Critical and Historical Essays - Edward MacDowell (most important books to read txt) 📗

for virtuosity; when they sang their tours de force, the people applauded and waved their handkerchiefs, as they did also when the preaching pleased them. The pagans pointed the finger of scorn at the Christians, as being mere renegades from the old religion, and said, plausibly enough, that their worship was merely another form of the Dionysus tragedy. There was the same altar, the same chorus, the priest who sang and was answered by the chorus; and the resemblance had grown to such an extent that St. Chrysostom (350 A.D.) complained that the church chorus accompanied its singing with theatrical gestures, which, as we know, is simply the first step towards the dance.

This was the state of things when Gregory became Pope in 590 A.D. His additions to the modes already in use have been explained. His great reform lay in severing the connection between the music of the church and that of the pagan world before it. Casting aside the declamation and rhythm, which up to now had always dominated pure sound, he abolished the style of church singing in vogue, and substituted for it a system of chanting in which every tie between the words and music was severed.

The music was certainly primitive enough, for it consisted merely of a rising and falling of the voice for the space of many notes on one single syllable, as, for instance,

[F: (f g f g a a) a (a a a g a g g f a)]
[W: Gloria]

The difference between this and the Ambrosian chant is evident if we look at the following; and we must also bear in mind that the Ambrosian chants were very simple in comparison with the florid tours de force of the Byzantine church:

[F: d (d f) (d e) f | (g f) (g a) a | (a g) a c' d']
[W: Al me pater | Ambrosi, | nostras, preces,]
[F: (a b) a | a g a f e d]
[W: audi | Christe, exaudinos]

Now this reform could not be carried out at once; it was only through the medium of Charlemagne (742-814 A.D.), a hundred years later, that the Gregorian chant was firmly established. Authorized by a synod of bishops, called together from all parts of Europe by Pope Adrian I, Charlemagne, in 774, caused all the chant and hymn books of the Ambrosian system throughout Italy to be burned. So completely was this accomplished that only one Ambrosian missal was found (by St. Eugenius at Milan), and from this work alone can we form any idea as to the character of the music used by the followers of Ambrose, who were much retarded by the lack of a musical notation, which was the next factor needed to bring music to an equality with the other arts.


[07] Imitating the sound of the thing signified. Poe's
"Raven" has much of this character.

[08] [over-dot]c, perfect pause; c[mid-dot], short; c., shortest;
breathings: [reverse-apostrophe] hard; ' soft.


VIII

FORMATION OF THE SCALE-NOTATION


In comparing the Ambrosian chant with that of Gregory, it may be said that we have touched upon the vital principle of modern music. The novelty in the Gregorian chant consisted in its absolute emancipation from the tyranny of actual words and declamation; while the idea, the poetic principle, or religious ecstasy still remained the ideal to be expressed in the music. Before this, as already explained, music was either a mathematical problem, a rhythm to mark the time in dancing, or a vehicle serving for the display of clever tours de force, the music of the tragedies being merely a kind of melodious declamation. To quote Goethe, "having recognized the fact, it still remains for us to see how it developed." Let us now consider this point.

Three things were necessary before these Gregorian chants could develop at all: (1) A simple, clean-cut musical scale or systematized table of musical sounds. (2) Some definite manner of symbolizing sounds, so that they could be accurately expressed in writing. (3) A cultivation of the sense of hearing, in order that mankind might learn to distinguish between sounds that are discordant and those that sound well together; in other words, harmony.

We will begin with the scale, and review what we know of the Greek modes in order to show how they were amalgamated into our present octave system of scales.

[Tetrachords /---|--- /----|---- ]
[ F: b, c d e f g a G: b c' d' e' f' g' a']
[Mixolydian -+-+-+-+-+-+--/ | | | | | | ]
[Lydian -+-+-+-+-+---/ | | | | | ]
[Phrygian -+-+-+-+-----/ | | | | ]
[Dorian -+-+-+------/ | | | ]
[Hypolydian -+-+--------/ | | ]
[Hypophrygian -+---------/ | ]
[Aeolian or Locrian or Hypodorian -----------/ ]
[Notes labelled from highest to lowest: Nete, Páranete, Trite,
Nete, Páranete, Trite, Paramese, Mese, Líchanos, Parhýpate,
Hýpate, Líchanos, Parhýpate, Hýpate, [F: a,] Proslambanómenos.]

Under Ambrose and Pope Gregory, these modes had taken a different form. The chromatic and enharmonic styles had been abandoned in theory, the portamento which the singers introduced into their chants being the only principle retained. The new system was as follows:

[F8: g, a, b, G8: c d e f g a b c' d' e' f' g' a']
[First nine notes labelled:
Hypoion., Hypodor., Hypophryg., Hypolyd./Ionian,
Hypo-mixolyd./Dorian, Hypoaeol./Phryg., Lyd., Mixolyd., Aeol.]

In order to complete the story of the evolution of scales and clefs, we must add that the Flemish monk, Hucbald (900 A.D.), divided this scale into regular tetrachords, beginning at G, with the succession, tone, semitone, tone, forming four disjunct tetrachords,

[F: (g, a, b-, c) (d e f g) (a b c' d') G: (e' f+' g' a')]

This division remained without influence on the development of the scale.

The first change in the tetrachord system of reckoning tones and dividing the scale was made by Guido d'Arezzo (first half of eleventh century), who divided it into hexachords or groups of six notes each. Up to that time, each note of the scale had had a letter of the alphabet for its symbol. It was Guido who conceived the idea of using syllables for these notes. The story of how it occurred to him is well known: On one occasion, hearing his brethren in the monastery choir of Arezzo, in Tuscany, sing a hymn to St. John the Baptist, he noticed that the first syllable of each line came on regularly ascending notes of the scale, the first syllable coming on C, the first of the next line on D, the first of the third on E, etc., up to A on the sixth line. As all these syllables happened to differ one from the other, and, moreover, were very easy to sing, he hit upon the idea of using them to distinguish the notes on which they fell in the hymn.

[F: c d f (d e) d | d d c d e e ]
[W: Ut queant laxis | Resonare fibris ]
[F: (e f g) e (d e) c d | f g a (g f) d d]
[W: Mira gestorum | Famuli tuorum ]
[F: (g a g) e f g d | a g a f (g a) a | (g f) d c e d ]
[W: Solve polluti | Labii reatum | Sancte Joannes]

Furthermore, as there were six of these syllables, he arranged the musical scale in groups of six notes instead of four, hexachords instead of tetrachords. Commencing with G, which was the lowest note of the system in Hucbald's time, the first hexachord was formed of G A B C D E; the second, following the example of the Greeks, he made to overlap the first, namely, C D E F G A; the third, likewise overlapping the second, commenced on F. In order to make this hexachord identical in structure with, the first and second, he flatted the B, thus making the succession of notes, F G A B[flat] C D. The next three hexachords were repetitions of the first three, namely, G A B C D E, C D E F G A, F G A B[flat] C D; the last was again a repetition of the first, G A B C D E.


THE GAMUT.

[F: g, a, b, c d e c d e f g a f g a b- c' d' ] [W: [Gamma] A B C D E C D E F G a F G a b c d ] [W: (Ut re mi fa sol la) (Ut re mi fa sol la) (Ut re mi fa sol la)] [Hexachords: (Hard Low) (Natural Low) (Soft Low)]

[G: g a b c' d' e' c' d' e' f' g' a' ] [W: G a b c d e c d e f g aa ] [W: (Ut re mi fa sol la) (Ut re mi fa sol la)] [Hexachords: (Hard High) (Natural High)]

[G: f' g' a' b-' c'' d'' g' a' b' c'' d'' e''] [W: f g aa bb cc dd g aa bb cc dd ee ] [W: (Ut re mi fa sol la) (Ut re mi fa sol la)] [Hexachords: (Soft