed the Backpfeiff, t. e.
the Sack-pipe ; its figure is thus given : —
dbyGooi^le
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE.
LoBciniiiB next speaka of certain ductile tubes of
braas, meaning thereby the trampet species, though
in strictness of speech the Tuba Ductilis signifies the
SaobnL Bross 226. The first be terms the Boaann,
and is probably the lachbnt nr bass trumpet, and the
second the Felt, i «; the field or army trnmpet : — ■
Vincentio Galilei says that the trumpet was in-
vented at Nureroburg, an assertion not reconcileable
to the genera] opinion of its antiquity. Brossard calls
it the most noble of the ancient portative instruments ;
bnt it is highly probable that Galilei means the brazen
tmmpet ; and that Brossard had a more general idea
of it is evident from his making the word Tromba
eynonjououe with Bnccina, which means a trumpet
made of the horn of an ox ; and if so there is no
great dlsagreemeDt between Uie two authors.
The Claret which is next given by Lnecinios, may
mean the Clarion, an iostrnment of the same form,
bnt smaller, and consequently of a more acute sound
than the trnmpet i —
The following instmment is by Luscinins called the
Thnmerhom, and is a kind of tmmpet or clarion : —
I^m hence he descends to bells, and even to the
anvil and hammers, by means whereof Pythagoras
ie said to have investigated the "
then proceeds
to treat of the
pnlsatite instru-
nienU, at the
head whereof
he places the
common, or
side, and kettle-
dmms. The
drum is said
by Le Oleic to i
be an Oriental
invention; and
he adds, that
the Arabiane,
or rather perhaps the Moors, bronght it into Spain.
And these are followed by tho bugle di hunting-
horn,* a pot, with a etick, a contorted horn, the Jew's
harp, and some other instruments of less note.
» TiollD. The OeiDHI
, VUm Jan. Etrmul.
l)fBti«k«,abocl«.
> Ihit Uh btat of Uic lOek Mid wll-box. Men) Andm
Jewish ine
epistle of his to
Dardanna, of a very awkward form, and as to their
construction inexplicable.
The description of the mnsical instraments con-
tained in this first book of the MoGnrgia leads
Stofierus into an enquiry into their use, the explana-
tion whereof, the nature of the consonances, and the
signification of the several characters, are the subject
of the second book, which containing nothing re-
markabte, it is needless to abridge^
CHAP. Lxxn.
NoTwiTHeTANDisa the great variety of instmments
extant at the time when Lnscinina wrote bts Mosorgia,
there is very little reason to suppose that what we
now call a concert of music, altogether inatramental,
was then known. The first of this kind were eym-
|>honiac compositions, mostly for viols of different
sises, called Fantazias,'}' and Uiese continued till about
the middle of the seventeenth century, when they
gave way to a mnch more elegant species of com-
position, the Sonata di Ohiesa, and the Sonata £
Camera; the first of these, as being adapted to
church- service, was grave and solemn, consisting of
slow movements, intermixed with fugnes ; the other
admitted of a variety of airs to regular meaenree,
such as the Allemand^the Conrant, the Saraband,
- 'II penpleuitr. Conrnhji's dsln In
111 u wnllbrR»lb1efnu(i*,«itlwiu
lintSBtt a thlnf
c«ll< lb« corrH
' entRla1n«d «nd pBtronlivd br uu
TTCHiiCliif bbn u 10 niihuiUat In nllfUn, wid ■ Mud *t
I EounffDim; neither of vtilcb putlculm ndmlnlaf ibnniabt
bDuI fnun Uh mailt ot hl> irrlungi, nor Indeed Ihnn hit mncnl
Icr, which !• IhUDfaveiT learned, iDgeniou.ud pMumu. Ha
Ain>unUmhilhey«rlS7l. being then cigbij r^n (f ■«*
Ihe Hun. DnlTerwUe o( Menenniu, Da ImtniiDeH k Teat.
Lec'mi to ba¥v bevn compncd about Ibc lime tliat Futidaa bapa
dbyGooi^le
Oair. LXXIL
AND PRACTICE OF MOSIO.
88S
■nd othera, of which th«re an oamberleaa examplas
in the works of the lulun maeters; these were
succeeded by the concerto, which b Dothing more
than & sonata in four parts, with a rednplication of
some of them, so as (o make the whole number
nominally eeven.
The earliest intimation torching the origin of in-
strumental music in parts, is contained in a book
written by Thomas k Sancta Maria, a Spanish Domi-
nican, and published at Volladolid in 1570, intitled
' Arte de tanner fantasia para tecta, vigoela y todo
instmrnendo de tres o qnatro ordenes.' From hence,
and because neither Fiancbinus, Olareanos, nor even
Lnscinins himself, have intimated to the contrary, it
may be concluded that the instnunental mosic of
their time was either solitary, or at most nnisonons
wiU) ike voice : and with respect to vocal harmony,
it seems to have been so appropriated to the service
of the charch, as to leave it a question whether it
was ever iised at public festivities. It however con-
tinned not long nnder this restraint, for no sooner
were the principles of counterpoint established and
disseminated, as they were by Uie writings of Fran-
chinns, Qlareanus, and the other antbors herein before-
mentioned, than harmony began to make its way into
the palaces of princes and the houses of the nobility ;
and of this the story above related of Lewis XII.
and his FhonascDS lodocns Pratensis contains a proof;
and at this period the distinction between Clerical,
or ecclesiastical, and gecnlar mnaio seems to have
taken its rise. At Rome the former was cultivated
with s degree of assidnity proportioned to the eeal
of the pontiffs, and the advantages which the science
hsd derived from the lectnrea and writings of Fran-
ehinns : and in England it was studied with the same
view, namely, the service of religion. The strictness
of onr own conntrymen mast indeed appear very
remarkable in Uiis respect, for if ws judge from the
compositions of the succession of English musicisns,
from John of Donstable, who died in 1155, to
Tavemer, who flonrished about 1525, it must seem
that their attention was engrossed by the framing of
masses, antiphons, and hymns ; no other than com-
positions of this kind being to be found in those
collections of their works which are yet remaining,
either in the publio libraries or other repositories. It
has already been related that the Germans, to whom
ma^ be added the inhabitants of the several parts of
SwitEcrland, were among the first that cultivated the
art of practical composition ; when this is recollected,
it may induce an acquiescence in an opinion which
otherwise might admit of a doubt, namdy, that vocal
concerts had their rise in the Low Countries, or
rather in those parts of Flanders, which about the
middle of the sixteenth century were nnder the
dominion of the emperor of Qermany. The fact is
thus to be accoimted for ; the crown of Spain had
received a great accession of wealtb and power by
its conquests in America in the preceding century ;
and Charles V. king of Spain and emperor of
Germany, favouring the disposition of the inhabitants
of the Low Countries. whitJi led them to trade and
merchandise, not only made the city of firussels the
place of residence for himself and his cotirt, but by
the encouragement he gave to traffic, and other
means, so ordered it, that ■ considerable portion of
his revenues centered in this part of his dominions
as a bank from whence it was circulated through all
Europe. The splendour and msgnificence of his
court, and the consequent encouragement of men of
genius to settle there, drew together a number of
men of the greatest eminence in all profesuona,
but more especially musicians. Of some of the
most famous of these particular mention is made
by Lodovico Qoicciardini, the nephew of the Italian
historian of that name, in a work of his eutitied
' Deecrittione di tutti i Paeei Bassi,' printed at
Antwerp in 1556 and in 1581. In this book the
author speaks of the flourishing state of the Low
Countries, the wealth of the inhabitants, and the
perfection to which the arts had arrived there, in
the enumeration whereof he speaks thos of music .
Qoesti sono i veri maestri della musica, e qnelli
che I'hanno reetaurata, e ridotta a perfettione,
perohe I'hanno tonto propria e naturale, che
huomini e donne cantan' naturelmente a misara,
con grandissima gratia e melodia, onde poi con-
giunta 1' arte alia natura, fanno e di voce, e di
tutti gli stmmeuti quella pruova e harmonia, che
si vede e ode, talche se ne truova eempre per tutts
le Corti d« Prindpi Christiani.'
The mssters celebrated by this author as the great
improvers of musio are, Josqnin di Pros, Ohreoht,
Ockegem, Ricciafort, Adriano Willaert, Giovanni
Monton, Verdelot, Gomberto, Lupus lupi, Oortois,
Oreqnilon, Olemente non Papa, and ComeHo Oanis,
who, he aays, were all dead before the time of writing
his book ; out he adds that they were succeeded by
a great number of others, as namely, Cipriano <S
Rore, Gian le Coick, Filippo de Uonti, Orlando di
Lasens, Manciconrt, Jnsquino Baston, Christiano
Hollando, Giaches di Waert, Bonmarche, Severino
Cometto, Piero dn Hot, Gberardo di Tomont,
Huberto Waelrant, and Giachetto di Berckem, who
were setUed at Antwerp, and in other parts of
Flanders, and were in the highest reputation for skill
and ingenuity. This account given by Gnicciardini
of the flourishing state of music in the Low Countries
is confirmed by Thnanus, who, in an enlogium on
Orlando de Lasso, takes occasion to observe that in
his time Belgium abounded with excellent musicians.
Besides 'Suit these men were fitvoured by their
Erince, they received considerable enconragement
k the prosecution of their studies from the most
opolent of the inhabitants, who at that time were
both Merchants and Courtiers. Of the magnificence
and liberality of which class of men such stories are
related as mnst seem incredible to those who are not
acqounted with the history of that period. 8ome idea
may be formed of the grandeur and dignity of the
mercantile character in the sixteenth century from
the extensive commerce of Gresbam and Sutton, our
conntrymen, the former of whom is sud, by means of
his correspondence and connexions, to have druned
the hank of Genoa, and thereby retarded the Spanish
invasion for two yean ; and the other to have covered
dbyGoo*^le
SSi
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
BoK VUI.
the sea with hia ehipe. Remhrandf e famoae print c^
the gold-weigher encompsssed with casks of coined
gold, which he computee not by tale, bat weight,
BOggesto eocb &n idea of enormonB wealth, as m^ee
the tredera of the preaeat time appear like pedlars ;
bat the fact ia, that tiie merchanta in the ^es precediog
were bat few io number, and that in consequence of
their intereet and intelligence, their knowledge in the
living Unguagea, and perhape for other reasona, they
had free acceea to princes, and held the rank of
courtiera.*
The author above-dted, apeaking of the city of
Antwerp, the great mart of Europe, and of the
namerouB resort of merchants of all conntriea thither,
takes occasion to speak of the Foccheri. or Fnggera,
of Augaburg, three brothera of the aame family, the
eldest named Anthony, and the second Raimond, all
merchants, whom he mentions aa rivalling the highest
nobility in Europe in richea, mt^ificence, and libe-
rality. Of the first a judgment may be formed from
the joomal of our Eldward VI. printed in Bamet'e
History of the Reformation, wherein appeal ao many
minatea of negociations with the Fuggers, for the loan
of large sams of money, that he aeems to bare had
more dependance un them than on hie own treasury.
lit the joamal above-mentjoned the Fonlacre is the
term by which the copartnership or houae of these
three men ia to be understood. Sir John Hayward
approaching somewhat nearer to the trne orthography,
caUs it the Foulker. From the minutes in the journal
it appears that the rate of interest taken by them was
ten in the bnndred, which, according to Sir John
Hayward'a account, was four per cent under the nanal
rate of interest at that time,t and that Thomas Gres-
ham WHS the principal negotiator of these loans, in all
which there appears to have been the moat punctual
and honourable dealing, as well on the part of the
Fnggera, as of the king.;^
tq wiltten in the twcVfth DeotiiTT. bv a Nonmlui nobleiMTi
iiaUnnuc«, ud fnuD thenoa tmialfttvd into Dwilili nod Li
LLe Af SpeculDm Rft^le. and pablUliid ai Boroe by HaJf
Df poller idspled to tbi
icupatlona of tbo grutnt in
•un. toudblbH tbI in«ni of advMcing hla fortuoia, ib which hB flkhorU
blm to bttue bliDKlf to tho piofeition of a meiohut, uid in oidn
tb«reU>, to acquiia a CDT□peLe^t skill In tbe matfaomaltca, partlcularljr
langue"' od la vftit (onlgn couniiliia. Bo idiiaet tdm alw u bo
apwndM ia \ia opwol sod equlpade. magnUloenl In hij mnrtalDinenti.
■od to bs unfuf Out hli labl* tw •e*-nt*i iritb ■ dcu doib i ' Io b>
Marchant to (bnifn »
It la a not llttio curio'
ita» Df tbe Low Couiiti
Iblifa. lour biuidnNI yium ttim bo wrote; Cn Onlcdardlnl nIaUa that
the cubolk! king [PhlUp II.], Ibe king of PortUfaZ, ud the quean of
EDgland diadainH not to rnoito moicbmnta Into tbeli company, hut
nipldjrBd Ibtm Im vananttla ■egodatloni, oaJllng tbam their faetoia.
Hs MTi that th* oatbollc king bad two, Qaapu Bcboti and Olan Lopa ;
tkaUBfof PonuialoBe. Pranceaco Peioa; and Ib* qaeon of EnRlul
oDa. niBMlT. HtMIr TomnHUo Onuuo, UTaliere, i. t. Sir ThomM
'pnKCun, b*I«*aiapg[Mdl qoeila bona |ia>w Kunms dl denari a
' U Ta rleapllando noblUmeala.' Daacrltt. pag. ITO.
f Life and HalgaoofklngEdw.TI.qDano, peg. IH.
t Vide Collection of Boeordi, ke. nhired Io in the ateond pui of
Bumet'i HUI. Rerorm. peg. 11. IT. «. 48. M.
Roger Aacham, in a letter to a A^end of hia at
Cambridge, dated 20 Jan. 1551, from Augshnrg, aaya,
' There be five merchante in this town thought able
'to disbnrae aa much ready money as five of the
' greatest kings in Christendom. The emperor would
' have borrowed money of one of them, the merchant
'said he might spare "ten hundred thousand guil-
"ders," and the emperor would have had eighteen;
' a guilder is Ss. 6d. These meichaniA are three
' brethren Fnccnra, two brethren Baiiigartner.§ One
' of the Fnccura doth lodge, and hath done all the
' year, in hie bouse the empteror, the king of the
' Romans, the prince of Spain, and the queen of
' Hungary, regent of Flanders, which is here, beudes
' his family and children. Hie house is covered with
'copper.' Ascham's Works poblisbed by James
Bennet, pag. 376.
Bayle says of these men that they had rendered
themselves illuatrious by their liberalities to men of
letters: they made great offers to Erasmus, and pre*
aented him with a silver cup.
Lntber takes notice of their amaeing wealth, and
says the Fuggers and the money-changers of Angs-
burg lent the emperor at one time eight and twenty
tons of gold, and that one of them left eighty tona at
his death, t
Bayle ^so celebrates the magnificence and gene-
rosity of these brethren, and tells the following story
of them : ' The Fuggeri, celebrated German mer-
' chanta, to testify their gratitude to Charles V. who
' bad done them the honour to lodge in their honee
' when he passed through Augsburg, one day, amongst
' other acts of mi^ificence, laid upon the hearth a
' large bundle of cinamon, a merchandiae then of
' great price, and lighted it with a note of band of
' Hie emperor for a considerable sum which they bad
' lent him.' fl
Farther, the riches of this family were so great as
to he the subject of a proverb, which Cervantes him-
self puts in the mouth of his hero, for when Don
Quixote is giving a fictitious account of his adven<
tores in the cave of Montesinos, he relates that his
mistress Dulcinea had sent a damsel to request of
him the loan of six reala upon the pawn of her dimity
petticoat, and that he dismissed the messenger with
f Of the &mU^ of BamgaitncT or FaumgaitDcr an account la iItva
I Colloqnla Uaualla, pag. M.
T It la pcohaUe Ibal Ibli il«T (w OMudsn to iha raUawIni ataaa
In tho old ballHd of Whlttlngton :—
■ More b'u fame to adTincc,
' Thoufandi he lent hit king
■ To maintain wan in France,
' Glory from thence to bring :
■ And after at * feaft,
'Which he the king did make,
' He burnt the bondt ill in jt&,
' And would no money take.
ThaaaUwr vhoreaf, Dnwtlllng that bla hen abimld bt oatdow *f
any fot^gn Diercbant, bu eiiKTafted tbla etorT Into hia nanMlon, opaa
tb* ban luppoiltlon (hu under th* Hke clrcnmatanc*! WhHIIngtoB
VDOld haTO Bhawn aa much loraltr and llbenlilT ■> <!» PnggM. ka
tniDg Indeed apmllgy orwadLh iBd munUcence. and on* of the many
anelenl dtiicni of London, whoae good dnda ban lendend tbtm u
)^ In Stowc'i Born^ 'ut" Honout of ClUana and WorthinoM* of Km.
BU Hichard WblltlngI
dbyGoo*^lc
Cbat. LXXIL
AND PRAOnOE OF MUSia
38«
fonr, wbich was aU that be had, flaying to her*
' Sweetheart, tell yonr lady that I am grieved to my
' Bonl at her diBtreues, and wish I were a Fnggerf
' to remedy them.'
The above facta imply liberality, and, to eay the
tmtfa, a disposition not qmt« bo commendable ; but
the nobleneea and grandeur of their spirit was mani-
feeted in the erection of eumptuona edifices,^ and by
their patroni^ of learned and iugeniona men in all
profeafliona ; and the benefits thence arising were
enjoyed by the ecbolara. the painters, scnlptors, gold-
smiths, eugraTera, and mnsiciooB of that day, in
common with other artists. To what degree the
musicians in particular were thought to merit en-
conrogement, may in some meaanre be collected from
the passage above referred ba in Goicciardini ; bnt
their title to it will best appear from the acconnt
here»fiter given of them, and the works by them
severally published.
Qaicciardini bsa taken frequent occasion to mention
the pompons service in the g^eat church of Antwerp,
and in other churches of Flanders, celebrated with
voices and instruments of various kinds. Compo-
sitions of this sort may well be supposed to have
employed the masters residing there ; but it was not
in the study of these alone that they were engaged :
concerts of instrumental music, as has already been
mentioned, were then scarcely known ; bnt vocal
music in parte was not only the entertainment of
persons of rank at pnblic solemnities, bnt was so
much the customary amusement at social meetings,
and in private families, that every well-educated
person of either sex was anppoeed capable of joining
in it. Castiglione, who lived about this time, men-
tions tMs as one of the neceesary accomplishments of
his courtier, and requires of him to be able to sing
his part at sight,§ which, when the nature of the
vocal compositions then in practice is explained, will
appear to have been no very difficnlt matter.
By that MBivivial kind of harmony above spoken
of, ie to be understood a musical composition of three
or more p«rt« for different voices, adapted to the
words of some short bnt elegant poem, and known
by t;he name of the UadrigaL|| The Italian language
■, qna i ml me p«ui en el ilnu de nu .
'iicbiunremedlul«.' Dgn QulxoM, IiaS
* ^ Amlgi DiL i
jut lOt ?l. u
t Bntiu RhenuiDi, Id b IeIUt to ■ ftitiid, gliea > detcilptlaii of tha
BUfnlAoeaL hooKfl, or nLbar )iaIk»<» of AnlhoB)' ud RAlnuid FuMBr ;
And a lata tTaraUn ipc&ki of a mcmoriaJ of lh«ii opalonn jet rffnuinuig,
Uut li to UT, ■ qiunec In tba cii; of AupbDV ndled tbs Fvggaj, am-
■Bllog of KTOtl itncta and fall palacea bi^t bj tbom. Jounwj aror
BuTopa br A. D. Qumal, octuo, liond. 1714, pas- M.
I IKamrdlPlcnlttOHrlhiiiobcgMllilawirdlaaaTlTrd. Kbcbat
btonnd In rain to Ond an ainiolocj An It. Tha bMuqi of ATnncfagi.
Boat, in bia InatlH Da f Orioina dea Ramana, aappoaea It to ba a
aacmption of tla wotd Hailafniii, a lanw flnn to tht uictant In-
hafaitanO of a paftkular diatrlct of Proranea, wbo van pfobablr the
iBTanunot oraietUadIn thltpankilUcapadnotnuaicalaniiuiritloii.
Hadhckiiown thallbanialnSiiaJiiatainiDaniad M^ilgBl.ll^ [U
ba wvuld ban dadicad lU arlffai barn Itaa Spanlatda.
Donl, who U daar that tha Maditfal came ar\^BiI\j frc
and 0irea hit nader the ebolce of ti
was at this time generally understood thronghont
Europe ; its fitness for music entitled it to a prefer-
ence above all others, and the sonnets of Petrarch,
and other of the old Italian poets, to which in the
preceding ages the barbarous melodies of the Pro>
venial minstrels had been adapted, were looked on
as the most eligible subjects for musical composition ;
and to render these delightful, the powers of melody
and harmony were by some of tits first class of
masters mentioned by Qnicciardini, very ancceas-
fully employed.
It cannot be supposed that the first essays of this
kind had much to recommend them beeidee the cor-
rectness of the harmony, which was just and natural,
and yet these had their charms : Anne Boleyn, a
lively and well aocomplished young woman, and who
had lived some yeare in France, doted on the com-
positions of Jnsquin and Mouton, and had collections
of them made for the private practice of herself and
her maiden companions ; but the best of these fell
very far short of those of the succeeding age.
The excellence of this species of musical com-
position, the madrigal, may be inferred from this
circumstance, that it kept its ground even long after
theintroductionofmnsicon the theatres; for dramatic
music, or what is now called the opera, had ita rise
aboat the year 1600, and it is well known that one
of the finest works of Stradella,who was contemporary
vrith our Pnrcell, is the madrigal for five voice»i,
' Olori son fido amante.'
Ofsome of the masters mentioned by Guicciardini,
in the passage above-dted, there are particulars ex-
tant which may be thought worth relating ; and first
of Jnsqnin, so often mentioned by Glareanus and others
of bis time, by the name of lonocus Pratrhsis.
In that short account given of him by Walther, in
his Lexicon, it is said tibat he was bom in Ihe Low
Countries, but in what part thereof ie not known,
though his name Pratensis, bespe^s him a native o,
Prato, a town in Tnscany. He was a disciple of
Johannes Ockegem, or Okenheim, and for his excel-
lence in his art was appointed master of the chapel
to Lewis XII. king of France. Salinas says he was
nniversally allowed to be the best musician of his
time. Gfareanus is lavish in his commendation, and
given the following acconnt of him : ' lodocus
Pratensis, or Josquin de Prez, was the principal of
' the mnsicians of his time, and poeeeeeed of a degree
' of wit and ingenuity ecarce ever bd'ore heard of.
' Some pleasant stories are related of him before he
' came to be known in the world, amongst many
' others the following may deserve a recital. Lewis
' XII. king of France had promised him some eccla-
haa Httendad the enqnirW Into the orl^ and blitoiT of (bb ipedea of
ernnnoaltlon. Dml fliea the ln*eiltlDn of It to Iha aomnifllieemant of
Ic deUa Melodle. ftg. «;. And Uallteian
le flftceolb emlnrr-
llkelr
Bnt compoaara of
tfia kind of poetical comnotltloa. Cretciinbenl. In hit Commentai]
InkHno air rtloria ije^li Talgmre Pncaia. vol. I. lib. U. c^*l> baa caken
for neitber doei IC appear thai tboe uilv muildani Dompoei
nor "im thej bniiighl to pertoctlon bj fodocoi and Ihe h_. ..
him. Tboce that perteded tbia atrle weie Orlando de Laaio, PhUlppa
de Monte. <^rIano da Ron. amang tha PI — ' — — ' -* "■- ■•-"—
Falealrlna. Fomponlo Nenna, ana hla A
OaauaJdo, piliica of Vanoaa.
?mp«td madrlgali,
e LiiBio, PhUlppa
id of the Italiana.
dbyGoot^le
8S6
HISTORY OF THE SOIENCE
Boat VIII.
' riHtical pieferment ; but the promise was forgot
* (m too often luppene in kingB' courts) Jusqnin
' belog mnch disturbed in mind, composed a Psaim
beginning " Memor esto verbi tui eetro tno," but
with snob elegance and maiestf , that when it was
carried to the king's chapeC and there jnstly per-
formed, it excited nniverakl admiration. The king,
who heard it, blushed for shame ; and as it were did
net dare to defer the performance of his promise, but
* gave him the benefice. He then having experienced
' the liberality of t^is prinoe, composed another psalm
' bv way of thanksgiving, beginning " Bonitatem fe-
'<^ti com servo too Donune." As to those two
' pieces of harmony, it may be observed how mnch
' more the hopes of reward incited his genios in the
' former, than the attainment of it did in the other.'
The Dodecacbordon contuns also some extracts
^m a mass of his composing, intitled L'Homme
arm^, which indeed is celebrated by Luscinius, 8a-
linss, and many other authors. Besides these a great
number of his compositions are contained in the Do-
decacbordon, and among others, that in which, not-
withstanding the adage of Erasmns above-mentioned,
he has ventured in a De ProAmdis for four voices to
pass from the Dorian to the Phrygian mode.
Kotwithstanding the favour in which he stood with
Lewis XII. it seems that Jnsqnin in his latter days
experienced a sorrowful reverse of fortune. In iLe
Sopplemenii Mnsical! of Zarlino, peg. 314, is the fol-
lowing sonnet of Serasino Acquilano to that pnrpose : —
Gioiquin non dir che'l del ua crudo ed smpio,
Che t'adomd de u lobUme ingegno ;
Et a'alcuQ vests ben, Utcia lo adegno ;
Che di ci& gode alcun buffims, i lempio.
Da quel ch'io ti dird prendl ressempio ;
L'argealo e Tor, chs da ae ateaa' t iegoo.
Si mostra nudo, 6 aol li veBt« il legno,
Quando I'adoma alcun theatro d tempio :
II favor di coitei vien preato maoco,
E mille volte il Hi, na pur eiocondo.
Si inuts il Btato lor di nero m bianco.
Mi cbi hk virtil, gira i iuo modo il mondo ;
Com' huom che nuota ed hi la succa al fianoo,
Metti'l sott' sc^ua pur, non teme il fondo.
Walther, from die Athenn Belgic» of Sweitina.
dtes the following epitaph on him :—
O mon inentabilii !
Mors amara, mora entdella
Joaquinum dmn neeasti
Ilium nobis abstultsti )
Qui luam par bannoniam
Illustravit eccledam,
Propterea die tu muiice :
Requieacat in pace. Amen.
Oastiglione relates a story which bespeaks iha
high opinion entertained by the world of Jnsqnin'a
chanicter as a musician. He says that at a certain
time some verses were produced to the duchess of
Urbino as of the composition of Sannazaro, which
were applauded as excellent ; but that as soon as it
was discovered that they were not really his, they
were condemned as worse than indifferent ; so like-
wise says he a motet sung before the same dochess
met with little approbation till it was known to be of
the composition of Josquin de Prei.*
The following motett of lodocus Pratenus, con-
taining a canon of two in one, occnrs in the Dodeca-
cbordon, and is here inserted as a specimen of his
style and abUities as a composer : —
• II Conaf. lib. II.
pjj^-j
« t.
-rr"~
— " H — ¥
i=i
k gr-^-^ft "-
0
[ H
Jb -
n Fi
- U Da -
0 Je • su m
- li
Da -
- vid
mi -
se - re-re me -
^'. I \ ■ 1. ■ 1 - ^ ' 1
*H
^■r p
- ■- 1
t- ^ f
' " »
=rr:r^=s
0 Je - n
K
O Je-aa Fl-H Da
=^=ii=
^ 'i ^
L^- ™ - -
/F^l M
" — iTTif — j — rz — : — 1 Li —
^ .^
mi -
H — 1 — 1 — \^ n r' f
=f
" If r'— i^^ k' 1 1"'
r. . - n m, ■ - - 1,
' „ .. t «i i., " -t*\l' r ~
.. 1 J
l^ — ^-
■^^.A^^
».n - r. m - 1, -1-...™ ■
i=f=t<t
Fi - 11
Tn 1 =
=I=F
ml - PS - re - - re
■ 1 1 l°t .. ] t> .wf
me -
- -
K . . . ,
me
- - . 1, ml - - -e
.; ™.'
dbyGooi^lc
AND PRAOTIOE OF MDSia
rfe=
• r 1 " ■■ H 1 ^="
==l
-"■rr " "7
P=
K
li - a me - - k
nu -
' r — 1-
le ide-mo-nl .
^?sFF=
Fi - - li-»n.e-. ma - -
^1=
. le
( do-mo-ni-o
—lei . -0=r
i,
Fi - - - li .
\ rrl r -J J
a
=» i
"•
■ '
w —
-V -
—
-c^— ^' — -^ ■■ ■ rn r 1 [• -i-
=s=l
~iq ^=g^
byGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
CHAP. LXXIIL
Jaoobub Hobrechth, a Fleming, w celebrated for
his great skill and judgment, and is eaid by Glareanua
to ^ve been possesBed of such a degree of strength
and celerity of invention, oe that he composed a
whole mass, and a very excellent one, in a night's
time, to the admiration of the learned. The same
•athor asserts tliat all the monumenU that are lefl of
his composition have in them a wonderful majesty ;
and that he did not, like Jusquin, affect unusual
passages, but gave bis compoeiUons to the public
without disguise, tmsling for the applause of ><"
auditors to their own intrinsic meriL* He v
ceptor in music to Eraamns-t
B pre-
'joHAHNBs OcKBOEM, or as.Glareanns calls him,
Okenheim, was also a native of the Low Countries,
and as he was the preceptor of lodocos Pratensis,
must be supposed to be somewhat more ancient than
his disciple. Glareanus mentions a composition of
his for thirty-six voices, which, though be bad never
seen it, he says, had the reputation of being admir-
able for its contrivance. In the compueition of Fugaa
he is said to have been excellent ; Glareanus saya he
affected to compose songs that might be sung in
different modes, and recommends to the notice of his
reader the following fugue for three voices, which,
though said by hiib to be in the Epidiatessaron, or
fourth below, is in truth in the Epidiapente or fifth
below after a perfect time. It should seem by the
different signatures at the bead of each stave, that
this was intended as an example of a cantoa (o be
snng in different modes.
Ambrose Wilpblingeedenis of Nuremberg was at
the pains of resolving this intricate composition, and
published it in his Erotemata Mueices Practic»
printed in 15(>3. The canon and resolution are here
given together ; —
raOA IN EHDIAPEHTE
^t
^^^
^^^^
dbyGoot^Ie
AKD PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
-^I^p ^
^»-T-p 1 if f i^^
p -» .J 1 o — d— H -^ 1 1 1 .J
=P^F=P
[P,t>
r'-^r-r^f^+p-^ j-" ■ b^hJ-H-i^ — 1- -+— '
1 .. 1 1 i r
iiSpp
„ — -=_rzpi^u-| Fff--r r '^Tp-g — :"
Antimo Liberaii, a mndciaii of the last century,
and a aioger in the pontifical diapel, says that, taking
their example from the echools of those two great
sen Okeaheim and lodocns Prateusia, maiiy foreign
masterB- erected magical aCademiea in different kiilg-
doma and provinces, the firgt of whom wsa Gantyo
Mell.-a Fleming, who instituted at Rome a noble and
exeellent school for music, in whibH many pupili
vere instructed in the science, and among them Gio.
JoHANNia Okenheiu.
Pier Luigi Paleetrina.* The truth of this relation,
BO Trt as'it regards the name of Palestrina'a pre-
ceptor,, ia very questionable, and will be the subject
of a'future enquiry.
About (his time fiouriahed Adruno Willabrt, a
native of Bnigea ; this person was intended for the
profesaion of a lawyer, and atudied in that faculty in
the univeraiCy of Paris, but an irresistible propensity
. • Ulltn KTltU dil Slg. Antinio Llbcnll In liipatu id uu M Bit.
Ovidio Fccupcd, Rgnw. IMS.
dbyGoo^le
MO
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book VIIL
to musio diverted his attention from the law, and
engaged him deeply in the study of that ecience;
upon his qaittiog Paris he went for improvement to
Italy, and by the favour of pope Leo X. became, to
nae \he style of Zarlino and other writers, ' Maestro
' di Cappella della serenissima Signoria di Venetia ;'*
by which appelUUon is to be understood master of
the choir of the chnrch of St, Mark, He eeems to
have been the inventor of compositidng for two or
more choirs, that is to say, those wherein the offices
are song alternately by several cborosses, the effect
whereof is at this day sufficiently understood.!
ArtQsi, Doni, Printz, and other writera speak of
Willaert in general terms as a mere practical musi-
cian, a composer of motets, madrigsle, and airs,
among whom they however admit he holds the first
rank; but Zarlino, who was his disciple, and conse-
quently must have been intimately acquainted with
him, relates that he was inoeeeantly employed in
making calculations and deviaing diagrams for de-
monstrating the principles of harmony, and, in short,
represents him as the ablest theorist of the age. It
is highly probable that this was his tme character ;
and the particnlars above related may in a great
measure account for that estreme propensity which
Zarlino throughout his voluminous works discovers
for that branch of musical science. His master had
made him aenaible of its value, and had given a
direction to the sti\dies of his disciple, who in return
has taken every occasion to celebrate his praises, and
to transmit to posterity in the character of Adrian
Willaert, an exemplar of a consummate musician.
There are extant of Willmert's composition, Fealmt
Yespertini omnium Diemm Festorum per Annum,
4 Vocnm, 1557; Motettee 6 Vooum, published in
1542; Cantionea Musicte, sen Motettse, cum aliu
ejusdem Cantionibns Italicis i, S, 6, et 7 Vocum;
and ViilanellfB Neapolitans 4 Vocum, published
together in 1588, and other works.f He is sufficiently
known to those who are conversant with the Italian
writers on music, by the name of Messer Adriano,
A few of the most excellent of Willaert's motets
are pointed out in the Istttutioui Harmouiche of
Zarlino, terza parte, cap, Ixvi. and are there cele-
brated as some of the finest compositinns of that time.
His doctrines and opinions respecting some of the
most abfitrusB questions in music are delivered with
great accuracy in the Dimostrationi of Zarlino. He
was very much afflicted with the gout, but seems by
Zarlino's account of him to have nevertheless retained
the exercise of his mental facalties in all their vigour,
and to have rendered himself singularly remarkable
for his modesty, affability, and friendly disposition
towards all who professed to love or nnderstand
mnsic.§
The Dimostrationi of Zarlino, of which a par-
ticular acconnt will in its place be given, are a series
of dialogues t«nding to illustrate the Institutes of the
same author. The interlocutors in these are Francesco
Viola, an eminent musician and maestro dl cappella to
Alphonso duke of Ferrars ; Claudio Merulo, organiat
of the great chnrch at Parma ; Adrian WOlaert, and
Zarlino himself. In the conrsa of these dialogues
many particulars occur &om whence an adequate
idea may be formed of Willaert, of whom Zarlino
Bcmples not to say, as indeed do most that speak
of him, that he was the first mnsidan of his time.
The following motet is of his composition : —
— rf^-s — gr=H=F-i- -rg=a-
-Hi — a — f ' * 1 r- — n — " — a — h
IN
■1 " r r^iT^ -^-
QUEMdi-ount ho-ml . nes
ea-K fl-li-nm bo-ml -
■+— a ^r.T|''r>rJlL
t 1 ■! P ■ - 1 :1 1 «»■— ■■
-4—- r r 1 1 r r =^^
QUBM di-cuDt ho-mi-nes . . .
mj
QUEMdi^cunt bo -mi
- — ' — ■ 1 ^
Dii! ei-w fl-H-Din bo
nd- n^C « -
QDEH di-cunt ho -mi - nes
• Wtilb. Ln. In Ail. Ziri, Rifion. pu. 1
: WiilL.
-spon-dens Pe -
lid di Anplo BuudL Ub. I, ^ag. Tt.
dbyGooi^le
CiuF. LXXIII.
AND FBAOIIOE OF HUSia
L.=J:Jd£fe
'^dil __ _ __
Tn el ChrUt -n« Fl- -li-««De- ) yi
Td e« Chriitiu fl - li -w De
it Tn M ChriitaiFi-li - lu De-1 vl - vi
vi «t • < it Je
3m
et » - it Je
p^ — 1
'fc- . - 1« «,
r 1 1 -^i ^-^J- ri TT- 1 r 1 r r "— l
b« - . - tm M Simon Pb - - tre qui - m c -
■ tiu ea
1^ I>ff^^
Bi ^mon Pe - - - tro qni - « c« T n» et liw
Pe-tr«.P« .
^p r [f rr^^^rn f r ' ' i ~ ' ' i ir' ^ f rri
j^ - - . - - tro ^Di - > «.ro . . .
tg*'— ^r-rf=
^=^ r ■ r^-JtH^^!-f-f — ^"-j — h "' 1— ij — L
D Pe - tn
^•ro et MO - guia.na .... guii
Tt— rp
=rp^rTr-r'
vit tl - bi
l-^
1 , , 1 tJl ]■!-
qoi-
'
o» -
"-■■ — [
ro et
**"
gui.
nonre-»e-l. -
Tit tl .
-r: J-rr
r
vlt
ti
. bi
=rTf
^^fw=r
M(IP> - ter me-Qi
qni
eit
in Ca -
■ed Fa-l«r me
Dl
qui
eM in
Cn
li«, ioCa - .
tn Gb -^
-^-M-rr-=f-
a • ve-Wvit ti
w
■ed
P«
tet me -^^ ni
qni
ft
inCo. - .
(^
c*-: ^T~~~J
^
==
=^=
£rc=
•^r » p-p'— fT^'.Tn*-!
^
^
** ■ f l»^
^ -
U ledPR-ler
me
. UI
qui
est in
c»
- - . 1 _
UigiiizocbyGoOl^lc
HlffTORY OF THE SdESTCE
■^ .. „
per
hanc
Pe -
- tram
1 JjJ
a '■ J-f-J u
J_^
ftf^=
«-g-i^-|-
- ai . im
Al - iB - lo -
11=
,,,===t
-"■_
Al
le - Id - i.. ...
tc.de -
- ai -
-— J-
Al- -lu -
*-^ - bo e«-olB
M-
ua mo -
am.
Al
le-lD . U.
Al
- le - In - U,
byGooi^lc
Chap. LXXIV
AND PRAOTICE OF MUSIC.
343
CHAP, LXXIV, of the greateat muBioiana of the dgelie lived in. He
compoeed many masses, which were highly approved
JoHAsicEB MouTOK, & diaciple of Adrian 'Williiert, by Leo X. A Miserere for fonr voicea of hia com-
vm Maeetro di CapelJa to Fr^cia I. king of France,* position ia to be found in the Dodecschordou of
and, by the teetimony of hia contemporariea, was one GlareukOB, aa ia also the following hymn.
* Thb prtDcd, Id be W4IA gmt lorvr vid ancaun^riif lemrnLhf And pmalDii upon cbAt orhlB canrtleTA- Hf much applau^vd thcinuilelBUi;
dr Ubtml ATUt wu peculluir fond af muilc- In 1h« memoin of Mr^ neverthcLeti, u ht vjia upprvhvDtLve Ihil matLc in^hl Dcruian, In coi-
De la FAipt, AmbAHUdoI rmm Fnncis I. id ao^^mui II. emprrDr ot Iha lcqu«lk» of kU Htabliflhrntnl. am much dIflorilFT In bit rn]pll« ai would
1JI3, It li niaud Ihtt the kinjc dniftning la do a plestuja to bji new with a bajidtomv reward, after having ordered all their InalTumenta to
t^, Knl htm a band of moflt accomplished fnuiicUui<> mjUln^ him. aa be broken, wiib a prahibition aitaintt their lettllng in IjLi eniplra npon
lwjiidfad)iyUiiM*lt Itau It mifhl nuka UUl a piMa bn- miUtaiT inlooi. Hiitoinde
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OF THE 8CIEN0E
r ^ J J J J J
=1=3=^:
|» .. «,^^
[ — kit ^:— , -r-j — :—
'.^'J. -"- 1^
■Itf-i— ' =^' rj -
■ff. .J,
- - di -
"•-TJ 1 — i
I si Lu.. J.M
d. prono
- - - ri-cor
Ith " —
di
■ f r r ''
-^-ht^—^-^-
pro ^.
— r
k-J-rf rrr-"
VIS
mi-«.-ri-eot
i '"1 " " 1 ■■—
m
ill pro no - Ui, futao
iSi
I J ,. JJ
^S
Thomab Cbiqdiloh, a Fleming, iros master of tbe
chapsl to the emperor Charles V. about the year 1566.
He compoBed hymns for many voices, and some French
■onga la four, five, and six parte.
Clbmxhb, otherwise Jaoob Clbkehs koh Papa, a
Fleming, was one of the mnsiciana of the emperor
Oharlee V. and a compoeer of masses and other
sacred offices. It seems that thie prince, though
not an avowed patron of the arts, as was his rival
Francis I. was a lover of music. Ascham, in the
letter above-cited, relates that l>eing «t Augsburg, be
stood by the emperor's table, and that 'his chapel
' snng wonderful cunningly all the dinner-while.*
Oprian db Boric was bom at Mechlin, but lived
great part of his time in Italy. He composed many
very fine madrigals to Italian words. There is extant
in the great church of Parma the following sepnlchnl
inscription to his memory >—
Cyprluia Roro, Flandro
nee oblivione deleri poterit,
Herculii FerrBriena. Duels II.
deinde Venetorum,
Octavi Fameii Farmte et Plscentice
DucU II. Chori Pimtecto,
LudoricuB frater, fil. et hseredei
mositiMiini posuerunL
Otult anno M.D.LXV. Rtadi uii.
The following madrigal ie given as a spedmen of
his abilities in that style of musical composition : —
■-^
T — T J J
. 7; -
1 mT"-^ 1 M ^
tp
AN . COR ehicol
p«-ti -
fM=
'^ — 1:1
mt sen - to mo-ri •
1^
11^
AN - COR cW col par
1 "^ 1 °
- « - re
->4^
^
». . mi
. «» 1 .. — ri
sea - to mo • rl .
WW
AN -COR
chi col
par
ti - -■ io"^
1 1 . fTrriiFi 1
AN-COE
dlt ool
P"
U - re
io mi sea - tonw -
Iwct, nTT *««1
•BRRtand. Tb>r
ithor ilTta the fSDowliif bDmarafai teoa
.>n»rar u <Uonn : ' H« bwl toai counn, h>
luttcn, bftked but ; thtM ba no .
lUta ■ fDoil Iks. ■ canatuit look ) h
b«tH Inm mint iaunt Bubm d
wlu.' Ai
Ffrliuiido tU MfMhtr. *«nr hmliira
Ini ibnnnlTH vbm (kM liii, ttlUwut miTcuMnr. na>
idnnt ihibut Hutlgmluw; ht bid hli bMd Id tba (lH(
■ill, ttlUwut H
dnnk )«• tbm ■ taai'qiail ai
.'• Woiki, ft. Hi.
dbyGoo*^lc
Chu-. LXXI
V.
AND PEACTICE OF MUSI
a
345
|-f-r+-
par
tir Yor-reiogn'
or 0 - gnl mo-men -
tu. ■ t'il pU- cer che wa ■ -
It""^
pw
tir vor-raiogn'
f ,^
or ogn- or o-gnlniomen - t
1-^-
t'it pUcerch'io len - to
- ri -
pftr-
1 f^
tir Tor-reiogn' or o-gnimo-m
en-to
1 '^^1— ^
tan - t'il pirn -
K- ri -
n
PM-
tir Tor-rei ogn" or o-giumo-m
^Tii"^
tan - .
p-'T-'l 1 1 r"r~."'f~l""l 1 II 1 ' -I — I--'- f'-1
=^^^
"wiltwilBior- no mille e millevoltail^gior - no pw
tit
d« vol
TOT
='4^
l-f- — J— i-^r [--c-^E^jj^-^ r 1 r r~n
gior - no • CO - li mille emil-U volte il gior
^ ^ r ■ f+T-i-^-r-hJ J J ■ j^ J— ' 1 J 1 J J 1
S^
par^tir
da
da voi .
- no mille e mil-le volte il gior-no milla • mil-le volte U gior - no
[55—3 ' — 'r'-'-r — J-f -f • — \f '-^^— r ■[* * -^
p«r - tjr . .
, *or - re -
«* r-— 1-
^ CO - ri mille emll-k vol • to miUa « mU-te volteil ffot
-----M--
p«--tir
da
oi Tor fr
',
.J . f J — H E. — |-r— T-
St:
-r-*— rd—
=?^
r
i . , .
. . "1 1=
^•' -1
to BOD dol - d gU ri - tor
-' ' 1 — =F-f~' •~rxv f*
■ >~^
mie -
J=^
to son dol - d.
tan - to ion dol . d
=f---h*— "i — - — |— -
gU . . ri
-tor .
tan
to ton dol - d
_glt
ri-tor -
— ft" — rr —
ni
s~r
re •
tan -
to wndol . d.
tw- towndol - d gU
-^1 ir
ri - tor -
ni
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
fii mills e mil -la vol - tie.
L-^ ^=^^^^
E^eE^=H^5S=tH^^^^
-^ 1 =^
"lef„ - ,«, p., -
tir d* voi VOT . re - - i . . .
i J4^J J J 1
-Tb e mil - lo TOlte - U gior
no par - tir da voi vor ro^ -
i Ult • to Modo] -
ffi-J — j — J — M=g — ^"-4
mil - le vol - to gior - no
'S'^F — '■ — F-f — r \f r J 1
pw-tir . . da voi . . vor- re -
^ :H— — r-\-r — Tr-[ — " h
T^^^-r=r^
"^ mills e mil - le volCeU gior -
DO par - tir da voi vor - re -
tan - U aondol .
^F=t^^fefe
0 eon dol - d gli .
CtTBUHO Dc Bovs.
Phtupphb Db Montb, (a Portrait,) a native of Cernimus excelium.meDte arte, et nomine Montem,
Mone in Hainault, born in 1621, was maaUr of the Q»"> Mubk et CharitM constiiuere domuro.
chapel to the emperor Maximilian II- a canon, and The print given of bim is taken from it, and ia ta
treasnrer of the cathedral church of Cambray. In befonndinthcBibliothecat^ialcogTaphicaof Boissard.
that church waa a portrut of him, with uie fol- He composed, besides masaes and motets, four booki
lowing distich ander it : — of madrigals, of which the following is one : —
r
FP=
=B=
=1=1
=&=
=Pr=
■J-P " h
f DA
bel
=m=z
mi
=P=I
de -
z;
dot - ce
nel
la me
l-f^ P^
mo - rla
r=^=--s—s-v
1« "-
b«i
r»
.,
=f=|
do -
z:
dul - ce
net
la me
DA
bei
_:^_
-
— D—
- de -
a
dol,^- oe
net
F-f* (~
mo - ria u -
^ DA
bei
^
mi
Bcen
- de -
=1=
del - ce
nel
U me
^. LVJ"
dbyGooi^le
ABD PEACTICE OP MU8I0.
bo qiul fioT ca • de> euI lem
^^ffr-T
-.-
,. . ^
=r^
b^ — g-j.ir. r — t-r — r -i-T ' g ' . 1 1 —
■C.bo quilml - le tree - oie bion - - da
Hi--' J rir? J' 1 -Jr-r-r-i-pln^T^ffpT r*---"^
Ch-O . TO
for
bi>toe p«r-le
^r.
- boquJnil.le treccie bl - on-dequ»l^l-ie__^recde bion - de
ch-O - ro
for
bi-toe per.lo
X
- bi> qoaleul - Is tree - cie bioDdequalsu) - le treccie bionde
oh'O - ro
for
-bi-toe per-le
?
K'qmll nilJe treooiebioQ - deqiulKnl-lo treo-ci^biim - ie
ob'O - ro
for
U-toe per-le
^
m quel dT& ve-der-le qaal ri po
^^^^^
f&i^
DigilizocbyGoOl^lC
HISTORY OF THE SCHMCE
Oklandds Lasbus, (a Portrait,) otherwise called
Orlando de Lasao, was slao a native of the city of
Mona above-mentioned, a contemporary and intimate
friend of Philippo de Monte. He, for the Bweetness
of hia voice while he was a child, and bis excellent
compositions in his riper years, may be said to have
been the delight of all Europe. Thuanus, in hia
history, fi(ivea the following acconnt of him : ' Or-
' landus LasauB, a man the most famoos of any in onr
age for skill in the science of music, was bom at
Mons in Hainanlt ; for this ia tbe chief praise of
Belgium, that it among other nations abonndB in
excellent teachers of the mosical art And he,
while a boy, as ia the fate of excellent singers, was,
on account of the sweetness of hia voice forced away,
and for some time retained by Ferdinand Gonzaga in
Sicily, in Milan, and at Naples. Afterwards, b^g
grown up, bo taught for the apace of two yeara at
Rome. After this he travelled to France and Italy
with Julius Cteaar Brancatius, and at length returned
into Flanders, and lived many years at Antwerp,
FlLIFFO t>B Hm^s.
' from whence he was called away by Albert duke of
' Bavaria, and settled at that court, aod there married.
' He was afterwards invited with offera of great
' rewarda by Charles IX. king of France, to taka
' upon him the office of his chapel -master, for that
' generous prince always retained a chosen one about
' him. In order to reap tbe benefit of this promotion,
' he set ont with his family for France, bu^ before he
' could arrive there, was stopped by tbe news of tb«
' sudden death of Chartee ; upon which he wis ra-
' called to Bavaria by William the son and succcosor
' of Albert, to the same duty as he bad before dia-
' charged under his father : and having rendered >
' himself most famous for his compositions both
' sacred and profane, in all laugoages, published in
' several cities for the space of twenty-five years, be
' died a mature death in the year 1595, on the tlurd
' of June, having exceeded seventy-three years <J
The account given by Thuanus does by no means
agree either in respect to the tdme of hia birth or
dbyGoo^le
Chip. LXXIV.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
tt»
decease, with the inscription on the moniiment of
Orlando, which is m follows :
OrlaDdiu Lassus, Bergie, Hannonis urbe
natus anno MDXXX.
Moiicus et SvniphDQiacu) iui aecuU faeilS princ«p« ;
Primft estate admodum puer, ob miram vocii luavitatem
in canendo, aliquotiei pls^o miblatui :
Sub Ferdinands Gouia^sprorege Siciliie, annii fermi
MX partim Mediolani, partim in Sicilia, inter lympboniacos
educatui.
Neapoli dein per trienniiun, ac demiini Rorieb ampliui
bienniutn Munco pnefectiu Sacello loDeS celeberrimo.
Foat peregrinationea Anglican aa et G^Iicanaa cum
JiUio Cnaare Braneacio auaceptai, Aotverpite
totidem annia venatua.
Tandem Albertd et Gulielmi Ducia Bojonim, muiics
Maciater lupremui per integrum
A Mazinuliano II. Ciea. nobilitatua ;
Cantionibui 1
lacria quam profania
orbe upiveno celebratiss,
10 Sal. MDLXXXV. Mt.
Bnt there is Teason to think that the inecription is
erroneons, for there is extant a print of Orlando de
Lasso engraved by Sadler, with a note thereon, pur-
porting that he waa sixty-one in 1593 ; bnt with
this the epitaph agreei almost aa hadly as it does
with Tbaanus's relation. As to the great rewards
which that generous prince, aa Thuanua styles him,
Charles IX, offered him opon condition of his
accepting the direction of his choir, his majesty was
induced to this act of beneficence by other motivea
than generosity: Thnanns did not care to tell them,
bnt the reasons for his silence in this particnlar are
long since ceased ; the fact is, that the king, who had
consented to the nuseacre of the Hngonota in Paris,
and t^o, forgetting tha dignity of his station, him-
self had a hajid in it,* was so disturbed in his mind
with the reflection on that unparalleled act of inhu-
manity, that he was wont to hare his sleep disturbed
by nightly horrors, and was composed to rest by
a symphony of singing boys : in short, to use the
language of Job, 'he waa scared with dreams and
* ternfied through visions.' He waa a paauonate lover
of music, and so well skilled la it, that, as Brantome
relates, he was able to sing his part, and actually sung
Qi6 tenor occasionally with his musidans if and it was
thought that such compositions as Orlando was ca-
pable of framing for that particnlar ptirpose,^ might
tend to alleviate that disorder in his mind, which bid
defiance to all other remedies, in short, to heal a
wounded conscience; bnt he did not live to maka
the experiment.
The new Dictionnaire Historique Fortatif, aa doea
indeed the inscription on his monument, intimates that
Orlando visited England, and contains the following
singular epitaph on him : —
Etant enfant, j'ai chants le deraut,
Adolescent, i'u fut le contre-taille,
Homme panait, j'ai rai«onn£ la taille,
Mait mauitenant je auii mis au buuus.
Prie, Passant, que I'esprit soit lit iiti.
Orlando de Lasso had two sons, who were also
musicians, the one named Ferdinand, chapel-master
to Maximilian duke of Bavaria ; the other Rudulph,
organist to the same prince. They collected the mo-
tetta of their father, and published them in a large
folio volnme with the following title, ' Magnum Opus
' musicum Orlandi de Lasso, Capellffi Bavaricffi quon-
' dam Magistri, complecteus omnes Cantiones, quaa
' Motetaa vulgo vocant, t^m ontea editos, quhm
' hoctenas nondnm pnblicatas, ^ 2 ac 12 voc. k
' Ferdinando Berenissimi Bavarie Ducis Maximilian,
' Mnsicorum prefecto, et Rudulpho, eidem Frincipi
* ab Organis ; anthoris Filiis summo Studio coUectnm,
' et impensis eorundem Typis mandatum. Monachii
' 1604:.' These it is to be noted are sacred compo-
sitions ; hut there are extant several collections of
madrigsls published by himself, which shew that be
equally excelled In that other kind of vocal harmony.
The memory of Orlando de Lasso is greatly
honoured by tiie notice which Thnanus bos taken
of him, for, excepting Zsrlino, he is the only person
of his profession whom that historian has condescended
to mention. A great musician undoubtedly he was,
and next to Palestrina, perhaps the moat excellent of
the Nxteenth century. He was the first great im-
prover of figurative music ; for, instead of adhering
to that stiff formal rule of counterpoint, from which
some of his predecessors seemed afnud to deviate, he
gave 7By to the introduclion of elegant points and
respnnsive passages finely wrought ; and of these his
excellencies there needs no other evidence than the
following sweet madrigal of his composition :—
OH d'a - ma - nt-a -i
^ip
m
OH d-a - DIB -
on-da, oh d'a - n
^m
Hcuni, und othn of (h« hlitnriuii of thMe lima, mi
to Bed (nun ttitlr punucn.
thoH Iba book or J
ie Ptnltcnilij Pulmi, mi lomo parllcuUr puiigM ■
dbyGoot^le
HISTORY OF THE 80IEN0E
\L} .. - "UT:] — riF??=
-*-fJ-
-j-j. J LJ-^
:^B=
1 ■■ PP r-1 — M 1-
*^- de, oik d'ft-ma-ria • ri.
it-s-l J-J-TTH— T-q-L-
■4.J J Ji IJ
da.
tiiit' Amuil-U mi . ■,
■ - de, oh d-i-m» - ri« -n-meo
-do.
trist' A-m«-ril-li c
=^ 1 1 .
1
trirt- Amuil-li mi . - -
1 1 ; J J r^T- 1 ^■, 1^=^
- - me on - de. oh d'«-ma -
■is . ri-
m« on - da,
triM
' Amsril-limi - - », triaf Ami-
d'ti-m* - ri»~^ time on-de,
triat'
Anift-rii-U na
1 " '- — 1- r r r ^i^
•, triJt- An«ril-U
L-L-J 1 — 1 fi — E-
- de, oh d'a • mft - ris • n - me
■ ril-ll mi» trist' Ama - lil - li mj • m,trist' A-maril-U mi - a, di pUn to grk
==p
F^=?r
1 — T
=M — ^
— ■''^.. .. !■ 1 -T ■ — -r
r
m« . to fron
de 0
- ve Che
[Hu . . le bion-de, chio - - me
m
^ l' 1 1—
de 0 - M «be
pin
le
^1 pi . J
bion-de,
r 1 1 r— ^=— - — F =^ ' ' \
.=h[o - . me Dontlnghir.
m
&oo.de o
ve
Che pin le
Won -de,
H — 1 — r
chio - me noo t'ing Ur-lin - da e
fh)D - de 0
?
ehe pin le
bioD-de,
chio - . - ^-r" . me"-^
^
rron - de
0 - ve Che
phi
le b[on-de, chio - - - me noa
dbyGooi^lc
AND PEAOTICE OF MDSIO.
D'u . do e 91 n
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
^=i^ J ' 1 1
3=^-=F=^ ^TtTr f -^
=j=
_ ^ ^ -|
" ohi -mefcun-ma
»o - vel - - U ve-di - 1» CO - me
i .. ■ /1| J 1 1 ■ J ^'=^
n'ar -
de.
FB-di-la como
-vel . - - I. T6.di-I»
come
D'ar
- de, T&^i -
■ . me fiamma no - vel
tfr-l 1 I 1 1 :
- U T&-di - la oo-me n'ar - - de.
ve - di-la
■ ■ me fiuuDM DO - vel
- la ve :" di-U co-me n'ar - de, ve-di-U
U- ' ' » T-r 1 l^'' —
^
n'ai
- dB,
^ - me eomma DO - vel
-^-s — ^=^-^diX LIT' — s^r-
■: —
=*=
*-^-^
;^xr f — ^r^=^
• — " — 1**— hf-r— 5—
1 . Jl J^-i-r- '|l i; J J^
u ' f ^-^ —
t n'ar . de vo-di-U
n'ar -
da, ve-di-la comeD'ar -"^ ' -
£■ "' —
- u
■ men-ar-de, ve-di-U
co-men'ar - de, ve-di-la oome n'ar - de, e
fF
r ri ^ ' 1 '• r'
Tenii-U come n'ar - de,
vo-di-U coma n'ar - -de, e -
=F .» 1 ra— J I.... J 1 J 1
Te-di-U coma
n'ar.de, Ye-di . I« . . .
n'ar - do, 6 A - "'T-'
K^^i:^
D
a. . de, ■ " I.
■ U oomo n'ar ■ de, e li a bel -
de,e li ft bel
^^^
CHAP. LXXV.
Thr other nuetera meDtioned by OmccJardini,
nunely, Gombert, Gnrtois, Comelio Canis, Manci-
court, Josqain Boston, Christian Holland, Oiachea
• de Waert, fionmarcbe, Severin Cornet, Piero du
Hot, Gerard Tnnihont, Hubert Waelrsnt, and GJa-
chetto di Berckem, and the re«t of thorn not par-
ticularly here characterised, were of somewhat leas
note ; Uiere are- however extant some madrigals of
Severin Cornet and {Jiaches de Waert, which shew
tbem to have been eminently akilled in their pro-
From the foregoing deduction of the progreaa of
mneic, it appears that the Flemings, more than any
people in Europe, had contributed to bring it to s
standard of purity and elegance ; and that towards
the latter end of the sixteenth century the Low
Countries abounded with professors of the science,
who in the art of practical composition seem to have
exceeded the Italians themselves. The Teaeon of
this may be, that in consequence of the precepts
which Franchinus had delivered, the latter, under
the direction of the Roman pontiffs, were employed
in the forming of a new style for the chorch service.
It had been discovered that the clergy, and indeed
the laity, were grown tired of the uniformity of the
Cantus Oregorianus, and were desirous of introducing
dbyGoo*^le
OxAv. LXXV.
AND PRAGnOE OF HUSia
MS
into the service a kind of morac affiirding greater
variety, and better calcnlated to engage the attention
of the hearers. Leo Z. who was bo fond of mmic
that the love of it is reckoned in the namber of hie
fulingB, waa the first pope that endeavoared at thb
reformation ; and he had carried it bo tar, that the
Uonncil of Trent, in the year 1562, took the state of
chnrch-mosic into consideration, and, to preveot the
farther abase of it, made a decree against Carious
singing,* which however had not its effect till aboat
the close of that centory, when Palestrina introdnced
into the church that noble and majestic style which
hae rendered him the admiration of all succeeding
ages. After this the It^ian masters fell in with the
practice of the Flemings in the composition of
madrigals and other forms of vocal harmony, in
which a latitude was given to all the powers of
invention, and in the exercise whereof it mnst be
owned they discovered a wondorfal degree of skill
and jadgment.
While these improvements were making abroad,
it seems that in England also the science had made
very considerable advances. It is tme that ftom the
time of John of Donstable, who lived abont the year
1460, to Tevemer, who flonrished almost a centnry
after, the mnsical offices for the chnrch discover very
little of that skill and invention which recopmend
thoM works of the old Symphonetn contained in the
Dodecachordon of Glareanns; bat whether it was
owing to the affection which it is known Henry
VIII. bore to mueic, or to that propensity in the
people of this nation to encoarage it, which made
Erasmns say that the English challenge the pre-
rogative of having the moet handsome women, and
of being ' most accomplished in the skill of mnsic of
' any people ;' it is certain that the beginning of the
sixteenth century ^)roduced in England a race of
mnsiciaos not inferior to the best in foreign conn-
tries; and to this troth Morley, in pag. 161 of his
Introduction, speaking of Farefai, Tavemer, Shep-
hard, Mondie,' and others, has borne his testimony.
In the catalogue of Morley notiiing like chrono-
logical order b observed, but in the foUowing acconnt
of some of the persons mentioned, and of others
omitted by him, the beet arrangement is made of
them that the scanty materials for that purpose would
allow of. To begin with Cornish.
WiujAM CoBBiSH lived about the year 1600;
biehop Tanner has an article for him, wherdn he
mentions that some of his musical compositions are
to be found in a manuscript collection in the poesea-
non of Mr. Ralph Thoresby, and mentioned by him
in his History of Leeds, pag. 617. That manuscript
lus been searched, and it appearing that there were
<f lb> nao, pnUbtti, snong Mm IhliiEi, ' I um delta miuliha Ddl«
■B pnAnl. Mnplll, giUori.' Li-Tt
rUb iMdrloDi lonin, all hchIk hcU
" ■ It atl CoiicU. TiUtM, fli
iS miimbUiitd
, _ » ia Piitoria. cm
4mrii<iJ %lnSatrtd CamuU rfTrnif amt hi (** fi«/iim *« ™fc>««, t»al
Mi^im CarMmal Benmni tad rUM JtM U aim tin mm at B ruit
la AiH MnnW (PnquxUtiiiu.
two tA the name, an elder and a younger, it is on-
certain which of them was the auUior of ^e treatise
between Trowthe and Enformacion, mentioned by
Tanner to have been printed among the works of
Skelton, and which has this title : —
In the Flectc nude by me Wtlliun Coniilhe, otfaefwUe uUlel
NjfliraKU, chipclmiD incli [he mofl funoTe ind noble king HcDIT
the VIl. fail rejne the lii jrere the moneth of Julj. A tieatile
betwene Troutb and lofbrmiKtoa {
Bat as the poem, for Bnch it is, contains a parable
abonnding with allusions to music and mnsical in-
struments, and is in many respects a curiosity, that
part of it is here inserted. It seems to be a com-
plaint of Cornish himself agtunst one that had falsely
accused him, who is distinguished by the name of
Informacion, as Cornish is by that of Mnsicke.
A puil>le becwen Infornuckia and MoSkc;
The eiuDplea.
Mufike in hia melcidj requireth tme foundn,
Who lenech a fbog Ibauld geue him to umonj i
Who kepcth true bii tuenei maji not pafle hia londa,
Hia idlencioiu and pralncioni mu8 be pricked treuljr,
for mofiite it trew though mioftnlt maketh mayftij,
Tlie hufa ciRtb nothing but reward tin hit fong,
Merilf CnuMiith liii mondi when hii tong golh all of wmng.
TbcHarft.
A Harpc geueth Utanit aa it ia lette,
llie huper may vndl it uotuublye,
Y/ he plajr VTODg good tone* be doth lectE,
Or by myftnnyng the very tr«w armonye j
A hupc well pl^de on Ihewyth fwcK mdody,
A hacper with bt> wreft may tune the haipc wrong,
Myftuiung of an inftnuneat ihal hurt a true fonKC.
ASmp.
A fonge that ii tiewe and fill of Iwetnet,
May be enyll fonge and tunyd amyle,
Tlie Ibnge of byiniel& yet neucr the let
Ii true and tunable, and (ja^ it ai it ii i
Then blame not the fong, but marke wel thia.
He that hath fpit at another maa'i loDgc,
Will do what be can to haue it fonge wtonge.
A Oeritirdt.
The daricorde bath a tunely kyade,
Aa the wyre ii wiefted bye and lowc.
So it tuenyth tn the ptayeri mynde.
For aa it u i^reflzd lb mult it nedci £howe,
Ai i^ thi* refon ye may well know.
Any inftroownt royftunyd fliall hurl a tnw Ibng,
Yet blame not the claricord the wTeftei doth wrong.
A trompet blowen hye with Co hard a blaA,
Sbal eanle him to vary from the tunable kynde,
Bat be that bloweth to bard muft fuage at the laft.
And ftyne to fall lower with i temperate wynde.
And then the tiompct the true tune Ihalt ^nde,
For an inftniment oTer wynded it tuned wrong,
Blame none but the blower, on him il ii longe.
Trm CamJiL.
Who plaieth on the harpc be iluiuld play tnw.
Who fyngeth a fonfc, let hii toiu be tunable.
Who wr^ieth the cUiicoide myftunyng erchew,
Who bloweth a trompcl let hii wind be mefuraUe,
For initrumenta in them felf be ftnne and ftable,
And ^ tnnith, wold trouth Co erer^ manet Ibnge,
Tone them then traly fa in them a no wrongs.
dbyGoo<^le
HI8T0RT OF THE 8OTEN0E.
In Mnfikc I luTc leuned iiij wloun, at tbi),
BUJu, fill blike, uerte,* and to Ifkewilc redde,
Br chdc colour! nunv fubDU altcncioiu cber i>,
liiat wil beplc one tko in ciuung fae be Wei fped.
With > prikc of Indidon from a body that ii dede,
He Ihal If} fo hu oonibn with livetna of hit [oat,
Thatthccar Oil be plol<d,ind jec he al wrong.
n> Pramfir.
i pore man, aoable of thu Icience to ttyM,
Save litel pndife I have by experience,
I mean buIDwth and of good will.
To nnKmbre chc doeii chat u&cb fuch oSence,
Not one (ble, but geaeially in fentence,
% aole I on Ikyll of a little fonte.
1o try the true corde to be koowen from the wrong.
Yet tnnith wa> not diownde ne Cmke,
But ffiU dyd fleete aboue the water,
Inlbmudan hail played him fuch a pnoke,
That with power the pore had loft hit mater,
Bycanfe that CrauChe began to dater,
Initnuclon hath Qoghl hym to Ibllie hi) Ibofe,
Padeni pai&rce, content you vncli moDge.
Tnab.
1 aUayde cheii Cunei me thooghc ihem not IVrete,
The concordei were nothyngc muficall^
1 called Maften of Mufilce \ ctmyng and difcrete \
'-' ^^e 6ift prynciple, who& name wa Tuballe^
«?
The^&^li
u borce I might not Ijrage,
Informacion Ii fo cuiyout in hit duuncyoge,
That to beie the Crew plainlbng, it it not pofible i
Hit ptopordont be fo hard with fo highe a quatribte.
And the playn long in the maigyn fo aafteljr bound,
That the true tunei of Tubal) cannot haie the right Ibaade.
Tntii.
Well i|uod tniech, yet onei I truft lerely,
To haie my Toyce and fynge agayne.
And to flete out tiueth and cliniy truly.
And ete fuger candy adaye or cwayne.
And chea to the delte to fynge true and playn,
Informacion Dial not ilwaye entuae hyi long,
My para Ihal be true when hit countreven Hull be wrong.
Infbrmtdon hym enbdded of tlie monacorde,
From conlbnauntt to concordei he niufyd hit mayftry,
I altayde the nnlylce both knyght and lord,
Out none would Ipclce, the founde bord wai to bye.
Then kept I the plain keja die maned al my melody,
ZafbrmadoD dnve a crotchet that pafi al my long
With proporcion paribice dreueo on to longe
Soficiancc came in to lyng a pane,
Go Ck quod nootb, 1 prajr you begyne,
Nay lott quod iie, the ^(e of rojr parte
It 10 reft a long reft at I fee in,
Naj by long leftyng je Aal MtluDg Wynne,
For informadon it £> crafty and lb hye in bia longe.
That yf ye lal to nfling In fiyth it will be wrong.
• ThlipHaapiibiniUbarcd.lilakahlihlakanlde.ftc.fKtba
nn pa(. Ill or thfa wnt.
t It U voilhr gf lAHrk llial Ibt lili| mntMaDa to HobnchDi,
apHUatloo of llatiet. and Ik
UMj ma the dolgnatton of a ««tki
tteiiit to tovo batn flrat gim tbem toi
Triwab.
Informadon wil teche a dofior bit gaioe.
From fupciacute to the DoUe dyapafon,
EnfbnnacioD wai mete for > noble dyateflaron.
He fong by a Pothome X that hath two kyndei in one.
With many fabtel femetnnet moft met (oi thii fimg,
Padence ptifbrce, content you with wnoge.
IVwari.
I kepe be rounde and he be Iqntre,
The one ia bemole, and the otlier beqoare.
If I myghc make tryaU at I could and dare.
I Ihoold Ibow why tbelo u kynda do laiye,
" — ■ ■ '■■• doth not'
Pytjie tor patience, and ci
But God koowyth al, fo doth
It kyng Han
ar yf he dydde than cbaaiue Ould thu iiij long,
'or patience, and con&ence for wionge.
Nenyflwhete Panbolam.
l^e yoonger Oombh ajnieara to have been a. good
musician. ' Two aouga of his oompoaition in the
Thoreeby m&nnBcript kbove-mentioned, are inserted
in the next eacceeding book of this nork.
JoHH Taveehkr, mentioned by Morley in his
Catalogna, and also in his Introdnction, par. 151,
and elsewhere, was oi^^anlst of Boston in Lincohi-
shire, and of Cardinal, now Christ-Church college,
in C^ord. It seems that he, together with John
Frith the martyr, and simdry other persona, who left
Cambridge wiUi a view to preferment in this, which
was Wolsey's naw-fonnded college, held frequent cou-
versations upon the abtises of religion which at that
time had crept into the church ; in short, they were
Latherans. And this b«ng diacovered, they were
accused of heresy, and imprisoned in a deep cave
tmder the college, used for the keeping of aalt-fieb,
the stench whereof occasioned the death of some of
them. John Fryer, one of these onfortanate perBone,
was committed prisoner to the master of the Savoy,
Where, as Wood saye, ' be did much solace himself
with playing on the late, having good skill in
music, for which reason a friend of his would
needs commend him to the master ; but the msster
answered, " take heed, for he that playeth is a devil,
' because he is departed from the Catholic Faith." '
He was however set at liberty, became a physician,
and died a natniol death at London.§ Frith bad not
BO good fortune ; he was convicted of heresy, and burnt
in Smithfield, together with one Andrew Hewet, in
1S33.II
Tavemer had not gone such lengths as Frith, Gierke,
and eome others of the fraternity ; the Bospidona
agunat him were founded merely on his having lud
some heretical books of the latter under the boards of
the school where he taught, for which reason, and
becanse of his eminence in his &calty, the cardinal
excused him, saying he was but a mnsician, and so he
OBcaped-lf
:'i ARa and Uonumenla, to). II. pag. 9M, M t«^
1 FnllH'i CtaDRh Bkatorr, Cent. XVI. BoM V. pag. (IT1.| I
— '^-■— -'- "Srt.Hmn nuu oT Taiemai, ~ni"f him KMhrL
dbyGoot^le
AND PRACTICE OF MUStO.
^
O Spleo - dor glo - - ri •
O Spl«n - dor glo
I-nuL- go Sab-Btan - (j - » Da-i
I - ma - go Bnbatan - ti - n E>e - i Fft-trii
Irf
i'~-o o^
Je - m Chris -
to n . ni-oo e-JM . dem fi-
- LI- r ^ J 'T"i''i ■ ' p
^ Fa-trii onmi-po-teii
til, Jo - M Chrii .
- te
m'^ Di-00 o-Jo* - d«in B -
Je - Ml Chiu • te
„
"^'^Jl *^ H 1 *» +
- Dl^ 0 - jo. - dem fi - H di -
et De-ni noo-ter Sal
John Tatsbmbb.
Dr. Ward, in hia Lives of the Oreabiun Profeesors,
bu brought forward to view a man of the name of
John Taverner, who it seema was chosen mosic pro-
faesot in the yaar 1610; and it is neceeBary, in order
to prevent confnsion I)etween these two persons, who
had the same christian and surname, to distingaisli
the one from the other ; and especially a« Ward has
Bud hnt very little of the former of them, and in
speaking of him baa made nee of an expreasion that
oftenerimpliescontempt than respect, 'There was
■ one Jolm Taverner of Boston, ifto.'
The truth is, that this person is he whom all men
mean when they speak of Taverner the musician ;
and as to the professor, he was the son of the famoos
Richard Tavemer,* who in the year 1539, published
■ Iq the 7«j I55t (tall fUcbard TAvemer. (hooAh ■ la^inui,
in thg nltn^qoHa SLluliFdi, bring itacn hli^li
OitOrd. ha ■ppoued In iha pulpll u St. MarVii thn
■warduid leoldctudji ibont bli uvcL, ta6 mide i
Kholan, whlpb btA thli hopcftil bv^lnplnK, 'Arriving
' SL Hut'' )>■ <>« •Wncj lUcs. wim 1 dov lUod. 1 b
r«il VI, Unnm
a new edition of what is called Matthew's Bible, with
corrections and alterations of his own ; but it does
not appear from the doctor's account of him that he
had any better clum to the office of music professor
than a testimonial from the nniTersit^ of Oxford,
where he had studied, purporting that he was ' in his
' religion very sonnd, a doe and diligent freq\ientar
' of prayers and sermons, and in lua conversation
'very civil and honest,' with this general recom-
mendation respecting his profidency in mnuc, ' that
' he had taken two degrees in that and other good
'arts.'
RoBKBT Fairtax, of the YoAshire family of that
name, was a doctor in music of Cambridge, and was
incorporated of Oxford in the year 1511. Bishop
Tanner says he was of Bayfoid in the coonty of
dbyGoot^le
856 mSTOET OF THE 80IEN0E Book VIIL
Hertford, ud that he died at St Alban'a, which Ib intennent, bat has long been hid hy the seat of tlie
reiy probable, for he was either orgaaiat or chanter mayor of that town.* Some of hii compoeitiona, and
of the abbey church there, and lies buried therein, the following among the rest, are in the n—"— *J"*
His coat-armonr is depicted over the place of bis of Mr. Tboresby above-mentioned : —
^
Wf^
-^ „ _u.4- 1 1 - 1 .1 . J 1 .CT:. .1 i' 1
^_^A
VBsmn
me s-ter^- ni-ta - tia, Fi •U-i, ele - men-tii
n
*-s
A - -
VEsum .
d
Imp ■ 1- r.Ts} J f
Som • mev
B-ri - ta- tis Ha - ter ^ - it - d-ma..
- -ma Sum - me V
e-ri-U - - ^- - e» Ma-tor pi - li - ri - n*.
^ . ". ^V.'^^^
1 1 '*-"■" '^ " ^1.1^ "-I ' 1 ■■ ojo 0 L
a^-^- meTB-ri- ta-lk Ma-ter pi - !■ - d-rna,.
.— .
__
•-*
zrEi=p
=:
~
■=
^
me bo-ni
to-
tU
■pon
-BS
be^ig
- 11 j
Bf
ma,
SomDie tri -
Sam -
me
be
ni
ta
tis . .
■ «Pon
»■
be
- nig-nis-d
S
S^
3
m
tri""
- ni
u .
pap^
=^
^:
E^
^
zs=
-
^E
^^
=^
ss=
=
-*>—
^*
'-^. . .
SmD
bo
Dl
U
ttoV^
■pon
-M
be
nig
ni«-«i
ma^<
Sum-
„.«^
-U - tIs aa-cil - la ni-Us
^m
^m
. di
JoBH M18ON, in Horley's Gatalogne called 8ir
John Mason, as being in ordere.f took the degree of
bachelor of mnuo at Oxford in the year 1608, as
appears by the li^sti Oxon. of Wood, who adds that
he was mnch in esteem for his profession. Eb wu »
prebendary, and the treasurer of the cathedral cfanrch
of Hereford, and died in 1547.
• In thfl TlunibT US. U U
lit to th< ClidMlu.iu
i/fK
n mm nm gnul'iiUd la th* hi
' He laliwil u UgMbir tm kMMt Die won
' Bat if I «na dnctB, I do tall tm pUIn.
■ I'd bg irall ■dA'd •'•t I nurrted iciln.'
DotTTDB PaTXVAX.
OHAP. LXXVI.
JoBH I>VGOir, as appears by a composition of his
here inserted, was Pnor of St. Austin's in Canterbury,
and a very skilful mnsician. In the catalogue of
the abbats of the monastery of 8t Augustine, in
Dr. Battel/s Antiquities of Canterbnty, part II.
page 160, John Dygon is the sixty-eighth in num-
ber. It seems be ms nused to this dignity from
that of prior, for many instances of the kind occur in
that list ; and let it be remembered that the brethren
of the monastery were of the Benedictine order.
According to Dr. fiattely, Dygon was elected abbat
anno 14U7, and died in 1509. In the Fasti Oxon. it
is said that John Dygon, a Benedictine monk, was
admitted to the degree of bachelor In matic, anno
1612. This account agrees bot ill with that given
dbyGoo*^le
Ohap. LXXVL
AND PRAOnOB OP MDSia
<^ Dygon of Guiterbory, and yat the coincidence in haidljr admit of » Bnppoflition bnt that the peraotu
both, of M manT particnlkTS as a christian and snr- severally epokea of were one and the same. "Die fol-
name, and a religions and secular profession, will louring Motet is the composition above referred to : —
,
y^ ..
r
^fi— n \ — -■ ■-
AD
U '
- pi- di.
po .
AD
la
f.-*rJ-H
pi - dl.
po. d-do
b^
^W-- IP
1 1 H
■ '
«»-. L°
• — 1-
qua - re . . non
*P^=
__ ^_
. f r
T-n J f n 1
.. -3-7
■ 1 J .J
^ ]
lt-l. "
tniQ,
qna-re n
onwT- v> - - buit
•i 1 h— t'-'TT-^^-l
pe -
-T~,1 lH--t-
Jm-
. .l»n^
qua-
e cooser-
va- b«Dt pe-tnun.
pe
- .
^-^■\^ J
- ^
Br— J J.J U .J J. J-.J-I 1 -I 'rnr -J. l°.n - n. rrjf>i
MT-va
bant p* -
Uam
Jni - ti -
- d-
m
qva • TB non kv - t« . - baot pe
m
^P
tram Jm-ti - - d
^-Ttr^^ir^
- tU, tI ■ vit De
^i^
^
»1|, Ti-rft De -
dbyGooi^le
HISTOKY OF THE SOIEHGE
I#-n-5 — r
i j-r
,
. „ ,
— 1 i nl — 1 — 1 r
- Tit, Vi
J 1
Tit De
J I 1
■ 0,
,
quod 0 - nim v{-Tit,vi.rit
^ »
tHDo - 0,
qlKd « -
f=J=rr
- A ^ - ""v.- - "••
. .
'rit.
ir" .
-Ota a-- .
Til,viTltD0 -(.,.. Tt - .
1/F=i=
p p ' n f
,. . jnr
-1— I^J-
■^
=^
De-
0. Tl -
=^^
=f¥^
p-rT^-^"
=H=P
»it De
^lU
Tf
vh
Do -
IT-, ir^-t:
- yit D«
0,
quod •-
rim Ti - Tit,
Ti -
- vit De
- o.
William Ohsllb wu admitted at Oxford to the
degree of bachelor in mnuc 19th July, 1526. He was
a secular chaplain, a prebendaTy, and precentor of
Hereford cathedraL Bishop Tanner mentione two
tracts of his writing, the one Entitled Uoracfe Practice
Oompendinm, the other De Proportion! bns Mnstcia.
JoHK QniMnETH was a native of Wales, of very
poor parentage, but supported in his stodies by some
beneficent clergyman, wno allowed him an exhibition.
In the year 1531, being then a secular priest, and
having spent twenty years in the stody and practice
of mosic, and composed the responses for the whole
year in division-song, uid many masses and andphons
for the use of the church, he supplicated for the
d^Tee of doctor, and obtained it upon payment of
twenty-pence, and in 1533 was presented to the
JoHH DiooH, Fbiob ot Sumt Ao«Tm's, CurrsunBT.
rectory of 8t Peter in West Ohepe." He wrote
' A Declaration of the State wherein Heretics do lead
' their Lives,' and other controversial tracts mentioneil
by Wood and Tanner.
John Sbbphabs stndied at Oxford twenty yaaiv,
and obtained a bachelor's degree. In 1551 he sn|N
plicated for that of doctor, bat it does not ap^>ear by
the registers that he obtained it Some of his com-
positions are extant in a book intitled ' Momyng and
' Evenying prayer and Communion, &t forthe in fbnr«
'partes, to be fong in churches, both for men aixj
' chUdren, wyth dyvers other godly prayer* and An-
• thems, of fundry meni doynges. Imprinted at London
* by John Day, dwelling over Alderf-g»te, beneath
'Saint Martins, 1565;' others in nuumscript are
among the archives in the mnnc-school at O^ford.f.
=#F
t-j ^ „_:x.
^ r-f"
=55=
— p «iT^— ^^= — <g -^ —
-'^
P
STEV'N Gret af - Mr
-^ _ a — _„ — »— iei —
^r^
for Qed'i word his blood - tpaat
cm -
s
BTEVN first
af - ter Christ
r r "
=^
for God'. won! his blood
qieiit
Pd
z
STEVN bit
r y .. '^ =^
af - tar Christ
for
God's word his blood tfeat
-T-. ..^=^ ^
ti — -
el • Ue to death idoD
- ed
by
(Use A - - OTse -
-■ If ot -1 rii TJ~'*~~r~lg:
1^
om - - el - lie
-^ f ^ '
U> death E
tOD
ed by false A • <nM -
— ^
— k
1 death tton - ed
fslM
• vide Alben. Oim. loL I. «1. 101. Full, inb una litl. muijatlel
t TIm diuiIc KkggI It OifsTd li llw npHlldtj of ■ gnu BumlHi of ■boTe-iuuiifd Itifpiuud. ■
boob MDUloIng coBpallkmi of lulou tkidi. tamj at Uwni dT fimt WUIlim HeUhn or KETthcr, oi
BodMu orolber Ubnrtn oflln nnlTinltr. wlU tx nrMently unmntid iMnon, who dkd In ISM, hiiDi]
IM; lntllntltniiutbgm«itkMilthUo»WUll*m>om«,i priut la lbs dm of Um pinfiKir, >hB m nquind to md H in tha mi
Uh nlfnot KmrfYlU. Vfll iklllnl Ipmiialo md pottif, had inida ■ OHdg ■ doullon of IheabpTe oeUegtlon, unOwislIb hltow
uvtBttt MUMthm of Ih* beat compotf UoBt tltCB ainot, ud (ami Ike^ ibnato.
orBDiloii,MuI)eck of Wlndior, Dr. PilTtkx.UK
le iMtnn (t Oxfiuil, u
dbyGooi^le
AND PRAOnOE OP KCSia
A ■■
— fi 5 , |- 1 f^
-^ WM ■'.'.■^'^ -C" "■!=
■yar
log hia wul to Ood, pny-
r r "' pr r "
fag him to ... . for -
r r (• f- \ " H-
gev8
^
- meute,
TOM
- fag hii ■oal . . . to God,
pny.fag him to for - gore
'^
■^-^.U,
Teld - ing Ui wal to God.
Fa— ^
— —p-
-p-
1 r f
M 1
Si — ^
- Qe-
miea' m» -
U-^ — r r
lice, blind Ig - no-nooa
and
mil -be
-p— lot
- - to.,
r* " rrl
Hip— ^^
- no-mioi'
tna - lioe, blind ig •
,«L
wnce,
ttld mi. ■
tv*. .
hit
iniM- ma - 1i<», blfad ig
^
P==N
J J f f-"=4
JM.,«id mis-to.lOTSrr .
1^
lere, not r« - gwd - bigiiiB o
e -gard - fag hb own gre-i
fag hi* om gre-Tona tor
grevow toniMDia pra - aaxt, bat thnr poQiahment to oome, • • which oe • ver ab
to come,w)iich ne
Init their pn-niahmsnt
which ne - verihonld n
p^='-—r !■ r r-f\ ' ,. " r ^ 1^— "— ^— ^=f
- IflUt; and for hla con - itant
faithe tDd far ■ vent eha • li - tie. From earth
~" ■-■» « » .. flp.f rr "—V
l«Dt; and for hit
oon - Itant fiiilhe and for-vent cha - ri - Ije, Fnm
1 f f J ■ J J .J 1 J 1 - — o — =F
and fw hit
Gon-itantfaithe and rer. vent eha - i1 • tie, Froni earth
^
Chiiit Iiii glo - ri - ont
Jea ■ tie.
^
Heav-n Ohriat Uaglo-ri-oiuHa-Jee
fa Heav'n Cluist hit glo - li - ona Ha - jes
tie.
Jona SaxrauD.
dbyGooi^le
fflSTORY OP THE SCIENCE
CHAP. Lxxvn.
By Aiendlbip'a lot to Piul'i I got,
So found I grace i certiiD fpace
StiU to lemuae
With Redfbcd tboe, the like no where ,
For cunning liich ud (ertue much,
B]r whom tome put of muGc't ut
So did I giine.
JoHH RBDroRS wu oi^nist and almoner of St.
Paul's cathedral in the reign of Henry VIII., and, in
virtne of the latter u£fio9, master of the boye there. - -, ,»,..>
Tmbct, the authqr of the Five hundred Points of ^'*^ Thoemb, a contemporary of Bedford, and
Hnebandry, and his KhoUr. gives a character of him who has also a place in Morla/s C^ogue, was of
in the foUowiag etanza, taken from his life, written ^o'''' ^^ ™"* probMy organist of that cathednL
by himself in verse : * "^^ following motet may serve as a i^tecimen of hu
Cj-
1 ■ ■ ■■ ■■ > \-'*~
=s:
r r " [ "~
— " r r r-+
te
J
BTEL - LA MB
~a
ex-ttr-pa - -nt
qua iK-U-vit
W^
J-T-. ^
4 ;; 1— i: 1 r 1 r f
U ex-tir-]a
.1 .. 1 -
vh qo* Iw -
BTEL - LA «. - U
\ " 1 1 "
ex-tir-p. - - Yit.
—
ei-tir-p. . Yit
qtUB lao-ta-vit
_ fj
"TIM- :
1 F S ] 1 i- p p. If* |i» » o ff
^
mi-aum,
- U-
Tit Do-minnm,
qwB Ino-ta-ritDo-mi-num, Mor- tis peetam qnim pUn-ta-vit, Mor - ds
^ Do
L^ qo.
C^ ^ - ., ..
=rf^
p .. fr
primiu Parena Ho - mi-nam,
primna Pa-
j^-W-i-p-p p-r'-y-'-* — 1 --<j:J p"p «j-f--.r[-c. .Jfljj^jj^j _|^- a) .J .(" p J 'f~^
pes- tern qoamplnnU • vit, primus Pareni Ho
jm-» n» fr*- — ^ J—J-i—i-p—„ J — 1_
1 1
-i-m . ^
primus Paivu Ho -
K uqnmplui-ta - Tit, prl - mns Pa-mu Ho
miuiuD, pri-m
uspLns Ho - ~y
- roQi ho - ml - nnni,
^
, — - ^ rir rr-^-^ —
^ — u-jjj^. r* J .. I
Ip - u 8»el-Unanodi8-M -
or iiil8-r» cKap»-i)8 - re,
I '^ '
Ip - «nSteI-U nniMdig-nG - tm
l^. " £ - ,gf
- »»8tel-l»iiiBiodig- no - tnr, ri^a-r
■ oom-pea-ce-re, n-de-ra ootn -
X. " JJ «
Eide-r»compea-ae-re . quo - ni
JLLU^ „ ■ ■ L.. • ^ii
" r 1-
ar-tb dI -
- r« GOtnpea-oe-rs quo-nun bel-laplebem oe -
■ - - dont di.Tsnwr-Uiul-co
— I TJT
l-s-p<»-oo-re quo-rambel-UplebBmoe -
- dQDt dl-remor-tiB
nl-oe-
Id Ui Hg iddh Uut ■( leogtb kr
■ placard or'nunol iiuixd fbi IIm putiuu at nippliW Ihs c
of tUa UBfiUun wUI> i»n> and nwlt u> —rn ttw woU u> ••*»
lud tbi mot fOrtDn* Is (M lo ll. PanlX
r of Etdftird, u In Hi* Maau abtm^tad.
IM9, tH nBl Is Ktiis%
■hhIt Oh Him whaa
IT ntfn i' Hot Tilt.
Digitized by GoOl^le
OoAP. Lxxvn.
AND PRAOTICE UF HDSIO.
Fn mT — m — ■ ^ p. Iff" r r r*
TT?-=
#=E
=s=
r
1 rr 1 1 r" r '— m- ' ' ^.l
- ^ ■ ■ w, di-re mor-tii nl - cb
■^T^
=^
O glo
- rf
-Fi-
M
n, dl - re mor-tfa ul
- OS
^^
0 grto
ri
■ n Stel-U
^. '- ™, di-r-ir..- «1.;^ -
. .
re.
O gk,
ri
- M 8t«l -
B '=* W .. [
:! — 1
ru a
5=-
pea-te n
^r 1
.^J 1 J J
— J 1
-1. ■ :
^
ma
- ri.
a pea
J J 1 o
-re 00
J I J 1
l-4-d—
- bta. An
'^ ' r—
- di
L: !~! — 1—
^ ii_
•=±
bb, Av • di HI
■UF l-J^—
ol It f
, ^
-("-nT
gri ''■r
Aa • ditMEi
■m fi
-^H^ ^
u
==1
Dl-hU nO-gUM to ho - DO .
Dwum Fi
fali .. . 1 1
rl""
w
ul-hU
□e - gau to bo - no -
•^ n -
iiM*
,
" ■ '^r
=?
n. tiJ-hil DO -
^^^^ - 1 ■■— H 1
gau* to ho ' u • ntt
|-^
■ ■*•» fl,..-o^
(^
■-n—
-loU
— ft-n
- IM,
..■«» "
ni-hil
M-gau
-M
to ho -DO
- lat
' ° 1° r
J-u-LJ-
Je -
t— 1-r.-r-
— °EB
/T^
t " 1
- rat,
i-bU DC
- gaw
to
bo - no -
mt
8*1 - V
._j_f4_
noa
Ja
;^
gg-f'-^
M^
=^
" H
^
^
=.:.=E^^
^^^'■'CJ/^
sy
-■J-M— H
ul -bQ Ds ' gans to bo
Sal - ve noa Jo
fL-_, »» p. .. ,_ 1 P-.g-L^^=s
,
1 |,
%: ! 1 P4-^^^= P=
Proqnl-boa Tir.go, ptoqnl -biuvir
Jj» 1
gn.
^
nutorte o
V
- • rat.
Pro qd-Inu Tir-go,proqnt'biu Tir
" f "
8".
T — d-
iteTte o '
— r ' " 1.
- ral,«* .
^ Pro qniTbiu TIT - - go, pro qul-biu tIt -
■ go.
:.^=-L-
.»
7^^^
JoBa Thobxb, or Tobk.
dbyGoo^le
86S
HISTORY OF THE SOIEaiOE
Book VIIL
Gkobob ErmtBiDon, in Latin Ediyciu, bora at
Thame in OxfordBhire, was a echolar of Oorpna Christi
college in Oxford, anno 1534 He waa admitled to
a degree in phyeio, and, being excellently skilled in
the Greek language, was appointed Regius professor
thereof in that nnivereity about the year 1553 ; bnt
having been in qneen Mary's time a persacator of the
Frotest&nts,* he was by her sacceesor removed from
that Rtation, after which he betook himself to Uie
practice of physic in the city of Oxford, by which,
and the instruction of the boob of gentlemen of hts
own oommnnion (for be atrictly adhered to . the
Bomieih peranaBion) in the rudiments of grammar,
mnaic, and logic, he acquired considerable wealth :
one of his pupils was William Gifford, afterwards
archbishop of Rheims. He was an excellent poet,
and well skilled in the mathematice, as aleo in vocal
and inertmmental mnsJc, as appeeriad to Anthony
Wood by some of hia compoeitions, which it ia pro-
bable he had seen, and the testimony of the more
ancient writers. Leland, who was hie familiar friend,
thus celebrates his memoiy :
Scripiisti juvenis multd enm laude Ubellaa,
Qui Regi eximie perplacoere meo.
And Kts soma up bis character in these words :
'Erat peritns mathematicas, mnsicne tnm vocolis,
' tnm instrumental is, cnm primia in Anglia confe-
' rendua, teatndine tomen et lyra prse catena delecta-
'batur. PoSta elegantiBsimae. Versns enim Anglicoa,
' IiSttnoe, Gnecos, Htebreoa accnratiaeime componere,
' et ad tactns lyricoa conclnnare pertiaaime eolebat'
RioHABD EnwARDa, a native of Somersetshire, was
a scholar of Corpua Christ! college, Oxon, and re-
ceived hia mnaicti edncoUon under George Etheridge
above-mentioned. At the foundation of CSiriat Chnrch
colk^ by Henry VIIL in 1547, he was mode senior
student, being Uien twenty-fonr years of ^e. At
the be^nning of qneen Elizabeth's reign he was made
» gwitleman of the chapel and master of the children.
He was an excellent mnsician, and also a poet. Pnt-
teoham, in his Art of Ebgliah Poesie, pag. S, together
with the earl of Oxford, celebratea ' Maister Edwordes
' of her Majestya cbapel,' for comedy and interlude.
A particular acconnt of him is referred to a sub-
sequent part of this work, in which the old English
poets are enumerated and characteriaed. In this
place he is spoken of ae a moetciaa only, and in that
fkculty ha ia aaid to have manifested his skill in many
Terr excellent com portions.
RoBBBT Testwood, of Windsor, and John Mak-
BECK of the aame placft, a man to whom chnrch-mnnc
ia greatly indebted, he being the original composer of
the muaic to the cathedral service in use at this day,
will be spoken of hereafter j at present it may suffice
to say, that in the reign of Henry YIII. they were
both condemned to dte stake for heresy, that the
former suffered, and the latter escaped the same fate
in regard of his great merit in his profeesioa.
Besides the several English mnsicians above enu-
merated, there were many of great eminence of wbom^
■ He HiliM tt (t» dqtndaiisB of HldkT pnnkini* (d tb*
prercDt tils tpsAktng uiinil hit pn - . .
no memorials are now remaining, save thoee few of
their compositions which escaped that general d«>
struction of books and manoscripts which attended
the diaaolution of religions honaes, and ore now pr^
served in the libraries of cathedrals, those of the two
naivenitieB, the colleges of Eton and Winchestei,
and the British Mnseum.')' The following are tbe
namee of famous musicians who fiourished before the
Reformation, and have not a place in Morley's Cata-
logue printed at the end of his Introduction. John
Charde, Richard Ede, Henry Parker, John Norman,
Edmund Sheffield, William Newark, Bheryngbam,
Hamehere, Richard Davy, Edmund Tnrges, Sir
Thomas Fhelyppis, or Philips, Browne, Gilbert
Banister, and Heydinghom.
Morl^e Catalogue may be supposed to contain
the names of the principal musicians of hia time, and
of the age preceding ; but it is somewhat remarkable
that he has neither In that, nor in any. other part uf
his work, taken notice of our king ^skt VIII. as
a composer of moaic Eraamna relates that he com-
posed oflices for the chnrch ; bishop Bnmet has
voQcbed his authority for asserting the aame; and
there ia on anthem of his for four voices, ' 0 Lord,
' the maker of all things,' in the books of the royal
chapel, and in the collection of services and anthems
lately published by Dr. Boyce, which every judge of
music must allow to be excellent It is trne that in
a collection of chnrch -music, intitled ' The first book of
' seleoted Church Musick, collected by John Barnard,
' one of the minor canons of the cathedral church of
' St Paul,' and published in the year 1641, this
anthem is given to William Mnndy, bnt the lats
Dr. Aldrich, after taking great pains to ascertun the
author of it, prononnced it to be a genuine com-
position of Henry YHI.^ The fact is, and there ia
additional evidence of it existing, not only that
Henry nnderstood music, bat that he waa deeply
skilled in Uie art of practical composition ; for in a
collection of anthems, motets, and othw chnrch offices,
in the hand-writing of one John Baldwin, of the
choir of Windsor, a very good composer himself,
which appears to have been completed in the year
1691, ia the following composition for three voices,
with tiiese words, ' Henricus Octavus,' at the beginning,
and these, ' Quod Rex Henricos Octavus,' at the end
of the Cantua, or upper part ; —
mibn of them irhyeh pnrfihu
— ti itt lk«e Kbiwre boko, h
« Ihejr cud^lyckH, aad tomt 1 . . .
< Some lh«r hM* to the cnuait ud H|it«allan. nd HnM Ibej •■■■
* <nff H to tlw bokobjndm. not la nuj] nombn, but tt tjiBB wbvlg
■thnipm foU, to tb* woDdorrnii o( Ih* f^mi nwrm*. V« tb*
' Dnrrenrta* of thTi mime ue not all elen In tbli detauibl* &ek
' Bui euHd k Iblt ballre obrebe uketh to bl Mde irilb tacb* DBiodlr
' snjD**, Bod n depelje ihametfa by* utbnl eODtnre. I kihowe *
■ merchuinl man, vnyt^ ib*l] at tbr* tjme be nuDeJcaee, tb«t bongbl*
■the eiiiiienla of twa noble Irbiwrn tM xh ibTJIjiisH ptroe, a ahen*
' It la t* be ■potaD. Tbyi iluflfe hitb be occupjed Is tbe ateda of |ta/*
■ paper by lb* ipaee al mm Ibui tbeae i raana, and ret b* huh its*
■ Tioogh fbi ai muT narei to come. A prodnTUiiae eiampla li IkK
'do.' Pnfkce to Tbe UboTTOiue Jouney a Seiche of Johvi Ltj)Mada
tor Erfllaode'i AntlqulUea. with declencyoiu enlaigad : bj Jabu Bale,
him 'one Edilfe, the
It Paal'i, WIndaor,
J Dr. William Crofl. i
dbyGooi^lc
Chap. LXXVH
AND PRACrnClE OF MU8I0.
QDAH pol - obn m . . et
n, et qnim de-oo
m
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qnam pulebi* . e* et qnim de -
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dbyGoo*^lc
HISTORY OF THE SOIENOE
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dbyGoo<^le
Cbap. LXXVIL
AND PRACTnOE OF HtJSia
Tor 'lb B
u r r " F"
1 " 1" f 1 H \\i
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ft H 1^^
ni di - lee •
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Hekmodb OfTaToa, Ahoua Bn.
dbyGoo^le
Oa>p. LXXVIL
AND PRAOTIOB OF MUSIC.
Ml
And though soch a degree of efaiU u is nutnifested
in the aboTO oompoeidoD, may Mem more than a king
can well be eoppoaed to have poeseaaed, it is to he
romembered, that being the younger of two brotbera,
and his chance of succeeding to Uie crown therefore
precarioos, he was intended by his Either for the
church, with a remote view to the archbishopric of
Canterbury ; music was therefore a necessary ^^rt of
his education.* And the statutet of lUtUti/
CoUege, Cambridge, founded by IFmryVIIL,nu^
part of the eieaminatwH of candidates for feUon^
ehipt to be ' Quid m Cantandopoitintfmdeed, ail
vtmban were tvppoted eapabb of nnging a part
in choir ternce.
As to the composition above given, the words are
taken from the Canticnm Canticorum, cap. vii. as
rendered by tbo vnlgate translation, and it may be
preenmed that the object of it was some female with
whom the king waa npon terms of grost familiarity .f
It was doubtless owing to the affection which uiis
prince entertained for music that his children also
arrived at great proficiency in it. Edward VL
played on the lute, as appears from that expression
u Oardan's account of him, ■ Cheli pnlsabot,' and
indeed &om hie own Journal, where he mentions bis
playing on the lute to Monsieur le Maresohal St.
Andrfe, the French ambassador. Mary also played
on the lute and on the virgins], as appears by a
letter of queen Cetherine her mother, wherein she
exhorts her ' to use her virginals and lute, if she has
' any : ' and as to Elizabeth, her proficieucy on the
virginal is attested by Sir James Melvil, who himself
had once an opportunity of hearing her divert herself
at that instrumenL This affection io the children of
Henry VIII. for music is but a trivial circumstance
in the history of their livee, but it went a great way
in determining the &te of choral service at several
periods daring the Reformation, when it became a
matter of deMie whether to retain or reject it, as
will appear by the following deduction of particulars.
The clamours against choral service, arising from
the negligent maimer of performing it, were about
this time very great, and the council of Trent in
their delibenrfdons with a view to the correction of
abuses in the celebration of the msss, had passed
some resolutions touching church mnsic that ^ve
weight to the objections of its enemies : as the Ke-
formation advanced these increased ; those of the
clergy who fell in with Wickliffe's notions of a
refonnatioQ were for rejecting it as vain and nn-
edifying ; the thirty-two commisdoners appointed by
■ It bH tlmdT torn murktd Ihil ■ compatont ikUl In duIs vm
ndcnUf MHH17 hi [ha cinlul pnfudiin : M Oa nrldnigg of tint
bet IMuhtIt HtdiKMl dut 1h iddad Ih* bUewtng «lnot tram ■ lslt«
fnm III Imn HuiUfUn to prinei Hcbit, imUtbilu ■ ebHuBtv of
BUh ud Walk, i, INI. • Hla bnadlu m
lood UMnlon, uil p«tl)rlaiuiulok,whlckwii
"rtnit»j Dtttba could UT ba
. .J, UMMtn valt, ud loilng
hub good jDdgmeni.' vide Sir Jobn Hurinibni'a
Bilafin«ri>rihaCtiiinb, >iidNiiKaABtlqiiB,llma.Loiu].lTa,pag.tl.
probablj od
the statutes of 8£i Henry VIU. and 3 and 4 Edward
VL to compile a body of ecclesiastical laws, it is
true, allowed of singing ; but by the lestrainta that it
is laid under in the Reformatio Legum Eodesiastica-
rum, tit. De Divinis Officiis, cap. 5. it seems as if that
assembly meant to banish figurate music out of the
church, and by admitting only of that kind of singing
in which all might join, to put cathedral and parochi^
service on a level.
In the reign of Mary no one presumed to vent hie
objections agautst choral singing : the Protestants
were too much terrified by the persecutious to which
their profession exposed Uiem, to attend to the con-
tents of the Romish ritual ; and when they were
once persuaded that the worship of that church was '
idolab^jus, it could not but be with them a matter
of indifference whether the offices nsed in it were
sung or said.
But the truth of the matter is, that those men who
were beet able to expose the errors and superstition
of popery withdrew themselves, and in a state of
exile conceived a plan of refonnation and church
discipline su truly spiritual, as seemed to render
useless the means which some think neceasary to
excite in the minds of men those ideas of reverence
and respect which should accompany every act of
devotion. Actuated by their zeal against popery,
they in short declared those rites and ceremonies to
be sinful, which at most could be but indifferent, as
namelv, the habits anciently worn by the minister in
the celebration of divine service, and the little less
accession of queen Elizabeth, the arguments agunst
both were pushed with great vehemence in the coarae
of the disciplinarian controversy.
This is a brief account of that opposition which
threatened the banishment of the solemn choral ser-
vice from our liturgy, and which, though made at
different periods, waa in every instance attended with
the like ill success, as will appear from the following
short review of the measures taken for its eetablieh-
ment and support.
For first, the disposition of Henry VUL to retain
the choral service may be inferred from the provisions
in favour of minor canons, lay clerks, and choristers,
not only in the refonndations by him of audont
cathedral and collegiate churches, but also in thoee
modem erections of ^iacopal seea at Westminster,
Oxford, Qloncestar, ubester, Bristol, and Peter-
borough, which were made by him, and liberally
endowed for the support and maintenance of silvers
in those cathedrals respectively.
Edward VL manifested his affection for choral
singing by bis injunctions issned in the year 1647,
wherein conntenance is given to the singing of the
litany, the priest being therein required to sing or
plunly and distinctly to say the same. And in the
first liturgy of the same king, the rubric allows of the
singing of the ' Venite exultemns,' and other hymns,
botii at matlins and even-song, in a manner contra-
distingnished from that plom tune in which the
lessons ore thereby required to be read.
Farther, the statute of 2 and 3 Edward VI. fo'
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
868
mSTOBY OP THE SOIENOE
Book IX.
ODifoniuty of Service, oonbum « proviso that it aball
be Ltwfol to QM Paalina or pr&yer taken out of the
Bible, other than tiiose diret^ed by the new litorgy ;
wfaicli proriao let in the use of the metrical paalmody
of the Oslviniats, and abo the anthem, eo pecoliar to
cathedral aerrice, and waa recognized by the etatate
of 5 and 6 of E^dward YI. made for co^rming the
aecond liturgy of the aame king.
As to qneen Elisabeth, she, by the forty-ninth of
her injunctions, given in 1669, declares her sentiments
of chnrch mnsic in terms that seem to point oat a
medium between the abosee of it, and the resCnuute
nnder which it was intended to be laid by the Reform-
atio L^mn Bcdesiaalicaram. The statnte of mii-
formify made in the first year of her rrign, establishee
the second liturgy of Edward VL widi a very few
alterations. The act of tiie legislature thna co-ope-
rating with her royal will, aa declared by her in-
junctions, and indeed with the general sense of the
nation, choral service received a twofold sanction, and
was thenceforth received among the ritea and cere-
moniea of the chnrch of England.
Prom all which tnmsactiouE it may be inferred that
the retention of the solemn choral service in our cban^
was in a great measure owing to that zeal for it in the
princes nnder whom the Reformation was b^nn and
perfected, which may be naturally supposed to bava
reenlted from their love of mnsic.
BOOK IX. OHAP. LXXVIIl
1^ foregoing deduction of the history of mnsic in
England, sod Uie spedmens of vocal compositions
above g^ven, respect chiefly the church'Service, and
bring us nearly to that period when the Romish
fitnu ceased to prescribe the mode of divine worship,
and choral service in this country assomed a new
form. The general havoc and devastation, the dia-
Craion of conventual libraries, and the destmction of
oks and manuscripts, which followed the diesolntion
of monastenee, and the little care taken to preserve
that which it was foreseen would shortly become of
no use, will acconnt for the difficulty of recovering
any compositions of singular excellence previous to
the time of the Reformation ; and that any at all are
remaining is owing to the zeal of thoee very few
persons, who were prompted to collect them sa
evidences of the skill and ingenuity of onr ancient
chnrch mnmciana.
From hence we may perceive that as far ss con-
cerns the mnsic of the church, we are arrived at the
commencement of a new era; and such in truth will
it appear to be when we come to speak of the reformed
liturgy, which tiiongh it was so calculated as to he
susceptible of all those advantages that divine service
is supposed to derive from music, can neither be said
to be borrowed from that of the Romish church,*
nor to resemble it so nearly aa to offend any bat
snijh as deny the expediency, and even lawfulness of
a litnrgy in any form whatever.
These reasons render it necessary to postpone for
a while the prosecation of the history of chnrch-
mnsic in this onr country, and to re-assume that of
secular mnsic ; in the improvement whereof it is to
be not«d that we were at this time somewhat behind
onr neighbonrs ; for till abont the oommencement of
the sixteenth century, it does not appear that any one
of the English masters hsd attempted to emulate the
Flemings or the Italians in the compodtion of madri-
gals ; for which reason the account of tbe introduction
of that species of music into this kingdom most also
be referred to a subsequent page.
In the interim it is to be observed that songs and
ballads, with easy tunes adapted to them, must at all
times have been the entertunment, not only of the
common people, but of the better sort : These must
have been of varions kinds, as namely, satirical,
humorous, moral, and not a few of them of the
amorous kind. Hardly any of these with the music
to them are at this day to be met vrith, and thoee few
that are yet extant are only to be found in odd part
books, written without bars, and with ligatures, in a
character so obsolete, that all hope of recovering
them, or of rendering to any tolerable dc^ee intd-
ligible, any of the oommon popular tones in use before
the middle of the sixteenth century, must be given
up. The two that follow have nevertheless been re-
covered by means of a manuscript formeriy in the
collection of Mr. Ralph Thoresbv, and mentioned in
the catalogue of his Museum, at the end of his History
of Leeds ; they both appear to have been set l^
William Oomish, of the chapel royal, in tbe reiga of
Henry VIL The words of the first song were
written by Bkelton, and there is a direct allusion to
them in a poem of his entitied the Crowne of Lawrell,
printed among his works. The latter song is sup-
posed to be « satire on those drunken Flemings who
came into England with the princess Anne of Cleve,
upon her marriage with king Henry VTII.
J r*
IT — 3 — " — p-r» 1
1 ,1 1 1 r Li' r-
1 — 1 IT r
i
W=m=
A - H
bo-ihteir ;on by my hy, tbtto wi
in-ten clarka be nyce ■!
way, A-vent, a -
A • H
betbnw yon by my fay,
=T -^ t ^ 1 f
A-vent, a -
— 1_L ft- ' ' j:T
These irtn - too clarks be nyoe al • w^,
* Tlkit Uu bunk of CdBunDD PnTR hitb It) oriillMl ttom Oie mm- OtSc*!, pag. H : ud llit pnftM (s qDMn BUuMb'l Unifr n
bonk I* BpiHilr denM by HiDiOB L'BitnsBiiinUiAUiuwaof IMitM tlw Ukctaii IMiMn fM Uh orifliul and fniood OHnot.
Digitized by GoOl^le
\
Chap. LXXVIIl.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
tir-r-r
_ |_j p ^_p
JT-^J-. -
j^^
:zg— r 1?' 1-^ ■= —Ht
- vent,
- vent.
. . . myPopin
... my rv-iV,
- >•!.
no-thyng but play. tul-ly
irhmtwill y«
do
Dothyng bnt play, tnl-ly T«l-Iy
1 1. — TT -zzj-;^— ^
K . yor.t.
> - veul, my Po.pin
j.;, «hU nlll ?e
d
- . 0, tu1-ty v»l-ly straw,
i
i
Td-lyM
«traw.
^ l-J J -^
=f=t=
i"^ - \f <• P \r ' rjr-\-^—„^F^ii=^
jaw, let be I
■ J fii-' ^
^ giip Jak of the vale, what m»-ner-ly
— 11*1. [-« H— f-^.-| — ^-f—i H -1— 1 F. -1 f
1«t bs 1
«y.
gap chri*-ti-aD «lewte, gap Jak of the vale, wtiat ma-ner-ly
^d
gup chrUUan clowle, . what ma-ner-ly
m^m
3^
?^msmm^=m^^
Mar-ge-ry ciylk and ale, what ma -aer-ly Mar-geiy,
- ly Mar-go - ry invlk and ale.
tf
J [»-
T-^p-
s^S^
=1=
h=:s -f r i-P i" . J J J 1
w^
By gudo
yo
be
a pi-e
V
podc, BtraweJamje fo-der yo
By gode
ye
be
a pre
ty
pode, and 1 lovoyouan hole cart ludc, ye
=
And I lovo yon an hole cart lode.
a noback>n]e frn your rode, go watch a boleyoor back ia brode.
rode, go watch a bale your back ia brode.
""'xl
I wiss yo dele un - cur-tea - lie, whatwoldeye frompU me, nowtye, fye.
9 ye dele nn-cur-tea • lie, wbatwolde ye fiontpil me, now fye, fye. What and ye shall
dbyGooi^lc
' b« my piga-nye, axj (Bgi-nye, my pg» - nyo.
Waike Torthe yonr way, ye cost nn nooghM, DOv have I bnnd ttut I have Kmghte, the bM dwpe
~s Walks fertile your way, y* oost me noaghte, dow have I found Iliat 1 have Kughte, U)« best chepe
<W> Ix? ' <lByi Iwjy ' day, hoy
- day, hoy-day, hoy • d^i
hoy - dfty, hoy - day, hoy • day.
Digitized by GoOl^le
Ca»i-. LXXVIII.
AND PRAOTICE OP MDSIC.
hoy - day, huy ' d(.y, haydaj, hoy - day, hny - • day.
day.boTday, hoy-day, hoy day, hoy-day, lioy - day.
■ day, hoy - day, hoy -day, hoyday, hoy -day, boy - diyr. Rat-te-kin U i
.-to OQT lowD, In a
^
_,
* • »~ir~^
— " — :i—i~\ 5— r
IF^J —
dob with -out
hh —
r gown,
J— --ijt .J -j-
=^
to ky - - vorhU
orown,Likea rutt • km
dole with -out
coto
■ir gown. Save a
gid
hoodo to kyTor hi>
E_«__JiJ_i_ey,
crown. Like . raU-kiB
^ dokewith-oot
cote 0
It gown. Save a
r«8
1^
hoode to kyrer hi.
crown, Like a mt-te-kln
hoy.day, boy - day, jol-lyni
bi^-day, . hoy-day,
boy- day, hoy - day, jol-ly n
I - kin hoy - day, hoy - day, like a
jol-ly ral-tekin hoy-diy, hoyday,
- kin hoy - day, hoy ■ day, like a
it-tekin hoy - Jay .^ I
te-kin boy - day.
. . dishe, like a rutt - kin hoy-day, hoyday, jolly nitle-kin hoy- day, boyday, like a rnt-te-Uo hoyday. ^i
hia duha, like a mtt-ktn ho^ty, hoy-dtO'i Jolty niKekin hoyday, hoyday, lika a nitu-kiuhoyda .1
, , , i:^ I I I , 1 „ o , , - * 4
' diahe, , . like a nitt - kin hiiy-dny, hoyday, jolty rnttekln hoy-day, ht^'d^, tike a rat- l«-kinhoydaT,
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
• liin h'lyday, hoyday, jolly nit-le-kin hoy-day hoydsy, like s nit-tekin hoyday. —.-a.
hi^day.hoyday, jolly raUekin hoyday, hoyd'y. liko arotte-kinhoyday.
a duk.like a nitt - kin hoy-day, hoyday, jolly rut-t«kjn hoy-day, hoy ~ d.iy, like a rut • te-kin hoyday.
When But- ta • kin frum horde will
When Rut-U-kiDfrumbordewill ty>e,
he willdriaka gal-Ion pot full at twice, andthe
he will drink a gal -lun pot full at tnice, andthe
nitt - kia hoyday. hoy - day, jol-ly niCte - kin hoy - day, hoy-day, like
a niltklD hoy -day, hoy-day, jol-ly rnt-tekin hoy-day, hoyday, like a mtte-kin hoy - day. 8
; ' tekin hoy - day.
a CORHTBHK, JOW.
dbyGooi^lc
OuF. LXXIX
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
CHAP. LXXTX.
Bbttbb success has Attended the attempts to re-
cover the mere words of those songs and ballads
which seem to have been (he delight of past ages.
By these which follow, we discover that with the
yomig people of those tiroes the passion of love
cper^ed la much the same manner as it does now;
that our forefathers loved Btrong ale, and that the
effects of it were discoverable in effusions of mirth
and pleasantry, in a total oblivion of care, and a reso-
lution to take no thought for the morrow.
If the coarseness of the raillery, or the profaoeness,
or indelicacy of expression observable in the two
preceding, and in a few of the suhseqaent poems,
should need an apology for inserting them, the best
that cau be made le, that they present to oar view a
true picture of the times.* Before the statute of
James I. against profane cursing and swearing, the
profanatiou of the name of God was so frequent in
common dieconree, that few looked on it as a crime.
When Cox, bishop of Ely, hesitated about alienating
a part of the episcopal estate in favour of Sir
Christopher Hatton, queen Blisabeth disdained to
expostulate with him. but swore by her Maker, in a
letter yet extant under her own princely hand, to
deprive him if he perflisl«d in his refusal. In the
earlier copies of our old English plays oaths make
a part of the dialogue, and are printed at length : in
the later editions these are expouged; an evidence that
the national manners have in some respects improved
in the course of a centnry.
As to the other objection, the indelicate style of
love conversation, it may be imputed to the want of
that refinement which the free and innocent inter-
course of the sexes in the view of their elders and
BuperioTs necessarily induces, not to mention the im-
provements in literature, which furnish the means
of regulating external demeanour, and teach us to
distinguish the behaviour of a rustic from that of
In this respect, too, the manners of the present have
greatly the advantage overthoaeof ptastages; at least
the style of courtship, which is all that concerns the
present question, is so much improved, that perhaps
there are few gentlemen in this kingdom capable of
writing to a mistress such letters as our king Henry
VIII. in the ardour of hia affection sent with presents
of flesh, as he terms it, meaning thereby venison, to
his beloved Anue Boleyn, a beautiful, modest, and
well-bred young woman.
From the above particulars it may be inferred that
the poetical compositions of the period here alluded
to, wanted of that elegance which is now expected in
every thing offered to the public view ; and as a few
of the following are destitute of such a recommend-
ation, this circumstance would supply, were it neces-
sary, the want of other evidence of their antiquity.
Ihe simplicity is no less remarkable than the e^le,
'<<■ rtfrraXiuHltaJINH ttamtWrngtomt
Sim pvHU mmmmk Out Mlmlfkl
B to be very
1.
Bcwu« my Ijfttirll lynger, Sjr, I you delire,
Ye wiynge my hind to fore,
I pny you do no more,
Ye hurt my lyttyll fjaget.
11.
Why h do you (tj ?
Syr, no more of fuche fpott,
For 1 hire lyltyl comtorl
Of your hyther refort
To hurt my lyttjU iyaier.
IV.
ForfoCh goodly myfterii,
1 am fory for your difeu i
AUcIc, what miy you pleu !
Bewate my lynyll ^oget.
OUT grece Burnt
To hurt my lyttyll fynger.
Yet wold 1 faaue ilut bole igayn.
For I UD fntj for ymir piya,
Bcwire my lyttyll Goger.
VII,
Seeing for the cinfe ye be fory,
I wold be glad wyth you for to miry,
So that ye wold noL ouer looge Carry
To hele my lylCyll lynger.
vin.
I lay wylh a joyfiiU hart agayne,
Ofthatlwold be lull fayn,
And ibr your like to take fiimc piyne
To hele ywr lyctyll lynger.
DC-
Then we be both agreed
1 priy you by our wedding wede,
And then ye Diall hane lyttyll nede.
To hele my lyttyll lynger.
X.
That I will by God'i grace,
1 Hull kylTe your minion lice.
That yt Ihill ihyne in euciy place.
And hele your lyttyll fynger.
XL
Beware my lynyll fynger.
All! my lyttyll lynger,
And oh my lyttyll ^nger.
Ah lady mercy ! ye hurt my lyttyll lynger.
Behold the sentiments which eloth, corpulence,
and rags have a tendency to inspire, in the following
But lyctyl meet,
My Aomick y< not good
But fute I think
That 1 can drynke
With any that were ■ b
Though 1 go bare,
Take ye no care,
I am nothing i cold |
dbyGoo<^Ie
fflSTORY OF THE SCIENCE
So fill I witbin
Of jolly |ood *le ind M.
Back «nd fydo go ban,
i Cyia go U
h nic« inil h:
11.
Thit goodly 111,
Whtn Am mt pji,
Alit 1 won noc where
t go or llanij,
1 thynlc me bond,
Inteialnai
To comlorc her.
And 1 cnb laid to the fire,
A linlc bread
Shall do me Aead,
Much breadlnotdefiret
And ihrowly lapt,
or joly good lie and old.
Back and GJet go tMre, Ice.
III.
And Tib my wife,
That at hef life,
Looeth well good ale lo feek,
Full ofce drinkei fbei,
T>ll ye may fcr
Tne leant run down ber checke (
Then dolh On tniwle
To me the bowlc,*
E*ea at a nunll-wKm't' Ihali {
And laith fweet hart
1 took my part
IV.
Now let then drink.
Till [hey nod and wink,
Euen It good tellowi Ihould do,
They Qui not mille
To haoc the bliOe
Cood ale doth bring Dien to t
And all poor fouli.
That haue Icowrtd bonlet.
Or haie them luftcly trolde,
Ood Taue the liuet
Of them and ihelt wioei.
Whether they be young or old.
Back and lidct |0 bare, Jtc.}
la the following tbe prabos of meek MiBtresii
MargkKt are oelebrsted by her lover : —
In brt beaute |
Both Cateaad Be*.
Mawde and Ann,
Syi it wltneb
Ofherfrtyfneffe.
IV.
My Margaret
A lover BympathiKee with his mtstreBt, who is nek
and ill at ease, in these lince : —
U like and ill at eale.
re the coS be liirete lent Denyi.
II.
She ia lb inly in eucry degre,
Good lord who m»r a goodlyer be
In favaure and in lacion lo will ye 1c,
But it were an angell of the Trinhe.
Alak good Jhoiw what may you plefe *
1 Ihal beate the coft be fwete lent Denyt.
ni.
Her countynannce with bei lynyacion.
To hym that wolde ofrKh recreacion.
That God hath ordeot in bit firft formuion,
Myghl ¥iel be called coojnracion.
Alik govd ]hane what may yoa vleile f
I Ihal beane the coft be fwete fent OenyL
IV.
She Ii my lytell pnty one,
Whatlhulde I fiy > my mynde ii gooe,
YIT Ihe and I were ti^ethii alone.
sd Jhone Ihal
inowleke,
: like! date wcU by (
• Taawis. or Trale ihi Bawl,
waa a common pkriH In dilnlilac, R
Kara by iba liillaiiliif beiinnlng or i
Tml* Irale the tiawl la mii
Aai I will inte ibe aana fi
Aad In thk othet la HUtont'i aoUank
Tom Boula, Tms
LeTc tbii amy.
Another day
We Oull both play,
When we aie fole-f
The tliree following short poems exhibit a picture
nf tbe deepest amorous distress : —
Have I not caufe Is mourn, alu!
Ever whilei that my lyfe do dure ;
Lamenting thui my fomiwrul eife
]n fighei deepe without recnre i
Now nmembryng my hard adiMntuR,
Menielloufly makyng my hart wo i
Alai ! her lokei hiuc pcrled me lb t
Ui tone la li> be tBE
dbyGoot^le
Chaf. IXXIX.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSia
Sad it hir thtxt wiih color chryftjrne
More hjirr af lokt than %ei Elyn,
Eya fny, clerer thin columbync,
Ncuer ■ fwelcr of nature fcmxnync }
Coodlf in port, O what a paftyme an
Haue 1 whin 1 bchoia hcc I
..idWYthC
Wyti ^ghini .
Grcuoufly lorintntcd through dilibxDc,
Lickjrng iht company of my Jady andmyftm,
Whych 10 atayne ii yd mncdyln i
But Cod of hii gnce furely mc CaU
My forroMFi importunate joyfully to amend.
b it not fure a dedly payne.
To yon I lay that louen be,
Whu taythfiil haiti mufi oecda icfnyo
The QM Che other fat to fee?
I yoD alTuR ye may tnift me.
Of ill tlie paynet that euei I knew.
It u a payne that rooS I nwc.
The following trim bIuiem exhibit the portrait of
■ loy»l lover : —
I.
A* I lay Ikpyage,
la dnmes Aetynge,
£uer my fwetyng
Ii in my mynd i
She it (a goodly.
With loolu fe louely,
That BO isaa truly
Such one can fynd
U.
Compliyn I nay.
And right well lay.
Lone goth aftny.
And vrttnb wilde
For many a day
Lone wu my pny,
It vryll amy,
I im bcgytdc.
U.
I haue thankln
Spent my leniyce.
And can purcbc*
Na gmce at all )
WberelDre doubileli.
Such a myftrea.
Dame Filelca,
I may bcr caU.
m.
Fee fikerly.
itl
On n» to thuike{
The lelTe mercy
In her lynd I,
Alaildye.
My hut doth lynke.
IV.
Porta ne pardye,
Afeinetb me
Such croelte,
Wythootengyltj
Owght not to be,
1 tt
rofee.
Her ftyei eye perfyng.
My pore birt bledyng,
And I abydyng,
In hope of mede j
IV.
Abi wyll not Oe
Now Ihevr hyr pytye.
But thui wyll take me
In Tuche dyfdayne ;
Metbynketh I wyi.
Unkynde that ihe ia,
That byndeth me thui,
In Tuch hard payne.
That I Ihnid fpyll
For my good wyll,
1 [hyniu giet 111,
Anynft all ryaht t
It ii more ill.
She Ihuld me kyL,
Whom I loue ftyll,
Wyth all my myghl.
VI.
But to RpTcfli;
My heauynei,
Syth my feruyce
It thui torlake (
Alt corofoillet,
Wyth much dyllm,
In wyldernti,
I DM betake.
Andtl
VU.
Though Ihe me bynde.
Yet Ihall Ihe not lynde
My pore hart nnkynd.
Do what fbe can i
For I wyll hyr pray,
Wbilei 1 leue a day.
Me to lake for aye.
The followiog is the expostulMion of a lover dii-
dai jetl by hU mistreBe, in aetyle of great umplicity :
The two following are also of the amorotu kii
and are of equal antiquity with the rest : —
Ah my fwete fwetyng j
Mt 1^1 prety fwetyng,
My fwetyng vryl I loue whereuer I go|
She 11 lb piopre and pun.
Full ftcdM, ftabill and demuic.
There ii none fuch ye may be fun,
Ai my fwele fweting.
dbyGoo<^Ie
HISTOKY OF THE SCIENCE
'U^,
n.
Mj piynet vho an cxprei }
AIu j thcj are Jo ftronge
Ux dolor wiU not fuffer Ibcottb
Mt lyfe for to piolopge ;
Toll on, &&
Wtien I behold mj rwrnyng fwete,
Hn bet, her handi, her minioa ktc
Tbey feeine to me there h none fo n
At my fwcte fwetyng.
iV.
Above ill olhei pnyfe moft I,
And loue mj pretty pTglnye
For none I fyail foo wominl;
Al my fwete fwetyng.
What meanen thou my fbrtu
From me To lift to flyt ;
Alat thoa ait impoinine
Tby wdk continually
ShaU caufe me call and crye ;
Woo »fortU the tyme that I
To looe dyd iyrfl apply.
The following ie the dream of a lover, taken from
Mr. Thoreeby'8 MS. :—
Benedicite ! whale dremyd I thb night >
Methought the worlde wot turnyd up Jo down,
The fon the moone had loft thet force and lyght.
The fee alfo drowned both tonre and lowne :
Yet more meruell how tliat I harde the Ibunde
Of ooyi uoyce fayiog bcR in ihy mind,
Thi tody hatfa fiM-goten to be kynd.
CHAP LXXX.
The two following short poems appear by the
mannscript from which they were taken to have
been compoeed aboat the time of Henry VIII.
They were communicated by a very judicious anti-
quary lately deceaBed, whose opinion of them was
tiiat they were written either by, or in the person
of Anne Boleyn ; a conjecture which her unfortunate
history renders very probable : —
1.
Defiled It my niune full fore,
ThioBgb cniel fpyte and filft report.
That I may fay for cutrmore
Farewell, my joy! adewe, eomfoitl
Alone in prifon ftronge,
I wayle my deAenye )
Wo worth thii cruel hap thai I
Should taile thii mikiye.
Toll an, &c.
IV.
Farewell my pleafurn paft,
Weknm my prefent payac,
1 file my toimenn To iDcrde,
That lyfe cannot remayoe.
Ceafe now the paOing bell,
Kong ii my dolelul knell,
Fot the found my dech doth tell,
Detb doth dnw nye,
Sound my end dolefully,
Fw DOW I dye.
The fuUowiiw not inelegant stanzas seem to have
been occasioned by the mamage of Margaret the
daughter of Henry YIL to James IV. king of
Scotland, in 1602 ; of whom it is related, that
having taken arms againat hie own father, he im-
posed on himself the voluntary penance of con-
dnnally wearing an iron chiun about his waist : —
O liyer, faynft of eseiy layre.
Princes mi^ ple&unt and precUrt.
The lultieS on lyue that beoe,
Welcum of Scotland to be quene.
II.
Yong tender plant of pulehritade,
Defcendith of imperial blood,
Frelh fiagiant flower of fiiynbode Ihene,
Welcum of Scotland to be quene.
III.
Sweet lufty Imp of bewtie dere,
Mofte mighty Idngi dowghter dere.
Borne of a princei mofl feRoe,
Welcum of Scotland to be queue.
JV.
Welcum the rofe both red and whyte,
Welcum the flower of our delyte.
Our rpirit rejoicing from the ipleDC,
Welcum of Scotland to be quene.
For wrongfully ye judge of me.
Unto my fame a mortal! wounde t
Say what ye lyfl it wyll not be,
Yt leek for that cannot be bund.
O Death, toclce me on llepe,
Bringe me on quieC relle.
Let palTe my ueiye giltlefi gofk.
Out of my carefull breft ;
Toll on the pafiinge bell,
Ringe out the dolefiill knell,
Ut Ibc founde mv dethe tell.
For I muA dye.
There it no lemedye.
For DOW I dye.
The two following songs are more s
the first is a sort of caveat against idle mmoart: —
Coofidering thii world, and Ih' inerefe oTvyce,
Stricken into dump, right much I moled.
Thai DO manner of man be he neuet fo wyft.
From all Ibtla thereof can be eicufed.
And one Tyce tbete it, the more it ia nled
Mo inconuenient (hall grow day by day.
And that ii thii, let it be refiifed
Geue DO fure Etedeni » eueiy herefq'.
in.
Lnl>t womeni thoughtt wyll runne at fcuje.
Whether the uyle be faUe or juft ;
l^dyngi of alehoufe or Gnuefead buge,
Bcre-baytiagi or barben fhopei it not to traC
dbyGoot^le
AND PKAOTIOE OF UUSia
Ad cntniic) ttjlt a Coat diAnift,
Ye Hull petceue it puOull almy,
Ta 4ll che (orthyi lelnyn wc mnft,
To geuc furc crcdeni ta euery bsvlajf
V,
Though herefi/ be crew, >i perchiUDce raijr M^
Yei fyi Dot tby cndeiu to high,
And chough che teller {ctta light iutiftuilial.
And tell but hertiay, why tn»y he not lye f
VI.
TlieD beCwyic lyghc uedeai and i coage baftyi
Surely the gylcleTi ii cad Iwiy,
Coadempnyng the ■bTent, tfait ii unnronhy
So puyih 1 lyfe from hercliy to herdky.
VU.
Good Lord 1 bow fome wyll wyCh ■ load noyce,
Tell ■ bit atier the bcA forte.
And fome heren how chey will rejoyce.
To here of cheyr Deyboora ill report I
VUI.
At though it were > mattet ofcooifbrt.
Herein our chirite doth deluy.
And tome miketh It but game and Iport,
To kU ■ lye after the berelay.
IX.
Tell ■ good tale of God or fome layat.
Or or (ome mirakeU lately done ;
Some wyll beleue It hatd and ftent.
And cake it after a full lyght Iktod i
X.
We here Oif Chrift fufiriJ piflioa.
And man Iball reoert to earth and cliy.
The tydieft or ftrongeA know not how Ibone,
Bckue well now thli, for crue it that herefajt.
This that followa is a dialo^e between two lovere,
in which there ia great eimplicity of style (ud sea-
tiiiient,aud sfraokDess discoverable on the lady's part
not warnnted by the nunnerB of the present tune : —
By what kind of sophistry a lover may reason
himself into a state of abeoluto indifference, the
following ballad teachoa :—
L
Yf reafon did rule.
And win kept fcoole,
Dilcrecion ihoulde take place,
And heiue out heauinei.
Which banilhed quiecnct
Aod made hym hide hii hut.
II.
Sith dme hath tried,
And truth hath fpied.
That blned £uth ii Aiiteiie,
Why bould difdaine
Tbut ouer me raigne.
And bold me in capliuity P
m.
Why Ihoulde eaufe my hartt lo bnfie.
IV.
Why Ihould I CruO^
That oeuer wai jufte.
Or loue fan chat louea manjn
Tmie paft and fpente,
Whereof it no reeoTcrie '
Should chui applyc.
Myfel&inaUIcan;
Truth to take place.
Where neuer Irutb wai
li geuen where I may not take it apjne.
[StiJ Do you repent ? (HiJ Nay I make you furc
ISit] What i> che caule then you do complayne!
, 0 To whom r [Hi} To you ( [Sii] Flefe chil wyl not me ;
Be all ihele vordi to me, ihey be in vayn,
Complayn where jou may haue remedjr.
m,
[Hi] I do complayn and find no relelle
[Ik] Yea do you fo J 1 pray you leU me how.
[Hi] My lady lylt not my paynea to rtdnllc.
[Sit] Say ye fotb I [aj i « '
1 u, i mue God a vowa.
[£t<l Who i) your lady r [Hi] I put cafe y«i.
[Sii] Who 1 r nay be lure it ii not fo.
[/ft] In &yth ye be. [^ii] Why do you fwen naw f
[Ur] In good liych lloue jou and no mo.
[Skf] No mo but me .' [Hk] No fo fay I.
]Si,] Mar I you truft r m V" 1 make yon fure.
[Sir] I lere nay. [Hi] Yn, I Hull tell yon why.
[Sit] Tell on, len here. [Hr] Ye baue my W in cote.
VL
[Sti] Your ban f nay. [Hi] Yci without mefor*,
I 4o yov loue. [SU] I pray you lay not fo.
[Hi] In AyCh I do. [Sir] Mar 1 of you be fure ?
[&] Yea in good %cfa. [Sii] Then am 1 youn alfo.
VII.
Tberfbre farewell Hatterie,
Fained liith and jeloee,
Truth my tale Ihall Icll |
Reaion now Ihall rule,
Witt Hull kept the fcoole.
And bed you all hrewell.
The argtUDents in favonr of celibacy contained in
the (bllowing song are neither new or very cogent ;
yet they are not destitute of hnmonr : —
I.
The bujielor moft joyfullye.
In plealant plight docb ftttc hit diie%
Good fellowOupp and companie
He doth naiataine and kepe alwiie.
With dunfellt hiaoe he maye well goe.
The maried man cannoC doc fo,
If he be merie and toy with any.
There is somewhat snbtle in the argument Tised by
the author of the following Btanzae against Imding
dbyGooi^lc
HT8T0KY OF THE SCIENCE
Boor IX.
money, trLicIi in ahort is tbb, to preserve friendship,
resist Uie emotions of it : —
I hid both monic and i fnaie,
or neither though no fton ;
lent mjr manic to my hende.
And aekt hii londe thetforc.
11.
I aikcd tai manic of my trcndc,
But niwght (avc wordi I gott ;
I loft my monie lo kcpe my frende,
For lewe faym would I not.
Upon no kyndc of bonde.
IV,
But after thit for mooU Cometh
A friend with pawne to paye,
But when the monie fhould be b>i
My IVende ufed fuch delay.
Slth bonde for monie lent my ftend.
Nor pairae alTiiiance it.
But that my monie or my frende
Tbeibye I CTCt miilc.
And playe lb< liiole no mote.
The examples above given are only of sQch songs
and ballads as it is supposed were the entert&inmeut
of the common people about the year 1550, they are
therefore not to be considered as evidences of the
general state of poetry at that time, nor indeed at any
given period of the preceding century; for, not to
mention Chancer, who flonrished somewhat before,
and whose excellencies are known to every judge of
English literature, the verses of Gower abound with
beantiful images, and excellent morel precepts; and
those of the earl of Surrey, Sir Thomas Wyat, and a
few others, their coutemporaries, with the liveliest
descriptions, and most elegant sentiments. One of
the most excellent poems of the kind in the English
language is the ballad of the Nnt'brown Maid, pub-
lished with a fine paraphrase by Prior, which, diongh
the antiquity of it has by a few been questioned, was
printed by Piuaon, who lived about the year 1600,
and probably was written some years before.
Many of the eongs or popular ballads of this time
appear to have been written by Skelton, and a few of
them have been occasionally inserted in the course of
this work ; as to his poems now extant, they are so
peculiarly hie own, so replete with scurrility, and,
thongh abounding with humonr, so coarse and in.
delicate, that they are not to be matched with any
others of that time, and consequently reflect no dis-
grace on the age in which they were written.
Nothing can be more comical, nor nothing more
uncleanly, if we except certain verses of Swift, than
that poem of Skelton entitled the Tunnyng of Elynour
Runiniyng. This woman is said by bim to have lived
at Letlierhead in Surrey, and te have sold ale, the
brewing or tunning- whereof is the subject of the
poem. The humour of this ludicrous narrative con-
sisCe in an enumeration of many sluttish circumstances
that attended the brewing, and a description of several
persons of both sexes, of various chajacters, as tra-
vellers, tinkers, servant- wenches, farmers' wives, and
many others, whom the desire of Elynour'e filthy
beverage had drawn from different parts of the coun-
try ; of her ale they are so eager to drink, that many
for want of money bring their household furniture,
skillets, pots, meal, salt, garments, working-tools,
wheel -barrows, spinning-wheels, and a hundred other
things. TJiis numerous resort produces dmnkenness
and a quarrel, and thns ends Skelton's poem the
Tnnnyng of Elynour Rummy ng.
Of his talent for satire the same author haa given
an example in the following verses, which becanse
they are characteristic of an ignorant Mnging-mait, a
contemporary of his, are here inserted at length : —
Skelton Laureate agalnft » comely Coyftrowne, that cnriowAjr
chaunlyd and carrylhly cowntred and madly in hia Mufikc*
mokkylhly made, agaynfl the IK Mu&t of p^dke Poemi and
Of all nacyons under the Heuyn,
Thefe f^ncyke fiwlyi I hate moft of all.
For though they ftumble In the fynnet feayn.
In peuyQinel yet they fnappcr and iail.
Which men the «li deadly fini call,
Thi] peuylh proud thii prender gelt.
When he ii well yet an he not reft.
A Iwete fuger lote and Ibwre bayardi ban
Be fumdcle lyke in fbime and (hip,
The one fat a duke (he other for i dun ;
A maiuichet for Murell thereon to liup,
Hii hart Ii to hy to hane any hap,
But for in hii gamut carp that be can,
Lo Jak wold be a Jenlytmao,
With hey troly loly, to whip here Jak,
Alumbek fodyldym fyllorym ben,
Curyowfly he can both counter and knak.
Of Martin Swart, and all hyi mery men.
Lord how Peikyn ii proud of hii Polien,
But ilk wher he fyndyth among fail monachorda
An holy- water- clirk a tulcr of lotdei.
He cannot fynd it in rule nor in fpace.
He folfyth to hiuce, hyi try by 11 ii to hy.
He btiggyth of hi> byrth that borne *al &I1 bace,
Hyi mufyk withoute mefure, to {harp ii hia my,*
He trymmyth in hii tenor to counter pardy,
Hii difcant i> bely, it ii vrithout a mene.
To tat ii hii hntff, hit wyt it to Icne.
He tumbryth on a lewde lewte, Roty baUe Jeyfe.f
He fiimblyth in hii fyngering an ugly rude nolle.
It feemych the fobbyng of an old fow :
He wolde be made moch of and he wyft bow ;
Wele fped in fpyndelt and tunyng of tranllya,
A bungler, a biwler, a pyket of quatellyi.
Comely be clappyth a payre of clauycotdji,
He whylielyth fo fwetely he maketh me M fwet,
Hii difcini ii daOied tiill of difcordei,
A led angry man but eafy to intrete j
An uOier of the hill &yn wold I get.
To pointe thii proude page a place and a rome.
For Jak wold be a Jendlman that liK waa a gtoOM.
dbyGooi^lc
0«»p. LXXXI.
ASD PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
VIS
In I ijib dirt hr mlb to wiangill ind to wirfl.
He Gndcih 1 pruporcyon in hi) pryclie fongc,
Tti dijnke it > dnugbt i lirgc and i long.
Kiy fift not with him, be u do fnull hit.
It 11 a lolempoe Ijn and a folayoe,
Far lordri and litya Itrne at hit fcole,
Ht ttchyth them To wyfely to folf and to fiyne.
Thai neither they ling wel ptike-fbng nor |jaia,
Tbi> Doctor Delliai commnifyd in a cart,
A miller, a mjrnftrel, a fydler, a — .
What ihougl) ye can counter Oi/hJi nai,
At wel k iKcumlth you a parylh tavrne darlce
Td fing &ifakali daHi M/ra,
Yet bere ye doi io bold, to bnule ne to bark,
At me that medeled nothing with youre wark,
Cortea litft thy (elfe, walk and be nought,
Deme what you lifi thou knawiS not my thought.
A prouerbe of eld Tiy well or be Hill,
Ye iR to Dnbappy occaGon to fynde,
Uppon me to c^icr or elle to lay yll.
Now haie I Ihcwyd yon pari of your piogd mind.
Take ihii In worth the beft n behind.
Wiyten at Cioydon by Crowland in the clay.
On Candeimu euyn the Kalendn of May.
Men^on has already been made of the service-
booba Rucientiy osed in the chnrches and chapels of
thia kiagdom, by whom they were generally made,
mnd of the enormoua price they bore while copies of
them could on)^ be multiplied by writing. Thia,
thongh a great inconvenience, ik'as not the only one
which inuaic labonred under, for the characters used
in musical notation were for a series of years fluctu-
ating, so that they assumed a new form in every
century, and can hardly be said to have arrived at
«ny degree of stability till some years after the in-
vention of printing ; and it will surprise the reader
to behold, u he ma}' in the specimens of notation
given (see Appendix, Nos. 45 to 5jj), the multifold
variation of the musical characters between the
eleventh century, when they were invented by Guido,
and the fifteenth, when, with a few exceptions in the
practice of the German printers, they were finally
•ettled.
Upon these specimens it is to be remarked, that
they exhibit a series of characters used for the pur-
pose of musical notation from the eleventh century
down to the fourteenth, as they are to be found in
misaala, graduals, antiphonaries, and other books of
officee adapted to the Romish service. With regard
to No. 18, ' Pauperlate Spiritus,' the musical cha-
racters appear U> be such as are said to have been in
use previous to the invention of the stave by Quidu,
and from the smallneea of the intervals it may be
questioned whether the notes are intended to signify
any thing more than certain inflections of the voice,
so nearly approaching to monotony, that the utter-
ance of them may rather be called reading than
singing.
The example (No. 50) ' Eripe me Domine' is clearly
in another method of notation, for the stave of Guido,
and also the F cliff, are made nee of in it. With
rc^rd to the characters on the lines and spaces, they
are I'ery different from those points, from the use
whereof in musical composition the term Contrapaiii>>
took its rise ; and so little do they resemble the cluk-
racters proper to the Cantus Mensurabilis, as descrilwd
by Franco, De Handlo, and otlier writers on that
subject, that it is nor. without great difficulty that tliey
can be rendered intelligible. The author from whom
this example is taken exhibits it as a specimen of the
msnof r of notation in the twelfth century ; it never-
theless appears to have conUnued in practice so low
down as the sixteenth, for all the examples in the
Margarita Fhilosophica of Gregory Reisch, printed
' in 1517, are in this character, as are also those in the
Enchiridion of George Rhaw, the Compendium Mu-
eicee of Lampadius, and other works ot the like kind,
published about the same time.
The specimen (No. 52) ' Verbnm Pstris' is of the
thirteenth centnry,andas to the form of the characters,
differs in some respects from the former ; and here it
may be remarked, that the F and C cliffs have each a
place in the stave, and that the station of the former
IS marked by a pricked line. Other disUnctions for
the places of the cliffs, namely, by giving the linea a
different colour or different degrees of thickness, were
UBUsI in the earlier times, and are taken notice of in
an earlier part of this work.
The character in the specimen (No. 64) ' Vere dig-
num et jnstnm' are supposed to denote the inflections
of the voice in reading.
The plote No. 45 shews the different forms of
the cliffs, and their gradual deviation from their
respective roots at different periods.
The two next succeeding plates contain a compre-
hensive view of the musical notes in different ages,
with their equivalents in modern characters.
The specimens are taken from the Lexicon Diplo-
maticnm of Johannes Ludolphtu Walther, published
at Ulm in 1756 ; they appear to have been extractea
from ancient service-books in manuscript, of which
there are very many yet remaining in the public
libraries of universities and other repositories in
Europe.* The explanations in modem characters
are the result of his own labour and learned industry,
and furnish the means of rendering into modern cba-
nclers those barbarous marks and signatures used by
the monks in the notation uf their music.
CHAP. LXXXI.
Thb invention of printing proved an effectual
remedy for all the evils arising from the instability
of mnsical notation, for besides that it eased the
public in the article of expence, it introduced such
a steady and regular practice as rendered the musical,
an universal character.
The first essays towards mnsic-printing were those
examples whidi occur in the wotIcb of Franchinos,
printed at Milan ; but of these it may be observed,
that the notes therein contained are not printed from
letter-press typea, with a character cat on each, but
• Oh Df tba iHii of iba kind, pnhafi In lb* hkM, li ibe Ubtr
Small!, CDDtalnini, among olliti Ihlnga. the rUkIoiu otinwnla) of tba
nnnathHi oT aiebaiil II. and bit queen, with IlM idaikal hmh m Uw
Da«i. Tbli Eurloiu MS. wai Ml^nallr Inundtd for Iba dm of tb*
blgb-altai in Wealmlnilet abbey, Hid It now In Ike lUmy of tbat shurob.
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book IX.
in masMe, or frotn blocks, wHlt k variety of character
engnveu thereon. The GermanB improTed upon
this practice, and the art of printing music with
letter-press types appears to have arrived at great
jierfection among them by the year 1500.
MatthesoD, in hie Volkomenen Capelmeister, p^. 68,
relates that Jaques De Sanleques, a man who had
arrived to play exquisitely on nil instruments, with-
out the least iDStroction, was the first who taught
the art of making mnsic-types, and the method of
printing from them, in France ; and that he died in
the year 1660, at the age of forty-six, having pre-
cipitated his death hy excessive study and application.
This account of the introduction of musical printing
types into France can never be true ; for the Fsalms
and other works of Claude Le Jeune, which was
published at Paris by Pierre Ballard before Sanleques
was bom, that ie to say in 1603 and 1606, are a
demonstration to the contrary; and, to judge from
the exquisite beanty and elegance of the characters,
and the many elegant ornaments and ingenious
devices for the initial letters, it seems that the
French had in this kind of printing greatly the
advantage of their neighbours.
In England the progress of this art was com<
ruratively slow, for in the Polychronicon * of
Ranulph Higden, translated by Treviea, and printed
by Wynken de Worde, at Westminster in 1495, are
the following musical characters, which Mr. Ames
with good reason enpposee to be the first of the kind
priutM in England: —
Grafton improved npon these characters in the
book pnblished by him m 1560, entitled, The Book
of Common Prayer noted, which was composed by
John Marbeck organist of Windsor, and contains the
rndiments of onr present cathedral service ; these, in
the opinion of the printer, stood so much in need of
explanatjon, that he has inserted the following me-
morandum concerning them : —
* In this booke is conteyned fo much of the order of
' Common Prayer as ii to bt fung in churches, wherein
' are ufed only thele iiii fortes of rotes : —
' The lirfi note is a ftrenc note, and is a breve ; the
■ fecond is a fquare note, and is a femybreve ; the iii a
' pycke, and is a mynymme. And when there is i
* prycke by the fquare note, that prycke is halfe as
' rauche as the note that goeth before it. The iiii b
' a dole, and is only ufed at ihe end of a verfe.'
These characters were considerably improved by
the industrious John Day, who in 1S60 published
the church -service in four and three parts, to be snn^
St the morning, communion, and evening prayer, and
in 1562 the whole book of Psalms, collected into
English metre by Sternhold, Hopkins, and others,
with apt notes to sing them withal, and by Thonaas
Vaatrollier, who in 1575 published the Cantiones of
TalLts and Bird nnder a patent of qneen Elizabeth
to the authors, the first of the kind.t The succeeding
mnsic-printers to Vsutrollier and Day were Thomas
Este, who for some reasons not now to be gaeesed at,
changed his name to Snodham,} John Windet,
William Barley, and others, who were the assignees
of Bird and Moriey, under the patents respectively
granted to them for the sole printing of music
These men followed the practice of the foreign
printers, bat made no improvement at all in the
art, nor was any made till the time of John Playford,
who lived in the reign of Charles II.
In what manner, and from what motives, mneic
was first introduced into the church -service, has
already been mentioned ; and in the account given
of that matter it has been shewn that the practice of
antiphonal singing took its rise in the cbnrcbea of
the East, namely, those of Antioch, OesarKa, Mid
Constantinople ; that the Greek fathers, St. Basil
ftnd St. Chrysostom, were the original institntoro of
choral service in their respective churches; that St.
Ambrose introduced it into his church at Milmn ;
that from thence it passed to Rome, from whence it
was propagated and established in France. Qermany,
BriUin, and, in short, throaghout the West ; and, to
speak more particularly, that Domasus ordained the
alternate ainging of the Psalms, together with the
Gloria Patn, and Alleluja; in 384, Siricina, the
anthem ; in 507, Symmachus, the Gloria in E^celsis;
that in 690 Gregory the Great reformed the Cantns
Ambroeianns, and established that known by his
name ; and that about the year 660 Vitalianns com-
pleted tiie institution by joining to the melody of the
voice the harmony of tiie organ.
From this deduction of the rise and prt^ess of
music in cathedral worship, it may seem that tbe
introduction of music into the church was attended
with little difficulty. But the case was far otherwise ;
fortunately for the science, the above-mentioned
fathers were skilled in it, and their seal co-operating
with their authority, enabled them to procure it
admittance into the church ; but there were then, as
there have been at all times, men, who either having
no ear, were insensible to the effects of harmony, or
who conceiving that all such adventitious aids to
devotion were at least nnneceseary, if not einfol.
laboured with all their might to procure the ex-
clnuon of masic of every kind from the church, and
to restore the service to that original plainness and
simplicity, which they conceived to be its perfection.
And first St. Austin, whose suffrage is even at
this day cited in favour of choral musio ; althonglt
t trnmrt TTpecnpbicil Aolliultia, pif. lU, t lUd.
dbyGooi^le
Chap. LXXXL
AND PRACTICE OF filUSia
speaking of the introdaction of antiphomil singing
into the uhurch of Milan, at which he waa preeent,
thus pathetically expresses himself : 'How abundantly
■ did I weep before God to hear those hymns of thioe ;
' being touched to the qoick by the voices of thy
' sweet chnrch song I The voices flowed into my ears,
' and thy truth pleasingly distilled into my heart,
' which caused the affections of my devotion to over-
' flow, and ray tears to ran over, and happy did I
' find myself therein.'
Yet this very St. Atistin having reason to suspect
that be had mistaken the natur^ workings of his
pasrions for the fervent operations of a vigorous
devotion, censures himself severely for being so
moved with sensual delight in divine worship, and
heartily blesses Gtod for being delivered from that
anare. He withal declares that he often wished that
the melodious singing of David's Psalter with so
much art were moved from his and the church's
ears ; and that he thought the method which he had
often heard was observed by Athanasius, bishop of
Alexandria, was the safest, who canned him that read
the Psalm to nse so little variation of the voice, that
be seemed rather to pronounce than sing.* And
elsewhere he declares that the same manner of sing*
ing as was used in Alexandria prevailed throughout
all Africa.f
SL Jerome, though a friend to magnificence in
divine worship, seems to more than hint a dislike of
artificial singing in the ehurch, when be says, ' That
' we are not like tragedians to gargle the throat with
* sweet modulation, that our theatrical tunes and
' songs may he heard in the church, but we are to
' sing with reverence.' J
Isidore of Sevil, though a writer on music, and as
each mentioned in the account herein before given
of writers on the science, says, that the singing of
the primitive Christians was attended with so small
m variation of the voice, that it differed very little
from reading ; and as for that pompous manner of
singing, which a little before his time had been in?
trodaoed into the Western church, he says it was
brought in for the sake of those who were carnal,
and not on their account who were spiritual, that
those who were not affected by words might be
eharmed by the sweetness of the harmony .§
Rabanus Maurus, another musical writer, and a
disciple of the famous Alcuin, freely declares himself
against the use of musical artifice and theatrical
singing in the worship of God. and is only for snch
music as may move compunction, and be clearly
understood by the hQarers.||
Thomas Aquinas, universally reputed the ablest
and most judicious of the schoolmen, declares against
the use of instruments in divine worship, which,
together with the pompous service of the choir, he
intimates afe Judaical. He says that ' musical inr
' stmments do more stir up the mind to delight, thai)
' frame it to a religious disposition.' He indeed
allows that ' under the law such sensitive uds niight
' be needful, as they were types or figures of some-
•Carh«.1ib. X.ri|i.3]. t Eplu. Il». I Bpkl.ldRQiUcDin.
i DeEccI Off. lib- 1, cap. 1. | Dclnititul. CTiric. lib.II.»p. tl.
' thing else ; bnt that under the gospel dispensation
' he sees no reason or use for them.'^
And, to come nearer onr own times, Cornelius
Agrippa, though a sceptic in most of the subjects
wUch he has written on, declaims with great vehe-
mence t^^mnst cathedral music, which he says is ' so
' licentious, that the divine offices, holy mysteries,
' and prayers are chanted by a company of wanton
' mnsiciana, hired with great sums of money, not to
' edify the understanding, but to tickle the ears of
' their auditory. The church,' he adds, ' ie filled
'with noise and clamour, the boys whining the
'descant, while some bellow the tenor, and others
' bark the counterpoint ; others again squeak the
' treble, while others grunt the base ; and they all
' contrive so, that thongh a great variety of sounds is
' heard, neither sentences, nor even words can be
' understood.' * •
Erasmus, who, as having been while a boy a
chorister, might be reasonably supjxraed to entertun
a prejudice rather in favour of music than against it,
has a passage to this purpose : ' There is, says he,
' a kipd of music brought into divine worship which
' hinders people from distinctly understanding a word
' that is said ; nor have the singers any leisure to
' ipiud what they sing ; nor can ue vulgar hear any
' tbipg hut an empty sound, which delightfully glidei
' into their ears. What notions, gays he, have th^
' of Christ, who think he is pleased with suchanoise T
And in another place he thus complains : ' We
' have brought a tedious and capridous kind of music
' into the house of God, a tumultuous noise of different
' voices, such as I think was never h^^ hi the
' theatres either of the Qreeks or Roinans, for the
' keeping np whereof whole flocks of boys are mun-
' tained at a great expence, whose IJme ia spent in
' learning such gibble-gabble, while they are taught
'□othing that is either good or nsefnl. Whole
' troops of lazy lubbers are also maintained solely
' for the same purpose ; at snch an expence Is the
' chnrch for a thing that is pestiferous.' ' Whereupon
he expresses a wish ' that it were exactly calculated
' how many poor men might be relieved and main-
' tained out of the salaries of these singers :' and con-
cludes with a reflection on the EIngllsh for their
fondness of this kind for service.! t
ZuingliuB, notwithstanding he was a lover of music,
speaking of the ecclesiastical chanting, says, that that
' and the roaring in the chnrches, scarce understood
' by the priests themselves, are a foolish and vain
' abuse, and a most pernicious hindrance to piety.'}}
But lest the suffrage of Zuinglius and Calvin, who
speaiks much in the same manner, should be thought
exceptionable, it may not be amiss to produce dat
of cardinal Gajetan, who, though a gr^ enemy to
the reformers, agrees with them in declaring that it
may be easily gathered from 1 Corinthians xiv. that
it is much more agreeable to the apostle's mind that
the sacred offices should be distinctly recited and
inteUigibly performed in the church, without mndcat
lenllinim, cpp. IT.
dbyGoo<^le
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
Book IX.
and artificial harmony, than so managed, as that with
the noise of ur^ana and the clamoroua diviBione, and
Bl>surd repetitions of affecled singers, which seem as
it were devised on purpoae to darlten tlie sense, the
auditors should he so confounded as that no one
shonld be ahle to understand what was enng.
Polydore Virgil, though an Italian, and of the
Romish commnnion, writes to the same purpose :
'How, says he, the clianters make a noiae in the
' chnrch, and nothing is heard there hut a voice ;
' and others who are present rest satisfied with the
' cnnsent of the cries, no way regarding the meaning
' of the words. And eo it is, that among the mnlti-
' tude all the esteem of divine worahip seems to rely
' on the chanters, notwithstanding generalljr no men
' are lighter or more wicked,' And speaking of the
choir service in general, he adda : ' I may say that
' this, and the ceremonies attending it, are lor the
' most part brought into our worship from the old
' Heathens, wlio were wont to aacriiice with symphony,
' as Livy, lib. IX. witneaseth.' •
Lindanns, bishop of Ruremonde, speaking of the
mnsicians and Nngers that had poasessed the church
^Iter the Beformation, complains that their mnaic is
nothing but a theatrical confusion of sounds, tending
rather to avert the minds of the hearers from what
is good, than raise them to God ; and declares that
he had often been present, and aa attentive as
he could well be to what was sung, yet could he
hardly understand any thing, the whole service was
so iilled with repetitions, and a confusion of different
voices and tones and rude clamours. And thereupon
he commends those who had expelled this sort of
music out of their churches as a mere human device,
and a profaos hindrance of divine worship.f
To these censures of individuals some have added
that implied in the decree of the council of Trent,
made anno 1562, for correcting abuses in the cele-
bration of the mass, not distinguishing between the
use and the abuse of the subject in question.
Such are the authorities usually insisted on against
the practice of antiphonal singing in cathedral
churcnes, against which it might be objected, that
the argaments, if such they may be called, of the
several writers above-mentioned, seem less calculated
to convince the reason than to inflame the passions
of those who should attend to them ; that allowing
them all their weight, they conclude lather against
the abuee of singing than the practice itself: and that
all of those writers who have been thus free in their
censures of church-music, were not so well skilled
in the science as to be justitiable for pretending
give any opinion at all about it. Polydore Virgil has
never yet Ven deemed a very respectable an^ority
either for facts or opinions; and as to Comelins
Agrippa, the author of a book which the world have
long stood in doubt whether to approve or condemn,
choral singing might wall seem confusion to him,
who was so grossly ignorant in the science of mualo,
as not to know the diSerenoe between the harmonical
and metrical modes, and who has charged the
ancients with confusion in the modes of time, which
were not invented UU the middle of the eleventh
century.}
Against the objections of these men choral servico
has been defended by arguments drawn from the
practice of the primitive church, and its tendency to
edification ; these are largely insisted on I^ Durandna,
cardinal Bona, and others of the litni^cal writers.
As to the censure of the council of Trent, it regarded
only the abuses of church-music ; for it forbids only
the nse of music in churches mixed with lasciviona
songs, and certain indecendea in the performance of
it which the singers had given into ;§ and aa it wu
designed to bring it back to that standard of purity
from which it ^d departed, it justified the decant
and genuine nse of it, and gave such authority to
choral or antiphonal sin^ng, that its lawfulness and
expediency has long ceased to be a subject of con*
troversy, except in the reformed churches ; and in
these a diversity of opinion still remains. The
Calvinista content themselves with a plain metrical
psalmody, but the Lutheran and episcopal churches
have asolemn musical service, The original oppngnera
ot that of the church of England were the primitive
Puritans ; the force of their objections to it is con-
tained in the writings <^ their champion Thomaa
Cartwrigfat, in the course of the disciplinarian oon-
troven^ ; and to these Hooker, in his Ecclesiastical
Polity, haa given what many persons think a
satlsfoctory answer. The argnmenta of each are
r^erred to in a subsequent part of this work.
However, these are merely speculative opinlona.
into which it were to little purpose to seek either for
the causes that contributed to the establishment of cho-
ral musio, or for the reasons that influenced those who
opposed its admission, since in their determinotiiHis
the bulk of mankind are actuated by considerationa
very remote from the reasonableness or propriety of
any. The fact is, that the' fathers above-moitiontt^,
from a persuasion of its utility and agreeablencM to
the wonl of God, laboured to introduce it into the
church ; and it is no less certain, that chiefly oa the
score of its novelty it met with great opposition from
the common people ; for, not to mention the ttunslta
which the introduction of it occauoned at Oonstaoti-
nople, and the concessions which St. Chrysostom
thereupon made, it appears that when Gregory the
Great, in 620, sent the Gantus Gregorianus into Britaitk
by Austin the monk, the clergy were so little dispcaed
to receive it, that the endeavours to establish it
occasioned the slaughter of no fewer than twelve
hundred of them at once ; and . it was not till fifty
years after, when Vitallauns sent Theodore the Greek
to fill up the vacant see of Canturbury, that the
clergy of this island could be prevailed on dther to
celebrate the Paschal solemnity, the precise time far
which was then a subject of great controveray, or to
acquiesce in the admission of cathedral service in the
manner required by the Romish ritual ; nor did they
then do it so willingly but that the pope about nine
HIM. Ill ConcU. TiUcnt. dl PMio Sun, Londn. It
dbyGoot^le
Chap. LXXXI.
AND PRACrriCE OF MUSIC.
yean after, found himaelf under the necessity of
Bending hither the priDcipal singer of the charch of
St. Peter at Rome, who taught the Britons the Roman
method of singing, so that the tme era of cathedral
mneic in thie oar land is to be fixed at about the year
of our Lord 679.
But in France the business went on sdll less
smoothly than in Britain, for which reason Adrian
taking advantage of the obligation he had conferred
on Charlem^ne, by making him emperor of the
West, atipolated with him for the introduction of
the Cantos Grregorianus into the Gallic church : the
account of thie ipenionble transaction is thus given
by Baroniua. ' In the year 787 the emperor kept
' his Easter with pope Adrian nt Borne ; and in
'those days of festivity there arose a great con-
' tention between the French and Roman singers.
'The French pretended to eing more gravely and
'decently, the Romans more melodionsly and arti.
* ficially, and each mightily undervalued the other.
' The emperor yielded to the pope, and made his
* own servants submit ; and thereupon he took back
'with him Theodore and Benedict, two excellent
' Roman singers, to instrnct his conntrymen. The
' pope also presented him with the Roman antipho-
' nary, which the emperor promised him should be
' generally used throughout his dominions ; and upon
' his return to France be placed one of these artists in
' the city of Metz, ordering that the singers should
' from all the cities in Ftiance resort hither to be
'tanght by him the true method of singing and
' pinying on the organ.' *
Thus the matter stood at about the end of the
eighth centDTV, by which time all actual opposition
to cathedral music was pretty well calmed; and,
saving the objections above^ited, which seem rather
to apply to the abuse of it than the practice itself,
church-music may be said to have met with no in-
lermption for upwards of seven centuries. On the
contrary, daring all that period the church of Rome,
with n sedidous application continued its utmost
endeavonrs to cultivate it. And from the time that
Franchinue became s public professor of the science,
the younger clergy betook themselves with great
assiduity to the study of music, for which no toiequBt«
canee can be assigned other than that it was looked
on as the readv road to ecclesiastical preferment
Nor was it Irom those popes alone who were skilled
]n, or entertained a passion for the science, that music
received protection ; others of them there were, who,
infinenced by considerations merely political, con-
tributed to encourage it ; the dignity, the splendor,
snd magnificence of the Roman worship seemed to
demand every assistance that the arts could afford.
All the world knows how much of the perfection
which painting has arrived at, is owing to the en-
couragement given by the church to its prolessors :
Michael Angelo and Raphael were almost solely
employed in adorning the church of St. Peter and
the Vatican with sculptures and scriptDre'bistories ;
and from motives of a similar nature the greatest
encouragements were given to mnsiclaos to devote
their studies to that species of composition which is
snited to the ends of divine worship; and to the
perfection of this kind of music the circumstances of
the times were very fortunate : for notwithstanding
the extreme licence taken by persons of rank and
opulence at Rome, and indeed throughout aU Italy,
and tliat unbounded love of pleasure, which even in
the fourteenth century had fixed the chftracterietic
of Italian manners, it does appear that much of
their enjoyment was derived from such public spec-
tacles as to tlie other powers of fascination add
music ; and that masquerades, feasting, and gallantry
were with them the principal sources of sensual
gratification. The musical drama, or what is now
called the opera, was not then known ; the con-
sequence whereof was, that the church not having
then, as now, the stage for its competitor, had it in
its power to attach the most eminent professors of
tiie science to its service, and to render the studies
of a whole faculty subservient to its purposes.
To this concurrence of circumstances, and a dis-
position in those whose duty led them to attend to
the interests of religion, to which may be added that
theoretical skill in the science, which Franchinua
had by his public lectures disseminated throughout
Italy, are owing the improvements which we find to
have been made in the art of practical composition
by the end of the sixteenth century. The prodigious
havoc and destruction which was made in the con-
Teuttial and other libraries, not only in England, nt
the disBolntion of monasteries, but in France and
Flanders also, in consequence of those commotions
which the reformation of religion occasioned, have
left us but few of those compositions from whence
a comparison might be drawn between the church-
music of the period now spoken of, and that of tho
more early ages ; but from the few fragments of the
latter now remaining in manuscript, it appears to be
of a very inartificial contexture, and totally void of
those excellencies that distinguish the productions of
sncceeding times. Nor indeed could it possibly be
otherwise while the precepts of the science inculcated
nothing more than the doctrine of counterpoint and
the nature of the canto fermo, a kind of harmony
simple and unadorned, and in the performance
scarcely above the capacities of those who in singing
had no other guide than their ear and memory ; in
short, a species of music that derived not the least
advantage from any difference among themselves
in respect of the length or duration of the notes,
which all men know is an inexhaustible source of
variety and delight.
But the assigning of different lengths to sounds,
the invention of pauses, or rests, the establishment of
metrical laws, and the regulating the motion of a
great variety of parts by the tactus or beat, whereby
an anion of harmony and metre was effected, were
improvements of great importance ; from these sprang
the invention of Fugue and canon, and those infinitely
various combinstions of tone and time which dis-
tinguish the canto figurato from the canto fermo, or
ecclesiastical plain -soug.
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
The principal motive to toese improvements was
nndoobtedly the great encoaragement given to
Btndeats aud profeasors of music by the court of
Borne. Those writers, who, to palliate the vices
of Leo X. iosiet on hie love of learning, and the
patronage afforded by him to the proteasora of all
tJie finer arts, ascribe the periectjon of music among
the rest to his mnniiicence ; bnt in this they are
mistaken ; an emulation to promote music prevailed
at this time throughout Europe, and the temporal
princes were not less disposed to favour its improve'
ment than even the pontiffs themselves ; our own
Henry VIII. not only sang, but was possessed of
a degree of sldll in the art of practical composition
eqnd to that of many of its ablest professors, aa
appears by many of his works now extant. Francis
the first of France reckoned Joannes Moaton, bis
chapel -master, and Grequilon, among the chief orna-
ments of his court ; and the emperor Charles V. by
his bonnhr to musicians had drawn many of the most
celebrated then in Europe to settle in Germany and
the Low Countries.
Such was the general state of the church -service
in Ehirope in the age immediately preceding the
Beformation, at the time whereof it is well ^owu
choral music nndarwent a very great change i tho nsr
ture of this change, and the premse difference between
the Bomish and the other reformed churches in this
respect vrill best appear by a comparison of their
several offices ; nevertheless a very cursory view of
the Romish ritual, particularly of the miasal, the
gradnol, imd the antiphonary. will serve to shew that
ue greater part of the service of that church was
Bang to musical notes. In the Antwerp edition of
the missal, printed MDLXXVIII. conformable to
the decree of Oie conncil of Trent, the suffrages
and responses are printed with notes, which are
included within a stave of four red lines. The
offices in nsum garisbnriensis, as they are termed,
contained in the Missal, the Manual, the Proces-
sional, and other books, nay even those for the
conaecradon of salt, of water, tapers, and ashes,
are in like manner printed with musical notes.
These it most be supposed, as they ara for the
most part extremely plain and simple, were in-
tended for common and ordinary occasions ; in
abort, they are that kind of plain-chant which is
easily retained in the memory, and in which the
whole of a congregation might without any dis-
sonance or confusion join.
Bnt the splendour and munificence of the Bomish
worship is only to be judged of by the manner of
celebrating divine service upon great festivals, and
Other solemn occasions, and that too in cathedrals
snd conventual churches, and in those abbies and
monasteries where either the munificence of the state,
or an ample endowment, afforded the means of
Bostaining tk» expense of a choir. In these cases
the mass was sung by a numerous choir, composed
of men and boys, sufficiently skilled in the practice
of choral service, to music of a very elaborate and
artificial contexture ; in the composition whereof the
strict roles of the tonal melody were dispensed with.
Bo<x IX
LS allowed for the exeruse
and the greatest latitude v
of the powers of invention.
However, this mode of solemn service was not
restrained to cathedral, collegiate, and conventual
chorches, it was practised dfso in the royal and
universal chapels, and in the domestic chapels of the
dignitaries of the church, and of the higher orders of
nobility. Cavendish, in bis life of cardinal Wolsey,
relating the order and offices of his honae and chapel,
gives t^e following account of the latter : —
' Now I wiU declare unto yon the officers of hit
chapel, and singing-men of the same, first; be
had there a dean, a great divine, and a man of ex-
cellent learning ; and a subdean, a repe&tonr of (he
quire, a gospeller and epietoUer ; of singing priests
ten. A master of the children. The secuLsa of the
chapel, being singing - men, twelve. Singing
children ten, with one servant to wait upon the
children. In the vestry a yeoman and two grooms ;
over and besides other retainers that came thither
at principal feasts. And for the furniture of his
chapel, it posaeth my weak capacity to declare the
number of the costly ornaments and rich Jewells
that were occupied in the same. For I have seen
in procession about the hall forty-four rich copes,
besides the rich candlesticks and other neceasatr
ornaments to the furniture of the same.'*
Besides the higher dignitaries of the church, snch
as the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishops of
Durham and Winchester, while those bishopricks
were not held in commendam by the carding and
perhaps some others, whose station might require it,
there were several among the principal nobility who
seemed to emulate Wolsey in tiiis particular, and had
the solemn choral service performed in the chapels
of their respective palaces and houses. One of theM
was the earl of Northumberland, whc»e great pos-
sessions and ample jurisdiction seem to have been
adequate to, and to warrant every degree of magnifi-
cence under that of a king ; for it appears that at the
Beat of the earl of Noilhumberland, contemporary
with Wolsey, there was a chapel, in which, to judge
from the number and qualifications of U)e persons
retained for that purpose, it should seem that choral
service was performed with the same d^ree of
solemnity as m cathedral and conventual chnrcho.
The evidence of this fact is contained in ao andent
manuscript of the Percy family, purporting to be the
regulations and establishment of tiie household of
Henry Algernon Percy, the fifUi earl of Northttmber-
I ^0|Ff«> /at tome inOgtdi betautt Unr wtrt «i _ ,
dbyGoot^le
Ciir. LXXXI.
AND PRACTICE OF HDSia
tst
j — tenon ij — countertenor! iiij — the pistoleri —
e foe the orgHyni — childer of the cbapell yj.
land, at his castles of Wreeill and Lekitufield in
Yorkshire, b^nn anno domini MDXIL By this it
appears that the earl had his dean and sabdaan of
the chapel, a gospeller and pistoler, gentlemen and
children of the chapel, an organist, and, in ^ort, tlie
same officers and retainera as were employed in the
royal and other chapels ; and ae to their ntunber, it
appears by the following entries in the monnsciipt
above referred to : —
' Oenty llmen and ChildeTyn of the Chapell.
' Item. Oentyllmrn and children of the chspell xiiii,
'fix., gentylfaneu of the chapell viii, vis., ij baia^B, ij
' tenon, and iiij couotertenoura — yoman or Krome of the
' vestry j — childeryu of the chapell v, viz., ij tribilli and
' Gentilroen of the chapel ix, vis., the maiiter of the
' childre j — U
' and oone f
The wages of the dean, the gentlemen, and the
children of the chapel, are thos ascertained : —
' The dean of the chapel iiij 1. if he have it in boiuholde
•and not by patentt.*
' Gentillmen of the chapel z, as to say two at z marc
' a, pece — three at iiij I. a pece — two at v marc a pece — '
■ oone at xli. — and oone at xzs. vii.. ii bawys, y tenon,
' and vj countertenoTB — childeryn of the chapel vj, after
' uv 1. the pece,
' The gentlemen ande childiin of my lordis chapell
' whiche be not appointid to uttend at no tyme, but oonely
' in exercising bi Goddit service in the chappell daily at
' Mattios, Lady-Masa, Highe-Masi, Eveu-Bonge, and
' Compljrnge.
' Gentlemen of my lordii chappell.
< Forst, a baas. Item, a seconde bass, Item, the third
' baai. Item, a maister of the childer, a countertenour.
' Item, a second countertenonr. Item, a third counter-
'tenour. Item, a iiijth countartenonr. Item, a standing
' tenour. Item, a second standing tenour. Item, a
'iijd itandiug tenour. Item, a fourth standing tenour.
' Childrin of my lordis chappell.
' Item, the fynt child a tribte. Item, the ijd child a
'trible. Item, the iiid child a trible. Item, the iiytb
•child a second trible. Item, the vth child a second
* trible. Item, the rith child a second trible.
' The Qoumbre of thois parsons as childrin of my lordis
•chappel vj.'
The wage^ or stipends eeverally assigned to the
eeutlemen and children of the above establishment
have already been mentioned; provision was also
made for their maintenance in this noble family, as
appears by the following articles respecting their
diet:—
' Braikfaat in Lent for ij meas [mess]] of gentilmen o'
' th' chapel, and a meas of childeryn, iij loofi of brede,
•a gallon dimid [half] of here, and iij peces of salt flih
* or ells, iiiij white herryng to a meaa — iij.'
And in another place thur onUnary breakfast is
directed to be —
' iij loif of houshold bred, a gallon dimid of here, and
' iij peces of beif boylid. — j
• Braikfasti for ij meaaof gentilmeno' th' chappel,
• Tbc wfct Dflbi deu. coniMCTliig tlw dlgott; at bit itUloD, ■oMD
ST SI. Iti. M. ipleca: whal vm ihe dlf-
B« In hoojehold uid by pAUm don not
iliwi 11 might KCouDl fin thi> Hdnliif
' and a meaa of childer, iij IotA of houshold breid, a gallon
' dimid of here, and a pece of lalt-fiBche.
'Service for iiy mease of gentyllmen and childre of the
' chapell at auppar upon Tewisday in the Rogacion days,
'Aint X gentylmen and vj childre of the chapel iiij meai.
'Service for gen^lmen and childer o' th' chapell, to
'every meas aloof or bred, apottell of bere, half a dysch
' of buttre, and a pece of laltt-fiiche, viij dyichis. ' t
Besides these assignments, they had also liveries
of white or wax-li^ts, of fogote, and of coals for
fnel ; provision was also made for the washing of
Albes^ and surplices for the gentlemen and children
of the chapel, and also of altar-cloths ; the times
of washing them were regulated by the festivals that
occur in the coarse of the year, and the rate of .
payment to the launderer was a penny for every
three surplices. The whole expense of washing
linen for Uie chapel as thus ascertained, was eetimatea
at seventeen shillings and four pence a year, and the
amount of the chapel-wages for a year was thirty -five
pounds fii^en shillings.
' The orderynge of my lordes chanell in the queare at
' mattyngis, mass, and evynionge. iTo stonde in ordnre as
' hereafter followeth, syde for lyde daily :-
' The deane side.
< The Deane.
' The subdeane.
' A countertenor.
' A countertenor.
' A countertenor.
' The seconde side.
'TheLady-massepi
' The gospeller.
' A countertenor.
f The ngliiHii of diet pmertlnd bj lh« boo^ fhim wblch Ihfl ibovr
4Xtruti »t9 BUidfl« wu, with % few varlatioDi fliundcd to iha wholr
IkmUr ; Ike followfiu nvnlUtoDI mpaet Ih« bnakteti of Iba oil u4
tbo oouDtm 4Bd IbftD enUdmi during Lent :—
' BnlktUt tia mr lotda ud my Udy.
' Ponl, tlMol b»da In tnnebon, 1] mucbMti, ■ quit of ban, ■
■quil of wjnM, U peer* of ull-lKb, irj buonn'd barjne. 111] vhlu
* berTyng, or a dlteli of ipnlu— J.
'PnUkftKtefeTnijr lorda Percy ud Duliter Tbomu Porn.
■Ilom, halfiloUoTbouHhold brede, b muohet, ■ paUU of ben. •
' dyieb of butlei, ud ■ peoa of lell-Bih, t dyecb of epnltt, oi UJ IthlU
' banyDge— |.
' BimlktMie fat the nuny Tdt my Udy tluguot ud miklai
■Itzn. anunebet, ■ quute o? bete, > dyicb of bottai, ■ paea of wH-
■Sicli, ■ dyecb of iimillti, or IIJ uhlie berryng— ].'
And. eiGopllng the leuon nf Lent and Bib -day!, tba ordlnuy allnw-
BDeefistblj putoTtbe fiunlly throiiebout Ibeynu wu aifbUowe:
■ BnikllutU of Seech daye diyly thanmM tbc yen.
' BnikbelU for my lerde and »y lady.
'Farat, aloof of brede in treTichort, IJ manchette, J querl of bere, a
' quart of vine, lialf achyne of mulon, oreLli acbyneof beefboUed— J.
w my MyMariant end Hr. rmnuPa
ana£«iuttc
p. 111. Da Tnnka, K la a
aUipUso. though the nibrlc at tbe e
aid aleo that before mornlDg praye
king, baa dearly dletlngulthed between (h
Dunndiu, Batlon. I>i>ln. Oflldor. lib. 111.
garment made St and oloae to the body, (lea renna use waiai oi tue
ikh Ihen la a line print by Jac«mo Fray,
leellee. with a book under hie am. hiTlni
lent an alb. The Alb na audenlly erabnMen'l iiltE
Bd amamenlad wlita fltngo. Soo Blsgbam't Anilqal-
chap. TiU. I >. Wbulfiy n the (Smnon Pnyv,
2o
H hy Domlntchlno. of
dbyGooi^lc
ses
HI8T0EY OP THB SOIBairCE
Book IX
< ^w ordnryDge of my lordei chappeQ for the keapinge
' of OUT LadyeM mau thoniwte the wtdke.
' Sondaj. ' MoniJay.
' Muter of the Childer a ' Hatter of the Childer a
' countertenor, ' Countertenor.
'A tenonr. ' A countertenour.
' A baase. ' A lanor.
' Twisday. ' Wedynsday
er of the childer a ' Maater of the childer »
' countertenor
' A oouuterteooar.
* A tenour.
' A tenour. ' A bwM.
' Thuisdaie. ' Fryday.
Maater of tiie childer a < Master of the childer a
' couuterteDor.
' A countertenoure.
' A countertenoure.
' Sattnrday. ' Fryday.
'Muter of the childer a 'And upon the laide
' countertenor ' Friday th'ool chapell,
' A countertenor. ' and evry day in the
' A countertenor. ' weikc when my lord
' A teuotir, ' shall be preaent at the
' iaide masee.
' The orduryuge fbr keapinge weikly of the orgayni
' one after an outher ai the namy* of them hereafter
* foUowith weikly : —
' The mditer of the childer, yf be be a player, the
' fint wcke.
' A countertenor that ia a player the ijde weke.
' A tenor that ia a player tne thiide weike.
OHAP. Lxxxn.
It ia probable that Wolaey looked npon this
establisbment with a iealom eve. The eul might
' be said to be his neighbour, at least he lived in the
cardiDal'a dioceae of Yoric, and anch emulation of
poBtifioal magnifieeaoe in a layman eonld hardly be
brooked ; be that as it may, it ia certain that upon
the decease of the ahoTe-mentioned earl of North-
umberland, the cardinal's intention waa to deprive
hia Boocessor of the meana of oontinniag the solemn
aervioa in the &mily, by requiring of him the books
used in the ohapel of his father : what pretext fae
coold ftama for snob a demand, or what reasons,
other than the dread of offending him, might indnoe
the young earl to comply with it, it la not easy to
gneeo, but the books were delivered to him, and the
earl had no other reaoutoe than the hope of being
able one time or other to set np a chapel of hie own,
which he axpreBsea in a letter to one of his friends,
yet extant id the Northumberland fiunily, a copy
whereof is given below,*
• 'BtlftUon.
'ARaciBTiuiMkHttnMtundicbmi ibijtMi>aititii»aiitaAii4iut
_ nWTTd V ay Hmant leltgn, from ytmt barrni ditt th« xiih daj
offJo^, dakmrd Dots h]F« tbg t^ma div, K Om kinf** lown tt
' "-- rrmliiH i wbarin I do ftmmfB TO* laid uidaulli dIhkibi n ts
t iiwh bDki u n» In IM ilu^ ormj lat leid ud bijiliu, (wh
JbWu vHdoD) U tba mnnplirtliaimt off vhkb rt rani d«]iit
From Qm fore^cnng aeoonnt of the rise and progress
of choral music. It appears, that notwithstanding the
abuses that might naturally be snppoeed to arise from
an over zeal to improve and cultivate il^ and in sjrite
of the arguments aud objections from time to Ums
nrged agunst it, as a practice tending rather to the
injnry than the advantage of religion, it not only was
capable of maintaining its ground, but by the middle
of the Bizteenth century was arrived at great per-
fection. It farther appears that the objeotions against
iti many of which were nrged with a view to baaish
mosio, or at least antiphonal singing, from the ehon^-
lerviee, produced an effect directly the contrary, and
were the cause of a reformation that oondsoed to its
establishment.
For it seems the objections aeainst choral servioe
had acquired siich weight, as to oe thought a sutgect
worthy the deliberation of the council of Trent, in
which assembly it was urged as one of the abosea in
the celebration of the mass, that hymns, some of a
^jfobne, and others of a lascivious nature, had crept
into the service, and had given great scandal to the
professors of religion. The abuses complained <^
were severally debated in the council, and were re-
formed by that decree, under which the form of the
mass as now settled derives its authority.
It is easy to discern that by this decree choral
•arvioe acquired a sanction which before it wanted :
till the time of passing it the practice of singing in
churches rested solely on the aiguments drawn from
the usage of the Jews, and the exhortations contfuned
in thoee pass^es in the epistles of St. Paul, which
are constantly dted to prove it lawM ; but this act
of the council, which by professing to rectify abases.
'I^an«taniulik,DotwltkMad[im t tnut ta bs iMl ao* In ■■« <tf *
I oiupau sir mrni 'swoa, but I fnf Ood lu ut lack knur upts a*
tlwi ho dottu But mvtlifiik I bav« loat Tarj mocb pcndnpaf yt ji ■•
fd»d,
■S>nt, On lonf IriBf oITbj
' kjnd word! unto hjm, not en ra
■AlKllb*M«or Hi
'Torkibor; thit narthi
■ nfudTd ; ud that tu
'ddW Tockibn ; wbrib ikaU b« wlthln'mn imtk, Ood wrttriWI b«
' I ftr mj voidi to Mr. Hinjna abaU dMplai mj kndi bb I vja
:>oni(, tka -bjoh j> bl
J flu kTBJ nor by mjF
d eurlnul] Ins
' Al», bodMlow, Ui< pvBi I Wk mA kn* lakjt Mu ht cobtw
'hnhii in not betuc lorudTd, hol kraauaTiinbTdunixtrCnD
• JCullIli] (Dd lh*l rail nrm jWUHun WonuwHtornwadoiiadl ib -
'anch ilinden. Uuu l
' BO bovlb [ontl thmoC
' I ihill Witt all ind Hnd np TDUT littn with tba bo
■fm.uEauT, lueul*lKi»n[aBitphBHn].mkaiIllinkwkvBrt
' (BRi ■ (tM wj-u ; Tcnlli [fnduali] an oidaortT [ordinal}. ■ nuaial,
■tU) prnnMloMn [pnaaadauli], and fbt aU tha naiklnr, tbaran
■ noi woRh tka Hndlni nor ara wai oenpTHiln By loid) ehaaaL JkaA
■ alK 1 ahillnTI M tBa tjina aij* kna «]rU*d ma.
' TfftDT toRlt tne* vtU ba w good lord onto iM *■ ti
< Preau} to pat WjOn Wama irtthbl a mnM of m
• titaitj, BDta Dm Qna ha han aaaoatptpad A
'arai fned. I ahall frf h;a pMt g C. IL u
• nntahlieoUan.'rttknwh Mhn tbragi naaiTn _ am uncvi ^
' dona I bet OBIo aiufa trnia ai mjna airdrun bank takn aaeoofl aC
• Ub ; whar b, |aad kadnUnw, d* iTDni bm. fts oil ba ■han p«t n I*
' land mjtaalR at at owt Datrnf I akall iIhhi yn.
■ I kiTa IbndSaa 4 aatrtUnu hoMt mu •• ani I flbmid la ni hC
■In baal U mj monntiiT off Bul.Puk tka U] daj of Asnit. Ia ika
'ownabwdoff Yonn ara uiund
•TonrbadfenoaAnBddL H. NoannauuiTB.'
Tkli carl af NoiUiiuiibnrland wii Hanrr FcRtf. Ibc lew of Asm
Bolayni tta* panon ts vbco Uw [attar li iddivuri ••> Thiaiu. tm.iil
ana of tha fcntlanan or tha prlTT-cbasibn
aaotlMr MWr tnm the anil to tha lanu '
inM of njm ar ABWTk h
■btnonnoaiT n«d ikaa
Ina la Paaanfc^
m.QnmfMf
dbyGoo*^le
Ohap. Lxxxn,
ABD PRAOnOB OP MUSia
■BBumee and recogniiw tbo pnotice, is u strong an
aaaerlion of ita lawfolnesB and expediency as ooold
have been ooatained in the moet poutive and explicit
declantiuD.
This resulntion of the council of Trent, an asBcmbly,
(if we may believe such wrttera aa Fallavicini, and
otbcTS of bia cominiinion,)the most sogost and awful
that erer met for any parpoae whatever, and acting,
as they farther aaaert, nnder the immediate direction
and inflaence of that spirit which Christ has said
■ball remain with his cbarch, could hardly fail of
exciting a most profound vetieratioa for choral mnsie
in the membera of the Romieh church. Nor did it
piodnce in the leaders of the Beformation that general
aversion and abhorrence, which in many o^er in-
Btancee they discovered against the determinationa of
that tribunal, in all hnman probability the last of the
kind that the world will ever see : on the oontraiy,
the LntbeTaos in a great measure adopted the Romish
ritnal, they too rdbrmed the mass, and aa to the
choral service, they retained it, with as much of the
splendonr and magnificence attending it as their
particular circumstances wonid allow o£
It laoBt be confessed that the difference between
the music of the Romish and reformed chnrchea is
in general very great ; bat it ia to be remarked that
some of the reformed chnrohea differ more widely
from that of Rome than others. The church of
Ei^Iand retains so much of the ancient ontiphonol
m^od of dnging, aa to afford one pretence at least
for a separation from it ; and as to the Lutheran and
Galvinisdc churches, whatever may be their practice
at this day, those persons greatly err who suppose
that at the time of their establishment they were both
equally averse to ths ceremonies of that of Rome;
In short, in the several histories of the Beforma&n
we may discern a manifest difference between the
conduct of Luther and Calvin with respect to the
work they were jointly engaged in ; the latter of
these made not only the doctrine but the discipline
of the chnroh of Rome a ground of his separation
from it, and seemed to make a direct opposition to
popery the measure of his reformation ; accordingly
Ite formed a model of church government suited to
the exigence of the times; rejected ceremonies,
and ^mlished the mass, antiphonal unging, and,
in a word, all choral service, instead of which
latter he instituted a plain metrical psalmody,
rach as is now in use in moet of the reformed
chnrchea.
fiat Lather, though a man of a mnch nmre
irudbte temper than his fellow-labonrer, and who
Iiad manifested through the whole of his opposition
to it a dauntless intrepidity, was in many instances
dispoeed to temporize with the church of Rome ; for
npon a review of his conduct it will appear, first,
that he opposed with the utmost vehemence the
doctrine of indulgences ; that he asserted not only
the possibility of salvation throng faith alone, but
maintained tl^t good works without faith were mortal
sins, and yet that he submitted these bis opinions to
die jndgment of the Pope, protesdng that he never
menit to question his power or that of the chnich.
In the next place he denied the real preaenoe of
Ohrist in the eocharist, but yet he substituted in ita
place that mode of existence called conanbstantiatioii,
which if not tranaubtantiation, is not less difficult than
that to conceive of. Again, al&ough he denied that
the mass is what the church of Rome declares it to
be, a propitiatory sacrifice, and was sensible that,
according to the primitive usage, it was to be celo*
brated in the vulgar tongne, that the people might un-
derstand it ; he in a great measure adopted the Romish
ritual, and with a few variations permitted the cele-
bration of it in the Latin. He allowed also of the
nse of cruoifixes, though without adoration, in de-
votion, and of anricolar confession, and in general
was less an enemy to the mperstitious rites and
ceremonies of the church of Rome than either Oalvin,
Zoinglios, or any other of the reformers.
The effect of this diversity of opinions sad con-
duct are evident in the different rituals of the
Lutheran and Oalviniitio chnrchea in SwitaerlaiM],
France, and the I^ow CSonntriea ; the Psalms of
David were the only port of divine eerviee allowed
to be sung, and this too in a manner so simple and
^in, as that the whole congregation might join in iL
The Lutherans, on the contrary, affected in a great
measure the pomp and magnificence of the Roman
worship ; they adhered to ^ nse of the organ and
other instmmenta; they had in many of their
churches, partioutarly at Hamburg, Bremen, and
Hesse Cassel, a precentor and choir of singers ; and
aa to their music, it was not much leas curious and
artificial in its contexture than that of the chnroh of
Rome, which had so long been a ground of objection.
Few or none of the authors who have written the
history of the Reformation have been so partienlar
as to exhibit a formulary ot the Lutheran service.
Dr. Ward, in his Lives of the Gresbsm Professors,
says * that the Lutherans seem to have gone much
' the same length in retaining the solemn service as
' the church of England, though with more instm-
■ ments and variety of harmony.' But the trnth of
the matter is, that Uiey went much fotther, as appears
by a book, which can be eonmdered no otherwise
than as their litnrgy, printed about seven yesn after
Luther's decease, in folio, with the following title,
■ Pulmodia, hoe eat, Oaatica sacra veteris eccleein
selecta. Quo ordine, et melodiia per totins anni
cnrricnlom cantari naitate solent in templis de Deo,
et de filio qua Jna Cbbisto, de regno ipMUS, doo-
trina, vita, pasaiooe, reaurreotione, et ascansione, et
de Spirita Bancto. Item de aanctia, et eomm in
C^iristum fide et cmce. Jam primnm ad eoclesiarum,
et eoholoram osum diliganter oolleeta, et brevibus ac
piis scholiis illustrata, per Lncam Losmum Lime-
burgensem.* Gum prtefatione Philippi Melanthonis.
Noribergte Apvd Gabrielem Hayn, Johan. Petrei
genemm, MDLIII.'
From this book it dearly appears that tba Lntheraas
retained the maw, and onadry Ues exceptionable parts
of the Romish service, as namely, the hymns and
other ancient offices ; a few of the more modem
■I Loulni !• glnn la i
dbyGooi^le
fflSTORY OF THE SCIENOE
Book tX.
hvmiu are uid to hsva been written by Lnthar
hiniEelC the rest ue taken from the Roman and-
phonary, gradoal, and other ancient rituals ; as to
the music, it is by no means so strict sa that to which
the Romish offices are snng, nor does it seem in any
degree framed according to the tonic laws ; and it is
highly probable that in the composition of it tixe ablest
of the German moeidana of the time were employed-
Nay, there is reason to conjectnre that even the
mnrical notes to some of the hymns were composed
by Luther himself, for that he was deeply skilled in
the science is certun. Sleidan asserts that he para-
phrased in the High Qerman langoage, and set to a
tnne of his own composition, the forty-tdxth Psalm,*
' Dens noster reliigiam.' Hr. Richardson the painter
mentions a picture in the collection of the gruid
duke of Tnscuiy, punted by Oiorgione, wbidi he
saw when he was abroad, of Luther playmg on a
harpucbord, his wife by him, and Bncer behind him,
finely drawn and coloured.! And the late Hr.
Handel was used to speak of a tradition, which all
Qermany acquiesced in, that Luther composed that
well-known melody, which is given to the hundredth
Psalm in the earliest editions of onr Englieh version,
and conttnuea to be sung to it even at t£is day.
And though this tune adapted to Psalm cxxziv.
occurs In Olaode Le Jeune's book of pealm-tunes in
four parts, published in 1618 by bis sister C^cile Le
Jeone, there le not the least pretence for saying that
he composed the original tenor. Nay, the self-same
melody is also the tenot-pftrt uf Psalm cxxxiv. in the
Psalms of Gondimel, published in 1603, both these
musicians professing only to adapt the three auxiliary
parts of cantus, altos, and bassns, to the melodies as
tb^ found tbem.
If a judgment be made of the Lnthenm service
fimn the book now under consideration, it must be
deemed to be little less solemn than that of the
church of Rome ; and from the great number of
offices contMued in it, all of which are required to be
sung, and accordingly they are printed with the
musical notes, it seems that the compilers of it were
well aware of the efficacy of music in exciting devout
aSecttouB in the minds of the people. The love
which Luther entertained for, and his proficiency in
music, has been already menUoned in the course of
Ais work ; but his sentiments touching the lawfol-
nees of it in divine worship, and the advantages re-
sulting to mankind, and to youth in particular, from
the use of music both as a recreation and an In-
centive to piety, are contained in a book, known to
the learned by Uie name of the Golloquia Mensalia
of Dr. Martin Luther, the sixty -eighth chapter
whereof is in these words : —
' Musick, said Luther, is one of the faireet and
most glorious gifts of Qod, to which Satan is a
bitter enemie; therewith many tribulations and
evil cogitations ore hunted away. It is one of the
best arts ; the notes give life to the text ; it ex>
pelleth melancholie, as we see on king Saul. Kings
• Cemmat. it Btun BaU^onli at Kdpnb. luli Cir^ V. Cmui^
lib. XVI.
t Aeumt Df StUHi, Sm BvlMk, Dnvtugi, ind Fliitnnf in IMlf,
' and princes ought to preserve and maintain mnnek,
' for great potentates and rulers ought to protect good
' and liber^ arts and laws ; and altho private people
' have lost thereunto, and love the same, yet their
' ability cannot preserve and maintun it We re*d
' in the Bible that the good and godly kings main-
' tained and paid singers. Musick, said Luther, is the
' best solace for a sad and sorrowed minde, through
' which the heart is refreshed and settled again is
' peace, as Is said by ^ti^> " ^ ealamat mfiare levet,
" ego dicere vernu :" Sing thou the notes, I will sing
' the text Musick is an half discipline and school-
' mistress, that maketh people more gentle and meek-
' minded, more modest and understanding. The base
' and evil fidlers and minstrels serve thereto, that we
' see and hear how fine an art musick is, for white con
' never be better known than when black is held
' against it Anno 1538, the ITth of December,
' Luther invited Out singers and musicians to a
' supper, where they snug fair and sweet Motetn ; t
' then he said with admiration, seeing onr Lord God
' in this life (which is but a mere Cloaca) shaketh
' out and presenteth nnto us such precious ^fts, what
' tiien will be done in the life everlasting, when every
'thing ahall be made In the moat compleat and
' delightfnlleat manner I but here is only materia
'prima, the beginning. I always loved musick,
'said Luther. Who hath skill in this art, the
* same is of good kind, fitted for all things. We
■ must of necessity maintain musick in schools ; a
■ school-master ought to have skill in musick, other-
' wise I would not regard him ; neither should we
'ordain vouug fellows to the office of preaching.
' except before th^ have been well exercised awl
' practised in the school of mtudck. Mumck is a &ir
' gift of God, and nesr allied to divinity ; I would
' not for a great matter, said Luther, be destitnle of
' the small skill in musick which I have. The youth
' ought to be brought up and accustomed in this art,
'for it maketh fine and expert people. — Singing,
' said Luther, is the best art and practice ; it badi
' nothing to do with the afhirs of this world ; it is
' not for the law, neither are singers full of cares, but
' merry, they drive away sorrow and cares with sing-
' ing. I am glad, said Luther, that Ood both bereaved
' the countrie downs of snch a great gift and comfoK
' in that they neither hear nor regard music — Luther
' once bad a harper play snch a lesson as David
' played ; I am persuaded, said he, if David now
' arose fVom the dead, ao would he much admire how
vt Uh EhnTElu
T !■ ft tpacivi Df Tool taumooj ippnwlalad to tli
Tli« e^moloiT of Ulc wofd li not caaor 1o bt Bfoi
• II Asm U^u, u which It ten not Dm IcM
Boibio In ■ Kmi dUbwit Iran BMlw, M npaoil^ this* kit mrti^
■ A mowt b prapdU* ■ HHi( nude Ibc Uw e&oiA, dtlMt obob Hat
'Imiu oi utlwmior nsh like; wd IkM dhm t tike to km tan
■ gircB 10 Uul Usil* of tntukli* In oppoeHlan to 111* Mkw, «hM tfeiT
' oUnl Cuto ftimo. ind w> do oommonllg all plttn-Mnf, fW u nelUBt
Da Cus*, Ton MoTBTiFit. ut> that thoufb thit kind of nrnfiMim
U nsw mnfincd to tlM cbuKh. II wu orifluUT of Itae mod ■» od
Utalir BKunt u ddnlon n« locsuiilmi wUb tlia daOnldM •( <tt
dbyGoo^le
Chap. LXXXII.
AND PRACTICfE OF MU8ICL
this Bit of muaick is come to bo great and aii ex-
celling height; she never came higher th&n now
she ia. How ia it, aaid Luther, that in carnal
things we have ao many fine poema, but in epiritoal
matwrs we have each cold and rotten things ? and
then he recited aome German aonga. I hold this
to be the caoee, as St Paul Boith, I aee another law
reeiating in my membera ; theaa aonga, added he.
do not run in aoch sort as that of " Vila Ugno
Trwritvr," which he much commended, and said
that in the time of Gregory that and the like were
composed, and were not before his time. They
were, said he, fine ministers and school -maetera
that made such Tersea and poema as those I spake
of, and afiierwarda alao preserved them. — Marie the
loving mother of God hath more and fairer songa
presented onto her by the Papiata than her childe
Jeans ; they are naed in the Advent to aing a fair
sequence " Mittitur ad F»yin«m, ^" Bt. Mary
was more celebrated in grammar, mnaic, and
rhetoric than bar childe Jeaua. — Whoao contenueth
mnsic, as all aedncers do, with them, said Lnther,.
I am not content. Next unto theology I give the
place and highest honour to mosic, for thereby all an-
ger is forgotten, the devil is driven away, nnchastity,
pride, and other blasphemies by music are expelled.
We see alao how David and all the saints brought
their divine coaptations, their rhymes and songs
into verse. Qwa paeis tempore rearuMt muttea,
i. 0. In the time of peace music flouriahea.' *
• TtH CBDoqnU Hdiull*, ( woA cnriaiu 1b Iu Uod, m It utalUU ■
iTCl} portnit of IH author, will budlf now te Ibouihl H eioiUent
UtaiT tor miticr or finm (1 U juttuy thai Hotntlaii WUeh w> m told
ri» formerly pal* to It : tlia(ul4«t otH !• -' — " "- ' "- -—
It lUDilrj tlmco hBT« itppwod tK tho world iri
From the several pasasges above collectad, which
it aeema were taken from his own mouth as uttered
by him at smidry times, it must necessarily be con-
cluded, not only that Luther was a passionate ad-
mirer of music, but that he wae stdUed in it, all
which considered, there is great reason to believe
that the ritual of hia church was ftamed either by
himself or under hia immediate directicm.
It is more than probable that this institution of
a new form of choral service by the Lutherans, co-
operating with the censure of the council of Tr«nt
against singing, as then practised in churches, pro-
duced that plun and noble style of choral harmony,
of which Palestrina is generally supposed to have
been the fikther. This most admirable musician,
who was Maestro di Capella of the church of St
Peter at Rome, with a degree of penetration and
sagacity peculiar to himself, in the early part of his
life discovered that the moaicians his predecessors
had in a great measure corrupted the science; he
tlierefbre rejecting those strange proportiona which
ilnt^ >>
nilnOnuDV
Ij kfunm ud
' diiKlnc d«B Ilia tha nouikd nndu tb* uU oU (ttundlKon, ona of tb*
• uiS oHcfaul Brlnltd book! wh then tnjpUj flmnd Mn| In ■ Am
' obaeor* no]*, Hdng wrqiped in % itroDv lined oloth, whu^ WH w>xed
. _»» .^t ...__ _„ — 4.fcim|ni ,^^0^1^ wheretty the book wu pr^
— .,- o, aod nud^bude to huu that hmd 1
'In that otHoie bide, IWlngUul If the uU empei
•ttdft that one of the lald bmka waa ret foiib cc
' coetodr, wberel7 not mly himaelt might be btiniKhl Id . . _
'■ko the boob In densvr to be deatioyed aa aU the T*it won le lerif
'b«fiH«i and alao calUos ma U mlBde and knowing that I had tha High
hetHlei of Bcallgnlaiil, 'Dutab tnngna nrf porfui, dM eend the eald original book ovat bitber
■Ingiilar dicomitanoBe as entille U in no imaJL degree to tbo ettentlon of
tbecnrloui.
Tb* wlnfa of Lnthar wan flnt eelltctod by Dr. ADibany Lauteibach,
jBd bj him written tn the Oerman lufnaga. Afterwanl* toer were dli-
foaed into eomuon ptaoee by John Anrtbber, doctor In divinity. A
tnmlalioD of tlM book wa* pnHabad at London in 1191, InfoLlD, by one
Captain Haniy Bell ; hit modToa fbr ondarlaklng tha woik an eooCalned
t> a namtlt* nnSxfd la It, wblah la aa tbllowi :
■ I, Ca|it^ Hanil* BaU, do henby declare boib to the pnaant at* and
— 'tlly, lliat balnc emslared hajrond the eeaa In Hate afUiei Amea
tOfgiher, both by ibic JanM nd alio by ih* lata kinf Chaftee. in
iany. I did bear and ondantand tn all pUm gnat bawaOIng and
,,3tiUloti made hj raaaoo of tha deatnving and burning ofabor*
ftmraeow tbooBOd of Hulia Luther'i beoka. enHIled bli iMt dlflB*
For ilUt Bocb time ai Ood illmd
upon aboulotbarbuilikaH, Ineofnueb that by no poedblemeane leoidd
nmaln by that wiitk. Then about eii weaka after I bad reedTed the
Bald book, II feu out that I beina In bed with my wUk one nlilil batwean
twelye and one of tba alock. aha beeing aalaap, but myaair yat *»*k*,
Ibai* sppiand onto mee ao ancient man itandln( at m]' b*d aide,
Binyed all in white, badog a long and bnwl wUta beaid hmging down
to hi* girdle-itead, who taking ma by my right ear, ipake theae woidi
(bllowiDf nntoniee: ■•Sirrah, will not you take tlma u Iranilala that
' book wbloh la eent you out ot Gaimany I I will ibortly proTlde lot
■ you both place aod time to do It." And than ha yanlihed away out
of my light,
~ ~ >by affrighted, I fall Into ai
t lb* pop* then llrlng, yla. DragotT
..--ilhnitand pnjudica be and hit pafltit
id already Rcdnd by raaaon at^Ih* lald Lutlur*! divine dla-
. id alio (baring that tha eame might bring folUMI oontampt
BDd miediiaf upon bimaelf and upon thapoplab chunh. he tlianfbn, to
pntant tbe aama. did Beroely etit up and InatlgM* tb* amparar than In
being, rlt., BodolpbDa II. to make an edict thorow the whole ampli*
''"1 all the ftireeald pr1nl*d booke ibeold b* boined, and alao that it
aid ba death tfbr any peraon to have or keep a copla Iharvof, but alio
urn tbe aune, which odlol waa epoedll)' put In aiacnlion accordingly,
imueb that not one of all the eald printed book*, itor ao much ai any
«pi* of lb* mt* ODOld be fennd out nor baud of In any place.
' T waa kept then ten whoL* yean doH prlionar, when I epcnt llyfr
•yean tharaof about tba tratiiiUtlng of Ihc aaid booh, Iniomucb aa I
■hnind tba worda fvry true which tb* old men In tha foreaaid vialon
dbyGoot^le
890
HIErFORY OF THE 80IEN0E
Bom IX.
fbw were able to ring truly, and wbicli when enng
excited mora of wonder thi«n delight in the bearer,
Bedulously applied himeelf to the etndy of barmoitr,
end by the use of sacb combinationa as natnndiy
■Dggest themMlTflB to a nice and unprejndiced ear,
formed a style bo simple, so pathetic, and withal so
truly anblime, that hu oompoaitions for the church
are even at this day looked on as the models of bar-
monicol perfection.
OHAP. LXXXIIX
Thi foregoing aoconnt of the rise and progreea of
chnrch-mnaic, or ae it iB moat Tunally denominated,
antij^tonal ainging, may in a great measare be said
to inclnde a butoiy of the adence itself so far down-
ward aa to the time of the Refonnaijon; to what
degree, and mider what restraints it waa admitted
into the aerrioe of the reformed chorcbee, will be the
eabject of fotnre enquiry ; in the interim, the order
and oonrae of this iuBtory require that the Bucceaedon
both of theoretic and pratitical moeicians be continued
from the period where it stopped, and that an account
be given of that species of mnsic which bad its rise
about the middle of the sixteenth century, namely,
the dramalio land, in which the Opera and Oratorio,
aa they are improperly colled, are necessarily in-
cluded.
Of the writera on mneie, the last hereinbefore
mentioned is Peter Aron, a man more dietingniebed
by his attachment to Bartholomew Ramie, the ad-
versary of Franchinua, than by the merit of his own
writings ; he lived about the year 1646. The next
writer of note was
MAKTnnis AoBiooLA, chanter of the church of
Magdeburg, who flourished about this period, and
waa an eminent theoretic and practical musician.
In the year 1528 be published a treatise, which he
intitled eetttschc Music | and in the year following
another, intitled Musica InatmmeDtalis ; both these
were written in German verse, and were printed for
George Rhaw of Wittenberg, who though a book-
aeller, was himself also a writer on music, and as
such, an account has been ^ven of him in the conrse
of this work.* In the latter of these works are the
representations of most of the instmments in use in
his time. He was the author also of a tract on
fignrate music, in twelve chapters, and of a little
treatise De Proportionibus ; and of another in Latin,
intitled Rudiments Musices, for the nse of schools ;
but his great work is that intitled Uelodiie Bcholastdon
sub Horamm Intervallie decantandee, published at
his Bibliotheca Classica Librornm
He was the anther also of a tract intitled ' Scholia in
Mnsicam Planam Wenceelai Philomatis de Nova
Domo ex variie hfusicorum Bcriptis pro Magde-
bnrgensis Schobe Tyhns, collecta,' in the preface to
which he speaks thus of himself : ' Prfeterea, lector
' optime, cugitabis. me nequaquam potuisse singula
' artificiosissime tradere, quemadmodum alii ezcel-
'lentea mosici, qntim ego nunquam certo aliquo
• ni., book tUL duf. N. pwi lit.
' pmceptore in hoc arts nsns (dm, sed tanqnam
'musious ahvfinit occulta quadam natorm vi, qua
' me huo pertraxit, turn arduo labore otqne domeaticft
' studio, id quod cnilibet perito facile est nsdmare,
' Deo denique auspice, exigunm illnd quod intolligo,
' sim assecntns, nt non omnino abeolnte, verom tan-
■ qnam aliquis vulgariter doctns, tant&m simpliciaaime,
'adeoque rudibus hujns arlis pueris principia pns-
' aoribere, atqne ntcumqne inoulcare queam, non dis-
* similia arbori, cni spontanea oonttgit 6 terra pid-
' Inlatio, quie nunquam soa bonitate reepondet alteri
' arbori, quie nunc ab ipeo hortnlano, looo opportnno
' plantatnr ac deincepa edam qnotidie fovetur ac
' irrigatur.' In the year 16iS be republished bis
Mosica Instrumentalis, and dedicated it to George
Rhaw, but so mnch was it varied from the former
edition, that it can scarce be called the same work ;
and indeed the first edition was by the author's own
confession so difficult to be understood, that few could
read it to any advantage. In this latter edition,
besides explaining the fundamentals of monc, the
anthor enters very largely into a description of the
instmmenta in use in his time, as namely, the Flnta,
Knunhom, Zink, Bombardt, Sackpipe, Swisspipe,
and the Sbalmey, with the management of the tongue
and the finger in playing on them. He also t]«ats
of the violin and lute, and shows bow the gripe, as
he calls it, of each of these inetmmenta ia to be
divided or measured ; he speaks also of the divisioD
of the monoohord, and of a tempeiatara for the organ
and harpsichord. Agricola died on the tenth day of
June, 1656, and in 1561 the heirs of Geoi^e Khaw
published a work of his intitled ' Duo Libri Mnaicea
' continentea Compendium Artis, et illnstria Exampta ;
'scripti h Martino Agricola, Silesio soraviensi, in
' gratiam eorum, qni in Schola Magdebnrgensi prima
' Elementa Artis discere incipinnt
The works of Agricola seem intended for the in-
struction ofyonng beginners in the study of music; and
though there is something whimsical in the thotigfat
of a scientific treatise composed in verse, it is prob^a
that the author's view in it waa the more forcibly to
impress his instructions on the memory of thoee who
were to profit by them. His Musica Instrumentalis
seems to be a proper supplement to the Muenrgia of
Ottomama Luscinius, and is perhaps the first book
of directions for the perfonnance on any musical in-
strument, ever published. Martinos Agricola ia
sometimes confounded with another Agricola, whose
Christian -name was Rudolpbus, a divine by pro-
fession, but an excellent praati<»l musician, and an
admirable performer on the Inte and on the otgaa.
Such aa know how to distinguish between theae two
persons, call Rudolphus the alder Agricola, and well
they may, for he was bom in the year 1442. at
Bafflen, a village in Friesland, two miles from Gro-
ningen, and dying in 1485 at Heidelberg, was buried
in the Minorite church of that city, where ia tha
following inscripticBi to his memory : —
Invida clauaerunt hoc marmore fata Rodulphna:
Agricalam, Frisii ipemque deciuque boIL
Scilicet hoc uno meruit Gennania, laudis
Quicquid habet Latium, Gracia quicquid
X
dbyGoot^le
CtaAF. LZXXnL
AND PRA0T20B OF MUSia
Ml
HiBuatn FuKt flAnriihed about the yeu 1£40.
He wrote a Compendiom Horote, wfaioh hm been
printed nuiiy times, and Oompendtolnm Mnaica pn)
iDdpieutibaa, printed at Fronckfort in 154^ aad
i^ain at Ncitimberg in 1S79. Ha waa rector of the
eoll^;e or pnblio school of Qnedlinbnrg for many
yean, end ^ed anno 1598 : the ma^tratea of tbM
place erected a monoment (or him, npon which is the
following iawription i —
Olariaa. et Dootiaa. Viro, M. Heinr. Fakro, Mtimt
de hac Boholl tnerito montunentom boe poeoit Beipn.
hB)na Qasdli&bnrg, Senatne.
Henrici Mcc Fabri era, Lector, ounli
Qni doetMt bene Uberalii arti«,
Lingnaramque trimn probe peritaa
Ubhc rexit patriam Scbolalo tot annoi,
Quot menaia numerat diei ucundiu,
Fide, deiteritate, laude tanta,
Quantam et posters prndicabit stat.
Nunc pettU violentia lolutua
Iito, quod pedibua teria, tepulcro
In Chrlito pladdam capit qnJetem,
Vitam poltadto terenlorem.
37 Aug. obat An, 159B. euro vixiiaet annM LT>
GHUBTOPHSit Morales (a PortraH), a native of Sevil,
was a ringer in the pontifical chapet tmder Panl IIL In
Or aboat the year laH, and an excellent composer. He
was the anther of two collections of meaeee, the one
for five voices, pabliehed at lA'ona in 1545, the other
for four voices, published at Venice in 1063, and of a
fbrnons M^^tficat on the ei^ht tones, printed at
Venice in 1562. Mention is aJso made of a motet of
hia, ' Lamentabatnr Jacob,' nsually song In the pope's
cbapel Oh the fonrtb Sunday in Lent, which a venr
good judge* stylae 'nna roaraviglia dall' arte.'f uo
• iaitm Aaunl da Bnhini. n«11« >u« OunTidmiE pgt Ind t^olm It
Oana*ICnanld*Uaa9f><>iPoiitiad& Rom. ITlf.
Id ft* br Ibg pnT*l«i» of Moorl^ mtantn ud
minr MMOttM la IhU Hninln. Tbs Bpulth nHlr !• bk
Uh AntdsB Pudun * lltti* Unftoni \ ud U Im notsrloiu
■r at Hti«Mi duM •». (t IfMriih « AnMa orlgluL
■ to the thnHT of Diuic, II dOH DM *Pftr to km Inai u
id In Spiln bafbn Um tbn* otSiBua, vho mi Ixini In Ih*
n^ li !• luulMa ibM to till* Mima, *• iMll u Id IhOM of
r, in pliTala, ud other bnnoliN oT leuilniv Uh
»nd(d from itaam ndflil b* tbo MMhin & tba
„_.jd la till muliUM. nd AlbnUu tiklii( u _ _.
is tb* pofMmuK*. Willing to ■ HMoukl* oppoRnnllT, ha ■«» an
iMtnuMntloUihiiidof UuluuoipudwKklDd, aad uwoktd It *d
daUcaulT, that hidnv lba*r«»daRoBtloniitia Hut w«* piMoal.
BciunqoMted lo TM7 hit Ujle, fco drew out otbli pockst a hoc,
whica h* "-^ and ucompaakd intb HHh ibh ud ylnmj, u pn-
oompoeed also the I^unentadons ofJerantlah for foUTt
five, and aiz voioea, printed at Venice in 1561. A
Gloria Petri of hia is preserved in the MoBurgU of
Kirdier, lib. VII. cap. vii. sect. ii.
OnKoonica Fabkr, profesBOT of mnmc In the nnl*
veraity of Tubingen m the dachy of Wirtemberg,
published at Baail, in 1553, Murices Pnctica Erote'
matum, libri II. a book of merit in its way. Ih it
are contained many compoettious of Jnsqnln de Pra>
Anthony Bnnnel, Okeghen), and otlier mnsiinanB of
that time.
Adrian Pttrrr CoouoiM, who Btyle« himself a dis-
ciple of Jusqnin de Pres, was the anthor of a tract
intitled Oompendinm Mnrices, printed at Norimberg
in 1552, in which the muBiciaoe mentioned by Gla-
reanns, with many others of that time, are celebrated.
The eabjecta principally treated of by him are thua
ennmerated in the title-page, De Modo omato canendi
— De Begnla Contrapnnctl — De OompOaitlone. To
oblige hia readers, this author at the beginning of hii
book hae exhibited hie own portr^t at full length,
bis age fifty-two. It wonld be very difBcnlt to de-
scribe in words the horrible idea which this repre-
sentation givea of him. With a head of an enormous
bigness, features the coarsest that can be imagined, a
b«krd reaching to his kneea, and cloathed in a leather
jerkin, he resembles a 6amoed,or other human savage,
more than a professor of the liberal aciences. But
notwithstanding these eingularitiea In the appearance
of the author, hia book has great merit
Ltnoi Dkntioe, a gentleman of Naples, was the
author of Dne Dialoghi della Uneica, puhliahed in
1552; the anbjecta whereof are cbiefl|^ the propor-
tions and the modes of the uifiients ; in discoursing
on these the author seems to have implicitly fol-
lowed BoetJus : there were two others of bis nam&
musicians, who were also of Naples : the one named
BUjrioina ia celebrated by Galilei in hia Dialogue on
ancient and modem Mjisio, as a moet exquisite per-
former on the Inte. The other named gclpio ie ti^eu
notice of in the Musical Lexicon of Waltber, Adrian
Le Boy, a bookseller of Paria, who in 1578 pnbliahed
Briefe et &cita Instruction pour aprendre la Tabla-
tnre ^ bim accorder, oondnire, et disposer la Main
Iked tha vhol* eompuT lo luglitot ; wllli udOih he drew from then
.. Bood of touii udvlth a tUid Ud thai nil ulnp. AAlr theH
proof* itf hie oitnordlDarTtBl<nta.tho lultui of Syile roqueeled of Alia.
laUoi ID take up hlr nodeoM to td> amrt. but he eicuud htaiMlf,
'-.-' '^iitliif hoaoflwd, wu elafai Iv rabben In a fOroil of Byrl^ In
H4. Many of hia wo^ In MS. ue ]fet in the pubUo Uhnij ■!
d that the fcnnlag aoooi
lUt*; tlwIUloMhg, 001
tbrStaTophdlLUesf
rt Dm truths
. ncapOanOwir
B~ Uooophen, wetOMd tar *«ni ym near oqiul U.
UinaaUw In Ui nlitia to lUliht Santul AbM Trhboii, o<
hhnhlfhiTt aadUMgibhaiDowiATkaina * ->- '
I and •nuBHi, 7*1 h* pcdtot AlptaanUne hi
'hhnedtMMlMHe that when ha had nid ti
~irM ttaM. iBd gMtea Iham hr hue- '
II h* huHDsd opoB AhhaiiMBt'i (-, —
^^ ' - nwlo, lo^ ud all iMRi «r ^OoHVhr; ■»« U*
I much ottMOMd pat 0DI7 bf Uehomoiau, bnt Jewa
. Ho int a pman id dBgulv ^latliMnea aad couli-
DuehandadMplMriirthath&tictfttaliiiorld. Ho li eallad Alphiia-
' Utu f»m Faiab. tho plaei of bU Ultb, whiefa, aooordlni to AbulphoSa.
(irho nolmu hie hngltndi, not from tb* Fortnuta IduMi, bat from
Iha aitramltr of tho •rBttam oondneot of AMa) hie M dw. M mln. «t
looftluda. and M da*, of aortltsni laUlude. He died u Duuecua In
tho rear of ihe Begin S», Out la about tho jsar «f Cbilit DM), whan b*
dbyGoot^le
SM
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE.
Ban IX.
Bor Is Qmterne, ipMka in that book »f a certain
tnning of the late, which was piactUed by Fabrice
Deotice the Italian, and others hia followers, from
whence it ie tu be inferred that he was a celebrated
performer on that inatmmenL
But of the many writers of this time, no one seems
to bare a better claim to the attention of a onrions
ready been fonnd necesesiy frequently to take notice
of in the preceding pages of this work, inasmnch aa
there are few modem books on music in which he is
not for some purpose or other mentioned. He, in
the year 1556, publiabed at Rome a book intitled
' L'Antica Mnsica ridotta alia modema prattica, con
' la dichiaratione et con gli eeeempi de i tre generi,
' con le loro spetie. Et con rinveotione di uno nnovo
' Btromenio, nel quale si contiene totta la perfetta
' mnsica, con taolli segrsti mnaicali.'
In this work of Vicantino is a very circumstantial
accoQDt of Guido ; and, if we exce[A that oontuned
m the MS. of Waltham Holy Cross, and a ehort tne.
moir in the Amialee Eoclesisstici of Baronius, it is
perhspa the most andent history of bis improvemenia
any where to be found ; it ia not however totally free
from errors ; for he attributes the contrivance of the
hand to Ouido, the very mention whereof does not
once occur either in the Micrologus, the Epistle to his
friend Michael, or in any other of his writings.
In the account he gives of the cli^ or keys, he
aaserts that the characters now used to denote them
© 1? H i -
the letters F, OTG,*
ate but BO many corruptions of
though he allows that the latter
of the three continued in use long after liie two
former, of which there can be no doubt, since we find
the tetter ^ used not only to denote the series of
superscute^ bat in Fantasies and other instrnmental
compositions it was constantly the signature of the
treble or nppor part, down to the end of the sii-
teentii century ; the character now used for that poi-
parpoee A is manifestly derived from this Xa
which signifies gs, and was intended to signify the
place of Q sol be nr. He farther conjectures, that
in order to distinguish the Hexachords, or, as others
call them, the properties in singing, namely, in what
cases b was to be sung by pa, and in what by m, it
was usual to afBz two letters at the head of the stave,
in the first case G and F, and in the last G and G.
The fonrth chapter of the first book contains an
account of John De Haris'a invention of the eight
notes, by which we are to nnderstand those characters
said to have been contrived by him to denote the
time or duration of soonds, and of the subsequent
improvementa thereof; the whole is cnrioae, bat it is
egregionely erroneous, as has been demonstrated.
He then proceeds to declare the nature of the oon-
Bonsnces, and, with a confidence not anusual with tiie
* Kflptn Ir of the nnH ttplnlon, md hH glm u cntnulnEng and
pntHliH rcUthm or llit (radiul comtpUon DftDvcimiuhtitlirmiKiica
llTvn of htm ud his wrliiDgL
writers of that age, to attempt an ezplaDaticni of that
doctrine which bad puasled Boetius, and does not
Mpear to have been clearly nnderstood even by
Ptolemy himself.
Tbst Vicentino had studied mosic with great assi-
duity is not to be doubted, but it does not appear by
hie work that he had any knowledge of the andenls
other than what he derived from Boetiue, and those
few of his own countrymen who bad written on the
subject. It was perhaps his ignorance of the ancients
that led him into those absurdities with which he ia
charged by Boni and other writers in bis attempts to
render that part of the sdence familiar which must
ever be considered as inscrutable ; and as if the diffi-
culty attending the doctrine of the genera were not
enough, he has not only had the temerity to exhibit
compositions of his own iu esch of the three severally,
bat haa conjoined them in the same composition ; (ta
first, in the forty-eighth chapter of the third book ia
an example of Qke chromatic for four voices; in the
fifty-first chapter of the same book ie an example of
the enarmooic for the same number ; and in the fif^-
fourth chapter is a composition also for four voioes,
in which tlie diatonic, the chromatic, and the soar*
monic are all combined. These examples have a
place in the preceding part of this work, and arc there
inserted to (diew the infinite confuNon arising from a
commixture of the genera.
In the year Ififil Vicentino became engaged in a
musical controversy, irtiich terminated rather to his
diwdvantage : the occaaion of it wss accidental, bat
both the subject and the conduct of the dispute were
curious, as will appear by the following oarrative
translated from the forty-tliird chapter of the fourth
book of the work above-cited ; —
' I, Don Nicola, being at Rome in the year of onr
' Lord 1551, and being at a private academy where
' was singing, in our disoonrse on the subject of
' music, a dispute arose between the revbrend Dcm
' Vincenzio Lusitanio and myself, chiefly to this effect
' Don Vincenzio asserted that the mnuc now in
' use was of the diatonic genus, and I on the contrsiy
' maintained that what we now practise is a com-
' mixture of all the three genera, namely, the chromatic,
' the enarmonic, and the diatonic. I diall not mentiOD
' the words that passed between us in the coarse of
' thb disput^ but for brevity's sske proceed to tdl
' tiiat we laid a wager of two golden crowns, and
' chose two judges to determine the question, from
'whose sentence it was agreed between us there
' should be no appeal.
' Of these our judges the one wss the reverend
' Mesier Bortholomeo Escobedo, priest of the dioceee
' of Segovia, the other was Messet Gbisilino Dan-
' cherts, a clerk of the diocese of Liege, both eingen
' in the chapel of hb holiness ; f and in tUe presence
' of the most illnatrious and most reverend lord
' Hyppolito da Eete, Cardinal of Ferrara, my lord
' EKobedo Tim tn utnquv mulcei puu ex»r«lutEulmo.' D« Huiia,
In IbE pnfliee U Andrei AduU'i OtHTTulonI per b« ncolm 11 Cm*
delCutinidellaCippillsPsDiUlidi. lirtlMiiuMof GhUHmd'ABkak
n.-— — . r Trr--rntnrnfllii riillii|n nf ilii|in iif Miiiiiiiillnul i>niil
Tbe ■«n« luthsi, !□ hU OtHmibid ibsis-mntlDiud, ftf. IGS, njha
d' AnkRU ■ frttlma conti^iuitlili di nudil()iU,'
dbyGoot^le
Chap. LXXXIII
AND PBAOnOB OF HUSia
• and nuuter, sod of nunjr teamed penona, and in
'the hearing of all the ringen, (hu qneation wu
' agitated in the chapel of his holinees, each of ua, (he
' parties, ofTering reasonB and argnmenta in rapport
' of his opinion.
' It fortnned that at one Bitting, for there were
' many, when liie Cardinal of Ferrara was present,
' one of onr judges, namely, Qhieilino, being pre-
' vent«d by btuineaa of hie own, conld not attend.
' I therefore on the same day sent him a letter, in-
' timating that in the presence of the Cardinal I had
■ proved to Don Vincenao that the music now in
' use was not umply the diatonic as he had asserted,
' bnt that the same wee a mixture of the chromatio
' and enannonio with the diatonic. Whether Don
' Vincensio had any information that I had written
' tfans to Ohisilino I know not, bnt he alao wrote to
' him, and after a few days both the judges were
' ananimone, and gave eentence against me, as every
' one may see.
' This sentence in writing, signed by the above-
• named judges, they sent to the Cardinal of Ferrara,
■ and the same was delivered to him in my presence
' by the hand of my adversary Don Vincenno. My
' lord having rasd the sentence, told me I was con-
' demned, and immediately I paid the two golden
' crowns. I will not rehearse the complunts of the
' Cardinal to Don Vincenzio of the wrong the jadgea
' had done me, bocause I would rather have lost 100
' crowns than that occasion should have been given
' to such a prince to utter anch words concerning me
' as he was necessitated to nse in the hearing of such
' and so many witnesses as were then present I
' will not ennmerate the many reqnests that my
' adversary made to the Cardinal to deliver back the
' sentenc« of my nnrighteons judges ; I however
' obtuned bis permission to print it and publish it to
' the world, upon which Don Vincenzio redoubled
' lus efforts to get out it of his hands, and for that
' purpose applied for many days to Monsignor Pre-
' posto de Troti, to whom the Cardinal bad committed
' the care of the same.
' A few days after my lord and master returned to
'Ferrara, and after dwelling there for some time,
' was neceedtated to go to Sienna, in which couitry
' at that time was a war ; thither I ^so went, and
' dwelled a long time with much inquietude. After
' some stay there I returned to Ferrara, from whence
' I went with my lord and master to Itome, in which
' city by God's favour we now remain.
' I have eaiA thus much, to the end that Don Vin-
' ceneio Lusitanio may not reprehend me if I have
■ been slow in publishing the above sentence, which
' some time past I promised to do. The reasons
' why I have delayed it for four years are above
' related ; I publish it now that every one may de-
'tennine whether our differences were sufficiently
'understood by our judges, and whether their
' sentence was just or not I publish also the re^
' sons sent by me, and also those of Don Vincenzio,
• without any fraud, or the least augmentation or
• diminution, that all may read them.'
The following is a iranalation of a pnper containing
the snbetance of Vincentino's argnment, intitled ' II
Tenors dell' Informatione manda Don Nioola k
M. Ghisilino per sua prova' : —
' I have proved to M. Lusitenio, that the musio
' which we now practise Is not simply diatonic, aa he
' aaya. I have declared to him the rules of the three
' genera, and shewn that the diatonic sings by the
' d^reas of a tone, tone and semitone, which indeed
' be has confessed. Now every one knows that onr
' preeent mudc proceeds by the inoompoeite ditone,
' aa from ur to w, and by the trihemitone dt pa,
' without any intermediate note, which method of
' leaping is I say according to the chromatio genus ;
' and I farther say that the interval fa la ia of the
' enarmonic kind ; and I say &rther that the many
'intervals signified by tiieee characters | and t,
' which occur in our present music, ahew it to partake
' of all the three genera, and Dot to be nmply diatonio
' as M. Lusitanio asaerts.'
The argumente on the other rade of the qnestioa
are conteined in a paper intitled ' II tenore dell' In>
formatione mandb Don Vincentio Lusitanio k M.
Ghisilino per sua prova,' and translated is as follows ; —
' Bignor Ghiutino, I believe I have sufficiently
' proved before the Cardinal of Ferrara, and given
' him to understand what kind of music it is that is
< composed at this day, by three chapters of Boetiue,
' that is to say, the eleventh and the twenty-first of
' the first hook,* in which are these words : " In his
"omnibna, secundum diatonicum cantilene, procedit
"vox per semitonium, tonam, ao tonum in una tetra-
" choi^o. BursuB in alio tetrschordo, per semitonium,
" tonum, et tonum, ac deincepe. Ideoqne vocatur
" diatonicum quasi quod per tonum ac per tonum
" progrediatur. Chroma autem(qnod dicitur color,)
"quasi iam ab huiusmodi intentioni prima mutatio
" canUtur per semitonium et semitonium et tria
" semitonia. Tote enim diateesaron consonantia eet
" duorum bHioram ac 'semitonii, sed non plcmi.
"Tractum est autem hoc vocabulum ut diceretur
" chroma, k Buperficiebus, que cum permulantnr in
" alinm transeunt colorem. Enannoninm ver6 <^uod
« eet mains coaptatnm, est <^nod cantatur in ommbne
" tetracordiB per dieun et dieein, et ditonnm, dte."
' Being willing to prove by the above worda the
■ nature of the music in use at this day, it is to me
' very dear that it is of the diatonic kind, in that it
' proceeds through many tetrachords by semitone,
' tone and tone, whereas in the other genera, that is
' to say, the chromatio and enarmonic, no examples
' can be adduced from the modem practice of an
' entire progression by those intervab which severally
' conatitnte the chromatic and enarmonic ; and I have
' shewn the nature of the diatonic from the fifth
' chapter of the fourth book of Boettns, beginning
" Nunc igitur diatonici generis deecriptio facta est in
"eo, scilicet, modo qui est simplicior ac princepe
" quem Lidium nuncupamua"
' To this Don Nicola has objected that the melody
' above described is not the characteristic of the pnre
' distonic genus, because it admits of the semiditone
• ThhfimlwdMil nilil«»t o/Luilunli.jl..ti»ieltedtattwoeb«fr
dbyGoo^le
SM
HI8T0BT OF THE BCIENOB
Book IX.
'And ditone, whidi are both chronutio aod «Dar-
■ monio intarrals ; to which I anawered, that botll
' th«se never arose in one and the same trtrachord,
'wbidi u SB obMrvation that Boetios hinuelf hu
' made ; and I eaid that Don mcola ma dafident in
' tba ksowledgfl of the tnie ohromatac^ which eoDRste
' in a ffognmoa by MmitoiM and aemitonB, as alto
' of the anannonic, proceeding by dieaia and dieaia.
'Am to the ditooe and aenuditona, they are common
' to all the ganen, and are taken into the diatonic, ae
' agreeing with tiie oidar of natnral progreeiioD : and
'thoagh Don Nicola wonld inainnate that the ditone
' and eemiditone are not proper to the diatonic, he
* doea not acmple nererthdeee to call the genua so
' chanctarised the diatonic genus, which I affirm it
' ie. I desire yoo will oommiuucate to your oom-
' paaion thwe reasons of mine, snd, ss yon promised
'the Oardinal of Femift, prononnce unt«aoa on
' Sunday next. Vincentiniu Lueitan.'
Tioentiao observes npon this paper, that the two
first chapters qooted by his adverBsry from Boetiaa
make sgainst him, and prove that opmion to be tme
which be, Vicentino, u oontendii^ for; and, in
short, that both ^e chromatic and enarmonic in-
terv^ ss defined by Boetine, were osed in the
music in ^aestion, which consequently could not
with propnety be deemed the pure and simple
dislomc: ha adds, that he will not arraign the
Be&t«nce of his judges, nor ssv that they understood
not the meaning of Boetios in the several ohapters
above-cited from him, bnt proceeds to relate an in-
stance of his adversary's generosity, which after all
that had, psssed must seem very extraordinsry ; his
words are tiieee i-—
' The conrtesy of Don Vincentino has been such,
that having guned my two golden crowns and a
sentence in ms &ivotir, and thereby overcome me,
he has a second time overcome me by speaking
against the sentenoe of my oondemnotion, and
s^nst the indges who have done faim this fivoiir ;
snd in SO doing he hs4 tmly overcome and per-
petoally obliged me to him : and moreover he has
published to the world, snd proved in one chapter
of his own, that the sentence agunst roe was unjust ;
nay, he has printed and published tihe reasons con-
tained in the paper written by me, and sent to Messer
Ghisilino, oar judge ; and this he has done as he says
to discharze his conscience, and because It seemed to.
him that ne had stolen the two golden 8cudi*~-
Ood forgive all, and I foi^ve him, because he has be-
haved like a good Ohristian ; and to the end tliat every
one nwT be convinced of the truth of what I now
assert, I refer to a work of hie intJtled " Introduotione
' fodlissima et novlsdma di canto fermo et ^pirato
ui tnUUlsrat
Man. Tba laadar ' _. .
llorlair m lUa kaad, wka, tfl .. .
MuaaaotlbamadeafuaiMdani tkit II l« nat (Ul^, aad In amr
napeet. iba udaBt dUtoulmun no iliht dmrniaUnnm, bnt u Impaiftct
eonniiltiin of halta) and, ta Ibvw Otl II daaa not partaka af tlw anar-
a STiinta, w ttaa aa
ildioe, Aa, Stampata In ttaat In
"campo di Fiore per Aatoiuo Kado, ImprMsora
" Apoeto. L'anno del Signoni ILDXUL it li xxr.
" di 8ettembr&" At the end of this wo^ he treata
■ of the three genera of mudc in theee wotds : —
" The genera or modes of mnsical progression ar«
" three, vis., the Diatonic, which proceeds by four
" Boonds constitnUng the intervals of tone, tone, and
" semitone minor, the Obromstic, which proceeds by
" semitone, semitone major, and three semitoiiieB,
"making in all five semitones, according to the
" definition of fioedns in his twenty-first chapter ;
"and according to his twenty-third chapter, by
" semitone minor, semitone major, and the interval
" of a minor thiid, bi ri, not ss in ri, because u
" FA is an incompoeite, and sk u fa is a composite
"interval. The Enarmonic proceeds by a diesia,
"dieus and third major tn one interval, as dt m,
" not trr Bi n ; the marit for the semitone minor is
" this % and that for the diesis is this x."
Vicentino remarks upon this diapter, lliat hia
adversary has admitted in it that the leap of the
semiditone or minor third, &■ va or hi soi., is of the
chromatic genus, which position he says he had
copied from Viceutino's paper given in to Heeser
Ghisilino; he then cites Vmcentio's explanation (^
the enarmonic genus, where he characterises the le^
of a ditone or major third by the eyllablee nr m.
' This,' says Vicentino, ' my adversary learned from
' the above paper, to which I say he is also beholden
' in other ii)stancea, for whereas he has boldly said
' that I understand not the chromatic, I say as boldly
' that he would not have understood it but for the
above paper of mine ; because whoever shall coo-
front his printed treatise with that paper, will find
that he haa described the genera in the very words
therein made use of ; and his saying that he was
' able before he had seen it to
give
mple «f
chromatic music is not to be believed. Kay urther,
' in his paper to Hesser Oliiulino he ssserted that
' the ditone and semiditone are diatonic intervals, bat
' in this treatise of his he muntains the direct con-
' trary, saying that bs fa is not of the diatonic, bnt
' of the chromatic genus. Here it is to be observed
' that the enarmonic ditone is ur m, and not dt rb
' KL In shor^' continues Vicentino, ' it is evident
' that what my adversaiy has printed contradicts the
' reasons contained in his written paper. In short,
' I am ashamed that this wortc of Don Vinoentio la
' made pnblic, for beudes that it is a condemnation
' as well of himself as our judges, it shews that he
■knows not how to make the harmony upon the
'enarmonic diesis. Nay be has given ezamplee
' with false fifths and iaise thirds ; and moreover,
' when he speaks of a minor semitone, gives m fa,
' and FA HI as an example of it. AaA again, is of
' opinion that the semitones as we now sing or tune
' them, are semitones minor, whereas in truth they
' are semitones major, as fa lo or lo fa.'
Vicentino proceeds to make good his charge W
producing the following example from his advenuy^
printed work, of false hannony : —
dbyGooi^lc
Chap. LXXXIV.
AND PRAOTiOE OF MUSItt
' It moch grieves me,' says Vicentioo, ' that I am
obliged to produce this ezsmple of fldse harmony,
bnt I am net the author of it, and have done it for
my own vindication. It now remaine to produce
the Bent«Dce given agunit me, which I shall here do,
tmly copied Trom the original, sobBcribed by the
jndges, and attested in form : —
"Sententia.
" OhriBti itonu&« iovocato, d^ Noi sopradetti
" Bartholomeo Eegobedo, et Ghisilino Danchutfl, per
" qneata nostra diffinitiva seiitentia et lande in pre-
" senda dolla detta congregatione, et delli Bopra detti
" Don Nioola, et Don Vinoentio, present intelligenti,
" aodiend, et per la detta oententia instanti. Pro-
" nontiamo senteoliamo il predetto Don Nioola non
" haver in voce, ne in soritto provato wpra che da
" fondata la sua intentions della sua propoeta. Immo
" per qnonto par in voce et in ecriptis il detto Don
" Vincentio hi provato, che Ini per nno competente-
" mente cognosce et iutaude di qual genere sia la
" compoditione che hoggi oommunamente i compo-
" sitori compongono, et si canta <^i di, come f^inuo
" chianunente ditopra nolle loro informationi potii
" vedere. Et per queeto ill detto Don Nicola douer
" essere coudennato, come lo condenniamo nella «com-
" meaaa fatta fra loro, come digopra. Et cosi noi
" Bartholomeo et Ghisilino sopraacritti ci sotto scri-
" vianio di no«tra taaao propria. Datum Bonue in
" Palada Apostolico, et Oapella pnedetta. Die vii
" Junii. Anno sapraecripto Foutificatas i. d. k. d.
" Jnlij. PP. iii Amio aecnndo et landamo.
" Pronmitiavi nt sapra. Ego Bartholomens Eago-
" bedo, et de mauu propria me enbecripei.
" Pronnndavi at sapra. Ego Ghiailinus Dancherts,
" et mann propria me subecripsi.
" lo Don Jacob MartelU faccio fede, come la sen-
** tentia et le due polize eopra notate eono fidelmente
" impresse et copiate dalla Oopia della medeeima
" Beotentia de i sopra detti GindicL
" lo VinceoBO Ferro confirmo qnaoto di sopra.
" lo Stefino Betdni d^ il Fomarino, confirmo
" quanto di sopra.
" lo Antonio Barr^ ooofirmo quanto di sopra."
It is to be nupect«d, as well from the publication
of the above sentence, as from the ohewvaCione of
Vicentino on his adversary's book, that he is not in
earnest when he calls him a good Christian, and pro-
fesses to forgive him ; nor indeed does it appear by
hie book, wluch has been consulted for the purpose,
that Vinceiisio formally retracted the opinion main-
tuned in the paper delivered in to Ghisilino ; and
though the passages above cited haia his treatiae do
in effect amount to a confeesion that his former
opinion was emxMOBs, his pnUidung that work wiUi-
out taking notioe of the iqjnry Vioenlino had ina-
tained by the sentence against him, is an evidence of
great want of candour.
It seems that the principal design of Vicentino in
the publioaCion of his book was to revive the praotice
of the ancient genera, in order to which ha invented
an iuatnunent of the harpuchord kind, to which be
gave the name of Arohioembalo, so conatmctad and
toned, as to answer to the diviaon of the tetrxdiord
in each of the three genera : suoh a multipUoity and
confusion of chords as attended this invention, utrcH
duced a great variety of intemls, to whioh the ordi-
nary divieion of the scale by tones and aemitonea ma
not oommenBorate, he woe therefore redooed to the
neceseity of giving to this instrument no fewer than
ux rows of keys, ' Sei otdini di tasti,' the powers of
which he has, Uiough in very obccnre terms, ex-
plained ; and indeed the whole of the fifth and last
of Viceutino's work is a disaeitation on tbia
plainec
CHAP. LXXXIV.
EiRCHBB relates that Oio. Battista Doni, who lived
many years after Vicentino,* reduced the six Taati
of his predecessor to three, and as it should seem,
without eesentially intermptiag that diviuon of the
intervals to which the six Tasti were adapted.f In
another place of the Musnrgia he says that the most
illustrious knight Petrus h Valle, in order to give an
example of the metabolic style, procured a triarmonio
inatroment to be constructed under the direction of
Dani.:t This was Pietro Delia Valle,§ the famous
Italian traveller, who appears to have been intimate
with Doni, for the foarth diecourae at the end of the
Annotazioni of Doni is dedicated to him ; and Delia
Valle in his book of travels takes occarion to mention
Doni in terms of great respect The triarmonic in-
strument mentioned by Kiicher is described by Doni
in the fifth of hie disconrBee at the end of his Aimo-
tadoni.
In prosecution of these attempts to restore the
ancient genera, a most excellent musidaa, Galeaaao
Babbatini of Mirandola, made a bold effort, and gave
a division of the Abacus or key-board, by means
whereof he proposed to exhibit all imaginable har-
monies ; but it seems that none of these divisions
were ever received into practice ; they indeed may
be said to have given rise to several easays towards a
* TUi pemn wu w
t Hniiiis. com. 1, IRi. VI, pig. *i».
t ManiTE. Mid. I. Ub. Vlt. pic. <?<.
■peot tmln nwi tn mnlHof «**r'%iuk*T,
tArta of tho But. Hb DurrtBd % tqbiu Iht
in of gmt leuuhigj ht
TQBngudy of MvopoUi
— , rb« dflRC ilwtlT aA*! ok awnlHo, ba poitoOE
■urrliic bar mubu abOBt witli htn In bit tn>**l* n
Il munilnt to Room, b* UDH "
lOrsb of AnscU, tinatf4nt ■
bi bwM wllb giHt po
■ aniiHUBf Uw HlHud..
prsBoosM ■ fuuni vnOaa 01
ta« body, begwi 10 dvllrn It. but wu bitiimptad tj bli tan. md conid
Dotpnceed. Th* Rooui pHU at tbU Udib oaMnMd Iwi dMlb wllb
n It • book oBtltlad Piuiania t
M la ObaUaw KoccbL
tl Hunl dallkVill*.
dbyGoo*^le
mSTOBY OP THE SCIENCE
fioM IX.
new temperament of the great ^item adftpted to the
diatonio gentu, wherein it hu been proposed to reduce
the Mvuij beys to the greatest pouible degree of
equality in respect to the component intervals of the
diapason. One NicoUoa Ramarinos, in the year 1640,
invented a key-board, simple in its divirion, but
changeable by means of registers.* By this invention
he efiected a division of &e tone into nine commas ;
but neither wm this contrivance adopted, for in gene-
ral the primitive division of the key-board prevailed,
and the arrangement of the tones and semitones in
the oi^n and harpsichord, and other instruments of
the like kind, ia at this day precisely the same as
wiuai those instruments were first conetmcted.
The above-mentioned woi^ of Vicentino is vari-
onsly spoken of among musicians. Qio. Battista Doni,
in bis treatise De Generi e de' Modi della Mnsica,
eap. L pretends to point out many absnrditiee in his
division of the tetrachord for the purpose of intro-
dncing the ancient genera into modem practice, and
treats his invention of the Archicembalo witli great
contempt. But in his treatise De PrEestantia Hnsicta
veteris, he is stilt more severe, and {^ves a character
of Vicentino at length in the following speech, which
he puts into the mouth of one of the uterlocntors in
that dialogue : —
' I suppose you have seen in a tract, which Donius
'has lately sent abroad, what depraved and absurd
'onions, and altogether foreign to the truth, one
' NicolauB VicentinuB has conceived concerning the
' nature, property, and use of the genera ; be who, as if
' he had teetored the music of the ancients in its prin-
' cipal part, affected that specious, not to say arrogant,
' title or surname of Archimnsicne, and boasting sang
' that the ancient music had just now lifted up its
' head above the deep darkness. Do not be and hie
' followers seem to tlunk that the nature and pioper^
' of the enarmonic genus consists in having the har-
' monical series, or what is called the perfect system,
' cnt up into the smallest and most minute intervals?
' ftom whence arises that false and ridiculous opinion
' that the common Polyplectra are to be alone called
' diatonic, and that those which have their black k^s
' divided in a twofold manner are chromatic, white
' those which are thicker divided, and consist of more
' frequent intervale, are to be termed enarmonic : they
' wonld not have ffdlen into thiB error if thejr had un-
' derstood the ancient and natural harmonise in the
' writings of AristoxenuB and others. Bat if Vicen-
'tinue had been somewhat better inetnicted in the
' rales of the science, and in the reading of the ancient
' authors, when he undertook the province of testor-
' ing the sncient music, he would not have entered
' tiie sacred places of the Muses with unwashed feet,
' nor defeated that most ample praise he would have
' deserved for his honest intentjons by nnprosperoos
' and vain attempts. — I have often wondered at the
* con&dence of Vicentinus, who, although he could not
' but be sensible that he had bat slender, or radier no
' learning and knowledge of antiquity, nevertheless
' did not hesitate to undertake so great a work. But
■I cease to wonder when I reflect on that Greek
• HoHUgb, tsDL L Ub. VI. pK. MO, (t Ml.
' sentence, " Ignorance makes men bold, but lemming
" timid and slow." '
To say the tmth, it does not appear tnra his book
that Vicentino's knowledge of the science was derived
from any higher source than the writings of Boetins;
and with no better assistance than tiiey could furnish,
the restoration of the genera seems to have been a
bold and presumptuous undertaking, and vet there
have not been wanting moaiciana of latter times who
have persisted in attempting to revive those kinds of
music, which the ancients for very good reasons re-
jected ; and there is to be fonnd among the madrigals
of Dominico Mazsochi, printed at Rome, one intiUed
Planctna Matris Euiy^ Diatonico-Chromatico-B!nar-
mouico, that is to say, in all the three genera of the
ancients, which ia highly applauded by Kircher.
And with respect to Vicentino, bo br are the
writers on music in general from concnrring with
Doni in hie censure of him, that some of the most
considerable among them have been his encomiasts,
and have celebrated both him and that invention or
temperature of the Scala maxima to which hb in-
strument the Archicembalo is adapted.
'The first among the modems that attempted
'compositions in the three genera, was Nicolans
' VicenUnns, who when he perceived that the
' division of the tetrachords, according to the three
' genera by Boetins, could not snit a polypbonous
■ melotbesia and our ratio of composition, devised
' another method, which he treats of at large in an
' entire book. There were not however some want-
' ing, who being strenuous admirers and defenders of
' ancient music, cavilled at him wrongfully and nn-
' deservedly for having changed the genera, that had
' been wisely instituted by the ancients, and pnt in
' their stead I know not what spurious genera. But
'those who shall examine more closely into the
' affair will be obliged to confess that Vicentinus had
' very good reason for what he did, and that no other
' chromatic •enarmonic polyphonous melotbesia oonid
' be made than as he taught' f
And as touching that division of the octave by
Vicentino, which Doni and others are said to have
improved, the late Dr. Pepusch is clearly of opinitui
that it was perfectly agreeable to the doctrines of
the ancients ; for after remarking that Salinas had
accurately determined the enarmonic, and that
strictly speaking the fourth contains thirteen dieses,
that is to say, each of the tones five, and the semitone
major three ; he adds that the true division of the
octave is into thirty-one equal parts, which gives the
celebrated temperature of Hnygens, the meet perfect
of all, and concludes his sentiments on this sulnect
with the following enloginm on Vicentino : ' The
' first of the modems who mentioned such a division
was Don Vincentino, in his book entitled, L'Antica
Mueica ridotta alia modema Prattica, printed at
Borne, 155B, folio. An instrument had been made
according to this notion, which was condemned by
Zarlino and Salinas without sufficient reason. Bot
Mr. Huygens having more accnrately examined the
matter, found it to be the beet temperature that
dbyGoo^le
Ohap. LXXXIV.
AND PRACTICE OF llOSia
S9r
' conid be oontrived. Thoagfa neither tluB great
' mathemBticiui, nor Zftrlino, Sftliiuu, nor even Don
* Vincentino, seem to h»ve had a distinct notion of
' all these thirty -one intervals, nor of their names,
* Dor of their necessity to the perfection of mnsic' *
Hrkman Fince, chapel -master to the king of
Poland, in lfi56, pnbli^ed in quarto a book with
this title ' Prsclica mncdca Hermann] Tinckii, ex-
' empla variorum signoram, proportionnm et cononnm,
'jndidnmde tonis, ac qa»dam de arte snaviter et
' artiQciose caDtan<U conttnens ; ' a good mnucal in-
atitnte, but in no respect better dian many others that
were published in Qermany after the commencement
of the sixteenth centory. The author, though a
chapel-master, seems to have been a prot^tant, for in
the beginning of his work he mentioni Lather of
pions memory, and confirms the acooonts of turn that
ny he loved and nnderatood mnsic.
AxBRosnre Wilphlihosbdebds in 1563, paUished
at Norimbei^, Erotenuta Mnsices Practicte, a carious
book, and abounding with a great variety of com-
poaitions of the moat excellent masters ; aad in the
aameyesr
Lucas Losbcub, of Lunenburg, published a book
with this title, ' Erotemata Musics ex probatissimns
' qnibne que hujos dnlcissima artis scnptoribns ac-
' enrate et breviter selecta et ezemplis puerili in-
■ etitntioni accomodis illnstrata jam priraum ad nsum
' Bchohe Lnnenbnrgensis et uianim pueriliiim in
' lucem edita, a Luca Lossio. Item melodiEe eex
' genemm carminnm usitatiomm in primis suaves in
' gratiam pueromm selectee et editffi Noribergte,
' M.D.LXin.' and again in 1570, with odditioTis by
Christopher Fnetorins, a Bilesian and chanter of the
chnrch of 8t John at Lanenbnrg. The title of this
book of LoesioB does in a great measore bespeak ita
contents : Lossins wss a Lutheran divine, bom at
Vacha in Heasia in the year 1608, and for above
fifty years rector of the college or public school at
Lnnenburg, a celebrated instmdor of youth, and very
well skilled in mnsic. He died anno 1562. Two
years before hts death, which happened anno 1582,
he composed the following epitaph on himself: —
Hac plscide Lucai requietcit Lowiu* uTua.
Pute cinii terrs, qua levis ille ftiit.
Pan nelior rfveni cceli mem incolit orcein.
Inter, qui multoi erudiere, viroi.
Qui pubi deciei quinos atque ampliui annot
Trodidithic artei cum pieUte bona*.
Edidit St focill qui simplicitate libelloi
Non paucos, Chriiti, Pieridumque leholi*.
Finibus Hasdacii nemoroni naCui, et ^na,
Tacbam qua prEter, ctare Visurge, fluia.
Hrc uU coenoni, quo te via ducit euntem.
Lector abi, et felix rive, vaUqus diu.
It wna this LossinB that published the Lutheran
Ps■Imodi^ mentioned in a preceding page. It seems
by the nnmerone publications about this time of little
tracts, with such titles as theee, Erotemata Musica,
Hnsicte Is^oge, Compendium Musicfe, that the
proteatants were desirous of emulating the Roman
catholics in Uieir musical service, and that to that
end theee books were written and circulated tbrongh-
ont Qermany. They wero in general printed in a
small portable size, and « book of this sort is to be
considered as a kind of musical accidence : that (j
Wilphlingsedeme, as also this of Lossins, are ex-
cellent in their way ; the merit of them consists in
their brevity and perspicni^, and surely a better
method of inetitation cannot be conceived of than
this, whereby a child is taught a learned language,
and the rudiments of a liberal adence, at the same
time.
These, and other books of the like kind, calculated
for the instruction of children in Oantn chorali et in
Oantn fignrati vel mensurali, i. «. in plain-song and
ID fignrate or mensural music, are for the most port
in dialogue, in which the responses, according as re-
qiured, are spoken in words or snug in notes. They
iil contain a division or title De OUvibus dgnatis,
with a type of the difb as Ihey are now called. Rhaw
gives it in this form : —
^««-
Blgntt cla-
ntroqne
#M^
jHf-
ponimtur omnes in lineali
situ, qnndam tamen sunt magis
familiarea, utpote F et C. g.
rnriuBCule. T vero et d d ro-
riiuims utiranr. Unde
Lines signatassustentat scili-
cet omnes.
Et distant inter se mntuo per
diapentem.
F tomen yafifta distinguat
septima quamvis.
And 'Wilplilingtedenis thus :-
iilopli. Fnouh,
PhliHaphus] Ti
TmuMttom (h 111* nuoElu at
[-^
^r
-^
«:^
«-*
Mi
^M
dbyGooi^le
HISTORY OP THE 80IEN0B
ItOOK IX.
The TypDB OlaTJnm Signataniia of Lucas Lofldna
is in thla form : —
flO Ott"
'i
«r (4
5 *1
Ji
'i
/? yl
l-^=__
Lampadina, an author of the aame clasi with those
«bove-cited, and whose OompeDdimn Mnsices is
mentioned in a preceding page, gives the following
duTMtei ^ u Hie aigoatim for G sol u nr in the
series of eupencotes ; this is worthy of obeervation,
for his Oompendiom was pablished in 1537, and it is
the character in use at this day.
By the above types it appears that anciently five
keys, or cliSs, as they are called, were made osa of,
whereas three are now fonnd sufficient for all pur-
poses. It may be said perhaps that r and dd were
at DO time necessary ; bat it seems that in order to
imprint the place of the cliffs npon the memory of
children, it was necessary in some way or other to
tell them that the station of F waa a seventh above
r, and that the other cliffs were a diapente distant
from each other ; this Lossins does in the following
Lines nffnatasclsTes complectitor onmes
Mutud mitantei inter te per diapentem,
P licet ab jaiifta diillnguat septuns laDtum.
And Rh&w in these words : —
Linea signataf snstentat idlicet omnei,
Et distant inter is mutuo per dispentem,
F tamen sb ja/iim diitingiiat leptima quamvie.
It therefore became necessary to give r as the
terminna h qno for F, and though the power of dd
was sufficiently ascertained by the cliff g, it is to he
observed that the signature dd answered to the rule
above -cited, and preserved the appearanoe of re-
gularity; for by this disposition of the cliff, 0
occnpied the middle of the scale, and as there were
two clifb below, so were there two above iL Rbaw
obserTes that the most usual are F, 0, and g, and
that T and dd are very rarely used ; he adds, that it
was auoiently a practice to make the line for F of a
red, and that for 0 of a yellow colour, and that in-
stanoes thereof were in his time to be seen in ancient
music books : this is a confirmation of a passage in
the Micrologns of Qnido to the same purpose.
All these writers distinguish between the difb
proper to plain-song, and those used in figntate or
mensural music, which it was thought neoessary to
do here, for nnless this be thoroughly understood,
very little of the music of these and Uie preceding
times can be perused with any degree of satisfaction.
They also severally exhibit a Oantilena or actual
prazb of the intervals by the voice, in order to impress
them on the minds of children. The most ancient
example of this kind known to be extant is a
Oantilena for the practice of learners, inserted in a
enbsequent part of this work, sud to have been
framed by Ooido himself; but for this assertion
there seems to be no better authority than tradition,
for it is not to be found in any of his writings. Those
contained in the Enchiridion of George Khaw, and
the Oompendinm Musioes of Lampadius, differ but
vei7 little from that of Guido above-mentioned.
Ct.i.uDiU8 SBBASTiAiniB published at Btrasburg in
1665 a book intitled Bellnm Mnaicole, inter Ploni et
Menanralis Gantus R^es. A whimsical alle^ry,
but a leaned book.
GioesFFO Zaklino, of Chioggia.,* a moat celebrated
theorist and practical rouBioian, was bom in the year
1540 ; from the greatness of his erodition there is
reason to ima^e that he vras intended for some
learned profession ; this at least is certain, that it waa
by the recommendation of Adrian Willaert that he
betook himself to the study of music, and ^inas
asserts that he was a disciple of Willaert Bayle
styles him president and director of the chapel of the
Signory of Venice, but the true designation of the
office is maestro di capella of the chnn:h or temple
of St Uork. He composed the music for the re*
joicings at Venice upon the defeat of the Turks at
Lepanto, which was much applauded ; notwithstand-
ing which the world has chosen to consider him as
a theorist rather than a practical composer, and in
this they seem to have judged properly, for in the
science of music he is indisputably one of the best
writers of the modem times. He died at Venice ia
February 1599, as Thoanus relates, who has cele-
brated him among the learned men of that time.
In the catalogne of the library of Thuanus, menUon
is made of two books of Zarlino, the one intitled
Dimostrationi Harmoniohe, printed at Venice in the
year 1571, and afterwards with additions in 1573 ;
and the other printed in the same city in the year
1588, and intitled Bopplimenti Musicali ; bnt the
best edition of these and his other works is nn-
questionably that of 1589, in folio, printed at Venice
with this tide, Tutti 1' Opere del R. M. Gioeeffo
Zarlino Da Ohio^a. These consist of four volumee,
the first is intitled Istitntioni Harmoniohe, the second
Dimostrationi Harmoniohe in dnque Rogionamenti,
the third Sopplimenti Musicali ; the fourth volnme
is a collection of tracts on different subjects, which
have no relation to music
In the three first volumes of these his works,
Zarlino, in a style, in the opinion of some very good
judges of Italian literature, not inelegant, has entered
into a large discourse on the theory and pracdee of
mnsic, and considered it under all Uie vanous forms
in which it appears in the vrridnge of the Greek
harmonioians, and the writers of later tjmes : as he
appears to have been acquainted vrith the G^reek
language, there is little donbt bat that he derived
hia intelligence from the gennine aource ; and as to
t Ane^eapdEltTlnoneortli«lil«(irthe(Qlp]iafVcnt«,lBl,Wb
Clodli, alwDOg camH th* tMln nutiune of CMlm^ flTn W Zutta*.
dbyGooi^le
CtaAT. LXXXIV,
ASB PRAOTIOB OF HUBIO.
Bo^ni and the other I«tb and Italian wrileis, he
amna to be poaaeaeed of all the knowledge that their
wridnga were capable of commmiicatiDg.
Aa the sabstanee of what is contained in the
■ntdent writers haa already been given in the courae
of this hietoi^, it is nnneceaear; to inonmber it with
• minnte abndgment of to eopiona a work as that of
Zariino ; and a general aceonnt of the contents of the
lalitntioni, the Dimoetiatiani, and the Sopplimenti,
with oocaeional remarka and obeerrations on the
MV«al paitienlan contained in them, will suffice to
show the Baton and tendenOT of Zarlino'e writings,
and exhibit a general new of the merit and ahilitiea
of their anther.
The latitntaoni b^ina with a general enli^nm
on music, setting forth its excellence and nse aa
applicable to dvll and reli^ooa porposea; in his
diTlsion of mnsic into mnnduie and hnmane, Zariino
follows Boetina and othar Latin writers. Of the
nmnber Six, he soys that it coTQprehends many
things of natnre and art ; and in a 1^ more ration^
way than Bongna has done, he conaiden ita propertiee
■o far only as they relate to music.
In hi* expUnanoB of the aareral kinda of propor-
tion of greater and leaser inequality, and of the
difference between proportion uid proportioBality, be
is very partionlar, and very leanwdl^ and jndioioni^
omnments npon Boetins, who on this head ia rather
too concise.
The aoconnt of the ancient syitem givoi by him
cannot be enpposed to contain any new discoveriea,
all that can be said abont it is to be fonnd in the
writioge of the Greek barmonioana, and with tbaee
he seems to bare been very well acquainted.
In his description of that epeciea of the diatanie
genns colled the Byntonons, or intense of Ptolemy,
in which the tetracnord is divided into tone major,
tmie minor, and a greater hemitone in the ratio of
16 to 15, he givee it the epithet of Natural, an ex-
pression which seems to bespeak that predilection
in ita favonr, which he manifested in a formal dia-
Ete with Vincentio Oalilei on the anbieot, in which
contended for its superior exoellenee in compa-
riaon with every other of the diatonic speciea, and
sncoeeded.
Chap. XXV. of the seoond part of the Istitntioni is
an explanation of aa inatmment called the Mesolabey
said to have been invented aitlier by Archytaa of
Torentnm, or Bratoetheuss, the nee where^ is to
diatingnish, by means of mean proportionslB, between
the rodonat and irrational Intervus, and to demon*
atrate the impossibility of on equal division of the
snperpartionlar ratios. Thta instrument was it teems
a great bvoorite with Zariino, for in the Bopplimenti,
lib. rV. cap. 9. he enlarges on the utility of it, and
complfdne of his disciples that they oonld not be pre-
vailed on to study it with that degree of attention
iri)ich it merited.
Chap, xxxix. contaiiu a figure of the diapason,
with a representation of the diatonic tetrachord, oon-
i greater semitone, in the ratio 4-|- of a
iriiich Zariino throughout his works contends for as
the natoral and only tma one. and is called the
syntonons or Intense diatonio of Ptolemy. Th»
figure above - mentioned is thus delineated by
To-maJ. Tci.miD. Sa.iu|. To-mi). To.mbi. TikliuiJ. It.nud.
Chap. xlix. eont^ns the author's sentiments of the
ancient genera and their eciecies, upon which he does
not Bomple to pronounce tnat the ancient division of
them is vain and onprofitable.
The third part of the Istitntioni contains the ele-
ments of eonnterpobt, and directs how the several
parts of a Cantilena are to be dispoeed. It contains
also the precepts for the composition of fogne, where-
on disconrting, the anthor makes frequent mention of
Jusqnin, Bnmel, and other excellent compoeera ; and
celebrates, in terms of* the highest respect, the ez-
eellenciea of Adrian Willaert his master.
The fotuih and lost part of the Istitntioni treats of
the modes or tones, that Is to say, those of the
andents, and those other institnted % St Ambrose
and pope Gregory, and adapted to the service of the
church. Zarlino's account of the former contains a
rtl deal of that history which is justiy suspected to
fabulous, aa namely, that the Phrygian was in-
vented by Marsyas ; tiie Mixolydion oy Sappho of
Lesbos, the poeteee ; and the others by persons of whom
scarce any memorials are extant. In thie part of
his work Zariino very clearly explains the difference
between the harmonioal and aritiimetioal division of
the diapaaon, from whence the two kinds of m«de,
the anl£entie and the plagol, are known to arise ; bnt
here with Gloreanns be contends, notwidistsiidiog the
opinion of many others to tht contrary, that tiie
niodes are necessarily twelve ; he does not indeed pro-
fess to follow Glareanut in his division, bnt whether
he hoi so done or not is a matter in which the
science of music is at this time so little interested,
that it ecoroe deeervea the poine of an enquiry.
Chap. xxxiL of thi« last port contains some roles
for accommodating the harmony of a cantilena to the
words which are the subject of it Rules indeed, if
any can be prsecribed for accommodating melody to
worda, might be of nse, but between the harmony of
sounds and the sentiments of poetry there seems to
be no neceaaory relation.
The Dimostrationi Hannoniohe are a seriec of dis-
courses in dialogoes, divided into fire BagionamentL
Digitized
byGoo*^le
400
HISTORY OF THE BOIENOE
Bow IX.
The author rdatm that in the year 1562, hU fnend
Adristi Willaert being then amictod with the goot,
he made him a viut, and fooud at hie hoase Francesco
Viola, cb^>el- master to Alfonao d'Eate, dnke of
Ferrara, and Glandio Memlo, whom he styles a most
sweet organist;* they be{^ a dieconree on the
sabject of music, in which each delirera his send-
ments with great ti^edom.
The aabjects treated on in the first of the Ra-
{[ioDamenti are the proportions of greater and leaser
meqnality, and the measore of intervals. The whole
of Uiia dislogae may be said to be a commentary on
Boetina ; the thirty-ninth and last propoeltiou con*
tune a demonstration that six sesqaioctave tones ex-
ceed the diapason.
The second and tMrd of the Ragionamenti consist
for the most part of demonstrations of the ratios of
the consonaneea and the lesser intervals. In the
second, Prop. xiv. is a diagram, an improvement on
the Helicon of Ptolemy, whereby the ratios of the
cooaooances are clearly demonstrated.
This pffallelogram is
divided into six parts by
lines, which are bisected
by a diagonal line pro<
ceeding ftom a point that
r divides the aide 0 D
equally, to the opposite
angle. The dde of tbe
a parellelogram A B is sup-
posed to contain twelve
__ parta; tbebisectionofthe
"b line 0 D is eqnal, that is
to say it gives six parts on each side, bnt the bisec-
tion of the other lines is each, as givee the following
harmonical proportions, amonnting in nnmber to no
fewer than forty-five, as appears by this table : —
f 6 DfaMuuDD
.9 DiaMsaron fi Heiachord aloot
8 nUpenM 4 DUpasoo
e Diapaaon 6- t DiapaMQ and dia-
6 Diap. Sc nmiditoDe
4 DJapuoD A dlqente
8 IHsdiapaKm
2 Ditdiap. tc diapeula
1 Triadiap-Adiapente
9 ToDemlnor
8 IHtoM
9 Heiachord mi^
5 IHapaaon
4 Diapaaon and ditone
t DtapaaoD and Hexa-
chord iD^or
2 DiKUapaaoD & ditone
1 Triadiap. and ditone
8 Tcpnem^or
6 Diapeote
6 Heptachord mliiOT
4 IHapaaon dt tone m^.
5 IHapaaon A diwenta
2 Diioiapaaon and tons
"\ 3
' 7
w o
I TibdiapasM
6 Semiditone
4 Diapanta
5 EKapaaoD
3 DiHiaaaii ft di^t
1 IMadiapaaoa lUx
C 4 Ditone
2 DiapaaoD and ditone
1 Digdu^NHon
•{?
Dunaaon
Disdiapason
r 2 DIapente
1 IK^iaaoD and dia-
The dividons of tbe lines e f and n o, which give
the proportions of 11 to 1, and 7 to 5, are irrational,
and are therefore omitted in the table.
The fourth of the Ragionamenti directs the divim<Mi
of the monochord, and treats in general tenns of the
andent system.
The fifth and last contains the sentiments of die
author on the modes of the ancients, in which littie ia
advanced that is not to be fonnd elsewhere.
The Bopplimenti Afnncali Is dedicated to Pope
Sixtoe V. ; the anthor styles it ' A declaration of IIib
' principal things contained in the two former volumes,
' and a formal defence of the author against the calnm-
' nice of his enemies.' The groond of the dispute
between ZaiUno and his adversaries was principally
this, Zarlino through the whole of the two former
volumes, in his discrimination of the five several
Bpe<4ee of the diatonic genns, rejects the ditonic
diatonic of Ptolemy |^ \ f , which indeed aeeme to
be no other than the diatonic of Pythagoras himaelf,
and prefers to it the intense or syntonous diatonic of
Ptolemy, as it ia called, j^ |- y, as being the moat
natural to the ear. This is in truth the Diatonic
of Didymus, for it was he that first distingiiished
betnreen the greater and leeser tone, with this dif-
ference, that he places them in this order ^ V (>
thereby giving to the leeser tone the first place in tlu
tetrachord, whereas Ptolemy gives it the second ; and
in thns preferring the syntonous to the ditonic,
Zarlino, as Dr. Wallis observes, was followed by
Kepler, Menennns, Des Oartes, and others.f
This, tiie Lutenists, who, as they were for the
most part Aristoxeneans in practice, had adopted
another tuning, opposed. Iliey contended for a
tetrachord of two equal tones and a semitone, bnt
yet refused to abide a determination of the question
by any other judgment than that of the ear.
At the head of these opponents of Zarlino stood
Vincentio Oalilei, a man of great learning and inge-
nuity, and who, tiiongh not a musician by profeaeion,
was deeply skilled in the science. He was boides
a moet exquisite performer on the lute, and a fevonrer
of that division of Aristoxenns which is called the
intense, and gave to the tetrachord a hemitone and
two whole tones. This person, who had formeriy
been a disciple of Zarlino, published as it seems a
short examen of the Istitutioni npon its first publica-
tion, intitled ' DiscoTSO intomo all' Opere del Zarlino,'
which he criticises with an unwarrantable d^ree of
severily ; bnt in a sabeeqnent work, intitled ' Diali^
della mueica antics et della modema,' he takes great
puns to prove that the preference which Zarlino had
given to the syntonous species of the diatonic above*
moitioned, had no foundation in nature. The con-
duct of Galilei in this dispute is worthy of remaric
He considers Zarlino as an innovator or corrupter c^
t Dt.WalUt Duk« It ■ qnnUon wlwUHr « iw ZarUao VH Ite Ont
UiM rndgaTODnil to IntiDdnee Ih* ■TntoBou dtataok inMHd of Dm
dltonlD dbuonlo, but OallM. tn lit* Dialons, pu. lit (XiXMlr mwli
Uial LodoTleo PikIIuo of Modona, ad who anblUiid tn isn ■ ftUo
nluM IntltM ifiuiu ThMCtn, of wtaldi an ucoBnt hu iwicUi brftm
bom glTn, vai lh« lint who diKannd that the dUloole of hii ttno
*Hiw«lh(ditanlo,bntUiiiTiiUHHHuoThitaMdlitoBto Tlib. ZarUa*,
In Ibo SopjlLmcntl. lib. III. on. tt. irhi* to iloaj ; bvt U» tratb of the
Bulla la, thai FogUano, tn uic iwnnd •ectlan of Ui IhhA. mail a-
CufllT 'Do udUtalo liati m^odi M mknatiB.' irU«h be would har^lT
n duo*, bat wUh a Tiaw lo aUhUih thai dlTUon <f tlu wtnebicd
dbyGoot^le
Ohap. LXXXIV.
AND PRAOTIOE OP MtTSia
401
moflic, and while he ie treating him u mob, be
endeavonTB to nuke it believed, tliat he was the fint
amon^ the modeniB that attempted to introduce that
epeoies of the diatonic which admitted of diHaimilar
tones, but fearing lest instead of a corrupter tie might
in the opinion of some be deemed an improver of
mmical practice, he takes care to inform the world,
and indeed expressly asserts, that Lodovico Fogliano,
many years before Zarlino, found ont and mainlajped
that the diatonic erven of that day was not the di-
tonic, but the syntoDons diatonic of Ptolemy.
The Sopplimenti Mnsicali of Zarlino, lib. IIL
cap. 2, contains a defence of the author against this
iuvidiooa charge of Qalilei, whom he ironically styles
bia loving disciple, ' il mio discepolo amorevole.'
Aa to the merits of the question between them, tbey
seem to be determined in favour of Zarlino, for not
only have Kepler, Mersennna, and Des Cart«s adopted
the division which ba contended for,* but it is the
only one practised at this day.
* Ai Ihli u»ni(in don u pnianl tund oa no betl« (lannd thu •
bur dldDm at Dx. WiUli, In tho appimiUi la Ui •ditlon of Ptalenu, It
aboIE muaad ihDuM leTmll; bo uldnca). To itgbl with Kcp1«. TUl
Hjtbor. vha Iji hit RAHninf About mu^c. aJ&eU ■ Uopuwv peculimr to
himKlf. kftcT gWlng Ihv pcrhrrae* to ltd diYiiton of tbe tetnctionl
-^ V' \%r ipei^i ot two kind! oT mutla] pngmaian, lh« Tujtl ud
Uu sotfl, wlUoh othan GhnrtetAian by iba termt major aiid mlDor third.
In Uw fornm ot IIhh, prooxdlns ftDm tba nllsUe DT, vUcli la llM pio-
ERialn nCmcd totnrwlwhainukaraMdlapaaltloiKirtbainmtaiHid
Iwn Im. lu My* tut In tha dlTkkn of lb* Iitaofaotd, BMDn bafHU
.... .... |„,u, igg, !„, II,, lovB plHo, vbmbf h« n-
og Id tb* opinion et Zbtttna wd Ui (dbaranU npen
. Huni(niasiHaiidt,llb.III.<iv.TU.
ho »ff*»n la ban* trrtdnd (lie aontnTanr with
innt attcmilan, ba a^ that nalora piya no agiii to tha conr«nUD« ''
u, ud IhatthoaihtbadlTiatonafAilMaxaiiianuvlbtputlcalarni
ba pielbiiad br uaae who plar on tha InEa, it doaa br no '
thMUUnsathawbalalfamoMaUglUai fW.addaha,'
" '^^^■^
_ ±Mt ia >o*Aad <..
ada OH of, nnloH tbir ol
a ton*, and that of the
, , lal othen alaawhfir — -■--
Hann. Untrot. Dm laalnunanta, U«. tl. pag.
The Sopplimenti is of a miaceUsBeona oatore, for
it is a defence of many opinions advanced by tbe
author in his former works. It contains also many
particulars, many diagrama and mathematical prft-
blama, calculated to explain and iltuBtrate his doctrines.
In the fourtb book he treats of the Genera and their
species or colours, as they are called, and proposes
a temperament adapted to tbe lute, whereby the dia-
r)ii is divided by semitones into twelve equal parta.
tbe sixth book he treats of the ancient modea,
which with Glareanne be makee to be twelve is
number. In the eigbib and last book be speaks of
the organ, and describes one in the ancient city of
Grado, tbe figure whereof is given in a preceding
page of this work.
Many very curious particulars and little anecdotes
of persons and things relating to music are inter-
spersed in these three volnmes of Zarlino'a works,
vis., tbe Isdtutioni, Dimostradoni, and SopplimenU,
some of the most remarkable are these. Deer are
delighted with the sound of mosic, and huntsmen by
means thereof easily take them. Istit. IL pag. ll.f
upon irhlflh It nuf ba ohaerrad thai A la aiaumDd (br tha cbonl A, and
tha Dthfir lotlan for the oofTBapandinf chorda In tha aoala- Batwnen A
and B t the lUlo la ^^, wlileb In nsallai BDBbua li \f, aad botir«am
E «.d P ^, alao 44, both ot.hlch ^ lamllana m<or. }Jf 1. f,
■nd^ ia 1^, thiu ara produced lb* Intatnll CODtudot fbr, 4J- 1. y,
of Pulamy, and In that of Sea Canu la th*
moat elWUe dlrlalaa or i
of tha dlauaoa.
Then buttle danbt I
but that thai dlTMon ot the tamchoid *tM
tattnaa apade* of the dtalonle fenua la in
" fhr aa legaida tooiI miulc, II maj ba
ilHt**afHtJMIioDreqabadl>yankae*r. aomaot tha eo
vale vonld be ao oooatnatad ai to approaeh Teiy aaarir Eo diaeatil.
Ftc lUa reaaoB it fe aald th<l Zarlino eonUt Bern pmall In hb ea-
"'' ' " of the Offfin comewHidant to the dlrtofaa
" ' ' ; ^taoMenpt atMata, that
it hBd bam Ml In b; Cltndlo Honleiard*, Olononl Roretta, ind otbon
bU predeeaaaon. HLatoria Morioa di Bontennd- Parta prima. Conk
larloIV._
Lho diapaaoo, _ _
TDcal parfoniuuice, fOr thla naeon, (hat the Toioa
llaelf to the ear. and vlth wondufDl beiiiCr oe
"iLf njoctlnf auct -.--**'-
aia qnantllir m. , __,
„ . .. „. _ Mria* at Utha aU pcrftet thiOBCh
'hat tha oar wonld not bear, ud tUa aanaMtratkin au-
cnUon ofwhattaeanodaTamparaatnt, InvhIoblatoM
_ innlDE, irhaiAi hjr naUas the Intamla lintlaDil, mon^
aald if PolTdon Vli^, D* Ksrani iDnntorftnia, UbTlu. cap.
Iitia baan ibo InTaniliHi at eona raiy laanMd nun In tha ac
oonntiT, and «an the ace hi ~
Bii; II jonajatad hi the Intanalon of lEa dl
... of ItM dluanlai and by nOEOMaiT aenaeanasea made both
the tonaa aqnaL BontOBpt, IM. "-'■ "■ — - '
that the emuUltr of
and In another plaee,
...c .»,-»..,.. .«..._ In the dtapaaoB. which ba
dbtilbulod thfonshoot the dlapaioa
The rednellon of th
itlon ot th
I I
„_ arfelandKIa
theihlnUM ■ " "■
Ilallana Bra'aniB Partlcipalo, in wli(._ ,
.1 _. ^ whetebj, In the oplnleii ofaomo, thadtaloniei
□nlM, ■) Indeed irill mm to be the ate iqw:
. of an orjian or harptiehotd.
-ta Ihii feci on the aulhoillr otSlian, a vrltar el
aleii Ihu Ihiaa ulmali ua aiuccpHble of the po'
2»
dbyGoo*^le
-402
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book IX.
— Tb« human pnlae is the measnre of the beats in
mafiic Ibid. 266. — ConDtry people, and thoee that
Duderstand not magic, natnralty sing the diatonic
of Duido b Bot lo bs dlapnlcd, Pluureb. In the uienth book of Hi
' tnnllad MnM nan •ina Dor Roritsn, met ( herd ol iliigi, slnul ID,
' nmm tba n^ falbDvIng m bagpipe and irkiliii» wbicb wben (be miuio
' pI^fW tbw *•»( fiirwud, abn 11 c«*Hd ibtr lU noDd Ufll. wd In ibl*
■ DHBiiMT Out van bzDughl vol of Yeztiblre to Hampton Court.' And
wboarar will nudko the cxpedmeni. vm And fi la hfi power to draw lo
•aaekacat baplMH brtlWHvnd
kind. Honet ua ilao dailghlad with
■ For do but nata a wild and wanton bard,
' Or ncs of yonlUOl and unbiudlBd mlta,
* Fetcbtaw mad baundi» ballowtaif and nfrlghing loudi
■ (WUib t« lb* bM «andliloa or tbebr blood)
' If ther but bear pareluDee a tnimpot foond,
' Oi ant ilr of mnilg loneb tbek tan,
' YoD iliall pemln tbm make ■ mnliud itaod :
• Tb^ eaTBga ojea tuni'd to a modat gua
BHiuam^na'i Menbanl of Venice, AetT. Boose I.
For thli fut we hne mlta the ■ulhuritr af Ibe dnko at Naweaacle. wbo
•HarU H ta bla book of Honemanibh. Rentr BtopbeniaUonlaleatbal
nulc. Fmt. ad Htrod.
Elopbanla aia Ukawlae tald to be aTtremelf auMeptible of tbo power of
mule. BuetoDlIU nlalei Ibat lbs empemr Domlllui had a irhi|i of
tfapbanla diaelpUned lo dance to Ibe lound of muilc, and that on* of
Ibn, wba bad bean bcMia fin not haitBg bi> laaioa pertiKt. waa
diaooiated tbo nfpfat aftai In a meadow, pracllelna It br himeeJf. In
thaHelaniaaafTlgnaal UanlUe. lou. Ill-iiabiu ' '
tba etteta «t dhuIc on ■ number of animala of "
' tbMr holea, and the ipldara deaoea
•(OcntdaelKlatauAdUnilohaarhlmwltbal _.
' mueh •lupilied blm, that be ilood aim wUbout mDIkm. whan hailnc
' oaaaed to plajF. all ihoae bueeu mliod qolatlr Into tbelr lodginga :
> andeoti bare laid na of Oiphana, ArlOB. and AmpUon. Ho ■— >~'
' ma that he^ieniailMd aix d>^a vUbool plarlni, harlag r'-*- -"
'IbataUarlatadUa
■ and took op a tMId ta anuM hioutlt UII luppal-tfana, aatllnR a 11)
' upeo lb* table bofan hlra ; bo bad not plavad a qnaitai of an hi
■ bafin be aaw aereral apldera daaeand trmn the oaUiBf, wba eama i
' rangad tbanualvM RMUld abont Iha table to haai blm ^aj, al wblah ha
;wM mtly iBipriaad. bnt thla dM BM ta terrttpt Ubl bebif wUllng to
' table mr attantliKlr onto aomebodr oama to tell hbn auppet wa«
* ready, wbanbaTlniaaaaad to pl^i.tatoMaMthaoaibMCU nmonniod
* to Ibdi weba, to wUcb b* would iiilbt no IniuiT ta b* done. II waa
'■ dlindan wltb which be otUn tBiaitadnad bLnaiU out otmrioaltjr.'
Tba aama author ujl Uut h< <«• aaw, at Ibe &li of St. Oeimaln, rala
danoa hi cadenaa upon a rope to tba aonnd of lanismnt*. atandlni op-
Sbt,eaahbakllngBllltlaeaiuileiTOlai^la Iha manner of rapa-danoan.
I aayt ha alto law eUfat rati danoa a l(nie.danaa u tmlj at aa manr
probaaad dancati ; asd that ■ wblta nt bom L^laad daoood a Mnbaod
luetly, and wllb all tha itarlty of a Ipanlard.
PlDtaieb ralalea thai a eartab barber, who kept a ahop in
'baoamamate, lathe wonder of erery one. Hanrcaioaa weraclTea for
MtrikBO^Imi IhatmeonawubewunedUiUUif tohnluioibaioand
of the ttnmpata. On Ant be waa Dbaerrod W pnetkie aUaMly and to hhn-
— -iyh«dpl»j*a,«tla«ber -' -- -- -
Iw deibad one of tba]alla» to fin bl
ElDiaa lA a Ctga whan be tllOOO lo bare lau nRupway, ana Kb ner looae
'wbaBbohadamlBdUdiBnlaBtbem,makbljiillbu (kind of comedy
, .w.. .11—... J >.•. . . _ . ■MKdonbtad the truth of tbli itory,
na ago by H. P , InloDdnlof
eril and HObky, who played upon
Lcellenoe. He tald ma that b^
ar Id lafnab hiautf alUr a walk,
-' •, aetllnR a light
octave wiUi a third and sixth major. Ildd. 262.—
Domenioo da Feaoro, an excellent iabricator of harp-
sichords, and other instnunenti da penna. Itnd.
171. — Boccoce invented the Rima Ottava. Ibid.
381. — Josqnin considered the fonrth as a oonaonaDce,
aod osad it in two parts witbont auv accompanimant.
Ibid. 187. — VinceDzoColoinbi,and ViDceiuoOolonna
of Italy, two organ-makers, inferior to none in the
world. Ibid. 374. — Michael Stifelioa, an excellent
matbetnaticiaa,* and NicoI6 Tartaglia of BFeeoia,f
attempted an eqnal division of the tone, but without
success. Bimoet 146. — Adrian Willaoit persnaded
Zsrlino to the stndy of music. Ibid. 12. — The
Gbroroatista of Zarlino's time were in his ojnnion the
enemies of good mosic Ibid. 215. — Vincenzo Oo-
lombi, the fiimotis organ-maker, made the author a
monocbord, diatonically divided, by semitone m^or,
tone major, and tone minor. Ibid. 198. — Bede^ wfao
wrote on music, tnakee nee of the terms Ooncentu
and Discanttu, from whence it is to be inferred that
mnsic in parts was known in his time. SopplL 17.
— QioselS Ousmmi of Lncca, an excellent organist
and composer. Ibid. 18.
The fonrth and last volume of Zarlino's work is
on miscellaneons sabjects. It contains a treatise on
Patience, a discourse on liie origin of the Ckpnchin
Friars, and an answer to some donbts that had arisen
touching the correction of the Julian calendar.
From the foregoing account of the works of Zar-
lino it snEBcientiy appears that they are a fund of
musical erudition ; and the estimation in which they
are held by men of the greatest learning and skill in
the science, may be judged of from the following
character which John Albert Baenius has given w
him and his writings. ' Joeeph Zarlino of Ghioggia
~ waa a great master of the theory of musio. Inhis
learned Institutions, Demonstrations, and Supple-
ments pablisbed in Italian at Venice, 1580, be has
explained and improved the science with much
greater success than any other author. He is some-
what prolix, but his leamii^ amfdy compensates for
that fault. John Maria Artnsins Bunonienus re-
duced the precepts of Zarlino into a Compendium,
and this agun into tables. In these he sets forth the
science of music in a short, desr, and perspicnoos
manner. There are others who have written on
mnsic, whether they equal Zarlino or not I do not
know, at least they do not Burpass him.— So that
be ondeitoek to predlel Ibat at ten in tha menlnf of tba thitd day af
Odobat, DM. tba wKld would bant u aid; eaily In Iha manlnc tt
Ibat day StUtUua aieendod the pnlplt, wd aibanad Ua haanta to maka
tbemHlTianady, m that tha mlBoM waa d band tai which th« wen
to aeoend to beoTan wUb tha ray elotboa Ibat they bad than oa; (h*
hour paiaed, and Oh people Indlni Ibamaaliea d»ai4v*d. Ml on Ihdr
paaiOT. and ludb(K*taisaped,wiiiildusbablybaiakl]>edhlm:how*T(r,
by Ibe loloioat of Lulhet, ho >ot rrinitatad hi bl« ehiueh. Thoaaaa
,.._.._. 1^^ ,^ f^^ ,,1^ ^ ^^ (inunataBeea, aad
dbyGooi^le
Chap. LXXXIV.
AND PRAOTICE OF MUSia
40S
' Zulino alone will serve inatesd of tlie aU the rest ;
' witfaoQt him the oiunione of the andente cannot be
' nnderatood, nor « perfect knowledge of thie science
* be easily attained.* Bnt he does not come up to
' the perfection of the modem mtuic I have com-
' mended Zailino above all the rest, not becanae the
' wriungs of other men on this subject are of no valne,
* for they contain many excellent and learned in-
' Btnictions, bnt twcause he is the beet writer on thia
' subject, and as many Mithore having given bnt an
* imperfect aoconnt of mosic, and this defect must be
' supplied by great stndy, industry, and varions
' reading, I cannot recommend any one of them to
.' those who stndy this art except Zorlino. Beddest
* few of them have at the same time thoroaghly eza-
' mined and understood both the theoretiou and
' practical pait of music. Zarlino in my opinion has
' written on this subject with more learning and
' success than all the rest : and he is almost the only
■ anthor who has succeeded in it. His Compendium,
' as it is drawn np by John Msria Artuuus Bono-
' niensis, is on excellent method, and may be of
■ singolar oae in the practice of mnucal composition.'')'
Artusi is by this aocoont of Bannius eo connected
with Zarlino, that it becomes necessary to speak in
this place of him rather than of Vincentio Qalilei,
the great opponent of the latter. The Compendium
above-mentioned was published at Venice m 1686,
and therefore must have been taken either from the
first or second edition of the Istitntioni. It is en-
titled ' L'Arte del Contraponto ridotta in tavole, dove
' brevemente si contiene i prooetd k quest' arte ne>
' cesearii.' The author professes to follow Uie mo-
dems, and portjotilarly Zarlino, from whose work
above-mentioned ho 1ms extracted a variety of ex-
cellent rules. These are disposed in onalyti^ order,
and are selected with such care and judgment, that
this Compendium, small as it is, for it makes but a
very thin folio, may be sud to be one of die books
of the greatest use to a practical composer of any
now extant
In 1689 Artusi published a second port of L'Arte
del Contraponto, intended, as the title-page declare^
to explain the nature and use of the dissonances ; a
curious and valuable supplement to the former.
Artusi was an ecclesiastic, and a canon regular in
the congregation Bel Salvatore ot Bologna : a con-
siderable time after the publication of his book en-
titled L'Arte del Contraponto, he published a treatise
■ KMnlUutudhuF thli eneamlom no Zirlino, which it leut ImpUei
thoAfl who hftTfi UKTtAd Uiit he never md Ibem. Bontempi, ipnkjiif
of tb« modBm lyitflm, Ed which moet of the InterTftli u« ImtlCFDH], iiiaa
Ukh woiif, ' Efli noa i ne il Slnlmo inKco, w Q SlntoDe nfornutp da
Than eu b* Ultle donbt Uil tbU ZbUdd wu iingiihiteil ir
BtkA luiffuue. leelDf tbii bit wzldnn Abound w[Ib que
the Onck iwihan , bbt wbethn ha h^onr iMn tha llu
Delle Imperfettioni della modenta Hnsioa, in two
parts, with a view to correct some abuses in musio
which had been introduced by modem writers and
comp(»ers ; he was the anthor also of a little tract in
quarto, published in 1604^ intitled ' Impresa del
'Molto R. M. Gioseffo Zarlino da Chioggia:' of
these an account will be given hereafter.
ViNOiHTio Qalilzi IS next to be spoken of. He
was of Florence, and as it seems a man of rank, for
in the title -p^e of his books he styles himself
' Nobile Fiorentino,' and the father of the famous
Galileo Qalilei, the mathematician. Ha had been
a disciple of Zarlino, and, by the help of his in-
structions, joined witii an nnwearied applicaUon to
the stndy of the ancients, became an excellent
speculative musician. Of the instruments in nse
in bis time, the lute and the harpsichord seem to
have held the preference ; the latter of these was
chiefly the entertainment, as Zarlino relates, of the
ladies ; f the practice of the former was cultivated
chiefly by the men. Galilei had an exquisite hand
on the lute, and his propensity to that instrument,
for very -obvious reasons, led him to &vour tite
Aristoxenean principles, which Zarlino thronghoHt
his works labours to explode. Galilei censured
manv of the opinions of his master in a tract
intiUed ' Discorso intomo all' Opeie del Zarlino,'
which the latter has token notice of in the second
volume of his works; bnt in 1681 be published a larger
work, intitled ' Dialogo della Unsica antica e me-
dema,' written, as the title-page expresses it, ' in ena
Difesa contra Giuseppe Zarlino,' though the publica-
tion of this latter work was a formal attack on Zar-
lino, who is treated by his adversary with less respect
than seems to be due from a disciple to his master ;
this Zarlino seems to have resented, for in the Soppli-
menti he takee notice of the urbanity, as he calls it,
of the disciple to his preceptor, as an instance where-
of be cites these words l^^tn the table to Galilei's
Dialogue, ' Oioaeffb Zarlino si attribuisce per ane
' molte cose che non sono,' an expression not easily
to be reconciled with the commendation which in
many parts of this book he affects to bestow on Zar-
lino end his writings.
The division of the tetrachord which Galilei con-
tended for, was that called the syntonons or intense
diatonic of Aristoxenus, which supposes the dis^
tessaron to contain precisely two tones and a half,
according to the judgment of the ear. Ptolemy has
given it the ratio of 12, 24, 24, but Galilei failed in
his attempt to establish it ; and the syntonons or
intense diatonic of Ptolemy is, aa it is sud, the only
division which the modems have received into
practice.^
Galilei was also the author of a book intitled ' II
' Fronimo, Dialogo sopra I'Arte del ben intavolare
i1 Birnnnhii Ihanon, mr <■• tOMUanad, tiiuw
i JooD. A1tienlBuniDiueiIiitiDE|iiitalluileHuiliae-NUiuii.I.ti«d.
«U» tbe haTpi[cIiard ClavlabHdl
1 the HdiClDunit Df Dr. WilUi,
ta hU edtHmi of Flolemr.
Ji Mr. da-—
a Uatronalo.
I dallTned br hlni It
dbrDr.:
□flhlBalTl
Uoivn, pnfalbhad Id tha PbOoaoiihiBa] TruMctiDae
nsTailbeleH 1[ la wU that dnee the biTentlon d
._ . inoleDt dlittncthnu of dllonie dlitonle, Intanie din-
jiutlr baao laid ulda. Vida Bannimlot br Dc. Hobtn
— .. ...,_.... llialT to ba Inie, u tha tun.n
rail Df the mt, and an Iheralbie uld
Inpndic*.
ill <a Ihe mnn
dbyGoo^le
HKTORY OF THE 8CIENQB
Bo(«IX.
' e Frttuneuta uionara la Mnsica. In Venezift, 1583 ;*
the desifpi whereof is to expliun that kind of
musical notadon practised by the compOBera for the
hite, called the Tablatara* The Dialc^o della
Mneica, aotwitligtanding the objectioDs it is open to,
is replete with carious learaing, aod seems to have
been the effect of deep research into the writings of
anUqni^. Among other partionlars contuned in it
are these. The Battnta, or beating of lime, was not
practiMd by the ancients, bnt was introduced by the
Mooka for the regnlation of the choir, 101. — ^The
monochord was invented by the Arabians, 13S. —
Diocles, and not Pythagoras, in the opinion of some,
first discovered the mosical proportiona by the sound
of an earthen vessel, 127. — Glareanus did not nnder-
stand the modee of the ancient Qreeks, 72.— -Marcianns
Oapella, ao far as relates to the modes, was an Aris-
tozenean, 56. — The mnsic of the modems is despised
by the learned, and approved of only by the viugar,
83. — The Romans derived their knowledge of mnsio
from the Qreeks, 1. — At the cloee of this work he
gives a probable account of the inventors of many of
the instrumentfl now in use, of which notice has herein
before been taken. Speaking of &e lute, be mentions
a fact which an Eneluh reader will be glad to know,
namely, that in his time the best were made in England.
The style of Galilei is clear and nervous, bat negligent.
Nicejodgessay it isin some instances nngrammatical,
nererthelesa, to speak of his Dialogne on ancient and
modem music, it abonnds with instrucdon, and is in
short an entert^ning and valuable work.
CHAP. LXXXV.
Fbancisccs 81LIHAS flonrtshed about the middle
of the sixteenth century ; be was a nadve of Burgos
in Spain, and the son of the questor or treasurer of
that city ; and though he laboured under the mis-
fortune of incnrable blindness, composed one of the
most valuable books on mnsio now extant in any
langnage. His history is contained in the preface to
his work published at Salamanca in 1577, and is so
very curious, that it would be doing aa injury to his
memory to abridge it.
' Prom my very infancy I devoted myself to the
study of music ; for as I bad sacked in blindness
' from the infected milk of my nnrse, and there re-
' muning not the least hope that I should ever re-
' cover my sight, my parents could think of no em-
' ployment so proper for me as that which was now
' suitable to my situation, as the learning necessary
' for it might be acquired by the sense of hearing,
* that other best servant of a soul endued with reason.
' I employed almost my whole time in singing and
' playing on the organ, and how mnch I succeeded
' therein I leave to the judgment of others ; bnt this
otbn- InttnuiMDta of lb> Ukt kind, in whkb ih* eWil) in npnMnMd
ti^ ft flompdibdlnff duibIht of ttsH, utd "~ "" ..-*...-
■, b. c Ke. vhloh l«t«n nfR to ib* frtu
TtwHnHtftbenotHbilniUM kr BW
fom, thAtvuwcr to tfaft iUDiBa,erotebet. , , ---.
tablitnn. but Um ItntUni. siirl dw tho Bponludi, tlU
nHof flgiinf bii""""" -•■-" — «-.i.j.- ».._i__.^ .__
Y/f Sgum, tlM M
Hot of P»ri«, tr
■c ttw IMterl at m beoktd
Bl «U] honafter be gliroi
Intlrunnit.
otmMoktd
!■ thaPnooli
Oitllel-o E
or &t kind CTR pnhUahM, cf which ■ fun
I dare affirm, that he who would perfectly under-
stand the doctrine of AristozenuB, Ptolemy, and
fioedns, and other famous mn^cians, should be long
and much practised in this part of music, since every
one of those has written concerning the first part 6t
mnsio which is called Harmonics, and belongs to the
composition of instrumental harmony ; and a man
who is versed in the musical inatroments which we
make use of, will be able to judge more readily and
perfectly of those things. Bnt lest I should seem
to say more of die stupes of other men than of my
own, be it known that while I was yet a boy there
came into our oonntry a young woman bom of ho-
nest parents, and famous for her knowledge of the
Latin langu^e, who, as she waa about to become a
nun, had a vehement desire of learning to play on
the organ, wherefore she became a sojourner in my
father's house, and was taught music by me, and she
in return taught me Latin, which perl^pe I should
never have learned from any other, becanse either
that never came into my f^er'a head, or because
the generality of practical musicians persuaded him
that letters would prevent or intermpt m^ learning
of mnnc ; but I growing more eager for instructios
from this little of learning that I had now got, pre-
vuled on my parents to send me to Salamanca,
where for some years I applied myself closely to
the study of the Greek language, as also to philo<
eophy and the arts, bnt the narrawneaa of my dr-
cumstances obliging me to leave that nnivera^,
I went to the king's palace, where I was very kindly
received by Petrua oarmentus, archbishop of Oom-
postella ; and as he was afterwards taken into the
number of cardinals, I went with him to Bome,
more for the sake of learning than of enriching my-
self, where conversing with learned men, of whom
there is slwaya a great number there, I b^an to be
ashamed of my ignorance in the art whicn I pro-
fessed, not being able to give any reason for thoee
things I spoke of; and I at length perceived thia
saying of Vitravius to he very trae, and that it
might be applied as well to music ss architecture,
viz., " Those who labour without learning, let them
' be ever so well versed in the practice, can never
' gain any credit from their labours ; and thoee who
filace tiieir whole dependance on reasoning and
earning alone, aeem to pursue the shadow and not
' the thing ; bnt those who are masters of both, like
' men armed ^m head to foot, attun their ends with
'greater facility and reputation." Wherefore when
1 found from Aristotle that the ratios of nnmben
were the exemplary causes of consonants and bar-
monical intervals, and perceiving that neither all the
consonants nor the lesser intervals were constatoted
according to their lawful ratio, I endeavoured to in-
vestigate the troth by the judgment both of reason
and the senses, in which pursuit I was greatly
asaiated, not only by Boetius, whom every musician
has in his month, but by several manuscript books
of the ancient Greeks not yet translated into Latin,
great plenty whereof I found there, but above all,
diree books of Claudius Ptolenuen a (to whom whether
muedc or astronomy be most indebted I cannot sayl
Digitized
byGoo^le
ChiF. LXXXV.
AlID PRACTIOE OF MOBIC.
40B
' on humonicB, from the Vkttcu libraiy, and of Por-
* pbyrios'a Commenta thereon, conetracted of great
' and valuable things collected from the reading of
' the anciente, whi(£ were procured for me by Gar-
' dinal Carpenaia ; also two books of Aristoxeans Be
' HanuoniciB Elementis, and also two books of Nico-
'macbuB, whom Boetins has followed, one book of
* Bacchiue, and three books of Aristides, likewise
' three of Bryentuus, which the Carduud of Borgoe
' caused to be transcribed at Venice from the library
' of St Mark ; so that being made more learned by
' what they had well aad tnily said, and more canUoiu
* by what waa otherwise, I was able to attun to an
' eicact knowledge of this art, in the search and exa-
* mination whereof I spent upwards of thirty years,
' till at length, oppreesed by many misfortunes, more
' especially by the death of the two csrdinole and the
' viceroy of Naples, who all loved me more than they
■ enriched me, and by the loea of three brothers, who
' were all slain, I determined to return to Spain, oon-
' tent with what little I had, which might serve to
'snpply me with a very slender msjutenaace; and
' I also proposed to spend the small remunder of my
' life within my own walls in an honest poverty, and
'sing only to myself and the Mnsea :
' Nam nee divitibui candngiint gaudia loli*,
' Nee vixit male, qui natui morienique fefellit
' But I imagine it teemed good to the greatest and
' best Qod ^at it should be otherwise, for he recalled
* me into Spain from Italy, where I had lived almost
' twenty years, not altogether in obscnnty, and of all
* the other towns in Spain in which I might have
> practdeed the musical art with sufficient premiums,
* permitted me at length to return to Salamanca, after
> an abeenoe of almost thirty years from the time
' I had left it, where a stipend snEBciently liberal was
' appointed for a professor of music capable of giving
' instmctions both in the theory and pracdce. For
' Alphonsos king of Gaedle, the tenth of that name,
* and Eumamed Qio Wise, who founded and endowed
' this profesaorsbip, knew that the science of maeic, no
' less than the other mathematical arts, in which he
' greatly excelled, ought to be taught ; and that not
' only Uie practical but the specniwve part was ne-
* cessary for a musidan. Wherefore he erected that
' ei^ool among the first and most ancient, and as a
' teacher was at that time wanted, and one was sought
' aAer who was capable of teaching both parte of music
' well, I came to Salamanca, that I might hear the
* professors of this art make their trials of skill there ;
but when I had exhibited a specimen of ray studies
in music, I was adjudged qualified for that employ-
' ment, and obtained the choir, which was thereupon
' endowed wiUi nearly double the usual stipend by the
' approbation of his majesty. Perhaps I have said
' more than is necessary concerning myself, but
* I mention these things that I might not be thought
to attempt so great a work destitute of all assistance.'
To these particulars which SoUnoa bos related of
himself and his fortunes, the following, grounded on
the testimony of others, may be added, viz., that being
■n admirable performer on the organ and other Instro-
ments, he was in great esteem among persons of rank,
and particnlaily with Paul IV. then pope, hy irtiose
fsvonr he was created Abbot of St. Pancratio della
Booca Solegna, in the kingdom of Naples. Thnanns
relates that he died in the month of Febmary, lfi90,
being seventy-seven years of age. Johannes 8cri-
bsnins, a professor of the Greek language, his con-
temporary, wrote the following verses in praise of
Luminji aminl jacturam encui Homerut
Pignore divini niatinet ingenii.
Dsmocritus viiu eemens languetcere mentit
Vires, tunc oculos enut ipse libi.
Hi* ita dnm doctc mentis eonttsret acumen,
CoTporii Bquanhid danma tulere *ui.
Unui Ot bic magnus pro multiB eccc SiUdu
Orbatus visu, prestat utnunqne slmul.
The treatise Be Mnsica of Salinas is divided into
seven books ; in the first he treats of proportion and
proportionality, between which two terms he dis-
tinguishes, moldng Proportion to signify the ratio
between two magnitudes, and Proportionality a cer-
tain analogy, habitude, or relotion between propor-
tions tbemselvee. He says that as proportion cannot
be found in fewer than two nnmbers, so proportion-
ality must conust at least of two proportions and
three numbers, whose mean divides them agreeably
to the nature of the proportionality. He says thot
in the time of Boetius no fewer than ten different
kinds of proportionality were known and practised
by the arithmetitnans, but that all that are necessary
in the speculative port of music are those three io-
veutad by Pyth^^rss, and mentioned by Aristotle
and Plato, namely, arithmetical, geometri<^ and hat-
monical, concerning which severally he thus speaks ;
' We coll that an Arithmetical mean which is aepa-
' rated from either extreme by equal diffetencas and
'unequal proportions; by D^erences we mean the
' quantities of the exceases which are respectively
' found between tiie nnmbere themselves, as in the
' proportion of 8 to 4 ; we say that 6 is an arith-
* metical mean because it is distant from each term
' by an eqtial difference, which is the number 2, but
' the proportions between the mean and the extreme
' terms are unequal, for 6 to 4 makes a seequialtera,
' and 8 to 6 a sesqmtertia, as plainly appears in these
' numbers, 4, 6, 8, in which the difference is the same
' between 6 and 4 as between 6 and 8, for each is
' eqnal to 2, whereas the proportions ara unequal, as
' we have said. Whst is to be chiefly considered in
' this kind of proportionality by the musician is, that
' in it the greater proportions are found to be placed
' in the smaller numbers, and the lesser in the greater,
' as in this duple, 4 to 2, which when divided by the
' arithmetical mean 3, gives the seeqnialtera and sea*
' qnitertia, the greater of which proportions, the ses-
' quialtera, is foond in the lesser numbers 3 to 2, and
' the lesser, the sesquitertia, in the greater nnmben
' 4 to 3, aa these nnmben shew, 2, 3, 4, But the
' readiest method of finding an arithmetical mean is
' by adding the two extremes together, and the half
' of their sum when taken will be the mean required ;
' as in this some duple 4 to 2, the sum of whose terms
dbyGoo^le
406
HffiTOBT OP THE SCIENCE
Book IX.
is 6, and the lulf thereof 3, is the arithmetical mean
between them. It is to be observed that if the nnm-
ber arising from the sam of the two extremes be nn-
even (which is the case when one ia even and the
other uneven), and conseqnently tke half thereof
cannot he bad, yon mnet donble the extremes, and
then their smn will be an even namber, and its half
may be fonnd ; tboa between 3 and 2, beuanse their
anm 5 ia an nneren nomber, no arithmetical mean
can be fonnd in whole nnmbers, for they are distant
from each other only by unity, which is indivisible,
wherefore they most bo doubled, to have 6 and i,
which bein^ added together make 10, and the half
thereof 6 will be the mean between them, and this
u sufficient for the explanation of arithmetical pro-
portionality.
' Geometrical proportionality is that in which the
mean is distant hato each extreme by eqnal propor-
tiona and unequal differences, as in the proportion
4 to 1, the geometrical mean will be 2, which is the
duple of 1, as 4 is of 2, bat the differences are un-
equal, because 2 is distant from 1 by unity, and from
1 by 2, as these numbers shew : —
Difference
2 I- 1
I Duple I Dople I
I Qnadniple
1 Geometrical divieion
of the quadruple.
' This kind of mediation is not so often to be found
' as either of the others, because it can only be had in
' those numbers that are compounded of two equal
' ones, as the quadruple, the sum whereof is two
'duplet, as is ^ewn in the above type, and the
' nonuple or ninefold, which consists of two triples,
'as 1, 3, 9, and in these, 9, 4, which include two
' sesqnialteraa, as appears in these numbers, 4, 6, 9,
' and in these numbers, 25, 9, which contain 2 super-
' bipartient 3, as these numbers shew, 9, 16, 25 ; and
' thus examples are frequently to be met with in all
' kinds of proportions except in such as are super-
' particular, for a superpaiticnlar proportion cannot
' be divided into two eqnal proportions in a certwn
' determined nnmber. This proportionality has this
' peculiar to it, that what in it is called the geometrical
' divisor or the mean, being moltiplied into itself, will
' give the same product as aiisas from the mnttipU-
' cation of the two extremes into each other, as in this
' proportion, 9 to 4, whose geometrical mean is 6,
' that number bearing the same proportion to 4 as to
' 9, each being a sesquialtera to the mean 6, with un-
' eqnal differences, for 6 is distant from 4 by 2, and
' from 9 by 3. I say that 6 mnltiplied into itself will
' yield the same product 36 as is made by the mnlti-
' plication of 9 into 4 ; wherefore there is no readier
' meUiod of finding out a geometrical mean than to
' multiply into each other the two numbera of snch a
' proportion ae we propose to divide geometrically,
'and then to find out some intermediate number,
' which being mnltiplied into itself, will produce the
' same sum as they did : thus if we would divide
' geometrically the proportion 16 to 9, we shall find
' the product of these two multiplied into each other
' to be 144, and as there cannot be any other nnmber
'than 12 found, which being mnltiplied into itself
' will make that snm, that will be the geometric^'
' divisor required, for it bears the same proportion to
' 9 as it does to 16, that is a eesqnitertja. These
' things are esteemed requisite for musicians to con-
' aider, and I shall now only advertise the reader,
' that the nnmbers which express in the lowest terms
' any proportion that may be divided geometrically
' will be squares, for if the nnmber can be divided
' into eqtial proportions, as the geometrical propor-
' tionality requires, it mnst necessarily be also com-
' pound^ of two equal proportions, which compo-
'sitioD we have in another place cidled Doubling:
' now the doubling of any proportion is made by the
' eqnaring of the two numbers under which it was
'comprehended when single, wherefore those nnm-
' hers in which the proportion is found to be doubled
' must he squares.
' It now remains to speak of Harmonics! Propor-
'tionalily, which seems to have been so called as
' being adapted to harmony, for consonants are by
' musicians called harmonies, and answer to propor-
' tions divided by an harmonical mediation. The
'harmonical proportionality is that in which the
' mean, when compared to the extremes, observes
' neither the equality of differences as in the arith-
' metical mean, nor that of proportions, as the geo-
' metrical proportionally does, bat is of snch a nature,
' that whatsoever proportion the greater extreme bears
' to the lesser, the same will the exceas of the greater
' extreme above the mean bear to the excess of the
' mean above the lesser extreme, as in this proportion,
' 6 to 8, in which the harmonic mean is 4, for the
' difference between 6 and 4, which is 2, bears the
' same proportion to the difference between 4 and 3,
' that is unity, as is found from 6 to 3, for they are
' each duple, as appears in these numbers : —
I Duple I
I
I « I - T"s }"
I Sesquialtera [ Sesqnitertia |
j Duple
'Plato in TimKUs seems to have expressed this
'much more concisely and elegantly when he says
' the harmonic mean exceeds one extreme, and is also
' exceeded by the other by the same parts of those
' extremes respectively, as 8 between 6 and 12, for 8
' exceeds 6 by the third part of 6, and is exceeded
' by 12 by the third part of 12. It is to be observed
' that the harmonical proportionality is nothing else
' than the arithmetical inverted, for it is found to he
' divided into the same proportions, excepting that
' the greater proportions are fotmd in the arithmetical
' division between the lesser nnmbers, but in the har-
' monical they are transferred to the greater numbers.
' while the lesser proportions fas must be the case)
' are fonnd in the lesser numoers, and if poenble
'remain in the same numbers in which they wer*
' before, as in thb duple arithmetically divided, 2, 3, 4^
dbyGoo^le
Chip. LXXXV.
AND PRAOTIOE OF UUSia
«T
' which if w« would ha,\a mediktod hannonically, the
' aMqiiialtont proportion, which is between 3 utd 2,
•mofit be tnmafeired to greater utunbera; and in
* Older to leave the seaqiiitertia in the same ae they
' were in, viz., 1 to 3, we most by whether 4 hoe a
' aeeqtualtera above it, which it will conseqnenUy
' have if it ia encreaaed by its half 2, to produce the
' number 6, which ia Msqmaltera to i, and the eeRqm-
' tertia from 4 to 3 will be left as it wag before ; and
' thna the greater proportion is in the greater nnm-
' bers, and the lesser m the lesaer, according to the
' property of hannonical ivoportionality, which these
* nnmbera shew : —
I Harmonical Proporliopality.
I Arithmetical Proportionality.
T^
_!_
I Sesqnialtera | Seaqnitertia | Beeqmaltera
I
Duph
X
"mple.
'It now remuns carefiiUy to investigate the method
'of obtaining the harmonical mean, which will be
' easily fomid out if the arithmetical mean be first
' had, for where an arithmetical mean cannot be
' fotmd, there also an hannonical mean cannot be liad,
' rince the hannonical proportionality, as we have
' aait^ is the arithmetical inverted. Having therefore,
' according to the method shewn above, found out the
■ arithmetical mean, we most next enquire whether
' that has a number above it in the same proportion
' to it as anbaiated between the numbers divided by
* the arithmetical mean, and if it has such a one, then
' that will be the mean which will divide the propor-
' tion harmonically, in which proportion that nnmber
' which was the mean in the arittunelical proportion-
* ality will be the least extreme in the harmonical,
•and that which was the greatest extreme in the
' arithmetical, will be the harmonical mean, and the
' assumed number will be the greatest extreme ; thna
' if we would harmonically divide this triple, 3 to 1,
' we mnst first find its arithmetical mean, which is 2,
' and then take the triple thereof, which la 6, and eo
'the proportion which waa arithmetically divided
' from 3 to 1, will be harmonically divided from
' 6 to 2 ; and 3, which was the greatest extreme in
* the ariUmketical, will be the mean in the harmonical,
' and 2, which was the arithmetical mean, will be the
' leeser extreme, and 6, the number assumed will be
' the greater, as may be perceived in Ibeee namben : —
triple arithmetically divided.
Leaeor 1 Arithme- 1 Greater
extreme [ tical mean | extreme
■ 1 2 S 6 1
Leaser 1 Uarmom- 1 ureater
extreme | 'cal mean. | extreme
'iViple harmonically divided.
' Bat if no-number can be found to bear the same
'proportion to the arithmetical mean as snbeisted
• between these wUoh it divided, the nnmbers must
' be doubled or tripled till such on one can be fonnd ;
' this, however, is not to be done nshly, but by some
' certain mle, for in multiples they are almost always
' (bond as in the dnple and triple shewn before, and
' in the quadruple and quintuple in these numbers : —
1 i
2 5 8
5 8 20
I oally divided. [
' And examples of this kind are everywhere to be
' met with in almost all mttltiplee. Bnt in superpar-
' ticnlsn we must proceed by much more certain and
' constant rales ; for as in finding an arithmetical
' mean in every superparticuUr proportion the uum-
' bers most be donblra, so in finding an harmonical
' mean they must in the seequialtera be doubled, in
' the seequitertia tripled, in the seaqniqaarta qnadm-
' pled ; and if this order be observed, the harmonical
' mean may be easily found in all anperparticulare, as
' is monifeat in these three examples : —
EXAMPLE I.
' 2. S. Sesqnialtera to be divided.
'4. 5. 6. Besqaioltera divided arithmetically.
' 8. 10. 12. The Numbers of the arithmetical pro-
' portionality doubled.
' 10. 12. 15. Besquialtera harmonically divided.
EXAMPLE n.
' 3. 4. Seaqnitertia to be divided.
' 6. 7. S. Arithmetically divided.
' 18. 21. 24. Numbers tripled.
• 21. 24. 2& Harmonically divided.
EXAMPLE IIL
' 4. 5. 8eeqniquarta to be divided.
' 8. 9. 10. AJrithmetically divided.
' 32. 36. 40. Numbers qnadmpled.
' 36. 40. 45. HarmouicoUy divided.'
Speaking of the IKapoaon, Salinaa says though it
consists of eight sounds, it did not ti^e its name from
the number 8, as the diapente does ^m 5, and the
diatessaron from 4, bnt it is called diapason, a word
signifying ' per cranes' or ' ex omniboe,' that ie to aav,
by all or Irom all the sounds, as Martianna Capella
aseerta, and this with very good reason, for the dia-
pason contains in it all the possible diversities of
Bonnd, every other sound above or below the sep-
tenuy, being but the replicate of some one indnded
in it.*
• Tlw Vnlun, tbDBfh in
XutluiB CuHlUiB ttia --^--
It, tf n« lU Ihe HnDd),
toiMhH Kilh Ibetr rnUi _ . ..
obHm Hut AiUtglkln Fnb. XVIII. oT I
Wtar dn Ik* fnTn tmiDdl loElud* lkaK_..
Mkn rnHo Um Uia Klnilini al It, In tlw
UMK* man npeilmnitt auda bj UiiihUi
whan open, gi™ DO f> - - .'
«cl*n,hith,I«Ii,tii4|
dbyG00*^IC
HISTORY OF THE SOIENOE
In the e^hth and ninth chapters of his second
book hfl contends against the modem mndciuui that
the diatessaron is to be deemed a consonant ;* and in
brmoiilo, D« Itutnua. Hahd. UIl I.
Tbt'isSa
_, jdbTDf.WilllilotluEiirrf
ttMj DUT ba MW b LowtboiT'i AbiUiiuiit. VdL I. litf. i. pif . BM,
ad I* to Uib ■flact.IMaelHttdACIwuDpiMtixUTeUiwialbuiig,
<ad tlwnilin u nnlHia ta neti hilf gf K lUppid u b. If vhlla ■ g 1*
onn A C b* itnick, ■hatirolulTgit>rthliaUi«r,lbitliab40dbg, wlU
bolb imnbla, bul not tb* middls pdnt u b, whleb wUI tuUf 1w ibHned
lfaUltl*bllo( wo be llgbtly wafp*i iboDt tha ttring ■ (, ud n-
Bond iimHMlwfr tma dds md of ft to the other
Pud uUmWD Hievntj; balnponhlabelBclBtbrinedbT lonurt Ibe
nmkm pment thu Dc. TalUt hid iwMlahei It hefbn, he Imnedlitelr
nl(Ded ill the bnmit Ibenof: There <e in aiiiDlilie tolniJan et (he**
■nd MhR phewmmu of tanBdi hj Vr, Kuduue Huitat In Dr. FJol't
Naunl BbtNT of Oiflicdehin
• Hirtly my ^MWten li»» bem Mioreiglteted hy the cmiera aneldime
than Ibla, wfaeuuc the dliMMMfio be i «t]cor4 or ■ dluord T Tbe ugo-
mr lemwd and InCMUna hiHklnAQM[The Priiielplae ot Mnelc Id
WiMtol «>d Semm, wBh the twgfoU Dm aenof. «ccl«elMttial and dull.
BBtlai.'ef MiylalM i^efa, Oittad, quarto, 1»M, pcf . S<
isL >u *» to tUa pnma*>-
■ Tbli coneard la oh of tha tbie*. w (amoni Ir all antliiiatj, wHb tt
nB^UmrvhUBOf ikaflntniulilaiadldcaateBttheaBalirM! and fn
I roaiailtj. Tbe ^olnt docttlu of IliNa thna ooiiMidB, tbongh It be
_ aodnl M nuialB Itialf; ^piDVad Bot only hf Mbafucai, but alio
br Arlitotle, Plato, TltAtmr, Boclld, ad bt AiWoxonnt, Bosthu,
;AwHAIinB,01anaDiu.alld^-"- * '-' ' •
iav,IMoolb, thkdli
I VacU ooBoard, i
jual Hilda Bpon th» . _ ._ _.
' not air aothnltr, but nutm alao, ud tho mj Jndfnant of tbe ear,
laUlndu. Pat be that llnatb to tqr nson tba oigan ar velUluneil
' TinUMl.Aian Rnd that of ludf It datb well accord vlth Ibe grcund,
aodtener than eltbar Bf (ha laher aaconduy ameordi phe riitb r>[ in.
pfrtMt lUid] and wllb a elith to yteld u ima ■ iTipphaiiT at ■ third
wtthaUth: and Bora tweet thuiathlrdwlthailith: udwlthailith
' andu rifhtb,la mmd fully and banDoniouilj In pluhig tutety uDacf
'otber^nnphODka- So that alihough heinf no priniiiT ooDcord. it bu
' net let to the bait In a elcae : nt il 11 lead In olha ^laiH, aren Im-
' tntdlitft'T befon the eloae, and that In ilcv time, le In thli example ^-
tbe following chqiter be with admirable ingoiuily
shews that the ditone and semioitone, thoagh perfaapa
the last or lowest in degree, are vet to be r«nked
among the consonances ; this be nas almost made
Ptolemy confess bj tbe sense which he pnts upon tbe
sixth chapter of hia first book, bot bis own argnments
in favour of his position are the most worthy oar
attention, and they are annprised is the following
passage : —
' Next after the diapenia and diateesaron are formed
' by a division of the diapason, tbe ditone is easily to
' be fonnd, and aOsr that tbe semiditone, which in-
' terval is tbe difference whereby the di^isnte exceeds
' tbe ditone, for tbe dispente is no otherwise divided
' ^to the ditone and semiditone, than is the diapaaon
' into the diapente and diatesearon ; and tbe djvinon
' of the diapason being made into tbe diapsnte and
' diateesaron, which are, as has been sud, the next
' consonants after it as to perfection, and consist in
' two proportions, tbe seaquialtera and saeqnitertia,
' whicn follow the dnple immediately ; reason itself
'seems to demand that tbe diapente, which is the
* greater part of the diapason, ebonld be rather di-
' vided than tiie diatessaron, which is the lesser part;
' thns tbe diapente will be divided into the ditone and
< aemiditone, as the seeqaialtera ratio is into the ses-
'qniqoarta and sesqoiqninta ; for the terms of the
' eesqnialtera ratio 2 and 3, becaase it cannot be ^-
' vided in theee, being doubled, there will arise 4 and
' 6, tbe arithmetical mean between which is 5, which
' is seeqniqnarta to the lesser, and subsesqniqninta to
' the greater ; and tbongb these two proportJona do
' not immediately follow the seeqnialtera as that does
* tbe dnple, yet tiiey divide it by a dividon which is
' the nearest to eqnslity ; and in tbe same manner.
Nbei piit, b* lomeilmei si
tbsa, and a iweelenlng ooocord pnaently i
(irban all rait* meet ttwethei) b a long-il
paoia DpoD it (ao that tH ear doth eipniaur hi^uu i^^ uicia ■• uc*qi
anj diaeocd at all i Imt all the upper nolea an ooDcoide of oo« tort or
Id Owaa M pilmaiT to ifeebaH, 10 teoondaiT anHwg IhemielTM.
ipKuhanihachiaaBatoofaM baa* li 1b Oah-dt (and »■■
MqneiiUj Hhh of the other paita In B.11I, D'aoL-KS, and O-nL-mi Irr,
erth*tTOlfhth*)Boiibcbv(pailtM thbd to the bua. I* an ImpofiM
'thM to D-ooL-u, and ■ luth to O-aoL-aa-vr: ud Hkvunie D.
iOb-nBbriDf a Sfth to OaM-tn, la a third ImpRfeet to B-ki, and
a Smnh U Q bok-u-dt. Sedng then that In eloaaa, whldi an
'dmrVt himonloai. no dlimd <i '^"■'"■^i but all nalaa eoncord
aonlhalraldai fbrUhtobanatadof thaolberca
iht dUvMon and diapente, that tbift i^HoMea alao ai
It to av, tha IftaiBIb la a oonauot, ■• la alM Ibo til
dl^aaon and «fp— ■»- eompOBnaed, but the 01
~ In tlualntDA do not 1 '
. mul be ■ eoHWrt : and aaMng that * graiuid and Ml nidsiii aaaiaaaonfcitMa, that ill ratio J=:*Xt.oHnw*«d*,ttol,
wenaHena, bov can any man think that D aoi,-u, aqnal t«4tolmn%Uidbrl,liDElthainn]ttp1aiMt ■•BpnKtlaBlic.
iui(aOua-tiT,aiidafo(iithun(oO«ii,-u-oT[hii(ifhih] WalL Append, de Vet. Harm, 91S. He addi vnh mptct la tba uOtaij
■Ibateaa:
-iebb>«tli
ibonldbatbg
ithai,- andpt that B-m, wl
• And thanlkm that booaunble aige [Lord Terulun] wtaots nnenl
'hnowledfo and Judfmant In all Und of Uteratnrv li genenlly ip^uded
' by tba loaned, i4aetln( thdr noiel Oney that njeei itali aoelent »n-
■eoid, pnftiaei bbualf to b* at MHMher mlBd. " The uncoid* In
" nnaie," aaitb ha, " between tbe uglaon and the dlapaun an tbe Sfth :
"wbleb tt lb* noit parteei, the tblrd nnt; and the liith. wbltk ti more
" hanb ; and (u thendati oataamod, ud aodo mywlf and mu oifaHi t
"IhalMinh, which Ibar call diateauion. Cent. II. Nnmb.
"tboaa othoffc that tiat '
hare written thereof) SMBni't^'iMni ii
R«lldtot hodU i plifiiqna mullcli Ml atuni
DolthH a multlsla nor ■ luMtputleiilu, ii noiinded on a danSBitnlloa
ofBoethulBhlitiaatliaDelliiriea, Ub. II.CBp. IIil wUehieo tnw.
bt«dlBtbelMi<Mrpart<fiUeweik,bookIII.ea.xXT. Tba title of tb*
cbapwr In the original la ' Dlitwiitoii *c Impaian dob aeee «■■
' lonantlam, aeeandom Pirtha(otioai ;' and II b blshly pmhlMa that tUa
uaertidiL, and the ■'rip''f' propeny of the diaEeaiann abet* Hdad,
ml^t fire oecuion to Dai CaitH to >iy, la be doei tn hit CompeBdlpw
dbyGoot^le
Ohap. LXXXVI.
AND PRAOnOE OP MUSia
409
'though the ditona and Mmiditone do not imme-
' diately follow the diapento hat the diataBaaron, yet
' they (Uvide it aa the diapente and diat«eaaron divide
' the diapaaoa, that is to say, in ptoportiDns the nearest
' to equality that may be, and Uie ditone, ae being the
' greater part of the diapente, i« found in the greater
' proportion, that ia the Beeqaiqoarta, and ia therefore
' jortly called b^ practical mnsiciaiie the greater third.
' Bnt the Bcmiditone, which ia the leeaer part of tha
' diapente, ie in the Beeqaiqainta ratio, ai^ is there-
' fore jaatly called the leaser third. The analogy of
'this new division is approved both by the senses
* and reason, and therefore its deecriptioa most by no
' means be omitted.
Diapaaon [ ^^^^^ \ Semiditone
\ IKateesaton
' The same analogy is thns declared in ntimbers : —
DOBW |S<«ulil
I Doplt dlTldtd. I S«qnl*lt«» HiUti. . |
I mSKmS 1 mSHShi I p'*'"'"
I lUldilllK
DlupMgii dlTkl»J.
in
Dtipmu iJYUai.
of the dissonances, the tone major, and the diapasoa
cum tono majori, whereas he says in thia instrmnent
the nnison and seven consonants are fonnd within
the diapason, five more within the disdiapason, and
two beyond it ; and of the dissonant intervals, not
only the greater tone, and diapason with the greater
tone, as in that, bat also the lesser tone and greater
semitone ; so that, as he says, not one of the «mple
intervals proper to the diatonic genns is nndefined
by this invention of his, aa may be seen in the ex-
planation enjoined to the type thereof exbiMted by
him, and which type is as fdlows : —
Salinas adds, that men always did and always wiU
nse the above consonances boUi in vocal and inatm-
mental music, and not those of Fythagoraa, some of
which were not only dissonant, but inconcinnous, as
the ditone 81 to 61, and the semiditone S2 to 27.
As to the ditone and semiditone investigated by him,
he says, as their proportions follow by a process of
barmonical nnmeration, that of the sesqaitertia, they
mast Decessarily be consonants, and immediately fol-
low the diatessaron. He concludes this chapter with
observing that Didymos seems to be the Brst of ma-
aicians t^at conudered the ditone and semiditone as
answering to the sesqaiquarta and sesquiqninta ratios,
and that the same may be ffathered from those posi-
tions which Ptolemy has given in the second book,
chap. xiv. of bia Humonica.
CHAP. LXXXVL
Havtho thns shewn the ditone and semiditone to
be consonances, with the method of producing them,
Salinas proceeds in the next enbeeqaent chapters to
explain how the lesser intervals are produced, by
stsiing the several differences by which the greater
exceed the lesser. The method taken by him for
that purpose has been observed in a preceding chap-
ter of his work, where the ratios of the sewal in-
tervals are treated of, and &erefbre need not be here
repeated.
In the nineteenth chapter of the same second book ia
contained a description of an instrument invented by
Salinaa for demonstrating the ratios of the conso-
nances, as also of the lesser intervals. He says that
this instmment is much more complete than the
Helicon of Ptolemy, described in the second book of
hifl Hannonica. for that in the Helicon are only five
consonants of the Pythagoreans, and the diapason
emn diatessaron, which Ptolemy himself added, and
. /
. / .
.. / .
.. / .
R
/ .
EXPLANATION.
' The side a f of this sqaare is divided into many
' parte, first into two eqnally at the point o, then into
' three at the points b and n, and lastly into four, to
' give the point e, so that the whole line a p is triple
■ of the part a b, dnple of a o, sesqaialtera to a n, and
' sesqnitertia to a b. From these points are drawn the
' six parallel lines a k, b h, o o, d p, e o, and f n, all
' of which, except the first, are, by a line drawn from
' the angle a, to the middle of the line f r, cat into
' two parts in the points a, h, i, k, l. If any one shall
■ caose an instmment to be constract«d of this form
' with chords, so that the stays which anstain the whole
' may &11 in with the lines a f, and x n, and the chords
' wiUi the other lines, and if a bridge be applieS in the
' direction a, l, I say that all the ooneonaula and the
' lesser intervals of the diatonic genns will be heard
'therein; for ostiie aides ofthe similar triangles, which
' are opposite to equal angles, are proportional to each
' other by the fonrth proposition of tiie sixth book of
' Euclid, therefore as tiie whole line a f is to ite parts,
' so is the line f i. to the ddee that are parallel and
' oppodte to it Wherefore as the line a f of the
' triangle a, f, l, is constituted seequitertia to a ■ of
' the triangle a b k, v l will also be sesqnitertia to
' B K, and if the line f l be made to conust of twelve
' parts, the Una ■ k will contain nine of them ; and
' by a like reasoning the lines d i will have 8, o h 6,
' and B o 1 ; and the ^per line a if being double of f l,
' will contain 24. ^e remaining port of the lines
' beyond the bridge will contain as many parte as will
' complete the respective parts within the bridge to 24
'Bo that OH will connst of 20, HO 18, ip16, kq 16,
' L R 12, and if every two of theee nnmheta be com-
' pared together, the intervals which arise from strik-
dbyGoo<^le
msrOBT OF THE SOIENCB
Book O,
'in^ thdr respectire chorda will be pendved i
' Udisod 12 to 12.
' Greater Bemitona 16 to 16.
' Leeaer tone 20 to 18.
* Greater tone twice, 9 to 8, 18 to 16.
' Semiditone twice, 18 to 15, 24 to 20.
' Ditone twice, 15 to 12, 20 to 16.
' Diateaaaron firo timee, 8 to 6, 12 to 9, 16 to 12,
• 20 to 15, 24 to 18.
' Diapento five timet, 6 to ^ 9 to 6, 12 to 8, 18 to
' 12, 24 to 16.
' Lesser hexachord twice, 24 to 15.
'Greater hexachord twice, 15 to 9, 20 to 12.
' Diapason five timee, 8 to 4, 12 to 6, 16 to 8, 18
' to 9, 24 to 12.
' Some intervals repeated with the diapaaoo.
{Leaser tone 20 to 9.
Greater tone twice 9 to 4, 18 to 8.
Ditone twice, 20 to 8, 15 to 6.
Diateaaaron twice, 16 to 6, 24 to 9.
Diapente thrice. 12 to 4, 18 to 6, 24 to 8.
Greater hexachord 20 to 6.
• Diadiapason twice, 16 to 4, 24 to 6.
' Some intervals repeated with a diadiapason.
I Greater tone IS to 4,
' Diadiapason with the ? Ditone 20 to 4.
( Diapento 24 to 4.
Upon this improvement of the Helicon of Ptolemy
Salinas himsdf remarks in the words following : —
' I thought proper thus minntely to explain all the
' parte of thie instnunent becanse of its great and
'wonderfol excellence. But what I think seems
' most worthy of admiration in it ia, that it coneists
' in sextuple proportion, wherein are contained all the
' consonants and dissonants. And hereby the won-
' derfol virtne of the senary nmuber appeara, since not
' only aix simple consonants are fonnd in the aix first
' nnmbers, and in the six first simple proportions, and
* also in the six firat which snccessively arise by mnl-
' ^plication (so that we cannot either in the one or the
' oUier proceed farther to any other consonants or har-
' moni<»l intervals) bat alao you may find consonants
' and dissonants consldtnted in all the six kinds of pro-
' portion, that is to say, in one of equality, and five of
'meqoality, if you are minded to investigate their
' lawflil proportions in numbers.' *
• TlH taTMtlntlaa of
Inwmli m it liban |
dtafnm u tUi of aaUiBU — -, ^ , —
iatm bA« dlKonnd that fim lu fkmou thoonv of Prllianru, c
Uaed In tb* 47111 pTB|«ttloB of ilw Dnt boot «t SdcttS, a* MaWDBh.
aid illiiiiiiaii 1 1 mtr ollb ■• kM ■ dg(M of MitilBtT bo danoutnlid
thu Iqr Iba ilHiTa Bwtbod otSalkiB. TbontbotorUiUdlMiniirTno
~lr./abiH*ilJ>«toii.of IhowCD-knawnlHDlIjriirt] '
In hia demonstraticHi that the rslio of » oomma ia
81 to 80, and that it ia the difierenoa between the tone
major and tone minor, he aaye that the conuoa ia tbe
HboIi'i aik, bring too, H, Hd tO, So B«atnlr BOI ta i«h vInt t (k-
owndi tlM ndDcOia to tbolt lowoi una* tmam oat • to I, irtkh
mudnqilt oawiDUlaBl ntlo, ud S
4, Iha otbar iUId pmdoBgd brttiadMilnef
' Thai m ftvlaeod Um (Md (rtBM bamtaiaal lUlia, u _. .
' dl^oHm DT dopko ntto. I bnvo ■opjoatniod that tbo otfav dmmI jvdh^
iMibUolMd ucUtKtanl ntloo om Ibolr bMMr to tt* imhiImMm
la lbs buBiBla ntloo, i^ that tk* Hnnl fdtBH (( HMMbMi sa BM*
or lOM icroMiblo to Iho oy, aa tbt; rafttal tbt IdMo of agBno bob-
' wad or niA rattaa. I twnblo to OBpatt my liJa paMaaa B r—
'JodiBcnt. bat km BM aanotlaa otniu ««b darin and kind pnriB
'ofaaainann to nctUV my •trtfi. 1 am aandbla IbaH nuKcn ks>*
ban Wiickid apoa baton, bat mj attaontamraw ndnn Battaaw
aoma fuibcr ooft^tf a to tk* rianlieltr and orifln ofUia pbanuta
aBbcOnc out (UOhnnt aanaaa, and tij by eoapartMa af tbaa* ukaaiun
vUek afbst oaa aaaoo, (nm ablaou vhoag pftnitMa* an known, B tte
nd« o(ioiind,UotbeiaAetlBBa|naaUaiaoibatofmuataaaa«<n
I ovliu; to (ImBai Baiaa. Toa win paidan my pMauiyUun, b I ^
■ aauula nritkir ny yaan nor Bt ibttiIih ponait ma lo «Vaak vHk
Bfeprlaly hoaln, bat aa yon alnlBed yoot ybaann at knowhw wkat
I wBabaDt,kaTithuiiDtanS to oamainakiaia my undlswtaJaanM.
intb«dlB*»toni«r
OKIMMB — U:t<»M a;
■A;M-7:8Pt>M A:cgE>:Ij(SIb
u:u-S:r jj(ld aaH:lB=ll:r»&rtk
e:ti> — l:t^U tf.» = t: * $)( Sdi
aa:aa-ri>P«li o:oi = «;>bnb
a:>-lr4 4ik ■»;<>■[ = «: II JfTth
...A.S:rj(4tk »L. ^,c„o = 4S = »88Mi
• antbart owb Sgnna and
to ba latkti InannnUy «t.
rnaatd; andpaib«aUbad baanballar It kthadapokoitkBi JitaM
mitt, S to * tkM Witt, It 10 0 amstk mbdais, t to t atnatb nlnai,
II tolaarantk major, M to ti fnataat, or ikaip ikaipBnntk.
TbaltiltewliiclathoaBivattoHr. HailDCloii'a Mtar :
I,— BytbabandaafyoaiMnrf. Mt.Ceud, I vb bravad wlih
I wonld ponoa, and gladly aaalil you witk bt tUag I an
» yoot ooiloatty and Iwoon in tbM* mallan. lanyoaban
D Ihta wondatDl uopsaltlon tba bikarmaala, b waD M tkt
. 1 oraci*anHat,airnaBlilBcltDm tka glaaa Haaa S, 4. ant f.
Ton obanra tbat tha buKMb bnaif hnlak tboB latlB tkB aAH
' plaaaun to tke «ye la ankltaetunl dBlana. I kare la ftmar c«aaMa^
' nisDo axtailnad tkaw tklagL and wttb ny ethat ■iiiplnjinBia wanid
ocmtlpy, aud tesda to g»m^y ika dnpUoHy to all tba nfca rf tta
dbyGoot^le
Chap. LXXXVL
AND PBAOTICE OF MUBItt
411
leut <rf 4II die scFiuiUe isterral^ and that he had
experienced it to be lo by bis ear, in an inBtnunent
wluch he bad cutued to bo made at Borne, in which
both tones are heard, and their difference was ^tunly
to be perceived, and he infera ftnm a paasage in Pto-
lemy, where he makee it indifferent whether the aea-
qnioetave or eeaqninonal tone have the acnte place in
Om diatonio tetrachord, that the ear of Ptolemy wh
not nice enongh to diaeem the diSerenoe between the
greater and leeeer tone.
Halinaa obaerves, that beaides the two eemitonee, the
greater and leeaer, into which the tone is divided, and
which ie the difference idiereby the ditone ezceeda the
eeraiditone, there ia a neceeaiCy for inserting into mn-
ncal instrnmente, more especially the organ, another
interval called the IHeeis,* becanse without it there
can be no modaladng in that kind of maBio called by
die Symphonets, Mnsica ficta,t in which there is
occasion to make nse of three diversities ef b soft ;
■or ought this, he sayn, to be deemed a new invention,
for, which is cnrions and worthy of observatiDn, he
It : howHgt, I ihidl mt «•■> to ght mj ttiaiicbu tovuili thli
:t ■( mj letoDi*. 1 bHiriMUipaniwltmfliiniiknuipKiilif'-"
IT lenliu H«u to IkIuh grao lo nuUtniulieil maicbB.
ufM ftam tbdt may
■M, ud tbat tb* L^l
to Uw hununls ''"'"
dMIou to llH rinal* «nttn
... - iMt H Uw ■ppiaada m hl.-
natt. I bdton jQHuaTlKht; n«llDuotelrdai>niiumotlM*
'■m«ililmlh«iitiii1U|lwtl>BM«»i<Ui«p«il»ctltiuifnidi»toic»
'u*T m Jwlwj.^ TOM^MmhuBmu d the >ld« of bo^ioiii wiUi
I yon ban aauDhad EfljOv, lleneiiie.
nAaagk tin
bilDg MqnilnUd with ■ dlTWan of Iha laquUUna
•m rifbt ; U b wiy ■miict tb*t gmhuM a""-"
T fa mA nMhMMitod MBiltoMlas*. ibai
BMdMdbteaBdaii
wjnmoit UHi viuioin vtaldi the ■ '
perftct. li ttfuttt imnn Ihi
ilMBMbi ■• Is friduc lb •IB
partienlv tai eximlnbii Dm (niuc inuiTili.
Hnianbla wtiin thu dvhM. In flue, I im 1
' gntati Itm tt Iks Cnalsr pnnitad wllk Kuset t
' -" iplwliiii lAotlini of 111 «ni mt* 1 U lout tba •nppMHlo
W» tnu Mk irtiSna w ppwn rf Qad, ud •annhlsUr
tba dmplldtT ttf tbt muncfam tm fentnl. WliUentili
_i — I — .J— ,mj, jredK* I tball iUlma«
jMpoWBOf
"^boniH
• ThiiatlHniibHrTMthUlbtiHlati (na ■ dkrii la auh at tlw
ibna fcim. nulla taMT.tknaiUMthitcaitinlarulfii •Kb brlbai
HUH. In ibon. tba void dkali alfniSa propnt]' > paitkll. and Itaan-
Mh naaaltlnIhataania,aad>i>eiplaiBaH; bat IbadlialawblcliSaUBaa
la hcia for InHndodnc, li Ibai Intnral ■barabji ibe laiHi aamlloD* la
aioadad by tba (natot, ud la tn tba i^lo of IH to HI.
9Bb JUfMd inaak, la by Aadraaa Onttbopamu
bootvmTcb
Mkaral
Idloliai
iTariatrotkqri
bDandBh
Ufai tboi
lapnlUchH that M tba ttax wbm OnHkoraniu noia. tbat
piwilea nf dlilaratint ttac m. wblcb (aUaad mule 1: — " '-'
no ftnlMt thin waa naeaaianf ta eonailtuia -*-- *-—
wtib tba malar thlid. Aa to Uw lallar. It It a
BH af ta damaaa nan Papa, 1
wortbT otobaarraitai, tlui ibM
ihsmnld^liMloBbstbsfthaaL . ^ .
aMTa iiutaiica^ la a madam ndnament. Canipaittleiia bi Ukh kcra,
fbraxiBpia, D wHb a B^ar IbM, A witb a nn|ot tbfad, B wHb a mitfoc
IbM, FJt wtUi a Blnac tUid, Pwllb > niaoitblid, and Bnatnral witb a
rentes tbat tlte Itsliaos have tn thdr organs two dieses
in every diapason, the one between a, diatonic, and g,
chromatio, and another between d, diatonic, and o,
chromatic ;f and that on many sndi organs m these
he had often placed, particnlarly on a very famons
one at Florence, m Uie monastery of the Dominicans,
called BanU Maria Novella.
In the anbseqnent chapten of this second book are'
a great number of soles and diagrams, contrived with
wonderful ingemu^ to ex^ain and illnsbate the seve-
lal snlrieets treated of in ttie bo<^
In the third book be treats of the gmiera of the
anoimte, and that with so much learning and sagad^,
that, as has already been noted, Dr. Fepnach eenipled
not to declare to tbe world that the tme enaimonie,
&e most intricate of the three, and wMoh has been
for many sgee past anpposed to be lost, is in this work
of his aconrately determined.
From hie representation of the ancient genera, tlutt
is to say, of the enarmonio, the chromatic, and even
some spedee of the diatonic, it meet evidently appears
that they coneieted in certain divisions of the totra-'
chord, to which we at tiiis day are strangers ; and it
may brther be said that the interrals which divide
the chromatic and the enharmonic tetrachoid,
however rational they may be made to appeal by an
hannonical or numerical process of calculation, are to
a modem ear so abhorrent as not to beboniewithont
p«n and avendon.
AAer what has been said in some preceding pages
of this work touching the genera and their speciea,
and from the testhnony <rf amne evm of the Qmk
harmonioiana herein-babre addnoed, it is clear beycmd
a doubt that both the enaimonie and chromatic genen
are as it were W the general consent of mankind laid
aside. It would thwefore be to little purpose to
follow Salinas throngh that labyrinth of reasoning
by which ha attempts to explain them ; each as are
desirous of lull information in this respect mutt be
referred to his own vrork. In order, however, to
gratify the cnriod^ of others, and to display the
depth of knowledge with which this author mveft-
tigales the doctrine of the ancient genera, it may not
be amiss here to subjoin the following extracts, which
contain the substance of his arguments in the dis-
cussion of this cnrions eubjecL
A Genus in muic, according to this author, ia a
certain halMtnde or relation which the sounds that ooio-
poee the diateasaroo have to each other in modulation.
Having thus defined the term Oenus, in the doing
whereof he has apparently taken Ptolemy for hu
gnide, he thus failher prooeeds to ddiver his sen-
timents c4 the gencK at large : —
' The aneienta were nnanimonsly of opinim that
' the genera wen determined rather by the division
' of &a diateesaion, that being the least, than of any
' other system or consonsnce ; and this was not the
' sentiment of the Pythagoreans only, who held tbat
' there could be n
Ii mlaprintad. and ihoiild bi
nd prabablj owa tb^ tamadueCloD to tba Inninira- ooanraa at 1
caotthBTUinialaahnllhaTpiobatilybgcniacludad paitieular, *
dbyGoo*^lc
412
msrOBY UF THE 8GIENCIE
BmkIX.
'two tonaa, bnt abo of AnBtoxeuiu himself, who,
* though he taught that the differencee of the intervals
' were not commensurable by nnmbers and tbeir pro-
' portions, but that the sensea were the proper judges
' thereof, asMrts in the first book of hie Euemente of
' Harmony, that no consonance can be fbnnd of a leas
' content than that between the nmeon and its fourth;
' a position which, however, we have shown not to be
' atricily true, whether wa appeal to the jadgment of
' our senses or oar reason. Not to enter into too ecm-
' puloQB a discuBUon of this matter, let it aofGce to say,
'that for the purpose of defining the genera, all the
' andante to a man have aappoeed a division of the
' diatesearon into four aonnda or three intervals, from
' which melltod of division are conatitated the three
'genera: the difference between each of these is gene-
* rally denoted by the epithets ramm, rare or thin ;
' spissnm, tiiick or close set; and epissieaimtun, thickest
' or cloeeat set, aoooiding to the quantities of those
'leaser intervale by which they were severally di-
' vided : the primitive terms of distinction for the
' genera were thoee of Diatonica, Chroma, and Har-
' monia, though the writers of later times ose those
' of Diatonicnm, Ohromaticnm, and Enarmonium.
' The diatonicnm was said to be rare becanse it pro-
' cceds by a tone, tone and semitone, which are the
' greatest and most rare of the lesser intervals : and
' Ptolemy aaserts that this genns was called the Dia-
•tonnm oeconse it abounded in tooee. The Ghro-
■ maticum was Uiat which proceeded by a trihemitone,
'a semitone and semitone ; and becanse the semitones
' are thicker or closer than the Uines, this genus waa said
' to be thicker and softer Uian the diatonnm. The word
' Chroma, which in Greek signifies colonr, waa applied
'to it, as Boetins writes, as being expressive of its
' variation from the diatonnm, or, as the Greeks say,
' becanse that ae colonr is intermediate between white
' and black, eo also does the chromatdo genus observe
* the medium between the rorenees of the diatonnm
* and the thickneee of the harmonia. Tlie Harmonia
* or Enarmonium proceeded by a ditone, a diesis, and
' diens towards the grave, and becanse the dieeee are
' thicker than the semitones, this genns, which is the
' thickest of the three, was termed the Enarmoninm,
' as being the beat coadapted, and the moat absolute of
'them^*
' Nor did the ancients proceed any fiirther in the
'constitution of the genera than is above related,
' becanse in it no harmonical interval leas than that
' of a diesis is discoverable except the comma, which
' is common to ^1 ^^ three ; and thongh they may
'all seem to agree in dividing the diatesearon into
' three intervals in eveiv genus, yet is there not one
' of those who have wntten on this snbject that does
'not differ ^m the rest in d^ermining the pro-
' portions of the several intervals that conatitnte it ;
' for Pythagoras, Archytas, Philolaus, Elratoethenes,
' and, in a word, all the writers on this branch of the
' science have seaigned to it different ratios all equally
' repugnant to harmonica] tmth. Thoee who are de-
' eirons of more particular information, may consult
' Bo^os, book in. chap. v. ; and Ptolemy, book II.
' towards the end. The most oelebrsted mode tt
' generical division was undonbtedly that of Pytha-
' goras, which constituted the diatonic diatessinm <^
' two tones, both in a sesqnioctave ratio, and that in-
* terval which was wanting to complete it, but this
' we have nevertheless shewn to be erroneoos In tb«
' eleventh chapter of the second book of this work,
' where we have treated of the ditone and greater
'semitone, seeing that both the ditone and lesMr
' semitone or limma are both aUiorrent to harmony
'as is demonsteated by Ptolemy, and appears from
' reason itself. The division of Aristoxenos was es-
' teemed the next after this of IMhagoras, to idiich it
' was contrary in almost every uiing, for Aristoxenni
' thought it agreeable in the diatonic genua to proceed
' not only l^ equal tones, bnt also in the chromatic
' to proceed by two equal semitones, and in the cou-
' monic by two equal dieses. A third division, that
' of Didymus and Ptolemy, made neither the tones
' nor semitones equal, bnt constituted a greater sod
' lesser of each.f
' The genera can neither be more nor fewer than
* three, because that is the number of the lesser intei-
' vals whereby they are diaUnguisbed from each other.
' In the diatonic the least interval is the grestei
' semitone ; in the chromatic the lesser : and in the
' enarmonic the diesis ; and as the diesis is the leatt
' of all the intervale that can vary the geans, it
' follows that the enarmonic must be the tluckest of
' them all ; and the reason why the diateesaron waa
' chosen ae the fittest of the consonances to adjust the
' several genera by, was not becanse, as the andaots
' assert, it was the smallest of the consonances, for
* that it certainly is not, but becanse all those int«i-
' vals which arise from the first divinon of the lowest
' consonances, were found once in the diatesBaroD,
'such as the greater tone, the lesser tone, and the
' greater semitone ; for the greater and lesser tone
' arise from the first division of the ditone, and the
' greater tone and lesser semitone from the fint
' division of the semiditoue ; but if these were re-
' spectively added, the one to &e former and the
' other to the latter, the complement would be a dii-
' tesearon consisting of three intervals and four sounds,
' wherefore the constitution of the genera is not to be
'fbnnd in any of those leas systems than the dia-
' tessaron ; on tiie contrary, in the greater consonants,
' such as the diapeute and diapason, we meet with
' a repetition of these three several intervals, for in
' the diapeute the greater tone is found twice, and in
' the diapason three limes, and the lesser tone and
' greater semitone are found twice In the diapasoD.'^
Although Salinas has laboured to explun the
meaning of the terms spissnm and non siHSBun,
which so ftequently occur in the writings of the
ancients, and which are used to expreaa a distdnguish-
ing property of the genera, he profeasea to use the
epithet spissnm in a sense different from that in which
it was accepted ly them : they called that constitntion
spissnm, or thi(^ where the acuteat interval wu
greater than (he otber two, as in the daamttie and
enarmonic ; and they called that non spissmn, m
t Lib. III. op. L px. Id. I ub. ni. ft- >■
dbyGoo^le
Obap. LXXXVIL
AND PRAOnOE OF MUSIC
418
whioh the two gmo ones taken together were
gretter than the aonte, m in the diatonic. ' fint we,
uys tiaa author, ' maintain that genna not to be thick
wherein the conaonants are fonnd intermediated
with thinner and fewer iatervaU, of whioh sort is
the diatonom, in which the consonanta are inter-
sected by tones and a greater aemitone, which are
the thinnest of all the leaser intervals : the diateasaron,
for example, is divided into three intervals ; on the
contrary, we say that that genus is thick in which
all the consonants arc intersected by thicker and
more dose intervab ; snch is the chromatic, which
proceeds by a greater and lesser semitone, whioh
are thicker intervals than tones, and in tbe com-
position of a perfect inetmment divides the dio-
teesaron into six intervals sod seven sonnds, but
according to tliat which we use, the divirion is
into five intervals and six sonnda, for the trihemi-
tone is not, as the ancients would have it, an inter-
val of this genos, seeing It is tnily a consonant, and
consonants are not the intervals of any genos.*
Bnt the thickest of the geneTR is the enarmonic,
because it proceeds by lesser semitones and dieses,
which ore indivisible intervals ; nor con the ditone
be said to be on interval of this genns, although as
well the ancient writers as those of later timee assert
it to be BO, because it is a true and perfect consonant,
and, like all the rest, requires to be filled up, where-
fore in this genus the diateesaton will have nine in-
tervals and tan sonada.
' The constitution of all the genera is not to be
Bongbt for in the division of the dioteBsaron, it ia
only in the diatonic that this method is to be token,
for the intervals by which it proceeds ore not to be
found in any leaeer consonant. Bat to discover the
constitution of the chromatia, we assert that the
division of the greater tone is sufficient, because sU
the intervals by which this genus proceeds are to be
found once therein. For tne consideration of the
enarmonic genus the greater semitone is suffident,
for in that ore all the mtervals to be found through
which this genus proceeds ; all this is the effect of
the great and wonderful constitntion of the har-
monical ratio. The dialeeearon seems to have been
assumed for displaying the diatonic genus, because
it u the CKceas of the diapason above the diapente :
the tone by which we explain the chromatic is the
excess of the diapente above the cUateesaron ; and
the greater semitone by which we declare the enar-
monic is the excess of the diatessaron above the
ditone. Moreover it b necessary to know that the
three genera stand in tbe relation to each other of
good, better, and best ; for as good con exist by
itself, but better cannot be without good, so may
the diatonic exist alone, add become the foundation
of the others, as is seen in tbe Gythara, wherein are
no semitones but the greater, in which this genns
aboands, for the lesser semitones are proper to the
chromatic
mn'uaD^fDrl]
X circtmutUDB, bt ujn, UpeeuUs
' But although the diatonio be the meet natoral,
' yet, as Boetins says, it is the hardest of the three,
'and to soften or abate of this hardness was tlie
'chromatic invented, and yet tbe chromatic could
'not have existed without the diatonic, it being
' nothing else than the diatonic thickened ; and snch
' does that constitution appear to be which we find
' in those instruments that are struck with black and
' white plectra. As to the enarmonic, it is clear that
' it caaoot snbeist by itself, and being a compound of
'the other two, it is the thickest, beet compacted,
' and most perfect ; and no one can believe that any
' modulation conld be made in either the chromatic
' or enarmonic separated from the diatonic, seeing it
'is impossible to proceed without it throngh the
'chromatic or enarmonic intervals, and this is not
* only shown by Ptolemy, but it is evident both to
' sense and reoeon.' f
The notion which Salinas entertsined of the genera
was that the chromatic was the diatonic inspiBealod ;
and that the enarmonic was the chromatic inspissated,
and in all his reasoning about them ha supposes a
necessity in natnre for filling up those spaces or
chasms, as he affects to consider them, wUch the
difference between the greater aud lesser intervals in
the diatonic tetrschord seems to imply.
Of the several species of the diatonic, Balinas
scruples not to prefer the sjrntonons or intense of
Ptolemy, and says that if Plato had been sennble ot
its exc^enoe, he wonld not have been so tormented
as he was, at finding that the Pythagorean linuna 2$6
iQ 243 was not superpartionlar, and therefore not
in truth a proportion, but rather, as he is forced to
term it, a portion, i 0. a particle or fraction.^
CHAP. LXXXVII.
In the fifth chapter of his third book Balinas shews
the method of constmcting the type of the diatonic,
which he does bv such a division of the monoobord
as gives d d in tue ratio of each to the other of 81 to
80, making thereby the one a tone minor, and tbe
other a tone major above c ; the former of these be
calb d inferior, and the latter d superior, this dis-
tinction he obeerves in the succeedii^ tjpas of the
120
G
81,80 72
dd e
1
1
1
1
M
II 1
^
g
^
p
J
4—
lA
n a
ft
Of the Chromatic be says, chap, vi., that it arose
from that division of tbe tone which woe invented to
soften the harshness of the tritonns between F and h ;
aud in chap. vii. he directs, by tbe division of toe
1 Ut. III. o|i. <l. 1 lib. III. i«p. UL pig. 107.
dbyGoo^le
411
HI^rOBT OF THB SCIENCE
Boos XX.
nuNtochord, the MHutrnction of the type of the chro- b snperior, besides Of, o^ (tod eb> duttnguulwd tij
made genua, the short or dJffereat eolonred pleotn on the orgn.
As in the diatonic division he gives d inferior snd harpoiobord, and oChar iostnunenta of the like kind,
d enperior, eo in this of the chromatic does he ^ve The following is the type of the chromadc gmaa
Ft inferior, and FJ superior, and also b inferior and according to this author : —
tt
8S
bb
s
1 1
1 1
1 1
» 0
mt
6
6
i
30
0 1
8
0
IS
15
6
4
3
16 IS
0
0
12
18
0
1
9 16
In the eigbtb cbapter of the same book Saliiua re- tona or chromatic dtesiH is foand iive times, tb&t is to
marks that the characteristic of the chromatic is its say, between F and Fj inferior, G and Gf, b sape-
leaat interval, which is a lesser semitone, and ia there- rior and \y of and c, and eb and e.
fore called the chromatic dieaie, and is the difference In the same chapter he treats of the Enarmonio
whereby the lesser tone exceeds the greater semitone, genus, which he says is the most perfect of all, as
The type above given is exhibited in the seventh containini; in it the other two ; the following ia the
chaptor, with this remark, that in it the lesser semi- type of the enarmonic as given by him :
«S 05 rH Q Q Q CO CO
E * P tin
G 1* > jjbbhjojdbdddieb*
1
1 1 1
11 , 1
1 1 1
1 1
1 1 ri
»
. 6
4 .
. 6
4 . 0
3 .
IS
0 0
12 • 0
.10
«
.
4
4
3
.13 0 0
9 8
le IS 0 . w 1
16 0 0 12 0 10
6 S 4
Upon which it is to be reraarhed, diat die true
enarmonic intervals are dietinguished from the dia-
tonic by a point placed over them.
As he hid noted the chromatic by its dieeie, which
is the interval of a lesier semitone, so has he re-
marked that the characteristic of the enarmonic is
the enarmonio diesis, which arises from a division of
the greater semitone into a lesser semitone and a
dieua, thns : —
I GRHATEB SEMITONE. |
I Chromatic Diesis! | Enarmonic Diesis. {
120 125 128
Which leaser semit(»e, by the way, ia no other than
the chromatic dieus, and in its lowest numbers is 26
to 24. As to the enarmonic dieeie, its rado is above
demonstrated to be 128 to 125, and it ib the interval
between Fl inferior and Gp inferior, that is to eay,
between the numbers 51810 and 50625, which are u
the rado of 128 to 126, for 51840 contains the nont-
her 405, 128 times, and 50625 conUius the sams
nnmber 405, 125 timea. It is agun fonnd between
al inferior and b inferior, that is to say, between the
numbers 41472 and 40500, for the former of theso
contains the number 324, 128 times, and the latter
contains the same number 125 times. The enann<Hiio
diesis is elsewhere to be found in the above division
of the diapason in three instances, but the two abova
given are sufficient to make it known.
It was necessary to be thua particular in the re-
presentation of Salinas's system of the genera, more
especially the enarmonic genus, because he Wiwrt^
nppears to be so confident of bis skill in this abetmea
part of the musical science, that he scrujdee not to
dbyGooi^le
Chap. LXXXVU.
AND PRAOnOE OP MDSia
4U
npr^and very roondly the Qreek writers for misUkee
kfaant the genera ; and apeaking of his diviuon of
the en&rmotiic he say«, that if it be made aa by him
is directed, nothing in harmonica can be more abao-
Intely just and perfect. It ia poutiTely asserted by
Dr. Pepusch, in his letter to Mr. De Moivre, thnt
Salinas has determined the enarmonic accurately:
and it is more than probaUe that tboee are in Uie
right who think so.
The diagrams made use of by Salinas to illnstrate
bis doctrine of the genera, more especially the types,
as he calls them, of each, are most astonishingly com-
plicated, bat very curioos and Batis&otory. It is to
be remarked on this pert of his work, tliat he med-
dles not with the colonrs or species of the genera.
Of the diatonic, he has taken the eyntonoos or intense
of Ptolemy ; uid in his description of the chromatic,
ha baa given a lepreaentation which coinddea with
no one speciee of that genns, for it is neither the eoft,
the hemiolian, nor the touiac, bat seems to be a di-
vision of his own. As to the enarmonic, it is well
known that it adnutted of no distinction into species.
That Salinas had any desire to restore the ancient
genera ia not to be inferred from the great labour he
has bestowed in the explanation of them. He indeed
seems to have been very eolicitons to attemper some
of the harsher intervals in the diatonic series, and
for that pnrpoae to have made an arrangement of the
white and black plectra, aa he calls them, a little
differing from the ordinary one ; snd says that he
had with him at Salamanca an instmment which ha
had cansed to be made at Rome, wherein the tone
between G and a is accnrately divided. Bnt the
pdna he haa taken to sscertain the tme division of
the chromatic and enarmonic, seems to be resolvable
into that eager deure of rendering the writings of
the ancient Greeks intelligible, wUch he uniformly
nunifesta in the course of his writings.
Seeing, than, that the world is in possession at last
of the true enarmonic, it remains to be considered
whether it must not at all times have been a matter
nther of specalaUon than practice. Were we to
think with the ancients, and adopt their reasoning
abont the spiasnm and non apissnm, we ahotild say
that that series of hormonical pn^eeaion which
admitted of the smallest intervals, and left the fewest
ehasma in the system, af^roaohed the nearest to per-
fection; but this is a consideration merely speculative,
and has as little to do with the sense of hearing as
the external form of any given mnsical instrument
with the hearing whereof we are delighted.
On the other hand, let ai^ one make the experi-
ment, and try the effect of such intervals as the
enarmonic diesis, as above ascertained, on his ear,
■nd he will hardly be persuaded that the genns to
which it belongs could ever have been cordially
emlnoed by the nnprejudiced part of mankind.
To &vour the opinion that it was never recMved
into general practice, we have the testimony of some
of the ancient writers themselves, who expressly ea^
that on account of their intricacy both the chromatic
and enarmonic grew very early to be diseBteemed by
the public ear, and gave way to that orderly pro-
gression the diatonic, which notoie throo^Mxit her
works seems to recogniee as the only tme and just
enceeasion of harmonical intervals.
In the thirteenth and subsequent chapters of his
third book, Salinas treats of the temperament of the
oi^an and other instruments. He says of the human
voice that it is flexible, and being directed by that
sense of harmony which is implanted in us, it ohoosea
and consdtutes that which is perfect, and preeervea
the consotMuta and the lesser intervals in their due
proportions, no impediment intervening. Farther he
•ays that it discriminates with the greatest eooctnees
between the greater and the lesser tone, and that aa
the melody requires, it chooses either the one or the
other; bnt in Uie organ and other instraments where
the sounds are fixed, and are not determined by the
touch of the performer, he gays that the tones are of
neceesily equal, and that this eqoalify is preserved
by the distribution of the three commas, by irtiich
the three greater tones in the diapason exceed the
leaser onee ; so that by this diatribntion, the con-
sonants and lesser intervals participate of tiiat dis-
sonance which in some part of the system or other
is occasioned by the comma.
The system thoa attempered is called by the Italians
Systema Farticipoto. It is mentioned in a preceding
chapter of this work, and is described by Zarlino in
his latitationi Harmouicbe, part IL cap. xlL et eeq.*
Salinas says he himself when a youth at Borne, in-
vented a Systema Participato, in nothing differing
from that published h^ Zarlino, which be says is not
to be wondered at, eeemg that truth is but one and the'
same, and that it presents itself to all who rightly en-
deavour to investiKate itf
The fertility of Salinos'a invention suggested to
him various other temperaments, which he haa de-
scribed mth hu usual accuracy. Afl«r stating and
comparing them, and giving the preference to the
first, he proceeds in diap. xxvii. to show the bad
constitution of a certain instrument begun to be con-
structed in Italy about forty years before the time of
writing bis book, that is to say, about the year 1537,
concerning which he says that this insCmment was
colled Archicymboliun, and that it divided each of
the tones into five parts, giving to the greater semi-
tone three, and to the leseer two ; he says that this
instmment was mttch esteemed, and was made use of
by some musidans of great eminence. He sajrs that
as the diapason contains six tones and a diesis, it di-
vided the octave into thirty-one parts 4 hut that they
are dieses he absolntely deniee. He tJien proceeds
■jtMn tf uwUwr IWn, •
* Bontampl hu gittn t .,
Syitama Putlelpal«. trom iu go
PHco li divldsl Inlo twalTi Mmttaau. Vtda Bwl. Hki. Mu*. p>C' 1*7.
t n*lliulga,Ub.III.iv.xl>. Di.SBHkaiTalk;
'■rftl»_iB»i
^„._ji»o. wr'-'
nlko » nilic Dm pi
Dr. Pspuu
dbyGoo^le
416
mSTORT OF THE 80IEN0&
fiwXL IX.
to iNnnt out tlie defacts of thia iiiBtrumaiit, and pro-
noiuMsB of it, that it waa offenaiva to his ear, and waa
not conatrnctod in ttay tnily harmomcal ratio.*
In the twenty-eighth and four anbaeqaent chaptera
of hia tiaii book he takes occaaion to Bpeak of tho
late, viol, and organ, and of certain tempetamenta the
best adapted to each. In the former he aays that
although the viol by name is not to be met with in the
writinga of the ancienta, yet Oaauodoma aaaerts that it
is to be fonnd deecribed among their different kinda
of OytJiATa ; and he himaelf adds that in tlie works of
Bede, an author aufficiently celebrated, it is ezpreaaly
mentioned.
The eighth tdiapt^r of the fonrth book containa
• Than cuBot bs Uia IxM tetM tint that 111* iuEnuimii aboH
q)0ka of to llM JkitidOMBlMla of Dob Niosli Tlontlin, tluDfli a
BoofBiHi hliBHlf ot ■ lou to wfaonio ueifbB tho lanBOoa of II.
•HoaioDiiotluii^tUiniiBvmtod bynUuCc' ~
Ub.TI.Dt g«nrtbM« M llodta, Pmp. illL From I
It (tond HI ttaoH. It it to
I noted Hut in tbo HumoDlo
l«I, mt In tbttonriaatditania
■UBt pnodlng II, Oh nnmbR ITIM
k mlnAan for BTMO. Th*
latsniB Intoml Ittt tlu
' — —'—•- dlitit tw ■ qui
HuniH lib. V. pTop.il. Hum.
VtiT. DCS DlDoiunMt, nnp. IL
bmong other things the doctrine of the modea, in llie
idiscaadng whereof he seems to ^ree with QJaieanna
'that they are in number twelve, and that they answer
to the (teven species of diapason harmonii^y and
arithmetically divided ; but aa the third species
proceeding from \j is incapable of an harmonical
division as wanting a tme fifth, and the asrenth
species proceeding from F is incapable of an uitb-
metical division as having an exceesive fonrtli, tbe
number of the modes, which would otherwise be
fourteen, ia reduced to twelve, wliich is the very
position that Glareanns in his Dodeoachordon en-
deavours to demonstrate.
In the tenth chapter is a diagram repreaenting in
a collateral view tbe tetracborda of the ancienta con-
joined with the hexachorda of Quido AretJnn^ and
showing how the latter spring oat of the former. Dr.
Wallis has greatly improved upon this in the diagram
by him inserted in hia Appendix to Ptolemy, and
which is given in a former part of this work, ex-
hibiting a comparative view of the ancient Qreek
system with the scale of Gnido.
In the twenty -second chsptor be tokea notice of tbe
ancient division of the genera into apocies, but it seems
that he did not approve of it, for in hia own division
of the genera he has rejected it, thereby making that
spedea of each, whatever it be, which he has chosen
for an exemplar, a genus of ita^.
In the twen^-third chapter he nndertakee to sbow
le errors of Aiistoxenns in a manner different from
Ptolemy and Boetins ; and in the five following c^i^
tera censnrei him, and even Ptolemy himseii^ with a
degree of ireedom which ahewa that though he enter-
tained & reverence for the andents, he waa no bigot
to their opinions, bnt asanmed the liberty in many
instances of thinlnng and ju^^ing for himself.
In the twenty-ninth chapter of the same fourth
book be commends in general terms Jaoobns Faber
Stapnlensis, though he seems to suspect that he had
never read Ptolemy, nor any other of the Qreek bar-
monidans, and says he does nothing more than de-
monstrate the propositions of Boetins.
The snbaeqnent chapter contuns hie oiMnion ot
FranohinoB and his writings, which he delivera in
the following words : —
' Franchinns Oaffarins was a famous professor of
' theoretical and practical music, and published aevenl
* works and wrote many things in both parts worthy
* to be known. He boasts that by his care, and at hu
' expence, the three books of Ptolemy's Harmoaics,
' the three of Aristidea Qointilianns, and the three of
' Manuel Briennins, were translated from the Gnc^
' into the Latin. It is true he read those booka, as be
' shows in his works, especially in that ^lich he wrote
' concerning instrumental hannony, where he recites
' almoBt all their poeitiouB, but so confusedly, that be
' seems rather to lukve read them than understood them.
' But these Latin translations are not extant as far as
' I know, perhaps through the avarice of FEBnchinot
' himself, who had than made only for his own nie,
' and did not give them to be printed, imagining that
' R time never would come when the mnucians wonld
dbyGoo^le
Chap.LXXXVIL
AND PRACTICE OP MUSia
41T
underatand the Greek Ungnage, and be able to read
those authors in the originals. This man had a very
good genioB, bat wanted judgment, for he recited, or
rather reckoned np, the poeitiona of theae anthora,
bnt never examined them in order to find out which
was true, or came nearest to the trnth, bnt left them all
antonched ; and because Boetioa woe received by all,
hedarednot to contradict him : and thoogh he seems
b some instances to agree with Ptolemy, yet dares
be not to assert which of the two he thought the
beat, bnt sometimes is drawn on this side, sometimes
on that, so that nothing certain or fixed can be had
Irom him ; for aometimea, to favour Boetins and the
Pythagoreans, he says in that book of mnsic which
he wrote in the Ttalian language, that he wondered
at the inadvertency, as he calls it, of Ptolemy, who
says that the diapaaon with the dialeasaron is a con-
sonant when it does not answer either to a multiple
or superparticular proportion ; and a little after, in
the same book, he aasnmes the aeaquiquarta and ses-
qaiqninta of Ptolemy, to conatitate from them the
greater and lesser third, contrary to Boetiua and all
Uie Pythagoreans.'
, In the thirty-first chapter he delivers bis eentimenta
of Olareanns in these words : —
'HenricUB Glareanns waa a man excellently
versed in all good arts, and has exhibited to the
world several specimens of his lesming, for be
wrote a treatise on Geography, not less nsefnl than
concise and clear, which is read in many schools ; he
also made notes on the Odes of Horace, replete with
all kind of erudition ; and as to what concerns
music, he taught it in three books, according to the
mie of the ancient modes, as he himself thinks,
which work he entitled Dodecachordon. In it he
has gathered many examples both of the simple
cantns and that of many forms, which at once give
great pleasure and profit ; and thongh he never
wrote any thing of speculative music, vet he con-
feuas in many places that be bad applied himself
too mnch to it, and that he had employed a great
deal of time in the study thereof, especially in the
reading of Boetius, which he manifestly shows in
a prebce really long enongh. published with that
work, in which be mentions that he corrected five
books of the music of fioetius, which be Ba)% abounded
with many errors, and illustrated it with eeveral
figures,'
In the thirty -second chapter he considers the
■pecnlatiooa of Lndovicns Follianus; and as to his
division of the diapason, he says it is the same with
that of Ptolemy, called the eyntonous, intense, or
stretched diatonic, which he s^s Didymua invented
many years ago, with thia difference, that Dldymus
gave to the sesqninonal tone the first place in the
tetrachord, whereas Ptolemy gives it to the sasqui-
octave tone. He nevertheless says of the Intense
diatonic in general, that it is a division of all others
the meet correct and gratefnl to the ear. He says
that many of the ratios investigated by Folllanns had
before his time been discovered by Bartbolomeus
Bamis, a Spaniard, who is blamed by Franchinus for
^fiering from Boetius. Salinas says that be himself,
long before the trea^ of Follianus had been read to
him, had made many of the discoveries therein con-
tfuned, and that he had from time to time commu-
nicated them to Bartbolomeus Escobedus, a man ex-
cellently versed in both parts of music, and bis very
great fnend, who told him tiiere was a certain author
who had treated of all those thioga in the same
manner as be had tbonghl on, and this author be
afterwards found to be Foltianus. He blames
Follianos for using three semitones, which he calls
greater, lesser, and least, when do one else had
noticed more than two, and many hut one; the
greater of the three is in the ratio $f , the leaser -fj^,
and the least ^, the two last be says are well con-
atituted, bnt the first he condemns as incondnnous
and ungrateful to the ear.
He concludes bis remarks on the writings of the
modem musicians with a character of Zarlino, of
whom he says that he was well skilled in both parts
of mnsic, for that as to what regarded the practice, ,
he had been scholar to Adrian WOlaert, the most \
famous symphonist of his time, and succeeded him in ^
his adiool at Venice ; and on the theo^ of the
science he wrote much better than those Uiat went
before him.
The remaining three books of Salinas's work are
on the subject of the Rythmu^ and are a copioua
dissertaUon on the various kinds of metre used by
the Greek, the Boman, and, in bononr of his own
country, the Spanish poets. In the course of hia.
enquines touching their nature and use, he takee
frequent occasion to cite and commend BL Augustine,
who also wrote on the subject The laws of metre
have an Immediate reference to poetry ; bnt Salinas
in a variety of instances shews that they are applicable
to music, and that the several kinds of air that occur
in the composition of mnsic and of dances, such as
the Pavan, the PaasameEso, and others, consist in a
regular commixture and interebange of long and
short qnantlties.
For a character of this valuable work let it suffice
to say, that a greater degree of credit is due to it
than to almost any other of the kind, the production
of modem times, and that for this reason : the author
was a practical tnuBician, that is to say an organist,
as weU as a theorist, and throughout bis book he
manifests a disposition the farthest removed that can
possibly be imagined from that credulity which be-
trayed GlareanuB and some others into error ; this
disposition led him to enquire into and examine very
minutely the doctrines of the Greek writers ; and the
boldness with which he reprehends them does almost
perenade ua that when he differs from them the truth
IS on his side. This seems to be certain, and it is
wonderful to consider it, that notwithstanding the
ancients were divided in their notions of the genera,
and that the enanuonic genus was by mnch the most
difficult to comprehend of them all, 8«linas, a man
deprived of the faculty of seeing, at the distance of
more than two thousand years after it had grown
into disuse, investigated and accurately defined it.
2k
dbyGoo*^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIEITOE
BOOK X. OHAl'. LXXXVIIL
Tea musical characten hitherto spoken of, were
ealcnUted not only lor vocal performance, bnt were
applicable to every inatrnment in nee after the time
of inventing them, excepting the lat«, which, for
reasons best known to the performers on it, had a
series of characters appropriated to that and others
of the same class ; when or by whom these characters
were invented is not known. This kind of nutation,
which is by certain letters of the Roman alphabet, is
called the Tablatnre, the first in^matjons of which
are to be met with in the Mnsurgia of Ottomarua
Lnscinius. The Pronimo of Galilei is in the title-
page called a Dialogue 'sopra I'Arto del bene in-
'tavolare :' this kind of tablatnre differs from the
other, the author, according to the manner of the
Italians, as Mersennus says, making use of numbers
instead of letters, and of straight or booked lines
instead of notes.*
Mersennus says that several skilful men had
laboured to improve the Tablatnre, but yet insinuates
that they affected to make a mystery of it, from
whence he infers that diversity of notation between
them. He adds that Adrian Le Roy is the only one
who has in truth given to the world the precepts of
the Tablature.f This man was a bookseller at Paris,
and wrote the book which Mersennns above alludes
to, with the title of ' Briefve et facile Instruction
'pour sprendre Is Tablatnre k Men accorder, con-
'duire, et disposer la Main eur la Guiteme,' which,
together with another book of his of the same kind,
iniitled ' Instruction de partir toute Mnsique des buit
' divers Tons en Tablatnre de Luth,' were published
about 1570, with a recommendatory preface by one
Jacques Gobory, « musician, and a friend of the
author.
This being the first book of the kind ever published,
it was esteemed a great curiosity, and as such was
immediately on its publication translated into sundry
languages ; that into the English has only the initials
F. K. for the name of the translator, and was printed
by John Kingston in 1574. The first of these books
exhibits the lute in this form : — {
It Himanldt, Ub. I. pnp. xtUL pig. M.
V luU, limply oonatrueied u thL< !■, 1i called Ihv FrBfiel
It tmproreiDnil af It ww tba Thflnrbo or Ctthvm BIJo^k. »
H U iv pUj thorouf li bi
and represents by the following figure Hm poaton fiv
holding and playing on it : —
The lute which Le Soy treats of, is supposed to
consist of six strings, or rather eleven, for that the
five larger are doubled; and in the Tablatnr« the
stave of five lines answers to the five upper strings
of the instrument, the lower or base string it seems
being sufficiently denoted by its proximity to the
fifth string, ugnified by the lowest line of the stave.
The frets come next to be explained : these are
small strings tied about the neck of the lute at proper
distances, eight in number, and figured t^ the letters
bcdefghi;§ the letter a is omitted m the above
series, foraHmuch as whereever it is found tbe string
is to be struck open. The general idea of th« tabla-
tnre therefore is this, the lines of the stave give the
chords respectively, and the letters the points at which
they are to be stopped, and consequently the notes
of any given compoeitloD, the instmment being
previously tuned for tha purpose, as the precepts of
the lute require.
As to the characteTB for time used in the tabUture,
gr Ifai mallei, UTlBg OM It noeiTid Iti ninie flam n ctnuU NaipaUIa
who tint doublfd Ihi neik bI the TehdAd ar lute, ud tSdad mnml
choiditolt. Heura'liutlMHitliaiof ihli liiipiOT*iD«t,«iitaaUaS
bluxa' ID ■ nuiiiil H oiled. In wbleh tba ilai
u In a monu. to pound pufune*. KlREir . .^^ -^_
Xii»pni>T. ■ nabla Ocnun. mc the Snt that btguAi tk* Thn
npuit, and thuliihi(UtMlib»dtbepnltRimofinMhHlB«i
The ilrlngi or the Thtoiln. propul]r » alM. an dnflc. Dm
then UT manj who double the biu ttitngi with u ectiTe. ud t
thllalla
le and Iha Theo
tandUieARU
bo, but h. hu not
Bla.
sud Ibe dlTwdlT bMw«a
w""
"noTmiklnt i
of the iniill lettm of tb* aMaWta tiMMn
■ French. The iMliut imf othn BMloB* Ib.
H of enhm and oCbei' ehmcten. L* Bo*.
dbyGoot^le
Chap. LXXXVIII.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
41«
tliey were of this fonn 1^ ^ fe anewering to the ready compoeed in proper notes in t»bUtnre for the
mimm, the crotehet, and Ae quaver, and placed over •"*« - ^^ coiiUins a great variety of examples choeen
the Biave in the maimer repreaented in the rabaegnent *>"* <>*" *''« ^"^^^^ '^ Orlando de Lasao ;• the following,
example. which is the first strain only of a song of his, begioning
The other tract. intiUed ' InatrnctiMi de partir ' Qn*"^ ^°^ ^T "e^t de dehors,' in fonr parts with
' toote Mnsiqne dea huit divers Tons en Tablatnre ™« Tablalure, may serve as a specimen of thia kind
' de Lath,' directa the method of setting music al- "f notation ;— f
f! ii r
T ^
■^ i» r
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The ninth and laat chapter of this latter book of
lifl Boy is on the subject of strings, oonceming which
there is mnch cnrions matter In Mersennns, as alao
» rale for trytng them, and distingnisbicg between
a tme and a false stnng : but becanse this rule is
* OflboTT, hi bit pnfftct Id Lv Koj'a
riniKd ton UiM
„^o(OrIuiilcltLi
1U7. vLthout dftnirar c
UbHtlUHdlH
F uoadtoyonc
Ung (iTtD fr.
iljriEipnfMtl
Ik* Snt tbu huh cKbei
br ri«ht HuOnt of ih» 1
■ccrai In Fm<», ud qii
■NSi thu Ok n
nndc* ud Eomman holdiciM or the iMUr,
•eUei upon Iho doCh, ud obnrriiir the
d (tf BotuliiD \rj lb* uUitnn m* iIh
also to be fonnd in Le Roy's book, and most probably
was by Meraennaa taken from thence, the whole of
the chapter, wbloh is very short, is here inaerted.
'To pnt the laste hande to this worke, I will
' not omitte to give you to nnderst&nde how to
Idipled to the Viol de Oinibii. Id the tecond heok of Songi or Afm
with Tihlitnn. by John Dowluid. printed In ISOO. li I leioan In tibli-
>. An«. ud Jlig*. »
poWlibed tn t)i« Ttw ^ Itbn PI
Hun, priMiud > •lUI 'digkrent met
UTe of Antonr S Wood, it the end
k VloIlD, the thlid edIiloD
tnnlni, tU.. bj fourll
i»1 Call Vln<6d«, *l
dbyGoo<^Ie
ISO
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
BookX.
' knovre ttiingea, whereof the best come to ne out of
Almaigne, on thia eide the U>wa of Manic, and from
' Aquila in Italia ; before we pat them on the lute
' it IS nedefull to prove them between the hondea in
' maner as in aette forthe in the fignrea hereafter
' piottired, which shewe manifesilie oa the fingeT and
' to the eye the difTerence from the true with the
'&lee; that is to wete, the true is knowen hy this,
' that in atrikyng hym betwane the fingers bee musta
'ehewe to divide hymaelfe Juate in twoo, and that
' for BO muche as ahail reche from the bridge belowe
' to the toppe of the oecke, because it maketh no
■ matter for the rest of the stringes that goeth among
the piimea ; notwithatandyng ye mue not be satie-
'fied in BBsaiyng the etnoge holden only at that
' length, bat that yon must ^so prove hym in atryk-
' ing hym, treying holden at ahorter lengthea to be
' well assured of bis cerUune goodness and perfection.
' Also the false strynga is knowen by the shew of
'many stryngee, which it representeth when it is
' striken between the fingers; ao muate yon continewe
'the aame triall in stryking the atryng til) yon
'perceive the tooken of the good to separate hym
' from the hadde, accordyng to the figures foUuwyng.'
CosTANZO FoBTA, a Franciscan friar, and a native
of Cremona, is highly celebrated among the moaicians
of the sixteenth century. In the earlier part of bia
life be was Maestro di Oapella in the cathedral chnrch
of Osimo as it is called, From the Latin Auximum,
a small city on the river Mnsone near Ancona, but
was afterwards advanced to the same ^tion in the
church of Loretto. He wag the author of that most
ingeniona compoaition pubtiehed first by Artosi in
bia treatise ' Delle Imperfettioni delta moderna
' Mnsica,' and inserted in the earlier part of this
work, and which is so contrived, as that oesidea that
the parts are inverted, it may be anng as well back-
ward aa forward. Ha ia supposed to have died in
the year 1680, and has left t«hind bim Motets for
five voices, printed at Venice in 15i6, and other
works of the like kind, printed aleo there in 1S66
and 1680. In an oration pronounced by Anaaldus
Gotta of Cremona in 1553, 'pro Instanratlone Btn-
'diomm Cremonts,' ia the following enlogium on
' him : Constantiua Porta non tam hujns urbis, quam
' Franciscanffi familJEe deciis exitnium, cujns in musica
' fscultatem pra»lantlam plerisque cum Italise urbibua
' Boma potissimum, onminm ragina gentium est od-
' mirata.' Vide Arisii Cremonam lit«ratam, pag. 453.
And elaewbere in the same oration he is styled
' Muaicorum omnium preeter invidiam facile prlncepA.'
Vide Draudii Bibl. Class, pag. 1693.
UiovAMNi PiBBLuioi DA pALESTBiHA (a Portrait)
was, as his name imjxirta, a native of the aucieut
Prsneale, now corruptly called Paleatrina, and still
more corruptly Palestina.* He flourished in the
middle of the sixteenth century ; and the year of his
birth is thns ascertained by Andrea Adami da Bolsena,
master of the pontifical chapel under Clement XL
who professes to give the particuUrs of his life.
'Tbe time of Palestrina's birth is not precisely lo
' be BBcertuned, by reason that the records of the
' dty of Paleatrina, which may be supposed to coq-
' lain tlie register of his birth, ware destroyed at the
' Backing thereof by the duke d' Atva in 1667 ; hot
'it appears by a book intitled Le grotte Vaticaiie,
' written by a person named Torrigio, that he was in
' the sixty 'fifth year of his age when he died ;' and
from other authentic evidences the same writer,
Adami, fixes tbe time of his death on the second
day of February 1594, from whence it may be com-
puted that he mnst have been born some time tn the
year 1629.t
The author who has enabled ue thus sotishctorily
to settle tbe period of Palestrina's life, has been less
fortunate in ascertaining tbe name of his master.
He aaya that be was a scholar of Gandio Hell,
Fiommengo, i. 0. a Fleming, or native of Flandera;
this aasertioQ is grounded on tbe testimony of Antimo
Liberati, a singer in the pontifical chapel, who baa
given on account of Paleatrina and nia supposed
msater in these words : —
' Among the many strangers who settled in Italy
' and Kome, the first who gave instructions for sine-
'ing and harmonic moduh^ions was Gandio lleU,
' Flandro, a man of great talents, and of a aweA
' flowing style, who instituted at Boma a noble and
' excellent acbool for music, where many pupils ren-
' dered themselves conepionons in that science, biit
'above all Gio. Pier Lnigi Falestrino, who, as if
' distinguished by nature herself, aurpassed all other
■ r\n nioH Oinnclio PaJaMim ocmin In
gill and othtr«i>npDitt!ar
3.1I.Mu.lM0fP*i™Mu
II puWiihrf .boat Ihit line ! uid In iIhSuiIi
llni, Vf- JB8, ti tht (OUowlni BOW : ■
' Pier Lulgl di PilKinoa
iai„ uidH. Gluttio d. F^iriu ,
sn»d^
•Hb. I. intlloLmloLlAmop
' d* Com Comdl.'
wtuehk
HtMMsdodli Olymple*.
pubiUbed by Pirtto PhUtppl to IWt.
1' uidilHwIlh tha umecWuo
nIeCim,'
Pilnilu
to • Hai^™ TiiMriuu.
■dWbut Donihiiel. et F«i
Hi Ul.u> innl t MlebetrtmU n»trt
Isnpirh
'muikii.'pifotadbr P«r
u> PliiJ«lu>iif Ani.cip [n ISII. it»
uradlTuula
it Ouwftcionl p« ben nfi^lut S
dbyGooi^le
Chap. LXiXVIIL
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
4Zl
riTsla, and even hia own masters. This great genius.
' gnided by a pecnliar faculty, the gift of Ood, adopted
' s style of tuirmony so elegant, so noble, so learned,
' so easy, uid so pleasing both to the connoisseur and
' the ignorant, that in a mass composed on purpose,
' snng before pope MarcelluB Cerrinna and the sacred
'college of cardinals, he made that pontiff alter the
' intention he had of enforcing the bull of John
' XXII. which abolished entirely chnrch-music under
'the penalty of excommunication. This ingenious
' man, by hia astonishing skill and the divine melody
' of tliBt mass, plainly convinced his holiness th^
' those disagreeable jars between the mnsic and the
' words so often heard in chnrches, were not owing
' to any defect in the art, but to the want of skill in
'tfaecompoeera; and Paul IV, his successor, to whom
' he dedicated the mass entitled Missa Papm Marcelli,
'appointed him perpetoal comiKiser and director in
•the pontifical chapel,* a dignity which has been
' vacant ever since his death.')' This mass is now
'and ever wiU be performed, as long as there is
' ft world, in the sacred temples at Rome, and in all
' other places where they have been so fortnnate aa
' to procure the compositions of a genius whose
•works breathe divine harmony, and enable us to
• sing in a style so tmly sublime the praises of onr
' Maker.'t
Adami has adopted the facts contained in this
relation, and acquiesced in the assertion that Gandio
Mell, a Fleming, was the master of a noble school at
Rome, where the principles and practice of music
were taught, and that Palestriua was his disciple.
It is to be feared that Liberati had no better
anthority for the particulars of his relation than bare
report, for evidence is wanting that such a person as
Ooudio Mell, a Fleming and musician, ever existed :
hie name does not occur in the list of Flemish
mnsicions given by Gnicciardini in his History of
the Low Countries, nor in any of those colleetious of
'Vocal music published by Pietro Phalesio, Hubert
Waelrant, Andrew Pevemage, Pietro Philippi, Mel*
chior Borchgrevinck, and others, between the years
1693 and 1620, nor in Printz's History of Music,
nor in that of Bontempi, nor in the Mndcal Lexi-
eon of John Godfrey Walther, which contains an
accurate account of musicians from the time of Pytha-
goras down to the year 1732.
It may indeed be suspected that Liberati by Oaadio
Mell might understand Ooodimel, but his Christian
name was Claude, for which reason he is by Monsieur
Varillaa confounded with Claude Le Jenne. Neither
• Piol IV. ranodid ts Ih* ponUflata In ISSO. ud Ut Uul tima
Obalsdo UualHj wu Uuttro deUi CtppsUK PonllOelK ; aad bi lUT
IM *H ncMeiM It BMIo V*laDH; Ibn* wm both win
■otiBiuiclui,BiidtbalUMIIin^ • UhMio dd Catkglo —
• dalls Cancll* PmeMt,' tnm wbnt* H nisjr b* onlMinnd i
ma u offle* IbU nhRvl to tbt farmiiBanl o( tba nUiffa, an
tha parlbniuiHta of Hrrlaa b th* ahual i ao tluil by tbu aj
PalOMiist lacBU to h*n batn ulrtiullr Haeatra di GapMlla,
Uia pope'ictupd aaof Ihs cbnKb otSt. Pctii, but Uutliai' "
to lUDiiia tba tltla, U haibif bsan almd; appnpilatad to
SUbnat kind.
t TbJaUamlatikeoTAntlDuInMnll, mi \t
was Gondimel a Fleming, but a native of Franche
Comt^ as Bayle infers from certain verses which fix
the place of his birth upon the Doux, a river that
runs by Bezaupon ; and Franche Comt£ is not in
Flanders, but in Burgundy.§
But besides that the master of Palestrina is said
to have been a Fleming, there are other reasons for
supposing that Oondim^ was not the person. Gon-
dimel was a protestant, and, as Thuanus relates, set
the Psalms of David translated into m^tre by Clement
Uarot and Theodore Beza, to varions and most pleas-
ing tunes, which in bis time were snng both publicly
and privately by the protestanta. He was massacred
at Lyons, and not at Paris, aa some assert, in 1572,
and has a place and an enloginm in the protestant
mortyrology. {|
After stating the above facts it must appear need-
less to insist on the improbability that Palestrina,
whom we must suppose to have been bom of parents
of the Romish commnnion, should have ever been
the disciple of a protestant, an intimate of Calvin,
and a composer of the music to a translation of the
Psalms into vernacular metre; and who, so for was
he from having instituted a music-school at Rome,
as is elsewhere asserted, does not appear by any of
the Bcconnts extant of him to have past the limits of
his own country.
For these reasons it may be presumed that Liberati
is mistaken in the name of Paleetrina's master, who
though in truth a Fleming, and of the name of Mell,
seems to have been a different person ^m him
whom he has dignified 'with that character. In
a word, the current tradition is, and Dr. Pepusch
himself acquiesced in it, that Palestrina was a disciple
of Rinaldo del Mell [Renatus de Mell] a well-known
composer in the sixteenth century, who ie described
by Printz and Walther as being a native of Flanders,
and to have flourished about the year 153S, at which
time Palestrina was nine years old, a proper age for
instruction.
At the age of thirty-three, and in the year 1662,
Palestrina was made Maestro di Cappelladi S. Maria
Maggiore, and in 1671 he was appointed to the same
hononrable office in the church of BL Peter at Rome,
in the room of Giovanni Animuccia, which he held
for the remainder of his life, honoured with the
favour and protection of the succeeding popes, par-
ticularly StStUB V.
Antimo Liberata relates tttat Palestrina, In con-
junction 'with a very intimate friend and fellow-
stndent [condiscepolo] of his, Gio. Maria Nanino by
name, established a school at Rome, in which, not-
withstanding his dose attachment to his studies and
the duties of his employment, the former often
appeared assisting the students in their exercises,
and deciding the differences which sometimes arose
between the professors that frequented it
In the course of his studies Palestrina discovered
the error of the German and other musicians, who
had in a great measure corrupted the practice of
music by &e introduction of intricate proportions,
and set about framing a style for the church, grave,
decent, and plain, and which, as it admitted of none
tlUL
UigitizccbyGoOgIc
422 HISl'ORY OF TH£ SCIENCE Bow X.
of tliOM nnnatarol Gommixtnree of diBaimilar times, of the moat capital is his Masaea, pnbliahed at Roma
which were become the disgrace of muaic, left ample in 1572, in targe folio, with thia title, ' Josnnia Petri
Bcope for iDvention. Influenced by that love of ' Loyaii PrEeneetini in Basilica S. Petri de nrbe ca-
simplicity which is diacoverable in all hia works, he, ' pell» magiatri miaaamm, liber primua,' under which
in conjunction with Francesco Soiiano, reduced the ia a curious print from wood or metal Bft«T the
neasuresintheCantuBEocleaiasticns to three, namely deaign of tome great painter, as must bd inferred
the Long, the Breve, and the Semibreve.* from the excellence of the drawing, representing tb*
Of many works which Palestrina composed, one author making an offering of hia book to the pope in
■ Tida n Onto EcdoiBtko di D. Mmhi Enniio, In Hoduo, tile manner here exhibited : —
UM.PII.1.
dbyGoot^Ie
CatP. LXXXVIH.
AND PBAOTIOE OF MUSia
428
On the back of the title-page ie « short com-
mendatory epistle to Jnlius III. the then pope. Of
these loaaaes, which are five in number, and it is to
be doubted whether Palestrina ever published any
more in this form, four are for fonr voices, and one
for five. Many parts of each are composed in canon,
and bespeak the learning and iDgenuity of their
ftaUior. The mssses are printed in parts, on a coarse
bnt very legible type, with Qothic initial letters
curioosly designed and executed.*
There are also extant of his composition Motets
and Hymns for i, 5, and 6 voices, printed in large
folio, and pnblished in 15B9 ; some of these moteu
were also printed in a collection intitled ' l^orilegiam
' sBcramm cantionnm qninqne vocnm pro diebos
' dominicii et feslis totius anni, e celeberrimis noatri
' temporis musicis.' This collection was ^ven to the
world in 1609 by Petms Phalesins, a printer of
Antwerp, who was a man of learning, and, as it
shonid seem, a lover of music, for he published many
other collections of music, and before his house had
the sig^n of king David playing on the harp. It ia
in the motets of Pslestrina that we discover that
grandeur and dignity of style, that artful modalation
and sweet interchange of new and original harmonies,
for which he is so justly celebrated ; with respect to
these excellencies let the following composition spealc
for him : —
■ - CUT
7=^=i^
^
^ ^ '-j-i-'
-vol de - It - de - ru *d fon
-de-ratsdIi}D-tei a- qua
..► " M J Im f" r »Tm J '» —
1 f">,J,r| . J.. II —. 1 1 1-
w'Pr^f-rr'r""^ i — ^"^
, n 1 ■ ■ - n: , ' J J 1 1 .. . ' 1 1
tta — = s^=T^s5 — s- — r" — s=^
' id . '.ui =^ . ™ .d-«.dJm Ji . 'tt
a - ■ cut cer - Tul da
gi " r— J ^-r-^-F■■f-^— — P=P=
u- de-rat ad fan - tea a - - qua
— — «> — 1 . 1 H f-*» — " — \-
In^ ■«, . ^;Sr3i^-f^a^« ,d ' f.. - ». .
qua - ram, si - - cut cer -
^
de - ri - de- rat ad fon - ti
de - b1 - dent ad Ibn - tS^ de-n-de-nt . .. ad fun -tea a-qoa
FV-n—
-| . "T F^=3=1=g&3- H-t-
nun,
1 - - U dB - ri
_UUJlj4-J-j-j,. 1 ,^Y=
*=i==l=5==t=«.=fe=d^?lbfc
<^ "^ 1
■ ' qoa
' li - - do - nit, . . i -
K- - rum.
1 . - 1. a. . -
i|pgE^^5=|Ei.^£i=_^_^f=J=
■ n* ut Dt ariBtbif
T. it AaiiM Adm],
pufMIIen. It vu iDnstHl In osa Ounls d* pu. IS4. Aad in Fiuc* It ■•• ImpniVHl by Pfon BiUud, ■ 'a>*w
> la Ilalr, wha la (t* T«i UU tot 1(1* b) tba wuki tf ClHult 1* )Mm% pubUibMl bf Um.
DigilizcdbyGoO^le
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
byGoo*^le
CHiP. LXXXVIIi.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
f=*=i
— i-
-^
—i^n~-^—^
=S=|
—
d - „' I r- f- ' * r ■\-^ J J ' J J ■ F
do
• ni - am et ap
=4=
^
- - bo, an • t« & - ci-em De - - - -
\ pi r " 1 " — r" — '-iJ-^ 1-
~
ui - am et ap
r--\ .-, j-
^
»-
- bo, an . to fa - d - em . . . '^
bo,
•t ap . . p.
- bo, . . . an . to fa - d-sm
k^
--ds"
. »i.«n « ap
p»
^^
- - - - bo,
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE.
=»=?g==
4 : 1 . 1 .
_, J , __P
- jii,
-Hi 1 1 r- ■ J J 1 J 1 J—
dam di - d - tor mi -
ta -
-DI, a<Uw(D«-a>ta
- - - lu, dura di - d - tar
ta
QB, a . tnett De-ai to . -
\ ■/ A'' \ 1 1 1 1 ; r-f-vf-C™— J—
ni, dam dl - d - tnr
4-1 ^f»-| J . J f-
■-^ qoo-ti
di
- (M, doffl di - d - tar
— » .. t-J -
-H- p!<?^P-<, J-rt J 'll J, 1 ,n :
"1 1 '
1 II
■t , hi qoo - a - di -
e, n - H art De - u.,_^ta
ml - hi qno - li . di -
e Q-UertDe-ui
=^ 1 - i"~^ r- ! rJ — ^—i^ — L ~-
ta -
mi ■ hi quo - Ci di
- 0. u-biertDe-Mtu-
3— P^r r f p {• \ J r r J-+~~
j^zz—L^ji^' r -
^^-fjr-«^
mi - hi qao - ti ^ - e.
bieatDe-ui ta-Di,I>e-
QlO. PnsLViai DA FU.BTMVA.
Dr. Aldricli adftpt«d Engliih words, that is to uy
part of the aixty -third peolm, ' 0 God, thoa Krt mj
Ood,' to the music of this motet, and it is freqnently
sung in oar cathedrals aa an ftnthem, aa is also
another of Paleatrina, beginning ' Doctor Bonns,' to
the words ' We have heard with our ears, O Lord,'
these are remarkable iastaiicee of that faculty which
Dr. Aldrich possessed of naturalizing as it were the
compositions of the old Italian masters, and ac-
commodating them to an English ear, by words per-
haps as well suited to the music as those to which
they were origioally framed.
Blean, in his Admiranda Italia, part TI. pag. 312,
relates that at the erection of the famous antique
obelisk near the Vatican in 1586, Palestrina on
the twenty-seventh day of September in that year,
with eighteen choral singers, assisted in celebrating
that stupendous ^ork, which at this day does honour
to the pontiiic&te of Sixtus V.
Kircher, in the Mnsurgia, torn. I. lib. VII. cap. v.
baa given a Cmcifixua of P^estrino, which he says is
deservedly the admiration of all mnaiciacs, as being
the work of a most exquisite genius, iianj of the
masses of Paleatriiia are atrict canon, a speciea of
composition which he thoroughly understood, bnt
bis motets are in general fugues, in which it is bard
to say whether the grandeur and sublimit of the
point, or the close contexture of the harmony is most
to be admired. ' As to the points or eahjects of bia
fugues, though consisting in general of but few bars,
nay, sometimes of no greater a number of notes than
are usually contained in a bar, they were assumed M
themes or subjects for other compositions, and this
not by young students, but by masters of the first
eminence. Numberless are the instances to be met
with of compositions of this kind, but soma of th«
most remarkable are contained in a work of Abbat«
Domenico dal Pane, a sopranist of the ponttficial
chapel, published in 1687, intitled ' Meese a quattro,
* cinque, sei, et otto voci, estratte da esqoisiti motetti
'del Palestrlna,' these. are seven masses, of friuch
seven motets of Palestrioa, namely, Doctor bonv^
dbyGoo^le
Chap. LXXXVUI.
AND PRACTICE OP MDSIO.
427
Domine qnando veneriii, Stelk qosm viderant Magi,
O Beatnm vinim, JnbiUte Deo, C«nite tnba in Sioo,
Fratree ego enim accepi, are severally the theme.
The eaperioT excellence of these compositions, it
•eems, excited in the contemporary musicians both
admiration and envy. Johannes Hieronymua Eape-
berger, n German, made m attempt ou the reputation
of PalestrinA, which succeeded aa it deserved. Kaps-
berger, who is represented by Doni a« a man of great
aBBnrance and volubility of tongue, by the assistance
of a friend procured admission to a certain bishop, to
whom he insinuated that the compositions of Pales-
trina usually sung in the episcopal palace were mde
and inelegant in respect to the melody and harmony,
and that the repetition of the same words, but mora
especially of the eame point or musical anbject, io
short, that which constitutes a fogue in one and the
same cantoa, detracted from the merit of the com-
position. The bishop, who seems to have been a
weak man, listened with attention to a proposal of
Eapeberger, which meant nothing lees than the
banishing from bis chspel the music of Palestrina,
and admitting that of his opponent in his stead ;
Kapeberger succeeded, and his music was ^ven to the
singers of the bishop's chapel ; they at first refused,
bat were at length compelled to sing it, but they did
it in aodk a manner aa soon induced him to deeist
from his attempt, and wisely decline a competition in
which be had not the least chance of success. Eapa-
bei^r was a voluminous composer ; he excelled all
of his time in playing on the Theorbo, an instrument
which be had greatly improved and brought into
repute, and is represented by Kircher as a person of
great abilities ; the character he gives of him is, that
he was an excellent performer on most instruments,
a man noble by birth, and of great reputation for
prudence and learning ; in this he diners widely
from Doni, bnt it seems that Kircher had receiv^
great asaistance from Eapsberger whOe he was writing
the Mnsurgia.
Palestrina seems to have devoted his whole sttention
to the duties of his station, for the improvement of
the church style was the great object of his studies;
nevertheless he composed a few madrigab, which
have been preserved and are pnbluhed.
In the year 1694 he published ' Madrigsli Spirit-
' nati a cinqne voci,' dedicated to a patroness of his,
the grand duchess of Tuscany ; the style of these
compositions is remarkably chaste and pathetic, the
words are Italian, and purport to be hymna and
penitential songs to the number of thirty.* The
following is the ninth of them : —
CBE-DO gen-til da-glia-mo • to - d vsr
CRE-DO gen - ta
CBE-DO g«n - dt
da-glia-ino-ro - li
r^i, J
^_
•t .
T
ini_^ d'ogn-n-ma - nopea-iiBr ^__^ par- gam'il oo -
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n per
d
vor - mid'ogn'u.roa - nopen-dm, . . pnr-ga-ml'l eo
re
par -
* Tl» didirattu of Uu bHk li ebu> 4>l«d ; ' IM Rnu a pilnw
pilnw(l«Do work, i
wu bfi lui dU oil
dbyGoo*^lc
HISTORY OF THE 8CIEN0E
p-t ,=
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1 o . .. -
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to qnea
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ti ca-dnchiiD - fir • mi
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te . . . qoM-U oa - dachiiD-Gr
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bj!u J .J J
to . . . qaw-d ca-dnchiin-fiT .
; J f j-rf — T — 1 ■"
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dalvo-lar<da Utors.
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4'iui - mo Deg - let-toe tn -
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di dio 1^10- ma neg - let-toe ba - le I'ho.ia) Mf •
D,9,l,zcdbyG00*^lc
Chap. LXXXTX,
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
How long PsiMtrinK enjoyed the honourable em-
ployment of Maettro di Capella in the chorch of St.
Peter at Roma ia above ascertuned, by the year of his
appointment and that of his death. Uis hiatorian hiu
in the way of hit function mentioned aome pajticnlars
relative to that event ; he aays that his funeral was
attended not only by all the mnaicians of Rome, bnt
by a mnltitnde of the people, and was celebrated by
three choin, who aang a ' Libera me, Domins,' in five
parts, of hia own compoeition ; that hia body was in-
terred in the chnrch of BL Peter, before the altar of
St. Simon and St Jade, a privilege doe to the merit
of so great a man, incloaed in a sheet of lead, with this
inscription, 'Petms Aloysina Prfenestinns Mneics
I Princepa.' It is said that an original pictore of him
it yet extant in the archives of the pope's chapel, and
it is probable that the portrait which Adami haa given
of him is taken from it. By thia, which conveys the
idea of a man remarkably mean in hia appearance, it
Meraa that his bodily endowments bore no proportion
to tJiuae of his mind.
To enumerate the testimonies of anthore in favour
of Paleetrina would be an endless task. John Baptist
Doni before-mentioned, a profoundly learned musician,
and whose partiality for the music of the ancienta woold
bardly suffer him to admire that of the modems, seems
withoDt beeitation to acquiesce in the general opinion
that he was the greateet man in his time. Agoalina
Pin, in a treaUsa intitled ' Battnta delta Musica di-
FixaLDtai DA PuJVTBnri.
chiarata,' printed at Rome in 1611, peg. 87, calls him
the hononr of music, and prince of musicians. He
elsewhere styles him ■ Qian Pietro Aloisio Palestina
' Ince et splendore della musica,' Giovanni Maria
Bononcini also calls him ' Principe de musica,' as does
Angelo Berardi, a very sensible and intelligent writer;
this latter also styles him the father of music, and as
auch he is in general considered by all that take oc-
casion to speak of him.
The following catalogue ia exhibited for the use of
such aa may be desirous of collecting the works of this
great man : ' Dodici libri di meese a 4, 5, 6, 8 voci,
'stamp, in Roma. ed. in Venet. 1S54, 1S67, IfiTO,
' 1672, 1582, 1685, 1690, 1691, 1594, 1699, 1600,
' 1601. Dne libri d' Offertorii a 5, Yen. 169i. Due
' libri di Motetti a 4, Ven. 1571, 1606. Qnattro libri
• di Motetti a 6, 6, 7, 8 voci, Ven. 1676. 1680. 1684,
' 1586. Magnificat 8 tonum, Romse. 1591. Hymni
' todua anni 4 voc. Romsa et Ven. 1689. Due libri di
' madrig. a 4 voci, Ven. 1586, 1605. Due libri di
' madrig. a 6 voci, Ven. 1694. Litanie a 4, Ven. 1600.
CHAP. LXXXIX.
GiovANin Maria Nahiho, fa Portrait,) a con-
disciple or fellow-etudent of Palestrina, having been
brought up under the aame master, namely, Rinaldo
del Mell, was a native of Vallerano, and in 1577 was
appointed a singer in the pontifical chapel, where are
dbyGooi^lc
uo
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
BotM-X.
presar/ad many excellent compositions or hia. He
became afterwards Maestro di Cappella di 8. Mam
Mazgiore, and waa probably the immediate successor
of Falestrina in that office. Some very fine madrigals
composed by him are to be found in the collections
pablished by Andrew Pevemage, Pietro Ph&lesio,
Hnbert WaeJrant, Pietro Philippi, and others, with
the titles of Harmonia Celeste, Masioa Divina, Sym-
5 bonis Angelica, and Melodia Olympics. Padre
lartini, in the catalogne of authors at uie end of his
Storia della Maeica, torn. L, takes notice of two mann-
scripts of his that are extant, the one entitled ' Cen-
' tocioqnantasette Contrapnote e Canoni a 2. 3, 4, 5,
' 6, 7, 6, 11 voci sopra del Canto fermo intitolato la
' Base di Costaneo Feeta ;' the other, ' Trattato di
' Contrapanto con la Kegola per far Contrapuuto a
' mente di Qio. Maria, e Bernardino Nanino sno
' nipote.' Sebastian Raval, a Spaniard, and a cele-
brated contrapuntist, was foiled by him in a compe-
tition between them which was the abkr composer.
It has already been mentioned that Nanino, in
conjunction with his friend Falestrina, established at
Rome a school for the study of music. Antimo
Liberata, who relates this fact, intimates that this
seminary was frequented by many eminent professors
of the science.who resorted thither for improvement;
and that Falestrina, besides taking his part in the in-
etmcdon of the youth, was a moderator in the dis-
putes that sometimes arose among them. The ssme
author adds, that among the many excellent musi-
<aans that ware there educated, Bernardino Nanino, a
younger brother of him of whom we are now speak-
ing, was diBtiuguiehed ss a wonderful genius, and as
having improved music by the introdnction of a new
and original style ; there is nevertheless nothing; ex-
tant of hu compoettion bat a work printed at Borne
in 1620, antitled ' Salmi k i voci per le Domenicbe,
' Solennita della Madonna et Apoatoli con doi Mag-
' nificat, nno k 4 e 1' altro k 8 vocL' Antonio (Hfra
was also a disciple in this school.
FiLiGB AHxiuo, (a Portrait,) a disciple of the
elder Nanino, was the Immediate snooesaor of Fales-
trina in the station of composer to the pontifioal
chapel.* He had the character of an excellent con-
trapontiat; many of lus compositions are preserved
in the library of &« chapel, and there is extant a
valuable collection of madrigals by him, printed at
Antwerp in 1610.
Ruoanao GtovAKiLLi (a Portrait,) was master
of the chapels of St. Lewis and St. ApoUinare, and
the immediate snccessor of Falestrina in the church
of St. Peter at Rome ;t and also a singer in the
* Tbn MlawiBi Howat of bti ■ppolntmrnt, mad the cnvmrnhH A-
tondbc It, !• dM tfj Adunl rraoi iba teak •( IppoHu Omkoet, lb*
KUtankicMofan ■HDIhmd, vllh > nmuk liiit Antimo Ubenli
uu* Mua« (a WT ihM PilHtilu wu lb* iHl coBTCHt ta M*
■I AHiloniDO«*S«l bInUtlut booooMMa tmplapimi.
pontifical chapel : a colleotitm of madr^als by hin^
printed at Venice, is extant ; he composed also many
masses, amongst which is one for eight voice^ csllea
' Vestiva i colli,' taken from a madrigal with thoae
initial words of Olonetto Falestrina, which is much
celebrated.
In the year 1581 a book appeared in the world
with this silly title, ' H teeoro illuminato, di tntti i
' tuoni di Canto (igurato, con alcnni bellissimi secret!
'non da altri piti ecritti : nnovamente composto dal
' E. P. frate illnminato Aijgnino Bresciano, doll' or-
' dine serafico d' oeservanEa.' Notwithstanding th«
very emphatical title of this book, it contains very
little worthy the attention of a cnnoas reader. The
author is lavish in the praises of Marchettus of Padn^
and Spataro, and of bis irrefragable master Peter
Aron, whose name he never mentions without that
extrav^ant epithet.
About this time lived PriTBO Posno of Parma;
he composed and published, abont the year 1580,
three btraks of massee. He was (he antbor, also, of
a book with the following title, ' Bagionamento di
' Musica del Rev. M. Don Pietro Fontio Parmegiaoo,
' ove si tratta de' pasoggl della consonance e diaeo-
' nantie, buoni e non buoui ; e del modo di far Mot-
' tetti, Messe, Salmi, e altre compositioni ; d'alcimi
'avartimenti per il contrapantista e compoeitore e
' oltre cose pertinenti alia musica,' printed at Parma
1588, in qnarto, a very entertaining dialogne, and re-
plete with musical erudition.
Horatio Vitccin of Modena wsa greatly celebrated
for his vocal compositions at thk time : our country-
man Peacham was, as he himself relates, hie disciple.}
ns uHlnUd Ifat nusHur to PiltMrliu la iIh ehnKh <i SL PrtM, tf
wUeli MHtdnswu MhMi* dl C^yilU.
t TUi wriut tau. In Ui luul qiulit luniwt. |ln* a ilint tkaittui
Mif m nam Blaa one maatac HooA
idiKia ar all*. BOat BlaailBt at all atlut
. _ . nbanwiib dl hte mAa an iteiW
baaallAail. aa nil tala ~"t-'- of St* oA all paita. M Uuaa Ua aaa.
uuata ptiaiad ■■ llailiBWia, vbanln fu tnill liiif bit ' Vin li
' fBsn anwNiD Locntla aiC' what* upas " la saUuto bo*." vUfc
aicallantJuScBaai hae JrtTeth SCTatcbaHboiaw aaar mlptMa. caaala«
It la naaoM* a tbalna wftb the Unkct ; aiilD* !■ " S* la Mtaaf ntcar
' I mal aaaplri,' tba bnaUnc «r tb* vaaK aaarlri wHb acatibal aa* nl-
(belmt biiictaHi and ttiit "la mi un aaniai - ^ - - ^ --
•laar at noona with MBdrr othar af likt aaaeali)* ai
^onplaal OanllaBian. in.
Tba Complaat GaDilenjan waa «
it tama aota la lb* ntfn at Janx
or tba dUnin aad asccaaitr of laualnl la wlooa .
. ,_ .v_ .. — .,„ ,f ^^ dindm. Of a iwiHaaaal
• VaeeU et Uadaoa, bi
ta af BDblUlT ta faaaal.
' eairlafa bi Iba vM
'Of «aBri>jrTaphy.
>einh. Of (oometIT, Of pBBOT- O* "
■madaUa,aad anlloulllK Of diawiof aad .
' palDlaia. or tundrr blaionnca both aafleal
• or blailtig annat, alih tba anilfali; at ban.
■Ornputatian andcafTiaci^ OftnTalla. Of ,^
partlOQiara. ta vbleh la addad tba Oeatlanan*a Bxeidaa, oran
PiKilee ftv diawtafailMaaHrar BEai<a,DaklacCahian.ke.qBaiak
IdM. Tbia b«k abawtdi with a fnat Dambar at nulaui (unkolua,
aad ni la hlsii aathnatlaa wHb tba RantiraTaaof th<laaia«a. Ik
Chailea SadleTi wbo bad ban fuUlr of a anal aAaca aMlnat aaaS
■aanntn. •atlndktad for U. and npon bla Dili Mai aataS Iv Iba Sut
iDittoe. Sir Robait Hrda, obatbar ba bad arai nad tba book aaUad Ov
CoDp;a<« GaDllaniaa. Sir Cbariaa asamiod, that a**la« bti loadak^ ha
had nad mora beob than btanaelC Atbaa. Ouic "^ "*'
dbyGoo^le
Otta.LXXXIX,
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
481
He composed Muses, Cantio&es Sacra, Mid one book
of MadrigkU, which are veiy (ioe ; but he delighted
chieflr in Canzonele, of which be composed no fewer
than Mven sets.* Milton, who loved and nnderstood
mnaic very well, seems to have entertained a fondness
for the compositions of Horatio Vecchi ; for in his
Life, written hy his nephew Phillips, and pTefixed to
the English translation of hie State Letters, It is said
that when he was abroad upon his travels, be collected
a chest or two of choice mnsic-books of the best mas-
ters floarishing at that time in Italy, namely, Luca
Mareozio, Moiiteverde, Horatio Vecchi, Cifra, the
prince of Venoea, and others.
EncsABirs Hoffhik, con-rector of the public
school at Strslstind, was the author of two tracts on
mosic, the one entitled ' MasicR practicn pnecepta,'
the odier 'Doctrina de tonls sen modie mnsids,' both
of which were very elegantly printed at Hamburg in
1684, and again in 1588. The first of these is
of the same kind with those many books written
abont this time for the instniction of children in the
elements of mnsic, of which an account has herein-
before been given ; like the rest of them it is written
in dialogue. The author has defined tha tenns
prolation, time, and mode, as they refer to mensural
music, in a way that may he useful to those who
would understand the Introduction to Practical Music
of oar coautryman Morley ; for of prolation he says
it is a rule by which is estimated the value of semi-
breves; time be enya considers the value of breves;
and mode, that of the long and the large. In hii
doctrine of the tones he seems to follow Glsreanus.
ToKAssoLoDovico DA ViOTORtAiaBpaniBrd, Maestro
di Cappella of St. Apollinare, and afterwards a siDger
in the pontifical chapel, was an excellent composer.
He published a set of Masses in 1S83, dedicated to
Philip II. king of Spain, and many other ecclesi-
astical works, one of the beet whereof is that called
La Messa de' Motti. Peacham says that he resided
in the court of the duke of Bavaria abont the year
1591; and that of hie Latin songs the Seven Peni-
tentiid Psalms are the beat : he oommends also certain
compositions of his to French words, in which is
a song beginning ' Sussnna un jour.' He styles him
a very rare and excellent author, adding that his
vein is grave and sweet Oompleat Qentleman, 101,
edit 1661.
Ldca Mabxheio, a most admirable composer of
motetts and madrie^s, flourished about this time;
be was a native of Coccslta in the diocese of Brescia.
Being horn of poor parents, he was maintained and
instructed in the rudiments of literature by Andrea
Maaetto, the arch-priest of the place ; but having
a very fine voice, and discovering a strong propensity
to music, he was placed under the tuition of Giovanni
Contini, and became a most excellent composer, par-
ticulariy of madrigals. He wae first Maestro di
Hd jlliMmilni dallA VJob, trom pb •xquJafI*
at, ud 1 •tafc bi Ae roaliSnl oliipgl Is tta* jut 16
U con it 1 Cui. dalls C^ Fgnl. ft, 174.
Cappella to Cardinal Luigi d' Eete, and after that for
many years oiganist of the pope's chapeL He was
beloved by the whole court of Borne, and particularly
favoured by Cardinal Cinthio Aldrobandini, nephew
(^ Clement VIII. This ciroomstance, which is
related by Adami, does not agree with the account of
our countryman Peacham, who says that after he bad
been some time at Bome he entertained a criminal
passion for a lady, a leladon of the Pope, whose fine
voice and exquisite hand on the tute 1^ captivated
him ; that he thereupon retired to Poland, where be
was graciously received, and served many years, and
that during bis stsy there the queen conceived adeeire
to see the lady who had been the occasion of his
retreat, which being comntunicated to Marenzio, ha
went to Rome, with a resolution to covey her from
thence into Poland, hnt arriving there, ha found
the resentment of the Pope so strong against him,
that it broke bis heart Adami mentions his re-
treat to Poland, but omits the other circumstances;
and fixes the Ume of his death to the twenty-second
day of August, 1599. Walther adds, that before
his departure for Poland be received the honour
of knighthood, but says not at whose hands; and
that on his arrival there he bad an appointment
of a thonsand ecudi per annum ; and, without taking
no^ce of Ivs amour, ascribes bis quitting that country
to his constitution, which was too tender to reust
the cold. The following verses to bis memory were
written by Bernardino Steasonio, a Jesnit : —
Vocum Dpifex, numerii mulcere Marentius aurea
Callldus, et blandte tandere fila Chelys,
Frigore lethno vidus jsc«t. Jle lupremam
In uriem mBsti funeiis exequin ;
Et charii et blandi aeniil) aurica voluptai.
Et chorus, et ftactw turba canora lyns :
Dents humerii, nds lachrymii, urgete lepulcbnini,
Quil icit, an hinc rsferat vox redlvivaionumf
SiD tacet, die choros alioi instanrat in astri*,
VoB deoet amino oraiticnine Deo.
Sebastian Rava], a Spaniard, and who pnblisbed
bis first book of madngals for five voices, in the
dedication thereof styles him a divine composer.
Peacham, who probably was acquainted with him,
says he was a little black man. He corresponded
with our countryman Donlsnd the lutenist, as appears
by a very polite letter of his writing, extant in the
preface to Douland's First Booke of Songet or Ayrea
of four Partes, with Tahleture for the Lute, and in-
serted in a Buiwequent part of this work.
The madrigals of Marenrio are celebrated for fine
air and invention. Peacham says ttist the first,
second, and third parts of his Thyrsis, ' V^fgo dolce
■ mio ben,' ' Chi fa hoggi il mio Sole,' and ' ^ntava,'
are songs the Muses themselves might not have been
ashamed to have composed, f This that follows is
also ranked among the best of bis compoutions : —
t Then in aU idiptsd to Bnillib mrii, tlB flm, ' Tlnl merii toIh.'
taitnnilatJOBorUKlUllu; UwmodiI, -Vagfodnlof into ben,' loUi*
wonli, ' Fmwill cruel ud unUnd ; ' th* tliird u ' Wbil doth m; pnttr
'dirUDiir «d thilHl u 'Bvtatfliigliii AmurlU*.' nod into buflHiBa
Id tba Kmlu Tnnulpliu, of >lili:b ft ki to be noWd then an tw« fn\t,
■nd In ■ eoUKtko of fuUu mrtrigali with Engliih wardi, publiibed bj
TbamH Wttuo In lABS, u 1i ■!» uother mentioned aj PeKbim,
' I mutt deput ill htgiti*,' IniuUlod Dnm .' lo puiln.'
dbyGoot^le
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
P
gS^i
Id - d da itel • - la she pidd'ogo'ttltra la
- ma-ta mia In - d da ttel - - -la che piiidagn'alUm la - - oe cd al
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a mia In - oi-da aid - -la ohe piM'ogn'altra la
<M ed
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ed
a) mk> cor ad - dn - - oe
•^ al mio cor ad - da
ceftun ^^
. me Mn - - li, ed al mio oor ad
gilizocbyGoOl^le
Omtr. LXXXIK
AND PBAOTIOE OF HUSia
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cbyGooi^lc
4M
HISTORY OF THB 80IEN0E
Book K
Andrbas Rabkudb, chuiter in the cdlege of
R4tiBbon, pabtiahed at Norimberg, in 1589, '£exa-
chordnm, sen qneetioneB mnsicEe practice.' Tbia
book is very methodically written, bat contains little
more than ie to be fonnd in otbera of the like kind,
except some short examples of fbgue from Orlando
LasBO, Jnsqain De Prez, and other anthors, which in
tbeir way have great merit.
Oaspak EauMsHORH was a Dative of Ligniti in
SDeeia, and was bom on the twen^-eighth day of
October, 1542. In the third year of his age ho lost
his sight by the small-pox, and beoame totally blind.
His father dying soon after, bis mother married one
named Stimmler, which gave occseica to his being
called Blind Stimmler. Krnmbfaom had a brother
named Bartholomew, who was considerably older
than himself, and was pastor of Walctan; and be
discovering in bis yonnger brother, as he grew up,
a strong propensity to mnsic, placed him nuder the
care of ^ob^ln, a fitmous rnnncian and compoaer at
Ooldbei^, of wliom he learned to play first on the
flnta, next on the violin, and, last of all, on the
harpiidiord, on each of \i4iich inBtnunents he became
BO excellent a performer, that be ex<nt«d the ad-
miration of all that heard him. The fame of these
his excellencies, as also of his akill in compontion,
had reached the ears of Angostns, elector of Saxony ;
who invited him to Dresden, and having heard him
perform, and also heard some of bis compositions of
many parts performed by himself and others; and
being itniok with so extraordinary a phenomenon as
a yonng man deprived of the faculty of Beeing, an
excellent performer on various instnunenta, and
deeply skilled in the art of practical composition, he
endeavonred, by the offer of great rewards, to retain
him in his service ; bat, preferring his osm oonntry
to all others, EJ'niQbhom returned to Lignita in the
twenty-third year of bis age, and was appointed
organist of the cbnrch of St. Peter and Panl there,
which station he occupied fifty -six years, dnring
which space he had many times the direction of the
mnncal college. He died on the eleventh day of
Jnne 1621, and was buried in the choreh of which
he was organist, where on hie tomb was engraven
the following epitaph : —
Vis scire viator
Catparum Kniabhomium
Lign. Reip. dvem konoratuin,
cum tertio tstatU anno variolar.
ex malignitate ritu
privstos,
Mnsice* dehinc icientia et prsxi
preeclaram ribi notninis
Suitimalioneni domi fbriiqiie
Conjugii optabilii felicitate,
Bonorum etiam Mognstum,
Dei impmnia gratia evectus
Singulari nrlem moderatione
Ad ann. usque LXXIIX toleravit
Organic, munui apud Ecclea. P. P.
Admm LVI. non dot indurtris
teitimonio gessisaet,
Pie derotuu beateque A. C. 1621 .
11 Jua. in Dam. obdonnivlt.
Anna et Regina Filita, earumque
Manti niperstites
Psrentem Socerumque B. M.
lioc lub lap. quern
Vivens nbi ipdmet deatiQaTerat
honorifice condiderunt.
Notti, quod vohiit quicanque es.
Noses TB IFSDN.
It is said that Ernmbhom was the author of many
musical compositions, hot it doee not appear that any
of them were ever printed
Walther, in bis Lexicon, has an article for Tobias
Kbukbhors, organist at the court of Qeorge Rndolph,
dnke of Lignite, and a great traveller, who died in
the year 1617, aged thirty-one years. As Oaepar
and Tobias Krumbhom were contemporaries, and of
the same city, it is not improbable that ibvy wen
relations at least, if not brothers ; although nothii^
of the kind is mentioned in the aoconnta grvea by
Walther of eidier of them.
C,HAP. XO.
BaUhaianm, twnam^d Beaujoyeva, a eebbratsd
Italian tniwtdan, lived tinder tfisreiffn of Hanry
III. of IVafue. The Manhd ds Britiae, Qo-
vernor m Piedmont, tent thit miuieian to the kutg
mith the band of VieUm, of wMeh he wot elAef.
The Qveen gave him the place of her valet-ae-
chambre, and Henry granted him the tame poet
in Am household. Saithazarini pleated the covrf
ae mell Inf hie skUt tn playing on the violin, ae by
hie inventione of dance*, mueic thome, and repre'
spnlations. It woe he teho compoeed in 1681 the
bi^letfor the nvptiale of the Duhe de Joyauee ivitk
MadUe. deVam&rmontfSietertothe Qveen,andthe
eame wai represented mth extraordinary pomp ; it
hae beenprmted under the tiile of the Qveen'e comic
ballet made for the nvptialt qforetaid.
Claude lb Jkohx, (a PoriraU,) a native of
Valenciennes, was a celebrated musician, and com-
poser of the diamber to Henry IT. of Franoe. He
was the author of a work intitled Dodecachorde,
being an exercise or praxis on the twelve roodee
of Qlareanne ; Mone. Bayle dtee a passage from
the Sienr D'Embrv's Oommentarv on the Franch
translation of the life of Apollonras Tyansena, re-
lating to this wo^ to this tCeat : ' I have somo-
timea heard the Sieur Olandin the yonnger say,
who, vitbont disreepect to any one, hr exceeded
all the mudcians of tho preceding ages, that an
sung at the solemnity of the lato dnke of Jonaae'a
marriage in the time of Henry III. king of France
and Poland, of happy memory, whom QoA absolve ;
which as it was Bung, made a gentleman take liia
Bword in hand, and swear aloud that it was im-
poBsible for him to forbear fitting with somebodjr.
Whereupon they began to amg another sir of the
Subphrygian mode, which made him as peaoeaUe aa
before ; whkh I have bad since confirmed by mow
that were present — Buch power and force have tha
dbyGoo^le
Obaf. XC.
AND PRACmOE OP MUSIC.
' modulation, motion, and management of the voice
' when joined together, upon the minds of men. To
' condmle thie long annotation, if one would have an
' excellent experiment of these twelve modee, let him
' sing or hear Bang, the Dodecachorde of Clandin the
* yoanger, of whom I have spoken above, and I assure
* myself he will find in it all those fignrea and va-
' riatione managed with ao mach art, harmony, and
' skill, as to confess that nothing can be added to this
' master-piece but the pnusas that all the lovera of this
' science ought to bestow npon this rare and excellent
*mau, who was capable of carrying music to the
' utmost degree of its perfection, if death had not
' frustrated the execution of his noble and profound
* designs upon this subject.'*
dande le Jeoue waa also the author of a work en-
titled Meslangee, consisting of vocal compoaitiona for
4, 5, 6, 8, and 10 voices, to Latin, Italian, and French
words, many of them in canon, printed in 1607. A
second part of this work was published in 1613, by
Loais Mardo, a relation of the author, and dedicated
to Mone. de la Planch, an advocate in the parliament
of Paris. But the most celebrated of his compositions
ore his Psalms, which, being a Hugonot, he composed
to the words of the Version of Theodore Beza and
Clement Marot, and of these an accomit will here-
after be given.
Hbkoolb Bottbioabo, (a Portrait,) a native of
Bol(^;na, published, in 1593, ' II Patrizio, overo de'
'tetracordi armouici di Aristoeseno, parere et vera
dimoBtrationa' The occasion of writing this book
was as follows : one Francesco Patricio, a man of
great leaming.f had written a book intitled ' Delia
' poetics, deca istoriole, deca dispntata,' wherein,
diacoonring on mnrac, and of the Genera in par-
ttcolar, he gives the preference to that division of
the tetrachords which Euclid had adopted. Bot-
trigaro, who appears to have been an Aristoxenean,
enters into an examination o[ this work ; and not
without some severe reflections on his adversary,
contends for that division of the tetrachord in each
of the genera which diBtingniehes the system of Aris-
loxenos from that of Enclid. This book, some few
years after its publication, Patricio being then dead,
waa very severely criticised by Giovanni Maria Artnsi,
of whom mention has already been made in the coarse
of this work, who, with a becoming zeal for the repa-
tation of Patricio, nndertook to vindicate him, as well
Sainst Bottrigaro, as another writer named Annibale
eloni, a musician of Bologna, the anihor of a book
intitled, ' n Desiderio, overo de' concerti di varii
'stmmenti mosicali, iOialogo di Alemanni Benelli.'}
Bat the most celebrated of Bottrigaro's works is that
intitled, ' II Melone, disoorso armonico del M. IlL
• B>Tte uL GocDiHiL, hi net.
t Fuildo vu otOumi In Dulnutla. In Ui louth h> RiraUsd much
b Ada; ihn ■•Madia Iba iilud or Cjpnif. wbtnlw punluHdalu(*
HMta. bat Im (TdT thing wbm Ui« VfiiMIini loct tbU UncdnD. »
UulbewuabllmdiopitoltalT, ud than Un an Ua wU. lla nad
Pkabnlc pbUatepbr in ibe DaiTanUr ot Fanan, awl at iMt dbd u
BAma, moeta eatHmed and oarBaaad t^ aU Iotcti <A Utaratura, tbouffhiia
kad idTauead Hima opinkni In tbi mubMnatleal tdanca. and aNiul
Italian languaga, tbal mn tbin. and itlll an, lliciugtal ataurd. Ha ni
ip bj tha EranipotLtion cf the .
ised al laiga In a nibaaqnnnt
ol the laltan ot Ui
' Sig. Oavoliere Heroole Bottrigaro, ed. il Melone se-
' coudo, consideraaioni mnsic^ del medesimo sopra
' nn discorso di M. Gandolfo Sigonio intomo h' ma-
'drigoli et i! Itbri dell' antica mnsica ridntta alia
' modema prattica di D. Nicola Vicentino e nel
' fine eeso Discorso del Sigonio.' Ferrara, 1602.
In this book, which is professedly an examen of
that of Vicentino, the anthor relatee at large the
controversy between him and Vicentio Lusitono.
He chaises them both with vanity and inconsistency,
bat seems to decide in favour of the former. The
remark he makes on the condnct of Bartolomeo
Elsgobedo and Ghislino D' Ancherte, is very jadicions ;
for the sentence given by them, and pnblished with
so much solemnity, assigns aa the motive for con-
damning Vicentino, that he had not, either by words
or in writing, given the reasons of his opinion. Bot-
trigaro's observation is this, seeing then that Vicen-
tino had not declared the foundation of his o|nnion,
it was their duty as judges to have prooeeded to an
enquiry whether it had any fotmdatioii or not, and,
agreeably to the result of thie enquiry, to have given
sentence for or agunat him ; and for not pursuing
this method he sticks not to accnse them of partiality,
or rather ignorance of their dnty, aa the arbitrators
between two contending parties.
Bottrigaro appears to have been a man of rank ;
the letters to him, many of which hs has thought it
necessary to print, bespeak as much. Walther styles
him a count ; and his D Melone, written in answer
to a letter of Aunibale Meloni, is thus dated, ' Delia
' mia h me diletteuole villa nel commnne di S. Alberto.'
Notwithstanding this circumstance, and that he was
not a musician by profession, he appears to have been
very well skilled in the science. It seems that he
entertained strong prejndioes in favour of the ancient
music, and that he attempted, as Vicentino and others
hod done, to introduce the chromatic genus into prac-
tice, but with no better sncceee than had attended the
endeavours of others. Ila corrected Gogavinus's Latfh
version of Ptolemy in namberless instances, and that
to so good a purpose, that Dr. Wallis has in general
conformed to it in that translation of the same author,
which he gave to the world many years after. He
also translid«d into Italian, Boetius De Musica, and
as much of Plntarch and Macrobius as relates to mu-
sic; besides this, he made anuotationa on Aristoxenos,
Frouchinas, Spataro, Vicentino, Zarlino, and Galilei,
and, in short, on almost every musical treatise that he -
could lay his hands on, as appears by the copies which
were once his ovm, and are now reposited in many
libraries in Italy.
It is to be lamented that the writings of Bottrigaro
ore, for the meet part, of the controversial kind, and
that the subjects of dupute b^ween him and hie ad-
versaries tetA so very little to the improvement of
music. If we look into them we shall find him taking
part with Meloni against Patricio, and contending for
a practice which the ancients themselves had exploded;
and in the dispute with GanAilfo Sigonio he does but
revive the controversy which had been so warmly
agitated between Vicentino and Vincentio Lnsitauo :
and though he seems to oensnre that determination of
the judges Bartolomeo Bsgobedo and Ghieilioo Daa-
Digilizcd
byGoo»^lc
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
Book X.
cherta, by which the former was condemned, he leaves
the question just as he foand it.
Of fiottrig&ro's works it ia said that they contain
greater proofs of his learning and ekill in mnaic than
of his Abilities aa a writer, hu style being remarkably
inelegant ; nevertheless he affected the character of a
poet, and there is extant a collection of Poems by him,
in octavo, printed in 1551. Walther repreBente him
as an able mathematician, and a collector of rarities,
and says that he was possessed of a cabinet, which the
emperor Ferdinand II. had a great desire to purcitase.
He died in 1609.
We meet with the name of LuDOVicus Bboohjin,
an excellent mosician, who floiiriahed towards the
end of the sixteenth century, and died at Bruasele in
1597. Gerard Vossios has given him a place in
his Catalogue, and he is elsewhere styled Musices
Frincepe. The misfortune of his being blind from his
nativity might possibly contribute to exalt his cha-
racter ; for there are no compositions of his extant, at
least in print. Some remarkable instances of blind
persons who have been excellent in music, might lead
to on opinion that the privation of that sense was
favourable to the stndy of it : in the case of Salinas it
seems to have been no impediment to the deepest
research into the principle of the sdence. Caspar
Krumbhom of LignitE,and Martini Feaenti of Venice,
are inatances to the same pnrpoae ; the former of these
being an excellent ot^nist and a composer of church-
music, and the latter a composer of vocal and instru-
mental music of almost all kinds; and both these
persons were blind, the one from his infancy, and the
other from hisnativitv; and it is vrelt known that the
famouB Sehaataan Bach and Handel, perhaps the two
best organists in the world, retained the power both
of study and practice many years after they were
severally deprived of the sense of seeing.
Valbrio Bona of Milan, published in 1S95, ' Re-
'gole del contraponto, et compoaitioue brevemente
' raccolte da dinerai Anttiiri, Operetta molto facile
* et utile per i scolari principianti.' The author takes
occasion to celebrate aa men of consummate skill in
music, Cywian de Rure, Adrian Willaert, Orlando
de Lasao, Qiristopber Morales, ami Palestrma, The
character of his book ia, that it ia remarkable for the
goodneaa of its atyle and langu^^. The anther waa
an ecclesiastic, and a practical composer, aa appears
by a catalogue of his works in the Musical Lexicon
of Walther ; they consist of Motets, Masses, the
Lamentations of Jeremiah, Madrigals, Canzonets, and
other vocal compositions.
LoDOvico Zaooohi, an Angnstine monk of Peearo,
and musician to the Dnke of Bavana, was the author
of a valnable work in folio, printed at Venice in 1596,
with the following title, ' Frattica di mnaica ntile et
' necesaaria si al compoaitore per compurre i canti suoi
' rejTolatamente, si anco al cantoro per aasicurarai in
' tutti le coae cantabili.'
Thia book of Zncconi is justly esteemed one of the
most valuable treatiaea on the subject of practical
music extant Morley appears to have been greatly
indebted to the author of it. whom he calls Fryer
Lowyes Zaccone, and cites frequently in his Intni-
duction to Practical Music
In the course of his work Zacconi seems to have
declined all enquiry into the music of the ancient
Greeks, and to have been very little solicitous aboat
the investigation of ratios ; his work seems to be
calculated for the improvement of practical music,
and therefore contains nothing relating to the theory
of the science.
Zarlino'a works seem to he intended for the use
of philosophera, but this of Zacconi abounds with
precepts applicable to practice, and suited to the
capacities of singers and men of ordinary endow-
ments. Among a great number of directions for the
decent and orderly performance of choral service, he
recommends a careful attention to the utterance of
the vowels ; which passage it seems Morley had an
eye to when he complained, aa he does in his Intro-
duction, pag. 179, in these words: 'The matter is
' now come to that state, that though a song be never
'so well made, and never ao apUy applied to the
' wonls, yet shall you hardly find singers to express
' it aa it ought to be ; for most of oor churchmen, so
' they can cry louder in the quier than theit fellowes,
' care for no more, whereas by the contrarie they
' onglit to atudie how to vowell and sing cleane,
' expressing their words with devotion and passion,
' wlicraby to draw the hearer, as it were in chaines of
'gold by the earea, to the consideration of holy things.'
In the sixty-seventh chapter of the first book
Zacconi enumerates the necessary qnalifications of
a chapel -master.
In the thirty-eighth chapter of the second book
he speaks of the mass of Jusquin De Prez, 'Le
'Homme arm^,' mentioned by Glareanns, Salinas,
Doni, and other writers, as one of the most excellent
compositions of the time. This he does to introduce
a niaaa of Palestrina with the same title, which he
gives at length, with his own remarks thereon.
The third book is on the subject of proportion,
which he baa expluned and illuatrated by a vari^y
of examples from the best authors.
At the end of the fourth and last book he enn-
merates the several musical inatmments in nse in h'".
time, with the compass of notes proper to each; in
hia declaration whereof it ia remarkable that be
makes bb the limit of the superacntes, aad the
highest note in the scale for the violin, a particnlar
from whence it is to be inferred that the practice of
shifting the hand was unknown to him.
In the year 1622 Zacconi published a second part
of hia Prattica Muaica, which Morley never saw, for
be died in 1604. The author at tiiis time waa
musician to Charles archduke of Austria, and aleo to
William dnke of Bavaria, his former patron. In
this work he treats of the elements of mnsic, and Um
principles of composition.
Speaking of the invention of the syllables by
Giiido Aretinns, he says that some of his time had
objected that it was imperfect, inasmach aa it gave
no syllable to the last note of the septenary, and
thereby incumbered the system with what are called
the mutations. And he mentions a mnsician, Don
Auselmo Fiammengo, who had formerly been in the
service of the duke of B ivaria, and, aa Orlando de
I aeso once told the author, made use of the syllable
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
Chap. XC.
AND PKACTICR OF MUSIC
a afler thut of la for the purpose of
getting rid of the matotiuna.*
Zacconi mentions also suother moEicitn, Don
Adiisno Bianchieri, of Bologna, who for b va made
nse of the syllable ba, and for b m the eyllsble bi,
a distinction, that, as above is related, has been
adopted by the Spaniarde.
The rales for the uompoaition of coanterpoint, of
fogne, and canon, in all their varions forms laid down
by Zacconi, are drawn from the writingu of Zarlino,
Artasi, and other the most celebrated Italian writers.
In the conrse of the wurh he takes occasion to men-
lion a conversaUon on music held in the presence of
Zarlino in the year IBSi, in which a character was
given of the several mnsicians of that and the pre-
ceding age, and the respective attribntes of each
pointed ont and assented to by the pereone then
present To Oostanzo Porta was ascribed great
art, and a r^nlar contexture in his compositions;
to Aleseandro Striggio, a vagne bat artiJiciid modula-
tion; and to Meeser Adriano, by whom it is snpposed
was meant Adrian Willaert, great art, with a jadl-
doos disposition of parts : Morales, he says, was
allowed to have art, counterpoint, and good modula-
tion; Orlando de Laaao. modulation, art, and good
invention ; and Palestrina, every excellence neces-
sary to form a great musician.
In the thirty-second chapter of the second book
he takes occasion to observe on the impiety of
introducing madrigals and secular songs among the
divine offices, the singing whereof is prohibited by
the chnrch as a mortal sin ; from hence he takes
occasion to applaad Palestrina for his condnct in this
respect, who, ne says, enriched the church with his
own sweet compositions, in a style suited to public
woreliip, calcalated to promote the honour of Gh>d,
and to excite devotion in the minds of the auditors.
Carlo Qesdaldo, prince of Yenoea, flourbhed
about the latter end of tlie eixteenth caotnTy. Venosa
was the Veiiiisinm of the Romans, and is now a prin-
ci|iality of the kingdom of Naples, situate in that
part of it called the Basilicate ; it is famous for licing
the place where Horace was born ; and little less so
in the judgment of musicians on accoimt of the
person now about to be spoken of. He was. as
Scipione Cerreto relates, the nephew of Cardinal
• ThK fibjKtkin tiu onin twea mwle toOuldo'ilaienlLoD; Erieliu
Puleoiiui AddH!. am A uv^iilh, thu »T]l«l>lfiB1. SBplcTipBAjia of ■entahi
Ocnnfin who vtlculatdt Ihe Hptenvr by teven tji]Ab\m. bul nprehendi
him foT II La t«rmi that ii^rve u leait m ihow ihKt Iha mithod of »1-
WsUlJ. Tlio pMMge (f om Keji]er li 10 Ibb tOttt: 'Bul u thein m
•alwiytbt dcnolcd by hi, tk, or fa hi. iliire wu i numlty fur tha
■lUMiUoD or loo other irlliblM. Ihsl tn Ihetc or, u, m. >*, Hit Hint.
■ ton* mUhl be In Uio highm pl»M. bui that in thiu ii, m, t>. ul,
• tht KmfloDe mlgbt bt In 1h< uildillo placa : und, luily, IhiU In thna,
• la i I«K>II why Ih* bveiiMrm'iif Ibe »ilg mide uk of >ii lyllBblM und
■HH eight; therefDR In the Oemaii lee wbat advantage he bai xained
■1 i;)liih]c go. I
mn. itipicin. I
NotwithtUndlng Ihii u;(unienl of Kepler, II it well known Ihit the
French to Ih* ill •yllablo eC Ouldo add a wTenlh. namelT. it, or the
InEro^uciion whujeof bj Le hlilre an account it given In pag. 160 oT thli
Alfonso Gesualdo, archbishop of Naples, and received
his instructions in music from Pomponio Nanns,
a celebrated composer of madrigals. Blancanns, in
his Obronologia Mathematiconim. speaks thus of
him : ' The meet noble Carolos Gesualdns, prince
' of Venusium, was the prince of musicians of our
' age ; for he having recalled the Rytbmi into
' music, introduced such a style of modulation, that
' other mnsicians yielded the preference to him ; and
' all singers and players on stringed instruments, laying
' aside that of others, everywhere eagerly embraced his
' music' Merseunua, Kircher, Doni, Berardi, and in-
deed the writers in all countries, give him the character
of the most learned, ingenious, and artiticial composer
of madrigals, for it was that species of music alone
which he studied, that ever appeared in the world.
Blancanns also relates that be died in the year 1614.
Alessandro Tassoni, who celebrates him in the
highest terms of commendation, adds to bia character
this remarkable particular, viis., that he imitated and
improved that melancholy and plaintive kind of Mr
which distinguishes the Scots melodies, and which
was invented about the year 1420, by James the
F^rst, king of Scotland, and to this he ascribes the
sweetness of his admirable compositions. >
There are extant no fewer than six books of
madrigals for five, six, and more voices, of this
excellent author ; the first five were published in
parts in 1665 by Simone Molinaro, a musician, and
chapel-master of Genoa. The same person in the
vear 1613 published them, together with a sixth
i>ook in score, with this title, 'Partitrara delli eei
libri de' madrigali a cinque voci, dell' illustrissimo
et excellentiss. Prencipe di Venosa D. Carlo
Gesualdo. Fades di Simone Molinaro, Maestro di
OapeUa nel Duomo di Oenona. In Cenoua, appresso
Giuseppe Pavoni." Polio.
It is very probable that the last of these pub-
lications was made under the direction of the author
himself, and that it was intended for the nse of
students ; the madrigals contained in it are upwards
of one hundred in number : the sixth book was again
published in parts at Venice in I61(i. In a MS. in
the music-school of Oxford, mention is made of two
other collections of madrigals of the prince of Venosa,
as namely, one by Scipio Stella in 1603, and another
by Hector Gesualdo in 1604; but that by Molinaro
above-mentioned, as it is in score, seems to be the
most valuable collection of his works extant, and
probably may include the whole of his compositions.
Doni speaking of the fourth madrigal in the sixth
book, 'Resta di darma nota,' calls it 'quell' artifi-
ciosissimo Madrigali del principe;'t and indeed it
well deserves that epithet ; for lieing calculated to
express sorrow, it abounds with chromatic, and even
enarmonic intervals, indeed not easy to sing, hut
admirably adapted to the sentiments.
Kircher. in the Musurgia, tome I. p^. 599, men-
tions the following madrigal, being the first of the
first book of Molinaro'e edition, as a fine example of
the amorous style.
dbyGoo*^lc
HISTORY UF THE SCIENCE
BA - CI aua- '
BA • CI fM-yi
In do la mlk vt '
U de la mta vl - u, . ' . d - U de
^ I - J^i I I .1 — I
BA • CI <
1^
ctkorm'iniiolate hor miTendeteQ ■
^^
clior m^no-la-to, o*horm'iDao-lB
^^
^
^^
^
'ohorm^DOoU - te hor mi ren-d«-l« ilao - k.
at£:J-ij iJi^^
bar miTeodetoU
o-la - to, clioriii'Iimo-lB -
D'hoTmirendetail oo
fr^J' MC^^
mirtudetellao - re tun^mi rendet«
hor miteihde - - toil go - re
pervoi coimien oh'impari
^S
JXJ i-J .JlJ ^j^
horndrendeteil i
pervoi eoDDieo ohlmpari oome nn' ■! -ma n-pi
hor miTendeta II
pervtd oonnleD ch'impari
J pj-j-j
bor minn-de
pervd oaouieD di'impatl
^
te, BOD Hut* 11 dwi dl n
1 — f7"l
^^
^^
dbyGooi^le
iSD PRAdriOE or HU8I0.
^m
nanMiteU dnot di idm - U
^m
^^
i'^rn
DODisDtsQ dool di mor-ta
^P^
p«iT d mo - rt, opw ti .
al-man-iri - Unanwnldil dootdi m»
I J JAJ
p« M ino - ™.
ikMiiteildiKildl nw
• pur d BO
^
^
moh'im-fM-ri
■entoil dnoltf
Bia - ra per Td ocooien eb'iia-p«- ri
per vti ooDoteQ cb'im-p*- ri
U^-LL
=fp^=n
ID Note 11 dool di
nn* al-mftra-{ri • tanoo raite U iatA di
duU di mor - to.
ntmieDto il dool ^ mor
^
U dDDl di
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OF THB SdEKCE
D,9,l,zcdbyG00*^le
AND PRACTICK OF M08IO.
vot tut - to ri-po - M, deh, doh ■'io poWBei U vortri dolci b« - ci, U voBtri dole! b» -
deb, deb lio po • tead U Toetri dold ba - oi, U voibri dold ba -
fe=TF
3
Jo 1 J^- ,. 1
Tl
- 1 - J J 1 f* r J 1 J =^^=?
^
i»
mUvi - taB- id
1 " ^
0 obe dd - eenw-ri - re.
I
lamia v1 . U fi-ni
□ che dol - ce mo-ri-re,
.. ff. ,.! .. "^F p 1 -iJ .-o — ^
^^
, ',
Umlairl - ta fi
ni - -ran., ohedol - «amo-ri - -
"it r [f (" — Vt-^ — 1 — trd — i^ — |-
. . d
UirnU »i - Ufl-Di
-re lamUvf -
t» 6 - ni - re o . . che dol - oo mo - li - -
k- - d
=
Umiavi -
ta 6 - ni - » 0 die
And page 601 of the same tome of the Uoaurgis,
he recommeudB the nineteenth m&drigaJ of the third
book, 'Dolcisaimo Bospiri,' u «n example of aorrow.
Again, the »ame author, page 608 of the same
tome of the Mnaur^, recommends the twenty -second
madrigal of the sixth book, ' Q'lk piansi nel dolors,'
tu an example of joy and exnltation.
The diHtingnishing excellences of the compositiona
of this admirable an&or are. Rne contrivance, original
hirraony, and the sweetent modulation conceivable ;
and theee he poasessed in so eminent a degree, that
ooe of the fioeet mnsicianu th>U these later linies
0 cbudol-oeino - ri - ft?
Cablo Owcaum, Pkboitb Di VmoaA.
have known, Mr. OemiDuni, has been often heard
to declare that he laid the fonndation of his etndiea
in llie works of the Prencipe di Veaoaa.
CHAP. XCI.
Thb prince of Venosa is not the only person of
rank who has distinguisheil himself by hia skill in
mneic. Kircher mentions an earl of Somerset ae
the inventor of a certain kind of Chelys or viol of
eight chords, which contained all the aecreta of miisic
in an eniineDt degree, and ravished every hearer
dbyGooi^le
U2
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
with admiration. Mnsnrg. tom. L pas. 486.* And
Walther says of Maorice, landgrave of Hessa Oasael,
tlut he waa an excellent composer of mnrio. Peacham
Bpeakg to the same purpose, and gives the following
account of him: —
' Above others who canyeth away the palme for
excellency, not onely in mnricke, bat in whateoever
ia to be unshed in a brave ptince, ia the yet living
Maobice, Landobavb of ^ebskn, of whose owne
composition I have seene eight or ten severall setts
of motets and solemne mnaicke, set purposely for his
owne chsppell.t where, for the great honour of
some festival], and many times for hia recreation
onely, he is hia owne oi^ganist Beddes he readily
epeaKeth ten or twelve severall Isugosges ; he is eo
universal! a schoUer, that comming, as he doth often,
to his university of Marpnrge, what qnestioDB soever
he meeteth with set up, as the manner is in the
Germane and oar universities, bee will ex tempore
dispute an houre or two (even in bootes and spurres)
apon them with their best professors. I paaae over
hie rare skill in ohinugery, he being generally
accomited the beet bone-aetter in the country. Who
have seene his e^ate, his hospitality, his rich fur-
nished armory, hia brave stable of great horeee, his
curteeie to all strangers, being men of quality and
good parts, let ^tem speake (he rest.'} But to be
more particular as to his skill in mnuc. Valentine
Qnckias began a work entitled ' Open metrici sacri
' sanctomm, Dominicalinm et feriamm,' bat never
finished it ; thb work was completed and published
by Maurice, landgrave of Beese, abore-mentioDed.
GiovAHHi CaooB, of Venice, flonrished at this time.
He was chapel-master of St. Mark's, and very pro-
■ Wikumotaoiiriof SomanM tBWbnntlMb««Dlliiatfairnuh
niulal liutnnsiBt ni^ be HefftiBd. Bdwnd SoDcrveC, nurquli of
Wamnir, tlu trind ud IliTaiiilM of kfaf ChnlMl. mt nmvuMs lot
Uilamnlnfknilti, whlehbtamdHTomd ts mulftat la ■ Utttg koek
— '-ltd ■ A Mnnrr of lb* unM *M HuUlngt gf (tiek InnnUoot H it
■Dl IcuallWiHlBd ts han Irisd u>d pMftstail rtBrftnaH noUi
iR loitl / Sim vriaWd ta lUI, ud rind uHa> tlu IbrM*B tncta.
Walpdt kM ■!*« aa aMOial of llu MiiiMnta ri thb toot, not man
••m tkaa fiM, fa Iha IbUsvtni i ' " '
tatnlBf a daltaikin to ChtilM Ikt t
FInt, peritonudmi
|bgbu a Ikl of aa
' > eaalau wm to I
« to (u* all tba ai
; tunr la ennnraa Hj tuf Uag belli out
pnrnt tholi beinf taifn ; bow to wrlta
D dl«j and, tn ibort, how todr. or all
1 Iwt bni oat ■■ran Iboonlr oh of wblah
■ Calalogaoof BoTalaDdNobleAnUwia
A ha wai abroad, uid m
*■ p«fl. 99. It Homi I
I* Ortn, 1 ft taodi
iba >B^Mi, who, Ihaoch ths
Bdfht Htcam hbn fW bb Snn
iTfttfd n,i
tha pntaatant powen ; hot btlns I
bo wm nonipMled to ■nirandn' hi
k> npauMsn nrr Mgh In
w nan hli hod wa* tha ilRn of a
hildaoftbehlgbeulanrOMilladlils
the pTDUt
bllW, w
^^,i
and iHnd U) dar* li
la dM In IMl. and la ao
babljjT the immediate sncceator of Zarlino. Zacoon^
in his ' Frattica di mnnca,' published in 1696, styiea
him vice-msater of the chapel of St. Mark; from
whence it ia pretty certain that he must at first ha,ve
been the Bubslitnte of Zarlino in that ofQce. Morley
commends him highly ; and Peacham says that Tor
a full, lofty, and sprightly vein, he was second to
none , he adds, that while he lived ha was one of flie
mcnt free and brave companions in the world.
Nevertheless his compoutions are all of a devoot and
seriooB kind, and of these, his Penitential PaaliiM,
which have haen printed with English words, are
the beet
SiTHDS OiLTiaiin, the eon of a poor peasant named
Jacob Ealwits, of Gonchleb near Sachsenhnrg in
Thoringia, \na bom on the twenty -first day t^
February, in the year 1£56. He received the ni-
dimenlB of learning in the public school of Fnncken-
hansen, but, after three yean stay, was ruDovied to
Msffdeburg, from whence he was sent to the oniveraily
of Leipsic, having no other means of support there
than the contribnlionB of some persons whom he had
made his friends. His parsoits in learning were
varions, for he is not more celebrated as a mnaifaaa
than a chronologer ; bat it ia in the first capacity
that ho ia here spoken of; and indeed he waa deemed
so able a proficient in muaic, that very early in his
life he had the direction of the choir in the unirent^
church, and soon aft«r becanw preceptor in mnsic io
the Siihul - Fforte, or princi[Ml s«tool in Uppo-
Saxony ; ten yeare after which, he became ebater
in the chnrch of BL Thomas in the city of Leipaic,
and fellow of the college there, in which stations he
died on the twenty-third day of November, in the
year 1617, or, as some write, 1615. Tbt fliiiMtiii—
of hie reputation procured him many invitations to
settle in foreign universities, hut he declined them
all. His musical writings are, 'Melopeiatn. sen
' melodite condendae rationem, qoam vnlg& musicam
' poeticam vocant,' printed at Erforth in 159S, ae
Lipenins places it, or, acconling to othen, in 1602.
Id 1611 he publiahed his Opuscnla Mosica, and in
the year after, his Compendium Mnsicnm, a book for
the instruction of beginnera ; but a metiiod of sol-
miaation by the seven syllables, BO, oa, ra, OA, LO^ Ha,
«i, having then lately been introduced, ,vriuch he
seemed greatly to approve, he republished tt in tha
same year, with tha title of ' Muncn artia pmcepta
nova et faiullima, Ac.' Ue also published ' Exer-
' citationes musicas,' in number three. In 1616 he
composed the hundred and fiftieth Psalm in twelve
parts, for three dnnrs, on the nnptisls of Osapar
Anckelman, a merchant of Hamburg, and caused it
to be printed in folio at Lwpeic
Of the Exerdtationes, tite first ia on the modes of
the ancients, and contains a catalogue of oompodtioDa
by the old German, Flemish, and Italim masten ia
those several modes.
The second of die Exercitadonea is entitled ■ De
' Initio et Progreesn mnsicea, et aliie quibusdam ad
'eam rem speotantjbas.' This appears to be the
substance of lectnree read by the author in the public
school at Leipuc, and is a very learned, ingenious.
dbyGoo^le
Cau.XOL
AND PRACTICE OF MDSia
448
and entertBining compodtion. In it bo t>kee notice
of that inveDtion of an anonyrooua Dntoh mnsician
for avoiding the matatione, by giving to the septeDarjr
the syllablee bo, or, di, oa, lo, ma, hi, which, as hu
been mentioned in a preceding note, Kepler has
taken notjco of and reprehended. The two firat
pacta of tha Ezercitationes were printed at Leipaic
in 1600.
Calviaina in thi> discoorse incUnea to the opinion
that polyphonona ronsic was unknown to the ancient
Greeks ; and for fixing the era of its invention,
observes that Bede makes use of the terms Ooncentus,
DiscantoB, Organis, from which it U to be inferred
that he was not able to oarry it higher than the
beginning of the eighth centnry, abont which time
Bede wrut«.
The last of the Exercitationes, printed at Leipsio
in 1611, contains a refbtation of certain opinions of
Hippolytns Hnbmeier, poet-lanreate to tbe emperor,
and a public teacher at Qottingen, who it seems had
written on mnnc
Oor oonntryman Bnder cHee Oalvisins in almoet
every page of his Principles of Unsic ; and in one
place in particnlar neea these words : ' Sethns Cal-
' visins, that singnlar mnsician, to whom the students
' of this abatmae and mysterious faculty are more be-
'holden than to all that luive ever written thereon.' His
ehronoloRical writings are greatly esteemed ; in them
he had the good fortune to pleaae Joseph Bcaliger,
vbo hsB given liim great commendatione : be wrote
against ^e Gregorian calendar a work entitled
'Elenchna Oalendarii Gregoriam, et dm)1ex Oalen-
'darii melioris formula,' published at Frankfort in
1612, and lastly, Chronologia, printed at the same
place in 1629.
GiovuTNi Maria Artdbi, an ecclesiastic of Bologna,
of whom mention has already been made in the
eonrse of this work, was the author of an excellent
treatise entitled ' L'Arte del Contraponto Bidotta in
' Tavole,' published in 1586, of whidi an account has
her^n-before been given, and also of a discourse
which he entitles ' L'Artnsi, overo delle Imperfettioui
' della modems Musica, Rogionamenti dm,' printed
at Venice in the year 1600.
The latter of these two treadsee is a dialijgue,
which the author introduces with the following
relation : —
' Upon the arrival of Margaret queen of Austria
at Ferrara, in 1598, with a noble train, to celebrate
a double marriage between herself and Philip III.
of Spain, and between the archdnkc Albert and the
iniknta Isabella the king's raster ; soon after tha
nnptials they visited the monastery of 8t Vito,
where, for the entertainment of their royal gnests,
the nans performed a concert, in which were heard
comete, trumpets, violins, bastard viols, double
harpe, Intes, flutes, harpsichords, and voices at the
same time, with such sweetness of harmony, that
the place seemed to be the mount of Parnassus, or
Paradise itself.'
On this occssion two of the auditors, who happened
to meet there, and were greatly pleased with (be
performance, enter into a conversation on the subject
of music in general. It is needless to follow the in*
terlocutors throng^ the whole of the dialogue, but h
may be taken for granted that, notwithstanding the
form it bears, it contains the sentiments of Artuei
himself, who, after delivering some very obvions
rules for the ordering of a musical performance,
whether vocal or instrumental, such aa the choice of
place, of instruments, of voices, and Isstly, of the
compositions themselves, declares himself to the fol-
lowing purpose : and speaking first of the Comet, he
says that the tone of that instrument depends greatly
upon the manner of tonguing it, concerning which
practice he delivers many precepte, which at this
time it would be of very little use to enumerate.
The comet is an instrument now but little known,
it having above a centnry ^o given place to the
hautboy ; Artnsi seems to have held it in high
estimation ; ids sentiments of it will be best delivered
in his own words, which are these : —
' To give the best tone, the performer on the comet
' should endeavour to imitate the homan voice ; for
' no otiier instrument is so difficult to attain to ex-
' c«llence on as this ; the tnimpcA is sounded hy the
' breath alone ; the lute by the motion of the hands ;
' the harpaichord and the harp may be attained by
'long practice; but the comet requires 'the know-
' ledge of the different methods of tonguing, and the
' ch^gee to be made therein according to the quality
' of the several notee ; a proper opening of the lipe
' joined to a ready finger attained by long habit ; all
' these excellencies were poeeessed by Qirolamo da
' Udine of Venice, and other eminent performers on
' that instrument who fionrished formerly in Italy.'
In his obeervations on other instruments he speaks
to this purpoee : the different construction of inBtm>
ments will occasion a diversity in their sounds ; first,
in respect of the matter of which they are formed ;
secondly, of the chords of some, and . the pipes of
others ; and, thirdly, to speak of stringed instmrneuts
only, by reason of the manner in which the chords
aro struck. Under these severs) heada he makes the
following remarks, vis., that the Into l>eing a larger
instrument than the guitar, the sound thereof is
more diffused ; as a proof whereof he says, that a
string of the one being put on the other, will produce
a change of tone derived from the effect of the
different instrument ; and that for the same reason,
a gut string being put upon a huiieichord, the sound
tbereof is lost, or scarce heard. Fwtber, that a rilver
string will produce a sound more or less sweet, ac-
cording to the quslity and degree of the alloy with
which the metal is attempered ; and that if a string
of 'Spanish gold, tbt alloy of which is harder than
that of the Venetian, be put on a guitar, it will
render a sweet, but a string of pure gold or ulver an
nnpleaeing sound. As to pipes, he says there can b«
no doubt but tiiat leaden ones have a sweeter tone
than those of tin or any harder metal. And as to the
percussion of chords, he says that if s chord of metal
or gut be struck with the finger, it mast produce a
sweeter sound than if struck by any tMng else.
These obeervations demonstrate the imperfections o|
instruments, Utongh in general they are but little
attended to.
Farther, the different tuning or temperature of
Digitized
byGoo*^lc
4Ai
HISTORY OF THE SCIBNOE
Book X.
instnuneots is such, that oftentimee one interval is
sounded for another ; and frequently in the diatonic
genoB one performer will observe the syntonous
division of Ptolemy, another that of Arifltoxenus :
and this also, says Uiis anthor, is an evidence of the
imperfection insisted on.
He utes from Ptolemy a pass^e, wherein it is
asserted that in wind-inetrnments no certainly of
Bound can be depended on ; and another from
Aristozenns to the same parpose, bat more general,
as applying to all inetmmenta whatsoever.
j^m hence he takes occasion to consider the in-
stramentB of the moderns, and the temperaments of
each species or class ; the iirst be makes to consist of
such as are tempered with the tones equal and the
semitones unequal, as the organ, harpsichord, spinnet,
mojiochord, and doable hup. The instramente of
the second clsse, under which he ranks such ae are
altered or attempered occasionally, are the hnman
voice, trombone, trampet, rebec, comet, flute, and
dulzain.* In the third class, consletiug of instruments
in which both the tones and semitones are equally
divided, are placed the lute, viol, bastard viol, guitar,
and lyre.
fVom this arrangement of instruments, and a com-
parative view of Uie temperaments proper to each,
Artnsi drawB a condnuon, which, if not too refined,
appears to be very judicious, namely, that in music
in consonance the instruments of the first and third
class ought never to be conjoined.
In the course of the dialogue Artusi puts into the
montb of one of the interlocutors this question, ' Had
' the ancients music in consonance, or not ? ' To this
the answer is, ' I deny that the ancients had the
' knowledge of all Utose consonances that we make
' use of, as clearly may be read in Aristoxenns, lib. L
* in Ptolemy, lib. I. cap. x and in Euclid, who says,
" Sunt consoua diatessaron, diapente, diapason et
" similia ; dissona autem sunt ea quie minora, qnam
" diatessaron, ut diesis, semitonium, tonus, seequi-
" tonus, et ditonua." From these authorities it must
' be believed that the audents had not the imperfect
' consonances, the thirds, and sixths ; or if they had
' any knowledge of them, they never used them, but
' reputed them discords.'
And touching the comparative excellence of the
ancient and modem music, Artnsi delivers his senti-
ments to this purpose : —
' The music of the ancients being more simple,
' caused a greater impression on the mind than can
' be effected by that of the modems ; which consisting
' in a variety of parts, whereof some are grave and
' others acute ; some proceeding by a slow, others by
• Tho Dnlubi, DihRwiH ailed lbs Doldno, !• ■ wlnd4nitniniem.
uud u ■ lanor u tlu \aatiiof. Broaurd ulli It Ibv Quvt FigoClo :
■nd wills, thu II U ■ imnll buincin, ThBl It Ii ■ kind of hiuttwr ■]>-
jttn from 1 psHage Id Don Quliou. In clw adTonlun of lb* pujnHl-
Sunuiuu Is ipnd Uw Hum of Mttlitndn'i flfehl. Peler, lb« niMlor
I latBrpnMil br <1k I'An Tiblon, inii ; ind Chirimlu li
___. V ,.._! aj^i^ thu !• lo UT hniilboTj;
ui( of ikill In uiulc, h* W
' a quick motion, divides the attention, and keeps the
' mind in suspense : so that although it may be said
' that the music of the modems consists in a richer
' and (uiieT harmony than that of the ancients, it is
' inferior to it in respect of the melody, and its power
' over the human mind.'
In the course of this dialogue, Artusi takes occasion
to celebrate Cypriano De Rore, whom he styles a
skilful composer, and the first that accommodated
judiciously words to music, a practice which before his
time was bnt very little understood by mnsiciaus.
Towards the end of the first of the Ragionamenti is
a madrigal for two voices of Adriano Willacrt. copied
as Artusi testifies, from the writing of the author
himself, and closiug with the interrol of a seventh,
though to appearance the cadence is in the diapason.
To this msdrigal is subjoined a letter printed from
the original manuscript of Giovanni Spataro of
Bologna, dated 9th September, 1524, purporting to
be a critidam on it, wherein the author, after many
honourable expressions in commendation of Measer
Adriano and his works, censures him for haviog, by
an unwarrantable kind of sophistry, made the madrigal
in qnestion, by the use of the flat signature, to appear
different &om what it really is.
Spataro's letter is replete with mnsical eruilitioa
Artusi says that it came from a good school, and that
the author was a moat acute musician. It is followed
by reflections of Artusi on what he calls MnsicA fitila,
in Latin Mueica ficta, or feigned music, that is to
say, that kind of music in wliich a change of the in-
tervals is effected in various instances, by the use or
application of the flat ni.tmoture : Artusi seems to Iw
no friend to this practice, and censures the multipli-
cation of the transposed keys beyond certain limits.
He then proceeds to rel^ the dispute between
Nicola Vicentino and Vincentio Lusitano in 1561.
The tatter maintaining that the then modem scale
was purely diatonic, and the other asserting that the
same consisted of a mixture of the chromatic and
enarmonic genera ; Artusi seems not to have attended
to the concessions made by Vincentio Lusitano,
which are so mnch the more worthy of note, as they
were made after a determination in his favour, and
nevertheless adopts his first opinion, and accordiufrly
approves of the sentence against Vicentino by the
judges in the controversy, Bartolomeo Esgobedo, and
Ghisilino D'Ancherts.
CHAP. XCII.
Ik Uie second of the Ragionamenti are contained
the censures of Artusi on a madrigal in five mrta
by an anonymous author, which, though it had Men
much applauded by the vulgar, is by him shown to
be very faulty.
Speaking of the ancient modes, and of the deeig-
uatiou of each of them by Euclid and Plolemy, he re-
marks that these two writers differ in the order of the
modes, though they agree both in the number and con-
struction of them ; for that in those of Ptolemy the
tones and semitones in the ascending, suoeeed in the
same order as those of Euclid do in
dbyGooi^le
Ohap. soil
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
445
Kotwithfltanding the several easays towards a tem-
perature which are to be met with in the writings of
Artusi, it is clear that he was not of the Arietoxenean
aeci of moBicians ; for of Ariatoxenns himself he says
that be is ' una discordante discordia,' and that among
bis followers there is inlinite confnBion,
He says that all the moderns are at variance with
respect to the number, the order, and sitnation of the
modes ; and that neither Udo, Guido Aretiniis, nor
Jacobns Faber t>tapnlensiB, seem to have understood
the meaning of Boetine, which he ascribes to the many
errors m the manuscript copies.
Arttud seems to agree with Qlareanns in making
the modes to be twelve in nnmber, bnt he differs from
him iu bis designation of tbem. By what artifice the
modes are made U> exceed the epeciea of diapason, has
already been mentioned ; and, as to the ditference
between the modes of Olareanna and Artnei, the
■abject a so nninteresting, that it merits very little
attention at this day.
Towards the close of this treatise, Artnai obeervee
that every cantilena is mixed and composed of two
modes, that is Co say, the anthentic and the plagal
napectively in each of the several species of diapason ;
and that a cantilena, by being made to sing both back-
ward and forward, may consist of four modes ; and
of this he gives an example in that enigmatical
madrigal composed by Oostanso Porta, inserted in
book V. chap. XLIV. of thia work, saying that it is a
fine and new invention.
In the year 1603, Artnsi published a second part of
(his work, the occasion whereof is related in the pre-
tace, and ie as follows : ' One Francesco Patricio, in
' the year 1686, bad written a treatise intitled " Delia
"po^ca deca historiale, deca dispntata," wherein
' discoursing of music and poetry, he takes occasion
' to speak of the genera of the andents, bnt in a way
' that in the opinion uf some was liable to exception.'
This book was severely censored by Hercole Bot-
trigaro in a disconsse entitled ' II Patricio, overo de
'tetracordi armonici di Aristoeseno, parere e vera
' demostradone dell' Illnetre Signor C^valiere Her-
'cule Bottrigaro.' In Bologna, 1693, in qoarto;
and Patricio's book coming also to the bands of
Annibole Meloni, a musician of Bologna,* he too
published remarks on it entitled ' II Desiderio di
'Alemanno Benelli,' a name formed by the trans-
poution of the lettera of the name Annibale Meloni ;
in it are some reflections, rather on the doctrines than
the character of PVancesco Patricio, wherefore he being
dead, Artnsi nndertook to vindicate him from the ca-
Inmnies of the one and the insinuations of the other of
these his adversaries.
The condnct of Artusi in the management of this
controversy is somewhat singular ; for although the
ucond part of the treatise Delle Imperfettioni, and
more especially tbe Consideration! MusicaJi, printed
St the end of it, are a defence of Patricio, and an
examen of Bottrigaro's book, II Patricio, in which
many errors contained in it are pointed out, and
PnCM M hi! Hoiikd pul of Um ImtlK Delia Imperii^ iiloni. mentloiu •
"orU at Mm wrtdDg. Fot Ilia prefeulon nt in lo Miek. Ihough Bfldrlgiio
<VlHhta' Holla Hu. U. AnnlbilaUalau DeeuadsUuilaanllnutl
UhlUrlH. Slgnorii drBglogu.'
most strongly marked ; yet to this very same Bot-
trigaro, the adversary of Patricio, and the aggreaeor
in tbe dispute, does Artusi dedicate his book, and
that in terms so equivocal, that it is not easy to
discover that he means at once to flatter and revile
him. In order to do this consistently, he very art-
fully affecte to consider Bottrigaro's book II Patricio
as the work of an anonymous writer, calling him
' I'Anttor del parere ;' and sticks not to say that in
calumniatiDg Patricio he does bat bark at the moon.
Artaei's book, besides that it is a defence of Fran-
cesco Patricio, contains also an enquiry into the prin-
ciples of some modem innovators in music : of these,
one named Ottavio Ottnsi, conceiving that the censures
of Artusi were meant to reach himself, wrote a letter
to Artnsi, wherein he advances the following absurd
poeitions, viz., that the discord of tbe seventh is sweeter
to the ear tliau the octave ; that the seventh may move
up to tbe octave, and the fourth into tbe fifth ; the
third into the fourth, and the fifth Into either of the
sixths. This letter produced a controveny, which
clearly appears to have terminated in favour of Artnsi.
To this second part of tbe treatise ' Delle Imper-
' fettioni della moderaa mueica,' are added ' Consi-
' derationi musicali ;' these contain the author's senti-
ments of Patricio and his work, as also the objections
of his opponent. They are delivered with a becoming
eeal for the honour of his memory, and in terms,
which though they bdicate a respect for the rank and
station in life of Signer Cavaliere Hercole Battrigaro,
sufficiently shew how far he ventured to differ from
him in opmion.
Nor did Artusi rest the dispute here : Annibale
Meloni, it seems, was his friend ; Ueloni had shewn
him his book H Desiderio, but Artusi excused Mm-
Belf from perusing it, aa not being willing to forward
a publication that in the least reflected on the doctrines
delivered by Patricio : he nevertheless entertained a
high opinion of its anthor, as appears by what he says
of him in the preface to the second part of his book
Delte Imperfettioni ; and afterits publication in 1594,
some remaining copies coming to fais hands, he re-
published it in 1601, with a preface, in which he
mtimatea an opinion then generally prevalent that
Battrigaro was the anthor of the book ; and upon
this he takes occasion to reproach him for arrc^tmg
to himself the merit of so excellent a work, and for
not openly and publicly disclaiming all pretence to
the hononr of writing it.
The moderation of Artnsi in his treatment of his
adversary is very remarkable, for he blames him only
for suffering an opinion to prevail that he was the
author of II Desiderio ; bnt he might have carried
the charge against him much forther ; for Bottrigaro
having got poesession of the manuscript at a time
when AnnilMle Meloni consulted him about it, he
caused a copy to be made of it. and had the effivntery
to publish it as bis own ; there is now extant an im-
pression of it with this tirie ' II Desiderio ; overo de'
' concerti di vari stromenti musicali, dialogo di musicn
' di Ercole Bottrigari.' In Bologna per il Bellagamba,
1590, in quarto, f
t H. Hiym. KoU^ da* llbil mi uUi lingua lulUu Luiiil. IIU,
dbyGoo*^le
M6
H18T0BT OF THE SCIENCE
Bow X.
In the yeu- IfiOi, Artnei pabUabed at Bologna
• small tract in qnarto, entitled ' Impreaa del molto
' R. M. Gioseffo Zarlino da Chioggia.' It Beeme that
Zarlino, some time before hie decease, agreeably to
the pracljce of many learned men in all Eftcultiee,
had chosen for himself a device ur impress adapted
to his profeosion, and alluding to that method of
reasoning which he had punned in die conrse of his
etudiee for demonstrating' the harmonical ratios. This
impress, which probably he might make the subject of
an iut^lio, or otherwise aasume, was a cube, on which
were drawn a variety of lines intersecting each other,
and forming angles in harmonical ratios, with this
motto above, 'OTAEN XQPrs 'EMOX that is to say,
' Nothing without me,' and underneath this, 'AEI' 'O
'ATrrO'2 * Always the same.'
The dfagiams inscribed on the throe apparent sides
of the above figure are snch as Zarlino, in ue course of
bis writings, had invented for the purpose of demon-
strating the ratios of the consonances. Artusi's book
is a commentary on the impress at large, with a formal
declaration of the doctrines referred to by it; but from
what has been said of the Helicon of Ptolemy, and the
rabsequent improvement of it, mentioned in the ac-
count herein-before given of Zarlino and hia writings,
tbe general import of these diagrams may be easily
perceived.
The foregoing account of Bottrigaro and Artnsi,
and the controversy between them respecting Fran-
cesco Patricio, renders it necessary to speak of the
treatise intitled H De«derio.
As to the book intitled II Dwiderio, it is a curious
and entertaining dialo^e on the concerts which at
the time of writing it were tbe entertunment of
persons of the first rank in the principal dties of
Italy, particularly Venice and Ferrara. The inter-
locQtors in it are Gratioso Desiderio, who, although
the title of the book is taken from his name, seems
to be a fictitioos person, and the author himself under
(be name of Alemanno Benelli. in the course of the
conversation, the prindples of harmony, ss delivered
by the Gredc and Italian writers, are investigated
with great learning and ingenui^, with a view to
eflablisb a preference of the modern to the ancient
mnmc. In support of his' argmnent, the sntbor
recnra to that which ie ostensibly the sobject of bia
book, and speaks first of the concerts at Venice;
next of those of the Academici Filarmonid at
Verona ; * and, lastly, of those performed in the
dncal palace at Ferrara, of which he gives a par-
ticular description ; for after taking nodce of the
grandenr and elegan<ie of the apartments, and par-
ticnlarly of that splendid room in which the concert
was accustomed to be given, he relates that the dnke
had in his service a great number of singers witb
fine voices, and excellent performers on various in-
struments, as well foreigners as Italians ; and that
the instruments made nse of in concert were the
comet, tmmpet, dulzain, flutes of various kinds, the
viol, rebec, late, cittern, harp, and harpsichord, and
these to a considerable nnmber.
After this general account of the instmmei^, the
author mentions certain others which himself saw at
the palace of the dnke, and were there preserved,
some for their antiquity, and others in respect of tfaa
singularity of tbeir constmction; among these ha
takes notice of a carious organ, formed to the re-
eraiblance of a screw, with pipes of box- wood all of
one piece, like a Ante ; and a harpsichord invented
hy Don Nicola Vicentino sumamed Ardmnsioo,
comprehending in Qie division of it the tJiree har-
monic genera. He adds that the multitade of chords
in Uiia astonishing instnunent rendered it very
difficnit to tune, and more so to play ; and that for
this latter reason the most skilfol performers would
seldom care to meddle with it : nevertbeless, be
adds, that Lujssasco, the chief organist of his lugh-
hkm, who it is supposed most have understood and
been familiar with tJie instrument, was able to play
on it with wonderful skill. He says that this in-
stmment by way of pre-eminence was called tfae
Arohicembalo ; and tiuit after the model of it two
organs were built, the one at Borne, by the order of
the Cardinal of Ferrara, and the other at Milan,
under the direction of the inventor Don Nicola, in
or about tbe year 1S76, who died of the plagne aooo
after it wss finished.
The anthor relates that the duke of Ferrara had
many Italian and foreign mosioians retained in his
service ; and a very large collection of musical com-
positions, in print and in manuscript, and a great
nnmber of servants, whose employment it was to
keep the books and instruments in order, and to tuna
the latter. The principal director of the mnsicBl
R tt nntwula aUolL IbU.
dbyGoo^lc
C3aA.r. XCUl
AND PBAOnOE OF MUSIU
447
performancfle was [Ippolito] Rorino, nuMtro di
ciq)pelU to hie tughneM the duke.
Whenever a c«noeTt wm to be performed et the
dnke's palace, circolar letters were issned, reqniriiig
the att^id&nce of the several performers, who were
only anch as had been previonsly approved of by
the doke and Lueessco ; and after repc^ed reheuwla,
waa exhibited that mnsicol entertainment, which, for
order, esactneea, and harmony, conld not be equalled
by any of the like kind in the world.
Helom Bays that of the V04m1 mnsie nsually per-
formed in thia and other conoerti in Italy, the can-
aones of Uie Flemish and French oompoeers were
B(Hne of the best He speaks of a oashim in Bologna,
thongh it is common in moat oidefl of Italy, Bpain,
md Portugal, vis., that of serenading or entertaining
ladies and great personages with ambnlatory oon-
oerts under their windows, and in the night ; and,
Intly, he eelebratea for their skill in mosic, and ex-
qoisite performanoe on snndry instmmenta, the
Udiee of the dockeea of Ferrara, and the nmu of St.
Yito,* whom be reeemblee to the Qracee.
CHAP. XOUL
SoiPioni Oiuno, (a Portrait,) a Neapolitan,
WM the aadkor of % treatise entitled ' Delia prattica
' Ktnnca Tocale, ci stnnnentale,' quarto, 1601. This,
thoagfa it spears to be an elabmts work, and pro-
nioet great instniction to each as delight in mmio,
contains little ntore respectiiig the sdence than is to
be fonnd in Boedna, Franchinns, Zarlino, Zaccone,
and other tiS the Italian writers. It appears by this
aothor that in his time instremental mosio was
arrived at great perfection in Italy, and more par-
tienlarly at Naples, for he gives a oopioos list of
composers and exoellmt performers on the Inte, the
organ, the viol, the guitar, the trompet, and the harp,
who flonrished in his dme, and were eiAer natives of,
or resident in that raty.
In the eighth chapter of his fourth book the author
intimstee tlwt he himself wh a performer on the Inte ;
and, beeides living direcdons for die holdmg and
tonching it, be explains with great perspicoity the
tablatnre of the Italians adapted to the lute of eight
chords; and first, he gives the cbaracters for time,
which are no other than those described by Adrian
le fioy, and which have already been exhibited. And
alter that the tuning as here represented : —
And afto these, the tablataie by figures according
to the Italian manner, as here represented : —
«. Cort. C6-,
-* — 1-
1 s-
-» 8-
*—
«. Cori. Qe-
f
/
h
11
!
b
*
9
a
«
■
1. Cord. Oe-
^J J_
/
8-
/
' ,
-t 8-
Gap. IX. of the same book treats of an instrument
teoembling a lute of seven chords, called by the
• TlHHmu m alabnUd fnllwltililll In mulo lir Aitud. to tlu
author fiordelletto alia Taliana; and cap. X. of
another of the same kind, called the Ura in Gamba,
having eleven chords, witji their several tunings, and
of the tablatnre proper to each, in fignree.
dbyGoo*^le
448
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
BookX.
Cap. XI. treats of the Violft da Qamba, an iustra-
tnent, as tha author remarkB, proper to accompany
the voice in einging. It appears that the ancient
method of notation for this instrument among the
Itutiana was by figarea. Tbia kind of notation was
practised both by the Italians and Spaniards, and
differs from the French tablature, which is by the
letters of the alphabet : who was the inventor of it
we are yet to leam ; Vincentio Galilei explained and
improved it; but, notwithstanding this, it has long
since given way to the TVench, perhaps as being
more legible and leas intricate.
This book of Cerreto abounds with curious par-
tjcnlan relating to music, bat it has been remarke<l
that the language and style of it are very indifferent.
Besides the several persons herein-b^ore particu-
larly enumerated, there flourished in this century
many very eminent masters, of whom little more is
known than their general characters, arising either
from their compoeitione, or their skill and exquisite
performance on the organ : among the former these
are highly celebrated, Giovanni Cavaccto of Bergamo,
maestro di cappella di S. Maria Maggiore; Jacqnes
Arcadelt, a FVenchman, a disciple of Joaquin, and
maestro di cappella to the Cardinal of Lorrain ;
Johannes Knefel, a German, maestro di capptella to
the elector Palatine; Lndovicos Senfelins, bom at
Zurich, maestro di cappella to the elector of Bavnria ;
Antonio Scandelli, maestro di eam>ella at Dresden ;
Gio. Maria Boesi, of Brescia; Nicolaus Rostius, a
native of Weimar, and master of music in the court
of the elector Palatine ; Gio. Battlsta Piuelli, a Genoese
by birth, and maatro di cappella at Dresden, As are
also these : —
Agresta, Agostino. Ingegneri, Marc AnL
Angelini, Oraiio. Lunra, Dorolnico.
Animucda, Paolo. Leoni, Leon.
Baccusi, EQppolilo. Lucatello, Gio. Batt.
fiasaani, Orazio. Macqne, Qiov. de.
Bellasio, Paolo. Mancini, Gurtio.
Belli, Gtnlio. Manenti, Giov. Pietro.
Bellhaver, Yincenzo. Marsolo, Pietro Maria.
Bertani, Lello. Masorelli, Paolo.
Blotagrio, Ot^lielmo. Maesonio, Tiburtio.
Blasius, Ammon. Molinaro, Simone.
Bonhomius, Petras. Moecaglia, Giov. Batt
Casati, Girolamo. Mosto, Gio. Batt
' Colombi, Gio. Bemardi. Nasoo, Giov.
ConiiB, Michele. Neuna, Pomponio.
Oonverai, Girolamo. Nodari, Gio. Paolo.
Corregio, Olaudio. Nucetns, Flaminius.
Donati, Baldasaare. Palma, G^o. Vincenso.
Duetto, Antonio. Pace, Antonio.
Eremjto, Oiulio. Pesenti, Benedetto.
Fai^nient, Noe. Peverm^us, Andreas.
Fanno, Francesco. Pizzoni, Giov,
Fattorini, Gabrietlo. Ponte, Giachos de.
Felis, Stefano. Fordenone, Marc AnL
Ferretti, Giovanni. Prgetorins, Hieronvmus.
Fontoijo, Gio. Quartiero, Pietro Paolo.
Gabrieli, Andrea. Quagliota, Paolo.
Gastoldi, Giaeomo. Eteggio, Spirito.
Uandl, Jacobus. Rossi, Salomon.
Rubiconi, CThrysoetom. Tumhoat, Giov.
Ruffo, Vincenzo. UCendahl, Aleesandro.
Sabino, Hippolito. Valcampi, Curtio.
Santini, Marsitio. Verdonck, Cornelius.
Scaletta, Oraaio. Vespa, Geronimo.
ScarabeuB, Damianus. Violante, Giov. Franc
Spongia, Francesco. Waelrant, Hubert
Spontone, Alessandro. Zoilo, Annibalc
Stabile, Annibale.
Of organists, the following were eome of the moat
eminent : GiosefToGuommi, of Lucca; OttavioBoriola,
organist of Milan ; and Annibale Patavina, of Venice ;
Johannes Leo Hasler, of Nnremberg ; Jacobus Paix,
a native of Augsburg, and orgoulet of Lawingen.
Of these it is to be observed that they were for the
most part natives of Italy, Gtermany, and FlandeiB ;
for it is strange to say, thftt, excepting England, thora
were almost the only countries in Europe in which
music may be said to have made any considerable
progress. Doni observes that Spain had in the conrae
of a century produced only two men of eminence in
music, namely, Christopher Morales and Franciecua
Salinas ; and among the French scarce any mnsiciaos
of note ore mentioned besides Jusquin d& Prez, Jean
Mouton, Creqtiilon, and Claude le Jeune.* In Eng-
land, I^e, Tallis, Bird, Bull, and Dowland, were
highly esteemed ; and it is confidently aaeerted that
in the general opinion they were equal to the beat
musicians of any conntry ; and the same is said of
Peter Phillips, an Englishman, organist to the arch-
duke and duchess of Aostria, Albert and Isabella,
governors of the Netherlands, residing at Brussela ;
but of these, and other of onr countrymen, menticn
will be made hereafter.
It has been already remarked, that during the loot
half of the sixteenth century, the madrigal was the
species of vocal compofdtion most practised and ea-
conraged ; and as singing was the usual entertain-
ment of the well-bred of both sexes, and had not
then given place to cards and games of chance ; the
demand for varie^ was so great as to excite an
emolation in all that were qoali&ed for it, to excel
in this kind of composition ; and innumerable were
the oollectione of madrigals which about this tinae
were given to the world by their respective authors.
They were generally published in an oblong quarto
sise, with both the notee and words printed in «
good character on tetter-press types, and without
bare ; from such books as Uieee it was held a disgrace
for any person of rank or education not to be able
to sing.f
la OppAT Nmmuidr. wiv Uw uithor oT a tnatlu prinMl at PuW by
Hkhiel ThmloB. with thla tlUa, ' CtflllHiins muilnlci nfnla caBet&
' innuKn UHTcaufle pluil cAtui ili^Wa cStnpuDctl nrO wtirt toaofa
■>1 utk nccentiuiidl um a«p1iiiIUi qoun pnetM,' rTlH Cglivlwa
lAntluinnd tutaiA adili ' hu grgansnun.'] TlwbMkMin iMiUte.
but tnio Um ttylo und clunctar of It. tl l< conjHlimd ta ba Dcarlj aa
muMrftirlniUiutiDn
i: Beisf M
dbyGoo*^le
CniP. XCIV.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
449
la conseqnence of this disposition in the public,
BDcb a profusion of vocal hnrmony was poured forth,
IS served rather to dbtract thao oblige the votariea
of the ecieoce ; and it became necessary to direct
thsir choice by a jodicioos selection of such com-
poaitioDB as were most worthy of their regard : to
this end, one Melchior Borchgrevinck, oi^asist to the
Mug of Denmark, pubhshed at Copenh^^n, in the
year 1606, a collection of madrigals for five voices,
entitled 'Qiardino novo belHsBimo de varii fiori
' mnsicali scleltissimi,' in two parte, the latter whereof
19 dedicated to onr king James I ; and about the same
time, four persons, namely, Pietro Phalesio, a book-
seller of Antwerp, and Andrea Pevemage, Hnbert
Waelraot, and Pietro Philippi above-named, three
excellent mneicians, in a kind of emoIatioD severally
published a collection of madrigals with the following
titles, Mosica Divina, Harmouia Celeste, Symphonia
Angelica, Melodia Olympics, with this uniform de-
claration of their contents in these words, ' Nella
'quale si contengono i pin ecc«Uenti madrigali che
' boggidi si candno.' They were printed for Phalesio,
sad sold at his shop, the sign of king David, in
Antwerp.
These compositions were to words of Petrarch,
Qmrini, Taeso, Marino, Fnlvio Testi, and other
Italian poets ; and in the memory of such as under-
stood and admired moeic, a favonrite madrigal held
the place of a popular song ; among other evidences
to this purpose, a little poem of Sir Philip Sidney,
printed with the soimeta at the end of his Arcadia,
banning ' Sleep baby mine,' may be reckoned as
one, as it is directed to be eung to 0x6 tnne of
' Basciami vita mia,' a tine madrigal of Noe Fugnient,
printed in the Mnsica Divina..
CHAP. XCIV.
Of English mnsioians, the first of note after the
teformaldon of religion, and indeed of masic itself,
which had been greatly corrupted by the use of in-
tricate measures, was John Marbeck, of Windsor,
a man to whom chnrch-music has greater obligations
than the world is sensible of ; for notwithstanding
the vulgar opinion that Tallis composed it, it is
certain that the cathedral musical service of the
church of England was originally framed by Mar-
beck, and that the musical notes to the Preces,
Suffrages, and Responses, as they ore at this day
song in choral service, were of his composition.
The history of this man has entitled him to a place
in Uie Martyrology of the zealous and laborious John
Pox, and is as follows : —
About the year 1S44, a number of perHone at
Windsor, who fiivonred the Reformation, had formed
themselves into a society ; among them was Anthony
Person, a priest, Robert 'Testwood, a singing-man in
the choir of Windsor, a man in great estimation for
Ms skill in music, and whose name occurs in Morley's
Catalogue of eminent English musicians at the end
~ I. accOTdlng to the enitiinie, being tiiought lo the Ubie. Uh
othen, demanding how I wii brDuaht up. Sl
ignorance. 1 go nov to Bc«k out lauie oJde M
Tiusicu uotnlntd' -
■oiae irhiipvivd
of bis Introduction ; the above-named John Marbeck,
who by a mistake of bishop Eumet is also called a
sin^g-man, but in truth was organist of the chapel
of St George at Windsor,* and one Henrv Filmer,
a tradesman of the same town. Upon intimation
given that these persons held frequent meetings,
Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, procnred a com-
mission from the king to search suspected houses
in the town for heretical books;! upon nbich the
four persons above-named were apprehended, and
their books seized, among which were found some
^pers of notes on the Bible, and a Concordance in
English, in the hand-writing of Marbeck. Upon bis
examination before the commissioners of the six
articles touching these papers, he said, as to the
notes, that he read much in order to understand the
Scriptures ; and that whenever he met with any ex-
position thereof he extracted it, and noted the name
of the author ; J and aa to the Concordance, that
being a poor man, be could not afford to buy a copy
of the bnglish Bible, which had then lately been
published with notes by Thomas Matthews ; and
therefore had set himself to write one out, and was
entering into the book of Joshua, when a friend of his,
one Tumer,§ knowing his industry, suggested to him
the writing of a Concordance in English, but he told
him he knew not what that meant, npon which his
friend explained the word to him, and furnished him
with a Latin Concordance and an English Bible ;
and having in bis youth learned a little Latin, he, by
the help of these, and comparing the English with
the Latin, was enabled to draw ont a Concordance,
which he had brought as far as the letter L. This
seemed to the commissioners who examined him a
thing so strange, that they could not believe it. To
convince them, Marbeck desired they would draw
ont any wofde under the letter M, and give him the
Latin Concordance and English Bible, and in a day's
time he had filled three sheets of paper with a con-
tinuation of his work, as far as the words given
would enable him to do. [| The ingenuity and in-
dustry of Marbeck were much applauded, even by
his enemies ; and it was said by Dr. Oking, one of
the commissioners who examined him, that he had
been better employed than his accusers. However,
neither his ingenuity nor industry could prevent his
being brought to a trial for heresy, at the same time
with the three other persons his fi-ienda and as-
sociates : Person and Filmer were indicted for
irreverent expressions concerning the mass; the
charge against Marbeck was copying with his own
hand an epistle of Calvin f^;iunst it, which it seems
wsH a crime within the statute of the well-known six
articles, and they were all four found guilty and con-
demned to be burnt, which sentence was executed on
all except Marbeck, the next day after the trial.^
Testwood had discovered an intemperate zeal in
dissuading people from pilgrimages, and had stricken
off with a key, the nose of an alabaater image of the
• Wood 10 dnciibei talm, vide Full, Oion. mnolSSO^ snd be it u
■tiled M the end of a compoillfon of hli herrininet (niBiled, mkeo ftmc
1 MS. In the bsnd.mliliig □[ loha Baldwins, I muiletio of WindMr
which wM eoinpleted In the ye«r liSl. NeTerthelmi, Blibon Buiiui
calli him s elnging-tiiin. Hlil. Reform, vol. I. peg. 3U.
t Acti mi Monament), edit, 1641, toI. II. jtg. MS.
- 1 Ibid. UO. { Ibid. I Ibid. 1 Iliil. la.
Digitized
by<5bogle
460
HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE
BookX
Virgin Mary, which stood behind the high altar of
St. G«orge'B chapel.* It is also related of him. that
in the course of divine service one of the same chapel,
named Robert Phillipe.f singing, as his duty re-
quired, on one side of the choir, these words, ' 0
* redemptrix et aalvatrix,' waa answered by Testwood
singing on the other side, ' Nod redemptrix nee
'sMvatrix.'f
For these offences, the fonr Windsor men, as they
are called, trere severally indicted, and by the verdict
of a partial jniy, composed of farmers under the
college of Windsor, grooaded on the testimony of
witnesses, three of whom were afterwards convicted
of perjury, in their evidence at the trial, they were
all found guilty of heresy, and condemned to he
burnt, whi^ sentence was executed at Windsor on
Person, Testwood, and Filmer the next day.§
It seems that the king, Notwithstanding the severity
of his temper, pitied the sufferings of these men, for
at a time when he was hunting in Guildford park,
seeing the sheriff and Sir Hurofrey Foster, one of the
commisBi(»iers that eat at the trial, together, he asked
them how his laws were executed at Windsor, and
upon their answering that they never sot on matter
that went so much against their cons^encea as the
trial of Person and his fellows, the king, turning his
horse's head to depart, said ' Alas, poor innocent* !'
But Marbeck being a man of a meek and harmless
temper, and highly esteemed for his skill in music,
waa remitted to Gardiner, who was both his patron ||
and persecutor, in order either to his purgation, or
a discovery of others who might have contracted the
taint of heresy ; but under the greatest of all tempt-
ations he behaved with the utmost integrity and up*
rightness, and, refusing to make any discoveriea to
the hurt of others, he, through the intercession of Sir
Humfrey Foster, obtained the king's pardon.
Having thus escaped martyrdom, he applied himself
to the study of his profession, and, not having been
required to make any public recantation, he indulged
his own opinions in secret, without doing violence to
his conscience, or giving offence to others, till the
death of Henry YIII. which happened about two
years after, when be found himself at liberty to make
a public profession of his faith, as an evidence whereof
he completed his Concordance, and published it in
• Act! tnl HonumiDU, tdlt. 1M1. tdI. II. ptg. M3,
1550 : he wrote also the following other books, ' The
' Lives of holy Saincts, Prophets, Patriarchs, and
'others,' quarto, 1S71, 'A Book of Notes and
' Common Places vnth their Expositions, collected
' and gathered together out of the workes of divera
' singular writers,' quarto, 1581. ' The ripping up
' of the Pope's Fardel,' 1681, ' A Dialogue between
* Youth and Age ; * and other booka.^
The history of Marbeck's troubles is given at large
by Fox, who notwithstanding he was acquainted with
him, and had the relation of his sufferings from his
own mouth, in the first edition of bis Acta and
Monuments, published in 1562, instead of a con-
fessor, has made him a martyr, by asserting that be
actually suffered in the flames at Windsor with
Person and the other two ; which mistake, tbotigk
he corrected it in the subsequent edition of his work,**
expbsed him to very severe censures ^m Cope,
Parsons, and other Romish writers.tf
The musical service thus framed by Marbeck, and,
for anght that appears, without the least asBistancc
from any of his profeesiDn, was published with this
title, ' The Boke of Common Praier, not^d.' The
Colophon, ' Imprinted by Richard Grafton, printer
'to the kinges majestie, 1550, cum privil^o ad
'imprimendum solum,' with the name .lohn Mer-
becke in the preceding page, to intimate that he was
the author or composer of the musical notes, which
are so very little different from those in use at this
day, that this book may truly be considered as the
foundation of the solemn musical service of the
church of England.
A particular account of this curious work will be
given hereafter, in the interim it is necessary to amy
that it was formed on the model of the Romish ritoftl ;
as first, there was a general reeitatory intonation for
the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, and such
other parts of ^e service as were most proper to
be read, in a certain key or pitch ; to the introitus.
supplications, suffrages, responses, prefaces, postcom-
munions, and other versicles, melodies were adapted
of a grave and decent form, and nearly as much re-
strtuned as those of St. Ambrose or Gregory ; and
these had a harmonical relation to the rest of the
service, the dominant in each being in unison ^th
the note of the key in which the whole was to be
'Aie abilities of Marbeck aa a muncian may be
judged of by the following hymn of his compositioQ.
t Tide FuU, OuB. udd ISSO.
il. Il.f rloWd Id li7«. ia whicfa be un of Mul
theblshdp
■Miou mrflijle wiih thul thing wl
Monstnenla. edit. 1841. roL II. |
bnoflii himMlC Isio tnnible.
diTlM tCPgMDH fm to hclDDIU * I
dbyGooi^le
0»iP. XCIV.
AHD PEAOTICE OP MESIO.
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bare our Sa-vi-'
Chriit the Lord im - pe
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it pleased him so to
who
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for
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dbyGooi^le
HISTORY OF THE 60IENCE
Fsc--. — f f »■ . . ^
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_iti_
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-— ^
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hath borne ChruL Je
CHAP. XCV.
CBKieTOPHER Tye, bom at WeBtminfiter, &nd
brought up in the royal chapel, waa moBical pre-
ceptor to prince Edward, and probably to the other
children of Henry YHI. In Uie year 151$ he waa
admitted to the degree <rf doctor in muaic at Cam-
bridge ; and in 1548 waa incorporated a member of
the auiversity of Oxford; in the reign of queen
Elizabeth be was organist of the royal chapel, and a
man of some literature. In music he waa excellent ;
and notwithstanding that Wood, speaUng of hie
compositiona, saye they are antiquated, and not at
all valued, there are very few compositiona for the
church of equal merit with hia authema.
In an old comedy or acenical history, whichever it
ia proper to call it, with the following whimaical
title, ' When you aee me yon know me,' by Samuel
Rowley, printed in 1613, wherdn are represented in
the manner of a drama, aome of the remarkable eventa
dnring the reign of Henry VIII., ia a conversation
between prince Edward and Dr. Tye on the subject
(^mnsic, which for its curiosity is here inserted : —
' Prince. Doctor Tye,
' Our musick's lecturer? Pray draw near ; indeed I
' Take much delight in ye.
' 7^e. Id muricke may your grace ever delight,
' Though not in me. Muricke b fit for kings,
' And not for those know not the chime of atrings.
' Prince. Tniely 1 love it, yet there are a aort
' Seeming more pure than wise, that will upbraid it,
' Calling it idle, vaine, and frivolous.
John Mabbiok, Oboimist or Wisusoitx.
' Tye. Your grace hath laid, indeed they do upbraid
' That teanne it so, and those that doe are such
' As in themselves no happy concords hold,
' All musicke Jarres with uem, but lounda of good ;
' But would your grace awhile be padent,
' In miuicke s praise, thus will 1 better it :
' Musicke is heavenly, for in heaven ia musicke,
' For there the seraphins do sing continually ;
' And when the best was bom that ever waa man,
' A quire of angels sang for joy of it ;
' What of celestial was reveiud to man
' Was much of musicke : 'tis aaid the beasts did worship
' And sang before the deitie Bupemall ;
' The kingly prophet sang before the arke,
'And with bis musicke enarm'd the heart of Saul:
' And if the poet fail us not, my lord,
' The dulcet tongue of musicke made the stones
' To move, irrationall beasts and birds to dance.
' And last the trumpets' muucke shall awake the dead,
' And clothe their naked bones in coates of flesh,
' T' appeare in that high house of parliament,
' When those that gnash their teeth at musicke's sound,
■ Shall make that place where musicke nere was found.
' Prince. Thou givest it perfect life, skilful doctor ;
' I thanke thee for the honour'd pruse thou givest it,
' I pray thee let's heare it too.
' Tye. 'Tis ready for your grace. Give breath to
' Your loud-tun'd instruments.
' Loud mueicie,
' Prince. Tia well : methinkes in this sound I prove
ipleatage.
dbyGooi^le
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
45S
' Hia high and lady pitch, breathed his sharpest aj
' ADOther aweetnesse and harmonioiu sound,
A milder Btraine, another kind acreement ;
' Nor keeping steddie meaoe amongst the rest,
' Corrupts them all, so doth bad man the best.
' 7^^- YnoQgh, let voices now delight his princely eare.
'Prince. 'Doctor I thank you, and commend your
' I oft have heard my father merrily epeake [cunning,
' In your high praise ; and thus his highnesse saith,
' England one God, one truth, one doctor hath
' For musickea art, and that is Doctor Tye,*
' Admired for skill in musick's harmony.
' Tye. Your grace doth honour me with kind acceptance,
' Yet one thing more I do beseech your excellence,
' To daine to patronize this homely worke,
' Which I unlo your grace have dedicate,
' Prince. What is the title ">
' Tye. The Actes of Iheholy Apostles turn 'd into verse,
* Which I have set in several parts to sing ;
'Worthy acts and vrorthily in you remembred.
'Prince. I'll peruse them, and satisfy your paines.
'And have them sung vithin ray Other's chapel.t
*'Mr. ^^
Pt1d«, uid ii lold ihsl he i> at unDli wllh the muquil at DoiKl.
CrMnmrr, Goe bniF thii jDUngslH to tbfl ehappcl] ttrblgbt.
The prince will not leune, Sir, ud rou ihs]] imut for It.
Bnmu. O rood mr lord. I'll nuke hbn plf hit books to-norrow.
Cranmirr. That ihaU not Krte your lunio. Awir 1 uj. (X*if.l
hIi giieeVuh (at more knowledRa in i moDeth.
Dolh houtcly haunt him whemo'ere ha gott,
Tfr. 'Til tnomr lord, and now ihi piinoa fcreelvn it,
chQdieh properlr lo called, '. i. Ihs muui at gone, bsl to tbs niut« of
It viiL doublleu K*m veiy atrann, anlng he h^ not beon Kuiltj of
any fauLt, that Browno ihouJd be wrilpl at all, but Cianmer't order may
be accountMl fpr. The practice of ■hipping ihe roial cMldim bj proij
BroKmchrrtmrallaua, Uapprari Hal tin priici Itad antMrr froxf far
corncMMi. namilj, Banvabr Plupatiick. a leiy ingenloui and accom- ine
eiatint youth, who tKcame Ibe founder of a noble familj of that name Faibn
Ireland. He li treouenUT menllgned in the Journal of klne Edward about
VI. br tbenameot Mr. Bacnab)'; and in Fuller*! Wonhiea, Middleaex, ba» 1
pag. 179, are Hnral letlen from the king lo him wben upon hit <««l«i hemif
Md cononn Ibr buTte^fare. 'fi'ur'net, in hS' tcconnt of Mr. Murray <S pam c
whlpplng-bor to king Chaitei I. In tho'gpeclMiirrNo. sisTll • (lorr of tbb
■omawbat to thla pupne of Hi. Wake, Oither to the archblibop ot tliat lingbi
nanu. A (clmDlfJlaw of hu, whom he loved, had commlttad • ttolt, the A]
The Acts of the Apostles, mentioned in the fore-
going dialc^e, were never completed, but the first
foorteeu chapters thereof were in 1553 printed by
Wyllyam Seres, with the following quaint title : —
' The Actes of the Apostles, translated into Eng-
'lyahe metre, and dedicated to the kynges moste
* excellent maieetye by Ohristofer Tye, Doctor in
'miuyke, and one of the gentylmen of bys graces
'moBte honourable Chappell, wyth notes to eche
' Chapter, to aynge and also to play npon the Lute,
' very neceseorye for studentes after theyr stndye, to
' fyle theyr wyttes, and alsoe for all Christians that
' <^not synge to reade the good and Godlye storyes
' of the lives of Christ hys Apostles.'
The dedication is "To the vertuona and godlye
' learned prynce Edwarde the VI.' and is in stanaiB
of alternate metre, of which the following may serve
as a specimen : —
' Your grace may note fro tyme to tyme
' That fome doth uodncake
' Upon the Pfalma to write in tyme,
■The vtrfe pleafaunt Co malce.
' And fome doth t»ke in hinde to wtyte
' Out of the booke of Kyngn, %
' Beoufe thtj Cc jrour grace dilyCE
' Id fuche like godlye thynget.
• And hH of all, I yoate poQie man
* Whofe doingn are l\ill bafe,
' Yet glad to do the beft I can,
' To geue unto your grace.
ihat he leei Judge Nieboiaa
XmTh'
bul tbat he wa> Ibejudge lo
iioij retell
Seethe Stale Trial!,
vol. II. pac. m.
the an
Ihal attempted a lenloo of the
PtahH in Englieh. He did to then
umhergfabi.
ui forty of them : the
IMI in Ihenrintsd eoUecUan
uaediic
buichei were
br John ifopklna. WUIIam Wblttingham. Thomai
Norton, and oiben.
Steinbold'a Tenlen wat Ilia
S
i'ys
Inttaeumeyearwaapubl
'enltenllal Fxlmi br
SlrThon.aWy.l,.Ddint
■of the Paaller of David,
nd"dm-
•Wa]iainHnnnii.teryapti
^J^.' ThU Willtan. Hi
o( the chapel, lamp.
^Nathan lei, alterwaidt I
■alb or I
Cheqwbiok
ot the royal chapeL
Fvthet mention of him wiU
he made
heitarter.
Id the rear laal aboTO-men Honed
were alio puhUihed
SolQinon. n^Ih other
' Cerlayn chasten uken ou
• chapter) of i"lie holj ecrlpiL
■ioloEnglUbmettrbv Juh
'fbrth, imprinted, and unt
of the
Whycb Ptdv
irbei of late wem let
-ueir enti
led tobe tl
edoyngeaof Mayiter
■Thomaa Slemhold. lateoi
meoflh
-.teimbee, aabythra
MDL.'
ahoTcmentkin^ aie
c lixth of the book of Wltdotn caUed Si
nd (he third of the aecond epitlle of St. Fan
le Pialmi are I'talm iii. ijlil. lUL liii. <
.which hai eH»ped a diligent enqubr. Inpreiecutlan
mmlng •elect ponlcai of acciplure ia the purpf" "'
lurehei, Dr. Tye vetailed tome chapter) -— ■-- ■
let Ihem to musfcal nota aa above la re
n of Ibe Acta of
dbyGooi^lc
HISTOET OF THE SCIENCE
• Haw tboDgfac it good nowe Co RC/te
' Tlw ftofitt of the iSa
' Euen of the twelve, u Luke doth wijCi
' Of all ibtir worthy faSa.
< UdU ibc t»t 1 do not ad,
* Not nollijdge take awqrc }
' Aad though my ftyle be gtollc and baa,
' The bach peiceyue you nuye.
' And yf yoor put Hull in good parte
■ My fymple worke lo lake,
* My wynn to this I mil conuart
' All vaynE ihyngei to fcrfalce.
' My callynge >i another waye.
'And eke plealaunt and fwete.
'That filch good thinga jtmz grace might moae
' Your lute when ye iflaye,
* Inftede of fangcs of wantan lone
' Thele ftoiiet tfaeo to playc*
' So [hill yoor grace pleale God the Lorde,
' In walkynge la hit waye,
■ Hi> liwet and Ifatutea to lecorde
' In your heart nyght and dayc.
' And eke your reilme (ball florilh llyll,
' No good thyngE Qiall deciyc :
' Your Aibjeaci OaU wth right good wyll
' Thele wotdei recorde and 6ye,
"Thylyfe.Okyoge, too* doth fliyne
" At Godi boice doth thee teacbe :
■ Thou dolt ut ftde with fuch do&ine
" At ChTTlte'i t]s& dyd preache.
Here follow the two initial etanzas of the fonr-
teeath chapter of the version of the Acts of the
Apostles, with the music by Dr. Tye. In the
original the anther has given the mnsic in eepuate
parts, bnt here it is in score-
tha; oft tjmet djd
==
— "-ir ' :-r"~r^
„==
-7i—r-\r-
J. „ . !_-,-
^ thej- oft
iW ■■ ..
tymc! dyd
— «ri — ^h
-■
To - ge - thctthey in -
0 d,d
H— .r-
cum the Si
M-gOgH <rf
tymea dyd
nse,
" )=
To
ge - therthey in - to dyd c
5=1=
im the
Si - ... gCB.
Of Joes, *hele
tymes dyd
e — s-^
use,
— — ?=F
To
ge - ther they in . lo dyd
1— J If f -^^-t-
^=^
the SI
n» - goge of
=j 1
To - go - therthey in
Si - na - goge of Jucs,
■ J J
^
Jnea, where they dyd prexhe
^m
■:.mk&i
lye sckeGod'agntcethento atcheve, That they Eospake
lye aekoOod'sgrwethen to UoheTegThntthsy ao spako to
irhere they dyd preache and 1
where they dyd preaohe and
- lye BckeGod'sgrxce then to at • cheve, Thatthey
■Uag, would ba a jmol that Ibe king played on the lula.
dbyGoot^le
AND PBACTIOE OP MUSIC.
fe^
=^1 1~[— , -. p. . -
[j" f> ^f-.4^g=f^^r»^^
f^^:^^
"T . Jne >Dd Greke, Out. maoye
dvd be-leve, that manya dj-d
be
=3=
levr.
Jno
and OT<^,Tlut muij^ dyd b«
love, that manjedyd-r'. he - leve.
be
- leve.
they
■i (° r i-f^ — i — ^^^=
•0 (pak« to Joa wd Greke,
That manye dyd be - leve.
be
b-?^— H-
leve.
Jne and
Greke,
That many dyd bo ■
DOCTOB CHBISTOmEB TtK.
The Acta of the ApoBtles set to miisic by Dr. Tye,
were mng in the chapel of Edward VI. and probably
in other places where choral service was perfurmed ;
but the success of them not answering the expectation
of their author, he applied himself to another kind of
Btndy, the composing of music to words selected
from the Psalms of David, in four, five, and more
parts ; to which species of harmony, for want of
a better, the name of Anthem, a cormption of Anti-
pbon, was given.
In Dr. Boyce's collection of cathedral mnsic, lately
pnblished, vol. II. is an anthem of this great musician,
' I will exalt thee,' a most perfect model for com-
position in the church style, whether we regard the
melody or the harmony, the expression or the con-
trivance, or, in a word, the general effect of the
whole.
In the Aehmolean MS. fol. 189, is the following
note in the hand-writing of Anthony Wood : ' Dr.
' Tye was a peevish and hnmonrsome man, especially
' in his latter days, and sometimes playing on the
' organ in the chaprel of Qn. Eliz. which contained
' rnnch mnsic, hut little delight to the ear, Bhe wonid
' send the verger to tell him that he played out of
' tnne, whereupon he sent word that her ears were
' out of tune.' The same author adds that Dr. Tye
restored church-music after it had been almost miucd
by the dissolntion of abbies. Ibid.*
Thomas Tallis, one of the greatest musicians that
this country ever bred, flourished about the middle
of the sixteenth century. He is sud to have been
organist of the royal chapel to king Henry VIII,
king Edward VI. queen Mary, and queen Elizabeth ;
bat the inscription on his grave-stone warrants no
anch assertion ; and it is certain that in the reigns of
Edward VI. and queen Mary he was simply a
gentleman of the chapel, and served for seven pence
halfpenny per diem : under Elizabeth he and Bird
were gentlemen of the chapel and organists.
The studies of Tatlis seem to have been wholly
devoted to the service of the church, for his name is
not to be found to any musical compositions of songs,
ballads, madrigals, or any of those lighter kinds of
music framed with a view to private recreation. Of
mnilcUni. Ii in Ibehind-wiiUni of Antony Wood. In Ibt CUs)i)|pie gf
the many disciples who had profited by his in-
struction. Bird seems to have possessed the greatest
share of his affection, one proof whereof was a joint
publication by them both of one of the noblest
collections of hynms and other compositions for die
service of the church that ever appeared in any age
or country.
The work above alluded to waa printed by
VantroUier in 1575, with the title of ' Cantiones
' quie ab argumento eacne vocantur quinque et stix
' partium, Autoribus Thoma Tallisio et Gnitielmo
' liirdo, Anglis, serenissinue regime majestati &
' priuato sacello generosis et ot^anistis.'
This work was published under the protection ot
a patent of queen Elizabeth, the first of the kind that
had ever been granted ; and as the privileges con-
tained in it are very singular, and serve to show
what a share of royal favour they possessed, the
Bubstanco thereof, as printed at the end of the book,
is here inserted : —
'The extract and effect of the queues maiesties
' letters patents to Thomas Tallis and William Birde,
' for the printing of musicke.
' Elizabeth by the grace of God queue of Eng-
' lande, Fraunce, and Irelande, defender of the faiui,
' &c. To all printers, bokesellers, and other officers,
' ministers, and subjects greting. Know ye, that we
' for the especiall affection and good wil that we have-
' and beare to the science of musicke, and for the ad-
* vauncement thereof, by onr letters patents dated the
' xxii. of January in the xvii. yere of our raigne,
' have graunted full priviledge and licence unto our
' welbeloved sen'ants Thomas Tallie and William
' Birde Gent, of our chappell, and to the overlyver
' of them, and to the assignes of them, and of the
' Burviver of them, for xxi. yeares next ensuing, to
' imprint any and so many as they will of set songe
* or songes in partes, either English, Latins, French,
' Italian, or other tongues that may serve for musicke
' either in chiircho or chamber, or otherwise to be
' either plaid or soonge. And that they may rule and
' cause to be ruled by impression any paper to serve
'for printing or packing of any songe or songes,
' and may sell and utter any printed bokes or papers
' of any songe or songes, or any bookes or qnieres of
' such ruled paper, imprinted, Also we straightly by
' the same forbid all printers, bookesellers, Buhjecta
* and strangers, other then as is aforesaid, to do any
' the premisses, or to bring or cause to be brought
dbyGoo*^lc
HISTORY OP THB SCIENCE
Bo<«S.
' out of any forrea realtnes into any oar dominionB,
' any songe or Bonges made and printed in tmy forren
' countri(<, to aell or put to Bale, uppon paine of our
' high diapleasure, Aad the ofTender , iu any of the
' premisses for every time to forfet to ns our heires
.' and successors fortie shillings, and to the said Thomas
'.Tallin and William Birde, or to their assignes, and to
' the aasignea of the surviver of the, all and every the
' said bokes, papers, songe or songes, We have also
' by the same willed and commaniidal our printers,
' maiaters and wardens of the misterie of stacioners,
' to assist the stud Thomas Tallis and William Birde
'and their assignes for the dewe execution of the
' premisses.' *
Ames, in his Typographical Antiquities, pag. 353,
takes notice that the dedication of this book to queen
Elisabeth is very remarkable ; he does not say for
what, but it is obvious that he means for its uom-
position and style, which is most pure and elegant
Latin. The epistle dedicatory it is more than pro-
bable was written by Richard Jlulcnster, the master of
Merchant Taylor's school, an excellent grammarian,
and a man of the first degree of eminence in his pro-
fession. There are prefixed to the book some Latin
commendatory verses, with his oame to them, in
which is the following compliment to queen Elizabeth
upon her skill in music : —
'Regia majestu, statu gloria nostrie ;
' Hanc in deliciis semper habere lolet,
' Nee conteuta graves alioram audire labores
' Ipsa etiam egregie voce manuque caniL't
In this work is contuned that admirable com-
position of Tallis, ' 0 sacrum convivium,' better
known to the world, indeed, by the initial words * I
' call and cry,' which, with the whole of that anthem,
were adapted to the notes of ' 0 sacrum convivium'
by Dean Aldrich. Charles RuOer, of Oxford, a man
of great learning, and known to the world by his
attempts to reform the English orthography, com-
mends ' Absterge Domine,' the second of the Cautiones
Sacrte of TalHs, in the highest terms, and makes use
of the authority of it for several purposes.
It is commonly said that Tallis was organist to
Henry VIII. and the three succeeding princes his
descendants; but it may well be doubted whether
any establishment of the kind was known till the
l>eginning of the reign of queen Elizabeth, when
Tailia and Bird were severally appointed organists of
the royal chapeL And here it may be necessary to
mention, as has been hinted before, that the ancient
foundations of conventual, cathedral, and collegiate
churches in this kingdom, although less ancient than
the introduction of organs into the church service.
jo™ ot the HOW
vUei
ihct p»«.U or thi llkb kind, It »
r«3
dmbett tiy S:
k™.
hattfokinf^t
l«(«lnilotT»IIU
Bin), ud ilM
Miiri.7.ht«yi
beT*n>rbllnrv.
udabauid.
g UMruy propntj.. publbhed by S
Aid U 3pp«,r.
M>( Jforin VH
vrri
BMrf ^ UU
lhn>tt^T,aflttm siting il. A
rwK.j-. A,ti,
BItp. BrU., Art.
Jot
Bolt, pag.
•Tk>ata.ll^
jlcrytftvtgia
■ irUk ratal fm<
hiLM.«iS,c.
■N0TkS,.At,
,l,oll,«,-l.io''d
'y.
fcw«V»0(*rtBJ»
^plof-
take not the least notice of such an officer aa the
organist, hut are endowments uniformly in favour of
canons, the greater and the lesa, lay vicars or clerks,
and choristers. Nay farther, no provision for an
organist appears either in the list of the choral
establishment of Edward VI. or in that of qoeen
Mary, though in both, trumpeters and players on the
sackbut occur. Hence it may fairly be presumed,
and Dr. Benjamin Rogers was of tbat opinion, tliat
anciently the duty of the organist, as well in cathedral
and collegiate churches and chapels, as in ahbies,
monasteries, and other religioiw houses, was per-
formed by some one or other of the vicars choral, or
other members of the choir ; % an evident proof of
the flourishing state of music among us in those
early times. In this view, and this only, can Tallis
be considered as oiganiet to Henry VIII. Edward VL
and queen Mary.
Notwithstanding that he was a diligent collector
of musical antiquities, and a careful peruser of the
works of other men, the compositions of Tallis,
learned and elegant as they are, are so truly original,
that be may justly be eaid to be the father of the
cathedral style ; and though a like appellation is
given by the Italians to Paleatrina, it is much to
be questioned, considering the time when Tallis
flourished, whether he could derive the least ad-
vantage from the improvements of that great man.
It may therefore be conjectured that he laid the
foundation of his studies in the works of the old
cathedralists of this kingdom, and probably in those
of the German musicians, who in his time had the
pre-eminence of the Italians ; and that he had an
emnlation to excel even these, may be presumed
from the following ptarticnlar. Johannes Okenheim,
a native of the Low Countries, and a disciple of
lodocue Pratensis, had made a composition for no
fewer thui thirty-six voices, which Glareanos says
was greatly admired. Tallis composed a motet in
forty parts, the history of which stupendous com-
position, as far as it can now be traced, is as fol-
lows : —
It was originally composed, in the reign of qneeu
Elizabeth, to the following words, ' Spem in alioin
* nuiqnam habni prteter in te Deus Israel, qui ins-
' ceris, et propitius eris, et omnia peccata homionm,
' in tribnlatione dtmittis, Domine Deus, creator cali
' et teme, respice hnmilitatem nostram.' In the
' reiga of the first or second Charles some person
' put to it certain English words, which are neither
* verse nor prose, nor even common sense ; and it
' waa probably sung on some public occasion ; bnt
'the composition with the I^tm words coming to
' the hands of Mr. Hawkins, formerly organist of the
' cathedral church of Ely, he presented it to Edward
earl of Oxford. Diligent search has been made for
it among the Harleian manuscripts in the British
I. •ikllUt'thBdulj'of Ih'ete^!
U tbui nuule tOiblowInf
dbyGoot^le
Chap. XCV.
AND PRACTICE OF MUSIC.
MuBeam, bnt without effect. As to the raosic, it is
adapted to voices of five different kinds, that is,
tenor, counter-tenor, altns, or mean, and treble, eight
of each ; and though every inneician knows that, in
strictneea of speech, in a musical composition there
can in reality be but four parts, for where there are
more, some must rest while others sing ; yet this of
Tallis is so contrived, that the melody of the fonr
parts is so broken and divided as to produce the
effect of as many parts as there are voices required
to sing it.
It is somewhat difficult to account for the pnbli'
cation of the Cantiones Sacrse in the original Xatin
worda at a time when it is well known that our
liturgy was completely settled, and the whole of the
church service was by law required to be performed
in the English tongue. It is true that the first act
of uniformity of Edward VI. allowed great latitude
in singing, and left it in a great measure in the dis-
cretion of the clergy either to adopt the metrical
psalmody of the Calviniata, or to persevere in the nee
of the solemn choral service ; and accordingly we see
them both practised at this day ; hut that the sin^ng
of anthems and hymns in the Latin tongue was per-
mitted under the sanction of this licence, there is no
authority for saying ; and indeed, the original com-
position of music to the Latin service by Tallis and
Krd, is not to be accounted for hut upon a suppo-
sition, which there is nothing to contradict, that they
were of the Romish persuasion, and that the Can-
tiones Sacrie were composed for the use of queen
Mary's chapel : with respect to Tallis, it may be
observed that his name occurs in a list of her
establislimeut yet extant ; and as to Bird, that besides
bis share in the above work, there are several masses
of his composition in print, which favonr the opinion
that he was once of the some commnnion.
But notwithstanding his supposed attachment to the
Bomish religion, it seems that Tallis accommodated
himself and his studies to those alterations in the
form of public worship which succeeded the accession
of Queen Elizabeth. With this view he set to music
those several parts of the English liturgy, which at
that time were deemed the most proper to be sung,
namely, the two morning services, the one compre-
hending the VeniteexiiItemus.TeDcura, and Benedic-
tus ; and the other, which is part of the Commnnion
office, consisting of the Kyrie KIcison, Nicene Creed,
and Sanctus ; as also the evening service, containing
the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis ; all these are com-
prehended in that which is called Tallia's first service,
as being the first of two composed by him.* He
also set musical Notes to the Preces and liesponses,
and composed that litany, which, for its excellence,
is sung on solemn occasions, in all places where the
choral service is performed.
As to the Preces of Tallis in his first service, they
are no other than those of Marbeck in his book of
Klllnneal or Ui< chonl h:
IIM of Mi-^Iragen, i»1
vecUoned. Wlien the Ci
Common Prayer noted : the responses are somewhat
different, that is to say, in the tenor part, which is
supposed to contain the melody ; but Tallis has
improved them by the addition of three parts, and
thereby formed a judieioos contrast between the sup-
plications of the priest and the suffrages of the people,-
as represented by the choir.
The services of Tallia contain also chants for the
Venite esultemus and the Creed of St. Athanasius ;
these are tunes that divide each verse of the psalm or
hymn according to the pointing, to the end that the
whole may be sung alternately by the choir, as
distinguished by the two sides of the dean and the
chanter. Two of these chants are published in Dr.
Boyce's cathedral music, vol. I.*
hoDgh tl cmreiiKindi with Ihit imllphoml
" >io y«t SiO, bjr
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'hon ihoT imoteh ■guliiii the ptKtiM of
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me mitlta by Field, miDinorot AldermBrf, London.
Diectlie agilnM ili> Bmn of dl>bie ironhip u ttaen
I : ' In ali tlityr order of htvIh Ihere it no edlBcatioD
John Biptiil, Sc, TbDi Ibcf f caphini llw holy
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L'eiyeamei Whynotu
■ mate dey br d v praye ri and luppltcatlo
nellie'
' lit and conienlent lo nnjnlSe the name
daybydaywilbeetuln
. ' Ibe Tery eetf-iame Paalmi of pnlie w
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dbyGoot^le
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
The care of eelecting from the Common Prayer
the offices most proper to be sung, was a matter of
Bome importance, especially as the Rubric contains
no directions about it ; for this reason it is supposed
that the musical part of queen Elieabeth's liturgy was
setded by Parker, archbishop of Canterbury, who,
besides that he was a great divine, an excellent
canon-lawyer and ritualist, and a general scholar,
was also a skjlful musician.* Besides the offices
above-mentioned, constituting what are now termed
the Morning, Communion, and Evening Services in
four porta, with the preces, responses, and litany,
that is to say, the veraiclea and suffrages, Tallia
composed many anthems, as namely, ' 0 Lord, give
' thy holy spirit,' in four parts ; ' With all our hearts,'
' Blessed be thy name,' ' Wipe away my sins,' and
others in five parts, which are printed in a collection
entitled ' The first Book of selected Church-music,
' collected out of divers approved authors by John
' Barnard, one of the minor canons of the cathedral
' church of St. Pan],' 1641.
Tallis died the twenty-third day of November, 1586,
and was buried in the parish church of Greenwich in
Kent Strype, in his Continnatjon of Stow's Survey,
London he found in the chancel of that church, npon
a stone before the rails, a brass plate thus inscribed ia
old letters ; —
EnCcrred hen dolh ly a wonhjr wjghl,
Who hr long tyme in mufick bore Chc UU I
Hii name to (hew, wai Thomu Tillys hjght.
In honeft uertuou. lyff he dyd eKell.
He firru'd long tyme in chippe] vrilh grete pnyft.
Power fooettygnn reygnef (i thing not often Iccne)
I mean kyng Henry and piynce Edwatd'i dayet,
Quene Miry, and Eliiabcth our quene.
He muyed wu, though children he had none,
And lya'd in loue ^1 thn and thirty yeni
Wyth toyal fpowlc, what name yclept wu Jonc,
Who here entomb'd, him company nowliean.
Ai he dyd lyue, fa alfo did he dy,
Jn myld and quyet Tort, O happy man f
To God fUl oft for mercy did he cry.
Wherefore he Ijntt, let deth do what he can.
The stone on which this inscription was engraven
was repaired by Dean Aldrich.f
The following motet of Tallis is the second in
order of the Cuitiones Sacnn published by him and
Bird in 1575. The Miserere that here follows it, is
the last composition in the same collection : —
' Migniflcal. the nlnMr-rielil i the ililywvenlh irtih Nunc Dimillii; reUeal fiom Ihe penMullon of queen Miry, at
'and In every or Ibam the choice lefl free tor the mlniiur to me In- the ecclolulictl tonei, which ibeir him to hi
■dUfcrenlly, Ibo one tor the oiher. SeeinB, Iherrfore, ihey prelend no church-muiic.
•quartelal other Pialmi which ate ill lilmmanrcr apjwlnled lUo to be t Tlieie wai also in the old chnrch of Gre
■iaiyitail. Why dolheu u much offend and di^ileMe Iheit lute? hraulnmenioiy of Rlchattf Bowjet.Beollcinai
"— — '■■-- '— ■>■ '1 by inch ai In their quMn Eliia^Oi'!" Hed^2eTuly, IMI, and'
lelanSmu
'io^Uy reeirivedat his entrance Inia the i
t alteady p
itone, parportln; (hat B^ph
HH making the oqian. vtiieh
- 'ihcd hr Jamn WUU. hi
na, ihe only lacred hymni they are Ihal Chrlatlanll)' hilh peculiar unto puinei, wbo completed II, and erected tbe atone IS7S. But the aid
ItMlf ; the iHher hein; unKs too of pr^ and Ihaiiktgiviiic, but tonii church being pulled down >oon idcr tho yeat IIW. in order la tlM ».
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Ohap. XOVL
AND PKAOTICE OF MUSIC.
465
The Miserere above exbibitcd is in its contextare
extremely curious tuid artificial, as will appear by the
following analyaiB of its parts : —
, c- ■ - ( DoK Partes in una, GanoQ in
1 Siiperius pnmDs - I „n;Hn„„
2 Snperiue SecnndoB Canon in unisoao.
SQnatuor partes in nna, Canou
in nnisono, creacit in dtiplo,
Arsin et Theun.
4 Contratenor - - Canon in nnisono.
5 Tenor . - - - Voluntaria para,
6 Bossns primus - Canon in nnisono.
7 Bassns eecandns - Canon in nnisono.
BiCHABS Farbant, a fine old composer for the
chnrch, was a gentleman of the chapel royal in 1B64,
and after that roaster of the children of St. George's
chapel at Windsor, with an allowance of 812. Gt. 8d.
per annum for their diet and teaching. He was also
one of the derke and one of the organists of the same
chapel. Upon occasion of these latter appointments
he reaigned his place m the chapel royal, but in 1569
was c^led to it again, and held it till IBSO, when
Anthony Todd was appointed in his room. Hie places
in the chapel at Windsor he enjoyed to the time of
his death, which is supposed to have been in 1586,
Nathaniel Giles, then a bachelor in music, b^ng
sworn into both of them on the first day of October
in that year. His compositions are in a style re-
markably devout and solemn; many of them are
printed in Barnard's Collection of Chnrch-music
above-mentioned, and a few in Dr. Boyce's cathe-
dral mntdc.
BoBERT Fabbokb, or, as Us name is spelt by
Morley, Pkrsons, wae organist of Westminster abbey.
Th^a foUowing epitaph on him is in Camden's Remains.
Upon Master Panons, Organist at Westminiter.
Death pasiing by and hearing Parsons play,
Stood much amazed at his depth of skill,
And said ' This artist must with me away,'
For death hereaires us of the better still ;
He was sworn of queen Elizabeth's chapel ou the
seventeenth day of October, 1563, and was drowned at
Newark-upon-Trent on the twenty-fifth of January,
1569. Many of his compositions are extant in MS.
Butler, in his Principles of Music, page 91, speaks
in t«rma of high commendation of the " In Nomines"
of Parsons, and those also of Tye and Tavemer.*
• Th< um In Homing b m vEiy obacnn dMlcnUlon ot ■ diiuIceI
compcnllliHi, tat <( m»j lipOty s tagut, in which Ihe piinripd and lb«
npli diflia In lbs ordu of ultnlutloii ; auch ( laevt i^g ulled by
muiSclui > Fngn* in NmnlnB. u not IwlngB tuguelnitrlclneu. Agiin.
Lt queit
bno in In HomlD* of Ifulcc Tiveri
mtltted 'UoTDins ind Eicnlnc Pnlei
'ronerpsrt«,tol»«on(inchorchEi,' prinled by Jol
amtf sppeui Ihit th* Uon nltn to tin niccleenlh
fn Iha Vulf itc, Itaanfh U b Ihc nrenlieth In our tnni
KMon of the (bUowing nae in )(, ' Lsinbhnur in
'nomine ndniHitTimagnlflublniui.'
In the Life of Milton by hb nephew Fhllllpa, pnfli
But upon looking
•euuibit old booE
cnt]> ikilled
La uid Ihu John HUti
Panont left behind him a eon named John, mho
became master of the choritters in Wettminster
Abbey. In the year 1616, v.wm the recommend-
ation of Dr. Mountain, the Dean, he niaa elected
one of the parish clerks, and also organist of the
Paruh church of St. Margarets, 'Westminster.
See a subsequent part of this work.
CHAP. XCVI.
Ih what manner the theory of music was anciently
taught in the nniversitiea of this kingdom, especially
that of Oxford, may in some measure be collected from
the accounts given by Wood of the studies and exer-
cises of candidates for degrees in that faculty. As te
the practice of it, it is evident that for many years it
was only to be acquired in monasteries, and in the
schools ofcathedral and collegiate churches. The music
lecture in Oxford was not founded till the year 1626;
and before that time, although there were endowments
for the support of professors, and the reading of lec-
tures in divinity and other faculties, we meet with no
account of any thing of the kind respecting music.
It is probable that this conBidoratlon, and a view
to the benefit that might accrue to students in music,
in common with those intended for other professions,
from public lectures, were the motives of that princely-
spirited man, Sir Thomas Gresham, to the foundation
of that college in London known by his name, which
within those few years has ceased to exist ; and the
endowment for the maintenance of persons of suf-
ficient ability to read public lectures in the faculties
and sciences of divinity, astronomy, music, geometry,
law, physic, and rhetoric.
To this end he by his will, bearing date the fiflh of
July, 1575, declares the uses of a conveyance made by
him dated the twentieth day of May preceding, to his
lady and certain other trustees therein named, that is
to say : ' As to a moiety of his buildings in London
' called the Roiall Exchange, after the determination
' of the particular estates in the whole by the said
' conveyance limitted, to the maior and cominalty and
' cittezens of London and their snccessors, willing and
' disposing that they shall every year give and dis-
' tribnte to and for the sustentation, maynetenaunce,
' and findinge fonre persons, from tyme to tyme to be
' chosen, nominated, and appointed by the said maior
' and cominalty and cittezens, and thur successors,
' mete to rede the lectures of divynitye, astronomy,
'mnsicke, and geometry, within his then dwelling-
' honse in the parish of St. Hellynes in Bishopsgate-
' streete, and St. Peeters the Pore, in the cittye of
' London, the somme of two hundred pounds of law-
' full money of England, that is to say, to every of
' the said readers for the tyme beinge, the somme of
' fifty pounds yerely, for their sallanes and stipeodes
' mete for four sufficiently learned to reade the said
' lectures, the same to be paid at two usual tearmea
' in the yere yerely, that is to say, at the feastes of
' th' annunciation of St. Mary the virgin, and of St
' Mighell th' archangell, by even portions to be paid.'
And as concerning the other moiety which ho had
by his said will disposed to the wardens and comi-
2b
dbyG00*^lc
466
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
nalty of the mirteiy of tlie mercers of tlie cittye of
London, the testator wills and disposes it to them
and their snccessors that they shall ' yerely pay and
' distribnte to and for the fin^g, sostentation, and
' maynteoanDce, of three persons mete to read the
' lectares of law, phiaicke* and rethoricke, within his
' dwelling-hoase aforesaid, 150^, Tiz. SOt. to each of
'the said three persons.'
Theae endowmeota, hv the terms of the will, were
poitponed during the life of lady Gresham, Sir
Thomas died an the twenty-first day of November,
1579, and his lady on the third of November, 159&;
iqwn which the proviMona foi the lectures took effect
In die beginning of the year sncceeding the death of
lady Gresham, the mayor, &c. of London, and the
Mercers' Company, wrote to the nnireraitiea of Oxford
and Cambridge, re(iQesdng a nomination to them seve-
rally of peraons properly qualified for professors, in
consequence of which nomination three were chosen
from each university ; the seventh, that is to say, the
mnaic profeasor. Dr. John Bull, was appointed by the
special recommendation of qneen Elizabeth.
Having elected the professors, the city and the
Mercers' Company ncKt proceeded to settle the course
and sabjeeta of the lectures ; and this waa done by
cntun ordinances and agreements, bearing date the
sixteenth day of January, 1597, between the nwror
and eommonalty and ci^zens of London on tiie first
part, the wardens and commonalty of the mystery of
MercerB of the eamo city of the second part, and the
lecturers elected and appointed and placed in Gresham
house on the third parL
It was for some time a matter of debate wbetjier
the lectures shonld be read in English or in Latin, or
in both languages ;* the reasons for reading them, or
at least the divinity lecture, in English, are extant in
Strype's edition of Stowe's Sorvey, but at length it was
agreed that they shonld be read in both languages.
The ordinances above-mentioned may he seen at
large in Strype's edition of Stowe, vol IL Append. II.
page 2, and also in the preface to Ward's Lives of
the Gresham Ftofessors : what concerns the music
lecture is in these words ; —
' The solemn muaick lecture is to be read twice
every week, in manner following, viz., the theorique
part for half an hour, or thereabonta ; and the prac-
tiqne by concent of voice or of instruments, for the
rest of the hour ; whereof the first lecture to be in
the Latin tongue, and the second in the English
tongne. The days appointed for the solemn lectures
of mnsick are Thursday and Saturday in the after-
noons, between the hours of three and four ; and
because at this time Mr. Doctor Bull 'is recom-
mended to the place hy the queen's most excellent
majesty, being not able to speak Latin, his lectures
are pemutted to be altogether in English so long as
he shall continue the place of the music lecturer
there.'
The ordinances above-mentioned appoint the days
and honrs for reading the several lectures ; but these
were not finally adjusted till the year 1631, when
the rea^ng was confined to the law terms,
in the following order : —
Monday, Divinity.
Tuesday, CivU Law.
Wednesday, Astronomy
Thursday, Geometry.
Friday, Rhetoric
Saturday,
{St
And this is the order noi
7 observed-f
WiLLiAU BiKD, supposed to be the son of Thomas
Bird, one of the gentlemen of the cbi^l in the reign
of Edward YI^ was one of the children of the same ;
and, as it is asserted by Wood in the Ashmolean XS.
was hred up under Tatlis. There are aome par-
ticulars relating to tiiia eminent person that embairaaa
his history, and render it difficult to ascertain precisely
either the time of his birth, or his age when he died,
and consequently the period in which he fiourisbed.
That he was very young in the reign of Edward VI,
may he concluded from the circumstance that h<.)
lived till the year 1623, at which time, supposing
him to have been born in the first year of that
prince's reign, viz. anno 1546, he must have been of
the age of seventy-seven. And yet there are many
of his compositions, particularly masses, extant, whicJi
must be enppoaed to have been mode while the
chnrch service was in Latin, and he^eak him to
have arrived at great excellence in Ms &cnlty before
the final establishment of the liturgy under queen
Elizabeth. The most probable conjecture that can
be formed touching this particniar seems to be, that
he was a child of the chapel under Edward TL and
as his name does not occur in the chapel estaUish-
mcnt of queen Mary, that he was either not in her
service, or if he was, that he did not receive a
stipend as Tallis and others did whose names are
entered on the roll.
There can be vwy little donbt, conudering the
time when they lived, and the compomtioss by them
published separately and in conjunction, but that
both Tallia and Bird were of uie Romish com-
munion. It was not to be expected that in those
times the servants of the chml ahoald be eidier
divines or casnists, therefore it is not to be wondered
at if Tallis in particular accommodated himself to
those successive changes of the national religion
which were made before the reformadon was com-
pleted ; or that he and Bird ^ould afterwards fall in
of sir Tboma QRataam. knlfht. da««M.
The bOl *!■ icniin(1;r oppMad In tha Itama ot eoBBim br O* an.
Ibuon, with Dr. Pembnton, tks pfej^ prslCiMr, « tlnlrtai^i k«I
• ran Ibrkl* lift, h*H
Hun of SOL ■ nu la Uea of thtlr ipuUiiaHi In tte aoJIag* <
titan Adt idptikdi, ud Uul pnvUloa hi Uis uC tliu lellabiBi
tomurr. Thedtr, and alio Uu iiHr~'~'~
■Bd nnnda ■ pioper UHt ninelEiit pLi
nad in ; ud accordingly tfie lectnra
Bojvl Sichange.
U lefttba u Dmn
innaNltnlVM
balM li ontlaniin of Iha Eluvili It
«. UeiUHlln IMl.
dbyGoot^le
Chap. XCVI.
AND PRACTICE OP MUSIC.
467
with that establishment wfaicb bamshed anperBtitioa
and error from the chnn^, and become good snd
autcere proteetants.
Upon the accenion of qneen Elisabeth, and the
resoltitio&B taken by her to reform the choral service,
Richard Boiryer, who had been master of the
children under king Henry VIIL Edward VI. and
qneen Mary, was continued in that Btalion ; Dr. Tye,
who aeems to have been out of employ dnring the
reign of qneen Alary, and WilKam Bbtheman, were
made organists, and Taltia continned a gentlemaii of
the chapel royal. Ab to Bird, there seems to have
been no provision made for him at court : on the
contrarj, he went to Lincoln, of which cathedral he
had been chosen organist in 1563 ; nor does it ap-
pear that he had any employment in the diapel till
the year 1569, when he was appointed a gentleman
thereof in the room of Robert Parsons, who about
a ntonth before, 1^ accident, was drowned at Newark-
npoD-Trent" tfpon his being elected into the
cLapel, Bird was permitted by the dean and chapter
to execute his office of organist of Lincoln by a
substitute named Batler, of whom there are no me-
morials remaining.
It appears that in 1575, Tallis and Bird were both
gentleraen, and also organists of the royal chapel ;
bat the time of their appointment to this latter ofGce
cannot now be ascertained.
Wood, in his acconnt of Morle^, Fasti, anno 1588,
says of Bird that he was skilled ro the mathematics ;
and it there and elsewhero appears that Morley, who
was his disciple, was taught by him as well mathe-
matics u mnsie.
These are all the paiticnlars of his life that can
now be recovered, excepting that he died on the
fourth day of July in the year 1G23, and that ho had
a eon named Thomas, educated in his own profession,
who in the year 1601 was the substitute of Dr. John
Ball, and while he was travelling abroad for the
recovery of his health, read the music lecture for tiim
at Greabam ccJIege.
The compositions of Bird are many and vaiions ;
those of his younger years were mostly for the
service of the chnrch, and iavour strtHi^y the sap-
position that he then adhered to the Romish commn-
nion ; for with what reason ctra it be imagined that
a protestant musician should, not to mention other
liStia offices, compose masses? and of these there
tae three at least of Bird's aetnaKy in piint, ms far
three, another for four, and another for five voices.
The .work Herein before ipoken o^ entitled 'Can-
'tiones, qua ab argnmento sacrra vocantur, quin-
' que et sex partinm, Antoribus Thorn* TolHno et
• Goilielmo Birdo,' London 1575, oblong quarto, was
composed by Bird, in conjunction with Tallis, and
aeess to be the earliest of lus pablkotioDB, thoogh
be must at that time have been somewhat advanced in
years. He also composed a work of the same kind en*
titled ' CTCTamm Oantionnm, qoinqoe vocnm,' printed
in 1589, among which ia tiat noble composition
' (Svitas soncti tui,' which for many years post has
been song in the chnrch as an anthem to the words
' Bow thine ear, 0 Lord.'
Besides these he was the author of a work entitled
'Gradoalia, ac Cantioues eacne. qninis, quatemis
' trinisqne vocibus concinnatn. lib. primna. Authore
' Gulielmo Byrde, Organists regio Anglo.' Of this
there are two editions, the latter published in IGIO.
In the dedication of this work to Henry Howard,
eari of Korthampton, the author testifies his gratitude
to that nobleman for the part he had taken in pro-
curing for him and his fellows in the royal chapel an
increase of salary. His words are these : ' Te sussore
' ac rogatore, serenissimus rex (exempio post regis
' Edonordi tertii setatem inandito) me sociosq ; meos,
' qni ipsius majestati in musicis deservimus, novis
'auxit beneGciis, et stipendiomm incrementia,|
The contents of this first book of the Gtadualia are
antiphons, hymns, and other offices, in the Latin
tongne for the festivals, that is to say, In festo Puri-
ficationis. In festo omniom sanctorum, In festo cor-
poris Christi, In festo nativitatis beatn Marifs Yii-
ginis, and others, probably composed dnring the
reign of queen Mary.
Another collection of the like sort, and by the
same author, was published by him in the same year
1610, with this title, 'Gradnalia, sen cantionum
' sacrarom : qoarum tdite ad qnatuor, alite vero ad
' qninqne et sex voces edits sunt'
These, with the masses above-mentioned, after a
careful enquiry, seem to he the whole of the com-
positions for the church, published by Bird himself;
and, that be should think it proper to utter them in
the reign of James the First, and at a time when the
church had rejected these and numberless other
ofBces of the like kind, which formerly made a port
of divine service, can only be accounted for by that
disposition which then prevailed in the public to
receive snd admire whatever had the sanction of his
Althongh it appears by these his works that Bird
was in the strictest sense a church musician, he
occasionally gave to the world compositions of a
secnlor kind ; and he seems to be the first among
English musicians that ever made an essay in the
composition of that elegant species of vocal harmony
the madrigal. The La Verginella of Arioato, which
he set in that form for five voices, being the most
ancient musical composition of the kind to be met
vrith in the works of English authors.
To speak of his compositions for private entertain-
ment, there are extant these that foUow : —
' Songs of sundry natures, some of gravitie, and
'others of myrth, fit for all companies and voyces,
' printed in 1589.'
' Psalmea, sonets, and songs of sadness and pietie
' made into musicke of five parts, whereof some of
t Thlj pBuage hu ui illunon 1o a mnt of Jams I. uno IS04. atttr
A long and chaj^eable lult, viih the furthDranca at Ihv cut ot Narflv.
■mptop. and other banonmblc penona, vhenliT tha attpanda ar the
SVDtlamaD ot the chapel tere Intreaaed from iti^tj to tojty pounda per
Ainiiin, and the allowjiTice for the twelve cUIdrrn hijm ilxpeDce Ut (en.
pence per diem, irith a proponlonabla Incmie of lalaiy to the aefjeant,
tte two yeomen, and the ^nwrnofLha vntrr. A mamarial of thia nant
i> ralired In the cheqtie-book al Ibe cb^Hl-iOTaJ, T[lh an analBenu
dbyGooi^le
468
mSTOBT OP THE SCIENCE
Book X
' them going abroad among divors in untrue coppiea,
' are here truly corrected ; and th' other being eongB
' very rare and newly composed, are here publiehed
' for the recreation of all each as delight in mnsicke,
' by, William Byrd, one of the Gent, of the Qaeene
' Majesties royaJl cbappell.'
The laat of hie works published by bimeelf is
entitled ' pBalmeB, Songs, and Sonets : some solemite,
' others joyfull, framed to the life of the words, fit
' for voyces or viols of 3, i, 5, and 6 parts.' Lond.
1611.
Besides these he was tbe author of many com-
positions published in collections made by other
persons, - namely, that entitled ' Parthenia, or tiie
maiden-bead of the first musick that ever was
' printed for the virginalls, composed by three
' famous masters, William Byrd, Dr. John Bull, and
' Orlando Gibbons, gentlemen of her majesties chap-
rll,' in wliich are three lessons for that instrument
his composition. In the printed collections of
services and anthems published at sundry times,
namely, those of Day and Barnard, are man^ com-
|)osed by him, and still many mora which exist only
in the manuscript books of the king's chapel, the
cathedral, and cdlegiate churches of this kingdom.
That be Was an admirable organist there cannot
be the least doubt : a very good judge of music, who
was well acquunted with turn, saye ^t ' with fingers
'and with pen he had not bis peer ;'* and we need
but advert to his compositions to judge of his style
and manner of playing on that noble instrument. If
be bod, as tbe passage above-cited seems to indicate,
a free and voluble band, we may reasonaUy conclude
that the exercise of it was sufficiently restrained and
corrected by bis judgment ; and that bis voluntaries
were enriched with varied motion, lofty fugues, artfbl
syncopations, original and unexpected cadeucee, and,
in short, all the ornaments of 6gurate descant, form-
ing a style solemn, majestic, aud devout
His music for tbe virginals, or, as we should now
say, bis lessons for tbe baipsichord, are of a cast
proper for the instrument ; and as we cannot bnt
suppose that he was able to play them himself,
bespeak in him a command of hand beyond what
will readily be conceived of by those who imagine,
as is the truth in many instances, that the powers of
execution, as well in instrumental as vo<^ music,
have been increasing for two centuries post even to
this day. In tbe collection entitled Pai&enia ahove-
Kientioned, tbe lessons of Bird are none of the easiest ;
but in a manuscript colieotion, consisting solely of
his own compositions, and presented by him to a
scholar of his, the lady Nevil, are some as difficult to
execute as any of modern times. In this collection
is that composition taken notice of by Dr. Ward in
his Life of Dr. Bull, entitled ' Have with you to
' Wftlsiogbam.''!"
Klvi-o »1 iMge i In llut coUmtian II ttmit IUb flttl. i
WaUingtaim. Tha DoOoi Id ■ nme i>y^> It ' Ai I ninl la Wsldnghun,'
ud uyi, nithoul ToucUng ay authortlir. that lhi> tun« nu tnt cnn-
poud V B'c'l wllb IvsnR-tnii Tiriuioni, Bud (hat iftcnudt tlUlty
othen otre iddcd u ll u dig^Rnl limes by Dc. BuU.
Dr. Wud in ihii doU imiu to nntgUDd Ibe lUHn nilb tbt tunc : lot
But, notwithstanding the number and variety of
Bird's compositions, the most permanent memorials
of his excellencies are his motets and anthems, to
which may be added a fine service in tbe key of D
with the minor third, the first composition in Dr.
Boyce's Cathedral Music, vol. III. and that well-
known canon of his ' Non nobis Domine,' concerning
which in thu place it is necessary to be somewhat
particular.
There seems to be a dispute between us and the
Italians whether the canon 'Nou nobis Domine'
be of the composition of our countryman Bird or of
Faleatrina. That it has long been depoaited in the
Vatican library, and there preserve with great
care, has been confidently asserted, and is gen^tlly
believed; and that the opinion of the ItajQaa mo-
sicians is that it was composed by Palestriua may be
collected from this, that it has lately been wrought
into a concerto in eight parte, and ^nbliahed at
Amsterdam in the name of Carlo Ricciotti, with a
note that the subject of the ingue of the concerto is
a canon of Palestrina ; and that subject is evidently
the canon above-mentioned in all its three parts.
Now though it is admitted that the canon ' Non
' nobis Domine' does not occur among any of the
works of Bird above enumerated, and that its first
publication was by John Hilton, at the end of his
collecUon of Catches, Rounds, and Canons, printed ia
1652 ; yet there seems to be evidence more than
equipollent to what has yet been produced on the
other side of the question, that he and he only was
the author of it : in sucb a case as this, tradi^on
It ii uDn Uuu pntaUe Uitl [1 mi coapiiied upon the gnnnd or ■ tau
tn (D Did Inloiud* ot UUmI In Vtvtt «ill«tlini iiieiitioned.br Dr. Pbct
In hii Rellqiui of andent Englieb Foetir, "d. II. gtg. Vl, toA begtl-
RouDd ; thii Sellenfer'B 11
being penoDt now living v:
e DocIot'b mljuke. It nuy b« dbutnS
re compoBed on aid gniandi ar pepolu
>iiB In pEutlcuJar, Ln LAdj NetH'i Utot
Bird, entitled Bellffliger., i. r. Si. L(«a^
printed In a
a pabUibed by Jnbn Playfonl In lOra, (lu no
lot It IDS
§'i.iii.i'luiiffAnrf{nrTa
dbyGoot^le
Chap. XCVL
AND PRACrriOE OF MU8I0.
469
miut be deemed of some weight, it is haid to con-
ceive that a falsehood of this kind could ever gain
credit, and etill harder that it ehoold mainttiiu its
ground for nearly two centnriee. Dr. Pepiuch in his
Treatise of Hanuony has expressly a^rihed it to
Bird, and if he and Uie rest of the world concarred
in believing it to be a compoeidon of hia, we at this
day, without any snbatanlial evidence to the contrary,
can hardly he jnatified in donbting whether he or
another was the author of it
From the natnre of his works it is easy to discover
that Bird was a man of a grave and serions temper,
the far greater part of them being for the church ;
and as to the rest, they are in general as he terms
them, ' Fsalmea and songs of sadnea and pietie.'
Nevertheless he conld upon occasion exercise his
&ncy on lighter subjects, but never in the compoeilaon
to words of an indecent or profane import Twice
in his life it seems he made an essay of his talent for
light music in the composition of ue madrigals, ' La
' Verginella h simile un rosa' and ' This sweet and
'merry month of May:'* of the former of which
Peacham says it is not to be mended by the best
Italian of them all.
There is extant of Bird one, and one wly essay in
that kind of composition which tends to promote
mirth and good fellowship by drinking and singing,
namely, the Bound or Catch. It is printed in
Hilton's collection ; the words are ' Come drink with
' me,' &c.
Morley relates that Bird and master Alfonso, [the
elder Ferabosco] in a virtnons contention, as he
terms it, in love betwixt themselves, made upon the
pltun-Bong of a Miserere each to the number of forty
ways, and that they conld have made infinite more
at their pleasure. From which it is to be inferred
that he was a man of an amiable disposition, and that
between him and hia competitor [Ferabosco] there
was none of that envy which sometimes subsists
between the professors of the same art, and which, as
Morley insinuates, is chargeable on the times when
th^both lived,
The testimonies to the merits of this most ex-
cellent musician are almost as numerous as the
autbora, at least of this country, who have written
on the science or practice of music since his time.
In the cheqne-book of the chapel-royal he is called
the &ther of music ; and in the commendatory verses
before the second part of the Graduulia, ' Britannico
' musics porenti.' Morley styles him ' his loving
' master never without reverence to be named of
' musicians ; ' and Peacham assertn, that even by the
jndgment of France and Italy he was not excelled by
the musicians of either of those countries. Speaking
of his CantJones sacne and Oradualia, he says, what
all must allow who shall peruse them, that they are
angelical and divine ; and of the madrigal La Ver-
■TnauLpiMi' tha oiIki
» mudrJK^ It prinlnl In ■ EOUertion nnlltliid
■nidilgiih Engllihed by Thoniu Wiuon.- it !•
ginella, and some other compositions in the same set,
that they cannot be mended by the beat Italian of
them all.
Besides his salaries and other emoluments of hia
profession, it is to be supposed that Bird derived
some advantages from the patent granted by qneen
Elizabeth to Tallis and him, for the sole printing of
music and music-paper : Dr. Ward speaks of a book
which he had seen with the letters T. E. for Thomas
East, Est, or Eate, for he spelt his name in all of these
three ways, who printed music under that patent.
Tallis died in 1S85, and the patent, by the terms
of it, survived to Bird, who no doubt for a valuable
consideration, permitted East to exercise the right of
printing under the protection of it : and he in the
title-page of most of his publications styles himself
the assignee of William Byrd. This patent granted
for twenty-one years expired in 1595 ; and afterwards
another, containing a power to seize music books and
music paper, was granted to Morley.
The music printed under this patent was in general
gjven to the world in a very elegant form, for the
initial letters of the several songs were finely orna-
mented with fancifnl devices; every page had an
ornamented border, and the notes, the heads whereof
were in the form of a lozei^e, were well cut, and to
a remarkable degree legible.
Wood seems to have erred in ascribing to JKrd an
admired composition in forty parte, which he says la
not extant Compositions in forty parts are not very
common ; there is one of Tallis, of which an account
has beei given in a preceding page, and is probably
the composition alluded to by Wood, who seems to
have been gnilty of a very excusable mistake of one
eminent musician for another.
In a manuscript collection of mot«tts, madrigals,
fantasias, and other musical compositions of sundry
authors, in the hand-writing of one John Baldwine,
a singing-man of Windsor, and a composer himself,
made in the year 1591, are many of the motetts of
Bird in score. The book is a singular curiosity, as
well on account of its contents, as of certain verses at
the end composed by Baldwine himself, in which the
authors whose works he had been at the pains of col-
lecting are severely characterised. The verses are
very homely, but the enlogium on Bird is so laboured
and bespeaks so londty 9ie estimation in which he
was held, as well abroad as at home, that the in-
sertion of the whole will hardly be thought to need
A [hnchoufTc of trufure thh booke nay be fiicde
0/ fongrt moft eicelentt ind the btfte that ii madt,
Colleaed ind chofen out of the belt lutoun
Both ftnnger and Englilh borne, wfaicbe be the beft maken
And Ikilfulft in mulicke, the fcyence to fen foorthe
Ai herein you Oull finde if you will fpuke the Cniche.
There ii here no bidd fange, but the bed can be hadd.
The cbeefeft ft«m all men ; yea there ii not one b*dd,
And fuch fweet muGcke 39 dothe much deljte jieelde
Bathe unto men at hotnc and birdi abroade in fielde.
The autort for to name 1 maye not here fbrgett.
But will them now downe put and all in order fett.
dbyGoo<^Ie
HISTORY OF Tfle SCIENCE.
B00K.Z.
I wiU bc^ne with Whitt, Shipper, Tjc, and Talllj,
Pirfoiu, GylO, Mundie th'ouUe one of the qu»enei pillii,
HuDdle yooge, th'milde man'i Ibnne and like wyft ocben mac ;
There nuaa would be co longe, therefore I let then gee ;
Yet mufti rpeake of moeiuen of Itningen alfoi
And fiifte I muft bringe in Alfanfo Feiabolco,
A Uningti borne he wu in Italic u I here }
laliani fuc of hjme in (kill be hid no peoc
Loci Metenfio mtb olhen manie tnoe,
A) PiiUipp Dnsante the mperDUc't mo alCi f
And Otkndo ty bhiii and «ke CmjuUlioa,
Opriuio Rore 1 and ilfo Andtton.
All limODSin there utc, there it Dflhit no dome:
There wotkei no leffe declare la cnerie place aboute.
Yet teC not firainica braff, nor tfacjr thele Ibe eoaimende ;
For thn jD;qre sow geie place and leti tbemlelvei bchysd
An Englilbe man, by name, Willm Birde hr hi) OtUl
Which I Should haue fen firft, fbt foe it wa my will ;
Wbofe greane IkiU and knowledge doche eicelle ali at thii tyme
And ftr to ftranje coontriei ahnade fail kill dotlie ftyae t
Famui men be abimde, and Ikilfiil in the arte,
1 do confcile the fane and will not from it ftarte i
But in Ewropp h none like to our Englifhe man.
Which doth fo farre exceede, at tnilie I it fcan,
At ye cannot finde out hit equale in all thiogei
Thrawghe out At wotlde lb wide, aad fo hb btne aow lingcs.
With fiogen and unth penoe he hathe not now bii peere ;
For in thU world fo wide it none cin him come neere.
The rareft man he it in muQcltt worthy arte
That now on eanhe doth Hue : I fpeafce it from mjr harte
Or heete to fim hith been or after him dull come :
None fuch 1 frart Hull rile that may be calde hii fooiM.
Ofunuiman) of (kill and judgemeote grean prolbande ;
Lett heauen and earth ringe out thy wotthjrcpiajre to fowndci
N<7 Int thy dull it feltc thy worthie fitme ncorde
To ill paScnCir lliy dw delert affarte;
And lett them all which heere of thy p^te ftill then faie
Fart well I fly, lire well, hie well and here I end
Fan well melodioni Birde, 6re well f»e« aiaficketlrcade 1
All tbefe thing] do I fpcake not far reward at bribe;
Nor yet to flatter him or fett him app in pride,
Nor &r affeceioD or ought might moue iLen tove.
But euen the truth reporte and tibal make known to yoWE,
Lo heere I end brewell, committiage all to God,
Who kepe u> in hit grace and ftiilde at frnid bit rodd.
Finit. — Jo Baldwine.
The two following motets, the one prinUd in the
scoond pert of the Gradualia, and the other in the
CantioDes Socrie, are evidences of the skill uid
abilides of this admirable clinrch mnalcian.
Of the latter of these compojsitions it is to be
remarked that it is ia eight parts, that is to say,
Superios primoB et secuudoB, Co&trateaor prinuu et
BecnndoB, Tenor primus et secoudtie, and Buana
primus et secmiduH ; and that in the printed book
each of these eight parte is in canon of two in one,
rectg et retro. The whole is in the judgment of
some of the ablest musicians at this day living, a
most stapeudouB contrivance.
— (<-
-'■'- — p=^-=rTp 1 .. ' \ /t. „ 11 >. ,-1
5
^
VE - NI - - TE ei - ul-te.imw
-h.....t-M '-fjf. -J-^Jlt-^.— - "1 1 .-JB-F
iTi
VB
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nl-te-mna Do . mi -no, ex-ul-to - mm Do - mi -
— 1 ^ fM"f' r 1 r ' r j -1 1 J ■ .1' 1 1
VE-NI - TE ei - til-te-mtu Do - mi-no,
~ [— ^— -> 1—-^ T 1 ^^
^' — ^Y^-k-^^
VE - HI - - - TB
fe™ 1 — r — \ r f— ^^ \ 1 . 1-
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ft=ir
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to ei - nl - te-miu Do - mi. no, Do--mi-
IfcEEife
ul-l«.
sua Do-mitM, ve
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- mi • no, Jn - bi - le - - mm , Do - - mi - -
-1 ° -t ■■
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VE . HI - TE
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Digitized
byGoo*^lc
AHD PSAOriCE: OF UUSIC
f^ — ^
■ff-f Ht- i i —
M-lB - mu. Do - 0,
Ju - bi-Ie - mus De . o,
tT!^=
Ju - bi
r ' 1 r '^ 1 M f r r 1
Is ■ moa De - o, Ju - bi- la -im
- -!», Ju
U-le - mtu De - o, De
T Ti J tT
- 0, Ju - bi-lo - mua De-o. iu-ti-
1 — Ti j j T 1" 1 1 r
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Ju-bi-h-mniDe
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B. -. i.1 ■LC-Uj' SE^ - 1- r i^f Fir ■ 1 1
- - no.
Jn -bl-le-mus Do - o,
1 ^ ,■ nl-
Ju - bi-le • mm De - o.
Ju - bi
l« . mn. Do - o, Ju - bi • la - mut De -o.
J I..J.
Ju>bl-le-miu Da - o, Jn - bi - le-moa De
- le-musDe • n, Jn • bi-le-mns De -
Jrlr-JJ
Jd - bi ■< lo-iajat De
Ju • bi-le-mu De - 4 De
^^m
'^ Jn - bi-lO' mill De
L
1 ■■ ^
^^
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^
u - -
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n J 1
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a-ri no* - tro, la - la
ta - ri
«•■-". _
k - tio,
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tro, «a - In -
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OF THE SOIENOE
i^^v irf-f^r r f"~
\ " 1 ■ f=y
- r 1
"C - - lu - ta.ri Qo«
?^ 1 ill ~T~J^I'J 1
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iro, pr» - oc
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tro,
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b - d-em
111,^ J rrr r ■ - r±— j ' , i
U-ri ncfl
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-■ »
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: L
.
-t j=
tro.
pr» - -
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~Z -
tro,
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1
[ f — r- r r i
Ml -"^
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— " 1 ~^=r — I—
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fa-
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- ci-eB
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fa - ci-em
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' ir f
pre- 00 -CI
a-pe
LU-Ji.».. ]
p« . mujfa - a
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EL
prm - oa
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J jjj^J-j^^;^
=^^
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dbyGooi^lc
AND PRAOTIOE OP MUSIC.
in coo-fes - m
^
j^
oon - tta ' ei
-K-p—
--^
-„J [ ^
ftht
ri-o
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^
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T ZJ-
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— i-f^-r
=
in Fsal • mia
Ja-
bi - le - mm. Jn
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dbyGooi^lc
HISTOEY or THE SCIENCE
^-n
1 1 I—n ' ■
-i rn — ■ » 1 .. j — r
ir—
■■-ff — :- —
[ - — \-r ■ r \\ r \ 1^
et iD PmI - mu
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t=^
et in P«l
-mi.,
1 1 J^J p . -Srr
IK-i- r -f
in Fsal - mis Ju - U - le - - - mua e
■ 1, Ju ■ - bi'le-mns
. - i, e
- - I, Ju . bi - lo . mns e - - i,
et in
w?^^'-^-
r 1 r r H ■ J 1 J 1 -) — — |-^
r ir r \r=i^=¥
et
in P«al - mis, et in Peal - mi»,
J 1 1 —p] - -f=- 1"^° H — f=r-
at . . in Tax - nua
^ et
—* f-rt"F
in Psal - mifl Jn - - bi - lo
. muB « . - i,
f4-^-
et in
in Pal - nd. Ju - M-lemu*. Jn - bne-mtw e .
tI J nj J hf «J nl J — - — 1 J>r r
i.
frv-^ 4
- i, Ju - hi-le-mna, Ju - bi lo-mus e - - -
Fill, mfa
Jn-bi-lc-mus e - - -
- i, e - . -
Ju.bi-le-mui o - - i,
(gM ^^^■F=.-. T-g^^ 1 1 , .111 —=
Ju- bi-iemus, Jo - bi-
■^ .1
1 J . J'^ - 1 " z
. . iu Peal -mis Ja - bi-lcmua e -
- i,
* P«l - mi
Ju - bi-le-mtia e - - i,
^-h-i — 1 h= ] — MJ 1 .J H -
et iD Pol - mil
i^^
in PmI - mJB Ju - bi - le-mui t""-^
- 1, at in
-ni — I«-i r- '—r=r
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i, . . .
1 J ■ J-J r TT ' ■' 1 ■■ |K ," ■
et in Paal-mia Jn - bi - le -
rf-J H 1 f ■ F -J- f f
W^T^-
Ju - bi-le-mu8 , e - - - i. et i
^r — rj [^ ) .. 1— —
Pnl - mil Ju-bi-le-mut
^ - 1 f ■ FT
- . Ift-mos 0
■ i. , , . . - i.
^■MJ J • 'f ir r 'f" if' r r 1 " —
et in
Ju - bi - Icmus, Ju - bi - le-n
et in Ptal .
dbyGoo*^lc
AND PSACTICE OF UUSIU
r. ■ >■ 1
t 3a . bi.]«-niin
Ju
5 ' r 1'
bi-le-mo. e
>P J 1 r-
[ °
1
Al - le
* P»d - ma
Ju
U-le-Ruu, Ja
bi-i.-™ . .
- L
^
==^ If
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r -riJ
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. U - le - mu e
d 1 i' T^
- - t
Al . le
J J p.
« - - i,
Jn - U ' Ifl
L
Al - le
lo -U,
Pul - mii
Ju
- i.
iJE
Al - 1«
- lu . U.
'-^ Ju - bi.re-niM
J^=
— T" r^
- i, Jn
H-le-mM e -
- i.
r— r
1 J 1 J
r
" -f-
Al-le-ln - U,
Al-)e-Ia - i>.
Al-le-ln - U, Al-le-ln -
It-
Al - le
-In - U.
E j.L-fe
Al-Io-ln - U,
Al-le-lQ - i«.
lg
Al - le
In - Ii,
AI-la-lD
U, Al-le-ln
ia,Al -le-ln
t^ Al-le-ln ■ i«, Al-le -
ii
Al - le
In - U,
Al'le-la - U,
Al-le-ln - U,
1 ■" f.
1 ■ 1 rr
Al.lo-ln
^ r ffi i-C-4' — u— L
ii, Al-le-ln - te, Al • le -
Al - - le
- In - - U.
Al - -
K
Al - le
- In -».
Al - - lo
- In - - U,
^
T"?n — =
r r
t=
— H LZj
U, Al le n .
t«,
ff^
- j,/'f i-i .^-rT 1 — •—> —
— t-" • 1 M
1
Al-le-lu - b, Al-Ie-lD - I*,
Al - le-lu -
^
lu-U. Al-le- to -1^ Al - to-hi - - - ii.
Al - - le-to -
r 1 -=fc
"
In - - !«, Al-le-ln . i>, Al "'^. le
In - . U, Al •
le - In - is AlV
-
la . In - U, Al - - le - to
- - - . U,
Al-U -
— h- i n b
^
Al - - iB - In - U,
— b^ — -±f=k
Al - to .
dbyGooi^lc
fflSTORY OP THE SCIENOB
.1, p
r ■ f ■
f =
1 >'
. 1 " ■
[jL. >»-■ — Tf 1 1
=t=p
r^
. le
-p-f-
le
in -
1
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1^. .. \—r-
~=—b
*f^=
F~*»—
■1—
ia.
1^ " la^
A - men,
-HV 4. 3 1 r 1
=^=P
pi, ■]■■}-
Al
— ) — [-
le
-1 h-
. - In
J ; . .
- 1..
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A
-i_ ^t ^_
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^ J
^
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A - men.
^^
- la
u,
-H
Al >
le
- lu - -
' J2:
. .
k; "in
Al -
Efe;
#4
— i i«.
A
-J-HJ=
iS
CANON RECTE ET RETEO.
— rjr
ttT^'^^^t i " -■
p='"^ — ^1 f r- 1 " r= r
It-^
Dl
LI.GES Do.mi.num De -
nm ta - -nm, ex to-to cor - de ta - 0,
£
TJT
-Li::^S D,-«l'«um D,J«
-P nr ■■ .J 1 ^ .J J
ta - nm, De - urn ta - - um, ex
h » J J IP r," 1 J " "1 If " ^J 1
urn
"M"
LI-OES Do-mi-DOm De-um
tu-um, ei to-to cor-detu- -0, tu--
|i, j! „ ^ .j 1 ^ J .. 1 -^^^ 1 ■■ °^h^— 1 - J f r- r f f 1
Dl
LIGES Do-ii-num De - mn
m - iim, tn - ran, ex to -to cop - da tu -
1 , , 1 . [ , 1 1 1 J 1 -^ l-h
Vi^
DI
— nT3 " 1 - , U '
nm, ex to -to cor - de tn - 0, ta-o, . . . ex .
Dl
LIQES Do-mi-nnm De-nm to
^^^ '^ " 'u^ '^^'i^'t^;^" i^ r '
t*ir*
DI
L1-gEB Do-mi-nnm De - am
=vFn 1 J „ 1
1^ " ' ^-a:Ji!^E;±^=^^
tn - ran, ex to-tooor-de to - - -
K
dT
LI - OES Do-mi ■ num De -
um ta - um, to - ran, ex to-t»
dbyGooi^lc
AHD PBACTIOE OP MU8I0.
r > . J .. ^
1 .. J J o ^ ^-j-^ \ P F\
-" 1 ,, Ji^
iJ ,[
oc»r-de et ioto-t>a-iii-
..
tu - a, a - ni
T^— " Jl
to-to OCT
- do to - o, COT - de to - - 0.
et
[-". f. r^
- 0,
ei to - to cor - de to - - - o,
IF-t-J J f* F " •"" F =^=f*=
et ia to-
r . ..fF
. . 0, ex t
0 -to COT-de tu - 0, et
in to
- U a- ni.ma
tu - a, tu-
. . to-to 0
ji ■* " J u " " r \ri>u " 'J
or - de tii-o, ei to - to oor - de tu-o,
et
1 1 1 1 "-F-f-
in to - ta a ■ ni
J 1 .J , J=^
r" f I'l
- m» to - a, .
- 0. wt to-to cor-de. .to - -
0, et
in to-ta a- ni
- ma, et
P'l.
1- .J f ;■! ■■ ■■' II J .J riH
— If " -1
ifeJN^
^ et
ei to - to cor - do tu
o.
et ID to - ta
^^«,. - ST
tu - - 0, et in to - ta
a -Hi
J^jl " ^^
5S=t
1 |> . 1.. .. I. :f^=i
r» ""ii'^ 'j rn"-i- L-r- t — t If Ff^
£• 1-
^. a, et in to - ta m
en - to tn - a, men - to tu - a, in men - te
tu -
==?=F
a-m.n»tu--a, tu
. a, et ID to ■ to men - to tu - a.
ttt-
U a- Hi- ma tu - -
in ^-=f=^ ''~~?f*-f
-a, «t in men - to tu - a, tu -
— " — 1 J f "J — h^-f — « — \-^ J Ir- J
izzJ=|:
ft" " ^ 1 ■> \rJL
- - - . a, et in
lip,.. 1 1 ,1 TT^
to - ta men - to tu - - a, in men-to
h^3- 1 J J " 1 ' " J IJ J Id'-
to -
. .a - ni-ma tn - - •
a, etinto-Umen-tota-.-a. t
in to - ta a - nt - ma tu
ffrtl, „ ' ,- --I T .—p^i^^^
a, et . . in to - ta men-te tn - a, men-to tn-a, ti
— J J 1 o 1 III . _„ h = II P .J
-fi — h
. - - a,
et in to - t* men - to tn - a, in men-to
T 1 H-~ — J J Y^ — <—
=F
K et in to - to men -to to
. a.X . et in to - U men - te
to -
dbyGooi^lc
HISTORY OP THE SCIENCE
a, Di - 1i • ge« pros-i -
-a, TA - li • gea jirox-i -
a, Di - U - ges prox-i - ui
m
a, EH - li - ges proz - i - m
a, Di - li • geiprox • i -
a, Di - li - gea proi-i
^ r\^ " i" F^^^
...[■^r-yrfyj » ^ 1 .J"="=?iT
> ■
^ I J J 1 J J .n
K - ll-gea proi-i-uum tu-nm, ai -
t —
Di - li - ges . prox-i-mtun tu
r~\ — ; 1 Ya-
- mn, ti
u [ 1 — " —
1 - imi,BiK:ut to fp-sttm, ai - cut
. li -
ges prox-i -mum m - nm,
n - cut te
ip-eran, M - U-gwi prox-i -
l^irr r ■" r 1 r-t^- l , 1 . ^ ...j^^^r r yr\r rr '^\
cut to ip - sum,
■ - ciit to ip-eum, ri - cot to ip-enm.
- cut t.
9 ip - muD, ta fp-som, Di
1 ..T» .. V:,r^:=:=^
li -goa prox -
i-momtu-um ai - cut to ip-anm, (ata-
- EDm, prox-i -mom ta - - am, d- cat
a - 1 ii - 1 ~
r 1 r r 4;^
to . ip*un,
' — [ 1 1 r
Dl-li-geaprox -i-momtu - nm.a-cDt
hh-J " r\r - 1 ■- ^
- miun
lu-nm, prox - - i
- mnm Ui-mu,
Ei-cut to ip-Bum, Di . U - gea
If'' "
■■" l-J J ^" ' M
prox - i . mum ta-um, d - cut
proz - i-mtmitu- um, u-cot to Ip■(nlIt^
Digitized by GoOQIc
Chap. XCVIL
AND TRAfjnCE OP MTSIO.
CHAP. xcvn.
Alfon-bo FKnABosco, as Dr. Wilson used to eay,
was born of Italian' parents, at Greenwich in Kent,
He never Etrrived to any academical houonrB in the
faculty of mnsic, nor does it appear that he had even
•ny employment in the royal diapel, or about court ;*
neverthelesB be ta ranked among the first mnsiciaus
of Elizabeth's time. Morley sa^s that in a virtnooa
contention betwixt them, he and Bird made about
forty waies, as he terms it, npon the plain-song of a
certain Miserere ; and Peacluun speaks of another
between the same persons, to wit, who of the two
should best set the words of a eertun ditty, ' The
Nightingale so pleasant and so gay,' in ^ich
Ferabosco succeeded so well, that, in the judgment of
Feacham, this conqtositioa, as also another of hia,
' I saw my Isdy weeding,' for five voices, cannot he
bettered for sweetness of air and depth of judgment.^
He bad a Kin of the same Christian name, who for
that reason is often mistSiken for hie father ; he was
the anthor of a book with this simple title, ' Ayres
by Alfonso Ferabosco,' printed in folio, 1609,
with the following commendatory verses by Ben
Johnson : —
To m^ «teelle»t friend Alfonso Ferrabosco.
To u»« m^ lov'd Alfonso that bold fame
Of Suldi^ townea and making wild beaiti tame
Which muaique had ; or speak her known effects,
That she removeth cares, sadness ejects,
Declineth aagcr, persuades clemency.
Doth sweeten mirth and heighten pietie,
a body often ill inclin'd.
No less a sOTerugn cure then to the mind.
T' ttlledge that greatest men were not aiham'd
Of old, even by her practice to be foni'd.
To say, indeed, she were the soul of heaven,
That the eight sphere, no less than planets seaven
Mov'd by her order, and the niath more high,
iDcludiDg all were thence cali'd harmony ;
I yet had utter'd nothing on thy part,
When these were bat the praises of the art.
But when I have saide the proofes of all these be
Shed in thy songs, 'tis tnw, but short of thee.
Besides these verses, there are |refi:ceil to the book
the following : —
Musick's maister and the ofikpring
Of rich musick's father.
Old Alfonso's image living.
These fail flowen vou gather
Scatter through the British soile ;
Give thy fame free wing.
And gaine the merit of thy toyle.
We whose loves affect to praise thee.
Beyond thine own deserti can neverr^e thee.
By T. Campto*, Doctor in Fhyncke.t
Besides the two above-mentioned, there waa
another named John, of the family of Ferabosco,
a musician also, as appears by an evening service of
his composing, inD, with the majorthird, well known
in Canterbury and other cathedrals ; as one of the
1. 1, pu. IN, Uuttas
Pooie is 1^1 ; iliid It ■pBcn'tbu ie'mit Us wacdi of ■ muqiu
reprwcntodln tin buqiullkgnoni »t Whlieh»U on 81, Stephen's niglit,
B u . .V- ji M . I. j^j mqilc lo irhkh
dbyGoot^le
HBTOEY OF THE SCIENOE
Boos X.
samo saraame was fonaerly organist of Ely minel«r,
it is not improbable bat that the abore pereon was he.
A few years ago there was a Mostyn Ferabosco, a lieu-
tenant in the royal navy, from which circnmatance it
ia very probable that the family is yet in being.
WiLLUM Bliteeiun, a gentlemaa of queen Eliza-
beth's chapel, and one of the organists of the same, is
by Wood [Fasti, anno 1586,] celebrated as the ex-
cellent master of the famous Dr. John Bull. He
died greatly lamented on Whitsunday, 1S91, and
was buried in the parish church of St Nicholas Cole-
Abbey, London. The following epitaph was eu-
graven on a brass plate and fixed in the wall of the
church, but being destroyed in the fire of London,
it is now only to be found in Stow's Survey,* and is
as follows : —
H«n Blithunin lio, a worthy wight,
Who feared God aboue,
A fiiend to ill, a foe to none.
Whom rich and poore did loue ;
Of princes chappeU ^ntlcman
Unto hil dying day.
Whom all tooke great delight to heare
Him on the organs play ;
Whofe pailing Ikill in muGcket art
A fcholar left bebinde,
John Bull by tiamc, hi) maScn ueine
Expreffing in eich kindc j
But nothing hete continues long.
Nor telting place can haue.
His foule depaned hence to heauen,
Hii body here In giaoe.
It seems that as a musician Btitheman'e performance
on the organ was his greatest excellence. Wood,
who was Ukely to have known it, had ha been a
composer for the church, gives not the least hint to
favour an opuion of the kind ; in short, be was a
singular instance of a limited talent in the science of
bis profession,
John Bull (a Portrait,) was bom in Bomeraet-
sbire, about the year 1563, and, as it is said, was
of the Somerset family. He was educated under
Blitheman before-named- In 1586 he was admitted
at Oxford to the degree of bachelor of music, having
practised in that faculty fourteen years ; and in 1592
was created doctor in the umversity of Cambridge.
In 1591 he was appointed organist of the queen's
cbwel in the room of his master, Blitheman.
Bull was the first Gresham professor of music, and
was appointed to that station upon the special re-
commendation of queen Elizabeth. However skilful
he might be in his profession, it seems that he was
not able to read his lectures in Latin ; and therefore,
by a special provision in the ordinances respecting
the Qresham professors, made anno 1597, it is
declared, that because Dr. Bull is recommended to
the place of music professor by the queen's most
exceUent majesty, being not able to speak Latin, his
lectures are permitted to be altogether English, so
long as he shall continue music professor there.f
* stow, in the ieeond, and prdbablr in tiie flnt edition of hij Siurer,
mcDlUine thai Bllllianiaa, an excellent onaoisl or the queen's chuel,
lar burled tl:«re trith an epitaph, lo a BUPtequeDt editloo, publlaliH in
IMS, with iddltloni, by A. M. [AuUuiny Mundiyl aod nUien, (he
epll«^ aa alwie b insetted.
t In tUi toitutc* It leniii tlial the queen's affectiao ror Boll get Ihe
better of her ]ndfinent, for not Ixina able to speak Latin, II m n be
prasumad that be was unable u read It ; and if so, lie mnit btTa baeo
inonat of tbe nn piindplei of the science, I '
iBdifinBIlT qDaUted to lectoiB on 11 (Ten in :
In the year 1601, he went abroad for the recovery
of his health, which at that time was declining ; an<l
during bis absence won permitted to sntetitnte as his
deputy a son of William Bird, named Thomas. He
travelled incognito into France and Germany ; and
Wood takes occasion to relate a story of him while
abroad, which the reader shall have in his own
words: —
' Dr. Bull hearing of a famoos musician belonging
to a certain cathedral at St. Omer's, he applied
himself as a novice, to him, to learn aomething of
his faculty, and to see and admire bis works. This
musician, af^r some discourse had passed between
them, condocted Bull to a vestry or music-school
joining to the cathedral, and uiewed to him a
lesson or song of forty parts, and then made a
vanntjng challenge to any person in the world to
add one more part to them, supposing it to be so
complete and full that it was impossible for any
mortal man to correct or add to it ; Bull thereupon
desiring the use of pen, ink, and ruled paper, such
aa we call mnncal paper, prayed the musician to
lock him up in the said school for two or three
hours ; which being done, not without great disdain
by the musician. Bull in that time or less, added
forty more parts to the sud lesson or song. The
musician thereupon being called in, he viewed it,
tried it, and retried it ; at length he burst out into
a great ecstasy, and swore by the great Qod that he
that added those forty parts must either be the
Devil or Dr. Bull, &c.| Whereupon Bull making
himself known, the musician felt down and adored
hi in, Afterwards continuing there and in those
parts for a time, he became so much admired, that
he was courted to accept of any place or preferment
suitable to his profession, either within the do-
minions of the emperor, king of Franca, or Spain ;
but the tidings of these transacdons coming to the
English court, queen Elizabeth commanded him
home.' Fasti, anno 1586.
Dr. Ward, who has given the life of Dr. Bull in
his Lives of the Gresham professors, relates that
upon the decease of queen Elizabetii he became chief
oi^;anist to king James,§ and had the honour of en*
tertwning hia majesty and prince Henry at Merchant
Taylors' hall with bis performance on the organ ; the
relation Is curious, and is as follows : —
' July the 16, 1607, his majesty and prince Henry,
' with many of the nobility, and other honourable
' persons, dined at Merchant Taylors' hall, it being
' the election-day of their master and wardens ; when
' the company's roll being offered to bis majesty, he
' said he was already free of another company, but
■that the priuce should grace them with the ac-
' ceptance of bis freedom, and that he wonld himself
' see when the garland was put on his head, which
' was done accordingly. During their stay they were
'entertained with a great variety of music, both
'voices and instruments, as likewise with several
t An eiclamation perhaps sncgesled b; the reeolleetlan of thai at
Sir Thcmai Uore, ' Aul tu es Etaamoi, aut Dlabolui.'
I Tbe ted is thai be succeeded TalUi. and wu iiron In Us room. Iv..
ISU [Cbequebook]. He «u also in the senlce ef piince Heniy i tt>e
name John Boll, doctor of mniic, standi the Ont In tlie list of the
pTinee's moalclaus Id 16 J I. with a salary of 40J. per anniun. APPVDd, tr
tbt Lil* <C Hauy Pilnee ot Wain by Dr. Birch.
Digiti.
cbyGoo*^lc
Ctaip. XOVIII. ASD PRAOTIOE OF HUSia <81
' Bpeeclies. And while the king sat at dinnn. Dr. The only wo^ of Ball in print ue lewons in tbs
• Boll (who u Stow nys) waa free of that company, ooQeotion entitled ' Parthenia, or the maiden^tead d
' being in a cittiEen'a gowne, cappe, and hood, [dayed the first mndo that erer was printed for the viiginals,'
'most excellent melodie nppon a snuU payre of of which mention hac already been made. Aii
' organs, placed there for that pnrpose onely.' The aatbeni of hia, ' Deliver me, 0 God,' is to be found
Antbor proceeds to relate that in 1613 Boll quitted in Barnard's OoUeotion of Ohnrcb-mosic
England, and went to reeide in the NetherUDds,* Dr. Ward has given a long Uat of compositions of
where he wae admitted into the service of the ardi- Dp. Bull in mannsoript in the collection of the late
duke. Woodf aays that be died at Hamburg, or Dr. Pepuscb, by which it appears that he was equally
rather, as others who ranembered the msn have excellent in vocal and inBtmmental harmony. By
said, at Lnbec some of the leeaons in the Parthenia it seems that he
A picture of Dr. Bull is yet remaming la the ^as poeseseed of a power of execution on the harpei-
masic-eehool at Oxford. It is pwnt«d on a board, oboid br beyond what is generally conceived of the
and represents hun in the habit of a bachelor of mastetB of that time. As to his lessons, diey were,
muaic. On the left «de of the head are the words in the eetiination of Dr. Pepuech, not only for the
AN. ABTATIS SVAE 26. 1B89 ; Mid on the right harmony and oontrivance, bat for air and modubition,
ride an hour-glass, upon which is placed a hnman ^0 excellent, that he ecnipled not to prefer them to
Bkiill,with a bone cross the mouthy ronnd the four sides thoae of Oonperin, BcarlaUd,and others of the modem
of the frame is written the following homely distich : — oompoeers for the barpdohotd.^
■ The bull by force in field doth raigne,
' Bat Bull by ikill good will doth gayoe.'
BOOK XI. OHAP. XOVIII.
JoHM DowLANV, the famous Inteuist, was bom in same author saya that be was the rarest musidau
1£62, and admitted to his bachelor's degree together that his age did behold, which, though he was
with Mo,l.y. ITVorf B.ti .n™ lg8a§G Th. .^^,^„^,^^^^^„^.„^
ma^attbmM asdo, a* MAwiniir tt t)«^ iHnth of ti^tm, who Ud trand^d ■ Biiuliid andonr, h> b^ tiii Mtoi
""yy* *!"^-"?S"y "r-??'?" ™ T?i°?.™ f^y^g?! e«po™uiio, ud Dmt IM tfb umt Ann, ■ mo Argnt wUbln ■
■m tlita "^BBMte, -W^ w 1, uulc DM of U» mn Iteml tn«ini«oatartl»«Or( Midta.iataf (liil»»™.tarA«ii»lli>o^
5*ffi 'M.''.".'*?".™'.";^''^'?..'??^"' '?<'^""S„??? S«U«dMl0MlOB«»tUPllBBlBlHOfHKmmbTCk«l«K5S.
■dioil«aniid^t|«k4aHlBg, IDgathKWilb tlwlimuur ibg rlT^oa Bi tUi Mt << nol aDlhoiltT Iha oh ■wtf^e Ubanl nimoai Ihit
' th* orsuH-' dmnnd tta doacBB ti noBtH. «a Il^ir j— — **j mad dm moa a Ant.
thanfonuttaUTnTdiHcMTftUinni u ao biMuca wlwniif t BnU hid iia» of (bOM immh tn ompUln if bMu UlAtad lli*i
witfthaR
M« ibM ona M SL Pmnra, ud ■ nriart too. In lb* Uu* gf dl*lM oujmm aw,ffp*1«i tod. Ha w to tt« MrrtM «f tb« rt^rt, m
a^aoDCiMtladonap^ttoCHdaartbaaasgiapUoii. And. HSl.^St'i^.I^lSSf^J^S"^^'^^;:^''^
g™l.j^^p-»,fU.-dtt.d-Th.Wi.b.-pH.SrET£1&W..b- ^^;i^^^^>^»i^^^^^^^^^^^
■ Fnn lUKliu-na'a i^Moa, vha an la tl» diaqna baat, • tSU, John Boll, doelac tt maala, want bajoDd lb*
• Alnn it^onb. liMU* On nan 'laaM Uxn —* *it>)««> UMua^ «d na idaittM Inta iha anhdnk^t aBrln, ud
■TbarliuUdtianaalTaaaiiaat- ■ mland Into pals Una* abool Mkk. and PMV BapUna ■ baaa ftom
'(hlB|a.lbilr«ii>«alloa<Ddawlrtka£ta. Vtn^mfS-itn th^ ^'' *^- ^.S.J'-iS^. ff?, ^. ? " *.>^^?!^?!?A ^ "??!??'
't^KlhaiiiaalT*a*tF*Taiaaaattbalipota,&ic^aT)^to#Uwm Kl"Rj''SF°'*''^i'^^^fS*''S?°*J*5!*"'''*l™'S!!?"
«(ala.lhaaiiparfliiltiearfB(npislhiiMtabo>aiiMMDn. Tht^OHl mkoM U fo ttnn^ It,
la OHladj matM Hum tha Imtar wanp— liinaaliwiad,andtbalranthwna | Wi»da^aba«)aimai>rttiag*oU«iia al hn uujaair't diua), bat
aUai ts lbs oatabaa. Long Iliad fa tbi BMM pnit tbar u* nol, Um Inlb o( Uiii aawRlon la dooMful ; Ibi ho doaa not aamma tiu tltla
aapoBlatIr tba baao, thaj orarflov tbair banka ao aft to diovn tha Inany of UapnbllaatloDa; on tba adntrarj', baooaptalna la Iba prabaa
'oitvia. Brtoflr. It thar «««p* amailni. tba; 1* aoDaUntlr la Ood'a to hit POnlmA BaUea, that ha nnii conld attain to an; tbaub nvw
'■Kilaai aadlotakt Ibili daUh wlih mo» pntkoea, Umt hare vhia rannaplaoo.
2i
dbyGoo^le
4S»
HUTOBT OF THE 80IENCB
BwkXL
donbtlasB an eminent oompoeer, u not eo trae as
that bfl was one of the moet excellent InteniBta of his
time. Mention ia made of him in a Bonnet aacribed
to Sliakeepeare, bnt how trdy we cannot my. It is
ottitied E^endly Ooncord, uid is as follows : —
' If mUBicke and tveet wietrj agree,
' Ai thaj miut needi (um tUter and the brother),
< Then muat the love be great tvixt thee and me,
' Because thou lov'st the one and 1 the other ;
' Dovland U> thee U deer, whote heavenly looch
' Upon the lute doth ravish human seDie ;
' Spenaer to me trhoae deep conceit is such,
' Aa painng all conceit, needi no defence ;
' Thon lov'tt lo hear the Bireflt melodiom lonnd
'That Phmbui' lute (the queen of mndck) make*,
' And 1 in deep delight am diiefly drown 'd,
' When aa hinuelf lo tinging he betakei ;
■ One God U Ood of both, ai poeti faine ;
' One knight lovea both, and both in thee remain.'*
Peacham, who was intimate with him, saya that he
had Bli|)ped many opportunides of advancing himself,
in allusion to which hie miafoTtnne he gave him an
emblem witii thia anagram,
JOHANNES DOVLANDUS
Annoe ladendo hand.
Hie emblem is a nightingale ainKing in tha winter
season cm a leafleas brier, wiui the following veraea : —
' Heere Philomel in dleuee aits alone,
' In depth of winter, on the bared brier,
' Whereas the rote had once her beautie ahowen,
' Which lardei and ladiei did lO much desire :
' But fhiitleu now ; in winter's fhwt and snow
' It doth despu'd and unregarded grow.
' So nnce (eld frend) thy yearea have made thee white,
' And thou for others nait consnm'd tbv spring,
' How few regard thee, whome thou didat deiight,
' And hrre and neere came once to heare thee ling I
' Ingrateflill timet, and worthless age of ours,
'Tlut lata na pine when it hath eropt our flowers.'t
That Dowland miaaed many opportnnitiee of ad-
vancing his fortnneemayperhape be jnatly attributed
to a rambling disposition, which led him to travel
abroad and neglect his duty in the chape! ; for that
he lived much abroad appears from the prefaces to
hia wor^ published by him at sundry times, and
these faroish the following particulars of his life.
In the year lfi84 he travelled the chief parts of
France ; tbence he bent his course towards Oermany,
where he was kindly entertained by Honry Julio,
dnke of Bmnewiok, and the learned Maurice, land-
grave of Hesaen, tiie same of whom Peacham speaks,
and commends as being himself an excellent mnaician.
Here be became aoquaiuled with Aleeaandro Orologio,
a musician of great eminence in the service of the
landgrave Maurice, and Gregorio Howet, lutenist to
tiie duke of Brunswick. Having spent some months
in Qerraany, he passed over the Alps into Italy, and
saw Venice, Padua, Glenoa, Ferrara, Florence, and
divers other placet. At Venice be became intimate
with Qiovanni Groce, who, as be relatee, was at that
time vice-master of the chapel of St Mark. It does
* Wnmm Uw PiHloiutv PDcrime of Slukavpvtn, flrvt prtnlfld Id 1400,
at Vetmt viltm by WD. BbikHpsn, Out. irms. ItW.
I Qaiwi of HanlcMil DaTten ij Hmcj Psachum, (!■«, 71.
not appear that he visited Romc^ bnt ha en^ed the
pri^Fered ami^ of Luca Harenaio, a&d recaved fixm
him sundry letters, one whereof was as follows : —
' Multo magniRpn SignioT mio oaaervandismmo.
Per una letters del Sgnior Malnesi ho inteao
qnanto con oortese affetto ai moatri deaideroso di
essermi congionto d' amidtia, dove infinit»mM>tj Is
ringratio di qoeato sno bnon' aoimo, offerendo
megli all' inoontro se in alcana ooaa la poaao aerrire^
poi che gli meriti delle sne infinite virtii, et qnalitk
meritano che ogni nno et me I ammiriao et ooser-
vino, et per fine di queato le baacio te manL IK
Roma & 13 di LtuiUo 159S. n. v. a Affettifmataflnmo
servitore, Luca Hareneio.*
All tbeae particulars are contained in a woi^ of
Dowland entitled 'The first booke of Soogea ot
'Ayrea of fours Parts wiUt Tablature for the Lute.'
In a aeoond btx^ of Songs or Aires 1^ Dowkad fin
the lute or Orpberian, with the viol de gamba,
Erinted in 1600, be styles himself Intenist to the
ing of Denmark ; to this book is prefixed a dedica-
tion to the celdirated Lucy countess of Bedford,
dated from Helsingnonre in Denmark the fimt ot
June, 1600.
In 1603 be published a third book of ' So^ea or
'Aires to edng to the lute, Orpharion, or VioUa."
Some time after this, but in what year ia not
mentioned, he published a work with this tide
' Lachrinue, or seaven Tearee figured in seaven pas-
' donate Pavans, with divers other Pavans, Galiuds,
' and Almands, set forth for the Lute, Viola, or
' Violons, in five parts.'} This book is dedicated t«
Anne, the qneen of king James the I^lrst, and dster
of Obriatian IV. king of Denmark. In the epistle
the author tells her that hastening his return to her
brother and bis master, he was by contrary winds
and frost, forced back and compelled to winter in
England, during bis stay herein, he had presomed
to dedicate to her hands a work that vros b^nn
where she was bom, and ended where abe rmgned.
In 1609 Dowland published a translation of the
MicroIoguB of Andreas Omitboparcus ; at this time
it seems that Dowland had quitted the service of the
king of Denmark, for be Btylea himself only Intenist,
lute-player, and bachelor of mndc in both nniverdties.
In 1612 he published a book entitied ' A Pilgrime's
' Solace, wherein is contained musical harmony of 3,
' i, and 5 parts to be snug and plaid with late and
' viols.' In the titie-page he etylee himself Intenist
to the Lord Walden.§ In the preface to thia book
ll lllllllllll III III ■ I IWlllj if
■t I>(F*1>iid'i LaiAi7
u In Iba uenul oUck Iw flnaif Dairiw^
bem Ukm Into <ha HiTln of tb* Uu •(
tt la plain thM b* na bit iBMakt la IMt,
•od prabaUr Mnfwtaal MSn ; anln. then li nst tlM kait waapB ta
nispoaa,aa Wood doia, tint badM 1b DeBmark, ftc b* na bi &«^
billll, and IntaalUloLiiia Waldmi «d It novban aiVMn Ihtt altw
Ihli hi v«Dt ibnad. Ha nIAt, *• ha aan, ban a aeo namad SobM
tnlofld ap to the lata at tha uuzg* of aii Thamaa Hoaaoa, who It fa
waUknonvaaasnatpabiaitBuloi bat that tha POfilm'i Bnlwa
VHcompgaodbihlaiaBdBatbThlilMhir, lanot taba TKoadladwHh
llic tltli, tha dodkatlMi, oi tho pnftat to tbo book. irUob aftad Iha baat
nldeiu of tbt bat that Ban ba nqoErBd. It mv not ha Imuvpai haa
tn manikHi iTui Hw khtw of Damoaik had bflspid DovlaadM JaoHa, aa
CaMiis, anotlici oilatnttd intiBlM. of hu
H tha Itdir ArahoUt Stuart,
dbyGoot^le
CtaAF. xcvnL
is a fbraign climate thoo^
any, tbongb never ao mean, place at home. He uya
that Bome part of hu poor laboaia had been printed
in eight most famona cities beyond the seas, viz.,
Faria, Antwerpe, Oollein, Knrembniv, Frankfort,
Liopcdg, Amsterdam, 'and Hamburg, bnt that not-
withstanding he had fonnd strange entertainment
dnoe his retoni by the oppoMtion of two sorts of
people, the first simply Oantora or vocal nngers, the
second young men profeaaors of the Inte, ag^nst
whom he vindicates himself. He adds that he is
entered into the fiftieth year of his age, and becanse
he wants both means, leianre, and enconragement,
recommends to the more learned sort of mnricians,
who labour under no snch difficuldes, the defence of
their Inte-profeesion.
The prebce of Dowland to this his translation of
OraithoparcnB is dated from his house in Fetter-lane,
10th of April, 1609. This is the last of his pnbli-
cations, for it appears tliat he died in 1616.
Pkteb PmixiPB, an RngliBhinan by birth, better
known to the world by the Italian name Hetro
Philippi, was an exquisite composer of vocal mnsio
both sacred and prome. He styles himself Oanonicus
Sognicneis, i. e. a canon of Soigny, a city or town
in Hunaolt, and waa besides organist to the arch-
doke and duchess of Austria, Albert and Isabella,
governors of the Low conntriee. Peacham colls him
our rare countryman, one of the greatest masters of
munc in Europe, adding, that he hath sent ns over
AND PRAOTIOE OF HUSia
many excellent soDgs, as well motets as madrigals,
and that he atboteth altogether the Italian vein.
The wotlce published by him, beeides the collection
of madrigals entitled Melodia Olympioa, heretofore
mentioned, are Madrigal! k 6 voci, in Ito. an. 1699.
Cantiones sacm 6 vocnm, in 4to. an. 1612, Gem-
mnlte sacrte 2 et 3 vocnm, in 4to. an. 1613. Lilanite
B. M. V. in Eccleeia Loretana cani solitse i, 5,
9 vocnm, in 4to, an. 162S. He is celebrated l^
Drandins in his Bibliotbeca Classics.
His empliqrmentB and the nature of his ocaa-
posilions for the church bespeak him to have been
of the Romish communion. The Oantionee Bacne
are dedicated to the Vir^ Mary in the following
terms: —
' Qlorioosrimn Vir^ni Marite, Dei noetri parent!
' digniseimsa, axU.temeqne reginse, an^lorom, homi-
' nnm, et omninm oreaturarmn vieibilinm, et in vi-
' sibilinm post Deum Domin« : in honorem ejus sa-
' crse Kdis Aspricollis, nbi ad X>. 0. M. gloriam,
' Ohristiani popali consoktionem, et salntem ; Catho-
' lien, Apostohcee, et Romans lidei confinnationem,
' et ompj^ficationem ) cnnctarnm lueresnm, et hoere-
'ticonim eitirpationem, et confosionem, per poten-
■ t.i'—iin»ni ejus interventionem, frequentissima, di'
' viniasima, et ezploratisiima patrontur mirocula, hoc
' sacramm cantionnm oposculnm Petrns Philippi cum
' omni hnmilitate o&ert, dicat consecratqne,'
The following madrigal, printed in the Helodla
Olympics, is of the composition of Peter Phillipa ^—
<.
— R-
I .g fj'T'f r r \ "
VOI
n, - le ■ te chlo moo -
1".
E mi da ■ te, Do - lor si urn . d'e . . fbr -
1^
vol
TO - le - te ch'lo moo -
is,
ia,
Em] da- ts, Do- lor d ciud'e tar - - -
1 J J P ||>.J lol 1 M — f If ' J 1 «' h
vol
TO - le - te oh'io muo -
E mi d» - te, Do - lor o em - d'e fbr - -
^
vol
r 1 ' ' r ^
vo - le - to oh'io muo -
Emid.-te,Do-lor d cm- - - -
- - (e, ri cm-d-e for -
■ e.
- ir f rif ■ ■'i.i J \jr rm
Chemi otffl-dQ - oesrooT - - te,oheiiii
- • is, li orad-e for •
te.
Che . mi ooo - dn-oBs mor-le, che mi.
f'^n^f r pTf ^ -T- J 1 r ■ .
- - te, d om-d'e for -
te,
Che . . ml em - do -oea mor-te,
3- , :. 1 r— , = ,r r 1
'-^- -d-e for - - .
- te,
^
Che mi
dbyGooi^lc
UISTOBY OP THE 80IENOE.
if^M I I"'
^
<jie ml con
I J .1 1 1 I I > fej
^m
W=S=
■ dn - oe ■ nuaHe, obe ml coo-da-ce m
aha . mi coo-dn -
ijt"T?rri
te, die nd «oD<dii-«e a mor-te,
te, che mi • oon-da-OT a mcpr
per n - dsr na Toi
\r r
- brio mo - rll mo -
^^
mt per v«.- der
mentrio mo-ril mo-
■1 J
per Te - dor no nd
meotrta ma-rH mo-
m
^
■ ilr il - U dj-TO
-r^ffn
■ do ve - dend' oU - mi I .
-rirvi-tadj-ven-ta, vi-U dJven
>-da>d' (Ai - mi
tp:£p£Q
u, «] - te di T
-J J 11°
-trto mo - rUn
Ti - to dl-TB
-de Te - deud* ohl - toi I
IJi. tf- -If M 1 <^ -\ ■(■ ---T- =
1 1 1 J -7- |. f. 1 p ,
# ' 1 K M r 'M ", 1 ."
. . mil do - len-te to - - 1. . . . .
— ff- -P. .^.p ■ » r .. 4— !■ 1 . -J -1- .:;=
In qnea - 1» tI ■ - u po - i, mi
- - mit do - kn - to Td, do . leo • te to
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HISTOBY. OP THE eOIENOE AHD PB^OTIOE OF HCSia Boo XL
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