How Music Developed: A Critical and Explanatory Account of the Growth of Modern MusicHenderson, W. J. (William James)
History
How Music Developed: A Critical and Explanatory Account of the Growth of Modern Music
Henderson, W. J. (William James)
Music -- History and criticism
The earliest form of notation of which we have any knowledge is called
the Neume notation. These Neumes were much like Greek accents in some
respects, and in others resembled a sort of shorthand. All that could be
accomplished by them was an indication of the direction in which the
voice was to move, whether up or down, and of the number of notes which
it was to pass. In Hucbald's day a series of horizontal lines, like our
musical staff (but containing many more lines) was used. The names of
the notes were written opposite the ends of the spaces between the
lines, and then each syllable of the text was written in the space
belonging to the note to which it was to be sung. Short lines were drawn
upward or downward, as the case might be, between each syllable of one
part so that that part could be followed. Another system in use in
Hucbald's time, and even later, was arranged this way, the letters
representing the tones:--
[Music:
F
\
D E G E
/ \ \ \
C D F D
Lau-de dig-num ca-nat sanc-tum.]
As time passed on it became evident that there ought to be some way of
indicating a fixed pitch from which the notes were to start. So a line
was employed and the Neumes were written in a definite manner with
relation to it. If the line was red, the chant was in the key of F, and
all melodies ended on F. If the line was yellow, the key was C. In the
eleventh century both lines were used at the same time, and the
certainty of the meaning of the Neumes became greater. Afterward Guido,
of Arezzo, a famous teacher and theorist, who died in 1050, added two
more lines, and thus came into existence a four-line staff. The
character of the Neumes themselves had undergone many alterations,
until, in Guido's time, they began to look a little like modern notes.
But still there was no rhythm in the ecclesiastical music, and no way of
representing it in notation. Franco advocated the introduction of
measure into church music. He did not, of course, invent it, for it
already existed in the popular songs and dances of the people, and had
existed in them from the earliest times.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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