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NOT  TO  BE  TAKEN 

From  the  Library 


BRARY  OF 
WELLESLEY  COLLEGE 


PRESENTED  BY 

LADY  HUGGINS 


lO^r:^'; 


GENERAL    HISTORY 


OF    THE 


SCIENCE   AND    PRACTICE 


OF 


MUSIC, 


BY 


SIR   JOHN    HAWKINS. 


A   NEW   EDITION, 
WITH   THE   AUTHOR'S   POSTHUMOUS    NOTES. 


VOL.    I. 


LONDON : 

NOVELLO,  EWER  &  CO.,  i,  BERNERS  STREET  (W.),  And  35,  POULTRY  (E.G.) 

NEW  YORK,  J.  L.  PETERS,  843,  BROADWAY. 

1875- 


NOVILLLO,    EWER    AND    CO., 

TYPOGRAPHICAL    MUSIC   AND    GENERAL    PRINTERS, 

I,    BERNERS    STREET,    LONDON. 

\  0  8  137 


LIFE    OF 


SIK    JOHN     HAWKINS 


COMPILED   FKOJI 


ORIGINAL    SOURCES. 


SIR  JOHN  HAWKINS,  the  friend  and  executor  of 
Dr.  Johnson,  and  a  descendant  of  the  Sir  John  Hawkins 
who  commanded  the  Victory,  and  one  of  the  four  divi- 
sions of  the  fleet,  as  vice-admiral,  at  the  destruction  of 
the  Spanish  armada,  was  born  in  1719.  His  fathei",  an 
architect  and  surveyor,  at  first  brought  his  son  up  to  his 
own  profession,  but  eventually  bound  him  to  an  attorney, 
'  a  hard  taskmaster  and  a  penurious  housekeeper.'  At 
the  expiration  of  the  usual  temi,  the  clerk  became  a 
solicitor,  and  by  unremitting  assiduity,  united  to  the  most 
inflexible  probity,  he,  imfdended,  established  himself  in  a 
respectable  business,  while  by  his  character  and  acquire- 
ments he  gained  admission  into  the  company  of  men  emi- 
nent for  their  accomplishments  and  intellectual  attain- 
ments. He  w^as  an  original  member  of  the  Madi-igal 
Society,  and  at  the  age  of  thirty  was  selected  by  Mr. 
(afterwards  Dr.)  Johnson  as  one  of  the  nine  who  formed 
his  Thursday-evening  Club  in  Ivy-lane  ;  a  most  flatter- 
ing distinction,  which  confinned  his  literary  habits,  and 
powerfully  influenced  his  future  pursuits  when,  not  many 
years  after,  he  relinquished  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  his  wife's  brother.  He  then  retired 
from  all  professional  avocations,  giving  up  his  business  to 
his  clerk,  Mr.  Clark,  who  subsequently  became  chamber- 
lain of  the  city  of  London.  With  this  increase  of  wealth 
is  connected  an  anecdote  of  far  too  honorable  a  nature  to  be 
omitted  here.  The  brother  of  Mrs.  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  communicated  the  fact  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hawkins, 
who,  by  representing  the  injustice  of  this  act,  and  by 
adding  entreaty  to  argument,  prevailed  on  him  to  make 
a  more  equitable  distribution  of  his  property,  and  an  equal 
division  was  the  consequence.  '  We  lost  by  this  (says 
Miss  Hawkins,  her  father's  biographer)  more  than  £1,000 
a-year;  but  our  gain  is  inestimable,  and  we  can  ride 
through  a  manor  gone  from  us  with  exultation.' 

Upon  retiring  from  the  law,  Mr.  Hawkins  purchased  a 
house  at  Twickenham,  intending  to  dedicate  his  future 


life  to  literary  labour  and  the  enjoyment  of  select  society. 
But  in  1771  he  was  inserted  in  the  commission  of  the 
peace  for  the  county  of  Middlesex,  and  immediately  be- 
came a  most  active  magistrate.  Here  his  independent 
spirit  and  charitable  disposition  were  manifested.  Acting 
as  a  magistrate,  he  at  first  refused  the  customary  fees  ; 
but  finding  that  this  generous  mode  of  proceeding  rather 
increased  the  litigious  disposition  of  the  people  in  his 
neighbourhood,  he  altered  his  plan,  took  what  was  his 
due,  but  kept  the  amount  in  a  separate  purse,  and  at  fixed 
periods  consigned  it  to  the  clergyman  of  his  parish,  to  be 
distributed  at  his  discretion. 

Being  about  this  time  led,  by  the  defective  state  of  the 
Highways,  to  consider  the  laws  respecting  them,  and  their 
deficiencies,  he  determined  to  revise  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  published  in  1763,  in  an  8vo.  volume  en- 
tituled  '  Observations  on  the  state  of  Highways,  and  on 
the  Laws  for  amending  and  keeping  them  in  repair;' 
subjoining  a  draught  of  the  Act  before-mentioned.  This 
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 
were  for  many  years  regulated,  and  which  forms  the 
nucleus  of  the  statutes  now  in  force. 

Some  time  after  this,  a  cause  as  important  in  its  nature, 
if  not  so  extensive  in  its  influence,  induced  him  again  to 
exert  himself  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.  This  the  Magis- 
trates of  the  County  thought  fit  to  resist,  and  accordingly 
a  vigorous  opposition  was  commenced  under  the  conduct 
of  Mr.  Hawkins,  who  drew  a  petition  accompanied  by  a 
case,  which  was  printed  and  distributed  among  the  mem- 
bers of  both  Houses  of  Parliament.  This  memorial  be- 
came the  subject  of  a  day's  discussion  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  and  in  the  Commons  produced  such  an  effect,  that 


IV. 


LIFE    OF    SIR    JOHN    HAAVKINS. 


the  City  of  London,  by  their  own  members,  moved  for 
leave  to  withdraw  the  bill. 

He  was,  in  1765,  elected  chairman  of  the  Middlesex 
(juarter-sessions. 

Not  long  after  this  event,  the  rector  and  officers  of  the 
parish  of  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn,  in  which  he  was  then  a 
resident,  solicited  his  assistance  in  opposing  an  attempt  of 
the  Corporation  of  London,  to  carry  out  a  design  whicli 
was  fraught  with  injury  to  their  interests.  The  City 
had  projected  opening  a  street  from  Blackfriars-bridge 
(then  lately  built)  across  the  bottom  of  Holborn-hill, 
and  as  much  fiu-ther  northward  as  tliey  might  think 
proper.  In  the  execution  of  this  scheme,  they  had  con- 
templated, among  other  changes,  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  with  the  then  bishop  of  Ely,  and 
wei-e  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  Winchelsea,  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  chm-chwardens,  and  the  other  in  that  of  lord 
"Winchelsea,  with  a  case  for  each,  containing  the  reasons 
on  which  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  their  thanks,  de- 
termined to  expend  £30  in  the  purchase  of  a  silver  cup 
to  be  presented  to  him,  a  resolution  which  was  shortly 
afterwards  carried  into  effect.  During  this  time  his 
literary  reputation  had  become  so  highly  established,  that 
the  University  of  Oxford,  meditating  a  re-publication  of 
Sir  Thomas  Hanraer's  Shakespeare,  in  6  vols.  4to,  with 
additional  notes,  applied  to  him  to  furnish  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  tliird,  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  capacity  of  Chairman  of  the  Quarter 
Sessions,  to  the  grand  jury  of  Middlesex,  which,  at  their 
general  i-equest,  was  printed  and  published.  During  the 
years  of  which  we  have  been  speaking,  popular  dis- 
content had  occasionally  risen  high,  and  in  the  execution 
of  his  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,  as  they 
did  with  great  violence  on  various  occasions,  he  and  some  of 
bis  brethren  presenting  themselves  on  the  spot,  effectually 
suppressed    the    tumult   by    their    resolute    demeanour. 


When,  too,  the  rising  of  the  Spitalfields  weavers  took 
place,  the  Middlesex  magistrates,  and  he  at  their  head, 
attended  at  JNIoorfields,  the  scene  of  the  disturbances, 
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,  he  in  1772  received  from  his 
Majesty,  George  III.,  the  honor  of  knighthood. 

A  fresh  edition  of  Shakespeare  being  contemplated  by 
Dr.  Johnson  and  INIr.  Stevens  in  1773,  he  was,  for  the 
second  time,  requested  to  furnish  notes  to  that  author, 
which  he  accordingly  did. 

In  1775,  the  year  in  which  it  was  determined  to  com 
mence  the  disastrous  American  war,  it  being  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  his  Majesty  in  the  October  of 
that  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  the 
King,  he  (Hawkins)  accepted  the  usual  offer  of  knight- 
hood.' Without  remarking  on  the  spirit  which  has  evi- 
dently actuated  Boswell  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  1775,  men- 
tioned above  (which  was  presented  exactly  three  years 
after  the  date  of  his  knighthood),  was  the  only  one  in 
which  he  ever  was  concerned.  Be  this  last  as  it  maj',  the 
fact  above  mentioned  sufficiently  disproves  the  allegation. 
Even,  however,  if  the  honor  had  been  attained  as  Boswell 
describes,  it  would  have  mattered  little ;  for  that  he  was 
not  imworthy  of  it  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact,  that 
the  Earl  of  Rochford  (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  Privy 
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  distribute  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  houses  of  Lord 
North  and  of  other  members  of  the  Administration,  and 
also  that  of  Lord  Mansfield.  As  Sir  John  bad  long 
been  honored  with  the  friendship  of  the  latter,  he  fixed 


LIFE   OF   SIR   JOHN   HAWKINS. 


V. 


upon  him  as  the  object  of  his  attention,  and  accordingly 
proceeded  to  his  house,  accompanied  by  a  brother  magis- 
trate who  resided  in  the  neighbourhood.  On  their  ar- 
rival they  found  Lord  Mansfield  writing  to  the  Secretary 
of  War  for  a  party  of  the  Guards,  and  the  interval  between 
the  despatch  of  the  application  and  the  arrival  of  the 
troops  was  spent  in  conferences  with  his  Lordship  and 
the  Archbishop  of  York  (his  neighbour),  on  the  plan  to 
be  adopted.  On  Lord  Mansfield's  asking  Sir  John  his  in- 
tentions, he  answered  that  his  design  was  to  place  the  men 
behind  the  piers  which  divided  the  windows,  and  to  hold 
them  in  readiness  to  fire  on  the  mob  directly  the  demon- 
strations of  the  rioters  rendered  such  an  act  necessary. 
To  this,  however.  Lord  Mansfield  objected,  from  a  dislike 
to  bloodshed,  and  on  the  arrival  of  the  troops,  declined  to 
take  them  into  the  house,  sending  them  to  the  vestry 
at  Bloomsbury,  to  remain  there,  in  readiness  to  act,  if 
their  services  should  be  reqiiired.  As  it  appeared  he  did 
not  wish  to  retain  the  magistrates,  they  retired,  having 
arranged  that  Sir  John  should  remain  at  the  house  of  his 
colleague  in  Southampton-row,  close  by,  till  12  p.m.,  at 
which  time  he  intended,  if  all  remained  quiet,  to  return 
to  his  own  home,  as  his  Lordship  would  still  have  one 
magistrate  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- 
umberland House  to  say  that  it  was  beset,  and  that  the 
Duke  had  sent  for  Sir  John,  he  proceeded  thither.*  On 
his  arrival  there,  he  found  that  a  considerable  mob  was 
assembled  in  front  of  the  house,  but  that  no  assaidt  had 
yet  been  attempted.  Proper  precautions  were  imme- 
diately taken  for  its  defence,  and  in  order  that  the  pro- 
jected measures  might  be  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,  howerer,  very  near  paying 
dearly  for  his  conduct,  for,  notwithstanding  the  lateness 
of  the  hour  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  his 
house  in  Queen's-square,  Westminster,  he  discovered  that 
it  had  been  marked  with  a  red  cross,  the  symbol  by  which 
during  that  period  the  rioters  devoted  property  to  de- 
struction. Being,  fortunately  for  him,  fully  aware  of  the 
meaning  of  the  sign,  he  immediately  saw  the  necessity  of 
erasing  it.  This,  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 
being  at  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  was  afterwards  discovered  that  there  had  been  aii  error  in  the 
message  which  he  received.  It  had  really  been  sent  from  Lord  North's, 
in  Downing-street,  and  not  the  Duke  of  Northumberland's.  The  simi- 
larity in  the  names  probably  originated  the  mistake,  which  might  be 
farther  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  Duke,  as  Lord  Lieutenant  of  the 
«ounty,  was  a  likely  object  of  attack,  at  a  time  when  every  magistrate 
was  favored  with  the  detestation  of  the  populace. 


he  passed  his  hand,  in  which  was  a  handkerchief,  behind 
him,  and  thus  succeeded  in  totally  obliterating  the  ill- 
omened  symbol.  Fortunately,  his  having  done  so  was  un- 
noticed ;  the  mark  was  not  renewed,  and  his  house  escaped 
the  destruction  which,  the  following  night,  overtook  all 
others  similarly  distinguished. 

'  When  these  tumults  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  guilt  of  high  treason  ;  and  it  was  therefore  im- 
perative that  the  grand  jury  of  Middlesex,  to  whom 
the  indictments  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,  was  accordingly  sent  to  Sir  John, 
desiring  him  to  deliver,  at  the  then  ensuing  session, 
a  charge  to  the  grand  jury,  explanatory  of  the  duties 
required  of  them.  This  desire,  at  the  moment  it  was 
made,  was  sufficiently  embarrassing,  for  he  was  away 
from  home,  and  consequently  at  a  distance  from  the  books 
he  wished  to  consult ;  and,  moreover,  he  had  but  forty- 
eight  hours  in  which  to  prepare  his  address.  Notwith- 
slanding  these  disadvantages,  he,  however,  constructed  a 
charge  which  on  its  delivery  was  highly  commended,  and 
which  the  grand  jury,  after  passing  a  vote  of  thanks  to 
him  for  its  'learning  and  eloquence,'  desirea  to  have 
printed  and  published. 

I  But  to  return  to  the  narrative  of  his  youth ;  from 
which  this  digression  has  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  his  leisure 
hours.  It  was  the  society  of  the  eminent  that  young 
Hawkins  courted,  and  in  the  practice  of  the  classical 
music  of  his  day  that  he  took  delight.  Immyns,  and 
through  him  Dr.  Pepusch,  were  his  earliest  musical 
associates.  His  daughter  records  an  interesting  anecdote 
of  his  acquaintance  with  Handel.     She  says  : — 

"  Were  I  to  attempt  enumerating  my  father's  musical 
friendships,  I  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  subsisted. 
Handel  had  done  him  the  honor  frequently  to  try  his  new 
productions  in  his  young  ear ;  and  my  father  calling  on 
him  one  morning  to  pay  him  a  visit  of  respect,  he  made 
him  sit  down,  and  listen  to  the  air  of  See  the  conquering 
Hero  comes,  concluding  with  the  question,  '  How  do  you 
like  it  ? '  my  father  answering,  '  Not  so  well  as  some 
things  I  have  heard  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 
things.' 

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  Canzonets 
of  which  Hawkins  furnished  the  greater  portion  of  the 
words,  while  Stanley  composed  the  music. 


VI. 


LIFE    OF    SIR    JOHN    HAWKINS. 


Young  men,  accomplished  in  music,  frequently  find  it 
an  excellent  introduction  to  company  which  otherwise 
they  would  hardly  reach,  and  a  recommendation  to 
patrons  by  whom  their  legal  or  mercantile  abilities  might 
be  overlooked.  And  so  young  Hawkins  found  :  his  Can- 
zonets were  sung  and  encored  at  Vauxhall,  Ranelagh, 
and  other  places.  The  author  of  'Who'll  buy  a  heart?' 
was  enquired  after:  amongst  others,  a  Mr.  Hare,  a 
brewer,  and  musical  amateur,  who  had  often  met  Hawkins 
at  Mr.  Stanley's,  invited  him  to  his  house.  At  Mr. 
Hare's  he  met  his  future  father-in-law,  Mr.  Storer,  who 
being  a  practitioner  in  a  high  grade  of  the  law,  but  de- 
clining into  years,  found  in  the  young  amateur  of  music, 
first  a  valuable  assistant,  and  afterwards  a  welcome  hus- 
band for  his  daughter,  and  sharer  of  his  opulence. 

Some  time  previous  to  the  publication  of  the  Canzonets 
mentioned  above,  he  had  been  well  known  in  the  literary 
world  as  the  author  of  various  contributions  to  the  '  Gen- 
tleman's Magazine,'  and  other  periodicals  of  similar  de- 
scription. These,  being  mostly  anonymous,  are  now, 
of  course,  not  easily  traced.  This  much,  however,  is 
known  :  that  they  were  not  confined  to  any  one  subject, 
but  embraced  many  different  topics,  and  that  they 
comprised  both  prose  and  poetry.  A  copy  of  verses  to 
Mr.  John  Stanley,  inserted  in  the  Daily  Advertiser  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  was  not  only  to  the  lighter  occupation  of 
literature  that  his  attention  was  directed ;  for  when,  in 
the  eventful  year  of  1745,  the  young  Pretender  published 
his  manifesto,  an  answer  to  it,  written  by  Mr.  Hawkins, 
was  widely  circulated  and  read ;  and  a  series  of  papers 
on  the  same  subject,  furnished  to  the  magazines  and 
newspapers  of  the  day,  attested  his  attachment  to  the 
House  of  Hanover.  His  conduct,  indeed,  at  this  critical 
period,  attracted  the  notice  of  the  Duke  of  Newcastle, 
who  wished  to  bring  him  into  public  life  —  'which  at- 
tempt,' says  a  friend  and  contemporary  of  Sir  .John's,  in 
writing  to  his  son,  '  was  frustrated  by  your  father's 
predilection  for  a  studious  life,  and  from  a  reserved 
disposition.'  Nor  was  this  the  only  occasion  on  which 
the  honor  was  offered  him,  for  in  the  same  letter, 
dated  Feb.  4,  1796,  the  correspondent,  Mr.  T.  Gwatkin, 
of  Eign,  near  Hereford,  says  —  'When  the  noise  was 
'  loud  about  Wilkes  and  liberty,  Sir  John's  conduct  as 
'  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  him  into  Parliament.  I  strongly 
'  urged  him  to  accept  the  offer :  my  arguments  made  some 
'  impression  ;  but  he  was  then  deeply  engaged  in  the 
'  History  of  Music  ;  besides  he  was,  as  I  could  easily 
'  collect  from  repeated  conversations — although  both  from 

*  habit  and  theoretical  reasoning  entirely  attached  to  the 
'  House  of  Hanover — jealous   of  his   own   personal    in- 

*  dependence.  If,  merely  from  personal  interest,  he  could 
'  have  been  returned  for  a  county  or  city,  I  believe  he 
'would  have  had  no  objection;  but  although  be  was  a 


'  friend  to  the  Administration,  he  did  not  choose  to  come 
'  into  Parliament  under  the  auspices  of  any  minister. 
'  An  offer  was  made  him  of  placing  you  and  your  brother 
'  upon  the  foundation  of  King's  Scholars  at  Westminster, 
'  and  I  pressed  him  to  accept  it,  from  the  examples  of 
'  Lord  Mansfield  and  other  great  men  who  were  upon 
'  the  foundation,  yet  from  the  same  principle  of  inde- 
'  pendence  he  rejected  it.' 

This  letter,  which  certainly  gives  great  insight  into  Sir 
John's  character,  v/ould  not  have  been  quoted  so  much 
at  length,  did  it  not  furnish  the  best  possible  refutation  of 
the  stigma  cast  upon  him  by  Boswell — that,  in  his  inter- 
course with  Johnson,  he  betrayed  an  unworthy  spirit  of 
subserviency.  Of  this,  however,  it  will  be  requisite  to 
speak  hereafter. 

The  motive  that  induced  him  to  decline  the  offer  of  the 
presentation,  was  the  feeling  that  the  intention  of  the 
founder  would  be  violated,  if  those  who  were  in  a  position 
to  pay  for  the  education  of  their  children,  placed  them  on 
a  foundation  designed  exclusively  for  '  poor  scholars.' 

In  1760,  being  in  possession  of  some  authentic  and  in- 
teresting documents  relating  to  the  author,  he  published 
an  edition  of  Walton's  '  Complete  Angler,'  with  the 
second  part  by  Cotton.  To  the  original  work  he  added 
notes,  and  wrote  a  life  of  Walton  appending  one  of 
Cotton  by  the  well-known  Mr.  W.  Oldys  :  and  that  no 
means  of  making  the  work  attractive  might  be  neglected, 
he  embellished  it  with  cuts,  designed  by  Wade,  and 
engraved  by  Ryland,  which  are  even  at  this  time,  when 
art  has  so  much  advanced,  remarkable  for  their  elegance. 
Of  this  work,  three  editions  were  sold  off"  before  the  year 
1784,  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  fact  respecting  him  mentioned  in  the  former  im- 
pressions, and  subjoining  several  more.  After  his  death, 
a  fifth  edition  was  published  by  his  eldest  son,  Avho 
inserted  the  last  corrections  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 
places  of  public  amusement,  and  the  consequent  enlarged 
demands  for  eminent  performers,  their  subscription 
of  two  guineas  and  a  half  was  not  sufficient  to  carry 
out  the  plan  they  had  adopted,  were  obliged  to  solicit 
farther  assistance.  To  this  end  ]\Ir.  Hawkins,  then  a 
member,  drew  up  and  published  a  pamphlet  entitled 
'  An  Account  of  the  institution  and  progress  of  the 
'  Academy  of  Ancient  Music,  with  a  comparative  view  of 
'the  Music  of  the  past  and  present  times.'  This  was 
published  in  octavo  in  1770,  but  without  any  author's 
name. 

Hawkins  had  long  been  a  member  of  all  the  best  con- 
certs in  London ;  and  when  circumstances  permitted  him 
to  make  his  own  house  a  central  point  of  assembly,  the 
first  musical  men  of  the  day  flocked  with  pleasure  to 
Austin  Friars.     Drs.  Cooke  and  Boyce  were  among  his 


LIFE    OF    SIR    JOHN    HAWKINS. 


Vll. 


intimate  friends ;  and  Bartleman,  then  a  boy,  his  protege. 
He  collected  all  the  standard  compositions  of  his  own 
day,  and  of  former  times,  and  pnrchased,  after  the  death 
of  their  owner,  Dr.  Pepusch's  invaluable  collection  of 
theoretical  treatises.*  The  idea  of  becoming  the  historian 
of  the  art  he  cultivated  with  so  much  ardour,  is  said  to 
have  been  first  suggested  to  him  by  the  celebrated  Horace 
Walpole  :  and  when  the  inheritance  of  his  brother-in- 
law  rendered  him  independent  of  any  involuntary  labour, 
he  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  made  upon 
his  time  considerably  prolonged  its  duration.  In  this,  as 
in  all  his  other  literary  labours,  his  daughter,  together 
with  his  sons,  afforded  the  assistance  of  amanuensis,  col- 
lator, and  corrector  of  tlie  press.  In  collecting  his  ma- 
terials Sir  John  Hawkins  was  indefatigable — 

'  Nil  actum  reputans,  si  quid  supcresset  agendum.' 

lie  corresponded  with  every  one  from  whom  information 
could  be  hoped,  and  amongst  others  Avith  Dr.  Gostling, 
of  Canterbury,!  from  whose  collections  and  recollections 
he  obtained  much  curious  matter  that  no  other  person 
could  have  furnished.  Correspondence  led  to  personal 
intimacy,  and  Sir  John  visited  Mr.  Gostling  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  177G  he  published,  in  5  vols.  4to,  his  '  History  of 
IMusic,'  a  work  upon  which  he  had  been  engaged  for 
the  space  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  deo-ree  of  Doctor  in  Law,  which  he  had  reasons  for  de- 
clining  ;  but  that  learned  body  paid  him  the  compliment 
of  requesting  his  porti-ait,  which  now  hangs  in  the  Music 
School. 

In  this  delitrhtful  book,  authorities  haA-^  been  consulted 
and  brought  together  from  various  libraries  and  museums, 
with  a  diligence  in  research,  and  a  solicitude  almost  affec- 
tionate in  their  collection  and  arrangement,  forming 
together  a   mass    of  the  most  curious  and  entertaining 

*  This  collection,  when  his  History  of  JIusic  was  published,  Sir  Jolin 
gave  to  the  British  Museum,  and  thus  preserved  it  from  tlie  fate  which 
attended  the  rest  of  his  library. 

t  The  Rev.  William  Gostling,  Minor  Canon  of  Canterbury  Cathedral, 
■was  the  son  of  that  Mr.  Gostling  for  whom  Purcell  wrote  his  celebrated 
antliem,  '  They  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships,'  and  of  whom  Charles 
II.  said,  '  You  may  talk  of  your  nightingales  and  sky-larks,  but  I  have 
a  Gosling  shall  beat  them  all.'  Combining  his  own  knowledge  to  the 
information  derived  from  his  father,  Mr.  Gostling  was  a  living  de- 
pository of  musical  history  and  anecdote  back  nearly  to  the  middle 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 


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   a 
delight.     The    evident   pleasure   he  takes   in   his  work, 
reflects  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  cn- 
joyingly  pursued,  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  sits  in  liis  arm-chair,  comfortably  ruminating 
the  stores  of  knowledge  which  have  been  cidled  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 
amusing  reading.     It  was  a  favorite  with  Charles  Lamb, 
who,  though  no  musical  authority,  was  an  eminent  lite- 
rary one,  of  unsurpassed  refined  taste  and  high  judgment. 
In  the  shape  of  notes,  there  is  a  fund  of  anecdote,  and  a 
large  amoimt  of  incidental  miscellaneous  matter,  scattered 
through  the  work,  that  pleasantly  relieve  the  graver  main 
theme.    Anything  entertaining,  that  can  by  possibility  be 
linked  on  to  the  subject  of  music,  is  easily  and  chattily 
introduced ;    as  though  the  author  and  his  reader  were 
indulging  in  a  cheerful  gossip  by  the  way.     We  have,  in 
quaint   succession,    such    things   as  that  romantic  love- 
passage  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  bluff  King  Harry's  fancy 
for  my  Lord  Cardinal's  minstrels,  and  of  his  setting  oft' 
with  them  for  a  certain    nobleman's  house   where   Avas 
a  shrine  to  which  he  had  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  ;  and  when 
the  large  extent,  and  various  nature  of  his  materials  are 
considered,  the  plan  will  be  allowed  to  have  been  devised 
with  considerable  ability. 

It  is  not  an  unusual,  and  at  first  sight  appears  not  an 
imreasonable  prejudice,  to  suppose  that,  in  order  to 
qualify  a  man  to  write  upon  any  art,  he  shoidd  be  a  pro- 
fessor of,  or  at  least  have  been  regularly  educated  to,  the 
art  of  which  he  treats.  A  lawyer  seems  as  little  qualified 
to  write  a  history  of  Music,  as  a  composer  Avould  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  had  Sir  John  Hawkins  publislied  a  new 
book  of  instructions  for  the  organ  or  violoncello,  he  would 
probably  have  subjected  himself  to  being  deservedly  ac- 


Vlll. 


LIFE    OF   SIR   JOHN   HAWKINS. 


cused  of  presumption.  The  theory  of  an  art,  even,  can 
hardly  be  satisfactorily  explained,  except  by  one  who  has 
that  intimate  familiarity  with  its  practice  and  its  nomen- 
clature which  is  rarely,  if  ever,  attained  by  an  amateur. 
But  with  the  historian  the  case  is  different :  it  is  to  be 
presumed  that  a  man  who  voluntarily  dedicates  years  of 
labour  to  collect  from  all  quarters  the  scattered  records  of 
an  art,  must  be,  on  the  one  hand,  himself  attached  to  it, 
and  familiar  with  its  practice,  in  a  degree  amply  sufficient 
to  secure  him  against  the  danger  of  misinterpreting  any 
technical  or  conventional  phrases  ;  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  habits  of  research,  the  knowledge  of  languages, 
and  the  various  literar}'  acquirements  requisite  for  the 
liistorian,  are  but  seldom  to  be  found  united  in  the  mere 
artist.  Captain  Cook  used  to  say  that  the  best  weather- 
glass 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  rain.     So  the  beau  ideal  of  a  his- 


torian of  music  would  be  found  in  a  man  who  united  irr 
his  own  person  the  composer,  performer,  linguist,  and 
philosopher,  together  with  the  leisure  and  studious  habits 
of  the  man  of  letters.  But  if  we  cannot  find  this  phoenix, 
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  History  of  Music,  another 
work  imder  the  same  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  luiasked  for,  or  sneered 
at,  on  the  publisher's  counter. 

The  fate  of  the  work,  however,  was  decided  at  last,  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  obli\  ion.  Some  wag 
wrote  the  following  catcl),  which  Dr.  Callcott  set  to 
music  : — 


N.B. — Leave  out  the  Bars  between  +  +  till  the  ?>xA  Voice  comes  in,  tlien  '^o  on. 


m^i 


^i 


^Se3 


i=^^?=^^^^ 


o 


3 


e^E 


Have       you   Sir  John  Haw-kins'  hist'ry,   some  folks  think     it  quite  a      myst'ry,  Sir  John  Hawkins, 


iS^li 


SSEEEEEEEi 


4 


ggS^f^E 


'^: 


\        \ 


=tfE 


Mu    -    sic   fiird  his    won-d'rous  brain,       how     d'ye   like  him     is      it      pliun,      how  d'ye  like  him,  how  d'ye 


Both  I've    read,  and  must  a  -  grce  that  Bur-ney"s     his-t'ry     pleas- cs      me, 


i 


Burney's 


r P- 


E^?=?^ 


^^MHi^^ 


Sir  John  Hawlcins, 


^-^ 


Sir  John  HaMkins, 


=^= 


like  him,  how  d'ye  like  him,  how  d'ye    like  him, 


how  d'ye    like  him. 


=PE 


;^i 


Sir  John 


how  d'^■e 


^=eE 


■=3» — -^ — p 
7- 7-       7^^ 


^E 


hist'ry. 


Bur-ney's    his-t'ry,  Bumey's  liis-t'ry,  Burney's     liis-t'ry,  Burney's    his-t'ry,  Bunicy's 


P 


/7\     +-•- 

-h- 


-tt- 


P 


Hawkins,  Sir  John  Hawkins,  Sir  John  Hawkins,  some     folks      think   it    quite 

/Ts     -f- 


i;z=;?-=^ 


y-"=7=^^/ — V- 


-/■ — /^ — C- 


^E 


a  myst'ry. 


3 


like  him,  how  d'ye  like  him,  how  d'ye  like  him,  how       d'ye        like 

^     +  ^_ 

— I- 


him,       is 


it      plain. 


f^=f=S^^^=?=^=^^^ 


his-  fry,  Burney's  his-  fry,  Burney's   his-  Vvy, 


3=3==1S; 


1 


Bur  -   ncy  's     his     -     f  rj'     pleas     -     es      me. 

I.  W.  Callcott,  B.M. 


Bmn  /lis  history  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   the  as  an   article  never  likely  to  be  called  for ;   so  that  now 

adrice,    actually    '  wasted,'   as   the  term    is,  or   sold  for  liardly  a  copj'  can  be  prociu'ed  undamaged  by  damp  and, 

waste  paper  some  hundred  copies,  and  buried  the  rest  of  mildew.     It  has  been  for  some  time,  however,  rising — is 


LIFE    OF    SIR    JOHN    HAWKINS. 


IX, 


rising — and  the  more  it  is  read  and  known,  the  more 
it  will  rise  in  public  estimation  and  demand. 

It  may  not,  however,  be  generally  known  that  Barney's 
History,  which  was  more  successful  at  the  time,  was  not 
begun  till  many  years  after  this,  nor  till  its  author  had 
been  allowed  constant  and  unrestrained  access  to  the 
materials  collected  by  Sir  John  for  his  work.  Moreover, 
the  first  volume  only  of  Bumey's  History  was  published 
simultaneously  with  Sir  John's  complete  work,  while  the 
remaining  three  followed  at  intervals  of  two  years  between 
each  volume. 

The  unfair  competition,  all  things  considered,  of  Dr. 
Burney,  and  the  prejudices  it  engendered,  rendered  it 
scarcely  surprising  that  Sir  John's  History  of  Music  did 
not  even  furnish  a  pair  of  carriage  horses  to  its  author ; 
who  had  often  declared  that  if,  in  a  pecuniary  point  of 
view,  he  obtained  that  trifling  reward  of  his  sixteen  years' 
labour  he  should  be  well  satisfied. 

Which  of  the  rival  histories  is  intrinsically  the  better, 
and  consequently  the  more  calculated  to  secure  an  en- 
during meed  of  approbation,  has  been  carefully  con- 
sidered ;  and  the  result  is,  the  re-production  of  Sir  John 
Hawkins's  valuable  work.  The  great  progress  which 
has  been  made  in  the  art  since  that  period,  as  well  as  the 
consequent  increase  in  the  number  of  accomplished  mu- 
sicians, formed  the  turning-point  in  favor  of  this  decision. 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  science  of  Music  is  one 
that  has  pervaded  all  time,  and  been  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent  the  common  property  of  all  nations,  it  is  evident 
that  one  who  could  hope  to  succeed  in  recording  its 
history,  must  bring  to  his  undertaking  a  competent  know- 
ledge of  both  ancient  and  modern  languages;  an  ac- 
quaintance with  history  critically  exact  with  regard  to  its 
period-s  and  their  peculiarities  ;  and  a  familiarity  with 
blackletter  and  obsolete  signs  and  abbreviations,  sufficient 
to  discover  and  decipher  any  documents  relating  to  the 
art  which  might  be  recorded  in  them.  To  this  were  to  be 
added  a  careful  assiduity — which,  unscared  by  its  details, 
and  undeterred  by  its  intricacies,  should  follow  the  art 
in  its  progress  through  centuries  extending  from  Jubal 
down  to  Handel; — a  laborious  zeal,  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 
authenticities  and  affix  dates  ; — and,  finally,  a  judicious 
method,  which  should  first  arrange  and  systematize  the 
knowledge  acquired,  and  then  present  it  in  the  clearest 
form  to  the  contemplation  of  the  world.  Sir  John 
Hawkins  united  in  himself  most  of  these  qualities  in  an 
eminent  degree. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1783,  Dr.  Johnson,  with 
whom  he  had  for  many  years  been  on  terms  of  great 
friendship,  sent  for  him,  and  imparting  to  him  that  he 
had  discovered  in  himself  symptoms  of  dropsy,  declared 
his  desire  of  making  a  will,  and  his  wish  that  Sir  John 
should  be  one  of  his  executors.     On  his  consenting,  the 


Doctor  entered  into  an  account  of  his  circumstances,  and 
mentioned  the  disposition  he  intended  to  make  of  his 
effects.  Of  this  matter  Boswell  has  thought  fit  to  say- 
'  that  by  assiduous  attendance  upon  Johnson  in  his  last 
illness,  he  (Hawkins)  obtained  the  post  of  one  of  his 
executors.' 

Now  the  impression  created  by  this  statement  on  the 
mind  of  a  person  not  acquainted  with  the  facts  would  be, 
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  his 
dying  friend  proceeded  from  an  unworthy  motive.  With 
regard,  then,  to  the  former  portion  of  the  insinuation,  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  those 
living  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  frequently  meeting 
Johnson  at  Hawkins's  house,  and  who  could  testify  to  the 
closeness  of  their  intimacy.  To  the  latter,  we  have  the- 
whole  tenor  of  Sir  John's  life  to  oppose;  and  it  is  not 
very  probable  that  he,  who  from  a  scruple  which  the 
world  may  consider  overstrained,  but  must  admit  to  be 
honorable,  had  used,  and  successfully  used,  all  his  ener- 
gies to  dissuade  another  who  was  bent  on  enriching  him, 
from  carrying  his  intentions  into  effect ;  who  had,  froni 
a  spirit  of  independence,  twice  declined  a  seat  in  Parlia- 
ment, then  a  much  greater  object  of  ambition  than  now  ; 
and  who,  as  a  matter  of  conscience,  had  preferred  de- 
fraying the  expense  of  his  sons'  education  at  one  public 
school  to  accepting  a  free  presentation  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,  his 
vindication  might  well  be  left ;  but  there  are  others  of 
a  more  particular  nature.  In  the  first  place,  then,  the 
conversation  in  which  Dr.  Johnson  engaged  Sir  John  to 
be  his  executor,  took  place  in  December,  1783 ;  and  about 
the  middle  of  1 784  he  was  '  so  well  recovered  from  all 
his  ailments'  that  '  both  himself  and  his  friends  hoped 
that  he  had  some  years  to  live.'  Thus  it  appears  that, 
far  from  the  appointment  being  the  effect  of  anything 
that  occiuTed  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  before 
In  the  second  place,  it  is  established  by  the  testimony  of  one 
of  Sir  John's  sons,  that  Johnson  had  for  many  years  been 
accustomed  to  consult  him  on  all  important  matters,  and 
more  especially  those  connected  with  business  ;  and  in 
the  third,  it  can  be  stated  on  the  same  authority,  that 
'  the  office  had  been  wholly  unsolicited  by  words  or 
actions.' 

To  take,  however,  Boswell's  assertion  as  it  stands — 
if  it  really  be  the  case  that  Johnson  was  moved  to  select 
Sir  John  as  he  describes,  it  argues  a  weakness  on  the 
great  Doctor's  part  which  Boswell,  as  his  friend,  would 
have  done  well  to  conceal ;  a  weakness,  by  the  way,  the 
supposition  of  which  is  far  from  being  borne  out  by  his 
choice  of  the  co-executors.  Dr.  William  Scott  (afterwards 


X. 


LIFE    OF   SIR   JOHN   HAWKINS. 


Lord  Stowell)  and  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  If  it  be  not  so, 
and  Johnson,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  his  usual  strength 
of  mind,  deliberately  preferred  Hawkins  to  Boswell, 
[and  liliic  dice  lacriim.cE~\  the  inference  is  obvious  that 
he  selected  the  person  in  whom  he  had  the  greatest  con- 
fidence. Neither  is  Boswell's  assertion  coiTect,  that  in 
consequence  of  his  appointment  as  an  executoi-,  the 
booksellers  of  London  employed  him  to  publish  an 
edition  of  Johnson's  works  and  to  write  his  life.  The 
.fact  is,  that  a  number  of  slanders  and  calumnies  had 
been  propagated  against  Johnson  during  his  life,  and  he 
was  apprehensive  that  many  more  would  be  circulated 
after  his  decease.  With  this  impression  on  his  mind, 
he  frequently,  in  the  many  interviews  which  took  place 
between  the  friends  during  the  last  year  of  his  life,  com- 
mitted in  express  terms,  '  the  care  of  his  fame '  to  Sir  John. 
It  was,  therefore,  to  this  injunction,  and  not  to  a  contract 
with  the  booksellers,  that  the  life  of  Johnson  and  edition 
of  his  works,  published  by  Hawkins  in  1787,  owed  its 
existence. 

He  had  scarce  entered  upon  his  task  when  his  own 
library,  that  dearest  pride  and  most  cherished  worldly 
good  of  a  literary  man — a  labour  which  it  had  been  the 
toil  and  deliglit  of  more  than  thirty  years  to  collect,  and 
which  comprised  among  its  books,  prints  and  drawings, 
many  articles  that  no  money  could  replace — was  de- 
stroyed 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, 
he  sought  in  renewed  study  the  solace  of  his  misfortune. 

In  1787  he  closed  his  literary  career,  by  publishing  his 
Ife  of  Johnson  and  edition  of  his  works.  Immediately  on 
its  appearance,  it  was  virulently  attacked  by  Boswell  and 
others  ;  but  the  author  was  repeatedly  accosted  in  the 
streets  by  utter  sti"angers,  who  thanked  him  for  the 
amusement  and  information  he  afforded  them.  No  one 
can  doubt  that  there  existed,  at  the  time  of  its  publica- 
tion, many  causes,  totally  irrespective  of  the  merits  of  the 
book,  which  may  account  for  its  being  so  violently  de- 
cried. In  the  first  place,  he  who  imdertakes  to  give 
to  the  world  accounts  of  his  contemporaries  invariably 
runs  the  risk  of  incurring  great  animosity  :  and  the  more 
candidly  and  impartially  he  performs  his  task,  the  greater 
is  his  danger  in  this  respect ;  for  while  the  friends  of  the 
deceased  consider  that  his  virtues  and  amiable  qualities 
are  not  sufficiently  enlarged  upon,  those  who  disliked 
him,  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,  his  wonderful  acquirements,  and  his  gigantic 
intellect,  had  excited  the  unbounded  admiration  and  se- 
cured the  enduring  love  of  many;  but  it  is  equally  cer- 
tain that  his  dictatorial  spirit  and  his  boorish  manner, 
■under  which  some  had  personally  smarted,  had  created 
liim  enemies  in  an  equal  proportion.  With  Hawkins's 
■work,  then,  both  parties  were  dissatisfied — the  one,  that 
ihe  representation  given  of  him  fell  so  far  short  of  their 


extravagant  idea  of  his  perfection,  tlie  other  that  it  ex- 
ceeded what  they  considered  his  deserts.  Again,  there 
were,  no  doubt,  others  who  had  pleased  their  imaginations 
with  the  hope,  that  the  slight  acquaintance  they  misht 
have  with  Johnson,  would  induce  the  Avriter  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 
inclined  to  view  with  very  favorable  eyes  the  labours  of 
his  historian.  Another,  and  the  not  least  bitter  class,  was 
comjiosed  of  those  who,  sufficiently  aware  of  the  extent  o^ 
Johnson's  reputation,  had  conceived  the  design  of  pro- 
fiting by  his  celebrity.  Of  these  projected  biographers 
the  number  was  not  small,  and  it  cannot  be  supposed  that 
they  could  be  other  than  hostile  to  a  work  which,  by 
superseding  the  necessity  for  a  second,  defeated  their  hope 
of  fame  or  emolument,  whichever  might  be  their  object. 

Before  concluding  this  narration,  it  may  be  allowable  to 
remark,  that  while  few  persons  have  been,  both  during  life 
and  after  death,  so  rancorously  attacked  as  Sir  John  Haw- 
kins, none  have  come  out  of  an  ordeal  so  severe  as  that  to 
which  his  reputation  has  been  exposed,  more  thoroughly 
unscathed  than  he  has  done.     Some  of  the  most  probable 
causes  of  his  being  so  vir\ilently  assailed,  have  been  stated 
above  :  but  there  are  doubtless  others ;  and  the  one  whicli 
drew  upon  him  the  enmity  of  Stevens  is  too  important  to  be 
omitted.  It  appears  that  an  inexplicable  coolnesshadarisei. 
between  Garrick  and  Hawkins,  who  had  formerly  been  on 
very  intimate  terms,  and  on  some  accidental  circumstances 
leading  the  latter  to  investigate  the  soin-ce  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,  was 
by  him  ejected  from  his  house.     This,  Stevens  was  not 
likely  to  forgive  ;  more  especially  as  he  must  have  been 
conscious  that  he  had  been  detected  in  another  act  of  most 
disgraceful  nature.     A  day  or  two  before  the  intended 
presentation  of  the  address  of  1775,  mentioned  above, 
he  had  called  on  Sir  John.     A  manuscript  cojiy  of  the 
address  lay  on  the  table  in  the  room  into  which  he  was 
shown.     This   after  his   departure  was  missed  and  was 
never  foimd  again.     On  the  publication  of  the  St.  James's 
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  so  happened  that, 
owing  to  some  accident,  the  reception  of  the  address  by 
the  king  had  been  postponed,   and  that  at  the  time  the 
public  were  reading  this  accoimt,  the  address  had  not 
yet  been  presented  at  all.     The  address  too,  only  existed 
in  manuscript,  and  in  Sir  John's  possession  :  inider  these 
circumstances  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  Stevens  had 
purloined  the  copy,  trusting  that  the  address  would  be 
presented  at  the  time  proposed,  which  was  anterior  to 
the  publication  of  his  paper,  and  that  on  its  appearanc-:- 
in  the  St.  James's  Chronicle,  it  would  be  supposed  that 
he  had  received  it  from  some  person  about  the  Court. 
The    accidental    delay   had   however   defeated   this   by- 


LIFE   OP    SIR  JOHN   HAWKINS. 


x: 


pothesis  ;   and,  with  the  other  circumstances,  fixed  the 
guilt  of  the  theft  upon  him. 

As  another  instance  of  Mr.  Stevens's  mode  of  pro- 
cedure, the  following  is  subjoined  : — 

0,  Bridge-street,  Westminster,  April  3,  1853. 
My  Dear  Sir, — I  enclose  you  the  anecdote  which  I  pro- 
mised.      Any   information  in  relation   to  your  edition    of 
Hawkins  that  I  am  able  to  afford,  shall  be  cheerfully  con- 
tributed in  aid  of  so  spirited  and  useful  a  publication. 

Most  traly  yours,  W.  AYRTON. 
To  Sir.  J.  Alfred  Novello. 

Hawlcins's  History  and  George  Stevens. 

"  When  Hawkins's  History  of  Jlusic  was  ready  for  printing, 
Ste\'ens — who  contributed  to  it  much  of  the  literary  portion — 
that  is,  the  literary  facts  and  the  result  of  his  research — went 
to  Thomas  Payne  ('  Old,  honest  Tom  Payne,  of  the  Mews- 
gate'),  and  strongly  recommended  him  to  purchase  the  work, 
at  the  price  of  500  guineas,  extolling  it  as  exhibiting  great 
learning,  and  abounding  in  interesting  detail. 

"  The  week  after  the  work  appeared,  a  letter  was  published 
in  the  St.  James's  Evening  Post,  attacking  it  with  great  vio- 
lence. Stevens,  in  Payne's  shop,  entered  on  the  subject  of  the 
letter,  condemning  in  strong  terms  the  injustice  and  violence 
of  the  critique.  Shortly  after,  a  second  attack  appeared  in 
the  same  journal,  and  Stevens,  at  his  usual — almost  daily — 
visit  to  the  Mews-gate,  where  many  of  the  literati  used 
to  assemble  and  converse,  again  expressed  his  sui-prise  and 
disgust  at  the  continuance  of  such  wanton  hostility,  saying, 
'  It  is  a  most  unfair  and  most  malignant  enemy  who  writes 
in  the  St.  James's  Evening  Post.'  '  Yes,'  said  Mr.  Payne, 
*it  is  most  malignant  and  unjust;  and  I  have  the  best 
proofs,  Mr.  Stevens,  that  you  are  the  author  of  those  letters, 
and  I  never  wish  to  see  your  face  again  in  this  place  ! ' 

"  Stevens  never  after  repeated  his  visits  ;  but  wishing  to 
meet,  as  usual,  his  friend,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cracherode,  used  to 
walk  on  the  side  opposite  Payne's  shop  at  the  time  when  Cra- 
cherode generally  called  there,  in  order  to  enjoy  his  almost 
daily  literary  chat  with  him.* 

"  The  foregoing  I  had  from  Mr.  Thomas  Payne,  who  suc- 
ceeded his  father  in  the  business,  which  he  removed  to  Pall 
Mall.  The  account  was  given  to  me,  in  nearly  the  same  words, 
by  Mr.  Evans,  bookseller  in  Pall  Mall,  who  had  been  a  shop- 
man of  the  elder  Payne ;  and  this  has  been  confinned  by 
IMr.  Henry  Foss,  who,  on  the  death  of  the  second' T.  Payne, 
carried  on  the  business,  in  partnership  with  Mr.  John  Thomas 
Payne,  in  Pall  Mall. 

"  I  have  a  clear  recollection  of  Sir  J.  Hawkins,  who  was  a 
constant  dropper-in  at  my  father's  house,  James-street,  Buck- 
ingham-gate. He  was  generally  thought  somewhat  austere  ; 
but  to  me,  as  a  child,  he  was  gentle  and  kind.  After  the  des- 
truction, by  fire,  6f  his  house  in  Queen-square,  Westminster, 
and  of  his  curious  library,  he  resided  in  the  Broad  Sanctuary, 
close  to  the  Abbey  ;  which  house  was  recently  pulled  down, 
to  make  way  for  the  improvements  in  that  quarter. 

"  W.  A." 

*  Mr.  Cracherode  (qy.  Dr.  ?)  lived  at  No.  24,  Queen-square,  West- 
minster, and  at  Clapham;  was  a  man  of  large  fortune,  and  possessed 
one  of  tte  finest  libraries  then  existing,  v/hich,  at  his  deatii,  was  pur- 
chased by  the  British  Museum,  for  £14,000. 


Ail  this  was  surely  sufficient  to  make  Stevens  rejoice 
in  the  opportunity  of  assailing  Hawkins,  and  to  induce 
him  to  use  any  means  to  injure  one  who  had  such  just 
reason  to  regard  him  with  contempt. 

Where  Boswell  and  Stevens  led,  others  have  been  found 
to  follow  ;  but  it  may  be  remarked  that  their  assaults  con- 
sist more  of  violent  expressions  of  opinion,  than  of  records 
of  facts  calculated  to  affect  his  personal  or  literary  fame. 
The  terms  of  friendship,  indeed,  on  which  he  stood 
with  those  who  were  the  best  men  of  the  day,  both  as 
regards  high  character  and  literary  attainment,  form  the 
surest  criterion  of  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held 
by  those  persons  whose  good  opinion  was  most  to  he 
valued. 

Sir  John  Hawkins  had  always  been  a  pious  man  :  as 
advancing  years  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  theological  studies,  to  which  he  latterly  dedicated 
every  hour  which  some  imperative  duty  did  not  claim. 
On  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  May,  1789,  he  was 
attacked,  while  away  from  home,  by  a  paralytic  affection : 
he  immediately  returned  and  was  carried  up  to  bed, 
but  rallied  so  far  in  the  course  of  the  day  as  to  get  up 
again  to  receive  an  old  friend  who  had  promised  to 
visit  him  in  the  evening  :  he  was  however  again  seized, 
and  was  compelled  to  return  to  his  bed  from  which  he 
never  again  rose,  for  his  malady  becoming  aggravated 
by  apoplectic  symptoms,  put  a  period  to  his  life  on  the 
2lst  of  May,  just  one  week  from  the  date  of  his  first 
attack. 

He  left  behind  him — to  use  the  Avords  of  Chalmers — 
'A  high  reputation  for  abilities  and  integrity,  united  with 
the  well-earned  character  of  an  active  and  resolute  magis- 
trate, an  affectionate  husband  and  father,  a  firm  and  zealous 
friend,  a  loyal  subject,  and  a  sincere  Christian,  and  rich 
in  the  friendship  and  esteem  of  very  many  of  the  first 
characters  for  rank,  worth,  and  abilities,  of  the  age  in 
which  he  lived.' 

He  was  buried  in  the  cloisters  of  Westminster  Abbey, 
in  the  North  Walk,  under  a  stone  which,  by  his  express 
direction,  hears  no  more  than  tlie  following  inscription  : — 

J.  H. 

Obiit  XXI  Maii,   mdcclxxxix, 

iEtatis  Lxx. 

His  wife,  who  survived  him  four  years,  is  buried  in  the 

same  grave. 

He  left  two  sons,  John  Sidney  and  Henry,  and  one 
daughter,  Letitia  Matilda ;  all,  but  especially  the  latter, 
well  known  in  the  literary  world.  Miss  Hawkins's  novels 
evince  talent ;  while  the  cause  of  virtue,  usefulness,  and 
right  feeling  has  never  found  a  more  zealous,  and  but 
seldom,  very  seldom,  a  more  efficient  advocate. 

By  this  summary  of  the  circumstances  which  marked 
Sir  John  Hawkins's  life,  one  of  the  great  ends  of 
Bioo-raphy  is  achieved  :  serving  to  stimulate  men  by  a 
worthy  example  ;  and  showing,  that,  however  contem- 
poraneous meanness,  envy,  or  detraction,  may  cause  full 


xu. 


LIFE   or    SIR   JOHN   HAWKINS. 


justice  to  be  delayed,  it  cannot  prevent  eventual  honor 
from  accruing  to  one  who  steadfastly  maintains  his 
virtuous  integrity.  It  supplies  a.  pregnant  instance  of 
the  unfailing  comfort  of  conscious  rectitude,  beneath 
unfounded  aspersion  and  venomous  assault.  It  inspires 
a  consoling  reliance  upon  ultimate  equitable  estimate, 
however  long  deferred.  It  furnishes  a  sustaining  moni- 
tion, that  patient  desert,  whatever  may  be  the  amount 
of  injurious  misapprehension  it  chances  temporarily  to 
encountei",  is  sure  in  the  end  to  triumph,  and  to  secure  to 
itself  a  genuine  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  false  opinion  of  him, — and  to  pro- 
cure the  failure  of  his  productions,  would  not  have  been 
recorded  here  ;  were  it  not  that  there  are  times  when 
such  candour  of  revelation  is  absolutely   needful.     No 


occasion  could  be  more  fitting  than  this,  when  relating 
Sir  Jolin's  biography,  and  re-printing  his  great  work. 
Not  only  was  it  requisite  in  justification, — to  rescue  a 
worthy,  honest  name  from  unmerited  imputation,  and 
to  reclaim  his  literary  efforts  from  unfair  slight;  but  it  was 
proper,  in  order  to  show  how  xmiformly  the  machinations 
of  such  insidious  maligners,  after  a  period  of  apparent 
success  in  jirevailing  against  the  object  of  their  attack, 
are  sure  to  recoil  upon  their  devisers'  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  his 
private  character ;  and  testifies  value  for  his  literary 
capacity,  by  giving  the  palm  to  his  admirable  History 
over  the  one  which  claims  to  be  its  rival, — a  fact  proved 
from  the  present  demand  for  this  re-print  of  the  work 
here  offered  to  the  Public. 


ANNOUNCEMENT. 


In  the  present  a^^e,  when  public  attention  is  so  exten- 
sively directed  towards  the  study  and  practice  of  Music, 
it  has  been  thought  that  a  new  edition  of  Sir  John 
Hawkins's  valuable  Histoi-y  of  the  Science  and  Practice 
o£  Music  would  prove  peculiarly  acceptable,  as  being  by 
far  the  best  history  of  the  Art  extant. 

The  whole  of  the  original  Text  has  been  printed  in  its 
integrity,  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  at  one  view, 
and  in  point  of  economy  the  2722  pages  of  the  Quarto 
are  comprised  in  1016  pages.  The  paging  has  been  con- 
tinued from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  as  more  simple  for 
reference,  and  to  enable  those  who  like  such  information 
in  one  volume,  to  bind  it  in  that  form  ;  but  provision  has 
been  made,  by  adding  a  second  title  after  page  486,  to 
divide  the  work  into  two  volumes,  an  arrangement  which 
may  generally  be  preferable. 

The  Medallion  Portraits  of  Musical  Composers,  which 
were  in  the  Quarto  edition,  have  been  printed  in  a  sepa- 
rate volume  ;  these  may  be  purchased  optionally,  and 
thus  decrease  the  price  of  the  History  to  those  with  whom 
economy  must  be  a  consideration.  They  consist  of  up- 
wards of  sixty  portraits,  printed  from  the  original  coppei*- 
plates  engraved  for  the  1776  edition;  to  which  has  been 
added  a  portrait  of  Sir  John  Hawkins  himself  from  the 
painting  in  the  Oxford  Music  School,  through  the 
courtesy  of  the  surviving  members  of  his  family.  All  the 
additional  manusci'ipt  notes  which  adorn  the  Author's 
own  copy  left  to  the  British  Museum,  are  inserted  (by  per- 
mission of  the  authorities;  in  the  edition  now  presented 
to  the  public  :  it  may  therefore  be  considered  what  a  new 
edition  edited  by  Sir  John  Hawkins  himself  would  have 


been  ;  the  additions  in  text  or  notes  are  distinguished  by 
being  printed  in  italics. 

To  ensure  the  careful  reproduction  of  matter  of  such 
varied  character,  the  assistance  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 
Holmes,  Mr.  Josiah  Pittman,  Mr.  W.  H.  Monk,  and  Mr. 
Burford  G.  H.  Gibsone,  with  occasional  suggestions  from 
other  well-wishers  ;  and  the  whole  work,  such  ad- 
vantage as  might  be  derived  from  the  Publisher's  printing 
experience. 

There  has  been  added  a  Memoir  of  the  Author,  com- 
piled from  original  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  carefully-made 
general  and  other  Indexes.  The  large  subject  of  a 
History  of  Music,  embracing  heterogeneous  matter  and 
the  result  of  wide  research,  makes  it  a  storehouse  to 
which  a  definite  clue  is  required  in  giving  ready  access. 
The  Indexes  have  been  going  on  cotemporaneously  with 
the  printing  of  the  book  ;  and  Mrs.  Cowden  Clarke's  ex- 
perience derived  from  her  Concordance  to  Shakespeare, 
fitted  her  especially  for  the  task  of  their  compilation. 
A  table  of  parallel  books,  chapters,  and  pages  has  been 
added,  to  render  the  new  Indexes  available  for  those  who 
possess  the  Quarto  edition. 

In  concluding  these  brief  but  necessary  words  of  ex- 
planation, the  warmest  thanks  are  offered  to  the  editorial 
friends  above  specified,  as  also  to  those  kind  supporters 
who  have  subscribed  for  the  work  during  its  periodical 
issue  by  the  Public's,  and  their  obedient  servant, 


69,  Dean  Street,  SoJio,  London. 
August,  1833. 


TuE  Publisher. 


AUTHOR'S    DEDICATION    AND    PREFACE. 


To  GEORGE  THE  THIRD,  King  of  Great  Britain,  &c.,  a  Prince  not 
more  distinguished  by  his  patronage  of  those  elegant  arts  whicli 
exalt  humanity  and  administer  to  the  imaginative  faculties  the 
purest  delights,  than  honoured  and  beloved  for  his  regal  and  private 
virtues,  the  following  History  is,  with  all  due  reverence  and  gratitude, 
dedicated  by  him  who  esteems  it  equally  an  honour  and  a  felicity  to 
subscribe  himself  His  Majesty's  faithful  and  devoted  subject  and 
servant,  The  Author. 

A  History  of  Music  by  any  but  a  professor  of  the  science,  may 
possibly  be  looked  on  as  a  bold  understaklng  ;  and  it  may  appear  not  a 
little  strange  that  one,  who  is  perhaps  better  known  to  the  world  as 
occupying  a  public  station  than  as  a  writer,  should  choose  to  be  the 
author  of  a  work  of  this  kind,  and  for  which  the  course  of  his  studies 
can  hardly  be  supposed  to  have  in  any  degree  qualified  him. 

In  justification  of  the  attempt,  and  to  account  for  this  seeming  in- 
consistency, the  reader  is  to  know,  that  the  author  having  entertained 
an  early  love  of  music,  and  having  in  his  more  advanced  age  not  only 
become  sensible  of  its  worth,  but  arrived  at  a  full  conviction  that  it  was 
intended  by  the  Almighty  for  the  delight  and  edification  of  his  rational 
creatures,  had  formed  a  design  of  some  such  work  as  this  many  years 
ago,  but  saw  reason  to  defer  the  execution  thereof  to  a  future  period. 

About  the  year  1759,  he  found  himself  in  a  situation  that  left  his 
employments,  his  studies,  and  his  amusements  in  a  great  measure  to 
his  own  choice  ;  and  having  in  a  course  of  years  been  as  industrious  in 
making  collections  for  the  purpose  as  could  well  consist  with  the  ex- 
ercise of  a  laborious  profession,  he,  with  a  copious  fund  of  materials, 
began  the  work:  but  before  any  considerable  progress  could  be  made 
therein,  he  was  interrupted  by  a  call  to  preside  in  the  magistracy  of  the 
county  of  his  residence,  which,  though  unsolicited  on  his  part,  he  could 
not  decline  without  betraying  an  indifference  to  the  interests  of  society, 
and  the  preservation  of  public  order,  or  such  an  aversion  to  the  occupations 
of  an  active  life,  as  in  few  cases  is  excusable,  and  in  many  reproachful. 

Determining,  however,  to  avail  himself  of  those  intervals  of  leisure 
which  the  stated  recesses  from  the  exercise  of  his  office  afforded,  and 
which  seemed  too  precious  to  be  wasted  either  in  sloth  and  indolence,  or 
those  fashionable  recreations  and  amusements,  to  which  he  was  ever 
disposed  to  prefer  the  pursuit  of  literature,  he  re-assumed  his  work  ;  and 
with  the  blessing  of  health,  scarcely  interrupted  for  a  series  of  years, 
has  been  able  to  present  it  to  the  world  in  the  condition  in  which  it  now 
comes  forth. 

What  the  reader  is  to  expect  from  it,  and  as  the  fruit  of  many  years 
study  and  labour,  is  the  history  of  a  science  deservedly  ranked  among 
those,  which,  in  contradistinction  to  the  manual  arts,  and  others  of  lower 
importance,  have  long  been  dignified  with  the  characteristic  of  liberal  ; 
and  as  the  utility  of  Music  is  presupposed  in  the  very  attempt  to  trace 
its  progress,  an  enumeration  of  its  various  excellencies  will  scarcely  be 
thought  necessary ;  the  rather  perhaps  as  its  praises,  and  the  power  it 
exercises  over  the  human  mind,  have  been  celebrated  by  the  ablest 
panegyrists.  i 

Farther  than  the  circumstances  attending  the  peculiar  situation  of  the 
author  and  the  work  may  be  allowed  to  entitle  him  to  it,  the  favour  or 
indulgence,  or  whatever  else  it  is  the  practice  of  writers  to  crave  of  the 
public,  is  not  here  sued  for,  either  on  the  ground  of  want  of  leisure, 
inadvertence,  or  other  pretences  ;  for  this  reason,  that  there  can  be  no 
valid  excuse  for  a  publication  wittingly  imperfect;  and  it  is  but  a  sorry 
compliment  that  an  author  makes  to  his  reader,  when  he  tenders  him 
a  work  less  worthy  regard  than  it  was  in  his  power  to  make  it. 

To  be  short,  the  ensuing  volumes  are  the  produce  of  sixteen  years 
labour,  and  are  compiled  from  materials  which  were  not  collected  in 
double  that  time.  The  motives  to  the  undertaking  were  genuine,  and 
the  prosecution  of  it  has  been  as  animated  as  the  love  of  the  art,  and 
a  total  blindness  to  lucrative  views,  could  render  it.  And  perhaps  the 
best  excuse  the  author  can  make  for  the  defects  and  errors  that  may  be 
found  to  have  escaped  him,  must  be  drawn  from  the  novelty  of  his 
subject,  the  variety  of  his  matter,  and  the  necessity  he  was  under  of 
marking  out  himself  the  road  which  he  was  to  travel. 

It  may  perhaps  be  objected  that  music  is  a  mere  recreation,  and  an 
amusement  for  vacant  hours,  conducing  but  little  to  the  benefit  of 
mankind,  and  therefore  to  be  numbered  among  those  vanities  which  it 
is  wisdcmi  to  contemn.  To  this  it  may  be  answered,  that,  as  a  source 
of  intellectual  pleasure,  music  has  greatly  the  advantage  of  most  other 
recreations ;  and  as  to  the  other  branch  of  the  objection,  let  it  be 
remembered  that  all  our  desires,  all  our  pursuits,  our  occupations,  and 
enjoyments  are  vain.  What  are  stately  palaces,  beautiful  and  extensive 
gardens,  costly  furniture,  sculptures,  and  pictures,  but  vanities  ?  and 
yet  there  are  few  men  so  vain  as  that  they  had  rather  be  without  than 
possess  them.  Nay,  if  these  be  denied  us,  where  are  we  to  seek  for 
amusements, — for  relief  from  the  cares,  the  anxieties  and  troubles  of  life  ; 
how  support  ourselves  in  solitude,  or  under  the  pressure  of  affliction, — 
or  how  preserve  that  equanimity,  which  is  necessary  to  keep  us  in  good 
humour  with  ourselves  and  mankind  ?  As  to  the  abuses  of  this  excellent 
gift,  enough  it  is  presumed  is  said  in  the  ensuing  work  by  way  of  caution 
against  them,  and  even  to  demonstrate  that  as  there  is  no  science  or 
faculty  whatever  that  more  improves  the  tempers  of  men,  rendering 
them  grave,  discreet,  mild,  and  placid,  so  is  there  none  that  affords 
greater  scope  for  folly,  impertinence,  and  affectation. 

The  end  proposed  in  this  undertaking  is  the  investigation  of  the 
principles,  and  a  deduction  of  the  progress  of  a  science,  which,  though 
intimately  connected  with  civil  life,  has  scarce  ever  been  so  well  under- 
stood by  the  generality,  as  to  be  thought  a  fit  subject,  not  to  say  of 
criticism,  hut  of  sober  discussion:  instead  of  exercising  the  powers  of 
reason,  it  has  in  general  engaged  only  that  faculty  of  the  mind,  which. 


for  want  of  abetter  word  to  express  it  by,  we  call  Taste;  and  which 
alone,  and  without  some  principle  to  direct  and  controul  it,  must  ever 
be  deemed  a  capricious  arbiter.  Another  end  of  this  work  is  the  settling 
music  upon  somewhat  like  a  footing  of  equality  with  those,  which,  for 
other  reasons  than  that,  like  music,  they  contribute  to  the  delight  of 
mankind,  are  termed  the  sister  arts ;  to  reprobate  the  vulgar  notion  that 
its  ultimate  end  is  merely  to  excite  mirth  ;  and,  above  all,  to  demonstrate 
that  its  principles  are  founded  in  certain  general  and  universal  laws,  into 
which  all  that  we  discover  in  the  material  world,  of  harmony,  symmetry, 
proportion,  and  order,  seems  to  be  resolvable. 

The  method  pursued  for  these  purposes  will  be  found  to  consist  in  an 
explanation  of  fundamental  doctrines,  and  a  narration  of  important 
events  and  historical  facts,  in  a  chronological  series,  ivith  such  occasional 
remarks  and  evidences,  as  might  serve  to  illustrate  the  one  and  authen- 
ticate the  other.  With  these  are  intermixed  a  variety  of  musical  compo- 
sitions, tending  as  well  to  exemplify  that  diversity  of  style  which  is 
common  both  to  music  and  speech  or  written  language,  as  to  manifest 
the  gradual  improvements  in  the  art  of  combining  musical  sounds.  The 
materials  which  have  furnished  this  intelligence  must  necessarily  be 
supposed  to  be  very  miscellaneous  in  their  nature,  and  abundant  in 
quantity :  to  speak  alone  of  the  treatises  for  the  purpose,  the  author  may 
with  no  less  propriety  than  truth  assert,  that  the  selection  of  them  was 
an  exercise  of  deep  skill,  the  result  of  much  erudition,  and  the  effect  of 
great  labour,  as  having  been  for  a  great  part  of  his  life  the  employment  of 
that  excellent  theorist  in  the  science.  Dr.  Pepusch.  These  have  been 
accumulating  and  encreasing  for  a  series  of  years  past :  for  others  of  a 
different  kind,  recourse  has  been  had  to  the  Bodleian  library  and  the 
college  libraries  in  both  universities  ;  to  that  in  the  music-school  at  Ox- 
ford ;  to  the  British  Museum,  and  to  the  public  libraries  and  repositories 
of  records  and  public  papers  in  London  and  Westminster;  and,  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  facts  by  dates,  to  cemeteries  and  other  places  of 
sepulture  ;  and  to  him  that  shall  object  that  these  sources  are  inadequate 
to  the  end  of  such  an  undertaking  as  this,  it  may  be  answered,  that  he 
knows  not  the  riches  of  this  country. 

A  correspondence  with  learned  foreigners,  and  such  communications 
from  abroad  as  suit  with  the  liberal  sentiments  and  disposition  of  the 
present  age,  together  with  a  great  variety  of  oral  intelligence  respecting 
persons  and  facts  yet  remembered,  have  contributed  in  some  degree 
to  the  melioration  of  the  work,  and  to  justify  the  title  it  bears  of  a 
General  History;  which  yet  it  may  be  thought  would  have  been  more 
properly  its  due,  had  the  plan  of  the  work  been  more  extensive,  and 
comprehended  the  state  of  music  in  coimtries  where  the  approaches  to 
refinement  have  yet  been  but  small. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  in  some  instances,  particularly  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  first  i)rinciples  of  morality,  and  the  origin  of  human 
manners,  the  researches  of  learned  men  have  been  extended  to  nations, 
or  tribes  of  people,  among  whom  the  simple  dictates  of  nature  seemed  to 
be  the  only  rule  of  action  ;  but  the  subjects  here  treated  of  are  science, 
and  the  scientific  practice  of  music:  now  the  best  music  of  barbarians 
is  said  to  be  hideous  and  antonishing  sounds.*  Of  what  importance 
then  can  it  be  to  enquire  into  a  practice  that  has  not  its  foundation  in 
science  or  system,  or  to  know  what  are  the  sounds  that  most  delight  a 
Hottentot,  a  wild  American,  or  even  a  more  refined  Chinese  ? 

For  the  style,  it  will  be  found  to  be  uniformly  narratory ;  as  little 
encumbered  with  technical  terms,  and  as  free  from  didactic  forms  of 
speech,  as  could  consist  with  the  design  of  explaining  doctrines  and 
systems  ;  and  it  may  also  be  said  that  care  has  been  taken  not  to  degrade 
the  work  by  the  use  of  fantastical  phrases  and  modes  of  expression, 
that,  comparatively  speaking,  were  invented  yesterday,  and  will  die 
to-morrow  ;  these  make  no  part  of  any  language,  they  conduce  nothing 
to  information,  and  are  in  truth  nonsense  sublimated. 

For  the  insertions  of  biographical  memoirs  and  characters  of  eminent 
musicians,  it  may  be  given  as  a  reason,  that,  having  benefited  mankind 
by  their  studies,  it  is  but  just  that  their  memories  should  live:  Cicero, 
after  Demosthenes,  says  that  ■' bona  fama propria possessiodefunctorum;" 
and  for  bestowing  it  on  men  of  this  faculty,  we  have  the  authority  of  that 
scripture  which  exhorts  us  to  praise  "  such  as  found  out  musical  tunes, 
and  recited  verses  in  writing. "+  Besides  which  it  may  be  observed,  that 
in  various  instances  the  lives  of  the  professors  of  arts  are  in  some  sort 
a  history  of  the  arts  themselves.  For  digressions  from  his  subject,  the 
insertion  of  anecdotes  that  have  but  a  remote  relation  to  it,  or  that 
describe  ancient  modes  or  customs  of  living,  the  author  has  less  to  say; 
these  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  his  readers,  who  cannot  be  supposed 
to  be  unanimous  in  their  opinions  about  them. 

It  remains  now  that  due  acknowledgment  be  made  of  the  assistance 
with  which  the  author  has  been  favoured  and  honoured  in  the  course  of 
his  work  ;  but  as  this  cannot  be  done  without  an  enumeration  of  names, 
for  which  he  has  obtained  no  permission,  he  is  necessitated  to  declare 
his  sense  of  the  obligation  in  general  terms,  with  this  exception,  that 
having  need  of  assistance  in  the  correction  of  the  music  plates,  he  was 
in  sundry  instances  eased  of  that  trouble  by  the  kind  offices  of  one,  who 
is  both  an  honour  to  his  profession  and  his  country,  Dr.  William  Boyce ; 
and  of  the  difliculty  of  decyphering,  as  it  were,  and  rendering  in  modern 
characters  the  compositions  of  greatest  antiquity  amongst  those  which 
he  found  it  necessary  to  insert,  by  the  learning  and  ingenuity  of  Dr. 
Cooke,  of  Westminster  Abbey,  Mr.  ^larmaduke  Overend,  organist  of 
Isleworth  in  Middlesex,  and  Mr.  John  Stafford  Smith,  of  the  royal  chapel. 

*  Characteristics,  vol.  I.  page  242.      t  Ecclesiasticus,  chap.  xliv.  verse  5. 


Hatton  Garden, 

26th  Any.,  17"G. 


PRELIMINAEY     DISCOUESE. 


The  powers  of  the  imagination,  with  great  appearance 
of  reason,  are  said  to  hold  a  middle  place  between  the 
organs  of  bodily  sense  and  the  faculties  of  moral  per- 
ception ;  the  subjects  on  which  they  are  severally  exer- 
cised are  common  to  the  senses  of  seeing  and  hearing,  tlie 
office  of  which  is  simply  perception  ;  all  pleasure  thence 
arising  being  referred  to  the  imagination. 

The  arts  which  administer  to  the  imaginative  faculty 
the  greatest  delight,  are  confessedly  poetry,  painting,  and 
music ;  the  two  former  exhibiting  to  the  mind  by  their 
respective  media,  either  natural  or  artificial,*  the  resem- 
blances of  whatever  in  the  works  of  nature  is  compre- 
hended under  the  general  division  of  great,  new,  and 
beautiful ;  the  latter  as  operating  upon  the  mind  by  the 
power  of  that  harmony  which  results  from  the  concord  of 
sounds,  and  exciting  in  the  mind  those  ideas  which  cor- 
respond wdth  our  tenderest  and  most  delightful  affections. 

These,  it  must  be  observed,  constitute  one  source  of 
pleasure  ;  but  each  of  the  above  arts  may  in  a  different 
degree  be  said  to  afford  another,  namely,  that  which  con- 
sists 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  description 
with  the  thing  described ;  in  painting,  a  landscape  and 
the  scene  represented  by  it,  or  a  portrait  and  its  original ; 
and  in  music,  where  imitation  is  intended,  as  in  the  songs 
of  birds,  or  in  the  expression  of  those  various  inflexions 
of  the  voice  which  accompany  passion  or  exclamation, 
weeping,  laughing,  and  other  of  the  human  affections,  the 
sound  and  the  thina:  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  his  works  ;  the  other  is  to  be  accounted  for  by  that 
love  of  truth  which  is  implanted  in  the  human  mind.f 
In  poetry  and  painting  therefore  we  speak,  and  with  pro- 
priety, of  absolute  and  relative  beauty  ;  as  also  of  music 
merely  imitative  ;  for  as  to  harmony,  it  is  evident  that 

*  The  natural  media  seem  to  consist  only  in  colour  and  figure,  and 
refer  solely  to  painting :  the  artificial  are  words,  which  are  symbols  by 
compact  of  ideas,  as  are  also,  in  a  limited  sense,  musical  sounds,  including 
in  the  term  the  accident  of  time  or  duration. 

+  In  this  sentiment  liberty  has  been  taken  to  difTer  from  Mr.  Harris, 
who  with  his  usual  accuracy,  has  analysed  this  principle  of  the  human 
mind  in  the  following  note  on  a  passage  in  the  second  of  his  Three  cele- 
brated Treatises  : — 

'  That  there  is  an  eminent  delight  in  this  very  recognition  itself,  abstract 
'  from  any  thing  pleasing  in  the  subject  recognised,  is  evident  from 
'  hence — that,  in  all  the  mimetic  arts,  we  can  be  highly  charmed  with 
'imitations,  at  whose  originals  in  nature  we  are  shocked  and  terrified. 
'  Such,  for  instance,  as  dead  bodies,  wild  beasts,  and  the  like. 

'The  cause  assigned  for  this,  seems  to  be  of  the  following  kind  :  we 
'  have  a  joy,  not  only  in  the  sanity  and  perfection,  but  also  in  the  just  and 
'  natural  energies  of  our  several  limbs  and  faculties.  And  hence,  among 
'  others,  the  joy  in  reasoning,  as  being  the  energy  of  that  principal  faculty, 
'  our  intellect  or  understanding.  This  joy  extends,  not  only  to  the  wise, 
'  but  to  the  multitude.  For  all  men  have  an  aversion  to  ignorance  and 
'  error ;  and  in  some  degree,  however  moderate,  are  glad  to  learn  and  to 
inform  themselves. 

'  Hence  therefore  the  delight  arising  from  these  imitations  ;  as  we  are 

•  enabled  in  each  of  them  to  exercise  the  reasoning  faculty  ;  and,  by  com- 
'  paring  the  copy  with  the  architype  in  our  miiids,  to  infer  that  this 
'is  such  a  thing,  and  that  another;  a  fact  remarkable  among  children, 

*  even  in  their  first  and  earliest  days." 


the  attribute  of  relation  belongs  not  to  it,  as  will  appear 
by  a  comparison  of  each  with  the  others.  J 

With  regard  to  poetry,  it  may  be  said  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 
excellence  seems  to  be  its  power  of  exhibiting  the  in- 
ternal constitution  of  man,  and  of  making  us  acquainted 
Avith  characters,  mannei's,  and  sentiments,  and  working 
upon  the  passions  of  terror,  pity,  and  various  others. 
Painting  is  professedly  an  imitative  art ;  for,  setting  aside 
the  harmony  of  colouring,  and  the  delineation  of  beautiful 
forms,  the  pleasure  we  receive  from  it,  great  as  it  is,  con- 
sists 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  v.c 
investigate  the  principles  of  harmony,  we  learn  that  they 
are  general  and  ixniversal ;  and  of  harmony  itself,  that 
the  proportions  in  which  it  consists  are  to  be  found  in 
those  material  forms,  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  .ind 
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  Nevertheless  there  have  not  been  wanting  those,  who,  not  contem- 
plating the  intrinsic  excellence  of  harmony,  have  resolved  the  eflicacy  of 
music  into  the  power  of  imitation  ;  and  to  gratify  such,  subjects  have 
been  introduced  into  practice,  that  to  injudicious  ears  have  afforded  no 
small  delight  ;  such,  for  instance,  as  the  noise  of  thunder,  the  roaring  of 
the  winds,  the  shouts  and  acclamations  of  multitudes,  the  waitings  of 
grief  and  anguish  in  the  human  mind ;  the  song  of  the  cuckow,  the 
whooting  of  the  screech-owl,  the  cackling  of  the  hen,  the  notes  of  singing- 
birds,  not  excepting  those  of  the  lark  and  nightingale.  Attempts  also 
have  been  made  to  imitate  motion  by  musical  sounds;  and  some  have 
undertaken  in  like  manner  to  relate  histories,  and  to  describe  the  various 
seasons  of  the  year.  Thus,  for  example,  Froberger,  organist  to  the 
emperor  Ferdinand  III.  is  said  to  have  in  an  allemand  represented  the 
passage  of  Count  Thurn  over  the  Rhine,  and  the  danger  he  and  his  army 
ivere  in,  by  twenty-six  cataracts  or  falls  in  notes.  See  page  627. 
Kuhnau,  another  celebrated  musician,  composed  six  sonatas,  entitled 
Biblische  Historien,  wherein,  as  it  is  said,  is  a  lively  representation  in 
musical  notes  of  David  manfully  combating  Goliah.  Page  663,  in  note. 
Buxtehude  of  Lubec  also  composed  suites  of  lessons  for  the  harpsichord, 
representing  the  nature  of  the  planets.  Page  S51.  Vivaldi,  in  two  books 
of  concertos  has  striven  to  describe  the  four  seasons  of  the  year.  Page  837. 
Geminiani  has  translated  a  whole  episode  of  Tasso's  Jerusalem  into 
musical  notes.  Page  916.  And  Mr.  Handel  himsflf,  in  his  Israel  in 
Egypt,  has  undertaken  to  represent  two  of  the  ten  plagues  of  Egypt  by 
notes,  intended  to  imitate  the  buzzing  of  flies  and  the  hopping  of  frogs. 

But  these  powers  of  imitation,  admitting  them  to  exist  in  all  the 
various  instances  above  enumerated,  constitute  but  a  very  small  part  of 
the  excellence  of  music  ;  wherefore  we  cannot  but  applaud  that  shrewd 
answer  of  Agesilaus,  king  of  Sparta,  recorded  in  Plutarch,  to  one  who  re- 
quested him  to  hear  a  man  sing  that  could  imitate  the  nightingale, 
'  I  have  heard  the  nightingale  herself.'  The  truth  is,  that  imitation  be- 
longs more  properly  to  the  arts  of  poetry  and  painting  than  to  music ;  for 
which  reason  Mr.  Harris  has  not  scrupled  to  pronounce  of  musical  imita- 
tion, that  at  best  it  is  but  an  imperfect  thing.  See  his  Discourse  on 
Music,  Painting,  and  Poetry,  page 69. 

§  'Wisdom,  xi.  20. 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


XV. 


••md  that  reason  recognizes  what  the  sense  approves,  what 
wonder  is  it,  that  in  all  ages,  and  even  by  the  least  en- 
lightened of  mankind,  its  efficacy  should  be  acknow- 
ledged ;  or  that,  as  well  by  those  who  are  capable  of 
reason  and  reflection,  as  those  who  seek  for  no  other 
gratifications  than  what  are  obvious  to  the  senses,  it 
should  be  considered  as  a  genuine  and  natural  source  of 
<lelight  ?  The  wonder  is,  that  less  of  that  curiosity,  which 
leads  men  to  enquire  into  the  history  and  progress  of  arts, 
and  their  gradual  advances  towards  perfection,  has  been 
exercised  in  the  instance  now  before  us,  than  in  any  other 
of  equal  importance. 

If  we  take  a  view  of  those  authors  who  have  written  on 
music,  we  shall  find  them  comprehended  under  three 
classes,  consisting  of  those  who  have  resolved  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  science  into  certain  mathematical  propor- 
tions ;  of  others  who  hare  treated  it  systematically,  and 
with  a  view  to  practice  ;  and  of  a  third,  who,  considering 
sound  as  a  branch  of  physics,  have  from  various  pheno- 
mena explained  the  manner  in  which  it  is  generated  and 
communicated  to  the  auditory  faculty.  But  to  whom  we 
are  indebted  for  the  gradual  improvements  of  the  art,  at 
what  periods  it  flourished,  what  checks  and  obstructions 
it  has  at  times  met  with,  who  have  been  its  patrons  or  its 
enemies,  what  have  been  the  characteristics  of  its  most 
eminent  professors,  few  are  able  to  tell.  Nor  has  the 
knowledge  of  its  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 
betrayed  into  numberless  errors  respecting  music ;  and 
when  they  have  presumed  to  talk  about  it,  have  dis- 
covered the  ofrossest  ignorance.  When  Strada,  in  the 
person  of  Claudian,  recites  the  fable  of  the  Nightingale 
and  the  Lyrist,  how  does  his  invention  labour  to  describe 
the  contest,  and  how  does  he  err  in  the  confusion  of  the 
terms  melody  and  harmony  ;  and  in  giving  to  music 
either  attributes  that  belong  not  to  it,  or  which  are  its 
least  excellence  !  and  what  is  his  whole  poem  but  a  vain 
attempt  to  excite  ideas  for  which  no  correspondent  words 
are  to  be  found  in  any  language  ?  Nor  does  he,  who  talks 
of  the  genius  of  the  woi-ld,  of  the  first  beauty,  and  of  uni- 
versal harmony,  symmetry,  and  order,  the  sublime  author 
of  the  Characteristics,  discover  much  knowledge  of  his 
subject,  when  after  asserting  with  the  utmost  confidence 
that  the  ancients  were  acquainted  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  modern  Learning,  has  betrayed  his 
ignorance  of  the  subject  in  a  comparison  of  the  modern 
music  with  the  ancient ;  wherein,  notwithstanding  that 
Palestrina,  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  lost  in  the  woi-ld,  and 
'  that  in  the  room  of  music  and  poetry  we  have  nothing 
'  left  but  fiddling  and  rhyming.' 

Mr.  Dryden,  in  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  great  judgment  gives 
to  the  several  instruments  mentioned  by  him  their  proper 
attributes ;  and  recurring  perhaps  to  the  numerous  com- 
mon places  in  his  memory  respecting  music,  has  described 
its  effects  in  adequate  terms ;  but  when  in  the  prefaces  to 
his  operas  he  speaks  of  recitative,  of  song,  and  the  com- 
parative merit  of  the  Italian,  the  French,  and  the  English 
composers,  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. 

*  Vide  Characteristics,  Vol.  III.,  pa^e  2(13,  in  note  269. 


Mr.  Addison,  in  those  singularly  humorous  papers  in 
the  Spectator,  intended  to  ridicule  the  Italian  opera,  is- 
necessitated  to  speak  of  music,  but  he  does  it  in  such  terms 
as  plainly  indicate  that  he  had  no  judgment  of  his  own 
to  direct  him.  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  the  foreign  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,  viz.  Numb.  29,  the  same  person 
delivers  these  sentiments  at  large  respecting  Recitative  : — 
'  However  the  Italian  method  of  acting  in  Recitativo 
'  might  appear  at  first  hearing,  I  cannot  but  think  it  more 
'just  than  that  Avhich  prevailed  in  our  English  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  Sjjeaking,  which  was 
'  the  common  Method  in  PurcelVs  operas. 

'  The  only  Fault  I  find  in  our  present  Practice,  is  the 
'  making  use  of  the  Italian  Recitativo  with  English  words. 

'  To  go  to  the  Bottom  of  this  Matter,  I  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- 
*  fence.  Thus  it  is  very  common  for  an  English  gentle- 
'  man,  when  he  hears  a  French  Tragedy,  to  complain  that 
'  the  Actors  all  of  them  speak  in  a  Tone  ;  and  therefore  he 
'  very  wisely  prefers  his  own  countrymen,  not  considering 
'  that  a  Foreigner  complains  of  the  same  Tone  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  ex- 
'  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 
'  Conversation  ;  or,  to  speak  more  properly,  are  only  tlie 
'  Accents  of  their  Language  made  more  Musical  and 
'  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  angi-y ;  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  quarrels  with  his 
'  Friend  when  he  only  bids  him  Good-morrow. 

'  For  this  reason  the  Italian  artists  cannot  agree  witli 
'  our  English  musicians  in  admiring  Purcell's  Composi- 
'  tions,  and  thinking  his  Tunes  so  wonderfully  adapted 
'  to  his  words,  because  both  Nations  do  not  always  ex- 
'  press  the  same  Passions  by  the  same  Sounds. 

'  I  am  therefore  humbly  of  opinion  that  an  English 
'  Composer  should  not  follow  the  Italian  Recitative  toO' 
'  servilely,  but  make  use  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 
'  Falls  (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  his  own  Language,  as  those  Persons 
'  had  to  theirs  whom  he  professes  to  imitate.     It  is  ob- 


XVI. 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


^  served  that  several  of  the  singing   Birds  of  ovir  own 
Country  learn  to  sweeten  their  Voices,  and  mellow  the 

•  Harshness  of  their  natural  Notes  by  practising  under 
'  those  that  come  from  warmer  Climates.  In  the  same 
'  manner  I  would  allow  the  Italian  Opera  to  lend  our 
'  English  Musick  as  much  as  may  grace  and  soften  it,  but 

•  never  entirely  to  annihilate  and  destroy  it.  Let  the 
'  Infusion  be  as  strong  as  you  please,  but  still  let  the 
^  Subject  Matter  of  it  be  English. 

'  A  Composer  should  fit  his  Musick  to  the  Genius  of 
'  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 
to  question  as  well  the  goodness  of  the  author's  ear  as  his 
knowledge  of  subject.  The  principle  on  which  his  rea- 
soning is  founded,  is  clearly  that  the  powers  of  music  are 
local ;  deriving  their  efficacy  from  habit,  custom,  and 
whatever  else  we  are  to  imderstand  by  the  genius  of 
a  people ;  a  position  as  repugnant  to  reason  and  ex- 
perience as  that  which  concludes  his  disquisition,  viz., 
that  '  what  is  harmony  to  one  ear  may  be  dissonance  to 
'  another; '  whence  as  a  corollary  it  must  necessarily  follow, 
that  the  same  harmony  or  the  same  succession  of  sounds 
may  produce  different  effects  on  different  persons ;  and 
that  one  may  be  excited  to  mirth  by  an  air  that  has 
drawn  tears  from  another. 

A  late  writer,  in  a  strain  of  criticism  not  less  erroneous 
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  combina- 
tions of  sounds  have  a  necessary  tendency  to  inspire 
grand  and  sublime  sentiments,  such,  for  instance,  as  we 
hear  in  the  Exaltabo  of  Palestrina,  the  Hosanna  of 
Gibbons,  the  opening  of  tlie  first  concerto  of  Corelli,  and 
many  of  Mr.  Handel's  anthems,  ascribes  to  the  bursts,  as 
he  calls  them,  of  Boranello,*  and  the  symphonies  of 
Yeomellif  the  power  of  dilating,  agitating,  and  rousing 
the  soul  like  the  paintings  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  are 
many  passages  in  the  Paradise  Lost  and  his  other  poems 
where  he  has  taken  occasion  to  introduce  it,  besides 
exjjressing  an  enthusiastic  fondness  for  music,  talks  the 
language  of  a  master. 

His  ideas  of  the  joint  efficacy  of  music  and  poetry,  and 
of  the  nature  of  harmony,  are  manifested  in  the  following 
well-known  passage : — 

And  ever  against  eating  cares 

Lap  mc  in  soft  Lydian  aires ; 

MaiTied  to  immortal  verse, 

Such  as  the  meeting  soul  may  pierce 

In  notes,  with  many  a  winding  bout 

Of  linked  sweetness  long  drawn  out, 

With  wanton  heed,  and  giddy  cunning, 

The  melting  voice  through  mazes  running ; 

Untwisting  all  the  chains,  that  tye 

The  hidden  soul  of  harmony. 

*  i.  e.  Buranello,  a  disciple  of  Lotti. 

+  Nicola  lomelli,  a  celebrated  coiuposer  now  living  at  Naples. 
t  See  an  Inquiry  into  the  Beauties  of  Painting  by  Daniel  Webb,  Esq. 
Svo.  1769,  page  167. 


Cathedral  music  and  choral  service  he  describes  in 
terms  that  sufficiently  declare  his  abilities  to  judge  of  it, 
and  its  effects  on  his  own  mind : — 

There  let  the  pealing  organ  blow, 

To  the  fuU-voic'd  choir  below, 

In  service  high,  and  anthems  clear, 

As  may  with  sweetness  through  mine  eai 

Dissolve  me  into  extasies, 

And  bring  all  heav'n  before  mine  eyes. 

The  following  sonnet,  addressed  to  his  friend  Mr. 
Henry  Lawes,  points  out  one  of  the  great  excellencies  in 
the  composition  of  music  to  words  : — 

Harry,  whose  tuneful  and  weli-mcasur'd  song 
First  taught  our  English  music  how  to  span 
Words  with  just  note  and  accent,  not  to  scan 
With  Midas'  ears,  committing  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  be  writ  the  man, 
That  with  smooth  air  could  humour  best  our  tongue. 
Thou  honoiu''st  verse,  and  verse  must  lend  her  wing 
To  honour  thee,  the  priest  of  Phoebus'  choir, 
That  tun'st  their  happiest  lines  in  hymn  or  stor}'. 
Dante  shall  give  Fame  leave  to  set  thee  higher 
Than  his  Casella,  whom  he,  woo'd  to  sing, 
Met  in  the  milder  shades  of  Purgatory. 

His  sonnet  to  Mr.  Lawrence  Hjde  conveys  his  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  sometimes  meet,  and  by  the  fire 

Help  waste  a  sullen  day ;  what  may  be  won 

From  the  hard  season  gaining  ?  time  will  run 
On  smoother,  till  Favonius  re-inspire 
Tlie  frozen  earth ;  and  clothe  in  fresh  attire 

The  lilie  and  the  rose,  that  neither  sow'd  nor  spun. 

What  neat  repast  shall  feast  us,  light  and  choice, 

Of  Attic  taste,  with  wine ;  whence  we  may  i-ise 

To  hear  tlie  lute  well  toucht,  or  artful  voice 

Warble  immortal  notes  and  Tuscan  air '? 

He,  who  of  those  delights  can  judge,  and  spare 

To  intei-pose  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  unsweating  themselves  regu- 
'  larly,  and  convenient  rest  before  meat,  may  both  with 
'  profit  and  delight  be  taken  up  in  recreating  and  coni- 
'  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  the  well  studied 
'  chords  of  some  choice  composer  ;  sometimes  the  lute,  or 
'  soft  organ-stop  waiting  on  elegant  voices  either  to 
'  religious,  martial,  or  civil  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 
variety  of  experiments  touching  music,  that  shew  him  to 
have  been  not  barely  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 
case  is  far  otherwise  :  in  the  course  of  a  classical  education 
men  acquire  not  only  a  taste  of  the  beauties  of  the  Greek 
and  Roman  poets,  but  a  nice  and  discriminating  faculty, 
that  enables  them  to  discern  their  excellencies  and  defects ; 
and  in  painting,  an  attentive  perusal  of  the  works  of 
eminent  artists,  aided  by  a  sound  judgment,  will  go  near 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


XVll. 


to  form  the  character  of  a  connoisseur,  and  render  the 
possessor  of  it  susceptible  of  all  that  delight  which  the  art 
IS  capable  of  affording ;  and  this  we  see  exemplified  in 
numberless  instances,  where  persons  imskilled  in  the 
practice  of  painting  become  enabled  to  distinguish  hands, 
to  compare  styles,  and  to  mark  the  beauties  of  composi- 
tion, character,  drawing,  and  colouring,  with  a  degree  of 
accuracy  and  precision  equal  to  that  of  masters.  But  few, 
except  the  masters  of  the  science,  are  possessed  of  know- 
ledge sufficient  to  enable  them  to  discourse  with  propriety 
on  music  ;  nor  indeed  do  many  attend  to  that  which  is 
its  greatest  excellence,  its  influence  on  the  human  mind, 
or  those  irresistable  charms  which  render  the  passions 
subservient  to  the  power  of  well  modulated  sounds,  and 
inspire  the  mind  with  the  most  exalted  sentiments.  One 
admires  a  fine  voice,  another  a  delicate  touch,  another 
what  he  calls  a  brilliant  finger  ;  and  many  are  pleased 
with  that  music  which  appears  most  difficult  in  the 
execution,  and  in  judging  of  their  own  feelings,  mistake 
wonder  for  delight. 

To  remove  the  numberless  prejudices  respecting  music, 
which  those  only  entertain  who  are  ignorant  of  the 
science,  or  are  mistaken  in  its  nature  and  end ;  to  point 
out  its  various  excellencies,  and  to  assert  its  dignity, 
as  a  science  worthy  the  exercise  of  our  rational  as  well  as 
audible  faculties,  the  only  effectual  way  seems  to  be  to  in- 
vestigate its  principles,  as  founded  in  general  and  invari- 
able laws,  and  to  trace  the  improvements  therein  which 
have  resulted  from  the  accumulated  studies  and  experience 
of  a  long  succession  of  ages,  such  a  detail  is  necessary  to 
reduce  the  science  to  a  certainty,  and  to  furnish  a  ground 
for  criticism ;  and  may  be  considered  as  a  branch  of 
literary  history,  of  the  deficiency  whereof  Lord  Bacon  has 
declared  his  sentiments  in  the  following  emphatical  terms  : 

*  History  is  Natural,  Civil,  Ecclesiastical,  and  Literary  ; 
'  whereof  the  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  history  of  the  world  seemeth  to 
'  me  to  be  as  the  statue  of  Polyphemus  with  his  eye  out, 
'  that  part  being  wanting  which  doth  most  shew  the  spirit 
'  and  life  of  the  person.     And  yet  I  am  not  ignorant,  that 

*  in  divers  particular  sciences,  as  of  the  jurisconsults,  the 
'  mathematicians,  the  rhetoricians,  the  philosophers,  there 
'  are   set   down    some    small   memorials  of    the    schools, 

*  authors,  and  books ;  and  so  likewise  some  barren  relations 
'touching  the  invention  of  arts  or  usages. 

'  But  a  just  story  of  learning,  containing  the  antiquities 
'  and  originals,  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  enforce  arguments  so 
weighty  as  are  contained  in  the  above  passage ;  it  must 
be  instances  of  error,  resulting  from  the  want  of  that 
intelligence  which  it  is  the  business  of  history  to  commu- 
nicate ;  and  it  is  greatly  to  be  lamented  that  music  affords 
more  examples  of  this  kind  than  perhaps  any  science 
whatever  :  for,  not  to  remark  on  those  uncertain  and  con- 
tradictoi-y  accounts  which  are  given  of  the  discovery  of 
the  consonances,  some  writers  attributing  it  to  Pytha- 
goras, others  to  Diodes,  that  relation  of  the  fact  which 
gained    most    credit   with   mankind,  as  deriving  its 


las 


authority  from  the  Pythagorean  school,  is  demonstratably 
*  Of  the  advancement  of  Learning,  book  II. 


false  and  erroneous.f  Again,  as  to  the  invention  of  sym- 
phoniac  harmony,  or,  as  we  now  call  it,  music  in  parts, 
many  ascribe  it  to  the  ancients,  and  say  that  it  was  in  use 
among  the  Greeks,  though  no  evidence  of  the  fact  can  be 
drawn  from  their  writings  now  extant.  Others  assert  it 
to  be  a  modern  improvement,  but  to  whom  it  is  due  no 
one  has  yet  been  able  to  discover. 

As  to  the  modern  system,  there  is  the  irrefragable  evi- 
dence of  his  own  writings  extant,  though  not  in  print, 
that  it  was  settled  by  Guido  Aretinus,  a  Benedictine 
monk  of  the  monastery  of  Pomposa  in  Tuscany,  who 
flourished  about  the  year  1028;  yet  this  fact,  which  is 
also  related  as  an  important  event  in  the  Annales  Ecclesi- 
astici  of  Cardinal  Baronius,  has  been  rendered  doubtful 
by  an  assertion  of  a  writer  now  living,  Signor  Martinelli, 
that  one  of  the  same  name  and  place,  Fra  Guittone 
d'Arezzo,  an  Italian  poet  of  great  eminence,  and  who 
lived  about  two  himdred  years  after,  adjusted  that  musical 
scale  by  which  we  now  sing  ;  J  and  further  that  the  same 
Fra  Guittone  was  the  inventor  of  counterpoint.  Again, 
those  who  give  the  invention  of  the  modern  system,  and 
the  application  thereto  of  the  syllables  used  in  solmisation 
to  the  true  author,  ascribe  also  to  him  the  invention  of 
music  in  consonance,  and  also  of  the  Clavicembalum  or 
harpsichord;  whereas  the  harpsichord  is  an  improvement 
of  the  Clavicitherium,  an  instrument  known  in  England 
in  Gower's  time  by  the  name  of  the  Citole,  fromCisxELLA, 
a  little  chest.  Another  writer  asserts,  on  what  authority 
we  are  not  told,  that  counterpoint,  which  implies  music  in 
consonance,  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,  entitled  'Traite  dela  Fugue  et  du  Counterpoint,' 
has  done  little  less  than  assert  that  St.  Dunstan  invented 
counterpoint,  by  reducing  into  order  the  rules  for  compo- 
sition in  four  parts,  and  not  a  few  give  credit  to  his 
testimony.il 

Again  we  are  told,  that  whereas  the  Greeks  signified 
the  several  sounds  in  their  scale  by  the  letters  of  their 
alphabet,  or  by  characters  derived  from  them,  Guido  in- 
vented a  more  compendious  method  of  notation  by  ])oints 
stationed  on  a  stave  of  five  lines,  and  occupying  both  the 
lines  and  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  born  ;  and  all  that  can  be 
ascribed  to  him  is  the  placing  points  as  well  in  the  spaces 

t  Vide  infra,  page  10,  et  seq. 

t  '  Fra  Guittone  d'Arezzo,  celebre  per  i  suoi  scritta  sopra  la  musica, 
'  inventore  del  contrappunto,  e  dal  quale  furono  fissati  i  tuoni,  che  pre- 
'  sentemente  si  cantano.'  Lettere  familiari  e  critiche  di  Vincenzio  Mar- 
tinelli, Londra,  1758.  Prefazione,  page  viii.  This  person  had  undertaken 
to  write  a  history  of  music.  See  his  letters  above  cited,  page  164,  con- 
taining an  apology  for  his  not  having  published  it. 

Of  this  Fra  Guittone  an  account  may  be  seen  in  the  Istoria  della  Vol- 
gar  Poesia  of  Crescimbeni,  lib.  II.  page  84.  He  flourished  about  12.'iO, 
and  is  celebrated  among  the  best  of  the  ancient  Tuscan  poets.  In  the 
same  work,  lib.  III.  page  176,  is  a  sonnet  of  his  writing  ;  and  in  Mr. 
Baretti's  History  of  the  Italian  Tongue,  prefixed  to  his  Italian  library, 
page  ix.  is  a  fable  of  Fra  Guittone,  which  Baretti  says  may  be  taken  for 
a  composition  of  yesterday. 

§  Wolfgang  Caspar  Printz,  in  his  History  of  Music,  written  in  the  Ger- 
man language,  and  published  at  Dresden  in  the  year  1690,  who  has 
given  a  relation  purporting  that  '  In  the  year  of  our  Lord,  940,  Dunstan, 
otherwise  Dunstaphus,  an  Englishman,  being  very  young,  betook  him- 
'  self  to  tlie  study  of  music,  and  thereby  acquired  immortal  fame.  He 
'  was  the  first  that  composed  songs  of  different  parts,  that  is  to  say,  Bass, 
'  Tenor,  Descant,  and  Vagant  or  Alt,'  page  104,  sect.  23.  The  whole  re- 
lation is  an  error,  arising  from  a  mistaken  sense  of  a  passage  in  the 
Prseceptiones  Musices  Poeticje  of  Johannes  Nucius,  a  writer  on  music  in 
the  year  1613.     Vide  infra,  page  176  in  note,  274  in  note,  651  in  note. 

II  '  Dunstan,  Archeveque  de  Canterbory,  qui  vivoit  dans  le  dixieme 
'  si^cle,  a  tofijours  eu  I'honneur  d'avoir  commence,  ainsi  que  d'avoir 
'  fraye  le  chemm  aux  autres,  II  redigea  en  ordre  les  regies  de  la  com- 
'  position  a  quartre  parties,  et  par  la  donna  une  nouvelle  6poque  a  la 
'  musique.'     Partie  II.  page  vi. 


xvm. 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


as  on  the  lines,  which  it  must  be  owned  is  an  ingenious 
and  useful  contrivance. 

To  assist  the  memory  and  facilitate  the  practice  of  sol- 
misation,  it  is  also  said  that  Guido  made  use  of  the  left 
hand,  giving  to  the  top  of  the  thumb  the  note  Tam  ut, 
to  the  joint  below  it  A  re,  to  the  next  B  mi,  and  so  on, 
placing  the  highest  note  of  his  system,  E  la,  at  the  ex- 
tremity of  the  hand,  viz.,  the  tip  of  the  middle  finger  ; 
but  nothing  of  this  kind  is  to  be  found,  or  indeed  is  men- 
tioned, or  even  hinted  at,  in  any  of  his  writings,  and 
we  may  therefore  conclude  that  the  whole  is  an  invention 
of  some  other  person. 

Little  less  confusion  attends  the  relations  extant  re- 
specting the  invention  of  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  and 
those  marks  or  characters  used  to  signify  the  several 
lengths  or  durations  of  notes.  The  vulgar  tale  is,  that 
John  de  Muris,  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,  Semiminim  or 
Crotchet,  Chroma  or  Quaver,  and  the  Semichroma, 
assigning  to  each  a  several  length  in  respect  of  time 
or  duration.*  Now  upon  the  face  of  the  relation  there  is 
great  reason  to  conclude,  that  in  the  original  institution 
of  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  the  semibreve  was  the 
shortest  note ;  but  there  is  undeniable  evidence  that  as 
well  the  minim  as  the  notes  in  succession  after  it,  were  of 
comparatively  late  invention. 

But  this  is  not  all ;  De  Muris  was  not  a  Norman,  but 
an  Englishman  :  he  was  not  the  inventor  of  the  Cantus 
Mensurabilis :  not  he,  but  a  person  of  the  name  of 
Franco,  a  scholastic,  as  he  is  called,  of  Liege,  about  the 
middle  of  the  eleventh  century  invented  certain  characters 
to  signify  the  duration  of  sounds,!  that  is  to  say,  the  four 
first  above  mentioned. 

Another  prevailing  error  respecting  music  has  got  pos- 
session of  the  minds  of  many  people,  viz.,  that  those  sin- 
gularly sweet  and  pathetic  melodies  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  truth  of  the  matter,  and  that  by 
the  testimony  of  the  Italians  themselves;  the  Scots  tunes 
are  the  genuine  produce  of  Scotland ;  those  of  greatest 
merit  among  them  are  compositions  of  a  king  of  that 
country  ;  and  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  by  pretended  new  inventions : 
the  harp  of  iEolus,  as  it  is  called,  on  which  so  much  has 
been  lately  said  and  written,  was  constructed  by  Kircher 
above  a  century  ago,  and  is  accurately  described  in  his 
Musurgia  ;  as  is  also  the  perpendicular  harpsichord,  and 
an  instrument  so  contrived  as  to  produce  sound  by  the 
friction  of  wheels,  from  which  the  modern  lyrichord  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  found  in  Mersennus ;  and  the 
clarinet,  an  instrument  unknown  in  England  till  within 
these  last  twenty  years,  was  invented  by  John  Christo- 
pher Denner,  a  wind  musical  instrument  maker  of  Leipsic 
above  a  century  ago.  § 

*  Nicola  Vicentino,  a  writer  of  the  sixteenth  century,  with  some  de- 
gree of  infrenuity,  attempts  to  shew  that  these  characters  are  but  ('.if- 
ferent  modifications  of  the  round  and  square  b,  which  had  been  introduced 
into  Guido's  scale  for  another  purpose. 

t  Vide  infra,  pages  217,  221,  253. 

X  Vide  infra,  page  5G3. 

§  Vide  infra,  page  651. 


Farther,  it  has  for  the  honour  of  this  our  native  country 
been  said  of  Purcell,  that  his  music  was  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  most  famed  Italian  masters,  with  a  view,  as  he 
adds,  to  bring  the  gravity  and  seriousness  of  that  sort  of 
music  into  vogue.H  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. 

Lastly,  of  the  many  who  at  this  time  profess  to  love 
music,  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  potentates, 
previous  to  the  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  Tallis  and  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  must 
result  from  the  kind  of  intelligence  here  recommended, 
attempts  have  been  made  at  different  periods  to  trace  the 
rise  and  progress  of  music  in  a  course  of  historical  narra- 
tion ;  and  letit  not  be  deemed  an  invidious  oftice,  if  those 
defects  in  the  attempts  of  others  are  pointed  out,  which 
alone  can  justify  the  present  undertaking. 

In  the  Menagiana,  tome  I.  page  303,  mention  is  made 
of  a  canon  of  Tours  of  the  name  of  Ouvard,  who  wrote 
a  history  of  music  :  Mattheson,  in  his  Volkommenen 
Capellmeister,  takes  notice  of  this  work,  and  says  that  it 
comes  down  to  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  is 
perhaps  extant  in  MS.  in  some  library  at  Paris.  But  the 
first  attempt  of  this  kind  in  print  is  a  treatise  of  Johannes 
Albertus  Bannius,  '  De  Musicae  origine,  progressu  et 
'  denique  studio  bene  instituendo,'  published  in  1637,  in 
octavo. 

Next  to  this,  in  point  of  time,  is  the  History  of  Music 
of  Wolfgang  Caspar  Printz,  chapel-master  and  director  of 
the  choir  of  the  church  of  Sorau,  printed  at  Dresden 
in  the  year  1690,  in  a  small  quarto  volume,  with  the  title 
of  '  Historiche  Beschreibung  der  Edelen  Singund  Kling- 
'  ktmst.'  Neither  of  the  two  latter  works  can  be  considered 
as  a  history  of  the  science  ;  the  first  of  them  is  a  very 
small  volume,  and  the  othei  not  a  large  one,  containing 
little  more  than  a  list  of  writers  on  music  disposed  in 
chronological  order. 

The  appendix  of  Dr.  Wallis  to  his  edition  of  Ptolemy, 
published  in  1682,  though  not  a  history  of  the  science, 
contains  many  historical  particulars  respecting  music, 
besides  that  in  sundry  instances  it  renders  intelligible  the 
doctrines  of  the  ancient  writers.  It  is  written  with  great 
accuracy  and  perspicuity,  and  abounds  with  instances  of 
that  acuteness  and  penetration  for  which  the  author  is 
celebrated. 

In  1683,  the  Sieur  Gabriel  Guillainne  Nivers,  organist 
of  the  chapel  of  Lewis  XIV.  published  '  Dissertation 
'  sur  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  ritualists,  with  the  observations  of  the 
author,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  learned  man  in  his 
profession. 

II  Granger's  Biographical  History  of  England,  as  it  is  called,  vol.  II., 
part  II.,  class  X.  tit.  musicians,  art.  Henricus  Pubcell. 

%  Vide  infra,  page  7-H. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


XIX. 


In  1695  Gio.  Andrea  Angelini  Bontempi,  of  Perugia, 
published  in  a  thin  volume  a  work  of  some  merit,  entitled 

*  Historia  Musica.'  Berardi  mentions  a  work  of  one 
Pietro  Arragona,  a  Florentine,  entitled '  Istoria  Armonica, ' 
but  Brossard  doubts  the  existence  of  it.* 

A  history  of  the  pontifical  chapel,  and  of  the  college  of 
singers  thereto  belonging,  is  contained  in  a  work  entitled 
'  Osservazioni  per  ben  regolare  il  Coro  de  i  Cantori  della 
'  Cappella  Pontiticia,  tanto  nelle  Funzioni  ordinarie  che 
'  straordinarie,'  by  Andrea  Adami  da  Bolsena,  Maestro 
della  Cappella  Pontificia,  published  at  Rome  in  1711,  in 
a  quarto  volume.  In  this  book  are  many  curious 
particulars. 

Tliere  is  also  extant  in  two  volumes  duodecimo,  but 
divided  into  four,  a  book  entitled  '  Histoire  de  la  Musique 
'  et  de  ses  Effets,'  printed  first  at  Paris  in  1715,  and 
afterwards  at  Amsterdam  in  1725.  The  materials  for 
this  publication  were  certain  papers  found  in  the  study  of 
the  Abbe  Bourdelot,  and  others  of  his  nephew  Bonnet 
Bourdelot,  physician  to  the  king  of  France,  the  letters  of 
the  Abbe  Raguenet  and  others,  on  the  comparative  merits 
of  the  Italian  and  French  opera  and  music,  together  with 
sundry  other  papers  on  the  same  subject.  The  publisher 
was  Bonnet,  a  nephew  of  the  Abbe  Bourdelot; 

and  the  best  that  can  be  said  of  the  work  is,  that  the  whole 
is  a  confused  jumble  of  intelligence  and  controversy ;  and, 
saving  that  it  contains  some  curious  memoirs  of  Lully, 
and  a  few  other  of  the  French  musicians,  has  very  little 
claim  to  attention. 

About  the  year  1730,  Mr.  Peter  Prelleur,  an  able 
musician  and  organist,  published  a  work  entitled  '  The 
'  modern   Music-master,    containing  an   introduction   to 

*  singing,  and  instructions  for  most  of  the  instruments  in 
'  use.'  At  the  end  of  this  book  is  a  brief  history  of  music, 
in  which  are  sundry  particulars  worth  noting :  it  has  no 
name  to  it,  but  was  nevertheless  compiled  by  the  above 
person. 

John  Godfrey  Walther,  a  professor  of  music,  and  or- 
ganist of  the  church  of  St.  Peter  and  Paul  at  Weimar, 
published  in  1732  a  musical  Lexicon  or  Bibliotheque, 
wherein  is  a  great  variety  of  information  respecting  music 
and  musicians  of  all  countries  and  ages.  Mattheson  of 
Hamburg,  in  his  '  Critica  Musica,'  his  '  Orchestre,'  and 
a  work  entitled  '  Volkommenen  Capellmeister,'  i.e.  the 
perfect  Chapelmaster,  has  brought  together  many  parti- 
culars of  the  like  kind  ;  but  the  want  of  method  renders 
these  compositions,  in  an  historical  view,  of  little  use. 

In  the  year  1740,  an  ingenious  young  man  of  the  name 
of  Grassineau,t  published  a  Dictionary  of  Music  in  one 
octavo  volume,  with  a  recommendation  of  the  work  by 
Dr.  Pepusch,  Dr.  Greene,  and  Mr.  Galliard.  The  book 
had  the  appearance  of  a  learned  woi-k,  and  all  men  won- 
dered who  the  author  could  be  :  it  seems  he  had  been  an 
amanuensis  of  the  former  of  these  persons."  The  founda- 
tion of  this  dictionary  is  a  translation  of  that  of  Sebastian 
Brossard ;  the  additions  include  all  the  musical  articles 
contained  in  the  two  volumes  of  Chambers's  Dictionary, 
with  perhaps  a  few  hints  and  emendations  furnished  by 
Dr.  Pepusch.  The  book  nevertheless  abounds  with 
errors,  and,  though  a  useful  and  entertaining  publication, 
is  not  to  be  relied  on. 

In  1756,  Fr.  Wilhelm  Marpourg,  a  musician  of  Berlin, 
published  in  a  thin  quarto  volume,  '  Trait6  de  la  Fugue  et 
'  duContrepoint,'  thesecondpart  whereof  is  a  brief  history 
of  counterpoint  and  fugue.  The  same  person  is  also  the 
author  of  a  work  entitled  '  Critische  Einleitung  in    die 

*  Geschichte  und  Lehrsake  der  alten  und  neuen  Musick,' 
printed  at  Berlin  in  1759.  It  is  part  of  a  larger  work, 
and  the  remainder  is  not  yet  published. 

*  Catalogue  of  writers  on  music  at  the  end  of  his  '  Dictionnaire  de 
'  Musique,'  octavo,  page  369. 

t  See  an  account  of  him  page  30,  in  the  notes. 


The  '  Storia  della  Musica'  of  Padre  Martini  of  Bologna, 
of  which  as  yet  only  two  volumes  have  been  published, 
and  those  at  the  distance  of  thirteen  years  from  each 
other,  is  a  learned  and  curious  work  ;  but  the  great  study 
and  labour  bestowed  by  the  author  in  compiling  it,  make 
us  despair  of  ever  seeing  it  completed. 

The  '  Histoire  generate,  critique,  et  philologique  de  la 
'Musique,'  of  Mons.  De  Blainville,  printed  at  Paris  in 
1767.  in  a  thin  quarto  volume,  has  very  little  pretence  to 
the  title  it  bears  :  like  some  other  works  of  the  kind,  it  is 
diffuse  where  it  ought  to  be  succinct,  and  brief  where  one 
would  wish  to  find  it  copious. 

A  character  very  different  is  due  to  a  work  in  two 
volumes,  quarto,  entitled  '  De  Cantu  et  Musica  sacra, 
'  a  prima  Ecclesise  iEtate  usque  ad  prjesens  Tempus ; 
'  Auctore  Martino  Gerberto,  Monasterii  et  Congregationis 

*  Sancti  Blasii  in  Silva  Nigra  Abbate,  Sacrique  Romani 
'  Imperii  Princeps.  Typis  San-Blasianis,  1774.'  In  this 
most  valuable  work  the  author  has  with  great  learning, 
judgment,  and  candour,  given  the  history  of  ecclesiastical 
music  ;  and  the  author  of  the  present  work  felicitates 
himself  on  finding  his  sentiments  on  the  subject,  particu- 
larly of  the  church  composers,  and  the  corruptions  of  the 
church  style,  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  so  able 
a  writer.  He  is  farther  happy  to  see  that  without  any 
communication  with  this  illustrious  dignitary,  and  without 
having  perused  his  book,  by  the  help  of  materials,  which 
this  country  alone  has  furnished,  he  has  been  able  to 
pursue  a  similar  track  of  narration,  and  to  relate  and 
authenticate  many  facts  contained  therein.  J 

At  the  beginning  of  this  present  year  1776,  the  musical 
world  were  favoured  with  the  first  volume  of  a  work  en- 
titled '  A  General  History  of  Music  from  the  earliest 
'  Ages  to  the  present  Period,  with  a  Dissertation  on  the 
'  Music  of  the  Ancients,  by  Charles  Burney,  Mus.  D., 
'  F.  R.  S.'  The  author  in  the  proposals  for  his  sub- 
scription has  given  assurances  of  the  publication  of 
a  second,  which  we  doubt  not  he  will  make  good. 

From  those  who  have  thus  taken  upon  them  to  trace 
the  rise  and  progress  of  music  in  a  course  of  historical  de- 
duction, we  pass  to  others  who  appear  to  have  made  col- 
lections for  the  like  purpose,  but  were  defeated  in  their 
intentions  of  benefiting  the  science  by  their  labours. 

And  first  Anthony  Wood,  who  himself  was  a  proficient 
in  music,  and  entertained  an  enthusiastic  fondness  for  the 
art,  had  it  seems  meditated  a  history  of  musicians,  a  work 
which  his  curiosity  and  unwearied  industry  rendered  him 
very  fit  for  :  to  this  end  he  made  a  collection  of  memoirs, 
which  is  extant,  in  his  own  hand-writing,  among  the 
manuscripts  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum ;  and  in  the 
printed  catalogue  thereof  is  thus  numbered  and  described: 

*  8568.  106.  Some  materials  toward  a  history  of  the  lives 
'  and  compositions  of  all  English  musicians ;  drawn  up 
'  according  to  alphabetical  order  in  210  pages  by  A.  W.' 
Of  these  materials  he  seems  to  have  availed  himself  in 
the  Fasti  Oxonienses,  wherein  are  contained  a  great 
number  of  memoirs  of  eminent  English  musicians,  equally 
curious  and  satisfactory,  the  perusal  whereof  in  the  origi- 
nal MS.  has  contributed  to  render  this  work  somewhat 
less  imperfect  than  it  must  have  been  without  such  infor- 
mation as  they  afford. 

Dr.  Henry  Aldrich,  dean  of  Christ  Church,  an  excellent 
scholar,  and  of  such  skill  in  music,  that  he  holds  a  place 
among  the  most  eminent  of  our  English  church  musicians, 
had  formed  a  design  of  a  history  of  music  on  a  most  ex- 
tensive plan.  His  papers  in  the  library  of  Christ  Church 
college,  Oxford,  have  been  carefully  perused :  among 
them  are  a  great  number  of  loose  notes,  hints,  and  memo- 

t  The  fact  is,  that  the  fifth  volume  of  this  work  was  printed  off  in 
July  in  the  present  year,  and  the  former  ones  in  succession  in  the  years 
preceding,  and  the  two  volumes  of  the  Abbot  Gerbert's  work  came 
to  hand  in  the  month  immediately  following. 


XX. 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


randa  relating  to  music  and  the  professors  of  the  science ; 
in  the  collection  whereof,  he  seems  to  have  pursued  the 
course  recommended  by  Brossard  in  the  catalogue  of 
writers  on  music  at  the  end  of  his  Dictionnaire  de 
Musique,  page  367  ;  but  among  a  great  multitude  of 
papers  in  his  own  hand-writing,  there  are  none  to  be 
found  from  whence  it  can  with  certainty  be  concluded 
that  he  had  made  any  progress  in  the  work. 

Nicola  Francesco  Haym,  a  musician,  and  a  man  of 
some  literature,  published,  above  forty  years  ago,  pro- 
posals containing  the  plan  of  a  history  of  music  written 
by  himself,  but,  meeting  with  little  encouragement,  he 
desisted  from  his  design  of  printing  it. 

Much  intelligence  respecting  music  might  have  been 
hoped  for  from  the  abilities  and  industry  of  Ashmole,  Dr. 
Hooke,  and  Sir  William  Petty,  the  two  former  of  whom 
had  been  choristers,  the  one  in  the  cathedral  of  Litchfield, 
the  other  of  Christ  Church,  Oxford  :  the  last  of  the 
three  was  professor  of  music  at  Gresham  college ;  but 
these  persons  abandoning  the  faculty  in  which  they  had 
been  instituted,  betook  themselves  to  studies  of  a  different 
kind  :  Ashmole,  at  first  a  solicitor  in  Chancery,  became 
an  antiquary,  a  herald,  a  virtuoso,  a  naturalist,  and  an 
Hermetic  philosopher :  Hooke  took  to  the  study  of 
natural  philosophy,  mechanics,  and  architecture,  and 
attained  to  great  skill  in  all  :*  and  Petty,  choosing  the 
better  part,  laid  the  fovmdation  of  an  immense  estate  by 
a  various  exertion  of  his  very  great  talents,  and  was 
successively  a  physician,  a  mathematician,  a  mechanic, 
a  projector,  a  contractor  with  the  government,  and  an 
improver  of  land. 

Enough  it  is  presumed  has  been  said  to  prove  the 
utility,  and  even  the  necessity,  in  order  to  a  competent 
knowledge  of  the  science,  of  a  History  of  Music,  in  the 
deduction  whereof  the  first  object  that  piesents  itself  to 
view  is  the  system  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  adjusted,  it 
must  be  confessed,  with  great  art  and  ingenuity,  but 
labouring  under  many  defects,  which,  if  we  are  not 
greatly  deceived,  are  remedied  in  that  of  the  moderns. 
Of  the  origin  of  this  system  we  have  such  authentic  intel- 
ligence as  leaves  little  room  to  doubt  that  it  was  invented 
by  Pythagoras,  a  name  sufficiently  known  and  revered, 
and  the  subsequent  deduction  of  the  progress  of  the 
science,  involving  in  it  the  names  and  improvements  o  ' 
men  well  known,  such  as  Philolaus,  Archytas  of  Tarentum, 
Aristoxenus,  Euclid,  Nicomachus,   Ptolemy,  and  many 

*  It  is  said  by  Anthony  Wood  of  Dr.  Hooke,  that,  heinf;  at  West- 
minster-school, he  lodfjed  and  dieted  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Busby,  the 
master,  and  that  there,  of  his  own  accord,  he  learned  to  play  twenty 
lessons  on  the  organ,  and  invented  thirty  several  ways  of  flying. 
Athen.  Oxon.  vol.  II.  col.  1039.  The  latter  of  these  facts  must  stand  on 
the  authority  of  the  relator,  or  rather  his  authors.  Dr.  Busby  and  the 
great  Dr.  Wilkins  of  Wadhani  college  ;  but  the  former  is  rendered 
highly  probable  by  the  following  anecdote  respecting  Dr.  Busby,  the 
communication  whereof  we  owe  to  Dr.  Wetenhall,  one  of  Busby's 
scholars,  and  afterwards  bishop  of  Cork  and  Ross,  viz. :  that  'the  first 
'  organ  he  ever  saw  or  heard  was  in  his,  Dr.  Busby's  house  ;  and  that  tlie 
'same  was  kept  for  sacred  use,  and  that  even  when  it  was  interdicted.' 
Dedication  of  a  treatise  entitled  '  Of  Gifts  and  Offices  in  the  public 
'Worship  of  God,  by  Edward  Wetenhall,  D.D.,  Chanter  of  Christ 
'Church,  Dublin,  8vo.  1679.'  That  he  was  also  eminently  skilled  in 
architecture,  may  be  inferred  from  an  assertion  of  Dr.  Ward,  in  his  life 
of  Sir  Christopher  Wren,  among  the  Gresham  professors,  viz. :  that  he 
greatly  assisted  Sir  Christopher  in  re-building  the  public  edifices.  Wood 
goes  so  far  as  to  say  that  Hooke  designed  New  Bedlam,  Montague- 
house,  the  College  of  Physicians,  and  the  pillar  on  Fish-street  Hill ;  but 
the  erection  of  the  latter  of  these  edifices  is  ascribed  to  Sir  Christopher 
Wren.  As  to  Montague-house  and  the  College  of  Physicians,  there  are 
In  Moxon's  Mechanic  Exercises,  under  the  head  of  Bricklayer's  Work, 
intimations  that  they  were  both  designed  by  Hooke ;  and  Strype,  in  his 
edition  of  Stowe's  Survey  of  London,  speaking  of  Aske's  hospital  at 
Hoxton,  says  it  was  built  after  a  modern  design  of  Dr.  Hooke. 

Of  this  latter  person  it  may  be  said,  that  he  was  perhaps  one  of  the 
greatest  proficients  in  the  art  of  thriving  of  bis  time :  by  places,  by 
projects,  and  by  grants,  some  to  himself,  and  others  to  his  wife,  he 
acquired  estates,  real  and  personal,  to  the  annual  amount  of  £15,000,  to 
the  accumulation  of  which  wealth  we  may  well  suppose  that  the  virtue 
of  parsimony  contributed  not  a  little,  and  the  rather  as  he  suffered  a 
natural  daughter  of  his  to  be  an  actress  on  the  stage  under  Sir  William 
D'Avenant  at  the  Duke's  theatre  in  Dorset-Garden. 


others,  may  truly  be  called  history,  as  being  founded  in 
truth  ;  and  the  utility  and  certainty  of  their  relations  will 
teach  us  to  distinguish  between  fact  and  fable. 

It  is  much  to  be  lamented  that  the  greater  part  of 
what  we  believe  touching  music,  is  founded  on  no 
better  authority  than  the  fictions  of  poets  and  mytho- 
logists,  whose  relations  are  in  most  instances  merely 
typical  and  figurative  ;  such  must  the  stories  of  Orpheus 
and  Amphion  appear  to  be,  as  having  no  foundation  in 
truth,  but  being  calculated  solely  for  the  purpose  of 
moral  instruction. 

And  with  regard  to  facts  themselves,  a  distinction  is  to 
be  made,  between  such  as  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  receive  from  the  recital  of  the  names  of  those 
who  are  said  to  have  increased  the  chords  of  the  primitive 
lyre  from  four  to  seven,  Chorebus,  Hyagnis,  and  Ter- 
pander ;  or  when  we  are  told  that  Olympus  invented  the 
enarmonic  genus,  as  also  the  Harmatian  mood  ;  or  that 
EuTuolpus  and  Melampus  were  excellent  musicians,  and 
Pronomus,  Antigenides,  and  Lamia  celebrated  players  on 
the  flute  ?  In  all  these  instances,  where  there  are  no 
circimistances  that  constitute  a  character,  and  familiarize 
to  us  the  person  spoken  of,  we  naturally  enquire  who  he 
is ;  and,  for  want  of  farther  information,  become  in- 
different as  to  what  is  recorded  of  him. 

Mr.  Wollaston  has  a  remark  upon  the  nature  of 
fafiie  that  seems  to  illustrate  the  above  observation,  and 
indeed  goes  far  beyond  the  case  here  put,  inasmuch  as 
the  persons  by  him  spoken  of,  are  become  wellknown 
characters  :  his  words  are  these  :  '  When  it  is  said  that 
'  Julius  Caesar  subdued  Gaul,  beat  Pompey,  changed  the 
'  Roman  commonwealth  into  a  monarchy,  &c.  it  is  the 
'  same  thing  as  to  say,  the  conquerer  of  Pompey  was 
'  Cassar  ;  that  is,  Ceesar  and  the  conqueror  of  Pompey  are 
'  the  same  thing ;  and  Caesar  is  as  nmch  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,  since 
'Pompey  is  as  little  known  as  Caesar,  somebody  con- 
'  quered  somebody. 'f 

That  memorials  of  persons,  who  at  this  distance  of  time 
must  appear  thus  indifferent  to  us,  should  be  transmitted 
down  to  posterity,  together  with  those  events  that  make  a 
part  of  musical  history,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at;  and 
Plutarch  could  never  have  recorded  the  facts  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  uninteresting  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.  Aristoxenus  expressly  asserts  that 
the  foundation  of  ingenuous  manners,  and  a  regular  and 
decent  discharge  of  the  offices  of  civil  life,  are  laid  in  a 
musical  education  ;  and  Plutarch,  speaking  of  the  educa- 
tion of  Achilles,  and  relating  that  the  most  wise  Chiron 
was  careful  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  applaud 
and  practise  that  which  is  noble  and  generous,  and  detest 
and  shun  their  contraries :  music  teaching  those  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  his 
treatise  De  Legibus,  lib.  II.,  insists  largely  on  the  utility 
of  this  practice;  and  Polybius,  lib.  IV.,  cap.  iii.,  scruples 
not  to  attribute  the  misfortunes  of  the  Cynetheaus,  a 
peopile  od"  Arcadia,  and  that  general  corruption  of  their 

t  KeligioD  of  Nature  delineated,  page  117. 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


XXI. 


manners,  by  him  described,  to  the  neglect  of  the  disci- 
pline and  exercise  of  music ;  which  he  says  the  ancient 
Arcadians  were  so  industrious  to  cultivate,  that  they  in- 
corporated it  into,  and  made  it  the  very  essence  of,  their 
government ;  obliging  not  their  children  only,  but  the 
young  men  till  they  attained  the  age  of  thirty,  to  persist 
in  the  study  and  practice  of  it.  Innumerable  also  are 
the  passages  in  the  ancient  writers  on  harmonics  wherein 
the  power  of  determining  the  minds  of  men  to  virtue  or 
vice  is  ascribed  to  music  with  as  little  doubt  of  its  efficacy 
in  this  respect,  as  if  the  human  mind  was  possessed  of  no 
such  power  as  the  will,  or  was  totally  divested  of  those 
passions,  inclinations,  and  habits,  which  constitute  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  in  withholding 
our  assent  to  these  relations,  till  the  evidence  on  which 
they  are  grounded  becomes  more  particular  and  explicit ; 
or  it  shall  be  shown  that  they  are  not,  what  some  men 
conceive  them  to  be,  hyperbolical  forms  of  speech,  in 
which  the  literal  is  as  far  from  the  true  sense,  as  it  is  in 
the  stories  of  the  effects  of  music  on  inanimate  beings.  If 
indeed  by  music  we  are  to  understand  musical  sounds 
jointly  operating  with  poetry,  for  this  reason  that  music  is 
ever  spoken  of  by  the  ancients  as  inseparably  united  with 
poetry  ;  and  farther,  because  we  are  told  that  the  ancient 
poets,  for  instance,  Demodocus,  Thaletas  of  Crete,  Pindar, 
and  others,  not  only  composed  the  words,  but  also  the 
music  to  their  odes  and  poeans,  and  sang  them  to  the 
lyre ;  a  degree  of  efficacy  must  be  allowed  it,  propor- 
tioned to  the  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- 
ports, as  they  stand  on  the  footing  of  other  historical 
facts,  would  incline  us  to  suspect  that  the  music  here 
spoken  of  was  of  a  kind  very  different  from  what  it  is  in 
general  conceived  to  be,  and  that  for  the  following  reason. 

We  know  by  experience  that  there  is  no  necessary  con- 
nection between  music  and  poetry  ;  and  such  as  are  com- 

*  Quintilian  has  elegantly  expressed  his  sense  of  the  joint  eificacy  of 
music  and  poetry  in  the  following  passage  :  '  Nanique  et  voce  et 
'niodulatione  grandia  elat^,  jucunda  dulciter,  moderata  leniter  canit, 
'  totaque  arte  consentit  cum  eorum,  qua;  dicuntur,  affectibus.'  Inst. 
Orat.  lib.  I.  cap.  x. 

But,  notwithstanding  this  observation,  which,  as  far  as  it  goes,  must 
he  allowed  to  be  just,  the  powers  of  music  will  be  found  inadequate  to 
the  expression  of  many  of  those  sentiments  in  poetry  which  are  com- 
prehended in  the  ideas  of  the  beautiful  and  the  sublime ;  such,  for 
instance,  as  these  : — 

Where  glowing  embers  round  the  room 
Teach  light  to  counterfeit  a  gloom. 

Where  I  may  oft  outwatch  the  bear. 
With  thrice  gr  at  Hermes,  and  unsphere 
The  spirit  of  Plato  to  unfold 
What  worlds  or  what  vast  regions  hold 
The  immortal  mind. 

Sentiments  that  defy  the  utmost  powers  of  music  to  suit  them  with 
correspondent  sounds. 

Nor  will  it  be  found  that  the  melody  or  the  cadence  of  sounds  are 
either  of  them  so  peculiarly  appropriated  to  particular  passions  or 
descriptions,  as  to  rank  the  faculty  of  expression  among  tlie  principal 
excellencies  of  music.  And  in  proof  of  this  assertion  some  examples 
might  be  given  that  would  stagger  an  intidel  in  these  matters.  The  late 
Dr.  Brown,  when  he  had  written  his  ode  entitled  the  Cure  of  Saul,  for  the 
music  to  it  made  a  selection  from  the  works  of  the  most  celebrated 
composers,  of  such  favourite  movements  as  he  thought  would  best 
express  the  sense  of  the  words  ;  in  particular  he  took  the  saraband  in 
the  eighth  sonata  of  Corelli's  second  opera  for  a  solo  air;  and  that  most 
divine  movement  in  Purcell's  '  O  give  thanks,'  '  Remember  me,  O  Lord,' 
for  a  chorus  ;  and  any  stranger  would  have  thought  that  the  music  had 
been  originally  composed  to  the  words  :  the  music  to  that  admired  song 
in  Samson,  '  Return,  O  God  of  hosts,'  was  taken  from  an  Italian 
cantata  of  Mr.  Handel,  composed  in  his  youth  ;  as  vras  also  the  music  to 
the  other,  '  Then  long  eternity,'  in  the  same  oratorio  :  farther,  the  chorus 
in  Alexander's  Feast,  'Let  old  Timotheus  yield  the  prize,"  saving  the 
addition  of  one  of  the  interior  parts,  was  originally  an  Italian  trio  ;  as 
was  also  that  in  the  II  Penseroso,  '  These  pleasures  melancholy  give.' 
Finally,  a  great  part  of  the  music  to  Mr.  Dryden's  lesser  ode  for 
St.  Cecilia's  Day  was  originally  composed  by  Mr.  Handel  for  an  opera 
enlitii^Q  Alceste,  written  by  Dr.  SmoUet,  but  never  performed. 


petent  judges  of  either,  know  also  that  though  the  powers 
of  each  are  in  some  instances  concurrent,  each  is  a  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  language.  The  poet  affects  the  passions 
by  images  excited  in  the  mind,  or  by  the  forcible  im- 
pression of  moral  sentiments ;  the  musician  by  sounds 
either  simple  and  harmonical  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  mediimi,  recognizes  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  poets 
incapable  of  articulating  musical  sounds,  as  of  musicians 
unpossessed  of  a  talent  for  poetry. 

If  then  the  poets  of  the  ancients  were  only  such  as  to 
the  harmony  of  their  verse,  were  capable  of  joining  that  of 
music,  by  composing  musical  airs,  and  also  singing  them, 
and  that  to  an  audience  grounded  and  well  instructed  in 
music,  what  can  we  suppose  the  music  of  their  odes  to 
have  been  ?  Perhaps  little  else  than  bare  recitation  ;  not 
in  true  musical  intervals,  but  with  such  inflections  of  the 
voice  as  accompany  speech  when  calculated  to  make  a 
forcible  impression  on  the  hearers. 

As  to  the  relations  of  the  effects  of  music  in  former 
ages  on  the  passions  of  men,  and  of  its  provoking  them  to 
acts  of  desperation,  it  may  be  said  that  they  afford  no 
greater  proofs  of  its  influence  on  the  passions  than 
modern  history  is  capable  of  furnishing,  t     But  there  are 

t  Vide  infra,  pages  118,  119 ;  and  Plutarch  relates  that  Antigenides,  the 
tibicinist,  playing  before  Alexander  the  Great,  in  a  measure  of  time 
distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  Harmatian  mood,  enflamed  the  hero  to 
such  a  degree,  that,  leaping  from  his  seat,  and  drawing  his  sword,  he  in 
a  frenzy  of  courage  assailed  those  who  were  nearest  him.  In  Orat  II. 
De  Fortun.  vel  Virtut.  Alexandr.  Magn. 

To  these  instances  may  be  opposed  the  following,  which  modem 
history  affords.  The  first  is  related  of  Ericus,  king  of  Denmark, 
surnamed  the  Good,  who  reigned  about  1130,  and  is  to  the  following 
purport.  When  Ericus  was  returned  into  his  kingdom,  and  held  the 
yearly  assembly,  he  was  greatly  pleased  with  the  industry  both  of  his 
soldiers  and  artificers.  Among  other  of  his  attendants  was  a  musician, 
who  asserted  that  by  the  power  of  his  art  he  was  able  to  excite  in  men 
whatsoever  affections  he  thought  proper ;  and  to  make  the  sad  cheerful, 
the  cheerful  sad,  the  angry  placid,  and  such  as  were  pleased  discontented, 
and  even  drive  them  into  a  raging  madness  ;  and  the  more  he  insisted 
on  his  abilities  the  greater  was  the  king's  desire  to  try  them.  The  artist 
now  began  to  repent  his  having  thus  magnified  his  talent,  foreseeing  the 
danger  of  making  such  experiments  on  a  king,  and  he  was  afraid  that  if 
he  failed  in  the  performance  of  what  he  had  undertaken,  he  should  be 
esteemed  a  liar ;  he  therefore  entreated  all  who  had  any  influence  over 
the  king  to  endeavour  to  divert  him  from  his  intention  to  make  proof  of 
his  art ;  but  all  without  effect,  for  the  more  desirous  he  was  to  evade  the 
trial  of  his  skill,  the  more  the  king  insisted  on  it.  When  the  musician 
perceived  that  he  could  not  be  excused,  he  begged  that  all  weapons 
capable  of  doing  mischief  might  be  removed,  and  took  care  that  some 
persons  should  be  placed  out  of  the  hearing  of  the  Cithara,  who  might 
be  called  in  to  his  assistance,  and  were,  if  necessity  required  it,  to 
snatch  the  instrument  from  his  hands,  and  break  it  on  liis  head.  Every 
thing  being  thus  prepared,  the  citharist  began  to  make  proof  of  his  art 
on  the  king,  who  sat  with  some  few  about  liim  in  an  open  hall ;  first,  by 
a  grave  mode,  he  threw  a  certain  melancholy  into  the  minds  of  the 
auditors  ;  but,  changing  it  into  one  more  cheerful,  he  converted  their 
sadness  into  mirth  that  almost  incited  his  bearers  to  dancing  ;  then 
varying  his  modulation,  on  the  sudden  he  inspired  the  king  with  fury 
and  indignation,  which  he  continued  to  work  up  in  him  till  it  was  easy 
to  see  he  was  approaching  to  frenzy.  The  sign  was  then  given  for  those 
who  were  in  waiting  to  enter  ;  they  first  broke  the  Cithara  according  to 
their  directions,  and  then  seized  on  the  king  ;  but  such  was  his  strength, 
that  he  killed  some  of  them  with  his  fist;  being  afterwards  overwhelmed 
with  several  beds,  his  fury  became  pacified,  and,  recovering  his  reason, 
he  was  grievously  afflicted  that  he  had  turned  liis  wrath  against  his 
friends.  Saxo  Grammaticus,  in  Hist.  Danicse,  edit.  Basil,  lib.  XII. 
page  113.  The  same  author  adds,  that  he  broke  open  the  doors  of  a 
chamber,  and,  snatching  up  a  sword,  ran  four  men  through  the  body  ; 
and  that  when  he  returned  to  his  senses  he  made  a  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem  as  an  expiation  of  his  crime.  Olaus  Magnus,  who  tells  the 
same  story,  says  that  he  afterwards  died  in  the  island  of  Cyprus.  Vide 
Olaus  Magnus,  in  Hist.  Gent.  Sept.  lib.  XV.  cap.  xxviii.  and  Krantzius, 
in  Chron.  Regn.  Daniae,  Suecise,  et  Norvegiae. 

Hieronymus  Magius  gives  the  following  relation  of  a  fact  recent  in 
memory  in  the  year  1.564:  Cardinal  Hippolyto  de  Medicis,  being  a  legate 
in  the  army  at  Pannonia,  the  troops  being  about  to  engage,  upon 
sounding  the  alarm  by  the  trumpets  and  drums,  was  so  enflamed  with  a 
martial  ardour,  that,  girding  on  his  sword,  he  mounted  his  horse,  and 
could  not  be  restrained  from  charging  the  enemy  at  the  head  of  those 


XXll. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


others  that  stagger  human  belief,  and  leave  us  in  doubt 
whether  to  give  or  refuse  credit  to  them;  such,  for  in- 
stance, are  the  stories  of  the  cure  of  diseases,  namely,  the 
sciatica,  epilepsy,  fevers,  the  bites  of  vipers,  and  even 
pestilences,  by  the  power  of  harmony. 

What  an  implicit  assent  has  been  given  to  the  reports 
of  the  sovereign  efficacy  of  music  in  the  cure  of  the 
frenzy  occasioned  by  the  bite  of  the  Tarantula !  Baglivi, 
an  eminent  physician,  a  native  of  Apulia,  the  country 
where  the  Tarantula,  a  kind  of  spider,  is  produced,  has 
given  the  natural  history  of  this  supposed  noxious  insect, 
and  a  variety  of  cases  of  persons  rendered  frantic  by  its 
bite,  and  restored  to  sanity  and  the  use  of  their  reason ; 
and  in  Kircher's  Musurgia  we  have  the  very  air  or  tune 
by  which  the  cure  is  said  to  be  effected.  Sir  Thomas 
Brown,  that  industrious  exploder  of  vulgar  errors,  has  let 
this,  perhaps  the  most  egregious  of  any  that  he  has  ani- 
madverted on.  pass  as  a  fact  not  to  be  controverted ;  and 
Dr.  Mead  has  strengthened  the  belief  of  it  by  his  reasoning 
on  the  nature  of  poisons.  After  all  the  whole  comes  out 
to  be  a  fable,  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  modern  music  ;  which 
latter,  as  it  pretends  to  no  such  miraculous  powers,  has 
been  thought  by  the  ignorant  to  be  so  greatly  inferior  to 
the  former,  as  scarce  to  deserve  the  name.  In  like  manner 
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,  the  actions  of  heroes,  and 
the  wisdom  of  legislators,  with  those  of  modern  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 
consequence  of  that  system  of  education  which  directs  the 
attention  of  young  minds  to  the  discoveries  and  trans- 
actions of  the  more  early  times ;  assigning,  as  the  rule  of 
civil  policy,  and  the  standard  of  moral  perfection  and  ex- 
cellence in  arts,  the  conduct,  the  lives,  and  works  of  men 
whose  greatest  achievements  are  only  wonderful  as  they 
were  rare ;  whose  valour  was  Drutality,  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  those  nu- 
merous and  reiterated  complaints  which  we  meet  with  of 
the  degeneracy  of  modern  times  ;  and  when  they  are 
once  imbibed,  complaints  of  the  declension  of  some  arts, 
and  of  the  loss  of  others,  as  also  of  the  corruption  of 
manners,  appear  to  be  but  of  course.  Whether,  therefore, 
our  reverence  for  antiquity  has  not  been  carried  too  far 
both  as  to  matters  of  science  and  morality,  comprehending 
in  the  latter  the  virtue  of  justice,  and  the  qualities  of  per- 
sonal courage,  general  benevolence,  and  refined  humanity, 
of  which  the  examples  are  not  less  numerous  and  con- 
spicuous in  modern  than  in  ancient  history,  is  a  question 
well  worthy  consideration. f 

whose  duty  it  was  to  make  the  onset.  Var.  Lect.  seu  Miscell. 
Venet.  1564,  lib.  IV.  cap.  xiii. 

And,  lastly,  it  is  related,  that  at  the  celebration  of  the  marriage  of  the 
duke  of  Joyeuse,  a  gentleman  was  so  transported  with  the  music  of 
Claude  le  Jeune,  performed  at  that  solemnity,  that  he  seized  his  sword, 
and  swore  that,  unless  prevented,  he  must  fight  with  some  one  present ; 
but  that  a  sudden  change  in  the  music  calmed  him.  Bayle,  art. 
GoUDiMEL,  in  not.     Vide  infra,  page  434. 

*  Vide  infra,  page  639,  in  note. 

+  In  a  book,  which  few  readers  at  this  day  think  worth  looking  into. 
Dr.  Hakewill's  .\pologie  for  the  Power  and  Providence  of  God,  are  the 
following  sentiments  touching  the  reverence  due  to  antiquity  :  '  Antiquity 
'  I  unfeignedly  honour  and  reverence  ;  but  why  I  should  reverence  the 
'  rust  and  refuse,  the  dross  and  dregs,  the  warts  and  wens  thereof  I  am 

'yet  to  seek. As  in  the  little,  so  in  the  great  world,  reason  will  tell 

'  you  that  old  age  or  antiquity  is  to  be  accounted  by  the  fartlier  distance 
'  from  the  beginning,  and  the  nearer  approach  to  the  end ;  and  as  grey 


Of  the  loss  of  many  arts,  that  contribute  as  well  to  the 
benefit  as  delight  of  mankind,  much  has  been  said;  and 
there  is  extant  a  large  volume,  written  in  Latin  by  Guido 
Pancirollus,  a  lawyer  of  Padua,  entitled  '  De  rebus  memo- 
'  rabilibus  deperditis  et  noviter  inventis,'  which  has  not 
escaped  censure  for  the  mistakes  and  peurilities  with 
which  it  abounds,  the  tendency  thereof  being  to  shew  that 
many  arts  known  to  the  ancients  are  either  totally  lost,  or 
so  greatly  depraved,  that  they  can  scarcely  be  said  to 
have  an  existence  among  us.|  In  this  book,  which  has 
proved  a  plentiful  source  of  intelligence  to  such  as  have 
laboured  to  depreciate  all  modern  attainments,  it  is 
roundly  asserted  of  music,  which  was  anciently  a  science, 
that  there  are  not  the  least  footsteps  remaining  :  and  far- 
ther, that  the  Cardinal  of  Ferrara,  by  whom  it  is  supposed 
is  meant  Hippolyto  de  Este,  the  patron  of  Vicentino,  took 
great  pains  to  recover  it,  but  all  to  no  j)urpose.§ 

Such  as  seem  to  have  adopted  the  opinion  of  Pancirol- 
lus with  respect  to  music,  for  example,  Dr.  Pepusch,  and 

'  beards  are  for  wisdom  and  judgment  to  be  preferred  before  young  green 
'  heads,  because  they  have  more  experience  in  affairs  ;  so  likewise  for  the 
'  same  cause  the  present  times  are  to  be  preferred  before  the  infancy  or 
'  youth  of  the  world,  we  having  the  history  and  practice  of  former  ages 

'  to  inform  us,  which  they  wanted. In  disgracing  the  present  times 

'you  disgrace  antiquity  properly  so  called.'     Book  V.  page  13.3. 

Farther  to  this  purpose  the  learned  and  sagacious  Sir  Thomas  Brown 
delivers  his  sentiments  in  the  following  terms  :  '  The  mortalest  enemy 
'  unto  knowledge,  and  that  which  hath  done  the  greatest  execution  upon 
'  truth,  hath  been  a  peremptory  adhesion  unto  authority  ;  and  more 
'  especially  the  establishing  of  our  belief  upon  the  dictates  of  antiquity. 
'  For,  (as  every  capacity  may  observe)  most  men  of  a^jes  present,  so 
'  superstitiously  do  look  upon  ages  past,  that  the  authorities  of  the  one 
'  exceed  the  reasons  of  the  ether  :  whose  persons  indeed  being  far 
'  removed  from  our  times,  their  works,  which  seldom  with  us  pass 
'  uncontroled,  either  by  contemporaries,  or  immediate  successors,  are 
'  now  become  out  of  the  distance  of  envies :  and  the  farther  removed 
'  from  present  times,  are  conceived  to  approach  the  nearer  unto  truth 
'  itself.  Now  hereby  methinks  we  manifestly  delude  ourselves,  and 
'  widely  walk  out  of  the  track  of  truth. 

'  For,  first,  men  hereby  impose  a  thraldom  on  their  times,  which  the 
'  ingenuity  of  no  age  should  endure,  or  indeed  the  presumption  of  any 
'  did  ever  yet  enjoin.  Thus  Hippocrates,  about  two  thousand  years  ago, 
'conceived  it  no  injustice  either  to  examine  or  refute  the  doctrines  of 
'his  predecessors:  Galen  the  like,  and  Aristotle  the  most  of  any.  Yet 
'did  not  any  of  these  conceive  themselves  infallible,  or  set  down  their 
'  dictates  as  verities  irrefragable  ;  but  when  they  either  deliver  their 
'  own  inventions,  or  reject  other  men's  opinions,  they  proceed  with 
'judgment  and  ingenuity  :  estahHsliing  their  assertions,  not  only  with 
'great  solidity,  but  submitting  them  also  unto  the  correction  of  future 
'  discovery. 

'  Secondly,  men  that  adore  times  past,  consider  not  that  those  times 
'  were  once  present,  that  is,  as  our  own  are  at  this  instant  ;  and  we 
'ourselves  unto  those  to  come,  as  they  unto  us  at  present:  as  we  rely 
'on  them,  even  so  will  those  on  us,  and  magnify  us  hereafter,  who 
'at  present  condemn  ourselves.  Which  very  absurdity  is  daily  com- 
'  mitted  amongst  us,  even  in  the  esteem  and  censure  of  our  own  times. 
'  And,  to  speak  impartially,  old  men,  from  whom  we  should  expect  the 
'  greatest  example  of  wisdom,  do  most  exceed  in  this  point  of  folly  j 
'  commending  the  dayes  of  their  youth,  which  they  scarce  remember,  at 
'  least  well  understood  not ;  extolling  those  times  their  younger  years 
'have  heard  their  fathers  condemn,  and  condemning  those  times  the 
'  gray  heads  of  their  posterity  shall  commend.  And  thus  is  it  the 
'  humour  of  many  heads  to  extol  the  dayes  of  their  fore-fathers,  and 
'  declaim  against  the  wickedness  of  times  present.  Which,  notwith- 
'  standing  tliey  cannot  handsomely  do,  without  the  borrowed  help  and 
'  satyrs  of  times  past,  condemning  the  vices  of  their  own  times,  by  the 
'  expressions  of  vices  in  times  whicli  they  commend;  which  cannot  but 
'  argue  the  community  of  vice  in  both.  Horace,  therefore,  Juvenal, 
'  and  Persius  were  no  prophets,  although  their  lines  did  seem  to 
'  iiidigitate  and  point  at  our  times.  There  is  a  certain  list  of  vices 
'  committed  in  all  ages,  and  declaimed  against  by  all  authors,  which  will 
'  last  as  long  as  humane  nature;  which,  digested  into  common  places, 
'  may  serve  fur  any  theme,  and  never  be  out  of  date  until  Dooms  day.' 
Enquiries  into  Vulgar  and  Common  Errours,  Book  I.  Chap.  vi. 

t  Of  the  many  instances  of  arts  or  inventions  lost,  or  in  a  state  of 
depravity  at  this  time,  there  are  very  few,  if  any,  of  which  evidence  can 
be  found,  or  at  least  that  have  not  been  succeeded  by  others  tending  to 
the  same  purpose,  and  of  far  greater  utility.  To  instance  in  a  few 
particulars,  instead  of  the  papyrus  of  the  ancients,  prepared  from  the 
leaves  of  a  certain  buUrush,  we  have  the  paper  of  the  modems;  in  the 
room  of  their  specular  stones,  glass;  and  of  clepsydras,  instruments 
that  measured  time  by  the  dropping  of  water,  or  the  falling  of  sand, 
clocks  and  watches.  As  to  the  art  of  staining  or  painting  glass,  which 
ceased  to  he  practised  about  the  Riformation,  and  has  almost  ever  since 
been  deplored  as  a  lost  invention,  it  is  effected  by  chemical  means,  and 
is  at  this  day  in  as  great  perfection  as  ever.  Vide  Chambers's  Diet, 
voce  Glass.  Anecdotes  of  Painting  in  England  by  Mr.  Horace  Walpole, 
vol.  II.  page  15. 

§  A  like  attempt  was  made  in  France  in  the  year  1570,  by  the 
establishment  of  an  academy  under  the  direction  of  Jean  Antoine  Baif 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


XXI 11. 


a  few  of  his  disciples,  have  asserted  as  an  instance  in 
support  of  it,  that  the  chromatic  and  enarmonic  genera 
are  now  neither  practised  nor  accurately  known.  Farther 
they  add,  that  of  the  various  modes  of  the  ancients,  only 
two  are  remaining,  viz.,  those  which  answer  to  the  keys 
A  and  C  ;  for,  say  they,  the  ancients  took  the  tones  and 
semitones  in  order  as  they  naturally  arise  in  the  diapason 
system,  and,  without  any  dislocation  of  either,  considered 
the  progression  from  any  fundamental  chord  as  a  mode 
or  key,  and  formed  their  melodies  accordingly. 

With  regard  to  the  enarmonic  genus,  it  will  in  the 
ensuing  work  be  shewn  that  the  ancients  themselves 
suffered  it  to  grow  into  disuse  by  reason  of  its  intricacy  ; 
and  therefore  it  cannot  so  properly  be  said  to  have  been 
lost,  as  that  it  is  rejected,  and  the  rather  as  we  are  assured 
that  Salinas  and  others  have  accurately  determined  it  :* 
of  the  chromatic  as  much  seems  to  have  been  retained  as 
is  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  the  diatonic ;  and  as  to 
the  modes,  it  will  also  be  shewn  that  there  never  was,  nor 
can  there  in  nature  be  more,  or  any  other  than  tlie  two 
abovementioned ;  and  consequently  that  in  this  respect 
music  has  sustained  no  injury  at  all. 

The  loss  of  arts  is  a  plausible  topic  of  declamation,  but 
the  possibility  of  such  a  calamity  by  other  means  than 
a  second  deluge,  or  the  interposition  of  any  less  powerful 
agent  than  God  himself,  is  a  matter  of  doubt ;  and  when 
appearances  every  where  around  us  favour  the  opinion  of 
our  improvement  not  only  in  literature,  but  in  the  sciences 
and  all  the  manual  arts,  it  is  wonderful  that  the  contrary 
notion  should  ever  have  got  footing  among  mankind. 

As  to  the  general  prejudices  in  behalf  of  antiquity, 
it  has  been  hinted  above  that  a  reason  for  them  is  to 
be  found  in  that  implicit  belief  which  the  course  of 
modern  education  disposes  us  to  entertain  of  the  superior 
virtue,  wisdom,  and  ingenuity  of  those,  who  in  all  these 
instances  we  are  taught  to  look  on  as  patterns  the  most 
worthy  of  imitation  ;  but  it  can  never  be  deemed  an  ex- 
cuse for  some  writers  for  complimenting  nations  less  en- 
lightened than  ourselves  with  the  possession  or  enjoyment 
of  arts  which  it  is  pretended  we  have  lost ;  as  they  do 
when  they  magnify  the  attainments  of  nations  compara- 
tively barbarous,  and  making  those  countries  on  which 
the  beams  of  knowledge  can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  yet 
dawned  the  theatres  of  virtue  and  the  schools  of  science, 
recommend  them  as  fit  exemplars  for  our  imitation. 

Of  this  class  of  authors,  Sir  William  Temple  and  Isaac 
Vossius  seem  to  be  the  chief;  the  one  a  statesman  retired 
from  business,  an  ingenious  writer,  but  possessed  of  little 
learning,  other  than  what  he  acquired  in  his  later  years, 
and  which  it  is  suspected  was  not  drawn  from  the  purest 
sources  ;  the  other  a  man  of  great  erudition,  but  little 
judgment,  the  weakness  whereof  he  manifested  in  a 
childish  credulity,  and  a  disposition  to  believe  things  in- 
credible. These  men,  upon  little  better  evidence  than 
the  reports  of  travellers,  and  the  relations  of  missionaries, 
who  might  have  purposes  of  their  own  to  serve,  have 
celebrated  the  policy,  the  morality,  and  the  learning  of 
the  Chinese,  and  done  little  less  than  proposed  them  as 
examples  of  all  that  is  excellent  in  human  nature. f 

and  Joachim  Theobalde  de  Courville,  but  through  envy,  as  it  is  said, 
the  design  failed.  Mersennus  in  Quest,  et  Explic.  in  Genesin.  art.  XV. 
pag.  1683.  Walth.  Musicalisches  Lexicon,  voce  Academie  Rotale 
DE  MusiauE. 

*  Vide  infra,  page  39. 

+  As  an  instance  of  their  superior  skill  in  the  science  of  medicine,  he 
says  tliat  their  physicians  pretend  that  they  are  able,  not  only  to  tell  by 
the  pulse  how  many  hours  or  days  a  sick  man  can  last,  but  how  many 
years  a  man  in  perfect  seeming  health  may  live,  in  case  of  no  accident 
or  violence.     Essay  of  Heroic  Virtue,  sect.  II. 

The  following  summary  of  Cliinese  knowledge  may  serve  to  show 
how  well  they  are  entitled  to  the  exaggerated  encomiums  of  such 
writers.  They  carry  their  history  back  to  many  ages  before  the  time  of 
the  creation.  Hearne's  Duct.  Historic.  vcjI.  I.  page  16.  Their  notion  of 
an  eclipse  is,  that  there  is  in  heaven  a  dragon  of  an  immense  bigness, 
ready  at  all  times  to  eat  up  the  sun  or  moon,  which  he  likes  best ;   when 


The  topics  insisted  on  by  Sir  William  Temple,  in  that 
part  of  his  Essay  on  Heroic  Virtue,  where  he  takes  occa- 
sion to  speak  of  the  Chinese,  are  their  wisdom,  their 
knowledge,  their  wit,  their  learning,  ingenuity,  and 
civility,  on  which  he  bestows  the  most  extravagant 
encomiums. 

Vossius  is  more  particular,  and  says  that  '  the  Chinese 
'  deplore  the  loss  of  their  music,  the  superior  merit 
'  whereof  may  be  inferred  from  the  relics  of  it  yet  re- 
*  maining,  which  are  so  excellent,  that  for  their  perfection 
'  in  the  art,  the  Chinese  may  impose  silence  on  all 
Europe.'  Farther  he  says  of  their  pantomimes,  or 
theatrical  representations  by  mute  persons,  in  which  the 
sentiments  are  expressed  by  gesticulations,  and  even 
nods,  that  '  these  declare  their  skill  in  the  rythmus,  which 
'  is  the  soul  of  music. '+  Elsewhere  he  takes  occasion  to 
celebrate  this  people  for  their  skill  on  the  tibia,  and 
bestows  on  their  performance  the  following  enthusiastic 
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. '§ 

Another  writer  is  more  particular,  and  gives  us  for  his- 
tory this  nonsense  ;  thatFou-Hi,  the  first  of  the  emperors 
and  legislators  of  China,  delivered  the  precepts  of  music, 
and  having  invented  fishing,  composed  a  song  for  those 
who  exercised  the  art ;  and  to  banish  all  impurity  from 
the  heart,  made  a  lyre  with  strings  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 
stones,  which  produced  a  noble  harmony,  curbed  the 
passions,  and  elevated  many  to  virtue  and  heavenly 
truth.  II 

These  are  the  opinions  of  men  who  have  acquired  nc 
small  reputation  in  the  world  of  letters  ;  and  therefore 
that  error  might  not  derive  a  sanction  from  authority,  it 
seemed  necessary  to  enquire  into  the  evidence  in  support 
of  them  ;  of  what  sort  it  is,  the  passage  above  cited  may 
serve  to  show.  It  remains  now  to  make  the  comparison 
above  proposed  of  the  modern  with  the  ancient  music. 

The  method  hitherto  pursued  by  those  writers  who 
have  attempted  to  draw  a  parallel  between  the  ancient 
and  modern  music,  has  been  to  bring  together  into  one 
point  of  view  the  testimonies  in  favour  of  the  former,  and 
to  strengthen  them  by  their  own  suffrages,  which  upon 
examination  will  be  found  to  amovmt  to  just  nothing  ;  for 
these  testimonies  being  no  more  than  verbal  declarations 
or  descriptions,  every  reader  is  at  liberty  to  supply 
them  by  ideas  of  his  own  ;  ideas  which  can  only  have 
been  excited  by  that  music  which  he  has  actually  heard, 

an  eclipse  of  either  happens,  they  suppose  he  has  got  the  planet  between 
his  teeth,  and,  to  make  him  quit  his  hold,  they  beat  drums  and  brass 
kettles.  Le  Comte's  Memoirs  of  China,  edit.  1738,  page  70,  488.  In  the 
judgment  of  Cassini,  and  other  great  astronomers,  they  err  in  their 
accounts  of  sundry  conjunctions  of  the  planets;  in  some  of  them  not 
less  than  live  hundred  years.  Jenkin  on  the  Reasonableness  and 
Certainty  of  the  Christian  Religion,  vol.  I.  page  339.  They  are  so  little 
skilled  in  mechanics,  that  they  took  a  watch,  brought  into  their  country 
by  a  Jesuit,  for  an  animal.  They  are  strangers  to  the  use  of  etters  as 
the  elements  of  words;  and  have  even  at  this  day  no  alphabet.  Ibid. 
Moreover  they  pretend  to  be  the  inventors  of  music,  notwithstanding 
that  in  the  opinion  of  Father  Le  Comte  they  have  nothing  among  them, 
that  deserves  the  name.     See  his  Memoirs,  page  214. 

Of  their  propensity  to  fraud  and  deceit  in  their  dealings,  there  are 
abundant  examples  in  Le  Comte  and  Lord  Anson's  voyage  ;  and  of  their 
morality  and  civil  policy,  which  are  so  highly  extolled,  any  one  may 
judge,  when  he  is  told  that  in  Pekin  and  other  large  cities  there  is  an 
officer,  whose  duty  it  is  every  morning  to  destroy  the  numerous  infants 
that  have  been  exposed  in  the  streets  in  the  preceding  night.  Mod. 
Univ.  Hist.  fol.  vol.  I.  page  175. 

I  De  poemat.  cant,  et  vlrib.  Rythmi,  page  95. 
§  Ibid,  page  107. 

II  Extraits  des  Hist.  Chinois,  published  by  Mons.  Goguet,  page  567, 572. 
Dissert,  on  the  Union,  &c.  of  Poetry  and  Music,  ]  age  167. 


XXIV. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


or  at  least  perused  and  contemplated.  An  instance 
borrowed  from  the  practice  of  some  critics  in  painting, 
may  possibly  illustrate  this  sentiment :  the  works  of 
Apelles,  Parrhasius,  Zeuxis,  and  Protogenes,  together 
with  those  of  other  artists  less  known,  such  as  Bularchus, 
Euphranor,  Timanthes,  Polygnotus,  Polycletes,  and 
Aristides,  all  famous  painters,  have  been  celebrated  in 
terms  of  high  applause  by  Aristotle,  Philostratus,  Pliny, 
and  the  poets  ;  and  those  who  attend  to  their  descriptions 
of  them,  associate  to  each  subject  ideas  of  excellence  as 
perfect  as  their  imaginations  can  suggest,  which  can  only 
be  derived  from  such  works  of  later  artists  as  they  have 
seen  ;  in  like  manner  as  we  assist  the  descriptions  of 
Helen  in  Homer,  and  of  Eve  in  Milton,  with  ideas  of 
female  beauty,  grace,  and  elegance,  drawn  from  our  own 
observation  :*  the  result  of  such  a  comparison  in  the  case 
of  painting,  has  frequently  been  a  determination  to  the 
prejudice  of  modern  artists  ;  and  the  works  of  Raphael, 
Domenichino,  and  Guido  have  been  condemned  as  not 
answering  to  those  characters  of  sublime  and  beautiful, 
which  are  given  to  the  productions  of  the  ancient  artists. f 
In  like  manner  to  speak  of  music,  we  can  form  ideas  of 
the  perfection  of  harmony  and  melody,  and  of  the  gene- 
ral effect  resulting  from  the  artful  combination  of  musical 
sounds,  from  that  music  alone  which  we  have  actually 
heard  ;  and  when  we  read  of  the  music  of  Timotheus  or 
Antigenides,  we  must  either  resemble  it  to  that  of  the  most 
excellent  of  the  modern  artists,  or  forbear  to  judge  about 
it ;  and  if  in  the  comparison  such  critics  as  Isaac  Vossius, 
Sir  William  Temple,  and  some  others,  reject  the  music  of 
the  moderns  as  unworthy  of  attention  or  notice,  how 
egregiously  are  they  deceived,  and  what  do  they  but 
forego  the  substance  for  the  shadow  ? 

Other  writers  have  taken  a  different  course,  and  endea- 
voured to  prove  the  inferiority  of  the  modern  music  to  the 
ancient,  by  a  comparison  of  the  powers  of  each  in  de- 
priving men  of  the  exercise  of  their  rational  faculties, 
and  by  impelling  them  to  acts  of  violence.  To  these  it 
may  be  said,  that,  admitting  such  a  power  in  music,  it 
seems  to  be  common  in  some  degree  to  that  of  all  ages 
and  countries,  even  the  most  savage ;  but  the  fact  is,  that 
these  effects  are  adventitious,  and  in  all  the  instances 
produced  will  be  found  to  have  followed  from  some  pre- 
disposition of  the  mind  of  the  hearer,  or  peculiar  coinci- 
dence of  circumstances,  for  that  in  truth  music  pretends 
not  to  the  power  of  working  miracles,  nor  is  it  the  more 
to  be  esteemed  for  exciting  men  to  frenzy.  Those  who 
contemplate  it  in  a  philosophical  and  rational  manner,  and 
attend  to  its  genuine  operation  on  the  human  affections, 
are  abundantly  satisfied  of  its  efficacy,  when  they  dis- 
cover that  it  has  a  tendency  to  exhilarate  the  mind,  to 
calm  the  passions,  to  assuage  the  pangs  of  affliction,  t  to 

•  Mr.  Harris  to  this  purpose  has  given  his  sentiments  in  the  following 
judicious  observation  :    '  When  we  read  in  Milton  of  Eve,  that 

'  Grace  was  in  all  her  steps,  heav'n  in  her  eye, 

'  In  ev'ry  gesture  dignity  and  love ; 
'  we  have  an  image  not  of  that  Eve  which  Milton  conceived,  but  of  such 
'  an  Eve  only  as  every  one  by  his  own  proper  genius  is  able  to  rei)resent 
'  from  reflecting  on  those  ideas  which  he  has  annexed  to  those  several 
'  sounds.  The  greater  part  in  the  mean  time  have  never  perhaps 
'  bestowed  one  accurate  thought  upon  what  Grace,  Heaven,  Love,  and 
'Dignity  mean;  or  ever  enriched  the  mind  with  ideas  of  beauty,  or 
'  asked  whence  they  are  to  be  acquired,  and  by  what  proportiims  they 
'  are  constituted.  On  the  contrary,  when  we  view  Eve  as  painted  by  an 
'able  painter,  we  labour  under  no  such  difficulty;  because  we  have 
'  exhibited  before  us  the  better  conceptions  of  an  artist,  the  genuine 
'  ideas  of  perhaps  a  Titian  or  a  Raphael.'  Disc,  on  Music,  Painting, 
and  Poetry,  page  77,  in  not. 

t  Vide  Inquiry  into  the  Beauties  of  Painting,  by  Daniel  Webb,  Esq. 
passim. 

I  To  this  purpose  we  meet  in  Procopius  with  the  following  affecting 
relation,  viz  :  that  Geliraer,  king  of  the  Vandals,  being  at  war  with  tlie 
emperor  Justinian,  and  having  been  driven  to  the  mountains  by 
Belisarius,  his  general,  and  reduced  to  great  straits,  was  advised  in  a 
letter  by  a  friend  of  his  named  Pbaras  to  make  terms  with  ttie  enemy  ; 
but  in  the  greatness  of  his  spirit  disdaining  submission,  he  returned 


assist  devotion,  and  to  inspire  the  mind  with  the  most 
noble  and  exalted  sentiments. 

Others,  despairing  of  the  evidence  of  facts,  have  re- 
course to  argument,  contending  that  the  same  superiority 
with  respect  to  music  is  to  be  yielded  to  the  ancients  as 
we  allow  them  in  the  arts  that  afford  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,  proof  of  the  superiority 
of  the  ancients  is  not  only  wanting,  but  the  weight  of  the 
argument  lies  on  the  other  side  ;  for  where  are  those  pro- 
ductions of  the  ancients  that  must  decide  the  question  ? 
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  remaining  monuments  that  exhibit  to  us 
the  forms  of  their  instruments,  of  which  the  lyre  and  the 
tibia  are  the  most  celebrated ;  and  that  these  are  greatly 
excelled  by  the  instruments  of  the  moderns  will  not  bear 
a  question.  As  to  the  lyre,  considered  as  a  musical 
instrument,  it  is  a  very  artless  invention,  consisting 
merely  of  a  few  chords  of  equal  length  but  unequal  ten- 
sions, in  such  a  situation,  and  so  disposed,  as,  without  any 
contrivance,  to  prolong  or  reverberate  the  sound,  to  vi- 
brate in  the  empty  air.  The  tibia,  allowing  it  the  per- 
fection to  which  the  flute  of  the  moderns  is  arrived,  could 
at  best  be  but  an  imperfect  instrument  ;§  and  yet  we  are 
told  it  was  in  such  estimation  among  the  ancients,  that  at 
Corinth  the  sum  of  three,  some  say  seven,  talents  was 
given  by  Ismenias,  a  musician,  for  a  flute. 

But  a  weightier  argument  in  favour  of  modern  music, 
at  least  so  far  as  regards  the  improvements  jn  theory  and 
practice  that  necessarily  result  from  the  investigation  of 
new  principles  and  the  discovery  of  new  combinations, 
may  be  drawn  from  the  natural  course  and  order  of 
things,  which  is  ever  towards  perfection,  as  is  seen  in 
other  sciences,  physics  and  mathematics,  for  instance  ;  so 
that  of  music  it  may  be  said,  that  the  discoveries  of  one 
cige  have  served  but  as  a  foundation  for  improvements  in 
the  next;  the  consequence  whereof  is,  that  the  fund  of 
harmony  is  ever  increasing.  What  advantages  must 
accrue  to  music  from  this  circumstance,  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  music  in  this  and  sundry  instances  bears  a  near 

this  answer :  '  Ouod  mihi  consilium  dedisti,  magnam  habeo  tibi  gratiam, 
'  ut  etiam  hosti  injusto  serviam ;  id  ver6  mihi  intolerandum  videtur. 
'  Si  Deus  faveret,  repetere,  poenas  ah  eo  vellem,  qui  a  me  nunquam  nee 
'  facto  violatus  nee  verbo,  bello,  cujus  nulla  est  causa  legitima,  praetex- 
'tum  prsbuit,  meque  in  hunc  statum  redegit,  accito,  nescio  unde, 
'  immissoque  Belisario.  Non  improbabile  esse  sclat,  passurum  ipsura, 
'tanquam  hominem  ac  principem,  eorum  aliquid,  unde  abhorrit. 
'  Nequit  ultra  progredi  stylus,  auferente  mentem  calamitate,  qua?  me 
'  eircumvenit.  Vale,  amice  Phara,  et  mihi  quod  te  oro,  citharam,  panem 
'  unum  ac  spongiam  mitte.'  Procopius  Caesariensis  de  Bello  Vandalico, 
vol.  I.  lib.  II.  cap.  vi.  page  240,  edit.  Paris,  1662,  which  we  thus  render: 
I  esteem  it  a  great  kindness  that  you  vouchsafe  me  your  advice,  recom- 
mending a  submission  to  my  enemy,  unjust  as  he  has  been  to  me,  but 
tlie  thought  thereof  is  intolerable.  If  it  please  God  I  am  prepared  to 
suffer  the  worst  from  him,  who  having  never  been  injured  by  me,  has 
found  a  pretext  fora  war,  for  which  no  justifiable  reason  can  be  assigned  ; 
and  has  let  loose  upon  me  Belisarius,  who  has  reduced  me  to  this 
extremity.  Let  him  know  that  he  is  a  man,  and,  though  a  prince,  that 
he  is  not  beyond  the  reach  of  misfortune.  I  can  proceed  no  farther, 
the  calamities  which  surround  me  depriving  me  of  my  reason.  Farewell 
ray  friend  Pharas,  and  send  to  me  a  harp,  a  loaf  of  bread,  and  a  sponge. 
The  historian  adds,  that  the  harj)  was  to  console  him  in  his  affliction, 
the  loaf  to  satisfy  his  hunger,  he  not  having  seen  bread  for  a  long  time, 
and  the  sponge  to  dry  up  his  tears. 

§  The  imperfection  of  the  flute  consists  in  the  impossibility  of 
attempering  its  tones,  there  being  no  rule  or  canon  by  which  it  can  l)e 
tuned  ;  to  which  we  may  add,  that  the  tones  in  the  upper  octave  are  as 
dissimilar,  in  respect  of  sound,  as  those  of  the  human  voice  in  those 
persons  who  have  what  is  called  the  falsetto.  In  the  flute  at'^ec  t>-« 
dilference  is  discernible  in  the  double  shake,  which  is  made  on  a  nota 
that  divides  the  two  systems  of  the  natural  and  artincial  tones. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


XXV. 


resemblance;     the   end   of  persuasion,    or   affecting    the 
passions,   being  common  to  both.     This  faculty  consists 
in  the  enumeration  of  common  places,  which  are  revolved 
over  in  the  mind,  and  requires  both  an  ample  store  of 
knowledge  in  the  subject  upon  which  it  is  exercised,  and 
a  power  of  applying  that  knowledge  as  occasion  may  re- 
quire.     It    differs    from    memory    in    this    respect,    that 
whereas  memory  does  but  recall  to  the  mind  the  images 
or  remembrance  of  things  as  they  were  first  perceived,  the 
faculty  of  invention    divides    complex   ideas   into    those 
whereof  they  are  composed,  and  recommends  them  again 
after  different  fashions,   thereby  creating  variety  of  new 
objects  and  conceptions.     Now,  the  greater  the  fund  of 
knowledge  above  spoken  of  is,  the  greater  is  the  source 
from  whence  the  invention  of  the  artist  or  composer  is 
supplied;  and  the  benefits  thereof  are  seen  in  new  com 
binations  and  phrases,  capable  of  variety  and  permutation 
without   end.     And    thus  much  must  serve    at   present 
touching   the    comparative   merits   of    the    ancient    and 
modern  music. 

In  tracing  the  progress  of  music,  it  will  be  observed, 
that  it  naturally  divides  itself  into  the  two  branches  of 
speculation  and  practice,  and  that  each  of  these  requires 
a  distinct  and  separate  consideration.*  Of  the  dignity 
and  importance  of  the  former,  Ptolemy,  lib.  I.  cap  ii.  has 
delivered  his  sentiments  to  the  following  purpose  :  '  It  is 
'  in  all  things  the  business  of  contemplation  and  science 

*  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  by  chance ;  more 
'  especially  in  those  that  are  deemed  the  finest  of  her 
'  works,  as  participating  of  reason  in  the  greatest  degree, 

*  the  senses  of  sight  and  hearing.'  And  Sir  Isaac  Newton, 
speaking  of  the  examination  of  those  ratios  that  afford 
pleasure  to  the  eye  in  architectural  designs,  says  it  tends 
to  exemplify  the  simplicity  in  all  the  works  of  the 
Creator.     And  farther  he  gives  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 
By  practical  music  we  are  to  understand  the  art  of  com- 
position as  founded  in  the  laws  of  harmony,  and  deriving 
its  grace,  elegance,  and  power  of  affecting  the  passions 
from  the  genius  and  invention  of  the  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.  J 

In  musical  history  the  several  events  most  worthy  of 
attention  seem  to  be  those  of  the  first  establishment  of  a 
system,  the  introduction  of  music  into  the  church  service, 
the  rise  of  dramatic  music  ;  under  these  several  heads  all 
that  intelligence  which  to  us  is  the  most  interesting  may 
be  comprehended.  As  touching  the  first,  it  is  certain 
that  we  owe  it  to  the  Greeks,  and  there  is  nothing  that  at 
this  distance  of  time  can  be  superadded  to  the  relations  of 
the  ancient  writers  on  the  subject;  nor  can  it  be  safe  to 
deviate,  either  in  respect  of  form  or  manner,  from  the  ac- 

*  There  are  but  few  instances  of  musicians  that  have  been  eminently 
distinguished  for  skill  both  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  music,  Zarlino, 
Tartini,  and  Rameau  excepted.  The  two  branches  of  the  science  have 
certainly  no  connection  with  each  other,  as  may  be  gathered  from  the 
following  sentiment  of  an  ingenious  writer  on  the  subject :  '  The  delights 
'  of  practical  music  enter  the  ear  without  acquainting  the  understanding 
'  from  what  proportions  they  arise,  or  even  so  much  as  that  proportion 
'  is  the  cause  of  them :  this  the  philosopher  observes  from  reason  and 
'experience,  and  the  mechanic  must  be  taught,  for  the  framing 
'  instruments ;  but  the  practiser  has  no  necessity  to  study,  except  he 
'desires  the  learning  as  well  as  the  pleasure  of  his  art.'  Proposal  to 
perform  Music  in  perfect  and  mathematical  Proportions,  by  Tho.  Salmon, 
4to.  Lond.  I(i88. 

t  Vide  infra,  page  410,  in  note. 

t  '  The  art  by  which  language  should  be  regulated,  viz.  Grammar,  is  of 
'  much  later  invention  than  languages  themselves,  being  adapted  to  what 

■  was  already  in  being,  rather  than  the  rule  of  making  it  so.'  Bishop 
Wilkins's  Essay  towards  a  real  Character,  page  19. 


counts  from  them  transmitted  to  us  of  the  original  consti- 
tution of  the  lyre,  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 
parts  of  the  science,  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  attends  the  multiplication  of  the  copies  of  a 
manuscript,  or  a  translation  through  the  medium  of  divers 
languages,  where  a  new  sense  may  be  imposed  upon  the 
text  by  different  transcribers  and  translators  in  succession, 
till  the  meaning  of  the  original  becomes  totally  obscured. 

Vitruvius,  in  his  treatise  De  Architectura,  has  a  chapter 
on  music,  wherein  he  laments  the  want  of  words  in  the 
Roman  language  equivalent  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 
English  translators  of  the  Bible  were  necessitated  to 
render  the  words  TIJ^  Kinnor  and  ^J)1^  Gnugab,  by 
harp  and  organ ;  and  a  translator  of  musical  appellatives 
will  in  many  instances  be  reduced  to  as  great  difficulty 
as  the  Laplander,  who  in  rendering  a  passage  in  the 
Canticles,  '  He  looketh  forth  at  the  windows,  shewing 
himself  at  the  lattice,'  could  find  no  nearer  a  resemblance 
to  a  lattice  than  a  snow-shoe,  a  thing  like  a  racket  used 
in  the  game  of  tennis,  and  translated  it  accordingly. 

The  complaint  of  Vitruvius  above  mentioned  furnishes 
an  occasion  of  enquiry  into  the  state  of  music  among  the 
Romans  ;  and  this  will  appear,  even  in  their  most  flourish- 
ing condition,  to  have  been,  both  in  theory  and  practice, 
very  low,  there  being  no  author  to  be  found  till  after  the 
destruction  of  the  commonwealth  who  has  written  on  the 
subject;  and  of  those  that  lived  in  the  time  of  Augustus 
and  afterwards,  the  number  is  so  small,  and,  if  we  except 
Boetius,  their  writings  are  so  inconsiderable,  as  scarce 
to  deserve  notice.  Vitruvius  wrote  not  professedly  on 
music  ;  all  that  he  says  of  it  is  contained  in  the  third, 
fourth,  and  fifth  chapters  of  the  third  book  of  his  treatise 
l)e  Architectura;  wherein  laying  down  the  rules  for  the 
construction  of  theatres,  he  speaks  of  harmony  in  general 
terms,  and  afterwards  of  certain  hollow  vessels  disposed 
in  niches  for  the  purpose  of  reverberating  the  voice  of  the 
singers  or  actors  ;  and  thence  takes  occasion  to  mention 
the  genera  of  the  ancients,  which  he  illustrates  by 
a  scale  or  diagram,  composed,  as  he  says,  by  Aristoxenus 
himself,  though  it  does  not  occur  in  the  valuable  edition 
of  that  author  published  by  Meibomius.  In  the  same 
work,  lib.  X.  cap.  ii.  entitled  De  Hydraulicis,  he  de- 
scribes the  hydraulic  organ  of  the  ancients,  but  in  such 
terms,  that  no  one  has  been  able  satisfactorily  to  ascertain 
either  its  figure  or  the  use  of  its  parts. 

Of  Censorinus,  Macrobius,  Martianus  Cappella,  and 
Cassiodorus,  it  was  never  pretended  that  they  had  made 
any  new  discoveries,  or  contributed  in  the  least  to  the 
improvement  of  music.  Boetius  indeed  with  great  in- 
dustry and  judgment,  collected  the  sense  of  the  ancient 
Greek  writers  on  Harmonics,  and  from  the  several  works 
of  Aristoxenus,  Euclid,  Nicomachus,  Alypius,  Ptolemy, 
and  others  whose  discourses  are  now  lost,  compiled  his 
most  excellent  treatise  De  Musica.  In  this  he  delivers 
the  doctrines  of  the  author  above  mentioned,  illustrated 
by  numerical  calculations  and  diagrams  of  bis  own  in- 
vention ;  therein  manifesting  a  tiiorough  knowledge  of 
the  subject.  Hence,  and  because  of  his  great  accuracy 
and  precision,  this  work  of  Boetius,  notwithstanding  it 
contains  little  that  can  be  said  to  be  new,  has  ever  been 
looked  upon  as  a  valuable  repository  of  musical  erudition. § 

§  The  works  of  Boetius  were  published  in  a  folio  volume  at  Venice,  in 
the  year  1499,  and  at  Basil  by  Glareanus,  in  1.570.  In  the  treatise  De 
Musica  are  sundry  diagrams  invented  by  the  editor,  which  tend  greatly 
to  the  illustration  of  his  author. 


XXVI. 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


Long  before  the  time  of  Boetius,  the  enurmonic  and  chro- 
matic genera  had  grown  into  disuse  ;  the  diatonic  genus 
only  remaining,  the  musical  characters  were  greatly  re- 
duced in  number ;  and  the  notation  of  music  became  so 
simple,  that  the  Romans  were  able  to  represent  the  whole 
series  of  sounds  contained  in  the  system  of  a  double 
octave,  or  the  bisdiapason,  by  fifteen  characters  ;  re- 
jecting therefore  the  characters  used  by  the  Greeks  for 
the  purpose,  they  assumed  the  first  fifteen  letters  of  their 
own  alphabet ;  and  this  is  the  only  improvement  or  in- 
novation in  music  that  we  know  of  that  can  be  ascribed 
to  the  Romans. 

As  to  the  practice  of  music,  it  seems  to  have  been 
carried  to  no  very  great  degree  of  perfection  by  the 
Romans  ;  the  tibia  and  the  lyre  seem  to  have  been  the 
only  instruments  in  use  among  them  ;  and  on  these 
there  were  no  performers  of  such  distinguislied  merit  as 
to  render  them  worthy  the  notice  of  posterity,  which 
perhaps  is  the  reason  that  the  names  of  but  few  of  them 
are  recorded. 

Caspar  Bartholinus  has  written  a  treatise  '  De  Tibiis 
'  veterum  et  earum  antique  usu,'  in  which  he  has  brought 
together  a  great  variety  of  intelligence  respecting  the 
flutes  of  the  ancients  :  in  this  tract  is  a  chapter  entitled 
'  Tibia  in  Ludis  Spectaculis  atque  Comediis,'  wherein  the 
author  takes  occasion  to  speak  of  the  tibiae  pares  et  im- 
pares,  and  also  of  the  tibiae  dextra  et  sinistrae,  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  coins  and  other  authentic  memorials.  In  particular 
he  gives  an  engraving  from  a  manuscript  in  the  Vatican 
library,  of  a  scene  in  an  ancient  comedy,  in  which  a 
tibicinist  is  delineated  standing  on  the  stage,  and  blowing 
on  two  equal  flutes  :  what  relation  his  mvisic  has  to  the 
action  we  are  to  seek.  He  also  gives  from  a  marble  at 
Rome  the  figure  of  a  man  with  an  inflected  horn  near 
him,  thus  inscribed,  m.  iulius  victor  ex  collegio  liti- 

CINUM    CORNICINUM. 

It  appears  from  a  passage  in  Valerius  Maximus,  that 
there  was  at  Rome  a  college  of  tibicinists  or  players  on 
the  flute,  who  we  may  suppose  were  favoured  with  some 
special  privileges  and  immunities.  These  seem  to  have 
been  a  distinct  order  of  musicians  from  the  former,  at 
least  there  are  sundry  inscriptions  in  Gruter  purporting 
that  there  was  at  Rome  a  college  comprehending  both 
tibicinists  and  fidicinists  ;  which  latter  seem  to  have  been 
no  other  than  lyrists,  a  kind  of  musicians  of  less  account 
among  the  Romans  than  the  players  on  their  favourite 
instrument  the  flute.  Valerius  Maximus,  lib.  II.  cap.  v. 
relates  of  the  tibicinists  that  they  were  wont  to  play  on 
their  instrument  in  the  forum,  with  their  heads  covered, 
and  in  party-coloured  garments. 

That  the  tibicinists  were  greatly  indulged  by  the 
Romans,  may  be  inferred  from  the  nature  of  their  office, 
wliich  required  their  attendance  at  triumphs,  at  sacrifices, 
and  indeed  all  public  solemnities  ;  at  least  the  sense  of 
their  importance  and  usefulness  to  the  state  is  the  only 
reason  that  can  be  suggested  for  their  intemperance,  and 
that  insolence  for  which  they  were  remarkable,  and  which 
both  Livy  and  Valerius  Maximus  have  recorded  in  a 
narration   to  the  following  purpose.     '  The  censors  had 

*  refused  to  permit  the  tibicines  to  eat  in  the  temple  of 
'  Jupiter,  a  privilege  which  they  claimed  as  founded  on 
'  ancient  custom  ;  whereupon  the  tibicines  withdrew  to 
'  Tibur,    a   town    in    the  neighbourhood  of  Rome,    now 

*  Tivoli.  As  the  tibicines  were  necesssary  attendants  on 
'  the  sacrifices,  the  magistrates  were  at  a  loss  how  to  per- 
'  form  those  solemnities  in  their  absence  ;  the  senate 
'  therefore  stnt  embassadors  to  the  Tiburtines,  requesting 
'  them  to  deliver  them  up  as  officers  of  the  state  who  had 


'  fled  from  their  duty  :  at  first  persuasions  were  tried,  but 
'  these  proving  ineffectual,  the  Tiburtines  had  recourse  to 
'  stratagem  ;  they  appointed  a  public  feast,  and  inviting 
'  the  tibicines  to  assist  at  it,  plied  them  with  wine  till  they 
'  became  intoxicated,  and,  while  they  were  asleep,  put 
'  them  into  carts,  which  conveyed  them  to  Rome.  The 
'  next  day,  having  in  some  degree  recovered  their  reason, 
'  the  tibicines  were  prevailed  on  to  stay  in  the  city,  and 
'  were  not  only  restored  to  the  privilege  of  eating  in  the 
'  temple,  but  were  permitted  annually  to  celebrate  the 
'  day  of  their  return,  though  attended  with  circumstances 
'  so  infamous  to  their  office,  by  processions  in  which  the 
'  most  licentious  excesses  were  allowed.'* 

The  secession  of  the  tibicinists  was  in  the  consulate  of 
Caius  Junius  Bubulcus  and  Quintus  iEmilius  Barbula: 
that  is  to  say  in  the  year  of  the  world  3640,  three  hun- 
dred and  eight  years  before  Christ ;  and  serves  to  shew 
tlie  extreme  licentiousness  of  Roman  manners  at  that 
period,  as  also  the  low  state  of  their  music,  when  the  best 
instruments  they  could  find  to  celebrate  the  praises  of 
their  deities  were  a  few  sorry  pipes,  little  better  than 
those  which  now  serve  as  playthings  for  children. 

But,  leaving  the  tibicines  and  their  pipes  to  their  ad- 
mirers, if  we  proceed  to  enquire  into  the  state  of  music 
among  the  Romans  at  any  given  period  of  their  history, 
we  shall  find  that,  as  a  science,  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  harp  and  flute,  he  adds, 
that  in  Greece  these  accomplishments  were  greatly  es- 
teemed, but  by  the  Romans  they  were  little  regarded. 
And  Cicero,  in  his  Tusculan  Questions,  lib.  I.  cap.  i.  to 
the  same  purpose,  observes  that  the  ancient  Romans,  ad- 
dicting themselves  to  the  study  of  ethics  and  politics,  left 
music  and  the  politer  arts  to  the  Greeks.  Farther  we 
may  venture  to  assert,  that  neither  their  religious  solemni- 
ties, nor  their  triumphs,  their  shows  or  theatrical  repre- 
sentations, splendid  as  they  were,  contributed  in  the  least 
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  the  science  began  to  recover  its  ancient  dignity. 

The  introduction  of  music  into  the  service  of  the  church 
affords  ample  scope  for  reflection,  and  comprehends  in  its 
history  a  great  part  of  what  we  know  of  modern  music. 
All  that  need  be  mentioned  in  this  place  respecting  that 
important  event  is,  that  after  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  Epistles,  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  eminently 
skilled  in  the  science,  prescribed  a  formula  of  singing  in 
a  series  of  melodies  called  the  ecclesiastical  tones,  appa- 
rently borrowed  from  the  modes  of  the  ancient  Greeks; 
these,  as  constituted  by  him,  were  in  number  only  four, 
and  are  meant  when  we  speak  of  the  Cantus  Ambrosianus ; 
but  St.  Gregory,  near  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  the  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  worship,  founded 
and  endowed  a  school  for  the  instruction  of  youth  in  the 

»  Livy,  lib.  IX.  cap.  xxx.  See  also  Valerius  Maximus,  lib.  II.  cap.  v. 
The  same  story  is  related  by  Ovid,  Fasti,  lib.  VI.,  who  adds  that  the 
thirteenth  day  of  June  was  celebrated  as  the  anniversary. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


XXVll. 


rudiments  of  music,  as  contained  in  this  formula,  which 
was  distinguished  by  the  appellation  of  the  Cantus  Ec- 
clesiasticus,  and  in  later  times  by  that  of  the  Cantus 
Gregorianus. 

Before  this  time  music  had  ceased  to  be  a  subject  of 
speculation:  Ptolemy  was  the  last  of  the  philosophers 
that  had  written  professedly  on  it ;  and  though  it  may  be 
said  that  his  three  books  of  Harmonics,  as  also  those  of 
Aristoxenus,  Euclid,  Nichomachus,  AristidesQuintilianus, 
and  others,  being  extant,  music  was  in  a  way  of  improve- 
ment from  the  studies  of  men  no  less  disposed  to  think 
and  reflect  than  themselves ;  yet  the  fact  is,  that  among 
the  Romans  the  science  not  only  had  made  no 
progress  at  all,  but  even  before  the  dissolution  of  the 
commonwealth,  with  them  it  seemed  to  be  extinct.  Nor 
let  the  supposition  be  thought  groundless,  that  during 
some  of  the  succeeding  ages  the  books,  the  very  reposito- 
ries of  what  we  call  musical  science,  might  be  lost ;  the 
history  of  the  lower  empire  furnishing  an  instance,  the 
more  remarkable,  as  it  relates  to  their  own,  the  Roman 
civil  law,  which  proves  at  least  the  possibility  of  such  a 
misfortune.* 

To  these  causes,  and  the  zeal  of  the  fathers  above  men- 
tioned, and  more  especially  of  St.  Gregory,  to  disseminate 
its  precepts,  it  is  to  be  ascribed  that  the  cultivation  of 
music  became  the  peculiar  care  of  the  clergy.  But  here  a 
distinction  is  to  be  noted  between  the  study  and  practice 
of  the  science  ;  for  we  find  that  at  the  time  of  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Cantus  Ambrosianus,  an  order  of  clergy  was 
also  established,  whose  employment  it  was  to  perform 
such  parts  of  the  service  as  were  required  to  be  sung. 
These  were  called  Psalmistae ;  and  though  by  Bellarmine 
and  a  few  other  writers  they  are  confounded  with  the 
Lectors,  yet  were  they  by  the  canonists  accounted  a  sepa- 
rate and  distinct  order.  The  reason  for  their  institution 
was,  that  whereas  in  the  apostolical  age  the  whole  con- 
gregation sang  in  divine  service,  and  great  confusion  and 
disorder  followed  therefrom,  it  was  found  necessary  to 
settle  what  the  church  calls  a  regular  and  decent  song, 
which,  as  it  was  framed  by  rule,  and  founded  in  the  prin- 
ciples of  harmony,  required  skill  in  the  performance;  and 
accordingly  we  find  a  canon  of  the  council  of  Laodicea 
held  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  for- 
bidding all  except  the  canonical  singers,  that  is  to  say, 
those  who  were  stationed  in  the  Ambo,  where  the  singing- 
desk  was  placed,  and  who  sang  out  of  a  book  or  parch- 
ment, to  join  in  the  psalms,  hymns,  and  other  parts  of 
musical  divine  service.  We  may  well  suppose  that  this 
order  of  men  were  endowed  with  all  the  requisites  for  the 
discharge  of  their  function,  and  that  the  peculiar  form 
which  the  council  of  Carthage  directs  to  be  used  for  the 
ordination  of  Psalmistae  or  singers,  f  was  in  effect  a  recog- 
nition of  their  skill  and  abilities. 

The  order  of  men  above  mentioned  can  be  considered 
in  no  other  view  than  as  mere  practical  musicians,  the 
principal  object  of  whose  attention  was  to  make  themselves 
acquainted  with  the  songs  of  the  church,  and  to  utter 
them  with  that  decency  and  gravity,  and  in  such  a 
manner  as  tended  most  to  edification.  From  the  frequent 
repetition  of  the  same  offices  it  must  be  supposed  that  in 
general  they  sang  by  rote ;  at  least  we  have  no  better 
reason  to  assign  than  that  they  must  have  so  done,  for  the 
establishment  of  a  school  by  St.  Gregory  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  youth  in  the  Cantus  Ecclesiasticus,  as  reformed  by 
himself,  and  for  that  sedulous  attention  to  their  improve- 
ment in  it  which  he  manifested  in  smidry  instances. 

At  the  same  time  that  we  applaud  the  zeal  of  this 
father  of  the  church,  we  cannot  but  wonder  at  that  of  his 
predecessors,  which  is  not  more  apparent  in  their  com- 

*  See  the  relation  of  the  discovery  of  the  Litera  Pisana  at  page  180. 
t  See  page  106,  in  note. 


mendations  of  music,  as  associated  with  religious  worship, 
than  in  their  severe  censures  of  that  which  was  calculated 
for  private  recreation.  As  to  the  songs  of  the  stage  m 
the  ages  immediately  succeeding  the  Christian  era,  we 
know  little  more  of  them  than  in  general  that  they  were 
suited  to  the  corrupt  manners  of  the  times ;  and  these,  by 
reason  of  their  lewdness,  and  perhaps  impiety  of  sentiment, 
might  be  a  just  subject  of  reprehension ;  but  against 
the  music,  the  sounds  to  which  they  were  uttered,  or  the 
particular  instruments  that  assisted  the  voice  in  singing 
them,  an  objection  can  scarce  be  thought  of;  and  yet  so 
frequent  and  so  bitter  are  the  invectives  of  the  primitive 
fathers,  namely,  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  TertuUian,  St. 
Cyprian,  Lactantius,  Epiphanius,  Gregory  Nazianzen. 
and  of  St.  Basil,  St.  Augustine,  and  St.  Chrysostom,  who 
were  lovers  and  promoters  of  the  practice  of  music,  against 
wicked  measures  and  effeminate  melodies,  the  noise  of 
flutes,  cymbals,  harps,  and  other  instruments  of  deceit, 
seducing  the  hearers  to  intemperance,  and  even  idolatry, 
that  if  credit  be  given  to  their  opinions  of  the  nature  and 
tendency  of  secular  music,  we  must  be  inclined  to  believe, 
as  they  in  good  earnest  profess  to  have  done,  that  it  was 
an  invention  of  the  Devil. 

The  cultivation  of  music  as  a  science  was  the  employ- 
ment of  a  set  of  men,  in  whom  all  the  learning  of  the 
times  may  then  be  said  to  have  centered  ;  these  were  the 
regular  clergy,  of  such  of  whom  as  flourished  in  the 
eleventh  century  afterwards,  it  must  in  justice  be  said, 
that  what  they  wanted  in  knowledge,  they  made  up  in 
industry  ;  and  that  those  frequent  bai-barisms  which  occur 
in  their  writings,  were  in  no  small  degree  atoned  for  by 
the  clearness  and  precision  I  with  which  on  every  occasion 
they  delivered  their  sentiments.  Nor  was  the  conciseness 
and  method  of  the  monkish  treatises  on  music  a  less 
recommendation  of  them  than  their  perspicuity  :  they 
consisted  either  of  such  maxims  as  were  deemed  of  greatest 
importance  in  the  study  of  the  science,  or  of  familiar 
colloquies  between  a  master  and  his  disciple,  in  which  in 
an  orderly  course  of  gradation,  first  the  elements,  and 
then  the  precepts  of  the  art  were  delivered  and  illustrated. 
To  enumerate  the  instances  of  this  kind  which  have 
occurred  in  the  course  of  this  work,  would  be  an  endless 
task  ;  let  it  suffice  to  say  that  the  Histoire  Litteraire  de 
France,  and  the  Memoirs  of  Bale,  Pits,  and  the  Bibliotheca 
of  Tanner  abound  with  references  to  a  variety  of  manu- 
script tracts  deposited  in  the  public  and  other  libraries, 
that  abundantly  prove  the  mode  of  musical  instruction  to 
have  been  such  as  is  above  described. 

Before  the  period  above  spoken  of,  music  had  for  very 
good  reasons  been  admitted  into  the  number  of  the 
liberal  sciences  ;  and  accordingly  in  the  scholastic  division 
of  the  arts  into  the  trivium  and  quadrivium,  it  held  a  place 
in  the  latter  :  nevertheless,  till  the  Greek  literature  began 
to  revive  in  Europe,  saving  the  summary  of  harmonics 
contained  in  the  treatise  De  Musica  of  Boetius,  the 
students  in  that  faculty  had  scarce  any  source  of  in- 
telligence ;  and  to  this  it  must  be  attributed  that  in  none 
of  the  many  tracts  written  by  the  monks  of  those  times, 
and  afterwards  by  the  professors  or  scholastics  as  they 
were  called,  do  we  meet  with  any  of  those  profound  dis- 
quisitions on  harmony  and  the  proportions  which  resolve 
the  principles  of  music  into  geometry  •  nor  any  of  those 
nice  calculations  and  comparisons  of  ratios,  or  subtile 
distinctions  between  the  consonances  of  one  kind  and 
those  of  another,  which  abound  in  the  writings  of  the 
ancient  Greeks  ;  so  that  were  we  to  judge  from  the  many 

t  These  qualities  seem  to  be  but  the  necessary  result  of  the  old  scho- 
lastic method  of  institution,  in  which  logic  made  a  considerable  part,  and 
are  in  no  instance  more  manifest  than  in  the  ancient  forms  of  judicial 
proceedings,  such  as  writs  and  pleadings  ;  of  which  Sir  Matthew  Hale, 
in  his  History  of  the  law,  chap.  7,  remarks  that  they  were  very  short,  but 
very  clear  and  conspicuous,  orderly  digested,  pithy,  clear,  and  rational. 
The  same  may  he  said  in  general  of  the  more  ancient  statutes. 


XXVlll. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


discourses  written  during  that  dark  period,  and  bearing 
the  titles  of  Micrologus,  Metrologus,  and  others  of  the 
like  import,  we  should  conclude  that  the  science  of  har- 
monics had  scarce  any  existence  among  mankind.  Nor 
could  any  great  advantage  result  from  the  writings  of 
Boetius,  seeing  that  there  wanted  light  to  read  by  ;  and 
this  was  not  obtained  till  Franchinus  introduced  it,  by 
procuring  translations  of  those  authors  from  whose 
writings  Boetius  had  compiled  his  work. 

That  the  studies  of  the  monkish  musicians  must  have 
been  confined  to  the  Cantus  Gregorianus  is  evident  from 
this  consideration,  that  they  were  strangers  to  music  of 
every  other  kind;  an  assertion  which  will  be  the  more 
readily  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,  without  which  they  had  no  method  of  deter- 
mining the  progression  of  tones  and  semitones  in  the 
octave,  nor  consequently  of  measuring  by  the  voice  any 
of  the  intervals  contained  in  it. 

The  reformation  of  the  scale  by  Guido  Aretinus,  and 
more  especially  his  invention  of  a  method  of  singing  by 
certain  syllables  adapted  to  the  notes,  facilitated  the 
practice  of  singing  to  such  a  degree,  that,  as  himself 
relates,  the  boys  of  his  monastery  were  rendered  capable 
in  a  month's  time  of  singing  in  a  regular  and  orderly 
succession  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  joint  of 
each  of  the  fingers  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  first  comprehending  the  precepts  of 
singing  by  the  syllables,  the  other  the  Cantus  Ecclesias- 
ticus,  as  instituted  in  tlie  formula  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  then  had  universally 
])revailed,  rendering  any  such  invention  unnecessary. 
Nevertheless,  there  were  some  writers  who  had  enter- 
tained an  idea  of  transferring  the  prosody  of  poetry  to 
music ;  and  a  few  scattered  hints  of  this  kind,  which 
occur  in  the  writings  of  St.  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 
music  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  effected  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 
slowest  progression  certain  given  portions  of  time,  and  to 
the  next  in  succession  a  less,  in  a  regular  gradation,  and 
which  tauglit  a  method  of  signifying  by  characters,  varying 
in  form  and  colour,  the  radical  notes,  with  their  several 
ramifications,  terminating  in  those  of  the  smallest  value, 
i.  e.  of  the  shortest  duration. 

An  invention  of  this  kind  was  all  that  could  then  be 
thought  wanting  to  the  perfection  of  instrumental  music ; 
and  from  this  period  we  may  observe  that  it  began  to 
flourish  :  it  is  true  that  the  state  of  the  mechanic  arts  was 
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  his  book  De 
Proprietatibus  Rerum,  in  an  enumeration  of  the  musical 
instruments  of  his  time,  has  described  the  flute  as  made  of 
the  boughs  of  an  elder-tree  hollowed;   and  an  instrument 

•  Vide  infra,  page  IGl. 


called  the  Symphonia,  as  made  of  a  hollow  tree,  cJos'^d 
in  leather  on  either  side,  which  he  says  is  beaten  of 
minstrels  with  sticks,  and  that  '  by  accord  of  hyghe  and 
lowe  thereof  comyth  full  swete  notes.'  And  again,  de- 
scribing the  Psalterium  or  Sawtrie,  he  says  it  differs  from 
the  harp,  for  that  it  is  made  of  an  hollow  tree,  and  that 
*  the  sowne  comyth  upward,  the  strynges  being  smytte 
downwarde  ;  whereas  in  the  harpe  the  hollownesse  of  the 
tre  is  byneathe.'  These  descriptions,  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  question  what  kind  of 
harp  or  other  instrument  that  could  be  on  which  King 
Alfred  had  attained  to  such  a  degree  of  excellence  as  to 
rival  the  musicians  of  his  time. 

Nevertheless  it  appears  that  there  were  certain  instru- 
ments, perhaps  not  in  common  use,  better  calculated  to 
produce  melody  than  those  above-mentioned,  namely, 
those  of  the  viol  kind ;  the  specific  difference  between 
which  and  other  stringed  instruments  is,  that  in  the 
former  the  sound  is  produced  by  the  action  of  a  plectrum 
or  bow  of  hair  on  the  strings  :  of  these  the  mention  is  not 
only  express,  but  frequent  in  Chaucer,  by  the  names  of 
the  Fithel,  Getron,  Ribible,  and  other  appellations,  clearly 
synonymous  :  the  invention  of  this  class  of  instruments  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  Rebab,  from  whence 
perhaps  Ribible  and  Rebec,  the  use  whereof  it  is  said  the 
Christians  learned  from  the  Saracens  in  the  time  of  the 
Crusades ;  but  it  is  more  probable,  by  reason  of  its 
antiquity,  that  it  was  brought  into  Spain  by  the  Moors. 

To  ascertain  the  degree  of  perfection  to  which  the 
practice  of  instrumental  music  had  attained  at  any  period 
before  the  sixteenth  century,  would  be  very  difficult. 
The  Provencal  songs,  as  being  mere  vocal  compositions, 
afford  no  ground  on  which  a  conjecture  might  be  formed  : 
and  as  to  their  popular  tunes,  the  airs  of  the  Musars  ana 
Violers,  besides  that  they  seem  to  have  been  mere  melodies, 
for  the  most  part  the  effusions  of  fancy,  and  not  regulated 
by  harmonical  precepts,  the  impression  of  them  can  hardly 
be  supposed  to  have  been  either  deep  or  lasting ,  and 
this  may  be  the  chief  reason  that  the  knowledge  of  them 
has  not  reached  posterity. 

That  the  practice  of  instrumental  music  was  become 
familiar  with  such  persons  of  both  sexes  as  had  received 
the  benefit  of  a  good  education,  is  clearly  intimated  by 
the  old  poets.  Not  only  the  Squire,  but  the  Clerk, 
Absolon,  in  Chaucer,  are  by  him  described,  the  one  as 
floyting,  i.  e.  fluting  all  the  day,  the  other  as  playing 
songs  on  a  small  Ribible,  and  elsewhere  on  the  Geterne;t 
and  in  the  Confessio  Amantis  of  Gower,  fol.  178,  b.  is 
a  plain  intimation  that  the  Citole,  an  instrument  nearly 
resembling  the  virginal,  was  in  his  time  the  recreation  of 
well  educated  young  women.  J 

We  are  also  told  by  Boccace,  in  his  Account  of  the 
Plague  at  Florence  in  1348,  that  the  ladies  and  gentlemen 
who  retired  from  that  city,  and  are  relators  of  the  several 
stories  contained  in  his  Decameron,  among  other  re- 
creations in  the  intervals  of  their  discourses,  intermixed 
music  ;  and  that  sundry  of  the  persons  whose  names  he 
mentions  played  on  the  lute  and  the  viol.  They  also 
danced  to  the  music  of  the  Cornamusa  or  bagpipe,  an  in- 
strument which  we  may  infer  to  have  been  held  in  but 
ordinary  estimation  from  this  circumstance,  that  it  is  put 
into  the  hands  of  Tindarus,  a  domestic  of  one  of  the 
ladies  ;  besides  that  Chaucer  in  characterising  his  Miller 
says, 

'  A  baggepipe  well  couth  he  blowe  and  soune.' 

+  See  the  character  of  the  Squire  among  the  Prologues  to  the  Canter- 
bury Tales,  as  also  the  Milier's  Tale  passinr.. 

I  Vide  infra,  page  206. 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


XXIX. 


Of  vocal  concerts,  as  they  stood  about  the  year  1550, 
or  perhaps  earlier,  a  judgment  may  be  formed  from  the 
madrigals  of  that  time,  which  abound  witli  all  the  graces 
of  harmony.  Concerts  of  instruments  alone  seem  to  be 
of  later  invention,  at  least  there  is  no  clear  evidence  of 
the  form  in  which  they  existed,  other  than  treatises  and 
compositions  for  concerts  of  viols  called  Fantasias,  few 
whereof  were  published  till  thirty  years  after.* 

Gio.  Maria  Artusi,  an  ecclesiastic  of  Bologna,  and 
a  writer  on  music  about  the  year  1600,  describes  the  con- 
certs of  his  time  as  abounding  in  sweetness  of  harmony, 
and  consisting  of  cornets,  trumpets,  violins,  viols,  harps, 
lutes,  flutes,  and  harpsichords  :  these,  as  also  organs, 
regals,  and  guitars,  are  enumerated  in  the  catalogue  of 
instruments  prefixed  to  the  opera,  L'Orfeo,  composed  by 
Claudio  Monteverde,  and  represented  at  Mantua  in  1607. 
Tom  Coryat  speaks  also  of  a  performance  at  Venice, 
chiefly  of  instrumental  music,  which  he  protests  he  would 
have  travelled  a  hundred  miles  on  foot  to  hear,  but  with- 
out any  such  particular  description  as  can  enable  us  to 
compare  it  with  the  concerts  of  more  modern  times. 

As  touching  the  theory  of  the  science,  it  has  above  been 
said  to  have  consisted  in  manual,  tonal,  and  mensurable 
music,  with  this  farther  remark,  that,  as  it  was  included 
in  the  very  nature  of  tlieir  profession,  and  besides  required 
some  degree  of  literature,  the  great  cultivators  of  it  were 
the  regular  clergy.  These  men  contented  themselves 
with  that  small  portion  of  knowledge  which  was  to  be 
attained  by  the  perusal  of  Boetius,  Cassiodorus,  Guido, 
and  a  few  others,  who  wrote  in  the  Latin  tongue  ;  the 
little  they  knew  they  freely  communicated  ;  and  it  was 
not  till  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  that  men 
began  to  suspect  that  the  science  was  capable  of  farther 
improvement. 

About  this  time  Johannes  De  Muris  improved  the 
Cantus  Mensurabilis,  by  reducing  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  him  in  a  treatise  entitled 
Practica  Mensurabilis  Cantus,  are  derived  the  dis- 
tinctions of  duple  and  triple  proportion,  as  ftiey  respect 
the  duration  of  sounds,  with  all  the  various  modifications 
thereof.  On  this  tract  Prosdocimus  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  philosophers  at  large,  and  eminently  skilled 
in  the  mathematics  ;  and  the  liberal  manner  in  which 
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  the  science,  and  undertook 
by  public  lectures  to  disseminate  its  principles.  The 
most  eminent  of  these  persons  were  Marchettus  of  Padua, 
Johannes  Tinctor,  Gulielmus  Garnerius,  and  Antonius 
Suarcialupus,  to  whom  we  may  add  Politian,  whose  skill 
in  music  is  manifested  in  a  discourse  De  Musica,  contained 
m  his  Panepistemon  or  Praelectiones,  extant  in  print. 
But  notwithstanding  the  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  of  harmonics  may  be  said  to  have  been  for  some 
ages  at  a  stand. 

At  length  the  beams  of  learning  began  to  dawn  on  the 

*  The  earliest  of  which  we  can  speak  with  certainty,  is  a  treatise 
in  folio  by  Thomas  a  Santa  Maria,  a  Spanish  Dominican,  publislied  at 
Valladoliil  in  1570.  entitled  '  Arte  de  tanner  fantasia  jiara  teola,  visuela, 
'  y  todo  instrumendo  de  tres  o  quatro  ordenes.'  which  carries  the  an- 
ticiuity  of  concerts  for  Viols,  and  those  compositions  called  Fantasias, 
back  to  that  time,  but  leaves  us  at  a  loss  as  to  other  instrumental  concerts. 


western  empire  :  the  city  of  Constantinople  had  been  the 
seat  of  literature  for  some  ages,  but  the  sack  of  it  by  the 
Turks  in  the  year  1453,  had  driven  a  great  number  of 
learned  Greeks  thence,  who  bringing  with  them  an  im- 
mense treasure  of  manuscripts,  took  refuge  in  Italy. 
Being  settled  there,  they  opened  their  stores,  took 
possession  of  the  public  schools,  and  became  the  pro- 
fessors and  teachers  of  the  mathematical  and  other 
sciences,  and  indeed  of  philosophy,  eloquence,  and 
literature  in  general,  in  all  the  great  cities.  Of  the  many 
valuable  books  of  Harmonics  that  are  known  to  have  been 
written  by  the  mathematicians  and  other  ancient  Greeks, 
some  have  escaped  that  fate  which  learning  is  sure  to 
experience  from  the  ravages  of  conquest,  f  and  the  con- 
tents of  these  being  made  public,  the  principles  of  the 
science  began  to  be  known  and  understood  by  manj^, 
who  till  then  were  scarcely  sensible  that  it  had  any 
principles  at  all. 

This  communication  of  intelligence  was  very  propitious 
to  music,  as  it  determined  many  persons  to  the  study  of 
the  science  of  harmony.  The  tonal  laws  and  the  Cantus 
Mensurabilis  were  left  to  those  whose  duty  it  was  to 
understand  them  ;  the  ratios  of  sounds,  and  the  nature  of 
consonance  were  considered  as  essentials  in  music,  and 
the  investigation  of  these  was  the  chief  pursuit  of  such  as 
were  sensible  of  the  value  of  that  kind  of  learning. 

Of  the  many  who  had  profited  in  this  new  science,  as 
it  may  be  called,  one  was  Franchinus  Gafflirius,  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  he  had  derived  from  an  attendance 
on  the  Greek  teachers.  And  having  procured  copies  of 
the  treatises  on  harmonics  of  Aristides  Quintilianus, 
Ptolemy,  Manuel  Bryennius,  and  Bacchius  senior,  he 
caused  them  to  be  translated  into  Latin ;  and,  besides 
discharging  the  duty  of  a  public  professor  of  music  in  the 
several  cities  of  Italy,  became  the  revivor  of  musical 
erudition  ;  and  that  as  well  posterity,  as  those  of  his  own 
time,  might  profit  by  his  labours,  he  digested  the  sub- 
stance of  his  lectures  into  distinct  treatises,  and  gave  them 
to  the  world. 

The  writings  of  Franchinus,  as  they  were  replete  with 
learning  drawn  from  the  genuine  source  of  antiquity,  and 
contained  the  clearest  demonstrations  of  the  principles  of 
harmony,  were  so  generally  studied,  that  music  began 
now  to  assume  the  character  of  a  secular  profession.  The 
precepts  therein  delivered  afforded  a  greater  latitude  to 
the  inventive  faculty  tlian  the  tonal  laws  allowed  of;  and 
emancipating  the  science  from  the  bondage  thereof,  many 
who  had  no  relation  to  the  church  set  themselves  to  frame 
compositions  for  its  service,  in  which  the  powers  both  of 
harmony  and  melody  were  united.  And  hence  we  may 
at  least  with  a  show  of  probability  date  the  origin  of  an 
office  that  yet  subsists  in  the  choral  establishments  of 
Italy,  namely,  that  of  Maestro  di  Cappella ;  the  duty 
whereof  seems  uniformly  to  have  been  not  only  tliat  the 
person  appointed  to  it  should  as  precentor  regulate  the 
choir,  but  also  adapt  to  music  the  offices  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  ;t  and  of  its  necessity  and 
utility  no  stronger  argument  can   be  offered,   than  that 

t  Laurus  Quirinus  of  Venice  was  told  by  Cardinal  Ruthen  that 
upwards  of  one  hnndred  and  twenty  thousand  volumes  were  destroyed. 
Hody,  de  Grajcis  illustr.  lib.  II.  cap.  i. 

X  Andrea  Adami  l?olsena,  in  the  historical  preface  to  liis  '  Osservazioni 
'  per  ben  regolareil  Coro  de  i  Cantori  della  Capella  Pontificia,'  asserts  ^hat 
anciently  in  the  college  of  pontifical  singers  the  maestro  di  cappella  was  r> 
bishop. 


XXX. 


PKELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


among  the  Germans,  to  whom  the  knowledge  of  music 
was  very  soon  communicated  after  its  revival  in  Italy,  the 
office  was  recognized  by  the  appointment  of  a  director  of 
the  choir  in  the  principal  churches  of  all  the  provinces 
and  cities.  The  same  sense  of  the  importance  of  this 
office  appears  to  have  been  entertained  by  the  protestants, 
who  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation  we  find  to  have  been 
no  less  sedulous  in  the  cultivation  of  music  with  a  view 
to  religious  worship,  than  the  church  that  had  established 
it.  It  is  true  that  Calvin  was  for  some  time  in  doubt 
whether  to  adopt  the  solemn  choral  service,  or  that  plain 
metrical  psalmody  which  is  recommended  by  St.  Paul  to 
the  Colossians,  as  an  incentive  to  such  mirth  as  was  con- 
sistent with  the  Christian  profession,  and  at  length  deter- 
mined on  the  latter. 

But  Luther,  who  was  excellently  skilled  in  music,  con- 
sidered it  not  merely  as  a  relief  under  trouble  and  anxiety, 
but  as  the  voice  of  praise,  and  as  having  a  tendency  to 
excite  and  encourage  devout  affections,  besides  that  he 
had  translated  into  the  German  language  the  Te  Deum, 
and  composed  sundry  hymns,  as  also  tunes  to  some  of  the 
German  psalms,*  he,  with  the  approbation  of  Melancthon, 
received  into  his  church  a  solemn  service,  which  included 
anthems,  hymns,  and  certain  sweet  motets,  of  which  he 
speaks  very  feelingly,  and  of  music  in  general  he  gives 
his  opinion  in  these  words :  '  Scimus  musicam  da;mo- 
nibus  etiam  invisam  et  intolerabilem  esse.'f  That  the 
office  of  a  chapel-master  was  recognized  by  the  pro- 
testants in  the  manner  above  mentioned  is  hardly  to  be 
doubted,  seeing  that  it  was  exercised  at  Bavaria  by 
Ludovicus  Senfelius,  a  disciple  of  Henry  Isaac,  and  an 
intimate  friend  and  correspondent  of  Luther,  +  and  sub- 
sists in  Germany  to  this  day. 

For  the  reasons  above  assigned,  we  may  without  scruple 
attribute  to  Franchinus  a  share  of  that  merit  which  is 
ascribed  to  the  revivers  of  Literature  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury; and  the  rather  as  his  writings,  and  the  several 
translations  of  ancient  treatises  on  harmonics  which  he 
procured  to  be  made,  furnished  the  students  in  the  science 
with  such  a  copious  fund  of  information,  as  enabled  them 
not  only  to  reason  justly  on  its  principles,  but  to  extend 
the  narrow  bounds  of  harmony,  and  lay  a  foundation  for 
those  improvements  which  it  has  been  the  felicity  of  later 
times  to  experience.  And  it  is  not  a  groundless  suppo- 
sition that  the  reputation  of  his  writings  was  a  powerful 
incentive  to  the  publication  of  those  numerous  discourses 
on  music  of  which  the  ensuing  work  contains  a  detail. 
Indeed  so  general  was  the  propensity  in  the  professors  of 
the  science  in  Italy,  and  in  Germany  more  especially,  to 
the  compilation  of  musical  institutes,  dialogues,  and  dis- 
courses in  various  forms,  that  the  science  was  for  some 
time  rather  hurt  by  the  repetition  of  the  same  precepts, 
than  benefited  by  any  intelligence  that  could  in  strictness 
be  said  to  be  new.  The  writings  of  Zarlino  and  Salinas 
are  replete  with  erudition  ;  the  same,  though  in  a  less 
eminent  degree,  may  be  said  of  those  of  Glareanus  and 
the  elder  Galilei ;  but  of  the  generality  of  the  Introduc- 
tions, the  Enchiridions,  and  the  Erotomata  published  in 
Italy  and  Germany  from  about  the  year  1550  to  the 
middle  of  the  next  century,  the  perspicuity  of  them  is 
their  best  praise. 

*  Melchior  Adamus,  in  his  life  of  Luther,  has  inserted  a  letter  from 
him  to  Spalatinus,  written  anno  1524,  wherein  he  says  he  is  looking 
out  for  poets  to  translate  the  whole  of  the  Psalms  into  the  German 
tongue,  and  requests  of  Spalatinus  his  assistance  therein.  This  was  some 
years  before  Marot  translated  the  Psalms  into  French. 

t  In  an  epistle  to  Senfelius,  Musicus,  cited  by  Dr.  Wetenhall  from 
Sethus  Calvisius,  in  his  Gifts  and  Offices  in  the  public  worship  of  God, 
page  434,  but  without  reference  to  any  work  of  Calvisius.  This  epistle, 
wherever  it  is,  and  the  above  cited  passage,  are  also  noticed  by  Butler  in 
his  Principles  of  Music,  page  115.  Dr.  Wetenhall  applies  this  passage  to 
the  music  of  our  church,  and  on  the  authority  thereof  pronounces  it  to  be 
such  as  no  Devil  can  stand  against. 

J  Sonxe  niotetts  of  his  composition  are  extant  in  the  Dodecachordon 
of  Glareanus. 


As  the  revival  of  the  theory  of  music  is  to  be  ascribed 
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  instruments  the  masters  of  other 
countries  have  been  eminently  distinguished,  as  namely, 
those  of  Germany  for  skill  on  the  organ  ;  the  French  for 
the  lute  and  harpsichord ;  and  we  are  indebted  for  many 
valuable  discoveries  touching  the  nature  and  properties  of 
sound,  of  consonance  and  dissonance,  the  method  of  con- 
structing the  various  kinds  of  musical  instruments,  and, 
above  all,  for  a  nice  and  accurate  investigation  of  the 
principles  of  harmonics,  to  the  learning  and  industry  of 
Mersennus,  a  Frenchman  ;  but  in  the  science  of  compo- 
sition the  musicians  of  Italy  have  uniformly  been  the 
instructors  of  all  Europe. 

To  relate  the  subsequent  instances  of  improvement  in 
music,  or  to  enumerate  the  many  persons  of  distinguished 
eminence  that  have  excelled  in  the  theory  and  practice 
thereof,  would  be  to  anticipate  that  information,  which  it 
is  the  end  of  history  to  communicate  ;  and  to  animadvert 
on  the  numberless  defects  of  the  ancient  music,  may  seem 
unnecessary,  seeing  that  as  well  the  paucity  as  the 
structure  of  the  ancient  instruments  affords  abundant 
evidence  of  a  great  disproportion  between  their  practice 
and  their  theory  ;  it  is  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  images  or  ideas,  as  the  Greeks  are  allowed 
to  have  been,  have,  in  the  instance  of  music,  manifested 
a  great  want  of  that  faculty,  inasmuch  as  there  is  not  to 
be  found  in  any  of  the  characters  in  the  ancient  musical 
notation,  the  least  analogy  or  relation  between  the  sign 
and  the  sound  or  thing  signified  ;  a  perfection  so  obvious 
in  the  practice  of  the  moderns,  that  we  contemplate  it 
with  astonishment,  there  being  no  possible  arrangement 
or  disposition  of  musical  sounds,  nor  no  series  or  succession 
of  equal  or  unequal,  similar  or  dissimilar  measures,  but 
may  with  the  greatest  accuracy  be  described  by  the  stave 
of  Guido,  and  the  forms  of  notes  with  their  adjuncts,  as 
directed  by  the  rules  of  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis  ;  in- 
somuch that  the  modern  system  of  notation,  compre- 
hending in  it  the  types  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  excellencies,  may  seem 
unnecessary  ;  and  the  rather,  as  it  has  from  the  infancy 
of  the  world,  with  historians,  orators,  and  poets,  been 
a  subject  of  panegyric  :  besides  the  power  and  effect  of 
musical  sounds  to  assuage  grief  and  awaken  the  mind  to 
the  enjoyment  of  its  faculties,  is  acknowledged  by  the 
most  intelligent  of  mankind  ;  and,  were  it  necessary,  to 
prove  that  the  love  of  music  is  implanted  in  us,  and  not 
the  effect  of  refinement,  examples  thereof  might  be  pro- 
duced from  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  most  clearly  discernible.  To  say  nothing  of  the 
Turks,  who  are  avowed  enemies  of  literature,  or  of  the 
Chinese,  who,  as  has  been  shewn,  notwithstanding  all 
that  is  asserted  of  them,  are  so  circumstanced,  as  seem- 
ingly never  to  be  able  to  attain  to  any  degree  of  ex- 
cellence, nations  the  most  savage  and  barbarous  profess 
to  admit  music  into  their  solemnities,  such  as  they  are, 
their  rejoicings,  their  triumphs  for  victories,  the  meetings 
of  their  tribes,  their  feasts  and  their  marriages ;  and  to 
use  it  for  their  recreation  and  private  solace.  §     St.  Chry- 

§  Father  Lafitau,  in  his  Moeurs  des  Sauvages,  tome  II.  page  21.3,  et  seq. 
has  given  a  full  description  of  the  festal  solemnities,  accompanied  with 
music,  of  the  Iroquois,  Hnrons,  and  other  tribes  of  American  savages  i 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


XXXI. 


sostoin,  in  his  Homily  on  psalm  xli.  estimates  the  im- 
portance of  music  by  its  universality,  and,  in  a  strain  of 
simplicity,  corresponding  with  the  manners  of  the  times 
in  which  he  lived,  says  that  human  nature  is  so  delighted 
with  canticles  and  poems,  that  by  them  infants  at  the 
breast  when  they  are  froward  or  in  pain,  are  lulled  to 
rest ;  that  travellers  in  the  heat  of  noon,  driving  their 
beasts,  such  as  are  occupied  in  rural  labours,  as  treading 
or  pressing  grapes,  or  bringing  home  the  vintage  ;  and 
even  mariners  labouring  at  the  oar,  as  also  women  at 
their  distaff,  deceive  the  time,  and  mitigate  the  severity 
of  their  labour  by  songs  adapted  to  their  several  employ- 
ments or  peculiar  conditions.  Clearchus  relates  that  at 
Lesbos  the  people  had  a  song  which  they  sung  while 
they  were  grinding  corn,  and  for  that  reason  called 
tTTifivXiov  ;  and  Thales  affirms  that  he  had  heard  a  female 
slave  of  that  country  singing  it,  turning  a  mill :  it  began 

*  Mole  pistrinum  mole,  nam  et  Pittacus  molit  rex  magnse 
'  Mitylenas,'  and  alluded  to  the  practice  of  that  king,  who 
was  used  to  grind  corn  with  a  hand-mill,  esteeming  it  a 
healthy  exercise. 

Other  writers  go  farther,  and  affect  to  discern  the  prin- 
ciples of  music  not  only  in  the  songs,  but  the  occupations 
and  exercises  of  artificers  and  even  labourers ;  one  of 
these  in  a  vein  of  enthusiasm,  perhaps  more  humorous 
and  singular  than  persuasive,  says,  '  What  shall  I  speak 
'  of  that  pettie  and  counterfeit  music  which  carters  make 

*  with  their  whips,  hempknockers  with  their  beetels, 
'  spinners  with  their  wheels,  barbers  with  their  aizzer.^, 
'  smithes   with    their    hammers  ?    where    methinkes    the 

*  master-smith  with  his  treble  hammer  sings  deskant 
'  whilest  the  greater  buz  upon  the  plainsong  :  who  doth 
'  not  straitwaies  imagin  upon  musick  when  he  hears  his 
'  maids  either  at  the  woolhurdle  or  the  milking  pail?  good 
'  God,  what  distinct  intention  and  remission  is  there  of 
'  their  strokes  ?  what  orderly  dividing  of  their  straines  ? 
'  what  artificial  pitching  of  their  stops  ? '  * 

and  in  the  Royal  Commentaries  of  Peru,  book  II.  chap.  xiv.  the  author, 
Garcilasso  de  la  Vega,  besides  informing  us  that  their  fabulous  songs 
were  innumerable,  and  carried  in  them  the  evidence  of  a  savage  spirit, 
speaks  thus  particularly  of  their  music  :  '  In  musick  they  arrived  to  a 
'  certain  harmony,  in  wfiich  the  Indians  of  Colla  did  more  particularly 
'  excell,  having  been  the  inventors  of  a  certain  pipe  made  of  canes  glued 
'  together,  every  one  of  which  having  a  ditTerent  note  of  higher  and  lower, 
'  in  the  manner  of  organs,  made  a  pleasing  musick  by  the  dissonancy  of 
'  sounds,  the  treble,  tenor  and  basse  exactly  corresponding  and  answering 
'  each  to  other ;  with  these  pipes  they  often  plaid  in  concert,  and  made 
'  tolerable  musick,  though  they  wanted  the  quavers,  semiquavers,  aires, 
'  and  many  voices,  which  perfect  the  harmony  amongst  us.  They  had 
'  also  other  pipes,  which  were  flutes  with  four  or  five  stops,  like  the  pipes 
'  of  shepherds  ;  with  these  they  played  not  in  consort,  but  singly,  and 
'  tuned  them  to  sonnets,  which  they  composed  in  metre,  the  subject  of 
'  which  was  love,  and  the  passions  which  arise  from  the  favours  or  dis- 
'  pleasures  of  a  mistress.  These  musicians  were  Indians  trained  up  in 
'that  art  for  divertisement  of  the  Incas,  and  the  Curacas,  who  were  his 
'  nobles,  which,  as  rustical  and  barbarous  as  it  was,  it  was  not  common, 
'  but  acquired  with  great  industry  and  study. 

•  Every  song  was  set  to  its  proper  tune ;  for  two  songs  of  different  sub- 
'jects  could  not  correspond  with  the  same  aire,  by  reason  that  the  music 
'  which  the  gallant  made  on  his  flute,  was  designed  to-«xpress  the  satis- 
'  faction  or  discontent  of  his  mind,  which  were  not  so  intelligible  perhaps 
'  by  the  words,  as  by  the  melancholy  or  chearfulness  of  the  tune  which  he 
'  plaid.  A  certain  Spaniard  one  night  late  encountered  an  Indian  woman 
'  in  the  streets  of  Cozco,  and  would  have  brought  her  back  to  his  lodgings ; 
'  but  she  cryed  out,  "  For  God's  sake.  Sir,  let  me  go,  for  that  pipe  which 
"you  hear  in  yonder  tower  calls  me  with  great  passion,  and  I  cannot 
"  refuse  the  summons,  for  love  constrains  me  to  go,  that  I  may  be  his  wife, 
"  and  he  my  husband." 

'  The  songs  which  they  composed  of  their  wars  and  grand  atchievements 
'  were  never  set  to  the  aires  of  their  flutes,  being  too  grave  and  serious  to 
'  be  intermixed  with  the  pleasures  and  softnesses  of  love  ;  for  those  were 
'  oiiely  sung  at  their  principal  festivals,  when  they  commemorated  their 
'  victories  or  triumphs.  When  I  came  from  Peru,  which  was  in  the  year 
'  1560,  there  were  then  five  Indians  residing  at  Cozco,  who  were  great 
'  masters  on  the  flute,  and  could  play  readily  by  book  any  tune  that  was 
'  laid  before  them  ;  they  belonged  to  one  Juan  Rodriguez,  who  lived  at  a 
•  village  called  Labos,  not  far  from  the  city  :  and  now  at  this  time,  being 
'the  year  1G02,  'tis  reported  that  the  Indians  are  so  well  improved  in 
'  musick,  that  it  was  a  common  thing  for  a  man  to  sound  divers  kinds  of 
'instruments  ;  but  vocal  musick  was  not  so  usual  in  my  time,  perhaps 
'  because  they  did  not  much  practise  their  voices,  though  the  mongrils, 
'  cr  such  as  came  of  a  mixture  of  Spanish  and  Indian  blood,  bad  the 
'  faculty  to  sing  with  a  tunable  and  a  sweet  voice.' 

*  The  Praise  of  Musicke,  8vo.  printed  anno  1586,  at  Oxford,  for  Joseph 


But  besides  the  pleasure  that  men  derive  from  music, 
this  satisfaction  arises  from  the  study  of  it,  that  its  prin- 
ciples are  founded  in  the  very  frame  and  constitution  of 
the  universe,  and  are  as  clearly  demonstrable  as  mathe- 
matical truth  and  certainty  can  render  them  ;  and  in  this 
respect  music  may  be  said  to  have  an  advantage  over 
many  sciences  and  faculties  in  the  pursuit  whereof  the 
attention  of  mankind  has  at  diiferent  periods  been  deeply 
engaged.  To  say  nothing  of  school  divinity,  which,  hap- 
pily for  the  world,  has  given  place  to  rational  theology, 
what  can  be  said  of  law  in  general,  other  than  that  it  is 
mere  human  invention?  a  fabric  of  science  erected  it  is 
true  on  the  basis  of  a  few  uncontrovertible  principles  of 
morality,  and  of  that  which  we  call  natural  justice,  but  so 
accommodated  to  particular  circumstances,  to  the  genius, 
situation,  temper,  and  capacities  of  those  who  are  the 
objects  of  it,  as  that  what  is  permitted  and  encouraged  in 
one  country,  poligamy,  for  instance,  shall  be  punished  in 
another.  In  some  constitutions  a  diflference  of  sex  shall 
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  same 
pretence  to  justice  as  the  law  of  nature  and  reason  distri- 
butes it  among  them  all.  Finally,  what  shall  we  say  to 
that  system  of  jurisprudence,  which,  being  allowed  to  be 
imperfect,  craves  the  aid  of  equity  to  regulate  its  operation, 
and  mitigate  its  rigours  ?  or  of  those  glosses  and  comments 
which  in  the  civil  and  canon  law  are  of  little  less  authority 
than  the  laws  themselves? 

As  to  medicine,  setting  aside  the  knowledge  of  the 
human  frame,  and  the  uses  of  its  constitutent  parts,  a 
noble  subject  of  speculation  it  must  be  confessed,  the 
wiser  part  of  men,  rejecting  theory  as  vain  and  de- 
lusive, resolve  the  whole  of  the  science  into  observation 
and  practice ;  thereby  confessing  that  its  principles  are 
either  very  few,  or  so  void  of  certainty,  as  not  with  safety 
to  be  relied  on. 

Of  other  liberal  arts,  such  as  grammar,  logic,  and  rhe- 
toric, it  must  be  allowed  that  they  are  of  singular  use ; 
but,  as  being  the  mere  inventions  of  men,  and  at  best 
auxiliaries  to  other  arts  or  faculties,  they  are  in  their 
nature  subordinate,  and  in  that  respect  do  but  resemble 
the  art  of  memory,  which  all  men  know  to  be  founded  on 
principles  not  existing  in  nature,  but  assumed  by  our- 
selves ;  widely  differing  from  those  which  are  the  basis  as 
well  of  musical  as  mathematical  science. 

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  wh)',  in 
these  later  times  at  least,  novelty  in  music  should  be  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  principles  of  harmony  allow,  as  it  is  fit  they 
should,  great  scope  for  the  exercise  of  the  invention  ;  and 
though  few  pretend  to  skill  in  the  arts  without  being  in 
some  degree  or  other  possessed  of  it,  yet  as  all  tl.j  imagin- 
ative arts  presuppose  a  disposition  in  mankind  to  receive 
their  impressions,  all  claim  a  right,  and  many  the  ability, 
to  judge  of  works  of  invention  and  fancy. 

The  epic  poet,  trusting  that  the  mind  of  his  reader  is 
co-extensive  with  his  own,  endeavours  to  excite  in  him  the 
ideas  of  sublimity  and  beauty  ;  the  dramatic  writer  hopes 
to  move  the  affections  of  his  audience  to  terror  and  pity 
by  the  representation  of  actions,  the  reflection  on  which 

Barnes,  but  conjectured  to  have  been  written  by  Dr.  John  Case,  page  76. 
Of  this  person  there  is  a  curious  account  in  Athen.  Oxon.  col.  299. 
Thomas  Ravenscroft,  in  the  Apologie  prefixed  to  his  discourse  on  the 
true  charactering  of  music,  published  in  1614,  cites  it  as  a  work  of  Dr. 
Case,  whom  he  styles  a  '  Meecenas  of  musicke.' 


XXXll. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


nspired  his  mind  with  those  passions ;  and  the  painter, 
giving  form  to  those  ideas  of  grace,  greatness,  and  cha- 
racter which  occupy  his  mind,  or  selecting  the  beauties  of 
nature,  and  transferring  them  to  canvas,  or  at  other 
times  contenting  himself  with  simple  imitation,  in  all 
these  exercises  of  imagination  and  art,  expects  from  the 
judgment  of  the  well-informed  connoisseur  the  approba- 
tion of  his  work. 

Now  in  the  several  instances  above  adduced,  notwith- 
standing the  concessions  made  to  them,  we  may  discern 
in  the  generality  of  men  the  want  of  that  sense  to  which 
the  appeal  is  made ;  for,  with  respect  to  the  epic  poem, 
few  are  endowed  with  an  imagination  sufficiently  capa- 
cious to  discover  its  beauties ;  and  as  to  dramatic  repre- 
sentation, the  most  favourite  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 
are  acquainted  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  gesticulations  to  express 
or  accompany  the  sentiment  which  he  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  his 
sense,  delivered  in  a  style  of  dialogue  very  little  resem- 
bling that  of  the  present  day,  or  of  relishing  those  high 
philosophical  sentiments  with  which  his  compositions  and 
those  of  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 
some  are  disgusted  with  those  delineations  of  low  manners, 
however  just  and  natural,  that  afford  delight  to  others,  as 
exhibiting  to  view  the  human  mind  in  the  simplicity  of 
nature,  and  free  from  those  restraints  which  are  imposed 
on  it  by  education  and  refinement. 

The  painter,  in  like  manner,  submitting  his  work  to  the 
public  censure,  shall  find  for  one  that  will  applaud  the 
grandeur  of  the  design,  the  fineness  of  the  composition,  or 
tlie  correctness  of  the  drawing,  a  hundred  that  would  have 
dispensed  with  all  these  excellencies  for  a  greater  glare  of 
colouring,  and  attitudes  suited  to  their  own  ideas  of  grace 
and  elegance. 

The  case  is  the  same  in  sculpture  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  artful  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  foot.  In  works  of  architecture  we 
look  for  elegance  joined  with  stability ;  for  symmetry, 
harmony  of  parts,  and  a  judicious  and  beautiful  arrange- 
ment of  pleasing  forms ;  but  to  these  a  vulgar  eye  is  blind ; 
whatever  is  great  or  massy,  it  rejects  as  heavy  and  clumsy. 
Such  judges  as  these  prefer  for  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  its  intrinsic  powers  can  extend  no 

*  The  masque  of  Comus,  written  for  the  entertainment  of  a  noble 
family,  and  a  company  of  chosen  spectators,  which  within  these  few 
years  was  introduced  on  the  public  stage,  may  seem  to  contradict  this 
obsi-rvation,  for  this  reason,  that  although  the  sentiments  contained  in 
it  are  well  known  to  be  drawn  from  the  Platonic,  the  sublimest  of  all 
philosophy  ;  and  the  imagery  has  an  immediate  and  uniform  reference  to 
the  fictions  of  mythology,  it  afforded  great  entertainment  to  the  upper 
gallery ;  and  the  performance  gave  rise  to  sundry  meetings  for  the 
purpose  of  drinking  and  singing,  some  of  which  were  dignified  with 
the  name  of  Comus's  Court.  Nevertheless  it  may  be  supposed  that  the 
mirth  of  the  enchanter  and  his  crew  were  more  sensibly  felt  by  the  mul- 
titude than  the  charms  of  divine  philosophy,  which  the  author  endeavours 
to  display,  or  the  reliance  on  divine  providence,  which  it  is  the  end  of  the 
poem  to  inculcate. 


farther  than  to  those  whom  nature  has  endowed  with  the 
faculty  which  it  is  calculated  to  delight;  and  that  a  pri- 
vation of  that  sense,  which,  superadded  to  the  hearing,  is 
ultimately  affected  by  the  harmony  of  musical  sounds, 
must  disable  many,  and,  as  some  compute,  not  fewer 
than  nine  out  of  ten,  from  receiving  that  gratification  in 
music  which  others  experience.  Such  hearers  as  these  are 
insensible  of  its  charms,  which  yet  they  labour  to  per- 
suade themselves  are  very  powerful;  but  finding  little 
effect  from  them,  they  seek  for  that  gratification  in  novelty 
which  novelty  will  not  afford  ;  and  hence  arises  that  in- 
cessant demand  for  variety  which  has  induced  some  to 
imagine  that  music  is  in  its  very  nature  as  mutable  as 
fashion  itself.  It  may  be  sufficient  in  this  place  to  have 
pointed  out  the  reasons  or  causes  of  this  erroneous  opinion 
of  the  nature  and  end  of  music,  the  effects  and  operation 
thereof  will  be  the  subject  of  future  disquisition. 

In  the  interim  it  must  he  confessed  that  there  is  some- 
what humiliating  in  a  discrimination  of  mankind,  that 
tends  to  exclude  the  greater  number  of  them  from  the  en- 
joyment of  those  elegant  and  refined  pleasures  which  the 
works  of  genius  and  invention  afford  ;  but  this  condition 
of  human  nature  is  ca]iable  of  proof,  and  is  justified  by 
that  partial  dispensation  of  those  faculties  and  endow- 
ments which  we  are  taught  to  consider  as  blessings,  and 
which  no  one  without  impiety  can  censure.  Seeing  this 
to  be  the  case,  it  may  be  asked  how  it  comes  to  pass  that 
a  sense  of  what  is  true,  just,  elegant,  and  beautiful  in  any 
of  the  above-mentioned  arts,  exists  as  it  does  at  this  day  ? 
or  that  there  are  any  works  of  genius  which  men  with  one 
common  consent  profess  to  applaud  and  admire  as  the 
standards  of  perfection  ?  To  this  it  may  be  answered,  that 
although  the  right  of  private  judgment  is  in  some  degree 
exercised  by  all,  it  is  controuled  by  the  few  ;  and  it  is  the 
uniform  testimony  of  men  of  discernment  alone  that 
stamps  a  character  on  the  productions  of  genius,  and 
consigns  them  either  to  oblivion  or  immortality. 

It  is  beside  the  purpose  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  is 
here  proposed  is  the  communication  of  that  intelligence 
which  seemed  but  the  prerequisite  to  the  understanding 
of  what  will  be  hereafter  said  on  the  subject.  This  was 
the  inducement  to  the  above  observations  on  Taste,  and 
the  motives  that  influence  it ;  and  this  must  be  the 
apology  for  a  further  examen,  a  pretty  free  one  it  may 
be  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  musical  delight  throughout 
Europe  is  the  opera,  or,  as  the  French  call  it,  the  musical 
tragedy,  concerning  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  inventors  of 
the  modern  recitative,  Jacopo  Peri  and  Guilio  Caccini, 
wished  to  have  it  thought  so;  forasmuch  as  they  pro- 
fessed in  this  species  of  musical  intonation  to  imitate  the 
practice  of  the  ancients,  remarking  with  great  accuracy 
the  several  modes  of  pronunciation,  and  the  notes  and 
accents  proper  to  express  grief,  joy,  and  the  other  affec- 
tions of  the  human  mind ;  but  by  what  exemplars  they 
regulated  their  imitation  we  are  no  where  told :  and  it 
is  to  be  conjectured  that  those  general  directions  for  pro- 
nunciation, which  are  to  be  found  in  many  discourses  on 
the  subject  of  oratory,  were  the  chief  sources  whence 
their  intelligence  was  derived. 

In  what  other  respects  the  musical  representations  of 
the  ancients  and  moderns  bear  a  resemblance  to  each 
other  it  is  not  necessary  here  to  enquire  ;  it  may  suffice 
to  say  of  the  modern  opera,  that  by  the  sober  and  judicious 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE, 


XXXUl. 


part  of  mankind  it  has  ever  been  considered  as  the  mere 
offspring  of  hixury  ;  and  those  who  have  examined  it 
with  a  critical  eye,  scruple  not  to  pronounce  that  it  is  of 
all  entertainments  the  most  unnatural  and  absurd.  To 
descend  to  particulars  in  proof  of  this  assertion,  would  be 
but  to  repeat  arguments  which  have  already  been  urged, 
with  little  success  it  is  true,  but  with  great  force  of  reason, 
aided  by  all  the  powers  of  wit  and  humour. 

The  principal  objections  against  the  opera  are  summed 
up  by  an  author,  who,  though  a  professed  lover  of  music, 
has  shown  his  candour  in  describing  the  genuine  effect  of 
representations  of  this  kind  on  an  unprejudiced  ear.  The 
person  here  spoken  of  is  Mons.  St.  Evremond,  and  the 
following  are  his  sentiments  : — 

'  I  am  no  great  admirer  of  comedies  in  music,*  such  as 
now-a  days  are  in  request.  I  confess  I  am  not  dis- 
pleased with  their  magnificence  ;  the  machines  have 
something  that  is  surprising ;  the  musick,  in  some 
places,  is  charming,  the  whole  together  is  wondei'ful  : 
but  it  must  be  granted  me  also,  that  this  wonderful  is 
very  tedious  ;  for  where  the  mind  has  so  little  to  do, 
there  the  senses  must  of  necessity  languish.  After  the 
first  pleasiu'e  that  surprize  gives  us,  the  eyes  are  taken 
up,  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 
the  varieties  that  unite  to  make  the  sweetness  of  the 
harmony,  nothing  escapes  us.  But  'tis  not  long  before 
the  instruments  stun  us,  and  the  musick  is  nothing  else  to 
our  ears  but  a  confused  sound  that  suffers  nothing  to  be 
distinguished.  Now  how  is  it  possible  to  avoid  being  tired 
with  the  Recitative,  which  has  neither  the  charm  of 
singing,  nor  the  agreeable  energy  of  speech  ?  The  soul 
fatigued  by  a  long  attention,  wherein  it  finds  nothing  to 
affect  it,  seeks  some  relief  within  itself ;  and  the  mind, 
which  in  vain  expected  to  be  entertained  with  the  show, 
either  gives  way  to  idle  musing,  or  is  dissatisfied  that  it 
has  nothing  to  employ  it.  In  a  word  the  fatigue  is  so 
universal,  that  every  one  wishes  himself  out  of  the  house, 
and  the  only  comfort  that  is  left  to  the  poor  spectators, 
is  the  hopes  that  the  show  will  soon  be  over. 

'  The  reason  why,  commonly,  I  soon  grow  weary  at 
operas  is,  that  I  never  yet  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  ears,  or  gratify  the  eyes,  if  the  mind  be  not  satisfied ; 
for  my  soul  being  in  better  intelligence  with  my  mind 
than  with  my  senses,  struggles  against  the  impressions 
which  it  may  receive,  or  at  least  does  not  give  an 
agreeable  consent  to  them,  without  which  even  the  most 
delightful  objects  can  never  aftbrd  me  any  great  pleasure. 
An  extravagance,  set  off  with  music,  dances,  machines, 
and  line  scenes,  is  a  pompous  piece  of  folly,  but  'tis  still 
a  folly.  Tho'  the  embroidery  is  rich,  yet  \he  ground  it 
is  wrought  upon  is  such  wretched  stuff,  that  it  offends 
the  sight. 

'  There  is  another  thing  in  operas  so  contrary  to  nature, 
that  I  cannot  be  reconciled  to  it,  and  that  is  the  singing 
of  the  whole  piece,  from  beginning  to  end,  as  if  the 
persons  represented  were  ridiculously  matched,  and  had 
agreed  to  treat  in  musick  both  the  most  common,  and 
most  important  affairs  of  life.  Is  it  to  be  imagined  that 
a  master  calls  his  servant,  or  sends  him  on  an  errand, 
singing  ;  that  one  friend  imparts  a  secret  to  another, 
singing ;  that  men  deliberate  in  council  singing ;  that 
orders  in  time  of  battle  are  given  singing  ;  and  that  men 
are  melodiously  kill'd  with  swords  and  darts.     This  is 

*  The  word  Comedie  in  French  comprehends  every  kind  of  theatrical 

epresentation  ;   a  truer  designation  of  an  opera  is  the  term  Tragedie  en 

Musique ;  those  of  Lully  are  in  general  so  called  in  the  title-page  ;  and 

it  is  plain  by  the  context  that  the  author  means  not  the  comic  but  the 

tragic  opera. 


'  the  downright  way  to  lose  the  life  of  representation, 
'  which  without  doubt  is  preferable  to  that  of  harmony  ; 
'  for  harmony  ought  to  be  no  more  than  a  bare  attendant, 
'  and  the  great  masters  of  the  stage  have  introduced  it  as 
'  pleasing,  not  as  necessary,  after  they  have  perform'd  all 
'  that  relates  to  the  subject  and  discourse.  Nevertheless 
'  our  thoughts  run  more  upon  the  musician  than  the  hero 
'  in  the  opera  ;  Luigi,  Cavallo,  and  Cesti,  are  still  present 
'  to  our  imagination.  The  mind  not  being  able  to  conceive 
'  a  hero  that  sings,  thinks  of  the  composer  that  set  the 
'  scng  ;  and  I  don't  question  but  that  in  the  operas  at  the 
'  Palace  Royal,  Baptist  is  a  hundred  times  more  thought 
'  of  than  Theseus  or  Cadmus.'  f 

Tlie  same  author,  speaking  of  recitative,  particularly 
that  of  the  Venetian  onera,  savs  that  it  is  neither  sinsfino- 
nor  reciting,  t  but  somewhat  unknown  to  the  ancients, 
which  may  be  defined  to  be  an  aukward  use  of  music  and 
speech, § 

It  may  perhaps  be  said  that  music  owes  much  of  its 
late  improvement  to  the  theatre,  and  to  that  emulation 
which  it  has  a  tendency  to  excite,  as  well  in  composers 
as  performers  ;  but  who  will  pretend  to  say  what  direction 
the  studies  of  the  most  eminent  musicians  of  late  years 
would  have  taken,  had  they  been  left  to  themselves ;  it 
being  most  certain  that  every  one  of  that  character  has 
two  tastes,  the  one  for  himself,  and  the  other  for  the 
public  ?  Purcell  has  given  a  plain  indication  of  his  own, 
in  a  declaration  that  the  gravity  and  seriousness  of  the 

+  Works  of  Mons.  St.  Evremond,  vol.  II.  page  84,  in  a  letter  to 
Villiers,  duke  of  Buckingham. 

t  This  remark  upon  examination  will  be  found  to  be  but  too  true,  not- 
withstanding the  arguments  in  favour  of  recitative,  which  amount  in  sub- 
stance to  this,  that  it  is  a  kind  of  prose  in  music,  that  its  beauty  consists 
in  coming  near  nature,  and  in  improving  the  natural  accents  of  words  by 
more  pathetic  or  emphatical  tones.  Preface  to  the  opera  of  Semele  by 
Mr.  Congreve.  Mr.  Hughes  to  the  same  purpose,  delivers  these  as  his 
sentiments  :  '  The  recitative  style  in  composition  is  founded  on  that 
'  variety  of  accent  whicli  pleases  in  the  pronunciation  of  a  good  orator, 
'  with  as  little  deviation  from  it  as  possible,  The  different  tones  of  the 
'  voice  in  astonishment,  joy,  sorrow,  rage,  tenderness,  in  affirmations, 
'apostrophes,  interrogations,  and  all  other  varieties  of  speech,  make 
'a  sort  of  natural  music  which  is  very  agreeable;  and  this  is  what  is 
'  intended  to  be  imitated,  with  some  helps,  by  the  composer,  but  witliout 
'  approaching  to  what  we  call  a  tune  or  air  ;  so  that  it  is  but  a  kind  of 
'  improved  elocution.'  Preface  to  Mr.  Hughes's  Cantatas  in  the  first 
volume  of  his  Poems. 

Upon  these  several  passages  it  may  be  remarked,  that  in  the  ex- 
pression of  the  passions  nature  doth  not  oflTer  musical  sounds  to  the 
human  ear  ;  for  though  the  natural  tones  of  grief  and  joy,  the  two 
passions  which  are  most  effectually  expressed  by  music,  approach  nearer 
to  musical  precision  than  any  other,  yet  still  they  are  inconcinnous  and 
unmusical.  Farther,  that  the  sounds  of  the  voice  in  speech  are  im- 
musical  is  asserted  by  Lord  Bacon  in  the  following  passage  :  '  All  sounds 
'  are  either  musical  sounds,  which  we  call  tones,  whereunto  there  may 
'  be  a  harmony ;  which  sounds  are  ever  equal,  as  singing,  the  sounds  of 
'  stringed  and  wind  instrments,  the  ringing  of  bells,  &c. ;  or  immusical 
'  sounds,  which  are  ever  unequal ;  such  as  the  voice  in  speaking,  all 
'whisperings,  all  voices  of  beasts  and  birds,  except  they  be  singing  birds, 
'  all  percussions  of  stones,  wood,  parchment,  skins,  as  in  drums,  and 
'  infinite  others.'     Nat.  Hist.  cent.  II.  sect.  101. 

The  conclusion  from  these  premises  must  be,  that  musical  sounds  do 
not  imitate  common  speech  ;  and  therefore  that  recitative  can  in  no 
degree  be  said  to  be  an  improvement  of  elocution. 

But  admitting  the  contrary  to  be  the  ease,  and  that  the  sounds  of  speech 
were  equally  musical  with  those  employed  in  recitative,  the  inflexions  of 
the  voice  are  too  minute  to  fall  in  with  the  division  of  the  scale,  allowing 
even  the  enarraonic  diesis,  or  the  comma,  the  smallest  of  all  sensible 
intervals,  to  make  a  part  of  it ;  and  of  this  opinion  is  Mons.  Duclos,  who, 
in  the  Encyclopedia,  art.  Declamation  des  anciens,  for  this  reason 
denies  the  possibility  of  a  notation  for  speech. 

Upon  the  whole,  the  beauties  of  the  recitative  style  in  music  consist 
not  in  the  power  of  imitating  the  tones,  much  less  the  various  inflexions 
of  the  voice  in  speech,  but  in  the  varieties  of  accent  and  melody,  which 
follow  from  its  not  being  subject  to  metrical  laws  :  In  short,  what  has 
been  said  and  insisted  on  in  this  discourse  of  music  in  general,  may  be 
applied  to  recitative,  viz.,  that  its  mimetic  powers  are  very  inconsiderable, 
and  that  whatever  charms  it  possesses  are  absolute  and  inherent. 

§  These  observations  of  St.  Evremond  respect  the  musical  tragedy,  but 
the  Italians  have  also  a  musical  comedy  called  a  Burletta,  which  has  been 
lately  introduced  into  England,  and  given  rise  to  the  distinction  in  the 
advertisements  for  subscriptions  of  first,  second,  S:c.  serious  man  or 
woman.  This  entertainment  affords  additional  proof  how  little  music,  as 
such,  is  able  to  support  itself:  in  the  tragic  opera  it  borrows  aid  from  the 
tumidity  of  the  poetry ;  in  the  comic,  from  the  powers  of  ridicule,  t« 
which  music  has  not  the  least  relation. 


XXXIV. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


Italian  music  were  by  him  thought  worthy  of  imitation  :  * 
the  studies  of  Stradella,  Scarlatti,  and  Bononcini  for  their 
own  delight  were  not  songs  or  airs  calculated  to  astonish 
the  hearers  with  the  tricks  of  the  singer,  but  cantatas  and 
duets,  in  which  the  sweetness  of  the  melody,  and  the  just 
expression  of  fine  poetical  sentiments,  were  their  chief 
praise  ;  or  madrigals  for  four  or  more  voices,  wherein  the 
vai'ious  excellencies  of  melody  and  harmony  were  united, 
so  as  to  leave  a  lasting  impression  on  the  mind.  The 
same  may  be  said  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  modern  compositions  of  the  kind  can 
stand  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  fine  hand,  may 
be  supposed  to  be,  and  were  in  fact  compositions  con 
amore.  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  con  tempt,  f 

Whoever  is  curious  to  know  what  that  taste  could  be,  to 
which  so  great  a  master  as  Mr.  Handel  was  compelled 
occasionally  to  conform,  in  prejudice  to  his  own,  will  find 
it  to  have  been  no  other  tlian  that  which  is  common  to 
every  promiscuous  auditory,  with  whom  it  is  a  notion  that 
the  right,  as  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  the  sweetest  and  most 
pathetic  melodies,  adorned  with  all  the  graces  and  ele- 
gancies that  art  can  suggest.  Such  critics  as  these,  in 
their  judgment  of  insti'umental  performance,  uniformly 
determine  in  favour  of  whatever  is  most  diflicult  in  the 
execution,  and,  like  the  spectators  of  a  rope-dance,  are 
never  more  delighted  than  when  the  artist  is  in  such  a 
situation  as  to  render  it  doubtful  whether  he  shall  incur  or 
escape  disgrace. 

To  such  a  propensity  as  this,  the  gratifications  whereof 
are  of  necessity  but  momentary,  leaving  no  impression 
upon  the  mind,  we  may  refer  the  ardent  thirst  of  novelty 
in  music,  and  that  almost  general  reprobation  of  whatever 
is  old,  against  the  sense  of  the  poet: — 

Now,  good  Cesario,  but  that  piece  of  song, 
That  old  and  antique  song  we  had  last  night, 
Methought  it  did  relieve  my  passion  much  ; 
More  than  light  airs,  and  recollected  terms 
Of  these  most  brisk  and  piddy-paced  times. 

Twelfth  Night,  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  be  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  precepts  of  morality  and  axioms  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 

*  It  is  worth  remarking  that  the  poets,  who  of  all  writers  seem  the 
most  sensible  of  the  elficacy  of  music,  appear  uniformly  to  consider  it  as 
an  intellectual,  and  consequently,  a  serious  pleasure,  enfraging  not  only 
the  attention  of  the  ear,  but  the  powers  and  faculties  of  the  soul.  To 
this  end,  and  not  for  the  purpose  of  exciting  mirth,  it  is  in  ninnberless 
instances  introduced  by  Shakespeare;  and  among  the  poems  of  Milton 
is  one  entitled  '  At  a  solemn  Music' 

t  An  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Handel,  looking  over  the  score  of  an  opera 
newly  composed  by  him,  observed  of  some  of  the  songs  that  they  were 
excellent.  '  You  may  think  so,'  says  Mr.  Handel,  '  but  it  is  not  to  them, 
but  to  these,'  turning  to  others  of  a  vulgar  cast,  '  that  I  trust  for  the 
success  of  the  opera.' 


equal  to  the  same  third,  were  unequal  one  to  the  other; 
or,  to  carry  the  argument  farther,  when  consonance  and 
dissonance  were  not  as  essentially  distinguished  from  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  speak  of  music 
alone,  that,  to  justify  the  love  of  that  novelty  which  seems 
capable  of  recommending  almost  any  production,  some 
other  reasons  must  be  resorted  to  than  those  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 
Redford,  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  irretrievably  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,  Pur  cell, 
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  among  the  professors  of  the  art  at  this  day  would 
shrink  from. 

Upwards  of  two  hundred  years  have  elapsed  since  the 
anthem  of  Dr.  T3'e,  '  1  will  exalt  thee,'  was  composed  ; 
and  near  as  long  a  time  since  Tallis  composed  the  motett 
'  O  sacrum  convivium,'  which  is  now  sung  as  an  anthem 
to  the  words  '  I  call  and  cry  to  thee,  O  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.  J 
Amidst  all  the  varieties  of  composition  in  canon,  which 
the  learning  and  ingenuity  of  the  ablest  musicians  have 
produced,  that  of  Bird,  composed  in  the  reign  of  his  mis- 
tress Elizabeth,  is  considered  as  a  model  of  perfection. 
Dr.  Blow's  song,  '  Go,  perjured  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. §     And  if  this  observation  on  the  various 

X  To  this  testimony  we  may  add  that  of  a  foreigner  respecting  the 
church-music  of  queen  Elizabeth's  days,  thus  recorded  by  Strype  in 
his  Annals  of  tlie  Reformation,  vol.  II.  page  314  : — 

'In  her  (the  queen's)  passing,  (I  say)  she  visited  Canterbury;  how 
'  magnificently  she  was  received  and  entertained  here  by  archbishop 
'  Parker,  I  have  related  elsewhere.  This  I  only  add,  that  while  she 
'was  here,  the  French  ambassador  came  to  her.  Who  hearing  the 
'excellent  music  in  the  cathedral  church,  extolled  it  up  to  the  sky, 
'and  brake  out  into  these  words?  "O  God,  I  think  no  prince  beside 
"  in  all  Europe  ever  heard  the  like,  no  not  our  Holy  Father  the  Pope 
"  himself."  A  young  gentleman  that  stood  by  him  replied,  "  Ah,  do  you 
"compare  our  queen  to  the  knave  of  Rome,  or  rather  prefer  him  before 
"  her  1."  Whereat  the  ambassador  was  highly  angred,  and  told  it  to  some 
'of  the  councillors.  They  bade  him  be  quiet,  and  take  it  patiently, 
'  for  the  hoys,  said  they,  with  us  do  so  call  him  ai.d  the  Roman  Anti 
'  Christ  too.' 

§  Essay  of  Vicissitude  of  Things.  • 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


X!fXV. 


fates  of  poetry,  painting,  and  sculpture  be  true,  why  is  it 
to  be  assumed  of  music  that  it  is  continually  improving, 
or  that  every  innovation  in  it  must  be  for  the  better  ? 
That  the  music  of  the  church  has  degenerated  and  been 
greatly  corrupted  by  an  intermixture  of  the  theatric  style, 
has  long  been  a  subject  of  complaint ;  the  Abbat  Gerbert 
laments  this  and  other  innovations  in  terms  the  most 
affecting ;  *  and  indeed  the  evidence  of  this  corruption 
must  be  apparent  to  every  one  that  reflects  on  the  style 
and  structure  of  those  compositions  for  the  church  that 
are  now  most  celebrated  abroad,  even  those  of  Pergolesi, 
his  masses,  for  instance,  and  those  of  lomelli  and  Perez, 
have  nothino-  that  distinguishes  them  but  the  want  of 
action  and  scenic  decoration,  from  dramatic  represent- 
ations :  like  them  they  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  sounds ;  the  clauses  Kyrie  Eleison  and 
Christe  Eleison,  and  Miserere  mei  and  Amen  are  uttered 
in  dancing  metres  ;  and  the  former  not  seldom  in  that 
of  a  minuet  or  a  jig.  Even  the  funeral  service  of  Perez, 
lately  published  in  London,  so  far  as  regards  the  measures 
of  the  several  airs,  and  the  instrumental  aids  to  the  voice- 
parts,  differs  as  far  from  a  sacred  and  solemn  composure 
as  a  burletta  does  from  an  opera  or  musical  tragedy. 

From  these  premises  it  may  be  allowed  to  follow,  that 
a  retrospect  to  the  musical  productions  of  past  ages  is  no 
such  absurdity,  as  that  a  curious  enquirer  need  decline  it. 
No  man  scruples  to  do  the  like  in  painting  ;  the  con- 
noisseurs are  as  free  in  remarking  the  excellencies  of 
Raphael,  Titian,  Domenichino,  and  Guidd,  as  in  com- 
paring succeeding  artists  with  them ;  and  very  con- 
siderable benefits  are  found  to  result  from  this  practice  : 
our  present  ignorance  with  respect  to  music  may  betray 
us  into  a  confusion  of  times  and  characters,  but  it  is  to  be 
avoided  by  an  attention  to  those  particular  circumstances 
that  mark  the  several  periods  of  its  progress,  its  perfection 
and  its  decline. 

Of  the  monkish  music,  that  is  to  say  the  Cantus 
Ecclesiasticus,  little  can  be  said,  other  than  that  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  motetts  ;  but  the  elaborate 
contexture,  and,  above  all,  the  affectation  of  musical  and 
arithmetical  subtilities  in  these  compositions,  as  they  con- 
duced but  little  to  the  ends  of  divine  worship,  subjected 
them  to  censure,  and  gave  rise  to  a  style,  which,  for  its 
simplicity  and  grandeur  many  look  up  to  as  the  perfection 
of  ecclesiastical  harmony  ;  and  they  are  not  a  few  who 
think  that  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  Romish 
church-music  was  at  its  height,  as  also  that  with  us  of  the 
reformed  church  its  most  flourishing  state  was  during  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth  ;  though  others  postpone  ij;  to  the  time 
of  Charles  II.  grounding  their  opinion  on  the  anthems  of 
Blow,  Humphrey,  and  Purcell,  who  received  their  first 
notions  of  fine  melody  from  the  works  of  Carissimi,  Cesti, 
Stradella,  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  madrigals  for  private 
recreation  in  abundance,  that  are  the  models  of  excellence 
m  their  kind  ;  and  in  this  species  of  music  the  composers 
of  our  own  country  appear  to  be  inferior  to  none.  The 
improvement  of  melody  is  undoubtedly  owing  to  the 
drama  ;  and  its  union  with  harmony  and  an  assemblage 
of  all  the  graces  and  elegancies  of  both  we  may  behold 
in  the  madrigals  of  Stradella  and  Bononcini,  and  the 
chorusses  and  anthems  of  Handel ;  and  among  the  com- 
positions for  private  practice  in  the  duets  of  Steffani  and 
Handel.     As  to  the  harmony  of  instruments,  it  is  the 

"  De  Cantu  et  Musica  Sacra,  torn.  II.  page  375. 


least  praise  that  can  be  bestowed  on  the  works  of  Corelli, 
Geminiani,  and  Martini,  to  say  that  through  all  the 
vicissitudes  and  fluctuations  of  caprice  and  fancy,  they 
retain  their  primitive  power  of  engaging  the  affections, 
and  recommending  themselves  to  all  sober  and  judicious 
liearers.f 

To  music  of  such  acknowledged  excellence  as  this,  the 
preference  of  another  kind,  merely  on  the  score  of  its 
novelty,  is  surely  absurd;  at  least  the  arguments  in 
favour  of  it  seem  to  be  no  better  than  those  of  Mr.  Bayes 
in  behalf  of  what  he  calls  the  new  way  of  dramatic 
writing ;  which  however  were  not  found  to  be  of  such 
strength  as  to  withstand  the  force  of  that  ridicule,  which 
which  was  very  seasonably  employed  in  restoring  the 
people  to  their  wits. 

The  performance  on  the  organ  is  for  the  most  part  un- 
premeditated, as  the  term  Voluntary,  which  is  appro- 
priated to  that  instrument,  imports ;  we  may  therefore 
look  on  this  practice  as  extemporary  composition ;  and  it 
is  not  enough  to  be  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,  as  for  their  skill,  and 
that  fulness  of  harmony  which  distinguished  their  per- 
formance, and  which  this  noble  instrument  alone  is  cal- 
culated to  exhibit. t  The  canzones  of  Frescobaldi,  Kerl, 
Krieger,  and  Thiel,  and  above  all,  the  fugues  of  Mr. 
Handel,  including  those  in  his  lessons,  shew  us  what  is  the 
true  organ  style,  and  leave  us  to  lament  that  the  idea  of  a 
voluntary  on  the  organ  is  lost  in  those  Capriccios  on 
a  single  stop,  which,  as  well  in  our  parochial  as  cathedral 
service,  follow  the  psalms.  As  to  what  is  called  a  con- 
certo on  the  organ,  it  is  a  kind  of  composition  consisting 
chiefly  of  solo  passages,  contrived  to  display  what  in 
modern  musical  phrase  is  termed  a  bi-illiant  finger ;  and 
which,  if  attended  to,  will,  amidst  the  clamour  of  the  ac- 
companiment, in  fact  be  found  instead  of  four,  to  consist 
of  but  two  parts. 

But  of  all  the  abuses  of  instrumental  performance,  none 
is  more  injurious  to  music  than  the  practice  of  single 
instruments,  exemplified  in  solos  and  solo  concertos,  ori- 
ginally intended  for  private  recreation,  but  which  are  now 
considered  as  an  essential  part  of  a  musical  entertainment. 
Music  composed  for  a  single  instrument,  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 
jjarts.  The  vmiformity  of  a  minuet,  consisting  of  a  deter- 
mined number  of  bars,  the  emphasis  of  each  whereof 
returns  in  an  orderly  succession  of  measures  or  times, 
corresponds  with  some  ideas  of  metrical  regularity  which 
are  common  to  all  minds,  and  affords  a  reason  for  that 

t  Of  the  instrumental  music  of  the  present  day,  notwithstanding  the 
learninfi  and  abilities  of  many  composers,  the  characteristics  of  itare 
noise  without  harmony,  exemplified  in  the  frittering  of  passages  into 
notes,  requiring  such  an  instantaneous  utterance,  that  thirty-two  of 
them  are  frequently  heard  in  the  time  which  it  would  take  moderately 
to  count  four  ;  and  of  this  cast  are  the  Symphonies,  Periodical  Overtures, 
ftuartettos,  Quintettes,  and  the  rest  of  the  trash  daily  obtruded  on  the 
world. 

Of  solos  for  the  violin,  an  elegant  species  of  composition,  as  is  evident 
in  those  most  excellent  ones  of  Corelli  and  Geminiani,  and  in  many  of 
those  of  Le  Clair,  Carbonelli,  Festing,  and  Tartini,  few  have  of  late  been 
published  that  will  bear  twice  hearing  ;  in  general,  the  sole  end  of  them  is 
to  display  the  powers  of  execution  in  prejudice  to  those  talents  which  are 
an  artist's  greatest  praise. 

The  lessons  for  the  harpsichord  of  Mr.  Handel,  abounding  with  fugues 
of  the  finest  contexture,  and  the  most  pathetic  airs,  are  an  inexhaustible 
fund  ol  delight ;  those  of  the  present  time  have  no  other  tendency  than  to 
degrade  an  instrument  invented  for  the  elegant  recreation  of  the  youtliful 
of  the  other  sex,  and  to  render  it  what  at  best  it  now  appears  to  be,  and 
may  as  truly  as  emphatically  be  termed,  a  tinkling  cymbal. 

X  Old  Mr.  Arthur  Bedford,  chaplain  to  Aske's  Hospital  at  Hoxton,  and 
who  died  not  many  years  ago,  was  acquainted  with  Dr.  Blow,  and  says  of 
him  that  he  was  reckoned  the  greatest  master  in  the  world  for  playing 
most  gravely  and  seriously  in  his  voluntaries.  The  Great  Abuse  ol 
Musick,  by  Arthur  Bedford,  M.A.  Lond.  8vo.  1711,  page  24S. 


XXXVl. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


deliglit  which  the  ear  receives  from  the  pulsatile  iiistm- 
ments.  Hence  it  is  easy  to  account  for  the  obtrusion  of 
such  compositions  on  the  public  ear  as  furnish  opportu- 
nities of  clisplaying  mere  manual  proficiency  in  the  artist; 
a  solo  or  a  concerto  on  the  violin,  the  violoncello,  the 
hautboy,  or  some  other  such  instrument,  does  this,  and 
i^ives  scope  for  that  exercise  of  a  wild  and  exuberant  fancy 
which  distinguishes,  or  rather  disgraces,  the  instrumental 
performance  of  this  day. 

The  first  essays  of  this  kind  were  solos  for  the  violin, 
the  design  whereof  was  to  afl?ect  the  hearer  by  the  tone  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- 
vagance. These  have  been  succeeded  by  compositions  of 
a  like  kind,  Ijut  framed  with  a  very  different  view.  Solos 
and  Concertos,  containing  passages  that  carried  the  melody 
beyond  the  utmost  limits  of  the  scale,  indeed  so  high  on 
the  instrument,  that  the  notes  could  not  be  distinctly  arti- 
culated, 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  extravagances  will  be  carried, 
time  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- 

*  Nat.  Hist.  cent.  II.  sect.  173.  The  Sylva  Sylvarum,  or  Natural 
History  of  Lord  Bacon,  contains  a  great  variety  of  experiments  and 
observations  tending  to  explain  tlie  propertes  of  sound  and  the  nature  of 
harmony.  The  following  judicious  remark  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of 
the  author's  skill  in  his  subject,  and  at  the  same  time  shew  his  sentiments 
of  harmony,  and  in  what  he  conceived  tlie  perfection  thereof  to  consist. 
'  The  sweetest  and  best  harmony  is,  when  every  part  or  instrument  is  not 
'  lieard  by  itself,  hut  a  conflation  of  them  all ;  which  requireth  to  stand 
'  some  distance  off,  even  as  it  is  in  the  mixture  of  perfumes,  or  the  taking 
'  of  the  smells  of  several  flowers  in  the  air.'    Cent.  III.  sect,  22.5. 


fection  ;  in  the  grave  and  solemn  strains  of  the  most  cele- 
brated composers  for  the  church,  including  those  of  our 
own  country,  who  in  the  opinion  of  the  best  judges  are 
inferior  to  none  ;  f  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 
can  pretend  to  tell.  To  speak  of  music  for  instruments, 
the  modern  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  reflect  that  the  world  is  in  possession 
of  such  instrumental  compositions  as  those  of  Corelli, 
Bononcini,  Geminiani,  and  Handel,  when  not  one  prin- 
cipal performer  in  ten  has  any  relish  of  their  excellencies., 
or  can  be  prevailed  on  to  execute  them  but  with  such  fe 
degree  of  unfeeling  i-apidity  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  no  better  a  view  than  as  the  means  of  recreation 
to  a  gaping  crowd,  insensible  of  its  charms,  and  ignorant 
of  its  worth. 

+  Such  music  as  this  has  been  the  delight  of  the  wisest  men  in  all  ages. 
Luther,  who  was  so  great  an  admirer  of  music,  that  he  scrupled  not  as 
a  science,  to  rank  it  next  to  theology,  which  is  styled  the  queen  of  the 
sciences,  was  often  used  to  be  recreated  with  the  singing  of 
motetts.  Bishop  Williams,  while  he  was  lord  keeper,  chose  to  retain  the 
deanery  of  Westminster  for  the  sake  of  the  choral  service  performed  there : 
'  He  was  loathe,'  says  the  historian,  '  to  stir  from  the  seat  where  he  had 
'  the  command  of  such  exquisite  music'  And  in  a  more  particular  man- 
ner the  same  person  speaks  of  the  love  which  that  great  prelate  bore  to 
music,  for,  says  he,  '  that  God  might  be  praised  with  a  cheerful  noise  in 
'  his  sanctuary,  he  procured  the  sweetest  music  both  for  the  organ  and 
'  voices  of  all  parts  that  ever  was  heard  in  an  English  quire.  In  those 
'  days  that  abbey  and  the  Jerusalem  Chamber,  where  he  gave  entertain- 
'  ment,  were  the  volaries  of  the  choicest  singers  that  the  land  liad  bred.' 
Life  of  the  Lord  Keeper  Williams,  by  Hackett,  Bishop  of  Litchfield  and 
Coventry,  page  62,  4G.  Milton  has  been  very  explicit  in  declaring  what 
kind  of  music  delighted  him  most,  in  the  verses  entitled  '  At  a  solemn 
music'  Dr.  Busby  the  master  of  Westminster-school  had  an  organ,  and 
music  of  the  most  solemn  kind  in  his  house  at  the  time  when  choral  ser- 
vice was  throughout  the  kingdom  forbidden  to  be  performed.  Vide 
ante,  page  xxi.  in  note. 


A 


GENERAL    HISTORY 


OF   THE 


SCIENCE  AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


BOOK  I.        CHAP.  I. 


There  is  scarce  any  consideration  that  affords 
greater  occasion  to  lament  the  inevitable  vicissitude 
of  things,  than  the  obscurity  in  which  it  involves, 
not  onl)^  the  history  and  the  real  characters,  but 
even  the  discoveries  of  men.  When  we  consider 
the  various  pursuits  of  mankind,  that  some  respect 
merely  the  interest  of  individuals,  and  terminate 
with  themselves,  while  others  have  for  their  object 
the  investigation  of  truth,  the  attainment  and  com- 
munication 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  m  some  degree  a  fallacious  hope  ; 
and,  notwithstanding  the  present  improved  state  of 
learning  in  the  world,  we  have  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 
possess. 

Whoever  is  inclined  to  try  the  truth  of  this 
observation  on  the  subject  of  the  present  work,  if 
he  does  not  see  cause  to  acquiesce  in  it,  will  at  least 
be  under  great  difficulties  to  satisfy  himself  how  it 
oomes  to  pass,  that  seeing  what  miraculous  effects 
have  been  ascribed  to  the  music  of  the  ancients,  we 
know  so  little  concerning  it,  as  not  only  to  be 
ignorant  of  the  use  and  application  of  most  of  their 
instruments,  but  even  in  a  great  measure  of  their 
system  itself. 

To  say  that  in  the  general  deluge  of  learning, 
when  the  irruptions  of  barbarous  nations  into  civi- 
lized countries,  the  seats  and  nurseries  of  science, 
became  frequent,  music,  as  holding  no  sympathy 
with  minds  actuated  by  ambition  and  the  lust  of 
empire,  was  necessarily  overwhelmed,  is  not  solving 
the  difficulty  ;  for  though  barbarism  might  check,  ?is 
it  did,  the  growth  of  this  as  well  as  other  arts,  the 
utter  extirpation  of  it  seems  to  have  been  as  much 
then,  as  it  is  now,  impossible.  That  conquest  did 
not  produce  the  same  effect  on  the  other  arts  is 
certain ;  the  architecture,  the  sculpture,  and  the 
poetry  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  though  they 
withdrew  for  a  time,  were  yet  not  lost,  but  after 
^  retirement  of  some  centuries  appeared  again.  But 
what  became  of  their  music  is  still  a  question  :  the 


Pyramids,  the  Pantheon,  the  Hei'cules  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- 
positions 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  they,  in  those  very  early  ages,  any  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.  c.  115,  there  are  no  remain- 
ing evidences  of  any  such  thing. 

The  writers  in  that  famous  controversy  set  on  foot 
by  Sir  William  Temple,  towards  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  about  the  comparative  excellence  of  the 
ancient  and  modern  learning,  at  least  those  who  sided 
with  the  ancients,  seem  not  to  have  been  aware  of  the 
difficulty  they  had  to  encounter,  when  they  under- 
took, as  some  of  them  did,  to  maintain  the  superiority 
of  the  ancient  over  the  modern  music,  a  difficulty 
arising  not  more  from  the  supposed  weight  on  the 
other  side  of  the  argument,  than  from  the  want  of 
sufficient  Data  on  their  own.  In  the  comparison  of 
ancient  with  modern  music,  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  so 

*  frequently  enchanted,  and  their  very  natures  changed; 

*  by  which  the  passions  of  men  are  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  harts,  by  the 
'  powers  and  charms  of  this  admirable  art  ?  'Tis 
'  agreed  of  all  the  learned  that  the  science  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 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


of  a  poor  friar  in  chanting  his  mattins  :  so  as  those 
•two  divine  excellences  of  music  and  poetry  are 
'  grown  in  a  manner  to  be  little  more  but  the  one 
'fiddling,  and  the  other  rhyming,  and  are  indeed 
'  very  worthy  the  ignorance  of  the  friar,  and  the 
'  barbarousness  of  the  Goths  that  introduced  them 
'  among  us.'* 

Whatever  are  the  powers  and  charms  of  this 
admirable  art,  there  needs  no  further  proof  than 
the  passage  above-cited,  that  the  author  of  it  was 
not  very  susceptible  of  them  ;  for  either  the  learned 
of  these  later  times  are  strangely  mistaken,  or  those 
certain  notes,  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  Europe  abounded  with  excellent  mas- 
ters, must  have  heard  such  music,  as,  had  he  had  any 
ear  to  appeal  to,  would  have  convinced  him  that  the  art 
had  still  its  charms,  and  those  very  potent  ones  too. 

But,  not  to  follow  the  example  of  an  author,  whose 
zeal  for  a  favorite  hypothesis  had  led  him  to  write  on 
a  subject  he  did  not  imderstand,  we  will  proceed  to 
trace  the  various  progress  of  this  art :  its  progress,  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  great  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  music  to 
Orpheus,  to  Amphion,  Linus,  and  many  others  ;  un- 
less we  except  that  venerable  doctor  and  schoolman, 
Thomas  Aquinas,  who  asserts,  that  not  music  alone, 
but  every  other  science,  was  understood,  and  that  by 
immediate  revelation  from  above,  by  the  first  of  the 
human  race.  However,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  men-r 
tion  the  general  opinions  as  to  the  invention  of  music, 
with  this  remark,  that  no  greater  deference  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  vocal  music  is 
more  ancient  than  instrumental,  since  mankind  were 
endowed  with  voices  before  the  invention  of  instru- 
ments ;  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,  and  impelled  them  to  pursue  :  the  desire  of 
the  conveniences,  the  comforts,  the  pleasures  of  life, 
is  a  principle  little  less  active  than  that  which  leads 

•  Essay  on  ancient  and  modern  learning. 


US  to  provide  for  its  wants ;  and  perhaps  it  might  be 
even  before  they  had  learned  to  '  go  down  to  the  sea 
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  those  harmonical  relations  and  coincidences  of 
sound,  which  are  the  essence  of  the  art.  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  the  winds, 
the  fall  of  waters,  the  concussion  of  bodies  of  various 
kinds,  not  to  mention  the  melody  of  birds,  as  they 
all  contain  in  them  the  rudiments  of  harmony,  may 
easily  be  supposed  to  have  furnished  the  minds  of 
intelligent  creatures  with  such  ideas  of  sound,  as 
time,  and  the  accumulated  observation  of  succeeding 
ages,  could  not  fail  to  improve  into  a  system.^ 

■I-  Lucretius  supposes  that  manlcind  took  their  first  notions  of  music 
from  the  singing  of  birds  :  — 

At  liquidas  avium  voces  imitarier  ore 
Ante  fuit  multo,  quam  Ijevia  carmina  cantu 
Concelebrare  homines  possent,  aureisque  juvare.    Lib.  V. 

And  the  same  poet  has  in  some  sort  ascertained  the  origin  of  wind  in- 
struments m  the  following  elegant  verses :  — 

Et  zephyri  cava  per  calamorum  sibila  primum 

Agresteis  docuere  cavas  inflare  cicutas, 

Inde  minutatim  dulceis  didicere  querelas, 

Tibia  quas  fundit  digitis  pulsata  canentum.        Ibid. 

Thro'  all  the  woods  they  heard  the  charming  noise 
Of  cliiriping  birds,  and  try'd  to  frame  their  voice 
And  imitate.     Thus  birds  instructed  man, 
And  taught  them  songs  before  their  art  began  ; 
And  whilst  soft  evening  gales  blew  o'er  the  plains, 
And  shook  the  sounding  reeds,  they  taught  the  swains, 
And  thus  the  pipe  was  fram'd  and  tuneful  reed.        Creech. 

Part  of  the  natural  song  of  the  blackbird  consists  of  true  diatonic  in- 
tervals, and  is  thus  to  be  expressed  in  musical  notes  : — 


f 


^mM^^^^=mM 


i 


That  of  the  cuckow  is  well  known  to  be  this : — 


9z 


rp— .^p 


'in     ^ 


ZQzrsr 


Cu 


cu, 


Cu 


cu, 


Cu   -    cu 


And  Kircher,  Musurg.  lib.  I.  cap.  xiy.,  has  given  the  songs  of  other 
birds,  which  with  great  ingenuity  and  industry  he  had  investigated,  as 
namely  that  of  the  nightingale,  the  quail,  the  parrot,  the  cock  and  hen, 
in  the  common  characters  of  musical  notation.  Though  that  which  he 
gives  of  the  common  dunghill  cock  seems  to  be  erroneous,  and  is  thus  to 
be  expressed  : — 


* 


S=S=E 


=?2: 


-t- 


:?: 


And  it  may  be  observed  that  between  the  dijnghill  and  bantam  cock 
there  is  a  difference,  for  the  latter  intonates  the  following  sounds,  which 
constitute  the  interval  of  a  true  fifth  : — 


t^ 


S=E 


=^- 


-f2- 


-jctz 


The  song  of  the  hen  at  the  time  of  her  laying,  is  thus  described  by  him :— 


■^^^^^^^^^^^^^m 


and  clearly  appears  to  be  an  intonation  of  a  major  sixth. 

The  same  author  asserts  that  other  animals,  and  even  quadrupeds, 
articulate  diflerent  sounds  that  have  a  musical  ratio  to  each  other,  as  an 
instance  whereof  he  mentions  an  animal  produced  in  America  called  the 
Pijrilia,  or  Sloth,  of  which  he  gives  the  following  curious  account : — 

'Before  I  speak  of  his  voice  I  will  give  a  description  of  this  whole 
'  animal,  which  this  very  year  I  received  from  the  mouth  of  father 
'  Johannes  Torus,  procurator  of  the  province  of  the  new  kingdom  in 
'  America,  who  had  some  of  these  animals  in  his  possession,  and  made 
'several  trials  of  their  natures  and  properties.  The  figure  of  this  animal 
'  is  uncommon,  they  call  it  Pigritia,  on  account  of  the  slowness  of  its 
'  motions.  It  is  of  the  size  of  a  cat,  has  an  ugly  countenance,  and  claws 
'  projecting  in  the  likeness  of  fingers  :  it  has  hair  on  the  back  part  of  its 
'  head,  which  covers  its  neck  ;  it  brushes  the  very  ground  with  its  fat 
'  belly.     It  never  rises  upon  its  feet,  but  moves  forward  so  slowly,  that 


Chap.  I. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


A  reason  has  already  been  given  to  show  that  the 
notion  of  a  musical  system  does  necessarily  pre- 
suppose musical  instruments ;  it  therefore  becomes 
necessary  to  trace  the  invention  of  such  instruments 
as  are  distinguished  by  the  simplicity  of  their  con- 
struction, and  whose  forms  anil  properties  at  this 
distance  of  time  are  most  easily  to  be  conceived  of, 
and  these  clearl}^  seem  to  be  reduced  to  two,  the  lyre 
and  the  pipe. 

The  lyre,  the  most  considerable  of  the  two,  and  the 
prototype  of  the  fidicinal  or  stringed  species,  is  said 
to  have  been  invented  about  the  year  of  the  world 
2000,  by  Mercury,  who  finding  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  flesh  was  already  consumed,  he  took 
up  the  back  shell,  and  hollowing  it,  applied  strings  to 
it  ;*  though  concerning  the  number  ot  strings  there 
is  great  controversy,  some  asserting  it  to  be  only 
three,  and  that  the  sounds  of  the  two  remote  were 
acute  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  had  four  strings  ;  that 
the  interval  between  the  first  and  fourth  was  an 
octave  ;  that  the  second  was  a  fourth  f  from  the  first, 

•  it  scarce  in  a  continued  sjiace  advances  above  the  cast  of  a  dart  in  even 
'  fifteen  days.  No  one  knows  what  meat  it  feeds  on,  nor  are  they  seen  to 
'eat ;  they  for  the  most  part  keep  on  tlie  tops  of  trees,  and  are  two  days 
'ascending  and  as  many  in  descending.  Moreover,  nature  seems  to  have 
'  furnished  them  with  two  kinds  of  arms  or  weapons  against  other  beasts 
'and  animals  their  enemies.  First  their  feet,  in  whicli  tliey  have  such 
'  strength,  that  whatsoever  animal  they  lay  hold  on  they  keep  it  so  fast, 
'  that  it  is  never  after  able  to  free  itself  from  their  nails,  but  it  is  com- 
'  pelled  to  die  through  hunger  :  and  the  other  is,  that  this  beast  so  greatly 
'  affects  the  men  that  are  coming  towards  it  by  its  countenance,  that  in 
'  pure  compassion  they  refrain  from  molesting  it,  and  easily  persuade 

•  themselves  not  to  be  solicitous  about  that  which  nature  has  subjected  to 

•  so  defenceless  and  miserable  a  state  of  body.  The  above-mentioned 
'father,  in  order  to  make  a  trial  of  this,  procured  one  of  these  animals  to 
'  be  brought  to  the  college  of  our  society  at  Carthagena  of  the  new  king- 

<  dom,  and  threw  a  long  pole  under  its  feet,  which  he  immediately  grasped 
'  so  tenaciously,  that  it  would  by  no  means  let  it  go  ;  the  animal  thus 
'bound  by  a  voluntary  suspension,  was  placed  between  two  beams,  where 
'  he  stuck  thus  suspended  for  forty  days  together,  without  either  meat, 

<  drink,  or  sleep,  having  his  eyes  continually  fixed  on  those  that  looked 
'  on  him,  whom  he  affected  so  with  his  sorrowful  aspect,  that  there  was 
( scarce  any  one  that  was  not  touched  with  pity  for  him.  Being  at  length 
'  freed  from  this  long  suspension,  a  dog  was  thrown  to  him,  which  he 
•immediately  seized  with  his  feet,  and  forcibly  detained  for  the  space  of 
'  four  days,  at  the  end  whereof  the  miserable  creature  expired,  being 
'famished  through  hunger.'  This  I  had  from  the  mou'^h  of  the  above 
father. 

They  add,  moreover,  fto  return  to  the  purpose)  that  this  beast  makes  no 
noise  or  cry  but  in  the  night,  and  that  with  a  voice  interrupted  only  by 
the  duration  of  a  sigh  or  semi  pause.  It  perfectly  intonates,  as  learners 
do,  the  first  elements  of  music,  ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la.  la,  sol,  fa.  mi,  re,  ut. 
Ascending  and  descending  through  the  comtnon  intervals  of  the  six 
degrees,  insomuch  that  tlie  Spaniards,  when  they  first  took  possession  of 
these  coasts,  and  perceived  such  a  kind  of  vociferation  in  the  night, 
thought  they  heard  men  accustomed  to  the  rules  of  music.  It  is  called 
by  the  inhabitants  Haul,  for  no  other  reason  than  that  it  repeats  through 
every  degree  of  the  interval  of  a  sixth  the  sound  lia,  ha,  ha,  ha,  ha, 
ha,  &c. 


and  the  fourth  the  same  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  Linus,  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  up 
'  at  Antissa,  a  city  of  Lesbos  :  that  certain  fishers 
'  finding  it,  they  brought  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- 
cerning it  are  the  representations  of  that  instrument 
in  the  hands  of  ancient  statues  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 
hand  it  may  be  said,  that  as  none  of  those  monuments 
cau  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.  Galilei  mentions  a  statue  of 
Orpheus  in  the  Palazzo  de  Medici,  made  by  the 
Cavalier  Bandinelli,  in  the  left  hand  %vhereof  is  a  lyre 
of  this  figure.^  (No.  1.)  He  also  cites  a  passage  from 
Philostratus,  importing  that  the  lyre  was  made  of  the 
horns  of  a  goat,  from  which  Hyginius  undertook  thus 
to  delineate  it.  (No.  2.) 


o 


ha,      ha,      ha,      ha,      ha,      ha,       ha,      ha,      ha,      ha,      ha, 

*  Nicomachi  Harmonices  Manualis,  lib.  II.  ex  vers.  Meibom.  p.  29. 

t  In  this  and  in  all  other  instances,  where  the  measures  of  intervals 
are  assigned,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  they  include  the  two  extreme  terms, 
in  W'hich  respect  the  phrases  of  music  and  physic  agree  ;  to  this  purpose 
a  very  whimsical  but  ingenious  and  learned  writer  on  music  and  many 
other  subjects,  in  the  last  century,  namely  Charles  Butler,  thus  speaks  : 
•As  physicians  say  a  tertian  ague,  which  yet  cometh  but  every  second 
'day,  and  a  quartan,  whose  access  is  every  thild  day,  (because they  crunt 


'  the  first  fit-day  for  one)  so  do  musicians  call  a  third,  a  fourth,  and  a  fifth 
'  (which  yet  are  but  two,  three,  and  four  notes  from  the  ground)  because 
'  they  account  the  ground  itself  for  one.'  Principles  of  Music,  by  Charles 
Butler,  quarto,  London  1036,  pag.  52,  in  not. 

I  Boctius  de  Musica,  lib.  I.  pag.  20. 
§  Nicom.  lib.  II.  pag.  29. 

II  Mersennus  de  Instrumentis  Harmonicis,  lib.  I.  pag.  7.  Vincentio 
Galilei  Dialogo  della  Musica  Antica  e  Moderna,  pag.  125.  Athanasiu* 
Kircher  Musurgia  universalis,  lib.  H.  cap.  vi.  §  iii. 

1  Galilei,  12,9. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


Mersennus  says  that  by  means  of  his  friends  Naude 
and  Gaffarel,  he  had  obtained  from  Rome,  and  other 
parts  of  Italy,  drawings  of  sundry  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,  the  other  is  part  of  the  head 
with  the  horns  of  a  bull. 


The  above -cited  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,  as  appeared  to  Galilei  by  several  ancient 
bass-reliefs  and  other  sculptures  discovered  at  Rome 
in  his  time. 

lurcher  has  prefixed  as  a  frontispiece  to  the  second 
tome  of  the  Musurgia,  a  representation  of  a  statue  in 
the  Matthei  garden  near  Rome,  of  Apollo  standing 
on  a  circular  pedestal,  whereon  are  carved  in  basso 
relievo  a  great  variety  of  ancient  musical  instruments, 
But  the  most  perfect  representation  of  the  lyre  is 
the  instrument  in  the  hand  of  the  above  statue,  which 
is  of  the  form  in  which  the  lyre  is  most  usually  de- 
lineated.    Vide  Musurg.  tom.  I.  pag.  536.  * 

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,  was  the 

*  Isaac  Vossius,  a  bigotted  admirer  of  the  ancients,  de  Poemat.  cant, 
et  virib.  Rythm.  pag.  97,  contends  that  hardly  any  of  these  remaining 
monuments  of  antiquity  are  in  such  a  state  as  to  warrant  any  opinion 
touching  the  form  of  the  ancient  lyre.  He  speaks  indeed  of  two  statues 
of  Apollo  in  the  garden  of  his  Britannic  majesty  at  London,  in  the  year 
1673,  (probably  the  Privy  Garden  behind  the  then  palace  of  Whitehall) 
each  holding  a  lyre  ;  and  as  neither  of  these  instruments  was  then  in  the 
least  mutilated,  he  considers  them  as  true  and  perfect  representations  of 
the  ancient  cythara  or  lyre,  iji  two  forms,  and  has  fhus  delineated  §nd 
described  tl]em  :  — 


A 

B 

C  C 

D 


The  bridge  over  which  the  chords  are  stretched. 

The  chordotopr.ni,  from  which  the  chords  proceed. 

The  echei,  made  of  brass,  and  affixed  to  the  bridge  to  encrease  the 

sound. 
The  bridge  as  in  the  former  figure. 


first  that  joined  pipes  of  different  lengths  together 
with  wax ;  but  Virgil  says, 

Pan  prim ofi  calamos  cera  conjungere  phires 
Instituit.-\ 
forming  thereby  an  instrument,  to  which  Isidore, 
bishop  of  Seville,  gives  the  name  of  Pandorium,  and 
others  that  of  Syringa  and  which  is  frequently  repre- 
sented in  collections  of  antiquities.:}: 

As  to  the  instruments  of  the  pulsatile  kind,  such 
as  are  the  Drum,  and  many  others,  they  can  hardly 
be  ranked  in  the  numl)er  of  musical  instruments  ; 
inasmuch  as  the  sounds  they  produce  are  not  re- 
ducible to  any  system,  though  the  measure  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  left  us  of  the  in- 
vention of  the  instruments  above-mentioned,  which 
it  is  necessary  to  make  the  basis  of  an  enquiry  into 
the  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  respective  forms  are  known 
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  us  in  very  little  doubt  about  them  ; 
but  there  is  no  medium  through  which  we  can  deduce 
the  fig\ire  or  construction  of  any  of  the  instruments 
mentioned  either  in  the  Pentateuch,  or  the  less 
ancient  payts  of  sacred  history  ;  and  doubtless  the 
translators  of  those  passages  of  the  Old  Testament, 
where  the  names  of  musical  instruments  occur, 
after  due  deliberation  on  the  context,  found  them- 
selves reduced  to  the  necessity  of  rendering  those 
names  by  such  terms  as  would  go  the  nearest 
to  excite  a  correspondent  idea  in  their  readers : 
so  that  they  -yvould  be  grossly  mistaken  who  should 
imagine  that  the  organ,  handled  by  those  of  whom 
Jubal  is  said  to  have  been  the  father,§  any  way  re- 
sembled the  instrument  now  known  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  t;o  ^he  na(;ure  of  that 
system,  as  also  to  the  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  inr 
clines  to  the  opinion  that  the  lyre  of  Mercury  had 
only  four  strings  ;  and  adds,  that  the  first  and  the 
fourt.h  ^nade  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^ 
lion  of  it;^|  his  woj-ds  are  as  follows : — 'From  the  first 
^  string  to  the  second  was  a  diatessaron  or  a  fourth  ; 

+  Eclog   II.  ver.  32. 

X  Vide  Mcrsen.  de  Instrum.  Harmon,  lib.  II.  pag.  73. 

§  Genesis,  chap.  iv.  ver.  21. 

II   Do  Musica,  lib.  I.  cap,  20.     Bontempi,  4S. 

II  Istitutiiini  Harmoniche,  pag.  I'l, 


Chap.  II. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


'  from  the  second  to  the  third  was  a  tone  ;  and  from 

*  the  third  to  the  fourth  was  a  diatessaron  ;  so  that  the 
'  first  with  the  second,  and  the  third  with  the  fourth, 
'  contained  a  diatessaron  ;    the  first  with  the   third, 

*  and  the  second  with  the  fourth,  a  diapente  or  fifth.' 
Admitting  all  which,  it  is  clear  that  the  first  and 
fourth  strings  must  have  constituted  a  diapason. 


1( 

c 
\o/j 

6  Trite 

1 

8  Lychanos 

2 

< 

a- 

/  . 

3 

H 

9  Parhypate  Meson 

3 

\ 

12  Parhypate  Hypaton 

4 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  above  diagram  is  used 
by  Boetius,  and  is  adopted  by  Zarlino,  Kircher,  and 
many  other  writers  ;  *  but  that  though  the  appli- 
cation of  the  letters  C  G  F  C  in  one  edition  of 
Boetius,  is  plainly  intended  to  shew  that  the  strings 
immediately  below  them  were  supposed  to  corres- 
pond with  those  notes  in  our  system,  yet  the  authors 
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  Boetius  de  Musica, 
the  diagram  above  given  is  without  letters.  It  seems 
as  if  Glareanus,  who  assisted  in  the  publication  of  the 
Basil  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 
suppose  that  the  Mercurian  lyre,  admitting  it  to  con- 
sist of  four  strings,  was  so  constructed. 

Bontempi,  an  author  of  great  credit,  relying  on 
Nicomachus,  suspects  the  relation  of  Boetius,  as  to 
the  number  of  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  system,  he  says  that  none  of  the 
Greek  writers  saj^  anything  about  it,  and  that  the 
notion  of  its  formation  seems  to  be  founded  on  a  dis- 
covery made  by  Pythagoras,  who  lived  about  5CX) 
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. 


F 


E 


However,  notwithstanding  the  reasons  of  the  above 

*  Vide  Boetius  de  Musica,  lib.  I.  cap.  20.     Kirclier,  MusurRia  univer- 
salis, torn.  I.  hb.  ii.  cap.  6.     Zarlino  Istit.  Harmon,  pag.  73.  75. 
+  Hist.  Music,  pag.  49. 


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 
had  their  foundation  in  principles  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  four 
strings,  which  names,  though  they  are  not  expressive 
of  the  intervals,  are  to  be  adopted  in  our  inquiry 
after  a  system  :  to  tlie  first  or  most  grave  was  given 
the  name  of  Hypate,  or  principal ;  the  second  was 
called  Parhypate,  viz.,  next  to  Hypate  ;  the  third  was 
called  Paranete,  and  the  fourtli  Nete,  which  signifies 
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  moderns,  by  whom  we  are  to  understand 
all  who  succeeded  the  grand  reformation  of  music  by 
Guido,  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. 

H Y  PATE 

P  A  R  H  Y  PAT  E 

PARA  N  E  T  E 

^NETE 


Those  who  speak  of  the  lyre  in  the  manner  above- 
mentioned,  seem  to  imagine  that  its  compass  included 
two  diatessarons  or  fourths,  which  being  conjoined, 
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  string,  which  he  placed  between  Parhypate 
and  Paranete,  calling  it,  from  its  middle  situation, 
Mese  ;  that  Hyagnis,  a  Phrygian,  added  a  sixth,  which 
he  placed  between  Mese  and  Parhypate  ;  this  string 
he  called  Lychanos,  a  word  signifying  the  indieial 
finger,  viz.,  that  on  the  left  hand,  next  the  thumb : 
and  lastly  say  these  ^witers,  Terpander  added  a 
seventh  string,  which  he  placed  between  IMese  and 
Paranete,  and  called  Paramese  :  the  lyre,  thus  im- 
proved, included  a  septenary,  or  system  of  seven 
terms,  disposed  in  the  following  order  : — 
HYPATE 


-PARHYPATE- 
-LYCHANOS- 
MESE— ^- 


-PARAMESE- 
-PARANETE- 
NETE 


i 


CHAP.  II. 

The  system-above  exhibited  was  the  Heptachord 
Synemmenon  of  the  GreelvS ;  it  consisted  of  two 
tetrachords  or  fourths,  conjoined,  that  is  to  say,  the 
middle  term  was  the  end  of  the  one,  and  the  begin- 
ning of  the  other ;  and  as  the  last  string  was  added 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


1 

Mi 

Fa 

Sol 

4 

La,  Mi 

5 

Fa 

6 

Sol 

7 

lb 

La 

by  Terpander,  the  system  was  distinguished  by  his 
name,  and  considered  as  the  second  state  of  the  lyre. 
Here  then  we  may  discern  the  foundation  of  a 
system,  viz.,  a  succession  of  seven  sounds,  including 
two  tetrachords,  conjoined,  by  having  the  Mese  or 
middle  term  common  to  both,  thus  represented  by 
Glareanus  in  his  edition  of  Boetius,  lib.  i.  cap.  20 : — 

Hypate 
Parhypate 
Lychanos 
Mese  Synaphe 
Paramese  or  Trite 
Paranete 


Nete 


The  seeming  perfection  of  this  system,  as  also  the 
consideration  that  in  musical  progression  every  eighth 
sound  is  but  the  replicate  of  its  unison,  has  served  to 
confirm  an  opinion  that  there  is  somewhat  mysterious 
in  the  number  seven  :  to  say  the  truth,  for  different  rea- 
sons an  equal  degree  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  esteemed  the  grand 
climacteric  of  our  lives  ;  the  ground  of  superstitious 
fears  in  persons  of  middle  age,  and  the  subject  of 
much  learned  disquisition  :  and  there  is  now  extant 
a  treatise  in  folio,  intitled,  IlysticcB  numerorum 
significationis,  written  by  one  Peter  Bongus,  and 
published  at  Bergamo,  in  the  year  1585 ;  the  sole 
end  whereof  is  to  unfold  the  mysteries,  and  explain 
the  properties  of  certain  numbers  ;  and  whoever  has 
the  curiosity  to  search  after  so  insignificant  a  work, 
will  find  that  in  the  judgment  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 
a  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  observing  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  the  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  the  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 
witliin  ten,  wherefore  philosophers  resemble  it  to  the 
ruler  or  governor  of  all  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  Boetius 
has  a  passage  much  to  the  same  purpose.  The  idea 
of  virginity  had  such  a  relation  to  the  number 
Seven,  that  it  was  also  named  Pallas  ;  and  the  Py- 
thagoreans, initiated  in  her  rites,  compare  the  virgin 
Minerva  to  that  number,  seeing  she  was  not  born, 
but  sprung  from  the  head  of  Jupiter.  God  rested 
on  the  Seventh  day,  wherefore  it  is  named  Sabbath, 
a  word  signifying  rest.  The  Seventh  petition  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer  is,  deliver  us  from  evil ;  because 
the  number  Seven  denotes  rest,  and  all  evil  being 
removed  from  man,  he  rests  in  good ;  and  farther, 
the  seventh  day  or  sabbath  represents  death,  or 
the  rest  of  the  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  tribula- 
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  the 
number  Seven  is  attributed  to  the  Holy  Ghost, 
without  whom  there  is  no  blessing.  This  St.  John 
proves,  when  in  the  Apocalypse  he  calls  the  Seven 
horns  and  the  Seven  eyes  the  Seven  spirits  of  God. 
The  fever  left  the  son  of  Regulas,  according  to  St. 
John,  at  the  Seventh  hour.  Elisha  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- 
viticus command  was  given  to  sprinkle  the  blood 
and  oil  Seven  times.  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,  Horophiel  the  spirit  of  Saturn,  Anael 
the  spirit  of  Venus,  Zachainel  of  Jupiter,  Raphael 
of  Mercury,  Samael  of  Mars,  Gabriel  of  the  moon, 
and  Michael  the  spirit  of  the  sun.  The  moon 
changes  its  form  Seven  times,  and  completes  its 
course  in  twenty-eight  days,  which  is  the  sum  of 
the  number  Seven,  and  all  the  numbers  under  it. 
Josephus  writes  that  a  certain  river  in  Syria  is  dry 
for  six  days,  and  full  on  the  Seventh.  Farther,  the 
great  artist  did  not  only  dignify  the  heavens,  but  he 
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  sight,  as 
body,  distance,  figure,  magnitude,  colour,  motion. 


Chap.  1[. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


and  rest :  and  Seven  species  of  colour,  taking  in  the 
two  extremes  of  white  and  Wack,  viz.,  yellow,  sky- 
blue,  green,  purple,  and  red.  No  one  can  without 
eating  live  after  the  Seventh  day.  Physicians 
reckon  ten  times  Seven  years  to  be  the  period 
of  human  life,  which  Hippocrates  divides  into 
Seven  stages.  The  ancient  lyre,  used  both  by 
Orpheus  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  the  number  Seven  as 
I  imagine,  a  great  power  in  easing  the  pains  of 
child-birth  :  and  every  Seventh  son,  no  daughter 
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  sides  three,  four,  five, 
but  three  and  four  contain  the  right  angle,  which  is 
'  perfection  itself,  and  therefore  their  sum  seven, 
'  must  as  a  number  be  most  perfect.  Every  active 
'  body  has  three  dimensions,  length,  breadth,  and 
'  thickness,  and  these  have  four  extremes,  point,  line, 

*  surface,  and  solid,  and  these  together  make  up  the 
'  number  Seven.' 

By  such  arguments  as  these  do  many  of  the 
musical  writers  endeavour  to  excite  a  mysterious 
reverence  for  that  number  which  is  confessedly  the 
limits  of  a  system,  as  far  as  it  goes,  perfect  in  its 
kind ;  in  answer  to  which  it  may  be  said,  that  this 
superstitious  regard  for  certain  numbers  seems  to  be 
very  deservedly  ranked  among  those  vulgar  and 
common  errors,  which  it  is  professedly  the  end  of 
a  very  learned  and  justly  celebrated  publication  of 
the  last  century  to  refute,  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  inclineth.'* 

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  constitivted,  modern 
authors  have  not  scrupled  to  assert  that  they  were 
precisely  the  same  as  those  contained  in  a  double 
diatessaron,  according  to  the  present  practice  ;  the 
consequence  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 
two  tones  ;  which  will  be  readily  conceived  by  such 
as  reflect,  that  in  the  passage  either  upwards  or 
downwards  from  any  given  note  to  its  fourth,  in 
that  progression  which  is  most  grateful  to  the  ear, 
those  intervals  must  necessarily  occur.  Persuaded 
of  the  truth  of  this  supposition,  succeeding  musicians 
have  ventured  to  apply  the  modern  method  of  no- 
tation to  the  terms  of  the  ancients,  and  are  pretty 
well  agreed  that  the  term  Mese  answered  to  a,  or  la, 

*  Sir  Thomas  Browne's  Enquiry  into  Vulgar  Errors,  173. 


in  our  scale.     Taking  this  for  granted,  the  system  of 
Terpander  \vill  appear  in  the  following  form  ; — 

SYSTEM  OP  TERPANDER. 
E  Hypate. 

Hemitone 
F  Parhypate 
Tone 
G  Lychanos 
Tone 
a    Mese 

Hemitone 
Paramese 
Tone 
Paranete 
Tone 
Nete 

But  here  it  is  necessary  to  observe,  that  though,  as 
has  been  said,  it  was  the  practice  with  the  ancients  to 
give  the  grave  tones  the  uppermost,  and  the  more 
acute  the  lowermost  place  in  their  scale, f  wliich  they 
might  very  properly  do,  if,  as  there  is  the  greatest  rea- 
son to  believe,  their  music  was  solitary,  and  they  were 
stran2:ers  to  the  art  of  combining  sounds  in  con- 
sonance.  Yet  the  moderns,  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  bottom,  and  the 
acute  at  the  top  of  our  scale  ;  |  the  consequence  of 
this  diversity  has  been,  that  whenever  any  of  the 
modern  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 
the  bottom  of  the  diagram  ;  and  this  wall  be  the 
method  we  shall  observe  for  the  future. 

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  ;  but  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  unintelligible. 
Boetius  has  erred  in  this  respect ;  and  Bontempi, 
a  modern  Italian,  notwithstanding  he  professes  to 
have  followed  the  Greek  writers,  more  particularly 
Nicomachus,  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  Diezeug- 
menon,  or  disjunct  tetrachord,  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  we 
perhaps  should  say,  rather  contingait  than  absolute. 

+   Vincentio  Galilei,   Dialog,   della  Musica,   pag.   US.       Francisc-us 
Salinas  de  Musica,  lib.  iii.  cap.  4. 
X  Bontemp.  51.  52. 


8 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


To  refute  this  error  it  is  necessary  in  some  sort  to 
adopt  it,  and  proceed  after  Bontempi  to  describe 
what  he  calls  the  first  addition  to  the  system  of  Ter- 
pander.     His  words  are  nearly  these  : — 

'  To  the  lyre  of  seven  strings,  forming  a  conjunct 
'  tetrachord,were  added  two  tetrachords;  the  most  grave 
'  was  joined  to  that  tetrachord,  which  for  its  gravest, 
'  or,  to  use  the  modern  method  of  position,  its  lowest 
'  sound,  hatl  Hypate,  and  the  most  acute  tetrachord 

*  was  joined  to  that  which  for  its  most  acute  sound, 
'  had  Nete  :  the  acuter  of  these  two  additional  tetra- 

*  chords,  from  its  situation  named  hyperboleon,  pro- 

*  ceeded  from  Nete  by  three  other  terms,  viz.,  Trite, 

*  Paranete,  and  Nete,  to  each  whereof  was  given  the 
'  epithet  Hyperboleon,  to  distinguish  them  from  the 

*  sounds  denoted  by  the  same  names  in  the  primitive 

*  septenary.     The  other  of  the  additional  tetrachords, 

*  which  began  from  Mese,  was  called  Synemmenon 
'or  conjunct,  and  proceeded  likewise  by  the  same 

*  terms  of  Trite,  Paranete,  and  Nete ;  and  each  of 
'  these  had,  for  the  reason  just  given,  the  epithet  of 
'  Synemmenon,  as  in  the  following  figure  appears :' — 

ADDITION  I.  to  the  SYSTEM  of  TERPANDER. 

■£  TNete  h3'perboleon        g 
g;  Tone 

>^  j  Paranete  hyperboleon  f 
■^  -  Hemitone 

Trite  hyperboleoif       e 


B    - 


^Nete 


Lychanos 
2  j  Parhypate 
Hypate 


Tone 

Tone 

Tone 

Hemitone 

Tone 

Tone 

Hemitone 


Nete  sjniemmenon 
Tone 

Paranete  synemmenon 
Tone 

Trite  synemmenon 
Hemit. 

Mese 


G 
F 
E 


It  is  observable  in  the  above  scheme,  that  between 
the  Synemmenon  tetrachord  and  that  marked  B, 
which  was  originally  a  part  of  the  system  of  Terpan- 
der,  there  is  not  the  least  difference  :  the  interval  of 
a  hemitone  between  a  and  b  being  common  to  both  ; 
of  what  use  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  is  that  of 
the  Hyperboleon  tetrachord,  which  increasd  the 
number  of  terms  to  ten,  as  above  is  shown  :  how- 
ever, after  all,  as  the  lyre  thus  limited  to  the  compass 
of  a  musical  tenth,  reaching  from  E  to  g,  was  not 
commensurate  in  general  to  the  human  voice,  a 
farther  extension  of  it  was  found  necessary ;  and 
another  tetrachord  was  added  to  this,  which  began  at 
Hypate  in  the  former  sy.stem,  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  which  it 
had  been  joined  ;  which,  to  shew  their  relation  to  the 
]\Iese,  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  by 
the  character  J]. 

ADDITION   II.  to   the   SYSTEM   OP 
TERPANDER. 

.0  ^Nete  hyperboleon        g 
g.  Tone 

15  I  Paranete  hyperboleon  f 
^  i  Hemitone 

Trite  hyperboleon        e 
Tone 


Nete 


w 


Tone 


>Mese 


Tone 
Hemitone 


Tone 


"H  I  Paranete 

2     Trite 

<( 

g  I  Lychanos  meson 
•=  <  Tone 

2  j  Parhypate  meson 
H  I  "  Tone 

VHypate  meson 
i  I  Tone 

£  j  Lychanos  hypaton 
Tone 


Nete  synemmenon 

Tone 
Paranete  synemmenon  c  I 

Tone 
Trite  synemmenon        b  | 

Hemitane 
Mese  a' 


W 


F 


E 


D 


§  1  Parh}'pate  hypaton     C 
■£  I  Hemitone 

^  ^Hypate  hypaton  j-, 

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,  Btj,  was  a  hemitone 
below  C,  and  that  b,  which  in  the  order  of  succession 
upwards  was  the  eighth  term,  was  a  whole  tone  below 
the  term  next  above  it,  consequently  it  was  a  hemi- 
tone short  of  a  complete  musical  octave  or  diapason ; 
to  remedy  this  defect,  as  also  for  divers  other  reasons, 
Pythagoras  is  said  to  have  reverted  to  the  primitive 
system  of  a  septenary,  and  with  admirable  sagacity, 
by  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  particulars  of 
this  and  other  improvements  of  Pythagoras  in  music, 
and  the  wonderful  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 by  a  philosopher,  and  a  disciple  of  Pythagoras, 
named  Philolaus  ;  the  one  whereof,  for  ought  we  can 
discover,  seems  to  have  been  but  very  inconsiderable, 
that  is  to  say,  no  more  than  an  alteration  of  the  term 


Chap.  II. 


AND  PRACTICE  OP  MUSIC. 


Mese,  which,  because  that  sound  was  a  third  distant 
from  Nete,  he  called  Trite ;  the  other  consisted  in 
an  extension  of  the  diatessaron  included  between  the 
Mese  and  Nete  to  a  diapente,  by  the  insertion  of 
a  trihemitone  between  Paramese,  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 
grateful  to  the  ear  than  any  of  those  contained  in 
that  of  Terpander.  Nicomachus  speaks  more  than 
once  of  Philolaus,  and  says  that  he  was  the  first  who 
called  that  Trite,  which  before  was  called  Paramese, 
as  beino;  a  diatessaron  distant  from  Nete.  But  al- 
though  it  is  certain  that  he  was  a  contemporary  of 
Pythagoras,  we  must  suppose  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  the  inserted  tone,  he  altered  the 
situation  of  it,  as  will  be  shown  hereafter. 

SYSTEM  OF  PHILOLAUS. 

-e    Nete 

Tone 

Paranete 

Trihemitone 

Trite 
Tone 

Mese 
Tone 

G    Lychanos 

Tone 
F    Parhypate 

Hemitone 
E   Hypate 

The  gradual  improvements  of  this  system  from  the 
time  of  Terpander  to  that  of  Philolaus  having  been 
severally  enumerated,  and  its  imperfection  noted,  we 
are  now  to  speak  of  those  made  by  Pythagoras.  Hia 
regulation  of  the  octave  by  the  insertion  of  a  tone 
has  been  just  hinted,  and  it  will  be  necessary  to  be 
more  particular  ;  but  previous  to  this  it  is  requisite 
to  mention  that  discovery  of  his,  which  though 
merely  accidental,  enabled  him  to  investigate  the 
ratios  of  the  consonances,  and  to  demonstrate  that 
the  foundations  of  musical  harmony  lay  deeper  than 
had  ever  before  his  time  been  imagined. 

Of  the  manner  of  this  discovery  Nicomachus  has 
given  a  relation,  which  Mr.  Stanley  has  inserted  in  his 
History  of  Philosophy  in  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  rule,  and  by  a  Dioptre  ;  or  the  touch, 

*  or  by  a  balance,  or  by  the  invention  of  measures ; 

*  as  he  passed  by  a  smith's  shop  by  a  hapjiy  chance 
'  he  heard  the  iron  hammers  striking  on  the  anvil, 
'  and  rendering  sounds  most  consonant  to  one  another 
'  in  all  combinations  except  one.     He  observed  in 


them  these  three  concords,  the  diapason,  the  diapente, 
and  the  diatessaron  ;  but  that  which  was  between 
the  diatessaron  and  the  diapente  he  found  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  the  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  the  hammers,  nor  ac- 
cording to  the  turning  of  the  iron  which  was  in 
beating  out :  having  taken  exactly  the  weight  of  the 
hammers,  he  went  straightway  home,  and  to  one 
beam  fastened  to  the  walls,  cross  from  one  corner 
of  the  room  to  the  other,  lest  any  difference  might 
arise  from  thence,  or  be  suspected  to  arise  from  the 
properties  of  several  beams,  tying  four  strings  of 
the  same  substance,  length,  and  twist,  upon  each  of 
them  he  hung  a  several  weight,  fastening  it  at  the 
lower  end,  and  making  the  length  of  the  strings 
altogether  equal ;  then  striking  the  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  the  greatest  weight, 
in  respect  of  that  which  was  stretched  by  the  least 
weight,  he  found  to  sound  a  Diapason.  The  greatest 
weight  was  of  twelve  pounds,  the  least  of  six  ;  thence 
he  determined  that  the  diapason  did  consist  in 
double  proportion,  which  the  weights  themselves 
did  shew.  Next  he  found  that  the  greatest  to  the 
least  but  one,  which  was  of  eight  pounds,  sounded 
a  Diapente ;  whence  he  inferred  this  to  consist  in 
the  proportion  called  Sesquialtera,  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  the  weights,  this  concord  was  Sesqui- 
tertia  ;  which  string  of  nine  pounds  is  naturally 
Sesquialtera  to  the  least ;  for  nine  to  six  is  so,  viz., 
Sesquialtera,  as  the  least  but  one,  which  is  eight, 
was  to  that  which  had  the  weight  six,  in  proportion 
Sesquitertia  ;  and  twelve  to  eight  is  Sesquialtera ; 
and  that  which  is  in  the  middle,  between  Diapente 
and  Diatessaron,  whereby  Diapente  exceeds  Dia- 
tessaron, is  confirmed  to  be  in  Sesquioctava  propor- 
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  Sesquialtera  and  Sesquitertia ; 
such  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  order. 

'  Applying  both  his  hand  and  ear  to  the  weights 
which  he  had  hung  on,  and  by  them  confirming  the 
proportion  of  the  relations,  he  ingeniously  trans- 
ferred the  common  result  of  the  strings  upon  the 
cross  beam  to  the  bridge  of  an  instrument,  which  he 
called  XophoToy(T,  Chor-dotonos ;  and  for  stretching 
them  proportionably   to   the  weights,  he  invented 

*  i.  e.  per  omnes. 


10 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


'  pegs,  by  the  turning  whereof  he  distended  or 
'  relaxed  them  at  pleasure.  Making  use  of  this 
'  foundation  as  an  infallible  rule,  he  extended  the 
'  experiment  to  many  kinds  of  instruments,  as  well 
'  pipes  and  flutes,  as  those  which  have  strings  ;  *  and 
'  he  found  that  this  conclusion  made  by  numbers  was 
'  consonant  without  variation  in  all.  That  sound 
'  which  proceeded  from  the  number  six  he  named 
'  Hypate  ;  that  from  eight  Mese,  being  Sesquitertia 
'  to  the  other  ;  that  from  nine  Paramese,  it  being  one 
'  tone  more  acute,  and  sesquioctave  to  the  Mese  ;  that 
'  from  twelve  he  termed  Nete  ;  and  supplying  the 
'  middle  spaces  with  proportionable  sounds,  according 
'  to  the  diatonic  genus,  he  so  ordered  the  octochord 
'  with  convenient  numbers.  Duple,  Sesquialtera,  Ses- 
'  quitertia,  and  the  difference  of  the  two  last,  Sesqui- 
'  octava. 

*  Thus  by  a  kind  of  natural  necessity  he  found  the 
'  progress  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  according 
'  to  the  diatonic  genus  ;  and  from  thence  he  proceeded 
'to  declai'e  the  chromatic  and  enharmonic  kinds.' f 
Hist,  of  Philosophy,  pag.  387.  folio  edit.  1701. 

*  This  seems  difficult  to  conceive,  for  the  tuning  ofpipep  and  flutes 
is  regulated  by  the  size  and  distance  of  the  apertures  for  the  emission  of 
the  wind  or  breath  ;  and  to  these  the  proportions  of  six,  eight,  nine, 
twelve,  are  in  no  way  whatever  applirabie. 

t  The  result  of  this  discovery  is,  that  consonancy  is  founded  on 
geometrical  principles,  the  contemplaiion  \vhere(jf,  and  the  making  them 
the  test  of  beauty  and  harmony,  is  a  pleasure  separate  and  distinct  from 
that  which  we  receive  by  the  senses.  This  geometrical  relation  of  the 
consonances  has  been  farther  illustrated  by  Archimedes,  who  has  de- 
monstrated that  the  proportions  of  certain  solid  bodies  are  the  same  with 
those  of  the  musical  consonances  ;  to  speak  first  of  the  diapason. 

By  a  corollary  from  the  thirty-fourth  proposition  of  Archimedes  it  is 
shewn,  that  the  proportion  of  the  octave  is  as  the  whole  superficies  of 
a  right  cylinder  described  about  a  sphere,  is  to  the  whole  superficies  of  an 
equilateral  cylinder  inscribed,  that  is  to  say,  as  2  is  to  1.  For  the  cir- 
cumscribed is  to  the  spheric  superficies  as  12  is  to  8  ;  but  the  spheric  is  to 
the  inscribed  as  8  is  to  6  ;  therefore  the  circumscribed  is  to  the  inscribed 
as  12  is  to  6,  or  2  to  1.  Vide  Theorems  selected  out  of  Archimedes  by 
Andrew  Taquet,  printed  at  the  end  of  Whiston's  Euclid. 

As  to  the  diatessaron,  the  proportion  of  it  is  precisely  the  same  with 
that  which  subsists  between  the  superficies  of  a  sphere  and  the  whole 
superficies  of  a  square  cylinder  inscribed  therein,  viz.,  4  to  3.  Ibid. 
Prop,  xxxiv. 

But  which  is  admirable,  the  sesquialteral  proportion  of  the  diapente, 
and  of  the  same  interval  continued,  is  demonstrated  by  Tacquet  himself, 
by  a  sphere,  a  right  cylinder,  and  an  equilateral  cone  thus  disposed  : — 


His  words  are  these :  '  An  equilateral  cone  circumscribed  about  a 
'sphere,  and  a  right  cylinder  in  like  manner  circumscribed  about  the 
'same  sphere,  and  the  same  sphere  itself  continue  the  same  proportion; 
'  to  wit,  the  sesquialteral,  as  well  as  in  respect  of  the  solidity  as  of  the 
'whole  superficies. 

'  For  by  32  of  this  book,  the  right  cylinder  G  K  encompassing  the 
'  sphere,  is  to  the  sphere,  as  well  in  respect  of  solidity,  as  of  the  whole 
'  superficies,  as  3  is  to  2,  or  as  G  to  4.  But  by  the  foregoing,  the  equilateral 
'  cone  BAD  circumscribed  about  the  sphere,  is  to  the  spliere,  in  both  the 
'  said  respects,  as  9  is  to  4.     Therefore  the  same  cone  is  to  the  cylinder, 

•  both  in  respect  of  solidity  and  surface,  as  nine  is  to  six  ;    wherefore 

•  these  three  bodies,  a  cone,  a  cylinder,  and  sphere,  are  betwixt  them  • 
'  selves  as  the  numbers  9,  6,  4  ;  and  consequently  continue  the  sesqui- 
'  altera!  proportion.'  Q.  E.  D.  Prop.  xlv.  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
'  Theorems  of  Archimedes  by  Tacquet. 

Farther  the  same  author  shows,  that  the  same  sesquialteral  proportion 
holds  betwixt  an  equilateral  cone  and  cylinder  circumscribed  about  the 
same  sphere,  in  respect  of  their  whole  surfaces,  their  simple  surfaces, 
their  solidities,  altitudes,  and  bases. 

Archimedes  was  so  delighted  with  the  thirty -second  of  his  propositions, 
above  referred  to,  that  he  left  it  in  charge  to  his  friends  to  erect  on  his 


Other  writers  attribute  the  discovery  of  the  con- 
sonances to  another,  named  Diodes ;  who,  say  they, 
passing  by  a  potter's  shop,  chanced  to  strike  his 
stick  against  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  proportions  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  the  following  diagram  : — 
DIAPASON. 

• "^ s 

DIATESSARON        TONE        DIATESSAKON 


12 

V 


8 


9 


6 


DIAPENTE 


DIAPENTE 

It  is  observable  that  there  is  nothing  in  this 
account  to  authorise  the  supposition  that  the  lyre 
of  Mercury  was  tuned  in  any  of  those  proportions 
which  this  discovery  had  shewn  to  be  consonant. 
Bontempi,  who,  as  we  have  hinted  before,  had  his 
doubts  about  it,  says  expressly  that  none  of  the  Greek 
writers  assert  any  such  matter  ;  and  Zarlino,  though 
he  adopts  the  relation  of  Boetius,  does  it  in  such 
a  way  as  sufficiently  shews  it  stuck  with  him  :  we 
may  therefore  justly  suspect  that  Boetius  went  too 
far  in  assigning  to  the  strings  of  the  Mercurian  lyre 
the  proportions  of  six,  eight,  nine,  twelve. 

CHAP.  III. 

If  we  consider  the  amount  of  this  discovery,  it 
will  appear  to  be,  that  certain  sounds,  which  the 
human  ear  had  previously  recognised  as  grateful  and 
harmonious,  were,  by  the  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  demonsti'ated  by  Ptolemy,  and  will  be  shown  here- 
after ;  but  then  it  has  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  said  to  be  made  by  Py- 
thagoras ;  so  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,  is  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,  nine, 
twelve,  will  make  the  intervals  above-mentioned,  viz., 
a  fourth,  fifth,  and  octave  ;  yet  let  weights  in  these 
proportions  be  hung  to  strings  of  equal  length  and 
thickness,  and  the  intervals  between  the  sounds  pro- 
tomb  a  sphere  included  in  a  cylinder,  and  Tacquet  seems  to  have  been 
little  less  pleased  with  his  improvement  on  it,  for  he  has  given  the  figure 
referred  to  in  the  demonstration  of  it,  in  the  title  page  of  his  Theorems 
selected  from  Archimedes. 

t  Vincent.  Galilei,  Dial,  della  Musica,  pag.  127. 


Chap.  III. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


11 


duced  by  strings  thus  distended  will  be  far  different 
from  those  above-mentioned. 

It  is  said  that  we  owe  the  detection  of  this  error 
to  the  penetration  and  industry  of  Galileo  Galilei, 
whose  merits  as  well  as  sufferings  are  sufficiently 
known.  He  was  the  sou  of  a  noble  Florentine 
named  Vincentio  Galilei,  the  author  of  a  most  learned 
and  valuable  work,  intitled  Dialogo  della  Musica  antica 
e  moderna,  printed  at  Florence  in  15S1  and  1602 ; 
and  also  of  a  tract,  intitled  Discorso  intorno  all'  Opere 
del  Zarlino  ;  and  of  his  father,  who  was  an  admirable 
performer  on  the  lute,  learned  both  the  theory  and 
practice  of  music ;  in  the  latter  whereof  he  is  said  to 
have  been  such  a  proficient,  as  to  be  able  to  perform 
to  a  great  degree  of  excellence  on  a  variety  of  instru- 
ments ;  however,  notwithstanding  this  his  propensity 
to  music,  his  chief  pursuits  were  natural  philosophy 
and  the  mathematics.  The  inquisitiveness  of  his 
temper  leading  him  to  the  making  experiments,  in 
the  course  thereof  he  made  many  noble  discoveries  ; 
that  of  the  telescope  seems  to  be  universally  attributed 
to  him ;  his  first  essay  towards  an  instrument  for 
viewing  the  planets  was  an  organ  pipe  with  glasses 
fixed  therein  ;  and  it  was  he  that  first  investigated 
those  laws  of  pendulums,  which  I\Ir.  Huygens  after- 
wards improved  into  a  regular  and  consistent  theory. 

In  a  work  of  the  younger  Galilei,  intitled  Discorsi 
6  Dimostrazioni  Matematiche  intorno,  a  due  nuove 
Scienze,  attenenti  alia  Mecanica,  ed  i  Movimenti 
locali,  is  contained  a  detection  of  that  error,  which  it 
is  here  proposed  to  refute. 

It  is  true  some  writers  refer  this  discovery  to 
Vincentio  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- 
'  duce  the  diapente  ought  to  be  in  dupla  sesquiqi;arta  ; 
'  for  the  diatessaron  in  sesquisettima  partientenono 

*  and  for  the  tone  in  sesquisettima  partiente  64.'  * 

Malcolm  also,  speaking  of  the  discovery  of  the 
consonances  by  Pythagoras,  makes  use  of  these  words  : 
'  But  we  have  found  an  error  in  this  account,  which 
'  Vincenzo  Galileo,  in  his  Dialogues  of  the  ancient 

*  and  modern  Music,  is,  for  what  I  know,  the  first 
'  who  observes  ;  and  from  him  Meibomius  repeats  it 
'  in  his  notes  upon  Nicomachus.'f 

Here  it  may  be  observed,  that  this  author  Malcolm 
has  himself  been  guilty  of  two  mistakes  :  for  first,  it 
is  not  in  his  notes  on  Nicomachus,  but  in  those  on 
Gaudentius  that  Meibomius  mentions  the  error  now 
imder  consideration  :  and  farther,  in  the  passage  of 
Meibomius,  which  Malcolm  meant  to  refer  to,  the 
discovery  is  not  ascribed  to  Vincentio  Galilei,  but  to 
Galileo  Galilei  his  son.  To  take  the  whole  together, 
Gaudentius,  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. 
Meibomius  upon  this  passage  remarks  in  the  follow- 
ing words  :  '  Mirandum  sane,  banc  experientiam,  tot 


•  Hist.  Music,  pag.  54 


t  Malcolm  on  Music,  pag.  503. 


'  gravissimorum  auctorum  adsertione  confirmatam, 
'  nostro  primum  seculo  deprehensam  esse  falsam. 
'  Inventionis  gloriam  debemus  nobilissimo  mathema- 
'  tico  Galileo  Galilei,  quem  vide  pag.  100.  Tractatus 
'  qui  inscribitur  :  Discorsi  e  Dimostrazioni  jMatem- 
'  atiche  intorno  a  due  nuove  Scienze.' | 

But  notwithstanding  Bontempi  has  given  from  the 
elder  Galilei  a  passage  which  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 
younger,  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  the  reasons  commonly 
brought  by  the  learned  authors  who  have  hitherto 
w^rote  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  sesquialter  : 
for  if  a  string,  stretched  upon  the  monochord,  be 
sounded  open,  and  afterwards  placing  a  bridge 
under  the  midst  of  it,  its  half  only  be  sounded,  you 
will  hear  an  eighth  ;  and  if  the  bridge  be  placed 
under  one  third  of  the  string,  and  you  then  strike 
the  two  thirds  open,  it  will  sound  a  fifth,  to  that  of 
the  whole  string  struck  when  open ;  whereupon 
they  infer  that  the  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  the  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  the  tone  of  a  string,  viz.,  bv 
shortening  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  the 
same  length  and  thickness,  we  w'ould  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  the  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  sound  an  eighth,  this  string 
must  be  but  one  fourth  of  the  thickness  of  tliat 
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  would  produce  it  by  tension,  and  in  order 
thereto  hang  to  the  grave  string  a  four-pound 
weight ;  we  must  hang  to  the  acute,  not  one  of  six, 
which  yet  is  in  sesquialteral  proportion  to  four,  viz., 

X  Meibom.  Not.  in  Gaudent.  pag.  37. 

§  Isaac  Vossius  says  that  in  this  passage  the  author  has  erred,  and 
with  his  usual  temerity  asserts,  that  ceeteris  paribus,  the  thicker  the  cliorcl, 
the  acuter  the  sound.  De  Poemat.  Cant,  et  Viribus  Rythnii,  pag.  113. 
And  this,  even  tliough  he  confesses  tliat  both  Des  Cartes  and  Mersennus 
were  of  opinion  with  Galilei  in  this  respect.  The  only  appeal  in  such 
a  case  as  this  must  be  to  experiment,  and  whoever  will  make  one  for 
the  purpose  will  lind  the  converse  of  this  proposition  to  be  true,  and 
that,  as  Galilei  has  said,  chords  comparatively  thin  render  acute,  and  not 
grave  sounds. 


12 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


'  three  to  two,  but  one  of  nine  pounds.  And  to  pro- 
'  duce  tlie  above  intervals  by  strings  of  the  same 
'  length,  but  different  thickness,  the  proportion 
'  between  the  grave  and  the  acute  string  must  be 
'  that  of  nine  to  four.  These  things  being  really  so 
'  in  fact,  I  saw  no  reason  why  these  sage  philosophers 
•  should  rather  constitute  the  form  of  the  eighth 
'  double  than  qiiadruplo,  and  that  of  the  fifth  rather 
'  in  sesquialtera  than  in  double  sesquiipiarta,  &c.'  * 
Discorsi  e  Dimostrazioni  Matematiche  del  Galileo 
Galilei,  pag.  75. 

To  give  yet  farther  weight  to  the  above  objection, 
it  may  be  necessary  here  briefly  to  explain  a  ductrine 
yet  unknown  to  the  ancients,  viz.,  that  of  pendulums, 
between  the  vibrations  whereof,  and  those  of  musical 
chords,  there  is  an  exact  coincidence. 

Sound  is  produced  by  the  treraulation  of  the  air, 
excited  by  the  insensible  vibrations  of  some  elastic, 
sonorous  body  ;  and  it  has  been  manifested  by  re- 
peated experiments,  that  of  musical  sounds  the  acute 
are  produced  by  swift,  and  the  grave  by  comparatively 
slow  vibrations. f  A  chord  distended  by  a  weight  or 
otherwise,  is,  with  respect  to  the  vibrations  made 
between  its  two  extremities,  to  be  considered  as 
a  double  pendulum,  ^  and  as  subject  to  the  same  laws. 

The  proportions  between  the  lengths  of  pendulums, 
and  the  niuiiber  of  vibrations  made  by  them,  are  in 
an  inverse  duplicate  ratio  ;  so  that  if  the  length  be 
quadrupled,  the  vibrations  will  be  subdupled ;  on  the 
contrary,  if  the  length  be  subquadupled,  the  vibra- 
tions will  be  dupled.§ 

The  same  proportions  hold  also  with  respect  to 
a  chord,  but  with  this  difference,  that  in  the  case  of 
pendulums  the  ratios  are  inverse,  the  greater  length 
giving  the  fewer  vibrations ;  whereas  in  that  of 
chords  they  are  direct,  the  greater  tension  giving 
the  greater  number  of  vibrations  :  thus  if  the  tensive 
power  be  as  one,  if  that  be  quadrupled,  the  number 
of  vibrations  is  dui)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  subsist  between  the  vibrations  of  pendulums  and 
their  respective  lengths,  are  to  be  found  inversely 
between  the  vibrations  of  chords  and  the  powers  that 
distend  them  :   what  those  ratios  are,  so  far  as  they 

*  The  reason  of  these  safre  philosophers  for  doing;  thus,  notwithstanding 
that  Galilei  could  not  discover  it,  seems  to  be  very  obvious  ;  they  con- 
stituted the  form  of  the  eiRhth  double  because  they  found  it  to  arise 
from  the  division  of  a  chord  into  two  equal  parts;  and  the  fifth  they 
found  to  arise  from  the  division  of  a  chord  into  five  parts,  three  whereof 
struck  against  the  remaining  two  produced  that  interval ;  therefore  they 
assigned  to  it  the  sesquialtera  proportion,  3  to  2.  And  certainly  there 
needs  no  better  reason  for  the  Pythagorean  constitution  of  the  con- 
sonances, than  that  it  is  founded  in  the  actual  division  of  a  chord  ;  and 
had  the  followers  of  Pythagoras  rested  the  matter  there,  their  tenets 
would  have  escaped  reprehension. 

But  they  say  of  him  that  he  produced  the  consonances  by  chords  of 
equal  length  and  thickness,  distended  by  weights  of  six,  eight,  nine, 
and  twelve  pounds  ;  Galilei  has  shewn  that  this  could  not  be  ;  and  from 
the  principles  laid  down  by  writers  since  his  time,  as  also  by  experiments, 
it  most  evidently  appears,  that  to  produce  the  consonances,  from  chords 
thus  conditioned,  weights  must  be  used  of  a  very  different  proportion 
from  those  said  to  have  been  taken  by  Pythagoras. 

As  to  the  proportions,  there  can  be  no  boubt  but  that  they  are  as 
above-stated :  but  the  error  chargeable  on  the  Pythagoreans  is  the 
making  the  discovery  of  them  the  result  of  an  experiment,  which  must 
havfc  jeoduced,  instead  of  consonances,  dissonances  of  the  most  offensive 
kind 

t  Treatise  on  the  natural  Grounds  and  Principles  of  Harmony,  by 
William  Holder.     Passim. 
I  Ibid.  xi.  43. 
§  Ibid.  16. 


respect  the  acuteness  or  gravity  of  sound,  will  shortly 
be  made  appear. 

In  order  to  apply  the  doctrine  of  tensive  powers 
to  the  question  in  debate,  it  is  necessary  to  state  the 
ratios  of  the  several  consonances,  and  those  are  de- 
monstrated to  be  as  follows,  viz.,  that  of  the  diapente 
3  to  2,  and  of  the  diatessaron  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  these  parts  will  be  a  diapente 
to  that  produced  at  two  ;  if  divided  into  seven  parts, 
four  of  them  will  sound  a  diatessaron  against  the  re- 
maining three ;  and  if  divided  into  three  parts,  two 
of  them  make  a  diapason  against  the  other  one : 
farther,  if  the  chord  be  divided  into  seventeen  parts, 
nine  of  them  on  one  side  will  sound  a  sesquioctave 
tone  to  the  eight  remaining  on  the  other.  These  are 
principles  in  harmonics  which  we  may  safely  assume, 
and  the  demonstrations  may  be  seen  in  Ptolemy's 
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  so  distended  as  that  their  vibra- 
tions shall  be  as  three  to  two,  that  is,  that  A  shall 
make  three  vibrations  while  B  is  making  two,  the 
consonance  produced  by  striking  them  together  will 
be  a  diapente. 

If  the  vibrations  be  as  four  to  three,  the  consonance 
will  be  a  diatessaron. 

If  the  vibrations  be  as  two  to  one,  the  consona»ice 
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  the 
principle  above  laid  down,  that  the  squares  of  the 
vibrations  of  equal  chords  are  to  each  other  as  their 
respective  tensions  :  if  then  we  suppose  a  given  sound' 
to  be  the  effect  of  a  tension  by  a  weight  of  six  pounds, 
and  would  know  the  weight  necessary  to  produce  the 
diapente,  which  has  a  ratio  to  its  unison  of  3  to  2, 
we  must  take  the  .square  of  those  numbers  9  to  4, 
and  seek  a  number  that  bears  the  same  ratio  to  six, 
as  nine  does  to  four,  and  this  can  be  no  whole  number, 
but  is  thirteen  and  a  half. 

By  the  same  rule  we  adjust  the  weight  for  the 
diatessaron,  4  to  3,  which  numbers  squared  are  six- 
teen and  nine,  and  as  16  is  to  9,  so  is  10|  to  6. 

For  the  diapason  2  to  1,  which  numbers  squared 
are  4  to  1,  the  weight  must  be  twenty-four  ;  so  as  4 
is  to  1,  so  is  24  to  6. 

The  several  weights  above  adjusted,  have  a  re- 
ference to  the  unison  expressed  in  the  scheme  of  Py- 
thagoras, by  the  number  six,  supposed  to  result  from 
a  tension  of  six  pounds.  But  the  sesquioctave  tone, 
as  it  is  the  difference  between  the  diapente  and  dia- 
tessaron, takes  its  ratio  from  the  sound  expressed  by 

II  Mersennus  recommends  for  the  purpose  of  making  these  experiments, 
the  use  of  two  chords  rather  than  one,  for  this  reason,  that  where  one 
only  is  taken,  only  one  sound  can  be  heard  at  a  time  ;  whereas  when  two 
are  used,  both  sounds  are  heard  at  the  same  instant,  and  thereby  the 
consonance  is  perceii  ud.  Harmonie  universelle,  Traitfe  des  Instrumena, 
Prop.  V. 


Chap.  III. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


13 


the  number  eight,  as  the  diapente  does  from  that  ex- 
pressed by  nine  ;  in  order  then  to  adjust  the  weight 
for  this  interval,  we  miist  square  those  numbers  ;  and 
as  81  is  to  64,  so  is  13J  to  10|. 

Whoever  is  disposed  to  prove  tlie  truth  of  these 
positions,  and  doubts  the  certainty  of  numerical 
calculation,  may  have  recourse  to  experiment ;  in 
which,  however,  this  caution  is  to  be  observed,  that 
in  the  making  it  the  utmost  degree  of  accuracy  is 
necessary  ;  for  it  should  seem  that  one  of  the  authors 
above-cited  failed  in  an  attempt  of  this  sort,  which 
is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  if  we  conaider  the  nature  of 
the  subject. 

The  author  here  meant  is  Bontempi ;  who,  after 
citing  the  authority  of  Vincentio  and  Galileo  Galilei, 
adds,  that,  '  prompted  by  curiosity,  he  made  an  ex- 

*  periment  by  hanging   weights  to  strings  of  equal 

*  lengths  and  thickness,  the  result  whereof  was,  that 
'  the  first  and  second  strings,  having  weights  of  12 
'  and  iJ,  produced  not  the  diatessaron,  but  the  trihemi- 
'  tone  ;  the  first  and  third  12,  8,  not  the  diapente  but 
'  tlie  ditone  ;  the  first  and  fourth,  12,  6,  not  the  dia- 
'  pason  but  the  tritone  ;  the  second  and  the  third,  9,  8, 
'  not  the  tone,  but  the  defective  or  incomplete  hemi- 
'  tone  ;  the  second  and  fourth,  9,  6,  not  the  diapente, 

*  but  the  semiditone  ;  and  the  third  and  fourth,  8,  G, 
'  not  the  diatessaron,  l:)ut  the  distended  or  excessive 
'  tone,  as  the  following  figure  demonstrates  : — * 

TRITONE. 


12 


TRIHEMITONE.     HEMITONE  incomplete.      TONE  excessive. 


9 


8 


DITONE. 


iSEMIDITONE. 

But  that  the  proportions  of  a  diatessaron  tone  and 
diatessaron  would  result  from  an  experiment  made 
by  strings  of  several  lengths  of  twelve,  nine,  eight, 
six  ;  or  rather  by  a  division  of  the  monochord,  ac- 
cording to  that  rule,  is  demonstrable.  This  invention 
of  Pythagoras,  as  it  regarded  only  the  proportions  or 
ratios  of  sounds,  was  applicable  to  no  one  system  in 

•  Egli  ^  cosa  da  restar  confuso,  e  formare  un  cumulo  di  maraviglie, 
che  questo  sperimento,  confennato  da  gravisslmi  autori,  e  teimto  tanti 
secoli  per  veto  sia  stato  finalinente  scoperto  esser  falso  da  Galileo  Galilei, 
sicome  riferisce  ne'  suoi  Discorsi  e  Dimoytrazioni  Mathematiche,  e  Vin- 
cenzo  Galilei  nel  discorso  intorno  all'  opere  del  Zarlino  afferma,  che  per 
ritrovare  co'  pesi  attaccati  alle  corde  le  consonanze  de  Martelli;  per  la 
diapason  debbono  costituirsi  i  pesi  in  quadrupla  proportione :  per  la 
diapente,  in  dupla  sesquiqiiarta ;  per  la  diatessaron,  in  sesqui  7  par- 
tiente  9;  e  pe'l  tuono,  in  sesqui  7  partjente  64.  E  noi,  spinti  dalla 
curiosity  messo  in  opera  questo  sperimento  co'  pesi  de  Martelli,  habbiamo 
ritrnvato  cheil  prime  ed  il  secondo  12,  9,  partoriscono  non  la  diatessaron  : 
nia  il  triemituono;  il  primo  ed  il  terzo,  12,  8,  non  la  diapente;  ma  il 
ditono;  il  primo  e'l  quarto  12,  6,  non  la  diapason;  ma  il  tritono  ;  11 
Becondo  e'l  terzo  9,  8,  non  il  tuono  :  mal'hemitunno  rimesso  o  mancante  ; 
il  secondo  e'l  (Quarto  9,  6,  non  la  diapente :  ma  il  semiditono  ;  ed  il  terzo 
e'l  quarto  8,  6,  non  la  diatessaron :  ma  il  tuono  disteso  overo  eccedente, 
sicome  la  ottoposta  figura  dimostra.     Bontempi,  pa.  54. 

Ptolemy  observes,  that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  find  chords  perfectly 
fiqual  in  respect  of  crassitude,  density,  and  other  qualities  that  determine 
their  several  sounds  ;  and  farther  he  says,  that  the  same  chord  distended 
by  the  same  weight,,  will  at  different  times  yield  different  sounds. 
Ptolem.  Harmonicor.  lib.  I.  cap.  8.  Ex  vers.  Wallis.  Mersenn.  Harm, 
universelle.  Traite  des  Instrumens,  Prop.  iv.  So  that  the  success  of  ex- 
periments for  investigating  the  consonances,  by  the  means  of  weights 
h\ing  to  chprds,  must  be  very  precarious,  and  is  little  to  be  depended  on. 


particular  ;  however  it  produced  a  discovery,  which 
enabled  him  at  once  to  supply  a  defect  in  even  the 
improved  system  of  Terpander,  and  lay  a  foundation 
for  that  more  enlarged  one,  which  is  distinguished  by 
his  name,  and  has  never  since  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,  six,  viz.,  nine, 
eight,  was  a  complete  tone,  or  sesquioctave  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  supremely  sweet  concord  the 
diapason,  which  the  means  above  had  enabled  him  to 
investigate.  Observing  farther  that  in  the  septenary 
the  interval  between  Mese  and  Paramese  was  but 
a  hemitone,  he  immediately  interposed  between  them 
a  whole  tone,  and  thereby  completed  the  diapason. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  some  authors  have  in 
general  terms  ascribed  the  addition  of  an  eighth 
string  to  the  heptachord  lyre  to  others  ;  Boetius 
gives  it  to  Licaon,  and  Pliny  to  Simonides  ;  but 
Nicomachus,  from  whom  the  following  relation  is 
taken,  does  most  expressly  attribute  it  to  Pythagoras. 

History  has  also  transmitted  to  us  the  bare  names 
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  ;f 
but  as  to  the  ratio  subsisting  between  them,  or  any 
system  to  which  they  could  be  said  to  be  adapted, 
there  is  a  total  silence.  Indeed  we  h^ve  the  greatest 
reason  to  think  that  these  additions  were  not  made 
in  any  ratio  whatever,  but  served  only  to  increase 
the  variety  of  sounds |.  That  innovations  were  made 
in  the  heptachord  is  certain  ;  and  when  we  are  in- 
formed that  Timotheus,  for  his  presumption  in  adding 
to  the  strings  of  the  ancient  lyre,  had  a  fine  imposed 
on  him  by  the  magistracy,  we  may  fairly  conclude 
that  those  innovations  tended  rather  to  the  corruption 
than  the  improvement  of  music. 

But  the  case  is  different  with  respect  to  him  of 
whom  we  are  now  speaking  ;  the  system  of  Pytha- 
goras had  its  foundation  in  nature :  the  improvement 
of  an  instrument  was  not  his  care  ;  he  was  a  phi- 
losopher and  a  musician  in  the  genuine  sense  of  the 
word,  and  proposed  nothing  less  than  the  establish- 
ment of  a  theory  to  which  the  practice  of  succeeding 
ages  should  be  accommodated.  His  motives  for 
attempting  it,  and  in  what  manner  he  effected  this 
great  purpose,  shall  now  be  given  in  the  wo^'ds  of 
his  learned  biographer  : — 

'  Pythagoras,  lest  the  middle  sound  by  conjunction 
*  being  compared  to  the  two  extremes,  should  render 
'  the  diatessaron  concent  both  to  the  Nete  and 
'  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 

f  Boetius  de  Musica,  lib.  ii.,  cap.  20.  Vincen.  Galilei,  Dial,  della 
Musica,  pag.  1(6. 

X  Nicom.  lib.  ii.     Boet.  lib.  i.,  cap.  20.     Bont.  pag.  71. 


u 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


consists  in  duple  proportion,  inserted  an  eighth 
sound  between  the  Mese  and  the  Paramese,  pLacing 
it  from  the  Mese  a  whole  tone,  and  from  the  Para- 
mese a  semitone ;  so  that  what  was  formerly  the 
Paramese  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  diatessaron,  which  before  the  Mese 
had  to  the  Hj'pate  :  but  the  tone  between  them, 
that  is  the  IMese,  and  the  tone  inserted,  called  the 
Paramese,  instead  of  the  former,  to  whichsoever 
tetrachord  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  tetrachord  itself,  and  of  the  additional 
tone  :  and  as  the  diapente  proportion,  viz.,  sesqui^ 
altera,  is  found  to  be  a  system  of  sesquitertia  and 
sesquioctava,  the  tone  therefore  is  sesquioctava. 
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  OF  PYTHAGORAS. 


6    c   Nete 

Tone 
d    Paranete 
Tone 
c    Trite 
Arithmetical  Hemitone     ^^^^ 

Mean  9     b  Paramese 

Tone 


GREAT  SYSTEM  OF  PYTHAGORAS. 


Harmonical 
Meanf 


8     a   Mese 

Tone 
G  Lychanos 

Tone 
F  Parhypate 
Hemitone 
12    E  Hypate 


It  remains  now  to  enquire  what  this  variation  of 
and  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  additions  which  had  been  made  to  that  of  Ter- 
pander  ;  and  first  he  connected  with  it  the  tetrachord 
hypaton,  which  carried  the  system  down  to  B,  and 
placing  at  the  other  extremity  the  hyperboleon 
tetrachord,  he  continued  it  up  to  a  a,  as  is  here 
shewn. 

*  Stanl.  Hist,  of  Philosophy,  pag.  386,  from  Nicom.  lib.  i. 

+  The  difference  between  the  arithmetical  and  harmonical  division  of 
the  diapason  is  explained  in  a  subsequent  chapter.  But  as  this  division 
is  frequently  occurring,  it  may  not  be  improper  here  to  remark  in  general 
that  the  numbers  12,  9,  6,  express  the  arithmetical,  and  12,  8,  6,  the 
Jiarmonical  division. 


< 
O 

o 

< 

tB 
H 


■£  /'Nete  hyperboleon 

I  Tone 

^  I  Paranete  hyperboleon 

«  I  Trite  hj'perboleon 

Hemitone 
Nete  diezcugmenon 
/"«  I  Tone 

■H  I  Paranete  diezcugmenon 

1  <  Tone 

2  I  Trite  diezcugmenon 
Hemitone 


aa 


e 
d 


s;  I 


B 


Paramese 
Mese 


"S  I  Lychanos  meson 

2  I  Parhypate  meson 
■£   I 


p. 
a 


Hypate  meson 
Lychanos  hypaton 
Parhypate  Itypaton 
^Hj-pate  hypaton 


Tone 

Tone 

Tone 

Hemitone 

Tone 

Tone 

Hemitone 


G 
F 
E 
D 
C 
b 


In  consequence  of  the  separation  of  the  system  of 
the  octochord  above  noted,  we  see  that  in  the  above 
diagram  the  tetrachord  B  is  separated  from  the 
tetrachord  A  by  a  whole  tone :  this  disunion  of  the 
one  diatessaron  from  the  other,  gave  rise  to  the 
epithet  of  Diezcugmenon  or  disjunct,  whereby  the 
former  of  the  two  tetrachords  is  distinguished :  we 
are  therefore  now  to  look  for  the  invention  of  that 
other  tetrachord,  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,  th^t  that  relation  which 
modern  musicians  denominate  a  Tritonus,  can  have 
no  place  in  any  regular  series  of  progression,  either 
ascending  or  descending  ;  for  of  the  eftects  of  sounds 
produced  at  the  same  instant  we  are  not  now  speak- 
ing :  that  such  a  relation  immediately  arose  from  the 
separation  of  the  Diezcugmenon  and  Meson  tetra- 
chords, will  appear  by  observing  that  in  the  progression 
upwards  through  the  Meson  tetrachord,  beginning 
at  Parhypate  Meson,  and  proceeding  to  Paramese, 
that  interval  which  should  be  a  diatessaron,  and  con- 
sist of  two  tones  and  a  hemitone,  will  contain  three 
tones,  and  have  for  its  ultimate  sound  what  in  this 
place  is  to  be  considered  as  an  excessive  fourth.^ 
The  consequence  of  this  was,  that  the  lower  sound 
coiild  never  be  used  as  a  funda^riental ;  and  so  far  the 
system  must  be  said  to  have  been  imperfect.  To 
remedy  this  defect  in  part,  collateral  or  auxiliary 
tetrachord  was  with  great  ingenuity  constituted,  in 
which  the  sounds  followed  in  the  order  of  hemitone, 
tone,  and  tone,  a  succession  which  a  true  and  perfect 
diatessaron  requires. 

t  Some  writers  have  given  the  name  of  Tritonus  to  the  defective  fifth, 
J]  f,  for  this  reason,  that  it  is  an  interval  compounded  of  hemitone,  tone, 
tone,  and  hemitone,  the  sum  whereof  is  three  tones.  But  in  this  they 
are  mistaken,  for  the  ratios  of  the  tritonus  or  excessive  fourth,  and  the 
semidiapente  or  defective  fifth  are  different,  the  one  being  45  to  32,  the 
other  64  to  4.5.  Vide  Mersennus  Harmonic,  De  Dissonantiis,  pag.  75. 
Holder  on  the  natural  Grounds  and  Principles  of  Harmony,  pag.  128. 


Chap.  III. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


15 


The  intervals  that  compose  this  system  will  appear 
upon  comparison  to  be  precisely  the  same  with  those 
of  the  tetrachord  B,  in  the  conjunct  system ;  whereas 
between  the  tetrachord  B.  in  the  disjunct  system,  and 
that  at  present  xmder  consideration,  this  difference  is 
apparent ;  in  the  former  the  distance  between  a  and  b 
is  a  whole  tone,  in  the  latter  it  is  a  hemitone :  if 
therefore  this  question  should  be  asked,  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  octochord ;  next  in  the 
introduction  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 
seems  to  exclude  whenever  the  perfection  of  the  harr 
mony  should  require  it.  After  what  has  been  said 
it  will  be  needless  to  add  that  this  collateral  tetra- 
chord Avas  distinguished  by  the  epithet  of  Synemr 
menon  or  conjunct.  With  these  improvements  the 
Pythagorean  system  assumed  the  following  form ; — 

ADDITION  to  the  GREAT  SYSTEM  of 
PYTHAGORAS. 

aa 


g 
f 


H      r. 


ji  /-Nete  hyperboleon 
I  Tone 

^  I  Paranete  hyperboleon 
^  <       _  Tone 

g  j  Trite  hj'perholeon 
«  I  Hemitone 

Nete  diezeugmenon 

Tone 
Paranete  diezeugmen. 

Tone 
Trite  diezeugmenon 

Hemitone 
Paramese 

Tone 
y'Mese 

Tone 
Lychanos  meson 
Tone 
g  J  Parhyp.'jite  meson 
u  !  Hemitone 

^     Hypate  meson  E 

Tone 
Lychanos  Jivpaton 
j  <  Tone 

\i  I  Parhypate  hypaton      C 
■£  I  Hemitone 

^     Hypate  hjT^^o'^  h 

There  ^yer^  two  reasons  that  seemed  to  suggest 


a  still  farther  improvement ;  the  one  was  that  by  the 
separation  of  the  Diezeugmenon  and  Meson  tetra- 
chords  there  followed  an  unequal  division  of  the 
system ;  for,  ascending  from  Mese  to  Nete  Hyper- 
boleon, the  distance  was  a  complete  Octave  ;  whereas 
descending  to  Hypate  Hypaton  it  was  only  a  Seventh  : 
from  hence  arose  another  inconvenience,  a  false  rela- 
tion between  Hypate  Hypaton  and  Parhypate  Meson, 
which  though  to  appearance  a  fifth,  was  in  truth  an 
interval  of  only  two  tones  and  two  hemitones,  con- 
stituting together  the  very  discordant  relation  of 
a  defective  fifth.  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 
superntmierary,  it  not  being  includable  in  the  division 
of  the  system  by  tetrachords  ;  and  thus  was  completed 
that  system  of  a  Bisdiapason  or  double  octave,  which 
the  Italians  distinguished  by  the  several  appellations 
of  Systema  immutabile,  Systema  diatonico,  Systema 
Pitagorico,  and  Systema  massimo. 

IMMUTABLE  SYSTEM  OF  PYTHAGORAS. 

•   /'Nete  hyperboleon       aa 
S  I  Tone 

Paranete  hyperboleon  g 

Tone 
Trite  hyperboleon        f 

Hemitone 
Nete  diezeugmenon     e 

Tone 
g  I  Paranete  diezeug. 
'•3  ■{  Tone 

■S  I  Trite  diezeugmenon 
S  I  Hemitone 

H  ^Paramese 

Tone 
<i  ^Mese 

5  I  Tone 

||] 


Nete  synemmenon        d^ 

Tone 
Paranete  synemmenon  c 

Tone 
Trite  synemmenon        b 

Hemitone 
Mese  &' 


A< 


G 

F 


D 


P3 


I 

en 


Nete  synemmenon     ( 

Tone 
Para,nete  synem. 

Tone 
Trite  sjTiemmenon 

Hemitone 
Mese 


I 


Lychanos  meson         G 


Tone 


F 


D 


P£^rhypate  meson 

Hemitone 
^  ^Hypate  meson  E 

i  j  Tone 

P;  I  Lychanos  hypaton 
%J  Tone 

I  I  Parhypate  hypaton     C 
^  j  Hemitone 

^  ^Hypate  hypaton  j-| 

Tone 

Proslambanomenos     A 


Here  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  although  in  this 
and  the  preceding  scale  the  Synemmenon  tetrachord 
is  given  at  large,  yet  the  generality  of  writers  either 
insert  it  entire  in  its  place,  immediately  above  the 
Meson  tetrachord.  placing  the  Diezeugmenon  tetra- 
chord above  it,  as  Kircher  in  his  Musurgia,  tom.  I, 
lib.  III.  cap.  xiii.  or  else  following  perhaps  the  ex-^' 
ample  of  Guido,  whose  reformation  of  the  scale  might 
suggest  this  latter  method  as  the  most  concise,  they 
have  borrowed  from  the  synemmenon  tetrachord 
one  only  of  its  terms.  Trite,  and  inserted  it  im-^ 
mediately  after  Mese,  with  Paramese  next  above  it ; 
thereby  leaving  it  to  the  imagination  to  select  which 


16 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


of  the  two  sounds  the  nature  of  the  progression  might 
require ;  however,  the  better  to  explain  its  con- 
struction and  use,  it  was  here  thouglit  proper  to 
exhibit  the  synemmenon  tetrachord  in  that  detached 
situation  which  seems  most  agreeable  to  its  original 
formation.'^ 


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 
jnusical  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- 
ticularly, and  these  inform  us  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  de  Musica,  lib.  IV.,  cap.  iii.,  gives  an  account 
of  the  ancient  method  of  notation  in  the  following 
words  :  — '  The  ancient  mi;sicians,  to  avoid  the 
'  necessity  of  always  writing  them  at  length,  invented 
'  certain  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- 
■  sician  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,  express  the  music,  and  transmit  it  to 
'  posterity.  Out  of  all  these  modes  we  shall  only 
'  specify  the  Lydian.'  This  description  of  the  sounds 
consisted  in  the  different  application  of  the  Greek 
letters  to  each  of  them ;  Boetius  proceeds  thus  : — '  To 

express    Proslambanomenos,   which   may  be   called 

*  Acquisitus,  was  used  Z  imperfect,  and  tau  lying  t^. 
^  Hypate    hypaton,    f    reversed   and   F   right   rjj. 

*  Parhypate  hypaton,  B  imperfect  T  supine,  j  Hy- 
'  paton  enarmonios,  V  supine  and  V  reversed,  having 

*  a  stroke       Hypaton   chromatice,  y,  having  a  line 

*  and  r  reversed,  having  two  lines  \  Hypaton  dia- 

*  tonos,  (^  Greek,  and  digamma  »   Hypate  meson  C 

C  •       P 

'and  C,  p.  Parhypate  meson  P   and   C    supine  JT' 

*  Meson  enarmonios,  11  Greek  and  C  reversed.     '  Me- 

0 

*  son  chromatice,  11  having  a  stroke,  and  C  reversed, 

*  having  a  stroke  through  the  middle  tj  t-^*    Meson 

M 

'diatonos,  M  Greek  and  11  drawn  open   _.     Mese, 

I         .  T^ 

*  I  and  A  lying,  ^ .  Trite   synemrppnon,   6  and  A 

'  supine  ^  •  Synemmenon  enarmonios,  H  Greek  and 

*  A   lying,  with  a   stroke   througl^  the  middle  ^  • 

♦  MersKiin.  Harmon,  lib.  vi.  De  Genevilius  et  Modis,  pag.  100. 


'  Synemmenon  chromatice,  H  Greek  and  A  reversed 

'  with  a  stroke  4t  *    Synemmenon  diatonos,   F  and 

N  -"^  .  w 

'  N  p .  Nete  synemmenon,  Q,  supine  and  Z,  y.  Para- 

'  mese,  Z  and  F  Greek  lying  Hr.  Trite  diezeugmenon, 
'  E  square  and  F  supine  y  '  Diezeugmenon  enarmo- 
'  nios,  A  and  F  Greek  lying  reversed  y_ .  Diezeug- 
'  menon  chromatice,  A  with  a  stroke,  and  11  Greek  lying 
'  reversed  with  an  angular  line  ^n'  Diezeugmenon 
'  diatonos,  Q.  square  and  Z,  y.  Nete  diezeugmenon.  ^ 
'lying  and  N  inverted  draw  open  .^j.  Trite  hyperbo- 
'  leon,  F  looking  downwards  to  the  right,  and  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  ;^~fil 

'Hyperboleon,  diatonos  M  Greek  having  an  acute, 

M' 
'  and  F  having  an  acute  _  .  Nete  hyperboleon,  I  hav- 

'  ing  an  acute,  find  A  lying  having  an  acute  also  ^  .f 

Here  it  is  to  be  remarked,  that  although  the  above 
passage  of  Boetius  is  given,  not  from  any  of  the 
printed  copies  of  his  works,  but  from  a  very  ancient 
manuscript,  which  Mr.  Selden  collated,  and  is  pre- 
fixed  to  Meibomins's  version  of  Alypius  :  there 
occur  in  it  some  instances  of  disagreement  betwceo 
the  verbal  description  of  the  character  and  the  cha- 
racter itself;  some  of  these  Meibomius  in  his  notes 
has  remarked,  and  others  have  escaped  him  ;  never- 
theless it  was  not  thought  advisable  to  vary  the 
representation  which  Boetius  has  given,  and  there- 
fore the  following  scheme  of  the  ancient  musical 
characters  is  inserted,  as  he  has  delivered  it  in 
lib.  IV.  cap.  iii.  of  his  book  De  Musica. 


+  Boetius  as  he  goes  along  gives  the  Latin  signification  of  the  Greek 
names,  which  it  was  thought  proper  to  omit  in  order  to  make  room  for 
an  extract  from  Kircher  to  the  same  purpose,  wherein  the  Latin  are 
opposed  to  the  Greek  names  in  the  order  in  which  they  arise  in  the  several 
tetrachords  : — 

aa  Nete  hypejboleon,  sive  ultima  acutarum. 

g     Parancte  hyperboleon,  sive  secunda  acutarum. 

f     Trite  hyperboleon,  sive  tertia  acutarum. 

e     Nete,  sSve  ultima  disjunctarum. 

d     Paranete   diezeugmenon,    sive   secunda   cji-'^junc- 
tarum. 

c  Trite  diezeugmenon,  sive  tertia  di.sjunctarum. 

b  Paramese,  sive  vicina  mediis. 

d  Nete  synemmenon,  sive  ultima  conjunctarum. 

0  Parancte  synfmmeno.n,  sive  secunda  conjunctarum. 

b  Trite  synemmenon,  sive  tertia  conjunctarum. 

a  Mese,  id  est  media. 

G  Lychanos  meson,  sive  index  mediarum. 

F  Parhypate  meson,  sive  secunda  mediarum. 

E  Hypate  meson,  sive  gravis  mediarum. 

D  Lychanos  hypaton,  sive  index  gravium. 

C  Parhypate  hypaton,  sive  secunda  gravium 

B  Hypate  hypaton,  sive  gravis  gravium. 

A  Proslambanomenos,  sive  vox  assumpta. 


Tetrachordon 
Neton 

Tetrachordon 
Diezeugm. 

Tetrachordon 
Synemmen. 


Tetrachordon 
Meson 

Tetrachordon 
Hypaton 


Chap.  IV 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  xAIUSIC. 


17 


/ j^  Proslambanomcnos 

~Xy  Hypate  Hypaton 

jjj  Parhypate  Hypaton 

"V/  Lychanos  hyp.  enarm. 

^  Lychanos  hyp.  chrora. 

(kQ  Lychanos  hyp.  diat. 

C  Hypate  mesoii 

P  Parhypate  meson 

T|-v  Lychanos  meson  enarm. 

\A  Lychanos  meson  chrom. 


Lychanos  meson  diaton. 


Paranete  diezcuc?.  enarm. 


A_. 


^^™j  Paranete  diezenp^.  chroni. 


-^-r     Trite  synemmenou 

Paranete  synem.  enarm. 


^    Par 
-G- 


anete  diezeus:.  diat. 


Nete  diezeusTmenon 


f\\^   Paranete  synem.  chrom. 

JN       Paranete  synem.  diaton. 

Lt-     Nete  svnem.  extenta 
>^^     Nete  synem.  ultima 
Paramese 


-T-7-     Trite  hyperboleon 


V 


Paranete  hyperb.  diaton. 


^J^    Paranete  hyperb.  chrom. 


V 


jVL     Paranete  hyperb.  diaton. 
\L—^    Nete  hyperboleon 


^ 


If 


E     Trite  diezeu 


gmenon 


There  is  this  remarkable  difference  between  the 
method  of  notation  practised  by  the  ancients,  and 
that  now  in  use,  that  the  characters  used  by  the 
former  were  arbitrary,  totally  destitute  of  analogy, 
and  no  way  expressive  of  those  essential  properties 
of  sound,  gravity  and  acuteness  ;  which  is  the  more 
to  be  wondered  at,  seeing  that  in  the  writings  of  the 
ancients  the  terms  Acumen  and  Gravitas  are  per- 
petually occuring,  whereas  the  modern  scale  is  so 
adjusted,  that  those  sounds,  which  in  their  own 
nature  are  comparatively  grave  or  acute,  have  such 
a  situation  in  it,  as  does  most  precisely  distinguish 
them  according  to  their  several  degrees  of  each  ; 
so  that  the  graver  sounds  have  the  lowest,  and  the 
acuter  the  highest  place  in  our  scale.  But  here  it 
may  be  asked,  does  this  distinction  of  high  and  low 
properly  belong  to  sound,  or  do  we  not  borrow  those 
epithets  from  the  scale  in  which  we  see  them  so 
posited  ?  It  should  seem  that  we  do  not ;  for  if  we 
attend  to  the  formation  of  sounds  by  the  animal 
organs,  we  shall  find  that  the  more  grave  are  pro- 
duced from  the  lower  part  of  the  larynx,  as  the 
more  acute  are  from  the  higher ;  so  that  the  diffe- 
rence between  the  one  and  the  other  seems  to  be 
more  than  ideal,  and  to  have  its  foundation  in 
nature  :  the  modern  musicians  seem  however  to  pay 
a  greater  regard  to  this  diversity  than  is  either 
requisite  or  proper  ;  for  where  is  the  necessity  that 
in  a  vocal  composition  such  a  sentiment  as  this, 
'  They  that  go  down  to  the  sea  in  ships,'  &c.  should 
be  expressed  by  such  sounds,  as  for  the  degree  of 
gravity  few  voices  can  reach  ?  much  less  can  we  see 
the  reasonableness  of  that  precept  which  directs  that 
the  words  Hell,  Heaven,  are  invariably  to  be  ex- 
pressed, the  one  by  a  very  grave,  and  the  other  by 
a  very  acute  sound.  Those  who  affect  to  be  severely 
critical  on  the  compositions  of  this  later  age,  allow 
no  greater  merit  to  this  sort  of  analogy  than  is  due 
to  a  pun,  and  their  censure  seems  to  be  no  more  than 
the  error  will  warrant. 


The  description  above  given  of  the  ancient  mu- 
sical characters,  is  derived,  through  Boetius,  from 
Alypius,  the  most  copious  and  intelligible  of  all  the 
Greek  writers  on  this  branch  of  music  :  his  autho- 
rity, so  far  as  it  goes,  has  been  implicitly  acquiesced 
in ;  and  indeed  from  his  testimony  there  can  lye  no 
appeal.  The  reader  will  naturally  expect  to  be  in- 
formed of  the  method  by  which  the  ancients  denoted 
the  different  degrees  in  the  length  or  duration  of 
their  musical  sounds ;  but  it  seems  they  were  stran- 
gers to  music  merely  instrumental :  the  lyre,  and 
other  instruments  in  use  among  them,  was  applied 
in  aid  of  the  voice  ;  and  the  ode,  or  hymn,  or  pean, 
or  whatever  else  the  musician  sang,  determined  by 
its  measure,  and  the  feet  of  the  verse  the  length  of 
the  sound  adapted  to  it,  and  took  away  the  necessity 
for  such  marks  or  characters  of  distinction  in  this 
respect  as  are  used  by  the  moderns.  Nor  need  we 
any  farther  prof)f  of  this  assertion,  than  the  absolute 
silence  of  the  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 
few  remaining  fragments  of  ancient  music  into 
modern  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  cadence  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- 
thenes de  Astris,  in  octavo,  1672,  has  given  at  the 
end  of  it  three  hymns  or  odes  of  a  Greek  poet  named 
Dionysius,  with  the  ancient  musical  characters,  which 
he  has  rendered  by  semibreves  only ;  but  Kircher,  in 
his  Musurgia,  tom.  I.  pag.  541.  from  a  manuscript  in 
the  library  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Salvator,  near 
the  gate  of  Messina,  in  Sicily,  has  inserted  an  ancient 
fragment  of  Pindar,  with  the  musical  notes,  which 
he  has  explained  by  the  different  signs  of  a  breve, 

c 


■.8 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


Bemlbreve,  crotchet,  and  quaver,  as  understood  by  us 
moderns.  Meibomius  also  has  given  from  an  ancient 
manuscript  a  Te  Deum,  with  the  Greek  characters, 
and  in  modern  notes,  the  former  of  whicli  appear  to 
be  more  simple  and  less  combined  than  those  de- 
scribed by  Boetius  ;  which  is  the  less  to  be  wondered 
at  considering  that  St.  Ambrose,  who  is  said  to  have 
been  the  author  of  that  hymn,*  was  consecrated  bishop 
of  Milan,  a.  c.  ST-i,  and  Boetius  flourished  not  till 
about  the  year  500 ;  so  that  there  is  a  period  of  more 
than  one  hundred  years,  during  which  every  kind  of 
literature  suffered  from  the  rage  of  conquest  that  pre- 
vailed throughout  all  Europe,  to  induce  a  suspicion 
that  the  Greek  characters  were  not  transmitted  down 
to  the  time  of  Boetius  uncorrupted.  In  the  trans- 
lation of  these  musical  characters  of  the  above-men- 
tioned Te  Deum,  Meibomius  has  made  use  of  the 
breve,  the  semibreve,  and  minim  :  lapon  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  but  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  powers  of 
the  ancient  characters,  with  respect  to  the  sounds 
which  they  were  intended  to  signify ;  and  concerning 
these  Kircher  seems  to  have  entertained  no  kind  of 
doubt :  he  had  access  to  two  manuscripts  of  great 
antiquity,  and  his  judgment  of  their  authority,  and 
the  use  that  may  be  made  of  them,  he  has  given 
in  the  following  words  :  — '  The  ancient  musical 
'  characters  were  no  way  similar  to  those  of  the 
'  moderns ;  for  they  were  certain  letters,  not  indeed 
'  the  pure  Greek  ones,  but  those  sometimes  right, 
'  sometimes  inverted,  and  at  others  mutilated  and 
'  comi^ounded  in  various  manners,  each  of  which 
'  characters  answered  to  one  of  the  chords  in  the 
'  musical  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  used  in  the  Can- 
'  tus  ;  the  second  as  adapted  to  instruments,  differing 

*  from  the  former  almost  after  the  same  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  Alypius,  have  con- 

*  sidered  this  twofold  series  as  a  single  one  :  among 
'  these  are  Liardus,  and  Solomon  de  Caux,  who  has 
'  followed  him,  both  of  whom  have  given  to  the 
'  world  most  false  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   musicians, 

*  The  Te  Deum  is  commonlj-  styled  the  Song  of  St.  Ambrose,  and  it 
is  sairt  that  it  was  composed  jointly  by  him  and  St.  Augustine,  upon 
occasion  of  the  baptism  of  the  latter  by  St.  Ambrose.  Alliance  of 
Divine  Offices,  by  Hamon  L'Estrange,  folio,  1690,  pag.  79.  But  arch- 
bishop Usher  ascribes  it  to  Nicetius,  and  supposes  it  not  to  have  been 
composed  till  about  the  year  500,  which  was  long  after  the  time  of 
Ambrosi-  and  Augustine.     Ibid. 


'  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  I  trust  I  shall  do  a  favour  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 
'  as  I  found  required  it.'  f 

The  specimen,  the  whole  of  which  seems  by  his 
account  to  be  taken  from  Alypius,  contains  the  cha- 
racters through  all  the  fifteen  tones  in  the  diatonic 
and  chromatic  genera  in  two  separate  tables.  (See 
Apjiendix,  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  modes:  the  side  exhibits  eighteen 
chords,  answering  to  every  tone,  and  expressed  by 
their  Greek  names,  to  each  of  which,  the  Guidonian 
keys  now  used  by  the  Latins  answer,  in  the  first 
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  Phrygius,  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  the  Greek  notes,  and  also  in  those  of 
the  modern  scale,  as  is  represented.  (See  Appendix, 
No.  37.) 

And  the  tables  (35  and  36)  given  from  him  seem 
to  have  been  his  authority  for  rendering  the  ancient 
characters  in  modern  notes,  as  shewn  in  37.  By 
way  of  illustration  he  adds,  that  the  Chorus  vocalis 
contains  the  characters  written  over  each  word ; 
and  that  the  Chorus  instrumentalis,  which  is  nothing 
else  but  the  antistrophe  to  the  former,  was  played 
according  to  the  strophe,  on  the  cythara  or  the  pipe. 
As  the  characters  agree  with  those  of  Alypius,  he 
says  he  has  no  doubt  about  their  meaning ;  and  as  to 
the  time,  he  is  clear  that  it  was  given  by  the  measures 
of  the  syllables,  and  not  by  the  characters. 

The  several  variations  of  the  system  of  music  have 
been  traced  with  as  much  accuracy  as  the  nature  of 
the  subject  will  allow  of:  the  improvements  made  by 
Terpander  and  others,  more  especially  Pythagoras, 
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  narrow 
limits  of  the  ancient  system,  and  also  demonstrated, 
not  merely  the  affinity  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  sounds  were 

+  It  seems  by  this  that  Alypius  had  not  been  published  in  Kircher's 
time ;  and  though  he  here  promises  to  give  the  world  a  translation  of  it, 
there  is  no  other  extant  than  that  very  correct  one  of  Meibomius. 
Kircher  expresses  a  confidence  that  by  publishing  these  characters  he 
should  confer  an  obligation  on  the  learned  world,  but  the  mrnner  in 
which  he  has  done  it,  furnished  a  ground  of  censure  to  jVteibomius. 
which  he  delivers  in  very  bitter  terms  in  the  preface  to  his  e^-ition  of 
the  Greek  writers. 


Chap.  IV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


19 


a  physical  demonstration  of  those  proportions  which 
arithmetic  and  the  higher  geometry  had  till  then 
enabled  mankind  only  to  specnlate,  it  followed  that 
music  from  thenceforth  became  a  subject  of  philo- 
sophical contemplation.  Aristotle,  by  several  pas- 
sages in  his  writings  now  extant,  appears  to  have 
considered  it  in  this  view  :  it  is  even  said  that  he 
wrote  a  treatise  professedly  on  the  subject  of  music, 
but  that  it  is  now  lost. 

Fabricius  has  given  a  catalogue  of  sundry  writers, 
as  namely.  Jades,  Lasus  Hermionensis,  Mintanor, 
Diodes,  Hagiopolites,  Agatho,  and  many  others, 
whose  works  are  lost ;  and  in  the  writings  of  Aris- 
toxenus,  Nicomachus,  Ptolemy,  Porphyry,  Manuel 
Bryennius,  and  other  ancient  authors,  we  meet  with 
the  names  of  Philolaus,  Eratosthenes,  Archytas  of 
Tarentum,  and  Didymus  of  Alexandria,  who  seem 
mostly  to  have  been  philosophers  ;  but  as  they  are 
also  enumerated  among  the  scriptores  perditi,  nothing 
can  be  said  about  them.  In  those  early  times  the 
principles  of  learning  were  very  slowly  disseminated 
among  mankind,  and  it  does  not  appear,  that  from 
the  time  of  Pythagoras,  to  that  of  Aristoxenns,  which 
included  a  period  of  near  three  hundred  years,  the 
music  of  the  ancients  underwent  any  very  considerable 
alteration,  unless  we  except  that  new  arrangement 
and  subdivision  of  the  parts  of  the  great  system, 
which  constituted  the  Genera,  and  those  dissimilar 
progressions  from  every  sound  to  its  diapason,  which 
are  distinguished  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 
sounds  was  in  that  order,  which  as  well  the  modern 
as  the  ancient  writers  term  the  diatonic,  as  proceding 
by  tones,  a  progression  from  the  unison  to  its  fourth 
by  two  tones  and  a  hemitone,  which  we  should  now 
express  by  the  syllables  do,  re,  mi,  fa,  confessedly 
very  natural  and  extremely  grateful  to  the  ear ; 
though  it  seems  not  so  much  so  as  to  hinder  succeed- 
ing musicians  from  seeking  after  other  kinds  of  pro- 
gression ;  and  accordingly  by  a  different  division  of 
the  integral  parts  of  each  of  the  tetrachords,  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  ; 
and  to  this  they  added  another,  which  was  termed 
enharmonic ;  besides  this  they  invented  a  subvariation 
of  each  progression,  and  to  distinguish  the  one  from 
the  other,  they  made  use  of  the  common  logical  term 
genus,  by  which  we  are  to  understand,  as  Kircher 
tells  us,  tom.  I.  lib.  III.  cap.  xiii.  a  certain  con- 
Btitution  of  those  sounds  that  compose  a  diatessaron, 
or  musical  fourth  ;  or,  in  other  words,  a  certain 
relation  which  the  four  chords  of  any  given  tetra- 
chord  bear  to  each  other.  The  Genera  are  elsewhere 
defined,  certain  kinds  of  modulation  arising  from  the 
different  disposition  of  the  sounds  in  a  tetrachord  : 
every  Cantus  or  composition,  says  Aristoxenus,*  is 
either  Diatonic,  Chromatic,  or  Enharmonic  ;  or  it 
may  be  mixed,  and  include  a  community  of  the 
genera.     Aristoxenns,  for  aught  now  discoverable, 

•  Lib,  II.  pag.  44.  ex  Vers.  Meihom. 


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,  so  is  he  more  copious  in  his 
explanation  of  the  Genera.  Nicomachus  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  the  bare  enumeration 
of  them  ;  since  before  the  times  in  which  the  greater 
number  of  them  wrote,  the  Diatonic  was  the  only  one  of 
the  three  genera  in  common  use.  Nor  does  it  any  where 
appear,  that  even  of  the  five  Species,  into  which  that 
Genus  was  divided,  any  more  than  one,  namely,  the 
syntonous  or  intense  of  Ptolemy,  was  in  general 
estimation.  It  must  be  confessed  that  no  part  of  the 
musical  science  has  so  much  divided  the  writers  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  this  subject  is 
almost  inscrutable  :  however,  the  substance  of  what 
these  and  other  authors  have  related  concerning  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  ages. 

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  Pythagoras  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  system,  it  was  found  requisite  to  institute 
a  method  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  mathematic  exact- 
ness for  ascertaining  the  ratios  of  the  diatessaron,  the 
diapente,  and  the  tone  :  and,  agreeable  to  what  has 
been  already  laid  down  concerning  the  investigation 
of  the  consonances  by  Pythagoras,  it  will  most 
evidently  appear  upon  experiment,  that  if  a  chord  be 
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 
diatessaron,  which  bears  to  the  unison  six  a  ratio  of 
4  to  3  ;  and  that  nine  parts,  according  to  the  same 
division  ;  will  produce  the  diapente,  which  bears  to 
the  unison  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  Sesquioctave,  and 
often  the  Diezeuctic  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 


20 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


of  two  tetrachoi'ds,  to  be  used  alternately,  as  the 
nature  of  the  melody  might  require,  a  division  of  the 
tone  between  a  and  b  was  effected.  By  this  an 
interval  of  a  Hemitone  was  introduced  into  the  sys- 
tem, with  which  no  one  section  of  the  chord,  supposing 
it  to  be  divided  into  twelve  parts,  would  by  any 
means  coincide  :  with  great  ingenuity  therefore  did 
Euclid  invent  that  famous  division  the  Sectio  Canonis, 
by  means  whereof  not  only  the  positions  of  the  several 
sounds  on  a  supposed  chord  are  precisely  ascertained, 
but  a  method  is  suggested  for  bringing  out  those 
larger  numbers,  which  alone  can  shew  the  ratios  of 
the  smaller  intervals,  and  which  therefore  make  a 
part  of  every  representation  that  succeeding  writers 
have  given  of  the  immutable  system. 

The  Sectio  Canonis  of  Euclid  is  a  kind  of  appendix 
to  his  Isagoge,  or  Introductio  Harmonica,  containing 
twenty  theorems  in  harmonics.  Nevertheless  the 
title  of  Sectio  Canonis  was  by  him  given  to  the  fol- 
lowing scheme  of  a  supposed  chord,  divided  for  the 
purpose  of  demonstrating  the  ratios  of  the  several 
intervals  thereby  discriminated,  which  scheme  is 
inserted  at  the  end  of  his  work. 

SECTIO   CANONIS   OF  EUCLID. 
.-B 


Nete  hyperboleon. 

Nete  diezeugmenon. 
Nete  syneniinenon. 

M- 

N- 

-E 

H 
-Z 

Paranete  hyperboleon 
Trite  hyperboleon. 

Paramese. 

X- 

-K 

Trite  diezeugmenon. 

Mese. 

" 

-D 

*  Trite  synemmenon. 

K- 

- 

Meson  diatonos. 

0- 

- 

Parhypate  meson. 

Hypate  meson. 

- 

-e 

G- 

_ 

Hypaton  diatonos. 

Hypate  gravis. 


Proslambanomenos. 


Parhypate  hypaton. 


L 


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 
Theorems  XIX  and  XX ;  the  first  of  these  refers  to 
the  immoveable  sounds,  that  is  to  say,  Proslamliano- 
menos,  and  the  other  sounds  to  the  left  of  the  line, 


and  the  latter  to  the  moveable,  which  are  Parhypate, 
and  the  rest  on  the  right  thereof;  the  sum  of  which 
two  species  composed  the  great  or  immutable  system. 

Theorem  XIX  directs  the  adjustment  of  the  canon 
for  the  Stabiles  or  immoveable  sounds,  and  that  in 
the  manner  following  : — 

'  Let  the  length  of  the  canon  be  A  B,  and  let  it  be 
'  divided  into  four  equal  parts  at  G  D  E,  therefore 

*  B  A,  as  it  will  be  the  gravest  sound,  will  be  the 
'  sonus  bombus.  Farther,  A  B  is  supertertius  of  G  B, 
'  therefore  G  B  will  sound  a  diatessaron  to  A  B, 
'  towards  the  acumen,  and  A  B  is  Proslambanomenos ; 
'  wherefore  G  B  will  be  Hypaton  Diatonos.  Again, 
'  because  A  B  is  duple  of  B  D,  the  former  will  sound 
'a  diapason  to  the  latter,  and  B  D  will  be  Mese. 
'  Again,  because  A  B  is  quadruple  of  E  B,  E  B  will 
'  be  Nete  Hyperboleon ;  therefore  G  B  is  divided 
'  twofold  in  Z,  and  G  B  will  be  duple  of  Z  B,  so  as 
'  G  B  will  sound  to  Z  B  the  interval  of  a  diapason, 
'  wherefore  Z  B  is  Nete  Synemmenon.  Cut  off  from 
'  D  B  a  third  part  D  H,  and  D  B  will  be  sesquialtera 
'  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  diezeugmenon.  Farther,  make  H  O  equal  to 
'  H  B,  therefore  Q  B  will  sound  a  diapason  to  H  B, 

*  so  that  0  B  will  be  Hypate  meson.  Again,  take  the 
'third  part  of  9  B,  6  K,  and  then  6  B  will  be 
'  sesquialtera  to  K  B,  so  that  K  B  will  be  Paramese. 
'  Lastly,  cut  off  L  K  equal  to  K  B,  and  then  L  B  will 
'  be  Hypate  the  most  grave,  and  thus  all  the  immove- 
'  able  sounds  will  be  taken  in  the  canon.' 

Theorem  XX  contains  the  following  directions 
respecting  the  Mobiles  or  moveable  sounds : — 

'  Divide  E  B  mco  eight  parts,  of  which  make  E  M 
'  equal  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  parts,  and 
'  make  N  X  equal  to  one  of  them,  so  as  X  B  will  be 
'  supertertius  of  N  B,  and  the  diatessaron  will  be  pro- 
'  duced  towards  the  grave,  and  X  B  will  be  Trite 
'  diezeugmenon.  Again,  taking  half  of  X  B,  make  X  O 
'  equal  to  it,  so  as  for  this  reason  0  B  will  give  a 
'  diapente  to  X  B,  wherefore  0  B  will  be  Parhypate 
'  meson ;  then  make  0  P  equal  to  0  B,  *  so  as  P  B 
'  will  be  Parhypate  hypaton.  Lastly,  take  the  fourth 
'  part  of  G  B,  G  R,  and  R  B  will  be  Meson  diatonos.* 

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,  assuming  the 
proportions  of  the  diapason,  diapente,  diatessaron, 

*  In  the  Canon  O  P  is  not  equal  to  O  B  but  to  O  X,  and  Meibomius, 
■with  all  his  care,  has  made  a  mistake,  which  the  following  page,  to  go  no 
farther,  furnishes  the  means  of  rectifying  ;  for  observe,  that  in  the  Canon 
of  Aristides  Quintilianus,  which  has  the  numbers  to  it,  Trite  diezeug- 
menon, marked  X  in  that  of  Euclid,  is  3888,  and  Parhypate  hypaton 
marked  P  in  that  of  Euclid  also,  is  7776,  which  is  just  double  the  former 
number,  the  consequence  whereof  is  evident. 


Chap.  V. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


21 


cliezeuctic  tone,  and  limma,  as  laid  down  by  the 
Pythagoreans,  the  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,  succeeding  writers 
in  assigning  the  ratios  of  the  intervals  have  taken  the 
aid  of  the  latter,  and  have  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  made  appear. 

But  here  it  is  necessary  to  add.  that  the  Sectio 
Canonis  of  Euclid,  perfect  in  its  kind  as  it  may  seem, 
is  supposed  to  have  received  some  improvement  from 
Aristides  Quintilianus,  at  least  with  respect  to  the 
manner  of  dividing  it ;  for  this  we  have  the  testimony 
of  Meibomius,  who  speaks  of  a  canon  of  Aristides, 
which  had  been  once  extant,  but  was  perished,  or  at 
least  was  wanting  in  all  the  copies  of  his  work  :  and 
which  he  his  editor  had  happily  restored.  The  fol- 
lowing is  a  representation  of  the  Canon,  with  the 
numbers  annexed : — 

-B 


Nete  hyperboleon. 
Hyperbol.  diatonos. 

Trite  hyperboleon. 
Nete  diezeugmeuon. 

Nete  synemmenon. 
&  diezeiigm.  diatonos. 
Trite  diez.  &  Syn.  diat 

Paramesos. 

Trite  synemmenon. 
Mese. 


Meson  diatonos. 

Parhypate  meson. 
Hypate  meson. 

Hypaton  diatonos. 

Parhypate  hypaton. 
Hypate  hypaton. 

Proslambanomenos. 


D. 

2304 

1. 

2592 

m. 
G. 

2916. 
3072. 

F. 

8456 

n. 

3888. 

1. 

4096. 

0. 

4374 

C. 

4608. 

P.   5184. 

q.    6832. 
H.  6144. 

E.  6912. 

-  r.     7776. 

-  K.  8192. 

A.   9216.  * 


•  The  division  of  Euclid  aprrees  with  that  of  Aristides  as  to  the  manner 
of  obtaining  the  standing,  but  differs  as  to  some  of  the  moveable  chords, 
for  Euclid  finds  the  Trite  diezeugmenim,  by  setting  off  towards  the  grave 
a  diatessaron  from  the  Trite  hyperboleon;  he  next  finds  the  Parhypate 
meson,  by  setting  off  towards  the  grave  a  diapente  from  the  Trite  diezeug- 
menon,  which  might  be  easier  found  by  setting  down  a  diapason  from  the 
Trite  hyperboleon.     He  also  finds  the  Parhypate  hypaton  by  making  O  P 


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  the  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  as 
given  by  Meibomius,  in  his  notes  on  Aristides  Quin- 
tilianus, page  312,  et  seq. ; — 

'  The  standing  sounds  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  diatonos  and  the  rest  are 
'  marked  by  the  small  letters.  They  are  thus  to  be 
'  taken  : — 

'  I.  Proslambanomenos,  A  B,  which  is  the  whole 
'  length  of  the  chord  or  line. 

'  II.  Mese,  C  B,  half  thereof. 

'III.  Nete  hyperboleon,  D  B,  the  fourth  part  of 
'the  whole  chord. 

'  IV.  Hypaton  diatonos,  E  B,  three  fourths  thereof. 

'  V.  Nete  synemmenon,  P  B,  the  said  three  fourths, 
'E  B,  divided  into  two  equal  parts. 

'  VI.  Nete  diezeugmenon,  Gr  B,  two  thirds  of  half 
'  the  chord,  that  is  one  third  of  the  whole  chord  ; 
'  but  this  may  be  perceived  by  multiplying  an  half 
'  by  two  thirds,  thus,  ^  1 1 5. 

'  VII.  Hypate  meson,  H  B,  two  thirds  of  the  whole 
'chord,  or  tlie  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.  Paramesos,.  I  B,  (one  third  I  H,  being 
'  taken  out  of  the  two  thirds  H  B  of  the  whole  chord) 
'  is  two  thirds  of  two  thirds  of  the  whole. 

'  IX.  Pypate  hypaton,  K  B ;  two  thirds  I  B  of  the 
'  two  thirds  H  B  twice  set  off. 

'  In  order  to  assume  the  lesser  intervals,  the  fol- 
'  lowing  method  must  be  made  use  of : — 

'  I.  The  4th  part  D  B  of  the  whole  chord  being 
'  divided  into  eight  equal  parts,  I  set  off  1  below 
'  D  equal  to  one  of  those  parts,  and  1  B  will  be 
'  Paranete  hyperboleon. 

'  II.  Trite  hyperboleon  m  B  is  assumed  in  the 
'  same  manner,  viz.,  by  dividing  the  line  1  B  into 
'  eight  equal  parts,  and  taking  1  m  equal  to  one  of 
'them  out  of  1  A. 

'  III.  Trite  diezeugmenon,  and  the  following 
'moveable  sounds,  are  easily  to  be  assumed  in  the 
'  same  manner.' 

Besides  the  foregoing  explanation  of  the  canon, 
Meibomius  has  given  the  following,  which  he  calls  a 

equal  to  O  X,  that  is  by  setting  off  a  diapason  towards  the  grave  from  the 
Trite  diezeugmenon,  for  he  had  made  O  X  equal  to  half  X  B,  and  conse- 
quently twice  0  X  O  P  must  be  equal  to  X  B.  And  lastly,  he  finds  the 
Meson  dlatnnos  by  setting  off  a  diatessaron  towards  the  acute  from  the 
Hypaton  diatonos,  whereas  all  the  four  sounds,  as  wl-U  as  the  other 
moveable  ones,  are  found  in  Aristides,  by  a  division  into  eight  parts,  that 
is  by  setting  offsesquioctave  tones.  It  seems,  however,  upon  the  whole, 
that  Aristides  followed  the  division  of  Euclid,  but  neither  of  these  can 
answer  to  the  Aristoxenian  principles,  for  this  reason,  that  the  Sectio 
Canonis  both  of  Euclid  and  Aristides  refer  to  those  arithmetic  and  har- 
monic ratios,  which  are  discernable  in  the  proportions  of  Pythagoras, 
whereas  Aristoxenus  rejected  the  criterion  of  ratios,  and  maintained  that 
the  measure  of  intervals  was  determinable  by  the  sense  of  hearing  only. 


oo 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


Notable  Theorem,  and  says  of  it  that  it  is  very  useful 
in  facilitating  the  section  of  the  canon. 

'  The  difference  between  two  lines  that  are  to  each 

*  other  in  a  sesqnitertia  ratio,  being  divided  into  two 
'  equally,  will  give  the  eighth  part  of  the  greater  line. 

C 

A — 1 — I — \ — I — I — i — I — B 
D — i —  I —  I — I — 1 — E 

'  A  B  is  sesquitertia  to  D  E ;  C  B  is  the  excess  of 
'  A  B  above  D  E,  C  B  divided  into  two  equally  will 
^ '  exhibit  the  eighth  part  of  A  B. 

'  We  shall  see  the  same  in  the  section  of  our  canon. 
'  Let  the  line  G  B  be  divided  into  eight  equal  parts, 
'I  say  the  part  G  D  thereof  will  contain  two  eighth 
'  parts ;  so  that  this  need  only  be  divided  into  two 
'  equally,  as  appears  by  this  following  demonstration  ; 
'  for  as  G  B  is  sesquitertia  to  D  B,  that  is  as  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  G  two   eighths,  and  its  half  will 

*  contain  one  eighth.  Also  if  F  B  is  to  be  divided 
'  into  eight  equal  parts,  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 
'  used  in  the  following  ones. 

'  Moreover,  the  Meson  diatonos,  and  the  other  two 
'  moveable  chords  may  also  be  obtained  by  the  follow- 
'  ing  method,  namely.  Meson  diatonos,  by  setting  off 

*  the  part  1  B,  twice  from  B ;  Parhypate  meson,  by 
'  setting  off  the  part  m  B,  twice  ;  Parhypate  hypaton, 
'  by  setting  off  the  part  n  B,  twice. 

'  But  whatsoever  is  here  shown  in  lines  may,  by 
'  the  ingenuity  of  the  intelligent  reader,  be  easily 
'  applied  in  finding  out  the  numbers.' 

The  canon  of  Aristides  Quintilianus,  with  the 
numbers  affixed,  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  J],  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, 
supposing  it  to  answer,  we  may  with  the  utmost 
propriety  say,  that  the  ratio  of  a  tone  is  as  9216  is 
to  8192,  or  in  other  words,  that  j^  is  produced  at 
8192  of  those  parts  whereof  the  chord  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  number  is  4608, 
which  is  just  the  half  of  9216,  as  6  is  the  half  of  12  ; 
for  the  diatessaron  D,  the  number  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  consonances  of  the  diatessaron,  and  the 
diapente,  or  their  replicates,  as  often  as  it  may  be 
;;hought  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  8,  6  to 
12,  12  to  9,  and  12  to  8,  in  the  primitive  system. 

These  proportions  we  are  told  will  be  the  result 
of  an  actual  division  of  a  string,  which  whoever  is 


desirous  of  making  the  experiment,  is  hereby  enabled 
to  try  ;  though,  by  the  way,  it  is  said  by  Meibomius 
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  1,  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  harmonical 
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  given  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  : — 


5   r2304. 


aa 


f 


3456.  Nete  synem. 

Tone 
3888.  Paranete  synem.  c 

Tone 
4374.  Trite  synem.       b 

Hemitone 
4608.  Mesa  a 


d^   p 


m 


G 


Nete  hyperb. 

Tone 
Paranete  hyperb. 

Tone' 
Trite  hyperb. 

Hemitone 
Nete  diezeug. 

Tone 
Paranete  diezeug. 

Tone 
Trite  diezeug. 

Hemitone 
Paramese 

Tone 
Mese 

Tone 
Lychanos  meson 

Tone 
Parhypate  meson  F 

Hemitone 
Ilypate  meson      E 

Tone 
Lychanos  hypat.  D 

Tone 
Parhypate  hypat.  C 

Hemitone 
Hypate  hvpaton    h 

Tone 
Proslambano.        A* 


His  description  of  the  process  is  in  these  words  : 
The  numbers  affixed  to  the  several  chords  in  the 
system  draw  their  origin  from  the  sesquioctave  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,  subsesquitertia,  subsesqui- 
altera,  and  subduple.     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  :  if  the  fourth  chord  was 
to  be  the  sesquitertia,  they  multiplied  the  numbers 
by  3  ;  If  it  was  to  be  sesquialtera  the  numbers  were 
doubled  ;  and  if  by  chance  there  were  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  no  necessity  to  explain  them  farther. 

'  However,  as  all  this  is  different  from  any  practice 

•  Bontemp.  97. 


Chap.  V. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


23 


'•  in  the  modern  music,  in  order  that  those  who  are  not 

'  perfectly  versed  in  arithmetic  may  understand  the 

'  I'oandation  of  this  science,  itwiii  nut  be  amiss  here  to 

'  expLain  it.     You  must  then  know,  that  as  harmonic 

music  was   subordinate  to  arithmetic,  the  ancients 

shewed  only  the  intervals  by  numbers  arising  from 

the   measures  they  had  found  out  by  experiments 

upon  tlie  monochord. 

'  When  they  wanted  therefore  to  demonstrate  in 

the  constitution  of  the  system  what  chord  was  either 

'  double,  or  sesquialtera,  or  sesquitertia,  or  sesqui- 

octave   to  another  by  arithmetical  numbers,   they 

■  used  multiplication,  or  the  doubling  of  the  nimibers, 
in  order  that  they  might  rise  by  degrees  one  above 
the  other.     They  began  from  the  most  acute  chord, 

■  which  is  the  Nete  hyperboleon,  going  on  as  far  as 
the  Trite  synemmenon  ;  which  operation  is  demon- 
strated by  the  following  columns  of  numbers  : — 


aa 

g 

f 

e- 

d 

c 

h 


1 

8 
9 


2 
64 

72 
81 


3 

192 
216 
243 
-256 
288 
324 


576 

648 
729 
768 
864 
972 
-1024 


o 

1152 
1296 
1458 
1536 

1728 
1944 
2048 

2187 


6 

2304 
2592 
2916 
3072 
3456 
3888 
4096 
4374* 


'  The  method  which  they  used  in  these  multipli- 
cations and  reduplications  was  this ;  as  g  was  to  be 
sesquioctave  of  aa,  and  f  sesquioctave  of  g  ;  and  as 
g  had  not  an  eighth  part,  to  find  it  they  multiplied 
aa  and  g  by  8 ;  from  which  multiplication  the 
numbers  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 
multiplied  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  like  manner  d  was  found  to  be  sesquitertia  of  g, 
and  c  of  f. 

'  As  h  was  to  be  sesquitertia  of  e,  and  had  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  to  repeat  again  this 
operation,  with  common  explications  for  those  who 
are  quite  unacquainted  with  the  rules  of  arithmetic; 
by  multiplying  eight  times  8  they  had  64  for  aa ; 
by  multiplying  nine  times  8  they  had  72  for  g  ;  and 
adding  to  72  the  number  nine,  they  had  81  for  f. 

*  The  sesquitertia,  which  is  nothing  but  the  pro- 
portion 4  to  3,  constituting  the  diatessaron  from  e 
to  aa,  was  produced  by  giving  to  aa  three  times  64, 
which  made  192,  and  to  e  four  times  64,  which  made 
256. 

'  That  of  d  to  g  was  produced  by  giving  to  g  three 
times  the  number  72,  which  made  216  ;  and  to  d 
four  times  the  same,  which  made  288. 

*  Bontenip.  98. 


'  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  Jj  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  numbers  might 

*  do  for  the  chords  of  the  chromatic  and  enharmonic 
'  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  multiplied  by  3 ;  the  fourth  order  is  the 
'  produce  of  the  third  multiplied  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  tetrachords  Hyperboleon, 
'  Diezeugmenon,  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  2592  of  the  Paranete  hyperboleon,  be- 
'  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  usual  interval  of 
'  the  diapason.  As  the  sounds  of  the  diatonic  genus 
'  have  their  numbers,  so  likewise  have  the  sounds  of 
'  the  other  genera  numbers,  which  are  peculiar  to 
'  them,  except  the  Nete  hyperboleon,  the  Nete  die- 

*  zeugraenon,  the  Nete  synemmenon,  the  Paramese, 
'  the  Mese,  the  Hypate  meson,  the  Hypate  hypaton, 
'  and  the  Proslambanomenos,  whose  numbers  are 
'  common  to  all  the  genera,  as  their  sounds  are 
'  fixed.  Every  thing  relating  to  them  may  be  seen 
'  in  their  respective  systems.' 

It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  it  was  for  the  purpose 
of  explaining  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 
are  the  diapason,  diapente,  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 
shall  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  musicians.  What  were  the  senti- 
ments of  Pythagoras  about  it  we  are  nowhere  told ; 


'i4 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


though  if  it  he  true  that  he  constituted  the  diatessaron 
ill  tiie  ratio  of  4  to  3,  and  made  each  of  the  tones 
contained  in  it  sesquioctave,  it  will  follow  as  a  conse- 
quence, that  the  interval  necessary  to  complete  that 
system  must  have  been  in  the  ratio  of  256  to  243  : 
this  is  certain,  that  Boetius,  and  the  rest  of  the 
followers  of  Pythagoras,  deny  the  possibility  that 
it  can  consist  in  any  other  :  but  this  is  a  method  of 
deduction  by  numerical  calculation,  and  the  appeal 
is  made  to  our  reason,  which,  in  a  question  of  this 
nature,  say  some,  has  nothing  to  do. 

The  first  who  asserted  this  doctrine,  and  he  has 
done  it  in  terms  the  most  explicit,  was  Aristoxenus, 
the  disciple  and  successor  of  Aristotle  ;  he  taught 
that  as  the  ear  is  the  ultimate  judge  of  consonance, 
w'e  are  able  by  the  sense  of  hearing  alone  to  de- 
termine the  measure  both  of  the  consonants  and 
dissonants,  and  that  both  are  to  be  measured  or 
estimated,  not  by  ratios  but  by  intervals.*  The 
method  he  took  was  this,  he  considered  the  diapason 
as  consisting  of  the  two  systems  of  a  diatessaron  and 
diapente;  it  was  easy  to  discover  the  difference 
between  the  two  to  be  a  tone,  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- 
sure, and  enabled  him  to  determine  the  magnitude 
of  any  interval  whatever,  which  he  did  by  various 
additions  to,  and  subductions  from,  those  --bove 
mentioned  ;  in  like  manner  as  is  practised  ..  >  the 
singers  of  our  times,  w'ho  by  an  instantaneous  effort 
of  the  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  separating  and  combining  these  intervals 
at  pleasure,  without  the  assistance  of  any  arithmetical 
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  extensive  in  its  latitude,  as  im- 
portant in  its  consequences,  namely,  whether  the 
understanding  or  the  imagination  be  the  ultimate 
judge  of  harmony  and  beauty  ;  or,  in  other  words, 
what  are  the  peculiar  offices  of  reason  and  sense  in 
subjects  common  to  them  both.  The  consequence  of 
this  diversity  of  opinions,  so  far  as  it  related  to  music, 
was  that,  from  the  time  of  Aristoxenus  the  musicians 
of  earlier  times,  according  as  they  adhered  to  the  one 
or  the  other  of  these  opinions,  were  denominate 
either  Pythagoreans  or  Aristoxeneans,  by  which  appel- 
Jations  the  two  sects  continued  for  a  long  time  to  be 
as  much  distinguished  as  those  of  the  Peripatetics 
and  Stoics  were  by  their  respective  names.f 

*  Wallis  Appendix  de  Veterum  Harmonica,  Quarto,  pag.  290. 

+  Porphyrii  in  Ptolcmoei  Harmonica  Commentarius,  Edit.  Wallisii, 
pag.  isy. 


But  it  seems  that  as  well  against  the  one  as  tlie 
other  of  the  positions  maintained  by  the  two  parties, 
there  lay  strong  objections  ;  for  as  to  that  of  Pytha- 
goras, that  reason,  and  not  the  hearing,  is  to  determine 
of  consonance  and  dissonance,  it  was  erroneous  in 
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  harmonical  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  task 
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 ;  the  only  question  at  present  to  be  discussed, 
is  that  relating  to  the  measure  of  the  diatessaron. 
That  it  exceeded  two  of  those  tones,  one  whereof 
constituted  the  difference  between  the  diapente  and 
diatessaron,  was  agreed  by  both  parties ;  but  the 
me-asure  of  this  excess  was  the  point  in  debate :  the 
Pythagoreans  asserted  it  to  be  an  interval  in  the  ratio 
of  256  to  243,  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  tones  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  irrefragably  demonstrated  tlie  Pytlia- 
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  will 
enable  any  one  to  judge  of  the  force  of  his  reasoning. 

Let  the  number  1536,  which  it  is  said  is  the 
smallest  that  will  serve  the  purpose,  be  taken,  and 
after  that  1728,  its  sesquioctave,  to  express  a  tone ; 
and  again,  the  sesquioctave  of  1728,  which  is  1944, 
for  another  tone  ;  the  numbers  1536  and  1944  will 
then  stand  for  the  ditone.  The  diatessaron  is  sesqui- 
tertian,  or  as  4  to  3,  it  is  therefore  necessary  to  seek 
a  number  that  shall  contain  four  of  those  parts,  of 
which  1536  is  three,  and  this  can  be  no  other  than 
2048  ;  so  that  the  interval  whereby  the  diatessaron 
exceeds  the  ditone,  is  in  the  ratio  of  2048  to  1944 ; 
or,  in  smaller  numbers,  as  256  to  243.  But  to  judge 
of  the  magnitude  of  this  interval,  let  the  sesquioctave 
of  1944,  2187  be  taken  for  a  third  tone ;  it  will  then 
remain  to  enquire  the  difference  between  the  two 
ratios  2187  to  2048,  and  2048  to  1944,  and  the 
former  will  be  found  the  greater ;  for  2187  exceeds 
2048  by  more  than  a  fifteenth,  and  by  less  than  a 
fourteenth  part ;  whereas  2048  exceeds  1944  by  more 
than  a  nineteenth,  and  by  less  than  an  eighteenth  ; 
and  consequently  that  which,  together  with  the  ditone 
completes  the  diatessaron,  is  the  lesser  part  of  the 
third  tone. 


Chap.  VI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


25 


Salinas  calls  this  demonstration  of  Ptolemy  an 
excellent  one,  as  most  undoubtedly  it  is,  and  in  his 
Treatise  de  Musica,  lib.  II.,  cap.  xx.,  exhibits  it  in 
the  following  diagram  : — 

DI  A  TESSA  EON. 


-^^ 


GREATER  TONE.     GREATER  TONE.     GREATER  TONE. 


APOTOME.       LIMMA. 
2187  20-18  1941: 


1728 


To  this  lesser  part  of  the  third  tone  2048  to  1944, 
or  in  lesser  numbers,  256  to  243,  was  given  the 
name  of  the  Limma  of  Pythagoras  ;  though  some 
writers,  and  those  of  the  Pythagorean  sect,  scrupled 
not  to  term  it  a  Diesis.  The  greater  part  of  the  tone 
resulting  from  the  above  division  was  termed  Apo- 
tome,  a  word  signifying  the  residue  of  what  remains 
of  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  in  thinking  that  the  Apotome  of  the 
ancients  is  that  interval,  which,  in  such  musical  in- 
struments as  the  organ,  and  others  of  the  like  kind, 
is  found  between  J]  and  b  ;  or,  in  other  words,  that 
the  interval  between  J]  and  b  is  greater  than  that 
between  ]-|  and  c,  and  than  that  between  b  and  a  ; 
when,  says  he,  the  thing  is  quite  the  reverse,  and  may 
be  proved  by  the  ear. 

Farther,  lib.  II.  cap.  x.,  he  observes  of  the  Limma, 
that  as  Pythagoras  had  divided  the  diapason  into  two 
diatessarons  and  a  sesquioctave  tone,  he  discovered 
that  the  diatessaron  was  capj,ble  of  a  like  method  of 
division,  namely,  into  twoicontinued  tones,  and  that 
interval  which  remained  after  a  subtraction  of  the 
ditone  from  the  diatessaron.  And  this  which  he 
calls  a  semitone,  is  that  which  Pto.emy  calls  the 
semitone  accepted  and  best  known  ;  and  of  which 
Plato  in  Timeus  makes  mention  ;  when  having  fd- 
lowed  the  same  proportion,  he  says  that  all  the  duple 
ratios  were  to  be  filled  up  with  a  sesquitertias  and  a 
sesquioctave,  and  all  the  sesquitertias  with  sesqui- 
octaves,  and  the  interval  256  to  243.  He  adds,  that 
Cicero  mentions  this  semitone  in  his  book  de  Uni- 
versitate,  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 
the  Pythagorean  traditions  of  music.  The  same 
author  adds,  that  the  Pythagorean  Limma  was 
esteemed  by  the  Greeks,  particularly  Bacchius  and 
Eryennius,  \o  be  irrational ;  and  that  Plato  himself 
dared  not  to  call  it  a  proportion,  for  the  reason,  as 
he  conceives,  that  it  was  n(jt  superparticular. 

Hitherto  we  have  spoken  of  the  tone  in  general 
terms,  and  as  an  interval  in  a  sesquioctave  ratio,  such 
as  constitutes  the  difference  between  the  diatessaron 
and  diapente,  and  it  is  said  that  the  Pythagoreans 
acknowledged  no  other  ;*  it  is  nevertheless  necessary 
to  mention  that  there  is  a  lesser  interval,  to  which 
the  appellation  of  tone  is  also  given  ;  the  ratio 
kvhereof  is  that  of  10  to  9.  It  is  not  sufficiently 
dear  who  it  was  that  first  discovered  it,  but,  from 

»  Salinas  de  Musica,  lib.  II.,  cap.  17.     Boet.  lib.  IV.,  cap.  5. 


several  passages  in  the  harmonics  of  Ptolemy,f  it 
should  seem  that  Didymus,  an  ancient  musician, 
whom  he  frequently  takes  occasion  to  mention,  was 
the  first  that  adjusted  its  ratio. 

Dr.  Wallis,  who  seems  to  have  founded  his  opinion 
on  that  of  Salinas,  and  certainly  entertained  the 
clearest  conceptions  of  the  subject,  has  demonstrated 
very  plainly  how  both  the  greater  and  lesser  tone 
are  produced ;  for  assuming  the  diapente  to  be  in  the 
ratio  of  3  to  2,  or  which  is  the  same,  the  numbers  being 
doubled,  6  to  4;  by  the  interposition  of  the  arithmetical 
mean  5,  he  shows  it  to  contain  two  intervals,  the  one 
in  the  ratio  of  6  to  5,  the  other  in  that  of  5  to  4.| 


DIAPENTE. 


Semiditone 


Ditone 


Sesquialtera. 


The  latter  of  these,  which  constituted  the  ditone 
or  greater  third,  subtracted  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  semiditone  will  be  here- 
after resumed ;  but  as  to  the  ditone  it  had  a  super- 
particular  ratio,  and  consequently  would  not,  any 
more  than  the  diapente,  admit  of  an  equal  division.  § 
In  order  therefore  to  come  at  one  that  should  be  the 
nearest  to  equality,  Dr.  Wallis  doubled  the  terms  5, 
4,  and  thereby  produced  the  numbers  10,  8,  which 
have  the  same  ratio.  Nothing  then  was  wanting 
but  the  interposition  of  the  arithmetical  mean  9, 


DITONE. 


Greater  Tone,    j 

8  _  9 

Sesquioctave      | 


Lesser  Tone. 
Sesquinonal 


10 


Sesquiquarta. 


I 


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 

Having  thus  adjusted  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  semi, 
though  it  may  seem  to  express,  as  it  does  in  most  in- 
stances, the  half  of  any  given  quantity,  yet  in  musical 

+  Lib.  II.,  cap.  I.'?,  14.     Salinas,  lib.  II  ,  cap.  17. 

t  Wallis,  Append,  de  Yet.  Harm,  quarto,  paj?.  322. 

§  That  a  superparticular  is  incapable  of  an  equal  di%-ision  is  clearly 
demonstrated  by  Hoetius,  lib.  III.,  cap.  1,  and  must  be  considered  as  a 
first  principle  in  harmonics.  Vide  Macrobius  in  Somnium  Scipioiiis, 
lib.  II..  cap.  1. 

II  Wallis  Append,  de  Vet.  Harm,  quarto,  pag.  323.  Salinas  de  Musica, 
lib.  II.,  cap.  17. 


26 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  T. 


language  has  a  signification  the  same  with  deficient 
or  incomplete  :  the  other  is  that  although  as  the  lesser 
is  always  contained  in  the  greater,  and  consequently 
the  tone  comprehends  the  semitone  and  more,  yet  the 
semitone  is  not,  nor  can  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  diatessaron  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  the 
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  diezeutic  tone,  and  found  its  ratio  to  be 
sesquioctave,  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  parts.  Ptolemy,  who,  so  far  as  regards 
the  method  of  defining  the  intervals  by  their  ratios, 
must  be  said  to  have  been  a  Pythagorean,  has  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  sesquitertia,  answering  to  the 
numbers  8  and  6,  or  which  is  the  same,  4  to  3,  he 
measures  out  three  sesquioctave  tones,  1536,  1728, 
1944,  2187,  and  subtracts  from  them  the  diatessaron 
2048  to  153G,  and  thereby  leaves  a  ratio  of  2187  to 
2048,  which  is  that  of  the  apotome  ;  the  limma  2048 
to  1944,  then  remains  an  adjunct  to  the  two  sesqui- 
octave tones  1728  to  1536,  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  Didymus,  who  after  he  had  discovered  the 
necessity  of  a  distinction  of  tones  into  the  greater  and 
lesser,  and  found  that  it  required  an  interval  diiferent 
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,  wdiich  in  the 
judgment  of  Salinas,  is  of  such  importance,  that  he 
seems  to  think  it  the  hinge  on  which  the  knowledge 
of  all  instrumental  harmony  turns  ;  it  seems  clearly 
to  have  taken  place  of  the  limma,  immediately  after 
the  discrimination  of  the  greater  and  lesser  tone  : 
and  there  is  reason  to  think  it  was  investigated  by 
Didymus  in  the  following  manner.  First  he  con- 
sidered the  ratio  of  the  diatessaron  to  be,  as  has  been 
shewn,  sesquitertian,  or  as  8  to  6  ;  or,  which  is  the 
same,  those  nimibers  being  doubled,  16  to  12.  The 
ditone  he  had  demonstrated  to  be  in  sesquiquarta 
proportion,  as  5  to  4.  It  remained  then  to  find  out 
a  number  that  should  contain  5  of  these  parts,  of 

*  See  the  preceding  demonstration  of  the  ratio  of  the  Pythagorean 
limma. 


which  12  contained  four,  and  this  could  be  no  other 
than  15,  and  these  being  set  down,  demonstrated  the 
ratio  of  the  semitone  to  be  16  to  15. 


DIATESSARON. 


I  Ditone  |      Greater  Semitone 

12  1^  .  16 

I         Sesquiquarta  |    Sesquidecimaquinta 


Sesquitertia. 


t 

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,  is 
thus  demonstrated  ;  — 


SEMIDITONE. 


Tone 


Greater  Semitone      j 

15  16  18 

Sesquidecimaquinta   |  Sesquioctave 


Sesquiquinta, 


t 

But  it  seems  that  this  interval,  so  very  accurately 
adjusted,  did  not  answer  all  the  combinations  of 
which  the  greater  and  lesser  tones  were  capable  ;  nor 
was  it  adapted  to  any  division  of  the  system,  other 
than  that  which  distinguishes  the  diatonic  genus. 
These  considerations  gave  rise  to  the  invention  of  the 
lesser  semitone,  an  interval  so  peculiarly  appropriated 
to  the  chromatic  genus,  that  Salinus  and  Mersennus 
scruple  not  to  call  it  the  Chromatic  Diesis  ;  the 
measure  of  it  is  the  difference  between  the  ditone 
and  semiditone,  the  former  whereof  is  demonstrated 
to  be  in  sesquiquarta  proportion,  or  as  5  to  4 ;  or, 
which  is  the  same,  each  of  those  numbers  being 
multiplied  by  5,  25  to  20,  The  semiditone  is  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  is 
the  measure  of  the  lesser  semitone. 


DITONE 


j  Semiditone  )       Lesser  Semitone 

20  24 

Sesquiquinta  ]  Sesquivigesimaquarta 


25 


Sesquiquarta 


Salinas  remarks  that  this  lesser  semitone  of  25  to 
24,  and  the  greater  one  of  16  to  15,  compose  the 
sesquinonal  or  lesser,  and  not  the  sesquioctave  or 
greater  tone,  between  which  and  the  former  he 
demonstrates  the  difference  to  be  a  comma,  or  an 
interval  in  the  ratio  of  81  to  80, 

Salinas,  IMersennus,  and  other  writers,  chiefly 
moderns,  speak  of  a  mean  semitone  in  the  ratio  of 

+  This  and  most  of  the  diagrams  for  demonstrating  the  other  intervals 
are  taken  from  Salinas,  '.vlio,  it  is  to  be  remarked,  differs  from  Tnany 
other  writers  in  the  order  of  the  numbers  of  ratios,  placing  the  Sfx:allesJ 
first. 

I  Salinas,  lib.  II.  cap.  xviii. 

§  Salinas,  de  Musica,  lib.  11   cap.  20 


CUAP.  VI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


27 


loS  to  128,  which  with  that  greater  one  of  IG  to  lo, 
completes  the  sesquioctave  tone  ;  and  of  another  in 
the  ratio  of  27  to  25,  which  added  to  the  lesser 
semitone  25  to  24,  also  makes  up  the  greater  or 
sesquioctave  tone.*^  Salinas  ascribes  the  invention 
of  this  latter  to  Ludovicus  Follianus,  a  very  in- 
genious musician  of  the  sixteenth  century,  of  whom 
an  account  will  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 
jMusica,  lib.  III.,  cap.  7. 

We  are  now  to  speak  of  the  Diesis,  as  being  an 
interval  less  in  quantity  than  a  semitone  :  though  it 
is  to  be  remembered  that  the  word  as  it  imports  in- 
definitely a  Particle,  f  is  of  very  loose  signification, 
and  is  used  to  express  a  great  variety  of  dissimilar 
intervals.  Aristotle  calls  dieses  the  Elements  of 
song,  as  letters  are  of  speech  ;  but  in  this  the  moderns 
differ  from  him.  Others  of  the  Greek  writers,  and 
Vitruvius,  a  Latin,  after  them,  make  the  diesis  to  be 
a  quarter  of  a  tone,  and  Salinas  less.  The  Py- 
thagoreans use  the  word  Diesis  and  Limma  in- 
discriminately to  express  the  interval  256  to  243. 
In  the  subsequent  division  of  the  tone  into  lesser 
parts,  the  name  of  diesis  has  been  given  sometimes 
to  one,  and  at  others  to  other  parts  arising  from  that 
division  ;  and  hence  those  different  definitions  which 
we  meet  with  of  this  interval  ;  but  the  general 
opinion  touching  it  is  that  it  is  less  than  a  semitone, 
and  more  than  a  comma.  We  will  consider  it  in  all 
its  variety  of  significations. 

Boetius,  in  the  third  book  of  his  treatise  de  Musica, 
has  related  at  large  the  method  taken  by  Philolaus 
the  Pythagorean  for  dividing  the  tone  into  nine 
parts,  called  commas,  of  which  we  shall  speak  more 
particularly  hereafter ;  according  to  this  division, 
two  commas  make  a  diaschisma,  and  two  diaschismata 
a  diesis.  This  is  one  of  the  senses  in  which  the  term 
diesis  is  used,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  discover  the  use 
ot  this  interval,  for  it  does  not  seem  to  be  adapted 
either  to  the  tetrachord  composed  of  sesquioctave 
tones,  or  that  later  one  of  Didymus,  which  supposes 
a  distinction  of  a  greater  and  lesser  tone  ;  so  that  in 
this  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  diesis. 

In  other  instances  we  are  to  understand  by  it  such 
an  interval  as,  together  with  others,  will  complete  the 
system  of  a  diatessaron.  There  are  required  to  form 
a  diatessaron,  or  tetrachord  in  each  of  the  genera, 
tones,  semitones,  and  dieses.  In  the  diatonic  genus 
the  diesis  is  clearly  that,  be  it  either  a  semitone,  a 
limma,  or  any  other  interval,  which,  together  with 
two  tones  is  necessary  to  complete  the  tetrachord. 
If  with  the  Pythagoreans  we  suppose  the  two  tones 
to  be  sesquioctave,  it  will  follow  that  the  diesis  and 
the  limma  256  to  2-i3  are  one  and  the  same  interval ; 
on  the  other  hand,  if  with  Didymus  we  assign  to  the 

*  Salinas,  lib.  II.  cap.  20,  lib.  III.  cap.  7.    Mersen.  Harmonic,  lib.  V. 
De  Dissonantii.<,  pag.  7. 

t  Macrob.  in  Soran.  Scipion.  lib.  II.  cap.  1 


two  tones,  the  different  ratios  of  10  to  9,  and  9  to  8, 
the  interval  necessary  to  complete  the  diatessaron 
will  be  IG  to  15 ;  or  the  difference  between  the  ditone 
in  the  ratio  of  5  to  4,  and  the  diatessaron  above 
demonstrated.  In  short,  this  suppletory  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  magnitudes,  and  the  term  diesis  is  common 
to  both  ;  the  first  of  these  is  that  of  25  to  24,  men- 
tioned above,  and  shewn  to  be  the  difference  between 
the  ditone  and  semiditone,  and  is  what  Salinas  has 
appropriated  to  the  chromatic  genus.  Gaudentiiis 
mentions  also  another  species  of  diesis  that  occurs  in 
this  genus,  in  quantity  the  third  part  of  a  tone,|  in 
which  he  has  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,  must  necessarily  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  enarmonic  genus,  to  which  the  term,  in  the 
opinion  of  most  writers,  seems  to  be  appropriated ;  § 
for  whereas  the  other  diesis  obtained  that  name,  only 
as  being  the  smallest  interval  required  in  each  genas, 
this  other  is  the  smallest  that  any  kind  of  musical 
progression  will  possibly  admit  of.  Aristides  Quin- 
tilianus  says,  a  diesis  is  as  it  were  a  dissolution  of  the 
voice.  II 

According  to  Boetius,  who  must  everywhere  be 
understood  to  speak  the  sense  of  the  Pythagoreans, 
the  two  dieses  contained  in  the  tetrachord  of  the 
enarmonic  genus  must  have  been  unequal,  for  he 
makes  them  to  arise  from  an  arithmetical  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  whom, 
excepting  Aristoxenus,  make  the  dieses  to  be  unequal, 
those  of  Ptolemy  are  24  to  23,  and  46  to  45. 

Salinas  uses  but  one  enarmonic  diesis,  which  he 
makes  to  be  the  difference  between  the  greater  semi- 
tone 16  to  15,  and  the  lesser  25  to  24. 


GREATER    SEMITONE. 


Lesser  Semitone      j  Diesis 

120  125  128 

I  Sesquivigesimaquarta  |  Supertripartiens  125  | 


S 


esquidecima  quinta. 


m 

Which  numbers  are  thus  produced,  15  and  16 
each  multiplied  by  8  will  give  120,  and  128,  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 

t  Ex  Vers.  Meibom.  p-^g.  5. 

§  Boetius  lib.  II.  cap.  23,  has  given  dieses  only  to  the  enarmonic. 

II   Ex  Vers.  Meibom.  pag.  13. 

ir   Boetius,  lib.  IV.  cap.  5. 

**  Lib.  II.  cap.  14. 

tt  Salinas,  lib  II.  cap  21. 


28 


HISTORY  01  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  \. 


or  characters  used  by  the  moderns  to  denote  the 
several  de^irees  by  which  a  sound  may  be  elevated 
or  depressed  above  or  beneath  its  natural  situation ; 
for  the  doing  whereof  he  seems  to  have  had  no  better 
authority  than  that  of  the  practitioners  of  his  time, 
who  perhaps  are  the  only  persons  entitled  to  an 
excuse  for  having  given  to  the  sign  the  name  of  the 
thing  signified.  He  professes  to  follow  Kircher, 
when  he  says  that  there  are  three  sorts  of  dieses, 
namely,  the  lesser  enarmonic  or  simple  diesis,  con- 
taining two  commas  or  about  a  quarter  of  a  tone  ; 
the  chromatic  or  double  diesis,  containing  a  lesser 
semitone,  or  nearly  four  commas,  and  the  greater 
enarmonic  diesis,  containing  nearly  three  fourths  of 
a  tone,  or  from  six  to  seven  commas  ;  but  this  defi- 
nition is  by  much  too  loose  to  satisfy  a  speculative 
musician. 

These  are  all  the  intervals  that  are  requisite  in  the 
constitution  of  a  tetracliord  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 
perfection  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  Boetius  is 
long,  and  rather  perplexed;  but  Glareanus,*^  who 
has  been  at  the  pains  of  extracting  from  it  the  history 
of  this  division,  speaks  of  it  thus :  '  A  tone  in  a  ses- 
'  quioctave  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  contained  two;  and  the  comma  into  schismata, 
'  two  whereof  made  the  comma.'  The  passage,  to  give 
it  at  length,  is  thus  : — 

'  It  is  demonstrated  by  musicians,  for  good  reasons, 
that  a  tone  cannot  be  divided  into  two  equal  parts, 

*  because  no  superparticular  ratio,  such  as  is  that  of  a 

*  tone,  is  capable  of  such  a  division  as  Divus  Severinus 
'Boetius  fully  shews  in  his  third  book,  chap,  i.,  a 
'  tone  which  is  in  a  sesquioctave  ratio  is  divided  into 
'  a  greater  and  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  is  called  a  comma, 
'  and  this  comma  is  divided  into  two  parts,  which  are 
'called   schismata   by    Philolaus.      This   Philolaus, 

*  according  to  Boetius,  gives  us  the  definitions  of  all 
'those  parts,  A  diesis,  he  says,  is  that  space  by 
'which  a  sesquialteral  ratio  or  diatessaron  exceeds 

*  two  tones ;  and  a  comma  is  that  space  whereby 
'  a  sesquioctave  ratio  is  greater  than  two  dieses,  that 
'  is  than  two  lesser  semitones.     A  schisma  is  that 

half  of  a  comma,  and  a  diaschisma  is  the  half  of  a 
'diesis,  that  is  of  a  lesser  semitone;  from  which 
'definitions  and  the  following  scheme  you  may  easily 
'  find  out  into  how  many  diaschismata,  and  the  other 
'  smaller  spaces,  a  tone  may  be  divided,  for  the  same 

*  Boetius  shews  that  it  can  be  done  many  ways  in  his 

'  Dodecachordon,  lib.  I.  cap.  x. 


'  treatise,  lib.  Ill,  cap.  viii.,  from  whence  we  have 
'  taken  these  descriptions.  It  is  to  be  observed  that 
'  the  name  of  diesis  is  proper  in  this  place  ;  but  when, 
'  as  the  ancients  have  done,  we  give  it  to  the  enar- 
'  monic  diaschisma,  it  is  improper  : — 

mi  1]  4096 


H 
^ 

O 

^1 

H 

H 

O 

> 

fM 

< 

< 

^ 

U 

O 

i— 1 

P 

O" 

crj 

a 

■J2 

Diaschisma 


Diaschisma 


COMMA 


(  Schisma 


(  Schisma    fa 


Diaschisma 


Diaschisma 


re 


c   4213 

d  4330 
e  4352 
/  4374 


ff 


91 


4608 


'  Let  a  J]  be  a  tone,  \j  d,  or  fa,  a  lesser  semitone, 
or  as  the  Greeks  call  it,  as  Boetius  witnesseth  lib.  II, 
cap.  xxvii.,  a  limma  or  diesis,  ]j  f,  or  d  a,  a  greater 
semitone,  called  by  the  Greeks  an  apotome,  J]  c  and 
c  d,  also  /  g  and  g  a,  diaschismata,  or  the  halves  of 
a  diesis,  (Ifs.  comma,  whose  halves  d  e  and  e  f  are 
schismata;  but  it  is  necessary  for  our  purpose 
to  observe  this,  let  a  be  Mese,  or  a  la  mi  re,  f 
Trite  synemmenon  ox  fa  in  \>fa  J]  mi  \^  Paramese 
or  mi  in  b  /a  J]  mi,  therefore  the  note  re  in  a  la  mi 
re  is  distant  from  fa  in  b  fa  J]  vii  by  a  lesser 
hemitone,  and  from  mi  in  the  same  key  by  a  tone ; 
from  whence  it  follows,  that  the  two  notes  in  b  fa 
Yj  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,  viz.,  7ni  from  e 
sol  fa  xd,  and/a  from  a  la  mi  re,  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  Seve- 
rinus 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  whence  it  comes  to  pass  that  a  tone 
exceeds  eight  commas,  but  does  not  quite  make  up 


nine. 


This  of  Philolaus  is  generally  deemed  the  true 
division  of  the  tone,  and  may  serve  to  prove  the 
truth  of  that  position,  which  all  the  theoretic  writers 
on  music  seem  to  agree  in,  namely,  that  the  sesqui- 
octave tone,  as  being  in  a  superparticular  ratio,  is 
incapable  of  an  equal  division.  But  unfortunately 
the  numbers  made  use  of  by  Glareanus  do  not  answer 
to  the  division,  for  those  for  the  diesis  or  limma  ]-]  d 
4330,  4098  have  no  such  ratio  as  256  to  243,  which 
is  what  the  limma  requires,  and  that  other  f  a,  has. 
and  it  seems  that  in  his  assertion  that  J]  and  b  are 
farther  distant  from  each  other  than  from  c  and  a. 


Chap.  VI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


231 


respectively,  he  is  mistaken.  This  is  noticed  by- 
Salinas,  who  insists  that  the  converse  of  the  propo- 
sition is  the  truth.     De  Musica,  lib.  II.  cap.  xx.* 

As  to  the  comma,  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  that  of  Glareanus  and  Boetius,  but  is  clearly 
shewn  by  Salinas  to  be  the  difference  between  the 
greater  and  lesser  tone.  Ptolemy  looked  upon  this 
latter  comma  as  an  insensible  interval,  and  thought 
that  therefore  it  was  a  thing  indifferent  whether  the 
sesquioctave  or  sesquinonal  tone  held  the  acutest 
situation  in  the  diatonic  tetrachord;  but  Salinas 
asserts,  that  though  it  is  the  least,  it  is  yet  one  of  the 
sensible  intervals,  and  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 
tones. 

Mersennus  says  that  the  Pythagoreans  had  another 
comma,  which  was  in  the  ratio  of  531441  to  524288, 
and  was  between  sesqui  Jj  and  sesqui  ■^•,  and  that 
Christopher  Mondore,  in  a  book  inscribed  by  him  to 
Margaret,  the  sister  of  Henry  III.  of  France,  speaks 
of  another  between  sesqui  •^,  and  sesqui  -gly-.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  Pythagorean  comma, 
and  says  that  it  is  the  difference  whereby  the  apotome 
exceeds  the  limma. 

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 


The 


f  Diapente  and  "| 
\  Diiitessaron      j 


IS 


The 


The 


a  sesquioctave  tone. 
a  sesquinonal  tone. 


-  is    a  greater  semitone. 


(  Ditone  and      \  . 
\  Greater  tone   j 
Seniiditone  and  greater  tone, 
and  also  between  the  dia- 
(    tessaron  and  ditone, 

(Lesser     tone    and     greater  S 
semitone,  and  also  between  Vis    a  lesser  semitone, 
the  ditone  and  semiditone,  J 
f  Greater  tone  and  \  ■ 
\  Lesser  tone  J 


The 


■is 


a  comma. 


The 


(  Greater  semitone  and  1  . 
I  Lesser  semitone  ) 


an  enarmonic  diesis. 


Salinas  remarks  much  to  the  same  purpose  on  the 
regular  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 

*  See  his  sentiment  of  it  pac  25  of  the  present  work. 
t  Harmonicor.  lit).  V.  Dissonantiis,  pag.  88. 


■  next  less  to  them  :  to  instance  in  the  diapason,  the 
'  excess  above  the  diapente  is  the  diatessaron,  which 

■  is  found  in  the  ratio  between  the  first  square  num- 

■  ber  4,  and  its  next  less  number  3.     The  excess  of 
'  the  diapente  above  the  diatessaron  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  25  to  24.  All 
these  will  appear  more  clearly  in  tlie  following  dis- 
position of  the  numbers  : — 


A 


B  C        A                B 

2  3  4  Diapason  Diapente 

6  8  9  Diapente  Diatessaron 

12  15  16  Diatessaron  Ditone 

20  24  25  Ditone  Semiditone 


c 

Diatessaron 
Tone  Major 
Semitone  majus 
Semitone  miims 


'  In  the  above  disposition,  the  last  numbers  are 
'  square,  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 
'squares,  the  lesser  between  the  longilaterals  and 
'  middle  numbers,  and  the  least  or  differences  those 
'  between  the  squares  and  the  middle  ones.  Of  the 
'  ratios  the  greatest  are  marked  A,  the  lesser  B,  and 
Uhe  least  C.':|: 

Observations  of  this  kind  are  perpetually  occurring 
in  the  course  of  harmonical  calculations  ;  and  it  can- 
not but  be  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  des;ree,  as  to  give  occasion  to  a  well-known  axiom 
that  precludes  all  dispute  about  them  ;  but  that  of 
hearing  seems  to  be  an  exception ;  for  what  the  ear 
recognises  to  be  grateful,  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  diatonic,  the  chromatic,  and  the  enharmonic. 
We  are  farther  to  understand  a  subdivision  of  these 
into  species.  Gaudentius  expressly  says,  '  The 
'species  or  colours  of  the  genera  are  many,'§  and 
an  author  of  much  greater  authority,  Aristoxenus, 
has  particularly  enumerated  them.  According  to  him 
the  diatonic  genus  had  two  species,  the  soft  and  the 

J  De  Musica,  lib.  II.  cap.  xx. 
§  Ex  Vers.  Meibom.  pag.  5. 


.so 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book.  T 


intense  ;  the  chromatic  three,  the  soft,  the  hemiolian,* 
and  tlie  tonic ;  f  as  to  the  enharmonic,  it  had  no 
subdivision.  Indeed,  the  representations  of  the 
genera  and  their  species,  as  well  by  diagrams  as  in 
words,  are  almost  as  numerous  as  the  writers  on 
music.  Monsieur  Brossard  has  exhibited  a  view  of 
the  Aristoxenean  division,  taken  as  he    says,   from 


Vitruvius;  and  the  same  is  to  be  met  with  in  an 
English  dictionary  of  music,  published  in  the  veuv 
1740,  by  James  Grassineau.ij; 

But  this  representation  is  not  near  so  particular 
and  accurate,  as  the  Aristoxenean  Synopsis  of  the 
Genera  given  by  Dr.  Wallis  in  the  Appendix  to  his 
edition  of  Ptolemy,  and  here  inserted  : — 


.30 


24 


18 
15 
12 


Enarmonic 
Genus 


Nete 


24 


Paranete 


Lichanos 

3 

Trite 


Paihvpate 
3 


Chromatic  Genus 


Soft 


Nete 


Paranete 


LichaiK; 

4 
Trite 


Parhvpate 
4 


Hemiolian 


Nete 


21 


Paranete 


Lichanos 


4'- 

Trite 


Parhvpate 

4 


Toniac 


Nete 


18 


Paranete 


Lichanos 

6 

Trite 


Parhypate 
6 


Diatonic  Genus 


Soft 


Nete 


Paranete 


I-ichanos 


Trite 


Parhypate 
6 


Intense 


Nete 


12 


Paranete 


Lichanos 


12 


Trite 


Parhvpate 
6 


30 


24 


18 

15 

12 

9 

6 

3 


In  order  to  imderstand  this  scheme,  we  must  sup- 
pose the  tetrachord  hypaton,  though  any  other  would 
have  served  the  ]n;rpose  as  well,  divided  into  thirty 
equal  parts  :  in  the  primitive  division  of  this  system, 
according  to  the  diatonic  genus,  the  stations  of  the 
two  intermediate  sounds  parhypate  and  lichanos,  for 
it  is  to  be  noted  that  those  at  the  extremities  termed 
stabiles,  or  immovables,  were  at  6  and  18  ;  that  is  to 
say,  the  first  interval  in  the  tetrachord  was  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  supposed  to  have  meant  when- 
ever they  spoke  of  the  diatonic  generally. 

The  soft  diatonic  has  for  its  first  interval  G,  for  its 
Becond  9,  or  a  hemitone  and  a  quadrantal  diesis,  or 
three  fourths  of  a  tone,  and  for  its  third  15,  viz.,  a 
tone  and  a  quadrantal  diesis. 

We  are  now  to  speak  of  the  chromatic  genus,  the 
first  species  whereof,  the  tonic,  had  for  its  first  inter- 

•  This  is  but  another  name  for  sesqiiialtera,  as  Andreas  Ornithnparcus 
asserts  in  his  Microlo?;us,  Hb.  II.  on  tiie  authority  of  Aiilus  Gellius.  It 
signifies  a  whole  and  its  half,  consequently  the  sesquialtera  ratio  in  its 
ini'Mest  numbers  is  3  to  2. 

i  Vide  Wall.  Append,  de  veter.  Harm,  quarto,  pag.  299. 


val  6,  or  a  hemitone  ;  for  its  second  also  6,  and  for 
its  third  18,  a  trihemitone,  or  tone  and  a  half. 

In  the  hemiolian  chromatic,  called  also  the  ses- 
quialteral,§  the  first  and  also  the  second  interval  was 
4|,  which  is  a  hemiolian  or  sesquialteral  diesis  ;  and 
the  third  21,  or  a  tone,  a  hemitone,  and  a  quadrantal 
diesis, 

t  At  the  time  when  the  above  book  was  published  the  world  were  sur- 
prised ;  no  such  per,«on  as  James  Grassineau  being  known  to  it  as  pos- 
sessed of  any  great  share  of  musical  erudition,  and  the  work  offered  to 
the  public  appeared  to  be  the  result  of  great  study  and  skill  in  the 
science.  But  the  wonder  ceased  when  it  came  to  be  known  that  the 
basis  of  Grassineau's  book  was  the  Dictionaire  de  Musique  of  Monsieur 
Sebastian  Brossard,  of  Strasburg;  though,  to  do  him  justice,  Grassineau 
in  his  preface  ingenuously  confesses  he  had  made  a  liberal  use  of  it.  For 
the  rest  of  it  he  stood  indebted  to  Dr.  Pepusch,  and  perhaps,  in  a  small 
degree  to  the  other  masters,  Dr.  Greene  and  Mr.  Galliard,  who  have 
joined  in  the  recommendation  of  it. 

Grassineau  was  an  ingenious  young  man;  he  understood  the  Latin 
and  French  langua.ges,  the  latter  very  well,  and  knew  a  little  of  music  ; 
he  had  been  clerk  to  Mr.  Godfrey,  the  chemist  in  Southampton  Street, 
Covent  Garden,  but  being  out  of  employ,  he  became  the  amanuensis  of 
Dr.  Pepusch,  and  translated  for  him  into  English  some  of  the  Greek 
harmonicians  from  the  Latin  version  of  Meibomius.  The  Doctor  having 
no  farther  occasion  for  him,  recommended  it  to  him  to  translate  Brossard's 
dictionary  above-mentioned,  which  he  undertook  and  completed,  the 
Doctor  furnishing  him  with  many  new  articles,  and  with  additional  mat- 
ter for  the  enlargement  of  those  contained  in  Brossard  ;  and  Grassineau's 
dictionary  would  have  been  an  inestimable  present  to  the  musical  world, 
had  due  care  been  taken  in  the  correction  of  it,  but  it  abounds  with 
errors,  and  the  author  is  not  now  living  to  correct  them  in  a  new  edition. 

Although  the  dictionary  of  Brossard,  and  this  of  Grassineau,  contain  a 
great  variety  of  useful  knowledge,  it  is  to  be  wished  that  it  had  been 
communicated  to  the  world  in  some  better  form  than  that  of  a  dictionary  ; 
for  to  speak  of  the  latter,  some  of  the  articles  contained  in  it  are  com 
plete  treatises. 

§  Vide  previous  note  in  this  page. 


CHAr.  VIL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


31 


The  soft  chromatic  makes  the  first  and  also  tlie 
Becond  interval  a  triental  diesis,  or  third  part  of  a 
tone,  by  assigning  to  parypate  and  lichanos,  the 
stations  of  4  and  18  ;  and  gives  to  the  third  twenty- 
two  twelfths  of  a  tone,  or,  which  is  the  same,  twenty- 
two  thirtieths  of  the  whole  tetrachord,  which  amount 
to  a  tone,  a  hemitone,  and  a  triental  diesis. 

In  the  enharmonic  genus,  which,  in  the  opinion  of 
most  authors,  had  no  division  into  species,  the  first 
and  second  intervals,  being  terminated  by  3  and  6, 
were  each  quadrantal  dieses,  or  three  twelfths  of 
a  tone,  and  the  last  a  ditone.  Of  the  diesis  in 
this  genus  it  is  said  by  Aristoxenus  and  others,  that 
it  is  the  smallest  interval  that  the  human  voice  is 
capable  of  expressing ;  and  it  is  farther  to  be  re- 
marked, that  it  is  ever  termed  the  enarmonic  diesis, 
as  being  appropriated  to  the  enarmonic  genus. 

Euclid's  account  of  the  genera  is  not  much  different 
from  this  of  Aristoxenus.  The  diatonic,  he  says, 
proceeds  from  the  acute  to  the  grave  by  a  tone,  a 
tone,  and  a  hemitone  ;  and,  on  the  contrary,  from  the 
grave  to  the  acute  by  a  hemitone,  a  tone,  and  a  tone. 
The  chromatic  from  the  acute  to  the  grave  by  a  tri- 
hemitone,  a  hemitone,  and  a  hemitone  :  and  con- 
trary wise,  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 
acumen  by  a  diesis,  a  diesis,  and  a  ditone.  He  speaks 
of  a  commixture  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  the  several  sounds  as  they 
occur,  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  tetrachord  are  immoveable,  and 
that  the  difference  between  the  genera  consists  in 
those  several  mutations  of  the  intervals,  which  are 
made  by  assigning  different  positions  to  the  two 
intermediate  sounds. 

Colour  he  defines  to  be  a  particular  division  of  a 
genus  ;  and,  agreeable  to  what  is  said  by  Aristoxenus, 
he  says  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  incomposite  ditone ;  that  the 
chromatic  colours  or  species  are  the  soft,  proceeding 
by  two  dieses,  each  being  the  third  part  of  a  tone, 
and  an  incomposite  interval  equal  to  a  tone,  and  its 
third  part ;  and  the  sesquialteral,  proceeding  by  a  die- 
sis in  a  sesquialteral  ratio  to  that  in  the  enarmonic, 
another  such  diesis,  and  an  incomposite  interval  con- 
Bisting  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 
species,  namely,  the  soft  and  the  intense,  by  some 
called  also  the  syntonous ;  the  former  proceeding  by 
a  hemitone,  an  interval  of  three  quadrantal  dieses, 
and  by  another  of  five  such  dieses ;  and  the  latter  by 
a  common  division,  with  its  genus,  namely,  a  tone, 
a  tone,  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  syntonous  or 
intense  diatonic  is  what  is  used  to  denote  the  genus 
itself.  From  hence  it  should  seem  that  of  the  si^ecies 
some  were  deemed  spurious,  or  at  least  that  some 
kind  of  pre-eminence  among  them,  unknown  to  us, 
occasioned  this  distinction  ;  which  amounts  to  no  less 
than  saying  that  the  soft  chromatic  is  more  truly  the 
chromatic  than  either  of  the  other  two  species  of  that 
genus ;  and  that  the  intense  or  syntonous  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  the  hemitone  he  gives  six,  to  the 
quadrantal  diesis  three,  and  to  the  triental  diesis  four ; 
and  to  the  whole  diatessaron  he  assigns  thirty.  In 
the  application  of  these  parts  to  the  several  species, 
he  says  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  six,  six,  and  eighteen ;  in  the  soft  dia- 
tonic six,  nine,  and  fifteen ;  and  in  the  syntonous  six. 
twelve,  and  twelve. 

CHAP.   VII. 

Aristides  Quintilianus,  who,  in  the  judgment  of 
Dr.Wallis,*  seems  in  this  respect  to  have  been  an 
Aristoxenean,  speaks  of  the  genera  and  their  species 
in  the  following  manner : — '  Genus  is  a  certain  di- 
'  vision  of  the  tetrachord.     There  are  three  genera 

*  of  modulation,  namely,  the  harmonic,  chromatic, 
'  and  diatonic ;  the  difference  between  them  consists 
'  in  the  distances  of  their  respective  intervals.  The 
'  harmonic  is  that  genus  Avhich  abounds  in  the  least 
'  intervals,  and  takes  its  name  from  adjoining  together. 
'  The  diatonic  is  so  called  becaiase  it  proceeds  by,  or 
'  abounds  in,  tones.  The  chromatic  is  so  termed, 
'  because,  as  that  which  is  between  white  and  black 
'  is  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  hemitone,  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  unlearned.  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 

*  Append,  dc  veter.  Ilanii.  pag.  318. 


32 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I 


'  these,  by  reason  of  the  debility  of  their  faculties, 
'  the  use  of  this  genus  is  impossil)le.     Each  of  the 

*  genera  may  be  modulated  both  by  consecutive 
'  sounds   and   by  leaps.      IMoreover,    modulation    is 

*  either  direct  or  straightforward,  reverting  or  turn- 
'  ing  back,  or  circumcurrent,  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  circumcurrent  is  that  which 
'  is  changeable,  as  when  we  elevate  by  conjunction, 
'  and  remit  by  disjunction.  Again,  some  of  tlie 
'  genera  are  divided  into  species,  others  not.  The 
'  enarmonic,  because  it  consists  of  the  smallest 
'  dieses,    is    indivisible.       The    chromatic   may    be 

*  divided  into  as  many  rational  intervals  as  are 
'  found  between  the  hemitone  and  enarmonic  diesis ; 
'  the  third,  namely  the  diatonic,  into  as  many  rational 
'  intervals  as  are  found  between  the  hemitone  and 

*  tone ;  there  are  therefore  three  species  of  the  chro- 

*  matic,  and  two  of  the  diatonic.  And,  to  sum  up 
'the  whole,  these  added  to  the  enarmonic  make  six 
'  species  of  modulation  ;  the  first  is  distinguished  by 
'  quadrantal  dieses,  and  is  called  the  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.  The  fourth  has  a  pe- 
'  culiar  constitution  of  two  hemitones,  it  is  called 
'  the  tonic  chromatic  :  the  fifth  consists  of  an  hemi- 
'  tone  and  three  dieses,  and  the  five  remaining  ones, 
'  and  is  called  the  soft  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 
'  numbers.     Let  the  tetrachord  be  supposed  to  con- 

*  sist  of  sixty  units,  the    division  of  the  enarmonic 

*  is  6,  6,  48,  by  a  quadrantal  diesis,  a  quadrantal 
'  diesis,  and  a  ditone.    The  division  of  the  soft  chro- 

*  matic  8,  8,  44,  by  a  triental  diesis,  a  triental  diesis, 
'  and  a  trihemitone  and  triental  diesis.  The  division 
'  of  the  sesquialteral  chromatic  is  9,  9,  42,  by  a 
'  sesquialteral  diesis,  a  sesquialteral  diesis,  and  a  tri- 
'  hemitone  and  quadrantal  diesis.  The  division  of 
'  the  tonic  chromatic  is  12,  12,  3G,  by  an  hemitone, 
'  an  hemitone,  and  a  trihemitone.  That  of  the  soft 
'  diatonic  is  12,   18,  30,  by  a  hemitone,  and  three 

*  quadrantal  dieses,  and  five  quadrantal  dieses.  That 
'  of  the  intense  diatonic  is  12,  24,  24,  by  a  hemitone, 
'  a  tone,  and  a  tone.'* 

It  is  observable  in  this  division  of  Aristides  Quin- 
tilianus,  that  the  numbers  made  use  of  by  him  are 
double  those  used  by  Euclid ;  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  the  numl)er  30  or  60  for 
the  gross  content  of  the  tetrachord,  the  matter  is 
just  the  same. 

Ptolemy,  the  most  copious,  and  one  of  the  most 
accurate  of  all  the  ancient  harmonicians,  has  treated 

*  Aristides  Quintilianus  ex  vers.  Meib.  pag  18,  et  seq.,in  which  pas- 
sage it  is  observable  that  he  sometimes  uses  the  term  apiioina,  and 
others  evapfiovia,  to  signify  the  enarmonic  genus. 


very  largely  of  the  genera ;  and  has,  for  the  reason 
above  given,  adopted  the  number  60  for  the  measure 
of  the  tetrachord ;  he  has  represented  the  Aristox- 
enean  constitution  of  the  six  species  by  the  following 
proportions  : — 

Acute 
Mean 
Grave 


48 
6 
6 

44 

8 
8 

42 
9 
9 

36 
12 
12 

30 
18 
12 

24 
24 
12 

60 

60 

60 

60 

60 

60 

Enar- 
monic 

Chro- 
matic 

son 

Chro- 
matic 
sesqui- 
alteral 

Chro- 
matic 
tonic 

Dia- 
tonic 
soft 

Dia- 
tonic 
intense 

In  which  proportions  he  agrees  both  with  Euclid 
and  Aristides  Quintilianus  ;  though,  for  the  purpose 
of  ascertaining  them,  he  has  preferred  the  numbers 
of  the  latter  to  those  used  by  Euclid. 

In  chapter  xiv.  of  his  second  book,  Ptolemy  has 
given  the  genera,  with  each  of  their  several  species, 
according  to  the  five  different  musicians,  namely, 
Archytas,  f  Aristoxenus,  Eratosthenes,  J  Didymus, 
and  himself.  The  sum  of  his  account,  omitting  the 
division  of  Aristoxenus,  for  that  is  given  above,  is  as 
follows  :  — 

J  Enarmonic 

Chromatic 

Diatonic 

Enarmonic 

Chromatic 

Diatonic 

Enarmonic 

Chromatic 

Diatonic 

In  his  own  division  Ptolemy  supposes  five  species 
of  the  diatonic  genus,  which,  together  with  the  en- 
harmonic, and  two  species  of  the  chromatic,  he  thus 
defines  :  — 

/'Enarmonic 

f  Soft 

*•  Intense 

^Soft 

Tonic 

Ditonic 

Intense 


Archytas 


Eratosthenes 


Didvmus 


2  8 
2T 

X 

3fi 

X 

s 

4 

4 

—  7 

28 

X 

243 

2irf 

X 

3  2 

4 

—  ¥ 

2  8 
2T 

X 

8 

T 

X 

9 

■8 

=i 

40 
39 

X 

30 

3  8 

X 

1  9 
15^ 

4 

—  3^ 

2  0 

X 

1  0 

X 

fi 
5 

—  4 

—  3" 

2. '5  6 
24;T 

X 

9 

"8 

X 

9 

"8- 

—  4 

—  S' 

3  2 
3  1 

X 

31 

3  0 

X 

.5 

—  4 

—  3" 

IG 
15 

X 

2r> 

2  4 

X 

6 
'5 

=  1 

1  6 
i5 

X 

10 

X 

9 
8 

—  4 

^ 

Pt  'cmv< 


Chromatic 


Diatonic    ^ 


46 
45 

X 

24 
2  3 

X 

5 
4 

—  4 

—  S 

28 
27 

X 

1  5 
14 

X 

6 
6 

=  ^ 

21 

X 

1  2 
1  1 

X 

7 
"6" 

4 

—  7 

21 
20 

X 

1  0 

X 

8 

T 

4 

—  3- 

2  8 
2  7 

X 

8 
T 

X 

9 

4 

—  S 

2.'-,  6 
24  3^ 

X 

9 

X 

1 

4 

—  3- 

1  fi 

X 

9 

if 

X 

1  0 

IT 

—  4 

—  T 

1  2 
1  1 

X 

1  1 

T7f 

X 

10 

4 

+  There  were  two  of  this  name,  the  one  of  TarLntum,  a  Pythagorean, 
famous,  as  Auhis  Gellius  and  others  relate,  for  having  constructed  an 
automaton  in  the  form  of  a  pipe,  i,  which  had  the  power  of  flying  to 
a  considerable  distance;  the  other  a  musician  of  Mitylene.  They  ate 
both  mentioned  by  Diogenes  Laertias,  but  it  is  not  certain  which  of  the 
two  was  the  author  of  the  division  here  given. 

t  Erathosthenes,  a  Cyrenean  philosopher,  and  a  disciple  of  Aristo  and 
Callimachus,  was  librarian  at  Alexandria  to  Ptolemy  Evergetes.  Ht 
was  for  his  great  learning  esteemed  a  second  Plato.  An  astronomica. 
discourse  of  his  is  extant  in  the  Oxford  edition  of  Aratus  ;  prefixed  to 
which  is  an  account  of  many  other  books  of  his  writing  now  lost.  He 
is  said  to  have  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-two  ;  and,  according  to  Helvicus, 
flourished  about  th*-  Olympiad  cxxxviii.  that  is  to  say,  about  two  hundred 
and  thirty  years  before  Clirist. 

The  above-mentioned  edition  of  Aratus  is  a  book  not  unworthy  the 
notice  of  a  learned  musician,  as  containing  a  short  but  curious  disserta- 
tion De  Musica  antiqua  Graca,  by  the  editor  Mr.  Edmund  Chilmead. 
Aratus  was  an  eminent  astronomer  and  poet,  contemporary  with  Era- 
tosthenes ;  and  in  the  Oxford  publication  is  an  astronomical  poem,  which 
it  seems  St.  Paul  alludes  to  in  his  speech  at  Athens.  Acts  xvii.  ver.  28. 
'As  certain  of  your  own  poets  have  said.'  Aratus  was  a  Cilicinn,  and 
a  countryman  of  the  Apostle.  Vide  Bentley's  Sermons  at  Boyle'* 
Lecture,  Sermon  II. 


Ciuv.  VII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


33 


Martianus  Capolla  gives  this  explanation  of  the 
genera  : — '  The  euarmonic  aboinids  in  small  intervals, 
'  the  diatonic  in  tones.  The  chromatic  consists  wholly 
'  of  semitones,  and  is  called  chromatic,  as  partaking  of 
'  the  nature  of  both  the  others  ;  for  the  same  reason 
'  as  we  call  that  affection  colour  which  is  included 
'  between  the  extremes  of  white  and  black.  The 
'  enarmonic  is  modulated  towards  the  acumen,  or,  as 
'  we  should  now  say,  ascends  by  a  diesis,  diesis,  and 
'  an  incomposite  ditone ;  the,  chromatic  by  a  semi- 
'  tone,  semitone,  and  an  incomposite  trihemitone  : 
'  and  the  diatonic,  content  with  larger  intervals, 
•'  proceeds  by  a  semitone,  tone,  and  tone  :  we  now 
'  chiefly  use  the  diatonic'  He  says  farther,—'  The 
'  possible  divisions  of  the  tetrachord  are  innumerable, 
'  but  there  are  six  noted  ones,  one  of  the  enarmonic, 
'three  of  the  chromatic,  and  two  of  the  diatonic. 

*  The  first  of  the  chromatic  is  the  soft,  the  second 
'  is  the  hemiolian,  and  the  third  the  tonian.  The 
'  divisions  of  the  diatonic  are  two,  the  one  soft  and 

*  the  other  robust.  The  enarmonic  is  distinguished 
'  by  the  quadrantal  diesis,  the  soft  chromatic  by  the 
'  triental  diesis,  and  the  hemiolian  chromatic  by  the 
'hemiolian  diesis,  which  is  equal  to  an  enarmonic 
'  diesis  and  a  half,  or  three  eighths  of  a  tone.'  *     In 

all  this  Capella  is  but  a  copier  of  Aristides  Quin- 
tilianus ;  and,  in  the  judgment  of  his  editor  Mei- 
bomius,  and  others,  he  is  both  a  servile  and  an 
injudicious  one. 
Boetius  t  has  treated  the  subject  of  the  genera  in 
a  manner  less  satisfactory  than  could  have  been  ex- 
pected from  so  scientific  a  musician  :  he  mentions 
nothing  of  the  species,  but  contents  himself  with  an 
exhibition  of  the  enarmonic,  the  chromatic,  and 
diatonic,  in  three  several  diagrams,  which  are  here 
given.  He  says  that  the  diatonic  is  somewhat  hard, 
but  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  tetrachords.  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, 
signifying  colour,  is,  as  it  were,  the  first  change  or  in- 
flexion from  that  kind  of  intension  preserved  in  the 
diatonic :  and  is  sung  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,  he  says,  is  the 
half  of  a  semitone.  The  following  is  his  division  of 
the  tetrachord  in  each  of  the  three  genera  : — 


C  H  11  0  M  A  T  I  C 


Semitone     Semitone     Three  semitones  iucomposite 


ENAEMONIC 


Diesis  |  Diesis  | 
^ V— ■■ 


Ditone 


"V 


-.^ 


He  is  somewhat  more  particular  in  his  fourth  book, 
chap,  v.,  and  again  in  the  seventh  chapter,  for  in  the 
chromatic  tetrachord  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. 

TETRACHORD. 

Nete  hyper'ooleon         Nete  hyperboleon         Nete  hyperbolcon 


O  ■$ 
<  -3 


o 
c 
o 
H 

2304 
2592 

O  en 

So 
2  ^ 

o  • 

C  u 
O   (U 

2304 
2730 

0) 

c 
o 

2304 
291G 

§ 

H 

Is 

X 

Paranete  hyp. 
2916 

Paranete  hyp. 
291G 

Trite  hyperb. 
3072 

Is 

■-H       X 

Trite  hyperb. 
3072 

•71 

5_ 

X 

'x 

(5 

Paranete  hyp. 

Trite  hyperb. 
3072 

Nete  diezeug. 

DIATONIC 

Nete  diezeug. 

CHROMATIC 

Nete  dlezeuR. 

ENARMONIC 

DIATONIC 


Semitone 


Tone 


Tone 


"N^- 


*  De  Nuptiis  PhilologiEe  et  Mercurii,  lib.  IX.  De  Generibus  Tetra- 
chordorum. 

t  Lib.  I.  cap.  xxi. 

t  In  a  dia-jram  of  Glareanus,  representing  Boetius's  division  of  the 
chromatic,  the  last  interval  is  thus  defined ; — '  tria  semitonia  incom- 
posita,'  which  epithet,  as  Boetius  himself  explains  it,  is  not  meant  to 
signify  that  the  semitones  are  incomplete,  but  that  the  interval  con- 
stituted by  them  is  to  be  considered  as  an  integer,  and  uncompounded 
like  the  tone,  without  regard  to  its  constituent  parts.  De  Mus.  lib.  I. 
cap.  xxiii. 


It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  this  author  has 
said  nothing  of  the  colours  or  species  of  the  genera, 
about  which  so  much  is  to  be  met  with  in  Ptolemy 
and  other  writers,  except  towards  the  conclusion  of 
his  work,  where  he  professes  to  deliver  the  sentiments 
of  Aristoxenus  and  Archytas  on  this  head ;  but  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  assertor  of  the  doctrines  of 
Pythagoras. 

'Mcrsennus§  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  modern  notation,  which 
is  here  inserted,  and  may  serve  to  shew  how  ill  the 
division  of  the  tetrachord  in  the  chromatic  and  enar- 
monic genera  agree  with  the  notions  at  this  time 
entertained  of  harmony,  and  the  natural  progression 
of  musical  sounds. 

§  Harmonic.  De  Generibus  et  Modis,  pag.  9/. 


34 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


as 


DIATONIC    GENUS. 

Tetrachord.  Tetrachord.  Tetrachord. 

hypaton.  parhypaton.  eynemmen. 


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12; 

Other  authors  there  fire,  particularly  Fraiichinus, 
Vieentino,  Viucentio  Galilei,  and  Zarlino,  that  pro- 
fess to  treat  of  the  genera;  but  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  all  their  intelligence  is  derived  from  the  same 
source,  namely,  the  Avritings  of  Aristoxenus,  Euclid, 
Aristides  Quintilianus,  and  more  especially  Ptolemy ; 
and  therefore  we  find  no  other  variation  among  them 
than  what  seems  necessarily  to  arise  from  their  dif- 
ferent conceptions  of  the  subject.  Boetius  himself 
can  in  this  respect  be  considered  no  other\vise  than 
as  a  modern  ;  and  he  himself  does  not  pretend  to  an 
investigation  of  the  genera,  but  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- 
sidered that  in  his  time  only  the  diatonic  genus  was 
in  use,  the  other  genera  having  been  rejected  for 
their  intricacy,  and  other  reasons,  long  before,  it 
must  appear  next  to  impossible  that  he  could  contri- 
bute much  to  the  explanation  of  this  most  abstruse 
part  of  the  science ;  and  the  excessive  caution  with 
which  he  delivers  his  sentiments  touching  them, 
is  a  kind  of  proof  of  the  difficulties  he  had  to 
encounter. 

If  this  was  the  case  with  Boetius,  how  little  is  to 
be  expected  from  the  writers  of  later  times.  In 
short,   for  information  as  to  the  doctrine   of  the 


genera,  we  are  under  an  indispensible  necessity  of 
recurring  to  the  ancients  ;  and  it  will  be  much  safer 
to  acquiesce  in  their  relations,  defective  and  obscure 
as  they  are,  than  to  trust  to  the  glosses  of  modern 
authors,  who  in  general  are  more  likely  to  mislead 
than  direct  us :  for  this  reason  it  has  been  thought 
proper  to  reject  an  infinitude  of  schemes,  diagrams, 
and  explanations,  which  the  fertile  inventions  of  the 
moderns  have  produced  to  exemplify  the  constitution 
of  the  chromatic  and  enarmonic  genera,  and  that 
from  a  thorough  persuasion  that  many  of  them  are 
erroneous. 

But  it  seems  the  considerations  above  suggested 
were  not  sufficient  to  deter  a  writer,  who  flourished 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  who,  to  say  the  least  of  him, 
appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  ablest  theorists  of 
modern  times,  from  attempting  to  develope  the 
doctrine  of  the  genera,  and  deliver  it  free  from  those 
difficulties. 

The  author  here  meant  is  Franciscus  Salinas, 
a  Spaniard  by  birth,  and  who,  under  all  the  dis- 
advantages of  incurable  blindness,  applied  himself 
with  the  most  astonishing  patience  and  perseverance 
to  the  study  of  the  theory  of  music ;  and  in  many 
respects  the  success  of  his  researches  has  been  equal 
to  the  degree  of  his  resolution.     His  svstem  of  the 


Chap.  VII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


35 


genera  is  mucli  too  copious  to  be  inserted  here  ;  it  is 
therefore  referred  to  a  part  of  this  work  reserved  for 
an  account  of  liim  and  bis  writings. 

Kircher  has  given  a  compendious  view  of  the 
genera,*  together  with  the  jiroportions  of  their  com- 
ponent intervals,  in  the  tetraclaord  of  each  genus,  by 
the  help  whereof  we  are  enabled  to  form  an  idea  of 
those  various  progressions  that  constitute  the  dif- 
ference between  the  one  and  the  other  of  them.  But 
though  he  professes  to  have  in  his  possession,  and 
to  have  perused  the  manuscripts  of  Aristoxenus, 
Archytas,  Didymus,  Eratosthenes,  and  others,f  he 
gives  the  preference  to  Ptolemy  in  respect  to  his 
division  of  the  genera,  and  apparently  follows  the 
elder  Galilei,  not  indeed  in  the  order,  but  in  the 
method  of  representation.  According  to  him  the 
species  of  the  diatonic  genus  are  five,  namely,  the 
ditonic  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  ditonic  diatonic  consists  in  a 

*  progression  from  the  grave  to  the  acute,  through  the 
'  tetrachord,  by  the  interval  of  a  lesser  semitone,  and 
'  two  tones,  each  in  the  ratio  of  8  to  9 ;  and  con- 

*  trary wise  from  the  acute  to  the  grave  by  two  tones 
'  and  a  lesser  semitone,  as  in  the  following  example : — 

o 


6912- 


Sesquioctave  tone,  8  to  9 


7776- 

] 

8192- 


Sesquioctave  tone,  8  to  9 


-Hypate  meson 
-Lychanos  hypaton 


Lesser  semitone,  243  to  256 


-Parypate  hypaton 


-Hypate  hypaton 


< 

W 

'  This  kind  of  progression  is  said  to  have  been  held 
'  in  great  estimation  by  the  philosophers,  particularly 
'  Plato  and  Aristotle,  as  having  a  conformity  with  the 
'  composition  of  the  world  and  with  nature  itself. 

SOFT  DIATONIC  II. 

'  The  second  or  soft  species  of  the  diatonic  genus 

*  proceeds  from  the  grave  to  the  acute  by  an  interval, 

*  in  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  here  represented : — 


O 

o 

H 


63 


80 


Sesquiseptima,  7  to  8 
Sesquinona,  9  to  10 


-Hypate  meson 
-Lychanos  hypaton 


84 


Sesquivigesima,  20  to  21 


-Parypate  hypaton 


-Hypate  hypaton 


*  Musurg.  torn.  I.  lib.  III.  cap.  xiii. 

t  Meibomius  questions  the  trutli  of  this  assertion,  upon  the  supposition 
that  Archytas,  Didymus,  and  Eratosthenes  are  to  be  reckoned  among  the 
scrjptores  perditi.  It  is  true  that,  excepting  a  small  astronomical  tract 
of  Eratosthenes,  there  is  nothing  of  the  writing  of  eitlierof  them  in  print. 
But  it  is  said  that  in  the  library  of  St.  Mark,  at  Venice,  there  are  even  now 
a  great  number  of  Greek  manuscripts  that  were  brought  into  Italy  upon 
the  sacking  of  Constantinople,  and  among  them  it  is  not  impossible  that 
some  tracts  of  the  above-named  writers  might  be  found. 


SYNTONOUS    DIATONIC    III. 

'The  third  species,  distinguished  by  the  epithets 
'  syntouum  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. 

Greater  terms. 


C 
Q 


I  J  t(i   40 
g  r         [^    48 


-Hypate  meson 


Sesquinona,  9  to  10  tone  minor 

Lychanos  hypaton 

Sesquioctave,  S  to  9  tone  major 

Parypate  hypaton 

Sesquiquindecima,  15  to  10  greater  semit. 
Hypate  hypaton 


TONIAC    DIATONIC     IV. 

'The  toniac,  the  fourth  species  of  the  diatonic 
'  genus,  supposes  such  a  disposition  of  the  tetrachord 
'as  the  first  and  second  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  adjusted  it  will  ascend 
'  from  the  grave  to  the  acute,  and  on  the  contrary 
'  descend  from  the  acute  to  the  grave,  as  in  the 
'  example  : — 


O 


Greater  terms. 
flGS 


189 


216 


Sesquioctave,  8  to  9 
Sesquiseptima,  7  to  8 


Hypate  meson 

Lychanos  hypaton 

Parypate  hypaton 
Sesquivigesimaseptima,  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  : — 


^   I 


< 


J  '^ 

^5 


9 
10 
11 
12 


Sesquinona 


Sesquidecima 


Sesquiundecima 


-  Hypate  meson 

-  Lychanos  hypaton 

-  Parypate  hypaton 

-  Hypate  hypaton 


'  Ptolemy,  whose  fondness  for  analogies  has  already 
'  been  remarked,  resembles  the  tetrachord  thus  con- 
'  stituted  to  Theology  and  Politics.' 

The  chromatic  genus,  in  the  opinion  of  this  author 
had  three  species,  the  ancient,  the  soft,  and  the  syn- 
tonous, thus  severally  described  by  him : — 

ANCIENT    CHROMATIC    L 

'This  species  proceeded  by  two  semitones,  and 
'  a  trihemitone,  that  is  to  say,  it  ascended  from  the 
'  grave  to  the  acute,  by  a  lesser  semitone  ;  then  by  an 
'interval  somewhat  greater,  as  being  in  the  rat.'.o  of 


3C 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


'  81  to  76 ;  and  lastly  by  an  incomplete  trihemitone, 
'  in  tlie  ratio  of  19  to  IG  : — 


fGlM 


Hypate  meson 


Trihemitone,  IG  to  19 

7296 Lyclianos  liypaton 

Semitone,  7G  to  81 

777g Parypate  liypaton 

j  Lesser  semitone,  243  to  256 

I  8192  Hypate  liypaton 

SOFT    CHROMATIC    11. 

*  The  chromatic  molle  was  so  disposed,  as  that  the 
'  lowest  chord  and  the  next  to  it  had  a  ratio  of  27  to 
'  28,  the  second  and  third  14  to  15,  and  the  third  and 
'  fourth  5  to  G  : — 


O 

w 

Q 

<1 


G144: 


Ditone 


777G 
7984 


Diesis 


Diesis 


8192 


Hypate  meson 
Lychanos  hypaton 
Parypate  liypaton 
Hypate  hypaton 


ENARMONIC    OF    PTOLEMY    IL 

'  The  Ptolemaic  enarmonic,  which  was  scarce 
'  formed  before  both  the  chromatic  and  enarmonic 
'  grew  into  dis-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  said  to  be  a  true  enharmonic 
'  ditone  : — 


o 

Q 


fios 


126 


Sesquiquinta,  5  to  6 


-  Hypate  meson 

-  Lychanos  hypaton 
Sesquiquartadecima,  14  to  15 

135 Parypate  hypaton 

Sosquivigesimaseptima,  27  to  28 
140 Hypate  hypaton 


!76 


Sesquiquarta,  4  to  5 


Hypate  meson 

345 ■ • —  Lychanos  hypaton 

Sesquivigesima  tertia  23  to  24 
360 — — -  Parypate  hypaton 

Sesquiquadragesimaquinta,  45  to  46 
368 Hypate  hypaton 


SYNTONOUS    CHROMATIC     IIL 

'  In  the  chromatic  syntonnm  the  first  and  second 
'  chords,  reckoning  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 
'  proportion  of  12  to  11,  and  the  tliird  from  the  fourth 
'  by  one  of  a  sesquisexta  proportion,  which  is  as  6  to 
'  7,  as  here  is  shewn  : — 


P 
O 


ree 


84 
88 


Sesquisexta,  6  to  7 
Sesquiundecima,  11  to  12 


Hypate  meson 
Lychanos  hypaton 


Parypate  hypaton 
Sesquivigesima  prima,  21  to  22 
Hypate  hypaton 

'  Of  this  genus  it  is  said  by  Macrobius  that  it  was 
'  deemed  tobe  of  an  effeminate  nature,  and  that  it  had 
'  a  tendency  to  enervate  the  mind  f  for  which  reason 
'  the  ancients  very  seldom  used  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  enar- 
monic progression,  which  formed  that  species  distin- 
o-uished  by  his  name,  so  that  it  may  be  said  the 
enarmonic  contained  two  species,  the  ancient  and 
the  Ptolemaic.     Kircher  thus  defines  it : — 

ANCIENT    ENARMONIC    L 

'In  this  species  the  tetrachord  ascended  by  two 
'dieses,  and  an  incomplete  ditone,  the  several  ra- 
'tios  whereof  were  as  denoted  by  the  following 
*  numbers  : — 

»  Vide  Macrob,  in  Somn.  Scipion   Lib.  II.  cap.  iv. 


P^ 

o 
W 
o 

p^ 

H 

Dr.  Wallis  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  ancients  Ptolemy  has  entered  the  most 
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  A.ristoxenus  or  he  be  the 
nearest  the  truth :  Dr.  Wallis  published  an  edition 
of  this  valuable  author,  with  a  translation  and  notes 
of  his  own ;  to  this  work  he  has  added  an  appendix, 
wherein  is  contained  a  very  elaborate  and  judicious 
disquisition  on  the  nature  of  the  ancient  music,  and 
a  comparison  of  the  ancient  system  with  that  of  the 
moderns.  In  this  he  has  taken  great  pains  to  explain, 
as  far  as  it  was  possible,  the  genera  :  the  enarmonic 
and  chromatic  he  gives  up,  and  speaks  of  as  irre- 
coverably lost ;  but  of  the  diatonic  genus  he  ex- 
presses himself  with  great  clearness  and  precision; 
for,  after  defining,  as  he  does  very  accurately,  the 
several  species  of  the  diatonic,  he  says,  that  one  only 
of  them  is  now  in  practice ;  and,  as  touching  the 
question  which  of  them  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  divisions 
that  distinguish  the  species  of  the  diatonic  genus. 
His  words  are  nearly  these  : — 

'  It  now  remains  to  discuss  one  point,  which  we 
'have  referred  to  this  place,  the  genera  and  their 
*  colours  or  species.  We  have  before  said  that  for 
'  many  years  only  one  of  theni  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  Aristoxenus,  or  the  ditonic  diatonic  of  Ptolemy, 


CuAr.  VIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  IMUSIC. 


37 


'  or  the  intense  diatonic  of  the  same  Ptolemy ;  that 

*  is  to  say,  when  we  sing  a  diatessaron  from  mi  or  la 
'  in  the  grave  towards  the  acute  in  the  syUables  fa 
'  SOL  la,  which  express  so  many  intervals,  to  ascertain 
'  the  degree  of  magnitude  wliich  each  of  these  in- 
'  tervals  contains.  The  first  opinion  is  that  of  Aris- 
'  toxenus,  who,  when  he  made  the  diatessaron  to 
'consist  of  two   tones  and  a  half,  would  have  the 

*  greatest  sound  fa,  to  be  a  hemitone,  and  the  other 
'  two  SOL  la,  to  be  whole  tones,  which  is  the  intense 
'diatonic  of  this  author.*  And  in  this  manner 
'  speak  all  musicians  even  to  this  day,  at  least  when 
'they  do  not  profess  to  speak  with  nicety.  But 
'  those  who  enter  more  minutely  into  the  matter, 
'  will  have  what  is  understood  by  a  hemitone  to  be, 
'  not  exactly  the  half  of,  but  somewhat  a  little  less 
'  than  a  tone ;  and  this  is  demonstrated  by  Euclid, 
'  who  in  other  respects  was  an  Aristoxenean,  though 
'  I  do  not  know  whether  he  was  the  first  that  did 
'  it.  Euclid,  I  say,  admitting  the  principles  of  the 
'  Pythagoreans  in  estimating  the  intervals  of  sounds 
'  by  ratios ;  and  admitting  also  that  a  tone  is  in 
'a  sesquioctavc  ratio,  in  his  harmonic  introduction 
'  treats  of  the  tones  and  hemitones  in  the  same 
'  manner  as  do  the  Aristoxeneans ;  yet  in  his  section 
'of  the  canon  he  shows  that  what  remains  after 
'  subtracting  two  tones  from  a  diatessaron  is  less  than 
'a  hemitone,  and  is  called  a  limma,  which  is  in  the 
'  ratio  of  1^1 ;  for  if  a  diatessaron  contains  two  tones 
'  and  a  liaff,  then  a  diapason,  which  is  two  diatcssarons 
'  and  one  tone,  must  contain  six  tones ;  but  a  diapason, 
'  which  has  a  duple  ratio,  is  less  than  six  tones,  for 
'  a  sesquioctavc  ratio  six  times  compounded  is  more 
'than  duple  ;t  a  diapason  therefore  is  less  than  six 
'  tones,  and  a  diatessaron  less  than  two  tones  and 
'  a  half. 

CHAP.  VIII. 

'The  next  opinion  is  that  of  those,  who,  instead 
of  a  tone,  tone,  and  hemitone,  substitute  a  tone, 
tone,  and  limma.  And  these,  if  at  any  time  they 
call  it  a  hemitone,  would  yet  have  us  understand 
them  to  mean  a  limma,  which  differs  very  little  from 
a  hemitone,  and  therefore  they  will  have  the  syl- 
lable LA  to  express  a  limma.and  the  syllables  sol  la 
two  tones,  that  is  -ffg-Xf  Xf=f,  and  this  is  the 
ditonic  diatonic  of  Ptolemy,  but  which  was  shewn 
by  Euclid  before  Ptolemy;  and  it  was  also  the 
diatonic  of  Eratosthenes,  as  has  been  said  above ; 
and  these  have  been  the  sentiments  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  Avith  custom,  than  that  they 
adhered  to  any  contrary  opinion  of  their  own,  as 
Ptolemy  himself  tells  us,  lib.  I.  cap.  xvi.  And 
'  thus  Boetius  divides  the  tctrachord,  and  after  him 
*  Guido  Aretinus,  Fabcr  Stapulensis,  Glarcanus,  and 
'  others ;  it  is  true,  however,  that,  about  the  begin- 

*  See  tlie  Synopsis,  p.  30,  of  Dr.  Wallis's  Appendix,  hercin-before 
given. 

t  This  is  excellently  demonstrated  by  Boetius,  lib.  lU,  cap.  i. 


'  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  limma,  a  sesquidecimaquinta  ratio 
'  -}-0,  which  they  also  call  a  hemitone ;  and  for  the 
'  tones,  both  which  the  others  had  made  to  be  in  the 
'ratio  f,  one  they  made  to  be  in  the  ratio  \^,  so 
'  that  they  compounded  the  diatessaron  by  the  ratios 
'|-|-X|-X  \f=-|-,  expressing  by  the  syllable  fa  the 
'ratio  -}-",  by  sol  that  of  -|,  and  by  la  lffM|  which 
'  is  the  intense  diatonic  of  Ptolemy,  and  the  diatonic 
'of  Didymus,  except  that  he,  changing  the  order, 

nas-p5-x  -gr  Xg — -J- 

'  And  as  they  called  -J-S-  a  greater  hemitone,  they 
'  made  the  lesser  ff,  which  with  -fS-  completes  the 
'lesser  tone,  as  ttXM X=V'  ''^^^  ^^  ^^^^  difference, 
'as  they  say,  between  the  greater  and  the  lesser 
'third.  Mersennus  adds  two  other  hemitones,  one 
'  in  the  ratio  i|4,  which  with  -}-§-  completes  f  the 
'  greater  tone,  and  the  other  l-T-,  which  with  ff  also 
'makes  up  |-  the  greater  tone.'^[ 

The  above  is  an  impartial  state  of  the  several 
opinions  that  at  different  times  have  prevailed  among 
the  moderns,  touching  the  preference  of  one  or  other 
of  the  species  of  the  diatonic  genus  to  the  rest. 
Dr.  Wallis  is  certainly  right  in  saying,  that  to  the 
time  of  Boetius,  and  so  on  to  the  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  tetrachoi'd  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 ;  but  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  senses,  and  cognizable  only 
by  the  maderstanding,  and  that,  too,  not  till  after_ 
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  -fS-  from  the  ratio  of  a  limma  -f^^,  as  also  the 
'  ratio  of  a  greater  tone  %  from  V°  differ  only  by  the 
'  ratio  |rJ-,  which  is  so  small  that  the  ear  can  with 
'difficulty  discriminate  between  the  one  and  the 
'  other  of  the  two  tones  ;  we  must  therefore  judge 
'  not  so  much  by  our  senses,  which  opinion  ought 

t  Dr.  Wallis  has  a  little  mistaken  Kepler  in  this  place  :  it  was  not  the 


9  — 4 


=4  that 


intense  diatonic  of  Ptolemy,  but  of  Didymus  -ff  X    y-   X  -g- — -j 

he  was  for  resuming.    Joann.  Keplerus  Harm.  Mundi,  lib.  HI.  cap.  vii. 

§  Galileo  did  not  contend  for  the  ditonic  division  of  the  diatonic,  but 
for  the  intense  of  Aristoxenus,  defined  in  his  synopsis  of  the  genera 
herein  before  given  ;  the  reason  whereof  was,  that  he  was  a  lutenist,  and 
the  performers  on  that  instrument  unanimously  prefer  the  Aristoxenean 
division. 

II  It  may  be  proper  to  remark,  that  in  this  and  other  instances  of  sol' 
misation  that  occur  in  the  passage  now  quoting.  Dr.  Wallis  uses  the 
method  of  solmisation  by  the  tetrachords,  in  which  the  syllables  UT  be 
are  rejected,  and  which  took  place  about  the  year  1050.  See  Clifford's 
Collection  of  Divine  Services  and  Anthems,  printed  in  the  year  1664. 

f  Append,  de  Vet.  Harm.  317,  et  seq. 


38 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I, 


'most  to  be  regarded,  because  the  senses  wovild 
'  without  any  difficulty  admit  any  of  them,  but 
'  rea*3n  greatly  favours  the  last.'^-' 

There  is  yet  another  writer,  with  whose  senti- 
ments, and  a  few  observations  thereon,  we  shall  con- 
clude our  account  of  the  genera ;  this  was  Dr.  John 
Christopher  Pepusch,  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 
some  light  upon  the  obscure  subject  of  the  ancient 
species  of  music ;  and  after  premising  that,  ac- 
cording to  Euclid,  the  ancient  scale  must  have 
been  composed  of  tones  major  and  limmas,  without 
the  intervention  of  tones  minor,  which  in  numbers  are 
thus  to  be  expressed,  -f  |^  -|  A  2-|fi  1. 1-,  he  proceeds 
in  these  words: — 'It  was  usual  among  the  Greeks  to 
'  consider  a  descending  as  well  as  an  ascending  scale, 
'  the  former  proceeding  from  acute  to  grave  pre- 
'  cisely  by  the  same  intervals  as  the  latter  did  from 

*  grave  to  acute.  The  first  sound  in  each  was  the 
'  proslambanomenos.  The  not  distinguishing  these 
'  two  scales,  has  led  several  learned  moderns  to  sup- 
'  pose  that  the  Greeks  in  some  centuries  took  the 
'  proslambanomenos  to  be  the  lowest  note  in  their 
'  system,  and  in  other  centuries  to  be  the  highest ;  but 
'  the  truth  of  the  matter  is,  that  the  proslambano- 
'  menos  was  the  lowest  or  highest  note  according  as 
'  they  considered  the  ascending  or  descending  scale. 

*  The  distinction  of  these  is  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, — '  Vobis  datum  est  noscere  mysterium  regni 
"  Dei,  cseteris  autem  in  parabolis  ;  ut  videntes  non 
"  videant,  et  audientes  non  intelligant.'  By  the 
'  choice  of  the  words  the  author  seems  to  allude  to 
'  his  having  performed  something  not  commonly 
'  understood.'  The  doctor  then  exhibits  an  octave 
of  the  ascending  and  descending  scales  of  the  diatonic 
genus  of  the  ancients,  with  the  names  of  their  several 
sounds,  as  also  the  corresponding  modern  letters,  in 
the  following  form  : — 


B 

0 

•g" 

C 

25G 

D 

9 

E 

9 

"8" 

F 

25  G 
¥4  3" 

G 

f 

a 

9 

'S 

Proslambanomenos 

8 

•g" 

S 

Hypate  hypaton 

243 
23« 

f 

Parhypate  hypaton 

8 
1) 

e 

Lychanos  hypaton 

8 
"9 

d 

Hypate  meson 

243 

25G 

c 

Parhypate  meson 

8 
"9" 

b 

Lychanos  meson 

8 
'0 

a 

Mesc 

G 

He  observes,  that  in  the  octave  above  given,  the 
Proslambanomenos,  Hypate  hypaton,  Hypate  meson, 
and  Mese,  were  called  Stabiles,  from  their  remaining 
fixed  throughout  all  the  genera  and  species ;   and 


•  Append,  de  Vet.  Harm.  318. 


that  the  other  four,  being  the  Parhypate  hypaton, 
Lychanos  hypaton,  Parhypate  meson,  and  Lychanos 
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  M^as  understood  a  division  of  the 
'  diatessaron,  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  three 
'  chromatic  species  were,  the  chromaticum  molle,  the 
'  sesquialterum,  and  the  tonifcum.  The  two  diatonic 
'  species  wore,  the  diatonicum  molle,  and  the  inten- 
'  sum  ;  so  that  they  had  six  species  in  all.  Some  of 
'  these  are  in  wse  among  the  moderns,  but  others  arc 
'  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  as 
'  the  most  easy  and  familiar. 

'  The  diatonicum  intensum  was  composed  of  two 
'  tones  and  a  semitone  ;  but,  to  speak  exactly,  it  con- 
'  sists  of  a  semitone  major,  a  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 
'  modern  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  chromaticum  tonireum, 
'  its  component  intervals  are  a  semitone  major  suc- 
'  ceeded  by  another  semitone  major,  and  lastly,  the 
'  complement  of  these  two  to  the  fourth,  commonly 
'  called  a  superfluous  tone. 

'  The  fourth  species  is  the  chromaticum  sesqui- 
'  alterum,  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.  Wallis  has  remarked  in  the  passage  ahove  cited,  that  it  had  long 
been  a  matter  of  controversy  whether  the  system  of  the  moderns  corres- 
ponded with  the  intense  diatonic  of  Aristoxenus,  the  ditonic  diatonic  of 
Ptolemy,  or  rather  Pythagoras,  or  the  intense  of  Ptolemy  ;  and  though  h% 
seems  to  incline  to  the  opinion  of  Zarlino,  that  tlie  music  now  in  use  is 
no  other  than  the  intense  diatonic  of  Ptolemy,  it  is  far  from  clear  that 
the  modems  have  gone  farther  than  harely  to  admit  in  theory  and  in  a 
course  of  numerical  calculation  the  latter  as  the  most  eligible.  Salinas, 
lib.  III.  cap.  xiii.  contends  for  an  equality  of  tones,  and  for  the  consequent 
necessity  of  distributing  throughout  the  diapason  system  those  intervals 
by  which  the  greater  tones  exceed  the  lesser. 

Bontempi,  Hist.  Mus.  188.  says  that  that  temperament  which  makes 
the  intervals  irrrational,  is  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  divine  thing,  and 
asserts  that  nowhere  in  Italy,  nor  indeed  in  Europe,  does  the  practice  of 
discriminating  between  the  greater  and  lesser  tone  prevail  in  the  tuning 
of  the  organ,  and  that  the  organ  of  St.  Mark's  chapel  at  Venice,  where 
he  liimself  sang  for  seven  years,  continued  to  be  tuned  without  regard  to 
this  distinction,  notwithstanding  what  Zarlino  had  written  and  the  efforts 
he  made  to  get  it  varied. 

The  practice  has  long  been  in  tuning  the  organ,  and  such  like  instru- 
ments, to  make  the  fifths  as  flat  and  the  thirds  as  sharp  as  tlie  ear  will 
bear,  which  necessarily  induces  an  inequality  in  the  tones. 

Lastly,  Dr.  Smith,  in  his  Harmonics,  second  edition,  pag.  33.  asserts 
that  since  the  invention  of  a  temperament,  the  ancient  systems  of  ditonic 
diatonic,  intense  diatonic,  &c.,  have  justly  been  laid  aside.  So  that  after 
so  many  opinions  to  the  contrary,  it  may  very  well  be  doubted  whether 
the  diatonicum  intensum  is  in  daily  practice  or  not. 


Chap.  VIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


30 


'  cliromatic  of  Didymus.  *  Examples  among  the 
'  moderns  are  frequent. 

'  Thp  fifth  species  is  the  chromaticum  moUe.  Its 
'  intervals  are  two  subsequent  semitones  minor,  and 
'  the  complements  of  these  two  to  the  fourth,  that  is 
'  an  interval  compounded  of  a  third  minor  and  an 
'  enarmonic  diesis.  This  species  I  never  met  with 
'  among  the  moderns. 

*  The  sixth  and  last  species  is  the  enarmonic. 
'  Salinas  and  others  have  determined  this  accurately,  f 
'  Its  intervals  are  the  semitone  minor,  the  enarmonic 

*  diesis,  and  the  third  major. 

'  Examples  of  four  of  these  species  may  be  found 
'  in  modern  practice.  But  I  do  not  know  of  any 
'  theorist  who  ever  yet  determined  what  the  chro- 

*  maticum  toniseum  of  the  ancients  was ;  nor  have 
'  any  of  them  perceived  the  analogy  between  the 
'  chromaticum  sesquialterum  and  our  modern  chro- 
'  matic.  The  enarmonic,  so  much  admired  by  the 
'  ancients,  has  been  little  in  use  among  our  musicians 
'  as  yet.     As  to  the  diatonicum  intensum,  it  is  too 

*  obvious  to  be  mistaken.' 

The  above-cited  letter  is  very  far  from  being 
what  the  title  of  it  indicates,  an  explanation  of  the 
various  genera  and  species  of  music  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  music,  except  that 
seemingly  notable  discovery,  that  the  ancients  made 
use  of  both  an  ascending  and  descending  scale,  the 
consideration  whereof  will  be  presently  resumed. 
As  to  the  six  species  above  enumerated,  the  doctor 
says  four  are  in  modern  practice,  but  of  these  four 
he  has  thought  proper  to  mention  only  two,  namely, 
the  diatonicum  intensum,  and  the  chromaticum  ses- 
quialterum ;  and  it  is  to  be  wished  that  he  had 
referred  to  a  few  of  those  examples  of  the  four, 
which  he  says  are  to  be  found ;  or  at  least  that  he 

*  Lib.  II.  cap.  xiv. 

t  Salinas  de  Musica,  lib.  III.  cap.  viii. 


had  mentioned  the  authors  in  whose  works  the  latter 
two  of  them  occur ;  and  the  rather,  because  Dr. 
Wallis  asserts  that  the  enarmonic,  all  the  chromatics, 
and  all  but  one  of  the  diatonics,  for  many  years,  he 
might  have  said  centuries,  have  been  laid  aside. 

As  to  his  assertion  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- 
monicians.  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  consider  them  as  referring  to  the 
music,  that  they  serve  more  to  excite,  than  allay 
curiosity ;  and  Dr.  Pepusch  could  not  have  wished 
for  a  fairer  opportunity  of  displaying  his  learning 
and  ingenuity  than  the  solution  of  this  musical 
enigma  afforded  him.  Nay,  had  ho  condescended 
to  give  this  composition  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  incommunicative  dis- 
position which  the  whole  of  this  letter  betrays,  is, 
that  the  author  of  it  subsisted  for  many  years  by 
teaching  the  precepts  of  his  art  to  young  students, 
and  it  was  not  his  interest  to  divulge  them.  How 
far  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  Ancona,  and  that  it  is  pub- 
lished at  the  end  of  a  book  printed  at  Venice  in  1600, 
entitled,  '  L'  Artusi,  overo  delle  Imperfettioni  della 
moderna  Musica,'  written  by  Giovanni  Maria  Artusi, 
an  ecclesiastic  of  Bologna,  of  whom  a  particular 
account  will  hereafter  be  given.  As  to  the  com- 
position, it  is  for  four  voices,  and  is  as  follows  :  — 

t  Chap,  iv,  ver.  9. 


Mp 


— o- 


=ri3 


<- — h- 


)jji<S      A— r 


:t=? 


5 


^ 


Vo 


,his    da  -  turn     est 


no  -  see   Mis  -  te 


n  -  um  no    - 


■^ 


-- — 0- 


--^z=.^: 


:i=i: 


^^ 


L^E£ 


-H-l— I- 


iit: 


Vo  -  bis        da  -  turn  est 


no  -  see  Mis  -  te    - 


n  -  um,   no 


see  Mia  -  te  -  ri 


^: 


^=?= 


T=-M=^-;= 


3^4^ 


Vo 


bis        da  -  turn  est 


no  -  see  Mis 


6     V  '-» 


t=P 


^^ 


^=^ 


:t 


^ 


^—T 


-Jr-^ii 


-« — o=?= 


bis  da -turn  est    no -see  Mis  -  te  -  li-uin,   no  -  see  Mia -to  -  ri    •    um, 


40 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


see  Mis  -  te  -   ri 


^l5=i^^l3:^l 


-um, 


Vo  -  bis      da-tum 


est 


no  -  see  Mis 


te  -  ri  -  iim, 


:iL~t:=t; 


^- 


^ 


I — I i — «>- 

--I — ♦ — ;^ — |— 


te 


ri   -   um. 


Vo 


bis    da  -  turn  est    no  -  see  IMis 


te 


HE: 


l^^if^si^^^i^H^i^ 


tz; 


— ♦- 


Vo  -  bis      da-tura    est 


no -see  Mis  -  te 


n    -  um, 


n 


•^w 


11 

41 


— t: 


r-iz:]--:. 


:^- 


—tzzszzz 


'  -um,  Reg  -  ni        De 


l^fp: 


m^m 


Ce  -  te-ris        au-tem     in     Pa   -  ra  -  bo  -  lis, 


Si 


t:: 


^^eeS 


— 0- 


Ce  -  te-ris       au-tem    in     Pa 


Reg  -  ni      De 


te-ris    au-tem 


_^ 


i 


ft 


^t=it:=|; 


-■ i — 6 — ^ —    i  A 


:± 


Ut     vi  -  den     -     tes  non 


m 


vi  -  de 

3S 


Mm 


Ut     vi  -  den     -    tes  non 


vi  -  de 


ant, 


:=c: 


ant. 


iJ^ij— 1^ 


Et 


au  -  di 


!l^E^t"=i 


Et    au  -  di    - 


— 0 — 


— 0- 


^ 


1— dd^^-Si--?z^ : 


in     Pa  -  ra  -  bo    -    lis. 


Ut 


vi  -  den 


tes  non  vi 


"F?T— ^ — 


"N 


zzitzi^EE^ 


i^=r0-=q=z;q: 


-iS — jS- 


in    Pa  -  ra  -  bo  -  lis, 


Ut    vi  -  den 


tes  non  vi 


ite^ 


dc  -  ant, 
j> — ;?- 


—c- 


de  -  ant. 


krs 


'  "  -en    -    tes. 


li=2 


■       ^-1= 


-0     - 


jg^gj^ggg 


et     au  -  di    -    en 


m 


tF= 


;i^ 


—I- 


tz:^^E^ 


en 


tes, 


et    au  -  di   -   en 


tes    non 


tes        non 

T- 


3? — '--^—\ — •^-t-4-— ir— ^ — ^—  -^ — -A — if' — o— 


in  -  tel    - 

T O 


li    - 


LSeI= 


in  -   tel  -  ligant,  non       in    -    tel  -  li 


i=gl3^ 


zi-;:~5: 


:fc; 


■^ 


■§ 


Et    au  -  di 


en    -    tes 


non    in  -  tel 


li  -  gant. 


non 


e±= 


-4=^-- 


?: 


•n 


E^^ 


-iS-'^ — J-f-ir 


:p=t=tr^ 


in    -    tel 


Et     au  -  di 


en 


tes 


non    in  -  tel 


li  -  gant,         non 


in  -  tcl     - 


h    - 


CiiAr.  VIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


41 


i^E^^^fe^l 


gant, 


vi  -  den 


non      vi-de  -  ant,  ut    vi  -  den   -  tes  non  vi 


de  -  ant, 


li  -  gant. 


li  -  gant. 


?s^^i=i^ili^E^ls^^ 


et  au-di  -  en 


non   in  -  tel 


11  -  gant 


gant. 


Artnsl  observes  upon  this  composition,  which,  the 
better  to  shew  the  contrivance  of  it,  is  here  given 
in  score,  that  it  is  a  motet  for  four  voices,  and  that 
it  may  be  sung  two  ways,  that  is  to  say,  first,  as  the 
cliffs  direct  tliat  are  placed  nearest  to  the  notes,  and 
afterwards  turning  the  top  of  the  book  downwards, 
from  the  right  to  the  left ;  taking  the  extreme  cliff 
for  a  guide  in  naming  the  notes ;  the  consequence 
whereof  will  be,  that  the  base  will  become  the  soprano, 
the  tenor  the  contralto,  the  contralto  the  tenor,  and 
the  soprano  the  base.  Besides  this,  he  says  that  the 
second  time  of  singing  it,  b  must  be  assumed  for  ^., 
and  in  other  instances  fa  for  mi.  He  concludes  with 
a  remark  upon  the  words  of  this  motet,  that  they 
indicate  that  it  is  not  given  to  every  one  to  under- 
stand compositions  of  this  kind. 

Upon  the  example  above  adduced  the  remark  is 
obvious,  that  it  falls  short  of  proving  the  use  of  both 
an  ascending  and  descending  scale  by  the  Greek 
harmonicians.  In  a  word,  it  is  evidence  of  nothing 
more  than  the  antiquity  of  a  kind  of  composition,  of 
which  it  is  probable  Costanzo  Porta  might  be  the 
inventor,  namely  that,  where  the  parts  are  so  con- 
trived as  to  be  sung  as  well  backwards  as  forwards. 
In  this  he  has  been  followed  by  Pedro  Ccrone,  and 
other  Spanish  musicians,  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 
aptitude  to  produce  the  genuine  and  natural  effects 


of  fine  harmony  and  melody  on  the  mind  of  an 
unprejudiced  hearer. 

From  the  foregoing  representations  of  the  genera, 
the  reasons  for  the  early  preference  of  the  diatonic 
to  the  chromatic  and  enarmonic  are  clearly  deducible; 
but  notwithstanding  these  and  the  consequent  rejec- 
tion of  the  latter  two  by  Guido  and  all  his  followers, 
the  ingenuity  of  a  few  speculative  musicians  has 
betrayed  them  into  an  opinion  that  they  are  yet 
actually  existing,  and  that  with  the  addition  of  a  few 
intervals,  occasionally  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 
Vicentino,  an  author  of  whom  farther  mention  will 
hereafter  be  made.  .  In  a  work  entitled  '  L'Antica 
Musica  ridotta  alia  Moderna  Prattica,'  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  in  one  and 
the  other  of  the  genera,  but  in  each  of  them  severally, 
and  in  all  of  them  conjunctly,  and  this  with  such 
a  degree  of  persuasion  on  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  be 
expected  from  an  author  who  professes  in  the  very 
title  of  his  book  to  reduce  the  ancient  music  to 
modern  practice,  but  that  he  has  succeeded  in  his 


42 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


attempt  so  few  are  disposed  to  believe,  that  in  the 
general  estimation  of  the  most  skilful  professors  of 
the  science,  Vicentino's  book  has  not  its  fellow  for 
musical  absurdity.*  And  of  the  justice  of  this 
censure  few  can  entei'tain  a  doubt,  that  shall  peruse 
the  following  account  of  himself  and  of  his  studies  : — 
'  To  shew  the  world  that  I  have  not  grudged  the 
'  labour  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  body;  and 
'  shall  shew  in  how  many  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  trouble  I  take  in  this 

*  kind  of  learning,  not  considering  the  pains  that 

*  many  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.  We  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  is 
'  much  improved ;  and  I  doubt  not  but  that  these 
'  improvements  of  mine  will  appear  strange  in  com- 
'  parison  with  those  of  our  posterity,  and  the  reason 
'  is,  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  has  so  far  favoured  me,  that  in  these 
'  days  for  his  honour  and  glory  I  am  able  to  sliew 
'  my  honourable  face  among  the  professors  of  music. 
'  It  is  true  that  I  have  studied  hard  for  many  years ; 
'  and  as  the  divine  goodness  was  pleased  to  enlighten 
'  me,  I  began  this  work  in  the  fortieth  year  of  my 
'  age,  in  the  year  1550,  the  jubilee  year,  in  the 
'  happy  reign  of  Pope  Julius  the  Third  ;  since  that 
'  I  have  gone  on,  and  by  continual  study  have  en- 

'  deavoured  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  particularly  in  this 
'  illustrious  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  use  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  praises  of  great 

*  persons  and  heroes.     And,  not  to  detract  from  the 

•  This  is  remarked  by  Gio  Battista  Doni,  in  his  treatise  entitled 
De  Prsstantia  Musicae  veteris.  Florent.  1647,  and  numberless  other 
writers.  Kircher,  however,  seems  to  entertain  a  different  opinion  of  it; 
his  sentiments  are  given  at  length  in  a  subsequent  page  of  this  chapter. 


'  virtues  of  the  ancient  princes,  the  most  excellent 
'  prince  of  Ferrara,  Alfonso  d'  Este,  after  having  very 

*  much  countenanced  me,  has  with  great  favour  and 
'  facility  learned  the  same,  and  thereby  shown  to  the 
'  world  the  image  of  a  perfect  prince  ;   and  he,  as  he 

*  has  a  most  worthy  name  of  eternal  glory  in  arms, 
'  so  has  he  acquired  immortal  honours  by  his  skill  in 
'  the  sciences.'f 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  his  notable  design  of 
accommodating  the  ancient  music  to  modern  practice, 
Vicentino  has  exhibited  in  the  characters  of  modern 
notation  a  diatonic,  a  chromatic,  and  an  enarmonic 
fourth  and  fifth  in  all  their  various  forms.  The 
following  is  an  example  of  their  several  varieties, 
taken  from  the  third  book  of  his  work  above-cited, 
pages  59  a,  59  b,  62  b,  et  seq. : — 

DIATONIC    FOURTHS. 

12  3 


^m' 


EaiE 


z:;s=5z: 


<&- 


6— szr^ 


zsz 


CHROMATIC    FOURTHS. 

12  3 


EP 


-^l-=^±^^±=±z 


:0-)j(<& 


ZJ2~ 


ZS 


-fc& — ^ 


o- 


ENARMONIC    FOURTHS. 

12  3 


3£ 


?0 — 0- 


35z:2; 


-o 


Zl^^I^ZZ^ 


_s5_si 


:^i=-^- 


DIATONIC    FIFTHS. 


M 


I— 


-^=SZ 


:i==2: 


:^=Z5.— 


i 


^=0^=2: 


"t« 

C  H  R  0  MA  T  I  C 

t                 1 

I    FIFTHS. 

2 

<5 

4\A 

s>     ' 

A- 


:=s:z&s5r-:2zf±z=±: 


:b2— 51 


?e — ♦- 


ENARMONIC    FIFTHS. 

1  2 


-O— &- 


mgg-O  oife 


■^ 


-0- 


:^ 


^^-« 


zfaifezisr 


M 


M:=^=^^^^^^^ 


Having  thus  adjusted  the  several  intervals  of  a 
fourth  and  fifth  in  each  of  the  three  genera,  the 
author  proceeds  to  exhibit  certain  compositions  of  his 
own  in  each  of  them ;  and  first  we  have  a  motet 
composed  by  himself,  and  sung,  as  he  says,  in  his 

t  Iiibro  prlmo,  cap.  iv. 


Chap.  VIII. 


AND  PKACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


43 


church  on  the  day  of  the  resurrection,  as  a  specimen 
of  the  true  chromatic  : — - 


-] 


,'11 


iw 


S: 


:=P=i5: 


-g-«- 


'-^^m-"^ 


-AVi 


^^-^^^ggj^____-^^^    ^UU| 


Al-le-lu-ia,  Al-lo-lu-ia,         Al-le-lu-ia, 


I  Al  -  le  -  lu  -  ia,  Al  -  le  -  lu  -  ia,  Al  -  le  -  lu  -  ia, 


m 


IE? 


^=i==? 


t:±Et 


'W 


:jnP^-^^-^-H^^^F=a   0  ^^  .1 


f 


:4- 


':^^E:±^ 


J^ 


Al-le  -  lu  -  ia,  Al-le  -  lu 


Al-le-lu-ia,  Al-le-lu     -    -    ia,     hac  di-es 


-{■-[ 


SII35: 


H — ,»—«>- 


-A 1 


-l=p: 


la,  hffic  di  -  es  quam 


3C 


itnc:: 


0 — 


«9 «• 


i^E^^^z^s^^fe  M 


-^— -^ ^— -^ ■- — "---^ — '^---      -ii^i — s— y— »-— -* — ■» — :^ — 0-^t   /K3— 1^ 

quam  fe  -  cit    do  -  nii-nus,  ha;c  di  -  es  quam  fe  -  cit  q^LY. '  '  |     ~cj      [~    y      |        ry  Q  "^      H' 


^^^ 

fe-cit  ij  do  -  mi-nus,  hac  di-csquamfe-cit 


3C 


^i^^ 


•& «► 


a^EESES 


j   Ij    do  -  mi-nus,     quam  fe-cit  do  -  mi 


bSr. 


'^iT- 


nus; 


h 


do -minus,  quam  fe-cit  do  -  mi      -      nus;  Ex-ul  - 


ZI--5-: 


-^g-b^r^- 


I- 


P^ 


;i^ 


--0- 


w- 


llfV! 


11    Ex  - ul - te-mus  et    le-temur,  ex-ul -te-mus  et    le  -         -M-?-— 


te-mus     et    le  -  te-mur,    ex  -  ul  -  te  -  mus    et    le 


*:=: 


^^3;^-^=g5^z^£*^^=zrM: 


IPlI  -  te  -  mur     in    ea,       et     le  -  te  -  mur     in    ea. 


-a-^g — n-^- 


-    -  te-mur  in    e  -  a,       et  le    -    te-mur  in    e  -  a. 


^1 


3^^ 


^^g~fe 


-m-^- 


-— E§=^ 


"^W 


zsz:. 


Slife?=5== 


3^E2 


"'SV 


Al-le-lu  -  ia,  Al-le-lu  -  ia,  Al-le-lu  -  ia, 

s      ^          1—1          H    <^             / 

^    C"     ■•     t           V      Y 

S      H<>           ftH'*- 

>-    1     '  ■  T                   ■  ^v- 

nn  -    1— 1     ■>             0                  P 

Al-le  - 

lu-ia,  Al-le-lu  -  ia. 

Al-le-lu  -  ia, 

-Sj?-- H 

^> 

^                      1— 1  •  / 

s 

H+— 

t 

Al-le-lu  -  ia,    Al-le  -  lu 


ia,         hjEc 


^i 


Al-le-lu-ia,  Al-le-lu      -      ia,       hrec  di-es  quam 


gi^E^^^=E 


:±=i-=E 


r'w 


di  -  es  quam  fe  -  cit    do  -  mi  -  nus,  ha2c  di  -  es 


il- 


^t- 


¥*EE£ 


It 


--w^ 


EPs- 


5 C^I 


:2izq=i 


^ 


:=:prr3: 


fe  -  cit  do  -  mi-nus,  hajc  di  -  es,      hsec    di  -  es  quam 


quam  fe  -  cit  do  -  mi 


-R- 


-m 


-    nus  ;      Ex  -  ul  -  te  - 


s 


z:i: 


d: 


^ 


S^ 


^^^m-^-^  ^ 


■^=t=±: 


fe  -  cit  do  -  minus,  quam  fe  -  cit  do  -  mi      -     nus  ; 


-n- 


--^l 


"H-TT 


"W^ 


-m 


-    -  mus  et    le  -  te-mur,   ex-ul  -  te-mus    et    le  -  te 


Ex-ul  -  te-mus  et  le  -  te-mur,  ex-ul  -  te-mus  et  le  - 


E3E 


W- 


.-^^ig' ^-ziz— 


43 


m 


te-mur  in    e  -  a,        et    le  -  temur  in    e  -  a. 


-    -  mur  in     e  -  a,  et    le  -  te-mur    in    e  -  a. 

Alleluia. 
As  an  example  of  the  enarmonic,  he  gives  the  fol- 
lowing, which  is  the  beginning  of  a  madrigal  in  four 
parts : — 


S 


In  I  So-av'   e  dol-c'ar-do-re         ij 


rqzxzr: 


-«— « — "»- 


-a- 


3z±i 


^i^ 


r.^i#2iiir?±if^z=±: 


=  izrtzrlizrl^si^izgzrr 


che  fra  piante  sos-pi- ri,     che  fra  pi  -  an  -  te    sos-pi-ri 


f:=F=t:=p:^iE^^^^^:^E^^E^=^ 


41 


^EFg^±i?-^^-J^= 


SZI^-i-^ 


=t 


ztEE 


So  -  av'  e     dol  »  c'ar  -  do  -  re       ij  che  fra      piante   sos-pi  -  ri      ij 


So-av'   e    dol  -  c'ar   -  do -re        ij 


che  fra  piante    sos-pi  -  ri    ij 


Eii; 


^^4: 


iSE^^^^E^^; 


3=3E5El-EiE 


--Rz:b2= 


So-av'     e    doWar  do  -  re        ij 


-    .>       »-^^tr— (- 


NJ-^pl=i=^ 


-| ? T 


che  fra  piante  sos  -  pi  -  ri    -   plan 


Note. — Vicentlno  has  not  been  pflrticular  in  explaining  the  use  of  the  points  over  many  of  the  notes  in  this  and  the  following  examples  of  th« 
enarmonic  ;  but  from  the  practice  of  Salinas  and  other  writers  it  ia  presumed  that  the  point  is  intended  to  denote  the  enarmonic  diesis  as  defined  in 
:lic  foregoing  representations  of  that  genus. 


44: 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


And  as  a  proof  of  the  practicability  of  nniting  all 
the  genera  in  one  composition,  he  exhibits  the  fol- 
lovring  madrigal  for  four  voices,  which  he  says  may 
be  sung  in  five  ways,  that  is  to  say,  as  diatonic,  as 
chromatic,  as  chromatic  and  enarmonic,  as  diatonic 
and  chromatic,  and  lastly  as  diatonic,  chromatic,  and 
enarmonic : — 


i  fe^?--"^""?-?^^— -^-^^-*- 


^^fefei^EtE' 


t|:=E=s: 


m. 


-O } 

— P— c> — w- 


qucs-ti    dol  -  ci    ki  -  mi,  dol-ci    lu  -  mi  che  tan-to 


2=[r-.t:=±ii:«L 


E_1^E=EE-^ 


dol-cc-mcn-te,  che  tan -to  dol-ce-mente        mi 


iii^^pi^E^Ea^^  fe^liiEE:!^^:^^!^ 


--Vfi 


Fir 


Dol-ce    mi-o  ben  ij 


son  questi  dol-ci 


t 


?r&^.K^^=:r^ 


-> — o 

:t:=zt— p— pzis: 


li-±iiT;1=^:ifei=3^ 


Jl- 


con-su-mi,       che  tan -to   dol-ccmen-te        mi  con - 


:p=:t 


■w- 


i-k— 0 — o— -— 


t: 


E:t?.*E5 


"ffEi'B: 


lu  -  mi,  dol  -  ci    lu  -  mi,  dol  -  cc  mio  ben  son  questi 


-     su  -  mi       dol  -  ce  -  mcn-te,    mi     con  -  su  -  mi. 


■^^^- 


Z-L. 1 ^ — .4. 


dol-ci    lu-mi       son  questi,  dol-ci     lu  -  mi   che 


ibj: 


lin*: 


tan  -  to,  dol-cc-men-te      che  tau  -  to,  dol-ce-men-te 


a 


—jnz 


lEHEl 


0 — ^ 


-0— c— --1— -1 — ^ — -J 


■w 


=w-: 


Dol-ce    mi-o   ben    ij 


son  ques-ti 


:^-: 


111=1 


iiiii^^=:i 


i~T^ 


mi  con-su-mi,  che  tan-to  dol-ce-men-to       fan  -  no,  l3:^z:!^=z:^pzi:tz. 


dol-ci    lu-mi,       dol-ce    mi-o    ben    ij 
P— o  — «■— ^~H — -"^"^" 


=11 


k — I  — —  — -— — ~— 

3iitz=±--p-pz=ip-*-^ — 


-4zzil-tez3^ 


:t-2.-H=:U- 


son  ques-ti  dol-ci  lu-mi        che  tan-to    dol-ce 


II  '      che  dol.ce-men-te  mi  con-su-mi,  mi  con- su- mi.  -^-^k— R — A — H — tm'^L'll'^ 

Z±PL_2 SZZlp—p — p — ^ 


LS; 


-0 — 


men-te 


fan  -  no,  che 


Sa^^i=SEa^t7 


--t— p=p=p: 


j^ 


Dol-ce  mio  bcu    ij 


son  questi   dol  -  ci 


mi    con-su-mi,  che  dol-ce-men-te    mi   con  - 


:13 


SF 


2_<s__Y. —   — r — 0— 0-li— ^ — 0 — 0 


m 


"W 


t$^^ 


t 


i 


lu-mi,     dol-ce  mi  -  o   ben   ij 


son  ques-ti, 


q1: 


d2zr)r_o__, 


dol-ci     lu-mi,  dol-ci    lu-mi,  che  tan-to,  che  tan- to, 


?&=5 


:fl^;p^-p3=p 


P0- 


:fc 


-0 


i:- 


i <5— W- 

:Ez:zP=-z 


dol  -  ce-mente      fan-no,  che  dol-cemen-te,  die  dol  - 


:fe 


Ifl 


L-zzp: 


svrzpr^-^izrp: 


-0 — 0 


-<>-w- 


:t-t; 


P^=^=Hitl: 


i-dzzqiup— 


-     ce-mente  mi  con-su-mi, mi  con-su-mi,  fan-no  che 


m^l^^^^l^i 


dol-ce-men-te    mi   con-su-mi,  mi  con  -  su  -  mi. 


=q-~q: 


i^r-rl 


M 


-0— -0-)^  0- 


ri: 


:±ii-izzp=p=p=t=: 


iq-zmi 


Dol-ce    mi-o  ben  son  questi  dol-ci    lu 


»    -    mi,  dol-ce  mio  ben  son  ques-ti  dol-ci    lu-mi,  son 


-     su  -  mi,         mi   con  -  su  -  mi.        Hay  -  me. 

Kircher  seems  to  think  that  Vicentino  has  suc- 
ceeded in  this  his  attempt  to  restore  the  ancient 
genera ;  and  if  he  has,  either  the  discovery  was  of 
no  worth,  or  the  moderns  have  a  great  deal  to 
answer  for  in  their  not  adopting  it.  The  following 
are  the  sentiments  of  Kircher  touching  Vicentino 
and  his  endeavours  to  reduce  the  ancient  music  to 
modern  practice : — '  The  first  that  I  know  of  who 
'  invented  the  method  of  composing  music  in  the 
'  three  genera,  according  to  the  manner  of  the  ancients, 
'  was  Nicolaus  Vicentinus  ;  *  who  when  he  perceived 
'  that  the  division  of  the  tetrachords  according  to  the 
'  three  genera  by  Boetius  could  not  suit  a  poly- 
*  phonous  melothesia  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  strenuous  admirers  and 

*  Kirclicr  is  mistaken  in  liis  assertion  that  Vicentinowas  the  first  who 
attempted  the  revival  of  the  ancient  genera;  for  it  seems  tliat  Giovanni 
Spataro,  of  Bologna,  in  the  year  1512,' made  an  attempt  of  that  kind,  but 
■without  success.  Storia  della  Musica  di  Giambatista  Martini,  torn.  I. 
pag.  12G,  in  not. 

But  notwithstanding  the  discouragem.ents  the  two  writers  above- 
mentioned  met  with,  Domenico  Mazzochi,  of  Rome,  about  the  year  1600, 
attempted  a  composition  in  all  the  three  genera,  entitled  Planctus  Matria 
Euryalis,  wliich  is  printed  in  the  Musurgia,  torn.  I.  pag  660. 


Chap.  IX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


45 


'  defenders  of  ancient  music,  cavilled  at  him  wrong- 

*  fully  and  undeservedly  for  having  changed  the 
'  genera  that  had  been  wisely  instituted  by  the 
'  ancients,  and  put  in  their  stead  I  know  not  what 
'  spurious  genera ;  but  those  who  shall  examine 
'  more  closely  into  the  affair  will  be  obliged  to  con- 
'  fess  that  Vicentinus  had  very  good  reason  for  what 

*  he  did,  and  that   no   other   chromatic   enarmonic 

*  polyphonous  melothesia  could  be  made  than  as  he 
'  taught.'  * 

This  declaration  of  Kircher  is  not  easily  to  be 
reconciled  with  those  positive  assertions  of  his  in  the 
Musurgia,  that  the  ancients  were  strangers  to  poly- 
phonous music ;  and  the  examples  above  given  are 
all  of  that  kind. 

But  waving  this  consideration,  whoever  will  be  at 
the  pains  of  examining  these  several  compositions, 
will  find  it  a  matter  of  great  diificulty  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  incomposite  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  Vicentino  must 
cease,  when  it  is  known  that  he  contended  with  some 
of  the  greatest  musicians,  his  contemporaries,  that  the 
modern  or  Guidonian  system  was  not  simply  of  the 
diatonic  kind,  but  compounded  of  all  the  three  genera. 
He  has  himself,  in  the  forty-third  chapter  of  his 
fourth  book,  given  a  most  curious  relation  of  a  dis- 
pute between  him  and  a  reverend  father  on  this 
subject,  which  produced  a  wager,  the  decision 
Avhereof  was  referred  to  two  very  skilful  professors, 
Avho  gave  judgment  against  him.  An  account  of  this 
dispute  is  contained  in  a  subsequent  chapter  of  the 
present  work. 

CHAP.  IX, 

It  does  not  anywhere  appear  that  the  music  which 
gave  rise  to  the  controversy  between  Vicentino  and 
his  opponents,  was  any  other  than  what  is  in  use  at 
this  day ;  which  that  it  is  the  true  diatonic  of  the 
ancients  is  more  than  probable ;  though,  whether  it 
be  the  diatonicum  Pythagoricum,  or  the  diatonicum 
intensum  of  Aristoxenus,  of  Didymus,  or  of  Ptolemy, 
has  been  thought  a  matter  of  some  difficulty  to 
ascertain,  but  is  of  little  consequence  in  practice. 

But  we  are  not  to  understand  by  this  that  the 
music  now  in  use  is  so  purely  and  simply  diatonic, 
as  in  no  degree  to  participate  of  either  the  enarmonic 
or  chromatic  genus,  for  there  is  in  the  modern  scale 
such  a  commixture  of  tones  and  semitones  as  may 
serve  to  warrant  a  supposition  that  it  partakes  in 
some  measure  of  the  ancient  chromatic ;  and  that  it 
does  so,  several  eminent  writers  have  asserted,  and 
seems  to  be  the  general  opinion.  Monsieur  Brossard 
says,  that  after  the  division  of  the  tone  between  the 

«  Musurg.  torn.  I.  pa^.  G37.  ' 


Mese  and  Paramese  of  the  ancients,  which  answer  to 
our  A  and  J],  into  two  semitones,  it  was  thought 
that  the  other  tones  might  be  divided  in  like  manner; 
and  that  therefore  the  moderns  have  introduced  the 
chromatic  chords  of  the  ancient  scale,  and  thereby 
divided  the  tones  major  in  each  tetrachord  into  two 
semitones  :  this,  he  adds,  was  effected  by  raising  the 
lowest  chord  a  semitone  by  means  of  this  character, 
%  which  was  placed  immediately  before  the  note 
so  to  be  raised,  or  on  its  place  immediately  after 
the  cliff.  Again  he  says,  that  it  having  been  found 
that  the  tones  minor  terminating  the  tetrachords 
upwards  were  no  less  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 
folloAving  scheme  by  white  notes  thus,  o  and  five 
chromatic  by  black  ones  thus,  ♦  with  the  sharp  sign, 
which  Brossard  calls  a  double  diesis  prefixed  to  each 
of  the  notes  so  elevated : — 


This,  though  a  plausible,  is  a  mistaken  account  of 
the  matter  ;  for  first  it  is  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  progression ;  or,  in  other  words,  to 
institute  a  progression  in  the  diatonic  series  from  any 
given  chord  in  the  diapason,  and  we  see  the  design  of 
this  improvement  in  its  effects. 

For,  to  assume  the  language  of  the  moderns,  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  precisely  in  the  same  order 
as  they  do  in  the  key  of  C,  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,  the  prototype  of  them  all.  J 

From  hence  it  follows,  that  the  use  of  the  above 
signatures  has  no  effect  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  the  invention  of  polyphonous 
or  symphoniacal  music,  a  species  of  harmony  of 
which  the  ancients  seem  to  have  been  totally 
ignorant ;  among  the  various  combinations  that  may 
occasionally  occur  in  a  variety  of  parts,  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  modern  organists, 

P  +  Dictionaire  de  Musique,  Article  Systema. 
f  j  See  this  demonstrated  in  the  next  book. 


46 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


who  are  inclined  to  think  that  they  sometimes  use  the 
chromatic  intervals,  without  knowing  that  they  do 
so.*  But  the  question  in  debate  can  only  be  de- 
termined by  a  comparison  of  the  melody  of  the 
moderns  with  that  of  the  ancients  ;  and  in  that  of 
the  moderns  we  meet  with  no  such  progression  as 
that  which  is  characterised  by  three  incomposite 
semitones  and  two  semitones,  which  is  the  least 
precise  division  of  the  tetrachord  that  any  of  the 
ancients  have  given  us. 

Our  countryman  Morley  gives  his  opinion  of  the 
matter  in  the  following  words : — '  The  music  which 
'  we  now  use  is  neither  just  diatonic,  nor  right 
'  chromatic.  Diatonicum  is  that  which  is  now  in  use, 
'  and  riseth  throughout  the  scale  by  a  whole  note,  a 
*  whole  note,  and  a  lesser  or  half  note.  A  whole  note 
'is  that  which  the  Latins  call  Integer  Tonus,  and 
'  is  that  distance  which  is  betwixt  any  two  notes, 
'except  mi  andja;  for  betwixt  mi  and  Ja  is  not  a 
'  full  halfe  note,  but  is  lesse  than  halfe  a  note  by  a 
'  comma,  and  therefore  called  the  lesser  halfe  note,  in 
'  this  manner  : — 


*  Likewise  by  that  which  is  said  it  appeareth  tliis 
'  point,  whiclx  our  organists  use — 


f 


:g=?yG5 — ^-^^ 


'  is  not  right  chromatica,  but  a  bastard  point,  patched 
'  up  of  halfe  chrouiaticke  and  half  diatonick.  Lastlie, 
'  it  appeareth  by  that  which  is  said,  that  those  vir- 
'  ginals  which  our  unlearned  musytians  cal  cromatica 
'  (and  some  also  grammatica)  l)e  not  right  chromatica, 
'  but  half  enharmonica ;  and  that  al  the  chi'omatica 
'  may  be  expressed  uppon  our  common  virginals  ex- 
'  cept  this  : — 


t=±: 


:te 


i 


— <&- 


'Chromaticum  is  that  which  riseth  by  semitonium 
'  minus,  or  the  less  halfe  note,  the  greater  halfe  note, 
*  and  three  halfe  notes  thus  : — 


i 


azfes: 


:Bt 


-<»-#»- 


'The  greater  halfe  note  betwixt  Jh  and  mi  in  b 
'Ja  J]  mi.  Enarmonicum  is  that  which  riseth  by 
'diesis,  diesis  (diesis  is  the  halfe  of  the  lesse  halfe 
'  note)  and  ditonus ;  but  in  our  musicke  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 


Oi 


-cN O— )^-»- 


-♦— 


of  enarmonicum,  and  mark  the  diesis  thus  x  as  it 
were  the  halfe  of  the  apotome  or  greater  halfe  note, 
which  is  marked  thus  ^.  This  sign  of  the  more 
halfe  note  we  now-a-daics  confound  with  our  b 
square,  or  signe  of  mi  in  \j  mi,  and  with  good 
reason ;  for  when  mi  is  sung  in  b  fa  }-j  mi,  it  is  in 
that  habitude  to  a  la  mi  re,  as  the  double  diesis 
maketh  F  ya  ut  sharpe  to  E  la  mi,  for  in  both 
places  the  distance  is  a  whole  note ;  but  of  this 
enough :  and  by  this  which  is  already  set  downe,  it 
may  evidentlie  appeare  that  this  kind  of  musick 
which  is  usual  now-a-daies,  is  not  fully  and  in 
every  respect  the  ancient  diatonicum ;  for  if  you 
begin  any  four  notes,  singing  ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  you 
shall  not  find  either  a  flat  in  E  la  mi,  or  a  sharp  in 
F  fa  ut ;  so  that  it  must  needes  follow  that  it  is 
neither  just   diatonicum   nor  right    chromaticum. 

"  It  is  also  said,  that  in  passages  of  notes  in  succession  the  chromatic 
intervals  sometimes  occur.  The  following  not  uncommon  passage  is 
eaid  to  be  an  example  of  the  hemiolian  or  sesquialteral  chromatic : — 


t 


:5r$5s: 


t- 

'  for  if  you  would  thinke  that  the  sharpe  in  g  sol  re 
'  ut  would  serve  tliat  turne  by  experiment,  you  shall 
'  find  that  it  is  more  than  halfe  a  quarter  of  a  note  too 
'low.'t 

From  hence  we  may  conclude  in  general,  that  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  modern  ear,  the  revival  of  it  would  require  what 
has  often  been  attempted  in  vain,  a  new  and  a  better 
temperament  of  the  system  than  tlie  present. 

From  the  several  hypotheses  above  stated,  and  the 
different  methods  of  dividing  the  tetrachord  in  each 
genus,  it  clearly  appears  that  among  the  most  ancient 
of  the  Greek  harmonicians  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  after  all  that  has 
been  said  of  the  enarmonic  and  chromatic,  it  is  highly 
probable  that  they  were  subservient  to  oratory,  or  in 
short  that  they  were  modes  of  speaking  and  not  of 
singing,  the  intervals  in  which  they  consist  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  Moods  has  indeed  been  given  to  the  various 
kinds  of  metrical  combination,  used  as  well  in  music 
as  poetry,  and  were  the  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  but  two ; 
and  when  it  is  said  that  these  appellations  refer  to 
subjects  so  very  different  from  each  other  as  sound 

t  Plaine  and  easie  Introduction  to  Practicall  Musicke.  Annotations 
on  Part  I. 

I  Introd.  Harmon,  ex.  vers.  Meibom.  pag.  19.  et  vide  Meib.  in  loc 
citat. 


Chap.  IX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


47 


and  duration,  that  is  to  say  tone  and  time,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  which  of  the  two  is  to  be  preferred. 

To  consider  the  term  Mode  in  that  which  is  con- 
ceived to  be  its  most  eligible  sense,  it  signifies  a 
certain  series  or  progression  of  sounds.  Seven  in 
number  at  least  are  necessary  to  determine  the  nature 
of  the  progression  ;  and  the  distinction  of  one  mode 
from  another  arises  from  that  chord  in  the  system 
from  whence  it  is  made  to  commence  ;  in  this  respect 
the  term  Mode  is  strictly  synonymous  with  the  word 
Key,  which  at  this  day  is  so  well  understood  as  to 
need  no  explanation. 

As  to  the  number  of  the  modes,  there  has  subsisted 
a  great  variety  of  opinions,  some  reckoning  thirteen, 
others  fifteen,  others  twelve,  and  others  but  seven ; 
and,  to  speak  with  precision,  it  is  as  illimitable  as 
the  number  of  sounds.  The  sounds  that  compose 
any  given  series,  with  respect  to  the  degree  of 
acumen  or  gravity  assigned  to  each,  are  capable  of 
an  innumerable  variety;  for  as  a  point  or  a  line  may 
be  removed  to  places  more  or  less  distant  from  each 
other  ad  infinitum ;  in  like  manner  a  series  of  sounds 
may  be  infinitely  varied,  as  well  with  respect  to  the 
degree  of  acumen  or  gravity,  as  the  position  of  each 
in  the  system  ;*  we  are  therefore  not  to  wonder  at 
the  diversity  of  opinions  in  this  respect,  or  that 
while  some  limit  the  modes  to  seven,  others  contend 
for  more  than  double  that  number. 

At  what  time  the  modes  were  first  invented  does 
no  where  clearly  appear.  Bontempi  professes  him- 
self at  a  loss  to  fix  it;f  but  Aristides  Quintilianus 
intimates  that  they  were  known  so  early  as  the  time 
of  Pythagoras  ;  |  and  considering  the  improvements 
he  made,  and  that  it  was  he  who  perfected  the  great 
or  immutable  system,  it  might  naturally  be  supposed 
that  he  was  the  inventor  of  them ;  but  the  contrary 
of  this  is  to  be  inferred  from  a  passage  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  Samian.  But  farther, 
Aristides  Quintilianus,  in  the  passage  above  referred 
to,  has  given  the  characteristical  letters  of  all  the 
fifteen  modes  according  to  Pythagoras ;  so  that  ad- 
mitting 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  said  to  have  been 
perfected. 

Euclid  relates  that  Aristoxenus  fixed  the  number 
of  the  modes  at  thirteen,  that  is  say,  1.  The  Hyper- 
mixolydian  or  Hyperphrygian.  2.  The  acuter  Mix- 
olydian,  called  also  the  Hyperiastian.  3.  The  graver 
Mixolydian,  called  also  the  Hyperdorian.  4.  The 
acuter  Lydian.  5.  The  graver  Lydian,  called  also 
the  iEolian.  6.  The  acuter  Phrygian.  7.  The 
graver  Phrygian,  called  also  the  lastian.  8.  The 
Dorian.  9.  The  acuter  Hypolydian.  10.  The  graver 
Hypolydian,  called  also  the  Hypooeolian.     li.  The 

*  Wallis,  Append,  de  Vet.  Harm.  pag.  312. 

+  Histor.  Mus.  pag.  136. 

t  Lib.  I.  pag.  28,  ex.  vers.  Meibom. 

§  Hoimonicor.  lib.  II.  cap.  vi.  x.  ex  vers.  Wallis. 


acuter  Hypophrygian.  12.  The  graver  Hypophry- 
gian,  called  also  the  Hypoiastian.  13.  The  Hypo- 
dorian.  ||  The  most  grave  of  these  was  the  Hypo- 
dorian  ;  the  rest  followed  in  a  succession  towards  the 
acute,  exceeding  each  other  respectively  by  a  hemi- 
toue ;  and  between  the  two  extreme  modes  was  the 
interval  of  a  diapason.  ^ 

The  better  opinion  however  seems  to  be,  that 
there  are  in  nature  but  seven,  and  as  touching  the 
diversity  between  them,  it  is  thus  accounted  for.  The 
Proslambanomenos  of  the  hypodorian,  the  gravest  of 
all  the  modes,  was,  in  the  judgment  of  the  ancients, 
the  most  grave  sound  that  the  human  voice  could 
utter,  or  that  the  hearing  could  distinctly  form  a  judg- 
ment of;  they  made  the  Proslambanomenos  of  the 
hypoiastian  or  graver  hypophrygian  to  be  acuter 
by  a  hemitone  than  that  of  the  hypodorian;  and 
consequently  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  Proslambanomenos  of  the 
hypoiastian  was  in  the  middle,  or  a  mean  between 
the  Proslambanomenos  of  the  hypodorian  and  its 
Hypate  hypaton.  The  Proslambanomenos  of  the 
acuter  hypophrygian  w'as  still  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,  as  is  thus  re- 
presented by  Ptolemy,  lib.  II.  cap.  xi.*''* 


ACUTE 


Tone 


Limma 


Tone 


Tone 


Limma 


Tone 


Tone 


Hypermixolydian 

Mixolydian 

Lydian 

Phrygian 

Dorian 

Hypolydian 

Hypophrygian 

Hypodorian 


GRAVE 


Those  who  contended  for  fifteen  modes,  among 
whom  Alypius  is  to  be  reckoned,  to  the  thirteen 
above  enumerated,  added  two  others  in  the  acute, 
which  they  termed  the  Hyperlydian  and  Hyper- 
£eolian.ff 

But  against  this  practice  of  increasing  the  modes 
by  hemitones,  Ptolemy  argues  most  strongly  in  the 
eleventh  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  Capella  contends  for 
fifteen  and  Glareanus  for  twelve  modes ;  but  it  is  to 

II  Euclid.  Introd.  Harm.  pag.  xx. 

IT  Wallis.  Append,  de  Vet.  Harm.  pag.  312. 

«*  Ibid.  pag.  313. 

+t  Wallis.    Append,  pag.  312. 


48 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  I. 


be  observed,  that  both  those  latter  writers  are,  in 
respect  of  the  Greek  harmonicians,  considered  as 
mere  moderns  ;  and  besides  these  there  are  certain 
other  objoetions  to  their  testimony,  which  will  be 
mentioned  in  their  proper  place. 

As  to  the  two  additional  modes  mentioned  by 
Alypius,  they  seem  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 
nse ;  and  perhaps  there  is  no  assignable  period  of 
time  during  which  it  may  with  truth  be  said,  that 
more  than  thirteen  were  admitted  into  practice. 

Ptolemy  however  rejects  as  spurious  six  of  the 
thirteen  allowed  bj'  the  Aristoxeneans,  and  this  in 
consequence  of  the  position  he  had  advanced,  that 
it  was  not  lawful  to  encrease  the  modes,  by  a  hemi- 
tone.  It  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  give  his 
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  corruption  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  sesquioctave  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  acute 
than  the  Dorian  by  one  tone,  and  the  Lydian  more 
acute  than  the  Phrygian  by  one  tone  ;  consequently 
the  Lydian  was  more  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  chapter 
of  his  second  book,  it  is  evidently  a  repetition  of  the 
hypodorian. 

MIXOLYDIAN 

LYDIAN 

PHRYGIAN 

DORIAN 

HYPOLYDIAN 

HYPO  PHRYGIAN 

HYPODORIANf 

The  above  is  the  order  in  which  they  are  given 
by  Euclid,  Gaudentius,  Bacchius,  and  Ptolemy  him- 
self, though  the  latter,  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  his 
second  book,  has  varied  it  by  placing  the  Dorian 
first,  and  in  consequence  thereof  transposing  all  the 
rest ;  but  this  was  for  a  reason  which  a  closer  view 
of  the  subject  will  make  it  unnecessary  to  explain. 

Having  proceeded  thus  far  in  the  endeavour  to 
distinguish  between  the  legitimate  and  the  spurious 
modes,  it  may  now  be  proper  to  enter  upon  a  more 
particular  investigation  of  their  natures,  and  see 
if  it  be  not  possible,  notwithstanding  that  great 
diversity  of  opinion  that  has  prevailed  in  the  world, 
to  draw  from  those  valuable  sources  of  intelligence 
the  ancient  harmonic  writers,  such  a  doctrine  as  may 

*  Wallis.  Append,  pag.  312. 

t  Called  also  the  Locrensian.    Euclid  Introd.  Harm.  pag.  16. 


afford  some  degree  of  satisftiation  to  a  modern  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,  jiarticularly  Franchinus,  or  as  he  is  also 
called,  Gaffurius,  Zaccone,  Zarlino,  Galilei,  and  others, 
have  been  at  infinite  pains  to  explain  the  modes  of 
the  ancients,  but  to  little  purpose.  Kircher  has  also 
undertaken  to  exhibit  them ;  but  notwithstanding 
his  great  erudition  and  a  seeming  certainty  in  all  he 
advances,  his  testimony  is  greatly  to  be  suspected ; 
and,  if  we  may  believe  Meibomius,  whenever  ho 
professes  to  explain  the  doctrines  of  the  ancients, 
he  is  scarcely  intitled  to  any  degree  of  credit.  The 
reason  why  these  have  failed  in  their  attempts  is 
obvious,  for  it  was  not  till  after  most  of  them  wrote, 
that  any  accurate  edition  of  the  Greek  harmonicians 
was  given  to  the  world  :  so  lately  as  the  time  when 
Morley  published  his  Introduction,  that  is  to  say  in 
the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth,  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  our  loss. 

To  the  several  writers  above-mentioned  we  may 
add  Glareanus  of  Basil,  a  contemporary  and  intimate 
friend  of  Erasmus ;  but  he  confesses  tl;at  he  had 
never  seen  the  Harmonics  of  Ptolemy,  nor  indeed 
the  writings  of  any  of  the  Greek  Harmonicians,  and 
that  for  what  he  knew  of  them  he  was  indebted  to 
Boetius  and  Franchinus.  From  the  perusal  of  these 
authors  he  entertained  an  opinion  that  the  number 
of  the  modes  was  neither  more  nor  less  than  twelve  ; 
and,  confounding  the  ancient  with  the  modern,  or,  as 
they  are  denominated,  the  ecclesiastical  modes,  which, 
as  originally  instituted  by  St.  Ambrose,  were  only 
four  in  number,  but  were  afterwards  by  St.  Gregory, 
about  the  year  600,  encreased  to  eight,  he  adopted 
the  distinction  of  authentic  and  plagal  modes,  and 
left  the  subject  more  perplexed  than  he  found  it. 

To  say  the  truth,  very  few  of  the  modern  writers 
in  the  account  they  give  of  the  modes  are  to  be 
depended  on ;  and  among  the  ancients,  so  great  is 
the  diversity  of  opinions,  as  well  with  respect  to  the 
nature  as  the  number  of  them,  that  it  requires  a  great 
deal  of  attention  to  understand  the  designation  of 
each,  and  to  discriminate  between  the  genuine  and 
those  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  having  its  final  chord  in  a  regular 
succession  above  that  of  the  mode  next  preceding  : 
for  instance,  the  Dorian,  which  had  its  situation  in 
the  middle  of  the  lyre  or  system,  had  for  its  final 
note  hypate  meson  or  E ;  the  Hypolydian,  the  next 
in  situation  towards  the  grave,  had  for  its  final  chord 
parhypate  meson  or  F ;  and  the  Hypophrygian,  the 
next  in  situation  towards  the  grave  to  the  Hypo- 
lydian, had  for  its  final  chord  lychanos  hypaton  or  G; 
so  that  the  differences  between  the  modes  in  suc- 
cession, with  respect  to  their  degrees  of  gravity, 


Chap.  X. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


49 


corresponded  with  the  order  of  the  tones  and  semi- 
tones in  the  diatonic  series.  But  it  seems  that  those 
of  the  ancient  harmonicians,  who  contended  for 
a  greater  number  of  modes  than  seven,  effected  an 
encrease  of  them  by  making  the  final  chord  of  each 
in  succession,  a  semitone  more  acute  than  that  of  the 
next  preceding  mode  :  and  against  this  practice  of 
augmenting  the  modes  by  semitones  Ptolemy  has 
expressly  written  in  the  eleventh  chapter  of  the 
second  book  of  his  Harmonics,  and  that  with  such 
force  of  reason  and  argument,  as  cannot  fail  to  con- 
vince every  one  that  reads  and  understands  him,  to 
which  end  nothing  can  so  much  conduce  as  the 
attentive  perusal  of  that  learned  Appendix  to  his 
Harmonics  of  Dr.  Wallis,  so  often  cited  in  the  course 
of  this  work. 

Besides  this  Appendix,  the  world  is  happy  in  the 
possession  of  a  discourse  entitled,  An  Explanation  of 
the  Modes  or  Tones  in  the  ancient  Graecian  Music, 
by  Sir  Francis  Haskins  Eyles  Stiles,  Bart.,  F.  R.  S., 
and  published  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for 
the  year  1760;  and  by  the  assistance  of  these  two 
valuable  tracts  it  is  hoped  that  this  abstruse  part  of 
musical  science  may  be  rendered  to  a  great  degree 


which  we  sing  in  ascending  from  the  grave  to  the 
acute  by  the  syllables  fa,  sol,  la  ;  by  the  second, 
the  series  from  Parhypate  hypaton  to  Parhypate 
meson,  sol,  la,  fa  ;  and  by  the  third,  that  from 
Lychanos  hypaton  to  Lychanos  meson,  fa,  sol.  la.§ 
As  to  the  other  series  here  under  exhibited  from 
Hypate  meson  to  Mese,  it  is  inserted  to  sliew  that 
the  diatessaron  is  capable  of  but  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  which  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. 

SPECIES  of  the  DIATESSARON   III. 


intelligible. 


Mese 

a    la 

Gsol 

F    fa 

Hypate  meson 

E    la 

la 

D  sol 

sol 

C     fa 

fa 

Hypate  hypaton 

B     MI 

Mr 
1 

la 

sol 

sol 

fa 

fa 

fa 

la 

la 

la 

sol 

SOL 

1 

FA 

3 

2 

CHAP.  X. 


To  conceive  aright  of  the  nature  of  the  modes,  it 
must  be  understood,  that  as  there  are  in  nature  three 
different  kinds  of  diatessaron,  and  also  four  diflPerent 
kinds  of  diapente ;  and  as  the  diapason  is  composed 
of  these  two  systems,  it  follows  that  there  are  in 
nature  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 
used  by  them  are  not  so  well  calculated  to  express 
the  place  of  the  semitone  as  those  syllables  invented 
by  the  moderns  for  that  sole  purpose,  the  practice 
whereof  is  termed  solmization.  We  must  therefore 
so  far  transgress  against  chronological  order,  as,  in 
conformity  to  the  practice  of  Dr.  Wallis,  to  assume 
these  syllables  for  the  purpose  of  distinguishing  the 
several  species  of  diatessaron,  diapente,  and  diapason, 
reserving  a  particular  account  of  their  invention  and 
use  to  its  proper  place. 

To  begin  with  the  diatessaron ;  it  contains  four 
chords  and  three  intervals  :  its  species  are  also  three : 
the  first  is  said  to  be  that  which  has  la,  the  character- 
istical  ratio  or  sound  of  the  diatessaron,  as  mi  is  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  third.f 

Euclid  defines  these  several  species  by  the  appel- 
latives that  denote  their  situation  on  the  lyre,  viz., 
BapvwvKi'oi  Barypyknoi,  MecroTrvKvoi  Mesopyknoi, 
and  0£,vTrvKvoL  Oxypyknoi,|  meaning  by  the  first 
the  series  from  Hypaton  hypaton  to  Hypate  meson, 

*  Vide  Ptolem.  Harm.  lib.  II.  cap.  ix.  ex  vers.  Wallis.  Wallis. 
Append,  de  Vet.  Harm.  pap.  310.  Euclid.  Introd.  Harm.  pag.  15. 
ex  vers.  Meibom.  Kirch.  Musurg.  tom.  I.  cap.  xv.  Xvi. 

t  Wall.  Append,  de  Vet.  Harm.  pag.  310. 

t  Introd.  Harm.  pag.  15,  ex  vers.  Meib. 


The  above  is  the  tetrachord  hypaton  of  the  great 
system ;  but  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 
required ;  it  is  therefore  necessary  for  this  purpose 
to  make  use  of  those  two  tetrachords  between  which 
the  diezeuctic  tone  may  be  properly  interposed ;  and 
these  can  be  no  other  than  the  tetrachord  Meson,  and 
the  tetrachord  Diezeugmenon.  It  has  been  just  said 
that  the  characteristic  syllable  of  the  diapente  is  mi, 
and  this  will  be  found  to  occur  in  the  first,  second, 
third,  and  fourth  places  of  the  following  example  of 
the  possible  variations  in  that  system,  the  consequence 
whereof  is,  that  the  first  species  is  to  be  sung  fa,  sol, 
LA,  mi,  the  second  sol,  la,  mi,  fa,  the  third  la,  mi, 
fa,  sol,  and  the  fourth  mi,  fa,  sol,  la,  as  in  the 
following  scales : — 

SPECIES  of  the  DIAPENTE   IV. 


Nete  diezeugmenon 

e   la 

la 

d  sol 

sol 

sol 

c    fa 

fa 

fa 

fa 

Paramese 

b  mi 

mi 

mi 

mi 

mi 

Mese 

a    la 

la 

la 

la 

LA 

Gsol 

sol 

sol 

SOL 

4: 

F  fa 

fa 

FA 

3 

Hypate  meson 

Ela 

LA 

2 

1 

These  are  all  the  mutations  of  which  the  diapente 
is  capable  ;  that  an  additional  series,  namely,  that 
from  J]  to  f,  was  not  inserted  as  a  proof  of  it,  agree- 
able to  what  was  done  in  respect  to  the  next  pre- 
ceding diagram,  was  because  between  J]  and  f  the 
diazeuctic  tone  marked  by  the  syllable  mi  does  no 
where  occur  :  or,  in  other  words,  that  series  is 
a  semidiapente  or  false  fifth,  containing  only  three 
tones,  which  is  less  by  a  semitone,  or,  to  speak  with 

S  Wallis.  Append,  de  Vet.  Harm.  pag.  310. 

y  Ibid.  p. 


60 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  1. 


precision,  a  limma,  than  a  true  diapente.      As  for 
example  : 

J]  Semitone  c  Tone  d  Tone  e  Semitone  f 
and  were  another  series  to  be  added,  it  must  begin 
from  MI  or  J]  ;  now  the  d^azeuetic  tone  is  the  interval 
between  a  and  Jj,  and  consequently  is  out  of  the 
pentachord.* 

To  distinguish  the  seven  species  of  diapason,  two 
conjunct  diapasons  are  required ;  for  example,  from 
Proslambanomenos  to  Nete  hyperboleon,  to  be  sung 
by  the  syllables  la,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la, 
PA,  SOL,  LA,j-  in  which  series  will  be  found  all  the 
seven  species  of  the  diapason  ;  and  that  there  are  no 
more  will  appear  by  a  repetition  of  the  experiment 
made  in  the  case  of  the  diatessaron ;  for  were  we  to 
proceed  farther,  and  after  the  seventh  begin  from 
a  or  LA,  the  succession  of  syllables  would  be  in  pre- 
cisely the  same  order  as  in  the  first  series,  which  is 
a  demonstration  that  those  two  species  are  the  same.l 

SPECIES  of  the  DIAPASON  VII. 

Nete  hyperboleon    aa   la  la 

g  sol  sol  sol 

f    fa  fa  fa    fa 

e    la  la  la  la    la 

d  sol  sol  sol  sol  sol  sol 

c    fa  fa  fa    fa  fa  fa    fa 

b  mi  mi  mi  mi  mi  mi  mi  mi 

Mese                           a    la  la  la  la  la    la  la  la    la 

G  sol  sol  sol  sol  sol  sol  sol  SOL 

F    fa  fa  fa  fa  fa    fa   fa 
E    la  la  la  la  la    la 

D  sol  sol  sol  sol  SOL 

C    fa  fa  fa  fa 
B  mi  mi  MI 
Proslambanomenos  A  la  la  ^ 


From  hence  it  appears,  that  to  exhibit  all  the 
various  species  of  diapason,  a  less  system  than  the 
disdiapason  would  have  been  insufficient ;  for  though 
the  same  sounds,  as  to  power,  return  after  the  single 
diapason,  yet  all  the  species  are  not  to  be  found 
therein.  Ptolemy  defines  a  system  to  be  a  con- 
sonance of  consonances  ;  adding,  that  a  system  is 
called  perfect,  as  it  contains  all  the  consonances  with 
their  and  every  of  their  species ;  ||  for  that  whole 
can  only  be  said  to  be  perfect,  which  contains  all  the 
parts.  According  therefore  to  the  first  definition, 
the  diapason  is  a  system,  as  is  also  the  diapason  and 
diatessaron,  the  diapason  and  diapente,  and  the  dis- 
diapason ;  for  every  of  these  is  composed  of  two  or 
more  consonances  ;  but,  according  to  the  second  defi- 
nition, the  only  perfect  system  is  the  disdiapason ; 
for  that,  whicb  no  less  system  can  do,  it  contains  six 
consonances,  namely,  the  diatessaron  1,  diapente  2, 
diapason  3,  diapason  and  diatessaron  4,  diapason  and 
diapente  5,  and  disdiapason  6  ;^  and  nature  admits 
of  no  other. 

The  above  scales  declare  the  specific  difference 
between  the  several  kinds  of  diatessaron,  diapente, 
and  diapason,  by  shewing  the  place  of  the  semitone 
in  each. 

Salinas,**  by  a  discrimination  of  the  greater  and 
lesser  tone,  has  increased  the  number  of  combinationa 
of  the  diatessaron  to  six  in  this  manner  : — 


•  Wallis.  Append,  de  Vet.  Harm.  pag.  311. 
t  Ibid, 
t  Ibid. 
§  Ibid. 

11  Lib.  II.  cap.  iv. 

II  Vide  Euclid.  Introd.  Harm,  ex  vers.  Meib. 
«*  Lib.  IV.  cap.  iii. 


II. 


III. 


Three  species  of  Diatessaron 


Six  species  of  Diatessaron. 


144   I  135        )  120      }  108 


A 


C 


DD 


E 


G 


Tone  minor.         Tone  major.       Semit.    Tone  min.  Tone  min.  Semit.  Tone  mai.  Tone  min 

I.  I.  II.  3 


Tone  maj.        Tone  maj. 
2.  III. 


Chap.  X. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


61 


According  to  which,  each  of  the  diatessarons  is 
made  to  consist  of  a  hemitone,  tone,  and  tone ;  yet 
out  of  the  above  six  combinations,  we  see  that  these 
intervals  do  not  occur  twice  in  the  same  order. 


Besides  these,  Salinas  has  shewn  the  following  six 
other  species  of  diatessaron ;  in  his  opinion  not  less 
true  than  those  above  exhibited  : — 


I. 


IV. 


V. 


II. 


III. 


VT 


C  108.  D  sup.  160.  E  144.  F  135.       G  120.     a  108.      }j  96.  c  90.        d  81.     e  72. 

Tone  major.       Tone  minor.    Semit.  Tone  major.  Tone  min.  Tone  maj.  Semit.  Tone  min.  Tone  major. 


it  seems  however  that  he  has  considered  that  as 
ia  diatessaron,  which  in  truth  is  only  nominally  so, 
namely,  the  Tritonus  between  F  and  J]  ;  *  the  situ- 
ation whereof,  in  respect  to  the  others  in  the  above 
diagram,  seems  to  have  suggested  to  him  a  motive 
for  inserting  from  Bede  an  account  of  a  very  curious 
method  of  divination,  formerly  practised,  which  is 
here,  with  some  small  variation,  translated  from 
Salinas  : — 

'  It  is   very  credible   that   this   disposition  gave 

*  rise  to  that  well-known  game,  the  design  whereof 
'  is  to  divine  when  three  men  placed  in  order  have 
'  distributed  among  themselves  three  lots  of  different 
'  magnitudes,  which  of  those  lots  each  person  has 
'  received ;  which  must  be  done  after  six  manners, 
'  and  those  the  same  by  which  the  diatessaron  is 
'  divided,  and  its  intervals  placed  in  order  as  we 
'  have  shewn,  that  is  to  say,  each  lot  may  be  twice 

*  placed  in  each  of  the  three  situations ;  for  the  three 
'  men  answer  to  the  three  places,  the  first  to  the 
'  grave,  the  second  to  the  mean,  and  the  third  to  the 

*  acute  ;  and  the  three  lots  of  different  magnitudes  to 
'  the  three  intervals  also  of  different  quantity ;  the 
'  greater  to  the  greater  tone,  the  middle  to  the  lesser 
'  tone,  and  the  least  to  the  semitone.     This  method 

*  of  divination  is  performed  by  the  help  of  twenty- 
'  four  little  stones,  of  which  the  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  greatest  lot,  do  take  up  out  of  the 
'  remaining  eighteen  stones  as  many  as  were  at  first 
'  distributed  to  him;  he  who  has  the  lot  in  the  middle 
'  degree  of  magnitude,  twice  as  many  as  he  has ;  and 
'  he  that  has  the  least  lot,  four  times  as  many  as  he 

*  also  has.  By  this  means  the  diviner  will  be  able  to 
'  know  from  the  number  of  stones  remaining,  which 
'  of  the  things  each  person  has ;  for  if  the  distri- 
'  bution  be  made  after  the  first  manner,  there  will 

*  Salinas  l)e  Musica,  lib.  IV.  cap.  iii. 


'  be  one  left ;  if  after  the  second  two,  if  after  the 
'  third  three,  if  after  the  fourth  five,  if  after  the  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  the 

*  instituent,  who  from  the  truth  of  the  thing,  though 
'  perhaps  the  reason  thereof  was  not  known  by  him, 
'  was  impelled  to  constitute  the  game  in  this  manner. 

"  Hand  equidem  sine  mente  reor,  sine  numine  divum." 
*  The  other  taken  from  the  constant  and  settled 
'  order  of   the  harmonical    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  niimber  also  ;  as  by  the  injunction  of  the 
'  instituent,  he  was  to  take  up  as  many  stones  as 
'  were  at  first  distributed  to  him ;  and  an  uneven 
'  number  being  taken  out  of  an  even  one,  the  re- 
'  mainder  must  necessarily  be  uneven ;  but  as  each 
'  of  them  may  have  the  greatest  lot  twice,  there 
'  must  be  four  uneven  remainders  of  stones  out  ot 
'  the  six  changes :  as  to  the  second,  he  can  have  it 
'  only  twice ;  because  as  he  has  an  even  number,  and 
'  takes  up  a  number  equal  thereto,  there  must  an 
'  even  number  remain ;  for  the  others  must  also  take 

*  up  even  numbers,  as  they  are  enjoined  to  take  up 

*  twice,  and  four  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  contrary  wise,  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  C  to  c,  that  a  diatessaron  may  be  produced 
'  towards  the  acute  from  six  of  them,  that  is  to  say, 


62 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  L 


'  the  first,  second,  third,  fifth,  sixth,  and  seventh,  the 
'fourth  being  passed  over  because  the  diatessaron 
'  cannot  be  produced  therefrom ;  so  also  in  this  play 
'  the  number  four  is  passed  over  as  having  no  con- 
'  cern  therein ;  but  it  does  not  happen  so  in  the 
'composition  of  instrumental  harmony,  for  though, 
'as  is  shewn  in  the  last  example  above,  the  fourth 
'  sound  from  C  makes  a  tritone,  with  its  nominal 

*  fourth  above  it,  it  is  not  to  be  excluded  from  the 
'series.  Neither  is  the  diapason  from  this  fourth 
^  iAjtmd  from  C,  viz.,  P,  to  be  totally  rejected ;   for 

though  by  reason  of  the  tritone  it  cannot  be  arith- 
'metically  divided  as  the  other  six  may,  yet  may 
'  it  be  divided  harmonically.  I  should  by  no  means 
'have  made  mention  of  this  game,  being  appre- 
'  hensive  that  I  may  be  thought  to  trifle  on  so  serious 
'an  affair,  but  that  I  look  upon  it  as  an  example 
'very  much  suited  to  explain  the  subject  we  are 
'treating  of;   and  I  did  n  the  more  willingly,  be- 

•  cause  I  found  it  particularly  treated  of  by  Bede, 
'surnamed  the  Venerable,  a  most  grave  man,  and 
'deeply  learned  both  in  theology  and  secular  arts, 
'  from  whence  we  may  conjecture  that  it  has  been 
'  invented  above  one  thousand  years."  * 

But,  to  retu-rn  from  this  digression,  notwithstand- 
ing the  species  of  diapason  are  manifestly  seven,  the 
modes  seem  originally  to  have  been  but  three  in 

^  The  passage  on  which  this  assertion  is  grounded,  has  eluded  a  cur- 
sory search  among  the  writings  of  Bede ;  nevertheless  it  may  possibly  be 
found  in  some  one  or  other  of  those  numerous  little  tracts  on  arithmetic, 
music,  and  other  of  the  sciences,  contained  in  his  voluminous  works, 
many  whereof  as  yet  exist  only  in  manuscript.  The  description  given  by 
Salinas  of  this  method  of  divination  is  in  nearly  these  words  : — 

Ab  hac  etiam  dispositione  credendum  est,  ortum  habuisse  lusum  ilium 
notissimum,  cujus  propositum  est,  tribus  hominibus  ordine  dispositis,  tres 
res  diverscE  magnitudinis  inter  se  distrlbuentibus,  quam  quis  eorum 
acceperit,  divinare.  Quod  sex  modis  fieri,  necesse  est :  atque  eisdem, 
quibus  diatessaron  dividitur,  et  eodem  ordine  dispositis,  quo  tria  ipsius 
intervalla,  tribus  in  locis  bis  singula  in  singulis  ostendimus  collocari. 
Tribus  enim  locis  respondent  tres  homines  :  primus  gravissimo,  seeundus 
medio,  tertius  acutissimo.  Et  tres  res  diversEe  magnitudinis,  tribus 
intervallis  etiam  varise  quantitatis,  maxima  tono  majori,  media  minori, 
minima  semitonio.  Conficetur  autem  hie  lusus  24  lapillis,  ex  quibus 
primo  unum,  secundo  duos,  tertio  tres  divinaturus  ipse  tradit;  ea  lege, 
ut  ex  18  reliquis,  qui  rem  maximam  accipiet,  tot,  quot  habet :  qui 
mediam,  bis  totidem :  qui  mininiam,  tntidem  quater  assumat :  quo  ex 
eorum,  qui  supererunt  numero,  quae  cuique  obvenerit,  possit  cognoscere. 
Nam  si  primo  modo  fiet  distributio,  relinquetur  unus :  si  fiet  secundo, 
duo:  si  tertio,  tres:  si  quatuor,  quinque :  si  quinto,  sex:  et  si  denique 
sexto,  septem.  Neque  quatuor  unquam  poterunt  superesse,  cujus  duplex 
ratio  potest  assignari.  Altera,  ex  arbitrio  instituentis  ab  ipsa  rei  veritate 
forsitan  illi  non  cognita  ad  lusum  sic  instituendum  impulsi, 

'  Haud  equidem  sine  mente  reor,  sine  numine  divflm.' 
Altera  ex  Ktema  rationis  harmonice  dispositione  desumpta.  Quod  autem 
ad  instituendum  attinet,  quatuor  id  circo  remanere  non  possunt,  quoniani 
primus,  et  tertius  lapillos  impares  susceperunt :  et  cum  ex  lege  tot,  quot 
habent,  accipere  teneantur,  si  maximam  habebunt,  assument  impares  : 
quibus  ex  paribus  sublatis,  impares  relinqui  necesse  est,  quod  alterutri 
bis  evenire  continget,  unde  quater  impares  restabunt.  Et  cum  seeundus 
etiam  bis  maximam  possit  accipere,  quoniam  habet  pares,  totidem 
assumptis  relinquentur  pares  :  nam  reliquos  necesse  est  pares  assumere, 
cum  duplicare,  et  quadiuplicarelapillos,  quos  habent,  teneantur.  Quod 
bis  evenire  continget ;  aut  enim  primus  mediam  habebit,  et  tertius  mini- 
mam,  et  restabunt  duo  ;  aut  contra,  et  restabunt  sex.  Et  cum  maxima 
secundo  ter  evenire  nequeat,  constat,  tertiam  parem,  qui  quatuor  est, 
nullo  modo  posse  relinqui.  Sed  multo  verior,  et  fortior  est,  quae  ex 
ratione  harmonica  desumitur.  Nam  quemadmodum  in  septem  sonis 
diapason  ostensum  est,  k  sex  illorum  diatessaron  in  acutem  protrahi 
posse,  qui  sunt  primus,  seeundus,  tertius,  quintus.  sextus,  Septimus :  et 
quartum  praeteriri  neque  in  eo  reperiri  posse :  sic  etiam  in  lusu  ipso 
prsteritur  quarta  dictio,  quae  occisa  est ;  quod  non  ita  evenit  in  harmoniae 
instrumentalis  corapositione.  Quandoquidem  (ut  dictum  est)  significat 
tritonum,  quod  a  quarto  sono  inter  septem  sonos  diapason  invenitur,  cum 
^  sex  aliis  omnibus,  diatessaron  inveniatur.  Unde  etiam  in  septem  diapa- 
son speciebus,  quae  a  septem  son  is  oriuntur,  sex  arithmetic^  dividi  possunt; 
una  vero  nequaquam,  quae  a  C  cum  i)rima  sit,  prngrediendo  in  acutum, 
erit  quarta.  Hujus  autem  lusus  neuti(iuam  ego  mentionem  fecissem,  ne 
in  re  tam  seria  liuiere  velle  viderer,  nisi  ad  rem,  qua  de  agimus,  facilius 
explicandam,  aptissimum  esset  exeniplum  Quod  e6  libentius  feci, 
quoniam  eum  comperi  ex  professo  traditum  d  Beda,  cognomento  Venera- 
bili,  viro  gravissimo  et  in  divinis  Uteris,  ac  secularibus  disciplinis  erudi- 
tissimo.  Unde  coujectari  licet,  ante  mille  annos  excogitatum  fuisse. 
Salinas  de  Musica,  lib.  IV.  cap.  v. 


number,  namely,  the  Dorian,  the  Phrygian,  and  the 
Lydian  :  f  the  first  proceeding  from  E  to  e,  the 
second  from  D  to  d,  and  the  third  from  C  to  c,  J  how 
these  are  generated  shall  be  made  appear. 

And  first  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  place  of  the 
diazeuctic  tone  is  the  characteristic  of  every  mode. 
In  the  Dorian  the  diazeuctic  tone  was  situated  in  the 
middle  of  the  heptachord,  that  is  to  say,  it  was  the 
interval  between  mese  or  a,  and  paramese  |],  the 
chords  mese  and  paramese  being  thus  stationed  in 
the  middle  of  the  system,  three  in  the  acute,  namely, 
Trite  diezeugmenon,  Paranete  diezeugmenon,  and 
Nete  diezeugmenon  ;  and  three  in  the  grave,  namely, 
Lychanos  meson,  Parhypate  meson,  and  Hypate 
meson,  determined  the  species  of  diapason  proper  to 
the  Dorian  mode.  The  series  of  intervals  that  con- 
stituted the  Dorian  mode,  had  its  station  in  the 
middle  of  the  lyre,  which  consisted,  as  has  been 
already  mentioned,  of  fifteen  chords,  comprehending 
the  system  of  a  disdiapason  ;  and  to  characterise  the 
other  modes,  authors  make  use  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,  the  taking  the  diapason  as  nearly  as  may  be 
from  the  middle  of  the  lyre.  || 

The  Dorian  mese  being  thus  settled  at  a,  and  the 
position  of  the  diazeuctic  tone  thereby  determined, 
a  method  is  suggested  for  discovering  the  constitution 
of  the  other  six  modes,  namely,  the  Mixolydian, 
Lydian,  Phrygian,  Hypolydian,  Hypophrygian,  and 
Hypodorian,  making  together  with  the  Dorian,  seven, 
and  answering  to  the  species  of  the  diapason ;  all 
above  which  number,  according  to  the  express  de- 
claration of  Ptolemy,  are  to  be  rejected  as  spurious.^ 

But  in  order  to  render  this  constitution  intelligible, 
it  is  necessary  to  take  notice  of  a  distinction  made 
by  Ptolemy,  lib.  II.  cap.  xi.  between  the  natural,  or, 
which  is  the  same,  the  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  has  noted  by  the  use  of  the  two  dif- 
ferent terms  Positions  and  Powers.  In  the  Dorian  mode 
these  coincided,  as  for  example,  the  Mese  of  the  lyre, 
that  is  to  say  the  Mese  in  position,  was  also  the  Mese 
in  power,  the  Proslambanomenos  in  position  was  also 
the  Proslambanomenos  in  power,  and  so  of  the  rest.** 

But  in  the  other  modes  the  case  was  far  otherwise  ; 
to  instance,  in  the  Phrygian,  there  the  Mese  in 
position  was  the  Lychanos  meson  in  Power,  and  the 
Proslambanomenos  in  position  the  Paranete  hyper- 
boleon  in  power.    In  the  Lydian  the  Mese  in  position 

t  Ptolem.  Harm.  lib.  TI.  cap.  vi.  Wallis  Append,  de  Vet.  Harm.  p.  312. 

t  Vide  Kirch.  M\isurg.  torn.  I.  cap.  xvi. 

§  Harmonicor.  lib.  II.  cap.  xi. 

II  Ibid.  lib.  II.  cap.  xi. 

if  Lib.  II.  cap.  viii.  ix.  xi.  ex.  vers.  Wallis. 
*»  Vide  Sir  Francis  Stiles  on  the  Modes,  pag.  702. 

By  the  Mese  in  power  is  to  he  understood  not  the  actual  Mese  or  the 
middle  chord  of  the  septenary,  but  that  which  marks  the  position  of  the 
diazeuctic  tone  which  varies  in  each  mode.  In  the  Dorian,  for  instance, 
it  holds  the  middle  or  fourth,  in  the  Phrygian  the  third,  and  in  the 
Lydian  the  second  place,  reckoning  from  the  acute  towards  the  grave.  See 
the  diagram  of  the  species  of  diapason  in  the  seven  Ptolemaic  modes 
hereafter  inserted. 


Chap.  X.— Book  II,  Chap.  XL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


5.S 


was  the  Parhypate  meson  in  power,  and  the  Pros- 
lambanomenos  in  position  was  the  Trite  hyperboleon 
in  power ;  and  to  the  rule  for  transposition  of  the 
Mese  the  other  intervals  were  in  like  manner  subject. 
From  this  distinction  between  the  real,  and  the 
nominal  or  potential  Mese,  followed,  as  above  is 
noted,  a  change  in  the  name  of  every  other  chord  on 
the  lyre,  which  change  was  regulated  by  that  relation 
which  the  several  chords  in  each  mode  bore  to  their 
respective  Mesas,  and  the  term  Mese  not  implying 
any  thing  like  what  we  call  the  Pitch  of  the  sound, 
but  only  the  place  of  the  diazeuctic  tone  in  the  lyre, 
this  change  of  the  name  became  not  only  proper,  but 
absolutely  necessary  :  nor  is  it  any  thing  more  than 
is  practised  at  this  day,  when  by  the  introduction  of 
a  new  cliff,  we  give  a  new  name,  not  only  to  One, 
but  a  series  of  sounds,  without  disturbing  the  order 
of  succession,  or  assigning  to  them  other  powers  than 
nature  has  established. 

The  following  scale  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  : — 
aa   Nete  hyperboleon 
g   Paranete  hyperboleon 
f    Trite  hyperboleon 
e   Nete  diezeugmenon 
d    Paranete  diezeugmenon 
c   Trite  diezeugmenon 
J]   Paramese 
a  Mese 
4  G   Lychanos  meson 
F    Parhypate  meson 
E    Hypate  meson 
D    Lychanos  hypaton 
C    Parypate  hypaton 
J]   Hypate  hypaton 
A   Proslambanomenos* 

Now  that  diversity  of  stations  for  the  Mese  above 
represented,  necessarily  implies  the  dislocation  of  the 
diazeuctic  tone  for  every  mode  ;  and  from  the  rules 
in  the  tenth  chapter  of  the  second  book  of  Ptolemy, 
for  taking  the  modes,  it  follows  by  necessary  con- 
sequence that  in  the  Mixolydian  mode  the  diazeuctic 
tone  must  be  the  first  interval,  reckoning  from  acute 
to  grave  ;  in  the  Lydian  the  second,  in  th6  Phrygian 
the  third,  in  the  Dorian  the  fourth,  in  the  Hypolydian 
the  fifth,  in  the  Hypophrygian  the  sixth,  and  in  the 
Hypodorian  the  last.f 

The  situation  of  the  Mese,  and  consequently  of  the 
diazeuctic  tone  being  thus  adjusted,  the  component 

*  Ptolem.  Harmonic,  ex  vers.  Wallis,  pa^.  137,  in  not. 
+  Sir  Francis  Stiles  on  the  Modes,  pag.  709.     And  see  the  diagram  of 
the  seven  Ptolemaic  modes  hereinafter  inserted. 


intervals  of  the  diapason  above  and  below  it,  follow 
of  course  as  they  arise  in  the  order  of  nature ;  and 
we  are  enabled  to  say  not  only  that  the  species  of 
diapason  answering  to  the  several  modes  in  their 
order  are  as  follow  :— 


Mixolydian 

Lydian 

Phrygian 

Dorian 

Hypolydian 

Hypophrygian 

Hypodorian 


VMESE 


Mixolydian 

Lydian 

Phrygian 

Dorian 

Hypolydian 

Hypophrygian 

Hypodorian 


^  B  to  b 
C  to  c 
Dtod 
-  from  -^  E  to  e 
Ftof 
G  to  g 
^  A  to  a,  or  a  to  aaj 


But  that  the  follov^dng  is  the  order  in  which  the 
tones  and  semitones  occur  in  each  series,  proceeding 
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, 

tone. 
Hypolydian — Tone,  tone,  tone,  semitone,  tone,  tone, 

semitone. 
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  ancients. 

t  Sir  F.  S.  on  the  Modes,  708.     Kirch.  Musurg.  tom.  I.  cap.  xvi. 

§  Upon  the  constitution  of  the  first  of  the  above  modes  a  great  difficulty 
arises,  namely,  how  to  reconcile  it  to  the  rules  of  harmonical  progression, 
for  it  is  expressly  said  by  Kircher  and  also  by  Sir  Francis  Stiles,  in  his 
Discourse  on  the  Modes,  pag.  407,  and  may  be  inferred  from  what  Ptolemy 
says  concerning  them  in  his  Harmonics,  lib.  II.  cap.  x.  that  the  Mixo- 
lydian answers  to  the  species  of  diapason  from  Hypate  hypaton  to 
Paramese,  that  is  to  say,  from  \j  to  J],  and  that  the  semitones  in  it  are 
the  first  and  fourth  intervals  in  that  series ;  now  if  this  be  the  case,  as 
most  clearly  it  is,  the  interval  between  the  chord  }]  and  the  chord 
Parypate  meson  or  F,  must  be  a  semidiapente,  which  is  a  false  relation, 
arising  from  two  inconcinnous  chords,  and  consequently  is  unfit  for 
musical  practice. 

Again,  in  the  Hypolydian,  from  Parhypate  meson  to  Trite  hyper- 
boleon, or  F  to  f ,  a  tritone  occurs  between  F  and  J],  which  is  a  false 
relation,  and  renders  this  species  equally  with  the  former  unfit  for  musical 
practice. 

Dr.  Wallis  seems  to  have  been  aware  of  this  difficulty,  and  has  at- 
tempted to  solve  it  in  a  diagram  of  his,  containing  a  comparative  view  of 
the  ancient  modes  with  the  several  keys  of  the  modern.s,  by  prefixing  the 
flat  sign  b,  to  Hypate  hypaton ;  agreeable  to  what  he  says  in  another 
place,  that  in  the  Mixolydian  mi  is  placed  in  E  la  mi,  and  to  get  rid  of 
the  tritone  in  the  latter  case  he  prefixes  a  second  flat  in  E  ta  mi,  ex- 
cluding thereby  mi  from  thence,  and  placing  it  in  A  la  mi  re. 

Sir  Francis  Styles  has  done  the  same,  and  farther  both  these  writers 
have  made  use  of  the  acute  sign  ti  for  similar  purposes.  In  all  which 
instances  it  is  supposed  they  are  justified  by  the  practice  of  the  ancients  , 
for  it  is  to  be  noted  that  they  had  a  particular  tuning  for  every  key, 
which  could  be  for  no  other  purpose  than  that  of  dislocating  the  inter- 
vals from  their  respective  stations  in  the  several  species  of  diapason,  and 
might  probably  reduce  them  to  that  arrangement  observable  in  the  keys 
of  the  modems,  which,  after  all  that  can  be  said  about  them,  are  finally 
resolvable  into  two. 


BOOK    II. 


CHAP.    XI. 


In  the  foregoing   enquiry   touching   the  modes,  remains,  namely,  whether  the  progression  in  each  of 

endeavours  have  been  used  to  demonstrate  the  coin-  the  modes  was  in  the  order  prescribed  by  nature  or 

cidence  between  the  seven  genuine  modes  and  the  not.     In    what   order  of  succession  the  tones  and 

seven  species  of  diapason.     But  supposing  the  rela-  semitones  arise  in  each  species  of  the  diapason  has 

tion  between  them  to  be  made  out,  a  question  yet  already  been  declared ;  and  it  seems  from  the  repre- 


54 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  U. 


sentation  above  given  of  the  species,  that  as  the  keys 
of  the  moderns  are  ultimately  reducible  to  two,  do 
MI,  and  KE  FA,  so  the  seven  modes  of  the  ancients  by 
the  dislocation  of  the  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  reduced  to  two.  To  this  purpose 
Dr.  Wallis  seems  uniformly  to  express  himself,  and 
particularly  in  this  his  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  Mese  and 
Paramese  the  Mese  and  Paramese  both  in  position 
and  power,  or,  to  speak  with  the  moderns,  having 
its  7ni  in  \j,  may  be  said  to  be  situated  in  the  midst 
of  them  all ;  he  therefore  constitutes  the  Dorian 
mode  so  as  that  between  the  real  and  assumed  names 
of  all  the  chords,  there  is  throughout  a  perfect  coin- 
cidence :  and  to  this  mode  answers  that  key  of  the 
moderns  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  has  for  its 
Mese  a  chord  also  more  acute  by  a  diatessaron, 
namely  the  Paranete  diezeugmenon  of  the  Dorian, 
and  consequently  its  Paramese,  which  is  our  7)ii, 
must  answer  to  the  Nete  diezeugmenon,  that  is  as 
we  speak,  mi  is  placed  in  E  la  mi,  and  this  he  calls 
the  Mixolydian.  The  moderns  for  a  similar  pur- 
pose place  a  flat  on  B  fa,  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  conjimct  system,  namely,  the 
system  from  Proslambanomenos  to  Nete  synem- 
menon,  since  that  is  sufficiently  supplied  by  the 
change  made  in  Mese  from  the  Dorian  to  the  Mixo- 
lydian mode  ;  for  here  follows  after  the  two  conjunct 
tetrachords  in  the  Dorian,  from  Hypate  hypaton  to 
the  Mese,  that  is  from  B  mi  to  A  la  mi  re,  a  third  in 
the  Mixolydian  from  its  Hypate  Meson,  which  is  the 
Mese  in  the  Dorian  to  its  Mese,  that  is  from  A  la 
mi  re  to  D  la  sol  re  ;  so  that  there  are  three  con- 
junct tetrachords  from  B  mi,  the  Hypate  hypaton 
of  the  Dorian,  to  D  la  sol  re,  the  Mese  of  the 
Mixolydian. 

'  Thirdly,  as  another  diatessaron  above  that  in  the 
acute,  could  not  be  taken  without  exceeding  that 
diapason  in  the  midst  whereof  the  Mese  of  the 
Dorian  was  placed,  Ptolemy  assumes  in  the  room 
thereof  a  diapente  towards  the  grave,  which  may 
answer  to  a  diatessaron  taken  towards  the  acute,  in 
as  much  as  the  sounds  so  taken,  differing  from  each 
other  by  a  diapason,  may  in  a  manner  be  accounted 
the  same.  The  Mese  therefore  of  this  new  mode 
must  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  Paramese  will  be  the  Mese  of  the  Dorian  ;  that 
is  as  we  should  say,  mi  in  A  la  mi  re.  This  is 
what  Ptolemy  calls  the  Hypolydian  mode,  to  denote 


which  we  put  besides  the  flat  placed  before  in  B  Jd 
b  mi,  a  second  flat  in  E  la  mi,  to  exclude  mi  from 
thence,  and  thereby  mi  is  removed  into  A  la  vii  re. 

'  Fourtlily,  as  he  could  not  from  hence  towardg, 
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  calls  the  Lydian,  the  Mese 
whereof  is  the  Paranete  diezeugmenon,  and  its 
Paramese  the  Nete  diezeugmenon  of  the  Hypo- 
lydian ;  which  latter  is  also  the  Paranete  diezeugr 
menon  of  the  Dorian,  that  is  as  we  speak,  mi  in  D 
la  sol  re.  We,  to  denote  this  mode,  besides  the 
two  flats  already  set  in  b  and  e,  put  a  third  in  A  la 
mi  re,  whereby  we  exclude  mi  from  thence,  and 
transfer  it  to  D  la  sol  re. 

'  Fifthly,  as  the  Mixolydian  was  taken  from  the 
Dorian,  and  made  a  diatessaron  more  acute,  so  is  the 
Hypodorian  to  be  taken  from  the  same  Dorian 
towards  the  grave,  and  made  more  grave  than  that 
by  a  diatessaron  :  the  Mese  therefore  of  the  Hyr 
podorian  is  the  Hypate  meson  of  the  Dorian  ;  and 
its  Paramese,  wliich  is  our  mi,  is  the  Parhypate 
meson  of  the  Dorian,  that  is  as  we  speak,  mi  in  F 
fa  ut.  We,  to  denote  this  mode,  leaving  out  all; 
the  flats,  place  an  acute  signature  or  sharp  in  F  ^a 
ut,  which  would  otherwise  be  elevated  by  a  hemi- 
tone  only,  and  called  Ja,  but  it  is  now  called  7m,  and 
elevated  by  a  whole  tone  above  the  next  note  under 
it ;  by  reason  whereof  the  next  note  in  the  acute 
will  be  distant  only  a  hemitone  fi;om  that  next 
under  it,  and  be  called  Ja,  and  7ni  will  return  in 
a  perfect  diapason  in  the  FJa  lit  next  above  it. 

'  Sixthly,  as  another  diatessaron  towards  the  grave 
cannot  be  assumed  from  the  Hypodorian  thus 
situated,  without  exceeding  the  limits  of  the  above 
diapason,  he  takes  the  Phrygian  mode  a  diapente 
more  acute,  which  is  the  same  thing  in  effect,  since 
between  any  series  in  the  fifth  above  and  in  the 
fourth  below,  the  distance  is  precisel}'  a  diapason ; 
the  Mese  therefore  of  this  mode  is  the  Nete  die- 
zeugmenon of  the  Hypodorian,  that  is  the  Paramese 
of  the  Dorian,  and  consequently  its  Paramese  is  the 
Trite  diezeugmenon  of  the  Dorian,  that  is  as  we> 
speak,  7ni  in  c  fa  ut ;  to  denote  which,  besides  the. 
sharp  placed  before  in  F  fa  ut,  we  put  another 
sharp  in  G  fa  ut,  which  would  otherwise  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  cnWed  fa,  it  must  now 
be  called  wi  ;  and  from  hence  to  g  sol  ve  ^^  is  now 
only  a  hemitone,  which  is  therefore  to  be  called  fa, 
7ni  returning  either  in  cc  sol  fa  above,  or  in  cfa  ut 
below. 

'  Seventhly  and  lastly,  the  Hypophrygiao  is  taken 
from  the  Phrygian,  as  above  defined,  and  is  distant 
therefrom  by  a  diatessaron  towards  the  grave.  Its 
Mese  therefore  is  the  Hypate  meson  of  the  Phrygian, 
that  is  to  say  the  Parhypate  meson  of  the  Dorian, 
consequently  its  Paramese,  which  is  our  7ni,  is  the 
Lychanos  meson  of  the  Dorian.  That  is  as  we 
speak,  mi  in  G  sol  re  ut,  to  express  which,  the  rest 
standing  as  above,  we  place  a  third  8hai:p  in  G  sol 


Chap.  XI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


55 


^e  ut,  which  otherwise,  by  reason  that  FJa  ut  was 
made  sharp  before,  would  be  elevated  by  only  a 
hemitone,  and  called  fa,  is  now  elevated  by  a  whole 
tone  and  called  7ni,  and  therefore  A  la  mi  re,  distant 
from  G  sol  re  ut  by  a  hemitone,  is  called  fa,  and 
mi  returns  in  g  sol  re  ut  above,  or  in  V  tit  below. 

'  The  modes  being  thus  determined,  we  gather 
from  thence  that  the  Mixolydian  mode  is  distant 
from  the  Lydian  as  in  Ptolemy,  lib.  II.  cap.  x.  by 
a  limma,  or  not  to  speak  so  nicely,  by  a  hemitone, 
the  Lydian  from  the  Phrygian  by  a  tone,  the 
Phrygian  from  the  Dorian  by  a  tone,  the  Dorian 
from  the  Hypolydian  by  a  limma,  the  Hypolydian 
from  the  Hypophrygian  by  a  tone,  and  the  Hypo- 
Phrygian  from  the  Hj'podorian  also  by  a  tone. 

'  From  these  premises  Ptolemy  concludes,  not  only 
that  the  seven  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  chords  in 
the  diapason  are  by  this  disposition  occupied  :  for 
since  all  the  chords,  from  the  Hjrpate  meson  to  the 
Paranete  diezeugmenon  inclusively,  are  the  Mese  of 
some  mode,  there  is  no  one  of  them  remaining  to 
be  made  the  mese  of  any  intermediate  mode  :  for 
example,  the  Mese  in  power  of  the  Hypodorian  is 
in  position  the   Hypate  meson,  and  the  Mese  in 
power  of  the  Hypophrygian  is  the  Parhypate  meson ; 
and  as  there  is  no  chord  lying  between  these  two 
there  is  none  left,  nor  can  be  found  to  be  the  Mese 
of  any  intermediate  mode,  or  which,  as  Aristoxenus 
supposes,  may  with  propriety  be  called  the  graver 
Hypophrygian  or  Hypoiastian ;  and  what  has  been 
said  of  the  Mese  may  vvath  equal  reason  be  said  of 
the  Paramese,  which  is  our  mi' * 
Thus  far  Dr.  Wallis,  who  has  undoubtedly  de- 
livered, though  in  very  concise  terms,  the  sense  of 
his  author  ;  nevertheless  as  the  whole  of  the  argu- 
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 
his  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  these  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  being  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 
'diezeugmenon,  because  the  voice  is  most  pleased 
'to  be  exercised  about  the  middle  melodies,  seldom 
'running  to  the  extremes,  because  of  the  difficulty 
'and  constraint  in  immoderate  intensions,  and  re- 
'  missions,  the  Mese  in  power  of  the  Mixolydian  will 
'be  fitted  to  the  place  of  Paranete  diezeugmenon, 
'that  the  tone  may  in  this  diapason  make  the  first 
'  species ;  that  of  the  Lydian,  to  the  place  of  Trite 
'  diezeugmenon,  according  to  the  second  species  ; 
'  that  of  the  Phrygian,  to  the  place  of  Paramese, 
'according  to  the  third  species;  that  of  the  Dorian, 
'  to  the  place  of  the  Mese,  making  the  fourth  and 

*  Wallis  Append,  de  Vet.  Harmon,  pag.  314,  et  seq. 


'  middle  species  of  the  diapason ;  that  of  the  Hy- 
'  polydian,  to  the  place  of  Lychanos  meson,  accord- 
'  ing  to  the  fifth  species ;  that  of  the  Hypophrygian. 
'  to  the  place  of  Parhypate  meson,  according  to  the 
'  sixth  species ;  and  that  of  the  Hypodorian,  to  the 
'  place  of  Hypate  meson,  according  to  the  seventh 
'  species  ;  that  so  it  may  be  possible  in  the  alterations 
'  required  for  the  modes,  to  keep  some  of  the  sounds 
'  of  the  system  unmoved,  for  preserving  the  mag- 
'  nitude  of  the  voice,  meaning  the  pitch  of  the 
'  diapason ;  it  being  impossible  for  the  same  powers, 
'in  different  modes  to  fall  upon  the  places  of  the 
'  same  sounds.  But  should  we  admit  more  modes 
'  than  these,  as  they  do  who  augment  their  excesses 
'  by  hemitones,  the  Meses  of  two  modes  must  of 
'  necessity  be  applied  to  the  place  of  one  sound ;  sa 
'that  in  intkrchanging  the  tunings  of  those  two 
'modee,  the  whole  system  in  each  must  be  removed, 
'not  preserving  any  one  of  the  preceding  tensions 
'  in  common,  by  which  to  regulate  the  proper  pitch 
'  of  the  voice.  For  the  Mese  in  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  Hypophrygian, 
'  to  distinguish  it  from  the  other  acuter  one,  must 
'  have  its  Mese  either  in  Hypate,  as  the  Hypodorian, 
'  or  in  Parhypate,  as  the  acuter  Hypophrygian ; 
'  which  being  the  case,  when  we  interchange  the 
'  tuning  of  two  such  modes,  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,  the  same  with  those  taken 
'  before  the  mutation,  according  to  the  genus  common 
'  to  both  modes  ;  so  that  this  mode  is  not  to  be 
'  held  different  in  species  from  the  former,  but  the 
'  Hypodorian  again,  or  the  same  Hypophrygian,  only 
'  somewhat  acuter  or  graver  in  pitch,  that  these 
'  seven  modes  therefore  are  sufficient,  and  such  as 
'  the  ratios  require,  be  it  thus  far  declared.'  f 

Dr.  Wallis  continues  his  argument,  and  with 
a  degree  of  perspicuity  that  leaves  no  room  to  doubt 
but  that  he  is  right  in  his  opinion,  shows  that  the 
modes  of  the  ancients  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  says,  with  the  moderns,  has 
occupied  all  the  chords  by  the  modes  now  determined, 
since  in  the  Hypodorian,  mi  is  found  in  F,  and  also 
in  f,  which  is  a  diapason  distant  therefrom.  In  the 
Hypophrygian  it  is  found  in  G,  and  therefore  also 
in  F  and  in  g,  which  are  each  a  diapason  distant 
therefrom.  In  the  Hypophrygian  it  is  found  in 
a,  and  therefore  in  A  and  aa,  each  distant  a  diapason 
therefrom.  In  the  Dorian  it  is  found  in  \^,  and 
therefrom  in  J]  and  1]J].  In  the  Phrygian  rtii  is 
found  in  c,  and  also  in  C  and  cc.  In  the  Lydian  it 
is  found  in  d,  and  therefore  in  D  and  dd.  And 
lastly,  in  the  Mixolydian  it  is  found  in  e.  and  con- 


t  Sir  F.  S.  on  the  Modes,  pag.  724. 


o6 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  II. 


sequently  in  E  and  ee ;  from  all  which  it  is  evident 
that  there  can  no  one  chord  remain  whereon  to  place 
mi  for  any  other  mode,  which  would  not  coincide 
with  some  one  of  these  above  specified.* 

Nothing  need  be  added  to  illustrate  this  account 
of  the  modes  but  an  observation,  that  instead  of 
g  and  c  for  the  respective  places  of  7ni  in  the  Hypo- 


phrygian  and  Phrygian  modes,  their  true  positions 
will  be  found  to  be  in  g#  and  ctt  and  their  replicates. 

The  following  scheme  is  exhibited  by  Dr.  Wallis 
to  show  the  correspondence  between  the  several  keys 
as  they  arise  in  the  modern  system,  ajid  the  modes  of 
the  ancients  : — 


4 

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By  which  it  should  seem  that  the  key  of  A  with  the 
lesser  third  answers  to  the  Dorian ;  D  with  the  lesser 
third  to  the  Mixolydian  ;  G  with  the  lesser  third  to 
the  Hypolydian ;  C  with  the  lesser  third  to  the 
Lydian ;  E  with  the  lesser  third  to  the  Hypodorian  ; 
B  with  the  lesser  third  to  the  Phrygian,  and  F^  with 
the  lesser  third  to  the  Hypophrygian. 

These  are  the  sentiments  of  those  who  taught  that 
the  modes  were  coincident  with  the  species  of  dia- 
pason. Another  opinion  however  pi'evailed,  namely, 
that  the  word  Mode  or  tone  signified  not  so  properly 
any  determinate  Succession  of  sounds,  as  the  Place 
of  a  sound  ;  and  indeed  this  is  one  of  the  definitions 
given  by  Euclid  of  the  word  Tone  or  Mode ;  |  or,  in 
other  words,  the  difference  between  one  tone  and 
another  consisted  in  the  Tension,  or,  as  we  should 
say,  the  Pitch  of  the  system.  §  The  occasion  of  this 
diversity  of  opinion  seems  to  be  this,  Aristoxenus. 
the  father  of  that  sect  which  rejected  the  measure 
by  ratios,  and  computed  it  by  intervals,  in  his  treatise 
on  Harmonics,  book  the  second,  divides  the  science 
into  seven  parts,  1.  Of  sounds  2.  Of  intervals 
3,  Of  genera.  4.  Of  systems.  5.  Of  tones.  G.  of 
mutations.  7,  of  melopoeia.  ||  Now  had  he  con- 
sidered the  species  of  diapason  to  have  been  the 
same  as,  or  even  connected  with,  the  modes,  it  had 
been  natural  for  him  to  have  placed  them  under  the 
fifth  division,  that  is  to  say,  of  tones,  or  at  least 
under  the  sixth,  of  mutations  .  instead  of  which  we 
find  them  ranged  under  the  fourth,  namely,  that  of 
systems  ;  and  even  there  it  is  not  expressly  saia, 
though  from  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  all  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, 

*  Append.  <le  Vet.  Harm.  315. 

t  Ptolein.  Harmonic,  ex  vers.  Wallis,  pas-  137,  in  not. 

t  Introd.  Harm.  pag.  19,  ex  vers   Meibora. 

§  Sir  Francis  Stiles  on  the  Modes,  pag.  698. 

II  Lib.  11.  pag.  XXXV.  et  seq.  ex  vers.  Meibom. 

il  Vide  Sir  Francis  Stiles  on  the  Modes,  pag.  704. 


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  Phrygian 
that  it  was  warlike,  or  that  the  Lydian  was  soft  and 
effeminate,  when  the  difference  between  them  con- 
sisted 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  moderns,  which,  as  already  has  been 
shewn,  answer  to  the  modes  of  the  ancients,  have 
each  their  characteristic,  arising  from  the  different 
measures  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  funereal  melancholy  of 
that  of  F  is  very  distinguishable  from  the  cloying 
sweetness  of  that  of  A  ;  between  those  with  the 
greater  third  a  diversity  is  also  apparent,  for  neither 
is  the  martial  ardour  of  the  key  D  at  all  allied 
to  the  hilarity  that  distinguishes  the  key  E,  nor  the 
plaintive  softness  of  E  b  to  the  masculine  energy 
of  B  b ,  but  sarely  no  such  diversity  could  exist, 
if  the  sole  difference  among  them  lay  in  the  Pitch, 
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  Grascian  Music,  has  reconciled  the  two  doc- 
trines, and  suggested  a  method  for  demonstrating 
that  to  adjust  the  pitch  of  any  given  mode  is  also 
to  atljust  the  succession  of  its  intervals,  the  conse 
quence  whereof  is  a  discovery  that  the  two  doctrines, 
though  seemingly  repugnant,  are  in  reality  one  and 
the  same.  The  reasonings  of  this  very  able  and 
accurate  writer  are  so  very  close  and  scientific,  that 
it  is  not  easy  to  deliver  his  sense  in  other  terms  than 
his  own  ;  however  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  give 
a  short  statement  of  his  arguments. 

The  two  doctrines  which  he  has  undertaken  thus 
to  reconcile,  he  distinguishes  by  the  epithets  of  Har- 
monic and  Musical ;  the  former  of  these,  which  he 
says  had  the  Aristoxeneans  for  its  friends,  taught 
that  the  difference  between  one  mode  and  another, 


Chap.  XII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


57 


lay  in  the  tension  or  pitch  of  the  system ;  the  latter, 
and  which  Ptolemy  with  great  force  of  reasoning 
contends  for,  teaches  that  this  difference  consisted  in 
the  manner  of  dividing  an  octave,  or,  as  the  ancients 
express  it,  in  the  different  species  of  diapason  :  the 
task  which  this  writer  has  undertaken  is,  to  shew 
that  between  these  two  definitions  of  a  musical  mode 
there  is  a  perfect  agreement  and  coincidence. 

In  order  to  demonstrate  this  he  shews,  pag.  701, 
from  Bacchius,  pag.  12,  edit.  Meibom.  that  the  Mixo- 
lydian  mode  was  the  most  acute,  the  Lydian  graver 
l)y  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,  the  Hypophrygian  graver  than  the 
Hypolydian  by  a  tone,  and  the  Hypodorian  graver 
than  the  Hypophrygian  by  a  tone.*  He  adds, 
'  that  as  the  Guidonian  scale  answers  to  the  system 
'  of  the  ancients  in  its  natural  situation,  which  was 
'  in  the  Dorian  mode,  and  our  A  la  mi  re  conse- 
'  quently  answers  to  the  pitch  of  the  Dorian  Mese, 
'■  we  have  a  plain  direction  for  finding  the  absolute 
'  pitch  of  the  Meses  for  all  the  seven  in  our  modern 
'  notes,  and  they  will  be  found  to  stand  thus : — 


Mixolydian  Mese  in 

-     d 

Lydian  in     - 

c^ 

Phrygian  in        - 

-     b 

Dorian  in      - 

a 

Hypolydian  in    -  -  -     g^ 

Hypophrygian  in      -  -  f ^ 

Hypodorian  in     -  -  -     6  f 

But  to  understand  this  doctrine  as  delivered  by 
(he  ancients,  the  same  author  says  it  will  be  necessary 
to  examine  how  the  Meses  of  the  seven  modes  were 
stationed  upon  the  lyre ;  and  in  order  to  that,  to 
consider  the  structure  of  the  instrument ;  this  he 
explains  in  the  following  words  : — The  lyre,  after 

*  its  last  enlargement,  consisted  of  fifteen  strings, 
'  which  took  in  the  compass  of  a  disdiapason  or 
'  double  octave ;   these  strings  were  called   by  the 

*  same  names  as  the  fifteen  sounds  of  the  system,  and 

*  when   tuned   for   the    Dorian   mode   corresponded 

*  exactly  with  them.  Indeed  there  can  be  no  doubt 
'  but  that  the  theory  of  the  system  had  been  origi- 

*  nally  drawn  from  the  practic  of  the  lyre  in  this 
'  mode,  which  was  the  favourite  one  of  the  Greeks, 

*  as  the  lyre  was  also  their  favourite  instrument.  In 
'  this  mode  then  the  Mese  of  the  system  was  placed 
'  in  the  Mese  of  the  lyre,  but  in  every  one  of  the 

*  rest  it  was  applied  to  a  different  string,  and  every 
'  sound  in  the  system  transposed  accordingly.  Hence 
'  arose  the  distinction  between  a  sound  in  Power  and 

*  a  sound  in  Position ;  for  when  the  system  was 
'  transposed  from  the  Dorian  to  any  other  mode, 
'  suppose  for  instance  the  Phrygian,  the  Mese  of  the 
'  lyre,  though  still  Mese  in  position,  acquired  in  this 

*  case  the  power  of   the  Lychanos  meson ;  and  the 

«  Sir  F.  S.  on  the  Modes,  701. 

t  Ibid.  Dr.  Wallis,  in  his  edition  of  Ptolemy,  pag.  137,  assigns  c,  g, 
and  f  natural,  for  the  positions  of  the  Lydian,  Hypolydian,  and  Hypo- 
phrygian Mese ;  but  Sir  Francis  Stiles,  for  reasons  mentioned  in  his 
discourse,  pag.  703,  places  them  in  c%  g){(,  and  f  «(• 


'  Paramese  of  the  lyre,  though  still  Paramese  in 
'  position,  acquired  the  power  of  the  Mese.    In  these 

*  transpositions,  one  or  more  of  the  strings  always 
'  required  nerv  tunings,  to  preserve  the  relations  of 
'  the  system ;  but  notwithstanding  this  alteration  of 

*  their  pitch   they  retained   their  old   names  when 

*  spoken  of,  in  respect  to  their  positions  only ;  for  the 
'  name  implied  not  any  particular  pitch  of  the  string, 
'  but  only  its  place  upon  the  lyre  in  the  numerical 
'  order,  reckoning  the  Proslambanomenos  for  the 
'first.':!: 

These  are  the  sentiments  of  the  above-cited  author, 
with  respect  to  the  Harmonic  doctrine  :  the  Musical 
has  been  already  explained ;  or  if  any  thing  should 
be  wanting,  the  scale  hereinafter  inserted,  shewing 
the  position  of  the  Mese,  and  the  succession  of  chords 
in  each  of  the  modes  in  a  comparative  position  with 
those  in  the  natural  system,  will  render  it  sufficiently 
intelligible. 

CHAP.   XIL 

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 
pitch  of  the  system  for  each  mode  ;  and  by  the 
Musical,  in  what  part  of  the  system  to  take  the 
species  of  diapason,  and  that  by  combining  the  two 
directions  we  gain  the  following  plain  canon  for 
finding  any  mode  required  : — § 

CANON. 

'  First  pitch  the  system  for  the  mode,  as 
'  directed  by  the  harmonic  doctrine  ;  then  select 
'  from  it  the  diapason,  directed  by  the  musical ; 
'  and  we  have  the  characteristic  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 
also  exhibited,  and  which  he  says  will  shew  at  what 
pitch  of  the  Guidonian  scale  each  sound  of  the  dia- 
pason is  brought  out  by  the  canon  for  each  of  the 
seven  modes  ;  and  that  as  in  the  construction  of  this 
diagram  the  directions  of  the  canon  have  been  strictly 
pursued,  so  it  will  appear  that  the  result  of  it  is  in  all 
respects  conformable  to  the  principles  of  both  doc- 
trines. '  Thus,'  continues  he,  '  in  the  Dorian,  for  in- 
'  stance,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Mese  is  placed  in  A 
'  la  mi  re,  and  that  the  rest  of  the  sounds  exhibited 
'  in  that  diapason,  are  placed  at  the  proper  distances, 
'  for  preserving  the  order  of  the  system  as  required 
'  by  the  harmonic  doctrine.  It  will  also  be  seen  that 
'  the  diapason  selected  lies  between  Hypate  meson 
'  and  Nete  diezeugmenon  ;  that  the  semitones  are  the 
'  first  interval  in  the  grave,  and  third  in  the  acute  ; 
'  and  that  the  Diazeuctic  tone  is  in  the  fourth  interval, 

*  reckoning  from  the  acute.  All  which  circumstances 
'  were  also  required  by  the  musical  doctrine  for  this 
'  mode  ;  and  in  the  rest  of  the  modes  all  the  cir- 
'  cumstances  required  by  each  doctrine  will  in  like 

*  manner  be  found  to  obtain  :     So  that  no  objection 

X  Sir  Francis  Stiles  on  the  Modes,  pag.  702. 
§  Ibid,  710.       II  Ibid. 


68 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IL 


'  can  well  be  raised  to  the  principles  on  which  the  '  argument  in  justification  of  the  manner  in  which 

'  diagram  has  been  framed,  by  the  favourers  of  either  '  I  have  combined  them  in  the  canon.'  * 

'  doctrine  separately  :    and  the  very  coincidence  of  Here  follows  the  diagram  of  the  seven  species  of 

*  the  two  doctrines  therein  might  furnish  a  probable  diapason  above-mentioned  : — 


«  Ibid.  711. 


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« 


By  the  help  of  the  above  diagram  it  is  no  very  positions  from  the  Dorian,  which  occupies  the  middle 

difficult  matter  to  ascertain,  beyond  the  possibility  of  station  :  whether  after  such  transposition  the  inter\-als 

doubt,  the  situations  of   the   different  modes   with  remained  the  same  or  not,  is  a  subject  of  dispute, 

respect  to  each  other  ;  or,  in  other  words,  to  demon-  With  regard  to  this  question  it  may  be  ubserved, 

strate  that  six  of  them   were  but  so   many  ti-ans-  that   throughout   the    whole   of  Ptolemy's   treatise. 


Chap.  XII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


59 


nothing  is  to  be  met  with  that  leads  to  a  comparison 
between  the  modes  of  the  ancients  and  the  keys  of 
the  moderns ;  for  it  seems  that  with  the  former  the 
characteristic  of  each  mode  was  the  position  of  the 
diazeuctic  tone,  and  the  consequent  arrangement  of 
the  tones  and  semitones  corresponding  with  the 
several  species  of  diapason,  to  which  they  respectively 
answer.  But  the  keys  of  the  moderns  are  distinguislied 
by  the  final  chord,  and  therefore  unless  they  could 
be  placed  in  a  state  of  opposition  to  each  other,  it  is 
very  difficult  to  demonstrate  that  this  or  that  key 
answers  to  this  or  that  of  the  ancient  modes,  or  unless 
a  several  tuning  of  the  lyre  for  each  mode  be  sup- 
posed, to  ascertain  the  constituent  intervals  of  the 
latter.  Sir  Francis  Stiles  seems  to  have  been  aware 
of  this  difficulty,  for  though  in  page  708  of  his  dis- 
course, he  has  given  a  diagram  in  which  the  Mixo- 
lydian  mode  is  made  to  answer  to  the  series  from  J] 
to  j-j,  and  the  others  in  succession,  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,  without  regard 
to  the  fundamental  chord  or  key-note. 

Neither  does  the  diagram  of  the  seven  species  of 
diapason,  given  by  him  and  above  inserted,  afford 
^ny  intelligence  of  this  kind  ;  and  but  for  a  hint  that 
he  has  dropped  at  the  close  of  his  discourse,  that  the 
Hypodorian  answers  exactly  to  our  A  7ni  la,  with 
a  minor  third,  and  the  Lydian  to  our  A  mi  la,  with 
a  major  third,*  we  should  be  totally  at  a  loss  with 
respect  to  his  sentiments  touching  the  affinity  between 
the  ancient  modes  and  the  modern  keys. 

That  there  was  some  such  affinity  between  the 
one  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, 
lib.  II.  of  his  author,  containing  a  comparative  view 
of  the  keys  with  the  modes.     And  though  it  ia  to  be 

*  The  anonymous  author  of  a  Letter  to  Mr.  Avison,  who  by  the  way 
was  the  late  reverend  and  learned  Dr.  Jortin,  had  in  that  letter  blamed 
Sanadon  and  Cerceau  for  affirming,  in  their  Observations  on  Horace, 
that  the  Dorian  mode  answered  exactly  to  our  A  mi  la  with  a  minor 
third,  and  the  Phrygian  to  our  A  mi  la  with  a  major  third  :  from  hence 
Sir  Francis  Stiles  takes  occasion  to  give  the  above  as  his  opinion  of  the 
matter  In  which,  after  all,  it  seems  that  he  is  mistaken,  and  that  the 
author  of  the  letter  was  in  the  right:  his  words  are  these,  and  they  are 
well  worth  noting : — 

'  Sanadon  and  Cerceau  in  their  observations  on  Horace,  Carm.  v.  9. 
'  Sonai^te  mixtum  tibiis  carmen  lyra,     "■ 
'  Hac  Dorium,  illis  barbajum. 

'affirm  that  the  Modus  Dorius  answered  exactly  to  our  A  mi  to  with 
'a  minor  third,  and  the  Modus  Phrygius  to  our  A  mi  la  with  a  major 
'third:  but  surely  this  is  a  musical  error,  and  a  dream  from  the  ivory 
'  gate.  Two  modes,  with  the  same  tonic  note,  the  one  neither  acuter  nor 
'  graver  than  the  other,  make  no  part  of  the  old  system  of  modes.' 

This  is  very  true  ;  and  the  reason  of  Sir  Francis  Stiles  for  asserting  the 
contrary  was  that  he  had  deceived  himself  into  a  diffijrent  opinion  by  placing 
the  acute  signs  to  f  c  and  g  in  the  Lydian,  thereby  giving  to  that  series 
the  appearance  of  the  key  of  A)^.  But  upon  his  own  principlics  the 
Lydian  answers  to  our  key  of  C  fa  ut  with  the  major  third, 

Tone,  tone,  semitone,  tone,  tone,  tone,  semitone 

DO  RK  MI  PA         SOJ.         RE  MI 

For  though  the  acute  signs  require  that  the  final  chord  be  A,  the  succession 
of  intervals  is  that  proper  to  the  diapason  C  c. 

+  Setbus  Calvisiua  seems  to  have  been  of  this  opinion  in  the  following 
passage  cited  by  Butler  in  his  Principles  of  Music,  jiag  Sfi.  in  not : — '  In 
'hoc  cborali  cantu,  diligentissime  consideret  huic  Arti  deditus,  qui  sint 
'  ubique ;  Modulationis  progressus,  quod  Exordium,  et  quis  Finis :  ut 
'cognoscat  ad  quern  modum  referatur.  Inde  enim  tam  primarium  illius 
'  Modi  clausulam,  quam  Secundariam,  eruere,  et  convenientibus  locis 
'annntare,  et  inserere  poterit.'  Calvis,  c.  17,  and  Butler  himself  adds 
that  this  is  the  general  sentiment  of  musicians.  Notwithstanding  that 
CcElius  Ilhodoginus  out  of  Cassiodorus  distinguishes  the  modes  by  their 
several  effects.     Ibid. 


feared  that  there  is  not  that  precise  agreement 
between  them  which  he  has  stated,  there  is  good 
ground  to  suppose  that,  as  in  the  keys,  the  succession, 
of  intervals  is  in  the  order  which  the  sense  approves, 
so  the  succession  in  the  modes  could  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, 
importing  no  less  than  that  each  of  the  modes  re- 
quired a  peculiar  tuning,  and  these  tunings  have 
been  severally  investigated,  and  are  given  by  Sir 
Francis  Stiles ;  for  what  purpose,  then,  it  may  be 
asked,  but  to  render  the  intervals  grateful  to  the 
sense,  was  a  new  tuning  of  the  lyre  for  every  mode 
necessary ;  and  what  could  that  terminate  in,  but 
two  constitutions,  in  the  one  whereof  the  interval 
between  the  fundamental  chord  and  its  third  was 
a  semiditone,  and  in  the  other  a  ditone  ;  and  when 
the  lyre  was  so  tuned,  what  became  of  the  seven 
species  of  diapason  ?  The  answer  to  this  latter 
demand  is,  that  as  there  seem  to  be  in  nature  but 
the  two  species  above  mentioned,  proceeding,  as  will 
presently  be  shewn,  from  A  and  C  respectively,  the 
remaining  five  were  rejected,  and  considered  as  sub-, 
jects  of  mere  speculation. 

But  before  we  proceed  to  refute  the  opinion  of 
those  who  without  knowing,  or  even  suspecting,  that 
the  tuning  of  the  lyre  was  different  in  each  mode, 
contend,  that  there  are  in  nature  seven,  not  merely 
nominal,  but  real  modes,  it  is  but  just  tO;  state  the^ 
reasons  on  which  it  is  founded. 

And  first  it  is  said  on  the  authority  of  those, 
ancient  writers  who  define  a  mode  to  be  a  given, 
species  of  di9,pason,  that  as  there  are  in  nature  seven 
such  species,  so  are  there  seven  modes,  in  each  whereof 
the  succession  of  tones  and  semitones  must  be  in  that 
order  which  nature  has  established,  or  as  they  arise 
in  the  scale,  without  interposing  any  of  those  sig- 
natures to  denote  remission  or  intension,  which  are 
used  for  that  purpose  by  the  moderns.  They  say 
farther  that  none  of  the  apecies  were  at  any  time 
rejected  by  the  ancients  as  unfit  for  practice ;  and 
from  thence  take  occasion  to  lament  the  depravity  of 
the  modern  system,  which  admits  of  no  other  diversity 
of  modes  or  keys  than  what  arises  from  the  difference 
between  the  major  and  the  minor  third ;  for,  say  they, 
and  they  say  truly,  the  modern  system  admits  in  fact 
of  but  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  these.| 

t  In  the  Dissertation  sur  le  Chant  Gregorien  of  Monsieur  Nivers, 
Paris  1688,  chap.  xii.  it  is  said  that  the  eight  ecclesiastical  tones,  which 
all  men  know  have  their  foundation  in  the  ancient  modes,  are  reducible 
to  four,  and  in  strictness  to  two,  as  being  no  otherwise  essentially  dis- 
tinguished than  by  the  greater  and  lesser  third  ;  and  the  same  may  be 
inferred  from  a  well-known  discourse,  entitled  a  Treatise  on  Harmony, 
containing  the  chief  rules  for  composing  in  two,  three,  and  four  parts, 
which  though  at  first  printed  in  1730  by  one  of  his  disciples,  was  indis- 
putably the  work  of  Dr.  Pepusch,  and  was  afterwards  published  by  him 
with  additions,  and  examples  in  notes.  In  this  tract  is  a  chapter  on 
transposition,  in  which  the  reader  is  referred  to  a  plate  at  the  end  of  the 
work,  containing  a  table  of  the  keys,  with  their  characteristics,  and 
a  stave  of  musical  lines,  with  certain  letters  inscribed  thereon,  which, 
for  the  purpose  of  resolving  any  transposed  or  factitious  key  into  its 
natural  tone  by  the  annihilation  of  the  flat  or  sharp  signatures,  he  ia 
directed  to  cut  off  and  apply  to  the  above-mentioned  table,  by  means 
whereof  it  may  be  discovered  that  all  the  flat  keys  are  transpositions  from 
that  of  A,  and  all  the  sharp  from  that  of  C  This  is  a  process  so  merely 
mechanical,  that  no  one  can  be  the  wiser  for  having  performed  it,  and 


60 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  XL 


But  what,  if  after  all,  the  ear  will  not  recognise  any- 
other  succesion  of  intervals  than  is  found  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  keys  A  and  C  ?     The  consequence 

is  rather  calculated  to  disguise  than  explain  the  true  method  of  reducing 
a  transposition  to  its  natural  key.  But  in  a  small  tract,  entitled, 
Elements  ou  Principes  de  Musique  mis  dans  un  novel  Ordre,  par  M. 
Loulie,  printed  at  Amsterdam,  in  1698,  we  meet  with  a  notable  rule  or 
canon  for  this  purpose,  which  fully  answers  the  design  of  its  invention. 
This  author  premises  that  the  dieses,  or  what  we  should  call  the  sharps, 
placed  at  the  begining  of  the  musical  stave,  arise  by  fifths,  beginning 
from  F,  that  is  to  say,  C  G  D  A  E,  and  that  the  B  mols  or  flats  arise  by 
fourths,  begining  from  B  in  this  order,  E  A  D  G  C.  The  rule  or  canon 
which  he  deduces  from  hence  is  this :  In  keys  which  are  determined  by 
sharp  signatures,  call  the  last  sharp  si ;  or  as  any  but  a  Frenchman 
would  say  mi,  and  place  or  suppose  such  a  cliff  at  the  head  of  the  stave 
as  in  a  regular  course  of  solmisation,  will  make  it  so.  To  give  an  in- 
stance of  the  key  of  E  with  the  major  third : — 


Here  the  attentive  peruser  will  observe  that  the  interval  between  the 
third  and  fourth,  and  also  between  the  seventh  and  eighth  notes,  is 
a  semitone ;  and  that  to  make  the  last  sharp  D,  mi,  the  tenor  clilf  must 
be  placed  on  the  first  line  of  the  stave,  and  when  this  is  done  as  here  it  is— 


w 


~m—m- 


irzi 


DO         KE      MI      FA      SOL       EE      MI      FA 


the  progression  of  tones  and  semitones  will  be  exactly  in  the  same  order 
as  in  the  key  of  C,  from  which  this  of  E  is  therefore  said  to  be  a 
transposition. 

The  canon  farther  directs  in  the  keys  mth  the  flat  signatures,  to  call 
the  last  of  the  flats  vx,  and  to  place  or  suppose  a  cliff  accordingly,  and  to 
shew  the  effect  of  the  rule  in  an  instance  of  that  kind,  the  following 
example  is  given  of  the  key  of  F  with  the  minor  third  : — 


m 


^-- 


~C2Z 


zur. 


Here  the  intervals  between  the  second  and  third,  and  also  between  the 
fifth  and  sixth  notes,  are  semitones :  and  to  make  the  last  flat,  which  is 
1),  FA,  it  is  necessary  to  place  the  bass  cliff  on  the  fourth  line  of  the 
stave,  which  annihilates  the  flat  signatures,  and  demonstrates  that  the 
above  key  of  F  is  a  transposition  from  that  of  A  with  the  minor  third : — 


w. 


BE 


MI     FA       BE       MI     FA       SOL        LA. 


Another  rule  for  the  above  purpose,  and  which  indeed  Dr.  Pepusch 
would  communicate  to  his  favorite  disciples,  is,  in  the  case  of  keys  with 
the  sharp  signatures,  to  call  the  last  sharp  B,  and  count  the  lines  and 
spaces  upwards  or  downwards  till  the  station  of  a  cliff  is  found  ;  and 
the  placing  that  cliff  accordingly  aimihilates  the  sharps,  and  bespeaks  the 
natural  key.  In  keys  with  the  flat  signatures  the  rule  directs  to  call  the 
.ast  flat  F,  and  count  as  before. 

But  amongst  the  keys  with  flat  signatures,  a  diversity  is  to  be  noted, 
that  is  to  say,  between  those  with  a  major  and  those  with  a  minor  third  ; 
for  in  the  former  the  process  must  be  repeated,  as  in  this  of  A  b  with  the 
major  third ; — 


W 


itt: 


1231 


In  this  instance  the  rule  directs  to  call  the  last  flat,  which  is  the  key- 
note, F ;  and  to  count  on  to  the  place  of  a  cliff:  in  doing  this  the  cliff  ^&" 

will  fall  on  the  first  line,  and  make  the  key-note  F ;  by  which  it  should 
seem  that  the  key  of  A  b  with  the  major  third  is  a  transposition  from  F 
also  with  a  major  third. 


But  as  there  is  in  the  key  of  F  a  flat  on  b,  it  is  necessary  to  repeat  the 
process,  and  see  what  key  this  of  F  is  a  transposition  from ;  and  this  by 
the  above  rule  is  to  be  done  by  calling  the  flat  b  F,  and  proceeding  as 
before  directed : — 


Gt- 


fe 


-^- 


I 


and  this  key  of  F  will  appear  to  be  a  transposition  from  that  of  C,  and 
by  consequence  that  of  A  b,  from  which  that  of  F  is  transposed,  must  be 
a  transposition  from  the  key  of  C  also. 


then  seems  to  he  that  there  are  in  nature  no  other. 
Now  if  it  be  true  that  the  sense  of  hearing  is  averse 
to  those  modulations  that  have  no  relation  to  any 
fundamental  chord,  and  that  it  expects,  nay  longs  for 
some  one  sound  that  shall  at  stated  periods  determine 
the  nature  of  the  progression,  there  is  an  end  of  the 
question.  In  short,  a  single  experiment  of  the  effect 
of  the  Mixolydian  mode,  which  answers  to  the  series 
from  J]  to  J],  in  its  natural  order,  and  gives  to  the 
diapente  a  semitone  less  than  its  true  content,  will 
offend  the  ear,  and  convince  any  impartial  enquirer 
that  the  existence  of  seven  modes  is,  in  the  sense  con- 
tended for,  nominal  and  not  real.*' 

But  notwithstanding  the  uniformity  of  keys  in  the 
modern  system,  there  is  a  diversity  among  them  worth 
noting,  arising  from  that  surd  quantity  in  the  dia- 
pason system,  which  it  has  been  the  labour  of  ages 
to  attemper  and  distribute  among  the  several  inter- 
vals that  compose  it,  so  as  not  to  be  discoverable ; 
the  consequences  of  which  temperament  is  such  a 
diversity  in  the  several  keys,  as  gives  to  each  a 
several  effect ;  so  that  upon  the  whole  it  seems  that 
the  modern  constitution  of  the  modes  or  keys  is 
liable  to  no  objection,  save  the  want  of  such  a  division 
of  the  intervals  as  seems  to  be  inconsistent  with  the 
principles  of  harmonics,  and  the  established  order  of 
nature. 

The  several  effects  of  the  modern  keys  are  dis- 
coverable in  the  tendency  which  each  has  to  excite 
a  peculiar  temper  or  disposition  of  mind  ;  for,  not  to 
mention  that  soothing  kind  of  melancholy  which  is 
felt  on  the  hearing  music  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  species  is  possessed  of  this  power  in  a  different 
degree,  and  a  person  endowed  with  a  fine  ear  will  be 

*  Vide  ante,  pag.  59,  and  Dr.  Wallis  asserts  that  there  are  passages  in 
Ptolemy  which  plainly  indicate  that  the  ancients  had  a  several  tuning  for 
every  mode,  which  could  not  have  been  necessary  had  they  followed  the 
above  order.  Farther,  to  this  purpose  Malcolm  expresses  himself  in  the 
following  remarkable  passages  :— '  If  every  song  kept  in  one  mode,  there 
*was  need  for  no  more  than  one  diatonic  series  ;  and  by  occasional 
'  changing  the  tune  of  certain  chords  these  transpositions  of  every  mode 
•to  every  chord  may  be  easily  performed  ;  and  I  have  spoken  already  of 
the  way  to  find  what  chords  are  to  be  altered  in  their  tuning  to  effect 
'  this,  by  the  various  signatures  of  ^  and  i? :  But  if  we  suppose  that  in 
'  the  course  of  any  song  a  new  species  is  brought  in,  this  can  only  be 
'  effected  by  having  more  chords  than  in  the  fixed  system,  so  as  from  any 
'  chord  of  that,  any  order  or  species  of  octave  may  be  found.  On  Music, 
'pag,  536. 

'  If  this  be  the  true  nature  and  use  of  the  tones,  I  shall  only  observe 
'here,  that  according  to  the  notions  we  have  at  present  of  the  principles 
'  and  rules  of  melody,  most  of  these  modes  are  imperfect  and  incapable 
'  of  good  melody,  because  they  want  some  of  those  we  reckon  the  essen 
'  tial  and  natural  notes  of  a  tone  mode  or  key,  of  which  we  reckon  only 
'  two  species,  viz.,  that  from  C  and  A,  or  the  Parhypate  hypaton  and 
'  Proslambanomenos  of  the  ancient  fixed  system.     Ibid. 

'  Again,  if  the  essential  difference  of  the  modes  consists  only  in  the 
'  gravity  or  acuteness  of  the  whole  octave,  then  we  must  suppose  there 
'is  one  species  or  concinnous  division  of  the  octave,  which  being  applied 
'  to  all  the  chords  of  the  system,  makes  them  true  fundamentals  for 
'  a  certain  series  of  successive  notes.  These  applications  may  be  made  in 
'the  manner  already  mentioned,  by  changing  the  tune  of  certain  chords 
'  in  some  cases,  but  more  universally  by  adding  new  chords  to  the  system, 
'as  the  artificial  or  sharp  and  flat  notes  of  the  modern  scale.  But  in 
'this  case,  again,  where  we  suppose  they  admitted  only  one  concinnous 
'  species,  we  must  suppose  it  to  be  corresponding  to  the  octave  a,  of  what 
'we  call  the  natural  scale;  because  they  all  state  the  order  of  the  systema 
'immutatum  in  the  diagram,  so  as  it  answers  to  that  octave.'    Ibid  ^Vi. 

+  Dr.  Jortin  has  discovered  a  new  characteristic  for  these  two  species 
of  keys ;  he  calls  one  the  male,  the  other  the  female :  the  thought  is 
ingenious,  and  is  thus  expressed  by  him  in  a  letter  published  at  the  end 
of  the  latter  editions  of  Avison's  Remarks  on  Musical  Expression  : — '  By 
'  making  use  of  the  major  and  minor  third  we  have  two  real  and  distinct 
'  tones,  a  major  and  a  minor,  which  may  be  said  to  divide  music,  as  nature 
'  seems  to  have  intended,  into  male  and  female.  The  first  hath  strength, 
'  the  second  hath  softness  ;  and  sweetness  belongs  to  them  both.' 


Chap.  XIIL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


61 


variously  affected  by  the  keys  A  and  F,  each  with 
the  lesser,  as  also  by  those  of  C  and  E  with  the 
greater  third. 

Effects  like  these,  but  to  a  degree  of  extravagance 
that  exceeds  the  bounds  of  credibility,  are  ascribed 
to  the  modes  of  the  ancients  :  that  the  Dorian  was 
grave  and  solemn,  and  the  Lydian  mild  and  soothing,* 
may  be  believed,  but  who  can  credit  the  relation, 
though  of  Cicero  himself,  and  after  him  Boetius,f 
that  by  an  air  in  the  Phrygian  mode  played  on 
a  solitary  pipe  (one  of  the  ancient  tibiae)  a  drunken 
young  man,  of  Tauromenium,  was  excited  to  burn 
down  the  house  wherein  a  harlot  had  been  shut  up 
by  his  rival,  and  that  Pythagoras  brought  him  to  his 
reason,  by  directing  the  tibicenist  to  play  a  spondeus 
in  a  different  mode  ?  Or  that  not  the  fumes  of  wine 
or  a  disturbed  imagination,  rather  than  the  flute 
of  Timotheus,  played  on  in  the  Phrygian  mode, 
provoked  Alexander  to  set  fire  to  Persepolis. 

CHAP  XIII. 

Havikg  thus  collected  into  one  point  of  view  the 
sentiments  of  the  ablest  writers  on  those  two  most 
important  desiderata  in  the  ancient  music,  the  genera 
and  the  modes,  in  order  to  trace  the  successive 
improvements  of  the  science,  it  is  necessary  to  recur 
to  those  only  genuine  sources  of  intelligence,  the 
writings  of  the  Greek  harmonicians.     And  here  we 


alia  est  pars 

Theoretica : 

cujus  rursus  partes  duae, 


cannot  but  applaud  the  ingenuity  and  industry  of 
those  learned  men,  their  remote  successors,  who  from 
ancient  manuscripts,  dispersed  throughout  the  world, 
have  been  able  to  settle  the  text  of  their  several 
works  ;  and  who  with  a  great  degree  of  accuracy 
have  given  them  to  the  public,  together  with  Latin 
versions,  illustrated  with  their  own  learned  anno- 
tations. 

Those  whom  we  are  most  obliged  to  in  this 
respect  are,  Marcus  Meibomius,  a  German ;  and  our 
countryman  Dr.  John  Wallis :  the  former  of  these 
has  given  to  the  world  seven  of  the  ancient  Greek 
writers,  namely,  Aristoxenus,  Euclid,  Nicomachus, 
Alypius,  Gaudentius,  Bacchius  Seniori,  and  Aris- 
tides  Quintilianus ;  as  also  a  Discourse  on  Music, 
which  makes  the  ninth  book  of  Martianus  Capella's 
Latin  work,  entitled  De  Nuptiis  Philologije  et  Mer- 
curii ;  and  the  latter  a  complete  translation  of  the 
harmonics  of  Ptolemy,  with  notes,  and  a  most 
valuable  appendix ;  as  also  translations  of  Porphyry 
and  Manuel  Bryennius  in  like  manner. 

Concerning  these  writers,  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  most 
ample  of  these  is  the  division  of  Aristides  Quin- 
tilianus, which  is  thus  analyzed  by  his  editor  Mei- 
bomius, in  his  notes  on  that  author,  pag.  207  : — 


Musicas  1 


Physica : 

quae  dividitur  in 


iArithmeticum. 
Ir  nysicam,  generi  cognominem. 


alia 

Practica : 

cujus  item  partes  dus, 


Nevertheless,  the  most  general  is  that  threefold 
division  of  music  into  Harmonica,  Rhythmica,  and 
Metrica  ;  the  two  latter  of  which,  as  they  relate 
chiefly  to  poetry,  are  but  superficially  treated  of  by 
the  harmonic  writers.  Upon  this  division  of  music 
it  is  observable  that  the  more  ancient  writers  were 
very  careful  in  the  titles  of  their  several  treatises : 
such  of  them  as  confined  their  discourses  to  the 
elementary  part  of  the  science,  as   namely,   Aris- 

*  Milton  adopts  these  characteristics  of  the  Dorian  and  Lydian  modes : 

Anon  they  move 

In  perfect  phalanx  to  the  Dorian  mood 

Of  flutes  and  soft  recorders  ;  such  as  rais'd 

To  height  of  noblest  temper  heroes  old 

Arming  to  battle.  Paradise  Lost,  B.  I.  line  549. 

And  ever  against  eating  cares 

Lap  me  in  soft  Lydian  airs.        L'AtLEORO. 

And  Dryden  describes  the  Lydian  by  its  effects,  in  these  words : 
Softly  sweet  in  Lydian  measures 
Soon  he  sooth'd  his  soul  to  pleasures.     Alexander's  Feast. 

From  which  passage  it  is  to  be  suspected  that  the  poet  thought  with 
Cornelius  Agrippa  and  some  others,  that  the  epithet  Lydian  referred  to 
the  measure,  whereas  it  clearly  relates  to  the  harmony,  but  Dryden  knew 
little  about  music. 


Usualis : 

cujus  partes 


t  De  Musica,  lib.  I.  cap,  i. 


iHarmonicam. 
Rythmicam. 
Metricam. 
IMelopoeia. 
Rhythmopoeia. 
Poesis. 
IOrganica. 
Odica. 
TT  •!.• 

Hypocritica. 

toxenus,  Euclid,  Nicomachus,  Gaudentius,  Ptolemy, 
and  Bryennius,  call  the  several  treatises  written  by 
them  Harmonica  ;  whereas  Aristides,  Bacchius,  and 
Martianus  Capella  entitle  theirs  Musica ;  as  does 
Boetius,  although  he  was  a  strict  Phythagorean. 
Porphyry  indeed,  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  the  science 
from  the  practical,  divides  it  into  six  general  heads, 
namely.  Harmonica,  Rythmica,  Metrica,  Organica, 
Poetica,  and  Hypocritica;  Rythmica  he  applies  to 
dancing,  Metrica  to  the  enunciative,  and  Poetica  to 
verses.  I     The  branch  of  the  science,  which  has  been 

t  Malcolm  has  taken  notice  of  this  division,  but  prefers  to  it  that  of 
ftuintilian,  upon  whose  analysis  he  has  given  the  following  concise  and 
perspicuous  commentary  : — '  Aristides  considers  music  in  the  largest 
'  sense  of  the  word,  and  divides  it  into  contemplative  and  active.  The 
'  first  he  says  is  either  natural  or  artificial ;  the  natural  is  arithmetical, 
'  because  it  considers  the  proportion  of  numbers ;  or  physical,  which 
'  disputes  of  everything  in  nature ;  the  artificial  is  divided  into  har- 
'  monica,  rythmica  (comprehending  the  dumb  motions)  and  metrica :  the 
'  active,  which  is  the  application  of  the  artificial,  is  either,  enunciative 
•{as  in  oratory)  organical,  (or  instrumental  performance)  ndical  (for 
'  voice  and   singing   of  poems)   hypocritical   (in    the    motions  of   the 


62 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  it. 


most  largely  treated  by  the  ancients,  is  the  Har- 
monica, as  will  appear  by  the  extracts  hereinafter 
given  from  their  works. 

From  the  relation  hereinbefore  given  of  the  in- 
vention of,  and  successive  improvements  made  in, 
music,  a  very  accurate  judgment  may  be  formed  of 
the  nature  of  the  ancient  system,  whicli,  together  with 
the  ratios  of  the  consonances,  and  the  doctrine  of  the 
genera  and  the  modes,  constituted  the  whole  of  the 
harmonical  science  as  it  stood  about  the  year  of  the 
World  3500.  After  which  Aristoxenus,  Euclid, 
Nicomachus,  and  other  Greek  writers,  made  it  a 
subject  of  Philosophical  enquiry,  and  composed  those 
treatises  on  harmonics  which  are  severally  ascribed 
lo  them,  and  of  which,  as  also  of  their  respective 
authors,  a  full  account  will  hereafter  be  given. 
What  was  the  state  of  the  science  previous  to  the  era 
above-mentioned,  can  only  be  learned  from  those 
particulars  relating  to  music,  which  are  to  be  met 
with  in  the  several  accounts  extant  of  the  life  and 
doctrines  of  Pythagoras,  who,  for  any  thing  that  can 
how  be  collected  to  the  conti'ary,  seems  indisputably 
intitled  to  the  appellation  of  the  Father  of  Music. 

Pythagoras,  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  about  560  years 
before  the  birth  of  our  Saviour ;  and  although  he 
was  of  that  class  of  philosophers  called  the  Italic 
sect,  he  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  native  of  Samos, 
and  in  consequence  of  this  opinion  is  usually  stiled 
the  Samian  sage  or  philosopher.  His  father,  named 
Mnesarchus,  is  reported  to  have  been  a  merchant,  or, 
as  some  say,  an  engraver  of  rings.  Of  his  travels 
into  various  parts  of  the  world  for  the  acquiring  of 
knowledge ;  of  the  wonders  related  of  him,  or  of 
his  doctrines  in  general,  it  is  needless  to  give  an 
■account  in  this  place.  It  seems  to  be  agreed  that  he 
left  not  any  thing  behind  him  of  his  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  him  from  the  most  distant 
parts  of  Greece  and  Italy.  Of  these  Nicomachus 
was  one,  who  because  he  himself  has  written  on  the 
science  of  harmonics,  may  well  be  supposed  to  under- 
stand the  doctrines  of  his  master ;  from  him  there- 
fore, as  also  from  others,  as  namely,  Ptolemy, 
Macrobius,  and  Porphyry,  who,  though  they  lived 
many  years  after  Pythagoras,  were  of  his  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 
music  in  general,  he  gives  them  in  these  words  : — 

'  The  Pythagoreans  define  music  an  apt  com- 
'  position  of  contraries,  and  an  union  of  many,  and 
'  consent  of  differents  ;    for  it  not  only  co-ordinates 

*  rythms  and  modulation,  but  all  manner  of  systems. 

*  Its  end  is  to  unite  and  aptly  conjoin.     God  is  the 

*  pantomimes).  To  what  purpose  some  add  hydraulical  I  do  not  under- 
'  stand,  foi  this  is  but  a  species  of  the  organical,  in  which  water  is  someway 
'used,  for  producing  or  modifying  the  sound.  The  musical  faculties,  as 
'  they  call  them,  are  Melopceia,  "which  gives  rules  for  the  tones  of  the 
'  voice  or  instrument  ;  RythmoptEia,  for  motions  ;  and  Poeais  for  making 
'of  verse.'    Treatise  of  Music,  Edinb.  1721,  pag.  455. 


reconciler  of  things  discordant,  and  this  is  his 
chiefest  work,  according  to  music  and  medicine, 
to  reconcile  enmities.  In  music,  say  they,  consists 
the  agreement  of  all  things,  and  aristocracy  of  the 
universe.  For  what  is  harmony  in  the  world,  in 
a  city  is  good  goverment ;  in  a  family,  temperance.' 

*  Of  many  sects,  saith  Ptolemy,  that  were  con- 
versant about  harmony,  the  most  eminent  were 
two,  the  Pythagoric  and  Aristoxenean  ;  Pythagoras 
dijudicated  it  by  reason,  Aristoxenus  by  sense. 
The  Pythagoreans,  not  crediting  the  relation  of 
hearing,  in  all  those  things  wherein  it  is  requisite, 
adapted  reasons  to  the  differences  of  sounds,  con- 
trary to  those  which  are  perceived  by  the  senses  • 
so  that  by  this  criterion  (reason)  they  gave  occasion 
of  calumny  to  such  as  were  of  a  different  opinion. 

'  Hence  the  Pythagoreans  named  that  which  we 
now  call  harmonic  Canonic,  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- 
struments framed  by  harmonical  rules,  pipes,  flutes^ 
and  the  like.  They  call  the  exercise  Canonic,  which 
although  it  be  not  canonic,  yet  is  so  termed,  because 
it  is  made  according  to  the  reasons  and  theorems  of 
canonics;  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. Musicians  and  harmonics  differ  ;  musicians 
are  those  harmonics  who  begin  from  sense,  but 
canonics  are  Pythagoreans,  who  are  also  called 
harmonics ;  both  sorts  are  termed  by  a  general 
name  musicians.'  * 

As  touching  the  human  voice,  the  same  author 
delivers  the  following  as  the  Pythagorean  tenets  :  — 

'  They  \Vho  were  of  the  Pythagorean  school  said 

*  that  there  are  (as  of  one  genus)  two  species.     One 

*  they   properly  named   Continuous,  and  the  other 

*  Diastematic  (intermissive)  framing  the  appellations 
'  from  the  accidents  pertaining  to  each.  The  Dia- 
'  stematic  they  conceived  to  be  that  which  is  sung 
'  and  rests  upon  every  note,  and  manifests  the  muta- 
'  tion  which  is  in  all  its  parts,  which  is  inconfused 
'  and  divided,  and  disjoined  by  the  magnitudes, 
'  which  are  in  the  several  sounds  as  coacerved,  but 
'  not  commixt,  the  parts  of  the  voice  being  applied 
'mutually  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- 
'  tude  every  one  participates  :  For  if  a  man  use  it 
'  not  after  this  manner,  he  is  not  said  to  sing  but  to 

*  speak.f 

'  Human  voice  having  in  this  manner  two  parts, 
'  they  conceived  that  there  are  two  places,  which 
'  each  in  passing  possesseth.  The  place  of  con- 
'  tinuous  voice,  which  is  by  nature  infinite  in  magni- 
'  tude,  receiveth  its  proper  term  from  that  wherewith 
'  the  speaker  began  until  he  ends,  that  is  the  place 
'  from  the  beginning  of  his  speech  to  his  conclusive 
'  silence.    So  that  the  variety  thereof  is  in  our  power, 

•  Hist,  of  Philos.  by  Thomas  Stanley,  Esq.  folio  edit.  1701,  pag.  385. 
t  Ibid. 


Chap.  XIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


63 


'  but  the  place  of  diastematic  voice  is  not  in  our 
'  power,  but  natural ;  and  this  likewise  is  bound  by 

*  different  effects.  The  beginning  is  that  which  is 
'  first  heard,  the  end  that  which  is  last  pronounced  ; 

*  for  from  hence  we  begin  to  perceive  the  magnitudes 
'  of  sounds,  and  their  mutual  commutations,  from 
'  whence  first  our  hearing  seems  to  operate  ;  whereas 

*  it  is  possible  there  may  be  some  more  obscure 
'  sounds  perfected  in  nature  which  we  cannot  perceive 
'  or  hear  :  as  for  instance,  in  things  weighed  there 
'  are  some  bodies  which  seem  to  have  no  weight,  as 
'  straws,  bran,  and  the  like ;  but  when  as  by  appo^ 
'  sition  of  such  bodies  some  beginning  of  ponderosity 
'  appears,  then  we  say  they  first  come  within  the 
'  compass  of  static.     So  when  a  low  sound  increaseth 

*  by  degrees,  that  which  first  of  all  may  be  perceived 
'  by  the  ear,  we  make  the  beginning  of  the  place 

*  which  musical  voice  requireth.'  * 

These  were  the  sentiments  of  the  Pythagoreans, 
with  respect  to  music  in  general,  and  of  voice  in 
particular.  Farther,  they  maintained  an  opinion 
which  numbers,  especially  the  poets,  have  adopted, 
and  which  seems  to  prevail  even  at  this  day,  namely, 
that  music,  and  that  of  a  kind  far  surpassing  mortal 
conception,  is  produced  by  the  motion  of  the  spheres 
in  their  several  orbits.  The  sum  of  this  doctrine 
is  comprised  in  the  following  account  collected  by 
Stanley  from  Nicomachus,  Macrobius,  Pliny,  and 
Porphyry  : — 

'  The  names  of  sounds  in  all  probability  were 
derived  from  the  seven  stars,  which  move  circularly 
in  the  heavens,  and  compass  the  earth.  The  cir- 
cumagitation  of  these  bodies  must  of  necessity  cause 
a  sound  ;  for  air  being  struck,  from  the  intervention 
of  the  blow,  sends  forth  a  noise.  Nature  herself 
constraining  that  the  violent  collision  of  two  bodies 
should  end  in  sound.' 

*  Now,  say  the  Pythagoreans,  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 
swiftness  of  voice  and  in  place,  W'hich  (according  to 
the  reason  of  their  proper  sounds,  or  their  swiftness, 
or  the  orbs  of  repressions,  in  which  the  impetuous 
transportation  of  each  is  performed)  are  either  more 
fluctuating,  or,  on  the  contrary,  more  reluctant. 
But  these  three  differences  of  magnitude,  celerity, 
and  local  distance,  are  manifestly  existent  in  the 
planets,  which  are  constantly  with  sound  circum- 
agitated  through  the  setherial  diffusion ;  whence 
■every  one  is  called  dc/)p,  as  void  of  (rrdaiQ,  station, 
and  ati  €ea>v,  always  in  course,  whence  God  and 
^ther  are  called  Qeog  and  At'6>/p.'f 

*  Moreover  the  sound  which  is  made  by  striking 
the  air,  induceth  into  the  ear  something  sweet  and 
musical,  or  harsh  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  measures,  there  proceeds 
a  troubled  unpleasant  noise,  which  offends  the  ear. 
Now  in  heaven  nothing  is  produced  casually,  no- 
thing temerarious ;    but  all  things   there   proceed 


according  to  divine  rules  and  settled  proportions  : 
whence  irrefragably  is  inferred,  that  the  sounds 
which  proceed  from  the  conversion  of  the  celestial 
spheres  are  musical.  For  sound  necessarily  proceeds 
from  motion,  and  the  proportion  which  is  in  all 
divine  things  causeth  the  harmony  of  this  sound. 
This  Pythagoras,  first  of  all  the  Greeks,  conceived 
in  his  mind ;  and  understood  that  the  spheres 
sounded  something  concordant,  because  of  the 
necessity  of  proportion,  which  never  forsakes  ce- 
lestial beings.' I 

'  From  the  motion  of  Saturn,  which  is  the  highest 
and  farthest  from  us-,  the  gravest  sound  in  the 
diapason  concord  is  called  Hypate,  because  virarov 
signifieth  highest ;  but  from  the  lunary,  which  is 
the  lowest,  and  nearest  the  earth,  Neate ;  for  vearov 
signifieth  lowest.  From  those  which  are  next  these, 
viz.,  from  the  motion  of  Jupiter  who  is  under 
Saturn,  Parypate ;  and  of  Venus,  who  is  above  the 
moon,  Paraneate.  Again,  from  the  middle,  which 
is  the  sun's  motion,  the  fourth  from  each  part  Mese, 
which  is  distant  by  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  planets,  being  in  the  midst.  Again,  from 
those  which  are  nearest  the  sun  on  each  side  from 
Mars,  who  is  placed  betwixt  Jupiter  and  the  sun, 
Hypermese,  which  is  likewise  termed  Lichanus ; 
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  sun,  sesquiple ;   from  the  sun 

to  Mars,  a  tone,  that  is  as  far  as  the  moon  is  from 

the  earth  :    from   Mars  to  Jupiter,  half,  and  from 

Jupiter  to  Saturn,  half,  and  thence  to  the  zodiac 

sesquiple.    Thus  there  are  made  seven  tones,  which 

they  call  a  diapason  harmony,  that  is  an  universal 

concent,  in  which  Saturn  moves  in  the  Doric  mood, 

Jupiter  in  the  Phryfjian,  and  in  the  rest  the  like.'|| 

'  Those  sounds  which  the  seven  planets,  and  the 

sphere   of  fixed   stars,    and   that   which   is   above 

us,  termed  by  them  Antichton,  make,  Pythagoras 

affirmed  to  be  the  nine  Muses ;  but  the  composition 

and  symphony,  and  as  it  were  connexion  of  them 

all,  whereof,  as  being  eternal  and  unbegotten,  each 

is  a  part  and  portion,  he  named  Mnemosyne.'^} 

That  the  above  notion  of  the  music  of  the  spheres 

was  first  entertained  by  Pythagoras,    seems  to  be 

agreed  by  most  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  such  a  way  as  shews  him  inclined  to  adopt  it, 

as  does  also  Boetius,  lib.  I.  cap.  ii.     Macrobius,  in 

his  Commentary  on  the  Somnium  Scipionis,  lib.  II. 

cap.  iii.  speaks  of  it  as  a  divine  and  heavenly  notion. 

Valesius,  on  the  contrary,  treats  it  as  an  ill-grounded 

conceit.   Sacr.  Philosoph.  cap.  xxvi.  ifec.  pag.  446. 

edit.  1588. 


Notwithstanding  which  it  has  ever  been 


Ibid. 


f  Ibid.  386. 


X  Ibid. 


§  Ibid. 


II  Ibid. 


•ff  Ibid. 


64 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IJ. 


favoured  by  the  poets :  Milton,  who  was  a  great 
admirer  of  music,  while  at  college  composed  and 
read  in  the  public  school,  a  small  tract  De  Sphgerarum 
Concentu,  which  with  a  translation  thereof  is  pub- 
lished in  Peck's  Memoirs  of  him.  Mr.  Fenton,  in 
his  notes  on  Waller,  suggests  that  Pythagoras  might 
possibly  have  grounded  his  opinion  of  the  music  of 
the  spheres  upon  a  passage  in  the  book  of  Job,  the 
reasons  for  this  conjecture  are  very  ingenious,  and 
will  be  best  given  in  his  own  words,  which  are 
these  : — 

'  Pythagoras  was  the  first  that  advanced  this  doc- 

*  trine  of  the  music  of  the  spheres,  which  he  probably 
'  grounded  on  that  text  in  Job,  understood  literally, 
' "  When  the  morning  stars  sang  together,"  &c. 
'  chap.  xxix.  ver,  7.  For  since  he  studied  twelve 
'  years  in  Babylon,  under  the  direction  of  the  learned 

*  impostor  Zoroastres,  who  is  allowed  to  have  been 
'  a  servant  to  one  of  the  prophets,  we  may  reasonably 
'  conclude  that  he  was  conversant  in  the  Jewish 
'  writings,  of  which  the  book  of  Job  was  ever 
'  esteemed  of  most  authentic  antiquity.     Jamblicus 

*  ingenuously  confesseth  that  none  but  Pythagoras 

*  ever  perceived  this  celestial  harmony ;  and  as  it 
'  seems  to  be*  a  native  of  imagination,  the  poets  have 
'  appropriated  it  to  their  own  province,  and  our 
'  admirable  Milton  employs  it  very  happily  in  the 
'  fifth  book  of  his  Paradise  Lost : — 

That  day,  as  other  solemn  days,  they  spent 

In  song  and  dance  about  the  sacred  hill  : 

Mystical  dance  !  which  yonder  starry  sphere 

Of  planets  and  of  fix'd,in  all  her  wheels 

Resembles  nearest,  mazes  intricate, 

Eccentric,  intervolv'd,  yet  regular 

Then  most,  when  most  irregular  they  seem  ; 

And  in  their  motions  harmony  divine 

So  smooths  her  charming  tones,  that  God's  own  ear 

Listens  delighted * 

Censorinus  suggests  a  notable  reason  why  this 
heavenly  music  is  inaudible  to  mortal  ears,  viz.,  its 
loudness,  which  he  says  is  so  great  as  to  cause  deaf- 
ness. De  Die  Natal,  cap.  xi,  which  Butler  has  thus 
ridiculed : — 

Her  voice,  the  music  of  the  spheres. 

So  loud  it  deafens  mortal  ears. 

As  wise  philosophers  have  thought. 

And  that's  the  cause  we  hear  it  not. 

HuDiBRAs,  Part  II.  Cant.  i.  line  617. 

After  all,  whether  the  above  opinion  be  philo- 
sophically true  or  not,  the  conception  is  undoubtedly 
very  noble  and  poetical,  and  as  such  it  appears 
in  the  passage  above-cited  from  the  Paradise  Lost, 
and  in  this  other  of  Milton,  equally  beautiful  and 
sublime  : — 

Ring  out,  ye  chrystal  spheres, 
Once  bless  our  human  ears, 

If  ye  have  power  to  touch  our  senses  so  ; 
And  let  your  silver  chime 
Move  in  melodious  time, 

And  let  the  base  of  heav'n's  deep  organ  blow. 

Hymn  on  the  Nativity. 

Touching  the  division  of  the  diapason,  the  follow- 
ing is  the  doctrine  of  the  Pythagoreans : — 

*  One  of  the  earliest  editors  of  Milton  has  the  following  note  on  this 
passage,  which  Dr.  Newton  has  retained  : — 

'  There  is  a  text  in  Job  xxxviii.  37.  that  seems  to  favour  the  opinion 
of  the  Pythagoreans,  concerning  the  musical  motion  of  the  spheres, 


'  The  diatonic  genus  seems  naturally  to  have  thes  i 
'  degrees  and  progresses,  hemitone,  tone  and  tone, 
'  (half  note,  whole  note  and  whole  note) ;  this  is  the 

*  system  diatessaron,  consisting  of  two  tones,  and  that 
'  which  is  called  a  hemitone  ;  and  then,  another  tone 
'  being  inserted,  diapente  is  made,  being  a  system  of 
'  three  tones  and  a  hemitone.  Then  in  order  after 
'  this,  there  being  another  hemitone,  tone  and  tone, 
'  they  make  another  diatessaron,  that  is  to  say, 
'  another    Sesquitertia :    so    that    in    the    ancienter 

*  heptachord,  all  fourths  from  the  lowest,  sound  a 
'  diatessaron  one  to  another,  the  hemitone  taking 
'  the  first,  second,  and  third  place,  according  to  tlie 
'  progression  in  the  tetrachord.  But  in  the  Pytha- 
'  goric  octochord,  which  is  by  a  conjunction  a  system 

*  of  the  tetrachord  and  the  pentachord,  and  that  either 
'jointly  of  two  tetrachords,  or  disjointly  of  two  tetra- 
'  chords  separated  from  one  another  by  a  tone,  the 
'  procession  will  begin  from  the  lowest,  so  that  every 
'  fifth  sound  will  make  diapente,  the  hemitone  passing 
'  into  four  places,  the  first,  the  second,  the  third,  and 
'the  fourth.'! 

It  appears  also  that  Pythagoras  instituted  the  canon 
of  the  Monochord,  and  proceeded  to  a  subdivision  of 
the  diatessaron  and  diapente  into  tones  and  semitones, 
and  thereby  laid  the  foundation  for  the  famous  Sectio 
Canonis,  which  Euclid  afterwards  adjusted,  and  is 
given  in  his  Introduction,  as  also  in  a  foregoing 
chapter  of  this  work.  Duris,  an  author  cited  by 
Porphyry,  mentions  a  brazen  tablet,  set  up  in  the 
Temple  of  Juno  by  Arimnestus,  the  son  of  Pytha- 
goras, near  two  cubits  in  diameter,  on  which  was 
engraven  a  musical  canon,  which  was  afterv^'ards 
taken  away  by  Simon,  a  Thracian,  who  arrogated 
the  canon  to  himself,  and  published  it  as  his  own.  J 

Stanley  speaks  farther  of  Pythagoras  in  those 
words  :  '  Pythagoras,  saith  Censorinus,  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  nativities  of  mortals, 
'  have  an  harmonious  motion,  and  intervals  corres- 

*  pondent  to  musical  diastemes  ;  and  render  various 

*  sounds,  according  to  their  several  heights,  so  con- 
'  sonant  that  they  make  most  sweet  melody  ;  but  to 
'  us  inaudible,  by  reason  of  the  greatness  of  the  noise, 
'  which  the  narrow  passage  of  our  ears  is  not  capable 
'  to  receive.  For,  as  Eratosthenes  collected  that  the 
'  largest  circumference  of  the  earth  is  252000  stadia, 
'  so  Pythagoras  declared  how  many  stadia  there  are 
'  betwixt  the  earth  and  every  star.  In  this  measure 
'  of  the  world  we  are  to  understaiid  the  Italick  sta- 
'  dium,  which  consists  of  G25  feet,  for  there  are  others 
'  of  a  different  length,  as  the  Olympic  of  600  feet,  the 
'  Pythic  of  500.  From  the  Earth,  therefore,  to  the 
'  Moon  Pythagoras  conceived  it  to  be  about  12G000 

*  stadia ;  and  that  distance,  (according  to  musical 
'  proportion)  is  a  tone.    From  the  Moon  to  Mercury, 

'  though  our  translation  differs  therein  from  «rther  versions.  "  Con- 
'  centum  Cceli  quis  dormire  faciet  ? "  Who  shall  lay  asleep,  or  still  the 
'concert  of  the  heaven?  But  this  is  to  be  understood  metaphorically 
'  of  the  wonderful  proportions  observed  by  the  heavenly  bodies  iu  their 
'  various  motions.' — Hume. 

The  above  is  the  Vulgate  translation ;    that  of  Beza  is  less  to  thi» 
purpose,  as  is  also  that  of  Tremelius. 

t  Stanl.  Hist,  of  Philos.  pag.  387. 

J  Ibid  388,  366. 


Chap.  XIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


65 


'who  ia  called  a-TiXftcoy,  half  as  much,  as  it  were 
'  a  hemitone.  From  thence  to  Phosphorus,  which  is 
'the  star  Venus,  almost  as  much,  that  is  another 
'  hemitone  :  from  thence  to  the  Sun  twice  as  much, 
'  as  it  were  a  tone  and  an  half.  Thus  the  Sun  is 
'  distant  from  the  Earth  three  tones  and  a  half,  which 
'  is  called  Diapente  ;  from  the  moon  two  and  a  half, 
'  which  is  Diatessaron.     From  the  Sun  to  Mars,  who 

*  IS  called  Uvpoeie,  there  is  the  same  interval  as  from 
'  the  Earth  to  the  Moon,  which  makes  a  tone.  From 
'thence  to  Jupiter,  who  is  called  ^ae^wv,  half  as 

*  much,  which  makes  a  hemitone.     From  thence  to 

*  the  supreme  heaven,  where  the  signs  are,  a  hemitone 
'  also ;  so  that  the  diasteme  from  the  supreme  heaven 
'  to  the  Sun  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 
'masters  of  music  treat  of,  and  shewed  that  all 
'  this  world  is  enarmonic' *  Thus  Censorinus  :  '  but 
'  Pliny,  delivering  his  opinion  of  Pythagoras,  reckons 
'  seven  tones  from  the  earth  to  the  supreme  heaven ; 
'  for  whereas  Censorinus  accounts  but  a  hemitone  from 
'  Saturn  to  the  zodiac,  Pliny  makes  it  Sesquiple.'f 

Stanley  represents  the  intervals  of  the  spheres  in 
the  following  diagram  : — 


CHAP.  XIV. 


*  These  positions  of  the  Pythagoreans,  that  the  universe  is  framed 
according  to  musical  proportion,  and  that  all  this  world  is  enarmonic 
refer  to  the  general  frame  and  contexture  of  the  whole.  But  there  are 
arguments  in  favour  of  music,  deducible  from  the  properties  and  affec- 
tions of  matter,  discoverable  in  its  several  parts  :  in  short,  it  may  be  said 
in  other  words,  that  the  whole  world  is  in  tune,  inasmuch  as  there  are 
few  bodies  but  are  sonorous.  The  skin  of  an  animal  may  be  tuned  to 
any  given  note,  as  is  observable  in  the  drum :  a  cable  distended  by  a 
sufficient  power  is  as  much  a  musical  chord  as  a  lute  string  or  one  of 
wire.  And  Strada  somewhere  mentions  six  great  guns  in  a  fortification 
at  Groningen,  which  from  the  sounds  uttered  by  them  in  their  explosion 
had  the  names  of  ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sot,  la.  The  percussion  of  all  metals' 
of  stones,  nay  of  timber,  or  of  the  trunks  of  trees  when  felled,  produces 
a  musical  sound :  hollow  vessels,  as  well  of  wood,  as  earth  and  metal 
when  struck  do  the  same.  Of  this  fact  the  Indian  Gong,  as  it  is  called' 
is  a  surprising  instance;  it  is  an  instrument  of  brass,  er  some  other 
factitious  metal,  in  form  like  a  sieve,  and  about  two  feet  in  diameter. 
The  late  duke  of  Argyle  had  one  in  his  observatory  at  Whittoii,  near 
Twickenham,  in  Middlesex,  which  being  susjiended  edgeways  by  a  cord, 
and  struck  with  a  stick  muffled  at  the  end,  many  times,  till  the  quickest 
vibrations  it  could  make  were  excited,  yielded  not  only  a  clear  musical 
sound,  but  the  whole  harmony  of  a  diapason,  namely,  the  unison  third, 
fifth,  and  octave,  so  clearly  and  distinctly,  that  each  was  obvious  to  the 
ear.  This  instrument  is  mentioned  by  Capt.  Dampier  in  one  of  his 
voyages,  and  is  thus  described  by  him  :— 
'  In  the  sultan's  mosque  [at  Mindanao]  there  is  a  great  drum  with  but 
one  head,  called  a  Gong,  which  is  instead  of  a  clock.  This  gong  is 
I  beaten  at  twelve  o'clock,  at  three,  six,  and  nine,  a  man  being  appointed 
for  that  service.  He  has  a  stick  as  big  as  a  man's  arm,  with  a  great 
knob  at  the  end  bigger  than  a  man's  fist,  made  with  cotton,  bound  fast 
'  with  small  cords  ;  with  this  he  strikes  the  gong  as  hard  as  he  can  about 
twenty  strokes,  beginning  to  strike  leisurely  the  first  five  or  six  strokes 
'  then  he  strikes  faster,  and  at  last  strikes  as  fast  as  he  can  ;  and  then  he 
strikes  agam  slower  and  slower  so  many  strokes :  thus  he  rises  and  falls 
three  times  a-day,  and  then  leaves  off  till  three  hours  after.'  Dampier's 
Voyages,  vol.  I.  pag.  388.  ^ 

Glass,  and  many  other  bodies,  affected  by  the  voice,  or  the  vibrations 
of  chords,  return  the  sounds  that  agitate  them.  It  is  credibly  reported 
of  old  Smith,  the  organ-maker,  that  he  could  not  tune  a  certain  iiipe  in 
St.  Pauls  organ  till  he  had  broken  a  pane  of  glass  in  the  sash  that 
incloses  it. 

t  Stanl.  Life  of  Pythag.  pag.  393. 


In  what  manner  Pythagoras  discovered  the  con- 
sonances, and  adjusted  the  system,  has  already  been 
mentioned.  The  particulars  of  his  life  are  related 
by  Jamblichus  and  other  authors  ;  and  a  summary 
of  his  doctrines  is  contained  in  the  account  given 
of  him  by  the  learned  Stanley,  in  his  history  of 
Philosophy.  Pythagoras  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty, 
or,  according  to  some  writers,  ninety  years.  The 
manner  of  his  death,  which  all  agree  was  a  violent 
one,  is  as  variously  reported  ;  some  say,  that  being 
with  others  at  the  house  of  his  friend  Milo,  one  who 
had  been  refused  admittance  among  them  set  it  on 
fire,  and  that  Pythagoras,  running  to  escape  the 
flames,  was  overtaken  and  killed,  together  with 
forty  of  his  disciples,  among  whom  was  Aichytas  of 
Tarentum.J  Others  say  that  he  fled  to  the  Temple 
of  the  Muses  at  Metapontum,  and  died  for  want  of 
food,  having  lived  forty  days  without  eating.  §  He 
had  for  one  of  his  disciples  Philolaus,  a  Crotonian 
(although  he  is  classed  among  those  of  Tarentum, 
his  followers)  whose  system  of  a  septenary  is  herein- 
before inserted ;  and  who  was  also  the  inventor  of 
that  division  of  the  sesquioctave  tone  into  commas, 
which  Boetius  has  recognized,  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 
Min»,  an  immense  price.  || 

Among  many  tenets  of  the  Pythagoreans,  one  was 
that  there  is  a  general  and  universal  concent  oi 
harmony  in  the  parts  of  the  universe,  and  that 
the  principles  of  music  pervade  the  whole  material 
world  ;  for  which  reason  they  say  that  the  whola 
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 
as  in  the  works  of  the  architects  of  ancient  times, 
in  which  the  proportions  of  2  to  1,  answering  to  the 
diapason;  of  3  to  2,  or  Sesquialtera,  4  to  3,  or 
Sesquitertia,  are  perpetually  resulting  from  a  com- 
parison between  the  longitude  and  latitude  of  the 
whole  or  constituent  parts,  such  as  porticos,  pedi- 
ments, halls,  vestibules,  and  apertures  of  all  kinds, 
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  bare  probability  that  they  might  be 
well  grounded  ;  but  how  great  must  have  been  the 
astonishment  of  a  Pythagorean  or  a  Platonist,  could 
he  have  been  a  witness  to  those  improvements  which 
a  more  cultivated  philosophy  has  produced  !  And 
how  would  he  who  exulted  in  the  discovery  that  the 

I  Stanley  in  the  Life  of  Pythagoras,  chap.  xix.  „ 

§  Ibid.  ^ 

i  Ibid.  pag.  436. 


66 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  II. 


consonances  had  a  ratio  of  12.  9.  8.  6,  have  been 
pleased  to  hear  the  consonances  at  the  same  instant 
in  a  sonorous  body ;  or  been  transported  to  find,  by 
the  help  of  a  prism,  a  similar  coincidence  of  pro- 
portions among  colours,  and  that  tlie  principles  of 
harmony  pervaded  as  well  the  objects  of  sight  as 
hearing  ?  For  Sir  Isaac  Newton  happily  discovered, 
that  the  breadths  of  the  seven  primary  colours  in  the 
sun's  image,  produced  by  the  refraction  of  his  rays 
through  a  prism,  are  proportional  to  the  seven  differ- 
ences of  the  lengths  of  the  eight  musical  strings, 
D,  E,  F,  G,  A,  B,  C,  d,  when  the  intervals  of  their 
sounds  are  T,  H,  t ;  T,  t,  H,  T.* 

The  earliest  of  the  harmonic  writers,  whose  works 
are  now  extant,  was  Aristoxenus;  he  was  the  son 
of  a  musician  of  Tarentum,  in  Italy,  called  also 
Spintharus.  Aristoxenus  studied  music  first  under 
his  father  at  Mantinea,  and  made  a  considerable 
proficiency  therein  :  he  had  also  diverse  other  tutors, 
namely,  Lamprius,  Erythrasus,  Xenophilus  the  Pytha- 
gorean, and  lastly  Aristotle,  whom,  as  some  say,  he 
greatly  reviled  after  his  death,  for  having  left  his 
school  to  Theophrastus,  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.  3610.  There  are  extant  of 
his  writing  Elements  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  Rythmic,  the  Metric,  and  the  Organic ;  but 
that  above-mentioned  is  the  only  work  of  his  now 
remaining. 

Touching  the  elements  of  Aristoxenus,  there  is 
great  diversity  of  opinions  :  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.  V.  19,  pronounces  of  it  that  it  is 
utterly  unintelligible.  Meibomius,  on  the  other  hand, 
speaks  of  it  as  a  most  valuable  relique  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  Francis  Stiles,  of  whom 
mention  has  already  been  made,  hesitates  not  to  say, 
that  the  whole  three  books  of  harmonics  ascribed 
to  Aristoxenus  are  spurious.  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  liardly  bear  a  question. 

In  the  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 

*  Vide  Smith's  Harmonics,  pag.  31,  in  a  note.    And  Sir  Isaac  Newton's 
Optics,  book  I.  part  ii.  prop.  3.  pag.  91  of  the  quarto  edition. 


book  consists  of  some  general  definitions  of  terms, 
particularly  those  of  Sound,  Interval,  and  System, 
which,  though  in  some  respects  arbitrary,  all  the 
subsequent  writers  seem  to  have  acquiesced  in. 

In  his  second  book  we  meet  with  an  assertion  of 
the  author,  which  at  this  day  must  doubtless  appear 
unintelligible,  namely,  that  music  has  a  tendency  to 
improve  or  corrupt  the  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.  Plutarch 
insists  very  largely  on  it ;  and  it  is  well  known  what 
effects  the  Spartans  attributed  to  it,  when  they  made 
it  an  essential  in  the  institution  of  their  youth. 
Aristophanes,  in  his  comedy  of  The  Clouds,  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  at 
length,  as  Mr.  Theobald  has  translated  it : — '  I'll  tell 
'  you  then  what  was  the  discipline  of  old,  whilst 
'  I  flourished,  had  liberty  to  preach  up  temperance 
'  to  mankind,  and  was  supported  in  it  by  the  laws ; 
'  then  it  was  not  permitted  for  the  youth  to  speech  it 
'  in  public,  but  every  morning  the  young  people  of 
'  each  borough  went  to  their  music  school,  marched 
'  with  a  grave  composed  countenance  through  the 
'  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  taught  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  country, 
'  without  pretending  to  alter  the  tones  that  had  been 
'  derived  down  to  them  by  their  forefathers.  And 
'  if  any  one  were  observed  to  wanton  it  in  his 
'  performance,  and  sing  in  an  effeminate  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  that  should  dare  commit 
'  the  least  immodesty,  or  discover  ought  that  honesty 
'  enjoined  him  to  hide  :  they  were  so  scrupulously 
'  nice  in  this  respect,  that  they  never  forgot  to  sweep 
'  up  the  sand  on  which  they  had  sat.  None  then 
'  assumed  the  lawless  minion,  or  defiled  himself  with 
'  wanton  glances ;  none  were  suff'ered  to  eat  what 
'  was  an  incentive  to  luxury,  or  injured  modesty : 
'  radishes  were  banished  from  their  meals  ;  the  anise 
'  and  rock-parsley  that  are  proper  for  old  constitu- 
'  tions,  were  forbid  them,  and  they  were  strangers 
'  to  high  and  seasoned  dishes  :  they  sat  with  gravity 
'  at  table,  never  encouraged  an  indecent  posture, 
'  or  the  tossing  of  their  legs  lazily  up  and  down.'f 

+  Polybius  in  his  fourth  hook,  chap.  iii.  has  given  a  description  of 
the  ancient  Arcadian  discipline  of  youth,  nearly  corresponding  with 
that  of  the  Spartans  above  cited,  in  a  passage,  which,  as  it  is  often 
alluded  to  by  the  writers  on  music,  is  here  inserted  in  the  words  of  his 
elegant  translator  Mr.  Hampton  :— 

'All  men  know  that  Arcadia  is  almost  the  only  countrv  in  whicli 
'children,  even  from  their  most  tender  age,  are  taught  to  sing  in 
'  measure  the  songs  and  hymns  that  are  composed  in  honour  of  tlieir 
'gods  and  heroes:  and  that  afterwards  when  tliey  have  learned  the 
'  music  of  Timotheus  and  Philoxenus,  tliey  assemble  once  in  every  year 
'  in  the  public  theatres,  at  the  feast  of  Hacchus,  and  tliere  dance  with 
'emulation  to  the  sound  of  llutes,  and  celebrate  according  to  their 
'  proper  age,   the  children   those  that  are  called  the  puerile,  and  the 


Chap.  XIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


€.7 


It  has  already  been  said  that  this  philosopher  did 
by  no  means  acquiesce  in  the  opinion  of  Pythagoras 
and  his  followers,  that  the  understanding  is  the 
ultimate  judge  of  intervals  ;  and  that  in  every  system 
there  must  be  found  a  mathematical  coincidence 
before  such  system  can  be  said  to  be  harmonical :  this 
position  Aristoxenus  and  all  of  his  school  denied. 
The  philosopher  himself,  in  this  second  book  of  his 
Elements,  expressly  asserts,  that  '  by  the  hearing  v^^e 
'  judge  of  the  magnitude  of  an  interval,  and  by  the 
'  understanding  v^^e  consider  its  several  powers.'  And 
again  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  music ; '  and  though, 
he  says,  '  others  affirm  that  it  is  by  the  study  of 
'  instruments  that  we  attain  this  knowledge  ; '  this,  he 
says,  is  talking  wildly,  '  for  that  as  it  is  not  necessary 

*  for  him  who  writes  an  Iambic  to  attend  to  the 
'  arithmetical  proportions  of  the  feet  of  which  it  is 

*  composed,  so  it  is  not  necessary  for  him  who  writes 

*  a  Phrygian  Cantus  to  attend  to  the  ratios  of  the 

*  sounds  proper  thereto.'  The  meaning  of  this 
passage  is  very  obvious,  and  may  be  farther  illus- 
trated by  a  comparison  of  music  with  painting, 
the  practice  whereof  is  so  little  connected  wit'h  the 
theory  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  colours,  never  suggest 
themselves  to  him  who  is  about  to  design  a  picture, 
whether  it  be  history,  landscape,  or  portrait :  the 
common  places  in  his  mind  are  ideas  of  eff"ect  and 
harmony,  drawn  solely  from  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,  without  recurring  to  the 
ratios  that  subsist  among  them. 

Aristoxenus  then  proceeds  to  a  general  division 
of  music  into  seven  parts,  which  he  makes  to  be, 
1.  The  Genera.  2.  Intervals.  3.  Sounds.  4.  Sys- 
tems. 5.  Tones  or  Modes.  6.  Mutations.  And 
7.  Melopoeia ;  and  in  this  method  he  is  followed  by 
Aristides,  Nicomachus,  and  most  other  ancient  writers. 

The  remainder  of  the  above-mentioned  work,  the 
Elements  of  Aristoxenus,  is  taken  up  with  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  several  parts  of  music  according  to  the 
order  which  he  had  prescribed  to  himself.  But  it 
must  be  owned, so  great  is  the  obscurity  in  which  his 
doctrines  are  involved,  that  very  little  instruction  is 
to  be  obtained  from  the  most  attentive  perusal  of 
him  ;  nor  will  the  truth  of  this  assertion  be  ques- 
tioned, when  the  reader  is  told  that  Cicero  himself 
has  pronounced  his  work  unintelligible.*  The  use, 
however,  proposed  to  be  made  of  it  is  occasionally  to 

'young  men  the  manly  games.  And  even  in  their  private  feasts  and 
'  meetings  they  are  never  known  to  employ  any  hired  bands  of  music 
'  for  their  entertainment,  but  each  man  is  himself  obliged  to  sing  in  turn. 
'  For  though  they  may  without  shame  or  censure  disown  all  knowledge 
'of  every  other  science,  they  dare  not,  on  the  other  hand,  dissemble  or 
'  deny  that  they  are  skilled  in  music,  since  the  laws  require  that  every 
'  one  should  be  instructed  in  it ;  nor  can  they,  on  the  other  hand,  refuse 
'  to  give  some  proofs  of  their  skill  when  asked,  because  such  refusal 
'  would  be  esteemed  dishonourable.  They  are  taught  also  to  perform  in 
'  order  all  the  military  steps  and  motions  to  the  sound  of  instruments  ; 
'  and  this  is  likewise  practised  every  year  in  the  theatres,  at  the  public 
'  charge,  and  in  sight  of  all  the  citizens.'  Hampton's  Polybius,  pag.  359. 
*  De  Finibus,  lib.  V.  19. 


refer  to  such  parts  of  it  as  are  least  liable  to  this 
censure,  and  this  will  be  done  as  often  as  it  shall 
appear  necessary. 

The  next  in  order  of  time  of  the  writers  on  music 
is  Euclid,  the  author  of  the  Elements  of  Geometry. 
He  lived  about  the  year  of  the  world  3617,  and 
wrote  an  Introduction  to  Harmonics,  which  he  begins 
with  some  necessary  definitions,  particularly  of  the 
words  Acumen  and  Gravitas,  terms  that  frequently 
occur  in  the  writings  of  the  ancient  harmonicians  : 
the  first  of  these  he  makes  to  be  the  effect  of  intension 
or  raising,  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  famous  Sectio  Canonis,  a  geo- 
metrical division  of  a  chord  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertaining  the  ratios  of  the  consonances,  herein- 
before inserted.  In  this,  and  also  in  his  opinion 
touching  the  diatessaron  and  diapente,  namely,  that 
the  former  is  less  than  two  tones  and  a  hemitone,  and 
the  latter  less  than  three  tones  and  a  hemitone,  he  is 
a  Pythagorean,  but  in  other  respects  he  is  apparently 
a  follower  of  Aristoxenus.f  The  fundamental  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- 
cessary 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 
itself  multiple.  3.  A  superparticular  ratio  admits  of 
neither  one  nor  more  geometrical  mean  proportionals. 
4.  From  the  second  and  third  propositions  it  follows, 
that  a  ratio  not  multiple,  being  twice  compounded 
the  total  is  a  ratio  neither  multiple  nor  superpar- 
ticular. Again,  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  the  diapason,  and  is  the  least  of  the 
kind  and  the  most  simple,  is  composed  of  the  two 
greatest  superparticular  ratios  3  to  2,  and  4  to  3,  and 
cannot  be  composed  of  any  other  two  that  are  super- 
particular.  | 

The  foregoing  account  of  the  nature  and  design  of 
Euclid's  division  is  contained  in  a  series  of  theorems 
prefixed  to  the  Sectio  Canonis,  and  are  reduced  to 
a  kind  of  Summary  by  Malcolm,  who  appears  to 
have  been  extremely  well  versed  in  the  mathematical 
part  of  music. 

+  Wallis.  Append,  de  Vet.  Harm.  pag.  307. 

t  Malcolm  on  Music,  pag.  508. 

The  above  turnis  were  used  by  the  old  arithmetical  writers  before  the 
invention  of  fractional  arithmetic,  since  which  they  have  in  a  great 
measure  been  laid  aside.  What  is  tn  be  understood  by  those  kinds  of 
musical  proportion  to  which  they  are  severally  applied,  will  hereafter  be 
shewn  ;  however  it  may  here  be  necessary  to  give  a  short  explanation  of 
terms,  and  such  a  one  follows  : — 

Multiple  proportion  is  when  the  antecedent  being  divided  by  the  con- 
sequent, the  quotient  is  more  than  unity ;  as  25  being  divided  by  5,  it 
gives  5  for  the  quotient,  which  is  the  multiple  proportion. 

SupenJarticu'^r  proportion  is  when  one  number  or  quantity  contains 
another  one,  and  an  aliquot  part,  whose  radical  or  least  number  is  one; 
so  that  the  number  which  is  so  contained  in  the  greater,  is  said  to  be  to 
it  in  a  superparticular  proportion 

To  these  may  be  added  superpartient  proportion,  which  is  when  one 
number  or  quantity  contains  another  once,  and  some  number  of  aliquot 
parts  remainmg,  as  one  ^,  one  ^,  kic. 


68 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  II. 


It  was  not  till  the  time  of  Meibomius  that  the 
world  was  possessed  of  a  genuine  and  accurate  edition 
of  the  Isagoge  of  Euclid  ;  it  seems  that  a  MS.  copy 
of  a  Treatise  on  Harmonics  in  the  Vatican  had  written 
in  it  *  Incerti  Introductio  Harmonica ; '  and  that 
some  person  has  written  therein  the  name  of  Cleonidas, 
and  some  other,  with  as  little  reason,  Pappus  Alex- 
andrinus.  Of  this  MS.  Georgius  Valla,  a  physician 
of  Placentia,  published  at  Venice,  in  1498,  a  Latin 
translation,  with  the  title  of  Cleonidse  Harmonicum 
Introductorium  ;  which  after  all  appears  to  be  a  brief 
compendium  of  Euclid,  Aristides  Quintilianus,  and 
Manuel  Bryennius,  of  very  little  worth  :  and  as  to 
Cleonidas,  the  reader  is  as  much  to  seek  for  who  he 
was,  and  where  he  lived,  as  he  would  have  been  had 
Valla  never  made  the  above  translation. 

DiDYMUs  of  Alexandria,  an  author  to  be  reckoned 
among  the  scriptores  perditi,  inasmuch  as  nothing 
of  his  writing  is  now  extant,  must  nevertheless  be 
mentioned  in  this  place  :  he  flourished  about  the  year 
of  the  world  4000,  and  is  said  to  have  first  discovered 
and  ascertained  the  difference  between  the  greater 
and  lesser  tone.  Ptolemy  takes  frequent  occasion  to 
mention  him,  and  has  given  his  division  of  the  dia- 
tessaron  in  each  of  the  three  genera. 

CHAP.  XV. 

Marcus  Vitruvius  Pollio,  the  architect,  has 
usually  been  ranked  among  the  writers  on  music ; 
not  so  much  because  he  appears  to  have  been  skilled 
in  the  art,  but  for  those  chapters  in  his  work  De 
Architectura,  in  ten  books,  written  in  Latin,  and 
dedicated  to  the  emperor  Augustus,  in  which  he 
treats  of  it.  He  flourished  in  the  time  of  Julius 
Csesar,  to  whom  he  says  he  became  known  by  his 
skill  in  his  profession,  which  it  is  agreed  was  super- 
latively great ;  though,  to  consider  him  as  a  writer. 
it  is  remarked  that  his  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  .unaccountable  mistake  he  is 
called  Lucius,  whereas  his  true  name  was  Marcus, 
and  so  by  common  consent  he  is  called.  In  the  fifth 
book  of  the  above-mentioned  treatise,  chap.  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  construction 
of  their  theatres,  to  render  it  more  audible  and 
musical :  the  various  contrivances  for  this  purpose 
will  doubtless  appear  strange  to  modern  apprehension, 
and  give  an  idea  of  a  theatre  very  different  from  any 
that  can  be  conceived  without  it.  His  words  are  as 
follow  : — '  The  ancient  architects  having  made  very 
'  diligent  researches  into  the  nature  of  the  voice, 
'  regulated  the  ascending  gradations  of  their  theatres 
'  accordingly,  and  sought,  by  mathematical  canons 
'  and  musical  ratios,  how  to  render  the  voice  from  the 
'  stage  more  clear  and  grateful  to  the  ears  of  the 
'  audience.'  Chap.  iv.  harmony,  he  says,  is  a  musical 
literature,  very  obscure  and  difficult  to  such  as  under- 
stand not  the  Greek  language ;  and,  if  we  are  desirous 
to  explain  it  we  must  necessarily  use  Greek  words. 


some  whereof  have  no  Latin  appellations ;  where- 
fore, says  he,  '  I  shall  explain  it  as  clearly  as  I  am 
'  able  from  the  writings  of  Aristoxenus,  whose  dia- 
'  gram  I  shall  give,  and  shall  define  the  sounds  so  as 
'  that  whoever  diligently  attends  may  easily  conceive 
'  them.'  He  then  proceeds,  '  For  the  changes  of  the 
'  voices,  some  are  acute  and  others  grave.  The  genera 
'  of  modulations  are  three  ;  the  first,  named  in  Greek 
'  Harmonica,  the  second  Chroma,  the  third  Diatonon  ; 
'  the  harmonic  genus  is  grave  and  solemn  in  its 
'  effect ;  the  chromatic  has  a  greater  degree  of 
'  sweetness,  arising  from  the  delicate  quickness  and 

*  frequency  of  its  transitions ;   the  diatonic,  as  it  is 

*  the  most  natural,  is  the  most  easy.'  He  then  pro- 
ceeds to  describe  the  genera  in  a  more  particular 
manner.  Chap.  v.  intitled  De  Theatri  Vasis,  he 
speaks  of  the  methods  of  assisting  the  voice  in  the 
manner  following : — '  Let  vessels  of  brass  be  con- 
'  structed  agreeably  to  our  mathematical  researches, 
'  in  proportion  to  the  dimensions  of  the  the&tre,  and 
'  in  such  manner,  that  when  they  shall  be  touched 
'  they  may  emit  such  sounds  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,  so  as  not  to  touch  any  wall,  having  round 

*  them  a  vacant  place,  with  a  space  overhead.  They 
'  must  be  placed  inversely  :   and,  in  the  part  that 

*  fronts  the  stage,  have  wedges  put  under  them,  at 
'  least  an  half  foot  high ;  and  let  there  be  apertures 
'  left  before  these  cells,  opposite  to  the  lower  beds ; 

*  these  openings  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  quite  across,  about  half  way  up 
'  its  height,  and  let  thirteen  cells  be  made  therein, 
'  having  twelve  equal  intervals  between  them.  In 
'  each  of  these,  at  the  extremes  or  corners,  let  there 
'  be  placed  one  vase,  whose  echo  shall  answer  to 
'  Nete  hyperboleon ;  then  on  each  side  next  the 
'  corners  place  another,  answering  to  the  diatessaron 
'  of  Nete  synemmenon.  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  synemmenon  ;  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  as  from  a  centre,  undu- 
'  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  theatre  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  Harmonia,  another  for  Chroma,  and  the 
'  other  for  Diatonos.  In  the  first  or  lower  row,  which 
'  is  for  Harmonia,  let  the  vases  be  placed  in  the  same 
'  manner  as  is  above  directed  for  the  lesser  theatre ;  but 
'  in  the  middle  row  let  those  be  placed  in  the  corners 
'  whose  sounds  answers  to  the  Chromaticon  hyperbo- 
leon ;  in  the  pair  next  to  the  corners  the  diatessaron, 


Chap.  XV.                                            AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC.  69 

'  to  the  Chromaticon  diezeugmenon  ;  in  the  third  the  Flaccus,  a  freed-man  of  Claudius  ;   and  that  it  was 

*  diatessaron  to  the  Chromaticon  synemmenon ;  in  the  played  in  some  instances,  as  at  the  Andria,  tibiis 
'  fourth  the  diatessaron  to  the  Chromaticon  meson  ;  in  paribus,   dextris   et   sinistris  ;    and  in  others,  tibiis 

*  the  fifth  the  diatessaron  to  the  Chromaticon  hypaton;  paribus  generally  ;  and  at  the  Phormio  tibiis  impa- 

*  and  in  the  sixth  the  diatessaron  to  the  Chromaticon  ribus,  that  is  to  say,  by  flutes  or  pipes  right-handed 
'  Parameson  ;  for  the  Chromaticon  hyperboleon  dia-  and  left-handed,  in  pairs,  or  of  unequal  lengths.  This 
'  pente  has  an   agreement  of  consonancy  with  the  was  not  at  a  time  when  the  ancient  music  was  in  its 

*  Chromaticon  meson  diatessaron.  But  in  the  middle  infancy  :  the  system  had  been  adjusted  many  ages 
'  cell  nothing  need  be  placed,  by  reason  that  in  the  before ;  and  we  may  look  on  this  refinement  men- 
'  chromatic  genus  of  symphony  no  other  quality  of  tioned  by  Vitruvius  as  the  last  that  the  art  was 
'  sounds  can  have  any  concordance.  As  to  the  upper  thought  capable  of.  It  is  not  here  meant  to  anticipate 
'  division  or  row  of  cells,  let  vases  be  placed  in  the  a  comparison,  which  will  come  more  properly  here- 
'  extreme  corners  thereof,  which  answers  to  the  sounds  after  ;  but  let  any  one  take  a  view  of  the  ancient 
'  Diatonon  hyperboleon ;  in  the  next  pair  to  them  the  music  at  the  period  above  referred  to,  with  even  the 
'  diatessaron  to  Diatonon  diezeugmenon  ;  in  the  third  advantage   of    this    improvement    drawn   from   the 

*  the  diatessaron  to  Diatonon  synemmenon  ;   in  the  doctrine  of   Phonics,  and  compare  it  with  that  of 

*  fourth  the  Diatessaron  to  Diatonon  meson ;  in  the  modern  times  ;  let  him  reflect  on  the  several  im- 
'  fifth  the  diatessaron  to  Diatonon  hypaton ;  in  the  provements  which  distinguish  the  modern  from  the 
'  sixth  the  diatessaron  to   Proslambenomenos  :   the  ancient  music,  such  as  the  multiplication  of  parts,  the 

diapason  to  Diatonon  hypaton  has  an  agreement  of  introduction  of  instruments,  some  to  extend  the  com- 

'  symphony  with  the  diapente.     But  if  any  one  would  pass  of  sounds,  others  to  increase  the  variety  of  tones, 

'  easily  arrive  at  perfection  in  these  things,  let  him  and  others  more  forcibly  to  impress  the  time  and 

'  carefully  inspect  the  diagram  at  the  latter  end  of  the  measure,  as  the  drum  and  other  instruments  of  the 

'  book  which  Aristoxenus  composed  with  great  care  pulsatile  kind  are  manifestly  calculated  to  do ;  the 

'  and  skill,  concerning  the  divisions  of  modulations,*  use  of  a  greater  and  lesser  chorus  ;  that  enchanting 

'  from  which,  if  any  one  will  attend  to  his  reasoning,  kind  of  symphony,   known  only   to   the   moderns, 

'  he  will  the  more  readily  be  able  to  effect  the  con-  called  thorough  bass ;  and  those  very  artful  species 

'  structions  of  theatres  according  to  the  nature  of  the  of  composition,   fugue  and  canon.      Let  this    com- 

'  voice,  and  to  the  delight  of  the  hearers.'     Thus  far  parison  be  made,  and  the  preference  assigned  to  that 

Vitruvius.  sera  which  has  the  best  claim  to  it. 

We  are  too  little  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  Although  this  work  of  Vitruvius  is  professedly 

ancient  drama  to  be  able  to  account  particularly  for  written  on  the  subject  of  architecture,  it  is  of  a  very 

the  effects  of  this  singular  invention  :  to  suppose  that  miscellaneous  nature,  and  treats  of  matters  very  little 

in  their  theatrical  representations  the  actors  barely  allied  to  that  art,  as  namely,  the  construction  of  the 

pronounced  their  speeches,  accompanying  their  utter-  balista,  the    catapulta,  and   other   warlike  engines ; 

ance  with  correspondent  gesticulations,  and  a  proper  clocks  and  dials,  and  the  nature  of  colours.     In  chap, 

emphasis,  as  is  practised  in  our  times,  would  render  xi.  lib.  X,  intitled  De  Hydraulicis,  he  undertakes  to 

it  of  no  use ;  for  the  vases  so  particularly  described  describe  an  instrument  called  the  hydraulic  or  water- 

and  adjusted  by  this  author,  are  evidently  calculated  organ,  but  so  imperfectly  has  he  described  it,  that  to 

to  reverberate,  not  the  tones  used  in  ordinary  speech,  understand  his  meaning   has  given  infinite  trouble 

which  have  no  musical  ratio,  but  sounds  absolutely  and  vexation  to  many  a  learned  enquirer.  | 

musical :    and   on   the   other   hand,    that  the   actor  For  the  existence  of  this  strange  instrument  we 

should,  instead  of  the  lesser  inflexions  of  the  voice  have  not  only  the  testimony  of  Vitruvius,  but  the 

proper   to   discourse,  make   use  of  the  consonances  following  passage  in  Claudian,  which  cannot  by  any 

diatessaron,  diapente,  and  diapason,  and  consequently  kind  of  construction  be  referred  to  any  other : — 

sing,  as  well  the  familiar  speeches  proper  to  comedy,  Vel  qui  magna  levi  detrudens  murmura  tactu, 

as  those  of  the  more  sublime  and  exalted  kind  which  Innumeras  voces  segetis  modulatur  ahenee  ; 

distinguish  tragedy,  is  utterly  impossible  for  us  to  Intonat  erranti  digito,  penitusque  trabali 

conceive.  Vecte  laborantes  in  carmina  concitat  undas. 

If  it  was  for  the  purpose  of  reverberating  the  music  It  is  said  by  some  that  the  hydraulic  organ  was 
used  in  the  dramatic  representations  of  the  ancient  invented  by  Hero,  of  Alexandria ;  others  assert  that 
Romans,  that  this  disposition  of  hollow  vessels,  di-  Ctesibus,  about  the  year  of  the  world  3782,  invented 
rected  by  Vitruvius,  was  practised,  we  may  fairly  an  instrument  that  produced  music  by  the  compres- 
pronounce  that  the  end  was  not  worthy  of  the  means  ;  sion  of  water  on  the  air  ;  and  that  this  instrument, 
for  however  excellent  the  musical  theory  of  the  which  answers  precisely  to  the  hydraulic  organ,  was 
ancients  might  be,  yet  in  the  number  and  perfection  improved  by  Archimedes  and  Vitruvius,  the  latter  of 
of  their  instruments  they  were  greatly  behind  the  whom  has  given  a  very  particular  description  of  it. 
moderns  ;  and  were  it  a  question,  we  need  look  no  Ctesibus  the  inventor  of  it  w\as  a  native  of  Alex- 
farther  for  a  proof  of  the  fact  than  the  comedies  of  andria,  and  the  son  of  a  barber.     He  was  endowed 

Terence,  where  we  are  told  that  the  music  performed  +  Mersennus,  speaking  of  this  machine,  says  it  is  much  more  complex 

at    the    acting    of    each    of    them     was     composed     bv  than  the  common  pneumatic  organ,  and  that  he  has  laboured  to  describe 

o                                                   vYcio     v.uiiijjvjocti     u^/  a  thmg  very  obscure,  and  the  meanms  of  wliicli  he  could  not  come  at. 

.               .  though  assisted  by  the  commentary  of  i)aiiiel  Barbaro.    De  Instrumentis 

*   This    diagram    is    inserted    in    Grassineau's    Dictionary,   article  Harmonicis,  pag.  138.     He  farther  says  tliat  Politian  in  his  Panepistcmon 

Genera.  jiag  i^  ^/^xn  attempted  to  explain  it. 


70 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  II. 


with  an  excellent  genius  for  mechanic  inventions, 
which  he  soon  discovered  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  hy 
paeans  of  a  hidden  rope.  The  manner  of  this  inven- 
tion is  thus  related  by  Vitruvius.  He  put  a  wooden 
tube  under  a  beam  where  he  had  fastened  some 
pullies,  over  which  a  rope  went  that  made  an  angle 
in  ascending  and  descending  into  the  tube,  which  was 
hollow,  so  that  a  little  leaden  ball  might  run  along  it, 
which  ball,  in  passing  and  repassing  in  this  narrow 
cavity,  by  violent  motion  expelled  the  air  that  was 
inclosed,  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  dejjended  upon  the  power  of  the  circle  or 
lever ;  and  many  ingenious  inventions,  particularly 
clocks  that  move  by  water.  To  set  these  engines  at 
work  he  bored  a  plate  of  gold  or  a  precious  stone, 
and  chose  such  kind  of  materials,  as  not  being  subject 
to  wear  by  constant  passing  of  the  water,  or  liable  to 
contract  filth  and  obstruct  its  passage  ;  this  being 
done,  the  water,  which  ran  throiigh  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,  which  by  one  single  motion  in 
turning  round  produced  divers  effects  ;  made  several 
small  images  move  round  about  pyramids,  threw 
up  stones  like  eggs,  made  trumpets  sound,  and 
performed  several  other  things  not  essential  to  clock- 
work.    Vitruvius  de  Architectura,  lib.  IX.  cap.  viii. 

But  to  return  :  The  following  is  the  description 
given  by  Vitruvius  of  the  hydraulic  organ : — 

'  Autem  quas  habeant  ratiocinationes,  quam  bre- 
'  vissime  proxime  que  attingere  potero  :  et  scriptura 
'  consequi,  non  prsetermittam.  De  materia  compacta 
'  basi  area  in  ea  ex  sere  fabricata  collocatur.  Supra 
'  basin  eriguntur  regulse  dextra  ac  sinistra  scalari 
'  forma  compactse  :  quibus  includuntur  serei  modioli 
'  fundulis  ambulationibus  ex  torno  subtiliter  subactis 
'habentibus   infixos  in  media   ferreos   an  cones ;    et 

*  verticulis  cum  vectibus  conjunctos  pellibusque  lana- 

*  tis  involutos.  Item  in  summa  planitie  foramina  cir- 
'  citer  digitorum  ternum,  qiiibus  foraminibus  proximfe 
'  in  verticulis  collocati  ajrei  delphini,  pendentia  habent 
'  catenis  cymbalia  ex  ore  in  fra  foramina  modiorum 

*  celata.  Intra  aream  :  quo  loci  aqua  sustinetur  in 
'  est  in  id  genus  uti  infundibulum  inversum  :  quern 
'super  traxilli  alti  circiter   digitorum   ternum   sup- 

*  positi  librant  spatium  imvim.     Ima  inter  labra  phi- 

*  gaeos  et  arae  fundum.     Supra  autem  cerviculum  ejus 

*  coagmenta  arcula  sustinet  caput  machinaj  quae  Grece 
'  Canon  Musicus  appellatur  :  in  cujus  longitudine  si 
'  canalis  tetrachordos  est  fiunt  quatuor.    Si  exachordos 

*  sex.    Si  octochordos  octo.     Singulis  autem  canalibus 

*  singula  epithonia  sunt  inclusa  manubriis  ferreis 
'  collocata.  Quae  manubria  cum  torquentur  ex  area 
<patefaciunt  nares  in  canales      Ex  canalibus  autem 


'  canon  habet  ordinata  in  transverso  foramina  res- 
'  pondentia  in  naribus  ;  qute  sunt  in  tabula  summa  : 
'quae  tabula  Greece  Pinas  dicitur.  Inter  tabulara 
'  et  canona  regular  sunt  interpositaj  ad  eundem  modum 
'  foratai  ex  oleo  subactaj  :  ut  laciliter  impellantur  : 
'  et  rursus  introrsus  reducantur  :  quae  obturant  ea 
'  foramina  :  plinthidesque  appellantur,  Quarum  itus 
'  et  reditus  alias  obturat :  alias  operit  terebrationes. 
'  Hae  regulae  habent  ferrea  choragia  fixa  et  juncta 
'cum  pinnis  quarum  tactus  motiones  efficit.  Regu- 
'  larum  continentur  supra  tabulam  foramina  quae 
'ex  canalibus  habent  egressum  spiritus  sunt  annuli 
'  agglutinati  :  quibus  lingulae  omnium  includuntur 
'  organorum.  E  modiolis  autem  fistulae  sunt  conti- 
'  nentes  conjunctaj  ligneis  cervicibus  :  pertinentesque 
'  ad  nares  :  quae  sunt  in  arcida  :  in  quibus  axes  sunt 
'  ex  torno  subacti  :  et  ibi  collocati.  Qui  cum  recipit 
'arcula  animam  spiritum  non  patientur  obturantes 
'  foramina  rursus  redire.  Ita  cum  vectes  extolluntur 
'  ancones  educunt  fundos  modiolorum  ad  imum.  Del- 
'phinique  qui  sunt  in  verticulis  inclusi  calcantes 
'  in  eos  cymbala  replent  spatia  modiolorum  :  atque 
'  ancones  extollentes  fundos  intra  modiolos  vehementi 
'  pulsus  cerebritate  ;  et  obturantes  foramina  cymbalis 
'  superiora.  Aera  qui  est  ibi  clausus  pressionibus 
'coactum  in  fistulas  cogunt :  per  quas  in  ligna 
'  concuri'it :  et  per  ejus  cervices  in  arcam.  Motione 
'  vero  vectium  vehementiores  spiritus  frequens  com- 
'  pressus  epithoniorum  aperturisinfluit,et  replet  animae 
'  canales  itaque  cum  pinae  manibus  tactae  propellunt 
'  et  reducunt  continenter  regulas  alterius  obturant 
'  foramina  alterius  aperiendo  ex  musicis  artibus  multi- 
'  plicibus  modulorum  varietatibus  sonantes  excitant 
'  voces.*  Quantum  potui  niti,  ut  obscura  res,  per 
'  scripturam  diludice  pronunciaretur  ;  contendi.  Sed 
'  hajc  non  est  facilis  ratio  :  neque  omnibus  expcdita 
'ad  intelligendum  praeter  eos,  qui  in  his  generibus 
'habent  exercitationem.  Quod  si  qui  parum  intel- 
'  lexerint  e  scriptis  cum  ipsam  rem  cognoscent :  pro- 
'  fecto  invenient  curiose  et  subtiliter  omnia  ordinata.' f 
This  description,  which  to  every  modern  reader 
must  appear  unintelligible,  Kircher  has  not  only 
undertaken  to  explain,  but  the  strength  of  his  imagi- 
nation co-operating  with  his  love  of  antiquity,  and 
his  desire  to  inform  the  world,  he  has  exhibited  in 
the  Musurgia  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  was 
forced  through  the  several  pipes,  or  whether  the 
hand  of  a  skilful  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  antiquity 
ascribe  to  this  instrument,  and  affect  to  be  so  fond  of. 
Isaac  Vossius,  in  his  treatise  De  Poematum  Cantu  et 
Viribus  Rythmi,  pag.  100,  has  given  a  representa- 
tion of  the  hydraulic  organ,  no  way  resembling  that 
of  Kircher,  but  which  he  yet  says  is  almost  exactly 
conformable  to  the  words  of  Vitruvius ;  after  which 
follows    a    description   thereof   in    words    not    less 

"  Vitruvius  de  Architectura,  lib.  X.  cap.  xi. 
+  Ibid.  cap.  xii. 


Chap.  XV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


71 


o1i?cure  than  those  of  Vitruvius  and  Kircher  :  neither 
one  nor  the  other  of  the  diagrams  will  bear  the  test 
of  an  impartial  examination,  or  is  worthy  to  be  in- 
serted in  any  work  intended  to  convey  information  to 
a  sober  enquirer  after  truth  ;  but  the  confidence  with 
which  Vossius  speaks  of  his  discovery  will  make 
it  necessary  to  give  his  delineation  of  the  hydraulic 
organ,  together  with  a  description  of  it  in  his  own 
words. 

Kircher  indeed,  after  all  the  pains  he  had  taken, 
has  the  modesty  to  confess  the  inferiority  of  the 
ancient  hydraulic  to  the  modern  organ  ;  for  he  says 
that  if  the  former  be  compared  to  the  latter  it  must 
seem  a  very  insignificant  work,  for,  adds  he,  '  I  can- 
'  not  perceive  what  harmony  a  disposition  of  four, 
'  five,  six,  or  eight  pipes  could  produce,  and  I  very 
'much  wonder  how  Nero  should  be  so  exceedingly 
'  affected  by  so  small  and  poor  an  hydraulic,  for 
'  Vitruvius  testifies  that  when  his  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  his  great  care  and  affection,  or  desire 
'  thereof.     We  may  from  hence  easily  form  a  judg- 

*  ment  what  great  pleasure  he  must  have  taken  in  our 
'  modern  organs,  not  composed  of  four,  five,  six, 
'  or  eight  pipes,  but  such  as  our  greater  organs  of 
'  Germany,  consisting  of  eleven  Imndred  and  fifty-two 
'double  pipes,  animated  by  the  help  of  twenty-four 
'  different  registers  ;  or  had  he  seen  our  automata,  or 
'  engines  of  this  kind  which  move  of  their  own 
'accord  without  the   help  of  any  hand.     Certainly 

*  these  most  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 
Vossius,  who  declares  himself  not  ashamed  to  assert, 
not  only  that  the  tibise  alone  of  the  ancients  are  by 
very  far  to  be  preferred  to  all  the  instruments  of  his 
age,  but  that,  if  we  except  the  pipes  of  the  organs, 
commonly  used  in  churches,  it  will  be  found  that 
scarce  any  others  are  worthy  to  be  called  by  the 
name  of  tihisQ.  And  he  adds,  '  even  those  very 
'  organs  which  now  please  so  much,  can  by  no  means 
'  be  compared  to  the  ancient  hydraulics.  And  the 
'  modern  Organarii,  to  speak  after  the  manner  of  the 
'ancients,  are  not  in  reality  Organarii,  but  Ascaulse 
'  or  Utricularii,  that  is  to  say,  Bag-pipers,  for  by 
'  that  name  were  those  called  who  furnish  wind  to 
'  the  tibise  by  the  means  of  bags  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  streets  with  a  Cornamusa,  and  with 
'their  arms  force  out  continued  and  unpleasing 
'  so\;nds.'  No,  says  this  sagacious  writer,  '  the 
'  Ascaulaa  or  Utricularii  did  not  in  the  least  differ 
'from  our  modern  organists;  and  the  ancient  Or- 
'  ganarii  were  those  only  who  played  on  the  hydraulic 
'organ,  and  they  were  so  called  from  Organum,  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 

»  Musurg.  Univ.  torn.  II.  pap.  333. 


'  into  the  tibise. 'f  After  remarking  on  the  bad  suc- 
cess of  many  who  had  attempted  to  find  out  the 
meaning  of  Vitruvius  in  his  description  of  this 
instrument,  and  to  restore  it  to  practice,  he  says  very 
confidently  that  he  himself  has  done  it,  and  accord- 
ingly exhibits  it  in  the  following  form  : — 


And  describes  it  in  these  words :  '  fiat  basis  lignea 
A  B  C  D  E  F,  et  in  ea  constituatur  ara  rotunda 
G  H  I  K  ex  sere  fabricata  et  torno  fideliter  expolita. 
Fiat  quoque  clibanus  seu  hemisphserium  jereum 
L  M  N  O,  quam  exactissime  huic  adaptatum.  Sit 
vero  in  medio  perforatus  hie  clibanus,  et  insertum 
habeat  tubum  et  ipsum  sereum  et  utrinque  apertum 
M  P.  Habeat  quoque  clibanus  alterum  foramen,  cui 
insertus  sit  siphon  N  I  Q,  cujus  nares  pertingunt  ad 
modiolum  jereum  Q  R  S  T.  Siphon  hie  habeat 
assarium  seu  platysmation  ad  N.  Modiolo  vero 
Q  R  S  T  aptetur  embolus  V  cui  affixa  sit  regula 
firmiter  admodum  compacta  V  X,  ita  ut  a  vecte 
X  Y  Z  embolus  V  commode  moveri  possit.  Mo- 
diolus autem  Q  R  S  T  habeat  in  superiori  superficie 
aliud  foramen  3,  4,  cum  platysmatio  per  quod  aer 
ingredi  possit.  Iste  vero  ingredietur  cum  vectis 
X  Y  Z  in  Z  attollitur.  Quando  vero  idem  de- 
primitur,  platysmation  hoc  clauditur,  et  ingressus 
aer  per  siphonem  Q  I  N,  aperto  platysmatio  ad  N, 
exprimitur  in  clibanum  L  M  N  O,  unde  per  tubum 
M  P  influit  in  arcam  A  a  C  c  E  e,  cujus  aflilatu 
tibise  animantur.  Clibano  vero  L  M  N  O,  quamvis 
magni  sit  ponderes,  veluti  aeneo,  quo  tamen  fortius 
subjectum  premat  aerem  et  fidelius  ne  efflnat  cus- 
todiat,  superinfunditur  aqua,  puta  ad  f  f,  vel  altius 
si  fortiores  velimus  efficere  sonos.  Fiat  itaque  ex 
continua  vectis  agitatione,  ut  attollatur  tandem 
clibanus  L  M  N  0,  immoto  interim  perstante  tube 
M  P,  et  siphone  N  I  Q,  et  notandum  simulac 
vehementia  ingressi  spiritus  attollitur  clibanus,  tum 
quoque  sequalem  fieri  compressionem  aeris  qui  in 
area  continetur.  Licet  enim  efifluente  per  tibias 
aere  clibanus  descendat,  idemque  rursus  agitatione 
vectis  attollatur,  quamdiu  tamen  clibanus  suspensus 
et  a  fundo  separatus  manet,  tandiu  propter  sequali- 
tatem  prementis  ponderis,  sequalis  etiam  manet,  in- 
clusi  aeris  constipatio,  ipsaque  clibani  et  superinfussB 

t  Voss.  de  Poemat.  pag.  98. 


72 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IL 


'  aquas  inconstans  et  mobilis  altitude  efficit  ajqualitatem 
'  flatus,  quo  tibije  aspirantur.'  * 

The  same  author  affects  to  be  very  merry  with 
those  who  have  asserted  that  this  organ  was  mounted 
only  with  six  or  eight  tibise,  and  cites  the  foregoing 
verses  of  Claudian,  and  the  following  exclamation  of 
TertuUian,  to  prove  the  contrary : — '  Specta  porten- 
'  tosam  Archimedis  (Ctesibii  rectius  dixisset)  muni- 
'  ficentiam  :  organum  hydraulicum  dico,  tot  membra, 

*  tot  partes,  tot  compagines,  tot  itinera  vocum,  tot 
'  compendia  sonorum,  tot  commercia  modorum,  tot 
'  acies  tibiarum,  et  una  moles  erunt  omnia.  Spiritus 
'  ille  qui  de  tormento  aquae  anhelat,  per  partes  ad- 
'  ministratur,  substantia  solidus,  opera  divisus.'  f  He 
says  that  the  use  of  the  hydraulic  organ  ceased  be- 
fore the  time  of  Cassiodorus;  and  that  the  same  ap- 
pears from  a  passage  in  a  discourse  of  that  author  on 
the  hundred-and-fiftieth  Psalm,  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  as 
'  it  were  a  tower  composed  of  several  different  fistulas 

*  or  pipes,  in  which  the  most  copious  sound  is  furnished 
'  by  the  blowing  of  bellows  :  and  that  it  may  be  com- 
'  posed  of  a  graceful  modulation,  it  is  constructed  with 
'  certain  wooden  tongues  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  hydraulic 
organ  continued  in  use  lower  down  than  the  time  of 
Cassiodorus ;  for  that  in  the  French  annals  of  a 
certain  anonymous  writer,  he  is  informed  that  in  the 
year  826,  a  certain  Venetian,  called  Georgius,  or  rather 
Gregorius,  constructed  a  hydraulic  organ  for  Lewis 
the  Pious,  at  Aix  la  Chapelle,  and  that  after  the 
manner  of  the  ancients.§  He  elsewhere  says  that  tlie 
hydraulic  organ  of  Daniel  Barbaro,  described  in  his 
Commentary  on  Vitruvius,  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- 
struction 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  manifestly  intended  as  a 
censure  on  Kircher's  description  of  the  hydraulic 
organ,  and  proves  nothing  but  the  extreme  bigotry 

*  l)e  Poemat.  pa^.  101. 

In  the  cabinet  of  Christina,  queen  of  Sweden,  was  formerly  a  beautiful 
and  large  medallion  of  Valentinian  ;  having  on  the  reverse  one  of  these 
hydraulic  organs,  with  two  men,  one  on  the  right,  the  other  on  the  left 
side  thereof,  seeming  to  pump  the  water  which  plays  it,  and  to  listen  to 
the  sound  of  it.  It  had  only  eight  pipes,  and  those  were  placed  on 
a  round  pedestal ;  the  inscription  Placea  Spetri. 

t  Ibid.  pag.  105.  In  English  thus  :  Behold  the  wonderful  munificence 
of  Archimedes  !  (he  should  have  said  of  Ctesibius)  I  mean  the  hydraulic 
organ  ;  so  many  numbers,  so  many  parts,  so  many  joinings,  so  many 
roads  or  passages  for  the  voices,  such  a  compendium  of  sounds,  such  an 
intercourse  of  modes,  such  troops  of  tibiae,  and  all  composing  one  great 
whole !  The  spirit  or  air  wliich  is  breathed  out  from  this  engine  of 
water,  is  administered  through  the  parts,  solid  in  substance,  but  divided 
in  operation. 

X  Organum  itaque  est  quasi  turris  diversis  fislulis  fabricata,  quibus 
flatu  follium  vox  eopiosissima  destinatur,  et  tit  earn  modulatio  decora 
componat.  Unguis  quibusdam  ligneis  ab  interiore  parte  con.stmitur,  quas 
disoiplinabiliter  magistrorum  digiti  reprimentes  grandisouem  efficiunt 
et  iuavissimum  caatilenani.  Do  Poemat.  pag.  106. 
§  De  Poemat.  106. 
ij  Ibid  pag.  9y. 


of  Vossius.^  As  to  the  hydraulic  organs  of  modern 
Italy  of  which  Grassineau  says  there  are  several  in 
the  grottos  of  vineyards,  particularly  one  belonging 
to  the  family  d'Este,  near  the  Tiber,  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  by 
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  be  written  by  one  Dr.  Thomas  Powell, 
a  canon  of  St.  David's,  entitled  Human  Industry,  or 
a  History  of  the  Manual  Arts,  it  is  said  that  Pope 
Sylvester  II.  made  an  organ  which  was  played  on  by 
warm  water ;  and  that  such  hydraulics,  frequent  in 
Italy,  are  sounded  with  cold  water.  Oldy's  British 
Librarian,  No.  I.  pag.  51.  And  in  an  old  English 
comedy  of  Webster,  printed  in  1(323,  intitled  the 
Devil's  Law-Case,  Romelia,  a  w^ealthy  merchant  of 
Naples,  speaking  of  the  greatness  of  his  income  says, 

My  factors'  wives 

Weare  sliaperoones  of  velvet;  and  my  scriveners, 
Meerely  through  my  employment,  grow  so  rich 
They  build  their  palaces  and  belvidears 
With  musical  water-workes. 

Comedy,  which  in  general  exhibits  a  very  just  repre- 
sentation of  contemporary  manners  and  characters,  is, 
in  cases  of  this  sort,  authority  :  and  the  poet,  in  the 
passage  above-cited,  would  hardly  have  pointed  out 
this  instance  of  Italian  profusion,  had  he  not  had 
some  example  in  his  eye  to  warrant  it. 

CHAP.  XV L 

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  was  adapted  to  ;  and  particularly  whether 
those  who  have  undertaken  to  delineate  it  with  such 
exactness,  have  not  formed  an  idea  of  it  from  the 
organ  of  our  own  times,  and  done  a  violence  to 
historical  truth  by  incorporating  two  instruments, 
which  cannot  possibly  exist  in  a  state  of  union. 
And  after  all  that  can  be  said  in  favour  of  it,  the 
censure  of  Kircher  above-cited,  must  undoubtedly 
appear  to  be  very  just,  and  may  serve  to  show  what 

IT  The  enthusiastic  attachmemt  to  antiquity  of  this  author  is  strongly 
evinced  by  the  sentiments  he  entertains  of  the  energy  of  the  ancient 
Tibia,  which  he  scruples  not  to  prefer  to  every  instrument  of  modem 
invention.  His  words  are  these  : — '  As  to  what  belongs  to  the  cantus  of 
'the  Tibia  which  is  blown  upon  by  the  mouth,  I  think  it  may  be  truly 
'  said  that  the  tibicinists  know  no  more  concerning  that  instrument  than 
'  the  ancient  shepherds,  and  perliaps  not  so  much.  This  most  excellent 
'  art  is  banished  among  the  mendicants  ;  and  the  Tibia,  which  was  by 
'far  preferred  to  all  stringed  instruments,  and  to  all  other  instruments 
'  of  music,  is  now  silenced  to  such  a  degree,  that,  if  you  except  the 
'Chinese  alone,  who  excel  in  this  part,  you  will  find  none  in  this  age 
'  that  can  even  please  a  moderate  ear  ;  and  the  very  name  of  the  Tibia 
'  is  justly  despised  by  the  European  nations.  That  the  Tibia  was 
'  formerly  held  in  greater  esteem,  and  accounted  sweeter  than  the  lyre, 
'  is  not  only  evinced  by  Aristotle,  in  his  problems,  but  also  by  the  very 
'  punishment  of  Marsyas.  How  great  the  care  and  diligence  of  the 
'ancients  was  in  improving  this  instrument,  sufficiently  appears  from 
'  what  both  Theophrastus  and  Pliny  have  written  conceniing  the  reeds  of 
'the  lake  Orchomenius.  It  was  not  sufficient  that  they  were  cut  at 
'certain  periods  of  years,  when  the  lake  became  dry;  unless  they 
'  were  also  macerated  by  the  sun,  rain,  and  frost,  and  afterwards  softened 
'by  long  use;  and,  remaining  without  any  defect,  satisfied  the  wish  of 
'  the  artists.  He  who  reads  and  considers  those  things,  will  the  less 
'  wonder  that  sometimes  Tibiae  have  been  sold  for  seven  talents,  as 
'  Lucian  testifies.'     Vossius  De  Poemat.  107. 


Chap.  XVI.                                       AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC.  73 

little  reason  there  is  to  lament  the  loss  of  many  in-  The  sounds  and  their  names,  continues  this  author, 
ventions  of  the  ancients,  particularly  those  in  which  are  probably  taken  from  the  seven  planets  in  the 
the  knowledge  of  mechanics  is  any  way  concerned,  heavens  which  surround  this  earth  ;  for  it  is  said  that 
The  hydraulic  organ  is  one  of  those  ancient  inventions  all  bodies  which  are  carried  round  with  any  great 
mentioned  by  Pancirollus  as  now  lost,*  a  misfortune  degree  of  velocity,  must  necessarily,  and  by  reason  of 
which  at  this  day  we  lament  perhaps  with  as  little  their  magnitude,  and  the  celerity  of  their  motions, 
reason  as  we  should  have  for  saying  that  the  loss  of  cause  a  sound,  which  sound  will  vary  in  proportion 
the  ancient  Clepsydras  f  is  not  amply  compensated  to  the  degrees  of  magnitude  in  each,  the  celerity  of 
by  the  invention  of  clocks  and  watches.  With  their  motions,  or  the  repression  of  the  orb  wherein 
respect  to  this  instrument,  it  cannot  so  properly  be  they  act.  These  differences,  he  says,  are  manifest  in 
said  to  be  lost,  as  to  have  given  way  to  one  of  a  more  the  planets,  which  perpetually  turn  round,  and  pro- 
artificial  construction,  and  nobler  in  its  effects,  as  un-  duce  their  proper  sounds  :  for  example,  the  motion  of 
questionably  the  modern  organ  is.  It  is  remarkable  Saturn,  the  planet  most  distant  from  us,  produces 
that  those  who  would  infer  the  debility  of  the  later  a  sound  the  most  grave,  in  which  it  resembles  the 
ages,  from  the  few  remaining  monuments  of  ancient  consonance  diapason  ;  as  does  Hypate,  which  signi- 
ingenuity,  generally  confine  themselves  to  poesy,  fies  the  same  as  principal.  To  the  motion  of  the 
sculpture,  and  other  arts,  which  owe  their  perfection  moon,  the  lowest  of  the  planets,  and  nearest  the  earth, 
rather  to  adventitious  circumstances,  than  to  the  we  apply  the  most  acute  term,  called  Nete,  for 
vigorous  exertion  of  the  powers  of  invention  :  but,  Neaton  is  the  same  as  low. 

with  respect  to  instruments,  machines,  and  engines  He  then  proceeds  to  declare  the  supposed  analogy 

of  various  kinds,  it  is  not  in  the  nature  of  things  between  the  rest  of  the  planets  and  the  intermediate 

possible  but  that  mankind  must  continue  to  improve  chords,   as  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  account  of 

as  long  as  the  world  shall  last.  Pythagoras.     But   here  it  may  be  proper  to  take 

NicoMACHUs  Gerasenus,  SO  Called  from  his  having  notice  that  the  ancient  writers  were  not  unanimous 

been  born  in  Gerasa,  a  city  of  Arabia,  lived  about  in   opinion  that  the  graver   sounds  were  produced 

a.  c.  60.     He  was  a  philosopher,  and  wi'ote  an  In-  by  the    bodies  of  greatest   magnitude  :    Cicero,    in 

troduction  to  Harmony,  at  the  request,  as  it  should  particular,  is  by  Glareanus|  said  to  have  maintained 

seem  by  the  beginning  of  it,  of  some  learned  female  that  the  lesser  bodies  produce  the  graver  sounds,  and 

contemporary.     He  w\as  a  follower  of  Pythagoras ;  the  greater  the  more  acute.     And  from  this  dictum 

and  it  is  by  this  work  alone  that  we  know  how,  and  of  Cicero,  Glareanus  has  been  at  the  pains  of  forming 

by  what  means,  his  master  discovered  the  consonances,  a  diagram,  intended  to  represent  this  fanciful  coinci- 

He  begins  his  work  with  an  address  to  his  female  dence  of  revolutions  and  harmonies,  which  is  given 

friend,  whom  he  styles  the  most  virtuous  of  women ;  in  a  subsequent  page  of  this  work, 

and  reflects  with  some  concern  on  the  difference  in  In  the  Somnium  Scipionis,  which  is  what  Glareanus 

sentiment  of  the  several  writers  on  the  elements  of  means  when  he  refers  to  Cicero  de  Republica,  lib.  VI. 

harmony.     He  excuses  his  inability  to  reconcile  them  is  a  great  deal  concerning  the  music  of  the  spheres 

by  reason  of  the  long  journeys  he  is  obliged  to  take,  in   general ;    and    Macrobius,    in    his    commentary 

and  his  want  of  leisure,  which  he  prays  the  gods  to  on  that  fragment,  has  made  the  most  of  it.     Never- 

vouchsafe  him,  and  promises  to  complete  a  work  theless  the  general  sentiment  of  mankind  seems  till 

which  he  has  in  contemplation,  of  which  what  he  now  very  lately§  to  have  been  that  the  whole  doctrine 

gives  seems  to  be  but  a  part.     Professing  to  follow  is  to   be  regarded  as  a  poetical  fiction ;  and  as  to 

the  Pythagoreans,  he  considers  the  human  voice  as  the  fact,  that   it   has    no    foiuidation  in  reason  or 

emitting  sounds,  which  are  either  commensurable  by  philosophy. 

intervals,  as  when  we  are  said  to  sing ;  or  incom-  But  to  return  to  our  author  Nicomachus,  and  his 

mensurable,  as  when  we  converse  by  speech.      In  opinion  of  the  harmony  of  the  planets  :   it  is  true, 

this  latter  use  of  the  voice,  he    says,  we   are   not  says  he,  that  it  is  inaudible  to  our  ears,  but  to  our 

obliged  by  any  rule  ;  but  in  the  former  we  are  bound  reason  it  is  clear. 

to  an  observance  of  those  intervals  and  magnitudes  Nicomachus  proceeds  to  define  the  terms  made 

in  which  harmony  does  consist.  use   of   by   him,    distinguishing,    as    others   of   the 

.  „  . .    „     .   ,,     „    „                   v,-i-             ^      A-.  ancients   do,  between  sound  and   noise.     Speaking 

*  Guido  Pancirollus  De  Rerum  memorabilium   sive  deperditarum,  "">^  >-                 >                                                     n             -i  •     ^         • 

lib.  I.  cap.  ii.  of  instruments,  he  says  they  are  oi  two  kmds,  viz., 

t  Clepsydra,  an  hour-glass  made  with  water.    The  use  of  Clepsydrae  i                     hlnwn     as   avp  thp  flnfp    trnmnpt    nrcraTi 

■was  very  ancient,  and  among  the  Romans  there  were  several  sorts  of  ^UCU    aS   aiC    DlOWn,   aS    aiC  ine  nUtC,  irumpet.  Organ, 

them ;  in  general  they  resembled  a  sand  hour-glass,  which  is  composed  and    the    like  ;    Or  SUCh  aS  are  Stl'Ung,  to  wit,  the  lutC, 

of  two  vessels,  so  joined  at  top  and  bottom,  as  that  which  is  contained  -,                    JT,                   fillj.il'1                   Til, 

in  the  upper  may  run  into  the  under  of  them.    The  ClepsydrcB  contained  lyre,     aUQ     narp  ;     01     tlie     latter     KinCl     are     alSO     tne 

w-ater,  which  passing  through  a  small  hole,  imperceptibly  raised  a  piece  mouochord,  by  many  Called  the  Paudora,!]  and  by 

of  cork  with  an  mdex  fixed  thereto  that  pomted  to  the  hours  marked  on  ^       j               j                                                    mi                  .; 

the  under  glass.     They  were  all  subject  to  two  inconveniences  :  the  first  j  Dodecachordon,  lib.  II.  cap.  xiu. 

was  that  which  Plutarch  takes  notice  of,  to  wit,  that  the  water  passed 

through  with  more  or  less  difficulty,  according  as  the  air  was  more  or  §  See  a  subsequent  note,  in  the  present  book,  containing  the  senti- 

less  thick,   cold,   or  hot,  for  that  hindered  the  hours  from  being  equal ;  ments  of  Dr.  Gregory  and  Mr.  Maclaurin  on  this  subject. 

the  other  was,  that  the  water  ran  faster  at  first,  when  the  vessel  from  ||  An  appellative  from  which  the  English  word  Bandore  seems  clearly 

whence  the  water  came  was  full,  than  at  last.  to  be  derived.     Meibomius  gives  the  following  note  on  this  passage: — 

These  ClepsydrfE  were  chiefly  used  in  a  city  called  Achanta,  beyond  the  '4>ai'58p8C;.  [Phandourous.]  Hesychius  speaks  of  it  thus:  "Pandura 

Nile.     In  this  city  there  was  a  huge  vessel  of  this  kind,  into  which  "  or  Panduris  is  a  musical   instrument ;    Pandurus  he   who  plays  on 

three  hundred  and  sixty-five  priests  daily  brought  water  from  the  Nile,  'that  instrument."     Monochords  were  also  by  some  called  Phanduras. 

which  running  out  of  the  vessel  again,  declared  the  hours.     The  use  of  '  Nicomachus  here  says  the  same,  and  seems  as  if  he  approved  of  the 

the  Clepsydra  was  to  tell  the  hour  in  the  night,  or  in  cloudy  weather  '  practice.     These  instruments  are  various  ;    Pollux,  lib.  IV.  cap.  ix. 

when  it  could  not  he  found  by  the  sun-dial.  '  says ,  "  The  monochord  was  invented  by  the  Arabians,  and  the  trichord 


74 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  II. 


the  Pythagoreans  the  Canon,  and  also  the  Trigon 
or  triangular  dulcimer.  He  also  mentions  crooked 
and  other  flutes  made  of  the  box-tree,  of  which 
he  proposes  to  speak  again.  Of  the  stringed  species 
he  says  those  with  the  greater  tensions  express  the 
more  acute  sounds  ;  on  the  contrary,  those  with  the 
lesser  give  the  more  languid  and  grave ;  and  in 
instruments  that  are  blown,  the  more  hollow  and 
long,  the  more  languid  and  grave  are  their  sounds. 
He  then  proceeds  to  relate  how  Pythagoras  dis- 
covered the  consonances,  and  to  give  that  account 
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. 

But  vnthout  enquiring  farther  into  the  weight 
of  the  hammers,  and  other  circumstances  attending 
the  discovery  of  the  consonances,  we  may  very 
safely  credit  Nicomachus,  so  far  as  to  believe  that  Py- 
thagoras, by  the  means  of  chords  of  different  lengths, 
did  discover  them  ;  that  the  philosopher  to  the  sound 
produced  by  the  first  number  six,  gave  the  name 
Hypate  ;  to  eight  he  gave  Mese,  which  is  sesqui- 
tertian  thereto ;  to  nine  Paramese,  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  much  the  more  to  be 
valued,  as  we  are  told  that  in  the  ancient  or  pri- 
mitive lyre,  all  the  sounds  from  the  lowest  were 
fourths  to  each  other  ;*  whereas  in  the  Pythagorean 
lyre,  composed  of  a  tetrachord  and  pentachord  con- 
joined ;  or,  which  is  the  same,  of  two  tetrachords 
disjoined  by  an  intervening  tone,  we  have  a  continued 
progression  of  sounds. 

Nicomachus  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  conjunction  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,  signifying  ex- 
cellent.    This  tetrachord,  he  says,  consists  of  three 

"  by  the  Assyrians,  who  gave  it  the  name  of  Pandura."  He  justly  says 
'  that  Pandura  was  an  Assyrian  word.  But  the  most  learned  of  the 
'  Hebrews  do  not  seem  sufficiently  to  understand  the  sifjnification  of  it ; 
'  they  explain  it  by  a  twig  or  rod,  whip,  thong  of  leather,  as  appears 
'  from  Buxtorf  in  the  Talraudical  Lexicon,  from  Talmud  Hierosol. 
'  I  imagine  the  true  origin  of  this  appellation  to  be  this,  the  instrument 
'  was  mounted  or  stretched  with  thongs  of  bull's  hides,  in  the  same 
'  manner  as  the  pentachord  of  the  Scythians,  concerning  which  the 
'same  Pollux  speaks  thus: — "The  pentachord  is  an  invention  of  the 
"Scythians,  it  was  stretched  or  mounted  with  thongs  made  of  the  raw 
"  hides  of  oxen,  but  their  plectra  were  the  jaw  bones  of  she-goats." 
*  Nicomach.  Harmonic.  Manual,  pag.  5,  ex  vers.  Mcibom. 


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  Hypaton ;  and  each  of  the 
three  adjoined  sounds  had  the  addition  of  Hypaton 
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  Lychanos  hypaton,  for  it  matters  not 
which  it  is  called  ;  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  from  Nete  hyperboleon,  each  system 
contained  seven  chords. 

From  this  it  is  evident  that  the  additional  tetra- 
chords were  originally  adapted  to  the  system  of 
Terpander,  which  did  not  separate  Mese  from  Trite 
by  a  whole  tone,  as  that  of  Pythagoras  did.  What 
advantages  could  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  hemitones, 
instead  of  five  tones  and  two  hemitones. 

But  the  addition  of  the  new  tetrachords  to  the 
two  disjunct  tetrachords  of  Pythagoras  was  very 
natural,  and  made  way  for  what  this  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  but 
a  hemitone  distant  from  Mese,  was  manifestly  to  give 
to  Parhypate  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  chords,  which  by  the  disjunction  made 
by  Pythagoras,  and  the  addition  of  Proslambano- 
menos,  it  appears  were  encreased  to  fifteen,  with 
their  respective  tonical  distances  :  it  has  already 
been  mentioned,  that,  contrary  to  the  method  now 
in  use,  the  ancients  gave  the  most  grave  sounds  the 
uppermost  place  in  their  scale  ;  he  therefore  begins 
with  Proslambanomenos  and  reckons  downwards  to 
Nete  hyperboleon. 

He  gives  the  same  kind  of  enumeration  of  the 
several  sounds  that  compose  the  tetrachord  synem- 
menon, having  first  Trite  synemmenon  at  the  distance 
of  a  hemitone  from  Mese,  then  after  a  tone  Paranete 
synemmenon,  and  after  another  tone  Nete  synem- 
menon of  the  same  tenor  and  sound  as  Paranete 
diezeugmenon. 

Mese 

Hemitone 
Trite 

Tone 
Paranete 

Tone 
Nete 


Cpap.  X\T. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


75 


So  that  there  exist  five  tetrachords,  Hypaton, 
Meson,  Synemmenon,  Diezeugmenon,  and  Hyper- 
boleon ;  though  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  the 
third  of  these  is  but  auxiliary,  and  whenever  it  is 
used  it  is  only  in  the  room  of  the  fourth,  for  reasons 
before  given ;  and  in  these  tetrachords  there  are 
two  disjunctions  and  three  conjunctions ;  the  dis- 
junctions are  between  Nete  synemmenon  and  Nete 
diezeugmenon,  and  between  Proslambanomenos  and 
Hypate  hypaton  :  the  conjunctions  are  between  Hy- 
paton and  Meson,  and,  which  is  the  same,  Meson 
and  Synemmenon,  and  between  Diezeugmenon  and 
Hyperboleon. 

We  must  understand  that  the  foregoing  is  a  repre- 
sentation of  the  tetrachords  as  they  are  divided  in 
the  diatonic  genus,  the  characteristic  whereof  is  a 
progression  by  a  hemitone,  tone,  and  tone ;  for  as 
to  the  other  genera,  the  chromatic  and  enharmonic, 
this  author  professes  not  to  deliver  his  sentiments, 
but  promises  to  give  them  at  large,  together  with 
a  regular  progression  in  all  the  three  in  his  Commen- 
taries, a  work  he  often  speaks  of,  as  having  undertaken 
it  for  the  information  of  his  learned  correspondent : 
he  also  engages  to  give  the  testimonies  of  the  ancients, 
the  most  learned  and  eloquent  of  men  on  this  subject, 
and  an  exposition  of  Pythagoras's  section  of  the  canon, 
not  as  Eratosthenes  or  Thrasyllus  badly  understand 
it,  but  according  to  Locrus  Timseus,  the  follower  of 
Plato,  although  nothing  of  his  on  the  subject  is  re- 
maining at  this  day  ;  however  he  has  given  an  idea 
of  the  genera  in  the  following  words  : — '  The  first 
'  and  most  simple  of  consonances  is  the  diatessaron. 
'  The  diatonic  tetrachord  proceeds  by  a  hemitone,  tone, 
'  and  tone,  or  four  sounds  and  three  intervals ;  and 
'  it  is  called  diatonic,  as  proceeding  chiefly  by  tones. 
'  The  chromatic  progression  in  the  tetrachord  is  by 
'  a  hemitone,  hemitone,  and  an  incomposite  trihemi- 
'  tone,  and  therefore,  though  not  constituted  as  the 
'  other,  it  contains  an  equal  number  of  intervals. 
'  The  enharmonic  progression  is  by  a  diesis,  which 
'  is  half  a  hemitone,  another  diesis,  also  half  a  hemi- 
'  tone,  and  the  remainder  is  an  incomposite  ditone  ; 
'  and  these  latter  are  also  eqi;al  to  a  hemitone  and 
'  two  tones.  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  intermelliate  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  sounds  are 
'  changed,  with  respect  to  the  diatonic,  so  as  the 
'  enharmonic  is  opposite  to  the  diatonic,  and  the 
'  chromatic  is  in  the  middle  between  them  both  ;  for 

*  it  differs  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  call  the  extremes  of  each 
'  tetrachord  Stantes,  or  standing  sounds,  to  denote 
'  their  immovable  position.  This  then  is  the  system 
'  of  the  diapason,  whether  from  Mese  to  Proslam- 
'  banomenos,  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  should  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  six  complete 
'  whole  tones  :  *  and  with  this  agree  the  words  of 
'  Philolaus  when  he  says  that  harmony  hath  five 
'  superoctaves  and  two  dieses ;  now  a  diesis  is  the 
'  half  of  a  hemitone,  and  there  is  another  hemitone 
'  required  to  make  up  the  number  six.' 

His  second  book  Nicomachus  begins  with  an  ac- 
count of  the  invention  of  the  lyre  of  Mercury, 
already  related,  and  which  has  been  adopted  by 
almost  every  succeeding  writer  on  music,  adding 
that  some  among  the  ancients  ascribed  it  to  Cadmus 
the  son  of  Agenor.  He  proceeds  to  state  the  pro- 
portions, which  he  does  in  a  way  not  easily  recon- 
cileable  with  the  practice  of  the  moderns  :  he  then 
reconsiders  the  supposed  relation  between  the  sounds 
in  the  harmo^ilcal  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  Saturn,  as  the  chief  of  the  planets,  and  Nete  to 
Luna,  as  the  least.  Mese  is  Sol,  Parhypate  is  attri- 
buted to  Jove,  Paramese  not  to  Mercury  but  to 
Venus,  by  a  perverse  order,  says  his  editor,  unless 
there  is  an  error  in  the  manuscript.  Paramese  to 
Mars,  Trite  to  Venus,  Luna  or  the  Moon  is  said  to 
be  acute,  as  it  answers  to  Nete ;  and  Saturn  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  profound  parts  of 
the  body,  and  therefore  are  properly  adapted  to  the 
lower  orbs ;  whereas  the  acute  sounds  are  formed  in 
the  higher  parts,  and  do  therefore  more  naturally 
resemble  the  more  remote  of  the  heavenly  bodies  : — 
Saturn  -  -  .  -  Nete 
Jupiter  .  -  -  -  Paranete 
Mars  ...         -       Paramese 

Sol  ...         -       Mese 

Venus         ....       Lichanos 
Mercury     ....       Parhypate 
Luna  ....       Hypate 

Nicomachus  then  proceeds  to  enumerate  the  several 
persons  who  added  to  the  system  of  the  diapason, 
completed  as  it  was  by  Pythagoras ;  but  as  he  ex- 
pressly says  the  additional  chords  were  not  adjusted 
in  any  precise  ratio,  and  as  their  names  have  already 
been  given,  it  seems  needless  to  be  more  particular 
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  Nichomachus  lived  a.  c.  GO,  and  that 
Claudius  Ptolemaius  flourished  about  one  hundred 
and  forty  years  after  the  commencement  of  the 
Christian  ^ra,  there  arises  an  anachronism,  which  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 

*  This  is  (lemnnstrated  by  Ptolemy,  lib  I.  cap.  xi.  of  his  Harmonics, 
and  also  by  Boetius,  lib  V.  cap.  xiii. 


76 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  II, 


writers,  it  is  evident  that  the  ancients  were  not  wholly- 
unacquainted  with  the  doctrine  of  the  vibrations  of 
chords  :  they  had  observed  that  the  acute  sounds 
were  produced  by  quick,  and  the  grave  by  slow 
motions,  and  that  the  consonances  arose  from  a  coin- 
cidence of  both ;  but  it  no  where  appears  that  they 
made  any  use  of  the  coincidences  in  adjusting  the 
ratios  of  the  consonances ;  on  the  contrary,  they 
seem  to  have  referred  the  whole  to  the  ratio  of  lengths 
and  tensions  by  weights,  and  a  division  of  the  mono- 
chord  ;  and  in  this  respect  it  is  unquestionably  true 
that  the  speculative  part  of  music  has  received  con- 
siderable advantages  from  those  improvements  in 
natural  philosophy  which  in  the  latter  ages  have  been 
made.  The  inquisitive  and  acurate  Galileo  was  the 
first  that  investigated  the  laws  of  pendulums  ;  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  subsists  a  duplicate  proportion 
of  length  to  velocity  ;  and  that  the  length  quadrupled 
will  subduple  the  velocity  of  the  vibrations,  and  the 
length  subquadrupled  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  use,  as  they  were  soon  after 
the  making  of  them  applied  to  the  measure  of  time, 
and  other  most  valuable  purposes. 

Having  given  an  extract  which  contains  in  substance 
almost  the  whole  of  what  Nicomachus  has  given  us  on 
the  subject  of  harmony,  it  remains  to  observe  that 
his  work  is  manifestly  incomplete  :  it  appears  from 
his  own  words  to  have  been  written  while  he  was 
upon  a  journey,  and  for  the  particular  information  of 
the  lady  to  whom  he  has,  in  terms  of  the  greatest 
respect,  inscribed  it ;  and  is  no  other  than  what  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  treatise  De  Musica,  cites  divers  passages  from 
Nicomachus  that  are  not  to  be  found  in  this  discourse 
of  his,  from  whence  it  is  highly  probable  that  he  had 
seen  those  commentaries  which  are  ])romised  in  it, 
or  some  other  tract,  of  which  at  this  distance  of  time 
no  account  can  be  given. 

CHAP.    XVII. 

Plutarch  is  also  to  be  numbered  among  the 
ancient  writers  on  music,  for  in  his  Symposiacs  is 
a  discourse  on  that  subject,  which  is  much  celebrated 
by  Meibomius,  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  discourse 
contains  in  it  more  of  the  history  of  the  ancient 
music  and  musicians  than  is  to  be  met  with  anywhere 
else,  for  which  reason  it  is  here  meant  to  give  a 
copious  extract  from  it.     It  ia  written  in  dialogue  ; 


the  speakers  are  Onesicrates,  Soterichus,  and  Lysias. 
The  latter  of  these,  in  answer  to  a  request  of  One- 
sicrates, 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  Eubean  composed  elegies : 
Anthes  of  Anthedon  in  Boeotia  was  the  first  author 
of  hymns,  and  Pierius  of  Pieria  of  verses  in  honour 
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  about  the  temple  of  Delphos.  Thamyris, 
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 
Muses ;  he  wrought  into  a  poem  the  war  of  the 
Titans  against  the  gods.  Demodocus  the  Corcyrean 
wrote  in  verse  the  history  of  the  destruction  of 
Troy,  and  the  nuptials  of  Vulcan  and  Venus.  To 
him  succeeded  Phemius  of  Ithaca,  who  composed 
a  poem  on  the  return  of  those  who  came  back  with 
Agamemnon  from  the  siege  of  Troy ;  and  besides 
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  which  the  metre  of  verses, 
and  consequently  the  musical  measure,  were  re- 
gulated ;  and  according  to  these  rules  he  set  musical 
notes  both  to  his  own  and  Homer's  words,  and  sun? 
them  at  the  public  games  to  the  music  of  the  lyre. 
Clonas,  an  epic  and  elegiac  poet,  taking  Terpander 
for  his  example,  constituted  rules  which  should 
adjust  and  govern  the  tuning  and  melody  of  flutes 
or  pipes,  and  such-like  wind-instruments ;  and  in 
this  he  was  followed  by  Polymnestes  the  Colo- 
phonian. 

*  Timotheus  is  said  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  ancient  of 
musicians,  he  is  recorded  to  have  been  four  times 
a  victor  at  the  Pythian  games. 

*  Alexander  the  historian  says,  that  Olympus 
brought  into  Greece  the  practice  of  touching  the 
strings  of  the  lyre  with  a  quill ;  for  before  his  time 
they  were  touched  by  the  fingers :  and  that  Hyagnis 
was  the  first  that  sang  to  the  pipe,  and  Marsyas  his 
son  the  next,  and  that  both  these  were  prior  to 
Olympus.  He  farther  says  that  Terpander  imitated 
Homer  in  his  verses,  and  Orpheus  in  his  music  ; 
but  that  Orpheus  imitated  no  one.  That  Clonas, 
who  was  some  time  later  than  Terpander,  was,  as 
the  Arcadians  affirm,  a  native  of  Tegea,  a  city  of 
Arcadia ;  though  others  contend  that  he  was  born 
in  Thebes ;  and  that  after  Terpander  and  Clonas 
flourished   Archilochus  :   yet  some   writers  afifiim 


Chap.  XVIL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


77 


'  that   Ardalus   the    Troezenian  taught  wind-music 
'  before  Clonas. 

'  The  music  appropriated  to  the  lyre  under  the 
'  regulations  of  Terpander  continued  without  any 
'  variation,  till  Phrynis  became  famous,  who  altered 
'  both  the  ancient  rules,  and  the  form  of  the  instru- 
'  ment  to  which  they  were  adapted.' 

Having  thus  discoursed  concerning  the  ancient 
musicians,  and  stringed  and  wind-instruments  in 
general,  Lysias  proceeds,  and  confining  himself  to 
the  instruments  of  the  latter  kind,  speaks  to  this 
effect : — 

'  Olympus,  a  Phrygian,  and  a  player  on  the  flute, 
invented  a  certain  measure  in  honour  of  Apollo, 
which  he  called  Polycephalus  or  of  many  heads. 
This  Olympus,  as  it  is  said,  was  descended  from  the 
first  Olympus,  the  son  of  Marsyas,  who  being 
taught  by  his  father  to  play  on  the  flute,  first 
brought  into  Greece  the  laws  of  harmony.  Others 
ascribe  the  invention  of  the  Polycephalus  to  Crates, 
the  disciple  of  Olympus.  The  same  Olympus  was 
the  author  of  the  Harmatian  mood,  as  Glaucus 
testifies  in  his  treatise  of  the  ancient  poets,  and  as 
some  think  of  the  Orthian  mood  also.*  There  was 
also  another  mood  in  use  among  the  ancients,  termed 
Cradias,  which  Hipponax  the  Mimnermian  greatly 
delighted  in.  Sacadas  of  Argos,  being  himself  a 
good  poet,  composed  the  music  to  several  odes  and 
elegies,  and  became  thrice  a  victor  at  the  Pythian 
games.  It  is  said  that  this  Sacadas,  in  conjunction 
with  Polymnestes,  invented  three  of  the  moods,  the 
Dorian,  the  Phrygian,  and  the  Lydian  ;  and  that 
the  former  composed  a  strophe,  the  music  whereof 
was  a  commixture  of  all  the  three.  The  original 
constitution  of  the  modes  was  undoubtedly  by 
Terpander,  at  Sparta ;  but  it  was  much  improved 
by  Thales  the  Gortynian,  Xenedamus  the  Cytherian, 
Xenocritus  the  Locrian,  and  Polymnestes  the  Colo- 
phonian. 

'  Aristoxenus  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  measures  of  time,  they  were  in- 
vented at  different  periods  and  by  different  persons. 
Terpander,  amongst  other  improvements  which  he 
made  in  music,  introduced  those  grave -and  decent 
measures  which  are  its  greatest  ornament ;  after 
him,  besides  those  of  Terpander,  which  he  did  not 
reject,  Polymnestes  brought  into  use  other  measures 
of  his  own ;  as  did  also  Thales  and  Sacadas,  who, 
though  of  fertile  inventions,  kept  within  the  bounds 
of  decorum.  Other  improvements  were  also  made 
by  Stesichorus  and  Alcmas,  who  nevertheless  re- 

*  These  moods,  the  Harmation  and  Orthian,  were  unquestionably 
moods  of  time.  The  fonner,  if  we  may  trust  the  English  translator  of 
Plutarch's  Dialogue  on  Music,  as  it  stands  in  the  first  volume  of  his 
Morals,  Lond.  1684,  was  the  measure  termed  by  Zarlino,  La  Curule,  in 
which  it  is  supposed  was  sung  the  story  of  Hector's  death,  and  of  the 
dragging  him  in  a  chariot  round  the  walls  of  Troy  :  of  the  Orthian  mood 
the  same  translator  gives  the  following  description : — '  This  mood  con- 
'  sisted  of  swift  and  loud  notes,  and  was  used  to  inflame  the  courage  of 
'  soldiers  going  to  battle,  and  is  mentioned  by  Homer  in  the  seventh 
'  book  of  the  Iliad,  and  described  by  Eustathius.  This  mood  Arion 
'made  use  of  when  he  flung  himself  into  the  sea,  as  Aulus  Gellius 
'  writes,  lib.  XVI.  cap.  xix.  the  time  of  it  was  two  down  and  four  up.' 
Meibomius  on  Aristides. 


'  ceded  not  from  the  ancient  forms ;  but  Crexus, 
'  Timotheus,  and  Philoxenus,  and  others  of  the  same 
'  age,  affecting  novelty,  departed  from  the  plainness 
*  and  majesty  of  the  ancient  music' 

Another  of  the  interlocutors  in  this  dialogue  of 
Plutarch,  Soterichus  by  name,  who  is  represented 
as  one  not  only  skilled  in  the  science  but  eminently 
learned,  speaks  of  the  invention  and  progress  of 
music  to  this  effect : — 

'  Music  was  not  the  invention  of  any  mortal, 
but  we  owe  it  to  the  god  Apollo.  The  flute  was 
invented  neither  by  Marsyas,  nor  Olympus,  nor 
Hyagnis,  but  Apollo  invented  both  that  and  the 
lyre,  and,  in  a  word,  all  manner  of  vocal  and 
instrumental  music.  This  is  manifest  from  the 
dances  and  sacrifices  which  were  solemnized  in 
honour  of  Apollo.  His  statue,  placed  in  the  tem- 
ple of  Delos,  holds  in  his  right  hand  a  bow,  and 
at  his  left  the  Graces  stand  with  each  a  musical 
instrument  in  her  hand,  one  bearing  a  lyre,  another 
a  flute,  and  another  a  shepherd's  pipe  ;  and  this 
statue  is  reported  to  be  as  ancient  as  the  time  of 
Hercules.  The  youth  also  that  carries  the  tempic 
laurel  into  Delphos  is  attended  by  one  playing 
on  the  flute ;  and  the  sacred  presents  of  the  Hyper- 
boreans were  sent  of  old  to  Delos,  attended  by 
flutes,  pipes,  and  lyres ;  and  some  have  asserted 
that  the  God  himself  played  on  the  flute.  Venerable 
therefore  is  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  instituted,  was  very  doleful, 
and  suited  only  to  lamentations ;  wherefore  Plato 
in  his  Republic  utterly  rejects  it.  Aristoxenus 
in  the  first  book  of  his  Harmonics  relates  that 
Olympus  sung  an  elegy  in  that  mode  on  the  death 
of  Python ;  though  some  attribute  the  invention  of 
the  Lydian  mode  to  Menalippides,  and  others  to 
Torebus.  Pindar  asserts  that  it  was  first  used  at 
the  nuptials  of  Niobe ;  Aristoxenus,  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  flute,  and  also  Lysis  the  Athenian, 
invented  this  conjunction  of  the  Dorian  with  the 
Lydian  mode.  As  to  the  softer  Lydian,  w^hich  was 
of  a  nature  contrary  to  the  Lydian  properly  so 
called,  and  more  resembling  the  Ionian,  it  is  said 
to  have  been  invented  by  Damon  the  Athenian. 
Plato  deservedly  rejected  these  effeminate  modes, 
and  made  choice  of  the  Dorian,  as  more  suitable 
to  warlike  tempers ;  not  that  we  are  to  suppose  him 
ignorant  of  what  Aristoxenus  has  said  in  his  second 
book,  that  in  a  wary  and  circumspect  government 
advantages  might  be  derived  from  the  use  of  the 
other  modes ;  for  Plato  attributed  much  to  music, 
as  having  been  a  hearer  of  Draco  the  Athenian, 
and  Metellus  of  Agrigentum  ;  but  it  was  the  con- 
sideration of  its  superior  dignity  and  majesty  that 
induced  him  to  prefer  the  Dorian  mode.  He  knew 
moreover  that  Alcmas,  Pindar,  Simonides,  and 
Bacchylides,   had  composed  several   Parthenioi   in 


78 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IL 


'  the  Dorian  mode ;  and  that  supplications  and  hymns 
'to  the  Gods,  tragical  lamentations,  and  sometimes 
'  love-verses  were  also  composed  in  it ;  but  he  con- 

*  tented  himself  with  such  songs  as  were  made   in 

*  honour  of  Mars  and  Minerva,  or  those  other  that 
'  were  usually  sung  at  the  solemn  offerings  called 

*  Spondalia.     The  Lydian  and  Ionian  modes  were 

*  chiefly  used  by  the  tragedians,  and  with  these  also 

*  Plato  was  well  acquainted.  As  to  the  instruments 
'  of  the  ancients,  they  were  in  general  of  a  narrow 
'  compass  ;  the  lyre  used  by  Olympus  and  Terpander, 
•and  their  followers,  had  but  three  chords,  which 
'  is  not  to  be  imputed  to  ignorance  in  them,  for  those 
'  musicians  who  made  use  of  more  were  greatly  their 
'  inferiors  both  in  skill  and  practice. 

*  The  chromatic  genus  was  formerly  used  by  those 
'  who  played  on  the  lyre,  but  by  the  tragedians  never. 
'  It  is  certainly  of  greater  antiquity    than  the  enar- 

*  monic ;  yet  the  preference  given  to  the  diatonic  and 
'  enarmonic  was  not  owing  to  ignorance,  but  was  the 
'  effect  of  judgment.  Telephanes  of  Megara  was 
*so  great  an  enemy  to  the  syrinx  or  reed-pipe,  that 
'  he  would  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 
'the  Pythian  games.  In  short,  if  a  man  is  to  be 
'  deemed  ignorant  of  that  which  he  makes  no  use  of, 
'  there  would  be  found  a  great  number  of  ignorant 

*  persons  in  this  age  ;  for  we  see  that  the  admirers 
'  of  the  Dorian  mode  make  no  use  of  the  Anti- 
'  genidian  method  of  composition  :  and  other  musi- 
'  cians  refuse  to  imitate  Timotheus,  being  bewitched 
'  with  the  trifles  and  idle  poems  of  Polyeides. 

'  If  we  compare  antiquity  with  the  present  times, 
'  we  shall  find  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  because  of  their  ignorance,  but  in  consequence 
'  of  their  judgment,  refrain  from  broken  measures ; 
'  and  if  Plato  preferred  the  Dorian  to  the  other  modes, 
'  it  was  only  because  he  was  the  better  musician  ;  and 
'  that  he  was  eminently  skilled  in  the  science  appears 
'  from  what  he  has  said  concerning  the  procreation  of 
'  the  soul  in  his  Timaeus. 

'  Aristotle,  who  was  a  disciple  of  Plato,  thus 
'labours  to  convince  the  world  of  the  majesty  and 
'  divine  nature  of  music :  "  Harmony,  saith  he, 
"  descended  from  heaven,  and  is  of  a  divine,  noble, 
"  and  angelic  nature ;  being  fourfold  as  to  its  efficacy, 
'•  it  has  two  mediums,  the  one  arithmetical,  the  other 
"  harmonical.  As  for  its  members,  its  dimensions, 
"  and  excesses  of  intervals,  they  are  best  discovered 
"  by  number  and  equality  of  measure,  the  whole 
"  system  being  contained  in  two  tetrachords." 

'  The  ancient  Greeks  were  very  careful  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  Cretans  did  the  same  ;  and 
'  in  our  times  the  trumpet  succeeding  the  pipe,  as 
'  being  more  sonorous,  is  used  for  the  same  purpose. 

*  The  Argives  indeed  at  their  wrestling  matches  made 
'  use  of  fifes  called  Schenia,  which  sort  of  exercise 
'  was  at  first  instituted  in  honour  of  Danaus,  but 
'  afterwards  was  consecrated  to  Jupiter  Schenius  or 
'  the  Mighty  ;  and  at  this  day  it  is  the  custom  to  use 
'  fifes  at  the  games  called  Pentathla,  which  consist  of 
'  cuffing,  running,  dancing,  hurling  the  ball,  and 
'  wrestling.  But  among  the  ancients,  music  in  the 
'  theatres  was  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 
'  musicians  study  only  compositions  for  the  stage. 

'  If  it  should  be  demanded.  Is  music  ever  to  remain 
'  the  same,  and  is  there  not  room  for  new  inventions  ? 

*  The  answer  is  that  new  inventions  are  allowed,  so 
'  as  they  be  grave  and  decent ;  the  ancients  them- 
'  selves  were  continually  adding  to  and  improving 
'  their  music.    Even  the  whole  Mixolydian  mode  was 

*  a  new  invention ;  such  also  were  the  Orthian  and 
'  Trochean  songs ;  and,  if  we  may  believe  Pindar, 
'  Terpander  was  the  inventor  of  the  Scolian  song,  and 
'  Archilocus  of  the  iambic  and  divers  other  measures, 
'  which  the  tragedians  took  from  him,  and  Crexus 
'  from  them.     The  Hypolydian  mode  was  the  inven- 

*  tion  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  enarmonic  geims,  and  also  the  Pro- 
'  sodiac,  the  Chorian,  and  the  Bacchian  measures  ;  all 
'  of  which  it  is  manifest  were  of  ancient  invention. 
'  But  Lasus  Hermionensis*  applying  these  measures 
'  to  his  dithyrambic  compositions,  and  making  use  of  an 
'  instrument  with  many  holes,  by  an  addition  of  tones 
'  and  hemitones  made  an  absolute  innovation  in  the 
'  ancient  music.  In  like  manner  Menalippides,  the 
'  lyric  poet,  Philoxenus,  and  Timotheus,  all  forsook 
'  the  ancient  method.  The  latter,  until  the  time  of 
'  Terpander,  of  Antissa,  used  a  lyre  with  only  seven 
'  strings,  but  afterwards  he  added  to  that  number. 
'  The  wind-instruments  also  received  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  introduced. 

'  In  ancient  times,  when  Poetry  held  the  precedency 
'  of  the  other  arts,  the  musicians  who  played  on  wind- 
'  instruments  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,  introduces  Music  in 
'  the  habit  of  a  woman  with  her  face  torn  and  bruised  ; 
'  and  also  Justice,  the  latter  of  whom,  demanding  the 
'  reason  of  her  appearing  in  that  condition,  is  thus 
'  answered  by  Music  : — f 

*  Lasus  Charbini,  from  Hermione,  a  city  of  Achaia,  lived  about  the 
58th  Olympiad,  in  the  time  of  Darius  Hystaspes:  some  reckon  liim 
among  the  seven  wise  men,  in  the  room  of  Periander.  He  was  tlie  first 
who  wrote  a  hook  concerning  music,  and  brought  the  dithyrambics  into 
the  games  and  exercises,  where  he  was  a  judge  or  moderator,  deciding 
contentious  disputations.  This  Lasus  was  a  musician  of  great  fame,  and 
is  mentioned  by  Plutarch  as  the  first  who  changed  any  thing  in  the 
ancient  music.     Meibom.  on  Anstoxenus,  from  Suidas. 

t  This  Pherecrates,  the  comic  poet,  lived  in  tlie  time  of  Alexander  the 


Chap.  XVII.                                      AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC.  79 

"  It  is  my  part  to  speak  and  yours  to  hear,  there-  '  been  for  the  tutor  first  to  consider  the  genius  and 

*  fore  attend  to  my  complaints.  I  hstve  suffered  '  inclination  of  the  learner,  and  then  to  instruct  him 
'  much,  and  have  long  been  oppressed  by  that  beast  '  in  such  parts  of  the  science  as  he  should  discover 
'  Menalippides,  who  dragged  me  from  the  fountain  '  most  affection  for ;  but  the  more  prudent  sort,  as 
'  of  Parnassus,  and  has  tormented  me  with  twelve  '  the  Lacedemonians  of  old,  the  Mantingeans,  and 
'  strings  :    to  complete  my  miseries,    Cinesian,   the  '  Pellenians,  rejected  this  method.' 

'  Athenian,   a  pretender  to   poetry,  composed  such  Here   the    discourse   of    Soterichus    grows    very 

'  horrid  strophes  and  mangled  verses,  that  I,  tortured  obscure,   and  has  a  reference  to  terms  of  which  a 

'  with  the  pain  of  his  dithyrambics,  was  so  distorted  modern  can  entertain  no  idea.    Farther  on  he  resumes 

'  that  you  would  have  sworn  that  my  right  side  was  the  consideration  of  the  genera,  which  he  speaks  of 

'  my  left :    nor  did  my  misfortunes  end   here,   for  to  this  effect : — 

'  Phrynis,  in  whose  brains  is  a  whirlwind,  racked  me  '  Now  then,  there  being  three  genera  of  harmony, 

*  with  small  wires,  from  which  he  produced  twelve  '  equal  in  the  quantity  of  systems  or  intervals,  and 
'  tiresome  harmonies.  But  him  I  blame  not  so  much,  '  number  of  tetrachords,  we  find  not  that  the  ancients 
'  because  he  soon  repented  of  his  errors,  as  I  do  '  disputed  about  any  of  them  except  the  enarmonic, 
'  Timotheus,  who  has  thus  furrowed  my  face,  and  '  and  as  to  that  they  differed  only  about  the  interval 
'  ploughed  my  cheeks  ;    and  Pyrrias,  the  Milesian.  '  called  the  diapason.' 

*  who,  as  I  walked  the  streets,  met  me,  and  with  his  The  speaker,  by  whom  all  this  while  we  are  to 
'  twelve  strings  bound  and  left  me  helpless  on  the  understand  Soterichus,  then  proceeds  to  shew  that  a 
'earth."  mere  musician  is  an  incompetent  judge  of  music  in 

'  That  virtuous  manners  are  in  a  great  measure  the  general ;  and  to  this  purpose  he  asserts  that  Pytha- 

effect  of  a  well-grounded  musical  education,  Aris-  goras  rejected  the  judgment  of  music  by  the  senses, 

toxenus  has  made  apparent.     He  mentions  Telesias,  and  maintained  that  the  whole  system  was  included 

the  Theban,  a  contemporary  of  his,  who  being  a  in  the  diapason.     He  adds,  that  the  later  musicians 

youth,  had  been  taught  the  noblest  excellencies  of  had  totally  exploded  the  most  noble  of  the  modes ; 

music,  and  had  studied  the  best  Lyric  poets,  and  that  they  made  hardly  the  least  account  of  the  enar- 

withal  played  to  perfection  on  the  flute ;  but  being  monic  intervals,  and  were  grown  so  ignorant  as  to 

past  the  prime  of  his  age,  he  became  infatuated  with  believe  that  the  enarmonic  diesis  did  not  fall  within 

the  corrupted  music  of  the  theatres,  and  the  inno-  the  apprehension  of  sense. 

vations  of  Philoxenus  and  Timotheus  ;  and  when  he  He  then  enumerates  the  advantages   that  accrue 

laboured  to  compose  verses,  both  in  the  manner  of  from  the  use  of  music,  and  cites  Homer  to  prove  its 

Pindar  and  of  Philoxenus,  he  could  succeed  only  in  effects  on  Achilles  in  the  height  of  his  fury  against 

the  former,  and  this  proceeded  from  the  truth  and  Agamemnon :  he  speaks  also  of  a  sedition  among  the 

exactness  of  his  education  ;  therefore  if  it  be  the  aim  Lacedemonians,  which  Terpander  appeased  by  the 

of  any  one  to  excel  in  music,  let  him  imitate  the  power  of  his  music ;  and  a  pestilence  among  the  same 

ancients ;  let  him  also  study  the  other  sciences,  and  people,  which  Thales,  the  Cretan,  stopped  by  the 

make  philosophy  his  tutor,  which  will  enable  him  same  means, 

to  judge  of  what  is  decent  and  useful  in  music.  Onesicrates,  who  hitherto  appears  to  have  acted 

'  The  genera  of  music  are  three,  the  diatonic,  the  the  part  of  a  moderator  in  this  colloquy,  after  be- 

chromatic,  and  enarmonic  ;  and  it  concerns  an  under-  stowing   his   commendations   both    on    Lysias    and 

standing  artist  to  know  which  of  these  three  kinds  Soterichus,  addresses  them  in  these  terms  : — 

is  the  most  pi'oper  for  any  given  subject  of  poetry.  '  But  for  all  this,  my  most  honoured  friends,  you 

'  In  musical  instruction  the  way  has   sometimes  '  seem   to   have   forgotten   the   chief  of    all   music. 

Great,  and  attended  him,  as  we  are  told,  in  his  expeditions,  [Suid.  in  '  PythagOraS,    ArchytaS,    Plato,    and    many    OthcrS    of 

Pherecrates]  and  was  contemporary  with  Aristophanes,  Plato,  Eupolis  '  thc  auciont  philosopcrs  maintain  that  there  COuld  be 

and  Phrynicus,  all  comic  writers  [Id.  in  Plato].     Phrynis,  who  played  on  c                 x-            x-  xi            i                  -ii        i.              •         •            xi     ^ 

the  lyre,  was  the  son  of  Gabon  [Id.  in  Phrynis],  and  scholar  of  Aristo-  ^^  motlOU  ot   the   Spheres  Wlthout   mUSlC,  SmCC    that 

cieides   who  pretended  to  be  of  the  family  of  Terpander,  and  was  a  'the  Supreme  Deity  Constituted  all  thiuffs  harmo- 

favounte  with  Hiero,  kmg  of  Sicily,  as  some  accounts  tell  us,  which  ,     •         ^          ^     i.               Vt             ij-l                             ii 

would  throw  him  back  near  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  in  time  before  niOUSly  ;    DUt  nOW  it  WOUld  DC  Unseasonable  tO  enter 

our  poet  Pherecrates  :  but  if  we  may  believe  Plutarch,  he  should  have  <  ■^^^^n■n  a  rliapnnrqp  fin  tint  ciiibippt  ' 

been  a  contemporary  with  the  poet  at  least,  if  he  personally  contended  ^POU  a  QlSCOUrse  OU  tliat  SUDjCCt. 

the  music  prise  with  Timotheus,  with  whose  playing  we  are  told  Alex-  And    SO    Singing    a    hymn    tO    the     Gods    and    the 

ander's  spirit  was  so  raised  and  animated  to  war.     [Suid  in  Timotheus.]  Mnqp"?    OTipmVratp<?  fli<?Tnis<?pc?  thp  pninmnv 

But  may  it  not  be  said  that  Timotheus  did  contend  the  prize  against  -l^^USeS,  UUeSICraiCS  CUSmiSSCS  tUC  Company. 

some  piece  formerly  composed  by  Phrynis,  as  the  dramatic  poets  some-  Thus    Cuds    the    DialoSTUC    of    Plutai'ch    OU    mUsic, 

times  contested  the  priority  against  a  play  of  some  deceased  poet  ?   If  so,  i-   i      i.i           r              i    i       ?  j            i        p        x-       •.         •      • 

Phrynis  then  might  have  lived  as  early  as  the  period  mentioned  by  whlch,  though  a  celebrated  WOrk   ot   antiquity,   IS   in 

^"r'f ?.■  fr„„  ;„Ho  ^  t.1  *    u     u      ,.     •          .-u-      ■  .  .  the  judgment  of  some  persons  rendered  still  more 

It  is  true  mdeed  Plutarch,  where  he  gives  us  this  point  of  hi.story,  i      ,  t     i       .1                           p            -m                ,            i-   .     1 

does  not  mention  Phrynis  by  name,  but  distinguishes  him  only  as  the  Valuable  by  the   passage   f  I'Oni   PherCCratCS,  whlch   he 

son   of    Gabon,   and   by  his  nickname   lu)VOKa^irTr]Q,   lonocamptes ;  haS  introduced  iutO  it.       The  least  that  CaU  be  Said  of 

which  sarcastical  addition  he  obtained,  because  by  his  effeminate  modu-  1  •    1     •       .i     x       -.i         .                              .     •.    •               ^    .       • 

lations  he  had  corrupted  the  old  music  in  the  like  manner  as  the  Ionic  WlllCh  IS,  tliat  WltUOUt   a    Comment    it  IS   UCXt   tO   im- 

UbTv!  Tap.  i'x^1fb\'*"'''''^  *^^  °''*  ™^'''"^^ '^^"'"-    J"i- Po""'''  possible  to  understand  it:    the  following   remarks. 

The  same   Phrynis  is  likewise  rallied  by  Aristophanes  [in  Nubibus,  whicll  Were    COmmunicated    tO    the    late    Dr.  PepUSCh 

V.  967]  and  others  of  the  comic  poets,  for  the  levity  of  his  compositions!  bv  a  learned  but  anouvmous  Correspondent  of  his, 

and  for  overdoing  every  thing  in  his  performance.     He  was  marked  out,  x             j        -i.  •                   j               •    j.   ^^•    •^  ^ 

even  to  infamy,  for  his  innovations  in  music ;  for  his  ooft  and  affected        ™^.V  .^fO  ^l^ar  tO  render  it  in  SOme  degree  intelligible  : 

^»^Jc'''t?VTl''!M'Jpr.',in'?hw^°n!^''"'^"'"*^^"^^  'The  poet,  speaking  of  the  successive  abuses  of 

music;    for  his  internunglnig  and   confounding  the  modes;    and   for  ,            •                   •           f      .  S^i           •             1      c                 i     m- 

debasing  the  science  to  parasitism  and  servile  offices.  mUSlC,  mCUtlOUS  first  PhryniS,  and  afterwards  i  imO- 


80                                                       HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE                                            Book  IL 

'  theus  ;  so  that  Phrynis  should  seem  to  have  led  the  '  said  to  be  so  offensive  to  the  Lacedaemonians,  it  was 

'  way  to  the  abuses  which  Timotheus  is  reprehended  '  not  the  first  time  of  their  having  been  put  in  practice  ; 

'  for,  or  rather  gave  into,  to  the  prejudice  of  music ;  '  for    Phrynis    had    before  done  the  like,  and  been 

'  and  it  is  probable  he  did  so,  from  a  speech  of  Agis  '  punished,  as  we  shall  find,  in  the  same  manner. 

'  made  to  Leonidas,  which  is  transmitted  to  us  by  '  These  accounts  therefore  go  thus  far  towards  an 

'  Plutarch  in  the  life  of  Agis.  *  explanation  of  one  part  of  the  passage  before  us  ; 

'  What  we  want  the  explanation  of,  is  that  passage  '  that  as  to  the  five  strings,  we  may  be  pretty  certain 

'  of  Pherecrates  which  relates  to  the  five  strings  and  '  that  the  lyre  of  Phrynis  was  not  confined  to  that 

'  the  twelve  harmonies.  '  number,  nay  we  have  particular  testimonies  that 

*  From  the  time  of  Terpander,  and  upwards,  we  '  Phrynis  himself  was  noted  for  playing  on  the  lyre 

*  know  that  the  lyre  had  seven  strings,  and  those  '  with  more  than  seven  strings ;  the  system  of  the 

*  adjusted  to  the  number  of  the  seven  planets,  and  as  *  lyre,  from  the  time  of  Terpander  to  that  of  Phrynis, 

*  some  suppose  to  their  motions  also.  For  though  *  had  continued  altogether  simple  and  plain,  but 
'  Euphorion  in  Athenaeus  is  made  to  say,  that  the  use  *  Phrynis   beginning  to   subvert  this  simplicity  by 

*  of  the  instruments  with  many  strings  was  of  very  '  adding  two  strings  to  his  instrument,  we  are  told 
'  great  antiquity,  yet  the  lyre  was  reckoned  complete,  '  by  Plutarch,  in  more  than  one  passage,  that  Ecprepes 

*  and  to   have  attained  the  full  measure  of  perfect  *  the  magistrate  cut  off  two  of  his  nine  strings.'  § 

'  harmony  when  it  had  seven  strings  ;    because,  as  '  The  next  thing  therefore  to  be  enquired  into,  is 

*  Aristotle  obsei-ved,  the  harmonies  consisted  in  the  *  what  the  poet  could  mean  by  playing  twelve  har- 
'  number  of  chords,  and  because  that  was  the  number  *  monies  on  five  strings  '? 

*  of  old  used.  '  Perhaps  by   Harmonies   we   are   to   understand 

'  And    therefore    when    Timotheus    added    four  '  Modes ;   and  if  so,  Phrjoiis  may  be  ridiculed  for 

'  strings  to  the  former  seven,  that  innovation  was  so  '  such  a  volubility  of  hand,  and  such  an  affectation  of 

'  offensive  to  the  Lacjedemonians,  that  he  was  formally  '  variety,  that  he  extracted  a  dozen  tones  from  five 

*  prosecuted  for  the  presumption ;  and  it  was  one  of  '  strings   only,  or   that  he  played   over   the   whole 

*  the  causes  for  which  they  were  said  to  have  banished  '  twelve  modes  within  that  compass.  For  besides 
'  him  their  state.     The  edict  by  which  they  did  so,  *  the  seven  principal  modes,  it  is  said  that  Aristoxenus 

*  still  extant,  is  transmitted  to  us  as  a  curiosity  by  '  by  converting  five  species  of  the  diapason,  intro- 

*  Boetius  ;  *  some  however  have  said  that  Timotheus  '  duced  five  other  secondary  modes  ;  and  that  the 
'  cleared  himself  from  this  sentence  by  producing  a  '  intermingling  of  the  modes  is  the  sense  of  ap/xoj'iae 

*  very  ancient  statue  of  Apollo  found  at  Laceda^mon,  '  here,  seems  plain  from  another  passage  in  Plutarch,|| 
'  holding   a   lyre    with   nine   strings. f     But   if    he  '  where  he  says,  "  That  it  was  not  allowed  to  compose 

*  avoided  this  sentence  of  banishment,  he  did  not  "  for  the  lyre  formerly,  as  in  his  time,  nor  to  inter- 
'  wholly  escape  censure ;    for  Pausanias,  who  wrote  "  mingle  the  modes  apfioviaq  and  measures  of  time, 

*  as  early  as  Athenaeus,  tells  us  where  the  Lacedae-  "  for  they  observed  one  and  the  same  cast  peculiar  to 

*  monians  hung  up  his  lyre  publicly,  having  pimished  "  each  distinct  mode,  which  had  therefore  a  name  to 

*  him  for  superadding  four  strings,  in  compositions  "  distinguish  it  by  ;  they  were  called  No^ot  or  rules 
'  for   that   instrument,    to   the   ancient   seven ;    and  "  and  limitations,  because  the  composers  might  not 

*  Plutarch  likewise  tells  us  that  before  this,  when  the  "  transgress  or  alter  the  form  of  time  and  measure 

*  above-mentioned  Phrynis  was  playing  on  the  lyre  "  appointed  to  each  one  in  particular." 

'  at  some  public  solemnity,  one  of  the  Ephori,  Ec-  '  For  we  are  certain  that  both  the  Athenians  and 

*  prepes  by  name,  taking  up  a  knife,  asked  him  on  '  Lacedaemonians  had  their  laws  by  which  the 
'  which  side  he  should  cut  off  the  strings  that  ex-  '  particular  species  of  music  were  designed  to  be 
'  ceeded  the  number  of  nine.J  '  preserved  distinct  and  unconfused ;  and  their  hymns, 

'  But  though  these  innovations  of  Timotheus  were  *  threni,  paeans,  and  dithyrambs  kept  each  to  their 

«  Boetius,  in  his  treatise  De  Musica,  Lib.  I.  cap.  i.  has  given  it  in  the  '  several  SOrt  of  odc  ;_  and    SO    the    COmpOSCrs    for    the 

original  Greek ;   and  the  author  of  a  book  lately  published,  entitled  '  lyre  Were  not  permitted  tO  blend   One   mclody    With 

Principles  and  Power  of  Harmony,  has  given  the  following  translation  ,■          .i          i     x  xi              i        j.          „            j    „,„„„    „„,,„. ,„„;! 

of  it ._                                  J '       b                      o  t  another,  but  they  who  transgressed  were  censured 

Whereas  Timotheus,  the  Milesian,  coming  to  our  city,  has  deformed  <  and  fined  for  it.' 

the  ancient  music  ;  and  laying  aside  the  use  of  the  seven-stringed  lyre,  _-           ,          ,',                        .          jj.ii.ii 

and  introducing  a  multiplicity  of  notes,  endeavours  to  corrupt  the  ears  It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  the  genuineness 

of  our  youth  by  means  of  these  his  novel  and  complicated  conceits,  f  ^j  |    dialogue  has  been  questioned,  some  Writers 

which  he  calls  chromatic,  by  him  employed  in  the  room  of  our  established,  ^        .          .     "      ,                       .     ^              t         .                j        i. 

orderly,  and  simple  music;  and  whereas,  &c.    It  therefore  seemeth  good  affirming    it    tO    be   a   SpuriOUS  productlOU,  and  OthcrS 

to  us  the  King  and  Ephori,  after  having  cut  off  the  superfluous  strings  pniifpriflino-     if     tn    bp    fl     crpnuinp    WOrk    of    Plutarch 

of  his  lyre,  and  leaving  only  seven  thereon,  to  banish  the  said  Timotheus  COntenQing     It     tO     DC    a    genuine    WOrK    OI     .TUIUIICU, 

out  of  our  dominions,  that  every  one  beholding  the  wholesome  severity  WOrtliy  of  llimsclf,  and    in    merit    UOt    inferior    tO    the 

of  this  city,  maybe  deterred  from  bringing  in  amongst  us  any  unbe-        ^       ,       c    ±^        j.        x*  j.   •       i     •       ii,       Q    . ;„„„ 

coming  customs,  &c.   Infra  page  u8.  best  of  the  treatises  Contained  m  the   bymposiacs. 

t  Casaub.  ad  Athenseum,  Ub.  VIII.  cap.  xi.  It  is  therefore  neccssary  to  take  a  view  of  the  con- 

X  This  fact  is  alluded  to  by  Agis  king  of  Sparta,  in  a  speech  of  his  to  trovcrsv,  and  to  state  the  arguments  of  the  Contending 

Leonidas,  thus  recorded  by  Plutarch : —  ,  •        •                      ,      /•  ii      •                    i         •    •                Tj. 

'  And  you  that  use  to  praise  Ecprepes,  who  being  Ephore,  cut  off  two  parties  in  support  01  their  several  opmions.       it  SCems 

•of  the  nine  strnigs  from  the  instrument  of  Phrynis  the  musician,  and  that  the  Orit^inal  OTOUud  of   this    dispute    WaS    a    llOte 

'to  commend  those  who  did  afterwards  imitate  him  in  cutting  the  strings  o            o                                            r_            r  i-i  •       T 

'of  Timotheus's  harp,  with  what  face  can  you  blame  me  for  designing  to  prefixed  tO    AuiyOt  S    r  rench    translation  OI    thlS    dia- 

'cut  off  superfluity  and  luxury  from  the  commonwealth?    Do  you  think  1r,(rnP  in  ihp  fnll.iwino-  vvnrrici  •  '  flp  trnifp  n'  anoarticnt 

'those  men  were  so  concerned  only  about  a  fiddle-string,  or  intended  iOgUC  lU  tnc  lOllOWlUg  V\0ras  .     ^^C  iraiie  U    appaiLlCllb 

'  any  thing  else  than  by  checking  the  voluptuousness  of  music,  to  keep  ,  ,r.,     .,      ,                  ..            .           ^  x^,   ^      >.   •     r          •     t     *•»   .- 

'  out  a  way  of  living  which  might  destroy  the  harmony  of  the  city  ?  §  Vide  the  last  preceding  note,  and  Plutarch  in  Laconic.  Institutio. 

'Plutarch  in  Vita  Agidis.'  II  De  Musica. 


Chap.  XVIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


81 


'  point,  ou  bien  peu  h  la  musique  de  plusieurs  voix 
'  accordees  &  entrelacees  ensemble,  qui  est  aujourd'hui 

*  en  usage  ;  ains  a  la  fa^on  ancienne,  qui  consistoit  en 
'  la  convenance  du  chant  avec  le  sens  &  la  mesure  de 
'  la  lettre,  &  la  bonne  grace  du  geste  ;  &  le  style  ne 

*  semble  point  etre  de  Plutarque.' 

Amyot's  translation  bears  date  in  1610 ;  not- 
withstanding which,  Fabricius.  in  his  catalogue  of 
the  writings  of  Plutarch,  has  mentioned  this  dis- 
course without  suggesting  the  least  doubt  of  its 
authenticity.*  But  a  dispute  having  arisen  in  the 
French  Academy  of  Inscriptions  and  Belles  Lettres, 
on  the  question,  whether  the  ancients  were  ac- 
quainted with  music  in  consonance  or  not,  this 
tract  of  Plutarch,  in  which  there  is  not  the  slightest 
mention  of  any  such  practice,  was  urged  in  proof 
that  they  were  strangers  to  it.  While  a  doubt  re- 
mained of  the  genuineness  of  this  discourse,  its 
authority  could  not  be  deemed  conclusive ;  those 
who  maintained  the  affirmative  of  the  principal 
question,  therefore  insisted  on  the  objection  raised 
by  Amyot ;  and  this  produced  an  enquiry  into  the 
ground  of  it,  or,  in  other  words,  whether  Plutarch 
was  really  the  author  of  that  discourse  on  music 
which  is  generally  ascribed  to  him,  or  not  :  this 
enquiry  is  contained  in  three  papers  written  by 
Monsieur  Burette,  and  inserted  in  the  Memoirs  of 
the  above-mentioned  Academy,  tome  onzieme,  Amst. 
1736,  with  the  following  titles,  Examen  du  Traite 
de  Plutarque  sur  la  Musique — Observations  touchant 
I'Histoire  litteraire  du  Dialogue  De  Plutarque  sur  la 
Musique — Analyse  du  Dialogue  de  Plutarque  sur  la 
Musique,  the  publication  whereof  has  put  an  end  to 
a  question,  which  but  for  Amyot  had  probably  never 
been  started. 

Meibomius,  in  the  general  preface  to  his  edition 
of  the  musical  writers,  and  Doni,  are  lavish  in  their 
commendations  of  this  treatise :  the  latter  of  them, 
in  his  discourse  De  Praestantia  Musicae  Veteris, 
pag.  65,  calls  it  a  golden  little  work ;  but  whether  it 
merits  such  an  encomium  must  be  left  to  the  judg- 
ment of  such  as  can  truly  say  they  understand  it. 
As  to  the  historical  part,  it  is  undoubtedly  curious, 
except  in  some  instances,  that  seem  to  approach  too 
near  that  species  of  history  which  we  term  fabulous, 
to  merit  any  great  share  of  attention  ;  but  as  to  that 
other  wherein  the  author  professes  to  explain  the 
nature  of  the  ancient  music,  it  is  to  be  feared  he  is 
much  too  obscure  for  modern  comprehension.  The 
particulars  most  worthy  of  observation  in  this  work 
of  Plutarch  are,  the  perpetual  propensity  to  inno- 
vation, which  the  musicians  in  all  ages  seem  to  have 
discovered,  and  the  extreme  rigour  with  which  those 
in  authority  have  endeavoured  to  guard  against  such 
innovations  :  the  famous  decree  of  the  Ephori  against 
Timotheus  just  mentioned,  which  some  how  or  other 
was  recovered  by  Boetius,  and  is  inserted  in  a  pre- 
ceding note,t  is  a  proof  that  the  state  thought  itself 
concerned  in  preser\'ing  the  integrity  of  the  ancient 
music  ;  and  if  it  had  so  great  an  influence  over  the 
manners  of  the  Spartan  youth,  as  in  the  above  trea- 

*  Biblioth.  Graec.  lib  IV.  cap.  xi.  pap.  364,  N.  124. 

♦  A  transiation  on  page  80,  tha  original  infra  118. 


tise  is  suggested,  it  was  doubtless  an  object  worthy 
of  their  attention. 

CHAP.    XVIII. 

Aristides  Quintilianus  is  supposed  to  have 
flourished,  a.  c.  110.  This  is  certain,  that  he  wrote 
after  Cicero,  for  from  his  books  De  Republica  he 
has  abridged  all  the  arguments  that  Cicero  had 
advanced  against  music,  and  has  opposed  them  to 
what  he  urged  in  behalf  of  it  in  his  oration  for 
Roscius.  It  is  farther  clear  that  Aristides  must 
have  been  prior  to  Ptolemy,  for  he  speaks  of  Aris- 
toxenus  who  admitted  of  thirteen  modes,  and  of 
those  who  after  him  allowed  of  fifteen,  but  he  takes 
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- 
cussion of  the  doctrine  of  the  modes  :  speaking  of 
the  diagi'am  by  which  the  situation  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 ;  but  he  has  given  no 
representation  of  it. 

All  that  has  been  hitherto  said  of  the  modes  is  to 
be  understood  of  melody,  for  there  is  another  and 
to  us  a  more  intelligible  sense  of  the  word,  namely 
that,  where  it  is  applied  to  the  proportions  of  time, 
or  the  succession  and  different  duration  of  sounds, 
of  which  whether  they  are  melodious,  or  such  as 
arise  from  the  simple  percussion  of  bodies,  the  modes 
of  time,  for  by  that  appellation  we.  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  Rythmus.  Of  time  he  says  there  are  two 
kinds,  the  one  simple  and  indivisible,  resembling 
a  point  in  geometry ;  the  other  composite,  and  that 
of  different  measures,  namely,  duple,  treble,  and 
quadruple.:}:  The  rythmic  genera  he  makes  to  be 
three  in  number,  namely,  the  equal,  the  sesquialteral, 
and  the  duple ;  others  he  says  add  the  supertertian  : 
these  are  constituted  from  the  magnitude  of  the 
times ;  for  one  compared  to  itself  begets  a  ratio  of 
equality,  two  to  one  is  duple,  three  to  two  is  ses- 
quialteral, and  four  to  three  supertertian  :  He  speaks 
of  the  elation  and  position  of  some  part  of  the  body, 
the  liand  or  foot  perhaps,  as  necessary  to  the  rythmus, 
probably  as  a  measure  ;  and  this  corresponds  with 
the  practice  of  the  moderns  in  the  measuring  of  time 
by  the  tactus  or  beat.  The  remainder  of  the  first 
book  of  this  work  of  Quintilian  contains  a  very 
laborious  investigation  of  measures,  with  all  their 
various  inflexions  and  combinations,  in  which  the 
author  discovers  a  profound  knowledge. 

The  second  book  treats  of  music  as  a  means  to 

X  This  passage  in  Aristides  ftuintilianus  has  drawn  on  him  a  severe 
censure  from  the  late  Dr.  Pemberton,  the  Greshara  professor  of  physic, 
who  says  that  he  here  endeavours  to  make  out  four  different  measures 
of  time  in  verse  also.  This,  says  the  Dr.,  is  talking  nonsense.  But, 
adds  he,  this  writer  is  apt  to  amuse  himself  with  fanciful  resemblances  ; 
and  having  first  imagined  I  know  not  what  analogy  between  these  four 
measures  of  time,  and  the  four  dieses,  into  which  a  tone  was  considered 
as  divisable,  he  must  needs  try  at  making  out  the  like  in  relation  to 
words.    Observations  on  Poetry  especially  the  Kpic.  Lond.  1738.  page  110. 

G 


82                                                      HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE                                            Book  IL 

regulate  the  external  behaviour,  as  that  of  philosophy  sonances  ;    a   method   whi-ch   this   author   seems  to 

is  to   improve   the   mind.     Music,  he  says,  by   its  approve ;   and  to  recommend  this  practice,  he  cites 

harmony    polishes   the   manners,    and    its   rythmus  the  authority  of  Pythagoras,  who  he  says,  when  he 

renders  the  body  more  agreeable ;  for  youth  being  departed  this  life,  exhorted  his  disciples  to  strike 

impatient   of  mere   admonition,  and  capable  of  in-  the    monochord,    and    thereby    rather    inform    their 

struction  by  words  alone,  require  such  a  discijiline  understandings  than  trust  to  their  ears  in  the  measure 

as   without    disturbing   the    rational    part   of  their  of  intervals.     He  speaks  also  of  an  instrument  for 

natures  shall  familiarly  and  by  degrees  instruct  them:  the  demonstration  of  the  consonances,  called  a  heli- 

he  adds  that  it  is  easily  perceived  that  all  boys  are  con,  which  was  of  a  square  form,  and  on  which  were 

prompt  to  sing  and  ready  for  brisk  motions,  and  that  stretched,  with  an  equal  tension,  four  strings.*     For 

it  is  not  in  the  power  of  their  governors  to  hinder  the  reason  above  given,  it  seems  no  way  necessary 

them  from  the  pleasure  which  they  take  in  exercises  to  follow  this  author  through  that  series  of  geome- 

of  this  sort.    In  human  things,  continues  this  author,  trical  reasoning,  which  he  has  applied  for  the  inves- 

there  is  no  action  performed  without  music ;    it  is  tigation  of  his  subject  in  the  succeeding  pages  of  his 

certain  that  divine  worship  is  rendered  more  solemn  book,  wherefore  a  passage  relating  to  the  tetrachords, 

by  it,  particular   feasts   and   public   conventions   of  remarkable  enough  in  its  kind,  shall  conclude  this 

cities  rejoice  with  it,  wars  and  voyages  are  excited  extract  from   his  very  learned   but   abstruse   work, 

by  it,  the  most   difficult   and   laborious  works  are  '  The  tetrachords  are  agreed  to  be  five  in  number, 

rendered   easy   and   delightful   by   it,  and   we   are  'and  each    has   a   relation  to   one  or   other  of  the 

excited  to  the  use  of  music  by  divers  causes.     Nor  '  senses ;  the  tetrachord  hypaton  resembles  the  touch, 

are  its  eff"ects  confined  to  the  human  species  ;  irra-  '  which    is  affected  in  new-born  infants,  when  they 

tional  animals  are  affected  by  it,  as  is  plain  from  the  'are  impelled  by  the  cold  to  cry.     The  tetrachord 

use  which  is  made  of  pipes  by  shepherds,  and  horns  '  meson  is  like  the  taste,  which  is  necessary  to  the 

by   goatherds.      Of  the   use   of  music   in   war,   as  '  preservation  of  life,  and   hath  a  similitude  to  the 

practised  by  the,  ancients,  he  has  the  following  pas-  '  touch.     The  third,  called  synemmenon,  is  compared 

sage  : — '  Numa  has  said,  that  by  music  he  corrected  'to  the  smell,  because  this  sense  is  allied  to  the  taste; 

'  and  refined  the  manners  of  the  people,  which  before  '  and  many,  as  the  sons  of  art  say,  have  been  restored 

'  were  rough  and   fierce  :    to  that   end   he   used   it  '  to  life  by  odours.     The  fourth  tetrachord,  termed 

'  at  feasts  and  sacrifices.     In  the  wars  where  it  is  '  diezeugmenon,  is  compared  to  the  hearing,  because 

'and  will    be  used,  is  there  any  need  to  say  how  'the  ears  are  so  remote   from   the  other  organs  of 

'  the  Pyrrhic  music  is  a  help  to  martial  discipline  ?  '  sense,    and   are   disjoined    from   each    other.     The 

*  certainly  it  is  plain  to  every  one,  and  that  to  issue  '  tetrachord  hyperboleon  is  like  the  sight,  as  it  is  the 

'  commands  by  words  in  time  of  action  would  intro-  '  most  acute  of  the  systems,  as  the  sight  is  of  the 

'  duce  great  confusion,  and  might  be  dangerous  by  '  senses.'     Farther,  this  author  tells  us  that  '  the  five 

'their  being  made   known  to  the   enemies,  if  they  'tetrachords  do  in  like  manner  answer   to   the  five 

'  were   such   as    use   the    same   language.      To    the  '  primary  elements,  that   is   to  say,  hypaton  to  the 

'  trumpet,  that  martial  instrument,  a  particular  cantus  '  earth,  as  the  most  grave  ;   meson  to  the  water,  as 

'  or  melody  is  appropriated,  which  varies  according  '  nearest  the  earth  ;  synemmenon  to  the  air,  which 

'  to  the  occasion  of  sounding  it,  so  as  for  the  attack  *  passes  through  the  water  remaining  in  the  profun- 

'  by  the  van   or   either   wing,  or   for  a  retreat,  or  '  dities  of  the  sea  and  the  caverns  of  the  earth,  and 

'  whether  to  form  in  this  or  that  particular  figure,  '  is  necessary  for  the  respiration  of  animals,  which 

'  a  different   cantus  is  requisite  ;   and  all  this  is  so  '  could  not  live  without  it ;  diezeugmenon  to  the  fire, 

'  skilfully  contrived,  as   to  be  unintelligible   to   the  '  the  motion  whereof,  as  tending  upwards,  is  against 

'  enemy,  though  at  the  same  time   by  the  army  it  *  nature ;  lastly,  the  tetrachord  hyperboleon  answers 

'  is  plainly  understood.'  '  to  the  aether,  as  being  supreme  and  above  the  rest.' 

Thus  much  of  this  author  is  intelligible  enough  There  are,  he  says,  also  analogies  between  the  three 

to  a  reader  of  this  time ;  but  when  he  speaks,  as  he  several  systems  of  diapente  and  the  senses ;  but  we 

does  immediately  after,  of  the  efficacy  of  music  in  hasten  to  dismiss  this  fanciful  doctrine.     Moreover, 

quieting  tumults  and  appeasing  an  incensed  multi-  adds  he, 'in  discoursing  of  the  human  soul,  systems 'are 

tude,  it  must  be  owned  his  reasoning  is  not  so  clear  :  '  not  improperly  compared  to  the  virtues.     Hypaton 

as  little  can  we  conceive  any  power  in  music  over  '  and  meson  are  to  be  attributed  to  temperance,  the 

the  irascent  and  concupiscent  affections  of  the  mind,  '  efficacy  whereof  is  double,  and  consists  in  an  ab- 

which  he  asserts  are  absolutely  under  its  dominion.  '  stincnce  from  unlawful    pleasures,    resembling   the 

The  remainder  of  this  second  book  consists  of  a  chain  '  most  grave  of  these  two  systems  ;  as  also  in  a  mo- 

of  very  abstruse  reasoning  on  the  nature  of  the  human  '  derate  use   of  lawful   enjoyments,  not  improperly 

soul,  no  way  applicable  to  any  conception  that  we  at  '  signified  by  the  tetrachord  meson  ;    but  the  tetra- 

this  time  are  able  to  form  of  music,  and  much  too  '  chord  synemmenon  is  to  be  attributed  to  justice, 

refined  to  admit  of  a  place  in  a  work,  in  which  it  is  '  which  being  joined  with  temperance,  exerts  itself 

proposed  not  to  teach,  but  to  deliver  a  history  of,  'in  the  discharge  of  public  duties,  and  in  acts  of 

the  science.  '  private    beneficence  :    the    diezeugmenon    has    the 

The  third  book  contains  a  relation  of  some  experi-  *  resemblance  of  fortitude,  which  virtue  delivers  the 

ments  made  with  strings,  distended  by  weights  in  '  soul  from  the  dominion  of  the  body ;  lastly,   the 

given  proportions,  for  finding   out  the   ratios   of  con-  •  See  it  in  a  subsequent  chapter  of  this  second  book. 


Chap.  XVIII.                                    AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC.  83 

'  hyperboleon  emulates  the  nature  of  prudence,  for  Gaudentius,  the  philosopher,  according  to  Fabri- 

*that    tetrachord    is   the   end   of   the   acumen,    and  cius,  ||  seems  to  have  written  before  Ptolemy,  and 

'this  virtue   is  the  extremity  of  goodness.     Again,  treading  in  the  steps  of  Aristoxenus,  composed  an 

*  these  virtues  may  be  assimilated  to  the  three  systems  introduction  to  harmonics,  v^hich  Cassiodorus  com- 

*  of  diapente  ;  *  the  two  first,  justice  and  temperance,  mends  as  an  elegant  little  vi'ork  ;  though  he  does  not 
'  which  are  always  placed  together  as  being  a  check  pretend  to  say  who  he  was,  or  where  he  lived : 
'  to  the  concupiscent  part  of  the  mind,  resemble  the  however  upon  his  authority  Cassiodorus  relates  that 
'first  of  these  systems;  fortitude  may  be  compared  Pythagoras  found  out  the  original  precepts  of  the 
'  to  the  second,  as  that  virtue  denotes  the  irascent  art  by  the  sound  of  hammers  and  the  percussion  of 
'  part  and  refers  to  each  of  our  two  natures ;   and  extended   chords ;    and   indeed   as   to    this    matter 

*  prudence  to  the  third,  as  declaring  the  rational  Gaudentius  is  very  explicit.  For  his  work  in  general, 
'  essence.  Add  to  this,  that  the  two  species  of  excepting  a  few  definitions  and  a  representation  of 
'  diapason  answer  to  the  twofold  division  of  the  mind ;  the  musical  characters  in  the  method  of  Alypius,  it  is 
'  the  first  resembling  the  irrational,  and  the  second  little  more  than  an  abridgement  of  Aristoxenus,  and 
'  the  rational  part  thereof.'  that  so  very  short  and  obscure,  that  little  advantage 

It  has  been  remarked  of  Quintilian  that  he  is  ex-  can  be  derived  from  the  perusal  of  it. 

tremely  fond  of  analogies,  vide  pag.  81,  in  a  note;  Claudius  Ptolemeus  was  an   Egyptian,  born  at 

and  the  above  passages  are  a  proof  that  this  charge  Pelusium  ;  not  one  of  the  Ptolemies,  kings  of  Egypt, 

against  him  is  not  ill-grounded.  with  some  one  of  whom  he  has  been  confounded ; 

Alypius,  the  next  in  succession  of  the  authors  now  nor  the  same  with  Ptolemy,  the  mathematician  and 

remaining  to  him  above  cited,  or,  as  some  suppose,  a  astronomer,  who,  as  Plutarch  relates  in  his  life  of 

contemporary  of  his,  as  flourishing  about  a.c.  115,f  Galba,  was  the  constant  companion  of  that  emperor, 

compiled  a  work,  entitled  an  Introduction  to  Music,  and  was   also  attendant  on  the  emperor   Otho,   in 

which  seems  to  be  little  else  than  a  set  of  tables  Spain,  and  foretold  that  he  should  survive  Nero,  as 

explaining  the  order  of  the  sounds  as  they  arise  in  Tacitus  tells  us,  lib.  I.  cap.  xxii.     The  Ptolemy  here 

the  several  modes  of  their  respective  genera  in  the  spoken  of  flourished   in  the  reign  of  the   emperor 

ancient  method  of  notation.     The  musical  characters  Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus,  as  Suidas  testifies  ;  and 

used   by  the   ancients  were   arbitrary ;    they   were  also  himself  in  his  Magnae  Syntaxis,  where  he  says 

nothing   more  than   the    Greek   capitals  mutilated,  that  he  drew  up  his  astronomical  observations  at 

inverted,  and  variously  contorted,  and  are  estimated  Alexandria,  for  which  reason  he  is  by  Suidas  and 

at   no   fewer   than  twelve  hundred  and  forty.     A  others  called  Alexandrinus,  in  the  second  year  of 

specimen  of  them  is  herein-before  inserted  in  two  Antoninus  Pius,  which  answers  to  the  year  of  Christ 

plates  from  Kircher.    (Appendix,  Nos.  35  and  36.)  139.^     He  was  the  author  of  a  treatise  on  harmonics 

Manuel  Bryennius,  another  of  the  Greek  writers  in  three  books,  a  work  much  more  copious  than  any 

on  music,  is  supposed  to  have  flourished  under  the  of  those  above-mentioned ;   and  it  must  be  allowed 

elder  Palaeologus,  viz.,  about  the  year  of  Christ  120.  that  he  of  all  the  ancient  writers  seems  to  have  entered 

He  wrote  three  books  on  harmonics,  the  first  whereof  the  most  deeply  into  the  subject  of  harmonics.     In 

is  a  kind  of  commentary  on  Euclid,  as  the  second  the  first  chapter  of  his  first  book,  he  assigns  the 

and  third  are  on  Ptolemy.;}:     He  professes  to  have  criteria  of  harmony,  which  he  makes  to  be  sense  and 

studied  perspicuity  for  the  sake  of  young  men,  but  reason  :  the  former  of  these,  he  says,  finds  out  what 

has  given  very  little  more  than  is  to  be  found  in  one  is  nearly  allied  to  truth,  and  approves  of  what  is 

or  other  of  the  above  authors.     Meibomius  had  given  accurate,  as  the  latter  finds  out  what  is  accurate  and 

the  public  expectations  of  a  translation  of  this  work,  approves  of  what  is  nearly  allied  to  truth.     Chap.  iii. 

but  not  living  to  complete  it,  Dr.  Wallis  undertook  speaking  of  the  causes  of  acuteness  and  gravity,  he 

it,  and  it  now  makes  a  part  of  the  third  volume  of  takes  occasion  to  compare  the  wind-pipe  to  a  flute ; 

his  works,  published  at  Oxford  in  three  volumes  in  and  to  remark  as  a  subject  of  wonder,  that  power  or 

folio,  1699.  faculty  which  enables  a  singer  readily  and  instan- 

Bacchius  Senior  was  a  follower  of  Aristoxenus ;  taneously   to   hit    such    degrees   of    dilatation   and 

Fabricius  supposes  him  to  have  been  tutor  to  the  contraction  as  are  necessary  to  produce  sounds,  grave 

emperor  Marcus  Antoninus,  and  consequently  to  have  or  acute,  in  any  given  proportion, 

lived  about  a.c.  140. §     He  wrote  in  Greek  a  very  In  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  same  book  he  condemns 

short  introduction  to  music  in  dialogue,  which,  with  the  method  of  the  Pythagoreans,  and  in  the  ninth 

a  Latin  translation  thereof,  Meibomius  has  published.  that  of  the  Aristoxeneans,  in  the  adjusting  of  the 

It  seems  it  was  first  published  in  the  original  by  consonances,  but  thinks  the  former  the  less  erroneous 

Mersennus,    in   his  Commentary   on    the    six    first  of  the  two  :  the  Pythagoreans,  he  says,  not  sufficiently 

chapters  of  Genesis  ;  and  that  afterwards  he  published  attending  to  the  ear,  often  gave  harmonic  proportions 

a  translation  of  it  in  French,  which  Meibomius,  in  the  to  incongruous  sounds  ;    on  the  contrary,  the  Aris- 

preface  to  his  edition  of  the  ancient  musical  authors,  toxeneans,  ascribing  all  to  the  ear,  applied  numbers, 

censures  as  being  grossly  erroneous.  the  images  of  reason,  not  to  the  differences  of  sound, 

*  The  varieties  or  different  systems  of  diapente  are  four,  and  therefore  but  to  their  intervals.       To  COrrect  the  CrrorS  of  theSG 

U  may  be  questioned  why  in  this  place  the  autlior  has  limited  them  to  ^^^  ^^^^  different   mCthods,  lie   COUtrlved   au    iustru- 

+  Fabr.  Biblioth.  Grac.  lib.  III.  oap.  x. 

j  Ibid.  II  Biblioth.  Graec.  lib.  III.  cap.  x. 

}  Ibid.  ^  Ibid.  cap.  xiv. 


84 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  II. 


ment  very  simple  and  inartificial  in  its  constrnction. 
but  of  singular  use  in  the  adjusting  of  ratios,  which, 
though  in  truth  but  a  monochord,  as  consisting  of  one 
string  only,  he  with  great  propriety  called  the  Har- 
monic Canon,  by  which  appellation  it  is  constantly 
distinguished  in  the  writings  of  succeeding  authors. 
His  description  of  the  instrument  and  its  use,  as  also 
the  reasons  that  led  him  to  the  invention,  are  con- 
tained in  the  eighth  chapter  of  the  same  first  book, 
and  are  to  the  following  effect : — '  We  omit  to  explain 
'  what  is  proposed,  by  the  means  of  pipes  or  flutes,  or 
'by  weights  affixed  to  strings,  because  they  cannot 
'make  the  necessary  demonstrations  with  sufficient 
'  accuracy,  but  would  rather  occasion  controversy ; 
'  for  in  pipes  and  flutes,  as  also  in  the  breath  which  is 
'  injected  into  them,  there  is  great  disorder  ;  and  as 
'  to  strings  with  weights  affixed  to  them,  besides  that 
'  of  a  number  of  such  strings,  we  can  hardly  be  sure 
'  that  they  arc  exactly  equal  in  size,  it  is  almost  im- 
'  possible  to  accommodate  the  ratios  of  the  weights 
'to  the  sounds  intended  to  be  produced  by  them; 
'  for  with  the  same  degree  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  first  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  hammers  or  quoits  of  unequal  weights  ;  and 
'  we  may  observe  the  same  in  some  vessels  that  are 
'  first  empty,  and  afterwards  filled  ;  and  certainly  it 
'  is  difficult  in  all  these  cases  to  provide  against  the 

*  diversity  of  matter  and  figure  in  each ;  but  in  the 
'canon,  as  I  term  it,  the  chord  most  readily  and 
'accurately  demonstrates  the  ratios  of  the  several 
'consonances :' — 


E 


K 


G 


if  from  the  points  A  D  a  chord  be  strained  over  the 
middle  points  E  and  G  of  the  said  curved  super- 
ficies, the  part  E  G  will  be  parallel  to  the  right  line 
A  B,  0  D,  because  of  the  equal  height  of  the  magades, 
and  will  have  its  limits  at  E  and  G.  Transfer  then 
the  line  E  G  to  the  line  A  B  C  D,  and  having  first 
bisected  the  whole  length  at  K,  and  the  half  of  that 
distance  at  L,  place  under  the  chord  other  magades, 
which  must  be  very  thin,  and  somewhat  higher,  but 
in  every  other  respect  like  the  former,  so  that  both 
the  intermediate  magades  may  be  straight  with  the 
middle  of  the  external  ones  ;  now  if  the  part  of  the 
chord  E  K  be  found  equitonal  to  K  G,  and  the  part 
K  L  to  L  G,  then  are  we  convinced  that  the  chord 
is  equable  and  perfect  as  to  its  constitution  and  make, 
and  consequently  fit  for  the  experiment ;  but  if  it 
should  not  prove  so,  the  trial  is  to  be  transferred  to 
another  jjart,  or  even  to  a  new  chord,  till  we  obtain 
this  condition  of  equability  under  the  circumstances 
of  similar  moveable  magades,  and  a  similar  length 
and  tension  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  moveable  magades  prove  by  our  ears 
the  rations  of  corresponding  sounds  ;  for  giving  to 
the  distance  E  K  four  of  such  parts  whereof  K  G  is 
three,  the  sounds  on  both  sides  will  produce  the 
consonance  diatessaron,  and  have  a  sesquitertian 
ratio  ;  and  giving  to  E  K  three  parts  whereof  K  G 
is  two,  the  sounds  on  both  sides  will  make  the  con- 
sonance diapente,  which  is  in  sesquialteral  ratio. 
Again,  if  the  whole  length  be  so  divided  as  that 
E  K  may  be  two  parts  and  K  G  one  of  them,  it  shall 
be  the  unison  diapason,  which  consists  in  a  duple 
ratio.  If  it  be  so  that  E  K  be  eight  parts  whereof 
K  G  is  three,  it  will  be  the  consonance  diapason  and 
diatessaron,  in  the  ratio  of  eight  to  three  ;  farther  if 
it  be  divided  so  as  that  E  K  be  three  parts  and  K  G 
one  of  them,  it  will  be  diapente  and  diapason,  in 
a  triple  ratio  ;  and  lastly  if  it  be  so  divided  as  that 
E  K  be  four  and  K  G  one,  it  will  be  the  unison  dis- 
diapason  in  a  quadruple  ratio. 


A  B  C  D  The  line  of  the  canon. 

A  E  G  D  The  chord. 

A  E,  G  D  The  ligament  or  place  where  it  is 
fastened. 

E  B,  G  C  Perpendiculars  of  the  immoveable  ma- 
gades or  bridges. 

K  K,  L  L  The  moveable  magades. 

B  K,  L  0  The  canon  or  rule  divided. 

Suppose  A  B  C  D  to  be  a  right  line,  at  each  end 
thereof  apply  magades  or  little  bridges,  equal  in 
height,  and  having  surfaces  as  nearly  spherical  as 
possible  ;  as  suppose  the  surface  B,  E  to  be  described 
round  the  center  F,  and  the  surface  C,  G  round  the 
center  H.  Let  then  the  points  E,  G  be  taken  in  the 
middle  or  bisection  of  these  curved  superficies,  the 
magades  being  so  placed  as  that  lines  E,  F,  and 
G,  H,  drawn  from  the  said  bisections  E  and  G,  may 
be  perpendicular  to  the  right  line  A  B,  C  D.     Now 


RATIOS.       THE  PROOF.       CONSONANCES. 
■f-  E              4                   K     1     G  Disdiapason 

f   E 

3 

K     1 

G  Diapason  and 

1  E 

8 

K     3 

diapente 
G  Diapason  and 

f   E 

2 

K      1 

diatessaron 
G  Diapason 

f   E 

3 

K      2 

G  Diapente 

1   E 

4 

K       3 

G  Diatessaron 

E 

1 

K 

1 

G 

Z' 

;             i 

~\ 

A        B  K  CD 

How   the    monochord    of    Pythagoras    was   con- 
structed, or  in  what  manner  he  divided  it,  we  are 


Chap.  XIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


85 


no  where  told :  it  seems  difficult  to  conceive  that 
for  producing  the  consonances  it  could  be  divided  in 
any  other  manner  than  this  of  Ptolemy,  and  yet  this 
author  censures  the  followers  of  Pythagoras  for  not 
knowing  how  to  reason  about  the  consonances,  which 
one  would  think  they  could  not  fail  to  do  from  prin- 
ciples so  clear  as  those  deducible  from  experiments 
on  the  monochord.  But  as  to  the  Aristoxeneans, 
he  censures  them  for  rejecting  the  reasonings  of  the 
Pythagoreans,  at  the  same  time  that  they  would  not 
endeavour  to  find  out  better.  To  understand  these 
and  other  invectives  against  this  sect,  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  they  measured  the  intervals  by  the 
ear  as  our  practical  musicians  do  now,  that  is  to  say, 
the  greater  by  fourths  or  fifths,  and  the  less  by  tones 
and  semitones  ;  thus  to  ascertain  the  measure  of  an 
octave,  they  applied  that  of  a  diatessaron  or  fourth 
above  the  unison,  and  another  below  the  octave,  and 
between  the  approximating  extremities  of  these  two 
intervals  they  found  the  distance  of  a  tone,  which 
furnished  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  difference  between  the 
diatessaron  and  the  diapente :  this  Ptolemy  calls 
remitting  one  question  to  another,  and  he  adds  that 
the  ear,  when  it  would  judge  of  a  tone  needs  not  the 
help  of  a  comparison  of  it  with  the  diatessaron  or 
any  other  consonance,  and  yet  adds  he,  '  if  we  would 
'  ask  of  the  Aristoxeneans  what  is  the  ratio  of  a  tone, 
'  they  will  say,  perhaps,  that  it  is  two  of  those  in- 
*  tervals,  tliat  is  to  say,  hemitones,  of  which  the  dia- 
'  tessaron  contains  five,  and  in  like  manner  that  the 
'  diatessaron  is  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- 
'  finintr  those  ratios.' 

Ptolemy,  lib.  I.  cap.  x.  farther  denies  the  assertion 
of  the  Aristoxeneans,  that  the  diatessaron  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  half,  and  three  and  a  half,  supposing  this 
estimation  of  them  to  be  just,  woiald  make  un- 
doubtedly six ;  but  by  his  division  of  the  mono- 
chord,  he  clearly  demonstrates  that  the  term  by 
which  the  diatessaron  exceeds  the  diatone,  and  which 
he  calls  a  limma,  is  less  than  a  hemitone,  in  the  same 
proportion  as  1944  bears  to  2048,  a  difference  how- 
ever much  too  small  for  the  ear  to  distinguish.  His 
demonstration  of  this  proposition  is  given  in  a  pre- 
ceding chapter  of  this  work. 

To  enter  into  a  discussion  of  that  very  abstruse 
suV)ject,  the  division  of  the  diapason,  would  require 
a  much  more  minute  investigation  of  the  doctrine  of 
ratios  than  is  requisite  in  this  place  ;  it  must  how- 
ever be  observed,  that  supposing  the  ear  alone  to 
determine  the  precise  limits  of  any  system,  that  of 
the  diatessaron  for  example,  and  that  such  system 
were  transferred  to  the  monochord,  a  repetition  of  the 
system  so  transferred  would  fail  to  produce  a  series 
of  systems  consonant  in  the  extremities.  Thus  let 
a  given  sound  be,  as  we  should  now  call  it  G,  and  let 
the  monochord  be  divided  by  a  bridge  according  to 


the  rules  above  prescribed,  so  as  to  give  its  fourth  C ; 
and  let  a  tone,  D,  be  set  on  by  another  bridge  in  like 
manner,  and  after  that  another  fourth,  which  would 
terminate  at  G,  and  would  seem  to  make  what  we 
should  call  a  diapason  :  we  should  find  upon  taking 
away  the  intermediate  bridges  at  C  and  I),  that  the 
interval  from  G  to  G  would  be  more  than  a  diapason ; 
and  that  were  this  method  of  ascertaining:  the  terms 
of  the  consonances  repeated  through  a  series  of 
octaves,  the  dissonance  would  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  diapason.  This  deficiency,  if  it 
may  be  so  called,  in  the  intervals  of  which  the 
diapason  is  compounded,  and  the  difference  between 
timing  by  the  ear  and  by  numbers,  has  suggested  to 
mathematicians  what  is  called  a  temperament,  which 
]n'oposes  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  as  to  make  the  consonances  con- 
tained in  it  as  nearly  perfect  as  possible. 

The  remainder  of  Ptolemy's  first  book  treats  of  the 
genera.  Chap.  xii.  exhibits  the  division  of  Aris- 
toxenus,  which  he  condemns  ;  and  chap.  xiii.  that  of 
Archytas  of  Tarentum,  whom  he  censures  for  defining 
the  genera  by  the  interjacent  intervals  rather  than  by 
the  ratios  of  the  sounds  among  themselves,  and 
charges  him  with  rashness  and  want  of  thought. 

The  use  and  application  of  the  genera  is  at  this 
day  so  little  understood,  that  we  are  greatly  at  a  loss 
to  account  for  any .  other  division  of  the  tetrachord 
than  that  which  characterizes  the  diatonic  genus : 
Nor  does  it  seem  possible,  with  the  utmost  strength 
of  the  imagination,  to  conceive  how  a  series  of  sounds 
so  extremely  ungrateful  to  the  ear  as  those  of  which 
the  chromatic  and  enarmonic  genera  are  said  to  be 
formed,  could  ever  be  received  as  music  in  the  sense 
in  which  that  word  is  now  understood. 

CHAP.     XIX. 

In  the  first  Chapter  of  his  second  book,  Ptolemy 
undertakes  to  shew  by  what  means  the  ratios  of  the 
several  genera  may  be  received  by  the  sense,  in  the 
course  of  which  demonstration  he  points  out  the 
different  offices  of  sense,  or  the  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  this 
position  of  his  is  undoubtedly  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  numbers,  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 


86 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  II. 


the  wonderful  relation  that  subsists  between  them,  or 
that  if  an  experiment  be  made  by  suspending  weights 
to  the  chords  that  produce  it.  whose  lengths  are  by 
the  laws  of  harmony  required  to  be  in  the  proportion 
of  2  to  1,  that  the  shorter  would  make  two  vibrations 
to  one  of  the  longer,  and  that  the  vibrations  would 
exactly  coincide  in  that  relation  as  long  as  both  chords 
should  continue  in  motion.  Again  with  respect  to 
the  forms  of  bodies,  when  we  prefer  that  of  a  sphere 
to  one  less  regular,  we  never  attend  to  the  properties 
of  a  sphere,  but  reason  will  demonstrate  a  perfection 
in  that  figure  which  is  not  to  be  found  in  an  irregular 
polygon. 

In  the  second  chapter  of  his  second  book  he  de- 
scribes an  instrument  or  diagram  called  the  Helicon, 
invented  as  it  should  seem  by  himself,  for  demon- 
strating the  consonances,  so  simple  in  its  construction 
that  its  very  figure  seems  to  speak  for  itself,  and  to 
render  a  verbal  explanation,  though  he  has  given  a 
very  long  one  of  it,  unnecessary.    It  is  of  this  form : — 


X. 


\      l.|N 

K 

M 

""--,, 

F 
o 

C  G  II        D  E 

The  side  of  the  square  A  0  12  shews  the  diapason  : 
the  half  of  B  D,  that  is  to  say  B  F  or  F  D  6  the  unison. 
The  line  G  M  8,  terminated  by  the  diagonal  B  0,  the 
diatessaron.  The  line  E  K  divides  the  quadrangle 
equally,  and  H  K  9,  terminated  by  the  line  A  F, 
shews  the  diapente.  The  lines  L  G  and  E  H  are  in 
the  ratio  of  4  to  3,  which  is  that  of  the  diatessaron  ; 
and  lastly  the  lines  H  K  9  and  G  M  8  shew  the  ses- 
quioctave  tone. 

To  this  diagram  Ptolemy  has  added  another  not 
less  easy  to  be  comprehended  than  the  former,  in 
which  the  lines  B  D,  N  H,  L  G,  and  A  C,  are  supposed 
to  be  chords  of  equal  lengths  but  bisected  by  the  line 
A  F  in  the  direction  A  E  :  this  line  may  be  supposed 
to  be  a  bridge,  or  subductorium,  stopping  the  four 
chords  at  A  K  M  F,  and  thereby  giving  the  pro- 
portions 12  9  8  6  ;  which  proportions  will  also  re- 
sult from  a  subductorium  placed  in  the  direction  X  E, 
for  X  C  will  be  duple  of  0  D,  and  the  two  inter- 
mediate chords  sesquialtera  and  sesquitertia,  and  with 
respect  to  each  other,  sesquioctave ;  in  all  agreeing 
with  the  ratios  in  the  former  diagram. 

In  the  ninth  chapter  of  book  II.  Ptolemy  takes 
occasion  to  say  that  there  are  only  seven  tones  or 
modes,  for  that  there  are  but  seven  species  of  dia- 
pason ;  a  position  that  wall  be  easily  granted  him  by 
the  moderns  who  suppose  the  word,  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  already  been  mentioned  in 
a  preceding  chapter  of  this  book. 

Chapter  xii.  the  same  author  speaks  of  the  mono- 
chord  ;  and  here  he  proposes,  but  not  for  the  purpose 


of  experiments,  a  different  method  of  dividing  it,  not, 
says  he,  according  to  one  tone  or  mode  only,  but  ac- 
cording to  all  the  tones  together ;  by  which  one 
would  imagine  he  meant  somewhat  like  a  tempera- 
ment of  its  imperfections,  and  a  design  to  render  it 
an  instrument  not  of  speculation  but  practice ;  and 
indeed  besides  exhibiting  it  in  a  form  more  adapted 
to  practice,  and  more  resembling  a  musical  instru- 
ment than  its  primitive  one  : — * 


He  speaks,  though  not  very  intelligibly,  of  the 
manner  of  performing  on  it,  and  recommends,  to  con- 
ceal its  defects,  the  conjunction  with  it,  either  of 
a  pipe  or  the  voice.  A  little  after,  he  speaks  of 
Didymus  a  musician,  who  endeavoured  to  correct  this 
instrument  by  a  different  application  of  the  magades ; 
but  for  the  greater  imperfections  he  says  Didymus 
was  not  able  to  find  out  a  cure.  Towards  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- 
mus, and  himself;  and  a  little  farther  on,  tables 
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  Quintilian,  to 
state  the  analogy  of  music  with  the  affections  of  the 
human  mind,  the  system  of  the  universe,  and  in  short 
with  every  other  subject  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  from  sleep,  might 
be  prevented,  and  the  mind  be  reduced  to  its  wonted 
state  of  composure  :  besides  which  he  says,  that  it 
seems  the  Gods  themselves  are  to  be  invoked  with 
hymns  and  melody,  such  as  that  of  flutes  or  Egyptian 
trigons,  to  shew  that  we  invite  them  to  hear  and  be 
propitious  to  our  prayers. 

Upon  a  very  careful  review  of  this  work  of  Ptolemy, 
it  will  appear  that  the  doctrines  contained  in  it,  so 
far  as  they  are  capable  of  being  rendered  intelligible, 
are  of  singular  use  in  the  determination  of  ratios,  and 
his  very  accurate  division  of  the  monochord  carries 
demonstration  with  it.  It  was  doubtless  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  library,  in  ihe  original  Greek,  with  a 
Latin  translation  of  his  own,  together  with  copious 
notes,    and    an    appendix    by    way   of   commentary, 

*  There  is  very  little  doubt  but  that  the  instrument  here  delineate^ 
is  the  pandura  of  the  Arabians,  mentioned  in  a  note  of  Meibomius  on 
a  passage  in  Nicomachus,  for  among  the  Arabian  and  Turkish  instriv 
ments  described  bv  Mersennus  are  many  in  this  form. 


3hap.  XIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC 


87 


which  the  Doctor  was  the  better  qualified  to  give,  as 
it  abundantly  appears,  as  well  by  divers  other  of  his 
writings  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  as  the 
work  we  are  now  speaking  of,  that  he  was  very  pro- 
foundly skilled  in  the  science  of  music.  How  far 
he  is  to  be  depended  on  when  he  undertakes  to 
render  the  ancient  modes  in  modern  characters  seems 
very  questionable,  for  were  the  Doctor's  opinion 
right  in  that  matter,  all  that  controversy  which  has 
subsisted  for  these  many  centuries,  not  only  touching 
the  specific  differences  between  them,  but  even  as  to 
their  number,  must  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  absolutely  inscrutable ;  and  perhaps  it 
is  for  this  reason  only  that  so  many  have  imagined 
that  with  them  we  have  lost  the  most  valuable  part 
of  the  art ;  but  on  the  contrary  it  is  worth  remarking 
that  the  Doctor,  though  he  was  perhaps  the  ablest 
geometer  of  his  time,  and  had  all  the  prejudices  in 
favour  of  the  ancients  that  a  man  conversant  with  the 
best  of  their  writers  could  be  supposed  to  entertain, 
never  intimates  any  such  matter ;  nay,  so  far  is  he 
from  adjudging  a  preference  to  the  ancient  music 
over  that  of  the  moderns,  that  he  scruples  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  novelty, 
and  other  probable  causes.  Dr.  Wallis  gave  two 
editions  of  this  work  of  Ptolemy,  the  one  published 
in  quarto  at  Oxford  in  1682  ;  another,  as  also  the 
commentary  of  Porphyry,  and  a  treatise  of  Manuel 
Bryennius,  makes  part  of  the  third  volume  of  his 
works,  published  in  three  volumes  in  folio,  1699. 

Censorinus,  a  most  famous  grammarian,  lived  at 
Rome  about  a.c.  238,*  and  wrote  a  book  entitled  De 
Die  Natali.  It  was  published  by  Erycius  Puteanus, 
at  Louvain,  in  1628,  who  styles  it  Doctrinae  rarioris 
Thesaurus  ;  and  it  is  by  others  also  much  celebrated 
for  the  great  light  it  has  thrown  on  learning.  It  is 
a  very  small  work,  consisting  of  only  twenty-four 
chapters ;  the  tenth  is  concerning  music ;  and  the 
subsequent  chapters,  as  far  as  the  thirteenth  inclusive, 
relate  to  the  same  subject. 

He  professes  to  relate  things  not  known  even  to 
musicians  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  acuter;  that  all  simple  sounds,  in 
what  manner  soever  emitted,  are  called  phthongoi; 
and  the  difference,  whereby  one  sound  is  either  more 
grave  or  more  acute  than  another,  is  called  diastema. 

The  rest  of  his  discourse  on  music  is  here  given  in 
his  own  words  : — '  Many  diastemata  may  be  placed 
*  in  order  between  the  lowest  and  the  highest  sound, 
'  some  whereof  are  greater,  as  the  tone,  and  others 
'  less,  as  the  hemitone  ;  or  a  diastem  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  symphonies 
'  are  three,  of  which  the  rest  consist ;  the  first,  having 

»  Fabricius.  Biblioth.  Lat.  torn.  I.  pag.  537. 


a  diastem  of  two  tones,  and  a  hemitone,  is  called  a 
diatessaron  ;  the  second,  containing  three  tones  and 
a  hemitone,  is  called  a  diapente ;  the  third  is  the 
diapason,  and  consists  of  the  two  former,  for  it  is 
constituted  either  of  six  tones,  as  Aristoxenus  and 
other  musicians  assert,  or  of  five  tones  and  two 
hemitones,  as  Pythagoras  and  the  geometricians  say, 
who  demonstrate  that  two  hemitones  do  not  com- 
plete the  tone  ;  wherefore  this  interval,  improperly 
called  by  Plato  a  hemitone,  is  truly  and  properly  a 
diesis  or  limma. 

'  But  to  make  it  appear  that  sounds,  which  are 
neither  sensible  to  the  eyes,  nor  to  the  touch  or 
feeling,  have  measures,  I  shall  relate  the  wonderful 
comment  of  Pythagoras,  who,  by  searching  into  the 
secrets  of  nature,  found  that  the  sounds  of  the 
musicians  agreed  to  the  ratio  of  numbers ;  for  he 
distended  chords  equally  thick  and  equally  long,  by 
different  weights,  these  being  frequently  struck,  and 
their  sounds  not  proving  concordant,  he  changed 
the  weights ;  and  having  frequently  tried  them  one 
after  another,  he  at  length  discovered  that  two 
chords  struck  together  produced  a  diatessaron  ; 
when  their  weights  being  compared  together,  bore 
the  same  ratio  to  each  other  as  three  does  to  four, 
which  the  Greeks  call  i-KirpiTOQ,  epitritos,  and  the 
Latins  supertertium.  He  at  the  same  time  found 
that  the  symphony,  which  they  call  diapente,  was 
produced  when  the  weights  were  in  a  sesquialtera 
proportion,  namely,  that  of  2  to  3,  which  they  called 
hemiolium.  But  when  one  of  the  chords  was 
stretched  with  a  weight  duple  to  that  of  the  other, 
it  sounded  a  diapason. 

'  He  also  tried  if  these  proportions  would  answer 
in  the  tibiae,  and  found  that  they  did ;  for  he  pre- 
pared four  tibiae  of  equal  cavity  or  bore,  but  unequal 
in  length ;  for  example,  the  first  was  six  inches 
long,  the  second  eight,  the  third  nine,  and  the 
fourth  twelve ;  these  being  blown  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  first 
and  fourth  the  diapason  :  but  there  was  the  difference 
between  the  nature  of  the  chords  and  that  of  the 
tibiae,  that  the  tibiae  became  graver  in  proportion 
to  the  increase  of  their  lengths,  while  the  chords 
became  acuter  by  an  additional  augmentation  of 
their  weights ;  the  proportion  however  was  the 
same  each  way. 

'  These  things  being  explained,  though  perhaps 
obscurely,  yet  as  clearly  as  I  was  able,  I  return  to 
shew  M^hat  Pythagoras  thought  concerning  the 
number  of  the  days  appertaining  to  the  partus.  First, 
he  says  there  are  in  general  two  kinds  of  birth,  the 
one  lesser,  of  seven  months,  which  comes  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.'  Censorinus  then  goes  on  to  relate  from  Plato 
that  in  the  work  of  conception  there  are  four  periods, 
the  first  of  six  days,  the  second  of  eight,  which  two 
numbers  are  the  ratio  of  the  diatessaron ;  the  third 
of  nine,   which  answers  to  the   diapente,  and   the 


88 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  II 


fourth,  at  the  end  whereof  the  foetus  is  formed,  of 
twelve,  answering  to  the  diapason  in  duple  propor- 
tion. After  this  he  proceeds  to  declare  the  relations 
of  the  above  numbers  in  these  words  : — 

'  These  four  numbers,  six,  eight,  nine,  and  twelve, 
'  being  added  together,  make  up  thirty -live ;  nor  is 
'  the  number  six  undeservedly  deemed  to  relate  to 

*  the  birth,  for  the  Greeks  call  it  reXeioc,  teleios,  and 
'  we   perfectum,    because    its   three    parts,    a   sixth, 

*  a  third,  and  a  half,  that  is  one,  two,  three,  make  up 
'  itself ;  but  as  the  first  stage  in  the  conception  is 
'  completed  in  this  number  six,  so  the  former  number 
'  thirty-five  being  multiplied  by  this  latter  six,  the 
'  product   is   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  Etruscans,  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  formed  in  thirty-five  days,  so  here 

*  it  is  done  in  almost  forty,  and  for  this  reason,  forty 

*  days  are  a  period  very  remarkable ;   for  instance, 

*  a  pregnant  woman  did  not  go  into  the  temple  till 

*  after  the  fortieth  day ;  after  the  birth  women  are 
'  indisposed  for  forty  days ;  infants  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  very  exactly  cor- 
'  responds  to  the  quadrangular  aspect  of  the  Chal- 
'  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  will  arrive  at  that  place  where  the  quadrature 
'  has  an  aspect  to  the  beginning  of  conception.  But 
'  let  no  man  wonder  how  the  human  mind  is  able  to 
'  discover  the  secrets  of  human  nature  in  this  respect, 
'  for  the  frequent  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  consists  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  been  grateful  to  the 
'  immortal  Gods,  scenical  games  would  never  have 

*  been  _  instituted  to  appease  them  ;  neither  would 
'  the  tibiiB  accompany  our  supplications  in  the  holy 


'  temples.  Triumphs  would  not  have  been  celebrated 
'  with  the  tibia ;  the  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  Quinquatria,*  that 
'  is  on  the  ides  of  June ;  to  range  about  the  city, 
'  drunk,  and  disguised  in  what  garments  they  pleased, 
'  Human  minds,  and  those  that  are  divine,  though 
'  Epicurus  cries ,  out  against  it,  acknowledge  their 
'  nature  by  songs.  Lastly,  symphony  is  made  use 
'  of  by  the  commanders  of  ships  to  encourage  the 
'  sailors,  aud  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  is 

*  dispelled  by  the  trumpet ;  wherefore  Pythagoras, 
'  that  he  might  imbue  his  soul  with  its  own  divinity, 
'  before  he  went  to  sleep  and  after  he  awaked  was 
'  accustomed,  as  is  reported,  to  sing  to  the  cithara ; 
'  and  Asclepiades  the  physician  relieved  the  dis- 
'  turbed  minds  of  frenetics  by  symphony.  Etophilus, 
'  a  physician  also,  says  that  the  pulses  of  the  veins 
'  are  moved  by  musical  rhythmi ;  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  what  Pythagoras 
'  taught,  namely,   that  this  whole   world  was  con- 

*  structed  according  to  musical  ratio,  and  that  the 
'  seven  planets  which  move  between  the  heavens  and 
'  the  earth,  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  concordant  as  to  produce  a  most  sweet  melody, 
'  though  inaudible  to  us  by  reason  of  the  greatness 
'  of  the  sounds,  which  the  narrow  passages  of  our 
'  ears  are  not  capable  of  admitting.'  Then  follows 
the  passage  declaring  the  Pythagorean  estimate  of 
the  distances  of  the  planets  and  their  supposed 
harmonical  ratio,  herein-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.  Agreealdy  to  this  he  says  Dorylaus  writes 
that  this  world  is  the  instrument  of  God  :  and  others, 
that  as  there  are  seven  wandering  planets,  which  have 
regular  motions,  they  may  fitly  be  resembled  to  a 
dance.  I 

»  A  feast  in  honour  of  Minerva. 
+  See  it  in  page  65,  with  a  diagram. 

t  The  general  opinion  of  the  learned  in  former  ages,  touching  the 
harmony  of  tlie  spheres,  has  been  mentioned  in  a  preceding  page,  but 
there  appears  a  disposition  in  the  modern  philosophers  to  revive  the 
notion.  It  seems  that  Dr.  Gregory  thought  it  well  founded ;  and 
Mr.  Maclaurin,  in  conformity  with  his  opinion,  Phil.  Discov.  of 
Newton,  pag.  35,  explains  it  thus: — 'If  we  should  suppose  musical 
'chords  extended  from  the  sun  to  each  planet;  that  all  these  chords 
'  might  become  unison,  it  would  be  requisite  to  encrease  or  diminish 
'  their  tensions  in  the  same  proportions  as  would  be  sufficient  to  render 
'  the  gravities  of  the  planets  equal ;  and  from  the  similitude  of  these 
'  proportions  the  celebrated  doctrine  of  the  harmony  of  the  spheres 
'is  supposed  to  have  been  derived.' 

The  author  of  a  book  lately  published,  entitled  Principles  and  Powei 
of  Harmony,  has  added  his  suffrage  in  support  of  the  opinion.    '  Certain, 


Chap.  XIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


89 


PoRPHYRius,  a  very  learned  Greek  philosopher,  of 
the  Platonic  sect,  and  who  wrote  a  commentary  on  the 
Harmonics  of  Ptolemy,  lived  about  the  end  of  the 
third  centm-y.  His  preceptors  in  philosophy  were 
Plotinus  and  Amolius  ;  he  was  a  bitter  enemy  to  the 
Christian  religion,  which  perhaps  is  the  reason  why 
St.  Jerome  will  have  him  to  be  a  Jew ;  but  Eunapius 
affirms  that  he  was  a  native  of  Tyre,  and  that  his  true 
name  was  Malchus,  which  in  the  Syrian  language 
signifies  a  king  ;  and  that  Longinus  the  Sophist,  who 
taught  him  rhetoric,  gave  him  the  name  of  Porphyrins, 
in  allusion  to  the  purple  usually  worn  by  kings. 
Besides  the  commentary  on  Ptolemy  he  wrote  the 
lives  of  divers  philosophers,  of  which  only  a  frag- 
ment, containing  the  life  of  Pythagoras,  is  now 
remaining ;  a  treatise  of  abstinence  from  flesh,  an 
explication  of  the  categories  of  Aristotle,  and  a  trea- 
tise, containing  fifteen  books,  against  the  Christian 
religion,  which  he  once  professed,  as  St.  Augustine, 
Socrates,  and  others  assert :  this  latter  was  answered 
by  Methodius,  bishop  of  Tyre,  and  afterwards  by 
Eusebius.  He  died  about  the  end  of  the  reign  of 
Dioclesian,  and  in  388  his  books  were  burned. 

With  regard  to  his  commentary,  it  is  evidently 
imperfect;  for  whereas  the  treatise  of  Ptolemy,  is 
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  virulent  opposer  of  the  Aristoxeneans,  and  like  his 
author  adheres  in  general  to  the  tenets  of  Pythagoras. 
Porphyry  has  given  a  description  of  the  harmonic 
canon  much  more  intelligible  than  that  of  Ptolemy, 
and  has  delineated  it  in  the  following  form  : — 


7\ 


A      B 


E 


C      D 


By  which  it  appears  that  a  chord  A  D,  strained 
over  the  immoveable  magades  B  and  C,  which  are 
nothing  more  than  two  parallelograms,  with  a  semi- 
circular arch  at  the  top  of  each,  together  with  a 
moveable  bridge  of  the  same  form  E,  but  somewhat 
higher,  will  be  sufficient  for  the  demonstration  of  the 
consonances,  and  this  indeed  is  the  "representation 
which  Dr.  Wallis  in  his  notes  on  Ptolemy  has  thought 
proper  to  give  of  it. 

Dr,  Wallis  has  contented  himself  with  publishing 
a  bare  version  of  this  author,  without  the  addition  of 

'  says  he,  as  this  harmonic  coincidence  is  now  become,  till  Sir  Isaac 
'  Newton  demonstrated  the  laws  of  gravitation  in  relation  to  the  planets, 
'  it  must  have  passed  for  the  dream  of  an  Utopian  philosopher.'  Pag.  146 
The  same  author,  pag.  145,  agreeably  to  what  Censorinus  above  asserts, 
says  that  '  there  are  traces  of  the  harmonic  principle  scattered  up  and 
'  down,  sufficient  to  make  us  look  on  it  as  one  of  the  great  and  reigning 
'  principles  of  the  inanimate  world.'  Some  of  these  have  hereinbefore 
been  pointed  out.  Vide  pag.  65,  in  note.  To  the  instances  there  men- 
tioned, the  following  may  not  imjjroperly  be  added.  The  web  of  a  spider 
formed  of  threads  is  of  an  hexaiigular  figure,  and  each  of  the  threads 
that  divide  the  whole  into  six  triangles,  may  be  considered  as  a  beam 
intended  to  give  firmness  and  stability  to  the  fabric  ;  from  one  to  the 
other  of  tiiese  beams  the  insect  conducts  lines  in  a  parallel  direction, 
which,  supposing  them  to  be  ten  in  number,  do,  in  consequence  of  their 
different  lengths,  constitute  a  perfect  decachord.  Kircher,  who  made 
this  discovery,  says,  that  were  these  lines  or  chords  capable  of  sustaining 
a  force  sulhcient  to  make  them  vibrate,  it  must  necessarily  follow  from 
the  ratios  of  tht-lr  lengths,  that  between  the  sound  of  the  outer  and  the 
innermost,  the  interval  would  be  a  diapason  and  semidiione ;  and  that 
the  rest  of  the  chords,  in  proportion  to  their  lengths,  would  produce  the 
other  consonances.     Musurg.  torn.  I.  pag.  441. 


notes,  except  a  few  such  short  ones  as  he  thought 
necessary  to  correct  a  vicious  reading,  or  explain  a 
difficult  passage. 

The  works  of  the  several  authors  above-named 
declare  very  fully  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  some 
account. 

The  general  division  of  musical  instruments  is  into 
three  classes,  the  pulsatile,  tensile,  and  inflatile ;  and 
to  this  purpose  Cardinal  Bellarmine,  in  his  Exposition 
of  the  OLth  psalm,  verse  3,  says  :  '  Tria  sunt  instru- 
'  mentorum  genera,  vox,  flatus,  et  pulsus ;  omnium 

*  meminit  hoc  loco  propheta.' 

Of  the  first  are  the  drum,  the  sistrum,  and  bells. 
Of  the  second,  the  lute,  the  harp,  the  clavicymbalum, 
and  viols  of  all  kinds.  Of  the  third  are  the  trumpet, 
flutes,  and  pipes,  whether  single  or  collected  together, 
as  in  the  organ. 

And  Kircher,  in  his  Musurgia,  preface  to  book  VI., 
has  this  passage : — '  Omnia  instrumenta   musica  ad 

*  tria  genera,  ut  plurium  revocantur  :  Prioris  generis 
'  dicuntur  ey^op^a  sive  evraTa.,  quae  nervis,  seu 
'  chordis  constant  quaeque  plectris,  aut  digitis  in  har- 
'  monicos  motus  incitantur,  ut  sunt  Testudines, 
'  Psalteria,  Lyrae,  Sambucae,  Pandorae,  Barbita, 
'  Nablia,     Pectides,     Clavicymbala,     aliaque     hujus 

*  generis  innumera.  Secundi  generis  sunt  efK^vawfieim, 
'  wvsvfxariKa,  vel  ejXTrvEHQa,  quae  inflata,  seu  spiritu, 

*  incitata  sonum  edunt  ut  Fistulae,  Tibiae,  Cornua, 
'  Litui,  Tubae,  Buccinae,  Classica.  Tertii  generis 
'  sunt  KpHQa,  sive  pulsatilia  uti  sunt  Tympana,  Sistra, 
'  Cymbala,  Campanse,  &c.' 

This  division  is  adopted  by  a  late  writer,  Fran- 
ciscus  Blanchinus  of  Verona,  in  a  very  learned  and 
curious  dissertation  on  the  musical  instruments  of  the 
ancients ;  *  which  upon  the  authority  of  ancient 
medals,  intaglias,  bass-reliefs,  and  other  sculptures  of 
great  antiquity,  exhibits  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  their 
respective  forms.  He  has  deviated  a  little  from  the 
order  prescribed  by  the  above  division  of  musical 
instruments  into  classes,  by  beginning  with  the 
inflatile  species  instead  of  the  tensile  ;  nevertheless 
his  dissertation  is  very  curious  and  satisfactory,  and 
contains  in  it  a  detail  to  the  fol-  Fig.  i.  rig.  2. 

lowing  effect : — 

One  of  the  most  simple  musical 
instruments  of  the  ancients  is  the 
Calamus  pastoralis,  made  of  an 
oaten  reed ;  it  is  mentioned  by 
Virgil  and  many  others  of  the 
Latin  poets,  and  by  Martianus  Ca- 
pella.     See  the  form  of  it  fig.  1. 

Other  writers  mention  an  instru- 
ment of  very  great  antiquity  by  the 
name  of  Ossea  tibia,  a  pipe  made 


of  the  leg-bone  of  a  crane. 


Fig.  2. 


*  De  tribus  Generibus  Instrumentorum  Musicae  veterum  Organic^, 
Dissertatio  ;  Roma;,  1742. 


90 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  II. 


The  Syringa  or  pipe  of  Pan  is 
described  by  Virgil,  and  the  use  of  it 
by  Lucretius,  lib.  V. 

Et  supra  calamos  unco  percurrere  labro. 
The  figure  of  it  occurs  so  frequently 
on  medals,  that  a  particular  description 
of  it  is  unnecessary.     Fig.  3. 

The  Tibife  pares,  mentioned  by 
Terence  to  have  been  played  on, 
the  one  with  the  right,  and  the  other 
with  the  left  hand,  are  diversely 
represented  in  Mersennus  De  In- 
Btrumentis  harmonicis,  pag.  7,  and 
in  the  Dissertation  of  Blanchinus 
now  citing ;  in  the  former  they 
are  yoked  together  towards  the 
bottom,  and  at  the  top,  as  fig.  4. 
In  the  latter  they  are  much  slen- 
derer, and  are  not  joined.     Fig.  5.* 


The  ancient  Buccina  or  horn-trumpet,  fig.  10,  is 
mentioned  by  Ovid,  Vegetius,  Macrobius,  and  others. 


Kg.  10. 


The  author  last  men- 
tioned speaks  also  of 
other  pipes,  namely, 
the  Tibiae  bifores,  fig. 
6,  the  Tibiae  gemine, 
fig.  7,  instruments  used 
in  theatrical  repre- 
sentations ;  the  latter 
of  these  seem  to  be 
the  Tibiae  imparos  of 
Terence  :  he  also  de- 
scribes the  Tibife  utri- 
culari^,  or  bag-pipes, 
fig.  8,  anciently  the  entertainment  of  shepherds  and 
other  rustics. 

The  Horn,  fig.  9,  was  anciently  used  at  funeral 
solemnities ;  it  is  alluded  to  by  Statins.  Theb.  lib.  VI. 

Fig.  8.  Fig.  9. 


*  The  tibiae  of  the  ancients,  and  especially  those  mentioned  in  the 
titles  of  Terence's  comedies,  have  been  the  subject  of  much  learned 
enquiry.  Caspar  Bartholinus  the  anatomist  has  written  a  whole  volume 
l)e  Tibiis  Veterum.  jElius  lionatus,  a  Latin  f^rammarian,  and  the 
preceptor  of  St.  Jerome,  says  that  the  tone  of  the  tibiae  dextra;  was 
grave,  and  adapted  to  the  serious  parts  of  the  comedy  :  and  that  that  of 
the  tibiae  sinistrse,  and  also  of  the  tibiae  sarranse,  or  Tyrian  pipes,  was 
light  and  cheerful.  '  Dextra  tibiae  sua  gravitate  seriam  comedeE  dic- 
'  tinnem  pronunciabant.  Sinistrae  et  sarranae  hoc  est  Tyriae  acuminis 
'  suavitate  jocum  in  comedia  ostendebant.  Ubi  aiitem  dextra  et  sinistra 
'  acta  fabula  inscribebatur  mistira  jocos  et  gravitatem  denunciabnt.' 
Donat.  Frasm.  de  Traged.  &  Corned.  The  abbe  du  Bos  says  that  this 
passage  explains  that  other  in  Pliny,  where  it  is  said  that  the  ancients 
to  make  left-handed  pipes,  took  the  bottom  of  that  very  reed,  the  top 
whereof  they  had  before  used  for  the  right-handed.  The  sense  of  this 
passage  is  manifest ;  but  it  does  not  strictly  agree  with  what  Donatus 
gays,  unless  it  can  be  supposed  that,  contrary  to  the  order  of  nature,  the 
reeds  were  small  at  bottom,  and  grew  tapering  upwards. 


The  Tuba  communis,  seu  recta,  so  called  in  con- 
tradistinction to  the  Tuba  ductilis,  is  of  very  ancient 
original ;  it  was  formerly,  as  now,  made  of  silver  or 
brass,  of  the  form  fig,  11.     Blanchinus  hesitates  not  to 

Fig.  u. 


Fig.  12. 


Fig.  13. 


assert  that  the  two  trumpets  of  silver  which  God 
commanded  Moses  to  make  in  the  wilderness  were  of 
this  form.f  It  seems  that  the  trumpet  has  retained 
this  figure  without  the  least  external  diversity,  so  low 
down  as  the  year  1520 ;  for  in  a  very  curious  picture 
at  Windsor,  supposed  to  be  of  Mabuse,  representing 
the  interview  between  Ardres  and  Guisnes,  of  Henry 
VIII.  and  Francis  I.  are  trumpets  precisely  cor- 
responding in  figure  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  Quintilianus,  and  other  ancient  WTiters,  but 
we  have  no  authentic  designation  of  it  prior  to  the 
time  of  Ptolemy,  it  nevertheless  is  capable  of  so 
many  forms,  that  any  instrument  of  one  string  only 
answers  to  the  name ;  for  which  reason  some  have 
not  scrupled  to  represent  the  monochord  like  the  bow 
of  Diana. 

Figures  12  and 
13,  are  the  Lyre 
of  three  and  four 
chords,  ascribed  to 
Mercury,  by  Ni- 
comachus,  Macro- 
bins,  Boetius,  and 
a  number  of  other 
writers,  the  forms 
whereof  are  here 
given  from  ancient 
sculptures   in   and 

about  Rome, 
referred  to 
by  Blanchi- 
nus ;  as  are 
also  those 
figures  14 
and  15,  repre- 
senting the 
one  a  Lyre 
with  seven 
chords,  and 
the  other  one 
with  nine. 

t  '  Make  thee  two  trumpets  of  silver ;  of  a  whole  piece  shalt  thou 
'  make  them,  that  thou  mayest  use  them  for  the  calling  of  the  assembly, 
'  and  for  the  journeying  of  the  camps.      Numbers,  chap.  x.  verse  2. 


Chap.  XIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


91 


Fig.  16  is  the  Lyre  of  Amphion, 
and  17  the  plectrum,  with  which 
not  only  this,   but  every  species 

Fig.  16.  Fig.  17. 


Fig.  18. 


Fig.  21. 


Fig.  22. 


of  the  lyre  was  struck,  as  may  be  collected  from  the 

following  passage  in  Ovid  : — 

Instructamque  fidem  gemmis  et  dentibus  Tndis 
Sustinet  a  laeva  :  tenuit  manus  altera  plectrum. 
Artificis  status  ipse  fuit,  turn  stamina  docto 
Pollice  soUicitat :  quorum  dulcedine  captus 
Pana  iubet  Tmolus  citherse  submittere  cannus. 

Met.  lib.  xi.  1.  167.* 

Figures  19  and  20  are  other  forms  of  the  Lyre  in 
a  state  of  improvement. 

Fig.  19.  Fig.  20. 


♦  It  is  very  probable  that  the  use  of  the  bow,  with  which  the  viol 
Bpeeies  of  instruments  is  sounded,  was  borrowed  from  a  practice  of  the 
ancients.  Of  the  many  kinds  of  lyre  among  them,  it  seems  that  they 
had  one,  in  which  the  fingers  of  one  hand  were  employed  in  stopping 
the  strings,  at  the  instant  that  they  were  striokeq  with  a  stick  held  in 
the  other. 

Virgil  intimates  a  practice  somewhat  like  this  in  the  following  passage 
of  Uie  jEneid:— 

Nee  non  Threicus  longa  cum  veste  sacerdos 
Obloquitur  numeris  septem  discrimina  vocum  : 
Jamque  eadem  digitis,  jam  pectine  pulsat  ebumo. 

Lib.  VI.  1.  645. 
The  Thracian  bard,  surrounded  by  the  rest, 
There  stands  conspicuous  in  his  flowing  vest, 
His  flying  fingers,  and  harmonious  quill. 
Strike  sev'n  distinguish'd  notes,  and  sev'n  at  once  they  fill. 

Dryden's  translation,  book  VI.  1.  877. 
From   which   it  at  least   appears,  that  the  instrument  was  placed  in 
a  horizontal  position,  and  that  the  strings  were  struck,  not  by  the  fingers, 
but  with  a  plectrum,  which  might  be  a  quill  or  a  bow,  or  almost  any 
other  thing  fit  for  the  purpose. 

Plato,  in  his  treatise  de  Legibus  VII.  794.  Ed.  Serr.  advises  to  train 
up  children  to  use  the  right  and  the  left  hand  indifferently.  In  some 
things,  says  he,  we  can  do  it  very  well,  as  when  we  use  the  lyre  with  the 
left  hand  and  the  stick  with  the  right.  Dr.  Jortin  says  it  may  be  col- 
lected from  this,  that  the  fingers  <if  the  left  hand  were  occupied  in  some 
manner  upon  the  strings,  el.se  barely  to  tiold  a  lyre  shewed  no  very  free 
use  of  the  left  hand;  and  it  appears  from  Ptolemy.  II.  12,  that  they 
used  both  hands  at  once  in  playing  upon  the  lyre,  and  that  the  fingers  of 
the  left  were  employed,  not  in  stopping,  but  in  striking  the  string. 
But  see  the  figure  of  an  ancient  statue,  representing  Apollo  playing  on 


Figures  21,  22, 
are  two  different 
representations  of 
the  Lyra  triplex, 
the  one  from  Blan- 
chinus,  the  other 
from  a  writer  of 
far  less  respect- 
able authority  ; 
concerning  this  in- 
strument it  is  ne- 
cessary to  be  some  - 
what  particular. 

Athenaeus  lib. 
VIV.  cap.  XV.  de- 
scribes an  instrument  of  a  very  singular  construction, 
being  a  lyre  in  the  form  of  a  tripod,  an  invention,  as 
it  is  said,  of  Pythagoras  Zacynthius.  This  person  is 
mentioned  by  Aristoxenus,  in  his  Elements,  page  36  ; 
and  Meibomius,  in  a  note  on  the  passage,  says,  on  the 
authority  of  Diogenes  Laertius,  that  he  was  the 
author  of  Arcana  Philosophise,  and  adds,  that  it  was 
from  him  that  the  proverbial  saying,  ipse  dixit,  had 
its  rise  ;  with  respect  to  the  instrument,  it  is  ex- 
hibited, in  two  forms  (see  above),  the  first  taken  from 
a  sarcophagus  at  Rome,  referred  to  by  Blanchinus, 
the  other  from  an  engraving  in  the  Histoire  de  la 
Musique,  of  Monsieur  de  Blainville,  for  which  it  is  to 
be  suspected  he  had  no  other  authority  than  the  bare 
verbal  description  of  Athenseus,  who  has  said,  that  it 
comprehended  three  distinct  sets  of  chords,  adjusted  to 
the  three  most  ancient  of  the  modes,  the  Dorian,  the 
Phrygian,  and  the  Lydian. 

The  Trigon,  an  instrument  mentioned  by  Nicho- 
machus,  among  those  which  were  adjusted  by  Pytha- 
goras, after  he  had  di.- covered  and 
settled  the  ratios  of  the  consonances. 
It  was  used  at  feasts,  and  it  is  said, 
was  played  on  by  women,  and  struck 
either  with  a  quill,  or  beaten  with 
little  rods  of  different  lengths  and 
weights,  to  occasion  a  diversity  in  the 
sounds.  The  figure  23  is  taken  from 
an  ancient  Roman  anaglyph,  mentioned 
by  Blanchinus. 
Figure  24  is  also 
a  Trigon,  de- 
scribed by  the 
same  author  ; 
figure  25  is  the 
reverse  of  an  an- 
cient medal,  and 
shews  the  man- 
ner of  playing 
on  it. 

The    Cymbals 

the  lyre,  fig.  18,  which  seems  very  clearly  to  evince  the  practice  above 

spoken  of.  .,,,,-     ^v        i 

Upon  this  relic  of  antiquity,  a  drawing  whereof  was  found  m  the  col- 
Icclion  of  the  late  Mr.  N.  Haym,  it  is  observable  that  the  lyre  is  of  a  form 
verv  marly  resembling  the  violin,  as  having  a  body,  and  also  a  neck, 
which  is  held  in  the  left  hand  ;  the  instrument  in  the  right,  undoubtedly 
answers  to  the  modern  bow,  with  this  difference,  that  its  use  was  per- 
cussion and  not  friction,  which  latter  is  a  modern  and  noble  improve- 
ment ;  the  position  of  the  instrument  deserves  to  be  remarked,  as  it 
corresponds  exactly  with  the  viol  di  braccio. 


Fig.  23. 


Fig.  24. 


Fig.  25. 


92 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  XL 


Fig.  27. 


Fig.  29. 


of   Bacchus,  figure  26,  were  two  ^'&-  se- 

aman brass  vessels,  somewhat  in 
the  form  of  a  shield,  which  being 
struck  together  by  the  hands,  gave 
a  sound.  The  well-known  statue 
of  the  dancing  faun  has  one  of 
these  in  each  hand. 

The  Tympanum  leve, 
figure  27,  an  instrument  yet 
known  by  the  name  of  the ' 
Tambouret,  and  frequently 
used  in  dancing,  was  also  used 
to  sing  to  ;  it  is  distinguished 
by  Catullus,  Ovid,  Suetonius, 
St.  Augustine,  and  Isidore, 
of  Sevil,  from  the  great  brazen  drum,  properly  so 
called,  this  above-mentioned,  was  covered  with  the 
skin  of  some  animal,  and  was  struck  either  with  a 
short  twig  or  with  Fig.  2s. 
the  hand,  as  fig.  28. 

Crotala,  figure  29. 
These  were  instru- 
ments also  of  the 
pulsatile  kind.  The 
Crotalum  was  made 
of  a  reed,  divided 
into  two  by  a  slit 
from  the  top,  ex- 
tending half  way 
downwards :  the  sides 
thus  divided  being 
struck  one  against 
the  other  with  dif-' 
ferent  motions  of  the  hands,  produced  M 
a  sound  like  that  which  the  stork  ^ 
makes  with  her  bill,  wherefore  the 
ancients  gave  that  bird  the  epithet  of  Crotalistria,  i.e., 
Player  upon  the  Crotalum  ;*  and  Aristophanes  calls 
a  great  talker  a  Crotalum. 

*  Pausanias  relates,  that  Hercules  did  not  kill  the  Stymphalides  with 
his  arrows,  but  that  he  frighted,  and  drove  them  away  with  the  noise  of 
the  crotala,  the  consequence  whereof,  supposing  the  relation  to  be  true, 
is,  that  the  crotalum  must  be  a  very  ancient  instrument.  Ovid  joins  the 
crotalum  with  the  cymbals. 

Cymbala  cum  crotalis  prurientiaque  arma  Priapo 
Ponit,  et  adduclt  tympana  pulsa  manu. 

It  appears  by  an  ancient  poem,  entitled  Copa,  by  some  ascribed  to 
Virgil,  that  those  who  played  with  the  crotala  danced  at  the  same  time. 
It  farther  appears,  that  in  these  dances,  which  were  chietly  of  women, 


S.  31. 


such  a  variety  of 
wanton  gesticu- 
lations and  in- 
decent attitudes 
and  postures 
were  practised, 
that  Clemens  Al- 
exandrinus  says, 
that  the  use  of 
these  instru- 
ments ought  to 
be  banished  from 
the  festivals  of  all 
Christians.  And 
the  same  might 
have  been  said 
of  the  cymbals. 
See  figures  30 
and  31. 

Some    authors 

resemble  the  cmtala  to  the  castanets  of  the  Spaniards,  or  perhaps  of  the 
Moors;  for  castanets  are  supposed  to  be  of  Moorish  invention  ;  but  of 
these  the  crumata  of  the  ancients  seem  more  nearly  to  approach.  These 
were  made  of  bones,  or  the  shells  of  fish.  Scaliger  observes,  upon  the 
above-mentioned  poem,  that  they  were  very  common  among  the  Spaniards, 


Mention  is  made  by  some  writers  on  music,  of  an 
instrument  of  forty  chords,  called,  from  the  name  of 
its  inventor,  the  Epigonium.  Epigonius  was  a 
native  of  Ambracia,  a  city  of  Epirus,  and  a  citizen  of 
Sicyon,  a  town  of  Peloponnesus.  He  is  mentioned 
together  with  Lasus  Hermionensis,  by  Aristoxenus, 
in  his  Elements,  pag.  3.  And  Porphyry  makes  him 
the  head  of  one  of  those  many  sects  of  musicians  that 
formerly  subsisted,  giving  him  the  priority  even  of 
Aristoxenus,  in  these  words  : — '  There  were  many 
'  sects,  some  indeed  before  Aristoxenus,  as  the  Epi- 
'  gonians,  Damonians,  Eratocleans,  Agenorians,  and 
'  some  others  ;  which  he  himself  makes  mention  of ; 
'  but  there  were  some  after  him,  which  others  have 
'  described,  as  the  Archestratians,  Agonians,  Philis- 
*  cians,  and  Hermippians.' 

Julius  Pollux,  in  his  Onomasticum,  lib.  IV.  cap.  ix. 
speaking  of  the  instruments  invented  by  certain 
nations,  says,  that  the  Epigonium  obtained  its  name 
from  Epigonius,  who  was  the  first  that  struck  the 
chords  of  musical  instruments  without  a  plectrum.  "{■ 
The  same  author' adds,  that  the  Epigonium  had  forty 
chords,  as  the  Simicum  had  thirty-five.  Athenajus, 
lib.  IV.  speaks  to  the  same  purpose. 

As  to  the  Simicum,  nothing  more  is  known  about 
it,  than  that  it  contained  thirty-five  chords.  Vincentio 
Galilei,  with  good  reason,  supposes  it  to  be  somewhat 
more  ancient  than  the  Epigonium.  Of  both  these 
instruments  he  has  ventured  to  give  a  representation, 
in  his  dialogue  on  ancient  and  modern  music  ;  but  it 
is  very  much  to  be  doubted,  whether  he  had  any 
authority  from  antiquity  for  so  doing.  The  form 
which  he  has  assigned  them  severally,  resembles 
nearly  that  of  an  upright  harpsichord,  which  seems 
to  indicate,  that  when  played  on,  it  was  held  between 
the  legs  of  the  musician,  different  perhaps  from  the 
harp,  with  the  grave  chords  near  and  the  acute  re- 
mote from  him.    - 

The  foregoing  account  comprehends  the  principal 
instruments  in  use  among  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans,  so  far  as  the  researches  of  learned  and  in- 
quisitive men  have  succeeded  in  the  attempts  to  re- 
cover them  ;  their  forms  seem  to  be  thereby  ascer- 
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  its  efficacy  and  influence 
over    the    human    passions ;    and   leave   it   an   un- 

especially  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  of  Bcetica  [Andalusia}  about 
Cadiz,  to  which  Martial  alludes. 

Nee  de  Gadibus  improbis  puella; 

Vibrahunt  sine  fine  prurientes 

Lascivos  docili  tremore  lumbos.         Lib.  V.  epigr.  Ixxix. 

The  same  poet  elsewhere  speaks  of  the  crumata  in  these  words  : — 
Edere  lascivos  ad  Bcetica  crusmata  gestus, 
Ed  Gaditanis  ludere  docta  modis.        Lib.  VI.  epigr.  Ixxi. 

From  which  two  passages,  it  appears  clearly,  that  the  above  censure 
of  Clemens  Alexandrinus  was  well  grounded. 

+  Plutarch  in  his  dialogue  before  cited,  relates  that  Olympus  intro- 
duced the  plectrum  into  Greece,  which  it  is  supposed  was  then  deemed 
a  useful  invention.  Certainly  the  lyre  was  originally  touched  by  the 
fingers,  and  all  that  can  be  meant  here,  is,  that  Epigonius  recurred  to 
the  primitive  method,  and  played  on  his  instrument,  as  the  harp  is  now 
played  on  with  the  fingers  ;  between  which,  and  the  touch  of  a  plectrum 
or  quill,  the  difference  is  very  wide,  as  may  be  discovered  by  a  com- 
parison of  the  lute  or  harp  with  the  harpsichord. 


Chap.  XIX.~BooK  in,  Chap.  XX.    AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


93 


questionable  fact,  that  the  discovei'ies  of  Pytliagoras,  were  adapted,  as  would  have  disgraced  any  perform- 

and   the   improvements   made   by   the    Greeks,  his  ance,  even  in  the  least  enlightened  period,  since  the 

successors,    terminated    in   a   theory,   admirable    in  invention  of  that  species  of  harmony,  which  has  been 

speculation  it  is  true,  but  to  which  such  instruments  the  delight  of  later  ages. 


BOOK    III. 

The  gradual  declension  of  learning  which  had 
begun  before  the  time  of  Porphyry,  the  last  of  the 
Greek  musical  writers,  and  above  all,  the  ravages  of 
war,  and  the  then  embroiled  state  of  the  whole 
civilized  world,  put  an  end  to  all  farther  improve- 
ments in  the  science  of  harmonics ;  nor  do  we  find, 
that  after  this  time  it  was  made  a  subject  of  philo- 
sophical enquiry  :  the  succeeding  writers  were  chiefly 
Latins,  who,  as  they  were  for  the  most  part  followers 
of  the  Greeks,  contributed  but  very  little  to  its  ad- 
vancement ;  and,  for  reasons  which  will  hereafter  be 
given,  the  cultivation  of  music  became  the  care  of  tlie 
clergy ;  an  order  of  men,  in  whom  the  little  of 
learning  then  left,  in  a  few  ages  after  the  establish- 
ment of  Christianity,  centered. 

But  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  us  in  great 
uncertainty  as  to  the  state  of  music  in  other  countries, 
but  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 
system.  For  let  it  be  remembered,  that  Pythagoras 
is  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,  such  effects  were 
ascribed  to  music,  as  well  by  the  sacred  as  profane 
historians,  as  are  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  sup- 
position, that  it  was  then  in  its  infancy.  It  were 
endless  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  ;  but  more  especially  the  frequent  mention  of 
instruments  with  ten  strings,  would  lead  us  to  think, 
that  the  art  had  arrived  to  a  state  of  greater  perfection 
than  the  writers  above-mentioned  suppose.  Here 
then  arises  a  question,  the  solution  whereof  is  attended 
with  great  difficulty  ;  namely,  whether  the  Jews,  not 
to  mention  the  various  other  nations,  that  had  sub- 
sisted for  many  ages,  previous  to  the  times  from 
whence  we  begin  our  account,  in  a  state  of  very  im- 
proved civilization,  had  not  a  musical  theory  ?  or  is 
it  to  be  conceived,  that  mankind,  with  whose  frame 
and  structure,  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  principles  ? 

To  this  it  is  answered,  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
state  and  condition  of  past  times,  is  deducible,  with 
any  degree  of  certainty,  only  from  history ;  that  the 
information  communicated  by  the  means  of  writing, 
must  depend  on  an  infinite  variety  of  circumstances, 
such  as  a  disposition  in  men  of  ability  to  communicate 
that  information  which  is  derived  from  a  long  course 


CHAP.    XX. 

of  study,  the  permanency  of  language,  a  faithful  and 
uncorrupt  transmission  of  facts,  and  an  absence  of  all 
those  accidents,  that  in  the  course  of  events  hinder 
the  propagation  of  knowledge ;  and  wherever  these 
fail,  the  progress  of  human  intelligence  must  neces- 
sarily be  intercepted.  To  obstructions  arising  from 
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  mythologists, 
the  poets,  and  that  species  of  history  which  we  dis- 
tinguish from  what  is  truly  authentic  and  worthy  of 
credit  by  the  epithet  of  fabulous  ;  even  antiquity 
itself,  which  stamps  a  value  on  some  sort  of  evidence, 
will  in  many  cases  diminish  the  credit  of  an  historian  ; 
and  mankind  have  not  yet  settled  what  degree  of 
assent  is  due  to  the  testimony  of  the  most  ancient  of 
all  profane  historians,  the  venerable  Herodotus. 

Admitting  as  a  fact,  that  Egypt  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  Brachmans,  and  other  peo- 
ple of  the  east,  not  to  mention  the  Phoenicians  and 
the  Chinese,  to  be  as  great  as  some  pretend,  who 
have  magnified  it  to  a  degree  that  exceeds  the  bounds 
of  moderate  credulity  ;  nevertheless,  the  more  sober 
researchers  into  antiquity,  have  contented  themselves 
with  a  retrospect  limited  by  the  time  when  philoso- 
phy began  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,  by  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  religious 
solemnities ;  but  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  the  cor- 
respondence of  the  names  of  their  instruments,  with 
the  names  of  those  in  use  in  modern  times,  is  a  cir- 
cumstance from  which  no  argument  in  their  favour 
can  be  drawn,  for  a  reason  herein  before  given. 

Mersennus,  and  after  him  Kircher,  whose  elaborate 
researches  into  the  more  abstruse  parts  of  ancient 
literature,  render  him  in  some  particulars  a  re- 
spectable authority,  have  exhibited  the  forms  of  many 
of  the  ancient  Jewish  musical  instruments  :  the 
latter  of  these  authors  professes  to  have  gone  to  the 
fountain  head  for  his  intelligence  ;  and  the  result 
of  an  attentive  perusal  of  as  many  of  the  Rab- 
binical writers  and  commentators  on  the  Talmud 
as  he  could  lay  his  hands  on,  he  has  given  to  the 
public  in  the  Musurgia,  torn.  I.  pag.  47.  How 
far  the  authorities  adduced  by  him  will  warrant 
such  a  precise  designation  of  their  respective  forms, 


94 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


as  verges  in  some  instances  too  near  our  own  times, 
is  left  to  the  decision  of  those  who  shall  have  cu- 
riosity enough  to  peruse  them ;  but  lest  it  should 
be  said  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  says  that  the  author  of  a  treatise  entitled 
Schilte  Haggiborim,  i.  e.  the  Shield  of  the  Mighty, 
who  he  elsewhere  makes  to  be  Rabbi  Hannase,  treats 
very  accurately  on  the  musical  instruments  of  the 
Hebrews,  and  reckons  that  they  were  thirty-six  in 
number,  and  of  the  pulsatile  kind,  and  that  David 
was  skilled  in  the  use  of  them  all.  Kircher  however 
does  not  seem  to  acquiesce  altogether  in  the  first  of 
these  opinions,  for  he  proceeds  to  a  description 
de  instrumentis  Hebreorum  Polychordis  sive  Neghi- 
noth ;  these  it  seems,  according  to  his  author  above- 
named,  were  of  wood,  long  and  round,  consisting 
of  three  strings  made  of  the  intestines  of  beasts  ; 
the  instruments  had  holes  bored  underneath  them ; 
and,  to  make  them  sound,  the  strings  were  rul)bed 
with  a  bow  composed  of  the  hairs  of  a  horse's  tail, 
well  extended  and  compacted  together.  Kircher 
speaks  particularly  of  the  Psaltery,  or  Nabliura,  the 
Cythara,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  the  Assur, 
Nevel,  Chinnor,  the  Machul,  and  the  Minnin.  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  modu- 
lations of  the  voice,  than  any  kind  of  instrument : 
that  according  to  Josephus  it  had  twelve  sounds, 
and  was  played  on  with  the  fingers ;  that  Hilarius, 
Didymus,  Basilius,  and  Euthymius  call  it  the  straitest 
of  all  musical  instruments  —  that  Augustine  says 
it  was  carried  in  the  hand  of  the  player,  and  had 
a  shell  or  concave  piece  of  wood  on  it  that  caused 
the  strings  to  resound — that  Hieronymus  describes 
this  instrument  as  having  ten  strings,  and  resembling 
in  its  form  a  square  shield — that  Hilarus  will  have 
it  to  be  the  same  with  the  Nablium.  Kircher  him- 
self is  certain  that  it  was  a  stringed  instrument,  and 
cites  Suidas  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,  as  commonly  painted 
in  pictures  of  him ;  and  that  some  are  express  in  the 
opinion  that  the  Psalterium  and  the  Nablium,  as 
being  struck  with  the  fingers  of  both  hands,  were 
one  and  the  same  instrument ;  and  to  this  purpose 
he  cites  the  following  passage  from  Ovid  : — 

Disce  etiam  duplici  genialia  Naulia  palma 
Verrere  :   conveniunt  dulcibus  ilia  modis. 

Art.  Amat.  lib.  III.  1.  327. 

The  Nevel,  notwithstanding  the  resemblance  be- 
tween its  name  and  that  of  the  Nablium,  and  the 
confusion  which  Kircher  has  created  by  using  them 
promiscuously,  clearly  appears  to  have  been  a  differ- 
ent instrument ;  for  he  says  it  was  in  the  form 
of  a  trapezium  ;  and  the  Nablium,  which  he  has 
taken  great  pains  to  prove  to  be  the  same  with  the 
Psalterium,  he  shows  to  have  been  of  a  square  form. 
Of  the  Assur,  he  onlv  savs  that  it  had  ten  chords; 


the  Chinnor  he  supposes  to  have  had  thirty -two,  the 
Machul  six,  and  the  Minnin  three  or  four ;  and 
that  in  their  form  they  resembled,  the  one  the  Viol 
and  the  other  the  j,.  ^^ 
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- 
nor, figure  33  ;  the 
Machul.  figure  34;  the  Minnin,  fig.  35;  and  the 
Nevel,  figure  36.* 

Fig.  35. 


Fig.  34. 


Fig.  36. 


Fig.  37. 


Kircher  speaks 
also  of  another 
instrument  men- 
tioned by  Rabbi  Hannase,  who  it  seems  was  the 
author  of  the  book  before  cited,  Schilte  Haggiborim, 
and  also  in  the  Targum,  called  Haghniugab,  consisting 
of  six  strings,  and  resembling  the  greater  Chelys  or 
Viol  di  Gamba,  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  instru- 
ments of  the  Hebrews,  in  contradistinction  to  those 
of  the  fidicinal  or 
stringed  kind ;  and 
first  he  speaks  of 
the  Thoph  or  Tym- 
panum, figure  37, 
an  instrument  of 
Egyptian  original, 
and  used  by  the 
priests  of  that  country  in  their  piiblic  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  Cymbalum,  from  cymba,  a  boat :  he  adds 
that  it  was  covered  with  the  skin  of  an  animal,  and 
was  beat  on  with  a  pestle  or  rod  of  iron  or  brass. 

He  proceeds  to  say  that  though  the  Machul  is 
ranked  among  the  fidicinal  or  stringed  instruments, 
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  precisely 
the  same  with  the  Sistrum  of  the  Egyptians,  or  the 
Krousma  of  the  Greeks  ;  and  that  it  was  of  a  circular 

*  The  truth  of  this  representation,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  the  Machul 
and  Minnin,  is  strongly  to  be  suspected  ;  they  both  seem  to  require  the 
aid  of  the  hair  bow,  a  kind  of  plectrum  to  which  the  ancients  seem  to 
have  been  absolute  strangers.  Besides  their  near  resemblance  to  the 
lute  and  viol,  instruments  which  it  is  supposed  had  their  origin  in 
Provence,  is  a  strong  argument  against  their  antiquity. 


Chap.  XX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


95 


form,  made  of  iron,  brass,  silver,  or  gold,  with  little 
bells  hung  round  it.     Kircher  corrects  this  descrip- 
tion, and  instead  of  little  bells,  supposes  a  number  of 
iron  rings,  strung  as  it  were  on  a  rod  or  bar  in  a 
lateral  position  that  went  across  the  circle.    Fig.  ss. 
He  says  that  a  handle  was  affixed  to  it,  by 
means  whereof  the  instrument  was  flung 
backwards  and  forwards,  and  emitted  a  kind 
of  melancholy  murmur,  arising  from  the 
collision  of  the  rings,  as  well  against  each 
other  as  against  the  sides,  the  circle,  and 
the  bar  on  which  they  moved,  figure  38. 
He  adds,  that  the  Thoph,  or  rather  Sistrum 
of  the   Hebrews   was    thus 
constructed,    and    that   the 
virgins    every  where   made 
use  of  it  in  the  dances  of  the 
Sistri,  as   we   read    in    the 
books  of  Exodus  and  Judges, 
that    Mary,    the    sister    of 
Moses,  and  the  daughter  of  Jephthf 
did :     and    he    farther    says,    that 
according  to  accounts  which  he  has 
received    from   credible   witnesses, 
the  Syrians  in  his  time  preserved 
the  use  of  the  Sistrum  in  Palestine.* 
Gnets  Berusim  was  another  of  the 
Hebrew   pulsatile   instruments  ;    it 
seems  by  Kircher  that  there  was  some  controversy  about 
the  form  of  it,  but  that  Rabbi  Hannase  represents  it 
as  nothing  more  than  a  piece  of  fir  in  shape  like  a 
mortar.     He  says  there  belonged  to  it  a  pestle  of  the 
same  wood,  wath  a  knob  at  each  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  left 
hand    and    struck   with    the        Fig.  4o. 
right  on  the  edge  and  in  the   ^'^^^i^%.       Fig-  -ii. 
middle,  using  the  knobs  alter- 
nately.   Figures  40,  41.    Kir- 
cher compares  this  instrument  ^ 
to  the  Crotalum  already  de- 
scribed, but  seemingly  with  little  propriety ;  and  to 
the  Gnaccari  of  the  Italians,  of  which  word,  con- 
sidered as  a  technical  term,  it  is  hard  to  find  the 
meaning. 

Minagnghinim  was  the  name  of  another  of  the 
Hebrew  pulsatile  instruments,  which,  according  to 
Rabbi  Hannase,  was  a  certain  square  Fig.  42. 
table  of  wood,  having  a  handle  so 
fitted  as  conveniently  to  be  held  by 
it.  On  the  table  were  balls  of  wood 
or  brass,  through  which  was  put  either 
an  iron  chain  or  an  hempen  chord, 
and  this  was  stretched  from  the  bottom 
to  the  top  of  the  table.  When  the 
instrument  was  shaken,  the  striking  of 
the  balls  occasioned  a  very  clear  sound, 
which  might  be  heard  at  a  great  dis- 
tance. See  the  representation  which 
Kircher  gives  of  it,  figure  42. 

*  The  invention  of  the  Sistrum  is  not  to  be  ascribed  to  the  Jews : 
it  is  generally  supposed  to  be  of  Egyptian  original.  There  are  some 
fonn«  of  it,  as  that  in  particular,  figure  39,  which  bears  on  it  a  figure 
of  one  of  those  many  brute  animals  to  which  this  superstitious  and  idol- 
atrous people  paid  divine  honours. 


fj^^^.-wJF^-l^ — ^ 


Magraphe  Tamid,  another  of  the  pulsatile  instru- 
ments of  the  Hebrews,  is  conjectured  by  Kircher  to 
have  been  used  for  convoking  the  priests  and  Levites 
together  into  the.  temple :  it  is  said  to  have  emitted 
prodigious  sound  ;  and  though  Rabbi  Hannase  says 
no  one  can  describe  the  form  of  it,  Kircher  thinks  it 
must  have  been  like  one  of  our  largest  bells. 

We  are  now  to  declare  what  instruments  of  the 
pneumatic  kind  were  in  use  amongst  the  ancient 
Hebrews  ;  and.  first  we  meet  wath  the  Masrakitha, 
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  from  the  lips  :  the  pipes  were 
of  lengths  propdi-tioned  musically  to  each  other,  and 
the  melody  was  varied  at  pleasure  by  the  stopping 
and  unstopping  with  the  fingers  the  apertures  at  the 
upper  extremity.  *■  Kircher  Fig.  43. 

thinks  it  differed  but  little 
from  the  instrument  which 
Pan  is  constantly  repre- 
sented as  playing  on  ;  there 
seems  however  to  be  a  dif- 
ference in  the  manner  of 
using  it.     See  fig.  43: 

Of  the  Sampunia,  derived,  as  Kircher  conjectures, 
from  the  Greek  Symphonia,  as  also  of  the  preceding 
instrument,  mention  is  made,  as  Kircher  asserts,  in 
the  Chaldaic  of  the  book  of  Daniel,  chap.  iii.  He 
says  also  that  it  is  described  in  the  Schilte  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  wind,  the 
other  to  emit  the  sound ;  the  lower  pipe  had  holes 
in  it,  and  was  played  on  by  the  fingers.  In  short, 
it  seems  to  have  been  neither  more  nor  less  than  the 
Cornamusa,  or  common  bag-pipe  ;  and  Kircher  says 
that  in  Italy,  even  in  his  days,  it  was  known  by  the 
name  of  the  Zampugna. 

The  Hebrews  had  also  an  instrument,  described  in 
the  Schilte  Haggiborim,  called  Macraphe  d'Aruchin, 
consisting  of  several  orders  of  pipes,  which  were 
supplied  with  wind  by  means  of  bellows ;  it  had 
keys,  and  would  at  this  time  without  hesitation  be 


called  an  organ. 


See  fig. 


44.t 


t  This  instrument  is  delineated  by  Kircher,  but  the  figure  of  it  above 
referred  to,  is  taken  from  the  Musica  Historica  of  Wolfgang  Caspar 
Printz,  written  in  the  German  language,  and  printed  at  Dresden  in  4to. 
anno.  1690,  who  cites  the  Collectaneis  Philologicis  of  Johannes  Sehiitterus, 
to  justify  his  deviations  from  Kircher,  in  the  form  of  some  of  the  instru- 
ments described  in  the  Musurgia.  But  it  is  to  be  feared,  that  his  author 
has  erred  in  giving  to  the  Machul  and  Minnin  above  described,  the  hair 
bow,  of  which  not  the  least  trace  is  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  any  of 
the  ancients. 


96 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


Of  Fistulse  it  seems  the 
Hebrews  had  sundry  kinds ; 
they  were  chiefly  the  horns 
or  bones  of  animals,  straight  or 
contorted,  as  nature  fashioned 
them :  the  representations  of 
sundry  kinds  of  them,  in 
figures  45,  46,  47,  48,  are 
taken  from  Kircher. 

Fig.  47. 


Fig.  45.         Fig.  46. 


Fig.  48. 


In  the  account  which  Blanchinus  has  given  of  the 
Jewish  musical  instruments,  he  mentions  a  mallet  of 
wood  used  by  them  in  their  worship,  and    Fig.  49. 
which  at  certain  times  is  beaten  by  the  people    ,r-^ 
on  the  beams,  seats,  and  other  parts  of  the 
synagogue,  in  commemoration  of  the  tumult 
preceding  the  Crucifixion,  or,  as  the  modern 
Jews  say,  at  the  hanging  of  Haman,  figure  49. 
Instruments  of  this  kind,  and  which  produce 
noise    rather    than    sound,    are    improperly 
classed  among  instruments  of  music. 

Of  the  Hebrew  musicians  no  very  satisfactory 
account  can  be  given.  This  of  Kircher,  extracted 
from  the  Rabbinical  writers,  is,  perhaps,  the  best 
that  can  be  expected :  '  Asaph,  according  to  the 
'opinion  of  the  interpreters,  was  the  composer  of 
'  certain  psalms ;  he  is  said  also  to  have  been  a  singer, 
*  and  to  have  sung  to  the  cymbals  of  brass,  and  to 
'  have  praised  the  Lord,  and  ministred  in  the  sight 
'  of  the  ark. 

'  Eman  Ezraita,  the  singer,  the  son  of  Joel,  of  the 
'  children  of  Caath,  was  most  skilful  in  the  cymbal, 
'and  was  in  a  manner  equal  in  knowledge  and 
'  wisdom  to  Ethan ;  he  is  the  supposed  author  of  the 
'  Psalm,  beginning  Domine  Deus  salutis  meaj,  which, 
'because  he  gave  it  to  be  sung  by  the  sons  of  Coreh, 
'he  inscribed  both  with  his  own  and  their  name. 

'  Ethan  of  Ezrachus,  the  son  of  Assaia,  the  son 
'of  Merari,  played  on  the  brass  cymbal,  and  was 
'endued  with  so  much  vdsdom,  that,  according  to 
'  the  Book  of  Kings,  no  mortal,  except  Solomon,  was 
'  wiser.  The  three  sons  of  Coreh,  Asir,  Elcana,  and 
'  Abiasaph,  were  famous  singers  and  composers  of 
'  Psalms.' 

'  Idithus  was  an  excellent  singer,  and  player  on 
'the  cythara;  many  confound  him  with  Orpheus.' 
Kircher  supposes,  that  he  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  says,  he  doubts  not  but 
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  music  was 
fittest   for  the  wisest  of  mortals,  and   that  of   the 


Hebrews  must  have  been  more  efficacious  in  exciting 
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,  Giambatista  Martini,  of  Bologna,  has 
entered  very  deeply  into  the  music  of  the  Hebrews ; 
and  it  were  to  be  wished,  that  he  had  been  able  to 
give  a  more  satisfactory  account  of  it  than  is  to  be 
found  in  his  very  learned  work,  the  Storia  della 
Musica,  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  much  information  in  this  particular. 

CHAP.     XXL 

From  accounts  so  vague,  and  so  abounding  with 
conjectures, as  are  given  of  the  ancient  Hebrew  music 
and  musicians,  and  more  especially  of  their  instru- 
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  modern  times,  as  to  give 
reason  to  suspect  the  authenticity  of  the  representa- 
tion :  others  appear  to  have  been  so  very  inartificially 
constructed,  that  we  scarce  credit  the  relation  given 
of  their  effects.  It  is  clear,  that  Kircher  and 
Sch  utter  us  had  from  the  Rabbinical  writers  little 
more  than  the  bare  names  of  many  of  the  instruments 
described  by  them  ;  yet,  have  they  both,  in  some  in- 
stances, ventured  to  represent  them  by  forms  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  Guitar  ?  or  can  we  believe,  that  the 
Macraphe  d'  Aruchin,  and  such  rude  essays  towards 
melody  as  the  Gnets  Berusim,  the  Sistrum,  or  the 
Minagnghinim,  could  subsist  among  the  same  people, 
in  any  given  period  of  civilization  ? 

As  to  Martini's  account,  it  speaks  for  itself :  it  is 
extracted  from  the  sacred  writings,  which,  at  this 
distance  of  time,  even  with  the  assistance  of  the  most 

*  The  confusion  of  Idithus  with  Orpheus,  suggests  a  remark  on  the 
endeavours  of  some,  to  establish  tlie  identity  of  eminent  persons  of 
different  names  and  countries,  and  perhaps  of  different  ages,  upon  hardly 
any  other  ground,  than  some  one  particular  in  their  history  common  to 
them  both  :  how  far  it  is  possible  to  extend  a  hypothesis  of  this  kind, 
the  present  bishop  of  Gloucester  has  shewn  in  his  Divine  Legation  of 
Moses.  In  the  course  of  that  work,  the  author  has  thought  it  necessary 
to  controvert  an  assertion  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  ;  namely,  that  Osiris  and 
Sesostris,  both  kings  of  Egypt,  were  one  and  the  same  person  ;  in  order 
to  do  this,  he  has  undertaken  to  prove  that  the  British  king  Arthur  and 
William  the  Conqueror  were  not  two  distinct  beings,  but  identically  one 
person  ;  and,  as  far  as  the  method  of  reasoning  usual  in  such  kind  of 
arguments  will  serve  him,  he  has  established  his  proposition. 

The  conclusion  from  this  correspondence  of  such  a  variety  of  circum- 
stances, is  mucli  stronger  in  favour  of  the  identity  of  Arthur  and  William, 
than  could  liave  been  imagined,  and  yet,  it  has  no  other  effect  on  the 
mind,  than  to  discredit  this  method  of  reasoning,  which  is  fraught  with 
fallacy,  and  must  terminate  in  scepticism. 

What  tlicn  can  we  say  to  the  opinion  of  those,  who  confound  the 
Hebrew  musician  Idithus  with  the  ancient  Orpheus;  what  rather  can 
we  tliink  of  him,  who  has  attempted  to  show  that  this  latter,  and  the 
royal  prciphet  David,  were  one  and  the  same  person.  See  the  Life  of 
David,  by  Dr.  Delany. 


Chap.  XXI. 


AND  PKACTICE  OF  MUSIC 


97 


learned  comments,  fall  short  of  affording  tliat  satis- 
faction, which  is  to  be  wished  for  in  an  enquiry  of 
this  kind. 

Under  these  disadvantages,  which  even  an  enquiry 
into  the  instruments  of  the  Hebrews  lies  under,  an 
attempt  to  explain  their  musical  theory  must  seem 
hopeless.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  conceive  any  thing 
like  a  system,  to  which  such  instruments  as  the 
Thoph,  or  the  Gnets  Berusim  could  be  adapted :  if 
the  strokes  of  the  pestle  against  a  mortar,  like  those 
of  the  latter,  be  reducible  to  measure  ;  yet,  surely  the 
rattling  of  a  chain,  like  the  music  of  the  Minagng- 
hinim,  is  not ;  or  what  if  they  were,  would  the  sounds 
produced  in  either  case  make  music  ?  To  speak 
freely  on  this  matter,  whatever  advantages  this  peo- 
ple might  derive  from  the  instructions  of  an  inspired 
law-giver,  and  the  occasional  interpositions  of  the 
Almighty,  it  no  where  appears  that  their  attainments 
in  literature  were  very  great :  or  that  they  excelled 
in  any  of  those  arts  that  attend  the  refinement  of 
human  manners ;  the  figure  they  made  among  the 
neighbouring  nations  appears  to  have  been  very  in- 
considerable ;  and  with  respect  to  their  music,  there 
is  but  too  much  reason  to  suppose  it  was  very  bar- 
barous. The  only  historical  relation  that  seems  to 
stand  in  the  way  of  this  opinion,  is,  that  of  the  effects 
wrought  by  the  music  of  David  on  the  mind  of  Saul, 
a  man  of  a  haughty  irascible  temper,  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. 

Kircher  has  taken  upon  him  to  relate  the  whole 
process  of  the  dispossession  of  Saul,  by  David,  and 
has  done  it  as  circumstantially  as  if  he  had  been 
present  at  the  time ;  his  reasoning  is  very  curious, 
and  it  is  here  given  in  his  own  woi-ds  : — 

'  That  we  may  be  the  better  able  to  resolve  this 
'  question,  how  David  freed  Saul  from  the  evil  spirit, 
'  I  shall  first  quote  the  words  of  the  Holy  Scripture, 
'  as  found  in  the  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  music ;    but  how  that  came  to  pass  is 

*  differently  explained.     The  Eabbins  on  this  place 

*  say,  that  when  David  cured  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  cure  : 

*  thus  Rabbi  Abenezra.  But  Picus  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,  struck 
'  it  with  his  hand  as  his  fancy  suggested. 

'  And  we,  rejecting  such  astrological  fictions,  assert, 
'  that  David  freed  Saul,  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, 
dispel  vapours  and  cheer  the  heart,  are  best  calculated 
to  cure  madness,  and  allay  the  fury  of  the  mind  ; 
now  music  produces  these  eftects,  for  as  it  consists 
in  sounds,  generated  by  the  motion  of  the  air,  it 
follows  that  it  will  attenuate  the  spirits,  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  use  slow  progressions  of 
sound,  that  those  spirits  and  biting  vapours,  which 
ascend  thither  from  the  stomach,  spleen,  and  hypo- 
condria,  may  be  quietly  dismissed.  Therefore,  the 
music  of  David  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,  he  could  not  be  mad 
until  the  return  of  it,  he  being  terrestial,  and  as  it 
were,  destitute  of  action,  nnless  moved  thereto  by 
the  vital  spirits,  which  had  led  him  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 
cheerful,  the  melancholy  might  have  acquired  a 
more  favourable  habit.  From  all  which,  it  is  mani- 
fest, that  this  effect  proceeded  not  from  any  casual 
sound  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  judgment,  and 
was  always  in  the  presence  of  Saul,  as  being  his 
armour-bearer,  he  must  have  been  perfectly  ac- 
quainted with  the  inclination  and  bent  of  his  mind, 
and  to  what  passions  it  was  most  subject  :  hence, 
without  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  humour 
and  distemper  of  the  king,  to  touch  the  cythara,  or 
indeed  any  other  instrument ;  for,  as  has  been 
mentioned,  he  was  skilled  in  the  use  of  no  fewer 
than  thirty-six,  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  delight  to  hear ;  or,  that  by  the 
power  of  metrical  dancing,  joined  to  the  melody  of 
the  instrument,  he  wrought  this  effect :  for  Saul  was 
apt  to  be  affected  in  this  manner,  by  the  music  and 
dancing  of  his  armour-bearer  ;  as  he  was  a  youth  of 
a  very  beaiitiful  aspect,  these  roused  up  the  spirits, 
and  the  words,  which  were  rhythmically  joined  to 
the  harmony,  tickling  the  hearing,  lifted  up  the 
mind,  as  from  a  dark  prison,  into  the  high  region 
of  light,  whereby  the  gloomy  spirits  which  oppressed 
the  heart  were  dissipated,  and  room  was  left  for 
it   to   dilate    itself,   which   dilation   was   naturally 


II 


98 


HISTORY  OF      HE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


'  followed  by  tranquillity  and  gladness.'     Musurgia, 
'torn.  II.  pag.  214,  et  seq. 

Whoever  will  be  at  the  pains  of  turning  to  the 
original  from  \\lience  this  very  circumstantial  relation 
is  taken,  will  think  it  hardly  possible  for  any  one 
to  compress  more  nonsense  into  an  equal  number  of 
words  than  this  passage  contains,  for  which  no  better 
apology  can  be  made  than  that  Kircher,  thougli 
a  man  of  great  learning,  boundless  curiosity,  and 
indefatigable  industry,  was  less  happy  in  forming 
conclusions  than  in  relating  facts ;  his  talents  were 
calculated  for  the  attainment  of  knowledge,  but  they 
did  not  qualify  him  for  disquisition ;  in  short  he  was 
no  reasoner.  With  regard  to  the  dispossession  of 
Saul,  supposing  music  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 
would  therefore  have  argued  more  wisdom  in  the 
Jesuit  to  have  admitted  the  fact,  without  pretending 
to  account  for  it,  than  by  so  ridiculous  a  theory 
as  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  poetry  carries  with  it  the  signatures  of  a  most 
exalted  sublimity :  to  select  instances  from  the  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- 
positions ;  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  tigures, 
and  those  abrupt  transitions,  which  distinguish  the 
oriental  compositions  from  those  of  most  other  coun- 
tries, are  not  so  well  relished  by  a  people  with 
whom  the  false  refinements  on  life  and  manners 
have  taken  place  of  the  original  simplicity  of  nature ; 
but  in  the  more  regular  and  less  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  the  woes  of  captivity,  and  the  lamen- 
tations for  the  sufferings  of  an  afflicted  people,  has 
perhaps  not  its  fellow  in  any  of  the  dead  or 
living  languages.  The  poem  here  meant  is  the 
CXXXVilth  Psalm.* 

From  the  manner  in  which  it  appears  the  ancients 
treated  music,  we  may  observe  that  they  reasoned 
very  abstractedly  about  it ;  the  measure  of  intervals, 
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, 

"  It  has  nlrendi/  been  mentioned,  page  93,  that  nmnnij  the  Jews  the  chief 
use  of  music  was  in,  sacrifices  and  other  religious  ceremonies.  To  this  mail 
be  added  that  it  also  accompanied  the  celebration  of  the  funereal  rites. 
When  Je.ius  approached  the  Ruler's  house,  in  order  to  revive  his  daughter, 
we  arc  told  by  the  Evangelist,  Matthew,  chap  ix.,  v.  23.,  that  he  saw  "  the 
Minstrels  and  People  making  a  noise."  Dr.  Hammnnd.  in  a  very  learned 
■note  on  this  passage,  informs  us  that  the  custom  of  having  tnusic  at  funerals 
came  to  the  latter  Jews  from  the  Gentiles. 


is  discoverable  between  the  three  sciences,  music, 
arithmetic,  and  geometry.  In  this  view  it  mav 
perhaj^s  be  said  that  the  study  of  music  had  an 
influence  on  the  minds  and  tempers  of  men,  as  we 
say  that  the  study  of  the  mathematics  has  a  tendency 
to  induce  a  habit  of  thinking,  to  invigorate  the 
jiowers  of  the  understanding,  and  to  detect  the  fallacy 
of  specious  and  delusive  reasoning,  but  in  what  other 
way  it  could  ai¥ect  the  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,  so  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  kind ;  f 
however  this  at  least  may  be  said,  that  it  is  some 
faculty,  very  different  from  the  understanding,  that 
enables  us  to  perceive  the  eifects  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,  has  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  demonstral)le ;  now  the  laws  of  optics, 
the  doctrine  of  light  and  colours,  and  the  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  faculty 
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 
assertion. 

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  mu.sic  in  its  three  most  obvious  divisions  of 
rythmic,  metric,  and  harmonic,  to  treat  of  mundane, 
humane,  and  political  music  ;  the  three  last  of  which 
species,  if  at  all  intitlcd  to  the  name  of  music,|  must 

t  This  metapliysical  question  is  discussed  and  determined  in  the 
negative,  i.  e.  that  music  is  an  intellectual  pleasure,  by  the  ingenious 
Jlr.  John  Norris,  of  Bemerton.     See  his  Miscellanies,  paj?.  309,  12mo. 

t  Aristoxenus's  division  is  rhythmic,  metric,  organic,  lib.  11.  That  of 
Boetius.  mundane,  humane,  and  instrumental.  By  the  first  is  to  be  un- 
derstood the  harmony  of  the  spheres,  before  spoken  of;  by  the  second,  the 
harmony  suhsistinf;  between  the  body  and  the  rational  soul  as  united 
together,  each  being  actuated  by  the  other ;  and  also  that  other  kind  of 
harmony,  consent,  relation,  or  whatever  else  it  may  be  called,  between 
the  parts  of  the  body,  with  respect  to  each;  and  again  between  those 


Chap.  XXL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  ^lUSIC. 


99 


owe  it  to  a  metaplior,  and  that  a  very  bold  one  : 
Aristides  Quintiliauus  uses  another  method  of  divi- 
sion, which  it  must  be  confessed  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  into  the  usual 
and  the  enunciative ;  the  usual,  containing  melopoeia, 
rhythmopoeia,  and  poesia ;  and  the  enunciative  the 
organic,  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  understood  at 
this  day ;  for  there  is  doubtless  a  harmony  between 
sounds  emitted  in  succession,  which  is  discernible 
as  long  as  the  impression  of  those  already  struck 
remains  uneffaced  ;  yet  we  choose  to  distinguish  this 
kind  of  relation  by  the  word  Melody,  and  that  of 
Harmon}^  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  writers  have  advanced,  namely,  that  their 
music  was  solitary,  and  that  they  were  utter  strangers 
to  symphoniac  harmony.  This  the  admirers  of  an- 
tiquity will  by  no  means  allow;  and,  to  say  the 
truth,  there  are  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  authorities  on 
both  sides  shall  now  be  produced,  and  submitted  to 
his  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 
generally  been  discussed,  seems  to  be,  \Yhether  the 
ancients  had  the  knowledge  of  music  in  symphony 
or  consonance,  or  not  ? 

The  advocates  for  the  affirmative  are  Franchinus, 
or,  as  he  is  frequently  named,  Gaffurius,  Zarlino, 
Gio.     Battista    Doni,   Isaac    Vossius,    and   Zaccaria 

affections  of  the  human  mind,  which,  opposed  to,  or  counterbalancing 
>each  other,  and  aided  by  reason,  produce  a  kind  of  moral  harmony,  the 
effects  whereof  are  visible  in  an  orderly  and  well-regulated  conduct. 

To  these  Kircher  and  otliers  have  added  musica  politica,  which,  say 
they,  consists  in  that  harmonical  proportion,  which  in  every  well-regu- 
lated government  subsists  between  the  three  several  orders  of  the  people, 
the  high,  the  low,  and  the  middle  state. 

Kircher,  whose  inventive  faculty  never  fails  him,  has  given  scales 
demonstrating  each  oi  these  supposed  kinds  of  harmony ;  but  whoever 
would  be  farther  informed  as  to  the  nature  of  mundane  music,  as  it  is 
above  called,  or  is  desirous  of  knowing  to  what  extravagant  lengths  the 
human  imagination  may  be  led,  may  consult  the  writings  of  our  country- 
man Dr.  Robert  Fiudd,  or  de  I'luctibus,  a  physician,  and  a  Rosicrusian 
philosopher;  and  who,  though  highly  esteemed  for  ii:s  learning  by 
Selden,  was  perhaps  one  of  the  greatest  mystics  that  ever  lived.  In 
a  work  of  his  entitled,  Utriusque  Cosml  majoris  scilicet  et  minoris 
metaphysica,  physica,  atque  technica  Historia,  printed  at  Oppenheim 
1617,  folio,  is  one  btiok  intitled  De  Musica  mundana,  wherein  the  author 
exhibits  the  form  of  what  he  calls  Monochordum  mundanum,  an  instru- 
ment lepresenting  a  monochord,  with  the  string  screwed  up  by  a  hand 
that  issues  from  the  clouds.  Fludd  supposes  the  sound  of  the  chord, 
when  open,  to  answer  to  terra  or  tlie  earth,  and  to  correspond  with  the 
note  gamut  in  the  scale  of  music  :  from  thence  he  ascends  bv  tones  and 
semitones,  in  regular  order,  to  water,  and  the  other  elements,  through 
the  planets,  and  so  to  the  empyrsean,  answering  to  g  g  in  the  ratio  of  the 
disdiapason. 

Mersennus  has  thought  this  diagram  worthy  of  a  place  in  his  Latin 
■wcrk  ;  and,  to  say  the  truth,  most  of  the  plates  in  this  and  other  of 
Fludd's  works,  and  by  the  way  they  abound  with  them,  are  to  the  last 
degree  curious  and  diverting.  There  will  be  farther  occasion  to  speak  of 
this  extraordinary  man,  Fludd,  in  the  course  of  this  work. 

*  See  the  Analysis  of  Quint  ilian,  in  cliap.  x  viii.  of  the  next  preceding  book. 


Td^o,  all,  excepting  Vossius,  musicians,  and  he  con- 
fessedl}^  a  man  of  learning,  but  a  great  bigot,  and  of 
little  judgment :  the  sum  of  their  arguments  is,  that 
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  harmou)^  than  of  mere 
melody  or  harmony  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  :  that  those  passages  of  sacred 
writ  that  mention  commemoration  of  remarkable 
events,  or  the  celebration  of  public  festivals,  as  that 
of  the  dedication  of  Solomon's  temple,  with  a  great 
number  of  voices  and  instruments,  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  music ;  Aristotle 
in  his  treatise  concerning  the  world,  lib.  V.  has 
tliis  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  :  Mmnic)]  ce 
b^tiQ  iijia  Kj  €apeic,  fia^pvc  re  ic.  ^po^alc  (pBuyyuq 
fxi^aaa,  kv  Ciacpopaig  dxovaic,  fJiiciy  aTrtrt'XecrfV  upnoriav. 

*  Music,  by  a  mixture  of  acute  and  grave,  and  of 
'  long  and  short  sounds  of  different  voices,  yields  an 
'  absolute  or  perfect  concentus  or  concert.' — 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  tlieir  motions,  a  choir  in  the  heavens  :' 
and  he  pursues  the  comparison  in  these  words : 
KaQctTTEp  he  kv  xopw  tcopvcpaia  KaTapL,avreg,  avveirrf'^^el 
vaQ  o  xopoQ  a.vCpo)v  'iQ\  ore  Kj  yvvaiKwv  ev  cia^vpaic 
(piovaic  6t,VTEpaiQ  icj  €apvTipaiQ  f-iiav  apuoviav  tfifXEXij 
Kepuvi'vi'Tuii'. 

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  manifest.'  | 

t  '  Non  vides  quam  multorum  vocibus  chorus  constet?  unus  tamen  ex 
'omnibus  sonus  redditur.  Aliqua  illic  acuta  est,  aliqiia  gravis,  aliqua 
'  media.  Accedunt  viris  femina',  interponuntur  tibia;,  singulorum 
'  latent  voces,  omnium  apparent.'     Seneca  Epist.  84. 


100 


HISTORY  .OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


Cassiodorus  lias  the  following  passage,  wliich  may 
seem  somewhat  sti-onger  :  '  Symphony  is  the  adjust- 
*  ment  of  a  grave  sound  to  an  acute,  or  an  acute  to 
'  a  grave  sound,  making  a  melody.' 

From  the  several  passages  above-cited  it  appears, 
that  the  ancients  were  acquainted  with  symphonetic 
music  of  a  certain  kind,  and  that  they  employed 
therein  voices  differing  in  degrees  of  acuteness  and 
gravity  ;  and  thus  far  the  affirmative  of  the  qnestiou 
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 
countrymen  Morley,  ^Yallis,  and  others,  a  numerous 
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  music,  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  tirde  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,  to  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  symphonetic  harmony,  in  the  sense 
wherein  at  this  day  the  term  is  understood. 

^\  ith  respect  to  the  several  passages  above-cited, 
they  seem  each  to  admit  of  an  answer ;  to  the  first, 
produced  from  Aristotle,  it  is  said  that  the  word 
Symphony,  by  which  Ave  should  understand  the  har- 
mony of  different  sounds  uttered  at  one  given  instant, 
is  used  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  ;  tlie  symphony  can  therefore  in  this  place 
signify  nothing  but  unisonous  or  integral  harmony  : 
and  he  elsewhere  explains  it  to  be  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,  he 
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  ever  been  given. 
The  sum  of  Aristotle's  testimony  is,  that  in  his  time 
there  was  a  commixture  of  sounds,  which  produced 
a  concinnous  harmony  :  no  doubt  there  was,  but  what 
is  meant  by  that  concinnous  harmony  his  own  words 
sufficiently  explain. 

As  to  Seneca,  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  vox 
media  must  imply  two  extremes  ;  but  wdiat  if  in  the 
chorus  W'hich  he  speaks  of,  the  shrill  tibiai  were  a 
disdiapason  above  the  voices  of  the  men,  and  that  the 
women  sung,  as  they  ever  do,  an  octave  above  them, 
would  not  these  different  sounds  produce  harmony  ? 
Certainly  they  would  ;  but  of  w'hat  kind  V  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  sonitus  gravis  ad  acutum 
'  vel  acuti  ad  gravem,  modulamen  efficiens,  sive  in 
*  voce,  sive  in  percussione,  sive  in  flatu  : '  *  as  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  attemperament  or  adjustment  of  a  grave  to  an 
acute  sound,  or  of  an  acute  to  a  grave  one,  constitutes 
such  a  kind  of  symphony  as  nothing  wdll  answer  to 
but  melody  ;  which  is  above  shewii  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  Artusi,. 
of  Bologna,  wlio,  though  he  has  written  expressly  on 
the  imperfections  of  modern  music,  scruples  not 
therefore,  and  because  the  third  and  sixth  are  the 
beauty  of  symphoniac  music,  to  pronounce  that  the 
ancients  must  have  been  unacquainted  with  the 
harmony  of  music  in  parts,  in  the  sense  in  which  the 
term  is  now  understood  :f  ar.d  an  author  w-hom  we 
shall  presently  have  occasion  to  cite  more  at  large, 
says  expressly  that  they  aclaiowledge  no  other  con- 
sonances than  the  diapason,  diapente,  and  diatessaron,. 
and  such  as  were  composed  of  them  ;  |  nor  does  it 
any  where  appear  that  they  were  in  the  least  ac- 
quainted with  the  use  of  discords,  or  with  the  pleasing- 
effects  produced  by  the  preparation  and  resolution  of 
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 
his  opinion  on  this  question  may  be  collected ;  and, 
as  he  was  one  of  the  most  learned  musicians  that  this 
nation  ever  produced,  some  deference  is  due  to  it ; 
speaking  of  Descant,  §  he  uses  these  words  :  •  \^'Tien 
'  descant  did  begin,  by  whom,  and  where  it  was  in- 

*  M.  Aur.  Cassiodor.  Opera.  De  Musica. 

+  Artusi  delle  Imperfettioni  della  Moderna  Musica.  Ragioiiam.  primo, 
Cart.  14. 

t  Musurg.  torn.  I.  pag.  540. 

5  DebCant,  as  used  by  this  author,  has  two  significations ;  the  one 
answers  precisely  to  music  in  consonance,  the  other  ■will  be  explained 
hereafter. 


Chap.  XXII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  jMUSIC. 


101 


'  vented,  is  iincertaine  ;  for  it  is  a  great  controversie 

*  amongst  the  learned  if  it  were  knowne  to  the 
'  antiquitie,  or  no  ;  and  divers  do  bring  arguments  to 
'  prove,  and  others  to  disprove  the  antiquitie  of  it ;  and 
'  for  disproving  of  it,  they  say  that  in  all  the  workes 

*  of  them  who  have  written  of  musicke  before  Fran- 

*  chinus,  there  is  no  mention  of  any  more  j^arts  then 
'  one  ;  and  that  if  any  did  sing  to  the  harpe  (which 
'  was  their  most  usual  instrument)  they  sung  the  same 
^  which  they  plaied.  But  those  who  would  affirme 
•■  that  the  ancients  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  workes  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,  though  we  read  of  much 
'  more  strange  effects  of  their  musicke  then  of  ours.' 
Annotations  on  Morley's  Introduction,  part  II. 

CHAP.    XXII. 

The  suffrage  of  Kircher,  in  a  question  of  this 
nature,  will  be  thought  to  carry  some  weight  :  this 
author,  whose  learning  and  skill  in  the  science  are 
universally  acknowledged,  possessed  every  advantage 
that  could  lead  to  satisfaction  in  a  question  of  this 
nature,  as  namely,  a  profound  skill  in  languages,  an 
extensive  correspondence,  and  an  inquisitive  dis- 
position ;  and  for  the  purpose  had  been  indulged 
with  the  liberty  of  access  to  the  most  celebrated 
repositories  of  literature,  and  the  use  of  the  most 
valuable  manuscripts  there  to  be  met  with  ;  and  who, 
to  sum  up  all,  was  at  once  a  philosopher,  an  antiquary, 
an  historian,  a  "Scholar,  and  a  musician,  has  given  his 
opinion  very  much  at  large  in  nearly  the  following 
words  : — 

'  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,  artificial,  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  ;  such  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  tenor, 
'  and  thus  is  produced  an  harmony  extemporary,  and 
'  not  confined  by  any  certain  laws,  and  which  is  very 
'  rude  and  imperfect,  as  it  is  almost  always  unison, 
'  containing  nothing  of  harmony,  except  in  the  closes, 
''  and  therefore  of  no  worth ;  that  the  Greeks  had 

*  such  a  kind   of  music  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  pains  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  tliey  did  not  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 
Harmonici  concentns,  it  is  only  to  be  understood  of 
the  agreement  between  the  voice  and  the  sound  of 
the  instrument. 

'  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  four  parts  of  a  song,  ayuj-yi),  roi'i), 
TiETTda,  irXoKYj,  he  does  not  thereby  mean  the  four 
polyodical  parts  of  cantus,  altus,  tenor,  and  bass, 
but  so  many  different  affections  of  the  voice,  certain 
harmonical  figures  or  tropes,  whefeby  the  song- 
acquired  a  particular  beauty  and  grace  ;  for  what 
else  can  the  word ' Ay wy;7  mean  than  a  certain  transi- 
tion of  the  voice  from  some  given  sound  to  another 
that  is  related  to  it.  Toj'j)  signifies  a  certain  stay  or 
dwelling  on  a  sound ;  XlXofo),  or  implication,  is  a 
particular  species  or  colour  of  the  'Aywyz/.as  litTrda, 
frisking  or  playing  on,  is  of  Tor;)  :  what  the'Aywyj/ 
is  to  Tovj),  such  is  the  UXoo)  to  the  Jlerreia. 

'  Some  imagine  that  the  ancients  had  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,  because  their 
authors  make  mention  of  certain  pipes,  some  of 
which  were  termed  YlapBevioi,  or  fit  for  girls  ;  some 
XlaioiKoi,  or  fit  for  boys  ;  some  TeKioi,  as  being  in  a 
mean  between  the  acute  and  grave  sounds ;  and 
others  'TTreprtXtot,  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  these  I  make  no  doubt  were  in  i;se  as  well 
as  the  vocal  polyodia ;  for  it  is  very  probable  that 
such  as  played  on  those  pipes,  becoming  skilful  by 
such  practice,  invented  certain  symphonies  adapted 
to  their  purpose,  and  which  they  played  on  their 
public  festivals,  distributing  themselves  into  certain 
chorusses.  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  flutes  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, 
Fistulae,  Litui,  Tubae,  Buccinse,  as  they  are  said  to 
have  been  used  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  but  that  the 
ancients  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  thhig.  What  Boetius,  Ptolemy,  and 
others  speak  concerning  harmony,  is  to  be  under- 
stood only  as  to  a  single  voice,  to  which  an  instru- 


102 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


*  ment  was  joined ;    add  to  this  that  the    ancients 
acknowledged  no  other  concords  than  the  diapason, 

'  the  diapente,  and  the  diatessaron,  and  such  as  wei'e 
'  composed  of  them  ;  for  they  did  not  reckon  as  now, 

*  the  ditone,  semiditone,  and  hexachord  among  the 
'  consonances.  It  tlierefore  follows  that  the  ancient 
'  Greeks  acknowledged  nothing  more  than  the  Mo- 
'  nodia,  adapted,  it  must  be  confessed,  with  much  care 
'  and  the  greatest  art  to  the  sound  of  the  lyre  or  the 
'  tibia ;   so  that  nothing  was  deficient  either  in  the 

*  variety   of  the   modulation,  the  sweetness  of  the 

*  singing,  the  justness  of  the  pronunciation,  or  the 
'  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 
'  days.'  * 

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 
words  : — 

'  "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  parts 
'  or  voices,  but  one  single  voice,  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  distingtiish- 

*  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  several  parts  or  voices 
'  (as  bass,  treble,  mean,  &c.  sung  in  concert),  answering 
'  to  each  other  to  complete  the  music'  And  in  the 
Appendix  to  his  edition  of  Ptolemy,  pag.  317,  he 
expresses  himself  on  the  same  subject  to  this  pur- 
pose : — '  But  that  agreement  which  we  find  in  the 
'  modern  music,  of  parts  (as  they  term  it)  or  of  two, 
'  tliree,  four,  or  more  voices  (singing  together  sounds 
'  which  are  heard  altogether),  was  entirely  unknown 

*  to  the  ancients,  as  far  as  I  can  see.' 

From  the  several  passages  above-cited,  it  appears 
that  the  question,  whether  the  ancients  were  ac- 
quainted with  music  in  consonance  or  not,  has  l)een 
fre(|uently  and  not  unsuccessfully  agitated,  and  that  the 
arguments  for  the  negative  seem  to  preponderate. 
Nevertheless  the  author  of  a  book  lately  published, 
entitled  '  Principles  and  Power  of  Harmony,'  after 
taking  notice  that  Dr.  AYallis,  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 
"  sing  to  the  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 

♦  Musurn;.  torn.  1.  pa^.  537,  et  seq. 

+  Abridgment  of  Philosoph.  Transactions  by  Lowthorp  and  Jones, 
vol.  I.  pag.  618. 


"  simultaneous  notes,  and  all  the  variety  belonging  to 
"  the  lyre,  this  sounding  one  kind  of  melody,  and  the 
"  poet  another — to  mix  a  few  notes  with  many,  swift 
"  with  slow,  grave  with  acute,  consonant  with  dis- 
"  sonant,  &c.  must  not  be  thought  of,  as  the  time 
"  allotted  for  this  part  of  education  is  too  short  for 
"  such  a  work."  Plat.  895.  I  am  sensible  that 
'  objections  may  be  made  to  some  parts  of  this  trans - 
'  lation,  as  of  the  words  TrvKrorrj^,  jxavorrjc,  and 
'  avrt(piovoic,  but  I  have  not  designedly  disguised 
'  what  I  took  to  be  the  true  sense  of  them,  after  duo 
'  consideration.  It  appears  then  upon  the  whole,  that 
'  the  ancients  were  acquainted  with  music  in  parts, 
'  but  did  not  generally  make  use  of  it.'  | 

"V\Tioever  will  be  at  the  pains  of  comparing  the 
discourse  of  Dr.  Wallis,  above-cited,  and  his  appendix 
to  Ptolemy,  with  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  in  the 
other  the  arrogance  of  a  dogmatist. 

Opinions  delivered  in  terms  so  jiositive,  and  indeed 
so  contemptuous,  as  this  latter  writer  has  chosen  to 
make  use  of,§  are  an  affront  to  the  understandings  of 
mankind,  who  are  not  to  be  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  question 
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  exceed  those  of  mere  melody,  that  the 
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  to  objections,  and 
into  such  English  phrase  as,  in  the  opinion  of  many, 

t  Principles  and  Power  of  Harmony,  p.  133.  The  speech  in  the 
original,  containing  the  passage  of  which  it  is  pretended  that  above  is 
a  translation,  is  here  given  at  lenfjth,  as  it  stands  in  the  edition  of  Plato, 
by  Marsilins  Ficinus  ;  which  is  what  this  author  appears  to  have  made 
use  of: — Thtiov  To'tvvv  ?n  xn|Oij'  toIq  <p96yyoig  r»)c  Xvpag 
•TrpocTxprjaQaL,  cra^jyj'Ei'af  'iviKa  rwi'  xopSojv,  rov  Tt  KiOapi'^iiv 
K]  Tuv  TraiSsvofiivov,  cnroSidovrac  irpoaxopSa  ru  (pOey/iara 
Totg  (pOiy^afff  rijv  S'  tnpo^ioi'iai'  K/  TroiKiXiav  tTiq  Xvpag, 
ciWa  ptv  j^dXr]  tmv  xopSiov  tiKjuiv,  ciXXa  H  th  tiiv  fitXipSiav 
'^vi'OivTog  TTonjTH'  icj  S))  (Jj  TTVKVoTrira  {.lat'oTTiTi,  K)  ra^oc 
PpaSyTTiri,  kj  o^vtijth  fiapvTi)Ti,  avp<j>u)Vov  Ki  civt'kjiwvov 
vapixofth'sg,  Kf  Tuiv  pvd^iojv,  waavTiog  ■KavToScnra  ttoikiX- 
fiara  TrpoaapfiOTTovrag  rdiai  <pQ6yyoic  tTjq  Xrpag'  TTavTa  BV 
Ta  ToiavTa  p>)  'rrpo(r(peptn'  roTg  /(eXasctiv  h'  rpialv  'inai  to 
Ti'ig  fxaaiicTjQ  xP'I'^'l^ov  tKXijiperjQai  Old  ra%8C'  ''«  yup  ii'avTia, 
aXXr)\a  rnpciTTOvra  ?vff^a6iav  Trapsxii'  ^il  ^t  oTi  finXiffa 
ii'ifiaOtlg  ilvai  rag  7'ksg. 

§  As  where  he  insinuates  a  resemblance  between  those  who  doubt  the 
truth  of  his  assertions  and  the  most  ignorant  of  mankind,  in  these 
words:  '  If  all  these  circumstances  are  not  sufficient  to  gain  our  belief, 
'  merely  because  we  moderns  have  not  the  same  musical  power,  then 
'  have  the  Kamschatcans  a  right  to  decide  that  it  is  impossible  to  foretel 
'  an  eclipse,  or  to  represent  all  the  elements  of  speech  by  about  twenty- 
'  four  marks.' 


Chap.  XXIL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


103 


is  not  intelligible.  Thirdly  and  lastly,  this  very 
passage  of  Phito,  npon  which  he  lays  so  much  stress, 
was  discovered  about  fifty  years  ago,  and  adduced 
for  the  very  purpose  for  which  he  has  cited  it,  by 
Mons.  I'Abbe  Fraguier,  a  member  of  the  Academy 
of  Inscriptions  and  Belles  Lettres,  and  occasioned 
a  controversy,  the  result  whereof  will  presently  be 
related. 

INIonsieur  Fraguier  had  entertained  a  high  opinion 
of  the  Greek  music,  and  a  belief  that  the  ancients 
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  de  Legibus,  lib.  VII.*  He  also  pro- 
duced for  the  same  purpose  a  passage  in  Cicero  de 
Republica,  and  another  from  Macrobius,  both  which 
are  given  in  the  note  subjoined.f 

The  arguments  deduced  by  Mons.  Fraguier  from 
these  several  passages,  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 
that  they  were  forced  and  imwarranted,  either  by  the 
context  or  the  practice  of  the  ancients. 

The  substance  of  these  argiiments  is  contained  in 
a  paper  or  memoir  entitled  Examen  d'un  Passage  de 
Platon  sur  la  Musique,  which  may  be  seen  in  the 
History  of  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions,  tom.  III. 
pag.  118.  This  question  was  farther  prosecuted  by 
the  same  parties,  as  appears  by  sundry  papers  in  the 
subsequent  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,  Cassiodorus,  and  others,  were  severally  insisted 
on.  As  to  those  from  Cicero  and  Macrobius,  and 
this  from  Horace, 

Sonante  mistum  tibiis  carmen  lyra, 
Hac  Dorium,  illis  Barbarum. 

Ad  Mecaenat.  Epod.  ix. 

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 ;  he  admits, 
that  the  ancients  made  use  of  the  octave  and  the 
fifteenth,  the  former  in  a  manner  resembling  the 
drone  of  a  bag-pipe ;  and  he  allows  th^at  they  might 
accidentally,  and  without  any  rule,  use  the  fourth  and 
fifth ;  but  this  is  the  farthest  advance  he  will  allow 
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 

*  In  Stephens's  edition  it  is  pag.  812,  and  in  that  of  Marsilius  Ficinus 
895. 

+  '  Ut  in  fidibus,  ac  tibiis  atque  cantu  ipso,  ac  vocibus  concentus  est 
'  quidam  tenendus  ex  distinctis  sonis,  quem  immutatum  ac  discrepantem 
'  aures  eruditae  ferre  non  possunt ;  isque  concentus  ex  dissimilimarum 
'  vocum  moderatione  concors  tamen  efficitur  et  congruens :  sic  ex  sum- 
'  mis,  et  infiinis,  et  niediis  interjectis  ordinibus,  ut  sonis,  moderata 
'  ratione  civitas,  consensu  dissimilimorum  concinit ;  et  qu:e  liarmonia  a 
'  niusicis  dicitur  in  cantu,  ea  est  in  civitate  concordia.'  Cicer.  lib.  ii.  de 
Kepub.  Fragm.  pag.  527,  tom.  III. 

'  Vides  quam  multorum  vocibus  chorus  constet  una  tamen  ex  omnibus 
'  redditur.  Aliqua  est  illic  acuta,  aliqua  gravis,  aliqua  media  :  accedunt 
'  viri.i  feminffl  :  interponuntur  fistula.  Ita  singulorum  illic  latent  voces, 
'omnium  apparent,  et  fit  concentus  ex  dissonis.'— Macrob.  Saturnalior 
Proero. 


of  arguments,  that  the  ancients  were  absolute  strangers 
to  music  in  parts.  :j: 

IMartini,  in  his  Storia  della  INIusica,  vol.  I.  pag.  172, 
haa  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,  he  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  therefore,  he  adds, 
'  great  abatements  must  be  allowed  to  the  elogies  of 
'  their  music'  Certainly  many  of  the  relations  of 
the  effects  of  music  are  either  fabulous  or  to  be  in- 
terpreted allegorically,  as  this  in  Horace  : — 

Silvestres  homines  sacer  interpresque  Deorum, 
Cfedibus  &  victu  fcedo  deterruit  Orpheus  ; 
Dictus  ob  hoc  lenire  tigres  rabidosque  leones. 
Dictus  &  Amphion,  TliebaniB  conditor  Arcis, 
Saxa  movere  sono  testudinis,  &  prece  blanda. 
Ducere  quo  vellet. 

Arte  Poetica,  lib.  II.  1.  391. 

The  wood-born  race  of  men,  when  Orpheus  tam'd, 
From  acorns  and  from  mutual  blood  reclaim'd, 
This  priest  divine  was  fabled  to  assuage 
The  tiger's  fierceness,  and  the  lion's  rage. 
Thus  rose  the  Theban  wall ;   Amphion 's  lyre 
And  soothing  voice  the  list'ning  stones  inspire. 

Francis. 

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  the  highest  terms  he  can  invent  of  that, 
whatever  it  be,  that  has  administered  to  him  the 
greatest  delight.  How  has  the  poet,  in  the  Prolusions 
of  Strada,  laboured  in  describing  the  contest  between 
the  nightingale  and  the  lutenist  1  and  what  does  that 
celebrated  poem  contain,  but  a  profusion  of  words 
without  a  meaning  ? 

To  conclude,  every  one  that  understands  music  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  moderns. 

Havins:  taken  a  view  of  the  state  of  music  in  the 

I  The  learned  Dr.  Jortin,  who,  Avith  the  character  of  a  very  worthy 
man  and  a  profound  scholar,  possessed  that  of  a  learned  musician,  has 
deliverrd  his  sentiments  on  this  question  in  the  following  terms  : — '  One 
'  would  think  that  an  ancient  musician,  who  was  well  acquainted  with 
'  concords  and  discords,  who  had  an  instrument  of  many  strings  or  many 
'  keys  to  play  upon,  and  two  hands  and  ten  fingers  to  make  use  of,  would 
'  try  experiments,  and  would  fall  into  something  like  counterpoint  and 
'  composition  in  parts.  In  speculation  nothing  seems  more  probable, 
'  and  it  seemed  more  than  probable  to  our  skilful  musician  Dr.  Pepusch, 
'  when  I  once  conversed  with  him  upon  the  subject;  but  in  fact  it  doth 
'  not  appear  that  the  ancients  had  this  kind  of  composition,  or  rather  it 
'  appears  that  they  had  not ;  and  it  is  certain,  that  a  man  shall  overlook 
•  discoveries  which  stand  at  his  elbow,  and  in  a  manner  intrude  them- 
'  selves  upon  him.'  Letter  to  Mr.  Avison,  published  in  the  second  edi- 
tion of  his  Essay  on  Musical  Expression,  pag.  ^G. 


104 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


earlier  ages  of  the  world,  and  traced  the  ancient 
system  from  its  rudiments  to  its  perfection,  and 
thereby  brought  it  down  to  nearly  the  close  of  the 
third  century,  we  shall  proceed  to  relate  the  several 
subsequent  improvements  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  speculation, 
and  as  having  a  near  affinity  with  arithmetic  and 
geometry,  had  been  studied  and  taught  by  such  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 
Latin  writers,  such  as  Martianus  Capella,  Macrobius, 
Cassiodorus,  and  others,  will  shew  how  little  the 
Romans  contributed  to  the  improvement  of  music ; 
and  in  general  tlieir  writings  are  very  little  more 
than  abridgements  of,  or  short  commentaries  on  the 
works  of  Nicomachus,  Euclid,  Aristides  Quintilianus, 
Aristoxenus,  and  others  of  the  ancient  Greeks.  As  to 
Boetius,  of  whom  we  shall  speak  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  he  evidentlj'^  shews  himself  to  have 
been  a  Pythagorean.  As  this  was  the  design  of  his 
treatise  De  Musica,  we  are  not  to  wonder  that  tlie 
author  has  said  so  little  of  the  changes  that  music 
underwent  among  the  Latins,  or  that  he  does  but 
just  hint  at  the  disuse  of  the  enarmonic  and  chro- 
matic genera,  and  the  introduction  of  the  Roman 
characters  in  the  room  of  the  Greek. 

It  must  however  be  admitted,  that  for  one  im- 
provement of  the  system  we  are  indebted  to  the 
Latins,  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  treatise  of  Alypius,  written  professedly  to  explain 
the  Greek  musical  characters,  to  what  an  amazing 
number  they  amounted,  12iO  at  the  lowest  computa- 
tion ;  and  after  all,  they  were  no  better  than  so  many 
arbitrary  marks  or  signs  placed  on  a  line  over  the 
words  of  the  &ong,  and,  having  no  real  inherent  or 
analogical  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,  0,  P,  fifteen  in  number,  and  sufficient  to  ex- 
press every  sound  contained  in  the  disdiapason.  If 
it  be  asked,  how  could  this  small  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  tliat  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  susj^ect,  that  even  at  the  time 
when  Ptolemy  wrote,  the  doctrine  of  them  was  but 
ill  understood ;  fifteen  characters,  we  know,  are  at 
this  time  sufficient  to  denote  all  the  sounds  in  a  dia- 
tonic disdiapason,  and  consequently  must  have  been 
so  then. 

It  has  already  been  observed,  that  the  science  ot 
harmony  was  anciently  a  subject  of  philosophical 
enquiry ;  and  it  is  manifest,  from  the  account  herein 
before  given  of  them  and  their  writings,  that  the 
Greeks  treated  it  as  a  subject  of  very  abstract  specu- 
lation, and  that  they  neither  attended  to  the  physical 
properties  of  sound,  nor  concerned  themselves  with 
the  practice  of  nmsic,  whether  vocal  or  instrumental. 
Ptolemy  was  one  of  the  last  of  the  Greek  harmo- 
niciaus ;  and  from  his  time  it  may  be  observed,  that 
the  cultivation  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  accounted 
for  either  by  the  decline  of  philosophy  about  this 
jieriod,  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  writers,  by  their  theory,  had 
so  well  laid.  But  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.  Paul.  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  the  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,  both  in  the  Eastern  and  Western 
empire,  from  the  first  propagation  of  Christianity. 
The  great  number  of  men  who  were  drawn  off  from 
secular  pursuits  by  tlieir  religious  profession,  amidst 
the  barbarism  of  the  times,  thought  themselves  laud- 
ably employed  in  the  study  of  a  science  which  was 
found  to  be  subservient  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  offices  :  all 
which  is  the  more  probable,  as  the  progress  of  human 
learning  was  then  in  a  great  measure  at  a  stand. 

But  as  the  introduction  of  music  into  the  service 
of  the  church  seems  to  be  a  new  ^ra,  it  is  necessary 
to  be  a  little  more  particular,  and  relate  the  opinions 
of  the  most  authentic  writers,  as  well  as  to  the  recep- 
tion it  at  first  met  with,  as  its  subsequent  progress 


Chap.  XXII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


lOo 


among  tlie  converts  to  Christianity.  If  among  the 
accounts  to  be  given  of  these  matters,  some  should 
carry  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  suppress  every  relation  against 
the  credibility  whereof  there  lay  an  objection.  His- 
tory does  not  propose  to  transmit  barely  matters  of 
real  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  erroneous  opinion,  may  be  considered  as  facts ; 
and  then  it  becomes  the  duty  of  a  historian  to  relate 
them.  WTioever  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  due  to  their  testimony. 
But  notwithstanding  this,  the  characters  of  Eusebius, 
Socrates,  Sozomen,  Theodoret,  and  Evagrius,  for 
veracity  and  good  intelligence,  stand  so  high  in  the 
opinion  of  all  sober  and  impartial  men,  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  withhold  our  assent  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  favour, 
who,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  chai'ges  them 
to  speak  to  themselves  in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and 
spiritual  songs,  singing  and  making  melody  in  their 
hearts  to  the  Lord;*  and  who  exhorts  the  Colos- 
sians  to  teach  and  admonish  one  another  in  psalms, 
hymns,  and  spiritual  songs.f  Cardinal  Bona  is  one 
of  these  ;  and  he  scruples  not  to  assert,  on  the  autho- 
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  Damas- 
cenus  goes  farther  back  ;  and  relates,  that  at  the 
funeral  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  was  celebrated 
at  Gethsemane,  tlie  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, 

Ayiog  0  fc)£Oc,aytoc  iffx^poe^aytoe  adayaroc,  eXerjaov  rj/jiac. 

Holy  God,  holy  and  strong,  holy  and  immortal,  have  mercy 

upon  us. 

The  truth  of  this  relation  is  questioned  by  some, 
who  yet  credit  a  vision  of  St.  Ignatius;  of  which 
Socrates,  the  ecclesiastical  historian,  gives  the  fol- 
lowing account :  '  St.  Ignatius,  the  third  bishop  of 
'  Antioch,  in  Syria,  after  the  apostle  Peter,  who  also 
'  conversed  familiarly  with  the  apostles,  saw  the 
'  blessed  spirits  above  singing  hymns  to  the  Sacred 


Chap.  V.  verse  19. 


t  Chap.  iii.  verse  IG. 


'  Trinity  alternately,  which  method  of  singing,  says 

*  the  same  historian,  Ignatius  taught  to  his  church ; 
'  and  this,  together  with  an  account  of  the  miracle 

*  which  gave  rise  to  it,  was  communicated  to  all  the 
'  churches  of  the  East.'  J  Nicephorus,  St.  Chrysos- 
tom,  Amalarius,  and  sundry  others,  acquiesce  in  this 
account  of  the  origin  of  antiphonal  singing ;  as  do 
our  countrymen,  Hooker,  Hammond,  Beveridge,  and 
Dr.  Comber. 

By  the  Apostolical  Constitutions,  said  to  have  been, 
if  not  compiled  by  the  apostles  themselves,  at  least 
collected  by  Clement,  a  disciple  of  theirs,  the  order  of 
divine  worship  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  people  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  church-music 
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  with  among  the  writers 
of  ecclesiastical  history,  that  go  near  to  fix  it  at  about 
the  middle  of  the  fourth  century. 

In  short,  the  aera  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  347  and  35G,  when  Flavi- 
anus  and  Diodorus,  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.  II. 
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 
had  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  Diodorus, 
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  again,  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  cit}''  of  Antioch  having,  by  a 
popular  sedition,  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  Em- 
peror Theodosius,  sent  Flavianus  to  appease  him,  and 
implore  forgiveness ;    who,  upon  his  first  audience, 

I  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  VI.  cap  viii. 


lOG 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


though  in  the  imperial  palace,  directed  the  usual 
church-service  to  be  sung  before  hiin :  the  emperor 
melted  into  pity,  wept,  and  the  city  was  restored  to 
his  favour.  Other  instances  are  to  be  met  witli  in 
history,  that  show  the  fondness  of  the  people  of  An- 
tioch  for  this  kind  of  music ;  and  which  favour  tlie 
supposition,  that  amongst  them  it  took  its  rise. 

Antioch  was  the  metropolis  of  Syria ;  the  example 
of  its  inhabitants  was  soon  followed  by  the  other 
churches  of  the  East ;  and  in  a  very  few  ages  after  its 
introduction  into  the  divine  service,  the  practice  of 
singing  in  churches  not  only  received  the  sanction  of 
public  authority,  but  those  were  forbidden  to  join  in  it 
who  were  ignorant  of  music.  For  at  the  council  of 
Laodicea,  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  out  of  the  parchment,  [so  the  words  are] 
should  presume  to  sing  in  the  church.  Balsamon 
seems  to  think  that  the  fathers  intended  nothing 
more  than  to  forbid  the  setting  or  giving  out  the 
hymn  or  psalm  by  the  laity  :  but  the  reason  assigned 
by  Baronius  for  the  making  of  this  canon,  shews  that 
it  was  meant  to  exclude  them  totally  from  singing  in 
the  church-service ;  for  he  says  that  when  the  people 
and  the  clergy  sang  promiscuously,  the  former,  for 
want  of  skill,  destroyed  the  harmony,  and  occasioned 
such  a  discord  as  was  very  inconsistent  with  the 
order  and  decency  requisite  in  divine  worship.  Zo- 
nanus  confirms  this  account,  and  adds,  that  these 
canonical  singers  were  reckoned  a  part  of  the  clergy .f 
Balsamon,  in  his  scholia  on  this  canon,  says,  that 
before  the  Laodicean  council,  the  laity  were  wont,  in 
contempt  of  the  clergy,  to  sing,  in  a  very  rude  and 
inartificial  manner,  hymns  and  songs  of  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  Christian  Church,  book  III.  chap.  vii. 
and  adds,  that  from  the  time  of  the  council  of  Lao- 
dicea the  psalmistae,  or  singers,  were  called  icaroriKOL 
xpoKrai,  or  canonical  singers,  though  he  is  inclined  to 
think  the  provision  in  the  canon  only  temporary. 

CHAP.  XXIIL 

Great  stress  is  also  laid  on  the  patronage  given 
to  church-music  by  St.  Basil,  St.  Ambrose,  and  St. 
Chrysostom  ;  as  to  the  first,  he  had  part  of  his  edu- 
cation at  Antioch,  where  he  was  a  continual  spectator 
of  that  pompous  worship  which  prevailed  there.    He 

*  The  Ambo  was  what  we  now  call  the  reading-desk,  a  place  made  on 
purpose  for  the  readers  and  singers,  and  such  of  the  clergy  as  ministered 
in  the  first  service  called  Missa  Catechumenorum.  It  had  the  name  of 
Ambo,  not  as  Walafridus  Strabo  imagines,  '  ab  anibiendo,'  because  it 
surrounded  them  that  were  in  it,  but  from  avaiaivtiv,  because  it  was 
a  place  of  eminency.  to  which  they  went  up  by  degrees  or  steps.  Bing- 
ham's Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,  book  VIII.  chap.  v.  §  4. 

+  It  seems  they  were  one  of  the  many  orders  in  the  primitive  church, 
and  that  they  received  ordination  at  the  hands,  not  of  the  bisliop  or 
choriepiscopus,  but  of  a  presbyter,  using  this  form  of  words,  prescribed 
by  the  canon  of  the  fourth  council  of  Carthage  :  '  See  that  thou  believe 
'in  thy  heart  wliat  thou  singest  with  thy  mouth  ;  and  approve  in  thy 
'works  wliat  tliou  believest  in  thy  heart."  Bingh.  Antiq.  book  111. 
chap.  vii.  §  1. 


w^as  first  made  a  deacon  l)y  Meletius,  and  afterwards, 
that  is  to  say  about  the  year  371,  was  promoted  to 
the  bishopric  of  Csesarea  in  Cappadocia,  his  own 
country  ;  and  in  this  exalted  station  he  contracted 
such  a  love  for  church-music,  as  drove  him  to  the 
necessity  of  apologizing  for  it.J  In  his  epistle  to  the 
Neocaesarian  clergy,  still  extant,  he  justifies  the  prac- 
tice, saying,  that  the  new  method  of  singing,  at  which 
they  were  so  offended,  was  now  become  common  in 
the  Christian  church,  the  people  rising  before  day 
and  going  to  church,  wliere,  having  made  their  con- 
fessions and  prayers,  they  proceeded  to  the  singing 
of  psalms  :  and  he  adds,  that  in  his  holy  exercise, 
the  choir  being  divided  into  two  parts,  mutually 
answered  each  other,  the  i^recentor  beginning,  and 
the  rest  following  him.  He  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  Thaumaturgus ; 
in  answer  to  which  Basil  tells  them,  that  neither  was 
the  Litany  u.sed  in  his  time ;  and  that  in  objecting 
to  music,  while  they  admitted  the  Litany,  they 
strained  at  a  gnat  and  swallowed  a  camel. 

St.  Chrysostom,  whose  primitive  name  was  John, 
was  a  native  of  Antioch,  and  received  his  education 
there,  ho  was  ordained  a  deacon  by  Meletius,  and 
presbyter  by  Flavianus ;  and  having  been  accustomed 
to  the  pompous  service  introduced  by  the  latter  into 
the  Church  of  Antioch,  he  conceived  a  fondness  for 
it.  When  he  became  bishop  of  Constantinople,  which 
was  about  a.  c.  380,  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  a 
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,  singing  such  words 
as  these  :  '  Where  are  they  who  affirm  three  to 
be  one  power  ? '  and  hymns  composed  in  defence 
of  their  tenets,  adding  petulant  reflexions  on  the 
orthodox ;  §  this  they  continued  for  the  greatest  part 

J  Vales,  in  Socrat.  lib.  IV.  cap.  xxvi. 

§  It  seems  that  the  orthodox  could  in  their  turns  not  only  be  petulant, 
but  industrious  in  provoking  their  enemies  to  wrath,  as  may  be  collected 
from  the  following  relation  of  Thcodoret  : — 

'  Publia,  the  deaconess,  a  woman  admired  and  celebrated  for  her 
'  piety,  was  the  mother  of  the  famous  John,  who  for  many  years  was  first 
'  presbyterofthe  church  ofthe  Antioch,  and  though  often  and  unanimously 
'  elected  to  the  apostolic  tlirone,  refused  that  dignity.  She,  aiid  a  chorus 
'  of  consecrated  virgins  with  her,  spent  great  part  of  their  time  in  singing 
'anthems  and  divine  songs;  and  once  when  the  emperor  [Julian]  had 
'  occasion  to  pass  by  them,  they  sung  psalms  chosen  purpoSf-ly  to  expose 
'  and  ridicule  the  extravagancies  of  heathenism  and  idolatry,  singing 
'  them  with  an  exalted  voice  ;  and  among  tlie  rest  they  applied,  very 
'properly  to  the  occasion,  the  hundred  and  fifteenth,  from  the  fourth  to 
'  the  eighth  verse,  "Their  idols  are  silver  and  gold,  even  the  work  of 
"  men's  hands,  &c."  "  Let  those  that  make  them  be  like  unto  them,  and 
"  also  all  such  as  put  their  trust  in  them."  This  so  disturbed  the  empe- 
'  ror,  that  he  commanded  silence  should  be  kept  whenever  he  came  by 
'  that  place,  but  to  so  little  purpose,  that  upon  his  returning,  at  the 
'  motion  of  Publia  tliey  gave  him  another  welcome  in  these  words : — 
"Let  God  arise,  and  let  his  enemies  ne  scattered."  And  now  his  anger 
'was  raised  so  high,  that  he  ordered  the  cliantress  to  be  brout;ht  before 
'  him,  and  had  her  beat  on  the  face  till  her  cheeks  were  stained  with, 
'blood;  which  efl^orts  of  the  tyrant's  unmanly  passion  the  aged  good 
'woman  received  with  pleasure,  went  home,  and,  as  often  as  an  oppor- 
'  tunity  offered,  entertained  liim  still  with  the  very  same  sort  of  dis- 
'  agreeable  compositions.'     Hist.  Eccles. 


Chap.  XXIII. 


AND  PEACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


107 


of  the  night ;  in  the  morning  they  marched  through 
the  heart  of  the  city,  singing  in  the  same  manner, 
and  so  proceeded  to  the  place  of  their  assembly. 
In  opposition  to  these  people,  St.  Chrysostom  caused 
hymns  to  be  sung  in  the  night ;  and  to  give  his 
performance  a  pomp  and  solemnity,  which  the  other 
wanted,  he  procured  crosses  of  silver  to  be  made  at 
the  charge  of  the  empress  Eudoxia,  which,  with 
lighted  torches  thereon,  were  borne  in  a  procession, 
at  which  Briso,  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  stone,  and  some  on  both  sides  were  slain.* 
This  was  followed  by  a  sedition,  which  ended  in  the 
expulsion  of  the  Arians.  This  manner  of  singing, 
thus  introduced  by  them,  was,  as  Sozomen  relates,t 
used  in  Constantinople  from  that  time  forwards ; 
however,  in  a  short  time  it  was  performed  in  such 
an  unseemly  way  as  gave  great  offence ;  for  the 
singers,  affecting  strange  gestures  and  boisterous 
clamours,  converted  the  church  into  a  mere  theatre ; 
for  which  Chrysostom  reproved  them,  by  telling 
his  people  that  their  rude  voices  and  disorderly 
behaviour  were  very  improper  for  a  place  of  worship, 
in  which  all  things  were  to  be  done  with  reverence 
to  that  Being  who  observes  the  behaviour  of  every 
one  there. 

St.  Ambrose,  who  had  entertained  a  singular  vene- 
ration for  St.  Basil,  like  him  was  a  great  lover  of  the 
church-service  :  it  is  true  he  was  not  originally  an 
ecclesiastic,  but  having  been  imexpectedly  elected 
bishop  of  Milan,  he  applied  himself  to  the  duties  of 
the  episcopal  function.  Justina,  whom  the  emperor 
Valentinian  had  married,  proving  an  Ai'ian,  com- 
menced a  prosecution  against  Ambrose  and  the  ortho- 
dox ;  during  which  the  people  watched  all  night  in 
the  church,  and  Ambrose  appointed  that  psalms  and 
hvmns  should  be  suns:  there  after  the  manner  of  the 
oriental  churches,  lest  the  people  shoiild  pine  away 
with  the  tediousness  of  sorrow ;  and  from  this  event, 
which  happened  about  374,  we  may  date  the  intro- 
duction of  singing  into  western  churches. 

But  the  zeal  of  St.  Ambrose  to  promote  this 
practice,  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  Deum 
laudamus,  Avhich  even  now  makes  a  part  of  the 
liturgy  of  our  church,  and  caused  it  to  be  sung  in 
liis  church  at  Milan ;  but  this  has  been  discovered 
to  be  a  mistake: I  this  however  is  certain,  that  he 
instituted  that  method  of  singing,  known  by  the 
name  of   the    Cantus    Ambrosianus,   or   Ambrosian 

*  Socrat.  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  VI.  cap.  viii. 

+  Hist.  Eccles.  lib.  VIII.  cap.  viii. 

I  The  very  learned  Dr  Usher,  upon  the  authority  of  two  ancient 
manuscripts,  asserts  the  Te  Deum  to  have  been  made  by  a  bishop  of 
Triers,  named  Nicetlus  or  Nicettus,  and  that  not  till  about  the  year  500, 
which  was  almost  a  century  after  the  death  both  of  St.  Ambrose  and 
St.  AuRustine.  L'Estrange's  Alliance  of  Divine  Offices,  79.  The  Bene- 
dictines, wlio  published  the  works  of  St.  Ambrose,  judge  him  not  to 
have  been  the  author  of  it ;  and  Dr.  Cave,  though  at  one  time  he  was 
of  a  different  judgment,  and  bishop  Stillinglleet,  concur  in  the  opinion 
that  the  Te  Deum  was  not  tlie  composition  of  St.  Ambrose,  or  of  him 
and  St.  Augustine  jointlv.  Bingham's  Antiquities  of  the  Christian 
Church,  book  XIV.  chap'ii.  §  •). 


Chant,  a  name,  for  ought  that  now  appears,  not 
applicable  to  any  determined  series  of  notes,  but 
invented  to  exj^ress  in  general  a  method  of  singing 
agreeable  to  some  rule  given  or  taught  by  hira> 
This  method,  whatever  it  was,  is  said  to  have  had 
a  reference  to  the  modes  of  the  ancients,  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  them  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,  deuteros,  tritos,  tetrartos.  His 
design  in  this  was  to  introduce  a  kind  of  melody 
founded  on  the  rules  of  art,  and  yet  so  plain  and 
simple  in  its  nature,  that  not  only  those  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  originally  constituted  by  St.  Ambrose,  with  the 
subsequent  improvement  of  them  by  Gregory  the 
Great,  is  reserved  for  another  place  :  in  the  interim 
it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  ecclesiastical  modes  are  also 
called  tropes,  but  more  frequently  tones  ;  which  latter 
appellation  was  first  given  to  them  by  Martianus 
Capella,  as  we  are  informed  by  Sir  Henry  Spelman, 
in  his  Glossary,  voce  FRiGDORiE.  The  following' 
scheme  represents  the  progression  in  each  : — 
d  e  f 


c 

h 

a 

G 
F 
E 
D 


d 
c 

h 

a 

G 
P 
E 


6 

d 
c 

h 

a 
G 
F 


o 

i 

e 
d 
c 

h 

a 
G 


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.  These  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-service  seemed  to  require  ;  and  accord- 
ingly St.  Gregoiy,  surnamed  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  Ambrosianus, 
and  instituted  what  became  known  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- 

§  Sir  Henry  Spelman  in  his  Glossary,  voce  Frigsors,  in  the  place  ot 

the  Mixolydian  puts  the  jEolian. 


108 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


ments  made  in  music  by  St.  Gregory,  must  be  re- 
ferred to  another  place. 

With  respect  to  the  music  of  the  primitive  church, 
though  it  consisted  in  the  singing  of  psalms  and 
hymns,  vet  was  it  performed  in  sundry  different  man- 
ners, that  is  to  say,  sometimes  the  psalms  were  sung 
by  one  person  alone,  the  rest  hearing  with  attention ; 
sometimes  they  were  sung  by  the  whole  assembly  ; 
sometimes  alternately,  the  congregation  being  for 
that  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  respon- 
.saria;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  duty,  even  at  this  day, 
it  is  to  govern  the  choir,  and  see  that  the  choral 
service  be  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 
plain-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  church  above- 
mentioned,  we  are  told,  and  indeed  it  appears  from 
many  passages  in  his  writings,  that  Saint  Augustine 
was  a  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 
must  be  owned, he  lived  to  recant  it:  'How  abundantly 

*  did  I  weep  before   God,  to  hear  those  hymns  of 

*  thine ;  being  touched  to  the  very  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  dc- 
'  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  De  Musica,  in  six  books,  chiefly,  indeed,  on 
the  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  music. 

It  is  not  necessar}'  to  enter  into  a  particular 
character,  either  of  St.  Augustine  or  of  this  his  work : 

'  Bingham's  Antiq.  book  XIV.  chap.  i. 

t  In  this  distinction  between  symphoniac  and  antiphonal  psalmody, 
v,e  may  discern  the  origin  of  the  two  different  methods  of  singiiiR 
practised  in  tlie  Romish  and  Lutheran  churches,  and  of  those  that 
follow  the  rule  of  Calvin,  and  others  of  the  reformers ;  in  the  former 
the  singinp  is  antiphonal,  in  the  latter  it  is  a  plain  metrical  psalmody, 
in  which  all  join  ;  so  that  for  each  practice  the  authority  of  the  primitive 
■  church  may  be  appealed  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  curiosity  is 
greater  than  their  reading,  the  following  short  ac- 
count of  this  eminent  father  of  the  church  may  not  be 
unpleasing : — 

He  was  born  at  Thagaste,  a  city  of  Numidia,  on 
the  13th  of  November,  354.  His  father,  a  burgess  of 
that  city,  was  called  Patricius ;  and  his  mother, 
Monica,  who  he'mg  a  woman  of  great  virtue,  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  philosophy,  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  Manicheans.  At  the 
age  of  nineteen,  he  returned  to  Thagaste,  and  taught 
grammar,  and  also  frequented  the  bar  :  he  afterwards 
taught  rhetoric  at  Carthage,  with  applause.  The 
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  ;  but 
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  Manicheans  :  this  was 
in  the  thirty-second  year  of  his  age.  In  the  vacation 
of  the  year  38G,  he  retired  to  the  house  of  a  friend  of 
his,  named  Verecundus,  where  he  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,  his  mother 
came  to  see  him  at  Milan,  and  invite  him  back  to 
Carthage ;  but  at  Ostia,  Avhither  he  went  to  embark, 
in  order  to  his  return,  she  died.  He  arrived  in 
Africa  about  the  end  of  the  year  388,  and  having 
obtained  a  garden-plot  without  the  walls  of  the  city 
of  Hippo,  he  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  will  ordained 
him  priest :  nevertheless,  he  continued  to  reside  in 
his  little  monastery,  with  his  brethren,  who,  re- 
nouncing all  property,  possessed  their  goods  in 
common.  Valerius,  wlio  had  appointed  St.  Augustine 
to  preach  in  his  place,  allowed  him  to  do  it  in  his 
presence,  contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  churches  in 


Chap.  XXIIl. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


10^ 


Africa.  He  explained  the  creed,  in  a  general  council 
of  Africa,  held  in  393.  Two  years  after,  Valerius, 
fearing  he  might  be  preferred  to  be  bishop  of  another 
church,  appointed  him  his  coadjutor  or  colleague,  and 
caused  him  to  be  ordained  bishop  of  Hippo,  by 
Megalius,  bishop  of  Calame,  then  primate  of  Numidia. 
St.  Augustine  died  the  28th  day  of  August,  430, 
aged  seventy-six  years,  having  had  the  misfortune  to 
see  his  country  invaded  by  the  Vandals,  and  the  city 
where  he  was  bishop  besieged  for  seven  months. 

The  works  of  St.  Augustine  make  ten  tomes  ;  the 
best  edition  of  them  is  that  of  jMaurin,  printed  at 
Antwerp,  in  1700;  they  are  but  little  read  at  this 
time,  except  by  the  clergy  of  the  Greek  church  and 
in  the  Spanish  universities ;  our  booksellers  in 
London  receive  frequent  commisions  for  them,  and 
indeed  for  most  of  the  fathers,  from  Russia,  and  also 
from  Spain. 

About  this  time  flourished  Ambrosius  Aueelius 
Theodosius  IMacrobius,  an  author  whose  name  ap- 
pears in  almost  every  catalogue  of  musical  writers 
extant ;  but  whose  works  scarcely  entitle  him  to  a 
place  among  them.  He  lived  in  the  time  of  Theo- 
dosius  the  younger,  who  was  proclaimed  emperor  of 
the  East,  anno  402.  He  was  a  man  of  singular 
dignity,  and  held  the  office  of  chamberlain  to  the 
emperor.  Fabricius  makes  it  a  question  whether 
he  was  Christian  or  a  Pagan.  His  works  are  a  com- 
mentary on  the  Somnium  Scipionis  of  Cicero,  in  two 
books,  and  Saturnalia  Convivia,  in  seven  books ;  in 
both  which  he  takes  occasion  to  treat  of  music,  and 
more  especially  the  harmony  of  the  spheres.  The 
chief  of  what  he  says  concerning  music  in  general  is 
contained  in  his  Commentary  on  the  Somnium 
Scipionis,  and  is  taken  from  Nicomachus,  and  others 
of  the  followers  of  Pythagoras.  ]\Iartini  mentions 
also  a  discourse  ou  mundane  music  of  his,  which  was 
translated  into  Italian  by  Ercole  Bottrigari,  with 
notes  ;  but  he  speaks  of  it  as  a  manuscript,  and  by 
the  list  of  the  works  of  Macrobius,  it  does  not  appear 
to  have  ever  been  printed. 

Of  such  writers  as  Macrobius,  and  a  few  other  of 
the  Latins  who  will  shortly  be  mentioned,  that  have 
written  not  professedly  on  music,  but  have  briefly  or 
transiently  taken  notice  of  it  in  the  course  of  a  work 
written  with  some  other  view  than  to  explain  it, 
little  is  to  be  said.  There  is  nevertheless  a  Greek 
writer  of  this  class,  who  lived  some  considei-able  time 
before  Macrobius,  and  indeed  was  prior  to  Porphyry, 
the  last  of  the  Greek  musical  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  voluminous  work  of  his  there  are  interspersed 
a  great  variety  of  curious  particulars  relating  to  it, 
not  to  be  found  elsewhere.  The  author  here  meant 
is  Athenajus  the  grammarian,  called,  by  way  of 
eminence,  the  Grecian  Varro ;  he  was  born  at 
Naucratis  in  Egypt,  and  flourished  in  the  third 
century ;  of  many  works  that  he  wrote,  one  only 
remains,  intitled  The  Deipnosophists,  that  is  to  say, 
the  Sophists  at  Table,  where  he  introduces  a  number 
of  learned  luen  of  all  professions,  who  converse  iipou 
various   subjects   at   the   table  of  a  Roman  citizen 


named  Larensius.  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  up  and  down  in  this  work,  which,, 
with  the  Latin  translation  of  it,  makes  a  large  folio 
volume. 

In  his  fourth  book,  pag.  174,  he  gives  the  names 
of  the  supposed  inventors  of  the  ancient  musical  in- 
struments, and,  among  others,  of  Ctesibus,  and  of 
tlie  hydraulic  organ  constructed  by  him ;  and  it  is 
supposed  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  3Ionaulon,  or  single  pipe,  of  the  Egyptian 
Osiris. 

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  Zacyn- 
thius,  called  the  tripod  lyre,  corresponding  in  every 
particular  with  the  description  of  it  hereinbefore 
given  from  Blanchinus  ;  to  which  may  be  added,  that 
Athenasus  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  Dalechamp,  with  the 
Greek  original  and  Latin  translation  in  opposite 
columns.  To  this  are  added  the  animadversions  of 
Isaac  Casaubon,  which  are  very  curious,  and  make 
another  volume.  In  these  it  is  said  that  the  Music- 
orum  ciayco-fjLfxara,  or  Tablatura,  i.  e.,  the  art  of 
writing  or  noting  down  of  music,  was  invented  by 
Stratonicus  of  Rhodes.  Is.  Casaub.  Animadvers.  in 
Athenaeum,  lib.  VIII.  cap.  xii. 

Martianus  Mineus  Felix  Capella  was  born,  as 
Cassiodorus  testifies,  at  Madaura,  a  town  in  Africa,, 
situated  between  the  countries  of  Getulia  and 
Numidia,  lived  at  Rome  under  Leo  the  Thracian, 
viz.,  aboi;t  the  year  of  Christ  457  ;  he  was  the  author 
of  a  woi'k  intitled,  De  Nuptiis  Philologise  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- 
sequently includes  a  discourse  on  music,  which  makes 
the  ninth  book  thereof,  and  is  introduced  in  the 
following  manner  :  the  author  supposes  the  marriage 
of  Philologia,  a  virgin,  to  Mercury,  and  that  Venus 
and  the  other  deities,  as  also  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 

*  Biblioth.  Lat.  Art.  Capella. 


110 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  III. 


preside.  She  is  made  to  exhibit  the  power  of  sounds 
by  such  melody  as  Jupiter  himself  commends,  which 
is  succeeded  by  a  request  of  Apollo  and  Minerva  to 
unfold  the  mysteries  of  harmony.  She  first  craves 
leave  to  relate  that  she  formerly  was  an  inhabitant 
of  the  earth,  and  that  through  the  inspirations  of 
Pythagoras,  Aristoxenus,  and  others,  she  had  taught 
men  the  use  of  the  lyre  and  the  pipe ;  and  by  the 
singing  of  birds,  the  wliistling  of  tlie  winds,  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  composed  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  orbs  regulated  by 
her  own  principles.  She  then  proceeds  to  explain 
the  precepts  of  harmony  in  a  short  discourse,  which, 
if  we  consider  the  substance  and  method  rather  than 
the  style  of  it,  must  be  allowed  to  be  a  very  elegant 
composition,  and  by  much  the  most  intelligible  of 
an}^  ancient  treatise  on  the  science  of  music  now 
extant. 

Capella  concludes  this  ninth  book  of  his  treatise 
De  Nuptiis  thus  :    '  When  Harmonia  had  run  over 

*  these  things  concerning  songs,  and  the  sweetness  of 

*  verse,  in  a  manner  both  august  and  persuasive,  to 
'  the  gods  and  heroes,  who  were  very  intent,  she  de- 
cently withdrew  ;  then  Jupiter  rose  up,  and  Cymesis 
modulating   in   divine    symphonies,    came   to   the 

''chamber  of  the  virgin,. to  the  great  delight  of  all.' 
The  above  discoiu'se  of  Martianus  Capella  is  mani- 
festly taken  from  Aristides  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  original ;  for  neither  is  it 
so  prolix  as  Quintilian'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  age,  the  learned  and  ingenious 

*  The  learned  bishop  of  Avranches  is  somewhat  less  severe  in  his 
censure.  He  gives  the  foUowinfr  character  of  Capella  and  his  work: — 
'  Martianus  Capella  has  piven  the  name  of  satire  to  his  work  because  it 

*  is  written  in  verse  and  prose,  and  the  profitable  and  entertaining  parts 
'are  agreeably  interwoven.  His  design  is  to  treat  of  the  arts,  which 
'have  the  appellation  of  liberal;  and  these  he  represents  by  certain 
'  allegorical  personages,  with  attributes  proper  to  each.     The  principal 

*  action  in  this  fable  is  the  marriage  of  Mercury  and  Philology,  a  feigned 
'  being,  intended  to  signify  the  love  of  literature.  The  artifice  of  this 
'allegory  is  not  very  subtle,  and  as  to  the  style  it  is  barbarism  itself ; 
'and  for  the  figures,  they  are  unpardonably' bold  and  extravagant; 
'besides  all  which  it  is  so  obscure  as  hardly  to  be  intelligible;  otherwise 
'it  is  learned,  and  full  of  notions  not  common.  Some  write  that  the 
'  author  was  an  African  ;  if  he  was  not,  his  harsh  and  forced  style  would 

*  induce  one  to  believe  he  was  of  that  country.  The  time  he  lived  in  is 
'  unknown  ;  it  only  appears  that  he  was  more  ancient  than  Justinian.' 
Huetius  de  I'Origine  des  Remains. 


author  of  Hermes,  or  a  Philosophical  Inquiry  con- 
cerning Universal  Grammar,  has  forborne  to  pass 
a  censure  of  barbarity  on  the  style  of  this  author  : 
his  sentiment  of  him  is,  that  he  was  rather  a  philo- 
logist than  a  philosopher ;  a  testimony  that  leaves 
him  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  Nuj^tiis  the  character  of  a  delightful 
fable ;  and  Gregorj^  of  Tours  delivers  his  opinion 
of  it  at  large  in  the  following  words:  'In  gram- 
'  maticis  docent  legere,  in  dialecticis  altercationum 
'  propositiones  advertere,  in  rhetoricis  persuadere,  in 
'  geometricis  terrarum  linearumque  mensuras  col- 
'  ligere,  in  astrologicis  cursus  siderum  contemplari, 
'  in  arithmeticis  numerorum  partes  colligere,  in  har- 
'  moniis  sonorum  modulationes  suavium  accentuum 
'  carminibus  concrepare.'  Hence  it  may  seem  that 
Mr.  IMalcolm  was  rather  too  hasty  in  condemning 
this  work ;  and  that  in  pronouncing  of  its  author  as 
he  has  done  in  his  Treatise  on  Music,  pag.  498,  that 
he  was  but  a  sorry  copier  from  Aristides,  he  has 
done  him  injustice.  Of  Capella's  work,  De  Nuptiis 
Philologife  et  Mercurii,  there  have  been  many  edi- 
tions ;  that  of  Meibomius  is  the  most  useful  to 
a  nmsician ;  but  there  is  a  very  good  one,  with 
corrections  and  notes,  by  Grotius,  in  octavo,  published 
in  1559,  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  manuscripts  of  the  respective  authors, 
and  given  them  to  the  world  in  print ;  As  to  Aris- 
toxenus, the  first  in  the  list  of  the  harmonical  writers, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  his  Elements  ever  appeared 
in  print,  till  near  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  inasmuch  as  Morley,  who  lived  in  the  reign 
of  our  queen  Elizabeth,  and  was  a  very  learned  and 
inquisitive  man  in  all  matters  relating  to  musical 
science,  professes  never  to  have  seen  the  Elements 
of  Aristoxenus ;  Euclid  indeed  had  been  published 
in  the  year  1498,  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,  ynih  the  assistance  of  our  countiy- 
nien  Selden,  and  Gerard  Langbaine,  Marcus  Mei- 
bomius, a  man  well  acquainted  with  the  science,  and 
well  skilled  in  Greek  literature,  published  it,  to- 
gether with  Aristoxenus  Nicomachus,  Alypias,  Gau- 
dentius,    Eacchius    Senior,    Aristides    Quintilianus, 


Chap.  XXIV.                                     AND  PRACnCE  OF  MUSIC.  Ill 

and  the  ninth  book  of  the  fable  de  Nuptiis  Philo-  a  design  of  giving  it  to  the  workl,  he  generously  sent 

logise  et  Mercurii  of  Martianus  Capella,  with  a  Latin  him  his  papers,  and  remitted  the  care  of  publishing 

translation    of   the  first  seven  of  the  above-named  them  to  him. 

writers,    a    general   preface   replete   vv^ith   excellent  Bacchius  Senior  was  first  published  in  the  original 

learning,  and  copious  notes  on  them  all.  Greek,  and  with  a  French  translation  by  Mersennus, 

Besides  the  general  preface,  Meibomius  has  given  in  a  commentary  on  certain  chapters  in  the  book  of 

a  particular  one  to  each  author  as  they  stand  in  his  Genesis,  written  by  him  to  explain  the  music  of  the 

edition,  which  prefaces,  as  they  contain  a  variety  of  ancient  Hebrews  and  Greeks,  intitled  '  Questiones  et 

particulars   relating   to   the   respective   authors  and  '  Explicatio  in  sex  priora  capita  Geneseos,   quibus 

their   works,    and   are   otherwise   curious,  are   well  '  etiam  Graecorum  et  Hebrajorum  Musica  instauratur.' 

worthy  of  attention.      The  Manual  of  Nicomachus  Of  this  translation  Meibomius,  in  his  general  preface, 

was   first   published   and   translated   into  Latin  by  speaks  in  very  severe  terms  ;  he  says  he  did  not  know 

Meibomius,  who  gives  the  author  a  very  great  cha-  that  any  such  was  extant,  till  he  was  informed  thereof 

racter,  and  with  great  ingenuity  fixes  the  time  when  by  his  friend  Ismael  Bullialdus  ;  he  says  that  he  then 

he  lived  ;    for  he  observes  that  Nicomachus  in  the  had  it  brought  to  him  from  Paris  by  the  courier,  and 

course   of   his  work  mentions  Thrasyllus,  who  he  that  if  he  had  seen  it  before  he  had  published  his 

says  he  thinks  to  be  the  same  with  one  of  that  name  notes  on  that  author,  they  would  have  been  made 

mentioned  frequently  by  Suetonius  in  Augustus  and  much  fuller  by  observations  on  his  errors.    However 

Tiberius,  and  by  the  old  commentator  on  Juvenal,  the  only  error  that  Meibomius  here  charges  Mer- 

Sat.  VI.  as  a  famous  mathematician  ;  and  from  hence  sennus  with,  is  that  of  having  confounded  the  Stantes 

he  infers  that  he  lived  after  the  time  of  Augustus.  with  the  Mobiles  in  his  representation  of  the  Systema 

To  the  Isagoge  of  Alypius  the  preface  is  but  very  maximum, 
short,  but  in  that  to  Gaudentius,  which  follows  it  next  Aristides  Quintilianus  is  taken  from  a  manuscript 
in  order  Meibomius  cites  a  passage  from  Cassiodorus,  which  Meibomius  frequently  mentions  as  belonging 
a  Latin  writer  on  music,  who  flourished  in  the  fifth  to  Joseph  Scaliger,  in  which  was  contained  Alypius, 
century,  and  will  presently  be  spoken  of,  from  whence  Nicomachus,  Aristoxenus,  Aristides,  and  Bacchius. 
he  thinks  the  age  when  Alypius  lived  may  in  some  This  manuscript  was  deposited  in  the  library  of  Ley- 
measure  be  learned.  He  observes  also  that  it  appears  den,  and  communicated  to  him  by  Daniel  Heinsius, 
from  the  same  passage  of  Cassiodorus  that  Gaudentius  together  with  two  manuscripts  of  Martianus  Capella. 
had  been  translated  into  Latin  by  a  Roman,  a  friend  With  the  assistance  of  the  several  manuscripts 
of  his,  named  Mutianus ;  *  the  whole  passage,  to  above-mentioned,  and  a  correspondence  with  the 
give  it  together  as  it  stands  in  Cassiodorus,  is  in  most  learned  men  of  his  time,  namely,  Selden,  Lang- 
these  words  :  '  Gratissima  ergo  nimis  utilisque  cog-  baine,  Salmasius,  Leo  Allatius,  and  many  others, 
'  nitio,  quae  et  sensum  nostrum  ad  superna  erigit,  et  Meibomius  completed  his  edition  of  the  ancient  mu- 
'  aures  modulatione  permulcet :  quam  apud  Graecos  sical  authors,  and  published  it  at  Amsterdam  in  the 
'  Alypius,  Euclydes,  Ptolemaeus,  et  caeteri  probabili  year  1G52,  with  a  dedication  to  Christina,  queen  of 

*  institutione,  docuerunt.     Apud  Latinos  autem  vir  Sweden. 

'  magnificus  Albinus  librum  de  hac  re,  compendio,  With  respect  to  the  other  Greek  writers,  namely, 

*  sub  brevitate  conscripsit,  quem  in  bibliotheca  Romse  Ptolemy,    Manuel    Bryennius,    and    Porphyry,    the 

*  non  habuisse  atque  studiose  legisse  retinemus.  Qui  former  of  these  was  published,  together  with  Por- 
'  si  forte  gentili  incursione  sublatus  est,  habetis  hie  phyry's  Commentary,  by  Antonius  Gogavinus,  at 
'  Gaudentium  Mutiani  Latinum  :  quem  si  solicita  Venice,  with  a  Latin  version  in  1562,  but,  as  it 
'  intensione  legitis,  hujus  scienti*  vobis  atria  patefacit.  should  seem  from  Dr.  Wallis's  censure  of  it,  in  a  very 
'  Fertur  etiam  latio  sermone  et  Apuleium  Madauren-  inaccurate  manner  :  Meibomius  somewhere  says  that 

*  sam  instituta  hujus  operis  eflicisse,  scripsit  etiam  et  he  had  intended  to  publish  both  Porphyry  and 
'  pater  Augustinus  de  Musica  sex  libros,  in  quibus  Manuel  Bryennius,  but  he  not  having  done  it.  Dr. 
'  humanam  vocem,  rhythmicos  sonos,  et  harmoniam  Wallis  imdertook  it,  and  has  given  it  to  the  world  in 
'  modulabilem  in  longis  syllabis  atque  brevibus  the  third  volume  of  his  works.  Most  of  the  manu- 
'  naturaliter  habere  monstravit.  Censorinus  quoque  scripts  that  were  made  use  of  for  the  above  pub- 
'  de  accentibus  voci  nostrse  ad  necessarise  subtiliter  lications,  had  been  carried  to  Constantinople  upon 
'  disputavit,  pertinere  dicens  ad  musicam  disciplinam  :  the  erection  of  the  eastern  empire,  to  preserve  them 
'  quem  vobis  inter  cseteros  transcriptum  reliqui.'  from  the  ravages  of  the  northern  invaders :  and  as 
Cassiod.  de  Musica.  that  city  continued  to  be  the  seat   of  learning  for 

Gaudentius  is  published  from  a  manuscript,  which  some  centuries,  they,  together  with  an  immense  col- 

the  editor  procured  of  his  friends  Selden  and  Lang-  lection  of  Greek  and  Latin  manuscripts,  containing 

baine,  who  collated  it  for  him,  with  two  others  which  the  works  of  the  most  valuable  of  the  Greek  and 

had  been  presented  to  the  Bodleian  library,  the  one  Roman   writers,  were   preserved   there  with  _  great 

by  Sir  Henry  Savil,  and  the  other  by  William,  Earl  care.     But  the  taking  and  sacking  of  Constantinople 

of  Pembroke,  formerly  chancellor  of  the  university  by  the  Turks,  in  the  year  1453,  was  followed  by  an 

of  Oxford.     It  seems  that  our  countryman  Chilmead  emigration    of    learning    and    learned    men,    who, 

had  undertaken  to  publish  an  edition  of  Gaudentius,  escaping  from  the  destruction  that  threatened  them, 

but  being  informed  that  Meibomius  had  entertained  settled  chiefly  in  Italy,  and  became  the  revivers  of 

*  Mutianus  also  translated  the  Homilies  of  St.  Chrysostom.     Fabr.  literature  in  the  western  parts  of  Europe. 
Eiblioth.  Uraec.  lib.  III.  cap.  x. 


112 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


These  men  upon  their  removal  from  Constantinople 
brought  with  them  into  Italy  an  immense  treasure  of 
learning,  consisting  of  ancient  manuscripts  in  all  the 
several  branches  thereof,  which  they  disseminated  by 
lectures  in  the  public  schools  :  many  of  these  manu- 
scripts have  at  different  periods  been  printed  and 
dispersed  throughout  Europe,  and  others  of  them 
remain  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  music,  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  Ivuowledge  were  made  apparent 
by  Gaffurius,  or  Franchinus,  as  he  is  otherwise 
called,  who,  before  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
published  those  several  works  of  his,  which  have 
justly  entitled  him  to  the  appellation  of  the  Father  of 
Music  among  the  moderns. 

Before  the  migration  of  learning  from  the  East,  all 
that  was  known  of  the  ancient  music  in  the  western 
parts  of  Europe  was  contained  in  the  writings  of 
Censorinus,  Macrobius,  Martianus  Capella,  Boetius, 
Cassiodorus,  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  harmonicians ;  or  else  in  the 
works  of  a  very  learned  and  excellent  man,  to  whom 
this  censure  cannot  be  extended,  namely,  Boetius,  of 
whom,  and  of  whose  inestimable  work  De  Musica  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  is  to  be  noted  that  in  this  in- 
terval, 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  book,  was  totally  changed  by  the  Romans, 
who  to  the  great  system,  which  consisted,  as  has  been 
shewn,  of  a  bisdiapason,  containing  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  after,  any  marks 
or  characters  had  been  invented  to  denote  the  length 
or  duration  of  musical  sounds  ;  nor,  notwithstanding 

*  The  manuscripts  relatins  to  music  -which  Kircher  procured  access  to 
for  the  purpose  of  compiling  his  Musurgia,  are  by  him  said  to  be  extant  in 
the  library  of  the  Roman  College  ;  and  he  speaks  of  one  huge  tome  in 
particular,  in  which  he  says  are  the  several  works  of  Aristides  Quin- 
tilianus,  Bryennius,  Plutarch,  Aristotle,  Callimachus,  Aristoxenus, 
Alvpius,  Ptolemy,  Euclid,  Nicomachus,  Boetius,  Martianus  Capella, 
Valla,  and  some  others.  In  the  account  of  the  late  discoveries  in  the 
ruins  of  Herculaneum,  given  by  the  Abbe  Winckelman,  mention  is 
made  of  an  ancient  Greek  treatise  on  music  found  there,  written  by 
one  Philodemus,  an  author  who  has  escaped  the  researches  of  the 
industrious  Fabricius.  Nevertheless,  a  philosopher  of  that  name  occurs 
among  the  Locrians,  in  Stanley's  list  of  tlie  Pythagorean  School.  Hist, 
of  Philosophy,  Pythagoras,  chap.  xxiv.  This  manuscript  the  anti- 
quaries employed  by  the  King  of  Naples,  though  it  is  burned  to  a  crust, 
have  begun  to  unroll ;  but  the  condition  of  it,  and  the  -nature  of  the 
process  made  use  of  for  developing  it,  render  it  almost  impossible  that 
the  world  can  ever  be  the  better  for  its  contents.  See  the  Letter  of  the 
Abbe  AVinckelman  to  Count  Bruhl  on  this  subject. 


all  tliat  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  Avhich  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  music. 

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 
characters  by  a  judicious  analogy  are  made  to  ex- 
press, according  to  their  different  situations  in  the 
stave,  all  the  diifcrences  of  the  acute  and  grave  from 
one  extremity  of  the  system  to  the  other. 

Anitius  Manlius  Torquatus  Severinus  Boetius,"}" 
Avas  the  most  considerable  of  all  the  Latin  writers  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  be  very  particularly  spoken 
of.  He  was  by  birth  a  Ptoman,  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  Augustulus,  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  47G, 
or  somewhat  after.  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- 
guage, he  was  sent  to  Athens.  Returning  young  to 
Rome,  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 

t  In  the  Chronology  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  pag.  14,  is  the  following 
passage: — 'In  the  year  1035  [before  Christ]  the  Idtei  Dactyli  [a  people 
'  supposed  to  have  come  from  Numidia,  vide  Heyl.  Cosm.  pag.  555.  edit. 
'  1703J  find  out  iron  in  mount  Ida  in  Crete,  and  work  it  into  armour  and 
'  iron  tools,  and  thereby  give  a  beginning  to  the  trades  of  smiths  and 
'  armourers  in  Europe ;  and  by  singing  and  dancing  in  their  armour, 
'  and  keeping  time  by  striking  upon  one  another's  armours  with  their 
'  swords,  they  bring  in  music  and  poetry,  and  at  the  same  time  they 
'  nurse  up  the  Cretan  Jupiter  in  a  cave  of  the  same  mountain,  dancing 
'  about  him  in  their  armour.' 

The  origin  of  metrical  numbers,  and  of  the  rhythmus,  as  it  is  called, 
is  by  some  referred  to  this  event ;  but  admitting  this  as  a  fact,  it  docs 
not  a.«certain  the  time  when  the  characters  declaring  the  length  or  dura- 
tion of  sounds  were  first  invented  ;  and  the  truth  is  that  these  are,  com- 
paratively speaking,  a  modern  improvement  in  music. 

*  The  name  of  this  eminent  person  is  sometimes  icritten  Boethius.  Hoff- 
man, in  his  lexicon,  determines  in  favour  of  Boeti/is,  and  it  is  to  be  noted, 
that  in  the  edition  of  the  works  nf  Boetius,  printed  at  Venice  in  1499,  the 
same  reading  is  uniformly  adhered  to. 


Chap.  XXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


113 


he  ever  employed  his  interest  in  the  king  for  the 
protection  and  encouragement  of  deserving  men,  so 
he  exerted  his  utmost  efforts   in    the    detection    of 
fraud,  the  repressing  of  violence,  and  the  defence  of 
the  state  against  invaders.     At  this  time  Theodoric 
the  Goth  had  attempted  to  ravage  the  Campania; 
and  it  was  owing  to  the  vigilance  and  resolution  of 
Boetius  that  that  country  was  preserved  from  de- 
struction.     At  length,   having  murdered   Odoacer, 
Theodoric  became  king  of  Italy,  where  he  governed 
thirty -three  years  with    prudence   and   moderation, 
during  which  time  Boetius  possessed  a  large  share  of 
his  esteem  and  confidence.     It  happened  about  this 
time  that  Justin,  the  emperor  of  the  East,  upon  his 
succeeding  to  Anastasius,  made  an  edict  condemning 
all  the  Arians,  except  the  Goths,  to  perpetual  banish- 
ment from  the  eastern  empire  :  in  this  edict  Hor- 
misda,  bishop  of  Rome,  and  also  the  senate  concurred; 
but  Theodoric,  who,  as  being  a  Goth,  was  an  Arian, 
was  extremely  troubled  at  it,  and  conceived  an  aver- 
sion against  the  senate  for  the  share  they  had  borne 
in  this  proscription.     Of  this  disposition  in  the  king, 
three  men  of  profligate  lives  and  desperate  fortunes, 
Gaudentius,   Opilio,   and    Basilius,  took  advantage ; 
for  having  entertained  a  secret  desire   of  revenge 
against  Boetius,  for  having  been  instrumental  in  the 
dismission  of  the  latter  from  a  lucrative  employment 
under  the  king,  they  accused  him  of  several  crimes, 
such  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  suggested  that,  to 
acquire  the  honoiirs  he  was  in  possession  of,  Boetius 
had  had  recourse  to  magical  arts. 

Boetius  was  at  this  time  at  a  great  distance  from 
Rome ;   however   Theodoric  transmitted   the   com- 
plaint to  the  senate,  enforcing  it  with  a  suggestion 
that  the  safety,  as  well  of  the  people  as  the  prince, 
was  rendered  very  precarious  by  this  supposed  design 
to  exterminate  the  Goths  :  the  senate  perhaps  fearing 
the  resentment  of  the  king,  and  having  nothing  to 
hope  from  the  success  of  an  enterprize,  which,  sup- 
posing 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  bad  consequence  frpm  the  exe- 
cution of  a  sentence  so  flagrantly  unjust,  mitigated 
it  to  banishment.     The  place  of  his  exile  was  Ti- 
cinum,  now  the  city  of  Pavia,  in  Italy :   being  in 
that  place  separated  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  situation,  sequestered  from  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  Philosophias.     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 
under  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, 
almost  as  constantly  as  the  scriptures  themselves. 
Our  Saxon  king  Alfred,  whose  reign,  though  happy 
upon  the  whole,  was  attended  with  great  vicissitudes 
of  fortune,  had  recourse  to  this  book  of  Boetius,  at 
a  time  when  his  distresses  compelled  him  to  seek 
retirement ;  and,  that  he  might  the  better  impress 
upon  his  mind  the  noble  sentiments  inculcated  in  it, 
he  made  a  complete  translation  of  it  into  the  Saxon 
language,  which,  within  these  few  years,  has  been 
given  to  the  world  in  its  proper  character  :  Chaucer 
made  a  translation  of  it  into  English,  which  is 
printed  among  his  works,  and  is  alluded  to  in  these 
verses  of  his  : — 

Adam  Scrivener,  yf  ever  it  the  befalle 

Boece  or  Troiles  for  to  write  nevv', 

Under  thy  longe  lockes  thou  muft  have  the  fcalle : 

But  after  my  makynge  thou  write  more  true  j 

So  ofte  a  daye  I  mote  thy  werke  renewe, 

It  to  corrcfte,  and  eke  to  rubbe  and  fcrape, 

And  al  is  thorow  thy  negligence  and  rape. 

And  Camden  relates,  that  queen  Elizabeth,  during 
the  time  of  her  confinement  by  her  sister  Mary,  to 
mitigate  her  grief,  read  and  afterwards  translated  it 
into  very  elegant  English. 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  Boetius  would  have 
ended  his  exile  by  a  natural  death,  had  it  not  been 
for  an  event  that  happened  about  two  years  after  the 
pronouncing   his    sentence ;    for,   in   the   year   524, 
Justin,  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  maintained 
that  heresy  should  be  deposed,  and  their  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, 
consisted  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  and 
patrician  orders,  who  were  instructed  to  solicit  with 
the  emperor  the  repeal  of  this  decree,  with  threats, 
in  case  of  a  refusal,  that  the  king  would  destroy 
Italy  with  fire  and  sword.     Upon  the  arrival  of  the 
ambassadors   at   Constantinople,   the   emperor   very 
artfully  contrived  to  receive  them  in  such  a  manner 
as  naturally  tended  to  detach  them  from  their  master, 
and  make  them  slight  the  business  they  were  sent  to 
negociate,  and  he  succeeded  accordingly  ;  for  as  soon 
as  they  approached  the  city,  the  emperor,  the  clergy, 
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  his 
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  so  many  instances  are  related, 
that   no   one   who  reads  them  can  lament  the  fate 
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  was  made  for  a  gentle  horse  for  him  to 


114 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


ride  on  ;  upon  which,  a  nobleman  of  that  city  sent 
him  one  that,  for  the  goodness  of  its  temper,  had 
been  reserved  for  the  use  of  liis  lady ;  the  bishop 
accepted  the  favour,  and,  after  travelling  as  far  as 
he  thought  fit,  returned  the  beast  to  the  owner  :  but 
behold  what  followed,  the  sagacious  animal,  conscious 
of  the  merit  of  having  once  borne  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter,  refused  ever  after  to  let  the  lady  mount 
him  ;  upon  which  the  husband  sent  him  again  to  the 
Pope,  with  a  request  that  he  would  accept  of  that 
which  was  no  longer  of  any  use  to  the  owner.  This 
event,  it  is  to  be  noted,  is  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  horse  a  quality  which  had  ren- 
dered the  primitive  possessor  of  it  to  the  last  degree 
odious. 

It  is  not  easy  to  see  how,  with  any  degree  of  pro- 
priety, or  consistent  with  justice,  the  misbehaviour 
of  the  ambassadors  could  be  imputed  to  Boetius,  who, 
all  this  while,  was  confined  to  the  place  of  his  exile, 
and  seemed  to  be  employing  his  time  in  a  way  much 
more  suited  to  his  circumstances  and  character  than 
in  the  abetting  the  misguided  and  malevolent  zeal  of 
either  of  two  enthusiastic  princes  ;  nevertheless,  we 
are  told,  that  Theodoric  no  sooner  heard  of  the  be- 
haviour of  John  and  his  colleagues,  than  he  began  to 
meditate  the  death  of  Boetius  :  he  however  suppressed 
his  resentment,  till  he  had  received  a  formal  complaint 
from  his  people  of  the  infidelity  of  those  trusted  by 
him.  Immediately  on  his  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  censure,  but  he  completed 
the  ruin  of  his  character  by  sentencing  Boetius  to 
death,  who,  together  with  Symmachus,  the  father  of 
his  wife,  was  beheaded  in  prison  on  the  tenth  of  the 
kalends  of  November,  525.  In  order  to  palliate  the 
cruelty  of  the  king,  it  has  been  insinuated,  that  the 
treachery  of  his  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  Boetius  and  the 
bishop,  before  the  banishment  of  the  former,  furnished 
a  ground  for  suspicion  that  he  was  at  least  not 
ignorant  of  it.  It  is  farther  said,  that,  as  if  he 
believed  the  conspiracy  to  be  real,  the  king  sent  to 
Boetius,  in  prison,  offers  of  pardon,  if  he  would  dis- 
close the  whole  treason  ;  but  the  protestations  which 
he  made  upon  that  occasion  of  his  innocence,  afford 
the  strongest  evidence  that  could  be  given  that  he 
was  not  privy  to  it. 

But  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  had  reigned  more  than  thirty-three  years  ; 
and  though  the  mildness  and  prudence  of  his  govern- 
ment, and  that  paternal  tenderness  with  which  he  had 
ruled  his  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  offered  him,  one  particularly  in  the  person  of 
his  sister,  who  had  received  some  indignities  from 
the  African  Vandals,  the  contempt  that  had  been 
shewn  him  in  this  late  embassy,  and,  above  all,  his 
utter  inability  to  resent  these  injuries  in  the  way  he 
most  desired,  these  misfortunes  concurring,  deprived 
him  of  that  equanimity  of  temper  which  had  been 
the  characteristic  of  his  reign  :  in  short,  he  grew  jea- 
lous, timid,  vindictive,  and  cruel ;  and  after  this, 
nothing  he  did  was  to  be  wondered  at.*  But  to 
return  to  Boetius. 

The  extensive  learning  and  eloquence  of  this  great 
man  are  conspicuous  in  his  works  ;  and  his  singular 
merits  have  been  celebrated  by  the  ablest  writers  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,  but  more 
eminently  distinguished  by  the  endowments  of  her 
mind,  and  her  inviolable  affection  for  so  excellent  a 
man.  She  had  a  genius  for  poetry,  and  wrote  with 
a  degree  of  judgment  and  correctness  not  common  to 
her  sex.  He  desired  much  to  have  issue  by  her ; 
but  she  dying  young,  he  embalmed  her  memory  in 
the  following  elegant  verses  : — 

Helpes  dicta  fui,  Siculte  regionis  alumna, 
Quam  procul  a  patria,  conjugis  egit  amor. 
Quo  sine,  mcesta  dies,  nox  anxia,  flebilis  hora 

Nee  solum  caro,  sed  spiritus  unus  erat. 
Lux  mea  non  clausa  est,  tali  remanente  marito, 
Majorique  anima;,  parte  superstes  ero. 
Porticibus  sacris  tarn  nunc  peregrina  quiesco, 

Judicis  eterni  testificata  thronum. 
Ne  qua  manus  bustum  violet,  nisi  forte  jugalis, 
Haec  iterum  cupiat  jungere  membra  suis. 
Ut  Thalami  cumuHq ;  comes,  nee  morte  revellar. 
Et  socios  vitse  nectat  uterque  cinis. 

His  other  wife,  Rusticiana,  was  the  daughter  of 
Quintus  Aurelius  Menius  Symmachus,  a  chief  of  the 
senate,  and  consul  in  the  year  485  :  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  said, 
that,  for  his  public  and  private  virtues,  he  was  one  of 
the  great  ornaments  of  that  degenerate  age  in  which 
it  was  his  misfortune  to  be  born. 

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  : — 

Moeonia  et  Latia  lingua  clarissimus,  et  qui 
Consul  eram,  hie  perii,  missus  in  exilium  ; 
Et  quia  mors  rapuit?  Probitas  me  vexit  ad  auras, 
Et  nunc  fama  viget  maxima  vivit  opus. 

Many  ages  after  his  death  the  emperor  Otho  the 
Third    enclosed    his    bones,   then   lying   neglected 

•  Procopius  relates  that  he  was  frighted  to  death  ;  the  following  is  his 
account  of  that  strange  accident : — 

'  Symmachus  and  his  son-in-law,  Boetius,  just  men  and  great  relievers 
'  of  the  poor,  senators  and  consuls,  had  many  enemies,  by  whose  false 
'  accusations  Theodoric,  being  persuaded  that  they  plotted  against  him, 
'put  tliem  to  death,  and  confiscated  their  estates.  Not  long  after,  his 
'  waiters  set  before  him  at  supper  the  head  of  a  great  fish,  which  seemed 
'  to  him  to  be  the  head  of  Symmachus,  lately  murthered  ;  and  with  his 
'teeth  sticking  out,  and  fierce  glaring  eyes,  to  threaten  him.  Being 
'  frighted,  he  grew  chill,  went  to  bed  lamenting  what  he  had  done  to 
'  Symmachus  and  Boetius,  and  soon  after  died.'  De  Bello  Gothico,  lib.  I. 


Chap.  XXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


115 


amongst  the  rubbish,  in  a  marble  chest ;  upon  which 
occasion  Gerbert,  an  eminent  scholar  of  that  time, 
and  who  was  afterwards  advanced  to  the  papal  chair 
by  the  name  of  Sylvester  the  Second,  did  honour  to 
his  memory  in  the  followinf?  lines  : — 

Roma  potens,  dum  jura  suo  declarat  in  orbe, 
Pu  pater,  et  patriae  lumen,  Severine  Boeti, 
Consulis  officio,  rerum  disponis  habenas, 
Infundis  kimen  studiis,  et  cedere  nescis 
Graecorum  ingeniis,  sed  mens  divina  coercet 
Imperium  mundi.     Gladio  bacchante  Gothorum 
Libertas  Romana  perit :  tu  consul  et  exul, 
Insignes  titulos  prfeclara  morte  relinquis. 
Tunc  decus  Imperii,  summas  qui  pr^gravat  artes, 
Tertius  Otho  sua  dignum  te  judicat  aula  ; 
jEternumque  tui  statuit  monumenta  laboris, 
Et  bene  promeritum,  meritis  exornat  honestis. 

The  writings  of  Boetius,  the  titles  whereof  are 
given  below,*  seem  to  have  been  collected  with  great 
care  :  an  edition  of  them  was  printed  at  Venice,  in 
one  volume  in  folio,  1499.  In  1570,  Glareanus,  of 
Basil,  collated  that  with  several  manuscripts,  and 
published  it,  with  a  few  various  readings  in  the 
margin.  To  render  his  author  more  intelligible,  the 
editor  has  inserted  sundry  diagrams  of  his  own  ;  but 
has  been  careful  not  to  confound  them  with  the 
original  ones  of  Boetius. 

But  before  these,  or  indeed  the  doctrines  of  Boetius, 
can  be  rendered  intelligible,  it  is  necessary  first 
to  state  the  general  drift  and  tendency  of  the  author. 
in  his  treatise  De  Musica ;  and  next  to  explain  the 
several  terms  made  use  of  by  him  in  the  demonstra- 
tion of  the  proportions  of  the  consonances  and 
other  intervals,  as  also  the  proportions  themselves, 
distinguishing  between  the  several  species  of  arith- 
metical, geometrical,  and  harmonical  proportion. 

The  design  of  Boetius  in  the  above-mentioned 
treatise  was,  by  the  aid  of  arithmetic,  to  demonstrate 
those  ratios  which  those  of  the  Pythagorean  school 
had  asserted  subsisted  between  the  consonances. 
These  ratios  are  either  of  equality,  as  1  :  1,  2  :  2, 
8  :  8,  or  of  inequality,  as  4  :  2,  because  the  first  con- 
tains the  latter  once,  with  a  remainder  :  and  of  these 
ratios,  or  proportions  of  inequality,  there  are  five 
kinds,  as,  namely,  multiplex,  superparticular,  super- 
partient,  multiplex  superparticular,  and  miiltiplex 
superpartient ;  all  which  will  hereafter  be  explained. 

*  In  Porphyrium  4  Victorino  translatuni,  lib.  II.  In  Porphyrium  4 
se  Latinum  factum,  lib.  V.  In  Prsdicamenta  Aristotelis,  lib.  IV.  In 
librum  de  Interpretatione  Commentaria  minora,  lib.  II.  In  eundem  de 
Interpretatione  Commentaria  majora,  lib.  VI.  Analyticomm  pri- 
orum  Aristotelis,  Anitio  Manlio  Severino  Boethio  interprete,  lib.  II. 
Analyticomm  posteriorum  Aristotelis,  Anitio  Manlio  Severino  Boethio 
interprete,  lib.  II.  Introductio  ad  categoricos  Syllogismos,  lib.  I.  De 
Syllogismo  categorico,  lib.  II.  De  Syllogismo  hypothetico,  lib.  II.  De 
Divisione,  lib.  I.  De  Diffinitione,  lib.  I.  Topicorum  Aristotelis,  Anitio 
Manlio  Severino,  interprete,  lib.  VIII.  Elenchorum  Sophisticorum 
Aristotelis,  Anitio  Manlio  Severino  Boethio  interprete,  lib.  II.  In 
Topica  Cironis,  lib.  VI.  De  Differentiis  Topicis,  lib.  IV.  De  Consola- 
tione  PhilosophiEe,  luculentissimis  Johannis  Murmelli  (partim  etiam 
Rodolphi  Agricolce)  Commentariis  illustrati,  lib.  V.  De  Sancta  Trini- 
tate,  cum  Gilbert!  episopi  Pictaviensis,  cognemento  porretae  doctissimi 
olim  viri  commentariis,  jam  primum  ex  vetustissimo  scripto  codice  in 
lucem  editis,  lib.  IV.  Quorum  primus  continet  excellentem  &  piam 
doctrinam,  de  Trinitate  &  Unitate  Dei  :  quomodo  Trinita  sit  Unus 
Deus,  &  non  Tres  Dii,  lib.  I.  Secundus  tractat  Questionem  An  Pater, 
&  Filius,  &  Spiritus  Sanctus  substantialiter  praedicentur,  lib.  I.  Tertius 
cnmplectitur  Hebdomaden  :  An  omne  quod  sit,  bonum  sit,  lib.  I. 
Quartus  evidenter  &  pie  doeet,  in  Christo  duas  esse  Naturas,  &  unam 
Personam,  adversus  Eutychen  &  Nestorium,  lib.  I.  De  Unitate  &  Uno, 
lib.  I.  De  Disciplina  Scholarium,  lib.  I.  De  Arithtica,  lib.  II.  De 
Musica,  lib.  V.     De  Geometria,  lib.  II. 


These  terms  are  made  use  of  by  Euclid,  and  others 
of  the  Greek  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  modern  arithmeticians 
have  rejected  them,  and  substituted  in  their  places, 
as  a  much  shorter  and  more  intelligible  method  of 
designation,  the  immbers  that  constitute  the  several 
proportions,  it  is  necessary  to  the  understanding  of 
the  ancient  writers,  that  the  terms  used  by  them 
should  also  be  understood. 

Another  thing  necessary  to  be  known,  in  order 
to  the  understanding  not  only  of  Boetius  and  his 
followers,  but  all  who  have  written  on  those  abstruse 
parts  of  music  the  ancient  modes,  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 ;  a'l  explanation  whereof,  as  also  of  the 
several  kinds  of  proportion  of  inequality  can  hardly 
be  given  in  terms  more  accurate,  precise,  and  in- 
telligible, than  those  of  Dr.  Holder,  in  his  treatise 
on  the  Natural  Grounds  and  Principles  of  Harmony, 
chap.  V.  wherein,  after  premising  that  all  harmonic 
bodies  and  sounds  fall  under  numerical  calculations, 
he  speaks  thus  of  proportion  in  general : — 

'  We  may  compare  {i.  e.  amongst  themselves) 
'either  (1)  magnitudes  (so  they  be  of  the  same 
'  kind)  ;  or  (2)  the  gravitations,  velocities,  durations, 
'  sounds,  &c.  from  thence  arising ;  or,  farther,  the 
'  numbers  themselves,  by  which  the  things  compared 
'  are  explicated ;  and  if  these  shall  be  unequal,  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  times, 
'  one  of  them  doth  contain  the  other  :  and  this  by 
'  the  Greeks  is  called  \oyoQ,  ratio,  as  they  are  wont 

*  to  call  the  similitude  or  equality  of  ratios  avcCkoyia 
'  analogic,  proportion,  or  proportionality;  but  custom 

'  and  the  sense  assisting,  will  render  any  over-curious 
'  application  of  these  terms  minecessary. 

From  these  two  considerations  last  mentioned,  the 
same  author  says,  there  are  wont  to  be  deduced  three 
sorts  of  proportion,  arithmetical,  geometrical,  and 
a  mixed  proportion,  resulting  from  these  two,  called 
harmonical.     These  are  thus  explained  by  him  : — 

'  1.  Arithmetical,  when  three  or  more  numbers 
'  in  progression  have  the  same  difference  ;  as  2,  4, 
'  6,  8,  &c.  or  discontinued,  as  2,  4,  6  ;  14,  16,  18.' 

'  2.  Geometrical,  when  three  or  more  numbers 
'  have  the  same  ration,  as  2,  4,  8,  16,  32 ;  or  dis- 
'  continued,  as  2,  4 ;  64,  128.' 

'  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 


116 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


'  difference  of  6  and  4  (the  two  greater  numbers)  to 
'  1,  the  difference  of  4  and  3  (tlie  two  less  numbers) 

*  duple  also.  This  is  proportion  harmonical,  which 
'  diapason,  6  to  3,  bears  to  diapente,  6  to  4,  and 
'  diatessaron,  4  to  3,  as  its  mean  proportionals.' 

'  Now  for  the  kinds  of  rations  most  properly 
'  so  called ;  i.  e.  geometrical :  first  observe,  that  in 
'  all  rations,  the  former  term  or  number,  (whether 
'  greater  or  less)  is  always  called  the  antecedent ; 
'  and  the  other  following  number,  is  called  the  con- 

*  sequent.  If  therefore,  the  antecedent  be  the  greater 
'  term,  then  the  ration  is  either  multiplex,  super- 
'  particular,  superpartient,  or  (what  is  compounded  of 
'  these)  multiplex  superparticular,  or  multiplex  super- 
'  partient.' 

*  1.  Multiplex  ;   as  duple,  4  to  2 ;  triple,  6  to  2 ; 

*  quadruple,  8  to  2.' 

'  2.  Superparticular ;  as  3  to  2,  4  to  3,  5  to  4 ; 
'  exceeding  but  by  one  aliquot  part,  and  in  their 
'  radical,  or  least  numbers,  always  but  by  one  ;  and 
'  these  rations  are  termed  sesquialtera,  sesquitertia, 
'  (or  supertertia)  sesquiquarta,  or  (superquarta)  &c. 
'  Note,  that  numbers  exceeding  more  than  by  one, 
'  and  but  by  one  aliquot  part,  may  yet  be  super- 
'  particular,  if  they  be  not  expressed  in  their  radical, 
'  i.  e.  least  numbers,  as  12  to  8,  hath  the  same  ration 
'  as  3  to  2 ;  i.  e.  superparticular ;  though  it  seem  not 
'  so  till  it  be  reduced  by  the  greatest  common  divisor 
'  to  its  radical  numbers,  3  to  2.     And  the  common 

*  divisor,  (i.  e.  the  number  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  4,  which  is  the  common  divisor.  Divide 
'  12  by  4,  the  quotient  is  3 ;  divide  8  by  4,  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  5,  being  superpartient.  But  in  all  super- 
'  particular  rations,  whose  terms  are  thus  made  larger 
'  by  being  multiplied,  the  difference  between  the 
'  terms  is  always  the  greatest  common  divisor ;  as  in 

*  the  foregoing  examples.' 

'  The  third  kind  of  ration  is  superpartient,  exceed - 
'  ing  by  more  than  one,  as  5  to  3 ;  which  is  called 
'  superbipartiens  tertias,  (or  tria)  containing  3  and 
'  §  8  to  5,  supertripartiens  quintas,  5  and  |^.' 

'  The  fourth  is  multiplex  superparticular,  as  9  to 
'  4,  which  is  duple,  and  sesquiquarta ;  13  to  4,  which 
'  is  triple  and  sesquiquarta.' 

'  The  fifth  and  last  is  multiplex  superpartient,  as 
'  11  to  4;  duple,  and  supertripartiens  quartas.'* 

'  When  the  antecedent  is  less  than  the  consequent, 
'  viz.,  when  a  less  is  compared  to  a  greater ;  then  the 
'  same  terms  serve  to  express  the  rations,  only  pre- 
'  fixing  sub  to  them ;  as,  submultiplex,  subsuper- 
'  particular,  (or  subparticular)  subsuperpartient,  (or 

*  subpartient)  &c.  4  to  2  is  duple ;  2  to  4  is  subduple, 
'  4  to  3  is  sesquitertia ;  3  to  4  is  subsesquitertia,  5  to 

*  The  above  terms  were  used  by  the  ancient  geometers  and  arithme- 
ticians ;  and  therefore,  for  the  understanding  of  such,  and  of  Boetius  in 
particular,  it  is  very  necessary  that  their  meaning  should  be  ascertained : 
but  the  manner  now  is  to  express  the  proportions  by  the  numbers  them- 
selves, rather  than  by  the  terms ;  and  briefly  to  say,  as  31  is  to  7,  or  as 
7  is  to  31,  rather  than  to  say,  quadrupla  superbipartiens  septimas,  or 
subquadmpla  supertri  partiens   septimas.      Vide   Harris's  Lex.  Tech. 

vol.    I.    l-'ROPOKTION. 


*  3  is  superbipartiens  tertias  ;    3  to  5  is  subsuper- 

*  bipartiens  tertias,  &c.' 

The  same  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  terms, 
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  subtraction  of  simple  numbers  in 
arithmetic,  but  upon  algebraic  grounds,  yet  the 
praxis  is  most  easy.' 

'  One  ration  is  added  to  another  ration,  by  mul- 
tiplying the  two  antecedent  terms  together,  i.  e.  the 
antecedent  of  one  of  the  rations,  by  the  antecedent 
of  the  other.  (For  the  more  ease,  they  should  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.  (ia 
radical  numbers)  4  to  3,  to  the  ratio  of  12  to  10 
i.  e.  6  to  5 ;  the  product  will  be  24  and  4 —  — 3 
15,  i.e.Q  to  5;  you  may  set  them  thus, 
and  multiply  4  by  6,  they  make  24;  6 — 

which  set  at  the  bottom ;  then  multiply  

3  by  5,  they  make  15 ;  which  likewise  24  15 
set  under,  and  you  have  24  to  15  :  which  is  a  ration 
compounded  of  the  other  two,  and  equal  to  tlienL 
both.  Reduce  these  products,  24  and  15,  to  their 
least  radical  numbers,  which  is  by  dividing  as  far 
as  you  can  find  a  common  divisor  to  them  both 
(which  is  here  done  by  3),  and  that  brings  them  to 
the  ration  of  8  to  5.  By  this  you  see  that  a  third 
minor,  6  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  fourth, 
and  so  on ;  and  in  like  manner  the  consequents.' 

'  This  operation  depends  upon  the  fifth  proposition 
of  the  eighth  book  of  Euclid ;  where  he  shows 
that  the  ration  of  plain  numbers  is  compounded  of 
their  sides. 


See  these  diagrams  : — ' 


L_ 1. 


12 


6 


'  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 
'  numbers,  3  and  2,  being  the  less  sides  of  the  planes 
'  (for  consequents),  and  they  give  6.  So  the  sides  ot 
'  4  and  3,  and  of  3  and  2,  compounded  (by  multiplying 


Chap.  XXV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


117 


the  antecedent  terms  by  themselves  and  the  con- 
sequents by  themselves)  make  12  to  6 ;  i.  e.  2  to  1, 
which  being  applied,  amounts  to  this  ;  ratio  sesqui- 
altera  3  to  2,  added  to  ration  sesquitertia,  4  to  3, 
makes  duple  ration,  2  to  1.  Therefore,  diapente 
added  to  diatessaron,  makes  diapason.' 

'  Subtraction  of  one  ration  from  another  greater, 
is  performed  in  like  manner,  by  multiplying  the 
terms  ;  but  this  is  done  not  laterally,  as  in  addition, 
but  crosswise  ;   by  multiplying  the  antecedent  of 
the  former  (i.  e.  of  the  greater)  by  the  consequent 
of  the  latter,  which  produceth  a  new  antecedent ; 
and  the  consequent  of  the  former  by  the  antecedent 
of  the  latter,  which  gives  a  new  consequent ;  and 
therefore,   it  is  usually  done   by   an  oblique   de- 
cussation of  the   lines.      For  example,  if 
4     3     you  would  take  6  to  5  out  of  4  to  3,  you 
•^      may  set  them  down  thus  :   Then  4,  mul- 
■^      tiplied  by  5,  makes  20 ;  and  3,  by  6,  gives 
6     5     18 ;  so  20  to  18,  i.  e.  10  to  9,  is  the  re- 
20  18     mainder.     That  is,  subtract  a  third  minor 
10     9     out  of  a  fourth,  and  there  will  remain  a 

tone  minor. 
'  Multiplication  of  ratios  is  the  same  with  their 
addition  ;  only  it  is  not  wont  to  be  of  divers  rations, 
but  of  the  same,  being  taken  twice,  thrice,  or  oftener, 
as  you  please.  And  as  before,  in  addition,  yoii  added 
divers  rations,  by  multiplying  them ;  so  here,  in  mul- 
tiplication, you  add  the  same  ration  to  itself,  after 
the  same  manner,  viz.,  by  multiplying  the  terms  of 
the  same  ratio  by  themselves  ;  %.  e.  the  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  as  before)  the  aggre- 
gate will  be  the  triple  of  the  ration  first  given ;  or 
the  product  of  that  ration,  multiplied  by  3,  viz.,  the 
cube,  or  third  ordinal  power.  Its  biquadrate,  or 
fourth  power,  proceeds  from  multiplying  it  by  4 ; 
and  so  successively  in  order,  as  far  as  you  please 
you  may  advance  the  powers.  For  instance,  the 
duple  ration,  2  to  1,  being  added  to  itself,  dupled 
or  multiplied  by  2,  produceth  4  to  1,  (the  ration 
quadruple)  ;  and  if  to  this,  the  first  again  be  added, 
(which  is  eqiiivalent  to  multiplying  that  said  first 
by  3),  there  will  arise  the  ration  octuple,  or  8  to  1. 
Whence  the  ration,  2  to  1,  being  taken  for  a  root, 
its  duple  4  to  1,  will  be  the  square ;  its  triple,  8  to  1, 
the  cube  thereof,  &c.  as  hath  been  said  above.  And 
to  use  another  instance ;  to  duple  the  ration  of  3  to  2, 
it  must  be  thus  squared  :—  3  by  3  gives  9  ;  2  by  2 
gives  4,  so  the  duple  or  square  of  3  to  2  is  9  to  4. 
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  biquadrate,  {i.  e.  squared  square,) 
27  by  3  is  81,  8  by  2  is  sixteen ;  so  81  to  IG  is  the 
ration  of  3  to  2  quadrupled  ;  as  it  is  dupled  by  tlie 
square,  tripled  by  the  cube,  &c.  To  apply  this 
instance  to  our  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 
'  diapente,  or  three  fifths,  which  is  diapason,  with 
'  sixth  major,  viz.,  13  major ;  the  ration  of  81  to  16 
'  makes  four  fifths,  i.  e.  disdiapason,  with  two  tones 

*  major,  i.  e.  a  seventeenth  major,  and  a  comma  of  81 
'  to  80.' 

'  To  divide  any  ration,  the  contrary  way  must  be 

*  taken  ;  and  by  extracting  of  these  roots  respectively, 

*  division  by  their  indices  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,  &c. 
'  Thus,  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 
'  ration  just  half  so  much  as  9  to  4.' 

CHAR    XXV. 

The  nature  of  proportion  being  thus  explained, 
without  a  competent  knowledge  whereof  it  would  be 
in  vain  to  attempt  the  reading  of  Boetius,  it  remains 
to  give  such  an  account  of  his  treatise  De  Musica 
as  is  consistent  with  a  general  history  of  the  science, 
and  may  be  sufficient  to  invite  the  studious  inquirer 
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 
Boetius's  treatise  De  Musica,  with  an  abridgment  of 
such  of  them  as  seem  most  worthy  of  remark. 

Chap.  i.  Musicam  naturaliter  nobis  esse  conjunc- 
tam,  et  mores  vel  honestare  vel  evertere. 

Boetius  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  vsdth  sight,  but  whe- 
ther the  perception  be  effected  by  the  coming  of  the 
object  to  the  sight,  or  by  rays  sent  forth  to  it,  is  a 
doubt.  When  any  one,  continues  he,  beholds  a  tri- 
angle or  a  square,  he  readily  acknowledges  what  he 
discovers  by  his  eyes,  but  he  must  be  a  mathema- 
tician to  investigate  the  nature  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 with  morality,  inasmuch  as  it  disposes  the 
mind  to  good  or  evil  actions ;  to  this  purpose  he 
expresses  himself  in  these  terms :  '  The  power  or 
'  faculty  of  hearing  enables  us  not  only  to  form  a 
'judgment  of  sounds,  and  to  discover  their  differ- 
'  ences,  but  to  receive  delight,  if  they  are  sweet  and 
'  adapted  to  each  other ;  whence  it  comes  to  pass  that, 
'  as  there  are  four  mathematical  sciences,*  the  rest 

*  The  four  mathematical  arts  are  arithmetic,  geometry,  music,  and 
astronomy  ;  these  were  anciently  termed  the  quadrivium,  or  fourfold 
way  to  knowledge  ;  the  other  three,  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  logic,  com- 
pleting the  number  of  the  seven  liberal  sciences,  were  termed  the 
trivium  or  threefold  way  to  eloquence.  Vide  Du  Cange,  voce  Qua- 
drivium. 

This  scholastic  division  is  recognized  in  an  ancient  monumental 
inscription  in  Westminstef  Abbey,  in  memory  of  Gilbert  Crispin,  who 
died  abbot  of  Westminster  in  1117. 

Mitis  eras  Justus  prudens  fortis  moderatus 
Doctus  quadrivio  nee  minus  in  trivio. 

Widmore's  Hist,  of  Westminster  Abbey. 

And  these  are  the  arts  understood  in  the  academical  degrees  of  bachelor 
and  master  of  arts,  for  the  ancient  course  of  scholastic  institution  re- 
quired a  proficiency  in  each.  The  satire,  as  it  is  called,  of  Martianus 
Capella,  De  Nuptiis  Pbilologiae  et  Mercurii,  is  a  treatise  on  the  seven 


118 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


labour  at  the  investigation  of  truth ;  but  this,  besides 

'  that  it  requires  speculation,  is  connected  with  mo- 

'  rality ;    for  there  is  nothing  that  more  peculiarly 

distinguishes  human  nature,  than  that  disposition 

observable  in  mankind  to  be  one  way  affected  by 

sweet,  and  another  by  contrary  sounds;  and  tliis 

'affection  is  not  peculiar  to  particular  tempers  or 

*  certain  ages,  but  is  common  to  all ;    and  infants, 

*  young,  and  even  old  men,  are  by  a  natural  instinct 
'rendered  susceptible  of  pleasure  or  disgust  from 
'  consonant  or  discordant  sounds.  From  hence  we 
'may  discern  that  it  was  not  without  reason  that 
'  Plato  said,  that  the  soul  of  the  world  was  conjoined 

*  with  musical  proportion  :  and  such  is  the  effect^  of 
'  music  on  the  human  manners,  that  a  lascivious  mind 
'  is  delighted  with  lascivious  modes,  and  a  sober  mind 
'  is  more  disposed  to  sobriety  by  those  of  a  contrary 
'  kind :  and  hence  it  is  that  the  musical  modes,  for 
'  instance  the  Lydian  and  Phrygian,  take  their  names 
'  from  the  tempers  or  distinguishing  characteristics 
'  of  those  nations  that  respectively  delight  in  them : 
'  for  it  cannot  be  that  things,  in  their  nature  soft, 
'  should  agree  with  such  as  are  harsh,  or  contrary- 
'  wise ;    for   it   is   similitude  that   conciliates   love ; 
'  wherefore  Plato  held  that  the  greatest  caution  was 
'to  be  taken  not  to  suffer  any  change  in  a  well- 
'  moraled  music,  there  being  no  corruption  of  man- 
'  ners  in  a  republic  so  great  as  that  which  follows  a 
'  gradual  declination   from   a   prudent   and   modest 
'  music  ;  for,  whatever  corruptions  are  made  in  music, 
'  the  minds  of  the  hearers  will  immediately  suffer  the 
'  same,    it   being  certain   that  there  is   no   way   to 
'  the  affections  more  open  than  that  of  hearing  :  and 
'  these  effects  of  music  are  discernible  among  different 
'  nations,  for  the  more  fierce,  as  the  Getge,  are  de- 
'  lighted  with  the  harder  modes,  and  the  more  gentle 
'  and  civilized  with  such  as  are  moderate  ;  although 
'  in  these  days  few  of  the  latter  are  to  be  found.' 

Boetius  then  proceeds  to  relate  that  the  Lacedae- 
monians, sensible  of  the  great  advantages  resulting  to 
a   state    from  a  sober,  modest,  and  well-regulated 
music,  invited,  by  a  great  reward,  Taletas  the  Cretan 
to  settle  among  them,  and  instruct  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 
Timothev;s  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  :— EHEI  AE  TIMO- 
GEOS    O   MIAESIOS  nAPAriMENOS   EN    TAN 
AMETEPAN  HOAIN,  TAN  HAAAIAN  MOARHN 
ATIMASAS.    KAI  TAN  AIA  HAN  EHTA  XOPAAN 
KieAPIZEI,  AnOSTPE<&OMENOS  nOAYa>aNIAN 
EISAFflN,    AYMAINETAI     TAS     AKOAS     TiiN 
NEi2N    AIA   TE  TAS  HOAYXOPAAS,    KAI   TAS 
KAINOTATAS  TOYTON  MEAE02  ATENNE  KAI 
nOIKIAAN  ANTIAHAOAN,  KAI  TETATMENAN 
AM«I)IAYIAN    MOAnHN    EHI    XP^MATOS    SY- 
NEISTAMEN    TOYTOY    MEAEOS,    AIASTASIN. 

liberal  sciences  :  Cassiodorus,  who  lived  about  half  a  century  after  him, 
wrote  also  De  septem  Disciplinis  ;  and  others  of  the  learned  in  like  man- 
ner have  written  professedly  on  them  all.  Farther,  of  Jrannes  Basingus 
sive  Basingstockius,  who  flourished  in  1252,  it  is  on  the  authority 
of  Matthew  Paris,  who  knew  him,  related  that  he  was,  '  Vir  quidem  in 
trivis  et  quadrivis  experientissimus.'     Tauner's  Bibliotheca  431. 


ANTI  TAP  ENAPMONm  HOIAN  ANTISTPE<I)ON 
AMOIBAN.    HAPAKAAAGEIS  AE  EN  TON  ATO- 
NA  TAS  EAEY2INIAS  AAMATPOS  AIXOS  AIE- 
(MMISATO    TAN    Ti2    MYOli  KIANHSIN:    TAN 
TAP  SEMEAA  OAYNAN  OYK  ENAEKATOS  NEOS 
AIAAXIIN  EAIAASE.    EITA  HEPl  TOYTON  TON 
BASIAEAN  KAI  TOY  PHTOPOS  MEM^ATAI  TI- 
MOGEON,  ERANATIGETAI  AE  KAI  TAN  ENAEKA 
XOPAAN  EKTANiiN  TA2  HEPIASTAS  ERIAEI- 
nOMENOS  TAN  EHTAXOPAON  ASTOS.   TO  TAP 
nOAIOS  BAPOS  AHTON  TETAP  BHTAI  ES  TAN 
SnAPTAN  Eni<&EPEIN  :  TIGON  MH  KAAQN  NH- 
TilN  MHnOTE  TAPATTIITAI  KAEOS  ATOP^N.* 
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  repressed 
'  anger ;  and  who  is  ignorant  that  a  certain  drunken 
'  young  man  of  Taurominium  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  young 
'  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 
'  attemperated  the  disposition  of  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  case,  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  lustfuhiess  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  Methymne, 
'  the  next  city  in  Lesbos  to  Mitylene  for  grandeur, 
'  cured  the  Lesbians  and  lonians  of  most  grievous 
'  diseases  by  the  means  of  music ;    Hismenias,  the 
'  Theban,  by  his  music  is  reported  to  have  freed  from 
'  their   torments  divers   Beotians,   who   were  sorely 
'  afflicted  with  sciatic  pains,  f    Empedocles  also,  when 
'  a  certain  person  in  a  fury  would  have  attacked  his 
'  guest,  for  having  accused  and  procured  the  con- 
'  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  man.     And 
'  so  well  was  the  power  of  music  known  to  the  ancient 
'  philosophers,  that  the  Pythagoreans,  when  they  had 

*   Translation,  see  pay.  80,  note. 

+  There  are  many  relations  in  history  of  the  efficacy  of  music  in  the 
cure  of  bodily  diseases.  It  is  reported  that  Thales,  the  Cretan,  being  by 
the  advice  of  the  Oracle  called  to  Sparta,  cured  a  raging  pestilence  by 
the  power  of  music  alone.  The  assertion  of  Boetius  with  respect  to  the 
Sciatica  seems  to  be  founded  on  a  passage  in  Aulus  Gellius,  lib.  IV.  chap, 
xiii.  who  reports  that  persons  afflicted  with  that  disease  were  eased  of 
their  pains  by  certain  gentle  modulations  of  the  tibia;  and  that  by  the 
same  means  many  had  been  cured  who  had  been  bitten  by  serpents  and 
other  venemous  creatures. 


Chap.  XXV.                                       AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC.  119 

a  miiid  to  refresh  tliemselves   by  sleep  after  tlie  Cap.  iii.    De  vocibus  ac  de  musicae  elementis. — 

'  laboi;rs  and  cares  of  the  day,  made  use  of  certain  Cap.  iv.    De  speciebus  inequalitatis. — Cap.  v.    Quae 

'  songs  to  procure  them  an  easy  and  quiet  rest ;  and  inequalitatis  species  consonantiis  aptentur. — Cap.  vi. 

'  when  they  awaked  they  also  dispelled  the  dulness  Cur  multiplicitas,  et  superparticularitas  consonantiis 

'  and  confusion  occasioned  by  sleep  by  others,  know-  deputentur. — Cap.  vii.   Quae  proportiones  quibus  con- 

'  ing  full  well  that  the  mind  and  the  body  were  con-  sonantiis  musicis  aptentur. — Cap.  viii.  Quid  sit  sonus, 

'  joined  in  a  musical  fitness,  and  that  whatever  affects  quid  intervallum,  quid  concinentia. — Cap.  ix.    Non 

'  the  body,  will  also  produce  a  similar  effect  on  the  omne  judicium  dandum  esse  sensibus,  sed  amplius 

'  mind  ;  which  observation  it  is  reported  Democritus,  rationi  esse  credendum,  in  quo  de  sensuum  fallacia. 

'  whom  his  fellow-citizens  had  confined,  supposing  It  is  the  business  of  this  chapter  to  show,  that 

'  him  mad,  made  to  Hippocrates,  the  physician,  who  though  the  first  principles  of  harmony  are  taken  from 

'  had  been  sent  for  to  cure  him.     To  what  purpose  the  sense  of  hearing,  for  this  reason,  that  were  it 

'  then  are  all  these  things  ?     We  cannot  doubt  but  otherwise  there  could  be  no  dispute  about  sounds ; 

*  that  our  body  and  mind  are  in  manner  constituted  yet,  in  this  case,  the  sense  is  not  the  sole  arbiter. 
'  in  the  same  proportions  by  which  harmonical  modu-  Boetius  to  this  purpose  expresses  himself  very  ration- 
'  lations  are  joined  and  compacted,  as  the  following  ally  in  the  following  terms  : — '  Hearing  is  as  it  were 

*  argument  shall  shew  ;  for  hence  it  is  that  even  '  but  a  monitor,  but  the  last  perfection  and  power  of 
'  infants  are  delighted  with  a  sweet,  or  disgusted  with  'judging  about  it  depends  upon  reason.  What  need 
'  a  harsh  song  :  every  age  and  either  sex  are  affected  '  is  there  for  many  words  to  point  out  the  error  which 
'  by  music,  and  though  they  are  different  in  their  '  the  senses  are  liable  to,  since  we  know  that  neither 
'  actions,  yet  do  they  agree  in  their  love  of  music.  '  is  the  same  power  of  perception  given  to  every  one 
'  Nay,  such  as  are  under  the  influence  of  sorrow,  even  '  alike,  nor  is  it  always  equal  in  the  same  man  ;  on  the 
'  modulate  their  complaints,  which  is  chiefly  the  case  '  other  hand,  it  is  vain  to  commit  the  examination  of 
'  with  women,  who,  by  the  sweetness  of  their  songs,  '  truth  to  an  uncertain  judgment.    The  Pythagoreans 

*  find  means  to  alleviate  their  sorrows  ;  *  and  it  was  '  for  this  reason  took  as  it  were  a  middle  way  ;  for 
'  for  this  reason  that  the  ancients  had  a  custom  for  the  '  though  they  did  not  make  the  hearing  the  sole 
'  tibia  to  precede  in  their  funeral  processions.  Pa-  *  arbiter,  yet  did  they  search  after  and  try  some 
'  pinius  Statins  testifies  as  much  in  the  following  '  things  by  the  ears  only  :  they  measured  the  con- 
'  verse  : —  '  sonants  themselves  by  the  ears,  but  the  distances  by 

'  Cornu  grave  mugit  adunco,  '  which  these  consonants  differed  from  each  other  they 

'  Tibia  cui  tenevos  suetum  producere  manes.  «  did  not  trust  to  the  ears,  the  judgment  whereof  is 

'  And  though  a  man  cannot  sing  sweetly,  yet  while  *  inaccurate,  but  committed  them  to  the  examination 

'  he  sings  to  himself  he  draws  forth  an  innate  sweet-  '  of  reason,  thereby  making  the  sense  subservient  to 

*  ness  from  his  heart.  Is  it  not  manifest  that  the  '  reason,  which  acted  as  a  judge  and  a  master.  For 
'  sound  of  the  trumpet  fires  the  minds  of  the  com-  '  though  the  momenta  of  all  arts,  and  of  life  itself, 
'  batants,  and  impels  them  to  battle  ;  why  then  is  it  '  depend  upon  our  senses,  yet  no  sure  judgment  can 
'  not  probable  that  a  person  may  be  incited  to  fury  '  be  formed  concerning  them,  no  comprehension  of 
'  and  anger  from  a  peaceful  state  of  mind  ?  There  is  '  the  truth  can  exist,  if  the  decision  of  reason  be 
'  no  doubt  but  that  a  mode  may  restrain  anger  or  *  wanting ;  for  the  senses  themselves  are  equally  de- 
'  other  inordinate  desires  ;  for  what  is  the  reason  that  '  ceived  in  things  that  are  very  great  or  very  little  : 
'  when  a  person  receives  into  his  ears  any  song  with  '  and  with  respect  of  that  of  hearing,  it  with  great 
'  pleasure,  that  he  should  not  also  be  spontaneously  '  difficulty  perceives  those  intervals  which  are  very 
'  converted  to  it,  or  that  the  body  should  not  form  or  '  small,  and  is  deafened  by  those  which  are  very  great.' 
'  fashion  some  motion  similar  to  what  he  hears  :  from  Cap.  x.  Quemadmodum  Pythagoras  proportiones 
'  all  these  things  it  is  clear  beyond  doubt  that  music  consonantiarum  investigaverit.  —  Cap.  xi.  Quibus 
'is  naturally  joined  to  us,  and  that  if,  we  would  we  modis  varie  a  Pythagora  proportiones  consonantiarum 
'  cannot  deprive  ourselves  of  it ;  wherefore  the  power  perpensae  sint. 

'  of  the  mind  is  to  be  exerted,  that  what  is  implanted  The  account  delivered  in  the  two  preceding  chap- 

'  in  us  by  nature  shoidd  also  be  comprehended  by  ters,  and  which  is  mentioned  in  almost  every  treatise 

'science.     For   as   in   sight  it  is  not  sufficient  for  on  the  subject  of  music  extant,  is  evidently  taken  from 

'  learned  men  barely  to  behold  colours  and  forms,  Nicomachus,   whose   relation   of  this   supposed  dis- 

'  unless  they  also  investigate  their  properties  ;  so  also  covery  of  Pythagoras  is  hereinbefore  given  at  length. 

'  is  it  not  sufficient  to  be  delighted  with  musical  songs.  Cap.  xii.    Dedivisione  vocum,  earumque  explana- 

'  unless  we  also  learn  by  what  proportion  of  voices  or  tione. — Cap.  xiii.    Quod  infinitatem  vocuni  humana 

'  sounds  they  are  joined  together.'  natura  finierit. — Cap.  xiv.  Quis  sit  modus  audiendi. — 

Cap.  ii.  Tres  esse  musicas,  in  quibus  de  vi  musicae  Cap.  xv,    De  ordine  theorematum,  id  est  speculati- 

narratur.  onum. — Cap.  xvi.    De  consonantiis  proportionum,  et 

The  three  kinds  of  music  here  meant  are,  mundane,  tono   et   semitonio. — Cap.   xvii.     In    quibis    primia 

humane,  and  instrumental ;    and   of  each   of  these  numeris  semitonium  constet. — Cap.  xviii.  Diatessaron 


mention  has  been  made  in  a  preceding  page.  a  diapente  tono  distare. — Cap.  xix.  Diapason  quinque 

*   Modem  history  furnishes  a  curious  fact  to  prove  the  truth  of  this 


tonis,  et  duobus  semitoniis  jungi. — Cap.  xx.  De  ad 
dition 
Th. 
of  Rodez.  ,  given 


observation  ;  for  it  is  related  of  the  princess  of  Navarre,  mother  of  Henry        dltlOUC  Chordarum,  CarumqUC  nommiDUS. 

IV.  of  France,  that  at  the  instant  when  she  was  delivered  of  him  she  sung  mi        KiihstauPP    of   this    cbflntpr    bfls    nlrpnfl-ir    liPPn 

a  song  in  the  Bearnois  language.     Life  of  Henry  le  Grand  by  the  Bishop  J-HC    SUUSldUCe    01    lUlS    Cliapicr    uas    aireauy    Deen 


120 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  III. 


Cap.  xxi.  De  generibus  cantilenarum. — Cap.  xxii. 
De  ordine  chordarum  nominibusque  in  tribus  gene- 
ribus.— Cap.  xxiii.  Quae  sint  inter  voces  in  singulis 
generibus  proportiones. 

These  three  chapters  give  a  brief  and  but  a  very 
superficial  account  of  the  genera. 

Cap.  xxiv.  Quid  sit  synaphe. — Cap.  xxv.  Quid 
sit  diezeuxis. 

In  these  two  chapters  the  difference  between  the 
conjunct  and  disjunct  tetrachords  is  explained. 

Cap  xxvi.  Quibus  nominibus  nervos  appellaverit 
Albinus. 

Albinus  is  said  by  Cassiodorus  to  have  been  a 
great  man,  and  to  have  written  a  brief  discourse  on 
music,  which  he  himself  had  seen  and  attentively 
perused  in  one  of  the  public  libraries  at  Rome  ;  and 
Cassiodorus  seems  to  prophecy  that  some  time  or 
other  it  would  be  taken  away  in  an  incursion  of  the 
Barbarians  :  it  has  accordingly  sustained  that  fate ; 
for  Meibomius,  in  his  preface  to  Gaudentius,  speaks 
of  that  manuscript  as  irrecoverably  lost. 

Cap.  xxvii.  Qui  nervi  quibus  syderibus  com- 
parentur. 

The  substance  of  this  chapter  is  for  the  most  part 
an  extract  from  Cicero  de  Repub.  lib.  VI.  and  is 
a  declaration  of  the  supposed  analogy  between  the 
planets  and  the  sounds  in  the  septenary. 

Cap.  xxviii.  Quag  sit  natura  consonantiarum. 
— Cap.  xxix.  Ubi  consonantiae  reperiuntur. — Cap. 
XXX.  Quemadmodum  Plato  dicat  fieri  consonantias. 
— Cap.  xxxi.  Quid  contra  Platonem  Nicomachus 
sentiat. — Cap.  xxxii.  Quae  consonantia  quam  merito 
prsecedat. — Cap.  xxxiii.  Quo  sint  modo  accipienda 
quag  dicta  sunt. — Cap.  xxxiv.     Quid  sit  musicus. 

In  this,  which  is  a  very  curious  chapter,  the  author 
observes  that  the  theoretic  branch  of  every  science 
is  more  honourable  than  the  practical,  for  'that  prac- 
'  tice  attends  like  a  servant,  but  reason  commands 
'  like  a  mistress ;  and  unless  the  head  executes  what 
'  reason  dictates,  its  labour  is  vain.'     He  adds,  '  the 

*  speculations  of  reason  borrow  no  aid  of  the  exe- 
'  cutive  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  from  this  ;  corporeal 
'  artists  in  music  receive  their  appellations,  not  from 

*  the  science  itself,  but  rather  from  the  instruments, 
'  as  the  citharist  from  the  cithara  ;  the  tibicen,  or 
'  player  on  the  pipe,  from  the  tibia ;  but  he  only  is 

*  the  tnie  musician,  who,  weighing   every  thing  in 

*  the  balance  of  reason,  professes  the  science  of  music, 
'  not  in  the  slavery  of  execution,  but  in  the  authority 
'  of  speculation.  In  like  manner  he  says  those  who 
'  are  employed  in  the  erection  of  public  structures, 
'  or  in  the  operations  of  war,  receive  no  praise  except 
'  what  is  due  to  industry  and   obedience ;   but   to 

*  those  by  whose  skill  and  conduct  buildings  are 
'  erected,  or  victory  achieved,  the  honours  of  inscrip- 
'  tions  and  triumphs  are  decreed.'  He  then  proceeds 
to  declare  that  three  faculties  are  employed  in  the 
musical  art ;  one  which  is  exercised  in  the  playing 
on  instruments,  another  that  of  the  poet,  which 
directs  the  composition  of  verses,  and  a  third  which 


judges  of  the  former  two ;  and  touching  these,  and 
that  which  he  makes  the  principal  question  in  this 
chapter,  he  delivers  his  opinion  thus  :  '  As  to  the 
'  first,  the  performance  of  instruinents,  it  is  evident 
'  that  the  artists  obey  as  servants,  and  as  to  poets, 
'  they  are  not  led  to  verse  so  much  by  reason  as  by 
'  a  certain  instinct  which  we  call  genius.  But  that 
'  which  assumes  to  itself  the  power  of  judging  of 
'  these  two,  that  can  examine  into  rhythmus,  songs, 
'  and  their  verse,  as  it  is  the  exercise  of  reason  and 
'judgment,  is  most  properly  to  be  accounted  music; 
'  and  he  only  is  a  musician  who  has  the  faculty  of 
'judging  according  to  speculation  and  the  approved 
'  ratios  of  soimds,  of  the  modes,  genera,  and  rhythmi 
'  of  songs,  and  their  various  commixtures,  and  of  the 
'  verses  of  the  poets.' 

Lib.  II.  cap.  i.  Proemium. — Cap.  ii.  Quid  Pytha- 
goras esse  philosophiam  constituerit. — Cap.  iii.  De 
differentiis  quantitatis,  et  q\iai  cuique  disciplinae  sit 
deputata. — Cap.  iv.  De  Relatfe  quantitatis  diifer- 
entiis. — Cap.  v.  Cur  multiplicitas  antecellat. — Cap. 
vi.  Qui  sint  quadrati  numeri  deque  his  speculatio. 
— Cap.  vii.  Omnem  inequalitatem  ex  equalitate  pro- 
cedere,  ejusque  demonstratio. — Cap.  viii.  Regula 
quotlibet  continuas  proportiones  superparticulares 
inveniendi. — Cap.  ix.  De  proportione  numerorum 
qui  ab  alias  metiunter. — Cap.  x.  Quae  ex  multi- 
plicibus  et  superparticularibias  multiplicitates  slant. 
— Cap.  xi.  Qui  superparticulares  quos  multiplices 
officiant. 

The  nine  foregoing  chapters  contain  demonstrations 
of  the  five  several  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  study  of  Boetius,  and 
to  render  this  very  abstruse  part  of  his  work  in- 
telligible. 

Cap.  xii.  De  arithmetica,  geometrica,  harmonica, 
medietate. 

The  three  several  kinds  of  proportionality,  that 
is  to  say,  arithmetical,  geometrical,  and  harmonical, 
are  also  explained  in  the  extract  from  Dr.  Holder's 
book  above  referred  to. 

Cap.  xiii.  De  continuis  medietatibus  et  disjunctis. 
— Cap.  xiv.  Cur  ita  appellatae  sint  digestae  superius 
medietates. — Cap.  xv.  Quemadmodum  ab  ajqualitate 
supradictae  processerant  medietates. — Cap.  xvi.  Que- 
madmodum inter  duos  terminos  supradictae  medie- 
tates vicissim  coUocentur.  —  Cap.  xvii.  De  conso- 
nantiarum modo  secimdum  Nicomachum. — Cap.  xviii. 
De  ordine  consonantiarum  sententia  Eubulidis  et 
Hippasi. 

Two  ancient  musicians,  of  whose  writings  we  have 
nothing  now  remaining. 

Cap.  xix.  Sententia  Nicomachi  quae  quibus  con- 
sonantiis  apponantur. — Cap.  xx.  Quid  oporteat  prai- 
mitti,  ut  diapason  in  multiplici  genere  demonstretui 
— Cap.  xxi.  Demonstratio  per  impossibile,  diapason 
in  multiplici  genere  esse. — Cap.  xxii.  Demonstratio 
per  impossibile,  diapente,  diatessaron,  et  tonum  in 
superparticulari  esse. — Cap.  xxiii.  Demonstratio 
diapente  et  diatessaron  in  maximis  superparticularibus 


Chap.  XXV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


121 


collocari.^ — Cap.  xxiv.  Diapente  in  sesquialtera,  dia- 
tessaron,  in  sesquitertia  esse,  tonum  in  sesquioctava. 
— Cap.  XXV.  Diapason  ac  diapente  in  tripla  pro- 
portione  esse  ;  bisdiapason  in  qiuadrupla. — Cap.  xxvi. 
Diatessaron  ac  diapason  non  esse  consonantiam,  se- 
cundum Pythagoricos. 

The  two  last  of  the  foregoing  chapters  have  an 
immediate  connection  with  each  other ;  in  the  first  it 
is  demonstrated  that  the  diapason  and  diapente  con- 
joined, making  together  the  consonant  interval  of  a 
twelfth,  are  in  triple  proportion ;  and  that  the  dis- 
diapason  is  in  quadruple  proportion,  the  ratios 
whereof  are  severally  3  to  1  and  4  to  1 ;  but  with 
respect  to  the  diapason  and  diatessaron  conjoined,  the 
ratio  whereof  is  8  to  3,  the  interval  arising  from  such 
conjunction  is  clearly  demonstrated  by  Boetius  to  be 
dissonant :  from  hence  arises  an  evident  discrimi- 
nation between  the  diatessaron  and  the  other  perfect 
consonances ;  for  whereas  not  only  they  but  their 
replicates  are  consonant,  this  of  the  diatessaron  is 
simply  a  consonance  itself,  its  replicates  being  disso- 
nant. It  is  true  that  the  modern  musicians  do  not 
reckon  the  diatessaron  in  the  number  of  the  con- 
sonances ;  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 
upon  as  a  consonance,  and  that  with  so  good  reason, 
that  Lord  Verulam*  professes  to  entertain  the  same 
opinion;  and  yet  after  all,  the  imperfection  which 
Boetius  has  pointed  out  in  this  chapter,  seems  to 
suggest  a  very  good  reason  for  distinguishing  be- 
tween the  diatessaron  and  those  other  intervals, 
which,  whether  taken  singly,  or  in  conjunction  with 
the  diapason,  are  consonant. 

Cap.  xxvii,  De  semitonio  in  quibus  minimis  nu- 
meris  constet. 

The  arguments  in  this  chapter  are  of  such  a  kind, 
that  it  behoves  every  musician  to  be  master  of  them. 
The  ratios  of  the  limma  and  apotome  have  already 
been  demonstrated  in  those  larger   numbers  which 
Ptolemy  had  made  choice  of  for  the  purpose.     In 
this  chapter  Boetius  gives  the  ratio  of  the  limma  in 
the  smallest  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  sesquioctave 
tones,  completes  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  Boetius  himself,  which  are  as  follow : — 
'  The  semitones  seem  to  be  so  called  not  that  they 
*  are  exactly  the  halves  of  tones,  but  because  they  are 
'  not  whole  tones.     The  interval  which  we  now  call 
'  a  semitone  was  by  the  ancients  called  a  limma,  or 
diesis ;    and  it  is  thus  found  :  if  from  the  sesqui- 
tertia proportion,  which  is  the  diatessaron,  two  ses- 
quioctave  ratios  be  taken  away,  there  will  be  left 
'  an  interval,  called  a  semitone.     To  prove  this,  let 
'  us  find  out  two  consecutive   tones ;    but   because 
these,  as  has  been  said,  are  constituted  in  sesqui- 
octave proportion,  we  cannot  find  two  such,  until 
that  multiple  from  whence  they  are  derived  bo  first 


■  found  :   let  therefore  unity  be  first  set  down,  and 

■  then  8,  which  is  its  octuple  :  from  this  we  derive 
'  one  multiple ;  but  because  we  want  to  find  two, 
'  multiply  8  by  8,  to  produce  64,  which  will  be  a 

second  multiple,  from  which  we  may  bring  out  two 
sesquioctave  ratios ;  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 
consecutive  tones,  in  their  lowest  terms.  Thus,  set 
down  64,  72,  81  :— 


64 


72 


81 


Tone.       Tone. 

Sesquioctave.  Sesquioctave. 

We  are  now  therefore  to  seek  a  sesquitertia  to  64 ; 
but  it  is  found  not  to  have  a  third  part :  wherefore, 
all  these  numbers  must  be  multiplied  by  3,  and  all 
remain  in  the  same  proportion  as  they  were  in 
before  this  multiplication  by  3,  Then  three  times 
64  makes  192,  to  which  if  we  add  its  third  part,  64, 
the  sum  will  be  256 ;  which  gives  the  sesquitertia 
ratio,  containing  the  diatessaron.  Then  set  down 
the  two  sesquioctaves  to  192,  in  their  proper  order, 
that  is,  three  times  72,  which  is  216,  and  three  times 
81,  which  is  that  243  :  these  two  being  set  between 
the  terms  of  the  sesquitertia,  the  whole  will  stand 
thus : — 


Tone 

Tone       Semit. 

192 

216     1     243         256 

1                              1 

Diatessaron. 

v 

-^ 

*  Nat.  Hist.  Cent.  II.  Numb.  107. 


'  In  this  disposition  of  the  numbers,  the  first  con- 
'  stitutes  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  256,  is  a  semitone  in  its  least  terms.' 

Cap.  xxviii.  Demonstrationes  non  esse,  243,  ad 
256,  toni  medietatem. 

That  the  limma  in  the  ratio  256  to  243  is  less  than 
a  true  semitone,  has  been  already  demonstrated  in  the 
course  of  this  work. 

Cap.  xxix.  De  majore  parte  toni  in  quibus 
minimis  numeris  constet. 

The  apotome  has  no  place  in  the  system,  nor  can 
it  in  any  way  be  considered  as  a  musical  interval ; 
in  short,  it  is  nothing  more  than  that  portion  of  a  ses- 
quioctave tone  that  remains  after  the  limma  has  been 
taken  therefrom.  For  this  reason,  its  ratio  is  a  matter 
of  mere  curiosity  ;  and  it  seems  from  this  chapter  of 
Boetius,  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.  XXX.  Quibus  proportionibus  diapente,  dia- 
pason, constent,  et  quoniam  diapason  sex  tonis  non 
constet. 

The  demonstrations  contained  in  this  chapter  are 
levelled  against  the  Aristoxeneans,  and  declare  so 
fully  the  sentiments  of  the  Pythagoreans,  with  respect 


122 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III, 


to  the  measure  of  the  consonant  intervals,  that  they 
are  worthy  of  particular  attention,  and  cannot  be 
better  sciven  than  in  the  words  of  Boetius  himself. 

'  The  diapente  consists  of  three  tones  and  a  semi- 
'  tone,  that  is,  of  a  diatessaron  and  a  tone  :  for  let  the 


'  these  intervals  are  properly  disposed  in  numbers. 
'  For  let  six  octuples  be  thus  produced  : — 

1,  8,  64,  512,  4096,  32768,  262144. 
'  From  this  last  number  six  tones,  constituted  in 
'  sesquioctave  proportion,  may  be  set  down,  with  the 


'  above  scheme,  be  set  down  thus : — 


DIATESSARON. 


'  numbers  192,  216,  243,  256,  comprehended  in  the      '  octuple  terms  and  their  several  eighth  parts,  in  the 

'  order  following  : — 

Octuples. 
1,  8,  64,  512,  4096,  32768,  262144. 

^262144 
294912 
331776 
Sesquioctaves.  {  373248 
419904 
472392 
.531441 


192         216  243         256 


Tone        Tone     Semitone. 

'  In  this  disposition,  the  first  number  to  the  second 

and  the  second  to  the  third,  bear  the  proportions  of 

'  tones,  and  the  third  to  the  fourth  that  of  a  lesser 

'  semitone,  has  been  shown  above.     If  then  for  the 

*  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  contents  of  the  diapente, 

*  32  be  added  to  256,  the  sum  will  be  288,  which  is 
'  another  sesquioctave  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  sesqui- 
'  altera,  the  ratio  of  the  diapente  : — 


^32768 

36864 

T..  ,,,         ,     141472 
Eighth  parts.^  ^^^.^g 


52488 
59049 


192 


288 


DIAPENTE 

Sesquialtera. 


'  Finally,  by  comparing  the  first  number  with  the 
'  second,  the  second  with  the  third,  and  the  fourth 
'  with  the  fifth,  i.  e.,  288,  it  will  plainly  appear,  first. 
'  that  in  the  diapente  are  three  tones,  and  a  lesser      '  diapason  is  less  than  six  tones  ;  and  the  excess  of 


'  The  nature  of  the  above  disposition  is  this  :  the 
'  first  line  contains  the  octuple  numbers  ;  and  the 
'  sesquioctave  proportions  in  the  first  column  are  de- 
'  duced  from  the  last  of  them.  The  numbers  con- 
'  tained  in  the  second  column  are  the  eighth  parts  of 
'  those  to  which  they  are  respectively  opposite  ;  and 
'  if  each  of  these  be  added  to  the  number  against  it, 
'  the  sum  will  be  the  number  of  the  next  sesquioctave, 
'  in  succession.  Thias,  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 
'last  number,  531441,  duple  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  524288,  and  the  number  of  the  sixth  tone 
'  is  531441.     Hence  it  appears,  that  the  consonant 


'  semitone.  If  then  the  diatessaron  consists  of  two 
'  tones  and  a  lesser  semitone,  and  the  diapente  of  three 
'  tones  and  a  lesser  semitone  ;  and  if  the  diatessaron 
'  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 
'  up  a  full  and  complete  tone,  and  therefore  that  the 
*  diapason  does  not  consist  of  six  tones,  as  Aristoxenus 
'  imagined,  which  also  will  evidently  appear  when 


'  the  six  tones  above  the  diapason  is  called  a  comma, 
which  in  its  lowest  terms  is  52428  to  531441 : — 


7153 


524288        531441 


COMMA,  or  the  inter- 
val by  which  six  tones 
exceed    a    diapason.  * 


Six  Octuples. 


1    1 

8      64 

512 

4096 

32768 

262144 

9      72 

576   1 

4608 

36864 

294912 

/TTT" — -^ 

1  648 

5184 

41472 

331776 

729  1 

5832 

46656 

373248 

6561 

52488 

419904 

"°^s;^$5r-^ 

59049 

472392 

531441 

OJ 


•     JT  ^   o 

CJ  TO 

S    c^    3 


^  ■» 
•^■i^ 


o- 


s  »=  "  ^ 

g  §  ©  o 
g  ■*->       o 


In  the  third  book  Boetius  continues  his  controversy 
with  the  Aristoxeneans,  who,  as  they  assert,  that  the 
diatessaron  contains  two  tones  and  an  half,  and  the 
diapente  three  tones  and  an  half,  must  be  supposed  to 
believe  that  the  tone  is  capable  of  a  division  into  two 
equal  parts,  contrary  to  that  maxim  of  Euclid,  that 
'  inter  superparticulare  non  cadit  medium,'  a  super- 
particular  ration  cannot  have  a  mediety.     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 
Aristoxenus  and  his  followers  contend  for. 
Lib.  III.  cap.  i.  Adversus  Aristoxenum  demonstratio, 

*  This  is  called  the  Pythagorean  comma,  and  is  taken  notice  of  by 
Mersennus,  vide  Harmonicor.  de  Dissonantiis,  pag.  88.  It  is  less  than 
that  of  81  to  80,  called  the  comma  majus,  or  schisma,  and  which  is  the 
difference  between  the  greater  and  lesser  tone. 


Chap.  XXV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


123 


superpai'ticularem  proportionem  dividi  in  sequa 
non  posse,  atque  ideo  nee  tonum. — Cap.  ii.  Ex 
sesquitertia  proportione  sublatis  duobus  tonis,  toni 
dimidiimi  non  relinqui. — Cap.  iii.  Adversum  Aris- 
toxenum  demonstrationes,  diatessaron  cousonantiam 
ex  duobus  tonis  et  semitonio  non  constare,  nee  dia- 
pason sex  tonis. — Cap.  iv.  Diapason  eonsonantiam  a 
eex  tonis  commate  excedi,  et  qui  sit  minimus  numerus 
commatis. — Cap.  v.  Quemadmodum  Philolaus,  tonum 
dividat. 

Pythagoras  found  out  the  tone  by  the  difference 
of  a  fourth  and  fifth,  subtracting  one  from  the  other  ; 
Philolaus,  who  was  of  his  school,  proceeded  farther, 
and  effected  a  division  of  the  tone  into  commas.  The 
manner  of  his  doing  it  is  thus  related  by  Boetius : — 

'  Philolaus  the  Pythagorean  tried  to  divide  the  tone, 

*  by  taking  the  original  of  the  tone  from  that  number 
'  which  among  the  Pythagoreans  was  esteemed  very 
'  honoui'able  :  for  as  the  number  3  is  the  first  uneven 

*  number,  that  multiplied  by  3  will  give  9,  which 
'  being  multiplied  by  3  will  necessarily  produce  27, 
'  which  is  distant  from  the  number  24  by  a  tone,  and 
'  preserves  the  same  difference  of  3  ;  for  3  is  the 
'  eighth  part  of  24,  and  being  added  thereto  com- 
'  plotes  the  cube  of  the  number  3,  viz.,  27.  Philolaus 
'  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  lesser  semitone  ;  and  their  difference  he  termed 

*  a  comma.  The  diesis  he  supposes  to  consist  of  13 
'  unities,  because  he  supposed  that  to  be  the  difference 
'  between  243  and  256,  and  because  the  number  13 
'  consisted  of  9,  3,  and  unity ;  which  unity  he  con- 
'  sidered  as  a  punctum.  3  he  considered  as  the  first 
'  uneven  number,  and  9  as  the  first  uneven  square  : 
'  for  this  reason,  when  he  fixed  the  diesis  or  semitone 

*  at  13,  he  made  the  remaining  part  of  the  number  27, 
'  containing  14  unities  to  be  the  apotome.  But  be- 
'  cause  unity  is  the  difference  between  13  and  14,  he 

*  imagined  unity  ought  to  be  assigned  to  the  place  of 
'  the  comma  ;    but  the  whole  tone  he  made  to  be  27 

*  unities,  that  number  being  the  difference  between 
'  210  and  243,  which  are  distant  from  each  other  by 
'  a  tone.' 


13 


14 


27 


Diesis 


Apotome 


Cap.  vi.  Tonum  ex  duobus  semitoniis  ac  commate 
constare.  —  Cap.  vii.  Demonstratio,  tonum  duobus 
semitoniis  commate  distare.  —  Cap.  viii.  De  mi- 
noribus  semitonii  intervallis.  —  Cap.  ix.  De  toni 
partibus  per  cnnsonantias  sumendis. — Cap.  x.  Regula 
sumendi  semitonii. — Cap.  xi.  Demonstratio  Archytae, 
superparticularem  in  equa  dividi  non  posse;  ejusque 
reprehensio. 

It  seems  by  this  chapter,  that  this  Archytas,  who 
it  is  supposed  was  he  of  Tarentum,  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  superparticular  ratio  cannot  be 
divided  into  two  equally ;  but  Boetius  says  he 
has  done  it  in  a  loose  manner,  and  for  this  he  repre- 
hends him.  It  may  he  inferred  from  this  chapter, 
that  some  of  the  writings  of  Archytas  on  music  were 
in  being  in  the  time  of  Boetius  ;  but  that  there  are 
none  now  remaining  is  agreed  by  all. 

Cap.  xii.  In  qua  numerorum  proportione  sit 
comma,  et  quoniam  in  ea  quae  major  sit  quam  76 
ad  74  minor  quam,  74  ad  73. — Cap.  xiii.  Quod 
semitonium  minus  majus  quidem  sit  quam  20  ad  19, 
minus  quam  19^  ad  18J. — Cap.  xiv.  Semitonium 
minus,  majus  quidem  esse  tribus  comatibus ;  minus 
vero  quatuor.  —  Cap.  xv.  Apotome  majorem  esse 
quam  4  eommata,  minorem  quam  5.  Tonem  ma- 
jorem quam  8,  minorem  quam  9. — Cap.  xvi.  Superius 
dietorum  per  numeros  demonstratio. 

Lib.  IV.  cap.  i.  Voeum  differentias  in  quantitate 
eonsistere.  —  Cap.  ii.  Diversae  de  intervallis  specu- 
lationes. 

This,  as  its  title  imports,  is  a  chapter  of  a  mis- 
cellaneous kind.  Among  other  things,  it  contains 
a  demonstration  somewhat  different  from  that  which 
he  had  given  before,  that  six  sesquioctave  tones  are 
greater  than  a  duple  interval.  That  they  are  so 
will  appear  upon  a  bare  inspection  of  the  following 
diagram  : — 


Six  sesquioctave  proportions  greater  than  a  duple  interval. 

Sesqui-  I  Sesqui-  I  Sesqui-  |  Sesqui-  I  Sesqui-  |  Sesqui-  I  Sesqui- 
octave.    octave,     octave,     octave,     octave,     octave,     octave. 


A 

B 

C 

D 

E 

G 

K 

262144. 

294912. 

331776. 

373248. 

419904. 

472392. 

531441. 

The  number  A  262144.  is  half  the  undervcritten  number;  and 
therefore  the  diapason  is  deficient  of  the  number  K  by  7153. 

The  duple  interval  reaches  to  524288. 

Cap.  iii.  Musicarum  per  Grsecus  ac  Latinas  literaa 
notarum  nuneupatio. 

In  this  chapter  are  contained  some  of  the  principal 
characters  used  b)'^  the  Greeks  in  their  musical  nota- 
tion. It  seems,  that  at  the  time  when  Glareanus 
published  his  edition  of  Boetius,  they  had  been  cor- 
rupted, which,  considering  they  were  arbitrary,  or  at 
best  that  they  were  the  letters  of  the  Greek  alphabet 
reduced  to  a  state  of  deformity,  is  not  to  be  wondered 
at.  Meibomius  had  the  good  fortune  to  get  in- 
telligence of  an  ancient  manuscript  here  in  England, 
in  which  this  chapter  was  found,  in  a  state  of  great 
purity.  He  had  interest  enough  with  Mr.  Selden  to 
get  him  to  collate  his  own  by  it :  and  the  whole  is 
very  correctly  published,  and  prefixed  to  the  Isagoge 
of  Alypius,  in  his  edition  of  the  ancient  musical 
authors. 

Cap.  iv.  Monochordi  regularis  partitio  in  genere 
diatonico. — Cap.  v.  Monochordi  netarum  hyperboleon 
per  tria  genera  partitio.  —  Cap.  vi.  Ratio  superius 
digestae  descriptionis. — Cap.  vii.  Monochordi  neta- 
rum diezeugmenon  per  tria  genera  partitio. — Cap.  viii. 
Monochordi  netarum  synemmenon  per  tria  genera 


124 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III 


partitio.  —  Cap.  ix.  Monochordi  meson  per  tria  ge- 
nera partitio.  —  Cap.  x.  Monochordi  hypaton  per 
tria  genera  partitio,  et  totius  dispositio  descrip- 
tionia. — Cap.  xi.  Ratio  superius  disposittc  descrip- 
tionis. — Cap.  xii.  De  stantibus  et  mobilibus  vocibus. 
— Cap.  xiii.  De  consonantiarum  speciebus. — Cap.  xiv. 
De  modorum  exordiis,  in  quo  dispositio  notarum 
per  singulos  modos  ac  voces. — Cap.  xv.  Descriptio 
continens  modorum  ordinem  ac  differentias. — 
Cap.  xvi.  Superins  dispositaj  modorum  descriptiones. 
— Cap.  xvii.  Ratio  superius  dispositaj  modorum  des- 
criptionis. — Cap.  xviii.  Qnemadmodum  indubitanter 
musicae  consonantias  aure  dijudicari  possint. 

Lib.  V.    Proemium. 

In  this  Boetius  gives  the  form  of  the  monochord, 
little  differing  from  that  of  Ptolemy  and  Porphyry 
herein  before  described. 

Cap.  i.  De  vi  harmonicas,  et  quaa  sint  ejus  instru- 
menta  judicii,  et  quo  nam  usque  sensibus  oporteat 
credi. — Cap.  ii.  Quid  sit  harmonica  regula,  vel  quam 
intentionem  harmonici  Pythagorici,  vel  Aristoxenus, 
vel  Ptolemaeus  esse  dixere. — Cap.  iii.  In  quo  Aris- 
toxenus, vel  Pythagorici,  vel  Ptolemaeus  gravitatem 
atque  acumen  constare  posuerint. — Cap.  iv.  De  sono- 
rum  differentiis  Ptolemaii  sententia. — Cap.  v.  Quae 
voces  enharmonise  sunt  aptse.  — Cap.  vi.  Quem  nu- 
merum  proportionum  Pythagorici  statuunt. — Cap.  vii. 
Quod  reprehendat  Ptolemaeus  Pythagoricos  in  numero 
proportionum.  —  Cap.  viii.  Demonstratio  secundum 
Ptolemajum  diapason  et  diatessaron  consonantias. — 
Cap.  ix.  Quae  sit  proprietas  diapason  consonantiae. — 
Cap.  X.  Quibus  modis  Ptolemaeus  consonantias  statuat. 
— Cap.  xi.  Quai  sunt  equisonae,  vel  quaj  consonae,  vel 
quae  emmelis.  —  Cap.  xii.  Quemadmodum  Aristox- 
enus intervallum  consideret. — Cap.  xiii.  Descriptio 
octochordi,  qua  ostenditur  diapason  consonantiam 
minorum  esse  sex  tonis.  —  Cap.  xiv.  Diatessaron 
consonantiam  tetrachordo  contineri. — Cap.  xv.  Quo- 
modo  Aristoxenus  vel  tonum  dividat  vel  genera 
ejusque  divisionis  dispositio.  —  Cap.  xvi.  Quomodo 
Archytas  tetrachordo  dividat,  eorumque  descriptio. 
—Cap.  xvii.  Quemadmodum  Ptolemaeus  et  Aristox- 
eni  et  Archytae.  tetrachordorum  divisiones  repre- 
hendat.— Cap.  xviii.  Quemadmodum  tetrachordorum 
divisionem  fieri  dicat  oportere. 

CHAP.  XXVI. 

From  the  foregoing  extracts  a  judgment  may  be 
formed,  not  only  of  the  work  from  which  they  are 
made,  but  also  of  the  manner  in  which  the  ancients, 
more  especially  the  followers  of  Pythagoras,  thought 
of  music.  Well  might  they  deem  it  a  subject  of 
philosophical  speculation,  when  such  abstruse  reason- 
ing was  employed  about  it.  To  speak  of  Boetius  in 
particular,  it  is  clear  that  he  was  upon  the  whole 
a  Pythagorean,  though  he  has  not  spared  to  detect 
many  of  the  errors  imputed  to  that  sect ;  and  his 
work  is  so  truly  theoretic,  that  in  reading  him  we 
never  think  of  practice  :  the  mention  of  instruments, 
nor  of  the  voice,  as  employed  in  singing,  never 
occurs ;  no  allusions  to  the  music  of  his  time,  but  all 
abstracted  speculation,  tending  doubtless  to  the  per- 


fection of  the  art,  but  seemingly  little  connected 
with  it.  Here  then  the  twofold  nature  of  music  is 
apparent :  it  has  its  foundation  in  number  and  pro- 
portion ;  like  geometry,  it  affords  that  kind  of  plea- 
sure to  the  mind  which  results  from  the  contem- 
plation of  order,  of  regularity,  of  truth,  the  love 
whereof  is  connatural  with  liuman  nature;  like  that 
too,  its  principles  are  applicable  to  use  and  practice. 
View  it  in  another  light,  and  if  it  be  possible,  con- 
sider music  as  mechanical,  as  an  arbitrary  constitution, 
as  having  no  foundation  in  reason  :  but  how  exquisite 
is  the  pleasure  it  affords !  how  subservient  are  the 
passions  to  its  influence  I  and  how  much  is  the  wis- 
dom and  goodness  of  God  manifested  in  that  relation 
which,  in  the  case  of  music,  he  has  established 
between  the  cause  and  the  effect  I 

That  Boetius  is  an  obscure  writer  must  be  allowed ; 
the  very  terms  used  by  him,  and  his  names  for  the 
proportions,  though  they  are  the  common  language 
of  the  ancient  arithmeticians,  are  difficult  to  be 
understood  at  this  time.  Guido,  who  lived  about 
five  hundred  years  after  him,  scruples  not  to  say, 
that  '  his  work  is  fit  only  for  philosophers.'  It  was, 
nevertheless,  held  in  great  estimation  for  many  cen- 
turies, and  to  this  its  reputation  many  causes  co- 
operated ;  to  which  may  be  added  that  the  Greek 
language  was  little  understood,  even  by  the  learned, 
for  a  much  longer  period  than  that  above  mentioned ; 
and  to  those  few  that  were  masters  of  it,  all  that 
treasure  of  musical  erudition  contained  in  the  writings 
of  Aristoxenus,  Euclid,  Nicomachus,  Ptolemy,  and 
the  rest  of  the  Greek  harmonicians,  was  inaccessible. 
So  late  as  the  time  of  our  queen  Elizabeth,  it  was 
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  Musica  of  Boetius  was  for  many  ages 
looked  upon  as  the  grand  repository  of  harmonical 
science.  To  go  no  farther  than  our  own  country  for 
proofs,  the  writings  of  all  who  treated  on  the  subject 
before  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and 
whose  names  are  preserved  in  the  collections  of 
Leland,  Bale,  Pits,  and  Tanner,  are  but  so  many 
commentaries  on  him  :  nay,  an  admission  to  the  first 
degree  in  music,  in  the  universities  of  Oxford  and 
Cambridge,  was  but  a  kind  of  manuduction  to  the 
study  of  his  writings  ;■]■  and  in  the  latter  the  exercise 
for  a  doctor's  degree  was  generally  a  lecture  on 
Boetius.| 

And,  to  come  nearer  to  our  own  times,  Salinas  and 
Zarlino  have  pursued  the  same  train  of  reasoning  that 
Boetius  first  introduced.  If  it  be  asked  how  has  this 
contributed  to  the  improvement  of  music,  the  answer 
is  not  easy,  if  the  question  refers  to  the  practice  of 
it;  since  what  Mersennus  and  others  have  said  is 
very  true,  that  in  the  division  of  sounds  we  are  de- 
termined wholly  by  the  ear,  and  not  by  ratios  ;  and 
therefore  the  makers  and  tuners  of  instruments  are  in 

*  Morley,  in  the  Peroratio  to  his  Introduction. 

1-  Wood,  in  the  Fasti.  Oxon.  pa^.  58,  says,  of  bachelors  of  music,  that 
they  were  such  who  were  admitted  to  the  reading;  any  of  the  musical 
books  of  Boetius  ;  and  in  his  account  of  John  Mendus,  a  secular  priest, 
who,  anno  1535,  supplicated  for  that  decree,  he  says,  he  obtained  it  with 
the  privilege  of  reading  Boetius.     Fasti.  Oxon.  pa'g.  56. 

%  Athen.  Oxon.  passim. 


Chap.  XXVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


125 


fact,  though  they  know  it  not,  Aristoxeneans ;  but  if 
by  Music  we  are  to  understand  the  Theory  of  the 
science,  this  method  of  treating  it  has  contributed 
greatly  to  its  improvement.  This  is  enough  to 
satisfy  such  as  are  aware  of  the  importance  of  theory 
in  every  science  :  those  whose  minds  are  too  illiberal 
to  conceive  any  thing  beyond  practice  and  mere 
manual  operation  or  energy,  might  perhaps  demand, 
What  has  theory,  what  have  the  ratios  of  numbers  to 
do  with  an  art,  the  end  whereof  is  to  move  the 
passions,  and  not  convince  the  understanding ;  were 
these  considered,  or  even  understood,  by  the  ablest 
professors  of  the  science  ;  did  Palestrina,  Stradella, 
did  Corelli  adjust  their  harmonies  by  the  monochord, 
or  consult  Euclid  or  Ptolemy  when  they  composed 
respectively  their  motets,  madrigals,  and  concertos  ; 
or  is  it  necessary  in  the  performance  of  them  that  the 
singers,  or  any  of  those  who  perform  on  an  instru- 
ment, the  tuning  whereof  is  not  adjusted  to  their 
hands,  perpetually  bear  in  mind  the  true  harmonic 
canon,  and  be  aware  of  the  difference  between  the 
greater  and  lesser  tone,  and  the  greater  and  lesser 
semitone  ;  and  that  what  in  common  practice  is  called 
a  semitone,  is  in  fact  an  interval  in  the  ratio  of  256 
to  243,  and  unless  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  music. 

To  such  as  are  disposed  to  reason  in  this  manner 
it  may  be  said,  We  all  know  that  the  dog  who  treads 
the  spit-wheel ;  or,  to  go  higher,  the  labourer  that 
drives  a  wedge,  or  adds  the  strength  of  his  arms  to 
a  lever,  are  ignorant  of  all  but  the  effects  of  their 
labour  ;  but  we  also  know  that  the  ignorance  of  the 
brute  and  of  the  uninstructed  rational  in  this  respect 
afford  no  reason  why  others  are  to  remain  ignorant 
too  ;  much  less  does  it  prove  it  fruitless  and  vain  for 
men  of  a  philosophical  and  liberal  turn  of  mind  to 
attempt  an  investigation  of  the  principles  upon  which 
these  machines  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  faculties  are  exercised  in  it ; 
and  that  the  pleasure  arising  from  the  contemplation 
of  that  truth  and  certainty  which  are  found  in  them, 
is  little  inferior  to  what  we  receive  from  hearing  the 
most  excellent  music.  And  to  this  purpose  the 
learned  and  ingenious  Dr.  Holder  expresses  himself 
in  a  passage- which  is  inserted  in  a  note  subjoined. -f 

*  The  reader  will  find  this  argument  much  better  enforced  by  the 
learned  and  ingenious  author  of  a  treatise  intitled  Hermes  or  a  Philo- 
sophical Inquiry  concerning  Universal  Grammar.  Here  it  was  necessary 
to  vary  it,  in  order  to  adapt  it  to  the  present  subject;  but  the  author 
applies  it  to  that  of  speech  ;  the  whole  passage  is  very  beautiful,  and  is 
as  follows: — '  Methinks  I  hear  some  objector,  demanding  with  an  air  of 
'  pleasantry  and  ridicule — Is  there  no  speaking  then  without  all  this 
'  trouble  ?  Do  we  not  talk  every  one  of  us,  as  well  unlearned  as  learned, 
'  as  well  poor  peasants  as  profound  philosophers  ?    We  may  answer  by 

•  interrogating  on  our  part — Do  not  those  same  poor  peasants  use  the 

*  lever  and  the  wedge,  and  many  other  instruments,  witli  much  habitual 
'readiness?  And  yet  have'they  any  conception  of  those  geometrical 
'  principles  from  which  those  machines  derive  their  efficacy  and  force  ? 
'  And  is  the  ignorance  of  these  peasants  a  reason  for  others  to  remain 
'  ignorant,  or  to  render  the  subject  a  less  becoming  enquiry  ?  Think  of 
'  animals  and  vegetables  that  occur  every  day — of  time,  of  place,  and  of 
'  motion — of  light,  of  colours,  and  of  gravitation — of  our  senses  and  in- 
'  tellects  by  which  we  perceive  every  thing  else — That  they  are,  we  all 
'  know  and  are  perfectly  satisfied — What  they  are,  is  a  subject  of  much 
'  obscurity  and  doubt;  were  we  to  reject  this  last  question  because  we 
'  are  certain  of  the  first,  we  should  banish  all  philosophy  at  once  out  of 
'the  world.'     Hermes,  pag.  293. 

t  'And  in  searching,  stating,  and  comparing  the  rations  of  those  in- 


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 
want  the  strongest  motive  to  emulation  and  improve- 
ment that  the  mind  is  susceptible  of.  Is  it  to  be 
conceived  that  those  who  are  employed  in  mathe- 
matical researches  attend  to  the  consequences  of  their 
own  discoveries,  or  that  their  pursuits  are  not  ex- 
tended beyond  the  prospect  of  bare  utility  ?  -  In 
short,  no  considerable  progress,  no  improvement  in 
any  science  can  be  expected,  unless  it  be  beloved  for 
its  own  sake  :  as  well  might  we  expect  the  continu- 
ation of  our  species  from  principles  of  reason  and 
duty,  abstracted  from  that  passion  which  holds  the 
animal  world  in  subjection,  and  to  which  human 
nature  itself  owes  its  existence.  | 

Taking  this  for  granted,  the  merit  of  Boetius  vnll 
appear  to  consist  in  the  having  communicated  to  the 
world  such  a  knowledge  of  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  the  ancient  music,  as  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  the  right  understanding  even  of  our  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  but  justice  in  the  eulogium 
which  he  has  given  of  him  in  the  following  words  : — 
'  Boetius  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  musick  than  of  all  the  other 
'  mathematical  sciences,  so  that  it  may  be  justly  said, 
'  that  if  it  had  not  beene  for  him  the  knowledge  of 
'  musicke  had  not  yet  come  into  our  westerne  part  of 
'  the  world.    The  Greek  tongue  lying  as  it  were  dead 

'  tervals  of  sounds  by  which  harmony  is  made,  there  is  found  so  much 
'  variety  and  certainty,  and  facility  of  calculation,  that  the  contemplation 
'  of  them  may  seem  not  much  less  delightful  than  the  very  hearing  the 
'  good  music  itself,  which  springs  from  this  fountain  ;  and  those  who 
'  have  already  an  affection  for  music  cannot  but  find  it  improved  and 
'  much  enhanced  by  this  pleasant  and  recreating  chase,  as  I  may  call  it, 
'  in  the  large  field  of  harmonic  rations  and  proportion,  where  they  wUl 
•  find,  to  their  great  pleasure  and  satisfaction,  the  hidden  causes  of  har- 
'mony  (hidden  to  most,  even  to  practitioners  themselves)  so  amply 
'  discovered  and  laid  plain  before  them.'  Natural  Grounds  and  Prin- 
ciples of  Harmony,  chap.  v. 

I  For  the  farther  illustration  of  this  proposition,  viz.,  that  knowledge 
is  an  object  worthy  to  be  pursued  for  its  own  sake,  we  must  be  indebted 
to  the  author  above-cited,  who  to  this  purpose  thus  expresses  himself: — 
'  But  a  graver  objector  now  accosts  us.  What  (says  he)  is  the  utility, 
'  whence  the  profit,  where  the  gain?  Every  science  whatever  (we  may 
'answer)  has  its  use.  Arithmetic  is  excellent  for  gauging  of  liquors; 
'  geometry  for  measuring  of  estates  ;  astronomy  for  making  of  alma- 
'nacks  ;  and  grammar  perhaps  for  drawing  of  bonds  and  conveyances. 

'  Thus  much  to  the  sordid — If  the  liberal  ask  for  something  better  than 
'this,  we  may  answer,  and  assure  them  from  the  best  authorities,  that 
'  every  exercise  of  the  mind  upon  theorems  of  science,  like  generous  and 
'  manly  exercise  of  the  body,  tends  to  call  forth  and  strengthen  nature's 
'  original  vigour.  Be  the  subject  itself  immediately  lucrative  or  not,  the 
'nerves  of  reason  are  braced  by  the  mere  employ,  and  we  become  abler 
'  actors  in  the  drama  of  Ufe,  whether  our  part  be  of  the  busier,  or  of  the 
'  sedater  kind. 

'  Perhaps  too  there  is  a  pleasure  even  in  science  itself,  distinct  from 
'  any  end  to  which  it  may  be  farther  conducive.  Are  not  health  and 
'  strength  of  body  desirable  for  their  own  sakes,  though  we  happen  not  to 
'  be  fated  either  for  porters  or  draymen  ?  And  have  not  health  and 
■  strength  of  mind  their  intrinsic  worth  also,  though  not  condemned  to 
'  the  low  drudgery  of  sordid  emolument  ?  Why  should  there  not  be  a 
'  good  (could  we  have  the  grace  to  recognize  it)  in  the  mere  energy  of  our 
'intellect,  as  much  as  in  energies  of  lower  degree  ?  The  sportsman  be- 
'  lieves  there  is  good  in  his  chase ;  the  man  of  gaiety,  in  his  intrigue ; 
'  even  the  glutton  in  his  meal.  We  may  justly  ask  of  these,  why  they 
'  pursue  such  things  ;  but  if  they  answer  they  pursue  them  because  they 
'  are  good,  'twould  be  folly  to  ask  them  farther,  why  they  pursue  what  is 
'good.  It  might  well  in  such  case  be  replied  on  their  behalf  (how 
'  strange  soever  it  may  at  first  appear)  that  if  there  was  not  something 
'  good,  which  was  in  norespect  useful,  even  things  useful  themselves  could 
'  not  possibly  have  existence.  For  this  is  in  fact  no  more  than  to  assert, 
'that  some  things  are  ends,  some  things  are  means  ;  and  that  if  there 
'  were  no  ends,  there  could  be  of  course  no  means.'    Hermes,  pag.  294. 


126 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


'  under  the  barbarisme  of  the  Gothes  and  Hunnes,  and 

*  musicke  buried  in  the  bowels  of  the  Greeke  works 
'  of  Ptolcmseus  and  Aristoxenus,  the  one  of  which 
'  as  yet  hath  never  come  to  light,  but  lies  in  written 
'  copies  in  some  bibliothekes  of  Italy,  the  other  hath 
'  been  set  out  in  print ;  but  the  copies  are   every 

*  where  so  scant  and  hard  to  come  by,  that  many 

*  doubt  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  be 
cultivated,  when  the  hypotheses  of  the  ancients  were 
brought  to  the  test  of  experiment ;  and  the  doctrine 
of  pendulums  became  another  medium  for  demon- 
strating the  truth  of  those  ratios  which  the  ancient 
harmonicians  had  investigated  merely  by  the  power 
of  numbers. 

To  the  reasons  above  adduced  in  favour  of  the 
writings  of  Boetius,  another  may  be  added,  which 
every  learned  reader  will  acquiesce  in,  namely,  that 
he  was  the  last  of  the  Latin  writers  whose  works  have 
any  pretence  to  purity,  or  to  entitle  them  to  the 
epithet  of  classical. 

It  must  however  be  confessed  that  the  treatise  De 
Musica  of  Boetius  is  but  part  of  a  much  larger  dis- 
course which  he  intended  on  that  subject :  most 
authors  speak  of  it  as  of  a  fragment,  and  the  very 
abrupt  manner  in  which  it  concludes  shews  that  he 
had  not  put  the  finishing  hand  to  it.  The  whole  of 
the  five  books  extant  are  little  more  than  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  the  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,  but  there  remained  a  great 
deal  more  to  be  said  in  order  to  render  this  work  of 
Boetius  complete ;  and  that  it  was  his  design  to 
make  it  so,  there  is  not  the  least  reason  to  doubt. 

The  desiderata  of  the  ancient  music  seem  to  be  the 
genera  and  the  modes,  and  to  these  may  be  added  the 
measure  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  iuarticulate  sounds,  but  of  poetry,  to  the  words 
whereof  correspondent  sounds  in  an  harmonical  ratio 
were  adopted,  and  therefore  the  duration  of  those 
sounds  might  be,  and  probably  was  determined  by 
the  measure  of  the  verse,  yet  both  were  subject  to 
metrical  laws,  which  had  been  largely  discussed 
before  the  time  of  Boetius,  and  these  it  became  a 
writer  like  him  to  have  reduced  to  some  standard. 

Had  Boetius  lived  to  complete  his  work,  it  is 
more  than  probable  that  he  would  have  entered  into 
a  discussion  of  the  modes  of  the  ancients,  and  not  left 
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  his  untimely  death  pre- 
vented it,  Boetius  would  have  treated  very  largely 

•  See  the  Peroratio  to  his  Introduction,  towards  the  end. 


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  ;  St.  Ambrose 
had  established  the  chant  which  is  distinguished  by 
his  name,  and  the  ecclesiastical  tones,  then  but  four 
in  number,  were  evidently  derived  from  the  modes  of 
the  ancients. 

These  are  but  conjectures,  and  may  perhaps  be 
thought  to  include  rather  what  was  to  be  wished  than 
expected  from  a  writer  of  so  philosophical  a  turn  as 
Boetius  ;  we  have  nevertheless  great  reason  to  lament 
his  silence  iu  these  particulars,  and  must  impute  the 
present  darkness  in  which  the  science  is  unhappily 
involved,  to  the  want  of  that  information  which  he  of 
all  men  of  his  time  seems  to  have  been  the  most  able 
to  communicate. 

Magnus  Aurelius  Oassiodorus,  senator,  a  chris- 
tian, born  at  Brutium,  on  the  confines  of  Calabria, 
flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century.  He 
had  a  very  liberal  education  considering  the  growing 
barbarism  of  the  age  he  lived  in,  and  by  his  wisdom, 
learning,  and  eloquence,  recommended  himself  to 
the  protection  of  the  Gothic  kings  Theodoric  and 
Athalaric,  Amalasuentha  the  daughter  of  the  former, 
Theodohadus  her  husband,  and  Vitiges  his  successor. 
Theodoric  appointed  him  to  the  government  of 
Sicily,  in  which  province  he  gave  such  proofs  of  his 
abilities,  that  in  the  year  490  he  made  him  his  chan- 
cellor, and  admitted  him  to  his  councils.  After 
having  filled  several  important  and  honourable  posts 
in  the  state,  he  was  advanced  to  the  consulate,  the 
duties  of  which  office  he  discharged  without  any 
colleague  in  the  year  514.  He  was  continued  in  the 
same  degree  of  confidence  and  favour  by  Athalaric, 
who  succeeded  Theodoric  about  the  year  626  ;  but  in 
the  year  537,  being  dismissed  from  all  his  employ- 
ments by  Vitiges,  he  betook  himself  to  a  religious 
life.  Trithemius  says  he  became  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  liimself.  In  his  retirement  from  the 
business  of  the  world  he  led  the  life  of  a  scholar,  a 
philosopher,  and  a  Christian,  amusing  himself  at 
intervals  in  the  invention  and  framing  of  mechanical 
curiosities,  such  as  sun-dials,  water  hour-glasses,  per- 
petual lamps,  &c.  He  collected  a  very  noble  and 
curious  library,  and  wrote  many  books  himself,  par- 
ticularly Commentaries  on  the  Psalms,  Canticles,  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  and 
the  Apocalypse,  and  a  Chronology  :  farther  he  framed, 
or  drew  into  one  body,  the  tripartite  history  of 
Socrates,  Sozomen,  and  Theodoret,  translated  by 
Epiphanius,  the  scholastic.  He  wrote  also  Institu- 
tionem  Divinarum  Lectionum,  in  two  books,  which 
Du  Pin  says  abounds  with  fine  remarks  on  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  and  a  treatise  De  Ratione  Animse,  which 
the  same  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  his  own  name,  and  they  all  abound  with  a 


Chap.  XXVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


127 


variety  of  curious  and  interesting  particulars.  He 
was  also  the  author  of  a  treatise  De  septem  Disci- 
plinis,  or  of  the  Arts  of  Grammar,  Rhetoric,  Logic, 
Arithmetic,  Geometry,  Music,  and  Astronomy ;  * 
what  he  says  of  music  is  contained  in  one  chapter  or 
section  of  four  quarto  pages  ;  in  this  he  is  very  brief, 
referring  very  often  to  Gaudentius,  Censorinus,  and 
other  writers.  His  general  division  of  music  is  into 
three  parts,  harmonic,  rhythmic,  and  metric.  His 
division  of  instrumental  music  is  also  into  three  parts, 
namely,  percussional,  tensile,  and  inflatile,  agreeing  in 
this  respect  with  other  writers  of  the  best  authority. 

One  thing  worthy  of  remark  in  the  treatise  of 
Cassiodorus  De  Musica  is,  that  he  makes  the  con- 
sonances to  be  six,  namely,  the  diatessaron,  diapente, 
diapason,  diapason  and  diatessaron,  or  eleventh,  dia- 
pason and  diapente,  or  twelfth,  and,  lastly,  the  dis- 
diapason;  in  which  he  manifestly  differs  from  Boetius, 
whom  he  must  have  known  and  been  intimate  with, 
for  Boetius  has  bestowed  a  whole  chapter  in  demon- 
strating that  the  diapason  cum  diatessaron  is  not 
a  consonant  but  a  dissonant.  Cassiodorus  makes  the 
number  of  the  modes,  or,  as  he  calls  them  the  tones, 
to  be  fifteen ;  from  which  circumstance,  as  also 
because  he  here  prefers  the  word  Tone  to  Mode,  it 
may  l)e  concluded  that  he  writes  after  Martianus 
Capella. 

Cassiodorus  died  at  his  monastery  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, 
have  been  several  times  printed,  but  the  best  edition 
of  them  is  that  of  Rohan,  in  the  year  1679,  in  two 
volumes  folio,  with  the  notes  and  dissertations  of 
Johannes  Garetius,  a  Benedictine  monk.f 

The  several  improvements  of  music  hereinbefore 

•  This  arrangement  of  the  liberal  sciences  had  been  made  before  the 
time  of  Cassiodorus,  as  appears  by  the  fable  De  Nuptiis  Philologiae  et 
Mercurii  of  Martianus  Capella,  which  contains  a  separate  discourse  on 
each  of  them.  This  division  comprehends  both  the  trivium  and  the 
quadrivium  described  in  a  preceding  page.  Mosheim  censures  the  pro- 
fessors, or  schola>tics,  as  they  were  called,  of  that  day,  for  teaching  the 
sciences  in  a  barbarous  and  illiberal  manner. 

'  The  whole  circle  of  sciences  was  composed  of  what  they  called  the 
'seven  liberal  arts,  viz.,  grammar,  rhetoric,  logic,  arithmetic,  music, 
'  geometry,  and  astronomy  ;  the  three  former  of  which  they  distinguished 
'  by  the  title  of  trivium,  and  the  four  latter  by  that  of  quadrivium. 
'  Nothing  can  be  conceived  more  wretchedly  barbarous  than  the  manner 
'in  which  these  sciences  were  taught,  as  we  may  easily  perceive  from 
'  Alcuin's  treatise  concerning  them ;  and  the  dissertations  of  St.  Augustin 
'  on  the  same  subject,  which  were  in  the  highest  repute  at  this  time. 
'  In  the  greatest  part  of  the  schools  the  public  teachers  ventured  no 
'farther  than  the  trivium,  and  confined  their  instructions  to  grammar, 
'  rhetoric,  and  logic  ;  they,  however,  who,  after  passing  the  trivium,  and 
'also  the  quadrivium  were  desirous  of  rising  yet  higher  in  their  literary 
'  pursuits,  were  exhorted  to  apply  themselves  to  the  study  of  Cassiodorus 
'  and  Boethius,  as  if  the  progress  of  human  knowledge  was  bounded  by 
*  the  discoveries  of  those  two  learned  writers.'  Ecclesiast.  Hist.  Cent. 
VIII.  part  ii.  cap.  1. 

t  Upon  the  writings  of  the  Latins  the  remark  is  obvious,  that  they 
added  nothing  to  musical  science ;  and  indeed  their  inferiority  to  the 
Greeks,  both  in  philosophy  and  the  more  elegant  arts,  seems  to  be 
allowed  by  the  best  judges  of  ancient  literature. 

Indeed  in  their  practice  of  music  they  seem  to  have  somewhat  im- 
proved on  that  of  their  predecessors,  as  is  evident  from  Vitruvius's 
description  of  the  hydraulic  organ,  an  instrument  which  Sidonius  Apol- 
linaris  takes  notice  of  in  one  of  his  epistles,  where  he  speaks  of  the 
amusements  of  Theodoric,  and  particularly  adds  that  he  was  wont  to  be 
entertained  with  the  music  of  the  hydraulic  organ  while  he  sat  at  dinner  : 
and  it  is  in  the  history  of  the  period  in  which  Boetius  and  Cassiodorus 
flourished,  that  we  meet  with  the  first  intimation  of  such  a  profession 
as  that  of  a  teacher  of  music.  The  following  is  an  epitaph  in  the  epistles 
of  the  same  Sidonius  Apollinaris  on  one  of  this  profession  : — 

Orator  Dialecticus  Poeta 

Tractator,  Geometra,  Musicus 

Psalmorum  Modulator,  Phonascus 

Instructas  docuit  souare  classes.        Lib.  IV.  pag.  143. 


enumerated,  regarded  chiefly  the  theory  of  the  science, 
those  that  followed  were  for  the  most  part  confined 
to  practice  :  among  the  latter  none  have  a  greater 
title  to  our  attention  than  those  made  about  the  end 
of  the  sixth  century,  by  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  tlie 
first  pope  of  that  name,  a  man  not  more  remarkable 
for  his  virtues  than  for  his  learning  and  profound 
skill  in  the  science  of  music. 

The  first  improvement  of  music  made  by  this 
father  consisted  in  the  invention  of  that  kind  of 
notation  by  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,  with  all  the  various 
species  of  the  latter,  had  given  way  to  the  diatonic 
genus,  the  first  fifteen  letters  of  the  Roman  alphabet 
had  even  before  the  time  of  Boetius  been  found 
sufficient  to  denote  all  the  several  sounds  in  the 
perfect  system ;  and  accordingly  we  find  in  his 
treatise  De  Musica  all  the  sounds  from  Proslara- 
banomenos  to  Nete  hyperboleon  characterised  by  the 
Roman  letters,  from  A  to  P  inclusive ;  but  Gregory 
reflecting  that  the  sounds  after  Lychanos  meson  were 
but  a  repetition  of  those  before  it,  and  that  every 
septenary  in  progression  was  precisely  the  same, 
reduced  the  number  of  letters  to  seven,  which  were 
A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G ;  but,  to  distinguish  the  second 
septenary  from  the  first,  the  second  was  denoted  by 
the  small,  and  not  the  capital,  Roman  letters ;  and 
when  it  became  necessary  to  extend  the  system 
farther,  the  small  letters  were  doubled  thus,  aa,  bb, 
CO,  dd,  ee,  ff,  gg. 

But  the  encreasing  the  number  of  tones  from  four 
to  eight,  and  the  institution  of  what  is  called  the 
Gregorian  Chant,  or  plain  song,  is  the  improvement 
for  which  of  all  others  this  father  is  most  celebrated. 
It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  St.  Ambrose 
when  he  introduced  singing  into  the  church-service, 
selected  from  the  ancient  modes  four,  which  he 
appropriated  to  the  several  offices  :  farther  it  is  to 
be  observed,  tliat  to  these  modes  the  appellation 
of  Tones  was  given,  probably  on  the  authority  of 
Martianus  Capella,  who,  as  Sir  Henry  Spelman  re- 
marks, was  the  first  that  substituted  the  term  Tones 
in  the  room  of  Modes.  But  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 
progressions,  corresponding  with  different  species  of 
the  diapason ;  and  that  under  some  kind  of  regu- 
lation, of  which  we  are  now  ignorant,  the  divine 
offices  were  alternately  chanted,  and  this  by  the 
express  institution  of  St.  Ambrose  himself,  who  all 
agree  was  the  first  that  introduced  the  practice  of 
alternate  or  antiphonal  singing,  at  least  into  the 
western  church ;  but  it  was  such  a  kind  of  recitation 
as  in  his  own  opinion  came  nearer  to  the  tone  of 
reading  than  singing.  | 

Cardinal  Bona§  cites  Theodoret,  lib.  IV.  to  prove 
that  the  method  of  singing  introduced  by  St.  Ambrose 
was  alternate;  and  proceeds  to  relate  that  as  the 
vigour  of  the  clerical  discipline,  and  the  majesty  of 

t  Vo.ssius  De  Scientiis  mathematicis,  cap.  xxi.  §  II. 
§  De  Rebus  Liturgicls. 


128                                                   HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE                                         Book  III. 

the  Christian  religion  eminently  shone  forth  in  the  582,  made  him  one  of  his  deacons,  and  sent  him  to 
ecclesiastical  song,  the  Roman  pontiffs  and  the  bishops  Constantinople,  there  to  reside  in  the  court  of  the 
of  other  churches  took  care  that  the  clerks  from  emperor  Tiberius,  in  quality  of  his  nuncio  or  surro- 
their  tender  years  should  learn  the  rudiments  of  gate,  though  his  immediate  business  there  was  to 
singing  under  proper  masters ;  and  that  accordingly  solicit  succours  against  the  Lombards.  Upon  the 
a  music-school  was  instituted  at  Rome  by  pope  death  of  Tiberius  in  58(3,  Gregory  returned  to  Rome, 
Hilary,  or,  as  others  contend,  by  Gregory  the  Great,  and  was  there  employed  as  secretary  to  Pelagius ; 
to  whom  also  we  are  indebted  for  restoring  the  but  at  length  he  obtained  of  him  leave  to  retire 
ecclesiastical  song  to  a  better  form ;  for  though  the  again  to  his  monastery,  the  government  whereof  he 
practice  of  singing  was  from  the  very  foundation  had  formerly  bestowed  on  an  ecclesiastic  named 
of  the  Christian  church  used  at  Rome,  yet  are  we  Valentius,  whom  for  his  great  merit  he  had  taken 
ignorant  of  what  kind  the  ecclesiastical  modes  were,  from  a  monastery  in  the  country.  Here  he  thought 
before  the  time  of  Gregory,  or  what  was  the  dis-  to  indulge  himself  in  the  pleasures  of  a  studious  and 
cipline  of  the  singers.  In  fact  the  whole  service  contemplative  life,  but  was  soon  drawn  from  his 
seems  to  have  been  of  a  very  irregular  kind,  for  we  retirement  by  a  contagious  disease,  which  at  that 
are  told  that  in  the  primitive  church  the  people  sang  time  raged  with  such  violence,  that  eight  hundred 
each  as  his  inclination  led  him,  with  hardly  any  persons  died  of  it  in  one  hour.J  To  avert  this 
other  restriction  than  that  what  they  sang  should  calamity  Gregory  quitted  his  retreat,  came  forth 
be  to  the  praise  of  God.  Indeed  some  certain  into  the  city,  and  instituted  litanies  §  and  a  sevenfold 
offices,  such  as  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Apostles'  procession,  consisting  of  several  orders  of  the  peojile, 
Creed,  had  been  used  in  the  church-service  almost  upon  whose  arrival  at  the  great  church  it  is  said  the 
from  the  first  establishment  of  Christianity  ;*  but  distemper  ceased.  Of  this  disease  Pelagius  himself 
these  were  too  few  in  number  to  prevent  the  intro-  died,  and  by  the  joint  suffrage  of  the  clergy,  the 
duction  of  hymns  and  spiritual  songs  at  the  pleasure  senate,  and  people  of  Rome,  Gregory  was  chosen  for 
of  the  heresiarchs,  who  began  to  be  very  numerous  his  successor  ;  but  he  was  so  little  disposed  to  accept 
about  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  and  that  to  this  dignity,  that  he  got  himself  secretly  conveyed 
a  degree  which  called  aloud  for  reformation.  The  out  of  the  city  in  a  basket,  thereby  deceiving  the 
evil  increasing,  the  emperor  Theodosius  requested  guards  that  were  set  at  the  gates  to  hinder  his  escape, 
the  then  pope,  Damasus,  to  frame  such  a  service  and  went  and  hid  himself  in  a  cave  in  the  middle  of 
as  should  consist  with  the  solemnity  and  decency  a  wood ;  but  being  discovered,  he  was  prevailed  on 
of  divine  worship ;  the  pope  readily  assented,  and  to  return,  and  was  consecrated  on  the  third  of  Sep- 
employed  for  this  purpose  a  presbyter  named  tember,  590,  and  was  the  first  of  the  popes  that  used 
Hieronymus,  a  man  of  learning,  gravity,  and  dis-  the  style  '  Servus  servorum  Dei.'  He  was  of  a  very 
cretion,  who  formed  a  new  ritual,  into  which  he  infirm  and  weakly  constitution,  but  had  a  vigorous 
introduced  the  Epistles,  Gospels,  and  the  Psalms,|  mind,  and  discharged  the  duties  of  his  station  with 
with  the  Gloria  Patri  and  Alleluiah  ;  and  these,  equanimity  and  firmness.  He  possessed  a  great  share 
together  with  certain  hymns  which  he  thought  proper  of  learning,  and  was  so  well  skilled  in  the  tempers 
to  retain,  made  up  the  whole  of  the  service.  and  dispositions  of  mankind,  that  he  made  even  the 
It  is  very  doubtful  whether  any  thing  like  an  anti-  private  interests  and  ambitious  views  of  princes  sub- 
phonary  existed  at  this  time,  or  indeed  whether  St.  serN-ient  to  the  ends  of  religion.  One  of  the  greatest 
Ambrose  did  any  thing  more  than  institute  the  tones,  events  which  by  his  prudence  and  good  management 
leaving  it  to  the  singers,  under  the  regulations  thereby  he  brought  about  during  his  pontificate,  was  the  con- 
prescribed,  to  adapt  such  musical  sounds  to  the  several  version  of  the  English  to  Christianity,  which,  as 
offices  as  they  should  from  time  to  time  think  fit ;  and  related  by  Bede,  makes  one  of  the  prettiest  stories 
to  this  the  confusion  that  had  arisen  in  the  church-  in  our  history.  But  what  gives  him  a  title  to  a  place 
service  was  in  a  great  measure  owing.  What  metliods  in  this  work  is  his  having  effected  a  reformation  in 
were  taken  by  Gregory  to  remedy  this  evil  will  be  the  music  of  the  church.  || 
related  in  the  following  account  of  him.  +  ,-.      ,  *i.          .        r*,.-   ^• 

o  t  One  of  the  symptoms  of  this  disease  was  a  violent  sneezing,  which 

was  looked  upon  as  mortal,  and  upon   this   occasion   gave  rise  to  the 
ejaculation  '  God  bless  you  ! '  in  favour  of  such  as  were  suddenly  taken 

CHAP.    XXVII.  '"^it'>  that  convulsion.     Isaacson's  Chronology,  anno.  590. 

/^ .„_-ni                                   T  J.^      n         J.             t,„  §  ^^^  word  Litany,  taken  in  its  larger  setise,  includes  public  prayers  of 

Gregory  the  J^IRST,  SUrnamed  the  Great,  was  born  ail  kinds,  hut  in  its  limited  signification  it  denotes  that  kind  of  prayer 

at  Rome  of  an  illustrious  family,  about  the  year  550.  attended  with  Rogations  which  was  formerly  used  in  the  church  to  deprecate 

•Q-        J.     T    J         '.^                .                               II"              Ti.            3  tmpendtng  judgments.      Of  these  Mamercus,   Irishop  of  Vienna  about  the 

tie    StUClieCl    with    great    success,    and    his  quality  and  year  450,  and  Sidomus  bishop  of  Aver7m,  are  said  to  have  been  the  insti- 

merit  so  recommended  him,  that  the  emperor  Justin  %\Ti!',^iT''''iZ'l7lfZ  'rJnZtT  't  'Z""™  t"  Retime  of  st  Basil. 

P/.1            •               K  c         A  Ihe  Litany  instituted  by  St.  Gregory  was  that  named  Lttania  Srptifornns, 

the  younger  made  him  prefect  of   that  city.      After  he  which,  as  Hooker  asserts,  co^itains  the  flower  of  the  former  litanies,  and  with 

had  held' this  high  office  for  some  time,  he  discovered  S^i«S'ZV™  '':^ai!T^::':ir^,r'^^;i.  ^:f?. 

that    it   made    him   too   fond    of   the  world,  and  there-  SedX.  Lestrange's  Alliance  of  Divine  OJJices,  Annot.  on  Chap.  IV. 

upon    he    retired   to   a  convent  which  he  had  founded  .    ".  Johannes  Diaconus    who  wrote  the  life  of  this  pope,  says  that  he 

•       -1  .                   ,                   ,     T-)                 11                                   11    J  imitated  the  most  wise  Solomon  m  this  respect ;  and  that  he  with  infinite 

in    niS    own    house    at    Kome  ;    but  he  was  soon  called.  labour  and  great  ingenuity  composed  an  antlphonary;  and  other  writers 

out  of  this    retirement   bv  none  Pplao-his  TT      who    in  '"'''  ''^  gradual  also,  not  in  the  way  of  compilation,  or  by  collecting  the 

uus    leuneiueUL    uy  pope  jrciaglUS  Xi.,   WUU,  lu  ^^^^^^  therein  contained,  but  that  he  dictated  or  pointed,  and  actually 

*  Nivers  sur  le  Chant  Gregorien   chap.  i.  neumatized  the  musical  cantus  both  to  the  antiphonary  and  gradual. 

t  Ibid.     Damasus  is  said  to  have  first  introduced  the  Psalms  into  the  Neuma  is  a  word  possibly  derived  from  the  Greek  nvivfia,  and,  as 

service.     Platina  in  Damasus,  Isaacs.  Chron.  anno  371.  explained  by  Sir  Henry  Spelman,  signifies  an  aggregation  of  as  many 


Chap.  XXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


129 


Maimbourg  in  his  Histoire  du  Pontificat  de  St. 
Gregoire  has  collected  from  Johannes  Diaconus  and 
others,  all  that  he  could  find  on  this  subject.  The 
account  given  by  him  is  as  follows  : — 

'  He  especially  applied  himself  to  regulate  the 
'  office  and  the  singing  of  the  church,  to  which 
'  end  he  composed  his  antiphonary — nothing  can  be 
'  more  admirable  than  what  he  did  on  this  occasion. 
'  Though  he  had  upon  his  hands  all  the  affairs  of 
'  tlie  universal  church,  and  was  still  more  burthened 
'  with  distempers  than  with  that  multitude  of  business 
'  which  he  was  necessarily  to  take  care  of  in  all  parts 
'  of  the  world,  yet  he  took  time  to  examine  with  what 
'  tunes  the  psalms,  hymns,  oraisons,  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 
'  the  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 

*  Gregorian  music.     He  moreover  instituted  an  aca- 

*  demy  of  singers  for  all  the  clerks  to  the  deaconship 
'  exclusively,  because  the  deacons  were  only  to  be 
'  employed   in   preaching   the   Gospel   and  the   dis- 

*  tributing  the  alms  of  the  church  to  the  poor  ;  and 

*  he  would  have  the  singers  to  perfect  themselves  in 
'  tlie  art  of  true  siiiging  according  to  the  notes  of  his 

*  music,  and  to  bring  their  voices  to  sing  sweetly  anel 

*  devoutly  ;  which,  according  to  St.  Isidore,  is  not  to 
'  be  obtained  but  by  fasting  and  abstinence  :  for,  says 
'  he,  the  ancients  fasted  the  day  before  they  were  to 
'  sing,  and  lived  for  their  ordinary  diet  upon  pulse, 
'  to  make  their  voices  clearer  and  finer  ;  whence  it  is 

that  the  heathens  called  those  singers  bean-eaters.* 
-  A-  *  *  *  *  However,  St.  Gregory  took  care  to 
'  instruct  them  himself,  as  much  a  pope  as  he  was, 
'  and  to  teach  them  to  sing  well.  Johannes  Diaconus 
'  says,  that  in  his  time,  this  pope's  bed  was  preserved 
'  with  great  veneration,  in  the  palace  of  St.  John  of 
'  Lateran,  in  which  he  sang,  though  sick,  to  teach  the 
'  singers ;  as  also  the  whip,  wherewith  he  threatened 

*  the  young  clerks  and  the  singing  boys,  when  they 
'  were  out,  and  failed  in  the  notes.' 

The  account  given  by  Johannes  Diaconus  is  some- 
what more  particular  than  that  of  Maimbourg,  and  is 
to  this  effect : — '  Gregory  instituted  a  singing  school, 
'  and  built  two  houses  for  the  habitation  of  the  scho- 

*  lars,  and  endowed  them  with  ample  revenues  ;  one 
'  of  these  houses  was  near  the  stairs  of  the  chiu'ch  of 
'  St.  Peter,  and  the  other  near  the  Lateran  palace. 
'  For  many  ages  after  his  death,  the  bed  on  which  he 
'  modulated  as  he  lay,  and  the  whip  which  he  used 
'  to  terrify  the  younger  scholars,  were  preserved  with 
'  a  becoming  veneration,  together  with  the  authentic 
'  antiphonary,  above  said  to  have  been  compiled  by 
'  him.'t 

sounds  as  may  be  uttered  in  one  single  respiration.  Spelm.  Gloss,  voce 
Neuma  :  and  in  this  sense  it  is  used  by  Guido  himself,  Franchinus,  and 
other  writers. 

*  '  Pridie  quam  cantandum  erat  cibis  abstinebant  psallentes,  legumine 

in  causa  vocis  assidue  utebantur,  undeet  can  tores  apud  gentiles  Fabarii 

.licti  sunt.'     Isid.  de  Eccl.  Ollic.  lib.  II.  cap.  xii. 
t   '  Deiade   in   domo   Domini   (Divus   Gregorius)  more  sapientissimi 

Salamonis  propter  musicaj  compunctionem  dulcedinis,   antiphonarium 

centoneni  cantorum  studiosissimus  uiniis  utiliter  compilavit.  Scholam 
'quoque  cantorum.    'lua;   hactcnus   tjusdeni   institutionibus  in  Sancta 


Other  additions  to  and  improvements  of  the  service 
are  attributed  to  St.  Gregory.  It  is  said,  that  he 
added  the  prayers,  particularly  this,  '  Diesque  nostros 
in  pace  disjjonas,'  and  the  Kyrie  Eleeson,  and  the 
Alleluia,  both  which  he  took  from  the  Greek  liturgy ; 
and  that  he  introduced  many  hymns,  and  adopted  the 
responsaria  to  the  lessons  and  gospels  :  nay,  some 
have  gone  so  far  as  to  assert  that  he  invented  the 
stave.  Kircher  speaks  of  a  MS.  eight  hundred  years 
old,  which  he  had  seen,  containing  music,  written  on 
a  stave  of  eight  lines ;  but  Vincentio  Galilei,  in  his 
Dialogo  della  Musica,  shews  that  it  was  in  use  bef(jre 
Gregory's  time  :|  this  is  a  matter  of  some  uncertainty; 
but  the  merit  of  substituting  the  Roman  letters  in  the 
room  of  the  Greek  characters,  the  reformation  of 
the  antiphonary,  the  foundation  and  endowment  of 
seminaries  for  the  study  of  music,  and  the  intro- 
duction 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  music.  The  augmentation  of  the  tones 
must  doubtless  be  considered  as  a  great  improve- 
ment ;  the  tones,  as  they  stood  adjusted  by  St. 
Ambrose,  were  only  four,  and  are  defined  by  a  series 
of  eight  sounds,  in  the  natural  or  diatonic  order  of 
progression,  ascending  from  D,  from  E,  from  F,  and 
from  G,  in  the  grave,  to  the  same  sounds  in  the  acute. 

But  before  the  nature  of  this  improvement  can  be 
understood,  it  nmst  be  premised,  that  although  th« 
ecclesiastical  tones,  consisting  merely  of  a  varied 
succession  of  tones  and  semitones,  in  a  gradual  ascent 
from  the  lower  note  to  its  octave,  answer  exactly 
to  the  several  keys,  as  they  are  called  by  modern 
musicians  ;  yet  in  this  respect  they  differ  ;  for  in 
modern  compositions  the  key-note  is  the  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  is  termed  the  Dominant,  as  prevailing,  and 
being  most  frequently  heai'd  of  any  in  the  tone  ;  the 
other,  from  whence  the  series  ascends,  is  called  the 
Final.§ 

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  the  intent  of  the  fathers  that  the  whole 
should  be  sung,  and  no  part  thereof  said  or  uttered 
in  the  tone  or  manner  of  ordinary  reading  or  praying. 

'  Romana  Ecclesia  modulatur  constituit ;  eiquecuni  nonnulis  pr.nediis  duo 
'  habitacula ;  scilicet,  alterum  sub  gradibus  Basilica'  B.  Petri  Apostoli, 
'  alterum  vero  sub  Lateranensis  Ecclesije  Patriarchii  domibus  fahricavit ; 
'  ubi  usque  hodie  lectus  ejus,  in  quo  recubans  modulahatur,  et  llagellam 
'  ipsius,  quo  jiueris  minabatur  veneratione  congrua,  cum  authentico 
'  antiphonario  reservatur.'  .Tohann.  Diacon.  inVitaGreg.lib.il.  cap.  vi. 
Johannes  Diaconus  ilour!sl\ed  about  the  year  880  ;  so  that  tliese  relics 
might  have  been  two  hundred  and  seventy  years  old  at  tlie  time  when 
he  wrote  the  life  of  Gregory. 

X  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the  musical  stave  has  varied  in  its 
limits  since  it  was  first  invented.  By  the  passage  in  Galilei  above  re- 
ferred to,  it  seems  to  have  been  originally  contrived  to  include  the  system 
of  a  diapason,  as  containing  eight  lines  ;  on  which  only,  and  not  in  the 
spaces,  the  points  or  notes  were  originally  placed.  Guido  Aretinus,  by 
making  use  of  the  spaces,  reduced  it  to  five  lines.  After  his  time,  that 
is  to  say  in  the  thirteenth  century,  the  stave  was  finally  settled  at  four 
lines,  in  consequence,  it  is  supposed,  of  that  correction  of  the  antiphonary 
of  the  Cistercian  order,  which  St.  Bernard  undertook  and  perfected 
some  years  before  ;  and  this  num.ier  has  ever  since  been  found  sufficient 
for  the  notation  of  the  Catitus  Gregorianus. 

§  Niv.  sur  le  ('h.-int  Gregoriiii,  chap.  xii.  g 


130 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


It  seemed  therefore  necessary,  in  the  institution  of 
a  musical  service,  so  to  connect  the  several  parts  of 
it  as  to  keep  it  within  the  bounds  of  the  human 
voice  ;  and  this  could  only  be  done  by  restraining  it 
to  some  one  certain  sound,  as  a  medium  for  adjusting 
the  limits  of  each  tone,  and  which  should  pervade  the 
whole  of  the  service,  as  well  the  psalms  and  those 
portions  of  scripture  that  were  ordinarily  read  to  the 
people,  as  the  hymns,  canticles,  spiritual  songs,  and 
other  parts  thereof,  which,  in  their  own  nature,  were 
proper  to  be  sung. 

Hence  it  will  appear,  that  in  each  of  the  tones  it 
was  necessary  not  only  that  the  concords,  as,  namely, 
the  fourth,  the  fifth,  and  the  octave,  should  be  well 
defined  ;  but  that  the  key-note  should  so  predominate 
as  that  the  singers  should  never  be  in  danger  of 
missing  the  pitch,  or  departing  from  the  mode  in 
which  the  service  should  be  directed  to  be  sung ;  this 
distinction,  therefore,  between  the  dominant  and  final, 
must  have  existed  at  the  early  time  of  instituting 
the  Cantus  Ambrosianus,  and  the  same  prevails  at 
this  day. 

The  characteristics  of  the  four  primitive  modes 
were  these  :  in  each  of  them  the  diatessaron  was 
placed  above  the  diapente,  which  is  but  one  of  the 
two  kinds  of  division  of  which  the  diapason  is  sus- 
ceptible. Gregory  was  aware  of  this,  and  interposed 
four  other  tones  between  the  four  instituted  by  St. 
Ambrose,  in  which  the  diapente  held  the  uppermost 
place  in  the  diapason  :  in  short,  the  tones  of  St. 
Ambrose  arise  from  the  arithmetical,  and  those  of 
St.  Gregory  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  Authentic,  and  the  latter 
that  of  Plagal  :  the  following  diagram  may  serve  to 
shew  the  difierence  between  the  one  and  the  other  of 
them : — 


CD 


G 


2  4  6  8 

Occasion  has  already  been  taken  to  remark,  that 

•  We  have  no  authentic  fonnula  of  the  tones  in  musical  characters  more 
ancient  than  what  is  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  Franchinus  :  there  is 
indeed  one  in  MS.  in  the  British  Museum,  which  was  part  of  the  Cotton 
lihrary,  Nero,  A.  xii.  13,  beginning  '  Si  vis  scire  artem  musicam  ;  '  but 
the  notes,  which  were  written  in  red  ink,  are  effaced  by  time. 


there  are  three  different  species  of  diatessaron,  and 
four  of  diapente  ;  and  that  from  the  conjunction  of 
these  two,  there  arise  seven  species  of  diapason. 
Authors  have  differed  m  their  manner  of  character- 
ising these  several  systems,  as  may  be  seen  in  Bon- 
tempi,  who  calls  the  comparison  of  them  anunprofi table 
operation,  f  That  of  Gaffurius  seems  best  to 
correspond  with  the  notions  of  those  who  have 
written  professedly  on  the  Cantus  Gregorianus,  par- 
ticularly of  Erculeo,  who,  in  his  treatise,  intitled  II 
Canto  Ecclesiastico,  has  thus  defined  them  : — 

THREE  Species  of  DIATESSARON. 
I.  II.  III. 


£-«=ajEE=5^i5E3i!E: 


Ee 


Sol      Mi 


La       Fa 


Fa 


FOUR  Species  of  the  DIAPENTE. 
I.  II. 


r|=ES3IE:5EE?=  ^E1EE^E?EE^ 


Re 


III. 


La         Mi  Mi 

IV. 


—  

— ^ *— ■ — -^r-  ^.      ♦ '—  ■ 


Fa  Fa        Do 

SEVEN  Species  of  DIAPASON. 
I.  II. 


Sol. 


i^E^^^^^ll^;^! 


Re 


La    Mi 


Mi 


III. 


IV. 


... 

~" 

"    r                                                 - 

.u    *   ■ 

J.    A   ♦ 

A      ♦     • 

^=; 

n^^^ 

-  *  *    -  n 

_ 

L  II.  III.  IV. 

Sentenziose.        Meste.  Disdegno.        Pacifiche. 


— E 


D  E 

V.  VI.  VII.  VIII, 

Allegre.  Flebile.  Divote.        Misteriose. 


i§= 


F  G 

It  now  remains  to  show  how  the  tones  correspond 
with  the  seven  species  of  diapason ;  and  this  will 

+   Hist.  Mus.  pag.  177. 


Ohap.  XXVIII.                                  AND  PRACTIOB  OF  MUSIC.  131 

most  clearly  appear  from  tlie  description  which  Gaf-  Having  adjusted  the  number  and  limits  of  the 

furius  has  given  of  them  in   his   Practica  Musicse  tones,  Gregory  proceeded  to  the  invention  of  a  Oantus, 

utriusque  Cantus,  lib.  I.  wherein  he  says,  euch  as   he  thought  would  be  consistent  with  the 

'  The  first  tone  is  formed  of  the  first  species  of  gravity  and  dignity  of  the  service  to  which  it  was 

*  diapente,  between  D  sol  re  and  A  la  mi  re,  and  to  be  applied.  A  plain  unisonous  kind  of  melody 
'  the  first  species  of  diatessaron  from  the  same  A  la  frequently  inflected  to  the  concords  of  its  key,  seemed 
'  MI  RE  to  D  LA  SOL  RE  in  the  acute,  constituting  the  to    him    the   fittest  for  this   purpose ;    and   having 

*  fourth  species  of  diapason,  D  d.  prescribed  a  rule  to  himself,  as  well  as  to  others, 

'  The  second   is  formed  of   the   same   species  of  he  proceeded  to  apply  to  the  divine  offices  that  kind 

*  diapente  and  diatessaron ;  but  so  disposed  as  to  form  of  Cantilena  which  prevails  in  the  Roman  church 
'  the  first  species  of  diapason,  A  a.  even  at  this  day ;  and  which  is  known  in  Italy  by 

'  The  third   is  formed  of  the  second  species  of  the  name  of  Canto  Fermo,  in  France  by  that  of 

'  diapente,  between  E  la  mi,  grave,  and  J]  mi  ;  and  Plain  Chant,  and  in  Germany  and  most  other  coun- 

*  the  second  species  of  diatessaron  from  the  same  J]  tries  by  that  of  the  Cantus  Gregorianus.  Cardinal 
'  MI,  to  E  LA  MI,  acute,  constituting  the  fifth  species  Bona  gives  this  description  of  it : — '  The  cantus  insti- 
'  of  diapason,  E  e.  '  tuted  by  Saint  Gregory  was  plain  and  unisonous, 

'  The  fourth   is  formed  of  the   same   species  of  '  proceeding  by  certain  limits  and  bounds  of  tones, 

'  diapente  and  diatessaron ;  but  so  disposed  as  to  form  '  which  the  musicians  term  Modes  or  Tropes,  and 

'  the  second  species  of  diapason,  J]  Jj.  '  define  by  the  octonary  number,  according  to  the 

'  The  fifth  is  formed  of  the  third  species  of  dia-  '  natural  disposition  of  the  diatonic  genus.' 

*  pente,  between  F  fa  ut,  grave,  and  C  sol  fa  ut  ;  Considering  that  the  right  understanding  of  the 

*  and  the  third  species  of  diatessaron,  from  the  same  ecclesiastical  tones  is  essential  to  the  regular  per- 

*  C  SOL  FA  UT  to  F  FA  UT,  acute ;  constituting  the  formance  of  choral  service,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered 

*  sixth  species  of  diapason,  F  f.  at,  that  almost  every  writer  on  music,  who  professes 

'  The  sixth  is  formed  of  the  same  species  of  dia-  to  treat  the  subject  at  large,  has  taken  them  under 

'  pente  and  diatessaron ;  but  so  disposed  as  to  form  his  consideration ;    and  though  it  may  seem,   that 

'  the  third  species  of  diapason,  C  c.  after  they  were  first  established   and  promulgated 

'The  seventh  is  formed  of  the  fourth  species  of  through   the   church,   they  ceased  to   be  an  object 

'  diapente,  between  G  sol  re  ut,  grave,  and  D  la  worthy  the  attention  of  theorists  in  musical  science, 

*  SOL  RE  ;  and  the  first  species  of  diatessaron  from  yet  there  is  no  assignable  period  in  which  it  was  not 
'  the  same  D  la  sol  re,  to  G  sol  re  ut,  acute ;  necessary  to  review  them,  and  purge  them  from  those 
'  constituting  the  seventh  species  of  diapason,  G  g.  errors  which  the  levity  and  inattention  of  the  singers 

'  The  eighth   is   formed  of  the   same  species  of  were  from  time  to  time  introducing ;  for,  for  near  a 

'  diapente  and   diatessaron  ;    but  so  disposed  as  to  century  after  Gregory's  time,  innovations  of  this  kind 

'  form  the  fourth  species  of  diapason,  D  d,  which  is  were  so  frequent,  that  it  seemed  hardly  possible  to 

*  the  characteristic  of  the  first  tone  :  but  the  dominant,  preserve  the  Cantus  Gregorianus  in  any  degree  of 
'  of  the  one  being  A,  and  that  of  the  other  G,  there  purity ;  and,  therefore,  the  court  of  Rome  was  con- 

*  is  an  essential  difference  between  them.'  tinually  troubled  with  applications  from  the  princes 

Hence  it  appears,  that  the  difference  between  the  of  Europe,  expressing  their  fears  that  the   Cantus 

Authentic  and  Plagal  modes,  arises  from  the  different  Gregorianus  was  in  danger  of  being  lost,  and  praying 

division  of  the  diapason  in  each  ;    the  Authentics  its  interposition  in  order  to  its  restoration, 

being  divided   in  harmonical,  and   the   Plagals  in  A  more  particular  account  of  these  applications,  and 

arithmetical   proportion.      The   nature   of   these   is  the  success  they  met  with,  will  shortly  follow ;  they 

fully  explained  in  the  treatise  De  Musica  of  Boetius,  are  mentioned  in  this  place  to  shew  that  the  Cantus 

lib.  II.  cap.  xii. ;  and  by  Dr.  Holder,  in  his  treatise  Gregorianus  was  esteemed  a  matter  of  great  import- 

of  the  Natural  Grounds  and  Principles  of  Harmony,  ance  in   divine   worship,  and   to  account   in   some 

chap,  v.*  measure  for  the  numerous  tracts  that  are  extant  in 

Prom  the  principles  laid  down  by  the  latter  of  the  world  concerning  it. 
these  writers,!  it  will  follow,  that  taking  the  num- 
bers 12,  9,  8,  6,  to  express  the  proportion  of  the  CHAP    XXVIII 
diapason,  and  its  component  intervals,  the  diatessaron 

and  diapente  ;   when  the  division  of  the  diapason  In  the  earlier  ages  the  treatises  written  with  a 

is  thus,  12,  9,  6,  or  A  D  a,  giving  to  the  diatessaron  view  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  ecclesiastical 

the  lowest  position,  the  proportion  is  arithmetical :  tones,  were  composed  in  monasteries  :  Guido  Aretinus, 

When  it  is  12,  8,  6,  or  A  E  a,  in  which  the  diapente  a  Benedictine  monk,  in  a  tract  entitled  Micrologus,  a 

holds  the  lowest  place,  it  is  harmonical.J  very  particular  account  whereof  will  hereafter  be 

*  See  an  extract  from  it,  supra,  chap.  xxiv.    t  Vide  Hold.  pag.  86.  given,  has  bestowcd  three  chapters  on  the  explanation 

t  Malcolm,  in  his  Treatise  of  Musick,  pag.  162,  says  that  the  arith-  of  the   modeS   Or    tropeS,  wllich  are  nO  Other  than  the 

metical  division  puts  the  5th  next  the  lesser  extreme,  and  the  harmonical  .    ,  ,            i      •      i-      i                   -i\r               j.i            t 

next  the  greater,  as  in  the  numbers  6,  8,  9,   12,  as  they  certainly  do.  Clght    CCClCSiastlC    tOUeS.       Many    OtllCr    dlSCOUrsCS    OU 

Again  he  says,  page  563,  that  the  harmonical  division  places  the  5Ui  ^J^g  g^me  subicct  are  alsO  Cxtaut   in    maUUSCript  ;    and 

.owest,  which  IS  also  true;  hence  it  appears  that  he  looks  upon  the  lesser  ..,•'.                      ,1                                        '■ 

extreme  to  be  the  lowest  position,  but  in  this  he  errs ;  lor  if  six  parts  lU  print  they  are  innumerable. 

give  a,  twelve  must  give  the  octave  below  it,  J.  e.  A.     Bontempi  is  also  r\f   vninimcriTlt'?   nnnp    ran    DVPtpud    to    p-rpatpr    an- 

grossly  erroneous  in  pages  70  and  173,  et  seq.  of  his  history,  and  has  ^}    manUbCnpiS    UOUe    OdU   preieuu    IQ    greater    au- 

made  strange  confusion,  by  giving  the  smaller  number  to  the  graves,  thority  than  the   MicrologUS   of   Guido    AretiuUS,    the 

aSverb's  \ZTo\nasolT"'' '"" '" '""'  '=°"«'^i"«"'  misapplication  of  the  ^^^j^^j^^  thirteenth,  and  fourteenth  chapters  whereof 


132 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  III. 


contain  a  general  description  of  tlie  eii^ht  ecclesiastical 
modes,  tropes,  or  tones,  but  without  any  distinction 
of"  their  respective  finals  and  dominants.  In  a  manu- 
script in  the  library  of  Baliol  college,  containing  the 
Micrologus  of  Guido,  and  several  other  musical  tracts, 
is  a  dialogue  beginning  with  these  words,  '  Quid 
est  Musica  ? '  in  which  the  tones  are  treated  with 
a  somewhat  less  degree  of  obscurity  ;  but  this  also 
is  defective  in  that  it  contains  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  vellum  with 
the  following  title,  '  Hunc  Librum  vocitatum  Musi- 
'  cam  Guidonis  scripsit  Dominus  Johannes  Wylde, 
'  quondam  exempti  Monasterii  San  eta  Crucis  de 
'  Waltham  Pra?,centor,'  the  property  of  Mr.  West 
now  president  of  the  Royal  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  particular  account  will  be  given  here- 
after, are  contained  a  great  number  of  discourses  on 
the  subject  of  music,  composed  by  sundry  persons, 
as  namely,  the  above-mentioned  Johannes  Wylde, 
Kendale,  Johannes  Torkesey,  Thomas 
Walsyngham,  Lyonell   Power,  Chilston, 

and  others  ;  and  among  these  are  several  short  tracts 
on  the  tones  or  tropes  as  they  are  called.  The  first 
in  the  book,  which  seems  to  have  been  not  barely 
copied,  but  composed  by  Wylde,  is  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,  from  the  figure  of  the  left  hand, 
which  Guido  is  said  to  have  made  use  of  for  ex- 
plaining his  system  ;  and  the  other  of  Tonal  music, 
contiiining  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  produced  from  the 
third,  and  thought  that  the  fourth  was  also  capable 
of  producing  another  tone,  which  he  added  to  the 
seven,  making  thereby  an  eighth  :  he  adds,  that  he 
disposed  one  after  another,  the  fifteen  letters,  which 
comprehended  the  bisdiapason  ;  constituting  A  for 
the  first  note  thereof,  and  P  for  the  last ;  and  having 
.Irawn  seven  semicircles,  which  pointed  out  seven 
species  or  tones,  he  added  the  eighth,  extending  from 
the  middle  letter  Y]  o^'  H  to  the  last  letter  P,  which 
was  the  only  eighth  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,  Boetius  asserted  to  be 

*  This  manuscript  passed  through  the  liancis  of  Morley,  and  was  of 
great  use  to  him  in  the  annotations  on  his  Introduction  :  many  years 
after  his  death  it  had  for  its  owner  Mr.  Powle,  speaker  of  the  liouse  of 
commons  in  the  reii^n  of  Kinp;  William  ;  from  him  it  came  to  Lord  Somers ; 
and  after  his  decease  to  Sir  Joseph  Jekyll,  at  an  auction  of  whose  books 
it  was  bought  by  a  country  organist,  Mr.  West,  and  he  in  gratitude  for 
some  kindnesses  done  him,  pressed  the  acceptance  of  it  on  its  present 
worthy  possessor.  A  copy  of  it  was  found  in  the  library  of  Dr.  Pepusch 
upon  his  decease,  but  it  is  from  the  original  that  this  and  the  subsequent 
extracts  from  it  are  taken. 


the  eighth  mode  or  tone  which  Ptolemy  superadded. 
The  same  author  observes  that  though  the  species 
are  Eight,  yet  the  genera  of  tones  are  in  truth  but 
Four,  each  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  cantus  in  any  of 
the  tones  can  with  propriety  exceed  the  limits  of 
a  tenth  ;  and  so  indeed  do  all  the  writers  on  this 
subject.f 

In  the  same  manustiript  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  called  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  Gaffurius,  as  he  is  of  the  greatest  anti- 
quity, so  is  he  of  unquestionable  authority.  In  his 
book  intitled  Practica  Musicae  utriusque  Cantus, 
printed  in  the  year  1502,  he  has  entered  into  a  large 
discussion  of  the  ecclesiastical  tones,  and  has  ex- 
hibited them  severally  in  the  following  forms  : — 


TONE  I. 


~-v 


-♦— ♦ 


-^ 


^^E\r*-rm~:^£\: 


'    Pri- mus  to-nus  sic   in  -  ci  -  pit    sic   me-dia-tur      et 


sic   fi  -  ni  -  tur.  Se-cu  -  lo  rum   a  men. 


i 


:J^^gj-.=i=.;=pi=B=azj 

'     '       Tnnnnaf*.  TT.nAna 


Euouae 


Euouae. 


TONE  II. 


■m 


-♦— ♦- 


Se-cundus  to-niis  sic   in  -  ci-pit    sic  me-di  -  a -tur 


E 


et    sic     fi  -  ni  -  tur.  Euouae. 

TONE  III. 


^ 


♦— ♦— ■— j-^— 


♦— ♦- 


fli=!=t 


Ter-ti-us    to-nus  sic   in -ci-pit      sic  me-di  -  a  -  tur 

et  sic    fi  -  ni-tur.      Euouae.  Euouae. 

TONE  IV. 


?-|: 


^ 


tus  to-nus    sic    in  -  ci  -  pit       sic  me-di  -  a-tur 


rzPEfcJEte^ 


'     et  sic  fi  -  ni  -  tur.     Euouae. 


Euouae. 


t  This  rule  must  be  understood  as  referring  only  to  that  unisonous 
cantus  which  is  used  in  the  intonation  of  the  psalms  and  other  parts  of 
the  service,  and  not  to  that  of  the  antiphons  and  hymns  ;  for  to  these 


Chap.  XXVIIL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


133 


TONE  V. 


i 


* 


Quintus   to-nus  sic    in  -  ci  -  pit      sic  me-di  -  a-tur 


:11^ 


-m — I 


et    sic     fi  -  ni  -  tur.       Euouae. 
TONE  VI. 


SEsE^i 


-♦-♦- 


t 


^^EpE 


Sex-tus  to-nus  sic  in -ci -pit      sic    me-di  -  a  -  tur 


m 


i 


'     et    sic      fi  -  ni  -  tur. 


TONE  VII. 

Velsic. 


m: 


^i^^ 


♦     ♦: 


Sep-timus         to  -  nus    sic 


in  -  ci  -  pit. 


^^ 


5^ 


et      sic     me  -  dia  -  tur 


et    sic      fi  -  ni  -  tur. 


riBE§EE-!?E?Et^az^E?ZiE5^ 


Euouae  Euouae.  Euouae. 

TONE  VIII. 

Vel  sic  solennis. 


t- 


^^-JT"^  ■  ♦  ♦  ■  HJ'^^^'g^^t: 


Oc-tavus      tonus  sic  in-ci-pit   sic  medi-a-txxr 


m 


-Sj=3t 


3=!: 


et    sic      fi  -  ni  -  tur.       Euouae. 

a  double,  triple,  and  frequently  a  quadruple  cantus  is  adapted ;  and  in 
these  the  interior  parts  have  often  anomalous  initials  and  finals  ;  and  in 
the  extreme  parts  the  ambit  of  the  grave  and  acute  sounds  wll  often 
necessarily  exceed  the  interval  of  a  tenth. 


The  above  characters  exhibit  the  essential  parts  of 
each  of  the  tones,  that  is  to  say,  the  beginning,  the 
mediation,  and  the  close,  which  is  generally  con- 
tained in  the  Euouae,  a  word,  or  rather  a  compages 
of  letters,  that  requires  but  little  exjilanation,  being 
nothing  more  than  the  vowels  contained  in  the  words 
Seculorum  Amen  ;  and  which  whenever  it  occurs, 
as  it  does  almost  in  every  page  of  the  antiphonary, 
is  meant  as  a  direction  for  singing  those  words  to 
the  notes  of  the  Euouae. 

From  Gaffurius  the  tones  have  been  continued 
down  to  this  time,  through  all  the  books  that  have 
been  written  on  the  subject  of  music  at  large,  in 
almost  every  country  in  Europe.  Of  those  written 
professedly  on  the  ecclesiastical  tones,  there  are  two 
that  merit  a  particular  attention,  the  one  entitled 
Armonia  Gregoriana,  by  Gerolamo  Cantone,  Master 
of  the  Novices,  and  vicar  of  the  convent  of  8t. 
Francis,  at  Turin,  published  in  1678,  oblong  quarto. 
The  other  has  the  title  of  II  Canto  Ecclesiastico,  the 
author  D.  Marzio  Erculeo,  printed  at  Modena  in 
1686,  in  small  folio. 

The  first  of  these  books  contains  the  rudiments  of 
singing,  and  the  most  important  rules  for  the  Canto 
Fermo,  which  for  the  most  part  are  comprised 
in  short  memorial  verses.  The  author  has  given 
a  brief  designation  of  the  eight  tones,  but  in  his 
twenty-second  chapter,  entitled  De'  Toni  Misti,  he 
has  assumed  a  licence  which  seems  unwarranted  by 
anv  precedent,  at  least  in  ancient  practice,  of  com- 
bining together  the  first  and  second,  the  third  and 
fourth,  the  fifth  and  sixth,  and  the  seventh  and  eighth 
tones,  and  thereby  exceeded  the  limits  pi'escribed  by 
the  ancient  writers,  who  all  concur  in  restraining  the 
canto  fermo  to  the  atnbit  of  a  tenth. 

The  latter  of  these  books  gives  very  ample  di- 
rections for  the  singing  of  all  the  offices  in  the 
Roman  service,  and  a  representation  of  the  tones 
in  the  following  order : — 


The  first  Tone  has  its  final  in  D,  and  its  Dominant  in  A,  the  fifth  above  its  final,  and  is  intonated  by  RE,  LA. 


FA,  SOL,  LA,  LA,  &c. 


I         RE,  LA, 

^  \  Final  in  D,  domi 

II    ^^^§=i=i^t^^^§ 
V        RE,  FA,      DO,      RE,        FA,  <fec. 


EUOUAE. 


dominant  in  F,  a  third  above,  intonated  RE,  FA. 


:!=rtd 


i 


EUOUAE. 


1 


Final  in  E,  dominant  in  C,  a  sixth  above,  intonated  MI,  FA. 


♦-■- 


iS 


MI,  FA,      DO,  RE,  FA,    FA,  &c.  EUOUAE. 

Final  in  E,  dominant  in  A,  a  fourth  above,  intonated  MI,  LA. 


MI,  LA,      RE,  DO,  RE,     RE,  &c.  EUOUAE 

Final  in  F,  dominant  in  C,  a  fifth  above,  intonated  FA,  FA 


V    (3=i=H= 

^    )         A  FA, 

V        FA,  LA,      FA, 


:Hi« 


* 


:|:±zlrilz=jr 


-»— ♦- 


F 

VI  Irr 


FA,      FA,  RE,  FA,    FA,  &c.  EUOUAE. 

Final  in  F,  dominant  in  A,  a  third  above,  intonated  FA,  LA. 


:i=|r- 


i 


SOL,  LA,   LA,  &c. 


EUOUAE. 


134 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV. 


Final  in  G,  dominant  in  D,  a  fifth  above,  intonated  UT,  SOL. 


i=i=g! 


Xz:b; 


:ni~L_B_B^B^p 


iJczBr 


:b— *: 


VIII I  ^ 


DO,  SOL,  Fa,Mi,Fa,Sol,   Sol,  &c.  EUOUAE. 

Final  in  G,  dominant  in  C,  a  fourth  above,  intonated  DO,  FA. 


t 


:[:=■ 


^—d 


DO,  FA,      DO,  RE,  FA,     FA,  &c. 

— ^ ■ ♦ B , B ♦ 


EUOUAE. 


In      Ex  -  i   -  tu  Is  -   ra   -   el 


de      E  -  gyp  -  to  Domus. 


EUOUAE. 


There  is  also  another  tone  used  in  the  Romish 
service,  called  by  some  of  the  writers  on  the  Cantus 
Gregorianus,  II  Tuono  Pellegrino,  i.  e.,  the  Wandering 
Tone  ;  and  by  others  Tuono  Misto,  or  mixed ;  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  intonated  appears  by  the  last 
stave  above. 

The  writers  on  the  Cantus  Gregorianus  have 
assigned  to  each  of  the  eight  ecclesiastical  tones 
a  peculiar  character,  supposing  that  each  is  calculated 
to  excite  different  affections  of  the  mind  :  this  notion 
is  to  the  last  degree  fanciful,  as  will  appear  from 
what  Bontempi  and  Kircher  severally  say  touching 
the  power  and  efficacy  of  each.*  Erculeo  has  dis- 
tinguished them  in  the  manner  represented  at  the 
end  of  his  scheme  of  the  species  of  diatessaron,  dia- 
pente,  and  diapason,  herein  before  inserted.")" 

The  consequence  of  these  and  other  publications 
of  the  same  import,  was  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
Cantus  Gregorianus  was  rendered  so  perspicuous, 
and  the  forms  of  the  tones  so  well  established,  that 
they  became  familiar  even  to  children  ;  but  the  sta- 
bility they  had  acquired  was  not  so  great,  but  that  about 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  levity 
and  wantonness  of  the  singers  gave  reason  to  fear  the 
corruption  of  them.  |  It  was  about  this  time  that 
the  theatric  style  of  music  began  to  be  formed,  in  the 
performance  whereof  Castrati,  and  others  with  flexible 
and   extensive   voices,  were  principally  employed ; 

*  Vide  Bontempt.  pag.  241.  Kirch.  Musurg.  lib.  VIII.  pag.  142. 

t  Doctor  Pepusch,  in  his  short  Introduction  to  Harmony,  pag.  65,  has 
remarked  of  the  key  E  that  it  differs  from  all  others,  as  in  truth  it  does  ; 
for  it  has  for  its  second  a  semitone,  for  which  reason,  and  because  of 
certain  peculiarities  in  the  modulation  of  it,  and  which  render  it  very 
solemn,  he  says  it  is  as  it  were  appropriated  to  church-music,  and  called 
by  the  Italians  Tuono  di  Chiesa. 

This  assertion  of  the  Doctor  may  possibly  be  well  grounded,  but  it  is 
to  be  remarked  that  no  such  distinction  occurs  in  the  writings  of  Guido 
or  Franchinus,  or  any  of  the  other  authors  who  have  been  consulted  in 
the  course  of  this  work,  for  the  purpose  of  explaining  the  Cantus  Gre- 
gorianus, and  the  nature  of  the  ecclesiastical  tones. 

\  Erculeo,  pag.  52. 


these  singers,  for  very  obvious  reasons,  made  use  of 
divisions  and  all  the  other  usual  artifices  to  excite 
applause  ;  and  these  were  so  grateful  to  the  ears  of 
the  vulgar,  that  the  singers  employed  in  the  choral 
service  became  infected  with  the  like  passion,  and  so 
mutilated  and  distorted  the  Cantus  Gregorianus,  that 
the  dignity  and  simplicity  of  it  was  almost  lost. 
This  gave  occasion  in  the  year  1683  to  an  excellent 
French  musician,  Guillaume  Gabriel  Nivers,  organist 
of  the  chapel  of  Lewis  XIV.  and  master  of  music  to 
his  queen,  §  to  publish  a  book  entitled  Dissertation 
sur  le  Chant  Gregorien.  In  the  composition  of  this 
learned  and  judicious  work,  the  author  appears  to 
have  derived  great  assistance  from  the  writings  of 
Amalarius  Fortunatus  and  St.  Bernard,  and  from 
Cardinal  Bona's  book  De  Rebus  Liturgicis,  Durandus's 
Rationale  Divinorum  Ofificiorum,  and,  above  all,  from 
a  more  modern  author,  named  Peytat,  who  wrote  a 
history  of  the  chapel  of  the  king  of  France,  a  book 
abounding  with  a  great  variety  of  curious  particulars. 
Nivers  succeeded  so  well  in  his  endeavours  to  re- 
form 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 
iu  so  laborious  and  important  a  reformation.  In 
short,  he  has  not  only  reduced  the  tones  to  the 
standard  of  primitive  pui'ity,  but  has  given  such 
directions  for  the  performance  of  the  Cantus  Gre- 
gorianus, and  guarded  so  well  against  innovations  in 
it,  that  there  is  very  little  reason  to  fear  the  loss  of 
this  precious  relic  of  antiquity. 

§  Nivers  was  also  organist  of  the  church  of  St.  Sulpice,  in  Paris. 
He  was  the  author  of  a  book,  entitled,  Traite  de  la  Composition  de 
Musique,  printed  at  Amsterdam,  in  octavo,  1697,  and  of  some  motets 
and  pieces  for  the  organ,  which  are  also  in  print. 


BOOK    IV.        CHAP.    XXIX. 


The  first  eight  chapters  of  Nivers's  Dissertation 
Bur  le  Chant  Gregorien,  contain  a  history  of  the 
primitive  institution  of  it,  and  a  vindication  of  the 
practice  of  antiphonal  singing  in  general,  from 
Socrates,  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  errors  in  the  practice  of  it,  which  it  is  the 
purpose  of  his  book  to  detect  and  reform. 

In  the  ninth  chapter  the  author  enumerates  the 


several  characters  necessary  in  the  notation  of  it,  and 
describes  them  thus  : — 

'Twelve  characters  are  sufficient  for  the  plain- 
'song;  the  first  consists  of  four  lines,  upon  which, 
'  and  in  the  spaces  between  them,  all  the  notes  are 
'  situate ;  the  fifth  line,  which  certain  innovaters  have 
'  added,  is  useless  and  embarrassing. 

'  The  second  character  is  the  key  of  C  sol  ut  fa 
'  or  else  by  the  method  of  the  si ;  the  key  of  C  sol 
'  DT  made  thus  |^  or  thus  tj  cannot  be  situate  but  on 


Chap.  XXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


135 


'  the  first,  the  Becond,  or  the  third,  and  never  or  very 
'  rarely  on  the  fourth,  because  the  key  on  the  second 
'  line  with  a  b  soft  commonly  in  B,  has  altogether 
•  the  same  effect  as  the  same  key  on  the  fourth  line 
'  without  b  soft ;  for  it  is  always  said  the  note  on 
'  this  fourth  line  is  always  sung  ut,  and  the  other 
'  notes  consecutively  in  order.  This  is  to  be  under- 
'  stood  of  the  song,  but  not  of  the  organ  or  other 
■  instruments. 
'  The  third  character  is  the  key  of  F  ut  pa,  made 

'  thus  i5"S  or  thus  IS5Z  which  is  generally  situated 


'  on  the  second  line,  and  sometime,  but  very  rarely, 
'  upon  the  first. 

'  The  fourth  and  fifth  characters  are  the  two  notes, 
'  the  long  and  the  breve,  made  thus  ■  ♦,  but  as  the 
■  number  of  characters  necessary  in  it  is  one  of  the 
■grand  questions  relating  to  the  cantus,  we  defer 
'speaking  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  less,  made  thus  zzzf  IE~ 

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  colon,  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  time  for  the  whole  choir  together  to  draw 
'breath,  to  the  end  that  none  of  the  singers  may 
'  go  on  faster  than  the  rest,  and  that  the  uniformity 
'  of  the  cantus  may  be  preserved  by  all,  and  in  all 

*  with  an  equal  measure.     At  the  end  of  every  piece 

*  there  are  put  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, 
'  without  them,  could  not  guess  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  monosyllables 
'following  one  another,  they  put  as  many  bars  as 
'there  are  notes,  as  if  all  the  notes  were  not  of 
'  themselves  as  well  separated,  without  bars,  as  the 
'  words  are.     St.  Bernard  speaks  of  this  confusion 

*  Nivers,  in  the  subsequent  chapter,  undertakes  the  discussion  of 
a  question  which  it  seems  had  subsisted  for  a  long  time,  namely,  how 
many  characters  or  marks  of  time  were  necessary  in  the  cantus  ecclesi- 
asticus  ?  He  contends  that  not  more  than  two,  namely,  the  long  and 
the  breve,  are  admissable  into  it ;  for  this  he  cites  the  acts  of  the  council 
of  Rheims  in  1564,  in  which  it  was  decreed  that  the  cantus  should  con- 
tain but  one  note  on  a  syllable,  and  that  the  quantities  of  each  should  be 
observed  in  the  notation.  He  seems  to  think  that  this  was  the  very 
reformation  intended  by  the  council  of  Trent,  in  that  decree  of  it  which 
is  mentioned  by  Father  Paul,  pag.  559.  of  his  history,  to  have  been  made 
in  1562,  against  over-curious  and  wanton  singing  He  also  cites  Rabanus 
Maurus  to  prove  that  all  clerks  should  perfectly  understand  the  nature 
of  the  accents,  and  accommodate  their  notation  to  it.  Farther  he  asserts, 
on  the  authority  of  Radulphus,  that  in  the  gradual  of  the  blessed  Gregory 
at  Rome  there  are  but  few  notes,  and  that  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
many  characters  in  those  of  an  hundred  years  after  him  have  no  warrant 
for  their  admission. 

In  the  course  of  this  disquisition  Nivers  seems  not  to  be  in  the  least 
aware  of  a  reformation  of  the  cantus  ecclesiasticus  made  by  Palestrina 
and  Francesco  Suriano,  about  the  year  15S0,  which  consisted  in  the 
reduction  of  the  characters  to  three,  namely,  the  long,  tlie  breve,  and 
the  semibreve ;  and  is  expressly  mentioned  by  Marzio  Erculeo,  in  his 
Discourse  on  the  Cantus  Ecclesiasticus  above-cited. 


'  in  these  words  :  "  What  sort  of  liberty  is  this 
"  which  introduces  the  confusion  of  uncertainty,  &c." 
'  And  in  effect  this  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  embarrassing,  but  they  yet  (which  is  remark- 
'  able)  destroy  the  benefit  of  their  institution,  because 
'tlie  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  again  into  its 
'  former  abuse,  when  it  had  no  bars,  which  we  see  in 
'  the  more  ancient  manuscripts. 

'  The  eighth  character  is  the  guidon,  made  upon 
'  the  line,  or  in  the  space  thus— |-^f  or  thus  -^  ^ 
'  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  rfe^i   which   is  always 

'  marked  in  B,  and  very  rarely  in  E. 

'  The  tenth  is  the  point .  between  two  short  notes  • 
'  the  use  of  it  is  to  augment  the  precedent  one,  and 
'  diminish  that  following  it,  to  observe  a  certain 
'  regulated  measure,  for  example,  that  of  two  times. 
'  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  -^^,  or  thus  /-^,  which  serves  to  tie  two 
'  or  more  notes,  or  long  ones  and  breves  on  one  and 
'  the  same  syllable,  to  keep  the  regulated  measure. 

'  The  last  character  is  the  diesis,  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,  because 
'the  voice  itself  naturally  leads  to  it.| 

t  This  is  the  form  of  the  guidon  in  ancient  missals,  and  other  books 
written  or  printed  with  musical  notes ;  it  is  an  indication  of  the  first 
note  in  a  succeeding  stave,  and  is  that  note  in  a  smaller  character.  This 
kind  of  guidon  is  now  disused,  and  has  given  place  to  that  other  above 
described. 

%  The  following  directions  of  Nivers  contain  the  principal  rules  to  be 
observed  in  the  performanoe  of  the  cantus  ecclesiasticus  : — 

'To  begin  to  sing  or  intonate  an  anthem,  or  any  other  part  of  the 
'  office  whatsoever,  the  rule  is  to  attend  particularly  to  the  dominant  of 
'  the  choir,  which  ought  to  be  regulated  according  to  the  voices  which 
'  compose  it ;  for  it  would  be  acting  quite  contrary  to  nature  and  reason 
'  to  pretend  to  establish  the  same  dominant  for  the  low,  the  middle,  aud 
'  the  highest  voices. 

'  To  arrive  at  a  perfect  knowledge  of  these  things,  it  ought  to  be 
'  known  that  the  whole  song  consists  in  eight  modes  or  tones,  which  may 
'  be  reduced  to  four  by  their  finals,  and  even  to  two,  by  only  tlie  difference 
'of  the  greater  third  and  the  lesser  third. 

'  The  uneven  tones,  which  are  only  so  termed,  as  being  distinguished 
'by  the  odd  numbers  1,  3,  5,  7,  are  called  authentics  or  principals  :  the 
'  others  are  named  plagals  or  dependents,  because  they  have  one  and  the 
'  same  final  each  with  their  authentic,  and  thus  the  first  and  second  have 
'  one  and  the  same  final,  so  the  third  and  fourth,  the  fifth  and  sixth,  the 
'  seventh  and  eighth  ;  all  their  difference  consists  only  in  the  extent, 
'which  in  the  authentics  is  above,  and  in  the  plagals  below. 

'  Every  tone  has  two  essential  chords,  called  the  final  and  the  domi- 
'  nant,  upon  which  all  sorts  of  songs  turn  and  are  founded.  The  final  is 
'  that  by  which  the  tone  ought  for  the  most  part  to  begin,  but  always  to 
'  end.  The  dominant  is  that  which  rules  or  prevails  the  oftenest  in  the 
'  song,  and  upon  which  the  tenor  of  the  psalms,  oraisons,  and  all  that  is 
'  to  be  sung  straight  forward,  or  nearly  straight  forward,  is  made. 
'  Wherefore  this  dominant  ought  to  be  a  little  higher  than  the  middle 
'  of  the  natural  voice,  and  not  lower,  because  that  in  ail  the  tones  the 
'  extent  of  the  notes  is  greater  below  than  above  the  dominant ;  but  it  is 
'  not  a  small  difficulty  to  take  it  just  and  in  a  good  pitch. 

'  For  the  common  and  ordinary  voices  they  put  the  dominant  of  the 
'  choir  in  A  of  the  organ  ;  I  mean  the  organs  which  have  the  tone  if  the 


136 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV. 


Having  thus  explained  the  characters,  Nivers,  in 
his  twelfth  book,  proceeds  to  a  discrimination  of  the 
tones  by  the  finals  and  dominants  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 ;  re  la.' 

'  The  second  has  its  final  in  D,  and  its  dominant  in 

*  F,  a  third  to  its  final ;  re  fa.' 

'  The  third  has  its  final  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  fourth  to  its  final ;  mi  la.' 

'  The  fifth  has  its  final  in  F,  and  its  dominant  in 

*  C,  a  fifth  to  its  final ;  ut  sol,  or  else  fa  ut  with  B 
'  J],  not  b.' 

'  The  sixth  has  its  final  in  F,  and  its  dominant  in 
'  A,  a  third  to  its  final ;  ut  mi,  or  else  fa  la,  with  B 
'  }n,  not  b.' 

'  The  seventh  has  its  final  in  G,  and  its  dominant 
'  in  A,  a  fifth  to  its  final ;  sol  re.' 

'  The  eighth  has  its  final  in  G,  and  its  dominant  in 
'  0,  a  fourth  to  its  final ;  sol  ut.' 

The  dissertation  of  Nivers  contains  also  FormuljB 
Cantus  Ordinarii  Ofiicii  Divini.  These  he  has  given 
in  Latin,  together  with  the  musical  notes  :  they  con- 
tain directions  for  singing  the  oraisons  and  responses, 
and  for  reading  the  prophets,  the  epistles,  and  gospels, 
and  for  the  intonation  of  the  psalms.  There  are 
also  several  litanies  and  antiphons,  and  that  famous 
lamentation  of  the  Virgin,  in  monkish  rhyme  : — 
Stabat  mater  dolorosa 
Juxta  crucem  lachrymosa. 

The  formula  of  the  tones  intitled  Tabula  tonorum, 
is  also  given  in  musical  characters,  and  contains  the 
following  examples : — 

Intonatio,  Tractus  Notarum,  Mediatio,  Tractus  Terminatio. 


-♦-♦-»-♦-♦- 


:t^E^£t?:Li.E=Ei 


Dix-it     Dominus  Domi-no  me  o  :   Se  de    ^  dextris  me  -  is. 

king's  cliapel,  which  all  the  famous  orf,'ans  of  Paris  and  elsewhere  have, 
'  wherefore  this  tone  is  called  the  tone  of  the  chapel,  to  distinguish  it 
'  from  the  tone  of  the  kin^i's  chamber,  which  is  a  semitone  higher,  and 
'so  commonly  are,  ur  ought  to  be,  the  organs  in  nunneries ;  the  nuns 
'having  generally  an  extent  of  voice  higher  by  an  octave  than  the 
'  common  voices  of  men. 

'  For  the  low  voices  they  put  the  dominant  in  G  of  the  organ. 

'  For  the  high  voices  they  put  the  dominant  in  B  of  the  organ. 

'  For  the  voices  of  religious  women  they  put  the  d(miinant  in  C,  or  even 
'  in  D  of  the  organ,  according  to  the  quality  of  the  voices. 

'The  first  thing  therefore  that  ought  to  be  known  is  the  dominant  of 
'  the  choir,  which  is  only  a  generical  sound,  or  tone  if  you  will,  and  not 
'  fixed  to  any  note  or  degree,  that  is  to  any  rule  or  interval  on  which  this 
'  dominant  can  be  placed. 

'The  second  thing  to  be  observed  is  the  mode  or  tone  of  the  anthem 
'  which  is  to  he  sung,  and  to  regulate  the  dominarit  of  the  anthem  to  the 
'unison  of  the  dominant  of  the  choir  which  performs  it,  and  then  to 
'  proceed  from  this  dominant  regularly,  and  pass  through  all  the  degrees 
'  as  far  as  the  note  by  which  the  anthem  ought  to  begin  ;  for  example,  if 
'I  would  intonate  the  first  anthem  of  the  Feast  of  the  Holy  Sacrament, 
"  Sacerdos  in  aeternum,"  I  sing  slowly  the  dominant  of  this  anthem, 
'  which  is  lA,  to  the  unison  of  the  dominant  of  the  choir,  and  descend 
'by  degrees  to  tlie  final  of  the  anthem,  by  which  it  begins,  singing  la, 
'SOI,,  FA,  MI,  RE,  to  find  the  just  tone  of  the/irst  note  of  the  said  anthem, 
"Sacerdos  in  ajternum,"  and  after  the  same  manner  in  other  anthems 
'  and  tones.  But  one  should  not  be  ignorant  of  the  essential  chords  of 
'  every  tone.' 

It  should  seem  by  these  several  tracts  of  Erculeo  and  Nivers,  and 
other  authors  who  might  be  named,  that  the  doctrine  of  the  tones  is  now 
so  well  established,  that  there  is  not  the  least  reason  to  fear  any  cor- 
ruption of  them.  In  England  the  little  book  entitled  A  pious  Association, 
published  for  the  instruction  of  persons  of  the  Romish  persuasion  in  the 
true  church  plain-song,  contains  a  formula  of  the  eight  tones,  exactly 
corresponding  with  that  of  Nivers  above  given  ;  and  it  farther  appears, 
that  in  the  seminaries  throughout  Italy  it  is  taught  to  children  in  a  way 
that  admits  of  no  variation.  In  short,  its  principles  seem  to  be  as  well 
understood  as  those  of  arithmetic,  or  any  other  mathematical  science. 

«  According  to  the  French  method  of  solmization ;  but  Erculeo  makes 
it  LA. 


II.  aj- 


Intonatio,  Tractus  Notarum,  Mediatio,  Tractus  Terminatio. 


1 


Dix-it    Dominus  Domi-no  me-o :   Se-de    k  dextris  me  -  is. 


Ill, 


IV, 


m 


-♦♦-■-♦-♦-■- 


:|:Ii±JL:ti>=i 


'^^ 


Dix-it    Dominus  Domi-no  me-o :   Se-de    k  dextris  me  -  is. 


feB 


Ei^-»-«-^^igir'  ♦-■-■-^-ii»:^g 


Dix-it    Dominus  Domi-no  me-o :  Se-de    k  dextris  me  -  is. 


it= 


-♦-♦  ■-♦-♦^-»-}^- 


■♦-■- 


VI. 


VII. 


VIII 


Dix-it    Dominus  Domi-no  me-o :   Se-de    k  dextris  me  -  is, 

i2= 


♦-♦-■-♦-♦-■  ■-!-■-♦- 


ftt: 


Dix-it    Dominus  Domi-no  me-o :   Se-de    ^  dextris  me  -  is 


il? 


I 


Dix-it    Dominus  Domi-no  me-o :   Se-de   a  dextris  me  -  is. 


m 


-♦-♦-■-♦-♦ 


-■-♦-♦-■-■-i-i 


«-♦-■- 


Dix-it    Dominus  Domi-no  me-o  :   Se-de    h  dextris  me  -  is. 


To  facilitate  the  remembrance  of  the  formula  of 
each  of  the  tones,  and  particularly  to  impress  upon 
the  minds  of  children  the  finals  and  dominants  that 
characterise  them,  memorial  verses  have  been  com- 
posed, of  which  the  following  are  a  specimen  : — 

Primus  habet  tonus  F  sol  la,  sextus  et  idem  : 
Ut  re  fa  octavus  :  sit  tertius,  atque  seciindus  : 
La  sol  la  quartus :  dant  ut  mi  sol  tibi  qiiintum : 
Septimus  at  tonus  fa  mi  fa  sol  tibi  monstrat. 

Septimus  et  sextus,  dant  fa  mi  re  mi  qvioque  primus. 
Quintus  et  octavus,  dant  fa  sol  fa  sicque  secundus. 
Sol  fa  mi  re  fa  tertius,  re  ut  re  mi  reque  quartus. 

Primus  cum  quarto  dant  A  la  mi  he,  quoque  sextus 
E  fa  ut  secundus  :  C  sol  fa  ut  tertius  tibi  notat, 
Cum  eo  quintus,  octavusque  signat  ibidem  : 
Septimus  in  D  la  sol  re  suum  ponit  euouae. 

By  the  foregoing  deduction  of  the  nature  of  the 
Cantus  Gregorianus,  nothing  more  is  intended  than  to 
explain  its  original  form,  for  it  will  be  observed  that 
none  of  the  authors  aliove-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  corruption.  This  was  evidently  the 
design  of  Nivers  ;  and  his  book,  which  is  of  the  con- 
troversial kind,  is  calculated  to  correct  certain  abuses 
in  the  service  that  arose  from  the  wantonness  and 
levity  of  the  singers,  and  were  peculiar  to  his  time  ; 
but  the  Cantus  Gregorianus  suffered  greatly  from 
corruptions  tliat  were  the  effect  of  ignorance,  and 
which  took  place  within  a  century  after  its  institution  ; 
and  these  corruptions,  their  nature,  and  causes,  and 
the  methods  taken  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  absurd  ;  for  who  can  understand 
a  relation  of  the  several  corruptions  of  the  Cantus 
Gregorianus,  who  is  not  first  made  sensible  of  its 


Chap.  XXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


137 


nature  and  application  ;  in  short,  who  has  not  a  clear 
conception  of  the  thing  itself,  in  its  original  state  of 
purity  and  perfection. 

That  the  Cantus  Gregorianus  became  corrupt  in 
a  short  time  after  its  institution,  may  be  gathered 
from  the  ecclesiastical  and  other  writers,  from  the 
seventh  century  downwards.  Saint  Bernard,  in  a 
preface  to  the  antiphonary  of  the  Cistertians,  has 
enumerated  many  abuses,  disorders,  and  irregularities 
which  had  crept  into  the  church-service  before  his 
time,  and  this  even  at  Rome  itself :  he  speaks  of  the 
singers  of  his  time  as  ignorant  and  obstinate  to  a 
degree  that  is  scarce  to  be  credited  ;  for  he  represents 
them  as  confounding  the  rules,  and  preferring  error 
to  truth  :  and  referring  to  an  Antiphon,  '  Nos  qui 
'  vivimus,'  the  proper  termination  whereof  is  in  D, 
he  adds,  that  those  unjust  prevaricators,  the  singers 
of  his  time,  would  terminate  it  in  G,  and  assert  with 
an  oath  or  wager,  that  it  was  of  the  eighth  tone. 

Sir  Henry  Spelman  (whom  Gerard  Vossius  has 
followed,  in  an  account  given  by  him  of  this  matter)* 
upon  the  authority  of  an  anonymous  commentator  on 
Hugo  Reutlingensis,  relates  that  the  Cantus  Gre- 
gorianus was  very  much  corrupted  by  the  Germans. 
The  words  of  the  author  thus  referred  to  are,  '  Certain 
'  Germans,  and  particularly  the  clergy  of  the  order  of 
'  St.  Benedict,  who  had  learned  perfectly  and  by 
'  heart  the  musical  cantus,  not  only  theoretically,  bi;t 
'  also  by  practice  and  exercise,  leaving  out  the  keys 

*  and  lines  which  are  required  in  the  musical  Nenma,f 
'  note  or  character,  began  to  note  them  down  simply 

*  in  their  books  ;  and  after  that,  their  successors  sang 
'  in  the  same  manner,  and  taught  their  scholars,  not 
'  theoretically,  but   by   frequent   practice   and    long 

*  exercise ;    which  cantus  thus  learned  by  practice, 

*  became  various  in  different  places,  wherefore  it  was 
'  then  termed  practice,  usus.J  and  not  music.  In  this 
'  cantus  however  the  scholars  afterwards  began  to 
'  differ  in  many  things  from  their  masters,  and  the 
'  masters  from  their  scholars  ;  from  which  difference, 
'  and  the  ignorance  of  the  theory,  the  practice  was 
'  said  to  be  confused,  which  confused  practice  being 
'  despised,  almost  all  the  Germans,  who  were  hitherto 
'miserably  seduced  by  that  cantus,  are  returned  to 

*  the  true  art.' 

These  corruptions,  according  to  the  author  above- 
cited,  seem  to  have  been  peculiar  to  Germany  ;  but 
there  were  others  of  an  earlier  date  which  prevailed 
in  France  and  also  in  Britain,  for  the  latter  of  which 
countries  Gregory  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  Cantus  Gregorianus  was 
communicated,  and  that  they  became  Christians  and 
singers  at  one  and  the  same  period. 

*  Voce  Frigdorae.  Sed  vide  Ger.  Voss.  De  Scientiis  Mathematicis, 
cap.  xxi.  §  12. 

t  This  word,  which  Sir  Henry  Spelman  has  elsewhere  said  is  syno- 
nymous with  the  noun  Note,  has  two  significations  ;  that  which  Gaffurius 
has  piven  of  it  is  its  primitive  and  true  one ;  and  he  says  it  is  an  aggre- 
gation of  as  many  sounds  or  notes  as  maybe  conveniently  uttered  in  one 
single  respiration.  Vide  Spelman's  Gloss,  voce  Neuma  ;  and  Gaffurius, 
Pract.  Mus.  lib.  I.  cap.  viii.     Probably  it  is   derived  from  the   Greek 

X  For  which  reason,  the  terms  Salisbury  use,  Hereford  use,  the  use  of 
Bangor,  York,  Lincoln,  are  taken  to  describe  the  ritual  of  those  several 
cathedrals  in  the  preface  to  the  book  of  Common  Prayer. 


The  history  of  the  conversion  of  the  Saxon  in- 
habitants of  this  island  to  Christianity  in  the  year  585, 
is  related  by  all  our  historians,  particularly  by  Bede, 
whose  account  of  it,  as  exhibiting  a  very  natural 
representation  of  the  simplicity  of  manners  which 
then  prevailed,  is  here  inserted : — 

'It  is  reported  that  merchants  arriving  at  Rome, 
'  when  on  a  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  things,  boys  were  set  to  sale 
'  for  slaves,  their  bodies  white,  their  countenance 
'  beautiful,  and  their  hair  very  fine  :  having  viewed 
'  them,  he  asked  as  is  said,  from  what  country  or 
'  nation  they  were  brought,  and  was  told  from  the 
'  island  of  Britain,  whose  inhabitants  were  of  such 
'  a  presence.  §  He  again  enquired  whether  those 
'  islanders  were  Christians,  or  still  involved  in  the 
'  errors  of  paganism,  and  was  informed  that  they 
'  were  pagans.  Then  fetching  deep  sighs  from  the 
'  bottom  of  his  heart,  "  Alas  !  what  pity,  said  he,  that 
"  the  author  of  darkness  is  possessed  of  men  of  such 
"  fair  countenances,  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  they 
"  have  an  angelical  face,  and  it  becomes  such  to  be  co- 
"  heirs  with  the  angels  in  heaven.  What  is  the  name," 
'  proceeded  he,  "  of  the  province  from  which  they  are 
"  brought  ? "  'It  was  replied,  that  the  natives  of 
'  that  province  were  called  Deiri,||  "  Truly  Deiri^ 
"  said  he,  withdrawn  from  wrath  and  called  to  the 
"  mercy  of  Christ.  How  is  the  king  of  that  province* 
"  called  ?  "  They  told  him  his  name  was  Elle  ;  and 
'  he,  alluding  to  the  name,  said,  "  Hallelujah,  the 
"  praise  of  God  the  creator  must  be  sung  in  those 
"  parts."  Then  repairing  to  fli<'  I  ishop  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  very  characteristic  of  the 
humanity  and  simplicity  of  the  reverend  father. 
Fuller,  who  labours  hard  to  make  all  mankind  as 
merry  as  himself,  thinks  that  in  his  ready  appli- 
cation of  the  answers  of  the  merchants  to  his  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  turn,  by  putting  it  into  the  form  of 
a  dialogue.*  * 

The  sight  of  these  children,  and  the  knowledge 
which  Gregory  tliereby  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,  singers  were  also  sent 
(Augustine  then  going  to   Britain),  and  afterwards 

§  William  Thorn,  a  monk,  of  St.  Augustine's  Canterbury,  says  there 
were  three  of  these  boys :  '  Vidit  in  foro  Romano  tres  pueros  Anglicos 
lactei  candoris.'     Decern  Scriptores,  pag.  1757. 

II  i.  I',  of  Deirham,  or  Durham. 

IT  Bed.  Hist    Kcclesiast.  lib.  II.  cap.  i. 
**  Church  Hist,  of  Britain,  Cent.  VI.  book  II. 


138 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  IV. 


dispersed  through  the  west,  who  thoroughly  instructed 
the  barbarians  in  the  Roman  institution.  The  same 
author  proceeds  to  relate  that  after  the  death  of 
these  men*  the  modulation  of  the  western  churches 
became  very  corrupt,  and  continued  so  till  pope 
Vitalianus  the  First,  who  introduced  the  organ  into 
the  choral  service,  sent  John,  a  famous  Roman  singer, 
together  with  Theodore,  afterwards  archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  by  the  way  of  France  into  Britain,  who 
corrected  the  abuses  that  had  crept  into  the  church- 
service  of  this,  as  it  should  seem,  favourite  people. 

Farther  he  says,  that  afterwards  the  Gregorian 
chant  became  again  corrupt,  particularly  in  France, 
for  which  reason  Charlemagne  sent  two  clerks  to 

*  The  names  of  the  singers  who  came  into  Britain  with  Augustine 
are  no  where  particularly  mentioned.  We  learn  however  from  Bede 
that  the  church  song  was  at  first  only  known  in  Kent ;  that  afterwards, 
that  is  to  say  about  the  year  620,  when  Paulinus  became  bishop  of  the 
Northumbrians,  a  deacon  of  his,  named  James,  had  rendered  himself 
very  famous  for  his  skill  in  the  church  song ;  and  that  Wilfrid,  a  suc- 
ceeding bishop  of  the  same  see,  about  the  year  664  invited  out  of  Kent 
Eddi,  surnamed  Stephen,  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the  same  in  the 
several  churches  of  the  Northumbrians.  Farther,  Bede  gives  a  particular 
account  of  John  the  singer  above-mentioned,  whom  he  styles  archchanter 
or  precentor  of  the  church  of  the  holy  apostle  Peter,  and  abbot  of  the 
monastery  of  St.  Martin,  and  elsewhere  singer  of  the  apostolic  see:  he 
says  he  was  sent  into  Britain  by  pope  Agatho,  that  he  might  teach  the 
method  of  singing  throughout  the  year,  as  it  was  practised  at  St.  Peter's 
at  Rome ;  and  that  he  settled  in  a  monastery  which  Ecgfrid  king  of  the 
Northumbrians  had  founded  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Wire.  He  farther 
says  that  John  did  as  he  had  been  commanded  by  the  pope,  teaching  the 
singers  of  tliis  monastery  the  order  and  manner  of  singing  and  reading 
aloud,  and  committing  to  writing  all  that  was  required  throughout  the 
whole  course  of  the  year  for  celebrating  festivals,  all  which  were  in 
Bede's  time  observed  in  that  monastery,  and  transcribed  by  many  others 
elsewhere  ;  he  says  farther  that  the  said  John  did  not  only  teach  the 
brethren  of  that  monastery,  but  that  such  as  had  skill  in  singing  resorted 
from  almost  all  the  monasteries  of  the  same  province  to  hear  him. 

The  reverend  Mr.  Johnson,  late  of  Cranbrook  in  Kent,  lias  given  a 
summary  of  this  relation,  with  his  own  sentiments  thereon,  in  a  book 
which  hardly  any  one  now  looks  into,  but  which  abounds  with  a  great 
variety  of  curious  learning,  his  Collection  of  Ecclesiastical  Laws  ;  in  the 
general  preface  to  which  he  says,  upon  the  authorily  of  Bede,  that  pope 
Agatho,  above  eighty  years  after  Augustine's  coming  over,  sent  John, 
the  precentor  of  St.  Peter's  church  in  Rome,  to  instruct  the  monks  of 
Wirmuth  in  the  animal  course  of  singing ;  and  that  he  did  accordingly 
teach  them  the  order  and  rite  of  singing  and  reading  in  the  celebration 
of  feasts  through  the  circle  of  the  whole  year,  and  that  he  wrote  down 
and  left  behind  him  whatever  was  requisite  to  this  purpose.  And  that 
the  sum  of  what  he  taught  them  consisted  in  new  tunes  or  modes  of 
music,  some  variations  of  habit,  gesture,  and  perhaps  of  the  series  of 
performing  religious  offices  according  as  the  fashions  had  been  altered  at 
Rome  since  Augustine's  coming  hither— that  he  taught  them  viva  voce, 
and  what  he  wrote  down  concerned  only  the  celebration  of  the  festivals 
— that  John  was  sent  to  one  monastery  only,  and  is  not  said  to  have 
taught  any  but  the  Northumbrians.— That  upon  Theodore's  first  coming 
to  Canterbury,  which  was  ten  or  twelve  years  before  this,  the  Roman 
way  of  singing  was  well  known  in  Kent,  and  then  began  to  be  taught  in 
other  churches— that  Wilfred  soon  after  invited  Eddi,  otherwise  called 
Stephen,  out  of  Kent  into  the  North,  to  teach  his  practice  there.  But 
thirty-five  years  before  Theodore's  arrival,  James,  the  Kentish  deacon, 
had  been  left  at  York  by  Paulinus  when  he  retired  to  Rochester,  on  pur- 
pose to  teach  them  the  way  of  singing  used  by  the  Romans  and  the 
Kentish.  The  same  author  adds  as  a  conjecture  of  his  own,  that  it  is 
probable  that  neither  of  these  Kentish  singing-masters  went  farther  than 
Hexham,  however  not  to  Wirmuth. 

The  same  Collection  contains  a  decree  of  the  Roman  council,  which 
as  it  relates  to  music,  and  was  made  to  reform  an  abuse  of  it  that  pre- 
vailed about  this  time,  it  may  not  be  improper  here  to  mention.  By  this 
act  it  is  decreed  that  bishops,  and  all  whosoever  that  profess  the  religious 
life  of  the  ecclesiastical  order,  do  not  use  weapons,  nor  keep  musicians  of 
the  female  sex,  nor  any  musical  concerts  whatsoever,  nor  do  allow  of  any 
buffooneries  or  plays  in  their  presence. 

Of  James,  the  deacon  of  Paulinus  above-mentioned,  he  says  that  he 
lived  to  his  [Bede's]  time.  If  so,  and  considering  that  Paulinus  was 
bishop  of  Northumbria,  in  which  province  Bede's  monastery  was  situate, 
it  is  more  than  probable  that  Bede  and  James  were  intimately  acquainted. 

Bede  also  mentions  as  living  in  the  time  of  Theodore,  Putta,  a  man  of 
great  simplicity  in  his  manners,  extremely  well  versed  in  ecclesiastical 
discipline,  and  remarkably  skilful  in  church-music,  and  who,  on  account 
of  these  his  excellencies,  was  preferred  to  the  see  of  Rochester.  Mention 
will  be  made  of  this  person  hereafter,  in  the  interim  it  is  to  be  observed, 
that  the  testimony  of  Bede  is  of  great  weight  in  all  matters  that  relate 
to  church  discipline,  and  that  hardly  any  man  of  his  time  was  better 
acquainted  with  the  music  of  the  church  than  himself:  in  a  summary 
of  his  own  life,  at  the  end  of  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  he  mentions  his 
being  a  priest  of  the  monastery  of  Wiremouth,  the  very  monastery  where 
John  the  precentor  settled  upon  his  arrival  in  Britain  ;  and  that  he  there 
.■ipplieri  himself  to  the  meditation  of  scripture,  the  observance  of  regular 
discipline,  and  the  daily  care  of  singing  in  the  church;  and  that  he  always 
delighted  in  learning,  teaching,  and  writing. 


Rome  with  a  request  to  Adrian,  the  then  pope,  that 
they  might  be  instructed  in  the  rudiments  of  the 
genuine  Roman  song ;  these  brought  back  the  metro- 
polis of  Metz  to  its  original  purity  of  singing,  and 
that  city  communicated  its  example  to  all  France. 
The  same  author  adds  that  the  death  of  these  two 
men  produced  the  same  effect,  though  in  a  less 
degree,  in  France,  as  that  of  the  others  had  done 
in  Britain ;  wherefore  the  king  wrote  again  to  Adrian, 
who  sent  him  two  singers,  who  found  that  the  church 
of  Metz  had  deviated  a  little  from  the  true  rule  of 
singing,  but  the  other  churches  a  great  deal.  The 
same  author  adds,  that  this  diversity  was  remarkable 
in  his  time,  for  that  the  rest  of  the  French  and  all 
the  German  churches  were  then  as  much  inferior 
in  the  purity  of  their  choral  service  to  that  of  Metz, 
as  the  latter  were  to  the  Roman ;  but  for  the  present 
he  says  these  men  reduced  the  church  of  Metz  to 
order. 

Monsieur  Nivers,  from  Peytat,  a  modern  writer, 
and  a  countryman  of  his,  who  it  seems  wrote  an 
ecclesiastical  history  of  the  chapel  of  the  king  of 
France,  cites  the  following  passage  : — 

Pope  Stephen  II.  being  constrained  to  seek  to 
Pepin  king  of  France  for  protection  of  the  holy  see 
against  the  Lombards,  arrived  in  that  kingdom  so 
soon  after  Pepin's  ascent  to  the  throne,  as  to  perform 
the  ceremony  of  his  consecration  in  the  abbey-church 
of  St.  Denys.  From  Rome  the  pope  had  brought 
with  him  chaplains  and  singers,  who  first  made  it 
their  business  to  instruct  the  choir  of  St.  Denys  in 
the  Roman  office ;  and  afterwards,  for  the  pope  made 
a  considerable  stay  in  France,  assisted  in  communi- 
cating the  knowledge  of  it  to  the  other  churches  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  instruments  was  spread  through- 
out 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  great 
disorder  as  ever,  which,  says  the  monk  of  St.  Cibard 
of  Angoulesme,  was  the  reason  that  induced  this 
emperor  to  apply  to  Adrian  for  assistance  from 
Rome. 


CHAP.  XXX. 

The  account  given  of  this  matter  by  another 
ancient  writer,  a  monk  of  St.  Gal,  is  that  the  pope 
sent  to  France,  at  the  request  of  the  emperor  Charle- 
magne, twelve  excellent  singers,  answering  to  the 
number  of  the  apostles,  whose  instructions  were 
to  reform  the  music  of  the  French  churches,  and 
regulate  the  service,  so  as  that  there  might  be  an 
uniformity  in  this  respect  throughout  the  kingdom ; 
but  that  these  men,  jealous  of  the  glory  of  France, 
in  their  way  thither  plotted  to  corrupt  and  diversify 
the  plain-chant  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  France 
where  they  were  received  with  great  honour,  they 


Chap.  XXX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


139 


were,  by  order  of  the  emperor,  dispersed  to  different 
parts  of  the  kingdom  ;  but  how  well  they  answered 
the  purpose  of  sending  for  them,  the  event  soon 
showed ;  for  every  man  teaching  a  different  chant 
for  the  true  one  of  St.  Gregory,  which  they  were 
sent  for  to  restore  to  its  original  purity  and  pro- 
pagate, the  confusion  was  greater  than  ever.* 

The  emperor  it  seems  was  too  well  skilled  in 
music  for  this  deceit  to  pass  upon  him  unnoticed : 
he  had,  in  the  life-time  of  his  father,  heard  the  true 
Roman  chant  at  Treves,  where  he  had  passed  the 
Christmas,  and  at  Metz  also  he  had  been  present 
when  it  was  sung  in  its  perfection ;  but  after  the 
arrival  of  these  people,  spending  part  of  that  festival 
at  Paris  and  the  rest  at  Tours,  he  was  surprised  to 
hear  a  melody  different  from  that  which  before  he 
had  so  much  admired ;  his  disappointment  excited 
in  him  a  curiosity  to  hear  the  service  as  it  was 
performed  in  the  other  churches ;  but  among  the 
singers  he  found  such  a  disagreement,  that  he  com- 
plained to  the  pope  of  the  behaviour  of  those  whom 
he  had  sent ;  the  pope  recalled  them  to  Rome, 
and  condemned  some  of  them  to  banishment,  and 
the  rest  to  perpetual  imprisonment.  After  this  it 
was  that  Adrian  sent  to  France  the  two  singers 
who  reformed  the  French  church-music,  as  above 
is  related. 

None  of  the  historians  who  relate  the  transactions 
of  this  period,  except  Baronius,  assign  the  reason  of 
the  emperor's  application  to  pope  Adrian  for  assistance 
in  the  reformation  of  choral  music  in  his  kingdom 
of  France.  It  seems  that  that  pope  had  established 
the  use  of  the  Cantus  Gregorianus  by  the  decree  of 
a  council,  which  he  had  summoned  for  that  purpose, 
and  that  his  zeal  to  render  it  universal  was  the  effect 
of  a  miracle,  which,  if  we  may  believe  the  writers  of 
those  times,  had  then  lately  been  wrought  in  its  favour. 
It  is  said,  that  after  the  death  of  Gregory  the  method 
of  singing  instituted  by  him  began  to  decline,  and 
the  Ambrosian  cantus  to  revive.  Adrian  had  enter- 
tained an  opinion  of  the  superior  excellence  of  the 
former,  and  was  determined  to  establish  the  use  of  it 
throughout  the  church ;  for  this  purpose  he  summoned 
a  council  above-mentioned,  who  being  unable  to  de- 
termine the  preference  between  the  one  and  the  other 
of  the  offices,  referred  the  decision  of  the  matter  to 
God,  and  a  miracle  announced  that  the  preference  was 
due  to  the  Gregorian  office. 

Durandus  has  given  a  very  circumstantial  relation  of 
this  extraordinary  event  in  the  following  words  :- — "j" 

'  We  read  in  the  life  of  St.  Eugenius  that  till  his 

*  time  the  Ambrosian  office  was  more  used  by  the 
'  church  than  the  Gregorian  :  pope  Adrian  summoned 
'  a  council,  by  which  it  was  decreed  that  the  Gregorian 
'  ought  to  be  universally  observed.  Moreover  St. 
'  Eugenius  coming  to  a  certain  council,  summoned  for 

*  this  purpose,  and  finding  that  it  had  been  already 

*  dissolved  three  days,  he  persuaded  the  lord  pope  to 
'  recall  all  the  prelates  who  had  been  present  thereat. 
'  Tlic  council,  therefore,  being  reassembled,  it  was  the 
'  unanimous  opinion  of  all  the  fathers,  that  the  Am- 

»  Vid.  Niv.  sur  le  Chant.  Greg.  chap.  iv.  pag.  33. 
+  Afterwards  pope :  the  second  of  that  name.     Du  Pin,  Hist.  Eccl. 
vol.  III.  pag.  6. 


'  brosian  and  Gregorian  missals  should  be  laid  upon 
'  the  altar  of  St.  Peter,  the  apostle,  secured  by  the 
'  seals  of  most  of  the  bishops,  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 
'  used  by  the  church ;  and  this  was  done  in  every 
'  respect.     Accordingly,  in  the  morning,  when  they 

*  entered  the  church  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 
'  sign  they  were  taught  from  heaven  that  the  Gregorian 
'  office  ought  to  be  dispersed  throughout  the  whole 
'  world,  and  that  the  Ambrosian  should  be  observed 
'  only  in  that  church  in  which  it  was  first  instituted. 
'  And  this  regulation  prevails  to  the  present  day  ;  for 
'  in  the  time  of  the  emperor  Charles,  the  Ambrosian 
'  office  was  very  much  laid  aside,  and  the  Gregorian, 
'  by  the  imperial  authority,  was  brought  into  common 

*  use.  Ambrose  instituted  many  things  according  to 
'the  ritual  of  the  Greeks.'  Gulielm.  Durandus 
Rationale  Divinorum  Officiorum.  Lugd.  1 574,  lib.  11. 
cap.  ii.  numb.  5. 

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 
so  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  declaring,  that  the  French 
singers  had  corrupted  the  Cantus  Gregorianus. 
Baronius  has  related  the  transaction  at  length  in 
these  words : — 

*  In  the  ancient  chronicle  of  Charles  king  of  France, 
'  which  Pithoeus  published,  these  things  then  done  at 
'  Rome  are  recorded.  The  most  pious  king  Charles 
'  returned,  and  celebrated  Easter  at  Rome  with  the 
'  apostolical  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  gracefully  than  the  Romans ;  the 
'  Romans  said  they  performed  the  ecclesiastical  cantus 
'  more  learnedly,  as  they  had  been  taught  by  St. 
'  Gregory,   the   pope ;    and   that   the    Frencli    sang 

*  corruptly,  and  debased  and  ruined  the  true  cantilena. 

*  This  contention  came  before  the  emperor  Charles  ; 
'  and  the  Gauls  relying  on  his  favour,  violently  ex- 
'  claimed  against  the  Roman  singers  ;  and  the  Romans, 
'  upon  the  authority  of  their  great  learning,  affirmed 
'  that  the  Gauls  were  fools  and  rustics,  and  as  un- 
'  learned  as  brute  beasts,  and  preferred  the  learning 
'  of  St.  Gregory  to  their  rusticity  :  and  the  altercation 
'  ceasing  on  neither  side,  the  emperor  said  to  his 
'  singers,  "  Tell  me  plainly,  which  is  the  purer,  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  farther  they  dejjart 

*  from  the  fountain,  are  by  so  much  the  more  muddy, 
'  foul,  and  corrupted  with  impurities.     "  Then,  said 


40 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV. 


'the  emperor,  return  ye  to  the  fountain  of  St. 
"Gregory,  for  ye  have  manifestly  corrupted  the 
"ecclesiastical  cantus." 

'  The  emperor,  therefore,  soon  after  desired  siug- 
'  ers  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  Roman 
'  church,  who  had  been  taught  by  St.  Gregory ;  and 
'he  sent  by  them  the  antiphonary  of  St.  Gregory, 
'  which  he  had  marked  with  the  Roman  note.  The 
'emperor  returning  into  France,  sent  a  singer  of  the 

*  city  of  Metz,  with  orders  that  the  masters  of  schools 
'  throughout  all  the  provinces  of  France  should  de- 
'  liver  their  antiphonaries  to  them  to  be  corrected,  and 
'  that  they  should  learn  to  sing  of  them.  Upon  this, 
'  the  antiphonaries  of  the  French  were  corrected,  which 

*  every  one  had  corrupted,  by  adding  or  diminish- 
'  iug  according  to  his  own  fancy,  and  all  the  singers 
'  of  France  learned  the  Roman  note  ;  except  that  the 
'  French,  who,  with  their  voices,  which  are  naturally 
'  barbarous,  could  not  perfectly  express  the  delicate 
'  or  tremulous,  or  divided  sounds,  in  music,  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 
,  so  much  does  the  Metensian  excel  the  other  schools 
'  of  France.  In  like  manner,  the  aforesaid  Roman 
'  singers  instructed  the  singers  of  the  French  in  the 
'  art  of  instrumental  music  :  and  the  emperor  Charles 
'  aaain  brousfht  with  him  from  Rome  into  France, 
'  masters  of  grammar  and  mathematics,  and  ordered 
'  the  study  of  letters  to  be  every  \^■here  pursued  ;  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  words  :  "  That  the  monks  fully  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  Galilean  singing  for  the  sake  of 
"  unanimity  in  the  Apostolic  See,  and  the  peaceful 
"  concord  of  the  Holy  Church."  * 

The  zeal  which  this  prince  discovered  through  the 
course  of  a  long  reign,  in  favour  of  the  church,  and 
for  the  re-establishment  of  ecclesiastical  discipline, 
has  proci;red  him  a  place  among  those  ecclesiastical 
writers  enumerated  in  Du  Pin's  voluminous  history. 
It  was  the  good  fortune  of  this  emperor  to  have  in 
his  service  a  secretary,  named  Eginhart,  a  man  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  curious  and  entertaining  works  of  the 
kind  at  this  day  extant  :  in  this  are  recorded,  not 
only  the  great  events  of  Charlemagne's  reign,  but  the 
particulars  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 

•  Baron.  Annal.  Ecclesiast.  torn.  IX.  pag  415. 


enter  into  a  minute  detail  of  his  wars  and  negociations, 
or  the  other  important  transactions  during  his  govern- 
ment, let  this  short  sketch  of  his  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. 

Charlemagne  was  born  in  the  year  of  Christ  7(39, 
at  Ingelheim,  a  town  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  city 
of  Liege,  in  Germany.  His  father  was  Pepin,  king 
of  France,  surnamed  the  Little,  by  reason  of  the  low- 
ness  of  his  stature;  who,  upon  his  decease,  made  a 
partition  of  his  dominions  between  his  two  sons, 
bequeathing  to  Charlemagne,  the  elder,  France,  Bur- 
gundy, and  Aquitain,  and  to  Carloman,  Austria, 
Soissons,  and  other  territorities ;  but  Carloman  sur- 
viving his  father  a  very  short  time,  Charlemagne 
became  the  heir  of  all  his  dominions,  and  at  length 
emperor  of  the  West. 

The  stature  and  person  of  Charlemagne  are  very 
particularly  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 
father  Pepin  was  below  it.  Turpin,  the  archbishop 
of  Rheims,  relates,  that  he  was  eight  feet  high,  that 
his  face  was  a  span  and  an  half  long,  and  his  forehead 
one  foot  in  breadth,  and  that  his  body  and  limbs  were 
well  proportioned.  He  had  a  great  propensity  to 
learning,  having  had  some  of  the  most  celebrated 
scholars  of  the  age  in  which  he  was  born,  for  his 
tutors  ;  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 ;  ■]" 
notwithstanding  which,  there  is  a  very  curious  par- 
ticular recorded  of  him,  namely,  that  lie  never  could, 
though  he  took  infinite  pains  for  the  purpose,  acquire 
the  manual  art  of  writing  or  delineating  the  letters  of 
the  alphabet ;  J  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  his 
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  sanction 
or  approbation ;  for  they  are  chiefly  either  capitularies, 
as  they  are  called,  relating  to  ecclesiastical  matters,  as 
the  government  of  the  church,  the  order  of  divine 
service,  the  observance  of  rites  and  ceremonies,  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.  §  Two  works  in  particular  are 
ascribed  to  him,  and  the  opinion  that  they  were  of  his 
composition  is  generally  acquiesced  in  ;  these  are 
letters  written  in  his  name  to  Elipandus,  bishop  of 

t  Alcuin  wa.s  well  versed  in  the  liberal  sciences,  particularly  in  music, 
as  appears  by  a  tract  of  his  on  the  use  of  the  Psalms,  and  by  the  preface 
to  Cassiodorus  De  septem  Disciplinis,  first  printed  in  Garetius's  edition 
of  that  author,  and  which  is  expressly  said  by  Du  Pin,  Fabricius,  and 
others,  to  have  been  written  by  Alcuin.  It  was  at  the  instance  of  Alcuin 
that  Charlemange,  in  the  year  790,  founded  the  university  of  Paris. 

I  Tentabat  et  scribere,  tabulasque  et  codicellos  ad  hoc  in  lectulo  sub 
cervicalibus  circumferre  solebat,  et  cum  vacuum  tenipus  esset,  manum 
elEngendis  Uteris  assuefacerit.  Sed  parum  prospere  successit  labor 
praeposterus  ac  sero  inchoatus.  Eginhart  De  Vita  Caroli  Magni,  cap.  xxv. 
edit.  Besselii. 

§  Du  Pin,  Nouv.  Biblitth.  de  Auteurs  Ecclesiast.  Siee.  VIII. 


Chap.  XXX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


141 


Toledo,  and  other  bishops  of  Spain,  on  certain  points 
of  doctrine ;  and  four  books  against  the  worship  of 
images  :  and  it  is  with  a  view  to  these,  and  some 
other  compositions  that  passed  for  his,  that  Sigebert, 
Du  Pin,  and  others,  give  him  a  phice  among  the 
ecclesiastical  writers  of  the  eighth  century. 

The  zeal  of  this  emperor  to  introduce  the  Cantus 
Gregorianus  into  his  dominions,  and  to  preserve  it  in 
a  state  of  purity,  has  drawn  upon  him  an  imputation 
of  severity ;  and  upon  the  authority  of  that  single 
passage  in  the  Rationale  of  Durandus,  above-cited,  he 
is  censured  as  having  forced  it  upon  the  French  with 
great  cruelty.  But  there  is  nothing  either  in  his 
relation  of  the  supposed  miracle  in  its  favour,  or  in 
that  of  Baronius  touching  the  contention  at  Rome, 
which  will  warrant  this  charge  ;  for  in  that  dispute 
at  which  Eugenius  was  present,  it  does  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 
disposition  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,  '  Return  ye  to  the  fountain  of  St. 
'  Gregory  ;  for  in  the  rivulets  the  ecclesiastical  cantus 
'  is  corrupted.'  Eginhart  has  mentioned  in  general 
that  Charlemagne  laboured  to  rectify  the  disorderly 
manner  of  singing  in  the  church  ;  *  but  he  mentions 
no  circumstances  of  bloodshed,  or  cruelty,  to  enforce 
a  reformation  :  and  the  fact  is.  that  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- 
haviour 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 

*  Effiiihart,  De  Vita  Carol!  Magni,  cap.  xxvi.  edit.  Besselii. 

t  Mosh.  Eccl.  Hist.  8vo.  vol.  II.  pag.  98. 

The  notes  of  Besselius  and  others  upon  this  passage  of  Eginhart 
[Legend!  atque  psallendi  disciplinam  diligentissinie  emendavit]  are  very 
curious,  as  they  declare  what  were  the  abuses  in  singing  which  Charle- 
magno  laboured  to  reform.  Quantum  veteres  sono  vocum  distincto 
studuerint,  vel  illud  argumento  est,  quod  phonasco  sedulam  dederint 
operam,  teste  etiam  de  AugusUj  Sueton.  cap.  Ixxxiv.  CEBterum  de  missa- 
ticis  cantiortibus  et  officio  Ambrosiano  a Carolo  correctis,  prolixe  Sigebertus, 
ad  an.  774  &  790.  Gobelin.  Person,  cetat.  6.  Cosmodrom.  cap.  xl.  p.  193. 
Gwliel.  Durandus,  lib.  V.  Rathnial.  Divui.  Offic.  cap.  ii.  Frid.  Linden- 
brogius  Glossar.  L  L.  Aniiq.  fol.  13fi9,  &  Goldast.  in  Ekkebardi  Junioris 
casus,  pag.  114.  torn.  I.  Rer.  Alamannic.  Besselius.  Carolus  dissonantia 
cantus  inter  Romanes  &  Francos  oirensus,-eum  conciliare  &  emendare 
omnibus  viribus  studuit ;  ideo  a  papa  cantores  Romanos  sibi  mittipetiit, 
qui  Francos  vera  psallendi  ratione  imbuerent.  Horum  duos  accepit,  ex 
quibus  unum  palatio  suo  praefecit,  alterum  Metas  misit,  qui  etiam  ejus 
urbis  incolas  ita  in  canendi  scientia  erudivit,  ut  sicut  Roma  inter  omnes 
cantu,  sic  Metse  inter  Francos  emineret,  &  seminarium  quasi  cantorum 
Cisalpinorum  esset.  Ab  hac  igitur  urbe  cantilena  ecclesiastica  Germanice 
tunc  temporis  mete  dicebatur,  quia  hie  praecipue  cantus  excolebatur,  cujus 
denominationis  vestigia  adhuc  hodie  in  vulgari  locutione,  die  Friih  mette 
singen,  deprehenduntur.  Horisonus  maxime  m.^jnrum  nostrorum  erat 
cantus,  quern  Monach.  Egolism.  in  VitaKaroli  M.  itadescribit :  Tremulas 
vel  vinnulos,  sen  cullisibilcs,  sen  secabiles  voces  in  cantu  non  poterant per- 
fectc  cxprimere  Franci,  naturali  voce  barbaricafrangentes  in  gutture  voces 
potius,  qtuim  experimentes.  Clarius  Ekkchard.  Minim,  in  vit.  Notkeri, 
cap.  viii.  Alpina  siquidem  corpora,  ait,  vocum  sutirum  tnnitruis  altisone 
perstrepenlia,  suscepta:  modulationis  dulcedinum  proprie  tion  resultant, 
quia  bibuli  gutturis  barbara  grossitas,  dum  ijiflexionibiis  et  repercttssionibus 
et  diaphonarium  diphtongis  mitem  nititur  edere  cantilenam,  naturali  quo- 
dam  frngorc,  quasi  plaustra  per  gradus  confuse  sonantia,  rigidas  voces 
jaclut,  sicque  audientium  auimos,  quos  mulcere  debuerant,  tales  exasperando 
magis  ac  obstrependo  coiilurbant.  Nemo  hsc  opinor,  mirabitur,  qui  frag- 
menta  antiquae  Germauorum  linguae  legit,  ex  quibus  satis  aestimari 
potest,  quam  difficilis  fuerit  Teutonicae  linguae  pronuntiatio,  ac  proin 
modulatio.     Schmincke. 

t  His  behaviour  in  this  respect  seems  to  have  been  widely  different 
from  that  of  Alpbonsus,  king  of  Spain,  who,  in  the  year  1080,  banished 
the   Gothic  Liturgy  out  of  his  kingdom,  and  introduced  the  Roman 


considerable  portion  of  this  latter  quality,  and  enter- 
tained a  mild  and  forgiving  disposition  towards  those 
who  had  offended  him,  may  be  inferred  from  that 
very  pretty  story  related  by  Mr.  Addison,  in  the 
Spectator,  No.  181,  of  the  princess  Imma,  his  daugh- 
ter, and  his  secretary  Eginhart,  and  her  ingenious 
device,  by  carrying  him  on  her  back  through  the 
snow,  to  prevent  the  discovery  of  an  amour  which 
terminated  in  their  marriage. 

The  purity  to  which  the  Gregorian  chant  was 
restored  by  the  zeal  of  Charlemagne,  subsisted  no 
longer  in  France  than  to  the  time  of  Lewis  the 
Debonnaire,  his  son  and  immediate  heir,  who  suc- 
ceeded to  the  empire  of  the  West  in  814 ;  for  in  his 
reign  the  music  of  the  church  was  again  corrupted . 
to  that  degree,  that  the  Gregorian  chant  subsisted 
only  in  the  memory  of  certain  Romans,  who  had 
been  accustomed  to  the  singing  it ;  for  neither  were 
there  in  France  or  at  Rome,  any  books  wherein  it 
had  been  written.  This  strange  circumstance  is 
related  by  Amalarius  Fortunatus,  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  number  of  singers,  to 
instruct  the  people ;  by  whom  the  pope  sent  to  the 
emperor  for  answer,  that  he  could  not  comply  with 
his  request,  for  that  the  last  of  those  men  remaining 
at  Rome  had  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  De  Ordine  Antiphonarii,  are 
these  :     *  When   I  had  been  a  long  while  affected 

*  with  anxiety,  on  account  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  all,  to  ease  me 
'  of  my  scruples ;  for  there  having  been  found  in  the 
'monastery  of  Corbie,  in  Picardy,  four  books,  three 
'  whereof  contained  the  nocturnal,  and  the  other  the 
'  diurnal,  office,  I  strove  to  make  all  the  sail  I  could 
'  out  of  this  sea  of  error,  and  to  make  a  port  of 
'  quiet ;  for  when  I  was  sent  to  Rome  by  the  holy 
'  and  most  christian  emperor,  to  the  holy  and  most 
'  reverend  father  Gregory,  concerning  these  books, 
'it  pleased   his  holiness  to  give  me  the  following 

office,  though  miracles  were  pleaded  in  favour  of  the  former.  Talent, 
ann.  lOiSO.  col.  I.  and  vide  Mariana,  in  his  history  of  Spain,  book  IX. 
pag.  152.  The  circumstances  of  this  extraordinary  event,  and  the 
miracles  that  preceded  it,  are  more  particularly  related  by  other  his- 
torians, who  speak  to  this  purpose: — Alexander  II.  had  proceeded  so  far 
in  the  year  IOCS,  as  to  persuade  the  inhabitants  of  Arragon  into  his 
measures,  and  to  conquer  the  aversion  which  the  Catalonians  had  dis- 
covered for  the  Roman  worship.  But  the  honour  of  finishing  this 
difficult  work,  and  bringing  it  to  perfection  was  reserved  for  Gregory  VII. 
who,  without  interruption,  exhorted,  threatened,  admonished,  and 
intreated  Sancius  and  Alphonso,  the  kings  of  Arragon  and  Castile,  until, 
fatigued  with  the  importunity  of  this  restless  pontiff,  they  consented  to 
abolish  the  Gothic  service  in  their  churches,  and  to  introduce  the  Roman 
in  its  place  ;  Sancius  was  the  first  who  submitted  to  this  innovation,  and 
in  the  year  1080  his  example  was  followed  by  Alphonso.  The  methods 
which  the  nobles  of  Castile  employed  to  decide  the  matter  were  very 
extraordinary.  First,  they  chose  two  champions,  who  were  to  determine 
the  controversy  by  single  combat,  the  one  fighting  for  the  Roman  liturgy, 
the  other  for  the  Gothic.  The  fiery  trial  was  next  made  >ise  of  to 
terminate  the  dispute  ;  the  Roman  and  Gothic  liturgies  were  committed 
to  the  flames,  which,  as  the  story  goes,  consumed  the  former,  while  the 
latter  remained  unblemished  and  entire.  Thus  were  the  Gothic  rites 
crowned  with  a  double  victory,  which  however  was  not  sufficient  to 
maintain  them  against  the  authority  of  the  pope,  and  the  influence  of 
the  queen  Constantia,  who  detennined  Alphonso  in  favour  of  the  Roman 
service.  Vide  Bona  De  Rebus  Liturg.  lib.  I.  cap  ix.  pag.  216.  Le  Bnm, 
loc.  citat.  pag.  292.  Jo.  de  Ferreras,  Hist,  de  I'Espagne,  torn.  III. 
pag.  2^7   241.  246.     Mosh.  Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  II.  pag.  341. 


142 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV. 


'  answer  :  "  I  have  no  singers  of  antiphons,  whom 
"  I  can  send  to  my  son  and  lord  the  emperor ;  the 
"  only  remaining  ones  that  we  had,  were  sent  from 
"hence  into  France  with  Walla,  who  was  here  on 
"an  embassy."  By  means  of  these  books,  I  dis- 
'  covered  a  great  difference  between  the  antiphons  of 

*  our  singers  and  those  formerly  in  use ;  the  books 
'  contained  a  multitude  of  responsaria  and  antiphons, 
'  which  they  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  instituted,  yet  they  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 
Amalarius  to  reform  the  antiphonary,  Nivers  asserts, 
that  the  corruptions  of  music  were  then  so  great, 
that  it  was  very  difficult  to  say  where  the  Gregorian 
Chant  lay ;  *  and,  after  all,  the  corrections  of  it  by 
Amalarius  Fortunatus  were  very  ill  received,  as  will 
appear  by  the  following  account  of  him. 

Symphosius  Amalarius,  or,  as  he  is  called  by 
most  wiiters,  Amalarius  Fortunatus,  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  Debonnaire,  by 
whom  he  seems  to  have  been  greatly  favoured.  In 
these  books  he  gives  mystical  reasons  for  those 
rites  and  ceremonies  in  divine  worship,  which  wiser 
men  look  on  as  mere  human  inventions.  To  give 
a  specimen  of  his  manner  of  treating  this  subject, 
speaking  of  the  habits  of  the  priests,  he  says,  *  The 
'  priest's  vest  signifies  the  right  management  of  the 
'  voice  ;  his  albe,  the  subduing  of  the  passions ;  his 

*  shoes,  upright  walking ;  his  cope,  good  works ; 
'  his  stole,  the  yoke  of  Jesus  Christ ;  the  surplice, 

*  readiness  to  serve  his  neighbour  ;  his  handkerchief, 

*  good  thoughts  ;  and  the  pallium,  preaching.f 

*  The  true  causes  of  the  first  corruptions  of  the  Cantus  Gregorianus 
are  plainly  pointed  out  by  the  interpreter  of  Hugo  Reutlingensis,  who, 
in  the  passage  cited  by  Sir  Henry  Spelman,  ascribes  it  to  the  disuse  of 
the  stave,  the  cliffs,  and  other  characters,  necessary  in  the  notation  of 
music.  To  the  same  purpose  Nivers  relates,  that  they  were  not  marked 
by  notes,  but  by  little  points  and  irregular  claaracters ;  which  account  is 
confirmed  by  some  manuscripts,  in  which  the  corrupt  method  of  notation 
above  hinted  at  does  most  evidently  appear.  Martini  of  Bologna  has 
exhibited  some  curious  examples  of  this  kind,  and  has  with  no  less 
ingenuity  than  industry,  from  characters  the  most  barbarous  that  can  be 
conceived,  and  which  were  intended  to  express  the  initial  clauses,  and 
also  the  euouae  of  sundry  antiphons,  as  used  in  particular  churches, 
extracted  a  meaning,  and  reconciled  them  to  the  true  method  of  notation. 

t  An  opinion  something  like  this,  touching  the  mystical  signification 
of  habits  and  the  manner  of  wearing  them,  seems  to  have  been  enter- 
tained by  the  common-law  judges  in  the  reign  of  king  James,  as  appears 
by  a  solemn  decree  or  rule,  made  by  all  the  judges  of  the  courts  at 
Westminster,  on  the  fourth  day  of  June,  1635,  for  the  purpose  of  appoint- 
ing what  robes  they  should  thenceforth  wear,  upon  ordinary  and  special 
occasions.  In  this  decree  mention  is  made  of  the  scarlet  casting-hood, 
which  is  by  the  decree  directad  to  be  put  above  the  tippet,  for  which  it 
is  given  as  a  reason  that  'justice  Walmesley  and  justice  Warburton,  and 
'  all  the  judges  before,  did  wear  them  in  that  manner,  and  did  declare, 
"  that  by  wearing  the  hood  on  the  right  side  and  above  the  tippet,  was 
"  signified  mere  temporal  dignity  ;  and  by  the  tippet  on  the  left  side  only, 
"  the  judges  did  resemble  priests."   Dugd.  Origines  Juridicialcs,  pag.  102. 

The  author  from  whom  the  above  passage  is  cited,  craves  leave  to 


But  the  book  of  Amalarius  Fortunatus  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  the  use  of  the  churches 
in  France.  It  seems,  that  in  this  and  other  of  his 
works,  he  had  censured  the  usage  of  the  church  of 
Lyons  :  this  drew  on  him  the  resentment  of  two 
very  able  men,  Agobard,  archbishop  of  that  city,  and 
Florus,  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  of 
insisting  too  strenuously  on  the  use  of  the  Romar 
ritual,  which,  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  Amalarius,  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,  that  the  clergy  spent  more  time  in  the 
practice  of  singing  than  in  the  study  of  the  holy 
scriptures,  and  the  discharge  of  their  duty  in  the 
ministry  of  the  gospel. 

The  writings  of  Amalarius  upon  the  offices  had 
given  rise  to  many  very  captious  questions  ;  and  to 
this  in  particular,  Whether  it  be  lawful  to  spit  im- 
mediately after  receiving  the  eucharist  ?  His  opinion 
on  this  point  of  theology  is  contained  in  one  of  his 
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.  I 

From  the  time  of  the  attack  on  him  by  Agobard, 
and  Florus,  his  deacon,  we  hear  no  more  of  Amalarius 
Fortunatus  ;  and  there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  that 
immediately  after  it,  his  memory  sank  into  oblivion. 

Before  we  dismiss  this  subject  of  the  Cantus  Gre- 
gorianus, it  may  not  be  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  themselves  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 

mention  a  word  or  two  concerning  the  collar  of  S  S.  worn  by  the  chief 
justices  and  chief  baron,  some  orders  of  knights,  the  kings  at  arms,  and 
others.  Touching  this  hadge  of  distinction,  he,  upon  tlie  authority  of 
Georgius  Wicelius,  relates,  that  it  has  a  reference  to  two  brethren, 
Roman  senators,  named  Simplicius  and  Faustinus,  who  suffered  martyr- 
dom under  the  emperor  Dioclesian  ;  and  gives  the  following  description 
of  it  from  his  author : — '  It  was  the  custom  of  those  persons  (the  society 
'of  St.  Simplicius)  to  wear  about  their  necks  sDver  collars,  composed  of 
'  double  S  S,  which  noted  the  name  of  St.  Simplicius.  Between  these 
'  double  S  S  the  collar  contained  twelve  small  plates  of  silver,  in  which 
'  were  engraved  the  twelve  articles  of  the  creed,  together  with  a  single 
'  trefoyle.  The  image  of  St.  Simplicius  hung  at  the  collar,  and  from  it 
•  seven  plates,  representing  the  seven  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost.' 

Dugdale  adds,  '  that  the  reason  of  wearing  this  chain  was  in  regard 
'  that  these  two  brethren  were  martyred,  by  tying  a  stone  with  a  chain 
'  about  their  necks,  and  casting  their  bodies  into  the  river  Tiber." 

X  Du  Pin.  Nouv.  Biblioth.  des  Aut.  Ecclesiast.  Siec.  IX. 


Chap.  XXXI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


143 


their  fundamental  harmony.  In  a  collection  of 
madrigals,  intitled  Musica  Divina,  published  by 
Pietro  Phalesio,  at  Antwerp,  in  1595,  is  one  com- 
posed by  Gianetto  Palestina,  beginning  '  Vestiva 
'  i  Colli,'  in  five  parts,  which  is  evidently  a  praxis  on 
the  fourth  tone  ;  and  in  1694,  Giov.  Paolo  Colonna,  of 
Bologna,  published  certain  of  the  psalms,  for  eight 
voices,  '  Ad  ritum  ecclesiasticaj  musices  concinendi.' 

CHAP.    XXXI. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  from  the  time  of  its 
original  institiition  the  cantus  ecclesiasticus  pervaded 
the  whole  of  the  service  ;  but  this  at  least  is  certain, 
that  after  the  final  improvement  of  it  by  St.  Gregory, 
all  the  accounts  of  the  Romish  ritual,  and  the  manner 
of  celebrating  divine  service  in  the  western  church, 
lead  to  the  belief  that,  excepting  the  epistles  and 
gospels,  and  certain  portions  of  scripture,  and  the 
passional  or  martyrology,  the  whole  of  the  service, 
nay  that  even  the  prayers  and  penitential  offices, 
were  sung.  Among  the  canons  of  Elfric,  made  anno 
957,*  is  the  following  : — 

'Now   it   concerns    mass -priests    and   all   God's 

*  servants   to   keep   their   churches   employed   with 

*  divine  service.  Let  them  sing  therein  the  seven 
'tide-songs  that  are  appointed  them,  as  the  synod 
'earnestly  requires,  viz.,  the  uht-song,  the  prime- 
'song,  the  undern-song,  the  midday -song,f  the  noon- 
'  song,  the  even-song,  the  seventh  [or  night]  song.' 
Can.  xix.  What  these  severally  are,  may  be  seen  in 
a  collection  of  ecclesiastical  laws  by  the  reverend  and 
learned  Mr.  Johnson  of  Cranbrook,  who  has  bestowed 
a  note  on  the  passage. 

The  twenty -first  of  the  same  canons  is  in  these 
words  :  — '  The  priest  shall  have  the  furniture  for  his 
'  ghostly  work  before  he  be  ordained,  that  is  the  holy 
'  books,  the  psalter  and  the  pistol-book,  gospel-book, 
'and  mass-book,  the  song-book,  and  the  hand-book, 
'the  kalendar,  the  pasconal,:}:  the  penetential,  and  the 

*  lesson-book.     It  is  necessary  that  the  mass-priest 

*  have  these  books ;  and  he  cannot  be  without  them 
'  if  he  will  rightly  exercise  his  function,  and  duly  in- 
'  form  the  people  that  belongeth  to  him.' 

These  injunctions  may  seem  to  regard  the  cele- 
bration of  mass,  as  well  on  festivals  as  on  ordinary 
occasions,  in  cathedral  and  other  churches  ;  never- 
theless the  practice  of  singing,  by  which  in  this 
place  nothing  can  possibly  be  understood  but  the 
Cantus  Gregorianus,  was  not  restrained  either  to  the 
solemn  choral  service,  or  to  that  in  parish-churches, 

*  Elfric  is  supposed  to  have  been  archbishop  of  York  about  the  time 
above-mentioned,  and  Wulfin,  to  whom  they  are  directed,  bishop  of  one 
of  the  ancient  sees  of  Dorchester  or  Shirburn,  but  which  of  the  two  is 
rather  uncertain.  This,  as  also  soirue  other  collections  of  ecclesiastical 
laws  here  cited,  are  to  be  found  in  Sir  Henry  Spelman's  Councils  ;  but 
the  extracts  above  given  are  from  Mr.  Johnson's  valuable  and  useful 
work,  wliich  in  some  respects  is  preferable  to  the  former. 

t  Midday-song  was  certainly  at  twelve  o'clock,  which  we  call 

soon;  and  the  canon  above  mentions  both  a  midday  and  a  noon. song; 
yiis  noon  was  the  hora  nona  with  the  Latins,  and  our  three  o'clock.  In 
the  Shepherd's  Almanac  noon  is  midday,  high  noon  three.  Vide  John- 
son's Canons,  title  King  Edgar's  Laws  Ecclesiastical,  in  a  note  on 
law  V. 

High  noon  is  expressly  mentioned  in  the  old  ballad  of  Chevy-Chase — 
And  long  before  highe  noone  they  had 
An  hundrede  fat  buckes  flaine  j 

t  I.  e.  The  Passional  or  Martyrology. 


but  in  short  it  was  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- 
junctions of  that  father  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 
whereby  the  people  are  required  to  learn  the  Lord's 
prayer  and  the  creed,  because,  says  the  law,  '  Christ 
'himself  first  sang  pater-noster,  and  taught  that 
'  prayer  to  his  disciples.'  Mrs.  Elstob  in  her  preface 
to  the  translation  of  the  above  homily,  pag.  36,  has 
inserted  this  law,  and  on  the  words  rrp.irt  realr 
/•an je  Patep  Noyteji  has  the  following  note : — 
'  Singing  the  service  was  so  much  in  practice  in  these 
'  times,  [i.  e.  about  the  sixth  century,  when  Austin  the 
'  monk  was  sent  by  Gregory  into  Britain]  that  we  find 
'  the  same  word  j^injan  to  signify  both  to  pray  and 
'  sing,  as  in  the  present  instance.' 

Farther,  among  the  canons  of  Elfric  above-cited  is 
one  containing  directions  for  visiting  the  sick,  wherein 
that  rule  of  St.  James,  *  And  they  shall  pray  over 
'  him,'  is  expressed  in  these  words,  "j  hi  him  oj:eji 
rinjon  that  is,  '  they  shall  sing  over  them.'  The 
passage  above-cited  is  part  of  the  thirty-first  of 
Elfric's  canons,  and  is  in  truth  a  paraphrase  on  the 
words  of  St.  James  in  his  General  Epistle,  chap.  v. 
ver.  13,  14,  and,  to  give  it  at  length,  is  as  follows  : — 
'  If  any  of  you  be  afflicted,  let  him  pray  for  himself 
'  with  an  even  mind,  and  praise  his  Lord.  If  any  be 
'  sick  among  you,  let  him  fetch  the  mass-priests  of  the 
'  congregation,  and  let  them  sing  over  him,  and  pray 
'  for  him  and  anoint  him  with  oil  in  the  name  of  the 
'  Lord.  And  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  heal  the  sick, 
'  and  the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up ;  and  if  he  be  in 
'  sins,  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  the  ancient  manner  of  celebrating 
divine  service,  and  prove  that  almost  the  whole  of  it, 
particularly  the  lesser  offices,  was  sung  to  musical 
notes  ;  so  do  they  account  for  that  care  and  assiduity 
■with  which  the  study  of  music  appears  to  have  been 
cultivated  in  the  several  monasteries,  schools,  and 
universities  throughout  Europe,  more  especially  in 
France  and  England.  That  the  knowledge  of  music 
was  confined  to  the  clergy,  and  that  monks  and  pres- 
byters were  the  authors  of  most  of  the  treatises  on 
music  now  extant,  is  not  so  well  accounted  for  by  the 
general  course  of  their  lives,  and  the  opportunities 
they  had  for  study,  as  by  this  consideration,  it  was 
their  profession  ;  and  to  sing  was  their  employment, 
and  in  a  great  measure  their  livelihood.  §  The  works 
of  Chaucer  and  other  old  poets  abound  with  allusions 
to  the  practice  of  singing  divine  service,  and  with  evi- 
dences that  a  knowledge  of  the  rudiments  of  singing 
was  essential  in  every  cleric,  indeed  little  less  so  than 
for  such  a  one  to  be  able  to  read.  In  the  Vision  of 
Pierce  Plowman,  Sloth,  in  the  character  of  a  priest, 

§  The  statutes  of  All-Souls  college,  in  Oxford,  which  are  but  de- 
claratory of  the  usage  of  ancient  times,  require  that  those  elected  to 
fellowships  should  be  '  bene  nati,  bene  vestiti,  et  mediocritur  docti  iu 
piano  cantu.' 


144 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV. 


among  other  instances  of  laziness  and  ignorance, 
confesses  that  he  cannot  perfectly  repeat  his  Pater- 
noster as  the  priest  singeth  it ;  and  that  though  he 
had  been  in  orders  above  thirty  years,  he  can  neither 
sol-fa,  nor  sing,  nor  read  the  lives  of  saints  :  the 
whole  of  his  speech,  which  is  exceedingly  humourous 
and  characteristic,  is  here  inserted  : — 

Than  came  Sloth,  all  beflaberd,  with  two  flimy  eyne, 

I  muft  fit  laid  the  leg,  or  els  I  muft  nedes  nap, 

I  mai  not  ftond  ne  ftoupe,  ne  without  my  ftole  knele, 

Wer  I  brought  a  bed,  but  if  my  talend  it  made, 

Should  no  ringing  do  me  rife,  or  I  were  ripe  to  dine, 

He  began  benedicite  with  a  belke,  and  on  his  breaft  knoked 

And  ralkled  and  rored,  and  rut  at  the  laft. 

Awak,  reuk  quod  Repentaunce,  and  rape  thee  to  the  Ihrift. 

If  I  fliould  die  by  this  day,  me  lyft  not  to  looke  : 

1  can  not  perfitly  my  pater  nofter,  as  the  prieft  it  fingeth. 

But  I  can  rimes  of  Robenhod,  and  Randal  of  Chefter, 

But  of  our  Lord  or  our  Lady,  I  lerne  nothing  at  all  ; 

I  have  made  vows  xl,  and  forgotten  hem  on  the  morow; 

I  performed  never  penance,  as  the  prieft  me  hight, 

Ne  right  fory  for  my  fmnes,  yet  was  I  never  ; 

And  if  I  bid  any  beades,  but  it  be  of  wrathe 

That  I  tel  with  my  tong,  is  two  mile  from  my  hart  j 

I  am  occupied  every  day,  holy  day  and  other 

With  idle  tales  at  the  ale,  and  other  while  in  churches. 

God's  peyne  and  his  paflion,  ful  felde  I  thinke  thereon, 

I  vifited  never  feble  men,  ne  fettred  folk  in  pittes, 

1  have  lever  hear  an  harlotry,  or  a  fommers  game 

Or  lefTinges  to  laugh  at,  and  belye  my  neighboures, 

Than  al  that  ever  Marke  made,  Mathew,  Jhon,  and  Lucas, 

And  vigiles  and  fafting  dales,  all  thefe  I  let  pafle, 

And  lie  in  bed  in  Lent,  and  my  lemman  in  mine  armes 

Till  mattens  and  maffe  be  done,  and  than  go  I  to  the  freres. 

Com  I  to  '  Ite  mifla  eft,'  ■••'  I  hold  me  ferved  ; 

I  am  not  fhriven  fometime,  but  if  fickenes  it  make. 

Not  twife  in  two  year,  and  than  up  gueffe  I  thrive  me. 

I  have  been  prieft  and  perfon  pafling  thirty  winter. 

Yet  can  I  neither  folfe  nor  fing,  ne  faindles  lives  read, 

But  I  can  finde  in  a  fielde,  or  a  furlong,  an  hare, 

Better  than  in  Beatus  vir,  or  in  Beati  omnes 

Conftrue  one  claufe,  and  ken  it  to  my  parifhens. 

1  can  hold  loue  dales,  and  heare  a  revenes  rekening, 

And  in  cannon  and  in  decretals  I  cannot  read  a  line 

Yf  I  bugge  and  borrow  ought,  but  if  it  be  tailed  . 

I  forget  it  as  fonne,  and  if  men  me  it  alke 

Six  fithes  or  feven,  I  forfake  it  with  othes. 

And  thus  tene  I  true  men,  ten  hundred  times, 

And  my  fervauntes  falary  fometimes  is  behind, 

Ruth  is  to  hear  the  rekening,  when  we  fhal  mak  account ; 

So  with  wicked  wil  and  with  wrath  my  workmen  I  pai. 

Yf  any  man  do  me  benefite,  or  helpe  me  at  nede 

I  am  unkind  againft  his  curtefi,  and  cannot  underftand  it, 

For  I  have  and  have  had  fome  deale  haukes  maners. 

I  am  not  lured  with  love,  but  if  ought  be  under  the  thombe 

That  kindnefs  that  mine  even  chriften,  kid  me  ferther 

Sixe  fithes  I  Sloth,  have  forgotten  it  fithe. 

In  fpech  and  in  fparing  of  fpence,  I  fpilt  many  a  time 

Both  flefh  and  fifh,  and  many  other  vitailes. 

Both  bread  and  ale,  butter,  milke,  and  chefe, 

For  Slouth  in  my  fervice  til  it  mighte  fervc  no  man. 

I  ran  about  in  youth,  and  gave  me  not  to  learning, 

And  ever  fith  have  ben  a  beggar  for  my  foule  flouth.f 

The  foregoing  account,  as  it  relates  solely  to  the 
Cantus  Gregorianus,  must  be  supposed  to  contain 
only  the  history  of  the  choral  music  of  the  western 
church ;  for  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  antiphonal 
singing  was  introduced  by  the  Greek  fathers,  and 
was  first  practised  in  the  churches  of  the  East ;  and 

*  i.  c.  See  an  explanation  of  these  words  in  a  subsequent  note.  The 
meaning  of  the  above  passage  is,  '  If  I  come  before  the  instant  tlie 
'  people  are  dismissed  from  mass,  I  hold  it  sufficient.' 

t  Vision  of  Pierce  Plowman,  Passus  quintus. 


that  the  cantus  of  the  Greek  church,  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  serve  to 
show  how  little  is  to  be  expected  from  an  enquiry 
into  the  nature  of  the  ancient  Greek  choral  music. 
Vossius  says  in  general,  that  the  Greek  church  made 
use  of  modulations  different  from  those  of  the 
western  ;  \  but  for  a  formula  of  them  we  are  very 
much  to  seek.  As  to  the  method  of  notation  made 
use  of  by  the  Greeks  in  after-times,  it  did  not  in  the 
least  resemble  that  of  the  Latins,  and  was  widely 
different  from  that  of  the  ancient  Greeks.  Mont- 
faucon,  in  his  Paloeograpliia  Graeca,  lib.  V.  cap.  iii. 
gives  a  curious  specimen  of  Greek  musical  notation 
from  a  manuscript  of  the  eleventh  century.  (See 
Appendix,  No.  38.) 

Dr.  Wallis  had  once  in  his  hands  a  manuscript, 
which  upon  examination  proved  to  be  a  Greek 
ritual ;  it  had  formerly  been  part  of  the  famous 
library  foimded  at  Buda  by  Matth^us  Corvinus,  king 
of  Hungary,  in  1485.  In  1529  the  city  of  Buda 
was  taken  by  the  Turks,  and  in  1688  retaken,  after 
a  long  siege,  by  the  forces  of  the  emperor  Leopold. 

A  description  of  this  manuscript,  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  Ger.  Voss.  De  Scientiis  Mathematicis,  cap.  xxi.  §  12. 

§  '  Sir,  I  have  seen  and  cursorily  perused  that  ancient  Greek  manu- 
'  script  which  is  said  to  have  been  found  in  Buda,  at  the  taking  of  that 
'  place  from  the  Turks  in  the  present  war  between  the  German  emperor 
'  and  the  Turk. 

'  It  is  elegantly  written  in  a  small  Greek  hand,  and  is  judged  to  be  at 
'  least  three  hundred  years  old.  The  form  of  the  letter  is  much  different 
'  from  that  of  those  which  we  now  use,  and  not  easy  to  be  read  by  those 
'  who  are  not  acquainted  with  the  Greek  hand  used  in  the  manuscripts 
'  of  that  age. 

'  It  bears,  after  the  first  three  leaves,  this  title  Ap^t]  aw  Qtoj  ayiu) 
'  r»jc  TTCtTTaSiKtig  TfKVtjg,  which  I  take  to  intimate  thus  much : — 
'  Here  begins,  with  the  assistance  of  the  sacred  Deity,  the  patriarchal 
'  art ;  for  I  take  natraQ  then  to  signify  as  much  as  pope  or  patriarch, 
which  is  farther  thus  explained : — aKoXsB'tai  xpaWofifvai  tv  Kov- 
•  gavTwovoXti,  (TVVTiOtiffai  rapa  rwv  Kara  xaipag  tvpiaK- 
'  0fitVii)V  tv  avTt]  TToirjrcov  TraXaiwv  Tt  Kai  vtuv.  That  is,  the 
'order  of  services  in  Constantinople  composed  by  poets,  such  as  from 
'  time  to  time  have  been  there  found,  as  well  ancient  as  modern  ;  so  that 
'  it  seems  to  be  a  pandect  or  general  collection  of  all  the  musical  chureh- 
'  services  there  used,  as  well  the  more  ancient,  as  those  which  were 
'  then  more  modern  ;  after  which  it  thus  follows  : — wv  t)  ap^t]  ffrjixoi- 
'  Sia  Kai  ai  thtwv  (jxovai,  beginning  with  the  musical  notes  and 
'  their  sounds. 

•  After  which  title  we  have  accordingly  for  about  five  leaves,  an  account 
'of  the  musical  notes  then  in  use,  their  figures,  names,  and  signifi- 
'  cations  ;  without  which  the  rest  of  the  book  would  not  be  intelligible, 
'  and  even  as  it  is,  it  will  require  some  sagacity  and  study,  to  find  out 
'  the  full  import  of  it,  and  to  be  able  to  compare  it  with  our  modern 
'  music. 

'  The  rest  of  the  book  consists  of  anthems,  church-services  for  par- 
'  ticular  times,  and  other  compositions,  according  to  the  music  of  that 
'  age,  near  a  thousand  I  guess  of  one  sort  or  other,  or  perhaps  more. 

'The  whole  consists  of  four  hundred  and  thirteen  leaves,  close  written 
'  on  both  sides  in  a  small  Greek  hand,  in  the  shape  or  form  of  what  we 
'  would  now  call  a  very  large  octavo,  on  a  sort  of  thick  paper  used  in  the 
'  eastern  countries  at  that  time. 

'  There  is  for  the  most  part  about  twenty-eight  lines  in  each  page, 
'  that  is  fourteen  lines  of  Greek  text,  according  to  which  it  is  to  be  sung ; 
'  not  such  as  those  which  we  now  use,  nor  like  those  of  the  more  ancient 
'  Greeks,  which  they  called  of  which  Meibomius  gives  us 

'  a  large  account  out  of  Alypius.  But  a  new  sort  of  notes,  laf  °r  than 
'  those  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  but  before  those  of  Guido  Aretinus,  which 
'  we  now  use  ;  and  commonly  two  or  three  compositions  in  one  leaf,  willi 
'  the  author's  name  for  the  most  part. 

'  I  do  not  find  in  it  any  footsteps  of  what  is  now  common  in  our  present 
'  music ;  I  mean  compositions  in  two,  three,  four,  or  more  parts ;  all 
'  these,  for  ought  I  find,  being  only  single  compositions. 


Chap.  XXXI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


145 


discovered  that  tlie  MS.  aboveraentioned  was  the 
property  of  Mr.  Humfrey  Wanley,  as  appears  b}'" 
a  letter  of  his  to  Dr.  Arthur  Charlett,  inserted  also 
in  the  note,  in  which  he  offers  to  part  with  it  to  the 
university  of  Oxford.  It  is  to  be  conjectured  that 
the  university  declined  purchasing  it,  and  that  Mr. 
Wanley  disposed  of  it  to  the  earl  of  Oxford,  for  in 
the  printed  Catalogue  of  the  Harleian  manuscripts 
in  the  British  Museum,  No.  1G13,  is  the  following 
article  : — 

'  Codex  chartaceus  in  8vo,  ut  ajunt,  majori,  diversis 

•  manibus  scriptus,  et  Grajcorum  more  compactus ; 
'  quem  Dno  Henrico  Worslejo  in  Terra  Sancta  pere- 

•  grinanti  dono  dedet  Notara  (Norapd  an  'NorapioQ ;) 
'  tunc  Metropolita  Ceesariensis ;  qui  exinde,  de  mor- 
'  tuo  doctissimo  suo  avunculo,  factus  est  Patriarcha 
'  Hierosolymitanus  ;  adhuc,  ni  fallor,  superstes.  In 
'  illo  habentur  varia  Ecclesi^  Grecaj  Ofticia,  Cantica, 
'  &c.  Greece  descripta,  Notulisq ;  Graecis  Musicalibus 
'insignita.  Non  iis  dico,  quse  priscis  seculis  apud 
'  Ethnicos  Poetas  et  Philosophos  in  usu  fuerunt ; 
'  quarum  etiamnum  nonnullie  restant  quasi  e  Nau- 

•  fragio  Tabula  :  sed  alterius  plane  formae,  quas  ante 
'  plurima  secula  introductas  adhuc  retinet  hodierna 
'  Graecorum  Ecclesia.' 

Mr.  Wanley  has  inserted  the  rubrics  in  the  order 
in  which  they  occur  ;  these  are  to  be  considered  as 

'  That  which  renders  it  most  valuable  is  this  ;  we  have  of  the  more 
'  ancient  Greek  musicians  seven  published  by  Marcus  Meibomius  in  the 
'year  I6.'J2,  Aristoxenus,  Euclid,  Nicomachus,  Alypius,  Gaudentius, 
'  Bacchius,  and  Aristides  Quintilianus,  before  that  of  Martianus  Capella 
'  in  Latin.  I  have  since  published  Ptolemy's  Harmonics  in  the  year  1682, 
'  and  I  have  now  caused  to  be  printed  Porphyry's  Commentary  on  Ptolemy 
'and  Bryeniiius,  which  are  both  finished  some  while  since,  and  they  will 
'  thereby  come  abroad  as  soon  as  some  other  thiiifrs  are  finished  which  are 
'  to  bear  them  company.  All  these,  except  Martianus  Capella,  in  Greek 
and  Latin,  and  these  are  thought  to  be  all  the  Greek  musicians  now 
'  extant. 

•  But  all  those  concern  only  the  theoretical  part  of  music,  of  the  prac- 
'  tical  part  of  it,  that  is,  musical  compositions  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  it 
'  hath  been  thought  till  that,  there  was  not  one  extant  at  this  day, 
'  whereby  we  have  been  at  a  loss  what  kind  of  compositions  theirs  were, 
'  and  how  theirs  did  agree  or  disagree  with  what  we  now  have,  and  it  is 

•  a  surprise  to  light  at  once  upon  so  many  of  them. 

'  'Tis  true  that  all  those  are  more  modern  than  those  of  Aristoxenus, 
'  Euclid,  Nicomachus,  and  others  of  the  more  ancient  Greeks,  being  all 
'  since  the  times  of  Christianity,  and  such  as  were  used  in  the  Greek 
'  church  of  Constantinople :  but  they  are  much  more  ancient  than  any 

•  were  thought  to  be  extant.  •  Your's, 

'John  Wallis.' 

Copy  of  Mr.  Wanley's  letter  to  Dr.  Charlett. 

'  Honoured  Sir,  London.  June  13,  1698. 

'  I  cannot  forbear  sending  you  word  of  the  good  fortune  I  have  lately 

had  to  compass  a  Greek  munuscript,  which  contains  the  art  of  singing, 

with  the  names,  powers,  and  characters  of  their  musiijal  notes  in  great 

•  variety.  And  a  collection  of  anthems,  hymns,  &c.  set  to  their  musick 
'  by  the  best  masters  of  Constantinople,  as  intended  and  used  to  be  sung 

•  in  their  churches  upon  al!  the  chief  festivals  of  the  year.  It  has  like- 
'wise  the  musical  part  of  their  common  liturgy  with  the  notes;  and 
<  both  these,  not  only  of  the  later  music  of  the  said  masters,  but  very 
'often  the  more  antient  too,  used  before  their  times  The  names  of 
'  these  masters  prefixed  to  their  compositions,  are  about  threescore  in 
'number,  some  of  which  1  here  set  down  ;  [Here  follows  a  long  list  of 
Greek  names,  which  it  is  needless  to  insert,  as  the  MS.  is  yet  in  being 
and  accessible.] 

'  I  believe  many  of  their  names,  and  much  more  their  works,  might 
'  have  been  long  enough  unknown  to  us  without  the  help  of  this  book. 
'Here  is  likewise  a  sprinkling  of  the  music  used  in  the  churches  of 
'  Anatolia,  Thessalouica,  Thebes,  and  Rhodes,  besides  that  piece  called 

•  UepcnKov,  and  other  tracts. 

'  The  MS.  was  taken  from  the  Turks  in  plundering  Buda,  about  the 
'  year  16.S6,  and  was  afterwards  bought  by  an  English  gentleman  for  4/. 
'  but  I  lying  here  at  great  charges,  cannot  afford  to  sell  it  so  cheap.  It 
'  is  about  300  years  old,  fairly  written  upon  cotton  paper,  taking  up  above 
'  four  hundred  leaves  in  a  large  Svo. 

'  The  book  ought  to  be  placed  in  tlie  publick  library  ;  and  if.  Sir,  you 
'are  willing  to  think  that  the  university  will  consider  me  for  it,  I  will 
'  bring  it  along  with  me  the  next  week  :  If  not,  I  can  be  courted  to  part 
■  with  it  here  upon  my  own  terms. 
'  For  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charlett,  I  am  reverend  and  honoured  Sir, 

•  Master  of  University  college     Your  most  faithful  and  obedient  servant, 

'in  Oxford.  Humfrey  W.\n ley.' 


so  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. 

*  To  give  a  few  instances.  295.  TpoTraptov.  Vox  generica,  et 
Canticis  in  Ecclesia  Greeca  receptis  communis:  Modulum  semper 
vertit,  et  Antiphonas  Latinorum  quadantenus  respondere  observat 
Goarus.     Du  Cang. 

In  Ecclesia  Oiientali,  canebantur  certis  diebus  certi  Canones,  quos 
in  Troparia  riividebant  plerumque  30,  et  nonnumquam  plura  :  ex- 
cepto  uno  Magno  Canone,  qui  250  complectebatur.  Suicer.  ex 
Triodio. 

Canones  in  Odas  dividuntur;  Od.e  in  Troparia,  ex  quibus  com- 
ponuntur.  Singula  nanique  Troparia  continent  aut  plura  aut  pauciora, 
cum  eorum  Numerus  determinatus  non  sit.  Troparia  quandoque 
Libera  ac  Vaga  relliiquunter :  quandoque  primis  Litteris  quasi  Annulis 
in  Verbis  veluti  Catenula  inseruntur,  quam  Acrostichida  autores  vocant. 
Du  Cang.  ex  AUatio  de  Georgiis. 

378.  AvTi(povov,  Foemineum  Antiphona  a  Neutrio  Antiphonum 
discrimen  apud  nos  obtinet  maximum:  quamvis  ab  uno  Graeco  vo- 
cabulo,  utrumque  fuerint  Latini  mutuati :  Antiphona  namque  est 
Sententia  vel  Modulus  cuilibet  Psalmo  decantato  adjunctus,  et  quasi 
EP  opposiTo  Respondens,  iuquit  Honorius  Solitarius,  lib.  ii.  cap.  17. 
Antiphonum  autem  ut  hie  usurpatur  Psalmi  sunt  plures  Versus,  ad 
quorum  singulos,  una  et  eadem  sit  semper  ab  altero  Choro  Responsio: 
et  propter  banc  Unam  et  Reciprocam  Sententiani  semper  illatam, 
avri(povov,  quasi  vox  opposita,  seu  Vocis  oppositio  vocatur.  Ejus 
forma  qualis  sit,  ex  his  Mysallibus  Antiphonis  (i.  e.  Liturgia  S.  Chry- 
sostomi)  fol.  105,  et  seq.  positis  innotescit.  Extat  enim  ibi  Psalmus 
dyaOuv  rb  t^opoXoyticrOat  tm  Kvp'tuj  cujus  singulis  versibus 
respondet  ai'Ti^ujvoJV  Taig  Trptrr^daiQ  Trjg  ^tOTOKH  k,  tcI  £$r;c, 
illis  sa;pius  Opponendum.  Quamiis  fatear  rem  potius  in  adversum 
sensum  trahendam .  cum  enim  Psalmus  ipse  vocatur  ai'Ti(f)U)VOV, 
ejus  Versus  sunt  qui  uni  et  eideni  dicto,  i.  c.  resumpto  (^'{(pvpi'to) 
ejus  frequentius  repetito)  opponuntur.  Vel  certe,  quia  mutua  et  utri- 
usque  Chori  ad  invicein  Responsio :  et  voces  jam  auditae,  rursum  vel 
ex  toto,  vel  ex  parte,  iterantur  prout  quoque  in  Latinis  Responsoriis 
contingit)  ai'Ti^iovov  apptllatur.  Unde,  tum  propter  Vocis  Signifi- 
cationem,  tum  propter  Compositionis  formam,  Latine  Responsorium 
congrue  reddi  posset.  Vetat  tamen  Usus  loquendi  antiquus,  ut  Missae 
Introitum  alio  quam  Antiphoni  vel  Antiphona  Nomine  dicatur, 
&c.     Goar. 

428.  Tptffayio?',  Trisanctum,  Hymni  genus,  cujus  hjec  erant 
Verba,  "Ayio^  b  ^toQ,  ayioc  Icrxvpbg,  dyioQ  dOavaTog,  t\tr]aov, 
t'lpdg  in  quo  dyiog  b  ^tbg  referebatur  ad  Deum  Patrem ;  dyiog 
laXvpbg  ad  Deum  Filium;  ayio^  aSavnrof  ad  Spiritum  sanctum. 
Vocatur  etiam  rpiaayiog  vpvoXoyia,  %£jOs/3t/coe  vpvog,  dyytXojv 
vpvoXoyta,  rpiaayiog  aivog  ayyeXwv  'Ypviodia  et  rpiaayia 
fojvt].  Anno  enim  Theodosii  Junioris  quinfo  (vel  trigesimo  secundum 
Cedrenum,  frc.)  magno  existente  Terrse  Motu,  et  Muris  corruentibus, 
quia  AmalechitiF  intra  Urbem  inhabitarent,  et  adversus  Hymnum  hunc 
Blasphemias  proloquerentur :  Preces  et  Siipplicationes  in  Campo  Tri- 
bunalis,  Theodosius  cum  Proclo  Patriarcha  instituit.  Cum  vero  Kvpie 
iX(.r]<jov  clamarent  Horis  aliquot  continuis,  Adolescentulus  quidam  in. 
conspectu  omnium  in  aerem  sublatus  est,  audivitque  Angelos  clamantes, 
Ayiog  6  Sibg,  dyiog  iaxvpbg,  dyiog  aQdvarog,  iXeyjaov  i)pdg. 
Quud  cum  mox  demissus  narrasset,  omnes  eodem  mndo  Trisagium 
canere  cocperunt,  et  cessavit  TerrcE  Motus.  Huic  Hymno  Imperator 
Anastasius  post  ilia  dyiog  dOdvarog  addi  voluit  o  gavpo^ng  vrrtp 
t]piv,  verum  id  cum  magno  Malo  et  suo,  et  Constantinopolitanorura. — 
Observandum  tandem  discrimen  quod  est  inter  to  Tpiadyiov  et 
Hymnum  Epinicion,  in  quo  similiter  'Ayiog  canebatur,  hunc  in 
modum,  dyioc,  dyiog,  dyiog  Kupiog  aafiawQ  — Ergo  rptcrdytov 
initio  Liturgiae  ante  Epistols  Lectionem  canebatur.  Hymnus  vero 
Cherubicus  et  tTTiviKiog,  post  Catechumenorum  et  Poenitentium 
dimissionem.  Tpiadyiov  quoque  usurpabant  pro  Sacrosancta  Trini- 
tate.     Suicer. 

441.  Xopog,  proprie  notat  Canentium  atque  Saltantium  collectam 
Multitudinem,  notum  est  in  Ecclesia  hodie  Psalmodiam  retineri,  et 
quidem  Choro,  quibusdam  in  Locis,  bifariam  diviso.  Improprie  notat 
Multitudinem  amice  conspirantium  in  doctrina,  &'c.     Suicer. 

Xopog,  dividcl)antur  ^opoi  in  SiKiov,  Dextrum,  et  dpigtpov, 
Sinistrum.  Triodium  in  Sabbato  Sancto  ap\irai  avBig  utrd 
ptXsg  b  ^(Kibg  I'lXsg  b  ^rpdrog  yopbg,  in  quo  quidem  Dextro  ao 
Primo  Choro  consistit  Sacerdos  qui  sacrae  Liturgiae  priest.  Du  Cang. 

The  practice  of  dividing  the  chorus  into  two  pans,  and  disposing  the 
singers  on  both  sides  of  the  choir,  seems  best  of  any  method  to  corres- 
pond with  the  intention  of  antiphoiial  or  responsive  singing.  But  it  is 
to  be  remarked  that  in  the  Romish  service  there  are  many  offices  com- 
posed for  four,  and  even  eight  choirs  as  they  are  termed.  These  are  in 
fact  not  distinct  chrirs,  but  rather  so  many  smaller  chorusses,  singing 
alternately  with  each  other,  and  together  at  stated  intervals  ;  and  these 
are  also  divided  according  to  the  choral  order,  and  stationed  on  both 
sides  of  the  choir.  In  our  English  service-books  the  two  different  sides 
are  distinguished  by  the  names  of  the  officers  that  superintend  them 
respectively  ;  for  instance,  as  the  seat  of  the  Dean  is  on  the  right,  those 
on  that  side  are  directed  when  to  sing  by  the  word  Decani ;  and  as  the 
s,tation  of  the  pra_'centor  or  chanter  is  on  the  left,  those  on  that  side  are 
directed  by  the  word  Cantoris.     The  Dean  and  the   Precentor  are  the 


14:6 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV. 


But  as  a  mere  verbal  description  of  this  MS. 
would  fail  to  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the  character 
in  which  it  is  written,  or  of  the  musical  notes,  which 
are  the  principal  object  of  the  present  enquiry,  tlie 
initial  and  final  pages  of  the  volume  are  given  in  tliat 
kind  of  transcript  which  the  curious  distinguish  by 
the  appellation  of  facsimile.    (Appendix.  Nog.  39, 40.) 

It  is  very  clear  from  that  letter  that  Dr.  Wallis 
looked  upon  manuscripts  of  this  kind  as  a  very  great 
curiosity  ;  and  this  judgment  of  his  is  founded  upon  an 
opinion  which  he  says  prevailed  at  the  time  of  giving 
it,  that  there  was  no  such  thing  as  an  ancient  Greek 
musical  composition  extant. 

The  causes  of  this  scarcity  of  Greek  ritual  music 
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  than 
those  that  exercised  the  sacerdotal  function.  This 
appears  from  a  passage  in  the  liturgy  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  used  by  St.  Basil  and  Clirysostom 
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. 

But  the  ruin  of  the  Greek  church  was  completed 
in  the  taking  and  sacking  of  Constantinople  by  the 

offici^rs  of  the  greatest  dignity  in  all  choral  establishments,  but  there  are 
others  which  usage  and  successive  endowments  hare  authorised  and  the 
canon  law  recognises:  for  which  reason  a  brief  delineation  of  Cathedral 
Politg  as  it  subsists  in  England  and  elsewhere  may  seem  but  a  necessanj 
adjunct  to  this  note.  The  Bishop  is  properlg  the  head  of  the  church,  and 
the  Presbyters  who  are  variously  termed  Canons  or  Prebendaries,  though 
their  offices  in  the  choir  are  but  ill-dejined  by  the  canonists,  are  his  council, 
and  were  anciently  ten  in  number.  In  the  choral  functions  the  Precentor 
presided  till  about  the  middle  of  the  sixth  century,  but  afterwards  when 
endowments  began  to  be  made  of  cathedral  and  collegiate  churches,  it  was 
thought  unfit  that  he  Who  was  at  most  but  one  of  the  Choir  should  govern  as 
well  as  direct  the  rest;  this  made  the  office  of  Dean  necessary,  which  being 
a  term  borrowed  from  the  military  discipline  and  derived  from  Decanus, 
and  that  from  CiKUQ,  ten,  imports  a  right  of  presiding  over  ten  subordi- 
nates ;  these  in  their  corporate  capacity  are  stiled  Dean  and  Chapter. — 
The  Dean  is  then  to  be  considered  as  Arch-presbyter  and  head  of  the  choir, 
as  the  Bishop  is  of  the  church:  next  to  him  in  legal  order  follou-s  the 
Precentor  formerly  stiled  Primicerius  and  in  later  times  Chanter;  then  the 
Canons,  and  after  them  Minor  Canons,  who  are  also  Presbyters,  and  with 
the  Lay  t'icars  are  conjectured  to  hold  the  place  of  the  ancient  Psalmistce 
or  Canonical  Singers,  who  in  a  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Laodicea  are 
described  as  singincj  out  of  the  Parchment ;  lastly  Choristers  or  Singing 
Children.      Vide  Bp.  Welenhall,  of  Gifts  and  Offices,  page  522  et  seq. 

■142.  KavovupKriQ.  Pr-efectus  Canonum,  qui  Monachos  ad  psal- 
lendos  in  Vigiliis  Caiiones  excitabat.     Suicer. 

509.  HpuiTO^dXTTjQ.  Primicerius  Cantorum;  qui  dictus  etiam 
So^icriKog  riov  ;//aX(Iii'.  Verum  non  habebant  Ecclesitc  Proto- 
PsALTAS,  sed  DoMESTicos  Cantorum;  cum  Proto-Psalt^  proprie 
essent  Cleri  Palatini,  &c.     Du  Gang. 

•  See  a  collection  of  the  principal  liturgies  used  in  the  celebration  of 
the  holy  eucharist,  by  Di,  Thomas  Brett,  pag.  34. 


Turks  in  the  year  1453,  when  their  libraries  and 
public  repositories  of  archives  and  manuscripts  were 
destroyed,  and  the  inhabitants  driven  to  seek  shelter 
in  the  neighbouring  islands,  and  such  other  places  as 
their  conquerors  would  permit  them  to  abide  in. 

From  that  time  the  Greek  Christians,  excepting 
those  who  inhabit  the  empire  of  Russia,  have  lived  in 
a  state  of  the  most  absolute  subjection  to  the  enemies 
of  true  religion  and  literature,  and  this  to  so  great 
a  degree,  that  the  exercise  of  public  worship  is  not 
permitted  them  but  upon  conditions  so  truly  humili- 
ating, as  to  excite  the  compassion  of  many  who  have 
been  spectators  of  it.  Maundrel  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  than  dirt,  and  a  crucifix 
of  two  bits  of  lath  fastened  cross-wise  together,  j- 

A  modern  traveller,  Dr.  Frederic  Hasselquist,  who 
visited  the  Levant  in  the  year  1749,  indeed  mentions 
that  in  the  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 
church-music  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  this  kind  would  elude  the  utmost 
efforts  of  industry.  | 

CHAP.  XXXIL 

Isidore,  bishop  of  Seville,  is  frequently  ranked 
among  the  writers  on  music,  for  this  reason,  as  it 
seems,  that  he  was  the  author  of  Originum,  sive 
Etymologiarum,  a  kind  of  epitome  of  all  arts  and 
sciences,  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 

t  '  Being  informed  that  here  were  several  Christian  inhabitants  in 
'  this  place,  we  went  to  visit  their  church,  which  we  found  so  poor  and 
'pitiful  a  structure,  that  here  Christianity  seemed  to  be  brought  to  its 
'  humblest  state,  and  Christ  to  be  laid  again  in  a  manger.  It  was  only 
'a  room  of  about  four  or  five  yards  square,  walled  with  dirt,  having 
'  nothing  but  the  uneven  ground  for  its  pavement ;  and  for  its  ceiling 
'  only  some  rude  traves  laid  athwart  it,  and  covered  with  bushes  to  keep 
'  out  the  weather.  On  the  east  side  was  an  altar  built  of  the  same 
'  materials  with  the  wall ;  only  it  was  paved  at  top  with  pot-sherds  and 
'  slates,  to  give  it  the  face  of  a  table.  In  the  middle  of  the  altar  stood 
'a  small  cross  composed  of  two  laths  nailed  together  in  the  middle: 
'  on  each  side  of  which  ensign  were  fastened  to  the  wall  two  or  three  old 
'prints,  representing  our  blessed  Lord  and  the  blessed  Virgin,  8;c.,  the 
'  venerable  presents  of  some  itinerant  friars,  that  had  passed  this  way. 
'  On  the  south  side  was  a  piece  of  plank  supported  by  a  post,  which  we 
'understood  was  the  reading-desk,  just  by  which  was  a  little  hole 
'  commodiously  broke  through  the  wall  to  give  light  to  the  reader 
'  A  very  mean  habitation  this  for  the  God  of  heaven  !  but  yet  held  in 
'great  esteem  and  reverence  by  the  poor  people;  who  not  only  come 
'  with  all  devotion  hither  themselves,  but  also  deposit  here  whatever  i» 
'most  valuable  to  them  in  order  to  derive  upon  it  a  blessing.  When  we 
'were  there  the  whole  room  was  hanged  about  with  bags  of  silk-worms' 
'eggs;  to  the  end  that  by  remaining  in  so  holy  a  place,  they  might 
'  attract  a  benediction  and  a  virtue  of  encreasing.'  Maundrell's  Journey 
from  Aleppo  to  Jerusalem,  pag.  7. 

t  A  gentlt-man,  who  has  lately  obliged  the  world  wjth  an  account  of 
the  Greek  church,  in  Russia,  speaking  of  the  ritual  of  the  Russians, 
takes  notice  that  the  music  of  their  service  hooks  is  written  on  a  stave 
of.five  lines,  from  which  he  rightly  infers  that  the  ecclesiastical  tones  as 
sung  by  them  are  either  corrupted,  or  have  widely  deviated  from  their 
original  institution.  The  Rites  and  Ceremonies  of  the  Greek  Church  in 
Russia,  by  Dr.  John  Glen  King,  pag.  43,  in  not. 


Chap.  XXXII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


14:7 


Musica.  Cap.  iv.  De  tribus  Partibus  Musicse.  Cap. 
V.  De  triformi  Musicse  Divisione.  Cap.  vi.  De  prima 
Divisione  Musicai  harmonica.  Cap.  vii.  De  seevmda 
Divisione  organica.  Cap.  viii.  De  tertia  Divisione 
rythmica.  Cap.  ix.  De  Musicis  Numeris ;  and  also 
a  Treatise  on  the  Ecclesiastical  Offices,  in  both  of 
which  there  are  many  things  relating  to  music,  and 
in  the  former  especially,  many  etymologies  of  musical 
terms,  and  names  of  musical  instruments.  His  father 
was  Severianus,  a  son  of  Theodoric  king  of  Italy ; 
he  succeeded  his  brother  Leander  in  the  bishopric 
of  Seville  about  the  year  595,  and  governed  that 
church  near  forty  years  :  he  was  very  learned  in  all 
subjects,  more  especially  in  geometry,  music,  and 
astrology ;  his  book  on  the  Offices  contains  the  prin- 
cipal points  of  discipline  and  ecclesiastical  polity. 
Mosheim  in  his  chronological  tables  makes  him  the 
principal  compiler  of  the  Mosarabic  liturgy,  which 
is  the  ancient  liturgy  of  Spain.  He  died  in  the 
year  636,  and  has  a  place  in  the  calendar  of  Romish 
saints. 

Of  the  introduction  of  music  into  the  church- 
service,  of  the  institution  of  the  four  tones  by  St. 
Ambrose,  and  of  the  extension  of  that  number  to 
eight  by  St.  Gregory,  mention  has  been  made ; 
we  are  now  to  speak  of  another  very  considerable 
improvement  of  church  music,  namel}^,  the  intro- 
duction of  that  noble  instrument  the  organ,  which 
we  are  told  took  place  about  the  middle  of  the 
seventh  century.  Aiithors  in  general  ascribe  the 
introduction  of  organs  into  churches  to  pope  Vitali- 
anus,  who,  as  Du  Pin,  Platina,  and  others  relate,  was 
advanced  to  the  pontificate  in  a.  c.  663  :  the  enemies 
of  church  music,  among  whom  the  IMagdeburg  com- 
mentators are  to  be  numbered,  invidiously  insinuate 
that  it  was  in  the  year  666  that  organs  were  first 
used  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,  upon  enquiry,  will 
appear  to  be  false  in  fact ;  for  though  it  is  uncon- 
troverted  that  Vitalianus  introduced  the  organ  into 
the  service  of  the  Romish  church,  yet  the  use  of 
instruments  in  churches  was  much  earlier ;  for  we 
are  told  that  St.  Ambrose  joined  instruments  of 
music  with  the  public  service  in  the  cathedral  church 
of  Milan,  which  example  of  his  was  so  well  approved 
of,  that  by  degrees  it  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  Eusebius, 
the  latter  of  whom  lived  fifty,  and  the  former  two 
hundred  years  before  the  time  of  St.  Ambrose.  But 
to  return :  — 

Sigcbert  relates  that  in  the  year  766  the  emperor 
Constantinef  sent  an  organ  as  a  present  to  Pepin, 

*  Isaacson  on  very  good  authority  fixes  it  at  G6I). 

+  Surnamed  Copronymus,  because  he  is  said  to  have  defiled  the  font 
at  his  baptism.     Mosh.  vol.  II.  pag.  92,  in  not. 

Other  writers  speak  particularly,  and  say  that  the  first  use  of  organs  in 


then  king  of  France,  though  the  annals  of  Metz 
refer  to  the  year  757 ;  from  hence  some  with  good 
reason  date  the  first  introduction  of  the  organ  into 
that  kingdom,  but  it  was  not  till  about  the  year  826 
that  organs  became  common  in  Europe. 

Whoever  is  acquainted  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  INIusicali,  libro  VIII. 
pag.  290,  has  bestowed  great  pains  in  a  disquisition 
on  the  structure  of  the  ancient  organ  ;  the  occasion 
of  it  he  says  was  this :  a  lady  of  quality.  Madonna 
Laura  d'Este,  in  the  year  1571,  required  of  Zarlino, 
by  his  friend  Francesco  Viola,  his  sentiments  of  the 
organ  in  general,  and  whether  he  took  the  modern 
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 
Vitruvius,  which  he  leaves  just  as  he  found  it ;  he 
then  cites  a  (jreek  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  Mersennus,  lib.  III. 
De  Organis,  pag.  113  : — 

Qiiam  cerno,  alterius  naturae  est  fistula  :  nempe 
Altera  produxit  fortasse  hsec  jenea  tellus. 
Horrendum  stridet,  nee  nostris  ilia  movetur 
Flatibus,  et  missus  taurino  e  carcere  ventus 
Subtus  agit  lasves  calamos,  perque  ima  vagatur. 
Mox  aliquis  velox  digitis,  insignis  et  arte 
Adstat,  Concordes  calamis  pulsatque  tabellas  : 
Ast  illae  subito  exiliunt,  et  carmina  miscent. 

As  to  the  organ  of  the  moderns,  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  IMunich,  pretended  to  be  the  most  ancient 
in  the  world,  with  pipes  of  one  entire  piece  of  box, 
equal  in  magnitude  to  those  of  the  modern  church 
organ :  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  580.  This  som- 
miero he  describes  as  being  about  two  feet  long,  and 
a  fourth  of  that  measure  broad,  and  containing  only 
thirty  pipes  and  fifteen  keys,  but  without  any  sto]» ; 
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,  he  says  is  hard  to  guess  :  he  says 
farther  that  this  instrument  had  bellows  in  the  back 
part,  such  as  are  to  be  seen  in  the  modern  regali,  and 
exhibits  a  draft  of  this  instrument  in  the  following 
form : — 

the  western  church  was  at  Aeon.  Isaacs.  Chron.  Anno  Christi  S26. 
Church  Story  :  hut  see  Bingh.  Antiqu.  Vol.  1  314,  a  citation  from  Thomas 
Aquinas,  shewing  that  they  were  not  in  use  in  his  time,  viz.,  1250. 


148 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  IV. 


Zarlino  speaks  also  of  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  instruments  he  makes  to  be 
much  more  ancient  than  that  of  Munich  in  Bavaria  ; 
concernino:  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  make  pipes  of  one  piece 
so  large  as  those  are  said  to  be  ;  and  that,  after  such 
were  found,  an  organ  so  constructed  as  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  imagine  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. 
III.  '  Tunc  rupes  tarpeia  sonat :' — 

Non  ruggio  si,  ne  si  mostro  si  acra 
Tarpeia,  come  tolto  le  fii  il  buono 
Metello,  donde  poi  rimase  macra. 

To  mi  rivolsi  attento  al  primo  tuono, 
E,  Te  Deum  laudamus,  mi  parea 
Udir  in  voce  mista  al  dolce  suono. 

Tale  imagine  appunto  mi  rendea 

Cio  ch'  r  udiva,  qual  prender  si  suole 
Quando  a  cantar  con  organi  si  stea : 

Che  or  si  or  no  s'  intendon  le  parole. 

But  upon  the  whole,  he  is  clearly  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  his  time.* 

*  Mersennus  seems  to  carry  the  antiquity  of  the  organ  farther  back 
than  Zarlino  has  done  in  the  passapje  above  cited,  and  to  think  that  not 
only  the  hydraulic  but  the  pneumatic  origan,  was  in  use  among  the 
Romans,  though  he  has  left  it  to  the  antiquaries  to  ascertain  the  precise 
time  :  for  speaking  of  the  epigram  made  in  its  praise  by  the  emperor 
Julian,  and  which  is  inserted  in  his  (Mersennus's)  Latin  work,  he  relates 
'  that  the  Sieur  Naude  had  sent  him  from  the  Matthei  gardens  at  Rome, 
'  the  form  nf  a  little  cabinet  of  an  organ,  with  bellows  like  those  made  use 
'of  to  kindle  a  fire,  and  a  reprtsentation  of  a  man  placed  behind  the 
'cabinet  blowing  the  bellows,  and  of  a  woman  touching  the  keys.'  He 
says,  '  that  on  the  bottom  of  the  cabinet  was  the  following  inscription  : — 
'  L.  APISIUS  C,  P.  SCAPTIA  CAPITOLINUS  EX  TESTAMENTO 
'FIERI  MONUMEN.  .lUSSIT  ARBITRATU  HEREDUM  ME- 
ORUM  SIBI  ET  SUIS  ;  concerning  which,  he  adds,  the  antiquarians 


Tliat  choral  music  had  its  rise  in  the  church  of 
Antioch,  the  metropolis  of  Syria,  and  that  from 
thence  it  spread  through  Greece,  and  was  afterwards 
brought  into  Italy,  the  several  testimonies  above  ad- 
duced sufficiently  shew  :  from  thence  it  made  its  way 
into  France,  Britain,  Spain,  and  Germany,  and  at 
was 


length 


received  throughout  Christendom.     As 


'  may  conjecture  what  they  can  ;  for  that  it  is  sufficient  that  he  has  given 
'  the  practice  of  his  own  age,  which,  he  says,  by  far  surpasses  any  thing 
'  that  the  ancients  have  left  behind  on  this  subiect.'  Harm.  Univer. 
lib.  VI.  pag.  387. 

The  monument  above  spoken  of  has  been  recovered.  Probably  it  is 
extant  in  some  one  or  other  of  the  collections  of  the  antiquities,  published 
since  the  time  of  Mersennus,  but  the  following  representation  of  it  was 
found  among  the  papers  of  Nicola  Francesco  Haym,  the  author  of  II 
Tesoro  Britannico  delie  Medaglie  Antiche,  and  as  it  corresponds  exactly 
with  the  description  of  it  by  Mersennus,  it  is  here  inserted : — 

L.  APISIUS  C.  F.  SCAPTIA  CAPITOLINUS  EX 

TESTAMENTO   FIERI    MONUMEN.     JUSSIT 

ARBITRATU  HEREDUM  MEMORUM  SIBI  ET  SUIS; 


The  same  author  takes  occasion  to  mention  an  organ  described  in  an 
epistle  to  Dardanus,  in  the  fourth  volume  of  the  works  of  St.  Jerome, 
which,  from  the  many  barbarisms  that  appear  in  it,  he  says,  ought  not 
to  be  attributed  to  that  excellent  man.  This  organ,  he  says,  is  repre- 
sented as  having  twelve  pair  of  bellows  and  fifteen  pipes,  and  a  wind- 
chest,  made  of  two  elephant  skins  ;  and  as  yielding  a  sound  as  loud  as 
thunder,  which  might  be  heard  at  more  than  a  thousand  paces  distance. 
Mersennus  adds,  that  in  the  same  epistle  mention  is  marie  of  an  organ 
at  Jerusalem,  which  was  heard  at  the  mount  of  Olives.  He  says,  there 
are  many  other  instruments  described  in  the  same  epistle  ;  but  he  re- 
marks, that  if  the  elephant  skins  above  mentioned  were  sewed  together, 
and  were  fitted  by  bellows,  the  instrument  was  more  properly  a  corna- 
musa,  or  bagpipe,  than  an  organ. 

To  this  account  of  organs  of  a  singular  construction,  the  following 
may  be  added  of  some  less  ancient.  Fuller,  in  his  Worthies  of  Denbigh- 
shire, pag.  33,  mentions  an  organ  with  golden  pipes.  Leander  Alberti, 
in  his  Description  of  Italy,  says,  he  saw  one,  in  the  court  of  the  duke  of 
Mantua,  of  alabaster;  and  another  at  Venice,  made  all  of  glass;  and 
Pope  Sylvester  the  Second  made  an  organ  that  was  played  on  by  warm 
water.     See  Oldys's  British  Librarian,  No.  1.  pag.  51. 


Chap.  XXXIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


149 


to  the  time  and  manner  of  its  introduction  into 
Britain,  history  has  ascertained  it  beyond  a  possibility 
of  doubt ;  for  we  are  expressly  told,  that  at  the  time 
when  Austin  the  monk  arrived  here,  chai'ged  with 
a  commission  to  convert  the  inhabitants  of  Britain  to 
Christianity,  singers  attended  him  :  and  so  watchful 
were  the  Roman  pontiffs  over  its  progress  in  this 
island,  that  in  little  more  than  half  a  century,  one  of 
the  most  excellent  chanters  that  Rome  afforded  was 
sent  hither,  by  Agatho,  to  reform  such  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 
thinking  ;  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 
born  musicians. 

Besides  this,  there  are  proofs  in  history  that  in 
a  very  short  time  after  its  first  planting  amongst  us, 
music  was  observed  to  flourish  ;  and  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. 
HoUinshed,  after  Bede,  describes  the  progress  of 
singing  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 
'  singing  of  divine  service,  after  the  ryte  of  the  church 

*  of  Rome.  The  archbishop  Theodore,  finding  the 
'  church  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 
'  song,  and  musicke  to  be  used  in  the  church,  after 
'  the  manner  as  he  had  learned  of  Pope  Gregories 
'  disciples.'* 

After  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  cathedi'al 
church  thereof  was  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  small  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    learne 

*  musicke,  wheresoever  he  was  required,  or  could  get 
'  entertainment.'! 

*  First  volume  of  the  Chronicles  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
pag.  178,  col.  ii.  edit.  1377. 

i   Ibid.  pag.  181. 


CHAP.  XXXIII. 

The  several  improvements  herein  before  enume- 
rated, related  solely  to  that  branch  of  music  which 
those  who  affect  to  use  the  terms  of  the  ancients, 
called  the  Melopneia ;  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 
rhythmopoeia  was  suffered  to  remain  without  inno- 
vation till  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
as  it  is  said,  when  John  De  Muris,  a  doctor  of  the 
Sorbonne,  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  arguments  of  each  party  have 
been  stated,  and,  upon  a  comparison  of  one  with  the 
other,  it  does  most  clearly  come  out,  that  music  in 
consonance,  though  as  to  us  it  be  of  great  antiquity, 
is,  with  respect  to  those  of  whom  we  are  now  speak- 
ing, a  modern  improvement. 

In  fixing  the  asra  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  instruments, 
which  are  those  adapted  to  the  performance  of  it, 
to  Guido  Aretinus.  Kircher  was  the  first  propagator 
of  this  opinion,!  which  he  confesses  is  founded  on 
a  bare  hint  of  Guido  ;  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  Micrologus  nor 
in  the  other  tract  of  Guido,  intitled,  Argumentura 
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  music  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 
century ;  for  what  are  we  to  understand  by  the 
word  Descant,  but  music  in  consonance  ? 

But  lest  a  doubt  should  remain  touching  the  nature 
of  the  practice  which  the  word  Descant  is  intended 
to  signify,  let  us  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.,  1731.  at  Ashburnham-house, 
where  it  was  deposited.  The  passage  above  men- 
tioned may  be  thus  translated.  § 

%  Musurs.  toni.  T.  pag.  215. 

§  From  a  copj  made  for  the  use  of  Dr.  Pepusch.     Vide  Mr.  Castley's 
catalogue. 


loO 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIEXCE 


Book  IV. 


'  If  two  or  three  descant  upon  a  plain -song,  they 
'  must  use  their  best  endeavours  to  begin  and  proceed 
'  by  different  concordances ;  for  if  one  of  them  should 
'  concur  with  another,  and  sing  the  same  concord  to 
'  the  plain-song,  then  ought  they  immediately  to 
*  constitute  another.  If  you  would  descant  under 
'  the  plain-song,  in  the  duple,  [i  e.  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  you  to  descant  above  the  plain- 
*song;  whoever  sings  above  it  must  be  experienced 
'in  the  grave  sounds,  their  nature  and  situation;  for 
'  on  this  the  goodness  of  the  harmony  in  a  great 
'  measure  depends.  Another  method  of  descanting 
'is  practised,  which,  if  it  be  well  pronounced,  will, 
'  though  easy,  appear  very  artificial,  and  several  will 
'  seem  to  descant  on  the  plain-song,  when  in  reality 
'  one  only  shall  descant,  and  the  others  modulate  the 
'  plain-song  in  diffei'eut  concordances  :  it  is  this,  let 
'  there  be  four  or  five  singers,  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 
'  sings  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 
'  as  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.' 

Morley,  in  his  Introduction,  pag.  70,  speaking  of 
the  word  Descant,  indeed  says,  that  '  it  is  a  word 
'usurped  of  the  musitions  in  divers  significations ;' 
yet  he  adds,  '  that  it  is  generally  taken  for  singing 
'a  part  extempore,  on  a  playne-song  ;  so  that  when 
'  a  man  talketh  of  a  descanter,  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  taken  its  rise  from  the  choral 
service,  which,  whether  we  consider  it  in  its  primitive 
state,  as  introduced  by  St.  Ambrose,  or  as  improved 
by  pope  Gregory,  consisted  either  of  that  plain  and 
simple  melody,  which  is  understood  when  we  speak 
of  the  Ambrosian  or  Gregorian  chant,  or  of  com- 
positions of  the  hymnal  kind,  differing  from  the 
former,  in  that  they  were  not  subject  to  the  tonic 
laws  which  at  different  periods  had  been  laid  down 
by  those  fathers  of  the  church. 

Continual  practice  and  observation  suggested  to 
those  whose  duty  obliged  them  to  a  constant  and 
regular  attendance  at  divine  service,  the  idea  of 
a  polyphonous  harmony ;  by  means  whereof,  without 
disturbing  the  melody,  the  ear  might  be  gratified 


with  a  variety  of  concordant  sounds,  uttered  by 
a  number  of  voices ;  and  indeed  little  less  than 
a  discovery  of  this  nature  was  to  be  exjiected  from 
the  introduction  of  music  into  the  church,  consider- 
ing the  great  number  of  persons  whose  duty  it 
became  to  study  and  practise  it ;  considering  also, 
the  great  difference,  in  respect  of  acuteness  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  fera  when  the  organ  was  first  introduced 
into  churches  at  the  year  660,  and  gives  the  honour 
of  it  to  Vitalianus ;  and  in  less  than  half  a  century 
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  far  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  moderns,  has  gone  farther,  and  ascribed  the  use 
of  the  term  to  our  countryman ;  and  there  is  extant, 
in  the  Cambrise  Descriptio  of  Giraldus  Cambrensis, 
a  relation  of  a  practice  that  prevailed  in  his  time 
among  the  inhabitants  of  this  country,  not  incon- 
sistent with  the  supposition  that  either  Bede  himself, 
or  some  of  the  brethren  of  the  monastery  vidiere 
he  resided,  might  be  the  inventors  of  music  iu 
consonance. 

The  relation  of  Giraldus  Cambrensis  above  re- 
ferred to  is  to  the  following  effect : — 

'  In  the  northern  parts  of  Britain,  beyond  the 
'  Humber  and  on  the  borders  of  Yorkshire,  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  [submurmurante] 
'  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  be  uttered  simply,  or  otherwise  than 
'  variously,  or  in  this  twofold  manner.'j" 

*  Gio.  Bat.  Doni,  in  his  treatise  De  Generi  e  de  Modi  della  Musica, 
pas.  97. 

t  In  musico  modulamine  non  unformiter  ut  alibi,  sed  multipliciter 
multisque  niodis  et  modulis  cantilenas  emittunt,  afleo  ut  in  turba 
canentium,  sicnt  liuic  f^enti  mos  est,  quot  videas  capita,  tot  audias  car- 
mina  discriniinaqne  vocnni,  varia  in  unam  denique  sub  B.  Mollis 
dulcedine  blanda  consonantiam  et  organicam  convenientia  nielodiam. 
In  borealibus  quoque  majoris  Britannias  partibus  trans  Humbrum, 
Kboracique  finibus  Angloruni  populi  qui  partes  illas  inliabitant  simili 
caiiendo  symphnniaca  utuntur  harmonia:  binis  tamen  solumniodo 
tonorum  difTerentiis  et  vocum  moduiando  varietatibus,  una  inferius 
sub  murmurante  altera  vero  superne  demulcente  pariter  et  delectante. 
Nee  arte  tantum  sed  usu  longaevo  et  quasi  in  naturain  mora  diutina 
jam  converso,  \\xc  vel  ilia  sibi  gens  banc  specialitatem  coniparavit  ftui 
adeb  apud  utramque  invaluit  et  altas  jam  radices  posuit,  ut  nihil  hie 
simpliciter,  ubi  multipliciter  ut  apud  priores,  vel  saltem  dupliciter  ut 
apud  sequentes,  mellit^  proferri  consueverit.  Pueris  etiam  (quod  magis 
admirandum)  et  fere  infantibus,  (cum  primuni  a  lletibus  in  cantus 
erumpunt)  eandera  modulationem  obseruantibus.  Angli  vero  quoniara 
non  generaliter  omnes  sed  boreales  solum  hujusmodi  vocum  utuntur 


Chap.  XXXITI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


151 


As  this  method  of  singing  seems  by  the  account 
above  given  of  it  to  have  been  subservient  to  the 
laws  of  harmony,  an  enquiry  into  its  origin  may 
lead  to  a  discovery  when  and  where  music  in  con- 
sonance was  first  practised.  The  author  above  cited 
would  insinuate  that  the  inhabitants  of  this  country 
might  receive  it  from  the  Dacians,  or  Norwegians  ; 
but  he  has  not  shewn,  nor  is  there  the  least  reason 
to  think  that  any  such  practice  prevailed  among 
either  of  those  people ;  and  till  evidence  to  that 
purpose  shall  be  produced,  we  may  surely  suspend 
our  belief,  and  refer  the  honour  of  the  invention  to 
those  who  are  admitted  to  have  been  in  possession 
of  the  practice.  It  wull  be  remembered,  that  in  the 
foregoing  pages  it  has  been  related  that  the  monas- 
tery of  Weirmouth,  in  the  kingdom  of  Northumbria, 
was  famous  for  the  residence  of  John  the  arch-chanter, 
and  other  the  most  skilful  musicians  in  Britain.  It 
is  therefore  not  improbable  that  symphoniac  music 
might  have  its  rise  there,  and  from  thence  it  might 
have  been  disseminated  among  the  common  people 
inhabiting  that  part  of  the  kingdom  ;  nay,  it  is  next 
to  impossible  that  a  practice  so  very  delightful,  and 
to  a  certain  degree  so  easily  attainable,  could  be 
confined  within  the  walls  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 
evidence  than  that  it  was  known  and  practised  in 
England  so  early  as  the  eighth  century,  can  be  pro- 
duced to  the  contrary. 

But  without  pursuing  an  enquiry  touching  the 
particular  country  where  symphoniac  music  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  Guido. 

Besides  the  application  of  the  syllables  ut,  re,  mi, 
FA,  SOL,  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  upon  one  or  other  of 
the  lines  to  signify  certain  notes,  he  was  the  first  that 
placed  points  in  the  spaces  between  the  lines,  and  by 
the  invention  of  the  keys  or  cliffs,  corqpressed  as  it 
were,  the  whole  system  of  the  double  diapason  into 
the  narrow  limits  of  a  few  lines. 

After  he  had  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  l)ut  a  consequence  that  the  notation  of  music  of 
more  parts  than  one  should  be  by  points  placed  one 
under  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  from  their  different  situations  on  the  same  stave, 
or  on  different  staves,  and,  by  consequence,  the  points 

modulationibiis,  credo  quod  a  Dacis  et  Norwasiensibus  qui  partes  illas 
insulas  frequentiiis  occupare  ac  diutius  obtinere  solebant,  sicuf  loquendi 
affiiiitatem,  sic  canendiproprietatem  contraxerunt.  Cambriae  Descriptio 
cap.  xili. 


must  have  been  placed  in  a  vertical  situation,  and  in 
opposition  to  each  other ;  and  this  method  of  notation 
suggested  for  music  of  more  than  one  part  the  name 
of  Counterpoint,  a  term  in  the  opinion  of  some 
favouring  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  rule  for  judging  of  the 
credibility  of  the  assertion  which  it  is  here  proposed 
to  refute,  namely,  that  he  was  the  inventor  of  po- 
lyphonous  or  symphoniac  music,  and  lead  to  the 
source  of  that,  w^hich  by  this  time,  cannot  but  be 
thought  an  error.  The  writers  who  maintain  this 
position,  and  they  are  not  a  few,  have  mistaken  the 
sign  for  the  thing  signified,  that  is  to  say,  Counter- 
point, for  Music  in  Consonance,  the  thing  character- 
ised by  counterpoint.  The  fact  in  short  is,  that 
music  in  consonance  was  in  use  before  Guido's  time  ; 
he  invented  the  method  of  notation,  calculated  to 
define  it,  called  Counterpoint  :  this  is  the  whole  re- 
lating to  the  invention  now  under  consideration  that 
can  be  ascribed  to  him ;  and  it  must  have  been  the 
effect  of  strange  inattention  that  a  dift'erent  opinion 
has  prevailed  so  long  in  the  world. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  eighth  century  flourished 
Bede,  well  known  to  the  world  by  the  epithet  of 
Venerable.  He  was  born  about  the  year  G72,  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,  and  piety,  a  pattern  for  all  other 
monks.  He  wrote  an  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Bri- 
tain, at  the  end  whereof  are  some  memoirs  of  his  own 
life,  from  which  it  appears  that  he  was  very  assiduous 
in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  music,  and  punctual  in 
the  performance  of  choral  duty  in  the  church  of  his 
monastery.  He  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  very 
intimately  acquainted  with  some  of  the  singers  whom 
pope  Agatho  had  sent  into  Britain  to  teach  the 
method  of  singing,  as  it  was  practised  at  Rome  ;  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  1(388.  The  first  volume  contains  a  great  number 
of  small  tracts  on  arithmetic,  gi'ammar,  rhetoric,  as- 
tronomy, chronology,  music,  the  means  of  measuring 
time,  and  other  subjects.  On  that  of  music,  in  par- 
ticular, there  is  a  tract  intitled  De  Musica  Theorica ; 
and  another,  De  Musica  Quadrata,  Mensurata,  seu 
Practica.*  It  is  said,  that  he  had  no  fewer  than  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  Britannica, 
and  an  accurate  catalogue  of  his  works  in  the  Bibli- 
otheca  Britannico-Hibernica  of  bishop  Tanner. 

NoTGERUS,  or  NoTKER,  sumamed  Le  Begue,  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 

*  Vide  Tan.  Biblioth.  pag.  89,  in  not.  col.  ii. 


152 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV 


Mnsica  et  Symphonia.  He  is  supposed  to  have  been 
the  inventor  of  the  Sequentiae,  which  are  those  parts 
of  the  office  in  which  the  people  answer  to  the  priest, 
and  which  pope  Nicolas  I.  ordained  to  be  sung  at  mass. 
He  died  in  912.  Innocent  III.  had  taken  order  for 
his  canonization,  but  his  design  was  never  carried  into 
execution.  There  was  another  of  the  name,  bishop  of 
Liege  :  Trithemius  has  confounded  them  together. 

Rabanus  Maurus,  is  reckoned  in  the  number  of 
those  who  have  written  on  music.  He  was  born  at 
Mentz,  in  788,  and  bred  up  in  the  monastery  of 
Fulda.  He  studied  at  Tours,  under  Alcuin,  and 
returning  to  his  monastery,  was  chosen  abbot  thereof, 
in  822.  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 
affairs  of  the  monastery.  He  retired  to  Mount  St. 
Pierre  ;  and  was  at  last  chosen  archbishop  of  Mentz, 
in  847.  In  a  treatise  of  the  universe,  consisting  of 
twenty-two  books,  which  he  wrote  and  sent  to  Lewis 
le  Debonnaire,*  he  has  comprised  an  infinite  number 
of  common  places,  amongst  which,  it  is  supposed,  are 
many  relating  to  music,  since  Brossard  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  mass,!  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. 

Walafridus  Strabo,  so  surnamed  because  he 
squinted,  was  first  a  monk  of  Fulda,  and  afterwards 
abbot  of  Richenou,  in  the  diocese  of  Constance.  He 
is  reckoned  among  the  musical  writers,  and  had  been 
a  disciple  of  Rabanus  Maurus.  He  flourished  about 
the  year  842,  and  wrote  De  Officiis  Divinis,  the 
twenty-fifth  chapter  of  which  tract  is  intitled  De 
Hymnis  &  Cantilenis  eorumque  incrementis,  (feci 
The  Benedictines,  compilers  of  the  Histoire  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,  tom.  IV.  pag.  59,  in  not. 

Bristan,  or  Bricstan,  a  native  of  England,  a 
Benedictine  monk,  and  precentor  in  the  monastery 
of  Croyland,  is  celebrated  by  Pits  as  an  excellent 
mathematician,  poet,  and  musician.§     Ingulphus,  pag. 

•  Du  Pin.  Nouv.  Biblioth.  des  Auteurs  Eccles.  siec.  ix. 

+  As  the  word  Mass  will  frequently  occur  in  the  course  of  this  work, 
the  following  note  of  the  translator  of  Du  Pin's  Bibliotheque,  vol.  VI. 
pag.  3,  may  serve  for  an  explanation  of  that  rite  : — 

'  The  word  Missa,  or  Mass,  is  an  old  Latin  word,  and  signifies  gene- 
'  rally  the  whole  service  of  the  church,  but  more  especially  the  holy 
•sacrament  of  Christ's  body  and  blood.  It  was  called  Missa,  or  Di- 
'  mis^io,  because  no  man  was  suffered  to  remain  in  the  church  that 
'  could  not  or  would  not  receive  the  sacrament ;  and  therefore  such 
'  persons  as  had  a  mind  to  see  and  hear,  but  not  receive,  were  all,  with- 
'  out  exception,  dismissed  by  the  deacon,  after  the  sermon  was  ended, 
*  with  these  words,  "  Ite,  missa  est ;  Go,  ye  are  dismissed  :  "  and  if  any 
'  delayed,  they  were  urged  to  depart  by  the  deacons  and  exorcists,  saying 
'aloud,  "  Si  quis  non  communicet  det  locum  ;  Whoever  will  not  receive, 
"let  him  go  out."  The  Roman  church  puts  a  different  sense  upon  this 
'word  Mass,  understanding  by  it  that  solemn  service  wherein  they  do 
'pretend  to  offer  unto  God  the  body  and  blood  of  his  Son,  as  a  pro- 
'pitiatory  sacrifice  for  the  sins,  both  of  the  quick  and  dead.  Isidore 
'  here  takes  it  in  the  first  sense,  calling  ii  Ordo  Precum,  i.  e.  the  Form  of 
'Prayers.  But  Du  Pin,  by  joining  it  with  the  word  Canon,  (a  word  of 
'a  much  later  use,  and  which  signifies,  in  the  Roman  church,  the  rule 
'or  fonn  of  celebrating  their  mass)  seems  to  bring  it  over  to  the  latter, 
'but  against  the  sense  of  St.  Isidore  of  Seville." 

t  Vide  Du  Pin.  Biblioth.  cent.  ix.  cap.  xiii. 

5  Pits.  De  Reb.  Angl.  pag.  167.     Tann.  124. 


867,  speaks  thus  of  him  :  '  Bristanus,  quondam  cantor 
*  monasterii,  musicus  peritissimus  et  poeta  facundis- 
'  simus.'  He  lived  about  870,  at  the  time  when,  in 
one  of  the  invasions  of  the  Danes,  his  monastery  was 
burned,  and  the  monks  slain  :  he  had,  however,  the 
good  fortune  to  escape,  and  composed  certain  elegiac 
verses,  wherein  he  relates  the  cruelties  exercised  by 
the  invaders,  the  sufferings  of  his  brethren,  and  the 
misfortunes  attending  this  disastrous  event. 

As  it  is  proposed  in  this  work  to  give  an  account  as 
well  of  practical  as  theoretical  musicians,  there  will 
need  little  apology  for  inserting  in  this  place  a  few 
particulars  of  our  own  king  Alfred,  who  is  celebrated 
by  Bale,  and  other  writers,  for  his  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  sent  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  made 
very  much  of  him  in  his  childhood,  at  Rheims,  when 
he  was  in  his  passage  towards  Rome. 

Again,  the  same  author  relates,  that  among  the 
rest  of  his  attendants,  he  is  noted,  Solomon  like,  to 
have  provided  himself  of  musicians,  not  common,  or 
such  as  knew  but  the  practic  part ;  but  men  skilful 
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  evidences  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  minstrel,  is 
a  proof. 

The  substance  of  which  relation  is,  that  being 
desirous  to  know  the  strength  and  circumstances  of 
the  Danish  army,  then  in  Somersetshire,  he  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  so  employed  him- 
self as  that,  while  he  entertained  his  enemies  with  his 
mirth  and  music,  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.^ 

II  Of  this  Grimbald  very  honourable  mention  is  made  in  tlie  Histoire 
de  la  France,  tom.  V.  pag.  6!»4.  Alfred  had  written  to  Eulk,  archbishop 
of  Rheims,  intreating  him  to  send  to  England  a  person  skilled  in  the 
liberal  sciences,  particularly  music.  The  archbishop  wrote  the  king 
a  long  letter  in  answer,  recommending  Grimbald,  a  monk  of  St.  Bertin, 
the  person  above  mentioned.  This  was  about  the  year  880 ;  and  had 
Grimbald  been  a  much  greater  man  than  he  was,  the  French  would  have 
been  bound  in  gratitude  to  have  spared  him  to  us  j  for  a  few  years  before, 
they  had  from  us  Alcuin,  the  tutor  of  Charlemagne.  It'appears  that 
Grimbald  behaved  very  well  whilst  he  was  here.  In  the  chronicle  of 
Nic.  Harpsfield  are  the  heads  of  a  speech  of  his,  in  a  synod  at  London, 
before  king  Alfred  and  archbishop  iEthelred,  wherein  he  discouised 
gravely  and  wisely  of  the  primitive  dignity  of  human  nature,  and  of  its 
corruption  by  the  fall  of  Adam.  The  whole  is  said  to  be  in  the  Annals 
of  Winchester.     Vide  Spelm.  Life  of  Alfred,  pag.  135,  in  not. 

f  Vide  Spelman's  Life  of  Alfred,  pag.  63. 


Chap.  XXXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


153 


HUCBALD,    HUGBALDUS,   Or   HuBALDUS,    for    by    all 

these  names  is  he  called,  is  spoken  of  as  the  most 
celebrated  doctor  in  France  at  the  close  of  the  ninth 
century.  He  was  a  Benedictine  monk,  of  the  ab- 
bey of  St.  Amand,  in  the  diocese  of  Tournay,  and 
flourished  about  the  year  880,  under  Cliarles  the 
Bald.  He  is  celebrated  for  his  profound  skill  in  the 
learning  of  tliose  days,  and  particularly  for  his  ex- 
cellence in  poetry  and  music*  He  is  said  to  have 
invented  a  division  of  the  monochord,  by  means 
whereof  music  might  be  learned  without  the  help  of 
a  master  ;  and  to  have  invented  certain  signs,  in- 
dependent of  lines  and  letters,  to  mark  the  sounds 
in  the  octave.  Martini,  who  sometimes  calls  him 
Ubaldo,  has  given  a  specimen  of  this  his  method  of 
punctuation  from  a  manuscript  of  his,  intitled  De 
Harmonica  Institutione,  in  the  following  form  : — 


i   .  ..   . 

. 

.  • 

1 

•     •                                       •      • 

, 

•          1 

1  to  1  se  1  ti)  1 

to  1 

se 

1  to  1  to 

1  se  1  to  1  to  1  se 

|to| 

to  1 

1       .      ..       . 

• 

•  • 

•              • 

•  •             •               -         •  ■ 

• 

•            1 

Which  he 
-,^1 

renders  thus  in 

modern  characters 

-l-K ■ * ' 

-fl — ■— 

^     r     •     ■ 



-l-j£— «—■—■■ 



The  authors  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  he  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  Hucbald,  his  learning  and  virtues,  were 
celebrated  by  many  of  his  surviving  friends,  in 
epitaphs,  and  other  metrical  compositions  ;  the  two 
which  follow  are  extant  in  the  work  above-cited,  and 
are  here  inserted,  not  so  much  on  account  of  their 
elegance,  as  to  shew  the  degree  of  estimation  in  which 
he  stood  with  his  contemporaries  : — 

EPITAPH    I. 

Dormit  in  hac  tumba  simplex  sine  felle  Columba 

Doctor,  flos,  &  honos  tarn  cleri  quam  monacliorum 

Hiicbaldus,  famam  cnjus  per  climata  mundi 

Edita  sanctorum  modulamina,  gestaque  clamant. 

Hie  Cyrici  membra  pretiosa,  reperta  Nivernis. 

Nostris  invexit  oris,  scripsitque  triumphum. 

EPITAPH    II. 

Prjecluis  orator  sudans  opobalsama  cosmo 

Arclias  meHifluus  rhetor  super  aethera  notus, 

En  Huncbalde  pater  salve  per  secla  verenter 

Tu  lampas  monachis,  tu  flos  &  doxa  peritis  : 

Te  plebs  aeternum  higens  sibi  defiet  ademtum. 

Vige  juge,  sophista,  vale,  Theopbile  care. 

Ediderat  stylo  examussim  certamen  bonesto 

Matris  JuHtse,  Cirici  prolisque  veiiustae, 

Ceu  doctor,  celeber  gnavus  per  cuncta  magister. 

Landetur,  vigeat,  quod  quaeso  legatur,  ainetiir. 

Ha;c  quisquis  legis,  requiem  die  det  Dens  illi, 

Pal  mam  ciun  superis  gestet  super  astra  cboreis 

Gloria  pauper  haec  peregit,  metra  clienter. 

•  Hist.  Litteraire  de  la  France,  torn.  VI.  pag.  210. 

Sis^ebert,  Trithemius,  and  others,  mention  a  poem  of  Hiijjbald's  com- 
posing, and  of  a  very  singular  kind.  It  is  an  encomium  on  Baldness,  in 
heroic  verse,  inscribed  to  tlie  emperor  Charles  the  Bald,  in  which  every 
word  begins  with  the  initial  letter  of  the  emperor's  name,  as  in  the 
following  line  : — 

Carmina  clarisona  clavis  cantata  Caraenae. 

t  Storia  della  Musica,  pag.  1S3. 


The  above  Hucbald  is  usually  styled  Hucbald  de 
Saint  Amand  ;  notwithstanding  which  he  is  some- 
times confounded  with  two  other  writers  of  the  same 
name,  the  one  a  monk  of  Orbais,  the  other  a  clerk  in 
the  church  of  Liege,  neither  of  whom  seem  to  stand 
in  any  degree  of  competition  with  him.| 

AuRELiANUs,  a  clerk  in  the  church  of  Rheims, 
lived  in  the  year  890,  under  the  emperor  Arnulphus, 
and  on  to  the  reign  of  Lewis  IV.  He  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  Trithemius  among  the  ecclesiastical  writers.  § 

CHAP.    XXXIV. 

"VVe  are  now  arrived  at  a  period,  namely  the  com- 
mencement of  the  tenth  century,  when  learning 
began  to  flourish  throughout  Europe.  In  France, 
particularly,  not  only  mathematics,  but  the  arts  of 
painting,  sculjjture,  and  architecture,  were  cultivated 
with  great  assiduity.  The  abbies  of  Corbie,  of 
Rheims,  and  Cluni,  were  the  great  seminaries  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  tlie  true 
method  of  singing  in  divine  service.  Letald,  Remi 
de  Auxerre,  Notker  le  Begue,  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  Burgundy, 
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  Vossius,  and  commended  by 
Guido  himself,  beginning  '  Quid  est  musica  ? '  as 
a  great  curiosity,  and  being  extant  only  in  the 
Vatican  library,  and  in  that  of  the  queen  of  Svi^eden  ; 
nevertheless,  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  library  of  Baliol 
college,  and  makes  part  of  a  volume,  that  contains 
the  Micrologus,  and  other  tracts  of  Guido,  with 
some  others  on  the  subject  of  music,  of  great  value ; 
and  Martini  refers  to  another,  in  the  conventual 
library  at  Cesana,  near  Ravenna,  in  Italy. 

The  Enchiridion  of  Odo  is  in  the  form  of  a  dia- 
logue between  a  teacher  and  his  disciple  :  it  begins 
with  directions  for  the  making  and  dividing  of  the 
monochord,  and  contains  a  general  definition  of  the 
consonances,  the  method  of  notation  by  the  Roman 
letters,  as  instituted  by  Gregory,  a  formula  of  the 

I  storia  della  Musica,  pag.  214. 

§  Vossius  De  Scientiis  Mathem.  cap.  ix.  §  6. 

II  Hist.  Litteraire  de  la  France,  torn.  VI.  pag  71. 


154: 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIEXCE 


Book  IV 


tones,    and    concludes    witli   general    directions    for 
anti phonal  singing. 

It  is  to  be  remarked,  that  all  the  tracts  written 
about  this  time,  which  profess  to  teach  the  know- 
ledge of  music,  and  there  are  innumerable  of  them 
extant,  begin,  as  this  does,  with  directions  for  making 
and  dividing  the  monochord  :  the  reason  of  this  is, 
that  the  method  of  ascertaining  the  places  of  the 
semitones  in  the  diapason,  by  the  syllables,  was  not 
then  discovered  ;  and  hardly  any  instrument  then  in 
use,  excepting  the  organ,  would  answer  the  end  of 
impressing  upon  the  memory  of  a  child,  the  difference 
between  the  greater  and  lesser  intervals  ;  the  teachers 
of  music  therefore  invariably  directed  their  pupils 
to  find  out  the  intervals  themselves,  and  lay  the 
foundation  of  their  studies  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
monochord. 

Silvester,  the  second  pope  of  that  name,  is  justly 
celebrated  as  one  of  the  great  ornaments  of  the 
tenth  century.  He  was  a  monk  of  Aurillac,  in  the 
province  of  Auvergne,  a  monastery  wliich  had  been 
founded  at  the  latter  end  of  the  preceding  age. 
His  pursuits  were  so  various,  and  his  excellence  in 
all  branches  of  learning  so  great,  that  it  is  difficult 
to  say  in  what  class  of  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  he  wrote  upon  geometry, 
particularly  on  the  quadrature  of  the  circle,  on 
astronomy,  logic,  and  rhetoric ;  that  he  was  deeply 
skilled  in  tlie  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  Malmesbury  speaks,  with 
admiration,  of  an  improvement  made  by  him  in  the 
hydraulic  organ.*  He  was  born  of  obscure  parents, 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Aurillac  :  his  name  of 
baptism^  was  Gerbert,  or  Girbirt :  his  great  merit, 
and  a  disposition  to  communicate  to  the  world  the 
discoveries  he  made  in  the  course  of  his  studies, 
facilitated  his  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  had  the  misfortune 
to  see  that  city  sustain  a  close  siege,  which  obliged 
him  to  seek  refuge  in  the  court  of  the  emperor 
Otho  III.  who  had  been  his  disciple.  During  his 
residence  there,  he  invented  an  instrument  for  the 
measuring  of  time  by  the  motion  of  the  polar  star, 
which  some  writers  have  confounded  with  the  astro- 
labe. By  the  interest  of  his  patron  Otho,  in  the 
year  998,  he  was  promoted  to  the  archbishopric  of 
Ravenna,  and  the  following  year  to  the  papacy  on 
the  death  of  Gregory  V.,  which  he  held  but  four 
years,  for  he  died  in  1003. 

Mosheira  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  he 
derived  his  learning  in  a  .great  measure  from  the 
Arabians,  among  whom  at  that  time  there  were  many 

XT*  S^"^  t"  have  been  played  on  bv  ivann  water.  See  the  History  of  the 
.Manual  Arts  by  Dr.  Thomas  Powell,  octavo,  16C1,  abridged  mOldys's 
British  Librarian,  No.  I.  pag.  51. 


very  considerable  men  ;  though  it  is  remarkable  that 
we  meet  witli  the  name  of  but  one  writer  on  music  of 
tliat  country,  viz.,  Alfarabius,  who  is  barely  mentioned 
in  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  the  Margarita  Philosophica  of  Gre- 
gorius  Reischius,  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  Gerbert  was  indebted  for  the  knowledge 
'  with  which  he  now  began  to  enlighten  the  European 
'  provinces  ;  he  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 
'  the  seminaries  of  learning  at  Cordova  and  Seville, 
'  with  a  view  to  hear  the  Arabian  doctors ;  and  it 
'  was,  perhaps,  by  his  example,  that  the  Europeans 

*  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  the  Europeans  as  were  ambitious  of  making  any 
'  considerable  progress  in  physic,  arithmetic,  geo- 
'  metry,  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  Spain  and  Italy.  Hence  it  was  that 
'  the   most  celebrated   productions  of  these  doctors 

*  were  translated  into  Latin,  their  tenets  and  systems 
'  adopted  with  zeal  in  the  European  schools,  and  that 
'  numbers  went  over  to  Spain  and  Italy  to  receive 
'  instruction  from  the  mouths  of  these  famous  teachers, 

*  which  were  supposed  to  utter  nothing  but  the  deepest 
'  mysteries  of  wisdom  and  knowledge.  However 
'  excessive  this  veneration  for  the  Arabian  doctors 
'  may  have  been,  it  must  be  owned  nevertheless  that 
'  all  the  knowledge,  whether  of  physic,  astronomy, 
'  philosophy,  or  mathematics,  which  flourished  in 
'  Europe  from  the  tenth  century,  was  originally 
'  derived  from  them,  and  that  tlie  Sijanish  Sai'acens 
'  in  a  more  particular  manner  may  be  looked  upon  as 
'  the  fathers  of  European  philosophy.'  Mosh.  Eccles. 
Hist,  vol  II.  pag.  199. 

The  diligence  with  which  Gerbert  pursued  his 
studies,  and  his  proficiency  in  so  many  various 
branches  of  learning,  raised  in  the  vulgar  a  suspicion 
of  his  being  addicted  to  magic,  which  Platina  has 
without  hesitation  adopted  ;  for  he  says  he  obtained 
the  papacy  liy  ill  arts,  and  that  he  left  his  monastery 
to  follow  the  devil.  He  however  allows  him  the 
merit  of  a  sincere  repentance,  but  mentions  some 
prodigies  at  his  death,  which  few  can  believe  on  tlie 
authority  of  such  a  writer.  Naudeus  has  written  a 
justification  of  a  great  number  of  learned  men  who 
have  undergone  the  same  censure,  and  has  included 
Silvester  among  them  ;  but  long  before  his  time  a 
certain  poet  had  done  him  that  good  office  in  the  fol- 
lowing epigram  : — 


Chap.  XXXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


155 


Ne  mirare  Magum  fatui  quod  inertia  vulgi 

Me  (veri  minime  gnara)  fuisse  putat. 
Archimedis  studium  quod  eram  sophiasque  sequutus 

Turn,  cum  magna  fuit  gloria  scire  nihil. 
Credebant  Magicum  esse  rudes,  sed  busta  loquuntur 

Quam  plus,  integer  &  religiosus  eram. 

The  following  epitaph  bespeaks  his  character,  and 
is  an  epitonae  of  his  history  : — 

Iste  locus  mundi  Silvestri  membra  sepulti 

Venturo  Domino  conferet  ad  sonitum. 
Quern  dederat  mundo  celebrem  doctissima  virgo. 

Atque  caput  mundi  culmina  Ronmlea. 
Primum  Gerbertus  meruit  Francigena  sede 

Remensis  populi  metropolim  patriae. 
Inde  Ravennatis  meruit  conscendere  summum 

Ecclesias  regimen  nobile,  sicque  potens 
Post  annum  Romam  mutato  nomine  sumsit, 

Ut  toto  pastor  fieret  orbe  novus. 
Cui  nimium  placuit  sociali  mente  fidelis. 

Obtulit  hoc  Caesar  tertius  Otho  sibi. 
Tempus  uterque  comit  clara  virtute  sophiae  ; 

Gaudet,  et  omne  seclinn  fran^itur  omne  ream 
Clavigeri  instar  erat  caelorum  sede  potitus, 

Terna  sufFectus  cui  vice  pastor  erat. 
Iste  vicem  Petri  postquam  suscepit,  abegit 

Lustrali  spatio  saecula  morte  sui. 
Obriguit  mundus  discussa  pace  triumphus 

Eculesiae  mutans,  dedidicit  requiem. 
Sergius  hunc  loculum  miti  pietate  sacerdos, 

Successorque  suus  comsit  amore  sui. 
Quisquis  ad  hunc  tumulum  devexa  lumina  vertis, 

Omnipotens  Domine,  die,  misere  sui. 

Berno,  abbot  of  Richenou,  in  the  diocese  of  Con- 
stance, who  flourished  about  the  year  1008,  is  cele- 
brated as  a  poet,  rhetor,  musician,  philosopher,  and 
divine.  He  was  the  author  of  several  treatises  on 
music,  particularly  of  one  De  Instrumentis  Musi- 
calibus,  beginning  with  the  words  '  Musicam  non 
'■  esse  contempnenduni ! '  which  he  dedicated  to 
Aribon,  archbishop  of  Mentz.  He  also  wrote  De 
Mensura  Monochordi :  but  the  most  celebrated  of  his 
works  is  a  treatise  De  Musica  seu  Tonis,  which  he 
wrote  and  dedicated  to  Pelegrinus,  archbishop  of 
Cologne,  beginning  '  Vero  mundi  isti  advenae  et 
Peregrino  : '  this  latter  tract  is  part  of  the  Baliol 
manuscript,  and  follows  the  Enchiridion  of  Odo, 
above  referred  to  :  it  contains  a  summary  of  the 
doctrines  delivered  by  Boetius,  an  explanation  of  the 
ecclesiastical  tones,  intermixed  with  frequent  exhort- 
ations to  piety,  and  the  application  of  music  to 
religious  purposes.  He  was  highly  favoured  by  the 
emperor  Henry  II.  for  his  great  learning  and  piety, 
and  succeeded  so  well  in  his  endeavours  to  promote 
learning,  that  his  abbey  of  Richenou  was  as  famous 
in  his  time  as  those  of  St.  Gal  and  Cluni,  then  the 
most  celebrated  in  France.  He  died  in  1048,  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 
and  progress  of  choral  service,  and  of  the  institution 
of  the  ecclesiastical  tones,  modes,  tropes,  or  whatever 
else  they  may  be  termed,  it  is  clear  that  before  the 
eleventh  century  they  were  in  number  eight,  besides 
which,  the  actual  existence  at  this  day  of  manuscripts, 
such  as  those  of  Aurelianus,  Odo  of  Cluni,  and  this  of 


Berno  above-mentioned,  in  which  not  only  eight 
tones  are  spoken  of,  but  a  formula  of  each  is  given  in 
words  at  lengtli,  are  indisputable  evidence  of  the  fact. 
A  learned  gentleman,  Dr.  King,  the  author  of  a  book 
lately  published,  intitled  the  Rites  and  Ceremonies  of 
the  Greek  Church  in  Russia,  has  intimated,  pag.  43, 
that  the  addition  of  the  four  plagal  tones,  as  they 
are  called,  to  the  four  authentic  of  St.  Ambrose,  is 
by  some  ascribed  to  Guido  Aretinus,  who,  by  the 
way,  in  his  Micrologus  lays  not  the  least  claim  to 
this  improvement,  but  speaks  of  the  eight  ecclesi- 
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  authority  among  the  many  that  have  been 
consulted  in  the  course  of  this  work,  has  intimated 
the  least  doubt  but  that  the  Cantus  Gregorianus 
consisted  of  eight  tones. 

Through  all  the  variations  that  attended  music, 
the  ancient  system  of  a  bisdiapason,  constituted  of 
tetrachords,  retained  its  authority;  we  do  not  find 
that  even  in  the  time  of  Boetius  the  system  itself 
had  received  any  alteration ;  the  Latins  it  is  true 
had  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  great  number,  calling  the  first  series  graves,  the 
second  acutes,  and  the  third,  distinguished  by  double 
small  letters,  super-acutes;  but  the  tetrachord  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  century,  soon 
after  which  such  a  reformation  of  the  ancient  scale 
was  made,  as  was  thought  worthy  of  commemoration, 
not  only  by  chronologers,  but  by  the  gravest  histo- 
rians. The  person  to  whose  ingenuity  and  industry 
we  owe  this  inestimable  improvement  was  an  eccle- 
siastic, Guido  Aretinus,  a  Benedictine  monk.  The 
relation  given  by  Cardinal  Baronius  of  this  event 
is  to  the  following  effect ;  viz  :  That  in  the  pon- 
tificate of  Benedict  VIII.  Guido  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,  though 
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.  his  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.  torn. 
XI.  pag.  73,  et  seq. 

To  this  account  Baronius  has  subjoined  the  epistle 
from  Guido  to  a  friend  of  his,  Michael  of  Pomposa,  be- 
ginning '  Clarissimo  atque  dulcissimo  fratri  Michaeli,' 
containing  the  history  of  his  invention,  and  of 
his  invitation  to  Rome  and  reception  by  the  pope  ; 
the  particulars  whereof  are  referred  to  an  extract 
from  the  epistle  itself,  which  is  given  in  a  subsequent 

*  Guido  in  the  prologue  to  the  Micrologus  says,  in  the  space  of  one 
month,  '  unius  mensis  spatium.' 


156 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV. 


page  of  this  work.*  General  accounts  of  the  reform- 
ation of  the  scale  made  by  Guido  are  to  be  met 
with  in  almost  every  treatise  on  the  snl)ject  com- 
posed since  his  time  ;  yet  among  tliese  some  improve- 
ments 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  his  own  writings,  he  does  not 
appear  to  have  made  the  least  claim. 

It  has  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  stead  made  use  of 
the  Roman  capital  letters,  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G,  and 
so  on  to  P,  as  is  mentioned  by  Boetius  in  his  fourth 
book  ;  and  that  afterwards  Gregory  rejected  all  but 
the  first  seven,  which  he  made  to  serve  for  the  whole 
scale,  distinguishing  the  grave  series  by  the  capitals 
and  the  acute  by  the  small  letters.  Their  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  E, 
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 ;  f  but  so  difficult  was  it  according  to  this 
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  years 
were  usually  consumed,  Guido  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  St.  John,  '  Ut  queant  laxis,' 
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 

*  By  the  epistle  above  referred  to,  it  appears,  that  Baronius  has  been 
guilty  of  an  error  in  saying  that  Guido  was  invited  to  Rome  botli  by 
Benedict  and  John;  for  it  was  from  John  only  that  he  received  this 
mark  of  favour.  Neither  does  he  clearly  distinguish  between  the  Argu- 
mentum  novi  Cantus  inveniendi  and  the  Micrologus  ;  tlie  former  con- 
tained his  method  of  singing  by  the  syllables,  and  procured  him  a  general 
reputation,  and  the  favour  of  Benedict ;  the  latter,  his  reformation  of  the 
scale,  and,  as  Guido  himself  expn-ssly  says,  was  composed  in  the  thirty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age,  John  XX.  being  then  pope.  Be>iiies  this,  he 
adds,  that  the  Micrologus  was  written  at  the  monastery  of  Poniposa, 
whither  he  retired  not,  till  after  his  interview  with  the  pope. 

+  Zarlino  has  been  guilty  of  a  gross  mistake  in  asserting,  as  he  does  in 
his  Institutions,  part  ii.  chap.  30.  that  Guido  first  maile  use  of  the  method 
of  notation  by  the  capital  and  small  Roman  letters  :  the  current  opinion 
is,  that  Gregory  introduced  it ;  but  supposing  that  matter  doubtful,  there 
is  sufficient  evidence  to  prove  that  the  practice  in  question  prevailed 
before  Guido's  time  ;  for  the  Enchiridion  of  Odo,  abbot  of  Cluni,  contains 
directions  for  dividing  the  monochord,  and  marking  the  first  septenary 
with  the  capital,  and  the  second  with  the  small  Roman  letters;  and 
Vincentio  Galilei,  in  his  Dialogo  della  Musiea,  pag.  96,  has  given  the 
following  specimen  of  Canto  Fermo  :— 

d     c     \j     cdedctjahcdaGFGG 
Sit  nomen  Do      -      mi    -    ni    be- ne- dictum  in  sa;    -    cu  ■  la 

FG     a     GFFGFFEF     GFEDCDD 
Adju  -  to     -    riuranostrumin  no     -     -     mine  Do    -    mi-ni 


3|-3EiES-J 


Lrsrs 


Sit  nomen  Do 


ni  be-ne-dictum  in  sae    -    cu-la 


z^r: 


-2— 0— O^^- 


«>-♦ 


rs: 


i-^ 


-^  ji— &— 0- 


Ad-ju  .    to    -ri-um  nostrum  in  no     -    -    mi-ne  Do    -    mi-ni. 
■which  he  asserts  was  composed  many  years  before  Guido  was  born. 

The  perusal  of  the  Enchiridion  of  Odo  has  furnished  the  means  of 
refuting  a  vulgar  error,  namely,  that  Guido,  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  his  reformation  of  the  scale,  prefixed  to  it  the  Greek  P,  the  initial 
letter  of  his  name ;  the  contrary  of  this  is  manifest  in  the  directions  of 
Odo  for  dividing  the  monochord,  in  which  he  assumes  that  vrry  character. 


he  removed  those  difficulties  that  had  a  long  time 
retarded  the  improvements  of  ijractical  music. 

UT  queant  laxis  REsonare  fibris 
MIra  gestorum  FAmuli  tuovum 
SOLve  polkiti  LAbii  reatum. 

Sancte  Joannes. 1 

This  is  the  substance  of  what  is  related  by  Gaf- 
furius,  Glareanus,  Vicentino,  Galilei,  Zarlino,  Kircher, 
Mersennus,  Bontempi,  and  other  writers,  touching 
the  invention  of  the  syllables  ;  biit  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  certain  that  this 
improvement  could  be  no  other  than  the  converting 
the  ancient  tetrachords  into  hexachords,  which,  to 
begin  with  the  tetrachord  Hypaton,  he  effected  in 
this  manner  ;  that  tetrachord  was  terminated  in  the 
grave  by  Hypate  hypaton,  or  J]  ;  for  though  the 
Froslambanomenos  A,  carried  the  system  a  tune 
lower,  it  was  always  considered,  as  its  name  imports 
to  be,  acquisitus,  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  Guido,  as  some  say,  in  honour  of  the 
Greeks,  the  fathers  of  music,  or,  as  others  siiggest, 
to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  his  invention,  and 
thereby  acquire  honour  to  himself,  affixed  the  Greek 
gamma  F,  which  fortunately  for  such  a  supposition, 
was  the  initial  letter  of  his  name.§ 

By  this  constitution  the  position  of  the  semitone 
was  clearly  pointed  out  to  every  theorist ;  but  the 
thing  in  pursuit  was  a  method  of  hitting  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  soimds  in  his  newly-formed  hexachord,  as 
to  furnish  a  rule  for  this  purpose  ;   accordingly  he 

1  The  words  of  the  above  hymn  were  composed  by  Paulus  Diaconus, 
Paul,  a  deacon  of  the  church  of  .\quilea,  about  the  year  770,  and  in  the 
reign  of  Charlemagne,  as  Possevin  relates.  Dr.  Wallis,  from  Alstedius, 
in  the  room  of  Adonic,  Sancte  Joannes,  has  inserted  O  Pater  Alme. 
Brossard,  and  others  after  him  say,  that  Angelo  Berardi  has  very  prettily 
comprised  the  six  syllables  in  this  line. 

Ut  RElevet  Miserum  FAtum  soLitosque  LAbores. 
But  Gerard  Vossius,  De  quatuor  Artibus  Popiilaribus,  pag.  93,  without 
taking  notice  of   Berardi,   says  it  is  only  part   of   the  following  verse 
composed  by  some  person  who  lived  after  Guido: — 

Cur  adhibes  tristi  numeros  cantumque  labori? 
Ut  RElevet  Miserum  PAtum  sOLitosque  LAbores. 

§  Meibomius  denies  that  Guido  extended  the  ancient  Greek  system 
either  upwards  or  downwards,  or  that  he  even  made  any  addition  to  the 
tetrachord  Hypaton  ;  for  he  asserts,  with  an  unwarrantable  degree  of 
confidence,  that  though  the  Proslambanomenos  was  generally  understood 
as  the  lowest  sound  in  the  ancient  system,  yet  that  the  Greeks  in  truth 
recognized  another,  which  was  a  tone  below  it,  but  that  as  it  prolated 
a  confused  and  undistinguisliable  sound,  it  was  neglected.  He  says  that 
when  Guido  determined  to  reassume  this  tone,  he  was  necessitated  to 
mark  it  with  the  Grecian  gamma,  T  ;  for  that  otherwise,  as  he  has  given 
the  Latin  G  to  its  diapason  Lychanos  meson,  he  must  either  have  intro- 
duced a  strange  character,  or  doubled  the  letter  G,  which  latter  method 
could  not  please  him  so  well.  Meibnmius  also  says  that  the  Greek 
system  proceeded  even  farther  in  the  acutes  than  that  of  Guido ;  but 
the  truth  of  this  assertion  will  be  best  judged  of  by  a  comparison  of  the 
ancient  system  with  thai  of  Guido.  as  they  stand  opposed  to  each  other 
in  a  subsequent  page  of  this  volume. 


Chap.  XXXV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


157 


made  the  experiment,  and  applying  the  syllable  ut 
to  the  first  note  of  the  hexachord,  and  the  rest  to  the 
others  in  succession,  he  gave  to  every  note  an  articu- 
late sound. 

The  view  of  Guido  in  this  contrivancewas  to  im- 
press upon  the  minds  of  learners  an  idea  of  the 
powers  of  the  several  sounds,  as  they  stood  related  to 
the  first  sound  in  the  hexachord  ;  for  he  saw  that 
from  an  habitual  application  of  the  syllables  to  their 
respective  notes,  it  must  follow  that  the  former  would 
become  a  common  measure  for  the  five  intervals  in- 
cluded within  the  limits  of  the  hexachord,  and  that 
in  a  short  time  the  idea  of  association  between  the 
syllables  and  the  notes  would  become  so  strong  as  to 
make  it  almost  impossible  to  misapply  them. 

Finding  that  this  invention  was  likely  to  succeed, 
he  added  two  tones  to  the  tetrachord  Meson,  thereby 
making  that  also  a  hexachord,  and  to  this  also  he 
applied  the  syllables. 

Lastly,  he  made  a  like  addition  of  two  tones  to  the 
tetrachord  Synemmenon,  and  thereby  formed  a  third 
hex  achord. 

The  several  combinations  and  conjunctions  of  these 
tetrachords  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  inter- 
vals in  any  given  system,  exceeding  the  limits  of  the 
hexachord,  will  be  hereafter  explained  ;  the  result  of 
the  invention  was  clearly  this,  that  in  a  regular  suc- 
cession of  six  sounds  in  their  natural  order,  beginning 
either  from  T,  from  C,  or  from  F,  taking  in  B  b,  the 
progression  with  respect  to  the  tones  and  semitone  in 
each  was  precisely  the  same  :  and  supposing  the 
learner  to  have  acquired  by  constant  practice  a  habit 
of  expressing  with  his  voice  the  interval  G  C,  which 
is  an  exact  fourth,  by  the  syllables  ut  fa,  the  two 
sounds  proper  to  the  interval  G  C  would  become  a 
kind  of  tune,  which  he  must  necessarily  apply  to  ut 
VA,  wherever  those  syllables  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  E  the  syllables  ut  fa  express 
the  fourth  G  C,  so  in  that  from  C  to  A  do  they 
express  a  fourth  C  F,  and  in  the  hexachord  from 
F  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 
}],  when  taken  as  a  fourth,  gave  occasion  to  the 
epithet  soft,  which  for  the  sake  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  appellatives  begot 
another,  namely,  that  of  the  natural  hexachord,  which 
is  given  to  the  hexachord  from  C  The  method  of 
singing  each  is  termed  a  property  in  singing'  and 
is  thus  described  in  the  following  distich : — 

C  Naturum  dat,  f  b  molle  nunc  tibi  signal, 

g  quoque  h  durum  tu  semper  habes  caniturum.* 

The  intervals  thus  adjusted  in  the  several  hexa- 
chords, became  alike  commensurable  in  each  by  the 
syllables ;  and  ut  mi  would  as  truly  express  the 
ditone  C  E  or  F  A  as  G  B,  to  which  they  were 
originally  adapted  :  the  same  may  be  said  of  every 

•  Morley  in  the  Annotations  on  Book  I,  of  his  Introduction  to  Prac- 
tical! Musicke. 


other  interval  in  each  of  the  hexachords,  and  their 
exact  uniformity  is  visible  in  this,  chat  the  semitone 
has  the  same  situation  in  them  all,  and  divides  them 
into  two  equal  parts. 

CHAR    XXXV. 

The  writers  on  music,  as  has  been  mentioned 
above,  have  also  attributed  to  Guido  another  very 
considerable  improvement  of  the  musical  scale,  which 
they  suppose  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  the  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  supposes.  The  proof  of  this  assertion  is  to 
be  found  in  the  Dialogo  della  Musica  of  -Vincentio 
Galilei,  pag.  37,  which  contains  a  diagram  of  musical 
punctuation  on  a  stave  consisting  of  no  less  than 
seven  lines,  which  he  says  was  in  use  long  before  the 
time  of  Guido.f 

H 0- 

A • • • 

M • • • 

n • • • 

T • • 

* 


d 

c 

b 

a 

G 

F 

E 


0 0 . 

0 0 — 

=¥^ — , — ■=■ ■■ ■•— , 

0 — _— 

• • 


rifc 


i1=b; 


And  immediately  after  he  exhibits  an  example  of 
notation  on  a  stave  of  ten  lines,  concerning  which  he 
thus  expresses  himself :  '  Eccovi  1'  essempio  d'  una 
'  Cantilena  tra  le  altre,  che  mi  sono  capitate  in  mano, 
'  la  quale  mi  fu  gia  da  un  gentiluomo  nostro  Fioren- 
'  tino  donata,  ritrovata  da  lui  in  un  antichissimo  suo 
'  libro  :  ed  e  delle  pui  intere,  e  nieglio  conservata  d' 
'  altra  che  io  abbia  mai  veduta.' 


— #- 

-•- 

-•- 

-• — • 

-0- 







• — 



0. 

— •- 

-•^ 

-•— 

-•— 

'-r- 

-•- 



Clar 

iget 

ho 

-di 

-  e  vox  noi 

stia  me- 

-lo-dum 

symphoni 

■>a 

instant 

— •- 

-•- 

^- 

— •- 

— • — •— 

-•— 

-•- 

-•- 

— •- 

—i"- 

— • — 

-•- 

— 0 

an-nu-a    jam  qui -a   prre-cla  -  ra     so-lem  -  ni  -  a,  &c. 

t  By  an  unaccountable  accident  tlie  examples  here  referred  to,  are  in 
some  copies  of  (ialilei's  book  defective,  a^  giving  only  the  stave,  and  not 
the  points  ;  but  they  are  here  supplied  from  Martini,  who  has  rendered 
them  into  the  characters  of  modern  notation.  Vid.  Stor.  della  Musica, 
pag.  1S5. 


158 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV 


i3E^^ 


Clanget  ho-di-e   vox  nostra  me-lodum  sympho-ni-a  instant 


an-nu-a  jam  qui-a  piascla-ra   so-lem-ni  -  a. 

To  these  examples  of  lineal  punctuation  another 
may  be  adduced  from  the  Musurgia,  tome  I.  pag.  213, 
wherein  the  points  are  placed  on  a  stave  of  eight 
lines.  We  owe  this  discovery  to  Kircher,  who 
relates  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  monks  there  produced  to  him  a  manu- 
script book  of  hymns,  which  had  been  written  about 
seven  hundred  years,  in  which  was  contained  the 
fullowin^- : — • 

e 
n 

/3 
E 

£ 

7 
B 

a    - 


0 

_ , 0 

0 0 

■— • • • • — • 

0 0 0 0 

• 0 0 — 0 0_ 

— 0 0 — 0 0 

-0 0 — 0 , 


riapOiaii] ^i  yaxapk  6a>a Sors  SivTopsaM  v  fiijrtp  anofio  (jvvtjg 

Kircher  mentions  that  while  he  was  writing  the 
Musurgia,  he  received  from  a  friend  of  his,  the 
reverend  abbot  Didacus  De  Franchis,  an  extract  from 
a  very  ancient  antiphonary  in  the  monastery  of 
Vallombrosa,  containing  an  example  of  interlineary 
punctuation  in  the  following  form  : — 


9        * 
« 


In  which  he  says  the  points  correspond  with  the 
notes  of  a  well-known  antiphon,  beginning  with  the 
words  '  Salve  Regina.' 

These  evidences  sufficiently  prove  that  the  stave 
is  more  ancient  than  is  generally  supposed  ;  for  it 
is  agreed  that  the  Micrologus  was  written  between 
the  years  1020  and  1030 ;  and  a  period  of  seven 
hundred  years  before  the  publication  of  the  ^Musurgia, 
in  1G50,  will  carry  the  use  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  Guido  has  intimated  that  in  his  method  of 
notation,  points  may  be  placed  as  well  in  the  spaces 
as  on  the  lines  ;  and  for  this,  as  also  for  the  con- 
sequent reduction  of  the  stave  from  eight  to  five,  or 
rather,  for  the  purpose  of  ecclesiastical  notation,  to 
four  lines,  posterity  are  undoubtedly  obliged  to  him. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  ancient  Greek 
scale  was  composed  of  tetrachords,  and  that  it  ex- 
hibits a  succession  of  chords  from  Proslambanomenos, 
or  A,  to  Nete  hyperboleon,  or  aa.  As  to  the  Pros- 
lambanomenos, it  was  termed  Acquisitus  or  Assumed, 
and  therefore  made  no  part  of  the  tetrachord  Hypa- 
ton.  In  prosecution  of  his  scheme  of  converting 
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,  to 


which  he  affixed  the  Greek  letter  r,  and  this  he 
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  :  but 
of  this,  and  also  of  the  natural  hexachord  bea-inninir 
at  C,  mention  is  made  before. 

The  hexachords,  constituted  in  the  manner  above 
described,  with  the  additional  improvement  of  the 
stave,  and  before  they  were  incorj^orated  into  the 
scale  assumed  the  following  form  :• — 

DURUM    HEXACHORD. 

G     A     B     C      D      E 

UT     RE     MI     FA    SOL    LA 

NATURAL    HEXACHORD. 

C      D     E     F      G     A 


C 


UT     RE     MI     FA    SOL    LA 

MOLLE     HEXACHORD. 
F     G     A    Bb    C      D 


F=i=::p: 


UT     RE     MI     FA    SOL     LA 

The  power  or  situation  in  the  scale,  of  each  of 
these  points,  is  signified  by  the  letters  respectively 
placed  above  them  :  but  the  intention  of  the  stave 
was  to  supersede  the  literal  scheme  of  notation  ;  it 
may  therefore  be  said,  supposing  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  manifest  this  diversity  Guido  invented  certain 
characters  called  Cliffs,  in  number  three,  whereof  the 
first  was  r,  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  D  :  these  cliffs, 
A\  liich  were  also  termed  claves  or  keys,  were  placed 
by  Guido  on  the  lower  line  at  the  head  of  his  stave. 
It  is  evident  from  hence,  that  by  the  application  of 
the  characters  r,  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  cliffs,  F,  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 


Chap.  XXXV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


159 


those  lines  of  the  stave,  which  were  their  proper 
stations,  of  a  different  colour  from  the  rest.  In  the 
Micrologus  we  meet  with  these  verses  : — 

Quasdam  lineas  signamus  variis  coloribiis 
Ut  quo  loco  sit  sonus  mox  discernat  oculus  ; 
Ordine  tertise  vocis  splei.dens  crocus  radiat, 
Sexta  ejus,  sed  afRnis  flavo  rubet  minio. 

To  understand  which,  it  is  necessary  to  observe 
that  the  third  and  sixth  notes  here  mentioned  are  the 
third  and  sixth  from  A  ;  for  F,  as  has  been  frequently 
said,  was  an  assumed  chord  :  Hypo-Proslambano- 
menos  is  the  appellation  given  to  it  even  by  modern 
musicians,  and  for  some  ages  after  its  introduction 
it  was  not  in  strictness  considered  as  part  of  the 
scale.  That  this  is  Guido's  meanina:  is  clear  from 
the  following  passage  in  the  Micrologus:  'We  make 
'  use  of  two  colours,  viz.,  yellow  and  red,  which 
'  furnish  a  very  useful  rule  for  finding  the  tone  and 
'  letter  of  the  monochord  to  which  every  Neuma  and 
'  note  belongs.  There  are  seven  letters  in  the  mono- 
'  chord,  and  wheresoever  you  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  letters  on  the  monochord,  that  is  to  say  C  and 
F,  which  are  the  stations  of  two  of  the  cliffs ;  and 
the  above  citations  incontestibly  prove  that  to  indicate 
the  key  of  C,  Guido  made  use  of  a  yellow,  and  for 
that  of  F,  a  red  line.* 

Hithei-to  we  have  considered  the  hexachords  as 
the  integral  parts  of  Guido's  system,  and  as  inde- 
pendent of  each  other ;  but  their  use,  and  indeed  the 
ingenuity  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,  was  comprehended  in  the  Hypaton,  Meson, 
Diezeugmenon,  and  Hyperboleon  tetrachords  ;  for 
the  tetrachord  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  as  that  of  the  ancients  did  at  aa,  and 
exclusive  of  the  chord  T  added  by  him,  to  contain 
the  bisdiapason,  includes  five  hexachords  differently 
constituted,  the  molle  hexachord  being  auxiliary, 
and  answering  to  the  tetrachord  synemmenon,  which 
five  hexachords  respectively  have  their  commence- 
ment from  r,  from  C,  from  F,  from  G,  and  from  C : 
but  he  found  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,  as  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  hexachords  were  increased  to  seven,  that  is  to 
say,  so  many  as  are  necessary  for  the  conjugation 
of  the  system  included  within  T  and  ee. 

But  between  the  tetrachords  of  the  ancients,  and 
the  hexachords  of  Guido,  this  difference  is  most  ap- 

*  See  an  example  of  this  kind  in  a  subsequent  page  of  this  boo^. 


parent  :  the  former  were  simply  measures  of  the  d%i- 
tessaron  system  ;  they  succeeded  each  other  in  an 
orderly  progression  thi'ough  the  whole  bisdiapason  : 
the  hexachord  is  also,  at  least  in  the  opinion  of  the 
moderns,  the  measure  of  a  system  ;  but  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  they 
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  syllables  thus 
adapted  to  them,  become  as  it  were,  so  many  different 
conjugations,  by  which  we  are  able  to  measure  and 
try  the  musical  truth  of  the  several  intervals  of  which 
they  are  composed. 

The  chords  contained  in  the  enlarged  system  of 
Guido,  are  twenty-two  in  number,  reckoning  b  in  the 
acutes,  and  bb  in  the  super-acutes  :  otherwise  in 
strictness  they  are  but  twenty,  seeing  that  b  and  j^ 
can  never  occur  in  one  and  the  same  hexachord  :  for 
the  designation  of  them  two  staves  of  five  lines  each 
are  necessary  ;  and  in  that  conjoint  position  which 
the  ascending  scale  requires,  the  hexachords  will 
have  this  appearance  : — f 

+  The  representations  of  Guido's  system  are  many  and  various  ;  for  he 
not  having  exhibited  it  by  way  of  diagram,  succeeding  writers  have 
thought  themselves  at  liberty  to  exercise  their  several  inventions  in 
schemes  and  figures  to  explain  it.  Franchinus,  and  others  after  him, 
have  enclosed  each  column  of  syllables,  as  they  apply  to  F,  and  the 
letters  above  it,  in  two  parallel  lines,  with  a  point  at  bottom,  exactly  like 
an  organ  pipe  ;  but  as  there  is  not  the  least  analogy  to  warrant  this  form, 
others  have  rejected  it.  Peter  Aron  and  others  have  placed  the  hexachords 
in  a  collateral  situation,  resembling  the  tables  of  the  decalogue.  Bon- 
tempi  makes  use  of  the  following  scheme  nf  the  hexachords  to  represent 
their  mutations,  and  dependence  on  each  other.  Hist.  Mus.  pag.  183  : — 
1536  ee  -  '        -  -  -  la 

1728  dd  -  -  -  la  sol 

1944  cc  -  -  -  -  sol  fa 

204S  tltj  -  -  -  -        mi 

2187  bb  -  -  -  -         fa 

2304  aa  -  -  -  la  mi  re 

2592  g  -  -  -  -     sol  re  ut 

2916  f  -  -  -  fa  ut 

3972  e        -  -  -  -    la  mi 

3456  d  -  -  -  la  sol  re 

3888  c        -  -  -  sol  fa  ut 

4096  hi  -  -  -  mi 

4374  b  -  -  -  fa 

4608  a  -  -  -    la  mi  re 

5184  G  -  -  -  sol  re  ut 

5832   F  -  -  fa  ut 

6144  E  -  -  -     la  mi 

6912  D  -  -  sol  re 

7776  C  -  -  fa  ut 

8192  h  -  -  ™» 

9216  A  -  -  -        re 

1036S  r  -  "  ^'        . 

It  may  seem  str.ange,  as  Guido  has  characterised  the  durum  hexachord 
by  the  key  T,  that  that  of  F  should  be  the  first  that  occurs  in  the  scale ; 
but  the  reason  of  this  is,  that  the  placing  of  F  on  the  fourth  line  of  the 
stave,  does  as  much  determine  the  series  as  F  on  the  first  would  have 
done;  the  same  reason  may  serve  for  postponing  the  cliff  C  to  F.  As  to 
g,  it  occurs  as  soon  as  is  necessarj',  and  not  before  ;  and  here  it  may 
be  remarked  that  g  is  situated  on  the  third  line  above  C,  as  C  is  on  the 
third  line  above  F.  Farther,  a  stave  of  five  lines,  with  the  cliff  F  on 
the  fourth,  is  supposed  to  signify  the  five  lower  lines  of  the  scale.  One 
with  C  on  the  third,  the  five  above  F  inclusive,  and  one  with  g  on  the 
second,  the  five  above  C.  All  this  will  most  clearly  appear  from  the  two 
foregoing  schemes,  which  exhibit  an  example  of  ingenuity  and  sagacity 
that'^has  stood  the  test  of  ages,  and  is  worthy  the  admiration  of  all  men. 

Many  have  thought  Guido's  scheme  defective  in  that  it  gives  no  sylla- 
ble to  F.  Dr.  Wallis  was  of  this  opinion,  and  says  what  a  wonder  it  is 
that  he  did  not  apply  to  it  the  syllable  SA,  from  the  first  word  of  the 
Adonic  verse  Sancte  Joaknes?  Merscnnus,  Harmonie  Universelle, 
pag.  183,  seems  to  bave  thought  much  in  the  same  manner,  by  his  adding 
the  syllable  si,  which  is  used  by  the  French  at  this  day.  The  original 
introduction  of  this  syllable  is  by  him  and  other  writers  attributed  to 
one  Le  Maire.  a  French  musician,  who  says  he  laboured  for  thirty  years 
ill  vain  to  bring  it  into  practice ;  but  that  he  was  no  sooner  dead  than  all 
the  musicians  of  his  country  made  use  of  it     Notwithstanding  which 


leo 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV. 


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The  above  scheme  is  intended  to  shew  the  situation 
of  the  notes  on  the  lines  and  spaces,  and  the  relation 
which  the  hexachords  bear  each  to  the  others : 
another  compounded  of  two  schemes,  the  one  of 
Bontempi,  and  the  other  of  Doctor  Wallis,  contains 
the  reformed  scale  of  Guido  in  a  collateral  situation 
with  that  of  the  ancients.     (See  Appendix,  No.  50.) 

To  the  lower  chord  the  moderns  have  given  the 
name  Hypo-Proslambanomenos  ;  the  number  assigned 
to  it  may,  by  the  rule  herein  before  given,  be  easily 

the  general  opinion  is  that  the  syllable  si  was  introduced  into  the  scale 
by  Ericius  Puteanu,s  of  Dort,  who  lived  about  the  year  I5S0,  and  wrote 
a  treatise  on  music  entitled  Musathena. 

This  is  in  substance  the  account  which  Mons.  Brossard  has  given  of 
the  introduction  of  the  syllable  si  ;  but  another  writer,  Mons.  Bourdelot, 
has  givfn  a  very  different  account  of  this  matter  ;  for  he  relates  that 
about  the  year  1675  a  certain  Cordelier  introduced  the  syllable  si  into 
the  scale.  He  seems  however  to  doubt  the  fact,  as  being  founded  only 
on  tradition  ;  and  goes  on  to  relate  that  the  abbe  de  la  Louette,  master 
of  the  choir  of  the  cathedral  church  of  Paris,  had  assured  him  that  the 
syllable  in  question  was  invented,  or  perhaps  a  second  time  brought  into 
practice,  by  one  Metru,  a  famous  singing-master  in  Paris  about  the  year 
1676.  Bourdelot  adds  that  Le  Moine,  an  excellent  lutenist,  of  sixty 
years  practice,  had  assured  him  that  he  knew  Metru  very  well,  and  that 
he  introduced  the  syllable  si ;  and  that  he  remembered  also  a  Cordelier 
of  the  convent  of  Ave  Maria,  who  had  made  some  variation  in  the  ancient 
scale  about  the  latter  end  of  the  last  century.  For  these  reasons  Bonet 
inclines  to  think  that  the  honour  of  the  invention  might  be  due  to  the 
Cordelier,  but  that  the  merit  of  reviving  it  is  to  be  ascribed  to  Metru. 
But  whichsoever  of  the  above  relations  is  true,  it  is  pretty  certain  that 
both  Mersennus  and  Brossard  are  mistaken  in  what  they  say  respecting 
the  invention  of  the  syllable  si  by  Le  Maire. 

The  same  author,  Bourdelot,  insinuates,  that  notwithstanding  the  use 
of  the  syllable  si  is  much  approved  of  by  the  French  musicians,  yet  in 
Italy  they  disdain  to  make  use  of  it,  as  being  the  invention  of  a  French- 
man. Histoire  de  la  Musique  et  de  ses  Effets,  par  Bourdelot,  Amsterd. 
1725,  torn.  I.  pag.  17. 

It  seems  that  the  musicians  of  other  countries  have  been  aware  of  the 
necessity  pf  a  seventh  syllable  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  difficulties  which 
the  mutations,  as  they  are  called,  are  attended  with  in  the  practice  of 
singing;  for  in  the  Porque  de  la  Musica  of  Andrea  Lorente  of  Alcala, 
published  in  1672,  we  find  the  syllable  Bi  applied  to  J]  in  the  progression 
from  C  to  c. 

And  here  it  may  not  he  improper  to  observe,  that  the  Italians  at  this 
day  make  use  of  the  syllable  do  instead  of  ut.  as  being  more  easy  of 
pronunciation:  this  variation  may  be  traced  back  to  the  year  167S,  and 
is  to  be  found  in  a  treatise  herein  before  cited,  entitled  Armonia  Grego- 
riani,  written  by  Gerolamo  Cantone,  and  printed  at  Turin  in  that  year. 

Mersennus,  Harm.  Univers.  pag,  183,  intimates  that  for  expressing 
the  semitone  between  A  and  B  b,  some  of  the  musicians  of  his  country 
made  use  of  the  syllable  za,  that  of  si  being  appropriated  to  B  f;] ;  but 
this  distinction  seems  not  to  prevail  at  this  day.  Mons.  Loulie,  the 
author  of  Elements  ou  Principes  de  Musique,  printed  at  Amsterdam, 
1698,  rejecting  the  syllable  za,  has  retained  only  si;  and  this  method  of 
Bolmization  is  practised  throughout  f'jance. 


found,  it  being  nine  of  those  parts  of  which  9216  is 
eight,  and  shews  the  ratio  of  F  to  A  to  be  sesqui- 
octave,  in  the  proportion  of  9  to  8,  The  same  rule 
will  also  suggest  the  means  of  bringing  out  the 
numbers  proper  to  the  notes  added  to  the  scale  by 
Guido,  which  are  those  from  aa  upwards  ;  for,  to 
begin  with  bb,  it  is  in  a  subduplicate  ratio  to  b, 
its  number  therefore  will  be  the  half  of  4374,  that  is 
to  say  2187.  The  next  note  Jj  \\  having  the  same 
ratio  to  J],  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  though 
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  V  ut,  or 
Gamut,  but  its  replicate  is  for  a  very  obvious  reason 
termed  g  sol  re  ut  ;  the  replicates  of  A  re  are  a  la 
MI  RE,  those  of  C  FA  UT  are  c  sol  pa  ut  and  c  sol  fa  ; 
those  of  D  sol  re,  d  la  sol  re,  and  d  la  sol  ;  and 
here  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  as  well  the  recision  as 
the  addition  of  a  syllable  expresses  the  situation  of 
a  note  ;  for  the  last  of  the  seven  hexachords  cuts  off 
a  syllable  from  the  names  of  the  three  upper  chords, 
leaving  to  the  uppermost  one  only,  e  la,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  example. 

As  a  farther  improvement  of  his  system,  and  to 
facilitate  the  practice  of  solmisation,  for  so  we  are  to 
call  the  conjugation  of  any  given  cantilena  by  means 
of  the  syllables  ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la,  most  authors 
relate  that  he  made  use  of  the  left  hand,  calling  the 
top  of  the  thumb  V,  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  being  the  highest 
situation,  the  note  e  la,  as  in  the  following  page 
is  sliewn : — 


Chap.  XXXVI 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  IMUSIC. 


IGl 


But  to  warrant  this  opinion  there  seerns  to  be  no 
better  authority  than  bare  tradition ;  for  in  no  part 
of  Guide's  writings  does  the  mention  of  the  hand 
occur  ;  nay,  it  seems  from  a  passage  in  the  manuscript 
of  Waltham  Holy  Cross,  herein  before  cited,  that  the 
hand  was  an  invention  posterior  in  time  to  that 
when  Guido  is  supposed  to  have  lived  ;  *  its  use  was 
to  instruct  boys  in  the  names  and  respective  situations 
of  the  notes  of  his  scale  ;  and  for  choosing  the  left 
hand  rather  than  the  right  this  notable  reason  is 
given,  '  that  it  being  nearest  the  heart,  the  instruction 
'  derived  from  thence  is  likely  to  make  the  deeper 
*  impression  on  the  minds  of  learners.' 

As  to  the  precise  time  when  he  lived,  authors  are 
very  much  divided.  Zaccone  and  others  assert  it  to 
have  been  about  the  year  of  Christ  9G0 ;  Baronius, 
that  it  was  about  1 022  ;  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  flourished  in  the  time  of  the  emperor 
Conrade  the  younger,  and  that  1028  was  the  precise 
year  when  the  reformation  of  Guido  took  place  ;  and 
for  this  opinion  we  have  also  the  authority  of  Tri- 
themius.f  But  Guido  has  decided  this  question  in 
a  relation  given  by  him  of  his  invitation  to  Rome  by 
John  the  XX.,  and  he  it  is  agreed  began  his  pontificate 
in  the  year  1024. 

CHAP.    XXXVI. 

Some  account  of  Guido  is  to  be  gathered  from  his 
writings,   particularly   an    epistle    from    him   to  his 

»  Kircher,  iti  the  Musurgia,  tome  I.  pag.  115,  says  this  expressly. 
t  De  Viris  illustr.  ord.  Bened,  lib.  H.  cap.  74. 


friend  Michael,  a  monk  of  Pomposa,  and  the  tract  to 
which  that  is  an  introduction,  entitled  Argumentum 
novi  Cantus  inveniendi  :  from  these,  and  some 
scattered  passages  to  be  met  with  in  ancient  manu- 
scripts, the  following  memoirs  are  collected  : — 

He  was  a  native  of  Arezzo,  a  city  in  Tuscany,  and 
having  been  taught  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  was 
looked  on  by  them  as  the  most  considerable  of  the 
mathematical  sciences  :  these  engaged  the  attention 
of  such  members  of  those  fraternities  as  were  endued 
witli  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  turn  of  mind.  Vossius 
makes  Guido  to  have  been  at  first  a  monk  in  the 
monastery  of  St.  Leufred  in  Normandy  ;  J  but  this  is 
by  a  mistake,  which  will  be  accounted  for  hereafter ; 
so  that  the  only  places  of  his  settlement,  of  which  we 
can  speak  with  certainty,  are  the  Benedictine  mo- 
nastery of  Arezzo,  the  city  where  he  was  born,  and 
that  of  Pomposa  in  the  duchy  of  Ferrara. 

In  this  retirement  he  seems  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  difficulties  that  attended  the  instruction 
of  youth  in  the  church-offices  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  facih'tate 
instruction,  and  enable  those  employed  in  the  choral 
office  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  lie  was  assisted  in  his  pious  in- 
tention by  immediate  communications  from  heaven  : 
some  speak  of  the  invention  of  the  syllables  as  the 
effiect  of  inspiration  ;  and  Guido  himself  seem  to  have 
been  of  the  same  opinion,  by  his  saying  it  was  re- 
vealed to  him  by  the  Lord  ;  or  as  some  interpret  his 
words,  in  a  dream  ;  but  graver  historians  say,  that 
being  at  vespers  in  the  chapel  of  his  monaste'-y  it 
happened  that  one  of  the  ottices  appointed  for  that  day 
was  the  above-mentioned  hymn  to  St.  John  Baptist, 
written  by  Paulus  Diaconus,  and  that  the  hearing 
thereof  suggested  this  notable  improvement. 

V\'e  must  suppose  hat  the  converting  the  tetra- 
chords  into  hexachords  had  been  the  subject  of 
frequent  contemplation  with  Guido,  and  that  a 
method  of  discriminating  the  tones  and  semitones 
was  the  one  thing  wanting  to  complete  his  invention. 
During  tlie  performance  of  the  hymn  he  remarked 
the  iteration  of  the  words,  and  the  frequent  returns 
of  UT,  RE,  MI,  FA,   SOL,  LA  :    he   obscrved  likewise 


I  De  Scient.  Mathem.  cap.  xxii.  §  7. 


31 


1G2 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IY. 


a  dissimilarity  between  the  closeness  of  the  syllable 
MI,  and  the  broad  open  sound  of  fa,  which  he  thought 
could  not  fail  to  impress  upon  the  mind  a  lasting 
idea  of  their  congruity,  and  immediately  conceived 
a  thought  of  applying  these  six  syllables  to  his  new 
formed  hexachord. 

Struck  with  the  discovery,  he  retired  to  his  study, 
and  having  perfected  his  system,  began  to  introduce 
it  into  practice  :  the  persons  to  whom  he  communi- 
cated it  were  the  brethren  of  his  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 
sanguine  expectation. 

The  fame  of  Guido's  invention  soon  spread  abroad, 
and  his  method  of  instruction  was  adopted  by  the 
clergy  of  other  countries  :  we  are  told  by  Kircher 
that  Hermannus,  bishop  of  Hamburg,  and  Elvericus, 
bishop  of  Osnabrug,  made  use  of  it ;  and  by  the 
authors  of  the  Histoire  Litteraire  de  la  France,* 
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  Rome  for  that 
purpose,  and  the  reception  he  met  with  from  the 
pontiff,  himself  has  given  a  circumstantial  account 
of  in  the  epistle  before  cited. 

The  particulars  of  this  relation  are  very  curious, 
and  as  we  have  his  own  authority,  there  is  no  room 
io  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  Rome 
he  was  presented  to  the  holy  father,  and  by  him 
received  with  great  kindness.  The  pope  had  several 
conversations  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, 
Avould  not  stir  from  his  seat  till  he  had  learned 
perfectly  to  sing  off  a  verse  ;  upon  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  left 
that  city  upon  a  promise  to  revisit  it,  and  explain 
to  his  holiness  the  principles   of   his  new  system. 

*  Tom.  VII.  tiag.  143,  144. 


On  his  return  homewards  he  made  a  visit  to  the 
abbot  of  Pomposa,  a  town  in  the  duchy  of  Ferrara, 
who  was  very  earnest  to  have  Guido  settle  in  the 
monastery  of  that  place,  to  which  invitation  it  seems 
he  yielded,  being,  as  he  says,  desiroxis  of  rendering 
so  great  a  monastery  still  more  famous  by  his  studies 
there. 

Plere  it  was  that  he  composed  a  tract  on  music, 
intitled  Micrologus,  i.  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.  Vossius  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  Vossius  ;  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  Guidmundus,  by  country  an 
Aretine,  first  a  monk  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Leufred, 
and  afterwards  a  cardinal  of  the  church  of  Rome,  and 
archbishop  of  Aversa ;  that  while  he  was  a  monk  he 
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  Berengarius  three  books  con- 
cerning the  body  and  blood  of  our  Lord  in  the 
sacrament  of  the  Eucharist.f  Trithemius  refers  him 
to  the  year  1030,  and  Sigebert  to  1028,  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  his  errors,  has 
enumerated  the  several  authors  that  have  written 
against  him  ;  among  these  he  mentions  Guimond  or 
Guitmond,  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  writing 
in  the  controversy  with  Berenger,  as  namely,  a 
treatise  De  Veritate  Eucharistiae,  wherein  he  charges 
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  archbishop,  and  a 
member  of  the  sacred  college.  But  it  seems  that 
Vossius  and  those  whom  he  has  followed  are  mistaken 
in  these  particulars  :  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,  afterwards 
bishop  'of  Aversa  in  Italy,  and  at  length  a  cardinal, 
and  who  wrote  three  books  De  Veritate  Corporis  et 
Sanguinis    Christi    in   Eucharistia   ad  versus   Beren- 

+  pp  Scientiis  Mathem.  cap.  xxii.  (j  7. 


Chap. 


XXXVL 


AND  PRACTICE  OP  MUSIC. 


ir>3 


garinm,  which,  he  adds,  have  been  printed  separately, 
and  in  the  Bibliotheca  Patrum.* 

Most  of  the  authors  who  have  taken  occasion  to 
mention  Guido,  speak  of  the  Micrologus  as  con- 
taining the  sum  of  his  doctrine  :  what  are  the  con- 
tents of  the  Micrologus  will  hereafter  be  related  ; 
but  it  is  in  a  small  tract,  intitled  Argumentum  novi 
Cantus  inveniendi,  that  his  declaration  of  the  use  of 
the  syllables,  with  their  several  mutations,  and,  in 
short,  his  whole  doctrine  of  solmisation,  is  to  be 
found.  This  tract  makes  part  of  an  epistle  to  a  very 
dear  and  intimate  friend  of  Guido,  whom  he  addresses 
thus  :  '  Beatissirao  atque  dulcissimo  fratri  Michaeli ;  'f 
and  at  whose  request  the  tract  itself  seems  to  have 
been  composed.  In  this  epistle,  after  lamenting  very 
pathetically  the  exceeding  envy  that  his  fame  had 
excited,  and  the  opposition  that  his  method  of  in- 
struction met  with,  he  relates  the  motives  of  his 
journey  to  Rome,  and  the  reception  he  met  with 
there,  and  then  proceeds  to  an  explanation  of  his 
doctrine. 

It  seems  that  in  the  time  of  Guido,  musical  in- 
struments were  either  scarce  or  ill  tuned,  and  that 
the  only  method  of  acquiring  a  true  knowledge  of  the 
intervals  was  by  means  of  the  monochord  ;  for  both 
in  the  Micrologus,  and  in  this  shorter  work,  of  which 
we  are  now  speaking,  the  author  gives  directions  how 
to  construct  and  divide  properly  this  instrument ;  but 
upon  the  whole  he  seems  to  condemn  the  use  of  it. 
comparing  those  who  depend  on  it  to  blind  men  ;  for 
this  reason  he  discovers  to  his  friend  a  method  of 
finding  out  an  unknown  cantus,  which  he  says  he 
tried  on  the  boys  under  his  care,  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  less  than  many  weeks  :  and  this  method 
is  no  other  than  the  applying  the  syllables  to  the 
hexachords  in  the  manner  before  directed.  But  here 
perhaps  it  may  be  fitting  that  he  should  speak  for 
himself,  and  the  following  is  a  translation  of  his  own 
words  : — 

'  I  have  known  many  acute  philosophers,  not  oidy 
'  Italians,  but  French,  Germans,  and  even  Greeks 
'  themselves,  who,  though  they  have  been  sought  out 
'  for  as  masters  in  this  art,  have  trusted  to  this  rule, 

*  the  monochord  alone  ;  but  yet  I  cannot  say  that 
'  r  think  either  musicians  or  singers  can  be  made  by 
'  the  help  of  it.  A  singer  ought  to  find  out  and  re- 
'  tain  in  memory  the  elevations  and  depressions  of 
'  notes,  with  their  several  diversities  and  properties  ; 

*  and  this  by  our  method  you  may  attain  to  do,  and 
'  also  be  able  to  communicate  the  means  of  doing  it 
'  to  others  ;  for  if  you  commit  to  memory  any  Neuma, 

*  so  as  that  it  may  immediately  occur  to  you  when 
'  you  find  it  in  any  cantus,  then  you  will  directly  and 

*  without  hesitation  be  able  to  sound  it :    and  this 

*  Neuma,   whatever    it   be,   being    retained   in    your 

*  memory,   may  with  ease  be  applied  to   any  new 

♦  Art.  Aretin  rfJuy]  in  not-  Vide  also  Hist.  Litter,  de  France,  torn. 
VIII.  Guitmonrt  Eveque  d'Averse,  pag.  561,  where  this  error  is  taken 
notice  of,  and  rectified. 

t  The  copy  inserted  in  Barnnius  reads,  '  Charissimo  atque  dulcis- 
timo,'  &c. 


'  cantus  of  the  same  kind.     The  following  is  what 
'  I  made  use  of  in  teaching  tl;e  boys  : — 

UT  queant  laxis  REsonare  fibris 
MIra  gestorum  FAmuli  tuorum, 
SOLve  polluti  LAbii  reatum 

Sancte  Joannes. I 

t  Martini,  in  his  Storia  della  Musica,  vol.  I.  pag.  180,  from  a  manu- 
script in  his  possession,  written  in  praise  of  Guido,  and,  as  he  conjectures, 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  has  given  the  notes  to  this  hymn  in  the  Gre- 
gorian characters  in  the  following  order  : — 

F 


c 

D 

E 
D       D 

D     D 

C 

D 

E    E 

UT 

que 

-  ant 

la.K   -   is 

RE  -  so  -  na 

-  re 

fi  -  bris 

G 
F 
E 

E 

E 
D 

D 

C 

a 
G 
F 

G 
F 

D    D 

MI 

ra 

ges   - 

to  -  Tura 

FA-mu-li 

tu 

0  -  rum, 

a 
G  G 

G 

a         a 
G 

a     a 
G 

G 

F 


E 


F 


E 


D 


D 


C 


D 


SOL- ve    pol  -  lu  -  ti     LA-bi  -  i    re  -  a  -  tum     Sanc-te     Jo-an-nes. 
which  he  has  rendered  thus  in  modern  characters  : — 


—1-5 

.    "^f* 

•         ■■         .^         _      1       _       _                 _       ■       ■      1     ' 

UT    que -ant     lax    -   is         RE-so-na-re      fi-bris 

_^^_ 

--■"-:_—-- _-|_B— a^^-B.---^—,- 

MI     -    ra      ges   -to -rum     FA-mu-li      tu  -  o  -  rum 

-^ 

■^   -■■       ■"■"■■■"'i^ 

B"         _l        "         ■■           !■■_        B_M- 

•              -     B         -   II 

SOL  -  ve  pol-lu-ti     LA-bi -i    re -a- tum     Sancte  Joannes. 

Pedro  Cerone  and  Berardi,  the  one  in  his  treatise  De  la  Musica, 
lib.  II.  cap.  44,  and  the  other  in  his  Miscellanea  Musicale,  part  II.  pag. 
55  give  it  in  this  form  : — 


C 


-©■ 


-»EI1b — 


-B- — B -f^ fi — 


.E E. 


UT   que -ant     lax    t    is  RE  -  so  -  na  -  re       fi  -  bris 


E 


i^-LT. 


E 


—7^ B- 


lil 


-p- 


G- 


-fi^— 


MI     -    ra      ges    -    to  -  rum      FA  -  mu  -  li    tu  -  o    rum, 


T?      G'^^G         -p.    G            '"^    G    fl  -p    G    ^-      &  p 

1 

A                                      Jii                         -p»                                                                                                        -i-v             ■*-»      1-x          ■ 

fir   IT       1 

SOL  -  ve  pol-lu-ti     LA-bi -i  re  -  a-tum  ^ancte  Jo - 
which  they  both  render  thus: — 

an    nes. 

'h      „      a      '      b"      b    1-   b     b— .-  B 

.B_.B_.f_ 

UT    que  -  ant     lax   -    is         RE  -  so  -  na  -  re 

fi  -  bris 

*^      «■                    1  ■   ■   "  ■ 

"K       a""      ■      ■■             ■         ■ 

■    ■  ■- 

MI    -   ra     ges  -  to  -  rum      FA-mu-li     tu  -  o-rum, 


^- 


'-*1: 


::l=^_ 


■-B"   ■ 


SOL-ve  pol-lu-ti     LA-bi  -  i    re-a-tum  Sancte  Jo-an-nes. 


Berardi  adds,  that  the  method  of  notation  by  the  letters  of  Gregory, 
as  in  the  above  example,  was  used  in  his  time  in  Hungary,  and  other 
parts  of  Germany.  He  also  cites  a  passage  from  the  Practica  Musica  of 
Herman  Finek,  or  Fink,  to  prove  that  these  were  the  notes  which  Guido 
applied  to  the  h>'mn  '  Ut  queant  laxis.'  Fink  has  asserted  this  fact  on 
the  authority  of  Albertus  Magnus,  who  wrote  on  music,  and  lived  in 
the  thirteenth  century. 


164 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV. 


'  In  the  above  symphony  you  see  six  different 
'  particles,  which  are  to  be  applied  to  as  many 
'  different  notes ;  and  whenever  the  singer  is  able 
'  to  apply  these  to  such  of  the  six  notes  as  they 
'  properly  belong  to,  he  will  be  able  to  sing  his 
'  devotions  with  ease.  When  you  hear  any  Neuma, 
'  examine  in  your  own  mind  which  of  these  particles 
'  does  best  agree  with  its  ending,  so  as  that  the  final 
'  note  of  the  Neuma,  and  the  principal  particles  may 
'  be  equisonous,  whereby  you  will  be  certain  that  the 
'  Neuma  ends  in  that  note  with  which  the  particle 
'  agreeing  therewith  begins  :  but  if  you  undertake 
'  any  written  cantus  which  you  never  saw  before, 
'  you  must  sing  it  often  over,  that  you  may  be  able 
'  to  end  every  Neuma  properly,  so  that  the  end  of 
'  each  Neuma  may  in  the  same  manner  be  joined 
'  with  the  beginning  of  the  particle  which  begins 
'  by  the  same  note  in  which  the  Neuma  ends.  By 
'  this  method  you  will  presently  be  able  to  sing  any 
'  new  cantus  by  the  notes ;  and  when  you  hear  any 
'  that  is  not  noted,  you  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  symphonies  through  every  note  of  these  par- 
'  tides,  and  when  you  shall   carefully  have  looked 

*  them  over,  you  will  be  glad  to  find  out  the  depres- 
'  sions  and  elevations  of  every  note  in  order  in  the 
'  beginnings  of  these  particles  :  but  if  yon  should 
'  have  a  mind  to  attemperate  certain  particles  of 
'  different  symphonies  by  connexion,  you  may  by 
'  a  very  short  and  easy  rule  learn  all  the  difficult  and 
'  manifold  varieties  of  Neumas ;  but  these  cannot  all 

*  be  so  well  explained  by  letter,  and  would  be  more 
'  plainly  opened  in  a  familiar  colloquy. 

A 

F  Alme  rector  mores  nobis  sacrato ;  Summe  pater  ser- 

D 

A 

F  vis  tuis  miserere ;  Salus  nostra  honor  noster  esto  Deus. 

D 

A 

F  Deus,  judex  Justus  foitis,  et  patiens :  Tibi  totus  ser- 

D 

A 

F  vit  mundus  uni,  Deus.     Stabunt  justi  ante  dominum 

D 

A 

F  Semper  laati :  Domino  laudes  omnis  creatura  dicat.* 

He  then  proceeds  thus :  '  In  writing  we  have 
'  twenty-three  letters,  but  in  every  cantus  we  have 
'  only  seven  notes ;  for  as  there  are  seven  days  in 
'  a  week,  so  are  there  seven  notes  in  music,  for  all 
'  that  are  added  above  are  the  same,  and  are  sung 
'  alike  through  the  whole,  differing  in  nothing  but 
'  that  they  are  sounded  doubly  higher.  We  say 
'  there  are  seven  grave  and  seven  acute,  and  that  the 
'  second  order  of  seven  letters  is  written  different 
'  from  the  other  in  this  manner  ; — ■ 

a         };]  c  d  e  f  g 

A        B        C        D        E        F        G 


*  It  is  supposed  that  the  above  are  the  initial  sentences  of  some 
hymns  or  other  offices  anciently  used  in  the  church,  and  which  were 
part  of  the  choral  service.  Guido  tias  intimated  that  these  examples 
can  hardly  he  rendered  intelli^'ihle  without  a  verbal  explanation ;  but 
it  is  conjectured  by  the  letters  D  F  A,  that  they  are  to  be  sung  in  the 
first  of  the  ecclesiastical  tones,  that  having  A  for  its  dominant,  and  D 
for  its  final. 


Towards  the  end  of  this  tract  Guido  directs  the 
manner  of  constructing  and  dividing  the  monochord, 
which  because  he  has  done  it  more  at  large  in  the 
Micrologus,  we  forbear  to  speak  of  here ;  the  rest 
of  the  epistle  is  taken  up  with  a  short  disquisition 
on  the  ecclesiastical  tones,  at  the  close  whereof  he 
recommends  the  perusal  of  his  Micrologus,  and  also 
a  Manual,  written  with  great  perspicuity  by  the 
most  reverend  abbot  Obdo,f  from  whose  example 
he  owns  he  has  somewhat  deviated,  choosing,  as  he 
says,  to  follow  Boetius,  though  he  gives  it  as  his 
opinion  that  his  work  is  fitter  for  Philosophers  than 
Singers. 

The  Micrologus,  though,  as  its  title  imports, 
a  short  discourse,  is  considei'ably  longer  than  the 
former  tract.  The  title  of  it,  as  given  by  some 
transcriber  of  his  manuscript,  is,  Micrologus,  id  est 
brevis  Sermo  in  Musica,  editus  a  Domine  Guidone 
piissimo  Monacho  et  peritissimo  Musico. 

In  this  tract,  too,  the  author  complains  very  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  Arezzo,  his  diocesan,  Guido  confesses 
the  goodness  of  his  patron  in  vouchsafing  to  become 
his  associate  in  the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
which  he  attributes  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  tlie 
church,  he  laboured  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  he  had  regulated  the  church  of  St.  Donatus, 
over  which  it  was  his  office  to  preside,  so  had  he 
rendered  the  servants  thereof,  by  those  privileges 
by  him  conferred  on  them,  respectable  amongst  the 
clergy.  He  adds,  that  it  is  matter  of  surprise  to  him 
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  house,  not  in  the  manner 
of  the  philosophers,  Init  so  as  to  be  a  service  to 
their  church,  and  a  help  to  their  boys,  for  that  the 
art  had  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  success 
of  his  endeavours  to  facilitate  the  practice  of  music ; 
which  success  he  says  was  so  great,  that  the  boys 
taught  by  his  rules,  and  exercised  therein  for  the 
space  of  a  month,  were  able  to  sing  at  first  sight, 
and  without  hesitation,  music  they  had  never  heard 
before,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  surprise  most  people. 

It  appears,  as  well  from  the  epistle  to  his  friend 
Michael,  as  from  the  INIicrologus,  that  in  the  opinion 
of  Guido  the  only  way  of  coming  at  a  knowledge 
of  the  intervals  so  as  to  sing  them  truly,  was  by 
means  of  the  monochord  ;  for  which  reason,  though 

+  Odd  of  Cluni,  of  whom,  and  also  of  his  Enchiridion,  see  an  account 
in  chap.  34.  of  this  work. 


Chap.  XXXVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


1G5 


he  condemns  the  use  of  it  for  any  other  purpose 
than  the  bare  initiation  of  learners  in  tlie  rndinients 
of  singing,  he  constantly  recommends  the  study 
of  it  to  young  people.  In  the  very  beginning  of 
the   IMicrologus   he    says,    '  Whoever   desires  to   be 

*  acquainted  with  our  exercise,  must  learn  such  songs 
'  as  are  set  down  in  our  notes,  and  practise  his  hand 

*  in  the  use  of  the  monochord,  and  often  meditate 
'  on  our  rules,  until  he  is  perfect  in  the  power  and 
'  nature  of  the  notes,  and  is  able  to  sing  well  at  first 
'  sight ;  for  the  notes,  wliich  are  the  foundation  of 
'  this  art,  are  best  to  be  discerned  in  the  monochord, 
'  by  which  also  we  are  taught  how  art,  imitating 
'  nature,  has  distinguished  them.' 

Guido  proposes  that  the  monochord  shall  contain 
twenty-one  notes,  concerning  the  disposition  whereof 
he  speaks  thus  : — 

'  First  set  down  F  Greek,  which  is  added  by  the 
'  moderns,  then  let  follow  the  first  seven  letters  of 
'  the  alphabet,  in  capitals,  in  this  manner,  A,  B, 
'  C,  D,  E,  F,  G ;  and  after  these  the  same  seven 
'  letters  in  the  smaller  characters ;  the  first  series 
'  denotes  the  graver,  and  the  latter  the  acuter  sounds. 
'  Nevertheless,  among  the  smaller  letters  we  insert 

*  occasionally  b  or  j],  the  one  character  being  round, 
'  the  other  square,  thus  a,  b,  J],  c,  d,  e,  f,  g;  to 
'  these  add  the  tetrachord  of  superacutes,  in  which 
'  b  is  doubled  in  the  same  manner,  aa,  bb,  J]]-|,  cc, 
'  dd,   ee.      These    letters    make   in   all    twenty -two, 

*  r.  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  P,  G,  a.  b,  }],  c,  d,  e,  f,  g,  ka,  bb, 
'  th'  *^^'  ^^'  ^^'  *^®  disposition  whereof  has  hitherto 

been  so  perplexed  as  not  to  be  intelligible,  but  it 
'  shall  here  be  made  most  clear  and  plain,  even 
'  to  boys.' 

For  the  division  of  the  monochord  he  gives  the 
following  directions  : — 

'  Gamma  T  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  the  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  1'  you  found  C,  by  a  division 
'  of  four  parts,  you  will  from  A  find  D  ;  from  B,  E  ; 
'  from  C,  F  ;  from  D,  G  ;  from  E,  a  acute  ;  from  F, 

*  b  round  ;  the  rest  that  follow  are  easily  found  by 
'  a  bisection  of  the  remaining  parts  of  the  line  in  the 
'  manner  above  directed,  as  for  examjjle,  in  the  middle 
'  between  B  and  the  end  place  J].  In  like  manner 
'  from  C  you  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  upwards  or  downwards,  ad  infinitum,  un- 

*  less  the  precepts  of  the  art  should  l)y  their  authority 
'  restrain  it.     Out  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  under- 
'  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- 
'  peditiously  performed.  Divide  the  whole  into  nine 
'  parts,  the  first  part  will  terminate  in  A,  the  second 
'  is  vacant ;  the  third  in  D,  the  fourth  vacant ;  the 
'  fifth  a,  the  sixth  d,  the  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,  the  third  E,  the  fourth  vacant,  the  fifth 
'  J^,  the  sixth  e,  the  seventh  \^  J],  tlie  rest  vacant : 
'  again,  divide  the  whole  from  F  to  the  end  into  four 

*  parts,  the  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  parts,  the  first 

*  part  will  end  in  F,  the  second  in  c,  the  third  in  cc, 
'  and  the  fourth  finishes.  Divide  from  F  into  four 
'  parts,  the  first  will  end  in  b  round,  the  second  in  f : 
'  divide  from  b  round  into  four  parts,  in  the  second 
'  you  will  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  are  sufficient ;  the  first  is 
'  the  more  easy  to  be  remembered,  the  second  the 
'  more  expeditious.' 

Upon  this  division  of  the  monochord  he  observes, 
that  there  appears  a  greater  distance  between  some 
of  the  notes,  as  F,  A,  and  A,  B,  than  between  others, 
as  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,  as  C,  D,  E.  and  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  from  A  to  D,  from  B  to  E,  and  from 
C  to  F,  the  extreme  sounds  make  a  diatessaron,  but 
that  a  diapente  is  greater  by  a  tone  ;  as  when  between 
any  two  notes  there  occur  three  tones  and  a  semitone, 
as  from  A  to  E,  or  from  C  to  G.  He  reckons  up 
six  consonances,  that  is  to  say,  the  tone,  semitone, 
ditone,  semiditone,  diatessaron,  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 
the  consonances ;  those  of  the  diatessaron  and  dia- 
pente he  explains  by  the  following  figure  : — 


ABCDEFG      a]]      c 

In  the  eighth  he  shews  the  affinity  between  b  and 
Y\,  and  distinguishes  between  the  diatessaron  and 
diapente  in  this  diagram  : — 

*  The  manuscript  must  certainly  be  erroneous  in  this  place,  for  the 
semitone  can  in  no  sense  whatever  be  deemed  a  consonance  ;  and  .is  to 
the  diapason,  it  is  so  far  from  being  seldom  introduced,  that  it  is  tbe 
most  usual  and  perfect  of  all  the  consonances. 


166 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV. 


F   G 


C    D    E 

Grave 

In  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  chapters  he  speaks 
of  the  division  of  the  four  modes  into  eight,  and  says 
that  as  tliere  are  eight  parts  of  speech,  and  eight 
forms  of  blessedness,  i.  e.  beatitudes,  so  ought  there 
to  be  eight  modes  in  music.  In  the  fourteenth 
chapter  he  treats  more  particularly  of  the  modes, 
which  he  calls  Tropes,  and  of  the  effects  of  music  : 
of  these  he  says  their  properties  are  so  different,  that 
in  the  same  manner  as  a  person  accustomed  to 
different  countries  is  able  out  of  several  men  placed 
before  him,  to  say  'this  is  a  Spaniard,  this  an  Italian, 
'  this  a  German,  and  this  other  a  Frenchman  ; '  so. 
may  one  that  is  skilled  in  music  by  their  diversities 
distinguish  the  tropes.  Farther  he  ascribes  to  the 
tropes  different  properties  ;  for  '  one  person,'  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  garrulity  of  the  fourth 
*  authentic,  and  another  shall  approve  the  mellifluous 
'  sweetness  of  the  fourth  plagal.'  As  to  the  power 
of  music,  he  says  it  is  so  great  as  to  cure  many 
diseases  of  the  human  body ;  he  cites  a  relation  of 
a  frantic  person  who  was  restored  to  reason  by  the 
music  of  Asclepiades  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,  but  that  the  musician, 
immediately  changing  the  mode,  caused  him  to  desist 
from  his  purpose. 

CHAP.    XXXVII. 

According  to  Guido,  cap.  xv.  four  things  are  re- 
quired in  every  cantus, — sounds,  consonances,  neumas, 
and  distinctions  :  from  sounds  proceed  consonances, 
from  consonances  neumas,  and  from  neumas  dis- 
tinctions :  this  it  seems  was  the  ancient  scholastic 
division  of  vocal  music,  and  it  is  adopted  by  all  the 
monkish  writers  on  the  art,  A  Neuma  is  the  smallest 
particle  of  a  cantus,  and  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  aught 
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  neumas,  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, 
should  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 
'  s)ieed,  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,  thou<i;h  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  ?  but  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  neuma,  or,  as  we  should  now 
say,  every  passage,  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  may  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  rule  for  a  kind  of  extem- 
poraneous musical  composition,  which  must  doubtless 
appear  very  strange  to  a  modern  :  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  mmiochord,  and  the  vowels 
under  them  in  this  order : — 

rABCDEFga}]C    defga 
ae     i     ouaeiouaeioua 

And,  to  exemplify  their  use,  recommends  the  taking 

some  such  known  sentence  as  this  : — 

Sancte  Joannes,  meritorura  tuorum  copias,  nequeo  digne  canere. 

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  succession 


Chap.  XXXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


IG^ 


of  the  vowels  will  exhibit  a  series  of  sounds  to  which 
every  syllable  may  be  snug  : — 


e  u 

f  o 

e  i 

d  e 


Jo 


rum 

tu  rum 

/ 

\A 

to 

0   CO 

0 

/ 

\. 

A- 

ri 

pi 

/dig 

/ 

\ 

/       \ 

ncs  me 

\ 

ne 

que     ne 

te 

/ 
c    a    Sane 

It  is  clear  from  the  connection  between  the  vowels 
and  the  letters  of  the  monochord,  that  the  diapente 
here  made  use  of  is  taken  from  among  the  acutes  ; 
because  in  the  disposition  above  made,  the  vowel 
a  answers  to  T ;  but  had  he  chosen  the  graves  for  an 
example,  the  progression  of  the  cantus  had  been 
precisely  the  same  ;  for  as  d  is  to  c,  so  is  A  to  T,  and 
as  f  is  to  c,  so  is  C  to  r ;  as  g  is  to  c,  so  is  D  to  T, 
and  so  of  the  rest. 

This  it  must  be  confessed  is  but  a  fortuitous  kind 
of  melody ;  it  seems  however  to  have  suited  well 
enough  with  the  simplicity  of  the  times,  which 
affords  us  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  art  of  com- 
posing music  was  arrived  at  any  great  degree  of 
perfection.  By  the  rule  here  given  the  above  cantus 
may  easily  be  rendered  into  modern  notes,  in  which 
it  will  have  this  appearance  : — 


■        ■ 

■■ 

■ 

■        ■        ■        Pi 

^      n        ■ 

M 

B 

Sane  -  te 

Jo 

-  an 

lies. 

me 

-  ri  - 

to  -  rum      tu   -  0 

-  rum 

■        n 

■ 

S                ■ 

n 

■~~ 

■         m         ■ 

■ 

f* 

pi  -  as,      ne  -  que 


diff 


The  eighteenth  chapter  of  the  Micrologus  is  an 
explanation  of  the  Diaphonia,  by  which  term  we  are 
to  understand  those  precepts  that  teach  the  use  of  the 
organ,  and  its  application  to  vocal  melody ;  con- 
cerning which  Guido  says,  that  supposing  the  singer 
to  utter  any  given  sound,  as  for  instance  A,  if  the 
organ  proceed  to  the  acutes,  the  A  may  be  doubled, 
as  A  D  a,  in  which  case  it  will  sound  from  A  to  D, 
a  diatessaron,  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  sweetness,  and  that  the  apt  copulation  of  notes 
is  called  Symphony.  He  gives  this  which  follows 
as  an  example  of  the  diaphonia : — 

rcdedcdedc 


Diapason  / 


^Diapente 
I 


< 


l^Diatessaron 


h 

a 

G 

FGAGFGAGFFE 

D 


F 


ICDEDCDEDCCBA 

r 

And  adds  that  a  cantus  may  be  doubled  by  the 
organ,  and  the  organ  itself  in  the  diapason,  as  much 
as  the  organist  pleases.  He  says  that  having  made 
the  doubling  of  sounds  sufficiently  clear,  he  will  ex- 
plain the  method  of  adapting  grave  sounds  to  a 
cantus,  in  the  doing  whereof  he  premises  that  the 
Diaphonia  admits  not  of  the  semitone  nor  diapente, 
but  that  it  accepts  of  the  tone,  ditone,  semiditone, 


and  diatessaron,  among  which  consonances  the  dia- 
tessaron holds  the  principal  place.  Of  the  modes, 
which  he  calls  Tropes,  he  says  that  some  are  fit, 
some  more  fit,  and  others  most  fit,  for  the  Diaphonia ; 
and  these  degrees  of  fitness  seem  to  bear  a  pro- 
portion to  the  number  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  diatessai'on. 

In  the  nineteenth  chapter  are  contained  sundry 
examples  to  illustrate  the  precepts  delivered  in  the 
chapter  preceding,  among  which  are  the  following  : — 


GGFFDEFEDG 


IP 


SI 


so 


li 


DGCCCCCCCC 
F       G       G       A       G       G       F 

er  V  o     f  i  d     e  m 

I       D       D       E        D       D       C 


E        D 


IP 


SI 


me     t 


C       F 


t  a 


C 


CDC 


The  several  precepts  contained  in  the  Micrologus, 
together  with  the  examples  above  given,  may  serve 
to  shew  the  inartificial  contexture  of  the  music  in 
those  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  supposed  that  an 
instrument  so  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  his  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 
antiphon  may  be  sung  in  difi'erent  sounds  without 
changing  the  harmony  :  or,  in  other  words,  that  it 
may  be  so  transposed,  as  that  the  sounds  may  bear  the 

*  The  state  of  the  mechanic  arts,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  construct- 
ing and  making  the  several  utensils  and  conveniences  for  domestic  life, 
would,  were  it  possible  to  come  at  it,  afford  great  satisfaction  to  a  curious 
enquirer,  as  it  would  enable  him,  by  a  comparison  of  two  very  remote 
periods,  to  estimate  the  degree  of  perfection  at  which  we  are  now  arrived. 
Few  of  those  persons,  who  are  curious  enough  to  attend  to  the  manual 
operations  of  our  English  artificers,  are  ignorant  that  they  work  with  an 
amazing  degree  of  truth  ard  accuracy.  A  very  curious  book,  now  extant, 
called  tlie  Book  of  St.  Alban's,  written  by  dame  Julyans  Bernes,  prioress 
of  the  nunnery  of  Snpwell,  near  St.  Alban's,  describes  the  method  of 
making  an  angling  rod  in  the  year  1496  ;  and  gives  us  to  understand  that 
the  mechanics  of  that  time  thought  the  neatest  method  of  hollowing 
a  stick  for  that  purpose  was  the  burning  it  through  with  a  hot  spit ;  and 
it  is  not  unlikely  but  that  four  hundred  years  before  that,  an  organ-pipe 
was  perforated  in  no  better  a  manner;  and  if  we  suppose  the  same  want 
of  neatness  in  the  various  other  parts  of  that  complicated  machine  of 
which  we  are  now  speaking,  we  may  fairly  conclude  that  both  the  organ 
and  the  music  of  the  eleventh  century  were  equally  rude  and  inartificial. 


168 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IV. 


same  relation  to  each  other  as  if  not  transposed.  He 
says  that  the  second  letter,  by  which  we  are  to  under- 
stand }-j ,  is  rejected  as  ignoble,  and  unfit  to  be  the 
principal  of  any  tone  :  the  reason  of  this  is,  that  its 
fifth  is  defective,  as  being  less  than  a  true  diapente  by 
a  semitone. 

Tlie  residue  of  this  tract,  the  Micrologus,  consists 
of  miscellaneous  reflections  on  the  use  and  efficacy  of 
music :  towards  the  close  of  it  is  the  following  tetrastic. 

Quasdam  lineas  signamus  variis  coloribus 
Ut  quo  loco  sit  sonus  mox  discernat  oculus ; 
Ordine  tertijfi  vocis  splendens  crocus  radiat, 
Sexta  ejus,  sed  affinis  flavo  rubet  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.'  These  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  he  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  colours  as  the  invention  of  Guido,  since  it 
appears  to  have  been  in  use  so  early  as  the  year  900, 
which  is  at  least  an  hundred  years  before  the  time 
when  he  wrote. 

He  seems  to  close  his  tract  with  an  assurance  that 
he  has  made  the  rules  clear,  and  laid  open  to  singers 
the  regular  and  perfect  manner  of  singing  in  a  method 
unknown  to  former  times.  But  he  immediately  re- 
sumes his  subject  in  these  words,  'Temporibus  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  he  wrote  ;  the  whole  is  curious,  and  will  be 
best  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 
'  pruned  one  vine,  planted  one  shrub,  or  loaded  one 
'  ass,  is  able  not  only  to  do  the  same  again,  but  to  do 

*  it  better ;  but,  miserable  disciples  of  singers,  they, 
'  though  they  should  practise  every  day  for  an  hun- 
'  dred  years,  would  never  be  able  to  sing  even  one 
'  little  antiphon  themselves,  nor  without  the  help  of 
'  a  master,  but  lose  as  much  time  in  attaining  to  sing, 

as  would  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  nocturnals  and 
'  vigils,  and  other  lessons  of  piety,  by  which  we  are 
'  led  to  everlasting  glory,  while  they  with  a  most 
'  foolish  and  assiduous  labour  prosecute  the  art  of 
'  singing,  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  unable  to  celebrate  the  divine 
'  offices.  Nor  is  this  all,  for  this  ignorance  of  their 
'  duty  begets  reproach,  from  whence  proceeds  con- 
'  tention  ;    scarce   the   scholar   with    the   master   can 

*  agree,  and  much  less  one  fellow  scholar  with  another. 
'  Neither  is  there  any  uniformity  of  music  at  this 
'  day  in  the  churches ;  for  there  are  as  many  kinds 

*  of  antiphons  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- 
'  deavour  to  render  the  practice  of  music  conformable 
'  to  the  rules  of  the  art :  and  as  all  these  corruptions 

*  have  arisen  from  the  ignorance  of  musicians,  I  must 
'  earnestly  request  that  no  one  will  presume  to  make 
'  antiphons,  unless  he  be  well  skilled  in  the  art  of 
'  forming  them  according  to  the  known  and  established 
'  rules  of  music  ;  it  being  most  certain  that  he  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  antiphons,  by  means 
'  whereof  any  assiduous  person  may  attain  to  sing 

*  truly,  and  without  hesitation  ;  and  if  any  one  doubts 
'  the  efficacy  of  our  method,  let  him  come  and  see 
'  what  our  little  boys  can  do,  who  labouring  under 
'  their  ignorance,  as  not  being  able  to  read  the  com- 
'  mon  psalter,  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.' 

The  letters  of  Gregory,  he  says,  '  are  so  disposed, 

*  that  if  a  note  be  repeated  ever  so  often  it  will  always 
'have  the  same  character;  but  the  better  to  distin- 
'  guish  the  order  of  notes,  lines  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  means 
'  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  letters  in  the  monochord ;  and 
'  wherever  you  see  the  yellow  it  is  the  sign  of  the 
'  third  letter,  and  wherever  red  it  denotes  the  sixth, 
'  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  tetrastic  at  the  latter  end 
of  the  Micrologus  :  the  author  has  said  that  the  letters 
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  had  an  opportunity 
of  consulting  a  greater  variety  of  missals  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-offices,  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  lines 


Chap.  XXXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


109 


produced  by  Martini  are  very  many,  but  as  the  lines 
do  all  stand  single,  and  as  upon,  above,  and  below 
them  divers  characters  are  placed,  which  bear  not  the 
least  resemblance  to  the  points  used  by  Guido  and 
his  successors,  it  may  be  questioned  whether  this  va- 
riety of  colors  was  not  originally  adapted  to  a  method 
of  notation  in  use  before  his  time,  notwithstanding 
that  it  coincides  so  well  with  the  stave.    But  Kircher, 
in  the  Musurgia,  tome  I.  pag.  555,  has  reduced  this 
question  to   a  certainty ;    and,   notwithstanding   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- 
duced. Martini  proves  that  the  notators,  as  they  are 
called,  of  that  time,  made  use  of  certain  marks  in  this 
form    {(  J~[  ilP  , »  ^  :*    and    as    to    lines    of 
different  colours,  Kircher  relates  that  he  had  found 
in  the  monastery  of  Vallombrosa  sundry  very  ancient 
books,  written  for  the  use  of  the  choir  there,  before 
the  time  of  Guido  ;  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  Cantus  Gregorianus,  he  assigns  for  one, 
the  uncertainty  of  the  method  of  notation  before  the 
time  of  Guido  ;  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 
says  was  very  difficidt  to  comprehend,  still  more  to 
retain,  and  impossible  to  reduce  to  practice  without 
the  assistance  of  a  master.     In  proof  of  this  assertion 
he  waives  the  authority  of  Kircher.  who  has  mentioned 
the  same  fact,  and  says  that  he  engaged  in  an  exact 
and  laborious  research  among  the  most  ancient  manu- 
scripts in  the  library  of  the  king  of  France,  and  in 
that  of  St.  Germain  De  Prez,  and  others.     Nay,  he 
says  that  he  had  caused  the  Vatican  to  be  searched, 
and  had  received  from  thence,  memoirs  and  extracts 
from  manuscript  antiphonaries,  and  graduals,  many 
of  which   were   above   nine    hundred  years   old,   in 
which  these  characters  appear.     He  farther  says,  that 
in  this  method  of  notation,  by  points  and  other  marks, 
it  was  impossible  to  ascertain  the  difference  between 
the  tone  and  semitone,  which  is  in  effect  saying  that 
the  whole  contrivance  was  inartificial,  productive  of 
error,   and  of  very   little    worth.     Dissertation  sur 
le   Chant  Gregorien,  chap.   vi.      Specimens   of  this 
method    of  notation,    taken    from    Martini,    vol.    I. 
pag.  184,  are  inserted  in  the  Appendix,  No.  42.  | 

*  Stor.  della  Musica,  pag.  183. 

f  What  Guido  has  said  respecting  the  stations  of  the  cliffs,  and  the 
practice  of  distinguishing  them  by  red  and  yellow  lines,  is  contirnied  by 
the  specimens  from  Martini  (Appendix,  42.);  but  it  may  here  be  remarked 
that  they  were  also  distinguished  by  lines  of  a  different  ihickness  from 
the  others  in  the  stave,  as  appears  by  an  example,  taken  from  the  Lexicon 
Diplomaticum  of  Johannes  Ludolphus  VValther,  fol.  Ulm.  1736.  (See 
Appendix,  No.  41. 

t  There  has  lately  be^n  discovered  in  the  library  of  Bennet  college  in 
Cambridge,  a  manuscript  containing  examples  of  the  method  of  notation 
by  irregular  points  above  spoken  of;  and  a  learned  and  ingenious 
gentleman  of  that  college  has  furnished  this  work  with  the  following 
article  from  the  catalogue  of  that  collection  : — 

473.  N.  xxxviii.  Codex  membranaceous  minoris  formae,  ante  Con- 
quisitionem  exaratus.     Hymni  (sive  ut  sEepius  in  hoc  Codice  nominantur 


From  what  has  been  said  some  idea  may  be  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  much  of  his 
doctrine  as  he  thought  communicable  by  writing ; 
for  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  he  frequently  takes  oc- 
casion to  say  that  some  particulars  of  it  are  not  to  be 
understood  but  by  a  familiar  conversation,  and  it  is 
to  be  feared  that  most  of  his  readers  must  entertain 
the  same  opinion. 

It  no  where  appears  that  any  of  his  works  were 
ever  printed,  except  that  Baronius,  in  his  Annales 
Ecclesiastici,  tom.  XI.  pag.  73,  has  given  at  length 
the  epistle  from  him  to  his  friend  Michael  of  Pom- 
posa,  and  that  to  Theodald,  bishop  of  Arezzo,  prefixed 
to  the  Micrologus,  and  yet  the  writers  on  music  speak 
of  the  iMicrologus  as  of  a  l)Ook  in  the  hands  of  every 
one.  Martini  cites  several  manuscripts  of  Guido,  as 
namely,  two  in  the  Ambrosian  library  at  Milan,  the 
one  written  about  the  twelfth  century,  the  other  less 
ancient :  another  among  the  archives  of  the  chapter 
of  Pistoja,  a  city  in  Tuscany  ;  and  a  third  in  the 
Mediceo-Laurenziano  library  at  Florence,  of  the 
fifteenth  century:  these  are  clearly  the  Micrologus. 
Of  the  Epistle  to  IMichael  of  Pomposa,  together  with 
the  Argumentum  novi  Cantus  inveniendi,  he  mentions 
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  fragments  of  the  two  first, 
in  one  volume,  are  also  among  the  Harleian  manu- 
scripts now  in  the  British  Museum,  Numb.  3199,  but 
so  very  much  mutilated,  that  they  afford  but  small 
satisfaction  to  a  curious  enquirer.  The  Baliol  manu- 
script contains  also  the  Enchiridion  of  Odo,  which 
Guido,  at  the  close  of  the  Argumentum  novi  Cantus 
inveniendi,  highly  commends ;  as  also  the  tract  of 
Berno  abbot  of  Richenou  before  mentioned. 

The  above  particulars  of  the  life  and  labours  of 
Guido,  which  have  indeed  the  merit  of  being  imme- 
diately collected  from  his  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,  but 
mention  him  as  having  taken  the  syllables  ut,  re, 
MI,  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  desirous  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 
Bibiotheques,  Memoirs,  and  Anecdotes,  to  any  scrib- 
bling professor  of  the  Belles  Lettres. 

This  supineness,  or  ignorance,  or  whatever  else  it 

Tropi)  recitandi  diebus  Dominicis  et  festis  inter  sacra  celebranda  cum 
notis  musicis. 

The  last  specimen  in  this  plate  is  inserted  from  the  manuscript  thus 
described. 

§  Storia  della  Musica,  passim,  et  pag.  457,  Guido. 


170 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


may  deserve  to  be  called,  with  respect  to  Guido  and 
his  improvements,  has  been  the  source  of  many  mis- 
takes, as  namely,  that  he  was  the  inventor  of  music  in 
consonance,  and  of  the  organ  and  harpsichord  ;  and 
that  he  was  the  first  that  introduced  the  practice  of 
descant  in  singing.  In  the  course  of  the  present  work 
some  of  these  inventions  have  been,  and  the  others 
severally  will  be,  fixed  at  periods  very  remote  from 
that  in  which  Gnido  lived  :  at  present  it  shall  suffice 
to  refute  them  by  saying,  that  as  to  the  organ,  it  was 
invented  long  before  ;*  and  forther,  Guido  himself  in 
his  Micrologus  frequently  mentions  the  organ  as  an 
instrument  in  common  use  in  his  time.  As  to  the 
harpsichord,  the  name  of  it,  or  of  the  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  in  his  time.  Gower 
indeed  speaks  of  an  instrument  called  the  citole,  in 
these  verses  : — 

He  taughte  hir  till  (he  was  certeyne 

Of  harpe,  citole,  and  of  riote, 

With  many  a  tewne,  and  many  a  note. 

Confessio  Amantis,  fol.  178,  b. 

And  by  an  ancient  list  of  the  domestic  establish- 
ment of  Edward  III.  it  appears  that  he  had  in  his 
service  a  musician  called  a  cyteller,  or  cysteller  :  the 
citole  or  cistole,  derived  from  cistella,  a  little  chest, 
might  probablv  be  an  instrument  resembling  a  box 
Avith  strings  on  the  top  or  belly,  which  by  the  ap- 
plication of  the  tastatura  or  key -board,  borrowed 

*   Vide  ante  page  li7. 


from  the  organ,  and  jacks,  became  a  spinnet.  But 
as  to  the  harpsichord,  the  earliest  description  of  it 
which,  after  a  careful  research,  could  he  found,  is 
that  of  Ottomarus  Luscinius,  in  his  Musurgia,  pub- 
lished at  Strasburg,  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  the  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  his  psalter  and  the 
church  offices,  no  one  of  the  many  writers  who  have 
occasionally  mentioned  him,  has  entered  into  the 
particulars  either  of  his  char;u;ter  or  his  institution  ; 
but  his  reformation  of  the  scale,  his  improvement  of 
the  stave,  and  the  method  of  notation  invented  by 
him,  which  has  introduced  into  the  world  a  kind  of 
universal  character,!  bespeak  his  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  the  love  of  music  shall  subsist. 

t  It  is  literally  true,  that  for  the  piirpose  of  representing  musical 
sounds  by  writin;,',  tlie  system  of  Guido  is  an  universal  character;  and 
every  day's  experience  informs  us  that  men  of  diiTerent  countries,  and 
who  speak  different  languages,  and  therefore  are  incapable  of  verbal 
communication,  have  yet  the  same  idea  of  the  power  of  the  musical 
cliaracters,  which  they  discover  by  their  readiness  in  performing  compo- 
sitions that  they  have  never  studied.  And  this  consideration  has 
induced  some  men  to  assert  that  the  scale  of  music  might  be  made  to 
serve  the  purpose  of  an  alphabet.  Bisliop  Wilkins  first  started  this 
notion,  and  it  is  very  ingeniously  prosecuted  in  his  tract  entitled  The 
secret  and  swift  Messenger,  chap,  xviii.  and  by  Mr.  Oldys  in  the  life  of 
Peter  Bales,  the  famous  penman,  in  ilie  Biographia  Britanuica. 


BOOK    V.        CHAR    XXXVIII. 


The  system  of  Guido,  and  the  method  invented 
by  him  for  facilitating  the  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  continued  to  be  the  only  cultivators 
of  music  in  general  for  many  centuries  after  his  time. 
The  people  of  England  have  long  been  celebrated 
for  their  love  of  cathedral  music ;  not  only  in  Italy, 
Germany,  and  France,  but  here  also,  the  offices  were 
multiplied  in  proportion  to  the  improvements  made 
in  music ;  and  a  great  emulation  arose,  among 
diiTerent  fraternities,  which  should  excel  in  the  com- 
position of  music  to  particular  antiphons,  hymns, 
and  other  parts  of  divine  service.  It  farther  appears, 
that  about  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  the 
order  of  worship  was  not  so  settled  but  that  a  latitude 
was  left  for  every  cathedral  church  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 
queen   Elizabeth.  |     And  we  elsewhere  learn,  that 

X  '  And  where  heretofore  there  hath  beene  great  diversitie  in  saying 

and  singing  in  churches  within  this  realme  ;  some  following  Salisburie 

'  use,  some  Hereford  use,  some  the  use  of  Bangor,  some  of  Yorke,  and 

'  some  of  Lyncolne.     Now  from  henceforth  all  the  wliole  realme  shall 

'  have  but  one  use.'     Upon  which  passage  it  is  to  be  noted  that  in  the 


of  the  several  uses  which  had  obtained  in  this  king- 
dom, that  of  Sarum,  established  anno  1077,  was  the 
most  followed ;  and  that  hence  arose  the  adage 
'  Secundum  usum  Sarum.' § 

Of  the  origin  of  the  use  of  Sarum  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 : — '  Ofmundus  was 

*  a  man  of  great  adventure  and  poHcye  in  hys  tyme, 

*  not  only  concernynge  robberyes,  but  alfo  the  flaughter 

*  of  men  in  the  warres  of  kyng  Wyllyam  Conquerour: 
'  whereupon  he  was  firft  the  grande  captayne  of  Saye, 

*  in   Normandy,  and  afterwards   earle  of  Dorfet,  and 

*  alfo  hygh-chauncellour  of  Englande.     As   Herman, 

*  the   bylhop  of  Salifbury,  was  dead,  he  gaue  over  all, 

*  and  fucceeded  him  in  that  byfhopryck,  to  lyue,  as  it 
'  were,  in  a  fecuryte  or  cafe  in  hys  lattre  age;  for  than 
'  was  the  church  become  Jefabel's  pleafaunt  and  eafy 
'  cowch.     His  cautels  were  not  fo  fyne  in  the  other 

northern  parts,  the  use  of  the  archiepUcopal  church  of  York  prevailed  ; 
in  South  Wales,  that  of  Hereford;  in  North  Wales,  that  of  Bangor; 
and  in  other  places,  the  use  of  other  of  the  principal  sees,  particularly 
that  of  Lincoln.  Aylitfe's  Parergon,  pag.  356.  Burn's  Eccl.  Law 
vol.  II.  pag.  27S. 

§  Vid.  Fuller's  Worthies  in  Wilts,  pag.  146. 


Chap.  XXXVIII. 


AXD  PPtACTICE  OF  MUSIG. 


171 


*  kynde  for  deftrudlyon  of  bodyes ;  but  they  were  alfo 
'  as  good  in  thys,  for  deftruftyon  of  fowles.  To 
'  obfcure    the    glory    of    the    gofpel    preachynge,    and 

*  augment  the  filthynelTe  of  ydolatry,  he  praftyfed 
'  an  ordynary  of  popyfh  ceremonyes,  the  whyche  he 
'entytled    a    Confuetudynary,   or    ufual    boke   of    the 

*  churche.      Hys    fyrft  occafyon  was    thys  :    a    great 

*  battayle   chaunced    at   Glaftenburye,   whyls    he    was 

*  bylhop,  betweene  Turftinus,  the  abbot,  and  hys 
'  monkes,  wherein  fome  of  them  were  flaync,  and 
'  fome  fore  wounded,   as   is   fayd  afore.      The  caufe  of 

*  that    battayle    was    thys  :     Turftinus    contempnynge 

*  their  quere  fervyce,  than  called  the  ufe  of  Saint 
'Gregory,   compelled   hys   monkes   to    the   ufe  of  one 

*  Wyllyam,  a  monke  of  Fifcan,  in  Normandy.  Upon 
'  thys,   Ofmundus   devyfed   that    ordynary    called    the 

*  Ufe  of  Sarum,  whyche  was   afterwards  received   in 

*  a    manner    of   all    Englande,    Irelande,    and    Wales. 

*  Every  Svr  Sander  Slyngefby  had  a  boke  at  hys  belte 

*  thereof,  called  hys  Portalle,  contaynynge  many  fuper- 

*  ftycyoufe  fables  and  lyes,  the  teftament  of  Chryft  fet 
'  at  nought.      For  thys  afte  was  that  brothel  byfhop 

*  made  a  popyfh  god  at  Salifbury.'^-- 

Fox,  a  writer  not  quite  so  bitter  as  the  former, 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  matter  : — 

'  A   great  contention  chanced  at  Glayftenbure,  be- 

*  tweene  Thurftanus,    the   abbat,   and  his   convent,  in 

*  the  dales  of  William  Conqueror,  which  Thurftanus 

*  the  faid  William  had  brought  out  of  Normandy, 
'  from  the  abbey  of  Cadonum,  and  placed  him  abbat 
'  of  Glaftenburye.      The  caufe  of  this  contentious  bat- 

*  tell  was,  for  that  Thurftanus  contemning  their  quier 

*  fervice,  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  ;  firft  in  words,  then  from 
'  words  to  blowes,  after  blowes,  then  to  armour.  The 
'  abbat,  with  his  gard  of  harneft  men,  fell  upon  the 
'  monks,  and  drave  them  to  the  fteps  of  the  high  altar, 

*  where  two  were  flain,  eight  were  wounded  with 
'  fhafts,  swords,  and  pikes.      The  monks,  then  driven 

*  to  fuch  a  ftrait  and  narrow  fhift,  were  compelled  to 
'  defend  themfelves  with  formes  and  candlefticks,  where- 

*  with  they  did  wound  certaine  of  the  fouldicrs.      One 

*  monk  there  was,  an  aged  man,  who,  inftead  of  his 
'  fhield,    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  faved.     My  ftory  addeth  more,  that  the  ftriker, 

*  incontinent  upon  the  fame,  fell  mad  ;  which  favoreth 

*  of  fome  monkifh  addition,    befides   the   text.     This 

*  matter  being  brought  before  the  king,  the  abbat  was 

*  fent    again    to    Cadonum,   and   the  monkes,   by   the 

*  commandement   of   the   king,   were   fcattered   in  far 

*  countries.      Thus,  by  the  occafion  hereof,  Ofmundus, 

*  bifhop  of  SaliftDury,  devifed  that  ordinary  which  is 
'  called  the  Ufe  of  Sarum,  and  was  afterwards  received, 

*  in  a  manner  through  all  England,  Ireland,  and  Wales."}" 

■•  The  second  Part,  or  Contynuacyon  of  the  Englysh  Votaryes, 
fol.  30.  b. 

t  It  appears  from  Lyndwood,  not  only  that  the  use  of  Sarum  prevailed 
almost  throushout  the  province  of  Canterbury,  but  that  in  respect  thereof 
the  bishop  of  that  diocese  claimed,  by  ancient  usage  and  custom,  to 


'  And   thus  much  for  this  matter,  done  in  the  time  of 
*  this  king  William. '| 

As  to  the  formulary  itself,  we  meet  with  one  called 
the  Use  of  Sarum,  translated  into  English  by  Miles 
Coverdale,  bishop  of  Exeter,  in  the  Acts  and  INIonu- 
ments  of  Fox,  vol.  III.  pag.  3,  which  in  truth  is  but 
a  partial  representation  of  the  subject ;  for  the  TJse 
of  Sarum  not  only  regulated  the  form  and  order  of 
celebrating  the  mass,  but  prescribed  the  rule  and 
office  for  all  the  sacerdotal  functions  ;  and  these  are 
contained  in  separate  and  distinct  volumes,  as  the 
Missal  itself,  printed  by  Kichard  Hamillon,  anno 
1554: ;  the  JManual,  by  Francis  Regnault,  at  Paris, 
anno  1530  ;  Hymns,  with  the  notes,  by  John  Kyngs- 
ton  and  Henry  Sutton,  Lond.  1555  ;  the  Primer,  and 
other  compilations  :  all  which  are  expressly  said  to 
be  '  ad  usum  ecclesiae  Sarisburiensis.'  Sir  Henry 
Spelman  seems  to  have  followed  Fox  rather  implicity 
in  the  explanation  which  he  gives  of  the  Use  of  Sarum 
in  his  Glossary,  pag.  501. 

It  is  no  easy  matter,  at  this  distance  of  time,  to 
assign  the  reasons  for  that  authority  and  independence 
of  the  church  of  Salisbury  which  the  framing  a  liturgy, 
to  call  it  no  more,  for  its  own  proper  use,  and  especially 
the  admission  of  that  liturgy  into  other  cathedrals, 
supposes  :  but  this  is  certain,  that  the  church  of 
Sarum  was  distinguished  by  divers  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  was  one  so  remarkable 
as  to  have  been  the  subject  of  much  learned  enquiry. § 

The  usage  here  particularly  alluded  to,  is  that  of 
electing  a  Bisliop  from  among  the  choristers  of  the 

execute  the  office  of  precentor,  and  to  govern  the  choir,  whenever  the 
archbishop  of  Canterbury  performed  divine  service  in  the  presence  of 
the  college  of  bishops.  '  Quasi  tota  provincia  [Cantuariensis]  hunc  usura 
'sequitur;'  and  adds,  as  one  reason  of  it,  '  Episcopus  namque  Sarum 
'  in  collegio  episcoporum  est  praecentor,  et  temporibus  quibus  archi- 
'  episcopus  Cantuariensis  solenniter  celebrat  diviiia,  praesente  coUegio 
'  episcoporum,  chorum  in  divinis  officiis  regere  debet,  de  observantia  et 
'  consuetudine  antiqua.'  Provinciale,  tit.  De  Feriis.  cap.  ult.  [Anglicanae 
Ecclesice]  Ver.  Usum  Sarum.  Gibs.  Cod.  pag.  294.  And  an  instance 
of  the  actual  exercise  of  the  office  of  precentor  or  chanter  at  a  public 
solemnity,  by  a  bishop  of  Salisbury,  occurs  in  an  account  of  the  christen- 
ing of  prince  Arthur  in  the  Collectanea  of  Leland,  vol.  III.  pag.  208. 
and  is  thus  related  : — '  The  bishop  of  Ely  was  deken,  and  rede  the 
'  gospel.  The  bishop  of  Rochester  bar  the  crosse,  and  redde  th'  epistell. 
'  The  bishop  of  Saresbury  was  channter,  and  beganne  the  office  of  the 
'masse.'  The  Bix/iop  nf  Snlishunj  officiated  as  Precentor  or  Chanter  at 
the  Coronation  of  King  George  III.  and  Ids  Queen.  The  Precentor's  fee  of 
old  on  the  coronation  day  was  a  mark  of  gold.  Stnjpe's  Stow,  book  VI. 
pag.  13. 

t  Acts  and  Monuments,  Lond.  1640,  vol.  I.  pag.  238. 

§  See  a  tract  entitled  Episcopus  Puerorum  in  Die  Innocentium,  or 
a  Discovery  of  an  ancient  Custom  m  the  Church  of  Sarum,  of  making 
an  anniversary  Bishop  among  the  Choristers  ;  it  was  written  at  the 
instance  of  bishop  .Montague  by  John  Gregory  of  Christ  Church,  Oxon, 
and  is  among  his  Posthuma,  or  second  part  of  his  works,  published  in 
16S4, 

In  this  tract,  which  abounds  with  a  great  variety  of  curious  learning, 
the  author  takes  occasion  to  remark,  that  the  observance  of  Innocent's 
Day  is  very  ancient  in  the  Christian  church;  and  that  in  a  runic  wooden 
calendar,  a  kind  of  almanac,  from  which  the  log  or  clog,  mentioned  in 
Dr.  Plot's  History  of  Staffordshire,  is  derived,  this  and  other  holydays 
are  distinguished  by  certain  hieroglyphics:  for  an  instance  to  the  pur- 
pose, the  holyday  here  spoken  of  was  signified  by  a  drawn  sword,  to 
denote  the  slaughter  of  that  day.  That  of  SS.Simon  and  Jude  by  a  ship, 
because  they  were  fishers.  'Tlie  festival  of  St.  George,  by  a  horse, 
alluding  to  his  soldier's  profession.  The  day  ot  St.  Gregory  which  is 
the  twelfth  of  March,  this  author  says  was  thus  symbolized: — 'They 
■  set  you  down  in  a  picture  a  school-master  holding  a  rod  and  ferula  in 
'his  hands.  It  is,  adds  he,  because  at  that  time,  as  being  about  the 
'beginning  of  the  spring,  they  use  to  send  their  children  first  to  school. 
'And  some,  he  says,  are  so  superstitiously  gi'^'en,  as  vipon  this  night  to 
'  have  th^-ir  children  asked  the  question  in  their  sleep,  whether  they  have 
'  a  mind  to  bo.ik  oi  no  ;  and  if  they  say  yes  they  count  it  for  a  very  good 
'  presage,  but  if  tne  children  answer  nothing,  or  nothing  to  that  purpose, 
'  they  put  them  over  to  the  plough.' 


172 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


cathedral  of  Sanim,  op  the  anniversary  of  St.  Nicholas, 
being  the  sixth  day  of  December  ;  who  was  invested 
witli  great  authority,  and  had  the  state  of  a  diocesan 
bislio})  from  the  time  of  his  election  nntil  Innocent's 
Day,  as  it  is  called,  the  twenty-eighth  of  the  same 
month.  It  seems,  that  the  original  design  of  this 
singular  institution  was  to  do  honour  to  the  memory 
of  St.  Nicholas,  bishop  of  Myra,  in  Lycia  ;  who,  even 
in  his  infancy,  was  remarkable  for  his  piety,  and,  in 
the  language  of  St.  Paul  to  Timothv,  is  said  to  have 
known  the  scriptures  of  a  child.  Ribadeneyra  has 
given  his  life  at  large  ;  but  the  following  extract 
from  the  English  Festival,*  contains  as  much  about 
him  as  any  reasonable  man  can  be  expected  to 
believe.     *  It  is  fayed,  that  hys  fader  hyght  Epiphanius, 

*  and  his  moder,  Joanna,  Sec.      And  whan  he  was  born, 

*  &c.  they  made  hym  Chryften,  and  calkd  hym  Nycolas, 
'  that  is  a  mannes  name ;  but  he  kepeth  the  name  of 

*  a  chyld ;  for  he  chose  to  kepe  vertues,  meknes,  and 

*  symplenes,    and    without    malyce.      Also    we    rede, 

*  whyle  he  lay  in  hys  cradel,  he  fafted  Wednefday  and 

*  Fryday :  these  days  he  would  fouke  but  ones  of  the 
'  day,  and  therewyth  held  hym  plesed.     Thus  he  lyved 

*  all  his  lyf  in  vertues,  with  thys  chyldes  name  ;  and 

*  therefore  chyldren  don  hym  worfhip  before  all  other 

*  faynts.f 

That  St.  Nicholas  was  the  patron  of  young  scholars 
is  elsewhere  noted  ;  and  by  the  statutes  of  St.  Paul's 
school,  founded  by  dean  Colet,  it  is  required  that  the 
children  there  educated,  '  shall,  every  Childermas 
'  Day,  come  to  Paulis  churche,  and  hear  the  chylde- 

*  byshop  sermon,  and  after  be  at  the  hygh-masse,  and 
'  each  of  them  offer  a  i.  d.  to  the  childe-byshop,  and 
'  with  them  the  maisters  and  surveiours  of  the  scole.| 

The  ceremonies  attending  the  investiture  of  the 
Episcopus  Puerorum  are  prescribed  by  the  statutes 
of  the  church  of  Sarum,  which  contain  a  title,  De 
Episcopo  Choristarum  ;  and  also  by  the  Processional. 
From  these  it  appears,  that  he  was  to  bear  the  name 
and   maintain   the   state  of  a  bishop,  habited,  with 

*  In  St   Nicholas,  fol.  55. 

t  A  circumstance  is  related  of  this  bishop  Nicholas,  which  does  not 
very  well  agree  with  the  above  account  of  his  meek  and  placid  temper  ; 
for  at  the  Council  of  Nice,  this  same  bishop,  upon  some  dispute  that 
arose  between  them,  is  said  to  have  given  the  heretic  Arius  a  box  on 
the  ear.     Bayle,  vol.  11.  pag.  530,  in  not. 

I  By  this  statute,  which  with  the  rest  is  printed  as  an  Appendix  to 
Dr.  Knight's  life  of  dean  Colet,  it  should  seem,  that  at  the  cathedral  of 
St.  Paul  also  they  had  an  Episcopus  Puerorum  ;  for  besides  the  mention 
of  the  sermon,  the  statute  directs,  that  an  offering  be  made  to  the  childe 
byshop.  Indeed  Strype  says,  'that  almost  every  parish  had  its  saint 
'Nicholas.'  Memorials  Ecclesiastical  under  Queen  Mary,  pag.  206.  In 
the  book  of  the  household  establishment  of  Henry  Algernon  Percy,  earl 
of  Northumberland,  compiled  anno  1512,  and  lately  printed,  are  the 
following  entries: — '  Item,  My  lord  usith  and  accustomyth  yerely,  when 
'his  lordship  is  at  home,  to  yef  unto  the  barne  bishop  of  Beverlay,  when 
'he  comith  to  my  lord  in  Christmas  hally-dayes,  when  my  lord  kepith 
'his  hous  at  Lekynfield,  xxs.  Item,  my  lord  useth  and  accustomyth  to 
'  gif  yearly,  when  his  lordship  is  at  home,  to  the  barne-bishop  of  Yorke, 
'  when  he  comes  over  to  my  lord  in  Christynmasse  hally-dayes,  as  he  is 
'  accustomed  yearly,  xxs.'  Hence  it  appears  that  there  were  formerly 
two  other  barne,  i.e.  beam,  or  infant  bishops  in  this  kingdom,  the  one 
of  Beverly,  the  other  of  Vork.  And  Dr  Percy,  the  learned  editor  of 
the  above  book,  in  a  note  on  the  two  articles  here  cited,  from  an  ancient 
MS.  communicated  to  him,  has  given  an  inventory  of  the  splendid  robes 
and  ornaments  of  one  of  these  little  dignitaries.  Farther,  there  is  reason 
to  suppose  that  the  custom  above-spoken  of  prevailed,  as  well  in  foreign 
cathedrals,  as  in  those  of  England,  for  the  writer  above-cited,  [Mr.  Gre- 
gory] on  the  authority  of  Molanus,  speaks  of  a  chorister  bishop  in  the 
church  of  Cambray,  who  disposed  of  a  prebend  which  fell  void  in  the 
month  or  year  of  his  episcopate,  in  favour  of  his  master.  Some  of  these 
customs  that  relate  to  the  church  are  more  general  than  is  imagined,  that 
of  obliging  travellers,  who  enter  a  cathedral  with  spurs  on,  to  pay  a  small 
line,  called  spur-money,  to  the  choristers,  upon  pain  of  being  locked  into 
the  church,  prevails  almost  throughout  Europe. 


a  crosier  or  pastoral -staff  in  his  hand,  and  a  mitre  on 
his  head.  His  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  service  as  the  very 
bishop  himself,  with  his  dean  and  prebendaries,  had 
they  been  to  officiate,  were  to  have  performed,  the 
very  same,  mass  excepted,  was  done  by  tlie  chorister 
and  his  canons,  upon  the  eve  and  tlie  holiday.  The 
nse  of  Sarum  required  also,  that  upon  the  eve  of 
Innocent's  day,  the  chorister-bishop,  with  his  fellows, 
should  go  in  solemn  procession  to  the  altar  of  the 
Holy  Trinity,  in  copes,  and  with  burning  tapers  in 
their  hands  ;  and  that,  during  the  procession,  three 
of  the  boys  should  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  the'r 
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  to  do. 
Farther  it  appears,  that  this  infant-bishop  did,  to 
a  certain  limit,  receive  to  his  own  use,  rents,  capons, 
and  other  emoluments  of  the  church. 

In  case  the  little  bishop  died  within  the  month,  his 
exequies  were  solemnized  with  great  pomp  :  and  he 
was  interred,  like  other  bishops,  with  all  his  orna- 
ments. The  memory  of  this  custom  is  preserved,  not 
only  in  the  ritual  books  of  the  cathedral  church  of 
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  pontifical 
office,  and  to  have  been  interred  with  the  solemnities 
above  noted. 

Such  as  is  related  in  the  foregoing  was  the  Use 
of  Sarimi,  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  thing  else 
contained  in  these  volumes,  were  so  superlatively 
excellent,  or  of  such  importance  to  religion,  as  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  urbanity  in  all  ranks 
and  orders  of  men.    That  general  decorum,  the  effect 


Chap.  XXXV III. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


173 


ot  long  civilization,  which  is  now  observable  in  all 
the  different  countries  of  Europe,  renders  us  unwilling 
to  credit  a  fact,  which  nevertheless  every  person  con- 
versant in  ecclesiastical  history  is  acquainted  with, 
and  believes  ;  namely,  that  the  true  time  for  cele- 
brating Easter  was  the  groiind  of  a  controversy  that 
svibsisted  for  some  centuries,  and  occasioned  great 
slaughter  on  both  sides.  The  relation  above  given  of 
the  fray  at  Glastonbury,  is  not  less  reproachful  to 
human  nature,  in  any  of  the  different  views  that  may 
be  taken  of  it  ;  for  if  we  consider  the  persons,  they 
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  parties  were,  what  at  that  time  they  could 
scarce  choose  but  be,  papists,  has  given  the  following 
ludicrous  account  of  it : — 

'The  next  yeere  then  enfued,  which  was  1 190,   in 

*  the  beginning  of  which  year,  upon  Tvvelfe  even,   fell 

*  a  foule  northerne  brawle,  which  turned  well  neere  to 

*  a  fray,  betweene  the  archbilhop  new  defied,  of  the 

*  church  of  Yorke,  and  his  company  on  the  one  fide, 
'  and  Henry,  dean  of  the  faid  church,  with  his  catho- 

*  like  partakers  on   the  other  fide,  upon  occafion   as 

*  follovveth  :  Gaufridus  or  GeofFry,  fonne  to  king  Henry 

*  the  fecond,  and   brother  to  king  Richard,  whom  the 

*  king  had  elefted  a  little  before  to  the  archbifhopricke 

*  of  Yorke,  upon  the  even  of  Epiphany,  which  we  call 

*  Twelfe  Day,  was  difpofed  to  hear  even-fong  with  all 

*  folemnity  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  himfelfe,  in  the  meane  while  Henry  the  deane, 
'  and    Bucardus  the  treafurer,  difdaining  to  tarry  his 

*  comming,  with  a  bold  courage  luftily  began  their  holy 
'  evensong  with  finging  their  pfalmes,  ruffling  of  defcant, 

*  and  merry  piping  of  organs ;  thus  this  catholike  even- 
'  fong  with  as  much  devotion  begun,  as  to  God's  high 

*  fervice  proceeding,  was  now  almoft  halfe  complete, 

*  when  as  at  length,  they  being  in  the  middeft  of  their 
'  mirth,  commeth  in  the  new  eleft  with  his  traine  and 

*  gardenians,  all  full  of  wrath  and  indignation,  for  that 

*  they  durll   be  fo  bold,  not  waiting  for  him,   to  begin 

*  God's  fervice,  and  fo  eftfoones  commanded  the  quier 

*  to  ftay  and  hold  their  peace  :   the  chanter  likewife  by 

*  vertue  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  halfe  crying  againft  the  other,  the  whole 
'  quier  was  in  a  rore  :   their  finging  was  turned  to  fcold- 

*  ing,  their  chanting  to  chiding,  and  if  inftead  of  the 
'organs  they  had  had  a  drum,  1  doubt  they  would  have 
'  folefacd  by  the  ears  together. 

'  At  laft  through  the  authority  of  the  archbifliop, 

*  and  of  the  chanter,  the  quier  began  to  furceafe  and 
'  give  filence.  Then  the  new  eledt,  not  contented  with 
'  what  had   beene  fung   before,   with  certaine  of  the 

*  quier  began  the  evenfong  new  againe.  The  treafurer 
■  upon  the   fame   caufed,   by  virtue  of  his  office,   the 


*  candles  to  be  put  out,  whereby  the  evenfong  having 
'  no  power  further  to  proceed,  was  flopped  forthwith 

*  for  like  as  without  the  light  and  beames  of  the  funne 
'  there  is  nothing  but  darknefie   in  all   the  world,  even 

*  fo  you  muft  underftand  the  pope's  church  can  fee  to 
'  doe  nothing  without  candle-light,  albeit  the  funne  doe 

*  fhine  never  fo  cleere  and  bright.  This  being  fo,  the 
'  archbifhop,  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  fo  upon  the  fame,  fufpended  both  them 
'  and  the  church  from  all  divine  fervice,  till  they  fhould 
'  make  to  him  due  fatisfadlion  for  their  trefpafle. 

'  The  next  day,  which  was  the  day  of  Epiphany, 
'  when  all  the  people  of  the  citie  were  afi'embled  in  the 
'  cathedral  church,   as   their  manner  was,  namely,   in 

*  fuch  feafts  devoutly  to  hear  divine  fervice,  as  they  call 
'  it,  of  the  church,  there  was  alfo  prefent  the  archbifliop 
'  and  the  chanter,  with  the  refidue  of  the  clergie,  look- 
'  ing  when  the  deane  and  treasurer  would  come  and 
'  fubmit  themfelves,  making  fatisfaction  for  their  crime. 
'  But  they  ftill  continuing  in  their  ftoutnefle,  refufed  fo 
'  to  do,  exclaiming  and  uttering  contemptuous  words 
'  againft  the  archbifhop  and  his  partakers ;  which  when 
'  the  people  heard,  they  in  a  great  rage  would  have 
'  fallen    upon    them :    but   the   archbifliop    would    not 

*  fuffer  that.  The  deane  then,  and  his  fellowes,  per- 
'  ceiving  the  ftir  of  the  people,  for  feare,  like  pretie 
'  men,  were  faine  to  flee ;  fome  to  the  tombe  of  S. 
'  William  of  York,  fome  ranne  into  the  deane's  houfe, 
'  and  there  flirouded  themfelves,  whom  the  archbifliop 
'  then  accurfed.  And  fo  for  that  day  the  people  re- 
'  turned  home  without  any  fervice.'  * 

In  the  year  1050  flourished  Hermannus  Contrac- 
tus, so  surnamed  because  of  a  contraction  in  his  limbs, 
whom  Vossius  styles  Comes  Herengensis,  a  monk  also 
of  the  monastery  of  St.  Gal.  He  excelled  in  mathe- 
matics, and  wrote  two  books  of  music,  and  one  of 
the  monochord. 

Michael  Psellus,  a  Greek,  and  a  most  learned 
philosopher  and  physician,  flourished  about  the  year 
lOHO,  and  during  the  reign  of  the  emperor  Constan- 
tinus  Ducas,  to  whose  son  Michael  he  was  preceptor. 
His  works  are  but  little  known  ;  for  indeed  few  of 
his  manuscripts  have  been  printed.  What  intitles 
him  to  a  place  here,  is  a  book  of  his,  printed  at  Paris, 
in  1557,  with  this  title,  Michael  Psellus  de  Arithme- 
tica,  INIusica,  Geometrica,  et  proclus  de  Sphaera,  Elia 
Vineto  Santone  interprete.  The  name  of  this  author 
has  a  place  in  almost  every  list  of  ancient  musical 
writers  to  be  met  with  ;  an  honour  which  he  seems 
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 

*  Acts  and  Monuments,  vol.  I.  pag.  305. 

Gervase  of  Canterbury  relates,  tliat  upon  the  second  coronation  of 
Richard  I.  after  his  release  from  captivity  and  return  fmm  the  Holy- 
Land,  there  was  a  like  contention  between  the  monks  and  clerks  who 
assisted  at  that  ceremony.  '  Facta  est  autem  altercatio  inter  monachos 
'et  clericos  dum  utrique  Christus  viiicit  cantarent.'  X.  Script.  laSS. 
It  is  very  probable  that  '  Christus  vincif  was  the  beginning  of  a  hymn 
composed  in  Palestine,  after  one  of  Richard's  great  victories.  This 
contention  was  in  1194,  four  years  after  that  above-mentioned. 


174 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


reformation  of  the  scale,  and  the  means  of  rendering 
the  practice  of  music  more  easily  attainable  ;  in  a 
word,  they  all  related  to  that  branch  of  tlie  musical 
science  which  among  the  ancients  was  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  Melopoeia  ;  with  the  other,  namely, 
the  Rythmopoeia,  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  consequently  with  any  system  or 
metliod  of  notation,  calculated  to  express  that  differ- 
ence of  times  or  measures  wliich  is  founded  in  nature, 
and  is  obvious  to  sense.  If  we  judge  from  the  INIi- 
crologus  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  all. 

Of  the  nature  of  the  ancient  rythmopoeia  it  is  very 
difficult  to  form  any  other  than  a  general  idea.  Isaac 
Vossius,  who  had  bestowed  great  pains  in  his  en- 
deavours to  I'estore  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  certain  ratio  or  proportion. 
'  The  word  Metre  has  a  more  limited  signification,  as 
'  relating  solely  to  the  quantity  and  measure  of  sylla- 
'  bles.  Varro  calls  metre,  or  feet,  the  substance  or 
'  materials,  and  rythmus  the  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 
'  unknown.' 

After  this  general  explanation  of  the  rythmus,  the 
same  author,  Vossius,  enlarges  upon  its  efficacy  ;  in- 
deed, he  resolves  the  whole  of  its  influence  over  the 
human  mind  into  that  which  at  best  is  but  a  part  of 
music.  The  following  are  his  sentiments  on  this 
matter : — * 

'  I   cannot    sufficiently   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 :  the  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 

«  De  Poematura  Cantu  et  Viribus  Rythmi,  pag.  5,  et  spq. 


'  faculties  of  the  soul  ;  for  as  unity  does  not  make 
'  nmnber,  so  neither  can  sound  alone,  considered  by 
'  itself,  have  any  power,  or  if  it  lias  any,  it  is  so  small 
'  and  trifling  that  it  entirely  escapes  the  sense.  Can 
'  the  collision  of  stones  or  pieces  of  wood,  or  even  the 
'  percussion  of  a  single  chord,  without  nundDer  or 
'  rythmus,  have  any  efficacy  in  moving  the  affections, 
'  when  we  feel  nothing  but  an  empty  sound  ?  and 
'  though  we  compound  many  sounds  that  are  har- 
'  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  sig- 
'  nification.  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  sentiments  of  the  above  author  on 
the  rythmic  faculty  in  general.  With  respect  to  the 
force  and  efficacy  of  numbers,  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  sound  to  be  of  any  effect, 
'  you  must  endeavour  to  animate  the  cantus  with 
'  such  motions  as  may  excite  the  images  of  the  things 
'  you  intend  to  express  ;  in  which  if  you  succeed, 
'  you  will  find  no  difficulty  in  leading  the  affections 
'  whither  you  please  :  but  in  order  to  this,  the  musical 
'  feet  are  to  be  properly  applied.  The  pyrrichius  and 
'  tribrachys  are  adapted  to  express  light  and  voluble 
'  motions,  such  as  the  dances  of  satyrs  ;  the  spondcus, 
'  and  the  still  graver  molussus,  represent  the  grave 
'  and  slow  motions  ;  soft  and  tender  sentiments  are 
'  excited  by  the  trochaeus,  and  sometimes  by  the 
'  amphibrachys,  as  that  also  has  a  broken  and  effemi- 
'  nate  pace  ;  the  iambus  is  vehement  and  angry  ;  the 
'  anapgestus  is  almost  of  the  same  nature,  as  it  inti- 
'  mates  warlike  motions.  If  you  would  express  any 
'  thing  cheerful  and  pleasant,  the  dactylus  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  you  would  have 
'  numbers  to  excite  fury  and  madness,  not  only  the 
'  anapjBstus  is  at  hand,  but  also  the  fourth  pajon, 
'  which  is  still  more  powerful.  In  a  word,  whether 
'  you  consider  the  simple  or  the  compounded  feet, 
'  you  will  in  all  of  them  find  a  peculiar  force  and 
'  efficacy  ;  nor  can  any  thing  be  imagined  which  may 
'  not  be  represented  in  the  multiplicity  of  their 
'  motions.'  | 

But  notwithstanding  the  peculiar  force  and  efficacy 
which  this  author  would  persuade  us  are  inherent  in 
the  several  metrical  feet,  he  says,  that  it  is  now  more 
than  a  thousand  years  since  the  power  of  exciting  the 
affections  by  music  has  ceased  ;  and  that  the  know- 
ledge and  use  of  the  rythmus  is  lost,  which  alone  is 
capable  of  producing  those  effects  which  historians 
ascribe  to  music  in  general.  This  misfortune  is  by 
him  attributed  to  that  alteration  in  respect  of  its 

t  De  Poematum  Cantu  et  Viribus  Rythmi,  pag.  72. 
t  Ibid,  pag.  74. 


Chap.  XXXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


175 


pronunciation,  which  the  Greek,  in  common  with 
otiier  languages,  has  undergone  ;  and  to  the  intro- 
duction of  a  new  prosody,  concerning  which  he  tlius 
expresses  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  subsisted  entire,  had  not 
'  a  new  prosody  entirely  changed  the  ancient  pro- 
'  nunciation ;  for  while  the  affairs  of  Greece  flourished, 
'  the  ratio  of  prosody,  and  the  accents,  was  quite 
'  different  from  what  it  was  afterwards,  not  only  the 
'  ancient  grammarians  testified,  but  even  the  term 
'  itself  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  prosodical 
'  notes  or  characters.  But  as  all  speech  is,  as  it  were, 
'  a  certain  cantus,  this  term  was  transferred  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  Apollonius  Arcadius,  and  other 
'  Greek  writers,  was  Aristophanes  the  grammarian, 
'  about  the  time  of  Ptolemy  Philopater,  and  Epiphanes. 
'  His  scholar  Aristarchus,  following  the  footsteps  of 
'  his  master,  increased  the  number  of  accents  ;  and 
'  Dionysius  the  Thracian,  a  hearer  of  Aristarchus, 
'  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  Antonius  and  Commodus  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 
'  ancienter  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  youth  in  the  metrical  art.* 

CHAP.    XXXIX. 

What  marks  or  signatures  were  used  by  the 
ancient  Greeks  to  express  the  different  quantities  of 
musical  sounds,  independent  of  the  verse,  or  whether 
they  had  any  at  all,  is  not  now  known.  Those 
characters  contained  in  the  introduction  of  Alypius 
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  acuteness  and  gravity.  Neither  are  we  capable  of 
understanding  those  scattered  passages  relating  to 
the  rythmus  which  are  to  be  met  with  in  Aristides 
Quintilianus,  and  other  of  the  Greek  harmonicians, 
published  by  Meibomius  ;  nor  do  Porphyry,  Manuel 

*  De  Poematum  Cantu  et  Viribus  Rythmi,  pag.  17. 


Bryennius,  or  any  other  of  their  commentators,  aft'ord 
the  means  of  explaining  them  :  Ptolemy  himself  is 
silent  on  this  head,  and  Dr.  Wallis  professes  to  know 
but  little  of  the  matter.  In  a  word,  if  we  may  credit 
Vossius  and  a  few  others,  who  have  either  written 
professedly  on,  or  occasionally  adverted  to,  this  subject, 
the  rythmopoeia  of  the  ancients  is  irrecoverably  lost, 
and  the  numbers  of  modern  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  difficult  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  ;  as  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.  From  all  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  modern  music. 

Happily  the  world  is  now  in  possession  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  autlior 
of  this  improvement  was  Johannes  de  Muris,  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  to 
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  but  fact ;  nor  can  it  be  expected  that  the 
authority  of  such  men  as  Zarlino,  Boutempi,  Mer- 
sennus,  and   Kircher,  should  yield   to  an  assertion 


176 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


that  tends  to  deprive  a  learned  man  of  the  honour 
of  an  ingenious  discovery,  unless  it  can  be  clearly- 
proved  to  have  been  made  and  recognized  before. 
Whether  the  evidence  now  to  be  adduced  to  prove 
that  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis  existed  above  two 
centuries  before  the  time  of  De  Muris,  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  writings 
of  some  of  the  most  ancient  authors  on  music,  tlie 
name  of  Franco  occurs,  particularly  in  the  Practica 
Musicae  utriusque  Cantus  of  Gaffurius,  lib.  II.  cap. 
iv.  where  he  is  mentioned  as  having  written  on  tlie 
characters  used  to  signify  the  different  lengths  of 
notes,  but  without  any  circumstances  that  might 
lead  to  the  period  in  which  he  lived.  Passages  also 
occur  in  sundry  manuscript  treatises  now  extant, 
which  will  hereafter  be  given  at  length,  that  speak 
him  to  have  been  deeply  skilled  in  music,  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  132(3, 
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  Muris's  supposed  invention,  some  fixing  at 
1330,  others  at  1333 ;  but  to  take  it  at  the  soonest, 
De  Handlo's  Commentary  was  extant  four  years 
before ;  and  how  long  it  was  written  before  that,  no 
one  can  tell :  it  might  have  been  many  years.  And 
still  backwarder  than  that,  must  have  been  the  time 
when  those  rules  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.  Franco  and  De  Muris, 
have  been  removed  by  the  care  and  industry  of 
those  learned  Benedictines,  the  authors  and  compilers 
of  the  Histoire  Litteraire  de  la  France,  who,  in  the 
eighth  volume  of  that  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  teachers 
there,  were  called  scholastics,  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  say,  that  in  that 
of  the  abbey  De  Lira,  in  Normandy,  is  a  manuscript 
in  folio,  intitled,  Ars  Magistri  Franconis  de  Musica 
INIensurabili.  They  mention  also  another  manuscript 
in  the  Bodleian  library,  in  six  chapters,  intitled, 
Magistri  Franconis  Musica  ;  and  another  by  the  same 
author,  contained  in  the  same  volume,  intitled,  Com- 
pendium de  Discantu,  tribus  capitibus. 

*  Mori.  Annot.  on  his  Introd.  part  I.  where  it  is  expressly  said,  that 
Franco  first  divided  the  breve  into  semibreves,  and  that  one  Rnheri  de 
Haulo,  i.  e.  Handlo,  made  as  it  were  commentaries  upon  his  rules. 


These  assertions,  grounded  on  the  testimony  of 
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,  though 
a  learned  writer,  in  possession  of  the  honour  of  an 
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  as  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  tlie  year  1074,  under  William  the  Conqueror, 
flourished  in  England  Osbern,  a  monk  of  Canterbury, 
and  precentor  in  the  choir  of  that  cathedral  :f  he 
was  greatly  favoured  by  Lanfranc  archbishop  of 
that  see.  Trithemius,  Bale,  and  Pits  speak  of  him 
as  a  man  profoundly  skilled  in  the  science  of  music. 
He  left  behind  him  a  treatise  De  Re  Musica ;  some 
add,  that  he  wrote  another  on  the  consonances,  but 
the  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 
archbishop  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, 
'  Ofbernus,  a  monke  of  Canterbury,  praftyfed  newe 
'  poyntes  of  mufyk;  and  his  example  in  Italy  folowed 
*  Guido  Aretinus,  to  make,'  as  this  candid  writer 
asserts,  '  the  veneraycyon  of  ydolles  more  pleafaunt  '§ 

+  In  tracing  the  progress  of  choral  music  in  this  country,  it  is  worthy 
of  remark  that  as  it  was  first  established  in  the  cathedral  of  Canterbury, 
where  the  first  of  the  Roman  singers  settled  on  the  conversion  of  the 
English  to  Christianity ;  so  that  clioir  for  a  series  of  years  produced  a 
succession  of  men  distinguished  for  their  excellence  in  it.  Among  these 
Theodore,  the  archbishop,  and  Adrian,  the  abbot,  his  friend  and  coadjutor, 
are  particularly  noted  ;  the  former  was  of  Tarsus,  St.  Paul's  country,  the 
latter  an  African  by  birth,  and  died  in  70S.  Bede  Hist.  Eccl.  lib.  IV. 
cap.  i.  He  was  entombed  in  the  above  cathedral  with  this  epitaph. 
Weever's  Funeral  Monuments,  pag.  251. 

Gui  legis  has  apices,  Adriani  pignora,  dices 

Hoc  sita  sarcophago  sua  nostro  gloria  pago. 

Hie  decus  abbatum,  patrie  lux,  vir  probitatum 

Subvenit  a  ccelo  si  corde  rogetur  anhelo. 
St.  Aldhelm,  abbot  of  Malmeshury,  and  afterwards  bishop  of  Shire- 
burn,  received  at  Canterbury,  from  Theodore  and  Adrian,  his  knowledge 
of  the  Greek  language,  and  was  by  them  instructed  in  vocal  and  instru- 
mental music.  Camden  [Brit,  in  Wilts.  104.]  relates  that  he  was  the 
first  of  the  Saxons  that  ever  wrote  in  Latin  ;  and  that  taught  the  method 
of  composing  Latin  verse.  An  acrostic  of  his  composition,  in  that 
lan^'uage,  is  preserved  in  Pits's  account  of  bim.  Bishop  Nicholson 
[Engl.  Hist.  lib.  xli.]  speaks  of  St.  Aldhelm'.^  hymns  and  other  musical 
composures,  and  laments  that  they  are  lost.  Of  tliis  person  many 
fabulous  stories  are  told  ;  and  Bayle,  who  takes  every  occasion  in  his 
way  to  ridicule  a  virtue  which  some  would  suspect  he  did  not  possess, 
[Art.  St  Francis]  makes  himself  merry  with  the  means  he  is  said  to  have 
used  to  preserve  the  dominion  of  reason  over  his  appetite.  But  Bede, 
who  very  probably  was  acquainted  with  him  [Hist.  Eecl,  lib.  V.  cap.  xix  ] 
gives  him  the  character  of  a  learned  and  elegant  writer ;  and  Camden 
celebrates  him  for  the  sanctity  of  his  life. 

Fuller,  in  his  Worthies  of  Wiltshire,  147,  in  his  quaint  manner, 
relates  of  him,  that  coming  to  Rome  to  be  consecrated  bishop  of 
Slierburn,  he  reproved  pope  Sergiiis  his  fatherhood,  for  being  a  father 
indeed  to  a  base  child,  then  newly  born.  And  that  returning  home  he 
lived  in  great  esteem  until  the  day  of  his  death,  which  happened  anno 
Diimini,  709.'     See  more  of  him  in  Leiand,  Pits,  and  Tanner. 

St.  Dunstan  is  not  less  celebrated  for  his  skill  in  music,  than  for  his 
learning  in  the  other  sciences.  Pits  styles  him  '  Vir  Graece  Latineque 
'doctus,  et  omnibus  artibus  liberalibus  egregi^  instruetus,  musicus 
'praisertim  insignis,  et  statuarius  non  eontemnendus : '  and,  by  an 
egregious  mistake  of  Dunstable  fir  Dunstan,  Mattheson  of  Hamburg 
has  made  him  the  inventor  of  music  in  parts,  which  some  writers, 
particularly  Johannes  Nucius,  in  a  tract  entitled  Praeceptiones  Musices 
Poeticae,  seu  de  Compositione  Cantus,  qu.arto,  1613,  with  little  foun- 
dation, have  ascribed  to  .John  of  Dunstable,  a  musician  who  flourished 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  and  will  be  spoken  of  in  his  place. 

§  The  seconde  Part,  or  Contynuacyon  of  the  English  Votaryes, 
fol.   13,  b. 


Chap.  XXXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


177 


Well  might  Fuller  give  this  man  the  name  of  bilious 
Bale,  who,  though  a  protestant  bishop,  and  a  great 
pretender  to  sanctity,  had  not  the  least  tincture  of 
charity  or  moderation. 

Under  the  emperor  Henry  III.  in  the  diocese  of 
Spires,  lived  Gulielmus  Abbas  Hirsaugiensis.*  He 
was  esteemed  the  most  learned  man  of  his  time  in  all 
Germany  :  he  excelled  in  music,  and  wrote  on  the 
tones  ;  he  also  wrote  three  books  of  philosophical  and 
astronomical  institutions,  and  one  De  Horologia. 
There  are  extant  of  his  writing  Letters  to  Anselm, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury.  He  died  in  1091,  with 
the  reputation  of  having  wrought  many  miracles,  f 

Of  the  writings  of  the  several  authors  above 
enumerated,  as  they  exist  only  in  manuscript,  no 
particular  account  can  be  given,  nor  are  we  able  to 
form  a  judgment  of  their  manner  of  treating  music, 
otherwise  than  by  the  help  of  those  few  tracts  which 
we  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 
Berno  to  Pelegrinus,  archbishop  of  Cologne  ;  the 
Argumentum  novi  Cantus  inveniendi ;  and  the 
Micrologus  and  Epistle  of  Guido.  The  censure 
which  Guido  passes  upon  the  treatise  De  Musica  of 
Boetius,  namely,  that  it  is  a  work  fitter  for  phi- 
losophers than  singers,  may  serve  to  shew  that  the 
writers  of  those  times  meddled  very  little  Avith  the 
philosophy  of  the  science  :  as  to  that  branch  of  it, 
Boetius,  who  had  thoroughly  studied  the  ancients, 
was  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  music  of  the  church  in  that  state  of  purity  from 
which  it  had  so  often  and  so  widely  deviated. 

But  how  ineffectual  all  their  endeavours  were, 
appears  from  the  writings  of  St.  Bernard,  or,  as  he 
is  otherwise  called,  St.  Bernard  the  abbot.  This 
man  lived  about  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century : 
liis  employments  in  the  church  having  given  him 
opportunities  of  remarking  the  great  disorder  and 
•confusion  of  their  music,  arising,  among  other  causes, 
from  the  manuscript  multiplication  of  copies,  he  re- 
solved to  correct  the  antiphonary  of  his  own  order ; 
and  to  prove  the  necessity  of  such  a  Work,  wrote  a 
treatise  entitled  De  Cantu  seu  Correctione  Anti- 
phonarii,  containing  a  plan  for  the  reformation  of  the 
Cistercian  antiphonary,  and  an  enumeration  of  all 
the  errors  that  had  crept  into  the  holy  offices,  with 
directions  for  restoring  them  to  their  original  elegance 
and  purity. 

\Maatever  was  the  cause  of  it,  the  reformation  in- 
tended by  St.  Bernard  did  not  take  effect,  so  as  to 
prevent  future  corruptions  of  the  Cantus  Gregorianus. 
The  tract  however  is  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  which  the  churches  belonging  to  the 

*  Hirsaugia  was  an  abbey  in  Germany. 

t  Voss.  de  Scient.  Mathem.  cap.  xxxv.  §  xii.,  cap.  Ix.  §  ix.,  cap.  Ixxi. 
§  vii. 


Cistercian  order  have  been  accustomed  to  sing, 
although  grave  and  full  of  variety,  is  overclouded 
witli  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  praises  of  God  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  so  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  jierverted.  That 
you  may  wonder  at,  and  detest  the  folly  of  those 
who  departing  from  the  rules  of  melody,  have  taken 
the  liberty  to  vary  the  method  of  singing,  look  into 
the  antiphon,  Nos  qui  vivimus,  as  it  is  commonly 
sung,  and  although  its  termination  should  be  pro- 
perly in  D,  yet  these  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  has  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  is  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  rightly  sung  ? 

'  So  that  if  we  have  performed  a  work  tliat   is 
singular  or  different  from  the  practice  of  the  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  tliem  to 
differ   among   themselves ;    and   this   difference  of 
theirs  is  so  great,  that  no  two  provinces  sing  the 
same    antiphon  alike  :  for  to  instance,  in  the   co- 
provincial  churches,  take  the  antiphonary  used  at 
Rheims  and  compare  it  with  that  of  Beauvais,  or 
Amiens,  or  Soissons,  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  that  his  learning  and  judgment  were 
not  inferior  to  his  zeal :  the  epistle  above-cited,  and 
his  endeavours  for  a  reformation  of  the  abuses  in 
church -music,  show  him  to  have  been  well  skilled  iu 
the  science  ;  and  it  is  but  justice  to  his  memory  U 
sav  that  he  was  one  of  the  truest  votaries  of,   and 


178 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


strongest  advocates  for  music,  of  any  whom  that  age 
produced.  The  accounts  extant  of  him  speak  him 
to  have  been  born  of  noble  and  pious  parents,  at  the 
village  of  Fontaines  in  Burgundy,  in  the  year  1091. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  took  the  habit  of  a 
religious  at  Citeaux,  from  whence  he  was  sent  to  the 
new-founded  abbej'-  of  Clairvaux,  of  which  he  was 
the  first  abbot.  The  fame  of  his  learning  and  sanctity 
occasioned  such  a  resort  to  this  house,  that  in  a  very 
short  time  no  fewer  than  seven  hundred  novices  be- 
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  make  a  voluntary  abdication  of  the  pontificate, 
whereby  an  end  was  put  to  a  schism  in  the  church. 

It  was  in  the  time  of  St.  Bernard  that  Peter  Abae- 
lard  flourished,  a  man  not  more  famous  for  his 
theological  writings,  than  remarkable  for  his  un- 
happy amour  with  Heloissa,  or  Eloisa,  of  whom  more 
will  be  said  hereafter  :  he  had  advanced  certain  posi- 
tions that  were  deemed  heretical,  and  St.  Bernard 
instituted  and  conducted  a  process  against  him,  Avhich 
ended  in  their  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  Abaelard  was  born  in  a  town  called  Palais, 
three  leagues  from  Nantes ;  having  a  great  inclination 
to  the  study  of  philosophy  from  his  youth,  he  left  the 
place  of  his  nativity,  and  after  having  studied  at 
several  schools,  settled  at  Paris,  and  took  for  his  master 
William  of  Champeaux,  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  Melun,  and  afterwards 
at  Corbeil,  set  up  for  himself,  and,  in  emulation  of 
his  master,  taught  publicly  in  the  schools  ;  but  his 
infirmities  soon  obliged  him  to  seek  the  restoration 
of  his  health  in  his  native  air.  Upon  his  recovery 
he  returned  to  Paris,  and  finding  that  William  of 
Champeaux  had  been  promoted  to  a  canonry  of  the 
church  of  St.  Victor,  and  that  he  continued  to  profess 
in  that  city,  he  entered  into  a  disputation  with  him, 
but  was  foiled,  and  quitted  Paris.  After  this  Abae- 
lard studied  divinity  at  Laon,  under  Anselm,  canon 
and  dean  of  that  city  ;  and  meaning  to  emulate  his 
master,  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  remained  in  peace,  explaining 
the  holy  scriptures,  and  by  his  labours,  besides  a 
considerable  sum  of  money,  acquired  great  reputation. 

It  happened  that  a  canon  of  the  church  of  Paris, 
named  Fulbert,  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  young  man,  and  pos- 


sessed of  all  those  advantages  which  the  study  of  the 
classics,  and  a  genius  for  poetry,  may  be  supposed  to 
give  him  ;  and,  to  mend  the  matter,  took  him  to 
board  in  his  house,  investing  him  with  so  much 
power  over  the  person  of  his  fair  pupil,  that  though 
she  was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  he  was  at  liberty 
to  correct  her ;  and  by  the  actual  use  of  the  lash 
compel  her  to  attend  to  his  instructions  ;  the  conse- 
quence of  this  engagement  was,  the  pregnancy  of 
Heloissa,  and  the  flight  of  the  two  lovers  into  Abae- 
lard's  own  country,  where  Heloissa  was  delivered  of 
a  son,  who  was  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  acquired  a  canonry  in  the  church, 
Avhich  was  not  tenable  by  a  husband,  and  complete 
reparation  could  not  be  made  to  Heloissa  for  the 
injury  she  had  sustained  without  avoiding  this  pre- 
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 
Argenteiiil.  But  all  this  would  not  pacify  her  uncle 
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 ;  they 
both  became  professed  at  the  same  time,  he  at  St. 
Denys,  and  she  at  Argenteiiil. 

The  letters  from  Abaelard  to  Heloissa  after  their 
retirement,  extant  in  the  original  Latin,  have  been 
celebrated  for  their  elegance  and  tenderness  ;  as  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  perhaps  might  have  done 
very  well  without  it.  With  the  licence  allowed  to 
poets,  he  has  deviated  a  little  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. 
But  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  fascinating 
species  of  it,  which  frequently  terminates  in  concu- 
binage, and  which  it  is  the  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  was  to  have  been 
expected.  He  was  a  divine,  and  professed  to  teach 
the  theology,  such  as  it  was,  of  those  times  ;  persons 
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  the  censures  and  reproaches  of  Abaelard  by  their 
disorderly  course  of  living,  they  made  use  of  the  im- 
portunity of  the  people  to  become  his  auditors  as  a 
pretext  for  sending  him  from  amongst  them.  He  set 
up  a  school  in  the  town,  and  drew  so  many  to  hear 


Chap.  XXXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


179 


liim,  that  tlie  place  was  not  sufficient  to  lodge,  nor 
the  country  about  it  to  feed  them. 

Here  he  composed  sundry  theological  treatises,  one 
in  particular  on  the  Trinity,  for  which  he  was  con- 
vened before  a  council  held  at  Soissons ;  the  book 
was  condemned  to  the  flames,  and  the  author  sentenced 
to  a  perpetual  residence  within  the  walls  of  a  monas- 
tery :  after  a  few  days  confinement  in  tlie  monastery 
of  St.  Medard  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,  incurred  the  enmity  of  the 
abbot  and  his  religious  brethren.  Not  thinking 
himself  safe  among  them,  he  made  his  escape  from 
that  place  in  the  night,  and  fled  into  the  territories 
of  Theobald,  count  of  Champagne,  and  at  Troyes, 
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  was  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  built  a  church 
for  him,  which  was  dedicated  to  the  Holy  Trinity, 
and  by  Abaelard  called  Paraclete.  His  enemies,  ex- 
asperated at  this  establishment,  and  the  prospect  it 
afforded  him  of  a  quiet  retreat  from  the  tumult  of  the 
times,  instigated  St.  Norbert  and  St.  Bernard  to 
arraign  him  on  the  two  articles  of  faith  and  manners 
before  the  ecclesiastical  judges.  The  duke  of  Bre- 
tagne,  in  pity  to  Abaelard,  had  offered  him  the 
abbacy  of  St.  Gildas,  of  Ruls,  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 
Argenteuil,  he  bestowed  on  Heloissa,  their  prioress, 
the  church  of  Paraclete  with  its  dependencies ; 
which  donation  was  confirmed  by  the  bishop  of 
Troyes,  and  pope  Innocent  II.  in  1131.  But  these 
endeavours  of  Abaelard  did  not  avert  the  .malice  of 
his  persecutors  :  Bernard  had  carefully  read  over  two 
of  his  books,  and  selected  from  thence  certain  propo- 
sitions, which  seemed  to  bespeak  their  author  at  once 
an  Arian,  a  Pelagian,  and  a  Nestorian ;  and  upon  these 
he  grounded  his  charge  of  heresy  ;  Abaelard  affecting 
rather  to  meet  than  decline  it,  procured  Bernard  to 
be  convened  before  a  council  at  Sens,  iii  order,  if 
he  was  able,  to  make  it  good ;  but"  his  resolution 
failed  him,  and  rather  than  abide  the  sentence  of  the 
council,  he  chose  to  appeal  to  Rome.  The  bishops 
in  the  council  nevertheless  proceeded  to  examine, 
and  were  unanimous  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  bad  sense  that  had  been  put 
upon  his  propositions,  and  set  out  for  Rome  in  order 
to  back  it,  but  was  stopped  at  Cluni  by  the  venerable 
Peter,  abbot  of  that  monastery,  his  intimate  friend  ; 
there  he  remained  for  some  time,  during  which  he 
found  means  to  procure  a  reconciliation  with  St. 
Bernard.  At  length  he  was  sent  to  the  monastery 
of  St,  Marcellus,  at  Chalons  upon  the  Soane,  and, 


overwhelmed  with  affliction,   expired  there  in  the 
year  1142,  and  in  the  sixty -third  of  his  age. 

Of  this  calamitous  event  Peter  of  Cluni  gave 
Heloissa  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 
absolution  of  Abaelard  '  ab  omnibus  peccatis  suis.'  * 

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  church. 

The  works  of  Abaelard  were  printed  at  Paris 
in  1616.  His  genius  for  poetry,  and  a  few  slight 
particulars  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  Beauty  he 
has  exhibited  a  picture  of  his  Heloissa ;  but  Bayle  has 
made  it  sufficiently  clear  that  that  romance,  excepting 
the  conclusion,  was  written  by  William  de  Loris,  and 
that  John  de  Meun  put  the  finishing  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.  Rawlinson. 
As  to  the  letters  commonly  imputed  to  them,  and  of 
which  we  have  an  English  translation  by  Mr.  Hughes, 
they  were  first  published  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  compositions,  falls  far  short  of  inspiring 
sentiments  in  any  degree  similar  to  those  that  breathe 
through  the  genuine  epistles  of  this  most  eloquent  and 
accomplished  woman ;  nor  does  it  seem  possible  to 
express  that  exquisite  tenderness,  that  refined  deli- 
cacy, that  exalted  piety,  or  that  pimgent  contrition, 
which  distinguishes  these  compositions,  in  any  words 
but  her  own.f 

*  For  a  fuller  account  of  him  see  Du  Pin  Biblioth.  Eccles.  Cent.  XII. 
and  the  articles  Abaelard,  Heloise,  Foulques,  and  Fulbert  in 
Bayle.  ' 

+  The  profession  of  Abaelard,  the  condition  of  the  monastic  life  to 
which  he  had  devoted  himself,  and,  above  all,  the  course  of  his  studies, 
naturally  lead  to  an  opinion  that,  notwithstanding  his  disastrous  amour 
with  Heloissa,  the  general  tenour  of  his  conduct  was  in  other  respects  at 
least  blameless,  but  on  the  contrary  he  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of 
a  loose  and  profligate  life.  In  a  letter  from  one  of  his  friends,  Foulques, 
prior  of  Deuil,  to  him,  he  is  charged  with  such  a  propensity  to  the  con- 
versation of  lewd  women,  as  reduced  him  to  the  want  of  even  food  and 
raiment.     Bayle,  art.  Foulsues,  in  not. 

To  say  the  truth,  the  theology  of  the  schools,  as  taught  in  Abaelard's 
time,  was  merely  scientific,  and  had  as  little  tendency  to  regulate  the 
manners  of  those  who  studied  it  as  geometry,  or  any  other  of  the 
mathematical  sciences ;  and  this  is  evident  from  the  licentiousness 
of  the  clergy  at  this  and  the  earlier  periods  of  Christianity,  and  the 
extreme  rancour  and  bitterness  which  they  discovered  in  all  kinds  of 
controversy. 

Of  the  latter,  the  persecution  of  Abaelard  by  St.  Bernard,  and  other 
his  adversaries,  is  a  proof;  and  for  the  former  we  have  the  testimony  of 
the  most  credible  and  impartial  of  the  ecclesiastical  writers.  Mosheim 
among  other  proofs  of  the  degeneracy  and  licentiousness  of  the  clergi' 
in  the  tenth  century,  mentions  the  example  of  Theophylact,  a  Grecian 
patriarch,   and  on  the  authority  of   Fleury's   Histoire  Ecc'lesiastique 


180 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  V. 


But  to  return  to  St.  Bernard  ;  his  labours  for  pre- 
serving the  music  of  the  church  in  its  original  purity, 
have  deservedly  iutitled  him  to  the  character  of  one 
of  its  greatest  patrons  :  the  particulars  of  his  life, 
which  appears  to  have  been  a  very  busy  one,  are  too 
numerous  to  be  here  inserted ;  but  the  ecclesiastical 
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  official,  and 
afterwards  abbot  of  the  church  of  Pisa,  a  disciple  of 
the  former,  and  at  last  pope  by  the  name  of 
Eugenius  III. 

The  works  of  St.  Bernard  the  abbot  are  extant ; 
the  best  edition  of  them  is  that  of  Mabillon,  in  two 
volumes,  folio.  Du  Pin  says  that  in  his  writings  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  is  deemed  the  last  of 
the  fathers.  He  died  1153,  and  left  near  one  hundred 
and  sixty  monasteries  of  his  order,  which  owed  their 
foundation  to  his  zeal  and  industry. 

CHAP.  XL. 

The  establishment  of  schools  and  other  seminaries 
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  the  twelfth  century  gave  birth  to  a  kind  of  new 
science,  termed  scholastic  divinity,  of  which  Peter 
Lombard  Gilbert  de  la  Poree  and  Abaelard  are  said 
to  be  the  inventors,  a  new  and  more  rational  division 
of  the  sciences  than  is  included  in  the  Trivium  and 
Quadrivium,  was  projected  and  took  effect  about  this 
time.*  In  that  division  theology  had  no  place,  but 
was  termed  the  queen  of  sciences  ;  it  was  now  added 
to  the  other  seven,  and  assumed  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  deduced  from 
passages  in  the  holy  scriptures,  and  were  founded  on 
the  opinions  of  the  fathers  and  primitive  doctors  ; 

lib.  IV.  pag.  97,  relates  the  following  curious  particulars  of  him: — '  This 
'  exemplary  prelate,  says  he,  who  sold  every  ecclesiastical  benefice  as 
'  soon  as  it  became  vacant,  had  in  his  stable  above  two  thousand  hunting 
'horses,  which  he  fed  with  pignuts,  pistachios,  dates,  dried  grapes,  figs 
'  steeped  in  the  most  exquisite  wines,  to  all  which  he  added  the  richest 
'perfumes.  One  Holy  Thursday  he  was  celebrating  high-mass,  his 
'groom  brought  him  the  joyful  news  that  one  of  his  favourite  mares 
'  had  foaled,  upon  which  he  threw  down  the  liturgy,  left  the  church,  and 
'  ran  in  raptures  to  the  stable,  where  having  expressed  his  joy  at  that 
'  grand  event,  he  returned  to  the  altar  to  finish  the  divine  service,  which 
'  he  had  left  interrupted  during  his  absence.'  Translation  of  Mosheim's 
Ecclesiastical  Histor>',  by  Dr.  Maclane,  octavo,  1768,  vol.  II.  pag.  201, 
in  not. 

*  It  seems  notwithstanding,  that  the  distinctions  of  Trivium  and 
Quadrivium  subsisted  as  late  as  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.  when  it  is 
probable  they  ceased ;  for  Skelton,  in  that  libel  of  his  on  cardinal 
Wolsey,  entitled  Why  come  ye  not  to  Court  ?  thus  satirizes  him  for 
his  ignorance  of  the  seven  liberal  sciences  : — 

He  was  parde, 

No  doftour  of  diuinitie, 

Nor  dodlour  of  the  law, 

Nor  of  none  other  law, 

But  a  pore  maifter  of  arte, 

God  wot  had  little  part 

Of  the  quadrivials, 

Nor  yet  of  trivials, 

Nor  of  philofophye, 

Nor  of  philology. 


but  was  that  philosophical  or  scholastic  theology, 
which  with  the  deepest  abstraction  pretended  to  trace 
divine  truth  to  its  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  with  the  name  of  a  science,  and  added  to 
the  former  seven ;  to  this  number  were  added  juris- 
prudence and  physic,  taken  in  that  limited  sense  in 
which  the  word  is  yet  used ;  not  as  comprehending 
the  study  of  nature  and  her  operations ;  and  hence 
arose  the  three  professions  of  divinity,  law,  and 
physic.  That  the  second  of  these  was  thus  honoured, 
was  owing  in  a  great  measure  to  an  accident,  the  dis- 
covery, in  the  year  1137,  of  the  original  manuscript 
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  Lotharius  II. 
'  took  Amalfi,  he  there  found  an  old  copy  of  the  Pan- 
'  dects  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,  &c.,  and  is  never  brought  forth  but  with 
''  torch-light,  or  other  reverence.'  Annotations  on 
Fortescue  de  Laudibus,  pag.  18,  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  Roman  pontiffs  and 
their  zealous  adherents,  judged  it  not  only  expedient, 
but  also  highly  necessary,  that  the  canon  law  should 
have  the  same  privilege.  There  were  not  wanting 
before  this  time,  certain  collections  of  the  canons  or 
laws  of  the  church ;  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  belonging 
to  the  convent  of  St,  Felix  and  Nabor  at  Bolonia, 
by  birth  a  Tuscan,  composed,  about  the  year  1130, 
for  the  use  of  the  schools,  an  abridgment  or  epitome 
of  canon  law,  drawn  from  the  letters  of  the  pontiffs, 
decrees  of  councils,  and  writings  of  the  ancient 
doctors.  Pope  Eugenius  III.  was  extremely  satisfied 
with  this  work,  which  was  also  received  with  the 
highest  applause  by  the  doctors  and  professors  of 
Bolonia,  and  was  unanimously  adopted  as  the  text 
they  were  to  follow  in  their  public  lectures.  The 
professors  at  Paris  were  the  first  that  followed 
the  example  of  those  of  Bolonia,  which  in  process 
of  time  was  imitated  by  the  greatest  part  of  the 
European  Colleges.  But  notwithstanding  the  enco- 
miums bestowed  upon  this  performance  which  was 


Chap.  XL.  AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC.  181 

commonly  called  tlie  Decretal  of  Gratian,  and  was  connection  with  the  theory^  of  music.    In  short,  their 
intitled  by  the  author  himself,  the  reunion  or  coalition  view  in  this  method  of   institution  was_  to  render 
of  the    jarring    canons,    several   most   learned   and  familiar  the  precepts  of  tonal  and  rythmical  music  ; 
eminent  writers  of  the  Romish  communion  acknow-  to  lay  down  rules  for  the  management  of  the  voice, 
ledge  it  to  be  full  of  errors  and  defects  of  various  and  to  facilitate  and  improve  the  practice  of  plain 
kinds.     However  as  the  main  design  of  this  abridg-  chant,  which  Charlemagne  with  so  much  difficulty 
ment  of  the  canons  Avas  to  support  the  despotism,  had  established  in  that  part  of  his  dominions.-'- 
and  to  extend  the  authority  of  the  Roman  pontiffs,  The  reformation  of  the  scale  by  Guido  Aretinus, 
its  innumerable  defects  were  overlooked,  its  merits  and  the  other  improvements  made  by  him,  as  also 
exaggerated,  and,  wbat  is  still  more  surprising,  it  the  invention  of  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis  by  Franco, 
enjoys  at  this  day,  in  an  age  of  light  and  liberty,  were  so  many  new  accessions  to  musical  science.  ^  It 
that  high  degree  of  veneration  and  authority  which  is  very  remarkable  that   the    Cantus  Mensurabilis, 
was  inconsiderately,  though  more  excusably  lavished  which  was  all  that  was  wanting  to  render  the  system 
upon  it   in   an   age   of   tyranny,    superstition,   and  complete,  was  added  by  Franco,  within  sixty  years 
darkness.  '"^fter  the  improvement  of  it  by  Guido,  and  this,  as  it 
Such   among   the    Latins   as   were   ambitious   of  associated   metrical   with   harmonical  conibinations, 
making  a  figure  in  the  republic  of  letters,  applied  was  productive  of  infinite  variety,  and  afforded  ample 
themselves  with  the  utmost  zeal  and  diligence  to  the  scope,  not  only  for  disquisition,  but  for  the  exercise 
study  of  philosophy.     Philosophy,  taken  in  its  most  of  the  powers  of  invention  in  musical  composition, 
extensive  and  general  meaning,  comprehended,  ac-  But  notwithstanding  these  and  other  advantages 
cording  to  the  method  universally  received  towards  which  the  science  derived  from  the  labours  of  Guido 
the   middle   of    this   century,   four   classes,   it   was  and  Franco,  it  is  much  to  be  questioned  whether  the 
divided  into  theoretical,  practical,   mechanical,  and  improvements  by  them  severally  made,  and  especially 
logical.      The   first   class   comprehended    theology,  those  of  the  former,  were  in  general  embraced  with 
mathematics,  and  natural  philosophy ;  in  the  second  that   degree    of  ardour    which   the   authors   of  the 
class  were  ranked  ethics,  oeconomics,  and  politics ;  Histoire  Litteraire  de  la  France  seem  in  many  places 
the  third  contained  the  arts  more  immediately  sub-  of  their  work  to  intimate  ;   at  least  it  may  be  said 
servient  to  the  purposes  of  life,  such  as  navigation,  that  in  this  country  it  was  some  considerable  time, 
agriculture,  hunting,  &c.     The  fourth  was  divided  pex'haps  near  a  century,  before  the  method  of  notation, 
into  grammar  and  composition,  the  latter  of  which  by  points,  commas,  and  such  other  marks  as  have 
was  farther  subdivided  into  rhetoric,  dialectic,  and  hereinbefore  been  described,  gave  place  to  that  in- 
sophistry ;   and  under  the  term   dialectic  was  com-  vented  by  Guido ;  and  for  this  assertion  there  is  at 
prehended  that  part  of  metaphysics,  which  treats  of  least  probable  evidence  in  a  manuscript  now  in  the 
general  notions ;  this  division  was  almost  universally  Bodleian    library,   thus  described   in   the   catalogue 
adopted  :  some  indeed  were  for  separating  grammar  of    Bodleian    manuscripts,    which    makes    part    of 
and  mechanics   from   philosophy,  a   notion   highly  the  Catalogi  Librorum  manuscriptorum,  printed  at 
condemned  by  others,  who  under  the  general  term  Oxford  1697,  viz..  No.  2558,  63.     '  Codex  elegan- 
philosophy  comprehended  the  whole  circle   of  the  <  tissime  scriptus  qui  Troparion  appellatur  :  continet 
sciences.  '  quippe  tropos,  sive  hymnos  sacros,  viz.,  Alleluja. 
This  new  arrangement  of  the  sciences  can  hardly  '  tractus,  modulamina  prosas  per  anni  circulum  in 
be  said  to  comprehend  music,  as  it  would  be  too  <  festos  et  dies  Dominicos  :  omnia  notis  musicis  anti- 
much  to  suppose  it  included  in  the  general  division  <■  q-^is  superscripta.' 

of  mathematics ;    for   notwithstanding   its   intimate  The  precise  antiquity  of  this  manuscript  is  now 

connection  with  both  arithmetic  and  geometry,  it  is  very  difficult  to  be  ascertained,  and  the  rather  as  it 

very  certain  that  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  now  appears  to  be  written  by  different  persons  in  a  variety 

speaking,  it  was  cultivated  with  a  view  merely  to  of  hands  and  characters.     There  are  three  specimens 

practice,  and  the  rendering  the  choral  service  to  the  of  its  contents,  which  for  the  particular  purpose  of 

utmost  degree  pompous  and  solemn  ;  and  there  is  no  inserting  them,  have  with  all  possible  exactness  been 

other  head  in  the  above  division  under  which  it  could  traced  off  from  the  book  itself.      (See   Appendix, 

with  propriety  be  arranged.     We  are  told  that  in  j^o.  44.) 

the   time   of    Odo,    abbot   of   Cluni,   lectures   were  But  upon  a  comparison  of  the  character  in  which 

publicly  read  in  the  laniversity  of   Paris  on  those  the  words  of  these  specimens  are  written,  with  many 

parts  of  St.  Augustine's  writings  that  treat  of  music  other  ancient  manuscripts,  it  seems  clearly  to  be  that 

and  the  metre  of  verses ;  this  fact  is  slightly  men-  of  the  twelfth  century  ;  and  if  so,  it  proves  that  the 

tioned  in  the  Menagiana,  tom.  II.     But  the  authors  ancient  method  of  notation  was  retained  near  a  cen- 

of  the  Histoire   Litteraire  de  la  France  are  more  tury  after  the  time  when  Guido  flourished, 
particular,  for  they  say  that  in  the  tenth  century  jt  is  farther  to  be  observed,  that  the  improvements 

music  began  to  be  cultivated  in  France  with  singular 
industry  and  attention;  and  that  those  great  masters      of^^i^'^zeaf  for^e^meruSTrgreafC^ 

Remi    d'Auxerre,  Hucbald    de    St.    Amand,    Gerbert,         skilled  in  it.     in  the  university  of  Paris,  founded  by  him,  and  in  other 
'      1      ,  •       •       x-u  ^.^•  parts  of  his  dominions,  he  endowed  schools  for  the  study  and  practice  0. 

and    Abbon,    gave    lectures    on    music    in    tne    public        music  •  at  church  he  always  sang  his  part  in  the  choral  service,  and  he 
schools.       But    it    seems   that    the  SubiectS  principally        exhorted  other  princes  to  do  the  same.     He  was  very  desirous  also  that 
^,  .         ,  ,     •       1      i  1     J  1-i.i  his  daughters  should  attain  a  proficiency  in  smgmg,  and  to  that  end  had 

treated    on    in    these    their    lectures    had    very    little        masters  to  instruct  them  three  hours  every  day. 


182 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


of  Guido  and  Franco  were  at  first  received  only  by 
tlie  Latin  church,  and  that  it  was  many  centuries 
before  they  were  acquiesced  in  by  that  of  the  Greeks  : 
an  inference  to  this  purpose  might  possibly  be  drawn 
from  a  passage  in  the  letter  of  Dr.  Wallis  above-cited, 
in  which,  after  giving  his  opinion  of  the  Greek 
ritual  therein  mentioned,  he  conjectures  it  to  be  at 
least  three  hundred  years  old  ;  but  it  is  a  matter 
beyond  a  doubt  that  the  ancient  method  of  notation 
above  spoken  of,  was  retained  by  the  Greek  church 
so  low  down  as  to  near  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  In  the  library  of  Jesus  college,  Oxon,  is  a 
manuscript  with  this  title  in  a  modern  character, 
perhaps  the  handwriting  of  some  librarian  who  had 
the  custody  of  it,  viz.,  '  JNIeletius  Monachus  de  Mu- 
'  sica  Ecclesiastica,  cum  variorum  Poetaram  sacrorum 
'  Canticis,'  purporting  to  be  the  precepts  of  choral 
service,  and  a  collection  of  offices  used  in  the  Greek 
church,  in  Greek  characters,  with  such  musical  notes 
as  are  above-mentioned.  As  to  Meletius,  he  appears 
clearly  to  be  the  writer  and  not  the  composer,  either 
of  the  poetry  or  the  music  of  these  hymns  ;  for 
besides  that  the  colophon  of  the  manuscript  indicates 
most  clearly  that  it  was  written  and  corrected  with 
the  hand  of  Sleletius  himself,  the  names  of  the  several 
persons  who  composed  the  tunes  or  melodies  as  they 
occur  in  the  course  of  the  book,  are  regularly  sub- 
joined to  each. 

The  name  of  Meletius  appears  in  the  catalogue  of 
the  Medic£ean  library;  and  tom.  III.  pag.  167 
thereof  he  is  styled  '  Monachus  Monasterii  SS.  Trini- 
'  tatis  apud  Tiberiopolim  in  Phrygia  Majore,  incertas 
'  iEtatis  ; '  notwithstanding  which  the  time  of  his 
writing  this  manuscript  is  by  himself,  and  in  his  own 
handwriting,  most  precisely  ascertained,  as  hereafter 
will  be  made  to  appear. 

As  to  the  contents  of  the  book,  it  may  suffice  to  say 
in  general  that  it  is  a  transcript  of  a  great  variety  of 
hymns,  psalms,  and  other  offices,  that  is  to  say,  the 
words  in  black,  and  the  musical  notes  in  red  charac- 
ters. In  a  leaf  preceding  the  title  is  a  portrait  of  an 
ecclesiastic,  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  Church,  collected  from  the  ancient 
'  and  modern  Musicians  ;'  these  instructions  seem  to 
presuppose  a  knowledge  of  the  rudiments  of  music  in 
the  reader,  and  for  the  most  part  are  meant  to  declare 
what  melodies  are  proper  to  the  several  offices  as  they 
occur  in  the  course  of  the  service,  and  to  ascertain 
the  number  of  syllables  to  each  note.  We  have  given 
a  specimen  of  a  hymn  (See  Appendix,  No.  43),  the 
words  whereof  have  a  close  resemblance  to  those  in 
the  Harleian  MS.  above  spoken  of,  as  will  appear  by 
a  comparison  one  with  the  other. 

To  the  offices  are  subjoined  the  names  of  the  per- 
sons who  severally  composed  the  melodies ;  among 
these  the  following  most  frequently  occur,  Joannes 
Lampadarius,  Manuel  Chrisaphus,  Joasaph  Kuku- 
zelus,  Johannes  Kukuzeli,  Demetrius  Redestes, 
Johannes  Damascenus,*  Poletikes,  Johannes  Lascares, 

*  Johannes  Damascenus  is  celebrated  by  Du  Pin  as  a  subtle  divine, 
a,  clear  and  methodical  writer,  and  able  compiler.  The  account  piven  of 
liim  by  this  author  in  his  Bibliotheciue,  cent.  VIII.  contains  not  the  least 


Georgius  Stauropulus,  Arsenius  Monachus,  probably 
he  that  was  afterwards  patriarch  of  Constantinople 
under  Theodore  Lascares  the  younger,  in  1255,  Eliaa 
Chrysaphes,  Theodulus,  Gerasimus,  Agalleanus,  An- 
thimus,  Xachialus,  Clemens  Monachus,  Agioretes. 

The  specimen  given  from  the  above-mentioned 
curious  manuscript  is  inserted  with  a  view  to  deter- 
mine a  very  important  question,  namely,  what  were 
the  musical  characters  in  use  among  the  modern 
Greeks  :  if  any  circumstance  is  wanting  to  complete 
the  evidence  that  they  were  those  above  represented, 
it  can  only  be  the  age  in  which  Meletius  lived  :  but 
this  is  ascertained  by  the  colophon  of  the  MS.  which 
is  to  this  effect : — '  This  book  was  wrote  and  corrected 
'  by  me  Meletius,  a  monk  and  presbyter,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  1635.*  f 

Johannes  Sarisbueiensis,  a  very  learned  and 
polite  scholar  of  the  twelfth  century,  has  a  place  in 
Walther's  Catalogue  of  musical  writers  :    he  was  a 

intimation  that  he  was  better  acquainted  with  music  than  others  of  his 
profession ;  nevertheless  a  very  learned  and  excellent  musician  of  this 
century,  Mattheson  of  Hamburg,  in  his  Volkommenon  Capellmeister, 
Hamburg,  1739,  pag.  26,  asserts  that  he  was  not  only  very  well  skilled 
in  it,  but  that  he  obtained  the  appellation  of  MeXuSoq,  Melodos,  by 
reason  of  his  excellent  singing,  and  also  for  his  having  composed  those 
fine  melodies  to  which  the  Psalms  are  usually  sung  in  the  eastern 
churches.  He  flourished  in  the  eighth  century  ;  and  in  the  account 
which  Du  Pin  has  given  of  him,  some  of  the  most  remarkable  par- 
ticulars are,  that  he  being  counsellor  of  state  to  the  caliph  of  the 
Saracens,  who  resided  at  Damascus,  and  having  discovered  a  zeal  for 
image-worship,  the  emperor  Leo  Isauricus,  a  great  enemy  to  images, 
procured  a  person  to  counterfeit  the  writing  of  Damascenus  in  a  letter 
to  the  caliph,  purporting  no  less  than  a  design  to  betray  the  city  of 
Damascus  into  the  hands  of  Leo,  which  wrought  such  an  effect,  that 
Damascenus  was  sentenced  to  lose  his  right  hand,  which  was  cut  off 
accordingly,  and  exposed  on  a  gibbet  to  the  view  of  all  the  citizens. 
Du  Pin  adds,  that  if  we  believe  the  author  of  St.  John  Damascene's 
life,  his  hand  was  reunited  to  his  arm  by  a  miracle,  for  that  as  soon  as 
it  was  cut  off  he  begged  it  of  the  caliph,  and  immediately  retiring  to  his 
dwelling,  applied  it  to  the  wrist  from  whence  it  had  been  cut,  and  pros- 
trating himself  before  an  image  of  the  Virgin,  besought  her  to  unite  it 
to  his  arm,  which  petition  she  granted.  As  soon  as  he  had  received  the 
benefit  of  this  miracle,  he  retired  from  the  court  of  the  caliph  to  the 
monastery  of  St.  Sabas  at  Jerusalem,  and  applied  himself  to  the  study 
of  music,  .and  very  probably  to  the  composition  of  those  very  melodies 
which  have  rendered  his  name  so  famous.  He  died  about  the  year  750, 
having  some  few  years  before  been  ordained  priest  by  the  patriarch  of 
Jerusalem. 

t  It  is  highly  probable  that  this  method  of  notation  continued  to  be 
practised  by  the  modern  Greeks  till  within  these  few  years ;  at  least  it 
seems  to  have  been  in  \ise  at  the  time  of  publishing  a  tract  entitled 
Balliofergus,  or  a  Commentary  upon  the  foundation.  Founders,  and 
Affaires  of  Ballio!  College,  Oxon,  by  Henry  Savage.  Master  of  the  said 
College,  quarto,  Oxford,  166S,  in  which,  pag.  121,  is  the  following 
article : — 

'  Nathaniel  Conopius  was  a  Cretan  born,  and  trained  up  in  the  Greek 
'  church  ;  he  became  TlpwroffvvKiWoQ,  or  Primore,  to  the  aforesaid 
'  Cyrill,  patriarch  of  Constantinople  ;  upon  the  strangling  of  whom  by  the 
'  vizir,  the  Grand  Signeur  of  the  Turks  being  not  then  returned  from  the 
'  siege  of  Babylon,  he  fled  over,  and  came  into  England,  addressing  himself 
'with  credentials  from  the  linglish  agent  in  Constantinople  to  the  lord 
'  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Laud,  who  allowed  him  maintenance  in  this 
'  college,  where  he  took  on  himself  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  divinity 
'  about  anno  l(i42.  And  lastly,  being  returned  home,  he  became  bishop 
'  of  Smyrna.  He  spoke  and  wrote  the  genuine  Greek,  for  which  he  was 
'had  in  great  veneration  in  his  country,  others  using  the  vulgar  only ; 
'  which  must  be  understood  of  prose  too,  for  poetical  Greek  he  had  not, 
'  but  what  he  learned  here.  As  for  his  writing,  I  have  seen  a  great  book 
'  of  musick,  as  he  sciid  of  his  own  composing ;  for  his  skill  wherein  his 
'countrymen,  in  their  letters  to  him,  stiled  him  fiSSiKioTaTOv;  but 
'  the  notes  are  such  as  are  not  in  use  with,  or  understood  by,  any  of  the 
'  western  churches.' 

The  author  from  whom  the  above  account  is  taken  was  personally 
intimate  with  Conopius,  and  adds  that  he  had  often  heard  him  sing 
a  melody,  which,  in  the  book  above-cited  he  has  rendered  in  modern 
musical  characters.  Wood  has  taken  notice  of  this  person,  Athen. 
Oxon.  1140,  and  relates  that  while  he  continued  in  Baliol  college  he 
made  the  drink  for  his  own  use  called  coffee,  and  usually  drank  it  every 
morning,  being  the  first,  as  the  ancients  of  the  house  had  informed  him, 
that  was  ever  drank  in  Oxon.  Wood,  in  the  account  of  his  life  written 
by  himself,  pag.  65,  80,  says  that  in  1650,  a  Jew,  named  Cirques  Jobson, 
born  near  Mount  Libanus,  opened  a  coffee-house  in  Oxford,  between 
Edmund  hall  and  Queen's  college  corner,  and  that  after  remaining  there 
some  time,  he  removed  to  London,  and  sold  it  in  Southampton-buildings, 
Holborn,  and  was  living  there  in  1671.  Mure  of  Conopius  may  be  see;i 
in  the  Epistles  of  Gerard  John  Vossius,  part  II.  pag.  145. 


Chap.  XLI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


183 


native  of  England,  being  born,  as  his  name  imports, 
at  Salisbury,  and  about  the  year  1110.  At  the  age  of 
seventeen  he  went  into  France,  and  some  years  after- 
wards was  honoured  with  a  commission  from  the  king 
his  master,  to  reside  near  Pope  Eugenius,  and  attend 
to  the  interests  of  his  country ;  being  returned  to 
England  he  received  great  marks  of  friendship  and 
esteem  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- 
buriensis  about  the  education  of  the  king's  eldest  son, 
and  many  young  noble  English  lords,  whom  he  had 
undertaken  to  instruct  in  learning  and  good  manners ; 
and  that  he  committed  to  him  the  care  of  his  domestic 
concerns  whilst  he  was  abroad  in  Guienne  with  king 
Henry  II.  Upon  Becket's  promotion  to  the  see  of 
Canterbury,  Sarisburiensis  went  to  reside  with  him  in 
his  diocese,  and  retained  such  a  sense  of  his  obligation 
to  him,  that  when  that  prelate  was  murdered,  he 
intercepted  a  blow  which  one  of  the  assassins  aimed 
at  the  head  of  his  master,  and  received  a  wound  on 
his  arm,  so  great,  that  after  a  twelvemonth's  attend- 
ance on  him,  his  surgeons  despaired  of  healing  it ;  at 
length  however  he  was  cured,  and  in  the  year  1179, 
-at  the  earnest  entreaty  of  the  province,  was  made 
bishop  of  Chartres,  upon  which  he  went  to  reside 
there,  and  lived  an  example  of  that  modesty  and 
virtue  which  he  had  preached  and  recommended  in 
his  writings.  He  enjoyed  this  dignity  but  three 
years,  for  he  died  1182,  and  was  interred  in  the 
church  of  Notre  Dame  da  Josaphat.  Leland  pro- 
fesses to  discover  in  him  '  Omnem  scientijB  orbem  ; ' 
and  Bale,  Cent.  III.  No.  1.,  celebrates  him  as  an  ex- 
cellent Greek  and  Latin  scholar,  musician,  mathe- 
matician, philosopher,  and  divine.  Among  other 
books  he  composed  a  treatise  in  Latin,  entitled 
Polycraticus,  sive  de  Nugis  Curialium  et  Vestigiis 
Philosophorum,  the  sixth  chapter  of  the  first  book 
whereof  is  entitled  De  Musica  et  Instrumentis,  et 
Modis  et  Fructu  eorum,  and  is  a  brief  but  very 
ingenious  dissertation  on  the  subject ;  and  as  to  the 
book  in  general,  notwithstanding  the  censure  of 
Lipsius,  who  calls  it  a  patch-work,  containing  many 
pieces  of  purple,  intermixed  with  fragments  of  a 
better  age,  it  may  be  truly  said  that  it  is  a  learned, 
curious,  and  very  entertaining  work ;  and  of  this 
opinion  Du  Pin  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  passages  of  authors,  ex- 
'  amples,  apologues,  pieces  of  history,  and  common 
'  topics.'  *  It  was  first  printed  by  Constantine  Fran- 
dinus,  at  Paris,  in  1513,  in  a  small  octavo  size. 

CHAP.    XLL 

CoNRADUS,  a  monk  of  the  abbey  of  Hirsaugia,  in 
Germany,  and  therefore  surnamed  Hirsaurgiensis, 
flourished  about  1140,  under  the  emperor  Conrade  III., 
whom  the  historians  and  chronologers  place  between 

*  Bibl.  des  Auteurs  Eccl.  cent.  XII. 


Conrade  II.  and  Frederick  Barbarossa.  He  was  a 
philo»opher,  rhetorician,  musician,  and  poet ;  and, 
among  other  things,  was  author  of  a  book  on  music 
and  the  tones,  f 

Adamus  Dorensis,  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  Bale,  Pits, 
and  other  biographical  writers  give  of  him  : — '  Adam 
of  Dore,  a  man  of  great  note,  was  educated  in  the 
abbey  of  Dore,  and  very  profitably  sj^ent  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  regularity  of  life,  and 
made  such  proficiency  in  all  kinds  of  virtue,  that  for 
his  great  merit  he  was  elected  abbot  of  the  monas- 
tery of  Dore.     In  his  time  there  were  great  conten- 
tions between  the  seculars  and  the  monks ;    upon 
which  occasion  Sylvester  Girald,  a  learned  man, 
and  of  great  eminence  among  the  clei'gy,  |  wrote  a 
book   entitled    Speculum    Ecclesise,    in   which    lie 
charged  the  regulars  with   avarice   and  lust,   iiot 
sparing  even  the  Cistertian  monks.     Adam,  to  vin- 
dicate the  honour  of  the  religious,  and  especially 
those  of  his  own  order,  wrote  a  book  against  the 
Speculum  of  Girald ;  he  wrote  also  a  Treatise  on 
the  Elements  of  Music,  and  some  other  things,  par- 
ticularly satires,  bitter  ones  enough,  against  Simon 
Ashe,  a  canon  of  Hereford,  Sylvester  Girald's  advo- 
cate and  friend.     This  Adam  flourished  in  1200, 
i;nder  King  John.'  S 
Albertus   Ma(Jnus  was  born  about  the  year  of 
Christ  1200 :  a  man  illustrious  by  his  birth,  but  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  1200  he  was  elected  bishop  of  Eatisbon, 
but  at  the  end  of  three  years  resigned  his  bishopric, 
and  returned  to  his  cell  at  Cologne.     In  1274  he 
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  music,  in  a  manner  worthy  of  admira- 
tion.    It  is  said  that  lie  had  the  secret  of  trans- 
mutation, and  that  by  means  of  that  art  he  discharged 
all  the  debts  of  his  bishopric  of  Eatisbon  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  interruption  in  forging  this  wonderful 
fiGTure,  which  Naudeus  calls  the  Androis  of  Albertus. 
and  that  the  several  parts  of  it  were  formed  under 
particular  aspects  and  constellations ;  but  that  Thomas 

+  Vossius,  de  Scient.  Math.  cap.  Ix.  §  10. 

I  otherwise  called  Giraldus  Cambrensis.  Tann.  Bibl.  in  Art.  He  was 
the  author  of  the  tract  entitled  Cambrise  Descriptio,  cited  in  book  IV 
chap.  33. 

5  Tann.  Biblioth.  Gibson's  view  of  the  churches  of  Door  and  Horn 
Lacy,  Lond.  quarto,  pag.  15. 


184 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V 


Aquinas,  the  disciple  of  Albertiis,  not  being  able  to 
bear  its  everlasting  tittle-tattle,  broke  it  to  pieces, 
and  that  too  in  his  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  head  of  his  own  making, 
which  they  consulted  upon  all  difficulties.  Naudeus 
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 
tliat  Albertus  might  possibly  have  in  his  possession 
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  construction  of  it.  Albertus  died  at 
Cologne  in  the  year  12S0  ;  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 
■^ho  pope,  his  holiness,  after  he  had  risen  up,  thinking 
Ac  was  yet  on  his  knees,  commanded  him  to  stand. 
The  number  of  books  Avhich  he  wrote  is  prodig'/ius, 
for  they  amount  to  twenty-one  volumes  in  folio,  j 

Gregory  of  Bridlington,  a  canon  regular  of  the 
order  of  St.  Augustine,  precentor  of  the  church  of 
his  monastery  of  Bridlington,  and  afterwards  prior 
thereof,  flourished  about  the  year  1217.  He  wrote 
a  Treatise  De  Arte  Musices,  in  three  books,  and  is 
mentioned  by  bishop  Tanner  as  a  man  of  learning 
and  abilities. 

GuALTERUs  Odingtonur,  Otherwise  Walter  of 
Evesham,  a  ^^Titer  of  great  skill  in.  the  science  of 
music,  was  a  Benedictine  monk,  he  flourished  in 
the  reign  of  our  Henry  III.  about  the  year  1210. 
Bishop  Tanner,  on  the  authority  of  Pits,  Bale,  and 
L eland,  gives  him  the  character  of  a  very  learned 
man ;  and  Fuller  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  '  Plura  quam  digna 
de  musicte  specula ; '  and  in  a  manuscript  collection 
of  tracts  in  the  Cotton  library,  Tiberius,  B.  IX.  tract  3, 
is  a  treatise  of  the  notes  or  musical  characters, 
and  their  different  properties,  in  Avhich  the  long, 
the  large,  the  breve,  tlie  semibreve,  and  the  minim, 


*  I . 


-of  the  great  clerk  Grofteft 


•  I  rede,  howe  busy  that  he  was 
'  Upon  the  clergie  an  head  of  bras 

'  To  forge,  and  make  it  for  to  telle 

'  Of  fuch  things  as  befelle  : 

'  And  feven  yeres  befineffe 

'  He  laide,  but  for  the  lacheiTe 

*Of  half  a  minute  of  an  houre, 

'  Fro  firft  he  began  to  laboure, 

*  He  lofte  all  that  he  had  do.' 

Gower.  Confessio  Amantis,  fol.  Ixiv. 
t  Bayle,  in  art. 
I  r.ibliotheca,  pag.  558. 


are  particularly  characterised ;  at  the  end  of  this 
treatise  we  have  these  words,  '  lia^c  Odyngtoims,' 
plainly  intimating  that  the  writer,  whoever  he  was, 
looked  upon  Gualterus  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  De  Speculatione 
Musices,  as  given  by  Tanner;  and  it  is  expressly 
asserted  by  Morley  that  the  minim  was  invented 
by  Philippus  de  Vitriaco,  a  famous  composer  of 
motets,  who  must  have  lived  long  after  Walter.  Mr. 
Stephens,  the  translator  and  continuator  of  Dug- 
dale's  IMonasticon,  in  his  catalogue  of  English  learned 
men  of  the  order  of  St.  Benedict,  gives  the  following 
account  of  this  person  : — 

'Walter,  monk  of  Evesham,  a  man  of  facetious 
'  wit,  who  applying  himself  to  literature,  lest  he 
'  should  sink  under  the  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  of 
'  musick,  to  render  himself  the  more  chearful  for 
'  other  duties ;  whether  at  length  this  drew  him  off 
'  from  other  studies  I  know  not,  but  there  appears 
'  no  other  work  of  his  than  a  piece  intitled  Of  the 
'  Speculation  of  Musick,     He  flourished  in  124.0.' 

ViNCENTius,  archbishop  of  Beauvois,  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. 

Roger  Bacon,  a  monk  of  the  Franciscan  order, 
born  at  Ilchester,  in  Somersetshire,  in  1214,  the 
great  luminary  of  the  thirteenth  century,  a  celebrated 
mathematician  and  philosopher,  as  appears  by  his 
voluminous  writings  in  almost  all  branches  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  greatly  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  of 
friar  Bacon's  brazen  head  is  well  known,  and  is  too 
silly  to  merit  a  refutation.  There  is  an  excellent 
life  of  him  in  the  Biographia  Britannica,  written, 
as  it  is  said,  by  Dr.  Campbell. 

Simon  Tailler,  a  Dominican  and  a  Scotsman, 
mentioned  by  Tanner,  flourished  about  the  year  1240. 
He  wrote  De  Cantu  Ecclesiastico  reformando,  De 
Tenore  Musicali,  and  two  other  tracts,  the  one  intitled 
Tetrachordum,  and  the  other  Pentachordum. 

Johannes  Pediasdius,  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  1300,  and  wrote  a  Com- 
pendium of  Geometry  and  a  book  of  the  dimensions- 
of  the  earth ;  the  first  is  in  the  library  of  the  most 
christian  king,  the  latter,  and  also  a  Treatise  on  the 
Science  of  Music,  in  that  of  the  city  of  Augsburg 
in  Germany.  § 

Pope  John  XXII.  has  a  place  among  the  writers 
on  music,  but  for  what  reason  it  is  somewhat  difficult 
to  shew ;   Du  Pin,  who   speaks   of   him  among  the 

5  Vossius,  De  Scient.  Mathem.  cap.  liv.  §  IC. 


Chap.  XLI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


135 


ecclesiastical  writers  of  the  fourteenth  century,  says 
he  was  ingenious,  and  well  versed  in  the  sciences ;  ••' 
but  by  the  catalogue  of  his  works  in  the  chrono- 
logical table  for  that  period,  it  seems  that  his  chief 
excellence  was  his  skill  in  the  canon  law;  never- 
theless he  is  taken  notice  of  by  Brossard  and  Walther, 
as  having  written  on  music ;  and  in  the  IMicrologus 
of  Andreas  Ornithoparcus,  who  wrote  about  the 
year  1535,  a  treatise  of  music  of  his  writing  is  fre- 
quently referred  to ;  and  in  the  second  chapter  of 
the  first  book  of  the  Micrologus,  where  the  author 
professes  to  distinguish  between  a  musician  and 
a  singer,  he  cites  a  passage  from  pope  John  XXII. 
to  this  effect :  '  To  whom  shall  I  compare  a  cantor 
'  better  than  a  drunkard  (which  indeed  goeth  home) 
'  but  by  what  patli  he  cannot  tell  ?  A  musician  to 
'  a  cantor  is  as  a  praetor  to  a  cryer.'  And  in  the 
seventh  chapter  of  the  same  book  he  cites  him  to 
explain  the  meaning  of  the  word  Tone :  '  A  tone, 
'  says  he,  is  the  distance  of  one  voyce  from  another 
'  ])y  a  perfect  sound,  sounding  strongly,  so  called 
'  a   tonando,    that    is    thundering ;    for    tonare    [as 

*  Johannes  Pontifex  XXII.  cap.  viii.  saith]  signifieth 

*  to  thunder  powerfully.' 

The  same  author,  lib.  I.  cap.  iii.  on  the  authority 
of  Franchinus,  though  the  passage  as  referred  to  by 
him  is  not  to  be  found,  asserts  that  pope  John  and 
Guido,  after  Boetius,  are  to  be  looked  on  as  the 
most  excellent  musicians. 

It  is  said  that  John  was  the  son  of  a  shoemziker 
of  Cahors,  and  that  on  account  of  his  excellence  in 
literature  Charles  II.,  king  of  Naples,  appointed  him 
preceptor  to  his  son ;  that  from  thence  he  rose  to 
the  purple,  and  at  length  to  the  papacy,  being  elected 
thereto  anno  131G. 

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  accounts  herein 
before  given  of  the  most  eminent  writers  on  music 
during  that  period,  are  sufficient  to  shew,  not  only 
that  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  harmony  and 
the  rudiments  of  singing  were  deemed  a  necessary 
part  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  was  as  much  the 
duty  of  a  clerk,  or  as  we  should  now  call  him,  a 
clergyman,  as  at  this  day  it  is  for  such  a  one  to  read : 
nevertheless  it  cannot  be  supposed  but  that  music,  to 
a  certain  degree,  was  known  also  to  the  laity ;  and 
that  the  mirth,  good  humour,  and  gaity  of  the  com- 
mon people,  especially  the  youthful  of  both  sexes, 
discovered  itself  in  the  singing  of  such  songs  and 
ballads  as  suited  with  their  conceptions  and  characters, 
and  are  the  natural  effusions  of  mirth  and  pleasantry 
in  every  age  and  country.  But  of  these  it  is  not 
easy  to  give  a  full  and  satisfactory  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  them- 

*  Biblioth,  des  Auteurs  ecclesiastique,  cut.  XIV. 


selves  to  the  clergy  by  their  munificence  ;  seldom 
descending  to  particulars,  and  affording  very  little  of 
that  kind  of  intelligence  from  whence  the  manners, 
the  humours,  and  particiilar  customs  of  any  given  age 
or  people  are  to  be  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  instances. 

An  enquiry  into  the  origin  of  those  rhyming 
chronicles,  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  to  his  time,  that  is  to  say 
about  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  there  sprang  up 
in  Provence  certain  professions  of  men  called  Trou- 
badours, or  Trouverres,  Jongleours,  Cantadours, 
Violars,  and  Musars,  in  whom  the  faculties  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,  as  well  subjects 
and  sentiments  as  rhymes,  constituting  what  at  that 
time  was  deemed  poetry.  The  Jongleours  are  sup- 
posed to  have  taken  their  name  frona  some  musical 
instrument  on  which  they  played,  probably  of  a  name 
"esembling  in  its  sound  that  by  which  their  profession 
was  distinguished.  The  Cantadours,  called  also 
Ohanterres,  were  clearly  singers  of  songs  and  ballads, 
as  were  also  the  Musars  ;  and  the  Violars  were  as 
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  Crescimbeni,  and 
by  him  published  with  the  title  of  Commentari  in- 
torno  air  Istoria  della  volgare  Poesia.  Of  the  origin 
of  these,  and  particularly  of  the  Jongleurs  or  Jug- 
leurs,  with  the  rest  of  the  class  above-mentioned,  he 
gives  a  very  curious  relation  in  the  fifth  book, 
cap.  V.  of  his  work  above-mentioned,  to  the  following 
effect : — 

*  After  havinn:  remarked  that  from  Provence  the 
'  Italians  derived  not  only  the  origm  and  art  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 

t  The  lives  of  the  Proven  fal  poets  were  written  by  an  ecclesiastic  of 
the  noble  family  of  Cibo  in  Genoa,  who  is  distinguished  by  the  fantastical 
name  of  the  Monk  of  the  Golden  Islands,  and  lived  about  the  year  1248; 
another  person,  an  ecclesiastic  also,  named  Ugo  di  Sancesario,  and  a 
native  of  Provence,  who  flourished  about  the  year  1435,  compiled  the 
lives  of  the  poets  of  his  country.  From  the  collections  made  by  these 
two  persons,  Johannes  Nostradamus,  the  younger  brother  of  Michael 
Nostradamus  the  astrologer  and  pretended  prophet,  compiled  and  pub- 
lished at  Lyons,  in  157o,  the  lives  of  the  ancient  poets  of  Provence. 
This  book  Giovannio  Mario  de  Crescimbeni  translated  into  Italian,  and 
published  with  the  addition  of  many  new  lives,  and  a  commentary  con- 
taining historical  notes  and  critical  observations,  in  the  year  1710.  A 
very  good  judge  of  Italian  literature,  Mr.  Baretti,  says  of  this  work  of 
Crescimbeni  that  a  true  poet  will  <ind  it  a  book  very  delightful  to  read. 
Italian  Library,  pag.  192. 


186 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V 


'  own,  to  say  somewhat  of  the  romance  writers,  as 
'  well  of  France  in  general,  as  of  Provence,  par- 
'  ticularly  as  to  their  exercises  and  manner  of  living. 

*  It  is  not  known  precisely  who  were  the  romance 

*  writers  of  Provence,  for  authors  that  mention  them 
'  speak  only  in  general ;  nor  have  we  seen  any  ro- 
'  mances  with  the  author's  name,  other  than  that  of 
'  the  Rose,  begun  by  William  de  Lorry,  and  finished 
'  by  John  de  Meun,  as  may  be  seen  in  a  very  old 
'  copy  on  parchment  in  the  library  of  Cardinal 
'  Ottoboni. 

'  Some  of  their  romances  however  may  be  met  with 
'  in  many  of  the  famous  Italian  libraries  ;  and  besides 

*  that  of  the  Round  Table,  and  that  of  Turpin,  Du 
'  Cange,  Huetius,  and  Fauchet,  before  them  mention 
'  several,  such  as  Garilla,  Locran,  Tristram,  Launcelot 
'  of  the  Lake,  Bertram,  Sangreale,  Merlin,  Arthur, 
'  Perceval,  Perceforest,  Triel  Ulespieghe,  Rinaldo, 
'  and  Roncisvalle,  that  very  likely  have  been  the 
^  foundation  of  many  of  those  written  by  our  Italians. 

'  These  romances  no  doubt  were  sung,  and  perhaps 
■*  Rossi,  after  Malatesta  Porta,  was  not  mistaken  when 
■'  he  thought  that  the  romance  singers  were  used  to 

*  sell  their  works  on  a  stage  as  they  were  singing ; 
'  for  in  those  times  there  was  in  vogue  a  famous  art 
'  in  France  called  Arte  de  Giuglari :  these  juglers, 
'  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,  had  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  ancient  rhapsodists,  who, 
'  when  they  sung  the  Odyssey,  were  dressed  in  blue, 
'  because  they  celebrated  Ulysses's  heroes  that  were 
'  his  companions  in  his  voyages  ;  and  when  they  re- 
'  peated  the  Illiad  they  appeared  generally  in  red,  to 

give  an  idea  of  the  vast  quantity  of  blood  spilt  at 
'  the  siege  of  Troy)  but  for  the  sake  of  entertaining 
•*  and  pleasing  in  a  burlesque  manner  their  protectors 
'  and  masters,  for  which  reason  they  were  called 
'  Juglers,  quasi  Joculatores,  as  the  learned  Menage 
'  very  rightly  conjectures. 

*  Many  of  the  Provencal  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  Olivieri,  went  to  the  court  of  count 
'  Amsos  de  Provence  as  juglers,  and  thence  passed 
'  into  Sicily.  Ugo  della  Penno,  and  Guglielmo  della 
'  Torre,  exercised  the  same  profession  in  Lombardy  ; 
'  and  cardinal  Peter  de  Veilac,  whenever  he  went  to 
'  visit  a  king  or  a  baron,  which  happened  very  often, 
'  was  always  accompanied  by  juglers,  who  sang  the 
'  songs  called  in  those  places  Serventesi.  Besides 
'  those  enumerated  by  Nostradamus,  Alessandro 
'  Velutello  reckons  up  many  others,  who  travelled 
■■  about  and  subsisted  by  the  profession  of  minstrelsy, 
'  the  nature  whereof  is  described  by  Andrew  Du 
'  Chesne,  in  his  notes  on  the  works  of  Alain  Chartier,* 

*  Alain  Chartier  was  born  in  1386,  and  died  about  1453.  Crescimb. 
iu  loc.  cit. 


where  he  cites  from  a  romance  written  in  the  year 
1230,  the  following  lines  : — 

'  Quand  les  tables  ost6es  furent, 
'  C'il  Juggleur  in  pies  esturent, 
'  S'ont  vielles  et  harpes  prises, 
'  Chansons,  sons,  vers,  et  reprises. 
'  Et  de  gestes  chante  nos  ont. 

When  the  tables  were  taken  away, 
The  juglers  stood  up, 
Took  their  lyres,  and  harps  ; 
Songs,  tunes,  verses,  and  catches, 
And  exploits  they  sang  to  us. 

'  It  is  not  our  intention  to  enquire  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  fourteenth  century, 
where  there  are  written  the  songs  of  divers  Pro- 
vencal poets,  with  the  music.  We  have  copied  the 
following  example,  which  is  the  song  of  Theobald, 
king  of  Navarre,  who  flourished  about  the  year  1235, 
no  less  celebrated  among  monarchs  than  poets,  by 
the  honourable  praises  bestowed  on  him  by  Dante 
in  his  Inferno,  cant,  xxii  : — 


:pzi=;i^: 


2E^ 


:w=^i=:?-P"^^^-Bii=Fi=iil 


^ 


J'AU  me  qui  do  - 

ie   par-tir    d'araours,  mais  riens  ne    me  vaut ; 

**                    n       ■ 

>                     "i 

P^                     ■     Pl^     ^     P^     ■_ 

.         1 

r^BiU^r"~r"™B«B.. 

■     1                                        1  -        •                                 ■          1  -        1    1 

li  dous  maus  moi  fait    lan-guir,  qui  nuit    et    jour    ne     mi    faut, 


ifl-EB^ 


JE3: 


liEBEES 


[^^ 


le   jour    mi  faitmaint  i-saut,  et    la    nuit    ne    puis   dor    mir, 


^^ 


^5^EB3"!!E^ 


^=-_zr5=l^*i^ 


ains  plaim,   et  pleur,   et     sou  -  pir.      Dieus     dant  fort  quant 

~^  — 


^Z 


la 


re  -  mir,  mais  .bien     sai    que 


leu     cant. 


The  Provencal  poets  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  them ;  but,  if  we  may  credit  the 
Italian  writers,  the  best  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  Boccace  are 
taken  from  Provencal  or  ancient  French  romances.* 

The  Glossary  of  Du  Cange  contains  a  very  great 
number  of  curious  particulars  relating  to  the  Trouba- 
dours, Jongleurs,  Cantadours,  Violars,  and  Musars,  of 
Provence  ;  and  it  appears  that  in  the  French  lan- 
2:uaQ;e  all  these  arts  were  comprehended  under  the 

*  IT  T  • 

general  denomination  of  Menestraudie,  Menestraudise, 
Jonglerie.f 

*  The  same  may  be  supposed  of  the  Heptameron  of  Margaret  queen 
of  Navarre,  a  work  of  the  same  kind  with  the  Decameron,  and  containing 
a  great  number  of  entertaining  stories.  A  general  account  of  it  is  given 
by  Bayle,  in  the  article  Navarre. 

t  '  On  pent  comprendre  sous  le  nom  de  Jonglerie  tout  ce  qui  appar- 
'  tient  aux  anciens  chansonniers  Provencaux,  Normands,  Picards,  &c. 
•Le  corps  de  la  Jonglerie  etoit  forme  des  Trouveres,  ou  Truubadours,  qui 


Chap.  XLI. 


AND  PKACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


187 


The  learned  Dr.  Percy,  in  his  Essay  on  the  ancient 
English  Minstrels,  has  given  a  very  curious  and  satis- 
factory account  of  these  fathers  of  modern  poetry  and 
popular  music ;  and  although  he  agrees  that  the 
several  professions  above  enumerated  were  included 
under  the  general  name  of  Minstrel,  in  the  notes  on 
that  Essay,  pag.  xlii.,  he  has  with  great  accuracy 
assigned  to  each  its  distinct  and  peculiar  office. 

In  the  work  of  Crescimbeni  above-cited  the  name 
of  our  own  king  Richard  I.,  surnamed  Coeur  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 
Tanner,  from  whom  we  might  have  expected  some 
account  of  this  fact,  has  in  his  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  research,  though  of  all  critics  that  ever  wrote, 
one  of  the  most  wild  and  absurd,  is  the  first  of  our 
countrymen  that  have  in  earnest  asserted  Richard's 
claim  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 
Gay  Science,  and  their  poets,  which  began  not  long 
before  his  time  to  be  in  great  vogue  in  the  world.--' 

But  before  he  proceeds  to  the  proof  of  the  fact,  that 
Richard  was  a  composer  of  verses,  Rymer  takes  upon 
him  to  refute  a  charge  of  Roger  Hoveden,  importing 
nothing  less  than  that  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 
'  augmentum  et  famam  sui  nominis,  emendicata  car- 
'  mina,  et  rithmos  adulatorios  comparabat,  et  de 
^  regno  Francorum  cantores  et  joculatores  allexerat 
-'  ut  de  illo  canerent  in  plateis  et  dicebatur  ubique 
*  quod  non  erat  talis  in  orbe.'  '  Richard  to  raise 
'  himself  a  name,  went  about  begging  and  buying 
'  verses  and  flattering  rhymes ;  and  by  rewards  en- 
'  ticed  over  from  France,  singers  and  jesters  to  sing 
'  of  him  in  the  streets.  And  it  was  everywhere 
'  given  out  that  there  was  not  the  like  of  him  in  the 
■'  world  again.' 

Rymer  observes  upon  this  passage,  first,  that  the 
assertion  contained  in  it  that  the  songsters  and  jesters 
were  brought  from  France  is  most  false  ;  for  that 
France  had  no  pretensions  thereabouts  in  those  days, 
those  countries  being  fiefs  of  the  empire  :  more  par- 
ticularly he  adds  that  Frederic  the  First  had  enfeoffed 
Raimond  Beringer  of  the  country  of  Provence,  For- 

'  composoient  les  chansons,  et  parmi  lesquels  il  y  avoit  des  Improvisateurs, 
'comme  on  en  trouve  en  Italic :  des  Chanieours  on  Chanlcrcs,  qui  exe- 
'cutoient  on  chanteoient  ces  compositions:  des  Co?; /eMr«  qui  faisoient, 
'en  vers  ou  en  prose  contes,  les  recits,  les  liistoires:  des  Jongleurs  ou 
'  Meneslrch  qui  accompagnoient  de  leurs  instrumens.  L'art  de  ces 
'  chantres,  ou  chansonniers,  etoit  nomnie  la  Science  Gaie.  Gay  Saber.' 
Pref.  Anthologie  Frang.  1765,  octavo,  pag.  17. 

Fauchet,  to  much  the  same  purpose,  has  the  following  passage:— 
'  Bientot  apres  la  division  de  ce  grand  empire  Franfois  en  tant  de  petits 
'  royaumes,  duchez,  et  comtez,  au  lieu  des  poetes  commencerent  a  se 
'  faire  cognoistre  les  Trouverres,  et  Chanterrrs,  Conleoiirs,  et  Jugleours : 
'qui  sont  Trouveurs,  Chantres,  Conteurs,  Jongleurs,  ou  Jugleurs, 
■*  c'est  k  dire  Menestriers  chantans  avec  la  viole.' 

«  Short  View  of  Tragedy,  pag.  GG. 


calquiers,  and  places  adjacent,  as  not  long  after 
Frederic  II.  installed  William  prince  of  Orange, 
king  of  Aries  and  Viennes,  which  family  had  formerly 
possessed  Provence,  f  Again  he  observes,  that  about 
the  same  time  that  the  Provencal  poetry  began  to 
flourish,  the  heresy  of  the  Albingenses  sprang  up ; 
and  that  Raimond  count  of  Tholouse  was  the  pro- 
tector of  the  Albingenses,  and  also  a  great  favourer 
of  these  poets  ;  and  that  all  the  princes  that  were  in 
league  together  to  support  the  Albingenses  against 
France  and  the  pope,  encouraged  and  patronized 
these  poets,  and  amongst  the  rest  a  king  of  Arragon, 
who  lost  his  life  in  the  quarrel,  at  a  battle  where 
Simon  Mountfort  commanded  as  chief  of  the  crusade.J 
The  argument  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  upon  him  the  resentment  of  the  clergy,  and  that 
therefore  Roger  Hoveden,  in  revenge  for  the  en- 
couragement which  he  had  shewn  to  the  enemies  of 
the  church,  endeavoured  to  deprive  him  of  the  repu- 
tation of  a  poet.  But  as  this  is  only  negative  evi- 
dence of  Richard's  title  to  a  place  among  the  Pro- 
venjal  poets,  Rymer  goes  farther,  and  introduces 
from  a  manuscript  in  the  possession  of  Signor  Redi, 
the  testimony  of  Guilhem  Briton,  an  ancient  bard,  in 
these  verses  : — 

Coblas  a  tiera  faire  adroitement, 
Pou  vos  oillez  enten  dompna  gentilz. 

Stanzas  he  trimly  could  invent 
Upon  the  eyes  of  lady  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  barons 
Anglez,  Normans,  Peytavins,  et  Gascons, 
Qu'  yeu  non  ay  ja  si  paure  compagnon, 
Que  per  aver  lou  laissess  en  preson. 

Know  ye,  my  men,  my  barons  all, 
In  England  and  in  Normandy, 
In  Poictiers  and  in  Gascony, 
I  no  companion  held  so  small, 
To  let  him  thus  in  durance  lie.  || 

Having  thus  far  proved  his  point,  our  author  is 
disposed  to  indulge  that  inclination  to  mirth  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 
upon  the  stanza  above  written,  as  facetiously  as  per- 
tinently remarks,  that  our  king  Richard  had  not  the 
expedient  of  the  French  king,  St.  Lewis,  who,  taken 
prisoner  by  the  Saracens,  pawned  the  eucharist,  body 
for  body,  to  the  infidels  for  his  ransom.^ 

He  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  Provencal  poets,  were  in  the 
custody  of  Signor  Redi,  librarian  to  the  great  duke 
of  Tuscany. 

t  Short  View  of  Trag.  pag.  6S.        J  Ibid.  pag.  69.        §  Ibid,  pag,  74, 
li  Ibid.        If  Ibid.  pag.  75. 


188 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


To  these  evidences  may  be  added  the  testimony  of 
Crescimbeni,  who  in  his  Commentari  della  Volgar 
Poesia,  vol.  II.  part  I.  pag.  103,  says,  that  Eichard, 
being  struck  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  says  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  four  daughters, 
whom  Richard  afterwards  married  :  that  he  employed 
himself  in  rhyming  in  that  language,  and  when  ho 
was  prisoner  composed  certain  sonnets,  which  he  sent 
to  Beatrix,  countess  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 
Florence,  '  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 
searched.  In  the  Vatican  was  found  a  poem  by 
Richauts  de  Verbeil,  and  another  by  Richauts  de 
Terascon,  but  nothing  that  could  with  any  degree  of 
propriety  be  ascribed  to  Richard  I.,  king  of  England. 
In  the  Laui'entine  library  were  found  the  verses 
above  spoken  of,  which  as  a  very  singular  and  valu- 
able curiosity,  Mr.  Walpole  has  given  to  the  world 
in  the  first  volume  of  his  Catalogue  of  royal  and 
noble  Authors  ;  they  are  as  follow  : — 

Reis  Rizard. 

Ja  nus  horn  pi'is  non  dira  sa  raison 
Adreitament  se  com  horn  dolent  non 
Mas  per  conort  pot  il  faire  chanson 
Pro  adamis,  mas  povre  son  11  don 
Onta  j  avron,  se  por  ma  reezon 
Soi  fai  dos  yver  pi'is. 

Or  Sanchon  ben  mi  hom  e  mi  baron 
Engles,  Norman,  Pettavin  et  Gascon, 
Qe  ge  navoie  si  povre  compagnon 
Qeu  laissasse  por  aver  en  preison 
Ge  nol  di  pas,  por  nulla  retraison 
Mas  anquar  soige  pris. 

Jan  sai  eu  de  ver  certanament 
Com  mort  ne  pris  na  amie  ne  parent 
Quant  il  me  laissent  por  or  ni  por  argent 
Mai  mes  de  mi,  ma  perz  mes  por  ma  gent 
1  Qapres  ma  mort  n  auron  reperzhament 

Tan  longament  soi  pris. 

Nom  merveille  seu  ai  le  cor  dolent 
Qe  messen  her  met  ma  terra  en  torment 
No  li  menbra  del  nostre  segrament 
Qe  nos  feimes  an  dos  communelment 
Bern  sai  de  ver  qe  gaire  longament 
Non  serai  eu  sa  pris. 

Mi  compagnon  cui  j  amoi  e  cui  j  am 
Cil  de  chain  e  cil  de  persarain 
De  lor  chanzon  qil  non  sont  pas  certain 
Unca  vers  els  non  oi  cor  fals  ni  vain 
Sil  me  guertoient  il  feron  qe  vilain 
Tan  com  ge  soie  pris. 


Or  sachent  ben  Enjevin  e  Torain 
E  il  bachaliers  qi  son  legier  e  sain 
Qen  gombre  soic  pris  en  autrui  main 
II  ma  juvassen  mas  il  no  ve  un  grain 
De  belles  armes  sont  era  voit  li  plain 
Per  zo  qe  ge  soi  pris. 

Contessa  soit  votre  prez  sobrain 
Sal  deus  e  garde  eel  per  cui  me  clam 
Et  per  cui  ge  soi  pris  : 
Ge  nol  di  pas  por  cela  de  certrain 
La  mere  loys. 


CHAP  XLIL 

Besides  that  Richard  was  endued  with  the  poetical 
faculty,  it  is  recorded  of  him  that  he  was  skilled  in 
music.  In  the  Theatre  of  Honour  and  Knighthood, 
translated  from  the  French  of  Mons.  Favine,  and 
printed  at  London  in  1G23,  torn.  II.  pag.  48,  is 
a  curious  relation  of  Richard's  deliverance  from  cap- 
tivity by  the  assistance  of  Blondel  de  Nesle,  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 Fauchet,  Paris  loSl  :  but  Favine,*  from 
Matthew  Paris,  and  other  historiographers,  and  from 
an  ancient  manuscript  of  old  poesies,  has  given  as 
well  a  relation  of  the  causes  and  manner  of  his  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  TEstang,  and 

*  a  boy  that  understood  the  Germaine  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- 
'  ubie,  named  Gynatia  in  Austria,  as  saith  Mathew 
'  Paris,  but  according  to  the  histories  of  Germanie, 
'  which  I  have  red,  it  is  called  Erdbourg,  where  then 
'remained  Leopold,  duke  of  Austria, f  to  Avelcome 
'  Richard  thither,  like  him  falne  out  of  a  feaver  into 
'  a  farre  worse  disease.  Being  come  to  his  inne,  he 
'  sent  his  boy  to  make  provision  for  him  in  the 
'  market,  where  the  boy  shewing  his  purse  to  be  full 

_  *  This  book  of  Favine  abounds  with  a  great  variety  of  curious  par- 
ticulars relative  to  chivalry  and  manners  in  general.  Ashmole  appears 
to  have  derived  great  assistance  from  it  in  the  compiling  his  History  of 
the  Order  of  the  Garter. 

t  The  causes  of  Leopold's  enmity  to  Richard  are  variously  related, 
but  the  author  now  citing  assigns  the  following  as  the  first  occasion  of 
their  quarrel : — 

'Richard,  at  his  return  endured  ten  thousand  afflictions,  whereof 
'briefly  behold  the  subject.  In  the  yeare  one  thousand  one  liundred 
'  fourescore  and  twelve,  Leopold  duke  of  Austria  came  into  the  Holy 
'  Land,  to  beare  armes  there  as  other  Christian  princes  did.  At  his 
'arrival  the  marshall  of  his  campe,  having  marked  out  a  lodging  for 
'  the  duke  his  maister,  planted  downe  his  tent  and  his  ensigne  on  it. 
'  A  Norman,  being  a  follower  of  king  Richard,  maintained  that  the 
'lodging  place  belonged  to  him.  From  words  they  fell  to  blowes,  and 
'  Richard,  without  understanding  the  reasons  of  the  parties,  caused  the 
'duke  of  Austria's  tent  and  ensigne  to  be  pull'd  downe  and  hurl'd  upon 
'a  heape  into  a  ditch  of  mire.  The  duke  made  complaint  to  Richard, 
'to  have  reparation  of  this  oflfence,  but  he  payed  him  with  derision; 
'  whereupon,  the  duke  seeing  he  was  despised,  desired  God  to  doe 
'reason  for  him,  and  then  he  would  remit  the  injurie.' 


Chap.  XLII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


189 


*  of  bezans,*-'  and  buying  very  exquisite  victuals ;  he 

*  was  stayed  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  towne  to 
'  understand  further  of  his  condition.     Having  cer- 

*  tefied  them  that  he  belonged  to  a  wealthie  merchant, 
'  who  would  arrive  there  within  three  dayes ;  they 
'  permitted  him  to  depart.  Richard  being  heerof 
'  advertised,  and  much  distasted  in  his  health  by  so 
'  many  hard  sufferances  on  the  seas,  and  perillous 
'  passages  on  the  waves,  concluded  to  repose  there 
'  some  few  dayes  in  the  towne,  during  which  time 

*  the  boy  alwayes  made  their  provision  of  food. 
'  But  by  ill  accident,  on  the  day  of  St.  Thomas  the 
'  Apostle,  the  boy  being  in  the  market,  chaunced 
'  (through  neglect)  to  have  king  Richard's  gloves 
'  tuckt  under  his  girdle :  the  magistrate  of  the  towne 
'  observing  it,  tooke  the  boy  and  gave  him  torment 
'  to  make  him  confesse  whose  gloves  they  were. 
'  The  power  of  punishment,  and  threates  to  have 
'  his  tongue  cut  out  of  his  head,  compelled  him  to 
'  tell  the  trueth.  So  in  short  while  after,  the  duke 
'  of  Austria   hearing   the  tydings,  engirt  the  inne 

*  where  Richard  was  with  a  band  of  armed  men,  and 
■*  Richard,  with  his  sword  in  his  hand  yielded  him- 

*  selfe  to  the  duke,  which  kept  him  strongly  environed 

*  with  well-armed  souldiours,  who  watched  him  night 
'  and  day,  with  their  swords  readie  drawne.  This 
'  is  the  affirmation  of  Mathew  Paris,  concerning  the 
'  surprizall  of  king  Richard. 

*  But  I  have  read  an  ancient  manuscript  of  old 
'  poesies,  written  about  those  very  times,  which  re- 

*  porteth  this  historic  otherwise ;  saying  that  Richard 

*  being  in  his  inne,  disguised  himselfe  like  a  servant 
'  cooke,  larding  his  meate,  broching  it,  and  then 
'  turning  it  at  the  fire  himselfe  :  in  which  time,  one 
'  of  the  duke  of  Austrieas  followers,  being  then  in 

*  the  inne,  came  accidentally  into  the  kitchin,  who 
'  tooke  knowledge  of  this  royall  cooke  ;  not  by  his 
'  face,  which  he  purposely  disfigured  with  the  soyling 
'  of  the  kitchin ;  but  by  a  ring  of  gold,  which  very 
-'  unadvisedly  he  wore  on  his  finger.  This  man  ran 
'  immediately  and  advertised  the  duke  his  maister 
'  that  the  king  of  England  was  within  the  compasse 
'  of  his  power,  and  upon  this  advertisement  Richard 
•^  was  arrested. 

'  In  the  yeare  following,  namely,  one  thousand 
'  one  hundred  fourescore  and  thirteeUj  the  duke 
'  sold  king  Richard  to  the  emperor  Henry,  for  the 
^  sum  of  threescore  thousand  pounds  of  silver,  the 
'  pounds  answering  the  weight  and  order  observed  at 
'  Cologne ;  with  which  sum  Leopold  towred  the 
'  wals  of  the  citie  of  Vienna  in  Austria,  and  bought 
'  the  duchie  of  Styria,  Ncopurg,  and  the  counties  of 

*  Lins  and  Wels,  of  the  Bishops  of  Passau  and  of 
'  Wirtspourg.  So  speaketh  the  Latin  chronicle  of 
'  Otho  of  Austria,  bishop  of  Frisinghen,  for  these 

*  Bezans,  bezants,  or  besans,  are  pieces  of  gold  coin.  Guillim  thus 
explains  the  term: — 'A  beisaunte,  or  as  some  call  them,  a  talent,  is 
'  taken  for  a  massive  plate  or  bullion  of  gold,  containing,  according  to 

*  Leigh,  of  troy  weight  104  lb.  and  two  ounces,  and  is  in  value  3750  lb. 
'  sterling,  and  had  for  the  most  part  no  similitude  or  representation  upon 
'  it,  as  some  hold,  but  only  fashioned  round  and  smooth,  as  if  it  were 
'fitted  and  prepared  to  receive  some  kind  of  stampe.  But  others  are  of 
'  opinion  that  they  were  stamped,  and  that  they  were  called  bezants,  or 
'rather  bizants,  of  Bizantium,  the  place  where  they  were  anciently 
'  coined.'  Display  of  Heraldrj',  Lond.  IC32,  pag.  33.  From  the  eiiceeding 
magnitude  of  this  coin  it  is  certain  that  Favine  means  only  to  say  in 
general  that  the  boy's  purse  was  well  stored  with  money. 


'  perticularities  were  forgotten  by  Mathew  Paris, 
'  who   further   saith.    That    in    the    same   yeere    of 

*  fourscore  and  thirteene,  the  third  holy  day  after 
'  Palme-Sunday,   Leopold   led  Richard  prisoner  to 

*  the  emperor,  who  sent  him  imder  sure  guard  to  the 
'  Tribales.  "  Retrudi  eum  praecepit  in  Triballis, 
"  a  quo  carcere  nullus  ante  dies  istos  exiuit,  qui 
"  ibidem  intrauit :  de  quo  Aristoteles  libro  qi;into. 
"  Bonum  est  mactare  patrem  in  Triballis ;  Et  alibi." 

"  Sunt  loca,  sunt  gentes,  quibus  est  mactare  parentes.' 

'  The  Englishmen  were  more  than  a  whole  yeare, 

*  without  hearing  any  tydings  of  their  king,  or  in 
'  what  place  he  was  kept  prisoner.  He  had  trained 
'  up  in  his  court  a  rimer  or  minstrill  called  Blondell 
'  de  Nesle,  who  (so  saith  the  manuscript  of  old 
'  poesies,  and  an  auncient  manuscript  French  chron- 
'  icle)  being  so  long  without  the  sight  of  his  lord, 
'  his  life  seemed  wearisome  to  him,  and  he  became 
'  much  confounded  with  melancholy.  Knowne  it 
'  was,  that  he  came  backe  from  the  Holy  Land, 
'  but  none  could  tell  in  what  countrey  he  arrived. 
'  ^'^^lereupon  this  Blondel  resolving  to  make  search 

*  for  him  in  many  countries,  but  he  would  hears 
'  some  newes  of  him ;  after  expence  of  divers  dayes 

*  in  travaile,  he  came  to  a  towne  (by  good  hap)  neere 
'  to  the  castell  where  his  maister  king  Richard  was 
'  kept.  Of  his  host  he  demanded  to  whom  the 
'  castell  appertained,  and  the  host  told  him  it  be- 
'  longed  to  the  duke  of  Austria.  Then  he  enquired 
'  whether  any  prisoners  were  therein  detained  or  no ; 

*  for  alwayes  he  made  such  secret  questionings  where - 
'  soever  he  came,  and  the  hoste  gave  answer  that 
'  there  was  one  onely  prisoner,  but  he  knew  not 
'  what  he  was,  and  yet  he  had  bin  detained  there 
'  more  than  the  space  of  a  yeare.  When  Blondel 
'  heard  this,  he  wrought  such  meanes,  that  he  became 
'  acquainted  with  them  of  the  castell,  as  minstrella 
'  doe  easily  win  acquaintance  any  where ;  but  see 
'  the  king  he  could  not,  neither  understand  that  it 
'  was  he.  One  day  he  sat  directly  before  a  window 
'  of  the  castell  where  king  Richard  was  kept  prisoner, 
'  and  began  to  sing  a  song  in  French,  which  king 
'  Richard  and  Blondel  had  sometime  composed  to- 
'  gether.  [When  king  Richard  heard  the  song,  he 
'  knew  it  was  Blondel  that  sung  it;  and  when  Blondel 
'  paused  at  halfe  of  the  song,  the  king  entreated  him 
'  to  sing  the  rest.f  ]  Thus  Blondel  won  knowledge 
'  of  the  king  his  maister ;  and  returning  home  into 
'  England,  made  the  barons  of  the  countrie  acquainted 
'  where  the  king  was.' 

Fauchet,  in  his  relation  of  this  extraordinary  event, 
says  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  said  that  the  ransom  of  Richard 
was  one  hundred  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  Dr.  Percy  has  given  the  passage  from  Fauchet  in  his  own  words, 
which  are  these  : — '  lit  quant  Blondelle  6t  dicte  la  moite  de  la  Chanson, 
'  le  roi  Richart  se  prist  a  dire  I'autre  moitie  et  I'acheva :'  and  renders  the 
last  clause  of  the  sentence  thus : — '  Began  the  other  half  and 
'  COMPLETED  IT.'    Essay  on  English  Minstrels,  pag.  xxx. 


1.90 


HISTOIiY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  Y. 


that  to  raise  it,  the  English  were  obliged  to  sell  their 
church  plate,  even  to  the  very  chalices.* 

The  foregoing  account  contains  incontestible  evi- 
dence that  Richard  was  of  the  class  of  poets,  for  the 
reasons  above  given  termed  Provenjal,  and  of  these 
the  minstrels  appear  to  be  the  genuine  offspring. 
The  nature  of  their  profession  is  learnedly  treated 
on  by  Dr.  Percy  in  his  Essay  on  the  ancient  Minstrels, 
prefixed  to  the  Reliques  of  English  Poetry.  The 
most  generally  received  opinion  of  them  is  that 
they  were  players  on  musical  instruments,  and  those 
chiefly  of  the  stringed  kind,  such  as  the  harp,  the 
cittern,  and  others ;  but  the  word  Minstrel,  in  the 
larger  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  Daunce  of  Machabree 
or  of  Death,  in  the  Appendix  to  Sir  William  Dug- 
dale's  History  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  pag.  2(35, 
col.  i.  he  is  said  to  be  a  minstrel,  who  can  both  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  the  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  Caedmon,  cited 
by  him  in  the  notes  on  the  Essay  on  the  ancient 
English  Minstrels,  pag.  50,  that  to  sing  to  the  Harp 
at  festivals  even  by  the  guests  themselves,  was  so 
customary,  that  such  as  were  incapable  of  doing  it 
were  frequently  necessitated  to  retire,  f     And  that 

*  Robert  of  Gloucester  thus  speaks  of  the  means  used  to  raise  tliis 
sura : — 

The  hundred  thoufend  marc  were  ipaid  biuore  hond 

And  wel  narwe  igadered  in  Engelond, 

Nor  broches,  and  ringes  zimmes  alfo, 

And  the  calls  of  the  weud  me  ioolde  ther  to 

And  grey  monck.es  that  new  come,  and  pouere  tho  were 

Zeue  al  her  welle  there  to  of  one  zere. 

CiiRON.  4S9. 

The  distress  which  this  occasioned  gave  rise  to  a  scholastic  question, 
namely,  what  substance,  silver  and  gold  being  wanting,  was  proper  to 
contain  the  wine  in  the  eucharist :  and  we  tind  in  Lyndwood,  lib.  1. 
de  Summa  Trinitate  et  Fide  Catholica,  cap.  II.  pag.  9,  §  doceant.  verb. 
In  Calice,  that  it  was  thereupon  concluded  to  make  use  of  chalices  of 
latten.  The  objections  against  vessels  formed  of  other  substances  savour 
of  the  divinity  of  those  times  ;  glass  was  too  brittle,  wood  was  spong)', 
alchymy,  aurichalcum,  a  factitious  metal,  vulgarly  ochamy,  as  when 
we  say  an  ochamy  spoon,  was  subject  to  rusting,  and  copper  had  a 
tendency  to  provoke  vomiting.  Fuller,  who  in  this  instance  is  more 
merry  than  wise,  laughs  at  this  decision,  and  calls  it  deep  divinity.  The 
question  was  of  importance,  and  respected  no  less  than  a  sacred  rite  and 
the  health  of  the  people. 

This  usage  continued  till  about  the  year  1443,  when,  to  take  the  words 
of  Fuller,  for  there  is  no  provincial  constitution  to  that  purpose  extant, 
'  the  land  being  more  replenished  with  silver,  John  Stafford  archbishop 
'  of  Canterbury  enknotted  that  priest  in  the  greater  excommunication 
'  who  should  consecrate  poculum  stanneum.'  Vide  Fuller's  History  of 
the  Holy  War,  book  III.  chap.  xiii. 

t  The  passage  cited  by  Dr.  Percy  from  Bede,  and  more  especially  the 
Anglo-Saxon  version  thereof  by  Idng  Alfred,  are  abundant  evidence  of 
the  facts  which  they  are  cited  to  prove.  As  it  does  not  appear  from 
either  of  the  quotations  who  the  poet  Caedmon  was,  nor  what  are  the 
particulars  of  the  story  in  which  he  is  mentioned,  the  same  are  here 
given  at  large  in  the  language  of  a  modern  translator  of  Bede's  History, 
a  person,  as  is  conjectured,  of  the  Romish  communion.  '  In  the  monas- 
'tery  of  the  abbess  Hilda,  [situated  in  a  place  called  Streaneshalh 
'  supposed  to  be  somewhere  in  the  north  of  England]  there  resided 
'a brother,  particularly  remarkable  for  the  grace  of  God,  who  was  wont 
'  to  make  pious  and  religious  verses,  so  that  whatsoever  was  interpreted 
'  to  him  out  of  holy  writ,  he  soon  after  put  the  same  into  poetical 
'expressions  of  much  sweetness  and  compunction,  in  his  own,  that  is. 
'  the  EngUsh  language.  By  his  verses  the  minds  of  many  were  often 
'  excited  to  despise  the  world  and  to  aspire  to  the  heavenly  life.  Others 
'  after  him  attempted  in  the  English  nation  to  compose  religious  poems, 
'  but  none  could  ever  compare  with  him  ;  for  he  did  not  learn  the  art  of 
'  poetising  of  men,  but  through  the  divine  assistance ;  for  which  reason 


the  employment  of  the  ancient  IMinstrels  also  was  to 
sing  panegyrical  songs  and  verses  on  their  bene- 
factors, is  farther  clear  from  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  usual  with  these  minstrels,  not  only 
to  divert  princes  and  the  nobility  with  sports,  but 
also  with  musical  instruments,  and  with  flattering 
songs  in  tlie  praise  of  them  and  their  ancestors, 
which  may  be  seen  in  these  verses : — 

Principis  a  facie,  cytharse  celeberrimus  arte 
Assiirgit  iiiinius,  ars  miisica  quem  decoravit 
Hie  ergo  cliorcla  resonante  subintiilit  ista  : 
Indite  rex  regum,  probitatis  stemmate  vernans, 
Quem  vigor  et  virtus  extollit  in  sethera  famae. 
Indole  virtiitis  qui  vinces  facta  parentis. 
Major  ut  Atrides,  patreni  Neptunius  Heros 
JEgea,  Pelides  excedit  Pelea,  Jason 
Esona,  nee  prolem  pudor  est  evincere  patrem  ; 
Corde  gigas,  agniis  facie  Laertius  astu, 
Consilio  Nestor,  &c. 

The  history  of  this  country  affords  a  remarkable- 
instance  of  favour  shewn  to  this  vagabond  profession 
of  a  minstrel.  The  privileges  which  they  are 
possessed  of  are  of  such  a  kind,  as  to  entitle  them 
to  the  countenance  of  the  legislature,  and,  what  must 
appear  very  remarkable,  to  the  protection  of  the  law ; 
for  although  minstrels,  in  common  with  fencers,  bear- 
wards,  and  common  players  of  interludes,  are  in  the 
law  deemed  rogues  and  vagabonds,  there  is  a  special 
provision  in  all  the  statutes  that  declare  them  to  be  so, 
in  favour  of  common  fiddlers  and  Minstrels,  through- 

'he  never  could  compose  any  trivial  or  vain  poem,  but  only  these  that 
'relate  to  religion,  and  suited  his  religious  tongue;  for  having  lived  in 
'a  secular  habit  till  well  advanced  in  years,  he  had  never  learnt  any 
'  thing  of  versifying  ;  for  which  reason  being  sometimes  at  entertainments, 
'  when  it  was  agreed  for  the  more  mirth,  that  all  present  should  sing  in 
'  their  turns  ;  wlien  he  saw  the  instrument  »ome  towards  him,  he  rose 
'  up  from  table  and  returned  home.  Having  done  so  at  a  certain  time, 
'  and  going  out  of  the  house  where  the  entertainment  was,  to  the  stable, 
'the  care  of  horses  falling  to  him  that  night,  and  composing  himself 
'  there  to  rest  at  the  proper  time,  a  person  appeared  to  him  in  his  sleep, 
'  and  saluted  him  by  his  name,  said,  "  Cedmon,  sing  some  song  to  me; " 
'  he  answered,  •'  I  cannot  sing  ;  for  that  was  the  reason  why  I  left  the 
"  entertainment  and  retired  to  this  place,  because  I  could  not  sing." 
'The  other  who  talked  to  him,  replied,  "However  you  shall  sing." 
"What  shall  I  sing?"  rejoined  he,  "  Sing  the  beginning  of  creatures," 
'  said  the  other.  Hereupon  he  presently  began  to  sing  verses  to  the 
'  praise  of  God,  which  he  had  never  heard,  the  purport  whereof  was 
'thus: — "We  are  now  to  praise  the  Maker  of  the  heavenly  kingdom, 
"  the  power  of  the  Creator  and  his  council,  the  deeds  of  the  Father  of 
"  glory :  how  he,  being  the  eternal  God,  became  the  author  of  all 
"  miracles,  who  first,  as  almighty  preserver  of  the  human  race,  created 
"heaven  for  the  sons  of  men  as  the  roof  the  house,  and  next  the  earth." 
'  This  is  the  sense,  but  not  the  words  in  order  as  he  sung  them  in  his 
'  sleep :  for  verses,  though  never  so  well  composed,  cannot  be  literally 
'  translated  out  of  one  language  into  another  without  losing  much  of 
'  their  beauty  and  loftiness.  Awaking  from  his  sleep,  he  remembered 
'  all  that  he  kad  sung  in  his  dream,  and  soon  added  much  more  to  the 
'  same  effect  in  divine  verses.  Coming  in  the  morning  to  the  steward 
'  that  he  was  under,  he  acquainted  him  with  the  gift  he  had  received  ; 
'  and  being  conducted  to  the  abbess,  he  was  ordered,  in  the  presence  of 
'  many  learned  men,  to  tell  his  dream  and  repeat  the  verses,  that  they 
'might  give  all  their  judgment  what  it  was,  and  whence  it  proceeded 
'  that  he  said  :  They  all  concluded  that  an  heavenly  grace  had  been  con- 
'  ferred  on  him  by  our  Lord.  They  expounded  to  him  a  passage  in  holy 
'  writ,  either  historical  or  doctrinal,  ordering  him,  if  he  could,  to  put  the 
'  same  into  verse.  Having  undertaken  it,  he  went  away,  and  returning 
'  the  next  morning,  gave  it  to  them  composed  into  most  excellent 
'  verse  ;  whereupon  the  abbess,  embracing  the  grace  of  God  in  the  man, 
'instructed  him  to  quit  the  secular  habit,  and  take  upon  him  the  mo- 
'  nastical  life  ;  which  being  accordingly  done,  she  associated  him  to  the 
'  rest  of  the  brethren  in  tiie  monastery,  and  ordered  that  he  should  be 
'taught  the  whole  series  of  the  sacred  history.'  Bede,  Hist.  Eccl. 
lib.  I\^.  cap.  xxiv. 

A  poetical  paraphrase  of  the  book  of  Genesis  and  certain  scripture 
stories  was  published  by  Francis  Junius  at  Amsterdam,  in  1655,  in 
quarto,  from  a  manuscript  of  archbishop  Usher.  This  Caedmon 'is 
supposed  by  Tanner,  and  many  other  writers,  to  be  the  Ctedmon 
mentioned  by  Bede;  but  Dr.  Hickes  seems  to  entertain  some  doubt 
of  it. 


Chap.  XLII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


191 


out  the  county  of  Chester,  of  which  the  following  is 
the  history : — 

In  the  statute  of  17  Geo.  II.  cap.  5,  is  the  following 
proviso  : — *  Provided  always  that  this  act,  or  any 
'  thing  therein  contained,  or  any  authority  thereby 
'  given,  shall  not  in  anywise  extend  to  disinherit, 
'  prejudice,  or  hinder  the  heirs  or  assigns  of  John 

*  Button,  of  Button,  late  of  the  county  of  Chester, 
'  esquire,   for,   touching,  or  concerning  the  liberty, 

*  privilege,  pre-eminence  or  authority,  jurisdiction  or 

*  inheritance,  which  they,  their  heirs  or  assigns  now 
'  lawfully  use,  or  have,  or  lawfully  may  or  ought  to  use 

*  within  the  county  palatine  of  Chester,  and  county  of 

*  Chester,  or  either  of  them,  by  reason  of  any  ancient 

*  charters  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  which  the  following  relation  is  to  be 
met  with  in  the  Historical  Antiquities  of  Cheshire, 
collected  by  Sir  Peter  Lcycester,  Bart.,  part  II. 
chap.  vi.  and  is  mentioned  in  a  book  intitled  Ancient 
Tenures  of  Land  made  public,  by  Thomas  Blount, 
Esq.  octavo,  1679,  pag.  156,  et  seq. 

'  In  the  time  of  king  John,  Handle  the  third,  surnamed 
'  Blundevil,  earl  of  Chester,  having  many  conflicts 
'  vrith  the  Welsh,  was  at  last  distressed  by  them,  and 
'■  forced  to  retreat  to  the  castle  of  Rothelent  in  Flint- 
'  shire,  where  they  besieged  him,  who  presently  sent 

*  to  his  constable  of  Chester,  Roger  Lacy,  surnamed 
'  Hell,  for  his  fierce  spirit,  that  he  would  come  with 
'  all  speed,  and  bring  what  forces  he  could  for  his 
'  relief,  Roger  having  gathered  a  tumultuous  rout  of 
'  Fiddlers,  Players,  Cobblers,  and  debauched  persons, 
'  both  men  and  women,  out  of  the  city  of  Chester  (for 
'  it  was  then  the  fair  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  him  power  over  all  the  Fiddlers  and  Shoe- 
'  makers  of  Chester,  in  reward  and  memory  of  his 
'  service.  The  constable  retained  to  himself  and  his 
'  heirs  the  authority  and  donation  of  the  Shoemakers, 
'  but  John  his  son  conferred  the  authority  over  the 
'  profligates  of  both  sexes  on  his  steward,  which  then 

*  was  Button  of  Button,  by  this  his  deed. 

"  Sciant  prajsentes  et  futuri,  quod  e^o  Johannes, 
"  Constabularius  Cestriaj,  dedi  et  concessi,  et  hac 
"  prsesenti  carta  mea  confirmavi  Hugoni  de  Button, 
"  et  hffiredibus  suis,  magistratum  omnium  leccatorum 
"  et  meretricum  totius  Cestershiri^e,  sicut  liberius 
"  ilium  magistratum  teneo  de  comite  ;  salvo  jure  meo 
"  mihi  et  haeredibus  meis.     Hiis  testibus,"  &c. 

Blount  goes  on  to  observe,  that  though  this  original 
grant  makes  no  mention  of  giving  rule  over  Fiddlers 
and  Minstrels,  yet  that  an  ancient  custom  lias  now 
reduced  it  only  to  the  minstrelsy  ;  for  probably  the 
rout,  which  the  constable  brought  to  the  rescue  of  the 

*  It  seems  that  this  earl  had  rendered  himself  famous  by  his  prowess, 
and  that  his  exploits  were  celebrated  in  rhymes  and  songs  down  to  the 
time  of  Richard  II.  for  in  the  Visions  of  Pierce  Plowman,  Passus 
quintus,  Sloth  says  of  himself: — 

I  cannot  perfitly  my  Pater-nofter  as  the  priit  it  fingeth. 
But  I  con  rimes  of  Robenhod  and  Randal  of  Chefter. 


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  11-  Hen.  VII. 
a  Quo  Warranto  was  brought  against  Laurence 
Button,  of  Button,  esq.  to  shew  why  he  claimed  all 
the  minstrels  of  Cheshire  and  the  city  of  Chester,  to 
appear  before  him  at  Chester  yearly,  on  the  feast  of 
St.  John  Baptist,  and  to  give  him  at  the  said  feast, 
'  Quatuor  legenas  vini  et  unam  lanceam,'  i.  e.  four 
flaggons  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  suum  exercente) '  four  pence 
yearly  at  the  said  feast,  &c.  whereunto  he  pleaded 
prescription. 

And  farther,  that  '  the  heirs  of  this  Hugh  de  Button 
'  enjoy  the  same  power  and  authority  over  the  min- 
'  strelsy  of  Cheshire,  even  to  this  day,  and  keep  a 
'  court  every  year  upon  the  feast  of  St.  John  Baptist, 
'  at  Chester,  being  the  fair  day,  where  all  the  Minstrels 
'  of  the  county  and  city  do  attend  and  play  before  the 
'  lord  of  Button  upon  their  several  instruments ;  he 
'  or  his  deputy  then  riding  through  the  city  thus 
'  attended,  to  the  Church  of  St.  John,  many  gentlemen 
'  of  the  county  accompanying  him,  and  one  walking 
'  before  him  in  a  "  surcoat  of  his  arms  depicted  upon 
"  taffata  ; "  and  after  divine  service  ended,  hold  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  faculty  there  without  it.     But  now  this 

*  dominion  or  privilege  is  by  a  daughter  and  heir  of 
'  Thomas  Button,  devolved  to  the  lord  of  Gerrard, 
'  of  Gerrard's  Bromley  in  Staffordshire.' 

He  adds,  that  whereas  by  the  statute  of  39  Eliz. 
Fiddlers  are  declared  to  be  Rogues  ;  yet  by  a  special 
proviso  therein,  those  in  Cheshire,  licensed  by  Button 
of  Button,  are  exempted  from  that  infamous  title,  in. 
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  fair  on  the 
festival  of  that  saint,  to  be  holden  for  three  days  ;  to 
whose  HONOUR  he  likewise  granted,  that  whatsoever 
Thief  or  Malefactor  came  to  the  solemnity,  should 
not  be  attached  while  he  continued  in  the  same  fair, 
except  he  committed  any  new  offence  there. 

Which  special  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  singular  advantage  to  one  of  the  succeeding 
'  carles.     For  being  at  Rodelent  castle  in  Wales,  and 

*  there  besieged  by  a  power  of  the  W^elsh,  at  such. 
'  a  time  he  was  relieved  rather  by  their  number  than 
'  strength,  under  the  conduct  of  Robert  de  Lacy, 
'  constable  of  Chester,  who  with  pipers  and  other 
'  sorts  of  Minstrels  drew  them  forth,  and  marching 
'  towards  the  castle,  put  the  Welsh  to  such  terror  that 

t  Daniel  King  in  his  Vale  Royal  of  England  illustrated,  part  II, 
pag.  29. 


192 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


'  they  presently  fled.  In  memory  of  Avhicli  notable 
'  exploit,  that  famous  meeting  of  such  Minstrels  hath 

*  been  duly  continued  to  every  Midsummer  fair,  at 
'  which  time  the  heir  of  Hugh  de  Dutton,  accompanied 

*  with  diverse  gentlemen,  having  a  pennon  of  his  arms 
'  borne  before  him  by  one  of  the  principal  Minstrels, 
"■  who  also  weareth  his  surcoat,  first  rideth  up  to  the 
'  east  gate  of  the  city,  and  there  causing  proclamation 
'  to  be  made  that  all  the  Musicians  and  Minstrels 
'  within  the  county-palatine  of  Chester  do  approach 
'  and  play  before  him.  Presently  so  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  his  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  instru- 
^  ment "  Avithout  licence  from  the  lord  of  that  court, 

*  or  what  misdemeanour  he  is  guilty  of.    And  thirdly, 

*  whether  they  have  heard  any  language  amongst 
'■  their  fellows,  tending  to  the  dishonour  of  their  lord 

*  and  patron  (the  heir  of  Dutton)  which  privilege  was 

*  anciently  so  granted  by  John  de  Lacy,  constable  of 
^  Chester,  son  and  heir  to  the  before  specified  Roger, 
'  unto  Hugh  de  Dutton  and  his  heirs,  by  a  special 
^  charter  in  these  words,  viz.,  "  Magisterium  omnia 
'•'  leccatorum  ct  meretricum  totius  Cestrishire,"  and 

*  hath  been  thus  exercised  time  out  of  mind.' 

Another  instance  of  favour  to  Minstrels,  and  of 
privileges  enjoyed  by  them,  occurs  in  Dr.  Plot's 
History  of  Staffordshire,  chap.  X.  §  69,  where  the 
author  taking  occasion  to  mention  Tutbury-castle,  a 
seat  of  the  ancient  earls  and  dukes  of  Lancaster,  is 
led  to  speak  of  Minstrels  appertaining  to  the  honour 
of  Tutbury,  and  of  their  king,  with  his  several 
■officers  ;  of  whom,  and  of  the  savage  sport  commonly 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Tutbury  Bull-running,  he 
gives  the  following  accurate  account : — 

*  During  the  time  of  which  ancient  earls  and  dukes 
'  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  Tut- 
'  bury,  there  could  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  nu- 
'  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 

execution  of  those  laws ;  full  power  being  granted 

*  to  them  to  apprehend  and  arrest  any  such  Minstrels 
'  appertaining  to  the  said  honour,  as  should  refuse  to 
'  do  their  services  in  due  manner,  and  to  constrain 
'  them  to  do  them  ;  as  appears  by  the  charter  granted 
'  to  the  said  king  of  the  Minstrels  by  John  of  Gaunt, 

*  king  of  Castile  and  Leon,  and  duke  of  Lancaster, 
'  bearing  date  the  22nd  of  August  in  the  4  year  of  the 
'  raigne  of  king  Richard  the  second,  eutituled  Carta 

*  le  Roy  de  Ministralx,  which  being  written  in  old 


French,  I  have  here  translated,  and  annexed  it  to 
this  discourse,  for  the  more  universal  notoriety  of 
the  thing,  and  for  satisfaction  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  Tutbury,  who  is,  or  for  the  time  shall  be, 
to  apprehend  and  arrest  all  the  Minstrels  in  our 
said  honor  and  franchise,  that  refuse  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  justify  and  to  constrain 
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  our  letters  to 
be  made  patents.  Given  under  our  privy  seal,  at 
our  castle  of  Tutbury,  the  22nd  day  of  Aug.  in  the 
'  fourth  year  of  the  raigne  of  the  most  sweet  king 
'  Richard  the  second." 

'  Upon   this,  in   process   of  time,    the   defaulters 

being  many,  and  the  amercements  by  the  officers 

perhaps  not  sometimes  over  reasonable,  concerning 

which,  and  other  matters,  controversies  frequently 

arising,  it  was  at  last  found  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  this 

day  on  the  morrow  after  the  Assumption,  being 

the  16th  of  August,  on  which  day  they  now  also 

doe   all   the  services  mentioned  in  the  abovesaid 

grant ;    and  have  the  bull  due  to  them  anciently 

from  the  prior  of  Tutbury,  now  from   the    earle 

of  Devon,  whereas  they  had   it   formerly  on  the 

Assumption   of  our  Lady,  as  appears  by  an  In- 

speximus  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  qusedam  consuetudo  quod  histriones  ve- 

'  nientes  ad  matutinas  in  festo  Assumptionis  beatas 

'  Mariae,  habebunt  unum  taurum  de  priore  de  Tutte- 

'  bury,  si  ipsum  capere  possunt  citra  aquam  Dove 

'propinquiorem  Tuttebury ;  vel  prior  dabit  eis  xld. 

'pro  qua  quidem  consuetudine  dabuntur  domino  ad 

'  dictum  festum  annuatim  xxd."  «.  e.  that  there  is 

a  certain  custom  belonging  to  the  honor  of  Tutbury, 

that  the  minstrells  who  came  to  mattins  there  on 

the  feast  of  the  Assumption  of  the  blessed  Virgin, 

shall   have   a   bull   given   them    by   the   prior   of 

Tutbury,  if  they  can  take  him   on   this   side  the 

river  Dove,  which  is  next  T\atbury ;   or  else  the 

prior  shall  give  them  xld.  for  the   enjoyment  oi 

which  custom  they  shall  give  to  the  lord  at  the 

said  feast  yearly,  xxd. 

'  Thus  I  say  the  services  of  the  Minstrels  were 
'  performed  and  bull  enjoyed  anciently  on  the  feast 


Chap.  XLII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


193 


'  of  the  Assumption  ;  but  now  they  are  done  and 
'  had  in  the  manner  following  :  on  the  court  day, 
'  or  morrow  of  the  Assumption,  being  the  16th  of 
'  August,  what  time  all  the  Minstrells  within  the 
'  honor  come  first  to  the  bailiff's  house  of  the  manor 
'  of  Tutbury,  who  is  now  the  earl   of   Devonshire, 

*  where  the  steward  for  the  court  to  be  holden 
'  for  the  king,  as  duke  of  Lancaster  (who  is  now  the 
'  duke  of  Urmond)  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  vear 
'  past,  walking   between  the  steward  and  bailiff,  or 

*  their  deputies ;  the  four  stewards  or  under  officers 
'  of  the  said  King  of  the  IMinstrells,  each  with 
'  a  white  wand  in  their  hands,  immediately  following 

*  (hem,  and  then  the  rest  of  the  company  in  order. 
'  Being  come  to  the  church,  the  vicar  reads  them 
'  divine  service,  chusing  psalms  and  lessons  suitable 

*  to  the  occasion :  the  psalms  when  I  was  there,  an. 
'  IGbO,  being  the  98.  119.   150:   the  first  lesson  2 

*  Chron.  5 ;  and  the  second  the  5  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 
'  as  before,  from  the  church  to  the  castle-hall  or 
'  court,  where  the  steward  or  his  deputy  taketh  his 
'  place,  assisted  by  the  bailiff  or  his  deputy,  the  King 

*  of  the  Minstrells  sitting  between  them,  who  is  to 
'  oversee  that  every  Minstrell  dwelling  within  the 
'  honor  and  making  defjudt,  shall  be  presented  and 
'  amerced  :  which  that  he  may  the  better  do,  an 
'  0  Yes  is  then  made  by  one  of  the  officers,  being 
'  a  Minstrell,  3  times,  giving  notice,  by  direction 
'  from  the  steward,  to  all  manner  of  Minstrells  dwell- 
'  ing  within  the  honor  of  Tutbury,  viz.,  within  the 
'  counties  of  Stafford,  Darby,  Nottingham,  Leicester, 
'  and  Warwick,  owing  suit  and  service  to  his  ma- 
'jesty's  Court  of  Musick,  here  holden  as  this  day, 
'  that  every  man  draw  near  and  give  his  attendance, 
'  upon  pain  and  peril  that  may  otherwise  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  musicians  being  called  over 
'  by  a  court-roll,  two  juries  are  impanelled,  out  of 
'  2'4  of  the  sufficientest  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 
'  usual  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  give  them  their  charge  ;  first  commend- 

*  ing  to  their  consideration  the  Original  of  all  Musick, 

*  both  Wind  and  String  Musick  ;  the  antiquity  and 
'  excellency  of  both  ;  setting  forth  the  force  of  it  upon 
'  the  affections  by  diverse  examples ;  how  the  use  of 
'  it  has  always  been  allowed,  as  is  plain  from  holy 

«  This  word  should  he  essoined,  for  so  it  is  ill  Blount,  and  is  nonsense 
otherwise.     In  this  place  it  means  respited. 


'  writ,  in  praising  and  glorifying  God  ;  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  wav  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  Dutton,  in  the  county  palatine 
'  of  Chester,  are  expressly  excepted  in  that  act.  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  lour  stewards  of  the  preceding  year,  and 
'  one  year  out  of  Staffordshire,  and  the  other  out  of 
'  Darbyshire,  interchangeably  ;  and  the  four  stewards, 
'  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  make  themselves  merry 
'  with  a  banquet,  and  a  Noise  f  of  musicians  playing 
'  to  them,  the  old  king  still  sitting  between  the 
'  steward  and  bailiff  as  before ;  but  returning  again 
'  after  a  competent  time,  they  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  up  a  cup  filled  with  wine,  drinketh  to 
'  him,  wishing  him  all  joy  and  prosperity  in  his  office. 
'  In  the  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  cor- 
'  porate,  or  in  any  place  within  the  Idng'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  the  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,  &c.  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  Minstrells 

+  //  seems  that  a  company  of  mnsicinns  is  termed  a  Noise ;  this  we  learn 
from,  a  passage  in  the  Second  Part  of  Henry  IV.,  Act  IT,,  See.  IV  ,  where 
mention  is  made  of  Stiea/c's  Noise,  i.  e.  a  company  of  Musicians  of  which 
one  named  Sneak  was  the  Master:  if  may  be  inferred  that  a  Noise  of 
Musicians  is  not  a  sarcastic,  but  a  technical  term. 

0 


194 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


went  anciently  to  the  abbey -gate,  now  to  a  little 
barn  by  the  town  side,  in  expectance  of  the  bull  to 
be  turned  forth  to  them,  which  was  formerly  done, 
according  to  the  custom  above-mentioned,  by  the 
prior  of  Tutbury,  now  by  the  earl  of  Devonshire  ; 
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  full  of 
beaten  pepper  ;  in  short,  being  made  as  mad  as  'tis 
possible  for  him  to  be,  after  solemn  Proclamation 
made  by  the  Steward,  that  all  manner  of  persons 
give  way  to  the  Bull,  none  being  to  come  near  him 
by  40  foot,  any  way  to  hinder  the  Minstrells,  but  to 
attend  his  or  their  ow-n  safeties,  every  one  at  his  own 
peril  :    he  is  then  forthwith  turned   out  to  them 
(anciently  by  the  prior),  now  by  the  lord  Devon- 
shire, or  his  deputy,  to  be  taken  by  them  and  none 
other,  within  the  "county  of  Stafford,  between  the 
time  of  his  being  turned  out  to  them,  and  the  setting 
of  the  sun  of  the  same  day  ;  which  if  they  cannot 
■  do,  but  the  Bull  escapes  from  them  untaken,  and 
'  gets  over  the  river  into  Darbyshire,  he  remains  still 
'  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  Mercat  Cross,  in  token  they  have  taken  him. 
'  the  said  Bull  is  then  brought  to  the  Bailiff's  house 
'  in  Tutbury,  and  there  collered  and  roap'd,  and  so 
'brought  to  the  Bull-Ring  in  the  High-street,  and 
'  there   baited  with  doggs :    the  first  course  being 
'  allotted  for  the  King ;  the  second  for  the  Honour 
'  of  the  Towne ;  and  the  third  for  the  King  of  the 
'  Minstrells,  which  after  it  is  done  the  said  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-running,  should  be  annually  performed  by  the 
'  Minstrells  only,  but  now-a-days  they  are  assisted  by 
'  the  promiscuous  multitude,  that  flock  hither  in  great 
'  numbers,  and  are  much  pleased  with  it ;    though 
'  sometimes  through  the  emulation  in  point  of  Man- 
'  hood,  that  has   been   long   cherished  between  the 
Staffordshire  and  Darby sliire  men,  perhaps  as  much 
mischief  may  have  been  done  in  the  trial  between 
them,  as  in  the  Jeu  de  Taureau,  or  Bull-fighting, 
practised    at    Valentia,    Madrid,    and    many    other 
places  in  Spain,  whence  perhaps  this  our  custom  of 
Bull-running  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  Spanyards  as  well 
as  they  from  the  Romans,  and  the  Romans  from  the 
Greeks?  wherein  I  am  the  more  confirmed,  for  that 
the  TavpoKara  \piu)r  ij^ipai  amongst  the  Thessalians, 
who  first  instituted  this  Game,  and  of  whom  Julius 
Csesar  learned  it,  and  brought  it  to  Rome,  were 
celebrated  much  about  the  same  time  of  the  year  our 
Bull-running  is,  viz.,  Pridie  Ides  Augusti,  on  the 
'  12th  of  August ;    which  perhaps  John  of  Gaunt,  in 
■  honour  of  the  Assumption  of  our  Lady,  being  but 
'  three  days  after,  might  remove  to  the  15th,  as  after 
*  ages  did  (that  all  the  solemnity  and  court  might  be 


*  kept  on  the  same  day,  to  avoid  further  trouble)  to 

*  the  16th  of  August'  ' 

The  foregoing  account  of  the  modern  usage  in  the 
exercise  of  this  barbarous  sport,  is  founded  on  the 
observation  of  the  relater.  Dr.  Plot,  whose  curiosity 
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  the  honour  of  Tut- 
bury, which  is  given  at  large  in  Blount's  Collection 
of  ancient  Tenures  before  cited.* 

CHAP.  XLIIL 

Such   were  the   exercises   and   privileges   of  the 
minstrels  in  this  country ;  and  it  will  be  found  that 
the  Provenjal   troubadours,  jongleurs,  musars,  and 
violars,   from    whom    they    clearly    appear    to   have 
sprung,  possessed  at  least  an  equal  share  of  favour  and 
protection  under  the  princes  and  other  great  person- 
ages who  professed  to  patronize  them.    The  Proven9al8 
are  to  be  considered  as  the  fathers  of  modern  poesy 
and  music,  and  to  deduce  in  a  regular  order  the 
history  of  each,  especially  the  latter,  it  is  necessary 
to  advert  to  those  very  circimistantial  accounts  that 
are  extant  of  them,  and  the  nature  of  their  profession 
in  the  several  authors  who  speak  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  Rudello,  concern- 
ing whom  it  is  related  that  he  was  very  intimate  with 
Geoffrey,  the  brother  of  Richard  the  First ;  and  that 
W'hile  he  was  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  was  almost  dead.    The 
countess  being  informed  of  his  arrival,  went  on  board 
tlie  ship  that  brought  him,  just  time  enough  to  see  him 
alive  :  she  took  him  by  the  hand,  and  strove  to  com- 
fort him.     The  poet  was  but  just  sensible  ;  he  opened 
his  eyes,  said  that  having  seen  her  he  was  satisfied, 
and   died.      The    countess,   as   a   testimony  of  her 
gratitude  for  this  visit,  which  probably  cost  poor 
Geoffrey  his  life,  erected  for  him  a  s})lendid  tomb  of 
porphyry,  and  inscribed  on  it  his  epitaph  in  Arabic 
verse  :  besides  this  she  caused  his  poems  to  be  collected, 
and  curiously  copied  and  illuminated  with  letters  of 
gold.f     She  was  soon  afterwards  seized  with  a  deep 
melancholy,  and  became  a  nun. 

*  In  the  collection  of  ancient  ballads,  known  by  the  name  of 
Robin  Hood's  Garland,  is  a  very  apt  allusion  to  the  Tutbury  feast  or 
bull-running,  in  the  following  passage : — 

'  This  battle  was  fought  near  Tutbury  town 

'  When  the  bag-pipers  baited  the  bull, 
'  I  am  king  of  the  fiddlers,  and  swear  'tis  a  truth, 

'  And  call  him  that  doubts  it  a  gull ; 
'  For  I  saw  them  fighting,  and  fiddl'd  the  while, 

'  A.nd  Clorinda  sung  Hey  derry  down  : 
'  The  bumpkins  are  beaten,  put  up  thy  sword  Bob, 

'  And  now  let's  dance  into  the  town. 
'  Before  we  came  to  it  we  heard  a  great  shouting, 

'  And  all  that  were  in  it  look'd  madly  ; 
'  For  some  were  a  bull-back,  some  dancing  a  morrice. 
'  And  some  singing  Arthur  a  Bradley.' 

Song  I. 

t  Comment,  della  Volgar  Poesia,  vol.  II.  part  I.  pag.  11. 


Chap.  XLIIL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


195 


A  canzone,  which  he  wrote  wliile  he  was  upon  this 
romantic  voyage,  is  yet  extant ;  it  is  as  follows : — 

Irat,  et  dolent  me'  en  partray 

S'  yeu  non  vey  est'  amour  deluench, 
E  non  say  qu'  ouras  la  veyray 
Car  son  trop  nostras  terras  luench. 

Dieu  que  fes  tout  quant  ven  e  vay, 
E  forma  quest'  amour  luench, 
My  don  uoder  al  cor,  car  hay 
Esper,  vezerl'  amour  de  luench. 

Segnour,  tenes  my  per  veray 

L'  amour  qu'  ay  vers  ella  de  luench, 
Car  per  un  ben  que  m'en  esbay 
Hai  mille  mals,  tant  soy  de  luench. 

Ja  d'  autr'  amours  non  jauziray, 

S'  yeu  non  iau  dest'  amour  de  luench 

Qu'  na  plus  bella  non  en  say. 

En  luec  que  sia,  ny  pres,  ni  luench.* 

\Yhich  Rymer  has  thus  translated : — 

Sad  and  heavy  should  T  part. 
But  for  this  love  so  far  away  ; 
Not  knowing  what  my  ways  may  thwart, 
My  native  land  so  far  away. 

Thou  that  of  all  things  maker  art, 
And  form'st  this  love  so  far  away  ; 
Give  body's  strength,  then  shan't  1  start 
From  seeing  her  so  far  away. 

How  true  a  love  to  pure  desert. 
My  love  to  her  so  far  away  ! 
Eas'd  once,  a  thousand  times  I  smart, 
Whilst,  ah !  she  is  so  far  away. 

None  other  love,  none  other  dart 
I  feel,  but  her's  so  far  away. 
But  fairer  never  touch'd  an  heart. 
Than  her's  that  is  so  far  away.f 

The  emperor  Frederic  I.,  or,  as  he  is  otherwise 
called,  Frederic  Barbarossa,  is  also  celebrated  for  his 
poetical  talents,  of  which  the  following  madrigal  in 
the  Provenjal  dialect  is  given  as  a  specimen : — 

Plas  my  cavallier  Frances 

E  la  dama  Catallana 
E  r  onrar  del  Gynoes 

E  la  cour  de  Kastellana  : 
Lou  kantar  Provensalles, 

E  la  danza  Triuyzana. 
E  lou  corps  Aragonnes, 

Et  la  perla  JuUiana, 
Las  mans  e  kara  d'  Angles,^ 

E  lou  donzel  de  Thuscana.J 

"\Miich  Rymer  says  is  current  every  where,  and  is 
thus  translated  by  himself  : — 

I  like  in  France  the  chivalry, 
The  Catalonian  lass  for  me  ; 
The  Genoese  for  working  well  ; 
But  for  a  court  commend  Castile  : 
For  song  no  countrey  to  Provance, 
And  Treves  must  carry 't  for  a  dance, 
The  finest  shapes  in  Arragon, 
In  Juliers  they  speak  in  tune. 
The  English  for  an  hand  and  face, 
For  boys,  troth,  Tuscany 's  the  place. § 

Concerning  this  prince,  it  is  related,  that  he  was  of 

*  Comment,  delli  Volgar  Poesia,  vol.  II.  part  I.  pag.  12. 
■f  Short  View  of  Trap.  pag.  72. 

J  Comni.  (iella  Volgar  Poesia,  vol.  II.  part  I.  pag.  15. 
§  Short  View  of  Tragedy,  pag.  75. 


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  1153,  and  having 
reigned  about  thirty-eight  years,  was  drowned  as  he 
was  bathing  in  the  Cydnus,  a  river  in  Asia  Minor, 
issuing  out  of  Mount  Taurus,  esteemed  one  of  the 
coldest  in  the  world  || 

Arnaldo  Daniello,  another  of  the  Provencals 
flourished  about  the  year  IIS'J,  and  is  greatly  cele- 
brated by  Nostradamus  and  his  commentator  Cres- 
cimbeni :  he  composed  many  comedies  and  tragedies. 
It  is  said  that  Petrach  has  imitated  him  in  many 
places ;  and  that  Daniello  not  only  was  a  writer  of 
sonnets,  madrigals,  and  other  verses,  but  that  he  com- 
posed the  music  to  many  of  them.  As  a  proof  whereof 
the  following  passages  are  cited  : — 

Ma  canzon  prec  qe  non  vus  sia  en  nois  versi]^! 

Gar  si  volez  grazir  lo  son,  e  '1  mos  [«oe  la  musica,  ei 
Pauc  prez  Arnaut  cui  qe  plaz,  o  que  tire. 

Which  Crescimbeni  thus  translates, — 

Mia  canzon,  prego,  non  vi  sia  in  noia 

Che  se  gradir  volet  e  il  suono,  e  '1  motto  ; 
Cui  piaccia,  o  no,  apprezza  poco  Arnaldo. 

And  this  other, — 

Ges  per  maltrag  qem  sofri 
De  ben  amar  non  destoli 
Si  tot  me  son  endesert 
Per  lei  faz  lo  son  el  rima. 

Thus  translated  by  Crescimbeni, — 

Gia  per  mal  tratto  ch'  io  sofFersi 
Di  ben  amar  non  mi  distolsi 
Si  tosto,  ch'  io  mi  sono  in  solitudine, 
Per  lei  faccio  lo  suono,  e  la  rima.** 

One  proof  of  Arnaldo  Daniello's  reputation  as  a 
poet  is,  that  Petrarch  taking  occasion  to  mention 
Arnaldo  di  Maraviglia,  another  of  the  Provencals, 
styles  him  '  II  men  famoso  Arnaldo,'  meaning  thereby 
to  give  the  former  a  higher  rank  in  the  class  of  poets. 

Many  others,  as  namely,  Guglielmo  Adimaro, 
Folchetto  da  Marsiglia,  Raimondo  di  Miravalle, 
Anselmo  Faidit,  Arnaldo  di  IMaraviglia,  Ugo  Bru- 
nette, Pietro  Raimondo  il  Prode,  Ponzio  di  Bruello, 
Rambaldo  d'  Oranges,  Salvarico  di  Malleone,  an 
English  gentleman,  Bonifazio  Calvi,  Percivalle  Doria, 
Giraldo  di  Bornello,  Alberto  di  Sisterone,  Bernardo 
Rascasso,  Pietro  de  Bonifazi,  and  others,  to  the  amount 
of  some  hundreds  in  number,  occur  in  the  catalogue 
of  Provencal  poets,  an  epithet  which  was  given  to 
them,  not  because  they  were  of  that  country,  for  they 
were  of  many  countries,  but  because  they  cultivated 
that  species  of  poetry  which  had  its  rise  in  Provence : 
nor  were  they  less  distinguished  by  their  different 
ranks  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- 
yers, some  soldiers,  others  merchants,  nay  some  were 
mechanics,  and  even  pilgrims. 

All  these  were  favoured  with  the  protection,  and 

II  It  is  remarkable  that  Alexander  the  Great  bj'  bathing  in  this  river 
contracted  that  illness  of  which  his  physician  Philip  cured  him. 
U  Crescimb. 
**  Comment,  della  volgar  Poesia,  vol.  II.  part  I.  pag.  25. 


19G 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Bock  V 


many  of  them  were  maintained  in  the  court  of  Raimondo 
Berlinghieri,  or  Beringhieri,  for  the  orthography  of 
his  name  is  a  matter  of  question  *  This  prince,  who 
was  the  son  of  Idelfonso  Iring  of  Arragon,  was  him- 
self an  excellent  poet,  of  great  liberality,  and  a  patron 
of  learning  and  ingenious  men.  The  following  is  the 
account  given  of  him  by  Nostradamus  : — 

'  Raimondo  Berlinghieri  count  of  Provence  and  of 

'  Folcachiero,  son  of  Idelfonso,  king  of  Arragon,  was 

'  a  descendant  of  the  family  of  Berlinghieri  of  Arragon. 

'  He  was  a  good  Provencal  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  succeedetl  to  on  the  death 

'  of  his  father,   he  conquered   many  countries,   and 

'  that  more  by  his  prudence  than  by  the  force  of  his 

'  arms.    Pie  married  Beatrice,  the  daughter  of  Thomas 

'  count  of  Savoy,  a  very  wise,  beautiful,  and  virtuous 

'  princess,  in  praise  of  whom  many  of  the  Provencal 

'  poets  composed  songs  and  sonnets,  in  recompence 

'  for   which   she    presented   them    with    arms,    rich 

'  habiliments,  and  money.     By  this  lady  the  count  had 

'  four  daughters,  beautiful,  wise,  and  virtuous,  all  of 

'  whom  wore  married  to  kings  and  sovereign  princes, 

'  by  means  of  a  discreet  man  named   Romeo,  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 

'  Eleonora,  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.'  f     It  is  said  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  nature.^ 

'  He  died  at  the  age  of  forty-seven,  in  the  year  of  our 

'  Lord  1245. 

The  above  is  the  substance  of  the  account  given  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  he  is  not  less  remarkable  in 

*  Fontanini  mentions  particularly  no  fewer  than  five  of  the  name ; 
the  person  here  spoken  of  is  the  last  of  them.  Delia  Eloquenza  Italiana, 
pag.  60. 

^  Both  Nostradamus  and  his  commentator  Crescimbeni  have  betrayed 
a  most  gross  ignorance  of  history  in  tliis  passage:  it  is  very  true  that 
Raimond  had  four  daughters,  and  that  they  were  married  to  four  kings  : 
the  poet  Dante  says  : — 

Quattro  figlie  hebbe  et  ciascuna  rcina 

Raraondo  Beringhieri 

Four  lovely  daughters,  each  of  them  a  queen, 

Had  Ramond  Beringher. 

But  neither  of  them  fell  to  the  lot  of  Richard;  his  queen  was 
Berengaria  or  Berenguella,  daughter  of  Sanclio  of  Navarre,  and,_  as 
Mr.  Walpole  observes,  no  princess  of  Provence.  As  to  the  four  ladies, 
they  were  thus  disposed  of: — Margaret  was  married  to  Lewis  king  of 
France,  Eleanor  to  our  Henry  III,  Sanchia  to  Richard  king  of  the 
Romans,  and  nephew  to  Richard  king  of  England ;  and  Beatrice  to 
Charles  king  of  Naples  and  Sicily. 

X  It  seems  that  these  men  were  as  well  knights  as  poets,  for  which 
reason  their  patron  and  they  have  been  resembled  to  king  Arthur  and 
Lis  knights  of  the  Round  Table.     Fonlan.  della  Eloqu.  Ital.  pag.  63. 


history  for  his  munificence  than  his  ingratitude ;  of 
which  the  following  curious  story,  related  by  Velu- 
tello.  and  by  Crescimbeni,  inserted  in  his  annotations 
on  the  life  of  Raimondo  Berlinghieri  by  Nostradamus, 
may  serve  as  an  instance  : — § 

'  The  liberality  of  Raimondo,  for  which  he  is  so 
'  celebrated,  had  reduced  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.  James 
'  of  Conipostella,  arrived  at  his  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  subject 
'  was,  a  promise  on  the  part  of  the  pilgrim  to  reform 
'  his  household,  reduce  the  expenses  of  his  govern- 
'  ment,  and  deliver  the  count  I'rom  the  hands  of 
'  usurers,  and  other  persons  who  had  incumbrances 
'  on  his  estates  and  revenues.  The  count  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  Romeo,  touching 
'  the  marriage  of  these  ladies,  is  recorded,  and  show 
'  him  to  have  been  of  singular  discretion,  an  able 
'  negociator,  and,  in  short,  a  man  thoroughly  skilled 
'  in  the  affairs  of  the  world  :  for,  with  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  much 
'  larger  portion  than  Raimond  ever  intended  to  give 
'  her,  or  his  circumstances  would  bear  :  the  reason 
'  which  Romeo  gave  for  this  is  worth  recording  ; 
"  W"  said  he  to  the  count,  "  your  eldest  daughter  be 
"  married  to  Lewis,  such  an  alliance  cannot  fail  to 
"  facilitate  the  marriage  of  the  rest ;  "  and  the  event 
'  showed  how  good  a  judge  he  was  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  had  embezzled  the  public 
'  treasure.  Raimond  attended  to  their  suggestions, 
'  and  called  him  to  a  strict  account  of  his  admi- 
'  nistration,  which  when  he  had  rendered,  Romeo 
'  atldressed  the  count  in  these  pathetic  terms :  '  Count, 
"  I  have  served  you  a  long  time,  and  have  increased 
"  your  little  revenue  to  a  great  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  honestly 
"  with  you ;  return  me  the  little  Mule,  the  Staff,  and 

§  Comment,  della  volgar  Poesia,  vol.  II.  part  I.  pag.  78. 


Chap.  XLllL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


197 


"  the  Pouch,  which  I  brought  with  me  hither,  and 
"  never  more  expect  any  service  from  me."* 

'  Conscious  of  the  justness  of  this  reproach, 
'  Raimondo  desired   that  what  had  past  might   be 

*  forgotten,   and  intreated    Romeo  to   lay  aside  his 

*  resolution  of  quitting  his  court ;  but  the  spirit  of 
'  this  honest  man  was  too  great  to  brook  such  treat- 
'  ment ;  he  departed  as  he  came,  and  was  never  more 
'  heard  of.' 

Few  of  the  many  authors  who  have  taken  occasion 
to  mention  this  remarkable  story,  have  forborne  to 
blame  Raimondo  for  his  ingratitude  to  a  man  who 
had  merited  not  only  his  protection,  but  the  highest 
marks  of  his  favour.  The  poet  Dante  has  censured 
him  for  it,  and  borne  his  testimony  to  the  deserts  of 
the  person  thus  injured  by  him,  by  placing  him  in 
paradise ;  and  considering  how  easy  it  was  to  have 
done  it,  it  was  almost  a  wonder  that  he  did  not  place 
his  master  in  a  less  delightful  situation. 

The  passage  in  Dante  is  as  follows : — 

E  dentro  a  la  presente  Margarita 
Luce  la  Kice  di  Romeo  ;  di  cui 
Fu  r  opra  grande,  e  bella  mal  gradita. 
Mai  Provenzali,  che  fer  contra  lui, 
Non  hanno  riso  :  e  pero  mal  camina, 
Qual  si  fa  danno  del  ben  fare  altrui. 

Quattro  figlie  hebbe,  e  ciascuna  reina, 
Ramondo  Beringhieri  ;  e  cio  gli  feci 
Romeo  persona  humile  e  peregrina  : 

E  poi  '1  mosser  le  parole  biece 

A'  dimandar  ragione  a  questo  giusto ; 
Che  gli  assegno  sette,  e  cinque  per  dieci : 

Indi  partissi  povero,  e  vetusto  : 

E  se  1  mondo  sapesse  '1  cor,  ch'  egli  hebbe 
Mendicando  sua  vita  a  frustro  a  frustro  ; 

Assai  lo  loda,  e  piu  lo  loderebbe.f 

Many  are  the  stories  related  of  the  Provencal 
poets ;  and  there  is  great  reason  to  suspect  that  the 
history  of  them  abounds  with  fables.  The  collection 
of  their  lives  by  Nostradamus  is  far  from  being 
a  book  of  the  highest  authority,  and,  but  for  the 
Commentary  of  Crescimbeni,  would  be  of  little  value: 
the  labours  of  these  men  have  nevertheless  con- 
tributed to  throw  some  light  on  a  very  dark  part  of 
literary  history,  and  have  furnished  some  particulars 
which  better  writers  than  themselves  seem  not  to 
have  been  aware  of. 

From  such  a  source  of  poetical  fiction  as  the 
country  of  Provence  appears  to  have  been,  nothing 
less  could  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  but  improve  on  the  hints  which  they  had 
received  from  the  Provencals.     Mr.   Dryden  is  of 

•  '  Conte,  io  ti  ho  servito  gran  tempo,  e  messoti  il  piccolo  stato  in 
'  crande ;  e  di  ci6,  per  falso  consiglio  de'  tuoi  baroni,  sei  contro  a  me 
'  poco  grato.  Io  venni  in  tua  corte  povero  Romeo,  e  onestamente  sono 
'  del  tuo  vivuto  :  fammi  dare  il  mi  muletto,  e  il  niio  bordoiie,  e  scarsella, 
'  com'  io  ci  veniii,  e  quetoti  o^ni  servii,'io.'  Crescimb  79,  from  Velutello. 
Landino  relates  the  same  story,  adding,  that  at  his  departure  Romeo 
uttered  these  words,  '  Povero  venni,  e  povero  me  ne  parte  ;  Poor  I  came, 
'  and  poor  I  go.'     Ibid.  78. 

Fontenelle  was  so  affected  with  the  story  of  this  injured  man,  that  he 
intended  to  have  written  it  at  length,  but  was  prevented.  Near  thirty 
pases  of  it  may  however  be  seen  in  the  Paris  edition  of  his  works, 
published  in  1758,  tome  VIII.  It  is  entitled  Histoire  du  Romieu  de 
Provence. 

t  Paradiso,  canto  VI. 


opinion  that  the  celebrated  story  of  Gualterus,  mar- 
quis of  Saluzzo,  and  Griselda,  is  of  the  invention  of 
Petrarch ;  but  whether  it  be  not  originally  a  Pro- 
vencal tale,  may  admit  of  doubt  :  for  first  Mr. 
Dryden's  assertion  in  the  preface  to  his  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  by 
Petrarch  into  Latin,  but  not  till  he  had  received  it 
from  his  friend  Boccace.  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  English  version 
of  this  beautiful  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  Griselda  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 
Provencal  tales  which  he  is  supposed  to  have  ampli- 
fied and  adorned  with  his  usual  powers  of  wit  and 
elegance.  This  latter  part  of  3Ir.  Dryden's  assertion, 
which  is  '  that  the  tale  of  Grizzild  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  woll  you  tell  a  tale,  whiche  that  I 
Lerned  at  Padow,  of  a  worthy  clerke, 
As  preued  is  by  his  vi'ordes  and  his  werke. 
He  is  now  deed,  and  nailed  in  his  chefte, 
I  praye  to  God.fende  his  foule  good  refte. 
Fraunces  Petrarke,   the  Liureat  poete, 
Hight  this  clerke,  whofe  rhetorike  fvvete 
Enlumined  all  Italie  of  poetrie, 
As  Liuian  did  of  philofophie, 
.Or  lawe,  or  other  arte  perticulere  ; 
But  deth,  that  woll  not  fuffre  us  dwellen  here, 
But  as  it  were  the  twinkling  of  an  eye, 
Hem  both  hath  flaine,  and  al  we  fhal  dye. 

This  is  decisive  evidence  that  Chaucer  took  the 
tale  from  Petrarch,  and  not  from  Boccace :  it  is 
certain  that  Petrarch  was  so  delighted  with  it,  that 
he  got  it  by  heart,  and  was  used  to  repeat  it  to  his 
friends.  In  the  Latin  letter  above  referred  to,  he 
mentions  his  having  shewn  it  to  a  friend  abroad ; 
Chaucer  is  said  to  have  attended  the  duke  of  Clarence 
upon  the  ceremony  of  his  marriage  with  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  duke  of  Milan ;  and  Paul  us  Jovius  ex- 
pressly says  that  Petrarch  was  present  upon  that 
occasion  :f  might  not  therefore  Chaucer  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 
modern  poesy,  and  if  we  consider  tliat  a  groat  num- 
ber of  their  compositions  were  calculated  to  be  sung, 
as  the  appellation  of  Canzoni,  by  which  they  are 
distinguished,  imports ;  and,  if  we  consider  farther 
the  several  occupations  of  their  Musars  and  Violars, 
it  cannot  be  supposed  but  that  they  were  also  pro- 

t  See  the  letter  prefixed  to  the  Clerk  of  Oxford's  Tale  modernized  by 
George  Ogle,  E^.,  quarto,  1739,  pag.  vii. 


198 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  V. 


ficients  in  music ;  nay,  we  find  that  many  of  their 
poets  were  also  musicians ;  and  of  Arnaklo  Daniello 
it  is  expressly  said,  and  proved  by  a  passage  above- 
cited  from  his  works,  that  he  was  a  composer  of 
music,  and  adapted  musical  notes  to  many  songs  of 
his  own  writing 

These  particulars  afford  sufficient  reason  to  believe 
that  the  Provencals  were  as  well  musicians  as  poets ; 
but  to  speak  of  them  as  musicians,  there  are  farther 
evidences  extant  that  they  were  not  only  singers 
and  players  on  the  viol,  the  harp,  the  lute,  and  other 
instruments,  but  composers  of  musical  tunes,  in  such 
characters  as  were  used  in  those  times.  Crescimbeni 
speaks  of  a  manuscript  in  the  Vatican  library,  in  the 
characters  of  the  fourteenth  century,  in  which  were 
written  a  great  number  of  Canzoni  of  the  Provencal 
poets,  together  with  the  musical  notes ;  one  of  these, 
composed  by  Theobald  king  of  Navarre,  of  whom 
it  is  said  that  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  song  with  the 
musical  notes  of  any  extant,  since  the  invention  of 
that  method  of  notation  so  justly  ascribed  to  Guido 
and  Franco  of  Liege. 

CHAP.  XLIV. 

One  of  the  most  obvious  divisions  of  the  music  of 
later  times,  is  that  which  distinguishes  between  re- 
ligious and  civil  or  secular  music  ;  or,  in  other  words, 
the  music  of  the  church  and  that  of  the  common 
people  :  the  former  was  cultivated  by  the  ecclesiastics, 
and  the  latter  chiefly  by  the  laity,  who  at  no  time  can 
be  supposed  to  have  been  so  insensible  of  its  charms, 
as  not  to  make  it  an  auxiliary  to  festivity,  and  an 
innocent  incentive  to  mirth  and  pleasantry.  Not  only 
in  the  palaces  of  the  nobility  :  at  weddings,  banquets, 
and  other  solemnities,  may  we  conceive  music  to  have 
made  a  part  of  the  entertainment ;  but  the  natural 
intercommunity  of  persons  in  a  lower  station,  espe- 
cially the  youthful  of  both  sexes,  does  necessarily 
presuppose  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  Flaunders  whilom  there  was  a  company 
Of  yonge  folk,  that  haunted  foly, 
As  halard,  riot,  ftewes,  and  tauernes, 
Where  as  with  harpes,  lutes,  and  geternes, 
Thei  dauncen  and  plaien  at  dice  night  and  day. 
And  eten  alfo,  over  that  her  might  may 
Through  which  they  don  the  deuil  facrifice 
Within  the  deuils  temple,  in  curfed  wife 
By  fuperfluite  abhominable, 
Her  othes  ben  fo  great  and  fo  dampnable, 
That  it  is  grifly  for  to  here  hem  fwere, 
Our  bliffed  lordes  body  they  al  to  tere 
Hem  thought  Jews  rent  him  not  inough, 
And  eche  of  hem  at  others  Anne  lough. 
And  right  anon  comen  in  tomblefteres, 
Fetis  and  fmale  and  yonge  foiteres, 
Singers  with  harpes,  baudes,  and  waferers, 
Whiche  that  ben  verely  the  deuils  officers. 

Paruonek's  Talk. 


These  were  the  divertisements  of  the  idle  and 
the  profligate  ;  but  the  passage  above-cited  may 
serve  to  shew  that  the  music  of  Lutes,  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  Provencals  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  his  time 
called  the  king's  minstrel.  Weever,  in  his  Funeral 
Monuments,  pag.  433.  Dugdale,  in  his  Monasticon, 
vol.  II.  fol.  166,  167,  gives  this  further  account  of 
him  : — '  That  he  was  born  of  mean  parentage,  and 
'  that  when  he  attained  to  the  flower  of  his  youth  he 
'  frequented  the  houses  of  the  nobles  and  princes ; 
*  but  not  content  herewith,  would  often  repair  to 
'  court,  and  spend  the  whole  day  in  sights,  banquets, 
'  and  other  trifles,  where  by  sport  and  flattery  he 
'  would  wheedle  the  hearts  of  the  great  lords  to  him, 
'  and  sometimes  would  thrust  himself  into  the  pre- 
'  sence  of  the  king,  where  he  would  be  very  officious 
'  to  obtain  his  royal  favour  ;  and  that  by  these 
'  artifices  he  gained  the  manor  of  Aiot,  in  Hertford- 
'  shire,  with  which  he  endowed  his  hospital.'  f  In 
the  Pleasaunt  History  of  Thomas,  of  Reading,  quarto, 
1662,  to  which  perhaps  no  more  credit  is  due  than  to 
mere  oral  tradition,  he  is  also  mentioned,  with  this 
additional  circumstance,  that  he  was  a  great  musician, 
and  kept  a  company  of  minstrels,  i.  e.,  fiddlers,  who 
played  with  silver  bows. 

These  particulars  it  is  true,  as  they  respect  the 
ceconomy  of  courts,  and  the  recreations  and  amuse- 
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  us 

*  The  curious  in  matters  of  antiquity  may  possibly  be  pleased  to  know 
that  a  monument  of  this  extraordinary  person,  not  in  the  least  defaced, 
is  yet  remaining  in  the  parish  churcli  of  St.  Bartholomew,  in  Smitlifield. 
This  monument  was  probahly  erected  by  Bolton,  the  last  prior  of  that 
house,  a  man  remarkable  for  the  great  sums  of  money  which  he  expended 
in  building,  (for  he  built  Canoubury,  vulgarly  Canbury,  house  near 
Islington,  and  repaired  and  enlarged  the  priory  at  his  own  charge)  and 
indeed  for  general  munificence.  He  was  parson  of  Harrow,  in  the  county 
cf  Middlesex,  which  parish  is  situated  on  the  highest  hill  in  the  county, 
and  has  a  church,  which  king  Charles  tlie  Second,  alluding  to  one  of  the 
topics  in  the  Romish  controversy,  with  a  pun,  was  used  to  call  the 
Visible  church.  Hall  relates  that  Bolton,  from  certain  signs  and  con- 
junctions of  the  planets  which  he  had  observed,  prognosticated  a  deluge, 
which  would  probably  drown  the  whole  county,  and  that  therefore  he 
huilded  him  a  house  at  Harrow-on-the-Hill,  and  furnished  it  with  pro- 
vision of  all  things  necessary  for  the  space  of  two  months  :  but  this  story 
is  refuted  by  Stow  in  his  Survey,  with  an  assertion  that  he  builded  no 
house  at  Harrow  save  a  Dove-house.  One  particular  more  of  prior 
Bolton:  we  meet  with  a  direct  allusion  to  him  in  the  following  passage 
in  the  New  Inn,  a  comedy  of  Ben  Jonson  : — 

'  Or  prior  Bolton  with  his  Bolt  and  Ton.' 
The  host  is  debating  with  himself  on  a  rebus  for  the  sign  of  his  inn,  and 
having  determined  on  one,  the  Light  Heart,  intimates  that  it  is  as  good 
a  device  as  that  of  the  Bolt  and  Ton,  which  had  been  used  to  bespeak 
the  name  of  prior  Bolton.  This  rebus  was  till  of  late  a  very  common 
sign  to  inns  and  ale-houses  in  and  about  London  ;  from  whence  by  the 
way  the  celebrity  of  this  man  may  be  inferred;  the  device  was  a  tun 
pierced  by  an  arrow,  the  feathers  thereof  appearing  above  the  hunghole, 
and  the  barb  beneath.  The  wit  of  this  rebus  is  not  intelligible  unless 
it  be  known  that  the  word  Bolt  is  precisely  synonymous  with  Arrow. 
Chaucer  in  the  Miller's  Tale  uses  this  simile : — 

Winfyng  rtie  was  as  is  a  iolie  colt, 
Long  as  a  mart  and  upright  as  a  bolt. 

Shakespeare  somewhere  speaks  of  the  arrows  of  Cupid,  and  by  a 
metonymy  calls  them  Bird-bolts.  The  proverbial  expression,  "  A  fool's 
bolt  is  soon  shot,"  is  in  the  mouth  of  every  one ;  and  in  common  speech 
we  say  bolt-upright. 

t  Vide  Chauncey's  History  of  Hertfordshire,  pag.  322. 


Chap.  XLIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


199 


at  a  loss  to  guess  how  far  music  made  a  part  in  the 
ordinary  amusements  of  the  people  in  country  towns 
and  villages.  But  here  it  is  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  country,  not  to 
mention  others,  abounded  with  monasteries,  and  other 
religious  houses  ;  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  ardour  that  the  inhabitants  of  them 
strove  to  answer  the  ends  of  so  laudable  an  insti- 
tution. Had  the  temptations  to  the  monastic  life 
been  of  such  a  kind  as  to  affect  only  the  devout,  or 
those  who  preferred  the  practice  of  religion  and  the 
study  of  improvement  to  every  other  pursuit,  all  had 
been  well ;  but  the  mischief  was  that  they  drew  in 
the  young,  the  gay,  and  the  amorous  :  and  such  as 
thought  of  nothing  so  little  as  counting  their  rosary, 
or  conning  their  psalter  ;  can  it  be  supposed  that  in 
such  a  monastery  as  that  of  St.  Alban,  Glastonbury, 
Croyland,  Bermondsey,  Chertsey,  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  an 
Amour ;  it  was  an  intimacy  contracted  without 
thought  or  reflection.  But  between  the  daughter  of 
a  Villain,  and  the  heiress  of  an  Esquire  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  necessary.  The  wife 
of  the  carpenter  Osney,  of  whom  Chaucer  has  given 
the  following  lively  description, — 

Faire  was  this  yong  wife,  and  there  withal 
As  any  wifele  her  bodie  gentle  and  small, 
A  feinte  fhe  weared,  barred  all  with  filke, 
A  barme  cloth,  as  white  as  morowe  milke ; 
Upon  her  lendes,  full  of  many  a  gore, 
Whit  was  her  fmock,  and  embrouded  all  bifore, 
And  eke  behinde  on  her  colere  about, 
Of  cole  blacke  filke,  within  and  eke  without} 
The  tapes  of  her  white  volipere 
Were  of  the  fame  fute  of  her  colore, 
Her  filet  brode  of  filke,  and  fet  full  hye 
And  fickerly,  fhe  had  a  likerous  iye  ; 
Full  fmall  ipulled  were  her  browes  two, 
And  tho  were  bent,  and  black  as  any  flo. 
She  was  moche  more  blilsfull  for  to  fee 
Then  is  the  newe  Perienet  tree, 
And  fofter  than  the  woll  is  of  a  weather, 
And  by  her  girdel  hong  a  purfe  of  leather, 
TafTed  with  filke,  and  perlcd  with  latoun,* 
In  all  this  worlde,  to  feken  up  and  doun, 
There  nis  no  man  fo  wife,  that  couth  thence 
So  gale  a  popelote,  or  fo  gaie  a  wenche  ; 

•  «.  e.  Tasselled  with  silk,  and  having  an  edging  of  brass  or  tinsel  lace. 
Perl  is  the  edge  or  extremity  of  lace. 


Full  brighter  was  the  fliinyng  of  her  hewe, 

Than  in  the  toure  the  Noble  forged  newe. 

But  of  her  fong,  it  was  fo  loud  and  yerne. 

As  any  fwalowe  fittynge  on  a  berne  : 

Thereto  Ihe  couthe  fkippe,  and  make  a  game 

As  any  kidde  or  calfe  folowyng  his  dame  ; 

Her  mouth  was  fwete,  as  braket  or  the  meth, 

Or  horde  of  apples,  lying  in  haie  or  heth  j 

Winfyng  fhe  was,  as  is  a  iolie  colt, 

Long  as  a  mafte,  and  upright  as  a  bolt. 

A  brooche  flie  bare  on  her  lowe  colere. 

As  brode  as  the  bofle  of  a  bucklere  ; 

Her  Ihoes  were  laced  on  her  legges  hie 

She  was  a  primrofe  and  piggefnie, 

For  any  lorde  to  liggen  in  his  bedde, 

Or  yet  for  any  good  yoman  to  wedde. — Miller's  Tale. 

is  courted  with  songs  to  the  music  of  a  gay  sautrie, 
on  which  her  lover  Nicholas  the  scholar  of  Oxford 

-     -     -     -     made  on  nightes  melodic 
So  fwetely  that  all  the  chamber  rong, 
And  Angelus  ad  Virginent  he  long, 
And  after  that  he  fong  the  kynges  note, 
Full  oft  bleffed  was  his  mery  throte. — Ibid. 

Her  other  lover,  Absolon,  the  parish-clerk  sung  to 
the  music  of  his  geterne  and  his  ribible,  or  fiddle. 
His  picture  is  admirably  drawn,  and  his  manner  of 
courtship  thus  represented  by  Chaucer  : — 

A  merie  childe  he  was,  fo  God  me  faue, 
Well  coud  he  let  blood,  clippe  and  fhaue, 
And  make  a  charter  of  lond,  and  acquittaunce  ; 
In  twentie  maner  could  he  trippe  and  daunce, 
After  the  fchole  of  Oxenforde  tho, 
And  with  his  legges  caften  to  and  fro 
And  plaie  fonges  on  a  fmale  ribible  ; -f- 
Therto  he  fong  fometyme  a  loude  quinible.  f 
And  as  well  coud  he  plaie  on  a  geterne. 
In  all  the  toune  nas  brewhoufe  ne  tauerne 
That  he  ne  vifited  with  his  folas. 
There  any  gaie  tapftere  was.      *  *  * 

This  Abfolon  that  was  ioily  and  gaie, 
Goeth  with  a  cenfer  on  a  Sondaie, 
Cenfyng  the  wiues  of  the  parilhe  fafte. 
And  many  a  louely  look  on  hem  he  cafte, 
And  namely  on  this  carpenters  wife 
To  look  on  her  hym  thought  a  merie  life, 
She  was  fo  propre,  and  fwete  as  licorous  j 
I  dare  well  faine  if  fhe  had  been  a  mous. 
And  he  a  catte,  he  would  have  her  hent  anon. 

This  parifhe  clerke,  this  ioily  Abfolon, 
Hath  in  his  harte  soch  a  loue  longying, 
That  of  no  wife  he  tooke  none  ofteryng. 
For  curtefie  he  faied  he  would  none. 
The  moone,  when  it  was  night,  bright  fhone, 

t  Ribible  is  by  Mr.  Urry,  in  his  Glossary  to  Chaucer,  from  Speght, 
a  former  editor,  rendered  a  fiddle  or  gittern.  It  seem  that  Rebel)  is 
a  Moorish  word,  si<?nit'ying  an  instrument  with  two  strings,  played  nn 
with  a  bow.  The  Moors  brought  it  into  Spain,  whence  it  passed  into 
Italy,  and  obtained  the  appellation  of  Ribeca ;  from  whence  the  English 
Rebec,  which  Phillips,  and  others  after  him,  render  a  fiddle  with  three 
strings.  The  Rebeb  or  Rebab  is  mentioned  in  Shaw's  Travels  as 
a  Turkish  or  Moorish  instrument  now  in  use ;  and  is  probably  an 
improvement  on  the  Arabian  Pandura,  described  by  Mersennus,  and 
previously  mentioned  in  this  work,  pag.  86. 

X  Mr.  Urry,  on  the  same  authority,  makes  this  word  synonymous 
■with  treble.  This  signification  is  to  be  doubted ;  the  word  may  rather 
mean  a  high  part,  such  as  in  madrigals  and  motets  is  usually  dis- 
tinguished by  the  word  quintus,  which  in  general  lies  above  the  tenor, 
and  is  sometimes  between  that  and  the  contratenor ;  and  at  others 
between  the  contratenor  and  the  superius  or  treble  ;  and  from  the  word 
quintus  quinible  may  possibly  be  derived  ;  and  this  is  tlie  more  probable, 
for  that  in  an  ancient  manuscript  treatise  on  descant,  of  which  an 
account  will  hereafter  be  given,  the  accords  for  the  quatribil  sight  are 
enumerated  ;  and  quatribil  will  hardly  be  thought  a  wider  deviation 
from  its  radical  term  than  quinible  is  from  quintus.  Stow  records  an 
endowment  by  the  will  of  a  citizen  of  London,  dated  in  1492,  for  a 
canable  to  sing  3  twelvemonth  after  his  decease  in  the  church  of 
St.  Sepulchre ;  and  conjectures  that  by  Canable  we  are  to  understand 
a  singing  priest.  Surv.  of  London,  with  Additions  by  Strype,  book  III. 
pag.  241.  And  quere  if  Canable  in  this  place  may  not  mean  Quinible; 
t.  e.  a  priest  with  a  voice  of  a  high  pitch  T 


200 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


And  Abfolon  liis  Geterne*  hath  itake, 
For  paramours  he  thought  tor  to  wake, 
And  foorth  he  gocth.,  jelous  and  amerous, 
Till  he  came  to  the  carpenter's  hous 
A  little  after  the  cockes  had  icrow, 
And  dreffed  him  by  a  fhot  windowe 
That  was  upon  the  carpenter's  wall ; 
He  fingeth  in  his  voice  gentle  and  fmall, 
Now  dere  ladie,  it  thy  will  be 
I  praie  you  that  ye  would  rewe  on  me. 
Full  well  accordyng  to  his  Geternyng, 

This  carpentere  awoke  and  heard  him  fyng. — Ibid. 

His  manner  of  courtship,  and  the  arts  he  nuule  use 
of  to  gain  the  favour  of  his  mistress,  are  farther 
related  in  the  following  lines  : — 

Fro  dale  to  dale,  this  ioily  Abfolon 

So  woeth  her,  that  hym  was  wo  bygon  ; 

He  waketh  all  the  night,  and  all  the  dale. 

He  kembeth  his  lockes  brode,  and  made  him  gale  ; 

He  woeth  her  by  meanes  and  brocage, 

And  fwore  that  he  would  been  her  owne  page. 

He  Singeth  brokkyiig  as  a  nightingale. 

He  sent  her  piment,  methe,  and  ipiced  ale, 

And  wafres  piping  hotte  out  of  the  glede, 

And  for  flie  was  of  toun,  he  profered  her  mede  ; 

For  fome  folke  woUe  be  wonne  for  richefle, 

And  fome  for  ftrokes,  and  fome  with  gentlenefle. — Ibid. 

If  SO  many  arts  were  necessary  to  win  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,  but 
young  men  endowed  with  a  competent  share  of 
learning  ?  and  who  were  so  likely  to  compose  musical 
tunes  as  those  who  had  the  means  of  acquiring  the 
rudiments  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  Mapes,  of  whom  Camden 
relates  that  in  the  time  of  king  Henry  the  Second 
he  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  fairly  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  tunes  adapted  to  them,  which 
were  the  ordinary  amusements  of  the  common  peo- 
ple ;  and  these  were  as  various  in  their  kinds  as  the 
genius,  temper,  and  qualifications  of  their  authors. 
Some  were  nothing  more  than  the  legends  of  saints, 
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  such 
a  kind,  as  is  hard  to  conceive  of  at  this  time.     And 

*  It  is  intimated  by  Speght  and  Urry,  in  the  Glossary  to  Chaucer, 
that  by  the  word  Gitterne  is  meant  a  iiiidle;  but  more  probably  it  is 
a  coriuption  of  CiUtni,  a  very  different  instrument. 


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  solace, 
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  virtues  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  thorns  on  his  head,  by  the  wound  in  his 
side,  and  all  the  calamitous  circumstances  of  his 
passion,  to  pity  and  love  him.  Of  the  compositions 
of  this  kind  the  following  is  an  authentic  specimen  : — 

Wofully  arayd 
My  blod  man  for  the  ran, 

Yt  may  not  be  nayed. 
My  body  bloo  and  wan, 

Wofully  arayd. 
Behold  me  I  pray  the 

With  all  thy  hool  refon 
And  be  not  fo  hard  hartyd, 

For  thys  enchefon  ; 
Syth  I  for  thy  fowls  lake. 

Was  flayn  in  gode  fefon, 
Begyld  and  betrayd 

By  Judas  fals  trefon. 
Unkyndly  entretyd 
With  fharp  cord  lure  frettyd, 
The  Jewes  me  thretyd, 

They  mowed  they  gyrned  j 
They  fcorned  me, 
Condemned  to  deth, 
As  thou  mayft  fee, 

Wofully  arayd. 

Thus  nayked  am  I  nayled, 

O  man  for  thy  fake, 
I  love  thee  then  love  me. 

Why  flepift  thou  ?  awake, 
Remember  my  tender  hart  rote 

For  the  brake. 

What  payns 
My  vaynes 
Conftraynd  to  crake. 
Thus  tuggyd  to  and  fro. 
Thus  wrappyed  all  in  woo, 
In  most  cruel  wyfe. 
Like  a  lambe  offeryd  in  facrifice, 
Wofully  arayd. 

Of  fharpe  thorn  I  have  worne 
A  croune  on  my  hed 

So  payned, 

So  ftrayned, 
So  rewfully  red, 

Thus  bobbld, 

Thus  robbid. 
Thus  for  thy  lone  dede 

Enfaynd, 

Not  deynyd 
My  blod  for  to  fhed. 

My  feet  and  hands  fore. 
The  fturdy  nayls  bore, 
What  might  I  fuffer  more 
Than  I  have  done  O  man  for  the ! 
Cum  when  ye  lyft, 
Welcum  to  me ; 
My  bloud  man  for  the  ranne, 
My  body  bloo  and  wanne, 
Wofully  arayd. f 

t  Skelton,  in  his  poem  entitled  the  Crown  of  Laurell,  alludes  to  tl;is 


Chap.  XLV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


201 


CHAP.  XLV. 

In  a  manuscript,  of  which  a  full  account  will  be 
given  hereafter,  as  ancient  as  the  year  132(j,  mention 
is  made  of  ballads  and  roundelays ;  these  were  no 
other  than  popular  songs,  and  we  find  that  Chaucer 
himself  composed  many  such.  Stow  collected  his 
ballads,  and  they  were  published  for  the  first  time  in 
an  edition  of  Chaucer  printed  by  John  Kyngston  in 
1561  ;'^*  they  are  of  various  kinds,  some  moral,  others 
descriptive,  and  others  satirical. 

One  John  Shirley,  who  lived  about  14-iO,  made 
a  large  collection,  consisting  of  many  volumes  of 
compositions  of  this  kind  by  Chaucer,  Lydgate,  and 
other  writers.  Stowe  had  once  in  his  possession  one 
'  of  these  volumes,  entitled  '  A  Boke  cleped  the  ab- 
'  stracte  brevyaire,  compyled  of  diverse  balades, 
'  roundels,  virilays,f  tragedyes,  envoys,  complaints, 
'  moralities,  storyes  practysed,  and  eke  devysed  and 
'  ymagined,  as  it  sheweth  here  followyng,  collected 
'  by  John  Shirley ,'|  which  is  yet  extant,  and  remains 
part  of  the  Ashmolean  collection  of  manuscripts ; 
and  the  late  Mr.  Ames  had  in  his  possession  a  folio 
volume  of  ballads  in  manuscript,  composed  by  one 
John  Lucas,  about  the  year  11:50,  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  found  in  a  vellum  manu- 
script, formerly  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Robert  Fairfax, 
mentioned  in  Morley's  Catalogue,  who  lived  about 
1500,  and  which  afterwards  became  part  of  the  col- 
lection of  Mr.  Ralph  Thoresby,  and  is  mentioned  in 
the  list  of  his  curiosities,  at  the  end  of  his  History 
of  Leeds ;  the  tune  was  composed  by  Cornysh,  who 
lived  temp.  Hen.  VIII.,  but  then  the  ballad  itself  is 
not  so  old  as  is  pretended,  for  in  the  Life  of  Chaucer, 
prefixed  to  Urry's  edition,  it  is  proved  to  have  been 
written  after  his  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  Sellenger's,  i.  e.  St.  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  134:0,  which 

8onfr  in  a  manner  that  seems  to  indicate  that  it  was  of  his  writing. 
See  his  poems,  12mo.  1736,  pag.  54. 

*  This  is  the  edition  referred  to  in  all  the  quotations  from  Chaucer 
that  occur  in  the  course  of  this  work. 

+  Roundel  and  Virilay  are  words  nearly  synonymous ;  both  are 
supposed  to  signify  a  rustic  song  or  ballad,  as  in  truth  they  do,  but 
wiih  this  difference,  the  roundel  ever  begins  and  ends  with  the  same 
sentence,  the  virilay  is  under  no  such  restriction. 

t  Vid.  Tann.  Biblioth.  pag.  6B8. 

§  The  knowledge  of  this  fact  is  derived  from  a  curious  manuscript 
■volume  yet  extant,  containing  a  great  number  of  lessons  all  composed  by 
Bird  :  the  book  is  in  the  handwriting  of  John  Baldwine.  of  Windsor,  and 
appears  to  have  been  finished  anno  1591  ;  it  is  very  richly  bound,  and  has 
these  words,  'My  Layde  Nevell's  booke'  impressed  in  gold  letters  on  the 
covers,  and  the  family  arms  depicted  on  one  of  the  lilank  leaves.  The 
first  lesson  in  it  is  entitled  Lady  Nevel's  Grownde;  from  all  which  par- 
ticulars it  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  book  itself  was  a  present  from  Bird 
himself  to  lady  Nevil,  who  perhaps  might  have  been  his  scholar. 


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  musical 
notes  perhaps  any  where  extant,  is  now  in  the  British 
Museum,  concerning  which  Mr.  Wanley,  who  was  as 
good  a  musician  as  he  was  a  judicious  collector,  has 
given  this  account  in  that  part  of  the  Catalogue  of 
the  Harleian  Manuscripts,  which  he  himself  drew  up.  [| 

''  Antiphona  Perspice  xp'ticola,  Miniatis  Lit- 
'teris  scripta;  supra  qiiam,  tot  SyUahis,  nigro 
^  Atvamento  sett  comviuni,  cernuntur  Verba  An- 
'  glica,  cum  Notis  Musicis,  a  quatxwr  Cantoribus 
'  seriatim  atq ;  simul  Canenda.  Hoc  genus  Con- 
'  trapunctionis  sire  Compo'sitionis,  Canonem  vacant 
^  llusici  moderni;  AngVice  (cum  verba,  sicut  in 
' pnesenti  Cantico,  sint  omnino  ludicra)  A  Catch  ; 
'  vetustioribns  verb,  uti  ex  prfesenti  Codice  videre 
'est,  nuncupabatur  Rota.  Hanc  Rotam  cantare 
'  possunt  quatuor  Socij  ;  a  paucioribus  autem  quam 
'  a  Tribus,  vel  Saltern  Duobus,  non  debet  dici,  preter 
'  eos  qui  dicunt  Pedem.  Canitur  autem  sic ;  Tacen- 
'  tibns  ceteris,  unus  inchoat  cum  hijs  qui  tenent 
'  Pedem,  et  cum  venerit  ad  primam  Notam  post 
•  Crucem,  inchoat  alius;  et  sic  de  ceteris,  &c.fol.  9.  b. 

'  Notandum  etxam,  hoc  hulicrce  Cantionis  apud 
'Anglos,  Rcgulis  quoque  Musices  quodam  modo 
'  astrictcB,  avitd  in  super  Lingud  exMbitce,  Exem- 
'plar  esse  omnium  quce  adliuc  mild  videre  contiget 
'  Antiquissimum. 

The  following  is  an  exact  copy  of  the  song  above 
described,  with  the  directions  for  singing  it : — 

CANON  in  the  UNISON, 
From  an  ancient  MS.  in  the  British  Museum. 


El±^_£^ 


5ES 


^^E$E?E^EH£:iE.^ 


SUMERis     i     cumen    in, 
Per-spi-ce  chris-ti  -  eo  -  la 


Lhude  sing  Cuccu, 
que  dlff-na  -  ci  -  o, 


1±1 


r^^- 


-■^^t 


growcth  seed andbloweth mead, and  springthtlie «de nu, 
ce  -  U  -  «us   a  -  gri  -  co  -  la    pro    vi  -  tis     vi  -  ci  -  o. 


35==:'5E^#SEiEi:^ 


■lE^ 


-^^^. 


Sing  Cuccu,    Awe  bleteth  after  lomb,  Ihouth  after  calve  cu, 
Fi  -  U  -  0,  nonparcens  ex-po-su  -  it    mor  -  tisex-i-  ci-  o, 


r^iriZT^: 


iSE^Jt 


"^M 


Bul-luc  Bterteth,  Bucke  vert-eth,  mu-rie  sing  cuc-cu, 
Qui  cap  -  ti  -  vos,    Se  -  mi  -  vi  -  vos,     a  sup  -pli  -  ci  -  o, 


5i±E-3_= 


-■-■— 


E5E^ 


:3ES^ 


Cuccu  cuccu,  wel  sings  thu  cuccu,  ne  swikthu  naver  nu. 

Vi-te   donat,      et     secumco-ro-nat  in    ce  -  li     so-li  -  o, 

n  The  number  of  the  manuscript,  as  it  stands  in  the  printed  catalogue, 
is  978.  The  vohime  contains  divers  tracts  on  music,  and  other  subjects; 
and  tiie  song  above  spoken  of  is  numbered  5,  that  is  to  say,  it  has  the 
fifth  place  in  vol.  978. 


202 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


Ilanc  rotam  cantare  possunt  quatuor  socii,  A  paucioribus  avtem 
quam  a  trihus,  vel  saltern  duobus,  non  debet  dici^  prater  eos  qui 
dicunt  pedem.  Canitur  autem  sic  ;  Tacentibus  casteris  unus  inchoat 
cum  hijs  qui  tenent  pedem,  et  cum  venerit  ad  primam  notam  post 
crucevi,  inchoat  alius  ;  et  sic  de  ceteris.  SinguU  vera  repansei/t  ad 
pausaciones  scriptas,  et  non  alibi,    spacio  unius  longce  notce. 

~Hoc  repetit  unus     quoties 
~_\iopus  estfj'aciens  paiisacio- 
Znem  in  fine. 


Pes 


i5=^=i; 


Sing  cuccu  nu,  sing  cuccu. 


15^ 


TJnr.  dicit  alius  pausans  in 
^lW.z\jnedio  et  non  in  fine,  sedim- 
'        ~Zmediate  repetens  principium. 


Sing  cuccu,  sing  cuccu  nu. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  the  Harleian  MS.  the  stave 
on  which  the  above  composition  is  written  consists  of 
red  lines,  and  that  the  Latin  words  above  given  are 
of  the  same  colour,  as  are  also  the  directions  for 
singing  the  Pes,  as  it  is  called.  Du  Cange  voce 
Rota,  remarks  that  this  word  sometimes  signifies 
a  hymn.  The  words  '  Hanc  rotam  cantare  possunt,' 
&c.  may  therefore  be  supposed  to  refer  to  the  Latin 
*  Perspice  Christicola,'  and  not  to  the  English  '  Sumer 
'  is  icumen  in,'  &c.  which  latter  stand  in  need  of  an 
explanation,  and  are  probably  to  be  thus  rendered  : — 

Summer  is  a-coming  in, 

Loud  sing  cuckow. 

Groweth  seed. 

And  bloweth  mead;  * 

And  spring'th  the  wood  new. 

Ewe  bleateth  after  lamb, 

Loweth  after  calf  cow  : 

Bullock  starteth. 

Buck  verteth,t 

Merry  sing  cuckow, 

Well  sing'st  thou  cuckow. 

Nor  cease  to  sing  [or  labour  thy  song]  nu  [now].t 


As  to  the  music,  it  is  clearly  of  that  species  of 
composition  known  by  the  name  of  canon  in  the 
Unison.  It  is  calculated  for  four  voices,  with  the 
addition  of  two  for  the  Pes,  as  it  is  called,  which  is 
a  kind  of  ground,  and  is  the  basis  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  has 
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  tlie 
cantus  mensurabilis  made  no  alteration  in  this  re- 
spect, for  though  it  introduced  a  diversity  in  the 
measures  of  the  notes  as  they  stood  related  to  each 
other,  the  correspondence  of  long  and  short  quantities 
was  exact  and  uniform  in  the  several  parts. 

To  counterpoint  succeeded  the  cantus  figuratus,  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  measures  ;  or,  to  speak  with  the 
moderns,  between  bar  and  bar,  in  each  part ;  and 
this  appears  to  have  been  the  invention  of  John 
Dunstable,  who  wrote  on  the  cantus  mensurabilis, 
and  died  in  1455,  and  will  be  spoken  of  in  his 
place.  §  Now  the  composition  above  given  is 
evidently  of  the  figurate  kind,  and  it  follows  from 
the  premises,  that  it  could  not  have  existed  before 
the  time  when  John  of  Dunstable  appears  to  have 
lived.  The  structure  of  it  will  be  best  understood 
by  the  following  score  in  the  more  modern  method 
of  notation : — 


* 


^- 


^t; 


U3I 


-IE 


-ft- 


rt=:-!=- 


> ex — P* 


SUMER       is 


cu  -  men 


m. 


Lhude        sing   Cue  -  cu. 


Grow  -  eth 


I 


ijcer 


zun 


SUMER        is 


1     -     cu  -  men 


in. 


^1 


Lhude 


— r  - 


331 


Sing 


Cue 


cu 


nu, 


Sing 


cue 


smg 


i^= 


■.—zjaz 


Sing 


Cue 


cu. 


Sing 


cue 


cu 


nu, 


sing 


•  The  flowers  in  the  meadow. 

+  Goeth  to  vert,  i.e..  to  harbour  among  the  fern. 

j  It  is  observable  that  the  most  ancient  species  of  musical  imitation 
is  the  song  of  the  cuckow,  which  must  appear  to  be  a  natural  and  very 
obvious  subject  for  it.  Innumerable  are  the  instances  that  might  be 
produced  to  this  purpose;  a  very  fine  madrigal  in  three  parts,  composed 
by  Thomas  Weelkes,  organist  of  Chichester  cathedral  about  the  year 
1600,  beginning  '  The  Nightingale  the  Organ  of  Delight,"  has  in  it  the 
cuckow's  song.  Another  of  the  same  kind,  not  less  excellent,  in  four 
parts,  beginning,  '  Thirsis  sleepest  thou?'  occurs  in  the  Madrigals  of 
John  Bennet,  published  in  1599.  Vivaldi's  cuckow  concerto  is  well 
known,  as  is  also  that  of  Lampe,  composed  about  thirty  years  ago. 

The  song  of  the  cuckow  is  in  truth  but  one  interval,  that  is  to  say 
a  minor  third,  terminated  in  the  scale  by  a  la  mi  re  acute,  and  c  sol  pa. 
Vide  Kirch.  Musurg.  torn  I.  Iconism.  Ill  ,  nevertheless,  in  all  the 
instances  above  referred  to,  it  is  defined  by  the  interval  of  a  major  third. 

§  This  assertion  is  grounded  on  the  authority  of  a  book  intitled 
Praeceptiones  Musices  Poeticse,  seu  de  Compositione  Cantus,  written 
by  Johannes  Nucim,  printed   in  1613,  wherein,   to  give  it  at  length, 


is  the  following  remarkable  passage,  intended  by  the  author  as  an 
answer  to  the  question,  '  ftueni  dicimus  poeticum  musicum  ? ' : — 

'Qui  non  solum  precepta  musicse  apprimd  intelligit,  et  juxta  ea  rect^, 
'  ac  bene  modulatur,  sed  qui  proprii  ingenii  penetralia  tentans,  novas 
'  cantilenas  cudit,  et  flexibiles  sonos  pio  verborum  pondere  textibus 
'  aptat.  Talem  artificem  Glareanus  symphonetae  appellatione  describit. 
'  Sicut  Phonasci  nomine  cantorem  insiiiuat.  Porr6  tales  artifices  claru- 
'  erunt,  primum  circa  annum  Christi  1400,  aut  cert^  paul6  post.  Dunx- 
'  tapli  Anglus  a  quo  primum  figuralem  musicam  inventam  tradunt.' 

Thomas  Ravenscroft,  the  author  of  A  brief  Discourse  of  the  true  but 
neglected  Use  of  characterising  the  Degrees  in  measurable  Music,  quarto, 
1614,  asserts  that  John  of  Dunstable  was  the  first  that  invented  musical 
composition,  in  which,  taking  the  above-cited  passage  for  his  authority, 
he  appears  most  grossly  to  have  erred.  Musical  composition  must 
certainly  be  as  ancient  as  the  invention  of  characters  to  denote  it ;  nay, 
it  may  be  conjectured  that  counterpoint  was  known  and  practised  before 
the  time  spoken  of,  but  as  to  figurate  music,  we  are  at  a  loss  for  evidence 
of  its  existence  before  the  time  of  Dunstable,  and  in  truth  it  is  the  in- 
vention of  figurate  muiic  only  that  is  ascribed  to  him  by  Nucius. 


Chap.  XLV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


203 


::3=F 


:a3i 


-^ -#»- 


H^ 


'-f»     ~ai 


lor: 


seed      and    blow  -  eth    mead,  and  springth  the      wde 


nu. 


Sing 


cue     - 


'^^^^^^. 


^^^^Ep3^::E^k^E^d' 


:=fcrn: 


:zz=p=r 


smg       cue  -  cu, 


Grow  -  eth     seed     and    blow  -  eth      mead,     and  springth   the      wde 


m. 


ri§?_!:-« 


EiSt^ 


i 


i=|: 


[[^^ 


:?rf; 


13 


CU  -  men      in, 


Lhude 


sing     cue  -  cu. 


Grow  -  eth      seed     and 


'zt--- 


:z3i 


:s3; 


-±— 


7C2Z 


ZI2Z 


SUMER         is 


cu  -  men 


r2i 


i 


*»— F" ^- 


m, 


Lhude 


sing      cue  - 


cue     - 


cu 


nu, 


smg 


cue 


cu, 


sing 


cue 


I5^i 


EtE^EEEH 


-z:^^ 


a: 


cue     - 


cu, 


sing 


cue 


cu 


nu. 


sing 


cue 


uzrz 


^W^^^=^^^ 


:5E-: 


IZ3~ 


zzi— 


zzaz 


-    cu. 


Awe 


ble  -  teth       af  -    ter    lomb,  Ihouth    af    -   ter        calve 


cu, 


ice^z 


rzrztz 


1=^ 


^zz^i 


:z^==d: 


zxiz 


-Xz 


nu. 


sing 


cue 


cu. 


Awe 


ble  -  teth      af    -   ter 


feE;^^E«3rEi=i=Sz? 


d= 


ZXZfZ 


Z7t2Z 


ZfXZ 


blow  -  eth    mead,    and  springth  the       wde 


nu. 


sing 


cue 


cu. 


-    cu. 


Ct2— 


cu 


-    cu. 


xrw-f^z 


jctz 


^^1 


-&—T 


Grow  -  eth     seed     and    blow  -  eth   mead,     and  springth  the      wde 


nn. 


ztnz 


zxxz 


nu, 


smg 


cue 


cu, 


sing 


cue 


cu 


zx:m.z 


ZI21 


sing 


cue 


cu 


nu, 


sing 


cue 


cu. 


zzz^z 


b^— !•-" .»— I 


^'- 


^J^- 


:33i 


m 


zxz 


-^ 


Bui  -  luc      stert  -  eth,      bucke 


^E^J= 


:=ii 


:i2i 


ver  -  teth,     mu   -   rie     sing      cue  -  cu. 


lomb,  Ihouth    af  -    ter       calve 


cu. 


^E3z 
— ^- 


;[=liil 


IZ3: 


Bui   -  luc      stert  -  eth,      bucke 


ver  -  teth, 


l^=iii^=, 


EEHEEE= 


irrzfc 


;zz=z=zi=pr. 


zotzztzz^z 


ZdZ 


Awe 


ble  -  teth      af    -    ter    lomb,  Ihouth   af   -    ter       calye. 


cu. 


^S^ 


33: 


3E 


z=Xzz 


^feEEE^=| 


Sing 


cue 


cu. 


Awe 


ble  -  teth       af   -  ter     lomb,  Ihouth 


"     f- 


nu, 


sing 


cue 


cu. 


sing 


cue 


cu 


nu. 


m-. 


123; 


sing 


cue 


cu 


nu, 


sing 


cue 


cu 


nu, 


201 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


S^E^EE 


:a3: 


^ZEZrii 


izz: 


:zi=l 


eI 


Z2I 


cue 


cu, 


(^—-brts 


cue     - 


cu, 


wel     sings    thu       cue  -  cu, 


^i^ 


lE^^i^ 


ne      swlk      thu 


^= 


mu  -  rie      sing      cue  -  cu, 


cue 


cu, 


cue 


cu. 


wel     sing8 


=6=.-; 


=J: 


:rii 


^^^=^z^=^^ 


szczof^n 


Bui  -  luc     stert  -  eth,      bucks 


ver  -  teth,      mu  -  rie      sing-      cue  -   cu. 


af   -    ter       calve 


:d= 


:=t 


rai 


ixi; 


:^ 


sing 
crrar 


Bg^: 


IZ3: 


sing 


cue 


-^J^^^I 


sing 


cue 


cu. 


Bui  -  lue      stert  -  eth,       bucke 


ver  -  teth,     inu  -   rie 


m 


rrzEi: 


cu. 


sing 


cue 


cu 


nu. 


sing 


znz 


Z CJt' 


cu 


nu, 


Sing 


cue 


cu. 


Sing 


:l2-:rv^-=z3: 


na 


7>- 

ver 


33; 


-P=- 


mi 


-pz= 


:^ 


nu. 


thu       cue  -  cu,  ne      swik      thu 


SUMER 


^ 


13 


1    -    cu  -  men      m 


Lhude 


sing     cue 


ZZJtZ 


na  -  ver 


ii 


i^^g^i 


-0—1- 


nu. 


SUMER 


IS 


W 


123: 


'^^m 


ZiZf- 


=d— 


:zii 


"231 


If^^i^^li 


cue 


cu, 


cue 


cu,      wel    sings    thu       cue  -  cu, 


ne       swik     thu 


na 


ri- 

ver 


ii 


zi3: 


~\-^ 


-d=:: 


183; 


iS=: 


ziiz 


sing      cue  -  cu, 


cue 


cu. 


cue 


cu. 


wel     sings     thu      cue  - 


1231 


re 


cue 


-     cu, 


sing 


cue 


cu 


nu. 


sing 


cue 


J2  — 


23: 


1^23: 


331 


cue    - 


-    cu 


nu, 


sing 


cue 


cu. 


sing 


cue 


'-'^ZS^==T=^Z 


-   cu. 


z± 


IZ3: 


^11 


^^ 


Grow  -  eth     seed     and     blow  -  eth    mead,    and  springth  the      wde 


nu. 


W 


3 


m^- 


-ti — 


m^ 


^-- 


123: 


--■X 


:£*: 


33: 


-^- 


i::^- 
-«»- 


-    cu  -  men 


in. 


Lhude 


sing      cue  -   cu. 


I^HE^ll^ 


Grow  -  eth     seed      and    blow  -  eth 

/7S 


aa: 


-«^- 


^ 


nu. 


SUMER        is 


1    -     cu  -  men 


in. 


Lhude 


rt 


32: 


cu, 


ne      swik      thu 


na   -  ver 


sing      cue  -  cu. 

331 


r23: 


-jO- 


nu. 


SUMER 


18 


cu  -  men 


^ 


i2=^=: 


ii. ' 

cu, 

..  .     . 

sing 

cue 

cu 

nu. 

sing 

cue     - 

-    cu. 

-T^ 

— ^ 

— ^— 

\--    €1 

c» 

■ 

-    cu, 


nu, 


sing 


cue 


cu. 


sing 


cue 


-    cu. 


Chap.  XLV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


205 


The  history  of  music,  so  far  as  regards  the  use  and 
practice  of  it,  is  so  nearly  connected  with  tliat  of  civil 
life,  as  in  a  regular  deduction  of  it  to  require  the 
greatest  degree  of  attention  to  the  customs  and 
modes  of  living  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  intpiisitive  part  of  man- 
kind would  be  much  at  a  loss  for  the  characteristics 
of  the  fourteenth  century.  Happily  these  authors 
have  furnished  the  means  of  investigating  this  subject, 
and  from  them  we  are  enabled  to  frame  an  idea  of  the 
manners,  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 
with  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 
these  works  a|)pear  to  have  had  the  same  common  end 
in  view,  but  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- 
pose. Chaucer,  perhaps  not  over  solicitous  to  explore 
those  regions  of  fancy,  contented  himself  with  what 
was  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 
instruction  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  illustrated  his  subject 
by  a  series  of  conversations  of  persons  of  the  most 
refined  understanding,  whereas  the  latter,  without 
being  at  the  pains  attending  such  a  method  of  selection, 
has  feigned  an  assemblage  of  persons  of  different  ranks, 
the  most  various  and  artful  that  can  be  imagined,  and 
with  an  amazing  propriety  has  made  each  of  them  the 
type  of  a  peculiar  character. 

To  begin  with  Boccace.  A  plague  which  happened 
in  the  city  of  Florence,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  134:8, 
suggests  to  him  the  fiction  that  seven  ladies,  discreet, 
nobly  descended,  and  perfectly  accomplished ;  the 
youngest  not  less  than  eighteen,  nor  the  eldest  ex- 
ceeding twenty -eight  years  of  age;  their  names 
Pampinea,  Fiammetta,  Philomena,  Emilia,  Lauretta, 
Neiphile,  and  Eliza,  meet  together  at  a  church,  and, 
after  their  devotions  ended,  enter  into  discourse  upon 
the  calamities  of  the  times  :  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  beauties  of  nature,  and  in  the  in- 
genious and  delightful  conversation  of  each  other  ; 


but  foreseeing  the  inconveniences  that  must  have 
followed  from  the  want  of  companions  of  the  other 
sex,  they  add  to  their  number  Pamphilo,  Philostrate. 
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  appoint  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  recreations  of  riding,  walking,  dancing, 
and  many  others,  for  some  part  of  the  day,  they  agree 
to  devote  the  middle  of  it  to  the  telling  of  stories  in 
rotation  :  the  conversations  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  pursue  more  closely  the  present  purpose, 
we  find  from  the  novels  of  Boccace  that  Music  made 
a  considerable  part  in.  the  entertainment  of  all  ranks 
of  people.  In  the  introduction  we  are  told  that  on 
the  first  day  after  they  had  completed  the  arrange- 
ment of  this  little  community,  when  dinner  was  over, 
as  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 
Giornata  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 
Giornata,  Dioneo,  by  whom  we  are  to  understand 
Boccace  himself,  and  Fiammetta,  under  whom  is 
shadowed  his  mistress,  the  natural  daughter  of  Robert 
king  of  Naples,  sing  together  the  story  of  Guiglielmo 
and  the  lady  of  Vergiu,  while  Philomena  and  Pam- 
philo play  at  chess ;  and  at  the  end  of  the  seventh 
Giornata  the  same  persons  are  represented  singing 
together  the  story  of  Palamon  and  Arcite,  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,  fictitious  as  they  undoubtedly 
are,  may  nevertheless  serve  to  ascertain  the  antiquity 
of  those  musical  instruments,  the  Lute,  the  Viol,  and 
the  Cornamusa,  or  Bagpipe  ;  they  also  prove  to  some 
degree  the  antiquity  of  that  kind  of  measured  dance, 


206 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


wliicli  was  originally  invented  to  display  all  the 
graces  and  elegancies  of  a  beautiful  form,  and  is  at 
this  day  esteemed  one  of  the  requisites  in  a  polite 
education. 

CHAP.  XLVI. 

It  remains  now  to  speak  of  our  ancient  English 
poet,  and  from  that  copious  fund  of  intelligence  and 
pleasantry  the  Canterbury  Tales,  to  select  such  par- 
ticulars as  will  best  illustrate  the  subject  now  under 
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  consisted  of  a  knight,  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  parson,  a  plowman, 
or,  as  we  should  now  call  such  a  one,  a  farmer,  a 
miller,  a  manciple,  a  reeve,  a  summoner,  a  pardoner, 
and  Chancer  himself  who  was  a  courtier,  a  scholar, 
and  a  poet.  The  characters  of  these,  drawn  with 
such  skill,  and  painted  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.  After  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,  wliich  being  assented  to,  he 
proposes  that  in  the  way  to  Canterbury  each  should 
tell  two  tales,  and  on  their  return  the  same  number  ; 
and  he  that  recounts  the  best  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  St.  Thomas's  Watering, 
a  place  well  known  near  Southwark,  and  the  host 
proposes  drawing  cuts  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  his  discretion  and  courtesy  are  remarkable) 
he  begins  by  a  recital  of  the  knightly  story  of  Pala- 
mon  and  Arcite.f 

*  This  inn  was  formerly  the  lodging  of  the  abbot  of  Hyde  near 
Winchester,  the  sign  was  a  Tabarde,  a  word  signifying  a  short  jaclvet, 
or  sleeveless  coat,  whole  before,  open  on  both  sides,  with  a  square  collar 
and  hanging  sleeves.  Stow's  Survey,  lib.  IV.  chap.  1.  From  the  wearing 
of  this  garment  some  of  those  on  the  foundation  at  Queen's  college  in 
O.xford  are  called  Taberdarii.  The  servants  of  their  resp3ctive  masters 
at  the  great  call  of  Serjeants  in  the  3'ear  1736,  walked  in  coats  of  this 
form,  and  of  a  violet  colour,  in  the  procession  from  the  Middle  Temple 
hall  to  Westminster.  It  was  anciently  the  proper  habit  of  a  servant,  and 
there  cannot  he  a  clearer  proof  of  it  than  that  all  the  knaves  in  a  pack  of 
cards  are  dressed  in  it.  A  few  years  ago  the  sign  of  this  inn  was  the 
Talbot  or  beagle,  an  evidence  that  the  signification  of  the  word  Tabarde 
was  at  least  unknown  to  its  then  owner.  The  host  in  Chaucer's  time 
was  Henry  Bailie,  a  merry  fellow,  the  humour  of  whose  character,  which 
is  admirably  drawn  by  the  poet,  is  greatly  heightened  by  the  circum- 
stance of  his  having  a  shrew  for  his  wife.  It  is  with  great  justice  that 
Mr.  Dryden  remarks  that  from  that  precise  and  judicious  enumeration 
of  circumstances  contained  in  this  and  the  other  characters  of  Chaucer, 
'  he  was  enabled  to  form  an  idea  of  the  humours,  the  features,  and  the 
'  very  dress  of  the  pilgrims,  as  distinctly  as  if  he  had  supped  with  them 
'  at  the  Tabarde  in  Southwark.' 

t  It  is  very  remarkable  that  Cowley  could  never  relish  the  humour 


In  the  prologues  the  following  particulars  re- 
lating to  music  are  observable ;  and  first  in  that  of 
the  'squire  it  appears  that 

He  coude  fonges  make  and  wel  endite, 
Jufte,  and  eke  daunce,  portray,  and  wel  write. 

And  that  the  prioress, 

-----     called  dame  Eglentine, 
Ful  wel  fhe  fong  the  iervice  devine, 

Of  the  Frere  it  is  said  that  i 

-     -     -     certainly  he  had  a  mery  note, 
Wel  coude  he  finge  and  plain  on  a  Rote. 

And  that 

In  harping  whan  he  had  long 

His  eyen  twinkeled  in  his  hed  aright, 

As  done  the  fterres  in  a  frofty  night. 

From  the  character  of  the  clerk  of  Oxenforde  we 
learn  that  the  Fiddle  was  an  instrument  in  use  in  the 
time  of  Chaucer. 

For  him  was  leuer  to  haue  at  his  beddes  heed 
Twenty  bookes  cladde  with  blacke  or  reed, 
Of  Ariftotle  and  of  his  philofophie, 
Than  robes  riche,  or  fiddell,  or  gay  fautrie. 

And  of  the  miller  the  author  relates  that 

A  baggepipe  well  couth  he  blowe  and  soune. 

In  the  Cook's  Tale  is  an  intimation  that  the  ap- 
prentice therein  mentioned  could  sing  and  hop,  i.  e. 
dance,  and  play  on  the  Getron  and  Ribible  ;  and  in 
the  romaunt  of  the  Rose  is  the  following  passage  : — 

There  mighteft  thou  se  thefe  Flutours, 
Minftrals,  and  eke  Joglours, 
That  well  to  fing  did  her  paine. 
Some  fong  fonges  of  Loraine, 
For  in  Loraine  her  notes  be 
Fulfweter  than  in  this  countre. — Fol.  119,  b. 

From  the  passages  above-cited  we  learn  that  the 
son  of  a  knight,  educated  in  a  manner  suitable  to  his 
birth,  might  be  supposed  to  be  able  to  read,  write, 
dance,  pourtray,  and  make  verses.  That  in  convents 
the  nuns  sang  the  service  to  the  musical  notes.  That 
the  Lute,  the  Rote,  the  Fiddle,  the  Sautrie,  the  Bag- 
pipe, the  Getron,  the  Ribible,  and  the  Flute,  were  in- 
struments in  common  use :  Speght  supposes  the 
appellative  Rote  to  signify  a  musical  instrument 
used  in  Wales,  mistaking  the  word,  as  Mr.  Urry 
suspects,  for  Crota,  a  crowd  ;  but  Dr.  Johnson  in  his 
Dictionary,  makes  it  to  mean  a  Harp,  and  cites  the 
following  passage  from  Spenser  : — 

Worthy  of  great  Pliaebus  rote, 
The  triumphs  of  Phlegrean  Jove  he  wrote, 
That  all  the  gods  admired  his  lofty  note. 

But  in  the  Confessio  Amantis  of  Gower  is  the 
following  passage  : — 

He  taught  hir,  till  Ihe  was  certene 
Of  Harpe,  Citole,  J  and  of  Riote, 
With  many  a  tewne,  and  many  a  note. — Fol.  178,  b. 

of  Chaucer.  Dryden  relates  the  fact,  and  gives  his  authority  for  it  in 
the^e  words : — '  I  have  often  heard  the  late  earl  of  Leicester  say  that 
'  Mr.  Cowley  himself  was  of  opinion  that  Chaucer  was  a  dry  old 
'  fashioned  wit,  not  worth  receiving  ;  and  that  having  read  him  over  at 
'  my  lord's  request,  he  declared  he  had  no  taste  of  him.'  Pref.  to 
Dryden's  Fables. 

■This  fact  is  as  difficult  to  account  for  as  another  of  a  similar  kind  ; 
Mr.  Handel  made  no  secret  of  declaring  himself  totally  insensible  to  the 
excellencies  of  Purcell's  compositions. 

t  CiTOLE,  in  the  passage  above-cited  from  Gower  is  derived  from 
CisTELLA,  a  little  chest,  and  probably  means  a  dulcimer,  which  is  in 
truth  no  other  than  a  little  chest  or  box  with  strings  on  the  lid  or  top. 


Chap.  XLVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


207 


Mynstrells.   •< 


Upon  which  it  is  observable  that  the  words  Harpe 
and  Itiote,  or  Rote,  occur  in  the  same  line,  which 
circumstance  imports  at  least  a  doubt,  whether  in 
strictness  of  speech  they  can  be  said  to  be  synony- 
1U0U8.  The  word  Sautrie  is  clearly  a  corruption  of 
Psaltery,  a  kind  of  harp  ;  Getron  or  Getern  has  the 
same  signification  with  Cittern ;  and  Ribible  or 
Rebible,  is  said  by  Speght  and  Urry  to  mean  a 
Fiddle,  and  sometimes  a  Getern.  The  names  of 
certain  other  instruments,  not  so  easy  to  explain,  are 
alluded  to  in  the  following  list  of  musicians  attending 
king  Edw.  III.  extracted  from  a  manuscript-roll  of 
the  officers  of  his  household,  communicated  by  the 
late  Mr.  Hardinge  of  the  House  of  Commons  : — * 

(Trompetters  -  -  5 
Cytelersf  -  -  -  1 
Pypers  -  -  -  5 
I  Tabrete  -  -  -  1 
Mabrers    -  -         -         1 

Clarions        -  -  -     2 

Fedeler     -         -         -         1 
^Wayghtesij:  -  -     3 

As  to  the  organ,  it  was  clearly  used  in  churches, 
long  before  the  time  of  Chaucer  :  he  mentions  it  in 
the  tale  of  the  Nun's  Priest ;  and  what  is  somewhat 
remarkable,  with  epithet  of  merry, — 

His  voice  was  merier  than  the  mery  Orgon 
On  mafTe  daies,  that  in  the  churches  gon. 

Other  particulars  occur  in  the  prologues,  which  as 
they  relate  to  modes  of  life,  are  characteristic  of  the 
times,  and  tend  to  elucidate  the  subject  of  the  pi-esent 
enquiry  ;  as  that  at  Stratford,  near  Bow  in  Middlesex, 
was  a  school  for  girls,  wherein  the  French  language,  but 
very  different  from  that  of  Paris  was  taught,  and  that 
at  meals,  not  to  wet  the  fingers  deep  in  the  sauce  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  First,  a  fork  was  an  implement 
unknown  in  this  country.  Tom  Coriate  the  traveller 
learned  the  use  of  it  in  Italy,  and  one  which  he 
brought  with  him  from  thence  was  here  esteemed 
a  great  curiosity. §     But  to  return  to  Chaucer:  al- 

*  Of  the  several  instruments  above-mentioned  it  seems  that  the  harp 
was  the  most  esteemed.  It  is  well  known  that  king  Alfred  himself 
played  on  the  harp  :  and  we  are  told  by  Walter  Hemingford  in  his 
Chronicle,  published  by  Dr.  Thomas  Gale,  in  the  Hist.  Brit,  et  Ang. 
otherwise  called  the  XV.  Scriptores,  vol.  III.  p.  591,  that  Edward  I. 
while  he  was  prince  of  Wales,  and  in  the  Holy  Land,  was  attended  by 
a  Citharedus  or  harper  ;  aiid  it  is  probable  that  he  had  contracted  a  love 
for  this  instrument  in  some  of  those  e-xperiitions  into  Wales,  which  he 
undertook  in  the  life-time  of  his  father  Hen.  III.  The  same  author 
relates  that  it  was  this  harper  that  killed  the  assassin  who  stabbed 
Edward  with  a  poisoned  knife  at  Ptolemais.  The  manner  of  it  is  th\is 
described  by  him  : — '  After  the  prince  had  received  the  wound  he  wrested 
'  the  knife  from  the  assassin,  and  ran  it  into  his  belly  :  his  servant  [the 
•  harper]  alarmed  by  the  noise  of  the  struggle,  rushed  into  the  room,  and 
'with  a  stool  beat  out  his  brains.'  See  also  Fuller's  Hist,  of  the  Holy 
War,  book  IV.  chap.  29. 

t  From  CiTOLE,  above  explained. 

\  '  Wayghtes  or  Waits,'  are  Hauthois.  Butler,  Principles  of  Music, 
pag.  93.  It  is  remarkable  of  this  noun  that  it  has  no  singular  number  ; 
for  we  never  say  a  Wait,  or  the  Wait,  but  the  Waits.  In  the  Etymo- 
logicum  of  Junius  the  word  is  used  to  signify  the  players  on  these 
instruments,  and  is  thus  explained: — ['Waits,  lyricines,  tibicines,  ci- 
'  tharaedi,  f.  a  verb,  to  wait,  quia  sc.  niagistratus  et  alios  in  pompis  instar 
'  stipatorum,  sequunter,  vel  a  G.  guet,  vigilia,  guetter,  quia  noctu  ex- 
'  cubias  agiint  quae  eandem  agnoscunt  origineiu  ac  nostrum  watch, 
'  vigiliae.'     Skin. 

§  '  Here  I  wil  mention  a  thing  that  might  have  been  spoken  of  before 
'in  discourse  of  the  first  Italian  tuwne.  I  observed  a  custome  in  all 
'  those  Italian  cities  and  townes  through  the  which  I  passed,  that  is  not 
'  used  in  any  other  country  that  I  saw  in  my  travels,  neither  doe  I  thinke 
•that  any  other  nation  of  Christendome  doth  use  it,  but  only  Italy. 


though  forbidden  by  the  canon  law  to  the  clergy,  it 
appears  from  him  that  the  monks  were  lovers  of 
hunting,  and  kept  greyhounds — that  Serjeants  at  law, 
were  as  early  as  the  time  of  Edward  the  Third,  occa- 
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 
Plowden,  who  flourished  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth, 
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 
public  :  II  a  series  of  these  is  now  extant,  and  known 
to  the  profession  of  the  law  by  the  name  of  Year- 
books —  that  the  houses  of  country  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  as  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  but  little  conscience  of  stealing  wine  out  of  the 
vessels  of  their  chapmen  when  the  latter  were  asleep 
— That  physicians  made  astrology  a  part  of  their 
study — That  the  weaving  of  woollen  cloth  was  a  very 
profitable  trade,  and  that  the  neighbourhood  of  Bath 
was  one  of  the  seats  of  that  manufacture^ — That  a 
pilgrimage  to  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  procure  chauntries  in 
the  cathedral  of  St.  Paul f[— That  at  the  Temple  the 
members  were  not  more  than  thirty,**  twelve  of  whom 

'  The  Italian,  and  also  most  strangers  that  are  commorant  in  Italy,  doe 
'alwaies  at  their  meales  use  a  little  forke  when  they  cut  their  meate. 
'For  while  with  their  knife,  which  they  hold  in  one  hand,  they  cut  the 
'  meate  out  of  the  dish,  they  fasten  their  forke,  which  they  hold  in  their 
'  other  hand,  upon  the  same  dish,  so  that  whatsoever  he  be  that  sitting 
'in  the  company  of  any  others  at  meale,  should  unadvisedly  touch  the 
'dish  of  meate  with  his  fingers  from  which  all  at  tlie  table  doe  cut,  he 
'  will  give  occasion  of  offence  unto  the  company,  as  having  transgressed 
'  the  lawes  of  good  manners,  insomuch  that  for  his  error  he  shall  be  at 
'the  least  brow-beaten,  if  not  reprehended  in  wordes.  This  forme  of 
'  feeding  I  understand  is  generally  used  in  all  places  of  Italy,  their  forks 
'  being  for  the  most  part  made  of  yron  or  stt ele.  and  some  of  sliver,  but 
'  those  are  used  only  by  gentlemen.  The  reason  of  this  their  curiosity  is, 
'  because  the  Italian  "cannot  by  any  meanes  indure  to  have  his  dish 
'  touched  with  fineers,  seeing  all  mens  fingers  are  not  alike  cleane. 
'  Hereupon  I  myselfe  thought  good  to  imitate  the  Kalian  fashion  by  this 
'  forked  cutting  of  meate,  not  only  while  I  was  in  Italy,  but  also  in 
'  Germany,  and  oftentimes  in  England  since  I  came  home ;  being  once 
'  quipped  for  that  frequent  using  of  my  forke  by  a  certain  learned  gentle- 
'  man,  a  familiar  friend  of  mine,  one  M.  Laurence  Whitaker,  who  in  his 
'  merry  humour  doubted  not  to  call  me  at  table  Furcifer,  only  for  using 
'a  forke  at  feeding,  but  for  no  other  cause.'     Coriate's  Crudities,  pag.  90. 

II  Pref.  to  3d.  Rep. 

IT  Besides  such  clerks  as  held  chauntries  in  the  nature  of  benefices, 
there  were  others  who  were  mere  itinerants,  wandering  about  the  king- 
dom, and  seeking  employment  by  singing  mass  for  the  souls  of  the 
founders.  Fuller  says  that  the  ordinary  price  for  a  mass  sung  by  one  of 
these  clerks  was  four  pence ;  but  that  if  they  dealt  in  the  gross,  it  was 
forty  marks  for  two  thousand.     Worthies  in  Essex,  pag.  339. 

«  *  This  account  of  the  number  of  members  in  one  of  the  principal  inns 
of  court  must  appear  strange  in  comparison  with  the  state  of  those 
seminaries  at  this  time,  unless  we  suppose,  as  perhaps  we  ought,  that 
Chaucer  means  by  the  persons  to  whom  the  manciple  is  serv.ant.  Benchers, 
and  not  those  of  a  less  standing.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Sixth  the 
students  in  each  of  the  inns  of  court  were  computed  at  two  hundred; 
and  these  bear  but  a  small  proportion  to  their  numbers  at  this  day. 
The  reason  given  by  Fortescue  for  the  smallness  of  their  number  in  his 
time  is  very  curious,  and  is  but  one  of  a  thousand  facts  which  might  be 
brought  to  prove  the  vast  increase  of  wealth  in  this  country.  His  words 
are  these : — '  In  these  greater  innes  there  can  no  student  be  maintained 
'  for  lesse  expenses  by  the  year  then  twenty  markes,  and  if  he  have 
'  a  servant  to  waite  upon  him,  as  most  of  them  have,  then  so  much  the 
'  greater  will  his  charges  be.  Now,  by  reason  of  this  charges,  the 
'  children  onely  of  noblemen  do  study  the  lawes  in  those  innes,  for  the 


208 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V. 


were  qnalified  to  be  stewards  to  any  peer  of  the  realm 
— That  tlieir  manciple  was  a  rogue,  and  had  cunning 
enough  to  cheat  them  all — That  stewards  grew  rich 
by  lending  their  lords  their  own  money.  The  sum- 
moner,  an  officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  execute  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  litter  a  few  of  those  cant  phrases  which  occur 
in  the  practice  of  the  consistory,  and  other  eccle- 
siastical courts  ;  and  that  they  would  for  a  small  fee 
suffer  a  good  fellow  to  have  his  concubine  for  a 
twelvemonth.  Tliat  they  were  of  counsel  with  all 
the  lewd  women  in  the  diocese,  and  made  the  vulgar 
believe  that  the  pains  of  hell  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  tliere- 
iii,  less  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 him. 

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,  but  living  '  at  his  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  house  of  this  man  the  scholar 
had  a  chamber,  which  he  decked  with  sweet  herbs  ;  he 
is  supposed  to  study  astronomy,  or  rather  astrology  ; 
his  chamber  is  furnished  with  books  great  and  small, 
among  which  is  the  Almagist,  a  treatise  said  to 
be  written  by  Ptolemy  ;  an  Asterlagour,  or  As- 
trolabe, an  instrument  used  for  taking  the  altitude  of 
the  sun  and  stars.  He  has  also  a  set  of  Augrim 
Stones,t  a  kind  of  pebbles  at  that  time  made  use  of 

'  poor  and  common  sort  of  the  people  are  not  able  to  bear  so  great  charges 
'for  the  exliibition  of  tlieir  children.  And  marcliant  men  can  seldom 
'  find  it  in  their  hearts  to  hinder  their  merchandise  with  so  great  yearly 
'  expenses.  And  thus  it  falleth  out  that  there  is  scant  any  man  foimd 
'  within  the  realm  skillful  and  cunning  in  the  lawes,  except  he  be  a 
'  gentleman  born,  and  come  of  a  noble  stock.  Wherefore  they  more  tlien 
'any  other  kind  of  men  have  a  ^peciad  re;jard  to  their  nobility,  and  to 
'  the  preservation  of  tUi-ir  honor  and  fame.  And.  to  speak  upri^'litly, 
'  there  is  in  these  greater  innes,  yea,  and  in  the  lesser  too,  beside  ilie 
'  study  of  the  laws,  as  it  were  an  university  or  school  of  all  commendable 
'qualities  requisite  for  noblemen.  There  they  learn  to  sing,  and  to 
'  exercise  themselves  in  all  kinde  of  harmony.  There  also  they  practice 
'  dauncing,  and  other  noblemen's  pastimes,  as  they  use  to  do,  which  are 
'brought  up  in  the  king's  house.  On  the  working  dayes  most  of  them 
'  apply  themselves  to  the  study  of  the  law  ;  and  on  the  holie  dales  to  the 
'study  of  holy  scripture;  and  out  of  the  time  of  divine  service  to  the 
'reading  of  chronicles.  For  there  indeed  are  virtues  studied,  and  vices 
'exiled;  so  that,  for  the  endowment  of  vertue,  and  abandoning  of  vice, 
'  knights  and  barons,  with  other  states,  and  noblemen  of  the  realm,  place 
'  tlieir  children  in  those  innes,  though  tliey  desire  not  to  have  them 
'  learned  in  the  lawes,  nor  to  live  by  the  practice  thereof,  but  onely  upon 
their  father's  allowance.'  De  Laudibus  Legum  Anglia;,  cap.  49.  Mul- 
caster's  Translation. 

*  Some  of  these  Prologues,  modernized,  as  it  is  said,  by  Mr.  Betterton, 
are  printed  in  the  Miscellany  of  Mr.  Pope,  in  two  volumes  12mo.  Mr. 
Fenton,  suspecting  that  they  were  indeed  Pope's,  requested  of  him  the 
sight  of  Betterton's  manuscript,  but  could  n-ver  obtain  it. 

t  Augrim  is  supposed  by  Mr.  Urry  to  be  a  corruption  of  Algorithm,  by 
which  he  says  is  meant  the  sum  of  the  principal  rules  of  common  arith- 


in  numeral  computation,  and  to  which  counters  after- 
wards succeeded, and  above  all  lay  his  musical  in- 
strument. 

His  rival  Absolon,  the  parish  clerk,  is  of  another 
east,  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  them 
'  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  his  duty  on  holidays  to  go  round  the 
church  with  a  censer  in  his  hand,  conformable  to  the 
practice  of  the  times,  '  censing  the  wives  of  the  parish.' 
But  nothing  can  be  more  picturesque  than  the  de- 
scription of  his  person  and  dress.  His  hair  shone 
like  gold,  and  strutted  broad  like  a  fan  ;  his  com- 
plexion red,  and  his  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  his  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  habili 
ments  were  covered  vi'ith  a  white  surplice. 

The  Reve's  Tale  contains  the  characters  of  Denyse 
Simkin,  the  proud  miller  of  Trompington,  and  his 
prouder  wife  :  from  the  poet's  description  of  them  it 
appears  that  the  husband,  as  a  fashion  not  inconsistent 

metic.      Glossary   to  Chaucer.      Gower's   definition    of   the   science   of 
arithmetic  seems  to  favour  this  opinion : — 
Of  arithmetic  the  matere 

Is  that  of  wiiiche  a  man  may  lere, 

What  Algorifme  in  nombre  amounteth 

Whan  that  the  wife  man  accounteth 

After  the  formel  propretee 

Of  Algorifmes  a,  b,  c  ; 

By  which  multiplicacion 

Is  made,  and  the  diminucion 

Of  fommes,  by  the  experience 

Of  this  arte,  and  of  this  fcience. 

Confessio  Amantis,  fol.  141.  b. 

■Rut  in  a  book  entitled  Arithmetick,  or  the  Ground  of  Arts,  written  by 
Robert  Record,  doctor  in  physic,  and  dedicated  to  king  Edw.  VI  ,  after- 
wards augmented  by  the  famous  Or.  John  Dee,  and  republished  in  1390 
and  Hits,  Kvo.,  the  word,  as  also  another  of  the  same  signification,  viz., 
Arsemetric'k,  is  thus  exjilained :— '  Both  names  are  corrujitly  written, 
'  Arsemetrick  for  Arithmetick,  as  the  Greeks  call  it,  and  Augrime  for 
'  Algorisnie,  as  the  Arabians  sound  it,  which  doth  betoken  the  science  of 
'  numbering.'  Pag.  8.  Augrim  stones  seem  to  have  been  the  origin  of 
counters,  tlie  use  whereof  in  numerical  calculation  was  continued  down 
to  the  time  of  publishing  the  above  book,  for  the  author,  pa»r.  9,  says 
'  the  art  of  arithmetic  may  be  wrought  diversely  with  pen  or  with  coun- 
'  ters  :'  the  powers  of  these  counters  w^ere  determined  by  their  situation 
in  the  higher  or  lower  of  six  rows  or  lines;  but  in  this  respect  there  was 
a  ditlereiice,  the  merchants  observing  one  rule,  and  the  auditors  of 
public  accounts  another. 

I  Points  were  anciently  a  necessary  article  in  the  dress,  at  least  of 
men  ;  in  the  ancient  comedies  and  other  old  books  we  meet  with  frequent 
mention  of  them;  to  describe  them  exactly,  they  were  bits  of  string 
about  eight  inches  in  length,  consisting  of  three  strands  of  cotton  yarn, 
of  various  colours,  twisted  together,  and  tagged  at  both  ends  with  hits  of 
tin  plate;  their  use  was  to  tie  together  the  garments  worn  on  different 
parts  of  the  body,  particularly  the  breeches  or  hose,  as  they  were  called, 
hence  the  phrase  '  to  untruss  a  point.'  With  the  leather  doublet  or 
jerkin  buttons  were  introduced,  and  these  in  process  of  time  rendered 
points  useless;  nevertheless  they  continued  to  be  made  till  of  very  late 
years,  and  that  for  a  particular  purpose.  On  Ascension-day  it  is  the 
custom  of  the  inhabitants  of  parishes  with  their  officers  to  perambulate 
in  order  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  their  boundaries,  and  to  impress 
the  remembrance  thereof  on  the  minds  of  young  persons,  especially  boys ; 
to  invite  boys  therefore  to  attend  this  business,  some  little  gratuities  were 
found  necessary,  accordingly  it  was  the  custom  at  the  commencement 
of  the  procession  to  distribute  to  each  a  willow  wand,  and  at  the  end 
thereof  a  handful  of  the  points  above  spoken  of;  which  were  looked  on 
by  them  as  honorary  rewards  long  after  they  ceased  to  he  useful,  and 
were  called  tags. 


Chap.  XL VI I. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


209 


with  his  vocation,  wore  both  a  sword  and  a  dagger. 
As  to  his  wife,  she  is  said  to  have  been  the  daughter 
of  the  parson  of  the  town,  who  on  her  marriage  gave 
her  '  full  many  a  pan  of  brass ;'  and  because  of  her 
birth  and  her  education,  for  she  is  said  to  have  been 
'  fostered  in  a  nunnery,'  she  was  insolent  to  her  neigh- 
bours, and  assumed  the  style  of  Madam.  The  busi- 
ness which  drew  the  scholars  John  and  Alein  to  the 
mill  of  Simkin,  bespeaks  the  difference  which  a  long 
succession  of  years  has  made  in  a  college  life ;  for 
the  rents  of  college  estates  were  formerly  paid,  not 
in  money,  but  in  corn,  which  it  was  the  business  of 
the  manciple  to  get  ground  and  made  into  bread. 
During  the  sickness  of  the  manciple  of  Seller's  hall 
at  Cambridge,  two  scholars,  with  a  sack  of  corn  laid 
on  the  back  of  a  horse,  armed  each  with  a  sword 
and  buckler,  set  out  for  the  mill  at  Tronipington, 
a  neighbouring  village.  The  miller  contrives  to 
steal  their  corn,  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.  Persons 
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  intercourse 
between  the  inhabitants  of  one  part  of  the  kingdom 
and  another,  which  nothing  but  an  improved  state 
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  house  of  each  was  his  castle.  The  many  romances 
and  books  of  chivalry  extant  in  the  world,  although 
abounding  in  absurdities,  contain  a  very  true  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  sul)jects  of  poetical  description. 

It  is  true  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  crown,  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 

*  When  the  servants  of  great  families  were  formerly  much  more 
numerous  than  now,  some  place  of  confinement  for  such  as  were  unruly 
geems  to  have  been  necessary :  and  it  is  an  indisputable  fact  that  an- 
ciently in  the  houses  of  the  principal  nobility,  putting  them  in  the  stocks 
■was  the  punishmer  t  for  drunkenness,  insolence,  and  other  offences  :  the 
knowledsie  of  thi.s  practice  will  account  for  the  treatment  of  Kent  in  king 
Lear,  who  by  the  command  of  Cornwall  is  set  in  the  stocks.  Within  the 
memory  of  some  persons  now  living  the  stocks  were  used  for  the  above 
purpose  at  Sion  house,  near  Isleworth,  in  Middlesex. 


and  other  requisites  for  the  carrying  on  either  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  were 
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.  But  here  the 
power  and  influence  attendant  on  the  feudal  system 
breaks  forth ;  the  lord  was  entitled  to  the  wardship 
of  the  heir  of  his  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  his  ward  to  whom  he  pleased  ;  and 
where  the  inheritance  descended  to  daughters,  the 
marrying  of  them  to  any  person  above  the  degree 
of  a  villain,  was  as  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  abolishinar 
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  influence  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  hunting,  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  as 
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  Otterburn,  and  the  old  ballad  of  Chevy- 
Chace,  with  many  others  in  Dr.  Percy's  collection, 
are  instances  of  this  kind,  and  were  these  wanting, 
a  curious  history  of  the  Gwedir  family,  lately  pub- 
lished by  the  learned  and  ingenious  Mr.  Barrington, 
would  sufiiciently  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  persons  from  violence  were  the  effects  of  modern 
refinement,  and  sprang  from  that  courtesy  which 
attended  the  knightly  exercise  of  Arms,  concerning 
the  origin  of  which,  as  it  contributed  to  attemper  the 
almost  natural  ferocity  of  the  people,  and  reflect 
a  lustre  on  the  female  character,  it  may  not  be 
improper  here  to  enquire. 

CHAP.  XL VII. 

Whether  chivalry  had  its  rise  from  those  frequent 
expeditions  for  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land,  which 

p 


210 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  V 


authors  mean  when  they  speak  of  the  crusades,  or 
wli(3ther  crusading  was  the  offspring  of  chivalry,  is 
a  .matter  of  controversy;  but  whatever  be  the  fact, 
it  is  certain  that  for  some  time  they  had  a  mutual 
dependence  on  each  other ;  the  military  orders  of 
religious  were  instituted  for  the  sole  purposes  of 
guarding  the  holy  sepulchre,  and  protecting  the  per- 
sons of  pilgrims  to  Jerusalem  from  violence.  During 
the  continuance  of  the  Holy  War,  as  it  was  called, 
and  for  some  centuries  after,  incredible  numbers  of 
persons  of  all  conditions  flocked  from  every  part  of 
Europe  to  Jerusalem  on  pilgrimage ;  and  supposing 
these  vast  troops  to  include,  as  in  fact  they  did,  the 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  princi2:)al  fomilies,  it  might 
be  truly  said  that  the  flower  of  all  Europe  were  at 
the  mercy  not  only  of  the  enemies  of  the  Christian 
faith,  but  of  pirates  and  land-robbers.  Injuries  of- 
fered to  the  persons  of  beautiful  and  distressed 
damsels  in  those  perillous  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- 
tures. To  what  length  some  were  hurried  by  their 
attention  to  these  calls  of  humanity,  we  may  in  some 
measure  learn  from  that  vast  profusion  of  fabulous 
compositions,  the  romances  of  the  eleventh  and  siic- 
ceeding  centuries,  which,  though  abounding  with 
incredible  relations,  had  their  foundation  in  the  man- 
ners of  the  times  in  which  they  were  written,* 

*  It  is  observable  that  the  ancient  romances  abound  with  particular 
descriptions  of  tlie  shields,  devices,  and  impressions  of  the  combatants 
at  tilts  and  tournaments  ;  and  it  is  notoricus  that  throughout  Europe 
families  are  distinguished  by  what  is  called  their  coat  armour.  The 
heralds,  for  the  honour  of  their  profession,  contend  that  tliis  method  of 
distinction  had  its  origin  in  that  assignment  of  a  certain  badge  or  cogni- 
zance, which  Jacob,  Genesi.s,  chap  xlix.  seems  to  malvc  to  his  twelve 
sons,  when  he  resembles  Judah  to  a  lion's  whelp,  and  sa.vs  Zabulon 
shall  be  a  haven  for  ships,  Isachar  an  ass,  Dan  a  serpent,  &rc.  Dame 
Juliana  IJernes.  who  wrote  the  book  of  St.  Alban's,  asserts  that  Japhet 
bore  arms,  and  therefore  styles  him  gentlemanly  Japhet.  But  in  fact, 
the  practice  is  not  to  be  traced  farther  back  than  to  the  time  of  the 
crusades.  Sir  William  Dugdale  gave  Mr.  Siderfin,  a  barrister  of  the 
Inner  Temple  in  the  time  of  Charles  the  Second,  and  the  collector  of  the 
Reports  which  bear  his  name,  the  following  account  of  the  origin  of 
coat  armour,  viz.,  '  When  Richard  I.  with  a  great  number  of  his  subjects, 
'  made  a  voyage  to  Jerusalem  in  order  to  recover  it  from  the  Turks,  the 
'  commanders  in  that  expedition  distinguished  themselves  by  certain 
'  devices  depicted  on  their  shields  ;  but  this  invention  not  being  found 
'  sufficient  to  answer  the  end,  they  made  use  of  silk  coats,  with  their 
'devices  or  arms  painted  on  the  back  and  breast,  which  silk  coats  were 
'  worn  over  the  armour,  and  from  these  came  the  coat  which  the  heralds 
'  now  wear,  and  hence  the  term  Coat  of  Arms ;  and  from  this  time, 
'nothing  interposing  to  prevent  it,  arms  became  hereditary,  descending 
'to  all  the  sons,  in  the  nature  of  Gavelkind.'  Vide  1  Inst.  140.  From 
whence  by  the  way  it  should  seem  that  women  are  not  entitled  to  the 
distinction  of  coat  armour,  though  it  is  the  practice  of  the  heraJds  to 
blazon  arms  for  unmarried  ladies  in  a  lozenge. 

The  origin  of  Supporters  is  thus  accounted  for:  when  the  exercises  of 
tilts  and  tournaments  were  in  use,  it  was  the  practice  of  princes  by 
proclamation  to  invite,  upon  particular  solemnities,  knights,  and  other 
persons  of  martial  dispositions,  from  all  parts  of  Ctiristendom,  to 
make  proof  of  their  skill  and  courage  in  those  conflicts;  for  which 
purpose  a  plain  was  usually  chosen,  lists  marked  out,  and  barriers 
erected.  Within  the  lists  were  pitched  the  tents  of  the  combatants,  and 
some  time  before  the  exercises  began,  shields  were  severally  placed  at 
the  doors  of  their  tents,  with  their  arms  and  other  devices  depicted 
thereon  ;  and  as  these  attracted  the  eyes  of  the  spectators  to  view  and 
contemplate  them,  it  was  thought  an  addition  to  the  pomp  and  splendour 
cf  the  ceremony  that  the  shields  should  be  supported,  and  the  'squires 
or  pages  of  the  knights  were  thought  the  properest  persons  for  this 
employment.  Fancy,  which  was  ever  at  work  upon  these  occasions, 
suggested  the  thought  of  dressing  these  persons  in  emblematical  garbs, 
suited  to  the  circumstances  of  those  whom  they  attended.  Some  of 
these  supporters  were  made  to  represent  savages,  or  green  Men,  seem- 
ingly naked,  but  with  green  leaves  on  their  heads,  and  about  their  loins; 
some  appearing  like  saracens,  with  looks  that  threatened  destruction  to 
their  beholders  ;  others  were  habited  like  palmers  or  pilgrims,  and  some 
were  angels.  A  little  stretch  of  invention  led  them  to  assume  the  figure 
of  lions,  griffins,  and  a  world  of  other  forms,  and  hence  the  use  of 
supporters  became  common. 

Here  it  may  be  observed  that  the  had  success  of  the  holy  war  had  ren- 


Particular  instances  of  that  knightly  braver), 
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  damsels 
imprisoned  in  their  dungeons  :  nevertheless  it  is 
certain  that  the  exercise  of  arms  had  a  tendency  to 
excite  a  kind  of  emulation  in  Ihe  brave  and  youthful, 
which  was  productive  of  good  consequences,  for  it 
gave  rise  to  that  quality  which  we  term  Courtesy, 
and  is  but  a  particular  modification  of  humanity ; 
it  inspired  sentiments  of  honour  and  generosity,  and 
taught  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,  tilts  and  tournaments,  in  the 
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  prize 
Of  wit,  or  arms,  while  both  contend 
To  win  her  grace,  whom  all  commend. 

L'Allegro. 

From  the  institution  of  exercises  of  this  and  the 
like  kind,  and  from  the  sentiments  which  they  are 
calculated  to  inspire,  is  to  be  dated  the  introductior 
of  women  on  the  theatre  of  life,  and  the  assigning 
to  them  those  parts  which  nature  has  enabled  them 
to  act  with  projiriety :  and  from  this  time  they  are 
to  be  considered  as  parties  in  the  common  and 
innocent  amusements  of  life,  present  at  public  fes- 
tivities, and  joining  in  the  social  and  domestic  re- 
creations of  music  and  dancing. 

These  indulgences  it  must  be  confessed  were  the 
prerogative  of  ladies,  and  could  not  in  their  nature 
extend  to  the  lower  rank  of  women  :  the  refinement  of 
the  times  leit  these  latter  in  much  the  same  state  as 
it  found  them  :  household  ceconomy,  and  an  attention 
to  the  means  of  thriving,  were  the  distinguishing 
characteristics  of  the  wives  and  daughters  of  far- 
mers, mechanics,  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  Chaucer,  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  are 
the  following : — 

My  doughter  gif  thou  be  a  wife,  wifely  thou  werke, 
Looke  euer  thou  loue  God  and  the  holy  kirke, 
Go  to  kirke  when  thou  may,  and  let  for  no  rayne, 
And  then  fhall  thou  fare  the  bet,  when  thou  God  has  fayn  : 

Full  well  may  they  thriue 

That  feruen  God  in  their  liue. 
My  leue  dere  child. 

dered  the  name  of  a  saracen  a  terror  to  all  Christendom,  and  the  sign  of 
the  Saracen's  head  one  of  the  most  common  for  inns  of  any  in  England,  is 
a  picture  of  a  giant  with  great  whiskers,  and  eyes  glowing  with  fire,  in 
short,  he  is  represented  in  the  act  of  blaspheming.  The  reason  of  this 
may  he  collected  from  the  following  curious  anecdote,  perhaps  first 
communicated  to  writing  by  Mr.  Selden  ; — '  When  our  countrymen  came 
'  home  from  fighting  with  the  saracens.  and  were  beaten  by  them,  they 
pictured  them  with  huge  big  terrible  faces  (as  you  still  see  the  sign  of 
the  Saracen's  head  is),  when  in  truth  they  were  like  other  men.  But  thi» 
they  did  to  save  their  own  credits.'    Table-talk,  Tit.  War. 


Chap.  XL VII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  TilUSIC. 


211 


When  thou  (its  in  the  kirlce  thy  bedes  fhalt  thou  bid  j 
Therein  make  no  ianglin  with  friend  ne  fib. 
Laugh  not  to  fcorne  nodir  old  ne  young, 
Be  of  good  bering,  and  haue  a  good  tongue; 

For  after  thy  bering 

So  fhall  thy  name  ipring, 
My,  &c, 

Gif  any  man  with  worfhip  defire  to  wed  thee, 
Wifely  him  anfwere,  fcorne  him  not  what  he  bee, 
And  tell  it  to  thy  friends,  and  hide  thou  it  nought ; 
Sit  not  by  him,  nor  ftand  not  that  fm  mow  be  wrought. 

For  gif  a  flaunder  be  once  rayfed, 

It  is  not  fo  fone  ftilled, 
My,  &c. 

What  man  that  {hall  wed  the  fore  God  with  a  ring, 
Looke  thou  loue  him  beft  of  any  earthly  thing  ; 
And  meekly  him  anfwere,  and  not  too  fnatching, 
So  may  thou  flake  his  yre  and  be  his  darling  : 

Faire  words  flaken  yre. 

Suffer  and  haue  thy  defire. 
My,  &c. 

When  thou  goes  by  the  gate,  go  not  too  faft  ; 
Ne  bridle  not  with  thy  hede,  ne  thy  (houlders  caft, 
Be  not  of  mony  words,  ne  fwcare  not  to  gret, 
All  euill  vices  my  doughter  thou  foryet ; 

For  gif  thou  have  an  euill  name, 

It  will  turne  the  to  grame,* 
My,  &c. 

Goe  not  oft  to  the  towne  as  it  were  a  gaze, 
Fro  one  houfe  to  odir  for  to  feeke  the  maze, 
Ne  go  not  to  market,  thy  barrell  to  fill  ; 
Ne  ufe  not  the  tauerne  thy  worfhip  to  fpill: 

For  who  the  tauern  ufis, 

His  thrift  he  refufes, 
My,  &c. 

Gif  thou  be  in  place  where  good  drink  is  on  loft, 
Wheder  that  thou  ferue,  or  thou  fit  fofte  ; 
Mefurely  take  thou,  and  get  the  no  blame; 
Gif  thou  be  drunken  it  turnes  the  to  fhame. 

Who  fo  loues  meafure  and  fkill, 

He  Ihall  ofte  haue  his  will, 
My,  &c. 

Go  not  to  the  wraftling,  ne  fhoting  the  cock. 
As  it  were  a  ftrumpet  or  a  giglot.j- 
Be  at  home  doughter,  and  thy  things  tend, 
For  thine  owne  profit  at  the  latter  end. 

Mery  is  owne  thing  to  fee, 

My  dere  doughter  I  tell  it  thee, 
My,  &c. 

Hufewifely  fhall  thou  go  on  the  werk-day  ; 
Pride,  reft,  and  idlenes,  put  hem  cleane  away. 
And  after  on  the  holy  day  well  clad  fhalt  thou  be  : 
The  haliday  to  worfhip,  God  will  loue  the 

More  tor  worfhip  of  our  Lord,  ^ 

Than  for  pride  of  the  world, 
My,  &c. 

Look  to  thy  meyny,  and  let  them  not  be  ydell  : 
Thy  hufbond  out,  looke  who  does  much  or  litell, 
And  he  that  does  well  quite  him  his  meede  ; 
And  gif  he  doe  amiffe  amend  thou  him  bidde, 
And  gif  the  work  be  great,  and  the  time  ftrait, 
Set  to  thy  hond,  and  make  a  hufwife's  brayd. 
For  they  will  do  better  gif  thou  by  them  ftond  : 
The  worke  is  foner  done,  there  as  is  mony  hond. 
My,  &c. 

And  looke  what  thy  men  doon,  and  about  hem  wend. 
At  euery  deede  done  be  at  the  tone  end  : 
And  git  thou  finde  any  fault,  foone  it  amend  ; 
Eft  will  they  do  the  better  and  thou  be  neare  hand. 

Mikell  him  behoues  to  doe, 

A  good  houfe  that  will  looke  to. 
My,  &c. 

♦  &RAMK,    sonow,  vexation,   Lrnam,  fu™r.     Urrt. 

♦  Gtolot,  lascivus,  petulans,  libidinosus,  venereus.     Junius. 


Looke  all  thing  be  well  when  they  worke  leauen, 
And  take  thy  keyes  to  the  when  it  is  euen  ; 
Looke  all  thing  be  well,  and  let  for  no  fhime, 
And  gif  thou  fo  do  thou  gets  thee  the  lafs  blame  ; 

Truft  no  man  bett  thyfelfe, 

Whileft  thou  art  in  thy  helth. 
My,  &c. 

Sit  not  at  euen  too  long  at  gaze  with  the  cup 
For  to  wafTell  and  drinke  all  uppe  ; 
So  to  bed  betimes    at  morne  rife  beliue, 
And  fo  may  thou  better  learne  to  thriue  ; 

He  that  woU  a  good  houfe  keepe 

Muft  ofte- times  breake  a  fleepe. 
My,  &c. 

Gif  it  betide  doughter  thy  friend  fro  the  fall , 
And  God  fend  the  children  that  for  bread  will  call, 
And  thou  haue  mickle  neede,  helpe  little  or  none. 
Thou  mufl  then  care  and  fpare  hard  as  the  flone. 

For  euill  that  may  betide, 

A  man  before  fhould  dread. 
My,  &c. 

Take  heede  to  thy  children  which  thou  haft  borne 
And  Wdit  wel  to  thy  doughters  that  they  be  not  forlone ; 
And  put  hem  betime  to  their  mariage, 
And  giue  them  of  thy  good  when  they  be  of  age. 

For  maydens  bene  louely. 

But  they  ben  untrufty, 
My,  &c. 

Gif  thou  loue  thy  children  hold  thou  hem  lowe, 
And  gif  any  of  hem  mifdo,  banne  hem  not  ne  blow, 
But  take  a  good  fmart  rod,  and  beat  hem  arowe. 
Till  they  cry  mercy,  and  their  gilts  bee  know. 

For  gif  thou  loue  thy  children  wele, 

Spare  not  the  yard  neuer  a  deale, 
My,  &C.J 

The  foregoing  stanzas  exhibit  a  very  lively  picture 
of  the  manners  of  this  country,  so  far  as  respects  the 
conduct  and  behaviour  of  a  class  of  people,  who  at 
the  time  when  they  were  written,  occupied  a  station 
some  degrees  removed  above  the  lowest ;  and  seem 
to  presuppose  that  women  of  this  rank  stood  in  need 
of  admonitions  against  incontinence  and  drunkenness, 
vices  at  this  day  not  imputable  to  the  wives  of  farmers 
or  tradesmen.  It  is  much  to  be  lamented  that  the 
means  of  recovering  the  characteristics  of  past  ages 
are  so  few,  as  every  one  must  find  who  undertakes  to 
delineate  them.  The  chronicles  and  history  of  this 
country,  like  those  of  most  others,  are  in  general  the 
annals  of  pulilic  events ;  and  a  history  of  local 
manners  is  wanting  in  every  country  that  has  made 
the  least  progress  towards  a  state  of  civilization.  One 
of  the  best  of  those  very  few  good  sentiments  con- 
tained in  the  writings  of  the  late  lord  Bolingbroke  is 
this,  '  History  is  philosophy  teaching  by  example.' 
And  men  would  be  less  at  a  loss  than  they  are  how 
to  act  in  many  situations,  could  it  be  known  what 
conduct  had  heretofore  been  pursued  in  similar  in- 
stances. ]\[ankind  are  possessed  with  a  sort  of 
curiosity,  which  leads  them  to  a  retrospect  on  past 
times,  and  men  of  speculative  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  virtue  and  restrain  vice,  but 
they  wish  for  that  intelligence  which  would  enable 

t  The  poem  from  which  the  above  stanzas  are  taken  was  printed, 
together  with  the  stately  tragedy  of  Guistarrt  and  Sismond,  and  a  short 
copy  of  verses  entitled  '  The  Way  to  Thrift,'  by  Robert  Robinson,  lor 
Robert  Dexter,  in  1597  ;  and  in  the  title-page  all  the  three  are  saiii  to  be 
'  of  great  antiquitie,  and  to  have  been  loiig  reserved  in  manuscript  in  the 
'  studie  of  a  Northfolke  gentleman.' 


212 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


BuoK  Vw 


them  to  represent  to  their  minds  the  images  of  past 
transactions  with  the  same  degree  of  exactness  as  is 
required  in  painting.  With  what  view  but  this  are 
collections  formed  of  antiquities,  of  various  kinds  of 
medals,  of  marbles,  inscriptions,  delineations  of  ancient 
structures,  even  in  a  state  of  ruin,  warlike  instruments, 
furniture,  and  domestic  utensils.  Why  are  these  so 
eagerly  sought  after  but  to  supply  that  defect  which 
history  in  general  labours  under  ? 

Some  of  our  English  writers  seem  to  have  been 
sens'ule  of  the  usefulness  of  this  kind  of  information, 
and  uave  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  Leland,  by  William  Harrison,  and 
prefixed  to  Hollinshed's  Chronicle,  is  a  very  enter- 
taining account  of  the  ancient  manner  of  living  in 
England.  Stowe  is  very  particular  with  respect  to 
London,  and  spends  a  whole  chapter  in  describing 
their  sports  and  pastimes.  Hall,  in  his  Chronicle, 
has  o-one  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  Intinerary  of  Fynes  iMoryson,  and  others  to  the 
last  degree  entertaining  in  that  part  of  the  Intinerary 
of  Paid  Hentzner,  published  by  the  honourable  Mr. 
Walpole  in  17o7,  with  the  title  of  a  Journey  intq 
England  in  lOfci'J. 

These  it  is  presumed  are  the  books  from  which 
a  curious  enquirer  into  the  customs  and  manners  of 
our  forefathers  would  hope  for  infoniiation  ;  but 
there  is  extant  another,  which  though  a  great  deal  is 
contained  in  it,  few  have  been  tempted  to  look  into  ; 
it  is  that  entitled  De  Proprietatibus  Rerum,  of  Bar- 
tholomgeus,  written  originally  in  Latir,  and  translated 
into  English  by  John  Trevisa,  in  die  year  1398. 
Of  the  author  and  translator  the  following  is  aij 
account : — 

The  author  Bartholomasus,  sr.rnamed  Glantville, 
was  a  Franciscan  friar,  and  de?cended  of  the  noble 
family  of  the  earls  of  Suffolk,  The  book,  De  Pro- 
])rietatibus  Rerum,  was  writtea  about  the  year  13B6. 
Trevisa  was  vicar  of  the  parish  of  Berkeley,  in  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  fixes  also  the  time  of  making  it.* 

'  Endlcfs  grace,  blylTe,  thankyng,  and  prayfyng  unto 

*  our  Lorde  God  omnipotent  be  giuen,  by  whoos  ayde 

*  and   helpe   this   tranflacyon   was  ended  at  Berkeleyc 

*  the   fyxte    daye  of  Feuerer,   the  yere  of  our  Lord 

*  M.ccclxxxxviii.    the    yere   of    the    reyne    of    kynge 

*  Rycharde  the  feconde,  after  the  conquelle  of  Englonde 

*  xxii.    The  yere  of  my  lordes  aege  fyre  Thomas  lorde  of 

*  Berkeleye  that  made  me  to  make  this  tranflacyon  xlvii.* 

It  seems  that  the  book  in  the  original  Latin  was 
printed  at  Ilaerlem  in  1485  ;  but  as  to  the  translation, 
it  remained  extant  in  written  copies  till  the  time  of 

*  Vid.  Tann.  Biblioth.  Brit.  pa^.  32fi.  The  same  Trevisa  translated 
also  out  of  iMm  into  English  the  Bible,  and  the  Polychronieon  of 
Ranalph  Higden.    Ibid.  pag.  720. 


Caxton,  who  first  j^rinted  it  ia  English,  as  appears 
by  the  Proem  of  a  subsequent  impression  of  it  by 
Wyidcen  de  Worde,  some  time  before  the  year  1500. 

It  was  again  printed  in  1535  by  Thomas  Berthelet; 
and  in  15b2,  one  Stephen  Batman,  a  professor  of 
divinity,  as  he  styles  himself,  })ublished  it  with  the 
title  of  Batman  upon  Bartholome  his  booke  De 
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.  Wliat 
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.  Tliis  treatise  is  the  more 
to  be  valued,  as  it  is  indisputably  the  most  ancient 
of  any  yet  published  in  the  English  language  on  the 
sul)ject  of  music,  for  which  reason  the  whole  of  it  is 
inserted  verbatim  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  work. 

The  sixth  book  contains  twenty-seven  chapters, 
among  which  are  these  with  the  following  titles :  De 
Puero,  De  Puella,  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, youth,  and  mature  age,  at  the  time  when  this 
author  wrote.  And  though  it  is  true  that  this  sixth 
book  has  little  to  do  with  music,  and  the  mention  of 
songs  and  carols  does  but  occasionally  occur  in  it; 
nevertheless  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  this  country 
so  lively,  and  to  all  appearance  true,  that  a  short 
digression  from  the  purposed  work  to  that  of  Bar- 
tholomeus,  will  carry  its  own  apology  to  every 
inquisitive  and  curious  observer  of  human  life  and 
manners. 

Of  children  he  says,  that  wdien  a  child  has  passed 
the  age  of  seven  years,  he  is  *  fette  to  lernynge,  and 
*  compellid  to  take  lernynge  and  chaftyfynge.'f     At 

+  In  the  infancy  of  literature  the  correction  of  children,  in  order  to 
make  them  diligent  and  obedient,  seems  to  have  been  carried  to  great 
excess  in  this  and  other  countries  ;  in  the  poem  above-cited,  the  daughter 
is  exhorted  in  the  education  of  her  children  '  not  to  be  sparing  of  the 
'yard,'  i.e.,  not  to  refrain  from  beating  them  with  a  stick  with  which 
cloth  is  measured  ;  and  it  is  probably  owing  to  Mr.  Locke's  Treatise  on 
Education  that  a  milder  and  more  rational  method  of  institution  prevails 
at  this  day  :  it  seems  as  if  men  thought  that  no  proficiency  could  be 
made  in  learning  without  stripes.  When  Heloissa  was  committed  to 
the  tuition  of  Abaelard,  he  was  invested  by  her  uncle  with  the  power  of 
correcting  her,  though  she  was  then  twenty-two  years  of  age.  Tlie  lady 
Jane  Gray  complained  very  feelingly  to  Ascham  of  the  pinches,  nippes, 
and  bobbes,  and  other  nameless  severities  which  she  underwent  from 
her  jiarents  in  order  to  quicken  her  diligence  in  learning.  See  a  letter 
of  Robert  Ascham  to  his  friend  Sturniius,  in  the  Epistles  of  the  former, 
and  the  Scholeniaster  of  Ascham.  Tusser,  the  author  of  the  Five 
hundred  Points  of  Husbandry,  speaks  of  his  '  toozed  ears  and  bobbed 
lips,'  and  other  hardships  which  he  suhtained  in  the  course  of  his 
education ;  and  mentions  with  a  kind  of  horror  the  severity  of  Udal,  the 
ma.'iter  of  Eton  school,  who  gave  him  at  once  fifty-three  stripes  for  that 
which  was  either  none,  or  at  most  a  very  small  fault.  The  cruelty  of 
this  man  elsewhere  appears  to  have  been  so  great  as  to  afford  a  reason  to 
many  of  the  boys  for  running  away  from  the  school,  as  is  related  by 
Ascham  in  his  Scholemaster.  Everi  so  late  as  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 
the  correction  of  a  young  gtntlefnan  in  the  course  of  his  exercises  was 
very  cominon,  a's  appears  from  the  caution  which  the  duke  of  Newcastle 
gives  to  the  teachers  of  the  art  of  horsemanship,  not  to  '  revile  their 
'  pupils  with  hats>i  language,  nor  to  throw  stones  at  them,'  which,  says 
he  '  many  masters  do,  and  for  that  purpose  carry  them  in  their  pockets. 


Chap    XL  VII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


213 


that  age  he  says  they  are  '  plyaunt  of  body,  able  and 

*  lyghte  to  moeuynge,  wytty  to  lerne  carolles,  and 
'  wythoute    beiyneffe,    and    drede    noo    perylles    more 

*  thane  betynge  with  a  rodde ;  and  they  loue  an  apple 
'  more  than  golde.'     Farther  that  they  '  loue  playes, 

*  game,  and  vanytee,  and   forfake  worthynes ;    and  of 

*  contrarite,  for  mooft  worthy  they  repute  leeft  worthy, 
'  other  not  worthy,  and  defire  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 
'  forrowe  and  woo,  and  wepe  more  for  the  loffe  of  an 
'  apple  than  for  the  lofle  of  theyr  heritage ;  and  the 
'  goodneffe  that  is  done  for  theym  they  lete  it  pafle  out 
'  of  mynde.  They  defire  all  thynges  that  they  fe,  and 
'  praye  and  afke  wyth  voyce  and  wyth  honde.  They 
'  loue  talkynge  and  counfcylle  of  fuch  children  as  they 

*  ben,  and  voyde  company  of  olde  men.  They  kepe  no 
'  C(.unfeylle,  but  they  telle  all  that  they  here :  fodenly 

*  they  laugh,  and  ibdenly  they  wepe :  alwaye  they 
'  crye,  jangle,  and  jape,  uneth  they  ben  ftylle  whyle 
'  they  flepe.  Whan  they  ben  waffhe  of  fylthe,  anone 
'  they  defoyle  themfelfe  ayen ;  whan  the  nioder  walfh- 
'  ith  and  kometh  them  they  kick  and  fpraul,  and  put 

*  wyth  fete  and  wyth  hondes,  and  wythftondyth  wyth 

*  al  theyr  myghte,  for  they  thynke  onnly  on  wombe- 
'  joy,  and  knowe  not  the  mefure  of  their  wombes : 

*  they  defire  to  drynke  alwaye  uneth  they  are  oute  of 
'  bedde,  whan  they  crie  for  mete  an  oue. 

In  the  sixth  chapter  a  damsel  is  thus  described : — 
[De  Puella.\  '  A    mayde,   chylde,   and  a  damoyfel 

*  is  callyd  Puella,  as   it  were  Clene  and  Pure  as  the 

*  blacke  of  the  eye.  Amonge  all  thynges  that  ben 
'  louyd  in  a  mayden,  chailyte  and  clennelfe  ben  louyd 
'  molT:.      Men  byhoue  to   take  hede   of  maydens,   for 

*  they  ben  hote  and  moylle  of  complexyon,  aiid  tendre, 
'  fmale,  plyaunt,  and  fayr  of  dilpofycyon  of  body. 
'  Shamtalle,  ferdefuU,  and  mery,  touchynge  with  al^ec- 

*  cyon,  delycate  in  clothynge,  for,  as  Senica  fayth, 
'  that  femely  clothynge  bylemyth  to  them  well  that 
'  ben  chaite  damoyfels.  Puella  is  a  name  of  aege  of 
'  foundnes  wythout  wem,  and  alfo  of  honelle.  And 
'  for  a  woman  is  more  meker  than  a  man,  and  more 
'  enuyous,  and  more  laughynge  and  louynge,  and  males* 

*  of  Ibule  is  more  in  a  woman  than  in  a  man ;  and  fhe 
'  is  of  feble  kynde,  and  fhe  makyth  more  lefynges,  and 
'  is  more  fhamefail,  and  more  flowe  in  werkynge,  and 

*  in  meuynge,  than  is  a  man. 

'  \_De  Ancilla\     *  A  feruant-woman  is  ordeyned  to 

*  lern  the  wyues  rule  as  it  is  put  to  ofiyce,  aud  werke 
'  of  traueyle  and  of  defoyle,  and   is   fedde  wyth  grete 

*  mete  and  fimple,  and  clothed  in  toule  clothes,  and 
'  kepte  lowe  under  the  yocke  of  thraldom  and  of  fer- 
'  uage ;  and  yf  fhe  conceyue  a  chylde,  (he  is  yeue  in 

*  thralle,  or  it  be  born,  and  take  from  the  moders 
'  wombe  to  feruage.  Alio  yf  a  feruying-woman  be  of 
'  bond  condycyon  fhe  is  not  fufired  to  take  an  hufbond 

*  at  her  owne  wylle :  and  he  that  weddyth  her,  ^{  he 
'  be   fre   afore,   he   is   made  bonde  after  the  contrafte. 

*  A  bonde-feruaunte-woman  is  boute  and  folde  lyke 
•a  beell;  and  ^'i  a   bonde-feruaunt-man  or  woman  is 

*  Malice. 


*  made  fre,  and  afterwarde  unkynde,  he  fliall  be  callyd 
'  and    brought     ayen     into    charge     of    bondage    and 

*  of  thraldom.  Alfo  a  bonde  feruant  fufirith  many 
'  wronges,  and   is   bete  wyth  roddes,  and  conllreyned, 

*  and   holde  lowe  wyth  dyuerfe  and   contrary  charges 

*  and  trauelles  ;  amonges  wretchydnes  and  woo,  uneth 
'  he  is  fuffred  to  relle  or  to  take  brethe ;  and  therefore 
'  amonge  all  wretchydnes  and  woo  the  condycyon  or 
'  bondage  and  thraldom  is  mofl  wretchid.  It  is  oo 
'  proprite  of  bonde-feruynge-wymmen,  and  of  them 
'  that  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 
'  hertes  fwelle,  and  wer  Itoute  and  proude  ayenft  the 
'  commaundmentes  of  their  fbueraynes,  as  it  farid  of 
'  Agar,  a  woman  of  Egypt,  feruaunt  of  Saira,  for  flie 
'  fawe  that  fhe  had  conceyued,  and  was  wyth  chyld, 
'  and  dyfpleyfed  her  owne  lady,  and  wolde  not  amende 
'  her ;  but  then  her  lady  putte  her  to  be  fcourged,  and 
'  bete  her,  and  foo  it  is  writ  that  Saira  chaftyfed  her 
'  and  bete  her,  &c.  Pryde  makyth  bonde-men  and 
'  wymmem  meke  and  lowe :  and  goodly  loue  makyth 
'  theim  prowde,  and  floute,  and  dyfpiteous;  and  fo  it 
'  is  fayd  there  it  is  wrytte,  he  that  nouryffhyth  his 
'  feruant  delycatly,  he  fhall  fynde  hym  rebell  at  thende. 

\^De  Firo.]  '  A  man  is  callyd  f^ir  in  Latyn,  and 
'  hath  that  name  of  mighte  and  uertue,  and  flrengthe, 
'  for  in  myghte,  and  in  ftrengthe  a  man  pafTyth  a 
'  woman.  A  man  is  the  hede  of  a  woman,  as  the 
'  Appoftle  fayth,  therefore  a  man  is  bounde  to  rule  his 
'  wife,  as   the  heed  hath  cure  and  rule  of  the  body. 

*  And  a  man  is  callyd  Mantus,  as  it  were  wardynge 
'  and  defendyng  the  moder,  for  he  taketh  warde  and 
'  kepynge  of  his  wyfe,  that  is  moder  of  the  chyldren, 

*  and  is  callyd  Sponjus  alfo,  and  hath  that  name  of 
'  Spondee,  for  he  byhotyth  and  oblygith  himfelf ;  for  in 
'  the  contrafte  of  weddinge  he  plighteth  his  trouth  to 
'lede  his  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  his  wyfe, 
'  that  becaufe  hereof  he  auentryth  hymfelf  to  perylles, 
'  and  fettyth  her  loue  afore  his  moders  loue  :  for  he 
'  dwellyth  with  his  wyfe,  and  forfakyth  his  moder  and 
'  his  fader,  for  foo  fayth  God,  a  man  fhall  forfake  fader 
'  and  moder,  and  abyde  wyth  his  wyfe. 

'  Afore  weddynge  the  fpoufe  thynkyth  to  Wynne  the 

'  loue  of  her  that  he  wowyth,  with  yefte,  and  certefyeth 

'  of  his  wyll  wyth  lettres  and  meilengers,  and  wyth 

'  diuerfc  prefcnts,  and  yeuyeth  many  yeftes  and  moche 

'  good  and  catayle,  and  promyfeth  moche  more  ;  and 

'  to  playfe  her  puttyth  hym  to  diuerfe  playes  and  games 

'  among  gadering  of  men  ;  and  ufe  ofte  dedes  of  amies 

'  of  myght  and  of  mayftry  ;  and  makyth  hym  gay  and 

'  femely  in  dyuerfe  clothynge  and  araye ;  and  all  that 

'  he  is  prayed  to  giue  thereto  for  her  loue  he  yeuyeth, 

'  and  dooth  anone  with  all  his  myght,  and  denyeth  no 

'  peticyon  that  is  made  in  her  name,  and  for  her  loue. 

'  He  fpekyth  to   her  pleyfauntly,  and   byholdeth  her 

'  cheer  in  the  face  wyth  pleyfynge  and  glad  cheer,  and 

'  wyth  a  fharp  eye,  and  ailentyth  to  her  at  laile,  and 

'  tellith  openly  his  wyll  in  prefence  of  her  frendes,  and 

'  fpoufith  her  with  a  rynge,  and  takyth  her  to  wyfe. 


214 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  VI. 


and  yeueth  her  yeftes  in  token  of  contradl  of  weddynge, 
and  makyth  her  chartres  and  dedes  of  graunt,  and  of 
yeftes  ;  and  makyth  reuels,  and  feeftes,  and  fpoulayles, 
and  yeuyth  many  good  yeftes  to  frendes  and  giftes, 
and  comfortyth  and  gladdith  his  giftes  with  fonges 
and  pypes,  and  other  mynftralfye  of  mufyke ;  and 
afterwarde  he  bringeth  her  to  tlie  pryuitees  of  his 
chambre,  and  makyth  her  felovv  at  borde  and  at  bedd; 
and  thene  he  makyth  her  lady  of  money,  and  of  his 
hous  meyny.  Thene  lie  hath  caufe  to  her  as  his 
owne,  and  takyth  the  charge  and  keepynge  of  her, 
and  fpecyally  louyingly  auyfeth  her  yf  flie  doe  amys, 
and  takyth  of  her  berynge  and  gooynge,  of  fpekynge 
and  lokynge ;  of  her  paffynge  and  ayencomynge,  and 
entrynge.  Noo  man  hath  more  welth  than  he  that 
hath  a  gode  woman  to  his  wyfe,  and  no  man  hath 
more  woo  than  he  that  hath  an  euyll  wyfe,  cryenge 
and  janglynge,  chydynge  and  fkoldynge,  dronklewe 
and  unftedfalle,  and  contrary  to  hym  :  coftlewe, 
ftowte,  and  gaye,  enuyous,  noyful,  lepynge  ouer 
londes,  mocli  fufpycyous,  and  wrathful. 


'  In  a  good  fpoufe  and  wyfe  byhoueth  thife  condy- 
cyons,  that  fhe  be  befye  and  deuote  in  Goddys  feruyle; 
meke  and  fervyfeable  to  her  hufbonde,  and  fayre 
fpekynge  and  goodly  to  her  meyny  ;  merycable  and 
good  to  wretches  that  ben  nedy,  eafy  and  peafyable 
to  her  neyghbours,  ready  waar  and  wife  in  thynges 
that  fliold  be  auoyed,  ryghtfull  and  pacyent  in  fuf- 
frynge,  befy  and  dilygente  in  her  doinge,  manerly  in 
clothyinge,  fobre  in  mouyng,  waar  in  fpekynge, 
charte  in  lokynge,  honefte  in  beringe,  fadde  in  goynge, 
fhamfafte  amonge  the  people,  mery  and  gladde  amonge 
men  wyth  her  hufbonde,  and  chafte  in  pryuyte. 
Such  a  wyfe  is  worthy  to  be  prayfed  that  entendyth 
more  to  pleyfe  her  hufbonde  wyth  her  homely  word, 
than  with  her  gayly  pinchynge  and  nycetees,  and 
defyreth  more  with  vertues  than  with  fayr  and  gay 
clothes.  She  ufyth  the  goodnes  of  matrymony  more 
bycaufe  of  chyldren  than  of  fleflily  lykynge,  and 
more  lykynge  in  chyldren  of  grace  than  of  kynde.' 


BOOK    VI.        CHAP.    XLVIII. 


The  description  given  by  Bartholomaeus  of  the 
several  states  and  conditions  of  life,  refer  to  the  re- 
lations of  father,  mother,  son,  daughter,  and  female 
servant,  and  the  duties  resulting  from  each,  adapted 
to  the  manners  of  the  fottrteenth  century,  which, 
though  comparatively  rude  and  xmpolished,  were  not 
so  very  coarse  and  sordid  as  not  to  admit  of  those 
recreations  and  amusements,  which  are  common  to 
all  ages  and  countries,  and  are  indeed  as  necessary 
for  the  preservation  of  mental  as  corporeal  sanity, 
and  among  these  are  to  be  reckoned  music  and 
dancing. 

Mention  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 
vulgar,  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 
iminstructed  people,  the  better  sort  of  both  sexes 
entertaining  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  the  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  Romish 
superstition.  How  long  the  idea  of  sanctity  of  life 
and  manners  continued  to  make  a  part  of  the  knightly 
character,  maybe  inferred  from  Caxton's  recommend- 


ation of  his  Boke  of  the  Ordre  of  Chyvalry  or 
Knighthood,  translated  out  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  was  ufed  in  thofe  dayes  ?     What  do  you 

*  now,  but  go  to  the  baynes,  \baths^  and  play  at  dyfe  ? 

*  and  fome  not  well  aduifed,  ufe  not  honeft  and  good 
'  rule,  agayn  all  order  of  knighthood.  Leue  this,  leue 
'  it,  and  rede  the  noble  volumes  of  Saynt  Greal,*  of 
'  Lancelot,  of  Galaad,  of  Triftram,  of  Perfeforeft,  of 
'  Percyual,  of  Gawayne,  and  many  mo  :   There  fhall 

*  ye  fee  manhode,  curtoys,  and  gentlenes ;  and  loke  in 

«  The  noble  volume  thus  entitled  is  said  to  be  no  other  than  the 
romance  of  Sir  Laiincelot  of  the  Lake,  and  King  Arthur  and  his  Knights. 
See  the  Supplement  to  the  translator's  preface  to  Jarvis's  Don  Quixote, 
where  it  is  also  said  that  St.  Greaal  was  the  name  given  to  a  famous 
relic  of  the  holy  blood,  pretended  to  have  been  collected  into  a  vessel  by 
Joseph  of  Arimathea,  and  that  the  ignorance  of  the  times  led  men  to  the 
belief  that  it  was  the  name  of  a  knight.  Huetius,  in  his  Treatise  on  the 
Origin  of  Romances,  says  that  Kyrie  Eleison  [Lord  have  mercy  on  us] 
and  Paralipnmenon  [the  title  of  the  two  books  of  Chronicles]  and  another 
eminent  writer  adds  the  word  Deuteronomy,  were  in  like  manner  taken 
for  the  names  of  saints  or  holy  men.  Other  instances  to  this  purpose 
might  be  produced,  but  this  that  follows  of  St.  Veronica,  a  holy  young 
woman  said  to  have  been  possessed  of  a  handkerchief  with  the  impression 
of  Christ's  face  on  it,  surpasses  all  of  the  kind.  Misson,  in  his  De- 
scription of  the  Chapel  of  the  Holy  Handkerchief  [Le  Saint  Suaire]  at 
Turin,  giving  an  account  of  this  inestimable  relic,  relates  the  story  of  it 
in  these  words  : — '  It  is  a  pretended  veil,  or  handkerchief  which  was 
'presented  (says  the  tradition)  to  our  Saviour  as  he  was  carrying  the 
'  cross  (according  to  St.  John)  by  a  maid  named  Veronica.  They  pretend 
'  that  Jesus  Christ  wiped  his  face  with  it,  and  gave  it  back  to  her  who 
'had  ]>resented  him  with  it;  and  that  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ  remained 
'imprinted  upon  it  with  some  colour.  This  is  the  holy  handkerchief, 
'  Sudarium  ;  and  as  for  Veronica,  the  devout  virgin,  'tis  a  pretty  diverting 
'stroke  of  ignorance:  with  these  words  Vera  Icon,  tliat  is  to  say,  a  true 
'  image  or  representation  (viz.,  of  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ)  those  curious 
'doctors  have  made  Veronica,  and  afterwards  they  took  a  fancy  that 
'  Veronica  was  the  name  of  the  pretended  young  woman  supposed  by 
'  themselves  to  have  presented  her  handkerchief  to  our  Saviour.  The 
'Sudarium  was  carried  from  Chamberry  in  the  year  1532,  the  chapel 
'  where  it  was  at  Chamberry  having  been  accidentally  burnt.  There  are 
'five  or  six  more  at  Rome  and  other  places.  See  Reiskius  de  Imagini- 
'  bus  Christi,  and  Bede  de  Locis  Sanctis.'  Misson's  new  voyage  to  Italy, 
London,  1714.  vol.  II.  part  II.  pag.  ;iSS.  The  famous  story  of  the  eleven 
thousand  virgins  is  as  void  of  foundation  in  historical  truth  as  that 
above  related.  It  arose  thus  :  some  blunderer  seeing  in  a  calendar  upon 
the  twelfth  of  the  calends  of  November,  Vndeciiiiilla,  Virgo  S;  Martyr, 
read  Uiulecim  viille;  and  of  course  Viryines  %  Marlyres.  Undecimilla, 
a  diminutive  of  Undecima,  was  undoubtedly  the  name  of  a  woman, 
probably  the  eleventh  child  of  her  parents,  who  might  have  been  a 
martyr.  Vide  Pref.  to  Castley's  Catalogue  of  the  Manuscripts  of  the 
King's  Library,  pag.  xvii. 


Chap.  XL VIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


215 


'  latter  dayes  of  the  noble  actes  fyth  the  conquefte,  as 

*  in  king  Richard's  days,  Cuer  de  Lion  :   Edward  I.  and 

*  III.  and  his  noble  fonnes :    Sir  Robert  Knolles,  &c. 
'  Rede,    FroilTart.       Alfo    behold    that   victorious   and 

*  noble  king,  Harry  the  Fifth,  &c.' 

But  to  reassume  the  proposed  discrimination  be- 
tween the  manners  of  the  higher  and  lower  orders  of 
the  people.  It  is  certain  that  the  courtesy  and 
urbanity  of  the  one  was  at  least  equal  in  degree  to 
the  rudeness  and  incivility  of  the  other ;  for,  not  to 
recur  to  the  compositions  of  the  Proven  jal  poets, 
Boccace  himself  is  in  his  poetical  compositions  the 
standard  of  purity  and  elegance.  He  it  is  said  was 
the  inventor  of  the  Ottava  Rima,  of  which  a  modern 
writer  asserts  that  it  is  the  nol:)lest  concatenation  of 
verses  the  Italians  have ;  and  the  sonnets,  and  c«ther 
poetical  compositions  interspersed  throughout  the 
Decameron,  may  serve  to  shew  what  a  degree  of  re- 
finement prevailed  in  the  conversations  of  the  better 
sort  at  that  early  period.  If  farther  proofs  were 
wanting,  the  whole  of  the  compositions  of  Petrarch 
might  be  brought  in  support  of  this  assertion.  The 
sonnets  of  this  elegant  and  polite  lover  are  not  more 
remarkable  for  their  merit  as  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 
his  beloved  Laura,  which  have  been  followed,  not 
only  by  numberless  of  his  own  countrymen,  but  by 
some  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 
others. 

A  few  enquiries  touching  the  recreation  of  dancing, 
will  lead  us  back  to  the  subject  of  this  history,  from 
which  it  is  to  be  feared  the  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  use,  is  a 
matter  of  great  difficulty.  The  art  of  Orchesography, 
or  denoting  the  several  steps  and  motions  in  dancing 
by  characters,  is  a  modern  invention  of  a  French 
master,  Mons.  Beauchamp,  who  lived  Jn  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 
queen  Elizabeth,  we  know  little  more  than  the  names, 
such  as  the  Galliard,  the  Pavan,!  the  Coranto,  and 
some  others.  Sir  Thomas  Elyot,  in  his  book  called 
the  Governor,  says  in  general,  that  dancing  by  persons 
of  both  sexes  is  a  mystical  representation  of  matrimony, 

*  Furetiere,  in  his  Dictionary,  ascribes  this  invention  to  one  Thoinet 
Arbeau,  a  Frenihmaii.  mentioned  by  VValther  in  Iiis  Musical  Lexicon, 
pas  43,  to  have  published  in  1558,  a  book  with  the  title  of  Orcheso- 
graphio.  Furetiere  confesses  he  never  couJd  get  a  sight  of  the  book  ;  but 
Mr.  Weaver,  the  dancing-master,  who  had  perused  it,  says  that  it  treats 
on  dancing  in  general,  beating  the  drum,  and  playing  on  the  fife  ;  and 
contains  nothing  to  the  purpose  of  the  Orchesograpliy  here  spoken  of. 
Feuillet's  book  was  translated  into  English,  and  published  by  Mr.  Weaver 
about  the  beginning  of  this  century.  Vide  Weaver's  Essay  towards  an 
History  of  Dancing,  12mo.  pag.  171. 

+  See  an  explanation  of  these  tw'o  words  in  the  opposite  note.  The 
Cor-into  is  of  Fiencl;  original,  and  is  well  understood  to  mean  a  kind  of 
dance  resembling  running. 


those  are  his  words  :  '  It  is  diligently  to  be  noted  that 
'  the  company  of  man  and  woman  in  dancing,  they 
'  both  observing  one  number  and  time  in  their 
'  movings,  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,  ij: 

'  And  forasmuch  as  by  the  joyning  of  a  man  and 
'  woman  in  daimcing  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  carj^eth  it  written  in  his  bosome.'  § 

And  elsewhere  he  says,;.  '  In  every  daunce  of 
'  a  most  ancient  custome  therida,unced  together  a  man 
'  and  a  woman,  holding  each. other  by  the  hand  or 
'  by  the  arme,  which  betpkeneth  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  :  Minshew  and  Skinner 
derive  it  from  the  verb  Bransler,  Vibrare,  to  brpind- 
ish ;  the  former  explains  the  word  Braule,  by  saj'ing 
it  is  a  kind  of  dance.  Phillips  is  more  particular, 
calling  it  '  a  kind  of  dance  in  which  sever,aL  persons 
'  danced  together  in  a  ring,  holding  one  anpth(^r  by 
'  the  hand.' 

Over  and  above  this  particular  specification,  of  one 
of  the  old  dances,  Sir  Thomas  Elyot  mentions  some 
other  kinds,  as  Bargenettes,  Pauyons,  Turgyons,^} 
and  Roundes,  concerning  which  he  says,  '  tliat  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  numl)er  that  they  do  conteine ;  or 
'  of  the  first  words  of  the  dittie  which  the  song 
'  comprehendeth,  whereoff  the  daunce  was  made. 
'  In  every  of  the  said  daunces  thei;e  was  a  coutinuitie 
'  of  moving  tlie  foote  and  body,  expressing  some 
'  pleasannt  or  profitable  affects  or  motions  of  the 
'  mind.'*'^' 

This  account  carries  the.  present  enquiry  no  farther 
back  than  to  somewhat  befjOre  the  author's  time,  who 
flourished  under  Henry  the  Eighth,  and  whose  book 
is  dedicated  to  that  monauch;   and   therefore  what 

t  Pag.  69.  a. 

§  Ibid. 

II   Ibid.  C9.  b. 

IT  Of  the  worn  Bargenett  there  is  no  explanation  to  be  met  witli  in 
any  of  our  lexicographers,  and  yet  in  the  collection  of  poems  entitled 
England's  H'elicon,  is  one  called  the  Barginet  of  Antimachus.  Skinn"r 
has  Blargaret,  Tripudium  Pastoritium,  a  dance  used  by  shepherds,  from 
the  French  Berger  a  shepherd.  For  Turgyon  no  signification  is  to  be 
found. 

The  Pavan,  from  Pavo,  a  peacock,  is  a  grave  and  majestic  dance;  the 
method  of  performing  it  was  anciently  by  gentlemen,  dressed  with  a  cap 
and  sword;  by  those  of  the  long  robe  in  their  gowns  ;  by  princes  in  their 
mantles;  and  by  ladies  in  gnwn.s  with  long  trains,  the  motion  whereof 
in  the  dance  resembled  that  of  a  peacock's  tail.  This  dance  is  supposed 
to  have  been  invented  by  the  Spaniards.  Grassineau  says  its  tablature  on 
the  score  is  given  in  tlie  Orchesographia  of  Thoinet  Arbeau.  Every 
Pavan  has  its  Galliard,  a  lighter  kind  of  air,  made  out  of  the  fonner. 

**  Ibid.  CS.  b. 


216 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIEXCE 


Book  VI. 


kind  of   dances  were  in  use  during  the  preceding 
century  cannot  at  this  distance  of  time  be  ascertained. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  in  this  period  the 
IMorrice  Dance  was  introduced  into  this  and  other 
countries ;  it  is  indisputable  that  this  dance  was  the 
invention  of  the  Moors,  for  to  dance  a  Morisco  is 
a  term  that  occurs  in  some  of  our  old  English  writers. 
The  lexicographers  say  it  is  derived  from  the  Pyr- 
vliic  dance  of  the  ancients,  in  which  the  motions  of 
combatants  are  imitated.  All  who  are  acquainted 
with  history  know,  that  about  the  year  700  the 
jMoors  being  invited  by  count  Julian,  whose  daughter 
Gava,Iloderic  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  their 
customs  remain  yet  unabrogated  ;  and  of  their  recre- 
ations, the  vlance  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  day  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  be  called  so,  of  this 
artless  instrument.* 

But  to  return  to  the  Morrice  Dance,  there  are 
few  country  places  in  this  kingdom  where  it  is  not 
known ;  it  is  a  dance  of  young  men  in  their  shirts, 
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  ambiguity  of  his  expression 
renders  it  impossible  to  say  which  of  the  two  num- 
bers is  meant,  who  went  about  the  country :  that 
they  danced  a  IMaid  ]\Larian,  with  a  tabor  and  pipe, 
and  that  their  ages  one  with  another  made  up  twelve 
hundred  years.f  It  seems  by  this  relation,  which 
the  author  has  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  mazy  as  now. 
Some  of  the  ancient  writers,  speaking  of  the  Roun- 
delay or  Roundel,  as  a  kind  of  air  appropriated  to 
dancing ,  which  term   seems  to  indicate  little  more 

*  '  I  remember,  said  an  old  beau  of  the  last  age  (speaking  of  his 
mother  as  one  of  the  most  accomplished  women  of  her  time)  'that  when 
'  Hamet  Ben  Harigi,  the  Morocco  ambassador,  was  in  England,  my 
'  mother  danced  a  saraband  before  him  with  a  pair  of  Castanets  in  each 
'hand  ;  and  that  his  excellency  was  so  delighted  with  her  performance, 
'  that  as  soon  as  she  had  done  he  ran  to  her,  took  her  in  his  arms,  and 
'  kissed  her,  protesting  that  she  had  half  persuaded  him  that  he  was  in 
'his  own  country.' 

t  Miscel.  part  III.  pag.  277. 


than  dancing  in  a  circle  with  the  hands  joined. 
Stowe  intimates  that  before  his  time  the  common 
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 was  practised  in  fields  and  other  open  places, 
it  seems  to  have  been  no  reproach  to  men  of  grave 
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,  afterwards  translated 
into  Latin  by  James  Locher,  and  thence  into  English 
by  Alexander  Barclay,  in  which  the  author  thus 
exclaims  against  it : — 

'  What  els  is  daunfing,  but  even  a  nurcery, 

*  Or  els  a  bayte  to  purchafe  and  mayntayne 

'  In  yonge  heartes  the  vile  finne  of  ribawdry, 
'  Them  t'ettring  therin,  as  in  a  deadly  chayne  ? 
'  And  to  fay  truth,  in  wordes  cleare  and  playne, 
'  Generous  people  have  all  their  whole  plealaunce 
'Their  vice  to  norifhe  by  this  unthrifty  daunce. 

'  Then  it  in  the  earth  no  game  is  more  damnable  : 

'  It  femeth  no  peace,  but  battayle  openly  ; 

'  They  that  it  ufe  of  mindes  feme  unftable, 

'  As  mad  folk  running  with  clamour  fhout  and  cry. 

'  What  place  is  voide  of  this  furious  folly  ? 

'  None,  fo  that  I  doubt  within  a  while 

'  Thefe  fooles  the  holy  church  fhall  defile. 

'  Of  people  what  fort  or  order  may  we  find, 

'  Riche  or  poore,  hye  or  lowe  of  name, 

'  i3ut  by  their  foolifhness  and  wanton  minde, 

'  Of  eche  lorte  fome  are  geven  unto  the  fame. 

'  The  prieftes  and  clerkes  to  daunce  have  no  ihame  ; 

*  The  frere  or  monke  in  his  frocke  and  cowle, 

'  Muft  daunce  in  his  do6tor,  leping  to  play  the  foole. 

•To  it  comes  children,  maydes,  and  wives, 

*  And  flatering  yonge  men  to  fee  to  haue  their  pray, 
'  The  hande  in  hande  great  falfhode  oft  contrives, 

'  The  old  quean  alfo  this  madnefs  will  affay  ; 
'  -And  the  olde  dotarde,  though  he  fcantly  may, 
'  For  age  and  lamenes  ftyrre  eyther  foote  or  hande, 
'  Yet  playeth  he  the  foole  with  other  in  the  bande.  % 

'  Do  aw.iy  with  your  daunces  yc  people  much  unwife, 

'  Uefift  your  foolifhe  pleafure  of  travayle  : 

'  It  is  methinke  an  unwyfe  ufe  and  gyfe 

'  To  take  fuche  labour  and  payne  without  avayle. 

The  same  author  censures  as  foolish  and  ridiculous 
the  custom  of  going  about  the  streets  with  harps, 
lutes,  and  other  instruments  by  night ;  and  blauies 

t  It  seems  that  the  recreation  of  dancing  was  in  ancient  times  prac- 
tised by  men  of  the  gravest  professions.  It  is  not  many  years  since  the 
Judges,  in  compliance  with  ancient  custom,  danced  annually  on  Candle- 
mas-day in  the  hall  of  Serjeant's  Inn,  Chancery-lane.  Dugdale,  speaking 
of  the  revels  at  Lincoln's  Inn,  gives  the  following  account  of  them  : — 

'  And  that  nothing  might  be  wanting  for  their  encouragement  in  this 
'excellent  study  [the  law]  they  have  very  anciently  had  Dancings  for 
'  their  recreations  and  delight,  commonly  called  revels,  allowed  at  certain 
'  seasons  ;  and  that  by  special  order  of  the  society,  as  appeareth  in 
'9  Hen.  VI.  viz.,  that  there  should  be  four  revels  that  year,  and  no 
'  more  ;  one  at  the  feast  of  All-hallown,  another  at  the  feast  of  St.  Erken- 
'  wald  ;  the  third  at  the  feast  of  the  Purification  of  our  Lady  ;  and  the 
'  fourth  at  Widsummer-day,  one  person  yearly  elected  of  the  society 
'  being  made  choice  of  for  director  in  those  pastimes,  called  the  master 
'of  the  revels.  Which  sports  were  long  before  then  used.'  And  again 
he  says,  '  Nor  were  these  exercises  of  dancing  merely  permitted,  but 
'  thought  very  necessary,  as  it  seems,  and  much  conducing  to  the 
'  making  of  gentlemen  more  fit  for  their  books  at  other  times ;  for  by  an 
'  order  made  6th  Feb.  7  Jac.  it  appears  that  the  under  barristers  were  by 
'  decimation  put  out  of  commons  for  example's  sake,  because  the  whole 
'  bar  offended  by  not  dancing  on  Candlemas-day  preceding,  according  to 
'the  ancient  order  of  this  society  when  the  judges  were  present ;  with 
'this  that  if  the  like  fault  were  committed  afterwards  they  should  be 
'fined  or  disbarred.'    Dugd.  Grig.  Jurid.  cap.  64. 


Chap.  XLIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


217 


young  men  for  singing  songs  under  the  windows 
of  their  lemans :  in  sliort,  the  practice  here  meant 
is  that  of  serenading,  which  is  yet  common  in  Spain, 
and  other  parts  of  Europe,  and  is  allowed  by  him, 
even  in  his  time,  to  have  been  more  frequent  abroad 
than  in  this  country.  The  verses  are  very  humourous 
and  descriptive,  and  are  as  follows  : — 

'  The  furies  fearful,  fprong  of  the  floudes  of  hell, 
'  Bereft  thefe  uagabondes  in  their  minds,  fo 
'  That  by  no  meane  can  they  abide  ne  dwell 
'  Within  their  houfes,  but  out  they  nede  muft  go  ; 
'  More  wildly  wandring  then  either  bucke  or  doe. 
'  Some  with  their  harpes,  another  with  their  lute, 

*  Another  with  his  bagpipe,  or  a  foolifhe  flute. 

'  Then  meafure  they  their  fonges  of  melody 
'  Before  the  doores  ot  their  lemman  deare  ; 

*  Howling  with  their  fooliilie  fonge  and  cry, 

'  So  that  their  lemman  may  their  great  folly  heare  : 

'  But  yet  moreover  thefe  fooles  are  fo  unwife, 

'  That  in  colde  winter  they  ufe  the  fame  madnes. 

*  When  all  the  houles  are  lade  with  fnowe  and  yfe, 
'  O  madmen  amafed  unftable,  and  witlefs  I 

'  What  pleafure  take  you  in  this  your  foolifhnefs .' 
'  What  joy  haue  ye  to  wander  thus  by  night, 
'  Saue  that  ill  doers  alway  hate  the  light  ? 

*  But  foolifhe  youth  doth  not  alone  this  ufe, 
'  Come  of  lowe  birth,  and  fimple  of  degree, 

*  But  alio  ftates  themfelves  therein  abuie, 

'  With  lome  yonge  fooles  of  the  fpiritualtie  : 
'  The  fooliflie  pipe  without  all  gravirie 

*  Doth  eche  degree  call  to  his  frantic  game  ; 
'The  darknes  of  night  expelleth  feare  of  fhame. 

'  One  barketh,  another  bleateth  like  a  fhepe ; 

'  Some  tore,  lome  countre,  lome  their  ballades  fayne 

'  Another  from  finging  gevech  himfelf  to  wepe  ; 

*  When  his  foveraigne  lady  hath  of  him  difdayne, 

*  Or  fhutCeth  him  out  :   and  to  be  fliort  and  playne, 

*  Who  that  of  this  fort  beft  can  play  the  knave, 
'  Looketh  of  the  other  the  mayftery  to  have. 

'  When  it  is  night,  and  eche  fhould  drawe  to  reft, 
'  Many  of  our  fooles  great  payne  and  watching  take 

*  To  proue  mayftryes,  and  fee  who  can  drinke  beft, 

*  Eyther  at  the  tauerne  of  wine  or  the  ale  ftake, 

*  Eyther  all  night  watcheth  for  their  lemmans  fake, 
'  Standing  in  corners  like  as  it  were  a  Ipye, 

*  Whether  that  the  wether  be  whot,  colde,  wet,  or  dry.' 

The  passages  above -cited  are  irrefragable  evidence, 
not  only  that  dancing  was  a  favourite  recreation  with 
all  ranks  of  people  at  the  period  now  spoken  of,  but 
that  even  then  it  was  subject  to  rule  and  measure  : 
and  here  a  great  difficult}^  would  be  found  to  attend 
our  researches,  supposing  music  to  have  continued 
in  that  state  in  which  most  writers  on  the  subject 
have  left  it :  for  notwithstanding  the  great  deal 
which  Vossius  and  other  writers  have  said  concern- 
ing the  Rythmus  of  the  ancients,  there  is  very  little 
reason  to  think  that  they  had  any  method  of  denoting 
by  characters  the  length  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 
Cantus  IMensurabilis  to  Johannes  de  jMuris,  we  shall 
be  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  practice  of  regular 
dancing  before  the  commencement  of  the  fourteenth 
century  ;  but  if  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis  be  attributed 
to  Franco,  the  scholastic  of  Liege,  who  flourished  in 


the  eleventh  century,  the  antiquity  of  regular  dancing 
is  removed  near  three  hundred  years  farther  back. 
This  historical  fact  merits  the  attention  of  every 
curious  enquirer  into  the  history  and  progress  of 
music,  not  only  as  it  carries  with  it  a  refutation  not 
ot  a  vulgar,  but  of  a  general  and  universal  error, 
but  because  without  the  knowledge  of  it  the  idea  of 
dancing  to  regular  measures  before  the  year  1330,  is 
utterly  inconceivable.* 

CHAP.  XLIX. 

The  £era  of  the  invention  of  mensurable  music  is 
so  precisely  determined  by  the  account  herein  before 
given  of  Franco,  that  it  is  needless  to  oppose  the 
evidence  of  his  being  the  author  of  it  to  the  ill- 
grounded  testimony  of  those  writers  who  give  the 
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  his  writings,  and  the  order  of  chronology 
determines  this  as  the  proper  place  for  it. 

Johannes  de  Muris  was  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne, 
and  flourished  in  the  fourteenth  century.  IMersennus 
styles  him  '  Canonicus  et  Decanus  Ecclesise  Paris- 
'iensis.'f  The  general  opinion  is,  that  he  was 
a  native  of  Normandy ;  but  bishop  Tanner  has  ranked 
him  among  the  English  writers ;  in  this  he  has 
followed  Pits,|  who  expressly  asserts  that  he  was  an 
Englishman ;  and  though  the  Oxford  antiquary, 
fullowing  the  French  writers,  says  that  he  was  a 
Frenchman  of  Paris,  §  the  evidence  of  his  being  a 
native  of  England  is  stronger  than  even  Pits  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  floruitque  figuris, 
'  Anglia  cantorumnomen  gignitplurimorum. 

Monsieur  Bourdelot,  the  author  of  the  Histoire  de 
la  Musif^iie  et  ses  Effets,  in  four  tomes,  printed  at 
Paris  in  1715,  and  at  Amsterdam  in  1725,  has 
grossly  erred  in  saying  of  De  Muris,  that  he  lived 
in  1553 ;  for  it  was  more  than  two  hundred  yeai'S 
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  degree  we  need  only 
appeal  to  Franchinus,  who  in  his  Practica  Music^e, 
printed  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  quotes  him  by 
name,  as  he  does  also  Prosdocimus  Beldemandis,  his 
commentator,  cap.  4.  Glareanus  also  in  his  Dodeca- 
chordon,  published  at  Basil  in  1540,  has  a  chapter 
De  Notarum   Figuris,  and  has  given   compositions 

*  Franco  is  supposed  to  have  invented  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis  ahout 
tlie  year  1060 ;  and  it  is  certain  that  Guido  reformed  the  scale  about  the 
year  1()2S.  It  is  very  reinarkable  that  two  such  considerable  improve- 
ments in  music  sliould  be  made  so  nearly  together  as  that  the  difference 
in  point  of  time  between  the  one  and  the  other  should  be  less  than  forty 
years. 

+  Harmonic,  lib.  I.  prop,  xxv,  pag.  8. 

1  Append.  872. 

§  Atheu.  Oxon.  407. 


218 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


of  sundry  musicians  of  that  day,  in  notes  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  extensive  knowledge  ;  and  in  particular 
that  he  was  deeply  skilled  in  the  mathematics.  In- 
deed the  very  titles  of  his  books  seem  to  indicate  a 
propensity  in  the  author  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  the  Alphonsine  Tables,  an  astronomer.* 

The  tracts  on  music  written  by  De  Muris  exist 
only  in  manuscript,  and  ajjpear  by  Bishop  Tanner's 
account  to  have  been  four,  namely,  one  beginning 
'  Quoniam  Musica  est  de  sono  relato  ad  numeros.' 
2.  Another  intitled,  '  Artem  componendi  (metiendi) 
'  fistulas  organorum  secundum  Guidonem,'  beginning 
'  Cognita  consonantia  in  chordis.'  3.  Another  with 
this  title  '  Sufficientiam  musical  organicaj  editam, 
'  (ita  habet  MS.)  a  mag.  Johanne  de  Muris,  musico 

*  sapientissimo,  et  totius  orbis  subtillissimo  experto,' 
beginning  *  Princeps  philosophornm  Aris'toteles.' 
4.  Another  entitled  '  Compositionem  consonantiarnm 
'  in  symbolis  secundum  Boetium,'  beginning  '  Omne 
'  instrumentum  musicae.'  f  Besides  these  Mersennus 
mentions  a  tract  of  his  entitled  Speculum  IMusicee, 
which  he  had  seen  in  the  French  king's  library,  and 
attentively  perused. |  And  IMartini  has  given  a  short 
note  of  the  title  of  another  in  the  words  following : 

*  De  Muris  Slag.  Joan,  de  Normandia  alias  Paris- 
'  iensis  Practica  Mensurabilis  Cantus,  cum  exposit. 
Prosdocimi  de  Beldemandis.'    Patav.  MS.  an.  1404:. 

The  manuscripts  of  De  IMuris  above-mentioned  to 
be  in  the  Bodleian  library,  have  been  carefully  perused 
with  a  view  to  ascertain  precisely  the  improvements 
made  by  him  in  mensurable  music,  but  they  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  manuscrii)ts 
written  by  monks,  chanters,  and  precentors  in  the 
choirs  of  ancient  cathedrals  and  abbey-churches, 
mostly  with  the  title  of  IMetrologus,  that  sufficiently 
explain  the  nature  of  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  though 
none  so  clearly  and  accurately  as  the  Practica  Mn- 
sicse  utriusque  Cantus  of  Franchinus.  But  besides 
that  many  of  them  attribute  to  De  Muris  this  im- 
provement, they  ascribe  to  him  the  invention  of 
characters  which  there  is  great  reason  to  believe  were 

»  The  Alphonsine  Tables  derive  their  name  from  Alphonsus.  sur- 
named  the  AVise,  king  of  Leon  and  Castile  about  the  year  1260  ;  a  man 
possessed  of  so  great  a  share  of  wisdom,  learning,  and  other  great 
qualities,  that  we  are  unwilling  to  credit  Lipsius  when  he  relates,  as  he 
does,  that  having  read  the  Bible  fourteen  times  through,  and  deeply  con- 
sidered the  fabric  of  the  universe,  he  uttered  this  impious  sentiment  :— 
'That  if  God  had  advised  with  him  in  the  creation,  he  would  have 
'given  him  good  counsel'  As  to  the  tables  that  bear  his  name,  they 
are  founded  on  the  calculations  of  the  ablest  astronomers  and  mathe- 
maticians of  his  time,  employed  by  him  for  that  purpo.se,  and  were 
completed  at  an  expence  of  not  less  than  four  hundred  thousand  crowns. 

+  These  are  all  in  the  Bodleian  library,  and  may  easily  be  found  by 
the  help  of  the  printed  catalogue,  and  the  references  to  them  in  the 
article  Muris,  in  Tanner's  Bibliotheca. 

t  Harmonic,  lib.  I.  prop.  xxv.  pag.  8.     Harm.  univ.  part  II.  pag.  11. 


not  made  use  of  till  many  j^ears  after  his  decease.  In 
a  tract  entitled  Regulse  Magistri  Joannes  de  IMuris. 
contained  among  many  others  in  a  manuscript  col- 
lection of  musical  tracts,  herein-before  referred  to  by 
the  appellation  of  the  Manuscript  of  Waltham  Holy 
Cross,  mention  is  made  of  the  following  characters — 
the  Long,  the  Breve,  the  Semi  breve,  the  Minim,  and 
the  Simple,  which  can  be  no  other  than  the  Crotchet, 
inasmuch  as  two  simples  are  there  made  equivalent 
to  a  minim,  and  the  simple  is  said  to  be  indivisible, 
and  to  be  accounted  as  unity. 

Thomas  de  Walsyngham,§  the  author  of  one  of 
the  tracts  contained  in  the  above  manuscript,  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  would 
'  be  of  no  use,  would  musicians  remember  that  beyond 
'  the  minim  no  subdivision  ought  to  be  made.' 

Indeed  a  strange  fatality  seems  to  have  attended 
all  the  enquiries  concerning  the  particulars  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,  they  are  to  be  found ; 
secondlj^,  there  is  a  diversity  of  opinions  with  respect 
to  the  number  of  characters  said  to  be  invented  by 
him.  Nay,  Mersennus  goes  so  far  as  to  say  he  had 
read  the  manuscripts  of  Johannes  de  Muris,  which 
are  in  the  library  of  the  king  of  France,  but  never 
found  that  he  invented  any  of  the  characters  in 
modern  use. 

That  tliese  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  inevitable 
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  propagated  through  a  succession 
of  ages.  The  truth  is,  that  in  historical  matters  the 
authority  of  the  first  relator  is  in  general  too  im- 
plicitly acquiesed  in  ;  and  it  is  l)ut  of  late  years  that 
authors  have  learned  to  be  particular  as  to  dates  and 
times,  and  to  cite  authorities  in  support  of  the  facts 
related  by  them. 

Franchinus  indeed  may  be  remarked  as  an  excep- 
tion to  this  rule ;  and  whoever  peruses  his  works 
will  find  his  care  in  this  respect  equal  to  the  modesty 
and  diffidence  with  which  he  every  where  delivers 
his  opinion.  Now  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  through- 
out his  writincrs  the  name  of  De  Muris  occurs  but 
in  very  few  places ;  that  he  ranks  him  with  Mar- 
chettus  of  Padua,  Anselmus  of  Parma,  Tinctor,  and 
other  writers  on  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis ;  and  that 
he  is  as  far  from  giving  the  honour  of  that  invention 
to  De  IMuris  as  to  Prosdocimus  Beldemandis,  his 
commentator.     Neither  do  the  authors  who  wrote 

§  The  name  of  this  person  does  not  occur  in  any  catalogue  of  English 
writers  on  music.  Bishop  Tanner  mentions  two  of  that  name,  the  one 
an  historian,  the  other  precentor  of  the  alibey-church  of  St.  Alban  :  that 
the  latter  of  these  was  the  author  of  the  above-mentiu;:ed  treatise  is 
very  probable.    Tanner,  pag.  752,  in  not. 


Chap.  XLIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


21i^ 


immediately  after  Franchinus,  as  namely,  Peter  Aron, 
Glareanus,  Jacobus  Faber  Btapulensis,  Ottomarus 
Luscinius,  or  any  other  writer  of  the  German  or 
Italian  schools  before  the  year  1555,  as  far  as  can 
be  collected  from  an  attentive  perusal  of  their  works, 
assert,  or  even  intimate,  tliat  the  cliaracters  now  used 
to  denote  the  length  or  duration  of  sounds  in  music 
were  contrived  by  Johannes  De  Muris ;  and  the 
declaration  of  Mersennus  above-cited  may  almost  be 
said  to  be  evidence  of  the  contrary.  Upon  this 
state  of  facts  a  question  naturally  arises,  to  what 
mistaken  representation  is  it  owing  that  the  honoi;r 
of  this  important  improvement  in  music  is  ascribed 
to  one  who  had  no  title  to  it,  and  that  not  by  one, 
but  many  writers  ?  for  Zarlino,  Berardi,  and  all  the 
Italians,  Kircher,  Brossard,  and  Bourdelot  relate  it 
with  a  degree  of  confidence  that  seems  to  exclude 
all  doubt. 

An  answer  to  this  question  is  at  hand,  which  upon 
the  face  of  it  has  the  appearance  of  probability.  In 
short,  this  erroneous  opinion  seems  to  have  been 
originally  entertained  and  propagated  by  an  author 
whose  character  as  a  musician  has  held  the  world  in 
suspense  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  Vicentino,  a  Roman  musician,  hereinbefore 
spoken  of,  as  having  attempted  to  restore  the  ancient 
genera,  who  flourished  about  the  year  1492,  and  in 
1555  published  at  Rome,  in  folio,  a  work  entitled 
L'Antica  Musica  Ridotta  alia  moderna  Prattica,  con 
la  Dichiaratione,  et  con  gli  Essempi  de  i  tre  Generi, 
con  la  loro  Spetie,  which  contains  the  following 
relation : — 

'  After  the  invention  of  the  hand  by  Guido,  and  the 

*  introduction  of  the  stave  with  lines,  the  method  to 

*  express  the  sounds  was  by  points  placed  on  those 
'  lines  ;  from  whence  it  became  a  usual  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  otlier,  and  consequentlv 

*  that  they  were  of  equal  measures.  But  Giovanni  de 
'  ]\[uris,  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  his  invention  of  the  eight  characters. 
'  Others  added  the  round  b  to  e  la  mi  in  their  com- 
'  positions,  and  likewise  the  mark  of  four  strokes, 
'  described  in  this  manner  M  ;  and  so  from  time  to 
'  time  one  added  one  thing,  and  another  anotlier,  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 
'  h   and  b,  and  also  this  ^,  many  others  have  been 

*  This  is  a  very  curious  anecdote,  for  It  goes  near  to  ascertain  the 
time  when  many  of  the  transposed  keys  could  not  have  existed.  The 
author  is  however  mistaken  in  making  e  la  mi  b  the  fifth  to  a  la  mi  re, 
for  it  is  an  interval  consisting  of  but  three  tones.  He  had  better  have 
called  it  the  fourth  to  b  fa,  which  it  truly  is. 


invented  of  great  advantage  to  music,  for  I  am  of 
opinion  that  the  characters  h  and  b  were  the  first 
principles  upon  which  were  invented  the  eight 
musical  figures  now  treating  of;  for  John  De  Muris 
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  Q  and  b. 

'  For  first  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  breve  H  is 
derived  from  jj,  and  so  also  are  the  large  and  the 
long  ;  the  breve  being  but  h  without  legs,  and  the 
large  and  the  long  being  the  same  h  with  one  leg, 
with  this  only  difference,  that  the  large  1^3  exceeds 

considerably  in  magnitude  the  long  ^  .    From  the 

other  of  the  two  characters  above-mentioned,  viz.,  b, 
was  formed  the  semibreve  0,  or  o,  by  cutting  off  the 
leg.  After  the  philosopher  had  so  far  adjusted  the 
form  of  tlie  characters,  he  assigned  them  their  proper 
names  ;  and  first  to  that  note  which  was  simply  the  fi 
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,  as 
has  been  shewn,  it  was  derived. 

'  It  seems  that  the  breve  and  the  semibreve  were 
the  roots  from  wlience  the  several  other  notes  of 
addition  and  diminution  sprang  ;  and  seeing  that  a 
greater  variety  was  wanting,  De  Muris,  for  the 
avoiding  a  multiplicity  of  characters,  as  it  were  gave 
back  the  leg  of  the  breve,  and  placing  it  on  the  right 
side  BS  ,  called  it  a   long,   giving  to   it   twice   the 

value  or  time  of  the  breve.  Farther,  he  added  to 
the  long  half  its  breadth  1^3  ,  and  called  it  a  large, 

at  the  same  time  assigning  to  it  the  value  of  ^wo 
longs. 

'  From  those  several  characters  arose  the  invention 
of  various  tyings  and  bindings,  and  other  com- 
binations, called  by  modern  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  re( quired ;  but 
of  these  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  jMinim,  the  Semi- 
minim,  Chroma,  and  Semichroma,  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  stroke,  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  the  value  of  the  semibreve.  From  the 
same  figure  diversified  by  blackness,  and  by  marks 
added  to  the  leg,  the  philosopher  formed  three  other 
characters  of  different  values,  the  first  was  the  ser::i- 

miuim  |,  in  value,  as  its  name  imports,  half  tho 


220 


HISTORY  OF  TPIE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


'  minim  ;    and  which  is  no   other  than   the  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  thus  varied  a 
'  Chroma :  he  proceeded  still  farther,  and  by  the 
'  addition  of  a  little  stroke  to  the  chroma  formed  the 
'  Semichroma  | .'  * 

Kircher  delivers  the  above  as  his  opinion  also,  for 
after  relating  the  manner  of  Guido's  improvement  of 
the  scale,  he  expresses  himself  to  the  following 
purpose  : — 

'  And  these  were  the  elements  of  the  figurate 
'  music  of  Guido,  which,  like  all  other  inventions,  in 
'  their  infancy,  had  something  I  know  not  what  of 
'  rude  and  unpolished  about  it,  while,  instead  of  notes, 
'  points  only,  without  any  certain  measure  or  propor- 
'  tiun  of  time  were  used,  which  was  the  case  till  aboiit 
'  two  hundred  years  after,  when  Joannes  de  Muris 

•  resuming  tlie  invention  of  Guido,  completed  the 
'  musical  art,  for  from  J]  and  b,  by  which  characters 
'  Guido  was  accustomed  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 

•  semiminim ;  the  latter  character  with  a  tail  he 
'  called  Fusa,  and  that  with  two  tails  Semifusa  ;  so 
'  that  there   proceeded   from   b  only   four   different 

•  species  of  character,  namely,  the  minim,  semiminim, 
'  fusa,  and  semifusa  ; "]"  and  from  b  hard  or  scpiare  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.'  J 

After  such  a  testimony  as  this  of  Kircher,  it  may 
be  unnecessary  to  add  that  the  modern  writers  seem 
to  be  as  unanimously  agreed  in  attributing  the  inven- 
tion of  all  the  characters  used  to  denote  the  measure 
of  sounds  to  De  ]\Iuris,  as  they  are  in  ascribing  the 
reformation  of  the  ancient  Greek  scale  to  Guido 
Aretinus.  But  in  this  they  are  greatly  mistaken, 
and  the  account  herein-before  given  of  Franco  is 
undeniable  evidence  of  the  countrary. 

jMorley,  who  was  a  man  of  learning  in  his  pro- 
fession, and  a  diligent  researcher  into  such  matters  of 
antiquity  as  were  any  way  related  to  it,  has  in  the 
annotations  on  the  first  book  of  his  Plain  and  easie 
Introduction  to  practicall  Musicke,  given  a  short 
history  of  the  art  of  signifying  the  length  or  duration 
of  sounds  by  written  characters,  which,  as  it  is 
curious,  is  here  given  in  his  owmi  wortls  :  '  There 
'  were  in  old  time  foure  maners  of  pricking  [writing 

*  The  writers  on  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis  seem  to  have  been  hard  put 
to  it  to  fiiul  names  for  their  characters.  Francliinus  and  his  followers 
call  the  semiminim  Fusa,  which  in  the  barbarous  Latin  signifies  a  Spin- 
dle. Litt.  We  at  tliis  day  call  it  a  crotchet,  but  that  name  seems  more 
properly  to  belong  to  the  quaver,  by  reason  of  its  curved  tail,  the  word 
crotchet  being,  as  Butler  says.  Princ.  of  Mus.  pag.  2S,  derived  from  the 
French  Croc,  a  crook.  The  word  Chroma,  which  in  the  Greek  signifies 
Colour,  is  properly  enough  given  to  those  characters  that  are  not  evacu- 
ated, but  coloured  either  black  or  red  ;  and  if  so,  it  is  in  strictness 
common  to  all  the  characters  under  the  minim,  and  cannot  be  appro- 
priated to  the  quaver. 

+  Isaac  Vossiu.s  censures  the  terms  Maxima;,  Longs,  Breves,  Semi- 
breves,  Minima;,  Semiminimae,  Fus<-e,  and  Semil'uScB,  as  barbarous. 
De  Poem.  Cant,  et  Virib.  Rytlimi,  pag.  128. 

X  Musurg.  torn.  L  pag.  556. 


of  music],  one  al  blacke,  which  they  termed  blaclce 
Full,  another  which  we  use  now%  which  they  called 
blacke  Void ;  the  third  all  red,  which  they  called 
red  Ful,  the  fourth  red,  as  ours  is  blacke,  which  they 
called  redde  Void ;  al  which  you  may  perceive 
thus : — 

[printed  in  black.]  [printed  in  red.] 


:i-*-A-::-H 


:t=: 


r^^im 


'  But  if  a  white  note  (which  they  called  blacke 
voide)  hajjpened  amongst  blacke  full,  it  was  di- 
minished of  halfe  the  value  ;  so  that  a  minims  was 
but  a  crotchet,  and  a  semibriefe,  a  minime,  &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  minime 
w-as  but  a  crotchette  :  and  thus  you  may  perceive 
that  they  used  their  red  pricking  in  al  respects  as 
we  use  our  blacke  noweadaies.  But  that  order  of 
pricking  is  gone  out  of  use  now,  so  that  woe  use  the 
lilacke  voides  as  they  used  their  blacke  fuUes,  and 
the  blacke  fulles  as  they  used  the  red  fuUes.  The 
redde  is  gone  almost  quite  out  of  memorie,  so 
that  none  use  it,  and  fewe  knowe  what  it  meaneth, 
Nor   doe   we  pricke    anye    blacke   notes   amongst 

white,  except  a  semibriefe  thus  ^p--»-"^—  in  which 

case  the  semibriefe  so  blacke  is  a  minime  and  a 
pricke  (though  some  would  have  it  sung  in  tripla 
maner,  and  stand  for  f  of  a  semibriefe),  and  the 
blacke  minime  a  crotchet,  as  indeede  it  is.  If  more 
blacke  semibriefes  or  briefes  bee  togither,  then  in 
there  some  proportion  ;  and  most  commonly  either 
Tripla  or  Hemiolia,  which  is  nothing  but  a  rounde 
common  tripla  or  sesquialtera.  As  for  the  number 
of  the  formes  of  notes,  there  were  within  these  two 
hundred  yeares  but  foure  knowne  or  used  of  the 
musytions  :  those  were  the  Longe,  Briefe,  Semi- 
briefe, and  Minime.  The  minime  they  esteemed 
the  least  or  shortest  note  singable,  and  therefore 
indivisible.  Their  long  w^as  in  three  maners,  that 
is,  either  simple,  double,  or  triple  ;  a  simple  long 
was  a  square  form,  having  a  tail  on  the  right  side, 
hanging  downe  or  ascending  ;  a  double  long  was  so 
formed  as  some  at  this  dale  frame  their  larges,  that 
is  as  it  were  compact  of  two  longs.  The  triple  was 
bigger  in  quantitie  than  the  double  ;  of  their  value 
we  shall  speake  hereafter.  The  semibriefe  was  ;>t 
the  first  framed  like  a  triangle  thus  r',  as  it  were  the 
halfe  of  a  briefe,  divided  by  a  diameter  thus  0 ;  but 
that  figure  not  being  comly,  or  easie  to  make,  it 
grew  afterward  to  the  figure  of  a  rhombe  or  loseng 
thus  ♦,  which  forme  it  still  retaineth.  The  minime 
was  formed  as  it  is  now,  but  the  taile  of  it  tliey  ever 
made  ascending,  and  called  it  Signum  Minimitatis 
in  their  Ciceronian  Latine.  The  invention  of  the 
minime  they  ascribe  to  a  certaine  priest  (for  who  he 
was  I  know  not)  in  Navarre,  or  what  countrie  else 
it  was  which  they  tearmed  Navernia  ;  but  the  first 
who  used  it  was  one  Philip2:ius  De  Vitriaco,  whose 
motetes  for  some  time  were  of  al  others  best  esteemed 
and  most  used  in  the  chuch.     Who  invented  the 


Chap.  XLIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


221 


'  crotchet,   quaver,    and    semiquaver,   is    uncertaine. 

*  Some  attribute  tlie  invention  of  the  crotchet  to  the 
'afore-named  Philiji,  but  it  is  not  to  be  found  in  his 
'  workes ;  and  before  the  saide  Philip  the  smallest 
'  note  used  was  a  semibriefe,  which  the  authors  of 
'  that  time  made  of  two  sortes,  more  and  less  ;  for 
'  one  Francho  divided  the  briefe,  either  in  three  equal 
'  partes  (terming  them  semibriefes)  or  in  two  unequal 
'  partes,  the  greater  whereof  was  called  the  more 
'  semibriefe  (and  was  in  value  equal  to  the  imperfect 
'  briefe)  :  the  other  was  called  the  less  semibriefe,  as 
'  being  but  halfe  of  the  other  aforesaid.  This  Francho 
'  is  the  most  ancient  of  all  those  whose  workes  of 
'  practical   music   have    come    to   my  handes :    one 

*  Koberto  De  Haulo  hath  made  as  it  were  commen- 

*  taries  upon  his  rules  and  termed  them  Additions. 

*  Amongst  the  rest,  when  Francho  setteth  downe  that 
'  a  square  hody  having  a  taile  coming  downe  on  the 
'  riarht  side  is  a  long,  he  salth  thus  :  "  Si  tractum 
"  habeat  a  parte  dextra  ascendente,  erecta  vocatur  ut 


"  hie;  — BJ— '— d~  ponuntur  enim  iste  longae   erectaj 
"  ad  difforentiam  longarnra  qnx,  sunt  rectae  et  vocaniur 
"  erectai  quod  ubicunque  inveniuntur  per  semitonium 
"  eriguntur,"  that  is,  "  if  it  have  a  taile  on  the  righte 
"  side   going   upwards,   it  is   called  erect  or  raised 

"  thus  :  izB^_B^  for  these  raised  longes  be  put 
"  for  difference  from  others  which  be  right  ,  and  are 
"  raised  because  wheresoveer  they  be  found,  they  be 
"  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  givcth  of  the 
'  briefe,  if  it  have  a  taile  on  the  left  side  going 
'  upward.      The  large,  long,  briefe,  semibriefe,  and 

*  minime  (saith  Glareanus)  have  these  seventy  yeares 
'  been  in  use  ;  so  that  reckoning  downeward  from 
'  Glareanus  his  time,  which  was  about  fiftie  years 
'  ago,  we  shal  find  that  the  greatest  antiquitie  of  our 
'  pricked  Bong  is  not  above  130  years  old.'  * 

The  account  above-given  from  Morley  is  extremely 
curious,  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  should  be 
doubted,  recourse  has  been  had  to  those  testimonies 
on  which  it  is  founded  ;  and  these  are  evidently  the 
writincrs  of  ecclesiastics  and  others,  who  treated  on 
this  part  of  musical  science  m  the  ages  precedmg 
the  time  when  Morley  wrote.  A  valuable  collection 
of  tracts  of  this  kind  in  a  lai'ge  volume,  was  extant 
in  the  Cotton  libj-ary  in  the  year  1731,  when  a  fire 
Avhich  happened  at  Ashburuham -house  in  West- 
minster, wiierc  it  was  then  deposited,  consvmied  many 
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 

«  Mori.  Introd.  Annotations  on  the  first  part. 

+  Dr  Smith,  in  his  Catalogue  of  the  Cotton  library,  paj.  24,  has 
given  the  title  of  the  tracts  contained  in  tlie  volume ;  and  Mr.  Castley, 
in  tlie  Appendix  to  his  catalogue  of  tlie  kind's  library,  pag.  314,  has 
given  the  following  note  concernins  it :—' Tiberius,  B.  IX.  hurnt  to 
'  a  crust.  Dr.  Pepusch  ha*  copies  of  the  3,  4,  and  .5th  tracts.'  It  seems 
bv  Dr.  Pepusch's  copy  that  the  musical  tracts  were  at  least  seven  in 
tumuer ;  they  make  tojiatl-  er  two  hundied  and  ten  folio  pages. 


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  lietween 
the  time  of  Guido,  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  first  that  of  Roberto  De  Haulo,  as 
IMorley  calls  him,  though  by  the  way  his  true  name 
was  Handlo,|  which  he  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,  inporting  that  it  was  finished  on  Friday 
next  before  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  a.  c.  1326. 

Of  this  writer,  Robertus  De  Handlo,  no  account 
can  be  foimd,  except  in  the  Bibliotheca  of  bishop 
Tanner,  taken  from  the  manuscript  above-mentioned. 
It  is  however  worth  observing  that  the  above  date, 
1326,  carries  the  supposed  invention  of  De  INInris 
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  Philippus  De  Vitriaco  for 
instances  of  notes  of  different  colours. 

Morley  says  that  '  the  antient  mu.sytions  esteemed 
'  the  minime  the  shortest  note  singable  ; '  this  is  in 
a  great  measure  confirmed  by  a  passage  above-cited 
from  Thomas  De  Walsyngham,  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  Navernia  ;  but  that  the 
first  who  used  it  was  Philippus  De  Vitriaco  ;  and 
that  some  attribute  the  invention  of  the  crotchet  to 
the  aforesaid  Philip,  but  it  is  not  found  in  his  works. 
To  this  purpose  the  following  passage,  which  IMorley 
evidently  alludes  to,  may  be  seen  in  the  copy  of  the 
above-cited  manuscript :  Figura  verb  minimcB  est 
corpus  ohlongum  ad  nwdum  losong<v  gerens  tractum 
recte  supra  capite  qui  tracttis  signum  minitantis 
dicitur,  ut  hie  [[[  De  minima  vera  Magister 
Franco  mentionem.  in  sua  arte  non  facit  sed  tan- 
tum  de  hngis  et  hrevihus,  ac  semibrevihus,  31inima 
autem  in  Naverina  incenta  erat,  et  a  Philifi-o  De 
Vitriaco,§  qidfidt  Jilos.totins  vnindi  vmsicorum 
approhata  et  xmtata;qiii  autem  dicunt  p)^'(^dictum 
PMUppum  crochatum  site  semiminimam  aut  drag' 

I  De  Hanulo  is  a  proper  surname:  by  the  Chronica  Series,  at  the 
end  of  Diisdale's  Ori^'ines  .Turidiciales,  it  appears  that  Nicholas  de 
Handlo  was  a  justice  of  the  court  of  Common  Pleas,  and  a  justice 
Itinerant.     Ann.  1256. 

§  It  seems  that  this  Philip  was  much  C3lebrated.  In  a  poem  printed 
among  Skelton's  works.  12ino.  1736,  entitled  A  Treatise  betwene  Trouth 
and  Infonuacion,  said  to  be  written  by  William  Cornishe,  chapelman  to 
the  most  famose  and  noble  kyng  Henry  VII.,  is  the  following  stanza:— 

I  aflayde  theis  tunes,  methought  them  not  fwete, 
The  Concordes  were  nothynge  muficall, 
I  called  mafters  of  mufike  cunyng  and  difcrete  ; 
And  the  firft  prynciple,  whofe  name  was  Tuballe, 
Guido,  Boke,  John  de  Murris,  Vitryaco,  am  them  al 
I  prayed  them  of  helpe  of  this  combrous  fonge, 
PrikeJ  with  force  and  lettred  with  wronge. 


Ii22 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  Vi. 


mam  fecisse  aut  eis  concessisse ,  errant,  ut  in  notis 
sicis  ma)iijesfe  apjmret. 

Each  of  the  sevei'al  measures  above-eniimerated, 
that  is  to  say,  the  hirge,  long,  breve,  semibreve,  and 
minim,  had  then,  as  now,  their  correspondent  pauses 
or  rests ;  these  were  contrived  to  give  time  for  the 
singers  to  take  breath  ;  besides  tliis  they  contributed 
to  introduce  a  variety  of  neumas  or  points ;  the 
difference  occasioned  thereby  is  obvious. 

But  besides  the  characters  invented  to  denote  tlie 
measures  of  time  which  were  simple  and  distinct, 
there  were  certain  combinations  of  them  used  by  the 
ancient  musicians,  known  by  the  name  of  Ligatures  ; 
of  the  invention  whereof  no  satisfactory  account  is 
any  where  given.  The  earliest  explanation  of  their 
nature  and  use  seems  to  be  that  text  of  Franco,  upon 
which  the  additions  of  Robertus  De  Handlo  are  a 
comment.  Farther  back  than  to  these  rules  and 
maxims,  or,  as  his  commentator  styles  them,  the 
Rubric,  probably  from  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  his  own  invention,  and  seem  to  be  coeval  with 
mensurable  music. 

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,  by  which  the 
measures  of  time  are  adjusted,  with  their  respective 
pauses  or  rests  ;  and  it  detracts  very  little  from  the 
merit  of  this  improvement  to  say  that  the  lesser 
measures  were  invented  by  others,  since  the  least 
attention  to  his  principles  must  have  naturally 
8U!J:2:ested  such  a  subdivision  of  the  greater  characters 
ns  could  not  but  terminate  in  the  production  of  the 
lesser.  We  have  seen  this  kind  of  subdivision  carried 
much  farther  than  either  Franco,  Vitriaco,  or  any  of 
tlieir  followers,  thought  necessary  ;  and  were  any 
one  to  extend  it  to  a  still  more  minute  division  than 
we  know  of  at  present,  the  merit  of  such  a  refineiiient 
would  hardly  insure  immortality  to  its  author. 

CHAP.  L. 

The  rules  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  presumed 
at  a  small  distance  of  time  after  the  former,  and  of 
which  an  account  will  be  given  hereafter,  it  appears 
that  this  invention  of  the  ligatures  was  succeeded  by 
another  variety  in  the  method  of  notation,  namely, 
evacuated,  or,  as  IMorley  calls  them,  void  characters, 
concerning  which  it  is  laid  down  as  a  rule,  that 
every  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  semiminim. 

Other  modes  of  diminution  are  here  also  men- 
tioned, as  the  cutting  off  the  half  of  either  a  full  or 


an  evacuated  character,  as  here  r-  <j,  by  which  they 
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  hand,  as  appears  by  this 
passage  of  the  author  :  '  The  diversities  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  that  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  in 
value  to  a  semibreve. 

It  appears  very  clearly  from  this  little  tract,  and 
also  from  numberless  passages  in  others,  written 
about  the  same  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  other  parts  were  but  auxiliary. 

Those  who  consider  how  very  easily  all  the  mea- 
sures of  time,  with  their  several  combinations,  are 
expressed  by  the  modern  method  of  notation,  will 
perhaps  wonder  to  find  that  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis 
makes  so  considerable  a  part  of  the  musical  treatises 
written  about  tliis  time ;  and  that  such  a  diversity 
of  opinions  should  subsist  about  it  as  are  to  be  found 
among  the  writers  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The 
true  reason  of  all  this  confusion  is,  that  the  invention 
was  new,  it  was  received  with  great  approbation, 
and  immediately  spread  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  they  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  Muris  might  very 
well  have  been  spared. 

As  to  the  ligatures,  they  are  totally  disused;  every 
conjunction  of  notes  formerly  described  by  them 
being  novp  much  more  intelligibly  expi'essed  by 
separate  characters  conjoined  by  a  circular  stroke 
over  them,  and  to  this  improvement  the  invention 
of  bars  has  not  a  little  contributed.  The  doctrine 
of  the  ligatures  can  therefore  no  farther  be  of  use 
than  to  enable  a  modern  to  decypher  as  it  were,  an 
ancient  composition,  and  whether  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,  enough  about  the  ligatures  to  answer  this 
purpose  is  to  be  found  in  Morley,  and  other  writers 
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  the  manuscript 
treatise  last  above-cited. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  in  mensurable  music 


Chai".  L. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


223 


perfection  is  ascribed  to  the  Ternary,  and  imper- 
fection to  tlie  Binary  number,  whether  the  terms  be 
applied  to  longs,  breves,  or  semibreves ;  for  as  to 
the  minim,  it  is  simple,  and  incapable  of  this  dis- 
tinction. The  reason  the  ternary  number  is  said  to 
be  perfect  is  that  it  has  a  beginning,  a  middle,  and 
an  end.  If  a  compounded  whole  contains  two  equal 
parts,  it  is  said  to  be  imperfect,  if  three  it  is  perfect : 
two  minims  make  an  imperfect,  and  three  minims 
a  perfect  semibreve,  and  so  of  the  larger  measures ; 
and  this  rule  is  general. 

With  respect  to  the  iinligated  characters,  though 
few  in  number,  their  different  adjuncts  and  various 
modifications  rendered  their  respective  values  so  pre- 
carious, that  whole  volumes  have  been  written  to 
explain  their  nature  and  use.  Indeed,  towards  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century  much  of  this  kind  of 
learning  was  become  obsolete,  and  the  modes  of  time 
with  their  several  diversities  were  reduced  within 
an  intelligible  compass.  In  order  however  to  under- 
stand the  language  of  these  writers,  it  may  be  neces- 
sary to  explain  the  terms  used  by  them,  and  exhibit 
a  general  view  of  mensurable  music  in  this  its  infant 
state. 

And  first  with  respect  to  the  terms,  the  most 
essential  were  jMode,  Time,  and  Prolation ;  and  to 
each  of  these,  as  applied  to  the  suliject  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  that  kind 
of  progression  wherein  the  greater  characters  of  time 
were  measured  by  the  next  lesser,  as  larges  by  longs, 
or  longs  by  breves.  Where  the  admeasurement  was 
of  breves  by  semibreves  it  was  called  Time ;  perhaps 
for  this  reason,  that  in  musical  speech  Semibreve 
and  Time  ai'e  convertible  terms,  it  being  formerly, 
as  usual,  to  say  for  instance  a  pause  of  two  or  more 
Times,  as  of  so  many  semibreves;*  and  lastly,  if  the 
admeasurement  was  of  semibreves  by  minims,  it  was 
called  Prolation.'"  Vide  Morley,  pag.  12.  Franch. 
Pract.  Mus.  lib.  II.  cap.  iii.  ix. 

*  Glareanus,  in  liis  Dodechachordon.  lib.  III.  cap.  viii.  pag.  203,  and 
Ornithoparcus  in  his  Micrologus,  translated  by  John  Douland,  pag.  46, 
say  that  time  is  measured  by  a  semibreve.  Morley,  Introd.  pag.  9,  calls 
a  time  a  stroke,  and  gives  examples  of  semibreves  for  whole  strokes  or 
times.  Nevertheless  he  adds  that  there  is  a  more  stroke,  comprehending 
the  time  of  a  breve,  but  that  the  less  stroke  seems  the  most  usual. 
Butler  says  the  principal  time-note  is  the  semibreve,  by  whose  time  the 
time  of  all  notes  is  known  ;  and  that  it  is  measured  by  tactus,  or  the 
stroke  of  the  hand.  Princ.  of  Music,  lib.  I.  cap.  ii.  §  iv.  And  in  a  note 
on  the  above  passage  he  speaks  thus  : — ■'  As  in  former  time,  when  the 
'  semibreve  and  minim  were  the  least  notes,  the  breve  was  the  measure- 
'  note,  or  principal  time-note  (by  which  being  measured  by  the  stroke  of 
'  the  hand,  the  just  time  of  all  other  notes  was  known)  so  since  the  in- 
'  venting  of  the  smaller  notes  (the  breve  growing  by  little  and  little  out 
'  of  use)  the  semibreve  became  the  measure-note  in  his  stead  ;  as  now 
'  in  quick  time  the  minim  beginneth  to  encroach  upon  the  semibreve. 

'  The  time-stroke  of  the  breve  Listenius  termeth  Tactus  major,  and  of 
'  the  semibreve  tactus  minor,  the  which  he  doth  thus  define  : — "  Tactus 
"  major  est,  cum  brevis  tactu  mensuratur :  Minor  est,  ciim  semibrevis 
"  sub  tactum  cadit  integrum."  But  now  the  semibreve  time  is  our 
'  major  tactus.  and  the  minim-time  our  Tactus  minor. 

'The  Tactus  major  of  Listenius,  which  g'vci  a  breve  to  a  stroke,  is 
'the  time  that  is  meant  in  the  canons  of  fugues,  as  "  fuga  in  unisono, 
"  post  duo  tempora :  i.  e.  post  4  semibrevia."     lb.  pag.  28. 

t  Prolation,  from  the  Latin  Prolatio,  a  speaking,  uttering,  or  pro- 
nouncing, in  the  language  of  musicians,  signifies  generally  singing  as 
opposed  to  pausing  or  resting.  But  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  here  used 
it  is  supposed  to  mean  singing  by  the  notes  that  most  frequently  occur, 
viz.,  Minims;  for  Listenius  remarks  that  the  notes  invented  since  the 
Minim  served  rather  for  instrumental  than  vocal  music.  Vide  Butl, 
pag.  28.  Andreas  Ornithoparcus  in  his  Micrologus,  lib.  IL  can.  iv.  thus 
explains  the  term  : — '  Prolation  is  the  essential  quantitie  of  semibreves  ; 
'  or  it  is  the  sotting  of  two  or  three  minims  against  one  semibreve;  and 
'  it  is  twofold,  to  wit,  the  greater,  which  is  a  semibreve  measured  by 


To  each  of  those,  that  is  to  say  Mode,  Time,  and 
Prolation,  was  annexed  the  epithet  of  Perfect  or 
Imperfect,  according  as  the  progression  was  of  the 
ternary  or  binary  kind ;  and  amongst  these  such 
interchanges  and  commixtures  were  allowed,  that  in 
a  cantus  of  four  parts  the  progression  was  frequently 
alternative,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  bass  and  contra- 
tenor  binary,  and  in  the  tenor  and  altus  ternary,  or 
otherwise  in  the  bass  and  contra-tenor  ternary,  and 
in  the  tenor  and  altus  binary. 

This  practice  may  be  illustrated  by  a  very  familiar 
image ;  a  cantus  of  four  parts  may  be  resembled  to 
a  tree,  and  the  similitude  will  hold,  if  we  suppose 
the  fundamental  or  bass  part  to  answer  to  the  root, 
or  rather  the  bole  or  stem,  the  tenor  to  the  branches, 
the  contra-tenor  to  the  lesser  ramifications,  and  the 
altus  to  the  leaves.  We  must  farther  suppose  the 
bass  pai't  to  consist  of  the  greater  simple  measures, 
which  are  those  called  longs,  the  tenor  of  breves, 
the  contra-tenor  of  semibreves,  and  the  altus  of 
minims.  In  this  situation  of  the  parts,  the  first 
admeasurement,  viz.,  that  which  is  made  by  the 
breaking  of  the  longs  into  breves,  acquires  the 
name  of  mode ;  the  second,  in  which  the  breves  are 
measured  by  semibreves,  is  called  time ;  and  the 
third,  in  which  the  semibreves  are  broken  into 
minims,  is  termed  prolation,  of  which  it  seems  there 
were  two  kinds,  the  greater  and  the  lesser;  in  the 
former  the  division  into  minims  was  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. 

As  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 
measured  by  breves.j'  There  were  also  certain 
arbitrary  marks  or  characters  invented  for  dis- 
tinguishing the  modes,  such  as  these  0  Q  G  5  but 
concerning  their  use  and  ajiplication  there  was  such 
a  diversity  of  opinions  that  Morley  himself  professes 
almost  to  doubt  the  certainty  of  those  rules,  which, 
being  a  child,  he  had  learned  with  respect  to  the 
measures  of  the  Large  and  the  Long.§  And  farther 
he  says  that  though  all  that  had  written  on  the  modes 
agree  in  the  number  and  form  of  degrees,  as  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  bestowed  great  pains  to  explain  the 
several  characters  used  to  distinguish  them,  and 
rejecting  such  as  he  deemed  mere  innovations,  has 
reduced  the  matter  to  a  tolerable  degree  of  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  his 
own  words  :    '  The  auncient  musitians'   (by  whom 

'  three  minims,  or  the  comprehending  of  three  minims  in  one  semibreve, 
'  and  the  lesser,  wherein  the  semibreve  is  measured  by  two  minims  only.' 
Grassineau,  notwithstanding  he  had  Brossard  before  him,  betrays  great 
ignorance  in  calling  prolation  the  art  of  shaking  or  making  several  in- 
flexions of  the  voice  on  the  same  note  or  syllable,  a  practice  unknown  to 
the  ancients,  and  not  introduced  till  the  middle  of  the  last  century. 

t  Mori.  Introd.  pag.  12,  13. 

§  Annotat.  on  book  I.  pag.  12.  ver.  16. 

II   ibid. 


224: 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


v:e  understand  tliose  who  lived  within  about  three 
hundred  years  preceding  the  time  when  Morley 
wrote)  '  did  commonlie  sette  downe  a  particular 
'  signe  for  every  degree  of  music  in  the  song ;  so 
'  that  they  having  no  more  degrees  than  three,  that 
'  is  the  two  modes  and  time,  (prolation  not  being  in- 
'  vented.)  they  set  down  three  signs  for  them  :  so 
'  that  if  the  great  moode  were  perfect  it  was  signified 
'  by  a  whole  circle,  which  is  a  perfect  figure,  and  if 
'  imperfect  by  a  halfe  circle.  Therefore  wheresoever 
'  these  signs  O  33  were  set  before  any  songe,  there 

*  was  the  great  moode  perfect  signified  by  the  circle, 
'  the  small  moode  perfect  signified  by  the  first  figure 
'  of  three,  and  time  perfect  by  the  last.  If  the  song 
'  were  marked  thus  C  33,  then  was  the  great  moode 
'  unperfect,  and  the  small  moode  and  time  perfect. 
'  But  if  the  first  figure  were  a  figure  of  two  thus  C 

*  23,  then  were    both  moodes  unperfect,  and   time 

*  perfect.     If  it  were  thus  C  22,  then  were  all  uu- 

*  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  O  2,  then  did  it 

*  signifie  the  lesse  moode,  and  by  that  reason  that 
'  circle  now  last  sette  downe  with  the  binarie  cifer 
'  following  it,  signified  the  lesse  moode  perfect,  and 
'  time  unperfect.  If  thus  C  2,  then  was  the  lesse 
'  moode  unperfect,  and  time  perfect.  If  thus  C  3, 
'  then  was  both  the  lesse  moode  and  time  unperfect, 
'  and  so  of  others.     But  since  the  prolation  was  in- 

*  vented,  they  have  set  a  pointe  in  the  circle  or  halfo- 
'  circle,  to  shew  the  More  prolation,  which  notwith- 
'  standing  altereth  nothing  in  the  moode  nor  time. 
'  But  these  are  little  used  now  at  this  present.' 

The  above-cited  passage  is  taken  from  the  annota- 
tions on  the  first  book  of  Morley's  Introduction.^' 
His  account  of  the  characters  used  to  distinguish  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  thus  signified  0  3.  The  Great 
Mode  Imperfect,  which  gave  to  the  large  only  two 
lonsrs,  thus  C  3.  The  lesser  mode  which  measured 
the  longs  by  breves,  was  also  either  perfect  or 
imperfect :  the  sign  of  the  former,  wherein  the 
long  contained  three  breves,  was  this  O  2  ;  that  of 
the  latter,  wherein  the  long  contained  only  two 
breves,  was  this  C  2.  As  to  Time,  which  was  the 
measure  of  breves  by  semibreves,  that  also  was  of 
two  kinds,  perfect  and  imperfect :  perfect  time,  which 
was  when  the  breve  contained  three  semibreves,  had 
for  signs  these  marks  0  3.  C  3.  0.  Imperfect  time, 
which  divided  the  breve  into  semibreves,  had  these 
O  2.  C  2.  C.  As  to  Prolation,  that  of  the  IMore, 
wherein  the  semibreve  contained  three  minims,  its 
signs  were  a  circle  or  half  circle  with  a  point  thus 
Q  (£  •  Prolation  of  the  less,  which  was  when  the 
semibreve  was  but  two  minims,  was  signified  by  the 
same  characters  without  a  point,  as  thus  O  C. 

From  all  which  the  same  author  deduces  the 
following  position,  '  that  the  number  doth  signifie 
'  the  mode,  the  circle,  the  time,  and  the  presence  or 

*  absence  of  the  poynt  the  prolation.'  | 


So  much  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  manuscript, 
and  frequently  referred  to  in  the  course  of  this  en- 
quiry concerning  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  men- 
surai)le  music.  A  more  particular  account  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 
with  seems  most  necessary. 

It  is  true  that  for  this  purpose  recourse  might 
have  been  had  to  the  printed  works  of  Franchiiuis, 
Glareanus,  and  other  ancient  writers,  who  have 
written  on  the  subject,  and  whose  autliority  in  this 
respect  is  unquestionable.  But  to  this  it  is  answered, 
that  not  only  Glareanus,  but  Franchinus,  who  on 
account  of  his  antiquity  is  justly  deemed  the  Father 
of  our  present  music,  represent  the  Cantus  Men- 
surabilis  as  in  a  state  of  maturity  :  and  our  business 
here  is  not  so  much  to  explain  the  principles  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 
abounds  with  frequent  commendations  of  learned  and 
skilful  musicians,  such  as  Guido,  Boetius,  Johannes 
De  jNIuris,  and  others  now  less  known,  but  who  are 
notwithstanding  highly  celebrated  by  its  author, 
while  the  names  of  Franchinus  and  Glareanus  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  particular  the  testimony  of  these  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  ancient  writers  made  use  of, 
to  represent  the  several  degrees  of  measures,  and  the 
order  in  which  they  are  generated.  The  author, 
whoever  he  was,  has  given  them  the  name  of  musical 
trees,  and  altliough  Doni  in  his  treatise  De  Prpestantia 
Musicae  Veteris§  in  ridicule  of  diagrams  in  this 
form,  terms  them  cauli-flowers,  they  seem  very  well 
to  answer  the  end  of  their  invention  : — 

i:^eit'ect  Mode,  Peiiect  Tiiue.  (iieater  Prolatiun. 

Ml    111    III    IN    III    MI    1  I  1    111    Ml 
6^Sd  i66  6^*   6<66  ^i>i>  666   666  666  666 


o 


a 


a 
^ 


Viz.,  on  pag.  IS,  vers.  13 


t  Pag.  13.        t  Pag-  l-l- 


§  Pap;.  16,  where  the  author  is  unwarrantably  severe  in  his  censure  of 
rhythmical  music,  and  the  characters  used  to  denote  it. 


Chap.  L, 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


Perfect  Mode,  Perfect  Time,  Lesser  rixtljition. 

I   I     M     M     II     II     II     I   I     II     M 


fl 

^ 


The  several  other  species  of  mode,  time,  and  pro- 
hition,  ai'e  represented  in  like  manner,  mi;tatis  mu- 
tandis ;  and  the  last  or  most  minute  division  of  the 
greater  quantity  in  the  Cantus  JMensurahilis  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  means  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  ;  but 
the  author  has  in  a  subsequent  paragraph  given  an 
explanation  of  them,  which  coincides  very  nearly 
with  that  of  IMorley.  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  he  saj's  are  used 
in  motets,  and  frequently  in  those  of  Philippns  de 
Vitriaco,  for  three  reasons,  namely,  to  signify  a 
cliange  in  the  mode,  the  time,  or  the  prolation.  As 
to  the  Pauses  or  Pests,  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  mea- 
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  collected 
from  the  writings  of  sundry  authors  extant  only  in 
manuscript,  and  whose  works  were  probably  com- 
posed for  the  instruction  of  particular  fraternities  in 
different  countries,  and  at  different  times,  and  conse- 
quently 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  anv  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  modern  practice,  is  referred  to 
that  part  of  the  present  work,  where  onl}'  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  music,  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 
had  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 
£uch  men  as  Guido,  Franco,  De  Handlo,  De  Muris, 


Vitriaco,  Tinctor,  and  many  others,  have  reproaclied 
them  with  barbarism,  and  the  want  of  classical 
elegance  in  their  writings,  perhaps  there  are  some 
who  consider  philology  rather  as  subservient  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  Great,  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."^' 

Guido,  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  cliffs,  rendered  the  stave  of  five  lines  nearly  com- 
mensurate to  the  whole  system,  and  suggested  the 
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 
it^  invention,  gave  the  name  of  Contrapunctum, 
Contrapunto,  or  Counterpoint ;  appellations,  in  the 
opinion  of  many,  so  strongly  favouring  of  the  bar- 
barism of  the  times  in  which  tliey  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  such  characters  as  we  now  use,  was  the 
invention  of  Guido.  But  it  does  by  no  means  follow 
that  he  was  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  so  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  use  of  the  organ  amounts  to  little  less  than 
a  proof  that  symphoniac  music  was  known  long  before 
Guido's  time.  The  fact  stands  thus  :  the  organ,  not 
to  reassume  the  enquiry  as  to  the  time  of  its  invention, 
was  added  to  church  music  by  pope  Vitalianus,  who, 
as  some  say,  was  advanced  to  the  papacy  anno  G55, 
though  others  postpone  it  to  the  year  GG3.  Those 
of  the  first  class  fix  the  a?ra  of  the  introduction  of  the 
organ  into  the  choral  service  precisely  at  660,  the 
others  by  consequence  somewhat  later.     And  Guido 

*  It  we  allow  for  the  difference  between  written  and  extemporary 
music  it  will  appsar  that  the  modern  acceptation  of  the  word  Descant 
differs  very  little  from  that  of  the  eighth  century.  St-e  ante,  Book  IV_ 
page  150.     For  a  learned  musical  lexicographer  thus  explains  it : — 

DiscAN'TO  [Ital.]  DiscANTUs  [Lat.]  quasi  Biscaktus,  t  e.,  diversus 
cantus,  not  only  because  tliis  part  being  the  highest  nf  many  admits  of 
the  most  coloiatures.  divisions,  graces,  and  variations  of  any,  but  because 
the  earlier  writers  among  the  moderns  used  to  call  a  tigurate  song,  in 
contradistinction  to  Canto-fermo  or  Plain-song.  Discantum  ;  and  wliat 
we  now  call  the  composing  of  figurate  music,  discantute.  Walth.  Lex. 
in  Art. 

Q 


22C 


HISTORY  OP  THE  SCIENCE 


i;ooK  VI. 


himself,  besides  frequently  mentioning  the  organ  in 
the  Micrologus,  recommends  the  use  of  it  in  common 
with  the  monochord,  for  tuning  the  voice  to  the 
several  intervals  contained  in  the  septenary. 

It  is  true  when  we  speak  of  the  organ  we  are  to 
understand  that  there  are  two  kinds  of  instrument 
distinguishable  by  that  name  ;  the  one,  for  the  small- 
ness  of  its  size,  and  simplicity  of  its  construction, 
called  the  Portative,  the  other  the  Positive,  or  im- 
moveable organ ;  both  of  these  are  very  accurately 
described  by  Ottomarus  Luscinius,  in  his  Musurgia, 
printed  at  Strasburg,  in  1536.  As  to  the  first,  its 
use  was  principally  to  assist  the  voice  in  ascertaining 
the  several  sounds  contained  in  the  system,  and 
occasionally  to  facilitate  the  learning  of  any  Cantus. 
The  other  is  that  noble  instrument,  to  the  harmony 
whereof  the  solemn  choral  service  has  ever  since  its 
invention  been  sung,  and  which  is  now  degraded 
to  the  accompaniment  of  discordant  voices  in  the 
promiscuous  performance  of  metrical  psalmody  in 
parochial  worship. 

Guido  might  possibly  mean  that  the  former  of 
these  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  sung  in  cathedral  and  con- 
ventual churches,  and  other  places  of  religious  worship. 
Now  let  him  mean  either  the  one  or  the  other  of  the 
above-mentioned  instruments,  it  is  scarce  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  music  in  consonance.  Is  it  to  be 
supposed  that  this  noble  instrument,  so  constructed  as 
to  produce  the  greatest  variety  of  harmony  and  fine 
modulation,  v/as  played  on  by  one  finger  only  ?  was 
the  organist,  who  must  be  supposed  to  be  well  skilled 
in  the  nature  of  consonance,  never  tempted  by 
curiosity  to  try  its  effect  on  the  instrument  the  object 
of  his  studies,  and  perhaps  the  only  one,  if  we  except 
the  harji,  then  known,  on  which  an  experiment  of 
this  kind  could  possibly  be  made  ?  did  no  accident  or 
mistake,  or  lastly,  did  not  the  mere  tuning  the  in- 
strument from  time  to  time,  as  occasion  required,  or. 
if  that  was  not  his  duty,  the  bare  trying  if  it  were  in 
tune  or  no,  teach  him  experimentally  that  the  diates- 
saron,  diapente,  and  diapason,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
other  consonances,  are  as  grateful  to  the  audible  as 
their  harmonical  coincidences  are  to  the  reasoning 
faculties  ? 

Perhaps  it  may  be  objected  that  this  argument  will 
carry  the  use  of  symphoniac  music  back  to  those 
times  in  which  it  is  asserted  no  such  thing  was 
known  ;  for  it  may  be  asked,  does  not  the  hydraulic 
organ  mentioned  by  Vitruvius  as  necessarily  pre- 
suppose music  in  consonance,  as  that  in  use  at  the 
time  of  Guido's  writing  the  Micrologus  ?  In  answer 
to  this  it  is  said,  that  the  hydraulic  organ  is  an  in- 
strument so  very  ill  defined,  that  we  are  incapable  of 
forming  to  ourselves  any  idea  of  its  frame,  its  con- 
struction, or  its  use.  Kircher  has  wrested  Vitruvius's 
description  of  it,  so  as  to  make  it  resemble  the  modern 
organ,  and  has  even  exhibited  the  form  of  it  in  the 


Musurgia  ;  but  who  does  not  see  that  the  instrument 
thus  accurately  delineated  by  him  is  a  creature  of  his 
own  imagination  ?  and  does  be  not  deny  its  aptitude 
for  symphoniac  music  by  saying  as  he  does  in  the 
strongest  and  most  express  terms,  that  after  a  most 
painful  and  laborious  research  he  had  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  music  as  it  stood 
immediately  after  this  last  improvement  of  Guido. 
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  Galilei,  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 
him,  by  means  of  the  cliffs,  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  modern  invention,  and  it  is 
not  easy  to  find  a  synonyma  to  it  in  the  monkish 
writers  on  music  :  nevertheless  the  method  of  writing 
in  score  must  have  been  practised  as  well  with  them 
as  by  us,  since  no  man  could  know  what  he  was 
about,  that  in  framing  a  Cantus  did  not  dispose  the 
several  parts  regularly,  the  lowest  at  bottom,  and 
the  others  in  due  order  above  it.  In  Guido'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  cantus  thus  framed  was 
no  less  properly  than  emphatically  called  Counter- 
point. 

It  is  needless  to  say  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  by  the  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,  out 
of  which  all  the  different  modifications  of  common 
and  triple  time,  as  we  now  call  them,  are  known 
to  spring.  But  this  kind  of  equality  subsisted  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  different  from  one  in  which  they  are 
combined ;  in  one  case  the  Arsis  and  Thesis  are 
equal ;  in  the  other  they  have  a  ratio  of  two  to  one. 
From  hence  there  is  reason  to  conclude  that  tho 


Chap.  LI. 


AXD  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


227 


primitive  counterpoint,  as  being  subject  to  different 
general  measures,  was  of  two  forms,  answering  pre- 
cisely to  the  common  and  triple  time  of  the  moderns. 
The  former  of  these  may  thus  be  conceived  of : — 


ate 


n 


ii^^ii^=^^i 


:i^ 


-I.V7    * 


q-t 


3=^*^^^*jz!»: 


And  the  latter  thus : — 


im 


^t 


^: 


iEH: 


:!zzm=i±!='=S:^=i=M±^ 


But  although  these  were  all  the  varieties  in  respect 
to  time  or  measure,  which  it  was  originally  capable 


of,  counterpoint  was  even  then  susceptible  of  various 
forms,  and  admitted  of  an  almost  endless  diversity 
of  combinations,  arising  as  well  from  a  difference 
in  the  motion  or  progression  of  the  sounds,  as  in 
the  succession  of  consonances.  The  combinations, 
in  a  series  of  those  eiglit  sounds  which  constitute 
the  diapason,  are  estimated  at  no  fewer  than  40,320. 
And  in  the  case  of  a  cantus  in  consonance  these 
allow  of  a  multiplication  by  the  number  of  the 
additional  parts  to  the  amount  of  four.  Hence  it 
is  that  in  a  cantus  thus  constituted,  the  iteration  of 
the  same  precise  melody  and  harmony  is  an  event 
so  extremely  fortuitous,  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  : — 


VARIOUS  PROCESSES  OF  HARMONY. 


5E 


jE 


^ — <&— 


Direct 
Motion. 


^21^ 


4= 


-- &— V — I — ♦ 


Direct  Motion 

by  conjunct 

Degrees. 


o — ^--i 

-• 
i 


— » 


-t-^ 


t-t 


Direct  IMotion 

by  disjunct 

Degrees. 

z:j=::l-j=:j- 


:t:=t; 


Oblique  Motion 

by  conjunct 

Degrees. 


3 


itz 


mi 


--^a 


Oblique  IMotion 

by  disjunct 

Degrees. 


^m 


np 


«•— 


=t:-v:-^i=;F3 


±-^l 


Contrary 
Motion. 


-^=i: 


::]=:1=rz=z-^-ir 


— f— 0- 


-0- 


-i — o — I — 


Motion 
by  leaps. 


6 


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 
understanding  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  following  is  an  example : — 


EgdS^^:.J-iLr4:|i,ja-J'i^=t:ai»-»:^ 

^j  Ec    -        -     ce    appare  -  bit      Domi 


♦  ■- 


-t 


nus. 


As  to  counterpoint,  notwithstanding  the  several 
divisions  of  it  into  Contrapunctus  simplex,  Contra- 
punctus  diminutus  sive  floridus,  Contrapunctus  color- 
atus,  Contrapunctus  fugatus,  and  many  other  kinds, 
it  is  in  truth  that  species  of  harmony  only,  in  which 
the  notes  contained  in  the  Canto  Fermo,  and  each 
of  the  other  parts,  are  of  equal  lengths,  as  here  : — 

CONTRAPUNCTUS  SIMPLEX. 
-o- 


•  From  a  MS.  cited  by  Martini,  supposed  to  have  been  written  in  the 
thirteenth  century.    Storia  della  Musica,  torn.  I.  pag.  IS". 


This  kind  of  symphoniac  harmony  was  doubtless 
very  grateful  to  the  hearers  as  long  as  it  retained  the 
charm  of  novelty,  and  when  adapted  to  words,  waa 
not  liable  to  any  objection  arising  from  its  want  of 
metrical  variety ;  but  in  music  merely  instrumental, 
the  uni-formity  of  its  cadence,  and  the  unvaried 
iteration  of  the  same  measures,  could  not  at  length 
fail  to  produce  satiety  and  disgust.  For  it  is  not  in 
the  bare  affinity  or  congrnity  of  sounds,  though  ever 
so  well  adjusted,  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  private  practice  whereof,  whether  it  be  on  the 
organ,  harpsichord,  arch-lute,  or  any  other  instrument 
adapted  for  the  jDurpose,  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,  lield  the  invention  in  fetters, 
gave  rise  to  those  other  species  of  harmony  above - 
enumerated,  improperly  called  counterpoint. 

The  Contrapunctus  diminutus  was  evidently  the 
first  improvement  of  the  Contrapunctus  simplex,  in 
which  it  is  observable  tliat  the  notes  opposed  in  the 
Canto  Fermo  are  more  in  number,  and  consequently 
less  in  value,  than  the  latter  of  this  species.  The 
following,  though  not  a  very  ancient  composition, 
may  serve  as  an  example  : — 


228 


HISTORY  OP  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


CONTRAPUNCTUS  DIMINUTUS  sivc  FLORIDUS. 


:>-*-r 


^j^^^$^^-^^5ej,e^^^-z:!e^- 


^\^ 


Ekz=±. 


-♦-*- 


itrztH; 


^mm 


^^. 


» 


-e- 


^ 

- 

-f] ^ — 



~ 

-1  ^■          ">■ 

-■v 

<? 

£\ 

o 

^ipj^^E^^fe^Ea^^E.^ 


This  was  followed  by  the  introduction  of  little 
points,  imitations,  colligations  of  notes,  and  responsive 
passages,  not  so  elegant  in  their  structure  and  con- 
trivance as,  but  somewhat  resembling,  the  fugue  of 
modern  times. 

The  rudiments  of  this  species  are  discernible  in 
the  following  Kyrie,  said  to  have  been  composed 
about  the  year  1473  : — * 


CANTO    FIGURATO. 


Ky  -  ri   -   e       o 


ley  -  son. 


H 


-t: 


Ky  -  ri  -  e     o 


^?=5EM-^= 


'a^=v- 


fet 


:5--g: 


:ii=«i=g: 


fr-SElEFE| 


leyson. 


Ky   -  li  -  e    e 


m^^^ 


Ici  -  son,         Ky  -  ri  -  e      e 


leison. 


m 


^^:^' 


^=^EE^. 


^^t 


±i5rg= 


o--a— g- 


Ky   -  ri  -  c     e 


lei  -  son,  Kyri-e 


leison. 


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  counter- 
point. Other  countries  have  relaxed  the  signification 
of  the  word  Descant,  and  have  given  that  name  to 
counterpoint ;  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  noun,  has  acquired  a  secondary  signi- 
fication ;  and  that  it  is  now  used  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  metapliorical  sense,  as  in  the 
following  passage : — 

'  And  Descant  on  mine  own  deformity.' 

Shakespeare,  Rich.  III. 

But  neither  can  its  original  meaning  be  understood, 
nor  the  propriety  and  elegance  of  the  above  figure 
be  discerned,  without  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  Cantus  Eccle- 
Biasticus  by  St.  Gregory,  and  the  invention  of  the 
Cantus  Mensurabilis  by  Franco,  it  will  be  found  to 
include  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  such  an  improvement  as  that  of  Franco, 
which  is  the  more  to  be  wondered  at  as  the  ratio  of 
accents,  which  is  what  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 
Batione  ;  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  Ryth- 
mopoieia  of  the  ancients  had  any  immediate  relation 
to  ^lusic  :  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  ancient 
method  of  notation  appears  to  be  calculated  for  no 
other  end  than  barely  to  signify  the  diversities  of 
sounds  in  respect  of  their  acuteness  and  gravity.  Nor 
do  any  of  the  fragments  of  ancient  music  now  extant 

*  Martini,  Storia  della  Musiea,  torn.  I.  pag.  188. 


Chap.  LI 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


229 


furnish  any  means  of  ascertaining  the  respective 
lengths  of  the  sounds,  other  than  the  metre  of  the 
verses  to  which  they  are  adapted.  It  may  perhaps 
be  urged  as  a  reason  for  the  practice  of  adjusting  the 
measures  of  the  music  by  those  of  the  verse,  rather 
than  the  measures  of  the  verse  by  those  of  the  music, 
that  the  distinction  of  long  and  short  times  or  quan- 
tities could  not  with  propriety  be  referred  to  music  : 
but  this  is  to  suppose  that  music  merely  instrumental 
has  no  force  or  efficacy  save  what  arises  from  affinity 
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 as  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  pulsatile  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 
uttered  by  the  instrument  now  speaking  of,  who  can 
attend  to  that  artful  interchange  of  measures,  whicli 
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  less  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* 

*  It  seems  that  the  old  English  march  of  the  foot  was  formerly  in 
high  estimation,  as  well  abroad  as  with  us  ;  its  characteristic  is  dignity 
and  gravity,  in  which  respect  it  differs  greatly  from  the  French,  which, 
as  it  is  given  by  Mersennus,  is  brisk  and  alert.  Sir  Roger  Williams, 
a  gallant  Low-country  soldier  of  queen  Elizabeth's  time,  and  who  has 
therefore  a  place  among  the  worthies  of  Lloyd  and  Winstanley,  had 
once  a  conversation  on  this  subject  witn  marshal  Biron,  a  French 
general.  The  marshal  observed  that  the  English  march  being  beaten 
by  the  drum  was  slow,  heavy,  and  sluggish:  'That  may  be  true,' 
answered  Sir  Roger,  '  but  slow  as  it  is,  it  has  traversed  your  master's 
'  country  from  one  end  to  the  other.'  This  bon  mot  is  recorded  in  one 
of  those  little  entertaining  books,  written  by  Crouch  the  bookseller  in 
the  Poultry,  and  published  about  the  end  of  the  last  century,  under  the 
fictitious  name  of  Robert  Burton ;  the  book  here  referred  to  is  entitled 
Admirable  Curiosities,  Rarities,  and  Wonders  in  England,  Scotland,  and 
Ireland  ;  the  story  is  to  be  met  with  in  pag.  5,  of  it,  but  where  else  is 
not  said. 

Notwithstanding  the  many  late  alterations  in  the  discipline  and 
exercise  of  our  troops,  and  the  introduction  of  fifes  and  other  instru- 
ments into  our  martial  music,  it  is  said  that  the  old  English  march  is 
still  in  use  with  the  foot.  Mr.  Walpole  has  been  very  happy  in  dis- 
covering a  manuscript  on  parchment,  purporting  to  be  a  warrant  of 
Charles  L,  directing  the  revival  of  the  march  agreeably  to  the  form 
thereto  subjoined  in  musical  notes  signed  by  his  majesty,  and  counter- 
signed by  the  earl  of  Arundel  and  Surrey,  the  then  earl  marshal.  This 
curious  manuscript  was  found  by  the  present  earl  of  Huntingdon  in  an 
old  chest,  and  as  the  parchment  has  at  one  corner  the  arms  of  his  lord- 
ship's predecessor,  then  living,  Mr.  Walpole  thinks  it  probable  that  the 
order  was  sent  to  all  lords  lieutenants  of  counties. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  warrant,  and  of  the  musical  notes  of 
the  march,  taken  from  the  Catalogue  of  Royal  and  Noble  Au-thors, 
vol.  I.  pag.  201  :— 

'CHARLES   REX, 

'  Whereas  the  ancient  custome  of  nations  hath  ever  bene  to  use  one 
'  certaine  and  constant  forme  of  march  Yn  the  warres,  whereby  to  be  dis- 
'tinguished  one  from  another.  And  the  march  of  this  our  English 
nation,  so  famous  in  all  the  honourable  atchievements  and  glorious 
warres  of  this  our  kingdome  in  forraigne  parts  [being  by  the  appro- 
bation of  strangers  themselves  confest  and  acknowledged  the  best  of  all 
marches]  was  through  the  negligence  and  carelessness  of  drummers, 
and  by  long  discontinuance  so  altered  and  changed  from  the  ancient 
gravitie  and  majestie  thereof,  as  it  was  in  danger  utterly  to  have  bene 


It  may  be  remembered  that  in  the  foregoing  de- 
duction of  the  improvements  made  in  music,  counter- 
point was  mentioned  as  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  rudiments  of  it  subsist  even  now  in  the 
j:)rosody  of  the  grammarians.  Seeing  then  that  the 
art  of  combining  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 
transferring  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  tlie  merit  of  Franco's  invention,  and  the  sub- 
sequent improvement  of  it  by  De  Muris  and  other 
writers,  are  best  to  be  judged  of  by  their  consequences, 
which  were  the  union  of  the  Melopoieia  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 

'  lost  and  forgotten.  It  pleased  our  late  deare  brother  prince  Henry  to 
'  revive  and  rectifie  the  same  by  ordayning  an  establishment  of  one 
'  certaine  measure,  which  was  beaten  in  his  presence  at  Greenwich, 
'  anno  1610.  In  confirmation  whereof  wee  are  graciously  pleased,  at  the 
'instance  and  humble  sute  of  our  right  trusty  and  right  well-beloved 
'  cousin  and  counsellor  Edward  viscount  Wimbledon,  to  set  down  and 
'  ordaine  tliis  present  establishment  hereunder  expressed.  Willing  and 
'  commanding  all  drummers  within  our  kingdome  of  England  and  prin- 
'  cipalitie  of  Wales  exactly  and  precisely  to  observe  the  same,  as  well  in 
'  this  our  kingdome,  as  abroad  in  the  service  of  any  forraigne  prince  or 
•  state,  without  any  addition  or  alteration  whatsoever.  To  the  end  that 
'  so  ancient,  famous,  and  commendable  a  custome  may  be  preserved  as  a 
'  patterne  and  precedent  to  all  posteritie.  Given  at  our  palace  of  West- 
'niinsterthe  seventh  day  of  February,  in  the  seventh  yeare  of  our  raigne, 
'  of  England,  Scotland,  France,  and  Ireland. 


VOLUNTARY    before  the    MARCH. 


Pou  tou  pou  tou  pou  R  pou  toupoupou  tou  pou  R    poung. 


The    MARCH. 


-4- 


-\- 


Pou 


tou 


Pou 


tou 


i-E^i=i: 


poung. 


Pou 


tou 


Pou 


R 


poung. 


-"J" 


=i=il 


R 


pou 


tou 


-H 


R 


-e^- 


pou 


R 


i 


poung 


3 
3 
3 


R 


poung. 


R    R  pou  tou   R   pou  tou  pou  R  tou  pou   R  poung. 
--1 -i-  '  '^ 


± 


^i- 


R 


R 


R 


R 


poung. 


R    R  R  pou  R    R  pou  tou  pou    R  tou  pou  R  poung   potang. 

'Subscribed  AllUNDELL  &  SURREY. 

'  This  is  a  true  copic  of  the  original,  signed  bv  his  Majestie 

■  EL\  NOUGATE,  Windsor. 


230 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


appellation  of  Canto  Figurato.  The  first  and  most 
obvious  improvement  of  counterpoint,  which,  as  has 
been  already  shewn,  was  originally  simple,  and  con- 
sisted in  a  strict  opposition  of  note  to  note,  is  visible 
in  that  which  is  termed Contrapunctns  iminutus  sive 
lloridus,  wherein  the  notes  in  one  part,  the  plain -song 
for  instance,  are  opposed  by  others  of  a  less  value, 
but  corresponding  to  the  former  in  the  general 
measure  of  its  constituent  sounds,  of  which  kind 
of  composition  an  example  has  herein  before  been 
given.  The  subsequent  improvements  on  this  in- 
vention have  been  shewn  to  be,  the  Canto  Figurato, 
Canon,  and  other  kinds  of  symphoniacal  composition, 
all  which  are  evidently  the  offspring  of  the  Cantus 
]Mensurabilis,  an  invention  so  much  the  more  to  be 
valued,  as  it  has  rendered  that  fund  of  harmonical 
and  metrical  combination  almost  infinite  in  its  extent, 
which  else  must  long  ago  have  been  exhausted. 

If  we  take  a  view  of  music  in  the  state  in  which 
Guido  left  it,  it  will  be  found  to  have  derived  all  its 
power  and  efficacy  from  the  coincidence  of  sounds, 
and  that  those  sounds  being  regulated  by  even  and 
uniform  measures,  though  they  might  be  grateful  to 
the  ear,  which  is  delighted  with  harmony  even  in 
cases  where  it  refers  to  nothing  beyond  itself,  must 
necessarily  fail  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,  Gasparini,  and  others  of  the 
Italians,  and  our  own  Purcell,  but  were  these  wanting, 
and  no  evidence  subsisted  of  the  benefits  which  have 
resulted  to  music  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  with  the  human 
mind  whatever  he  meant  to  do. 

Having  thus  explained  the  nature  of  the  Cantus 
Mensurabilis,  and  also  of  Descant,  the  knowledge 
whereof  is  alsolutely  necessary  to  the  understanding 
the  writers  who  succeeded  John  De  IMuris,  it  remains 
to  give  an  account  of  a  number  of  valuable  tracts, 
composed,  as  it  is  conceived,  subsequent  to  the  time 
Avhen  he  lived  and  of  the  final  establishment  of  an 
harmonical  and  metrical  theory  by  Franchinus. 

Mention  has  been  made  in  the  course  of  this  work 
of  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  manuscript 
of  Waltham  Holy  Cross.  The  former  of  these  is 
now  rendered  useless  by  the  fire  that  happened  at 
Ashburnham-house.  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.  Pepusch.  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.  Pepusch  with  permission  to  copy  it, 
dnd  his  copy  thereof  is  extant.     The  original  is  now 


the  property  of  Mr.  West,  the  president  of  the  Pioyal 
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  perltaps  are  now  no  where  else  to  be 
found. 

The  first  of  these  manuscripts  contains  tracts  by 
different  authors,  most  of  whom  seem  to  have  been 
well  skilled  in  the  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 
'  Regulfe  cum  additionibus:  finitas  die  Veneris  proximo 
'  ante  Pentecost,  anno  domini  millesimo  tricentisimo 
'  vicesimo  sexto,  et  ca;tera.  Amen.' 

Of  the  first  tract,  which  bears  the  title  of  '  Regulfe 
'  cum  maximis  magistri  Franconis,  cum  additioni- 
'  bus  aliorum  Musicorum,  compilataj  a  Roberto  do 
'  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  Handlo,  bishop  Tanner  has  taken  some  notice  in 
bis  Bibliotheca ;  but  as  his  account  refers  solely  to 
the  manuscript  now  before  ns,  the  original  whereof 
it  is  probable  he  had  seen,  it  seems  that  he  was  un- 
able to  say  more  of  him  than  appears  upon  the  face 
of  this  his  work. 

As  to  the  commentary,  it  is  written  in  dialogue  ; 
the  speakers  are  Franco  himself  and  De  Handlo,  and 
other  occasional  interlocutoi's.  The  subject  of  it  is 
the  art  of  denoting  the  time  or  duration  of  musical 
sounds  by  characters,  and  there  is  little  reason  to 
doubt  but  that  it  contains  the  substance  of  what 
Johannes  De  Muris  taught  concerning  that  matter. 
It  consists  of  thirteen  divisions  or  Rubrics,  as  the 
author  terms  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  II.  Of  the  Long,  the  Semi- long, f  and 
their  value,  and  of  the  Double  Long. 

Rubric  III.  How  to  distinguish  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  INIodes 
[of  time]  and  how  many  ought  to  be  assumed. 

Under  this  head  the  author  mentions  one  Petrus 
De  Cruce  as  a  composer  of  motetts  ;  the  names  of 
Petrus  Le  Visor,  and  Johannes  De  Garlandia  also 
occur  as  interlocutors  in  the  dialogue. 

*  Supra,  pag.  17G,  to  -which  may  be  added  that  in  the  Index  of  Authors, 
at  the  end  of  Martini's  tirst  volume,  is  the  following  article :  '  Fran- 
'  CONUS  Tarisiensis.  Ars  Cantus  Mensurabilis.  Codex  Ambrosianus 
'  signal  D.  5,  in  fol.'  which  is  probably  no  other  than  a  copy  of  the  tracts 
there  ascribed  to  hiin. 

t  This  is  but  another  name  for  the  breve. 


Chap.  f<I. 


A^D  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


001 


Rubric  V.  Of  the  Longs  which  exceed  in  value 
a  double  Long. 

This  rubric  exhibits  a  species  of  notation  unknown 
to  us  at  this  day,  namely,  a  single  character  encreased 
in  its  value  by  the  encrease  of  its  magnitude.  A 
practice  which  will  be  best  understood  from  the 
author's  own  words,  which  are  these  : — '  A  figure 
'  having  three  quadrangles  in  it  is  called  a  triple 
'  long,  that  is  to  say  a  note  of  three  perfections  ;  if 
'  it  has  four,  it  is  called  quadruple,  that  is  a  note  of 
'  four  perfections  ;  and  so  on  to  nine,  but  no  farther. 
'  See  the  figures  of  all  the  longs  as  they  appear  here  : — 


!^  iz:^  sz^  iZE^i 


Rubric  VI,  Of  the  beginnings  of  Ligatures  and 
Obliquities,  and  in  what  manner  they  are  found. 

A  Ligature  is  here  defined  to  be  a  mass  of  figures, 
either  in  a  right  or  an  oblique  direction  ;  and  an 
Obliquity  is  said  to  be  a  solid  union  or  connexion  of 
two  ascending  or  descending  notes  in  one.  Here 
follow  examples,  from  the  author,  of  each  : — 

LIGATURES. 


Jw^^^^^^^^^^ 


^jjgMjSP^WJ^PlBPMj: 


OBLIQUITIES, 


i^^^s^iffi^:^ 


fe^:N^^_%^:H^ 


Of  ligatures,  and  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  beginnings.  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  an  ascending 
obliquity,  except  a  Plica,  a  word  which  in  this  place 
signifies  that  perpendicular  stroke  which  is  the  ter- 
mination of  such  characters  as  the  long.- 

Rubric  VII.  To  know  the  terminations  of  the 
ligatures.  The  beginnings  and  terminations  of  liga- 
tures, and  also  of  obliquities,  declare  the  nature  of 
the  time,  whether  it  be  perfect  or  imperfect ;  or,  as 
we  should  now  say,  duple  or  triple. 

Rubric  VIII.  Teaches  also  to  know  the  termina- 
tions of  the  ligatures. 

Rubric  IX.  Concerning  the  Conjunctions  of  aemi- 
breves,  and  of  the  figures  or  ligatures  with  which  such 
Bemibreves  may  be  joined. 

Here  we  meet  with  the  name  of  Admetns  de 
Aureliana,  who,  as  also  the  singers  of  Navernia,  the 
name  of  a  country  which  puzzled  Morley,  and  which 
probably  means  Navarre,  are  said  to  have  conjoined 
Minoratas  and  Minims  tosrethei'. 

Rubric  X.    How  the  PHcas  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. 

Rubric  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  fourth  is  of  two  third  parts,  and  the 
fifth  one  third  part  of  one  time.  As  to  the  sixth  it 
is  said  to  be  of  no  time,  and  that  it  is  better  called  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  the 
pauses  are  also  thus  described  :  a  pause  of  three  times 
covers  three  spaces,  or  the  value  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  perfections  of  one  time  covers 
only  two  parts  of  one  time,  D  ;  a  pause  of  the  third 
part  of  one  time  covers  the  third  part  of  one  space  E  ; 
a  pause,  which  is  said  to  be  immeasurable  F,  is  called 
the  end  of  the  pnnctums,  and  covers  four  spaces,  their 
five  forms  appear  here  : — 


=l=zT 


TT 


^ 


In  this  rubric  the  colloquium  is  between  Franco, 
Jacobus  de  Navernia,  and  the  above-named  Johannes 
de  Gai'landia. 

Rubric  XIII.  How  the  Measures  or  Modes  of 
time  are  formed. 

Here  it  is  laid  down  that  there  are  five  modes  of 
time  used  by  the  moderns,  the  first  consisting  of  all 
perfect  longs,  as  the  following  motet : — 


In  Bethleem 


The  second  mode  consists  of  a  breve,  a  long,  and 
a  breve,  as  in  this  example  : — 


:^=i: 


The  third  of  a  long,  two  breves  and  a  long,  as  in 
this  motet :  only  it  is  to  be  observed  that  to  this 
mode  belongs  a  pause  of  three  times,  a  long  going 
before  ; — 


Quid  mi  -  ra -  lis    i^ar-tum    vir  -  gi  -  nc  -  um. 

The  fourth  mode  is  of  two  breves,  a  long,  and  two 
breves,  as  here  : — 


:^: 


Ro-su-la    piiinu-1,1    sal-ve  Jes-se   vir-gu-la, 

and  to  it  belongs  a  pause  of  three  times.  After  this 
designation  of  the  fourth  mode  there  occurs  a  caution, 
which  will  doubtless  appear  somewhat  singular, 
namely,  that  care  must  be  taken  that  in  the  singing 
the  notes  be  not  expressed  in  a  lascivious  manner. 
The  fifth  mode  consists  of  breves  and  semibreves  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI 


l)oth  kinds,  that  is  to  say,  perfect  and  imperfect,  as 
apjjcars  in  the  following  example  : — 

-B— ♦—♦—"— ♦—♦—y-^»—»—H 


is: 


♦— ♦— ♦ 


Ag-mi  -  na    fi  -  de  -  li  -  um  Ka-te  -  ri  -  na, 


itz*:i* 


:-«=»z*:i:»3*.t:*: 


:*z:«; 


novum  lue-los  prome-re,    Ec-gi-na  Regni   glo-ri- 

c, 

-        -m-^^ ^-♦-♦--^-H-"-'^- 

_fS 1 

So  -  la  sal-ve   siu-gu  -  la-ris     gratie. 

From  this  mode,  it  is  said,  proceed  a  great  number 
of  melodies  or  airs,  the  names  whereof  can  scarcely 
be  rendered  in  English,  as  namely,  Hockets,  * 
Rundelli,  Balladea,  Coreae,  Cantusfracti,  Estampetae, 
Floriturae.  It  seems  that  these  five  modes  may  be 
mixed  or  used  interchangeably,  in  which  respect 
they  agree  with  the  modes  in  use  at  this  day.  The 
wdiole  of  the  explanation  of  this  last  rubric  comes 
from  the  mouth  of  De  Plandlo,  the  author  of  the 
tract,  which  he  concludes  with  words  to  this  purpose  : 
'  Every  mode  of  measures,  and  every  measure  of 
'  cantns  is  included  in  the   above  five  modes   and 

*  rules,  and  maxims  for  their  use  and  application 
'  might  be  given  without  end  ;  nevertheless  attend 
'  to  the  instructions  contained  in  this  small  volume. 

*  All  that  now  hear  me  are  singers,  therefore  pray 

*  fei'vently  to  God  for  the  life  of  the  writer.     Amen.' 

CHAP.  LIE 

To  the  tract  of  De  Handlo,  the  next  in  order  that 
occurs  is  a  discourse  by  an  anonymous  author,  entitled 
'  Tractatus  diversarum  Figurarum  per  quas  dulcis 
'  ]\Iodis  discantantur,'!  to  appearance  a  compendium 
of  the  doctrine  of  De  Muris,  containing  in  the  begin- 
ning of  it  a  remarkable  eulogium  on  him  bv  the 
name  of  Egidius  de  Muris,  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  1^S|,  Long  lx|,  Breve  p,  Semibreve  ♦,  Minim  |' 
are  now  made  manifest. 

Herein  also  are  treated  of  the  pauses  or  rests, 
which,  as  well  as  the  characters  to  denote  the  lengtii 
or  duration  of  the  several  notes,  are  said  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  black 
or  red,  full  or  void,  or  by  making  it  with  a  tail  or 
without,  are  here  enumerated.  Next  follow  certain 
precepts,  tending  to  facilitate  the  practice  of  descant, 
whereby  it  ajipears  that  the  tenor  being  in  one  mode 

*  An  explanation  of  this  strange  word  will  be  met  ■with  in  a  sub- 
sequent page. 

t  This  tract  contains  most  evidently  a  summary  of  the  improvements 
of  De  Muris  on  the  Canfus  Mensurabilis,  but  by  an  unaccountable  mis- 
take he  is  here  called  Efjidius  instead  of  Johannes,  a  name  which  does 
not  once  occur  in  any  of  the  authors  that  have  been  consulted  in  the 
course  of  this  work.  ^Ve  must  therefore  look  on  the  character  above 
given  of  Giles,  to  be  intended  for  John,  De  Muris.  It  seems  that  Mr. 
Casley,  by  a  mistake  of  a  different  kind,  looked  upon  this  tract  as  having 
been  written  by  Giles  De  Muris.  See  his  Catalogue,  pag.  320;  but  Dr. 
Pepusch's  copy,  for  the  ori^,'iiial  has  been  resorted  to  and  appears  to  be 
not  legible,  contains  the  following  rubric  title  of  the  tract  in  question: 
'  Alius  Tractatulus  de  Musica  incerto  Authorc' 


of  measure  or  time,  the  descant  may  be  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  but  barely  liinted  at 
in  the  tract  now  citing  :  indeed  the  author  does  no 
more  than  intimate  that  where  it  is  necessary  to 
diminish  the  value  of  notes  by  a  third  jjart,  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  frequently  in  old  com- 
positions, and  is  mentioned  by  most  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  Information,  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  mufyke  I  have  Icrned  iiii  colors  as  this, 

Blake,  ful  blnkc,  Vcrte,  and  in  lykewyle  rcdde ; 

By  thele  colors  many  fubtill  alteracions  there  is, 

That  wil  begile  one  tho  in  conying  he  be  well  fpcd. 

The  author  of  this  poem  was  William  Cornysh, 
of  the  royal  chapel  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIL, 
a  man  so  eminent  for  his  skill  in  music,  that  Morley 
has  assigned  him  a  place  in  his  catalogue  of  English 
musicians,  an  honour,  which,  to  judge  of  him  by 
many  of  his  compositions  now  extant,  he  seems  to 
have  well  deserved ;  and  these  considerations  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  musical  notation. 

But  a  little  reflection  on  the  passage  will  suggest 
an  emendation  that  renders  it  consistent  with  what 
others  have  said  on  the  subject.  In  short,  if  we  read 
and  point  it  thus  : — 

In  mufyke  I  have  lerned  iiii  colors  ;  as  this, 
Blake  ful,  blake  -voide,  and  in  lykevkfife  redde, 

it   is   perfectly   intelligible    and    is    sound    musical 
doctrine. 

The  next  in  order  of  the  tracts  contained  in  the 
Cotton  manuscript  is  a  very  copious,  elaborate,  and 
methodical  discourse  on  the  science  of  music  in 
general,  by  an  imknown  author.  The  initial  words 
of  it  are  'Pro  aliquali  notitia  de  musica  habenda :' 
it  begins  with  the  etymology  of  the  word  music, 
which  he  says  is  derived  either  from  the  Muses,  or 
from  the  Greek  word  Moys,  signifying  water,  because 
without  water  or  moisture  no  sweetness  of  sound 
can  subsist.^     Boetius's  division  of  music  into  mun- 

t  That  there  is  such  a  Greek  word  as  Moys  does  not  anywhere  appear. 
Kircher,  who  adopts  this  far-fetched  etymology  of  the  word  Music,  says 
that  it  is  an  Hebrew  appellation,  Musurg.  torn.  I.  pag.  44.,  but  in  this  he 
elsewhere  contradicts  himself,  by  asserting  that  it  is  an  ancient  Egyptian 
or  Coptic  word ;  and  this  is  rather  to  be  credited  because  it  is  said  in 
scripture  that  Moses,  or  as  he  is  also  called,  Moyses,  was  so  named  be- 
cause he  was  taken  out  of  the  water.  Exod.  chap.  ii.  ver.  10.,  and  it  is 
remarkable  that  this  name  was  given  him,  not  by  his  Hebrew  parents, 
but  by  Pharaoh's  daughter,  an  Egyptian  ])rinccss. 

The  meaning  of  the  above  passage  is  very  obscure,  imless  it  be  known 
that  the  ancient  Egyptian  litui  or  pipes  were  made  of  the  reeds  and 
papyrus  growing  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Nile,  or  in  other  marshy 
places  ;  wherefore  it  is  said  that  without  water,  the  efficient  cause  of 


Chap.  LII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


233 


dane,  humane,  and  instrumental,  is  liere  adopted. 
The  first,  says  this  author,  results  from  the  orderly- 
effects  of  the  elements,  the  seasons,  and  tlic  planets. 
The  second  is  evident  in  the  constitution  and  union 
of  the  soul  and  body.  And  the  third  is  produced 
by  tlie  human  voice,  or  the  action  of  human  organs 
on  certain  instruments.  He  next  proceeds  to  give 
directions  for  the  making  of  a  monochord,  which  as 
they  differ  but  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  he  follows 
Boctius.  Indeed  we  may  conclude  that  his  intelli- 
gence is  derived  from  the  Latin  writers  only,  and 
not  from  the  Greeks;  not  only  because  the  Greek 
language  was  very  little  understood,  even  among  the 
learned  of  those  times,  but  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 
Tonos,  a  Tone,  whereas  it  is  well  known  that  it  is 
a  composition  of  Dis,  twice,  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  J], 
he  proceeds  to  a  brief  explication  of  the  genera  of 
the  ancients,  the  characters  of  the  three  he  thus 
discriminates :  the  Chromatic  as  soft,  and  conducing 
to  lasciviousness ;  the  Enarmonie  as  hard  and  dis- 
cfustins: ;  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 
Musica,  the  author  seems  to  have  studied  very 
diligently. 

In  the  next  place  he  treats  of  the  plain  cantus  as 
distinguished  from  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  which 
he  makes  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  than  the  seven  Latin 
letters  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G,  which  also  are  called 
Keys,  because  as  a  key  opens  a  lock,  these  open  the 
melody  of  music,  although  F  Greek  is  placed  before 
A,  to  signify  that  music  was  invented  by  the  Greeks. 
He  then  relates,  that  six  names  for  the  notes  were 
given  by  Guido  to  these  seven  letters,  ux,  re,  mi,  fa, 
BOL,  LA ;  and  that  he  placed  a  tone  between  ux  and 
RE,  a  semitone  between  mi  and  fa,  a  tone  between 
PA  and  SOL,  and  a  tone  between  sol  and  la,  that  the 

music,  there  can  be  no  sweetness  of  sound.  IMnvtini,  Stor.  dell.  Mus. 
torn.  II.  pag.  2,  very  ju.stly  remarks  on  tlie  credulity  of  Kircher  in  enter- 
taining this  wild  and  extravagant  conjecture.  Xhe  most  probable 
derivation  of  the  word  music  is  from  MKcrat  the  Muses,  who  .are  said  to 
have  excelled  in  it,  and  are  constantly  represented  playing  on  musical 
instruments. 


progression  might  be  according  to  the  diatonic  genus. 
But  because  there  are  more  letters  used  in  the  division 
of  the  monochord  than  there  are  notes  or  syllables ; 
for  no  one  can  ascend  above  la,  nor  descend  below 
ux,  without  a  repetition  of  the  syllables,  seven  deduc- 
tions were  constituted,  which  appoint  the  place  of 
the  syllable  ux,  and  direct  the  application  of  the 
rest  in  an  orderly  succession.  The  place  of  ux  is 
either  at  C,  F,  or  g ;  the  deductions  he  says  might 
be  infinitely  multiplied,  but  seven  are  sufficient  for 
the  human  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  the  tract 
now  before  us  observes,  that  ijumediately  after  C  we 
are  to  take  the  smaller  Roman  letters;  and  in  the 
third  series  w^e  are  to  use  other  characters  having 
the  same  powers ;  we  now  double  the  former  thus 
aa,  bb,  }]J],  cc,  dd,  ee,  but  he  has  chosen  to  express 
them  by  Gothic  characters.  The  first  series  are 
termed  Graves,  the  second  Acutes,  and  the  last 
Snperacutes. 

Having  thus  explained  the  names  and  characters 
of  the  musical  notes,  the  author  proceeds  to  shew 
the  use  of  the  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 
his  doctrine  is  contained  in  an  abstract  of  his  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,  he  directs  the  placing  ux  at 
the  end  of  the  thumb,  and  the  other  notes  in  the 
places  following : — 


'-^irXi^i  f  '''■'^^ 


'2U 


niSTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


He  next  proceeds  to  treat  of  the  Proprieties, 
meaning  thereby  not  those  of  the  Cantus  Mcnsiira- 
bilis,  but  of  the  Monochord  ;  and  these  he  defines  to 
be  certain  affections,  from  wliich  every  cantus  takes 
the  denomination  of  Hard  or  Soft,  according  as  it  is 
determined  by  one  or  other  of  these  characters  Jj, 
or  b ;  or  Natural,  which  is  ^A•llen  the  Cantus  is  con- 
tained within  such  a  limit,  namely,  tliat  of  a  hexa- 
chord,  as  that  neither  the  }^  hard,  nor  b  soft,  can 
possibly  occur  :  to  render  this  intelligible  he  adds, 
that  every  cantus  which  begins  in  b  is  by  sung  by  j-j 
hard  in  F,  by  b  soft,  and  in  C  by  nature.* 

The  author  then  goes  on  to  explain  the  mutations, 
which  are  necessary,  when  the  six  syllables  are  too 
few  to  express  the  whole  Cantus  ;  or,  in  other  words, 
when  the  cantus  requires  a  conjunction  of  another 
hcxachord,  by  certain  diagrams  of  a  circular  form, 
supposed  to  be  taken  from  a  tract  intitled  De  Quatuor 
Principalium,  f  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note,  and 
which  diagrams,  to  the  number  of  nineteen,  Morley 
has  given  with  his  own  improvements  ;  but  the  whole 
is  a  poor  contrivance,  and  so  much  inferior  to  that 
most  ingenious   one,  representing  the  three  hexa- 

*  To  explain  this  matter  a  little  more  fully,  we  must  torrow  the 
assistance  of  our  countryman  IMorley,  who  in  the  instructions  to  Philo- 
mathes,  his  imaginary  pupil,  tells  him  tiiat  '  tliere  be  three  principal 
keys,  containing  the  three  natures  or  proprieties  of  singing.'  Whicli 
position  of  his  occasions  tlie  following  short  dialogue : — 

'Phi.  Which  be  the  three  properties  of  singing?  Mast,  b  Qiiarre, 
'  Properchant,  and  b  MoUe.  Phi.  What  is  bQuarre?  Mast.  It  is  a 
',I)roperty  of  singing  wherein  MI  is  alwaies  sung  in  h  fa  J]  mi,  and  is 
ahvaies  when  you  sing  ut  in  gamut.  Phi.  What  is  Properchant? 
'Mast.  It  is  a  property  of  singing  wherein  you  may  sing  either  fa  or 
'  mi,  in  b  FA  ]]  mi,  according  as  it  shall  he  marked  b  or  thus,  ];],  and  is 
'  when  the  ut  is  in  C  fa  ut.  Phi.  What  if  there  be  no  marke  ?  Mast. 
'  There  it  is  supposed  t(i  be  sharpe  ]].  Pni.  What  is  b  Molle?  JIast.  It 
'  is  a  propertie  of  singing,  wherein  fa  must  always  be  sung  in  b  fa  J] 
'  MI,  and  is  when  the  ut  is  in  F  pa  ut.' 

Upon  this  passage  the  following  is  the  note  of  the  author: — 

"  A  propertie  of  -singing  is  nothing  else  but  the 

"difference  of  plain-songs  caused  by  the  note  in 

•'  b  FA  ti  MI  having  the  halfe  note  either  above  or     „ 

"  belowe  it.    And  it  may  plainly  be  seen  that 

"those  three  properties  have  not  bin  devised  for     q 

"prickt-song  ;  for  you  shal  find  no  song  included 
"in  so  smal  bounds  as  to  touch  no  b.   And  there- 

"fore  these  plain  songs  which  were  so  conteined 

"  were  called  natural],  because  every  key  of  their     ^ 

"six  notes  stood  invariable  the  one  to  the  other, 

"howsoever  the  notes  were  named;     as  from 


"  d  SOL  RE  to  e  LA  MI,  Was  ahvaies  a  whole  note,      T 

"whether  one  did  sing  sol  la,  or  re  mi,  and  so-forth  of  others.  If  the 
"  b  had  the  semitonium  under  it,  then  was  it  noted  b,  and  was  termed 
"  b  molle  or  soft ;  if  above  it,  then  was  it  noted  thus  ]j,  and  termed 
"b  Quadratum,  or  b  quarre.  In  an  olde  treatise,  called  Tractatus 
"  quatuor  Principalium,  I  find  these  rules  and  verses,  '  Omne  ut  inci- 
"piens  in  C  cantatur  per  naturum.  In  F  per  b  molle.  In  g  per  ]] 
"quadratum,' that  is  every  ut  beginning  in  C  is  sung  by  properchant, 
"ini  F  by  b  molle  or  flat;  in  g  by  the  square  ]]  or  sharpe.  The  verses 
"be  these. 

"  C.  naturum  dat  F  b  molle  nunc  tibi  signat,  g  quoque 

"  b  durum  tu  semper  habes  caniturum. 
"  Which  if  they  were  no  truer  in  substance  than  they  be  fine  in  words, 
"  and  right  in  quantitie  of  syllables,  were  not  much  worth." 

+  This  tract,  the  title  whereof  is  Quatuor,  Principalia  Artis  Musicae, 
and,  as  it  is  elsewhere  described,  De  quatuor  Principiis  Artis  Musica?, 
is  by  Wood,  Hist.  et.  Antiq.  Oxon.  ii.  5,  and  in  the  Oxford  Catalogue  of 
Manuscripts,  ascribed  to  one  Thomas  Teuksbury,  a  Franciscan  of 
Bristol ;  for  what  reason  bishop  Tanner  says  he  does  not  clearly  see ; 
but  upon  looking  into  the  manuscript,  there  appears  at  least  a  colour  for 
Wood's  assertion,  for  the  name  Tho.  de  Tewkesbury  is  written  on  the 
outer  leaf  of  it.  It  is  true,  as  Tanner  says,  Biblioth.  pag.  707,  the  name 
Johannes  de  Tewkesbury  is  written  on  a  loose  leaf;  but  it  is  manifest 
that  he  was  not  the  author  of  it,  and  no  such  person  as  Johannes  de 
Tewkesbury  occurs  in  any  of  the  catalogues  of  the  old  English  musicians ; 
besides  this,  in  the  Catalogue  of  the  Bodleian  manuscripts,  the  tract 
above-mentioned  is  ascribed  to  Tho.  de  Teukesbury.  Nevertheless 
bishop  Tanner  asserts  that  it  was  written  by  one  John  Hamboys,  an 
eminent  musician,  and  a  doctor  in  th;it  faculty,  who  flourished  about  the 
year  1470,  and  is  mentioned  by  Holinshed  among  the  famous  writers  of 
Edward  the  Fourth's  time.  The  reason  he  gives  is  this:  it  api)ears 
from  Pits,  pag.  662,  that  Hamboys  was  the  author  of  a  work  entitled 
Summam  Artis  MusicEe,  the  initial  sentence  whereof,  as  Tanner  reports, 
is  this  :  '  Quemadmodum  inter  Tritico,'  and  the  Quatuor  Principalia 
MusiccE  has  precisely  the  same  beginning. 


chords,  and  directing  the  method  of  conjoining  them 
in  plate  IV.  at  the  end  of  Dr.  Pepusch's  Short  Intro- 
duction to  Harmony,  that  the  not  inserting  the  cir- 
cular diagrams  in  this  place  will  hardly  be  regretted. 

Of  the  Tropes  or  Modes,  though  he  includes 
them  in  the  general  division  of  his  subject,  the  author 
has  said  nothing  in  this  place.  But  he  proceeds  to 
an  explanation  of  the  nature  of  mensurable  music, 
which,  after  Franco,  he  defines  to  be  a  cantus 
measured  by  long  and  short  times.  In  this  part 
of  his  discourse  there  will  be  little  need  to  follow 
him  closely,  as  a  more  distinct  account  of  the  modes 
or  ecclesiastical  tones  has  already  been  given  from 
Franchinus. 

His  first  position  is  that  all  quantity  is  either  con- 
tinuous or  discrete  ;  and  from  hence  he  takes  occasion 
to  observe  that  the  minim  is  the  beginning  of  measured 
time,  in  like  manner  as  unity  is  the  beginning  of 
number  ;  and  adds,  that  time  is  as  well  the  measure 
of  a  sound  prolated  or  uttered,  as  of  its  contrary,  a 
sound  omitted. 

The  comparison  which  the  author  makes  between 
the  minim  and  the  unit,  induces  a  presumption,  to 
call  it  no  more,  that  in  his  time  the  minim  was  the 
smallest  quantity  in  use.  But  he  explains  the  matter 
very  fully,  by  asserting  that  the  minim  was  invented 
by  Philippus  de  Vitriaco,  who  he  says  was  a  man 
very  famous  in  his  time,  and  approved  of  by  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  IMuris  was  not  the  inventor  of 
the  characters  for  the  lesser  quantities  from  the  breve 
downwards  ;  nay  it  is  most  apparent  in  the  rules  of 
Franco,  and  the  commentary  thereon  by  De  Handlo, 
that  even  the  breve  was  made  use  of  by  the  former  ; 
and  it  is  highly  probable  that  that  character,  together 
with  the  semibrcve,  for  that  also  is  to  be  found  in  his 
rules,  was  invented  by  him  at  the  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  intro- 
duction of  these  lesser  quantities  into  the  Cantus 
Mensurabilis  was  a  diminution  in  value  of  the  lar2:er  ; 
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  long, 
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  of 
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 


Chap.  LIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


235 


taken  place  of  the  semibreve,  and  so  progressively 
backwards.  All  which  considered,  it  is  clear  that 
though  by  the  invention  of  the  minim,  crotchet, 
quaver,  and  other  notes  of  a  still  less  value,  the 
modern  music  is  comparatively  much  more  quick 
than  the  ancient,  the  ancient  music  was  not  uttered 
60  slowly  as  the  characters,  which  most  frequently 
occur  in  it,  seem  to  indicate. 

We  meet  here  also  with  directions  concerning  the 
use  and  application  of  the  Plica,  as  it  is  called,  which 
is  nothing  more  than  that  stroke,  which,  drawn  from 
the  body  of  a  breve,  makes  it  a  long,  as  thus  ■  ^,  and 
is  at  this  day  called  the  tail  of  a  note  ;  but  it  seems 
that  the  due  placing  this  was  formerly  a  matter  of 
some  nicety,  the  reason  whereof  may  be  that  it  pre- 
vented confusion  among  the  charactei's,  and  that  fair, 
curious,  and  correct  writing  was  then  a  matter  of 
more  consequence  than  it  has  been  at  any  time  since 
the  invention  of  printing,  a  fact,  which  all  who  have 
been  conversant  with  manuscripts,  or  have  been 
accustomed  to  the  perusal  of  ancient  deeds  or  charters, 
well  know  to  be  true. 

Franco's  definition  of  the  Plica  is,  that  it  is  a  mark 
of  distinction  between  a  grave  and  an  acute  character ; 
but  surely  the  best  distinction  of  a  character  in  this 
respect  is  its  situation  in  the  stave.  Others  term  it 
an  Inflexion  of  a  note  ;  but  neither  is  this  an  adequate 
definition,  nor  indeed  does  the  subject  seem  to  be 
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  ri,  descending,  it 
was  drawn  downwards  thus  b|. 

Our  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  his  own  judgment,  that  every 
descending  ligature  having  a  stroke  descending  from 
the  left  side  of  the  first  note,  is  said  to  be  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,  is  said  to  be  with  an  opposite  Pro- 
priety. To  this  he  opposes  the  rule  of  Franco, 
which  agrees  but  ill  with  this  definition,  but  de- 
clines attempting  to  reconcile  the  difference,  for  the 
reason,  that,  whether  true  or  false,  the  rule  of  Franco 
is  grown  out  of  use. 


CHAP.  LIII. 

The  several  measures  of  time,  called,  rather  im- 
properly, the  Modes  or  Moods,  and  the  methods  of 
distinguishing  the  one  from  the  other,  are  now  so 
well  adjusted,  that  their  respective  characters  speak 
for  themselves  ;  but  it  seems  that  for  some  time  after 
the  invention  of  the  Cantus  ^Mensurabilis,  these,  as 
being  regulated  by  certain  laws,  the  reason  whereof 
is   not  very   apparent,   were  the   subject  of  great 


speculation,  as  appears  by  the  author  now  before 
us ;  for,  after  mentioning  the  modes  of  the  plain 
cantus  to  be  eight,  as  undoubtedly  they  are,  being 
the  same  with  the  eight  ecclesiastical  tones,  and  to 
consist  in  a  certain  progression  of  grave  and  acute 
sounds,  he  proceeds  to  speak  of  other  modes,  namely, 
those  of  time,  or  which  refer  solely  to  the  Cantus 
Mensurabilis  ;  and  a  mode  in  this  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  had  been  a  matter  of  controversy, 
tliat  Franco  had  limited  it  to  five ;  but  that  the  more 
modern  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  sufficient  to  say,  that  the  first  consisted  of  a  long 
and  a  breve  i^  a  ^  a ;  the  second  of  a  breve  and  a 
long  ■  ^  H  ^ ;  the  third  of  one  long  and  two  breves 
^  ■  ■  B|  B  D ;  the  fourth  of  two  breves  and  one  long 
■  "  1  ■  ■  ^  J  the  fifth,  of  a  progression  by  longs  only 
i[|  ^  i^  i|  ^ ;  and  the  sixth  of  breves  and  semibreves 
interchanged,  in  the  following  order  :  ■  ■  ■  ♦  4  # 
■♦♦■«♦♦ 

Biit  notwithstanding  this  variety  of  six,  and  a 
greater  that  might  be  formed,  the  author  now  citing 
observes,  that  the  modes  are  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  the 
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, 
speaking  of  the  ancient  writers  on  the  ligatures,  says, 
that  *  scarce  any  two  of  them  tell  the  same  tale,'  there 
is  very  little  ground  to  hope  for  more  information 
from  any  of  them  than  is  to  be  met  with  in  his  own 
valuable  work. 

The  author  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 music  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  rule  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  j^erfection 
inherent  in  the  number  three,  which,  as  well  among 
the  learned  as  the  illiterate  has  long  prevailed.  And 
it  seems  that  this  attribute  of  perfection  was  appli- 
cable in  three  ways,  to  the  Mode,  the  Time,  and  the 


236 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  VI. 


Prolation  :  to  the  Mode,  when  the  greater  measure, 
the  long  for  example,  contained  three  breves  ;  to  the 
Time,  when  the  breve,  which  by  Franchinus  and  other 
authors  is  also  called  a  time,  contained  three  semi- 
breves  ;  and  to  the  Prolation,  when  the  semibreve 
contained  three  minims  ;  though  it  is  to  be  remarked, 
that  it  is  more  usual  to  apply  the  epithet  of  Greater 
and  Lesser  than  Perfect  and  Imperfect  to  Prolation  ; 
but  this  distinction  of  perfection  and  imperfection, 
with  its  various  modifications,  will  be  more  clearly 
imderstood  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  genuine 
uses,  according  to  this  author,  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  placing  a  point  after  a  note  is  called  Augmen- 
tation ;  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  our  author  gives  many  instances,  which  seem 
to  establish  the  following  position  as  a  general  rule, 
that  is  to  say,  a  perfect  note  consisting  necessarily  of 
three  units,  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  ■  ""j  ,  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 
system  of  notation  being  abundantly  sufficient  for 
expressing  every  possible  combination  of  measures, 
that  it  would  be  lost  time  to  enquire  farther  about  it. 

In  the  former  part  of  the  tract  now  citing,  the 
author  had  given  a  general  idea  of  the  consonances 
in  almost  the  very  words  of  Boetius,  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  the 
use  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  tliat  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,  diatessarou,  and  tone,  and  gives  it  as  a 
reason  for  calling  them  perfect,  that  the  ratio  between 
each  of  them  and  its  unison  is  simple  and  uncom- 
pounded,  and  by  these  and  no  other  the  monochord 
is  divided.  The  Imperfect  consonances  he  makes 
also  to  be  four,  viz.,  the  semiditone,  ditone,  semitone 


with  a  diapente,  and  a  tone  with  a  diapente,  which  he 
says  are  called  Imperfect,  being  commensurable  by 
simple  proportions,  but  arising  out  of  the  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  makes 
the  diatessaron  to  be  the  principal,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  admits  it  is  not  a  concord  by  itself,  or,  in  other 
words,  that  it  is  only  a  concord  when  the  harmony 
consists  of  more  than  two  parts ;  to  which  position 
the  modern  practice  of  using  it  as  a  discord  in  com- 
positions of  two  parts  only,  is  perfectly  agreeable,  * 

Boetius  has  by  numbers  demonstrated  the  singular 
properties  of  this  consonance,  and  shewn  that  it  can 
only  under  particular  circumstances  be  received  as  a 
concord.  His  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 
imison,  the  replicate  of  that  sound  will  also  be  a  con- 
sonance, as  is  the  case  with  the  diapente  and  diapason, 
Avhose  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  Boetius,  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  moderns  do ;  the  reason  whereof  is,  that  a  sound 
and   its  imison  are  so  perfectly  one  and  the  same, 

*  Vide  Dr.  Pepusch's  Short  Introduction  to  Harmony,  second  edition, 
pag.  39.  41.  In  the  course  of  the  controversy  between  Mons.  Burette  and 
Mons.  Frajruier,  mentioned  in  chap.  XXII.  the  former  asserts  that  in 
order  to  render  the  fourth  a  concord  it  must  be  taken  with  the  sixth. 
Mem.  de  I'Academie  Royale  des  Inscriptions,  &c.  tome  xi. 

f  Lord  Bacon  professes  to  be  of  opinion  with  the  ancients,  that  the 
diatessaron  is  to  be  numbered  among  the  consonances.  Nat.  Hist.  Cent. 
II.  No.  107.  But  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  he  ranks  it  among  tlie  semi- 
perfect  consonances,  viz.,  the  third  and  sixth ;  and  Butler,  who  calls  the 
rejection  of  this  ancient  concord  a  novel  fancy,  notwithstanding  the 
authority  of  Sethus  Calvisius,  whom  he  cites,  leaves  it  a  question  whether 
the  diatessaron  be  a  primary  or  secondary  concord,  and  after  all  inclines 
to  the  latter  opinion.     Principles  of  Music,  pag.  53,  et  seq. 

The  late  Dr.  Atterbury,  bishop  of  Rochester,  who  it  is  supposed  had 
learned  a  little  of  music  from  Dr.  Aldrich,  affected  to  think  with  the 
ancients  that  the  diatessaron  was  a  perfect  consonance.  He  drew  up 
a  small  tract  on  the  subject  of  music,  wherein  he  complains  in  very 
affecting  terms  of  the  injuries  which  the  diatessaron  has  sustained  from 
modern  musicians,  by  being  degraded  from  its  rightful  situation  among 
the  concords,  and  concludes  with  as  ardent  wishes  and  prayers  for  its 
restoration,  as  he  could  have  offered  up  for  that  of  his  master.  A  MS. 
of  the  tract  above-mentioned  was  formerly  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Tonson 
the  bookseller  ;  it  appeared  to  be  a  very  futile  performance,  written  pro- 
bably while  the  author  was  at  college,  extremely  rhetorical  and  declama- 
tory, abounding  with  figures,  but  destitute  of  argument. 

X  It  is  to  be  supposed  that  Salinas  was  not  aware  of  this  demonstration 
of  Boetius,  since  he  mentions  a  Resurrexit  for  two  voices  in  the  famous 
mass  of  Jodocus  Pratensis,  intitled,  but  for  what  reason  is  not  known, 
L'Homme  arm6,  so  often  celebrated  by  Glareanus,  and  other  writers, 
wherein  the  composer  has  taken  the  diatessaron,  which,  says  Salinas,  he 
would  never  have  done  had  he  judged  it  to  be  a  dissonant.  De  Musica, 
lib.  II.  cap.  21. 


Chap.  LIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


:S7 


that  they  admit  of  no  comparison;  and,  according 
to  Boetius,  coiisonancy  is  a  concordance  of  dissimilar 
sounds. 

Having  exphxined  tlie  nature  of  concords,  he  pro- 
ceeds to  give  directions  for  the  jDractice  of  descant; 
and  first  he  supposes  a  plain-song  to  descant  on, 
to  which  plain-song  he  gives  the  name  of  Tenor, 
a  teneo,  to  hold,  for  it  holds  or  sustains  the  air,  the 
point,  the  substance,  or  meaning  of  the  whole  Cantus; 
and  every  part  superadded  to  it,  is  considered  merely 
as  its  auxiliary :  and  in  this  disposition  of  parts, 
which  M'as  constantly  and  uniformly  practised  by  the 
old  musicians,  there  appears  to  be  great  propriety. 
Lord  Verulam's  remark  that  the  extreme  sounds, 
not  only  of  all  instruments,  but  of  the  human  voice, 
are  less  pleasing  to  the  ear  than  those  that  hold 
a  middle  situation,  is  indisputably  true  ;  what  there- 
fore can  be  more  rational  than  that  the  Air,  to  borrow 
a  word  from  the  moderns,  of  a  musical  composition, 
should  be  prolated,  not  only  by  sounds  the  most 
audible,  but  also  the  most  grateful  to  the  ear.* 

After  premising  that  the  perfect  concordances  are 
the  unison,  the  fifth,  eighth,  twelfth,  and  fifteenth, 
he  says  that  the  Descantus  or  upper  part  must  begin 
and  also  conclude  with  a  perfect  concord  ;  that  where 
the  plain-song  is  situated  among  the  grave  sounds, 
the  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  the  above  concords,  the 
descanter  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  plain-song  ascends  the  descant  shall 
descend,  and  vice  versa.  Farther,  if  two  or  more 
sing  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  are  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  plain-song  in  the  tenor;  let  the 
'  second  begin  in  the  fifth,  the  tliird  in  the  eighth, 

*  and  the  fourth  in  the  twelfth  ;  and  let  all  continue 
'  the  plain-song  in  these  concords  to  the  end,  observ- 
'  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.  But  note  well 
'  that  he  who  sings  the  Tenor  must  utter  the  notes  full 
'  and  distinctly,  and  that  he  who  descants  must  take 
'  only  the  imperfect  concords,  namely,  the  third,  sixth, 
'  and  tenth,  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  descant,  when  in  truth  only  one  does  so,  the  rest 

*  It  Ecems  that  the  contrary  practice,  namely,  that  of  iiiving  the  air  to 
the  Soprano,  or  upper  part,  had  its  rise  in  tlie  theatre,  and  followed  the 
introduction  of  Castrati  into  musical  performances  ;  since  that  it  has  been 
adopted  by  the  composers  of  instrumental  music,  and  it  is  now  universally 
the  rule  to  give  the  principal  melody  to  the  fust  violin. 


simply  modulating  on  the  fundamental  melody  of 
the  tenor  or  plain-song. 

To  give  weight  to  the  above  precept,  which  re- 
quires the  person  who  sings  the  tenor  to  utter  the 
notes  fully  and  distinctl}^,  the  author  adds,  that  it  is 
the  jji-actice  of  the  Roman  palace,  and  indeed  of  the 
French  and  all  other  choirs,  where  the  service  is 
skilfully  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  passages  in  this  work, 
wherein  the  singer  is  cautioned  against  the  use  of 
discords,  and  more  especially  as  nothing  occurs  in  it 
concerning  their  preparation  and  resolution,  without 
which  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  be  anno  1326.  But  the  particular  rera  of  this 
improvement  will  be  the  subject  of  future  enquiry. 

Whoever  shall  attentively  peruse  the  foregoing 
passages,  and  reflect  on  the  nature  and  end  of  musical 
composition,  in  fact  will  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.  As 
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  w\as  a  matter  of  doubt  with  one  of  the 
greatest  masters  of  that  time,  whether,  supposing 
three  or  more  persons  to  sing  extempore  on  a  plain- 
song,  the  result  of  their  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  Counterpoint ;  yet,  from  the  directions  which 
he  gives  for  Flowering  or  breaking  the  notes,  and  from 
sundry  passages  that  occur  in  his  w'ork,  where  he 
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  musicians  were 
not  confined  to  counterpoint,  but  that  they  had 
some  idea  of  Canto  Figurato.  And  this  opinion  is 
rendered  to  the  highest  degree  probable  by  the 
concluding  pages  of  his  w^ork,  which  contain  an 
explanation  of  the  nature  and  itse  of  Hockets. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  at  this  day  the  word 
Hocket  is  not  verv  intelligible ;  its  etymology  does 


23S 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


not  oceiu"  on  pemsal,  and  none  of  our  dictionaries, 
either  general  or  technical,  furnish  us  with  a  definition 
of  it.  We  must  therefore  be  content  with  such  an 
explanation  of  this  barbarous  term  as  is  only  to  be 
met  with  in  the  authors  that  use  it ;  the  earliest  of 
these  is  De  Handlo,  w^ho,  in  his  twelfth  rubric, 
without  professing  to  define  the  term,  says,  that 
'  Hockets  are  formed  by  the  combination  of  notes 
and  pauses.'  The  author  of  the  tnct  now  citing 
has  this  passage  :  '  One  descant  is  simply  prolated, 
'  that  is  without  fractions  or  divisions ;  another  is 
'  copulated  or  flowered  ;  and  another  is  Truncatus  or 
'  mangled,  and  such  as  this  last  are  termed  Hockets;' 
the  meaning  whereof  in  other  words  seems  to  be, 
that  one  descant  is  simple,  even,  and  corresponding 
in  length  of  notes  with  the  plain-song ;  another 
copidated,  and  consisting  of  certain  bundles  or  Com- 
pages  of  notes,  coinciding  with  the  plain-song  only 
in  respect  of  the  general  measure  by  which  it  is 
regulated ;  and  another  consisting  of  notes  and  pauses 
intermixed ;  and  a  combination  of  notes  and  pauses 
thus  formed  is  called  a  Hocket.  And  elsewhere  he 
says  a  truncation  [Truncatio,  Lat.]  is  a  Cantus,  pro- 
lated in  a  maimed  or  mangled  manner  by  expressed 
[rectre]  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 : — 


IS 


-♦-♦-^- 


-^Ji-«H- 


-♦H- 


'-♦+♦** 


Upon  which  he  remarks  that  a  hocket  maj^  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  equivalence  in  the 
times  or  measures,  as  also  a  concordance  between 
the  prolated  notes  of  the  several  parts. 

The  author  next  proceeds  to  speak  of  the  organ 
as  an  instrument  necessary  in  the  Cantus  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 
Constantine  king  of  the  Greeks  to  Pepin,  emperor 
of  France,  at  which  time  he  says  the  Cantus  Men- 
surabilis  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.   LIV. 

The  next  succeeding  tract  in  the  Cotton  manu- 
script, beginning  '  Cognita  modulatione  Melorum 
'  secundum  viam  octo  Troporum,'  by  an  anonymous 
author,  is  altogether  as  it  should  seem  on  the  Cantus 
Mensurabilis  ;  and  by  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 
said  in  the  former  tract  that  Franco  had  limited  the 
number  to  five  ;  but  for  this  the  same  reason  may  be 
given  as  for  extending  it  to  six,  against  the  precept 


of  Franco,  to  wit,  that  it  was  the  practice  of  tho 
singers  in  the  Roman  palace.^-' 

The  author  speaks  of  one  IMagister  Leoninus  ns 
a  celebrated  musician  of  the  time,  and  also  of  a  person 
named  Perotinus,f  whom  he  surnames  the  Great 
whenever  he  takes  occasion  to  mention  him. 

The  tract  now  citing  goes  on  to  sa}'^  of  Leoninus, 
before-mentioned,  that  he  was  a  most  excellent 
organist,  and  that  he  made  a  great  book  of  tiio 
Organum  for  the  Gradual  and  the  Antiphonam,  in 
order  to  improve  the  divine  service  ;  and  tliat  it  was 
in  use  till  the  time  of  Perotinus  ;  but  that  the  latter, 
who  was  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  compositions  of  Perotinus 
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  made 
of  Peter,  a  most  excellent  notator,  and  John,  dictus 
Primarius,  Thomas  de  Sancto  Juliano,  a  Parisian,  and 
others  deeply  skilled  in  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis. 
These  for  the  most  part  are  celebrated  as  excellent 
notators  ;  but  the  same  author  mentions  some  others 
as  famous  for  their  skill  in  descant,  and  other  parts 
of  practical  music,  as  namely,  Theobaldus  Gallicus, 
Simon  de  Sacalia,  and  Joannes  de  Franconus  of 
Picardy.  He  says  farther  that  there  were  in  Eng- 
land men  who  sang  very  delightfully,  as  Johannes 
Filius  Dei,  one  IMakeblite  of  ^Yinche3ter,  and  another 
named  Blakismet,  probably  Blacksmith,  a  singer  in 
the  palace  of  our  lord  Henry  the  last.  He  speaks  of 
the  Spaniards,  and  those  of  Pampeluna,  and  of  the 
Ens:lish  and  French  in  general,  as  excelling  in  music. 

The  author,  after  an  explanation  of  the  modes  of 
time,  the  nature  of  the  ligatures,  and  other  particulars, 
of  which  an  account  has  already  been  given,  proceeds 
to  relate  what  must  be  thought  a  matter  of  some 
curiosity,  namely,  that  the  stave  of  five  lines,  which 
was,  as  indeed  appears  from  old  musical  manuscripts, 
for  some  purposes  reduced  to  a  less  number,  was  fre- 
quently made  to  consist  of  lines  of  different  colours. 
As  this  seems  to  coincide  with  a  passage  in  the 
Micrologus  of  Guido,  it  is  worthy  of  remark. 

The  passage  in  the  author  now  citing  is  very 
curious,  and  is  here  given  in  a  translation  of  his  own 
words  : — '  Some  notators  were  accustomed  in  the 
'  Cantus  Ecclesiasticus  always  to  rule  Four  lines  of 

*  the  same  colour  between  two  of  writing,  or  above 
'  one  line  of  writing  ;  but  the  ancients  were  not  ac- 
'  customed  to  have  more  than  three  lines  of  different 

*  colours,  and  others  two '  of  different  colours  ;  and 
'  others  one  of  one  colour,  their  lines  were  ruled  with 

*  Vide  supra,  pag.  235. 

t  In  bishop  Tanner's  Bibliotheca,  and  also  in  the  Fasti  Oxon,  vol.  I. 
col.  23,  is  an  article  for  Robert  Perrot,  born  at  Haroldston  in  the  county 
of  Pembroke,  a  doctor  of  music,  and  organist  of  Magdalen  college  in 
Oxford,  the  composer  of  the  music  to  various  sacred  hymns ;  and  there 
■would  be  little  doubt  that  he  was  the  person  here  meant,  but  that  he  is 
said  to  have  died  in  1550.  However  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  Cotton 
manuscript  contains  a  number  of  treatises  on  music  by  different  authors  ; 
and  though  the  first  carries  evidence  on  the  face  of  it,  that  it  was  com- 
posed so  early  as  1326,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  others  are  of  as  great 
antiquity.  Nay  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  that  now  under  con- 
sideration is  so  ancient  as  that  the  person  mentioned  by  Tanner  might 
not  be  the  Perotinus  Magnus  above  celebrated. 


Chap.  LIV. 


AXD  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


239 


'  some  hard  metal,  as  in  the  Cartumensian  and  other 
'  books,  but  such  books  are  not  used  among  the  or- 
'  gauists  in  France,  in  Spain  and  Arragon,  in  Pam- 

*  pelone,  or  EngLind,  nor  many  other  places,  accord- 
'  ing  to  what  fully  appears  in  their  books,  but  they 
'  used  Red  or  Black  lines  drawn  with  ink.  At  the 
'  beginning  of  a  cantus  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  organists  in  their  books  make  use  of  five  lines, 
'but  in  the  tenors  of  descants  are  used  only  four,  be- 
'  cause  the  tenor  was  always  used  to  be  taken  from 

*  the  ecclesiastical  cantus,  noted  by  four  lines,  &c.'* 

Farther  on  the  author  speaks  of  a  method  of  no- 
tation by  the  letters  of  the  alphabet,  which  is  no 
other  than  that  introduced  by  St.  Gregory  ;  the  ex- 
amples he  gives  are  of  letters  in  the  old  Gothic  cha- 
racter, and  such  are  to  be  seen  in  the  Storia  della 
Musica  of  Padre  Martini,  vol.  I.  pag.  178  ;  but  he 
says  that  the  method  of  notation  in  use  in  his  time 
was  by  points,  either  round  or  square,  sometimes 
with  a  tail  and  sometimes  without. 

Having  treated  thus  largely  of  the  Cantus  ^lensu- 
rabilis,  he  proceeds  to  an  explanation  of  the  harmo- 
nical  concordances,  in  which  as  he  does  but  abridge 
Boetius,  it  is  needless  to  follow  him. 

He  then  proceeds  to  relate  that  the  word  Organum 
is  used  in  various  senses,  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 
Guido.  He  speaks  also  of  the  Organum  Simplex,  or 
pure  organ,  a  term  which  frequently  occurs  in  the 
monkish  musical  writers,  and  which  seems  to  mean 
the  unisonous  accompaniment  of  the  tenor  or  other 
single  voice  in  the  versicles  of  the  service.  The  pre^ 
cepts  for  the  Organum  or  general  accompaniment  are 
manifestly  taken  from  Guido,  and  the  examples  are 
in  letters  like  those  in  the  Micrologus. 

Next  follow  the  rudiments  of  descant,  of  which 
sufficient  has  been  said  already. 

Speaking  of  the  Triples,  Quadruples,  and  Copulaa, 
terms  that  in  this  place  relate  to  the  Cantus  Mensu- 
rabilis,  he  digresses  to  descant ;  and,  speaking  of  the 
concords,  says  that  although  the  ditone  and  semi- 
ditone  are  not  reckoned  among  the  perfect  concords, 
yet  that  among  the  best  organists  in  some  countries, 
as  in  England,  in  the  country  called  Westcontre,  they 
are  used  as  such. 

And  here  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  for  the  first 
time  we  meet  with  the  mention  of  Discords  ;  for  the 
author  now  citing  says,  that  many  good  organists  and 
makers  of  hymns  and  antiphons  put  discords  in  the 
room  of  concords,  without  any  rule  or  consideration, 
except  that  the  discord  of  a  tone  or  second  be  taken 
before  a  perfect  concord.  He  adds,  that  this  practice 
was  much  in  use  with  the  organists  of  Lombardy. 

A  little  farther  on  he  spealcs  of  the  works  of  Pero- 
tinus  Magnus,  in  six  volumes,  which  he  says  contain 
the  colours  and  beauties  of  the  whole  musical  art. 

The  author  of  the  above-cited  tract  appears  to  have 

•  The  number  of  lines  for  the  Cantus  Ecclesiasticus  was  settled  at 
four  in  the  thirteenth  centur>-.     Stor.  della  Musica,  pag.  399,  in  not. 


been  deeply  skilled,  at  least  in  the  practical  part  of 
music,  and  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  speak- 
ing of  England  and  of  the  West  Contre,  which  very 
probably  he  mistook  for  the  North  country,  which 
abounded  with  good  singers  and  musicians,  that  he 
was  a  foreigner  ;  and  his  styling  Pepin  Emperor  of 
France,  at  the  instant  that  he  calls  Constantine  King 
of  the  Greeks,  is  a  ground  for  conjecture  that  he  was 
a  Frenchman. 

What  follow  in  the  Cotton  manuscripts  are  rather 
detached  pieces  or  extracts  from  some  larger  M'orks. 
than  complete  treatises  themselves  :  the  first  of  these, 
beginning  '  Sequitur  de  Sineminis,'  is  a  short  dis- 
course, chiefly  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  cross  between  F  and  G,  corresponding 
most  exactly  to  that  acute  signature  which  is  used  at 
this  day  to  prevent  the  tritonus  or  defective  fifth 
between  J]  and  f. 

The  next,  beginning  '  Est  autem  unisonus,'  treats 
very  briefly  of  the  consonances,  of  descant,  and  of 
solmisation,  the  practice  whereof  is  illustrated  by  the 
figure  of  a  hand,  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  tractatu,' 
which  is  chiefly  on  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  contains 
little  worthy  of  observation  except  the  words  '  Ha^c 
Odyngtonus,'  at  the  end  of  it,  to  account  for  which  is 
a  matter  of  great  difficulty. 

Odingtonus  [Gualterus,]  Odendunus,  et  Gualteriu; 
Eoveshamensis,  or  Walter  of  Evesham,  was  a  monk 
of  Evesham,  in  the  county  of  Worcester,  and  a  very 
able  astronomer  and  musician. f  He  wrote  De  Specu- 
latione  Musices,  lib.  VI.,  and  the  manuscript  is  in  the 
library  of  Christ  Church  college,  Cambridge.  The 
titles  of  the  several  books  are  as  follow  : — 

'  Prima  pars  est  de  inaequalitate  numerorum  et 
'  eorum  habitudine.  Secunda  de  inaequalitate  sono- 
'  rum  sub  portione  numerali  et  ratione  concordiarum. 
*  Tertia  de  compositione  instrumentorum  musicorum, 
'  et  de  .  .  .  .  Quarta  de  inaequalitate  temporum  in 
'  pedibus,  quibus  metra  et  rhythmi  decurrunt.  Quinta 
'de  harmonia  simplici,  i.e.  de  piano  cantu.  Sexta  et 
'  ultima  de  harmonia  multiplici,  i.e.  de  organo  et  ejus 
'speciebus,  necnon  de  compositione  et  figuratione.';}: 

Xow  it  is  observable  that  not  one  of  the  six  books 
professes  to  treat  of  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis  ;  on  the 
contrary,  the  title  of  the  fourth  is  '  De  inaequalitate 
'  temporum  in  pedibus,  quibus  metra  et  rhythmi  de- 
'  currunt ; '  terms  that  ceased  to  be  made  use  of  after 
the  invention  of  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis.  This  is 
enough  to  excite  a  suspicion  that  Odyngtonus  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  century  :  his  name  occurs  as  a  witness  to 

t  Vide  supra,  pag.  184. 

I  Tann.  Biblioth.  558,  in  not. 


210 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  Vj. 


a  charter  of  Stephen  Langton,  archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, ill  the  year  1220.  It  is  said  that  Walter  of 
Evesham,  a  monk  of  Canterbury,  was  elected  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury  12  Hen.  III.  a.  p.  1228,  but 
that  the  pope  vacated  the  election.'^'  Tlie  conclusion 
deducible  from  these  premises  is  obvious. 

A  few  loose  notes  of  the  different  kinds  of  metre 
conclude  the  collection  of  tracts  above-cited  by  the 
name  of  the  Cotton  Manuscript,  of  which  perhaps 
there  is  no  copy  extant  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  up  to  the  public,  and  deposited  in  the 
British  Museum. 

Another  manuscript  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  first  leaf  thereof :  '  Hunc  librum  vocitatum  Mu- 
'  sicam  Guidonis,  scripsit  dominus  Johannes  Wylde, 
'  quondam  exempti  monasterii  sanctae  Crucis  de 
'  Waltham  precentor.'  And  then  follows  this,  which 
imports  no  less  than  a  curse  on  any  who  should  by 
stealing  or  defacing  the  book  deprive  the  monastery 
of  the  fruit  of  his  labours  : — 

'  Quern  quidem  librum,  aut  hunc  titulum,  qui 
'  malitiose  abstulerit  aut  deleverit,  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  his 
name  of  his  own  handwriting  in  the  last  leaf;  and 
there  is  little  reason  to  suspect  that  he  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  JMonasticon  of  Sir 
William  Dugdale  ;  and  some  farther  particulars  re- 
lating to  it  may  be  found  in  the  History  of  Waltham 
Abbey,  by  Dr.  Fuller,  at  the  end  of  his  Church 
History.  Here  it  may  suffice  to  say,  that  the  churcli 
and  buildings  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- 

■  *  Tann.  in  loc.  citat. 

t  Admonitions  of  this  kind  are  frequently  to  be  met  with  in  nian\i- 
scripts  that  formerly  belon^'ed  to  relifiious  houses.  That  mentioned  in 
pag.  234  of  this  work,  as  containing  tlie  tract  De  quatuor  Principa!i;i, 
&c.  now  in  the  Bodleian  library,  had  been  piven  to  a  convent  of  friars 
minors  in  1388 ;  and  the  last  leaf  of  it  is  thus  inscribed  :  '  Ad  informa- 
'  tionem  scire  voleiitibus  princijiia  artis  musice  :  istum  libellum  vocatur 
'  Quatuor  Principalia  Musice.  Frater  Johannes  de  Tewkesbury  contulit 
'communitati  fratrum  mynorum  Oxonia  anctoritate  et  assensu  fratris 

■  Thomae  de  Kyngusbury  tunc  ministri  Anglia,  viz.  Anno  Domini 
*  1388.  Ita  qui  non  alienatur  a  praedicta  communitate  fratrum  sub 
'  penS  sacrilegii.' 


donis,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  it  is  not  the  work 
of  Guido  himself,  \mt  a  collection  of  the  precepts 
contained  in  the  Micrologus,  and  other  of  his  writings, 
and  that  therefore  the  appellation  which  Wylde  has 
given  to  it,  importing  it  to  be  Guidonian  music,  is 
very  proper. 

The  manuscript  begins  '  Quia  jnxta  sapientissimum 
'  Salomonem  dura  est,  ut  inferius  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  notwithstanding  to  deliver  the 
precepts  of  Boetius,  Macrobius,  and  Guido,  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  music 
into  Manual  and  Tonal,  the  first  so-called  from  the 
Hand,  to  the  joints  whereof  the  notes  of  the  Gamut 
or  scale  are  usually  applied.  The  Tonal  he  says  is 
so  called,  as  treating  particularly  of  the  Tones. 
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 
adds  that  the  left  hand  is  used  rather  than  the  right, 
because  it  is  the  nearest  the  heart. 

The  tract  now  citing  contains  twenty-two  chapters 
with  an  introduction,  declaring  the  pre -requisites  to 
the  right  understanding  the  scale  of  Guido,  as  namely, 
the  succession  of  the  letters  and  syllables  in  the  first 
or  grave  series,  with  the  distinction  between  J^  and  b. 
Then  follows  the  scale  itself,  called  the  Gamma,  an- 
swering to  Guide's  division  of  the  monochord,  which 
is  followed  by  the  figure  of  a  hand,  with  the  notes 
and  syjlables  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  Genesis  he  asserts 
that  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- 
l^ortions  by  the  sound  of  hammers  used  by  his  brother, 
who,  according  to  him,  Mas  a  worker  in  iron'.  He 
says  that  St.  Ambrose,  and  after  him  pope  Gregory, 
introduced  into  the  church  the  modulations  of 
Graduals,  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  Moys,  signi- 
fying water. 

In  Chap,  II.  the  author  speaks  of  the  power  of 
music,  and  cites  a  passage  from  Macrobius's  Com- 
mentary on  the  Somniuni  Scipionis  of  Cicero,  to 
shew  tiiat  it  banishes  care,  persuades  to  clemency, 
and  heals  the  diseases  of  the  body.  He  adds  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.  HI.  it  is  said  that  the  ancient  Greeks 
noted  the  musical  sounds  with  certain  characters,  as 
appears  by  the  table  in  Boetius,  but  that  the  Latins 
afterwards  changed  them  for  those  simple  letters, 
which  in  the  calendar  are  made  use  of  to  denote  the 


Chap.  LIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


241 


seven  days  of  the  week,  as  A,  B,  C,  J),  E,  F,  G ;  and 
that  they  assumed  only  seven  letters,  because,  as 
Virgil  says,  there  are  only  seven  differences  of  sounds ; 
and  nature  herself  witnesses  that  the  eighth  is  no 
other  than  the  replicate  of  the  first,  with  this  differ- 
ence, that  the  one  is  grave  and  the  other  acute. 

Chap.  IV.  contains  the  reasons  why  the  Greek  T 
was  prefixed  by  the  Latins  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 
seems  to  have  forgot  that  Guido  was  the  first  that 
made  use  of  that  character. 

The  reasons  contained  in  Chap.  V.  for  the  repe- 
tition of  the  letters  to  the  number  nineteen,  are  not 
less  inconclusive  than  those  contained  in  the  former 
chapter,  and  are  therefore  not  worth  enumerating. 

Chap  VI.  assigns  a  reason  why  the  letters  are 
differently  described  in  the  monochord,  that  is  to  say, 
some  greater,  some  lesser,  some  square,  some  round, 
and  some  doubled.  The  following  are  the  author's 
words  : — 

*  As  the  foundation  is  more  worthy  and  solid  than 

*  the  rest  of  the  edifice,  so  in  the  musical  fabric  the 
'  letters  that  are  placed  in  the  bottom  are  not  im- 
'  properly  made  larger  and  stronger  than  those  which 
'  follow,  it  is  therefore  that  they  should  be  made 
'  square,  as  every  thing  that  is  square  stands  the 
'firmest.*     The  other  septenary  ought  to  be  made 

*  less,  for  as  we  begin  from  the  bottom,  the  higher  we 
'  ascend  by  regular  steps,  the  more  subtle  or  acute 
'  does  the  sound  become  :  roundness  then  best  suits 
'in  its  nature  with  these  seven  letters,  for  that 
'  which  is  round  is  more  easily  moved  about ;  and  the 
'  sounds  which  are  placed   between  the  grave  and 

*  superacute  are  the  most  easy  for  the  voice  of  the 

*  singer  to  move  in,  seeing  he  can  readily  pass  from 

*  the  one  to  the  other  freely  and  at  his  pleasure  ;  the 
'  four  remaining  letters  are  formed  double,  and  as  it 
'  were  with  two  bellies,  because  they  are  formed  to 
'  make  a  bisdiapason  with  the  grave,  that  is  a  double 
'  diapason.' 

In  Chap.  VII.  we  meet  with  the  names  of  Guido 
the  Younger,  and  Guido  the  Elder,  by  the  latter  of 
whom  the  author  certainly  means  Guido  Aretinus, 

*  This  method  of  illustration  by  reasons  drawn  from  a  subject  foreign 
to  tliat  to  which  they  are  applied,  is  not  unusual  with  the  authors  who 
wrote  before  the  revival  of  literature.  Bracton,  an  eminent  civil  and 
common  lawyer  of  the  thirteenth  century,  speaking  of  the  right  to  the 
inheritance  of  land,  and  the  course  of  lineal  descent,  says  that  it  is  ever 
downwards,  that  is  to  say,  from  father  to  son,  and  for  it  gives  this  notable 
reason:  'Quod  quasi  ponderosum  quiddam  jure  naturae  descendit,  nam 
'omne  grave  fertur  deorsum.'  De  Legibus  lib  II.  cap.  29,  et  vide 
Coke's  Reports,  part  III.  fol.  40,  Ratcliff's  case.  In  a  life  of  ^Esop,  the 
reputed  author  of  the  fables  that  go  under  his  name,  supposed  to  be 
written  by  a  Greek  monk  named  Maximus  Planudes,  who  lived  about 
the  year  1317,  is  a  curious  specimen  of  physiological  ratiocination,  some- 
what resembling  the  former.  A  gardener  proposed  this  question  to 
Xanthus,  a  philosopher,  the  master  of  iEsop  :  '  What  is  the  reason  that 
'  the  herbs  which  I  plant  grow  not  so  fast  as  those  which  the  earth  pro- 
' duces  spontaneously?'  The  philosopher  resolved  it  into  the  divine 
Providence  ;  but  the  gardener  not  being  satisfied  with  this  answer, 
Xanthus,  unable  to  give  a  better,  refers  him  to  his  slave  JEsop,  who 
bespeaks  the  gardener  thus  :— '  A  widow  with  children  marries  a  second 
'  husband,  who  hath  children  also  :  to  the  children  by  her  former  husband 
'  she  stands  in  the  relation  of  mother ;  but  to  those  of  her  second  hus- 
'  band,  the  issue  of  his  former  marriage,  she  is  nn  more  than  step-mother, 
'the  consequence  whereof  is,  that  she  is  less  affectionate  to  them  than  to 
'  the  children  of  her  husband.  In  like  manner,'  continues  JEsop  to  the 
gardener,  '  the  earth,  to  those  things  which  she  produces  spontaneously 
'  is  a  mother,  but  to  those  which  thou  plantest  she  is  a  step-mother :  the 
'one  she  nourishes,  and  the  other  she  slights.'  The  gardener  was  as 
much  the  wiser  for  this  answer  as  those  who  enquire  why  the  great 
letters  are  the  lowest  in  the  scale,  or  why  land  descends  rather  than 
ascends,  are  made,  by  the  answers  severally  given  to  those  demands. 


for  he  cites  the  Sapphic  verse,  '  Ut  queant  laxis,'  &c. 
from  whence  the  syllables  ct,  re,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la,  are 
universally  allowed  to  have  been  taken ;  who  is  meant 
by  Guido  the  Younger  will  be  shewn  hereafter. 

In  Chap.  VIII.  he  speaks  of  the  six  syllables,  and 
the  notes  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. 
Wallis  and  others  have  lamented  that  Guido  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  syllable,  especially 
as  there  are  so  many  particles  in  that  verse ;  he 
might  have  assigned  the  first  syllable  of  the  last  line 
to  the  seventh  note  thus,  Sancte  Joannes,  as  this 
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 
syllables  were  assigned  to  the  rest  of  the  notes  ? 
But  fair  and  soft,  because  a  semitone  always  occurs 
in  the  seventh  step,  which  semitone  is  contained 
under  these  two  notes,  fa  and  mi  ;  for  when  the 
semitone  returns  to  the  seventh  step,  in  the  sixth 
you  will  have  mi,  and  in  the  seventh  fa.     But  if 
the  eighth  step,  a  tritone  intervening,  makes  the 
semitone,  all  the  syllables  of  the  notes  are  expended ; 
therefore  whether  you  will  or  no,  unless  you  make 
false  music,  the  semitone,  to  wit  mi,  returns  in  tha 
seventh,  if  the  disposition  be  elevated  ;  but  if  it  be 
remitted  it  will  give  fa,  which  nevertheless  makes 
a  semitone  under  it ;  therefore  these  two  notes,  on 
whose  account  these  names  were  particularly  insti- 
tuted,  will  have  as  many  notes  above  as  below, 
marked  with  their  proper  syllables,  for  mi  has  under 
it  two,  RE  and  ut  ;    and  fa  has  two  above,  sol 
and  LA.' 
Chap.   IX.   treats    of  the    Mutations,  which   are 
changes  of  the  syllables,  occasioned  by  the  going  out 
of  one  hexachord  into   another ;    concerning  which 
the  author  with  great  simplicity  observes,  that  as  the 
cutters  out  of  leather  or  cloth,  when  the  stuff  runs 
short,  are  obliged  to  piece  it  to  make  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.     ^NTiat  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  such  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,  you 
'  will  always  find  such  a  note  as  can  at  least  ascend 

*  four  steps,  la,  mi,  fa,  sol,  la.  In  the  same  manner 
'  the  note  ut,  which  of  itself  can  nowhere  descend, 

*  will  have  a  collateral,  which  may  at  least  be  de- 
'  pressed  four  notes,  ut,  fa,  mi,  re,  ut,  the  Greek  r 
'  and  d  superacute  are  excepted ;  the  first  whereof 
'  has  neither  the  power  nor  the  necessity  of  being 
'  remitted,  nor  the  other  that  of  ascending  ;  for  which 
'  reason  ut  and  la  can  never  have  the  same  stations.' 

B 


242 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book   VI. 


The  nine  succeeding  chapters  relate  chiefly  to  the 
mutations,  and  the  use  of  the  square  and  round  or 
soft  b,  which,  as  it  is  sufficiently  understood  at  this 
day,  it  is  needless  to  enlarge  upon. 

Chap.  XIX.  treats  of  the  Keys,  by  which  are  to 
be  understood  in  tliis  place  nothing  more  than  the 
characters  P  C  g  prefixed  to  the  head  of  the  stave : 
he  says  these  letters  are  called  keys,  for  that  as  a  key 
opens  an  entrance  to  that  which  is  locked  up,  so 
the  letters  give  an  entrance  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
whole  cantus,  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  distinguish  one  conjunction 
from  another.  At  the  end  of  this  chapter  he  cen- 
sures the  practice  of  certain  unskilful  notators  or 
writers  of  music,  who  he  says  were  used  to  forge 
adulterate  and  illegitimate  keys,  as  by  putting  D 
grave  under  F,  a  acute  under  c,  and  e  acute  under  g, 
making  thereby  as  many  keys  as  lines. 

Chap,  XX.  demonstrates  that  b  round  and  J] 
square  are  not  to  be  computed  among  the  keys. 
This  demonstration  is  effected  in  a  manner  curious 
and  diverting,  namely  by  the  supposition  of  a  combat 
between  these  two  characters,  a  relation  whereof, 
with  the  various  success  of  the  combatants,  is  here 
given  in  the  author's  own  words :    *  Observe  that 

*  b  round  and  J]  square  are  not  to  be  computed 
'  among  the  keys ;  first,  because  they  wander  through 

*  an  empty  breadth  of  space,  without  any  certainty 
'  of  a  line ;  next  because  they  can  never  be  placed 
'  in  any  line  without  the  support  of  another  key,  for 
'  it  is  necessary  that  another  key  should  be  prefixed 
'  to  the  line.  Moreover  as  J;j  square  never  appears, 
'unless  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  if  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  other,  and  each  is  made  accidental,  who 
'  can  pronounce  them  legitimate  keys  ?  for  unless 
'  b  round  comes  in  and  gives  the  first  blow  as 
'  a  challenge,  \j  square  would  never  furnish  matter 
'  for  the  beginning  of  a  combat ;  but  as  soon  as  it 
'  appears  it  entirely  overthrows  its  adversary  b  round, 

*  which  only  makes  a  soft  resistance.  But  sometimes 
'  it  happens  that  b  round,  though  lying  prostrate, 
'  recovering  new  strength,  rises  up  stronger,  and 
'  throws  down  Y]  square,  who  was  triumphing  after 
'  his  victory.'  For  the  reasons  deducible  from  this 
artless  allegory,  whicli  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  Chap.  XXI.  the  author  gives  the  reason  why 
the  notes  are  placed  alternately  on  the  lines  and 
spaces  of  the  stave :  but  first,  to  prove  the  necessity 
of  the  lines,  he  shrewdly  observes,  that  without  them 
no  certain  progression  could  be  observed  by  the 
voice.  '  Would  not,'  he  asks,  '  in  that  case  the  notes 
■  seem  to  shew  like  >mall  birds  flying  through  the 


'empty  immensity  of  air?'  Farther  he  says,  that 
were  they  placed  on  the  lines  only,  no  less  confusion 
would  arise,  for  that  the  multitude  of  lines  would 
confound  the  sight,  since  a  cantus  may  sometimes 
include  a  compass  of  ten  notes.  He  says,  which  is 
true,  that  in  order  to  distinguish  between  each  series 
of  notes,  the  grave,  the  acute,  and  the  superacute, 
any  one  given  note,  which  in  the  grave  is  placed 
on  a  line,  will  in  the  acute  fall  on  a  space,  and  that 
in  the  superacute  it  will  fall  on  a  line  again.  He 
adds,  that  in  a  simple  cantus  no  more  lines  are  used 
than  four,  to  which  are  assigned  five  spaces,*  for 
this  reason,  that  the  ancient  musicians,  by  whom  he 
must  be  understood  to  mean  those  after  the  time  of 
Gregory,  never  permitted  any  tone  to  exceed  the 
compass  of  a  diapason ;  so  that  every  tone  had  as 
many  notes  as  there  were  tones.  He  says  farther 
that  tlie  modern  musicians  would  sometimes  extend 
a  cantus  to  a  tenth  note ;  but  that  nevertheless  it  did 
not  run  through  ten  notes,  but  that  the  tenth,  which 
might  be  either  the  highest  or  the  lowest,  was  only 
occasionally  touched.  He  adds  that  when  this  is 
the  case,  the  key  or  letter  should  be  changed  for 
a  short  time  ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  one  letter 
may  be  substituted  for  another  on  the  same  line. 
Upon  this  passage  is  a  marginal  note,  signifying 
that  it  is  better  in  such  a  case  to  add  a  line  than  to 
transpose  the  letter  or  cliff,  which  is  the  practice 
at  this  day. 

To  this  chapter  the  author  subjoins  a  cantus  for 
the  reader  to  exercise  himself,  in  which  he  says  he 
will  find  six  verses  applied,  two  for  the  grave,  two 
for  the  acute,  and  two  for  the  superacute.  The 
cantus  is  without  musical  characters,  and  is  in  the 
words  following : — 

For  the  graves, 
Hac  puer,  arte  scies  gravium  mutamina  vocum, 
Quoe  quibus  appropries  noim'tia,  quemve  locum. 

For  the  acutes, 
Reddit  versutas  versuta  b  mollis  acuta, 
Quas  male  dum  mutas,  mollia  quadra  putas. 

For  the  superacutes, 
Gutturis  artei'ias  cruciat  vox  alta  b  mollis ; 
DifRciles  collis  reddit  ubique  vias. 

Chap.  XXII.  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 
musical  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  perspicuous 
commentary  on  so  much  of  the  Micrologus  as  relates 
to  tbat  subject. 

The  second  part  or  distinction,  intitled  Of  Tonal 
Music,   contains   thirty-one   chapters.      In    the   first 

•  That  is  to  say  three  between  the  lines,  one  at  top,  and  another  at 
bottom.  Martini  says  that  the  number  of  lines  to  denote  the  tones  was 
settled  at  four  in  the  thirteenth  century.    Stor.  dell ,  Mus.  pag.  399,  in  not. 


Chap.  LV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


243 


whereof  is  an  intimation  of  the  person  in  the  seventh 
chapter  of  the  former  part,  distinguished  by  the  ap- 
pellation of  Guido  Minor  ;  he  says  that  he  was  sur- 
named  Aiigensis,  and  that  by  his  care  and  industry 
the  cantus  of  the  Cistertian  order  had  been  regularly 
corrected.  He  cites  a  little  book  written  by  the  same 
Guido  Minor  for  a  definition  of  the  consonances. 

In  Chap.  II.  he  defines  the  semitone  in  a  quotation 
from  Macrobius,  demonstrating  it  to  be  no  other  than 
the  Pythagorean  limma. 

Chap.  III.  treats  of  the  Tone,  a  word  which  the 
author  says  has  two  significations,  namely,  a  Maniera, 
a  term  synonymous  with  ecclesiastical  tone,  or  an 
interval  in  a  sesquioctave  ratio. 

From  these  two  intervals,  namely,  the  tone  and 
semitone,  the  author  asserts  that  all  the  concords  are 
generated,  and  the  whole  fabric  of  music  arises ;  in 
which  respect,  says  this  learned  writer,  '  They,  that 
'  is  to  say,  the  tone  and  semitone,  may  be  very  aptly 
'  compared  to  Leah  and  Rachael,  of  whom  it  is  re- 
'  lated  in  the  book  of  Genesis  that  they  built  up  the 
'  house  of  Israel.'  It  would  be  doing  injustice  to  this 
ingenious  argument  to  give  it  in  any  other  words 
than  those  of  the  author.  Here  they  are,  and  it  is 
hoped  the  reader  will  edify  by  them  : — 

'  For  as  Jacob  was  first  joined  in  marriage 

'  to  Leah,  and  afterwards  to  Rachael,  thus  sound,  the 
'  element  of  music,  first  produces  a  tone,  and  after- 
'  wards  a  semitone,  and  is  in  some  sense  married  to 
'  them.  The  semitone,  from  which  the  symphony  of 
'  all  music  principally  is  generated,  as  it  tempers  the 

*  rigour  and  asperity  of  the  tones,  may  aptly  be 
'assigned  to  Rachael,  who  chiefiy  captivated  the 
'heart  of  Jacob,  as  she  had  a  beautiful  face  and 
'  graceful  aspect.  Moreover  a  semitone  is  made  up 
'  of  four  parts,  and,  unless  a  tritone  intervenes,  is 
'  always  in  the  fourth  step ;  so  also  Rachael  is  re- 
'  corded  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  upon  my  knees, 
"  that  I  may  at  least  have  children  from  her."  The 
'tone  rendering  a  rigid  and  harsh  sound,  but  fre- 
'qucntly  presenting  itself,  agrees  with  Leah,  who 
'  was  blear-eyed,  and  was  married  to  Jacob  against 
'  his  will  ;  but  fruitful  in  the  number  of  her  children. 
'  The  proportion  of  the  tone  is  superoctave  ;  Leah 
'  had  also  eight  sons,  namely,  six  nafural  sons,  and 

*  two  adopted,  that  were  born  of  her  handmaid  :  but 
'  the  ninth  part,  which  is  less  than  the  rest  or  others, 

*  may  aptly  be  compared  to  Dinah,  the  daughter  of 
'  Leah,  who  bore  afterwards  eight  sons.  \Mien  Leah 
'  had  four  sons  she  ceased  bearing  children,  and  the 
'  adopted  ones  followed  :  when  four  steps  of  the  notes 

*  are  made,  a  semitone  follows,  which  is  divided  into 
'  two  sorts,  as  has  been  said  ;  these  may  be  compared 
'to  the  following  sons,  the  two  natural  ones,  which 

*  Leah  had  afterwards,  and  also  the  two  adopted  ones. 
'  Then  follow  Joseph  and  Benjamin,  the  natural  sons 
'  of  Rachael.' 

Chap.  IV.  treats  of  the  ditone. 

Chap.  V.  Of  the  semiditone  and  its  species,  which 
are  clearly  two. 

Chapters  VI.  VII.  and  VIII.  treat  respectively  of 
the  diatessaron,  diapente,  and  diapason,  with  their 


several  species,  which  have  already  been  very  fully 
explained. 

Chap.  IX.  shews  how  the  seven  species  of  diapason 
are  generated. 

Chap.  X.  contains  a  Cantilena,  as  it  is  said,  of 
Guido  Aretinus,  including  as  well  the  dissonances  as 
the  consonances.  It  is  a  kind  of  praxis  on  the  inter- 
vals that  constitute  the  scale,  such  as  are  frequently 
to  be  met  with  in  the  musical  tracts  of  the  monkish 
writers,  and  in  those  written  by  the  German  musi- 
cians for  the  instruction  of  youth  about  the  time  of 
Luther  ;*  but  as  to  this,  whether  it  be  of  Guido  or 
not,  it  is  highly  venerable  in  respect  of  its  antiquity, 
as  being  in  all  probability  one  of  the  oldest  compo. 
sitions  of  the  kind  in  the  world  : — 


3: 


3E3=EgE 


^^iESEt 


^ 


TERter-ni  sunt  mo-di,  quibus  omnis  can-ti-le-na 


3EbE!E5:- 


:B=M=i: 


contex  -  i-tur,    sci-li-cet,    U-ni-sonus,   Semi-to-nium, 


g= 


l^E^'^dL'EEES 


-^=' 


Tonus,  Semiditonus,  Ditonus,  Dyatessaron,   Dyapente, 


^-i^» 


Semitonium  cum  Dyapente.    Ad  haec  Tonus   Dyapason 


^= 


L-MZ*: 


si   quern  de-lectet,  e-jus  hunc  modum  es-se  ag-nos-cat 


7^^ 


^^ 


qu-umque  tarn  paucis  clausulis  to-ta  armo  ni-a  forma-tur. 


3Er-^iEi 


-■-♦• 


^^^f^^ 


u-ti-  lis  -si-raum  est  e-as  al-t£e  me-mo-ri-ajcommec 

dare, 

^ 

■           *'*^B                           ]■          ■■■^■■■''^ 

V 

■                        ^Bgi                ■-                      ■"! 

Nee  pri-us  ab  hu-jus  nio- 

di  stu-di-o  qui-es-ce-re,  donee 

^                                                     H                                   ■ 

■  ■'"!'■  H^  ■  ■  ^ 

■  -    !-Bn""T 

-.    ^        ■            ■  ■  1 

■    1 

^-m     '-           B 

vocum  intervallis  agnatis  Armo-ni-a  to-ti-us  fa-cil-li-me 

K   _  ■  ^                                                                  s                                        _    1 

fc  ■  H'*    . 

^*  H^  ^^  ^^M  1 

'^               ■    ■    _                ■   ■   ■ 

:.-=*H-="-^^-^ 

■    ■    ■     ■  ■ 

que-as  comprehendere  no-ti-ti-am.     Tonus. 


Se-mi-to-ni-us.    Di-to-nus.        Se-mi-di-to-nus.  Dya-tes- 


^a^^^lgffi 


-  sa-ron.       Dyapente.     Dy-a-pason. 


et  intente     et  re-mis-se   pa-ri-ter  con-so-nan-ti  -  a. 

*  Many  such  are  extant  in  print ;  they  are  in  easy  Latin,  and  resemble 
in  size  and  form  the  common  Latin  Accidence.  The  sense  that  the  re- 
formers entertained  of  the  great  importance  of  a  musical  education,  may 
be  inferred  from  the  pains  they  took  to  disseminate  the  rudiments  of 
plain  and  mensurable  music,  and  to  render  the  practice  of  singing 
familiar  to  children  ;  and  there  cannot  be  the  least  doubt  but  that  the 
singing  and  getting  by  heart  such  a  Cantilena  as  is  here  given,  was  as 
frequent  an  exercise  for  a  child  as  the  declension  of  a  noun,  or  the  con- 
jugation of  a  verb. 


2M 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VJ 


Chap.  XI.  treats  of  the  nature  of  b  round,  of  which 
enough  has  been  said  already. 

Of  Chap.  XII.  there  is  nothing  more  than  the  title, 
purporting  that  the  chapter  is  an  explanation  of  a 
certain  Formula  or  diagram  which  was  never  inserted. 

Chap.  XIII.  treats  of  the  species  of  diapason,  and 
shews  how  the  eight  tones  arise  therefrom.  This 
chapter  is  very  intricate  and  obscure  ;  and  as  it  con- 
tains a  far  less  satisfactory  account  of  the  subject  than 
has  already  been  given  from  Franchinus,  and  other 
writers  of  unquestioned  authority,  the  substance  of  it 
is  here  omitted. 

Chap.  XIV.  treats  of  the  four  Manieras,  and  farther 
of  the  eight  tones.  Maniera,  as  this  author  asserts, 
is  a  term  taken  from  the  French,  and  seems  to  be 
synonymous  with  Mode ;  a  little  lower  he  says  that  a 
Maniera  is  the  property  of  a  cantus,  or  that  rule 
whereby  we  determine  the  final  note  of  any  cantus. 
In  short,  he  uses  Maniera  to  express  the  Genus,  and 
Tone  the  Species  of  the  ecclesiastical  modes  or  tones. 
In  this  chapter  he  complains  of  the  levity  of  the 
moderns  in  making  use  of  b  soft,  and  introducing 
feigned  music,*  which  in  his  time  he  complains  had 
been  greatly  multiplied. 

Chap.  XV.  concerns  only  the  finals  of  the  several 
manieras  and  tones. 

Chap.  XVI.  contains  certain  curious  observations 
on  the  terms  Authentic  and  Plagal,  as  applied  to  the 
tones  ;  these  are  as  follow  : — 

'  Some  tones  are  called  authentic,  and  some 

*  plagal ;  for  in  every  maniera  the  first  is  called 
'  authentic,  the  second  plagal.  The  first,  third,  fifth, 
'  and  seventh  are  termed  authentic  from  the  word 

*  Authority ;  because  they  are  accounted  more  worthy 
'  than  their  plagals  :  they  are  collected  by  the  uneven 
'  numbers,  which  among  the  philosophers  were  called 
'  masculine,  because  they  do  not  admit  of  being  di- 
'  vided  equally  into  two  parts  :  thus  man  cannot  be 
'  easily  turned  aside  or  diverted  from  his  purpose ; 
'  but  an  even  number,  because  it  may  be  divided  into 

*  two  equally,  is  by  them  not  unaptly  called  woman, 
'  because  she  sometimes  weeps,  sometimes  laughs,  and 

*  soon  yields  and  gives  way  in  the  time  of  temptation. 

*  Hence  it  is  that  the  second,  fourth,  sixth,  and  eighth 
'  tones  are  ascribed  to  the  even  number,  because  the 
'  feminine  sex  is  coupled  in  marriage  to  the  mas- 
'  culine  sex  :  they  are  called  collateral  or  plagal,  that 

*  is,  provincials  to  the  authentics.  And  that  you  may 
'  the  sooner  learn  the  properties  and  natures  of  each 

*  of  the  tones,  those  songs  are  called  authentic  which 
'  ascend  more  freely  and  higher  from  their  final  letter, 
'  running  more  wantonly  by  leaps  and  various  bend- 
'  ings  backwards  and  forwards  ;  in  the  same  manner 

*  as  it  becomes  men  to  exercise  their  strength  in 
'  wrestling  and  other  sports,  and  to  be  employed  in 
'  their  necessary  affairs  and  occupations  in  remote 
'  parts,  until  they  return  back  to  the  final  letter  by 
'  which  they  are  to  be  finished,  as  to  their  own  house 

■*  Described  by  Franchinus,  Pract.  Mus.  lib.  III.  cap.  xiii,  De  fictae 
Musicae  contrapuncto,  and  by  Andreas  Omithoparcus,  in  his  Micrologus, 
lib.  I.  cap.  X.  tlie  latter  calls  it  that  kind  of  music  termed  by  the  Greeks 
Synemmenon,  or  a  song  that  abounds  with  conjunctions  ;  but  it  had  been 
better  to  have  called  it  music  transposed  from  its  natural  key  by  b  round, 
the  characteristic  of  the  synemmenon  tetrachord,  in  which  case  B  b,  E  b, 
or  A  b,  misht  be  made  finals,  as  they  now  frequently  are,  but  it  seems 
that  the  old  musicians  abhorred  the  practice. 


'  or  home,  after  the  completion  of  their  affairs.  But 
'  the  plagal  or  collateral  songs  are  those  which  do  not 
'  mount  up  so  as  to  produce  the  higher  parts,  but  turn 
'  aside  into  the  lower,  in  the  region  under  the  letter 
'  by  which  they  are  to  be  terminated,  and  make  their 
'  stops  or  delays  and  circuits  about  the  final  letter, 
'  sometimes  below  and  sometimes  above  ;  as  a  woman 
'  that  is  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  family  and  domestic 
'  concerns.' 

Chap.  XVII.  assigns  the  reasons  why  the  final 
notes  are  included  between  D  grave  and  c  acute ;  but 
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  rule,  for  in  such  no  more  is  required 
than  that  the  under  part  be  subservient  to  it.  It 
appears  that  of  the  final  notes,  by  which,  to  mention 
it  once  for  all,  the  terminations  of  the  several  tones 
are  meant,  four  are  grave,  and  three  only  acute  :  for 
this  inequality  the  author  gives  a  notable  reason, 
namely,  that  by  reason  of  the  load  of  carnal  infirmi- 
ties that  weigh  them  down,  fewer  men  are  found  to 
have  grave  and  rude,  than  acute  and  sweet  voices. 

Chap.  XVIII.  the  author  shews  from  Guido,  and 
other  teachers  of  the  musical  art,  that  the  compass 
of  a  diapason  is  sufiicient  for  any  cantus.  Not- 
withstanding which  he  says  some  contend  that  ten, 
and  even  eleven  notes  are  necessary.  This  notion 
the  author  condemns,  and  says  that  the  unison  and 
its  octave  resemble  the  walls  of  a  city,  and  that  the 
ninth,  which  is  placed  above  the  octave,  and  the 
tenth,  stationed  under  the  unison,  answer  to  the 
pallisado  or  ditch  ;  and  that  as  it  is  customary  to 
walk  about  on  the  walls,  and  in  the  city  itself,  but 
not  in  the  ditch,  or  by  the  pallisado,  it  becomes  all 
who  profess  to  travel  in  the  path  of  perfection,  to 
accommodate  themselves  to  this  practice,  which  he 
says  is  both  modest  and  decent,  f 

The  following  chapters,  which  are  fifteen  in  num- 
ber, exhibit  a  precise  designation  of  the  eight  eccle- 
siastical tones ;  but  as  these  have  been  very  fully 
explained  from  Gaffurius,  and  other  writers  of  ac- 
knowledged authority,  it  is  unnecessary  to  lengthen 
this  account  of  Wylde's  tract  by  an  explanation  of 
them  from  him. 

There  is  very  little  doubt  but  that  Wylde  was  an 
excellent  practical  singer,  as  indeed  his  office  of 
precentor  of  so  large  a  choir  as  that  of  Waltham 
required  he  should  be.  His  book  is  very  properly 
called  a  System  of  Guidonian  Music,  for  it  extends 
no  farther  than  an  illustration  of  those  precepts 
which  Guido  Aretinus  taught :  hardly  a  passage 
occurs  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  of 
Tholom^us.  The  truth  of  the  matter  is,  that  at 
the  time  when  Wylde  wrote,  the  writings  of  Aris- 
toxenus,  Euclid,  Nicomachus,  and  the  other  Greek 
harmonicians,  were  at  Constantinople,  or  Byzantium 

+  He  gives  an  example  of  a  double  cantus  at  the  beginning  of  Chapter  I, 
which  clearly  shews  that  by  a  double  cantus  we  are  to  understand  one 
in  two  parts. 


Chap.  LV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


245 


as  it  was  called,  which  was  then  the  seat  of  literature. 
How  and  by  whom  they  were  brought  into  Italy, 
and  the  doctrines  contained  in  them  diffused  through- 
out Europe,  will  in  due  time  be  related. 

The  tract  immediately  following  that  of  Wylde 
in  the  manuscript  of  Waltham  Holy  Cross  is  entitled 
*De  octo  Tonis  ubi  nascuntur  et  oriuntur  aut  effi- 
ciuntur.' 

This  is  a  short  discourse,  contained  in  two  pages 
of  the  manuscript,  tending  to  shew  the  analogy 
between  the  seven  planets  and  the  chords  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  revolutions 
produce  an  harmony  of  concordant  sounds  ;  but  they 
go  farther,  and  pretend  to  assign  the  very  intervals 
arising  from  the  motion  of  each.  This  the  author 
now  citing  has  done,  and  perhaps  following  Pliny, 
who  asserts  it  to  be  the  doctrine  of  Pythagoras, 
he  says  that  in  the  motion  of  the  Earth  r  is  made, 
in  that  of  the  moon  A,  Mercury  B,  Venus  C,  the 
Sun  D,  Mars  E,  Jupiter  F,  and  Saturn  g.  And 
that  here  the  musical  measure  is  truly  formed. 

Next  follows  a  very  short  tract,  with  the  name 
Kendale  at  the  conclusion  of  it.  It  contains  little 
more  than  the  Gamma,  vulgarly  called  the  Gamut,  or 
Guidonian  scale,  and  some  mystical  verses  on  the 
power  of  harmony,  said  to  be  written  by  a  woman  of 
the  name  of  Magdalen.  It  should  seem  that  Kendale 
was  no  more  than  barely  the  transcriber  of  this  tract, 
for  the  rubric  at  the  beginning  ascribes  it  to  a  certain 
monk  of  Sherborne,  who  professes  to  have  taken  it 
from  St.  Mary  Magdalen. 

'  Monachus  quidam  de  Sherborne  talem  Musicam 
profert  de  Sancta  Maria  Magdelene.' 

Next  follows  a  tract  entitled  '  De  Origine  et 
Effectu  Musicae,'  in  four  sections,  the  initial  words 
whereof  are  '  Musica  est  scientia  recte  canendi,  sive 
'  scientia  de  numero  relato  ad  sonum,'  wherein  the 
author,  after  defining  music  to  be  the  science  of  num- 
ber applied  to  sound,  gives  his  reader  the  choice  of 
two  etymologies  for  the  word  music.  The  one  from 
the  Muses,  the  other  from  the  word  Moys,  signifying 
water,  which  he  will  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  mi,  fa,  sol,  scarce  make  a  semitone 
'  between  fa  and  sol  ;  moreover,  when  they  pro- 
'  noimce  sol,  fa,  sol,  or  re,  ut,  re,  prolate  a  semi- 
'  tone  for  a  tone  ;  and  thus  they  confound  the  dia- 

*  tonic  genus,  and  pervert  the  plain -song.  Yet  these 
'may  be  held  in  some  measure  excusable,  as  not 
'knowing  in  what  genus  our  plain-song  is  consti- 

*  tuted ;  and  being  asked  for  what  reason  they  thus 
'  pronounce  a  semitone  for  a  tone,  they  alledge  they 
'  do  it  upon  the  authority  of  the  singers  in  the  chapels 
'  of  princes,  who,  say  they,  would  not  sing  so  without 
'  reason,  as  they  are  the  best  singers.  So  that  being 
'  thus  deceived  by  the  footsteps  of  others,  they  one 


'  after  another  follow  in  all  the  same  errors,  i'here 
'  are  others  who  will  have  it  that  this  method  of  sing- 
*ing  is  sweeter  and  more  pleasing  to  the  ear,  and 
'  therefore  that  method  being  as  it  were  good,  should 
'  be  made  use  of.  To  these  Boetius  answers,  saying 
'  all  credit  is  not  to  be  given  to  the  ears,  but  some 
'also  to  reason,  for  the  hearing  may  be  deceived. 
'  So  also  is  it  said  in  the  treatise  De  quatuor  Princi- 
'  palium,  cap.  Ivi.,  and  as  a  proof  thereof,  it  is  farther 
*  said  that  those  who  follow  hunting  are  more  de- 
'  lighted  with  the  barking  of  the  dogs  in  the  woods, 
'  than  with  hearing  the  office  of  God  in  the  church. 
'Reason,  however,  which  is  never  deceived,  shews 
'  the  contrary.' 

Sect.  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  Musicse  eque- 
formis,  contains  an  account  of  the  inventors  of  the 
musical  arc,  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  upon  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  wonderful  con- 
sonance. When  Thubal  heard  and  knew  that  God 
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, 
the  pillar  of  bri-ck  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  deluge 
was  subsided.  After  the  deluge  king  Cyrus,  who 
was  king  over  the  Assyrians,  and  Enchiridias,  and 
Constantinus,  and  after  these  Boetius,  beginning 
with  the  proportion  of  numbers,  demonstrated  the 
consonances,  as  appears  by  looking  into  the  treatise 
of  the  latter,  De  Musica.  Afterwards  came  Guido 
the  monk,  who  was  tlie  inventor  of  the  Gamma, 
which  is  called  the  Monochord.  He  first  placed 
the  notes  in  the  spaces  between  the  lines,  as  is 
shewn  in  the  beginning  of  this  book.  Afterwards 
Guido  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  Cantus  Men- 
Burabilis,  as  also  the  certitude  of  the  beginnings. 
Then  Philippus  Vitriaco,  who  invented  that  figure 
called  the  Least  Prolation,  in  Navarre.  After wai-ds 
St.  Augustine  and  St.  Gi'egory,  who  instituted 
the  equiformal  cantus  throughout  all  the  churches. 
After  these  Isidorus  the  etymologist,  and  Joannes 
De  Muris,  who  wrote  iugenious  rules  concerning 
the  measure  and  the  figuration  of  the  cantus,  from 
whence  these  verses  : — 

'  Per  Thubal  inventa  musarum  sunt  elementa. 

'  Atque  collumellis  nobis  exempta  gemellis. 

'  Et  post  dihivium  tunc  subscriptus  perhibetur  : 

'  Philosophus  princeps  pater  Hermes  hie  Trismegistus 

'  Invenit  Musas  quas  dedit  et  docuit . 


246 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


'  Pictagoras  turn  per  martellas  fabricantum, 

'  Antea  confusas  numerantur  tetrarde  niusas. 

*  Quern  Musis  general  medium  concordia  vera 

'  Qui  tropus  ex  parte  Boicius  edidit. 

'  Unum  composuit  ad  gamma  vetus  tetrachordum. 

'  Et  dici  meruit  fuisse  Guido  monochordum 

'  Gregorius  musas  primo  carnalitur  usas, 

'  Usu  sanctarum  mutavit  Basilicarum. 

'  Ast  Augustinus  formam  fert  psalmodizandi, 

'  Atque  chori  regimen  Bernardus  Monachus  offert, 

'  Ethimologiarum  statuit  coadjutor  Isidorus 

'  Pausas  juncturas,  facturas,  atque  figuras ; 

'  Mensuraturam  formavit  Franco  notarum, 

'  Et  John  De  Muris,  variis  floruitque  figuris. 

'  Anglia  cantorum  nomen  gignit  plurimoruni. '* 

Sect.  IV.  entitled  De  Musicse  instrumentali  et  ejus 
Inventoribns,  gives  first  a  very  superficial  account 
of  the  inventors  of  some  particular  instruments, 
among  whom  two  of  the  nine  Muses,  namely,  Eu- 
terpe and  Terpsichore,  are  mentioned ;  the  first  as 
having  invented  the  Tuba,  [trumpet]  and  the  other 
the  Psalterium.  This  must  appear  to  every  one 
little  better  than  a  mere  fable ;  but  the  author  closes 
this  account  with  a  positive  assertion  that  the  Tym- 
panum, or  drum,  was  the  invention  of  Petrus  de 
Sancta  Cruce. 

In  this  chapter  the  author  takes  occasion  to  mention 
what  he  terms  the  Cantus  Coronatus,  called  also  the 
Cantus  Fractus,  which  he  defines  to  be  a  cantus  tied 
to  no  degrees  or  steps,  but  which  may  ascend  and 
descend  by  the  perfect  or  imperfect  consonances 
indifferently.  This  seems  to  be  the  reason  for  call- 
ing it  the  Cantus  Fractus.  That  for  calling  it  Cantus 
Coronatus  is  that  it  may  be  crowned,  namely,  that  it 
may  be  sung  with  a  Faburden,  of  which  hereafter. 

What  follows  next  is  a  very  brief  and  imme- 
thodical  enumeration  of  the  measures  of  verse,  the 
names  of  the  characters  used  in  the  Cantus  Men- 
surabilis,  and  of  the  consonances  and  dissonances, 
with  other  matters  of  a  miscellaneous  nature  :  among 
these  are  mentioned  certain  kinds  of  melody,  namely 
Roundellas,  Balladas,  Carollas,  and  Springas ;  but 
these  the  author  says  are  fantastic  and  frivolous, 
adding,  that  no  good  musical  writer  has  ever  thought 
it  worth  while  to  explain  their  texture. 

The  next  in  order  of  succession  to  the  treatise  De 
Origine  et  Effectu  Musicse,  is  a  tract  entitled  Spe- 
culum Psallentium,  in  which  is  contained  the  Formula 
of  St.  Gregory  for  singing  the  offices,  together  with 
certain  verses  of  St.  Augustine  to  the  same  purpose, 
and  others  of  St.  Bernard  on  the  office  of  a  precentor; 
the  formula  of  St,  Gregorv  is  as  follows : — 

'  Uniformity  is  necessary  in  all  things.  The  metre 
*  with  the  pauses  must  be  observed  by  all  in  psalmo- 
'  dizing ;  not  by  drawing  out,  but  by  keeping  up 
'  the  voice  to  the  end  of  the  verse,  according  to  the 
'  time.  Let  not  one  chorus  begin  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  as  it  were  with  one  voice  ; 

*  The  three  last  lines  of  the  above  verses  are  additional  evidence  in 
favour  of  two  positions  that  have  been  uniformly  insisted  on  in  the  course 
of  this  work,  to  wit,  that  Franco,  and  not  De  Muris,  was  the  inventor  of 
the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  and  that  De  Muris  was  not  a  Frenchman,  but 
a  native  of  England. 


'  and,  reassuming  breath,  begin  together  as  one  mouth; 
'  and  let  each  chorus  attend  to  its  cantor,  that,  accord- 

*  ing  to  the  precept  of  the  blessed  apostle  Paul,  we 
'  may  all  honour  the  Lord  with  one  voice.  And,  as 
'  it  is  said  the  angels  are  continually  singing  with 
'  one  voice,  Holy,  Holy,  Holy ;  so  ought  we  to  do 
'  without  any  remission,   which   argues   a   want   of 

*  devotion  :  whence  these  verses  of  St.  Augustine 
'  for  the  form  of  singing  Psalms  : — 

'  Tedia  nulla  chori  tibi  sint,  assiste  labori, 
'  Hora  sit  ire  foras  postquam  compleveris  horas, 
'  Egressum  nobis  ostendunt  perniciosum 
'  Dyna,  Chaim,  Corius,  Judas,  Esau,  Semeyque, 
'  Psallite  devote,  distincte  metra  tenete, 
'  Vocibus  estote  Concordes,  vana  canete, 
'  Nam  vox  frustratur,  si  mens  hie  inde  vagatur, 
'  Vox  SEepe  quassatur,  si  mens  vana  meditatur. 
'  Non  vox,  sed  votum  ;  non  musica,  sed  cor 
'  Non  clamor,  sed  amor  sonat  in  aure  Dei. 
'  Dicendis  horis  adsit  vox  cordis,  et  oris, 
'  Nunquam  posterior  versus  prius  incipiatur, 
'  Ni  suus  anterior  perfecto  fine  fruatur.' 

The  verses  of  St.  Bernard  have  the  general  title 
of  Versus  Sancti  Bernardi ;  they  consist  of  three 
divisions,  the  first  is  entituled — 

'  De  Regimene  Chori  et  Officio  Precentoris. 

'  Cantor  corde  chorum  roga,  cantum  lauda  sonorum, 

'  Concors  Psalmodia,  simui  asoiltanda  sophia ; 

'  Praecurrat  nullus,  nee  post  alium  trahat  ullus, 

'  Sed  simul  incipere,  simul  et  finem  retinere, 

'  Nulli  tractabunt  nimis,  aut  festive  sonabunt, 

'  Vive  sed  et  munda  cantabunt  voce  rotunda 

'  Versus  in  medio,  bona  pausa  sit  ordine  dicto, 

'  Ultima  certetur,  brevior  quam  circa  sonetur. 

'  Ultima  dimissa  tibi  syllaba  sit  quasi  scissa, 

'  Ars  tum  excipiat  si  scandens  ultima  fiat, 

'  Tunc  producatur  monosyllaba,  sique  sequatur, 

'  Barbara  (si  sequitur  producta)  sonans  reperitur. 

'  Detestatio  contra  perverse  psallentes. 

'  Qui  psalmos  resecant  qui  verba  recissa  volutant 

'  Non  magis  illi  ferent  quam  si  male  lingue  tacerent 

'  Hi  sunt  qui  psalmos  corrumpunt  nequiter  almos. 

'  Quos  sacra  scriptura  damnat,  reprobant  quoque  jura 

'  Janglers,  cvun  Japers,Nappers,  Galpers  quoque  Dralbers 

'  Momlers,  Forskippers,  Ourenners,  sic  Ourhippers, 

'  Fragmina  verborum  Tuttivillus  coUigit  horum. 

'  De  septem  misteriis  septem  horarum  canonicarum. 

'  Hinc   est  septenis  domino  cur  psallimus  horis  ; 
'  Prnna  flagris  cedit,  adducit  tertia  morti, 
'  Sexta  legit  solem  sed  nona  videt  morientem, 
'  Vespera  deponit,  stravit  completa  scpultum  ; 
'  Virium  nox  media  devicta  morte  revelat 
'  Si  cupis  intentam  psallendi  reddere  vocem, 
'  Crebro  crucem  pingas,  in  terram  lumina  figas, 
'  Observate  preces,  et  ne  manus  aut  caput  aut  pes 
'  Sit  motus,  pariter  animi  cum  corpore  pungas.'  f 

t  The  above  verses,  as  they  are  descriptive  of  the  state  of  church- 
music,  and  the  manner  of  sinfiinp;  the  choral  offices  in  the  time  of  St. 
Bernard,  who  lived  in  the  twelfth  century,  are  matter  of  great  curiosity. 
They  may  be  said  to  consist  of  three  parts  or  divisions  :  the  first  is  an 
exhortation  to  the  precentor  to  govern  the  choir  with  resolution,  and  to 
encourage  those  who  sing  to  sing  the  cantus  audibly,  not  wantonly,  with 
a  clear  round  voice.  The  second  part,  entitled  Detestatio  contra  perverse 
Psallentes,  is  an  execration  on  such  as  in  their  singing  corrupt  the 
Psalms  and  other  offices.  And  it  seems  by  the  context  that  the  per- 
formance of  the  choral  service  was  not  confined  to  the  clerks  and  officers 
of  the  choir,  but  that  a  lewd  rabble  of  lay  singers  bore  a  part  in  it,  and 
were  the  authors  of  the  abuses  above  complained  of.     These  men  ar» 


Chap.  LVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


247 


The  next  tract  has  for  its  title  Metrologus,  which 
any  one  would  take  to  mean  a  discourse  on  metre ; 
but  the  author  explains  it  by  the  words  Brevis  Sermo, 
which  had  certainly  been  better  expressed  by  the 
word  Micrologus,  a  title  very  commonly  given  to 
a  short  discourse  on  any  subject  whatever.  Guido's 
treatise  bearing  that  name  has  been  mentioned  largely 
in  its  place ;  and  an  author  named  Andreas  Ornitho- 
parcus  has  given  the  same  title  to  a  musical  tract  of 
his  writing,  which  was  translated  into  English  by 
oiir  countryman  Douland,  the  luteuist,  and  published 
in  the  year  1609. 

This  author  says  of  music,  that  it  is  so  called  as 
having  been  invented  by  the  Muses,  for  which  he 
cites  Isidore. 

Under  the  head  De  Inventoribus  Artis  Musice,  he 
explodes  the  opinion  that  Pythagoras  invented  the 
consonances  ;  for  he  roundly  asserts,  as  indeed  one  of 
the  authors  before-cited  has  done,  that  Tubal  first 
discovered  them.     The  following  are  his  words  : — 

*  The  master  of  history  [i  e.  Moses]  says  that 
'Tubal  was  the  father  of  those  that  played  on  the 
'  cithra  and  other  instruments  ;  not  that  he  was  the 
'  inventor  of  those  instruments,  for  they  were  invented 
'  long  after  ;  but  that  he  was  the  inventor  of  music, 
'  that  is  of  the  consonances.     As  the  pastoral  life  was 

*  rendered  delightful  by  his  brother,  so  he,  working 
'  in  the  smith's  art,  and  delighted  with  the  sound  of 
'  the  hammers,  by  means  of  their  weights  carefully 
'  investigated  the  proportions  and  consonances  arising 
'  from  them.  And  because  he  had  heard  that  Adam 
'  had  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 
'  which  was  made  of  marble,  that  it  might  not  be 

*  washed  away  by  the  deluge,  and  the  other  of  brick, 
'  which  could  not  be  dissolved  by  fire  :  and  Josephus 
'  says  that  the  marble  one  is  still  extant  in  the  land 
'  of  Syria.     So  that  the  Greeks  are  greatly  mistaken 

distinguished  by  the  strange  appellations  of  Janglers,  Japers,  Nappers, 
Galpers,  Dralbers,  Moralers,  Forskippers,  Ourenners,  and  Ourhippers, 
for  the  signification  whereof  St.  Bernard,  the  author,  refers  to  a  writer 
named  Tuttivillus  ;  but  as  his  work  is  not  now  to  be  found,  it  remains  to 
see  what  assistance  can  be  derived  from  lexicographers  and  etymologists 
towards  ascertaining  the  meaning  of  these  very  strange  terms. 

And  first  Janglers  seems  to  be  a  corruption  of  Jongleours,  a  word 
which  has  already  been  shewn  to  be  synonymous  with  minstrels,  Japers 
are  clearly  players,  Hisriones.  Skinner,  Voce  Jape,  Nappers  are  sup- 
posed to  be  drinkers,  from  Nappe,  the  Saxon  term  for  a  cup.  Benson's 
Saxon  Vocabulary.  For  Galpers  it  is  difficult  to  find  any  other  meaning 
than  Gulpers,  i.  e.  such  as  swallow  large  quantities  of  liquor,  from  the 
verb  Gulp;  and  for  this  sense  we  have  the  authority  of  the  vision  of 
Pierce  Plowman,  in  the  following  passage,  taken  from  the  Passus  Quintus 
of  that  satire  ; — 

There  was  laughing  and  louring,  and  let  go  the  cuppe. 
And  fo  fitten  they  to  even  fong,  and  fongen  other  while 
Till  Gloton  had  igalped  a  gallon  and  a  gill. 

Dralbers  may  probably  be  from  the  word  Drab.  Momlers  may  signify 
Talkers,  Praters  in  the  time  of  divine  service,  from  the  verb  Mumble, 
to  talk,  which  see  in  Skinner.  Forskippers  may  be  Fair  skippers,  i.  e. 
dancers  at  fairs.  For  Ourenners  and  Ourhippers  no  signification  can  be 
guessed  at ;  nor  does  it  seem  possible  to  ascertain,  with  any  degree  of 
precision,  the  meaning  of  any  of  the  above  words,  without  the  assistance 
of  the  book  from  which  they  were  taken :  and  supposing  none  of  the 
above  interpretations  to  hold,  there  is  nothing  to  rest  on  but  conjecture; 
and  one  of  the  most  probable  that  can  be  offered  seems  to  be  this,  that 
the  above  are  cant  terms,  invented  to  denote  some  of  the  lowest  class  of 
minstrels,  whose  knowledge  of  music  had  procured  them  occasional  em- 
ployment in  the  church. 

The  third  division  of  these  verses  of  St.  Bernard  is  entitled  '  De  septem 
Misteriis,  septem  Horarum  canonicarum,'  and  gives  directions  to 
singers  to  cross  themselves,  and  perform  other  superstitious  acts  at  the 
canonical  hours. 


'  in  ascribing  the  invention  of  this  art  to  Pythagoras, 
'  the  philosopher.' 

What  follows  is  chiefly  taken  from  the  Micrologus 
of  Guido  de  Sancto  Mauro  :  that  the  author  means 
Guido  Aretinus  there  cannot  be  the  least  doubt,  for 
some  whole  chapters  of  the  Micrologus  are  in  this 
tract  inserted  verbatim. 

Next  follow  memorial  verses  for  ascertaining  the 
dominants  and  finals  of  the  ecclesiastical  tones ;  a 
relation  of  the  discovery  of  the  consonances  by 
Pythagoras  ;  remarks  on  the  difference  between  the 
graves,  the  acutes,  and  superacutes,  and  on  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  authentic  and  plagal  modes, 
manifestly  taken  from  the  Micrologus  ;  for  it  is  here 
said,  as  it  is  there  also,  that  there  are  eight  tones,  as 
there  are  eight  Parts  of  Speech,  and  eight  Forms  of 
Blessedness. 


CHAP.  LVI. 

Next  follows  a  tract  with  this  strange  title,  '  Dis- 
'  tinctio  inter  Oolores  musicales  et  Armorum  Heroum,' 
the  intent  whereof  seems  to  be  to  demonstrate  the 
analogy  between  music  and  coat  armour.  The  au- 
thor's own  words  will  best  show  how  well  he  has 
succeeded  in  his  argument ;  they  are  as  follow  : — 

'  The  most  perfect  number  is  sixteen,  because  it 
'  may  always  be  divided  into  two  equal  parts,  as  16, 
'  8,  4,  2.  There  are  six  natural  colours,  from  which 
'  all  the  other  colours  are  compounded.  First,  the 
'  colour  black,  secondly  white,  thirdly  red  or  ruddy, 
'  fourthly  purple,  fifthly  green,  sixthly  fire-red.  The 
'  colour  black  is  in  arms  called  sable  ;  white,  silver  ; 
'  red,  gules  ;  green,  vert ;  fire-red,  or  ;  thus  called  in 
'  cantus  in  order  as  they  stand — 


'  Black  is  the  worst 

'  White  better  than  black 

'  Red  better  than  white 

'  Purple  better  than  red 

'  Green  better  than  purple 

'  Fire-red  better  than  green 

'  Fire-red  is  the  worst  colour^ 


n 


•  White 
'  Red 
'  Purple 
'  Green 
'  Black 


better  |  g 
better  \  £ 
better  (< 
better  )  c 
better^  '" 


Sable  is  the  best  and  most>, 

Silver  second  [benign  |   g 

Gules  third 

Azure  fourth 

Vert  fifth 

Gold  sixth 

Gold  is  the  first  and  most  ■ 

Silver  second  [benign 

Gules  third 

Azure  fourth 

Green  fifth 

Sable  worst 


'  The  musical  colours  are  six ;  the  principal  of 
'  which  is  gold,  the  second  silver,  the  third  red,  the 
'  fourth  purple,  the  fifth  green,  the  sixth  black  ;  an 
'  equal  proportion  always  falls  to  the  principal  colour, 
'  which  is  therefore  called  the  foundation  of  all  the 
'  colours ;  and  it  is  called  the  principal  proportion, 
'  because  all  the  unequal  proportions  may  be  produced 
'  from  it.'  This  to  the  intelligent  reader  must  appear 
to  be  little  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  witb 
those  in  music,  is  succeeded  by  the  figures  c.t  a 
triangle  and  a  shield  thus  disposed  : — ' 


248 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


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SESaUIALTERA  16 


The  next  tract  in  order  has  for  its  title  *  Declaratio 
'  trianguli  superius  positi  et  figure  de  tribus  primis 

*  figuris  quadratis  et  earum  specibus,  ac  etiam  scuti 

*  per  Magistrum  Johannem  Torkesey  ;'  which  decla- 
ration translated  is  in  the  following  words  : — 

'  In  order  to  attain  a  perfect  knowledge  of  men- 
'  surable  music,  we  should  know  that  to  praise  God, 

*  three  and  one,  there  are  three  species  of  square 

*  characters,  from  whence  are  formed  six  species  of 

*  simple  notes.     In  the  greatest  square  consists  only 

*  one  species,  which  is  called  a  large  ;  and  from  the 
'  mediation  of  that  square  there  are  made  two  species, 
'  namely,  a  breve  and  a  long  ;  from  the  upper  square 
'  are  made  three  species,  namely,  the  semibreve, 
'  minim,  and  simple  ;    from  what  has   been  said  it 

*  appears  that  no  more  species  could  be  conveniently 
'  assigned.  All  these  are  found  in  the  small  figure  of 
'  the  three  squares,  and  in  the  shield  of  the  six  simple 

*  notes.' 

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 

*  Notwithstanding  the  explanation  which  immediately  follows  the 
two  foregoing  figures,  it  seems  necessary  to  mention  in  this  place,  that 
the  first  column  of  numbers  contains  a  series  of  duple  ratios,  which  are 
called  imperfect,  the  attribute  of  perfection  being  by  all  musical  writers 
ascribed  to  the  number  3.  The  next  series  of  numbers  which  have  a 
diagonal  progression  from  right  to  left,  are  triple  ratios,  and  are  there- 
fore said  to  be  perfect :  the  others  in  succession  are  also  said  to  be  once, 
twice,  thrice,  and  so  on,  perfect,  in  respect  of  their  distance  from  the 
column  of  duples  ;  for  example,  the  number  24,  being  but  once  removed 
from  8,  is  said  to  be  once  perfect ;  whereas  36,  which  is  twice  removed 
from  4,  is  said  to  be  twice  perfect ;  and  so  of  the  rest. 

The  first  line  of  numbers  below  the  base  of  the  triangle  is  a  series  of 
numbers  in  sesquialtera  proportion,  as  32.  48.  72.  108.  162.  243.  in  which 
each  succeeding  number  contains  the  whole  and  a  half  of  the  former. 
Those  in  a  diagonal  progression  from  left  to  right  are  in  sesquitertia  pro- 
portion, as  to  take  one  line  only  for  an  example,  32.  24.  18:  in  which 
order  each  preceding  number  contains  four  of  those  equal  parts,  three  of 
which  compose  the  succeeding  ones,  for  instance,  24  is  three  fourths  of 
32,  and  18  has  the  same  ratio  to  24. 

As  to  the  shield  it  is  a  poor  conceit,  and  contains  nothing  more  than 
the  six  characters  used  in  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  which  might  have 
been  disposed  in  any  other  form  ;  and  as  to  the  representation  of  the 
three  first  square  figures,  it  speaks  for  itself. 


value  is  a  crotchet,  but  its  character  that  of  a  modern 
quaver. 

A  table  of  the  ratios  of  the  consonances  and  dis- 
sonances, with  their  several  differences,  follows  next 
in  order,  after  which  occur  a  few  miscellaneous  ob- 
servations on  descant,  among  which  is  this  rule  : — 

'  It  is  to  be  known  that  no  one  ought  to  make  two 
*  concordances  the  one  after  the  other.' 

This,  though  a  well-known  rule  in  composition,  is 
worthy  of  remark,  and  the  antiquity  of  it  may  be 
inferred  from  its  occurring  in  this  place. 

The  above  explanation  of  the  shield  and  triangle, 
with  the  several  matters  above  -  enumerated,  sub- 
sequent thereto,  are  followed  by  a  tract  entitled 
Regule  Magistri  Johannis  De  Muris,  which,  though 
it  seems  to  carry  the  appearance  of  a  tract  written  by 
De  Muris  himself,  is  in  truth  but  an  abridgment  of 
his  doctrine  touching  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  to- 
gether with  that  of  the  ligatures,  which  most  writers 
seem  to  agree  were  an  improvement  on  the  original 
invention. 

The  rules  contained  in  this  discourse  are  not  only 
to  be  met  with  in  most  of  the  tracts  before  cited,  but 
in  every  book  that  professes  to  treat  of  mensurable 
music.  We  however  learn  from  it  that  originally 
the  minim  was  not,  as  now,  evacuated,  or  open  at  the 
top,  as  appears  by  this  author's  definition  of  it : — 
'  A  minim  is  a  quadrangular  character  resembling  a 
'  semibreve  with  a  stroke  ascending  from  the  upper 

'  angle    as    here   E3E±Eii^    ^^^    *^6    simple    or 

'  crotchet  is  characterised  thus  :  —p^  I*  ^  ^  ♦~ 

To  these  rules  succeed  others  of  an  author  herein- 
before named,  Thomas  Walsyngham.  of  the  same 
import  with  those  of  De  Muris,  in  which  nothing 
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  Crotchet,  which  he  says  would  be  of  no 
use,  would  they  but  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  Thomas  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  English  writers.  It  is  true 
that  bishop  Tanner,  in  his  Bibliotheca,  pag.  752,  has 
taken  notice  of  the  latter,  but  without  any  particular 
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  tracts  on  the  subject  of  descant, 
the  first  by  one  Lyonel  Power,  an  author  whose 
name  occurs  in  the  catalogue  at  the  end  of  Morley's 
Introduction,  the  other  by  one  Chilston,  of  whom  no 
account  can  be  given.  As  to  the  tracts  themselves, 
they  are  probably  extant  only  in  manuscript.  They 
are  of  great  antiquity  ;  for  the  style  and  orthography 
of  them  both,  render  it  probable  that  the  authors 


^HAP.  LVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


249 


ware  among  the  first  writers  in  the  English  language 
on  this  subject ;  at  least  if  we  compare  their  respective 
works  with  the  prose  works  of  Chaucer  and  Lydgate, 
we  shall  find  very  little  reason  to  think  they  were 
written  a  great  while  after  the  time  when  the  latter 
of  those  authoi's  lived. 

Power  tells  his  reader  that  '  his  tretis  is  contynued 

*  upon  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  thing  of  alle  ye  must  kno  how  many 
cordis  of  discant  ther  be.  As  olde  men  sayen,  and 
as  men  syng  now-a-dayes,  ther  be  nine  ;  but  whoso 
wil  syng  mannerli  and  musikili,  he  may  not  lepe  to 
the  fyfteenth  in  no  maner  of  discant ;  for  it  longith 
to  no  manny's  voys,  and  so  ther  be  but  eyght 
accordis  after  the  discant  now  usid.  And  whosover 
wil  be  a  maker,  he  may  use  no  mo  than  eyght,  and 
so  ther  be  but  eyght  fro  unison  unto  the  thyrteenth. 
But  for  the  quatribil  syghte  ther  be  nyne  accordis  of 
discant,  the  unison,  thyrd,  fyfth,  syxth,  eyghth,  tenth, 
twelfth,  thyrteenth,  and  fyfteenth,  of  the  whech 
nyne  accordis,  fyve  be  perfyte  and  fower  be  im- 
perfyte.  The  fyve  perfyte  be  the  unison,  fyfth, 
eyghth,  twelfth,  and  fyfteenth  ;  the  fower  imperfyte 
be  the  thyrd,  syxth,  tenth,  and  thyrteenth  :  also 
thou  maist  ascende  and  descende  wyth  all  maner  of 
cordis  excepte  two  accordis  perfyte  of  one  kynde,  as 
two  unisons,  two  fyfths,  two  eyghths,  two  twelfths, 
two  fyfteenths,  wyth  none  of  these  thou  maist  neyther 
ascende,  neyther  descende  ;  but  thou  must  consette 
these  accordis  togeder,  and  medele*  hem  wel,  as 
I  shall  enforme  the.  Ferst  thou  shall  medele  wyth 
a  thyrd  a  fyfth,  wyth  a  syxth  an  eyghth,  wyth  an 
eyghth  a  tenth,  wyth  a  tenth  a  twelfth,  wyth  a 
thyrteenth  a  fyfteenth ;  under  the  whech  nyne 
accordis  three  syghtis  be  conteynyd,  the  mene 
syght,  the  trebil  syght,  and  the  quatribil  syght : 
and  others  also  of  the  nyne  accordis  how  thou  shalt 
hem  ymagyne  betwene  the  playn-song  and  the  dis- 
cant here  folloeth  the  ensample.  First,  to  en- 
forme  a  chylde  in  hys  counterpoynt,  he  must 
ymagyne  hys  unison  the  eyghth  note  fro  the  playn- 
song,  benethe  hys  thyrd  ;  the  syxth  note  benethe 
hys  fyfth ;  the  fowerth  benethe  hys  syxth ;  the 
thyrd  note  benethe  hys  eyghth,  even  wyth  the 
playne-song ;  hys  tenth  the  thyrd  note  above,  hys 
twelfth  the  fyfth  note  above,  hys  thyrteenth  the 
syxth  above,  hys  fyfteenth  the  eyghth  note  above 
the  playne-song.' 
The  conclusion  of  this  discourse  on  the  practice  of 
descant  is  in  these  words  : — 

'  But  who  wil  kenne  his  gamme  well,  and  the 
'  imaginacions  therof,  and  of  hys  acordis,  and  sette 
'  his  perfyte  acordis  wyth  his  imperfyte  accordis,  as 

*  I  have  rehersed  in  thys  tretise  afore,  he  may  not 
faile  of  his  counterpoynt  in  short  tjone.' 

The  latter  of  the  two  tracts  on  descant  above- 
mentioned,  viz.,  that  with  the  name  of  Chilston,  is 
also  part  of  the  manuscript  of  Walthara  Holy  Cross : 
it  immediately  follows  that  of  Lyonel  Power,  and 
IS  probably  of  little   less   antiquity.      There   is  no 

*  f  e.  Mingle. 


possibility  of  abridging  a  discourse  of  this  kind,  and 
therefore  the  most  material  parts  of  it  are  here  given 
in  the  words  of  the  author.  The  following  is  the 
introduction : — 

'  Her  followth  a  litil  tretise  according  to  the  ferst 

*  tretise  of   the  syght  of  descant,  and  also  for  the 

*  syght  of  conter,  and  for  the  syght  of  the  contirtenor, 
'  and  of  Faburdon.' 

To  explain  the  sight  of  descant  the  author  first 
enumerates  the  nine  accords  mentioned  in  the  former 
tract ;  distinguishing  them  into  perfect  and  imperfect, 
and  then  proceeds  to  give  the  rules  in  the  following 
words : — 

*  Also  it  is  to  wete  that  ther  be  three  degreis  of 
descant,  the  quatreble  sighte,  and  the  treble  sighte, 
and  the  mene  sighte.     The   mene   begynneth   in 
a  fifth  above  the  plain-song  in  vols,  and  with  the 
plain-song  in  sighte.     The  trebil  begynneth  in  an 
eyghth  above  in  voise,  and  with  the  plaine-song  in 
sighte.    The  quatreble  begynnyth  in  a  twilfth  above 
in  voise.  and  wyth  the  playne-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,    scil.   fyfthe, 
syxthe,  eyghth,  tenth,  and  twelfthe.     To  the  qua- 
treble  longith  properli  five  accordis,  scil.  eyghth, 
tenth,  twelfth,  thyrteenth,  and  fyfteenth.     Further- 
more it  is  to  wete  that  of  al  the  cords  of  descant 
sume  be  above  the  playne-song,  and  sume  benethe, 
and  sume  wyth  the  playne-song.     And  so  the  dis- 
canter  of  the  mene  shal  begyne  hys  descant  wyth 
the  plain-song  in  sighte,  and  a  fyfthe  above  in  voise; 
and  so  he   shal  ende  it  in  a  fyfthe,  havyng  next 
afore  a  thyrd,  yf  the  plain-song  descende  and  ende 
downward,  as  fa,  mi,  mi,  re,  re,  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  descanter  of  the 
mene  may  syng  yf  the  plain-song  go  low;  never- 
thelesse  ther  long  no  mo  acordis  to  the  mene  but 
fyve,  as  it  is  aforsaide.' 
The  above  are  the  rules  of  descant,  as  they  respect 
that  part  of  the  harmony,  by  this  and  other  authors 
called  the  Mene.    He  proceeds  next  to  give  the  rules 
for  the  treble  descant,  and  after  that  for  the  quadrible. 
By  these  latter  we  learn  that  the  mean  descant 
must  be  sung  by  a  man,  and  the  quadrible  by  a  child. 
Afterwards  follow  these  general  directions  : — 
'  Also  yt  is  to  knowe  whan  thou  settist  a  perfite 
'  note  ayenst  a  fa,  thou  must  make  that  perfite  note 

*  a  fa,  as  MI,  FA,  SOL,  LA ;  also  it  is  fayre  and  meri 
'  singing  many  imperfite  cordis  togeder,  as  for  to 
'  sing  three  or  fower  or  five  thyrds  together,  a  fyfth 
'  or  a  unyson  next  aftir.  Also  as  many  syxts  next 
'  aftir  an  eyghth  ;  also  as  many  tenths  nexte  aftir 
'  a  twelfth ;  also  as  many  thirteenths  next  aftir 
'  a  fyfteenth :  this  maner  of  syngyng  is  mery  to  the 
'  synger,  and  to  the  herer.' 

And  concerning  the  practice  of  Faburden,  men- 
tioned in  the  title  of  his  tract,  the  author  above-cited 
has  these  words : — 


250 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


'  For  the  leest  processe  of  sightis  natural  and  most 
'  in  use  is  expedient  to  declare  the  siglit  of  Faburdun, 
'  the  whech  hath  but  two  sightis,  a  thyrd  above  the 
'  plain-song  in  sight,  the  wheche  is  a  syxt  fro  the 
'  treble  in  voice ;  and  even  wyth  the  plain-song  in 
'  sight,  the  wheche  is  an  eyghth  from  the  treble  in 
'  voise.  These  two  acordis  of  the  Faburden  must 
'  rewle  be  the  mene  of  the  plain-song,  for  whan  he 

*  shal  begin  his  Faburdun  he  must  attende  to  the 
'  plain-song,  and  sette  hys  sight  evyn  wyth  the  plain- 
'  song,  and  his  voice  in  a  fyfth  benethe  the  plain-song; 

*  and  after  that,  whether  the  plain-song  ascende  or 
'  descende,  to  sette  his  sight  alwey  both  in  reule  and 
'  space  above  the  plain-song  in  a  thyrd ;  and  after 
'  that  the  plain-song  haunteth  hys  course  eyther  in 
'  acutes,  fro  g  sol  re  ut  above,  to  G  sol  re  ut 
'  benethe,  to  close  dunward  in  sight,  evyn  upon  the 
'  plain-song,  upon  one  of  these  keyes,  I)  la  sol  re, 
'  C  SOL  FA  UT,  A  LA  MI  RE.  or  G  SOL  RE  UT  benethe. 
'And  yf  the  plain -song  haunt  hys  course  from  G 
'  SOL  RE  UT  benethe,  downe  towarde  A  re  conveny- 
'  ently,  than  to  see  before  wher  he  may  close  wyth 
'  two  or  three  or  fower  thyrds  before,  eyther  in  F 

*  FA  UT  benethe,  or  D  sol  re,  or  C  fa  ut,  or  A  re, 

*  and  al  these  closis  gladli  to  be  sunge  and  closid  at 
'  the  laste  ende  of  a  word  :  and  as  ofte  as  he  wil.  to 
'  touche  the  plain-songe  and  void  the  fro  excepte 
'  twies  togedir,  for  that  may  not  be  :  inasmoche  as 
'  the  plain-song  sight  is  an  eyghth  to  the  treble,  and 
'  a  fyfth  to  the  mene,  and  so  to  every  degree  he  is 
'  a  perfite   corde ;    and   two   perfite   acordis   of  one 

*  nature  may  not  be  sung  togedir  in  no  degree  of 
'  descant.' 

The  foregoing  treatise  on  descant  of  Chilston  is 
immediately  followed  by  another  of  the  same  author 
on  proportion,  which  is  thus  introduced : — 

'  Now  passid  al  maner  sightis  of  descant,  and  with 
'  hem  wel  replesshid,  that  natural  appetide  not  satu- 
'  rate  sufficientli,  but  ferventli  desirith  mo  musical 

*  conclusions,  as  now  in  special  of  proporcions,  and  of 
'  them  to  have  plein  informacion,  of  the  whech  after 
'  myn  understonding  ye  shall  have  open  declaracion. 
'  But  forasmoche  as  the  namys  of  hem  be  more  con- 
'  venientli  and  compendiusli  set  in  Latin  than  in 
'  English,  therefore  the  namys  of  hem  shal   stonde 

*  stille  in  Latin,  and  as  brievely  as  I  can  declare  the 
'  naturis  of  them  in  English.  First  ye  shal  under- 
'  stond  that  proporcion  is  a  comparison  of  two 
'  thinges  be  encheson  of  numbir  or  of  quantitie,  like 
'  or  unlike  eyther  to  other ;    so  that  proporcion  is 

*  seid  in  two  maner  of  wyse,  scilicet,  Equalitatis  and 
'  Inequalitatis.  Proporcion  of  Equalitie  is  whan  two 
'  evyn  thinges  be  likenyd,  either  sette  togedir  in 
'  comparison,  as  2  to  2,  or  4  to  4,  and  so  of  others. 

*  Proporcion  of  Inequalitie  is  whan  the  more  thinge 
'  is  sette  in  comparison  to  the  lasse,  or  the  lasse  to 
'  the  more,  as  2  to  4,  or  4  to  2,  or  3  to  5,  or  5  to  3  ; 
'  and  thys  proportion  of  inequalitie  hath  five  species 

*  or  naturis  or  keendys,  whois  namys  be  these  in 
'  general :  1,  Multiplex  ;  2.  Superparticularis ;  3.  Su- 
'  perpartiens  ;  4.  Multiplex  superparticularis ;  5.  Mul- 
'  tiplex  superpartiens.  The  first  spece  of  every 
'  keende  of  inequalitie  is  callid  Jlultiplex,  that  is  to 


sey  manifold,  and  is  whan  the  more  nombre  con- 
teyuyth  the  lasse  manyfolde,  as  twies  1  ;  and  that  is 
callid  in  special,  Dupla,  id  est,  tweyfold,  as  2  to  1, 
or  4  to  2,  or  6  to  3,  and  so  forthe  endlesli.  Yf  the 
more  numbir  conteyne  thries  the  lasse,  than  it  is 
callid  in  special,  Tri^Dla,  as  3  to  1,  6  to  2,  9  to  3  ; 
yf  it  be  four  times  the  lasse  conteinid  in  the  more, 
than  it  is  Quadrupla,  as  4  to  1,  8  to  2,  12  to  3,  and 
so  forthe.  Quindupla,  Sexdupla,  Sepdupla,  Ocdupla, 
and  so  upward  endlesli.  As  for  other  keendis,  ye 
shall  understond  that  there  be  two  manere  of  parties, 
one  is  callid  Aliquota,  and  another  is  callid  Non 
aliquota.  Pars  Aliquota  is  whan  that  partie  be  ony 
maner  of  multiplicacion  yeldeth  his  hole,  as  whan 
betweue  his  hole  and  him  is  proporcion  Midtiplex, 
as  a  unite  is  Pars  Aliquota  of  every  numbir  ;  for  be 
multiplicacion  of  that,  every  numbir  wexeth  tweyne  : 
or  dualite  is  Pars  Aliquota  of  every  evyn  numbir  ; 
and  thus  this  partie  shal  be  namyd  in  special  after 
the  numbre  on  whom  he  is  multiplied  and  yeldeth 
his  hole  ;  for  if  he  yeldeth  his  hole  be  multiplicacion 
of  2,  it  is  callid  Altera,  one  halfe  ;  and  yf  he  yeldeth 
his  hole  be  multiplicacion  of  three,  it  is  called  Tertia, 
in  the  third  part ;  Sequitur  exemplum,  two  is  the 
thirde  part  of  6,  and  3  of  9,  and  4  of  12  ;  and  yf  he 
yeldeth  his  multiplicacion  be  4,  than  it  is  called 
Quarta,  as  2  for  8,  for  4  tymys  2  is  8  ;  and  if  it 
yeldith  his  hole  be  multiplicacion  of  5,  than  it  is 
callid  Quinta,  and  of  6  Sexta,  and  so  forth  endlesli. 
Pars  non  aliquota  is  whan  that  partie  be  no  maner 
of  multiplicacion  may  yelde  his  hole,  as  2  is  a  parte 
of  5 ;  but  he  is  non  aliquota,  for  howsoever  he  be 
multiplied  he  makith  not  evyn  5,  for  yf  ye  take  him 
twies  he  makith  but  4 ;  and  if  ye  take  him  thries 
he  passith  and  makith  6.  Proportio  superparticu- 
laris is  whan  the  more  numbir  conteynyth  the  lasse  ; 
and  moreover  a  party  of  him  that  is  Aliquota,  and 
aftir  the  special  name  of  that  Parties  shal  that  pro- 
porcion be  namid  in  special,  as  betwene  6  and  4  is 
Proporcion  sesquialtera ;  Ses  in  Greek,  Totum  in 
Latin,  al  in  Englishe,  so  Sesquialtera  is  for  to  sey  al 
and  a  halfe,  for  the  more  numbir  conteynyth  al  the 
lasse,  and  halfe  thereof  more  over.  Between  8  and 
6  is  proportion  Sesquitercia,  for  the  more  numbir 
conteynyth  the  lasse,  and  hys  thyrd  part  over.  Be- 
twene 10  and  8  is  sesquiquarta,  betwene  12  and  10 
is  sesquiquinta,  betwene  14  and  12  is  sesquisexta,  et 
sic  infinite.  Proporcio  superparciens  is  whan  the 
more  numbir  conteynyth  the  lasse ;  and  moreover 
the  whech  excesse  eyther*"  superplus  is  not  Pars 
aliquota  of  the  lasse  numbir,  as  betwene  5  and  3. 
But  than  thou  must  loke  to  that  excesse  whan  the 
more  number  passith  the  lasse,  and  devyde  it  into 
sweche  parties  that  be  aliquota ;  and  loke  how  many 
there  be  thereof,  and  what  is  her  special  namys,  and 
whether  they  be  thyrde,  fow^erth,  or  fyfthe,  and  so 
forthe.  And  yf  ther  be  two  parties  aliquote,  than 
thou  shalt  sey  in  special  Superbiparciens  ;  and  yf 
ther  be  three,  supertriparciens  ;  and  yf  ther  be  four, 
superquartiparciens,  and  so  forthe.  And  ferther- 
more  tho  parties  that  be  tercie,  than  thou  shalt  sey 
alwey  at  last  ende,  Tercias  ;   and  yf  ther  be  four 

•  Eyther  for  or,  in  this  and  many  other  places  through  this  quotation. 


Chap.  LVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


251 


Quartas,  and  so  forth  endlesli.  Sequitur  exemplum, 
betwene  5  and  3  is  proporcion  Supei'biparciens  ter- 
tias,  for  the  more  number  conteynyth  the  lasse,  and 
two  parties  over  that  be  tereie  ;  but  they  both 
togedir  be  not  pars  aliquota  of  the  lasse  number  ; 
betwene  7  and  5  is  Superbiparciens  quintas ;  be- 
twene 7  and  3  is  Dupla  sesquitercias  ;  betwene  9 
and  5  is  Superquartiparciens  quintas  ;  betwene  10 
and  6  is  Superbiparciens  tercias  :  and  loke  ye  take 
goode  hede  that  ye  devyde  the  excesse  into  the 
grettest  partyes  aliquotas  that  ye  may,  as  here,  in 
this  last  ensample,  4  is  devyded  into  2  dualities,  that 
beeue  tereie  of  six.  And  take  this  for  a  general 
rewle,  that  the  same  proportion  that  is  betwene 
twoe  sraale  numberis,  the  same  is  betwene  her 
doubles  and  treblis,  and  quatrebils,  and  quiniblis, 
and  so  forth  endlesly.  Sequitur  exemplum,  the 
same  proporcion  that  is  betwene  5  and  3,  is  betwene 
10  and  6  ;  betwene  20  and  12  ;  betwene  40  and  24 ; 
betwene  80  and  48,  and  so  forth  endlesli.  IMulti- 
plex  superparticularis  is  whan  the  more  numbir 
conteynythe  the  lasse,  and  a  partye  of  him  that  is 
aliquota ;  as  5  and  2  is  dupla  sesquialtera.  and  so  is 
10  and  4  ;  and  so  is  20  and  8  ;  but  7  and  3  is  dupla 
sesquitercia,  and  so  is  14  and  6.  Multiplex  super- 
parciens  is  whan  the  more  numbir  conteynyth  the 
lasse,  and  the  parties  that  be  over  aliquote.  But 
thei  alle  togedir  be  not  one  parte  aliquota,  as  8  and 
3  is  dupla  superbiparciens  tercias,  and  so  is  16 
and  6,  32  and  12. 

'  Here  folowyth  a  breve  tretise  of  proporcions,  and 
of  their  denominacions,  with  a  litil  table  folwing  : — 

'  The  proporcion  betwene  1  and  1,  2  and  2,  3  and 
3,  and  so  in  more  numbir,  is  callid  evyn  proporcion, 
for  every  parcell  be  himselfe  is  evyn  in  nombir,  and 
the  same. 

*  Betwene  8  and  4  is  callid  dowble  proporcion,  for 
the  more  nombir  conteynyth  twice  the  lasse.  Be- 
twene 5  and  4  is  Sesquiquarta,  for  the  more  numbir 
conteynyth  the  lasse,  and  the  fourthe  parte  of  him 
over.  Betwene  5  and  3  is  Superbiparciens  tercias, 
for  the  more  numbir  conteynythe  the  lasse,  and  2  par- 
ties over,  of  the  whech  eche  be  himselfe,  is  the  thyrde 
parte  of  the  lasse.  Betwene  14  and  4  is  dupla  ses- 
quialtera, for  the  more  numbir  conteynyth  thries  the 
lesse,  and  the  halfe  over.*  Betwene  8  and  3  is  dujtla 
superbiparciens  tercias,  for  the  more  numbir  con- 
teynyth twies  the  lasse,  and  his  two  parties  over ; 
of  the  whech  Pars  aliquota  is  not  made  be  the  lesse 
numbir,  but  ech  be  himselfe  is  the  thyrde  parte  of 
the  lesse  numbir.  Betwene  3  and  2  is  Sesquialtera, 
for  the  more  numbir  conteynyth  the  lesse,  and  the 
halfe  of  him  over  ;  betwene  4  and  3  is  Sesquitercia, 
for  the  more  numbir  conteynyth  the  lasse,  and  thries 
one  parte  over,  the  whech  is  the  thyrde  parte  of  the 
lesse  numbir.  Betwene  6  and  2  is  Tripla,  for  the 
more  numbir  conteynyth  thries  the  lesse  numbir. 
Betwene  6  and  3  is  Dupla,  for  the  more  numbir  con- 
teynyth twies  the  lesse.  Betwene  3  and  1  is  Tripla, 
ut  supra.  Betwene  5  and  2  is  Dupla  Sesquialtera, 
for  the  more  numbir  conteynyth  twies  the  lesse,  and 
the  halfe  parti  of  him  over.     Betwene  6  and  5  is 

*  Quere,  if  not  Triple  sesquialtera,  for  the  reason  above. 


'  Sesquiquinta,  for  the  more  numbir  conteynyth  thries 
'  the  lasse,  and  his  fifth  part  over.  Betwene  7  and 
'  2  is  Tripla  Sesquialtera,  for  the  more  numbir  con- 
'  teynytli  thries  the  lasse,  and  halfe  him  over.  Be- 
'  twene  7  and  3  is  Sesquitercia,  ut  supra.  Betwene 
'  8  and  5  is  Supertriparciens  quintas,  for  the  more 
'  numbir  conteynyth  the  lasse,  and  three  parties  over, 
'  of  the  whech  pars  aliquota  is  not  made.  Betwene 
'  9  and  2  is  Quadrupla  Sesquialtera,  for  the  more 
'  numbir  conteynyth  the  lesse,  [four  times]  and  his 
'  halfe  over.' 

Then  follow  two  tables  of  the  proportions  in 
figures,  in  no  respect  different  from  those  that  are  to 
be  met  with  in  Salinas,  Zarlino,  Mersennus,  Kircher, 
and  other  writers,  for  which  reason  they  are  not 
here  inserted. 

'  Thus  over  passid  the  reulis  of  proporcions,  and 
of  their  denominacions,  now  shal  ye  understonde 
that  as  proporcion  is  a  comparison  betwene  diverse 
quantiteis  ov  their  numbris,  so  is  Proporcionalitas 
a  comparison  eyther  a  likeness  be  2  proporcions 
and  3  diverse  quantiteis  atte  last,  the  whech 
quantiteis  or  numbris  been  callid  the  termis  of 
that  proporcionalite ;  and  whan  the  ferst  terme 
passith  the  seconde  than  it  is  callid  the  ferst  ex- 
cesse ;  and  whan  the  seconde  terme  passith  the 
thyrd,  than  it  is  callid  the  seconde  excesse  :  so  ther 
be  3  maner  of  proporcionalities,  sc.  Geometrica, 
Arithmetica,  and  Armonica.  Proporcionalitas  Geo- 
metrica is  whan  the  same  proporcion  is  betwene 
the  ferst  terme  and  the  seconde,  that  is  betwene  the 
second  and  the  thyrde  ;  whan  al  the  proporcions  be 
like,  as  betwene  8,  4,  2,  is  Proj^orcionalitas  Geo- 
metrica ;  for  proporcion  dupla  is  the  ferst,  and  so  is 
the  seconde ;  9  to  6,  6  to  4  Sesquialtera  ;  16  to  12, 
12  to  9  Sesquitercia ;  25  to  20,  20  to  16  Sesqui- 
quarta ;  36  to  30,  30  to  25  Sesquiquinta,  and  so  forth 
upward,  encresing  the  numbir  of  difference  be  oue, 
Tlie  numbir  of  difference  and  the  excesse  is  all  one 
Whan  the  ferst  numbir  eyther  terme  passith  the 
seconde,  eyther  the  seconde  the  thyrde,  than  after 
the  lasse  excesse  or  difference  shall  that  proporcion 
be  callid  bothe  the  ferst  and  the  seconde,  as  9,  6,  4 ; 
the  lasse  difference  is  2,  and  aliquota  that  is  namyd 
be  2,  is  callid  the  seconde  or  altera  :  put  than  to 
the  excesse  or  difference  one  unite  more,  and  that  is 
the  more  difference,  and  the  tweyne  proporcions  be 
than  bothe  callid  Sesquialtera.  Than  take  the  most 
numbir  of  the  three  termys,  and  increse  a  numbir 
above  what  the  more  difference  that  was  before, 
than  hast  thou  9  and  12,  whois  difference  is  3. 
Encrese  than  the  more  numbir  be  3,  and  one  unite, 
scil.  be  4,  than  hast  thou  16.  So  here  be  3,  9,  12, 
16,  in  proporcionalite  Geometrica,  wherof  bothe 
proporcions  be  called  Sesquitercia,  after  the  lesse 
difference.  Werk  thus  forthe  endlesli,  and  thou 
shal  finde  the  same  Sesquisexta,  Sesquiseptima, 
Sesquioctava,  Sesquinona,  Sesquidecima,  Sesqui- 
undecima. 

'  Another  general  reule  to  fynde  this  proporcion- 
alite that  is  callid  Geometrica  is  this,  take  whech 
2  numbris  that  thou  wilt  that  be  immediate,  and 
that  one  that  passith  the  other  be  one  unite,  mul- 


252 


HISTOEY  OP  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  VI. 


tiplie  the  one  be  the  other,  and  every  eche  be  him- 
selfe,  and  thou  shalt  have  3  termys  in  proporcion- 
alite  Geometrica,  and  eyther  proporcion  shal  be 
namyd  in  general,  Superparticularis,  be  the  lasse 
nunibir  of  the  2,  that  thou  toke  ferst.  Exemplum, 
as  3,  4  ;  multiplye  3  be  himselfe,  and  it  makith  9  ; 
multiply  3  be  4,  and  it  makith  12  :  multiplye  4  be 
himselfe  and  it  makith  16  ;  than  thus  thou  hast  3, 
9,  12,  16,  in  proporcionalite  Geometrica,  and  thus 
thou  shalt  finde  the  same,  what  2  numbris  immediate 
that  ever  thou  take. 

'  And  take  this  for  a  general  reule  in  this  maner 
proporcionalite,  that  the  medil  terme  multiplied  be 
himselfe  is  neyther  mo  ne  lesse  then  the  two  ex- 
tremyteis  be,  eche  multiplied  be  other  :  exemplum, 
12  multiplied  be  himselfe  is  12  tymes  12,  that  is  144, 
and  so  is  9  tymes  16,  or  16  tymes  9,  that  is  al  one. 
And  this  reule  faylith  never  of  this  maner  propor- 
cionalite in  no  maner  of  keende  of  proporcion,  asay 
whoso  wil.  Proporcionalitas  Arithmetica  is  whan 
the  difference  or  the  excesse  be  like  1,  whan  the 
more  numbir  passith  the  seconde  as  moche  as  the 
seconde  passith  the  thyrde,  and  so  forthe,  yf  ther  be 
mo  termys  than  3,  exemplum  6,  4,  2.  The  ferst 
excesse  or  difiference  is  2  between  6  and  4,  and  thus 
the  seconde  betwene  4  and  2.  Proporcionalitas 
Armonica  is  whan  there  is  the  same  proporcion  be- 
twene the  ferst  excesse  or  difference  and  the  seconde 
that  is  betwene  the  ferst  terme  and  the  thyrd,  ex- 
emplum, 12,  8,  6.  Here  the  firste  difference 
betwene  12  and  8  is  4 ;  the  seconde  betwene  8  and 
6  is  2  ;  than  the  same  proporcion  is  betwene  4  and  2 
that  is  betwene  12  and  6,  for  eyther  is  proporcion 
dupla.  These  3  proporcionalites  Boys  *  callith 
Medietates,  i.  e.  Midlis,  and  thei  have  these  namis, 
Geometrica,  Arithmetica,  Armonica.  As  for  the 
maner  of  tretting  of  these  3  sciences,  Gemetrye 
tretith  of  lengthe,  and  brede  of  londe  ;  Arithmeticke 
of  morenesse  and  lassnesse  of  numbir ;  INIusike  of 
the  highness  and  louness  of  voyse.  Than  whan 
thou  biddest  me  yefe  the  a  midle  betwene  2  num- 
bris, I  may  aske  the  what  maner  of  midle  thou  wilt 
have,  and  after  that  shal  be  the  diversite  of  myn 
answer  ;  for  the  numbris  may  be  referrid  to  lengthe 
and  brede  of  erth,  or  of  other  mesore  that  longith 
to  Geometric  ;  eyther  thei  may  be  considered  as 
they  be  numbir  in  himselfe,  and  so  they  long 
to  Arithmetike ;  eyther  thei  may  be  referrid  to 
lengthe  and  shortnesse  and  mesure  of  musical  in- 
strumentis,  the  whech  cause  highnesse  and  lownesse 
of  voyse,  and  so  thei  long  to  Armonye  and  to 
craft  of  musike :  Exemplum  of  the  ferst,  i.  e., 
Gemetrye :  of  9  and  4  yf  thou  aske  me  whech  is 
the  medle  by  Geometrye,  I  sey  6  for  this  skille  ; 
yf  there  were  a  place  of  9  fote  long  and  4  fote 
brode  be  Gemetrye,  that  wer  36  fote  square  :  than 
yf  thou  bade  me  yeve  the  a  bodi,  or  another 
place  that  wer  evyn  square,  that  is  callid  Qnadratum 
equilaterum,  wherein  wer  neythir  more  space  ne 
lesse  than  is  in  the  former  place  that  was  ferst 
assigned,  than  must  thou  abate  of  the  lengthe  of  the 
former  place,  and  eke  as  moche  his  brede,  so  that  it 

*  Boetius. 


be  no  lengir  than  it  is  brode,  that  must  be  by  pro- 
porcion, so  that  the  same  proporcion  be  betwene  the 
lenthe  of  the  former  bodi  and  a  syde  of  the  seconde 
that  is  betwene  the  same  syde  and  the  brede  of  the 
ferst  bodi ;  and  then  hast  thou  the  medil  betwene 
the  lengthe  and  the  bredth  of  the  ferst  bodi  or  place  ; 
and  be  that  medle  a  place  4  square  that  is  evyn 
thereto,  as  in  this  ensample  that  was  ferst  assignyd, 
9  and  4  and  6  is  the  medil,  and  as  many  fote  is  in 
a  bodi  or  a  place  that  is  evyn  4  square  6  fote,  as  in 
tliat  that  is  9  fote  longe  and  4  fote  brode,  viz.,  36  in 
bothe.  The  seconde  proporcionalite  is  opin  whan 
it  is  callid  the  medil  be  Arithmetike,  the  whech 
trettyth  of  morenesse  and  lassenesse  of  numbir,  in 
as  moche  as  the  more  numbir  passith  the  seconde 
be  as  moche  as  the  seconde  passith  the  thirde. 
Neyther  more  ne  lesse  passith  12,  9,  than  9  passyth 
6,  and  therefore  9  is  Medium  Arithmeticum.  Tho 
thirde  proporcionalite  is  callid  Armonica,  or  a  medil 
be  armonye  for  this  skille.  Dyapason,  that  is  pro- 
porcion dupla,  is  the  most  perfite  acorde  aftir  tho 
unison :  betwene  the  extremyteis  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.  Sesquialtera  to  the  tenor  and  dyatessaron,  i.  e. 
Sesquitercia  to  the  trebil,  therefore  that  maner  of 
mvdle  is  callid  Medietas  Armonica.  Sequitur  exem- 
plum :  a  pipe  of  6  fote  long,  with  his  competent 
bredth,  is  a  tenor  in  dyapason  to  a  pipe  of  3  fote 
with  his  competent  brede ;  than  is  a  pipe  of  4  fote 
the  mene  to  hem  tweyne,  dyatessaron  to  the  one 
and  dyapente  to  the  other.  As  thou  shalt  fynde 
more  pleynli  in  the  makyng  of  the  monocorde, 
that  is  called  the  Instrument  of  Plain-song,  the 
whech  monocorde  is  the  ferst  trettyse  in  the  begyn- 
nyng  of  this  boke,  but  this  sufficith  for  knowleeg  of 
proporcions.' 

CHAP.  LVII. 

The  two  foregoing  manuscripts,  that  is  to  say,  that 
in  the  Cotton  library,  and  the  other  called  the  Manu- 
script of  Waltham  Holy  Cross,  above-mentioned  to 
be  the  property  of  Mr.  West,  are  such  valuable 
treasures  of  recondite  learning,  that  they  would 
justify  a  copious  dissertation  on  the  several  tracts 
contained  in  them  ;  in  the  course  whereof  it  might 
be  demonstrated,  that  without  the  assistances  which 
they  afford,  it  had  been  extremely  difficult  to  have 
traced  the  history  of  music  through  a  period  of  three 
hundred  years,  the  darkest  in  which  literature  of 
most  kinds  can  be  said  to  have  been  involved.  But 
as  a  minute  examen  of  each  would  too  much  interrupt 
the  course  of  this  work,  some  general  remarks  on 
them  in  their  order,  must  suffice. 

And  first  of  De  Handlo's  Commentary  on  the 
rules  and  maxims  of  Franco.  The  time  when  it 
was  compiled  appears  to  be  a  little  before  the  feast 
of  Pentecost,  1326 ;  but  it  is  observable  that  the 
memorandum  at  the  end,  which  thus  fixes  the  time, 
refers  solely  to  De  Handlo's  tract,  and  how  long  the 
rules  of  Franco  had  existed  before  the  commentary, 
is  clearly  ascertained  by  the  account  herein  before 
given  of  him  and  his  improvement. 


Chap  LVII. 


AND  PKACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


253 


It  must  be  confessed  tliat  to  carry  the  invention  of 
the  Cautus  Mensurabilis  so  far  back  as  the  eleventh 
century,  is  in   effect  to   deprive  De  Muris  of  the 
honour  of  that  discovery,   and  to  contradict  those 
many  authors  who  have  ascribed  it  to  him  ;  but  here 
let  it  be  remembered,  that  not  one  of  those  vpho  give 
to  De  Muris  the  honour  of  inventing  the  Cantus 
Mensurabilis,  has  referred  to  the  authority  on  which 
their  several  assertions  are  founded.    Vicentino  seems 
to  have  been  the  first  of  the  Italians  that  speak  of  De 
Muris  as  the  inventor  of  notes  of  different  lengths ; 
and  he  seems  to  affect  to  say  more  of  the  matter  than 
it  was  possible  for  him  to  know,  considering  that  he 
lived  near  two  hundred  years  after  him ;  for  he  not 
only  relates  the  fact,  but  assigns  the  motives  to,  and 
even  the  progress  of  the  invention,  in  terms  that 
destroy  the  credibility  of  his  relation.     As  to  the 
other  writers  that  mention  De  Muris  as  the  inventor 
of  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  as  namely,  Doni,  Berardi, 
Kircher,  Mersennus,  and  many  others,  they  seem  to 
have  taken  the  fact  for  granted,  and  have  therefore 
forborne  the  trouble  of  such  a  research  as  was  neces- 
sary to  settle  so  important  a  question ;    the  conse- 
quence whereof  is,  that  the  evidence  of  De  Muris's 
claim  rests  solely  on  tradition  and  a  series  of  vague 
reports,  propagated  with  more  zeal  than  knowledge, 
through  a  period  of  four  hundred  years. 

In  opposition  to  this  evidence  stands,  first,  the  fact 
of  Franco's  having  written  on  the  subject  of  the 
Cantus  Mensurabilis  in  the  eleventh  century.  Next, 
the  commentary  of  De  Handlo  on  his  rules,  extant  in 
the  year  1326,  which  is  some  years  earlier  than  the 
pretended  invention  of  De  Muris.  Next  a  passage 
in  the  succeeding  tract  entitled  Tractatus  diversarum 
Figurarum,  given  at  large  in  its  place,  and  importing 
that  an  ingenious  method  of  notation  invented  by 
certain  ancient  masters  in  the  art  of  music,  had  been 
improved  by  De  Muris  ;  so  that  the  characters  of  the 
double  long,  the  long,  breve,  semibreve,  and  minim, 
are  now  made  manifest  to  every  one.  And  lastly, 
the  following  passage  in  the  tract  '  Pro  aliquali  notitia 
'  de    Musica   habenda,'    in   the   Cotton   manuscript, 

* non    enim    erat   musica   tunc   mensurata,    sed 

'  paulatim  crescebat  ad  mensuram,  usque  ad  tempus 

*  Franconis,  qui  erat  musics  mensurabilis  primus 

*  AUCTOR    APPR0BATU9.' 

These  evidences  may  perhaps  be  deemed  decisive 
of  the  question,  By  whom  was  the  Cantus  Mensura- 
bilis invented  ?  but  others  are  yet  behind  :  in  the 
manuscript  of  Waltham  Holy  Cross  are  certain 
verses,  in  which  Franco  and  De  Muris  are  mentioned 
together  ;  the  former  as  the  Inventor,  and  the  other 
as  the  Improver,  of  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis  : — 

Pauses  juncturas,  facturas,  atque  figuras  ; 
Mensuratarum  formavit  Franco  notarum, 
Et  John  De  Muris,  variis  floruitque  figuris 
Anglia  cantorum  nomen  gignit  plurimorum. 

The  premises  duly  weighed  and  considered,  the 
conclusion  seems  most  clearly  to  be,  that  the  opinion 
60  long  entertained,  and  so  confidently  propagated, 
namely,  that  the  characters  which  now,  and  for  several 
centuries  past  have  been  used  to  signify  the  different 
lengths  of  musical  notes,  were  invented  by  Johannes 


De  Muris,  is  no  better  than  an  ill-grounded  conjecture, 
a  mere  legendary  report,  and  is  deservedly  to  be 
ranked  among  those  vulgar  errors,  which  it  is  one  of 
the  ends  of  true  history  to  detect  and  refute. 

The  tract  beginning  '  Pro  aliquali  notitia  de  mu- 
'  sica  habenda,'  contains  a  great  variety  of  musical 
learning,  extracted  chiefly  from  Boetius  and  Guido 
Aretinus  ;  for  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the  writers  of 
this  period  carried  their  researches  no  farther  back 
than  the  time  of  the  former,  for  this  obvious  reason, 
that  the  Greek  language  was  then  but  little  under- 
stood, which  is  in  some  measure  proved  by  the  manner 
in  which  this  author  uses  the  Greek  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  he  has  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,  that  by  the  trebles  and  quadruples,  which 
Perotinus  and  Leoninus  are  by   him  said  to  have 
made,  we  are  to  understand  compositions  in  three 
and  four  parts,  and  that  he  has  positively  asserted  of 
the  Cantus  Mensurabilis  that  Franco  was  the  first 
approved  author  that  wrote  on  it. 

Of  the  manuscript  of  Waltham  Holy  Cross  it  is  to 
be  remarked,  that  it  appears  to  be  a  collection  of 
Wylde's  making,  and  that  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  first  treatise,  consisting  of  two  parts,  the  one 
on  manual,  and  the  other  on  tonal  music,  was  com- 
posed by  Wylde  himself.  In  the  latter  of  these  we 
meet  with  the  term  Double  Cantus,  and  an  example 
thereof  in  the  margin,  by  which  is  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  J]  square  and  b  round, 
though  it  seems  to  have  been  but  a  drawn  battle,  can 
no  more  be  read  with  a  serious  countenance  than  his 
learned  argument  tending  to  prove  the  resemblance 
of  Leah  and  Rachel  to  the  tone  and  semitone,  and 
that  the  sons  of  Jacob  were  produced  in  much  the 
same  manner  as  the  musical  consonances. 

Of  the  treatise  De  octo  Tonis  nothing  requires  to 
be  said  save  that  it  contains  a  very  imperfect  state  of 
that  fanciful  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 
his  having  received  it  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen,  it  ap- 
pears to  "have  been  a  present  hardly  worth  his 
acceptance. 

The  Treatise  De  Origine  et  Effectu  Musica?  is 
remarkable  for  a  certain  simplicity  of  style  and  sen- 
timent, corresponding  exactly  with  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  this  tract,  where  the 
author,  confounding  profane  with  sacred  history,  re- 


254 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


lates  tliat  Thubal  kept  a  smith's  shop,  and  that 
Pythagoras  adjusted  the  consonances  by  the  sound 
of  his  hammers.  The  two  piUars  which  he  speaks  of 
are  mentioned  by  various  authors,  and  Josephus  in 
particuLar,  who  says  that  one  of  them  was  remaining 
in  his  time ;  but  no  one  except  this  author  has  ven- 
tured to  assert  that  the  precepts  of  music  were  en- 
graven on  either  of  them.  His  want  of  accuracy  in 
the  chronology  of  his  history  would  incline  an  atten- 
tive reader  to  think  that  Cyrus,  king  of  the  Assyrians, 
lived  within  a  few  years  after  the  deluge ;  and  as  to 
king  Enchiridias,  he  has  neither  told  us  when  he 
reigned,  nor  whether  his  kingdom  was  on  earth  or  in 
the  moon.  Notwithstanding  all  these  evidences  of 
gross  ignorance,  he  seems  entitled  to  credit  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  the  verses  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
third  chapter  of  his  treatise,  which  give  to  England 
the  honour  of  having  produced  Johannes  De  Mui'is, 
the  greatest  musician  of  his  time. 

But  besides  this  relation,  which  gives  credit  to  the 
testimony  of  bishop  Tanner  and  other  writers,  who 
assert  also  that  De  Muris  was  a  native  of  England, 
this  tract  furnishes  the  means  of  ascertaining,  to  a 
tolerable  degree  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  the  manuscript  cannot  be  supposed  to  have 
existed ;  nay,  it  goes  farther,  and  demonstrates  that 
this,  namely,  the  treatise  De  Origine  et  Effectu  Mu- 
sicpe,  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 
cites  a  tract  entitled  De  quatuor  Principalium,  which 
by  the  way  is  frequently  referred  to  by  Morley  in 
the  annotations  on  his  Introduction.  This  treatise, 
which  is  now  in  the  Bodleian  library,  is  ascribed  to 
an  old  author  named  Thomas  de  Tewksbury,  a  Fran- 
ciscan friar  of  Bristol,  who  lived  about  the  year  1388. 
But  bishop  Tanner  has  shewn  this  to  be  an  error, 
and  that  the  tract,  the  proper  title  whereof  is  Quatuor 
Principalia  Artis  Musical,  was  written  by  Johannes 
Hamboys,  doctor  of  music,  in  the  year  1451.  But  to 
return  to  the  treatise  De  Origine  et  Effectu  Musicae. 

In  the  third  chapter,  in  which  the  author  speaks  of 
the  supposed  inventor  of  music,  and  of  some  who 
have  improved  it,  he  mentions  Guido  the  monk  as 
the  composer  of  the  Gamma,  and  also  Guido  de 
Sancto  Mauro,  who,  as  he  relates,  lived  after  him : 
besides  these  two,  who  will  presently  be  shewn  to  be 
one  and  the  same  person,  he  speaks  of  Guido  Major 
and  Guido  Minor.  That  Guido  de  Sancto  Mauro  is 
no  other  than  Guido  Aretinus  is  demonstrably  cer- 
tain ;  for  the  subsequent  tract,  entitled  Metrologns, 
contains  several  whole  chapters,  which,  though  said 
to  be  '  secundum  Guidonem  de  Sancto  Mauro,'  are 
taken  verbatim  from  the  IMicrologus  of  Guido  Are- 
tinus ;  and  as  to  Guido  Major  and  Guido  Minor,  they 
are  clearly  Guido  Aretinus,  and  that  other  Guido, 
surnamed  Augensis,  mentioned  by  Wylde  in  the  first 
chapter  of  the  second  part  of  his  treatise,  to  have 
corrected  the  cantus  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  surnamed  Augensis,  men- 
tioned in  history  as  the  corrector  of  the  Cistercian 
cantus.  On  the  contrary,  we  are  told  that  St.  Bernard 
the  abbot,  who  was  of  the  monastery  of  Clairvaux, 
and  lived  about  the  year  1120,  was  the  person  that 
corrected  the  Cistercian  cantus,  or  rather  antiphonary. 
On  the  other  hand,  Berno,  abbot  of  Rickhow,  or 
Rickenow,  in  the  diocese  of  Constance,  and  therefore 
surnamed  Augensis,  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 ;  so  that  upon  the 
whole  it  seems  as  if  Wylde  had  confounded  the  two 
names  together,  and  that  by  Guido  Minor  we  are  to 
understand  St.  Bernard  the  abbot. 

The  Speculum  Psallentium  contains  a  few  general 
directions  for  singing  the  divine  offices ;  the  verses 
of  St.  Augustine  are  to  the  same  purpose,  and  those 
of  St.  Bernard  a  satire  on  disorderly  singers,  who  are 
described  in  such  barbarous  Latin  as  it  seems  im- 
possible to  translate. 

Of  the  Metrologns  little  need  be  said,  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  entitled 
Metrologns  is  not  to  be  accounted  for,  seeing  there  is 
scarce  anything  relating  to  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis 
to  be  found  in  it. 

The  tract  entitled  Distinctio  inter  Colores  musicales 
et  Armorum  Heroum,  is  a  work  of  some  curiosity, 
not  so  much  on  account  of  its  merit,  for  it  has  not 
the  least  pretence  to  any,  but  its  absurdity  ;  for  the 
author  attempts  to  establish  an  analogy  between 
music,  the  princples  whereof  are  interwoven  in  the 
very  constitution  of  nature,  and  those  of  heraldry, 
which  are  arbitrary,  and  can  scarce  be  said  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.  Most  of  the  authors  who  have  formerly  written 
on  it,  as  namely,  dame  Juliana  Barnes,  Sir  John 
Feme,  Leigh,  Boswell,  and  others,  term  it  a  divine 
and  heavenly  knowledge  ;  but  the  wiser  moderns 
regard  it  as  a  study  of  very  little  importance  to  the 
welfare  of  mankind  in  general.  Morley  had  seen 
this  notable  work,  and  has  given  his  sentiments  of 
heraldical,  or  rather,  as  he  terms  it,  alciimistical 
music,  in  the  annotations  on  the  first  part  of  his 
Introduction. 

The  declaration  of  the  triangle  and  the  shield  by 
John  Torkesey  has  some  merit,  for  though  the  shield 
be  a  whimsical  device,  the  triangle,  which  shews  how 
the  perfect  or  triple  and  imperfect  or  duple  propor- 
tions are  generated,  is  an  ingenious  diagram.  Zarlino 
and  many  other  authors  have  adopted  it ;  and  Morley 
has  improved  on  it  in  a  scheme  intitled  a  table  con- 
taining all  the  usual  proportions. 

The  treatise  entitled  Regule  Magistri  Johannes 
De  Muris,  can  hardly  be  perused  without  a  wish  that 


Chap.   LVU. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


255 


the  author  had  given  some  intimation  touching  the 
work  from  which  these  rules  are  extracted ;  not  that 
there  is  any  reason  to  doubt  their  authenticity,  but 
that  the  world  might  be  in  possession  of  some  better 
evidence  than  tradition,  that  he  was  the  author  of 
that  improvement  in  music  which  is  so  generally 
ascribed  to  him. 

The  treatise  of  the  accords  by  Lionel  Power,  as  it 
contains  the  rudiments  of  extempore  descant,  must  be 
deemed  a  great  curiosity,  were  it  only  because  it  is 
an  undeniable  evidence  of  the  existence  of  such  a 
practice  :  but  it  is  valuable  in  another  respect ;  it  is 
a  kind  of  musical  syntax,  and  contains  the  laws  of 
harmonical  combination  adapted  to  the  state  of  music, 
perhaps  as  far  back  as  the  time  of  Henry  IV.  There 
are  no  other  memorials  of  this  author  than  the  cata- 
logue of  musicians  at  the  end  of  Morley's  Intro- 
duction, in  which  only  his  christian  and  surname 
occur. 

As  to  Chilston,  he  seems  to  have  been  the  author 
of  three  distinct  treatises  ;  the  first  on  descant,  the 
second  on  Faburden,  and  the  third  on  the  pro- 
portions ;  and  each  of  these  subjects  requires  to  be 
distinctly  considered. 

The  precepts  of  descant,  although  the  practice  is 
now  become  antiquated,  so  far  as  they  are  consistent 
with  the  laws  of  harmony,  and  the  rules  of  an  orderly 
modulation,  are  of  general  use  ;  since  they  are  ap- 
plicable, as  well  to  the  most  studied  compositions,  as 
to  extempore  practice  ;  and  accordingly  we  see  them 
exemplified  in  many  instances,  particularly  in  the 
works  of  Tallis,  Bird,  Bull,  and  others,  and  in  a  book 
published  in  1591,  entitled  '  Divers  and  sundrie 
'  Wayes  of  two  Parts  in  one,  to  the  number  of  fortie, 
'  upon  one  playn-song,  by  John  Farmer.'  In  these 
the  office  of  the  plain-song  is  to  sustain,  while  that 
part  which  is  termed  the  Descantus  breaks ;  or,  as 
some  of  the  authors  above-cited  term  it,  flowers  the 
melody  according  to  the  will  and  pleasure  of  the 
composer. 

But  as  to  extempore  descant,  it  seems  difficult  to 
assign  any  reason  for  the  prevalence  of  it,  other  than 
that  it  was  an  exercise  for  the  invention  of  young 
musical  students,  or  that  it  furnished  those  a  little 
above  the  rank  of  common  people  with  the  means  of 
forming  a  kind  of  music  somewhat  more  pleasing 
than  the  dry  and  inartificial  melodies  of  those  days  ; 
for  as  to  its  general  contexture,  it  was  unquestionably 
very  coarse. 

Morley,  who  in  his  second  dialogue  professes  to 
teach  his  scholar  the  art  of  descant,  but  in  a  way 
calculated  for  written  practice,  has,  in  the  annotations 
on  that  part  of  his  work,  given  his  sense  at  large  on 
this  practice  of  extempore  descant  in  the  following 
words : — 

'  As  for  singing  upon  a  plain-song,  it  hath  byn  in 
'  times  past  in  England  (as  every  man  knowcth)  and 
'is  at  this  day  in  other  places,  the  greatest  part  of 
'  the  usual  musicke  which  in  any  churches  is  sung, 
'  which  indeed  causeth  me  to  marvel  how  men  ac- 
'quainted  with  musicke  can  delight  to  hear  suche 
'confusion,  as  of  force  must  bee  amongste  so  many 
*  singing  extempore.     But  some   have   stood    in  an 


'  opinion,  which  to  me  seemeth  not  very  probable, 
'  that  is  that  men  accustomed  to  descanting  will  sing 
'together  upon  a  plain-song  without  singing  eyther 
'  false  chords,  or  forbidden  descant  one  to  another, 
'  which  till  I  see  I  will  ever  think  unpossible.  For 
'  though  they  should  all  be  moste  excellent  men,  and 
'  every  one  of  their  lessons  by  itself  never  so  well 
'  framed  for  the  ground,  yet  is  it  unpossible  for  them 
'  to  be  true  one  to  another,  except  one  man  shoulde 
'  cause  all  the  reste  to  sing  the  same  which  he  sung 
'  before  them :  and  so  indeed  (if  he  have  studied  the 
'  canon  beforehand)  they  shall  agree  without  errors, 
'  else  shall  they  never  do  it.'* 

These  are  the  sentiments  of  Morley  with  respect 
to  the  practice  of  descant  or  extempore  singing  on 
a  given  plain-song,  a  practice  which  seems  to  have 
obtained,  not  so  much  on  the  score  of  its  intrinsic 
worth,  as  because  it  was  an  evidence  of  such  a  degree 
of  readiness  in  singing  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  descant, 
which  they  termed  Prick -song,  in  regard  that  the 
harmony  was  written  or  pricked  down ;  whereas  in 
the  other,  which  obtained  the  name  of  Plain-song, 
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  offices,  whereas  the 
latter  was  almost  confined  to  private  meetings  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 
the  other.  Such  persons  as  were  religiously  disposed 
contended  for  the  honour  of  prick-song,  that  it  was 
pleasing  to  God ;  and  as  far  as  this  reason  can  be 
supposed  to  weigh,  it  must  be  admitted  that  they 
had  the  best  of  the  argument. 

Of  the  different  sentiments  that  formerly  prevailed, 
touching  the  comparative  excellence  of  Prick-song 
and  Plain-song,  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  Sir  Thomas  More,  with  the  following  title,  'A  new 

*  interlude,  and  a  mery  of  the  nature  of  the  iiii  ele- 
'  ments,  declarynge  many  proper  poynts  of  phylofophy 

*  natural],  and  of  dyvers  ftraunge  landys,  and  of  dy vers 
'  ftraunge  efFefts  and  caufes,  whiche  interlude,  yf  the 

*  hole  matter  be  playde,  wyl  conteyne  the  fpace  of  an 

*  houre  and    a    halfe,    &c.'f     The    speakers    in   this 

*  The  difference  between  written  and  extempore  descant,  as  above 
stated,  is  obvious  ;  and  unless  it  be  admitted  it  will  be  very  difficult  to 
conceive  it  possible  that  children  of  tender  years  could  arrive  at  any 
decree  of  proficiency  in  the  practice  of  descant,  which  yet  they  are 
supposed  to  be  capable  of.  In  a  book  containing  an  account  of  the 
household  establishment  of  Edward  IV.,  entitled  Liber  niger  Domus 
Regis,  it  is  required  of  the  master  of  the  grammar-school  to  instruct 
the  king's  Henchmen,  and  the  children  of  the  chapel,  'after  they  cane 
their  Descante,  and  other  men  and  children  of  the  court  disposed  to  learn 
'it,  the  science  of  gramere.'  Now  it  can  hardly  be  conceived  that  a  child 
educated  in  music,  but  of  such  tender  age  as  to  be  unripe  for  gram- 
matical instruction,  could  be  acquainted  with  the  practice  of  extempore 
descant,  or  that  he  could  know  more  of  music  than  was  necessary  to 
enable  him  to  sing  the  Descantus  or  the  written  part  assigned  hira ; 
and  therefore  it  seems  that  by  the  expression,  '  after  they  cane  their 
descante,'  &c.,  nothing  more  is  meant  than  that  after  they  are  become 
capable  of  singing,  perhaps  at  sight,  they  shall  be  taught  the  rudiments 
of  grammar. 

t  At  the  end  of  the  Dramatis  Personae  is  this  note  : — '  Alfo  if  ye 
lyft  ye  may  brynge  in  a  dyfgyfynge.'  Percy's  Essay  on  ancient 
Songs  and  Ballads.     Rel.  of  Ancient  English  Poetry,  vol,  I.  p.  132,  in  not 


256 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI. 


interlude  are  the  Messengere  [or  prologue]  Nature 
naturate,  Humanyte,  Studious  Desire,  Sensuall  Appe- 
tyte,  the  Taverner,  Experyence,  Ygnoraunce,  between 
whom  and  Humanyte  is  the  following  dialogue  : — 

Humanyte.      Prick-fong  may  not  be  difpyfed, 
For  therewith  God  is  well  plefyd, 
Honoured,  prayfd,  and  fervyd 
In  the  church  oft  tymes  among. 

Ygnorance.      Is  God  well  pleafyd  troweft  thou  thereby  ? 

Nay,  nay,  for  there  is  no  reason  why, 

For  is  it  not  as  good  to  fay  playnly 

Gyf  me  a  fpade, 

As  gyf  me  a  fpa  ve,  va,  ve,  va,  ve,  vade  ? 

But  yf  thou  wilt  have  a  fong  that  is  gode, 

I  have  one  of  Robinhode, 

The  beft  that  ever  was  made. 
Human.  Then  a  felefhyp,  let  us  here  it. 

Ygn.  But  there  is  a  borden  thou  muft  here, 

Or  ellys  it  wyll  not  be. 
Human.  Then  begyn  and  care  not  for, 

Downe,  downe,  downe,  &c. 

By  means  of  the  several  passages  above-cited  some 
idea  may  be  formed  of  the  nature  of  extempore  des- 


cant, and  the  degree  of  estimation  in  which  it  stood 
about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  a  kind 
of  vocal  harmony  of  great  antiquity,  but  of  which 
it  must  now  be  said  that  there  are  not  the  smallest 
remains  now  left  amongst  us. 

As  to  Faburden,  a  species  of  descant  mentioned 
by  Chilston,  and  which  seems  not  to  fall  within  any 
of  the  above  rules,  Morley  thus  explains  it. 

'  It  is  also  to  be  understood,  that  when  men  did 
'  sing  upon  their  plain-songs,  he  who  sung  the  ground 
'  would  sing  it  a  sixth  under  the  true  pitche,  and 

*  sometimes  would  breake  some  notes  in  division ; 
'  which  they  did  for  the  more  formall  comming  to 
'  their  closes ;  but  every  close  (by  the  close  in  this 
'  place  you  must  understand  the  note  which  served 

*  for  the  last  syllable  of  every  verse  in  their  hymnes) 
'  he  must  sing  in  that  tune  as  it  standeth,  or  then  in 
'  the  eighth  below.  And  this  kind  of  singing  was 
'  called  in  Italy  Falso  Bordone,  and  in  England 
'  Faburden,  whereof  here  is  an  example ;  first  the 

*  plain -song  and  then  the  Faburden  : — 


Hymn     ^£ 


-0—0- 


^=2: 


"?~o~g" 


-2-0 


:^Z2Z±=2I^ 


12^±:^I^IZ2=^Z=s£ 


Conditor  alme  syderum. 


i 


E.^i^= 


Faburden 


-0—0- 


-0-^5-0-^- 


-^=^- 


'  And  though  this  be  prickt  a  third  above  the 
'  plain-song,  yet  was  it  alwaies  sung  under  the  plain- 
song.'* 

The  treatise  of  Musical  Proportions  is  a  very 
learned  work ;  and  as  it  is  a  summary  of  those 
principles  on  which  the  treatise  De  Musica  of  Boetius 
is  founded,  and  affords  the  means  of  judging  of  the 
nature  of  the  ancient  arithmetic,  so  different  from 
that  of  modern  times,  it  merits  to  be  read  with  great 
attention. 

The  two  manuscripts  from  M^hich  the  foregoing 
extracts  are  severally  made,  appear  to  have  been 
held  in  great  estimation.  The  latter  of  them  was 
formerly  the  property  of  Tallis,  as  appears  by  the 
name  Thomas  Tallis,  written  in  the  last  leaf  thereof. 
And  it  evidently  appears  that  Morley  had  perused 

•  Brossard  says  of  Faburden  that  it  is  the  burden  or  ground-bass  of 
a  song,  not  framed  according  to  the  rules  of  harmony,  but  preserving  the 
same  order  of  motion  as  the  upper  part,  as  is  often  practised  in  singing 
the  Psalms  and  other  parts  of  the  divine  offices.  The  Italians,  he  says, 
give  this  name  to  a  certain  harmony  produced  by  the  accompaniments  of 
several  sixths  following  one  another,  which  mal^e  fourths  between  the 
two  higher  parts,  because  the  intermediate  part  is  obliged  to  make  tierces 
with  the  bass,  as  in  this  example  : — 


s 


r.U=M=i 


ei 


A  B 

6     6     6 

-0— ; 


-t=t 


-0 


76 


^^3i: 


He  adds,  that  some  are  of  opinion  that  the  mi  in  the  middle  part 
marked  A  should  be  proceeded  by  a  B  mol,  and  made  fa,  to  avoid  the 
false  relation  of  a  tritone  with  the  fa  in  the  bass,  marked  B  ;  though 
others  pretend  that  on  many  occasions  this  dissonance  has  its  beauty, 
and  examples  of  both  these  methods  occur  in  eminent  authors.  Diction. 
de  Musique,  in  Voce  falso  bordone. 


them  both  very  attentively,  previous  to  the  writing 
of  his  Introduction  to  Music.  That  passage  thereof 
wherein  he  cites  Robert  de  Haulo,  and  those  other 
wherein  he  mentions  Philippus  de  Vitriaco  and  the 
singers  of  Navernia,  plainly  shew  that  he  had  perused 
the  Cotton  manuscript.  As  to  the  other,  as  it  was 
in  the  hands  of  his  friend  Tallis,  very  little  proof 
is  necessary  to  induce  a  belief  that  he  made  a  very 
liberal  use  of  that  also ;  but  the  express  mention  of 
the  treatise  De  Quatuor  Principalium,  his  ridicule 
of  that  heraldical  musician  who  undertakes  to  shew 
the  analogy  between  music  and  coat  armour,  and, 
above  all  his  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  labours,  and  made  a  due  use  of  the  manu- 
script of  Waltham  Holy  Cross. 

The  Cotton  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  but  a  very  inconsiderable  part  of 
those  which  appear  to  have  been  written  in  that 
period  which  occurred  between  the  time  of  Guido  and 
the  invention  of  printing  ;  and  innumerable  are  those 
who,  in  the  printed  accounts  of  ancient  English 
writers  in  particular,  are  said  to  have  written  on 
various  branches  of  the  science.  That  the  greater 
number  of  these  authors  were  monks  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at,  for  not  only  their  profession  obliged 
tliem  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  life 


Chap.  LVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC 


257 


in  this  country,  during  the  three  centuries  preceding 
the  Reformation,  it  is  in  some  measure  necessary  that 
we  should  guard  against  the  reports  that  were  raised 
to  justify  that  event ;  as  that  religious  houses  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 
kingdom. 

This  must  appear  very  improbable  to  such  as  are 
acquainted  with  the  state  of  learning  at  the  time  now 
spoken  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  i-eligious  house  to  assign  to 
the  brethren  employments  suitable  to  their  several 
abilities  ;  and  that  while  some  were  employed  in 
offices  respecting  the  oeconomy  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  subtilties  of  Peter  Lombard,  Aquinas,  and 
Scotus.  Another  class  of  those  engaged  in  literary 
pursuits  were  such  whose  abilities  qualified  them  to 
become  authors  in  form,  and  these  were  taken  up  in 
the  composing  of  tracts  on  various  subjects,  as  their 
several  inclinations  led  them.  Nor  must  those  be 
forgotten  who  laboured  in  the  copying  of  music,  in 
the  transcribing  and  illuminating  of  Missals,  Anti- 
phonaries,  Graduals,  and  other  collections  of  offices 
used  in  the  church-service,*  the  beauty  and  neatness 

*  The  number  of  books  necessary  for  the  performance  of  divine  service 
in  the  several  churches  was  so  great,  that  tl)e  writing  of  them  must  have 
afforded  employment  for  many  thousand  persons.  By  the  provincial  con- 
stitutions of  Archbishop  Winchelsey,  made  at  Merton,  a.d.  1305.  Const.  4. 
it  is  required  that  in  every  church  throughout  the  province  of  Canterbury 
there  should  be  found  a  Legend,  an  Antiphonary,  a  Grail  or  Gradual,  a 
Psalter,  a  Troper,  an  Ordinal,  a  Missal  and  a  Manual.  And  as  there 
are  but  three  dioceses  in  this  kingdom,  which  are  not  within  the  pro- 
vince of  Canterbury,  this  law  was  obligatory  upon  almost  the  whole 
of  the  realm;  as  to  the  religious  houses  they  can  hardly  be  supposed 
to  have  stood  in  need  of  any  injunction  of  this  sort.  Besides  that 
the  writing  of  service-books  was  a  constant,  it  appears  also  to  have 
been  a  lucrative  employment.  Sir  Henry  Spelman  says  that  two  Anti- 
phonaries  cost  the  little  monastery  of  Crabliuse  in  Norfolk,  twenty-six 
marks,  in  the  year  1424  ;  which,  he  adds,  was  equal  to  fifty-two  pounds, 
according  to  the  value  of  money  in  his  age.  Gloss.  Voce  Antiphon  arum. 
And  it  is  elsewhere  said  that  the  common  price  of  a  mass-book  was  five 
marks,  the  vicar's  yearly  revenue.  Johnson's  Ecclesiastical  Laws. 
Winchel.  in  not. 

To  understand  this  constitution  it  may  be  necessary  to  explain  the 
terms  made  use  of  in  it  :  a  Legend  or  Lectionary  contained  all  the 
lessons,  whether  out  of  the  scriptures  or  other  books  that  were  directed 
to  be  read  in  the  course  of  the  year.  The  Antiphonary  contained  all  the 
invitatories,  responsories,  collects,  and  whatever  else  was  said  or  sung  in 
the  choir,  except  the  lessons.  In  the  Grail  or  Gradual  was  contained  all 
that  was  sung  by  thechoir  at  high-mass,  as  namely,  the  tracts,  sequences, 
hallelujahs,  the  creed,  offertory,  and  Trisagium,  as  also  the  office  for 
sprinkling  the  holy  water.  Johnson,  ibid.  Among  the  furniture  given  to 
the  chapel  of  Trinity-college,  Oxford,  by  the  founder,  mention  is  made  of 
'  four  Grayles  of  parchment  lyned  with  gold.'  Warton's  Observations  on 
Spencer,  Vol.  II.  p.  244.  The  Troper  contained  the  sequences,  which 
were  devotions  used  after  the  Epistle.  Jolmson,  ibid.  There  is  now 
extant  in  the  Bodleian  library  a  very  curious  manuscript  of  this  kind, 
with  musical  notes,  which  the  catalogue,  page  135,  No.  2558,  calls  a  Tro- 
parion ;  an  extract  from  it  is  given  in  the  Appendix  to  this  work  No.  44, 
and  referred  to  in  chap.  40,  book  V.  The  Ordinal  contained  directions 
for  the  performance  of  the  divine  offices,  and  is  conjectured  to  be  the 
same  with  the  Pye,  which  the  preface  to  queen  Elizabeth's  liturgy  men- 
tions as  being  very  intricate  and  difficult  to  turn.  The  Missal  was  the 
whole  mass-book  used  by  the  priest,  and  the  Manual  was  the  ritual, 
containing  the  rites,  directions  to  the  priests,  and  prayers  used  in  the 
administration  of  baptism  and  other  sacraments  ;  the  blessing  of  holy- 
water,  and,  as  Lyndewode  adds,  the  whole  service  used  in  processions. 
Johnson,  ibid.     Vide  Lyndw.  Prov   lib.  III.  tit.  27,  edit.  1679. 

Johnson  conjectures  the  Ordinal  to  be  the  same  with  the  Pye  men- 
tioned in  queen  Elizabeth's  liturgy,  the  words  are:  '  Moreover,  the  number 
'  and  hardness  of  the  rules  called  the  Pye,  and  the  manifold  chaungings 
'of  the  service,  was  the  cause  that  to  turne  the  booke  only,  was  so  hard 


whereof  are  known  only  to  those  who  have  made  it 
their  business  to  collect  or  peruse  them.  Some  of 
these  in  the  public  libraries  and  private  collections 
are,  for  fine  drawing  and  colouring,  as  well  of  a  great 
variety  of  scripture  histories,  as  of  the  numberless 
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  modern  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- 
thamstead,  abbot  of  St.  Albans,  caused  above  eighty 
books  to  be  transcribed  during  his  abbacy,  and  fifty- 
eight  were  copied  by  the  care  of  one  abbot  of  Glas- 
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,  &c. 
as  they  happened  to  hold  under  a  litigious  or  dis- 
putable title ;  these  men  were  both  antiquaries  and 
lawyers ;  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 farmers  and  others. 

The   benefits   that  accrued  to  learning  from  the 

'  and  intricate  a  matter,  that  many  times  there  was  more  business  to  find 
'  out  what  should  be  read,  then  to  reade  it  when  it  was  found  out.' 

Bishop  Sparrow  has  attempted  to  explainitllis  strange  word,  and  sup- 
poses it  to  be  derived  from  the  Greek  word'  Lltj'af,  Pinax,  a  table  or 
order  how  things  should  be  digested  or  pei'-fermed  ;  but  he  adds  the 
Latin  word  is  Pica,  which  he  imagines  came  from  the  ignorance  of  friars, 
who  have  thrust  many  barbarous  words  into  liturgies.  Farther  he  sup- 
poses it  might  come  from  Littera  Picata,  a  great  black  letter  at  the 
beginning  of  some  new  order  in  the  prayer;  for  that  among  printers  the 
term  Pica  letter  is  used.  See  his  answer  to  liturgical  demands  in  his 
Rationale  of  the  Common  Prayer.  And  to  the  same  purpose  Hamon 
L'Estrange  in  his  Alliance  of  Divine  Offices,  page  24,  thus  speaks  : — 

'Pica,  orin  English  the  Pye,  I  observe  used  by  three  several  sorts  of  men, 
'  first  by  the  quondam  Popish  clergy  here  in  England  before  the  Reform- 
'ation,  who  called  their  ordinal  or  directory  Ad  usum  Sarum  (devised 
'  for  the  more  speedy  finding  out  the  order  of  reading  their  several 
'services  appointed  for  several  occasions  at  several  times)  the  Pye. 
'Secondly,  by  printers,  who  call  the  letters  wherewith  they  print  books 
'  and  treatises  in  party  colours,  the  Pica  letters.  Thirdly,  by  officers  of 
'civil  courts,  who  call  their  callenders  or  alphabetical  catalogues,  di- 
'  reefing  to  the  names  and  things  contained  in  the  rolls  and  records  of 
'  their  courts,  the  Pyes.  Whence  it  gained  this  denomination  is  difficult 
'  to  determine,  whether  from  the  bird  Pica,  variegated  with  diverse 
'colours,  or  whether  from  the  word  Ylii'a^,  contracted  into  ITt,  which 
'  denoteth  a  table,  the  Pye  in  the  directory  being  nothing  else  but  a  table 
'  of  rules,  directing  to  the  proper  service  for  every  day,  I  cannot  say : 
'  from  one  of  these  probably  derived  it  was.' 

These  authorities  seem  to  justify  Johnson  in  his  opinion  that  the  words 
Ordinal  and  Pye  are  synonymous,  to  which  it  may  be  added  that  bishop 
Gibscm  explains  the  latter  by  saying  that  it  means  a  table  for  finding  out 
the  service  belonging  to  each  day.     Codex  299,  in  not. 

Such  immense  numbers  of  these  service-books,  and  indeed  other 
manuscripts  on  vellum  and  parchment,  were  seized  to  the  king's  use, 
and  dispersed  throughout  the  realm  upon  the  dissolution  of  monasteries, 
that  they  became  as  common  as  waste  paper ;  and  it  is  notorious  that 
the  common  and  ordinary  binding  of  old  printed  books  was  originally  the 
leaves  of  such  manuscripts  as  are  now  spoken  of:  such  as  remain  yet 
entire  are  still  sought  after  as  matters  of  great  curiosity  ;  but  none  are 
more  ready  to  purchase  an  ancient  vellum  manuscript  than  the  gold- 
beaters, who  make  use  of  them  in  the  beating  of  gold  into  leaves,  in  the 
doing  whereof  a  leaf  of  gold  is  placed  between  two  of  vellum.  These 
artificers  may  be  said  to  entertain  a  reverence  for  antiquity,  for  they 
prefer  the  more  to  the  less  ancient  manuscripts,  and  for  so  doing  give 
this  notable  reason,  that  the  former  are  less  greasy  than  the  latter. 

T/ie  use  of  the  sei^eral  hooks  above  enumerated,  and  many  others  of  the  like 
kind,  as  ruimeli/,  Antiphoners,  Missals,  Grailes,  Processionals,  Manuals, 
Legends,  Pies,  Portuasses,  Primers  Latin  and  English,  Couchers,  Journals, 
Ordinals  and  other  Imoks,  herein  before  used  for  service  of  the  church,  other 
than  such  as  shall  be  set  forth  by  the  king's  majesty,  is  abolished  by  a  statute 
of  3  and  4  Edw :  VI.  chap  10.  „ 

a 


26'8 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Cook  VII 


labours  of  these  men  must  have  been  very  great,  since 
it  is  well  known  that  before  the  invention  of  print- 
ing the  only  method  of  multiplying  copies  of  books 
was  by  writing ;  and  for  the  purpose  of  diffusing 
knowledge  in  the  several  faculties,  the  writers  of 
manuscripts,  though  very  slowly,  did  the  business 
of  printers  ;  and  the  value  that  was  set  on  their 
manual  operations  is  only  to  be  judged  of  by  that 


extreme  care  and  caution  which  men  of  learning 
were  wont  to  exert  over  their  collections  of  books. 
In  those  days  the  loan  of  a  book  was  atterided  with 
the  same  ceremonies  as  a  mortgage  ;  and  a  scholar 
would  hardly  be  prevailed  upon  to  oblige  his  friend 
with  the  perusal  of  a  Ijook  witliout  a  formal  obligation 
to  return  it  at  an  appointed  day.* 


BOOK    VII. 


CHAP.    LVIII. 


The  censures  of  monkish  ignorance  and  dissolute- 
ness, so  frequent  in  the  works  of  modern  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  ceconomy  had 
the  least  countenance  among  them.  Objections  of 
this  kind  are  generally  made  by  men  less  knowing 
than  those  they  thus  condemn  ;  such  as  speak  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  affecting  to  despise  that  of  which 
they  are  ignorant.  That  the  world  is  under  great 
obligations  to  the  regular  clergy  is  evinced  by  the 
numerous  volumes  yet  extant,  the  works  of  monks  ; 
and  that  the  strictest  order  and  regularity  was  ob- 
served among  them,  will  appear  from  the  following 
general  detail  of  the  monastic  institution,  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  obediential,  as  all  others  under  him.  The 
abbot  had  lodgings  by  himself,  with  all  offices  there- 
unto belonging,  the  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  had  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  numlier,  as  in  the  monastery  of  Croyland  ;  and 
this  order  prevailed  in  most  of  the  larger  founda- 
tions ;  they  are  thus  enulnerated  : — 

1.  Magister  operis,  or  master  of  the  fabric  ;  who 
probably  looked  after  the  buildings,  and  took  care  to 
keep  them  in  good  repair. 

2.  Eleemosynarius,  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 
fov  the  maintenance  and  education  of  the  choristers. 

3.  Pitantiarius ;  who  had  the  care  of  the  pietances, 


which    were   allowances  upon  particular   occasions, 
over  and  above  the  common  provisions. 

4.  Sacrista,  or  the  sexton  ;  who  took  care  of  the 
vessels,  books,  and  vestments  belonging  to  the  church; 
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  utensils;  he  likewise  provided  bread  and  wine  for 
the  sacrament,  and  took  care  of  burying  the  dead. 

5.  Camerarius,  or  the  chamberlain ;  who  had  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,  corn,  malt  for  their  ale  and  beer,  oatmeal,  salt, 
&c.,  as  likewise  wood  for  firing,  and  all  utensils  for 
the  kitchen.  Fuller  says  that  these  officers  affected 
secular  gallantry,  and  wore  swords  like  lay  gentlemen. 

Besides  these  were  also — 

Thesaurarius,  or  the  burser  ;  who  received  all  the 
common  rents  and  revenues  of  the  monastery,  and 
paid  all  the  common  expences. 

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 
books  for  them,  paid  them  their  salaries,  and  repaired 
the  organ  :  he  had  also  the  custody  of  the  seal,  and 
kept  the  liber  diurnalis,  or  chapter-book,  and  pro- 
vided parchment  and  ink  for  the  writers,  and  colours 
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,  tov\'els,  and  such  like  necessaries  for 
them. 

Infirmarius  ;  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  Selden's  Dissertation  on  Fleta  is  given  a  copy  of  an  instrument 
of  tliis  liind,  made  anno  1277,  acknovvledginp;  the  receipt  of  a  well-known 
law-honk,  entitled  Breton,  in  the  words  fnllowing: — 

'  Universis  praesentes  literas  inspecturis  R.  de  Scardeburgli  Archi- 
'  diacnnus  salutem  in  Domino  seminternam.  Noveritis  me  recipisse  et 
'hahuisse  ex  causa  commodati  lihrum  queni  doniinus  Heiirieus  de 
'  Breton  coniposuit,  a  venerabili  patre  Domino  R.  Dei  gratia  Bathoniensi 
'  Episcopo  per  nianuni  Magistri,  Thomse  Beke,  Archidiaconi  Dorset, 
'quern  eidem  restituere  teneor  in  fcsto  saneti  Joh'  Bapiisie,  an.  Dom. 
'MccLxxviii.  In  cujus  rei  testimonium  praesentibus  sigillum  meum 
'appensum,  Datae  Dover  die  Veneris  post  purific'  Virginis  Gloriosae, 
'  anno  mcclxxvii.' 

The  fnllnwinff  less  ancient  instances  of  the  same  Ititid,  occur  in  the 
catalogue  of  the  Harleian  manuscripts.  No.  378.  Sir  Simonds  D' Ewes' 
bond  of  jElOO  for  borrowing  Sir  Thomas  Cntton's  book  of  Saxon  Charters 
(viz.  Augustus  II.)  which  was  not  executed  since  Sir  Thomas  refuted  to 
lend  it.     Eight  other  instances  are  in  the  same  manuscripts. 


Chap.  LVIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


259 


living,  and  to  wash  and  prepare  their  bodies  for  burial 
when  dead. 

Refectionarius  ;  who  looked  after  the  hall,  pro- 
viding table-cloths,  napkins,  towels,  dishes,  plates, 
spoons,  and  all  other  necessaries  for  it,  and  even  ser- 
vants to  attend  there  ;  he  had  likewise  the  keeping 
of  the  cups,  salts,  ewers,  and  all  the  silver  utensils 
whatsoever  belonging  to  the  house,  except  the  church 
plate. 

There  was  likewise  Coquinarius,  Gardinarius,  and 
Portarius,  '  et  in  coenobiis,  quae  jus  archiaconale  in 
'  prtediis  et  ecclesiis  suis  obtinuerunt,  erat  monachus 
'qui  archidiaconi  titulo  et  munere  insignittis  est.' 

The  offices  belonging  to  an  abbey  were  generally 
these  : — 

The  hall,  or  refectionary,  and,  adjoining  thereto, 
the  locutorium,  or  parlour,  where  leave  was  given 
for  the  monks  to  discourse,  who  were  enjoined  silence 
elsewhere. 

Oriolium,  or  the  oriol,  was  the  next  room,  the  use 
whereof  was  for  monks  who  were  rather  distempered 
than  diseased,  to  dine  therein. 

Dormitorium,  the  dormitory,  where  they  all  slept 
together. 

Lavatorium,  generally  called  the  landry,  where  the 
clothes  of  the  monks  were  washed,  and  where  also  at 
a  conduit  they  washed  their  hands. 

Scriptorimn,  a  room  where  the  Chartulariiis  was 
busied  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.  Consuetudinals,  presenting  the  ancient  customs  of 
their  convents.  3.  Troparies.  4.  Collectaries,  wherein 
the  ecclesiastical  collects  were  fairly  written.  This 
was  the  ordinary  business  of  the  Chartularius  and  his 
assistant  monks,  but  they  also  employed  themselves 
in  transcribing  the  fathers  and  classics,  and  in  record- 
ing historical  events. 

Adjoining  to  the  Scriptorium  was  the  Library, 
which  in  most  abbeys  was  well  furnished  with  a 
variety  of  choice  manuscripts. 

The  Kitchen,  with  larder  and  pantry  adjoining. 

The  abbey  church  consisted  of — 1.  Cloisters,  con- 
secrated ground,  as  appears  by  the  solemn  sepultures 
therein.     2.  Navis  ecclesiae,  or  the  body  of  the  church. 

3.  Gradatorium,  the  ascent  by  steps  out  of  the  former 
into  the  choir.  4.  Presbyterium,  or  the  choir ;  on 
the  right  side  whereof  was  the  stall  of  tlie  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.  5.  Vestiarium,  or  the  vestry,  where 
their  copes,  surplices,  and  other  habiliments  were 
deposited.  6.  Vaulta,  a  vault,  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  repose. 

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,  0  Lord.'* 

*  Tlie  want  of  this  in  the  new  cathedral  of  St.  Paul  is  not  to  be  imputed 
to  Sir  Christdpher  Wren  as  a!i  omission,  but  to  tlie  disuse  of  processions 
in  our  reformed  church,  which  lias  rendered  such  a  provision  unnecessary. 


To  the  church  belonged  also,  Cerarium,  a  reposi- 
tory for  wax  candles.  Campanile,  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  maintained 
by  the  charity  of  the  house. 

Sanctuarium,  or  the  sanctuaiy,  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  Provendarius,  who,  as  his  name 
imports,  laid  in  provender  for  the  horses  ;  these  were 
of  four  kinds,  namely, — 1.  Manni,  geldings  for  the 
saddle  of  the  larger  size.  2.  Runcini,  runts,  small 
nags.  3.  Summarii,  sumpter-horses.  4.  Averii,  cart 
or  plough  horses.f 

Besides  the  buildings  above-mentioned,  there  was 
a  prison  for  incorrigible  monks.  The  ordinary  pu- 
nishment for  small  offences  was  carrying  the  lanthorn, 
but  contumacious  monks  were  by  the  abbot  committed 
to  prison. 

Other  buildings  there  were,  such  as  Vaccisterium, 
the  cow-house,  Porcarium,  the  swine-stye,  &c. 

Granges  were  farms  at  a  distance,  kept  and  stocked 
by  the  abbey,  and  so  called  a  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  correspondency  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  distinguish 
them  ;  such  were — 1.  Coltonarius  [cutler].  2.  Cup- 
parius.  3.  Potagiarius.  4.  Scutellarius  Aula3. 
5.  Salsarius.  6.  Portarius.  7.  Carectarius  Cellerarii. 
8.  Pelliparius  [parchment  provider].  9.  Brasinarius 
[malsterj.J 

If  in  the  admirable  construction  of  that  edifice  proof  of  his  skill  and 
sagacity  were  wanting,  the  following  recent  one  in  another  public  work 
of  his  might  be  adduced,  though  known  to  few  :  — 

About  seven  years  ago,  when  the  houses  on  London-bridge  were  taken 
down  in  order  to  make  a  footway  on  each  side  thereof,  it  was  found  that 
the  tower  of  St.  Magnus  church,  through  which  was  an  entrance  into  the 
church  from  the  west,  projected  so  far  westward  as  to  reduce  passengers 
on  the  east  side  of  the  bridge  to  the  necessity  of  going  round  it.  Upon 
this  it  became  a  subject  of  consultation,  whether  it  were  advisable  or 
not  to  cut  through  the  tower  an  arch  wliicli  should  continue  the  footway 
from  the  bridge  up  Fish-street-hill,  and  prevent  the  trouble  and  danger 
of  going  about.  The  thought  was  bold,  for  the  tower  was  heavy,  and 
besides  contained  a  peal  of  large  bells  ;  however  it  was  at  length  re- 
solved on  :  upon  pulling  down  the  houses,  the  south  side  of  the  tower 
appeared  to  be  a  plain  superficies  of  the  roughest  materials  that  masons 
use,  and  upon  this  the  city  surveyor  had  drawn  such  an  arch  as  he  meant 
to  cut  through  from  south  to  north  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  workmen  began  to 
execute  his  design,  by  breaking  through  the  exterior  surface,  they,  to  the 
joy  and  admiration  of  every  one,  found  a  passage  and  an  arch  ready 
formed  to  their  hands  by  the  original  designer  of  the  edifice,  who,  with  a 
sagacity  and  penetration  peculiar  to  himself,  had  foreseen  the  probability 
of  taking  down  the  houses  on  the  bridge,  and  the  consequent  necessity 
of  such  a  provision  for  the  convenience  and  safety  of  passengers  as  that 
above-mentioned. 

t  This  was  the  four-fold  division  of  the  horses  of  William  the  two-and- 
twentieth  abbot  of  St.  Alban's,  who  lost  an  hundred  horses  in  one  year. 

t  The  offices  aforesaid  in  smaller  abbeys  were  but  one  room,  but  in  the 
greater  monasteries  each  was  a  distinct  structure,  with  all  under  oliices 
attendant  thereupon.  Thus  the  Firmorie  in  the  priory  of  Canterbury  had 
a  refectory,  a  kitchen,  a  dortour  distributed  into  several  chambers,  and  a 
private  chapel  for  the  devotions  of  the  sick ;  their  almonry  also  was  ac- 


260 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VII. 


Different  orders  were  bound  to  the  observance  of 
diff"erent  canonical  constitutions ;  however,  the  rule  of 
the  ancient  Benedictines,  with  some  small  variations, 
prevailed  through  most  monasteries,  and  was  in 
general  as  follows  : — 

i.  Let  monks  praise  God  seven  times  a-day,  that  is 
to  say, — 

1.  At  cock-crowing.  2.  Mattins,  which  were  per- 
formed at  the  first  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- 
pers, the  twelfth  hour,  or  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
7.  Seven  o'clock  at  night,  when  the  completory  was 
sung.* 

The  first  or  early  prayers  were  at  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  when  the  monks,  who  went  to  bed  at 
eight  at  night,  had  slept  six  hours,  which  were  judged 
sufficient  for  nature.  It  was  no  fault  for  the  greater 
haste,  to  come  without  shoes,  or  with  unwashen 
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 after  mattins ;  when  to  return  to  bed  was 
accounted  a  petty  apostacy. 

ii.  Let  all  at  the  sign  given,  leave  off  their  work  and 
repair  presently  to  prayers. f 

iii.  Let  tliose  who  are  absent  in  public  employment  be 
reputed  present  in  prayer.t 

iv.  Let  no  monk  go  alone,  but  always  two  together.  § 

V.  From  Easter  to  Whitsunday  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  afternoon. H 

vii.  Let  them  fast  every  day  in  Lent  till  six  o'clock  at 
night.** 

viii.  Let  no  monk  speak  a  word  in  the  refectory  when 
they  are  at  their  meals. 

commndated  with  all  the  aforesaid  appurtenances,  and  had  many  distinct 
manors  consi;jne(l  only  to  its  maintenance. 

To  many  abbeys  there  appertained  also  cells,  which  in  some  instances 
were  so  remote,  that  the  mother  abbey  was  in  England,  and  the  cell 
beyond  the  seas.  Some  of  these  were  richly  endowed,  as  that  of  Wynd- 
ham,  in  Norfolk,  which  though  but  a  cell  annexed  to  St.  Alb;in's,  yet  was 
able  at  the  dissolution  to  expend  of  its  own  revenues  seventy-two  pounds 
per  annum.  These  were  colonies,  into  which  the  abbeys  discharged  their 
superfluous  members,  and  whither  the  rest  retired  when  infections  were 
feared  at  home. 

♦  These  were  the  stated  times  of  public  prayer  in  religious  houses  ; 
but  besides  these,  occasional  ejaculations  by  christians,  as  well  of  the 
laity  as  the  clergy,  were  customary  till  near  the  end  of  the  last  century. 
Howel,  in  one  of  his  letters  says,  '  I  knock  thrice  at  heaven-gate  ;  in  the 
'  morning,  in  the  evening,  and  at  night  ;  besides  prayers  at  meals,  and 
'some  other  occasional  ejaculations;  upon  the  putting  on  of  a  clean 
'  shirt,  washing  of  ray  hands,  and  at  lighting  of  candles  ;  and  this  he  adds 
'he  was  able  to  do  in  seven  languages.'  Familiar  Letters,  vol.  II. 
sect.  vi.  letter  32,  and  this  practice  is  recommended  by  Cosins,  bishop  of 
Durham,  in  a  book  of  devotions  published  by  him. 

t  This  in  England,  commonly  called  the  ringing-island,  was  done  with 
tolling  a  bell,  but  in  other  countries  with  loud  strokes  ;  and  the  canon 
■was  so  strict,  that  it  provided  'scriptores  literam  non  integrent  ; '  that 
writers  having  begun  to  frame  and  flourish  a  text  letter,  were  not  to 
finish  it,  but  to  leave  off  in  the  middle. 

%  At  the  end  of  prayers  there  was  a  particular  commemoration  made 
of  them  that  were  absent,  and  they  by  name  recommended  to  divine 
protection. 

§  That  they  might  mutually  have  both  testem  honestatis,  and  moni- 
torem  pietatis,  in  imitation  of  Christ's  sending  his  disciples  to  preach  two 
and  two  before  his  face. 

II  The  primitive  church  forbad  fasting  for  those  fifty  days,  that  Chris- 
tians might  be  cheerful  for  the  memory  of  Christ's  resurrection.  '  Im- 
'munitate  jejunandi  a  die  Paschaa  Pentecosten  usque  gaudemus  ; '  and 
therefore  more  modern  is  the  custom  of  fasting  on  Ascension  eve. 

IT  So  making  but  one  meal  a  day,  but  the  twelve  days  in  Christmas 
were  excepted  in  this  canon. 

*•  Stamping  a  character  of  more  abstinence  on  that  time;  for  though 
the  whole  of  a  monk's  life  ought  to  be  a  Lent,  yet  this  most  especially, 
wherein  they  were  to  abate  of  their  wonted  sleep  and  diet,  and  add  to 
their  daily  devotion ;  yet  so  that  they  might  not  lessen  their  daily  fare 
without  leave  from  the  abbot. 


ix.  Let  them  listen  to  the  lecturer  reading  scripture  to 
them  whilst  they  feed  themselves. 

X.   Let  the  septimarians  dine  by  themselves  after  the 

rest,  ft 

xi.   Let  such  who  are  absent  about  business  observe  the 

same  hours  of  prayer.  X I 

xii.  Let  none,  being  from  home  about  business,  and 
hoping  to  return  at  night,  presume  '  foris  mandicare,'  to 
eat  abroad.  §§ 

xiii.  Let  the  completory  be  solemnly  sung  about  seven 
o'clock  at  night.  II  || 

xiv.  Let  none  speak  a  word  after  the  completory  ended, 
but  hasten  to  their  beds.HH 

XV.  Let  the  monks  sleep  in  beds  singly  by  themselves, 
but  all  if  possible  in  one  room. 

xvi.  Let  them  sleep  in  their  clothes,  girt  with  their 
girdles,  but  not  having  their  knives  by  their  sides  for  fear 
of  hurting  themselves  in  their  sleep. 

xvii.  Let  not  the  youth  be  by  themselves,  but  mingled 
with  their  seniors. 

xviii.  Let  not  the  candle  in  the  dormitory  go  out  all 
night.*** 

xix.  Let  infants  incapable  of  excommunication  be  cor- 
rected with  rods. ft t 

XX.  Let  offenders  in  small  faults,  whereof  the  abbot  is 
sole  judge,  be  only  sequestered  from  the  table.tt  + 

xxi.  Let  offenders  in  greater  faults  be  suspended  from 
table  and  prayers.§§§ 

xxii.  Let  none  converse  with  any  excommunicated 
under  the  pain  of  excommunication.  ||  ||  || 

xxiii.  Let  incorrigible  offenders  be  expelled  the 
monastery. 

xxiv.  Let  an  expelled  brother,  being  readmitted  on 
promise  of  amendment,  be  set  last  in  order-^1111 

XXV.  Let  every  monk  have  2  coats  and  2  cowls,  &c.**** 

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. ffff 

+  t  These  were  weekly  officers,  such  as  the  lecturer,  servitors  at  the 
table,  cook,  who  could  not  be  present  at  the  public  refection,  but  like  the 
bible-clerks  in  the  Queeli's-college,  Cambridge,  waited  on  the  fellows  at 
dinner,  and  had  a  table  by  themselves. 

Jt  Be  it  by  sea  or  land,  in  ship,  house,  or  field,  they  were  to  fall  down 

on  their  knees  and  briefly  keep  time  with  the  convent  in  their  devotions. 

§§  This  canon  was   afterwards   so  dispensed   with   by  the  abbot  on 

several  occasions,  that  it  was  frustrate  in  efl'ect  when  monks  became 

common  guests  at  laymen's  tables. 

II II  Completory.  so  called,  because  it  ended  the  duties  of  the  day.  This 
service  was  concluded  with  that  versicle  of  the  Psalmist,  '  Set  a  watch,  O 
'  Lord,  before  my  mouth,  and  keep  the  door  of  my  lips.' 

^H  They  might  express  themselves  by  signs,  and  in  some  cases  whisper, 
but  so  softly,  that  a  third  might  not  overhear.  This  silence  was  so  obsti- 
nately observed  by  some  of  them,  that  they  would  not  speak,  though 
assaulted  by  thieves,  to  make  a  discovery  in  their  own  defence. 

""'  In  case  any  should  fall  suddenly  sick,  that  this  standing  candle 
might  be  a  stock  of  light  to  recruit  the  rest. 

+  tt  Such  were  all  accounted  under  the  age  of  fifteen  years,  of  whom 
were  many  in  monasteries. 

tU  As  coming  to  dinner  after  grace  said,  breaking  the  earthen  ewer 
•wherein  they  waslied  their  hands  ;  being  out  of  tune  in  setting  the 
psalm  ;  taking  anv  by  the  hand;  receiving  letters  from,  or  talking  with 
a  friend,  without  leave  of  the  .abbot,  &c.  [From  the  table]  such  were  to 
eat  by  themselves,  and  three  hours  after  the  rest,  until  they  had  made 
satisfaction. 

§§§  Viz.,  theft,  &c.,  this  in  effect  amounted  to  the  greater  excommuni- 
cation, and  had  all  the  penalties  thereof. 

II II II  Yet  herein  his  keeper,  deputed  by  the  abbot,  was  excepted.  [Con- 
verse] Either  to  eat  or  speak  with  him ;  he  might  not  so  much  as  bless 
him  or  his  meat,  if  carried  by  him  :  yet  to  avoid  scandal  he  might  rise  up, 
bow,  or  bare  his  head  to  him,  in  case  the  other  did  first  salute  him  with 
silent  gesture. 

^^1T  He  was  to  lose  his  former  seniority,  and  begin  at  the  bottom. 
Whosoever  quitted  the  convent  thrice,  or  was  thrice  expelled  for  misde- 
meanors, might  not  any  more  be  received. 

**«*  Not  to  wear  at  once,  except  in  winter,  but  for  exchange  whilst 
one  was  washed.  And  when  new  clothes  were  delivered  them  their  old 
ones  were  given  to  the  poor. 

UU  The  abbot  also  every  Saturday  was  to  visit  their  beds,  to  see  if 
they  had  not  shutfled  into  it  some  softer  matter  than  was  allowed  of;  or 
purloined  meat  or  dainties  to  eat  in  private. 


Chap.  LVIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


261 


xxviii.  Let  the  abbot  be  chosen  by  the  merits  of  his 
life  and  learning. 

xxix.  Let  him  never  dine  alone  ;  but  when  guests  are 
wanting  call  some  brethren  unto  his  table.* 

XXX.  Let  the  cellarer  be  a  discreet  man  to  give  all  their 
meat  in  due  season. 

xxxi.  Let  none  be  excused  from  the  office  of  cook,  but 
take  his  turn  in  his  week.f 

xxxii.  Let  the  cook  each  Saturday  when  he  goeth  out 
of  his  office  leave  the  linen  and  vessels  clean  and  sound 
to  his  successor.;}: 

xxxiii.  Let  the  porter  be  a  grave  person  to  discharge 
his  trust  with  discretion.  § 

From  this  view  of  the  constitution  and  discipline 
of  religious  houses,  it  is  clear  that  they  had  a  tendency 
to  promote  learning  and  good  manners  among  their 
own  members ;  but  besides  this  they  were  productive 
of  much  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  pur- 
pose ;  and  all  the  neighbours  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  English,  and  Latin  if  they  desired  it ; 
and  not  only  the  daughters  of  the  lower  class  of  peo- 
ple, but  even  those  of  the  nobility  and  gentry,  were 
educated  in  these  seminaries.  Farther,  monasteries 
were  in  effect  great  hospitals,  many  poor  people  being 
fed  therein  every  day  ;  they  were  also  houses  of  en- 
tertainment, for  almost  all  travellers  :  even  the  no- 
bility and  gentry,  when  upon  a  journey,  took  up  their 
abode  at  one  religious  house  or  another,  there  being 
at  that  time  but  few  inns  in  this  country.  In  these, 
also,  the  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  abbesses, ||  and  by  procuring  for  the  latter 
corodies  and  pensions.^ 

*  Such  as  were  relieved  by  his  hospitality  are  by  canonical  critics 
sorted  into  four  ranks  : — 

1.  Convivffi, guests  living  in  or  near  the  city  where  the  conveijt  stood. 

2.  Hospites,  strangers,  coming  from  distant  parts  of  the  country. 

3.  Peregrini,  pilgrims  of  another  na,tion,  and  generally  travelling  for 

devotion. 

4.  Mendici,  beggars,  who  received  alms  without  at  the  gate. 

t  The  abbot  and  the  cellarer  in  great  convents  were  excepted,  but 
this  was  only  anciently.  This  was  the  rule  in  poor  monasteries,  with  an 
exception  of  the  abbot  and  the  cellarer ;  in  the  larger  were  cooks  and 
under  cooks,  lay  persons. 

t  Upon  pain  to  receive  twenty-five  claps  on  the  hand  for  every  default 
of  this  kind;  harder  was  that  rule  which  enjoined  that  the  cook  might 
not  taste  what  he  dressed  for  others.  Understand  it  thus,  though  he 
might  eat  his  own  pittance  or  dimensum,  yet  he  must  meddle  with  no 
more,  lest  the  tasting  should  tempt  him  togluttony  and  excess. 

§  Whose  age  might  make  him  resident  in  his  place.  [Discharge  his 
trust]  In  listening  to  no  secular  news,  and  if  hearing  it  not  to  report  it 
again  ;  in  carrjing  the  keys  every  night  to  the  abbot,  and  letting  none  in 
or  out  without  his  permission. 

II  Mary,  the  daughter  of  King  Edward  I.,  and  also  thirteen  noblemen's 
daughters,  were  at  one  time  nuns  at  Ambresbury.  Angl.  Sacr.  vol.  I. 
pag.  208.  And  Ralph,  earl  of  Westmoreland,  having  twenty  children, 
made  three  of  his  daughters  nuns.  Six  sons  of  Henry,  lord  of  Harley, 
were  monks.  Angl.  Sacr.  vol.  I.  pag.  205.  Bridget,  the  fourth  daughter 
of  Edward  IV.,  was  a  nun  at  Dartford,  in  Kent. 

H  A  Corody,  k  conradendo,  from  eating  together,  is  an  allowance  of 
meat,  drink,  and  clothing,  due  to  the  king  from  an  abbey,  or  other  house 
of  religion,  for  the  reasonable  sustenance  of  such  of  his  servants  as  he 
should  bestow  it  on.  Termes  de  la  Ley.  Cowel's  Interp.  in  Voce,  et 
vide  Mon.  Angl.  vol.  II.  pag.  933.  Burn.  Reform,  vol.  I.  pag.  223. 
Collier's  Eccl.  Hist.  vol.  II.  pag.  165.  In  Plowden's  Commentaries,  in 
the  case  of  Throckmerton  versus  Tracey,  is  an  allusion,  but  without  a 
particular  reference,  to  a  case  which  nevertheless  seems  to  have  received 
a  legal  decision,  arising  upon  this  question,  viz.,  Whether  under  a  grant 
of  a  corody  to  a  man  and  his  servant,  the  grantee  might  bring  to  sit  at 
mess  with  the  abbot  and  convent,  a  person  infected  with  the  leprosy  or 
other  noisome  disease.    Vide  Finch's  Nomotexnia,  fol.  15.  b.     Finch 


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  a  state  of  perpetual 
hostility,  by  accumulating  prebends  and  benefices, 
and  by  procuring  the  appropriation  of  churches, 
which  they  did  in  this  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.  18,  19. 
And  where  their  endeavours  to  get  the  appropriation 
failed,  they  frequently  got  a  pension  out  of  it.  They 
were  farther  injurious  to  the  secular  clergy  by  the 
many  exemptions  which  they  had  from  episcopal 
jurisdiction,  and  the  payment  of  tytbes. 

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,  concerning  which  latter 
employment  of  theirs.  Fuller  thus  humorously  ex- 
presses himself  : — '  Though  the  monks  themselves 
'  were  too  fine-nosed  to  dabble  in  tan-fats,  yet  they 
'  kept  others  bred  in  that  trade  to  follow  their  work ; 
'  these  convents  having  bark  of  their  own  woods, 
'  hides  of  the  cattle  of  their  own  breeding  and  kill- 
'ing,  and,  which  was  the  main,  a  large  stock  of 
'  money  to  buy  at  the  best  hand,  and  to  allow  such 
'  chapmen  as  they  sold  to,  a  long  day  of  payment, 
'  easily  eat  out  such  who  were  bred  up  in  that 
'  vocation.  Whereupon  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  with  such  mechanic  emjDloyments.' 

Sanctuaries,  of  which  there  were  many,  as  at 
Westminster,  Croyland,  St.  Burien's,  St.  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 :  '  Unthrifts  riot, 
'and  run  in  debt  upon  the  boldness  of  these  places; 
*  yea  and  rich  men  run  thither  with  poor  men's 
'  goods,  where  they  build ;  there  they  spend,  and 
'  bid  their  creditors  go  whistle  them ;  men's  wives 
'  run  thither  with  their  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  again  as  though  tliose  places  gave 
'  them  not  only  a  safeguard  for  the  harm  they  have 
'  done,  but  a  licence  to  do  more.' 

Add  to  all  these,  other  mischiefs,  the  inevitable 

* 

of  Law,  ^G.  A  pension  was  an  annual  allowance  in  money  from  an  abbey 
to  one  of  the  king's  chaplains  for  his  better  maintenance,  until  provided 
with  a  benefice.     Cowel,  voce  Corody. 

**  It  is  said  that  in  the  ninth  century  there  were  in  this  kingdom  more 
monks  than  military  men  ;  and  to  this  bad  policy  some  have  scrupled  not 
to  attribute  the  success  of  the  Danes  in  their  several  invasions. 


262 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VII. 


consequences  of  those  prohibitions  and  restraints  im- 
posed on  the  clergy,  as  well  secular  as  regular* 

Undoubtedly  these  evils  co-operating  with  motives 
of  a  political  nature,  were  the  causes  of  that  reform- 
ation, for  which  even  at  this  distance  of  time  we 
have  abundant  reason  to  be  thankful :  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  some  of  the  principal  agents  in  that 
revolution  were  actuated  by  the  noblest  of  all  motives, 
namely,  zeal  for  the  honor  of  God  ;  and  whether 
the  objections  against  it,  that  it  was  effected  ^  by 
unjustifiable  means,  such  as  corruption,  subornation, 
and  the  invasion  of  corporate  rights,  sanctified  by 
law  and  usage :  whether  all  or  any  of  these  are 
admissable  in  a  subject  of  so  important  a  nature  as 
the  advancement  of  learning,  and  the  exercise  of 
true  religion,  is  a  question  that  has  already  been 
discussed  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  state  of  the  science  in  this  country  in  or 
about  the  fifteenth  century ;   and  it  remains  now  to 
speak  of  its  application,  or,  in  other  words,  to  take 
a  view  of  the  practice  of  it  amongst  us.     And  first 
it  will  appear  that  as  it  was  become  essential  to  the 
performance   of  divine  service,  it  was  used   in   all 
cathedral  and  collegiate  churches,  and  that  the  clergy 
were  very  zealous  to  promote  it.     Of  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  organ   into  the  choral  service  by  pope 
Vitalianus,  in  the  year  660,  mention  has  already  been 
made;  and  for  the  early  use  of  that  instrument  in 
this  kingdom  we  have  the  testimony  of  Sir  Henry 
Spelman  [in  his  Glossary,  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  churches  of  the  West ;  f 
which  latter  he  so  describes,  as  that  they  appear  to 
have  been  very  little  different  from  those  now^  in 
use,  viz.,  '  Organa  ubi  per  aereas  fistulas  musicis 
'mensuris  elaboratas  dudum  conceptas  follis  vomit 


*  And  yet  it  seems  that  the  licentiovisness  of  the  repulars  was  not 
general  throughout  this  kingdom,  even  in  tl\e  most  corrupt  state  of 
clerical  manners,  for  lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury  relates,  that  upon  the 
■visitation  of  religious  houses  it  was  found  that  some  societies  behaved  so 
well,  that  their  lives  were  not  only  exempt  from  notorious  faults,  but 
their  spare  time  was  bestowed  in  writing  books,  painting,  carving, 
graving,  and  the  like  exercises:  and  in  the  preamble  to  the  statute  of 
27  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  28,  is  this  remarkable  declaration,  '  In  the  greater 
'monasteries,  thanks  be  to  God,  religion  is  right  well  observed  and 
'  kept  up.' 

t  It  has  elsewhere,  viz.,  pag.  176,  of  this  work,  been  remarked  that 
Dunstan  was  well  skilled  In  music.  There  is  a  tradition  that  his  harp 
made  music  of  itself,  thus  humorously  related  by  Fuller  in  his  Church 
History,  pag.  128  :  — 

St.  Dunstan's  harp  fast  by  the  wall 

Upon  a  pill  did  hang — a  ; 
The  harp  itself  with  lye  and  all, 
Untouch'd  by  hand,  did  twang— a. 
This  might  have  happened,  supposing  two  strings  tuned  in  the  unisori, 
and  the  wind  to  have  blown  hard  against  tlie  instrument,  and  this  acci- 
dent might  suggest  the  invention  of  the  instrument  described  by  Kircher 
in  the  Musurgia,  torn.  II.  pag.  352,  and  lately  given  to  the  world  as  a  new 
discovery,  by  the  name  of  the  harp  of  iEolus. 


'  anxius  auras.'J  And  it  is  elsewhere  said  that  they 
had  brass  pipes  and  bellows.§  The  same  writer 
mentions  that  the  organ  at  Malmesbury  had  the 
following  distich  inscribed  on  brass,  declaring  who 
was  the  donor  of  it : — 

Organa  do  sancto  praesul  Dunstanus  Aldelmo 
Perdat  hie  aeternum,  qui  vult  hinc  toUere,  regnum.|l 

Fuller,  in  his  Worthies  of  Denbighshire,  pag.  33, 
mentions  a  famous  organ,  formerly  at  Wrexham  in 
that  county,  a  matter  of  great  curiosity,  in  respect 
that  the  instrument  was  erected,  not  in  a  cathedral, 
but  in  a  parochial  church  :    he  speaks  also  of  an  im- 
provement of  the  organ  by  one  Bernard,  a  Venetian, 
of  whom  he  asserts,  on  the  authority  of  Sabellicus, 
that  he  was  absolutely  the  best  musician  in  the  world. 
With  respec  t  to  abbey  and  conventual  churches, 
we   meet  with   few  express  foundations  of  canons, 
minor  canons,  and  choristers  ;    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  ;    but  in 
cathedral  churches  we  meet  with  very   ample   en- 
dowments,  as   well    for   vicars,    or   minor    canons, 
clerks,   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  ancient  foundations 
were  absorbed  in  the  modern,  and  it  is  of  the  latter 
only  that  there  are  any  authentic   memorials  now 
remaining ;  of  those  that  retain  their  original  con- 
stitution the  following  are  some  of  the  principal : — 

Hereford,  the  cathedral  rebuilt  in  the  time  of 
William  the  Conqueror,  and  by  the  contributions 
of  benefactors  endowed  so  as  to  maintain  a  bishop, 
dean,  two  archdeacons,  a  chancellor,  treasurer,  twenty- 
eight  prebendaries,  twelve  priest-vicars,  four_  lay 
clerks,  seven  choristers,  and  other  officers.  In  aid  of 
this  foundation  Richard  II.  incorporated  the  vicars- 
choral,  endowing  them  with  lands  for  their  better 
support ;  and  they  exist  now  as  a  body  distinct  in 
some  respects  from  the  dean  and  chapter. "H 

Of  the  original  endowment  of  the  cathedral  of  St. 
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  support  by 
divers  persons  at  different  times,  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  had  anciently  their  habitation  in  and 
about  the  church-yard  ;  but  at  length  by  the  bounty 
of  well-disposed  persons,  they  became  enabled  to  meet 
and  dine  together  in  a  common  hall  or  refectory,  on 
the  north  side  of  the  church.  In  the  year  1363 
Robert  de   Keteryngham,  rector  of  St.   Gregory's, 


t  Gul.  Malraesb.  lib.  V.  de  Pontif.  inter  xv.  Script  Galei,  pag.  361 
§  Gul.  Malmesb.  in  Vita  Aldhelmi,  pag.  33. 
II  Cul.  Malmesb.  de  Pontif.  lib.  V.  pag.  366. 
%  Tanner's  Notitia  Monastica,  pag.  171,  179. 


Chap.  LIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


2G3 


with  licence  of  king  Edward  III.  granted  to  the 
dean  and  chapter  certain  messuages  and  lands  of 
the  yearly  value  of  vi.  1.  xiii.  s.  iv.  d.  to  the  end  that 
the  minor  canons  should  sing  divine  service  daily 
in  the  church  of  St.  Paul,  for  the  good  estiite  of  the 
king,  and  queen  Philippa  his  consort,  and  ali  their 
children  during  their  lives,  and  also  for  their  souls 
after  their  decease.  Richard  IT.  hy  his  letters 
patent  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  reign,  incor- 
porated tliem  by  the  style  of  the  college  of  the  twelve 
petty  canons  of  St.  Paul's  church,  and  augmented 
their  maintenance  by  a  grant  to  them  of  divers 
lands  and  rents  ;  and  24  Henry  VI.  tlie  church  of 
St.  Gre.Li^ory  was  appropriated  to  them.* 

At  Wells  also  is  a  college  of  vicars,  founded 
originally  for  the  maintenance  of  thirteen  chantry 
priests,  who  officiated  in  the  cathedral.  In  1347 
Radulphus  de  Salopia,  bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells, 
erected  a  college  for  the  vicars  of  the  cathedral 
church,  got  them  incorporated,  and  augmented  their 
revenues  with -certain  lands  of  his  own.f 

The  ancient  foundation  of  Litchfield  cathedral 
appears  to  have  been  a  bishop,  dean,  precentor, 
chancellor,  treasurer,  four  archdeacons,  twenty -seven 
prebendaries,  five  priest-vicars,  seven  lay-clerks  or 
singing-men,  eight  choristers,  and  other  officers  and 
servants.  I 

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, 
wiiich  by  the  way  has  been  successively  an  abbey, 
a  cathedral,  and  a  collegiate  church. 

Some  of  the  colleges  in  Oxford  have  also  endow- 
ments of  this  kind,  as  namely.  New  college,  for  ten 
chaplains,  three  clerks,  and  sixteen  choristers  ;  Mag- 
dalen college,  for  four  chaplains,  eight  clerks,  and 
sixteen  choristers ;  All -Souls,  for  chaplains,  clerks, 
and  choristers  indefinitely  ;  there  also  was  an  insti- 
tution of  some  hind  or  other  of  chaplains,  clerks, 
choristers  at  St.  John's  college,  Oxon  :  but  the  same 
was  annulled  in  1577,  the  college  estate  being  im- 
paired. Sir  W.  Paddy,  Physician  to  James  I., 
refounded  the  choir.  In  the  college  at  Ipswich, 
founded  by  Cardinal  Wolsey,  was  a  provision  for  a 
dean,  twelve  secular  canons,  and  eight  choristers  ;  but 
the  college  was  suppressed,  and  great  part  of  the  en- 
dowment alienated  upon  the  disgrace  of  the  founder. 

In  some  free  chapels  §  also  were  endowments  for 
choral  service,  as  in  that  of  St.  George  at  Windsor, 
now  indeed  a  collegiate  church,  in  which  are  a  dean, 
twelve  canons  or  prebendaries,  thirteen  vicars  or 
minor  canons,  four  clerks,  six  choristers,  and  twenty^ 
six  poor  alms  knights,  besides  other  officers. 

'  The  kynge's  college  of.our  Lady  by  Etone  besyde 

*  The  minor  canons  of  the  cathedral  church  of  St.  Paul  have  now  a 
college,  situate  on  the  south  side  of  the  church-yard,  and  near  thereto  is 
a  place  called  Paul's  Bakehouse  Court,  from  whence  it  may  be  inferred 
that  the  members  of  that  chuicli  lived  tot,'ether,  that  the  rents  arising 
from  their  estates  situate  in  the  neighbourhood  of  London  were  paid  in 
corn,  which  was  made  into  bread  by  their  own  servants,  and  baked  at  or 
near  the  place  above-mentioned. 

t  Tann.  477.         |  Ibid.  485. 

§  Free  chapels  were  places  of  religious  worship  exempt  from  all  juris- 
diction of  the  ordinary,  in  which  respect  they  differed  from  chantries, 
which  were  ever  united  to  some  cathedral,  collegiate,  or  parochial  church. 


'  Wyndesore,'  was  founded  by  king  Henry  VI.  anno 
regiii  19,  for  a  provost,  ten  priests,  four  clerks,  six 
choristers,  twenty-five  poor  grammar-scholars,  with 
a  master  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)  in  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  servants 
belonging  to  the  college.|| 

The  chapel  of  St.  Stephen,  near  the  great  hall  at 
Westminster,  first  built  by  king  Stephen,  and  after- 
wards rebuilt  by  Edward  III.  in  the  year  1347,  was 
by  the  latter  ordained  to  be  a  collegiate  church,  and 
therein  were  established  a  dean,  twelve  canons  secular, 
who  had  their  residence  in  Canon,  vulgarly,  Channel - 
row,  W^estminster,  thirteen  vicars,  four  clerks,  six 
chorists,  two  servitors,  a  verger,  and  a  keeper  of  the 
chapel.  The  same  king  endowed  this  chapel  or  col- 
legiate church  with  manors,  lands,  &c.  to  a  very 
great  value  :  it  was  surrendered  to  Edward  VI.,  and 
the  chapel  is  now  the  place  in  wdiich  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  salary  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  Canon- 
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.ff  At  Leadenhall  Sir  Simon  Eyre,  who  had 
been  some  time  mayor  of  London,  erected  a  beautiful 
and  large  chapel,  and  bequeathed  to  the  company  of 
Drapers  three  thousand  marks,  upon  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  anntmi,  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 
effect. :}:J  In  tlie  church  of  St.  Michael  Royal,  Lon- 
don, which  had  been  new  built  by  the  famous  Sir 
Richard  Whittington,  several  times  lord  mayor  of 
London,  was  founded  by  him,  and  finished  by  his 
executors  a.d.  1424,  a  college  dedicated  to  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  the  Virgin  Mary,  for  a  master  and  four 
fellows,  all  to  be  masters  of  arts  ;  besides  clerks, 
choristers,  (fec.§§  In  the  cluu-ch  of  St.  Mary  at 
Warwick   was   an   endowment   by    Roger,    earl    of 

II  Tann.  33. 

f  Newcourt's  Repertorium,  vol.  I.  pag.  745.     »•  Ibid.  vol.  I.  pag.  319. 

tt  Tann.  Notit.  pag.  319.         t|  Ibid.  pag.  325.         §§  Ibid. 


264 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VII. 


Warwick,  about  the  year  1123,  for  a  dean  and 
eecular  canons  ;  this  foundation  was  considerably 
augmented  by  the  succeeding  earls,  so  that  at  the 
time  of  the  dissolution  it  consisted  of  a  dean,  five 
prebendaries  or  canons,  ten  priest-vicars,  and  six 
choristers.* 

One  thing  very  remarkable  in  all  these  foundations, 
except  that  of  Eton,  is  that  they  afforded  no  provision 
for  an  organist.f  That  excellent  musician  Dr.  Ben- 
jamin Rogers,  who  was  very  well  versed  in  the 
history  of  his  own  profession,  once  took  notice  of 
this  to  Anthony  Wood  :  and,  considering  that  the 
use  of  organs  in  divine  service  is  almost  coeval  with 
choral  singing  itself,  to  account  for  it  is  somewhat 
difficult ;  it  seems  however  not  improbable  that  in 
most  cathedral,  and  other  foundations  for  the  per- 
formance of  divine  service,  the  duty  of  organist  was 
discharged  by  some  one  or  other  of  the  vicars  choral. 
In  the  statutes  of  Canterbury  cathedral  provision  is 
made  for  players  on  sackbuts  and  cornets,  which  on 
solemn  occasions  might  probably  be  joined  to,  or 
used  in  aid  of  the  organ. J 

The  foregoing  notices  refer  solely  to  that  kind  of 
music  which  was  used  in  the  divine  offices ;  but  over 
and  above  the  several  musical  confraternities  formerly 
subsisting  in  different  parts  of  this  kingdom,  a  set  of 
men,  called  stipendiary  priests,  derived  a  subsistence 
from  the  singing  of  masses,  in  chantries  endowed  for 
that  purpose,  for  the  souls  of  the  founders.  §  In  the 
cathedral  church  of  St.  Paul  were  no  fewer  of  these 
than  forty-seven ;  and  in  the  church  of  St.  Saviour, 
Southwark,  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  Gower,  the 
author  of  the  Confessio  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  was  occasional,  since 

*  Tann.  Notit.  pag.  570. 

I-  The  first,  instanec  tve  have  found  of  a  stipendary  organist,  is  that  of  one 
Leonard  Fitz  Simon.mentioned  by  Mr.  Warton  in  his  life  of  Sir  Thomas 
Pope,  as  being  organist  of  Trinity  College,  Oxon:  about  1580,  at  a  salary 
of  20s.  a  year. 

I  There  liave  been  but  very  few  foundations  of  colleges  since  the  dis- 
solution of  monasteries,  except  those  of  Henry  VIII.  In  the  only  one 
that  can  now  be  recollected,  that  of  Dulwich,  founded  by  Alleyn  the 
player,  in  tlie  reign  of  James  I.,  provision  is  made  by  the  statutes  that  the 
children  there  educated  should  be  taught  prick-song  ;  and  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  for  performing  the  service  of  the  chapel,  one  of  the  fellows  is 
required  to  be  a  skilful  organist.  Of  this  worthy  man,  Mr.  Edward 
Alleyn,  the  honour  of  his  profession,  there  is  a  well-written  life,  the  work 
of  the  late  Mr.  Oldys,  in  the  Biographia  Britannica.  In  his  time  it 
said  that  there  were  no  fewer  than  nineteen  playhouses  in  London, 
Prvnne's  Histrio-niastix,  pag.  492,  which  are  two  more  than  are  enu- 
merated in  the  Preface  to  Dodsley's  collection  of  old  plays ;  the  two 
omitted  in  Dodsley's  account  are  said  by  Prynne  to  have  been,  the  one  in 
Bishopsgate-street,  and  the  other  on  Ludgate-hill.  The  situation  of  the 
former  of  these  may  possibly  be  yet  ascertained ;  Fuller,  Worthies  in 
London,  pag.  223,  says  that  Alleyn  was  born  in  the  parish  of  Bishopsgate, 
near  Devonshire-house,  where  now  is  the  sign  of  the  Pie.  Now  it  may 
be  proved,  by  incontestible  evidence,  that  the  Magpie  alehouse,  situate 
on  the  east  side  of  Bishopsgate  street,  between  Houndsditch  and  Devon- 
shire-street, with  the  adjacent  houses,  are  part  of  the  fstate  with  which 
Alleyn  endowed  his  college,  and  they  are  now  actually  held  under  leases 
granted  by  the  college.  It  is  therefore  to  be  supposed,  as  the  Pie  was 
the  place  of  his  birth,  and  continued  to  be  part  of  his  estate  to  the  time 
of  his  death  ;  that  it  was  also  his  dwelling  during  his  life  ;  and  if  so, 
■where  was  the  playhouse  in  Bishopsgate-street  so  likely  to  be  as  at  the 
Magpie  ?  Add  to  this  that  the  very  house,  now  in  being,  is  unque.-^tion- 
ably  as  old  as  the  time  of  James  I.,  for  the  lire  never  reached  Bishopsgate; 
it  fronts  the  street,  and  the  garden  behind  it  was  probably  the  site  of  the 
playhouse. 

§  This  superstitious  service  was  usually  performed  at  some  particular 
altar,  but  oftener  in  a  small  chapel,  of  which  there  were  many  in  all  the 
cathedral  and  collegiate,  and  in  some  parish  churches  in  this  kingdom. 
Vide  Godolphin's  Repertorjum  Canonicum,  pag.  329.  Fuller's  Church 
History,  book  YI.  pag.  350.     Weever's  Funeral  ftlonuments,  pag.  733. 


the  endowment  must  be  supposed  to  have  in  a  great 
measure  ascertained  the  stipend,  and  this  was  some- 
times so  considerable,  as  to  occasion  as  much  soli- 
citaticn  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  monasteries  but  a  very  short  time,  for 
they,  together  with  free  chapels,  were  granted  to 
Henry  VIII.  by  the  parliament  in  1545,  and  were 
dissolved  by  the  statute  of  1  Edw.  VI.  chap.  14. 

Such  was  the  nature  of  the  monastic  institution, 
and  such  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  ecclesiastical  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  rule,  as  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  church,  the 
pope  was  acknowledged  to  be  invested  with,  and 
which  was  constantly  exerted  in  the  making  and 
promulging  decretals,  constitutions,  canons,  and  bulls, 
and  all  that  variety  of  laws,  by  whatsoever  name 
they  are  called,  which  make  up  the  Corpus  Juris 
Cauonici :  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  discipline  in  all  monastic 
foundations,  as  far  as  was  consistent  with  their  several 
professions. 

In  aid  of  these,  the  ritualists,  who  are  here  to  be 
considered  as  commentators  on  that  body  of  laws 
above  referred  to,  have  with  great  precision  not  only 
enumerated  the  several  orders  in  the  church,  ||  but 
have  also  prescribed  the  duty  of  every  person  em- 
ployed in  the  sacred  offices.  In  consequence  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  was  submitted 

II  Besides  the  orders  of  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  there  are  both  in 
the  Romish  and  Greek  churches  others  of  an  inferior  degree,  though  as 
to  their  number  there  appears  to  be  a  great  diversity  of  sentiments. 
Baronius  asserts  it  to  be  five,  viz.,  subdeacons,  acolythists,  exorcists, 
readers,  and  ostarii,  or  doorkeepers ;  others  make  them  a  much  greater 
number,  including  therein  psalraistje,  or  singers,  and  the  inferior  officers 
employed  in  and  about  the  church.  The  duty  of  each  may  in  general  be 
inferred  from  their  names,  except  that  of  the  acolytliists,  which  appears 
to  have  been  originally  nothing  more  than  to  light  the  candles  of  the 
church,  and  to  attend  the  ministers  with  wine  for  the  eucharist.  Bishop 
Hall  has  exhibited  a  very  lively  picture  of  an  acolythist  in  the  exercise 
of  his  office  in  the  following  lines  : — 

'  To  see  a  lasie  dumbe  Acolithite 

'  Armed  against  a  devout  flyes  despight 

'  Which  ai  th'hy  altar  doth  the  chalice  vaile, 

'  With  a  broad  flie-flappe  of  a  peacocke's  tayle, 

'  The  whiles  the  likerous  priest  spits  every  trice 

'  With  longing  for  his  morning  sacrifice.' 

Virgidemiarum,  edit.  1602,  pag.  100. 

And  yet,  notwithstanding  the  seeming  insignificance  of  this  order,  we 
meet  with  an  endowment,  perhaps  the  only  one  ever  known  in  this 
kingdom,  at  Arundel,  in  Sussex,  for  a  master  and  twelve  secular  canons, 
three  deacons,  three  subdeacons,  two  acolites,  seven  choristers,  two 
sacrists,  and  other  officers ;  but  it  was  suppressed  at  the  time  of  tbe 
general  dissolution  of  other  religious  houses. 


Jhap. 


LX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


265 


to ;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  duties  of  the 
canons  or  prebendaries,  the  precentor,  the  chorists, 
and  other  officers  in  all  cathedral  churches.  One 
very  remarkable  instance  of  that  uniformity  in 
government,  discipline,  and  practice,  is  that  of  the 
episcopus  puerorum,  mentioned  in  a  preceding  chapter 
of  this  volume,  which  is  there  shown  to  be  common 
to  France  and  England,  and  probably  prevailed 
throughout  the  western  church ;  for  the  traces  of 
it  are  yet  remaining  in  the  reformed  churches,  as  in 
Holland,  and  many  parts  of  Germany. 

The  rule  of  bestowing  on  minor  canons,  or  vicars 
choral,  livings  within  a  small  distance  of  a  cathedral 
church,  is  generally  observed  by  deans  and  their 
chapters  throughout  this  kingdom,  and  by  those  of 
other  countries.* 


CHAP.  LX. 

Having  treated  thus  largely  of  ecclesiastical,  it 
remains  now  to  pursue  the  history  of  secular  music, 
and  to  give  an  account  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  instruments  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  difficult  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 
should  seem,  of  the  symphoniac  kind ;  and  that  by 
women  too,  for  in  the  Roman  council,  held  on  British 
affairs  anno  679,  is  the  following  decree : — 'We  also 
*  ordain  and  decree  that  bishops,  and  all  whosoever 
'  profess  the  religious  life  of  the  ecclesiastical  order, 
'  do   not  use  weapons,  nor   keep   musicians  of   the 

*  In  the  tales  of  Bonaventure  des  Periers,  valet  de  cliambre  to  Margaret 
queen  of  Navarre,  is  the  following  pleasant  story,  which  proves  at  least 
that  this  was  the  usage  in  France  : — 

In  the  church  of  St.  Hilary,  at  Poitiers,  was  a  singing  man  with  a  very 
fine  counter-tenor  voice ;  he  had  served  in  the  choir  a  long  time,  and 
hegan  to  look  to  his  chapter  for  preferment ;  to  this  end  he  made  frequent 
applications  to  the  canons  severally,  and  received  from  them  the  most 
favourable  answers,  and  promises  of  the  first  benefice  that  should  become 
vacant,  but  when  any  fell  he  had  the  mortification  to  see  some  other 
person  preferred  to  it.  Finding  himself  thus  frequently  disappointed,  he 
thought  of  an  expedient  to  make  his  good  masters  the  canons  ashamed  of 
themselves  ;  he  got  together  a  few  crowns,  and  afl^ecting  still  to  court 
them,  invited  them  to  a  dinner  at  his  house  ;  they  accepted  his  invitation, 
but,  considering  the  slender  circumstances  of  the  man,  sent  in  provisions 
of  their  swn  for  the  entertainment,  which  he  received  with  seeming  re- 
luctance, but  never.theless  took  care  to  have  served  up  to  them  :  in  short, 
he  set  before  his  guests  a  dish  of  an  imcommon  magnitude,  containing 
flesh,  some  salt  and  some  fresh,  fowl,  some  roast  and  some  boiled,  fish, 
roots,  pulse,  herbs,  and  soups  of  all  kinds  ;  in  a  word,  all  the  provisions 
that  had  been  sent  in.  No  man  being  able  to  eat  of  this  strange  mess, 
each  began  to  hope  that  his  own  provision  would  be  set  on  the  table,  but 
the  singing  man  gave  them  to  understand  that  all  was  before  them  ;  and 
perceiving  their  disgust,  he  thus  addressed  them: — '  My  masters,'  said 
he,  '  the  dish  that  I  proposed  for  your  entertainment  displeases  ye,  are 
'  not  the  ingredients  good  in  their  kind  that  compose  it  ?  Are  not  capons, 
'.are  not  pigeons  and  wild-fowl,  are  not  trout,  carp,  and  tench,  are  not 
'  soups,  the  richest  that  can  be  made,  excellent  food  ?  True,  you  say, 
'  they  are  so  separately,  but  they  are  nauglit  being  mixed  and  jumbled 
together.  Even  so  are  you  my  wortliy  friends ;  every  one  of  ye 
separately  has  for  these  ten  years  promised  me  his  favour  and  patronage, 
each  has  flattered  me  with  the  hopes  of  his  assistance  in  procuring  for 
rpe  such  a  benefice  in  the  church,  such  a  provision  for  the  remainder  of 
my  life,  as  my  services  in  the  choir  intitle  me  to.  What  have  ye  done 
for  me  in  all  this  time  ?  and  liow  much  better  in  your  collective  capacity 
'  are  ye  than  this  nauseous  mi.\ture  of  viands  which  ye  now  despise  1 ' 
Here  he  ended  his  reproaches,  and  ordering  the  table  to  be  covered  with 
such  fare  as  was  fit  to  entertain  them  with,  they  dined,  and  left  him  witji 
an  assurance  that  he  should  soon  be  provided  for,  which  shortly  after  he 
was,  to  his  great  satisfaction. 


'  Female  sex,  nor  any  musical  concerts  whatsoever  ;  f 
'  nor  do  allow  of  any  buffooneries  or  plays  in  their 
'  presence.  For  the  discipline  of  the  holy  church 
'  permits  not  her  faithful  priests  to  use  any  of  these 
'things,  but  charges  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  the 
'  hearers  may  be  fed  with  the  divine  word,  even  at 
'  the  very  time  of  their  bodily  repast.' 

Of  instruments  in  common  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  Cunobeline,  which  he  seems  to  have  seen 
with  the  figure  on  the  reverse  of  Apollo  with  a 
harp,  J  which  at  once  shews  it  to  have  been  in  use 
twenty-four  years  before  the  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  account  of  the  harp  leads  to  an  enquiry 
into  the  antiquity  of  another  instrument,  namely,  the 
Cruth  or  Crowth,  formerly  in  common  i;se  in  the 
principality  of  Wales.  In  the  Collectanea  of  Leland, 
vol.  V.  pag.  —  amongst  some  Latin  words,  for  which 
the  author  gives  the  Saxon  appellations,  Liticen  is 
rendereil  a  Cruth,§ 

The  instrument  here  spoken  of  is  of  the  fidicinal 
kind,  somewhat  resembling  a  violin,  twenty -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  differs  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  the  back ;  the 
other  foot,  which  is  proportionably  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 

t  Those  of  the  clergy  who  entertained  a  real  love  for  music,  were  by 
this  decree  and  a  subsequent  canon  totally  restrained  from  the  practice  of 
it  for  their  recreation  ;  the  decree  forbids  social  harmony ;  and  by  the 
fifty-eighth  of  king  Edgar's  canons,  made  anno  960,  is  an  express  charge, 
'That  no  priest  be  a  common  rhymer,  nor  play  on  any  musical  instrument 
'by  himself  or  with  any  other  men,  but  be  wise  and  reverent  as  become 
'his  order.'  Vide  Johnson's  Ecclesiastical  Laws,  tit.  Canons  made  in 
King  Edgar's  Reign.  As  to  the  decree  of  the  concil  of  679,  above  men- 
tioned, it  is  confined  to  the  singing  of  females  at  private  meetings ;  but 
it  seems  that  before  that  time  girls  were  used  to  sing  in  the  churches ; 
for  by  a  canon  of  a  council  held  in  France  anno  614,  it  is  expressly 
forbidden. 

I  Notes  on  Drayton's  Polyolbion,  Song  VI. 

§  Carpentier,  in  his  Stipplement  to  the  Glossary  of  Du  Cange,  lately 
putilished,  gives  the  word  Lituicenes,  which  he  explains,  players  on  wind 
instruments.  This  appellative  is  not  formed  of  Liticen,  but  of  Lituus, 
which  is  a  wind  instrument,  and  therefore  he  is  right.  Walther,  in  his 
Musical  Lexicon,  for  Lituus  gives  Tubara  curvam,  and  supposes  it  to 
mean  the  Chalameau,  which  see  in  Mersennus ;  but  more  probably  it  is 
the  cornet,  to  which  the  Lituus  of  the  Jews  in  Kircher  bears  a  near 
resemblance. 


266 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  Vll. 


neck  about  an  inch  to  the  right.  The  whole  six  are 
wound  up  either  by  wooden  pegs  in  the  form  of  the 
letter  T,  or  by  iron  pins,  which  are  turned  with 
a  wrest  like  those  of  a  harp  or  spinnet.  The  figure, 
together  with  the  tuning  of  this  singular  instrument, 
is  here  given  : — 


Tuning  of  the  Cruth. 


:P2; 


:t- 


W=^3' 


A  A  The  apertures  for  the  hand. 

BB   The  strings  conducted  under 
the  end  board. 

c  c    The  pegs. 

d  d    The  sound-holes. 


Of  the  tuning  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  the  sixth 
and  fifth  strings  are  the  unison  and  octave  of  G,  the 
fourth  and  third  the  same  of  C,  and  the  second  and 
first  the  same  of  D ;  so  that  the  second  pair  of  strings 
are  a  fourth,  and  the  third  a  fifth  to  the  first. 

Touching  the  antiquity  of  the  cruth,  it  must  be 
confessed  there  is  but  little  written  evidence  to  carry 
it  farther  back  than  to  the  time  of  Leland;  never- 
theless 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  musical  instruments. 

Another  kind  of  evidence  of  its  antiquity,  but 
which  tends  also  to  prove  that  the  cruth  was  not 
peculiar  to  Wales,  arises  from  a  discovery  lately 
made,  and  communicated  to  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quarians, respecting  the  abbey  church  of  Melross  in 
Scotland,  supposed  to  have  been  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  corruptl)^  crowd  :  a  player  on  the  cruth  was 
called  a  Crowther  or  Crowder,  and  so  also  is  a  com- 
mon fiddler  to  this  day;  and  hence  undoubtedly  Crow- 
ther or  Crowder,  a  common  surname. 

Butler,  with  his  usual  humour,  has  characterized 
a  common  fiddler,  and  given  him  the  name  of  Crow- 
dero,  in  the  following  passage  : — 

I'th'  head  of  all  this  warlike  rabble, 
Crowdero  march'd,  expert  and  able. 
Instead  of  trumpet  and  of  drum. 
That  makes  the  warrior's  stomach  come, 
Whose  noise  whets  valour  sharp,  Hke  beer 
By  thunder  turn'd  to  vinegar  ; 
(For  if  a  trumpet  sound,  or  drum  beat, 
Who  has  not  a  month's  nnud  to  combat?) 
A  squeaking  engine  he  apply'd 
Unto  his  neck,  on  north  east  side, 


Just  where  the  hangman  does  dispose, 

To  special  friends,  the  knot  or  noose : 

For  'tis  great  grace,  when  statesmen  straight 

Dispatch  a  friend,  let  others  wait. 

His  warped  ear  hung  o'er  the  strings, 

Which  was  but  souse  to  cliitterlings  ; 

For  guts,  some  write,  ere  they  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  scorn 'd  to  owe, 

For  what  on  his  own  chin  did  grow. 

Hud.  part  I.  canto  II.  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  tlie  day  first  appears ; 
supposing  then  the  face  to  be  turned  to  the  east,  and 
in  such  a  case  as  this,  Cfeteris  paribus,  any  circum- 
stance is  a  motive  for  preference,  the  left  is  the  north 
side,  and  in  this  situation  the  instrument  being  ap- 
plied to  the  neck,  will  have  a  north-east  direction. 

The  instrument  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  sixty  years  of 
age,  there  is  reason  to  fear  the  succession  of  per- 
formers on  the  cruth  is  nearly  at  an  end. 

The  period  which  has  l)een  filled  up  with  the 
account  of  the  ancient  jougleours,  violars,  and  min- 
strels, and  more  especially  the  extracts  from  Chaucer, 
and  other  old  poets,  furnish  the  names  of  sundry 
other  instruments,  as  namely,  the  Lute,  the  Getron 
or  Cittern,  the  Flute,  the  Fiddle,  and  the  Cornamusa, 
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  Bar- 
tholomasus  de  Proprietatibus  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  a  very  great  degree  instructive  and  enter- 
taining. Numberless  words  and  plirases,  not  taken 
notice  of  by  any  of  our  lexicographers,  and  which 
are  now  either  become  totally  obsolete,  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  writers. 
In  short,  to  speak  of  the  translation  of  Bartholomasus 
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  nineteen tli  and 
last  book  is  wholly  on  music,  and  is  unquestionably 
the  most  ancient  treatise  on  the  subject  in  the  English 
language  extant  in  print.  The  latter  of  these  reasons 
would  alone  justify  the  insertion  of  it  in  this  place. 


Chap.  LX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


267 


A  short  account  of  Bartholomaeus,  and  of  this  his 
work,  together  with  some  extracts  from  it,  has  been 
given  in  a  foregoing  chapter :  here  follows  the  proem 
to  it,  a  singular  specimen  of  old  English  poetry  : — 

Eternal  lawde  to  God,  gretfft  of  myght 

Be  hertely  yeue  of  euery  creature, 

Whyche  of  his  goodnefTe  fendyth  grace 

To  fondry  folke  as  blefTyd  auenture, 

Whofe  fpyryte  of  counfell  comforteth  full  fure, 

All  fuche  as  lufte  to  feelce  for  fapience, 

And  makyth  them  wyfe  by  grete  intelligence. 

As  thus  where  men  full  naturally  defire 

Of  fundry  thynges  and  meruels  for  to  knowe, 

Of  erthe,  of  ayre,  of  water,  and  of  fire, 

Of  erbe  and  tree  whych  groweth  both  hyge  and  lowe, 

And  other  thynges  as  nature  hath  them  lowe, 

Of  thyfe  the  knowlege  comyth  by  Goddis  grace, 

And  of  all  thynge  that  reafon  may  them  brace. 

Whan  I  beholde  the  thynges  naturall, 

G.idryd  by  grace  fent  from  the  Holy  Ghoft, 

Briefly  compyled  in  bokes  fpecyall. 

As  Bartholomewe  fheweth  and  eke  declayryth  moft, 

Than  I  rejoyce,  remembrynge  euery  cofte, 

How  fome  countree  hath  grete  commodite, 

Some  rote,  fome  frute,  fome  ftoon  of  hyghe  degree. 

Prayfed  be  God,  which  hath  fo  well  enduyd 
The  auftor  wyth  grace  de  Proprietatibus 
To  fe  fo  many  naturall  thynges  renewd, 
Whych  in  his  boke  he  hath  compyled  thus, 
Where  thrugh  by  redynge  we  may  comforte  us, 
And  wyth  conceytes  dyuers  fede  our  mynde, 
As  bokes  empryntid  fliewyth  ryght  as  we  fynde. 

By  Wyken  de  Worde,  which  ttirugh  his  dyligence 

Emprentyd  hath  at  prayer  and  defyre 

Of  Roger  Thorney,  mercer,  and  from  thens 

This  mocion  fprange  to  fette  the  hertes  on  fyre 

Of  fuche  a  loue  to  rede  in  euery  fhire, 

Dyuers  maters  in  voydynge  ydylnefle, 

Eyke  as  this  boke  hath  fliewed  to  you  expreffe. 

And  many  an  other  wonderful  conceyte 
Shewyth  Bartholowe  de  Proprietatibus  , 
Whyche  befyed  hymfelfe  to  take  the  fwete  receyte 
Of  holfom  cunnynge,  his  tyme  difpendynge  thus, 
Geuynge  example  ot  vertue  gloryous, 
Bokes  to  cherysfh,  and  make  in  fondry  wife 
Vertue  to  folowe  and  idleneffe  to  difpyfe. 

For  in  this  worlde,  to  rekon  euery  thynge 
Plefure  to  man  there  is  none  comparable. 
As  is  to  rede  and  underftondynge 
In  bokes  of  wyfdome  they  ben  lo  delegable, 
Whiche  fowne  to  vertue  and  ben  profytable  ; 
And  all  that  loue  fuche  vertue  ben  full  glade 
Bokes  to  renewe  and  caufe  theym  to  be  made. 

And  alfo  of  your  charyte  call  to  remembraunce 

The  foul  of  William  Caxton,  firft  prynter  of  this  boke 

In  Laten  tonge  at  Coleyn  hymfelf  to  auaunce 

That  euery  well  difpoiyd  man  may  thereon  loke  ; 

And  John  Tate  the  yonger  joye  mote  he  broke 

Whiche  late  hathe  in  Englonde  doo  make  this  paper  thynne 

That  now  in  our  Englyfli  this  boke  is  printed  inne. 

That  yong  and  olde  thrugh  plente  may  reioyfe 

To  gyue  theym  felf  to  good  occupacion, 

And  ben  experte  as  Ihewyth  the  comyn  voyce, 

To  voyde  alle  vyce  and  defamacyon, 

For  idylnefle  all  vertue  put  adowne. 

Than  rede  and  ftudie  in  bokes  vertuoufe, 

So  {hall  thy  name  in  heuen  be  glorioufe. 

For  yf  one  thyng  myght  laft  a  M,  yere, 
Full  fone  comyth  aege  that  frettyth  ail  away  j 
But  like  as  Phebus  wyth  hys  hemes  ciere 
The  mone  repeyreth  as  bryght  as  ony  day. 
Whan  (he  is  waftyd  ryght  fo  may  we  fay 
Thife  bokes  old  and  blinde,  whan  we  renewe 
By  goodly  pryntyng  they  ben  bryht  of  hewe. 


Then  all  that  caufe  the  good  contynuaunce. 
And  helpe  fuche  werke  in  furtheryng  to  their  mizt 
Ben  to  be  fette  in  good  remembraunce, 
For  fuche  deferue  reward  of  God  all  myght, 
They  put  asyde  both  wyked  thought  and  iyght, 
And  caufe  full  often  ryghte  good  gouernaunce, 
Wrouten  whyche  fynne  wold  hym  felf  auaunce. 

Now  gloryous  God  that  regneft  one  in  thre, 

And  thre  in  one,  graunt  vertue  myght  and  grace 

Unto  the  prynter  of  this  werke,  that  he 

May  be  rewarded  in  thy  heavenly  place  ; 

And  whan  the  worlde  ihall  come  before  thy  fice. 

There  to  receyve  according  to  defert 

Of  grace  and  mercy  make  hym  then  expert. 

Batman,  who,  as  is  above  said,  in  1582  published 
an  edition  of  the  book  De  Proprietatibus  Rerum, 
took  great  liberties  with  Trevisa's  translation,  by 
accommodating  the  language  of  it  to  his  own  time, 
a  very  unwarrantable  practice  in  the  editor  of  any 
ancient  book  ;  he  may  however  be  said  in  some  res- 
pects 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  fi'om  the  edition  of  Wynken  de  Worde,  with 
the  additions  of  Stephen  Batman,  distinguished  as 
they  occur: — 

De  Mufica. 
*As  arte  of  nombres  and  mefures  feruyth  to  diuinite, 

*  fo  doth  rhe  arte  of  melody  for  mufyk  ;  by  the  whyche 

*  accorde  and  melody  is  knowe  in  fowne,  and  in  fonge 
'  is  nedeful  to  know  myftyk  meanynge  of  holy  writte  ; 
'  for  it  is  fayd  that  the  worlde  is  compownyd  and  made 
'  in  a  certayne  and  proporcion  of  armeny,  as  7'j'yder* 
'  fayth  libra  tertio. 

'  And  it  is  faid  that  heuen  gooth  aboute  wyth  confo- 
'  nancye  and  acorde  of  melody.  For  mufyk  meuyth 
'  affeccions,  and  excyteth  the  wyttes  to  dyuerfe  difpo- 

*  fycyons.  Alfo  in  bataylle  the  noyfe  of  the  trompc 
'  comfortyth  werryours,  and  the  more  ftronge  that  the 
'  trompynge  is,  the  more  ftronge  and  bolde  men  ben  to 

*  fyghte  :    and  comfortyth  fhypmen   to  fuflre  alle   the 

*  dyfeafes  and  trauelle.     And  comforte  of  voys  pleafyth 

*  and  comfortyth  the  hert,  and  inwyttes  in  all  dyfeafe 

*  and  traueylle  of  werks  and  werynefTc.  And  mufyk 
'  abatyth  mayftry  of  euyl  fpyrytes  in  mankynde,  as  we 
'  rede  of  Dauid  that  delyueied  Saul  of  an  unclene  fpy- 

*  ryte  by  crafte  of  melodye.      And  mufyk  excyteth  and 

*  comfortyth  beftis  and  fcrpen'es,  foules  and  delph'nes 

*  to  take  hede  therto  ;  and  (o  veynes  and  fynewes  of 
'  the  body  and  puis  therof ;  and  fo  all  the  lymmnes  of 
'  the  body  ben  focied  togyder  by  vertue  of  armenye  as 

*  Ifider  fayth.    Of  Mufyk  ben  thre  partyes,  Armonica, 

*  Rethmica,  and  Metiica.  Armonica  dyftyngueth  grete 
'  and  fmalle  in  fownes,  and  hyghe  and  lowe,  and  pro- 
'  porcyonall  chaungyng  of  voys  and  of  fowne.     And 

*  Armenia  is  fwete  accorde  of  fonge,  and  cometh  of 

*  due  proporcyon  in  dyuerfe  voyces,  other  blaftes  towoh- 

*  ynge  and  fmytynge  fownes :  for,  as  Ifider  fayth,  fowne 
'  comyth  of  voys,  as  of  mouthe  and  jowes ;  other  of 

*  blafte,  as  of  trompes  and  pypes ;  other  of  touchinge 

*  and  fmytynge  of  cymbale  and  harpe ;  and  other 
f  fuche    that    fowneth    wyth    fmytynge    and    ftrokes. 

♦  Isidore,  bishop  of  Sevil. 


268 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VII. 


*  Voys  comyth  to  one  accorde,  as  Hugucyon*  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  Gnokkcn,  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  fvvete 
'  lymphonia.  And  fo  Ifyder  fayth  that  fymphonia  is 
'  temperate  modulacyon,  accordynge  in  fownes  highe 
'  and  lowe.  And  by  this  armony  hyghe  voys  accor- 
'  dy  th,  fo  that  yf  one  difcordy  th  it  greueth  the  herynge  ; 

*  and  fuche  accordynge  of  voys  hyghte  Euphonia,  that  is 
'  fwetneffe  of  voys,  and  hyghte  alfo  Melodya,  and  hath 
'  that  name  of  fwetnelTe  and  of  Mel,  that  is  Honey  ; 
'  and  the  contrary  is  called  Dyaphonia,  fowle  voys  and 
'  dyfcordyng.      To  make  melodye  of  armony  nedyth 

*  diaftema,  diefis,  tonus,  iperludius,  podorius,  arfis, 
'  thefis,  and  fwete  voys  and  temperate  fowne.     Diaf- 

*  tema  is  a  couenable  fpace  of  two  voyces,  other  of 
'  moo,  acordynge.     Diefis  is  the  {pace  and  doynge  of 

*  melodye,   and  chaungynge  out  of  one   fowne  in  to 

*  another.  Tonus  is  the  fharpnefle  of  voys,  and  is 
'  difference  and  quantitie  of  armony,  and  ftandyth  in 

*  accent  and   tenor  of  voys.      And  muficyons  maketh 

*  thereof  fyftene  partyes.  Iperludius  is  the  laile  thereof 
'  and  mooft  fharpeft  ;  and  Podorius  is  mooft  heavy  of 
'  alle,  as  Ifyder  fayth.  Arfis  is  rerynge  of  voys,  and  is 
'  the  beginning  of  fonge.  Thefts  is  fettynge,  and  is  the 
'  ende,  as  Ifyder  fayth  ;  and  fo  fonge  is  the  bendynge  of 
'  the  voys,  for  fome  paffeth  ftreighte,  as  he  fayth,  and 

*  is  to  fore  fonge.  And  euery  uoys  is  fowne,  and  not 
'  ayen  warde  ;  for  fowne  is  the  objefte  of  herynge,  for 
'  all  that  is  perceyued  by  herynge  is  called  fowne,  as 
'  breking  of  trees,  fmytyng  togyder  of  ftones,  hurlynge 

*  and  rufhyng  of  wanes  and  of  wynde,  chytterynge  of 
'  byrdes,  lowynge  of  beeftys,  voys  and  gronynge  of 
'  men,  and  fmytynge  of  organes.  And  a  voys  is 
'  properly  the  fowne  that  comyth  of  the  mouthe  of 
'  a  beeft ;  and  fowne  comyth  of  ayre  fmytte  ayenft  an 
'  harde  body  ;  and  the  fmytynge  is  fooner  feen  than  the 
'  fowne  is  herde,  and  the  lyghtnyng  is  fooner  feen  than 
'  the  thondre  is  herde.     A  voys  is  mooft  thyne  ayre, 

*  fmytte  wyth  the  wrefte  of  the  tongue  ;  and  fome  voys 

*  fygnyfyeth  and  tokenyth  by  kynde,  as  chytterynge  of 
'  byrdes  and  gronyng  of  fyke  men.  And  fome  tokenyth 
'  at  wylle,  as  the  voys  of  a  man  that  is  ordeyned,  and 

*  there  fhape  by  heile  of  reafon  to  telle  out  certain 
'  wordes.     The  voys  berith  forthe  the  worde,  and  the 

*  worde  that  is  in  the  thoughte  maye  not  come  oute 
'  but  by  helpe  of  the  voys  that  it  oute  bryngeth.     And 

*  fo  fyril  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- 

*  teyned  by  inwytte,  comyth  oute  by  the  voys  as  it 

*  were  by  an  inllrumcntc,  and  is  knowe.  The  voyce 
'  that  is  dyfpofyd  to  fonge  and  melodye  hath  thife 
•proprytees,   as   Ifyder  fayth.     Voyces  he   fayth   ben 

*  Supposed  to  be  Hugotio,  duke  of  Pisan,  in  Greece;  surnamed 
Flasiiolanus,  from  his  beins  a  scourge  to  the  Florentines.  He  flourished 
about  1320,  and  was  a  man  of  letters,  but  his  writings  are  not  known. 
Batni. 

t  CuckQe.    Batm. 


fmalle,  fubtill,  thicke,  clere,  fharpe,  and  fhylle.  In 
fubtyll  voys  the  fpyryte  is  not  i1:rong,  as  in  chyldren 
and  in  wymmen  ;  and  in  other  that  haue  not  grete 
fynews,  flronge  and  thycke ;  for  of  fmalle  flrynges 
comyth  fmalle  voys  and  iubryll.  The  voyces  ben 
fatte  and  thyck  whan  moche  fpyryte  comyth  out,  as 
the  voys  of  a  man.  The  voys  is  clere  that  fownyth 
well,  and  ryngeth  wythout  any  hollowneffe.  Sharpe 
voyces  ben  full  hyghe,  fhylle  voyces  ben  lowde,  and 
drawth  a  longe,  and  fylleth  foone  all  the  place,  as  the 
noyce  of  trumpes.  The  harde  voys  is  hofe,  and  alfo 
the  harde  voys  is  grymme  and  gryfely  whan  the  fowne 
therof  is  vyolente,  and  as  the  fowne  of  thondre,  and 
of  a  felde  bete  with  grete  malles.  The  rough  voys  is 
hofe  and  fparplyd  by  fmalle,  and  is  ftuffyd  and  dureth 
not  longe,  as  the  ibwne  of  erthen  veffell.  Voys 
uniuolentaX  is  nesfhe\  and  plyaunt.  That  name  uni- 
uolenta,  oi  Viuo,\\  that  is  a  lytyll  belle  nesfhly  bende. 
The  perfyghte  voys  is  hyghe,  fwete,  and  flronge  and 
clere ;  hyghe  to  be  well  herde,  clere  to  fylle  the  eeres ; 
fwete  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  perfyghte,  as  Tfyder 
fayth.  Here  ouer  is  armonia  of  organes,  that  comyth 
of  blafle  whan  certayn  inftrumentes  ben  craftely  made 
and  duly  blowe,  and  yeuyth  by  quantyte  of  the  blaile 
craftly,  dyuers  by  dyuerfite  of  organes  and  inftru- 
mentes, as  it  fareth  of  organes,  trompes,  and  pipes, 
and  other  fuche  that  yeuyth  dyuerfe  fownes  and  noyce. 
Organum  is  a  generall  name  of  all  inftrumentes  of 
mufyk,  and  is  nethelefTe  fpecyally  a  propryte  to  the 
inltrument  that  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  forfakyth  for  men's  ufe  of  mynftralfye 
all  other  inftrumentes  of  mufyk. ^ 

*  The  'Turenes  founde  fyrfle  the  trompe.  Virgil 
fpekyth  of  them,  and  fayth  that  the  voys  of  the 
trompe  of  Turene  lowyth  in  the  ayre.**  Men  in  olde 
tyme  ufyd  trompes  in  battayle  to  fere  and  afiraye 
theyr  enmyes,  and  to  comforte  theyre  owne  knyghtes 
and  fyghtynge  men  ;  and  to  comforte  horfe  of  werre 
to  fyghte  and  to  refe  and  fmyte  in  the  batayle  ;  and 
tokenyth  worfhip  wyth  vyftory  in  the  fyghtynge, 
and  to  call  them  ayen  that  begyn  to  fle.  And  ufyd 
alfo  trompettes  in  feeftys  to  call  the  people  togider, 
and  for  befmeffe  in  prayfynge  of  God.  And  for 
cryenge  of  welthe  of  joye  the  Hebrewes  were 
commaunded  to  blowe  trompettes  in  batayle,  in  the 
bcgynnynge  of  the  newe  mone,  and  to  crye  and 
warne  the  comynge  of  the  Jubile,  the  yere  of  grace 
with  noyce  of  trompes,  and  to  crye  and  refte  to  all 
men.      As  Ifyder  fayth  libra  xviii.^ 

'  A  trompe  is  properly  an  inftrument  ordeyned  for 
men  that  fyghteth  in  batayle,  to  crye  and  to  warne 
of  the  fygnes  of  batayle.  And  where  the  cryers 
voys  maye  not  be  herde  for  noyfe,  the  noyfe  of  the 
trompe  fholde  be  herde  and  knowen.  And  Tuba 
hath    that    name    as    it  were    To^/^,   that  is  holowe 

t  Vinolenta.     Batm.         §  Soft.     Batm.         ||  Vino.     Batm. 
IT  Addition  of  Batman.     'Or  is  for  his  loudnesse  neerest  agreeing  to 
the  voyce  of  man.' 
**  'Tirren'jsyue  tubse  mugire  per  a;thcra  claugo^.' 


Chap.  LX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


209 


'  wythin,  and  full  fmothe  for  to  take  the  more  brethe, 

*  and  is  rounde  wythout,  and  ftreyghte  atte  the  tromp- 
'  ers  mouth,  and  brode  and  large  at  the  other  ende  ; 
'  and  the  tromper  with  his  honde  putteth  it  to  his 
'  mouth,  and  the  trompe  is  rulyd  upwarde  and  down- 
'  warde,  and  holde  forth  ryght ;  and  is  dyuerfe  of 
'  noyfe,  as  Tfyder  fayth.  For  it  is  fomtime  blowe  to 
'  araye  bataylles,  and  fomtyme  for  that  bataylles  fholde 
'  fmyte  togyder,  and  fometyme  for  tlie  chafe,  and  to 
'  take  men  in  to  the  hofte. 

De  Buccina. 
'  Buccina  hath  the  name  as  it  were  vociva  parua, 
'  and  is  a  trompe  of  home,  of  tree,  eyther  of  braffe, 
'  and  was  blowen  ayenft  enmyes  in  old  tyme  ;  for  as 
'  Ijyder  fayth,  libra  decimo  odavo,  the  wylde  Patief?is 
'  were  fomtyme  gaderyd  to  al  manere  doynge  wyth 
'  the  blowynge  of  fuche   a  manere    trompe,   and   foo 

*  Buccina  was  properly  a  token  to  wylde  men.  Perfius 
'  fpekyth  herof,  and  iayth  that  Buccina  made  the  olde 
'  ^juyrites  araye  themfelft,  namely,  in  armoure.  The 
'  voys  of  fuche  a  trompe,  hyght  Buccinium  as  he  fayth, 
'  and  the  Hebrewes  ufed  trompes  of  home,  namely  in 
'  Kalendus,  in  remembraunce  of  the  delyueraunce  of 
'  Yjaac,  whanne  an  hornyd  wetther  was  offryd  and 
'  made  oblacion  of  in  his  ftede,  as  the  Gloc*  fayth 
'  fuper  Genefis.\ 

De  Tibia. 

*  Tibia  is  a  pype,  and  hath  that  name  for  it  was 

*  fyrfte  made  of  legges  of  hartes,  yonge  and  olde,  as 
'  men  trowe  ;  and  the  noyfe  of  pypes  was  called  Other, 
'  as  Hugucion  fayth.  This  name  Tibia  corny th  of 
'  Tibium,  that  is  a  rufhe,  other  a  rede,  and  therof 
'  comyth  this  name   Tibicen  a  pype.     And  was  fom- 

*  tyme  an  initrument  of  doole  and  lamentacyon,  whyche 
'  men  dyde  ufe  in  office  and  fepultures  of  deed  men,  as. 
'  the  Gloc.  fayth  fuper  Math.  ix.  and  thereby  the  fonge 

*  was  fonge  of  doole  and  of  lamentacyon. 

De  Calamo. 
'  Calamus  hath  that  name  of  thys  worde  Calando, 
'fowning;  and  is  the  generall  name  of  pypes.     A  pype 
'  hyghte  Fiftula,  for  voyce  comyth  therof.      For  voyce 

*  hyghte  FesX  in  Grezve,\  and  fend,  IJlola\\  in  Grewe. 
'  And  foo  the  pype  hyghte  Fiftula,  as  it  \NtvQ  fendyng 
'  oute  voyce  other  fowne.  Hunters  ufeth  tjiis  inilru- 
'  ment,  for  hartes  louyth  the  noyfe  therof.-  But  whyle 
'  the  harte  taketh  hede  and  likynge  in  the  pypynge  of 
'  an  hunter,  another  hunter  whyche  he  hath  no  know- 
'  lege  of,  comyth  and  fhoteth  at  the  harte  and  fleeth 
'  hym.  Pypyng  begyleth  byrdes  and  foules,  therefore 
'  it  is  fayd  "the  pype  fyngeth  fvvetcly  whyle  the  fowler 
'  begyleth  the  byrde."1I  And  fhepe  louyth  pypynge, 
'  therfore  fhepeherdes  ufyth  pipes  whan  they  walk  wyth 
'  theyr  fhepe.  Therefore  one  whyche  was  callyd  Pan 
'  was  callyd  God  of  hirdes,  for  he  joyned  dyverfe  redes, 
'  and  arayed  them  to  fonge  flyghly  and  craftely.     Virgil 

*  i.  e.  The  gloss  or  commentary. 

t  Batman,  in  a  note  on  the  trompe  and  buccina,  says  that  the  warnings 
in  battle  were  '  tlie  Onset,  the  Alarum,  and  Retrate,' and  adds,  'Some 
'  used  the  gieate  wilke  shell  in  stued  of  a  trumpet,  some  homes  of 
'  beastes,  and  some  the  thigh  bones  of  a  man,  as  do  the  Indians.  In 
'  civil  discords  the  flute,  the  fieft,  and  the  cornet,  made  winding  like  the 
'  rammes  home.' 

t  Fos.     Batm.         §  i  e.  Greek.         ||  Stolia.     Batm. 

•I  '  Fistula  dulce  canit,  volucrem  dum  decipit  auceps.'  Caton.  Dist. 
lib.  I. 


'  fpekyth  therof,  and  fayth  that  Pan  ordeyned  fyrft  to 
'join  [in  one  home]**  Pan  hath  cure  of  Ihepe  and  ot 
'  fhepherdes.  And  the  fame  inftrument  of  pypes  hyghte 
'  Pan  donum,  for  Pan  was  fynder  therof  as  Tfyder  fayth. 
'  And  wyth  pipes  watchynge  men  pleyfeth  fuche  men 
'  as  reftyth  in  beddes,  and  makyth  theym  flepe  the 
'  fooner  and  more  fwetly  by  melodye  of  pypes. -ff 

De  Sambuca. 
'  Sambuca  is  the  Ellerne  tree  brotyll,  and  the  bowes 
'  therof  ben  holowe,  and  voyde  and  fmothe  ;    and  of 
'  thofe   fame   bowes   ben  pipes   made,  and    alfo   fome 
'  maner  fymphony,  as  Tfyder  fayth. 

De  Symphonia. 
'  The  Syjnphonye  is  an  inftrument  of  mufyke,  and  is 
'  made  of  an  holowe  tree,  clofyd  in  lether  in  eyther 
'  fyde,  and  mynftralles  betyth  it  wyth  ftyckes ;  and  by 
'  accorde  of  hyghe  and  lowe  therof  comyth  full  fwete 
'  notes,  as  IfyJer  fayth.  Neuerthelelfe  the  accorde  ot 
'  all  fownes  hyghte  Symphonia,  is  lyke  wile  as  the 
'  accorde  of  dyuerfe  voys  hyghte  Chorus,  as  the  Gloc. 
'  fayth  fuper  Luc. 

De  Armonya. 
'  Armonya  Rithifiica  is  a  fownynge  melodye,  and 
'  comyth  of  fmyttyng  of  ftrynges,  and  of  tynklyng 
'  other  ryngynge  of  metalle.  And  dyuerfe  inftrumentes 
'  leruyth  to  this  manere  armonye,  as  Tabour,  and  Tjm- 
'  bre,  Harpe,  and  Sawtry,  and  Nakyres,  and  alfo  Sijirum. 

De  Tympano. 
*  Tympanum  is  layed  ftreyghte  to  the  tree  in  the  one 
'  fide,  and  half  a  tabour  other  halfe  a  fymphony,  and 
'  fhape  as  a  fyfue,  JJ  and  beten  wyth  a  ftycke  ;  ryght  as 
'  a  tabour,  as  Ifyder'  fayth,  and  maketh  the  better 
'  melody  yf  there  is  a  pype  therwyth. 

De  Cithara. 

'  The  harpe  hyghte  Cithara,  and  was  fyrft  founde 
'  of  AppoUin,  as  the  Grekes  wene  ;  and  the  harpe  is 
'  like  to  a  mannys  brefte,  for  lyke  wyfe  as  the  voyce 
'  comyth  of  the  brefte,  foo  the  notes  cometh  of  the 
'  harpe,  and  hath  therfore  that  name  Cithara,  for  the 
'  brefte  is  callyed  Thorica  ihicariuz.  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  cornerde,  and  fome  thre 
'  cornerde  ;  the  ftrynges  ben  many,  and  fpecyall 
'  manere  therof  is  dyuerfe. 

'  Men  in  olde  tyme  callyd  the  harpe  Fidicula,  and 
'alfo  Fidicen,  for  the  ftrynges  therof  accordyth  as  well 
'  as  fome  men  accordyth  in  Fey.||||  And  the  harpe  had 
'  feuen  ftrynges,  and  foo  Virgil  fayth  libra  feptimo.  Of 
*  fowne  ben  feuen  Difcrifnina^V^  of  voys,  and  ben  as  the 

**  'With  wax  manye  pipes  in  one.'  Batm.  on  the  authority  of  this 
passage :  '  Pan  primos  calamos  cera  conjungere  plures. 

tt  Addition  of  Batman.  '  Pan,  called  the  god  of  shepheardes:  he  is 
'  thought  to  be  Demogorgon's  son,  and  is  thus  described  ;  in  his  forehead 
■he  hath  homes  like  the  sunbeames.  a  long  beard,  his  face  red  like  the 
'  deer  air  ;  in  his  brest  the  star  Nebris,  the  nether  part  of  his  body  rough, 
'his  feet  like  a  goate,  and  alway  is  imagined  to  laugh.  He  was  wor- 
'  shipped,  especiallye  in  Arcadia.  'When  there  grew  betwi.xt  Phaebus  and 
'  Pan  a  contention  whether  of  them  two  should  be  judged  the  best 
'  musition  ;  Midas  preferring  the  bagpipe,  not  respectmg  better  skill,  was 
'  given  for  his  reward  a  pair  of  asse  eares.' 

\X  i.  e.  A  sieve.         §§  At  different  times.         ||  i|  Faith. 

HU  '  Septera  sunt  soni,  septem  discrimina  vocum.' 


270 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  YII. 


*  nexte  flrynge  therto.  And  ftrynges  ben  leuen,  for 
'  the  fulleth  alle  the  note.  Other  for  heuen  fownyth 
'  in   feuen   meuyngs.       A   ftrynge   hyghte    Cor  da,   and 

*  hathe  the  fame  name  of  corde  the  herte  ;  for  as  the 

*  puis  of  the  herte  is  in  the  brefte,  foo  the  puis  of  the 

*  ilrynges  is  in  the  harpe.  Mercurius  founde  up  fyrfte 
'  fuche   ftrynges,   for    he   ftrenyd   fyrfte    ftrynges,   and 

*  made  them  to  fovvne,  as  Tfyder  fayth. 

'  The  more  drye  the  ftrynges  ben  ftreyned  the  more 

*  they  fowne.     And  the  wrefte  hyghte  Plectrum. 

De  Pfdterio. 
'  The  Sawtry  highte  Pjnlterium,  and  hath  that  name 

*  of  PJaliendo,  fyngynge  ;   for  the  confonant  anfweryth 

*  to  the  note  therof  in  fyngynge.  The  harpe  is  lyke  to 
'  the  fawtry  in  fowne.  But  this  is  the  dyuerfytee  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  fownyth  upwarde  ;  and  in  the  harpe 

*  the  holowneffe  of  the  tre  is  bynethe.  The  Hebrezves 
'callyth  the  fawtry  Decacordes,  an  inftrument  hauinge 

*  ten  ftringes,  by  numbre  of  the  ten  heftes  or  com- 
'  maundementes.       Stringes   for   the   fawtry   ben    befte 

*  made   of  laton,  or  elles   thofe   ben   goode   that   ben 

*  made  of  fyluer. 

De  Lira. 

*  Lira  hath  that  name  of  dyuerfytee  of  fowne  ;   for 

*  the  Lira  geueth  dyuerfe  fownes,  as  Ifyder  fayth.    And 

*  fome  people  fuppofe  that  Mercurius  fyrfte  founde  up 

*  this  inftrument  Lira  in  this  wife.  The  river  Nylus 
'  was   flowen   and    aryfen,  and   afterward  was   aualyd 

*  and  wythdrawen  ayen  in  to  his  propre  channelle. 
'  And  lefte  in  the  felde  many  dyuerfe  beeftys,  and  alfo 

*  a  fnaylle  ;  and  whan  the  fnaylle  was  roftyd  the 
'  fynewes  left,  and  were  ftreyned  in  the  fnaylles  houfe. 
'  And  Mercurius  fmote  the  fynewes,  and  of  theym  came 
'  a  fowne.     And  Mercurius  made  a  Lira  to  the  lyknefle 

*  of  the  fnaylles  houfe,  and  gave  the  fame  Lira  to  one 

*  that  was  namyd  Orpheus,  whiche  was  mooft  befy 
'  abowtte  fuch  thinges ;  and  fo  it  was  fayd  that  by  the 
'  fame  crafte,  not  oonly  wylde  beeftys  drewe  to  fonge 
'  and  melodye,  but  moreouer  ftones  and  alfo  wodes. 
'  And  fyngers  in  fables  don  meane  that  thys  forfayd 
'  inftrument  Lira  is  fette  amonge  fterres  for  loue  of 
'  ftudy  and  prayfynge  of  fong,  as  Ifyder  fayth. 

De  Cymbalis. 
'  Cymbales  ben  inftrumentes  of  mufyk,  and  ben  fmytte 

*  togider,  and  fowneth  and  ryngeth.* 

De  Sijiro. 

*  Sijlrum  is  an  inftrument  of  mufyk,  and  hath  the 
'  name  of  a  lady  that  firfte  brought  it  up  ;  for  it  is 
'  proued  that  IJis,  quene  of  Eg'^pte,  was  the  firft  fynder 
'  of  Sijlrum  :  and  Juuenalis  fpekyth  therof  and  fayth, 

*  IJis  et  irato  Jeriat  mea  lumina  fijtro.      And  wymmen 

*  ufyth   this  inftrument,  for  a  woman  was  the  fyrfte 

*  fynder  therof.      Therfore   among   the   Amaxones   the 

*  hofte  of  wymmen  is  callyd  to  bataylle  with  the 
'  inftrument  SiJ}rum.\ 

*  Addition  of  Batman.  '  Compassed  like  a  hoope  ;  on  the  upper  com- 
passe,  under  a  certain  holownes  han^eth  halfe  bells  five  or  seaven. 

+  Addition  of  Batman.  'An  instrument  like  a  horn,  used  in  battaile 
'  in&teeU  of  a  trumpet,  also  a  brazen  timbrell.' 


De  Tintinabulo. 
'  Tintinabuluz  is  a  belle,  other  at  Ca?npernole  ;  and 

■  hath  the  name  of  Tiniendo,  tynklynge  or  ryngynge. 

•  A  belle  hathe  this  propryte,  that  whyle  he  prouffyteth 

■  to  other  in  fowninge,  he  is  waftyd  ofte  by  fmytynge. 

■  Thyfe  inftrumentes,  and  many  other  feruyth  to  mufyk 

■  that  treatyth  of  voyfe  and  of  fownes,  and  knoweth 

■  neuerthelefle  dyfpofycyon  of  kyndly  thynges,  and  pro- 

■  porcyon  of  nombres,  as  Boicius  fayth  ;  and  fettyth 
'  enfample  of  the   nombre  of  twelue  in  comparyfon  to 

fyxe,  and  to  other  nombres  that  ben  bytwene,  and 

■  fayth  in  this  wyfe.  Here  we  fyndeth  all  the  accordes 
of  mufyk,  from  eyghte  to  'iyyiz,  nyne  to  twelue,  makyth 
the  proporcyon  Sejquitercia,  and  makyth  togydre  the 

'  confonancy    Dynpente ;    and  twelue  to  {yx^  makyth 

■  dowble  proporcyon,  and  fyngyth  the  accorde  Dia- 
pajon.  Eyghte  to  nyne  in  comparyfon  ben  meane, 
and  makyth  Epogdonus,  whych  is  callyd  Tonus  in 
melody  of  mufyk,  and  is  comin  mefure  of  alle  the 
fownes.  And  foo  it  is  too  underftonde  that  bytwene 
DyateJJeron  and  Dyape?ite  tonus  is  dyuerfyte   of  ac- 

■  cordes ;  as  bytwene  the  proporcyons  Sexquitercia  and 
'  Sexquialtera  oonly  Epogdolis  is  dyuerfyte,  hue  ujque 

■  Boicius  i7i  Jecundo  ArJmetriceX  capitulo  ultimo. 

'  And  the  melodye  of  mufyk  is  nempnyd  and  callyd 

■  by  names  of  the  nombres.  DyateJJeron,  Dyapente, 
'  and   Dyapajon   haue   names   of   the  nombres  whyche 

'  precedeth  and  gooth  tofore  in  the  begynnynge  of 
thofe  fayd  names.  And  the  proporcyon  of  theyr 
fownes  is  founde  and  had  in  thofe  fame  nombres,  and 
is  not  founde,  nother  had,  in  none  other  nombres. 

*  For  ye  fhall  underftonde  that  the  fowne  and  the 
accorde  in  Diapajon,  is  of  proporcyon  of  the  dowble 
nombre  ;  and  the  melodye  of  DyateJJ'raon  dooth  come 
of   Epitrica    collimie    that    is    Sexquitercia    proporcio, 

******* 

^/idjit  numerus  Jejquialterus. 

*  The  nombre  Sexquialterus  conteyneth  other  halfe 
'  the  lefle  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  fyftene  to  ten,  and  fo  of  other.     Thife 

■  wordes  ben  in  themfelfe  dcepe  and  full  myftyk,  derk 

■  to  underftondynge.     But  to  them  that  ben  wyfe  and 

■  cunnyng  in  arfmetrik  and  in  mufyk,  they  ben  more 

■  clerer  tlian  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  IJyder  fayth  that  in  termes  and  figures 
'  and  accordes  of  mufyk  is  fo  grete,  that  the  felfe  man 
'  rtondeth  not  perfyghte  there  withoute,  for  perfyghte 
'  mufyk  comprehendyth  alle  thynges.  Alio  reuolue  and 
'  confydre  herof  in  thy  minde,  that  mufyk  and  armonye 
'  unyeth  and  accordyth  dyuerfe  thynges  and  contrary  ; 

*  and  makyth  the  hye  fowne  to  accorde  wyth  the  lowe, 
•and  the  lowe  wyth  the  hyghe  :    and  accordyth  con- 

X  Arithmetic. 


Chap.  LXT. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


271 


'  trary  wylles  and  defyres,  and  refreynyith  and  abatyth 
'  iniencyons  and  thoughtes,  and  amendyth  and  com- 
'  fortyth  feble  wyttes  of  felyugc,  and  cryeth  namely, 
'  and  warnyth  us  of  the  unytee  of  the  exemplar  of 
'  God  in  contrary  werkynges ;  and  dyuerfly  mani- 
'  felleth  and  fheweth  that  erthly  thynges  may  be  joyned 
'  in  accorde  to  heuenly  thynges;  and  caufeth  and  maketh 

*  gladde  and  joyful  hertes,  more  gladde  and  joyful,  and 

*  fory  hertes  and  elenge,  more  fory  and  elenge  :  for  as 
'  Anflin  fayth  by  a  preuy  and  fecrete  lykneflb  of  pro- 
'  pryte  of  the  foule  and  of  armonye,  melodye  con- 
'  fourmyth  itfelfe  to  the  affeccyons  and  defires  of  the 
'  foule.  And  therfore  audlores  meanyth  that  inftru- 
'  mentes  of  mufyk  makyth  the  gladde  more  gladde, 
'  and   the  fory   more  fory.      Loke  other  proprytees  of 

*  armonye  tofore  in  this  fame  boke,  whereas  other 
'  wordes  of  Ifyder  ben  rehercyd  and  fpoken  of.' 

To  this  brief  but  very  curious  discourse  of  Bar- 
tholomaeus,  his  editor  Batman  has  added  a  supple- 
ment, containing  his  own  sentiments  and  those  of 
sundry  other  writers  on  the  subject.  This  supple- 
ment may  be  considered  as  a  commentary  on  his 
author,  but  is  too  long  to  be  here  inserted. 


CHAP.  LXI. 

The  foregoing  extract  may  well  be  considered  as  a 
supplement  to  the  several  tracts  contained  in  the 
Cotton  manuscript  and  that  of  Walthara  Holy  Cross, 
of  the  contents  whereof  a  copious  relation  has  herein 
before  been  given ;  forasmuch  as  these  treat  in  gene- 
ral on  the  nature  of  the  consonances,  the  rudiments 
of  song,  the  Cantus  Gregorianus,  and  its  application 
to  the  choral  offices,  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  and  the 
precepts  of  extemporary  descant,  and  this  of  Bartho- 
lomasus  contains  such  a  particular  account  of  the 
various  instruments  in  use  at  the  time  of  writing  it, 
which,  to  mention  it  again,  was  about  the  year  1366, 
as  it  would  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  instruments  described 
by  him,  Bartholonifeus  seems  to  have  founded  his 
opinion  on  vulgar  tradition  ;  and  indeesi  in  some 
respects  he  is  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  tliis  respect, 
enough  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  such  accounts 
as  this  alone  that  we  are  enabled  to  form  an  estimate 
of  tlie  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  Fistula,  seem  to  refer  to  the  practice  of  the 
Hebrews  and  ancient  (Greeks  ;  but  nothing  can  be 
less  artificial  than  the  Sambuca,  a  kind  of  pipe,  made, 
as  he  relates,  of  the  branch  of  an  Elder  Tree  ;  or  that 
other  instrument  described  by  him  in  the  chapter  De 


Symphonia,  made  of  an  'holowetree,  closyd  in  lether 
'  in  eyther  syde,  whych  mynstralles  betyth  wyth 
'  styckes  ;'  or  of  the  Tympanum,  '  layed  streyghte  to 
'  the  tree,  in  shape  as  a  syve,  having  halfe  a  tabour 
'  and  halfe  a  symphony  ; '  and  which  '  being  betcn 
'  with  a  stycke,  makyth  the  better  melodic  yf  there  is 
'  a  pype  therwyth.' 

These,  and  other  particulars  remarkable  in  the 
above-mentioned  tract  of  Bartholomaius,  bespeak,  as 
strongly  as  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,  would 
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  account  of  the  several  musicians  retained  by 
Edward  IV.  as  well  for  his  private  amusement,  as  for 
the  service  of  his  chapel,  with  their  duties.  Batman, 
in  the  additions  made  by  him,  seems  to  have  dis- 
charged, as  far  as  he  was  able,  the  duty  of  a  commen- 
tator :  and.  has  given  such  on  eulogiura  on  the  science 
of  music  as  might  be  expected  from  a  man  of  great 
reading  and  little  skill,  and  such  the  author  appears 
to  have  been.  The  account  of  the  household  establish- 
ment of  Edward  IV.  above-mentioned,  is  contained 
in  the  following  words  : — 

'  MiNSTRELLEs  thlrtcene,  thereof  one  is  virger,  which 
'  directeth  them  all  festy  vail  dayes  in  their  statyones  of 
'  blowings  and  pypyngs  to  such  ofFyces  as  the  ofRceres 
'  might  be  warned  to  prepare  for  the  king's  meats  and 
'  soupers  ;  to  be  more  redyere  in  all  services  and  due 
'  tyme  ;  and  all  thes  sytyng  in  the  hall  together,  whereof 
'  some  be  tronipets,  some  with  the  shalines  and  smalle 
'  pypes,  and  some  are  strange  niene  coming  to  this  court 
'  at  fy  ve  feastes  of  the  year,  and  then  take  their  wages  of 
'  houshold  after  iiij.  d.  ob.  by  daye,  after  as  they  have 
'  byne  presente  in  courte,*  and  then  to  avoyd  aftere  the 
'  next  morrowe  aftere  the  feaste,  besydes  theare  other  re- 
'  wards  yearly  in  the  king's  exchequer,  and  clolhinge 
'  with  the  liouseliolde,  wintere  and  somere  for  eiche  of 
'  them  xxs.,  and  they  take  nightelye  amongeste  them  all 
'  iiij  galanes  ale  ;  and  for  wintere  seasone  thre  candles 
'  waxe,  vj  candles  pich,  iiij  talesheids;t  lodging  suffy- 
'  tyente  by  tlie  herbengere  for  them  and  theire  horses 
'  nightelye  to  the  courte.  Aulso  having  into  courte  ij  ser- 
'  vants  to  bear  their  trompets,  pypes,  and  other  instru- 
'  ments,  and  torche  for  wintere  nightes  wbilest  they  blovve 
'  to  suppore  of  the  chaundry  ;  and  alway  two  of  thes  per- 
'  sones  to  contynewe  stylle  in  courte  at  wages  by  the 
'  cheque  roUe  whiles  they  be  presente  iiij.  ob.  dayly,  to 
'  warne  the  king's  iddynge  houshold  when  he  goethe  to 

*  i.  e.  According  to  the  time,  &c. 

t  Talshide  or  Talwood  [Taliatura]  is  firewood  cleft  and  cut  info 
billets  of  a  certain  len};th.  By  a  statute  of  7  Edward  VI.  cap  7.  every 
Talshide  marked  j,  being  round-bodied,  shall  contain  sixteen  inches  of 
assize  in  comjiass,  iVc.     Cowel,  in  voce. 

Hy  tlie  book  of  the  earl  of  Northumberland's  household  establishment 
it  appears  that  the  liveries  of  wood  were  of  so  may  Shides  for  each  room, 
and  of  so  many  faggots  for  brewing  and  baking. 

The  distinction  seems  to  have  consisted  in  this,  that  Talshides  or 
Talesheides  were  the  larger  timber,  split  and  cut  into  a  proper  length  for 
burning  upon  lieartlis  in  the  apartments.  And  that  fa;;gots  were  made, 
as  they  now  are,  of  the  lops  and  branches  of  the  trees. 

Tal  or  telle  prefixed  to  shides  or  sheiries,  perhaps  is  derived  from  the 
French  word  taille,  cut. 


J72 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VII 


horsbacke  as  oft  as  it  shall  require,  and  that  his  hous- 
hold  meny  maye  followe  the  more  redyere  aftere  by  the 
blowinge  of  their  trompets.  Yf  any  of  thes  two  min- 
Ktrelles  be  lete  bloode  in  courte,  he  taketh  two  loves, 
ij  messe  of  greate  nieate,  one  galone  ale.  They  part 
not  at  no  tyme  with  the  rewards  given  to  the  houshold. 
Also  when  it  pleasethe  the  kinge  to  have  ij  mynstrelles 
continuinge  in  courte,  they  will  not  in  no  wise  that  thes 
mynstrelles  be  so  famylliere  to  aske  rewards. 

'  A  WAYTE,  that  nightely  from  Mychelmas  to  Shreve 
Thorsdaye  pipethe  watche  within  this  courte  fowere 
tymes ;  in  the  somere  nightes  iij  tymes,  and  makethe 
Bon  Gayte  at  every  chambere,  doare,  and  ofFyce,  as 
well  for  feare  of  pyckeres  and  pillers.  He  eatethe  in 
the  halle  with  mynstrelles,  and  takethe  lyverey  at  nighte 
a  lofFe,  a  galone  of  alle,  and  for  somere  nightes  ij  candles 
piclie,  a  bushel  of  coles ;  and  for  wintere  nightes  halfe 
a  loffe  of  bread,  a  galone  of  alle,  iiij  candles  piche,  a 
bushel  of  coles  ;  daylye  whilste  he  is  presente  in  courte 
for  his  wages  in  cheque  roale  allowed  iiij.  d.  ob.  or  else 
iij.  d.  by  the  discresshon  of  the  steuarde  and  tressorore, 
and  that  aftere  his  cominge  and  deservinge  :  *  also 
cloathinge  with  the  houshold  yeomen  or  mynstrelles 
lyke  to  the  wages  that  he  takethe;  and  he  be  sycke  he 
taketh  twoe  loves,  ij  messe  of  great  meate,  one  galone 
alle.  Also  he  partethe  with  the  houshold  of  general 
gyfts,  and  hathe  his  beddinge  carried  by  the  comptrol- 
leres  assygment;  and  under  this  yeoman  to  be  a  groome 
watere.  Yf  he  can  excuse  the  yeoman  in  liis  absence, 
then  he  takethe  rewarde,  clotheinge,  meat,  and  all  other 
things  lyke  to  other  grooms  of  houshold.  Also  this 
yeoman-waighte,  at  the  making  of  knightes  of  the  Bathe, 
for  his  attendance  vipon  them  by  nighte-time,  in  watch- 
inge  in  the  chappelle,  hathe  to  his  fee  all  the  watchinge- 
clothing  that  the  knight  shall  wear  uppon  him. 

'  Deane  of  the  chappelle,  caled  the  king's  Cheefe 
Chaplene,  syttinge  in  the  hall,  and  served  after  a  bar- 
rone  service,  begynninge  the  chappell  bourd,  havinge 
one  chappelene,  and  one  gentleman  eatyinge  in  the 
halle,  and  lyverey  to  his  chambere  for  all  daye  and 
nighte  iij  loaves,  ij  messe  of  greate  meate,  a  picher  of 
wyne,  two  galiones  of  ale  ;  and  for  wintere  seasone  one 
torche,  one  picher,  ij  candles  waxe,  iij  candles  pich,  iij 
talesheids,  lyttere,  and  rushes  all  the  year  of  the  seijante 
usher  of  the  hall  and  chambere,  and  the  dutyes  of  the 
king's  charges  ;  and  all  the  offerings  of  wexe  in  Candle- 
mas-daye  of  the  hole  housholde  by  the  king's  gyffe,  with 
the  fees  of  the  beene  sat  uppe  in  the  feastes  of  the  yeare 
when  it  is  brente  into  a  shasmonde.  Also  this  deane  is 
yearly  clothing  with  the  houshold  for  winter  and  somere, 
or  else  in  moneyes  of  the  comptyng-house  viij  markes, 
and  carradge  for  his  competente  hemes  in  the  oflyce  of 
vesterye,  by  oversyght  of  the  comptrolere,  and  keepynge 
in  all  within  this  courte  iiij  persones ;  and  when  himself 
is  out  (jf  court  his  chamberlene  eatethe  with  the  cliam- 
berlenes  in  the  halle.  The  deane  come  agayne,  he  must 
have  lodginge  suffytyente  for  his  horses  by  the  hei'ben- 
ger,  and  for  his  other  servants  in  the  tonne  or  con  trey ; 
also  he  hathe  all  the  swoards  that  all  the  knights  of  the 
Bathe  offere  to  Gode  in  the  king's  chapelle,  as  ofte  as 
any  shall  be  made.     This  dean  is  curate  of  confesshon 

of  houshold. 

«  »  »  *  « 

'  This  deane  hath  all  correctyones  of  chappelmen,  in 
'  moribus  et  scientia ;  except  in  some  cases  to  the  stuard 
'  and  comptyng-house  ;  he  nor  non  of  the  chappell  part- 
*  ethe  with  the  houshold  of  noe  general  gyffs  excepte 
'  vestire. 

*  Chaplenes,  and  clerkes  of    the  chappelle   xxiiij. 

*  t.  e.  Accorfiing  to  liis  attendance  and   deserts.     The  word  after  is 
here  to  be  taken  in  the  sense  above  given  of  it. 


'  by  the  deane's  electtyone  or  denomenatyone,  endowed 
'  with  virtues  morroUe  and  specikatyve,  as  of  the  muscke, 
"shewinge  in  descante,  clean  voyced,  well  releshed  in 
"  pronounsynge.  Eloquent  hi  readinge,  suffytyente  in 
"  organes  playinge,"  and  modestial  in  all  other  havour, 
'  syttynge  in  the  hall  togethere  at  the  deane's  boarde, 
'  also  lodginge  togethere  within  the  courte  in  one  cham- 
'  here,  or  else  nighe  thertoo.     And  every  eiche  of  them 

*  beinge  in  courte,  for  his  dayly  wages  allowed  in  the 
'  cheque  roUe,  vij.  ob.  And  for  every  eiche  of  them 
'  clothinge  in  wintere  and  somere,  or  else  of  the  comp- 
'  tyng-house  xs.,  and  lyvery  to  their  chamberes  nightely 
'  amongste  them  all  ij  loves  of  breade,  j  picher  of  wyne, 
'  vj  galones  of  ale.  And  for  wintere  lyvery  from  Alhol- 
'  lontyde  till  Estere,  amongest  them  all  ij  candles  waxe, 
'  xij  candles  pich,  viij  talsheids.  Thei  parte  not  with  any 
'  tythes  of  houshold  at  noe  tyme,  but  yf  it  be  given  unto 
'  the  chappelle  alone.  Also  they  pay  for  their  carriadge 
'  of  beddinge  and  harnesse,  taking  all  the  year  for  their 
'  chambere,  lyttere  and  rushes  of  the  serjante  usher  of  the 
'  hall  ;  and  havinge  into  this  courte  for  every  eiche  of 
'  these  chaplenes,  being  preeste,  one  servante  ;  and  for 
'  every  twoe  gentlemen  clerkes  of  the  chappelle,  one 
'  honeste  servante,  and  lyverye  suffytyente  for  their 
'  horses  and  their  servantes  nighe  to  the  towne.  The 
'  king's  good  grace  avauncethe  thes  people  by  prebends 
'  churches  of  his  patremonye,  or  by  his  highness  reco- 
'  mendatorye,  and  other  free  chappelles  or  hospitalles. 
'  Oore  Lady  Masse  preestes  and  the  gospelleres  are 
'  assigned  by  the  deane  ;  and  if  any  of  thes  be  let  bloode 
'  in  courte,  he  taketh  dayly  ij  loves,  one  messe  of  great 
'  meate,  one  messe  of  roste,  one  galone  of  ale  :  and  when 
'  the  chappelle  syng  mattenes  over  nighte,  called  Black 
'  Mattynes,  then  they  have  allowed  spice  and  wine. 

'  Yeomen  of  the  chappelle,  twoe,  called  Pisteleres,t 
'  growinge  from  the  chilrene  of  the  chappelle  by  succes- 
'  syone  of  age  ;  and  aftere  the  change  of  their  voyses,  and 
'  by  the  deane's  denomenatyon,  and  after  theire  conninge 
'  and  virtue  :  thes  twoe  yeomen  eatynge  in  the  halle  at 
'  the  chapelle  board,  take  dayly  when  they  be  presente  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  competente 
'  beddynge  with  the  children  of  the  chappelle ;  or  else 
'  eiche  of  them  at  rewarde  Iiij.  s.  iiij.  d.  by  the  yeare, 
'  aftere  the  discresyon  of  stuard  and  tresorore. 

'  Children  of  the  chappelle  viij,  founden  by  the 
'  king's  privie  cofferes  for  all  that  longethe  to  their  appe- 
'  relle  by  the  hands  and  oversyghte  of  the  deane,  or  by 
'  the  Master  of  Songe  assigned  to  teache  them,  which 
'  mastere  is  appointed  by  the  deane,  chosen  one  of  the 
'  nomber  of  the  felowshipe  of  chappelle  after  rehearsed, 
'  and  to  drawe  them  to  other  schooles  after  the  form  of 
'  Sacotte,t  as  well  as  in  Songe  in  Orgaines  and  other. 
'  Thes  childrene  eate  in  the  hall  dayly  at  the  chappell 
'  boarde,  nexte  the  yeomane  of  vestery  ;  taking  amongeste 
'  them  for  lyverye  daylye  for  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  for  their  pallets  of  the  serjante  usher,  and  car- 
'  ryadge  of  the  king's  coste  for  the  competente  beddynge 
'  by  the  oversyghte  of  the  comptrollere.  And  amongeste 
'  them  all  to  have  one  servante  into  the  court  to  trusse 
'  and  bear  their  harnesse  and  lyverey  in  coiu't.  And  that 
'  day  the  king's  chapelle  removeth  every  of  thes  children 

*  then  present  receaveth  iiij.  d.  at  the  green  clothe  of  the 
'  comptyng-house  for  horshire  dayly,  as  long  as  they  be 
'  jurneinge.     And  when  any  of  these  children  comene  to 

\  Epistellers,  readers  of  the  epistles.  We  read  also  of  Gospellers  in 
this  and  other  chapel  establishments. 

t  Of  this  word  no  explanation  is  given  by  any  of  the  lexicographers. 


Chap.  LXI 


AND  PnACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


273 


'  xviij  yeares  of  age,  and  tlieir  voyces  change,  ne  cannot 
'  be  preferred  in  this  chapelle,  the  nombere  being  full, 
'  then  yf  they  will  assente  "the  kinge  assynethe  them  to 

•  a  coUedge  or  Oxeford  or  Cambridge  of  his  foundatione, 
'  there  to  be  at  fynding  and  studye  bothe  suffytyently, 
'  tylle  the  kinge  may  otherwise  advaunse  them.* 

'  Clerke  of  the  king's  closete  keepethe  the  stuff  of 
'  the  closete,  arrayeng  and  makinge  redye  the  aulteres, 
'  takinge  upe  the  traverse,  bering  the  cushones  and  car- 
'  petts,  and  fytethe  all  other  things  necessarye  thcrto. 
'  He  helpethe  the  chaplenes  to  saye  masse  ;  and  yf  the 
'  clarks  lefe  torche,  tapore,  niortere  of  waxe,t  or  such 
'  other  goinge  of  the  tresorore  of  houshold,  his  charge  in 
'  any  parte,  then  he  to  answere  thearfore  as  the  judges  of 
'  the  green  clothe  will  awarde.  Also  he  eatethe  in  the 
'  hall  with  the  serjante  of  the  vestery  by  the  chappelle, 
'  and  takinge  for  his  lyverye  at  nighte  a  galone  ale,  and 
'  for  wintere  lyvereye  ij  candles  piche,  a  talesheid,  rushes 
'  for  the  clossete,  and  lytere  for  his  bede,  of  the  serjante 
'  ushere  ;  and  dayly  for  his  wages  in  courte  by  the  cheque 
'  roule  iij.  d.  ob.  and  clothing  for  wintere  and  somere  with 
'  the  houshold,  or  else  xx  s.  and  at  every  eiche  of  the  iiij 
'  feasts  in  the  year  receavinge  of  the  great  spicery  a 
'  towelle  of  worke,  contayning  iiij  elles,  for  the  king's 
'  houselynge,  and  that  is  the  clerk's  fee  anon  the  king  is 
'  housled.  He  partethe  not  with  the  gyfts  of  houshold, 
'  but  and  he  be  sycke  in  courte,  he  taketh  ij  loves,  j  messe 
'of  great  mette,  one  galone  ale,  and  lyverey  of  the  her- 
'  bengere ;  and  for  the  cariage  of  the  closete  is  assyned 
'  one  sompter  horse,  and  one  somptere  man,  of  the  treso- 
'  rore's  charge,  by  the  comptrollore  his  oversyght ;  the 
'  chamberlene  is  this  dark's  auditore  and  apposore.J 

'Master  of  the  gramere  schole,  "quern  necessarium 
"  est  in  poeta,  atque  in  regulis  positive  gramatice  expe- 
"  ditum  fore,  quibus  audiencium  aninios  cum  diligentia 
"  instruit  ac  infermet."  The  king's  henxemene  the  chil- 
'  dren  of  the  chappelle  aftere  they  cane  their  descante,  the 
'  clarks  of  the  Armorye§  with  other  mene  and  childrene 
'  of  the  courte,  disposed  to  learn  in  this  syence  ;  which 
'  master  amonge  yf  he  be  preeste,  muste  synge  our  Lady 
Masse  in  the  king's  chappelle,  or  else  amonge  to  reade 
'  the  gospell,  and  to  be  at  the  greate  processyone ;  this  to 
'  bee  by  the  deane's  assygnacyone  ;  takinge  his  nieate  in 
'  the  halle,  and  lyvereye  at  nighte  a  galone  of  ale  ;  and 
'  for  wintere  lyvereye  one  candle  pich,  a  talesheid,  or  one 
'  faggote  ;  and  for  his  dayly  wages  allowed  in  the  cheque 
'  role,  whilest  he  is  presente  in  courte,  iiij.  d.  ob.  and 
'  clothinge  with  the  housholde  for  winter  and  somere,  or 

*  else  xx.  s.  caringe  for  his  competente  beddynge  and 
'  bokes  with  the  childrene  of  the  chapelle,  by  comptrole- 
'  mente,  not  partynge  with  noe  gyftes  of  housholde,  but 
'  abydinge  the  king's  avauncement  after  his  demerits  ; 
'  and  lyverye  for  his  horses  by  the  king's  herbengere  ; 
'  and  to  have  in  his  court  one  honeste  servante.'|| 

Of  minstrels  in  general,  and  of  the  nature  of  their 
employment,  an  account  has  already  been  given,  as 
also  of  the  method  practised  to  keep  up  a  succession 
of  them  in  the  king's  palace.    By  the  above  provision 

*  Tliis  seems  to  be  a  more  formal  establishment  of  the  kind  than  any 
that  we  know  of  in  these  times  or  before,  but  it  seems  to  have  been 
founded  in  ancient  usage  ;  for  we  have  it  from  Selrien  that  it  was  the  old 
way  '  when  the  king  had  his  house,  there  were  canons  to  sing  service  in 
'his  chapel;'  so  at  Westminster,  in  St.  Stephen's-chapel,  wliere  tlie 
House  of  Commons  sits  ;  from  which  canons  the  street  called  Canon-row 
has  its  name      Table-Talk,  tit.  King  of  England,  §  4. 

t  MoRTER  a  Mortarium,  a  light  or  taper  set  in  churches,  to  burn  pos- 
sibly over  the  graves  or  shrines  of  the  dead.     Cowel. 

t  The  word  apposer  signifies  an  examiner.  In  the  court  of  Exchequer 
is  an  officer  called  the  foreign  apposer.  Cowel  in  art.  In  the  office  nf 
confirmation,  in  the  first  liturgy  of  Edw.  VI.  the  rubric  directs  the  bishop, 
or  such  as  he  shall  appoint,  to  appose  the  child  ;  and  anciently  a  bishop's 
examining  chaplain  was  called  the  bishop's  poser. 

§  i.  e.  Alnionrv. 

U  Vide  Catai.  Libror.  MSS.  Biblioth.  Harl.  Numb.  293. 


it  appears  that  the  minstrel's  was  not  altogether  a 
vagabond  profession  ;  but  many  of  those  that  followed 
it  were  retainers  to  the  court,  and  seem  to  have  been 
no  other  than  musicians,  players  on  instruments  of 
divers  kinds.  Dr.  Percy,  in  his  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  bore 
a  very  near  resemblance  to  that  of  the  royal  house- 
hold, of  which  there  cannot  be  clearer  evidence  thau 
the  liberal  allowances  for  minstrels ;  and  also  chapels, 
with  singing-men,  children,  and  proper  officers  for 
the  performance  of  divine  service  in  such  families. 
In  that  of  the  ancient  earls  of  Northumberland  was 
an  express  establishment  for  minstrels,  and  also  a 
chapel ;  an  account  fo  the  latter  will  hereafter  be 
given  from  the  household-book  of  Henry,  the  fifth  earl 
of  Northumberland  ;  that  relating  to  the  minstrels, 
contained  in  the  same  book,  is  as  follows  : — 

Sect.  V. 

'  Of  the  noumbre  of  all  my  lord's  servaunts  in  his  chequir- 

'  roul  daily  abidynge  in  his  household. 

*         »         «         «         * 

'  Mynstrals  iij,  viz.,  a  tabret,  a  luyte,  and  a  rcbccc* 

Sect.  XLIV.     2. 

*  Rewardes  to  be  given  to  strangers,  as  players,   myn- 

'  straills,  or  any  other,  &c. 

'  Furst,  my  lorde  usith  and  accustomyth  to  gyf  to  the 
'  King's  Jugler,  if  he  have  wone,  when  they  custome  to 
'  come  unto  hym  yerely,  vi.  s.  viij.  d. 

'  Item,  My  lorde  usith  and  accustomyth  to  gyf  yerely 
'  to  the  king's  or  queene's  Barwarde,  if  they  have  one, 
'  when  they  custom  to  com  unto  hym  yerely,  vi.  s.  viij.  d. 

*  Item,  My  lorde  usith  and  accustomyth  to  gyf  yerely 

*  to  every  erlis  Mynstrellis,  when  the}'  custome  to  come 
'  to  hym  yerely,  iij.  s.  iiij.  d.  And  if  they  come  to  my 
'  lorde  seldome  ones  in  ij  or  iij  yeres,  than  vj.  s.  viij.  d. 

'  Item,  My  lord  usith  and  accustomyth  to  gyf  yerely 
'  to  an  erls  Mynstrall,  if  he  be  his  speciall  lorde,  frende, 

'  or  kynsman,  if  they  come  yerely  to  his  lordschip 

'  And  if  they  come  to  my  lord  seldome  ones  in  ij  or  iij 
'  yeares,  vi.  s.  viii.  d. 

'  Item,  My  lorde  usith  and  accustomyth  to  gyf  yerely 
'  a  dooke's  or  erlis  Trumpetts,  if  they  cum  vj  together  to 
'his  lord.shipp,  viz.,  if  they  come  yerely  vj.  s.  viij.  d 
'  And  if  they  come  but  in  ij  or  iij  yeres,  than  x.  s. 

'  Item,  Aly  lorde  usith  and  accustomyth  yerly,  whan 
'  his  lordschip  is  at  home,  to  gyf  to  iij  the  kyng's  Sua.mes, 
'  whether  they  com  to  my  lorde  yerely  x.  s. 

Sect.  XLIV.  3. 
'Rewards  to  his  lordship's  servaunts,  &c. 
'Item,  My  lord  usith  and  accustomith  to  gyf  yerly, 
'  when  his  lordschipp  is  at  home,  to  his  mynstraills  that 
'  be  daly  in  his  houshold,  as  his  tabret,  lute,  ande  rebeke, 
'upon  New  Yeres-day  in  the  mornynge,  when  they  doo 
'  play  at  my  lordis  chambre  doure,  for  his  lordschipe  and 
'  my  lady  xx.  s.  viz.,  xiij.  s.  iiij.  d.  for  my  lord,  and 
'  vi.  s.  viij.  d.  for  my  lady,  if  sche  be  at  my  lords  fynd- 
'  ynge  and  not  at  hir  owen  ;  and  for  playing  at  my  lordis 
'  sone  and  heir  chaumbre  dom-e,  the  lord  Percy,  ij.  s. 
'  And  for  playinge  at  the  chaumbre  doures  of  my  lords 
'  vono-er  sonnes,  my  yonge  maisters,  after  viiij.  d.  the 
'pece  for  every  of  them. — xxiij.  s.  iiij.  d.' 


274: 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


EooK  VII 


This  establishment,  though  no  older  than  about  the 
third  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  is  not  to  be 
considered  as  a  novel  institution ;  on  the  contrary  it 
appears  to  be  a  recognition  of  that  rule  and  order 
which  had  been  observed  in  the  family  for  ages  pre- 
ceding ;  and  that  minstrels  were  formerly  persons  of 
some  consideration,  at  least  in  the  northern  parts  of 
the  kingdom,  may  be  inferred  from  an  inscription 
still  legible  on  a  pillar  in  the  ancient  church  of  St. 
Mary,  at  Beverley,  in  Yorkshire.  It  seems  that  to 
the  expense  of  erecting  this  fabric  the  nobility  and 
gentry  of  the  town  and  its  neighbourhood  were 
voluntary  contributors  :  one  of  the  pillars  that  sup- 
port it  was  built  by  the  minstrels,  in  memory  whereof 
the  ca]")ital  is  decorated  with  the  figures  of  five  men, 
carved  in  stone,  dressed  in  short  coats  :  one  of  these 
bears  in  his  hand  an  instrument  of  a  rude  form,  but 
somewhat  resembling  a  lute,  and  under  this  sculpture 
are  these  words  in  ancient  characters,  ^hgs  {inllnr 
inatre  the  ffcTiinstrwUs. 

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  account  of  his  household ;  it  was  never- 
theless very  noble,  and  will  be  given  in  a  subsequent 
part  of  this  work.* 

John  of  Dunstable,  so  called  from  the  town  of 
that  name  in  the  county  of  Bedford,  where  he  was 
born,  seems  to  have  been  a  very  learned  man,  and  an 
excellei^t  musician.  He  flourished  about  the  year 
1400,  and  was  the  author  of  a  tract  He  Mensurabilis 
Musica.  Gaffurius,  in  his  Practica  Musicse,  lib.  II. 
cap.  vii.  has  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.  IMorley  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  in  the  parish  church  of  St.  Ste- 
phen, Walbrook,  in  London.  In  Fuller's  Worthies, 
Bedfordshire,  116,  is  the  following  epitaph  on  him  : — 


Clauditur  hoc  tumulo  qui  coelum  pectore  clausit, 
Dunstable  I,  juris  astrorum  conscius  ille, 
Judice  novit  hieramis  abscondita  pandere  coeli ; 
Hie  vir  erat  tua  laus,  tua  lux,  tua  musica  princeps, 
Quique  tuas  dulces  per  mundum  sparserat  nrtes 
Anno  Mil-  C.  quater,  semel  L.  tria  jungito  Cliristi 
Pridie  natale  sidiis  transmigrat  ad  astra 
Suscipiant  proprium  civem  coeli  sibi  cives. 

And  in  Fuller  are  also  these  verses,  written,  as  it 
is  said,  by  John  Whethamsted,  abbot  of  St.  Alban's. 

Musicus  hie  Michahis  alter,  novus  et  Ptolomaeus 
Junior  ac  Atlas  supportans  robore  ccelos, 
Pausat  sub  cinere  ;   melior  vir  mulieie, 
Nunquam  natus  erat ;   vitii  quia  labe  carebat, 
Et  virtutis  opes  possedit  unicus  omnes. 
Perpetuis  annis  celebretur  fama  Johannis 
Dunstable  ;  in  pace  requiescat  et  hie  sine  fine. 

Fuller,  who  seeks  all  occasions  to  be  witty,  speak- 
ing of  these  two  compositions,  uses  these  words  : 
'  What  is  true  of  the  bills  of  some  unconscionable 
'  tradesmen,  if  ever  paid  overpaid,  may  be  said  ot 

*  these  hyjoerbolical  epitaphs  :   if  ever  believed  over 

*  believed,  yea  one  may  safely  cut  off  a  third  in  any 
'  part  of  it,  and  the  remainder  will  amount  to  malce 
'  him  a  most  admirable  person.  Let  none  say  that 
'  these  might  be  two  distinct  persons  ;  seeing  besides 
'  the  concurrence  of  time  and  place,  it  would  bankrupt 
'  the  exchequer  of  nature  to  afford  two  such  persons, 
'  one  Phoenix  at  once  being  as  much  as  any  one  will 
'  believe.'  Morley,  in  his  Introduction,  pag.  178,  has 
convicted  this  author  of  no  less  a  crime  than  the 
interposing  two  rests,  each  of  a  long,  between  two 
syllables  of  the  same  word.  Tlie  passage  is  as  fol- 
lows :  *  We  must  also  take  heed  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 
'  rests  thus,  in  a  song  of  four  parts  upon  these  words : 
'  "Nesciens  virgo  mater  virura": — 


Ip-sum     re-gem   An-ge 


'  for  these  be  his  owne  notes  and  words,  which  is  one 
'  of  the  greatest  absurdities  which  I  have  scene  com- 

*  Besides  the  Minstrels  that  were  retainers  to  great  houses,  there 
appear  to  be  others  of  a  va<Traiit  class.  The  following  note  to  tliat  purpose 
is  taken  from  the  Appendix  to  Hearne's  Liber  Scaccarii,  Numb.  XII. 
pag.  59S,  Lend.  1771  :— 

'  The  fraternity  of  the  Holy  Crosse  in  Abingdon,  in  H.  6.  tyme,  being 
'there  were  nowe  the  hospitall  is,  did  every  yeare  keep  a  feast,  and  then 
'they  used  to  have  twelve  priestes  to  sing  a  dirige,  for  whicli  they  had 
'  given  them  fourpence  a  piece.  They  had  also  twelve  niinstrells,  some 
'  from  Coventre,  and  some  from  Maydenliith,  who  had  two  shillings  and 
'three-pence  a-peece,  besides  theyre  dyet  and  horse  meat;  this  was  in 
'  the  raigne  of  H.  G.  Observe  that  in  those  dayes  they  payd  there  myn- 
'  strells  better  than  theyre  preistes.' 

+  Johannes  Nucius,  in  his  Prajceptiones  Musices  Poeticae,  printed  in 
lfil.3,  expressly  asserts  that  he  was  the  inventor  of  musical  composition. 
If  by  this  we  are  to  understand  composition  of  music  in  more  parts  than 
one,  there  is  an  end  of  a  question  that  has  long  divided  the  learned, 
namely,  whether  symphoniac  music  be  an  ancient  or  modern  invention. 
That  it  had  its  origin  in  the  practice  of  extemporary  descant,  mentioned 
in  the  account  hereinbefore  given  of  Bede,  and  of  the  singing  of  the 
Northumbrians,  his  countrymen,  described  by  Giraklus  Cambrensis,  is 
more  than  probable,  but  the  precise  time  when  written  descant  first  came 
into  use  is  no  where  ascertained.     The  works  of  Franchinus  contain 


lac  -  ta-bat 


'  mitted  in  the  dyttying  of  musicke.'  The  passage 
cited  by  Morley  is  certainly  absurd  enough  ;  but 
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. 

Franchinus,  or  as  he  is  otherwise  called  Gaffurius, 
frequently  cites  a  writer  on  music  named  Mar- 
CHETTUS  :  this  author  was  of  Padua ;  he  lived  about 
the  year  1400,  and  wrote  a  treatise  entitled  Luci- 

sundry  examples  of  music  in  parts,  but  before  his  time  we  meet  with 
nothing  of  the  kind.  Morley  takes  notice  of  this  in  the  annotations  nn 
the  second  part  of  his  Introduction,  and  says,  '  In  all  the  workes  of  them 
'  who  have  written  of  musicke  before  Franchinus,  there  is  no  mention  of 
'  any  more  parts  than  one  ;  and  if  any  did  sing  to  the  harpe,  they  sung 
'  the  same  which  they  plaied.'  A  luoaern  German  writer,  Francis  Lustig, 
in  his  Musikkunde  has  mistaken  the  sense  of  Nucius  in  the  passage 
above-cited,  by  ascribing  the  invention  of  music  in  parts  to  St.  Dunstan, 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  instead  of  John  of  Dunstable,  who,  as  above  is 
shewn,  had  no  title  to  the  merit  of  it. 


Chav.  LXII. 


AXD  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


275 


davinm  in  Arte  Musice  plane,  and  another  De  Mu- 
sica  mensurata. 

Prosdocimus  de  Beldemandis,  of  Padua,  flourished 
about  the  year  1403.  He  wrote  several  tracts  on  plain 
and  mensurable  music,  and  was  engaged  in  a  contro- 
versary  with  Marchettus  ;  but  he  is  most  frequently 
mentioned  as  the  commentator  of  De  Muris,  on  whose 
treatise  entitled  Practica  Mensurabilis  Cantus,  he 
wrote  a  learned  exposition.  Besides  being  an  ex- 
cellent musician,  he  is  celebrated  as  a  philosopher 
and  astrologer  :  the  latter  character  he  owed  to  a 
tract  De  Spha?ra  of  his  writing. 

Johannes  Tinctor,  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  Franchinus,  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  Contrapuncti.* 

Antonius  Suarcialupus,  a  Florentine,  about  the 
year  1430,  excelled  so  greatly  in  music,  that  numbers 
came  from  remote  parts  to  hear  his  harmony.  He 
published  some  things  in  this  art,  but  the  particulars 
are  not  known.  The  senate  of  Florence  in  honour 
of  his  memory,  caused  a  marble  statue  of  him  to  be 
erected  near  the  great  doors  of  the  cathedral  church.f 
Angelus  Politianus,  a  person  better  known  in 
the  learned  world  as  one  of  the  revivers  of  literature 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  than  for  his  skill  in  the 
science,  was  nevertheless  a  writer  on,  and  passionate 
admirer  of  music.  His  Panepistemon,  or  Praelec- 
tiones,  contains  a  discourse  De  Musica  naturali, 
nnmdana,  et  artificiali.  Glareanus  mentions  him  in 
two  or  three  places  of  his  Dodecachordon,  as  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 modes,  which  form  the  title  page  of  that  work, 
the  Hyperphrygian  mode,  with  the  letter  F  prefixed 
occurs,  with  this  note  under  it,  '  Hyperlydius  Poli- 
tiani ;  sed  est  error.'  He  flourished  about  the  year 
1460,  and  acquired  such  a  reputation  for  learning 
and  eloquence,  that  Laurence  de  Medicis  committed 
to  his  care  tlie  education  of  his  children,  of  wliom 
John,  afterwards  pope  Leo  the  tenth,  was  one.  The 
place  of  his  residence  was  a  mountain  in  Tuscany,  to 
which  in  honor  of  him,  the  appellation  of  Mons  Poli- 
tianus, by  the  Italians  corrupted  into  INIonte  Pulciano, 
was  given.  Though  an  ecclesiastic  and  a  dignitary 
of  the  church,  for  it  seems  he  was  a  canon,  he  is 
represented  by  IMons.  Varillas  as  a  man  of  loose 
morals,  as  a  proof  whereof  he  relates  the  following 
story  :  '  Ange  Politien,  a  native  of  Florence,  who 
'  passed  for  the  finest  wit  of  his  time  in  Italy,  met 
'  with  a  fate  which  punished  his  criminal  love. 
'  Being  professor  of  eloquence  at  Florence,  he  un- 
'  happily  became  enamoured  of  one  of  his  young 
'  scholars  who  was  of  an  illustrious  family,  but 
'  whom  lie  could  neither  corrupt  by  his  great  pre- 
'  sents,   nor  by   the   force   of   his    eloquence.      The 

♦  W'alth.  Mus.  Lex. 

t  Voss.  De  Scient.  Mathem.  cap.  Ix.  sect.  14. 


'  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  so  tender  and  affecting, 

*  that  he  expired  in  singing  the  second  couplet.' 
Mons.  Balzac  gives  a  different  account  of  his  death. 
He  says  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  instrument  fell  out  of  his  hand,  and 
he  himself  fell  down  the  stairs  and  broke  his  neck. 

Bayle  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  had  con- 
ceived for  the  decay  of  the  house  of  Medicis,  to  which 
he  had  great  obligations. 

CHAP.  LXIL 

The  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  sul)ject  of  music,  that  seemed  to 
preclude  all  theoretic  improvement.  Boetius  had 
collected  and  wrought  into  his  work  the  principal 
doctrines  of  the  ancients  ;  he  had  given  a  general 
view  of  the  several  opinions  that  had  prevailed 
amongst  them,  and  had  adopted  such  as  he  thought 
had  the  most  solid  foundation  in  reason  and  ex- 
periment. The  accuracy  with  which  he  wrote, 
and  his  reputation  as  a  philosopher  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,  must  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 
Cantus  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  so  uni- 
versally acknowledged,  that  of  the  candidates  for 
academical  honours,  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. 
Guido,  who  does  not  a^jpear  to  have  ever  read  the 


276 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


JBooK  VII. 


Greek  writers,  effected  a  very  important  reformation 
of  tlie  scale  ;  and,  by  an  invention  perfectly  new, 
facilitated  the  practice  of  singing  with  truth  and  cer- 
tainty. Some  add  that  he  was  also  the  inventor  of 
music  in  consonance  ;  but  of  this  the  evidence  is  not 
so  clear  as  to  preclude  all  doubt.  Franco  invented, 
and  De  Muris  and  others  perfected,  the  Cantus  Men- 
surabilis  ;  and  these  improvements  were  of  a  nature 
so  important,  that  they  extended  themselves  to  every 
country  where  the  practice  of  music  prevailed,  and 
in  short  pervaded  the  whole  civilized  world. 

As  to  the  science  of  harmonics,  it  had  retreated  to 
that  part  of  the  world,  which,  upon  the  irruption  of 
the  Goths  into  Europe,  became  the  seat  of  literature, 
Constantinople  ;  thither  we  may  reasonably  sujDpose 
the  several  works  of  Aristoxenus,  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  constitution,  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  best  but  commentaries  on  the  more 
ancient  writers  ;  and  of  this  the  treatises  of  Marcianus 
Capella,  Censorinus,  Porphyry,  and  Manuel  Bryen- 
nius,  are  a  proof,  and  indeed  the  almost  impossibility 
of  any  such  improvement  after  Ptolemy  is  apparent ; 
for  before  his  time  the  enarmonic  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  was  involved  in  great 
obscurity  :  if  this  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  the  loss  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  Greek  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  Cantus  Mensurabilis. 

The  migration  of  learning  from  the  east  to  the 
west,  is  an  event  too  important  to  have  escaped  the 
notice  of  historians.  Some  have  asserted  that  the 
foundation  of  the  musical  practice  now  in  iise  was 
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 

•  This  important  event  gave  rise  to  a  proverbial  expression,  usually 
applied  to  persons  that  suddenly  became  rich  :  '  He  hath  been  at  tlie 
sa'-kiiit;  nf  Constantinople.'  Sir  Paul  Rycant's  History  of  the  Turks, 
vol.  I.  pag.  23G. 


and  desolation,  and  settled  at  Rome,  and  other  cities 
of  Italy.  To  this  purpose  Mons.  Bourdelot,  the 
author  of  Histoire  Musique  et  ses  Effets,  in  four  small 
tomes,  relates  that  certain  ingenious  Greeks  who  had 
escaped  from  the  sacking  of  Constantinople,  brought 
the  polite  arts,  and  particularly  music,  into  Italy  : 
for  this  assertion  no  authority  is  cited,  and  though 
recognized  by  the  late  reverend  and  learned  Dr. 
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  inju- 
dicious collection  of  unauthenticated  anecdotes  and 
trifling  memoirs. 

To  ascertain  precisely  the  circumstances  attending 
the  revival  of  learning  in  Europe,  recourse  must  be 
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  settled  in  Italy,  and  became 
public  teachers  of  the  Greek  language ;  and  that 
Dante,  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  make  it  generally  understood.  The  most 
eminent  of  these  were  Leontius  Pilatus,  Emanuel 
Chrysoloras,  Theodorus  Gaza,  Georgius  Trapezuutius, 
and  cardinal  Bessarion.  To  these,  at  the  distance  of 
an  hundred  years,  succeeded  Joannes  Argyropylus, 
Demetrius  Chalcondyles,  and  many  others,  whose 
lives  and  labours  have  been  sufficiently  celebrated.f 

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  far  flourished  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  world,  as  to  qualify  any  of  them  to  become 
public  teachers  of  the  science.  It  is  true  that  music 
had  been  introduced  by  St.  Basil,  Chrysostom,  and 
others  of  the  Greek  fathers,  into  the  service  of  the 
church,  and  that  the  emperor  Constantine  had  sent 
an  organ  as  a  present  to  Pepin  king  of  France  ;  but 
it  is  as  true  that  all  the  great  improvements  in  the  art 
were  made  at  home.  Pope  Gregory  improved  upon 
the  Ambrosian  chant,  and  established  the  eight  eccle- 
siastical tones  ;  Guido  reformed  the  scale,  and  Franco 
invented  the  Cantus  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  than  that  in  genera] 
use,  nor  an  improved  Theory  which  these  persons 
brought  from  Constantinople,  but  that  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  ancient  Greek  harmonicians,  together  with 

+  Bayle  has  given  a  particular  account  of  some  of  the  most  eminent  of 
them,  as  namely  cardinal  Bessarion,  and  a  few  others  ;  but  a  summary  of 
their  lives,  and  a  history  of  that  unportant  sra  is  contained  in  a  valuable 
work  of  Dr.  Humphrey  Hody,  lately  published  by  Dr.  Samuel  Jebb,  en- 
titled '  De  GrEEcis  illustribus  Linguae  Graecee  Literarimique  Humaniorum 
'  Inst.iuratoribus.'  The  names  of  the  persons  chiefly  celebrated  in  this 
work,  besides  those  above-mentioned,  are  Nicolaus  Secundinus,  Joannes 
Andronicus  Callistus,  Tranquillus  Andronicus,  Georgius  Christonymus, 
.loannes  Polo.  Constantinus  Lascaris,  Michael  Marullus,  Manilius  Rhal- 
lus,  Marcus  Musurus,  Angelas  Calabrus,  Nicolaus  Sophianus,  Georgius 
Alexander,  Joannes  Moschus,  Demetrius  Moschus,  Emanuel  Adrarayt- 
tenus,  Zacharias  Caliergus,  Nicolaus  Blastus,  Aristobulus  Apostolius, 
Demetrius  Ducas,  Nicetas  Pliaustus,  Justinus  Corcyraeus,  Nicolaut 
Petrus,  Antonius  Epaichas,  WattUaeus  Avarius,  HerluodurusZacynthiu^. 


CxiAP.  LXIL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


277 


such  a  knowledge  of  the  language  as  enabled  the 
professors  of  music  in  Italy  and  other  countries  to 
understand  and  profit  by  their  writings,  is  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- 
chinus  for  the  theory,  were  the  fathers  of  modern 
music.  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 
the  following  view  of  the  state  ot  music  in  those 
countries,  that  made  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 
Provengal  musars,  violars,  &c.,  the  former  may  be 
supposed  to  have  taught,  as  well  as  they  were  able, 
the  general  principles  of  harmony,  as  also  the  method 
of  singing  the  divine  offices,  and  the  latter  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  of  Venice,  made  in  the  year 
1443,  it  appears  that  one  of  their  chief  employments 
at  that  time  was  the  teaching  children  to  sing  ;  and 
they  are  thereby  expressly  forbidden  to  continue  it, 
under  severe  penalties. 

In  France  it  is  observable,  that  after  the  introduc- 
tion of  Guido's  system  into  that  kingdom,  the  progress 
of  music  was  remarkably  slow  ;  one  improvement 
however  seems  to  have  had  its  rise  in  that  country, 
namely,  Fauxbourdon,  or  what  we  in  England  were 
used  to  term  Faburden,  the  hint  whereof  was  probably 
taken  from  the  Cornamusa  or  bagpipe  ;  and  of  this 
kind  of  accompanyment  the  French  were  so  extremely 
fond,  that  they  rejected  the  thought  of  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  offices,  which  were 
innumerable  ;  but  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  the  organ  so  early  as 
the  year  1480 ;  for  we  are  told  that  in  that  year  a 
German,  named  Bernhard,  invented  the  Pedal ;  from 
whence  it  should  seem  that  he  had  entertained  con- 
ceptions of  a  fuller  harmony  than  could  be  produced 
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  Franchinus  there  was  no  such 

*  Bourdelot  relates  that  the  intercourse  between  the  French  and 
Italians  duriiip;  the  reigns  of  Charles  VIII.,  Lewis  XII.,  and  Francis  I., 
and  afterwards  in  the  time  of  Queen  CatlierinL-  de  Medicis,  who  was  in 
every  respect  an  Italian,  contributed  greatly  to  refine  tlie  French  music  ; 
and  brought  it  to  a  near  resemblance  with  that  of  Italy  ;  but  that  many 
of  the  churches  in  France  had  gone  so  far  as  to  con.slitute  bands  of  mu- 
sicians to  add  to  the  solemnity,  but  that  after  some  years  they  were 
dismissed.  The  chapter  of  Paris  entertained  a  dislike  of  them  ;  and  by 
certain  capitulary  resolutions  made  in  the  year  16-16,  ordained  that  the 
Fauxbourdon  should  be  revived  ;  and  of  this  kind  of  harmony,  simple 
and  .Umited  as  it  is,  the  French  are  even  at  this  day  remarkably  fond. 


thing  as  music  in  parts ;  but,  notwithstanding  this 
conjecture  of  his,  the  evidence  that  music  in  conso- 
nance, of  some  kind  or  other,  was  known  at  least  as 
far  back,  in  point  of  time,  as  the  invention  of  the 
organ,  is  too  strong  to  be  resisted ;  and  indeed  the 
form  and  mechanism  of  the  instrument  do  little  less 
than  demonstrate  it.  How  and  in  what  manner  the 
organ  was  used  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  sympho- 
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  ot  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, 

Franchinus  Gaffurius,  surnamed  L,'vudensis,  from 
Lodi,  a  town  in  the  IVIilanese,  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 
Fixaraga  his  wile.  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  service. 
His  youth  was  spent  in  a  close  application  to  learn- 
ing ;  and  upon  his  attainment  of  the  sacerdotal  dig- 
nity, he  addicted  himsell  with  the  greatest  assiduity 
to  the  study  of  music.  His  first  tutor  was  Johannes 
Godendach,  a  Carmelite  ;  having  acquired  under  him 
a  knowledge  of  the  rudiments  of  the  science,  he  left 
the  place  of  his  nativity,  and  went  to  his  father  tlien 
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  years,  he  found 
leisure  and  opportunity  for  the  making  large  collec- 
tions relative  to  that  science,  and  composed  a  work 
intitled  Musicoe  Institutionis  Collocutiones,  which 
does  not  appear  to  have  ever  been  2)rinted,  unless, 
as  is  hereafter  suggested,  it  might  be  published 
under  a  different  title.  The  great  reputation  he  had 
acquired  at  Verona  procured  him  an  invitation  from 
Prospero  Adorni  to  settle  at  Genoa :  his  stay  there 
was  but  short,  for  about  a  year  after  his  removal 
thither,  his  patron  being  expelled  by  Baptista  Cam- 
pofragoso  and  Giovanni  Galeazzo,  dukes  of  Milan, 


278 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


EooK  VII. 


he  fixed  his  residence  at  Naples;  in  that  city  he 
found  many  musicians  who  were  held  in  great  estima- 
tion, namely,  Johannis  Tinctor,  Gulielmns  Garnerius, 
Bernardus  Hj'cart,  and  others,  and  by  the  advice  of 
his  friend  and  townsman  Philipinus  Bononius,  who 
then  held  a  considerable  employment  in  that  city, 
Franchinns  maintained  a  pnblic  disputation  against 
them.  Plere  he  is  said  to  have  written  his  Theo- 
ricum  Opus  Musicae  Discipline,  a  most  ingenious 
work ;  but  the  pestilence  breaking  out  in  the  city, 
which,  to  complete  its  calamity,  was  engaged  in 
a  bloody  war  with  the  Turks,  who  had  ravaged  the 
country  of  Apulia,  and  taken  the  city  of  Otranto ; 
he  returned  to  Lodi,  and  took  up  his  abode  at  Monti- 
cello,  in  the  territory  of  Cremona,  being  invited  to 
settle  there  by  Carolo  Pallavicini,  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  Musicaj  utriusque  Cantus,  which  was 
printed  first  at  Milan,  in  1490,  again  at  Brescia  in 
14:97,  and  last  at  Venice  in  1512.  Being  prevailed 
on  by  the  entreaties  of  the  inhabitants  of  Bergamo, 
and  the  offer  of  a  large  stipend,  he  removed  thither; 
but  a  war  breaking  out  between  them  and  the  duke 
of  Milan,  he  was  necessitated  to  return  home.  There 
he  stayed  not  long,  for  Romanus  Barnus,  a  canon  of 
Lodi,  a  man  of  great  power,  as  he  exercised  the 
pastoral  authority  in  the  absence  of  the  archbishop 
of  Milan,  incited  by  the  fame  of  his  learning  and 
abilities  as  a  public  instructor,  in  the  year  1484 
invited  him  to  settle  there  ;  and  such  are  we  told 
was  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  he  improved  music 
there  by  study  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  i\rusica3  Franchini 
Gafurii  Laudensis  Regii  Musici,  Ecclesiseque  Medio- 
lanensis  Phonasci :  Materna  Lingua  scriptum.  From 
several  circumstances  attending  its  publication,  parti- 
cularly that  of  its  being  written  in  the  Italian  lan- 
guage, there  is  great  reason  to  believe  that  this  is  no 
other  than  the  Musicae  Institutionis  Collocutiones, 
mentioned  above ;  and  that  it  contains  in  substance 
the  lectures  which  he  read  to  his  scholars  in  the 
course  of  his  employment  as  public  professor.  Last 
of  all,  and  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of  his  age,  he 
wrote  a  treatise  De  Harmonia  Musicorum  Instrumen- 
torum,  at  the  end  whereof  is  an  eulogium  on  Fran- 
chinns and  his  writings  by  Pantaleone  Meleguli  of 
Lodi,  from  which  this  accoimt  is  for  the  most  part 
taken.  Besides  the  pains  he  took  in  composing  the 
works  above-mentioned,  not  being  acquainted,  as  we 
may  imagine,  with  the  Greek  language,  he  at  a  great 
expense  procured  to  be  translated  into  Latin  the 
harmonical  treatises  of  many  of  the  more  ancient 
writers,  namely,  Aristides  Quintilianus,  Manuel  Bry- 
ennius,  Ptolemy,  and  Bacchius  Senior.  The  author 
above-cited,  who  seems  to  have  been  well  acquainted 


with  him,  and  to  manifest  an  excusable  partiality  for 
his  memory,  has  borne  a  very  honourable  testimony 
to  his  character ;  for,  besides  applauding  him  for  the 
services  he  had  done  the  science  of  music  by  his 
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  his  latter  years  he 
became  engaged  in  a  controversy  with  Giovanni 
Spataro,  professor  of  music  at  Bologna;  and  it  ap- 
pears that  the  apology  of  Franchinns  against  this 
liis  adversary  was  written  and  published  in  the  year 
1520,  so  that  he  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  considerable  a  man  as  Gaffurius ;  and  first  of  the 
Theorica :  it  is  dedicated  to  the  famous  Ludovico 
Sforza,  governor  of  Milan,  the  same  probably  with 
him  of  that  name  mentioned  by  Philip  de  Comines ; 
it  is  divided  into  five  books,  and  was  printed  first  at 
Naples  in  1480,  and  again  at  IMilan,  in  1492. 

It  is  verv  clear  that  the  doctrines  tau2:ht  in  this 
work,  the  Theorica  Musicae  of  Franchinns,  are  the 
same  with  those  delivered  by  Boetius.  Indeed  the 
greater  part  appears  to  be  an  abridgement  ot  Boetius 
de  Musica,  with  an  addition  of  Guido's  method  of 
solmisation ;  for  which  reason,  and  because  copious 
extracts  from  this  latter  work  have  been  already 
given,  and  Guido's  invention  has  been  explained  in 
his  own  woi'ds,  it  is  thought  unnecessary  to  be  more 
particular  in  the  present  account  of  it. 

The  treatise  entitled  Practica  Musicae  utriusque 
Cantus,  so  called  because  the  purpose  of  it  is  to 
declare  the  nature  of  both  the  plain  and  mensurable 
cantus,  is  of  a  kind  as  different  from  the  former  as 
its  title  imports  it  to  be.  For,  without  entering  at 
all  into  the  theory  of  the  science,  the  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- 
surabilis,  the  nature  of  counterpoint,  and,  lastly,  the 
jiroportions  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  there 
is  no  part  of  the  Practica  Musicae  more  curious  than 
that  formula  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Tones  contained 
in  the  first  book  of  it,  and  which  is  inserted  in  the 
former  part  of  tliis  work.* 

In  the  first  chapter  of  the  second  book  of  this 
work  of  Franchinns,  the  author  treats  of  the  several 
kinds  of  metre  in  the  words  following : — 

'  The  poets  and  musicians  in  times  past,  maturely 

*  The  extract  above  referred  to  contains  perhaps  the  most  ancient  and 
autlientic  formula  of  the  tones  extant,  and  must  therefore  be  deemed  a 
great  curiosity.  Rousseau  says  of  plain-chant  in  general,  that  it  is  a 
precious  relique  of  antiquity  :  tliis  might  be  said  supposing  the  tones  to 
be  no  older  than  the  time  of  St.  Ambrose;  but  it  is  certain  that  if  they 
are  not  the  modes  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  and  consequently  more  ancient 
by  a  thousand  years,  they  resemble  them  so  nearly,  that  they  may  well 
be  taken  for  the  same,  and  therefore  are  an  object  of  still  greater  vene- 
ration. With  respect  to  their  use  at  present,  it  is  true  that  they  make  no 
part  of  divine  service  in  the  churches  of  the  Reformed,  but  in  that  of 
Rome  they  are  still  preserved,  and  are  daily  to  be  heard  in  England  in 
tlie  chapels  of  the  ambassadors  from  Roman  Catholic  princes.  From  all 
which  considerations  it  cannot  but  be  wished  that  the  integrity  of  them 
may  be  preserved  ;  and  to  this  end  nothing  can  be  more  conducive  than 
an  authentic  designation  4f  tiiem  severally,  and  such  that  hereinbefoie 
given  is  supposed  to  be. 


Chap.  LXHI. 


AND  PEACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


279 


*  considering  the  time  of  every  word,  placed  a  long 
'  or  a  short  mark  over  each,  whereby  each  syllable 
'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  that  the  short  syllable 
'  was  found  out  before  the  long,   as   Diomedes  the 

*  grammarian  testifies,  for  one  was  prior  to  two. 
'  They  account  a  syllable  to  be  short,  either  in  its 
'  own  nature,  or  in  respect  to  its  position ;  they  also 
'make  some  syllables  to  be  common;  as  when  they 
'  are  naturally  short  and  a  liquid  follows  a  mute,  as 
'  in  "  tenebriB  patris."  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  up  of 
'  different  times  ;  for  the  Dactyl,  that  I  may  mention 
'  the  quantities  of  some  of  them,  contained  three 
'  syllables,  the  first  whereof  was  long,  and  the  other 
'two  short,  as  "armiger,  principis;"  it  therefore 
'  consisted  of  four  times.  The  Spondee  has  also  four 
'  times,  but  disposed  into  two  long  syllables,  as 
"  fielix,  sestas."  The  Iambus,  called  the  quick  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, 
'  because  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,  pater,"  The 
'  Tribrachus  contains  three  short  syllables,  as  "Do- 
'  minus."  The  Amphibrachus  has  also  three,  the  first 
'  short,  the  second  long,  and  the  third  short,  as 
"  Carina."  The  Creticus,  or  Amphiacrus,  consists 
'  likewise  of  three  syllables;  the  first  long,  the  second 
'  short,  and  the  third  long,  as  "  insular."  The  Bac- 
'  chius  also  has  three  syllables,  the  first  short,  and  the 
'  other  two  long,  as  "  Achates  et  Ulixes."  The 
'  Proceleumaticus,  agreeing  chiefly  with  Lyric  verse, 
'has  four  short  syllables,  as  "aviciila."  The  Dis- 
'  pendens  was  composed  of  eight  times  and  four  long 
'  syHables,  as  "  Oratores."  The  Coriambus  consisted 
'  also  of  four  syllables,  the  first  long,  the  two  follow- 

*  ing  short,  and  the  last  long,  as  "  armipotens."  The 
'  Biiambus  had  four  syllables,  the  first  short,  the 
'  second  long,  the  third  short,  and  the  fourth  long, 
'  as  "  Propinquitas."  The  Epitritus,  or  Hippius,  as  it 
'  is  called  by  Diomedes,  was  fourfold  ;  the  first  kind 
'  consisted  of  four  syllables,  the  first  whereof  was 
'  short,  the  other  three  long ;  and  it  comprehended 
'  seven  times,  as  "  sacerdotes."     The  second  Epitri- 

*  tus  had  four  syllables,  the  second  whereof  was  short, 
'  and  all  the  rest  long,  as  "  conditores."  The  third 
'  Epitritus  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  last  whereof  was  short,  and  the  three  first 
'  long,  as  "Fesceninus."  Some  of  these  are  supposed 
'  to  be  simple,  as  the  Spondeus  and  Iambus,  and 
'  others  compound,  as  the  Dispondeus  and  Biiambus. 

*  Diomedes  and  Aristides,  in  the  first  book,  and  St. 


'  Augustine,  have  explained  them  all.  Musicians 
'  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  Cantus,  in  the  same  manner  as  verse  is 
'  made  from  different  feet.  Philosophers  think  that 
'  the  measure  of  short  time  ought  to  be  adjusted  b}'- 
'  the  equable  motions  of  the  pulse,  comparing  the 
'  Arsis  and  Thesis  with  the  Diastole  and  Stole.  In 
'  the  measure  of  every  pulse  the  Diastole  signifies 
'  dilatation,  and  the  Stole  contraction. 

'  The  poets  have  an  Arsis  and  Thesis,  that  is  an 
'  elevation  and  deposition  of  their  feet  according  to 
'  the  passions ;  and  they  use  these  in  reciting,  that 
'  the  verse  may  strike  the  ear  and  soften  the  mind. 
'  The  connexion  of  the  words  is  regulated  according 
'  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  the  opinion  of  Quin- 
'  tilian,  consists  in  the  measures  of  times ;  and  I  con- 
'  ceive  time  to  be  the  measure  of  syllables.  But  Bede, 
'  in  his  treatise  concerning  figures  and  metres,  has 
'  interpreted  Rythmus  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  the  common  poets.  Yet  we  some- 
'  times  meet  with  Rythmi  not  regulated  by  any  art, 
'  but  proceeding  from  the  sound  or  modulation  itself; 
'  these  the  common  poets  form  naturally,  whereas  the 
'  Rythmi  of  the  learned  are  constructed  by  the  rules 
'  of  art.  The  Greeks  assert  that  Rythmus  consists 
'  in  the  Arsis  and  Thesis,  and  that  sort  of  time 
'  which  some  call  vacant  or  free.  Aristoxenus  says 
'it  is  time  divided  numerically;  and,  according  to 
'  Nicomachus,  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  might  attain  a  metrical  elegance  in  poetry.' 

CHAP.  LXIIL 

In  the  second  chapter  Franchinus  treats  of  the 
characters  used  to  denote  the  different  measures  of 
time  in  the  words  followina: : — 

'  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  Rvthmus  used  the  followincr, 
'  viz.,  for  the  breve  — ,  for  the  long  of  two  times 

*  £^£,  for  that  of  three  times  \  /    for  that  of  four 

'  times  Vl/    for  that  of  five  times  \J       To  express 

'  the   Arsis  they  added   a   point  to  each  character, 

'  thus   '^^^^ ,  V^.     The  Thesis  was  understood  by 

'  the  simple  character,  without  any  such  addition, 
'  As  to  the  consonant  intentions,  such  as  the  diates- 
'  saronic,  diapentic,  diapasouic,  and  the  rest,  they 
'  were  expressed  by  certain  characters,  which  I  pur- 
'  posely  omit,  as  being  foreign  to  the  present  practice. 


2r:0 


■HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


EooK  VII. 


'  The  musicians  of  this  day  express  the  measure  of 

*  one  time  by  a  square  filled  up  {■!  ;  tliat  oi  two, 
'  called  a  long,  by   a  square  with  a  stroke  on  the 

*  right  side,  either  ascending  or  descending,  which 
'  stroke  was  four  times  as  long  as  one  side  of  the 
'  square.  Some  however,  because  of  the  deformity 
'  arising  from  the  too  great  length  of  the  stroke, 
'  made  it  equal  in  length  to  only  three  times  the  side 
'  of  the  square,  and  others  made  it  but  twice,  thus 

'  'n  .     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  P*^. 

'  or  thus  ^H  .     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   W  ;  and  this 

'  was  called  a  double  long.  The  triple  long  had 
'  a  square  ot  triple  extension   |B»a^  ,  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     |M^|'n-     Those 

'  that  came  afterwards,  subverting  the  order  of  these 

*  characters,  described  the  marks  open,  having  many 

*  short  squares  in  one  body,  thus  i  •  ■  <  \  .  They 
'  also  marked  the  long  conjoined  with  the  lireve,  and 
'  the  breve  with  the  long,  in  one  and  the  same  figure 

'  thus    -I    '  '    .     But  as  these  latter  characters  are 

'  now  disused,  we  will  leave  them,  and  speak  con- 
'  cerning  those  by  which  the  fashion  and  practice  of 
'  those  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  subject  of  measure  as  sound 
'  itself  The  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  p,  which  they  call  also  a  time,  as  it 
'  expresses  the  measure  of  one  time.  The  long  they 
'  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  square,  thus  ^ ; 

'  it  was  called  also  the  double  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  breves  diagonally  into  two  equal  parts, 

'  in  this  manner   \^,  and  joined  to  it  another  triangle, 

'  they  turned  the  angles  upwards  and  downwards 
*  thus  0  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  ;f  and  as  the  Diastole  and 

*  Fraiichinus,  in  his  Angelicum  et  divinum  Opus,  tract  III.  cap.  i. 
resembles  this  character  to  a  grain  of  barley.  And  here  it  may  be  noted 
tliat  his  account  of  the  invention  of  the  characters  used  in  mensurable 
music  is  much  more  probable  than  that  of  Vicentino,  pag.  219,  of  this 
work,  which  though  ingenious  is  fanciful. 

t  This  observation  of  Franchinus  is  worthy  ol  lemembrance,  for  not- 


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 
respect  of  its  measure,  coincides  exactly  with  the 
measure  of  the  pulse;  and  as  they  considered  the 
measure  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  ?. 

'  The  short  character,  consisting  of  one  time,  and 
tlie  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  tlie  long  is 
divided  into  four  semibreves,  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  IMinimum,  or  least  of  his  own  kind  ; 
and  number,  for  instance,  takes  its  increase  from 
unity,  as  being  the  least,  and  to  which  all  number 
is  ultimately  resolvable  ;  and  as  every  line  is  gene- 
rated and  encreased  by,  and  again  reduced  to  a 
point  ;  so  every  measure  of  musical  time  is  pro- 
duced from,  and  may  again  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  quantity,  and 
the  dimension  of  its  figure,  this  they  call  the 
Maxima  or  Large,  and  describe  it  thus  CIZ!  .     This 

character  is  aptly  enough  compared  to  the  chord 
Proslambanomenos,  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  this 
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  Franchinus  proceeds  to 
explain  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  the  greater  semiminim,  which  Pros- 
'  docimus  describes  in  a  twofold  way  ;  for  taking  his 

withstanding  what  he  says  a  few  lines  above,  and  the  remark  of  Listenius 
in  the  note  pag.  223,  of  this  work,  we  are  here  taught  to  consider  the 
semibreve,  or  tactus  minor,  as  the  measure  of  a  time,  or  as  we  should 
now  say,  of  a  bar,  consisting  of  two  pulses  or  strokes,  the  one  down,  the 
other  up.  The  use  of  the  o'bservation  is  this,  fugues  written  in  canon 
have  always  a  direction  to  shew  at  what  distance  of  time  the  replicate  is 
to  follow  the  guide  or  principal,  such  as  fuga  in  Hypodiapente  post 
tempus.  Butl.  Princ.  of  Mus.  76,  fuga  in  unisono  post  duo  tempora,  ib.  77, 
et  vide  Zarl.  Istit.  Harm.  Parte  III.  cap.  Iv.  now  unless  the  value  of  a 
time  be  previously  ascertained,  a  canon  is  no  rule  for  the  singing  of  a 
fugue:  and  that  tlie  practice  corresponds  with  the  observation  of  Fran- 
chiiius  here  remarked  on,  may  be  seen  in  sundry  examples  to  the  purpose, 
in  the  Prattica  di  Musica  of  Lodovico  Zacoone,  libro  II.  fol.  113, 


Chap.  LXIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


2S1 


•'  notion  of  a  minim  from  Tinctor,  he  first  describes 
'  the  semi-minim  by  the  fio,-ure  of  a  minim  having  the 

*  end  of  its  stem  turned  off  to  the  right,  with  a  kind 
'  of  crooked  tail,  thus  ^ ;  and  the  lesser  semiminim,  in 

-f> 
'  quantity  half  the  greater,  with  two  such  turns,  thus  ^. 
'  Secondly,  keeping  precisely  to  the  form  of  the  minim, 
'  he  makes  the  body  full  black,  thus  |,  and  divides 
'  this  last  character  into  two  equal  parts,  by  giving 
'  to  it  the  same  turn  of  the  stem  as  before  had  been 
'  given  to  the  minim,  thus  | ,  and  this  they  called  the 

*  lesser  semiminim.    The  former  characters,  viz,,  those 

*  with  the  open  or  white  body,  are  called  by  Pros- 
'  doclmus,  the  minims  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  of  the  stem, 
'  seminims,  as  being  a  kind  of  disjunct  or  separated 
'  minims ;  and  again  they  call  tlie  parts  of  these 
'  seminims,  from  the  smallness  of  their  measure 
'  and  quantity,  semiminimims  ;  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  third,  the  most  diminished  particle 
'  of  a  minim,  and  which  the  same  Prosdocimus  would 
'  have  to  be  called  the  minim  of  Tinctor  in  an  octuple 

*  proportion ;  others  the  lesser  semiminim  ;  and  others 
'a  comma,  which  we  think  would  more  properly  be 
'  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 
'  turned  towards  the  right,  and  a  crooked  stroke  pro- 

*  ceeding  from  its  angle  underneath,  in  this  manner  T  ^ 

*  but  as  the  appearance  of  this  character  among  the 
'  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  right, 
'  There  are  some  who  describe  the  measures  of  time 
'  by  characters  variously  different  from  those  above 
'  enumerated,  as  Franco,  Philippus  de  Caserta,  Johan- 
'  nes  de  Muvis,  and  Anselmus  of  Parma,  v.hich  last 
'  draws  a  long  Plica,  or  winding  stroke  ascending, 
'  and  also  a  short  one,  both  having  tails  on  either  side. 
'  Again,  the  same  Anselmus  makes  a  greater,  a  lesser, 
'  and  a  mean  breve  ;  the  greater  he  has  expressed  by 
'  a  square,  with  a  stroke  descending  on  the  left  side, 
'  in  this  manner  H  ;  the  lesser  by  a  square  with  a 

I  I 

'  stroke  ascending  from  the  left  side  thus  tj ;  and 
'  the  mean  by  a  square  without  any  stroke,  thus  H. 
'  Likewise  the  greater  semibreve  he  describes  with 
two  strokes,  the  one  ascending  and  the  other  descend- 
'  ing,  both  on  the  right  side,  thus  H ;  the  lesser 
'  semibreve  by  a  square  with  two  strokes  on  the  left 
'  side,  thus  n ,  and  the  mean  semibreve  by  a  square 

*  with  a  stroke  drawn  through  it  both  upwards  and 
'  downwards    in  this   manner   tH   and    by    a    like 

*  method  he  signifies  the  rest  of  the  measures ;  but 


*  these  latter  characters  later  musicians  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,  Franchinus  thus 
explains  the  characters  by  which  the  rests  are  de- 
scribed : — 

'  A  pause  is  a  character  used  to  denote  a  stop  made 

*  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  song.  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, 
'  Tlie   breve   pause  is  a  stroke  comprehending   two 

*  such  intervals  ;  the  pause  of  three  times,  whose  ex- 

*  tremities  include  four  lines,  occupies  three  entire 
'  spaces  ;  this  they  call  a  perfect  long,  because  it  passes 
'  over  in  silence  three  equal  proper  times,  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,  semilireve,  minim, 
semiminim  or  crotchet,  and  semiminimim  or  quaver, 
are  thus  described  by  Franchinus,  and  are  in  truth 
the  same  with  those  now  in  use. 


EE 


H^ 


Long      Long       Breve 
perfect  imperfect 


Semibreve    Minim 


Semi- 
minim 


Semi- 
minimim 


By  the  first  of  which  characters  is  to  be  imderstood 
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  Mensurabilis, 
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,  whetiier 
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  is  the  first  uneven  number,  is  said  to  be  mas- 
'culine;  and  by  the  alternate  coupling  of  these  two 
'  the  rest  of  these  numbers  are  produced.  Secondly, 
'  it  is  composed  both  of  Aliquot  and  Aliquant  parts. 

*  Thirdly,  there  is  a  relation  between  the  numbers 
'  1,  2,  3,  as  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  is  made  up  of  the  two 
'  numbers  preceding,  which  cannot  be  said  of  4  or  5, 

*  nor  of  those  that  follow  them.     Fourthly,  there  is  a 


'2S2 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIEXCE 


Book  VII. 


'  tlireefold  equality  in  the  number  3,  for  its  begin- 
'  ning,  middle,  and  end  are  precisely  the  same ;  and  by 
'  means  thereof  we  discern  the  Divine  Trinity  in  the 
'supreme  God.  Lastly,  there  is  a  perfection  in  the 
'  number  3,  arising  from  this  property,  if  you  multi- 
'  ply  3  by  2,  or  2  by  3,  the  product  will  be  six,  which 
'  mathematicians  pronounce  to  be  a  perfect  number 
'  in  respect  of  its  aliquot  parts.' 

The  third  book  of  the  treatise  De  Practica  contains 
the  elements  of  counterpoint  with  the  distinctions  of 
the  several  species,  and  examples  of  each  in  two, 
three,  and  four  parts.  The  fourth  chapter,  entitled 
'  Qu£B  et  ubi  in  Contrapuncto  admittendas  sint  discor- 


-^-^ 


E::t=:3zxzp3--t-^^^^ 


l^==m 


-hi-- 


lEEEEErt 

CANTUS 


:AV- 


z=qrq=izqz 


0- 


*  dantite,'  though  it  be  a  proof  that  discords  were 
admitted  into  musical  composition  so  early  as  the 
author's  time,  shews  yet  that  they  were  taken  very 
cautiously,  that  is  to  say,  they  never  exceeded  the 
length  of  a  semibreve  ;  and  this  restriction,  for  which 
he  cites  Dunstable,  and  other  writers,  may  well  be 
acquiesced  in,  seeing  that  the  art  of  preparing  and 
resolving  discords  seems  to  have  been  unknown  at 
this  time. 

In  chap.  XL  De  Compositione  diversarum  Partium 
Contrapuncti,  are  several  examples  in  four  parts,  viz., 
Cantus,  Contra-tenor,  Tenor,  and  Baritonans,  one 
whereof  is  as  follows  : —  ^'' 


TENOR 


BARITONANS 


CONTRATENOR 


Upon  these  examples  it  is  observable  that  the 
musical  characters  from  their  dissimilarity  seem  not 
to  have  been  printed  upon  letter-press  types,  but  on 
wooden  blocks,  in  which  the  lines,  cliffs,  and  notes 
had  been  first  cut  or  engraved. 

The  fourth  book  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  been  ex- 
])lained,  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  author  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,  &c. ;  as 
if  we  were  to  compare  ut  below  with  sol  above,  or 
any  other  two  sounds  at  different  parts  of  the  scale. 
In  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  less  than 

*  In  the  composition  of  music  in  symphony,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  the 
number  of  parts  can  never  in  strictness  exceed  four  ;  and  tliat  where  any 
composition  is  said  to  be  of  more,  some  of  the  parts  must  necessarily 
pause  while  others  sing. 

The  most  usual  names  for  the  several  parts  of  a  vocal  composition  are 
b.ise,  tenor,  counter-tenor,  and  cantus  ;  where  it  is  for  live  voices,  another 
part  called  the  medias  or  mean  is  interposed  between  the  counter-tenor 
and  the  cantus.  In  three  parts,  where  there  is  no  cantus,  the  upper  part 
is  generally  the  counter-tenor,  which  in  that  case  assumes  the  name  of 
Altus  ;  but  these  which  are  the  general  rules  observed  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  parts  allow  of  many  variations.  Franchinus,  in  the  example 
above-cited,  has  given  the  name  of  Baritonans  to  one  of  tlie  parts  ;  this 
is  a  term  signifying  that  kind  of  base,  which  for  the  extent  of  its  compass 
may  be  considered  as  partaking  of  the  nature  both  of  the  base  and  tenor. 
In  compositions  for  instruments,  and  sometimes  in  those  for  voices,  the 
cantus  is  called  the  Treble,  which  several  terms  are  thus  explained  by 
Butler  in  his  Principles  of  Music,  lib.  I.  chap.  iii.  in  not. 

The  Base  is  so  called  because  it  is  the  basis  or  foundation  of  the  song. 

The  Tenor,  from  teneo  to  hold,  consisted  anciently  of  long  holding 
notes,  containing  the  ditty  or  plain-song,  upon  which  the  other  parts 
were  wont  to  descant  in  sundry  sorts  of  figures. 

The  Counter-tenor  is  so  named,  as  answering  the  tenor,  though  com- 
monly in  higher  notes  ;  or  it  maybe  thus  explained,  Counter-tenor  quasi 
Counterfeit-tenor,  from  its  near  affinity  to  the  tenor. 

Cantus  seems  to  be  an  arbitrary  term,  for  which  no  reason  or  etymology 
is  assigned  by  any  of  the  writers  on  music. 

The  Treble  has  clearly  its  name  from  the  third  or  upper  septenary  of 
notes  in  the  scale,  which  are  ever  those  of  the  treble  or  cantus  part. 

The  term  Baritonans  answers  precisely  to  the  French  Contre-basse,  an 
appellation  very  proper  for  a  part,  which  as  it  is  said  above,  seems  to  bear 
the  same  affinity  to  the  base  as  the  couuter-tenoi  does  to  the  tenor. 


the  other,  as  1  1,  2  2,  8  8;  the  two  sounds  in  this 
proportion  are  said  to  be  unisons,  that  is  having  the 
same  degree  of  gravity  and  acuteness. 

The  other  is  of  Inequality,  as  when  of  two  terms 
one  is  larger  than  the  other,  i.  e.  contains  more  parts, 
as  4,  2  ;  because  the  first  contains  the  latter  once  and 
something  left,  this  therefore  must  be  inequality.  Of 
this  proportion  there  are  five  species,  which  the 
Italians  call  Generi. 

First,  IMoltiplice  or  IMultiple  is  when  the  larger 
number  contains  the  small  one  twice,  as  4,  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  Quadrupla,  and  so  on  to  infinity. 

The  second  proportion  of  inequality  is  Proporzione 
del  Genere  superparticulare,  and  is  that  wherein  the 
greater  term  contains  the  less  once,  and  an  aliquot  or 
exact  part  of  the  lesser  remains,  as  3,  2  ;  if  the  number 
remaining  be  exactly  half  the  less  number,  the  pro- 
portion is  called  Sesquialteral ;  if  a  third  part  of  the 
less  as  4,  3,  Sesquiterza,  and  so  on,  adding  to  Sesqui 
the  ordinal  number  of  the  less  term. 

The  third  proportion  of  inequality  is  called  Pro- 
porzione del  Genere  superparziente,  in  which  the 
greater  term  contains  the  less  once,  and  two,  three, 
four,  or  more  parts  of  the  less  remaining  ;  or  as 
Zarlino  says,  2,  3,  4,  or  more  units,  &c.  This  pro- 
portion is  distinguished  by  the  words  Bi,  Tri,  Quadri, 
&c.  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,  Supertriparziente  Quarta, 
by  reason  7  contains  4  once,  and  three  parts  of  4 
remain,  and  so  of  others. 

The  fourth  and  fifth  kinds  of  proportion  of  ineqxia- 
lity  are  compounded  of  the  multiple  and  one  of  those 
above  described,  f 

IMorley,  in  the  following  table,  has  very  clearly 
shewn  how  the  most  usual  proportions  in  music  are 
generated  : — 

t  Vide  Brossard,  Dictionaire  de  Musique,  in  art. 


Chap.  LXIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


283 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

2 

4 

6 

8 

10 

12 

14 

16. 

18 

20 

3 

6 

9 

12 

15 

IS 

21 

24 

27 

30 

4 

8 

12 

IG 

20 

24 

28 

32 

36 

40 

5 

10 

15 

20 

25 

30 

35 

40 

45 

50 

6 

12 

18 

24 

30 

36 

42 

48 

54 

60 

7 

14 

21 

28 

35 

42 

49 

56 

63 

70 

8 

16 

24 

32 

40 

48 

56 

64 

72 

80 

9 

18 

27 

36 

45 

54 

63 

72 

81 

90 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

00 

70 

80 

90 

100 

and  has  explained  its  use  and  reference  tp  the  purposes 
of  musical  calculation  in  the  following  terms  : — 

'  As  for  the  use  of  this  table,  when  you  would  know 
'  what  proportion  any  one  number  hath  to  another, 
'  finde  out  the  two  numbers  in  the  table,  then  looke 

*  upwarde  to  the   triangle  inclosing  those  numbers, 

*  and  in  the  angle  of  concourse,  that  is  where  your 
'  two  lynes  meete  togither,  there  is  the  proportion  of 
'  your  two  numbers  written  :  as  for  example,  let  your 

*  two  numbers  be  18  and  24 ;  looke  upward,  and  in 
'  the  top  of  the  tryangle  covering  the  two  lynes  which 
'  inclose  those  numbers,  you  will  find  written  Sesqui- 

*  tertia  ;  so  likewise  24  and  42  you  finde  in  the  angle 

*  of  concourse  written  super  tripartiens  quartas,  and 

*  60  of  others.' 

There  is  reason  to  think  that  this  ingenious  and 
most  useful  diagram  was  the  invention  of  Morley 
himself;   since  neither  in  Franchinus,  Peter  Aron, 


Glareanus,  Zarlino,  nor  many  other  ancient  writers, 
who  have  been  consulted  for  the  purpose,  is  it  to  be 
found.  Indeed  in  the  Theorica  of  Franchinus  we 
meet  with  that  deduction  of  numbers  which  forms 
the  basis  ot  the  triangle,  and  nothing  more,  but  that 
work  Morley  declares  he  had  never  seen  :  *'    it  is 

•  For  this  we  have  his  own  word  in  a  passage  which  proves,  though  he 
takes  frequent  occasion  to  cite  Francliinus.  yet  that  he  had  the  misfortune 
to  be  a  stranger  to  the  most  valuable  of  his  works,  as  also  to  some  par- 
ticulars relating  to  ancient  music,  which  he  would  have  been  glad  to 
have  known.  These  are  Morlej''s  own  words :  '  And  though  Friar 
'  Zaccone  out  of  Franchinus  aifirnie  that  the  Greekes  didde  sing  by 
'  certaine  letters  signifying  lioth  the  time  that  the  note  is  to  be  holden  in 
'length,  and  also  the  heighth  and  lownesse  of  the  same:  yet  because 
'  I  find  no  such  matter  in  Franchinus  his  Harmonia  Instrumentoruni 
'  (for  his  Theorica  nor  Practica  I  have  not  seene,  nor  understand  not 
'his  arguments)  I  knowe  not  what  to  sale  to  it.'  [Annotations  on  the 
'  first  part  of  the  Introduction  to  Practical  Music] 

The  passage  above  alluded  to  by  Morley  is  to  be  found  in  the  Prattica 
di  Musica  of  Zacconi,  lib.  I.  cap.  15,  but  it  contains  no  reference  to  any 
particular  work  of  Franchinus,  nevertheless  it  is  clear  that  he  must  have 
had  his  eye  on  the  second  chapter  of  the  second  book  of  the  Practica 
Musicse  utriusque  Cantus,  in  which  are  exhibited  the  characters  used  to 
denote  the  measuies  oi  times  which  constituted  the  rytbmus  of  the 


284 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIEXCE 


Book  VII. 


highly  prohaLle  however  that  he  found  these  numbers 
in  some  other  okl  autlior ;  and  as  to  the  several  tri- 
angles produced  therefrom,  he  may  well  be  supposed 
to  have  taken  the  hint  of  drawing  them  from  that 
diagram  in  the  manuscript  of  Waltham  Holy  Cross, 
inserted  in  page  248  of  this  work,  in  which  a  series 
of  duple,  triple,  sesquialteral,  and  sesquitertian  pro- 
portions is  deduced  from  certain  numbers  there 
assumed. 


CHAP.  LXIV. 

The  use  of  the  several  proportions  contained  in 
":he  foregoing  diagram,  so  far  as  they  regard  music, 
«vas  originally  to  ascertain  the  ratios  of  the  conso- 
nances, and  for  that  purpose  they  are  applied  by 
Euclid  in  the  Sectio  Canonis  ;  for  instance,  the  dia- 
pason is  by  him  demonstrated  to  be  in  duple,  which 
is  a  species  of  Multiplex  proportion  ;  the  diatessaron 
in  superparticular,  that  is  to  say  Sesquitertia  propor- 
tion, 4  to  3  ;  the  diapente  also  in  superparticular, 
that  is  to  say  Sesquialtera  proportion,  3  to  2  ;  and 
lastly,  the  Diezeuctic  tone  also  in  superparticular, 
that  is  to  say  Sesquioctave  proportion,  9  to  8.  All 
which  proportions  were  investigated  by  the  division 
of  the  nionochord,  and  are  now  farther  demonstrable 
by  the  vibrations  of  pendulums  ol  proportionable 
lengths. 

That  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis  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  Breve  in  nonuple  proportion. 

There  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  original 
necessity  for  transferring  the  ratios  from  consonance 
to  measures,  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  music  is  resolvable  into  either  the 
one  or  the  other  of  these  two  ;  but  no  sooner  were 
they  adjusted,  and  a  due  discrimination  made  between 
the  attributes  of  perfection  and  imperfection  as  they 
related  to  time,  then  the  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 
science.  Morley,  in  the  first  part  of  his  Introduction, 
pag.  27,  has  undertaken  to  declare  the  use  of  the  most 
simple  of  them,  namely  the  Duple,  Triple,  Quadruple, 
Sesquialtera,  and  Sesquitertia,  which  he  thus  explains 
in  the  following  dialogue  : — 

Greeks.  See  them  in  pag.  279,  of  this  work.  But  Zaccone  seems  to 
be  mistaken  in  supposing  that  tiiese  characters  signified  as  well  the 
melndial  distances  as  the  quantity  of  the  notes,  for  Francliinus  intimates 
nothing  like  it,  on  the  contrary  he  says  expressly,  that  these  latter  were 
denoted  by  cc-rtain  characters,  which  he  purposely  omits  ;  and  what  these 
characters  were  may  be  seen  in  Boetius  de  Musica,  lib.  IV.  cap.  iii.  aiid 
in  book  I.  chap.  iv.  of  this  work. 


'  Philomathes.     \M)at  is  proportion  ? 

*  Master.  It  is  the  comparing  of  numbers  placed 
'  perpendicularly  one  over  an  other. 

'  Phi.  This  I  knevve  before  ;  but  what  is  that  to 
'  musicke  ? 

'  Ma.  Indeede  wee  do  not  in  musicke  consider 
'  the  numbers  by  themselves  :  but  set  them  for  a  simi 
'  to  signifie  the  altering  of  our  notes  in  tlte  time. 

'  Phi.      Proceede  then  to  the  declaration  of  pro- 

*  portion, 

'  Ma.  Proportion  is  either  of  equality  or  une- 
'  quality.  Proportion  of  equalitie  is  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  tilings 
'  ot  unequal  quantitie  are  compared  togither,  and  is 
'  either  of  them  more  or  less  inaequalitie.  Proportion 
'  01  the  more  inequalitie  is  when  a  greater  number  is 
'  set  over  and  compared  to  a  lesser,  and  in  musicke 
'  doth  always  signifie  diminution.  Proportion  ol  the 
'  lesse  inequalitie   is  where  a  lesser  number  is  set 

*  over  and  compared  to  a  greater,  as  ^,  and  in 
'  musicke  doth  alwaies  signifie  augmentation. 

'  Phi.     How  many  kinds  ot   proportions  do  you 

*  commonly  use  in  musicke,  for  I  am  persuaded  it  is 
'  a  matter  impossible  to  sing  them  all,  especially  those 
'  which  be  termed  superparcients  ? 

'  Ma.     You  saie  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,  Dupla,  Tripla,  Qua- 
'  drupla,  Sesquialtera,  and  Sesquitertia. 

'  Phi.     What  is  Dupla  proportion  in  musicke  ? 

'  Ma.  It  is  that  which  taketh  halte  tlie  value  of 
'  every  note  and  rest  from  it,  so  that  two  notes  oi  one 
'  kinde  doe  but  answere  to  the  value  ot  one  ;  and  it 
'  is  knowen  when  the  upper  number  containeth  the 
'  lower  twise,  thus  f  |,  f,  |,  ^-^,  &c.     *     *     * 

'  Phi.     What  is  Tripla  proportion  in  musicke  ? 

*  Ma.      It  is  that  which  diminisheth  the  value  of 

*  the  notes  to  one  third  part ;  for  three  brietes  are  set 
'  for  one,  and  three  semibreves  for  one,  and  is  knowen 
'  when  two  numbers  are  set  before  the  song,  whereof 
'  the  one  contayneth  the  other  thrise,  thus  y,  f ,  f ,  &c. 

*  Phi.     Proceed  now  to  quadrupla. 

'  Ma.     Quadrupla  is  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  times,  as  y,  |-,  ^^,  &c.  *  *  *  Quintupla 
'  and  Sextupla  I  have  not  seen  used  by  any  strangers 
'  in  their  songs  so  far  as  I  remember,  but  here  we  use 
'  them,  but  not  as  they  use  their  other  proportions, 
'  for  we  call  that  Sextupla  where  wee  make  sixe  black 
'  minyms  to  the  semibreve,  and  Quintupla  when  we 
'  have  but  five,  &c.,  but  that  is  more  by  custom  than 
'  by  reason.     *     *•     * 

'  Phi.     Come  then  to  Sesquialtera  :    what  is  it  ? 

'  Ma.     It  is  when  three  notes  are  sung  to  two  of 
'  the  same  kinde,  and  is  knowne  by  a  number  con- 
'  taining  another  once  and  his  halfe,  ^,  f ,  f-    *     * 
'  Sesquitertia  is  when  four  notes  are  sung  to  thrr  ©  of 


Chap.  LXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


285 


*  the  same  kinrle,  and  is  knowen  by  a  number  set 
'  before  him,  contayning  another  once  and  his  third 

*  part,  thus,  ^,  f,  y.     And  these  shall  suffice  at  this 

*  time,  for  knowing  these,  the  rest  are  easily  learned. 

*  But  if  a  man  would  ingulphe  himselfe  to  learne  to 
'  sing,  and  set  down  all  them  which  Franchinis 
'  Gaufurius  hath  set  downe  in  his  booke  De  Pro- 

*  portionihus  IMusicis,  he  should  find  it  a  matter  not 

*  only  hard  but  almost  impossible.' 

It  is  evident  from  the  passages  above-cited,  that 
whatever  might  have  been  the  number  of  the  pro- 
portions formerly  in  use,  they  were  in  Morley's  time 
reduced  to  five,  and  that  he  himself  doubted  whether 
many  of  those  contained  in  the  Practica  Musice 
xitriusque  Cantus  ot  Franchinus,  could  possibly  he 
sung  ;  and  farther  there  is  great  reason  to  think 
that  in  this  opinion  he  was  not  singular. 

To  give  a  short  account  of  the  contents  of  Fran- 
chinus's  fourth  book,  it  contains  fifteen  chapters, 
entitled  as  follow  : — 

De  diffinitione  et  distinctione  proportionis,    Caput  primum. 
De  quinque  generihus  proportionum  ma- 1  ^         secundum. 

joris  et  minons  mequalitatis,  )       ^ 

De  genere  multiplici  eiusque  speciebus,        Caput  teitium. 
De  genere  subinultiplici  eiusque  specielius,    Caput  quartuni. 
De  genere  superparticulari  eiusque  ^Pe-|  Caput  quintum. 

ciebus,  J 

De  genere  subsuperparticulari  eiusque       1  q^^^^  sextum. 

speciebus,  / 

De  genere  superpartiente  eiusque  speciebus,  Caput  septimum. 
Do  genere  subsuperpartiente  eiusque  j  ^aput  octavum. 

speciebus,  )       ^ 

De  geiiere  multiplici  superparticulari         1  ^.         ^^^^^^^^^ 

eiusque  speciebus,  )       ' 

De  genere  submultiplici  superparticulan,   |  ^         decitnum. 

eiusque  speciebus  J 

De  genere  multiplici  superpartiente  eius-  \  Caput  undeci- 

que  speciebus,  j      mum. 

De  genere  subinultiplici  superpartiente      1  Caput  duodeci- 

eiusque  speciebus,  j      mum. 

De  coniunctione    plurium    dissimulum      \  Caput  tci  tium 

proportinnum,  j       decimuui 

De  proportionibus  musicas  consonantias      1  Caput  quMitum 

nutrientibus.  /      deciniuin. 

De  productione  multiplicium  proportio-     |  ^         quintum 

num  ex  multiplieibus  superparticu-      >      f  ^  .iiiiiiiii 

laribus,  J 

The  first  chapter  of  this  book  treats  of  proportion 
in  general,  with  the  division  thereof  into  discrete 
and  continuous,  rational  and  irrational."  In  this  dis- 
crimination of  its  several  kinds,  Franchinus  professes 
to  follow  Euclid,  and  other  of  the  ancient  writers  on 
the  subject ;  I'eferring  also  to  a  writer  on  proportion, 
but  little  known,  named  Johannes  ]\Iarliam;s.  In 
the  subsequent  chapters  are  contained  a  great  variety 
of  short  musical  compositions  calculated  to  illustrate 
the  several  proj^ortions  treated  of  in  each  :  some  in 
two  parts,  viz.,  tenor  and  cantus ;  others  in  three, 
viz.,  tenor,  contratenor  and  cantus.  The  duples, 
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,  runs  through  them  all,  were  at  this 
day  intelligible,  namely,  that  a  certain  number  of  the 
latter  notes  in  each,  are  equivalent  in  quantity  and 
measure  of  time  to  a  less  number  of  precedent  ones, 
apparently  of  an  equal  value.  To  give  an  instance 
in  sextuple  proportion,  these  are  the  author's  words  : 


'  Sextupla  proportio  quinta  multiplicis  generis  species 

*  fit  quum  maior  sequentiam  notularum  numeros  ad 

*  minorem  prsecedentium  relatus :  eum  in  se  com- 
'  prjehendit  sexies  prascise  :  et  asquiualet  ei  in  quan- 
'  titate  et  temporis  mensura  ut  vi.  ad.  i.  et  xii.  ad  ii. 
'  et  xviii.  ad.  iii.  sex  enim  notulte  secundum  banc 
'  dispositionem  uni  sibi  consimili  agquivalent  et  co£e- 
'  quantur  :  ita  ut  singulse  quajque  ipsarum  sex 
'  diminuantur  de  quinque  sextis  partibus  sui  quan- 
'  titatiui  valoris :  describitur  enim  in  notulis  hoc 
'  modo  I"  ^^  ^^  quod  hoc  monstratur  exemplo  : — '  * 

CANTUS. 


g^^i^^^^ll^fe^ 


-1^r-^--t-h-  h-^--M-.s^i ^^ ^ 


:lsp-±;rtit:t:: 


Mrir«:=El_T^-H: 


TENOR. 


^ 


rt^o: 


i-o 


rt:^p_EzE: 


-:r-?s-^-^-. 


e5 


*t_e-es 1— I 1— 1 — -■d=q-J=i:i:i=:1^=: 


"  Pract.  Mus.  lib.  IV.  cap.  iii. 

Franchinus  is  not  sufficiently  clear  to  a  modern  apprehension  with 
respect  to  the  manner  in  wliich  the  proportions  are  to  be  sung  ;  but  with 
the  assistance  of  Morley,  and  by  the  help  of  that  rule,  which  in  his 
Annotations  on  pag.  31  of  the  first  part  of  his  Introduction  he  lays  down 
as  infallible,  namely,  that  'in  all  mn.sical  proportions  the  upper  number 
signifieth  the  seniibr^ve,  and  the  lower  the  stroke  ;  '  or,  in  other  words, 
because  the  division  may  be  into  less  notes  than  semibreves,  and  the 
notes  divided  may  be  less  in  quantity  than  a  stroke  or  breve ;  and  that 
other  in  pag.  2S,  of  the  Introducti^  n,  to  wit,  '  that  the  upper  number 
'  signlfieth  the  pro^'ression,  and  the  under  the  measure,'  it  is  discoveratile 
that  in  duple  proportion  two  notes  in  one  part  are  to  be  sung  to  one  in 
the  other,  in  triple  three,  in  quadruple  four,  and  in  quintuple  five.  Of 
the  two  former  kinds  he  has  given  examples  in  the  twenty-eighth  and 
subsequent  pages  of  his  Introduction  ;  and  of  the  two  latter  the  following 
occur,  pag.  91  of  the  same  work  ; — 

QUADRUPLA. 


fffi^^lfe 


ini  41 


.& — 


iimjli3:SS*feii^ 


nil 


V^- 


z=i5: 


I 


=JS; 


QUINTUPLA. 


"^—^'V^F^ 


t- 


51 


ztiz: 


i::Lil"S^S^--^- 


#*^^t 


i+i-'+ 


286 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIT. 


As  to   that   other  work  of   Franchinns,   entitled 
Angelicum  ac  divinum   Opus   musice,  the   epithels 


fe^^ 


1^ 


:-*-U4- 

"1    ''  .     ", 

■  I 

^-.i-l^rj::: 

^y'  '■•         *  ^                             '■                         ■»Ti 

^fl 5" 







- 

J^' 

c 

o 

bi2_tl; 

Sesquialtera  and  Sesquitertia  are  thus  represented  by  him  :— 
SESQUIALTERA. 


l^M   32  92 


I 


1^ 


given   to  it  might  induce  a  suspicion  that  it  was 
a  posthumous    publication   by   some    friend    of    tlie 


Upon  the  former  whereof  he  remarks  as  follows  : — 

'  Here  they  set  downe  certaiiie  observations,  which  they  termed  In. 
'  ductions  as  here  you  see  in  the  first  two  barres  sesquialtera  perfect: 
'  that  they  called  the  induction  to  nine  to  two.  which  is  quadruple  ses- 
'quialtera.  In  the  third  barre  you  have  broken  sesquialtera,  and  the 
•rest  to  the  end  is  quadrupla  sesquialtera,  or,  as  they  termed  it,  nine  to 
■  two  ;  and  every  projjortion  whole  is  called  the  induction  to  that  which 
'  it  maketh,  beinp  broken.  As  tripla  being  broken  in  the  more  prolation 
'  wil  make  nonupla,  and  so  is  tripla  the  induction  to  nonupla.  Or  in  the 
Mess  prolation  wil  make  sextupla,  and  so  is  the  induction  to  sextupla.' 

The  general  method  of  reconciling  dissimilar  proportions,  and  reducing 
them  to  practice,  is  exhibited  by  Morley  in  the  following  composition  of 
Alessandro  Strip:sio,  being  the  latter  part  of  the  thirtieth  sonj;  of  the 
second  book  nf  his  madrigals  for  six  voices  to  the  words  'AH'  acqua 
'  sagra.'     Introd.  pag.  33  : — 


ti.lE"5=»"t? 


-«>—♦- 


*eS 


fe^ 


—  t- 

— H 


:fzi{:--t-_tzc=t::a- 


----& 


z^-iz:±4z^^i_4Jz^z=L:;p± 


Z3: 


-♦-♦- 


"sz; 


ztr 


=?z;^?z?z^-_ 
-t::z:=tztzf:i 


iwzE^: 


iiz$z1- 


-S^ 


'~==i 


Li^m- 


-fzzzpzLzE 


_t:zzzt:zt:zf-: 


-- ' 1 — -. — I- 

z^z^4-p^: 


:qz2iqz-;^iqz 
-  * * *- 


:5ZZ5 


:s.-szz^— -iz 


-♦ — ♦ 


♦ — <5>-^- 


:^^^^r^<^ 


—+ 1 !- 


It-t 


^s:5?- 


^lE^^ 


-e^ 


:$zir; 


m 


r^zdzd-^— ^z: 


■S-s-;-43SI 


O: 


— 0- 


Chap.  LXIV 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC 


2S7 


author,  rather  than  that  he  gave  it  to  the  world 
himself;  but  the  dedication  of  this  book  to  Simone 
Crotto,  a  patrician  of  Milan,  excludes  the  possibility 
of  doubt  that  it  was  published  by  Franchinus,  and 
gives  occasion  to  remark  how  much  the  manners  of 
the  fifteenth  century  are  exceeded  by  those  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  the  character  of  Angelic  or  Divine, 
he  would  be  more  censured  for  his  vanity  than  ad- 
mired for  his  learning  or  ingenuity. 

The  difference  here  noted  carries  with  it  no  im- 
putation of  excessive  vanity  in  Franchinus,  as  it  is 
in  a  great  measure  accounted  for  by  the  practice  of 
the  age  he  lived  in ;  but  it  may  serve  to  shew  that 
tlie  refinements  of  literature  have  a  necessary  effect 
on  the  tempers  and  conduct  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  what  has 
already  been  cited  from  the  writings  of  the  ancient 
harmonicians,  more  especially  Boetius,  of  whom,  as 
he  was  a  Latin  writer,  Franchinus  has  made  con- 
siderable use,  as  indeed  have  all  the  musical  writers ; 

Upon  which  Morley  makes  the  following  comment  :  '  Herein  you  have 
'onepoynt  handled  first  in  the  ordinary  moode  throun;h  all  the  parts, 
'then  in  Tnpla  through  all  the  parts,  and  lastly,  in  proportions,  no  part 
'  like  unto  another,  for  the  treble  coiiteyneth  diminution  in  the  Quadruple 
'  proportion.  The  second  treble  or  Sextus  bath  Tripla  prickt  all  in  black 
'notes.  Your  Altus  or  meane  conteyneth  diminution  in  Dupla  pro- 
'  portion.  The  Tenor  goeth  through  with  his  Tripla  (which  was  begone 
'before)  to  the  ende.     The  Quuitus  is  Sesquialtera  to  the  breefe,  which 

'hath  this  sign  /'[*  -J  set  before  it.  But  if  the  sign  were  taken  away, 
'  then  woulde  three  minynis  make  a  whole  stroke,  whereas  now  three 
'  semibriefs  make  but  one  stroke.  The  Base  is  the  ordinary  moode, 
'wherein  is  no  difficulty.' 

It  seems  not  very  easy  to  reconcile  proportions  so  dissimilar  as  are 
contained  in  the  examules  above  given,  in  respect  that  the  Arsis  and 
Thesis  in  the  several  parts  do  not  coincide,  unless,  which  probably  was 
the  method  of  singing  them,  in  the  beating  one  bar  was  marked  by  a 
down,  and  the  other  by  an  up  stroke. 

But  after  all  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  account  for  this  capricious  in- 
terchange of  proportions  in  the  same  Cantus,  or  to  assign  any  good 
reason  for  retaining  them.  In  the  one  example  produced  by  Morley, 
from  Alessandro  Striggio,  and  given  above,  we  are  more  struck  with  the 
quaititness  of  the  contrivance,  than  pleased  with  the  effect.  In  short, 
the  multiplicity  of  proportions  seems  to  have  been  the  abuse  of  music  ; 
and  this  the  same  author  seems  to  allow  in  the  course  of  his  work,  and 
to  censure  where  he  says,  that  '  being  a  childe  he  had  heard  him  greatly 
'commended  who  coulde  upon  a  plaine  song  sing  hard  proportions,  and 
'  that  he  who  could  bring  in  maniest  of  them  was  accounted  the  joUyest 
'fellowe.'     Introd.  pag.  119. 

So  much  for  the  use  of  different  proportions  in  different  parts.  Tlie 
tersm  by  which  they  were  anciently  characterised  come  next  to  be 
considered;  and  here  we  shall  find  that  the  terms  Multiplex,  Super- 
particular,  and  Superpartient,  with  their  several  coinpounds,  are  better 
supplied  by  those  characters  called  the  Inductions  ;  for  the  former  do  but 
declare  the  nature  of  the  proportions,  which  is  a  mere  speculative  con- 
sideration, whereas  the  latter  denote  the  proportions  themselves.  To 
conceive  justly  of  these  it  is  necessary  to  premise  that  the  measure  of 
a  modern  bar  in  duple  time  is  a  semibreve,  and  that  all  the  triples  have 
a  supposed  ratio  to  this  measure.  If  the  progression  be  by  Minims,  the 
radical  number  is  the  number  of  minims  contained  in  the  bar  of  duple 

time,  and  the  upper  the  number  of  progression,  as  in  this  instance  ^, 
which  denotes  that  species  of  triple  in  which  three  minims  are  contained 
in  the  bar.  If  the  progression  be  by  Crotchets,  the  radical  gives  the 
number  of  crotchets  in  a  bar  of  duple  time,  and  the  upper  the  nunrber 
of  progression,  as  ^,  signifying  that  three  crotchets  are  contained  in  a 
bar.  If  the  progression  be  by  Quavers,  eight  are  contained  in  a  bar  of 
duple  time,  and  ^  is  the  signature  of  a  movement  wherein  three  quavers 
make  a  bar. 

The  above  observations  are  intended  to  shew  that  our  want  of  an 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  ancient  proportions  of  time  is  a  misfortune 
that  may  very  well  be  submitted  to,  smce  it  is  but  a  consequence  of  im- 
provements that  have  superseded  the  necessity  of  any  concern  about 
them  ;  it  being  incontrovertible  that  there  is  not  any  kind  of  proportion 
or  measure  that  the  invention  can  suggest  as  proper  for  music,  which  is 
not  to  be  expressed  by  the  characters  now  in  use.  These,  and  the 
division  of  time  by  bars,  have  rendered  useless  all  the  learning  of  the 
ligatures,  all  the  distinctions  of  mood,  time,  and  prolation ;  all  the 
■various  methods  of  augmentation  and  diminution  by  black  full  and 
black  void,  red  full  and  red  void  characters,  and,  in  a  word,  all  the 
doctrine  of  proportions  as  applied  to  time,  which  Franchinus  and  number- 
less authors  before  him  had  laboured  to  teach  and  establish, 


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  his  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  the  language,  which  is  the  Italian  of  that  day, 
and  the  style  and  manner  in  which  this  book  is 
written,  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  it  is  the  same 
in  substance,  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,  as  it  now  appears,  differs  in  nothing 
from  an  institute  on  the  harmouical  science:  it  begins 
with  an  explanation  of  the  five  kinds  of  proportion 
of  greater  inequality,  namely,  multiple,  superjDar- 
ticular,  superpartient,  multiple  superparticular,  and 
multiple  superpartient. 

The  author  then  proceeds  to  declare  the  nature  of 
the  consonances,  and  exhibits  the  ancient  system, 
consisting  of  a  double  diapason,  with  his  own  obser- 
vations on  it.  He  then  endeavours,  by  the  help  of 
Ptolemy  and  INIanuel  Bryennius,  but  chiefly  of  Boetius, 
to  explain  the  doctrine  of  the  three  genera ;  in  the 
doing  whereof  he  professes  only  to  give  the  sen- 
timents of  the  above,  and  a  few  less  considerable 
writers.  He  also  shews  the  difference  between 
arithmetical,  geometrical,  and  harmonical  propor- 
tionality. 

After  declaring  the  nature  of  Guido's  reformation 
of  the  .scale,  the  use  of  the  syllables,  the  cliffs,  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,  but  to  the  same  effect  with  that 
contained  in  the  Practica  Musicse  utriusque  Cantus 
already  given  at  length. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  that  part  of  this  work, 
wherein  tlie  measures  of  time  are  treated  on ;  a  brief 
account  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 
work. 

The  fourth  part  of  this  tract  contains  the  doctrine 
of  counterpoint. 

In  the  fifth  and  last  part  the  proportions  of  greater 
and  lesser  inequality  are  very  accurately  discussed; 
these  are  solely  applicable  to  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis, 
but,  as  for  reasons  herein  before  given,  the  use  of 
intricate  proportions  has  long  been  exploded,  and 
the  simple  ones  have  been  found  to  be  better  charac- 
terized by  numbers  than  by  the  terms  formerly 
used  for  that  purpose,  a  particular  account  of  the 
contents  of  this  last  book  seems  to  be  no  way 
necessary. 


288 


UISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIL 


CHAr.  LXV. 

Of  the  work  De  Harmonia  Mnsicorum  Instru- 
tnentonim,  little  more  need  be  said  than  that  it  was 
printed  at  Milan  in  1518,  and  is  dedicated  to  Johannes 
Grolerins,  questor  or  treasurer  of  Milan  to  Francis  I. 
king  of  France.  It  is  a  general  exhibition  of  the 
doctrines  contained  in  the  writings  of  the  Greek  har- 
monicians,  at  least  of  such  of  them  as  may  be  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 
best  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  are 
also,  as  well  as  the  author  was  able,  the  genera  of  the 
ancients,  and  the  proportions  of  the  consonances.  He 
considers  also  the  division  of  the  tone,  and  the  dimen- 
sion of  the  tetrachord,  and  shews  the  several  species 
of  diatessaron,  diapente,  and  diapason  ;  and  demon- 
strates, as  Boetius  bas  also  done,  that  six  sesqui 
octave  tones  exceed  the  diapason  by  a  comma.  He 
next  explains  the  nature  of  arithmetical,  geometrical, 
and  harmonical  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  wliich  Fran- 
chinus had  acquired  by  his  writings,  and  the  general 
acquiescence  of  his  contemporaries  in  the  precepts  from 
time  to  time  delivered  by  him,  a  professor  of  Bologna, 
(iriovanni  Spataro  by  name,  in  the  year  1531  made  a 
furious  attack  upon  him  in  a  book  entitled  Tractato 
di  Musica,  wherein  he  takes  upon  him  an  examination 
of  Franchinus's  treatise  De  Practica,  and  charges  him 
with  gross  ignorance  in  that  part  of  musical  science 
in  which  Franchinus  was  confessedly  better  skilled 
than  any  professor  of  his  time,  the  Cantus  Mensura- 
bilis.  Spataro  speaks  of  his  preceptor  Bartholomeo 
Eamis,  a  Spaniard,  who  had  read  lectures  at  Bologna, 
which  were  published  in  1482,  with  the  title  of  De 
Musica  tractatus,  sive  Musica  practica,  as  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,  as  the  unquestionable  in- 
ventor of  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  scarcely  mentioning 
John  De  Muris  in  the  course  of  his  work  ;  and  speaks 
of  Marchettus  of  Padua  as  an  author  against  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  Cantus  Mensurabilis  and  the 
ratios  of  the  consonances,  which  the  former  in  some 
of  his  writings  had  ventured  to  discuss.  Spataro  was 
the  author  also  of  a  tract  entitled  Utile  et  breve  Regule 
di  Canto,  in  which  also  he  is  pretty  free  in  his  cen- 
sures of  Franchinus  and  his  writins-s  :  and  besides 
these  it  should  seem  by  Franchinus's  defence  of 
himself,  published  in  1520,  that  Spataro  had  written 


to  him  several  letters  from  Bologna,  in  which  the 
charge  of  ignorance  and  vanity  was  strongly  en- 
forced. *  In  the  management  of  tliis  dispute,  which 
seems  to  have  had  for  its  object  nothing  less  than  the 
ruin  of  Franchinus  as  a  public  professor,  it  is  supposed 
that  Spataro  had  the  assistance  of  some  persons  who 
envied  the  reputation  of  his  adversary  no  less  than 
himself  did  :  this  may  be  collected  from  the  title  of 
Franchinus's  defence,  which  is,  Apnlogii  Franchini 
Gafurii  Musici  adversns  Joannem  Spatarium  et  com- 
plices Musicos  Bononienses,  and  seems  to  be  confirmed 
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  speak  in  the  mildest 
terms  of  Spataro's  book  it  is  from  beginning  to  end 
a  libel  on  bis  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  as  envy  and  malice 
could  dictate,  can  excuse  the  terms  he  has  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  terms  that  indicate  a  radical  contempt 
of  his  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  ; 
whereas  Spataro's  book  appears  to  have  been  pub- 
lished in  1531  :  so  that  it  is  highly  probable  that 
Spataro's  book,  as  it  is  not  referred  to  in  the  apology 
of  Franchinus,  was  not  published  till  after  the  decease 
of  the  latter  ;  yet  it  may  be  supposed  to  contain 
the  substance  of  Spataro's  letters,  inasmuch  as  it 
includes  the  whole  of  the  objections  which  Franchinus 
in  his  apology  has  refuted. 

It  would  be  too  much  to  give  this  controversy  at 
large,  the  merits  of  it  ap]iear  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  speak  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  unless  your  petulance 
'  be  chastised,  you  will  prefer  yourself  befoi'e  all 
'  others,  and  impute  my  silence  to  fear  and  ignorance. 
'  I  shall  now  make  public  your  folly  which  I  have  so 
'  lonar  concealed  :  not  with  the  bitterness  it  merits 
'  but  with  my  accustomed  modesty.  How  could  you 
'  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  you  have  desired  me  to  write 

*  Morley,  Introrl.  pa.^.  92,  says  that  Spataro  wrote  a  great  book  on  the 
manner  of  singing  sesquialtera  proportion. 


Chap.  LXV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


2S9 


*  to  you  in  our  mother  tongue.  Could  no  one  else 
'  declare  war  against  me  but  you,  who  are  void  of  all 
'  learning,  who  infect  the  minds  of  your  pupils,  and 
'pervert  the  art  itself?  But  though  my  knowledge 
'  be  small,  yet  I  have  sufficient  to  detect  your  errors, 
'  and   likewise   those   of  your   master    Bartholomeo 

*  Kamis. 

'  When    therefore  in  your  fourteenth  description 
'  you  speak  of  the  sesquioctave  9  to  8  as  divided  into 

*  nine  minute  parts  arithmetically,  which  you  begged 
'  from  a  mathematician,    you    should    know  that  a 

*  division  merely  arithmetical  is  not  accounted  of  by 
'  musicians,  because  it  does  not  contain  concinnous, 

*  })erfect   intervals  ;   and  your  mathematician  might 

*  have  marked  down  that  sesquioctave  more  clearly, 
'  had  he  given  the  superparticular  proportions  in  this 

*  manner,  81,  80,  79,  78,  76,  75,  74,  73,  72,  for  the 

*  two  extremes  81  and  72  constitute  the  sesquioctave. 
'  But  when  you  quote  the  authority  of  Marchettus  of 

*  Padua  you  seem   to   despise   Bartholomeo   Ramis, 

*  your  master,  whom  you  extol  as  invincible ;  for  he 
'  in  the  first  book  of  his  Practica,  after  Guido  esteems 
'  IVIarchettus  (who  is  also  accounted  by  Joannes  Car- 
'  thusinus  as  wanting  a  rod)  not  worth  even  four 
'  Marcheta,*  and  reproves  him  as  erroneous.     But 

*  I  imagine  that  you  only  dreamt  that  Marchettus  di- 
'  vided  the  tone  into  nine  dieses  ;  for  if  the  diesis  be 
'  the  half  of  the  lesser  semitone,  as  Boetius  and  all  mu- 
'  sicians  esteem  it,  the  tone  would  contain  four  lesser 
'  semitones,  and  the  half  of  a  semitone,  a  thing  never 
'  heard  of.  This  division  of  the  Tone  is  not  admitted 
'  by  musicians  ;  and  if  you  think  that  the  tone  contains 

*  nine  commas,  as  some  imagine,  the  contrary  is 
'  proved  by  Boetius.  Anselmus's  division  of  the 
'  system  into  greater  and  lesser  semitones  is  no  more 

*  the  chromatic,  as  IMarchettus  intimates,  than  that 
'  of  the  tetrachord  given  by  your  mathematician ; 
'  for  in  the  chromatic  tetrachord  the  two  graver 
'  intervals  do  not  make  up  a  tone  according  to 
'  Boetius,  but  are  of  what  I  call  the  mixt  genus. 
'  Do  not  think  that  any  proportions  of  numbers  are 
'  congruous  to  musical  intervals,  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,  is  harmonical, 
'  because  the  chords  marked  by  these  numbers  when 
'  touched  together  ])roduce  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  most  concinnous  mediation  possiljle. 

'  But  in  your  seventh  babbling  descrijition  you  bring 
'  this  mediation,  1,  2,  3,  as  truly  harmonical,  having 
'  the  diapente  towards  the  grave,  and  the  diapason  in 
'the  acute,  which  I  do  not  admit  ;    for  the  extremes 

*  bear  not  a  due  proportion  to  each  other.    Again  the 

•  A  coin  of  Venice,  of  small  value 


duple  2, 1,  above  the  sesquialtera  having  no  harmo- 
nical mediation,  cannot  be  as  sweet  as  G,  4,  3.  I  add 
that  this  happens  on  account  of  the  equality  of  the 
differences  (and  therefore  of  the  intervals)  for  the 
sesquialteral  space  towards  the  grave  is  equal  to  the 
duple  immediately  following  it  towards  the  acute, 
as  appears  from  the  thirty-seventh  chapter  of  the 
second  book  De  Harmonia  Musicorum  Instrumen- 
torum  ;  neither  is  it  equal  in  sweetness  to  this  me- 
diation of  the  triple,  for  this  is  truly  harmonical,  but 
yours  is  not.  You  moreover  blame  Pythagoras  for 
not  introducing  the  Sesquiquarta  and  Sesquicpiinta 
as  concinnous  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  but  entire  intervals  in  his  mediations. 
Socrates,  and  the  divine  Plato,  who  also  heard  Draco 
the  Athenian,  and  Metellus  the  Agrigentine,  fol- 
lowed him  :  Guido  himself  described  the  eccle- 
siastical cantus  diatonically ;  and  before  him  the 
popes  Ignatius,  Basilius,  Hilarius,  Ambrose,  Gela- 
sius,  Gregory,  used  that  modulation. 

'  You  seem  to  imitate  your  master  Ramis  (who  is 
as  impure  as  yourself)  in  petulance  and  ingratitude, 
for  if  he  borrowed  the  Sesquiquarta  and  Sesqui- 
quinta,  as  you  assert,  from  Ptolemy,  he  must  be 
a  plagiary  in  not  quoting  him  ;  and  you  who 
profited  by  the  studies  of  Gaffurius,  yet  ungrate- 
fully and  enviously  attack  Gaffurius.  How  can 
youth  studying  music  profit  by  the  erudition  of 
thy  master  ?  who  described  his  very  obscure  and 
confused  scale  by  these  eight  syllables,  "  Psal  li  tur 
per  vo  ces  is  tas,"  wherein  the  natural  lesser  semi- 
tone is  marked  by  a  various  and  dissimilar  denomi- 
nation ;  but  he  frighted  and  repenting,  laid  that 
aside,  and  was  forced  to  return  to  the  diatonic  scale 
of  Guido,  in  which  he  has  introduced  the  mixt 
genus,  filled  up  with  as  it  were  chromatic,  thoun-h 
false  condensations,  as  appears  in  the  course  of  his 
practical  treatise. 

'  In  your  eighteenth  and  last  description  you  attack 
me  for  having  in  the  third  chapter  of  the  fourth 
book  De  Harmonia  ascribed  the  chord  Nete  Synem- 
menon  to  the  acute  extreme  of  the  Dorian  mode, 
when  the  tetrachord  of  the  conjuncts  is  not  admitted 
in  any  figure  of  intervals.  This  Nete  Synemmenon 
might  be  called  Paranete  Diezeugmenon,  as  they  are 
both  in  the  same  place,  so  that  there  is  not  any  ne- 
cessity for  the  tetrachord  of  the  conjuncts  in  the 
production  of  this  tetrachord.  Your  Ramis,  in  his 
practical  treatise,  constitutes  the  fourth  species  of 
the  diapason  from  D  sol  re  to  d  sol  re,  mediated 
in  G;  whereby  he  makes  the  first  ecclesiastical 
tone,  for  the  Dorian  is  the  fourth  species  of  the 
diapason,  become  plagal  from  an  authentic,  and 
subverts  the  sacred  modulation.  You  attack  me 
for  saying  that  Ptolemy  constituted  his  eighth  or 
hyperniixolydian  mode  in  similar  intervals  with  the 
hypodorian,  asserting  that  he  made  them  of  different 
diapentes  and  diatessarons ;  but  you  ought  to  know 
that  the  hyperniixolydian  differs  from  the  hyi)odo- 
rian  not  formally,  but  in  acumen  only,  being  acuter 
by  a  diapason.     But  do  not  think  that  this  is  the 


290 


rilSTOEY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VII. 


eighth  ecclesiastical  tone  which  is  plagal,  for  the 
contrary  is  shewn  in  lib.  I.  cap.  vii.  of  our  Practica. 
'In  your  two  first  detractory  descriptions  you 
object  against  some  things,  in  themselves  not  ma- 
terial, in  our  book  De  Harmonia  INIusicorum  In- 
strumentornm.  I  shall  first  answer  that  dated  at 
Bologna,  the  last  day  of  February,  1519.  We  say 
that  the  terms  tetraehord  and  qiiadrichord  are  in- 
differently used,  for  each  comprehends  four  chords. 
But  the  most  ancient  tetraehord  of  Mercury  sounded 
the  diapason  between  the  two  extremes,  as  in  these 
numbers  6,  8,  9,  12.  Neither  think  that  by  the 
term  Tetraehord  is  always  meant  the  consonance 
diatessaron,  for  every  space  containing  four  chords 
is  called  a  tetraehord  or  quadrichord ;  and  even  the 
tritone  contained  under  four  chords,  from  Parhypate 
meson  to  Paramese  is  a  tetraehord,  though  it  exceeds 
the  diatessaron.  Johannes  Cocleus  Noricus,  the 
Phonascus  of  Nuremberg,  gave  the  name  of  Tetra- 
chordum  to  his  book  of  music,  as  being  divided 
into  four  parts.  Samius  Lichaon,  who  added  the 
eighth  chord  to  the  musical  system,  is  imagined  by 
most  people  to  be  Pythagoras  himself. 

'  I  do  not  forget  your  babbling  when  you  assert 
that  the  Duple  and  the  Sesquialtera  conjoined  pro- 
duce the  Sesquitertia  in  this  order,  4,  2,  3,  making 
the  Duple  in  4,  2,  and  the  Sesquialtera  in  2,  3 ;  but 
in  this  you  are  wrong,  for  2,  3,  is  here  Subses- 
qui  altera. 

'  In   your  letter,  dated  the  fifteenth  of   October, 
you  say  you  will  not  answer  the  questions  I  pro- 
posed to  you,  which  were,  whether  consonance  is 
not  a  mixture  of  acute  and  grave  sounds  sweetly 
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  again,  which   conduces  most   to    con- 
sonance,  the   grave    or   the    acute,   and    which    of 
the  two  predominates.     You  moreover  write   that 
Laurentius  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  you  are  mistaken,  for  he  was  the 
most  celebrated  lawj^er,  philosopher,  mathematician, 
orator,  poet,  astronomer,  and  musician  of  his  age, 
as  his  almost   innumerable    works    declare.     And 
Cassiodorus  bears  witness  of  his  musical  erudition 
in  the  epistle  of  the  emperor  Theodoric  to  Boetius 
himself,   to   this   purpose :     "  When   the   king   of 
'  the  Franks,  induced  by  the  fome  of  our  banquet, 
'  earnestly  requested  a  Cithara^dist  from  us,  the  only 
'  reason  why  we  promised  to  comply,  was  because 
'  we  knew  you  were  well  skilled  in  the  musical  art." 
After  a  very  severe  censure   on   a  Canticum   of 
Eai'tholomeo  Ramis,  produced   by  him  in  a  lecture 
which  he  publicly  read  at  Bologna,  Franchinus  con- 
cludes 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 

*  Gaffurius,   and   the  fame  of  his   patron   Grolerius 
'  will  live  for  ever.' 

PiETuo  Aron,  a  Florentine,  and  a  canon  of  Rimini, 


ot  the  order  of  Jerusalem,  and  the  patron  of  Spataro, 
was  the  author  of  Libri  tres  de  Institutione  har- 
monica, printed  at  Bologna,  1516 ;  Tratto  della 
Natura  e  Cognitione  di  tutti  gli  Tuoni  di  Canto 
figurato,  Vinegia  1525.  Lucidario  in  Musica  di 
alcune  Oppenioni  antiche  et  modei'ne,  Vinegia  1545. 
Toscanello  de  la  Musica,  Vinegia  1523, 1529.  Nova- 
mente  Stampato  con  la  gionta,  1539.  Compendiolo 
di  molti  dubbi  Segreti  et  Sentenze  intorno  al  Canto 
Fermo  et  Figurato,  IMilano  15 — .  The  first  of  these 
was  originally  written  in  the  Italian  language,  and 
is  only  extant  in  a  Latin  translation  of  Johannes 
Antonius  Flaminius  Forocorueliensis,  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  ot  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  nmndane,  humane,  and 
instrumental  music.  After  brieflv  distint^uisliina: 
between  vocal  and  instrumental  music,  he  by  a  very 
abrupt  transition  proceeds  to  an  explanation  of  the 
Cantus  Mensurabilis  and  the  ligatures,  in  which  ho 
does  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  superficial  manner,  of  the 
genera  of  the  ancients.  From  thence  the  author 
proceeds  to  a  declaration  of  counterpoint,  for  the 
composition  whereof  he  delivers  ten  precepts ;  these 
are  succeeded  by  a  brief  explanation  of  the  several 
kinds  of  proportion,  of  greater  and  lesser  inequality, 
and  of  arithmetical,  geometrical,  and  harmonical 
proportionality :  the  remainder  of  the  book  consists 
of  directions  for  dividing  the  monochord  according 
to  the  rule  of  Guido  Aretinus,  with  a  chapter  in- 
titled  De  la  Participatione  et  Modo  da  cordare 
r  Instrumento. 

In  the  course  of  his  work  he  highly  commends 
as  a  theorist  Bartholomeo  Ramis,  the  preceptor  of 
Spataro,  styling  him  *  Musico  dignissimo,  veramente 
*  da  ogni  dotto  venerato  ;'  and  as  practical  musicians 
he  celebrates  lodocus  Pratensis  by  the  name  of 
Josquino,  Obreth,  Busnois,  Ocheghen,  and  Duffai. 
To  these  in  other  places  he  adds  Giovanni  Mouton, 
Richafort,  Pierazzon  de  Larve,  Allessandro  Agricola, 
and  some  others,  of  whom  he  says  they  were  the 
most  famous  men  in  their  faculty. 

The  edition  of  the  Toscanello  of  1539  has  an 
appendix,  which  the  author  intitles  '  Aggiunta  del 
'  Toscanello,  a  complacenza  de  gli  Amici  fatta,'  con- 
taining directions  for  the  intonation  of  the  Psalms, 
and  the  singing  of  certain  offices  on  particular 
festivals. 

The  writings  of  Peter  Aron  contain  nothing 
original  or  new ;  for  it  is  to  be  observed  that  Boetius 
and  Franchinus  had  nearly  exhausted  the  subject  of 
musical  science,  and  that  few  of  the  publications  sub- 
sequent to  those  of  the  latter  contain  anything  worthy 
of  notice,  such  as  treat  of  music  in  that  general  and 
extensive  way  in  which  Kircher,  Zarlino,  and  Mer- 
sennus  have  considered  it. 

The  ten  precepts  of  counterpoint,  which  constitute 


Chap.  LXVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


201 


tlio  twenty-first  and  nine  following  chapters  ot  the 
second  liook  of  the  Tosoancllo,  seem  to  carry  in  them 
the  appearance  of  novelty,  but  they  are  in  truth  ex- 
tracted from  the  writings  of  Francliinus,  though  the 
autlior  has  studiously  avoided  the  mention  of  his 
name.  They  are  in  effect  nothing  more  than  brief 
directions  for  adjusting  the  parts  in  an  orderly  suc- 
cession, and  with  proper  intervals  between  each,  in  a 
composition  of  many  parts.  Morley  appears  to  have 
studied  Peter  Aron,  and  has  given  the  substance  of 
his  precepts,  very  much  improved  and  enlarged,  in 
the  tliird  part  of  his  Introduction. 

The  above  restriction  of  the  precepts  of  music  to 
the  number  of  ten,  is  not  the  only  instance  of  the 
hind  that  we  meet  with  in  the  works  of  writers  on 
the  science  :  Andreas  Ornithoparcus,  of  Meyning, 
has  discovered  as  great  a  regard  for  this  number, 
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 
been  encreased  to  double  that  number. 

CITAP.  LXVI. 

About  the  same  time  with  Francliinus  and  Peter 
Aron  flourished  John  Hamboys,  of  whom  bishop 
Tanner  in  his  Bibliotheca  gives  the  following 
account: — 

*  John  Hamroys,  a  most  celebrated  musician,  and 
'  a  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  j'ears  applied 

*  himself  to  music  with  great  assiduity.     He  wrote 

*  Summam  Artis  MusiciB,  lib.  i.  beginning  "  Quemad- 
"  modum  inter   Triticum."     The  MS.   book  in  the 

*  Bodleian  library,  Digby  90,  which  has  for  its  title 

*  Quatuor  Principalia  MusicjB,  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  said  to  have  flourished  anno  1470. 
Bal.  viii.  40.     Pits,  pag.  602. 

In  Holinshed's  Chronicle,  vol.  II.  pag.  1355,  is  an 
enumeration  of  the  most  eminent  men  for  learning 
during  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.*  in  which  the  author 

*  It  is  highly  probable  from  the  establishment  of  his  chapel,  and  the 
provision  tliereiii  made  for  a  succession  of  singers,  that  this  prince  was 
a  lover  of  music,  and  a  favourer  of  musicians  ;  and  it  seems  that  Ham- 
boys, thnut;h  very  eminent,  was  not  the  only  celebrated  musician  of  his 
time;  for  in  Weever's  Funeral  Monuments,  pag.  422,  is  the  following  in- 
scri))tion  on  a  tomb,  formerly  in  the  old  church  of  St.  Dunstan  in  the 
East : — 

Clausus  in  hoc  tumulo  Gulielmus  Payne  requiescit, 

Uueni  sacer  edituuni  fouerat  iste  locus. 
Claruin  cui  virtus,  ars  et  cui  musica  noinen 

Kduardi  quarti  regis  in  ede  dabat. 

Si  tibi  sit  pietas,  tumuli  si  cura,  x  iator, 

iloc  optes  illi  q\iod  cupis  ipse  tibi, 

Ob.  l.iOS. 

Another  musician  of  the  same  surname  is  noted  by  an  inscription  in 

the  parish  church  of  Lambeth  in  Surrey,  in  these  words  : — 

Ot  your  charity  pray  for  the  foul  of  Sir  Ambrole  Payne,  parfon 
of  Lambeth,  and  bachelour  of  muficlc,  and  chapleyn  to  the  lords 
cardynals    Boular   and    Moiton,  wlio    departed    May   the   xxviii. 

A.D  .    I52S. 


includes  John  Hamboys,  an  excellent  musician, 
adding,  that  for  his  notable  cunning  therein  he  was 
made  doctor  of  music. 

There  is  reason  to  suppose  that  Hamboys  w^as  the 
first  person  on  whom  the  degree  of  doctor  in  music 
was  conferred  by  either  of  the  universities  in  this 
kingdom,  at  least  there  is  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  Saintwix,  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  a^ra.  And  if  we 
consider  the  low  estimation  in  which  music  is  held  by 
persons  imacquainted  with  its  principles,  it  must 
appear  somewhat  extraordinary  to  see  it  ranked  w'ith 
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  thus  distinguished,  will  appear  by  the 
following  short  deduction  of  its  progress  between  the 
year  1300,  and  the  time  now  spoken  of. 

As  to  the  Cantus  Gregorianus  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  ot  very 
abstruse  speculation,  and  in  that  view  music  had  a 
place  among  the  liberal  arts.  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 
saying  that  the  Trivium  signified  the  threelold  way 
to  eloquence,  and  the  Quadrivium  the  fourfold  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- 
dorus,  entitled  De  septem  Disciplinis.  In  the  greater 
part  of  the  schools  the  public  teachers  ventured  no 
farther  than  the  Trivium,  confining  their  instructions 
to  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  logic  ;  but  those  of  their 
disciples  who  had  passed  both  the  Trivium  and 
Quadrivium  were  referred  to  the  study  of  Cassio- 
dorus  and  Boetius.  It  is  easy  to  discover  from  this 
account  of  the  method  of  academical  institution,  the 

+  It  is  conjectured  that  about  this  time  music  was  arrived  at  great 
perfectioTi  in  this  country ;  to  this  purpose  we  meet  with  the  following 
remarkable  passage  in  the  Mori.-p  lincomium  of  Erasmus,  Basil  edition, 
pag.  101  : — '  Natura  ut  singulis  mortalibus  suam,  ita  .singulis  nationibus, 
'  ac  pen^  civitatibus  commuuLMn  quandam  iiisevisse  Pbilautium  :  atque 
'  hinc  fieri  Britanni  praeter  alia,  formani,  musicam,  ct  lautas  mensas 
'  proprie  sibi  vindicent.'  Viz.,  As  nature  has  implanted  self-love  in  the 
minds  of  all  mortals,  so  has  she  dispensed  to  every  country  and  nation 
a  certain  tincture  of  the  same  affection.  Hence  it  is  that  the  English 
challenge  the  prerogative  of  having  the  most  handsome  women,  of  the 
being  most  accomplished  in  the  skill  of  music,  and  of  keeping  the  best 
tables. 


202 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VII. 


track  in  which  the  students  of  music  were  necessitated 
to  walk  :  utterly  ignorant  oi  the  language  in  which 
the  precepts  of  harmony  were  originally  delivered, 
and  incapable  of  viewing  them  otherwise  than  through 
the  medium  ol  a  Latin  version,  they  studied  Marci- 
anus  Capella,  Macrobius,  Cassiodorus,  Boetius,  Guido 
Aretinus,  and  those  numberless  authors  who  had 
written  on  the  tones  and  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis  ; 
and  in  these  their  pursuits  the  students  in  the  English 
universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  for  it  nowhere 
appears  to  have  been  the  practice  in  other  countries, 
were  rewarded  with  the  academical  degrees  oi  bache- 
lor and  doctor.* 

*  The  statutes  oC  the  two  universities  prescribe  the  exercises  for 
degrees  in  this  and  the  other  faculties,  but  they  leave  us  at  a  loss  tor  the 
regimen  of  students  in  the  pursuit  of  them.  It  is  however  certain  that 
lormerly  a  course  of  study  subjected  the  candidates  for  academical 
honours  to  a  greater  degree  ol  hardship  than  we  at  this  day  are  aware  ot. 
In  a  seimon  o,  Maister  Thomas  Leuer,  preached  at  Poules  Cross  tlie  xiij 
day  of  December,  anno  1550,  is  a  description  of  college  discipline,  that  in 
this  age  of  refinement  would  make  a  student  shudder :  these  are  the 
author's  words:  'There  were  [in  the  time  of  Hen.  VIII.]  in  houses 
'  belonginge  to  the  universitie  of  Cambridge  twoo  hundreds  studentes 
'o.  dyvinitye,  many  very  well  learned,  whyche  be  now  all  cleane  gone, 
'  house  and  man ;  yong  towarde  scolars,  and  old  fatherly  doctors,  not 
'one  of  them  left:  one  hundred  also  of  another  sort,  that  having  rich 
'trends,  or  being  beneficed,  did  live  of  themselves  in  ostles  and  innes, 
'  be  either  gone  away,  or  elle.s  faine  to  crepe  intoo  colleges,  and  put  poor 
'men  from  bare  livynges.  Those  both  be  all  gone,  and  a  small  number 
'  01  poor  diiygent  students  now  remainyng  only  in  colleges,  be  not  able 
'  to  tarry  and  continue  their  study  in  the  universitie  for  lack  of  ex- 
'hibition  and  helpe.  There  be  divers  there  which  rise  daily  betwixt  iiij. 
'  and  fyve  of  the  clock  in  the  mornynge,  and  from  fyve  until  syxe  of  the 
'  clocke  use  common  prayer,  with  an  exhortation  of  God's  word,  in  a 
'  common  chapell,  and  from  syxe  untoo  ten  use  ever  eyther  private 
'study  or  commune  lectures.  At  ten  of  the  clocke  they  go  to  dinner, 
'  where  as  they  be  contente  with  a  penie  peice  of  befe  amongst  iiij, 
'havinge  a  few  potage  made  of  the  brothe  of  the  same  beefe,  with  salt 
'  and  oatmeal,  and  nothing  elles.  After  this  slender  dyner  they  be  either 
'  teachinge  or  learninge  until  v.  of  the  clocke  in  the  evyning,  when  as 
'they  have  a  supper  not  muche  better  then  their  dinner,  immediately 
'  after  the  which  they  go  either  to  reasoning  in  probKmes,  or  unto  some 
'other  studie,  until  it  be  nyne  or  tenne  of  the  clocke,  and  there  beyinge 
'  without  fire,  are  faine  to  walke  or  runne  up  and  downe  halfe  a  houre  to 
'get  a  hete  on  their  fete  when  they  go  to  bed.' 

The  late  learned  Mr.  Wise  of  Oxford,  wa.s  of  opinion  that  degrees  in 
music  are  more  ancient  than  the  tune  above-mentioned.  His  sentiments 
on  the  .subject,  and  also  touching  the  antiquity  of  degrees  in  general,  are 
contained  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  of  his,  from  which  the  following  passage 
is  extracted  : — 

'  England,  in  tlie  time  of  the  Saxons,  through  means  of  its  frequent 
'intercourses  with  Rome,  and  its  neighbourhood  to  France,  seems  to 
'liave  arrived  at  as  great  a  pilch  of  excellence  in  all  good  arts  as  any 
'other  nation  of  the  Christian  world  during  that  dark  period  ol  time. 
•This  appears  from  several  remains  ot  poetry  in  Saxon  and  Latin,  from 
'some  buildings,  jewels,  and  vast  numbers  of  fair  manuscripts  written 
'by  the  Saxons,  and  illimiinated  in  as  fair  a  manner  as  the  taste  of  that 
'  age  would  admit  of.  Amongst  other  arts,  music  does  not  seem  to  have 
'been  one  of  the  least  studied  amimfjst  them,  sexeral  specimens  of  their 
'skill  in  church-music  remaining  to  this  day,  particularly  a  fair  maiui- 
'scri|)t,  formerly  belonging  to  the  church  of  Winchester,  now  in  the 
•Bodleian  library,  called  a  Tropariou,  written  in  the  reign  of  king 
'Ethelred  the  West-Saxon. 

'His  brother  and  immediate  successor,  Alfred  the  Great,  as  he  is 
'reported  by  historiatis  to  have  been  excellent  in  all  sorts  of  learniijg, 
'and  a  very  great  proficient  in  civil  as  well  as  military  arts,  so  is  he  par- 
'  ticularly  recorded  for  his  skill  in  music,  by  which  means  he  obtained  a 
'great  victory  over  the  Danes. 

'  It  is  therefore  not  to  he  wondered  at,  that  upon  restoring  the  Muses 
'to  their  ancient  seat  at  Oxford,  he  should  appoint  amongst  the  rest  of 
'  the  liberal  arts  a  professor  of  music,  as  we  expressly  read  he  did,  anno 
'8S6.  [Annals  ol  Hyde,  quoted  by  HarpsfieldJ  namely,  John,  the  monk 
'ot  St.  David's. 

'  As  to  the  origin  of  degrees  in  general  in  the  universities,  though 

•  nothing  certain  appears  upon  record,  yet  they  seem  from  the  very  nature 
•of  them,  to  be  almost,  if  not  quite,  as  old  as  the  universties  themselves  ; 

•  it  being  necessary,  even  in  the  infancy  of  an  university,  to  keep  up  the 
'  face  and  form  of' it,  by  distinguishing  the  proficients  in  each  science 
'according  to  the  difference  of  their  abilities  and  time  spent  in  study,  as 
'  it  is  now  to  divide  school-boys  mto  forms  or  classes. 

'Our  university,  like  others,  being  founded  in  the  faculty  of  arts, 
'degrees  were  accordingly  given  in  logic,  geometry,  and  each  particular 
'  one,  and  in  process  of  time  in  all  of  them  together,  the  degree  of  master 
'of  arts  being  the  highest  in  the  university.  Hut  when  the  faculties  of 
'law  and  physic  came  into  esteem  in  the  world,  and  at  length  into  the 
'  university,  I  don't  mention  divinity,  because  that  was  always  cultivated 
'here,  then  the  lesser  arts  began  to  decline  in  their  credit,  as  being  less 
'gainful;  and  degrees  in  most  of  them  were  entirely  dropt,  as  logic, 
'arithmetic,  geometry,  and  astronomy;  rhetoric  indeed  maintained  its 
'ground  till  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  grammar 
'  (because  nobody  was  allowed  to  teach  it  unless  graduated  in  one  of  the 
'  universities)  held  it  a  jjood  while  lonjjer;  but  music  has  maiiilaiued  its 


In  the  Fasti,  at  the  end  of  the  Athen.  Oxon.  vol.  I. 
which  commences  at   1500,   mention  is   Irequently 

'credit  to  this  time,  and  with  this  remarkable  advantage  over  the  rest  of 
'  its  sister  arts,  that  whereas  the  only  degrees  ot  them  were  bachelor,  or 
'  at  most  master,  nmsic,  for  what  reason  I  am.  at  present  at  a  loss,  gives 
'the  title  oi  doctor.' 

Bachelor  is  a  word  of  uncertain  etymology,  it  not  being  known  what 
•was  its  original  sense.  Junius  derives  it  from  'EaK:)}\og,  foolish. 
Menage  from  Bas  Chevalier,  a  knight  of  the  lowest  rank.  Spelman 
from  Baculus,  a  stafi.  Cujas  from  Buccella,  an  allowance  of  provision. 
The  most  probable  derivation  ol  it  seems  to  be  from  Bacca  Laurus,  the 
berry  of  a  laurel  or  bay  ;  bachelors  being  young  and  ol  good  hopes,  like 
laurels  in  the  berry.  In  Latin  Baccalatireus.  Johns.  Diet,  in  art.  Vide 
AyliiTe  s  ancient  and  present  State  of  the  University  of  Oxl'oid,  vol.  II. 
pag.  195. 

By  the  statutes  of  the  university  of  Oxford,  it  is  required  of  every  pro- 
ceeder  to  the  degree  of  bachelor  in  music,  that  he  employ  seven  years  in 
the  study  or  practice  of  that  faculty,  and  at  the  end  of  that  term  produce 
a  testimonial  of  his  having  so  done,  under  the  hands  of  credible  witnesses  ; 
and  that  previous  to  the  supplication  for  his  grace  towards  this  degree, 
he  compose  a  song  of  five  parts,  and  perform  the  same  publicly  in  the 
music-school,  with  vocal  and  instrumental  music,  first  causing  to  be 
affixed  on  each  of  the  doors  of  the  great  gates  ot  the  schools  a  Programma. 
giving  three  days  notice  of  the  day  and  hour  of  each  performance.  Of 
a  bachelor,  proceeding  to  the  degree  of  doctor,  it  is  required  that  he  shall 
study  five  years  after  the  taking  his  bachelor's  degree;  and  produce  the 
like  proof  oi  his  having  so  done,  as  is  requisite  in  the  case  o  a  bachelor, 
and  farther,  shall  compose  a  song  in  six  or  eight  parts,  and  publicly  per- 
form the  same  'tarn  vocibus  quam  instrumentis  etiam  musicis.'  on  some 
day  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose,  previously  notifying  the  day  and 
hour  of  performance  in  the  manner  before  prescribed.  Such  exercise  to 
be  performed  in  the  presence  of  Dr.  Heyther's  professor  ol  music.  This 
being  done,  the  candidate  shall  supplicate  for  his  grace  in  the  convocatiot)- 
house,  which  being  granted  by  both  the  Savilian  professors,  or  by  some 
master  of  arts  deputed  by  them  for  that  purpose,  he  shall  be  presented  to 
his  degree. 

The  statutes  of  the  university  of  Oxford,  do  in  like  manner  prescribe 
the  exercises  for  degrees  in  the  other  faculties,  but  in  terms  at  this  day 
so  little  understood,  that  an  attempt  to  explain  them  in  this  place  may 
to  some  be  not  unacceptable.  In  Title  VI.  Sect.  2,  De  Exerciliis 
prtestandis  pro  Gradu  Bacculaurei  in  Artibus,  the  exercises  required  are 
Disputationes  in  Parvisiis  :  on  this  terra  the  following  are  the  sentiments 
of  glossngraphers : — 

Before  the  schools  were  erected  the  young  students  held  their  dis- 
putations in  Parvisiis,  in  the  porch  of  St.  Mary's  church.  There  they 
sate,  visa-vis,  one  over  against  the  other.  This  might  be  expressed  in 
the  Norman  French  of  those  times  perhaps  by  Par- Vis,  and  this  again  iij 
barbarous  Latin  would  be  rendered  by  in  Parvisiis. 

In  Skinner's  Lexicon  the  word  Parvis  is  said  to  signify  in  Norman 
French  a  church-porch  ;  and  he  quotes  Spelman,  as  deriving  it  from  the 
Word  Paradisus.  Perhaps,  says  he,  because  the  jKnch  was,  with  respect 
to  the  church  itseh,  what  Paradise  is  to  Heaven.  This  reason  is  hat  sh  and 
■whimsical ;  the  word  Parvis  seems  rather  to  be  a  corruption  of  a  barbarous 
Latin  word  Pervisus,  from  Perviso,  to  look  through,  because  people 
looked  through  the  porch  into  the  church.  Or  if.  as  is  frequently  the  case, 
one  porch  was  opposite  to  the  other,  then  at  the  porch  people  might  be 
said  to  look  through  the  church.  Pervisus  then,  or  Parvis  is  literally 
speaking  the  place  of  looking-through. 

Chaucer,  in  the  Prologues  to  the  Canterbury  Tales,  characterizing  the 
Sergeant  at  Law,  says, — 

A  I'ergeant  of  hwe,  ware  and  wife, 
That  often  had  ben  at  the  pervile. 

And  in  the  Glossary  at  the  end  of  Urry's  edition,  the  word  Pcrvise  is 
thus  explained:  'Parvis,  Fr.  contracted  from  Paradis,  Tlapaciiaot;, 
'  ToTTOg  ii)  (0  TTtpnrdroi.  Hesych.  Locus  porticihus  et  deambulalnyiis 
'circundatns.  A  Portico  or  court  before  a  church.  Fr.  Gl.  in  Paradisus- 
'The  place  before  the  church  of  Notre  Dame  at  Paris,  called  Parvis,  It  11. 
'  7151,  was  anciently  called  Paradis.  Men.  Fr.  in  Parcis,  Spelman  says 
'in  Panoe,  &c.  that  our  lawyers  used  formerly  to  walk  in  such  a  place  to 
'  meet  their  clients,  and  not  for  law  exercises,  as  Blount  and  others  write, 
'being  perhaps  led  into  that  mistake  by  that  passage,  Prol.  312;  atul 
'  others,  considering  the  context  more  than  the  sense  of  the  word  Pervise, 
'  explain  it  a  bar.' 

Another  writer  says  of  this  word  that  it  signifies  the  nether  part  ot 
a  church,  set  apart  for  the  teaching  of  Ciiildren  in  it,  and  that  thence  it  is 
called  the  Parvis,  a  parvis  pueris  ibi  edoctis;  adding  that  this  sense  of 
it  explains  the  following  story  in  Matthew  Paris,  Hist.  Angl.  inHen.  111. 
pag.  7ys  : — 

'  In  the  reign  of  king  Hen.  III.  the  pope's  collector  met  a  poor  priest 
'with  a  vessel  of  holy  water,  and  a  sprinkler,  and  a  loaf  of  bread  that  he 
'  had  gotten  at  a  place  for  sprinkling  some  of  his  water;  for  he  used  to 
'go  abroad,  and  bestow  his  holy  water,  and  receive  of  the  people  what 
'they  gave  him,  as  the  reputed  value  thereof.  The  pope's  collector 
'asked  him  what  he  might  get  in  one  year  in  that  way?  The  priest 
'  answered  about  twenty  shillings  ;  to  which  the  collector  presently  re- 
'plied,  then  there  be'oiigs  as  due  out  of  it,  as  tlie  tenths,  two  shillings  to 
'my  receipt  yearly,  and  obliges  him  to  pay  it  accordingly.  Upon  wiiich 
'now  comes  the  passage,  "  Cogebatur  ille  pauperculus,  multis  diebiis 
"  scholas  exercens,  venditis  in  Parvisio  libellis,  vitam  fanielicam  pro- 
"  telare  pro  ilia  substantia  persolvenda."  i.  e.  The  poor  priest,  to  enable 
'him  to  pay  that  impiisition,  and  to  get  a  sort  of  livelihood,  was  con- 
'  strained  to  take  up  the  trade  of  selling  little  books  at  the  school  in  the 
'  Parvise.  And  hence  it  is,  as  some  think,  that  the  French  call  the 
'  Proanos,  le  Pariis.'  History  of  Churches  in  England,  by  Thomas 
Staveley,  octavo,  1712,  pag.  157.  Fo'- more  on  this  subject  consult  the 
Glossdiy  to  Dr.  Wats's  edition  of  Matthew  Paiis,  and  that  of  SuiiUiir  lo 


Chap.  LXVI.                                     AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC.  293 

made  of  admission  to  bachelors'  degrees  in  the  several  suffice  to  say,  that  at  this  time  men  becran  to  think 
faculties,  and  of  the  privilege  thereby  acquired  of  and  reason  justly  on  literary  subjects  ;  and  that  they 
reading  publicly  on  certain  books  in  each  of  them  did  so  in  music  was  owing  to  the  discoveries  of  Fran- 
respectively,  for  instance,  in  divinity  the  graduate  chinus,  and  his  zeal  to  cultivate  the  science ;  for  no 
was  allo\Aed  to  read  the  IMaster  of  the  Sentences  ;  in  sooner  were  his  writings  made  public  than  they  were 
civil  law,  the  Institutes  of  Justinian  ;  in  canon  law,  spread  over  Europe,  and  the  precepts  contained  in 
the  Decretals  ;  in  physic,  Hippocrates  ;  in  arts,  the  them  inculcated  with  the  utmost  diligence  in  the 
Logic  of  Aristotle ;  and  in  music,  Boetius  :  thus,  to  many  schools,  universities,  and  other  public  semi- 
give  an  instance  of  the  latter,  Henry  Parker,  of  naries  througliout  Italy,  France,  Germany,  and  Eng- 
Magdalen-hall.  in  1502,  John  Mason,  and  John  land ;  and  the  benefits  resulting  from  his  labours 
Sherman,  in  1508,  John  Wendon,  and  John  Clawsey,  Avere  manifested,  not  only  by  an  immense  number 
in  ISO'.t,  John  Dygon,  a  Benedictine  monk,  in  1512,  of  treatises  on  music,  which  appeared  in  the  world  in 
and  Thomas  Me'ndus,  a  secular  chaplain,  in  1534,  the  age  next  succeeding  that  in  which  he  flourished, 
were  severally  admitted  to  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  but  in  the  musical  compositions  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
music  ;  and  of  such  it  is  said  in  the  Fasti,  Col.  5,  tury,  formed  after  his  precepts,  and  which  became  the 
and  again  Col.  69,  that  they  were  thereby  admitted  models  of  musical  perfection.  Of  these  latter  it  will 
to  the  reading  of  any  of  the  musical  books  of  Boetius,  be  time  enough  to  speak  hereafter  :  of  the  authors 
which  at  that  time"  were  almost  the  only  ones  from  that  immediately  succeeded  him,  and  the  improve- 
whence  any  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  the  science  ments  made  by  them,  it  is  necessary  to  say  some- 
could  be  derived.  thing  in  this  place. 

The  efforts  of  Franchinus  for  the  improvement  of  The  first  writer  on  music  of  any  note  after  Fran- 
music  are  related  in  the  foregoing  account  of  him  and  chinus  and  Peter  Aron  seems  to  have  been  Jacobus 
his  writings,  and  the  advantages  which  accrued  from  Faber  Stapulensis,  who  flourished  about  the  year 
his  labours  may  in  some  measure  be  deduced  from  1503.  Among  other  works,  he  has  left  behind  him 
thence  as  a  necessary  consequence  ;  but  the  dissemi-  four  books  on  music,  entitled  Elementa  INIusicalia, 
nating  his  precepts  by  writing  through  the  learned  printed  at  Paris  in  1496  and  1551,  a  thin  folio, 
world,  was  not  all  that  he  did  towards  the  advance-  In  the  beginning  of  this  work  he  celebrates  his  two 
ment  of  the  science,  for  besides  this  he  laid  a  foun-  masters  in  the  science.  Jacobus  Labinius,  and  Jacobus 
dation  for  endless  disquisition,  by  procuring  copies  of  Turbelinus.  Josephus  Blancanus  held  it  in  such 
tlie  works  of  the  ancient  Greek  harmonicians,  the  estimation,  that  he  recommends  to  students  that  they 
masters  of  Boetius  himself,  and  by  causing  trans-  begin  with  the  study  of  it  above  all  other  things; 
lations  of  them  to  be  made  for  the  use  of  the  many  and  that  after  reading  it,  they  proceed  to  Boetius, 
that  were  absolutely  ignorant  of  the  language  and  Aristoxenus,  Ptolemy,  and  Euclid.  Salinas  speaks 
character  in  which  they  were  written.  But  the  ope-  very  differently  of  the  Elementa  Musicalia,  for  he 
ration  of  these  his  labours  for  the  advancement  of  the  says  it  discovers  that  the  author  knew  more  of  the 
science  must  .necessarily  have  been  very  slow,  and  will  other  parts  of  mathematics  than  of  music;  he  how- 
hardly  account  for  those  amazing  improvements  in  ever  commends  the  author  for  having  treated  the 
the  art  of  practical  composition  which  appear  in  the  subject  with  a  degree  of  perspicuity  equal  to  that 
works  of  lodocus  Pratensis,  Orlando  de  Lasso,  Phi-  of  Euclid  in  his  Elements  of  Geometry.  He  adds, 
lippo  de  Monte,  Andrian  Willaert,  and  in  short,  of  that  he  does  not  seem  to  have  read  Ptolemy,  or  any 
the  musicians  in  almost  every  country  in  Europe  to  other  of  the  Greek  writers,  but  is  entirely  a  Boetian, 
whom  the  benefit  of  his  instructions  had  extended,  and  does  nothing  more  than  demonstrate  what  he 
These  are  only  to  be  accounted  for  by  that  part  of  has  laid  down.  This  is  certainly  a  very  favourable 
his  history  which  declares  him  to  have  been  a  public  censure ;  Salinas  might  truly  have  called  the  book 
professor  of  the  science,  and  to  have  taught  publicly  a  partial  abridgment  of  Boetius,  for  such  it  must 
in  some  of  the  principal  cities  of  Italy.  ^This  he  did  appear  to  every  attentive  peruser  of  it.  Faber  was 
to  crowded  auditories,  at  a  time  when  the  inhabitants  of  Picardy ;  his  name,  in  the  language  of  his  own 
of  Europe  were  grown  impatient  of  their  ignorance  :  country,  was  Jacques  Le  Fevre  D'Estaples ;  he  was 
when  the  popes  and  secular  princes  of  Italy  were  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  beloved  by  Erasmus, 
giving  great  encouragement  to  learning.  This  dis-  Bayle  relates  that  he  was  once  in  the  hands  of 
position  co-operating  with  the  labours  of  the  studious  the  inquisitors,  but  was  delivered  by  the  queen  of 
and  industrious  in  the  several  faculties,  brought  about  Navarre.  Buchanan  has  celebrated  his  learning  in 
a  reformation  in  literature,  the  effects  whereof  are  felt  the  following  elegant  epitaph  : — 
at  this  day.  Not  to  mention  the  arts  of  painting  and  Qh;  studiis  primus  lucem  intulit  omnibus,  artes 
sculpture,  which  were  now  improving  apace,  it  may  Edoctum  cunctas  hrec  tegit  urna  Fabrum. 

the  X  Scriptores,  voce  Triforium,  and  Selden  in  his  notes  on  Fortescue  Heu !  tenebra;  tanlum  potuere  extinguere  lumen  ? 

be  Laudibus.  Si  non  in  tenebris  lux  tamen  ista  niicet. 

In  the  statutes  of  the  university  of  Oxford.  Tit.  VI.  Sect.  3.  '  De 

•  disputationes  in  Parviso,  turn  habeiidis,  turn  frequentandis,'  we  meet  The      improvements      made     by     FraUchinUS    WQY& 

with  the  term  DLsputationes  in  Augiistinensibus:  these,  in  tlie  academical  -  ,,            ,     ,                   ,              <•                             'j        U1        •              i. 

style  of  .speaking,  were  disputations  with  the  AuKUstine  monks,  who  had  foUoWed     by    aUOthcr    01     VCry    COnSlCleraDle    import, 

acquiredgreatreputationforexerci.ses  of  this  kind,  and  had  formerly  namclv,    the    Invention    of    FugUe,    from     the     Latin 

a  monastery  at  Oxford,  the  site  whereof  was  afterwards  purchased  for  ^  J '                                   .           ^          ~    ,         . 

the  purpose  of  erecting  Wadham  College.     With  them  the  students  held  Fuga,   a  chaCe,  a   SpCClCS  Of   SymphOUiaC  COmpOSltlOn, 

disputationsattheplace,  and  in  the  manner  above  related.   Some  traces  of  •       ^u.-pb     i     pprtqin     air     rtoint     or    subieot    is    Dro- 

this  practice  yet  remain  in  the  university  exercises ;  and  the  common  ^^    wniCU    a    Certain    air,    poini,    or    bUUject    lb    pro- 

Ehrase  of  young  scholars,  •  answering  Augustine's' or '  doing  Austin's,'  pounded   by   die  part  and  prosecuted  bv  another, 

as  a  direct  allusion  to  it.  r                       ./               t                     t                           ^ 


294 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VII. 


Zarlino  resemDles  it  to  an  echo ;  and  it  is  not  im- 
probable that  tlie  accidental  reverberation  of  some 
passage  or  particle  of  a  musical  tune  might  have 
originally  suggested  the  idea  of  composition  in  fugue. 
The  merit  of  this  invention  cannot,  at  this  distance 
of  time,  be  ascribed  to  any  one  musician  in  pre- 
ference to  another,  but  the  antiquity  of  it  may,  with 
great  appearance  of  probability,  be  fixed  to  about  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century:  this  opinion  is 
grounded  on  the  following  observations. 

Franchinus,  the  most  ancient  of  the  musical  writers 
who  have  expressly  treated  on  composition  in  sym- 
phony, seems  to  have  been  an  absolute  stranger  to 
this  species  of  it,  for  his  precepts  relate  solely  to 
counterpoint,  the  terms  fugue  or  canon  never  once 
occurring  in  any  part  of  his  writings ;  and  the  last 
of  his  tracts,  viz.,  that  De  Harmonia  Musicorum 
Instrumentorum,  as  already  has  been  remarked,  was 
published  in  1518.    On  the  other  hand,  in  the  Dode- 

1 


cachordon  of  Glareanus  of  Basil  we  meet  with  fugues 
to  a  very  great  number,  and  indeed  witli  a  canon 
of  a  very  extraordinary  contrivance,  comiiosed  by 
lodocus  Pratensis,  for  the  practice  of  his  master 
Lewis  XII.  king  of  France. 

But  to  draw  a  little  nearer  towards  a  conclusion, 
there  is  extant  a  book  entitled  Micrologus,  written 
by  Andreas  Ornithoparcus  of  Meyning,  a  master  of 
arts,  and  a  professor  of  music  in  several  universities  in 
Germany.  This  book  was  first  published  at  Cologne 
in  1535,  and  contains,  lib.  II.  cap  vii.  a  definition 
and  an  example  of  canon  to  the  following  purpose  : — 

*  A  canon  is  an  imaginary  rule,  drawing  that  part 
'  of  the  song  which  is  not  set  down  out  of  that 
'  which  is  set  down.  Or  it  is  a  rule  which  doth 
'  wittily  discover  the  secrets  of  a  song.  Now  we 
'  use  canons  either  to  shew  art,  or  to  make  shorter 
'  work,  or  to  try  others  cunning,  thus  : — 


?i:]: 


aaESE^E!E?=E*4^t:^^^ 


:t=p: 


<& 

t: 


Comparing  therefore  the  date  of  Franchinus's  last 
treatise  with  that  of  the  Micrologus,  the  interval  be- 
tween the  publication  of  the  one  and  the  other  of  them 
appears  to  be  seventeen  yeai's,  a  very  short  period 
for  so  considerable  an  improvement  in  the  practice 
of  musical  composition. 

It  is  natural  to  suppose  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  be  found  in  the  other. 
In  the  framing  of  these  parts,  two  things  were  neces- 
sary to  be  attended  to,  namely,  the  distance  of  time 
or  number  of  measures  at  which  the  reply  was  to  fol- 
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  same 
notes  with  the  subject,  the  composition  was  called 
a  fugue  in  the  unison  ;  and  if  in  any  other  series  of 
concordant  intervals,  as  namely,  the  fourth  or  fifth 
above  or  below,  it  was  denominated  accordingly,  as 
hereafter  will  be  shewn.  The  primitive  method  of 
noting  fugues  appears  by  the  following  examples  of 
two  parts  in  one,  contained  in  an  ancient  manuscript 
on  vellum,  of  one  Robert  Johnson,  a  priest,  the  an- 
tiquity whereof  may  be  traced  back  to  near  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  ;  the  first  of 
these  is  evidently  a  fugue  in  the  unison,  of  two 
parts  in  one,  and  the  latter  a  fugue  of  two  parts 
in  one  in  the  eleventh,  or  diapason  cum  diatessaron,* 

*  In  compositions  of  this  kind  it  seems  to  have  been  the  ancient  prac- 
tice to  frame  them  on  a  given  plain  song,  and  that  in  general  was  some 
well  known  melody  of  a  psalm  or  hymn. 

The  plain-song  on  which  this  fugue  is  composed  is  taken  from  the 
notes  of  an  ancient  hymn,  O  Lux  beata  Trinitas.  which  seems  to  have 
heen  a  very  popular  melody  before  the  time  of  king  Henry  VIII.  In 
Skelton's  poem,  entitled,  The  Bouge  of  Court,  Riot  is  characterized  as  a 
rude,  disorderly  fellow,  and  one  that  could  upon  occasion  sing  it. 

'  Counter  he  coulde  O  Lux  upon  a  potte,' 

And  Bird,  whose  excellence  in  this  kind  of  composition  is  well  known, 
made  a  great  number  of  canons,  on  this  very  plain  song. 

A  practice  similar  to  this,  of  composing  songs  and  divisions  for  in- 
struments on  a  ground-base,  prevailed  fur  many  years ;  and  it  was  not 
hecome  quite  obsolete  in  the  time  of  Corelli,  whose  twelfth  solo  is  a 
division  on  3  well-known  melody,  known  in  England  by  the  name  of 


as  will  appear  by  comparing  the  latter  with  the  for- 
mer part  of  each  respectively. 


♦^ — 


1 1 — I 1— ' -^-^ — I — ' 

Two  parts  in  one,  in  one  voyce,  A  niynnym  after  another. 


O; 


The  other  part. 


^alsflars^^i 


f|±iEfetg 


Two  parts  in  one,  An  eleventh  above  anotlier. 


ziz:^ 


3a 


^E£EtMHi= 


:J-q 


-ziEj^ 


::]: 


-t- 


-■q-HzU: 


:iz±z±: 


z±zfci-:^-ii--«L-SlzE:iz^z;t±!:i:L 

Farinel's  Ground  ;  as  is  also  the  twelfth  of  Vivaldi's  Suonate  da  Camera, 
Ol)era  prima. 

That  Purcell  was  very  fond  of  this  kind  of  composition,  appears 
throughout  the  Orpheus  Britannicus,  and  elsewhere  in  his  works,  as 
well  for  the  church  as  the  theatre.  In  the  year  1667  a  book  was  published 
in  Latin  and  English,  by  Christopher  Simpson,  a  famous  violist,  en- 
titled '  Chelys  minuritionum  artiflcio  exornata,'  or,  the  Division  Viol, 
containing  a  great  variety  of  old  grounds,  with  divisions  thereon  :  these 
were  the  constant  exercises  of  practitioners,  as  well  on  the  violin  as  the 
viol,  till  the  time  that  Corelli's  music  was  first  introduced  into  England, 
before  which  he  was  looked  on  as  an  excellent  performer  who  could  play 
the  country-dance  tune  of  Old  Sir  Simon  the  king,  with  the  divisions. 


Chap.  LXVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


295 


^szx— 


:t. 


The  other  part. 


1-—-—- — —IS": — o— ;^— -  This  which  immediately  follows  is  the  resolution 

_(__^_P^ [-^^|—  [-- 1 — -[-—      of  a  canon  of  two  parts  in  one,  composed  by  Bird,  on 

the  same  plain  song  as  the  former,  with  this  difference, 


:m- 


/-T-    _      that  the  reply  is  in  longer  notes  than  the  principal, 

faiZji?^ ■  »— ^^♦^"ii'j^^ ' Hihip^— H-«-B^"— ■  B-n—      ^^^'  ^^'^ii<^^^  reason,  it  is  called  a  fugue  by  diminution. 


0  LUX. 
V     (^     o  LUX. 


Of  these  two  kinds  as  also  of  fugue  of  four  parts  in  two, 
and  of  three  in  one,  the  succeeding  are  examples  : — 


1 


± 


m= 


:-t- 


:-?^=^ 


m.^ 


ms^3mm^^m^^^m^i^^^^m^mm'^^i^Wi 


J 


% 


i 


i 


=t^=ET 


i^ 


:^ffE 


— j:; 


i=eiEi=l 


-P: 


EfS 


i=?i3; 


^ 


EE^ElM^^lj^^^l^ 


eS^e^e^: 


=^:f^--iin=d 


^i^i^^i^^ 


^=F 


WiLLiAM  Bird. 


o  I 

o 


*t:^i:^ 


i 


I«3I 


:z2: 


EE^PJ 


Z23=:=:e» 


i 


31 


^^^EiEE=[^-^ 


.E^E= 


res: 


1^1 

Mi 


^ 


=l^^!eMlliiiil3ls3ii^H^ 


- — -y- 


j^giggpEgii^gEgggsESj^g^Hr, 


Ad  Placitum. 


^^^1=^^ 


^^===33 


miE^i^ 


ii^±=z 


I^I3« 


33= 


E^^^^gg^E^ 


=d^: 


/7\ 


^TE^fE^ 


^^"^^^^^^^mm 


ZW2Z 


-laz 


It 


i^g 


jC*I 


ICt 


uii 


"7>: 


=^^^^ 


^mUEll 


::ir: 


4=— 


=f=e^ 


g^iggEEfii 


I 


/7S 


iD>: 


t 


3=o: 


£=^£^z^^n 


I^^^^M^^ 


SeI 


-I 1 1 


E^ 


Ee 


321 


^^ii^^ 


f!=pi 


=c::^=t 


^^- 


-» <» 


T^- 


lEt 


E^E 


Efe^E 


S 


-r 


iziz=z=ri 


Cict: 


i 


^- 


:c«i 


E^E^i 


William  Bird. 


29G 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book.  Vll. 


O 


H 

a: 


4= 


MISEREF.E. 


*^1 


EE= 


g^^i^nM^giiiiii^ijenE^ii 


^ 


t^ 


=rf=^2 


^-^^=J 


ciz 


:;cji: 


ibti 


m 


•ctfi-- 


^Hiiigi^ii^ 


3a:=3 


i=::l- 


EEEpfE^^ 


:==ri; 


i^^iiie 


s 


i^ 


/rv 


=^--=;=- 


;n!i 


:^at; 


11= 


lira 


r^tz 1" L-« 


-!» ir— ■ — 


iEig^: 


^=3^iig^: 


ra: 


-t^- 


i^^i^i^^ 


^^ 


:z)=:i- 


.^^ 


-/i        g>- 


P^i 


3^= 


.-==1= 


r^N 


=:1^~ 


i^^i 


WiIjLIam  Bibd. 


Of  the  foregoing  canons  of  Bird  it  may  be  remarked, 
tliat  as  the  former  examples  of  two  parts  in  one  are 
Btndies  on  the  well-known  plain-song  of  0  Lnx,  so 
this  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  Bull,  who  was  exquisitely  skilled  in  canon, 
made  a  variety  of  compositions  on  it,  some  whereof 
will  hereafter  be  inserted.  But  we  are  told  by 
Morley  that  Bird  and  Alphonso  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  passage  is 
curious,  and  is  as  follows :  '  If  you  thinke  to  imploy 
'  anie  time  in  making  of  parts  on  a  plain-song, 
*  I  would  counsell  you  diligentlie  to  peruse  those 
waies  which  my  loving  maister  (never  without 
'  reverence  to  be  nanaed  of  musitians)  M.  Bird  and 
'  M.  Alphonso,  in  a  virtuous  contention  in  love  between 
'  themselves,  made  upon  the  plain-song  of  Miserere ; 
'  but  a  contention  as  I  said  in  love,  which  caused 
'  them  strive  everie  one  to  surmount  another  wnthout 
'  malice,  envie  or  backbiting :  but  by  great  labour, 
'  Btudie,  and  paiues  each  making  other  censure  of  that 


which  they  had  done.  Which  contention  of  theirs, 
speciallie  without  envie,  caused  them  both  become 
more  excellent  in  that  kind,  and  winne  such  a  name, 
and  gaine  such  credite,  as  will  never  perish  so  long 
as  musicke  indureth.  Therefore  there  is  no  waie 
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  vertue) 
but  in  love  shewing  your  adversarie  your  worke, 
and  not  scorning  to  bee  corrected  of  him,  and  to 
amende  your  fault,  if  hec  speake  with  reason :  but 
of  this  enough.  To  return  to  M.  Bird  and  M. 
Alphonso,  though  either  of  them  made  to  the  num- 
ber of  fortie  waies,  and  could  have  made  infinite 
more  at  their  pleasure,  yet  hath  one  manne,  my 
friend  and  fellow,  M.  George  Waterhouse,*  upon 
the  same  plain-song  of  Miserere  for  varietie  sur^ 
passed  all  who  ever  laboured  in  that  kinde  of  studie. 

*  Of  this  person,  so  excellent  in  music  as  he  is  above  said  to  have  been, 
as  far  as  appears  after  a  diligent  research  and  enquiry,  there  is  not  a  single 
composition  remaining.  All  that  can  be  learned  concerning  him  is,  that 
he  was  first  of  Lincoln,  and  afterwards  of  the  chapel  to  queen  Elizabeth, 
and  that  having  spent  several  years  in  the  study  and  practice  of  music, 
in  the  year  I. '592  he  supplicated  at  Oxford  for  the  degree  of  bachelor,  but 
Wood  was  not  able  to  discover  that  he  was  admitted  to  it.  Fasti,  Anno 
1592.  By  the  entry  in  the  cheque-book  of  the  chapel  royal,  it  appears 
that  he  died  the  eighteenth  day  of  February,  1601, 


Chap.  LXVl. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


297 


'  For  hee  liatli  already  made  a  thousand  waies  (yea, 
'  and  though  I  shouUle  talk  of  halfe  as  manie  more, 
'  I  should  not  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  benefite  of  the  worlde,  and  his 

*  owne  perpetual  glorie,  I  will  cease  to  speake  anie 
'  more  of  them,  but  onlie  to  admonish  you,  that 
'  whoso  will  be  excellent  must  both  spende  mucli 
'  time   in   practice,  and   looke   over   the   doings   of 

*  other  men.' 

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  wdiich  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  study  may  be  in  some  measure 
inferred  from  a  variety  of  essays  in  it  by  Bird,  Bull, 
and  others,  yet  to  be  met  with  in  ancient  collections 
of  music ;  and  to  a  still  greater  degree  from  a  little 
book  entitled  'Divers  and  sundrie  waies  of  two 
'  parts  in  one  to  the   number  of   fortie  uppon  one 

*  playn-song ;  sometimes  placing  the  ground  above 
'  and  two  parts  benethe,  and  otherwise  the  ground 
'  benethe,  and  two  parts  above.  Or  againe,  otherwise 
'  the  ground  sometimes  in  the  middest  betweene  both. 
'  Likewise  other  conceites,  which  are  plainlie  set 
'  downe  for  the  profite  of  those  which  would  attaine 
'  unto  knowledge,  by  John  Farmer,  imprinted  at 
'London,  151)1,'  small  octavo. 

Elway  Bevin,  a  disciple  of  Tallis,  a  gentleman 
extraordinary  of  the  royal  chapel  in  1605,  and 
organist  of  the  cathedral  church  of  Bristol,  published 
in  the  year  1B31,  a  book,  which,  though  entitled 
a  Brief  Introduction  of  Music  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- 
geniously constructed ;  but  of  him,  and  also  of  this 
his  work,  an  account  will  be  given  hereafter. 

Fugues  in  the  unison  were  also  called  rounds, 
from  the  circular  progression  of  the  melody ;  and 
this  term  suggested  the  method  of  writing  them  in 
a  circular  form,  of  which  the  following  canon  of 
Clemens  Non  Papa,  musician  to  the  emperor  Charles 
V.  with  the  resolution  thereof  in  modern  characters, 
is  an  example  : — • 


CANON  IN  THE  UNISON,  FOR  FIVE  VOICES. 


KESOLUTION. 


It 


zazr. 


:^^=lE^EEEEi£ 


-<^— 


=F=:J- -i— ^ 


Sg^^^ 


^ rjl- 


-?2I 


I — **- 


irzr 


-P= 


n 


@^ 


V- 


m^ 


jOLZ 


A  fugue  written  in  one  line,  whether  in  a  circle  or 
otherwise,  with  directions  for  the  other  parts  to 
follow,  is  called  a  Canon.  Morley  ascribes  the  in- 
vention of  this  compendious  method  of  writing  to  the 
Italian  and  French  musicians ;  his  account  of  it  ia 
curious,  and  is  here  given  in  his  own  words  :  '  The 
'  Frenchmen  and  Italians  have  used  a  waie,  that 
'  though  there  were  four  or  five  partes  in  one,  yet 
'  might  it  be  perceived  q,nd  sung  at  the  first ;  and  the 
'manner  thereof  is  this.  Of  how  manie  parts  the 
'  canon  is,  so  manie  cliefes  do  they  set  at  the  beginning 
'  of  the  verse  ;  still  causing  tliat  which  standeth  nearest 
'  unto  the  musick  serve  for  the  leading  parte ;  the 
'  next  towards  the  left  hand  for  the  next  following 
'  parte,  and  so  consequentlie  to  the  last.  But  if 
'  betweene  anie  two  cliefes  you  finde  rests,  those 
'  belong  to  that  part  which  the  cliefe  standing  next 
*  unto  them  on  the  left  side,  signifieth. 


EXAMPLE. 


i 


-0- 


.1 


^5JE^Eg=^a^.^g^S^$^^^^fe£j^:^ta 


^     .    .     . 

Here  be  two  parts  in  one  in  the  Diapason  cum  dia- 
tessaron,  or,  as  we  tearme  it,  in  the  eleventh  above ; 
where  you  see  first  a  C  sol  fa  ut  cliefe  standing  on 
the  lowest  rule,  and  after  it  three  minime  rests. 
Then  standing  the  F  fa  ut  cliefe  on  the  fourth  rule 
from  below ;  and  because  that  standeth  necrest  to  the 


'  notes,  the  base  (which  that  cliefe  representeth)  must 
'begin,  resting  a  minim  rest  after  the  plain-song,  ancj, 
'  the  treble  three  minim  rests.  And  least  you  should 
'  misse  in  reckoning  your  pauses  or  rests,  the  note 
'  whereupon  the  following  part  must  begin  is  marked 
'  with  this  sign  2      It  is  true  that  one  of  those  two, 


1^98 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIEXCE 


Book  VII. 


■the  sign  or  the  rests  is  siipertlaous;  but  the  order 

■  of  setting-  more  clittes  than  one  to  one  verse  being 

■  but  ot  hite  devised,  was  not  used  when  the  signe 

■  was  most  common,  but  instead  of  them,  over  or 
•under  the  song  was  written  in  what  distance  the 
'toiiowing  parte  was  from  the  leading,  and  most 
•  commonlie  in  this  manner,  Canon  in,*  oi  '^  superiore 


^^EE^S 


1— ♦- 


3  1 


"tl 


-W^=^ 


:t:=-t-^'^ 


^■ 


:Fz:L: 


'or  interiore.  But  to  shun  the  labour  of  writing 
'  those  words,  the  cliftes  and  rests  have  been  devised, 
'  Shewing  tlie  same  thinge.  And  to  tlie  intent  you 
'  may  the  better  conceive  it,  here  is  anotlier  example 
'  wherein  tlie  treble  beginneth,  and  the  meane  fol- 
'  loweth  witliin  a  semibreve  after,  in  the  Hypodia- 
'  pente  or  hfth  below' :  — 


:t^iz:sz:' 


ti± 


^fc3^-q^-qvq=^Jr-^: 


^*-^i^S^fc 


-:fez&=R- 


-♦-%■ 


y-y- 


1 


ei 


The  above  rehition  ot  Morley  accounts  for  the 
origin  oi  the  term  Canon,  which  in  truth  signifies 
no  more  than  a  rule ;  but  no  sooner  was  it  invented, 
than  it  was  applied  to  perpetual  tugue,  even  in  the 
score;  and  perpetual  fugue  and  canon  were  then, 
and  now  are,  looked  on  as  convertible  terms ;  than 
which  it  seems  nothing  can  be  more  improper,  for 
when  a  fugue  is  once  scored  it  ceases  to  be  a  canon. 

From  fugues  in  the  unison,  or  ot  many  parts  in 
one,  musicians  proceeded  to  the  invention  ot  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  of  the  consonances  in  which  the 
parts  were  to  follow ;  for  instance,  where  the  reply 
was  above  the  principal,  it  was  said  to  be  in  the 
epidiatessaron,  epidiapente,  or  epidiapason ;  when 
it  was  below,  it  was  called  hypodiatessaron,  hypo- 
diapente,  hypodiapason  ;*  adding  in  either  case, 
where  the  number  of  parts  required  it,  a  farther 
direction :  for  an  example  of  one  ot  these  kinds  we 
have  that  celebrated  composition  ot  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 
Musurgia,  torn.  I.  page  389,  is  a  canon  ot  four  parts 
in  the  hypodiapente,  diapason,  et  hypodiapason  cum 
diapente,  composed  by  Emilio  Rossi,  chapel -master 
of  Loretto,  remarkable  for  the  elegance  of  its  con- 
texture, the  resolution  whereof  is  here  inserted  : 

-* ■— r '^-S< 


m^^mw^^ 


^< 

S3 
<o 

K 


m^ 


i 


Ab  -  sa  -  Ion    fi  -  11 


m 


mi 


EE: 


Ab 


sa 


Ion     ti  -  li 


1231 


[E^^i 


'—^ntizr 


m^- 


Ab 


sa  -  Ion    ti  - 


irai 


Ab- 

*  These  are  the  most  general  forms  of  canon,  but  Morley,  pa?.  172, 
says  a  canon  may  be  made  ill  any  distance,  comprehended  witliin  tiie 
reach  of  I  he  voice. 


fi  -  li   mi   Absa-lon 


fi  -  li  mi   Absa  -  Ion 


# 


nil 


fi  -  li  mi  Ab-  sa  -  1 


on 


fi  -  li  mi 


=^^41;^^^^P£[^-^I 


li 


mi 


fi  -  li    mi  Ab-  sa  -  Ion  fi  - 


— ■ ff-r'tf-ri 


-«2»- 


^=^- 


— — o'+l — F-| — I — r 


sa-lon  fi 


li     mi 


Ab  -  sa-lon  fi  -  li 


P^ 


—a 


:^^^^£3:ggzgzgrj_^j^^-z.j 


Ab- sa-lon      Ab  -  sa     - 


-    Ion. 


t 


^g 


E°EP£E 


E^3#E 


lUi 


Ab-sa  -  Ion 


Ab-sa 


-     Ion. 


E^-JS= 


t=A 


Z^ZltZJC— 


:=1c!tz= 


li  mi  Ab-sa  -    Ion 


Ab  -sa  -    -  Ion. 


i&-r-»-m-rt — «» 

E^£E|E:g-gEE 


z=z^r^^=X=: 


N^HP 


mi  Ab   -  salon  Ab-sa   -    -   Ion. 


Emilio  Rossi. 


CHAP.  LXVII. 


Soon  after  its  invention  farther  improvements  were 
made  in  this  species  of  composition,  by  the  con- 
trivance of  fugues,  that  sung  both  backward  and 
torward,  or,  in  musical  phrase,  recte  et  retro ;  and 
ot  others  that  sung  per  Arsin  and  Thesin,  that  is  to 
say,  so  as  that  one  part  ascended  while  the  other 
descended.  Of  the  former  kind  the  following  canon 
ot  Dr.  John  Bull,  with  the  resolution  thereof  in  the 
present  method  of  notation,  is  an  example  : — 


Chap.  LXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


290 


— -H-j-j-j-- 


CANON    FOR 
OF  TWO  PARTS 
RECTE  ET 


FOUR    VOICES 
IN  ONE, 
RETRO. 


DocTOB  John  Bull. 


RESOLUTION. 


1 


Mi 


-^ c»- 


li 


*  *  —nt F- 


irzi 


-^ ^- 


^=-^ppi^-^pa=a=^^|g^s^| 


-& **- 


f— O 10- 


i=F=1 


£=Eii|E^3j^"^gii 


"«:»"■ 


ii^=3igi 


g^a^ 


i— ** — ^- 


-*^ T^ 


^^mEs^=^ 


«- 


U3Z 


::<^  zar: 


ziiz:z=zr- 


^m 


* »     *^~ 


il 


^^ ^ -7 


-10 ^r-r 


-I o 1 ^^—fj—Y- — I — h" — 

-F F— F5-p— -c — -F-Fj^ 


=^^g=^=j^:d^^=1 


^P=t= 


^= 


:^=-^^=f 


_ce_ 


li^^iPl 


=i-«=^rH=:^ 


-^^ 


1 


m^ 


<e*—<&-y—^— — ^- 


1 


mmr^:=^E?^^^m^^^^0^^^^^^s^?^€ms^^^^^^^: 


300 


Of  fugue  per  Arsin  et  Thesin,  or,  as  it  is  called 
by  the  Italians,  per  Muovimenti  contrarii,  this  from 
the  Istitutione  Harmoniche  of  Zarlino,  terza  parte, 
cap.  Iv.  pag.  277,  may  serve  as  a  specimen  : — 

FUGA  PER  MUOVIMENTI  CONTRARII. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 

— ^-Fi r-+ — ■^-F-*- 


BooK  VII. 


^- 


-^- 


lEii^ 


fe^ 


i: 


-il 


=1-F 


1 


CONSEQUENTE. 


t__ _ 

"N         GUIDA.  ^— ' 


i^m^^^^^^^^ 


'l^U^^^^-^^J^EEEfl^^^^I^^^nM 


e» — 


~^~ia 


f=^: 


:^at:= 


Here   follows  a  fugue  of   Dr.  Bull  on  the  same 
_        plain-song   with   that   of  his   above   given,   of  both 


-lU- ______ —J. _ — ^^f2Z:Z — — I 1 — I— I — p  piillil-suiis^      vvim     Lii.iu     ui     Ilia     nuuvc     51VV...,     ^^1      K-vju.i 

^^— jO— --^£^:=z^E^gEEp'~i   ■  -j—zpi-g— ^^=:p'— F      kinds,  viz.,  recte  et  retro,  and  also  per  arsin  et  thesin  ; 


f 


xiz 


Gi—j^ 


the  canon  whereof,  to  shew  the  artificial  construction 

i_ of  its  parts,  is  in  the  manuscript  whence  it  was  taken 

j^3E^g^E^fg=i=jE[E^zfzf^pEbE^z^      exhibited  in  the  form  of  a  triangle,  and  immediately 
^~^  ^  '   ^  following  it,  is   the  resolution  thereof   in   modern 


■N 


EE^^^ 


~n- 


B 


— - — «_*» 


--si-. 


characters  : — • 


CANON    FOR 

OF  FOUR  PARTS 
r.T  RETRO,  ET  PER 


IN  ONE,  RECTE 
ARSIN  ET  THESIN. 


Doctor  Jonn  B'/ll. 


CiiAP.  LXVII, 


igm 


■^■<2 


W 


AND  PRACTICE  OP  MUSIC. 
RESOLUTION. 


301 


I 


:z2i 


la; 


i 


"C»" 


mpi-^ 


-<2 


?=t 


m 


"«:»" 


igj^lifejii^^ 


Igi^liitlii^i^ 


^^iigi^e^EE=a^ 


r«=t; 


:«=ffi 


tzt: 


[[fe^iy^^i^ii 


ES 


EigjsEiyrf: 


■c»" 


fl^lEEf^Ei 


11 


rci; 


rrz: 


I 


m 


i 


:*3i 


-^- 


lai 


-m—(&- 


lEiEl^E 


ll^iPJl 


:i=»^:ii]— ri— 


— «3 


==-^11=3^ 


-»^ 


iil3il^E^3=[=l^l.^ 


HiiiiL^li^ll 


EPEEE 


iPI^l 


*= 


^■P¥ 


«3l- 


—-<& •— 


i^^fs=m^^mm^mMm?^^wm^mm^w^^m 


7=t- 


zE£ 


-o- 


i^^ 


:H-- 


4i 


:i=r3!i 


r— <2_ 


mm^^ 


^k — » 3 1 — P o— h 

^^g— I *> — t^-F 1— 


:j=  = 


~c»^ 


is 


rra: 


/r\ 


::=r2z;~ 


/T^ 


is5^^i^giE^Lr=g 


ismiiiiii 


/7S 


"«3'~ 


^^m^ 


^^=p—f- 


i=^=p 


I L  _C1 1 . 1 


-±=^: 


:d=: 


il^l 


iS:^=pEJEp;;gEPgE^EElESZEE^E: 


--01— 


<2— r-f. 


I«=il 


"O 


-tzp: 


-p:: 


^ei^Pim^i^i 


This  and  the  former  by  the  same  author,  in  tlie 
manuscript  from  which  they  were  taken,  are  given 
in  a  triangular  form,  with  a  view  to  exhibit  the 
singularity  of  their  contexture,  and  the  mutual  rela- 
tion and  various  progressions  of  the  several  sounds ; 
and  that  figure  is  here  preserved  in  both  instances  : 
but  lest  this  representation  should  appear  too  enig- 
matical, the  resolution  of  each  canon  in  score  is 
above  given. 

Morley,  in  the  second  part  of  his  Introduction, 
pag.  103,  has  given  a  fugue  of  Bird's  comjwsing, 
of  two  parts  in  one,  per  Arsin  et  Thesin,  with  the 
point  reverted,  note  for  note,  of  which  he  says,  '  that 
'  whoever  shall  go  about  to  make  such  another  upon 
'a  common  knowne  plaine-song  or  hymne,  shall 
'find  more  difficultie  than  he  looked  for;  and  that 
'  although  he  shoulde  assaie  twcntie  several  hymnes 
*or  plain-songs  for  finding  of  one  to  his  purpose, 
*he  doubts  if  he  should  anie  waie  goe  beyonde  the 
'excellencie  of  that  wliich  he  sjieaks  of,  for  which 
*  reason  he  has  given  it  in  this  fonu  : — 


was 


CLKOO 


ll?PJi^jll^l^B^=^- 


'i^^m 


im 


ii^l^iEl=F^fii^ii^li 


Ad  Placitum. 


"Z2: 


lira: 


-,l?Ei 


iCi: 


^^mw^^w^ 


p^iHuln^^iiie^pj 


m^^ 


na: 


f»):- 


^ 


1221 


:Eaz 


riorz^z 


302 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VII. 


z-i-z 


=E^=^E=i 


_)-_  o — L--_ -__!->-, ^:» 


;^iE^EESEi=[^^^IISgii^l 


^E 


1221 


i 


331 


ijta:; 


EE:£«: 


tl^^Piil 


l^fe;^z^^^ 


~E- 


;C2; 


-at b: 


rza FzTi 


ii¥iiiM:3j; 


|^:^=Ei^^ii3^-;^ 


i^llel^ 


:(^---— = 


a>:z:::=^ — 


:cii 


113: 


:«f3: 


fc=^^E 


t- 


iii^ 


^R|l 


:^— 


E^3^l§^l 


.-prcrzrztpr^p 


f^=iil2=rJ=i3iE^i 


pJil:f^|[:|E^33ii3E^ii^Eiir:illi 


WILLIAM  BIRD.* 


Butler  is  lavish  in  his  commendations  of  this 
fugue ;  indeed  his  words  are  a  sort  of  comment  on 
it,  and  as  they  are  calculated  to  point  out  and  unfold 
its  excellencies,  they  are  here  given  from  his  Prin- 
ciples of  INIusic,  lib.  I,  cap.  iii.  sect.  4.  in  his  own 
words  : — 

'  The  fifth  and  last  observation  is,  tliat  all  sorts  of 

•  The  several  exami>les  of  canon  by  Dr.  Bull  and  Bird,  above  given, 
are  not  in  jiriiit,  and  it  may  therefore  be  expected  that  their  authenticity 
sliould  be  ascertained :  with  respect  to  the  former,  tliey  are  taken  (roni 
a  very  curious  MS.  formerly  in  the  library  of  Dr.  Pepusch,  in  an  outer 
leaf  whereof  is  written  'Ex  Dono  Willi  Theed  ; '  this  Mr.  T  heed  was 
many  years  a  member  of  tlie  academy  of  ancient  music;  and  very  well 
ski, led  ill  the  science.  The  book  contains,  among  many  other  com- 
positions of  the  like  nature,  the  above  canons  of  Dr.  Bull,  and  also 
that  of  Clemens  Non  Papa,  with  the  several  resolutions  thereof  in  the 
form  above  inserted. 

As  to  the  ex:iniples  ascribed  to  Bird,  they  are  taken  from  a  MS.  also 
once  part  of  Dr  Pepusch's  library,  in  the  hand-writing  of  Mr.  Galliard  ; 
the  fugues  upon  O  Lux  and  Miserere  are  written  in  canon  with  tlie  usual 
sign  for  tlie  parts  to  follow;  the  resolutions  are  clearly  the  studies  of 
Mr.  Galliard,  who  it  seems  thought  himself  warranted  in  the  insertion  of 
flat  and  sharp  signatures  in  many  instances,  though  no  such  appear  in 
the  canons  themselves.  Both  these  manuscripts  are  now  in  tlie  collec- 
tion of  the  author  of  this  work. 

It  is  necessary  here  to  remark  that  these  several  exemplars  of  fugue 
and  canon  are  adduced  with  a  view  solely  to  investigate  and  explain  tlie 
nature  of  these  intricate  species  of  composition,  for  which  purpose  the 
resolutions  alone  in  the  latter  instances  will  be  thought  sulhcient. 


'  fugues  (reports  and  reverts  of  the  same,  and  of 
'  divers  points  in  the  same,  and  divers  canons,  and  in 
'the  same  and  divers  parts)  are  sometimes  most 
'elegantly  intermedled,  as  in  that  inimitable  lesson 
'  of  Mr.  Bird's,  containing  two  parts  in  one  upon 
'a  plain-song,  wherein  tiie  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  fourth  as  the  first  did, 
'  and  then  reporteth  it  in  the  unison ;  before  the  end 
'  whereof,  the  first  part  having  rested  three  minims 
'  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  singeth  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  first  reverteth  it  in  a  fifth, 
'  and  then  reporteth  it  in  an  unison,  and  so  closeth 
'  with  a  second  revert ;  where,  to  make  np  the  full 

*  liarmony,  unto  these  three  parts  is  added  a  Iburth, 

*  which  very  musically  toucheth  still  upon  the  points 
'  reported  and  reverted. 

But  here  a  distinction  is  to  be  noted  between 
perpetual  fugues,  such  as  those  above  given,  in  which 
every  note  in  the  one  part  has  its  answer  in  the 
other  part ;  and  that  other  transitory  kind  of  fugue, 
in  which  the  ])oint  only,  whatever  it  be,  is  repeated 
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  writers,  Fuga  legata,  and  the  other 
Fuga  sciolta,  that  is  to  say,  strict  or  constrained,  and 
free  or  licentious  fugue. 

The  Italians  also  give  to  the  leading  part  of 
a  fugue  and  its  replicate  or  answer,  the  appellations 
of  Guida  and  Consequenza ;  Morley,  and  others 
after  him,  distinguish  them  by  the  names  of  prin- 
cipal and  reply  :  and  with  the  appearan(!e  of  reason 
it  is  said  that  the  notes  in  each  should  sol-fa  alike; 
that  is  to  say,  the  intervals  in  each  part  ought  to  be 
precisely  the  same  with  respect  to  tlie  succession 
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  by  the  name  of  Fuga  in  nomine,  as  being 
to  appearance  and  nominally  only,  fugue,  and  not 
tliat  species  of  composition  in  the  strict  sense  of 
musical  laufj^uaire. 

Zarlino  and  other  Italian  writers  speak  of  a  kind 
of  fugue  called  Contrajiunto  doppio,  double  counter- 
point, which  supposes  the  notes  in  each  part  to  be 
of  equal  time,  but  that  the  subject  of  the  principal 
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- 
])osition  was,  soon  after  its  invention,  dispensed  with, 
and  the  principal  and  its  re])lv  made  to  consist  of 
notes  of  different  lengths  or  times ;  after  which  it 
obtained  the  name  of  double  descant,  the  terms  des- 
caiit  and  counterpoint  being  always  used  in  oppo- 
sition to  each  other.  Sethus  Calvisius  includes  both 
under  the  comprehensive  name  Harmonia  Gemina: 
and  to  fugues  of  this  kind,  where  a  third  point  or 


Chap.  LXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


303 


suliject  is  introduced,  he  gives  the  name  of  Ter- 
geuiina.  Morley  has  given  examples  of  each  at  the 
end  of  the  second  part  of  his  Introduction. 

From  the  foregoing  explanation  of  the  nature  of 
canon  it  must  appear  to  be  a  very  elaborate  species  of 
musical  composition,  and  in  which  perhaps,  substance, 
that  is  to  say,  fine  air  and  melody  is  made  to  give 
place  to  form ;  just  as  we  see  in  those  fanciful 
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  musical  com- 
positions above  spoken  of  derive  an  advantage  of 
a  peculiar  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  the  concordance 
of  sounds  in  the  several  parts,  but  each  distinct  part 
produces  a  succession  of  harmony  in  itself,  the  laws 
of  fugue  or  canon  being  such  as  generally  to  exclude 
those  dissonant  intervals  which  take  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  fugue  through  all  its  parts  ;  and  the  mind 
receives  the  same  pleasure  in  tracing  the  exact 
resemblance  of  the  several  parts  each  to  the  other, 
as  it  does  in  comparing  a  picture  or  statue  with  its 
archetype  ;  the  truth  of  this  observation  must  be 
apparent  to  those  who  are  aware  of  the  scholastic 
distinction  of  beauty  into  absolute  and  relative. 

The  general  directions  for  singing  of  fugue  when 
written  in  canon  are  such  as  these  :  Fuga  in  tertia 
superiore  post  tempus. — Fuga  in  Hypodiapente,  post 
tempus.  —  Fuga  5  vocum  in  tertia  superiore,  post 
tempus. — Fuga  in  Unisono  post  duo  tempora,  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.  IMorley, 
])ag.  173  of  his  Introduction,  has  given  an  enigmatical 
canon  of  lodocus  Pratensis ;  and  he  there  refers  to 
others  in  the  Introductions  of  Raselius  and  Sethus 
Calvisus  :  he  has  also  given  a  canon  of  his  own  in- 
vention 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,  master  of  the  royal  chapel 
of  Naples,  published  in  1G13."^' 

It  now  remains  to  speak  of  a  species  of  fugue  in 
the  unison,  wherein  for  particular  reasons  the  strict 
rules  of  harmony  are  frequently  dispensed  with, 
namely,  the  catch  or  round,  which  Butler,  after 
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   composers   whereof   assume    unto    themselves 

*  a  special   licence   of  breaking  Priscian's   head,  in 
'  unlawful  taking  of  discords,   and  in  special  con- 

*  In  this  voluminous  work  are  contained  a  great  number  of  musical 
conceits,  which  whoever  has  a  mind  to  divert  himself  with  them,  will 
lind  in  tlie  twenty-second  book,  entitled  '  Gue  es  los  enigmas  musicalis.' 


'  secutions  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  come  the  appellation  but  from  the 
verb  Catch  ?  yet  is  there  nothing  in  the  passage 
above-cited  to  this  purpose.  A  catch,  in  the  musical 
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  Purcell.  though 
in  truth  composed  many  years  before  his  time,  by 
Cranford,  a  singing-man  of  St.  Paul's,  to  words  of 
a  very  different  imi)ort.  See  a  collection  of  catches 
and  rounds,  entitled  Catch  that  Catch  can,  or  the 
Musical  Companion,  printed  for  old  John  Play  ford. 
Loud.  1G77,  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.  Caesar,  and  '  .lack  thou'rt 
'  a  toper,'  both  printed  by  Pearson  in  1710. 

Butler  refers  to  three  examples  of  this  kind  of  song 
in  Calvisus  ;  but  the  truth  of  the  matter  is,  that  it 

t  To  say  the  truth,  notwitlistandin^  the  severe  restrictions  to  which 
it  is  subject,  canon  does  in  many  respects  afford  a  preat  latitude  for  in- 
vention. Kircher  relates,  that  in  the  writing  of  his  Musurgia,  more 
especially  that  part  which  treats  of  canon,  he  was  assisted  by  Pietro 
Francesco  Valentini  of  Rome,  who  gave  him  the  following: — 

Canon  Polymorphus. 


i^_f^|^^i]i^e^l^_3t 


:?r<?z^^^t.--?z: 


?--dz4: 


«.-<> 


of  which  he  thus  speaks  :  Musurp;.  Univ.  torn.  I.  lib.  V.  cap.  xix. 

'This  wonderful  canon  contains  ten  times,  one  pause,  and  seventeen 
'  notes  ;  it  may  sung  by  two,  three,  four,  or  five  voices,  more  than  two 
'  thousand  ways;  nay,  by  combining  the  parts,  this  variety  may  be  in- 
'  finitely  extt-nded.  The  second  voice  is  retrograde  to  the  tirst.  the  third 
'  is  in\erse  of  the  first,  or  proceeds  by  contrary  motion  to  it ;  the  fourth 
'is  retrograde  to  the  third,  as  may  be  seen  hereunder: — 


second  voice. 


ii 


::|i=!--?_-^i=; 


third  voice. 


-o-o 


--qrnrj- 


o-«.- 


M: 


fourth  voice 


Cidrdrqr 


i.±t- 


Kircher  adds  that  the  same  musician  proposed  another  canon,  which 
he  called  Nodus  Salomonis,  which  may  be  sung  by  ninety-six  voices, 
namely  twenty-four  in  each  part,  treble,  counter-tenor,  tenor,  and  bass, 
and  yet  theie  are  only  four  notes  in  the  canon  ;  but  it  is  to  be  observed, 
that  to  introduce  a  regular  variety  of  harmony,  some  of  the  ninety-six 
voices  are  to  sing  all  longs,  some  all  breves,  some  semibreves,  some 
minims,  some  semi-minims.  See  the  relation  at  lengtli  in  the  Musurgia, 
toni.  I.  pag.  403,  et  seq.,  with  the  disposition  of  the  several  parts  in  their 
order. 

Kircher,  in  the  Musurgia,  torn.  I.  page  408,  says  he  afterwards  found 
out  that  the  same  canon  might  be  sung  by  five  hundred  and  twelve 
voices,  or,  which  is  the  same  thing,  distributed  into  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  choirs;  and  afterwards  proceeds  to  shew  how  it  may  be 
sung  by  twelve  million  two  hundred  thousand  voices,  nay,  by  an  infinite 
number  ;  and  then  says,  in  Corollary  iii.  that  this  place  of  the  Apocalypse 
is  made  clear,  viz.,  chap.  xiv.  '  And  I  heard  the  voice  of  harpers  harping 
'  with  their  harps,  and  they  sung  as  it  were  a  new  song,  &c  ,  and  no  man 
'  could  learn  that  song  but  the  one  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand 
'which  were  redeemed  from  the  earth.'  Kircher  asserts  that  this  passage 
in  scripture  may  be  interpreted  literally,  and  then  shews  that  the  canon 
above  described  may  be  so  disposed  as  to  be  sung  by  one  hundred  and 
forty-four  thousand  voices.     Musurg.  torn.  I.  pag.  414. 


304: 


HISTORY  OP  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VII. 


was  known  in  England  long  before  liis  time.  Of 
this  the  catch  '  Sumer  is  icumen  in,'  is  evidence  ;  and 
it  has  been  said,  with  some  shew  of  probability,  that 
the  English  were  the  inventors  of  it.  Dr.  Tudway, 
formerly  music  professor  in  the  university  of  Cam- 
bridge, and  who  for  many  years  was  employed  in 
collecting  music  books  for  Edward  earl  of  Oxford, 
has  asserted  it  in  positive  terms  in  a  letter  to  a  son 
of  his,  yet  extant  in  manuscript ;  and  it  may  with  no 
less  degree  of  certainty  be  said,  that  as  this  kind  of 
music  seems  to  correspond  with  the  native  humour 
and  freedom  of  English  manners,  there  are  more  ex- 
amples of  it  here  to  be  found  than  in  any  other 
country  whatsoever.  The  following  specimens  of 
rounds  or  catches  in  three,  four,  and  five  parts,  may 
suffice  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 
be  deemed  a  matter  of  some  curiosity.  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  '  Thou  knave,'  upon 
which  follows  this  dialogue  : — * 


Clown.  Hold  thy  peace  thou  knave  ?  knight, 
I  shall  be  coustrain'd  in't  to  call  thee  knave,  knight. 

Sir  And.  'Tis  not  the  first  time  I  have  constrain'd 
one  to  call  me  knave.  Begin,  fool ;  it  begins  '  Hold 
*  thy  peace.' 

Clown.     I  shall  never  begin  if  I  hold  my  peace. 

Sir  And.  Good  I'faith  :  come  begin.  [They  sing 
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  the 
three  persons  that  sing  calls,  and  is  called,  knave  in 
turn  : — 

CANON  IN  THE  UNISON.        A  3  Voc. 


■i^z 


^2li^=liES:^|if=?: 


HOLD   thy  peace,  and 


tlii: 


Thou  knave, 


3EP 


lb: 


^=^e: 


preethee  hold  thy  peace. 


Hold  thy  peace,   thou  knave. 


Thou  knave. 


II 


CANON  IN  THE  UNISON. 


*i=f=?il 


=?z" 


E=^^=3=3=[i?:^i 


:=^r 


3^ 


O    my  fear-ful   dreams    ne  -  ver    for  -  get  shall      I, 


ne 


is^ 


shall 


«5- 


demn'd        to 


-f^ 


^^I. 


fczii 


T;      me  thought 


-ioz 


dye,  whose  name  wa.s  Je 


e3= 


i^: 


:zii 


ver 


for 


:^:: 


:«ii 


get 
==1= 


A  3  Voc. 


:3=a:E 


in  I 


I     heard       a 


maid 


en  s 


i=|- 


EE 


zzzi j.__ 

sus,      whose   name   was      Je 


S^E; 


mi. 


child 


sus. 


con 


Mi'^ 


::^DM=: 


UT 


^^^ 


E3^E: 


ilat: 


RE 


MI 


-fi- 


iley  downe  downe,  hey 


^- 


^^^m 


^- 


downe      a  downe   a  downe,  hey    downe  downe         a  downe, 


Heave  and  hoe  rum-be- lo,   hey  tro-lo     tro  -  ly   lo,         hey 


zB 


r= 


fE 


zzzmzzpz 


— F- 


Iloot, 


-J-z 


O 


-(&- 

-\^- 


tro  -  lo 


tro  -    Iv,        hey     tro-lo    tro    -    Iv 


=:r=f£=^.^=pS- 


E^^i 


sleep'st       thou    or  wak'st      thou,  Jef  -   fc  -  ry  Cook, 


W- 


EEEE3«EE 


FA 


m. 


:^ot: 


SOL 


a, 


--T>- 

My 


-Hz 


EE^^ 


LA, 


r= 


-^ — 


;^^; 


rfir 


Ie^HI 


LA 


z;^=c 


heart        of  gold    as       true     as     Steele,     as        I  me  leant         in-to  the  bowers, 


^^^^^^m^^^^^'^m^ 


«= 


hey      tro-lo 


tro-lv     lo. 


tro 


lo  tro-ly 


lo. 


zz:^— 


P==!- 


Ei=3 


i=j- 


But 


E3E^£ 


I 


-ff- 


=!=■ 


My      La    -    dy's  gone     to        Can  -  ter-bu-ry,  St. 


the   rost       it       burns,  turne  round    a    -    bout         a-bout  a-bout,  round         a-bout  a-bout,   round    a  -  bout     a 


•  That  tlif  sonps  occasionally  introduced  in  Shakespeare's  plays  were 
such  as  were  f;imiliar  in  his  time,  i«  clearly  shewn  l)y  Dr.  Percy,  in  his 
Rehques  of  Ancient  English  Poetry,  who  has  heen  so  fortunate  as  to 
recover  many  of  them  ;  the  above  may  he  added  to  the  number  as  may 
also  this  alluded  to  in  the  same  scene  of  Twellih  Nijlit,  by  tlie  words 
Tiiit'e  merry  men  be  wee.' 


The  AVisemen  were  but  seven  ;  nor  more  shall  be  for  me. 

The  Muses  were  but  nine.     The  worthies  three  times  three.         [are  we. 

And  three  merry  boyes,  and  three  merry  boyes,  and  three  merry  boye" 
The  Vcrtues  they  are  sev'n,  and  three  the  greater  be. 
The  CKsars  they  were  twelve,  and  the  fatal  si-^ters  three.  [are  we. 

And  three  merry  {jirles,  and  three  merry  girles,  and  threi.  merry  ^iiius 


Chap.  LXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


305 


::1c!t: 


E3^E 


lUot 


:3^Ei 


i^iolr. 


SOL 


FA 


MI 


RE 


UT. 


m 


:j=rl. 


:ti-nt.-=^==^ 


-O-^:— "— 


5^5^ 


-**—Ti 


"O" 


~riz 


:zii 


:«iz 


if    my  La  -  dy    love  me         well, 


Lord 


so     Eo   -    bin 


I     I 
lowres. 


fsi^ 


=ii 


Hi: 


^ 


E=^ 


F=inz 


rt:i 


132:: 


-t^ 


'^^ 


eeee^^eI 


ih: 


=?r: 


fc=t 


1 


-ft?- 


rpii 


-^- 


'm 


-fX^ 


-^ 


She      met   with    Kate       of        Malmes-bu-ry,  why   weep'st  thou      ma     -     pie? 


Thomas  be  her       boote, 


X 


:±=t=: 


-    bout. 


EEE 


321 


:zi=t= 


^ 


O       Fry-er,  how  fares  thy    ban -de-low,  ban -de-low,    Fry  -  er,  how  fares  thy   ban  -  de-low,  ban  -  de-low  ? 


CANON   IN   THE  UNISON. 


Igj 


COME, 


=1; 


jdz 


ZTCfZ 


^=^3z 


A  5  Voc. 


fol 


-    low 


me 


mer 


i^j 


E^^ 


g^i^i 


ri 


ly        my 


^g=F=»^=a=^ 


Take    heed      of 


time,   tune,    and 


ear, 


time, 


tune,     and       ear, 


3^^"S± 


rp.-=^ 


=1= 


;^^^ife^^i=^iEiaiai=[^^^;it^i=E^^ 


Mai -kin  was  a 


zlM 


S^ 


t:=t=: 


coun  -  try     maid,    a 


coun  -  try     maid, 


t< — c 


-^ 


<5=3 


zij 


trick  and  trim,  trick  and  trim 


Hey  hoe, 


have  with  you  now  to        West-min  -  ster. 


but      before  you     come 


Si^^EE^ 


Ai: 


:e* 


dieu,    you      dain  -  ty         Dame, 


^^^^^^^^^^^ 


whi  -  tlier  you  will      for 


_x 


3gfe 


— c» — 

mates. 


&±:= 


izz; 


i^ftiz^ 


rf 


^ 


i^iilill^ill 


let    all      a      -      -      gree, 


^^IeSe 


^^^^•^» 


and  make  no     faults 


and  then  with-out  all 


doubt 


we        need  not     fear 


i«: 


=§^ 


to  sing  this  catch  through  -  out. 


as    she  might  be. 


she   would  needs  to    the       court  She    said. 


to  sell  milk  and    fir- men  -  ty. 


are     the      ~ve   -    ly 


same 


took    you      for        to 


CANON  IN   THE  UNISON. 


It 


i^Ei^ 


=^- 


^= 


HOW     should  we      sing 


well 


and 


not    be      wea 


^ 


:e=P- 


izi: 


— 1 — 


and 


not      be       wea 


erzf- 


-.z\z 


ZXtl 


^1=^ 


make 


* 


s^3e 


us 
:--d= 


mer 


i'y> 


to 


1^^^^^ 


A  5  Voc. 


ry, 


3^ 


ry,       Since        we    lack    mo     -     ney    to 


izi— 


iri; 


utz 


Hii^^lii 


make  us      mer 


ry, 


i 


I 


Since        we      lack      mo  -  ney 


to 


=P= 


^ 


make  us 


mer  -  ry. 


Since  we      lack      mo  -  ney  to       make  us    mer  -  ry. 


806 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book    VHI. 


Of  the  several  examples  of  fugues  and  rounds,  or 
to  adopt  the  common  mode  of  speech,  of  fugues  on  a 
plain-song,  and  canons  in  the  unison,  above  given,  it 
is  necessary  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,  of  Bird,  and  are  alluded  to  by  Morley 
in  his  Introduction.  And  here  it  is  to  be  noted,  that 
the  plain-song  of  the  fugue  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  trouble  to  resolve  or  render 
these  several  compositions  in  score,  for  in  his  manu- 


script he  remarks  that  they  are  very  difficult  and 
curious  :  and  it  is  more  than  conjectured  that  many 
of  the  grave  and  acute  signatures  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  compositions  of  the  kind  more  ancient, 
except  the  canon  given  in  book  V.  chap.  xlv.  of  the 
present  work. 


BOOK    VIII. 


CHAP.    LXVIIL 


Having  in  a  regular  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  fugue  and  canon, 
it  remains  to  speak  of  the  succeeding  writers  in  their 
order. 

Alanius  Varenius,  of  Montaubon,  in  Tholouse, 
about  the  year  1503,  wrote  Dialogues,  some  of  which 
treat  of  the  science  of  harmony  and  its  elements. 

LuDovicus  CiELius  Rhodiginus  flourished .  about 
the  year  1510  ;  he  wrote  nothing  professedly  on  the 
subject  of  music,  yet  in  his  work  De  Antiquarum 
Lectionem,  in  thirty  books,  are  interspersed  many 
things  relating  thereto,  particidarly  in  lib.  V.  cap. 
23,  25,  26.  Kircher,  in  the  Musurgia,  tom.  I.  pag.  27, 
cites  from  him  a  relation  to  the  following  effect,  viz.  : 
That  he,  Ca^lius  Rhodiginus,  being  at  Rome,  saw  a 
parrot,  which  had  been  purchased  by  Cardinal  Asca- 
nius,  at  the  price  of  an  hundred  golden  crowns,  which 
parrot  did  most  articulately,  and  as  a  man  would, 
repeat  in  words  the  Creed  of  the  Christian  faith. 
Coelius  Rhodiginus  was  tutor  to  Julius  Cjfisar  Scaliger, 
and  died  in  1525,  of  grief,  as  it  is  said,  for  the  fate 
of  the  battle  of  Pavia,  in  which  his  patron  Francis 
the  First,  from  whom  he  had  great  expectations,  was 
taken  prisoner.  He  is  taxed  with  having  borrowed 
some  things  from  Erasmus,  without  making  the  usual 
acknowledgments. 

Gregorius  Reischius,  of  Friburg,  was  the  author 
of  a  work  entitled  Margarita  Philosophica,*  i.  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  physics,  or  natural  philosophy,  metaphy- 
sics, and  ethics,  in  all  twelve  books  ;  that  on  music  is 
taken  chiefly  from  Boetius,  yet  it  seems  to  owe  some 
part  of  its  merit  to  the  improvements  of  Franchinus. 
The  Margarita  Pliilosophica  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 
Orontius  FinjBus,  of  the  college  of  Navarre,  f 

*  This  book,  the  Margarita  Philosopbira,  is  frequently  mentioned  in 
a  work  entitled  II  Musico  Testore,  by  Zaccaria  Tevo,  printed  at  Venice 
in  1706,  in  which  many  passages  are  cited  from  it  verbatim. 

t  Bayle  Oronce  fine. 


Johannes  Cochleus,  of  Nuremberg,  was  famous 
about  the  year  1525,  for  his  Polemical  writings.  He 
was  the  author  of  Rudimenta  Musicae  et  Geometria, 
printed  at  Nuremberg,  and  the  tutor  of  Glareanus,  as 
the  latter  mentions  in  his  Dodecachordon,  a  doctor  in 
divinity,  and  dean  of  the  church  of  Francfort  on  the 
Maine.  He  was  born  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  Cochlaaus  occurs  in  the  list  of  them.  Peter 
Aron,  in  his  Toscanello,  celebrates  him  by  the  title 
of  Phonascus  of  Nuremberg. 

LuDovicus  FoLiANus,  of  Modcua,  published  at 
Venice,  in  1529,  in  folio,  a  book  intitled  Musica 
Theoretica;  it  is  written  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  musicians  ;  the  second 
treats  of  the  consonances,  where,  by  the  way,  it  is  to 
be  observed  that  the  author  discriminates  with  re- 
markable accuracy  between  the  greater  and  lesser 
tone ;  and  by  insisting,  as  he  does  in  this  section  De 
Utilitate  Toni  majoris  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 
Boetius,  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  the  introduction  into  practice  of  the  intense  or 
syntonous  diatonic,  in  preference  to  the  ditonic  dia- 
tonic, is  to  be  attributed.  This  particular  will  appear 
to  be  more  worthy  of  remark,  wlien  it  is  known,  tliat 
about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  it  became 
a  matter  of  controversy  which  of  those  two  species  of 
the  diatonic  genus  was  best  accommodated  to  practice. 
Zarlino  contended  for  the  intense  or  syntonous  dia- 
tonic of  Ptolemy,  or  rather  Didymus,  for  he  it  was 
that  first  distinguished  between  the  greater  and  lesser 
tone.  Vincentio  Galilei,  on  the  other  hand,  preferred 
that  division  of  Aristoxenus,  which,  though  irrational 
according  to  the  judgment  of  the  ear,  gave  to  the 
tetrachord  two  tones  and  a  half.     In  the  course  of 


1 


Chap.  LXVIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


307 


the  dispute,  which  was  conducted  with  great  warmth 
on  both  sides,  Galilei  takes  great  pains  to  inform  his 
reader  that  Zarlino  was  not  the  first  that  discovered 
the  supposed  excellence  of  that  division  which  he  pre- 
ferred, for  that  Ludovico  Fogliano,  sixty  or  seventy 
years  before,  had  done  the  same  ;*  and  in  the  table 
or  index  to  his  book,  article  Lodovico  Fogliano, 
which  contains  a  summary  of  his  arguments  on  this 
head,  he  speaks  thus  :  '  Lodovico  Fogliano  fu  il  primo 
'  che  considerasse  che  il  diatonico  che  si  canta  hoggi, 
'  non  era  il  ditoneo,  ma  il  syntono  ;'  whicli  assertion 
contains  a  solution  of  a  doubt  which  Dr.  Wallis  en- 

"  Dial,  della  Musica  antica  e  moderna,  rag.  112. 


tertained,  namely,  whether  Zarlino  or  some  more 
ancient  writer  first  introduced  the  syntonous  or  in- 
tense diatonic  into  practice,  f 

The  third  section  of  Folianus's  book  is  principally 
on  the  division  of  the  Monochord,  in  whicli  he  under- 
takes to  shew  the  necessity  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 
cuts,  which  as  they  shew  the  method  of  using  the 
Monochord,  with  the  ratios  of  the  consonances,  and 
are  in  other  respects  curious,  are  here  inserted. 

t  Append,  de  Veter.  Harmon,  quarto,  pag.  318, 


308 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


Johannes  Froschius,  a  doctor  of  divinity,  and 
prior  of  the  Carmelites  at  Augsburg,  was  the  author 
of  Opusculum  Rerum  ])Iusicalium,  printed  at  Stras- 
burg  in  1535,  a  thin  folio,  and  a  very  methodical  and 
concise  book,  but  it  contains  little  that  can  be  said  to 
be  original.  -^ 

Andreas  Ornithoparcus,  a  master  of  arts  in  the 
university  of  Meyning,  was  the  author  of  a  very 
learned  and  instructive  treatise  on  music,  intitled 
Micrologus,  printed  at  Cologne  in  1535,  in  oblong 
quarto.  It  is  written  in  Latin,  and  was  translated 
into  English  by  our  countryman  John  Douland,  the 
celebrated  lutenist,  and  published  by  him  in  1G09. 
This  work  contains  the  substance  of  a  course  of  lec- 
tures which  Ornithoparcus  had  publicly  read  in  the 
universities  of  Tubingen,  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 
author  again  divides  into  organical,  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  his 
explanation  whereof  he  relates  that  the  Ambrosians 
distinguished  the  stations  of  the  cliffs  by  lines  of 
different  colours,  that  is  to  say,  they  gave  to  F  fa  ut 
a  red,  to  C  sol  fa  ut  a  blue,  and  to  bb  a  sky-coloiired 
line ;  but  that  the  Gregorians,  as  he  calls  them,  whorn 
the  church  of  Rome  follow,  mark  all  the  lines  with 

■•  That  the  use  of  the  tetrachord  synemmenon.  nr  rather  of  its 
characteristic  1)  round,  was  to  avoid  the  tritonus  or  superfluous  fourth 
between  F  fa  ut  and  b  mi,  must  appear  upgn  renei^tfbn,  but  this  author 
has  made  it  apparent  in  the  following,  which  is  the  fourth  of  his  rules 
for  ficta  music. 


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,  speaking  of  the  ambit  or  compass  of 
each,  says  there  are  granted  but  ten  notes  wherein 
each  tone  may  have  his  course ;  and  for  this  assertion 
he  cites  the  authority  of  St.  Bernard,  but  adds,  that 
the  licentious  ranging  of  modern  musicians  hath 
added  an  eleventh  to  each. 

The  fifth  and  sixth  chapters  contain  the  rules  for 
solfaing  by  the  hexachords,  and  for  the  mutations. 

In  the  seventh  chapter  he  speaks  of  the  consonant 
and  dissonant  intervals,  and  cites  Ambrosius  Nolanus 
and  Erasmus  to  shew,  that  as  the  disdiapason  is  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  song,  though  never  so  weighty. 

Chapter  X.  is  intitled  De  Musica  ficta,  which  he 
thus  defines  :  '  Fained  musicke  is  that  which  the 
'  Greeks  call  Synemmenon,  a  song  made  beyond  the 
'  regular  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  molle  hexachords  by  the 
chord  Synemmenon,  characterized  by  b  ;  and  in  this 
chapter  are  discernible  the  rudiments  of  transposition, 
a  practice  which  seems  to  have  been  originally 
suggested  by  that  of  substituting  the  round,  in  the 
place  of  the  square  b,  from  which  station  it  was  first 
removed  into  the  place  of  E  la  mi,  and  has  since  been 
made  to  occupy  various  other  situations ;  ^  as  has 
also  the  acute  signature  ^,  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  EE  UT,  C  SOL  FA  UT,  and  other  chords. 

The  eleventh  chapter  treats  of  transposition,  which 
the  author  says  is  twofold,  that  is  to  say,  of  the  song 
and  of  the  key,  but  in  truth  both  are  transpositions  of 
the  song,  which  may  be  transposed  either  by  an  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  Psalms,  in  which  the  author  takes  occasion  to 
cite  a  treatise  of  Pontifex,  i.  e.  pope  John  XXIL, 
who  it  seems  wrote  on  music,  and  an  author  named 
Michael  Galliculo  de  Muris,  a  most  learned  man, 
author  of  certain  rules  of  the  true  order  of  singing. 

In  treating  of  the  tones  Ornithoparcus  follows  for 

'Marking  fa  in  b  fa  tf  mi,  or  in  any  other  place,  if  the  song  from 
'that  shall  make  an  immediate  rising  to  a  fourth,  a  fifth,  or  an  eiglith, 
'  even  there  fa  must  necessarily  be  marked  to  eschew  a  tritone,  a  semi- 
'  diapente,  or  a  semidiapason,  and  in  usual  and  forbidden  moods,  as 
'  appeareth  in  the  example  underwritten  : — 


e^sEt^ 


Sb±: 


W, 


An  Exercise  of  Ficta  Musicke. 


is: 


-^^ 


_h^l  b»  ♦  ♦^s 


P: 


'^--^^r*- 


--X-. 


-fe-*-|- 


Chap.  LXVIII.  AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC.  309 

the  most  part  St.  Bernard  ami  Franchinus  ;   his  for-  '  The  imperfect  is  wherein  a  breefe  is  measured  only 

mula  of  the  eight  tones,  as  also  of  the  Peregrine  or  '  by  two  semibreefes.     Which  is  knowne  by  the  num- 

wandering  tone,  differs  biit  very  little  from  that  of  '  ber  of  two  joyned  with  a  perfect  circle,  or  a  semi- 

Franchinus  in  his  Practica  Musicse,  herein  before  '  circle,  or  a  semicircle  without  a  number,  thus  O  2, 

exhibited.  '  C  2. 

In  the  thirteenth  and  last  chapter  of  this  book  the  '  Wherefore  prolation  is  the  essential  quantitie  of 

author  shews  that  divers  men  are  delighted  with  '  semibreefes ;   or  it  is  the  setting  of  two  or  three 

divers  modes,  an  observation  that  Guido  had  made  '  minims  against  one  semibreefe ;  and  it  is  twofold, 

before  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  his  Micrologus,  'to  wit,  the  greater  (which  is  a  semibreefe  measured 

and  to  this  purpose  he  says :   '  Some  are  delighted  '  by  three  minims,   or  the  comprehending  of  three 

•'  with   the   crabbed   and  courtly  wandering  of  the  '  minims  in  one  semibreefe)  whose  signe  is  a  point 

*  first  tone  ;  others  do  affect  the  hoarse  gravity  of  '  inclosed  in  a  signe  thus,  Q  (3  .  The  lesser  pro- 
'  the  second  ;  others  take  pleasure  in  the  severe,  and  '  lation  is  a  semibreefe  measured  with  two  minims 
'  as  it  were  disdainful  stalking  of  the  third ;  others  '  onely,  whose  signe  is  the  absence  of  a  pricke,  Fot 
'  are  drawn  with  the  flattering  sound  of  the  fourth ;  '  Franchinus  saith,  they  carry  with  them  the  imper- 

*  others  are  moved  with  the  modest  wantonness  of  the  '  fecting  of  the  figure  when  the  signes  are  wanting.' 

'  fifth  ;  others  are  led  with  the  lamenting  voice  of  the  In  the  course  of  this  explanation  the  author  takes 

'  sixth  ;  others  do  willingly  hear  the  warlike  leapings  occasion  to  mention  the  extrinsical  and  intrinsical 

'  of  the  seventh  ;  others  do  love  the  decent,  and  as  it  signs  in  mensural  music  ;  the  former  he  says  are  the 

'  were  matronal-like  carriage  of  the  eighth.'  circle,  the  number,  and  the  point.      As  to  the  circle. 

The   second   book   is   dedicated   to   the   author's  when  entire  it  originally  denoted  perfection,  as  it  was 

'  worthy  and  kind  friend  George  Brachius,  a  most  called,  or  a  progression  by  three,  or  in  what  we  now 

'  skilful  musician,  and  chief  doctor  of  the  Duke  of  call  triple  time.     When  the  circle  was  discontinued, 

'  Wittenberg  his  chappell.'  or  cut  through  by  a  perpendicular  or  oblique  stroke, 

In  the  second  chapter  of  this  book  the  author  it  signified  imperfection,  or  a  progression  by  two,  or, 
explains  the  nature  of  mensural  music,  and  the  as  we  should  say,  in  duple  time  ;  when  the  circle  had 
figures  used  therein  :  these  he  says  were  anciently  a  point  in  the  centre  it  signified  a  quicker  progression 
five,  but  that  those  of  after  ages  have  drawn  out  in  the  proportions  of  perfect  and  imperfect,  according 
others  for  quickness  sake  ;  those  described  by  him  as  the  circle  was  either  entire  or  mutilated,  as  above, 
are  eight  in  number,  viz.,  the  large,  long,  breve,  As  to  the  figures  3  and  2,  used  as  extrinsic  signs,  they 
semibreve,  minim,  crotchet,  quaver,  and  semiquaver;  seem  intended  only  to  distinguish  the  greater  mood, 
but  it  is  worthy  of  notice  that  he  gives  to  the  semi-  which  gave  three  longs  to  the  large,  from  the  lesser, 
breve  two  forms,  the  one  resembling  a  lozenge,  agree-  which  gave  three  breves  to  the  long  ;  but  the  pro- 
able  to  the  character  of  the  semibreve  now  or  lately  priety  of  this  distinction  is  not  easy  to  be  discovered, 
in  use,  the  other  that  of  an  equilateral  triangle  or  half  As  these  characters  are  now  out  of  use,  and  are 
lozenge.  supplied  by  others  of  modern  invention,  it  is  not 

The  third  chapter  contains  an  explanation  of  the  necessary  to  be  very  inquisitive  about  them  ;  *   it 

ligatures  from  Franchinus,  but  much  too  concise  to  be  is  however  very  certain   that  the  musicians,  from 

intelligible.  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century,  downwards. 

The  fourth  chapter  treats  of  mood,  time,  and  pro-  seem  to  betray  an  universal  ignorance  of  their  original 

lation,   of   which  three  terms  the  following  is  his  use  and  intention ;  and  since  the  commencement  of 

definition  :    '  The   degrees  of  music,  by  which  we  that  period,  we  nowhere  find  the  circle  used  to  denote 

'  know  the  value  of  the  principal  figures,  are  three,  to  perfect  or  triple  time  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  character 

*  wit,  mood,  time,  and  prolation.  Neither  doth  any  for  the  several  species  of  it  are  intended  to  bespeak 
'  of  them  deale  upon  all  notes,  but  each  onely  with  the  relation  which  the  intended  progression  in  triple 
'  certaine  notes  that  belong  to  each.  As  mood  dealeth  time  bears  to  common  or  imperfect  time ;  for  instance 
'  with  larges  and  longs,  time  with  breefes,  prolation  |  is  a  progression  by  three  of  these  notes,  two  whereof 
'  with  semibreefes.'  This  general  definition  is  fol-  would  make  a  bar  or  measure  of  duple  time,  that  is  to 
lowed  by  one  more  particular,  which  is  here  given  in  say,  minims ;  f  and  f  are  progressions  in  triple  time 
the  translator's  own  words  : —  by  crotchets  and  quavers  ;  and  this  observation  will 

*  A  Moode    (as  Franchinus  saith  in   the  second 

jii  rr      c  \  •     T>       1.  \  •     j.\       ri  *It  mav  not  be  improper  here  to  take  notice,  that  notwithstanding 

booke,  cap.  7.  of  his  Pract.)  is  the  measureof  ^longS  the  complaints  of  Morley  of  the  confusion  in  which  the  Cantus  Men- 

'  in    lar""es     or    of    breefes    in    lono'S.       Or   it    is    the  surabiHswasinvolved,  and  his  absolute  despair  of  restoring  the  characters 

.  ,        .      '^      '        /.    ,1  ^.,.  (•  'i    '  11  anciently  used  in  it,  an  author,  who  lived  a  few  years  after  liim,  Thomas 

beginning    Ot    the     quantitie     Ot     larges    and    longs,  Ravenscroft,  a  bachelor  of  music,  published  a  book  with  this  title,  viz. : 

'measuring   them    either   by  the   number   of  two,    or  '  a  breefe  discourse  of  the  true  (but  neglected)  use  of  charact-ring  the 

o  J    ^    ^  .  <^,    V.1  'degrees  by  their  perfection,  imperfection,  and  dnninutionm mensurable 

the  number  ot  three.  '  musicke,   against  the  common  practice  and  custom  of  these  times. 

'  Tiinp  k  1  brpofp  whirVi  rnntiinpc!  in  it  twn  nv  fhvpp.  '  Examples  whereof  are  exprest  in  the  harmony  of  4  voyces,  concerning 

iime  IS  a  Oieeie  Wnicn  COniaineS  in  U  l\\0  or  inree  .  t,jg  pleasure  of  5  usual  recreations,  l  hunting,  2  hawking,  3  dauncing, 

*  semibreefes.       Or  it  is  the  measuring  of  two  or  three  '4  drinking,  S  enamouring.'     London,  I6I4,  quarto, 
'semibreefes    in   one    breefe.        And    it    is   twofold,   to  Theamhor  has  discovered,  as  well  in  the  apology  and  the  preface  to 

...  1  r  1-1  *'^'^  book,  as  m  the  discourse  itself,  a  great  share  of  musical  erudition ; 

'  Wit,    perteCt  :     and    this    is    a    breefe    measured    with  but  the  arguments  severally  contained  in  them  failed  to  convince  the 

'tllVPP    spniibrppfps        Whose  sio-np  is   thp   nnmbpr   nf  world  that  the  revival  of  an  obsolete  practice,  which  from  its  intricacy 

xniee    semiuieeieb.        \\  nose  blgnc  ib   ine   nuraoer   01  ^^^  inutility  had  insensibly  grown  into  disuse,  could  in  any  way  tend  to 

'three    joined    with    a    circle    or    a    semicircle,     or    a  the  perfection  of  the  science;    and   experience   has   shewn  that  that 

,  r     i.     •     1  i.       -ii        J.  T_        xi         r\  n    r\  r>    /~\  method  of  charactering  the  degrees,  which,  as  he  contends  is  the  only 

perfect  circle  set  without  a  number,  thus  0  3,  C  3.  0.  true  one,  is  not  essential  in  the  notation  of  music. 


310 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VI IL 


serve  to  explain  various  other  signatures  not  here 
mentioned.  As  to  these  other  numbers  f  ^^,  the  de- 
nominator in  each  having  a  duple  ratio,  they  are  clearly 
the  characteristics  of  common  time  ;  but  though  the 
entire  circle  is  no  longer  used  as  a  characteristic  of 
time,  yet  the  discontinued  or  mutilated  circle  is  in 
daily  practice.  Some  ignorant  writers  on  music,  from 
its  resemblance  to  the  letter  C,  suppose  to  be  the  initial 
of  the  word  Common  ;  adding,  that  where  a  perpen- 
dicular stroke  is  drawn  through  it,  it  signifies  a  quick, 
and  where  it  is  inverted  a  still  quicker  succession  of 
notes.*  But  this  appropriation  of  the  epithet  common 
to  duple  time  is  unwarrantahle,  for  in  truth  duple 
time  is  no  more  common  than  triple,  the  one  occur- 
ring as  often  in  musical  compositions  as  the  other. 

The  intrinsic  signs  used  in  music  are  no  other  than 
the  rests  which  correspond  with  the  measures  of  notes, 
and  that  alteration  of  the  value  of  notes,  which  con- 
sists 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,  thus  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  hand  of  the  chief  singer 

*  according  to  the  nature  of  the  marks,  which  motion 
'  directs  a  song  according  to  measure. 

*  Tact  is  threefold,  the  greater,  the  lesser,  and  the 
'  proportionate  ;  the  greater  is  a  measure  made  by 

*  a  slow,  and  as  it  were  reciprocal  motion ;  the  writers 
'  call  this  tact  the  whole  or  total  tact ;  and  because  it 
'  is  the  true  tact  of  all  songs,  it  comprehends  in  his 
'  motion  a  semibreefe  not  diminished,  or  a  breefe 
'  diminished,  in  a  duple.  The  lesser  tact  is  the  half 
'  of  the  greater,  which  they  call  a  semi-tact,  because 

*  it  measures  by  its  motion  a  semibreefe  diminished 
'  in  a  duple  ;  this  is  allowed  of  only  by  the  unlearned. 
'  The  proportionate  is  that  whereby  three  semibreefes 
'  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  rule,  drawing  that  part 
'  of  the  song  which  is  not  set  downe,  out  of  that  part 
'  which  is  set  downe.  Or  it  is  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  cunning.' 

From  this,  which  is  an  excellent  definition  of  the 
-term,  we  may  learn  that  it  is  very  improperly 
applied  to  that  kind  of  perpetual  fugue  which  is 
generally  understood  by  the  word  Canon  ;  for  it  is 
a  certain  compendious  rule  for  writing  down  a  com- 
position of  that  kind  on  a  single  stave,  and  for  singing 
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. 

*  This  supposition  seems  in  some  measure  to  be  warranted  by  the 
practice  of  Corelli,  who  throughout  his  works  has  characterized  those 
movements,  where  the  crotchets  are  in  effect  quavers,  by  a  semicircle, 
with  a  perpendicular  stroke  drawn  throufjh  it ;  and  Gcminiani  has  done 
the  same.  See  the  sonatas  of  Corelli,  passim,  and  tlie  last  movement  in 
his  ninth  solo,  and  the  second  and  third  operas  of  Geminiani,  passim,  in 
the  edition  published  by  himself  in  score. 


As  in  the  former  chapter  the  author  had  mentioned 
augmentation  of  the  value  of  notes  by  a  point  in  the 
signature,  and  other  marks  or  directions,  in  this, 
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,  signified 
by  figures.  In  this  chapter  the  author  takes  occasion 
to  mention  a  man  living  in  his  time,  and  hired  to  be 
organist  in  the  castle  of  Prague,  of  whom,  to  use  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  that  he  is   writing  the  very 

*  depth  of  music,  and  is  not  ashamed  to  say  that 
'  Franchinus  (a  most  famous  writer,  one  whom  he 
'  never  so  much  as  tasted  of)  is  not  worth  the  reading, 
'  but  fit  to  be  scoffed  at  and  scorned  by  him.  Foolish, 
'  bragging,  ridiculous  rashnes,  grosse  madncs  !  which 
'  therefore  only  doth  snarle  at  the  learned,  because  it 
'  knows  not  the  means  how  to  emulate  it.  I  pray 
'  God  the  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  be 

*  counted  a  dotard  that  prescribes  that  to  others  the 
'  elements  whereof  himself  never  saw.' 

The  ninth,  tenth,  and  eleventh  chapters  treat  of 
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  speaks  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  subject  of  the  thirteenth  chapter  is  proportion, 
in  the  explanation  whereof  he  follows  Euclid,  Boetius, 
and  Franchinus.  Speaking  of  proportion  in  general, 
he  says  it  is  either  of  equality  or  inequality  ;  but 
that  because  the  dissimilitude  and  not  the  similitude 
of  voice  doth  make  harmony,  so  music  considers  only 
the  proportion  of  inequality.  And  this  he  says  is 
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  lesser 
inequality  is  contrarily  the  comparison  of  a  less 
number  to  the  greater,  as  of  2  to  4,  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, 
superpartiens,  multiplex  superparticular,  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  preposition  sub- 
multiplex,  &C. 


Chap   LXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


311 


CHAP.    LXIX. 

As  the  subject  of  proportion  has  already  been 
treated  of,  this  brief  account  of  the  author's  sentiments 
concerning  it  may  suffice  in  this  place,  the  rather  as 
it  is  a  subject,  about  which  not  only  arithmeticians 
and  musicians,  but  all  mathematicians  are  agreed. 
But  under  this  head  of  proportion  there  is  one 
observation  touching  duple  proportion,  which  will 
be  best  given  in  his  own  words.     '  Duple  proportion, 

*  the  first  kind  of  the  multiplex,  is  when  the  greater 
'  number,  being  in  relation  with  the  less,  doth  com- 
'  prebend  it  in  itselfe  twice,  as  4.  to  2,  8  to  4 ;  but 
'  musically,  when  two  notes  are  uttered  against  one, 
'  which  is  like  them  both  in  nature  and  kind.  The 
'  signe  of  this  some  say  is  the  number  2  ;  others 
'  because  proportion  is  a  relation  not  of  one  thing 
'  but  of  two,  affirm  that  one  number  is  to  be  set 
'  under  another  thus  f  |  f ,  and  make  no  doubt  but  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  multiplex  kind,  are 
'  marked  by  certain  canons,  saying  thus,  Decrescit  in 
'  duplo,  in  triplo,  and  so  forth.  Which  thing,  because 
'  it  is  done  either  to  encrease  men's  diligence,  or  to 
'  try  their  cunning,  we  mislike  not.  There  be  that 
'  consider  the  whole  proportion  in  figures,  which  are 

*  turned  to  the  left  hand-ward,  with  signs  and  crookes, 
'  saying  that  this  C  is  the  duple  of  this  Q,  and  this 
'  ♦  of  'I, ;  and  in  rests,  that  this  T  is  the  duple  of 
'  this  *;  I  think  only  upon  this  reason  that  Fran- 
'  chinus,  Pract.  lib.  II.  cap.  iv.  saith  that  the  right 
'  side  is  greater  and  perfecter  than  the  left,  and  the 

*  left  weaker  than  the  right,  against  which  opinion 
'  neither  myself  am.  For  Valerius  Probus,  a  most 
'  learned  grammarian,  in  his  interpretation  of  the 
'  Roman  letters,  saith  that  the  letter  C,  which  hath 
'  the  form  of  a  semicircle,  signifies  Caius,  the  man ; 
'  and  being  turned,  signifies  Caia,  the  woman ;  and 
'  Fabius  Quintilianus,  in  approving  of  Probus  his 
'  opinion,  saith  Caius  is  shewed  by  the  letter  C, 
'  which  being  turned  signifies  a  woman  ;  and  being 
'  that  men  are  more  perfect  than  women,  the  per- 
'  fection  of  the  one  is  declared  by  turning  the  semi- 
'  circle  to  the  right  hand,  and  the  weakness  of  the 
\  other  by  turning  it  to  the  left.* 

^*'  Book  HI.  is  dedicated  to  Philip  Surus  of  Milten- 
burg,  '  a  sharp-witted  man,  a  master  of  art,  and  a 
'  most  cunning  musician,  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  affinity  with  Concent,  for  they 

*  be  brothers,  because  Sonus  or  Sound  (the  king  of 

*  Lib.  II.  cap.  xiii. 

This  passage  is  not  to  be  understood  unless  the  adjectives  right  and 
left  are  taken  in  the  sense  in  which  tlie  terms  dexter  and  sinister  are 
used  by  the  heralds  in  the  blazoning  of  coat-armour,  in  the  bearing 
wiiereof  the  dexter  is  opposed  to  the  left  side  of  the  spectator. 

The  above  observation  of  the  author  seems  to  suggest  a  reason  for 
a  practice  in  Vf  riting  country-dances,  which  it  would  otherwise  be  difficult 
to  account  for,  namely,  that  of  distinguishing  the  men  and  women  by 

these  characters  ^^  -^^'  which  are  evidently  founded  in  the  ideas 

of  perfection  and  imperfection  above  alluded  to,  though  signified  by  an 
'  ntire  and  a  mutilated  figure;  the  circle,  which  is  a  perfect  figure,  de- 
noting the  man,  and  the  semicircle,  which  is  irai^erfect,  tlie  woman. 


ecclesiastical  harmony)  is  father  to  them  both,  and 
begat  the  one  upon  Grammar,  the  other  upon 
Music  ;  whom  after  the  father  had  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 
be  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  his  realme,  to  wit, 
singers,  poets,  orators,  morall  philosophers,  besides 
-ecclesiastical  governors,  which  in  that  function  held 
place  next  to  the  king  ;  before  these  king  Sonus  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  prize  throughout  the  whole  world  ;  behold  the 

whole  world  is  under  our  rule ;  wee  have  no  enemy, 
all  things  may  goe  prosperously  with  you,  only  upon 
me  death  encreaseth,  and  life  fadeth ;  my  body  is 

weakned  with  labor,  my  soul  consumed  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." 

*  Wlien  he  had  thus  said,  the  nobles  began  to  con- 
sult, and  by  companies  to  handle  concerning  the 
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  musi- 
tians  and  the  moralists  chose  the  Concent.  But  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  the  kingdome, 
that  Concentus  might  be  chiefe  ruler  over  all  things 
that  are  to  be  sung  (as  hymnes,  sequences,  antiphones, 
responsories,  introitus,  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  should  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 


312 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIIL 


'  their  spiritual  life.  Hence  was  it  that  I  marking 
'  how  many  of  those  priests  which  (by  the  leave  of 

*  the  learned)  I  will  say  doe  reade  those  things  they 

*  have  to  read  so  wildly,  so  monstrously,  so  faultily, 

*  tliat  they  doe  not  onely  hinder  the  devotion  of  the 
'  faitliful,  but  also  even  provoke  them  to  laughter  and 
'  scorning  with  their  ill  reading,  resolved  after  the 
'  doctrine  of  concent,  to  explaine  the  rules  of  accent, 
'  inasmuch  as  it  belongeth  to  a  musitian,  that  together 
'  with  concent  accent  might  also,  as  true  lieire  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  is  a  melody  pronouncing  regularly  the 
syllables  of  any  word,  according  as  the  natural  accent 
of  them  requires. 

According  to  the  rules  laid  down  by  him,  it  seems 
that  in  the  reading  the  holy  scriptures  the  ancient 
practice  was  to  utter  the  words  with  an  uniform  tone 
of  voice,  with  scarce  any  inflexion  of  it  at  all ;  which 
manner  of  reading,  at  least  of  the  prayers,  is  at  this 
day  observed  even  in  protestant  churches.  Never- 
theless he  directs  that  the  final  syllable,  whatever  it 
be,  should  be  uttered  in  a  note,  sometimes  a  fourth, 
and  at  others  a  fifth  lower  than  the  ordinary  intona- 
tion of  the  preceding  syllables,  except  in  the  case  of 
interrogatory  clauses,  when  the  tone  of  the  final  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  some  are  read,  after  the  manner  of 

*  epistles,  as  on  the  feast  dales  of  our  Lady,  the  Epi- 
'  phany,  Christmas,  and  the  like,  and  those  keep  the 
'  accent  of  epistles ;  some  are  sung  according  to  the 
'manner  of  morning  lessons,  as  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  cus- 
'  tome  of  the  country  and  place  is  kept,  as  in  the 
'  great  church  of  Magdeburg ;  Tu  autem  Domine  is 

*  read  with  the  middle  syllable  long,  by  reason  of  the 
'  custome  of  that  church ;  whereas  other  nations  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  drawne  by  my  own  expe- 
'  rience,  not  by  any  precepts,  to  write  this  booke. 
'  And  if  I  may  speake  without  vain-glory,  for  that 
'  cause  have  I  seen  many  parts  of  the  world,  and  in 
'  them  divers  churches,  both  metropolitane  and  catlie- 
'  drall,  not  without  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,   Boemia,   Den- 

*  marke,  and  of  both  the  Germanics,  G3  diocesses, 
'  cities  340,  infinit  fashions  of  divers  people,  besides 
'  sayled  over  the  two  seas,  to  wit,  the  Balticke,  and 

*  the  great  ocean,  not  to  lieape  riches,  but  increase 


'  my  knowledge.  All  which  I  would  have  thus  taken 
'  that  the  reader  may  know  that  this  booke  is  more 
'  out  of  my  experience  than  any  precepts.' 

The  fourth  book  is  dedicated  '  to  the  worthy  and 
'  industrious  master  Arnold  Schlick,  a  most  exquisite 
'  musician,  organist  to  the  count  Palatine,'  and  de- 
clares the  principles  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  primarie, 
'  as  the  unison,  third,  fifth,  and  sixth ;  others  are  re- 
'  peated  or  secondary,  and  are  equisonous  with  their 
'  primitives,  as  proceeding  of  a  duple  dimension ;  for 
'  an  eighth  doth  agree  in  sound  with  an  unison,  a 
'  tenth  with  a  third,  a  twelfth  with  a  fifth,  and  a 
'  thirteenth  with  a  sixth ;  others  are  tripled,  to  wit,  a 
'  fifteenth,  which  is  equal  to  the  sound  of  an  unison 
'  and  an  eighth ;  a  seventeenth,  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- 
'  cords  also,  some  be  perfect,  some  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  the  fourth,  he  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  fifth  be  above,  the  concord  is  of  no  force,  by  that 
'  reason  of  Aristotle,  whereby  in  his  px'oblems  he 
'  shews  that  the  deeper  discordant  sounds  are  more 
'  perceived  than  the  higher.  Secondly,  when  the 
'  tenor  and  meane  do  go  by  one  or  more  sixths,  then 
'  that  voice  which  is  middling  shall  alwayes  keep  a 
'  fourth  under  the  cantus,  and  a  third  above  the 
'  tenor.' 

Speaking  of  the  parts  of  a  song  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  Discantus,  quasi  diver- 
'  sus  cantus,  that  is  as  it  were  another  song,  but  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  is  the  middle  voyce  of  each 
'  song ;  or,  as  Gafforus  writes,  lib.  III.  cap.  v.  it  is 
'  the  foundation  to  the  relation  of  every  song,  so  called 
' '  a  tenendo,  of  holding,  because  it  doth  hold  the  con- 
' '  sonance  of  all  the  parts  in  itselfe  in  some  respect.' 
'  The  Bassus,  or  rather  Basis,  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  is  the 
'  uppermost  part  save  one  of  a  song,  or  it  is  the  grace 

*  Ornithoparcus  has  not  distinguished  with  sufficient  clearness  between 
the  perfect  and  imperfect  concords,  though  the  reason  of  tlie  distinction 
is  properly  assigned  by  liini ;  tlie  impcifect  concords  are  the  third  aiid 
sixth,  with  their  replicates. 


Chap.  LXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


813 


*  of  the  base,  for  most  commonly  it  graceth  the  base, 
'  making  a  double  concord  with  it.     The  other  parts 

*  every  student  may  describe  by  himselfe.' 

The  rules  or  special  precepts  of  counterpoint  laid 
down  by  this  author,  are  so  very  limited  and  me- 
chanical, that  at  this  time  of  day,  when  the  laws  of 
harmony  have  been  extended,  and  the  number  of 
allowable  combinations  so  multiplied  as  to  afford 
ample  scope  for  the  most  inventive  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  owns  humour,  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 
'  Janua  caper  with  their  voyces,  the  other  barke ;  but 

*  the  Germanes,  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 

*  musicians.     For  very  few,  excepting  those  which 

*  are  or  have  been  in  the  chapels  of  princes,  do  truely 

*  know  the  art  of  singing.     For  those  magistrates  to 
whom  this  charge  is  given,  do  appoint  for  the  govern - 

'  ment  of  the  service  youth  cantors,  whom  they  chuse 

*  by  the  shrilnesse  of  their  voyce,  not  for  their  cun- 

*  ning  in  the  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  noyse,  more  in  the  affection  than  in  the  voyce. 
'  For  when  Salomon  in  the  Canticles  writeth  that  the 
'  voyce  of  the  church  doth  sound  in  the  eares  of 
'  Christ,  hee  doth  presently  adjoyne  the  cause,  because 
'  it  is  sweet.     Therefore  well  did  Baptista  Mantuan 

*  (that  modern  Virgil)  inveigh  every  puffed  up  igno- 

*  rant  bellowing  cantor,  saying, 

"  Cur  tantis  delubra  bourn  mugitibus  imples, 
"  Tu  ne  Deum  tali  credis  placare  tumultu." 

'  Whom  the  prophet  ordained  should  he  praised  in 
'  cymbals,  not  simply,  but  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  unseemely,  some  by 
changing  the  vowels,  I  thought  good  to  teach  all 
cantors  certain  precepts  by  which  they  may  err 
lesse. 

'  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  sharpe  of  a  flat. 


'  3.  Let  every  singer  conforme  his  voyce  to  the 
words,  that  as  much  as  he  can  he  make  the  concent 
sad  when  the  words  are  sad,  and  merry  when  they 
are  merry.  WTierein  I  cannot  but  wonder  at  the 
Saxons,  the  most  gallant  people  of  all  Germany 
(by  whose  furtherance  I  was  both  brought  up  and 
drawne  to  write  of  musicke)  in  that  they  use  in  their 
funerals  an  high,  merrie,  and  jocunde  concent,  for 
no  other  cause  I  thinke,  than  that  either  they  hold 
death  to  be  the  greatest  good  that  can  befall  a  man 
(as  Valerius,  in  his  fifth  book,  writes  of  Cleobis  and 
Biton,  two  brothers)  or  in  that  they  believe  that  the 
souies  (as  it  is  in  Macrobius  his  second  booke  De 
Somnio  Scip.)  after  this  body  doe  returne  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. 

'  4.  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  (my  countrymen)  to  fol- 
low the  best  manner,  and  not  as  before  they  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- 
ther ;  an  impious  fashion,  to  be  punished  with  the 
severest  correction.  Think  you  that  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  is  a  signe  of  an 
unlearned  singer.  Now  though  divers  people  do 
diversely  offend  in  this  kinde,  yet  doth  not  the 
multitude  of  offenders  take  away  the  fault.  Here 
I  would  have  the  Francks  to  take  heed  they  pro- 
nounce 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 
Oremus.  In  like  sort  doe  all  the  Eenenses,  from 
Spyre  to  Confluentia,  change  the  vowel  i  into  the 
dipthong  ei,  saying  Mareia  for  Maria.  The  West- 
jihalians  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 


314 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


'expresse  u  and  e  instead  of  the  vowel  u.  Which 
'errours,  though  the  German  speech  doth  often  re- 
'  quire,  yet  doth  the  Latin  tongue,  which  hath  the 
'  afiiuitie  with  ours,  exceedingly  abhorre  them. 

'  7.  Let  a  singer  take  heed  least  he  begin  too  loud, 
'  braying  like  an  asse ;  or  when  he  liath  begun  with 
'an  uneven  height,  disgrace  the  song.  For  God  is 
'  not  pleased  with  loud  cryes,  but  with  lovely  sounds  ; 
'  It  is  not  saith  our  Erasmus  the  noyse  of  the  lips, 
'  but  the  ardent  desire  of  the  heart,  which  like  the 
'  loudest  voyce  doth  pierce  God's  eares.  Moses  spake 
'  not,  yet  heai'd  these  words,  "  Why  dost  thou  cry 
"unto  me?"  But  why  the  Saxons,  and  those  that 
'  dwell  upon  the  Balticke  coast,  should  so  delight  in 

*  such  clamouring,  there  is  no  reason,  but  either 
'  because  they  have  a  deafe  God,  or  because  they 
'  thinke  he  is  gone  to  the  south  side  of  heaven,  and 
'  therefore  cannot  so  easily  heare  both  the  easterlings 
'  and  the  southerlings. 

'  8.  Let  every  singer  discerne  the  difference  of 
'  one  holiday  from  another,  least  on  a  sleight  holiday 

*  he  either  make  too  solemne  service,  or  too  sleight 
'  on  a  great. 

q 

'  9.  The  uncomely  gaping  of  the  mouth,  and  un- 

*  graceful  motion  of  the  body  is  a  signe  of  a  mad 

*  singer. 

'  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,  because  they  intend  their  singing 
'to  men  not  to  God,  seeking  for  a  little  worldly 
'fame,   that   so  they   may  lose   the    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  he  hath 
'  raised  mee  (poore  wretch)  from  the  earth,  and  from 
'the  meanest  basenesse.     Therefore  blessed  be  his 

*  name  world  without  end.     Amen.' 

To  speak  of  this  work  of  Ornithoparcus  in  general, 
it  aljounds  with  a  great  variety  of  learning,  and  is 
both  methodical  and  sententious.  That  Douland 
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  the  several  dedications  of  his  four 
books  of  the  Micrologus,  that  Ornithoparcus  met 
with  much  opposition  from  the  ignorant  and  envious 
among  those  of  his  own  profession ;  of  these  he 
speaks  with  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  works  from  the 
malicious  backbiters  of  the  age. 

Steffano  Vanneo,  director  of  the  choir  of  the 
church  of  St.  Mark  at  Ancona,  was  the  author  of 
a  book  in  folio,  intitled  Recanetem  de  Musica  aurea, 
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  from  Franchinus,  though  the 
author  has  not  confessed  his  obligation  to  him,  or 
indeed  to  any  other  writer  on  the  subject. 

Giovanni  Maria  Lanfranco,  was  the  author  of 
Scintille  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, 
and  even  the  booksellers,  were  men  of  learning ; 
one  of  this  latter  profession,  named  George  Rhaw, 
and  who  kept  a  shop  at  Wittemberg,  published  in 
1536,  for  the  use  of  children,  a  little  book,  with  this 
title,  Enchiridion  utriusque  Musicae  Practical  Geor- 
gio  Rhaw,  ex  varijs  Musicorum  Libris,  pro  Pueris 
in  Schola  Vitebergensi  congestum.  In  the  size, 
manner  of  printing,  and  little  typhographical  or- 
naments contained  in  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  its 
publication. 

One  Lampadius,  a  chanter  of  a  church  in  Lune- 
burg  in  1537,  published  a  book  with  this  title. 
Compendium  Musices,  tam  figurati  quam  plani  Can- 
tus  ad  Formam  Dialogi,  in  Usum  ingenuas  Pubis 
ex  eruditissimis  Musicorum  scriptis  accurate  con- 
gestum, quale  ante  hac  nunquam  Visum,  et  jam 
recens  pnblicatum.  Adjectis  etiam  Regulis  Con- 
cordantiarum  et  componendi  Cantus  artificio,  sum- 
matim  omnia  Musices  prtecepta  pulcherrimis  Exem- 
plis  illustrata,  succincte   et  simpliciter  complectens. 

Sebaldus  Heyden,  of  Nuremberg,  was  the  author 
of  a  tract  intitled  Musical,  id  est,  Artis  Canendi. 
It  was  published  in  1537,  and  again  in  1540,  in 
quarto ;  the  last  of  the  two  editions  is  by  much  the 
best.  In  this  book  the  author  has  thus  defined  the 
word  Tactus,  which  in  music  signifies  the  division 
of  time  by  some  external  motion  :  '  Tactus  est  digi- 
*  timotus  aut  nutus,  ad  temporis  tractatum,  in  vices 
'  gequales  divisum,  omnium  notularum,  ac  pausarum 
'quantitates  coaptans.'  An  explanation  that  carries 
the  antiquity  of  this  practice  above  two  hundred 
and  thirty  years  back  from  the  present  time.* 

NicoLAUS  LiSTENius,  of  Leipsic,  in  154:3  published 
a  treatise  De  Musica,  in  ten  chapters,  which  he 
dedicated  to  the  eldest  son  of  Joachim  TI.  duke  of 
Brandenburg.  It  was  republished  in  1577,  with  the 
addition  of  two  chapters,  at  Nuremberg.  Glareanus, 
in  his  Dodecachordon,  has  given  a  Miserere,  in  three 
parts,  from  this  work  of  Listenius,  which,  whether 

*  This  book  is  dedicated  to  Hieronymus  Baumgartner,  a  great  en- 
courager  ol  learning,  and  one  of  five  merchants  of  Augsburg,  who,  as 
Roger  Ascham  relates,  were  thought  able  to  disburse  as  much  ready- 
money  as  five  of  the  greatest  kings  in  Christendom. 

The  true  spelling  of  this  family  name  is  Paumgartner ;  and  it  seems 
that  these  brethren,  or  at  least  one  of  them,  possessed  the  same  princely 
spirit  as  that  which  distinguished  the  Fuggers  of  the  same  city,  who 
were  three  in  number,  and  are  mentioned  in  the  passage  above-cited 
from  Ascham.  Erasmus  has  drawn  a  noble  character  of  one  of  the 
Paumgartners,  named  John,  in  one  of  his  Epistles,  in  which  he  takes 
occasion  to  celebrate  the  liberality  of  the  Fuggers  also:  and  there  is 
extant  a  letter  of  John  Paumgartner  to  Erasmus,  filled  with  sentiments 
of  the  highest  friendship  and  benevolence.  It  is  printed  in  the  Appendix 
to  Dr.  Jortin's  life  of  Erasmus,  pag.  471.  John  Paumgartner  had  a  son 
named  John  George,  who  seems  to  have  inherited  the  liberal  spirit  of  his 
father,  lor  he  was  desirous  of  making  Erasmus  some  valuable  present, 
which  the  latter  modestly  declined,  telling  him  in  one  of  his  Epistles, 
that  he  had  already  received  one  of  his  father,  a  cup,  a  proper  gift 
to  a  Dutchman  ;  but,  says  he,  I  am  not  able  to  drink  Batavic^  a  la 
HoUaniloise.     See  Dr.  Jortin's  Life  of  Erasmus,  vol.  I.  pag.  536. 


Chap.  LXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


315 


it  be  a  composition  of  his  own,  or  of  some  other 
person,  does  not  clearly  appear. 

The  effects  of  these,  and  mimherless  other  pub- 
lications, but  more  especially  the  precepts  for  the 
composition  of  counterpoint  delivered  by  Franchinus, 
were  very  soon  discoverable  in  the  great  increase  of 
practical'  musicians,  and  the  artful  contexture  of 
their  works.  But  although  at  this  time  the  science 
was  improving  very  fast  in  Italy,  it  seems  that 
Germany  and  Switzerland  were  the  forwardest  in 
producing  masters  of  the  art  of  practical  composition : 
of  these  some  of  the  most  eminent  were  lodocus 
Pratensis,  otherwise  called  Jusquin  de  Prez,  Jacob 
Hobrecth,  Adamus  ab  Fulda,  Henry  Isaac,  Sixtus 
Dietrich  Petrus  Platensis,  Gregory  Meyer,  Gerardus 
a  Salice,  Adamus  Luyr,  Joannes  Richafort,  Thomas 
Tzamen,  Nicholas  Craen,  Anthony  Brumel. 

The  translation  of  the  works  of  the  Greek  har- 
monicians  into  a  language  generally  understood 
throughout  Europe,  and  the  wonderful  effects  ascribed 
to  the  music  of  the  ancients,  excited  a  general  en- 
deavour towards  the  revival  of  the  ancient  modes ; 
the  consequence  whereof  was.  that  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  scarce  a  mass,  a  hymn,  or 
a  psalm  was  composed,  but  it  was  framed  to  one  or 
otlier  of  them,  as  namely,  the  Dorian,  the  Lydian, 
the  Phrygian,  and  the  rest,  and  of  these  there  are 
many  examples  now  in  prmt.  This  practice  seems 
to  have  taken  its  rise  in  Germany  ;  and  the  opinion 
that  the  music  of  the  ancients  was  retrievable,  was 
confirmed  by  the  publication,  in  the  year  1547,  of 
a  very  curious  book  entitled  AOAEKAXOPAON,  the 
work  of  Glareanus,  of  Basil,  the  editor  of  Boetius 
before  mentioned.  The  design  of  this  book  is  to 
establish  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  ;  he  was  nevertheless  a  man 
of  very  great  erudition,  and  both  he  and  his  work 
are  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  Henricus 
LoEiTus  Glareanus.  The  time  when  he  flourished 
was  about  the  year  1540.  Gerard  Vossius,  a  very 
good  judge,  styles  him  a  man  of  great  and  universal 
learning,  and  a  better  critic  than  some  were  willing 
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  Cochlseus  above-mentioned ;  and  he  ac- 
knowleges  himself  greatly  beholden  for  his  assistance 
in  the  prosecution  of  his  studies,  to  Erasmus,  with 
whom  he  maintained  at  Basil  an  intimate  and 
honourable  friendship.  For  taking  occasion  to 
mention  a  proverbial  expression  in  the  Adagia  of 
Erasmus,  wherein  any  sudden,  abrupt,  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 

*  Tlie  Dorian  is  said  to  be  grave  and  sober ;  the  Phrygian  fierce  and 
varlike. 


Erasmus  might  have  taken  it,  he  acknowledges  his 
obligation  to  them  both,  and  speaks  ot  his  intimacy 
with  the  latter  in  these  words  :  '  I  am  not  ignorant 
of  what  many  eminent  men  have  written  in  this 
our  age  concerning  this  Adagium,  two  of  whom 
however  are  chiefly  esteemed  by  me,  and  shall  never 
be  named  without  some  title  of  honour,  Franchinus 
and  Erasmus  Roterodamus ;  the  one  was  a  mute 
master  to  me,  but  the  other  taught  me  by  word  of 
mouth ;  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  was  not  then  engaged  in  this 
work  :  however,  in  the  succeeding  years,  that  I  may 
ingenuously  confess  the  truth,  the  writings  of  that 
man  w^ere  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 
migiit  be  with  the  other  as  often  as  we  pleased,  and 
converse  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  was  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  encouraging  me  in  my 
studies  ;  and  at  last  I  ventured  to  appear  before  the 
public,  and  transmit  my  thoughts  in  Avi-iting;  and 
whatsoever  he  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 :  he  did  not 
take  it  amiss  to  be  found  fault  with,  as  some  would 
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  his 
'  writings.     So  great  was  the  modesty  of  the  man.' 

But  notwithstanding  the  prohibition  implied  in 
this  adage,  it  seems  that  lodocus  Pratensis  paid  but 
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,  Glareanus 
relates  that  he  first  communicated  to  Erasmus  the 
true  sense  of  the  above  adage;  but  that  the  latter, 
drawing  near  his  end,  when  he  was  revising  the  last 
edition,  and  having  left  Friburg,  where  Glareanus 
resided,  to  go  to  Basil,  the  paper  which  Glareanus  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  Dainianus  a  Goes,  a  Portuguese  knight  and 
nobleman,  of  whom  a  particular  acccount  will  be 
shortly  given.    This  person,  who  was  a  man  of  learn- 


316 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  VIII. 


ing,  and  had  resided  in  most  of  the  courts  of  Europe, 
came  to  Friburg,  and  dwelt  some  time  with  Glareanus, 
who  upon  his  arrival  there,  desirous  of  introducing 
him  to  the  acquaintance  of  this  illustrious  stranger, 
invited  Erasmus  to  his  house,  where  he  continued 
some  months  in  a  sweet  interchange  of  kind  offices, 
wliich  laid  the  foundation  of  a  friendship  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  wliom 
he  bestows  great  commendations,  to  teach  in  France. 
It  seems  that  Erasmus  himself  had  received  invita- 
tions to  that  purpose,  but  that  he  declined  them.  His 
letter  in  favour  of  Glareanus  has  this  handsome  con- 
clusion :  '  Sed  heus  tu,  vacuis  epistolis  non  est  arces- 
'  sendus  (Glareanus  :)  viaticum  addatur  oportet,  velnt 
'  arrhabo  reliqiii  promissi.  Vide  quam  familiariter 
'  tecum  agam  ;  ceu  tuaesolHcitudinis  oblitus.  Sed  ita 
'  me  tua  corrupit  humanitas,  qu^  hanc  docuit  impu- 
'  dentiam  :  quam  aut  totam  ignoscas  oportet,  aut 
'  bonam  cette  partem  tibi  ipsi  imputes.' 

He  died  in  the  year  1563,  and  was  buried  in  the 
church  of  the  college  of  Basil,  where  there  is  the  fol- 
lowing sepulchral  inscription  to  his  memory  : — 

'  Henricus  Glareanus,  poeta  laureatus,  gymnasii 
*  hujus  ornamentum  eximium,  expleto  feliciter  su- 
'  premo  die,componi  hie  ad  spem  futuraj  resurrectionis 
'  providit,  cujus  manibus  propter  raram  eruditionem, 
'  (;andoremque  in  profitendo,  senatus  reipublicaj  lite- 
'  rariaj,  gratitudinis  et  pietatis  ergo,  monumentum 
'  hoc  asternaj  memoriae  consecratum,  posteritati  ut 
'  extaret,  erigi  curavit.  Excessit  vita  anno  salutis 
'  MDLXIII.  die  xxviii  mensis  Martii,  eetatis  suae 
LXXV 

CHAR  LXX. 

The  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  hemitone, 
that  is  to  say,  by  placing  some  of  them  at  the  distance 
of  a  hemitone  from  others  ;  and  in  short  demonstrated 
that  there  could  in  nature  be  no  more  than  there  are 
species  of  the  diapason,  it  seems  that  Glareanus  had 
imposed  upon  himself  a  very  difficult  task. 

In  the  eleventh  chapter  of  his  first  book,  premising 
that  no  part  ot  music  is  so  pleasant  or  worthy  to  be 
discussed  as  that  relating  to  the  modes,  he  admits 
that  they  are  no  other  than  the  several  species  of  the 
diapason,  which  latter  do  themselves  arise  out  of  the 
different  species  of  diapente  and  diatessaron.  He 
says  that  of  the  fourteen  modes  arising  from  the 
species  of  diapason,  the  writers  of  his  time  admit 
only  eight,  though  thirteen  have  been  used  by  some 
constantly,  and  by  others  occasionally.  He  adds  that 
those  who  confine  the  number  to  eight,  do  not  dis- 
tinguish those  eight  by  a  true  ratio,  but  by  certain 
rules,  which  are  not  universal.  He  farther  says  that 
the  moderns  call  the  modes  by  the  name  of  Tones, 


and  persist  in  the  use  of  that  appellation  with  such  an 
invincible  obstinacy,  as  obliges  him  to  acquiesce  in 
their  error,  which  he  says  was  adopted  by  Boetius 
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  Trojjes  or  Tones. 

Chapter  XVI.  directs  the  method  of  infallibly  dis- 
tinguishing the  musical  consonances  by  the  division 
of  the  monochord  ;  and  here  the  author  takes  occasion 
to  lament,  that  for  more  than  eighty  years  before  his 
time,  the  sciences,  and  music  in  particular,  had  been 
greatly  corrupted ;  and  that  many  treatises  on  music 
had  been  given  to  the  public  by  men  who  were  not 
able  to  decline  the  very  names  or  terms  used  in  the 
science ;  a  conduct  which  had  sometimes  excited  his 
mirth,  but  oftener  his  indignation.  Indeed  for  Guido, 
Berno,  Theogerus  the  bishop,  Vuillehelmus  and 
Joannes,  afterwards  pope,  he  offers  an  excuse,  by 
saying  that  they  lived  at  a  time  when  all  the  liberal 
sciences,  together  with  correct  language,  lay  more 
than  asleep.  Of  Boetius  he  says,  that  no  one  taught 
music  more  learnedly  or  carefully :  Franchinus  he 
also  commends  for  his  skill  and  diligence;  but  he 
censures  him  for  some  grammatical  inaccuracies, 
arising  from  his  ignorance  of  the  Greek  language. 
He  then  proceeds  according  to  the  directions  of  Boe- 
tius, 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  the  last  chapter  of  his  fourth  book  teaches  in  what 
manner  the  ratios  of  the  consonances  may  undoubt- 
edly be  collected  by  a  most  easy  and  simple  instru- 
ment, consisting  of  a  chord  stretched  from  a  Magas 
to  a  Magas,  at  either  end  of  the  chord,  each  im- 
moveable, but  with  a  moveable  Magas  placed  be- 
tween them,  to  be  shifted  at  pleasure.  The  instru- 
ment being  thus  disposed,  if  the  intermediate  space 
over  which  the  chord  is  stretched,  and  which  lies 
between  the  immoveable  Magades,  be  divided  into 
Three  equal  parts,  and  the  moveable  Magas  be 
placed  at  either  section,  so  that  One  part  of  the 
divided  space  will  be  left  on  one  side  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  the  space  between  the  immoveable 
Magades  be  divided  into  Four  parts,  and  the  move- 
able Magas  be  so  placed,  as  that  One  part  may  be 
left  on  one  side  thereof,  and  Three  on  the  other, 
then  will  the  triple  ratio  be  preserved ;  and  the  two 
parts  of  the  chord  being  struck  by  a  Plectrum  will 
sound  the  consonant  diapason  cum  diapente.  More- 
over, if  the  same  space  be  divided  into  Five  parts, 
and  Oni3  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  Disdiapason, 
the  greatest  of  all  consonants,  and  which  is  in  a 
quadruple  ratio ;  and  thus  all  the  consonants  may 
be  had.  Again,  let  the  same  division  into  Five 
parts  remain,  and  let  Three  of  those  parts  be  left  on 
one  side,  and  two  on  the  other  ;  in  that  case  you 
will  find  the  first  consonant  diapente  in  a  super- 


Ohap.  LXX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


317 


particular  genus,  viz.,  in  a  Sesquialtera  ratio.  But 
if  the  space  between  the  immoveable  Magades  be 
divided  into  Seven  parts,  and  the  moveable  Magas 
leave  Four  of  them  on  one  side,  and  Three  on  the 
other,  in  order  to  have  a  Sesquitertia  ratio,  those 
two  parts  of  the  Chord  will  sound  a  diatessaron  con- 
sonance. Lastly,  if  the  whole  space  be  divided  into 
Seventeen  parts,  and  Nine  of  them  be  left  on  one 
side,  and  Eight  on  the  other  of  the  moveable  Magas, 
it  will  shew  the  tone,  which  is  in  the  Sesquioctave 
ratio.  But  that  these  things  may  be  more  clearly 
understood,  we  will  demonstrate  them  by  letters,  as 
he  [Boetius]  has  done.  Let  A  D  be  the  regula,  or 
table,  upon  which  we  intend  to  stretch  the  chord ; 
the  immoveable  Magades,  which  the  same  Boetius 
calls  hemispheres,  are  the  two  E  and  F,  erected 
perpendicular  to  the  Regula  at  B  and  C.  Let  the 
chord  A  E  F  D  be  stretched  over  these,  and  let  K 
be  the  moveable  Magas  to  be  used  within  the  space 
B  C.  If  this  be  so  placed,  and  the  space  be  divided 
into  three,  so  that  one  part  may  remain  on  one  side, 
and  two  on  the  other ;  this  chord  by  the  application 
of  a  plectrum  will  sound  a  diapason,  the  queen  of 
consonances  ;  but  if  the  space  be  divided  into  Four, 
and  the  chords  on  each  side  be  as  Three  to  One,  the 
consonant  diapason  with  a  diapente  will  be  produced. 
Moreover,  if  the  space  be  divided  into  Five  parts, 
Four  against  One  will  give  a  disdiapason,  and  Three 
to  Two  a  diapente ;  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 
subjoin  the  type  : — 


CA:^ 


~r 


ii.isi-^1  Til  6771  8  ]  g  I  in  Ml  ll?i|g|liiisT7if 


Chapter  XXI.  which  is  the  last  of  the  first  book,  is 
a  kind  of  introduction  to  the  author's  doctrine  of  the 
Twelve  modes,  in  which,  speaking  in  his  own  person, 
he  delivers  his  sentiments  in  these  words  : — 

'  When  I  had  put  the  last  hand,  to  this  book, 
'  I  obtained  unexpectedly,  by  means  of  my  excellent 
'  friend  Bartholomgeus  Lybis,  Franchinus's  work 
'  De  Harmonia  Musicorum  Instrumentorum,  which, 
'  though  I  had  eagerly  sought  after  it  many  years, 

*  I  could  never  procure.     This  I  take  to  have  been 

*  the  last  work  of  Franchinus,  for  he  dedicated  it  in 
'  the  year  of  Christ,  1518,  to  Joannes  Grolerius  of 
'  Lyons,  who  was  treasurer  of  Milan  to  Francis  kinsr 
'  of  France,  having  more  than  twenty  years  before 
'  that  published  a  treatise  of  practical  music.     I  was 

*  more  overjoyed  than  I  can  express  at  the  receipt 
'  of  it ;  for  I  expected  to  have  found  certain  passages 
'  of  some  authors,  more  especially  Greek  ones,  cleared 

up  by  him,  as  they  had  given  me  a  great  deal  of 

trouble   for   several    years ;   and    my   hopes   were 

'  greatly  increased  on  reading  the  first  chapter,  where 

'  he  Rays,  that  he  had  translated  Bryennius,  Bacchius, 


'  Aristides  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 ;  but  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 
'  jjart,  and  that  he  had  produced  somewhat  worthy 
'  to  be  read  from  so  many  authors ;  but  my  expec- 
'  tations  were  not  answered,  and  as  far  as  I  can  con- 
'jecture,  he  does  not  seem  to  have  understood  the 
'  words  of  Apuleius  in  his  Florida,*  lib.  I.  concern r 
'  ing  Antigenides,  or  those  of  Marciauus  Capella, 
'  Lucianus  Athenajus,  and  Porphyrins ;    for   he  no 

*  where  quotes  those  jilaces  which  require  exj^lanation, 
'  which  I  greatly  wonder  at.  He  indeed  several 
'  times  quotes  Plato,  but  not  in  those  places  where 

*  the  reader  is  puzzled,  such  as  that  is  in  lib.  iii. 
'  De  Rep.  concerning  the  authors  of  the  six  Modes. 

*  Truly,  what  Franchinus  says  in  that  book,  except 

*  what  is  taken  from  Boetius,  I  may  say  without  any 
'  error  or  spleen,  for  I  much  esteem  the  man,  are 
'  words  compiled  by  sedulous  reading  from  various 

*  commentaries,  but  in  no  manner  helping  to  clear  up 
'  the  matter.  As  that  comparison  of  tlie  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^ 
'jected,  and  exploded  by  Boetius  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  his  last  work,  then  the  Hyper- 
'  mixolydian  will  be  no  mode,  since  its  diapason  is 

*  wholly  the  Hypodorian.  But  Franchinus  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  form  which  the  church  still  retains, 
'  together  with  an  eighth,  which  has  a  system  inverse 
'  to  that  of  the  first  mode.  Franchinus  says  that  to 
'  the  seven  modes  of  Boetius,  viz.  the  Hypodorian, 
'  Hypophrygian,  Hypolydian,  Dorian,  Phrygian, 
'  Lydian,  and  Mixolydian ;    and   that   of  Ptolemy, 

*  Florida,  the  name  of  a  book  of  Apuleius,     Fabricius,  Bibliothec. 
Lat.  torn.  I.  pag.  520. 


318 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIIL 


'  named  the  Hypermixolydian,  Aristoxenus  added 
'  these  five,  tlie  Hyjioiastian,  the  Hypoaeolian,  lastian, 
'  ^Eolian,  and  Hyperiastian,  and  so  made  the  number 
'  thirteen  ;  but  as  five  of  these  were,  according  to  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  Aristoxenus,  he  has  recourse  to  the  Hyper- 
'  mixolydian  of  Ptolemy,  that  tlie  pretty  octonary 
'  number  of  modes  should  not  be  lost :  but  the  reader 
'  will  hear  our  ojiinion  concerning  those  things  in  its 
'  proper  place.  We  shall  now  subjoin  the  words  of 
'  Franchinus,  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  Boetius  and  the  eight 
'  of  Ptolemy,  he  subjoins  these  words  :  "  Posterity 
"  has  retained  only  these  eight  modes,  because  as 
"  they  return  in  a  circle,  they  comprehend  the  intire 
"  diatonic  extension  of  an  immutable  and  perfect 
"  system  of  fifteen  chords ;  wherefore  they  esteemed 
"  the  other  five  modes,  viz.,  Hypoiastian,  Hypoaeolian, 
"  lastian,  iEolian,  and  Hyperiastian  as  useless  to  the 
"  sensible  harmony  of  a  full  and  perfect  system,  to 
"  use  the  words  of  Bryennius ;  and  as  affording  only 
"  an  idle  demonstration  of  harmony.  But  Marcianus 
"  numbers  up  indeed  those  fifteen  modes,  which  Cas- 
"  siodorus  so  ranged,  that  the  constitutions  of  each 
"  woidd  differ  by  only  the  intension  of  a  semitone  : 
"  but  as  every  constitution,  according  to  Aristoxenus, 
"  makes  up  a  diapason  of  twelve  equisonant  semi- 
"  tones,  those  two  acuter  modes,  the  Hyperseolian  and 
"  Hyperlydian  are  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  Franchinus :  in  which  discourse  he 
'  plainly  shews  that  he  was  not  able  to  clear  up  the 
'  difficulties  in  which  the  doctrine  of  the  modes  is 
'  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  Aris- 
'  toxenus,  which  does  not  contradict  us  in  what  con- 
'  cerns  the  modes,  nor  yet  Boetius,  although  they  do 
'  not  agree  in  other  things.  Moreover,  neither 
'  Franchinus  nor  Capella,  in  my  opinion,  understood 
'  Aristoxenus.  The  constitution  of  Cassiodorus  is 
'  throughout  repugnant  to  Boetius,  yet,  which  I 
'  greatly  wonder  at,  Franchinus  did  not  dare  to 
'  reprehend  him,  though  he  was  a  great  asserter  of 
'  the  erudition  of  Boetius ;  and  we  do  not  think  it 
'  convenient  to  refute  him  till  we  have  laid  the  foun- 
'  dation  of  our  hypothesis,  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  issue  and  the  sum  total  of  the 
'  whole  business.  "VNHierefore  the  same  Franchinus  is 
'  not  without  reason  accused  of  not  having  reflected 


'  on  these  things,  when  he  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  ]]  only  ought  to  be 
'  rejected. 

'  But  however,  as  Franchinus  cites  Marcianus 
'  Capella,  and  omits  his  words,  I  thought  proper 
'  to  subjoin  them  here,  that  the  reader  may  judge 
'  for  himself,  and  at  the  same  time  see  how  well,  or 
'  rather  how  ill,  Cassiodorus  has  adapted  them  to 
'  that  form  described  by  Franchinus.  "  There  are, 
"  says  Marcianus  Capella,  fifteen  tropes,  but  five  of 
"  them  only  are  principals,  to  each  of  which  two 
"  others  adhere,  first,  the  Lydian,  to  which  the 
"  Hyperlydian  and  Hypolydian  adhere  ;  second,  the 
"  lastian,  to  which  are  associated  the  Hypoiastian 
"  and  Hyperiastian ;  third,  the  ^olian  with  the 
"  Hypoaeolian ;  fourth,  the  Phrygian,  with  the  Hy- 
"  pophrygian  and  Hyperphrygian  ;  fifth,  the  Dorian, 
"  with  the  Hypodorian  and  Hyperdoriau  ; "  thus  far 
'  Marcianus,  who  made  five  principals  with  two 
'  others  agreeing  with  each,  that  they  might  al- 
'  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 
'  Hyper^eolian  and  Hyperphrygian,  which  are  after- 
'  wards  superadded.  The  six  principals  are  the 
'  Dorian,  Phrygian,  Lydian,  Mixolydian,  ^olian, 
'  and  lastian  ;  by  some  writers  termed  the  Ionian  ; 
'  and  the  six  plagals  compounded  with  the  prepo- 
'  position  Hypo,  the  Hypodorian,  Hypophrygian,  Hy- 
'  lydian,  Hypomixolydian,  Hypoaeolian,  Hypoiastian, 
'  which  is  also  the  Hypoionian.     These  are  the  true 

*  undoubted  twelve  modes,  which  we  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  compounds 
'  those  principals  with  the  word  Hyper,  he  will  find 
'  six  other  modes,  but  they  fall  in  with  the  others. 
'  Thus  the  Hyperiastian  of  Aristoxenus  falls  into  the 
'  Hypomixolydian ;  and  the  Hypomixolydian  of 
'  Ptolemy  into  t  lie  Hypodorian  ;  in  the  same  manner 
'  the  Hypodorian  into  the  Hypoaeolian  ;  the  Hyper- 
'  Phrygian  into  the  Hyperlydian ;  the  Hyperlydian 
'  into  the  Hypoionian  or  Mixolydian ;  and  the 
'  Hyperajolian  into  the  Hypophrygian  Hence  it 
'  appears  that  many  of  the  difficulties  which  attend 
'  the  modes,  arise  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  arose 
from  the  confusion  of  their  names.  For  as  to  the 
number  thirteen,  which  Aristoxenus  assumed,  and 
the  fifteen  of  Marcianus  Capella,  they  arise  from 
a  practice,  which  Ptolemy  in  the  strongest  terms 


Chap.  LXX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


319 


condemns,  namely,  the  augmenting  the  number  of 
the  modes  by  semitones,  that  is  to  say,  by  making 
many  of  the  modes  a  semitone  only  distant  from  each 
other ;  departing  from  the  order  in  which  the  seven 
species  of  diapason  arise ;  but  Glareanus,  though 
a  bigotted  admirer  of  the  ancients,  has  declined  this 
method,  and  has  borrowed  his  division  of  the  modes 
from  that  of  the  ecclesiastical  tones,  introducing  the 
arithmetical  and  harmonical  division  of  each  species 
of  diapason,  precisely  in  the  same  manner  as  St. 
Gregory  had  done  by  the  four  primitive  tones  in- 
stituted by  St.  Ambrose.* 

This  contrivance  of  Glareanus,  which,  to  say  no 
worse  of  it,  has  but  little  to  recommend  it,  did  not 
answer  the  end  of  vindicating  the  ancient  practice  ; 
for  the  number  of  the  modes  thus  adjusted,  coincides 
neither  with  the  thirteen  modes  of  Aristoxenus,  nor 
the  fifteen  of  Marcianus  Capella ;  in  short,  it  gives 
but  twelve,  and  that  for  this  reason,  the  diapason 
from  J]  to  ]-|,  is  clearly  incapable  of  an  arithmetical 
division,  by  reason  of  the  semidiapente  between  ]-j 
and  F ;  and  it  is  as  clear  that  the  diapason  between 
F  and  f  is  incapable  of  an  harmonical  division,  by 
reason  of  the  excessive  fourth  between  F  and  J],  the 
consequence  whereof  is,  that  admitting  five  of  the 
species  to  be  capable  of  both  divisions,  and  ]]  and  F 
to  be  each  capable  of  but  one,  the  number  of  divisions 


can  be  but  twelve ;  f  but  these,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
author,  are  so  emphatically  true  and  just,  as  to  afford 
a  reason  for  intitling  his  work  Dodecachordon. 

Glareanus  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  by  this  manifold  distinction 
of  modes  than  to  assign  to  the  final  note  of  each 
a  different  pitch  in  the  scale  or  system :  in  this  he 
makes  himself  an  advocate  for  the  Musical  doctrinCj 
as  it  is  called,  of  the  ancients,  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. 

Not  to  pursue  an  enquiry  into  the  nature  of  a 
subject  which  has  long  since  eluded  a  minute  in- 
vestigation, and  which  neither  Franchinus,  nor  this 
author,  nor  Doni,  nor  Dr.  Wallis,  nor  indeed  any  of  the 
most  learned  musicians  of  modern  times,  could  ever 
yet  penetrate ;  the  following  scheme,  containing 
Glareanus's  system  of  the  twelve  modes,  is  here 
exhibited,  and  is  left  to  speak  for  itself : — 


Hypodorian. 

Hypophrygian 

Hypolyd 

ian. 

Dorian. 

Phrygian. 

Lydian. 

Mixolydian. 

Hypo- 
mix. 

arith- 

iiar- 

arith- 

har- 

arith- 

har- 

anfh- 

har- 

arith- 

har- 

arith- 

har- 

arith- 

har- 

niet. 

mocl. 

met. 

mocl. 

met. 

mocl. 

met. 

mool. 

met. 

mocl. 

niet. 

mocl. 

met. 

mocl. 

. 

g 

_ 

tr 

o 

m 

■ 

a 

~5 

^ 

c 

— e— 

-^?— 

_■_ 

C 

C 

■■ 

d 

c« 

— ■- 

/v 

,> 

■ 

<? 

v> 

/S 

A 

S5 

-^— 

a. 

H' 

-> 

— 7^ 

— e>— 

-^- 

^■^ 

— «2 — 

— ■ — 

— ?s — ■ 

— ■— 

— <&- 

— O— 

■ 

_!>5 

0 

cS 

-<&- 

o 

— ■- 

—• ^- 

-«>- 

_■_ 

0 

<> 

— ■- 

— O- 

— ^— 

t3 

■ 

ZS 

•  ^ 

, 

W 

■  o 
o 

-4-J 

1 

-4J 

02 

a 
> 

4 

-*S 

-;.^ 

^ 

■fci 

'a3 

3 

o 

c 

a:> 

•n 

a> 

hn 

O 

^ 

> 

> 

OQ 

^ 

\^ 

o 

W 

. 

W 

ta 

H 

H 

O 

bb 

H 

CO 

c3 
O 

< 

o 

o 

Q^ 
cs 

s 

Vi 

a 
o 

CO 

'o 
o 

■  u 

c 

3 

o 

o 

CO 

cS 
S 
O 

no  place  in  the  Diatonic 
ritone  and  scmidiapente. 

d 

o 

O 
o 

o 

to 

c3 
S 

-■ 

the  fifth,  by  Aristoxenus 
d  by  others  the  Ionian. 

o 

P 

s 

O 

O 
CO 

cS 

P 

O 

us  is  called  the  Hyperias- 
fio  Hypermixolydian. 

6 
O 

,-< 

O 

o 

CO 

cS 

CS 
.1—1 

a; 

a 
a 

O 

< 

o 
o 

O 

"3 
9. 

o 

g 

o 

O 
CO 

cS 

p^ 

cs 

s 

proper  tor  the  Diatonic,    tt 
Liiidiapentc  and  tritone. 

o 

i 

IIS 
o 

CO 

cs 

r^ 

c3 

s 

O 

ed  the  sixth,  by  Aristoxenus 
Hypoiastian. 

■coc 

S     CJ 
5    D 

5j-l 

cS 

O 

'S   s 

c  *^ 

^^-> 

CO 

C 

TO 

c«    O 

CO 

O    cS 

•2^ 

o 

o 

o 

.r->       X 

« 

c  2 

Ph  S 

CO 

o 

>-> 
*3 

5^ 

1| 

O) 

o 

o 

p. 
CD 

o 

09 

CO 

•r  '^ 

CO 

ce 

CO 

ti 

^ 

OQ 

^ 
-*-» 

bo 

n 

a 
o 
o 

,73     CJ 

'  w 

w 

'ti 

S3 

> 

(73 

fe 

H 

^•" 

H 

X 
H 

^ 

K 

^ 

H^ 

H 

H 

*  The  arithmetical  division  of  the  diapason  is  6,  i),  12.  the  harmonical 
6.  8,  12.     See  the  reason  of  this  distinction  pag.  115  of  this  work. 

t  To  this  purpose  Malcolm  expresses  himself  very  clearly  and  fully  in 
a  passage,  which  because  it  accounts  for  the  distinction  of  the  modes 
into  tlie  authentic  and  plagal,  is  here  given  in  his  own  words  : — 

'  I  find  they  [the  modes]  were  generally  characterized  by  the  species  of 
'8ve.  after  Ptolemy's  manner,  and  therefore  reckoned  in  all  7.  But 
'  afterwards  they  considered  the  harmonical  and  arithmetical  divisions  of 


'  the  8ve.  whereby  it  resolves  into  a  4th  above  a  5th,  or  a  5th  above  a  4th. 
'  And  from  this  they  constitued  twelve  modes,  making  of  each  Sve.  two 
'  different  modes,  according  to  this  different  division  ;  but  because  there 
'  are  two  of  them  that  cannot  be  divided  both  ways,  therefore  there  are 
'  but  twelve  modes.  To  be  more  particular,  consider,  in  the  natural 
'  system  there  are  7  different  octaves  proceeding  from  these  7  letters,  a, 
'  b,  c,  d,  e,  f,  g ;  each  of  which  has  two  middle  chords,  which  divide  it 
'  harmonically  and  arithmetically,  except  f,  which  has  not  a  true  4th, 


320 


HISTORY  OP  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


But  if  the  ancient  modes  required  each  a  new 
tuning  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 


Modes. 

Plagal.  Authentic. 

8ve.        8ve. 


4th    5th    6th 

g  —  c  —  g  —  c 

a  —  d  —  a  —  d 

\>  —  e  —  b  —  e 

c  —  f  —  c  —  f 

d  —  g  —  d  —  g 

e  —  a  —  e  —  a 


'  (because  b  is  three  tones  above  it,  and  a  fourth  is  but  two  tones  and 
'a  semitone)  and  b,  which  consequently  wants  the  true  5th.  (because 
'  f  is  only  two  tones  and  two  semitones  above  it,  and  a  true  5th  contains 
'3  tones  and  a  semitone)  therefore  we  have  only  live  octaves  that  are 
'divided  both  ways,  viz.  a,  c.  d,  e,  s;  which  make  ten  modes  according 
'to  these  different  divisions,  and  the  other  two  f  and  b  make  up  the 
'  twelve.  Those  that  are  divided  harmonically,  i.  e.  with  the  5ths  lowest, 
'  were  called  authentic,  and  the  other  plagal  modes.  See  the  following 
'  scheme : — 

With  respect  to  these  distinctions,  the  following  are 
the  sentiments  of  the  author  now  citing. — 

'  They  considered  that  an  8ve,  which  wants  a  4th  or 
'  5th,  is  imperfect ;  these  being  the  concords  next  to 
'  the  8ve.  the  song  ought  to  touch  these  chords  most 
'  frequently  and  remarkably ;  and  because  their  con- 
'  cord  is  different,  which  makes  the  melody  different, 
'  they  establish  by  this  two  modes  in  every  natural 
'  octave,  that  had  a  true  4th  and  5th:  then  if  the  song 
'  was  carried  as  far  as  the  octave  above,  it  was  called 
'  a  perfect  mode ;  if  less,  as  to  the  4th  or  5th,  it  was 
'  imperfect ;  if  it  moved  both  above  and  below,  it  was 
■  called  a  mixt  mode  :  thus  some  authors  speak  about 

'  these  modes.    Others,  considering  how  indispensable 

'  a  chord  the  5th  is  in  every  mode,  they  took  for  the 
•final  or  key-note  in  the  arithmetically  divided  octaves,  not  the  lowest 

•  chord  of  that  octave,  but  that  very  4th ;  for  example  the  octave  g  is 
'arithmetically  divided  thus,  g— c— g,  c  is  a  4th  above  the  lower  g,  and  a 
'  5th  below  the  upper  g,  this  c  therefore  they  made  the  final  chord  of  the 
'  mode,  which  therefore  properly  speaking  is  c  and  not  g ;  the  only  differ- 
'  ence  then  in  this  method,  betwixt  the  authentic  and  plagal  modes  is,  that 
'  the  authentic  goes  above  its  final  to  the  octave,  the  other  ascends  a  5th, 
'  and  descends  a  4th,  which  indeed  will  be  attended  with  different  effects, 
'  but  the  mode  is  essentially  the  same,  having  the  same  final,  to  which 
'all  the  notes  refer.  We  must  next  consider  wherein  the  modes  of  one 
'  species,  as  authentic  or  plagal,  differ  among  themselves :  this  is  either 
'  by  their  standing  higher  or  lower  in  the  scale,  i.  e.  the  different  tension 
'  of  the  whole  octave ;  or  rather  the  different  subdivision  of  the  octave 
'  into  its  concinnous  degrees.  Let  us  consider  then  whether  these  dif- 
'  ferences  are  sufficient  to  produce  so  very  different  efl'ects  as  have  been 
'ascribed  to  them;  for  example,  one  is  said  to  be  proper  for  mirth, 
'  another  for  sadness,  a  third  proper  to  religion,  another  for  tender  and 
'  amorous  subjects,  and  so  on  :  whether  we  are  to  ascribe  such  effects 
'merely  to  the  constitution  of  the  octave,  without  regard  to  other  dif- 
'  ferences  and  ingredients  in  the  composition  of  melody,  I  doubt  any 
'  body  now-a  days  will  be  absurd  enough  to  affirm  ;  these  have  their 
'  proper  differences,  tis  true,  but  which  have  so  little  influence,  that  by  the 
'  various  combinations  of  other  causes,  one  of  these  modes  may  be  used 
'  to  different  purposes.  The  greatest  and  most  influencing  difference  is  that 

•  of  these  octaves,  which  have  the  3rd  greater  or  lesser,  making  what  is 
'  above  called  the  sharp  and  flat  key  ;  but  we  are  to  notice,  that  of  all  the 
'  8ves,  except  c  and  a,  none  of  them  have  all  their  essential  chords  in 
'just  proportion,  unless  we  neglect  the  difference  of  tone  greater  and 
'  lesser,  and  also  allow  the  semitone  to  stand  next  the  fundamental  in 
'  some  flat  keys  (which  may  be  useful,  and  is  sometimes  used)  and  when 
'  that  is  done,  the  octaves  that  have  a  flat  3rd  will  want  the  6th  greater, 
'  and  the  7th  greater,  which  are  very  necessary  on  some  occasions,  and 
'  therefore  the  artificial  notes  ^  and  \?  are  of  absolute  use  to  perfect  the 
'svstem.  Again,  if  the  modes  depend  upon  the  species  of  fives,  how  can 
'  tiiey  be  more  than  7  ?  And  as  to  the  distinction  of  authentic  and  plagal, 
'  I  have  shewn  that  it  is  imaginary  with  respect  to  any  essential  dif- 

•  ference  constituted  hereby  in  the  kind  of  the  melody;  for  though  the 
'  carrying  the  song  above  or  below  the  final,  may  have  a  different  effect, 
'  yet  this  is  to  be  numbered  among  the  other  causes,  and  not  ascribed  to 
'  the  constitution  of  the  octaves.  But  it  is  particularly  to  be  remarked, 
'  that  those  authors  who  give  us  examples  in  actual  composition  of  their 
'  twelve  modes,  frequently  take  in  the  artificial  notes  ^  and  p,  to  perfect 
•the  melody  of  their  key;  and  by  this  means  depart  from  the  con- 
'  stitution  of  the  five,  as  it  stands  in  the  fixt  natural  system.  So  we  can 
■find  little  certain  and  consistent  in  their  way  of  speaking  about  these 
'things;  and  their  modes  are  all  reducible  to  two,  viz.,  the  sharp  and 
'  flat.'    Treatise  of  Music,  chap.  xiv.  sect.  5. 


must  have  been  dislocated;  and  in  all  probability  for 
the  purpose  of  preserving  the  order  of  nature,  which, 
after  all  that  has  been  said,  will  scarce  allow  of  but 
two  kinds  of  progression,  namely,  that  in  the  diatonic 
series  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  system  with  respect  to 
acuteness  and  gravity. 

The  partiality  which  Glareanus  throughout  his 
book  discovers  for  the  music  of  the  ancients  is  thus  to 
be  accounted  for.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable 
learning,  and  seems  to  have  paid  an  implicit  regard 
to  the  many  relations  of  the  wonderful  effects  of 
music,  which  Plutarch,  Boetius,  and  many  other 
writers  have  recorded;  and  no  sooner  w^ere  the 
writings  of  the  ancient  Greek  harmonicians  recovered 
and  circulated  through  Europe,  than  he  flattered 
himself  with  the  hope  of  restoring  that  very  practice 
of  music  to  which  such  wonderful  effects  had  been 
ascribed ;  and  in  this  it  seems  he  was  not  singular, 
for  even  the  musicians  of  his  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  to  accommodate  their  works,  which  for  the 
most  part  were  compositions  of  the  symphoniac  kind, 
to  a  system  which  admitted  of  no  such  practice  :  that 
this  was  the  case,  is  most  evident  from  that  great 
variety  of  compositions  contained  in  the  Dodecachor- 
don,  which,  though  they  are  the  works  of  lodocus 
Pratensis,  Jacobus  Hobrechth,  Adamus  ab  Fulda, 
Petrus  Platensis,  Gerardus  a  Salice,  Andreas  Sylva- 
nus,  Gregorius  Meyer,  Johannes  Mouton,  Adamus 
Luyr,  Antonius  Brumel,  Johannes  Ockenheim,  and 
many  others,  the  far  greater  number  contemporaries 
of  Glareanus,  are  nevertheless  asserted  to  be  in  the 
Dorian,  the  Lydian,  the  Phrygian,  and  other  of  the 
modes,  and  that  with  as  much  confidence  as  if  the 
nature  of  the  ancient  modes  had  never  been  a  subject 
of  dispute.  The  following  cantus  for  four  voices,  the 
work  of  an  anonymous  author,  has  great  merit,  and  is 
given  by  Glareanus  as  an  exemplar  of  the  Dorian : — 


Chap.  LXX. 


AND  PRAOTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


321 


t 


zrr 


321 


m^ 


^=p 


3^E 


us 


ser 


va 


ni    -    mas 


no 


% 


zctz 


-fl—p^^^ 


:^==.4-| L=z^ 


^ii 


irzi 


r^= 


-=t==3: 


-Ti—Gt—r$ 


5ig^E=|^=-^^ig 


:f2- 


-  o       Do    -    mi  -  ne 


De  -  us   ser 


=f= 


va 

-A- 


A  -  ni  -   mas  nostras    A      -      ui-mas    no 


:ar 


-yy     f,^u^-fxz 


=t=t 


Do 


mi    -      ne    . 


De 


U3 


ser     -    va 


W- 


re 


::m 


^ 


tu 


o    Do 


:t:rt; 


=P=",^: 


IDd 


i 


A  -  ni-mas  no 


in: 


mi-ne   De 


us 


ser 


va 


ni-mas     no 


^y 


^P^=E^-E=i2=i 


t: 


stras, 


1^ 


-  stras, 


stras, 


^ 


r^z: 


:t 


:^E!t: 


^^S 


Dae    -    mo-no    ma 


lo 


:t 


^li^iei 


Ab      Ho  -  mi    -   ne 


A      Dffl    -    mo-ne    ma 


3^ 


lo        Ab  Ho 


^^^^^^ 


"^ 


A^^-- 


mi   -   ne      i 


m 


O — f-^-«^-?Z- 


'X: 


-t=  = 


Da3    -    mo-ne    ma 


lo 


Jff    I   1^^ 


Ab      Ho  -  mi    -    ne 


1  - 


=I=P=F 


I^^IZ 


:=l= 


:=ri=t:: 


-«>-T- 


:2ir 


-  stras, 


-rjl- 


Dse    -   mo-ne    ma 


::4cgt: 


lo 


Ab      Ho    - 


mi  -ne. 


t= 


F=^^"- 


¥^ 


]=P 


izzasz 


=^d: 


«»- 


^ 


■^f- 


i^cit 


ni 


^^=;b- 


quo, 


et 


do    -    -    lo 


so 


^-- 


rr3»~ 


JEC 


^ 


^=^ 


:az 


et    men-da     - 


01, 


3^-.E^ 


quo, 


et        do     - 


lo 


so 


-»-^z 


4z2t: 


"ry- 


^ 


et  men     -     da 


33: 


aa: 


^^ 


A 


ni 


quo, 


et 


do 


-    lo 


-    so 


et 


men   -    da 


01, 


=?z: 


zxiz^^^ 


:di 


^  k>l 


~ry 


32: 


liat: 


ni 


It 
quo. 


et 


do 


-    lo 


so 


et 


men    -    da 


t 


^m 


^^. 


3z; 


:S3§E^ 


?=1^^P 


i^zz 


033  -  ci  -  ta 


ii 


te     men     -     -      tis 


no 


stras. 


ab      cm 


-    ni  -  bus    ma  -  lis  . 


-^*- 


:]i3t 


^"eS 


:jC!i 


J 


oje 


01 


-    ta 


-     te 


men-tis 
— ^- 


no 
up: 


stroe, 


ab        om 


-     nibus    ma 


ipS 


'-fi: 


i 


::pz 


cse 


ei 


cse 


P= 


ta 


te     men 

tO rt— 


:|= 


-ff: 


=t: 


tis 


no  - 


stra3, 


ab 


om    - 


nibus    ma 


lis 


:}c^ 


:!=: 


:t=:E 


01  -  ta 


te      men 


tis       no 


-    Btrffi, 


ab      om  -  nibus 


ma  -  lis      Do 


'}a-- 


^ 


El^-i 


-Tt: 


:!?>: 


ripfC 


m 


^- 


~-^- 


zztz 


iccz: 


Do  -  mi    -   ne 


ser 


va  nos 


ser 


va      nos 


mi  -  sel 


los. 


|C!= 


^^ 


zxtz 


:^2= 


3^a 


lis      Do  -  mi  -  ne 


ser 


va 


nos       mi   -    sel 


los. 


r  f  r 


ZXJtZ 


l^eB^fe 


Do 


ne, 


li=W- 


Do 

-rC»- 


mi 


ne 


ser 


va      nos 


mi 


sel 


los. 


eE=^ 


zctz 


Ei^^ 


j L 


-<^ — ?y^ 


E^^^ 


Uotr^U 


■>-    _  ml— ne     ser 


va 


nos    ser 


va      noa 


mi   -    sel        -       los. 

AucTOK  Inceetds. 


322 


HrSTOEY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


Many  of  the  compositions  of  this  kind  contained  in 
the  Dodecachordon  are  to  be  admired  for  the  fineness 
of  the  harmony,  and  the  artful  contexture  of  the  parts, 
but  they  smell  of  the  lamp  ;  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that 
they  derive  no  advantage  from  an  adherence  to  those 
rules  which  constitute  the  difference  between  one 
and  the  other  of  the  ancient  modes.  The  musicians 
of  the  succeeding  age  totally  disregarded  them,  and 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  practice  independent  of  that 
which  Glareanus  had  taken  so  much  pains  to  establish, 
and  which  allowed  of  all  that  exercise  for  the  invention, 
which  in  the  composition  of  elegant  music  mnst  ever 
be  deemed  necessary. 

The  Xlllth  chapter  of  the  second  book  has  the 
following  title,  '  De  Sono  in  C^elo  duse  Opiniones, 
*  atque  inibi  Ciceronis  Plinijque  Loci  excussi,'  and 
contains  his  sentiments  on  that  favourite  opinion  of 
the  ancients,  the  music  of  the  spheres,  which  the 
author  has  entered  very  deeply  into,  though  he  cites 
Aristotle  to  shew  that  the  whole  is  a  fiction,  and 
thereby  has  suggested  a  very  good  reason  for  the 
omission  of  it  in  this  place. 

Chap.  XXXIX.  entitled  '  De  inveniendis  Tenoribus 
ad  Phonascos  Admonitio,'  contains  advice  touching 
the  framing  of  tenors,  of  little  worth  or  importance. 
To   illustrate  his  precepts   Glareanus  has  inserted 


three  odes  of  Horace,  with  the  music  thereto,  of  his 
own  composition,  whicli  he  gives  as  exemplars  of  the 
Dorian,  the  Phrygian,  and  Ionian  modes. 

As  to  the  musicians  contemporary  with  Glareanus, 
and  celebrated  by  him,  short  memorials  of  some  of 
them  are  dispersed  up  and  down  his  book  ;  those  of 
whom  any  interesting  particulars  are  to  be  collected 
from  other  writers  will  be  spoken  of  hereafter.  But 
he  has  noticed  two  that  fall  not  under  this  latter  class, 
namely,  Antonius  Brumel  and  Henricus  Isaac,  as  men 
of  singular  eminence :  of  the  latter  he  thus  speaks  : — 

'  Henricus  Isaac,  a  German,  is  said  to  have 
'  learnedly  composed  innumerable  pieces.  This 
'  author  chiefly  affected  the  church  style  ;  and  in  his 
'  works  may  be  perceived  a  natural  force  and  majesty, 
'  in  general  superior  to  any  thing  in  the  compositions 
'  of  this  our  age,  though  his  style  may  be  said  to  be 
'  somewhat  rough.  He  delighted  to  dwell  on  one 
'  immovalsle  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  famous 
'  in  Italy,  for  Politian,  a  contemporary  writer,  cele- 
'  brates  him.'  The  following  hymn  is  given  by 
Glareanus  as  a  specimen  of  his  style  and  manner  : — 


CON  -  cep  -  ti 


m^ 


--i^- 


— e>- 


*^ 


1; 


rs: 


±^ 


^E^E^ 


-o— g— g'- 


33,       Ma   -   ri 


£6     vir 


I 


=!: 


::^^ 


gi  -  nis   quffi     .     .  nos      la 

-— -r-— -T_H — 


vit 


EiE^l^i 


:ri3: 


kzsrzL^ 


-"3-"ZI 


n  -  fB    vir 


ir=^ 


=:|5s!=: 


~q" 


gi  -  nis  qure      nos 


la 


vit 


la 


"cr 


rss: 


3§E 


^■=1 


-r— O- 


ISC 


s 


gz;;rpgg=i:|g|=r-zp^==:l54=| 


quffi     nos 


K^S 


la     -     -     vit,  quaj      nos      la 
— cs g — 


m 


ISSI 


e;e3^: 


C — I — 5S 


FE3-k 


'^±^- 


-5S-©. 


_S5. 


vit 

.0.   -Si- 


vir  -  gi 


nis 


quas 


uos  la 


vit     a     la 


Chap.  LXX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


323 


-&3^=^ 


^^==1^ 


ist 


39E 


-1^ 


la 


be 


^ 


^*t: 


I 


nis 


m^ 


^f — ©- 


3iE 


-i-a- 


r_is: 


^^^ 


-I B^- 


I 


be 


N-^    o  -| '■^ — & — j>j — & — f 


iz=: 


en 


mi 


nis 


ce  -  le-bra 


3" 


=^^.i^-=i--i-^^^;;=i 


^=&: 


&=^~ 


k     la 


be  cri ,  -   mi  -   nis, 


la   -  be 


en  -  mi  -  ms 


ce  -  le-bia 


14= 


B] 


:W: 


&- 


^ 


^r:: 


::^^'- 


SE 


3= 


2r 


be 


on 


mi 


ms 


eo  -  le-bra      -      tm- 


:i3iE 


-s^-e>- 


iS: 


ho  -  di  -  e    dies 


I  est 


M 


— «- 


ga 


ce 


le  -  bra 


tur     ho  -  di 


di 


es 


Glareanus  concludes  this  elaborate  work  with  a 
very  curious  relation  of  Lewis  XII.  king  of  France, 
to  this  effect.  It  seems  that  that  monarch  had  a  very 
weak  thin  voice,  but  being  very  fond  of  music,  he 
requested  lodocus  Pratensis,  the  precentor  of  his 
choir,  to  frame  a  composition,  in  which  he  alone 
might  sing  a  part.  The  precentor  knowing  the 
king  to  be  absolutely  ignorant  of  music,  was  at  first 
astonished  at  this  request,  but  after  alittle  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  custom  of  having  music  at  meals  seems  to  have  been  almost 
universal  in  the  palaces  of  kings  and  other  great  personages:  Theodoric, 
king  of  the  Goths,  as  appears  from  an  epistle  of  his  among  those  of 
Cassiotlorus,  understood  and  loved  music ;  and  Sidonius  Apollinaris,  in 
that  epistle  to  his  friend  Agricola,  wherein  he  gives  the  character  of 
Theodoric,  and  describes  his  manner  of  living,  speaks  of  the  sounding 
of  the  hydraulic  organ,  and  of  those  persons  who  were  wont  to  play  on 
the  lyre  and  other  instruments,  for  the  entertainment  of  princes  at  their 
meals.  Afterwards,  and  when  in  consequence  of  Guido's  improvements, 
the  practice  of  smging  became  more  general,  vocal  music  upon  these 
occasions  took  place  of  instrumental,  as  appears  by  the  above  relation, 
and  the  following  authentic  memorial : — 

In  Ashmole's  History  of  the  Order  of  the  Garter,  pag.  404,  is  an 
engraving  by  Hollar  after  a  curious  limning  on  vellum,  repressnting  the 


Heniucus  Isaac. 


produced  the  composition  here  subjoined,  which 
being  a  canon  contrived  for  two  boys,  might  be  sung 
without  overpowering  the  weak  voice  of  the  king. 
The  composer  had  so  ordered  it,  that  the  king's 
part  should  be  one  holding  note,  in  a  pitch  proper 
for  a  Contratenor,  for  that  was  the  king's  voice. 
Nor  was  he  inattentive  to  other  particulars,  for  he 
contrived  his  own  part,  which  was  the  Bass,  in  such  a 
manner,  that  every  other  note  he  sung  was  an  octave 
to  that  of  the  king,  which  prevented  his  majesty 
from  deviating  from  that  single  note  which  he  was 
to  intonate.  The  king  was  much  pleased  with  the 
ingenuity  of  the  contrivance,  and  rewarded  the 
composer. 

The  following  is  the  canon  which  lodocus,  or,  as 
the  French  call  him,  Josquin  or  Jusquin,  made  upon 
this  occasion : — 

manner  of  sitting  at  diimer  of  Ferdinand  prince  of  Spain,  on  the  day  of 
his  investiture  with  the  habit  and  ensigns  of  the  order.  In  this  engrav- 
ing the  prince  appears  sitting  under  a  canopy  with  the  four  commis- 
sioners of  legation,  two  on  each  hand  of  him ;  on  his  left  are  servantg 
attending,  and  on  his  right  two  men  and  a  boy,  each  singing  out  of 
a  music  paper,  and  behind  them  three  other  persons,  supposed  to  be 
also  singing. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE  Book  VIII 


.W 


Srzs 


— •& 


■rt: 


5sizi4^.^^^'±te"^i5^^fei^l^^-^si±^^^ 


Vox 


XV-    Kegia 


* 


CHAP.    LXXI. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  reputation  of  Gla- 
reaiius,  the  above-mentioned  work  of  his  has  not 
escaped  the  censures  of  some  who  seem  to  have 
understood  the  music  of  the  ancients  better  than 
himself.  The  first  of  these  is  Giovanni  Battista 
Doni,  who  in  a  very  learned  and  entertaining  work 
of  his,  intitled  De  Prsestantia  Musicse  Veteris.f 
accuses  him  of  adopting  the  errors  of  modern 
musurgists,  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  reproves  him  for  asserting  diat 
figurate  music  was  arrived  at  perfection  in  his  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  honourable 
testimony  to  his  erudition,  has  pointed  out  some 
most  egregious  errors  of  Glareanus  in  the  Dode- 
cachordon,  particularly  one  in  the  tenth  chapter  of 

*  Anciently  princes  joined  in  the  choral  service,  and  actually  sang  the 
offices  in  surplices ;  this  is  said  of  Charlemagne,  the  emperor  Otho  III. 
ami  Henry  11.  and  of  Kunigunda,  the  consort  of  the  latter,  by  Lustig, 
in  his  Musikkunde,  pag.  259 ;  and  to  this  purpose  Bourdelot  relates  the 
following  story.  Lewis  IV.  being  at  Tours  with  his  court,  about  the 
year  940,  some  of  his  courtiers  entered  into  the  church  of  St.  Martin  at 
the  time  of  singing  the  offices,  and  were  much  surprised  to  see  there 
the  count  of  Anjou,  Foulque  II.  in  the  row  of  canons,  singing  the  othce 
as  they  did.  The  courtiers  went  and  told  the  king  that  the  count  of 
Anjou  was  turned  priest,  and  the  king  was  diverted  at  the  relation :  at 
■which  the  count  was  so  disgusted,  that  on  the  next  day  he  wrote  the 
king  a  letter,  wherein  varying  the  wtll-known  proverb,  'Rex  illiteratus, 
'asinus  coronatus,'  he  made  use  of  these  words:  -Spachez  sire,  qu'un 
'roi  sans  musique  est  un  ane  couronne.'  The  author  says  that  the 
English,  during  the  troubles  in  France,  had  the  education  of  this  prince, 
and°purposely  brought  him  up  in  ignorance,  but  that  notwithstanding  he 
took  the  reproof  in  good  part,  and  declared  to  his  courtiers,  that  thiy 
that  govern  others  should  be  more  knowing  than  those  whom  thty 
govern.  Hist.  Mus.  et  ses  EtTets,  torn.  I.  pag.  205.  An  instance  ot 
a  similar  kind  is  related  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  viz.,  that  on  Sundays,  evtn 
when  he  was  lord  chancellor,  he  wore  a  surplice,  and  sung  witli  t!  e 
singers  at  the  high-mass  and  Mattins  in  the  church  of  Chelsey,  whicli, 
says  the  relater,  '  the  duke  of  Norfolk  on  a  time  finding,  sayd,  God  bodic, 
'  God  bodie,  my  lord  chauncelor  a  parish  clarke  !  you  disgrace  the  king  and 
'  vour  office.'  To  which  his  lordship  an.swered  in  tlie  words  of  David, 
'  Vilior  fiam  in  occulis  meis.'  Life  of  Sir  Thomas  More  by  his  great- 
grandson  Thomas  More,  Esq.  pag.  179.  The  same  story,  with  a  litile 
variation,  is  related  in  the  life  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  written  by  ■\\illi;im 
Roper,  and  published  by  Hearne,  pag.  29.  It  appears  lliai  before  l/ie 
Rejormation  the  laity  were  required  tii  sinij  in  divine  service.  Among  llie 
injunctions  of  Cardinal  Pole  published  at  the  end  of  Hearne' s  edition  of 
Robert  de  Avesbury,  pageZld,  is  the  folloiuing :  "Item,  that  the  churchwarden 
"  of  every  parish  where  service  was  accustomed  to  lie  songe,  shall  exhort  all 
"sottche  as  can  singe  and  have  been  accustomed  to  singe  in  the  quire  in  the 
"time  of  schism  or  liefore,  and  now  withdrawe  themselves  in  singing  or 
"serving  God  there,  and  yf  anie  souche  refuse  this  to  do,  then  the  said 
"  churchwardens  to  intimate  the  names  of  the  same  amonge  other  present- 
iments to  the  ordinaire  or  his  chancellor."  One  of  the  common  recreatinns  in 
the  family  of  Sir  Thomas  More  was  the  music  of  voices,  the  viol  and  the 
organ :  see  his  life  hi/  More,  page  35— at  page  9 1  he  says,  he  caused  his  fr^t 
wife,  who  was  but  young,  to  be  taught  nil  kinds  of  music,  and  that  the 
second,  though  inclined  to  old  age,  he  persuaded  to  play  on  the  lute,  viol, 
and  other  instruments,  every  day  performing  thereon  her  task. 

f  Pag.  17. 


his  first  book,  where  he  asserts  the  semitone  mi  fa  to 
be  the  lesser  semitone,  than  which  he  says  there  can- 
not be  any  thing  said  more  abhorrent  to  the  judgment 
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  asserts 
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  Glareanus  him- 
self, that  he  had  never  read  the  three  books  of 
Ptolemy,  nor  those  of  Aristoxenus,  nor  Manuel 
Bryennins,  nor  indeed  any  of  the  ancient  Greek 
authors.:}: 

After  so  severe  a  censure  as  this,  it  might  seem 
like  heaping  disgrace  on  the  memory  of  this  author 
to  declare  the  opinion  of  other  writers  with  respect 
to  his  work  ;  but  there  is  a  passage  in  the  notes  of 
Meibomius  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  have 
asserted  that  the  word  Tone  was  scarce  used  to 
signify  Mode  till  the  time  of  Boetius,  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  Boetius,  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  superoctave  tone  distant  from  each  other  in  suc- 
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  less 
interval,  namely  a  Semitone.  The  introduction  of 
Meibomius  to  his  argument  is  severe,  but  curious  : 

*  A  certain  very  learned  Switzer,  but  an  infant  in 
'  ancient  music,  set  himself  in  the  front  of  those  who 

*  maintain  this  opinion,  one  Glareanus,  who,  in  lib.  11. 

*  cap.  ii.  of  his  book,  disputes  thus,'  &c. 

To  say  the  truth  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 
would  not  disgust  a  modern  reader ;  not  to  say  that 
it  abounds  with  egotisms  and  digressions,  whicli 
detract  from  the  merit  of  it  even  in  this  respect ;  but 

t  De  Musica,  lib.  iv.  cap.  xxxi.  pag.  223. 


Chap.  LXXI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


325 


when  we  consider  the  substance  of  the  work,  and 
reflect  on  the  very  many  erroneous  opinions  con- 
tained in  it,  the  author's  confessed  ignorance  of  the 
sentiments  of  the  ancients,  more  especially  Ptolemy, 
with  respect  to  the  modes,  and  his  endeavour  to 
establish  his  hypothesis  of  twelve  modes  upon  a 
foundation  that  has  given  way  under  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  modern  practice. 

In  another  respect  this  work  must  be  deemed 
a  great  curiosity,  for  it  contains  a  number  of  com- 
positions of  some  of  the  most  eminent  musicians  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  many  whereof  are  of  that  kind 
of  music,  in  which  less  regard  is  paid  to  the  melody 
than  to  the  harmony  and  curious  contexture  of  the 
several  parts,  and  in  this  view  of  them  they  are  as 
perfect  models  as  we  may  ever  hope  to  see.  And 
besides  this,  their  intrinsic  merit,  they  are  to  be 
esteemed  on  the  score  of  their  antiquity  ;  for,  ex- 
cepting a  few  examples  contained  in  the  writings  of 
Franchinns,  they  are  the  most  ancient  musical  com- 
positions in  symphony  any  where  extant  in  print. 

But  here  it  is  to  be  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,  concurrent  with  that  of  poetry,  to 
move  the  passions.  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  Profundis,  Stabat 
Mater,  Regina  Coeli,  and  a  few  others,  have  nothing 
affecting  in  the  sentiment  or  expression,  but  are 
merely  narratory,  and  incapable,  with  all  the  aids  of 
melody  and  harmony,  to  excite  joy,  devotion,  pity, 
or,  in  short,  any  other  of  those  affections  of  the  mind 
which  are  confessedly  under  the  dominion  of  music. 
To  give  a  few  instances  of  this  kind ;  in  the  second 
book  of  the  Dodecachordon  is  the  Nicene  Creed  in 
the  iEolian  mode,  as  it  is  there  called ;  and  in  the 
third  is  the  genealogy  of  Christ,  as  it  stands  in  the 
first  chapter  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel,  set  to  music 
by  lodocus  Pratensis,  and  given  as  an  exemplar  of 
the  Hypophrygian.  Doni  has  mentioned  this  latter 
as  an  evidence  of  barbarism,  and  the  ignorance  of  the 
musicians  of  those  times  with  respect  to  the  power 
and  efficacy  of  their  own  art.  But  this  defect,  namely, 
the  want  of  energy  in  their  compositions,  was  but 
the  consequence  of  those  rules  which  such  writers  as 
Glareanus  had  prescribed  to  them,  and  these  were  of 
such  a  kind  as  to  exclude  all  diversity  of  style  :  no 
man  could  say  this  or  that  mass  or  hymn  is  the  com- 
position of  Jusqiiin  or  Clement,  of  Gerard,  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  the  rules  of  harmony,  as  they  re- 
ferred to  the  several  modes.  Whoever  is  susceptible 
of  the  power  of  music,  is  able  to  judge  how  much  it 
must  have  suffered  by  this  servile  attention  to  the 


supposed  practice  of  the  ancients  ;  and  will  clearly 
see  that  it  must  have  suspended  the  exercise  of  the 
inventive  faculty,  and  in  short  held  the  imagination 
in  fetters. 

From  hence  it  appears  that  two  things  are  to  be 
objected  to  the  compositions  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  accounted  for  by 
the  want  of  that  union  and  connexion  between  music 
and  poetry,  which  was  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,  we  might  pronounce  of 
that  of  lodocus  Pratensis,  Okenheim,  and  others  their 
contemporaries,  that  it  was  very  little  worth,  and 
should  resolve  those  effects  which  were  wrought  by 
it  into  novelty,  and  the  ignorance  of  its  admirers. 

But  whoever  is  capable  of  contemplating  the 
structure  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  fine  modulation,  a  close 
contexture  and  interchange  of  parts,  different  kinds 
of  motion  judiciously  contrasted ;  artful  syncopations, 
and  binding  concords  with  discords  sweetly  prepared 
and  resolved ;  points  that  insensibly  steal  on  the  ear, 
and  are  dismissed  at  proper  intervals  ;  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  I'estraints 
on  which  have  been  shewn  to  arise  from  what  were 
then  deemed  the  fundamental  precepts  of  musical 
composition. 

It  is  easy  to  discover  that  the  music  here  spoken 
ot  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  rule  :  this  the  world  were 
strangers  to  till  they  were  taught  it  by  the  Italian 
masters,  of  the  most  eminent  of  whom,  and  the 
successive  improvements  made  by  them,  an  account 
will  hereafter  be  given. 

It  may  be  remembered  that  in  the  account  of 
Glareanus  above  given,  very  honourable  mention  is 
made  of  a  learned  and  ingenious  Portuguese,  a  com- 
mon friend  of  him  and  Erasmus;  the  following  is 
his  stoiy. 

Damianus  a'  Goes,  a  Portuguese  knight,  distin- 


326 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


guished  in  the  sixteenth  century  for  his  learning  and 
other  accomplishments,  was  chamberlain  to  Emanuel 
king  of  Portugal,  to  whom,  as  also  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  in  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  the  Low  Countries  mar- 
ried Jane  d'  Hargen,  of  the  house  of  Aremberg,  with 
whom  he  led  an  easy,  quiet,  and  pleasant  life.  He 
loved  poetry  and  music,  composed  verses,  sung  well, 
and  was  in  genei'al  estimation  among  the  learned. 
Nor  was  he  more  celebrated  for  his  learning  and  in- 
genuity than  for  his  personal  valour  and  skill  in 
military  affairs,  which  he  testified  in  the  defence  of 
the  city  of  Louvain  in  1542,  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  is  imagined, 


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  Indorum  Imperatoris 
ad  Emanuelem  Lusitanise  Begem,  anno  1513.  Fides, 
Religio,  Moresque  ^thiopum.  Commentaria  Rerum 
Gestarum  in  India  a,  Lusitanio.  The  Histories  of 
Emanuel  and  John  II.  kings  of  Portugal;  and  a 
Relation  of  the  Siege  of  the  City  of  Loiivain.  In  the 
course  of  his  travels  he  made  a  visit  to  Glareanus  at 
Friburg,  and  there  contracted  a  friendship  with  him 
and  Erasmus,  of  which  the  former  in  his  Dodeca- 
chordon  speaks  with  great  satisfaction.  Erasmus  ac- 
knowledges the  receipt  of  a  very  handsome  present 
from  Damianus  in  one  of  his  Epistles  ;  and  Damianus, 
in  one  to  him,  tells  him  that  he  should  be  glad  to 
print  his  works  at  his  own  expence,  and  if  he  out- 
lived him  to  write  his  life.*  In  music  he  was 
esteemed  equal  to  the  most  eminent  masters  of  his 
time.  The  following  hymn  of  his  composition  in 
published  in  the  Dodecachordon : — 

*  Jortin's  Life  of  Erasmus,  vol.  I.  pag.  537,  574. 


NE 


ne      Iffi 


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»_^«_j_ 


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su  -  per      me,        su  -  per  me,  su 


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su  -  per     me,      su 


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znz 


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su 


per 


Chap.  LXXI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


327 


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1^ 


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=d=F:d=^ 


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-nus 


lux  me 


est,     Do 


mi  - nus  lux 


me 


est. 


:^*3I=- 


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z^c^ 


z-^tzsCz 


:=lcc: 


izlcC; 


St. 


SS-^ 


:x*: 


1131 


znz 


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=E 


me  -  a 


est, 


Do 


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lux 


mea 


est. 
D  AMI  ANUS  A    Goes. 


328 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


In  the  course  of  this  work  it  has  been  found  neces- 
sary to  attend  to  the  distinction  between  vocal  and 
instrumental  music.  The  preference  which  has  ever 
been  given  to  the  former,  and  the  slow  progress  of 
instrumental  music  in  those  ages  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  suggest  a  reason  why  the  priority 
is  given  to  that  species,  to  the  performance  whereof 
the  animal  organs  alone  are  adequate.  Nor  was  it 
easy  till  the  period  at  which  we  are  now  arrived,  to 
give  any  such  description  of  the  instruments  in  gene- 
ral use,  as  might  be  depended  on.  The  autlior  of 
whom  we  are  about  to  speak  has  prevented  many 
difficulties  that  would  have  interrupted  the  course  of 
this  narration,  by  giving  accurate  delineations,  which 
are  now  to  be  considered  as  the  prototypes  of  most  of 
the  instruments  now  in  use.  Of  him  and  his  works 
the  following  is  an  account. 

Ottomarus  Luscinius,  a  Benedictine  monk,  and  a 
native  of  Strasburg,  was  the  author  of  a  treatise  in- 
titled  Musurgia,  sen  Praxis  Musicse,  published  at 
Strasburg  in  1536,  in  two  parts,  the  first  containing 
a  description  of  the  musical  instruments  in  use  in  his 
time,  and  the  other  the  rudiments  of  the  science  ;  to 
these  are  added  two  commentaries,  containing  the 
precepts  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  is  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue,  in  which  the 
interlocutors  are  Andreas  Silvanus,  Sebastianus  Vir- 
dnng,  sive  malis,  to  use  his  own  expression,  Bar- 
tholomeus  Stoflerus,  Ottomarus  Luscinius.  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  is  supposed  to  be  just 
arrived  from  a  foreign  country,  and  the  meeting  to 
be  accidental.  Luscinius  is  prepared  to  receive  him 
with  a  great  basket  of  musical  instruments,  which  his 
friend  seeing,  desires  to  be  made  acquainted  with  its 
contents.  The  instruments  are  severally  produced 
by  Luscinius,  and  he  complies  with  the  request  of 
his  friend  by  a  discourse,  which  is  no  other  than  a 
lecture  on  them.  The  merit  of  this  book  is  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  forms  of  the  several  instruments 
described  in  it,  which  are  very  accurately  delineated, 
and  are  here  also  given.  In  the  first  class  are  the 
plectral  instruments,  exhibited  in  this  and  the  follow- 
ing page  :— 


Of  the  above  two  instruments  it  is  to  be  observed, 

*  Luscinius  was  a  man  of  considerable  learning,  and  an  elegant  writer. 
He  translated  the  Symposiacs  of  Plutarch,  and  some  of  the  Orations  of 
Isoerates  into  Latin,  and  wrote  Commentaries  on  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
Between  him  and  Erasmus  there  was  some  misunderstanding,  for  the 
latter  complains  of  Luscinius  in  one  of  his  Epistles.  Jortin's  Life  of 
Ejasmus,  vol.  II.  pag.  723. 


that  they  are  both  in  foct  Spinnets,  though  the  latter 
is  by  Luscinius  termed  a  Virginal,  which  is  but 
another  name  for  a  small  oblong  spinnet.  Scaliger 
speaks  of  the  Clavicitherium,  which  appellation  seems 
to  compi'ehend  as  well  the  one  as  the  other  of  the 
above  instruments,  as  being  much  more  ancient  than 
the  triangular  spinnet,  or  the  harpsichord ;  and 
indeed  the  latter  seem  to  be  an  improvement  of  the 
former. 

The  first  of  the  three  following  instruments,  called 
by  Luscinius  a  Clavichord,  and  by  others  sometimes 
a  Clarichord,  is  used  by 
the  nuns  in  convents  ; 
and  that  the  practitioners 
on  it  may  not  disturb  the 
sisters  in  the  dormitory, 
the  strings  are  muffled 
with  small  bits  of  fine 
woollen  cloth. 

The  Clavicimbalum,  the  next  in  position  to  it,  is 
no  other  than  the  harpsichord, 
Clavicimbalum  being  the  common 
Latin  name  for  that  instrument  ; 
the  strings  are  here  represented 
in  a  perpendicular  situation  ;  and 
there  is  good  reason  to  suppose 
that  the  harpsichord  was  originally 
so  constructed,  notwithstanding 
that  the  upright  harpsichord  has  of 
late  been  obtruded  upon  the  world 
as  a  modern  invention.  There  is  a  very  accurate  repre- 
sentation of  an  upright  harpsichord  in  the  Hannonici 
of  Mersennus,viz.,in  the  tract  entitled  De  Insfrumeiitis 
Harmonicis,  lib.  I.  prop.  xlii.  and  also  in  Kircher. 

The  last  of  the  above 
three  instruments  is  the 
Lyra  Mendicorum,  ex- 
hibited by  Mersennus 
and  Kircher ;  the ' 
strings  are  agitated  by 
the  friction  of  a  wheel,  which  either  is  or  should  be 
rublied  with  powder  of  rosin  ;  all  these  he  says  have 
chords,  which  being  touched  v/ith  keys,  make  complete 
harmony. 

There  are  others  he  says  that  require  to  be  stopped 
at  certain  distances  by  the  fingers,  and  of  these  he 
gives  the  following  instrument, 
which  he  calls  Lutina,  and  seems  i 
to  be  a  small  lute  or  mandolin, 
as  an  example  : — 

As  to  the  above  instrument,  both  the  name  and 
the  size  import  that  it  is  a  diminutive  of  its  species  :• 
that  the  lute  was  in  use  long  before  the  time  of 
Luscinius  there  is  the  clearest  evidence  in  Chaucer 
and  other  ancient  writers. 


In  Dante  is  the  following 


jiassage 


'  Jo  vidi  un  fatto  a  guisa  di  lluto,' 

Inferno,  Canto  xxx. 

to  denote  the  figure  of  a  person  swoln  with  the 
dropsy.  The  Theorbo  and  Arch-lute  are  of  more 
modern  invention,  and  will  be  spoken  of  hereafter. -j- 

+  Salinas  asserts  that  the  instruments  of  the  above  class  take  the  name 
of  lute  from  their  Halieutic  or  Bnat-like  form.  De  Musica,  lib  II.  cap. 
xxi.  It  seems  that  the  word  AXttvg  [Alieus]  is  used  by  Homer  and 
Plutarch;  by  the  one  as  applying  to  a  fisherman,  by  the  other  for  a  p<^^- 


Chap.  LXXI. 


AND  PEACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


329 


Those  stringed  instruments,  in  which  the  vibration 
of  the  string  is  caused  by  the  friction  of  a  hair  bow, 
as  the  following — 


constitute,  in  the  order 

observed  by  Luscinius, 

another  class  ;  the  first 

of  these  instruments  is 

a   Monochord,    for    a 

reason,  which  it  is  very 

difficult    to     discover, 

called  the  Trumpet  Marine.     The  second,  though  of 

a  very  singular  form,  can  be  no  other  than  the  treble 

viol  or  the  violin,  for  so  Ludwig  explains  the  term 

Geig ;  *   and  the  third  is  clearly  a  species  of  the 

Chelys  or  bass  viol.     The  elder  Galilei  is  of  opinion 

that  this  instrument  was  invented  by  the  Italians, 

or  rather  in  particular  by  the  Neapolitans.! 

In  another 
class  he  places 
those  instru- 
ments in  which 
every  chord  pro- 
duces a  several 
sound,  as  do  for 
example  the  an- 
nexed, the  latter 
whereof  is  no 
other  than  a  hori- 
zontal harp. 

The  instrument  hereunder  delineated  corresponds 
exactly  with  the  modern  dulcimer ;  but  Luscinius 
says  it  is  little  esteemed,  because  of  the  exceeding 
loudness  of  its  sound.  The  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 
cooks,:j:  to  which  it  bears  an 
exact  resemblance.  It  is 
struck  with  two  small  sticks. 

After  having  briefly  mentioned  these  instruments, 

ticular  species  of  fish,  vide  Soap.  Lex.  Art.  AXg,  and  Leuto  is  the  Italian 
word  for  a  lute:  the  etymolofry  is  singular,  and  wants  authority,  and  is 
the  rather  to  be  doubted,  because  Vincentio  Galilei  in  the  most  express 
tenns  ascribes  the  invention  of  the  lute  to  the  English,  and  adds  that  in 
England  lutes  were  made  in  great  perfection,  though  some  persons  in  his 
time  gave  the  preference  to  those  made  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Brescia. 
The  same  author  observes  that  the  lute  is  but  little  used  in  Germany, 
and  gives  this  strange  reason  for  it,  that  that  country  is  so  cold,  that  the 
inhabitants  cannot  stir  out  of  their  rooms,  which  are  heated  with  stoves, 
for  eight  months  in  the  year.  By  this  it  should  seem  that  no  person  who 
does  not  go  much  abroad  can  be  a  proficient  on  the  lute.  He  had  never 
heard  perhaps  that  Luther,  who  lived  much  in  his  study,  played  very 
finely  on  this  instrument ;  and  that  upon  his  being  summoned  to  render 
an  account  of  his  doctrines  before  the  diet  of  Worms,  in  order  to  compose 
and  calm  his  mind,  he  spent  the  greater  part  of  the  night  preceding  his 
appearance  there,  at  his  lute. 

*  Vide  Jun.  Etyniol.  Angl.  Voce  Gigges.  This  word  suggests  the 
derivation  of  that  other,  Jigg,  the  name  of  an  air  or  tune  peculiarly 
ijdapted  to  the  instruments  of  this  class. 

+  Dial,  dell  Mus.  pag.  147. 

I  Ludwig's  Gernidn  Lexicon. 


.=^  ..^^ 


Luscinius  proceeds  to  describe  those  from  which 
sound  is  produced  by  the  means  of  air ;  those  he 
says  claim  the  first  place  that  are  acted  upon  by 
bellows,  which  force  the  air  into  them,  and  when 
filled,  answer  a  touch  of  the  finger  with  a  musical 
sound.  These  instruments  he  adds,  as  they  are  more 
costly  than  others,  so  they  exceed  all  others  in  har- 
mony. He  says  that  other  instruments  are  for  the 
use  and  pleasure  of  men,  but  that  these  are  generally 
dedicated  to  the  service  of  God. 

Stoflerus  upon  this  remarks,  that  the  organ  is 
almost  every  where  made  use  of  in  divine  service ; 
and  that  our  religious  worship  is  no  way  inferior  to 
that  of  the  ancient  Romans,  which  was  always  cele- 
brated with  music.  As  a  proof  whereof  he  says  it  is 
recorded  that  when  Caius  Junius,  Publius  Terentius, 
and  Quintus  ^milius  were  consuls,  the  Tibicines 
employed  in  the  public  worship,  being  prohibited 
eating  in  the  temple  of  Jove,  went  away  in  a  body 
to  the  city  of  Tibur  ;  the  senate,  growing  impatient 
of  their  absence,  besought  the  inhabitants  of  that  city 
to  give  them  up,  and  the  Tibicines  were  summoned 
to  appear  in  the  senate-house,  but  they  refused  to 
obey.  Upon  this  the  Tiburtines  had  recourse  to  a 
stratagem  ;  they  invited  them  to  a  musical  entertain- 
ment, and  made  them  drunk,  and  while  they  were 
asleep  threw  them  into  a  waggon  and  sent  them  to 
Rome,  and  on  the  morrow  they  found  themselves 
in  the  midst  of  the  Forum.  The  populace  hearing 
of  their  arrival  ran  to  meet  them,  and  by  their  tears, 
and  an  assurance  that  they  should  be  permitted  to 
eat  in  the  temple  of  Jove,  prevailed  on  them  to  re- 
turn to  their  duty. 

This  relation  of  Stoflerus  leads  him  to  ask  the 
opinion  of  his  friend  upon  this  question,  whether 
music  has  a  tendency  to  corrupt  the  minds  of  those 
that  apply  themselves  closely  to  the  study  of  it,  or 
not? 

To  this  Luscinius  answers,  that  no  one  was  ever 
yet  so  senseless  as  to  separate  music  from  the  other 
lil)eral  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  excellent  musicians  whom  music  itself  had  estranged 
from  every  vice,  he  would  begin  from  Paul  Hofhaimer, 
a  man  born  in  the  Alps,  not  far  from  Saltsburg.  But 
his  character  will  be  best  given  in  the  words  of 
Luscinius  himself,  which  are  these  :  '  He  has  received 
'  great  honours  from  the  emperor  Maximilian,  whom 

*  he  delights  as  often  as  he  plays  upon  the  organ.  Nor 
'  is  he  more  remarkable  for  skill  in  his  profession, 
'  than  for  the  extensiveness  of  his  genius,  and  the 

*  greatness  of  his  mind.  Rome  owes  not  more  to 
'  Romulus  or  Camillus,  than  the  musical  world  does 
'  to  Paulus.  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  is  full  and 
'  open,  nothing  jejune,  or  frigid,  or  languishing.  His 
'  style  is  nor  only  learned  but  pleasant,  florid,  and 

*  amazingly  copious,  and  withal  correct,  and  this 
'  great  man  during  thirty  years,  has  suffered  no  one 

*  to   exceed,  or   even  equal  him.     In  a  word,  what 


330 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  YIII. 


*  Quintilian  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  lahours  day  and  night  to 
'  imitate  them.  This  Paul  has  had  many  disciples, 
'  who  are  every  where  very  honourably  supported, 
'  and  conduct  our  church  in  large  cities  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 
'  Buschner,  at  Constance,  Joannes  Kotter,  Argeutius 

*  of  Bern,  Conrade  of  Spires,  Schachingerus  of  Padua, 
'  Bolfgangus  of  Vienna,  Johannes  Coloniensis,  at  the 
'  court  of  the  duke  of  Saxony,  and  many  others 
'  whom  I  pass  over,  as  having  no  intimacy  with 
'  them  ;  I  think  it  is  of  great  importance  in  delivering 
'•the  precepts  of  any  art  to  give  an  account  of  its 
'  several  professors,  that  a  learner  may  know  whom 
'  he  ought  to  imitate,  and  whose  examples  he  should 
'  follow.' 

After  this  eulogium  on  his  friend  Hofhaimer, 
Luscinius  proceeds  in  his  description  of  the  organ, 
of  which  he  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 
churches.  The  figures  of  ^oth  are  thus  delineated 
bv  Luscinius  : — 


Besides  these  he  gives 
the  figure  of  an  instru- 
ment called  the  Regal  or 
the   Regals,   Regale,*   as 


here  represented 


*  Regale,  sorta  di  strumento  simile  air  organo,  ma  minore.  Altieri, 
Dizion.  Ital.  ed  Iiigl.  Lord  Bacon  distingtuishes  between  the  regal  and 
the  organ  in  a  manner  which  shews  them  to  be  instruments  of  the  same 
class.  '  The  sounds  that  produce  tones,  are  ever  from  such  bodies  as 
'  have  their  parts  and  pores  equal,  as  are  the  nightingale  pipes  of  regals 
'or  organs.'  Nat.  Hist.  Cent.  II.  Sect.  102.  But  notwithstanding 
these  authorities,  the  appellative  Regal  has  given  great  trouble  to  the 
lexicographers,  whose  sentiments  with  regard  to  its  significations  are 
here  collected,  and  brought  into  one  point  of  view. 

Skinner,  upon  the  authority  of  an  old  English  dictionary,  conjectures 
the  word  Rigals,  or  Regals,  to  signify  a  stringed  instrument,  namely 
a  clavichord ;  possibly  founding  his  opinion  on  the  nature  of  the  oflice 
of  tuner  of  the  regals,  and  not  linowing  that  such  wind  instruments 
as  the  organ  need  frequent  tuning,  as  do  the  clavichord  and  other 
stringed  instruments.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  word  Regal  is 
a  corruption  of  Rigabello,  of  which  take  the  following  explanation  from 
Sir  Henry  Spelman  :  '  In  rede  sancti  Raphaelis  Venetiis,  instrumenti 
'  musici  cujusdani  forma  extat,  ei  nomen  Rigabello ;  cujus  in  ecclesiis 


This  it  seems  is  a  kind  of  diminutive  portable 
organ,  and  is  at  this  day  in  common  use  in  many 
parts  of  Germany.  The  second  of  the  above  figures 
represents  the  instrument  entire,  the  first  the  bellows 
and  wind-chest  in  a  state  of  disunion  from  it.  In  an 
account  of  queen  Elizabeth's  annual  expence,  published 
by  Peck  in  his  Desiderata  Curiosa,  vol.  I.  Kb.  II.  page 
12,  among  the  musicians  and  players  there  occur 
'  Makers  of  instruments  two,'  which  in  a  note  on  tlie 
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  of  ten  pounds  a  year  :  and  in  the  lists 
of  the  establishment  of  his  majesty's  royal  chapels 
is  an  officer  called  Tuner  of  the  Regals,  whose  business 
at  this  day  is  to  keep  the  organ  of  the  royal  chapel 
in  tune. 

Having  dispatched  those  instruments  which  are 
rendered  sonorous  by  means  of  wind  collected  and 

'  usus  fuerit  ante  organa  ilia  pneumatica  quae  hodie  usurpantur.'  San- 
sovinus,  lib.  VI.  Descript.  Venetiarum.  That  is  to  say,  in  the  church  of 
St.  Raphael  at  Venice  was  to  be  seen  the  figure  of  a  musical  instrument 
called  a  Rigabello,  anciently  used  in  churches  instead  of  the  organ. 

Walther  is  more  particular  in  his  discription  of  the  Regal :  he  makes 
it  to  be  a  reed-work  in  an  organ,  with  metal  and  also  wooden  pipes  and 
bellows  adapted  to  it,  so  contrived,  as  that  it  may  be  taken  out,  and  set 
upon  a  chest  or  table.  He  says  that  the  name  Regal  is  frequently  given 
to  that  stop  in  an  organ  called  the  Vox  humana;  and  in  this  sense  Mer- 
sennus  uses  it  in  his  Harmonie  Universelle,  liv.  VI.  Des  Orgues,  Trop. 
VIII.  As  touching  the  use  of  the  Regal,  the  following  is  the  account 
which  a  very  ingenious  organ-maker,  a  German,  now  living  in  London, 
gives  of  it.  'In  Germany,  and  other  parts  of  Europe,  on  Corpus  Christi 
'  and  other  festivals,  processions  are  made,  in  which  a  regal  is  borne 
'  through  the  streets  on  the  shoulders  of  a  man  :  wherever  the  procession 
'  stops  the  instrument  is  set  down  on  a  stool,  and  some  one  of  the  train 
'  steps  forward  and  plays  on  it,  he  that  carried  it  blowing  the  bellows.' 
The  same  person  says  he  once  repaired  a  regal,  so  contrived  as  to  shut  up 
and  form  a  cushion,  which  when  open  discovered  the  pipes  and  keys  on 
one  side,  and  the  bellows  and  wind-chest  on  the  other.  Walther  adds  to 
his  description  of  this  instrument,  from  Michael  Praetorius,  that  the 
name  of  it  is  supposed  to  have  arisen  from  the  circumstance  of  its 
having  been  presented  by  the  inventor  to  some  king.  '  Regale,  quasi 
dignum  rege.     Regium  vel  regale  opus.' 

These  authorities,  and  the  representation  of  it  by  Luscinius,  seem 
sufficient  to  prove  that  the  regal  is  a  pneumatic,  and  not  a  stringed 
instrument. 

But  Mersennus  relates  that  the  Flemings  invented  an  instrument,  les 
Regales  de  Bois,  consisting  of  seventeen  cylindrical  pieces  of  wood, 
decreasing  gradually  in  length,  so  as  to  produce  a  successiorj  of  tones 
and  semitones  in  the  diatonic  series,  which  had  keys,  and  was  played 
on  as  a  spinnet,  the  hint  whereof  he  says  was  taken  from  an  instrument 
in  use  among  the  Turks,  consisting  of  twelve  wooden  cylinders,  of 
different  lengths,  strung  together,  which  being  suspended,  and  struck 
with  a  stick  having  a  ball  at  the  end,  produced  music.  Harm  Universelle, 
liv.  III.  pag.  175. 

Ligon,  in  his  History  of  Barbadoes,  pag.  48,  relates  a  pretty  story  of 
an  Indian,  who  having  a  musical  ear,  by  the  mere  force  of  his  genius 
invented  an  instrinuent  composed  of  wooden  billets,  yielding  music,  and 
nearly  corresponding  with  those  above  described,  for  speaking  of  the 
music  of  the  islanders  he  says,  '  I  found  Macow  [the  negro]  very  apt  for 
'  it  of  himselfe,  and  one  day  comming  into  the  house  (which  none  of  the 
'  negroes  use  to  doe,  unlesse  an  officer  as  he  was)  he  found  me  playingon 
'  a  Theorbo,  and  singing  to  it,  which  he  hearkened  very  attentively  to ;  and 
'  when  I  had  done  took  the  Theorbo  in  his  hand,  and  strooke  one  string, 
'  stopping  it  by  degrees  upon  every  fret,  and  finding  the  notes  to  varie 
'  till  it  came  to  the  body  of  the  instrument,  and  that  the  neerer  the  body 
'  of  the  instrument  he  stopt,  the  smaller  or  higher  the  sound  was,  which 
'  he  found  was  by  the  shortning  the  string ;  considered  with  himselfe 
'  how  he  might  make  some  triall  of  this  experiment  upon  such  an  in- 
'  strument  as  lie  could  come  by,  having  no  hope  ever  to  have  any  instru- 
'  ment  of  this  kind  to  practise  on.  In  a  day  or  two  after,  walking  in  the 
'  plantine  grove,  to  refresh  me  in  that  cool  shade,  and  to  delight  myselfe 
'  with  the  sight  of  those  plants,  which  are  so  bcautifull,  as  though  they 
'  left  a  fresh  impression  in  me  when  I  parted  with  them,  yet  upon  a 
'  review  something  is  discern'd  in  their  beautie  more  then  I  remembered 
'  at  parting,  which  caused  me  to  make  often  repair  thither ;  I  found  this 
'  negroe  (whose  office  it  was  to  attend  there,  being  the  keeper  of  that 
'grove,)  sitting  on  the  ground,  and  before  him  a  piece  of  large  timber, 
'  upon  which  he  had  laid  cross  six  billets,  and  having  a  hand-saw  and  a 
'hatchet  by  him.  would  cut  the  billets  by  little  and  little,  till  he  had 
'  brought  them  to  the  tunes  he  would  fit  them  to ;  for  the  shorter  they 
'  were  the  higher  the  notes,  which  he  tried  by  knocking  upon  the  ends  of 
'  them  with  a  stick  which  he  had  in  his  hand.  When  I  found  him  at  it  I 
'  took  the  stick  out  of  his  hand  and  tried  the  sound,  finding  the  six  Billets 
'  to  have  six  distinct  notes  one  above  anotlier,  which  put  me  in  a  wonder 
'  how  he  of  himselfe  should  without  teaching  doe  so  much.  1  then 
'  shewed  him  the  difference  between  flats  and  sharps,  which  he  presently 
'  apprehended,  as  between  pa  and  mi  ;  and  he  would  have  cut  two  more 
'  billets  to  those  tunes,  but  I  had  then  no  time  to  see  it  done,  and  so  left 
'  him  to  his  own  enquiries.  I  say  this  much  to  let  you  see  that  soma 
'  of  these  people  are  capable  of  learning  arts.' 


Chap.  LXXI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


331 


forced  into  them  by  bellows,  he  speaks  of  such  as  are 
filled  with  air  blown  into  them  by  the  mouth  ;  and 
of  these  he  gives  a  great  number,  particularly  the 
Schalmey,  i.  e,  Chalameau,  and  Bombardt,  flutes  of 
various  kinds,  cornets,  the  Cornamusa,  or  bagpipe, 
and  some  other  instruments,  for  which  no  other  than 
German  names  can  be  found,  all  which  are  hereunder 
represented,  according  to  their  respective  classes. 


on  a  very  large  scale  published  some  years  ago,  of  a 
tessellated  pavement  of  a  temple  of  Fortuna  Virilis, 
erected  by  Sylla  at  Rome,  in  which  is  a  representation 
of  a  yoimg  man  playing  on  a  traverse  pipe,  with  an 
aperture  to  receive  his  breath,  exactly  corresponding 
with  the  German  flute. 

Of  the  Zuuerchpfeiff,  the  second  of  the  above  in- 
struments, no  satisfactory  account  can  be  given. 
Luscinius  next  exhibits  the  forms  of  four  other  wind 
instruments,  namely,  1.  The  Ruspfeiff.  2.  The 
Krumhorn.  3.  The  Gemsen  horn.  And  4.  The 
Zincke  : — 

1. 


The  second  of  the  two  instruments  above  delineated 
is  the  Schalmey,  so  called  from  Calamus  a  reed, 
which  is  a  part  of  it ;  the  other  called  Bombardt  is  the 
bass  to  the  former  ;  these  instruments  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  flute  a  bee,*  or,  as  it  is  called,  the  common 
English  flute.  Whether  this  instrument  be  of 
English  invention  or  not,  is  hard  to  say.  Galilei 
calls  it  Flauto  dritto,  in  contradistinction  to  the 
Flauto  traverso,  and  adds  it  was  brought  into  Italy 
by  the  French.  Notwithstanding  which,  Mersennus 
scruples  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  ex- 
cellent performer  on  it.f  The  word  Flute  is  derived 
from  Fluta,  the  Latin  for  a  Lamprey  or  small  eel 
taken  in  the  Sicilian  seas,  having  seven  holes,  the 
precise  number  of  those  in  front  of  the  flute,  on  each 
side,  immediately  below  the  gills.  Luscinius  has  thus 
represented  this  species  : — 


2.  4.  3. 

By  the  name  of  the  first  nothing  more  is  meant 
than  the  black-pipe,  Rus  in  the  German  language 
signifying  Black,  and  Pfeiff  a  Pipe.  The  word 
Krumhorn  is  compounded  of  the  adjective  krum,  i.  e. 
crooked,  and  horn,  and  signifies  a  cornet  or  small 
shawm  ;  and  it  is  said  that  the  stop  in  an  organ 
called  the  Principal  answers  to  it.  Gems,  in  the 
German  language,  signifies  the  Shamoy  or  wild  goat ; ' 
and  this  appellation  denotes  the  Gemsen  horn,  Zincken 
are  the  small  branches  on  the  head  of  a  deer,  and  there- 
fore it  is  to  be  supposed  that  the  instrument  here 
called  the  Zincke  is  little  better  than  a  child's  toy,  or 
in  short  a  whistle.  | 

Luscinius  gives  the  Krumhorn  in  a  more  artificial 
form,  that  is  to  say,  with  the  addition  of  a  reed,  or 
something  like  it,  at  one  end,  the  other  being  con- 
torted to  nearly  a  semicircle,  with  regular  perfora- 
tions, as  here  : — 


The  largest  instrument  of  the  four  is  the  bass  flute. 

These  are  succeeded  by  two  other  flutes,  the  first 
called  the  Schuuegel,  the  other  the  Zuuerchpfeiff; 
the  former  bears  a  resemblance  to  the  traverse  or 
German  flute,  though  it  is  much  slenderer  and  does 
not  agree  with  it  in  number  of  holes  : — 


But  for  these,  as  also  for  the  Platerspil,  the  lowest 
in  position  of  the  instruments  above  delineated,  the 
bare  representation  of  them  must  here  suffice. 

The  Cornamusa,  or  Bagpipe,  is  in  the  German 
language  very  properly  termed  the  Sackpfeiff,  i.  e, 
the  Sack-pipe  ;  its  figure  is  thus  given  : — 


It  seems  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  the  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 

*  Bec  is  an  old  Gaulish  word,  signifying  the  beak  of  a  bird  or  fowl ; 
but  more  especially  a  cock.  Menafre  in.  articulo.  The  term  Flute  ibec 
must  therefore  signify  the  Beaked  Flute,  an  epithet  which  appears  upon 
comparing  it  with  the  traverse  flute,  to  be  very  proper. 

t  Harmonic.  De  Instrumentis  Harmonicis,  lib.  II.  prop.  ii.  vi. 


t  The  names  and  descriptions  of  these  several  instruments  instruct 
us  as  to  the  nature  and  design  of  many  stops  in  the  organ,  and  what 
they  are  intended  to  imitate.  To  instance  in  the  Krumhorn;  the  tone 
of  it  original. y  resembled  that  of  a  small  cornet,  though  many  ignorant 


332 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  VIII. 


Luscinius  next  speaks  of  certain  ductile  tubes  ot 
brass,  meaning  thereby  the  trumpet  species,  though 
in  strictness  of  speech  the  Tuba  Ductilis  signifies  the 
Sacbut.  Bross  226.  The  first  he  terms  the  Busaun, 
and  is  probably  the  sackbut  or  bass  trumpet,  and  the 
second  the  Felt,  i.  e.  the  field  or  army  trumpet : — 


Vincentio  Galilei  says  that  the  trumpet  was  in- 
vented at  Nuremburg,  an  assertion  not  reconcileable 
to  the  general  opinion  of  its  antiquity.  Brossard  calls 
it  the  most  noble  of  the  ancient  portative  instruments ; 
but  it  is  highly  probable  that  Galilei  means  the  brazen 
trumpet ;  and  that  Brossaixl  had  a  more  general  idea 
of  it  is  evident  from  his  making  the  word  Tromba 
synonymous  with  Buccina,  which  means  a  trumpet 
made  of  the  horn  of  an  ox ;  and  if  so  there  is  no 
great  disagreement  between  the  two  authors. 

The  Claret  which  is  next  given  by  Luscinius,  may 
mean  the  Clarion,  an  instrument  of  the  same  form, 
but  smaller,  and  consequently  of  a  more  acute  sound 
than  the  trumpet : — 


The  following  instrument  is  by  Luscinius  called  the 
Thurnerhorn,  and  is  a  kind  of  trumpet  or  clarion  : — 


From  hence  he  descends  to  bells,  and  even  to  the 
anvil  and  hammers,  by  means  whereof  Pythagoras 
is  said  to  have  investigated  the  consonances.  He 
then  proceeds 
to  treat  of  the 
pulsatile  instru- 
ments, at  the 
head  whereof 
he  places  the 
common,  or 
side,  and  kettle- 
drums. The 
drum  is  said 
by  Le  Clerc  to 
be  an  Oriental 
invention ;  and 
he  adds,  that 
the  Arabians, 
or  rather  perhaps  the  IMoors,  brought  it  into  Spain. 

And  these  are  followed  by  the  bugle  oi  hunting- 
horn,*  a  pot,  with  a  stick,  a  contorted  horn,  the  Jew's 
harp,  and  some  other  instruments  of  less  note. 

organ-makers  have  corrupted  the  word  into  Cremona,  supposing;  it  to  he 
an  imitation  of  the  Cremona  violin.  The  GL-rasen  horn  and  Busaun, 
corrupted  into  Buzain,  answering  to  the  sacbut,  are  to  be  found  in  many 
great  organs  in  Germany,  as  is  also  the  Zincke  corruptly  spelt  Cink. 

*  Bugle  from  the  Saxon  bugan,  curvare,  arcuare,  signifies  a  thing 
bowed  or  bent.  Vide  Jun-  Etymol.  A  basket-maker  calls  the  curved 
handle  or  bale  of  a  basket,  a  bugle. 

It  is  probable  that  the  hint  of  the  stick  and  salt-bojc,  Merry  Andrew's 


From  hence  he  digresses  to  the  Jewish  instruments 
mentioned  by  St.  Jerome,  in  an  epistle  of  his  to 
Dardanus,  of  a  very  awkward  form,  and  as  to  their 
construction  inexplicable. 

The  description  of  the  musical  instruments  con- 
tained in  this  first  book  of  the  Musurgia  leads 
Stoflerus  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- 
markable, it  is  needless  to  abridge. 

CHAP.    LXXIL 

Notwithstanding  the  great  variety  of  instruments 
extant  at  the  time  when  Luscinius  wrote  his  Musurgia, 
there  is  very  little  reason  to  suppose  that  what  we 
now  call  a  concert  of  music,  altogether  instrumental, 
was  then  known.  The  first  of  this  kind  were  sym- 
phoniac  compositions,  mostly  for  viols  of  different 
sizes,  called  Fantazias,f  and  these  continued  till  about 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  when  they 
gave  way  to  a  much  more  elegant  species  of  com- 
position, the  Sonata  di  Chiesa,  and  the  Sonata  di 
Camera ;  the  first  of  these,  as  being  adapted  to 
church- service,  was  grave  and  solemn,  consisting  of 
slow  movements,  intermixed  with  fugues  ;  the  other 
admitted  of  a  variety  of  airs  to  regular  measures, 
such  as  the  Allemande,the  Courant,   the  Saraband, 

instrument  to  divert  the  mob,  was  taken  from  the  pot  and  stick  above 
represented. 

To  this  description  of  the  musical  instruments  by  Ottomarus  Luscinius 
that  contained  in  the  Orbis  Sensualium  Pictus  of  Johannes  Amos 
Comenius  may  be  considered  as  a  supplement,  the  brevity  of  which 
latter  is  amply  atoned  for  by  its  perspicuity.  Comenius's  design  in  this 
kittle  work  was  to  instruct  youth  as  well  by  sensible  images,  as  the  names 
of  things;  and  under  the  article  of  Musical  Instruments  he  has  given 
the  names  and  uses  of  thirty,  with  as  precise  a  delineation  of  their 
respective  forms  as  half  a  i)age  of  a  small  volume  would  allow  of.  The 
following  character  of  this  inestimable  little  hook  in  the  Sculptura  of 
Mr.  Evelyn  exhibits  but  a  faint  representation  of  its  excellence  ;  speaking 
of  the  arts  of  sculpture,  and  their  tendency  to  facilitate  instruction,  he 
says  :  '  What  a  specimen  of  this  Jo.  Amos  Commenius  in  his  Orbis 
'  Sensualium  Pictus  gives  us  in  a  Nomenclator  of  all  the  fundamental 
'  thing.s  and  actions  of  men  in  the  whole  world,  is  public:  and  I  do 
'boldly  affirm  it  to  be  a  piece  of  such  excellent  use,  as  that  the  like  was 
'  never  extant ;  however  it  comes  not  yet  to  be  perceived.'  Sculptura, 
or  the  History  of  Chalcography,  chap.  V. 

Comenius  was  a  native  of  Moravia,  and  flourished  in  the  middle  of  the 
last  century.  He  came  into  England  in  the  year  1641,  u))on  an  in- 
vitation to  assist  in  a  plan  for  a  reformation  in  the  method  of  instructing 
youth,  but  the  troubles  of  the  times  drove  him  from  hence  to  Sweden, 
where  he  was  favourably  entertained  and  patronized  by  count  Oxenstiern. 
Bayle,  art.  Comenius,  has  given  upon  the  whole  an  unfavourable  account 
of  him,  representing  him  as  an  enthusiast  in  religion,  and  a  friend  of 
Madam  Bourignon ;  neither  of  which  particulars  admitting  them  to  be 
true,  detract  from  the  merit  of  his  writings,  nor  indeed  from  his  general 
character,  which  is  that  of  a  very  learned,  ingenious,  and  pious  man.  He 
died  at  Amsterdam  in  the  year  lfi71,  being  then  eighty  years  of  age. 

+  In  the  Harm.  Universelle  of  Mersennus,  Des  Instrumens  &.  Vent. 
277,  is  a  Fantasia  for  cornets  in  five  parts  by  the  Sieur  Henry  le  Jeune, 
hut  it  seiTiis  to  have  been  composed  about  the  time  that  Fantazias  began 
to  be  disused. 


Chap.  LXXII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OP  MUSIC. 


333 


and  others,  of  which  there  are  nnmherless  examples 
in  the  works  of  the  Italian  masters ;  these  were 
succeeded  by  the  concerto,  which  is  nothing  more 
than  a  sonata  in  four  parts,  with  a  reduplication  of 
some  of  them,  so  as  to  make  the  whole  number 
nominally  seven. 

The  earliest  intimation  touching  the  origin  of  in- 
strumental music  in  parts,  is  contained  in  a  book 
written  by  Thomas  a  Sancta  Maria,  a  Spanish  Domi- 
nican, and  published  at  Valladolid  in  1570,  intitled 
*  Arte  de  tanner  fantasia  para  tecla,  viguela  y  todo 
instrumendo  de  tres  o  quatro  ordenes.'  From  hence, 
and  because  neither  Franchinus,  Glareanus,  nor  even 
Luscinius  himself,  have  intimated  to  the  contrary,  it 
may  be  concluded  that  the  instrumental  music  of 
their  time  was  either  solitary,  or  at  most  unisonous 
with  the  voice  :  and  with  respect  to  vocal  harmony, 
it  seems  to  have  been  so  appropriated  to  the  service 
of  the  church,  as  to  leave  it  a  question  whether  it 
was  ever  used  at  public  festivities.  It  however  con- 
tinued not  long  under  this  restraint,  for  no  sooner 
were  the  principles  of  counterpoint  established  and 
disseminated,  as  they  were  by  the  writings  of  Fran- 
chinus, Glareanus,  and  the  other  authors  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  Phonascus  lodocus  Pratensis  contains  a  proof; 
and  at  this  period  the  distinction  between  Clerical, 
or  ecclesiastical,  and  Secular  music  seems  to  have 
taken  its  rise.  At  Rome  the  former  was  cultivated 
with  a  degree  of  assiduity  proportioned  to  the  zeal 
of  the  pontiffs,  and  the  advantages  which  the  science 
had  derived  from  the  lectures  and  writings  of  Fran- 
cliinus  :  and  in  England  it  was  studied  with  the  same 
view,  namely,  the  service  of  religion.  The  strictness 
of  our  own  countrymen  must  indeed  appear  very 
remarkable  in  this  respect,  for  if  we  judge  from  the 
compositions  of  the  succession  of  English  musicians, 
from  John  of  Dunstable,  who  died  in  1455,  to 
Taverner,  who  flourished  about  1525,  it  must  seem 
tliat  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  public  libraries  or  other  repositories.  It 
has  already  been  related  that  the  Germans,  to  whom 
may  be  added  the  inhabitants  of  the  several  parts  of 
Switzerland,  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,  namely,  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  under  the 
dominion  of  the  emperor  of  Germany.  The  fact  is 
thus  to  be  accounted  for ;  the  crown  of  Spain  had 
received  a  great  accession  of  wealth  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,  which  led  them  to  trade  and 
merchandise,  not  only  made  the  city  of  Brussels  the 


place  of  residence  for  himself  and  his  court,  but  by 
the  encouragement  he  gave  to  traffic,  and  other 
means,  so  ordered  it,  that  a  considerable  portion  of 
his  revenues  centered  in  this  part  ot  his  dominions 
as  a  bank  from  whence  it  was  circulated  through  all 
Europe.  Tlie  splendour  and  magnificence  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  professions, 
but  more  especially  musicians.  Of  some  of  the 
most  famous  of  these  particular  mention  is  made 
by  Lodovico  Guicciardini,  the  nephew  of  the  Italian 
historian  of  that  name,  in  a  work  of  his  entitled 
'  Descrittione  di  tutti  i  Paesi  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  thus  of  music  . 
'  Questi  sono  i  veri  maestri  della  musica,  e  quelli 
'  die  I'hanno  restaurata,  e  ridotta  a  perfettione, 
'  perche  Ihanno  tanto  propria  e  naturale,  che 
'  huomini  e  donne  cantan'  naturalmente  a  misura, 
'  con  grandissima  gratia  e  melodia,  onde  poi  con- 
'  giunta  r  arte  alia  natura,  fanno  e  di  voce,  e  di 
'  tutti  gli  strumenti  quella  pruova  e  harmonia,  che 
'  si  vede  e  ode,  talche  se  ne  truova  sempre  per  tutte 
'  le  Corti  de  Principi  Christiani.* 

The  masters  celebrated  by  this  author  as  the  great 
improvers  of  music  are,  Jusquin  di  Pres,  Obrecht, 
Ockegem,  Ricciafort,  Adriano  Willaert,  Giovanni 
Mouton,  Verdelot,  Gomberto,  Lupus  lupi,  Cortois, 
Crequilon,  Clemente  non  Papa,  and  Cornelio  Canis, 
who,  he  says,  were  all  dead  before  the  time  of  writing 
his  book ;  but  he  adds  that  they  were  succeeded  by 
a  great  number  of  others,  as  namely,  Cipriano  di 
Rore,  Gian  le  Coick,  Filippo  de  Monti,  Orlando  di 
Lassus,  Mancicourt,  Jusquino  Baston,  Christiano 
Hollando,  Giaches  di  Waert,  Bonmarche,  Severino 
Cornetto,  Piero  du  Hot,  Gherardo  di  Tornout, 
Huberto  Waelrant,  and  Giachetto  di  Berckem,  who 
were  settled  at  Antwerp,  and  in  other  parts  of 
Flanders,  and  were  in  the  highest  reputation  for  skill 
and  ingenuity.  This  account  given  by  Guicciardini 
of  the  flourishing  state  of  music  in  the  Low  Countries 
is  confirmed  by  Thuanus,  who,  in  an  eulogium  on 
Orlando  de  Lasso,  takes  occasion  to  observe  that  in 
his  time  Belgium  abounded  with  excellent  musicians. 

Besides  that  these  men  were  favoured  by  their 
prince,  they  received  considerable  encouragement 
in  the  prosecution  of  their  studies  from  the  most 
opulent  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  must  seem  incredible  to  those  who  are  not 
acquainted  with  the  history  of  that  period.  Some  idea 
may  be  formed  of  the  grandeur  and  dignity  of  the 
mercantile  character  in  the  sixteenth  century  from 
the  extensive  commerce  of  Gresham  and  Sutton,  our 
countrymen,  the  former  of  whom  is  said,  by  means  of 
his  correspondence  and  connexions,  to  have  drained 
the  bank  of  Genoa,  and  thereby  retarded  the  Spanish 
invasion  for  two  years  ;  and  the  other  to  have  covered 


334 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


the  sea  with  his  ships.  Eemhrandt's  famous  print  of 
the  gold-weigher  encompassed  with  casks  of  coined 
gold,  which  he  computes  not  by  tale,  but  weight, 
suggests  such  an  idea  of  enormous  wealth,  as  makes 
the  traders  of  the  present  time  appear  like  pedlars ; 
but  the  fact  is,  that  the  merchants  in  the  ages  preceding 
were  but  few  in  number,  and  that  in  consequence  of 
their  interest  and  intelligence,  their  knowledge  in  the 
living  languages,  and  perhaps  for  other  reasons,  they 
had  free  access  to  princes,  and  held  the  rank  of 
courtiers.* 

The  author  above-cited,  speaking  of  the  city  of 
Antwerp,  the  great  mart  of  Europe,  and  of  the 
numerous  resort  of  merchants  of  all  countries  thither, 
takes  occasion  to  speak  of  the  Foccheri,  or  Fuggers, 
of  Augsburg,  three  brothers  of  the  same  family,  the 
eldest  named  Anthony,  and  the  second  Raimond,  all 
merchants,  whom  he  mentions  as  rivalling  the  highest 
nobility  in  Europe  in  riches,  magnificence,  and  libe- 
rality. Of  the  first  a  judgment  may  be  formed  from 
the  journal  of  our  Edward  VI.  printed  in  Burnet's 
History  of  the  Reformation,  wherein  appear  so  many 
minutes  of  negociations  with  the  Fuggers,  for  the  loan 
of  large  sums  of  money,  that  he  seems  to  have  had 
more  dependance  on  them  than  on  his  own  treasury. 
In  the  journal  above-mentioned  the  Foulacre  is  the 
term  by  which  the  copartnership  or  house  of  these 
three  men  is  to  be  understood.  Sir  John  Hayward 
approaching  somewhat  nearer  to  the  true  orthography, 
calls  it  the  Foulker.  From  the  minutes  in  the  journal 
it  appears  that  the  rate  of  interest  taken  by  them  was 
ten  in  the  hundred,  which,  according  to  Sir  John 
Hayward's  account,  was  four  per  cent,  under  the  usual 
rate  of  interest  at  that  time,f  and  that  Thomas  Gres- 
ham  was  the  principal  negotiator  of  these  loans,  in  all 
which  there  appears  to  have  been  the  most  punctual 
and  honourable  dealing,  as  well  on  the  part  of  the 
Fuggers,  as  of  the  king.J 

*  Discrittione,  pap;.  42. 

The  evidence  of  this  fact  is  contained  in  a  very  curious  book,  supposed 
to  have  been  written  in  the  twelfth  century,  by  a  Norwegian  nobleman,  in 
the  Icelandic  language,  and  from  thence  translated  into  Danish  and  Latin, 
with  the  title  of  Speculum  Regale,  and  published  at  Soroe  by  Halfdan 
Einersen,  a  professor  there,  in  1768,  in  a  quarto  volume.  If  is  a  system 
of  policy  adapted  to  the  age  in  which  it  was  originally  composed,  with 
a  view  to  the  four  professions  or  occupations  of  the  greatest  importance 
to  a  state,  that  is  to  say,  the  merchant,  the  lawyer,  the  divine,  and  the 
husbandman  or  farmer. 

Under  the  first  head  are  contained  the  instructions  of  a  father  to  his 
son,  touching  the  means  of  advancing  his  fortunes,  in  wliich  he  exhorts 
him  to  betake  himself  to  the  profession  of  a  merchant,  and  in  order 
thereto,  to  acquire  a  competent  skill  in  the  mathematics,  particularly 
arithmetic  and  astronomy  ;  in  the  law,  and  in  the  Latin  and  Walloon 
languages,  and  to  visit  foreign  countries.  He  advises  him  also  to  be 
splendid  in  his  apparel  and  equipage,  magnificent  in  his  entertainments, 
and  to  be  careful  that  his  table  be  '  covered  with  a  clean  cloth  ; '  to  be 
liberal  in  his  expenses,  and,  above  all,  to  appear  frequently  at  courts, 
where,  says  he,  merchants  are  considered  as  the  Satellites  of  princes,  to 
whom  they  are  frequently  appointed  agents  or  procurators.  He  also 
asserts  that  no  one  can  become  a  Courtier  unless  he  hath  travelled  as  a 
Merchant  to  foreign  countries. 

It  is  a  not  little  curious  to  observe  how  Guicciardini's  account  of  the 
state  of  the  Low  Countries  in  his  time,  falls  in  with  the  sentiments  of  the 
author  of  the  Speculum  Regale,  and  that  evidence  of  the  truth  of  his 
assertions  should  subsist,  notwithstanding  the  natural  vicissitude  of 
things,  four  liundred  years  after  he  wrote  ;  for  Guicciardini  relates  that 
the  catholic  king  [Philip  II.],  the  king  of  Portugal,  and  the  queen  of 
England  disd.iined  not  to  receive  merchants  into  their  company,  but 
employed  them  in  mercantile  negociations,  calling  them  their  factors. 
He  says  that  the  catholic  king  had  two,  Caspar  Schetz  and  Gian  Lopez  ; 
the  king  of  Portugal  one,  Francesco  Pesoa;  and  the  queen  of  England 
one,  namely,  Messer  Tommaso  Grassano,  cavaliere,  i.  e.  Sir  Thomas 
Gresliam,  a  man  much  honoured,  '  il  quale  parimente  con  sutticiente 
'proccura,  ha  levato  per  lei  di  questa  borsa  grosse  somme  di  denaii  e 
'  le  va  ricapitando  nobilimente.'     Descritt.  pag.  170. 

t  Life  and  Raigneof  king  Edw.  VI.  quarto,  pag.  154. 
t  Viile  CoUertion  of  Records,  &c.  referred  to  in  the  second  part  of 
Burnet's  Hist.  Reform,  pag.  25.  27.  46.  48.  53. 


Roger  Ascham,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  of  his  at 
Cambridge,  dated  20  Jan.  1551,  from  Augsburg,  says, 
'  There  be  five  merchants  in  this  town  thou2:ht  able 
'  to  disburse  as  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  3s.  6d.  These  merchants  are  three 
'  brethren  Fuccurs,  two  brethren  Bamgartner.§  One 
'  of  the  Fuccurs  doth  lodge,  and  hath  done  all  the 

*  year,  in  his  house  the  emperor,  the  king  of  the 
'  Romans,  the  prince  of  Spain,  and  the  queen  of 
'  Hungary,  regent  of  Flanders,  which  is  here,  besides 

*  his  family  and  children.  His  house  is  covered  with 
'  copper.'  Ascham's  Works  published  by  James 
Bennet,  pag.  376. 

Bayle  says  of  these  men  that  they  had  rendered 
themselves  illustrious  by  their  liberalities  to  men  of 
letters :  they  made  great  offers  to  Erasmus,  and  pre- 
sented him  with  a  silver  cup. 

Luther  takes  notice  of  their  amazing  wealtli,  and 
says  the  Fuggers  and  the  money-changers  of  Augs- 
burg lent  the  emperor  at  one  time  eight  and  twenty 
tons  of  gold,  and  that  one  of  them  left  eighty  tons  at 
his  death,  t 

Bayle  also  celebrates  the  magnificence  and  gene- 
rosity of  these  brethren,  and  tells  the  following  story 
of  them  :  '  The  Fuggeri,  celebrated  German  mer- 
'  chants,  to  testify  their  gratitude  to  Charles  V.  who 
'  had  done  them  the  honour  to  lodge  in  their  house 
'  when  he  passed  through  Augsburg,  one  day,  amongst 
'  other  acts  of  magnificence,  laid  upon  the  hearth  a 
'  large  bundle  of  cinamon,  a  merchandize  then  of 
'  great  price,  and  lighted  it  with  a  note  of  hand  of 
'  the  emperor  for  .a  considerable  sum  which  they  had 
'  lent  him.'  ^ 

Farther,  the  riches  of  this  family  were  so  great  as 
to  be  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- 
tures in  the  cave  of  Montesinos,  he  relates  that  his 
mistress  Dulcinea  had  sent  a  damsel  to  request  of 
him  the  loan  of  six  reals  upon  the  pawn  of  her  dimity 
petticoat,  and  that  he  dismissed  the  messenger  with 

§  Of  the  family  of  Bamgartner  or  Paumgartner  an  account  is  given 
pag.  314,  in  not. 

II  Colloquia  Mensalia,  pag.  86. 

H  It  is  probable  that  this  story  gave  occasion  to  the  following  stanza 
in  the  old  ballad  of  Whittingtori : — 

'  More  his  fame  to  advance, 

'  Thoufands  he  lent  his  king 
'  To  maintain  wars  in  France, 

'  Glory  from  thence  to  bring: 
*  And  after  at  a  feaft, 

'  Which  he  the  king  did  make, 
'  He  burnt  the  bonds  all  in  jeft, 

'And  would  no  money  take. 

The  author  whereof,  unwilling  that  his  hero  should  be  outdone  by 
any  foreign  merchant,  has  engrafted  this  story  into  his  narration,  upon 
the  bare  supposition  that  under  the  like  circumstances  Whittington 
would  have  shewn  as  much  loyalty  and  liberality  as  the  Fugger,  he 
being  indeed  a  prodigy  of  wealth  and  munificence,  and  one  of  the  many 
ancient  citizens  of  London,  whose  good  deeds  have  rendered  them  an 
honour  to  their  country,  and  to  human  nature  itself.  See  an  account  of 
him  in  Stowe's  Survey,  tit.  Honour  of  Citizens  and  Worthinesse  of  Men. 

Sir  Richard  Whittington  was  thrice  mayor  of  London,  viz.,  in  the 
years  1397,  1406,  and  1110,  but  the  ballad  above-cited  can  hardly  be  more 
ancient  than  the  time  of  queen  Elizabeth. 


Chaf.  LXXII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


335 


four,  which  was  all  that  he  had,  saying  to  her,* 
*  Sweetheart,  tell  your  lady  that  I  am  grieved  to  my 
'  soul  at  her  distresses,  and  wish  I  were  a  Fugger  f 
'  to  remedy  them.' 

The  above  facts  imply  liberality,  and,  to  say  the 
truth,  a  disposition  not  quite  so  commendable  ;  but 
the  nobleness  and  grandeur  of  their  spirit  was  mani- 
fested in  the  erection  of  sumptuous  edifices,'^  and  by 
their  patronage  of  learned  and  ingenious  men  in  all 
professions ;  and  the  benefits  thence  arising  were 
enjoyed  by  the  scholars,  the  painters,  sculptors,  gold- 
smiths, engravers,  and  musicians  of  that  day,  in 
common  with  other  artists.  To  what  degree  the 
musicians  in  particular  were  thought  to  merit  en- 
couragement, may  in  some  measure  be  collected  from 
the  passage  above  referred  to  in  Guicciardini ;  but 
their  title  to  it  will  best  appear  from  the  account 
hereafter  given  of  them,  and  the  works  by  them 
severally  published. 

Guicciardini  has  taken  frequent  occasion  to  mention 
the  pompous  service  in  the  great  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 ;  but  vocal 
music  in  parts  was  not  only  the  entertainment  of 
persons  of  rank  at  public  solemnities,  but  was  so 
much  the  customary  amusement  at  social  meetings, 
and  in  private  families,  that  every  well-educated 
person  of  either  sex  was  supposed  capable  of  joining 
in  it.  Castiglione,  who  lived  about  this  time,  men- 
tions this  as  one  of  the  necessary  accomplishments  of 
his  courtier,  and  requires  of  him  to  be  able  to  sing 
his  part  at  sight, §  wliich,  when  the  nature  of  the 
vocal  compositions  then  in  practice  is  explained,  will 
appear  to  have  been  no  very  difficult  matter. 

By  that  convivial  kind  of  harmony  above  spoken 
of,  is  to  be  understood  a  musical  composition  of  three 
or  more  parts  for  different  voices,  adapted  to  the 
words  of  some  short  but  elegant  poem,  and  known 
by  the  name  of  the  Madrigal.  ||    The  Italian  language 

*  '  Amiga  mia,  k  vuestra  sennra,  que  d.  mi  me  pesa  en  el  alma  de  sus 
'  trabajos,  y  que  quisiera  s^r  un  Fuc^r  para  remediarlos.'  Don  Quixote, 
part  II.  lib.  VI.  cap.  xxiii. 

t  See  Article  "  Ftigger,"  Moreri's  Dictionary  edition,  1740. 

t  Beatus  Rhenanus,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  gives  a  description  of  the 
ma^^nificent  houses,  or  rather  palaces,  of  Anthony  and  Raimond  Fugger ; 
ami  a  late  traveller  speaks  of  a  memorial  of  their  opulence  yet  remaining, 
that  is  to  say,  a  quarter  in  the  city  of  Augsburg  called  the  Fuggery,  con- 
sisting of  several  streets  and  fair  palaces  built  by  them.  Journey  over 
Europe  by  A.  D.  Chancel,  octavo,  Lond.  1714,  pag.  96. 

§  II  Corteg,  lib.  II. 

11  It  is  very  difficult  to  say  from  whence  this  word  is  derived.  Kircher 
laboured  in  vain  to  (ind  an  etymology  for  it.  The  bishop  of  Avranches. 
Huet,  in  his  treatise  De  1'  Origine  des  Romans,  supposes  it  to  be  a 
corruption  of  the  word  Martegaux,  a  name  given  to  the  ancient  in- 
habitants of  a  particular  district  of  Provence,  who  were  proliably  the 
inventors  of,  or  excelled  in  this  particular  species  of  musical  composition. 
Had  he  known  that  there  is  in  Spain  a  town  named  Madrigal,  it  is  likely 
he  would  have  deduced  its  origin  from  the  Spaniards. 

Doni,  who  is  clear  that  the  Madrigal  came  originally  from  the  Pro- 
vencals, is  nevertheless  at  a  great  loss  for  the  derivation  of  the  word, 
and  gives  his  reader  the  choice  of  two  etymologies,  the  best  of  which 
seems  to  be  the  Italian  word  Mandra,  a  flock,  a  herd,  a  sheep  fold  :  and 
sjen  against  this  it  is  objected  that  pastoral  manners  are  not  peculiar  to 
this  kind  of  poetical  composition.  Crescimbeni,  in  his  Commentarj 
IntJrno  all'  Istoria  della  volgare  Poesia,  vol.  I.  lib.  ii.  cap.  22,  has  taken 
up  the  enquiry,  but  leaves  the  matter  nearly  where  he  found  it ;  and  so 
indeed  does  Mattheson,  who  wrote  some  years  after  him.   Better  success 


was  at  this  time  generally  understood  throughout 
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- 
vencal 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  the  first  class  of 
masters  mentioned  by  Guicciardini,  very  success- 
fully employed. 

It  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  first  essays  of  this 
kind  had  much  to  recommend  them  besides  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  harmony,  which  was  just  and  natural, 
and  yet  these  had  their  charms  :  Anne  Boleyn,  a 
lively  and  well  accomplished  young  woman,  and  who 
had  lived  some  years  in  France,  doted  on  the  com- 
positions of  Jusquin  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 
the  introduction  of  music  on  the  theatres ;  for  dramatic 
music,  or  what  is  now  called  the  opera,  had  its  rise 
about  the  year  IGOO,  and  it  is  well  known  that  one 
of  the  finest  works  of  Stradella,  who  was  contemporary 
with  our  Purcell,  is  the  madrigal  for  five  voices, 
'  Clori  son  fido  amante.' 

Of  some  of  the  masters  mentioned  by  Guicciardini, 
in  the  passage  above-cited,  there  are  particulars  ex- 
tant which  may  be  thought  worth  relating ;  and  first 
of  Jusquin,  so  often  mentioned  by  Glareanus  and  others 
of  his  time,  by  the  name  of  Iodocus  Pratensis. 

In  that  short  account  given  of  him  by  Walther,  in 
his  Lexicon,  it  is  said  that  he  was  born  in  the  Low 
Countries,  but  in  what  part  thereof  is  not  known, 
though  his  name  Pratensis,  bespeaks  him  a  native  Ox 
Prato,  a  town  in  Tuscany.  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 
universally  allowed  to  be  the  best  musician  of  his 
time.  Glareanus  is  lavish  in  his  commendation,  and 
has  given  the  following  account  of  him  :  '  Iodocus 
'  Pratensis,  or  Jusquin  de  Prez,  was  the  principal  of 
*  the  musicians  of  his  time,  and  possessed  of  a  degree 
'  of  wit  and  ingenuity  scarce  ever  before  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  eccle- 

has  attended  the  enquiries  into  the  origin  and  history  of  this  species  of 
composition.  Doni  fixes  the  invention  of  it  to  the  commencement  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  Trattato  della  Melodic,  jiag.  97.  And  Mattheson 
acquiesces  in  this  opinion,  and  asserts  that  Anselmo  de  Parma,  Mar- 
chetto  de  Padoana,  Prosdocimus  Beldiniandis,  and  other  musicians, 
who  are  but  barely  named  by  Franchinus,  were  the  first  composers  of 
madrigals ;  and  that  Iodocus  Pratensis,  Joannes  Mouton,  Gombert,  and 
others,  brought  this  style  to  perfection.  Volkonienon  Capel-meister, 
pag.  79.  In  both  these  particulars  Mattheson  seems  to  be  mistaken  ; 
for  neither  does  it  appear  that  these  early  musicians  composed  madrigals, 
nor  were  they  brought  to  perfection  by  Iodocus  and  the  rest  named  bv 
him.  Those  that  perfected  this  style  were  Orlando  de  Lasso,  Philippo 
de  Monte,  Cypriano  de  Rore,  among  the  Flemings,  and  of  the  Italians, 
Palestrina,  Pomponio  Nenna,  and  his  disciple  the  admirable  Carlo 
Gesualdo,  prince  of  Venosa. 


33S 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  Vlil. 


'  siastical  pieferment ;    but  the  promise  was  forgot 
'  (as  too    often   happens   in   kings'  courts)   Jusquin 
'  being  much  disturbed  in  mind,  composed  a  Psalm 
beginning  "  Memor  esto  verbi  tui  servo  tuo,"  but 
with  such  elegance  and  majesty,  that  when  it  was 
carried  to  the  king's  chapel,  and  there  justly  per- 
formed, it  excited  universal  admiration.     The  king, 
who  heard  it,  blushed  for  shame  ;  and  as  it  were  did 
not  dare  to  defer  the  performance  of  his  promise,  but 
'  gave  him  the  benefice.    He  then  having  experienced 
*  the  liberality  of  this  prince,  composed  another  psalm 
'  by  way  of  thanksgiving,  beginning  "  Bonitatem  fe- 
'  cisti  cum  servo  tuo  Domine."       As  to  those  two 
'  pieces  of  hannony,  it  may  be  observed  how  much 
'  more  the  hopes  of  reward  incited  his  genius  in  the 
'  former,  than  the  attainment  of  it  did  in  the  other.' 

The  Dodecachordon  contains  also  some  extracts 
from  a  mass  of  his  composing,  intitled  L' Homme 
arme,  which  indeed  is  celebrated  by  Luscinius,  Sa- 
linas, and  many  other  authors.  Besides  these  a  great 
number  of  his  compositions  are  contained  in  the  Do- 
decachordon, and  among  others,  that  in  which,  not- 
withstanding the  adage  of  Erasmus  above-mentioned, 
he  has  ventured  in  a  De  Profundis  for  four  voices  to 
pass  from  the  Dorian  to  the  Phrygian  mode. 

Notwithstanding  the  favour  in  which  he  stood  with 
Lewis  XII.  it  seems  that  Jusquin  in  his  latter  days 
experienced  a  sorrowful  reverse  of  fortune.  In  the 
Sopplementi  Musicali  of  Zarlino,  pag.  314,  is  the  fol- 
lowing sonnet  of  Serasino  Acquilano  to  that  purpose  : — 

Giosquin  non  dir  che'l  ciel  sia  crudo  ed  empio, 
Che  t'adorno  de  si  soblime  ingegno  : 
Et  s'alcun  veste  ben,  lascia  lo  sdegno ; 
Che  di  ci6  gode  alcun  bufFone,  6  sempio. 


Da  quel  ch'io  ti  diro  prendi  I'essempio ; 
L'argento  e  I'or,  che  da  se  stess'  e  degno, 
Si  mostra  nudo,  e  sol  si  veste  il  legno, 
Quaudo  s'adorna  alcun  theatro  6  tempio  : 

II  favor  di  costei  vien  presto  manco, 
E  mille  volte  il  dl,  sia  pur  giocondo, 
Si  muta  il  stato  lor  di  nero  in  bianco. 

Mi  chi  ha  virtu,  gira  a  suo  modo  il  raondo  ; 
Com'  liuom  che  nuota  ed  ha  la  zucca  al  fianco, 
Metti'l  sott'  acqua  pur,  non  teme  il  fondo. 

Walther,  from  the  Athense  Belgic^e  of  Swertius, 
cites  the  following  epitaph  on  him  : — 
O  mors  inevitabilis  ! 
Mors  amara,  mors  crjudelis 
Josquinum  dum  necasti 
Ilium  nobis  abstulisti  ; 
Qui  suam  per  harmoniam 
Illustravit  ecclesiam, 
Propterea  die  tu  musice  : 
Requiescat  in  pace.     Amen. 

Castiglione  relates  a  story  which  bespeaks  the 
high  opinion  entertained  by  the  world  of  Jusquin's 
character  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  duchess 
met  with  little  approbation  till  it  was  known  to  be  of 
the  composition  of  Josquin  de  Prez.* 

The  following  motett  of  lodocus  Pratcnsis,  con- 
taining a  canon  of  two  in  one,  occurs  in  the  Dodeca- 
chordon, and  is  here  inserted  as  a  specimen  of  his 
style  and  abilities  as  a  composer  : — 

*  11  Corteg.  lib.  II. 


t— ( 


o 


^ 


^^^ 


mi 


'- tnr- 


-*>- 


fn 


O 


Je 


-e»- 


ot 


3^ 


su        Fi 


PPgJgggpp 


nz 


Da 
— 1>- 


ziz 


O       Je 


su 


Fi 


li 


Da 


vid 


mi 


se  -  re -re    me 


53? 


O        Je  -  su 


53S 


^ 


-?E 


e=i»=3i 


^ 


^; 


=S=ia: 


^^ 


PE 


=t=t 


O     Je  -  su   Fi  -  li      Da 


vid  mi 


se   -    re 


il 


iSot 


^ 


;a 


jr        \f*\  zzn^i 


:t 


:^3t: 


vid 


mi 


^^^^ 


zriz 


:7ctz 


^_6>-^ 


=;o=zz 


se  -   re 
to- 


re      me 


m^^i 


-«^- 


-«*- 


EJE 


Pl^ 


1,    mi 


:i2t 


se  -  re 


re     me 
1^ 


m. 


1,      mi.  -  se  -  re 
*^=rz2=zf:f2=;^jz 


re  me  - 


:5^: 


Fi 


n^^^^ 


Da    - 


vid 


mi 


se  -  re 


re 


me 


3^ 


re 


3^: 


1231 


iS 


-g»  r^- 


me 


1. 


mi 


se 


re    -    re    me 


Chap.  LXXII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


337 


< 


S 


_Q_i. 


^^=..=c«: 


zr 


rrf- 


~-:t 


\e3\ 


E^ 


loti 


-^»- 


~ry 


Fi 


li 


me 


ma 


le      a  de  -  mo  -  ni 


Zl3p===i]; 


-«S»-T-r>- 


:::3==]. 


iziz:®:^ 


ZJ33Z 


Fi 


a«E 


• ^- 


li-a  me -a     ma 


le 


3r*: 


a       de  -  mo  -ni  -  o 


1 


1, 


Fi 


^^ 


1 


Fi 


T>T 


^S^ 


li      -      a 


me 


ma  - 


im-TZi 


li 


a         me 


de 


mo 


1 


ui 


i 


^g^g^^^I^= 


==U3t= 


nOi -i-^^g     I        CZI 


rt=zti 


^^=331 


vex 


-    tur 


nam     et 


^^i^ 


:di 


-«3— =-— ^ — (0 — ^ 


ca    -    tel   -  H 


-^- 


=P 


Ee±E^ 


vex     -    a 


tur,    nam  -  et   ca  -  tel 


li 


"S. 


Hi2Z=S^ 


■r-tr- 


EE^3^ 


le      S  de 


mo 


nio 


vex 


a    - 


tur, 


nam     et 


ca 


— M- 
-     o 


^i?^E^ 


;Et: 


vex    -    a 


tur, 


m 


■iol 


123; 


ili^E 


ira; 


3^ 


— ^- 


dunt 


de 


mi  -  CIS       qu£B    ca 


dunt 


de 


EE 


^^^^ 


mu 


1231 


zjaz 


z^ — ZJI 


dunt 


de 


mi 


=f^ 


CIS      quse       ca 

—let: ,_r3- 


rxzTjtTrrripi: 


:|=; 


dunt  de  men 


tel 


li 


dunt 


de 


mi 


CIS        quae     ca 


dunt 


z\-zzz 


^^li^^^ 


:p: 


=l=: 


-«5» «g'.^-Tra=x=iiH2 


nam     et        ca     -     tel   -  li         e 


dunt 


de    mi 


CIS    quaj 


^ 


.at- 


-f*—n <5»- 


^W^ 


-^- 


rj3; 


-*»- 


r— 1°=^°^=^ 


men 


sa 


do 


mi  -  no 


-    sa  do 


=4 


opCi= 


mi -no 


m^ 


ZXJtZ 


_<2_^ «t3_ 


«.-"- 


-^- 


rum 

.<3 . 


6U     - 


irzi 


de        men 


sa 


do 


£ 


-o»- 


"c?" 


i«3r 


"<c:» — ^ 

dunt 


de 


men 


sa 


ii 


^ 


=dDt:: 


gi=gPg=^?3^ 


iiii^:c3>: 


-4=3: 


=^E*^=gi 


rum 


su 


mm 


0         mu-li  -  er 


mag  - 


^S^^^^= 


^^^li 


*t.-- 


rum 


O  mu 


t^S^^^J 


i^'- 


3;st: 


-C»- 


li 


lier  mag 

» «^ M— ^:— .»- 


na 


-"ict: 


±: 


fig 


mi    -   no 


rum 


su 


^M^^ 


ZCt=^ 


do  -  mi -no 


rum 


^T^^: 


_L *^ 


-ICJC 


3i: 


su 


rum, 


O 


335 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


loDoous  Peatensis. 


CHAP.  LXXIII. 

Jacobus  Hobrechth,  a  Fleming,  is  celebrated  for 
his  great  skill  and  judgment,  and  is  said  by  Glareanus 
to  have  been  possessed  of  such  a  degree  of  strength 
and  celerity  of  invention,  as  that  he  composed  a 
whole  mass,  and  a  very  excellent  one,  in  a  night's 
time,  to  the  admiration  of  the  learned.  The  same 
author  asserts  that  all  the  monuments  that  are  left  of 
his  composition  have  in  them  a  wonderful  majesty ; 
and  that  he  did  not,  like  Jusquin,  affect  unusual 
passages,  but  gave  his  compositions  to  the  public 
without  disguise,  trusting  for  the  applause  of  his 
auditors  to  their  own  intrinsic  merit*  He  was  pre- 
ceptor in  music  to  Ei'asmus.f 

Johannes  Ockegem,  or  as  Glareanus  calls  him, 
Okenheim,  was  also  a  native  of  the  Low  Countries, 
and  as  he  was  the  preceptor  of  lodocus  Pratensis, 
must  be  supposed  to  be  somewhat  more  ancient  than 


bis  disciple.  Glareanus  mentions  a  composition  of 
his  for  thirty-six  voices,  which,  though  he  had  never 
seen  it,  he  says,  had  the  reputation  of  being  admir- 
able for  its  contrivance.  In  the  composition  of  Fugue 
he  is  said  to  have  been  excellent ;  Glareanus  says  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  hiA  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  head  of  each  stave,  that 
this  was  intended  as  an  example  of  a  cantus  to  be 
sung  in  different  modes. 

Ambrose  Wilphlingsederus  of  Nuremberg  was  at 
the  pains  of  resolving  this  intricate  composition,  and 
published  it  in  his  Erotemata  Musices  Practicse 
printed  in  1563.  The  canon  and  resolution  are  here 
given  together : — 


FUGA  IN  EPIDIAPENTE     r^felj|-j*:Q: 


-*2: 


z^^rrrcgr 


=^ 


t»       *^-^ 


?^ 


J" — e»- 


•& 


^^-^^%-- 


r^--=«i 


'¥^ 


ICC 


^^ 


y^ -A — «p-s-a  — 


E^jaz=gL=:a=zzaf— ^TigLjL,,^ 


^?*i=^ 


-p- 


^^^m 


-jn- 


»=«3 & 


zcLl 


-rt— <S>- 


--^ 


zun. 


EiliiS^ 


i==ME^ 


-=4 


ja- 


=Ji; 


'^^:E:^e^. 


-xjr. 


^= 


-<g-r 


« — »- 


-— <- 


^^^^^g^g=^=d: 


rdrdm 


I HJ — i-H— I I       I *'    \      f'    f 


-e^-*-  —I — : 1 1 — «»-"- 


it==t: 


iiiPl 


^fei--iRt=*^ 


El=^S^=E?E^ 


3^^^ 


znr 


rt— g>— yj- 


^^E 


m^^ 


:^3t= 


& 


-rr 


O 

U 
O 


Sfe 


m 


=1= 


-t^^ 


S^^ 


ir?~ 


£^^ 


r:tzi 


-r~^  *       *^- 


lE^E 


EEEEg^^E^g^ 


-«»-*-0- 


331 


:t:=t: 


'W1—& — tc 


;[i=^ 


*•>        e^ 


•  Dodccachordon,  pag.  456. 


\  Ibii 


Chap.  LXXIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


339 


^^ 


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p^= 


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liP=^^ 


P!^^^ 


rr=::a— 


^gEH 


Antimo  Liberati,  a  musician  of  the  last  century, 
and  a  singer  in  the  pontifical  chapel,  says  that,  taking 
their  example  from  the  schools  of  those  two  great 
men  Okenheim  and  lodocus  Pratensis,  many  foreign 
masters  erected  musical  academies  in  different  king- 
doms and  provinces,  the  first  of  whom  was  Gaudio 
Mell,  a  Fleming,  who  instituted  at  Rome  a  noble  and 
excellent  school  for  music,  in  which  many  pupils 
were  instructed  in  the  science,  and  among  them  Gio. 


Johannes  Okenheim. 

Pier  Luigi  Palestrina.*  The  truth  of  this  relation, 
so  far  as  it  regards  the  name  of  Palestrina's  pre- 
ceptor, is  very  questionable,  and  will  be  the  subject 
of  a  future  enquiry. 

About  this  time  flourished  Adriano  Willaert,  a 
native  of  Bruges ;  this  person  was  intended  for  the 
profession  of  a  lawyer,  and  studied  in  that  faculty  in 
the  university  of  Paris,  but  an  irresistible  propensity 

*  Lettera  scritta  dal  Sig.  Antimo  Liberati  in  risposta  ad  una  del  Sig. 
Ovidio  Persapegi,  Roma,  1685. 


340 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


to  music  diverted  his  attention  from  the  law,  and 
engaged  him  deeply  in  the  study  of  that  science ; 
upon  his  quitting  Paris  he  went  for  improvement  to 
Italy,  and  by  the  favour  of  pope  Leo  X.  became,  to 
use  the  style  of  Zarlino  and  other  writers,  '  Maestro 
*  di  Cappella  della  serenissima  Signoria  di  Venetia;'* 
by  which  appellation  is  to  be  understood  master  of 
the  choir  of  the  church  of  St.  Mark.  He  seems  to 
have  been  the  inventor  of  compositions  for  two  or 
more  choirs,  that  is  to  say,  those  wherein  the  offices 
are  sung  alternately  by  several  chorusses,  the  effect 
whereof  is  at  this  day  sufficiently  understood.f 
Artusi,  Doni,  Printz,  and  other  writers  speak  of 
"VVillaert  in  general  terms  as  a  mere  practical  musi- 
cian, a  composer  of  motets,  madrigals,  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  incessantly  employed  in 
making  calculations  and  devising  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  true  character ; 
and  the  particulars  above  related  may  in  a  great 
measure  account  for  that  extreme  propensity  which 
Zarlino  throughout  his  voluminous  works  discovers 
for  that  branch  of  musical  science.  His  master  had 
made  him  sensible  of  its  value,  and  had  given  a 
direction  to  the  studies  of  his  disciple,  who  in  i-eturn 
has  taken  every  occasion  to  c<3lebrate  his  praises,  and 
to  transmit  to  posterity  in  the  character  of  Adrian 
Willaert,  an  exemplar  of  a  consummate  musician. 

There  are  extant  of  Willaert's  composition,  Psalmi 
Vespertini  omnium  Dierum  Festorum  per  Annum, 


4  Vocum,  1557;  Motettae  6  Vocum,  published  in 
1542;  Cantiones  Musicse,  sen  Motettae,  cum  aliis 
ejusdem  Cantionibus  Italicis  4,  5,  6,  et  7  Vocum ; 
and  Villanellse  Neapolitans  4  Vocum,  published 
together  in  1 588,  and  other  works.  J  He  is  sufficiently 
known  to  those  who  are  conversant  with  the  Italian 
writers  on  music,  by  the  name  of  JNIesser  Adriano. 

A  few  of  the  most  excellent  of  Willaert's  motets 
are  pointed  out  in  the  Istitutioni  Harmoniche  of 
Zarlino,  terza  parte,  cap.  Ixvi.  and  are  there  cele- 
brated as  some  of  the  finest  compositions  of  that  time. 
His  doctrines  and  opinions  respecting  some  of  the 
most  abstruse  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  faculties  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  understand 
music.§ 

The  Dimostrationi  of  Zarlino,  of  which  a  par- 
ticular account  will  in  its  place  be  given,  are  a  series 
of  dialogues  tending  to  illustrate  the  Institutes  of  the 
same  author.  The  interlocutors  in  these  are  Francesco 
Viola,  an  eminent  musician  and  maestro  di  cappella  to 
Alphonso  duke  of  Ferrara  ;  Claudio  Merulo,  organist 
of  the  great  church  at  Parma  ;  Adrian  Willaert,  and 
Zarlino  himself  In  the  course  of  these  dialogues 
many  particulars  occur  from  whence  an  adequate 
idea  may  be  formed  of  Willaert,  of  whom  Zarlino 
scruples  not  to  say,  as  indeed  do  most  that  speak 
of  him,  that  he  was  the  first  musician  of  his  time. 

The  following  motet  is  of  his  composition  : — 


ft 


m 


m^ 


-l=- 


1 


ZWZ- 


?_zz:t;; 


-Pi — «> — o — «» —  z 


z\z=^: 


QUEM  di-cunt     ho  -  mi  -  nes 


es  -  se 


fi  -  li  -  um    ho  -  mi  - 


« 


^5 


:t=i 


QUEM     di-cunt      ho  -  mi -nes 


d=i: 


zit=zviz 


Zfl 


:4=: 


i=4 


— I 1 ^ — -!--■-!- 


iri: 


ip— r?- 


£i 


S^iiS^ 


zctz 


QUEM  di  -cunt   ho  -  mi  -  nes 


es  -  se       fi  -  li-um  ho 


mi 


nes. 


es 


gg^ 


f^ 


i 


E3^z 


=  -F: 


-f2=T=i 


■t=t: 


-C* 


-^EE^EE^ 


1^=^=4 


ei — tf — t*- 


321 


R^ 


-     nis, 


es   -   se        fi  -  li  -  um   ho 


d:=3; 


^fei 


mi  -  nis         re-spondens     Pe 


trus 


=i: 


i^.— ri=p: 


— «*- 


es  -  66       fi  -  li  -  um  ho 


m^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 


-»— T-i 


=d= 


rtut 


zzJ; 


i=^a: 


mi    -    nis         re-spondens  Pe 


trus      dix 


:ni 


itzc 


se 


fi- li-um     ho-mi-nis  ho 


=t-f: 


mi 


nis 


re-spon-dons     Pe 


=1: 


n3i 


zrtzziir 


W= 


831 


^^smm^ 


'—— — J— ^_e»- 


:4at: 


Z^^CfZ 


^- 


crt— zir 


=23 


=rzi3: 


QUEM    di-cunt    ho -mi  -  nes 


es  -  se        fi  -  li  -  um  ho-  mi 


nis 


re  - spon-dens        Pe 


•  Walth.  Lex.  in  Art.  Zarl.  Ragion.  pap:.  1.  8.  t  Zarl.  Istitut.  34fi.   Documenti  Armonici  di  Angelo  Berardii  Ub.  I.  l.ag.  78. 

i  Walth.  Lex.  in  Art.  §  Zarl.  Dimostrationi  passim. 


Chap.  LXXIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


341 


^■ 


ii^io^ 


*'         fr- 


1— " — wf- 


~m 


z^z 


--^- 


dis 


It 


Tu       es    Cliristus    Fi 


'E^^m 


-!6»'— r-«*-liz7 — ^ — r— ^- 


-^rr- 


-t*- 


fc=i 


:zii 


-  trus      dix 


it 


Tu 


es    Christ 


-^^ 


-^- 


m 


U3       Fi     - 

r — ^-^<& 


VI 


li  -  US    De      -      i 


trus  dix    -    it 


Tu     es    Christus  Fi  -  li  -  us    De 


:?tp°-nr-«»-^ 


Ei 


=d= 


lai 


r^ 


rjcx 


HI 


it 


Tu     es    Christus  Fi  -  li 


us    De  -  i      vi 


VI 


^  -us  De  -  i    vi 


;a: 


1= 


-— —  ^ — *» —  ^- 

1 1 P= 


^^^*zg^3^ 


^ 


VI 


et      a  -  it      Je 


sus 


3E^: 


r-r— p 


g^ 


:c<i:r:i=^:i2:=: 


VI 


et     a  -  it      Je 


3:^^ 


-ri «5' r^- 


=3^-EEE 


=1=^ 


rinrpisqs' 


:2t: 


■ggr^^^^^- 


'.jfi. O Z2- 


sus 
::1 


— o — ^ 

Be  -  a 


Be    - 


"^^^^^^ 


t?-ZZEt 


^^ 


1       VI 


VI 


et     a  -  it 


Je 


sus 


Be-a-tus    es 


Si-mon 


m 


f»      r*' 


ZJZt^Z 


rjzrin= 


'Ai^ 


et       a  -  it 


Je 


sus 


t': 


"ry 


tus 


es. 


be  -  a   -    tus      es 


IjOI 


■F= 


3in~^ 


if=il 


Simon    Pe 


p=t-f:=p 


tre 


qui 


a        ca    - 


^fJi^fiZ 


11=^^1 


-*»- 


li— 1= 


E^ 


ip=:: 


Z^=f2Z 


-    tus 


es 


Si 


mon       Pe 


^^ggJElEEg^-^gfJMf^EJ-^Sgfe 


tre  qui 


a    ca 


ro    et 


san 


-f: — h- 


:fpi 


Pe  -  tre,  Pe 


■• — I —  ~-\ — 


it= 


^S 


:?zi 


;|r=t=^ 


Be  -  a 


tus  es 


Si 


mon  Pe 


tre 


tre 


qui 


ca  -  ro   . 


3^^^ 


=1^ 


i 


— ^ — *i- 


-i*^= 


:p 


■  ro    et       san     -    guis,  san 


guis 


non  re  -  ve 


i=?i; 


:p=:t= 


xi. 


f=F 


-^^^^^^^^ 


ZZZ2; 


guis 


non  re  -  ve-Ia 


vit 


ti     -    bi 


sizzaz 


^ 


=ii=^ 


--=\^^ 


m^i 


z:i=z, 


f=" 


n^^Pi 


et      sau 


guis 


non  re  -  ve  -  la  -  vit     ti 


bi. 


=E^ 


zrjiz=jiz 


ZjO. Zft      fJL. 


=t=t:i 


Et^ 


z-X- 


^ 


?^t= 


^-f^- 


non 


qui  -  a 


ca 


ro     et        san  -  guis 


nonre-ve  -  la 


-     vit      ti 


tf 


j=g— "-^ 


4= 


:F: 


id: 


-t^ 


Sg 


la 


vit       ti 


bi 


sed  Pa   -    ter   me  -us        qui        est        in       Cc8    - 


^^sm^. 


:r=:J- 


l^iB^^tEgE^^^H^E^^^^E 


=z:z4 


=!=:: 


ri — h 


sedPa-ter      me  -  us 


qui  est  in       Cce 


lis,       in  Cce    - 


lis, 


in    Cce 


"fto- 


-f^- 


:r> 


— ,0- 


:i — zai 


EF 


^ ^— prg— -i.-^ _-<, — c 


re  -  ve-la-vit       ti 


Li 


:a; 


EE^EE^E^ 


sed        Pa  -  ter     me 


us 


rtri 


EE^=^?=iiEff^^=F^_EEt 


qui     est      in  Cce 


:C^ 


'^   -    bi 


sed  Pa-ter     me  -    us  qui    est    in        Cce 


& 


342 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIIL 


:q=z-: 


tr'-r 


^^assE; 


::£<; 


lis 


et       E  -  go      di 


=:j==j=- 


z*-m!z; 


3^^ 


-    lis 


s;ei°^ 


=J=^i=--- 


M 


m=^i. 


et     E    -     go    di 


-    Co 


^=^==aEf^ 


-^ — 

CO  ti      -      Li 


i^— p; 


1^1 


ti 


bi 


qui  -  a     tu      es 


=z!!r=ri=«r: 


^E§E^ 


:tz=:— 


-ia= 


lis 


et    E  -  go       di    -  CO  ti     - 


]ii 


z=r*- 


^h 


lis 


et       E  -  go     di     -     -     CO      ti 


IZ2I 


Z^^^iE^EE&E 


-     bi 


qui  -  a     tu 


^ 


zfrzfizz^xi 


it=:C:=t= 


lo: 


nai 


tit 


-(=; 


-J-l"-^-»-«^ 


r±z 


-f2- 


si^ 


j^ 


-O  - 


qui-a    tu      es  Pe-tius 

-10— (»— )6»- 


et 


su  -  per  banc         Pe 


^E^E 


Pe 


trus 


et  su-per     banc       Pe    -     tram 


et      su  -  per  banc 


-^z 


-t--^- 


IPI 


qui    -    a      tu     es    Pe  -  trus 


e^eee^=^ 


OIIT2: 


«zTZ--3=q^3 


=f= 


et      su-per  banc        Pe 


E^^E^^si 


^^^^^E^E^rr^ 


EErE 


-1~ 


es    Pe 


trus 


Ei3 


|3=I: 


Gi=rii- 


ZT2- 


l^liE^i^eigiigs^iPlsi 


IZ2Z 


-    tram 


e  -  di  -  fi    -   ca 


j|E3EEg£&fEJiS 


-^— o— n— ^ 


z^^EE 


Pe 


tram 


^= 


-    tram 


Et=EE^EEEiEEEEE^E£^ 


e  -  di  -  fi    -    ca     -     bo  ec     -     cle     -    si  -  am  me 


:a: 


'&- 


:t= 


ei^^OOii 


d^ 


Ti—f»- 


831 


:=!:= 


i^E§ 


t— :rp: 


«-« 


e    -    di  -  fi  -  ca 


bo     cc 


-     cle 


Hisi: 


siam     me     -     am, 


zar: 


:fE^ 


'-=;:;=crfizrD=z23: 


^?:i 


1=t= 


et    su  -  per    banc     Pe 


t^ 


:=|- 


tram 


di  -  fi  -  ca 


E^:^ 


EE^E^^E^^ 


-^ o— , 


t^= 


=^.=.:i— ^ 


z~nz 


bo 


e=Se 


ec  -  cle     - 


si  -  am 


me 


am. 


Al  -  le  -  lu     - 


— ^SE 


-    am. 


Al 


le  -  lu  - 


=E=^ 


zm 


--^- 


JIXZ 


r^=:± 


.n-z 


ec  -  cle 


^"E-^ 


ZJilZ 


zri—^z 


zctz 


si  -  am    me 
-f, — Cl- 


am. 


Al 


lu 


rrfiz 


:t=t-- 


=1= 


:^3p. 


^ 


*^=f2=Z^- ^ 


-  bo    ec-cle     - 


SI  -  am  me 


am. 


t7l 


^  - 


Al  -  le  -  lu     -     ia 


5^^=^^^1|^^^ 


f  i« — ^--a 


Al  -  le  -  lu  -  ia, 


11 


i^ 


la, 

H-«3 «» ^- 


Al  -  le  -  lu  -  ia,   Al    -   le  -  lu  -  ia, 


Al   -  le-lu 


la. 


=^= 


-t= 
Al  -le-  lu  -  ia, 


•— *i -^.^ ! ■  — 


z^rzzxL 


rpi— F 


-F 


-pi 


rf:=:ilr- 


:t 


?^ 


Al  -  le  -  lu 


la, 


Al  -le 


lu 


la. 


^: 


irt 


— " rX- 


— P=^=?EP=b^^ 


-t=: 


S 


l^i 


EtE=E 


i[ggg 


-    la, 


Al  -  le  -  lu  -  ia, 


Al   -    le-lu 


ia,     Al    -  le 


lu  -  ia. 


'm=^. 


' " ri- 


trzztri 


^z=:=S^:^=:r=z 


Al  -  le  -  lu   -    ia, 


Al 


le 


gEEEE^E^^^EEEEE^[Eg=g^EgEJEgEE^ 


znt : 


lu  -  ia,     Al  -  le    -    lu  -  ia,       Al-le  -  lu       -         -       la. 

Adriano  VVillaert. 


Chap.  LXXIV 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


343 


CHAP.  LXXIV. 


of  the  greatest  musicians  of  the  age  he  lived  in.     He 
composed  many  masses,  which  were  highly  approved 
Johannes  Mouton,  a  disciple  of  Adrian  Willaert,      by  Leo  X.     A  Miserere  for  four  voices  of  his  corn- 
was  Maestro  di  Capella  to  Francis  I.  king  of  France,*      position  is  to  be   found    in   the    Dodecachordon  of 
and,  by  the  testimony  of  his  contemporaries,  was  one      Glareanus,  as  is  also  the  following  hymn. 


-o     *^=t: 


«^| 


ior 


zm 


-^- 


ZX2Z 


^=P= 


—azzi 


2^ 


U= 


SAL  -   VE     Ma    -   ter       Sal 


va   -    tor 


Ss*^ 


f 


r6=rJ: 


;g±^ 


-  tor 


« 


rqat 


IS, 


m 


:4at; 


irr 


-T— » 


r^t^- 


IS, 


Sal     -     ve 
Inversio. 


Ma 


ter 


m 


=!c^ 


f^=^=El^E 


Sal 


— =1 — 1 E 


-s 


SAL 


VE     Ma 


ter 


Sal 


-^- 


^±zezw:i~ 


Sal 


— <ai-r-«-»-- 


P«s>- 


£5EE 


:z3i 


va 


tor 


IS, 


Sal 


va  - 


Canon  Duo  in  TJno. 


:a-Ez 


r=o^«=* 


SAL 


VE       Ma    -    ter 


Sal 


va 


tor 


-     -  IS, 


nor  -     - 


:^— J— J 


T^—&- 


=:cii=: 


.X21 


:i3-^— ; 


EE^EiE^^ 


^^z*=^ 


^1^^^ 


turn, 


vas        ho  -  nor 


mi  -  se 


zz=ti 


i^pi 


,     .       e  -  lee 


turn,  vas  ho-nor    - 


1 


in: 


IS, 


vas  ho-nor     - 


£=— p: 


-<■>    _ 


vas      mi  -  se 


n  -  cor 


*  This  prince,  as  he  was  a  great  lover  and  encourager  of  learning  and 
the  liberal  arts,  was  peculiarly  fond  of  music.  In  the  memoirs  of  Mr. 
De  la  Foret,  ambassador  from  Francis  I.  to  Solynian  II.  emperor  of  the 
Turks,  for  concluding  a  treaty  between  those  two  princes,  in  the  year 
1543,  it  is  related  that  the  king  designing  to  do  a  pleasure  to  his  new 
aLy,  sent  him  a  band  of  most  accomplished  musicians,  making  him,  as 
je  thought,  a  present  worthy  of  his  grandeur.  Solyman  received  them 
very  civilly,  and  was  entertained  by  them  with  three  different  concerts 
at  his  palace,  in  presence  of  all  his  court ;  he  shewed  himself  greatly 
p.'iased  with  the  music,  but  having  observed  that  it  tended  to  enervate 
ills  mind,  he  judged  by  himself  that  it  might  make  still  a  greater  im- 


pression upon  that  of  his  courtiers.  He  much  applauded  the  musicians  ; 
nevertheless,  as  he  was  apprehensive  that  music  might  occasion,  in  con- 
sequence of  its  establishment,  as  much  disorder  in  his  empire  as  would 
be  caused  by  a  permission  of  the  use  of  wine,  he  sent  back  the  musicians 
with  a  handsome  reward,  after  having  ordered  all  their  instruments  to 
be  broken,  with  a  prohibition  against  their  settling  in  his  empire  upon 
pain  of  death.  Solyman  thoroughly  believed  it  to  be  a  stroke  of  policy  in 
Francis  I.,  for  he  told  the  French  ambassador  that  he  imagim  d  his  master 
had  sent  him  this  amusement  to  divert  him  from  the  business  of  war, 
just  as  the  Greeks  sent  the  Persians  the  game  of  chess  to  slacken  their 
military  ardour.     Histoire  de  la  Musique  et  ses  Effets,  torn.  I.  pag.  212. 


344 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VID 


t 


fedigE^Sg 


-jiz 


pr^— ryz 


:p 


EE 


:*2t: 


vas  mi 


iH 


se 

==1: 


ZTia: 


n      cor     - 


di 


SIS 


:f::^ 


-xtz 


EiE^ 


pro  no 


ri  -  cor 


di 


ffl 


^ 


:j«at: 


:^^ 


S 


fta-c— fct- 


la; 


:czi 


pro       no 


IS 


-»-^ 


=o=p:^P 


•-iQ — e»- 


EE^^ 


vas 


mi  -  se  -  ri  -  cor 


di 


=;:=d^t=: 


J^t: 


icr: 


^^=^^ 


rt: 


SIS 


di 


as 


SIS 


pro      no 


bis, 


pro  no 


ve  -  ni   -   ae. 


-    se,     fons    ve 


fons 


ve     -     111      -      ffl. 
Johannes  Mouton. 


Thomas  Crequilon,  a  Fleming,  was  master  of  the 
cliapel  to  the  emperor  Charles  V.  about  the  year  1556. 
He  composed  hymns  for  many  voices,  and  some  French 
songs  in  four,  five,  and  six  parts. 

Clemens,  otherwise  Jacob  Clemens  non  Papa,  a 
Fleming,  was  one  of  the  musicians  of  the  emperor 
Charles  V.  and  a  composer  of  masses  and  other 
sacred  offices.  It  seems  that  this  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  being  at  Augsburg,  he 
stood  by  the  emperor's  table,  and  that  'his  chapel 
*  sung  wonderful  cunningly  all  the  dinner-while.* 

Cyprian  de  Rore  was  born  at  Mechlin,  but  lived 
great  part  of  his  time  in  Italy.  He  composed  man}^ 
very  fine  madrigals  to  Italian  words.    There  is  extant 


in  the  great  church  of  Parma  the  following  sepulchral 
inscription  to  his  memory  : — 

Cypriano  Roro,  Flandro 

artis  musicse 

viro  omnium  peritissimo, 

cujus  nomen  famaque 

nee  vetustate  obrui 

nee  oblivione  deleri  poterit, 

Herculis  Ferrariens.  Ducis  II. 

deinde  Venetorum, 

postremo 

Octavi  Farnesi  Parmae  et  Placentiae 

Ducis  II.  Chori  Praefecto, 

Ludovicus  frater,  fil.  et  hreredes 

moestissiini  })osuerunt. 

Obiit  anno  M.D.LXV.  astatis  xlix. 

The  following  madrigal  is  given  as  a  specimen  of 
his  abilities  in  that  style  of  musical  composition  : — 


^^E^^gEE^z 


% 


i^ 


-OZ 


-VLz=r, 


AN 


fEiEm 


-o — fx—-a 


-Jf=^ 


~f2~- 


'-JOT 


EE^E 


COR 


ch6  col     par  -  ti 


re 


Jfiz 


10  mi  sen 


to 


mo  - 11 


I1-- 


AN 


^lil 


COR  ch6  col 


par 


ti 


re 


10 


mi 


sen 


to   mo 


ri 


fcfiz 


IIPS 


-jcti 


^-- 


AN  -  COR     chS  col  par 


ti 


10 


mi 


^£ 


i^= 


t^^lg^E 


sen 


-:1=| 


to   mo    - 


AN-COR     chS  col  par 


ti 


re 


10 


mi   sen   -  to  mo 


*  The  same  author  gives  the  following  humorous  account  of  the 

behaviour  of  the  emperor  at  dinner :  '  He  had  four  courses,  lie  had  sod 

beef,   very   good   roast   mutton,   baked  hare;    these  be  no  service  in 

'England.     The  emperor  hath  a  good  face,  a  constant  look  ;  he  fed  well 

'  of  a  capon ;  I  have  had  a  better  from  mine  hostess  Barnes  many  times 


'  in  my  chamber.  He  and  Ferdinando  eat  together,  very  handsomely 
'carving  themselves  where  they  list,  without  any  curiosity.  The  em- 
'  peror  drank  the  best  that  ever  I  saw  ;  he  had  his  head  in  the  glass  five 
'  times  as  long  as  any  of  us,  and  never  drank  less  than  a  good  qu&rt  at 
'  once  of  Rhenisb  wine.'    Ascham's  Works,  pag.  375. 


Chap.  LXXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


345 


t^ 


rja— :=- 


;a!i 


501 


:?z= 


re 


*= 


par  -  tir     vor  -  rei  oga'     or     o      -      gni 


mo-men     -    to 


=t^ 


IDI 


za:zii 


tan   -    t'ilpia-cer  che    sen     - 


re 


par  -  tir    vor-reiogn'    or    ogu'    or      o-gnimomen     -    to     tan  -  t'il  piacerch'io  sen 


to 


'—fa: 


£E^ 


ii=:Di 


-o— T-«- 


■^"J 


«?  — f2_ 


^ 


li*.; 


-r^- 


=?2- 


n 


re 


par  -  tir     vor  -  rei  ogn     or    o  -  gni  mo  -  men  -  to 


tan 


^pSEE«ipt= 


m. 


:g^-?2=R 


p=l: 


^ 


n 


re 


t^- 


-o=^z^z= 


-\ r*- 


t'il 
— o- 


-I ^ 

pia    - 


par  -  tir     vor-reiogn'    or    o -gni  mo -men  -  to 


tan 


t 


EE 


-^ 


-^ 


~f2Z 


:2i^=tzi 


10 


-*-i  o—  -«: 


=?z=c 


-pz 


-to 


tan  -  t'  il  placer  che    sen    -    to 


*= 


del   -  la      vi 

ZIXXZ 


1721 


:r4=z:pi 


ta    ch'ac  - 


:7a 


tan  - 1'  il  pia  -  cer  che  sen 


to 


del   -  la      vi 


iiiii^ 


?2= 


cer  che  sen 


to 


i^^^il^^Ef^ 


:tzz 


=t:; 


tan    -    t'  il  placer  ch'io  sen 


^z::=p=tf:^zz£^t: 


-     ta    ch'ac  -  qui 


:7a: 


to 


del 


la 


VI 


.  -  t'il  piacer  che         sen 


to 


f=f^ 


—ri~ 


tan   -   t'il  pia -cer  ch'io  sen  -  to      del 


la 


VI 


ta    ch'ac  - 


ta    ch'ac  - 


E°E:^gE^_^E5£^gEp^:J^E^^g=[^Mf^JE:^ 


3r: 


ic: 


^ssiiii 


quis  -  to   .     . 


nel 


n  -  tor 


no 


EEE 


^^^ 


ct 


i«3: 


e 


CO 


SI 


mille    e  mil-le 


HIe 


-!=== 


pEiEili 


to      nel 


V 


n 


tor 


no 


CO 


si  mil  -lee    mil-le  volte  il 


ipi: 


:pn=z=-- 


p: 


=1=^ 


EE^fe^ 


::^:i:^ai 


-f>- 


EEE»^, 


-Ti-V- 


rti 


quis  -  to  nel  ri  -  tor 


no 


e        CO  -  si     mille    e  mil-le  volte  il    gior 


?=^i 


:e!i 


1— 


-i=E?P 


:S 


-     quis 


to 


nel 


n 


tor 


no 


CO    -    SI, 


e    - 


^^^^^^^^m 


E^g 


'^  volte  il 


:zi: 


ZKzq:_£,_ 

itzz: 


^^^— — =^ 


zutz 


no 


:di 


gior   -    no      mille  e     mil-le  volte  il    gior 


par 


tir        da       voi        vor 


re 


zct 


-&  — -i-fi=z. 


-tt- 

-F= 


'iiz 


c=f= 


-F= 


r-t=p= 


=P=P- 


gior   -   no 


ee^epb^^^eeE: 


CO    -     si     mille    e mil-le  volte  il  gior  -  no       par  -   tir         da      voivor-re 

-    no      mille  e    mil-le  volte  il   gior-no  millg  e    mil-le    volte    il     gior    -    no  par -tir  .    .    da  voi  .    .    vor  -re     - 


CO 


^•zzzpz«=z^L^ 


-jaz 


i= 


r,_,^_dz=r3o:: 

EE^^^=EHE 


z:zi=: 
zzd 


z^Elz izizz: 


m 


si       mille    e  mil-le     vol 


te 


mille     e  mil  -  le    volte  il  gior  -  no       par  -  tir         da      voi 


vor 


^ 


?=z-^^-S=z:^=z:=l 


~E 
tan  -  to  son    dol  -  ci 


'-^=^^^^ 


gli 


ri  -  tor 


ni 


mie  - 


f&3C 


z?— ai 


m^^^^^^^ 


-p 


i      tan  -  to  son  dol  -  ci, 


■^ 


"m 


:»zr^zff:=iz 
izziztzb 


:oz 


-P 


ri  -  tor    - 


i      tan  -  to  son  dol  -   ci 


tan  -  to  son  dol 


ci      gli  .     . 


n     -    tor    -    ni 


348 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


t: 


=^l? 


-   1 


Et.=L=F 


IDI 


e 


m^^ 


mille     e  mil-le     volte  il   gior    -    no,       mille     e    mil -le  volte  il 


CO 


SI 


J^^^E 


rrir 


-t== 


ii 


t- 


m 


mie 


'_=jn=  zTii^ 


i=t 


=i=P^ 


e    CO    -  si  mille       e     mille  e  volte  il    gior 


no 


CO 


si    mil 


rJ^^^-E[^=^: 


— «*- 


FJE,^.zrlEr^^'— ^ 


mie 


CO 


si    mille   e  mil-le   volte   il  gior    -     no,       mille    e   mil  -  le  volte  il     gior-no,  mille   e 


m 


zun 


irc2i 


mie 


E^E 


^- 


ZHZ 


ga-f-^: 


izii 


CO 


SI 


mille    e  mil-le       vol 


te, 


t 


—dz 


=± 


_pjrrf_ 


^^^mm 


=rz: 


* 


gior 
— N— N 


no 


par  -   tir 


da 


vol 


vor 


re 


mm^^m^= 


t-- 


-t^ 


:ftz; 


F£E 


:iL^p.i^^^i^ 


=:i:3r" 


le    e  mil  -  le 

3= 


volte    -    il  gior  -  no        par   2__*^''        ^* ^'oi  vor  re 


1       tan  -  to  son  dol    - 


•i ■ c 


l=F====1 


mil    -    le       vol  -  te     gior 


no 


par  -  tir  .    .    da  voi  .    .    vor  -  re       - 


£=:b 


3=si--r]=:f-in- 


?=f: 


iri=:=t= 


nt 


rii:: 


tzp: 


^?-^-- 


I-  f-^— i — F — 


mille 


e   mil  -  le      volteil  gior  -  no        par  -  tir 


da 


vol 


vor 


re 


tan  -  to  son  dol 


-^mm^ 


Ml 


i^E=^[=JiEig^^iE^ 


tan  -  to  son    dol  -  ci 


gH 


i:c=rr 


H^iE=iJ3.gE=H= 


*^ 


Ki=- 


iH: 


I'i   -  tor 


m  mie 


::^- 


J= 


:c«i 


-«- 


EEE3«E= 


Cl 
-«9 


tan 


to  son   dol  -  ci 


'^^^^^f^^:^^^^ 


V- 


gli      ri 
— e» 


tor    -    ni 


mie 


H^E3E 


L^:: 


-|= 


==1^2;=: 


tan  -  to  son    dol  -  ci, 


tan-to  son    dol  -  ci 


gH   • 


11    -    tor     -     ni 


mie 


ID  I 


m^^^^^^^^ 


^EE?:E^Er£Fl^EEr:EEE=EE; 


^^ 


123; 


ZTXl 


4Z2t= 


Cl, 


tan  -  to  son  dol 


ci      gli 


ri 


tor 


ni 


mie 


CiPRiANo  De  Rore. 


Philippus  De  Monte,  (a  Portrait,)  a  native  of 
Mens  in  Hainault,  born  in  1521,  was  master  of  the 
chapel  to  the  emperor  Maximilian  II.  a  canon,  and 
treasurer  of  the  cathedral  church  of  Cambray.  In 
that  church  was  a  portrait  of  him,  with  the  fol- 
lowinc:  distich  under  it  : — 


Cernimus  excelsmTi,inente  arte,  et  nomine  Montem, 
Quo  Musae  et  Charites  constituere  domum. 

The  print  given  of  him  is  taken  from  it,  and  is  to 
be  found  in  the  Bibliotheca  Chalcographica  of  Boissard. 
He  composed,  besides  masses  and  motets,  four  books 
of  madrigals,  of  which  the  following  is  one  : — 


TZ-  fJ        prjP 


^ 


:rDrr:pZ| 


±: 


^ 


<2- 

ziz- 


ZdZ 


i^E 


DA        bei 


ra    -    mi      seen 


i^ 


m^^^^^m 


de 


a 
-<o- 


dol 


ce      nel    -    la 


me 


mo    -    ria 


zSz—t-Z 


i^l^f^^; 


p- 


DA 


bei        ra    -    mi      seen    -     de 


m 


-^- 


-p; 


DA 
— ^- 


mr^z 


bei 
— o- 


ra 


mi       seen 


de 


dol      -      ce      nel    -    la 

m 1 —  * — » r> 1 — 

Eg^gEE|z^EEE=E=PE| 
do!       -      ce    nel    -    la 


me    -    mo   -   ria    u  - 


-^z^tzzaz 


--ztr- 


^^^^=i 


me 


mo 


na    u 


znz 


z\zz::^=jcxzz±E^z=z£^zb. 


DA       bei 


ra    -    mi 


ffccn     -     de 


dol 


ce     nel 


tEEE 

la 


::ir= 


me    -    mo    -    ria     u 


^^^ 


Chap.  LXXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


347 


mwj^^m^ 


iprpi ?2rrz: 


'''-•  u  -  na  piog  -  gia      di      fior 


-Pi= 


sov 


r'  il  suo  grem 


bo 


ed 


el 


la 


ee=Ie 


1=^=F=^^ 


BEi-,^EE^E,\ 


'^^=: 


d- 


:*— «L: 


lie 


::^: 
-«>- 


rz:z2i 


^^ilPl:^.^ 


na  piog-gia     di      fior    sov  -  ra  il      suo     grem  -  bo 


:l^=t:= 


E^ 


pz3: 


— Ji 


zaz 


iE 


sov-  r'  il 


BUO 


grem    - 


bo 


ed     el    -    la 


^^P^^Ei^jg^iE 


-P- 


1= 


na  piog-gia    di     fior    sov  -  ra  il  suo  grem      -      bo,  il     suo    grem    - 


-    bo 


ed     el    -    la 


=1 


i3i2iii=r^ 


-  na  piog-gia    di    fior    sov  -  ra  il   su     -         -     o  grem 


bo 


ed      el 


la 


t^ 


i^^ii^E^ 


=?Z^ 


eS 


-t 


I*    *I 


1 


61       se     - 
-» »- 


t^ 


^; 


de 


a 


u      -      mil    in      tan  -  ta      glo  -  ria 

EgZE£JEE=E^E 


co-per-ta    gia    dell'       a 


mo     -     - 


i?2=z=o: 


::t: 


^^^HE=^^ 


=^- 


:i2i 


=i^^ 


SI      se 


de 


^ — I — ^- 


a 


mil     in      tan  -  ta      glo  -  ria  co  -  per-ta  gia  dell'    a  -  mo  -  ro    -    so  dell 


^^^^^^^m^^^M^^^ 


SI      se 


de    - 


u  -  mil    in     tan  -  ta    glo 


na 


CO  -  per-ta  gia  dell'    a  -  mo  -  ro  -  so  nem 


~~\      61      se 


de    - 


a 


EE?s=?: 


— _ — 1- 


liii 


idi 


t— 


^, 


::»:=-»35t.-^i 


u  -  mil    in     tan  -  ta    glo   -   ria 


^^^=t= 


\-^=^^=^^^k. 


CO  -  pur-ta  gia  deir    a  -  mo 


ro 


idz 


-F— • 


f^ia 


so  nem 


bo 


qual  fior  ca     -     dea   sul  lem 


ci3^ 


-1 — ^- 


i^= 


^^^^^m^^m 


rzai 


i;l=.-:d= 


mo  -  ro 


so 


nem 


3= 

bo  qual  fior  ca  -  dea  sul  lem    -    bo,  qual  fior  ca  -  dea  sul     lem 


j|=5=5=aiilE=i^i^^^°l^?^=e 


3=gifefei=g-^ 


~n 1- 


-   \Z 


a  -  mo  -  ro   -   so  nem 


bo  qual  fior  ca  -  dea  sul         lem -bo,  qual  fior  ca  -  dea  sul  lem 


e=E^& 


:ck: 


~^^^^mM 


-     so 


nem 


bo  qual  fior  ca  -  dea  sul    lem 


zriz 

bo, 


-  bo  qual  sul 


r0- 


le 


^ 


EfcPE 


EEEE 


-P— F 


-<2- 


P^Ee^?^ 


izt 


tree  -   cie 


bion 


de 


m- 


=3EEg^3i|g 


ch'O     -    10     for  -   bi-toe     per-le  e     - 


boqualsul-le     treccie  bi  -  on -de  qual  sul -le     treccie    bion    -    de 


ch'O 


ro     for  -  bi-toe     per-le 


^^S. 


:4= 


'^^^^^^^^^i^m^^^^^^^^^i 


bo  qual  sul     -    le  tree  -   cie    bionde  qual  sul     -    le  treccie     bionde        ch'O 


'-A 


zii 


^^z 


za- 


^Xi- 


=t: 


quail     sul-Ie     treccie biou     -     dequalsul-le    trec-ciebion    -    de 


fl 


ro     for    -  bi-toe     per-le 
-f»  — 


ch'O   -  ro     for  -  bi-toe     per-le 


— <?- 


=3": 


e    - 


t 


>-#— fO- 


=:p=ti 


i:b' 


:ni 


'Zf2— 


4: 


-f* 0 G>- 


zxiz 


rrz: 


'ja 


^mm- 


ran  quel  dia  ve-der-le        qual     si 


po    -     sa 


vam 


ter    -     ra 


qual  sul'     on 


ran  quel    dla  ve-der-le       qual     si         po     -    sa  -   vain         ter    -     ra         e     qual        sul' on  -    de,  e 


:Ei^E^E^ 


:t== 


Ee^=^ 


^ 


ilili? 


=l-q 


ran  quel   dl  a  ve  -  der-le        qual     si      po  -  sa 


^=^ 


^^^ 


-zJ^zriz 


=k3z^.^:zz±z  zzw—u=s—z\zz[ |.         3^R 


ran  quel    dl  a   vc  -  der-  le        qual    si 


po 


-«. — j^ 

sa   -   va  in  ter 


t-i-«-^ 

va  in  ter  -  ra    e  qual  •     .     .     sul'   on  -  de         e 


ra 


e     qual  sul'  on  -   de 


348 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIIL 


f 


i^^i 


EF=SE^i 


-  J-, — Fit — — ■-• — P— F-^— »— ■ — -i~4-^-3X- 
-<P —  -S*---"-r — P-F-^— P— F— ^*-*-»-F- 


CK 


de 


qual 


con 


un 


va 


^:^l_^Sfe^^^iE[Ei 


-»^— » a 


-    go 


er-ro 


re 


gi 


S^?ififi 


~mz 


•r^i^— J=r£E3==p8— -P 


=■-»: 


IE*: 


qual  sul'  on-  de  qual  con  un  va  -  go     er-ro       -       re  qual  con  un 

qual  sul'  on  -   de  qual  con  un  va  -go     er  -  ro      -       re  qual      con 


va -go    er 


fX 


ro     -      -    re 


gi 


r»n:=r 


^ 


=3^^Ep^g^£=^i^=^gpEiE^g^^gEg=gg 


unvago  er  -  ro 


re 


gi 


ran 


3^p=i^ 


-e»— 


qual  sul' on   -    de 


qual  con      un  va-go  er 


ro 


re 


qui         re    -    gn'A  -  mo      -  -  -  - 


m 


—tjt i_ 


-X.- 


gi 


€»-ia-,- 


•| — «:* P-^ 1— 


re, 


gi  -  ran  -  do 


re    -    gn'A  -  mo 


re, 


E^; 


F»=»f2= 


:tz=r 


"231 


re 


gi  -  ran -do 

mmmm 

gi  -  ran  -  do 


-  ran  -  do  pa    -    rea      dir 


re    -    gn'A  -  mo  -  .  -  . 

re    -   gn'A-mo  -  -  -  -  re,  gi  -  ran  -  do 


==^— « 


t 


r=E 


qui 


i^?i'^^[-ii?jE^i 


ESS^ 


% 


pa  -  rea 


dir 
_c»_ 


qui       re  -  gn'A-mo  -  re, 


mo 


re. 


._C2_ 


;g=gpgg^^^^P 


ra3: 


H 


=3^e;| 


* 


pa  -  rea       dir 

— <2 ,^_    ^^ — ,3_ 


:t=; 


:p=4==zr 


qui 


gn'A  -  mo 


re, 


re     - 


qui 


gn'A  -  mo 


re. 


-^-v 


— ^r:f==j=:— r=i- 


pa  -  rea     dir  qui       re  -  gn'A-mo 


re,      A  -  mo  -  re,  . 


qui 


'~-gz:ErgrgEg=Ei 
re    -    gn'A-mo 


-F^J=zJ=E^^= 


re. 


=J^=: 


IZ3; 


-JfH 


:jaz 


=E: 


LT:=^^ 


:rzi 


11 


pa  -  rea        dir 


qui 


re 


gn'A    -    mo     -     re,   qui 


re 


gu'A    -    mo 


re. 
FiLippo  DE  Monte. 


Orlandus  Lassus,  ('rt,  Por^rrt?7, 9  otherwise  called 
Orlando  de  Lasso,  was  also  a  native  of  the  city  of 
Mons  above-mentioned,  a  contemporary  and  intimate 
friend  of  Philippo  de  Monte.  He,  for  the  sweetness 
of  his  voice  while  he  was  a  child,  and  his  excellent 
compositions  in  his  riper  years,  may  be  said  to  have 
been  the  delight  of  all  Europe.  Tluianus,  in  his 
history,  gives  the  following  account  of  him  :  '  Or- 
'  landus  Lassus,  a  man  the  most  famous  of  any  in  our 

*  age  for  skill  in  the  science  of  music,  was  born  at 
'  Mons  in  Hainault ;  for  this  is  the  chief  praise  of 
'  Belgium,  that  it  among  other  nations  abounds  in 
'  excellent  teachers  of  the  musical   art.      And  he, 

*  while  a  boy,  as  is  the  fate  of  excellent  singers,  was, 

*  on  account  of  the  sweetness  of  his  voice  forced  away, 
'  and  for  some  time  retained  by  Ferdinand  Gonzaga  in 
'  Sicily,  in  INIilan,  and  at  Naples.  Afterwards,  being 
'  grown  up,  he  taught  for  the  space  of  two  years  at 

*  Rome.     After  this  he  travelled  to  France  and  Italy 

*  with  Julius  Caesar  Brancatius,  and  at  length  returned 

*  into  Flanders,  and  lived  many  years  at  Antwerp, 


'  from  whence  he  was  called  away  by  Albert  duke  of 
'  Bavaria,  and  settled  at  that  court,  and  there  married. 
'  He  was  afterwards  invited  with  offers  of  great 
'  rewards  by  Charles  IX.  king  of  France,  to  take 
'  upon  him  the  office  of  his  chapel -master,  for  that 
'  generous  prince  always  retained  a  chosen  one  about 
'  him.  In  order  to  reap  the  benefit  of  this  promotion, 
'  he  set  out  with  his  family  for  France,  but,  before  he 
'  could  arrive  there,  was  stopped  by  the  news  of  the 
'  sudden  death  of  Charles  ;  npon  which  he  was  re- 
'  called  to  Bavaria  by  William  the  son  and  successor 
'  of  Albert,  to  the  same  duty  as  he  had  before  dis- 
'  charged  under  his  father  :  and  having  rendered 
'  himself  most  famous  for  his  compositions  both 
'  sacred  and  profane,  in  all  languages,  published  in 
'  several  cities  for  the  space  of  twenty-five  years,  he 
'  died  a  mature  death  in  the  year  1595,  on  the  third 
'  of  June,  having  exceeded  seventy-three  years  of 
'  age. 

The  account  given  by  Thuanus  does  by  no  means 
agree  either  in  respect  to  the  time  of  his  birth  or 


Chap.  L^XIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


349 


decease,  with  the   inscription  on  the  monument  of 
Orlando,  which  is  as  follows  : 

Orlandus  Lassus,  Bergse,  Harmonise  urbe 

natus  anno  MDXXX. 

Musicus  et  Symphoniacus  sui  seculi  facile  princepa  : 

Prima  aetate  admodum  puer,  ob  miram  vocis  suavitatem 

in  canendo,  aliquoties  plagio  sublatus  : 

Sub  Ferdinando  Gonzaga  prorege  Siciliae,  annis  ferme 

sex  partim  Mediolani,  partim  in  Sicilia,  inter  symphoniacos 

edncatus. 

Neapoli  dein  per  triennium,  ac  demiim  Romre  amplius 

biennium  Musico  prsefectus  Sacello  longe  celeberrimo. 

Post  peregrination es  Anglicanas  et  Gallicanas  cum 

Julio  Csesave  Brancacio  susceptas,  Antverpies 

totidem  annis  versatus. 

Tandem   Alberti  et   Gulielmi   Ducis   Bojorum,    musicse 

Magister  supremus  per  integrum  vicennium. 
A  Maximiliano  II.  Cass,  nobilitatus  :    a  summis  imperii 

Principibus,  ac  Proceribus  summe  lionoratus. 

Cantionibus  Harmonicis  tam  sacris  quam  profanis  omnium 

linguarum  in  orbe  universo  celebratiss. 

Obiit  Monaci  anno  Sal.  MDLXXXV.  ^t.  lv. 

But  there  is  reason  to  think  that  the  inscription  is 
erroneous,  for  there  is  extant  a  print  of  Orlando  de 
Lasso  engraved  by  Sadler,  with  a  note  thereon,  pur- 
porting that  he  was  sixty-one  in  1593  ;  but  with 
this  the  epitaph  agrees  almost  as  badly  as  it  does 
with  Thuanus's  relation.  As  to  the  great  rewards 
Avhich  that  generous  prince,  as  Thuanns  styles  him, 
Charles  IX.  offered  him  upon  condition  of  his 
accepting  the  direction  of  his  choir,  his  majesty  was 
induced  to  this  act  of  beneficence  by  other  motives 
than  generosity :  Thuanns  did  not  care  to  tell  them, 
but  the  reasons  for  his  silence  in  this  particular  are 
long  since  ceased  ;  the  fact  is,  that  the  king,  who  had 
consented  to  the  massacre  of  the  Hngonots  in  Paris, 
and  who,  forgetting  the  dignity  of  his  station,  him- 
self had  a  hand  in  it,*  was  so  disturbed  in  his  mind 
with  the  reflection  on  that  unparalleled  act  of  inhu- 
manity, that  he  was  wont  to  have  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  was  scared  with  dreams  and 
*  terrified  through  visions.'  He  was  a  passionate  lover 
of  music,  and  so  well  skilled  in  it,  that,  as  Brantome 
relates,  he  was  able  to  sing  his  part,  and  actually  sung 
the  tenor  occasionally  with  his  musicians  :'\  and  it  was 
thought  that  such  compositions  as  Orlando  was  ca- 


pable of  framing  for  that  particular  purpose, |  might 
tend  to  alleviate  that  disorder  in  his  mind,  which  bid 
defiance  to  all  other  remedies,  in  short,  to  heal  a 
wounded  conscience ;  but  he  did  not  live  to  make 
the  experiment. 

The  new  Dictionnaire  Historique  Portatif,  as  does 
indeed  the  inscription  on  his  monument,  intimates  that 
Orlando  visited  England,  and  contains  the  following 
singular  epitaph  on  him  : — 

Etant  enfant,  j'ai  cbante  le  dessus. 
Adolescent,  j'ai  fait  le  contre-taille, 
Homme  parfait,  j 'ai  raisonne  la  taille, 
Mais  maintenant  je  suis  mis  an  bassus. 
Prie,  Passant,  que  I'esprit  soit  la  sus. 

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- 
tetts  of  their  father,  and  published  them  in  a  large 
folio  volume  with  the  following  title, '  Magnum  Opus 
'  musicum  Orlandi  de  Lasso,  Capell^  Bavaricse  quon- 
'  dam  Magistri,  complectens  omnes  Cantiones,  quas 
'  iMotetas  vulgo  vocant,  tam  antea  editas,  quam 
'  hactenas  nondum  publicatas,  a  2  ac  12  voc.  a 
'  Ferdinando  Serenissimi  Bavarise  Ducis  Maximilian, 
'  Musicorum  prsefecto,  et  Rudulpho,  eidem  Principi 
'  ab  Organis  ;  authoris  Filiis  summo  Studio  coUectum, 
'  et  impensis  eorundem  Typis  mandatum.  Monachii 
'  1604.'  These  it  is  to  be  noted  are  sacred  compo- 
sitions ;  but  there  are  extant  several  collections  of 
madrigals  published  by  himself,  which  shew  that  he 
equally  excelled  in  that  other  kind  of  vocal  harmony. 

The  memory  of  Orlando  de  Lasso  is  greatly 
honoured  by  the  notice  which  Thuanns  has  taken 
of  him,  for,  excepting  Zarlino,  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  most  excellent  of 
the  sixteenth  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  afraid  to  deviate,  he 
gave  way  to  the  introduction  of  elegant  points  and 
responsive  passages  finely  wrought ;  and  of  these  his 
excellencies  there  needs  no  other  evidence  than  the 
following  sweet  madrigal  of  his  composition  : — 


d'a  -  ma 


sime  on 


♦  Mezeray,  and  other  of  the  historians  of  those  times,  mention,  that 
In  that  shocking  scene  of  horror  and  distress,  his  majesty,  in  great  com- 
posure of  mind,  walked  out  <if  liis  palace  with  a  loaded  fowling-piece, 
■which,  with  all  the  deliberation  of  a  good  marksman,  he  fired  at  those 
■who  fled  from  their  pursuers. 


■f  He  founded  the  music-school  of  St.  Innocent  as  a  nursery  for 
musicians. 

J  The  Penitential  Psalms,  and  some  particular  passages  selected  from 
the  book  of  Job,  which  are  extant,  of  Orlando's  setting,  seem  to  have 
been  composed  with  this  view. 


}50 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


^ 


^^^^^^mn 


:3E!t 


t: 


IS3: 


::t= 


-_t_|_| — t 


de, 


oh     d'a  -  ma-ris  -  si  -  me     on 


fe3^iB^=p3ip==2=^Pi^ 


fc^j-"-"— J= 


de,      tiist'  Amaril-li  mi 


a, 


:xiz 


-jar. 


de,  oh   d'a  -  ma     -     ris  -  si-me  on  -  de, 


tiist'  A-ma-ril-li  mi    -   a, 


trist'  Amaril-li     mi 


il2— J:=^: 


X-- 


irdi 


:zii 


-^^m 


ZX2' 


me  on  -  de. 


oh    d'a-ma  -  ris    -    si-me       on 


de. 


trist'     Amaril-li  mi 


trist'  Ama  • 


^^-- 


A—  —I    m    ff  — 


^^1^^ 


res: 


l^pgiii 


d'a-ma    -     ris 


sime   on-de, 


trist'   Ama  -  ril-li      mi 


trist'  Amaril-li 


Id; 


|^|JB^3^— 


=F- 


m 


^  -   de,    oh         d'a  -  ma     -     ris  -  si  -  me 


on 


de, 


trist'   Ama  - 


w^=«=:«=_-_— P-e» — ft 


t^ 


rt=ic=i:i 


-t= 


=t== 


-*2= 


j^m^^^^ 


m 


3= 


30tZ 


trist'   A-maril-li      mi  -  a,  trist'   Ama-ril  -  li     mi 


a,    di 


-lO — 10 — «»- 


pi  an 


to   gra   - 


^^^^eE^l 


zn^t-^^-=f^ 


eS 


a,      trist'        Amaril    -    li  mi 


di      plan 


to 


qc»t=: 


gra 


^'^^ 


~rzi 


^^=7 


?S 


i^iT^Ta: 


irac: 


ZfXZTfX—tJZ 


:t:=t= 


Eb"^ 


ril-li  mi  -  a,  trist' A-ma- ril-li  mi  -  a, 
— ^ — m-B- 


nz 


trist'     Amaril-li     mi 


di     plan 


to     gra    - 


1431 


=:f=1 — I -^ F-  — ^=H=F' 


mi 


trist'  Amaril-li    mia, 


A  -  ma  -  ril    -    li    mi 


di     plan     -     to 


^^ 


p^^=«=?=p="H^3 


-F==^ 


^^^H^s 


"r>" 


ril-li  mia  trist'     Ama  -  ril  -  li      mi 


a,  trist' A-maril-li  mi    -     a. 


T •-[—* 


:^3^t 


di 


j^t 


pi  an 


to 


gra 


=^^^^E 


S^ 


_-— ^za: mz 


ztzz 


==i=d— «.— »:q=^=^ 


IC*I 


g 


-t^EEE^ 


nj- 


ve 


la 


tua      ca  -   ra     e        soa     -     ve 


del  -  la  dot  -  ta   Mi-ner-va 


a  - 


n^mi 


S>: 


O 1^- 


rp!=p: 


T      ___J._J_ 


^^^^-tjEgzr-jE^-Jzfgt 


=* 


g^ 


ve 


la 


tua      ca 


ra    e       soa  -  ve   del-  la  dot  -  ta      Mi-ner-va  a- ma 


te   fron 


ese; 


m 


znz 


zfxzznz 


-x=x.- 


:l==r: 


ve 


la 


E3«EE 


zazzznzzazz  -<^— »— 


:d=:=lr 


gra 


vfc    la    tu  -  a      ca  -  ra  e  soa 


tua      ca  -  ra     e 

— r        ^=^ 


soa 


ve    del  -  la   dot  -  ta  Mi  -  ner  -  va  amate 

i=zzf=i=:jz=r=z 


_rz_ 


=-^—^zzz:tz=zt 


ve 


'JZtZ 


zaz 


d:=d=F 


ve 


del  -  la   dot-ta   Mi  -  ner 


va 


a  -  ma  -  te 


id; 


1 — o- 

:z=-s=zz 


zai-B=  -purp— ^Tzr-F— : 


la 


tua      ca    -     ra    e 


soa  -  ve 


del  -  la 


dot 


ta  Mi  -  ner  -  va    amate 


t^ 


zozzzz 


z\zz 


■zaz 


113: 


z--± 


Eg. 


zxtz 


~ff       fJt- 


i=!i 


ziAzz~az 


zc^ 


ma  -  te     fron 


de       o     -     ve     che      piu 


ift: 


T 


ijai 


=tz=t=tzti; 


le    bion  -  de,         chio     - 

Eg — <*~         Ei      - 


me 


^^^^^ 


de       o   -  ve     che       piu 


le 


hion  -  de,  .     .  chio 


me 


non  t'inghir- 


% 


i 


n^: 


It 


^^ 


m^^m 


fron  -de 


ve     che    piu        le      bion  -  de,     chio 


me 


non      t'ing  hir-lan  -  da 


W^-- 


zzX=.- 


-Jri 


IBt 


i4i 


=^di 


Hi 


:zfc 


fron 


de       o    -    ve     che    piu     le        bion  -  de,     chio 


me 


^i 


r:Xz=az 


fron 


de 


o  -  ve    che 


pra 


le       bion  -de,  chio 


-xf 

me     non 


^ 


Chap.  LXXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


351 


Ti' 


f 


eS? 


:*L 


V 


g=^= 


zM—d-dzi*z 


=?Z=p!= 


:|==t 


-(a-j=f2Z 


=t 


rz2; 


:ni 


non  t'ing  hir  -  Ian  -  da 


e      non  ti  strin  -  ge,  e  nou  ti     strin  -  ge,  chi      se    n'a  -  dor  -  na  e 


2-=i^Egg; 


tE^=^^^E-i^.^^ 


ti±-.=t:z 


Ur=t: 


rfzi^ 


i4- 


m 


_o — n  _  J 


-  Ian  -  da  e  non  ti  stiin    -    ge,  non     t'ing hirlan  -  da     e  non  ti    strin 


XT- 


ge,    chi        se      n'a -dor-  na  e  cin 


f^^E^a 


^^i^Hi 


^^- 


eE^ 


«» — » — « 1 F 


non  ti  strin  -  ge, 


non    t'ing  hirlan  -  da    e  non  ti    strin     - 


-     ge, 


chi      se     n'a  -  dor  -  na 


i=^-- 


-ri 


-F & • — m- 


izz; 


— - — cf- 


:^=f=:i. 


=d:: 


MiE^=E^^ 


231 


t'ing  iiirlan  -  da 


non  t'ing  liir-lan  -  da 


& — --; — ^' 


^■^? 


6        non  ti  strin    -    ge. 


chi      se     n'a  -  dor 


^ -i- 


:l«3p: 


1^ 


e     non  ti  strin  -  ge. 


non  ti     strin 


ge, 


^- 


nczi 


lEgZ 


cm 


ge, 


ohi 


Upl^ 


— ^ 


J^t: 


ge, 


ohi 


% 


-fXZ 


:z3i 


cm    -    ge. 


ohi 


me. 


**^: 


-    na 


cm 


ge, 


ohi 


me. 


me, 


ZHZfZ 


r=z]: 


_Tai: 


r*- 


13= 


:— cz_ 


1=3^^ 


me. 


ohi 


me,  fiam  -  ma      no  -  vel 


la 


ve-di 


t 1 1 F-t- 


=--4: 


ohi 

ZTT— 


me,  fiam  -  ma    no  -  vel 


la 


-^ 


^^=^^te^r=r 


p: 


ohi   -    me,  fiam  -  ma     no   -    vel     -     la    ve-di  -  la      come    n'ar 


irfi: 


---iXz 


-=.tiz 


■^: 


ohi   -   me,  fiam  -  ma     no  -  vel 


la       ve 


i^l^^^li^ 


:^,:i=F 


zit^zitiz 


^l 


ohi 


me.  fiam  -  ma     no   -   vel 


la 


di  -  la     come  n'ar  - 


ve-di  -  la     come 


-0=^-- 


^.     la 


=t 


:g^p^^^|giipj=3=ii°=pig 


r*3i 


eeE 


rnzc 


:n!:: 


CO 


me  n'ar   -   de,     ve-di -la      come   n'ar-  de,     ve-di-la         come  n'ar 


de.    vedi . 


E^^^g^gi 


^g 


irjnt 


|[^PS 


m 


i==i= 


--t= 


ve-di-la      come     n'ar 


de,     ve-di 


la 


CO 


me  n'ar  -  de,       vedi-la    come  n'ar  - 


^Vz 


Ti- 


:ji 


Z3±:. 


3^ 


xiz 


-X-- 


i^m^^^^^^^^ 


-    -    de. 


ve 


di  -  la        come  n'aj"  -  de, 


ve-di-la        come  n'ar -de,     vedi-la 


\-=t- 


m 


zrjtz 


zmzz^^ 


E^ 


^—Z 


de,    ve-di-la      come      n'ar 


de, 


ve-di-la      come   n'ar  -  de, 


ve-di  -  la    come  n'ar-de. 


i^iiE^i§i 


^B^igi 


nar 


de, 


ve-di-la     come     n'ar 


de, 


vedi  -  la    come 


^^^^^^ 


lai 


m 


co-me  n  ar 


^ 


:=.E 


nt 


zulz 


-f^ <?- 


-'  *       ^  «~ 


:r3 


iQzz: 


de 

=f^3E 


SI 


fa 


bel  -    la 


ohi 


El^EE 


n  ar 


me, 


852 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


:n=r: 


^'- 


zaz 


g~ 


ZJIZ 


zpzztz 


ohi  -  me  fiam-ma       no   -  vel 


la 


ve-di  -  la      co     -      men'ar  -  de,      ve-di-la    come 


:^T 


:=iz 


~r» r* 


---jaz 


'$^ 


li 


'^^^^ 


me,  fiam-ma    no -vel 


la 


ve-di-la      come        n'ar    -     de,  vedi  - 


^E^i^jgiE: 


^^. 


'-Xt- 


> — *j~- 


'■^-- 


^- 


ZT±Z 


:zii 


me  fiamma  no 


vel 


la    ve-di  -  la 


co-me     n'ar 


de, 


ve 


di-la 


ms. 


ZX2Z 


me  fiamma  no 


vel 


la 


[^=^^^i= 


m 


ve 


di  -  la        co-me  n'ar 


m 


irar 


de,     ve-di-la      come 


n  ar 


de, 


n: 


;^=a:=a-p»_- 


^zz:=z— 


xxz 


-  me  fiamma   no 


vel 


la 


x^^E^mms, 


3SE= 


ve-di  -  la 


co-me 


n  ar 


PE 


f=cz: 


de, 


t^ 


'^- 


=f 


:a: 


n  ar 


^i 


de       ve-di-la 


im 


-  ef 


f^-^^^^l3i=3^ii?^^lEi^^i 


-P- 


■&^ 


come 


n  ar 


ve-di  -  la       come  n'ar 


zaz 


=!== 


il 


3^. 


az=^=^^^?^-^-^~^.^^^ 


izii 


la 


CO 


men'ar-de,        ve-di-la         co-me  n'ar 


m^ 


m-9<Bt^ 


■fE&_ 


^li 


E^: 


"?2= 


de,      vc-di-la     come      n'ar  -  de,    e 

i3C!zi:=:~:zr= 


tir: 


f= 


:l2--7_- 


come  n'ar    -    de, 


? 


i^^i^ 


ve-di-la    come  n'ar   -    de,       ve-di-la 


come  n  ar 


de. 


If 


'laz 


:zl=: 


:^=ir=t: 


nz 


zzzziiz 


ve-di-la       come,  n'ar  -  de, 


^r= 


-»  —  ltd 

ve-di-la       come       nar 


ve-di  -  la 


n  ar 


de, 


ESE^ 


SI 


lii; 


de, 


ve-di  -  la 


come 


n'ar     -     de 


si    fa  bel     - 


=t!=g: 


t 


d= 


i:: 


izz; 


l?^iE^?i?E 


zvt: 


-fon 


zdz 


-^ 


1af^= 


-  de, 


SI 


fl      bel 


la 


ve-di  -  la         come   n'ar  -  de,    e      si    fa       bel 


la. 


^m 


a^iii=^ 


i^c=n 


m^- 


SI 


fa 


bel 


la 


ve-di  -  la 


co-me  n'ar  -  de,e      si    f^      bel 


la. 


m^^^f 


EEEB^H 


^=^- 


p=P=t 


PfQ- 


=E: 


— :i: 


:=5: 


t=^=^£ 


^E^;^3^E^;e 


.    si  fa 


bel 


la      ve-di-la      co-me   n'ar 


de, 


si    fa       bel 


la. 


^^ 


^- 


zxtz 


i 


Ea^ 


^m 


^m 


E3«f= 


.    fa 


bel 


la 


E^EEg^E^E^b^^^^^^^^^^^^^" 


la 


ve 


di  -  la 


co-me 


n  ar 


de 


^^^= 


zSr^^az 


-o- 


si 


f^ 


1or 


la. 


bel 

Orlando  de  Lasso. 


CHAP.  LXXV. 

The  other  masters  mentioned  by  Guicciardini, 
namely,  Gombert,  Curtois,  Cornelio  Canis,  Manci- 
court,  Jusquin  Baston,  Christian  Holland,  Giaches 
de  Waert,  Bonmarche,  Severin  Cornet,  Piero  du 
Hot,  Gerard  Turnhout,  Hubert  Waelrant,  and  Gia- 
chetto  di  Berckem,  and  the  rest  of  those  not  par- 
ticularly here  characterised,  were  of  somewhat  less 
note ;  there  are  however  extant  some  madrigals  of 
Severin  Cornet  and  Giaches  de  Waert,  which  shew 
them  to  have  been  eminently  skilled  in  their  pro- 
fession. 

From  the  foregoing  deduction  of  the  progress  of 


music,  it  appears  that  the  Flemings,  more  than  any 
people  in  Europe,  had  contributed  to  bring  it  to  a 
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  reason  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  church  service. 
It  had  been  discovered  that  the  clergy,  and  indeed 
the  laity,  were  grown  tired  of  the  uniformity  of  the 
Cantus  Gregorianus,  and  were  desirous  of  introducing 


Chap.  LXXV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


^53 


into  the  service  a  kind  of  music  affording  greater 
Variety,  and  better  calculated  to  engage  the  attention 
of  tlie  hearers.  Leo  X.  who  was  so  fond  of  music 
tliat  the  love  of  it  is  reckoned  in  the  number  of  his 
failings,  was  the  first  pope  that  endeavoured  at  this 
Reformation ;  and  he  had  carried  it  so  far,  that  the 
Council  of  Trent,  in  the  year  1562,  took  the  state  of 
church-music  into  consideration,  and,  to  prevent  the 
farther  abuse  of  it,  made  a  decree  against  Curious 
singing,*  which  however  had  not  its  effect  till  about 
the  close  of  that  century,  when  Palestrina  introduced 
into  the  church  that  noble  and  majestic  style  which 
has  rendered  him  the  admiration  of  all  succeeding 
ages.  After  this  the  Italian  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  must  be 
owned  they  discovered  a  wonderful  degree  of  skill 
and  judgment. 

While  these  improvements  were  making  abroad, 
it  seems  that  in  England  also  the  science  had  made 
very  considerable  advances.  It  is  true  that  from  the 
time  of  John  of  Dunstable,  who  lived  about  the  year 
1450,  to  Taverner,  who  flourished  almost  a  century 
after,  the  musical  offices  for  the  church  discover  very 
little  of  that  skill  and  invention  which  recommend 
those  works  of  the  old  Symphonetse  contained  in  the 
Dodecachordon  of  Glareanus ;  but  whether  it  was 
dwing  to  the  affection  which  it  is  known  Henry 
VlII.  bore  to  music,  or  to  that  propensity  in  the 
people  of  this  nation  to  encourage  it,  which  made 
Erasmus  say  that  the  English  challenge  the  pre- 
rogative of  having  the  most  handsome  women,  and 
of  being  '  most  accomplished  in  the  skill  of  music  of 
'  any  people  ; '  it  is  certain  that  the  beginning  of  the 
sixteenth  century  produced  in  England  a  race  of 
musicians  not  inferior  to  the  best  in  foreign  coun- 
tries ;  and  to  this  truth  Morley,  in  pag.  151  of  his 
Introduction,  speaking  of  Farefax,  Taverner,  Shep- 
hard,  Mundie,  and  others,  has  borne  his  testimony. 

In  the  catalogue  of  Morley  nothing  like  chrono- 
logical order  is  observed,  but  in  the  following  account 
of  some  of  the  persons  mentioned,  and  of  others 
omitted  by  him,  the  best  arrangement  is  made  of 
them  that  the  scanty  materials  for  that  purpose  would 
allow  of.     To  begin  with  Cornish. 

William  Cornish  lived  about  the  year  1500 ; 
bishop  Tanner  has  an  article  for  him,  wherein  he 
mentions  that  some  of  his  musical  compositions  are 
to  be  found  in  a  manuscript  collection  in  the  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  Ralph  Thoresby,  and  mentioned  by  him 
in  his  History  of  Leeds,  pag.  517.  That  manuscript 
has  been  searched,  and  it  appearing  that  there  were 

*  This  decree,  which  was  made  for  correcting  abuses  in  the  celebration 
of  the  mass,  prohibits,  among  other  things,  '  1'  uso  delle  musiche  nelle 
'chiese  con  mistura  di  canto,  o'  suono  lascivo,  tutte  le  attinni  secolari, 
'  colloquii  profani,  strepiti,  gridori.'  ».  e.  The  use  of  music  in  churches 
mixed  with  lascivious  soni;s,  all  secular  actions,  profane  speeches,  noises 
and  screeches.  Hist,  del  Concil.  Trident,  di  Pietro  Soave.  Londra  1619, 
pag.  559. 

Fincenzo  Buffo  an  eminent  musician  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
Maestro  di  Capclla  dal  Ditomn  da  Pistaria,  composed  and  published  nt 
Venice  in  1574,  certain  of  the  Psalms  fur  five  voices,  and  masses  for  six 
voices,  with  a  note  in  the  title  of  I'ach,  "  that  they  were  conformable  to  the 
decree  of  the  Sacicd  Council  of  Trent;"  and  in  the  preface  he  relates,  that 
his  patron  Cardinal  Boromeo  Itad  willed  him  to  observe  the  same  as  a  rule 
t»  theia  several  ComposiiionSi 


two  of  the  name,  an  elder  and  a  younger,  it  is  un- 
certain which  of  them  was  the  author  of  the  treatise 
between  Trowthe  and  Enformacion,  mentioned  by 
Tanner  to  have  been  printed  among  the  works  of 
Skelton,  and  which  has  this  title  : — 

In  the  Fleete  made  by  me  William  COrniflie,  othefwife  called 
Nyfycwete,  chapelman  with  the  molt  famofe  and  noble  king  Henry 
the  VII.  his  reyne  the  xix  yere  the  moneth  of  July.  A  treatife 
betwene  Trouth  and  Informacion  ; 

But  as  the  poem,  for  such  it  is,  contains  a  parable 
abounding  with  allusions  to  music  and  musical  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  against  one  that  had  falsely 
accused  him,  who  is  distinguished  by  the  name  of 
Informacion,  as  Cornish  is  by  that  of  Musicke. 

A  parable  betwen  Informacion  and  Mufike. 

Thfe  examples. 
Mufike  in  his  melody  requireth  true  foundes. 
Who  fectCLh  a  fong  Ihould  geue  him  to  armony  ; 
Who  kepeth  true  his  tuenes  may  not  paffe  his  fonds, 
His  alteracions  and  prolacions  muft  be  pricked  treuly. 
For  mulike  is  trew  though  minftrels  maketh  mayftry, 
The  harper  careth  nothing  but  reward  for  his  fong, 
Merily  foundith  his  mouth  when  his  tong  goth  all  of  wrong. 

The  Harpe. 

A  Harpe  geueth  founde  as  it  is  fette, 
The  harper  may  wreft  it  untunablye, 
Yf  he  play  wrong  good  tunes  he  doth  lette. 
Or  by  myftunyng  the  very  trew  armonye  j 
A  harpe  well  playde  on  ihewyth  fwete  melody, 
A  harper  with  his  wreft  may  tune  the  harpe  wrong, 
Myftuning  of  an  inftrument  Ihal  hurt  a  true  fonge. 

A  Songe. 

A  fonge  that  is  trewe  and  ful  of  fwetnes, 
May  be  euyll  fonge  and  tunyd  amyfe, 
The  fonge  of  hymfelfe  yet  neuer  the  les 
Is  true  and  tunable,  and  fyng  it  as  it  is : 
Then  blame  not  the  fong,  but  marke  wel  this, 
He  that  hath  fpic  at  another  man's  fonge, 
Will  do  what  he  can  to  haue  it  fonge  wronge. 

A  Ciarkorde. 

The  claricorde  hath  a  tunely  kyndcj 
As  the  wyre  is  wrefted  hye  and  lowe, 
So  it  tuenyth  to  the  players  mynde, 
For  as  it  is  wrefted  fo  muft  it  nedes  fhowe, 
As  by  this  refon  ye  may  well  know, 
Any  inftrument  myftunyd  ftiall  liurt  a  trew  fong. 
Yet  blame  not  the  claricord  the  wrefter  doth  wrong. 

A  Trompet, 

A  trompet  blowen  hye  with  to  hard  a  blaft, 
Shal  caufe  him  to  vary  from  the  tunable  kynde, 
But  he  that  bloweth  to  hard  muft  fuage  at  the  laft, 
And  fayne  to  fall  lower  with  a  temperate  wynde, 
And  then  the  trompet  the  true  tune  fliall  fynde, 
For  an  inftrument  over  wynded  is  tuned  wrong. 
Blame  none  but  the  blower,  oii  him  it  is  longe. 

True  Counjeli. 

Who  plaieth  on  the  harpe  he  fliould  play  trew, 
Who  fyngeth  a  fonge,  let  his  voice  be  tunable. 
Who  wrefteth  the  claricorde  myftunyng  efchew, 
Who  bloweth  a  trompet  let  his  wind  be  mefurable. 
For  inftruments  in  them  felf  be  ferme  and  ftable, 
And  of  trouth,  wold  trouth  to  every  manes  fonge, 
Tune  them  then  truly  for  in  them  is  no  wronge. 

2  A 


354 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  VIII. 


Colours  of  Mujyke. 

In  Mufike  I  have  learned  iiij  colours,  as  this, 
Blake,  ful  blake,  uerte,*  and  in  lykewife  redde, 
By  thefe  colours  many  fubtill  alteracions  ther  is, 
That  wil  begile  one  tho  in  cuning  he  be  wel  fped, 
With  a  prike  of  Indicion  from  a  body  that  is  dede, 
He  fhal  try  fo  his  nombre  with  fwetnes  of  his  fong. 
That  the  ear  flial  be  pleafed,  and  yet  he  al  wrong. 

The  Praaifer. 

I  pore  man,  unable  of  this  fcience  to  ikyll, 
Save  litel  pradtife  I  have  by  experience, 
I  mean  but  trouth  and  of  good  will, 
To  remembre  the  doers  that  ufeth  fuch  offencC) 
Not  one  fole,  but  generally  in  fentence, 
By  caufe  I  can  fkyll  of  a  little  fonge. 
To  try  the  true  corde  to  be  knowen  from  the  w^rong. 

Treuth. 
Yet  trouth  was  not  drownde  ne  fanke, 
But  ftill  dyd  fleete  aboue  the  water, 
Informacion  had  played  him  fuch  a  pranke, 
That  with  power  the  pore  had  loft  his  mater, 
Bycaufe  that  trouthe  began  to  clater, 
Informacion  hath  taught  hym  to  folfe  his  fonge, 
Paciens  parforce,  content  you  with  wronge. 

Truth. 

I  aflayde  thels  tunes  me  thought  them  not  fwete, 
The  Concordes  were  nothynge  muficall, 
I  called  Mafters  of  Mufike -j-  cnnyng  and  difcrete  j 
And  the  firft  prynciple,  whofe  name  was  Tuballe, 
Guido  Boice,  Jojin  de  Murris,  Vitryaco  and  them  al, 
I  prayed  them  of  helpe  of  this  combrous  fonge, 
Priked  with  force  and  lettred  with  wronge. 

True  Anjioere. 

They  fayd  I  was  horce  I  might  not  fynge, 
My  voice  is  to  pore  it  is  not  awdyblc, 
Informacion  is  fo  curyous  in  his  chauntynge. 
That  to  bere  the  trew  plainfong,  it  is  not  pofible  : 
His  proporcions  be  fo  hard  with  fo  highe  a  quatrible. 
And  the  playn  fong  in  the  margyn  fo  craftely  bound. 
That  the  true  tunes  of  Tuball  cannot  have  the  right  founde. 

Truthe. 
Well  quod  trueth,  yet  ones  I  truft  verely, 
To  have  my  voyce  and  fynge  agayne. 
And  to  flete  out  trueth  and  clarify  truly. 
And  ete  fuger  candy  adaye  or  twayne, 
And  then  to  the  de/ke  to  fynge  true  and  playn, 
Informacion  fhal  not  alwaye  entune  hys  fong, 
My  parts  fhal  be  true  when  his  countreuers  fliall  be  wrong. 

Irtformac'ion. 

Informacion  hym  enbolded  of  the  monacorde, 
From  confonaunts  to  Concordes  he  mufyd  his  mayflry, 
I  afTayde  the  mufyke  both  knyght  and  lord. 
But  none  would  fpeke,  the  founde  bord  was  to  hye, 
Then  kept  I  the  plain  keyes  the  marred  al  my  melody, 
Enformacion  drave  a  crotchet  that  paft  al  my  fong 
With  proporcion  parforce  dreuen  on  to  longe 

Dialogue. 
Sufferance  came  in  to  fyng  a  parte. 
Go  to,  quod  trouth,  I  pray  you  begyne, 
Nay  foft  quod  he,  the  gife  of  my  parte 
Is  to  reft  a  long  reft  or  I  fet  in. 
Nay  by  long  reftyng  ye  fhal  nothing  wynne. 
For  informacion  is  I'o  crafty  and  fo  hye  in  his  fonge, 
That  yf  ye  fal  to  refting  in  fayth  it  will  be  wrong. 

»  This  passage  should  be  red,  blake  ful,  blake  voide,  &c.  for  the  reason 
given  pag.  232  of  this  work. 

t  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  succeeding  musicians  to  Hobrechth, 
Okenheira,  lodocus  Pratensis,  and  others  of  the  Flemish  school,  had  the 
appellation  of  Master,  and  hence  the  term  Master  of  Music,  which  till 
lately  was  the  designation  of  a  practical  musician.  This  denomination 
seems  to  have  been  first  given  them  towards  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 


Trciveth. 

Informacion  wil  teche  a  dodtor  his  game, 
From  fuperacute  to  the  noble  dyapafon, 
I  afayd  to  acute,  and  when  I  came 
Enformacion  was  mete  for  a  noble  dyatefTaron, 
He  fong  by  a  Pothome  \  that  hath  two  kyndes  in  one. 
With  many  fubtel  femetunes  moft  met  for  this  fong, 
Pacience  parforce,  content  you  with  wronge. 

Trouth, 

I  kepe  be  rounde  and  he  be  fquare, 
The  one  is  bemole,  and  the  other  bequare, 
If  I  myght  make  tryall  a«  I  could  and  dare, 
I  fhould  fhow  why  thefe  ij  kynds  do  varye. 
But  God  knowyth  al,  fo  doth  not  kyng  Harry, 
For  yf  he  dydde  than  chaunge  fhold  this  iiij  fong, 
Pytye  for  patience,  and  confcience  for  wronge. 
Neuyffwhete  Parabolam. 

The  younger  Cornish  appears  to  have  been  a  good 
musician.  Two  songs  of  his  composition  in  the 
Thoresby  manuscript  above-mentioned,  are  inserted 
in  the  next  succeeding  book  of  this  work. 

John  Taverner,  mentioned  by  Morley  in  his 
Catalogue,  and  also  in  his  Introduction,  pag.  151, 
and  elsewhere,  was  organist  of  Boston  in  Lincoln- 
shire, and  of  Cardinal,  now  Christ-Church  college, 
in  Oxford.  It  seems  that  he,  together  with  John 
Frith  the  martyr,  and  sundry  other  persons,  who  left 
Cambridge  wath  a  view  to  preferment  in  this,  which 
was  Wolsey's  new-founded  college,  held  frequent  con- 
versations upon  the  abuses  of  religion  which  at  that 
time  had  crept  into  the  church  ;  in  short,  they  were 
Lutherans.  And  this  being  discovered,  they  were 
accused  of  heresy,  and  imprisoned  in  a  deep  cave 
under  the  college,  used  for  the  keeping  of  salt-fish, 
the  stench  whereof  occasioned  the  death  of  some  of 
them.  John  Fryer,  one  of  these  unfortunate  persons, 
was  committed  prisoner  to  the  master  of  the  Savoy, 
where,  as  Wood  says,  '  he  did  much  solace  himself 
'  with  playing  on  the  hate,  having  good  skill  in 
'  music,  for  which  reason  a  friend  of  his  would 
*  needs  commend  him  to  the  master  ;  but  the  master 
'  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  natural  death  at  London.  §  Frith  had  not 
so  good  fortune ;  he  was  convicted  of  heresy,  and  burnt 
in  Smithfield,  together  with  one  Andrew  Hewet,  in 
1533.11 

Taverner  had  not  gone  such  lengths  as  Frith,  Clerke, 
and  some  others  of  the  fraternity  ;  the  suspicions 
against  him  were  founded  merely  on  his  having  hid 
some  heretical  books  of  the  latter  under  the  boards  of 
the  school  where  he  taught,  for  which  reason,  and 
becaiise  of  his  eminence  in  his  faculty,  the  cardinal 
excused  him,  saying  he  was  but  a  musician,  and  so  he 
escaped.  ^ 

century,  for  in  the  middle  of  it,  when  Glareanus  wrote,  they  were  termed 
Phonasci  and  Symphonetae,  Here  they  are  called  Masters  of  Music ; 
and  Guicciardini,  in  the  passage  lately  cited  from  him,  styles  the 
musicians  of  Flanders  '  Maestri  della  Musica.' 

X  i.  e.  Apotome,  the  residue  of  three  sesquioctave  tones,  after  subtract- 
ing the  diatessaron,  consisting  of  two  such  tones,  and  the  Pythagorean 
limma.     See  pag.  25  of  this  work. 

§  Athen.  Oxon.  vol.  II.  pag.  124,  Fasti,  anno  1525. 

II  Fox's  Acts  and  Monuments,  vol.  II.  pag.  304,  et  seq. 

U  Fuller's  Church  History,  Cent.  XVI.  Book  V.  pag.  (171.)  Fuller 
mistakes  the  Christian  name  of  Taverner,  calling  him  Richard. 


Chap.  LXXV. 


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John  Tavhibneb. 


Dr.  Ward,  in  his  Lives  of  the  Gresham  Professors, 
has  brought  forward  to  view  a  taau  of  the  name  of 
John  Taverner,  who  it  seems  was  chosen  music  pro- 
fessor in  the  year  IGIO ;  and  it  is  necessary,  in  order 
to  prevent  confusion  between  these  two  persons,  who 
had  the  same  christian  and  surname,  to  distinguish 
the  one  from  the  other ;  and  especially  as  Ward  has 
said  but  very  little  of  the  former  of  them,  and  in 
speaking  of  him  has  made  use  of  an  expression  that 
oftener  implies  contempt  than  respect,  '  There  was 
*  one  John  Taverner  of  Boston,  &c.' 

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  famous 
Hichard  Taverner,*  who  in  the  year  1539,  published 

*  In  the  year  1552  this  Richard  Tavenier,  though  a  layman,  there 
being  then  a  scarcity  of  preachers,  obtained  of  Edward  VI.  licence  to 
preach  in  any  part  of  his  dominions,  and  preached  before  the  king  at 
court,  wearing  a  velvet  bonnet,  a  damask  gown,  and  a  gold  chain  ;  and 
in  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth,  being  then  high-sheriff  of  the  county  of 
Oxford,  he  appeared  in  the  pulpit  at  St.  Mary's,  then  of  stone,  with  a 
sword  and  a  gold  chain  about  his  neck,  and  made  a  sermon  to  the 
scholars,  which  had  this  hopeful  beginning,  '  Arriving  at  tlie  mount  of 
'  St.  Mary's  in  the  stoney  stage,  where  I  now  stand,  I  have  brought  you 
'  Some  biscuits  baked  in  the  oven  of  charity,  carefully  conserved  for  the 


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  claim  to  the  office  of  music  professor 
than  a  testimonial  from  the  university  of  Oxford, 
where  he  had  studied,  purporting  that  he  was  '  in  his 
'  religion  very  sound,  a  due  and  diligent  frequenter 

*  of  prayers  and  sermons,  and  in  his  conversation 
'  very  civil  and  honest,'  with  this  general  recom- 
mendation respecting  his  proficiency  in  music,  '  that 

*  he  had  taken  two  degrees  in  that  and  other  good 
'  arts.' 

Robert  Fairfax,  of  the  Yorkshire  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  Bayford  in  the  county  of 

'  chickens  of  the  church,  the  sparrows  of  the  spirit,  and  the  sweet 
'  swallows  of  salvation.'  The  story  is  told  by  Wood,  and  repeated  by 
t)r.  Ward,  in  his  Lives  of  the  Gresham  Professors,  with  an  intimation 
that  such  flowers  of  wit  and  eloquence  were  then  in  vogue.  But  the 
state  of  literature  was  not  even  then  so  very  low  as  to  afford  an  excuse 
for  such  nonsense,  or  to  induce  the  readers  of  it  to  believe  that  Mr, 
Sheriff  Taverner  could  be  any  other  than  a  very  shallow  and  conceited 
old  gentleman. 


356 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book   VIIL 


Hertford,  and  that  he  died  at  St.  Alban's,  which  is  interment,  but  has  long  been  hid  by  the  seat  of  the 

rery  probable,  for  he  was  either  organist  or  chanter  mayor  of  that  town.*    Some  of  his  compositions,  and 

of  the  abbey  church  there,  and  lies  buried  therein.  the  following  among  the  rest,  are  in  the  manuscript 

His  coat-armour  is  depicted  over  the  place  of  his  of  Mr.  Thoresby  above-mentioned  : — 


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lirp: 


=i=t 


:^=!r 


zjpt—o 


ig 


Sum    -  me  bo  -ni  -  ta  -  tis      spon  -  sa        be-nig  -  nis 


si  -  ma,        Summe  tri 


%^^^ 


Tt^ei^ 


C.3C3>Z 


Sum   -    me    bo  -  ni  -  ta  -  tis  .    . 


^^^^ 


Sum   -    me  bo-ni  -  ta  -  tis 


lot 


m. 


:J: 


irt 


l^^^^=i 


spon 


sa     be   -   nig -nis -si   -   ma,         Sum  -me  tri      -     ni  -   ta 


— ^ — ^ 


zB 


spon  -sa 


ztzz^z 


p:± 


be  -  nig  -  nis -si  -  ma,  .    .    . 


^- 


Sum  -me   tri  - 


ifcSzil^iia: 


=?z^ 


<=p^=&: 


^= 


:^ 


-Tf2: 


:ci 


^~ 


--^'- 


^0= 


fc-S=^= 


^7\ 


s 


1J3E=:- 


ni  -  ta   -    tis    an  -cil 


la   ni  -  tis 


SI 


m 


gsE 


zur. 


=t= 


^4^=^"— "^^^^^j=Fg^^^^=="^=^^ 


ma. 


tis 


an 


cil 


la 


m 


tis  -  SI 


m 


^•^ 


iXJt: 


.-===^r: 


a^j^^jE 


ni- ta 


tis 


an  -  cil    -     la 


ni  -  tis -si 


John  Mason,  in  Morley's  Catalogue  called  Sir 
John  Mason,  as  being  in  orders,"}"  took  the  degree  of 
bachelor  of  music  at  Oxford  in  the  year  1508,  as 
appears  by  the  Fasti  Oxon,  of  Wood,  who  adds  that 
he  was  much  in  esteem  for  his  profession.  He  was  a 
prebendary,  and  the  treasurer  of  the  cathedral  church 
of  Hereford,  and  died  in  1547. 

*  In  tlie  Thoresby  MS.  it  is  the  seat  of  the  mayoress. 
+  Tlie  custom  of  prefixing  the  addition  of  Sir  to  the  Christian-name  of 
a  clergyman  was  formerly  usual  in  this  country.  Fuller,  in  his  Church 
History,  book  VI.  enumerates  seven  chauntries,  part  of  a  much  larj^er 
number,  in  the  old  cathedral  of  St.  Paul  in  the  time  of  king  Edward  VI. 
with  the  names  of  the  then  incumbents,  most  of  whom  have  the  addition 
of  Sir,  upon  which  he  remarks,  and  gives  this  reason  why  there  were 
formerly  more  Sirs  than  Knights,  '  Such  priests  as  have  the  addition  of  Sir 
'before  their  Christian-name  were  men  not  graduated  in  the  university, 
'  being  in  orders,  but  not  in  degrees  ;  whilst  others  entituled  Masters  had 
'commenced  in  the  arts.' 

Thi.s  ancient  usage  is  alluded  to  in  the  following  humorous  catch: — 

'  Now  I  am  married,  Sir  John  I'll  not  curse, 

'  He  joined  us  together  for  better  for  worse ; 

'  But  if  I  were  single,  I  do  tell  you  plain, 

'  I'd  be  well  advis'd  e'er  I  married  again.' 


-----        ma. 

DocTon  Fayufax. 

CHAP.  LXXVI. 

John  Dygon,  as  appears  by  a  composition  of  his 
here  inserted,  was  Prior  of  St.  Austin's  in  Canterbury, 
and  a  very  skilful  musician.  In  the  catalogue  of 
the  abbats  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Augustine,  in 
Dr.  Battely's  Antiquities  of  Canterbury,  part  II. 
page  160,  John  Dygon  is  the  sixty-eighth  in  num- 
ber. It  seems  he  was  raised  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.  Battely,  Dygon  was  elected  abbat 
anno  1497,  and  died  in  1509.  In  the  Fasti  Oxon.  it 
is  said  that  John  Dygon,  a  Benedictine  monk,  was 
admitted  to  the  degree  of  baclielor  in  music,  anno 
1512.     This  account  agrees  but  ill  with  that  given 


Uhap.  LXXVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


357 


of  Dygon  of  Canterbury,  and  yet  the  coincidence  in  hardly  admit  of  a  supposition  but  that  the  persons 
both,  of  so  many  particulars  as  a  christian  and  sur-  severally  spoken  of  were  one  and  the  same.  The  fol- 
name,  and  a  religious   and  secular  profession,  will      lowing  Motet  is  the  composition  above  referred  to  : — 


fel 


rE 


::^3t: 


^^ 


"y? — p= 


331 


:~r>: 


AD 


la 


ix^=xz 


3ZX 


Et-^ 


AD 


la 


U^-- 


W^M^^^^^. 


xzz 


pi  -    dis  po  - 

. ^1^ L- 


321 


pi 


dis 


po    -     SI    -   CIO 


l^^e^i^^tz^; 


:3«E: 


E5^E 


AD 


la 


Pi 


dis 


po 


SI 


-.» 1 1 **- 


-7(2= 


-rt- 


» — M7 


^=?2 


m^ 


-pt- 


^0-^--ri 


SI     -     CIO 


nem 


qua 


re   non  ser  •    va    -    bant    pe  - 


l2=^ 


rgy 


^msm 


^=. 


3i: 


:^=:n^r 


:z:r2r 


^M^^^^^^^ 


nem 


qua 


re     non 


ser  -  va 


::fT: 


:pc: 


zrac 


^^ 


IKZgZXl— 


-    CI 


nem 


qua  -  re 


.  non     ser 


va  -  bant, 


qua 


re,      qua     -     re 


m 


IsgpsaEp; 


iin=^ 


-i— f>- 


=t 


^— F= 


=J^ 


I*     *^- 


^EE^ 


tram, 


qua  -  re     non  ser -  va 


bant      pe 


tram 


Jus  - 


t^J 


3- 


^= 


zzt 


d; 


-—riz 


:=|: 


bant, 


qua  -  re    ruon   ser   -   va  -  bant    pe  -  tram, 


pe 


Ml^^^^^ 


non  ser-va 


^ T^ * 


r=t 


^i^i^^l 


^^^^ 


.Ct- 


fsg 


P-P'== 


bant    pe 


tram 


Jus  -  ti 


ci 


m 


-Ct !U 


S5^?ESS 


=C3= 


:^^E^ 


r=t: 


i^ 


-gTT- 


i 


xn: 


ti 


ci 


ffi. 


qua  -  re  non    ser 


va    - 


tram 


^?== 


i^ 


331 


/^       <^ 


— :t=r: 


bant     pe 


tram, 


pe 


tram  Jus  -  ti   -   ci 


se, 


qua  -  re    non    ser-va 


ip=« 


r=ii 


^^^^3: 


•^ 


^ 


^z 


-^-^zrX- 


zuiz 


=ry \z 


jaz 


^^ 


Z^ZZZflZ 


pe       - 


tram 


Jus  -  tL    - 


CL     -      ae, 


■^zz^riz 


^--^msEi 


m^. 


-f — -• — -f- 


Jus  -  ti 


Jus  -  ti 


cise,      Jus-ti 


ci  -  a;, 


ci-a?,     Justi        .  -  -  . 


-  bant 


pe 


tram     Jus-ti 


ci  -  r 


ip£JjgjE£g|;g|^^Eggp 


3^g^^; 


d^« 


ci     -    ae. 


Jus 


ti 


^^' 


ci 


ae. 


i|' 


^ 


-^- 


:i3t: 


-ffz 


Quod 


mm 


VI 


vit,    vi 


vit  De 


0, 


VI 


^^^^i^m^ 


fiZ 


^^ 


Quod 


S^ 


:cr: 


mm  VI 
— o 


vit, 


Tl 


^— ?2 


Hiii 


in: 


^=ri 


»=a: 


i^Lij 


Quod       e  -  nim  vi 


vit, 


VI- vit 


De  -  o, 


VI 


358 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


mm  VI 


v-it,  vi  vit  De   -  o. 


i|a^ 


-}a-- 


-^^ 


ZfXl 


■X— 


y=»=^=^^ 


1^^^ 


--=t 


irz: 


^^^^n 


De  -  0,      vi 


vit 


De 


-    o. 


=R=q 


1 \ F 


ft- 


^fj- 


E^= 


JOI 


rsjt 


3^ 


=lsc^ 


::lc!t: 


VI 


vit 


=1=^- 


iTlZ 


ZTOt. 


^Z 


d- 


31 


» f^- 


De 


^^Ie^ 


:zr 


:1SF= 


vit  De 


quod    e  -  nim  vi  -  vit,  vi       -  -       vit  De     -     o. 

John  Digon,  Prior  of  Saint  Austin's,  Canterbury. 


William  Chelle  was  admitted  at  Oxford  to  the 
degree  of  bachelor  in  music  19th  Jiily,  1526.  He  was 
a  secular  chaplain,  a  prebendary,  and  precentor  of 
Hereford  cathedral.  Bishop  Tanner  mentions  two 
tracts  of  his  writing,  the  one  intitled  Musicse  Practicse 
Compendium,  the  other  De  Proportionibus  Musicis. 

John  Guinneth  was  a  native  of  Wales,  of  very 
poor  parentage,  but  supported  in  his  studies  by  some 
beneficent  clergyman,  who  allowed  him  an  exhibition. 
In  the  year  1531,  being  then  a  secular  priest,  and 
having  spent  twenty  years  in  the  study  and  practice 
of  music,  and  composed  the  responses  for  the  whole 
year  in  division-song,  and  many  masses  and  antiphons 
for  the  use  of  the  church,  he  supplicated  for  the 
degree  of  doctor,  and  obtained  it  upon  payment  of 
twenty-pence,  and  in  1533  was  presented   to   the 


rectory  of  St.  Peter  in  West  Chepe.*  He  wrote 
'  A  Declaration  of  the  State  wherein  Heretics  do  lead 
'  their  Lives,'  and  other  controversial  tracts  mentioned 
bv  Wood  and  Tanner. 

John  Shephard  studied  at  Oxford  twenty  years, 
and  obtained  a  bachelor's  degree.  In  1554  he  sup-: 
plicated  for  that  of  doctor,  but  it  does  not  appear  by 
the  registers  that  he  obtained  it.  Some  of  his  com-; 
positions  are  extant  in  a  book  intitled  '  Mornyng  and 
'  Evenying  prayer  and  Communion,  fet  forthe  in  foure 

*  partes,  to  be  fong  in  churches,  both  for  men  and 
'  children,  wyth  dyvers  other  godly  prayers  and  An- 
'  thems,  of  fundry  mens  doynges.    Imprinted  at  London 

*  by  John  Day,    dwelling    over  Alderf-gate,    beneath 

*  Saint  Martins,  1565  ;'  others  in  manuscript  are 
among  the  archives  in  the  music-school  at  Oxford. | 


i 


SI 


'.lar: 


*-* 


--\=-- 


^^^ 


-Pt 


^= 


ZJEEI 


iS 


STEV'N  first 

<3 


^^ 


af  -  ter  Christ 


for      God's 


word  his  blood 


spent       cm 


-0_ 


ZflZ 


1Z3Z 


Xr- 


in 


=P3P 


STEV'N  first        af  -  ter  Christ 


for 


God's 


word    his    blood       spent 


ZX2Z 


Z^tJkZ 


—r* 


^ 


STEV'N 


first 


af  -  ter  Christ 


£EE^ 


for    God's      word 


his      blood 


spent 


P 


S 


zrn 


-r> 


zxtz 


331 


:t: 


[r^^Es: 


z«>       pzp 


:3^ 


el  -  lie      to    death 


ston 


ed 


by    false 


^ 


znr 


cuse 
«3. 


ZJI 


cru 


el  -  lie      to      death 


ston 


ed      by 


false 


cuse 


=1- 


T= 


zxtz 


zaz 


1231 


--■::^=^z 


•^ 


cru 


el   -  lie       to   death 


ston 


ed 


by 


false 


cuse 


*  Vide  Allien.  Oxon.  vol.  I.  col.  102.  Fasti,  sub  anno  1531. 

t  Tlie  music  school  at  Oxford  is  the  repository  of  a  great  number  of 
books  containing  compositions  of  various  kinds,  many  of  them  of  great 
antiquity.  That  they  are  deposited  in  the  music  school  rather  than  in  the 
Bodleian  or  other  libraries  of  the  university,  will  be  presently  accounted 
for ;  but  first  it  must  be  mentioned  that  one  William  Forrest,  a  priest  in 
the  reign  ot  Henry  VIII.  well  skilled  in  music  and  poetry,  had  made  a 
copious  collection  of  the  best  compositions  then  extant,  and  among  them 


many  of  John  Tavenier  of  Boston,  Marbeck  of  Windsor,  Dr.  Fairfax,  the 
above-named  Shephard,  and  many  others.  These  came  to  the  hands  of 
William  Heather  or  Heyther,  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  royal  chapel, 
and  who  in  1622  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of  doctor  in  music.  This 
person,  who  died  in  1627,  founded  the  music  lecture  at  Oxford,  and  for 
the  use  of  the  professor,  who  was  required  to  read  it  in  the  music  school, 
made  a  donation  of  the  above  collection,  together  with  his  own  additions 
thereto. 


Chap.  LXXVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


359 


i 


:i3i 


-ff ef ff- 


=F= 


o  ^^- 


-ejl. 


EF- 


333 


* 


mente,      Yeld 


ing    his    soul     to       God,  pray  -  ing    him 


to 


for 


geve       his 


-tjtc 


m 


^^^^ 


3«E 


mente,       Yeld   -  ing    his      soul 


±--. 


ZgJC 


-ptzzz^on 


-t=^ 


to     God, 
<a 


pray  -  ing  him     to         for    -     geve 


^ 


mente. 


Yeld 


ing     his      soul     to     God,         pray  -  ing  him     to 


for-geve 


m 


331 


;ii 


^i 


^^ 


"(cr: 


:|= 


S 


-     ne  -  mies 


ma    -     lice,  hlind     ig 


Z23I 


no-rance,  and     mis  -  be 


^ 


leve, 


S 


EEE 


his 


e     -       -    ne  -  mies 


ma 


lice,  blind   ig 


no  -  ranee, 


and    mis 


ZX2Z 


ri m- 


5n=S= 


i^ — :m      f 


his 


ne  -  imes 


ma 


lice,  blind     ig 


no-rance,  and  mis -be  -  leve. 


m 


zzzntz 


^E^^ 


=f«= 


-itz 


:^2- 


=1= 


mm     CJLZ 

zr=±—V := 


and        mis  -  be 


leve,       not      re  -  gard 


::1nt 


zjcn 


ing  his  own 

_<3 ! Ct. 


■I — *? tf- 


ZfJt ^,_ 


rt 


-ft       «- 


It 


be 


leve. 


not     re  -  gard 


ing     his 


own 


gre-vous     tor    -    ments 


*f 


z^z 


not     re     -     gard 


mg 


his 


own        gre  -  vous    tor 


ments     pre  -    - 


i 


^=P 


-^fci     y> 


=t: 


^E^=P^^ 


lez — f?i 


=t 


^^i^^^ 


gl'evous  torments    pre  -  sent. 


but     their  punishment  to      come,   .     .    which  ne  -  ver  should     re 


4QI. 


_<3_ 


:« |Ci- 


=1= 


«3. 


-<2 o- 


^= 


:|= 


pre 


i 


sent,    but  . 

M — 


their     pu    -     nish  -  ment    to    come,  which      ne 


ver  should      re 


l=r:=?- 


d; 


tr. 


^^^= 


sent, 


but 


their      pu-nishment       to         come,     which       ne     -    ver  should  re     -     lent; 


m 


IZ3I 


3Z f2^^J2Z 


:Z2I 


331 


Zf2Z 


It: 


32- 


It 


^^ 


-     lent;    and    for     his    con  -  stant      faithe     and     fer     -     vent        cha 


ri 


tie,       From       earth 


o f- 


X 


^?^^= 


-^: 


Pi 


m 


lent; 


and 


for     his 


con 


stant  faithe  and    fer -vent     cha  -  ri  -  tie. 


From 


icrz 


^ 


=t 


M\ 


z^==tz 


-*>     11- 


and 


for 


his 


con-stant  faithe  and  fer- vent  cha    -    ri 


tie, 


From       earth 


=SaC:: 


=^ 


ZJtZ 


^- 


-:^= 


/TS 


=S^^ 


saw 


znfz 


m 


Heav'n 


4Ql 


Christ      his     glo    -    ri 


ous     Ma 


jes 


^E 


tie. 


^ 


EE^ 


=t 


EE 


-^J:^ 


4at: 


SE 


earth      saw     in  Heav'n 


EgE 


Christ  his      glo     -     ri  -  ous     Ma 


jes 


tie. 


33: 


32: 


zxiz 


saw     in 


Heav'n 


Christ  his 


glo 


ri  -  ous       l\Ia  -  jes 


tie. 
John  Shephard. 


3G0 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


JJOOK    V[Ii. 


CHAP.    LXXVII. 

John  Bedford  was  organist  and  almoner  of  St. 
Paul's  cathedral  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  and,  in 
virtue  of  the  latter  office,  master  of  the  boys  there. 
Tusser,  the  author  of  the  Five  hundred  Points  of 
Husbandry,  and  his  scholar,  gives  a  character  of  him 
in  the  following  stanza,  taken  from  his  life,  written 
by  himself  in  verse : — * 


By  friendfhip's  lot  to  Paul's  I  got, 
So  found  I  grace  a  certain  fpace 

Still  to  remaine 
With  Redford  there,  the  like  no  where 
For  cunning  fuch  and  vertue  much, 
By  whom  fome  part  of  mufic's  art 

So  did  I  gaine. 

John  Thorne,  a  contemporary  of  Redford,  and 
who  has  also  a  place  in  Morley's  Catalogue,  was  of 
York,  and  most  probably  organist  of  that  cathedral. 
The  following  motet  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  his 
abilities  : — 


m 


g 


~L     f^Z 


-g>— ("— ^ 


::t: 


_«_ 


eE^S 


m 


m 


STEL    -    LA      coe    -    li       ex-tir-pa    -    vit  quse    lac-ta-vit 


3^ 


4=i 


1131 


:^ 


=t 


STEL 


LA  cce 


ex-tir  -  pa 


i 


=?3r: 


^ 


rfr«i 


ZITZ 


m 


vit 


quse 


lac  - 


32: 


r,-<0 


STEL  -  LA  coe 


n 


-t=^ 


^—la 


znz 


=i=: 


%f- 


ex-tir-pa 


vit, 


ex  -  tir  -  pa     -    vit 


quse     lac-ta  -  vit 


ill 


ig=^j^ 


e6 


ZT^Z 


ZXXl 


Do  -  mi-num, 


^ 


=fj: 


i£=£ 


33- 


-«J         ^^ 


■^ 


quae     lac-ta-vit  Do  -  nai-num, 


Mor  -   tis  pestamquamplan-ta  -  vit, 


Mor- 


i^ 


EiE^ 


:i=^ 


^^l 


^ 


—nzzrzfi 


i=33- 


r?rtz  = 


IE*; 


-«»-"'-*Ti— ^— JTl 


^m 


E^S^. 


i=--F: 


_— _^- 


-    ta -vit  Do-minum,  quaa        lac-ta-vit  Do -mi-num, 


M^^^E^z 


z^zz 


■c=iz=z^=zzi=j. 


-— — el 


m 


Mor  -  tis    pestem  quam  plan  -  ta  -  vit. 


J-J-^-o- 


^=i; 


ig^E^=F-=gfigEg5J^: 


Mor  -  tis 
— I — < 


zii 


=Si:jn=  = 


Do-minum,  quse    lac  -  ta-vit  Do -minum,  Mor     -    tis  pestem  quam  planta 


vit,  Mor  -  tis  pestem 


-<»- 


^72: 


la^S'z^ff^^az 


^- 


EE^E 


tis   pestem  quam  planta     -     vit. 


r=:p!: 


^^^^ 


primus  Parens  Ho    -    mi-num, 


5rimus  Pa- 


quam,plan-ta 


minum,  pri-mua  Parens 


y'TS 


reus  ho 


g^Egg^ 


-a- 


E^£ 


4=- 


^^^^^ 


nu  -  num, 

/7S 


Ip     -     sa    Stel  -  lanunc  dig-ne     -    tur 


side-ra  campes-ce  -  re. 


3^E 


zjrztz 


^^g|^^ 


m 


=ri=«^=St 


mi 


m^^ 


mim. 


Ip 


sa  Stel  -  la   nunc  dig  -  ne    -    tur 


si-de-ra  compes-ce  -  re, 


si-de- 


i=l= 


^s=^si=el 


a: 


itz 


^ot 


znz 


ZTZP*— rt 


rntzt 


-laz 


-^- 


e^eS 


znz 


mi 


-    num,       Ip    -     sa,  Stel -la  nunc  dig  -  ne     -     tur,  si-de-ra  com  -  pes-ce  -  re,  si-de-ra  com 


m^m^ 


zxrz 


ztz 


:i=€»r=7 


-W 


Tz 


:32; 


i»2: 


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side-ra  compes-ce  -  re 


quo 


10=P' 


£^ 


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^^^Epa 


--A- 


ra3 


rum  bel-la  plebem    ce 


-     dunt 


ZJZZ 


331 


=d=S 


ra    compes-ce-re    quo -rum  bel-la  plebem    ce 


t^^^^B 


di  -  re  mor-trs  ul  - 

■-■A- 


dunt      di  -  re  mor-tis  ul  -  ce 


*-=itz 


^-- 


njr 


4i^7=:i 


xtz 


rx=or- 


-?a; 


33r 


=1= 


izi=; 


^=t 


>  -  pes  -ce  -  re  quo  -  rum  bel  -  la  plebem  ce 

*  Tusser  had  related  in  the  preceding  stanzas  of  this  poem,  that  in  his 
infancy,  probahly  when  he  was  about  seven  years  old,  he  was  thrust  out 
of  his  father's  family,  and  sent  to  song-school  at  Wallinf^ford  college, 
where  he  underwent  a  great  deal  of  liardship,  being  badly  clothed,  and 
as  badly  fed,  and  that  while  he  was  there  he  was  impressed  by  virtue  of 
a  placard  or  warrant  issued  for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  cathedrals 
of  this  kingdom  with  boys,  and  made  to  serve  the  choir  in  several  places. 


^E^l 


--■^-i 


^=zii:i^ 


lE^^^^z 


d 


dunt 


di  -  re  mor-tis 


ul-ce 


He  adds,  th,at  at  length  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  get  to  St.  Pa-ul's, 
where  he  became  the  scholar  of  Redford,  as  in  the  stanza  above-cited. 
Bishop  Tanner  says  that  afterwards,  viz.,  anno  1543,  he  went  to  King's 
College  Cambridge,  which  he  might  do  when  he  was  about  twenty  years 
of  age  This  circumstance  ascertains  pretty  nearly  the  time  when 
Redford  lived,  and  fixes  it  to  the  latter  end  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 


Chap.  LXXVII. 


--—("- 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC 


361 


?5PE§^£ffE?E|^ 


Z2_«=»-^^= 


ISE 


33: 


ce    - 


re, 


di  -  re  mor  -  tis    ul  -  ce 


^=r=^ 


:nc^ 


=7^—^—^ 


-^- 


re. 

/7S 


O      glo   -  ri    -     o      -    sa 


-t=: 


^l 


rdz 


zr^z 


:^=°=Q: 


I83Z 


re, 


di  -  re  mor-tis    ul 


ce 


:a=g'— p:- 


EBI 


i 


4- 


re. 


O      glo 


n     -     o 


It 


zxii 


B-t 


IZZ  £JZ 


re, 


di  -  re  mor  -  tis 


ul  -  ce 


re. 


O      glo   -  ri 


^■=^- 


~^r—T*—f» 


^^ 


sa  Stel  -  la 


sa    Stel    - 


i 


=pc 


■Xr^ 


^ 


ZXJtZ 


^ 


^ 


i=3= 


:^=C!t 


Ea«EE 


Stel  -  la    ma 


ris 


pes  -  to   sue -cur    -  re 


no 


bis, 


~iJtZ 


i 


--■^a^ 


TJOLZ 


^-^f3 


r^^-«g- 


iS^^J^^^ 


laii 


1231 


^1 


ma 


ns 


^=°^=^^F= 


1231^1 


pes 


-    te 


succur - re 


no 


IDt 


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^^m 


-rt— » 


;::1cgt 


bis,    Au    -  di 


-rt—*>--- 


-   la 


ma 


r;s 


-?T»-'-«' 


3es  -  te    suc-cur    -    re 


no 


bis, 


Au  -  di  nosnam 


-fx=^~^ 


-it>- 


:??r 


z^zxr=^r^a^i^. 


^^ot: 


r^=n-^ rxi 


=t- 


-<5>      rf-J    —rt- 


Au    -  di  nosnam  fi 


11 


us 


ni  -hil 


: : — tf    •  ~Ti 


-o- 


nos  nam    Fi 


^ 


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ne  -  gans 


te     ho   - 


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i 


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no 


Fi 


ma;: 


:^=n^=^i 


rz2i 


=a==^^ 


331 


li 


us     ni-hil   ne    -     gans     te       ho    -     no     - 


3SE 


*= 


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ig 


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J: 


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HJ 


ni-hil   ne  -  gans         te      ho  -  no     -     lat 


E^E^E^ 


1^ 


=tot: 


-■ — ^>- 


i1at=: 


-     lat.                Sal 
__<7\ 


= — r    I      I  -F- 


■^zi 


-J^l- 


rat. 


/7\ 


1 


ve  nos       Je 


E3 


fiU. 
/TV 


^3^ 


:^3t: 


i 


rat,     ni-hil    ne   -  gans 


te 


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no 


rat. 

/7N 


Sal    -   ve  nos 


Je 


n- 


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su. 


B 


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123: 


3^EE 


4at: 


je- 


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iot=: 


ni  -hil    ne  -  gans 


te 


ho    -    no 


rat. 


Sal  -  ve    nos 


Je 


su. 


i 


■ft    VJ" 


-^— a- 


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rz3i 


izip— 


^EEJ^ZS^ 


^=^-F«-^-<^ — *s». ^F 


Pro  qui-bus      vir  -  go,        pro  qui  -  bus  vir 


g'l. 


1= 
mater  te     o 


rat, 


i^ 


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5 


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z^zO!; 


:zjtL«* 


:pr 


rjHi 


Pro  qui-bus  vir  -  go,  pro  qui-bus  vir 


go. 


mater  te  0 


rat,  ma 


¥.—Ct <5>- 


■iiz^z 


znz^^z 


zrjtz 


Hrf 


331 


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^«»— F 


^^^:E^^^ 


:iiz»; 


-x 


JSE^g^zza 


'■^^^^^ 


Pro    quiTbus   yir 


go,  pro  qui-bus    vir 


J^=--=-^^?g:^: 


-«»- 


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^J^^^i^ 


go,  mater  te    0 


rat,     mater  te 


-€9-^-^-0 


ITf. 


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mater  te   o 


rat. 


mater  te    0 


rat. 


% 


z:^^ 


ZZ^ZJI 


i 


^£&p* 


^^ 


zprzS^z 


E^i^ 


-     ter  te    o 


rat. 


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mator  te    o 


rat. 


^gEJ^^-^llfl 


23: 


331 


___!_- 


3J: 


=:3^i^ 


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rat, 


ma  -  ter  te    o 


rat. 


John  Thobne,  of  York. 


362 


HISTOKY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


George  Etheridge,  in  Latin  Edrycus,  born  at 
Thame  in  Oxfordshire,  was  a  scholar  of  Corpus  Christi 
college  in  Oxford,  anno  1534.  He  was  admitted  to 
a  degree  in  physic,  and,  being  excellently  skilled  in 
the  Greek  language,  was  appointed  Regius  professor 
thereof  in  that  university  about  the  year  1553 ;  but 
having  been  in  queen  Mary's  time  a  persecutor  of  the 
Protestants,*  he  was  by  her  successor  removed  from 
that  station,  after  which  he  betook  himself  to  the 
practice  of  physic  in  the  city  of  Oxford,  by  which, 
and  the  instruction  of  the  sons  of  gentlemen  of  his 
own  communion  (for  he  strictly  adhered  to  the 
Eomish  persuasion)  in  the  rudiments  of  grammar, 
music,  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  mathematics,  as  also  in  vocal 
and  instrumental  music,  as  appeared  to  Anthony 
Wood  by  some  of  his  compositions,  which  it  is  pro- 
bable he  had  seen,  and  the  testimony  of  the  more 
ancient  writers,  Leland,  who  was  his  familiar  friend, 
thus  celebrates  his  memorj' : 

Scripsisti  juvenis  multa  cum  laude  libellos, 
Qui  Regi  exiniie  perplacuere  meo. 

And  Pits  sums  up  his  character  in  these  words : 
'  Erat  peritus  mathematicus,  musicus  turn  vocalis, 
'  tum  instrumentalis,  cum  primis  in  Anglia  confe- 
'  rendus,  testndine  tamen  et  lyra  prre  cteteris  delecta- 

*  batur.   Poeta  elegantissimus.  Versus  enim  Anglicos, 

*  Latinos,  Grsecos,  Hasbreos  accuratissime  componere, 
'  et  ad  tactus  lyricos  concinnare  pertissime  solebat.' 

Richard  Edwards,  a  native  of  Somersetshire,  was 
a  scholar  of  Corpus  Christi  college,  Oxon,  and  re- 
ceived his  musical  education  under  George  Etheridge 
above-mentioned.  At  the  foundation  of  Christ  Church 
college  by  Henry  VIII.  in  1547,  he  was  made  senior 
student,  being  then  twenty-four  years  of  age.  At 
the  beginning  of  queen  Elizabeth's  reign  he  was  made 
a  gentleman  of  the  chapel  and  master  of  the  children. 
He  was  an  excellent  musician,  and  also  a  poet.  Put- 
tenham,  in  his  Art  of  English  Poesie,  pag.  5,  together 
with  the  earl  of  Oxford,  celebrates  '  Maister  Edwardes 
'  of  her  IMajestys  chapel,'  for  comedy  and  interlude. 
A  particular  account  of  him  is  referred  to  a  sub- 
sequent part  of  this  work,  in  which  the  old  English 
poets  are  enumerated  and  characterised.  In  this 
place  he  is  spoken  of  as  a  musician  only,  and  in  that 
faculty  he  is  said  to  have  manifested  his  skill  in  many 
very  excellent  compositions. 

Robert  Testwood,  of  Windsor,  and  John  IVIar- 
BECK  of  the  same  place,  a  man  to  whom  church-music 
is  greatly  indebted,  he  being  the  original  composer  of 
the  music  to  the  cathedral  service  in  use  at  this  day, 
will  be  spoken  of  hereafter  ;  at  present  it  may  suffice 
to  say,  that  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  they  were 
both  condemned  to  the  stake  for  heresy,  that  the 
former  suffered,  and  the  latter  escaped  the  same  fate 
in  regard  of  his  great  merit  in  his  profession. 

Besides  the  several  English  musicians  above  emi- 
merated,  there  were  many  of  great  eminence  of  whom 

»  He  assisted  at  the  degradation  of  Ridley  previous  to  the  execution 
of  the  sentence  on  him,  and  recommended  that  he  should  be  gagged,  to 
prevent  his  speaking  against  his  persecutors.  Fox's  Acts  and  Monu- 
ments, edit.  Ifi41,  Veil.  III.  pag.  500.  Fox  calls  him  'one  Edrige,  the 
'  Trader  then  of  the  Greek  lecture.' 


no  memorials  are  now  remaining,  save  those  few  of 
their  compositions  which  escaped  that  general  de- 
struction of  books  and  manuscripts  which  attended 
the  dissolution  of  religious  houses,  and  are  now  pre- 
served in  the  libraries  of  cathedrals,  those  of  the  two 
universities,  the  colleges  of  Eton  and  Winchester, 
and  the  British  Museum,  f  The  following  are  the 
names  of  famous  musicians  who  flourished  before  the 
Reformation,  and  have  not  a  place  in  JMorley's  Cata- 
logue printed  at  the  end  of  his  Introduction.  John 
Charde,  Richard  Ede,  Henry  Parker,  John  Norman, 
Edmund  Sheffield,  William  Newark,  Sheryngham, 
Hamshere,  Richard  Davy,  Edmund  Turges,  Sir 
Thomas  Phelyppis,  or  Philips,  Browne,  Gilbert 
Banister,  and  Heydingham. 

Morley's  Catalogue  may  be  supposed  to  contain 
the  names  of  the  principal  musicians  of  his  time,  and 
of  the  age  preceding ;  but  it  is  somewhat  remarkable 
that  he  has  neither  in  that,  nor  in  any  other  part  of 
his  work,  taken  notice  of  our  king  Henry  VIII.  as 
a  composer  of  music.  Erasmus  relates  that  he  com- 
posed offices  for  the  church ;  bishop  Burnet  has 
vouched  his  authority  for  asserting  the  same ;  and 
there  is  an  anthem  of  his  for  four  voices,  '  O  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  true  that  in 
a  collection  of  church -music,  intitled  '  The  first  book  of 
'  selected  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  Mundy,  but  the  late 
Dr.  Aldrich,  after  taking  great  pains  to  ascertain  the 
author  of  it,  pronounced  it  to  be  a  genuine  com- 
position of  Henry  VIII.|  The  fact  is,  and  there  is 
additional  evidence  of  it  existing,  not  only  that 
Henry  understood  music,  but  that  he  was  deeply 
skilled  in  the  art  of  practical  composition ;  for  in  a 
collection  of  anthems,  motets,  and  other  church  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 
1591,  is  the  following  composition  for  three  voices, 
with  these  words, '  Henricus  Octavus,'  at  the  beginning, 
and  these,  '  Quod  Rex  Henricus  Octavus,'  at  the  end 
of  the  Cantus,  or  upper  part : — 

+  Bale,  who  was  a  witness  to  it,  gives  the  following  relation  of  the 
havoc  of  books  at  that  time,  and  the  uses  to  which  they  were  put : — 

'  A  greate  nombre  of  them  whych  purchased  those  superstycvouse 
'  mansyons,  reserved  of  those  librarye  bokes,  some  to  serve  theyr  lakes, 
'  some  to  scoure  theyr  candelstyckes,  and  some  to  rubbe  their  bootes. 
'  Some  they  solde  to  the  grossers  and  sope-sellers,  and  some  they  sent 
'  over  see  to  the  bokebynders,  not  in  small  nomhre,  but  at  tymes  whole 
'  shyppees  full,  to  the  wonderynge  of  the  foren  nacyons.  Yea  the 
'unyversytees  of  thys  realme  are  not  all  clere  in  this  detestable  fact. 
'  But  cursed  is  that  bellye  whyche  seketh  to  be  fedde  with  suche  ungodly 
'  gaynes,  and  so  depelye  shameth  hys  natural  contreye.  I  knowe  a 
'  merchaunt  man,  whych  shall  at  thys  tjine  be  namelesse,  that  boughte 
'  the  contentes  of  two  noble  lybraryes  for  xl.  shyllynges  pryce,  a  shame 
'  it  is  to  be  spoken.  Thys  stufFe  hath  he  occupyed  in  the  stede  of  graye 
'  paper  by  the  space  of  more  than  these  x  yeares,  and  yet  he  hath  store 
'  ynough  for  as  many  yeares  to  come.  A  prodygyuose  example  is  this, 
'  and  to  be  abhorred  of  all  men  which  love  their  nacyon  as  they  shoulde 
'do.'  Preface  to  The  laboryouse  Journey  &  Serche  of  Johan  Leylande 
for  Englande's  Antiquities,  with  declaracyons  enlarged:  by  Johan  Bale, 
anno  1549. 

I  See  the  preface  to  Divine  Harmony,  or  A  new  Collection  of  select 
Anthems  used  at  her  Majesty's  Chappels  Royal,  Westminster  Abbey, 
St.  Paul's,  Windsor,  both  Universities,  Eton,  and  most  Cathedrals  in 
her  Majesty's  Dominions,  octavo,  1712,  which  book,  through  an  anony- 
mous publication,  was  compiled  by  Dr.  William  Croft,  as  is  attested  by 
an  intimate  friend  of  his,  a  reverend  and  worthy  clergyman  now  living. 


Chap.  LXXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


363 


^^^^ 


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364 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIII. 


t= 


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S?-=r^ 


!,»— 


t^t:: 


zi; 


et      U  -  be  -  ra 


^a«E- 


321 


3^^EE±^^ 


^»    ^ 


f>zi2ci — 7^—^ — -~1=F 


_c*_ 


tu 


-     a 


Bo 


^^^^ 


d=cii 


sm 


^-z 


E^S 


tris         Ca 


Bo 


tri& 


Ca 


3E 


=:1c!t 


tu     - 


Bo 


^E^^^^^ 


tris 


Ca 


^=d^-r^^4^^E^Egp^:E53^i^^ 


rrti 


3i=^-T 


3i: 


gjg^^l 


put    tu 


um 


ut    Car 


me  -  lus, 


Ca 


put  tu  - 


m 


^*-&—T^ 


?E: 


:=lr2t= 


33Z 


I 


& ~fr-- 


put    tu 


um      ut        Car 


me  - 


n 


3:z: 


put 


"'.of" 
tu 


33Z 


358       va: 


~^*      ^*' 


33: 


1*31 


iJEit: 


um        ut         Car 


me 


lus, 


-A 


-laz 


i^ 


-^=s 


^SE 


d=3ii 


E^ 


^^-ii=^ 


TtZ 


sp^gsp^pg 


um 


ut       Car 


:^3: 


3jr: 


:*= 


•c5  />,- 


lus, 


ut 


Car 


!t=z£f 


:K«=F^ 


^E 


zzi-*^- 


E3«Ez 


me  -  lus, 


il 


1=^ 


:^ 


=tC!t 


::^3t 


» 23^- 


ut      Car 


me  -  lus. 


:i=f=± 


^: 


F^g^i 


z^izrxi 


O        gr 


:d«3t:: 


=8H= 


3i; 


11^ 


SP^i 


me 
-«3- 


lus.        Col 


lum     tu 


3=^=?jE 


=«i=P 


p: 


:?2=li 


ut    Car 


me  -  lus, 


Col 


-X=:x±-^-zs=ji±}^, 


33Z 


% 


-rr        **L- 


33~ 


i:]<3t 


3«Er 


:1at::= 


lum    tu     -    um 


ut 


Car 


me  -  lus, 


Col 


lum 


tu    - 


um 


33: 


33; 


'^ 


S 


11 


■f     '» 


:t=^- 


?^^ 


um       Bi 


cut 


Tur 


:=^=^ 


:=^=^-F=^ 


li 


ns 


E  - 


bur     -    ne 


f^~^'^ 


33 


si    -    cut  Tur 
-^ — ^ 


si    -    cut     Tur 


a 


f^:z33=33:= 


* »        n- 


vSE 


Bl 


cut     . 


Tur 


ns 


ns 


E 


E 


bur    - 


bur 


-     ne    - 


:zi3i 


a, 


ne    - 


33:: 


SI 


cut 


Chap.  LXXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


365 


^^^^^^[^^^^ 


'f»  •  '*- 


-a-j g>- 


lis     E 


bur-ne 


a,       E 


bur-ne 


a, 


si  -  cut 


IP 


-^— T- 


331 


i^^^^l 


M:-^ :^^r=E^gE=::=tr==:3gh=E 


a, 


Tur 


ns 


^ 


'.m 


Tur 


-C» — s- 

ris 


E 


bur 


JC2Z 


:S3t 


3«^^k^EEz^^iE^-^ 


i 


ne 


a, 


si    -     -    cut  Tur 


ria 


E 


'^m 


-M- 


o_ 


?^H 


:^§=3: 


'JWT 


-fXi 


&=rA-9L-tX 


Tur    -   ris   . 


E  -  bur-ne 


Ve    -    ni       di  -  lec-te   -  mi,   di 


i 


-^ e»- 


3^ 


<  5=^=0= 


=^g=i^g 


E 


bur 


ne 


a. 


:ls"^!i^^=^=a=aiS^i 


bur  -  ne    - 


1c4- 


Ve    -    ni      di   -   lee 


te 


jati 


lot: 


:=lc!fc: 


ve 


te=jJ=^ 


1— <3- 


-^l 


331 


3^EE 


f^g^ 


--:tr 


TTTT 


^ 


-    lee  -  te  -   mi,  ...      ve    -   ni      di    -    lee  -    te 


mi. 


ve    -    ni      di  -  lee 


^^^^m 


-«»- 


d=- 


-J3- 


mi,        ve 


ni      di  -  lee 


te  -  mi,  ve    -     ni       di   -   lee 


C»" 


^^m 


^E^3gE^3^ 


E3^ 


^"^=J=S^^^ 


?E: 


gg^^^E^JE 


m 


di 


lec 


ii 


^— »—"-—-•. rt— »— p— I 


ip;;:zt± 


^rsof^o'zirf-f::^ 


zr 


-C»-*3- 


^i^ 


^ 


:^r-=83=r 


te 


m' 


il^^i^^ 


lEer 


E   -  gre-di  -  a-mur^      e-gre-di  -   a    - 


=f«^ 


:S» e> 


te 


mi. 


E 


gre 


di    - 


3zaa: 


:^c*t: 


i 


*2t: 


=p3^^=3g^|^E 


te 


mi.     . 


m 


j=ri: 


i^ 


ixz: 


r,53:p=r 


£E^ 


=^-=f=«-«i 


3zE^^ 


:c2i 


'^mM 


mur,     e  -  gre 


m 


HI 


di   -   a -mur    in        A 


-     grum-, 


=3=P- 


:cr: 


a§ti 


iP 


«^    •    Tf 


ffe^E^^ 


a  -  mur 


in 


m 


grum, 


E 


gre  -  di   -   a 


mur   m 


^ 


-rr-r-&- 


zrr-&- 


=t 


^^^E 


E    -    gre  -  di    -    a 


mur  in     A 


% 


"^ 


-er     r 


331 


;»r:z^=a3: 


^E 


zar: 


in 


i^^ 


=Sat 


nt3r 


f 


?spife 


d°fc 


I 


grum, 


E^:riEgE^^|gz:o!-g»-^-J#.>|      p  =33  j-.^.- 


:s:^ 


if^gEEpZM ^ 


grutti, 


■in      A 


grum, 


366 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  VIIL 


m^ 


f2=^^ 


-TTT 


:23j 


m 


1831 


-e»-yT-r 


r> 


:^^gg^ 


grum, 


vi    -    de   -    a 


mus,     vi  -   de  -  a 


^^i=^g 


E3^=;^3^ 


3^E 


::1at: 


3^E^:^' 


iqnti 


m 


grum, 


VI 


— Ic4- 
gmm, 


i^ 


E^ 


p=e^ 


izz: 


mus, 


>-ior- 


=1 


m 


VI 


de  -  a 


mus,  VI 


de  -  a 


-^- 


in 


r*?Lzoza3i 


^a^ 


SEstz]§g: 


r:3 


m 


^p=&^ 


t 


^E 


i^ 


mus  si        flo  - -  -  res        frac     -         -     tus  .    .   par-tu    -    ri  -  unt,  .     .  si    -     - 


de 


4i3t: 


^E 


mus 


si     flo 


res   frac 


m- 


11*=;;;^= 


rt-e»- 


tus,  .     .     .  fruc 


■N 


81 


flo 


res 


fruc   -    tus  par  -  tu  -  ri     - 


unt, 


si    flo  -  res   fruc 


tus     par  - 


~ryi 


337 


IZ3I 


i 


flo 


-    res 


fruc 


-    tus 


par 


tu 


znz 


-l» 


^g 


-ri—&- 


33Z 


— O— » &—r* 


^—rr-^i-^. 


I23Z 


tus 


par 


tu  -n 


unt, 


fruc-tus  par     -     tu 


ri 


unt, 


m 


4a3>tr 


tu 


ri 


-lor 

unt, 


lr_^z=Ei 


81 


flo  -  res      fruc  -  tus 


par 


tu 


-    n 


a^E^= 


qzaC 


?EEEB 


:*2t: 


n    - 


*^ 


-^^^, 


331 


'B 


32- 


unt. 


81 


flo 


:S3tsi 


ru 


runt, 


ma 


la     pu     - 


=M: 


i^ot 


ifE^ 


si      flo-ru 


runt 


ma  -  la   pu     - 


ni 


ca,  ma   -   la    pu 


-jor 


3^E 


:S2t= 


:z3i 


483C: 


:r»~ 


-1r>| — : 


"«3" 


unt, 


si       flo-ru 


rant 


ma 


m- 


23==^= 


S 


ui  -  ea, 


-^— 


-fJ-&- 


3=: 


33; 


I«^I33I 


:1c^ 


]^^Ete^ 


-£>- 


^ 


81 


flo-ru -e   -   runt  ma    -    la 


pu 


ni    -    ca. 


I  -  bi       da  -  bo        ti  -  bi 


^ 


i^ot- 


3^ 


=l23t: 


li^r- 


aiE^^E^^^^^^^ 


331 


^m. 


33211 


^^^E 


ni 


ca. 


bi 


da    -    bo 


S 


33: 


■ixrx-. 


IjCBtZZ 


331 


331 


ca. 


•T -~ 


i^op 


la 


pu 


ni 


I    -    bi 


-J*^ 


33: 


rS^z 


^ 


ct 


* 


g^Pggg?i^gg| 


u  -  be   -  ra 


me     -    a. 


bi 


da    -    bo  ti     -     bi 


^ 


aazt^n 


be-ra      me 


fegiiiie 


^^^^^g 


ti  -  bi 


33 

da    -    bo 


u-  be  • 


ra       me     -     a, 

-19—- 1-s^ 


i  -  bi  da  -  bo    ti  -  bi 


u-be-ra     me 


■.fi 


33!z*»; 


^iss^fe 


ti    -   bi      u 


be  -  ra  me 


u-be-ra    me 


33Z 


-t«3h 


ior 


e 


Henbious  Ot*Avns,  Anglic  Rex. 


Chap.  LXXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


367 


And  though  such  a  degree  of  skill  as  is  manifested 
in  the  above  composition,  may  seem  more  than  a  king 
can  well  be  supposed  to  have  possessed,  it  is  to  be 
remembered,  that  being  the  younger  of  two  brothers, 
and  his  chance  of  succeeding  to  the  crown  therefore 
precarious,  he  was  intended  by  his  father  for  the 
church,  with  a  remote  view  to  the  archbishopric  of 
Canterbury  ;  music  was  therefore  a  necessary  part  of 
his  education*  And  the  statutes  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge,  foimded  by  Henry  VIII.,  make 
part  of  the  examination  of  candidates  for  fellow- 
ships to  be  '  Quid  in  Cantando  possitit-*  indeed,  all 
members  were  supposed  capable  of  singing  a  part 
in  choir  service. 

As  to  the  composition  above  given,  the  words  are 
taken  from  the  Canticum  Canticorum,  cap.  vii.  as 
rendered  by  the  vulgate  translation,  and  it  may  be 
presumed  that  the  object  of  it  was  some  female  with 
whom  the  king  was  upon  terms  of  great  familiarity.f 

It  was  doubtless  owing  to  the  affection  which  this 
prince  entertained  for  music  that  his  children  also 
arrived  at  great  proficiency  in  it.  Edward  VI. 
played  on  the  lute,  as  appears  from  that  expression 
in  Cardan's  account  of  him,  *  Cheli  pulsabat,'  and 
indeed  from  his  own  Journal,  where  he  mentions  his 
playing  on  the  lute  to  Monsieur  le  Mareschal  8t. 
Andre,  the  French  ambassador.  Mary  also  played 
on  the  lute  and  on  the  virginal,  as  appears  by  a 
letter  of  queen  Catherine  her  mother,  wherein  she 
exhorts  her  '  to  use  her  virginals  and  lute,  if  she  has 
*  any  : '  and  as  to  Elizabeth,  her  proficiency  on  the 
virginal  is  attested  by  Sir  James  Melvil,  who  himself 
had  once  an  opportunity  of  hearing  her  divert  herself 
at  that  instrument.  This  affection  in  the  children  of 
Henry  VIII.  for  music  is  but  a  trivial  circumstance 
in  the  history  of  their  lives,  but  it  went  a  great  way 
in  determining  the  fate  of  choral  service  at  several 
periods  during  the  Reformation,  when  it  became  a 
matter  of  debate  whether  to  retain  or  reject  it,  as 
will  appear  by  the  following  deduction  of  particulars. 

The  clamours  against  choral  service,  arising  from 
the  negligent  manner  of  performing  it,  were  about 
this  time  very  great,  and  the  council  of  Trent  in 
their  deliberations  with  a  view  to  the  correction  of 
abuses  in  the  celebration  of  the  mass,  had  passed 
some  resolutions  touching  church  music  that  gave 
weight  to  the  objections  of  its  enemies' :  as  the  Re- 
formation advanced  these  increased  ;  those  of  the 
clergy  who  fell  in  with  Wickliffe's  notions  of  a 
reformation  were  for  rejecting  it  as  vain  and  un- 
edifying ;  the  thirty -two  commissioners  appointed  by 

*  It  has  already  been  remarked  that  a  competent  skill  in  music  was 
anciently  necessary  in  the  clerical  profession :  to  the  evidence  of  that 
fact  formerly  adduced  may  be  added  the  following  extract  from  a  letter 
from  Sir  John  Harrington  to  prince  Henry,  containing  a  character  of 
Dr.  John  Still,  bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  in  1592.  '  His  breeding  was 
'  from  'his  childhood  in  good  literature,  and  partly  in  musick,  which  was 
'  counted  in  those  days  a  preparative  to  divinity  ;  neither  could  any  be 
'  admitted  to  primam  tonsuram,  except  he  could  first  bene  le  bene  con  bene 
'  can,  as  they  called  it,  which  is  to  read  well,  to  conster  well,  and  to  sing 
'  well,  in  which  last  he  hath  good  judgment.'  Vide  Sir  John  Harrington's 
Brief  View  of  the  Church,  and  Nugae  Antiquse,  12rao.  Lond.l7G9,  pag.  22. 

+  It  was  probably  composed  in  his  juvenile  years,  when  it  is  known  he 
had  amours.  One  favourite  of  his  he  kept  at  Greenwich,  her  lodging 
was  a  tower  in  the  park  of  the  Old  Palace  ;  the  king  was  used  when  he 
visited  her  to  go  from  Westminster  in  his  barge,  attended  by  Sir  Andrew 
Flamock,  his  standard-bearer,  a  man  of  humour,  who  entertained  him 
with  jests  and  merry  stories.  The  king,  as  the  signal  of  his  approach, 
was  used  to  blow  his  horn  at  his  entrance  into  the  park.  Puttenham's 
.\rte  of  English  Poesif ,  pag.  224. 


the  statutes  of  35  Henry  VlII.  and  3  and  4  Edward 
VI.  to  compile  a  body  of  ecclesiastical  laws,  it  is 
true,  allowed  of  singing  ;  but  by  the  restraints  that  it 
is  laid  under  in  the  Reformatio  Legum  Ecclesiastica- 
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  parochial 
service  on  a  level. 

In  the  reign  of  Mary  no  one  presumed  to  vent  his 
objections  against  choral  singing :  the  Protestants 
were  too  much  terrified  by  the  persecutions  to  which 
their  profession  exposed  them,  to  attend  to  the  con- 
tents of  the  Romish  ritual ;  and  when  they  were 
once  persuaded  that  the  worship  of  that  church  was 
idolatrous,  it  could  not  but  be  with  them  a  matter 
of  indifference  whether  the  offices  used  in  it  were 
sung  or  said. 

But  the  truth  of  the  matter  is,  that  those  men  who 
were  best  able  to  expose  the  errors  and  superstition 
of  popery  withdrew  themselves,  and  in  a  state  of 
exile  conceived  a  plan  of  reformation  and  church 
discipline  so  truly  spiritual,  as  seemed  to  render 
useless  the  means  which  some  think  necessary  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 
namely,  the  habits  anciently  worn  by  the  minister  in 
the  celebration  of  divine  service,  and  the  little  less 
ancient  practice  of  antiphonal  singing ;  and  upon 
their  arrival  from  Geneva  and  Francfort,  at  the 
accession  of  queen  Elizabeth,  the  arguments  against 
both  were  pushed  with  great  vehemence  in  the  course 
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,  was  in  every  instance  attended  with 
the  like  ill  success,  as  will  appear  from  the  following 
short  review  of  the  measures  taken  for  its  establish- 
ment and  support. 

For  first,  the  disposition  of  Henry  VIII.  to  retain 
the  choral  service  may  be  inferred  from  the  provisions 
in  favour  of  minor  canons,  lay  clerks,  and  choristers, 
not  only  in  the  refoundations  by  him  of  ancient 
cathedral  and  collegiate  churches,  but  also  in  those 
modern  erections  of  episcopal  sees  at  Westminster, 
Oxford,  Gloucester,  Chester,  Bristol,  and  Peter- 
borough, which  were  made  by  him,  and  liberally 
endowed  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  singers 
in  those  cathedrals  respectively. 

Edward  VI.  manifested  his  affection  for  choral 
singing  by  his  injunctions  issued  in  the  year  1547, 
wherein  countenance  is  given  to  the  singing  of  the 
litany,  the  priest  being  therein  required  to  sing  or 
plainly  and  distinctly  to  say  the  same.  And  in  the 
first  liturgy  of  the  same  king,  the  rubric  allows  of  the 
singing  of  the  'Venite  exultemus,'  and  other  hymns, 
both  at  mattins  and  even-song,  in  a  manner  contra- 
distinguished from  that  plain  tune  in  which  the 
lessons  are  thereby  recpiired  to  be  read. 

Farther,  the  statute  of  2  and  3  Edward  VI.  fo'- 


368 


filSTORY  OF  I'HE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


uniformity  of  Service,  contains  a  proviso  that  it  shall 
be  lawful  to  use  Psalms  or  pra.y-er  taken  out  of  the 
Bible,  other  than  those  directed  by  the  new  liturgy  ; 
which  proviso  let  in  the  use  of  the  metrical  psalmody 
of  the  Calvinists,  and  also  the  anthem,  so  peculiar  to 
cathedral  service,  and  was  recognized  by  the  statute 
of  5  and  6  of  Edward  VI.  made  for  confirming  the 
second  liturgy  of  the  same  king. 

As  to  queen  Elizabeth,  she,  by  the  forty-ninth  of 
her  injunctions,  given  in  1559,  declares  her  sentiments 
of  church  music  in  terms  that  seem  to  point  out  a 
tnedium  between  the  abuses  of  it,  and  the  restraints 
tinder  which  it  was  intended  to  be  laid  by  the  Reform- 
atio Leguln  Ecclesiasticarum.      The  statute  of  uni- 


formity made  in  the  fii-st  yeat  of  her  reign,  establishes 
the  second  liturgy  of  Edward  VI.  with  a  very  few 
alterations.  The  act  of  the  legislature  thus  co-ope- 
rating with  her  royal  will,  as  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  rites  and  cere- 
monies of  the  church  of  England. 

From  all  which  transactions  it  may  be  inferred  that 
the  retention  of  the  solemn  choral  service  in  our  church 
was  in  a  great  measure  owing  to  that  zeal  for  it  in  the 
princes  under  whom  the  Reformation  was  begun  and 
perfected,  which  may  be  naturally  supposed  to  have 
resulted  from  their  love  of  music. 


BOOK    IX. 


CHAP.    LXXVIII. 


The  foregoing  deduction  of  the  history  of  music  in 
England,  and  the  specimens  of  vocal  compositions 
above  given,  respect  chiefly  the  church-service,  and 
bring  us  nearly  to  that  period  when  the  Romish 
t-itual  ceased  to  prescribe  the  mode  of  divine  worship, 
and  choral  service  in  this  country  assumed  a  new 
form.  The  general  havoc  and  devastation,  the  dis- 
persion of  conventual  libraries,  and  the  destruction  of 
books  and  manuscripts,  which  followed  the  dissolution 
of  monasteries,  and  the  little  care  taken  to  preserve 
that  which  it  was  foreseen  would  shortly  become  of 
no  use,  will  account  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  those  very  few 
persons.  Who  were  prompted  to  collect  them  as 
evidences  of  the  skill  and  ingenuity  of  our  ancient 
church  musicians. 

From  hence  we  may  perceive  that  as  far  as  con- 
cerns the  music  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  though  it  was  so  calculated  as  to  be 
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  as  to  offend  any  but 
such  as  deny  the  expediency,  and  even  lawfulness  of 
a  liturgy  in  any  form  whatever. 

These  reasons  render  it  necessary  to  postpone  for 
a  while  the  prosecution  of  the  history  of  church- 
music  in  this  our  country,  and  to  re-assume  that  of 
secular  music ;  in  the  improvement  whereof  it  is  to 
be  noted  that  we  were  at  this  time  somewhat  behind 


our  neighbours ;  for  till  about  the  commencement  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  it  does  not  appear  that  any  one 
of  the  English  masters  had  attempted  to  emulate  the 
Flemings  or  the  Italians  in  the  composition  of  madri- 
gals ;  for  which  reason  the  account  of  the  introduction 
of  that  species  of  music  into  this  kingdom  must  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  entertainment,  not  only  of  the 
common  people,  but  of  the  better  sort :  These  must 
have  been  of  various  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  with,  and  those  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  degree  intel- 
ligible, any  of  the  common  popular  tunes  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  formerly  in  the 
collection  of  Mr.  Ralph  Thoresby,  and  mentioned  in 
the  catalogue  of  his  Museum,  at  the  end  of  his  History 
of  Leeds  ;  they  both  appear  to  have  been  set  by 
William  Cornish,  of  the  chapel  royal,  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  VII.  The  words  of  the  first  song  were 
written  by  Skelton,  and  there  is  a  direct  allusion  to 
them  in  a  poem  of  his  entitled  the  Crovnie  of  Lawrell, 
printed  among  his  works.  The  latter  song  is  sup- 
posed to  be  a  satire  on  those  drunken  Flemings  who 
came  into  England  with  the  princess  Anne  of  Cleve, 
upon  her  marriage  with  king  Henry  VIII. 


m 


-^^^- 


^. 


-^ 


^ 


IDC 


=E 


-^- 


^ 


-^^ 


zm 


iz 


-^1 


:|ct: 


Wii==^ 


^ 


< 


% 


H 


be-shrew  you    by     my     fay,  these  wan -ton     clarks  be     nyce   al    -    way,     A -vent,     a  - 


eS 


=?ar 


'"^^^Ei 


^- 


H        beshrew    you    by     my       fay, 


A -vent,     a  - 


:=s: 


=s^ 


^=t 


:^s 


"Thfise  wan  -  ton  clarks  be     nyce    al     -    way, 


H 

A  - 


*  That  the  book  of  Comindri  Pfayet  hath  its  Original  from  the  mass-        Offices,  pag.  24  ;  and  the  preface  to  queen  Elizabeth's  iiturgy  refers  to 
book  is  expressly  denied  by  Hamon  L'Estrange,  in  )iis  Alliance  of  Divine        the  ancient  fathers  for  the  original  and  ground  thereof. 


Chap.  LXXVIIl. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


569 


f^ — I — j 

-  vent, 

:«: 

-   vent, 

=^= 
zzM — 


trCr^ 


E^ 


&-ni 


10- 


E?^ 


-^- 


2e:s 


^ 


my  Popin 
my     Popinjay, 


jay, 


:^=^=t 


what  will    ye        do 


no  -  thyng    but       play, 


nothyng    but     play, 


tul-ly 


tul-ly  val-ly 


131 


IE   _        Ji:^g^ 


:=!— ni 


eeS 


vo'.t,         a    -  veut,  my  Po-pin     -    jay,  what  will    ye 


tul  -ly   val-ly  straw. 


Ez±i 


i^glilg 


E 


;==EE 


:zEi 


^I^[-^!e 


val-ly  straw,      let    be      I 


sav, 


m^: 


K 


giip     Jak    of  the    vale,    what  ma-ner-ly 


s^jifii 


f=^- 


^- 


:A=B 


irfz 


^11 


straw,         let      be 


^=± 


gup   chris-ti-an    clewte,     gup     Jak      of  the    vale,   what  ma-ner-ly 


g5E^igigg^Sii^EEE{aEaiE3sg5^g 


gup    christian  clowte,     . 


what    ma  -  ner-ly 


m^^¥i 


:b=J 


l^t^ii^ilfislil^^^giPi^^^ 


— • — • — ^- 

Mar-ge-ry, 


Mar-ge-ry    uiylk    and    ale,  what 


nia  -ner-ly     llar-ge-ry,    ma-ner-ly    Mar-ge-ry    mvlk     and         ale. 


what    ma  -  ner-lv  Mar-ge  -  ry    mylk     and  ale,  what    Mar-ge-ry      mylk  and  ale. 


=:if^:z 


^     Mar-ge-ry    mylk    and      ale, 


mylk        and     ale,    what  ma  -   ner-ly     Mar-ge  -  ry    mylk    and 


ale. 


m 


e— -    a> 


m 


^ 


d=^-Z=2 


-f2'- 


By    glide       ye     be 


^^^ 


:=t 


r* -1 1 


:zt:=ti 


a     pre    -    ty      pode, 


strawe  Jamvs  fo  -der  ye 


"«:»" 


EEEa 


i^nzTfi; 


!z:f:=ti 


e^Se 


By        gode    ye  be  a    pre   -    ty      pode, 


and  I   loveyouan  hole  cart       lode. 


ve 


lirtz 


ft~ 


-O:: 


;ge^ 


:=3z2tz 


And    I      love       you      an    hole  cart 


lode, 


rnz 


z*=n; 


mM 


=*=:■= 


-P- 


zff- 


aEE^.^-='' 


=t= 


^^^^gg 


J^=Fp 


K 


EP=E 


play      the  fode,  I       am  no  hack  -  nie         for     your       rode,  go    watch  a      bole  your  back    is    brode. 


— -zr^=z:i.- 


^^^m=^ 


-rz=3i 


-^_ 


^EpE 


ms^B^^i 


XJ 


:r2-zzzr*z= 


play      the  fode,  I       am  nohacknie  for     vour      rode,  go    watch  a      bole  your  back    is     brode.  Gup     g< 

, . 1 , ^jf< 

—  r. : \ T : — 


3i^ 


Gup 


H 

< 


-&- <5» S- 


m 


EE 


^^^^^^^^m^^^. 


I      wiss  ye     dele  un  -  cur  -  tes     -    lie,         whatwoldeye  frompil  me,  nowfye. 


fye. 


zzjzr^zrpzzd 
z«z=p 


q=^- 


SS^E 


3EEFE*^i^E 


e£e: 


E?=i£^4^=^^t 


:d==r-^:S=J 


I     wiss  ve     dele      un-cur-tes    -    lie,  what  wolde    ye     frompil  me,   now    fye,       fye.Whatandye  shall 


aE 


m^m^. 


:tr-z 


What  and  ve     shall 
2  B 


370 


m 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 

1 16»— ^jt^— ri^-» -1     ■     — '— 1— »^ 

p^=F— t^-SF=J-l=— P — - — qj-P-P— *^p 


Book  IX. 


»-  P-«W-T-»-»^^— ]—— -H— ^i=it£^«=fr» •  — r-«* >-— r-O- 


K 


^=--=1=, 


-10- 


by  Christ  ye   shal  not, 


I      will  not    be       ja    -    ped    bo     -de   -  ly.  .^."^ 


ziji—z 


3»i 


iF-J^^=:: 


:&- 


be    my  pigs-nye,  my   pigs-nye 


:p=^=^i^^g^^^^ 


be    my  pigs-nye,  my   pigs-nye, 


no,  no  harde-ly, 
nye. 


I      will     not  be      ja   -    ped      bo 


de  -  ly.       Gup^l- 


—  -r—r- 


my  pigs 


Gup 


Pi 
< 


^ »— -— •-fD^^o=:^ 


EEi^f 


p — o 


■F=^- 


:c«;; 


i.-=i^!=z=r;=E:[z=z:E^=Ei: 


^— Brpzrr 


;rt_ZT=i-r^:| 


;:p:z 


msE^ 


Walke  forthe  your  wav,     ye     cost    me  noughte.  now  have     I    found  that    I 


have  soughte,  the  best  chepe 


Zfl=^^ 


-fd- 


=t3 


■X.=:=.z 


EE=E 


E^EEEocz:! 


Walke   forthe  your    way,       ye  cost     me  noughte,  now  have     I   found  that      I  have  soughte,  the      best  chepe 


11 


il=F-^ 


'^^m 


Efe 


^^E?^tz=:: 


ZZ^r 


zn^z.^z 


'5fff 


Ej?_zz«-3i3=z[4 


Yet  for    Hys    love 


that    all  hath  wrought,  wed  me  or    els       I    dye  for 


^E^i^^i^ 


::i: 


rrd 


trJi 


.11=^:=, 


«^to=z^'^^^»^=^K^^^= 


-h-- 


HiygE^^[i 


flesh    that  e  -  ver        I     bought.  yet     for  Hys  love         that  all  hath  wrought,  wed  me  or      els       I     dye     for 


:==:3=iq_J 1 


:i r 


Fl3E^_a 


flesh   that  e-ver     I 


bought. 


Ea=^^ii=M= 


E@ 


Jlf^EilBEi^E]!! 


« 


,:f-_c 


thought. 


:rri; 


EEi^FjEEE^^ 


Go      ma-ner-ly    Marge-ry     my  Ike  and     ale. 

— 1- 


:«i=i 


iiei  -  i_y      iiiaige-i_v        iiM  ib.c  aiiu.      die.  .^j,.;^ 

t. l_i y^ L-t .^^ J . t-g 


thought.  Gup  chris-ti- an    clowte  your  broth    is      stale      go   man-er  -  ly    Mar-ge-ry    mylke  and     ale.       Gup.jj,|. 


E^zrt 


^i=S 


ZfJLZ 


ei^Si^^; 


SiEJil 


Gup  chris-ti  -  an     clowte  your  broth    is     stale. 


Gup 
William  Cohnyshe,  Jun. 


d- 


SE« 


EEg^ 


^^i^ 


d^rrdi 


rtrpd 


ZS^SZ^T*—  Z^^ 


^^s 


^is^ 


E^EiE^EE[| 


HOYDAY,  hoy  -  day  jol-ly  rutte  -  kin,     hoy  -  day,  hoy-  day      like  a      rut    -     te-kin,      hoy-day. 


atu 


^ 


!i3-:«irj 


^^^m 


z± 


IJIEe 


■m 


Fi^JagjgiiSEElf 


HOYDAY,     hoyday 

^3e^ 


jol-ly    rutte-kin,  hoy-daj',  hoyday         like    .     a     rut-te^kin  hoj'  -  day. 


^^^^fz 


^E|EE^ 


r=]- 


E?_Eb— 


Ei:fegiESii 


HOYDAY,  hoy  -  day  jolly   rutte-kin,      hoy  -  day,  hoy    -  day        hke    a        ru       -    te  -  kin  Jioy  -  day, 


ggfeEE^g^g^p^g=ggpg 


Hoy  -  day,  hoy  -  day,  hoy      -      day,       ,     hoy  -  day  j^hoy      -      day, 


hoy  -  day,  hoj'  - 


m 


E^^iSz  E£=^'^EEE  E=EEE 


Hoy  -  day,  hoy  -  day,  hoy      -     day,    hoy  -  day,  hoy  -  day. 


^mM^^. 


Izm-m 


zdz 


:-^z=E=: 


.d. 


?E 


EEE 


m 


Hoy  -  day,  hoy-day,  hoy 


day, 


hoy  -  day,  hoy  -  day,         hoy  -  day. 


hny 


CiiAv.  LXXVIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


371 


^^^^^^m^^M 


iozzz 


ZPizzii:;— ^g— -^- 


day,     like      a    rut-te  -  kin      hoy -day, 


like      a         rut    -     te  -  kin     hov 


-f*- 


m 


IE 


I'm^^^i^^mmm 


day, 

-\ 


-_ « Cf ^ 


day,  hoy-day,  hoy -day,    like      a    rut-te  -  kin     hoy      -     day,      hoy-day,     hoy 

■«>-       -•-      -•-    -0-     —  .-       •         •         • 


t_-=:;rt:i 


^UE=SifeEf3=] 


i==:a! 


^ 


^==X=-'^? 


f^JE^^^ 


-1 Fe — n : —  •■ 


id: 


-— _t: 


-  day,    like      a    rut  -  te  -  kin      hoy  -  day. 


like      a      rut-te -kin     hoy 


day,      hoy  -  day,    hoy 


^^^=^smfs^3vmsm^^ 


crzlrzt^n 


1^ 


-fjL^m^ 


LC—p-r 


hoy  -    day,  hoy  -  day,  hoyday,  hoy  -  day,  hoy 


day. 


^^m=^m. 


ffi"^^^=^: 


^=1^ 


ijnZiT 


BlEi^§ 


D— «- 


tlri: 


nt: 


<^—n—T3 


^- 


In     a 

:=rzl=±zp 


day,  hoyday,     hoy-day,  hoyday,         hoy-day,  lioy    -     day.        Rut  -  te-kin   is    come  un- to    our    town,       In    a 


!?ii 


L-t:--tt: 


^- 


^- 


^^l^il^^E^ 


<» — 49     i'':^-i   I—  ^ ^- 


day,      hoy  -  day,  hoy -day,  hoyday,  hoy -day,  hoy     -     day.        Rut  -  te-kin   is    come  un- to    our     town,     In     a 


-|0 «.- 


^t==F: 


icn 


ix? «: 


:^3S 


4:=t: 


r^ilifEgiEil 


=«=«==±=i: 


-e> — <>—(■—«» 


^=^ 


cloke  with -out    cote     or    gown. 


to      ky    -     -    ver  his       crown,  Like  a        rutt    -     kin 


i:j:=z|--==czn==l 


:=nf=iin^; 


:* 

t* 


— • b£:=c= 


:p—z 


§6^^gl 


li^rjr 


:r<; 


cloke  with  -  out    cote     or    gown,        Save     a      rag-gid  hoode        to      kyver  his        crown.        Like     a     rutt -kin 


^"==t^^ 


i7«. 


t:E^T-^E:^EE 


in— t: 


("^M- 


=t=4= 


^=^="=- 


cloke  with  -  out    cote     or     gown.        Save     a       rag  -  gid  hoode       to      kyver  his        crown,  Like  a      rut  -te-kin 


S^^i3=ls-^=^^ 


^giggggig^g^^ggggi: 


hoy-day,     hoy  -  day,        jol-ly  rut-te  -  kin     hoy  -  day,  hoy  -  day,     like      a       rut    -     te-kin     hoy  -  day.  .^ 


i^iM^a 


zz\z 


:i=z«E 


zzi   .-J  -■- 


c.~\zz 


ZD. 


H— — dirr^=ii 


lli3 


^^^:^Jli^l 


hoy  -  day,     .     hoy-dav, 


jol-ly  rat-tekin     hoy-day,  hoyday,  like     .     a  rut-tekin      hoy  -day.,     g. 


hoy -day,    hoy  -  day,        jol-ly  rutte  -  kin      hoy  -  day,  hoy  -  day,  like      a        rut     -     te-kin     hoy   -   day. 


in=?n- 


:p=ti 


-tf-~(^—--m-f> 


;t^t=f==c^ 


Rut-tekin  can  speke  no  Eng    -    lishe,  histongrenythall  on  buttyr'd  fish,  .     besmerde  with  greese  about  his 


Rut-tekin  can  speke  no  Eng    -    lishe. 


-:^=, 


.i?a- 


besmerde  with  greese  about  his    dishe,  a  -  bout 


^^^^^^m^E^^. 


rb«a 


e> — ei- 


Histongrenyth  all  on   butty'rd  fish,        besmerdewith  greese  abouthisdishe,  about  his 


d: 


=i= 


dishe,  like  a  rutt  -  kin  hoy-day,     hoyday,    jolly  rutte-kin  hoyday,  hoyday,  like    a  rut-te-kin    hoyday.    .     :;" 


^^^^^^^^^^m^^^iW^^^^^^mX 


his      dishe,       like  a  rutt-kiu 


nzzaz 


^t:=E 


hoyday,    hoy-day,         jolly  ruttekin  hoyday,  hoyday,     like  a  rutte-kin hoyda  .  2 


■iB=f=F=EEE£^= 


-.mzmz 


■»-p- 


A- 


^fr=^Si^ 


dishe,     .     .     like  a    rutt  -  kin  hoy-day,      hoyday,    jolly  ruttekin    hoy-day,  hoy-day,         like  a    rut-  te-kin  hoyday, 


070 

•J  I  _J 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


m=^Ei^i\^^EE^ 


-jczl^z 


t— 


t=zh=:^t: 


mmm^:Mm 


A    stiiop   of     beer    up      at     a    pluk,  at   a    pluk,  up 


^^— rt-|-«g 


2<— r»- 


:± 


f[i^i^^g^[ii=:g£^^i^^^i^^^E=E^i=t^ 


Rut-te  -  kin   sliall  bring    you    all   good     luck, 


183" 


ifi: 


g 


:t=bzti 


1"E 


:tztiz: 


Rut  -te  -  kin  shall  bring  you       all       good     . 


a     stoop    of     beer    up       at     a    pluk,  at   a   pluk,  up 
luck,  a    stoop   of    beer    up      at     a  pluk,  at  a  pluk,  at    a 


=t=t 


-d- 


i=^f 


at 


% 


a         pluk,  till  his    brain  be  as        wise      as      a      duk,  as  a  duk, 


—10 — 1»- 


_Q — ^_. 


at 


pluk. 


^Hf^igl^ 


till  his       brain  be     as 


wise 


as     a 


:=^E£ 


^S 


ini 


zi=::cBi 


pluk, 


till  his    brain  be   as     wise       as 


duk. 


as 


m 


ip-rp 


t:=c:: 


p:4=d 


3^g 


f^^: 


^^^E 


:J=f=d=^: 


-jctz 


EiEtr- 


K 


duk,    a  duk,  like  a    rutt  -kin  hoyday,    hoyday,  jolly  rut-te-kin   hoy  -  day  hoyday,  like    a     nit-tekin     hoyday. 


^1 


i:^: 
^^- 


:^^e^-:k«^^e5^:e=-^:e^:^ef^: 


duk,  a    duk,      like  a  rutt  -kin 


hoyday,  hoyday. 


c*-&-^- 


jolly  ruttekin  hoyday,  hoyday,    like    a  rutte-kin  hoj-day.     & 


=zd= 


eI=£^i[; 


d=?2: 


f^ 


=f: 


'^E5^r-? 


;di 


a       duk,  like  a    rutt  -  kin  hoy-day,    hoyday,  jolly  rut-tekin     hoy -day,  hoy  -  day,      like    a    rut  -  te-kin  lioyday. 


-*2=;^ 


znz 


:f:=t=: 


:=i«2 


lirai 


t:E£Ei 


*=i 


He  will  drink  a      gal-Ion      pot       full   at  twice. 


-^._J=: _L 1 ?^_i — 1231 

When  Rut  -  te  -  kin  from  borde  will      rvse. 


S=^ 


rf^^r 


■^^^ — *» — •—  +.>-j — 


^: 


[ilH 


Bzr^zzgE^E^ 


r-«>- 


-P= 


-tto- 


he  will  drink  a      gal-Ion      pot       full   at  twice,       and  the     o-ver- 


=1-F=: 


—I O p- 


^S — <? — m—\—-\ — m 


^-f 


=1 


::t-t 


When  Rut  -  te  -  kin  from  borde  will    ryse. 


he  will  drink  a      gal -Ion  pot  full  at      twice,       and  the      o-ver  - 


m 


T^ 


T: 


z± 


^^m3M 


-J=== 


and 


the      o  -  ver  -  plus 


un  - der  the 


ble  of  the  new 

"  mm 


guise,  like      a 


iilf^ 


i2« 


^ 


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rutt  -  kin    ho3'day,  hoy  -  day,     jol-ly  rutte  -  kin     hoy  -  day, hoy- day,  like    a     rut  -   tekin      hoyday. 


:=t 


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hoy-day,       hoy-day, 

_         _         :=iz 

i£E' 


a   ruttkin 

^=zz=Z7i3=^— _=iz^zj^^=ziE3E^=^gz=:z_«_zzz:tx 


jol-ly  rut-tekin  hoy-day, hoyday,        like      a  rutte-kin  hoy    -    day.        ^ 


zl=oz:f 


— E^=& 


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1=; 


znz 


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^Qp: 


■  « 


rutt  -  kin   hoyday,  hoy-  day,      jol-ly  nit -te -kin     hoy -day,  hoy    -   day,      like    a      rut    -    tekin  hoy    -    day. 

William  Coknyshe,  Jun. 


Chap.  LXXIX. 


AXD  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


373 


CHAP.  LXXIX. 

Better  success  has  attended  the  attempts  to  re- 
cover the  mere  words  of  those  songs  and  baHads 
which  seem  to  have  been  the  delight  of  past  ages. 
By  these  which  follow,  we  discover  that  with  the 
young  people  of  those  times  the  passion  of  love 
operated  in  much  the  same  manner  as  it  does  now ; 
that  our  forefathers  loved  strong  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  profaneness, 
or  indelicacy  of  expression  observable  in  the  two 
preceding,  and  in  a  few  of  the  subsequent  poems, 
should  need  an  apology  for  inserting  them,  the  best 
that  can  be  made  is,  that  they  present  to  our  view  a 
true  picture  of  the  times.*  Before  the  statute  of 
James  I.  against  profane  cursing  and  swearing,  the 
profanation  of  the  name  of  God  was  so  frequent  in 
common  discourse,  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  Elizabeth  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  persisted  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  expunged;  an  evidence  that 
the  national  manners  have  in  some  respects  improved 
in  the  course  of  a  century. 

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 
superiors  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 
a  gentleman. 

In  this  respect,  too,  the  manners  of  the  present  have 
greatly  the  advantage  over  those  of  past  ages ;  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  his  affection  sent  with  presents 
of  flesh,  as  he  terms  it,  meaning  thereby  venison,  to 
his  beloved  Anne  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  tliat  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. 
The  simplicity  is  no  less  remarkable  than  the  style, 

*  A  discretion  has  been  exercised  in  reprinting  this  edition  by  omitting  some 
passages  which  appeared  nbsolutehf  due  tn  the  prngress  of  good  manners 
since  Sir  John  Hawkins'  time.  Some  persons  may  think  that  this  might 
have  been  even  more  eitensiveiy  exerted. 


of  the  following  dialogue,  which  seems  to  be  very 
ancient  : — 

I. 

Beware  my  lyttyll  fynger,  Syr,  I  you  defire, 
Ye  wrynge  my  hand  to  lore, 
I  pray  you  do  no  more, 
Alas  therefor, 

Ye  hurt  my  lyttyll  fynger. 

II. 

Why  fo  do  you  fay  ? 
Ye  be  a  wanton  may, 
I  do  but  with  you  play, 

Beware  my  lyttyll  fynger. 

III. 

Syr,  no  more  of  fuche  fport, 
For  I  have  lyttyl  comfort 
Of  your  hyther  refort 

To  hurt  my  lyttyll  fynger. 

IV. 

Forfoth  goodly  myfteris, 
I  am  fory  for  your  difeas  : 
Alack,  what  may  you  pleas  ? 

Beware  my  lyttyll  fynger. 

V. 

Forfoth  ye  be  to  blame, 
I  wis  it  will  not  frame, 
Yt  is  to  your  grete  Ihame 

To  hurt  my  lyttyll  fynger. 

VI. 

Thys  was  agayn  my  wyll  certayn. 
Yet  wold  I  haue  that  hole  agayn. 
For  I  am  fnry  for  your  payn, 

Beware  my  lyttyll  finger. 

VII. 

Seeing  for  the  caufe  ye  be  fory, 

I  wold  be  glad  wyth  you  for  to  mary, 

So  that  ye  wold  not  ouer  longe  tarry 

To  hele  my  lyttyll  fynger. 

VIII. 

I  fay  wyth  a  joyfull  hart  agayne. 
Of  that  I  wold  be  full  fayn, 
And  for  your  fake  to  take  fume  payne 
To  hele  your  lyttyll  fynger. 

IX. 

Then  we  be  both  agreed 

I  pray  you  by  our  wedding  wede. 

And  then  ye  fliall  haue  lyttyll  nede. 

To  hele  my  lyttyll  fynger. 

X. 

That  I  will  by  God's  grace, 
I  /hall  kyfle  your  minion  face. 
That  yt  Ihall  Ihyne  in  euery  place, 

And  hele  your  lyttyll  fynger. 

XI. 
Beware  my  lyttyll  fynger, 
Alas  my  lyttyll  fynger. 
And  oh  my  lyttyll  fynger, 
Ah  lady  mercy  !  ye  hurt  my  lyttyll  fynger. 

Behold  the  sentiments  which  sloth,  corpulence, 
and  rags  have  a  tendency  to  inspire,  in  the  following 
stanzas  : — 

I. 

I  cannot  eat 

But  lyttyl  meat, 

My  ftomack  ys  not  good  ; 
But  fure  I  think 
That  I  can  drynke 

With  any  that  were  a  bode. 
Though  I  go  bare. 
Take  ye  no  care, 

I  am  nothing  a  cold  ; 


374 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book   IX. 


I  fluff  my  /kyn 
So  full  within 

Of  jolly  goad  ale  and  old. 
Back  and  fydes  go  bare, 

Both  fote  and  hand  go  cold, 
But  belly  God  lend  thee  good  ale  ynough, 

Whether  it  be  new  or  ould. 

II. 

I  loue  no  roft. 

But  a  nut-brown  tofte 

And  a  crab  laid  in  the  fire, 
A  little  bread 
Shall  do  me  ftead, 

Much  bread  I  not  defire ; 
No  froU  nor  fnow. 
No  winde  I  trow 

Can  hurte  me  if  I  wolde, 
I  am  fo  wrapt, 
And  throwly  lapt. 

Of  joly  good  ale  and  old. 

Back  and  fiJes  go  bare,  &c, 

III. 

And  Tib  my  wife, 
That  as  her  life, 

Loueth  well  good  ale  to  feek, 
Full  ofte  drinkes  fhee, 
Till  ye  may  iee 

Tne  teares  run  down  her  cheeke  ; 
Then  doth  (he  trowle 
To  me  the  bowle,* 

Even  as  a  mault-wormf  /hold  ; 
And  faith  fweet  heart 
I  took  my  part 

Of  this  joly  good  ale  and  old. 

Back  and  fides  go  bare,  &c. 

IV. 

Now  let  them  drink. 
Till  they  nod  and  wink, 

Euen  as  good  fellows  fhould  do. 
They  fhal  not  mifle 
To  haue  the  blifie 

Good  ale  doth  bring  men  to  : 
And  all  poor  fouls, 
That  haue  fcowred  boules, 

Or  have  them  luftely  trolde, 
God  faue  the  hues 
Of  them  and  their  wiues, 

Whether  they  be  young  or  old. 
Back  and  fides  go  bare,  &c.J 

In    the  following   the  praises   of  meek  Mistress 
Margaret  are  celebrated  by  her  lover  : — 

I. 

Margaret  meke, 

Whom  I  now  feke, 
There  is  none  like  I  dare  well  fay  } 

So  manerly. 

So  curtefly. 

So  prately 
She  delis  alway. 

•  Trowle,  or  Trole  the  Bowl,  -was  a  common  phrase  in  drinking,  for 
passing  the  vessel  about,  as  appears  hy  the  following  begiiinini,  of  an 
old  catch : — 

Trole  trole  the  bowl  to  me, 
And  I  will  trole  the  same  again  to  thee. 
And  in  this  other  in  Hiltons's  collection  : — 
Tom  Bouls,  Tom  Bouls, 
Seest  thou  not  how  merrily  this  good  ale  trowlesf 

t  Mault-wo*m  is  a  humorous  appellation  for  a  lover  of  ale  or  strong 
drink. 

t  This  song  is  to  be  found  in  the  old  comedy  of  Gammer  Gurton's 
Needle,  which  was  first  i)rinted  in  1551,  and  is  even  now  well  known 
in  many  parts  of  England. 


II. 

That  goodly  las. 

When  fhe  me  pas, 
Alas  I  wote  not  where 

I  go  or  ftond, 

1  thynk  me  bond. 

In  fe  in  lond 
To  comfort  her. 

III. 

Her  lufty  chere. 

Her  eyes  moft  clere, 

I  know  no  perc 
In  her  beaute  ; 

Both  Gate  and  Bes, 

Mawde  and  Anes, 

Sys  is  witnefs 
Of  her  fetyfneflis. 

IV. 

My  Margaret 

I  cannot  mete. 

In  feeld  ne  flrete, 
Wofull  am  I  ; 

Leue  loue  this  chance, 

Your  chere  avance, 

And  let  us  dance 
'  Herk  my  Lady.'§ 

A  lover  sympathizes  with  his  mistress,  who  is  sick 
and  ill  at  ease,  in  these  lines  : — 

I. 

Jhone  is  fike  and  ill  at  eafe, 
I  am  full  fory  for  Jhone's  difeafe  ; 
Alqk  good  Jhone  what  may  you  pleafe  ? 
I  fl^all  beare  the  coft  be  fwete  fent  Denys. 

II. 

She  is  fo  prety  in  euery  degre. 
Good  lord  who  may  a  goodlyer  be 
In  favoure  and  in  facion  lo  will  ye  fe, 
But  it  were  an  angell  of  the  Trinite. 

Alak  good  Jhone  what  may  you  plefe  ? 

I  flial  beare  the  coft  be  fwete  fent  Denys. 

III. 

Her  countynaunce  with  her  lynyacion, 
To  hym  that  wolde  of  fuch  recreacion. 
That  God  hath  ordent  in  his  firft  formacion, 
Myght  wel  be  called  conjuracion. 

Alak  good  Jhone  what  may  you  pleafe  ? 

I  fhal  beare  the  coft  be  fwete  fent  Denys. 

IV. 

She  is  my  lytell  prety  one. 
What  fhulde  I  fay  ?  my  mynde  is  gone, 
YfFfhe  and  I  were  togethir  alone, 
I  wis  fhe  will  not  gyve  me  a  bone, 
Alas  good  Jhone  fhall  all  my  mone 
Be  loft  fo  fone  ?  || 

V. 

I  am  a  fole, 
Leve  this  array, 
Another  day 
We  fhall  both  play, 
When  we  are  fole.^ 

The  three  following  short  poems  exhibit  a  pictuia 
of  the  deepest  amorous  distress  : — 

Have  I  not  caufe  to  mourn,  alas ! 

Ever  whiles  that  my  lyfe  do  dure  ; 
Lamenting  thus  my  forrowful  cafe 

In  fighes  deepe  without  recure  ? 

Now  remembryng  my  hard  aduenture, 
Meruclloufly  makyng  my  hart  wo  : 
Alas  !  her  lokes  haue  perfed  me  fo  ! 

§  Probably  the  name  of  some  dance-tune  now  forgotten. 
II  i.e.  treat  me  with  contempt.    - 
II  Together  or  by  ourselves. 


Chap.  LXXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


375 


Sad  is  her  chere  with  color  chryftyne, 
More  fayrer  of  loke  than  faycr  £lyn, 
Eyes  gray,  clerer  than  columbyne, 
Neuer  a  fweter  of  nature  femynyne  ; 
Goodly  in  port,  O  what  a  paftyme  and  joy 
Haue  1  when  I  behold  her  I 

Wofully  opprefled  wyth  forrow  and  payne, 
Wyth  fyghing  my  hart  and  body  in  diftrefs, 

Greuoudy  tormented  through  dildayne, 

Lackyng  the  company  of  my  lady  and  myftres, 
Whych  to  atayne  is  yet  remedyles  j 

But  God  of  his  grace  furely  me  fend 

My  forrows  importunate  joyfully  to  amend. 

Is  it  not  fure  a  dedly  payne. 

To  you  I  fay  that  louers  be, 
When  faythful  harts  muft  needs  refrayn 

The  one  the  other  for  to  fee  ? 

I  you  affure  ye  may  truft  me. 

Of  all  the  paynes  that  euer  I  knew, 

It  is  a  payne  that  moft  I  rewe. 

The  following  trim  stanzas  exhibit  the  portrait  of 
a  loyal  lover : — 

I. 

As  I  lay  flepynge, 
In  dremes  fletynge, 
Euer  my  fwetyng 

Is  in  my  mynd  ; 
She  is  fo  goodly. 
With  looks  fo  louely, 
That  no  man  truly 

Such  one  can  fynd 

II. 

Her  bewty  fo  pure, 
It  doth  under  lure, 
My  pore  hart  full  lure 

In  gouernance  ; 
Therfor  now  wyll  I 
Unto  hyr  apply, 
And  euer  will  cry 

For  remembraunce. 

III. 

Her  fayer  eye  perfyng. 
My  pore  hart  bledyng, 
And  I  abydyng. 

In  hope  of  mede  ; 
But  thus  have  I  long 
Entunyd  this  fonge, 
Wyth  paynes  ful  ftronge, 

And  cannot  fpede. 

IV. 

AUs  wyll  not  fhe 
Now  fliew  hyr  pytye, 
But  thus  wyll  take  me 

In  fuche  dyfdayne  ; 
Methynketh  I  wys, 
Unkynde  that  fhe  is. 
That  byndeth  me  thus, 

In  fuch  hard  payne. 


Though  (he  me  bynde, 
Yet  (hall  ihe  not  fynde 
My  pore  hart  unkynd, 

Do  what  (he  can  ; 
For  I  wyll  hyr  pray. 
Whiles  1  leue  a  day, 
Me  to  take  for  aye. 

For  hyr  owne  man. 

The  following  is  the  expostulation  of  a  lover  dis- 
daiaed  by  his  mistress,  in  a  style  of  great  simplicity  : 


I. 

Complayn  I  may. 
And  right  well  fay, 
Loue  goth  aftray. 

And  waxeth  wildej 
For  many  a  day 
Loue  was  my  pray. 
It  wyll  away, 

I  am  begylde. 

II. 

I  haue  thankles 
Spent  my  feruyce. 
And  can  purches 

No  grace  at  all  ; 
Wherefore  doubtlefs, 
Such  a  myftres, 
Dame  Pi  teles, 

I  may  her  call. 

III. 

For  fikerly, 
The  more  that  I 
On  her  do  try 

On  me  to  thinke ; 
The  leffe  mercy 
In  her  fynd  I, 
Alas  I  dye. 

My  hart  doth  fynke. 

IV. 
Fortune  pardye, 
Afeineth  me 
Such  cruelte, 

Wythouten  gylt ; 
■   -  Owght  not  to  be, 

1  twis  pitee, 

0  fhame  to  fee, 

A  man  fo  fpilt. 

V. 

^  That  I  fliuld  fpyll 

For  my  good  wyll, 
/    ,  I  thynke  gret  ill, 

Agaynft  all  ryght : 
It  is  more  ill, 
She  fhuld  me  kyl., 
Whom  I  loue  ftyll, 

Wyth  all  my  myght. 

VI. 

But  to  exprefTe 
My  heauynes, 
Syth  my  feruyce 

Is  thus  forfake  ; 
All  comfortles, 
Wyth  much  dyftres. 
In  wyldernes, 

I  me  betake. 

VII. 
And  thus  adewe, 
Deth  doth  enfewe. 
Wythout  refcue, 
Her     *     *     * 

1  trow  a  Jew 

On  me  wold  rew. 
Knowing  how  trcw 

That  I  have  bene. 

The  two  following  are  also  of  the  amorous  kind, 
and  are  of  eqnal  antiquity  with  the  rest : — 

I. 

Ah  my  fwete  fwetyng  ; 

My  lytyl  prety  fwetyng, 
My  fwetyng  wyl  I  loue  whereuer  I  go; 

She  is  fo  propre  and  pure. 
Full  ftedfaft,  ftabill  and  demure. 

There  is  none  fuch  ye  may  be  fure, 
As  my  fwete  fweting. 


376 


.  HISTORY  OP  THE  SCIENCE 


Boob.  IX. 


II. 

In  all  thys  world  as  thynketh  me, 
Is  none  fo  plefaunt  to  my  eye, 
That  I  am  glad  foo  ofte  to  fee. 
As  my  fwete  fwetyng. 

III. 

When  I  behold  my  fwetyng  fwete, 
Her  face,  her  hands,  her  minion  fete. 
They  feeme  to  me  there  is  none  fo  mete. 
As  my  fwete  fwetyng. 

IV. 
Aboue  all  other  prayfe  muft  I, 
And  loue  my  pretty  pygfnye 
For  none  I  fynd  foo  womanly 
As  my  fwete  fwetyng. 


What  meaneft  thou  my  fortune 

From  me  fo  faft  to  flye  • 
Alas  thou  art  importune 

To  worke  thus  cruelly. 

II. 

Thy  wafte  continually 

Shall  caufe  me  call  and  crye  ; 
Woo  worth  the  tyme  that  I 

To  loue  dyd  fyrft  apply. 

The  following  is  the  dream  of  a  lover,  taken  from 
Mr.  Thoresby's^MS.  :— 

Benedicite  !   whate  dremyd  I  this  night  ? 

Methought  the  worlde  was  turnyd  up  fo  down. 
The  fon  the  moone  had  loft  ther  force  and  lyght, 

The  fee  alfo  drowned  both  toure  and  towne  : 
Yet  more  meruell  how  that  I  harde  the  founde 
Of  onys  uoyce  faying  here  in  thy  mind, 
Thi  lady  hath  forgoten  to  be  kynd. 


CHAP    LXXX. 

The  two  following  short  poems  appear  by  the 
manuscript  from  which  they  were  taken  to  have 
been  composed  about  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. 
They  were  communicated  by  a  very  judicious  anti- 
quary lately  deceased,  whose  opinion  of  them  was 
that  they  were  written  either  by,  or  in  the  person 
of  Anne  Boleyn  ;  a  conjecture  which  her  unfortunate 
history  renders  very  probable  : — 

I. 

Defiled  is  my  name  full  fore, 

Through  cruel  fpyte  and  falfe  report. 

That  I  may  fay  for  euermore 

Farewell,  my  joy  !  adewe,  comfort  I 

11. 

For  wrongfully  ye  judge  of  me, 

Unto  my  fame  a  mortall  wounde  : 
Say  what  ye  lyft  it  wyll  not  be, 

Ye  feek  for  that  cannot  be  found. 


O  Death,  rocke  me  on  flepe, 

Bringe  me  on  quiet  refte, 
Let  paffe  my  uerye  giltlefs  gofte, 

Out  of  my  carefull  breft  ; 
Toll  on  the  paffinge  bell, 
Ringe  out  the  dolefuU  knell, 
Let  the  founde  my  dethe  tell, 

For  I  muft  dye, 

There  is  no  remedye, 

For  now  I  dye. 


11. 

My  paynes  who  can  expres? 

Alas  ;   they  are  fo  ftronge 
My  dolor  will  not  fufFer  ftrength 

My  lyfe  for  to  prolonge  ; 
Toll  on,  &c. 

III. 

Alone  in  prifon  ftronge, 

1  wayle  my  deftenye  ; 
Wo  worth  this  cruel  hap  that  I 

Should  tafte  this  miferyc. 
Toll  on,  &c. 

IV. 

Farewell  my  pleafures  paft, 

Welcum  my  prefent  payne, 
I  fele  my  torments  fo  increfe. 
That  lyfe  cannot  remayne. 
Ceafe  now  the  pafling  bell, 
Rong  is  my  doleful  knell. 
For  the  found  my  deth  doth  tell, 

Deth  doth  draw  nye, 

Sound  my  end  dolefully, 

For  now  I  dye. 

The  following  not  inelegant  stanzas  seem  to  have 
been  occasioned  by  the  marriage  of  Margaret  the 
daughter  of  Henry  VII.  to  James  IV.  king  of 
Scotland,  in  1502  ;  of  whom  it  is  related,  that 
having  taken  arms  against  his  own  father,  he  im- 
posed on  himself  the  voluntary  penance  of  con- 
tinually wearing  an  iron  chain  about  his  waist  : — 

I. 

O  fayer,  fayreft  of  euery  fayre. 
Princes  mofte  plefaunt  and  preclare. 
The  luftieft  on  lyue  that  bene, 
Welcum  of  Scotland  to  be  quene. 

II. 

Yong  tender  plant  of  pulchritude, 
Defcendith  of  imperial  blood, 
Frefh  fragrant  flower  of  fayrehode  fhene, 
Welcum  of  Scotland  to  be  quene. 

III. 

Sweet  lufty  imp  of  bewtie  clere, 
Mofte  mighty  kings  dowghter  dere. 
Borne  of  a  princes  moft  ferene, 
Welcum  of  Scotland  to  be  quene. 

IV. 

Welcum  the  rofe  both  red  and  whyte, 
Welcum  the  flower  of  our  delyte. 
Our  fpirit  rejoicing  from  the  fplene, 
Welcum  of  Scotland  to  be  quene. 

The  two  following  songs  are  more  sententious ; 
the  first  is  a  sort  of  caveat  against  idle  rumours : — 

I. 

Confidering  this  world,  and  th'  increfe  of  vyce. 
Stricken  into  dump,  right  much  I  mufed. 

That  no  manner  of  man  be  he  neuer  fo  wyle, 
From  all  forts  thereof  can  be  excufed. 

II. 

And  one  vyce  there  is,  the  more  it  is  ufed 
Mo  inconueniens  fhall  grow  day  by  day. 

And  that  is  this,  let  it  be  refufed 

Geue  no  fure  credens  to  euery  herefay. 

in. 

Lyght  womens  thoughts  wyll  runne  at  large, 

Whether  the  tayle  be  falfe  or  juft  ; 
Tydyngs  of  alehoufe  or  Grauefend  barge, 

Bere-baytings  or  barbers  Hiopes  is  not  to  truft. 


Chap.  LXXX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


377 


IV. 

An  enemies  tayle  is  fone  diftruft, 

Ye  fhall  perceue  it  parfhall  alway, 
To  all  the  fbrci'ayd  ret'rayn  we  mull. 

To  geue  fure  credens  to  euery  herefay. 

V. 

Though  herefay  be  trew.  as  perchauncc  may  fall, 

Yet  fyx  not  thy  credens  to  high, 
And  though  the  teller  feem  right  fubftantial, 

And  tell  but  herefay,  why  may  he  not  lye  ? 

VI. 

Then  betwyxt  lyght  credens  and  a  tonge  hafty, 

Surely  the  gyltlefs  is  caft  away, 
Condempnyng  the  abfent,  that  is  unworthy 

So  paiTyth  a  lyfe  from  herefay  to  herefay. 

VIL 

Good  Lord  !  how  fome  wyll  wyth  a  loud  uoyce, 

Tell  a  tale  after  the  beft  forte, 
And  fome  herers  how  they  will  rejoyce, 

To  here  of  theyr  neybours  ill  report ! 

VIII. 

As  though  it  were  a  matter  of  comfort, 

Herein  our  charite  doth  dekay. 
And  fome  maketh  it  but  game  and  fport, 

To  tell  a  lye  after  the  herefay. 

IX. 

Tell  a  good  tale  of  God  or  fome  faynt, 

Or  of  fome  mirakels  lately  done  j 
Some  wyll  beleue  it  hard  and  ftent, 

And  take  it  after  a  full  lyght  facyon : 

X. 

We  here  fay  Chrift  fuffrid  pa/Tion, 

And  man  fhall  reuert  to  earth  and  clay, 
,  The  rycheft  or  ftrongeft  know  not  how  foone, 
Beleue  well  now  this,  for  true  is  that  herefay. 

Tliis  that  follows  is  a  dialogue  between  two  lovers, 
in  which  there  is  great  simplicity  of  style  and  sen- 
timent, and  a  frankness  discoverable  on  the  lady's  part 
not  warranted  by  the  manners  of  the  present  time  : — 

I. 

[i/^]  My  harts  luft  and  all  my  plefure, 

Is  geuen  where  I  may  not  take  it  agayne. 
[37;^]  Do  you  repent  ?  [He^  Nay  I  make  you  fure. 

[_S/ie^  What  is  the  caufe  then  you  do  complayne  ? 

II. 
[//«]  It  plefyth  my  hart  to  (hew  part  of  my  payne, 

[S/ie]  To  whom  ?  [He]  To  you  !  [S/ie]  Plefe  that  wyl  not  me  ; 
Be  all  thefe  words  to  me,  they  be  in  vayn, 

Complayn  where  you  may  haue  remedy. 

III. 

[He]  I  do  complayn  and  find  no  releffe 

[S/ie]  Yea  do  you  fo  ?   I  pray  you  tell  me  how. 
[He]  My  lady  lyft  not  my  paynes  to  redreffe. 

[SAe]  Say  ye  foth  ?  [He]  V  ea,  i  maKe  God  a  vowe. 

IV. 

[SAe]  Who  is  your  lady  ?  [He]  I  put  cafe  you. 

[She]  Who  I?  nay  be  fure  it  is  not  fo. 
[i/f]  In  fayth  ye  be.     [SAe]  Why  do  you  fwere  now  ? 

[He]  In  good  fayth  I  loue  you  and  no  mo. 

V. 

[SJie]  No  mo  but  me  ?  [He]  No  fo  fay  I. 

]SJie]  May  I  you  truft  ?   [He]  Yea  I  make  you  fure. 
[S/ie]  I  fere  nay.      [He]  Yes,  I  fhall  tell  you  why. 

[SAe]  Tell  on,  lets  here.      [He]  Ye  haue  my  hart  in  cure. 

VI. 

[S/ie]  Your  hart?  nay.      [He]  Yes  without  mefure, 

J  do  you  loue.      [SAe]  I  pray  you  fay  not  lo. 
[He]  In  fayth  I  do.      [S/ie]  May  I  of  you  be  fure  ? 

[He]  Yea  in  good  fayth.     [•S'^'^J  Then  am  I  yours  alfo. 


By  what  kind  of  sophistry  a  lover  may  reason 
himself  into  a  state  of  absolute  indifference,  the 
following  ballad  teaches  : — 

I. 

Yf  reafon  did  rule. 

And  witt  kept  fcoole, 
Difcrecion  fhoulde  take  place. 

And  heaue  out  heauines. 

Which  banifhed  quietnes 
And  made  hym  hide  his  face. 

II. 

Sith  time  iiath  tried, 

And  truth  hath  Ipied, 
That  fained  faith  is  flatterie. 

Why  fhould  difdaine 

Thus  ouer  me  raigne. 
And  hold  me  in  captiuity  ? 

III. 

Why  fhoulde  caufe  my  harte  to  brafte, 

By  fauoring  foolifhe  fantazie  ? 
Why  fhould  difpare  me  all  to  teare. 

Why  fhoulde  I  joyne  with  jelofie  : 

IV. 

Why  fhould  I  truft, 

That  neuer  wasjufte. 
Or  loue  her  that  loues  manye  j 

Or  to  lament 

Time  paft  and  fpente. 
Whereof  is  no  recoverie  * 

V. 

For  if  that  I 

Should  thus  applye, 
Mylelfe  in  all  I  can; 

Truth  to  take  place, 

Where  neuer  truth  was, 
I  weare  a  foolifhe  man. 

VI. 

Sett  foorth  is  by  fcience, 

Declare  it  doth  experience, 
By  the  frute  to  know  the  tree  ; 

Then  if  a  faininge  flatterer. 

To  gaine  a  faithful  louer, 
It  may  in  no  wife  be. 

VII. 

Therfore  farewell  flatterie, 

Fained  faith  and  jelofie. 
Truth  my  tale  fhall  tell  j 

Reafon  now  fhall  rule, 

Witt  fhall  kepe  the  fcoole, 
And  bed  you  all  farewell. 

The  arguments  in  favour  of  celibacy  contained  in 
the  following  song  are  neither  new  or  very  cogent ; 
yet  they  are  not  destitute  of  humour  : — 

I. 

The  bachelor  mofl  joyfullye. 

In  pleafant  plight  doth  pafTe  his  dales, 
Good  fellowfhipp  and  companie 

He  doth  maintaine  and  kepe  alwaie. 

II. 

With  damfells  braue  he  maye  well  goe. 

The  marled  man  cannot  doe  lb, 

If  he  be  merie  and  toy  with  any. 

His  wife  will  frowne,  and  words  geue  manye  ; 

Her  yellow  hofe  fhe  flrait  will  put  on, 

So  that  the  married  man  dare  not  difpleafe  his  wife  Joanc. 

There  is  somewhat  subtle  in  the  argument  used  by 
the  author  of  the  following  stanzas  against  lending 


878 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


money,  which  in  short  is  this,  to  preserve  friendship, 
resist  the  emotions  of  it  : — 

I. 

I  had  both  monie  and  a  frende, 
Of  neither  though  no  ftore  ; 
lent  my  monie  to  my  frende, 
And  tooke  his  bonde  therfore. 

11. 

I  aflced  mv  monie  of  my  frende, 

But  nawght  lave  words  I  gott  ; 
I  loft:  my  monie  to  kepe  my  frende, 

For  lewe  hym  would  I  not. 

III. 

But  then  if  monie  come, 

And  frende  agjine  weare  founde, 

1  woulde  lend  no  monie  to  my  frende, 
Upon  no  kynde  of  bonde. 

IV. 

But  after  this  for  monie  cometh 

A  friend  with  pawne  to  paye, 
But  when  the  monie  fhould  be  had, 

My  frende  ufed  fuch  delay, 

V. 

That  neede  of  monie  did  me  force. 

My  frende  his  pawne  to  fell, 
And  (o  I  got  my  monie,  but 

My  frende  clene  from  me  fell. 

VI. 
Slth  bonde  for  monie  lent  my  frende. 

Nor  pawne  afTurance  is, 
But  that  my  monie  or  my  frende 

Therbye  I  ever  miiFe. 

VII. 
If  God  fend  monie  and  a  frende, 

As  I  haue  had  before. 
1  will  keepe  my  monie  and  fave  my  frende. 

And  playe  the  foole  no  more. 

The  exam])]es  above  given  are  only  of  such  songs 
and  ballads  as  it  is  supposed  were  the  entertainment 
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  imleed  at  any 
given  period  of  the  preceding  century  ;  for,  not  to 
mention  Chaucer,  who  flourished  somewhat  before, 
and  whose  excellencies  are  known  to  every  judge  of 
English  literature,  the  verses  of  Gower  abound  with 
beautiful  images,  and  excellent  moral  precepts;  and 
those  of  the  earl  of  Surrey,  Sir  Thomas  Wyat,  and  a 
few  others,  their  contemporaries,  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  Nut-brown  Maid,  pub- 
lished with  a  fine  paraphrase  by  Prior,  which,  though 
the  antiquity  of  it  has  by  a  few  been  questioned,  was 
printed  by  Pinson,  who  lived  about  the  year  1500, 
and  probably  was  written  some  years  before. 

Many  of  the  songs  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  his  own,  so  replete  with  scurrility,  and, 
though  abounding  with  humour,  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 
Kunnuyng.  This  woman  is  said  by  him  to  have  lived 
at  Letherhead  in  Surrey,  and  to  have  sold  ale,  the 
brewing  or  tunning  whereof  is  the  subject  of  the 
poem.  The  humour  of  this  ludicrous  narrative  con- 
sists in  an  enumeration  of  many  sluttish  circumstances 
that  attended  the  brewing,  and  a  description  of  several 
persons  of  both  sexes,  of  various  characters,  as  tra- 
vellers, tinkers,  servant-wenches,  farmers'  wives,  and 
many  others,  whom  the  desire  of  Elynour's  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.  This  numerous  resort  produces  drunkenness 
and  a  quarrel,  and  thus  ends  Skelton's  poem  the 
Tunnyng  of  Elynour  Rummyng. 

Of  his  talent  for  satire  the  same  author  has  given 
an  example  in  the  following  verses,  which  because 
they  are  characteristic  of  an  ignorant  singing-man,  a 
contemporary  of  his,  are  here  inserted  at  length  : — 

Skelton  Laureate  againft  a  comely  Coyflrowne,  that  curiowfly 
chauntyd  and  carryfhiy  cowntred  and  madly  in  his  Mufikes 
mokkyfhly  made,  agaynft:  the  ix  Mufis  of  politike  Poems  and 
Poettys  matriculat. 

Of  all  nacyons  under  the  Heuyn, 
Thefe  frantyke  foolys  I  hate  moft  of  all, 
For  though  they  ft:umble  in  the  fynnes  feuyn, 
In  peuyfhnes  yet  they  fnapper  and  fall. 
Which  men  the  vii  deadly  fins  call. 
This  peuyfh  proud  this  prender  geft. 
When  lie  is  well  yet  can  he  not  refl. 

A  fwete  fuger  lofe  and  fowre  bayards  bun 
Be  lumdele  lyke  in  forme  and  fhap. 
The  one  for  a  duke  the  other  for  a  dun  j 
A  maunchet  for  Morell  thereon  to  (nap, 
ITis  hart  is  to  hy  to  haue  any  hap, 
But  for  in  his  gamut  carp  that  he  can, 
Lo  Jak  wold  be  a  Jeutylman, 

With  hey  troly  loly,  lo  whip  here  Jak, 
Alumbck  lodyldym  lyllorym  Len, 
Curyowfly  he  can  both  counter  and  knak, 
Ot  Martin  Swart,  and  all  hys  mery  men. 
Lord  how  Perkyn  is  proud  of  his  Pohen, 
But  afk  wher  he  fyndyth  among  his  monachords 
An  holy-water-clark  a  ruler  of  lordes. 

He  cannot  fynd  it  in  rule  nor  in  fpace. 
He  folfyth  to  haute,  hys  trybyll  is  to  hy. 
He  braggyth  of  his  byrth  that  borne  was  full  bace, 
Hys  mulyk  withoute  mefure,  to  fharp  is  his  my,* 
He  trymmyth  in  his  tenor  to  counter  pardy, 
His  difcant  is  beiy,  it  is  without  a  mene. 
To  fat  is  his  fantfy,  his  wyt  is  to  lene. 

He  tumbryth  on  a  lewde  lewte,  Roty  bulle  Joyfe,-|- 
Rumbill  downe,  tumbil  downe,  hey  go  now  now, 
He  fumblyth  in  his  tyngering  an  ugly  rude  noife, 
It  feemyth  the  ibbbyng  of  an  old  fow  : 
He  wolde  be  made  moch  of  and  he  wvft  how; 
Wele  fped  in  ipyndels  and  tunyng  of  travellys, 
A  bungler,  a  brawler,  a  pyker  of  quarellys. 

Comely  he  clappyth  a  payre  of  clauycordys, 
He  whyftelyth  lo  Iwetely  he  maketh  me  to  fwet. 
His  difcant  is  dalhed  full  of  dilcordes, 
A  red  angry  man  but  eafy  to  intrete  ; 
An  ulher  of  the  hall  fayn  wold  I  get, 
To  pointe  this  proude  page  a  place  and  a  rome. 
For  Jak  wold  be  a  Jentilman  that  late  was  a  grolHi. 

*  f"  e.  The  syllable  mi  used  in  solmisation. 
t  Tiie  initial  words  of  sume  old  song. 


Chap.  LXXXI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


379 


Jak  wold  Jet  and  yet  Jill  fayd  nay, 
He  counteth  in  his  countenance  to  check  with  the  baft, 
A  malaperte  medler  that  pryeth  tor  his  pray, 
In  a  dyfli  dare  he  rufh  to  wrangill  and  to  wreft, 
He  findeth  a  proporcyon  in  his  prycke  fonge, 
To  drynke  at  a  draught  a  large  and  a  long. 

Nay  jape  not  with  him,  he  is  no  fmall  fole, 
It  is  a  lolempne  fyre  and  a  folayne, 
For  lordes  and  ladyes  lerne  at  his  fcole, 
He  techyth  them  I'o  wyfely  to  foU'and  to  fayne. 
That  neither  they  fing  wel  prike-fong  nor  plain, 
This  Dodtor  Dellias  commenfyd  in  a  cart, 
A  mailer,  a  mynftrel,  a  fydler,  a  — . 

What  though  ye  can  counter  Cujlodi  nos. 
As  wel  it  becomith  you  a  paryfh  towne  clarke 
To  fing  Siipinitati  dcdit  ^gros. 
Yet  here  ye  not  to  bold,  to  braule  ne  to  bark. 
At  me  that  medeled  nothing  with  youre  wark, 
Corredt  firft  thy  felfe,  walk  and  be  nought, 
Deme  what  you  lift  thou  knowift  not  my  thought. 

A  prouerbe  of  old  fay  well  or  be  ftill, 
Ye  are  to  unhappy  occafion  to  fynde, 
Uppon  me  to  clater  or  elfe  to  fay  yll. 
Now  have  I  ihewyd  you  part  of  your  proud  mind, 
Take  this  in  worth  the  beft  is  behind. 
Wryten  at  Croydon  by  Crowland  in  the  clay, 
On  Candelmas  euyn  the  Kalendas  of  May. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  service- 
books  anciently  used  in  the  churches  and  chapels  of 
this  kino^dom,  by  whom  they  were  generally  made, 
and  of  the  enormous  price  they  bore  while  copies  of 
them  could  only  be  multiplied  by  writing.  This, 
though  a  great  inconvenience,  was  not  the  only  one 
which  music  laboured  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 
any  degree  of  stability  till  some  years  after  the  in- 
vention of  printing  ;  and  it  will  surprise  the  reader 
to  behold,  as  he  may  in  the  specimens  of  notation 
given  (see  Appendix,  Nos.  45  to  55),  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 
Bcttled. 

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 
missals,  graduals,  antiphonaries,  and  other  books  of 
offices  adapted  to  the  Romish  service.  With  regard 
to  No.  48,  '  Paupertate  Spiritus,'  the  musical  cha- 
racters appear  to  be  such  as  are  said  to  have  been  in 
use  previous  to  the  invention  of  the  stave  by  Guido, 
and  from  the  smallness  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  use  of  in  it.  With 
regard  to  the  characters  on  the  lines  and  spaces,  they 
are  very  different  from  those  points,   from  the  use 


whereof  in  nmsical  composition  the  term  Contrapunto 
took  its  rise  ;  and  so  little  do  they  resemble  the  cha- 
racters proper  to  the  Cantus  Mensurabilis,  as  described 
by  Franco,  De  Handlo,  and  other  writers  on  that 
subject,  that  it  is  not  without  great  difficulty  that  they 
can  be  rendered  intelligible.  The  author  from  whom 
this  example  is  taken  exhibits  it  as  a  specimen  of  the 
manner  of  notation  in  the  twelfth  century  ;  it  never- 
theless appears  to  have  continued  in  practice  so  low 
down  as  the  sixteenth,  for  all  the  examples  in  the 
IMargarita  Pliilosophica  of  Gregory  Reisch,  printed 
in  1517,  are  in  this  character,  as  are  also  those  in  the 
Encliiridion  of  George  Rhaw,  the  Compendium  M\\- 
sices  of  Lampadius,  and  other  works  ot  the  like  kind, 
published  about  the  same  time. 

The  specimen  (No.  52)  '  Verbum  Patris'  is  of  the 
thirteentli  century,  and  as  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  tlie  former 
is  marked  by  a  pricked  line.  Other  distinctions  for 
the  places  of  the  cliffs,  namely,  by  giving  the  lines  a 
different  colour  or  different  degrees  of  thickness,  were 
usual  in  the  earlier  times,  and  are  taken  notice  of  in 
an  earlier  part  of  this  work. 

The  character  in  the  specimen  (No.  54)  '  Vere  dig- 
num  et  justum'  are  supposed  to  denote  the  inflections 
of  tlie  voice  in  reading. 

The  plate  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- 
maticum  of  Johannes  Ludolphus  Walther,  published 
at  Ulm  in  175G ;  they  appear  to  have  been  extracted 
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  modern  characters 
are  the  result  of  his  own  labour  and  learned  industry, 
and  furnish  the  means  of  rendering  into  modern  cha- 
racters those  barbarous  marks  and  signatures  used  by 
the  monks  in  the  notation  of  their  music. 


CHAP.    LXXXI. 

The  invention  of  printing  proved  an  effectual 
remedy  for  all  the  evils  arising  from  the  instability 
of  musical  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  music-printing  were  those 
examples  which  occur  in  the  works  of  Franchinus, 
printed  at  Milan  ;  but  of  these  it  may  be  observed, 
that  the  notes  therein  contained  are  not  printed  from 
letter-press  types,  with  a  character  cut  on  each,  but 

♦  One  of  the  finest  of  the  kind,  perhaps  in  the  world,  is  the  Liber 
Regalis,  cnntaininij,  among  other  things,  the  religious  ceremonial  of  the 
coronation  of  Richard  II.  and  his  queen,  with  the  musical  notes  to  the 
offices.  This  curious  MS.  was  orijjinally  intended  for  the  use  of  the 
high-altar  in  Westminster  abbey,  and  is  now  in  the  library  of  that  church. 


380 


HISTORY  l)F  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


in  masses,  or  from  blocks,  with  a  variety  of  characters 
engraven  thereon.  The  Germans  improved  npiDn 
this  practice,  and  the  art  of  printing  music  with 
letter-press  types  appears  to  have  arrived  at  great 
perfection  among  them  by  the  year  1500. 

Mattheson,  in  hisVolkomenenCapelmeister,  pag.  58, 
relates  that  Jaques  De  Sanleques,  a  man  who  had 
arrived  to  play  exquisitely  on  all  instruments,  with- 
out the  least  instruction,  was  tlie  first  who  taught 
the  art  of  making  music-types,  and  the  method  of 
printing  from  them,  in  France  ;  and  that  he  died  in 
the  year  16B0,  at  the  age  of  forty-six,  having  pre- 
cipitated his  death  by  excessive  study  and  application. 
This  account  of  the  introduction  of  musical  printing 
types  into  France  can  never  be  true  ;  for  the  Psalms 
and  other  works  of  Claude  Le  Jeune,  which  was 
published  at  Paris  by  Pierre  Ballard  before  Sanleques 
was  born,  that  is  to  say  in  1603  and  1G06,  are  a 
demonstration  to  the  contrary;  and,  to  judge  from 
the  exquisite  beauty  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- 
paratively slow,  for  in  the  Polychronicon  *  of 
Ranulph  Higden,  translated  by  Trevisa,  and  printed 
by  Wynken  de  Worde,  at  Westminster  in  1495,  are 
the  following  musical  characters,  which  Mr.  Ames 
with  good  reason  supposes  to  be  the  first  of  the  kind 
printed  in  England : — 


-■■_■■             p      1 

T" 

I 

1 

— ■ 

-■  — 

1 

1 

P       J 

-^ ' 

a 

2 

a 

S 

o 

O 

o 

£U 

O} 

■ui 

rt 

a! 

tS 

a, 

© 

ai 

TS 

C8 

a. 

y. 

cj 

■^ 

c 

:) 

^ 
^ 

5* 
Q 

Grafton  improved  upon  these  characters  in  the 
book  published  by  him  in  1550,  entitled.  The  Book 
of  Common  Prayer  noted,  which  was  composed  by 
John  Marbeck  organist  of  Windsor,  and  contains  the 
rudiments  of  our  present  cathedral  service  ;  these,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  printer,  stood  so  much  in  need  of 
explanation,  that  he  has  inserted  the  following  me- 
morandum concerning  them  ; — 

•  In  this  booke  is  conteyned  fo  much  of  the  order  of 

*  Common  Prayer  as  is  to  be  fung  in  churches,  wherein 

*  are  ufed  only  thefe  iiii  fortes  of  rotes : — 


±3^li: 


'  The  firft  note  is  a  ftrene  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   a 

*  prycke  by  the  fquare  note,  that  prycke  is  halfe   as 

*  Those  who  do  not  know  that  the  Polychronicon  is  a  multifarious 
history  of  events  without  order  or  connexion,  will  wonder  how  these 
characters  could  find  a  place  in  it,  but  it  is  thus  accounted  for ;  the 
author  relates  the  discovery  of  the  consonances  by  Pythagoras,  and  to 
illustrate  his  narration  gives  a  type  of  them  in  the  form  above  described. 


'  muche  as  the  note  that  goeth  before  it.     The  iiii  is 
'  a  clofe,  and  is  only  ufed  at  the  end  of  a  verfe.' 

These  characters  were  considerably  improved  by 
the  industrious  John  Day,  who  in  1560  published 
the  church-service  in  four  and  three  parts,  to  be  sung 
at  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  Thomas 
Vautrollier,  who  in  1575  published  the  Cantiones  of 
Tallis  and  Bird  under  a  patent  of  queen  Elizabeth 
to  the  authors,  the  first  of  the  kind.f  The  succeeding 
music-printers  to  Vautrollier  and  Day  were  Thomas 
Este,  who  for  some  reasons  not  now  to  be  guessed  at, 
changed  his  name  to  Snodham,|  John  Windet, 
William  Barley,  and  others,  who  were  the  assignees 
of  Bird  and  Morley,  under  the  patents  respectively 
granted  to  them  for  the  sole  printing  of  music. 
These  men  followed  the  practice  of  the  foreign 
printers,  but  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,  music 
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  churches  of 
the  East,  namely,  those  of  Antioch,  Cesaroea,  and 
Constantinople  ;  'that  the  Greek  fathers,  St.  Basil 
and  St.  Chrysostom,  were  the  original  institutors  of 
choral  service  in  their  respective  churches  ;  that  St. 
Ambrose  introduced  it  into  his  church  at  IMilan  ; 
that  from  thence  it  passed  to  Rome,  from  whence  it 
was  propagated  and  established  in  France,  Germany, 
Britain,  and,  in  short,  throughout  the  West  :  and,  to 
speak  more  particularly,  that  Damasus  ordained  the 
alternate  singing  of  the  Psalms,  together  with  the 
Gloria  Patri,  and  Alleluja ;  in  384,  Siricius,  the 
anthem  ;  in  507,  Symmachus,  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis ; 
that  in  590  Gregory  the  Great  reformed  the  Cantus 
Ambrosianus,  and  established  that  known  by  his 
name  ;  and  that  about  the  year  660  Vitalianus  com- 
pleted the  institution  by  joining  to  the  melody  of  the 
voice  the  harmony  of  the  organ. 

From  this  deduction  of  the  rise  and  progress  of 
music  in  cathedral  worship,  it  may  seem  that  the 
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  zeal  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  unnecessary,  if  not  sinful, 
laboured  with  all  their  might  to  procure  the  ex- 
clusion of  music  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  music ;   although 

t  Ames's  Typographical  Antiquities,  pag.  335.  t  Ibid. 


Chap.  LXXXI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


581 


speaking  of  the  introduction  of  antiphonal  singing 
into  tlie  church  of  Milan,  at  which  he  was  present, 
thus  pathetically  expresses  himself :  '  How  abundantly 
'  did  I  weep  before  God  to  hear  those  hymns  of  thine ; 
'  being  touched  to  the  (pick  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  devotion  to  over- 
'  flow,  and  my  tears  to  run  over,  and  happy  did  I 
*  find  myself  therein.' 

Yet  this  very  St.  Austin  having  reason  to  suspect 
that  he  had  mistaken  the  natural  workings  of  his 
passions  for  the  fervent  operations  of  a  vigorous 
devotion,  censures  himself  severely  for  being  so 
moved  with  sensual  delight  in  divine  worship,  and 
heartily  blesses  God  for  being  delivered  from  that 
snare.  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  caused  him  that  read 
the  Psalm  to  use  so  little  variation  of  the  voice,  that 
he  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 

St.  Jerome,  though  a  friend  to  magnificence  in 
divine  worship,  seems  to  more  than  hint  a  dislike  of 
artificial  singing  in  the  church,  when  he  says,  '  That 
'  we  are  not  like  tragedians  to  gargle  the  throat  with 
'  sweet  modulation,  that  our  theatrical  tunes  and 
'  songs  may  be  heard  in  the  church,  but  we  are  to 
'  sing  with  reverence.'  1^ 

Isidore  of  Sevil,  though  a  writer  on  music,  and  as 
such  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 
a  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  ip- 
troduced  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 
charmed  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  such 
music  as  may  move  compunction,  and  be  clearly 
understood  by  the  hearers.|| 

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  are  Judaical.  He  says  that  '  musical  in- 
'  struments  do  more  stir  up  the  mind  to  delight,  than 
*  frame  it  to  a  religious  disposition.'  He  indeed 
allows  that  '  under  the  law  such  sensitive  aids  might 
'  be  needful,  as  they  were  types  or  figures  of  some- 

«  Confess,  lib.  X.  rap.  33.         t  Epist.  119.        1  Epist.  ad  Rusticum. 
J  Defied  Off.  lib.  I.  cap.  5.         |]   De  Institut.  Cleric,  lib.  11.  cap.  48. 


'  thing  else  ;  but  that  under  the  gospel  dispensation 
'  he  sees  no  reason  or  use  for  them.'^f 

And,  to  come  nearer  our  own  times,  Cornelius 
Agrippa,  though  a  sceptic  in  most  of  the  subjects 
which  he  has  written  on,  declaims  with  great  vehe- 
mence against  cathedral  music,  which  he  says  is  '  so 

*  licentious,  that  the  divine  offices,  holy  mysteries, 
'  and  prayers  are  chanted  by  a  company  of  wanton 
'  musicians,  hired  with  great  sums  of  money,  not  to 
'  edify  the  understanding,  but  to  tickle  the  ears  of 
'  their  auditory.  The  church,'  he  adds,  '  is  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  bass  ;  and  they  all 
'  contrive  so,  that  though  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  supposed  to  entertain 
a  prejudice  rather  in  favour  of  music  than  against  it, 
has  a  passage  to  this  purpose  :  '  There  is,  says  he, 
'  a  kind  of  music  brought  into  divine  worship  which 
'  hinders  people  from  distinctly  understanding  a  word 
'  that  is  said ;  nor  have  the  singers  any  leisure  to 
'  mind  what  they  sing  ;  nor  can  the  vulgar  hear  any 
'  thing  but  an  empty  sound,  which  delightfully  glides 
'  into  their  ears.  What  notions,  says  he,  have  they 
'  of  Christ,  who  think  he  is  pleased  with  such  a  noise  ?' 

And  in  another  place  he  thus  complains  :  '  We 
'  have  brought  a  tedious  and  capricious  kind  of  music 
'  into  the  house  of  God,  a  tumultuous  noise  of  different 
'  voices,  such  as  I  think  was  never  heard  in  the 
'  theatres  either  of  the  Greeks  or  Romans,  for  the 
'  keeping  up  whereof  whole  flocks  of  boys  are  main- 

*  tained  at  a  great  expence,  whose  time  is  spent  in 
'  learning  such  gibble-gabble,  while  they  are  taught 
'  nothing  that  is  either  good  or  useful.  Whole 
'  troops  of  lazy  lubbers  are  also  maintained  solely 
'  for  the  same  purpose ;  at  such  an  expence  is  the 
'  church  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  English  for  their 
fondness  of  this  kind  for  service.f  f 

Zuinglius,  notwithstanding  he  was  a  lover  of  music, 
speaking  of  the  ecclesiastical  chanting,  says,  t^at  that 
'  and  the  roaring  in  the  churches,  scarce  understood 
'  by  the  priests  themselves,  are  a  foolish  and  vain 
'  alsuse,  and  a  most  pernicious  hindrance  to  piety.' |:|: 

But  lest  the  suffrage  of  Zuinglius  and  Calvin,  who 
speaks  much  in  the  same  manner,  should  be  thought 
exceptionable,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  produce  that 
of  cardinal  Cajetan,  who,  though  a  great  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 
intelligibly  performed  in  the  church,  without  musical 

IT  In.  21.  Qu.  91.  a.  2.  4. 

**  De  Vanitate  et  Incertudine  Scientiarum,  cap.  17. 

tt  Comment  on  1.  Corinth,  xiv.  19. 

II  Zuinglii  Act.  Disp.  pag.  10(i. 


382                                                     HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE                                           Book  IX. 

and  artificial  harmony,  than  so  managed,  as  that  with  ancients  with  confusion  in  the  modes  of  time,  which 

tlie  noise  of  organs  and  the  clamorous  divisions,  and  were   not  invented  till  the  middle  of  the  eleventh 

absurd  repetitions  of  affected  singers,  which  seem  as  century4 

it  were  devised  on  purpose  to  darken  the  sense,  the  Against  the  objections  of  these  men  choral  service 

auditors  should  be  so  confounded  as   that  no  one  has  been  defended  by  arguments  drawn  from  the 

should  be  able  to  understand  what  was  sung.  practice  of  the  primitive  church,  and  its  tendency  to 

Polydore   Virgil,   though  an    Italian,  and  of  the  edification  ;  these  are  largely  insisted  on  by  Durandus. 

Romish  communion,  writes   to  the  same  purpose  :  cardinal  Bona,  and  others  of  the  liturgical  writers. 

'  How,  says  he,  the  chanters  make  a  noise  in  the  As  to  the  censure  of  the  council  of  Trent,  it  regarded 

'  church,  and  nothing  is  heard  there  but  a  voice  ;  only  the  abuses  of  church-music  ;  for  it  forbids  only 

'  and  others  who  are  present  rest  satisfied  with  the  the  use  of  music  in  churches  mixed  with  lascivious 

'  consent  of  the  cries,  no  way  regarding  the  meaning  songs,  and  certain  indecencies  in  the  performance  of 

'  of  the  words.     And  so  it  is,  that  among  the  multi-  it  which  the  singers  had  given  into  ;  §  and  as  it  was 

'  tude  all  the  esteem  of  divine  worship  seems  to  rely  designed  to  bring  it  back  to  that  standard  of  purity 

•  on  the  chanters,  notwithstanding  generally  no  men  from  which  it  had  departed,  it  justified  the  decent 
'  are  lighter  or  more  wicked.'  And  speaking  of  the  and  genuine  use  of  it,  and  gave  such  authority  to 
choir  service  in  general,  he  adds  :  '  I  may  say  that  choral  or  antiphonal  singing,  that  its  lawfulness  and 

•  this,  and  the  ceremonies  attending  it,  are  for  the  expediency  has  long  ceased  to  be  a  subject  of  con- 
'  most  part  brought  into  our  worship  from  the  old  troversy,  except  in  the  reformed  churches  ;  and  in 
'  Heathens,  who  were  wont  to  sacrifice  with  symphony,  these  a  diversity  of  opinion  still  remains.  The 
'  as  Livy,  lib.  IX.  witnesseth.'  *  Calvinists  content  themselves  with  a  plain  metrical 

Lindanus,  bishop  of  Ruremonde,  speaking  of  the  psalmody,  but  the  Lutheran  and  episcopal  churches 
musicians  and  singers  that  had  possessed  the  church  have  a  solemn  musical  service.  The  original  oppugners 
after  the  Reformation,  complains  that  their  music  is  ot  that  of  the  church  of  England  were  the  primitive 
nothing  but  a  theatrical  confusion  of  sounds,  tending  Puritans ;  the  force  of  their  objections  to  it  is  con- 
rather  to  avert  the  minds  of  the  hearers  from  what  tained  in  the  writings  of  their  champion  Thomas 
is  good,  than  raise  them  to  God;  and  declares  that  Cartwright,  in  the  course  of  the  disciplinarian  con- 
he  had  often  been  present,  and  as  attentive  as  troversy  ;  and  to  these  Hooker,  in  his  Ecclesiastical 
he  could  well  be  to  what  was  sung,  yet  could  he  Polity,  has  given  what  many  persons  think  a 
hardly  understand  any  thing,  the  whole  service  w^as  satisfactory  answer.  The  arguments  of  each  are 
so  filled  with  repetitions,  and  a  confusion  of  different  referred  to  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  work, 
voices  and  tones  and  rude  clamours.  And  thereupon  However,  these  are  merely  speculative  opinions, 
he  commends  those  who  had  expelled  this  sort  of  into  which  it  were  to  little  purpose  to  seek  either  for 
music  out  of  their  churches  as  a  mere  human  device,  the  causes  that  contributed  to  the  establishment  of  cho- 
and  a  profane  hindrance  of  divine  worship. f  ral  music,  or  for  the  reasons  that  influenced  those  who 

To  these  censures  of  individuals  some  have  added  opposed  its  admission,  since  in  their  determinations 

that  implied  in  the  decree  of  the  council  of  Trent,  the  bulk  of  mankind  are  actuated  by  considerations 

made  anno  1562,  for  correcting  abuses  in  the  cele-  very  remote  from  the  reasonableness  or  propriety  of 

bration  of  the  mass,  not  distinguishing  between  the  any.     The  fact  is,  that  the  fathers  above -mentioned, 

use  and  the  abuse  of  the  subject  in  question.  from  a  persuasion  of  its  utility  and  agreeableness  to 

Such  are  the  authorities  usually  insisted  on  against  the  word  of  God,  laboured  to  introduce  it  into  the 

the    practice   of    antiphonal    singing    in    cathedral  church  ;  and  it  is  no  less  certain,  that  chiefly  on  the 

churches,  against  which  it  might  be  objected,  that  score  of  its  novelty  it  met  with  great  opposition  from 

the  arguments,  if  such  they  may  be  called,  of  the  the  common  people ;  for,  not  to  mention  the  tumults 

several  writers  above-mentioned,  seem  less  calculated  which  the  introduction  of  it  occasioned  at  Constanti- 

to  convince  the  reason  than  to  inflame  the  passions  nople,  and   the   concessions  which    St.   Chrysostom 

of  those  who  should  attend  to  them  ;  that  allowing  thereupon  made,  it  appears  that  when  Gregory  the 

them  all  their  weight,  they  conclude  rather  against  Great,  in  G20,  sent  the  CantusGregorianus  into  Britain 

the  abuse  of  singing  than  the  practice  itself:  and  that  by  Austin  the  monk,  the  clergy  were  so  little  disposed 

all  of  those  writers  who  have  been  thus  free  in  their  to   receive    it,  that   the    endeavours  to  establish   it 

censures  of  church-music,  were  not  so  well  skilled  occasioned  the  slaughter  of  no   fewer  than  twelve 

in  the  science  as  to  be  justifiable  for  pretending  to  hundred  of  them  at  once  ;    and  it  was  not  till  fifty 

give  any  opinion  at  all  about  it.     Polydore  Virgil  has  years  after,  when  Vitalianus  sent  Theodore  the  Greek 

never  yet  been  deemed  a  very  respectable  authority  to  fill  up  the  vacant  see  of  Canturbury,  that  the 

either  for  facts   or  opinions  ;    and  as  to  Cornelius  clergy  of  this  island  could  be  prevailed  on  either  to 

Agrippa,  the  author  of  a  book  which  the  world  have  celebrate  the  Paschal  solemnity,  the  precise  time  for 

long  stood  in  doubt  whether  to  approve  or  condemn,  which  was  then  a  subject  of  great  controversy,  or  to 

choral  singing  might  well  seem  confusion  to  him,  acquiesce  in  the  admission  of  cathedral  service  in  the 

who  was  so  grossly  ignorant  in  the  science  of  music,  manner  required  by  the  Romish  ritual  ;  nor  did  they 

as  not  to  know  the  difference  between  the  harmonical  then  do  it  so  willingly  but  that  the  pope  about  nine 

and    metrical    modes,   and    who    has   charged   the  j  com.  Agrippa  in  loc.  citat. 

*  T)p  Tnvptit   Poriitv,   I'h  VT            I  §  '  L"  uso  delle  musiche  nelle  chiefe  con  mistura  di  canto,  6  suono 

i7e  invent,  iverum.  iin.  vi.  cap.  H.  '  lascivo,  tutte   le   attioni   secolari,    coUoquii   profani,  strepiti,  gridori. 

t  Lindan.  Panophae,  lib.  V.  cap.vii.  Hist,  del  Concil.  Trident,  di  Pietro  Soave,  Londra,  1619,  pag.  559. 


Chap.  LXXXI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


383 


years  after,  found  himself  under  the  necessity  of 
sending  hither  the  principal  singer  of  the  church  of 
{St.  Peter  at  Rome,  Avho  taught  the  Britons  the  Roman 
method  of  singing,  so  that  the  true  era  of  cathedral 
music  in  this  our  land  is  to  be  fixed  at  about  the  year 
of  our  Lord  679. 

But  in  France  the  business  went  on  still  less 
smoothly  than  in  Britain,  for  which  reason  Adrian 
taking  advantage  of  the  obligation  he  had  conferred 
on  Charlemagne,  by  making  him  emperor  of  the 
West,  stipulated  with  him  for  the  introduction  of 
the  Cantus  Gregorianus  into  the  Gallic  church  :  the 
account  of  this  memorable  transaction  is  thus  given 
by  Baronius.  '  In  the  year  787  the  emperor  kept 
'  his  Easter  with  pope  Adrian  at  Rome ;  and  in 
'  those  days  of  festivity  there  arose  a  great  con- 
'  tention  between  the  French  and  Roman  singers. 
'  The  French  pretended  to  sing  more  gravely  and 
'  decently,  the  Romans  more  melodiously  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  instruct  his  countrymen.  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  he  placed  one  of  these  artists  in 
'  the  city  of  Metz,  ordering  that  the  singers  should 
'  from  all  the  cities  in  France  resort  hither  to  be 
'  taught  by  him  the  true  method  of  singing  and 
'  playing  on  the  organ.'  * 

Thus  the  matter  stood  at  about  the  end  of  the 
eighth  century,  by  which  time  all  actual  opposition 
to  cathedral  music  was  pretty  well  calmed  ;  and, 
saving  the  objections  above-cited,  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- 
terruption for  upwards  of  seven  centuries.  On  the 
contrary,  during  all  that  period  the  church  of  Rome, 
with  a  sedulous  application  continued  its  utmost 
endeavours  to  cultivate  it.  And  from  the  time  that 
Franchinus  became  a  public  professor  of  the  science, 
the  younger  clergy  betook  themselves  with  great 
assiduity  to  the  study  of  music,  for  which  no  adequate 
cause  can  be  assigned  other  than  that  it  was  looked 
on  as  the  ready  road  to  ecclesiastical  preferment. 

Nor  was  it  from  those  popes  alone  who  were  skilled 
in,  or  entertained  a  passion  for  the  science,  that  music 
received  protection  ;  others  of  them  there  were,  who, 
influenced  by  considerations  merely  political,  con- 
tributed to  encourage  it ;  the  dignity,  the  splendor, 
and  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  professors  : 
Michael  Angelo  and  Raphael  were  almost  solely 
employed  in  adorning  tlie  church  of  8t.  Peter  and 
the  Vatican  with  sculptures  and  scripture-histories  ; 
and  from  motives  of  a  similar  nature  the  greatest 

*  A  circumstantial  acco\int  of  this  event,  as  related  by  Diirandus  and 
cardinal  Baronius,  is  given  in  book  IV.  chap.  30.  of  this  worl^. 


encouragements  were  given  to  musicians  to  devote 
their  studies  to  that  species  of  composition  which  is 
suited  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  all  Italy, 
and  that  unbounded  love  of  pleasure,  which  even  in 
the  fourteenth  century  had  fixed  the  characteristic 
of  Italian  manners,  it  does  appear  that  much  of 
their  enjoyment  was  derived  from  such  public  spec- 
tacles as  to  the  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 
the  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  Franchinus 
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- 
ventual and  other  libraries,  not  only  in  England,  at 
the  dissolution  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  tliat  of  the 
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 
succeeding  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  diff'erent  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  union  of  harmony  and  metre  was  effected,  were 
improvements  of  great  importance  ;  from  these  sprang 
the  invention  of  fugue  and  canon,  and  those  infinitely 
various  combinations  of  tone  and  time  which  dis- 
tinguish the  canto  figurato  from  the  canto  fermo,  op 
ecclesiastical  plain -song. 


384 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


The  principal  motive  to  tnese  improvements  was 
undoubtedly  the  great  encouragement  given  to 
students  and  professors  of  music  by  the  court  of 
Rome.  Those  writers,  who,  to  palliate  the  vices 
of  Leo  X.  insist  on  his  love  of  learning,  and  the 
patronage  afforded  by  him  to  the  professors  of  all 
the  finer  arts,  ascribe  the  perfection  of  music  among 
the  rest  to  his  munificence ;  but  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  skill  in  the  art  of  practical  composition 
equal  to  that  of  many  of  its  ablest  professors,  as 
appears  by  many  of  his  works  now  extant.  Francis 
the  First  of  France  reckoned  Joannes  Mouton,  his 
chapel-master,  and  Crequilon,  among  the  chief  orna- 
ments of  his  court ;  and  the  emperor  Charles  V.  by 
his  bounty  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  Europe  in  the  age  immediately  preceding  the 
Reformation,  at  the  time  whereof  it  is  well  known 
choral  music  underwent  a  very  great  change ;  the  na- 
ture of  this  change,  and  the  precise  difference  between 
the  Romish  and  the  other  reformed  churches  in  this 
respect  will  best  appear  by  a  comparison  of  their 
several  offices  ;  nevertheless  a  very  cursory  view  of 
the  Romish  ritual,  particularly  of  the  missal,  the 
gradual,  and  the  antiphonary,  will  serve  to  shew  that 
the  greater  part  of  the  service  of  that  church  was 
sung  to  musical  notes.  In  the  Antwerp  edition  of 
the  missal,  printed  MDLXXVIII.  conformable  to 
the  decree  of  the  council  of  Trent,  the  suffrages 
and  responses  are  printed  with  notes,  which  are 
included  within  a  stave  of  four  red  lines.  The 
offices  in  usum  Sarisburiensis,  as  they  are  termed, 
contained  in  the  Missal,  the  Manual,  the  Proces- 
sional, and  other  books,  nay  even  those  for  the 
consecration  of  salt,  of  water,  tapers,  and  ashes, 
are  in  like  manner  printed  with  musical  notes. 
These  it  must  be  supposed,  as  they  are  for  the 
most  part  extremely  plain  and  simple,  were  in- 
tended for  common  and  ordinary  occasions  ;  in 
short,  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. 

But  the  splendour  and  magnificence  of  the  Romish 
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 
and  conventual  churches,  and  in  those  abbies  and 
monasteries  where  either  the  munificence  of  the  state, 
or  an  ample  endowment,  afforded  the  means  of 
sustaining  the  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  rules  of  the  tonal  melody  were  dispensed  with, 


and  the  greatest  latitude  was  allowed  for  the  exercise 
of  the  powers  of  invention. 

However,  this  mode  of  solemn  service  was  not 
restrained  to  cathedral,  collegiate,  and  conventual 
churches,  it  was  practised  also  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  his  life  of  cardinal  Wolsey, 
relating  the  order  and  offices  of  his  house  and  chapel, 
gives  the  following  account  of  the  latter  : — 

'  Now  t  will  declare  unto  you  the  officers  of  his 

*  chapel,  and  singing-men  of  the  same.  First,  he 
'  had  there  a  dean,  a  great  divine,  and  a  man  of  ex- 
'  cellent  learning  ;  and  a  subdean,  a  repeatour  of  the 
'  quire,  a  gospeller  and  epistoller  ;  of  singing  priests 
'  ten.  A  master  of  the  children.  The  seculas  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  passeth  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  necessary 
'  ornaments  to  the  furniture  of  the  same.'* 

Besides  the  higher  dignitaries  of  the  church,  such 
as  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  bishops  of 
Durham  and  Winchester,  while  those  bishopricks 
were  not  held  in  commendam  by  the  cardinal,  and 
perhaps  some  others,  whose  station  might  require  it, 
there  were  several  among  the  principal  nobility  who 
seemed  to  emulate  Wolsey  in  this  particular,  and  had 
the  solemn  choral  service  performed  in  the  chapels 
of  their  respective  palaces  and  houses.  One  of  these 
was  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  whose  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 
seat  of  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  contemporary 
with  Wolsey,  there  was  a  chapel,  in  which,  to  judge 
from  the  number  and  qualifications  of  the  persons 
retained  for  that  purpose,  it  should  seem  that  choral 
service  was  performed  with  the  same  degree  of 
solemnity  as  in  cathedral  and  conventual  churches. 
The  evidence  of  this  fact  is  contained  in  an  ancient 
manuscript  of  the  Percy  family,  purporting  to  be  the 
regulations  and  establishment  of  the  household  of 
Henry  Algernon  Percy,  the  fifth  earl  of  Northumber- 

*  The  state  and  dignity  in  which  Wolsey  lived,  seemed  to  require  a  retinue 
of  secular  musicians ;  and  accordingly  we  find  that  he  held  a  company  of 
such  <ittending  him,  which,  upon  some  occasions,  tic  lent  to  the  King.  To 
this  purpose.  Stow,  in  his  4'>uals,  p.  535,  relates  a  fact  which  is  here  given 
in  his  own  words: — '  There  was  not  only  plerily  of  fine  meats,  hut  also  much 
'  mirth,  and  solace,  as  well  in  merry  communication,  as  with  the  noise  of  my 

■  Lord's  minstrels,  who  played  there  all  that  night  so  cunningly,  that  the 
'  King  tooke  therein  great  pleasure ;  insomuch  that  he  desired  my  Lord  to 
'  lend  them  nnto  him  for  the  next  niiiht,  and  after  supper  their  banquet 
'finished,  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  fell  to  daunsing,  among  u'hom,  one 
'  Madame  Fontaine,  a  maide,  had  the  price.  And  thus  passed  they  the 
'  most  part  of  the  night  ere  they  departed.  The  next  day  the  King  tooke  my 
'  Lord's  minstrels,  and  rode  to  a  nobleman's  house  where  was  some  image  to 
'  whom  lie  vowed  a  pilgrimage,  to  performe  his  devotions.  When  he  came 
'  there,  which  was  in  the  night,  hee  daiinsed  and  caused  other  to  doe  the  same, 
'  (ifler  the  sound  of  my  Lord's  minstrels,  who  played  there  all  night,  and 
'  never  rested,  so  that  whether  it  were  with  extreme  labour  of  blowing,  or 
'  irith  poyson   (as  some  iuriged )  because  they  were  commended  by  the  King 

■  more  than  his  owne.  I  cannot  tell,  but  the  player  on  the  shaline  (who  wa» 

■  icry  excellent  in  that  instrument)  dyed  within  a  day  or  two  after!' 


Chap.  LXXXI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


385 


land,  at  his  castles  of  Wresill  and  Lekingfield  in 
Yorkshire,  begun  anno  domini  MDXII.  By  this  it 
appears  that  the  earl  had  his  dean  and  subdean  of 
the  chapel,  a  gospeller  and  pistoler,  gentlemen  and 
children  of  the  chapel,  an  organist,  and,  in  short,  the 
same  officers  and  retainers  as  were  employed  in  the 
royal  and  other  chapels  ;  and  as  to  their  number,  it 
appears  by  the  following  entries  in  the  manuscript 
above  referred  to  : — 

'  Gentyllmen  and  Childeryn  of  the  Chapell. 

'  Item.  Gentyllmen  and  childryn  of  the  chapell  xiiij, 
'  viz.,  gentyllmen  of  the  chapell  viii,  viz.,  ij  bassys,  ij 
'  tenors,  and  iiij  countertenours — yoman  or  grome  of  the 

*  vestry  j — childeryn  of  the  chapell  v,  viz.,  ij  tribills  and 
iij  meanys — xiiij. 

*  Gentilmen  of  the  chapel  ix,  viz.,  the  maister  of  the 
'  childre  j — tenors  ij — countertenors  iiij — the  pistoler  j — 
'  and  oone  for  the  orgayns — childer  of  the  chapell  vj.' 

The  wages  of  the  dean,  the  gentlemen,  and  the 
children  of  the  chapel,  are  thus  ascertained  : — 

'  The  dean  of  the  chapel  iiij  1.  if  he  have  it  in  housholde 
'  and  not  by  patentt.* 

'  Gentillmen  of  the  chapel  x,  as  to  say  two  at  x  marc 
'  a  pece — three  at  iiij  1.  a  pece — two  at  v  marc  a  pece — 
'  oone  at  xls. — and  oone  at  xxs.  viz.,  ij  bassys,  ij  tenors, 
'  and  vj  countertenors — childeryn  of  the  chapel  vj,  after 
'  XXV  s.  the  pece. 

'  The  gentlemen  ande  childrin  of  my  lordis  chapell 
'  whiche  be  not  appointid  to  uttend  at  no  tyme,  but  oonely 
'  in  exercising  of  Goddis  service  in  the  chappell  daily  at 
'  Mat  tins,  Lady-Mass,  Highe-Mass,  Even-songe,  and 
'  Complynge. 

'  Gentlemen  of  my  lordis  chappell. 

'  Furst,  a  bass.  Item,  a  seconde  bass.  Item,  the  third 
'  bass.     Item,  a  maister  of  the  childer,  a  countertenour. 

*  Item,  a  second  countertenour.  Item,  a  third  counter- 
'  tenour.     Item,  a  iiijth  countertenour.     Item,  a  standing 

*  tenour.  Item,  a  second  standing  tenour.  Item,  a 
'iijd  standing  tenour.     Item,  a  fourth  standing  tenour. 

'  Childrin  of  my  lordis  chappell. 

'  Item,  the  fyrst  child  a  trible.     Item,  the  ijd  child   a 

*  trible.  Item,  the  iijd  cliild  a  trible.  Item,  the  iiijth 
'  child  a  second  trible.  Item,  the  vtli  child  a  second 
'  trible.     Item,  the  vjth  child  a  second  trible. 

'  The  noumbre  of  tbois  parsons  as  childrin  of  my  lordis 
'  chappel  vj.' 

The  wages  or  stipends  severally  assigned  to  the 
gentlemen  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 : — 

'  Braikfast  in  Lent  for  ij  meas  [mess]  of  gentilmen  o' 
'  tb'  chapel,  and  a  meas  of  childeryn,  iij  loofs  of  brede, 
'  a  gallon  dimid  [half]  of  here,  and  iij  peces  of  salt  fish 

*  or  ells,  iiiij  white  herryng  to  a  meas — iij.' 

And  in  another  place  their  ordinary  breakfast  is 
directed  to  be — 

'  iij  loif  of  boushold  bred,  a  gallon  dimid  of  here,  and 
'  iij  peces  of  beif  boylid. — ^j 

' Braikfasts  for  ij  meas  of  gentilmen  o'  th'  chappel, 

*  The  wages  of  the  dean,  considering  the  dignity  of  his  station,  seem 
greatly  disproportionate  to  those  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  chapel,  two  of 
whom  are  assigned  ten  marks,  or  CI.  13s.  4d.  a  piece  :  what  was  the  dif- 
ference between  having  the  office  in  household  and  by  patent  does  not 
appear ;  if  it  could  be  ascertained  it  might  account  for  this  seeming 
inecjuality. 


*  and  a  meas  of  childer,  iij  loifs  of  boushold  breid,  a  gallon 
'  dimid  of  here,  and  a  pece  of  salt-fische. 

'  Service  for  iiij  mease  of  gentyllmen  and  childre  of  the 
'  chapell  at  suppar  upon  Tewisday  in  the  Rogacion  days, 
'  furst  X  gentylmen  and  vj  childre  of  the  chapel  iiij  meas. 

*  Service  for  gentylmen  and  childer  o'  th'  chapell,  to 
'  every  meas  a  loof  of  bred,  a  pottell  of  here,  half  a  dysch 
'  of  buttre,  and  a  pece  of  saltt-fische,  viij  dyschis.'f 

Besides  these  assignments,  they  had  also  liveries 
of  white  or  wax-lights,  of  fagots,  and  of  coals  for 
fuel ;  provision  was  also  made  for  the  washing  of 
Albesf  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  course  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  the  chapel  as  thus  ascertained,  was  estimated 
at  seventeen  shillings  and  four  pence  a  year,  and  the 
amount  of  the  chapel-wages  for  a  year  was  thirty-five 
pounds  fifteen  shillings. 

'  The  orderynge  of  my  lordes  chapell  in  the  queare  at 
'  mattyngis,  mass,  and  evynsonge.  To  stonde  in  ordure  as 
'  hereafter  foUoweth,  syde  for  syde  daily  : — 

'  The  deane  side.  '  The  seconde  side. 


'  The  Deane. 

'  The  subdeane. 

'  A  basse. 

'  A  tenor. 

'  A  countertenor. 

'  A  countertenor. 

'  A  countertenor. 


'  The  Lady-masse  priest. 

'  The  gospeller. 

'  A  basse. 

'  A  countertenor. 

'  A  countertenor. 

'  A  tenor. 

'  A  countertenor. 

'  A  tenor. 


+  The  regimen  of  diet  prescribed  by  the  hook  from  which  the  above 
extracts  are  made,  was,  with  a  few  variations  extended  to  the  whole 
family :  the  follovring  regulations  respect  the  breakfasts  of  the  earl  an() 
the  countess  and  their  children  during  Lent : — 

'  Braikfast  for  my  lorde  and  my  lady. 

'  Furst,  a  loif  of  brede  in  trenchers,  ij  manchetts,  a  quart  of  here,  a 
'  quart  of  wyne,  ij  pecys  of  salt-fisch,  vj  baconn'd  herryng,  iiij  white 
'  herryng,  or  a  disch  of  sproits — j . 

'  Braikfaste  for  my  lorde  Percy  and  maister  Thomas  Percy. 

'  Item,  half  a  loif  of  household  brede,  a  manchet,  a  potell  of  here,  a 
'  dysch  of  butter,  and  a  pece  of  salt-fish,  a  dysch  of  sproits,  or  iij  white 
'  herrynge— j. 

'  Braikfaste  for  the  nurcy  for  my  lady  Margaret  and  maister 
'  Ingeram  Percy. 
'  Item,  a  manchet,  a  quarte  of  here,  a  dysch  of  butter,  a  pece  of  salt- 
'  fisch,  a  dysch  of  sproitts,  or  iij  white  herryng— j.' 

And,  excepting  the  season  of  Lent  and  fish-days,   the  ordinary  allow- 
ance for  this  part  of  the  family  throughout  the  year  was  as  follows: 
'  Braikfastis  of  flesch  days  dayly  thorowte  the  yere. 
'  Braikfastis  for  my  lorde  and  my  lady. 
'Furst,  a  loof  of  brede  in  trenchors,  ij  manchetts,  j  quart  of  here,  a 
'  quart  of  wine,  half  a  chyne  of  muton,  or  ells  a  chyne  of  beef  boiled— j. 
'  Braikfastis  for  my  lorde  Percy  and  Mr.  Thomas  Percy. 
'  Item  halfe  a  loif  of  householde  breide,  a  manchet,  j  potell  of  here,  a 
'  chekynge  or  ells  iij  mutton  bonys  boiled — ^j. 
'  Braikfasts  for  the  nurcy  for  my  lady  Margaret  and  Mr.  Yngram  Percy. 
'  Item,  a  manchet,  j  quarte  of  here,  and  iij  mutton  bonys  boiled.' 
The  system  of  household  ccconomy  established  in  this  family  must  be 
supposed  to  correspond  with  the  practice  of  the  whole  kingdom,  and 
enables  us  to  trace  the  progress  of  refinement,  and  in  short,  to  form  an 
estimate  of  national  manners  at  two  remote  periods. 

I  The  Alb  is  a  white  linen  garment,  and  is  frequently  mistaken  for  the 
surplice,  though  the  rubric  at  the  end  of  the  first  liturgy  of  Edward  VI. 
and  also  that  before  morning  prayer  in  the  second  liturgy  of  the  same 
king,  has  clearly  distinguished  between  them ;  but  as  described  by 
Durandus,  Ration.  Divin.  Officior.  lib.  III.  cap.  iii.  De  Tunica,  it  is  a 
garment  made  fit  and  close  to  the  body,  tied  round  the  waist  of  the 
wearer  with  a  girdle  or  sash.  In  the  picture  of  the  communion  of  St. 
Jerome  by  Dominichino,  of  which  there  is  a  fine  print  by  Jacomo  Frey, 
is  the  figure  of  a  young  man  kneeling,  with  a  book  under  his  arm,  having 
for  his  outer  garment  an  alb.  The  Alb  was  anciently  embroidered  with 
various  colours,  and  ornamented  with  fringe.  See  Bingham's  Antiqui- 
ties, book  XIII.  chap.  viii.  §  2.  Wheatley  on  the  Common  Prayer, 
chap.  II.  sect.  4.  o  _ 


386 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX 


'  The  ordurynge  of  my  lordes  chappell  for  the  keapinge 
*  of  our  Ladyes  mass  thorowte  the  weike. 

'  Monday. 


' Sonday. 

'  Master  of  tlie  Childer  a 

'  countertenor. 

'  A  tenour, 

*  A  tenour. 
'  A  basse. 

'  Twisday. 

'  Master  of  the  childer  a 
'  countertenour. 

*  A  countertenour. 

*  A  countertenour. 
'  A  tenour. 

'  Thursdaie. 

Master  of  the  childer  a 
'  countertenor. 

*  A  countertenoure. 
'  A  countertenoure. 
'  A  tenoure. 


*  Master  of  the  Childer  a 
'  Countertenor. 

*  A  countertenour. 

'  A  counter-tenonr. 
'  A  tenor. 

'  Wedynsday 

'  Master  of  the  childer  a 

'  countertenor 
'  A  coimtertenour. 

*  A  tenour. 
'  A  basse. 

'  Fryday. 

'  Master  of  the  childer  a 

'  countertenor. 
'  A  countertenour. 
'  A  countertenour. 

*  A  basse. 


'  Satturday. 

Master  of  the  childer  a 
'  countertenor 
'  A  countertenor. 
*  A  countertenor. 
'  A  tenour. 


*  Fryday. 
'  And  upon  the  saide 
'  Friday  th'ool  chapell, 
'  and  evry  day  in  the 
*  weike  when  my  lord 
'  shall  be  present  at  the 
'  saide  masse. 

'  The  ordurynge  for  keapinge  weikly  of  the  orgayns 
'  one  after  an  outher  as  the  namys  of  them  hereafter 
'  followith  weikly  : — 

'  The  maister  of  the  childer,  yf  he  be  a  player,  the 
'  first  weke. 

'  A  countertenor  that  is  a  player  the  ijde  weke. 
'  A  tenor  that  is  a  player  the  thirde  weike. 
'  A  basse  that  is  a  player  the  iiijth  weike. 
'  And  every  man  that  is  a  player  to  keep  his   cours 
weikly.' 

CHAP.    LXXXII. 

It  is  probable  that  Wolsey  looked  upon  this 
establishment  with  a  jealous  eye.  The  earl  might 
be  said  to  be  his  neighbour,  at  least  he  lived  in  the 
cardinal's  diocese  of  York,  and  such  emiilation  of 
pontifical  magnificence  in  a  layman  could  hardly  be 
brooked ;  be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  certain  that  upon 
the  decease  of  the  above-mentioned  earl  of  North- 
umberland, the  cardinal's  intention  was  to  deprive 
his  successor  of  the  means  of  continuing  the  solemn 
service  in  the  family,  by  requiring  of  him  the  books 
used  in  the  cliapel  of  his  father  :  what  pretext  he 
could  frame  for  such  a  demand,  or  what  reasons, 
other  than  the  dread  of  offending  him,  might  induce 
the  young  earl  to  comply  with  it,  it  is  not  easy  to 
guess,  but  the  books  were  delivered  to  him,  and  the 
earl  had  no  other  resource  than  the  hope  of  being 
able  one  time  or  other  to  set  up  a  chapel  of  his  own, 
which  he  expresses  in  a  letter  to  one  of  his  friends, 
yet  extant  in  the  Northumberland  family,  a  copy 
whereof  is  given  below.* 

•  '  Bedfellowe. 
'  After  my  most  harte  recoraendacion :  thys  Monday  the  iijd  off  August 
'  I  resevyd  by  my  servaunt  letters,  from  yowe  beryng  datt  the  xxth  day 
'off July,  deleveryd  unto  hym  the  sayme  day,  at  the  king's  town  of 
'  Newcastell ;  wherin  I  do  perseayff  my  lord  cardenalls  pleasour  ys  to 
'  have  such  boks  as  was  in  the  chapell  of  my  lat  lord  and  fayther,  (wo3 
'soil  Jhesu  pardon)  to  the  accomplyshement  off  which  at  your  dcsyer 


From  the  foregoing  account  of  the  rise  and  progress 
of  choral  music,  it  appears,  that  notwithstanding  the 
abuses  that  might  naturally  be  supposed  to  arise  from 
an  over  zeal  to  improve  and  cultivate  it,  and  in  spite 
of  the  arguments  and  objections  from  time  to  time 
urged  against  it,  as  a  practice  tending  rather  to  the 
injury  than  the  advantage  of  religion,  it  not  only  was 
capable  of  maintaining  its  ground,  but  by  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century  was  arrived  at  great  per- 
fection. It  farther  appears  that  the  objections  against 
it,  many  of  which  were  urged  with  a  view  to  banish 
music,  or  at  least  antiphonal  singing,  from  the  church- 
service,  prodx;ced  an  effect  directly  the  contrary,  and 
were  the  cause  of  a  reformation  that  conduced  to  its 
establishment. 

For  it  seems  the  objections  against  choral  service 
had  acquired  such  weight,  as  to  be  thought  a  subject 
worthy  the  deliberation  of  the  council  of  Trent,  in 
which  assembly  it  was  urged  as  one  of  the  abuses  in 
the  celebration  of  the  mass,  that  hymns,  some  of  a 
profane,  and  others  of  a  lascivious  nature,  had  crept 
into  the  service,  and  had  given  great  scandal  to  the 
professors  of  religion.  The  abuses  complained  of 
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 
service  acquired  a  sanction  which  before  it  wanted  : 
till  the  time  of  passing  it  the  practice  of  singing  in 
churches  rested  solely  on  the  arguments  drawn  from 
the  usage  of  the  Jews,  and  the  exhortations  contained 
in  those  passages  in  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul,  which 
are  constantly  cited  to  prove  it  lawful ;  but  this  act 
of  the  coimcil,  which  by  professing  to  rectify  abuses, 

*  I  am  confformable,  notwithstanding  I  trust  to  be  abell  ons  to  set  up  a 
'  chapell  off  myne  owne,  but  I  pray  God  he  may  look  better  upon  me 
'  than  he  doth.  But  methynk  I  have  lost  very  moch  ponderyng  yl  ys  no 
'  better  regardyd  ;  the  occasion  wheroff  he  shall  perseayff. 

'  Fyrst,  the  long  lyeng  off  my  tressorer  ;  with  hys  very  hasty  and  un- 
'  kynd  words  unto  hym,  not  on  my  parte  deservyd. 

'  Also  the  news  of  Mr.  Manyng,  the  whych  ys  blon  obroud  over  all 
'  Yorksher ;  that  neyther  by  the  kyng  nor  by  my  lord  cardenall  I  am 
'  regardyd  ;  and  that  he  wyll  tell  me  at  my  metyng  with  him,  whan  I  com 
'unto  Yorksher  ;  whych  shall  be  within  thys  month,  God  wyllyng;  but 
'  I  ffer  my  words  to  Mr.  Manyng  shall  despleas  my  lord,  ffor  I  wyll 
'  be  no  ward. 

'  Also,  bedfellow,  the  payns  I  tayk  and  have  takyn  sens  my  comyng 
'  hether  are  not  better  regardyd,  but  by  a  fflaterynge  byshope  off  Carell 
'  [Carlisle]  and  that  fals  worm  [William  Worme  undermentioned]  shall 
'  be  broth  [brought]  to  the  messery  and  carffulness  that  I  am  in  ;  and  in 
'  such  slanders,  that  now  and  my  lord  cardenall  wold,  he  can  not  bryng 
'  me  howth  [out]  thereoff. 

«  «  *  * 

'  I  shall  with  all  sped  send  up  your  lettrs  with  the  books  unto  my  lords 
'grace,  as  to  say,  iiij!anteffonars  [antiphonars],  such  as  I  thynk  wher  nat 
'  seen  a  gret  wyll ;  v  grails  [graduals]  an  ordeorly  [ordinal],  a  manual, 
'  viij  prossessioners  [processionals],  and  ffor  all  the  ressidew,  they  are 
'  not  worth  the  sending  nor  ever  was  occupyed  in  my  lords  chapel.  And 
'  also  I  shall  wrj't  at  this  tyme  as  ye  have  wylled  me. 

'  Yff  ray  lords  grace  wyll  be  so  good  lord  unto  me  as  to  gyff  melychens 
'  [lycence]  to  put  Wyllm  Worme  within  a  castell  of  myn  off  Anwyk  in 
'assurty,  unto  the  tyme  he  have  accomptyed  ffor  more  money  reed  than 
'ever  I  reed,  I  shall  gyff  hys  grace  ij  C.  li.  and  a  benyflfis  offa  C  worth 
'  unto  his  colleyg,  with  such  other  thyngs  reserved  as  his  [grace]  shall 
'  desyre ;  but  unto  such  tyme  as  myne  awdytors  hayth  takyn  accompt  off 
'  him  :  wher  in,  good  bedfellow,  do  your  best,  ffor  els  he  shall  put  us  to 
'  send  mysselff,  as  at  owr  metyng  I  shall  show  yow. 

'  And  also  gyff  secuer  credens  unto  this  herer,  whom  I  assur  yow 
'  I  have  ffonddon  a  marvellous  honest  man  as  ever  I  ffownd  in  my  lyff. 
'  In  hast  at  my  monestary  off  Hul-Park  the  iij  day  of  August.  In  the 
'  owne  hand  off  Yours  ever  assured 

'  To  my  bedfellow  Arundell.  H.  Northpmberland.' 

This  earl  of  Northumberland  was  Henry  Percy,  the  lover  of  Anne 
Boleyn  ;  the  person  to  whom  the  letter  is  addressed  was  Thomas  Arundel. 
one  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  privy-chamber  to  cardinal  Wolsey.  There  is 
another  letter  from  the  earl  to  the  same  person  relating  to  Fountain's 
Abbey  in  Yorkshire,  in  a  curious  work  now  publishing,  Mr.  Grose's  An- 
tiquities of  England  and  Wales,  Numb.  XIII. 


Ohap.  LXXXII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


387 


assumes  and  recognizes  the  practice,  is  as  strong  an 
assertion  of  its  lawfulness  and  expediency  as  could 
have  been  contained  in  the  most  positive  and  explicit 
declaration. 

This  resolution  of  the  council  of  Trent,  an  assembly, 
(if  we  may  believe  such  writers  as  Pallavicini,  and 
others  of  his  communion,)the  most  august  and  awful 
that  ever  met  for  any  purpose  whatever,  and  acting, 
as  they  farther  assert,  under  the  immediate  direction 
and  influence  of  that  spirit  which  Christ  has  said 
shall  remain  with  his  church,  could  hardly  fail  of 
exciting  a  most  profound  veneration  for  choral  music 
in  the  members  of  the  Romish  church.  Nor  did  it 
produce  in  the  leaders  of  the  Reformation  that  general 
aversion  and  abhorrence,  which  in  many  other  in- 
stances they  discovered  against  the  determinations  of 
that  tribunal,  in  all  human  probability  the  last  of  the 
kind  that  the  world  will  ever  see  :  on  the  contrary, 
the  Lutherans  in  a  great  measure  adopted  the  Romish 
ritual,  they  too  reformed  the  mass,  and  as  to  the 
choral  service,  they  retained  it,  with  as  much  of  the 
splendour  and  magnificence  attending  it  as  their 
particular  circumstances  would  allow  of. 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  difference  between 
the  music  of  the  Romish  and  reformed  churches  is 
in  general  very  great ;  but  it  is  to  be  remarked  that 
some  of  the  reformed  churches  differ  more  widely 
from  that  of  Rome  than  others.  The  church  of 
England  retains  so  much  of  the  ancient  antiphonal 
method  of  singing,  as  to  afford  one  pretence  at  least 
for  a  separation  from  it ;  and  as  to  the  Lutheran  and 
Calvinistic  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  the  ceremonies  of  that  of  Rome. 
In  short,  in  the  several  histories  of  the  Reformation 
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  church  of  Rome  a  ground  of  his  separation 
from  it,  and  seemed  to  make  a  direct  opposition  to 
popery  the  measure  of  his  reformation ;  accordingly 
he  formed  a  model  of  church  government  suited  to 
the  exigence  of  the  times ;  rejected  ceremonies, 
and  abolished  the  mass,  antiphonal  singing,  and, 
in  a  word,  all  choral  service,  instead  of  which 
latter  he  instituted  a  plain  metrical  psalmody, 
such  as  is  now  in  use  in  most  of  the  reformed 
churches. 

But  Luther,  though  a  man  of  a  much  more 
irascible  temper  than  his  fellow-labourer,  and  who 
had  manifested  through  the  whole  of  his  opposition 
to  it  a  dauntless  intrepidity,  was  in  many  instances 
disposed  to  temporize  with  the  church  of  Rome  ;  for 
upon  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  through  faith  alone,  but 
maintained  that  good  works  without  faith  were  mortal 
sins,  and  yet  that  he  submitted  these  his  opinions  to 
the  judgment  of  the  Pope,  protesting  that  he  never 
meant  to  question  his  power  or  that  of  the  church. 


In  the  next  place  he  denied  the  real  presence  of 
Christ  in  the  eucharist,  but  yet  he  substituted  in  ita 
place  that  mode  of  existence  called  consubstantiation, 
which  if  not  transubtantiation,  is  not  less  difficult  than 
that  to  conceive  of.  Again,  although  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  cele- 
brated in  the  vulgar  tongue,  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 
use  of  crucifixes,  though  without  adoration,  in  de- 
votion, and  of  auricular  confession,  and  in  general 
was  less  an  enemy  to  the  superstitious  rites  and 
ceremonies  of  the  church  of  Rome  than  either  Calvin, 
Zuinglius,  or  any  other  of  the  reformers. 

The  effect  of  this  diversity  of  opinions  and  con- 
duct are  evident  in  the  different  rituals  of  the 
Lutheran  and  Calvinistic  churches  in  Switzerland, 
France,  and  the  Low  Countries ;  the  Psalms  of 
David  were  the  only  part  of  divine  service  allowed 
to  be  sung,  and  this  too  in  a  manner  so  simple  and 
plain,  as  that  the  whole  congregation  might  join  in  it. 
The  Lutherans,  on  the  contrary,  affected  in  a  great 
measure  the  pomp  and  magnificence  of  the  Roman 
worship  ;  they  adhered  to  the  use  of  the  organ  and 
other  instruments ;  they  had  in  many  of  their 
churches,  particularly  at  Hamburg,  Bremen,  and 
Hesse  Cassel,  a  precentor  and  choir  of  singers  ;  and 
as  to  their  music,  it  was  not  much  less  ciirious  and 
artificial  in  its  contexture  than  that  of  the  church  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  particular 
as  to  exhibit  a  formulary  of  the  Lutheran  service. 
Dr.  Ward,  in  his  Lives  of  the  Gresham  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  instru- 
'  ments  and  variety  of  harmony.'  But  the  truth  of 
the  matter  is,  that  they  went  much  farther,  as  appears 
by  a  book,  which  can  be  considered  no  otherwise 
than  as  their  liturgy,  printed  about  seven  years  after 
Luther's  decease,  in  folio,  with  the  following  title, 
'  Psalmodia,  hoc  est,  Cantica  sacra  veteris  ecclesiaa 
selecta.  Quo  ordine,  et  melodiis  per  totius  anni 
curriculum  cantari  usitate  solent  in  templis  de  Deo, 
et  de  filio  ejus  Jesu  Christo,  de  regno  ipsius,  doc- 
trina,  vita,  passione,  resurrectione,  et  ascensione,  et 
de  Spiritu  Sancto.  Item  de  Sanctis,  et  eorum  in 
Christum  fide  et  cruce.  Jam  primum  ad  ecclesiarum, 
et  scholarum  usum  diligenter  collecta,  et  brevibus  ac 
piis  scholiis  illustrata,  per  Lucam  Lossium  Lune- 
burgensem.*  Cum  praefatione  Philippi  Melanthonis. 
Noribergae  Apud  Gabrielem  Hayn,  Johan.  Petrei 
generum,  MDLIIL' 

From  this  book  it  clearly  appears  that  the  Lutherans 
retained  the  mass,  and  sundry  less  exceptionable  parts 
of  the  Romish  service,  as  namely,  the  hymns  and 
other   ancient   offices  ;   a  few  of  the  more  modern 

*  A  particular  account  of  Lucas  Lossius  is  given  in  a  subsequent  page 
of  tliis  work. 


388 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX, 


liymns  are  said  to  have  been  written  by  Luther 
himself,  the  rest  are  taken  from  the  Roman  anti- 
phonary,  gradual,  and  other  ancient  rituals ;  as  to 
the  music,  it  is  by  no  means  so  strict  as  that  to  which 
the  Romish  offices  are  sung,  nor  does  it  seem  in  any 
degree  framed  according  to  the  tonic  laws  ;  and  it  is 
highly  probable  that  in  the  composition  of  it  the  ablest 
of  the  German  musicians  of  the  time  were  employed. 
Nay,  there  is  reason  to  conjecture  that  even  the 
musical  notes  to  some  of  the  hymns  were  composed 
by  Luther  himself,  for  that  he  was  deeply  skilled  in 
the  science  is  certain.  Sleidan  asserts  that  he  para- 
phrased in  the  High  German  language,  and  set  to  a 
tune  of  his  own  composition,  the  forty-sixth  Psalm,* 
'  Deus  noster  refugium.'  Mr.  Richardson  the  painter 
mentions  a  picture  in  the  collection  of  the  grand 
duke  of  Tuscany,  painted  by  Giorgione,  which  he 
saw  when  he  was  abroad,  of  Luther  playing  on  a 
harpsichord,  his  wife  by  him,  and  Bucer  behind  him, 
finely  drawn  and  coloured.f  And  the  late  Mr. 
Handel  was  used  to  speak  of  a  tradition,  which  all 
Germany  acquiesced  in,  that  Luther  composed  that 
well-known  melody,  which  is  given  to  the  hundredth 
Psalm  in  the  earliest  editions  of  our  English  version, 
and  continues  to  be  sung  to  it  even  at  this  day. 

And  though  this  tune  adapted  to  Psalm  cxxxiv. 
occurs  in  Claude  Le  Jeune's  book  of  psalm-tunes  in 
four  parts,  published  in  1613  by  his  sister  Cecile  Le 
Jeune,  there  is  not  the  least  pretence  for  saying  that 
he  composed  the  original  tenor.  Nay,  the  self-same 
melody  is  also  the  tenor-part  of  Psalm  cxxxiv.  in  the 
Psalms  of  Goudimel,  published  in  1603,  both  these 
musicians  professing  only  to  adapt  the  three  auxiliary 
parts  of  cantus,  altus,  and  bassus,  to  the  melodies  as 
they  found  them. 

If  a  judgment  be  made  of  the  Lutheran  service 
from  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  contained  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 
affections  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  The  love 
which  Luther  entertained  for,  and  his  proficiency  in 
music,  has  been  already  mentioned  in  the  course  of 
this  work  ;  but  his  sentiments  touching  the  lawful- 
ness 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  the  name  of  the  Colloquia  Mensalia 
of  Dr.  Martin  Luther,  the  sixty -eighth  chapter 
whereof  is  in  these  words  : — 

'  Musick,  said  Luther,  is  one  of  the  fairest  and 
'  most  glorious  gifts  of  God,  to  which  Satan  is  a 
'  bitter   enemie ;    therewith    many   tribulations   and 

*  evil  cogitations  are  hunted  away.     It  is  one  of  the 
'  best  arts  ;    the  notes  give  life  to  the  text ;  it  ex- 

*  pelleth  melancholic,  as  we  see  on  king  Saul.    Kings 

*  Comment,  de  Statu  Religionis  et  Reipub.  sub  Carolo  V.  Caesare, 
lib.  XVI. 

•f  Account  of  Statues,  Bas  Reliefs,  Drawings,  and  Pictures  in  Italy, 
pag.  73. 


and  princes  ought  to  preserve  and  maintain  musick, 
for  great  potentates  and  rulers  ought  to  protect  good 
and  liberal  arts  and  laws  ;  and  altho  private  people 
have  lust  thereunto,  and  love  the  same,  yet  their 
ability  cannot  preserve  and  maintain  it.  We  read 
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  sorrowful  minde,  through 
which  the  heart  is  refreshed  and  settled  asrain  in 
peace,  as  is  said  by  Virgil,  "  Tu  calamos  hiflare  leves, 
'  ego  dicer e  versus :"  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  can 
never  be  better  known  than  when  black  is  held 
against  it.  Anno  1538,  the  17th  of  December, 
Luther  invited  the  singers  and  musicians  to  a 
supper,  where  they  sung  fair  and  sweet  Motetse ;  | 
then  he  said  with  admiration,  seeing  our  Lord  God 
in  this  life  (which  is  but  a  mere  Cloaca)  shaketh 
out  and  presenteth  unto  us  such  precious  gifts,  what 
then  will  be  done  in  the  life  everlasting,  when  every 
thing  shall  be  made  in  the  most  compleat  and 
delightfullest  manner  !  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  young  fellows  to  the  office  of  preaching, 
except  before  they  have  been  well  exercised  and 
practised  in  the  school  of  musick.  Musick  is  a  fair 
gift  of  God,  and  near  allied  to  divinity  ;  I  would 
not  for  a  great  matter,  said  Luther,  be  destitute  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  hath 
nothing  to  do  with  the  affairs  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  God  hath  bereaved 
the  countrie  clowns  of  such  a  great  gift  and  comfort 
in  that  they  neither  hear  nor  regard  music. — Luther 
once  bad  a  harper  play  such  a  lesson  as  David 
played ;  I  am  persuaded,  said  he,  if  David  now 
arose  from  the  dead,  so  would  he  much  admire  how 

t  The  Motet  is  a  species  of  vocal  harmony  appropriated  to  the  service 
of  the  church.  The  etymology  of  the  word  is  not  easily  to  be  ascertained; 
Menage  derives  it  from  Modus,  to  which  it  bears  not  the  least  affinity. 
Butler,  k  motu,  because,  says  he,  '  the  church  songs  called  mntetseniove 
'  the  hearts  of  the  hearers,  striking  into  them  a  devout  and  reverent 
'  regard  of  them  for  wliose  praise  they  were  made.'  On  Musick,  pag.  5, 
in  notis.  Morley  seems  to  acquiesce  in  this  etymology,  but  understands 
motion  in  a  sense  different  from  Butler,  as  appears  by  these  his  words : 
'  A  motet  is  properlie  a  song  made  for  the  church,  either  upon  some 
'  hymne  or  anthem,  or  such  like ;  and  that  name  I  take  to  have  been 
'given  to  that  kinde  of  musicke  in  opposition  to  the  other,  which  they 
'  called  Canto  fermo,  and  we  do  commonlie  call  plain-song,  for  as  nothing 
'  is  more  opposit  to  standing  and  firmness  than  motion,  so  did  they  give 
'  the  motet  that  name  of  moving,  because  it  is  in  a  manner  quight  con- 
•  trarie  to  the  other,  which  after  some  sort,  and  in  respect  of  the  other, 
'  standeth  still.'     Introd.  part  III.  pag.  179. 

Du  Cange,  voce  Motetum,  says  that  though  this  kind  of  composition 
is  now  confined  to  the  church,  it  was  originally  of  the  most  gay  and 
lively  nature;  an  opinion  not  inconsistent  with  the  definition  of  th© 
word. 


Chap.  LXXXII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


389 


this  art  of  musick  is  come  to  so  great  and  au  ex- 


celling 


height ;    she  never  came  higher  than  now 


she  is.      How   is   it,   said  Luther,  that  in  carnal 
things  we  have  so  many  fine  poems,  but  in  spiritual 

*  matters  we  have  such  cold  and  rotten  things  ?  and 
'  then  he  recited  some  German  songs.  I  hold  this 
'  to  be  the  cause,  as  St.  Paul  saith,  I  see  another  law 

*  resisting  in  my  members  ;  these  songs,  added  he, 
'  do  not  run  in  such  sort  as  that  of  "  Vita  ligno 
'  moritur"  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-masters 
'  that  made  such  verses  and  poems  as  those  I  spake 

*  of,  and  afterwards  also  preserved  them. — Marie  the 
'  loving  mother  of  God  hath  more  and  fairer  songs 

*  presented  unto  her  by  the  Papists  than  her  childe 
'  Jesus  ;  they  are  used  in  the  Advent  to  sing  a  fair 
'  sequence  "  Mittitur  ad  Virginem,  ^c."  St.  Mary 
'  was    more    celebrated    in    grammar,    music,    and 

*  rhetoric  than  her  childe  Jesus. — Whoso  contemneth 
'  music,  as  all  seducers  do,  with  them,  said  Luther, 

*  I  am  not  content.     Next  unto  theology  I  give  the 

*  place  and  highest  honour  to  music,  for  thereby  all  an- 
'  ger  is  forgotten,  the  devil  is  driven  away,  unchastity, 
'  pride,  and  other  blasphemies  by  music  are  expelled. 
'  We  see  also  how  David  and  all  the  saints  brought 
'  their  divine  cogitations,  their  rhymes  and  songs 
'  into  verse.  Quia  pads  tempore  regnat  musica, 
'  i.  e.  In  the  time  of  peace  music  flourishes.'  * 

*  The  Colloquia  Mensalia,  a  work  curious  in  its  kind,  as  it  exhibits  a 
lively  portrait  of  its  author,  will  hardly  now  be  thought  so  excellent 
either  for  matter  or  form  as  to  justify  that  veneration  which  we  are  told 
was  formerly  paid  to  it :  the  subject  of  it  is  miscellaneous,  and  its  form 
that  of  a  common  place.  In  short,  it  answers  to  those  collections  which 
at  sundry  times  have  appeared  in  the  world  with  the  titles  of  Scaligeriani, 
Menagiani,  Parrhasiana,  &c.  which  every  one  knows  are  too  much  in  the 
style  of  common  conversation  to  merit  any  great  degree  of  esteem,  and  iu 
short  are  calculated  rather  for  transient  amusement  than  instruction. 
But  the  publication  of  this  book  was  attended  \viih.  some  such  very 
singular  circumstances  as  entitle  it  in  no  small  degree  to  the  attention  of 
the  curious. 

The  sayings  of  Luther  were  first  collected  by  Dr.  Anthony  Lauterbach, 
and  by  him  written  in  the  German  language.  Afterwards  they  were  dis- 
posed into  common  places  by  John  Aurifaber,  doctor  in  divinity.  A 
translation  of  the  book  was  published  at  London  in  1652,  in  folio,  by  one 
Captain  Henry  Bell ;  his  motives  for  undertaking  the  work  are  contained 
in  a  narrative  prefixed  to  it,  which  is  as  follows  : 

'  I,  Captain  Henrie  Bell,  do  hereby  declare  both  to  the  present  age  and 
'  posterity,  that  being  employed  beyond  the  seas  in  state  affaires  diverse 
'  years  together,  both  by  king  James  and  also  by  the  late  king  Charles,  in 

*  Germany,  I  did  hear  and  understand  in  all  places  great  bewailing  and 
'  lamentation  made  by  reason  of  the  destroying  and  burning  of  above 
'  fourscore  thousand  of  Martin  Luther's  books,  entitled  his  last  divine 
'  discourses. 

'  For  after  such  time  as  God  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  Martin  Luther  to 
'  detect  the  corruptions  and  abuses  of  popery,  and  to  pYeach  Christ,  and 
'  clearly  to  set  forth  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel,  many  kings,  princes,  and 
'  states,  imperial  cities,  and  Hans-towns  fell  from  the  popish  religion  and 
'became  protestants,  as  their  posterities  still  are,  and  remain  to  this 
'  very  daie. 

'  And  for  the  farther  advancement  of  the  great  work  of  reformation 
'  then  begun,  the  foresaid  princes  and  'the  rest,  did  then  order,  that  the 
'  said  divine  discourses  of  Luther  should  forthwith  be  printed,  and  that 
'  everie  parish  should  have  and  receive  one  of  the  foresaid  printed  books 
'  into  everie  church  throughout  all  their  principalities  and  dominions,  to 
'  be  chained  up  for  the  common  people  to  read  therein. 

'  Upon  which  divine  work  or  discourses  the  reformation  begun  before 
'  in  Germanic  was  wonderfully  promoted  and  encreased,  and  spread  both 
'  here,  in  England,  and  other  countries  beside. 

'  But  afterwards  it  so  fell  out,  that  the  pope  then  living,  Tiz.  Gregory 
'  Xin.  understanding  what  great  hurt  and  prejudice  he  and  his  popish 
'  religion  had  already  received  by  reason  of  the  said  Luther's  divine  dis- 
'  courses,  and  also  fearing  that  the  same  might  bring  further  contempt 
'  and  mischief  upon  himself  and  upon  the  popish  church,  he  therefore,  to 
'  prevent  the  same,  did  fiercely  stir  up  and  instigate  the  emperor  then  in 
'  being,  viz.,  Rudolphus  II.  to  make  an  edict  thorow  the  whole  empire 
'  that  all  the  foresaid  printed  books  should  be  burned,  and  also  that  it 
'  should  be  death  for  any  person  to  have  or  keep  a  copie  thereof,  but  also 
'  to  burn  the  same,  which  edict  was  speedily  put  in  execution  accordingly, 
'  insomuch  that  not  one  of  all  the  said  printed  books,  nor  so  much  as  any 
'  one  copie  of  the  same  could  be  found  out  nor  heard  of  in  any  place. 


From  the  several  passages  above  collected,  which 
it  seems  were  taken  from  his  own  mouth  as  uttered 
by  him  at  sundry  times,  it  must  necessarily  be  con- 
cluded, not  only  that  Luther  was  a  passionate  ad- 
mirer of  music,  but  that  he  was  skilled  in  it,  all 
which  considered,  there  is  great  reason  to  believe 
that  the  ritual  of  his  church  was  framed  either  by 
himself  or  imder  his  immediate  direction. 

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  Trent 
against  singing,  as  then  practised  in  churches,  pro- 
duced that  plain  and  noble  style  of  choral  harmony, 
of  which  Palestrina  is  generally  supposed  to  have 
been  the  father.  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  musicians  his  predecessors 
had  in  a  great  measure  corrupted  the  science ;  he 
therefore  rejecting  those  strange  proportions  which 

'  Yet  it  pleased  God  that  anno  1626  a  German  gentleman,  named 
'  Casparus  Van  Sparr,  with  whom  in  the  time  of  my  staying  in  Germany 
'  about  king  James's  business  I  became  very  familiarly  known  and 
'  acquainted,  having  occasion  to  build  upon  the  old  foundation  of  an 
'  house  wherein  his  grandfather  dwelt  at  that  time  when  the  said  edict 
'  was  published  in  Germany  for  the  burning  of  the  foresaid  book,  and 
'  digging  deep  into  the  ground  under  the  said  old  foundation,  one  of  the 
'  said  original  printed  books  was  there  happily  found  lying  in  a  deep 
'obscure  hole,  being  wrapped  in  a  strong  linen  cloth,  which  was  waxed 
'  all  over  with  bees  wax,  within  and  without,  whereby  the  book  was  pre- 
'  served  fair  without  any  blemish. 

'  And  at  the  same  time  Ferdinand  II.  being  emperor  in  Germany,  who 
'  was  a  severe  enemy  and  persecutor  of  the  protestant  religion,  the  fore- 
'  said  gentleman,  and  grand-chUde  to  him  that  had  hidden  the  said  book 
'  in  that  obscure  hole,  fearing  that  if  the  said  emperor  should  get  know- 
'  ledge  that  one  of  the  said  books  was  yet  forth  commlng,  and  in  his 
'  custody,  whereby  not  only  himself  might  be  brought  into  trouble,  but 
'  also  the  book  in  danger  to  be  destroyed  as  all  the  rest  were  so  long 
'  before :  and  also  calling  me  to  minde  and  knowing  that  I  had  the  High 
'  Dutch  tongue  very  perfect,  did  send  the  said  original  book  over  hither 
'  into  England  unto  me,  and  therewith  did  write  unto  me  a  letter,  where- 
'  in  he  related  the  passages  of  the  preserving  and  finding  out  of  the 
'  said  book. 

'  And  also  he  earnestly  moved  me  in  bis  letter  that  for  the  advance- 
'  ment  of  God's  glorie  and  of  Christ's  church,  I  would  take  the  pains  to 
'  translate  the  said  book,  to  the  end  that  that  most  excellent  divine  work 
'  of  Luther  might  be  brought  again  to  light. 

'  Whereupon  I  took  the  said  book  before  me,  and  many  times  began  to 
'translate  the  same,  but  alwaies  I  was  hindred  therein,  beeing  called 
'  upon  about  other  business,  insomuch  that  by  no  possible  means  I  could 
'  remain  by  that  work.  Then  about  six  weeks  after  I  had  received  the 
'  said  book,  it  fell  out  that  I  being  in  bed  with  my  wife  one  night  between 
'  twelve  and  one  of  the  clock,  she  beeing  asleep,  but  myself  yet  awake, 
'  there  appeared  unto  mee  an  ancient  man  standing  at  my  bed  side, 
'  arrayed  all  in  white,  having  a  long  and  broad  white  beard  hanging  down 
'  to  his  girdle-steed,  who  taking  me  by  my  right  ear,  spake  these  words 
'  following  unto  mee :  "Sirrah,  will  not  you  take  time  to  translate  that 
"book  which  is  sent  you  out  of  Germany?  I  will  shortly  provide  for 
"you  both  place  and  time  to  do  it."  And  then  he  vanished  away  out 
'  of  my  sight. 

'  Whereupon  being  much  thereby  affrighted,  I  fell  into  an  extreme 
'  sweat,  insomuch  that  my  wife  awaking  and  finding  me  all  over  wet,  she 
'  asked  me  what  I  ailed,  I  told  her  what  I  had  seen  and  heard,  but  I 
'  never  did  heed  nor  regard  visions  nor  dreams,  and  so  the  same  fell  soon 
'  out  of  my  minde. 

'  Then  about  a  fortnight  after  I  had  seen  that  vision,  on  a  Sundaift 
'  I  went  to  Whitehall  to  hear  the  sermon,  after  which  ended  I  returned 
'  to  my  lodging,  which  was  then  in  King-street  at  Westminster,  and  sit- 
'  ting  down  to  dinner  with  my  wife,  two  messengers  were  sent  from  the 
'  whole  council  board  with  a  warrant  to  carrj'  me  to  the  keeper  of  the 
'  Gatehouse,  Westminster,  there  to  be  safely  kept  until  further  order 
'  from  the  lords  of  the  council,  which  was  done  without  shewing  me  any 
'  cause  at  all  wherefore  I  was  committed.  Upon  which  said  warrant 
'  I  was  kept  there  ten  whole  years  close  prisoner,  where  I  spent  five 
'  years  thereof  about  the  translating  of  the  said  book,  insomuch  as  I 
'  found  the  words  very  tnie  which  the  old  man  in  the  foresaid  vision 
'  did  say  unto  me,  "  I  will  shortly  provide  for  you  both  place  and  time  to 
"translate  it."' 

The  author  then  proceeds  to  relate  that  by  the  interest  of  archbishop 
Laud  he  was  discharged  from  his  confinement,  with  a  present  of  forty 
pounds  in  gold. 

By  a  note  in  his  narrative  it  appears  that  the  cause  of  his  commitment 
was  that  he  was  urgent  with  the  lord  treasurer  for  the  payment  of  a  long 
arrear  of  debt  due  from  the  government  to  him. 

His  translation  of  the  Colloquia  Mensalia  was  printed  in  pursuance  of 
an  order  of  the  House  of  Commons,  made  24  February,  1646. 


390 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


few  were  able  to  sing  truly,  and  which  when  sung 
excited  more  of  wonder  than  delight  in  the  hearer, 
sedulously  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  harmony, 
and  by  the  use  of  such  combinations  as  naturally 
suggest  themselves  to  a  nice  and  unprejudiced  ear, 
formed  a  style  so  simple,  so  pathetic,  and  withal  so 
truly  sublime,  that  his  compositions  for  the  church 
are  even  at  this  day  looked  on  as  the  models  of  har- 
monical  perfection. 

CHAP.  LXXXIII. 

The  foregoing  account  of  the  rise  and  progress  of 
chi;rch-music,  or  as  it  is  most  usually  denominated, 
antiphonal  singing,  may  in  a  great  measure  be  said 
to  include  a  history  of  the  science  itself  so  far  down- 
ward as  to  the  time  of  the  Reformation ;  to  what 
degree,  and  under  what  restraints  it  was  admitted 
into  the  service  of  the  reformed  churches,  will  be  the 
subject  of  future  enquiry ;  in  the  interim,  the  order 
and  course  of  this  history  require  that  the  succession 
both  of  theoretic  and  practical  musicians  be  continued 
from  the  period  where  it  stopped,  and  that  an  account 
be  given  of  that  species  of  music  which  had  its  rise 
about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  namely, 
the  dramatic  kind,  in  which  the  Opera  and  Oratorio, 
Es  they  are  improperly  called,  are  necessarily  in- 
cluded. 

Of  the  writers  on  music,  the  last  hereinbefore 
mentioned  is  Peter  Aron,  a  man  more  distingiushed 
by  his  attachment  to  Bartholomew  Ramis,  the  ad- 
versary of  Franchinus,  than  by  the  merit  of  his  own 
writings  ;  he  lived  about  the  year  1545.  The  next 
writer  of  note  was 

Martinus  Agricola,  chanter  of  the  church  of 
Magdeburg,  who  flourished  about  this  period,  and 
was  an  eminent  theoretic  and  practical  musician. 
In  the  year  1528  he  published  a  treatise,  which  he 
intitled  KtutBcht  iWuStC ;  and  in  the  year  following 
another,  intitled  Musica  Instrumentalis ;  both  these 
were  written  in  German  verse,  and  were  printed  for 
George  Rhaw  of  Wittenberg,  who  though  a  book- 
Beller,  was  himself  also  a  writer  on  music,  and  as 
such,  an  accoimt  has  been  given  of  him  in  the  course 
of  this  work.*  In  the  latter  of  these  works  are  the 
representations  of  most  of  the  instruments  in  use  in 
his  time.  He  was  the  author  also  of  a  tract  on 
figurate  music,  in  twelve  chapters,  and  of  a  little 
treatise  De  Proportionibus  ;  and  of  another  in  Latin, 
intitled  Rudimenta  Musices,  for  the  use  of  schools ; 
but  his  great  work  is  that  intitled  Melodise  Scholasticse 
sub  Horarum  Intervallis  decantandse,  published  at 
Magdeburg  in  1612,  and  mentioned  by  Draudius  in 
his  Bibliotheca  Classica  Librorum  Germanicorum. 
He  was  the  author  also  of  a  tract  intitled  '  Scholia  in 
Musicam  Planam  Wenceslai  Philomatis  de  Nova 
Domo  ex  variis  Musicorum  Scriptis  pro  Magde- 
burgensis  Scholse  Tybus,  collecta,'  in  the  preface  to 
which  he  speaks  thus  of  himself :  '  Prseterea,  lector 
'  optime,  cogitabis,  me  nequaquam  potuisse  singula 
*  artificiosissime  tradere,  quemadmodum  alii  excel- 
'  lentes   musici,    quum   ego   nunquam    certo    aliquo 

*  Viz.,  book  viii.  chap.  69.  page  314. 


'  prseceptore    in    hac   arte   usus   sim,   sed   tanquam 
'  musicus  avTofvrjQ  occulta  quadam  nature  vi,  qua 
'  me  hue  pertraxit,  tum  arduo  labore  atque  domestico 
'  studio,  id  quod  cuilibet  perito  facile  est  sestimare, 
'  Deo  denique  auspice,  exiguum  illud  quod  intelligo, 

*  sim  assecutus,  ut  non  omnino  absolute,  veriim  tan- 
'  quam  aliquis  vulgariter  doctus,  tantiim  simplicissime, 
'  adeoque  rudibus  hujus  artis  pueris  princij^ia  prai- 

*  scribere,  atque  utcumque  inculcare  queam,  non  dis- 

*  similis  arbori,  cui  spontanea  contigit  e  terra  pul- 
'  lulatio,  qua3  nunquam  sua  bonitate  respondet  alteri 
'  arbori,  quae  nunc  ab  ipso  hortulano,  loco  opportuno 
'  plantatur  ac  deinceps  etiam  quotidie  fovetur  ac 
'  irrigatur.'  In  the  year  1545  he  republished  his 
Musica  Instrumentalis,  and  dedicated  it  to  George 
Rhaw,  but  so  much  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  music,  the 
author  enters  very  largely  into  a  description  of  the 
instruments  in  lase  in  his  time,  as  namely,  the  Flute, 
Krumhorn,  Zink,  Bombardt,  Sackpipe,  Swisspipe, 
and  the  Shalmey,  with  the  management  of  the  tongue 
and  the  finger  in  playing  on  them.  He  also  treats 
of  the  violin  and  lute,  and  shows  how  the  gripe,  as 
he  calls  it,  of  each  of  these  instruments  is  to  be 
divided  or  measured  ;  he  speaks  also  of  the  division 
of  the  monochord,  and  of  a  temperature  for  the  organ 
and  harpsichord.  Agricola  died  on  the  tenth  day  of 
June,  1556,  and  in  1561  the  heirs  of  George  Rhaw 
published  a  work  of  his  intitled  '  Duo  Libri  Musices 
'  continentes  Compendium  Artis,  et  illustria  Exampla  ; 
'  scripti  a,  Martino  Agricola,  Silesio  soraviensi,  in 
'  gratiam  eorum,  qui  in  Schola  Magdeburgensi  prima 
'  Elementa  Artis  discere  incipiunt.' 

The  works  of  Agricola  seem  intended  for  the  in- 
struction of  young  beginners  in  the  study  of  music;  and 
though  there  is  something  whimsical  in  the  thought 
of  a  scientific  treatise  composed  in  verse,  it  is  probable 
that  the  author's  view  in  it  was  the  more  forcibly  to 
impress  his  instructions  on  the  memory  of  those  who 
were  to  profit  by  them.  His  IMusica  Instrumentalis 
seems  to  be  a  proper  supplement  to  the  Mi;surgia  of 
Ottomarus  Luscinius,  and  is  perhaps  the  first  book 
of  directions  for  the  performance  on  any  musical  in- 
strument, ever  published.  Martinus  Agricola  is 
sometimes  confounded  with  another  Agricola,  whose 
Christian  -  name  was  Rudolphus,  a  divine  by  pro- 
fession, but  an  excellent  practical  musician,  and  an 
admirable  performer  on  the  lute  and  on  the  organ. 
Such  as  know  how  to  distinguish  between  these  two 
persons,  call  Rudolphus  the  elder  Agricola,  and  well 
they  may,  for  he  was  born  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  is  the 
following  inscription  to  his  memory  : — 

Invida  clauserunt  hoc  marmore  fata  Rodulphum 
Agricolam,  Frisii  spemque  decusque  soli. 

Scilicet  hoc  iino  meruit  Germania,  laudis 

Quicquid  habet  Latium,  Graecia  quicqiiid  habet. 


Chap.  LXXXIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


391 


Henricus  Faber  flourished  about  the  year  1540. 
He  wrote  a  Compendium  Musicae,  which  has  been 
printed  many  times,  and  Compendiolum  Musicas  pro 
Incipientibus,  printed  at  Franckfort  in  1548,  and 
again  at  Norimberg  in  1579.  He  was  rector  of  the 
college  or  public  school  of  Quedlinburg  for  many 
years,  and  died  anno  1598  :  the  magistrates  of  that 
place  erected  a  monument  for  him,  upon  which  is  the 
following  inscription  : — 

Clariss.  et  Doctiss.  Viro,  M.  Heinr.  Fabro,  optime 
de  hac  Schola  merito  monumentum  hoc  posuit  Reipu. 
hujus  Quedlinburg.  Senatus. 

Henrici  ecce  Fabri  ora,  Lector,  omnis 
Qui  doctus  bene  liberalis  artis, 
Linguarumque  trium  probe  peritus 
Hanc  rexit  patriam  Scholam  tot  annos, 
Quot  mensis  numerat  dies  secundus, 
Fide,  dexteritate,  laude  tanta, 
Quantam  et  postera  praedicabit  setas, 
Nunc  pestis  violentia  solutus 
Isto,  quod  pedibus  teris,  sepulcro 
In  Christo  placidam  capit  quietem, 
Vitam  pollicito  sereniorem. 
27  Aug.  obiit  An.  1598.  cum  vixisset  annos  LV. 

Christopher  Morales  (a  Por^rai^),  anativeof  Sevil, 
was  a  singer  in  the  pontifical  chapel  under  Paul  III.  in 
or  about  the  year  1544,  and  an  excellent  composer.  He 
was  the  author  of  two  collections  of  masses,  the  one 
for  five  voices,  published  at  Lyons  in  1545,  the  other 
for  four  voices,  published  at  Venice  in  1563,  and  of  a 
famous  Magnificat  on  the  eight  tones,  printed  at 
Venice  in  1562.  Mention  is  also  made  of  a  motet  of 
his, '  Lamentabatur  Jacob,'  usually  sung  in  the  pope's 
chapel  on  the  fourth  Sunday  in  Lent,  which  a  very 
good  judge*  styles  'una  maraviglia  dell'  arte.'f     He 

"  Andrea  Adami  da  Bolsena,  nelle  sue  Osservazioni  per  ben  regolare  il 
Coro  de  i  Cantori  della  Cappella  Pontificia.     Rom.  1711. 

+  Christopher  Morales  Is  the  first  of  eminence  that  occurs  in  the  scanty 
list  of  Spanish  musicians.  The  slow  profiress  of  music  in  Spain  may  in 
some  decree  be  accounted  for  by  the  prevalence  of  Moorish  manners  and 
customs  for  many  centuries  in  that  country.  The  Spanish  guitar  is  no 
other  than  the  Arabian  Pandura  a  little  improved  ;  and  it  is  notorious 
that  most  of  the  ;^panish  dances  are  of  Moorish  or  Arabian  original. 
With  respect  to  the  theory  of  music,  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been  at 
all  cultivated  in  Spain  before  the  time  of  Salinas,  who  was  born  in  the 
year  1513,  and  it  is  possible  that  in  this  science,  as  well  as  in  those  of 
geometry  and  astronomy,  in  physics,  and  other  branches  of  learning,  the 
Arabians,  and  those  descended  from  them  might  be  the  teachers  of  the 
Spaniards.  There  is  now  in  the  library  of  the  Escurial  an  Arabic  manu- 
script with  this  title,  '  Abi  Nasser  Mohammed  Ben  Mohammed  Alpharabi 
'  Musices  Elementa,  adjectis  Notis  Musicis  et  Instrumentorum  Figuris 
'plus  triginta.     CMVI." 

As  the  date  of  this  MS.  and  the  age  when  the  author  lived  are  prior  to 
the  time  of  Guido  Aretinus,  we  are  very  much  at  a  loss  to  form  a  judg- 
ment of  any  system  which  could  then  prevail,  othef  than  that  of  the 
ancients,  much  less  can  we  conceive  of  the  forms  of  so  great  a  variety  of 
instruments  as  are  said  to  be  contained  in  it. 

The  author  of  this  book  is  however  sufficiently  known.  In  the 
Nouveau  Dictionnaire  Historique  Portatif,  is  the  following  article  con- 
cerning him  : — 

'  Alfarabius  lived  in  the  tenth  century.  He  did  not,  like  most 
'  learned  men  of  his  country,  employ  himself  in  the  interpretation  of  the 
'  dreams  of  the  Koran,  but  penetrated  the  deepest  recesses  of  abstruse 
'and  useful  science,  and  acquired  the  character  of  the  greatest  philoso- 
'  pher  among  the  Mussulmans.  Nor  was  he  more  distinguished  for  his 
'  excellence  in  most  branches  of  learning,  than  for  his  great  skill  in 
'  music,  and  his  proficiency  on  various  instruments.  Some  idea  of  the 
'  greatness  of  his  talents  may  be  formed  from  the  following  relation. 
'  Having  made  a  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  and  returning  through  Syria,  he 
'  visited  the  court  of  the  sultan  Seifeddoulet.  At  his  arrival  he  found 
'  the  sultan  surrounded  by  a  great  number  of  learned  men,  who  were  met 
'  to  confer  on  scientific  subjects,  and  joining  in  the  conversation,  argued 
'with  such  depth  of  judgment  and  force  of  reasoning,  as  convinced  all 
'that  heard  him.  As  soon  as  the  conversation  was  at  an  end,  the  sultan 
'ordered  in  his  musicians,  and  Alfarabius  taking  an  instrument,  joined 
'in  the  performance.  Waiting  for  a  seasonable  opportunity,  he  took  an 
'instrument  in  his  hand  of  the  lute  or  pandura  kind,  and  touched  it  so 
'  delicately,  that  he  drew  the  eyes  and  attention  of  all  that  were  present. 
'  Being  requested  to  vary  his  style,  he  drew  out  of  his  pocket  a  song, 
'  which  he  sang  and  accompanied  with  such  spirit  and  vivacity,  as  pro- 


composed  also  the  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah  for  four, 
five,  and  six  voices,  printed  at  Venice  in  1564.  A 
Gloria  Patri  of  his  is  preserved  in  the  Musurgia  of 
Kircher,  lib.  VII.  cap.  vii.  sect.  ii. 

Grkgorius  Faber,  professor  of  music  in  the  uni- 
versity of  Tubingen  in  the  duchy  of  Wirtemberg, 
published  at  Basil,  in  1553,  Musices  Practicae  Erote- 
matuiu,  libri  II.  a  book  of  merit  in  its  way.  In  it 
are  contained  many  compositions  of  Jusquin  de  Pres, 
Anthony  Brumel,  Okeghem,  and  other  musicians  of 
that  time. 

Adrian  Petit  Coclicus,  who  styles  himself  a  dis- 
ciple of  Jusquin  de  Pres,  was  the  author  of  a  tract 
intitled  Compendium  Musices,  printed  at  Norimberg 
in  1552,  in  which  the  musicians  mentioned  by  Gla- 
reanus,  with  many  others  of  that  time,  are  celebrated. 
The  subjects  principally  treated  of  by  him  are  thus 
enumerated  in  the  title-page,  De  Mode  ornato  canendi 
— De  Regula  Contrapuncti — De  Compositione.  To 
oblige  his  readers,  this  author  at  the  beginning  of  his 
book  has  exhibited  his  own  portrait  at  full  length, 
his  age  fifty-two.  It  would  be  very  difficult  to  de- 
scribe in  words  the  horrible  idea  which  this  repre- 
sentation gives  of  him.  With  a  head  of  an  enormous 
bigness,  features  the  coarsest  that  can  be  imagined,  a 
beard  reaching  to  his  knees,  and  cloathed  in  a  leather 
jerkin,  he  resembles  a  Samoed,or  other  human  savage, 
more  than  a  professor  of  the  liberal  sciences.  But 
notwithstanding  these  singularities  in  the  appearance 
of  the  author,  his  book  has  great  merit. 

LuiGi  Dentice,  a  gentleman  of  Naples,  was  the 
author  of  Due  Dialoghi  della  Musica,  published  in 
1552 ;  the  subjects  whereof  are  chiefly  the  propor- 
tions and  the  modes  of  the  ancients;  in  discoursing 
on  these  the  author  seems  to  have  implicitly  fol- 
lowed Boetius :  there  were  two  others  of  his  name, 
musicians,  who  were  also  of  Naples :  the  one  named 
Fabricius  is  celebrated  by  Galilei  in  his  Dialogue  on 
ancient  and  modern  Music,  as  a  most  exquisite  per- 
former on  the  lute.  The  other  named  Scipio  is  taken 
notice  of  in  the  Musical  Lexicon  of  Walther.  Adrian 
Le  Roy,  a  bookseller  of  Paris,  who  in  1578  published 
Briefe  et  facile  Instruction  pour  aprendre  la  Tabla- 
ture  a  bien  accorder,  condiiire,  et  disposer  la  Main 

'  voked  the  whole  company  to  laughter ;  with  another  he  drew  from  them 
'  a  flood  of  tears ;  and  with  a  third  laid  them  all  asleep.  After  these 
'  proofsof  his  extraordinary  talents,  the  sultan  of  Syria  requested  of  Alfa- 
'  rabius  to  take  up  his  residence  in  his  court,  but  he  excused  himself, 
'  and  departing  homeward,  was  slain  by  robbers  in  a  forest  of  Syria,  in 
'  the  year  954.  Many  of  his  works  in  MS.  are  yet  in  the  public  library  at 
'  Leyden.' 

It  must  be  confessed  that  the  foregoing  account  carries  with  it  much 
of  the  appearance  of  fable :  the  following,  contained  in  Mr.  Ockley's 
translation  of  Abu  Jaafar  Ebn  Tophail's  Life  of  Hal  Ebn  Yokdhan,  is  of 
the  two  perhaps  the  nearest  the  truth: — 

'  Alpharabius,  without  exception  the  greatest  of  all  the  Mahometan 
'  philosophers,  reckoned  by  some  very  near  equal  to  Aristotle  himself. 
'  Maimonides  in  his  epistle  to  Rabbi  Samuel  Aben  Tybbon,  commends 
'  him  highly  ;  and  though  he  allows  Avicenna  a  great  share  of  learning 
'  and  acumen,  yet  he  prefers  Alpharabius  before  him.  Nay,  Avicenna 
'  himself  confesses  that  when  he  had  read  over  Aristotle's  Metaphysics 
'  forty  times,  and  gotten  them  by  heart,  he  never  understood  them 
'  till  he  happened  upon  Alpharabius's  exposition  of  them.  He  wrote 
'  books  of  rhetoric,  music,  logic,  and  all  parts  of  philosophy ;  and  his 
'  writings  have  been  much  esteemed  not  only  by  Mahometans,  but  Jews 
'  and  Christians  too.  He  was  a  person  of  singular  abstinence  and  conti- 
'  nence,  and  a  despiser  of  the  things  of  this  world.  He  is  called  Alphara- 
'  bins  from  Farab,  the  place  of  his  birth,  which,  according  to  Abulpheda, 
'  (who  reckons  his  longitude,  not  from  the  Fortunate  Islands,  but  from 
'  the  extremity  of  the  western  continent  of  Africa)  has  88  deg.  30  min.  of 
'  longitude,  and  44  deg.  of  northern  latitude.  He  died  at  Damascus  in 
'  the  year  of  the  Hegira  339,  that  is  about  the  year  of  Christ  950,  when  he 
'  was  about  fo\irscore  years  old.' 


892 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  IX. 


Bur  la  Guiterne,  speaks  in  that  book  of  a  certain 
tuning  of  the  lute,  which  was  practised  by  Fabrice 
Dentice  the  Italian,  and  others  his  followers,  from 
whence  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  he  was  a  celebrated 
performer  on  that  instrument. 

But  of  the  many  writers  of  this  time,  no  one  seems 
to  have  a  better  claim  to  the  attention  of  a  curious 
enquirer  than 

Don  Nicola  Vicentino,  a  writer  whom  it  has  al- 
ready been  found  necessary  frequently  to  take  notice 
of  in  the  preceding  pages  of  this  work,  inasmuch  as 
there  are  few  modern  books  on  music  in  which  he  is 
not  for  some  purpose  or  other  mentioned.  He,  in 
the  year  1555,  published  at  Rome  a  book  intitled 
'  L'Antica  Musica  ridotta  alia  moderna  prattica,  con 
'  la  dichiaratione  et  con  gli  essempi  de  i  tre  generi, 
'  con  le  loro  spetie.  Et  con  I'inventione  di  uno  nuovo 
'  stromento,  nel  quale  si  contiene  tutta  la  perfetta 
'  musica,  con  molti  segreti  musicali.' 

In  this  work  of  Vicentino  is  a  very  circumstantial 
account  of  Guido ;  and,  if  we  except  that  contained 
in  the  MS.  of  Waltham  Holy  Cross,  and  a  short  me- 
moir in  the  Annales  Ecclesiastici  of  Baronius,  it  is 
perhaps  the  most  ancient  history  of  his  improvements 
any  where  to  be  found ;  it  is  not  however  totally  free 
from  errors ;  for  he  attributes  the  contrivance  of  the 
hand  to  Guido,  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  cliffs  or  keys,  he 
asserts  that  the  characters  now  used  to  denote  them 

(^l   RS    S.     A   are  but  so   many  corruptions  of 

the  letters  F,  0,  G,*  though  he  allows  that  the  latter 
of  the  three  continued  in  use  long  after  the  two 
former,  of  which  there  can  be  no  doubt,  since  we  find 
the  letter  (q  used  not  only  to  denote  the  series  of 
superacutes,  but  in  Fantasies  and  other  instrumental 
compositions  it  was  constantly  the  signature  of  the 
treble  or  upper  part,  down  to  the  end  of  the  six- 
teenth century  ;  the  character  now  used  for  that  pur- 
purpose    ^   is   manifestly    derived   from    this    Aaf 

which  sigtiifies  gs,  and  was  intended  to  signify  the 
place  of  G  SOL  re  ut.  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  fa,  and  in  what  by  mi,  it 
was  usual  to  affix  two  letters  at  the  head  of  the  stave, 
in  the  first  case  G  and  F,  and  in  the  last  0  and  G. 

The  fourth  chapter  of  the  first  book  contains  an 
account  of  John  De  Muris's  invention  of  the  eight 
notes,  by  which  we  are  to  understand  those  characters 
said  to  have  been  contrived  by  him  to  denote  the 
time  or  duration  of  sounds,  and  of  the  subsequent 
improvements  thereof;  the  whole  is  curious,  but  it  is 
egregiously  erroneous,  as  has  been  demonstrated. 

He  then  proceeds  to  declare  the  nature  of  the  con- 
sonances, and,  with  a  confidence  not  unusual  with  the 

*  Kepler  ic  of  the  same  opinion,  and  has  {^ven  an  entertaining  and 
probable  relation  of  the  gradual  corruption  of  the  cliffs  in  his  Harmonices 
Mundi,  the  substance  whereof  is  inserted  in  the  account  herein  after 
given  of  him  and  his  writings. 


writers  of  that  age,  to  attempt  an  explanation  of  that 
doctrine  which  had  puzzled  Boetius,  and  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  clearly  understood  even  by 
Ptolemy  himself. 

That  Vicentino  had  studied  music  with  great  assi- 
duity is  not  to  be  doubted,  but  it  does  not  appear  by 
his  work  that  he  had  any  knowledge  of  the  ancients 
other  than  what  he  derived  from  Boetius,  and  those 
few  of  his  own  countrymen  who  had  written  on  the 
subject.  It  was  perhaps  his  ignorance  of  the  ancients 
that  led  him  into  those  absurdities  with  which  he  is 
charged  by  Doni  and  other  writers  in  his  attempts  to 
render  that  part  of  the  science  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  in  each  of  the  three  severally, 
but  has  conjoined  them  in  the  same  composition ;  for 
first,  in  the  forty-eighth  chapter  of  the  third  book  is 
an  example  of  the  chromatic  for  four  voices ;  in  the 
fifty-first  chapter  of  the  same  book  is  an  example  of 
the  enarmonic  for  the  same  number ;  and  in  the  fifty- 
fourth  chapter  is  a  composition  also  for  four  voices, 
in  which  the  diatonic,  the  chromatic,  and  the  enar- 
monic are  all  combined.  These  examples  have  a 
place  in  the  preceding  part  of  this  work,  and  are  there 
inserted  to  shew  the  infinite  confusion  arising  from  a 
commixture  of  the  genera. 

In  the  year  1551  Vicentino  became  engaged  in  a 
musical  controversy,  which  terminated  rather  to  his 
disadvantage :  the  occasion  of  it  was  accidental,  but 
both  the  subject  and  the  conduct  of  the  dispute  were 
curious,  as  will  appear  by  the  following  narrative 
translated  from  the  forty-third  chapter  of  the  fourth 
book  of  the  work  above-cited  : — 

*  I,  Don  Nicola,  being  at  Rome  in  the  year  of  our 
'  Lord  1551,  and  being  at  a  private  academy  where 
'  was  singing,  in  our  discourse  on  the  subject  of 
'  music,  a  dispute  arose  between  the  reverend  Don 
'  Vincenzio  Lusitanio  and  myself,  chiefly  to  this  effect, 
'  Don  Vincenzio  asserted  that  the  music  now  in 
'  use  was  of  the  diatonic  genus,  and  I  on  the  contrary 
'  maintained  that  what  we  now  practise  is  a  com- 
'  mixture  of  all  the  three  genera,  namely,  the  chromatic, 

*  the  enarmonic,  and  the  diatonic.  I  shall  not  mention 
'  the  words  that  passed  between  us  in  the  course  of 
'  this  dispute,  but  for  brevity's  sake  proceed  to  tell 

*  that  we  laid  a  wager  of  two  golden  crovpns,  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  was  the  reverend 
'  Messer  Bartholomeo  Escobedo,  priest  of  the  diocese 
'  of  Segovia,  the  other  was  Messer  Ghisilino  Dan- 
'  cherts,  a  clerk  of  the  diocese  of  Liege,  both  singers 
'  in  the  chapel  of  his  holiness  ;  f  and  in  the  presence 
'  of  the  most  illustrious  and  most  reverend  lord 
'  Hyppolito  da  Este,  Cardinal  of  Ferrara,  my  lord 

t  Escobedo  is  celebrated  by  Salinas  in  these  words :  Cum  Bartholomseo 
'  Escobedo  viro  in  utraque  musices  parte  exercitatissimo.'  De  Musica, 
lib.  IV.  cap.  xxxii.  pag.  228.  And  Ghisilino  Dancherts  is  often  mentioned 
in  the  preface  to  Andrea  Adanii's  Gsservazioni  per  ben  regolare  il  Coro 
de  i  Cantori  dellaCappella  Pontificia,  by  the  name  of  Ghisilino  d'Ankerts 
Puntatore,  i.  e.  precentor  of  the  college  of  singers  of  the  pontifical  cliapel. 
The  same  author,  in  his  Gsservazioni  above-mentioned,  pag.  163,  styles 
d'  Ankerts  '  ottimo  contrapuntista  di  madrigali.' 


Chap.  LXXXIII 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


393 


'  and  master,  and  of  many  learned  persons,  and  in 
'  the  hearing  of  all  the  singers,  this  question   was 

*  agitated  in  the  chapel  of  his  holiness,  each  of  us,  the 
'  parties,  offering  reasons  and  arguments  in  support 
'  of  his  opinion. 

'  It  fortuned  that  at  one  sitting,  for  there  were 
'  many,  when  the  Cardinal  of  Ferrara  was  present, 
'  one  of  our  judges,  namely,  Ghisilino,  being  pre- 
'  vented  by  business  of  his  own,  could  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  Vincenzio  that  the  music  now  in 
'  use  was  not  simply  the  diatonic  as  he  had  asserted, 

*  but  that  the  same  was  a  mixture  of  the  chromatic 
'  and  enarmonic  with  the  diatonic.  Whether  Don 
•'  Vincenzio  had  any  information  that  I  had  written 
'  thus  to  Ghisilino  I  know  not,  but  he  also  wrote  to 

*  him,  and  after  a  few  days  both  the  judges  were 
'  unanimous,  and  gave  sentence  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  Vincenzio.  My 
'  lord  having  read  the  sentence,  told  me  I  was  con- 
'  demned,  and  immediately  I  paid  the  two  golden 
'  crowns.  I  will  not  rehearse  the  complaints  of  the 
'  Cardinal  to  Don  Vincenzio  of  the  wrong  the  judges 
'  had  done  me,  because  I  would  rather  have  lost  100 
'  crowns  than  that  occasion  should  have  been  given 

*  to  such  a  prince  to  utter  such  words  concerning  me 
'  as  he  was  necessitated  to  use  in  the  hearing  of  such 
'  and  so  many  witnesses  as  were  then  present.  I 
'  will  not  enumerate  the  many  requests  that  my 
'  adversary  made  to  the  Cardinal  to  deliver  back  the 
'  sentence  of  my  unrighteous  judges ;  I  however 
'  obtained  his  permission  to  print  it  and  publish  it  to 
'  the  world,  upon  which  Don  Vincenzio  redoubled 
'  his   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  had  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  necessitated  to  go  to  Sienna,  in  which  country 
'  at  that  time  was  a  war  ;  thither  I  also  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  Rome,  in  which 
'  city  by  God's  favour  we  now  remain. 

'  I  have  said  thus  much,  to  the  end  that  Don  Vin- 
'  cenzio  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- 
'  termine  whether  our  differences  were  sufficiently 
•understood  by  our  judges,  and  whether  their 
'  sentence  was  just  or  not.  I  publish  also  the  rea- 
'  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  translation  of  a  paper  containing 


the  substance  of  Vincentino's  argument,  intitled  '  II 
Tenore  dell'  Informatione  manda  Don  Nicola  a 
M.  Ghisilino  per  sua  prova' : — 

*  I  have  proved  to  M.  Lusitanio,  that  the  music 
'  which  we  now  practise  is  not  simply  diatonic,  as  he 
'  says.  I  have  declared  to  him  the  rules  of  the  three 
'  genera,  and  shewn  that  the  diatonic  sings  by  the 
'  degrees  of  a  tone,  tone  and  semitone,  which  indeed 
'  he  has  confessed.  Now  every  one  knows  that  our 
'  present  music  proceeds  by  the  incomposite  ditone, 
'  as  from  tjt  to  mi,  and  by  the  trihemitone  ut  fa, 

*  without  any  intermediate  note,  which  method  of 
'  leaping  is  I  say  according  to  the  chromatic  genus  ; 
'  and  I  farther  say  that  the  interval  fa  la  is  of  the 
'  enarmonic  kind ;  and  I  say  farther  that  the  many 
'  intervals  signified  by  these  characters  §  and  b, 
'  which  occur  in  our  present  music,  shew  it  to  partake 
'  of  all  the  three  genera,  and  not  to  be  simply  diatonic 
'  as  M.  Lusitanio  asserts.' 

The  arguments  on  the  other  side  of  the  question 
are  contained  in  a  paper  intitled  '  II  tenore  dell'  In- 
formatione mando  Don  Vincentio  Lusitanio  a  M. 
Ghisilino  per  sua  prova,'  and  translated  is  as  follows : — 

'  Signor  Ghisilino,  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  Boetius, 
'  that  is  to  say,  the  eleventh  and  the  twenty -first  of 
'  the  first  book,*  in  which  are  these  words  :  "  In  his 
"omnibus,  secundum  diatonicum  cantilene,  procedit 
"vox  per  semitonium,  tonum,  ac  tonum  in  uno  tetra- 
"  chordo.  Rursus  in  alio  tetrachordo,  per  semitonium, 
"  tonum,  et  tonum,  ac  deinceps.  Ideoque  vocatur 
"  diatonicum  quasi  quod  per  tonum  ac  per  tonum 
"  progrediatur.  Chroma  autem  (quod  dicitur  color,) 
"  quasi  iam  ab  huiusmodi  intentioni  prima  mutatio 
"  cantatur  per  semitonium  et  semitonium  et  tria 
"  semitonia.  Toto  enim  diatessaron  consonantia  est 
"  duorum  tonorum  ac  semitonii,  sed  non  pleni. 
"  Tractum  est  autem  hoc  vocabulum  ut  diceretur 
"  chroma,  a  superficiebus,  quae  cum  permutantur  in 
"  alium  transeunt  colorem.  Enarmonium  vero  quod 
"  est  maius  coaptatum,  est  quod  cantatur  in  omnibus 
"  tetracordis  per  diesin  et  diesin,  et  ditonum,  &c." 

'  Being  willing  to  prove  by  the  above  words  the 
'  nature  of  the  music  in  use  at  this  day,  it  is  to  me 
'  very  clear  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  chromatic  and  enarmonic,  no  examples 

*  can  be  adduced  from  the  modern  practice  of  an 
'  entire  progression  by  those  intervals  which  severally 
'  constitute  the  chromatic  and  enarmonic  ;  and  I  have 
'  shewn  the  nature  of  the  diatonic  from  the  fifth 
'  chapter  of  the  fourth  book  of  Boetius,  beginning 
"  Nunc  igitur  diatonici  generis  descriptio  facta  est  in 
"  eo,  scilicet,  modo  qui  est  simplicior  ac  princeps 
"  quern  Lidiuni  nuncupamus." 

'  To  this  Don  Nicola  has  objected  that  the  melody 
'  above  described  is  not  the  characteristic  of  the  pure 
'  diatonic  genus,  because  it  admits  of  the  semiditone 

*  This  is  a  twofold  mistake  of  Lusitanio:  he  has  cited  but  two  chap- 
ters of  Boetius,  and  the  e'eveiith  of  the  first  book  contains  nothing  to 

his  pnriiosc. 


394 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


'and  ditone,  which  are  both  chromatic  and  enar- 
'  monic  intervals ;    to  which  I  answered,  that  both 

*  these  never  arose  in  one  and  the  same  tetrachord, 
'  which  is  an  observation  that  Boetius  himself  has 
'  made  ;  and  I  said  that  Don  Nicola  was  deficient  in 
'  the  knowledge  of  the  true  chromatic,  which  consists 
'  in  a  progression  by  semitone  and  semitone,  as  also 

*  of  the  enarmonic,  proceeding  by  diesis  and  diesis. 

*  As  to  the  ditone  and  semiditone,  they  are  common 

*  to  all  the  genera,  and  are  taken  into  the  diatonic,  as 

*  agreeing  with  the  order  of  natural  progression :  and 
'  though  Don  Nicola  would  insinuate  that  the  ditone 
'  and  semiditone  are  not  proper  to  the  diatonic,  he 

*  does  not  scruple  nevertheless  to  call  the  genus  so 
'  characterized  the  diatonic  genus,  which  I  af&rm  it 

I  desire  you  will  communicate  to  your  com- 


is. 


'  panion  these  reasons  of  mine,  and,  as  you  promised 

*  the   Cardinal  of  Ferrara,  pronounce    sentence   on 

*  Sunday  next.     Vincentinus  Lusitan.' 

Vicentino  observes  upon  this  paper,  that  the  two 
first  chapters  quoted  by  his  adversary  from  Boetius 
make  against  him,  and  prove  that  opinion  to  be  true 
which  he,  Vicentino,  is  contending  for ;  and,  in 
short,  that  both  the  chromatic  and  enarmonic  in- 
tervals, as  defined  by  Boetius,  were,  used  in  the 
music  in  question,  which  consequently  could  not 
with  propriety  be  deemed  the  pure  and  simple 
diatonic :  he  adds,  that  he  will  not  arraign  the 
sentence  of  his  judges,  nor  say  that  they  understood 
not  the  meaning  of  Boetius  in  the  several  chapters 
above-cited  from  him,  but  proceeds  to  relate  an  in- 
stance of  his  adversary's  generosity,  which  after  all 
that  had  passed  must  seem  very  extraordinary;  his 
words  are  these  : — 

'  The  courtesy  of  Don  Vincentino  has  been  such, 
'  that  having  gained  my  two  golden  crovpns  and  a 
'  sentence  in  his  favour,  and  thereby  overcome  me, 
'  he  has  a  second  time  overcome  me  by  speaking 
'against  the  sentence  of  my  condemnation,  and 
'  against  the  judges  who  have  done  him  this  favour  ; 
'  and  in  so  doing  he  has  truly  overcome  and  per- 
'  petually  obliged  me  to  him  :  and  moreover  he  has 
'  published  to  the  world,  and  proved  in  one  chapter 
'  of  his  own,  that  the  sentence  against  me  was  unjust ; 
'  nay,  he  has  printed  and  published  the  reasons  con- 
'  tained  in  the  paper  written  by  me,  and  sent  to  Messer 
'  Ghisilino,  our  judge  ;  and  this  he  has  done  as  he  says 
'  to  discharge  his  conscience,  and  because  it  seemed  to 
'  him  that  he  had  stolen  the  two  golden  Scudi.* — 
'  God  forgive  all,  and  I  forgive  him,  because  he  has  be- 
'  haved  like  a  good  Christian ;  and  to  the  end  that  every 
'  one  may  be  convinced  of  the  truth  of  what  I  now 
'  assert,  I  refer  to  a  work  of  his  intitled  "  Introductione 
"  facilissima  et  novissima  di  canto  fermo  et  figurato 

*  In  this  controversy  two  things  occur  that  must  strike  an  intelligent 
reader  with  surprise :  the  one  is  that  the  two  judges  should  concur  in  an 
opinion  so  manifestly  erroneous  as  that  the  system  in  question,  which 
was  in  truth  no  other  than  that  now  in  use,  was  of  the  diatonic  genus  ; 
the  other  is  the  concession  of  Lusitanio  that  it  partook  of  all  the  three 
genera.  The  reader  will  recollect  the  sentiment  of  our  countryman 
Morley  on  this  head,  who,  after  diligently  enquiring  into  the  matter,  pro- 
nounces of  the  music  of  the  moderns  that  it  is  not  fully,  and  in  every 
respect,  the  ancient  diatonicum  nor  right  chromaticum,  hut  an  imperfect 
commixture  of  hoth  ;  and,  to  shew  that  it  does  not  partake  of  the  enar- 
monic, he  remarks  that  we  have  not  in  our  scale  the  enarmonic  diesis, 
which  is  the  half  of  the  lesser  semitone.  Morley  in  the  Annotations  on 
the  first  part  of  his  Introduction.  Vide  Brossard,  Dictionare  de  Musique. 
Voce  Systema,  to  the  same  purpose. 


"  contrapunto  semplice,  &c.  Stampata  in  Roma  in 
"  campo  di  Fiore  per  Antonio  Blado,  Impressore 
"  Aposto.  L'anno  del  Signore  M.D.LIII.  a  li  xxv. 
"  di  Settembre."  At  the  end  of  this  work  he  treats 
'  of  the  three  genera  of  music  in  these  words  : — 

"  The  genera  or  modes  of  musical  progression  are 
"  three,  viz.,  the  Diatonic,  which  proceeds  by  four 
"  sounds  constituting  the  intervals  of  tone,  tone,  and 
"  semitone  minor,  the  Chromatic,  which  proceeds  by 
"  semitone,  semitone  major,  and  three  semitones, 
"  making  in  all  five  semitones,  according  to  the 
"  definition  of  Boetius  in  his  twenty-first  chapter ; 
"and  according  to  his  twenty -third  chapter,  by 
"  semitone  minor,  semitone  major,  and  the  interval 
"  of  a  minor  third,  re  fa,  not  re  mi  fa,  because  re 
"  FA  is  an  incomposite,  and  re  mi  fa  is  a  composite 
"  interval.  The  Enarmonic  proceeds  by  a  diesis, 
"  diesis  and  third  major  in  one  interval,  as  ut  mi, 
"  not  UT  RE  MI ;  the  mark  for  the  semitone  minor  is 
"  this  %  and  that  for  the  diesis  is  this  x." 

Vicentino  remarks  upon  this  chapter,  that  his 
adversary  has  admitted  in  it  that  the  leap  of  the 
semiditone  or  minor  third,  re  fa  or  mi  sol,  is  of  the 
chromatic  genus,  which  position  he  says  he  had 
copied  from  Vicentino's  paper  given  in  to  Messer 
Ghisilino ;  he  then  cites  Vincentio's  explanation  of 
the  enarmonic  genus,  where  he  characterizes  the  leap 
of  a  ditone  or  major  third  by  the  syllables  ut  mi. 
'  This,'  says  Vicentino,  '  my  adversary  learned  from 
'  the  above  paper,  to  which  I  say  he  is  also  beholden 
'  in  other  instances,  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  con- 
'  front  his  printed  treatise  with  that  paper,  will  find 
'  that  he  has  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  an  example  of 
'  chromatic  music  is  not  to  be  believed.  Nay  farther, 
'  in  his  paper  to  Messer  Ghisilino  he  asserted  that 
'  the  ditone  and  semiditone  are  diatonic  intervals,  but 
'  in  this  treatise  of  his  he  maintains  the  direct  con- 
'  trary,  saying  that  re  fa  is  not  of  the  diatonic,  but 
'  of  the  chromatic  genus.  Here  it  is  to  be  observed 
'  that  the  enarmonic  ditone  is  ut  mi,  and  not  ut  re 
'  mi.  In  short,'  continues  Vicentino,  '  it  is  evident 
'  that  what  my  adversary  has  printed  contradicts  the 
'  reasons  contained  in  his  written  paper.  In  short, 
'  I  am  ashamed  that  this  work  of  Don  Vincentio  is 
'  made  public,  for  besides  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  he  has  given  examples 
'  with  false  fifths  and  false  thirds  ;  and  moreover, 
'  when  he  speaks  of  a  minor  semitone,  gives  mi  fa, 
'  and  fa  mi  as  an  example  of  it.  And  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  mi  or  mi  fa.' 

Vicentino  proceeds  to  make  good  his  charge  by 
producing  the  following  example  from  his  adversary's 
printed  work,  of  false  harmony  : — 


Chap.  LXXXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


395 


-g-^»-^-^-» 


^tfezsz^^zsrM: 


-^-^ 


35^^ 


tr- 


Alto  con  la  quinta  falsa         soprano  con  la  decima  falsa. 


mB\ 


-o — e- 


-<&-k-t-H— 


Basso 


Tenore  con  le  conson.  false. 


'  It  much  grieves  me,*  says  Vicentino,  '  that  I  am 
'  obliged  to  produce  this  example  of  false  harmony, 
'  but  I  am  not  the  author  of  it,  and  have  done  it  for 
'  my  own  vindication.  It  now  remains  to  produce 
'  the  sentence  given  against  me,  which  I  shall  here  do, 
'  truly  copied  from  the  original,  subscribed  by  the 
'judges,  and  attested  in  form  : — 

"  Sententia. 

"  Christi  nomine  invocato,  &c.  Noi  sopradetti 
"  Bartholomeo  Esgobedo,  et  Ghisilino  Dancharts,  per 
"  questa  nostra  diffinitiva  sententia  et  laude  in  pre- 
"  sentia  della  detta  congregatione,  et  delli  sopra  detti 
"  Don  Nicola,  et  Don  Vincentio,  presenti  intelligenti, 
"  audienti,  et  per  la  detta  sententia  instanti.  Pro- 
"  nontiamo  sententiamo  il  predetto  Don  Nicola  non 
"  haver  in  voce,  ne  in  scritto  provato  sopra  che  sia 
"  fondata  la  sua  intentione  della  sua  proposta.  Immo 
"  per  quanto  par  in  voce  et  in  scriptis  il  detto  Don 
"  Vincentio  ha  provato,  che  lui  per  uno  competente- 
"  mente  cognosce  et  intende  di  qual  genere  sia  la 
"  compositione  che  hoggi  communamente  i  compo- 
"  sitori  compongono,  et  si  canta  ogni  di,  come  ogniuno 
"  chiaramente  disopra  nelle  loro  informationi  potra 
"  vedere.  Et  per  questo  ill  detto  Don  Nicola  doner 
"  essere  condennato,  come  lo  condenniamo  nella  scom- 
"  messa  fatta  fra  loro,  come  disopra.  Et  cosi  noi 
"  Bartholomeo  et  Ghisilino  soprascritti  ci  sotto  scri- 
"  viamo  di  nostra  mano  propria.  Datum  Romae  in 
"  Palatia  Apostolico,  et  Capella  prsedetta,  Die  vii. 
"  Junij.  Anno  suprascripto  Pontificatus  s.  d.  n.  d. 
"  Julij.  PP.  iii.  Anno  secundo  et  laudamo. 

"  Pronuntiavi  ut  supra.     Ego  Bartholomeus  Esgo- 
"  bedo,  et  de  manu  propria  me  subscripsi. 

"  Pronuntiavi  ut  supra.    Ego  Ghisilinus  Dancherts, 
"  et  manu  propria  me  subscripsi. 

"  lo  Don  Jacob  Martelli  faccio  fede,  come  la  sen- 
"  tentia  et  le  due  polize  sopra  notate  sono  fidelmente 
"  impresse  et  copiate  dalla  Copia  delia  medesima 
"  sententia  de  i  sopra  detti  Giudici. 

"  lo  Vincenzo  Ferro  confirmo  quanto  di  sopra. 

"  lo  Stefano  Bettini  detti  il  Fornarino,  confirmo 
*'  quanto  di  sopra. 

"  lo  Antonio  Barr^  confirmo  quanto  di  sopra." 

It  is  to  be  suspected,  as  well  from  the  publication 
of  the  above  sentence,  as  from  the  observations  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 
his  book,  which  has  been  consulted  for  the  purpose, 
that  Vincenzio  formally  retracted  the  opinion  main- 
tained in  the  paper  delivered  in  to  Ghisilino ;  and 
though  the  passages  above  cited  from  his  treatise  do 
in  effect  amount  to   a    confession    that   his    former 


opinion  was  erroneous,  his  publishing  that  work  with- 
out taking  notice  of  the  injury  Vicentino  had  sus- 
tained by  the  sentence  against  him,  is  an  evidence  of 
great  want  of  candour. 

It  seems  that  the  principal  design  of  Vicentino  in 
the  publication  of  his  book  was  to  revive  the  practice 
of  the  ancient  genera,  in  order  to  which  he  invented 
an  instrument  of  the  harpsichord  kind,  to  which  he 
gave  the  name  of  Archicembalo,  so  constructed  and 
tuned,  as  to  answer  to  the  divison  of  the  tetrachord 
in  each  of  the  three  genera :  such  a  multiplicity  and 
confusion  of  chords  as  attended  this  invention,  intro- 
duced a  great  variety  of  intervals,  to  which  the  ordi- 
nary division  of  the  scale  by  tones  and  semitones  was 
not  commensurate,  he  was  therefore  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  giving  to  this  instrument  no  fewer  than 
six  rows  of  keys,  *  Sei  ordini  di  tasti,'  the  powers  of 
which  he  has,  though  in  very  obscure  terms,  ex- 
plained ;  and  indeed  the  whole  of  the  fifth  and  last 
book  of  Vioentino's  work  is  a  dissertation  on  this 
instrument. 

CHAP.  LXXXIV. 

KiRCHER  relates  that  Gio.  Battista  Doni,  who  lived 
many  years  after  Vicentino,*  reduced  the  six  Tasti 
of  his  predecessor  to  three,  and  as  it  should  seem, 
without  essentially  interrupting  that  division  of  the 
intervals  to  which  the  six  Tasti  were  adapted.^  In 
another  place  of  the  Musurgia  he  says  that  the  most 
illustrious  knight  Petrus  a  Valle,  in  order  to  give  an 
example  of  the  metabolic  style,  procured  a  triarmonic 
instrument  to  be  constructed  under  the  direction  of 
Doni.J  This  was  Pietro  Della  Valle,  §  the  famous 
Italian  traveller,  who  appears  to  have  been  intimate 
with  Doni,  for  the  fourth  discourse  at  the  end  of  the 
Annotazioni  of  Doni  is  dedicated  to  him ;  and  Della 
Valle  in  his  book  of  travels  takes  occasion  to  mention 
Doni  in  terms  of  great  respect.  The  triarmonic  in- 
strument mentioned  by  Kircher  is  described  by  Doni 
in  the  fifth  of  his  discourses  at  the  end  of  his  Anno- 
tazioni. 

In  prosecution  of  these  attempts  to  restore  the 
ancient  genera,  a  most  excellent  musician,  Galeazzo 
Sabbatini  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  essays  towards  a 

*  This  person  was  secretary  to  cardinal  Barberini,  afterwards  pope 
Urban  VIII.  He  wrote  a  treatise  De  Praestantia  Musicae  veteris,  ano- 
ther De  Generi  e  di  Mode'  della  Musica,  and  another,  being  annotations 
on  the  latter.  He  possessed  a  considerable  degree  of  musical  erudition, 
but  appears  to  have  been  a  bigot  in  his  opinions.  A  full  account  of  him 
and  his  writings  will  be  given  in  the  course  of  this  work. 

t  Musurg.  torn.  I.  lib.  VI.  pag.  459. 

t  Musurg.  torn.  I.  lib.  VII.  pag.  675. 

§  Pietro  della  Valle  was  a  Roman  gentleman  of  great  learning ;  he 
spent  twelve  years  in  travelling  over  Turkey,  Persia,  India,  anr.  other 
parts  of  the  East.  He  married  a  young  lady  of  Mesopotamia,  named 
Sitti  Maani,  who  dying  shortly  after  his  marriage,  he  postponed  her  in- 
terment, carrying  her  remains  about  with  him  in  his  travels  many  years. 
At  length  returning  to  Rome,  he  caused  her  to  be  buried  with  great  pomp 
in  the  church  of  Araeeli,  twenty-four  cardinals  attending  the  solemnity  ; 
and  the  afflicted  husband  prepared  to  pronounce  a  funeral  oration  over 
her  body,  began  to  deliver  it,  but  was  interrupted  by  his  tears,  and  could 
not  proceed.  The  Roman  poets  of  that  time  celebrated  her  death  with 
verses,  and  there  is  a  book  entitled  Funerale  di  Sitti  Maani  della  Valle, 
celebrato  in  Roma  nel  1627,  e  descritto  da  Girolamo  Rocchi. 


396 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


new  temperament  of  the  great  system  adapted  to  the 
diatonic  genus,  wherein  it  has  been  proposed  to  reduce 
the  several  keys  to  the  greatest  possible  degree  of 
equality  in  respect  to  the  component  intervals  of  the 
diapason.  One  Nicolaus  Ramarinus,  in  the  year  1640, 
invented  a  key -board,  simple  in  its  division,  but 
changeable  by  means  of  registers.*  By  this  invention 
he  effected  a  division  of  the  tone  into  nine  commas ; 
but  neither  was  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  organ  and  harpsichord,  and  other  instruments  of 
the  like  kind,  is  at  this  day  precisely  the  same  as 
when  those  instruments  were  first  constructed. 

The  above-mentioned  work  of  Vicentino  is  vari- 
ously spoken  of  among  musicians.  Gio.  Battista  Doni, 
in  his  treatise  De  Generi  e  de'  Modi  della  Musica, 
cap,  I.  pretends  to  point  out  many  absurdities  in  his 
division  of  the  tetrachord  for  the  purpose  of  intro- 
ducing the  ancient  genera  into  modern  practice,  and 
treats  his  invention  of  the  Archicembalo  with  great 
contempt.  But  in  his  treatise  De  Prsestantia  Musics 
veteris,  he  is  still  more  severe,  and  gives  a  character 
of  Vicentino  at  length  in  the  following  speech,  which 
he  puts  into  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  interlocutors  in 
that  dialogue  : — 

'  I  suppose  you  have  seen  in  a  tract,  which  Donius 

*  has  lately  sent  abroad,  what  depraved  and  absurd 

*  opinions,  and  altogether  foreign  to  the  truth,  one 
'  Nicolaus  Vicentinus  has  conceived  concerning  the 
'  nature,  property,  and  use  of  the  genera  :  he  who,  as  if 
'  he  had  restored  the  music  of  the  ancients  in  its  prin- 
'  cipal  part,  affected  that  specious,  not  to  say  arrogant, 
'  title  or  surname  of  Archimusicus,  and  boasting  sang 
'  that  the  ancient  music  had  just  now  lifted  up  its 

*  head  above  the  deep  darkness.  Do  not  he  and  his 
'  followers  seem  to  think  that  the  nature  and  property 

*  of  the  enarmonic  genus  consists  in  having  the  har- 
'  monical  series,  or  what  is  called  the  perfect  system, 
'  cut  up  into  the  smallest  and  most  minute  intervals  ? 
'  from  whence  arises  that  false  and  ridiculous  opinion 

*  that  the  common  Polyplectra  are  to  be  alone  called 
'  diatonic,  and  that  those  which  have  their  black  keys 

*  divided  in  a  twofold  manner  are  chromatic,  while 
'  those  which  are  thicker  divided,  and  consist  of  more 

*  frequent  intervals,  are  to  be  termed  enarmonic  :  they 
'  would  not  have  fallen  into  this  error  if  they  had  un- 

*  derstood  the  ancient  and  natural  harmonies  in  the 
'  writings  of  Aristoxenus  and  others.     But  if  Vicen- 

*  tinus  had  been  somewhat  better  instructed  in  the 
'  rules  of  the  science,  and  in  the  reading  of  the  ancient 
'  authors,  when  he  undertook  the  province  of  restor- 
'  ing  the  ancient  music,  he  would  not  have  entered 
'  the  sacred  places  of  the  Muses  with  unwashed  feet, 
'  nor  defeated  that  most  ample  praise  he  would  have 
'  deserved  for  his  honest  intentions  by  unprosperous 
'  and  vain  attempts. — I  have  often  wondered  at  the 

*  confidence  of  Vicentinus,  who,  although  he  could  not 
'  but  be  sensible  that  he  had  but  slender,  or  rather  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 

*  Musurgia,  torn.  I.  lib.  VI.  pag.  460,  et  seq. 


'  sentence,  "  Ignorance  makes  men  bold,  but  learning 
"  timid  and  slow."  ' 

To  say  the  truth,  it  does  not  appear  from  his  book 
that  Vicentino's  knowledge  of  the  science  was  derived 
from  any  higher  source  than  the  writings  of  Boetius ; 
and  with  no  better  assistance  than  they  could  furnish, 
the  restoration  of  the  genera  seems  to  have  been  a 
bold  and  presumptuous  undertaking,  and  yet  there 
have  not  been  wanting  musicians  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  found  among  the  madrigals 
of  Dominico  Mazzochi,  printed  at  Rome,  one  intitled 
Planctus  Matris  Euryali  Diatonico-Chroraatico-Enar- 
monico,  that  is  to  say,  in  all  the  three  genera  of  the 
ancients,  which  is  highly  applauded  by  Kircher. 

And  with  respect  to  Vicentino,  so  far  are  the 
writers  on  music  in  general  from  concurring  with 
Doni  in  his  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  his  in- 
strument the  Archicembalo  is  adapted. 

'  The  first  among  the  moderns  that  attempted 
'  compositions  in  the  three  genera,  was  Nicolaus 
'  Vicentinus,  who  when  he  perceived  that  the 
'  division  of  the  tetrachords,  according  to  the  three 
'  genera  by  Boetius,  could  not  suit  a  polyphonous 
'  melothesia  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  un- 
'  deservedly  for  having  changed  the  genera,  that  had 
'  been  wisely  instituted  by  the  ancients,  and  put  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  melothesia  could 
'  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  opinion 
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  Huygens,  the  most  perfect 
of  all,  and  concludes  his  sentiments  on  this  subject 
with  the  following  eulogium  on  Vicentino  :  '  The 
'  first  of  the  moderns  who  mentioned  such  a  division 
'  was  Don  Vincentino,  in  his  book  entitled,  L'Antica 
'  Musica  ridotta  alia  moderna  Prattica,  printed  at 
'  Rome,  1555,  folio.  An  instrument  had  been  made 
'  according  to  this  notion,  which  was  condemned  by 
'  Zarlino  and  Salinas  without  sufficient  reason.     But 

*  Mr.  Huygens  having  more  accurately  examined  the 

*  matter,  found  it  to  be  the  best  temperature  that 

t  Musurgia,  torn.  I.  lib.  VII.  pag.  660. 


Chap.  LXXXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


397 


'  could   be   contrived.      Though   neither   this  great 

*  mathematician,  nor  Zarlino,  Salinas,  nor  even  Don 

*  Vincentino,  seem  to  have  had  a  distinct  notion  of 

*  all  these  thirty-one  intervals,  nor  of  their  names, 
'  nor  of  their  necessity  to  the  perfection  of  music'  * 

Herman  Finck,  chapel -master  to  the  king  of 
Poland,  in  1556,  published  in  quarto  a  book  with 
this  title  '  Practica  musica  Hermanni  Finckii,  ex- 
'  empla  variorum  signorum,proportionum  et  canonum, 
'judicium  de  tonis,  ac  qusedam  de  arte  suaviter  et 

*  artificiose  cantandi  continens  ; '  a  good  musical  in- 
stitute, but  in  no  respect  better  than  many  others  that 
were  published  in  Germany  after  the  commencement 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  The  author,  though  a 
chapel-master,  seems  to  have  been  a  protestant,  for  in 
the  beginning  of  his  work  he  mentions  Luther  of 
pious  memory,  and  confirms  the  accounts  of  him  that 
say  he  loved  and  understood  music. 

Ambrosius  Wilphlingsederus  in  1563,  published 
at  Norimberg,  Erotemata  Musices  Practicse,  a  curious 
book,  and  abounding  with  a  great  variety  of  com- 
positions of  the  most  excellent  masters ;  and  in  the 
same  year 

Lucas  Lossius,  of  Lunenburg,  published  a  book 
with  this  title,  '  Erotemata  Musical  ex  probatissimus 

*  quibus  que  hujus  dulcissima  artis  scriptoribus  ac- 
'  curate  et  breviter  selecta  et  exemplis  puerili  in- 
'  stitutioni  accomodis  illustrata  jam  primnm  ad  usum 
'  scholfe  Lunenburgensis  et  aliarum  puerili  am  in 
'  lucem  edita,  a   Luca  Lossio.      Item  melodiaj   sex 

*  genenim  carminnm  usitatiorum  in  primis  suaves  in 
'  gratiam    puerorum    selectse    et    editse    Noribergae, 

*  M.D.LXIII.'  and  again  in  1570,  with  additions  by 
Christopher  Prsetorius,  a  Silesian  and  chanter  of  the 
church  of  St.  John  at  Lunenburg.  The  title  of  this 
book  of  Lossius  does  in  a  great  measure  bespeak  its 
contents  :  Lossius  was  a  Lutheran  divine,  born  at 
Vacha  in  Hessia  in  the  year  1508,  and  for  above 
fifty  years  rector  of  the  college  or  public  school  at 
Lunenburg,  a  celebrated  instructor  of  youth,  and  very 
well  skilled  in  music.  He  died  anno  1582.  Two 
years  before  his  death,  which  happened  anno  1582, 
he  composed  the  following  epitaph  on  himself : — 

Hac  placide  Lucas  requiescit  Lossius  urna. 

Parte  cinis  terras,  qua  levis  ille  fuit. 
Pars  melior  vivens  coeli  mens  incolit  arcem, 

Inter,  qui  multos  erudiere,  viros. 
Qui  pubi  decies  quinos  atque  amplius  annos 

Tradidit  hie  artes  cum  pietate  bonas. 
Edidit  et  facili  qui  simplicitate  libellos 

Non  paucos,  Christi,  Pieridumque  scholis. 
Finibus  Hassiacis  nemorosis  natus,  et  agris, 

Vacham  qua  praster,  clare  Visurge,  fluis. 
Hsec  ubi  cognoris,  quo  te  via  ducit  euntem, 

Lector  abi,  et  felix  vive,  valeque  diu. 

It  was  this  Lossius  that  published  the  Lutheran 
Psalmodia,  mentioned  in  a  preceding  page.  It  seema 
by  the  numerous  publications  about  this  time  of  little 
tracts,  with  such  titles  as  these,  Erotemata  Musicse, 
Musicse  Isagoge,  Compendium  Musicse,  that  the 
protestants  were  desirous  of  emulating  the  Roman 

*  Letter  from  John  Christoph.  Pepusch,  Mus.  D.  to  Mr.  Abraham  de 
Moivre,  published  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for  the  months  of 
Oct.  Nov.  and  Dec.  1746,  page  266  et  seq. 


catholics  in  their  musical  service,  and  that  to  that 
end  these  books  were  written  and  circulated  through- 
out Germany.  They  were  in  general  printed  in  a 
small  portable  size,  and  a  book  of  this  sort  is  to  be 
considered  as  a  kind  of  musical  accidence  :  that  of 
Wilphlingsederus,  as  also  this  of  Lossius,  are  ex- 
cellent in  their  way  ;  the  merit  of  them  consists  in 
their  brevity  and  perspicuity,  and  surely  a  better 
method  of  institution  cannot  be  conceived  of  than 
this,  whereby  a  child  is  taught  a  learned  language, 
and  the  rudiments  of  a  liberal  science,  at  the  same 
time. 

These,  and  other  books  of  the  like  kind,  calculated 
for  the  instruction  of  children  in  Cantu  chorali  et  in 
Cantu  figurati  vel  mensurali,  i.  e.  in  plain-song  and 
in  figurate  or  mensural  music,  are  for  the  most  part 
in  dialogue,  in  which  the  responses,  according  as  re- 
quired, are  spoken  in  words  or  sung  in  notes.  They 
all  contain  a  division  or  title  De  Clavibus  signatis, 
with  a  type  of  the  cliff's  as  they  are  now  called.  Rhaw 
gives  it  in  this  form  : — 


-$-^- 


Signa  cla- 
vium  in 
utroque 
cantu. 


n 


^ef 


^ 


Et  ponuntur  omnes  in  lineali 
situ,  qusedam  tamcn  sunt  magis 
familiares,  utpote  F  et  C.  g. 
rariuscule.  F  vero  et  d  d  ra- 
fisaime  utimur.     Umle 

Linea  signatas  sustentat  scili- 
cet omnes. 

Et  distant  inter  se  mutuo  per 
diapentem. 

F  tamen  ycififia  distinguat 
septima  quamvis. 


iMf 


And  Wilphlingsederus  thus  : — 


03 


o 


s 


03 
I- 
O 


^ 


7^ 


^ 


tl 


HF^ 


o 

■73 
O 


o 

o 


> 


cS 

s- 
!=! 

C 

B 
a 


D    U 


'^M 


s 


^5 


^^ 


'i 


1 


I 


398 


HISTORY  OP  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


The  Typus  Clavinm  Signatarum  of  Lucas  Lossiua 
is  in  this  form  : — 


c3 
O 


-SV-tfe^ 


1i-^    :§ 


■#■ 


^-^ 


■3i^45 


a^ 


(.. 


^ 


^ 


o 

p 


3 


Lampadius,  an  author  of  the  same  class  with  those 
above-cited,  and  whose  Compendium  Musices  is 
mentioned  in  a  preceding  page,  gives  the  following 

character  /^  as  the  signature  for  G  sol  re  ut  in  the 

series  of  superacutes ;  this  is  worthy  of  observation, 
for  his  Compendium  was  published  in  1537,  and  it  is 
the  character  in  use  at  this  day. 

By  the  above  types  it  appears  that  anciently  five 
keys,  or  cliffs,  as  they  are  called,  were  made  use  of, 
whereas  three  are  now  found  sufficient  for  all  pur- 
poses. It  may  be  said  perhaps  that  T  and  dd  were 
at  no  time  necessary  ;  but  it  seems  that  in  order  to 
imprint  the  place  of  the  cliffs  upon  the  memory  of 
children,  it  was  necessary  in  some  way  or  other  to 
tell  them  that  the  station  of  P  was  a  seventh  above 
r,  and  that  the  other  cliffs  were  a  diapente  distant 
from  each  other ;  this  Lossius  does  in  the  following 
verses  : — 

Linea  signatasclaves  complectitur  omnes 

Mutuo  distantes  inter  se  per  diapentem, 

F  licet  ab  ya/ifia  distinguat  septima  tantum. 

And  Rhaw  in  these  words  : — 

Linea  signatas  sustentat  scilicet  omnes, 

Et  distant  inter  se  mutuo  per  diapentem. 

F  tamen  ab  yajifia  distinguat  septima  quamvis. 

It  therefore  became  necessary  to  give  T  as  the 
terminus  a  quo  for  P,  and  though  the  power  of  dd 
was  sufficiently  ascertained  by  the  cliff  g,  it  is  to  be 
observed  that  the  signature  dd  answered  to  the  rule 
above -cited,  and  preserved  the  appearance  of  re- 
gularity ;  for  by  this  disposition  of  the  cliff,  C 
occupied  the  middle  of  the  scale,  and  as  there  were 
two  cliffs  below,  so  were  there  two  above  it.  Rhaw 
observes  that  the  most  usual  are  P,  C,  and  g,  and 
that  r  and  dd  are  very  rarely  used  ;  he  adds,  that  it 
was  anciently  a  practice  to  make  the  line  for  P  of  a 
red,  and  that  for  C  of  a  yellow  colour,  and  that  in- 
stances thereof  were  in  his  time  to  be  seen  in  ancient 
music  books  :  this  is  a  confirmation  of  a  passage  in 
the  Micrologus  of  Guido  to  the  same  purpose. 

All  these  writers  distinguish  between  the  cliffs 
proper  to  plain-song,  and  those  used  in  figurate  or 
mensural  music,  which  it  was  thought  necessary  to 
do  here,  for  unless  this  be  thoroughly  understood, 
very  little  of  the  music  of  these  and  the  preceding 
times  can  be  perused  with  any  degree  of  satisfaction. 


They  also  severally  exhibit  a  Cantilena  or  actual 
praxis  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 
Cantilena  for  the  practice  of  learners,  inserted  in  a 
subsequent  part  of  this  work,  said  to  have  been 
framed  by  Guido  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  Rhaw,  and 
the  Compendium  Musices  of  Lampadius,  differ  but 
very  little  from  that  of  Guido  above-mentioned. 

Claudius  Sebastianus  published  at  Strasburg  in 
1563  a  book  intitled  Bellum  Musicale,  inter  Plani  et 
Mensuralis  Cantus  Reges.  A  whimsical  allegory, 
but  a  learned  book. 

GiosEFFO  Zarlino,  of  Cliioggia,*  a  most  celebrated 
theorist  and  practical  musician,  was  born  in  the  year 
1540  ;  from  the  greatness  of  his  erudition  there  is 
reason  to  imagine  that  he  was  intended  for  some 
learned  profession  ;  this  at  least  is  certain,  that  it  was 
by  the  recommendation  of  Adrian  Willaert  that  he 
betook  himself  to  the  study  of  music,  and  Salinas 
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  church  or  temple 
of  St.  Mark.  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  modern  times.  He  died  at  Venice  in 
February  1599,  as  Thuanus  relates,  who  has  cele- 
brated him  among  the  learned  men  of  that  time. 

In  the  catalogue  of  the  library  of  Thuanus,  mention 
is  made  of  two  books  of  Zarlino,  the  one  intitled 
Dimostrationi  Harmoniche,  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  Sopplimenti  Musicali ;  but  the 
best  edition  of  these  and  his  other  works  is  un- 
questionably that  of  1589,  in  folio,  printed  at  Venice 
with  this  title,  Tutti  1'  Opere  del  R.  M.  Gioseffo 
Zarlino  Da  Chioggia.  These  consist  of  four  volumes, 
the  first  is  intitled  Istitutioni  Harmoniche,  the  second 
Dimostrationi  Harmoniche  in  cinque  Ragionamenti, 
the  third  Sopplimenti  Musicali ;  the  fourth  volume 
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  practice  of 
music,  and  considered  it  under  all  the  various  forms 
in  which  it  appears  in  the  writings  of  the  Greek 
harmonicians,  and  the  writers  of  later  times  :  as  he 
appears  to  have  been  acquainted  with  the  Greek 
language,  there  is  little  doubt  but  that  he  derived 
his  intelligence  from  the  genuine  source  ;  and  as  to 

t  An  episcopal  city  in  one  of  the  isles  of  the  gulph  of  Venice,  in  Latin 
Clodia,  whence  comes  the  Latin  surname  of  Clodieneis  given  to  Zarlino. 


Chap.  LXXXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


399 


Boetius  and  the  other  Latin  and  Italian  writers,  he 
seems  to  be  possessed  of  all  the  knowledge  that  their 
writings  were  capable  of  communicating. 

As  the  substance  of  what  is  contained  in  the 
ancient  writers  has  already  been  given  in  the  course 
of  this  history,  it  is  unnecessary  to  incumber  it  with 
a  minute  abridgment  of  so  copious  a  work  as  that  of 
Zarlino  ;  and  a  general  account  of  the  contents  of  the 
Istitutioni,  the  Dimostrationi,  and  the  Sopplimenti, 
with  occasional  remarks  and  observations  on  the 
several  particulars  contained  in  them,  will  suffice  to 
shew  the  nature  and  tendency  of  Zarlino's  writings, 
and  exhibit  a  general  view  of  the  merit  and  abilities 
of  their  author. 

The  Istitutioni  begins  with  a  general  eulogium 
on  music,  setting  forth  its  excellence  and  use  as 
applicable  to  civil  and  religious  purposes ;  in  his 
division  of  music  into  mundane  and  humane,  Zarlino 
follows  Boetius  and  other  Latin  writers.  Of  the 
number  Six,  he  says  that  it  comprehends  many 
things  of  nature  and  art ;  and  in  a  far  more  rational 
way  than  Bongus  has  done,  he  considers  its  properties 
60  far  only  as  they  relate  to  music. 

In  his  explanation  of  the  several  kinds  of  propor- 
tion of  greater  and  lesser  inequality,  and  of  the 
difference  between  proportion  and  proportionality,  he 
is  very  particular,  and  very  learnedly  and  judiciously 
comments  upon  Boetius,  who  on  this  head  is  rather 
too  concise. 

The  account  of  the  ancient  system  given  by  him 
cannot  be  supposed  to  contain  any  new  discoveries, 
all  that  can  be  said  about  it  is  to  be  found  in  the 
writings  of  the  Greek  harmonicians,  and  with  these 
he  seems  to  have  been  very  well  acquainted. 

In  his  description  of  that  species  of  the  diatonic 
genus  called  the  Syntonous,  or  intense  of  Ptolemy, 
in  which  the  tetrachord  is  divided  into  tone  major, 
tone  minor,  and  a  greater  hemitone  in  the  ratio  of 
16  to  15,  he  gives  it  the  epithet  of  Natural,  an  ex- 
pression which  seems  to  bespeak  that  predilection 
in  its  favour,  which  he  manifested  in  a  formal  dis- 
pute with  Vincentio  Galilei  on  the  subject,  in  which 
he  contended  for  its  superior  excellence  in  compa- 
rison with  every  other  of  the  diatonic  species,  and 
succeeded. 

Chap.  xxv.  of  the  second  part  of  the  Istitutioni  is 
an  explanation  of  an  instrument  called  the  Mesolabe, 
said  to  have  been  invented  either  by  Archytas  of 
Tarentum,  or  Eratosthenes,  the  use  whereof  is  to 
distinguish,  by  means  of  mean  proportionals,  between 
tlie  rational  and  irrational  intervals,  and  to  demon- 
strate the  impossibility  of  an  equal  division  of  the 
superparticular  ratios.  This  instrument  was  it  seems 
a  great  favourite  with  Zarlino,  for  in  the  Sopplimenti, 
lib.  IV.  cap.  9.  he  enlarges  on  the  utility  of  it,  and 
complains  of  his  disciples  that  they  could  not  be  pre- 
vailed on  to  study  it  with  that  degree  of  attention 
which  it  merited. 

Chap,  xxxix.  contains  a  figure  of  the  diapason, 
with  a  representation  of  the  diatonic  tetrachord,  con- 
stituted of  a  greater  semitone,  in  the  ratio  -^  of  a 
tone  major  f ,  and  tone  minor  ^^  ;  this  is  the  division 
which  Zarlino  throughout  his  works  contends  for  as 
the  natural  and   only   true   one,   and   is  called   the 


syntonous  or  intense  diatonic  of  Ptolemy.  The 
figure  above  -  mentioned  is  thus  delineated  by 
Zarlino  : — 


Tetrachord 
of  the  Syntonous 
Diatonic    accord- 
ing to  ProLEMT. 


D 


180 


IfiO     q"  144     Jj     135 


120        g^       108 


96 


16 
15 


90 


To.maj.  To.min.  Se.niaj.  To.maj.  To.min.   To.maj.  Se.maj 


Chap.  xlix.  contains  the  author's  sentiments  of  the 
ancient  genera  and  their  species,  upon  which  he  does 
not  scruple  to  pronounce  that  the  ancient  division  of 
them  is  vain  and  unprofitable. 

The  third  part  of  the  Istitutioni  contains  the  ele- 
ments of  counterpoint,  and  directs  how  the  several 
parts  of  a  Cantilena  are  to  be  disposed.  It  contains 
also  the  precepts  for  the  composition  of  fugue,  where- 
on discoursing,  the  author  makes  frequent  mention  of 
Jusquin,  Brumel,  and  other  excellent  composers  ;  and 
celebrates,  in  terms  of  the  highest  respect,  the  ex- 
cellencies of  Adrian  Willaert  his  master. 

The  fourth  and  last  part  of  the  Istitutioni  treats  of 
the  modes  or  tones,  that  is  to  say,  those  of  the 
ancients,  and  those  other  instituted  by  St.  Ambrose 
and  pope  Gregory,  and  adapted  to  the  service  of  the 
church.  Zarlino's  account  of  the  former  contains  a 
great  deal  of  that  history  which  is  justly  suspected  to 
be  fabulous,  as  namely,  that  the  Phrygian  was  in- 
vented by  Marsyas;  the  Mixolydian  by  Sappho  of 
Lesbos,  the  poetess;  and  the  others  by  persons  of  whom 
scarce  any  memorials  are  extant.  In  this  part  of 
his  work  Zarlino  very  clearly  explains  the  difference 
between  the  harmonical  and  arithmetical  division  of 
the  diapason,  from  whence  the  two  kinds  of  mode, 
the  authentic  and  the  plagal,  are  known  to  arise ;  but 
here  with  Glareanus  he  contends,  notwithstanding  the 
opinion  of  many  others  to  the  contrary,  that  the 
modes  are  necessarily  twelve  ;  he  does  not  indeed  pro- 
fess to  follow  Glareanus  in  his  division,  but  whether 
he  has  so  done  or  not  is  a  matter  in  which  the 
science  of  music  is  at  this  time  so  little  interested, 
that  it  scarce  deserves  the  pains  of  an  enquiry. 

Chap,  xxxii.  of  this  last  part  contains  some  rules 
for  accommodating  the  harmony  of  a  cantilena  to  the 
words  which  are  the  subject  of  it.  Rules  indeed,  if 
any  can  be  prescribed  for  accommodating  melody  to 
words,  might  be  of  use,  but  between  the  harmony  of 
sounds  and  the  sentiments  of  poetry  there  seems  to 
be  no  necessary  relation. 

The  Dimostrationi  Harmoniche  are  a  series  of  dis- 
courses in  dialogues,  divided  into  five  Ragionamenti. 


400 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


The  author  relates  that  in  the  year  1562,  his  friend 
Adrian  Willaert  being  then  afflicted  with  the  gout, 
he  made  him  a  visit,  and  found  at  his  house  Francesco 
Viola,  chapel  -  master  to  Alfonso  d'Este,  duke  of 
Ferrara,  and  Claudio  Merulo,  whom  he  styles  a  most 
sweet  organist ;  *  they  begin  a  discourse  on  the 
subject  of  music,  in  which  each  delivers  his  senti- 
ments with  great  freedom. 

The  subjects  treated  on  in  the  first  of  the  Ra- 
gionamenti  are  the  proportions  of  greater  and  lesser 
inequality,  and  the  measure  of  intervals.  The  whole 
of  this  dialogue  may  be  said  to  be  a  commentary  on 
Boetius ;  the  thirty-ninth  and  last  proposition  con- 
tains a  demonstration  that  six  sesquioctave  tones  ex- 
ceed the  diapason. 

The  second  and  third  of  the  Ragionamenti  consist 
for  the  most  part  of  demonstrations  of  the  ratios  of 
the  consonances  and  the  lesser  intervals.  In  the 
second,  Prop.  xiv.  is  a  diagram,  an  improvement  on 
the  Helicon  of  Ptolemy,  whereby  the  ratios  of  the 
consonances  are  clearly  demonstrated. 

This  parallelogram  is 
divided  into  six  parts  by 
lines,  which  are  bisected 
by  a  diagonal  line  pro- 
ceeding from  a  point  that 
e  divides  the  side  C  D 
equally,  to  the  opposite 
angle.  The  side  of  the 
a  parellelogram  A  B  is  sup- 
posed to  contain  twelve 
parts ;  the  bisection  of  the 
"d  line  C  D  is  equal,  that  is 
to  say  it  gives  six  parts  on  each  side,  but  the  bisec- 
tion of  the  other  lines  is  such,  as  gives  the  following 
harmonical  proportions,  amounting  in  number  to  no 
fewer  than  forty-five,  as  appears  by  this  table  : — 


12  < 


10^ 


10  Semiditone 

6  Diatessaron 

.9  Diatessaron 

5  Hexachord  minor 

8  Diapente 

4  Diapason 

6  Diapason 

8. 

3  Diapason     and    dia- 

5 Diap.  &  semiditone 

tessaron 

4  Diapason  &  diapente 

2  Disdiapason 

3  Disdiapason 

1  Trisdiapason 

2  Disdiap.  &  diapente 

1  Trisdiap.  &  diapente 

5  Semiditone 

4  Diapente 

9  Tone  minor 

8  Ditone 

6  Hexachord  major 

6. 

3  Diapason 

2  Diapason  &  diapente 

1  Disdiapason  iV;' semi- 

5 Diapason 

ditone 

4  Diapason  and  ditone 

3  Diapason  and  Hexa- 

1 

'  4  Ditone 

chord  major 

H 

3  Hexachord  major 

2  Disdiapason  &  ditone 

2  Diapason  and  ditone 

1  Trisdiap.  and  ditone 

1 

i^  I  Disdiapason  &  ditone 

8  Tone  major 

1 

''  3  Diatessaron 

6  Diapente 

A 

2  Diapason 

5  Heptachord  minor 

\ 

>    1  Disdiapason 

4  Diapason  &  tone  maj. 

<                          r 

3  Diapason  &  diapente 

i 

''  2  Diapente 

2  Disdiapason  and  tone 

H 

1  Diapason    and    dia- 

major 

\ 

i^          pente 

1  Trisdiapason    and 

tone  major 

2  1  Diapason 

9< 


*  Claudio  Merulo,  or  Merula,  of  Correggio,  was  organist  to  the 
duke  of  Parma.  He  composed  masses,  psalms,  and  motets,  and  pub- 
lished Toccata  d'  Intavolatura  d'Organo.  In  Roma,  appresso  Simone 
Vesovio,  1598,  fol. 


The  divisions  of  the  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  division 
of  the  monochord,  and  treats  in  general  terms  of  the 
ancient  system. 

The  fifth  and  last  contains  the  sentiments  of  the 
author  on  the  modes  of  the  ancients,  in  which  little  is 
advanced  that  is  not  to  be  found  elsewhere. 

The  Sopplimenti  Musicali  is  dedicated  to  Pope 
Sixtus  V. ;  the  author  styles  it  '  A  declaration  of  the 
'  principal  things  contained  in  the  two  former  volumes, 
*  and  a  formal  defence  of  the  author  against  the  calum- 
'  nies  of  his  enemies.'  The  ground  of  the  dispute 
between  Zarlino  and  his  adversaries  was  principally 
this,  Zarlino  through  the  whole  of  the  two  former 
volumes,  in  his  discrimination  of  the  five  several 
species  of  the  diatonic  genus,  rejects  the  ditonic 
diatonic  of  Ptolemy  |^  f  f,  which  indeed  seems  to 
be  no  other  than  the  diatonic  of  Pythagoras  himself, 
and  prefers  to  it  the  intense  or  syntonous  diatonic  of 
Ptolemy,  as  it  is  called,  -fg-  f  V»  ^^  being  the  most 
natural  to  the  ear.  This  is  in  truth  the  Diatonic 
of  Didymus,  for  it  was  he  that  first  distinguished 
between  the  greater  and  lesser  tone,  with  this  dif- 
ference, that  he  places  them  in  this  order  \^  ^  f, 
thereby  giving  to  the  lesser  tone  the  first  place  in  the 
tetrachord,  whereas  Ptolemy  gives  it  the  second  ;  and 
in  thus  preferring  the  syntonous  to  the  ditonic, 
Zarlino,  as  Dr.  Wallis  observes,  was  followed  by 
Kepler,  Mersennus,  Des  Cartes,  and  others.f 

This,  the  Lutenists,  who,  as  they  were  for  the 
most  part  Aristoxeneans  in  practice,  had  adopted 
another  tuning,  opposed.  They  contended  for  a 
tetrachord  of  two  equal  tones  and  a  semitone,  but 
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  Galilei,  a  man  of  great  learning  and  inge- 
nuity, and  who,  though  not  a  musician  by  profession, 
was  deeply  skilled  in  the  science.  He  was  besides 
a  most  exquisite  performer  on  the  lute,  and  a  favourer 
of  that  division  of  Aristoxenus  which  is  called  the 
intense,  and  gave  to  the  tetrachord  a  hemitone  and 
two  whole  tones.  This  person,  who  had  formerly 
been  a  disciple  of  Zarlino,  published  as  it  seems  a 
short  examen  of  the  Istitutioni  upon  its  first  publica- 
tion, intitled  '  Discorso  intorno  all'  Opere  del  Zarlino,' 
which  he  criticises  with  an  unwarrantable  degree  of 
severity  ;  but  in  a  subsequent  work,  intitled  '  Dialogo 
della  musica  antica  et  della  moderna,'  he  takes  great 
pains  to  prove  that  the  preference  which  Zarlino  had 
given  to  the  syntonous  species  of  the  diatonic  above- 
mentioned,  had  no  foundation  in  nature.  The  con- 
duct of  Galilei  in  this  dispute  is  worthy  of  remark. 
He  considers  Zarlino  as  an  innovator  or  corrupter  of 

t  Dr.  Wallis  makes  it  a  question  whether  or  no  Zarlino  was  the  first 
that  endeavoured  to  introduce  the  syntonous  diatonic  instead  of  the 
ditonic  diatonic,  but  Galilei,  in  his  Dialogue,  pag.  112,  expressly  asserts 
that  Lodovico  Fogliano  of  Modena,  and  who  published  in  1529  a  folio 
volume  intitled  Musica  Theorica,  of  which  an  account  has  herein  before 
been  given,  was  the  first  who  discovered  that  the  diatonic  of  his  time 
was  not  the  ditonic,  but  the  syntonous  or  intense  diatonic  This,  Zarlino, 
in  the  Sopplimenti,  lib.  HI.  cap.  ii.  seems  to  deny ;  but  the  truth  of  the 
matter  is,  that  Fogliano,  in  the  second  section  of  his  book,  treats  ex- 
pressly '  De  utilitate  toni  majoris  et  minoris,'  which  he  would  hardly 
have  done,  but  with  a  view  to  establish  that  division  of  the  tetrachord 
which  Zarlino  afterwards  contended  for. 


Chap.  LXXXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


401 


music,  and  while  he  is  treating  him  as  such,  he 
endeavours  to  make  it  believed,  that  he  was  the  first 
among  the  moderns  that  attempted  to  introduce  that 
species  of  the  diatonic  which  admitted  of  dissimilar 
tones,  but  fearing  lest  instead  of  a  corrupter  he  might 
in  the  opinion  of  some  be  deemed  an  improver  of 
musical  practice,  he  takes  care  to  inform  the  world, 
and  indeed  expressly  asserts,  that  Lodovico  Fogliano, 
many  years  before  Zarlino,  found  out  and  maintained 
that  the  diatonic  even  of  that  day  was  not  the  di- 
tonic,  but  the  syntonous  diatonic  of  Ptolemy. 

The  Sopplimenti  Musicali  of  Zarlino,  lib.  III. 
cap.  2,  contains  a  defence  of  the  author  against  this 
invidious  charge  of  Galilei,  whom  he  ironically  styles 
his  loving  disciple,  '  il  mio  discepolo  amorevole.' 
As  to  the  merits  of  the  question  between  them,  they 
seem  to  be  determined  in  favour  of  Zarlino,  for  not 
only  have  Kepler,  Mersennus,  and  Des  Cartes  adopted 
the  division  which  he  contended  for,*  but  it  is  the 
only  one  practised  at  this  day. 

*  As  this  assertion  does  at  present  stand  on  no  better  ground  than  a 
bare  dictum  of  Dr.  Wallis,  in  the  appendix  to  las  edition  of  Ptolemy,  it 
may  liere  be  expected  that  in  support  of  it  tlie  opinions  of  the  authors 
above  named  should  severally  be  adduced.  To  begin  with  Kepler.  This 
author,  who  in  his  reasoning  about  music,  affects  a  language  peculiar  to 
himself,  after  giving  the  preference  to  the  division  of  the  tetrachord 
%  V  T^>  ^P^^'^5  of  ^'^°  kinds  of  musical  progression,  the  hard  and 
the  soft,  which  others  characterize  by  the  terms  major  and  minor  third. 
In  the  former  of  these,  proceeding  from  the  syllable  uT,  which  is  the  pro- 
gression referred  to  by  all  who  speak  of  the  disposition  of  the  greater  and 
lesser  tone,  he  says  that  in  the  division  of  the  tetrachord,  nature  herself 
informs  us  that  the  greater  tone  has  the  lower  place,  whereby  he  ex- 
presses his  acquiescence  in  the  opinion  of  Zarlino  and  his  adherents  upon 
the  question  in  debate.     Harmonices  Mundi,  lib.  III.  cap.  vii. 

As  to  Mersennus,  who  appears  to  have  reviewed  the  controversy  with 
great  attention,  he  says  that  nature  pays  no  regard  to  the  conveniency  of 
it,  and  that  though  the  division  of  Aristoxenus  may  for  particular  reasons 
be  preferred  by  those  who  play  on  the  lute,  it  does  by  no  means  follow 
that  it  is  upon  the  whole  the  most  eligible ;  for,  adds  he,  '  of  all  systems 
'  possible,  that  is  the  most  natural  and  easy  to  sing,  which  follows 
'  the  harmonical  numbers,  as  is  experienced  when  good  voices  sing  seve- 
'  ral  parts  together,  who  could  not  do  all  that  is  marked  in  simple  or 
'  diminished  counterpoint  commonly  made  use  of,  unless  they  observed 
'  the  distinction  of  the  greater  and  lesser  tone,  and  that  of  the  greater 
'  mean,  and  lesser  semitone,  and  of  several  others  elsewhere  spoken  of  by 
him.'  Harm.  Univers.  Des  Instruments,  liv.  II.  pag.  61.  And  in 
another  place,  '  that  system  which  consists  of  a  greater  and  lesser  tone, 
'  and  also  of  different  semitones,  and  other  just  intervals  both  consonant 
'  and  dissonant,  is  the  best  of  all ;  and  that  this  is  the  very  nature  of  the 
'  song,  the  ear,  the  imagination,  the  instruments,  and  the  understanding 
'  all  confirm,  provided  experiments  are  made  use  of  for  an  accurate 
'  enquiry  into  it.'     Mersen.  Harmonic,  lib.  V.  De  Dissonantiis,  pag.  86. 

The  sentiments  of  Des  Cartes  on  the  question  which  of  all  others  is 
the  most  eligible  division  of  the  diapason,  are  deducible  from  the  chapter 
in  his  Compendium  Musicse,  intitled  De  Gradibus  sive  Tonis  musicis, 
wherein  lie  asserts  that  the  order  to  be  observed  in  constituting  the  in- 
tervals contained  in  the  diapason  ought  to  be  such,  as  that  a  semitone 
major  shall  have  on  each  side  next  to  it,  a  tone  major  and  a  tone  minor. 
This  disposition  he  illustrates  by  the  following  figure  : — 

O  Q 


CO 

.. 

yK 

Ton  c 

/\ 

minor      /       \ 

1       Tone 

\ 

/     Tone 

\ 

-major 

> 

major 

288 

bM05     SemitoTte 

/ 

'Tr 

KSemitoTie 

576  E 

\    majus^ 

/\ 

^^^ttJllS 

j 

\     muior     1 

CO       ] 

Tone    ^\. 
,    vunor    / 

km  F 

X^ 

1 

CO 

V^ 

s 

The  Sopplimenti  is  of  a  miscellaneous  nature,  for 
it  is  a  defence  of  many  opinions  advanced  by  the 
author  in  his  former  works.  It  contains  also  many 
particulars,  many  diagrams  and  mathematical  pro- 
blems, calculated  to  explain  and  illustrate  his  doctrines. 
In  the  fourth  book  he  treats  of  the  Genera  and  their 
species  or  colours,  as  they  are  called,  and  proposes 
a  temperament  adapted  to  the  lute,  whereby  the  dia- 
pason is  divided  by  semitones  into  twelve  equal  parts. 
In  the  sixth  book  he  treats  of  the  ancient  modes, 
which  with  Glareanus  he  makes  to  be  twelve  in 
number.  In  the  eighth  and  last  book  he  speaks  of 
the  organ,  and  describes  one  in  the  ancient  city  of 
Grado,  the  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  volumes  of  Zarlino's  works, 
viz.,  the  Istitutioni,  Dimostrationi,  and  Sopplimenti, 
some  of  the  most  remarkable  are  these.  Deer  are 
delighted  with  the  sound  of  music,  and  huntsmen  by 
means  thereof  easily  take  them.      Istit.  II.  pag.  11. f 

Upon  which  it  may  be  observed  that  A  is  assumed  for  the  chord  A,  and 
the  other  letters  for  the  corresponding  chords  in  the  scale.     Between  A 

and  B  [7  the  ratio  is  |^  j?  ^,  which  in  smaller  numbers  is  4-t,  and  between 
E  and  F  ?  J  §,  also  4-|-,  both  of  which  are  semitones  major,  4-g-g-  '^  \y 


and  4^-x  's  ir^,  thus  are  produced  the  intervals  contended  for,  4-6-  -g^  U*, 

which  in  the  opinion  of  Zarlino  and  others  constitute  the  syntonous  or 
intense  diatonic  tetrachord  of  Ptolemy,  and  in  that  of  Des  Cartes  is  the 
most  eligible  division  or  temperament  of  that  interval,  and  consequently 
of  the  diapason. 

There  is  little  doubt  but  that  that  division  of  the  tetrachord  which 
constitutes  the  syntonous  or  intense  species  of  the  diatonic  genus  is  in 
theory  the  most  eligible,  and  as  far  as  regards  vocal  music,  it  may  be 
equally  well  adapted  to  practice.  But  it  seems  that  in  such  instruments 
as  the  organ,  and  others  where  the  measure  of  intervals  does  not  depend 
upon  the  performer,  such  a  divison  of  the  tetrachord  as  distinguishes 
between  the  greater  and  lesser  tone  is  not  admissible.  Nay,  were  the 
concords  themselves  in  such  instruments  to  be  uniformly  tuned  to  the 
degree  of  perfection  required  by  a  nice  ear,  some  of  the  consonant  inter- 
vals would  be  so  constituted  as  to  approach  very  nearly  to  discord. 

For  this  reason  it  is  said  that  Zarlino  could  never  prevail  in  his  en- 
deavours to  establish  a  tuning  of  the  organ  correspondent  to  the  division 
of  the  tetrachord  in  the  syntonous  diatonic  ;  for  Bontempi  attests,  that 
not  only  no  organ  in  Italy  or  Europe  was  altered,  or  the  tuning  thereof 
in  any  degree  varied,  in  consequence  of  his  speculations,  but  that  that  of 
the  chapel  of  St.  Mark,  where  he  presided,  continued  exactly  in  the  state 
it  had  been  left  in  by  Claudio  Monteverde,  Giovanni  Rovetta,  and  others 
his  predecessors.  Historia  Musica  di  Bontempi,  Parte  prima,  Corol- 
lario  IV. 

The  difficulties  arising  from  that  surd  quantity  which  in  a  course  of 
numerical  calculation  arises  in  the  division  of  the  diapason,  was  bat 
little  noticed  in  vocal  performance,  for  this  reason,  that  the  voice  in 
singing  accommodates  itself  to  the  ear,  and  with  wonderful  facility  con- 
stitutes only  grateful  intervals,  insensibly  rejecting  such  as  are  dissonant. 
But  in  such  instruments  as  the  organ  this  quantity  was  for  a  long  time 
found  to  be  an  unmanageable  thing ;  a  series  of  fifths  all  perfect  through 
the  scale  was  what  the  ear  would  not  bear,  and  this  consideration  sug- 
gested the  invention  of  what  is  called  a  Temperament,  by  which  is  to  he 
understood  a  tuning,  wherein  by  making  the  intervals  irrational,  more, 
in  respect  of  harmony  and  coincidence  of  sound,  is  given  to  the  disso- 
nances than  is  taken  from  the  consonances:  the  first  essay  of  thi«kind  is 
said  by  Polydore  Virgil,  De  Rerum  Inventoribus,  lib.  III.  cap.  xviii.  to 
have  been  the  invention  of  some  very  learned  man  in  the  science  of 
music,  but  whose  name,  country,  and  even  the  age  he  lived  in,  are 
irrecoverably  lost ;  it  consisted  in  the  intension  of  ttie  diatessaron,  and 
the  remission  of  tlie  diapente,  and  by  necessary  consequence  made  both 
the  tones  equal.  Bontempi,  18G.  Salinas,  lib.  III.  cap.  xiii,  has  re- 
marked upon  this  division  that  the  equality  of  the  tones  implies  the 
taking  away  of  the  comma  ;  and  in  another  place,  that  by  this  division 
the  redundant  commas  in  the  diapason,  which  he  makes  to  be  three,  are 
distributed  throughout  the  diapason  system.  And  this  temperament  is 
preserved  by  those  tuners  of  the  organ  who  make  it  a  rule,  and  it  is 
almost  an  universal  one,  to  tune  the  thirds  as  sharp,  and  the  fifths  as  flat, 
as  the  ear  will  bear  them. 

The  reduction  of  the  tones  to  an  equality  rendered  each  of  them  capable 
of  a  division  into  semituiies,  and  gave  rise  to  the  invention  of  that  called 
by  the  Italians  Systema  Participate,  in  which  the  diapason  is  divided 
into  twelve  semitones,  whereby,  in  the  opinion  of  some,  the  diatonic  and 
chromatic  genera  are  united,  as  indeed  will  seem  to  be  the  case  upon  a 
bare  view  of  the  keys  of  an  organ  or  harpsichord. 

+  The  author  asserts  this  fact  on  the  autliority  of  .^lian,  a  writer  of  no 
great  credit ;  nevertheless  that  these  animals  are  susceptible  of  the  pjwer 

2d 


402 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


— The  human  pulse  is  the  measure  of  the  beats  in 
music.  Ibid.  256. —  Country  people,  and  those  that 
understand  not  music,   naturally  sing  the  diatonic 

of  music  is  not  to  be  disputed,  Plutarch,  in  the  seventh  book  of  his 
Symposiacs,  says  of  deer  and  horses,  that  they  are  of  all  irrational  crea- 
tures the  most  affected  with  harmony.  Playford,  in  the  preface  to  his 
Introduction  to  Music,  says  the  same  thins,  and  adds,  'Myself,  as  I 
'  travelled  some  years  since  near  Royston,  met  a  herd  of  stags,  about  20, 
'  upon  the  road,  following  a  bagpipe  and  violin,  which  when  the  music 
'  played  they  went  forward,  when  it  ceased  they  all  stood  still,  and  in  this 
'  manner  they  were  brought  out  of  Yorkshire  to  Hampton  Court.'  And 
whoever  will  make  the  experiment,  will  find  it  in  his  power  to  draw  to 
him  and  detain  one  of  these  creatures  as  long  as  he  pleases  by  the  sound 
of  a  violin  or  any  instrument  of  that  kind.  Horses  are  also  delighted  with 
the  sound  of  music. 

'  For  do  but  note  a  wild  and  wanton  herd, 

'  Or  race  of  youthful  and  unhandled  colts, 

'  Fetching  mad  bounds,  bellowing  and  neighing  loud, 

'  (Which  is  the  hot  condition  of  their  blood) 

■  If  they  but  hear  perchance  a  trumpet  sound, 

'  Or  any  air  of  music  touch  their  ears, 

'  You  shall  perceive  them  make  a  mutual  stand  ; 

'  Their  savage  eyes  turn'd  to  a  modest  gaze 

'  By  the  sweet  power  of  music' 

Shakespeare's  Merchant  of  Venice,  Act  V.  Scene  I. 
For  this  fact  we  have  also  the  authority  of  the  duke  of  Newcastle,  who 
asserts  it  in  his  book  of  Horsemanship.   Henry  Stephens  also  relates  that 
he  once  saw  a  lion  at  London,  which  would  forsake  his  food  to  hear 
music.     Pref.  ad  Herod. 

Elephants  are  likewise  said  to  be  extremely  susceptible  of  the  power  of 
music.  Suetonius  relates  that  the  emperor  Domitian  had  a  troop  of 
elephants  disciplined  to  dance  to  the  sound  of  music,  and  that  one  of 
them,  who  had  been  beaten  for  not  having  his  lesson  perfect,  was 
discovered  the  night  after  in  a  meadow,  practising  it  by  himself.  In 
the  Melanges  of  Vigneul  Marville,  tom.  III.  is  a  humorous  relation  of 
the  effects  of  music  on  a  number  of  animals  of  different  kinds,  wherein 
it  is  said  that  a  horse,  a  hind,  a  dog,  and  some  little  birds  were  very  much 
affected  by  it,  but  that  an  ass,  a  cow,  a  cat,  and  a  cock  and  hen  were  all 
insensible  of  its  charms. 

In  the  Histoire  de  la  Musique,  et  de  ses  Effets,  tom.  I.  pag.  321,  is 
the  following  curious  relation  to  this  purpose : — 

'  Monsieur  de ,  captain  of  the  regiment  of  Navarre,  was  con- 

'  fined  six  months  in  prison  for  having  spoken  too  freely  to  Monsieur  de 
'  Louvois,  he  begged  leave  of  the  Governor  to  grant  him  permission  to 
'  send  for  his  lute  to  soften  his  confinement.  He  was  greatly  astonished 
'  after  four  days  to  see  at  the  time  of  his  playing  the  mice  come  out  of 
'  their  holes,  and  the  spiders  descend  from  their  webs,  who  came  and 
'  formed  a  circle  roimd  him  to  hear  him  with  attention.  This  at  first  so 
'  much  surprised  him,  that  he  stood  still  without  motion,  when  having 
'ceased  to  play,  all  those  insects  retired  quietly  into  their  lodgings: 
'  such  an  assembly  made  the  officer  fall  into  reflections  upon  what  the 
'  ancients  have  told  us  of  Orpheus,  Arion,  and  Amphion.  He  assured 
'  me  that  he  remained  six  days  without  playing,  having  with  difficulty 
'recovered  from  his  astonishment,  not  to  mention  a  natural  aversion  he 
'  had  for  these  sorts  of  insects,  nevertheless  he  began  afresh  to  give  a 
'concert  to  these  animals,  who  seemed  to  come  every  day  in  greater 
'  numbers,  as  if  they  had  invited  others,  so  that  in  process  of  time  he 
'  found  a  hundred  of  them  about  him.  In  order  to  rid  himself  of  them, 
'  he  desired  one  of  the  jailors  to  give  him  a  cat,  which  he  shut  up  some- 
■  times  in  a  cage  when  he  chose  to  have  this  company,  and  let  her  loose 
'  when  he  had  a  mind  to  dismiss  them,  making  it  thus  a  kind  of  comedy 
'  that  alleviated  his  imprisonment.  I  long  doubted  the  truth  of  this  story, 

'  but  it  was  confirmed  to  me  six  months  ago  by  M.  P ,  intendant  of 

'  the  duchess  of  V .  a  man  of  merit  and'probity,  who  played  upon 

'  several  instruments  to  the  utmost  excellence.     He  told  me  that  being 

'  at ,  he  went  up  into  his  chamber  to  refresh  himself  after  a  walk, 

'  and  took  up  a  violin  to  amuse  himself  till  supper-time,  setting  a  light 
'  upon  the  table  before  him  ;  he  had  not  played  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
'  before  he  saw  several  spiders  descend  from  the  ceiling,  who  came  and 
'  ranged  themselves  round  about  the  table  to  hear  him  play,  at  which  he 
'  was  greatly  surprised,  but  this  did  not  interrupt  him,  being  willing  to 
'  see  the  end  of  so  singular  an  occurrence.  They  remained  upon  the 
'table  very  attentively  until  somebody  came  to  tell  him  supper  was 
'  ready,  when  having  ceased  to  pl,ay,  he  told  me  these  insects  remounted 
'to  their  webs,  to  which  he  would  sufl^er  no  injury  to  be  done.  It  was 
•  a  diversion  with  which  he  often  entertained  himself  out  of  curiosity.' 

The  same  author  says  that  he  once  saw,  at  the  fair  of  St.  Germain,  rats 
dance  in  cadence  upon  a  rope  to  the  sound  of  instruments,  standing  up- 
right, each  holding  a  little  counterpoise,  in  the  manner  of  rope  dancers. 
He  says  he  also  saw  eight  rats  dance  a  figure-dance  as  truly  as  so  many 
professed  dancers  ;  and  that  a  white  rat  from  Lapland  danced  a  saraband 
justly,  and  with  all  the  gravity  of  a  Spaniard. 

Plutarch  relates  that  a  certain  barber,  who  kept  a  shop  in  the  Gree.k 
forum,  had  a  magpye  that  imitated  the  sound  of  musical  instruments, 
the  cry  of  oxen,  and  could  pronounce  the  words  of  men ;  and  that  a 
certain  rich  man  passing  by,  with  trumpeters  in  his  train,  who,  as  was 
usual,  stopped  there  and  played  for  some  time,  the  bird  from  that  day 
became  mute,  to  the  wonder  of  every  one.  Many  reasons  were  given  for 
his  silence,  but  the  true  one  was  he  was  meditating  to  imitate  the  sound 
of  the  trumpets,  for  first  he  was  observed  to  practise  silently  and  to  him- 
self the  tune  they  had  played,  at  last  he  broke  out,  and  sang  it  so  truly 
and  melodiously,  that  all  were  astonished  who  heard  him. 

CcElius  Rhodiginus  relates  that  he  saw  at  Rome  a  parrot  which  Cardinal 

Ascanius  had  purchased  for  a  hundred  pieces  of  gold,  that  pronounced 

and  clearly  articulated,  without  hesitation  or  interruption,  the  words  of 

the  Apostle's  Creed. 

And  lastly,  Kircher  relates,  that  when  Basilius  the  emperor  of  the 


octave  with  a  third  and  sixth  major.  Ibid.  262. — 
Domenico  da  Pesaro,  an  excellent  fabricator  of  harp- 
sichords, and  other  instrumenti  da  penna.  Ibid. 
171. — Boccace  invented  the  Rima  Ottava.  Ibid. 
3S1. — Jusquin  considered  the  fourth  as  a  consonance, 
and  used  it  in  two  parts  without  any  accompaniment. 
Ibid.  187. — Vincenzo  Colombi,  and  Vincenzo  Colonna 
of  Italy,  two  organ-makers,  inferior  to  none  in  the 
world.  Ibid.  374. —  Michael  Stifelius,  an  excellent 
mathematician,*  and  Nicolo  Tartaglia  of  Brescia,"]' 
attempted  an  equal  division  of  the  tone,  but  without 
success.  Dimost.  146. — Adrian  Willaert  persuaded 
Zarlino  to  the  study  of  music.  Ibid.  12. —  The 
Chromatists  of  Zarlino's  time  were  in  his  opinion  the 
enemies  of  good  music.  Ibid.  215. — Vincenzo  Co- 
lombi, the  famous  organ-maker,  made  the  author  a 
monochord,  diatonically  divided,  by  semitone  major, 
tone  major,  and  tone  minor.  Ibid.  198. — Bede,  who 
wrote  on  music,  makes  use  of  the  terms  Concentus 
and  Discantus,  from  whence  it  is  to  be  inferred  that 
music  in  parts  was  known  in  his  time.  Soppli.  17. 
— Gioseffi  Guammi  of  Lucca,  an  excellent  organist 
and  composer.  Ibid.  18. 

The  fourth  and  last  volume  of  Zarlino's  work  is 
on  miscellaneous  subjects.  It  contains  a  treatise  on 
Patience,  a  discourse  on  the  origin  of  the  Capuchin 
Friars,  and  an  answer  to  some  doubts  that  had  arisen 
touching  the  correction  of  the  Julian  calendar. 

From  the  foregoing  account  of  the  works  of  Zar- 
lino it  sufficiently  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  Bannius  has  given  of 
him  and  his  writings.  '  Joseph  Zarlino  of  Chioggia 
'  was  a  great  master  of  the  theory  of  music.  In  his 
'  learned  Institutions,  Demonstrations,  and  Supple- 
'  ments  published  in  Italian  at  Venice,  1580,  he  has 
'  explained  and  improved  the  science  with  much 
'  greater  success  than  any  other  author.  He  is  some^ 
'  what  prolix,  but  his  learning  amply  compensates  for 

*  that  fault.     John   Maria  Artusius  Bononiensis  re- 

*  duced  the  precepts  of  Zarlino  into  a  Compendium, 
'  and  this  again  into  tables.  In  these  he  sets  forth  the 
'  science  of  music  in  a  short,  clear,  and  perspicuous 
'  manner.  There  are  others  who  have  written  on 
'  music,  whether  they  equal  Zarlino  or  not  I  do  not 
'know,  at  least  they  do  not  surpass  him. —  So  that 

East,  at  the  persuasion  of  Santabarenus,  had  thrown  his  son  Leo  into 
prison  on  suspicion  of  his  having  conspired  against  him,  the  household 
lamented  the  fate  of  Leo,  and  sang  mournful  verses,  these  a  parrot 
learned ;  and  Basilius  when  he  heard  the  parrot  repeat  them,  and  in  a 
melancholy  tone  pronounce  the  name  of  Leo,  was  so  affected  that  he  re- 
leased him,  that  it  might  not  be  said  he  was  overcome  by  a  parrot  in 
tenderness  for  his  son. 

*  Michael  Stifelius  was  a  German  Lutheran  minister,  a  man  of  learning, 
and  particularly  skilled  in  the  science  of  arithmetic,  by  the  help  whereof 
he  undertook  to  predict  that  at  ten  in  the  morning  of  the  third  day  of 
October,  1533,  the  world  would  be  at  an  end  ;  early  in  the  morning  of 
that  day  Stifelius  ascended  the  pulpit,  and  exhorted  his  hearers  to  make 
themselves  ready,  for  that  the  minute  was  at  hand  in  which  they  were 
to  ascend  to  heaven  with  the  very  clothes  that  they  had  then  on;  the 
hour  passed,  and  the  people  finding  themselves  deceived,  fell  on  their 
pastor,  and  had  he  not  escaped,  would  probably  have  killed  him;  however, 
by  the  interest  of  Luther,  he  got  reinstated  in  his  church.  Thuanus 
and  other  historians  relate  this  fact  with  all  its  circumstances,  and 
Camerarius  in  his  Historical  Meditations  has  made  a  very  comical  story 
of  it :  the  whole  may  be  seen  in  Bayle,  who  has  an  article  for  Stifelius. 

+  Nicolo  Tartaglia  was  an  excellent  mathematician  ;  he  translated 
Euclid  into  the  Italian  language,  and  wrote  a  treatise  Di  Numero  et 
Misure.     Apostolo  Zeno  styles  liim  '  Un  dotto  Bresciano.' 


Chap.  LXXXIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


403 


'  Zarlino  alone  will  serve  instead  of  the  all  the  rest  : 
'  without  him  the  opinions  of  the  ancients  cannot  be 
'  understood,  nor  a  perfect  knowledge  of  this  science 
'  be  easily  attained.*     But  he  does  not  come  up  to 

*  the  perfection  of  the  modern  music.  I  have  com- 
'  mended  Zarlino  above  all  the  rest,  not  because  the 
'  writings  of  other  men  on  this  subject  are  of  no  value, 
'  for  they  contain  many  excellent  and  learned  in- 
'  structions,  but  because  he  is  the  best  writer  on  this 

*  subject,  and  as  many  authors  having  given  but  an 
'  imperfect  account  of  music,  and  this  defect  must  be 
'  supplied  by  great  study,  industry,  and  various 
'  reading,  I  cannot  recommend  any  one  of  them  to 
'  those  who  study  this  art  except  Zarlino.  Besides, 
'  few  of  them  have  at  the  same  time  thoroughly  exa- 
'  mined  and  understood  both  the  theoretical  and 
'  practical  part  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 

*  author  who  has  succeeded  in  it.  His  Compendium, 
'  as  it  is  drawn  up  by  John  Maria  Artusius  Bono- 
'  niensis,  is   an    excellent  method,  and   may  be   of 

*  singular  use  in  the  practice  of  musical  composition.'! 

Artusi  is  by  this  account  of  Bannius  so  connected 
with  Zarlino,  that  it  becomes  necessary  to  speak  in 
this  place  of  him  rather  than  of  Vincentio  Galilei, 
the  great  opponent  of  the  latter.  The  Compendium 
above-mentioned  was  published  at  Venice  in  1586, 
and  therefore  must  have  been  taken  either  from  the 
first  or  second  edition  of  the  Istitutioni.  It  is  en- 
titled '  L'Arte  del  Contraponto  ridotta  in  tavole,  dove 
'  brevemente  si  contiene  i  precetti  a  quest'  arte  ne- 

*  cessarii.'  The  author  professes  to  follow  the  mo- 
derns, and  particularly  Zarlino,  from  whose  work 
above-mentioned  he  has  extracted  a  variety  of  ex- 
cellent rules.  These  are  disposed  in  analytical  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  said  to  be  one  of  the  books 
of  the  greatest  use  to  a  practical  composer  of  any 
now  extant. 

In  1 589  Artusi  published  a  second  part  of  L'Arte 
del  Contraponto,  intended,  as  the  title-page  declares, 
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  Del  Salvatore  at  Bologna  :  a  con- 
sideralile  time  after  the  publication  of  his  book  en- 
titled L'Arte  del  Contraponto,  he  published  a  treatise 

*  Notwithstanding;  this  encomium  on  Zarlino,  which  at  least  implies 
that  he  was  well  skilled  in  the  ancients,  there  have  not  been  wanting 
those  who  have  asserted  that  he  never  read  them.  Bontempi,  speaking 
of  the  modern  system,  in  which  most  of  the  intervals  are  irrational,  uses 
these  words,  '  Egli  non  ^  ne  il  Sintono  antico,  ne  il  Sintono  reformato  da 
'  Tolemeo,  come  infelicemente  sostenta  il  Zarlino,  il  quale,  senza  Greca 
'  litteratura,  overo  senza  haver  letto  overo  considerato  la  dottriiia  de' 
'  Greci,  da  I'essere  ad  un'  altro  sintono  a  modo  suo,  non  constituito  da 
'padri  della  scientia.'     Hist.  Music,  pas.  188. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  hut  that  Zarlino  was  acquainted  with  the 
Greek  language,  seeing  that  his  writings  abound  with  quotations  from 
the  Greek  authors  ;  but  whether  he  had  ever  seen  the  Manual  of  Nico- 
machus,  the  Elements  of  Aristoxenus,  the  three  books  of  Aristides  Quin- 
tilianus  De  Musica,  or  the  Harmonics  of  Ptolemy,  with  the  Commentaries 
of  Porphyry  and  Manuel  Bryennius  thereon,  may  be  questioned,  since 
Salinas,  who  wrote  after  him,  intimates  that  in  his  time  they  were  ex- 
tant only  in  manuscript,  and  that  by  the  favour  of  the  Cardinal  of 
Burgos  he  procured  transcripts  of  them  from  the  library  of  St.  Mark  at 
Venice. 

+  Joan.  Alberti  Banni  Dissertatio  Epistolica  de  Musicse-Natura.  Lugd. 
Bat.  IfiS",  pag.  29.  57. 


Delle  Imperfettioni  della  moderna  Musica,  in  two 
parts,  with  a  view  to  correct  some  abuses  in  music 
which  had  been  introduced  by  modern  writers  and 
composers  ;  he  was  the  author  also  of  a  little  tract  in 
quarto,  published  in  1604,  intitled  '  Impresa  del 
'  Molto  R.  M.  Gioseffo  Zarlino  da  Chioggia  : '  of 
these  an  account  vnll  be  given  hereafter. 

Vincentio  Galilei  is  next  to  be  spoken  of.  He 
was  of  Florence,  and  as  it  seems  a  man  of  rank,  for 
in  the  title-page  of  his  books  he  styles  himself 
'  Nobile  Fiorentino,'  and  the  father  of  the  famous 
Galileo  Galilei,  the  mathematician.  He  had  been 
a  disciple  of  Zarlino,  and,  by  the  help  of  his  in- 
structions, joined  with  an  unwearied  application  to 
the  study  of  the  ancients,  became  an  excellent 
speculative  musician.  Of  the  instruments  in  use 
in  his  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 ;  |  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  favour  the 
Aristoxenean  principles,  which  Zarlino  throughout 
his  works  labours  to  explode.  Galilei  censured 
many  of  the  opinions  of  his  master  in  a  tract 
intitled  '  Discorso  intorno  all'  Opere  del  Zarlino,' 
which  the  latter  has  taken  notice  of  in  the  second 
volume  of  his  works ;  but  in  1581  he  published  a  larger 
work,  intitled  '  Dialogo  della  Musica  antica  e  mo- 
derna,' written,  as  the  title-page  expresses  it,  '  in  sua 
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  takes  notice  of  the  urbanity,  as  he  calls  it, 
of  the  disciple  to  his  preceptor,  as  an  instance  where- 
of he  cites  these  w^ords  from  the  table  to  Galilei's 
Dialogue,  *  Gioseffo  Zarlino  si  attribuisce  per  sue 
'  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 and  his  writing's. 

The  division  of  the  tetrachord  which  Galilei  con- 
tended for,  was  that  called  the  syntonous  or  intense 
diatonic  of  Aristoxenus,  which  supposes  the  dia- 
tessaron  to  contain  precisely  two  tones  and  a  half, 
according  to  the  judgment  of  tlie  ear.  Ptolemy  has 
given  it  the  ratio  of  12,  24,  24,  but  Galilei  failed  in 
his  attempt  to  establish  it ;  and  the  syntonous  or 
intense  diatonic  of  Ptolemy  is,  as  it  is  said,  the  only 
division  which  the  moderns  have  received  into 
practice.  § 

Galilei  was  also  the  author  of  a  book  intitled  '  II 
'  Fronimo,  Dialogo  sopra  I'Arte  del  ben  intavolare 

X  Doni  calls  the  harpsichord  Clavichordium  Matronale. 

§  This  is  the  sentiment  of  Dr.  Wallis,  as  delivered  by  him  in  the 
Appendix  to  his  edition  of  Ptolemy,  and  is  confirmed  by  Dr.  Pepusch  in 
his  letter  to  Mr.  de  Moivre,  published  in  the  Philosophical  Transaction* 
for  the  year  174R  ;  nevertheless  it  is  said  that  since  the  invention  of 
a  temperament  the  ancient  distinctions  of  ditonic  diatonic,  inten.se  di». 
tonic.  &c.  have  justly  been  laid  aside.  Vide  Harmonies  by  Dr.  Robert 
Smith,  2d.  edit.  pag.  33,  this  is  the  more  likely  to  be  true,  as  the  tuner* 
of  instruments  measure  their  intervals  by  the  ear,  and  are  therefore  said 
by  Mersennus  to  be  Aristoxeneans  in  practice. 


404 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


'  e  rettamente  suonare  la  Musica.  In  Venezia,  1583 ;' 
the  design  whereof  is  to  explain  that  kind  of 
musical  notation  practised  by  the  composers  for  the 
lute,  called  the  Tablature.*  The  Dialogo  della 
Musica,  notwithstanding  the  objections  it  is  open  to, 
is  replete  with  curious  learning,  and  seems  to  have 
been  the  effect  of  deep  research  into  the  writings  of 
antiquity.  Among  other  particulars  contained  in  it 
are  these.  The  Battuta,  or  beating  of  time,  was  not 
practised  by  the  ancients,  but  was  introduced  by  the 
Monks  for  the  regulation  of  the  choir,  101.— The 
monochord  was  invented  by  the  Arabians,  133. — 
Diodes,  and  not  Pythagoras,  in  the  opinion  of  some, 
first  discovered  the  musical  proportions  by  the  sound 
of  an  earthen  vessel,  127. — Glareanus  did  not  under- 
stand the  modes  of  the  ancient  Greeks,  72. — Marcianus 
Capella,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  modes,  was  an  Aris- 
toxenean,  56. — The  music  of  the  moderns  is  despised 
by  the  learned,  and  approved  of  only  by  the  vulgar, 
83. — The  Romans  derived  their  knowledge  of  music 
from  the  Greeks,  1. — At  the  close  of  this  work  he 
gives  a  probable  account  of  the  inventors  of  many  of 
the  instruments  now  in  use,  of  which  notice  has  herein 
before  been  taken.  Speaking  of  the  lute,  he  mentions 
a  fact  which  an  English  reader  will  be  glad  to  know, 
namelv,  that  in  his  time  the  best  were  made  in  England. 
The  style  of  Galilei  is  clear  and  nervous,  but  negligent. 
Nice  judges  say  it  is  in  some  instances  ungrammatical, 
nevertheless,  to  speak  of  his  Dialogue  on  ancient  and 
modern  music,  it  abounds  with  instruction,  and  is  in 
short  an  entertaining  and  valuable  work. 

CHAP.  LXXXV. 

Franciscus  Salinas  flourished  about  the  middle 
of  the  sixteenth  century  ;  he  was  a  native  of  Burgos 
in  Spain,  and  the  son  of  the  qxiestor  or  treasurer  of 
that  city ;  and  though  he  laboured  under  the  mis- 
fortune of  incurable  blindness,  composed  one  of  the 
most  valuable  books  on  music  now  extant  in  any 
language.  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  an  injury  to  his 
memory  to  abridge  it. 

'  From  my  very  infancy  I  devoted  myself  to  the 
study  of  music  ;   for  as  I  had  sucked  in  blindness 

*  from  the  infected  milk  of  my  nurse,  and  there  re- 

*  maining  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  much  I  succeeded 

*  therein  I  leave  to  the  judgment  of  others  ;  but  this 

*  The  Tablature  is  a  method  of  notation  adapted  to  the  lute,  and 
other  instruments  of  the  like  kind,  in  which  the  chords  are  represented 
by  a  corresponding  number  of  lines,  and  on  these  are  marked  the  letters 
a,  b,  c,  &c.  which  letters  refer  to  the  frets  on  the  neck  of  the  instrument. 
The  time  of  the  notes  is  signified  by  marks  over  the  letters  of  a  liooked 
form,  that  answer  to  the  minim,  crotchet,  quaver,  &o.,  this  is  the  French 
tablature,  but  the  Italians,  and  also  the  Spaniards,  till  of  late  years  made 
use  of  figures  instead  of  letters.  Galilei's  Dialogue  teaches  the  tablature 
by  figures,  the  other  method  is  explained  in  a  book  written  by  Adrian  le 
Roy  of  Paris,  in  1578,  the  first  of  tlie  kind  ever  published,  of  which  a  full 
account  will  hereafter  be  given. 


I  dare  affirm,  that  he  who  would  perfectly  under- 
stand the  doctrine  of  Aristoxenus,  Ptolemy,  and 
Boetius,  and  other  famous  musicians,  should  be  long 
and  much  practised  in  this  part  of  music,  since  every 
one  of  those  has  written  concerning  the  first  part  of 
music  which  is  called  Harmonics,  and  belongs  to  the 
composition  of  instrumental  harmony ;  and  a  man 
who  is  versed  in  the  musical  instruments  which  we 
make  use  of,  will  be  able  to  judge  more  readily  and 
perfectly  of  those  things.  But  lest  I  should  seem 
to  say  more  of  the  studies  of  other  men  than  of  my 
own,  be  it  known  that  while  I  was  yet  a  boy  there 
came  into  our  country  a  young  woman  born  of  ho- 
nest parents,  and  famous  for  her  knowledge  of  the 
Latin  language,  who,  as  she  was  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  perhaps  I  should 
never  have  learned  from  any  other,  because  either 
that  never  came  into  my  father's  head,  or  because 
the  generality  of  practical  musicians  persuaded  him 
that  letters  would  prevent  or  interrupt  my  learning 
of  music  ;  but  I  growing  more  eager  for  instruction 
from  this  little  of  learning  that  I  had  now  got,  pre- 
vailed 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- 
sophy and  the  arts,  but  the  narrowness  of  my  cir- 
cumstances obliging  me  to  leave  that  university, 
I  went  to  the  king's  palace,  where  I  was  very  kindly 
received  by  Petrus  Sarmentus,  archbishop  of  Com- 
postella  ;  and  as  he  was  afterwards  taken  into  the 
number  of  cardinals,  I  went  with  him  to  Rome, 
more  for  the  sake  of  learning  than  of  enriching  my- 
self, where  conversing  with  learned  men,  of  whom 
there  is  always  a  great  number  there,  I  began  to  be 
ashamed  of  my  ignorance  in  the  art  which  I  pro- 
fessed, not  being  able  to  give  any  reason  for  those 
things  I  spoke  of;  and  I  at  length  perceived  this 
saying  of  Vitruvius  to  be  very  true,  and  that  it 
might  be  applied  as  well  to  music  as  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  those  who 
place  their  whole  dependance  on  reasoning  and 
learning  alone,  seem  to  pursue  the  shadow  and  not 
the  thing  ;  but  those  who  are  masters  of  both,  like 
men  armed  from  head  to  foot,  attain  their  ends  with 
greater  facility  and  reputation."  Wherefore  when 
I  found  from  Aristotle  that  the  ratios  of  numbers 
were  the  exemplary  causes  of  consonants  and  har- 
monical  intervals,  and  perceiving  that  neither  all  the 
consonants  nor  the  lesser  intervals  were  constituted 
according  to  their  lawful  ratio,  I  endeavoured  to  in- 
vestigate the  truth  by  the  judgment  both  of  reason 
and  the  senses,  in  which  pursuit  I  w^as  greatly 
assisted,  not  only  by  Boetius,  whom  every  musician 
has  in  his  mouth,  but  by  several  manuscript  books 
of  the  ancient  Greeks  not  yet  translated  into  Latin, 
great  plenty  whereof  I  found  there,  but  above  all, 
three  books  of  Claudius  Ptolemajus  (to  whom  whether 
music  or  astronomv  be  most  indebted  I  cannot  sav) 


Chap.  LXXXV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


405 


'  on  harmonics,  from  the  Vatican  library,  and  of  Por- 

*  phyrius's  Comments  thereon,  constructed  of  great 

*  and  vahiable  things  collected  from  the  reading  of 
'  the  ancients,  which  were  procured  for  me  by  Car- 
'  dinal  Carpensis  ;  also  two  books  of  Aristoxenus  De 

*  Harmonicis  Elementis,  and  also  two  books  of  Nico- 
'machus,  whom  Boetius  has  followed,  one  book  of 
'  Bacchius,  and  three  books  of  Aristides,    likewise 

*  three  of  Bryennius,  which  the  Cardinal  of  Burgos 
'  caused  to  be  transcribed  at  Venice  from  the  library 
'  of  St.  Mark ;  so  that  being  made  more  learned  by 
'  what  they  had  well  and  truly  said,  and  more  cautious 
'  by  what  was  otherwise,  I  was  able  to  attain  to  an 
'  exact  knowledge  of  this  art,  in  the  search  and  exa- 
'  mination  whereof  I  spent  upwards  of  thirty  years, 
'  till  at  length,  oppressed  by  many  misfortunes,  more 

*  especially  by  the  death  of  the  two  cardinals  and  the 
'  viceroy  of  Naples,  who  all  loved  me  more  than  they 

*  enriched  me,  and  by  the  loss  of  three  brothers,  who 
'  were  all  slain,  I  determined  to  return  to  Spain,  con- 

*  tent  with  what  little  I  had,  which  might  serve  to 
'  supply  me  with  a  very  slender  maintenance ;  and 
'  I  also  proposed  to  spend  the  small  remainder  of  my 
'  life  within  my  own  walls  in  an  honest  poverty,  and 

*  sing  only  to  myself  and  the  Muses  : 

'  Nam  nee  divitibus  contingunt  gaudia  solis, 
'  Nee  vixit  male,  qui  natus  moriensque  fefellit. 

*  But  I  imagine  it  seemed  good  to  the  greatest  and 
'  best  God  that  it  should  be  otherwise,  for  he  recalled 
«  me  into  Spain  from  Italy,  where  I  had  lived  almost 
« twenty  years,  not  altogether  in  obscurity,  and  of  all 
« the  other  towns  in  Spain  in  which  I  might  have 
t  practised  the  musical  art  with  sufficient  premiums, 
t  permitted  me  at  length  to  return  to  Salamanca,  after 
» an  absence  of  almost  thirty  years  from  the  time 
'  I  had  left  it,  where  a  stipend  sufficiently  liberal  was 
'  appointed  for  a  professor  of  music  capable  of  giving 
'  instructions  both  in  the  theory  and  practice.     For 

*  Alphonsus  king  of  Castile,  the  tenth  of  that  name, 
'  and  surnamed  the  Wise,  who  founded  and  endowed 

*  this  professorship,  knew  that  the  science  of  music,  no 
'  less  than  the  other  mathematical  arts,  in  which  he 

*  greatly  excelled,  ought  to  be  taught ;  and  that  not 
'  only  the  practical  but  the  speculative  part  was  ne- 

*  cessary  for  a  musician.     Wherefore  he  erected  that 

*  school  among  the  first  and  most  ancient,  and  as  a 

*  teacher  was  at  that  time  wanted,  and  one  was  sought 
'  after  who  was  capable  of  teaching  both  parts  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  my  studies 
in  music,  I  was  adjudged  qualified  for  that  employ- 

*  ment,  and  obtained  the  chair,  which  was  thereupon 
'  endowed  with  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  Salinas  has  related  of 
himself  and  his  fortunes,  the  following,  grounded  on 
the  testimony  of  others,  may  be  added,  viz.,  that  being 
an  admirable  performer  on  the  organ  and  other  instru- 
ments, he  was  in  great  esteem  among  persons  of  rank, 


and  particularly  with  Paul  IV.  then  pope,  by  whose 
favour  he  was  created  Abbat  of  St.  Pancratio  della 
Rocca  Salegna,  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  Thuanus 
relates  that  he  died  in  the  month  of  February,  1590, 
being  seventy-seven  years  of  age.  Johannes  Scri- 
banius,  a  professor  of  the  Greek  language,  his  con- 
temporary, wrote  the  following  verses  in  praise  of 
him  : — 

Tiresise  quondam  eseco  pensaverat  auetor 

Naturge  damnum  munere  fatidieo. 
Luminis  amissi  jacturam  eascus  Homerus 

Pignore  divini  sustinet  ingenii. 
Demoeritus  visu  eernens  languescere  mentis 

Vires,  tunc  oculos  eruit  ipse  sibi. 
His  ita  dum  doctas  mentis  eonstaret  acumen, 

Corporis  gequanimi  damna  tulere  sui. 
Unus  at  liic  magnus  pro  multis  ecce  Salinas 
Orbatus  visu,  prestat  utrumque  simul. 

The  treatise  De  Musica  of  Salinas  is  divided  into 
seven  books  ;  in  the  first  he  treats  of  proportion  and 
proportionality,  between  which  two  terms  he  dis- 
tinguishes, making  Proportion  to  signify  the  ratio 
between  two  magnitudes,  and  Proportionality  a  cer- 
tain analogy,  habitude,  or  relation  between  propor- 
tions themselves.  He  says  that  as  proportion  cannot 
be  found  in  fewer  than  two  numbers,  so  proportion- 
ality must  consist  at  least  of  two  proportions  and 
three  numbers,  whose  mean  divides  them  agreeably 
to  the  nature  of  the  proportionality.  He  says  that 
in  the  time  of  Boetius  no  fewer  than  ten  different 
kinds  of  proportionality  were  known  and  practised 
by  the  arithmeticians,  but  that  all  that  are  necessary 
in  the  speculative  part  of  music  are  those  three  in- 
vented by  Pythagoras,  and  mentioned  by  Aristotle 
and  Plato,  namely,  arithmetical,  geometrical,  and  har- 
monical,  concerning  which  severally  he  thus  speaks  : 

'  We  call  that  an  Arithmetical  mean  which  is  sepa- 
'  rated  from  either  extreme  by  equal  differences  and 
'  unequal  proportions  ;  by  Differences  we  mean  the 
'  quantities  of  the  excesses  which  are  respectively 
'  found  between  the  numbers  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  equal  difference,  which  is  the  number  2,  but 
'  the  proportions  between  the  mean  and  the  extreme 
'  terms  are  unequal,  for  6  to  4  makes  a  sesquialtera, 

*  and  8  to  6  a  sesquitertia,  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 
'  equal  to  2,  whereas  the  proportions  are  unequal,  as 
'  we  have  said.     WTiat  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  sesquialtera  and  ses- 
'  quitertia,  the  greater  of  which  proportions,  the  ses- 
'  quialtera,  is  found  in  the  lesser  numbers  3  to  2,  and 
'  the  lesser,  the  sesquitertia,  in  the  greater  numbers 
'  4  to  3,  as  these  numbers  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  same  duple  4  to  2,  the  snm  of  whose  terms 


406 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX, 


is  6,  and  the  half  thereof  3,  is  the  arithmetical  mean 
between  them.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  if  the  num- 
ber arising  from  the  snm  of  the  two  extremes  be  m\- 
even  (which  is  the  case  when  one  is  even  and  the 
other  uneven),  and  consequently  the  half  thereof 
cannot  be  had,  you  must  double  the  extremes,  and 
then  their  sum  will  be  an  even  number,  and  its  half 
may  be  found  ;  thus  between  3  and  2,  because  their 
sum  5  is  an  uneven  number,  no  arithmetical  mean 
can  be  found  in  whole  numbers,  for  they  are  distant 
from  each  other  only  by  unity,  which  is  indivisible, 
wherefore  they  must  be  doubled,  to  have  6  and  4, 
which  being  added  together  make  10,  and  the  half 
thereof  5  will  be  the  mean  between  them,  and  this 
is  sufficient  for  the  explanation  of  arithmetical  pro- 
portionality. 

'  Geometrical  proportionality  is  that  in  which  the 
mean  is  distant  from  each  extreme  by  equal  propor- 
tions 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,  but  the  differences  are  un- 
equal, because  2  is  distant  from  1  by  unity,  and  from 
4  by  2,  as  these  numbers  shew  : — 


i: 


Difference 
2      I      1 


Duple  1  Duple 


Quadruple 


Geometrical  division 
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  tliat  are  compounded  of  two  equal 
'  ones,   as   the   quadruple,   the   sum  whereof  is  two 

*  duples,  as  is  shewn  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 
'  sesquialteras,  as  appears  in  these  numbers,  4,  G,  9, 
'  and  in  these  numbers,  25,  9,  which  contain  2  super- 

*  bipartient  3,  as  these  numbers  shew,  9,  15,  25  ;  and 
'  thus  examples  are  frequently  to  be  met  with  in  all 
'  kinds  of  proportions  except  in  such,  as  are  super- 

*  particular,  for  a  superparticular  proportion  cannot 
'  be  divided  into  two  equal  proportions  in  a  certain 
'  determined  number.  This  proportionality  has  this 
'  peculiar  to  it,  that  what  in  it  is  called  the  geometrical 
'  divisor  or  the  mean,  being  multiplied  into  itself,  will 

*  give  the  same  product  as  arises  from  the  multipli- 

*  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- 

*  equal  differences,  for  (]  is  distant  from  4  by  2,  and 
'  from  9  by  3.  I  say  that  6  multiplied  into  itself  will 
'  yield  the  same  product  36  as  is  made  by  the  multi- 

*  plication  of  9  into  4  ;  wherefore  there  is  no  readier 

*  method  of  finding  out  a  geometrical  mean  than  to 
'  multiply  into  each  other  the  two  numbers  of  such  a 
'  proportion  as  we  propose  to  divide  geometrically, 
'  and  then  to  find  out  some  intermediate  number, 
'  which  being  multiplied  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  number 
than  12  found,  which  being  multiplied  into  itself 
will  make  that  sum,  that  will  be  the  geometrical 
divisor  required,  for  it  bears  the  same  proportion  to 
9  as  it  does  to  16,  that  is  a  sesquitertia.  These 
things  are  esteemed  requisite  for  musicians  to  con- 
sider, and  I  shall  now  only  advertise  the  reader, 
that  the  numbers  which  express  in  the  lowest  terms 
any  proportion  that  may  be  divided  geometrically 
will  be  squares,  for  if  the  number  can  be  divided 
into  equal  proportions,  as  the  geometrical  propor- 
tionality requires,  it  must  necessarily  be  also  com- 
pounded of  two  equal  proportions,  which  compo' 
sition  we  have  in  another  place  called  Doubling  : 
now  the  doubling  of  any  proportion  is  made  by  the 
squaring  of  the  two  numbers  under  which  it  was 
comprehended  when  single,  wherefore  those  num- 
bers in  which  the  proportion  is  found  to  be  doubled 
must  be  squares. 

'  It  now  remains  to  speak  of  Harmonical  Propor- 
tionality, 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 proportionality  does,  but  is  of  such  a  nature, 
that  whatsoever  proportion  the  greater  extreme  bears 
to  the  lesser,  the  same  will  the  excess  of  the  greater 
extreme  above  the  mean  bear  to  the  excess  of  the 
mean  above  the  lesser  extreme,  as  in  this  proportion, 
6  to  3,  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  : — 


Duple 


2 


} 


6 


Differences  of  the  mean 
and  extremes. 

Harmonical  division 
of  the  duple. 


3     } 


Sesquialtera  |   Sesquitertia 


Duple 


'  Plato  in  Timseus  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  be 
'  divided  into  the  same  proportions,  excepting  that 
'  the  greater  proportions  are  found  in  the  arithmetical 
'  division  between  the  lesser  numbers,  but  in  the  har- 
'  monical  they  are  transferred  to  the  greater  numbers, 
'  while  the  lesser  proportions  (as  must  be  the  case) 
'are  found  in  the  lesser  numbers,  and  if  possible 
'  remain  in  the  same  numbers  in  which  they  were 
'  before,  as  in  this  duple  arithmetically  divided,  2,  3,  4, 


Chap.  LXXXV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


407 


which  if  we  would  have  mediated  harmonically,  the 
sesquialtera  proportion,  which  is  between  3  and  2, 
must  be  transferred  to  greater  numbers ;  and  in 
order  to  leave  the  sesquitertia  in  the  same  as  they 
were  in,  viz.,  4  to  3,  we  must  try  whether  4  has  a 
sesquialtera  above  it,  which  it  will  consequently 
have  if  it  is  encreased  by  its  half  2,  to  produce  the 
number  6,  which  is  sesquialtera  to  4,  and  the  sesqui- 
tertia from  4  to  3  will  be  left  as  it  was  before  ;  and 
thus  the  greater  proportion  is  in  the  greater  num- 
bers, and  the  lesser  in  the  lesser,  according  to  the 
property  of  harmonical  proportionality,  which  these 
numbers  shew  : — 


Harmonical   Proportionality. 


Arithmetical    Proportionality. 


6 


Sesquialtera  |  Sesquitertia  |  Sesquialtera 


Duple. 


Duple. 


'  It  now  remains  carefully  to  investigate  the  method 
of  obtaining  the  harmonical  mean,  which  will  be 
easily  found  out  if  the  arithmetical  mean  be  first 
had,  for  where  an  arithmetical  mean  cannot  be 
found,  there  also  an  harmonical  mean  cannot  be  had, 
since  the  harmonical  proportionality,  as  we  have 
said,  is  the  arithmetical  inverted.  Having  therefore, 
according  to  the  method  shewn  above,  found  out  the 
arithmetical  mean,  we  must  next  enquire  whether 
that  has  a  number  above  it  in  the  same  proportion 
to  it  as  subsisted  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  number 
which  was  the  mean  in  the  arithmetical  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  ;  thus 
if  we  would  harmonically  divide  this  triple,  3  to  1, 
we  must  first  find  its  arithmetical  mean,  which  is  2, 
and  then  take  the  triple  thereof,  wliich  is  6,  and  so 
the  proportion  which  was  arithmetically  divided 
from  3  to  1,  will  be  harmonically  divided  from 
6  to  2  ;  and  3,  which  was  the  greatest  extreme  in 
the  arithmetical,  will  be  the  mean  in  the  harmonical, 
and  2,  which  was  the  arithmetical  mean,  will  be  the 
lesser  extreme,  and  6,  the  number  assumed  will  be 
the  greater,  as  may  be  perceived  in  these  numbers : — 


'  this,  however,  is  not  to  be  done  rashly,  but  by  some 
'  certain  rule,  for  in  multiples  they  are  almost  always 
'  found  as  in  the  duple  and  triple  shewn  before,  and 
'  in  the  quadruple  and  quintuple  in  these  numbers  : — 


1 

4 

2 

5 

8 

5 

8 

20 

Quadraple   to   be 
divided. 

QuadiTiple  arithme- 
tically divided. 

Quadruple  harmo- 
nically divided. 


Quintuple  arithme 
tically  divided. 

3  5  15 

Quintuple  harmoni 
eally  divided. 


Triple  arithmetically  divided. 

Lesser 
extreme 

Arithme- 
tical mean 

Greater 
extreme 

1                     2                     3                   6          1 

Lesser 
extreme 

Harmoni - 
'cal  mean. 

Greater 
extreme 

Triple  harmonically  divided. 

'  But  if  no  number  can  be  found  to  bear  the  same 

■  proportion  to  the  arithmetical  mean  as   subsisted 

between  these  which  it  divided,  the  numbers  must 

be  doubled  or  tripled  till  such  an  one  can  be  found  ; 


'  And  examples  of  this  kind  are  everywhere  to  be 
met  with  in  almost  all  multiples.  But  in  superpar- 
ticulars  we  m.ust  proceed  by  much  more  certain  and 
constant  rules ;  for  as  in  finding  an  arithmetical 
mean  in  every  superparticular  proportion  the  num- 
bers must  be  doubled,  so  in  finding  an  harmonical 
mean  they  must  in  the  sesquialtera  be  doubled,  in 
the  sesquitertia  tripled,  in  the  sesquiquarta  quadra - 
'  pled ;  and  if  this  order  be  observed,  the  harmonical 

•  mean  may  be  easily  found  in  all  superparticulars,  as 

■  is  manifest  in  these  three  examples  : — 

EXAMPLE   I. 

■  2.  3.  Sesquialtera  to  be  divided. 

'  4.     5.     6.  Sesquialtera  divided  arithmetically. 

■  8.  10.  12.  The  Numbers  of  the  arithmetical   pro- 

'  portionality  doubled. 

•  10.  12,  15.  Sesquialtera  harmonically  divided. 

EXAMPLE  II. 

4.  Sesquitertia  to  be  divided. 
8.  Arithmetically  divided. 

24.  Numbers  tripled. 

24.  28.  Harmonically  divided. 

EXAMPLE  IIL 

5.  Sesquiquarta  to  be  divided. 
9.  10.  Arithmetically  divided. 

40.  Numbers  quadrupled. 

40.  45.  Harmonically  divided.' 

Speaking  of  the  Diapason,  Salinas  says  though  it 
consists  of  eight  sounds,  it  did  not  take  its  name  from 
the  number  8,  as  the  diapente  does  from  5,  and  the 
diatessaron  from  4,  but  it  is  called  diapason,  a  word 
signifying  '  per  omnes'  or  '  ex  omnibus,'  that  is  to  say, 
by  all  or  from  all  the  sounds,  as  Martianus  Capella 
asserts,  and  this  with  very  good  reason,  for  the  dia- 
pason contains  in  it  all  the  possible  diversities  of 
sound,  every  other  sound  above  or  below  the  sep- 
tenary, being  but  the  replicate  of  some  one  included 
in  it.* 

'  The  Unison,  though  in  a  sense  somewhat  different  from  that  of 
Martianus  Capella  in  the  above  passage,  may  also  be  said  to  contain  in 
it,  if  not  all  the  sounds,  at  least  ail  the  consonances  in  the  septenary, 
together  with  their  replicates.  To  explain  this  matter,  it  is  necessary  to 
observe  that  Aristotle  in  Proh.  XVIII.  of  his  19th  Sect,  puts  this  question, 
Why  do  the  graver  sounds  include  the  acuter  ?  and  Mersennus,  who  has 
taken  upon  him  the  solution  of  it,  in  the  course  of  his  investigation 
asserts  from  experiments  made  by  himself,  that  a  chord  being  struck 
when  open,  gives  no  fewer  than  five  different  sounds,  namely  the  unison, 
octave,  12th,  15th,  and  greater  17th,  and,  to  a  very  nice  ear,  the  greater  23d. 


3. 

6. 

7. 

18. 

21. 

21. 

4. 

8. 

9. 

32. 

36. 

3G. 

408 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


In  the  eighth  and  ninth  chapters  of  his  second 
book  he  contends  against  the  modern  musicians  that 
the  diatessaron  is  to  be  deemed  a  consonant  ;*  and  in 

Harmonic.  De  Instrum.     Harm.  lib.  I.  prop,  xxxiii.     Harm.  Univers. 
ib.  IV.  pag.  209. 

The  Oscillation  of  chords  is  a  subject  of  very  curious  speculation,  and 
the  above  is  a  wonderful  phenomenon  ;  but  neitlier  Mersennus,  nor  even 
Aristotle  himself,  seems  to  have  been  acquainted  with  another  not  less 
so,  namely,  that  which  proves  that  the  vibrations  of  chords  are  com- 
municated at  a  distance  to  other  chords  tuned  in  consonance  with 
themselves. 

An  account  of  this  discovery  communicated  by  Dr.  Wallis  to  the  Royal 
Society  maybe  seen  in  Lowthorp's  Abridgment,  Vol.  I.  chap.  x.  pag.  606, 
and  is  to  this  eflect.  Let  a  chord  A  C  be  an  upper  octave  to  another  a  g, 
and  therefore  an  unison  to  each  half  of  it  stopped  at  b.  If  while  a  g  is 
open  A  C  be  struck,  the  two  halves  of  this  other,  that  is  a  b  and  b  g,  will 
both  tremble,  but  not  the  middle  point  at  b,  which  will  easily  be  observed 
if  a  little  bit  of  paper  be  lightly  wrapped  about  the  string  a  g,  and  re- 
moved successively  from  one  end  of  it  to  the  other 
A C 


a M g 

b 
This  discovery  it  seems  was  first  made  by  Mr.  William  Noble  of  Merton 
college,  and  after  him  by  Mr.  Thomas  Pigot  of  Wadham  college.  Long 
after  that  Monsieur  Sauveur  communicated  it  to  the  Royal  Academy  at 
Paris  as  his  own  discovery  ;  but  upon  his  being  informed  by  some  of  the 
members  present  that  Dr.  Wallis  had  published  it  before,  he  immediately 
resigned  all  the  honour  thereof.  There  is  an  exquisite  solution  of  these 
and  other  phenomena  of  sounds  by  Dr.  Narcissus  Marsh,  in  Dr.  Plot's 
Natural  History  of  Oxfordshire. 

*  Hardly  any  question  has  been  more  agitated  by  the  modern  musicians 
than  this,  whether  the  diatessaron  be  a  concord  or  a  discord  ?  The  argu- 
ments to  prove  it  the  former  are  hardly  anywhere  so  well  enforced  as  in  a 
very  learned  and  ingenious  book  intitled  The  Principles  of  Music  in 
Singing  and  Setting,  with  the  twofold  Use  thereof,  ecclesiastical  and  civil, 
by  Charles  Butler,  of  Magdalen  college,  Oxford,  quarto,  1636,  pag.  54,  in 
not.  and  are  to  this  purpose: — 

'  This  concord  is  one  of  the  three,  so  famous  in  all  antiquity,  with  the 
'  symphony  whereof  the  first  musicians  did  content  themselves  ;  and  for 
'the  inventing  of  whose  proportions,  that  most  ancient  and  subtle 
'philosopher  Pythagoras  has  been  ever  since  so  much  renowned  among 
'  all  posterity.  The  joint  doctrine  of  these  three  concords,  though  it  be 
'  as  ancient  as  music  itself,  approved  not  only  by  Pythagoras,  but  also 
'  by  Aristotle,  Plato,  Ptolemy,  Euclid,  and  by  Aristoxenus,  Boetius, 
*  Franchinus,  Glareanus,  and  all  learned  musicians  ;  yet  some  pregnant 
'wits  of  later  times,  have  made  no  bones  to  teach  the  contrary:  and 
'  now,  forsooth,  this  diatessaron,  which  for  thousands  of  years  hath  been 
'a  special  concord,  without  any  the  least  impeachment  or  question, 
'must  needs  upon  the  sudden  be  reckoned  among  the  discords:  and  that 
'  not  only  authority,  but  reason  also,  and  the  very  judgment  of  the  ear, 
•reclaiming.  For  he  that  listeth  to  try  upon  the  organ  or  well-tuned 
'  virginal,  shall  find  that  of  itself  it  doth  well  accord  with  the  ground, 
'and  better  than  either  of  the  other  secondary  concords  [the  sixth  or  im- 
'  perfect  third]  and  with  a  sixth  to  yield  as  true  a  symphony  as  a  third 
'  with  a  fifth  :  and  more  sweet  than  a  third  with  a  sixth  :  and  with  a  sixth 
'  and  an  eighth,  to  sound  fully  and  harmoniously  in  pleasing  variety  amoiig 
'  other  symphonies.  So  that  althdugh  being  no  primary  concortl,  it  be 
'not  set  to  the  base  in  a  close;  yet  is  it  good  in  other  places,  even  im- 
'  mediately  before  the  close,  and  that  in  slow  time,  as  in  this  example:— 


5*ri& 


■3 


Qs: 


-Jz 


±a--±^^ 


±M: 


:s:^n3z 


'  Moreover,  alDeit  before  the  close,  a  discord,  either  with  the  bass,  or 
'  with  an  other  part,  be  sometimes  allowed  (the  note  being  but  of  short 
'  time,  and  a  sweetening  concord  presently  succeeding)  yet  in  the  close 
'  (where  all  parts  meet  together)  in  a  long-timed  note,  not  without  some 
'pause  upon  it  (so  that  the  ear  doth  especially  attend  it)  there  is  never 
'  any  discord  at  all :  but  all  the  upper  notes  are  concords  of  one  sort  or 
'  other :  and  those  as  primary  to  the  bass,  so  secondary  among  themselves. 
'For  example,  where  the  close  note  of  the  bass  is  in  Gam-ut  (and  con- 
'sequently  those  of  the  other  parts  in  B-Mi,  D-sol-re,  and  G-sol-re  ut, 
'  or  their  eighths)  B-Mi  being  a  perfect  third  to  the  bass,  is  an  imperfect 
'  third  to  D-soL-RE,  and  a  sixth  to  G-sol-re-ut  :  and  likewise  D- 
'soL-RE  being  a  fifth  to  Gam-ut,  is  a  third  imperfect  to  B-mi,  and 
'a  fourth  to  G  sol-re-ut.  Seeing  then  that  in  closes,  which  are 
'simply  harmonious,  no  discord  is  admitted,  but  all  notes  concord 
'  among  themselves  ;  it  follows  that  a  fourth  as  well  as  a  sixth,  or  an 
'  imperfect  third  must  be  a  concord  :  and  seeing  that  a  ground  and  his 
'eighth  are  as  it  were  all  one,  how  can  any  man  think  that  D  sol-re, 
'  which  is  a  fifth  unto  Gam-ut,  and  a  fourth  unto  G-sol-re-ut  [his  eighth] 
'  should  be  the  sweetest  concord  unto  the  one,  and  a  discord  unto  the 
'  other  ;  and  yet  that  B-mi,  which  is  but  a  third  unto  the  ground,  should 
'be  a  concord  also  to  the  eighth. 

'  And  therefore  that  honourable  sage  [Lord  Verulam]  whose  general 
'  knowledge  and  judgment  in  all  kind  of  literature  is  generally  applauded 
'by  the  learned,  rejecting  their  novel  fancy  that  reject  this  ancient  con- 
'cord,  professes  himself  to  be  of  another  mind.  "The  concords  in 
"music,"  saith  he,  "  between  the  unison  and  the  diapason  are  the  fifth  : 
"  which  is  the  most  perfect,  the  third  next :  and  the  sixth,  which  is  more 
"harsh  :  and  (as  the  ancients  esteemed,  and  so  do  myself  and  somaother.s) 
"the  fourth,  which  they  call  diatessaron.  Cent.  II.  Numb.  110.  .\mong 
"  those  others,  that  singular  musician  (to  whom  the  students  of  this 
"  abstruse  and  mysterious  faculty  are  more  beholding,  than  to  all  tliat  ever 
"have  written  thereof)  Sethus  Calvisius  is  one.  His  words  are  these : 
"  Rejicitur  hodi6  4  plerisque  musicis  ex  numero  consonantiarum,  diates- 


the  following  chapter  he  with  admirable  ingenuity 
shews  that  the  ditone  and  semiditone,  though  perhaps 
the  last  or  lowest  in  degree,  are  yet  to  be  ranked 
among  the  consonances ;  this  he  has  almost  made 
Ptolemy  confess  by  the  sense  which  he  puts  upon  the 
sixth  chapter  of  his  first  book,  but  his  own  arguments 
in  favour  of  his  position  are  the  most  worthy  our 
attention,  and  they  are  comprised  in  the  following 
passage  : — 

'Next  after  the  diapente  and  diatessaron  are  formed 
'  by  a  division  of  the  diapason,  the  ditone  is  easily  to 
'  be  found,  and  after  that  the  semiditone,  which  in- 
'  terval  is  the  difference  whereby  the  diapente  exceeds 
'  the  ditone,  for  the  diapente  is  no  otherwise  divided 
'  ,into  the  ditone  and  semiditone,  than  is  the  diapason 

*  into  the  diapente  and  diatessaron  ;  and  the  division 
'  of  the  diapason  being  made  into  the  diapente  and 

*  diatessaron,  which  are,  as  has  been  said,  the  next 
'  consonants  after  it  as  to  perfection,  and  consist  in 
'  two  proportions,  the  sesquialtera  and  sesquitertia, 
'  which  follow  the  duple  immediately ;  reason  itself 
'seems  to  demand  that  the  diapente,  which  is  the 
'  greater  part  of  the  diapason,  should  be  rather  di- 
'  vided  than  the  diatessaron,  which  is  the  lesser  part ; 
'  thus  the  diapente  will  be  divided  into  the  ditone  and 
'  semiditone,  as  the  sesquialtera  ratio  is  into  the  ses- 
'  quiquarta  and  sesquiquinta ;  for  the  terms  of  the 
'  sesquialtera  ratio  2  and  3,  because  it  cannot  be  di- 
'  vided  in  these,  being  doubled,  there  will  arise  4  and 
'  6,  the  arithmetical  mean  between  which  is  5,  which 
'  is  sesquiquarta  to  the  lesser,  and  subsesquiquinta  to 
'  the  greater ;  and  though  these  two  proportions  do 
'  not  immediately  follow  the  sesquialtera  as  that  does 
'  the  duple,  yet  they  divide  it  by  a  division  which  is 
'  the  nearest  to  equality ;  and  in  the  same  manner, 

"saron,  sed  mimiis  recti.  Nam  omnes  musici  veteres,  tam  Grieci  qu4m 
"  Latiui,  earn  inter  consonantias  collocarunt :  id  quod  monumenta 
"  ipsorum  testantur.  Deind^  quia  conjuncta  cum  aliis  intervallis,  parit 
"consonantiam  :  ut  si  addatur  ad  diapente,  fit  diapason  :  si  ad  ditonon, 
"vel  trihemitonion,  fit  sexta  major  aut  minor.  Nihil  autem  quod  in 
"  intervallis  plurium  proportionum  consonat,  per  se  dissonare  potest. 
"Tertio,  si  chord.-E  in  instrumentis  musicis,  exacts  juxta  proportiones 
"  veras  intendantur ;  nulla  dissonantia  in  diatessaron  apparet ;  sed  ambo 
"goni  uniformiter  et  cum  suavitate  quadam  aures  ingrediuntur :  sic  in 
"  testudinibus  chordae  graviores  hoc  intervallo  inter  se  distant,  et  ratione 
"diatessaron  intenduntur.  Quarto,  nulla  cantilena  plurium  vocum 
"haberi  potest,  quce  careat  hac  consonantia.  Nequaquam  igitur  est 
' '  rejicienda ;  sed,  propter  usum,  quem  in  Melopceia  (si  dextrfe  adhibeatur) 
"  habet  maximum,  recipienda.' " 

The  several  arguments  contained  in  the  above  passage,  with  many 
others  to  the  purpose,  may  be  seen  at  large  in  a  treatise  written  by 
Andreas  Papius  Gandensis,  a  man  of  excellent  learning,  and  a  good  musi- 
cian, entitled  De  Consonantiis  seu  pro  Diatessaron.     Antv.  1581. 

But  notwithstanding  the  authorities  above-cited,  it  seems  that  those 
who  scruple  to  call  the  diatessaron  a  consonant,  have  at  least  a  colour  of 
reason  on  their  side  ;  for  it  is  to  be  noted  of  the  other  consonants,  namely, 
the  diapason  and  diapente,  that  their  replicates  also  are  consonants,  that 
is  to  say,  the  fifteenth  is  a  consonant,  as  is  also  the  twelfth,  which  is  the 
diapason  and  diapente  compounded,  but  the  diapason  and  diatessaron 
compounded  in  the  eleventh  do  not  make  a  consonance.     Dr.  Wallis 

assigns  as  a  reason  for  this,  that  its  ratio  w  =4  X  2,  or  in  words,  8  to  3, 
equal  to  4  to  3  multiplied  by  2,  is  neither  a  multiple  nor  a  superparticular. 
Wall.  Append,  de  Vet.  Harm.  328.  He  adds  with  respect  to  the  solitary 
or  uncompounded  fourth,  that  the  reason  for  not  admitting  it  in  compo- 
sition is  not  because  it  is  not  a  consonant,  but  because  whenever  its 
diapason  is  taken  with  it,  as  it  frequently  must  be,  it  as  it  were  over- 
shadows or  obscures  it,  and  the  fifth  and  not  the  fourth  is  the  consonance 
heard.     Ibid. 

The  observation  of  Dr.  Wallis,  that  the  Diapason  cum  Diatessaron  is 
neither  a  multiple  nor  a  superparticular,  is  grounded  on  a  demonstration 
of  Boetius  in  his  treatise  De  Musica,  lib.  II.  cap.  xxvi.  which  see  tran.s- 
lated  in  the  former  part  of  this  work,  book  III.  cap.  xxv.  The  title  of  the 
chapter  in  the  original  is  '  Diatessaron  ac  Diapason  non  esse  con- 
'  sonantiam,  secundum  Pythagoricos  ;'  and  it  is  highly  probable  that  this 
assertion,  and  the  singular  property  of  the  diatessaron  above  noted, 
might  give  occasion  to  Des  Cartes  to  say,  as  he  does  in  his  Compendium 
Musica;,  cap.  IV.  that  the  diatessaron  is  of  all  the  consonances  the  most 
unhappy. 


Chap.  LXXXVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


409 


though  the  ditone  and  semiditone  do  not  imme- 
diately follow  the  diapente  but  the  diatessaron,  yet 
they  divide  it  as  the  diapente  and  diatessaron  divide 
the  diapason,  that  is  to  say,  in  proportions  the  nearest 
to  equality  that  may  be,  and  the  ditone,  as  being  the 
greater  part  of  the  diapente,  is  found  in  the  greater 
proportion,  that  is  the  sesquiquarta,  and  is  therefore 
justly  called  by  practical  musicians  the  greater  third. 
But  the  semiditone,  which  is  the  lesser  part  of  the 
diapente,  is  in  the  sesquiquinta  ratio,  and  is  there- 
fore justly  called  the  lesser  third.  The  analogy  of 
this  new  division  is  approved  both  by  the  senses 
and  reason,  and  therefore  its  description  must  by  no 
means  be  omitted. 

TA.         ,     (  Ditone 
Diapente  |  g.^i^itone 

Diatessaron 

'  The  same  analogy  is  thus  declared  in  numbers  : — 


of  the  dissonances,  the  tone  major,  and  the  diapason 
cum  tono  majori,  whereas  he  says  in  this  instrument 
the  unison  and  seven  consonants  are  found  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,  but  also  the  lesser  tone  and  greater 
semitone ;  so  that,  as  he  says,  not  one  of  the  simple 
intervals  proper  to  the  diatonic  genus  is  undefined 
by  this  invention  of  his,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  ex- 
planation subjoined  to  the  type  thereof  exhibited  by 
him,  and  which  type  is  as  follows  : — 


Diapason  | 


Duple  divided. 


I        Sesquialtera  divided.   .    | 


I      »}iP'f  ^  I  Sesquialtera  I  gesquitertia  I  ^3?=^fi^  I  Sesquiquinta  I 
I  undivided  |    undivided   |        ^  I    undivided    |        i    ~»  | 

12  3  4  5  6 

Diatessaron       ,.„j;,.,vi„,i        Semiditone 


I  Diapason 
undivided 


Diapente 
undivided 


Diapason  divided.         | 


Diapente  divided. 


I 


Salinas  adds,  that  men  always  did  and  always  will 
use  the  above  consonances  both  in  vocal  and  instru- 
mental music,  and  not  those  of  Pythagoras,  some  of 
which  were  not  only  dissonant,  but  inconcinnous,  as 
the  ditone  81  to  64,  and  the  semiditone  32  to  27. 
As  to  the  ditone  and  semiditone  investigated  by  him, 
he  says,  as  their  proportions  follow  by  a  process  of 
harmonical  numeration,  that  of  the  sesquitertia,  they 
must  necessarily  be  consonants,  and  immediately  fol- 
low the  diatessaron.  He  concludes  this  chapter  with 
observing  that  Didymus  seems  to  be  the  first  of  mu- 
sicians that  considered  the  ditone  and  semiditone  as 
answering  to  the  sesquiquarta  and  sesquiquinta  ratios, 
and  that  the  same  may  be  gathered  from  those  posi- 
tions which  Ptolemy  has  given  in  the  second  book, 
chap.  xiv.  of  his  Harmonics. 

CHAP.    LXXXVI. 

Having  thus  shewn  the  ditone  and  semiditone  to 
be  consonances,  with  the  method  of  producing  them, 
Salinas  proceeds  in  the  next  subsequent  chapters  to 
explain  how  the  lesser  intervals  are  produced,  by 
stating  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  several  in- 
tervals are  treated  of,  and  therefore  need  not  be  here 
repeated. 

In  the  nineteenth  chapter  of  the  same  second  book  is 
contained  a  description  of  an  instrument  invented  by 
Salinas  for  demonstrating  the  ratios  of  the  conso- 
nances, as  also  of  the  lesser  intervals.  He  says  that 
this  instrument  is  much  more  complete  than  the 
Helicon  of  Ptolemy,  described  in  the  second  book  of 
his  Harmonics,  for  that  in  the  Helicon  are  only  five 
consonants  of  the  Pythagoreans,  and  the  diapason 
cum  diatessaron,  which  Ptolemy  himself  added,  and 


EXPLANATION. 

'  The  side  a  f  of  this  square  is  divided  into  many 
parts,  first  into  two  equally  at  the  point  o,  then  into 
three  at  the  points  b  and  d,  and  lastly  into  four,  to 
give  the  point  e,  so  that  the  whole  line  a  f  is  triple 
of  the  part  a  b,  duple  of  a  c,  sesquialtera  to  a  d,  and 
sesquitertia  to  a  e.  From  these  points  are  drawn  the 
six  parallel  lines  a  m,  b  n,  c  o,  d  p,  e  q,  and  f  r,  all 
of  which,  except  the  first,  are,  by  a  line  drawn  from 
the  angle  a,  to  the  middle  of  the  line  f  r,  cut  into 
two  parts  in  the  points  o,  h,  i,  k,  l.  If  any  one  shall 
cause  an  instrument  to  be  constructed  of  this  form 
with  chords,  so  that  the  stays  which  sustain  the  whole 
may  fall  in  with  the  lines  a  f,  and  m  r,  and  the  chords 
with  the  other  lines,  and  if  a  bridge  be  applied  in  the 
direction  a,  l,  I  say  that  all  the  consonants  and  the 
lesser  intervals  of  the  diatonic  genus  will  be  heard 
therein ;  for  as  the  sides  of  the  similar  triangles,  which 
are  opposite  to  equal  angles,  are  proportional  to  each 
other  by  the  fourth  proposition  of  the  sixth  book  of 
Euclid,  therefore  as  the  whole  line  a  f  is  to  its  parts, 
so  is  the  line  f  l  to  the  sides  that  are  parallel  and 
opposite  to  it.  Wherefore  as  the  line  a  f  of  the 
triangle  a,  f,  l,  is  constituted  sesquitertia  to  a  e  of 
the  triangle  a  e  K,  f  l  will  also  be  sesquitertia  to 
E  K,  and  if  the  line  f  l  be  made  to  consist  of  twelve 
parts,  the  line  e  k  will  contain  nine  of  them  ;  and 
by  a  like  reasoning  the  lines  d  i  will  have  8,  c  h  6, 
and  B  G  4 ;  and  the  upper  line  a  m  being  double  of  f  l, 
will  contain  24.  The  remaining  part  of  the  lines 
beyond  the  bridge  will  contain  as  many  parts  as  will 
complete  the  respective  parts  within  the  bridge  to  24. 
So  that  G  N  will  consist  of  20,  h  o  18,  i  p  16,  k  q  15, 
L  R  12,  and  if  every  two  of  these  numbers  be  com- 
pared together,  the  intervals  which  arise  from  strik- 


410 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


'  Diapason 
with  the 


'  ing  their  respective  chords  will  be  perceived  in 
'  this  manner  : — 

'  Unison  12  to  12. 

'  Greater  semitone  16  to  15. 

'  Lesser  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. 

'  Diatessaron  five  times,  8  to  6,  12  to  9,  16  to  12, 
'  20  to  15,  24  to  18. 

'  Diapente  five  times,  6  to  4,  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  times,  8  to  4,  12  to  6,  16  to  8,  18 
'  to  9,  24  to  12. 

'  Some  intervals  repeated  with  the  diapason. 

fLesser  tone  20  to  9. 

Greater  tone  twice  9  to  4,  18  to  8. 

Ditone  twice,  20  to  8,  15  to  6. 

Diatessaron  twice,  16  to  6,  24  to  9. 

Diapente  thrice,  12  to  4,  18  to  6,  24  to  8. 
^Greater  hexachord  20  to  6. 

'  Disdiapason  twice,  16  to  4,  24  to  6. 

'  Some  intervals  repeated  with  a  disdiapason, 

!  Greater  tone  18  to  4, 
Ditone  20  to  4. 
Diapente  24  to  4. 
Upon  this  improvement  of  the  Helicon  of  Ptolemy 
Salinas  himself  remarks  in  the  words  following  : — 

'  I  thought  proper  thus  minutely  to  exj)lain  all  the 
'  parts  of  this  instrument  because  of  its  great  and 
'  wonderful  excellence.      But  what    I   think  seems 

*  most  worthy  of  admiration  in  it  is,  that  it  consists 
'  in  sextuple  proportion,  wherein  are  contained  all  the 
'  consonants  and  dissonants.  And  hereby  the  won- 
'  derful  virtue  of  the  senary  number  appears,  since  not 
'  only  six  simple  consonants  are  found  in  the  six  first 
'  number^  and  in  the  six  first  simple  proportions,  and 

*  also  in  the  six  first  which  successively  arise  by  mul- 
'  tiplication  (so  that  we  cannot  either  in  the  one  or  the 

*  other  proceed  farther  to  any  other  consonants  or  har- 
'  monical  intervals)  but  also  you  may  find  consonants 
'  and  dissonants  constituted  in  all  the  six  kinds  of  pro- 

*  portion,  that  is  to  say,  in  one  of  equality,  and  five  of 
'  inequality,  if  you  are  minded  to  investigate  their 

*  lawful  proportions  in  numbers.'  * 

*  The  investigation  of  so  great  a  number  of  consonant  and  dissonant 
intervals  as  are  above  given  by  means  of  so  simple  an  instrument  or 
diajiram  as  this  of  Salinas,  is  a  very  delightful  speculation.  But  it  has 
lately  been  discovered  that  from  the  famous  theorem  of  Pythagoras,  con- 
tained in  the  47th  Proposition  of  the  first  book  of  Euclid,  the  consonances 
and  dissonances  may  with  no  less  a  degree  of  certainty  be  demonstrated 
than  by  the  above  method  of  Salinas.  The  author  of  this  discovery  was 
Mr.  John  Harington,  of  the  well-known  family  of  that  name,  near  Bath. 
This  gentleman  made  the  important  discovery  above-mentioned,  and  in 
the  year  1693  communicated  it  to  Mr.  Newton,  afterwards  Sir  Isaac,  in  a 
letter,  which,  with  the  answer,  are  here  inserted  from  a  miscellany 
entitled  Nugae  Antiquee,  published  in  1769: — 

'  Sir, — At  your  request  I  have  sent  you  my  scheme  of  the  harmonic 
'ratios  adapted  to  the  Pythagorean  proposition,  which  seems  better  tu 
'express  the  modern  improvements,  as  the  ancients  were  not  acquainted 
'  with  the  sesquialteral  divisions,  which  appears  strange  Ptolemy's 
'  Helicon  does  not  express  these  intervals,  so  essential  in  the  modern 

*  system,  nor  does  the  scheme  of  four  triangles  or  three  express  so  clearly 
'  as  the  squares  of  this  proposition.  What  I  was  mentioning  concerning 
'  the  similitude  of  ratios  as  constituted  in  the  sacred  architecture,  was 
'  my  amusement  at  my  leisure  hours,  but  am  not  master  enough  to  say 
'  much  on  these  curious  subjects.     The  given  ratios  in  the  dimension.s  of 


In  his  demonstration  that  the  ratio  of  a  comma  is 
81  to  80,  and  that  it  is  the  difference  between  the  tone 
major  and  tone  minor,  he  says  that  the  comma  is  the 

'  Noah's  ark,  being  300,  50,  and  30,  do  certainly  fall  in  with  what  I  ob- 
'  served;  the  reduction  to  their  lowest  terms  comes  out  6  to  I,  which 
'  produces  the  quadruple  sesquialteral  ratio,  and  5  to  3  is  the  inverse  of 
'6  to  5,  which  is  one  of  the  ratios  resulting  from  the  division  of  the  ses- 
'  quialteral  ratio  ;  the  extremes  are  as  10  to  1,  which  produce  by  reduction 
'  5  to  4,  the  other  ratio  produced  by  the  division  of  the  sesquialteral  ratio^ 
'  Thus  are  produced  the  four  prime  harmonica!  ratios,  exclusive  of  the 
'  diapason  or  duple  ratio.  I  have  conjectured  that  the  other  most  general 
'  established  architectural  ratios  owe  their  beauty  to  their  approximation 
'  to  the  harmonic  ratios,  and  that  the  several  forms  of  members  are  more 
'  or  less  agreeable  to  the  eye,  as  they  suggest  the  ideas  of  figures  com- 
'  posed  of  such  ratios.  I  tremble  to  suggest  my  crude  notions  to  your 
'judgment,  but  have  the  sanction  of  your  own  desire  and  kind  promise 
'  of  assistance  to  rectify  my  errors.  I  am  sensible  these  matters  have 
'  been  touched  upon  before,  but  my  attempts  were  to  reduce  matters  to 
'  some  farther  certainty  as  to  the  simplicity  and  origin  of  the  pleasures 
'  affecting  our  diflferent  senses,  and  try  by  comparison  of  those  pleasures 
'  which  affect  one  sense,  from  objects  whose  principles  are  known,  as  the 
'  iatios  of  sound,  if  other  affections  agreeable  to  other  of  our  senses  were 
'  owing  to  similar  causes.  You  will  pardon  my  presumption,  as  I  am 
'  sensible  neither  my  years  nor  my  learning  permit  me  to  speak  with 
'  propriety  herein,  but  as  you  signified  your  pleasure  of  knowing  what 
'  I  was  about,  have  thus  ventured  to  communicate  my  undigested  senti- 
'  ments,  and  am,  Sir,  Your  obedient  servant, 

'  Wadham-college,  May  22,  1693.  John  Harington.' 


Klmcc  :  KLMCB  =  25  :  24  1?  2d 

CML  :  IBGH  =  15  :  16  J?  2d 

CB  :  CM  =  9  :  10  JJ  2d 

BG  :  BC  =  8  :  9  Jf  2d 

BA  :  BG  =  7  :  8   i?  f   3d 

AD  :  AB  =  6  ;  7  jj +f  2d 

c  :  AD  =  5  :  6  b  3d 

B  :  c  =  4  :  5  jj  3d 

BA  :  CB  =  7  :  9  f  4th 

A  :  B  =  3  :  4  4th 

c  :  BA  =  5  :  7  Jf  4th 


DEMONSTRATION. 

BA  :  CM  =;  7  :  10  b  5th 

B  :  AD  :=  4  :  6  5th 

CB  :  CMB  :^  9  :  14  Jjl  5th 

c  :  BG  =  5  :  8  t*  6th 

A  :  0  a:  3  :  5  JJ  6th 

BGH  :  ABn  12  :  7-bl?7th 

ab:  B=r  7:4+J+j;6th 

CB  :  BGIH  =  9  :  16  b  7th 

c  :  CB  =  5  :  9  b  7th 

bg:  cmi,  =  8  :  15  if  7th 

'^'"'''^    bg  :  CMLEC  =  48  :  25  it  tt  7th 

The  above  demonstration  is  given  in  the  author's  own  figures  and 
characters,  but  it  seems  in  some  instances  to  be  rather  inaccurately  ex- 
pressed ;  and  perhaps  it  had  been  better  if  he  had  spoken  thus :  25  to  24 
semitone  minus,  16  to  15  semitone  majus,  10  to  9  tone  minor,  8  to  9  tone 
major,  6  to  5  third  minor,  16  to  9  seventh  minima,  9  to  5  seventh  minor, 
15  to  8  seventh  major,  48  to  25  greatest,  or  sharp  sharp  seventh. 

The  following  is  the  answer  to  Mr.  Harington's  letter : 

'  Sir, — By  the  hands  of  your  friend,  Mr.  Consel,  I  was  favoured  with 
'  your  demonstration  of  the  harmonic  ratios  from  the  ordinances  of  the 
'  47th  of  Euclid.  I  think  it  very  explicit,  and  more  perfect  than  the 
'  Helicon  of  Ptolemy,  as  given  by  the  learned  Dr.  Wallis.  Your  obser- 
'  vations  hereon  are  very  just,  and  afford  me  some  hints,  which  when 
'  time  allows  I  would  pursue,  and  gladly  assist  you  with  any  thing  I  can 
'  to  encourage  your  curiosity  and  labours  in  these  matters.  I  see  you  have 
'  reduced  from  this  wonderful  proposition  the  inharmonics,  as  well  as  the 
'  coincidences  of  agreement,  all  resulting  from  the  given  lines  3,  4,  and  5. 
'  You  observe  that  the  multiples  hereof  furnish  those  ratios  that  afford 
'  pleasure  to  the  eye  in  architectural  designs.  I  have  in  former  consider- 
'ations  examined  these  things,  and  wish  my  other  employments  would 
'  permit  my  further  noticing  thereon,  as   it  deserves   much   our  strict 

scrutiny,  and  tends  to  exemplify  the  simplicity  In  all  the  works  of  the 


Chap.  LXXXVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


411 


least  of  all  the  sensible  intervals,  and  that  he  had 
experienced  it  to  be  so  by  his  ear,  in  an  instrument 
which  he  had  caused  to  be  made  at  Rome,  in  which 
both  tones  are  heard,  and  their  difference  was  plainly 
to  be  perceived,  and  he  infers  from  a  passage  in  Pto- 
lemy, where  he  makes  it  indifferent  whether  the  ses- 
quioctave  or  sesquinonal  tone  have  the  acute  place  in 
the  diatonic  tetrachord,  that  the  ear  of  Ptolemy  was 
not  nice  enough  to  discern  the  difference  between  the 
greater  and  lesser  tone. 

Salinas  observes,  that  besides  the  two  semitones,  the 
greater  and  lesser,  into  which  the  tone  is  divided,  and 
which  is  the  difference  whereby  the  ditone  exceeds  the 
semiditone,  there  is  a  necessity  for  inserting  into  mu* 
sical  instruments,  more  especially  the  organ,  another 
interval  called  the  Diesis,*  because  without  it  there 
can  be  no  modulating  in  that  kind  of  music  called  by 
the  Symphonetse,  Musica  ficta,t  in  which  there  is 
occasion  to  make  use  of  three  diversities  of  b  soft ; 
nor  ought  this,  he  says,  to  be  deemed  a  new  invention, 
for,  which  is  curious  and  worthy  of  observation,  he 

'Creator;  however,  I  shall  not  cease  to  give  my  thoughts  towards  this 
'  subject  at  my  leisure.  I  beg  you  to  pursue  these  ingenious  speculations, 
'as  your  genius  seems  to  incline  you  to  mathematical  researches.  You 
'remark  that  the  ideas  of  beauty  in  surveying  objects  arises  from  their 
'  respective  approximations  to  the  simple  constructions,  and  that  the 
'  pleasure  is  more  or  less  as  the  approaches  are  nearer  to  the  harmonic 
'ratios.  I  believe  you  are  right;  portions  of  circles  are  more  or  less 
'  agreeable  as  the  segments  give  the  idea  of  the  perfect  figure  from  whence 
'  they  are  derived.  Your  examinations  of  the  sides  of  polygons  with 
'rectangles  certainly  quadrate  with  the  harmonic  ratios;  I  doubt  some 
'  of  them  do  not,  but  then  they  are  not  such  as  give  pleasure  in  the 
'formation  or  use.  These  matters  you  must  excuse  my  being  exact  in 
'  during  your  enquiries,  till  more  leisure  gives  me  room  to  say  with 
'  more  certainty  hereon.  I  presume  you  have  consulted  Kepler,  Mersenne, 
'and  other  writers  on  the  construction  of  figures.  What  you  observe  of 
'  the  ancients  not  being  acquainted  with  a  division  of  the  sesquialteral 
'  ratio  is  very  right ;  it  is  very  strange  that  geniuses  of  their  great  talents, 
'  especially  in  such  mathematical  considerations,  should  not  consider  that 
'  although  the  ratio  of  3  to  2  was  not  divisible  under  that  very  denomi- 
'  nation,  yet  its  duple  members  6  to  4  easily  pointed  out  the  ditone  4  to  5, 
'  and  the  minor  tierce  6  to  5,  which  are  the  chief  perfections  of  the  diatonic 
'  system,  and  without  which  the  ancient  system  was  doubtless  very  im- 
' perfect.  It  appears  strange  that  those  whose  nice  scrutinies  carried 
'them  so  fai  as  to  produce  the  small  limmas,  should  not  have  been  more 
'  particular  in  examining  the  greater  intervals,  as  they  now  appear  so 
'  serviceable  when  thus  divided.  In  fine,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  some 
'general  laws  of  the  Creator  prevailed  with  respect  to  the  agreeable  or 
'  unpleasing  affections  of  all  our  senses  ;  at  least  the  supposition  does  not 
'  derogate  from  the  wisdom  or  power  of  God,  and  seems  highly  consonant 
'  to  the  simplicity  of  the  macrocosm  in  general.  Wliatever  else  your  in- 
'  genious  inquiries  may  produce  I  shall  attentively  consider,  but  have 
'  such  matters  on  my  mind  that  I  am  unable  to  give  you  more  satisfaction 
'  at  this  time  ;  however,  I  beg  your  modesty  will  not  be  a  means  of  pre- 
'  venting  my  hearing  from  you  as  you  proceed  in  these  curious  researches, 
'  and  be  assured  of  the  best  services  in  the  power  of 

'  Your  humble  servant, 
'  May  30,  1693.  '  Is.  Newton.' 

*  The  author  observes  that  the  ancients  gave  a  diesis  to  each  of  the 
three  genera,  that  is  to  say,  they  called  the  least  intervaKin  each  by  that 
name.  In  .short,  the  word  diesis  signifies  properly  a  particle,  and  Macro- 
bius  uses  it  in  that  sense,  and  so  explains  it ;  but  the  diesis  which  Salinus 
is  here  for  introducing,  is  that  interval  whereby  the  lesser  semitone  is 
exceeded  by  the  greater,  and  is  in  the  ratio  of  128  to  125. 

t  Musica  ficta,  in  English  feigned  music,  is  by  Andreas  Ornithoparcus 
thus  defined  :  '  Musica  ficta  is  that  which  the  Greeks  called  Synenimenon, 
'a  song  made  beyond  the  regular  compass  of  the  scale ;  or  it  is  a  song 
'full  of  conjunctions.'  He  means  to  say  it  is  that  kind  of  Cantus  in 
which  the  tetrachord  synemmenon  is  used,  and  which  has  for  its  final 
note  or  key  some  chord  not  included  in  the  ordinary  scale,  as  B  1?  or  Et>. 
See  a  type  of  it  in  the  account  hereinbefore  given  of  Ornithoparcus, 
book  VIII.  chap.  Ixviii.  jiag.  308. 

It  is  pretty  clear  that  at  the  time  when  Ornithoparcus  wrote,  that 
practice  of  dislocating  the  mi,  which  feigned  mJsic  implies,  was  carried 
no  farther  than  was  necessary  to  constitute  the  keys  Bi}  and  El?,  each 
with  the  major  third.  As  to  the  latter,  it  is  said  to  have  been  first  made 
use  of  by  Clemens  non  Papa,  who  lived  about  the  year  1560  ;  and  it  is 
■worthy  of  observation,  that  that  great  variety  of  keys  which  is  created  bv 
the  multiplication  both  of  the  acute  and  grave  signatures,  except  in  the 
above  instances,  is  a  modern  refinement.  Compositions  in  these  keys, 
for  example,  D  with  a  major  third,  A  with  a  major  third,  E  with  a  major 
third,  F  ^  with  a  minor  third,  F  with  a  minor  third,  and  B  natural  with  a 
minor  third,  are  not  to  be  traced  much  backwarder  than  to  the  middle  of 
the  last  century,  and  probably  owe  their  introduction  to  the  improve- 
ments in  the  practice  of  the  violin  ;  else  had  they  probably  been  included 
in  the  definition  of  Musioa  ficta  by  Ornithoparcus. 


relates  that  the  Italians  have  in  their  organs  two  dieses 
in  every  diapason,  the  one  between  a,  diatonic,  and  g, 
chromatic,  and  another  between  d,  diatonic,  and  c, 
chromatic  ;;j:  and  that  on  many  such  organs  as  these 
he  had  often  played,  particularly  on  a  very  famous 
one  at  Florence,  in  the  monastery  of  the  Dominicans, 
called  Santa  INIaria  Novella. 

In  the  subsequent  chapters  of  this  second  book  are 
a  great  number  of  scales  and  diagrams,  contrived  with 
wonderful  ingenuity  to  explain  and  illustrate  the  seve- 
ral subjects  treated  of  in  the  book. 

In  the  third  book  he  treats  of  the  genera  of  the 
ancients,  and  that  with  so  much  learning  and  sagacity, 
that,  as  has  already  been  noted.  Dr.  Pepusch  scrupled 
not  to  declare  to  the  world  that  the  true  enarmonic, 
the  most  intricate  of  the  three,  and  which  lias  been 
for  many  ages  past  supposed  to  be  lost,  is  in  this  work 
of  his  accurately  determined. 

From  his  representation  of  the  ancient  genera,  that 
is  to  say,  of  the  enarmonic,  the  chromatic,  and  even 
some  species  of  the  diatonic,  it  most  evidently  appears 
that  they  consisted  in  certain  divisions  of  the  tetra- 
chord, to  which  we  at  this  day  are  strangers  ;  and  it 
may  farther  be  said  that  the  intervals  which  divide 
both  the  chromatic  and  the  enharmonic  tetrachord, 
however  rational  they  may  be  made  to  appear  by  an 
harmonical  or  numerical  process  of  calculation,  are  to 
a  modern  ear  so  abhorrent  as  not  to  be  borne  without 
pain  and  aversion. 

After  what  has  been  said  in  some  preceding  pages 
of  this  work  touching  the  genera  and  their  species, 
and  from  the  testimony  of  some  even  of  the  Greek 
harmonicians  herein-before  adduced,  it  is  clear  beyond 
a  doubt  that  both  the  enarmonic  and  chromatic  genera 
are  as  it  were  by  the  general  consent  of  mankind  laid 
aside.  It  would  therefore  be  to  little  purpose  to 
follow  Salinas  through  that  labyrinth  of  reasoning 
by  which  he  attempts  to  explain  them ;  such  as  are 
desirous  of  full  information  in  this  respect  must  be 
referred  to  his  own  work.  In  order,  however,  to 
gratify  the  curiosity  of  others,  and  to  display  the 
depth  of  knowledge  with  which  this  author  inves- 
tigates 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  curious  subject. 

A  Genus  in  music,  according  to  this  author,  is  a 
certain  habitude  or  relation  which  the  sounds  that  com- 
pose the  diatessaron  have  to  each  other  in  modulation. 

Having  thus  defined  the  term  Genus,  in  the  doing 
whereof  he  has  apparently  taken  Ptolemy  for  his 
guide,  he  thus  farther  proceeds  to  deliver  his  sen- 
timents of  the  genera  at  large  : — 

'  The  ancients  were  unanimously  of  opinion  that 
'  the  genera  were  determined  rather  by  the  division 
'  of  the  diatessaron,  that  being  the  least,  than  of  any 
'  other  sy.stem  or  consonance  ;  and  this  was  not  the 
'  sentiment  of  the  Pythagoreans  only,  who  held  that 
*  there  could  be  no  consonance  of  a  less  measure  than 

I  The  passage  in  Salinas  is  as  above,  but  it  is  to  be  suspected  that  the 
letter  c  is  misprinted,  and  should  have  been  e ;  and  if  so,  this  improve- 
ment of  the  organ  by  the  Italians  corresponds  exactly  with  what  is  to  be 
observed  in  some  organs  in  this  country,  that  in  the  Temple  church  in 
particular,  wherein  are  several  keys  for  gj|  and  at*,  and  for  dti  and  ef?, 
from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  in  the  range. 


412 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


two  tones,  but  also  of  Aristoxenus  himself,  who, 
though  he  taught  that  the  differences  of  the  intervals 
were  not  commensurable  by  numbers  and  their  pro- 
portions, but  that  the  senses  were  the  proper  judges 
thereof,  asserts  in  the  first  book  of  his  Elements  of 
Harmony,  that  no  consonance  can  be  found  of  a  less 
content  than  that  between  the  unison  and  its  fourth ; 
a  position  which,  however,  we  have  shown  not  to  be 
strictly  true,  whether  we  appeal  to  the  judgment  of 
our  senses  or  our  reason.  Not  to  enter  into  too  scru- 
pulous a  discussion  of  this  matter,  let  it  suffice  to  say, 
that  for  the  purpose  of  defining  the  genera,  all  the 
ancients  to  a  man  have  supposed  a  division  of  the 
diatessaron  into  four  sounds  or  three  intervals,  from 
which  method  of  division  are  constituted  the  three 
genera :  the  difference  between  each  of  these  is  gene- 
rally denoted  by  the  epithets  rarum,  rare  or  thin  ; 
spissum,  thick  or  close  set;  and  spississimum,  thickest 
or  closest  set,  according  to  the  quantities  of  those 
lesser  intervals  by  which  they  were  severally  di- 
vided :  the  primitive  terms  of  distinction  for  the 
genera  were  those  of  Diatonica,  Chroma,  and  Har- 
monia,  though  the  writers  of  later  times  use  those 
of  Diatonicum,  Chromaticum,  and  Enarmonium. 
The  diatonicum  was  said  to  be  rare  because  it  pro- 
ceeds by  a  tone,  tone  and  semitone,  which  are  the 
greatest  and  most  rare  of  the  lesser  intervals  :  and 
Ptolemy  asserts  that  this  genus  was  called  the  Dia- 
tonum  because  it  abounded  in  tones.  The  Chro- 
maticum was  that  which  proceeded  by  a  trihemitone, 
a  semitone  and  semitone ;  and  because  the  semitones 
are  thicker  or  closer  than  the  tones,  this  genus  was  said 
to  be  thicker  and  softer  than  the  diatonum.  The  word 
Chroma,  which  in  Greek  signifies  colour,  was  applied 
to  it,  as  Boetius  writes,  as  being  expressive  of  its 
variation  from  the  diatonum,  or,  as  the  Greeks  say, 
because  that  as  colour  is  intermediate  between  white 
and  black,  so  also  does  the  chromatic  genus  observe 
the  medium  between  the  rareness  of  the  diatonum 
and  the  thickness  of  the  harmonia.  The  Harmonia 
or  Enarmonium  proceeded  by  a  ditone,  a  diesis,  and 
diesis  towards  the  grave,  and  because  the  dieses  are 
thicker  than  the  semitones,  this  genus,  which  is  the 
thickest  of  the  three,  was  termed  the  Enarmonium, 
as  being  the  best  coadapted,  and  the  most  absolute  of 
them  all.* 

'  Nor  did  the  ancients  proceed  any  farther  in  the 
constitution  of  the  genera  than  is  above  related, 
because  in  it  no  harmonical  interval  less  than  that 
of  a  diesis  is  discoverable  except  the  comma,  which 
is  common  to  all  the  three  ;  and  though  they  may 
all  seem  to  agree  in  dividing  the  diatessaron  into 
three  intervals  in  every  genus,  yet  is  there  not  one 
of  those  who  have  written  on  this  subject  that  does 
not  differ  from  the  rest  in  determining  the  pro- 
portions of  the  several  intervals  that  constitute  it ; 
for  Pythagoras,  Archytas,  Philolaus,  Eratosthenes, 
and,  in  a  word,  all  the  writers  on  this  branch  of  the 
science  have  assigned  to  it  different  ratios  all  equally 
repugnant  to  harmonical  truth.  Those  who  are  de- 
sirous of  more  particular  information,  may  consult 
Boetius,  book  III.  chap.  v. ;  and  Ptolemy,  book  II. 

•  Lib.  III.  cap.  I.  pag.  101. 


'  towards  the  end.  The  most  celebrated  mode  ot 
'  generical  division  was  undoubtedly  that  of  Pytha- 
'  goras,  which  constituted  the  diatonic  diatessaron  of 

*  two  tones,  both  in  a  sesquioctave  ratio,  and  that  in- 
'  terval  which  was  wanting  to  complete  it,  but  this 
'  we  have  nevertheless  shewn  to  be  erroneous  in  the 
'  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  lesser 
'  semitone  or  limma  are  both  abhorrent  to  harmony 

'  as  is  demonstrated  by  Ptolemy,  and  appears  from 
'  reason  itself.     The  division  of  Aristoxenus  was  es- 

*  teemed  the  next  after  this  of  Pythagoras,  to  which  it 
'  was  contrary  in  almost  every  thing,  for  Aristoxenus 
'  thought  it  agreeable  in  the  diatonic  genus  to  proceed 

*  not  only  by  equal  tones,  but  also  in  the  chromatic 
'  to  proceed  by  two  equal  semitones,  and  in  the  enar- 

*  monic  by  two  equal  dieses.     A  third  division,  that 

*  of  Didymus  and  Ptolemy,  made  neither  the  tones 

*  nor  semitones  equal,  but  constituted  a  greater  and 

*  lesser  of  each.f 

'  Tlie  genera  can  neither  be  more  nor  fewer  than 

*  three,  because  that  is  the  number  of  the  lesser  inter- 
vals whereby  they  are  distinguished  from  each  other. 
In  the  diatonic  the  least  interval  is  the  greater 
semitone  ;  in  the  chromatic  the  lesser  :  and  in  the 
enarmonic  the  diesis  ;  and  as  the  diesis  is  the  least 
of  all  the  intervals  that  can  vary  the  genus,  it 
follows  that  the  enarmonic  must  be  the  thickest  of 
them  all ;  and  the  reason  why  the  diatessaron  was 
chosen  as  the  fittest  of  the  consonances  to  adjust  the 
several  genera  by,  was  not  because,  as  the  ancients 
assert,  it  was  the  smallest  of  the  consonances,  for 
that  it  certainly  is  not,  but  because  all  those  inter- 
vals which  arise  from  the  first  division  of  the  lowest 
consonances,  were  found  once  in  the  diatessaron, 
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  first 
division  of  the  semiditone ;  but  if  these  were  re- 
spectively added,  the  one  to  the  former  and  the 
other  to  the  latter,  the  complement  would  be  a  dia- 
tessaron consisting  of  three  intervals  and  four  sounds, 
wherefore  the  constitution  of  the  genera  is  not  to  be 
found  in  any  of  those  less  systems  than  the  dia- 
tessaron ;  on  the  contrary,  in  the  greater  consonants, 
such  as  the  diapente  and  diapason,  we  meet  with 
a  repetition  of  these  three  several  intervals,  for  in 
the  diapente  the  greater  tone  is  found  twice,  and  in 
the  diapason  three  times,  and  the  lesser  tone  and 
greater  semitone  are  found  twice  in  the  diapason.' J 

Although  Salinas  has  laboured  to  explain  the 
meaning  of  the  terms  spissum  and  non  spissum, 
which  so  frequently  occur  in  the  writings  of  the 
ancients,  and  which  are  used  to  express  a  distinguish- 
ing property  of  the  genera,  he  professes  to  use  the 
epithet  spissum  in  a  sense  different  from  that  in  which 
it  was  accepted  by  them  :  they  called  that  constitution 
spissum,  or  thick,  where  the  acutest  interval  was 
greater  than  the  other  two,  as  in  the  chromatic  and 
enarmonic  ;    and  they  called  that  non  spissum,   iu 

t  Lib.  III.  cap.  i.  pag.  102.  J  Lib.  III.  cap.  ii. 


Chap.  LXXXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


413 


which  the  two  grave  ones  taken  together  were 
greater  than  the  acute,  as  in  the  diatonic.  '  But  we, 
says  this  author,  '  maintain  that  genus  not  to  be  thick 
'  wherein  the  consonants  are  found  intermediated 
'  with  thinner  and  fewer  intervals,  of  which  sort  is 
'  the  diatonum,  in  which  the  consonants  are  inter- 
'  sected  by  tones  and  a  greater  semitone,  which  are 
'  the  thinnest  of  all  the  lesser  intervals :  the  diatessaron, 
'  for  example,  is  divided  into  three  intervals  ;  on  the 

*  contrary,  we  say  that  that  genus  is  thick  in  which 
'  all  the  consonants  are  intersected  by  thicker  and 
'  more  close  intervals ;  such  is  the  chromatic,  which 
,'  proceeds  by  a  greater  and  lesser  semitone,  which 
'  are  thicker  intervals  than  tones,  and  in  the  com- 
'  position  of  a  perfect  instrument  divides  the  dia- 
'  tessaron  into  six  intervals  and  seven  sounds,  but 
'  according  to  that  which  we  use,  the  division  is 
'  into  five  intervals  and  six  sounds,  for  the  trihemi- 

*  tone  is  not,  as  the  ancients  would  have  it,  an  inter- 
'  val  of  this  genus,  seeing  it  is  truly  a  consonant,  and 
'  consonants  are  not  the  intervals  of  any  genus.* 
'  But  the  thickest  of  the  genera  is  the  enarmonic, 
'  because  it  proceeds  by  lesser  semitones  and  dieses, 
'  which  are  indivisible  intervals  ;  nor  can  the  ditone 
'  be  said  to  be  an  interval  of  this  genus,  although  as 
'  well  the  ancient  writers  as  those  of  later  times  assert 
'  it  to  be  so,  because  it  is  a  true  and  perfect  consonant, 
'  and,  like  all  the  rest,  requires  to  be  filled  up,  where- 

*  fore  in  this  genus  the  diatessaron  will  have  nine  in- 
'  tervals  and  ten  sounds. 

*  The  constitution  of  all  the  genera  is  not  to  be 
'  sought  for  in  the  division  of  the  diatessaron,  it  is 

*  only  in  the  diatonic  that  this  method  is  to  be  taken, 
'  for  the  intervals  by  which  it  proceeds  are  not  to  be 

*  found  in  any  lesser  consonant.     But  to  discover  the 

*  constitution  of  the  chromatic,  we  assert  that  the 
division  of  the  greater  tone  is  sufficient,  because  all 

'  the  intervals  by  which  this  genus  proceeds  are  to  be 

*  found  once  therein.  For  the  consideration  of  the 
'  enarmonic  genus  the  greater  semitone  is  sufficient, 
'  for  in  that  are  all  the  intervals  to  be  found  through 

*  which  this  genus  proceeds  ;  all  this  is  the  effect  of 

*  the  great  and  wonderful  constitution  of  the  har- 
'  monical  ratio.     The  diatessaron  seems  to  have  been 

*  assumed  for  displaying  the  diatonic  genus,  because 
'  it  is  the  excess  of  the  diapason  above  the  diapente  : 

*  the  tone  by  which  we  explain  the  chromatic  is  the 

*  excess  of  the  diapente  above  the  diatessaron ;  and 
'  the  greater  semitone  by  which  we  declare  the  enar- 

*  monic  is  the  excess  of  the  diatessaron  above  the 

*  ditone.  Moreover  it  is  necessary  to  know  that  the 
'  three  genera  stand  in  the  relation  to  each  other  of 
'  good,  better,  and  best ;    for  as  good  can  exist  by 

itself,  but  better  cannot  be  without  good,  so  may 
the  diatonic  exist  alone,  aiJd  become  the  foundation 
of  the  others,  as  is  seen  in  the  Cythara,  wherein  are 
no  semitones  but  the  greater,  in  which  this  genus 

*  abounds,  for  the  lesser  semitones  are  proper  to  the 

*  chromatic. 

*  Here  Salinas  cautions  his  reader  not  to  be  disturbed  that  the  Diates- 
saron, which  talies  its  name  from  the  number  four,  and  is  tlierefore 
understood  to  consist  of  so  many  sounds,  should  here  be  said  to  contain 
six  intervals  and  seven  sounds,  for  that  circumstance,  he  says,  is  peculiar 
to  the  diatonic. 


'  But  although  the  diatonic  be  the  most  natural, 
'  yet,  as  Boetius  says,  it  is  the  hardest  of  the  three, 
'and  to  soften  or  abate  of  this  hardness  was  the 
'  chromatic  invented,  and  yet  the  chromatic  could 
'  not  have  existed  without  the  diatonic,  it  being 
'  nothing  else  than  the  diatonic  thickened  ;  and  such 
'  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  cannot  subsist  by  itself,  and  being  a  compound  of 
'  the  other  two,  it  is  the  thickest,  best  compacted, 
'  and  most  perfect ;  and  no  one  can  believe  that  any 
'  modulation  could  be  made  in  either  the  chromatic 
'  or  enarmonic  separated  from  the  diatonic,  seeing  it 
'  is  impossible  to  proceed  without  it  through  the 
'  chromatic  or  enarmonic  intervals,  and  this  is  not 
'  only  shown  by  Ptolemy,  but  it  is  evident  both  to 
'  sense  and  reason.'  f 

The  notion  which  Salinas  entertained  of  the  genera 
was  that  the  chromatic  was  the  diatonic  inspissated ; 
and  that  the  enarmonic  was  the  chromatic  inspissated, 
and  in  all  his  reasoning  about  them  he  supposes  a 
necessity  in  nature  for  filling  up  those  spaces  or 
chasms,  as  he  aff"ects  to  consider  them,  which  the 
difference  between  the  greater  and  lesser  intervals  in 
the  diatonic  tetrachord  seems  to  imply. 

Of  the  several  species  of  the  diatonic,  Salinas 
scruples  not  to  prefer  the  sjmtonous  or  intense  of 
Ptolemy,  and  says  that  if  Plato  had  been  sensible  of 
its  excellence,  he  would  not  have  been  so  tormented 
as  he  was,  at  finding  that  the  Pythagorean  limma  256 
to  243  was  not  superparticular,  and  therefore  not 
in  truth  a  proportion,  but  rather,  as  he  is  forced  to 
term  it,  a  portion,  i.  e.  a  particle  or  fraction.  \ 

CHAP.   LXXXVII. 

In  the  fifth  chapter  of  his  third  book  Salinas  shews 
the  method  of  constructing  the  type  of  the  diatonic, 
which  he  does  by  such  a  division  of  the  monochord 
as  arives  d  d  in  the  ratio  of  each  to  the  other  of  81  to 
80,  making  thereby  the  one  a  tone  minor,  and  the 
other  a  tone  major  above  c  ;  the  former  of  these  he 
calls  d  inferior,  and  the  latter  d  superior,  this  dis- 
tinction he  observes  in  the  succeeding  types  of  the 
chromatic  and  enarmonic ;  that  of  the  diatonic  is  as 
follows  : — 


144 

135 

120 

108 

96  90 

81,80 

72 

E 

F 

G 

a 

h  c 

dd 

e 

10- 


12—0- 


-9- 

-3 

-10- 


-2 
-3 
-4 
-8 


Of  the  Chromatic  he  says,  chap,  vi.,  that  it  arose 
from  tliat  division  of  the  tone  which  was  invented  to 
soften  the  harshness  of  the  tritonus  between  F  and  Jj ; 
and  in  chap.  vii.  he  directs,  by  the  division  of  the 


t  Lib.  III.  cap.  ii. 


I  Lib.  in.  cap.  iii.  pag.  107. 


414 


HISTORY  OP  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


monochortl,  the  construction  of  the  type  of  the  chro- 
matic genus. 

As  in  the  diatonic  division  he  gives  d  inferior  and 
d  superior,  so  in  this  of  the  chromatic  does  he  give 
Fjjfc  inferior,  and  Fi  superior,  and  also  b  inferior  and 


b  superior,  besides  Gjf ,  c|l,  and  ep,  distinguished  by 
the  short  or  different  coloured  plectra  on  the  organ, 
harpsichord,  and  other  instruments  of  the  like  kind. 
The  following  is  the  type  of  the  chromatic  gemis 


according  to  this  author  : — 


o 

CO 
00 

E 


o 
o 

CO 


C)  O 
Oi  CO 

ii 


o 
o 

G 


o 

CO 
CO 

I 


o 

CO 

T— I 

CQ 

a 


o  o 

CO  o 

o  o 

CO  CO 


o 

Ci 


o 
o 

CO 


bb   h 


CO 
CO 

I—I 

I 


o  o 

Ci  o 

1:0  '^ 


dd 


o 
o 


o 


1 

1 

27  0 

25  24 

6 

5 

4 

20 

0 

18 

0         16 

15 

5 

4 

3 

16 

15 

0 

0 

12 

18 

0 

16 

15 

In  the  eighth  chapter  of  the  same  book  Salinas  re- 
marks that  the  characteristic  of  the  chromatic  is  its 
least  interval,  which  is  a  lesser  semitone,  and  is  there- 
fore called  the  chromatic  diesis,  and  is  the  difference 
whereby  the  lesser  tone  exceeds  the  greater  semitone. 
The  type  above  given  is  exhibited  in  the  seventh 
chapter,  with  this  remark,  that  in  it  the  lesser  semi- 


tone or  chromatic  diesis  is  found  five  times,  that  is  to 
say,  between  F  and  F||  inferior,  G  and  G|J,  b  supe- 
rior and  ]-|,  ci  and  c,  and  eb  and  e. 

In  the  same  chapter  he  treats  of  the  Enarmonio 
genus,  which  he  says  is  the  most  perfect  of  all,  as 
containing  in  it  the  other  two ;  the  following  is  the 
type  of  the  enarmonic  as  given  by  him  : 


0 

0 

0 

0  0  iQ  0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

CO  0  00 

0 

-tH 

0  0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

0 

Ci 

0 

-tH  0  c:*  0 

0 

CO 

0 

0 

t^  CO  0  0 

0 

CO 

0  CO 

0 

<_) 

l_) 

LO 

'—' 

l_) 

CO 

CI 

0 

CO  O}  CO  0 

0 

0 

0 

CO 

-:+<  Ci  0  0 

Ttl 

oc 

0  0 

t^ 

-+ 

<_) 

i^ 

<— ) 

UU 

r^ 

>o 

'^ 

i-H  !— 1  0  0 

<X) 

CO 

iO 

CO 

t-l  0  0  0 

CO 

CO 

CO  -* 

CO 

L-t 

1-^7 

0 

<_> 

UJ 

lO 

0 

10 

0  lO  0  0 

^ 

"* 

'^l 

-* 

-*'*'*-* 

CO 

CO 

CO  CO 

CO 

CU 

(.'J 

O'J 

(.'J 

LO 

E 


j      F  ii'^i''^      G  I     a{7 


a 


j  i  b  b      h      f      c   f     dt^  d   d  dieb   e 


1 

1                  1 

6 

.       5 

1    I 

4     ■ 

.   5 

1 

<^ 

t       • 

0 

1    1 

3    . 

15 

0 

0 

12 

1 

0 

.  10 

1 

6 

.       5 

4 

1 

. 

) 

■ 

4 

3 

1 

.      1 

2 

0 

0 

c 

)             8 

16 

15 

0 

1 

12 

15 

0 

0 

1 

2 

0            10 

5 

i 

t 

Upon  which  it  is  to  he  remarked,  that  the  true 
enarmonic  intervals  are  distinguished  from  the  dia- 
tonic by  a  point  placed  over  them. 

As  he  had  noted  the  chromatic  by  its  diesis,  which 
is  the  interval  of  a  lesser  semitone,  so  has  he  re- 
marked that  the  characteristic  of  the  enarmonic  is 
the  enarmonic  diesis,  which  arises  from  a  division  of 
the  greater  semitone  into  a  lesser  semitone  and  a 
diesis,  thus  : — 


GREATER  SEMITONE. 


Chromatic  Diesis.     |     Enarmonic  Diesis.    | 
120  125  128 

Which  lesser  semitone,  by  the  way,  is  no  other  than 
the  chromatic  diesis,  and  in  its  lowest  numbers  is  25 
to  24.  As  to  the  enarmonic  diesis,  its  ratio  is  above 
demonstrated  to  be  128  to  125,  and  it  is  the  interval 


between  Fjt  inferior  and  Gb  inferior,  that  is  to  say, 
between  the  numbers  51840  and  50625,  which  are  in 
the  ratio  of  128  to  125,  for  51840  contains  the  num- 
ber 405,  128  times,  and  501)25  contains  the  same 
number  405,  125  times.  It  is  again  found  between 
ajl  inferior  and  b  inferior,  that  is  to  say,  between  the 
numbers  41472  and  40500,  for  the  former  of  these 
contains  the  number  324,  128  times,  and  the  latter 
contains  the  same  number  125  times.  The  enarmonic 
diesis  is  elsewhere  to  be  found  in  the  above  division 
of  the  diapason  in  three  instances,  but  the  two  above 
given  are  sufficient  to  make  it  known. 

It  was  necessary  to  be  thus  particular  in  the  re- 
presentation of  Salinas's  system  of  the  genera,  more 
especially  the  enarmonic  genus,  because  he  himself 
appears  to  be  so  confident  of  his  skill  in  this  abstruse 
part  of  the  musical  science,  that  he  scruples  not  to 


Chap.  LXXXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


416 


reprehend  very  roundly  the  Greek  writers  for  mistakes 
about  the  genera ;  and  speaking  of  his  division  of 
the  enarmonic,  he  says,  that  if  it  be  made  as  by  him 
is  directed,  nothing  in  harmonics  can  be  more  abso- 
lutely just  and  perfect.  It  is  positively  asserted  by 
Dr.  Pepusch,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  De  Moivre,  that 
Salinas  has  determined  the  enarmonic  accurately : 
and  it  is  more  than  probable  that  those  are  in  the 
right  who  think  so. 

The  diagrams  made  use  of  by  Salinas  to  illustrate 
his  doctrine  of  the  genera,  more  especially  the  types, 
as  he  calls  them,  of  each,  are  most  astonishingly  com- 
plicated, but  very  curious  and  satisfactory.  It  is  to 
be  remarked  on  this  part  of  his  work,  that  he  med- 
dles not  with  the  colours  or  species  of  the  genera. 
Of  the  diatonic,  he  has  taken  the  syntonous  or  intense 
of  Ptolemy ;  and  in  his  description  of  the  chromatic, 
he  has  given  a  representation  which  coincides  with 
no  one  species  of  that  genus,  for  it  is  neither  the  soft, 
the  hemiolian,  nor  the  toniac,  but  seems  to  be  a  di- 
vision of  his  own.  As  to  the  enarmonic,  it  is  well 
known  that  it  admitted  of  no  distinction  into  species. 

That  Salinas  had  any  desire  to  restore  the  ancient 
genera  is  not  to  be  inferred  from  the  great  labour  he 
has  bestowed  in  the  explanation  of  them.  He  indeed 
seems  to  have  been  very  solicitous  to  attemper  some 
of  the  harsher  intervals  in  the  diatonic  series,  and 
for  that  purpose  to  have  made  an  arrangement  of  the 
white  and  black  plectra,  as  he  calls  them,  a  little 
differing  from  the  ordinary  one;  and  says  that  he 
had  with  him  at  Salamanca  an  instrument  which  he 
had  caused  to  be  made  at  Rome,  wherein  the  tone 
between  G  and  a  is  accurately  divided.  But  the 
pains  he  has  taken  to  ascertain  the  true  division  of 
the  chromatic  and  enarmonic,  seems  to  be  resolvable 
into  that  eager  desire  of  rendering  the  writings  of 
the  ancient  Greeks  intelligible,  which  he  uniformly 
manifests  in  the  course  of  his  writings. 

Seeing,  then,  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 
rather  of  speculation  than  practice.  Were  we  to 
think  with  the  ancients,  and  adopt  their  reasoning 
about  the  spissum  and  non  spissum,  we  shoidd  say 
that  that  series  of  harmonical  progression  which 
admitted  of  the  smallest  intervals,  and  left  the  fewest 
chasms  in  the  system,  approached  the  nearest  to  per- 
fection; but  this  is  a  consideration  merelyspeculative, 
and  has  as  little  to  do  with  the  sense  of  hearing  as 
the  external  form  of  any  given  musical  instrument 
with  the  hearing  whereof  we  are  delighted. 

On  the  other  hand,  let  any  one  make  the  experi- 
ment, and  try  the  effect  of  such  intervals  as  the 
enarmonic  diesis,  as  above  ascertained,  on  his  ear, 
and  he  will  hardly  be  persuaded  that  the  genus  to 
which  it  belongs  could  ever  have  been  cordially 
embraced  by  the  unprejudiced  part  of  mankind. 

To  favour  the  opinion  that  it  was  never  received 
into  general  practice,  we  have  the  testimony  of  some 
of  the  ancient  writers  themselves,  who  expressly  say 
that  on  account  of  their  intricacy  both  the  chromatic 
and  enarmonic  grew  very  early  to  be  disesteemed  by 
the  public  ear,  and  gave  way  to  that  orderly  pro- 


gression the  diatonic,  which  nature  throughout  her 
works  seems  to  recognize  as  the  only  true  and  just 
succession  of  harmonical  intervals. 

In  the  thirteenth  and  subsequent  chapters  of  his 
third  book,  Salinas  treats  of  the  temperament  of  the 
organ  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  chooses 
and  constitutes  that  which  is  perfect,  and  preserves 
the  consonants  and  the  lesser  intervals  in  their  due 
proportions,  no  impediment  intervening.  Farther  he 
says  that  it  discriminates  with  the  greatest  exactness 
between  the  greater  and  the  lesser  tone,  and  that  as 
the  melody  requires,  it  chooses  either  the  one  or  the 
other ;  but  in  the  organ  and  other  instruments  where 
the  sounds  are  fixed,  and  are  not  determined  by  the 
touch  of  the  performer,  he  says  that  the  tones  are  of 
necessity  equal,  and  that  this  equality  is  preserved 
by  the  distribution  of  the  three  commas,  by  which 
the  three  greater  tones  in  the  diapason  exceed  the 
lesser  ones ;  so  that  by  this  distribution,  the  con- 
sonants and  lesser  intervals  participate  of  that  dis- 
sonance which  in  some  part  of  the  system  or  other 
is  occasioned  by  the  comma. 

The  system  thus  attempered  is  called  by  the  Italians 
Systema  Participato.  It  is  mentioned  in  a  preceding 
chapter  of  this  work,  and  is  described  by  Zarlino  in 
his  Istitutioni  Harmoniche,  part  II.  cap.  xli.  et  seq.* 
Salinas  says  he  himself  when  a  youth  at  Rome,  in- 
vented a  Systema  Participato,  in  nothing  differing 
from  that  published  by  Zarlino,  which  he  says  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at,  seeing  that  truth  is  but  one  and  the 
same,  and  that  it  presents  itself  to  all  who  rightly  en- 
deavour to  investigate  it.f 

The  fertility  of  Salinas's  invention  suggested  to 
him  various  other  temperaments,  which  he  has  de- 
scribed with  his  usual  accuracy.  After  stating  and 
comparing  them,  and  giving  the  preference  to  the 
first,  he  proceeds  in  chap,  xxvii.  to  show  the  bad 
constitution  of  a  certain  insti'ument  begun  to  be  con- 
structed in  Italy  about  forty  years  before  the  time  of 
writing  his  book,  that  is  to  say,  about  the  year  1537, 
concerning  which  he  says  that  this  instrument  was 
called  Archicymbalam,  and  that  it  divided  each  of 
the  tones  into  five  parts,  giving  to  the  greater  semi- 
tone three,  and  to  the  lesser  two ;  he  says  that  this 
instrument  was  much  esteemed,  and  was  made  use  of 
by  some  musicians  of  great  eminence.  He  says  that 
as  the  diapason  contains  six  tones  and  a  diesis,  it  di- 
vided the  octave  into  thirty-one  parts  ;J  but  that  they 
are  dieses  he  absolutely  denies.      He  then  proceeds 

*  Bontempi  has  piven  a  system  of  another  form,  which  he  calls 
Systema  Participato,  from  its  compretiending  the  diatonic  and  chromatic, 
but  it  seems  to  be  no  other  than  that  now  in  practice,  in  which  the  dia- 
pason is  divided  into  twelve  semitones.     Vide  Bont.  Hist.  Mus.  pag.  187. 

t  De  Musica.  lib.  III.  cap.  xiv.  Dr.  Smith  says  that  Salinas  was  the 
first  inventor  of  a  temperament,  and  that  both  he  and  Zarlino  laid  claim 
to  the  honour  of  the  invention,  and  had  a  dispute  about  it.  Harmonics, 
pag.  37,  in  a  note.  But  this  is  hardly  reconcileable  with  the  declaration 
of  Salinas  above-mentioned,  which  seems  to  imply  an  inclination  in  him 
rather  to  waive  than  promote  a  dispute. 

I  Dr.  Pepusch  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  De  Moivre,  herein  before  cited,  says 
that  this  division  of  the  octave  into  thirty-one  parts  was  necessarily  im- 
plied in  the  doctrine  of  the  ancients  ;  and  that  though  the  instrument 
above-mentioned  was  condemned  both  by  Zarlino  and  Salinas,  they  con- 
demned it  without  sufficient  reason,  for  that  Mr.  Huygens  having  more 
acccurately  examined  the  matter,  found  it  to  be  the  best  temperament 
that  could  be  contrived. 


416 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  IX. 


to  uoi'nt  out  the  defects  of  this  instrument,  and  pro- 
nounces of  it,  that  it  was  offensive  to  his  ear,  and  was 
not  constructed  in  any  truly  harmonical  ratio.* 

In  the  twenty-eighth  and  four  subsequent  chapters 
of  his  third  book  he  takes  occasion  to  speak  of  the 
lute,  viol,  and  organ,  and  of  certain  temperaments  the 
best  adapted  to  each.  In  the  former  he  says  that 
although  the  viol  by  name  is  not  to  be  met  with  in  the 
writings  of  the  ancients,  yet  Cassiodorus  asserts  that  it 
is  to  be  found  described  among  their  different  kinds 
of  Cythara  ;  and  he  himself  adds  that  in  the  works  of 
Bede,  an  author  sufficiently  celebrated,  it  is  expressly 
mentioned. 

The  eighth  chapter  of  the  fouith  book  contains 

*  There  cannot  be  the  least  doubt  hut  that  the  instrument  above 
spoken  of  is  the  Archicembalo  of  Don  Nicola  Vicentino,  though  Salinas 
confesses  himself  at  a  loss  to  whom  to  ascribe  the  invention  of  it.  Mer- 
sennus  once  thought  it  was  invented  by  Fabius  Columna.  Harmonic, 
lib.  VI.  De  Generibus  et  Modis,  Prop.  xiii.  From  these  two  particulars 
it  may  be  inferred  that  neither  Salinas  nor  he  had  ever  seen  Vicentino's 
book  ;  but  it  seems  that  Merscnnus  was  set  right  in  his  divison  by  the 
perusal  of  Salinas,  and  that  he  has  made  ample  amends  for  his  mistake 
by  giving  the  thirty-one  intervals  with  their  ratios  as  here  represented. 
As  to  the  division  of  Fabius  Columna,  it  was  probably  borrowed  from 
this,  but  it  was  intothirty-nhie  sounds  and  thirty-eight  intervals,  and 
will  be  spoken  of  hereafter.  Vide  Mersenn.  Harm.  Univ.  Des  Genres  de 
la  Musique,  Prop.  i.  xi. 


141000 

lesser  semitone 

138240 

diesis 

135000 

lesser  semitone 

129600 

greater  comma 

128000 

lesser  semitone 

122880 

lesser  comma 

121500 

greater  comma 

120000       [niraumf 

semitonium  submi- 

116640 

greater  comma 

115200 

lesser  semitone 

110592 

lesser  comma 

109350 

greater  comma 

108000 

lesser  semitone 

103C80 

greater  comma 

102400 

lesser  comma 

101250 

greater  comma 

100000         [nimum 

semitonium  submi- 

97200 

greater  comma 

9C000 

lesser  semitone 

92160 

lesser  comma 

91125 

greater  comma 

90000  [nimum 

semitonium  submi- 

87480 

greater  comma 

86400 

lesser  semitone 

82944 

greater  comma 

81920 

lesser  comma 

81000 

greater  comma 

80000  [nimum 

semitonium  submi- 

77760 

greater  comma 

70800 

lesser  semitone 

73728 

diesis 

72000 


t  To  understand  the  nature 
of  this  interval,  it  is  necessary 
to  know  that  of  semitones  there 
are  many  kinds.  Mersennus  has 
enumerated  them  in  his  Latin 
work,  liber  V.  De  Dissonantiis, 
prop,  xiii.,  but  more  particularly 
in  his  Harmonie  Universelle, 
Des  Dissonances,  prop.  ii.  pag. 
1 16  :  they  appear  to  be  the  Semi- 
tonium maximum  ^^<  Semito- 
nium majus  ^-^'  Semitonium 
medium  i  ^|,  Seraitoruum  Py- 

thagoricum  H^,  Semitonium 
minus  ^^,  Semitonium  mini- 
mum ^||,  and  lastly,  the  Semi- 
tonium subminimum  above 
given,  which  in  its  lowest,  or 
radical  numbers,  will  be  found 
to  be  in  the  ratio  of  250  to  243, 
for  in  120000  the  number  480  is 
found  250  times,  and  in  1 1C640 
it  is  found  243  times,  in  100000 
the  number  400  is  found  250 
times,  and  in  97200  it  is  found 
243  times  :  in  90000  the  number 
360  is  found  250  times,  and  in 
87480  it  is  found  243  times. 
Lastly,  in  80000  the  number  320 
is  found  250  times,  and  in  77760 
it  is  found  243  times.  It  is  to 
be  noted  that  in  the  Harmonie 
Universelle,  livre  troisieme,  pag. 
167,  and  in  that  curious  diagram 
preceding  it.  the  number  87930 
is  mistaken  for  87480.  The 
Semitonium  subminimum  is  an 
interval  less  than  the  chromatic 
diesis  by  a  comma.  Mersen. 
Harm.,  lib.  V.  prop.  ix.  Harm. 
Univ.  Des  Dissonances,  prop.  II. 
pag.  115. 


among  other  things  the  doctrine  of  the  modes,  in  the 
discussing  whereof  he  seems  to  agree  with  Glareanus 
that  they  are  in  number  twelve,  and  that  they  answer 
to  the  seven  species  of  diapason  harmonically  and 
arithmetically  divided  ;  but  as  the  third  species 
proceeding  from  J]  is  incapable  of  an  harmonical 
division  as  wanting  a  true  fifth,  and  the  seventh 
species  proceeding  from  P  is  incapable  of  an  arith- 
metical division  as  having  an  excessive  fourth,  the 
number  of  the  modes,  which  would  otherwise  be 
fourteen,  is  reduced  to  twelve,  which  is  the  very 
position  that  Glareanus  in  his  Dodecachordon  en- 
deavours to  demonstrate. 

In  the  tenth  chapter  is  a  diagram  representing  in 
a  collateral  view  the  tetrachords  of  the  ancients  con- 
joined with  the  hexachords  of  Guido  Aretinus,  and 
showing  how  the  latter  spring  out  of  the  former.  Dr. 
Wallis  has  greatly  improved  upon  this  in  the  diagram 
by  him  inserted  in  his  Appendix  to  Ptolemy,  and 
which  is  given  in  a  former  part  of  this  work,  ex- 
hibiting a  comparative  view  of  the  ancient  Greek 
system  with  the  scale  of  Guido. 

In  the  twenty-second  chapter  he  takes  notice  of  the 
ancient  division  of  the  genera  into  species,  but  it  seems 
that  he  did  not  approve  of  it,  for  in  his  own  division 
of  the  genera  he  has  rejected  it,  thereby  making  that 
species  of  each,  whatever  it  be,  which  he  has  chosen 
for  an  exemplar,  a  genus  of  itself. 

In  the  twenty-third  chapter  he  undertakes  to  show 
the  errors  of  Aristoxenus  in  a  manner  different  from 
Ptolemy  and  Boetius ;  and  in  the  five  following  chap- 
ters censures  him,  and  even  Ptolemy  himself,  with  a 
degree  of  freedom  which  shews  that  though  he  enter- 
tained a  reverence  for  the  ancients,  he  was  no  bigot 
to  their  opinions,  but  assumed  the  liberty  in  many 
instances  of  thinking  and  judging  for  himself. 

In  the  twenty-ninth  chapter  of  the  same  fourth 
book  he  commends  in  general  terms  Jacobus  Faber 
Stapulensis,  though  he  seems  to  suspect  that  he  had 
never  read  Ptolemy,  nor  any  other  of  the  Greek  har- 
monicians,  and  says  he  does  nothing  more  than  de- 
monstrate the  propositions  of  Boetius. 

The  subsequent  chapter  contains  his  opinion  of 
Franchinus  and  his  writings,  which  he  delivers  in 
the  following  words  : — 

'  Franchinus  Gaffurius  was  a  famous  professor  of 
'  theoretical  and  practical  music,  and  published  several 
'  works  and  wrote  many  things  in  both  parts  worthy 
'  to  be  known.  He  boasts  that  by  his  care,  and  at  his 
'  expence,  the  three  books  of  Ptolemy's  Harmonics, 
'  the  three  of  Aristides  Quintilianus,  and  the  three  of 
'  Manuel  Briennius,  were  translated  from  the  Greek 
'  into  the  Latin.     It  is  true  he  read  those  books,  as  he 

*  shows  in  his  works,  especially  in  that  which  he  wrote 

*  concerning  instrumental  harmony,  where  he  recites 
'  almost  all  their  positions,  but  so  confusedly,  that  he 
'  seems  rather  to  have  read  them  than  understood  them. 
'  But  these  Latin  translations  are  not  extant  as  far  as 
'  I  know,  perhaps  through  the  avarice  of  Franchinus 
'  himself,  who  had  them  made  only  for  his  own  use, 
'  and  did  not  give  them  to  be  printed,  imagining  that 
'  a  time  never  would  come  when  the  musicians  would 


Chap.  LXXXVII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


417 


*  understand  the  Greek  language,  and  be  able  to  read 
'  those  authors  in  the  originals.    This  man  had  a  very 

*  good  genius,  but  wanted  judgment,  for  he  recited,  or 

*  rather  reckoned  up,  the  positions  of  these  authors, 
'  but  never  examined  them  in  order  to  find  out  which 
'  was  true,  or  came  nearest  to  the  truth,  but  left  them  all 
'  untouched  ;  and  because  Boetius  was  received  by  all, 
'  he  dared  not  to  contradict  him  ;  and  though  he  seems 
'  in  some  instances  to  agree  with  Ptolemy,  yet  dares 
'  he  not  to  assert  which  of  the  two  he  thought  the 
•'  best,  but  sometimes  is  drawn  on  this  side,  sometimes 
'  on  that,  so  that  nothing  certain  or  fixed  can  be  had 
'  from  him  :  for  sometimes,  to  favour  Boetius  and  the 

*  Pythagoreans,  he  says  in  that  book  of  music  which 
'  he  wrote  in  the  Italian  language,  that  he  wondered 

*  at  the  inadvertency,  as  he  calls  it,  of  Ptolemy,  who 
'  says  that  the  diapason  with  the  diatessaron  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  assumes  the  sesquiquarta  and  ses- 
'  quiquinta  of  Ptolemy,  to  constitute  from  them  the 
'  greater  and  lesser  third,  contrary  to  Boetius  and  all 
'  the  Pythagoreans.' 

In  the  thirty -first  chapter  he  delivers  his  sentiments 
of  Glareanus  in  these  words  : — 

*  Henricus  Glareanus  was  a  man  excellently 
'  versed  in  all  good  arts,  and  has  exhibited  to  the 
'  world  several  specimens  of  his  learning,  for  he 
'wrote  a  treatise  on  Geography,  not  less  useful  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 

*  rule  of  the  ancient  modes,  as  he  himself  thinks, 
'  which  work  he  entitled  Dodecachordon.     In  it  he 

*  has  gathered  many  examples  both  of  the  simple 
'  cantus  and  that  of  many  forms,  which  at  once  give 
'  great  pleasure  and  profit ;  and  though  he  never 
'  wrote  any  thing  of  speculative  music,  yet  he  con- 
'  fesses  in  many  places  that  he  had  applied  himself 
'  too  much  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  preface  really  long  enough,  published  with  that 

*  work,  in  which  he  mentions  that  he  corrected  five 

*  books  of  the  music  of  Boetius,  which  he  says  abounded 
'with  many  errors,  and  illustrated  it. with  several 

*  figures.' 

In  the  thirty  -  second  chapter  he  considers  the 
speculations  of  Ludovicus  Follianus ;  and  as  to  his 
division  of  the  diapason,  he  says  it  is  the  same  with 
that  of  Ptolemy,  called  the  syntonous,  intense,  or 
stretched  diatonic,  which  he  says  Did}'mus  invented 
many  years  ago,  with  this  difference,  that  Didymus 
gave  to  the  sesquinonal  tone  the  first  place  in  the 
tetrachord,  whereas  Ptolemy  gives  it  to  the  sesqui- 
octave  tone.  He  nevertheless  says  of  the  intense 
diatonic  in  general,  that  it  is  a  division  of  all  others 
the  most  correct  and  grateful  to  the  ear.  He  says 
that  many  of  the  ratios  investigated  by  Follianus  had 
before  his  time  been  discovered  by  Bartholomeus 
Ramis,  a  Spaniard,  who  is  blamed  by  Franchinus  for 


differing  from  Boetius.  Salinas  says  that  he  himself, 
long  before  the  treatise  of  Follianus  had  been  read  to 
him,  had  made  many  of  the  discoveries  therein  con- 
tained, and  that  he  had  from  time  to  time  commu- 
nicated them  to  Bartholomeus  Escobedus,  a  man  ex- 
cellently versed  in  both  parts  of  music,  and  his  very 
great  friend,  who  told  him  there  was  a  certain  author 
who  had  treated  of  all  those  things  in  the  same 
manner  as  he  had  thought  on,  and  this  author  he 
afterwards  found  to  be  Follianus.  He  blames 
Follianus  for  using  three  semitones,  which  he  calls 
greater,  lesser,  and  least,  when  no  one  else  had 
noticed  more  than  two,  and  many  but  one ;  the 
greater  of  the  three  is  in  the  ratio  ^,  the  lesser  \^, 
and  the  least  |^4,  the  two  last  he  says  are  well  con- 
stituted, but  the  first  he  condemns  as  inconcinnous 
and  ungrateful  to  the  ear. 

He  concludes  his  remarks  on  the  writings  of  the 
modern  musicians  with  a  character  of  Zarlino,  of 
whom  he  says  that  he  was  well  skilled  in  both  parts 
of  music,  for  that  as  to  what  regarded  the  practice, 
he  had  been  scholar  to  Adrian  Willaert,  the  most 
famous  symphonist  of  his  time,  and  succeeded  him  in 
his  school  at  Venice  ;  and  on  the  theory  of  the 
science  he  wrote  much  better  than  those  that  went 
before  him. 

The  remaining  three  books  of  Salinas's  work  are 
on  the  subject  of  the  Rythmus,  and  are  a  copious 
dissertation  on  the  various  kinds  of  metre  used  by 
the  Greek,  the  Roman,  and,  in  honour  of  his  owu 
country,  the  Spanish  poets.  In  the  course  of  his 
enquiries  touching  their  nature  and  use,  he  takes 
frequent  occasion  to  cite  and  commend  St.  Augustine, 
who  also  wrote  on  the  subject.  The  laws  of  metre 
have  an  immediate  reference  to  poetry ;  but  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  music  and  of  dances,  such  as 
the  Pavan,  the  Passamezzo,  and  others,  consist  in  a 
regular  commixture  and  interchange  of  long  and 
short  quantities. 

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  modern  times,  and  that  for  this  reason  :  the  author 
was  a  practical  musician,  that  is  to  say  an  organist, 
as  well  as  a  theorist,  and  throughout  his  book  he 
manifests  a  disposition  the  farthest  removed  that  can 
possibly  be  imagined  from  that  credulity  which  be- 
trayed Glareanus  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 
persuade  us  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  enarmonic  genus  was  by  much  the  most 
difficult  to  comprehend  of  them  all,  Salinas,  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. 

2e 


418 


HISTORY  OP  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


BOOK    X.        CHAR    LXXXVIII. 


The  musical  characters  hitherto  spoken  of,  were 
calculated  not  only  for  vocal  performance,  but  were 
applicable  to  every  instrument  in  use  after  the  time 
of  inventing  them,  excepting  the  lute,  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  notation, 
which  is  by  certain  letters  of  the  Roman  alphabet,  is 
called  the  Tablature,  the  first  intimations  of  which 
are  to  be  met  with  in  the  Musurgia  of  Ottomarus 
Luscinius.  The  Fronimo  of  Galilei  is  in  the  title- 
page  called  a  Dialogue  '  sopra  I'Arte  del  bene  in- 
'tavolare:'  this  kind  of  tablature  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  hooked  lines 
instead  of  notes.* 

Mersennus  says  that  several  skilful  men  had 
laboured  to  improve  the  Tablature,  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  Mersennus  above  alludes 
to,  with  the  title  of  '  Briefve  et  facile  Instruction 
'  pour  aprendre  la  Tablature  k  bien  accorder,  con- 
'  duire,  et  disposer  la  Main  sur  la  Guiterne,'  which, 
together  with  another  book  of  his  of  the  same  kind, 
intitled  '  Instruction  de  partir  toute  Musique  des  huit 
'  divers  Tons  en  Tablature  de  Luth,'  were  published 
about  1570,  with  a  recommendatory  preface  by  one 
Jacques  Gohory,  a  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  : — J 


and  represents  by  the  following  figure  the  posture  for 
holding  and  playing  on  it : — 


*  De  Instrutnentis  Harmonicis,  lib.  I.  prop,  xviii.  pag.  24. 

t  Ibid. 

t  The  above  fifiure  represents  the  lute  in  its  original  form,  but  the 
many  improvements  made  in  this  instrument  make  it  necessary  to  re- 
mark that  the  lute,  simply  constructed  as  this  is,  is  called  the  French 
lute ;  the  first  improvement  of  it  was  the  Theorba  or  Cithara  Bijuga,  so 
called  as  having  two  necks,  the  second  or  longest  whereof  sustains  the 
four  last  rows  of  chords,  which  give  the  deepest  and  gravest  sounds  ;  its 
use  is  to  play  thorough  bass  in  the  accompaniment  of  the  voice.  Bros- 
sard  intimates  that  it  was  invented  in  France  by  the  Sieur  Hotteman, 
and  thence  introduced  into  Italy.     But  Kircher  gives  a  different  account 


The  lute  which  Le  Roy  treats  of,  is  supposed  to 
consist  of  six  strings,  or  rather  eleven,  for  that  the 
five  larger  are  doubled  :  and  in  the  Tablature  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,  signified  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  by  the  letters 
bcdefghi;§  the  letter  a  is  omitted  in  the  above 
series,  forasmuch  as  whereever  it  is  found  the  string 
is  to  be  struck  open.  The  general  idea  of  the  tabla- 
ture therefore  is  this,  the  lines  of  the  stave  give  the 
chords  respectively,  and  the  letters  the  points  at  which 
tliey  are  to  l;e  stopped,  and  consequently  the  notes 
of  any  given  composition,  the  instrument  being 
previously  tuned  for  the  purpose,  as  the  precepts  of 
the  lute  require. 

As  to  the  characters  for  time  used  in  the  tablature, 

of  the  matter,  saying  that  it  received  its  name  from  a  certain  Neapolitan 
who  first  doubled  the  neck  of  the  Testudo  or  lute,  and  added  several 
chords  to  it.  He  says  that  the  author  of  this  improvement,  with  a  kind 
of  pun,  gave  to  this  instrument  the  name  of  Tiorba,  from  its  near  resem- 
blance to  a  utensil  so  called,  in  which  the  glovers  of  Italy  were  wont, 
as  in  a  mortar,  to  pound  perfumes.  Kircher  adds,  that  liieronymus 
Kapsperger.  a  noble  German,  was  the  first  that  brought  the  Theorbo  into 
repute,  and  that  in  his  time  it  had  the  preference  of  all  other  instruments. 
The  strings  of  the  Theorbo,  properly  so  called,  are  single,  nevertlieless 
there  are  many  who  double  the  bass  strings  with  an  octave,  and  the  small 
ones  with  an  unison,  in  which  case  it  assumes  a  new  appellation,  and  is 
called  the  Arch-lute.  Mersennus  is  extremely  accurate  in  his  description 
of  the  lute  and  the  Theorbo,  but  he  has  not  noted  the  diversity  between 
the  latter  and  the  Arch-lute. 

§  It  seems  that  the  use  of  the  small  letters  of  the  alphabet  in  tablature 
was  at  first  peculiar  to  the  French.  The  Italians  and  other  nations  in- 
stead thereof  making  use  of  cyphers  and  other  characters.  Le  Roy, 
pag.  fi4.  But  the  French  method,  soon  after  the  publication  of  Le  Roy's 
book,  became  general. 


Chap.  LXXXVIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


419 


they  were  of  this  form  P"  ^  ^  answering  to  the 
minim,  the  crotchet,  and  the  quaver,  and  pLiced  over 
the  stave  in  the  manner  represented  in  the  subsequent 
example. 

Tlie  other  tract,  intitled  *  Instruction  de  partir 
*  toute  Musique  des  huit  divers  Tons  en  Tablature 
'  de  Luth,'  directs  the  method  of  setting  music  al- 


ready composed  in  proper  notes  in  tablature  for  the 
lute  •  and  contains  a  great  variety  of  examples  chosen 
out  of  the  works  of  OHando  de  Lasso  ;*  the  following, 
which  is  the  first  strain  only  of  a  song  of  his,  beginning 
'  Quand  mon  Mary  vient  de  dehors,'  in  four  parts  with 
the  Tablature,  may  serve  as  a  specimen  of  this  kind 
of  notation  : — f 


fegEiE^2^gp3:-^l:':%l| 


ESB3 


=:t: 


<2>- 


ztzii 


■i|--j: 


, 


^M 


— •& — ♦—• ♦- 


-t=::t=t:: 


-Tr:r?--r- 


±i=|z: 


ftS 


M 


^- 


izri: 


^M. 


:FEr^"E^t 


—k 


^:es^s^ 


r   f!  r 


c      b       c 


a     d     d      \ 


-$■ 


/    / 


r 


/    f  f     \    d      a         d      c        a 


a     a 


F! 


d      d    \    c      d 


f      e 


\i^M^m^^^^?^^ 


— 0- 


"H 


Kfet 


w- 


'i^^^^^^^^^^- 


:  tFiiz±=ti:H=±:=±±tzztzz: 


■fe- 


itzt 


TJ-q 


-*-?^ 


il^H 


-IZI5— 1 


m^ 


m^s-^^^^^ 


^ 


f*   r  T  fs    -i* 


^Zt'. 


S3= 


^n 


r    r  ^     r     r 


r 


II 


d  d 


f 


f 


a     e 


II 


/    / 


I        /   e 


f 


f     I    a 


II 
11 


II 
II- 


II 
11 


The  ninth  and  last  chapter  of  this  latter  book  of 
Le  Roy  is  on  the  subject  of  strings,  concerning  which 
there  is  much  curious  matter  in  Mersennus,  as  also 
a  rule  for  trying  them,  and  distinguishing  between 
a  true  and  a  false  string:   but  because  this  rule  is 

♦  Gohory,  in  his  preface  to  Le  Rov'b  book,  sums  up  the  character  of 
Orlando  de  Lasso  in  those  words:  -Here  tlien  will  I  end,  after  I  have 

*  advertised  yo>i  that  all  the  examples  of  this  book  be  taken  and  chosen 
'out  of  Orla'nd  de  Lassis.  of  whom  I  will  further  witness,  that  he  is  this 
'  day,  without  dan^'er  of  offence  to  any  man,  esteemed  the  most  ex- 
'cellent  musitian  of  this  time,  as  well  in  grave  matters,  as  meane  and 

•  more  pleasaunt ;  a  thing  given  from  above  to  fewe  other,  in  which  he 
'  hath  attayned  not  only  the  perfection  of  nielodie,  but  also  a  certaine  grace 
'of  sound  beyond  all  other,  such  as  Appelles  did  accompt  of  Venus  por- 
'trature;  wherein  he  hath  more  than  all  other  observed  to  fit  the  har- 
'  monie  to  the  matter,  expressing  all  partes  of  the  passions  thereof:  being 
'  the  first  that  hath  eschewed  bondes  and  common  holdinges  of  the  letter, 
'  by  right  placing  of  the  sillahelles  upon  the  notes,  and  observing  the 
'accent  in  French,  and  quantitie  in  Li^tine. 

1  t  It  seems  that  the  method  of  notation  by  the  tablature  was  also 


also  to  be  found  in  Le  Roy's  book,  and  most  probably 
was  by  Mersennus  taken  from  thence,  the  whole  of 
the  chapter,  which  is  very  short,  is  here  inserted. 

'  To   put    the  laste  hande   to   this  worke,  I  will 
'  not   omitte   to   give   you   to   understande   how   to 

adapted  to  the  Viol  de  Gamba.  In  the  second  book  of  Songs  or  Ayres 
with  Tablature.  by  John  Dowland,  printed  in  ICOO,  is  a  lesson  in  tabla- 
ture for  the  lute  and  bass  vinl,  entitled  Dowland's  Adew  for  Master 
Oliver  Cromwell ;  and  in  a  book  printed  in  1603,  entitled  The  Schoole  of 
Musicke,  by  Thomas  Robinson,  lutenist,  is  a  song  for  the  viol  by  tabla- 
ture. Nay,  it  was  also  used  for  the  treble  violin,  and  that  so  late  as  1C82  ; 
and,  which  is  very  remarkable,  there  were  then  two  ways  of  tuning  it,  at 
the  choice  of  the  performer,  by  fifths  and  by  eighths  this  appears  in 
a  book  entitled  Apollo's  Banquet,  containing  Instructions  and  Variety 
cf  new  tunes,  Ayres,  and  Jiggs,  for  the  treble  Violin,  the  third  edition 
published  in  that  year  by  John  Playford.  Anthony  Wond,  who  loved 
and  understood  music,  also  played  on  the  violin  ;  and,  as  he  himself  re- 
lates, practised  a  still  different  method  of  tuning,  viz.,  by  fourths.  Vide 
Life  of  Antony  a  Wood,  at  tlie  end  of  Hearne's  Caii  VindiciEE,  and  lately 
reprinted  by  itself. 


420 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


knowe  stringes,  whereof  the  best  come  to  us  out  of 
Almaigne,  on  this  side  the  town  of  Munic,  and  from 
Aquila  in  Italie ;  before  we  put  them  on  the  lute 
it  is  nedefuU  to  prove  them  between  the  handes  in 
maner  as  is  sette  forthe  in  the  figures  hereafter 
pictured,  which  shewe  manifestlie  on  tlie  finger  and 
to  the  eye  the  difference  from  the  true  with  the 
false ;  that  is  to  wete,  the  true  is  knowen  by  this, 
that  in  strikyng  hym  betwene  the  fingers  hee  muste 
shewe  to  divide  hymselfe  juste  in  twoo,  and  that 
for  so  muche  as  shall  reche  from  the  bridge  belowe 
to  the  toppe  of  the  necke,  because  it  maketh  no 
matter  for  the  rest  of  the  stringes  that  goeth  among 
the  pinnes ;  notwithstandyng  ye  male  not  be  satis- 
fied in  assaiyng  the  stringe  holden  only  at  that 
length,  but  that  you  must  also  prove  hym  in  stryk- 
ing  hym,  treying  holden  at  shorter  lengthes  to  be 
w'ell  assured  of  his  certaine  goodness  and  perfection. 
Also  the  false  strynge  is  knowen  by  the  shew  of 
many  strynges,  which  it  representeth  when  it  is 
striken  between  the  fingers ;  so  muste  you  continewe 
the  same  triall  in  stryking  the  stryng  till  you 
perceive  the  tooken  of  the  good  to  separate  hym 
Irom  the  badde,  accordyng  to  the  figures  followyng.' 


CosTANZo  Porta,  a  Franciscan  friar,  and  a  native 
of  Cremona,  is  highly  celebrated  among  the  musicians 
of  the  sixteenth  century.  In  the  earlier  part  of  his 
life  he  was  Maestro  di  Capella  in  the  cathedral  church 
of  Osimo  as  it  is  called,  from  the  Latin  Auximnm, 
a  small  city  on  the  river  Musone  near  Ancona,  but 
■was  afterwards  advanced  to  the  same  station  in  the 
church  of  Loretto.  He  was  the  author  of  that  most 
ingenious  composition  published  first  by  Artusi  in 
his  treatise  '  Delle  Imperfettioni  della  moderna 
*  Musica,'  and  inserted  in  the  earlier  part  of  this 
work,  and  which  is  so  contrived,  as  that  besides  that 
the  parts  are  inverted,  it  may  be  sung  as  well  back- 
ward as  forward.  He  is  supposed  to  have  died  in 
the  year  1580,  and  has  left  behind  him  Motets  for 
five  voices,  printed  at  Venice  in  154B,  and  other 
works  of  the  like  kind,  printed  also  there  in  1566 
and  1580.     In  an  oration  pronounced  by  Ansaldus 


Cotta  of  Cremona  in  1553,  'pro  Instauratione  Stu- 
'  diorum  Cremonte,'  is  the  following  eulogium  on 
'  him  :  Constantius  Porta  non  tarn  hujus  urbis,  quam 
'  Franciscanse  familife  decns  eximium,  cujus  in  musica 
'  facultatem  praistantiam  plerisque  cum  ItalijB  urbibus 
'  Roma  potissimum,  omnium  regina  gentium  est  ad- 

*  mirata.'  Vide  Arisii  Cremonam  literatam,  pag.  453. 
And  elsewhere  in  the  same  oration  he  is  styled 
'  Musicorum  omnium  praeter  invidiam  facile  pr?nceps.' 
Vide  Draudii  Eibl.  Class,  pag.  1693. 

Giovanni  Pierluigi  da  Palestrina  (a  Portrait) 
was,  as  his  name  imports,  a  native  of  the  ancient 
Praeneste,  now  corruptly  called  Palestrina,  and  still 
more  corruptly  Palestina.*  He  flourished  in  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  and  the  year  of  his 
birth  is  thus  ascertained  by  Andrea  Adami  da  Bolsena, 
master  of  the  pontifical  chapel  under  Clement  XI. 
who  professes  to  give  the  particulars  of  his  life. 
'  The  time  of  Palestrina's  birth  is  not  precisely  to 
'  be  ascertained,  by  reason  that  the  records  of  the 
'  city  of  Palestrina,  which  may  be  supposed  to  con- 
'  tain  tlie  register  of  his  birth,  were  destroyed  at  the 
'  sacking  thereof  by  the  duke  d'  Alva  in  1557 ;  but 

*  it  appears  by  a  book  intitled  Le  grotte  Vaticane, 
'  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  the  time  of  his  death  on  the  second 
day  of  February  1594,  from  whence  it  may  be  com- 
puted that  he  must  have  been  born  some  time  in  tlie 
year  1529.t 

The  author  who  has  enabled  us  thus  satisfactorily 
to  settle  the  period  of  Palestrina's  life,  has  been  less 
fortunate  in  ascertaining  the  name  of  his  master. 
He  says  that  he  was  a  scholar  of  Gaudio  Mell, 
Fiammengo,  i.  e.  a  Fleming,  or  native  of  Flanders ; 
this  assertion  is  grounded  on  the  testimony  of  Antimo 
Liberati,  a  singer  in  the  pontifical  chapel,  who  has 
given  an  account  of  Palestrina  and  his  supposed 
master  in  these  words  : — 

'  Among  the  many  strangers  who  settled  in  Italy 
'  and  Rome,  the  first  who  gave  instructions  for  sing- 
'  ing  and  harmonic  modulations  was  Gaudio  Mell, 
'  Plandro,  a  man  of  great  talents,  and  of  a  sweet 
'  flowing  style,  who  instituted  at  Rome  a  noble  and 
'  excellent  school  for  music,  where  many  pupils  ren- 
'  dered  themselves  conspicuous  in  that  science,  but 
'  above  all  Gio.  Pier  Luigi  Palestrina,  who,  as  if 
'  distinguished  by  nature  herself,  surpassed  all  other 

*  The  name  Giaiietto  Palestina  occurs  in  many  collections  of  madri- 
gals and  other  compositions  published  about  this  time  ;  and  in  the  Storia 
della  Musica  of  Padre  Martini,  pa^.  I!i8,  is  the  followinft  note  :  '  Giovanni 
'  Pier  Luigi  da  Palestrina  detto  anche  Gianetto  da  Palestrina  come  dal 
'  lib.  I.  intitolato  Li  Amorosi  Ardori  di  diversi  eccell.  Musici  a  5.  raecolti 
'  da  Cesare  Corradi.' 

The  truth  of  this  assertion,  notwithstanding  the  authority  on  which  it 
is  grounded,  is  at  least  questionable.  In  a  collection  of  madrigals,  in- 
titled  Medodia  01yni|)ica,  published  by  Pietrn  Philippi  in  1594,  we  meet 
with  the  name  Gio.  Prenestini  to  the  madri^'als,  '  Mori  quasi  il  mio  Core,' 
and  '  Veramente  m  amore ; '  and  also  with  the  name  Gianetto  Palestina 
to  '  Non  son  le  vostri  niani,'  and  '  O  bella  Ninfa.'  And  in  a  collection  of 
motets  intitled  '  Florilcgium  sacrarum  cantionum  quinque  vocum  pro 
'  diebus  Douiinicis  et  Festis  totius  anni  e  celeberrimis  iiostri  temporis 
'  musicis,'  printed  by  Petrus  Phalesius  of  Antwerp  in  liill,  the  name  Jo. 
Aloysius  Praenestinus  occurs  in  seven  places,  and  that  of  Gianetto  de 
Palestina  in  four. 

The  argument  hence  arising  is,  that  if  both  those  names  were  intendea 
to  denote  the  same  person,  the  distinction  between  them  would  hardly 
have  been  preserved  in  the  instances  above  adduced  in  one  and  the  same 
publication. 

+  Vide  Osservazioni  per  ben  regolare  il  Core  della  Cappella  Pontificia. 
fatte  da  Andrea  Adami  da  Bolsena,  pag.  Ifif). 


Chap.  LXXXVIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


421 


rivals,  and  even  his  own  masters.  This  great  genius, 
'  guided  by  a  peculiar  faculty,  the  gift  of  God,  adopted 
'  a  style  of  harmony  so  elegant,  so  noble,  so  learned, 

*  so  easy,  and  so  pleasing  both  to  the  connoisseur  and 
'  the  ignorant,  that  in  a  mass  composed  on  purpose, 
'  sung  before  pope  Marcellus  Cervinus  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  church-music  under 

*  the  penalty  of  excommunication.  This  ingenious 
'  man,  by  his  astonishing  skill  and  the  divine  melody 
'  of  that  mass,  plainly  convinced  his  holiness  that 
'  those  disagreeable  jars  between  the  music  and  the 
'  words  so  often  heard  in  churches,  were  not  owing 
'  to  any  defect  in  the  art,  but  to  the  want  of  skill  in 

*  the  composers;  and  Paul  IV.  his  successor,  to  whom 
'  he  dedicated  the  mass  entitled  Missa  Papae  Marcelli, 
'  appointed  him  perpetual  composer  and  director  in 
'  the  pontifical  chapel,*  a  dignity  which  has  been 
'  vacant  ever  since  his  death.f  This  mass  is  now 
'  and  ever  will  be  performed,  as  long  as  there  is 
'  a  world,  in  the  sacred  temples  at  Rome,  and  in  all 

*  other  places  where  they  have  been  so  fortunate  as 

*  to  procure  the  compositions  of  a  genius  whose 
'  works  breathe  divine  harmony,  and  enable  us  to 

*  sing  in  a  style  so  truly  sublime  the  praises  of  our 
'  Maker.'ij: 

Adami  has  adopted  the  facts  contained  in  this 
relation,  and  acquiesced  in  the  assertion  that  Gaudio 
Mell,  a  Fleming,  was  the  master  of  a  noble  school  at 
Rome,  where  the  principles  and  practice  of  music 
were  taught,  and  that  Palestrina  was  his  disciple. 

It  is  to  be  feared  that  Liberati  had  no  better 
authority  for  the  particulars  of  his  relation  than  bare 
report,  for  evidence  is  wanting  that  such  a  person  as 
Gaudio  Mell,  a  Fleming  and  musician,  ever  existed : 
his  name  does  not  occur  in  the  list  of  Flemish 
musicians  given  by  Guicciardini  in  his  History  of 
the  Low  Coiintries,  nor  in  any  of  those  colleotions  of 
vocal  music  published  by  Pietro  Phalesio,  Hubert 
Waelrant,  Andrew  Pevernage,  Pietro  Philippi,  Mel- 
chior  Borchgrevinck,  and  others,  between  the  years 
1593  and  1620,  nor  in  Printz's  History  of  Music, 
nor  in  that  of  Bontempi,  nor  in  the  Musical  Lexi- 
con 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  Gaudio 
Mell  might  understand  Goudimel,  but  his  Christian 
name  was  Claude,  for  which  reason  he  is  by  Monsieur 
Varillas  confounded  with  Claude  Le  Jeune.    Neither 

•  Paul  IV.  succeeded  to  the  pontificate  in  1560,  and  at  that  time 
Girolamo  Maccabei  was  Maestro  della  Cappella  Pontificia;  and  in  1567 
he  was  succeeded  by  Egidio  Valenti;  these  were  both  ecclesiastics,  and 
not  musicians,  and  the  latter  is  styled  '  Maestro  del  Collegio  de  Cantoria 
'  della  Cappella  Pontificia,'  from  whence  it  may  be  conjectured  that  this 
was  an  office  that  referred  to  the  government  of  the  college,  and  not  to 
the  performance  of  service  in  the  chapel ;  so  that  by  this  appointment 
Palestrina  seems  to  have  been  virtually  Maestro  di  Cappella,  as  well  of 
the  pope's  chapel  as  of  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  but  that  lie  did  not  choose 
to  assume  the  title,  it  having  been  already  appropriated  to  'an  ofEcer  of  a 
different  kind. 

t  This  is  a  mistake  of  Antimo  Liberati,  and  is  noted  by  Adami,  for 
Felice  Anerio  succeeded  Palestrina  in  the  office  of  Compositore  da 
Cappella  Pontificia  immediately  on  his  decease,  as  appears  by  a  memo- 
randum in  a  book  of  Ippolito  Gamboce,  Puntatore,  i.  e.  register  of  the 
colleg  ■,  or  as  some  say,  an  officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  appoint  the  functions 
for  ea^h  day's  service  in  the  chapel.  See  the  account  of  Felice  Anerio 
hereafter  given. 

t  Lettera  scritta  dal  Sig.  Antimo  Liberati  in  risposta  ad  una  del  Sig. 
Ovidio  Persapegi,  1688,  pag.  22. 


was  Goudimel  a  Fleming,  but  a  native  of  Franche 
Comte,  as  Bayle  infers  from  certain  verses  which  fix 
the  place  of  his  birth  upon  the  Doux,  a  river  that 
runs  by  Bezanpon ;  and  Franche  Comte  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  Goudimel  was  not  the  person.  Gou- 
dimel was  a  protestant,  and,  as  Thuanus  relates,  set 
the  Psalms  of  David  translated  into  metre  by  Clement 
Marot  and  Theodore  Beza,  to  various  and  most  pleas- 
ing tunes,  which  in  his  time  were  sung  both  publicly 
and  privately  by  the  protestants.  He  was  massacred 
at  Lyons,  and  not  at  Paris,  as  some  assert,  in  1572, 
and  has  a  place  and  an  eulogium  in  the  protestant 
martyrology.  II 

After  stating  the  above  facts  it  must  appear  need- 
less to  insist  on  the  improbability  that  Palestrina, 
whom  we  must  suppose  to  have  been  born  of  parents 
of  the  Romish  communion,  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  far  was 
he  from  having  instituted  a  music-school  at  Rome, 
as  is  elsewhere  asserted,  does  not  appear  by  any  of 
the  accounts  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  Palestrina's  master,  who 
though  in  truth  a  Fleming,  and  of  the  name  of  Mell, 
seems  to  have  been  a  different  person  from  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  is  described 
by  Printz  and  Walther  as  being  a  native  of  Flanders, 
and  to  have  flourished  about  the  year  1538,  at  which 
time  Palestrina  was  nine  years  old,  a  proper  age  for 
instruction. 

At  the  age  of  thirty-three,  and  in  the  year  1562, 
Palestrina  was  made  Maestro  di  Cappella  di  S.  Maria 
Maggiore,  and  in  1571  he  was  appointed  to  the  same 
honourable  office  in  the  church  of  St.  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 Sixtus  V. 

Antimo  Liberata  relates  that  Palestrina,  in  con- 
junction with  a  very  intimate  friend  and  fellow- 
student  [condiscepolo]  of  his,  Gio.  Maria  Nanino  by 
name,  established  a  school  at  Rome,  in  which,  not- 
withstanding his  close  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  the  introduction  of  intricate  proportions, 
and  set  about  framing  a  style  for  the  church,  grave, 
decent,  and  plain,  and  which,  as  it  admitted  of  none 


§  Vide  Bayle  in  art.     Goudimei.. 


II  Ibid. 


422 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


of  those  unnatural  commixtures  of  dissimilar  times, 
which  were  become  the  disgrace  of  music,  left  ample 
scope  for  invention.  Influenced  by  that  love  of 
simplicity  which  is  discoverable  in  all  his  works,  he, 
in  conjunction  with  Francesco  Soriano,  reduced  the 
measures  in  the  Cantus  Eeclesiasticus  to  three,  namely 
the' Long,  the  Breve,  and  the  Seniibreve.* 

Of  many  works  which  Palestrina  composed,  one 

•  Vide  II  Canto  Ecclesiastico  da  D.  Marzio  Erculeo.     In  Modano, 
IG8G,  pag.  3. 


of  the  most  capital  is  his  Masses,  published  at  Rome 
in  1572,  in  large  folio,  with  this  title,  '  Joannis  Petri 
'  Loysii  Praeuestini  in  Basilica  S.  Petri  de  urbe  ca- 
'  pellse  magistri  missarum,  liber  primus,'  under  which 
is  a  curious  print  from  wood  or  metal  after  the 
design  of  some  great  painter,  as  must  be  inferred 
from  the  excellence  of  the  drawing,  representing  the 
author  making  an  offering  of  his  book  to  the  pope  in 
the  manner  here  exhibited  : — 


Chap.  LXXXVIH. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


423 


On  the  back  of  the  title-page  is  a  short  com- 
mendatory epistle  to  Julius  III.  the  then  pope.  Of 
these  masses,  which  are  five  in  number,  and  it  is  to 
be  doubted  whether  Palestrina  ever  published  any 
more  in  this  form,  four  are  for  four  voices,  and  one 
for  five.  Many  parts  of  each  are  composed  in  canon, 
and  bespeak  the  learning  and  ingenuity  of  tiieir 
author.  The  masses  are  printed  in  parts,  on  a  coarse 
but  very  legible  type,  with  Gothic  initial  letters 
curiously  designed  and  executed.* 

There  are  also  extant  of  his  composition  Motets 
and  Hymns  for  4,  5,  and  6  voices,  printed  in  large 
folio,  and  published  in  1589  ;  some  of  these  motets 
were  also  printed  in  a  collection  intitled  '  Florilegium 


'  sacrarum  cantionum  quinque  vocum  pro  diebus 
*  dominicis  et  festis  totius  anni,  e  celeberrimis  nostri 
'  teraporis  musicis.'  This  collection  was  given  to  the 
world  in  1609  by  Petrus  Phalesius,  a  printer  of 
Antwerp,  who  was  a  man  of  learning,  and,  as  it 
should  seem,  a  lover  of  music,  for  he  published  many 
other  collections  of  music,  and  before  his  house  had 
the  sign  of  king  David  playing  on  the  harp.  It  is 
in  the  motets  of  Palestrina  that  we  discover  that 
grandeur  and  dignity  of  style,  that  artful  modulation 
and  sweet  interchange  of  new  and  original  harmonies, 
for  which  he  is  so  justly  celebrated  ;  with  respect  to 
these  excellencies  let  the  following  composition  speak 
for  him : — 


f 


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P 


fon     -     tes     a  -  qua 


rp?=:^z=ai 


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rum, 


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rum, 


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de  -  si   -   de  -  rat    ad     fon  -  tes 


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si    -    derat  ad      fon 


tes, 


— t -t==:^=:l==^i=*=*=^- 


=t: 


•=1=1=± 


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de  -  si  -  de  -  rat 


ad 


m 


fon  -  tes  a -qua    - 


t? 


■^^^^^^^^^^^: 


==lc»l== 


= =i= 


zziz 


:=!z3>t=== 


-«3- 


-     qua 


rum, 


rum, 

de        -        si      -        -de  -  rat,  .     . 


-     -     ta 


de 


==t=c 


^atz 


m 


:d 


=n 


rum, 


*  The  art  of  printing  music  in  letter-press  or  on  metal  tj-pes,  was  at 
this  time  arrived  at  great  perfection,  it  was  invented  by  one  Ottavio  de 
Feiracci  of  Fossombrone   in    Italy,   who  in  the  year   1515  and   1516 


ff=^z:b — - 

de  -  rat,     .     . 

published  the  masses  of  lodocus  Pratensis.  Osserv.  da  Andrea  Adami, 
pag.  160.  And  in  France  it  was  improved  by  Pierre  Ballard,  as  appears 
by  the  works  of  Claude  le  Jeune,  published  by  him. 


4:24 


^^=EEEE 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


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Chap.  LXX  XV 11 1. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


425 


^=^-«z»=P" 


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fon     -       -    t 


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do   ve  -  ni  -  am    et      ap  -  pa  -  re 

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VI 


vum,  quan -do      ve  -  ni-am   et      ap-pa-re 


i — m — ** — ^^ — 


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fu-  e-runt     mi    -  hi 


fu- e-runt      mi 


hi. 


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fu 


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11 


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56 


me   -  ae 


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e-runt    mi     -    hi 

znj=r 


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pa 


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t>=tjt—^iz-7i= 


tl^— rtz 


rjiz^ 


li^a^ii^^^ 


nes,  Di  -  e     ac 


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cry 


m    -    -    se    me 


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ac    noc 


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ZtJtZ 


3^^Ei^-EEr^-^iggiiHi"p;^gE 


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me 


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1 


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1131 


icb: 


ja' 


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ac 


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La 


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426 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book  X. 


^^^ 


^t: 


-b=^: 


& — ^ — .-*— 


z€L—vk 


ci-tur  mi  -  hi    quo-ti  -  di    -   e. 


r:j— 


-o-p-^ 


"p>=«i 


fe^EPE^ 


u  -  bi  est   De  -  us    tu 


i|5=^ 


z—n: 


te     dum     di 


ci-tur   mi  -  hi    quo-ti  -  di  -   e,    quo-ti  -  di   -  e,  u     -     bi  est  De-us 


noe      -       te 


noc 


dum  di  -  ci  -  tur         mi  -  hi   quo  -  ti  -  di  -   e,   quo  -  ti  -  di 


e, 


u     -    bi  est  De  -  us 


:=i(i^a=p: 


te    dum     di 


ci-tur  mi    -    hi 


d: 


.--^-^^^=p^=| 


quo  -  ti  -  di 


-    e, 


:S=drq= 


t^ 


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dum  di    -   ci  -   tur 


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in:: 


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=^=^=^--=^^ 


r< — f>- 


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us,  dum     di    -  ci  -  tur 


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bi  est    De  -  us 


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— — — ■ ■ 1- zzy-a — f^ — _^ — ff — L 1 1 ! — 


us,  dum    di    -   ci  -  tur 


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bi  est     De  -  us    tu  -  us,     De-us     tu    -     -    us, 


dum     di  -  ci  -  tur 


ZtJkZ 


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f* r  -• — a 


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zriz 


H^l^lili"^! 


:=lati 


mi  -  lii  quo 


mi   -  hi   quo  -  ti      di    -   e, 


-    bi  est    De  -  us       tu    -    us,    De-us  tu      - 

GlO.    PlERLUIGI   DA    PaLESTRINA. 


Dr.  Aldrich  adapted  English  words,  that  is  to  say 
part  of  the  sixty-third  psahn,  '  0  God,  thou  art  my 
God,'  to  the  music  of  this  motet,  and  it  is  frequently 
sung  in  our  cathedrals  as  an  anthem,  as  is  also 
another  of  Palestrina,  beginning  *  Doctor  Bonus,'  to 
the  words  '  We  have  heard  with  our  ears,  0  Lord,' 
these  are  remarkable  instances  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  originally  framed. 

Bleau,  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  work,  which  at  this  day  does  honour 
to  the  pontificate  of  Sixtus  V. 

Kircher,  in  the  Musurgia.  torn.  I.  lib.  VII.  cap.  v. 
has  given  a  Crucifixus  of  Palestrina,  which  he  says  is 


deservedly  the  admiration  of  all  musicians,  as  being 
the  work  of  a  most  exquisite  genius.  Many  of  the 
masses  of  Palestrina  are  strict  canon,  a  species  of 
composition  which  he  thoroughly  understood,  but 
his  motets  are  in  general  fugues,  in  which  it  is  hard 
to  say  whether  the  grandeur  and  sublimity  of  the 
point,  or  the  close  contexture  of  the  harmony  is  most 
to  be  admired.  As  to  the  points  or  subjects  of  his 
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  as 
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  some  of  the 
most  remarkable  are  contained  in  a  work  of  Abbate 
Domenico  dal  Pane,  a  sopranist  of  the  pontificial 
chapel,  published  in  1687,  intitled  '  Messe  a  quattro, 
'  cinque,  sei,  et  otto  voci,  estratte  da  esquisiti  motetti 
'del  Palestrina,'  these,  are  seven  masses,  of  which 
seven  motets  of  Palestrina,  namely.  Doctor  bonus, 


Chap.  LXXXVIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


427 


Domine  qiiando  veneris,  Stella  quam  viderant  Magi, 
O  Beatum  vinim,  Jubilate  Deo,  Canite  tuba  in  Sion, 
Fratres  ego  enim  accepi,  are  severally  the  theme. 

The  superior  excellence  of  these  compositions,  it 
seems,  excited  in  the  contemporary  musicians  both 
admiration  and  envy.  Johannes  Hieronymus  Kaps- 
berger,  a  German,  made  an  attempt  on  the  reputation 
of  Palestrina,  which  succeeded  as  it  deserved.  Kaps- 
berger,  who  is  represented  by  Doni  as  a  man  of  great 
assurance  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  rude 
and  inelegant  in  respect  to  the  melody  and  harmony, 
and  that  the  repetition  of  the  same  words,  but  more 
es]iecially  of  the  same  point  or  musical  subject,  in 
short,  that  which  constitutes  a  fugue  in  one  and  the 
same  cantus.  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 
Kapsberger,  which  meant  nothing  less  than  the 
banishing  from  his  chapel  the  music  of  Palestrina, 
and  admitting  that  of  his  opponent  in  his  stead  ; 
Kapsberger  succeeded,  and  his  music  was  given  to  the 
singers  of  the  bishop's  chapel  ;  they  at  first  refused, 
but  were  at  length  compelled  to  sing  it,  but  they  did 


it  in  such  a  manner  as  soon  induced  him  to  desist 
from  his  attempt,  and  wisely  decline  a  competition  in 
which  he  had  not  the  least  chance  of  success.  Kaps- 
berger was  a  voluminous  composer  ;  he  excelled  all 
of  his  time  in  playing  on  the  Theorbo,  an  instrument 
which  he  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  differs  widely 
from  Doni,  but  it  seems  that  Kircher  had  received 
great  assistance  from  Kapsberger  while  he  was  writing 
the  Musurgia. 

Palestrina  seems  to  have  devoted  his  whole  attention 
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  madrigals,  which 
have  been  preserved  and  are  published. 

In  the  year  1594  he  published  '  Madrigali  Spirit- 
*  uali  a  cinque  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  hymns  and 
penitential  songs  to  the  number  of  thirty.*  The 
following  is  the  ninth  of  them  : — 


r4=^=rr 


:ri: 


-ri- 


-^- 


P3==gi 


li- 


3^ 


-rt-'-*-h 


*£!= 


:«2i 


CRE-DO    gen  -  til      da  -  gli  a  -  mo  -  ro  -   si      ver     - 


oz 


iri— E 


feE^EE^=r3 


CRE-DO    gen     -    til 


da  -  gli  a-  mo  -  ro   -   si 


CRE-DO    gen  -  til 


da  -  gli  a  -mo  -  ro 


SI 


i^ 


•^=i=i: 


la: 


zrz7. 


"^ 


-fXZZLZfl 


'^=z^p 


1^ 


ver    - 


mi 


rnt^p 


— o 


CRE  -  DO     gen  -  til 


-'9- 


-■^-- 


da  -  gli  a  -  mo  -  ro  -   si 


ver 


mi     da    - 


ZjCJLZ 


CRE  -  DO    gen 


til 


:=^=F=pzz= 


da  -  gli  a  -  mo    - 


#Hig: 


t 


^311! 


iSrirrE— 


-1== 


rpjz 


-t.—\:. 


=Elrd-rtz=z= 


:=^=zf:: 


i^ 


z'i^vtzzl 


mi 


d'ogn'u  -  ma  -  no  pen  -  sier 


pur  -  gam'il     co 


re, 


:a: 


r-bl— r: 


ZKI^ZZflZ 


z^=^—a=iazt.  , 


^a 


^=»=ji- 


3^3Ei 


Z3CMZ 


Z^^-flZ 


ver  -    mi 


d'ogn' 


m 


ma  -    no    pensier    pur  -  garni' 1  co-re,        purgaini'l    co 


re 


per    - 


ziiz 


ZZZt- 


=1== 


m 


ZXJtZ 


ts 


d'ogn'u- ma-  no  peu-sier  pur  -  gami'l  co-re,      il 


rrrrp 


:f:=: 


--=^- 


::=t:= 


gli  a 


mo  -  ro 


si 


ver -mi 


d'ogn'u -ma  -  no    pen-sier  pur   -    gami'l 


CO     -     re      per 


^■^-=^-- 


Z10Z 


-»_^cp^-# 


~^-^ 


-x=--x^- 


il^ 


-« cb:i 


ziaz 


'fz- 


i 


ro 


SI 


ver    - 


mi  d'ogn'u -ma    -    no  pen  -  sier  . 


pur  -  ga  -  mi'l        co 


re 


per 


*  The  dedication  of  the  hook  is  thus  dated :  '  Di  Roma  il  prinio  giorno 
de!  anno  1594; '  from  whence  it  may  be  collected  that  this  was  his  last 


work,  and  that  it  was  published  just  a  month  before  his  decease,  for  be 
died  on  the  second  day  of  February  in  that  year. 


428 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


V 


Z^-fl=^^ 


«»— D= 


P=^3 


~az 


feei^^i^s^^ 


per-che  da  te 


ques  -   ti    ca  -  duchi  in   -  fir 


mi 


^^^ 


=r= 


mar 


iraz 


■So — I 


:r2; 


che     da 


te 


ques    -     ti       ca  -   duchi  in  -  fir    -    mi  ques- ti     ca 


du   -    chi  in 


fir 


mi 


ip> 


!=[:: 


m 


^=Em 


:± 


=.i=^= 


:zd 


-«• |7ar»- 


;f=^ZIIIi=D: 


1 


che     da 


te 


ques  -  ti       ca    -    duchi  in  -  fir 


mi 


sen  - 


:i3I 


:d «^ixz_-s: 


-± 


:t 


rz2i 


rrzi 


^^^^^^, 


-T^=^^= 


ife^ 


-   ch 


che     da  te    .      .     .         ques  -  ti 

da      te      qu-es 


ca  -  duchi  in  -  fir    -    mi,     ques 


:=^=|:=d 


— ^=rf-: 


ti, 


ti     ca  -  du  -  chi  in 


fir  -  mi 


da    te  ques  -  ti    ca  -  duchi  in    -   fir   -   mi 


^ 


--^=i 


m^^i 


^^EE^-^^^~ 


i:MZ 


:ei: 


Wi 


-ft- 


X. 


sen    -    si     pren   -  danoogn'or 


vi  -ta  e    vi 


go 


re 


tu 


i==pt: 


ICS- 


rjcn 


vi  -  va       Pal 
-o- 


~r>- 


=P!: 


It: 


sen    -    si     pren  -  danoogn'or 


^^E^;^^iE^ 


vi-tae,    vi-tae,  vi    -   go    -    re     tu    vi  -  va 


Pal 


ma    a 


:d. 


1^ 


P 


;ce: 


si     pren  -  danoogu'  or 


VI    -   tae 


vi  -   go    -    re     tu    vi  -  va 


Pal 


rcr: 


F^ 


-«- 


^cc 


sen 


SI 


pren 


^iifM^iiii^^ 


^i3iS 


danoogn'or  vi  -  tae    vi   -   go 

•    -J — g=T=tj — J = 


re 


^'^EEE^3:± 


sen 


si     pren   -  da -no      ogn' 


or 


vi-tae 


VI 


go 


re 


=*; 


t 


Ts-jzra: 


-tO~ 


EbE^E^- 


3t= 


It: 


^ 


:e=t 


ma 


me 


-    a 


me     sta    -    bi-lie 


-X==^z 


fer 


mi      Gior   -  ni    non  fat  -  ti 


^^ 


IP- 


-laz 

ztzz 


me, 


m. 


ma 


a 


^m 


me 


sta 


bi  -  lie 


"p:: 


=1= 


-f2- 


fer 


mi 


Gior 


ni    non  fat  -  ti 


t- 


^^^ 


me 


sta 


bi  -  lie 


fer 


mi 


Gior 


fc6^^ 


lit 


id: 


E^ 


laa: 


ZZZDZ 


:c!: 


rjot 


ni    non 


zrtz 


^- 


fat  -  ti 


=il= 


:^=l= 


tu      vi  -   va 


Pal 


ma 


me     sta    -    bi-lie 


fer 


mi 


Gior   -    ni    non   fat  -  ti 


;«-p=CF: 


d^Ej; 


^^' 


tu        VI 


va 


Pal 


ma 


me     sta    -   bi-lie 


3^EE 


-riz 


\~o ]—- 


fer 


m 


mi 


Gior   -    ni    non  fat  -  ti 


hi 


-r*- 


a^^l[ 


/r\ 


irz: 


t= 


¥•; 


:S2: 


*i 


dal  vo-lar-de      I'hore 


ztz=zc=bz 


/r\ 


Con  - ce     di 


dio 


::i.^n=:pL: 


I'uo  -  mo 
-» — 


E=i=E=l 


i^i^lil^ 


dal  vo-lar-de     I'hore. 


Con 


ce 
ipb: 


di 


dio 


I'uo  -  mo       neg  -  let  -toe  fra 


neg    - 


g^ 


zti^r: 


:7ai 


:ot 


dal  vo-lar-de    I'hore. 


Con  -  ce    di    di 


/TN 


Ei^ 


:c»: 


i=t 


-TTt—T^ p- 


"d: 


^^!e^ 


EE?^ 


--^-=i 


I'uo  -  mo      neg  -  let-to  e  fra    - 


^=S^i3E|E 


dal  vo-lar-de     I'hore. 


^^ 


Con  -  ce    di    dio   I'uo-  mo     neg- let- toe  fra  -  le,  I'uo-mo    neg   -  let-too 


t=X. 


X 


1=1= 


^-^ 


^:^^' 


:ai 


S^ 


:rii 


rrf: 


du!  vo-lar-de    I'hore. 


Con  -  ce    di   dio    I'uo-   mo  neg -let -toe  fra  -    le        Tuo-mo       neg 


I 


Chap.  LXXXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


429 


t= 


H^^iiiii^i 


*=»=; 


ini 


==I=P 


:ri= 


ii 


lettoe  fra  -  le      vi 


va  te  -  CO   nel    Ciel    sempi'im  -   mor 


ta 


le 


'ja.1 


■-^^m 


32: 


=?z= 


:l== 


^S^^. 


32=:  r 


•  f^ 


EE^t=E: 


E^EEEiE 


=^" 


i 


le 


vi     -     va  te  -  co   nel   Ciel  sempr'immor  -ta 


■Xr- 
le    vi     -    va  te  -  co  nel,  Ciel  sempr'immor  - 


^3^ 


^=--^~ 


2Ei=g^ 


:=]= 


-ctz 


-^^^^ 


zm 


Xr- 


ifiz 


:pc: 


p=j:=i: 


-o — ^ — ^- 


le   e,  fra  -  le 


VI 


H^: 


letto  e  fra 


va  te  -  CO    nel  Ciel  sempr'im   -  mor 


ta 


le, 


sempr'im-mor-ta 


frale,  fra    -     le 


vi     -     va  te-co   nel    Ciel  sempr'im -mor 


EJiEfz^^ZEipE^^^:^^, 


le 


vi    -    va  te  -  CO  -  nel  Ciel  sempr'immor 


=^- 


t- 


iiij^P||giE^=^i:^^^igj3l01ig^^^Hil 


VI 


rr-jra: 


^PfES 


va  te  -  CO    nel   ciel      sempr'im   -   mor     -    ta   -    le  sempr'inmioita 


le. 


:a= 


:t- 


• — «:* 1 — ^^—trrm tt^ 


zai 


X=.-rt^=zxi 


iti^rzC:: 


ta 


vi     -     va  te  -  CO   nel    ciel      sempr'immor  -ta 


le,  sempr'im  -  mor    -    ta 


le. 


^-T-^=l- 


-,'±i:mzi^^^-^i 


Zf2Z 


.^-i — I 1 «— 


'JUL:. 


=i.s-.^=l::=i:=E. 


r«_L 


izizztait— 


le     vi 


va  te  -  CO   nel 


ciel. 


nel     ciel  sempr'im  -  mor-ta 


le. 


lai 


rt 


it*i 


3^i^=i^^= 


331 


=P-T=» 


-^- 


Jcit 


ta     - 


-     le 


VI 


va  te  -   CO 


nel 


ciel 


sempr'im  -  mor 


ta 


le. 


ii^ 


IDI 


'-X--- 


~_      ~czi 


~ziz 


:^- 


ta 


le 


VI 


va  te  -  CO  nel 


ciel 


sempr'im  -  mor   -  ta 


le. 


How  long  Palestrina  enjoyed  the  honoiirable  em- 
ployment of  Maestro  di  Capella  in  the  church  of  St. 
Peter  at  Rome  is  above  ascertained,  by  the  year  of  his 
appointment  and  that  of  his  death.  His  historian  has 
in  the  way  of  his  function  mentioned  some  particulars 
relative  to  that  event ;  he  says  that  his  funeral  was 
attended  not  only  by  all  the  musicians  of  Rome,  but 
by  a  multitude  of  the  people,  and  was  celebrated  by 
three  choirs,  who  sang  a  '  Libera  me,  Domine,'  in  five 
parts,  of  his  own  composition  ;  that  his  body  was  in- 
terred in  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  before  the  altar  of 
St.  Simon  and  St.  Jude,  a  privilege  due  to  the  merit 
of  so  great  a  man,  inclosed  in  a  sheet  of  lead,  with  this 
inscription,  '  Petrus  Aloysius  Prsenestinus  Miisicse 
*  Princeps.'  It  is  said  that  an  original  picture  of  him 
is  yet  extant  in  the  archives  of  the  pope's  chapel,  and 
it  is  probable  that  the  portrait  which  Adami  has  given 
of  him  is  taken  from  it.  By  this,  which  conveys  the 
idea  of  a  man  remarkably  mean  in  his  appearance,  it 
seems  that  his  bodily  endowments  bore  no  proportion 
to  those  of  his  mind. 

To  enumerate  the  testimonies  of  authors  in  favour 
of  Palestrina  would  be  an  endless  task.  John  Baptist 
Doni  before-mentioned,  a  profoundly  learned  musician, 
and  whose  partiality  for  the  music  of  the  ancients  would 
hardly  suffer  him  to  admire  that  of  the  moderns,  seems 
without  hesitation  to  acquiesce  in  the  general  opinion 
that  he  was  the  greatest  man  in  his  time.  Agostina 
Pisa,  in  a  treatise  intitled  '  Battuta  della  Musica  di- 


GlO.    PlERLUIQI    DA    PalESTRINA. 

chiarata,'  printed  at  Rome  in  1611,  pag.  87,  calls  him 
the  honour  of  music,  and  prince  of  musicians.  He 
elsewhere  styles  him  ■  Gian  Pietro  Aloisio  Palestina 

*  luce  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 
such  he  is  in  general  considered  by  all  that  take  oc- 
casion to  speak  of  him. 

The  following  catalogue  is  exhibited  for  the  use  of 
such  as  may  be  desirous  of  collecting  the  works  of  this 
great  man  :  '  Dodici  libri  di  messe  a  4,  5,  6,  8  voci, 
'stamp,  in  Roma,  ed.  in  Venet.  1554,  1567,  1570, 
'  1572,  1582,  1585,  1590,  1591,  1594,  1699,  1600, 
'  IGOl.  Due  libri  d'  Offertorii  a  5,  Ven.  1594.  Due 
'  libri  di  Motetti  a  4,  Ven.  1571, 1606.  Qnattro  libri 
'  di  Motetti  a  5,  6,  7,  8  voci,  Ven.  1575.  1580,  1584, 

*  1586.  Magnificat  8  tonum,  Romge.  1591.  Hymni 
'  totius  anni  4  voc.  Rom£B  et  Ven.  1589.  Due  libri  di 
'  madrig,  a  4  voci,  Ven.  1586,  1605.  Due  libri  di 
'  madrig.  a  5  voci,  Ven.  1594.  Litanie  a  4,  Ven.  1600. 


CHAP.   LXXXIX. 

Giovanni  Maria  Nanino,  (a  Portrait,)  a  con- 
disciple  or  fellow-student  of  Palestrina,  having  been 
brought  up  under  the  same  master,  namely,  Rinaldo 
del  Mell,  was  a  native  of  Vallerano,  and  in  1577  was 
appointed  a  singer  in  the  pontifical  chapel,  where  are 


430 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


preserved  many  excellent  compositions  of  his.  He 
became  afterwards  Maestro  di  Cappella  di  S.  Maria 
Maggiore,  and  was  probably  the  immediate  successor 
of  Palestrina  in  that  office.  Some  very  fine  madrigals 
composed  by  him  are  to  be  found  in  the  collections 
published  by  Andrew  Pevernage,  Pietro  Phalesio, 
Hubert  Waelrant,  Pietro  Philippi,  and  others,  with 
the  titles  of  Harmonia  Celeste,  Musica  Divina,  Sym- 
phonia  Angelica,  and  Melodia  Olympica.  Padre 
Martini,  in  the  catalogue  of  authors  at  the  end  of  his 
Storia  della  Musica,  tom.  I.,  takes  notice  of  two  manu- 
scripts of  his  that  are  extant,  the  one  entitled  '  Cen- 
'  tocinquantasette  Contrapunte  e  Canoni  a  2,  3,  4,  5, 
*  6,  7,  8,  11  voci  sopra  del  Canto  ferrao  intitolato  la 
'  Base  di  Costanzo  Festa ;'  the  other,  *  Trattato  di 
'  Contrapunto  con  la  Regola  per  far  Contrapunto  a 
'  mente  di  Gio.  Maria,  e  Bernardino  Nanino  suo 
'  nipote.'  Sebastian  Raval,  a  Spaniard,  and  a  cele- 
brated contrapuntist,  was  foiled  by  liim  in  a  compe- 
tition between  them  which  was  tlie  abler  composer. 

It  has  already  been  mentioned  that  Nanino,  in 
conjunction  with  his  friend  Palestrina,  established  at 
Rome  a  school  for  the  study  of  music.  Antirao 
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  Palestrina,  besides  taking  his  part  in  the  in- 
struction of  the  youth,  was  a  moderator  in  the  dis- 
putes that  sometimes  arose  among  them.  The  same 
author  adds,  that  among  the  many  excellent  musi- 
cians that  were  there  educated,  Bernardino  Nanino,  a 
younger  brother  of  him  of  whom  we  are  now  speak- 
ing, was  distinguished  as  a  wonderful  genius,  and  as 
having  improved  music  by  the  introduction  of  a  new 
and  original  style  ;  there  is  nevertheless  nothing  ex- 
tant of  his  composition  but  a  work  printed  at  Rome 
in  1620,  entitled  '  Salmi  h  4  voci  per  le  Domeniche, 
'  Solennita  della  Madonna  et  Apostoli  con  doi  Mag>- 
'  nificat,  uno  a  4  e  1'  altro  a  8  voci.'  Antonio  Cifra 
was  also  a  disciple  in  this  school. 

Felice  Anerio,  (a  Portrait,)  a  disciple  of  the 
elder  Nanino,  was  the  immediate  successor  of  Pales^ 
trina  in  the  station  of  composer  to  the  pontifical 
chapel.*  He  had  the  character  of  an  excellent  con- 
trapuntist ;  many  of  his  compositions  are  preserved 
in  the  library  of  the  chapel,  and  there  is  extant  a 
valuable  collection  of  madrigals  by  him,  printed  at 
Antwerp  in  1610. 

RuGGiERO  GiovANELLi  (a  Portraif,)  was  master 
of  the  chapels  of  St.  Lewis  and  St.  Apollinare,  and 
the  immediate  successor  of  Palestrina  in  the  church 
of  St.  Peter  at   Rome  ;t  and  also  a  singer  in  the 

*  The  following  account  of  his  appointment,  and  the  ceremonies  at- 
tending it,  is  cited  by  Adami  from  the  book  of  Ippolito  Gamboci,  the 
piintatore  heretofore  mentioned,  with  a  remark  that  Antimo  Liberata 
had  little  reason  to  say  that  Palestrina  was  the  last  composer  to  the 
chapel,  seeing  that  Anerio  succeeded  him  in  that  honourable  employment. 

'  La  mattina  della  Dnmenica  delle  palme  venne  in  cappella  il  Sig.  Luca 
'Cavalcanti  maestro  di  camera  dell'  illustriss.  e  reverendiss.  Sig.  Card, 
'  Aldrobandini,  Nipote  di  N.  S.  papa  Clemente  VIH.  e  disse  al  collegio 
'  da  parte  del  suddetto  Sig.  Cardlnale,  che  sua  santit^  aveva  graziato 
'  Messer  Felice  Anerio  del  posto  vacato  per  la  morte  di  Pierluigi  da 
'  Palestrina,  e  che  lo  aveva  accettato  per  compositore  della  cappella,  eche 
'giagodeva  la  provisione,  e  pero  sua  Signoria  illustrissima  pregava  il 
'collegio,  che  lo  volesse  accettare  in  detto  posto,  e  che  si  conteutassero 
'  tulti  di  far  una  fede  di  questa  ammissione  ;  come  fil  fatto.' 

+  By  this  it  shoiild  seem  that  the  places  which  Palestrina  held  were  at 
his  decease  divided  ;  for  Felice  Anerio  is  expressly  said  to  have  succeeded 
him  as  Compositore  della  Cappella,  and  here  it  is  said  that  Giovanelli 


pontifical  chapel :  a  collection  of  madrigals  by  him, 
printed  at  Venice,  is  extant ;  he  composed  also  many 
masses,  amongst  which  is  one  for  eiglit  voices,  called 
'  Vestiva  i  colli,'  taken  from  a  madrigal  with  those 
initial  words  of  Gianetto  Palestrina,  which  is  much 
celebrated. 

In  the  year  1581  a  book  appeared  in  the  world 
with  this  silly  title,  '  II  tesoro  illuminato,  di  tutti  i 

*  tuoni  di  Canto  figurato,  con  alcuni  bellissimi  secret! 

*  non  da  altri  piii  scritti :  nuovamente  composto  dal 

*  R.  P.  frate  illuminato  Aijguino  Bresciano,  dell'  or- 

*  dine  serafico  d'  osservanza.'  Notwithstanding  the 
very  emphatical  title  of  this  book,  it  contains  very 
little  worthy  the  attention  of  a  curious  reader.  The 
author  is  lavish  in  the  praises  of  Marchettus  of  Padua, 
and  Spataro,  and  of  his  irrefragable  master  Peter 
Aron,  whose  name  he  never  mentions  without  that 
extravagant  epithet. 

About  this  time  lived  PrETOO  Pontto  of  Parma ; 
he  composed  and  published,  about  the  year  1580, 
three  books  of  masses.  He  was  the  author,  also,  of 
a  book  with  the  following  title,  '  Ragionamento  di 
'  Musica  del  Rev.  M.  Don  Pietro  Pontio  Parmegiano, 
'  ove  si  tratta  de'  pasaggi  della  consonantie  e  disso- 
'  nantie,  buoni  e  non  buoni  ;  e  del  modo  di  far  Mot- 
'  tetti,  Messe,  Salmi,  e  altre  compositioni ;  d'alcuni 
'avertimenti  per  il  contrapuntista  e  compositore  e 
'  altre  cose  pertinenti  alia  musica,'  printed  at  Parma 
1588,  in  quarto,  a  very  entertaining  dialogue,  and  re- 
plete with  musical  erudition. 

Horatio  Vecchi  of  Modena  was  greatly  celebrated 
for  his  vocal  compositions  at  this  time  :  our  country- 
man Peacham  was,  as  he  himself  relates,  his  disciple. :{: 

was  appointed  the  successor  to  Palestrina  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter,  of 
which  Palestrina  was  Maestro  di  Cappella. 

I  This  writer  has,  in  his  usual  quaint  manner,  given  a  short  character 
of  Vecchi  and  his  works,  which,  as  he  was  a  man  of  veracity  and  judg. 
ment,  may  be  depended  on.  '  I  bring  you  now  mine  owne  master  Horatio 
'  Vecchi  of  Modena,  beside  goodness  of  aire,  most  pleasing  of  all  other 
'for  his  conceipt  and  variety,  wherewith  all  his  works  are  singularly 
'  beautified,  as  well  his  madrigals  of  five  and  six  parts,  as  those  his  can- 
'  zonets  printed  at  Norimberge,  wherein  for  tryall  sing  his  "  Vivo  in 
"  fuoco  amoroso  Lucretia  mia,"  where  upon  "lo  catenato  moro,"  with 
'  excellent  judgment  hee  driveth  a  crotchet  thorow  many  minims,  causing 
'  it  to  resemble  a  chaine  with  the  linkes  ;  againe  in  "  S'  io  potesi  raccor' 
"  i  mei  sospiri,"  the  breaking  of  the  word  Sospiri  with  crotchet  and  crot- 
'  chet  rest  in  sighes ;  and  that  "fa  mi  un  canzone,"  &c.  to  make  one 
'  sleep  at  noone  with  sundry  other  of  like  conceipt  and  pleasant  invention.' 
Conipleat  Gentleman,  102. 

The  Conipleat  Gentleman  was  written  by  Henry  Peacham,  an  author 
of  some  tiote  in  the  reign  of  James  I.  It  treats, of  nobility  in  general. 
'Of  the  dignity  and  necessity  of  learning  in  princes  and  nobilitie.  The 
'  dutie  of  parents  in  the  education  of  their  children.  Of  a  gentleman's 
'carriage  in  the  universitie.  Of  stile  in  speaking  and  writing  of  history. 
'Of  cosmography.  Of  memorable  observations  in  the  survey  of  the 
'  earth.  Of  geometry.  Of  poetry.  Of  musicke.  Of  statues,  and 
'nipdalls,  and  antiquities.  Of  drawing  and  painting,  with  the  lives  of 
'painters.  Of  sundry  blazonnes  both  ancient  and  modern.  Of  armory, 
'or  blazing  amies,  with  the  antiquity  of  heralds.  Of  exercise  of  body. 
'Of  reputation  and  carriage.  Of  travaile.  Of  warre,'  and  of  many  other 
particulars,  to  which  is  added  the  Gentleman's  Exercise,  or  an  exquisite 
Practice  for  drawing  all  Manner  of  Beasts,  making  Colours,  &r,  quarto, 
1634.  This  book  abounds  with  a  great  number  of  curious  particulars, 
and  w^s  in  high  estimation  with  the  gentry  even  of  the  last  age.  Sir 
Charles  Sedley,  who  had  been  guilty  of  a  great  offence  against  good 
manners,  was  indicted  for  it,  and  upon  his  trial  being  asked  by  the  chief 
justice.  Sir  Robert  Hyde,  whether  he  had  ever  read  the  book  called  the 
Conipleat  Gentleman,  Sir  Charles  answered,  that  saving  his  lordship  he 
had  read  more  books  than  himself.     Athen.  Oxon.  Col.  1)00. 

Peacham  seems  to  have  been  a  travelling  tutor,  and  was  patronized  by 
the  Howard  family.  He  was  well  acquainted  with  Douland  the  lutenist ; 
and,  while  abroad,  was  a  scholar  of  Horatio  Vecchi,  as  himself  testi- 
fies in  the  above  note,  and  probably  the  bearer  of  that  letter  from  Luca 
Marenzio  to  Douland,  mentioned  in  a  subsequent  account  of  that  master, 
and  inserted  in  the  account  hereafter  given  of  Douland.  Besides  the 
Compleat  Gentleman,  Peacham  published  a  Collection  of  Emblems, 
entitled  Minerva  Britanna,  or  a  Garden  of  Heroical  Devises,  with  moral 
reflections  in  verse,  and  a  diverting  little  book  entitled  the  Worth  of 
a  Penny.  In  his  advanced  age  he  was  reduced  to  poverty,  and  subsisted 
by  writing  those  little  penny  books  which  are  the  common  amusement  of 
cluldren. 


Chap.  LXXXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


431 


He  composed  Masses,  Cantiones  Sacrae,  and  one  book 
of  Madrigals,  which  are  very  fine  ;  but  he  delighted 
chiefly  in  Canzonets,  of  which  he  composed  no  fewer 
than  seven  sets.*  Milton,  who  loved  and  understood 
music  very  well,  seems  to  have  entertained  a  fondness 
for  the  compositions  of  Horatio  Vecchi ;  for  in  his 
Life,  written  by  his  nephew  Phillips,  and  prefixed  to 
the  English  translation  of  his  State  Letters,  it  is  said 
that  when  he  was  abroad  upon  his  travels,  he  collected 
a  chest  or  two  of  choice  music-books  of  the  best  mas- 
ters flourishing  at  that  time  in  Italy,  namely,  Luca 
Marenzio,  Monteverde,  Horatio  Vecchi,  Cifra,  the 
prince  of  Venosa,  and  others. 

EucHARius  Hoffman,  con-rector  of  the  public 
school  at  Stralsund,  was  the  author  of  two  tracts  on 
music,  the  one  entitled  *  Musicae  practicae  prjecepta,' 
the  other  *  Doctrina  de  tonis  seu  modis  musicis,'  both 
of  which  were  very  elegantly  printed  at  Hamburg  in 
1584,  and  again  in  1588.  The  first  of  these  is 
of  the  same  kind  with  those  many  books  written 
about  this  time  for  the  instruction  of  children  in  the 
elements  of  music,  of  which  an  account  has  herein- 
before been  given  ;  like  the  rest  of  them  it  is  written 
in  dialogue.  The  author  has  defined  the  terms 
prolation,  time,  and  mode,  as  they  refer  to  mensural 
music,  in  a  way  that  may  be  useful  to  those  who 
would  understand  the  Introduction  to  Practical  Music 
of  our  countryman  Morley ;  for  of  prolation  he  says 
it  is  a  rule  by  which  is  estimated  the  value  of  semir 
breves ;  time  he  says  considers  the  value  of  breves ; 
and  mode,  that  of  the  long  and  the  large.  In  his 
doctrine  of  the  tones  he  seems  to  follow  Glareanus. 

ToMAsso  LoDovico  DA  Victoria,  a  Spaniard,  Maestro 
di  Cappella  of  St.  Apollinare,  and  afterwards  a  singer 
in  the  pontifical  chapel,  was  an  excellent  composer. 
He  published  a  set  of  Masses  in  1583,  dedicated  to 
Philip  II.  king  of  Spain,  and  many  other  ecclesi- 
astical works,  one  of  the  best  whereof  is  that  called 
La  Messa  de'  Morti.  Peacham  says  that  he  resided 
in  the  court  of  the  duke  of  Bavaria  about  the  year 
1594 ;  and  that  of  his  Latin  songs  the  Seven  Peni- 
tential Psalms  are  the  best :  he  commends  also  certain 
compositions  of  his  to  French  words,  in  which  is 
a  song  beginning  '  Susanna  un  jour.'  He  styles  him 
a  very  rare  and  excellent  author,  adding  that  his 
vein  is  grave  and  sweet.  Compleat  Gentleman,  101, 
edit.  1G61. 

Luca  Marenzio,  a  most  admirable  composer  of 
motetts  and  madrigals,  flourished  about  this  time ; 
he  was  a  native  of  Coccalia  in  the  diocese  of  Brescia. 
Being  born  of  poor  parents,  he  was  maintained  and 
instructed  in  the  rudiments  of  literature  by  Andrea 
Masetto,  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- 
ticularly of  madrigals.      He   was   first   IVIaestro  di 

*  The  word  Canzonet  is  derived  from  Canzone,  which  signifies  in 
general  a  song,  but  more  particularly  a  song  in  parts,  with  fuguing 
passages  therein.  The  Canzonet  is  a  composition  of  tlie  kind,  but 
shorter  and  less  artificial  in  its  contexture.  Andrea  Adami  a.scribes  the 
invention  of  this  species  of  musical  composition  to  Alessandro  Romano, 
surnamed  Alessandro  dalla  Viola,  from  his  exquisite  hand  on  that  in- 
strument, and  a  singer  in  the  pontifical  chapel  in  the  year  1560.  Osserv. 
per  ben.  reg.  il  Coro  de  i  Cant,  della  Cap.  Pont.  pag.  174. 


Cappella  to  Cardinal  Luigi  d'  Este,  and  after  that  for 
many  years  organist  of  the  pope's  chapel.  He  wa3 
beloved  by  the  whole  court  of  Rome,  and  particularly 
favoured  by  Cardinal  Cinthio  Aldrobandini,  nephew 
of  Clement  VIII.  This  circumstance,  which  is 
related  by  Adami,  does  not  agree  with  the  account  of 
our  countryman  Peacham,  who  says  that  after  he  had 
been  some  time  at  Rome  he  entertained  a  criminal 
passion  for  a  lady,  a  relation  of  the  Pope,  whose  fine 
voice  and  exquisite  hand  on  the  lute  had  captivated 
him ;  that  he  thereupon  retired  to  Poland,  where  he 
was  graciously  received,  and  served  many  years,  and 
that  during  his  stay  there  the  queen  conceived  a  desire 
to  see  the  lady  who  had  been  the  occasion  of  his 
retreat,  which  being  communicated  to  Marenzio,  he 
went  to  Rome,  with  a  resolution  to  covey  her  from 
thence  into  Poland,  but  arriving  there,  he  found 
the  resentment  of  the  Pope  so  strong  against  him, 
that  it  broke  his  heart.  Adami  mentions  his  re- 
treat to  Poland,  but  omits  the  other  circumstances ; 
and  fixes  the  time  of  his  death  to  the  twenty^second 
day  of  August,  1599.  Walther  adds,  that  before 
his  departure  for  Poland  he  received  the  honour 
of  knighthood,  but  says  not  at  whose  hands ;  and 
tliat  on  his  arrival  there  he  had  an  appointment 
of  a  thousand  scudi  per  annum  ;  and,  without  taking 
notice  of  his  amour,  ascribes  his  quitting  that  country 
to  his  constitution,  which  was  too  tender  to  resist 
the  cold.  The  following  verses  to  his  memory  were 
written  by  Bernardino  Stessonio,  a  Jesuit : — 

Vocum  opifex,  numeris  mulcere  Marentius  aures 

Callidus,  et  blandas  tendere  fila  Chelys, 
Frigore  lethaeo  victus  jacet.     Ite  siipremam 

In  seriem  meesti  funeris  exequiae  ; 
Et  charis  et  biandi  sensus  aurita  voluptas. 

Et  chorus,  et  fractae  turba  canora  lyrae  : 
DenscB  humeris,  udee  lachrymis,  urgete  sepulchrum, 

Quis  scit,  an  hinc  referat  vox  rediviva  sonum? 
Sin  tacet,  ille  choros  alios  instaurat  in  astris, 

Vos  decet  amisso  conticuisse  Deo. 

Sebastian  Raval,  a  Spaniard,  and  who  published 
his  first  book  of  madrigals  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  Douland  the  lutenist,  as  appears 
by  a  very  polite  letter  of  his  writing,  extant  in  the 
preface  to  Douland's  First  Booke  of  Songes  or  Ayres 
of  four  Partes,  with  Tableture  for  the  Lute,  and  in- 
serted in  a  subsequent  part  of  this  work. 

The  madrigals  of  Marenzio  are  celebrated  for  fine 
air  and  invention.  Peacham  says  that  the  first, 
second,  and  third  parts  of  his  Thyrsis,  '  Veggo  dolce 
'  mio  ben,*  '  Chi  fa  hoggi  il  mio  Sole,'  and  '  Cantava,' 
are  songs  the  Muses  themselves  might  not  have  been 
ashamed  to  have  composed,  f  This  that  follows  ia 
also  ranked  among  the  best  of  his  compositions : — 

t  Th  ese  are  all  adapted  to  English  words,  the  first,  '  Tirsi  morir  volea,' 
to  a  translation  of  the  Italian  ;  the  second,  '  Veggo  dolce  mio  ben,"  to  the 
words,  '  Farewell  cruel  and  unkind  ;  '  the  third  to  '  What  doth  my  pretty 
'  darling  ? '  and  the  last  to  '  Sweet  singing  Amaryllis,'  and  are  to  be  found 
in  the  Musica  Transalpina,  of  which  it  is  to  be  noted  there  are  two  parts, 
and  in  a  collection  of  Italian  madrigals  with  English  words,  published  by 
Thomas  AVatson  in  15S9,  as  is  also  another  mentioned  by  Peacham, 
'  I  must  depart  all  hapless,'  translated  from  '  lo  partiro.' 


482 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


t^ 


:^ nz=^  : 


z=^.  :zps=p. 


ic 1: 


? 


=*=:ct: 


DIS 


SI 


a      I'a  -ma-ta    mia    lu      -     ci-da 


^^^^^ 


:rir>; 


:t= 


stel 


isi; 


=rz^^= 


:p:r=z:^=:^zr-p- 


"^ 


g^Ep=g=g^g^^gpgi 


la  che 


DIS 


iii 


SI  a      I'a  -  ma  -  ta    mia 

;d=p=::; 


lu    -     ci-da      stel 


:p=aiiii[Eil§. 


S=- 


la  che 


a      Ta  -  ma  -  ta    mia 


lu 


ci-da 


stel 


la, 


?pl 


im 


^1^11 


^     piudogn'al-tra         lu 


Ei2 


-:-« ^- 


"P=P= 


^iF''- 


k^:e£f 


ce, 


dis 


SI 


a      I'a  -  ma-ta  mia 


-^ 


p^l§liiii^^il^^ir^iliii^Mii 


a      I'a  -  ma-ta  mia 


lu  -  ci-da  stel 


piiidogn'al-tra         lu        -       ce, 


dis    -      -    si 

_C>8 


DIS 


SI 


a    I'a  -  ma-ta  mia       lu  -  ci-da    stel 


Br 


la,    a      Ta 

1 

-F — ^ 


1-— I- 


i 


::r2r 


a    I'a  -  ma-ta  mia. 


la, 


a      I'a   - 


_   — o -I — 


dis 


SI 


a      I'a 


f 


g 


rd; 


^F:i^ 


lu  -    ci  da 


stel 


=d=^- 


4g^=-E 


« 


ma-ta  mia 

-H- 


=^im^iOgi^ipMf; 


la  che    piud'ogn'altra     lu 


fe=i 


?^ 


lu   -    ci  da      stel 


^ 


la 


ce     ed 


^^ff^-33l[^^l^l^fi 


che  piudogn'altra  lu 


-    ce  ed    al 


m 


ri.==-=ptr:; 


^ 


'ii^tiU 


■c=tz:z 


lEJc: 


ma-ta  mia  lu 


ci-da 


stol 


t=t 


fEil 


id: 


la  che  piudogn'altra 


lu 


ce 


m^ii 


ma-ta  mia 


lu   -   ci  -  da 


stel 


la  che    piud'ogn'altra         lu 


ce     ed 


=1.— "eZ^E 


^       al      mio      cor     ad      -      du 


r^pr 


i:~==bi:=t;C 


gplfeF-l-g^-asfJj^^gg^ 


ce  fiam 


me   stra 


-    li     e     ca 


te 


mio    cor        ad  -  du 


al      mio      cor     ad 


mio     cor 


^^EEE££p 


^- 


la-- 


Eal|i^|=^ 


li^^M^iiiL^i! 


ne 


ed       al 


I 


nz 


:r= 


mio 


cor 


ad 


du    -       -    ce 


11^ 


fi    -   am 


me 


?E 


al 


mio 


cor 


ad 


t? 


du    -    ce 


am 


me     stra 


fi     -    am      -      me   stra     -     li     e    ca  -  te 


'%-- 


zutz 


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zazzz 


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ce 


ed       al 


mio 


cor 


znzz 

1a 


-      ne 
du        -        ce      fi   -  am     -    me     stra 


Chap.  LXXXIX. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


433 


=^=i 


t= 


^^^^^l^^^^^m 


zmzMZ 


y=k«-c 


zaz 


am 


me  stra 


li    e    ca  -  te 


ne 


ch'ogn'  lior 


%m^m 


zrti 


^i 


:— tr 


=i«=»: 


:I=: 


ca  -  te 


ne 


i*ie^ 


i^^^i^ 


ch'ogn'  hor 


=!= 


Er^i^n 


mi 


*2=F 


mi  dan  - 


itrrt: 


.r 


il 


am 


|#=r: 


===|: 


me  stra 

zzt- 


li    e 


-y^ — 


ca  -    te 


ne         ch'ogn'  hor, 


■^. 


lie 


ca 


te 


ne 


ch'ogn'     hor, 


ch'ogn'  hor 


ch'ogn'  hor 


=fc 


t 


^ 


JgggEgE 


roi 


=F=F 


1^ 


P& 


:l^ 


IZ2I 


lEi 


dan  -  no 


pe 


ne 


ch'ogn'  hor         mi  dan  -  no 


pe 


ne 


If^ 


^ 


rpi 


53 «- 


-1= 


321 


deh 

~g-j — 


no      pe 


ne. 


mi 


i^^E?^^:^^ 


i^ 


-[== 


E^ 


dan     - 

zt^ 


no 


pe 


ne 


deh 


"^^^ 


^^r 


mi     dan  -  no  pe 


ne  ch'ogn'  lior.       ch'ogn'  hor  mi     dan  -  bo 


pe 


ne 


deh 


mi    dan 


no 


pe 


ne 


deh 


81  mo-n 


rai, 


SI    mo-n  -  rai 


mori  - 


t 


Pi 


mori  -  r5 


g^gEEJEg^E^P^Ei^gEMg^^ 


JZZflZ 


ii 


-Ti 


cor   mi  - o 


81 


SI      mo  -  ri    -  rai 


na 


non 


ms^ 


pEg^gjjg^g^^-^I^E 


'■^ 


^=f=4- 


=1^ 


per  mio  de  -  si  - 


rd, 


mo-ri  -  rd 


mi  -  o 


81 


81      mo  -  n  -  rai      ma        non 


<2- 


^^^^^ 


mori  -  rd 

.€2 


SI  mo-n  -  rai 


SI 


rd 


ii§ 


1== 


81  mo-n  -  rai 


81 


per  mio        de 


-ftz 


ma       non 


zi^z 


-T* 


per    mio        de 


e3 


ma 


non 


per    mio      de 


t: 


m 


123: 


81 


81 


Si 


•-N-     -     -    81 


^^i^i^^^^^ii 


:^- 


L^ 


^^^^^i^^ 


81 


81  mo-n  -  rai 


ma     non 


j^^^F^g^E^gg^ggg-jg 


per    mio  de  -  si 


~ry 


81 


si    mo-ri  -    rai       ma       non  per    mio        de 


81 


P^ 


-«►- 


I*ZI 


iifc 


-Gh- 


Sl 


ma        non 


^ 


zttz 


ziriz 


per    mio 


de 


81 


Bl 


ma      non 


per    mio 


de 


81 


J23t:i 


3^ 


o. 

3^ 


2f 


o. 
Ldca  Mabenzio 


434 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


B. 


aoK 


Andreas  Haseijus,  chanter  in  the  college  of 
Ratisbon,  published  at  Norimberg,  in  1589,  '.Hexa- 
chordum,  seu  questiones  mnsicai  practicjB.'  This 
book  is  very  methodically  written,  but  contains  little 
more  than  is  to  be  found  in  others  of  the  like  kind, 
except  some  short  examples  of  fugue  from  Orlando 
Lasso,  Jusquin  De  Prez,  and  other  authors,  which  in 
their  way  have  great  merit. 

Caspar  Krumbhorn  was  a  native  of  Lignitz  in 
Silesia,  and  was  born  on  the  twenty-eighth  day  of 
October,  1542.     In  the  third  year  of  his  age  he  lost 
his  sight  by  the  small-pox,  and  became  totally  blind. 
His  father  dying  soon  after,  his  mother  married  one 
named  Stimmler,  which  gave  occasion  to  his  being 
called  Blind  Stimmler.     Krumbhorn  had  a  brother 
named   Bartholomew,   who   was   considerably   older 
than  himself,  and   was  pastor  of  Waldau ;   and  he 
discovering  in  his  younger  brother,  as  he  grew  up, 
a  strong  propensity  to  music,  placed  him  under  the 
care  of  Knobeln,  a  famous  musician  and  composer  at 
Goldberg,  of  whom  he  learned  to  play  first  on  the 
flute,  next  on  the  violin,   and,  last  of  all,   on   the 
harpsichord,  on  each  of  which  instruments  he  became 
so  excellent  a  performer,  that  he  excited  the  ad- 
miration of  all  that  heard  him.     The  fame  of  these 
his  excellencies,  as  also  of  his  skill  in  composition, 
had  reached  the  ears  of  Augustus,  elector  of  Saxony  ; 
who  invited  him  to  Dresden,  and  having  heard  him 
perform,  and  also  heard  some  of  his  compositions  of 
many  parts  performed  by  himself  and  others ;  and 
being  struck  vfith  so  extraordinary  a  phenomenon  as 
a  young  man  deprived  of  the  faculty  of  seeing,  an 
excellent    performer    on    various    instruments,   and 
deeply  skilled  in  the  art  of  practical  composition,  he 
endeavoured,  by  the  offer  of  great  rewards,  to  retain 
hin}  in  his  service  ;  but,  preferring  his  own  country 
to  all  others,  Krumbhorn  returned  to  Lignitz  in  the 
twenty-third  year  of  his  age,   and   was  appointed 
organist  of  the  church  of  St.  Peter  and  Paul  there, 
which   station  he   occupied  fifty -six  years,  during 
which  space  he  had  many  times  the  direction  of  the 
musical  college.     He  died  on  the  eleventh  day  of 
June  1621,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  which 
he  was  organist,  where  on  his  tomb  was  engraven 
the  following  epitaph  : — 

Vis  scire  viator 

Casparum  Krumbhornium 

Lign.  Reip.  civem  honoratum, 

qui 

cum  tertio  aetatis  anno  variolar. 

ex  malignitate  visu 

privatus, 

Musices  dehinc  scientia  et  praxi 

adrairanda 

praeclaram  sibi  nominis 

Existimationem  domi  forisque 

comparasset, 

Conjugii  optabilis  felicitate, 

Bonorum    etiam  Magnatum, 

Dei  imprimis  gratia  evectus 

Singulari  sortem  moderatione 

Ad  ann.  usque  LXXIIX  toleravit 

Organic,  munus  apud  Eccles.  P.  P. 

Annos  LVI.  non  sine  industrise 

testimonio  gessisset. 
Pie  demum  beateque  A.  C.  1621. 


11  Jun.  in  Dom.  obdormivit. 

Anna  et  Regina  Filise,  earumque 

Mariti  superstites 

Parentem  Socerumque  B.  M. 

hoc  sub  lap.  quern 

Vivens  sibi  ipsimet  destinaverat 

honorifice  condiderunt. 
Nosti,  quod  voluit  quicunque  es, 

NOSCE  TE  IPSUM. 

It  is  said  that  Krumbhorn  was  the  author  of  many 
musical  compositions,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  any 
of  them  were  ever  printed 

Walther,  in  his  Lexicon,  has  an  article  for  Torias 
Krumbhorn,  organist  at  the  court  of  George  Rudolph, 
duke  of  Lignitz,  and  a  great  traveller,  who  died  in 
the  year  1617,  aged  thirty-one  years.  As  Caspar 
and  Tobias  Krumbhorn  were  contemporaries,  and  of 
the  same  city,  it  is  not  improbable  that  they  were 
relations  at  least,  if  not  brothers  ;  although  nothing 
of  the  kind  is  mentioned  in  the  accounts  given  by 
Walther  of  either  of  them. 


C,HAP.  XO. 

Balthazarini,  surnamed  Beaujoyeux,  a  celebrated 
Italian  musician,  lived  under  the  reign  of  Henry 
III.  of  France.  The  Marshal  de  Brissac,  Go- 
vernor in  Piedmont,  sent  this  musician  to  the  hing 
with  the  hand  of  Violins,  of  which  he  was  chief 
The  Queen  gave  him  the  place  of  her  valet-de- 
chamhre,  and  Henry  granted  him  the  same  post 
in  his  household.  Balthazarini  pleased  the  court 
as  well  by  his  skill  in  playing  on  the  violin,  as  by 
his  inventions  of  dances,  music  shows,  and  repre- 
sentations. It  was  he  -mho  composed  in  1581  the 
ballet  for  the  nuptials  of  the  Duhe  de  Joyeuse  with 
Madlle.  de  Vaudermont,  sister  to  the  Queen,  and  the 
same  was  represented  with  extraordinary  pomp  ;  it 
has  been  printed  under  the  title  of  the  Queen's  comic 
ballet  made  for  the  nuptials  aforesaid. 

Claude  le  Jeune,  (a  Portrait,)  a  native  of 
Valenciennes,  was  a  celebrated  musician,  and  com- 
poser of  the  chamber  to  Henry  IV.  of  France.  He 
was  the  author  of  a  work  intitled  Dodecachorde, 
being  an  exercise  or  praxis  on  the  twelve  modes 
of  Glareanus  ;  Mons.  Bayle  cites  a  passage  from 
the  Sieur  D'Embry's  Commentary  on  the  French 
translation  of  the  life  of  Apollonius  Tyanajus,  re- 
lating to  this  work,  to  this  effect  :  '  I  have  some- 
'  times  heard  the  Sieur  Claxidin  the  younger  say, 
'  who,  without  disrespect  to  any  one,  far  exceeded 
'  all  the  musicians  of  the  preceding  ages,  that  an 
'  air,  which  he  had  composed  with  its  parts,  was 
'  sung  at  the  solemnity  of  the  late  duke  of  Joyeuse's 
'  marriage  in  the  time  of  Henry  III.  king  of  France 
'  and  Poland,  of  happy  memory,  whom  God  absolve  ; 
'  which  as  it  was  sung,  made  a  gentleman  take  his 
'  sword  in  hand,  and  swear  aloud  that  it  was  im- 
'  possible  for  him  to  forbear  fighting  with  somebody. 
'  Whereupon  they  began  to  sing  another  air  of  the 
'  Subphrygian  mode,  which  made  him  as  peaceable  as 
'  before  ;  which  I  have  had  since  confirmed  by  some 
'  that  were  present — such  power  and  force  have  the 


Chap.  XC. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


435 


*  modulation,  motion,  and  management  of  the  voice 

*  when  joined  together,  upon  the  minds  of  men.     To 

*  conclude  this  long  annotation,  if  one  would  have  an 

*  excellent  experiment  of  these  twelve  modes,  let  him 
'  sing  or  hear  sung,  the  Dodecachorde  of  Claudin  the 

*  younger,  of  whom  I  have  spoken  above,  and  I  assure 

*  myself  he  will  find  in  it  all  those  figures  and  va- 
'  riations  managed  with  so  much  art,  harmony,  and 
'  skill,  as  to  confess  that  nothing  can  be  added  to  this 
'  master-piece  but  the  praises  that  all  the  lovers  of  this 
'  science  ought  to  bestow  upon  this  rare  and  excellent 
'  man,  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.'* 

Claude  le  Jeune  was  also  the  author  of  a  work  en- 
titled Meslanges,  consisting  of  vocal  compositions  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 
Louis  Mardo,  a  relation  of  the  author,  and  dedicated 
to  Mons.  de  la  Planch,  an  advocate  in  the  parliament 
of  Paris.  But  the  most  celebrated  of  his  compositions 
are  his  Psalms,  which,  being  a  Hugonot,  he  composed 
to  the  words  of  the  Version  of  Theodore  Beza  and 
Clement  Marot,  and  of  these  an  account  will  here- 
after be  given. 

Heiicolk  Bottrigaro,  (a  Portrait,)  a  native  of 
Bologna,  published,  in  1593,  '  II  Patrizio,  overo  de' 
'  tetracordi  armonici  di  Aristosseno,  parere  et  vera 
dimostratione.'  The  occasion  of  writing  this  book 
was  as  follows  :  one  Francesco  Patricio,  a  man  of 
great  learning,  •}"  had  written  a  book  intitled  '  Delia 
'  poetica,  deca  istoriale,  deca  disputata,'  wherein, 
discoxirsing  on  music,  and  of  the  Genera  in  par- 
ticular, 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  of  this  work ;  and  not 
without  some  severe  reflections  on  his  adversary, 
contends  for  that  division  of  the  tetrachord  in  each 
of  the  genera  which  distinguishes  the  system  of  Aris- 
toxenus  from  that  of  Euclid.  This  book,  some  few 
years  after  its  publication,  Patricio  being  then  dead, 
was  very  severely  criticised  by  Giovanni  Maria  Artusi, 
of  whom  mention  has  already  been  made  in  the  course 
of  this  work,  who,  with  a  becoming  zeal  for  the  repu- 
tation of  Patricio,  undertook  to  vindicate  him,  as  well 
against  Bottrigaro,  as  another  writer  named  Annibale 
Meloni,  a  musician  of  Bologna,  the  author  of  a  book 
intitled,  '  II  Desiderio,  overo  de'  concert!  di  varii 
'  strumenti  musicali,  Dialogo  di  Alemanni  Benelli.'  \ 
But  the  most  celebrated  of  Bottrigaro's  works  is  that 
intitled,  *  II  Melone,  discorso  armonico  del  M.  111. 

*  Bayle  art.  Goudimel,  in  not. 

t  Patricio  was  of  Ossero  in  Dalmatia.  In  his  youth  he  travelled  much 
in  Asia ;  then  settled  in  the  island  of  Cyprus,  where  he  purchased  a  large 
estate,  but  lost  every  thing  when  the  Venetians  lost  that  kingdom,  so 
that  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  Italy,  and  there  live  on  his  wit.  He  read 
Platonic  philosophy  in  the  university  of  Ferrara,  and  at  last  died  at 
Rome,  much  esteemed  and  cares.sed  by  all  lovers  of  literature,  thoughlhe 
had  advanced  some  opinions  in  the  mathematical  science,  and  about 
Italian  language,  that  were  then,  and  still  are,  thought  absurd.  He  was 
an  Academician  of  the  Crusca,  and  one  of  the  great  defenders  of  Ariosto 
against  those  that  preferred  Tasso  to  him.   Baretti's  Italian  Library,  32S. 

X  A  fictitious  name  made  up  by  the  transposition  of  the  letters  of  the 
author's  true  name,  as  related  at  large  in  a  subsequent  part  of  this 
■work. 


'  Sig.  Cavaliere  Hercole  Bottrigaro,  ed.  il  Melone  se- 
'  condo,  considerazioni  musicali  del  medesimo  sopra 
'  un  discorso  di  M.  Gandolfo  Sigonio  intorno  a'  ma- 
'  drigali  et  a'  libri  dell'  antica  musica  ridutta  alia 
'  moderna  prattica  di  D.  Nicola  Vicentino  e  nel 
'  fine  esso  Discorso  del  Sigonio.'     Ferrara,  1602. 

In  this  book,  which  is  professedly  an  examen  of 
that  of  Vicentino,  the  author  relates  at  large  the 
controversy  between  him  and  Vicentio  Lusitano. 
He  charges  them  both  with  vanity  and  inconsistency, 
but  seems  to  decide  in  favour  of  the  former.  The 
remark  he  makes  on  the  conduct  of  Bartolomeo 
Esgobedo  and  Ghislino  D' Ancherts,  is  very  judicious ; 
for  the  sentence  given  by  them,  and  published  with 
so  much  solemnity,  assigns  as  the  motive  for  con- 
demning 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  opinion, 
it  was  their  duty  as  judges  to  have  proceeded  to  an 
enquiry  whether  it  had  any  foundation  or  not,  and, 
agreeably  to  the  result  of  this  enquiry,  to  have  given 
sentence  for  or  against  him ;  and  for  not  pursuing 
this  method  he  sticks  not  to  accuse  them  of  partiality, 
or  rather  ignorance  of  their  duty,  as  the  arbitrators 
between  two  contending  parties. 

Bottrigaro  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  rank ; 
the  letters  to  him,  many  of  which  he  has  thought  it 
necessary  to  print,  bespeak  as  much.  Walther  styles 
him  a  count ;  and  his  II  Melone,  written  in  answer 
to  a  letter  of  Annibale  Meloni,  is  thus  dated,  '  Delia 
'  niia  a  me  diletteuole  villa  nel  commune  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  prejudices  in  favour  of  the  ancient 
music,  and  that  he  attempted,  as  Vicentino  and  others 
had  done,  to  introduce  the  chromatic  genus  into  prac- 
tice, but  with  no  better  success  than  had  attended  the 
endeavours  of  others.  He  corrected  Gogavinus's  Latin 
version  of  Ptolemy  in  numberless  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  translated  into  Italian,  Boetius  De  Musica,  and 
as  much  of  Plutarch  and  Macrobius  as  relates  to  mu- 
sic; besides  this,  he  made  annotations  on  Aristoxenus, 
Franchinus,  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  own,  and  are  now  reposited  in  many 
libraries  in  Italy. 

It  is  to  be  lamented  that  the  writings  of  Bottrigaro 
are,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  controversial  kind,  and 
that  the  subjects  of  dispute  between  him  and  his  ad- 
versaries tend  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  Gandolfo  Sigonio  he  does  but 
revive  the  controversy  which  had  been  so  warmly 
agitated  between  Vicentino  and  Vincentio  Lusitano : 
and  though  he  seems  to  censure  that  determination  of 
the  judges  Bartolomeo  Esgobedo  and  Ghisilino  Dan- 


436 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X, 


cherts,  by  which  the  former  was  condemned,  he  leaves 
the  question  just  as  he  found  it. 

Of  Bottrigaro's  works  it  is  said  that  tliey  contain 
greater  proofs  of  his  learning  and  skill  in  music  than 
of  his  abilities  as  a  writer,  his  style  being  remarkably 
inelegant ;  nevertheless  he  affected  the  character  of  a 
poet,  ami  there  is  extant  a  collection  of  Poems  by  him, 
in  octavo,  printed  in  1551.  Walther  represents  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  purchase. 
He  died  in  160'.>. 

We  meet  with  the  name  of  Ludovicus  Brooman, 
an  excellent  musician,  who  flourished  towards  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  died  at  Brussels  in 
15*J7.  Gerard  Vossins  has  given  him  a  place  in 
his  Catalogue,  and  he  is  elsewhere  styled  Musices 
Princeps.  The  misfortune  of  his  lieing  blind  from  his 
nativity  might  jjossibly  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  an  opinion  that  the  privation  of  that  sense  was 
favourable  to  the  study  of  it :  in  the  case  of  Salinas  it 
seems  to  have  been  no  impediment  to  the  deepest 
research  into  the  principle  of  the  science.  Caspar 
Krumbhorn  of  Lignitz,  and  Martini  Pesenti  of  Venice, 
are  instances  to  the  same  purpose  ;  the  former  of  these 
being  an  excellent  organist  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  his  nativity;  and  it  is  well  known  that  the 
famous  Sebastian  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. 

Valerio  Bona  of  Milan,  [Uiblished  in  151(5,  '  Re- 
'  gole  del  contraponto,  et  compositione  brevemente 
'  raccolte  da  diuersi  Auttori.  Operetta  molto  facile 
'  et  utile  per  i  scolari  princijiianti.'  The  author  takes 
occasion  to  celebrate  as  men  of  consunnnate  skill  in 
music,  Cyprian  de  Rore,  Adrian  Willaert,  Orlando 
de  Lasso,  Christopher  Morales,  and  Palestrina.  The 
character  of  his  book  is,  that  it  is  remarkable  for  tlie 
goodness  of  its  style  and  language.  The  author  was 
an  ecclesiastic,  and  a  practical  composer,  as  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  Zacconi,  an  Augustine  monk  of  Pesaro, 
and  musician  to  the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  was  the  author 
of  a  valuable  work  in  folio,  printed  at  Venice  in  1596, 
with  the  following  title,  '  Prattica  di  musica  utile  et 
'  necessaria  si  al  compositore  per  comporre  i  canti  suoi 
'  regolatamente,  si  anco  al  cantorc  per  assicurarsi  in 
*  tutti  le  cose  cantabili.' 

This  book  of  Zacconi  is  justly  esteemed. one  of  the 
most  valuable  treatises  on  the  subject  of  practical 
music  extant.  Morley  appears  to  have  been  greatly 
indel)ted  to  the  author  of  it,  whom  he  calls  Fryer 
Lowyes  Zaccone,  and  cites  frequently  in  his  Intro- 
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  about 
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's  works  seem  to  be  intended  for  the  use 
of  philosophers,  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  INIorley  had  an 
eye  to  when  he  complained,  as  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  so  aptly  applied  to  the 
'  words,  yet  shall  you  hardly  find  singers  to  express 
'  it  as  it  ought  to  be  ;  for  most  of  our  churchmen,  so 
'  they  can  cry  louder  in  the  quier  than  their  fellowes, 
'  care  for  no  more,  whereas  by  the  contrarie  they 
'  ouglit  to  studie  how  to  vowell  and  sing  cleane, 
'  ex]n-essing  their  words  with  devotion  and  i)assion, 
'  whereby  to  draw  the  hearer,  as  it  were  in  chaines  of 
'  gold  by  the  eares,  to  the  consideration  of  holy  things.' 

In  the  sixty-seventh  chapter  of  the  first  book 
Zacconi  enumerates  the  necessary  qualifications  of 
a  chapel-master. 

In  the  thirty-eighth  chapter  of  the  second  book 
he  speaks  of  the  mass  of  Jusquin  De  Prez,  '  Le 
'Homme  arme,'  mentioned  by  Glareanus,  Salinas, 
Doni,  and  other  writers,  as  one  of  the  most  excellent 
compositions  of  the  time.  This  he  does  to  introduce 
a  mass  of  Palestrina  with  the  same  title,  which  he 
gives  at  length,  with  his  own  remarks  thereon. 

The  third  book  is  on  the  snl)ject  of  proportion, 
which  he  has  explained  and  illustrated  by  a  variety 
of  examples  from  the  best  authors. 

At  the  end  of  the  fourth  and  last  book  he  enu- 
merates the  several  musical  instruments  in  use  in  h'*'- 
time,  with  the  compass  of  notes  proper  to  each;  in 
his  declaration  whereof  it  is  remarkable  that  he 
makes  bb  the  limit  of  the  superacutes,  and  the 
higliost  note  in  the  scale  for  the  violin,  a  particular 
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  his  Prattica  Musica,  which  Morley  never  saw,  for 
he  died  in  1604.  The  author  at  this  time  was 
musician  to  Charles  archduke  of  Austria,  and  also  to 
William  duke  of  Bavaria,  his  former  patron.  In 
this  work  he  treats  of  the  elements  of  music,  and  the 
principles  of  composition. 

Speaking  of  the  invention  of  the  syllables  by 
Guido  Aretinus,  he  says  that  some  of  his  time  had 
objected  that  it  was  imperfect,  inasmuch  as  it  gave 
no  syllable  to  tlie  last  note  of  the  sejitenary,  and 
thereby  incumbered  the  system  with  what  are  called 
the  mutations.  And  he  mentions  a  musician,  Don 
Anselmo  Fiammengo,  who  had  formerly  lieen  in  the 
service  of  the  duke  of  B  :varia,  and,  as  Orlando  de 
1  asso  once  told  the  author,  made  use  of  the  syllable 


Chap.  XC. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


43< 


HO  in  succession  after  that  of  la  for  the  purpose  of 
getting  rid  of  the  mutations.* 

Zacconi  mentions  also  another  musician,  Don 
Adriano  Bianchieri,  of  Bologna,  who  for  b  fa  made 
use  of  the  syllable  ba,  and  for  b  mi  the  syllable  bi, 
a  distinction,  that,  as  above  is  related,  has  been 
adopted  by  the  Spaniards. 

The  rules  for  the  composition  of  coiuiterpoint,  of 
fugue,  and  canon,  in  all  their  various  forms  laid  down 
by  Zacconi,  are  drawn  from  the  writings  of  Zarlino, 
Artusi,  and  other  the  most  celebrated  Italian  writers. 
In  the  course  of  the  work  he  takes  occasion  to  men- 
tion a  conversation  on  music  held  in  the  presence  of 
Zarlino  in  the  year  1584,  in  which  a  character  was 
given  of  the  several  musicians  of  that  and  the  pre- 
ceding age,  and  the  respective  attributes  of  each 
pointed  out  and  assented  to  by  the  persons  then 
present.  To  Costanzo  Porta  was  ascribed  great 
art,  and  a  regular  contexture  in  his  compositions ; 
to  Alessandro  Striggio,  a  vague  but  artificial  modula- 
tion; and  to  Messer  Adriano,  by  whom  it  is  supposed 
was  meant  Adrian  Willaert,  great  art,  with  a  judi- 
cious disposition  of  parts  :  Morales,  he  says,  was 
allowed  to  have  art,  counterpoint,  and  good  modula- 
tion ;  Orlando  de  Lasso,  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  church  as  a  mortal  sin  ;  from  hence  he  takes 
occasion  to  applaud  Palestrina  for  his  conduct  in  this 
respect,  who,  he  says,  enriched  the  church  with  his 
own  sweet  compositions,  in  a  style  suited  to  public 
worship,  calculated  to  promote  the  honour  of  God, 
and  to  excite  devotion  in  the  minds  of  the  auditors. 

Carlo  Gesualdo,  prince  of  Venosa,  flourished 
about  the  latter  end  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Venosa 
was  the  Vemisium  of  the  Romans,  and  is  now  a  prin- 
cipality of  tlie  kingdom  of  Naples,  situate  in  tliat 
part  of  it  called  the  Basilicate ;  it  is  famous  for  being 
the  ])lace  where  Horace  was  born;  and  little  less  so 
in  the  judgment  of  musicians  on  account  of  the 
person  now  about  to  be  spoken  of.  He  was,  as 
Scipioue   Cerreto   relates,   the   nephew    of    Cardinal 

*  Tills  objection  has  often  been  made  to  Guido's  in-vention :  Ericius 
Pute:iiius  added,  as  a  seventh,  the  syllable  bi.  Kepler  speaks  of  a  certain 
German  who  articulated  the  septenary  by  seven  syllables,  but  reprehends 
him  for  it  in  terms  that  serve  at  least  to  show  that  the  method  of  sol- 
misation  by  the  hexachords  is  to  be  preferred  to  that  of  the  tetrachords, 
which  prevailed  some  years  in  this  country,  and  was  practised  by  Dr. 
Wallis.  The  passat<e  from  Kepler  is  to  this  effect :  '  But  as  there  are 
'  three  places  of  the  semitone  in  the  tetrachord,  therefore  that  these 
'syllaliles  might  not  be  too  general,  hut  rather  that  the  semitone  might 
'always  be  denoted  by  mi,  fa,  or  fa  mi,  there  was  a  necessity  for  the 
'  addition  of  two  other  syllables,  that  in  these  ut,  re,  mi,  fa,  the  semi- 
'  tone  might  be  in  tlie  highest  place,  but  that  in  these  re,  mi,  fa,  sol, 
'  the  semitone  might  be  in  the  middle  place;  and,  lastly,  that  in  these, 
'MI,  PA,  SOL,  LA,  the  semitone  might  be  in  the  lowest  place;  and  this 
'  is  a  reason  why  the  inventors  of  the  scale  made  use  of  six  syllables  and 
'  not  eight ;  therefore  let  the  German  see  what  advantage  he  has  gained 
'by  the  increase,  when  he  made  use  of  seven,  instead  of  six  syllables, 
'  BO,  CE,  Di,  GA.  Lo,  MA,  Ni ;  for  if  he  thought  it  was  necessary  to  make 
'  use  of  as  many  notes  save  one,  as  there  are  chords  in  an  octave,  in  order 
*  to  represent  the  identity  of  the  octave  by  the  fust  syllable  bo.  I  pray 
'  you  what  deficiency  was  tlure  in  tiie  letters  a,  b,  c,  d,  e,  f,  g,  which  were 
long  before  made  use  of  for  that  purpose?'  Joann.  Keplcrus  Harm. 
Mundi,  lib.  IIL  cap   x. 

Notwithstanding  this  argument  of  Kepler,  it  is  well  known  that  the 
French  to  the  six  syllables  of  Guido  add  a  seventh,  namely,  si,  of  the 
introduction  whereof  by  Le  Maire  an  account  is  given  in  pag.  IGO  of  this 
work. 


Alfonso  Gesualdo,  archbishop  of  Naples,  and  received 
his  instructions  in  music  from  Pomponio  Nenna, 
a  celebrated  composer  of  madrigals.  Blancanus,  in 
his  Chronologia  Matheraaticorum.  speaks  thus  of 
him  :  '  The  most  noltle  Carolus  ( jlesualdus,  prince 
'  of  Venusium,  was  the  prince  of  musicians  of  (jur 
'  age ;  for  he  having  recalled  the  Ilythmi  into 
'  music,  introduced  such  a  style  of  modulation,  that 
*  other  nmsicians  yielded  the  preference  to  him ;  and 
'  all  singers  and  players  on  stringed  instruments,  laying 
'  aside  that  of  others,  everywhere  eagerly  embraced  his 
'  music'  Mersennus,  Kircher,  Doni,  Berardi,  and  in- 
deed the  writers  in  all  countries,  give  him  the  character 
of  the  most  learned,  ingenious,  and  artificial  comjioser 
of  madrigals,  for  it  was  that  species  of  music  alone 
which  he  studied,  that  ever  appeared  in  the  world. 
Blancanus  also  relates  that  he  died  in  the  year  1614. 

Alessandro  Tassoni,  who  celebrates  him  in  the 
highest  terms  of  commendation,  adds  to  his  character 
this  remarkable  particular,  viz.,  that  he  imitated  and 
improved  that  melancholy  and  plaintive  kind  of  air 
which  distinguishes  the  Scots  melodies,  and  which 
was  invented  about  the  year  1420,  by  James  the 
First,  king  of  Sct^tland,  and  t(j  this  he  ascribes  the 
sweetness  of  his  admirable  compositions. 

There  are  extant  no  fewer  than  six  books  of 
madrigals  for  live,  six,  and  more  voices,  of  this 
excellent  author  ;  the  first  five  were  published  in 
parts  in  1585  by  Simone  Molinaro,  a  musician,  and 
chapel-master  of  Genoa.  The  same  person  in  the 
year  1(313  published  them,  together  with  a  sixth 
bof)k  in  score,  with  this  title,  '  Partitura  delli  sei 
'  libri  de'  madrigali  a  cinque  voci,  dell'  illustrissimo 
'  et  excellentiss.  Prencipe  di  Venosa  D.  Carlo 
'  Gesualdo.  Fatica  di  Simone  Molinaro,  Maestro  di 
'  Capella  nel  Duomo  di  Genoua.  In  Genoua,  appresso 
'  Giuseppe  Pavoni.'     Folio. 

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  use  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  IGlfi.  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  noia,'  calls  it  'quell'  artifi- 
ciosissimo  Madrigali  del  principe  ;'|  and  indeed  it 
well  deserves  that  epithet  ;  for  being  calculated  to 
express  sorrow,  it  abounds  with  chromatic,  and  even 
enarmonic  intervals,  indeed  not  easy  to  sing,  but 
admirably  adapted  to  the  sentiments. 

Kircher,  iu  the  Musurgia,  tome  I.  pag.  599,  men- 
tions the  following  madrigal,  being  the  first  of  the 
first  book  of  Molinaro's  edition,  as  a  fine  example  of 
the  amorous  style. 

t  De'  Pensieri  diversi  di  Alessandro  Tassoni,  libro  X   cap.  xxiii. 

X  Gio.  Batt.  Doni,  iielle  sue  Compendio  del  Trattato  de*  Generi  e  do' 
Modi  della  Musica.     In  Roma,  163.^,  quarto,  pag    16. 


438 


^=^=^^^^. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


:?z=?z= 


1  I 


:tz- 


w 


s^ 


BA  -  CI   soa-  vi 


e       ca    -    ri         ci    -    bi      de     la       mia    vi 


:?zi 


4=: 


-    ta 
-<& — 


-^: 


BA  -  CI    soa  -  vi  e      ca 


n 


ci 


bi     de       la  mia  vi    -    ta,  ci  -   bi      df 


Hn=«r 


± 


^^^ 


&=^0^ 


=^=^ 


BA  -  CI    soa  -  vi    e    ca 


n 


ci    -    bi      de      la 


fEEJ=j=j=3] 


e3e 


BA  -  CI    soa  -  vi  e     ca 


0  ^  '0 


n 


ci 


bi     de       la      mia  vi  -  ta,  .   .       ci   -  bi      de 


mi^=p=^ 


i=EE 


-*Tl f- 


BA  -  CI    soa  -  vi  e      ca 


^^S 


n 


ci    -    bi      de       la 


--     r 


■^^^^^mm 


c'horm'inuolate     hor  mirendeteil    co    -    re. 


hor 


m^ 


la      miavi  -  ta 


^m 


i 


c'hor      m'inuo-la-te,         c'horm'inuo-la    -    te 


s 


i^^ 


.mia  vi    -  ta        'chorm'inuola  -  te  hor  mi  ren-de -te  ilco    -    re. 


hor       mi  rendete  il 


m 


-«i rd 


^ 


Dt 


=D=pc: 


la    mia  vi  -  ta 


•3^=^ 


c'hor      m'inuo-la-te,  c'horm'inuo-la    -    te 


'&r^-'"' 


3^ 


P=?: 


;^=l? 


H 


mia    VI    -  ta 


c'hor  mirendeteil  co 


re 


^^^^m 


w 


-T»- 


•O 1&- 


f-- 


BJEgE^^EgE^g 


~jnz 


mi  rendete  il  CO   -   re  hor-mi  rendete  il     co  -  re       pervoi       coiiuicn  ch'impan 

—  -*-,6>-r m—^-m-P—f^ 


non 


l^^^igp^^^^ii?^ 


hor     mi  ren-de 


m 


s 


teil  CO      -     re       pervoi       conuien  ch'impari 

<2 ^, . , 1 ^-j-; 1- 


non  senteil 


^^g3=E^ 


^^^ 


Tv:=l= 


^= 


^t=£ 


-0> f3> • 


zdz 


CO      - 


re             hor  mirendeteil    co  -   re      pervoi        conuien  ch'impari  come  un' al -ma  ra-pi      -       ta 
H     N- — r-r— 1 \- \z r H     -     j    iO— !"- 


^- 


g^t3^j£l^^E==^j4J^^^^^^^-f^gfe^ 


hor        mi  rendete  il     co  -  re      pervoi      conuien  ch'impari 


E^E^; 


|tt_pZJ^Et:pz=J- 


S 


g 


-e" o 


•^ 


hor     mi  ren-de    -       -    teil      co    -        -    re      pervoi      conuien  ch'impari  comeun'     al- ma  ra-pi    _ 


^^ 


^ 


3. 


i^E^ 


^S 


=i"- 


g 


is 


sente  il  duol  di       mor      -      te,  non  sente  il  duol  di    mor      -       te 


come  un'   al  -  ma  ra-pi  -  ta, 


come  un'-al  -ma  ra  - 


duol  di    mor    -  te 


come  un'  al  -ma  ra  -  pi 


3^^=Si=^ 


ta, 


comeun'      al  -  ma  ra-pi   -    ta 


m^^ 


^^ 


br(v 


^- 


^i 


^^^^^^^ 


zjaz 


^—d  J  tt 


comeun'   al- ma  ra-pi  -  ta  non  senteil   duol  di  mor 


te. 


comeun'         al- ma  ra-pi 


i£ 


:E^^ 


3n= 


¥^^ U 


V^^i^f-^. 


-x= 


gE^EE 


■^- 


ta 


come  un'  al  -  ma  ra-pi    -     ta 


non       sente  il  duol  di    mor    -      -    te. 


"^^ 


^is^ 


ff=l= 


-V^ 


:it 


?: 


znz 


=1- 


ta,    come  un'  al  -  ma  ra  -pi  -    ta 


non        sente  il       duol  di  mor    -     -    te,  come  un'     al  -  ma  ra  -pi    -    ta 


Chap.  XC. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


439 


pi 


ta 


nonsenteil      duol  di     mor    -    te 


e     pur     SI 


==-4-^ 


m 


i^ 


:^=^ 


zxi 


-fH L-^C- 


nonsenteil  duol    di  mor-te 


m 


Eas 


e     pur    81     mo  -  re,       epur     si 


^ 


s^ 


::jcii 


^ 


zitzM 


JXZ 


nou       sente  il    duol  di  mor 


te 


fc^S 


^ 


e      pur    81     mo  -  re,    e    pure  pur 


Ei 


Hr 


i: 


5tz= 


^ 


=3= 


3t 


3^^ 


3^ 


izi 


~ry 


al-mara-pi   -    ta  nonsenteil     duol  di  mor    -    te,  di      mor-te 


e      pur 


81    mo    -    re, 


S 


^^ 


5v=): 


41 


5^^^ 


S 


^^ig 


iznft: 


non  sente  il  duol  di    mor 


te 


e    pur       61 


mo 


re,    e     pur    si 


■^^ 


E^ 


fEE 


mo 


re 


conuien  ch'im-pa-ri 


non     sente  il  duol  di 


3^ 


S^E 


ZfZZZfiZ 


mor 


i^ 


=^: 


S=E 


=^=^- 


It 


1^=:^ 


=^E 


It 


mo 


re        per  voi       conuien  ch'im-pa-  ri 


non      sente  il  duol  di  mor  -  te 


5n=5^ 


^ 


jp=^- 


-«s»— F 


^ 


?3r: 


:t: 


SI    mo 


re        per  voi       conuien  ch'im-pa-  ri 


% 


I— =1- 


\f-**      c 


^ 


-^- 


^ 


It 


3E 


^^=EE^ 


^=F^^^^>=:i 


s 


come  un' 


lEJZ 


F^ 


pur  SI     mo 


^ 


^ 


mot 


re        per  voi     conuien  ch'im-pa  -  ri  come  iin'alma  ra  pi      -     ta,  come  un'alma  ra-pi 


ga!^^ 


-F- 


P 


mo    -    -      re        per  voi     conuien  ch'im-pa-ri  come  un* - al-ma  rapi    -     ta,      come  un'al-ma  ra-pi    - 


^^^^ 


:?2= 


^ 


te    non       sente  il    duol      di 


mor 


^ 


T=- 


Upl 


te, 

idz: 


non    sente      il 


7=^ 


Wi 


come    un'      al   -  ma  ra  -  pi 


ta 


non  sente  il    duol      di     mor 


t 


63 


iElJ 


¥=^- 


I?2I 


±1 


^ 


^ 


al  -  ma  ra  -  pi 


ta. 


come     un'      al  -  ma  ra  -  pi 


± 


^^m 


^ 


^- 


ta    non  sente     il 
::=;=Si 


^1 


duol      di 

=?2 


ta    non      sente  il     duol     di     mor  -  te. 


non  sente  il     duol      di      mor 


i=i^g 


=^ 


-    ta 


non 


sente"    il        duol     di       mor 


te 


^ 


5SEe£ 


^=JPO 


:«ni 


:^Ei^g^ 


duol  di      mor 


te 


t^S 


ipi 


^^ 


Ijcii 


e      pur       SI 


mo 


re. 


TEC 


:^2ti 


te 


e  pur     81 


mo 


re, 


e  pur       SI 


mo 


m 


^ 


33; 


IZ2I 


[^eeN^^ 


g 


mor 


te 


e        pur      81      mo 


re, 


lEi^l^E=|i 


i"      yr- 


:t= 


if2=E«ai 

iii=£t= 


l8^ 


^^^^ 


Et^ 


E^3 


pur      81    mo 

"l6» „ -^ 


re. 


^rat 


te      di     mor 


tee 


pur      81 


mo     - 


re. 


e      pur  81  mo 


re. 


^ 


-\ 


pur 


irtz 


Bi     mo 


m 


-^ rt- 


re, 


lo T*i 


itn 
pur      si 


'::^^z 


mo 


re. 


1 


440 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


^^ 


i^ 


^ 


-wri 


per- clie  sempreio  vi      ba     - 


ci. 


^- 


^^ 


^^- 


m 


per  -  che    sempre  io    vi    ba 


< 

Oh 


Quanto    h§,    di     dolce 


per-che      sempre  io  vi 


^ 


m 


-jotz 


Quanto       ha    di     dolce  a  -  mo 


re 


eg ^ 


5 


^l 


i: 


:g^E 


Quanto      ha    di     dolce  a  -  mo 


re 


per  -  che 


i 


~m 


piSf=E=^ 


P 


I 


per  -  che  sempre  io  vi         ba 


ci 


i*^ 


—r-m — e* m — «* « 


o     dol  -  cis  -  si  -  me    ro  -  se, 


ZiX=fll 


:pr 


N— N- 


5 


tp: 


g* rt 


-   Gl 


sempre  lo 


vi    ba 


ci      0      dol  -  cis  -  si  -  me    ro 


se 


m    voi 


tut 


c 


is 


to    ri-po  -  se, 


ba 


tZzzPz 


ci  sempre  iovi    ba 


31 


W- 


W--W 


dol  -  cis-  si  -me    ro 

-N  — 


se 


m    vol 


tut 


3e 


^ 


^m 


to    ri-po  -  se, 


eE 


S 


per 


che  sempre  io  vi     ba-ci     o      dol -cis  -  si-me     ro  -    se  in  voi 


tut 


to  ri-po 


-     se, 


^^= 


-^ 


t 


sempre  iovi    ba 


^ 


W:^^^ 


ei 


dol  -  cis  -  si  -  me     ro  -  se, 


Eg 


^^m=&. 


quanto   ha      di      dolce  a 


:E: 


mo 


re 


b=b:= 


i?J^^ 


:p: 


it- 


per  -  die 

— • — 1«— 


to?^^E£ 


quanto 


h3,    di    dolce  a    -  mo 


re 


i^pH- 


r^; 


It 


g^gg.^ 


per 


che     sem   - 


quanto 


h^    di  dolce  a    -   mo    -    re 


per-  che  sempreio  vi  ba  -  ci       per-che 


% 


feii^a^* 


=1= 


zictz 


isifj?^^ 


per-che  sempre  io  vi  ba 


ci. 


^ 


^ 


sempre  io  vi  ba  -  ci, 


3E 


&- 


^ 


perche  sempre  io  vi  ba  -  ci,         per-che  sempre  io  vi 


t^g 


i 


w 


,=^^== 


: o J2n 


z9=A^l^7Ji= 


--^■ 


r=fe?z 


H-^i 


sempre  io  vi  ba 

=giE 


Cl 


dol  -  cis 


^^E=^= 


si-me    ro  -  se 

-t:==E= 


m     VOI 


m 


i^i^ig 


-  pre  io 


vl     ba 


Cl 


dol  -  cis 


si-me    ro  -  se 


m 


^? 


=pz; 


^S^^ 


;-^^ 


?2: 


y» — r»' 


^=ii3£igH^^Ss=3ii^ 


H 


sempre  io  vi  ba 


Cl 


=!: 


o    dol  -  cis 

-jO — 


SI  me 


ro  -  se 


in     vol 


i^^iti^^^^g^iiiig^jgi 


tut     -     to  li  -  po     -    se,  in 

:pd-q=::i: 


^^ 


sempreio    vi       ba  -    ci 


-tj>- 


zi^Hz 


dol  -  cis    -    si-me     ro  -  se  in  voi 


^-^ 


:fc^ 


?5. 


in    voi  tut-to  li-po 


se. 


--=t 


*^ 


ba 


Cl 


dol  -  cis 


si-uie      ro  -  se 


m    vol 


tut 


n 1- 

to    ri  -  po  -     sc, 


Chap.  XCI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


441 


m   J  ' 


r=i=i± 


'^^E=!^ 


-fr: 


-4S- 


tut   -  to    ri  -  po 


se, 


ct2=; 


m=^:^=l^-=^z 


deh,     deh  s'io  po  -  tes  -  si 


^ze^^^E^^ 


|6» — ^P 


■te=? 


jtn 


=p-pi 


.?3=PP-«=ff-: 


vol 


tut 


i^ 


to  ri  -  po 


iip= 


ai    vostri  dolci   ba   - 


^■- 


se,  deh,       deh   s'io  po  -  tessi      ai  vostri  dolci    ba  -  ci,  ai     vostri   dolci  ba 


:^^^ 


;E 


zzii 


giigg3E{ 


vol 


in 


^^- 


^ 


e: 


^     — —    — ^ — ^ ^ _j^ ,fc 

voi  tut  -    to  ri-po   -  se,  deh,       deli  s'io      potessi       a!  vostri  dolci   ba  -  ci,    ai      vostri  dolci     ba  - 
-_ — o «-:= 1— I 1 m — t^:: »^'^^^^»— ■-#  — _— ■ r-^ m — ■— r-«— ^ 


m 


in  voi 


tut 


'^^^mm^^^^^m 


to  ri-po  -  se,   deh,       deh  s'io  po  -  tessi       ai  vostri  dolci   ba  -  ci,  ai    vo  stri  dolci  ba 


^^^^ 


3ES 


^^ 


deh,     deh  s'io  po  -  tessi      ai  vostri  dolci   ba  -  ci,  li   vostri  dolci   ba  - 


^m 


^ 


^=^1 


^ 


^ 


=rt; 


--3^=^ 


I 


m 


ci    la  mia  vi      -     ta  fl  -  ni 


re 


che     dol    -    ce  mo  -  ri     - 


re. 


-     ci  la  mia    vi  -  ta    fi 


ICC 


'f2- 


11 


-^3^. 


nz 


re 


E^E 


=»n= 


=t 


3J: 


^ 


che     dol  -    ce  mo  -  ri  -  re. 


m 


Cl 


la  mia  vi   -  ta  fi  -  ni 


re 


che  dol 


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re,     o  che  dol    -  ce    .     mo-ri  -  re,  o      che  dol  -  ce  mo-  ri 


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dol  -    ce  mo-ri  -  re, 


And  page  601  of  the  same  tome  of  the  Musurgia, 
he  recommends  the  nineteenth  madrigal  of  the  third 
book,  '  Dolcissimo  sospiri,'  as  an  example  of  sorrow. 

Again,  the  same  author,  page  GOW  of  the  same 
tome  of  the  Musurgia,  recommends  the  twenty-second 
madrigal  of  the  sixth  book,  '  Gia  piansi  nel  dolore,' 
as  an  example  of  joy  and  exultation. 

The  distinguishing  excellences  of  the  compositions 
of  this  admirable  author  are.  fine  contrivance,  original 
harmony,  and  the  sweetest  modulation  conceivable ; 
and  these  he  possessed  in  so  eminent  a  degree,  that 
one  of  the  finest  musicians    that    these   later  times 


-lOk- 

o  che  dol  -  ce  mo       -        ri         -  Ve. 

Carlo  Gesualdo,  Premcipe  Di  Venosa. 

have  known,  Mr.  Gerainiani,  has  been  often  heard 
to  declare  that  he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  studies 
in  the  works  of  the  Prencipe  di  Venosa. 

CHAP.  XCI. 

The  prince  of  Venosa  is  not  the  only  person  of 
rank  who  has  distinguished  himself  by  his  skill  in 
music.  Kircher  mentions  an  earl  of  Somerset  as 
tlie  inventor  of  a  certain  kind  of  Chelys  or  viol  of 
eight  cliords,  which  contained  all  the  secrets  of  music, 
in   an   eminent  degree,   and   ravished   every  hearer 


442 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


with  admiration.  Musurg.  torn.  I.  pag.  486  *  And 
Walther  says  of  Maurice,  landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel, 
that  he  was  an  excellent  composer  of  music.  Peacham 
speaks  to  the  same  purpose,  and  gives  the  following 
account  of  him: — 

'  Above  others  who  carryeth  away  the  palme  for 
'  excellency,  not  onely  in  musicke,  but  in  whatsoever 
'  is  to  be  wished  in  a  brave  prince,  is  the  yet  living 
'  Maurice,  Landgrave  of  Hessen,  of  whose  owne 
'  composition  I  have  scene  eight  or  ten  severall  setts 
'  of  motets  and  solerane  musicke,  set  purposely  for  his 
'  owne  chappell,f  where,  for  the  great  honour  of 
'  some  festivall,  and  many  times  for  his  recreation 
'  onely,  he  is  his  owne  organist.  Besides  he  readily 
'  speaketh  ten  or  twelve  severall  languages ;  he  is  so 
'  universall  a  scholler,  that  comming,  as  he  doth  often, 
'  to  his  university  of  Marpui'ge,  what  questions  soever 
'  he  meeteth  with  set  up,  as  the  manner  is  in  the 
'  Germane  and  our  universities,  hee  will  ex  tempore 
'  dispute  an  houre  or  two  (even  in  bootes  and  spurres) 
'  upon  them  with  their  best  professors.  I  passe  over 
'  his  rare  skill  in  chirurgery,  he  being  generally 
'  accounted  the  best  bone-setter  in  the  country.  Who 
'  have  scene  his  estate,  his  hospitality,  his  rich  fur- 
'  nished  armory,  his  brave  stable  of  great  horses,  his 
'  curtesie  to  all  strangers,  being  men  of  quality  and 
'  good  parts,  let  them  speake  the  rest.'  J  But  to  be 
more  particular  as  to  his  skill  in  music.  Valentine 
Guckius  began  a  work  entitled  '  Opera  metrici  sacri 
'  sanctorum,  Dominicalium  et  feriarum,'  but  never 
finished  it ;  this  work  was  completed  and  published 
by  Maurice,  landgrave  of  Hesse,  above-mentioned. 

Giovanni  Croce,  of  Venice,  flourished  at  this  time. 
He  was  chapel-master  of  St.  Mark's,  and  very  pro- 

*  We  know  of  no  earl  of  Somerset  to  whom  the  invention  of  any  such 
musical  instrument  may  be  ascribed.  Edward  Somerset,  marquis  of 
Worcester,  the  friend  and  favourite  of  king  Charles  I.  was  remarkable  for 
his  inventive  faculty,  which  he  endeavoured  to  manifest  in  a  little  book 
entitled  '  A  century  of  the  names  and  scantlings  of  such  inventions  as  at 
'  present  I  can  call  to  mind  to  have  tried  and  perfected  [my  former  notes 
'  being  lost]  ;'  first  printed  in  1663,  and  since  among  the  Harleian  tracts. 
Mr.  Walpole  has  given  an  accoimt  of  the  contents  of  this  book,  not  more 
humorous  than  just,  in  the  following  words ;  '  It  is  a  very  small  piece, 
'containing  a  dedication  to  Charles  the  Second,  another  to  both  houses 
■  of  parliament,  in  which  he  affirms  having,  in  the  presence  of  Charles 
'  the  First,  performed  many  of  the  feats  mentioned  in  his  book  ;  a  table 
'  of  contents,  and  the  work  itself,  which  is  but  a  table  of  contents  neither, 
'  being  a  list  of  an  hundred  projects,  most  of  them  impossibilities,  but  all 
'  of  which  he  affirms  having  discovered  the  art  of  performing  :  some  of 
'  the  easiest  seem  to  be,  how  to  write  with  a  single  line  ;  with  a  point ; 
'  how  to  use  all  the  senses  indifferently  for  each  other,  as,  to  talk  by 
'  colours,  and  to  read  by  the  taste ;  to  make  an  unsinkable  ship  :  how  to 
'  do  and  to  prevent  the  same  thing ;  how  to  sail  against  wind  and  tide ;  how 
'  to  form  an  universal  character  ;  how  to  converse  by  jangling  bells  out 
'  of  tune  ;  how  to  take  towns  or  prevent  their  being  taken  ;  how  to  write 
*in  the  dark  ;  how  to  cheat  with  dice  ;  and,  in  short,  how  to  fly.  Of  all 
'  these  wonderful  inventions  the  last  but  one  seems  the  only  one  of  which 
'  his  lordship  has  left  the  secret.'  Catalogue  of  Royal  and  Noble  Authors 
vol.  I.  pag.  242. 

+  These  had  been  procured  by  Douland  when  he  was  abroad,  and  were 
shewn  by  him  to  Peacham  at  sundry  times.  Peacham's  Emblems, 
pag.  101,  in  not. 

t  Compl.  Gent.  edit.  1634,  pag.  99.  It  seems  that  formerly  the  cha- 
racter of  this  prince  was  well  known,  and  his  reputation  very  high  in 
England,  for  till  within  these  few  years  his  head  was  the  sign  of  a 
reputable  public-house  on  the  north  side  of  the  high  eastern  road  leading 
to  Mile-end  from  London  ;  it  represented  a  general  in  armour,  and  was 
underwrote  Grave,  i.  e.  Landgrave,  Maurice ;  and  upon  repainting  the 
sign,  by  corruption,  Morris. 

From  this  circumstance  it  should  seem  that  he  was  a  favourite  with 
the  English,  who,  though  they  might  be  strangers  to  his  endowments, 
might  esteem  him  for  his  firm  attachment  to  the  protestant  religion,  for 
the  preservation  whereof  he  formed  a  league  in  1603,  which  produced  a 
union  of  the  protestant  powers;  but  being  overpowered  by  count  Tilly 
in  1626,  he  was  compelled  to  surrender  his  estates  to  his  son  William, 
and  spend  his  days  in  retirement.  He  died  in  1632,  and  is  not  less  cele- 
brated for  his  learning  and  piety,  than  for  his  many  and  various  ac- 
complishments.    Heyl.  Cosm.  41U. 


bably  the  immediate  successor  of  Zarlino.  Zacconi, 
in  his  '  Prattica  di  musica,'  published  in  1596,  styles 
him  vice-master  of  the  chapel  of  St.  Mark ;  from 
whence  it  is  pretty  certain  that  he  must  at  first  have 
been  the  substitute  of  Zarlino  in  that  office.  Morley 
commends  him  highly  ;  and  Peacham  says  that  for 
a  full,  lofty,  and  sprightly  vein,  he  was  second  to 
none  ,  he  adds,  that  while  he  lived  he  was  one  of  the 
most  free  and  brave  companions  in  the  world. 
Nevertheless  his  compositions  are  all  of  a  devout  and 
serious  kind,  and  of  these,  his  Penitential  Psalms, 
which  have  been  printed  with  English  words,  are 
the  best. 

Sethus  Calvisius,  the  son  of  a  poor  peasant  named 
Jacob  Kalwitz,  of  Gorschleb  near  Sachsenburg  in 
Thuringia,  was  born  on  the  twenty -first  day  of 
February,  in  the  year  1556.  He  received  the  ru- 
diments of  learning  in  the  public  school  of  Francken- 
hausen,  but,  after  three  years  stay,  was  removed  to 
Magdeburg,  from  whence  he  was  sent  to  the  university 
of  Leipsic,  having  no  other  means  of  support  there 
than  the  contributions  of  some  persons  whom  he  had 
made  his  friends.  His  pursuits  in  learning  were 
various,  for  he  is  not  more  celebrated  as  a  musician 
than  a  chronologer ;  but  it  is  in  the  first  capacity 
that  he  is  here  spoken  of ;  and  indeed  he  was  deemed 
so  able  a  proficient  in  music,  that  very  early  in  his 
life  he  hatl  the  direction  of  the  choir  in  the  university 
church,  and  soon  after  became  preceptor  in  music  in 
the  Schul  -  Pforte,  or  principal  school  in  Upper- 
Saxony  ;  ten  years  after  which,  he  became  chanter 
in  the  church  of  St.  Thomas  in  the  city  of  Leipsic, 
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.  The  greatness 
of  his  reputation  procured  him  many  invitations  to 
settle  in  foreign  universities,  but  he  declined  them 
all.  His  musical  writings  are,  '  Melopeiam,  sen 
'  melodise  condendae  rationem,  quam  vulgo  musicam 
'  poeticam  vocant,'  printed  at  Erfurth  in  1595,  as 
Lipenius  places  it,  or,  according  to  others,  in  1602. 
In  1611  he  published  his  Opuscula  Musica,  and  in 
the  year  after,  his  Compendium  Musicum,  a  book  for 
the  instruction  of  beginners  ;  but  a  metliod  of  sol- 
misation  by  the  seven  syllables,  bo,  ce,  di,  ga,  lo,  ma, 
Ni,  having  then  lately  been  introduced,  which  he 
seemed  greatly  to  approve,  he  republished  it  in  the 
same  year,  with  the  title  of  '  Musicse  artis  pr^ecepta 
nova  et  facillima,  &c.'  He  also  published  '  Exer- 
'  citationes  musicas,'  in  number  three.  In  1615  he 
composed  the  hundred  and  fiftieth  Psalm  in  twelve 
parts,  for  three  choirs,  on  the  nuptials  of  Caspar 
Anckelman,  a  merchant  of  Hamburg,  and  caused  it 
to  be  printed  in  folio  at  Leipsic. 

Of  the  Exercitationes,  the  first  is  on  the  modes  of 
the  ancients,  and  contains  a  catalogue  of  compositions 
by  the  old  German,  Flemish,  and  Italian  masters  in 
those  several  modes. 

The  second  of  the  Exercitationes  is  entitled  '  De 
*  Initio  et  Progressu  musices,  et  aliis  (juibusdam  ad 
'  cam  rem  spectantibus.'  This  appears  to  be  the 
substance  of  lectures  read  by  the  author  in  the  public 
school  at  Leipsic,  and  is  a  very  learned,  ingenious. 


Chap.  XCI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


443 


and  entertaining  composition.  In  it  he  takes  notice 
of  that  invention  of  an  anonymous  Dutch  musician 
for  avoiding  the  mutations,  by  giving  to  the  septenary 
the  syllables  bo,  ce,  di,  ga,  lo,  ma,  ni,  which,  as  has 
been  mentioned  in  a  preceding  note,  Kepler  has 
taken  notice  of  and  reprehended.  The  two  first 
parts  of  the  Exercitationes  were  printed  at  Leipsic 
in  1600. 

Calvisius  in  this  discourse  inclines  to  the  opinion 
that  polyphonous  music  was  unknown  to  the  ancient 
Greeks ;  and  for  fixing  the  era  of  its  invention, 
observes  that  Bede  makes  use  of  the  terms  Concentus, 
Discantus,  Organis,  from  which  it  is  to  be  inferred 
that  he  was  not  able  to  carry  it  higher  than  the 
beginning  of  the  eighth  century,  about  which  time 
Bede  wrote. 

The  last  of  the  Exercitationes,  printed  at  Leipsic 
in  1611,  contains  a  refutation  of  certain  opinions  of 
Hippolytus  Hubmeier,  poet-laureate  to  the  emperor, 
and  a  public  teacher  at  Gottingen,  who  it  seems  had 
written  on  music. 

Our  countryman  Butler  cites  Calvisius  in  almost 
every  page  of  his  Principles  of  Music ;  and  in  one 
place  in  particular  uses  these  words  :  '  Sethus  Cal- 
'  visius,  that  singular  musician,  to  whom  the  students 
'  of  this  abstruse  and  mysterious  faculty  are  more  be- 
'  holden  than  to  all  that  have  ever  written  thereon.'  His 
chronological  writings  are  greatly  esteemed  ;  in  them 
he  had  the  good  fortune  to  please  Joseph  Scaliger, 
who  has  given  him  great  commendations  :  he  wrote 
against  the  Gregorian  calendar  a  work  entitled 
'  Elenchus  Calendarii  Gregoriani,  et  duplex  Calen- 
*  darii  melioris  formula,'  published  at  Frankfort  in 
1612,  and  lastly,  Chronologia,  printed  at  the  same 
place  in  1629. 

Giovanni  Maria  Artusi,  an  ecclesiastic  of  Bologna, 
of  whom  mention  has  already  been  made  in  the 
course  of  this  work,  was  the  author  of  an  excellent 
treatise  entitled  '  L'Arte  del  Contraponto  Ridotta  in 
'  Tavole,'  published  in  1586,  of  which  an  account  has 
herein-before  been  given,  and  also  of  a  discourse 
which  he  entitles  '  L' Artusi,  overo  delle  Imperfettioni 
'  della  moderna  Musica,  Ragionamenti  dui,'  printed 
at  Venice  in  the  year  1600. 

The  latter  of  these  two  treatises  is  a  dialogue, 
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  archduke  Albert  and  the 
t  infanta  Isabella  the  king's  sister  ;  soon  after  the 
«  nuptials   they   visited  the  monastery  of  St.  Vito, 

•  where,  for  the  entertainment  of  their  royal  guests, 
« the  nuns  performed  a  concert,  in  which  were  heard 
.  cornets,  trumpets,  violins,  bastard  viols,  double 
>  harps,  lutes,  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  occasion  two  of  the  auditors,  who  happened 
to  meet  there,  and  were  greatly  pleased  with  the 
performance,  enter  into  a  conversation  on  the  sul)ject 
of  music  in  general.     It  is  needless  to  follow  the  in- 


terlocutors through  the  whole  of  the  dialogue,  but  it 
may  be  taken  for  granted  that,  notwithstanding  the 
form  it  bears,  it  contains  the  sentiments  of  Artusi 
himself,  who,  after  delivering  some  very  obvious 
rules  for  the  ordering  of  a  musical  performance, 
whether  vocal  or  instrumental,  such  as  the  choice  of 
place,  of  instruments,  of  voices,  and  lastly,  of  the 
compositions  themselves,  declares  himself  to  the  fol- 
lowing purpose  :  and  speaking  first  of  the  Cornet,  he 
says  that  the  tone  of  that  instrument  depends  greatly 
upon  the  manner  of  tonguing  it,  concerning  which 
practice  he  delivers  many  precepts,  which  at  this 
time  it  would  be  of  very  little  use  to  enumerate. 

The  cornet  is  an  instrument  now  but  little  known, 
it  having  above  a  century  ago  given  place  to  the 
hautboy ;  Artusi  seems  to  have  held  it  in  high 
estimation  ;  his  sentiments  of  it  will  be  best  delivered 
in  his  own  words,  which  are  these  : — 

'  To  give  the  best  tone,  the  performer  on  the  cornet 
'  should  endeavour  to  imitate  the  human  voice  ;  for 
'  no  other  instrument  is  so  difficult  to  attain  to  ex- 
'  cellence  on  as  this  ;  the  trumpet  is  sounded  by  the 
*  breath  alone  ;  the  lute  by  the  motion  of  the  hands  ; 
'  the  harpsichord  and  the  harp  may  be  attained  by 
'  long  practice  ;  but  the  cornet  requires  the  know- 
'  ledge  of  the  diiTerent  methods  of  tonguing,  and  the 
'  changes  to  be  made  therein  according  to  the  quality 
'  of  the  several  notes  ;  a  proper  opening  of  the  lips 
'  joined  to  a  ready  finger  attained  by  long  habit ;  all 
'  these  excellencies  were  possessed  by  Girolamo  da 
'  Udine  of  Venice,  and  other  eminent  performers  on 
'  that  instrument  who  flourished  formerly  in  Italy.' 

In  his  observations  on  other  instruments  he  speaks 
to  this  purpose  :  the  different  construction  of  instru- 
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  instruments 
only,  by  reason  of  the  manner  in  which  the  chords 
are  struck.  Under  these  several  heads  he  makes  the 
following  remarks,  viz.,  that  the  lute  being  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  harpsichord,  the  sound 
thereof  is  lost,  or  scarce  heard.  Farther,  that  a  silver 
string  will  produce  a  sound  more  or  less  sweet,  ac- 
cording to  the  quality  and  degree  of  the  alloy  with 
which  the  metal  is  attempered  ;  and  that  if  a  string 
of  Spanish  gold,  the  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  silver  an 
unpleasing  sound.  As  to  pipes,  he  says  there  can  be 
no  doubt  but  that  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  a  chord  of  metal 
or  gut  be  struck  with  the  finger,  it  must  produce  a 
sweeter  sound  than  if  struck  by  any  thing  else. 
These  observations  demonstrate  the  imperfections  of 
instruments,  though  in  general  they  are  but  little 
attended  to. 

Farther,  the   different  tuning  or  temperature  of 


444 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


instruments  is  such,  tluit  oftentimes  one  interval  is 
sounded  for  another  ;  and  frequently  in  the  diatonic 
genus  one  performer  will  observe  the  syntonous 
division  of  Ptolemy,  another  that  of  Aristoxenus  : 
and  this  also,  says  this  author,  is  an  evidence  of  the 
imperfection  insisted  on. 

lie  cites  from  Ptolemy  a  passage,  wherein  it  is 
asserted  that  in  wind-instruments  no  certainty  of 
sound  can  be  depended  on  ;  and  another  from 
Aristoxenus  to  tlie  same  purpose,  but  more  general, 
as  applying  to  all  instruments  whatsoever. 

From  hence  he  takes  occasion  to  consider  the  in- 
struments of  the  moderns,  and  the  temperaments  of 
each  species  or  class  ;  the  first  he  makes  to  consist  of 
such  as  are  tempered  with  the  tones  equal  and  the 
semitones  unequal,  as  the  organ,  harpsichord,  spinnet, 
monochord,  and  double  harp.  The  instruments  of 
the  second  class,  under  which  he  ranks  such  as  are 
altered  or  attempered  occasionally,  are  the  human 
voice,  trombone,  trumpet,  rebec,  cornet,  flute,  and 
dulzain.*  In  the  third  class,  consisting  of  instruments 
in  which  both  the  tones  and  semitones  are  equally 
divided,  are  placed  the  lute,  viol,  bastard  viol,  guitar, 
and  lyre. 

From  this  arrangement  of  instruments,  and  a  com- 
parative view  of  the  temperaments  proper  to  each, 
Artusi  draws  a  conclusion,  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 
mouth  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  those  consonances  that  we  make 
'  use  of,  as  clearly  may  be  read  in  Aristoxenus,  lib.  I. 
'  in  Ptolemy,  lib.  I.  cap.  x.  and  in  Euclid,  who  says, 
"  Sunt  consona  diatessaron,  diapente,  diapason  et 
"  similia  ;  dissona  autem  sunt  ea  qnss  minora,  quam 
"  diatessaron,  ut  diesis,  semitonium,  tonus,  sesqui- 
"  tonus,  et  ditonus."  From  these  authorities  it  must 
'  be  believed  that  the  ancients  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  modern  music,  Artusi  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  moderns  ;  which  consisting 
'  in  a  variety  of  parts,  whereof  some  are  grave  and 
'  others  acute  ;  some  proceeding  by  a  slow,  others  by 

*  The  Dulzain,  otherwise  called  tlie  Dulcino,  is  a  wind-instrument, 
used  as  a  tenor  to  the  hautboy.  Brossard  calls  it  the  Quart  FaROtto ; 
and  adds,  that  it  is  a  small  bassoon.  That  it  is  a  liind  of  liautboy  ap- 
pears from  a  passage  in  Don  Quixote.  In  the  adventure  of  the  puppet- 
show,  the  boy,  who  is  the  interpreter,  desires  the  spectators  to  attend  to 
the  sound  of  the  bells  which  rang  in  the  steeples  in  the  mosques  of 
Sansuenna  to  spread  tlie  alann  of  Melisendra's  flight.  Peter,  the  master 
of  the  show,  is  all  the  while  behind  ringing  the  bells,  upon  which  Don 
Quixote  calls  out.  '  Master  Peter,  you  are  very  much  mistaken  in  this 
'  business  of  the  bells  ;  for  you  are  to  know  that  among  the  Moors  there 
'are  no  bells,  and  that  instead  of  them  they  make  use  of  kettle-drums, 
'  and  a  kind  of  Dulzayns,  like  our  Chirimias.'  Chirimia  in  the  Si)anish 
dictionaries  is  interpreted  by  the  Latin  Tihicen,  inis  ;  and  Chirimias  is 
by  Jarvis  properly  enough  translated  Wails,  that  is  to  say  hautboys; 
though,  by  a  mistake  arising  from  his  want  of  skill  in  music,  he  has 
rendered  the  word  DulzAynas,  Dulcimers. 


'  a  quick  motion,  divides  the  attention,  and  keeps  the 
'  mind  in  suspense  :  so  that  although  it  may  be  said 
'  tliat  the  music  of  the  moderns  consists  in  a  richer 
'  and  fuller  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  but  very  little  understood  by  musicians. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  first  of  the  Ragionamenti  is 
a  madrigal  for  two  voices  of  Adriano  Willaert,  copied 
as  Artusi  testifies,  from  tlie  writing  of  the  author 
himself,  and  closing  with  the  interval  of  a  seventh, 
though  to  appearance  the  cadence  is  in  the  diapason. 

To  this  madrigal  is  subjoined  a  letter  jirinted  from 
the  original  manuscript  of  Giovanni  Spataro  of 
Bologna,  dated  9th  September,  1524,  purporting  to 
be  a  criticism  on  it,  wherein  the  author,  after  many 
honourable  expressions  in  commendation  of  Messer 
Adriano  and  his  works,  censures  him  for  having,  by 
an  unwarrantable  kind  of  sophistry,  made  the  madrigal 
in  question,  by  the  use  of  the  flat  signature,  to  appear 
different  from  what  it  really  is. 

Spataro's  letter  is  replete  with  musical  erudition. 
Artusi  says  that  it  came  from  a  good  school,  and  that 
the  author  was  a  most  acute  musician.  It  is  followed 
by  reflections  of  Artusi  on  what  he  calls  Musica  finta, 
in  Latin  Musica  ficta,  or  feigned  juusic,  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  siunature  :  Artusi  seems  to  lie 
no  friend  to  this  jiractice,  and  censures  the  multipli- 
cation of  the  transposed  keys  beyond  certain  limits. 

He  then  proceeds  to  relate  the  dispute  between 
Nicola  Vicentino  and  Vincentio  Lusitano  in  1551. 
The  latter  maintaining  that  the  then  modern  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  much  the  more  M'orthy  of  note,  as  they 
were  made  after  a  determination  in  his  favour,  and 
nevertheless  adopts  his  first  opinion,  and  accordingly 
approves  of  the  sentence  against  Vicentino  by  the 
judges  in  the  controversy,  Bartolomeo  Esgobedo,  and 
Ghisilino  D'Ancherts. 

CHAP.  XCII. 

In  the  second  of  the  Ragionamenti  are  contained 
the  censures  of  Artusi  on  a  madrigal  in  five  parts 
by  an  anonymous  author,  which,  though  it  had  been 
much  applauded  by  the  vulgar,  is  l)y  him  shown  to 
be  very  faulty. 

Speaking  of  the  ancient  modes,  and  of  the  desig- 
nation of  each  of  them  by  Euclid  and  Ptolemy,  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,  succeed  in  the 
same  order  as  those  of  Euclid  do  in  the  descending 
series. 


Chap.  XCIL                                      AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC.  445 

Notwithstanding  the  several  essays  towards  a  tem-  most  strongly  marked  ;    yet  to  this  very  same  Bot- 
perature  which  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  writings  of  trigaro,  the  adversary  of  Patricio,  and  the  aggressor 
Artusi,  it  is  clear  that  he  was  not  of  the  Aristoxenean  in  the  dispute,  does  Artnsi  dedicate  his  book,  and 
sect  of  musicians  ;  for  of  Aristoxenus  himself  he  says  that  in  terms  so  equivocal,  tliat   it  is   not  easy'  to 
that  he  is  '  una  discordante  discordia,'  and  that  among  discover  that  he  means  at  once  to  flatter  and  revile 
his  followers  there  is  infinite  confusion.  him.     In  order  to  do  this  consistently,  he  very  art- 
He  says  that  all  the  moderns  are  at  variance  with  fully  affects  to  consider  Bottrigaro's  book  II  Patricio 
respect  to  the  number,  the  order,  and  situation  of  the  as  the  work  of  an  anonymous  writer,  calling  him 
modes;    and  that  neither  Odo,  Guido  Aretinus,  nor  'I'Auttor  del  parere  ;'  and  sticks  not  to  say  that  in 
Jacobus  Faber  iStapulensis,  seem  to  have  understood  calunniiating  Patricio  he  does  but  bark  at  tlie  moon, 
the  meaning  of  Boetius,  which  he  ascribes  to  the  many  Artusi's  book,  besides  that  it  is  a  defence  of  Fran- 
errors  in  the  manuscript  copies.  cesco  Patricio,  contains  also  an  enquiry  into  the  prin- 
Artusi  seems  to  agree  with  Glareanus  in  making  ciples  of  some  modern  innovators  in  music  :  of  these, 
the  modes  to  be  twelve  in  number,  but  he  differs  from  one  named  Ottavio  Ottusi,  conceiving  that  the  censures 
him  in  liis  designation  of  them.     By  what  artifice  the  of  Artusi  were  meant  to  reach  himself,  wrote  a  letter 
modes  are  made  to  exceed  the  species  of  diapason,  has  ^  Artusi,  wherein  he  advances  the  following  absurd 
already  been  mentioned;    and,  as  to  the  difference  positions,  viz.,  that  the  discord  of  tlie  seventh  is  sweeter 
between  the  modes   of   Glareanus  and   Artusi,   the  to  the  ear  than  the  octave  ;  that  the  seventh  may  move 
subject  is  so  iminteresting,  that  it  merits  very  little  up  to  the  i)ctave,  and  the  fourth  into  the  fifth  ;    the 
attention  at  this  day.  third  into  the  fourth,  and  the  fifth  into  either  of  the 
Towards  the  close  of  this  treatise,  Artusi  observes  sixths.     This  letter  produced  a  controversy,  which 
that  every  cantilena  is  mixed  and  composed  of  two  clearly  appears  to  have  terminated  in  favour  of  Artusi. 
modes,  that  is  to  say,  the  authentic  and  the  plagal  Xo  this  second  part  of  the  treatise  '  Delle  Imper- 
respectively  in  each  of  the  several  species  of  diapason ;  <  fettioni  della  moderna  musica,'  are  added  '  Consi- 
and  that  a  cantilena,  by  being  made  to  sing  both  back-  <  deration!  musicali ;'  these  contain  the  author's  senti- 
ward  and  forward,  may  consist  of  four  modes  ;    and  ments  of  Patricio  and  his  work,  as  also  the  objections 
of   this  he   gives  an   example   in   that   enigmatical  of  his  opponent.    They  are  delivered  with  a  becoming 
madrigal  composed  by  Costanzo  Porta,  inserted  in  ^eal  for  the  honour  of  his  memory,  and  in  terms, 
book  V.  chap.  XLIV.  of  this  work,  saying  that  it  is  a  which  though  they  indicate  a  respect  for  the  rank  and 
fine  and  new  invention.  station  in  life  of  Signer  Cavaliere  Hercole  Battrigaro, 
In  the  year  1603,  Artusi  published  a  second  part  of  sufficiently  shew  how  far  he  ventured  to  differ  from 
this  work,  the  occasion  whereof  is  related  in  the  pre-  ]^\^  i^  opinion. 

face,  and  is  as  follows  :  '  One  Francesco  Patricio,  in  -^qy  did  Artusi  rest  the  dispute  here  :   Annibale 

'  the  year  1586,  had  written  a  treatise  intitled  "  Delia  Meloni,  it  seems,  was  his  friend  ;  Meloni  had  shewn 

"  poetica   deca   historiale,   deca  disputata,"   wherein  jjim  ^jg  book  II  Desiderio,  but  Artusi  excused  him- 

•  discoursing  of  music  and  poetry,  he  takes  occasion  gelf  from  perusing  it,  as  not  being  willing  to  forward 

'  to  speak  of  the  genera  of  the  ancients,  but  in  a  way  ^  publication  that  in  the  least  reflected  on  the  doctrines 

'  that  in  the  opinion  of  some  was  liable  to  exception.'  delivered  by  Patricio  :  he  nevertheless  entertained  a 

This  book  was  severely  censured  by  Hercole  Bot-  \i[g\^  opinion  of  its  author,  as  appears  by  what  he  says 

trigaro  in  a  discourse  entitled  '  II  Patricio,  overo  de  of"  him  in  the  preface  to  the  second  part  of  his  book 

■  tetracordi  armonici  di  Aristosseno,   parere  e  vera  Ddle  Imperfettioni ;  and  after  its  publication  in  1594, 

'  demostratione  dell'  Illustre  Signor  Cavaliere  Her-  gome  remaining  copies  coming  to  his  hands,  he  re- 

'  cole   Bottrigaro.'      In   Bologna,   1593,   in  qiiarto  ;  piiblished  it  in  IGOl,  with  a  preface,  in  which  he 

and    Patricio's   book  coming  also  to    the    hands   of  intimates  an  opinion  then  generally  prevalent   that 

Annibale    Meloni,   a  musician  of  Bologna,*    he  too  Battrigaro  was  tlie  author  of  the   book  ;   and  upon 

published  remarks  on  it  entitled  '  II  Desiderio  di  this  he  takes  occasion  to  reproach  him  for  arrogating 

'  Alemanno  Benelli,'  a  name  formed  by  the  trans-  to  himself  the  merit  of  so  excellent  a  work,  and  for 

position  of  the  letters  of  the  name  Annibale  Meloni  ;  ^ot  openly  and  publicly  disclaiming  all  pretence  to 

in  it  are  some  reflections,  rather  on  the  doctrines  than  the  honour  of  writing  it. 

the  character  of  Francesco  Patricio,  wherefore  he  being  The  moderation  of  Artusi  in  his  treatment  of  liis 

dead,  Artusi  undertook  to  vindicate  him  from  the  ca-  adversary  is  very  remarkable,  for  he  blames  him  only 

lumnies  of  the  one  and  the  insinuations  of  the  other  of  for  suffering  an  opinion  to  prevail  that  he  was  the 

these  his  adversaries.  author  of  II  Desiderio  ;  but  he  might  have  carried 

The  conduct  of  Artusi  in  the  management  of  this  the  charge  against  him  much  farther  ;   for  Bottrigaro 

controversy  is  somewhat  singular  ;    for  although  the  having  got  possession  of  the  manuscript  at  a  time 

second  part  of  the  treatise  Delle  Imperfettioni,^  and  when  Annibale   Meloni   consulted  him  about  it,  he 

more  especially  the  Considerationi  Musicali,  printed  caused  a  copy  to  be  made  of  it,  and  had  the  eftrontery 

at  the  end  of  it,  are  a  defence  of  Patricio,  and  an  to  publish  it  as  his  own  ;  there  is  now  extant  an  im- 

examen  of  Bottrigaro's  book,   II   Patricio,  in  which  pression  of  it  with  this  title  '  II  Desiderio  ;  overo  de' 

many  errors   contained   in   it  are   pointed  out,  and  <  concerti  di  vari  stromenti  musicali,  dialogo  di  musica 

*  Annibale  Meloni  was  a  man  of  considerable  leariiins.    Artusi,  in  the  '  ^\[  Ercolc  Bottrigari.'      lu  Bologna  per  il  Bellagand)a, 

preface  to  his  second  part  of  tlie  treatise  Delle  ImpcrlVtiioni,  mentions  a  ^  ^,  ^    .                 .     i 

certain  demonstration  of  some  of  the  problems  of  Aristotle,  and  other  lO.'U,  tu  quaiiu.  | 

wnrks  of  his  wriiine.    For  his  profession  we  are  to  seek,  thout;h  Bottrigaro  ,,     ,•  i.  i-  i    „i    i7or 

Ttvles  hini  '  MoUo  liarM.  Anoibale  Meloue  Uecano  de  Musica  urdinarii  t  N.  Haym.  Notizia  de'  hbn  ran  nella  lingua  Italtana.     Lond.  1726, 

Ulustribs.  Signoria  di  Bolot,'"a.'  «<;tavo,  pag.  2bi). 


446 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


In  the  year  1G04,  Artusi  published  at  Bologna 
a  small  tract  in  quarto,  entitled  '  Impresa  del  molto 
'  R.  M.  Gioseffo  Zarliuo  da  Chioggia.'  It  seems  that 
Zarlino,  some  time  before  his  decease,  agreeably  to 
the  practice  of  many  learned  men  in  all  faculties, 
had  chosen  for  himself  a  device  or  impress  adapted 
to  his  profession,  and  alluding  to  that  method  of 
reasoning  which  he  had  pursued  in  the  course  of  his 
studies  for  demonstrating  the  harmonical  ratios.  This 
impress,  which  probably  he  might  make  the  subject  of 
an  intaglio,  or  otherwise  assume,  was  a  cube,  on  which 
were  drawn  a  variety  of  lines  intersecting  each  other, 
and  forming  angles  in  harmonical  ratios,  with  this 
motto  above,  'OYAEN  XOPrs  'EMOX  that  is  to  say, 
'  Nothing  without  me,'  and  underneath  this,  'AEI'  'O 
'AYTO'S  '  Always  the  same.' 


The  diagrams  inscribed  on  the  three  apparent  sides 
of  the  above  figure  are  such  as  Zarlino,  in  the  course  of 
his  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 
subsequent  improvement  of  it,  mentioned  in  the  ac- 
count herein-before  given  of  Zarlino  and  his  writings, 
the  general  import  of  these  diagrams  may  be  easily 
perceived. 

The  foregoing  account  of  Bottrigaro  and  Artusi, 
and  the  controversy  between  them  respecting  Fran- 
cesco Patricio,  renders  it  necessary  to  speak  of  the 
treatise  intitled  II  Desiderio. 

As  to  the  book  intitled  II  Dwiderio,  it  is  a  curious 
and  entertaining  dialogue  on  the  concerts  which  at 
the  time  of  writing  it  were  the  entertainment  of 
persons  of  the  first  rank  in  the  principal  cities  of 
Italy,  particularly  Venice  and  Ferrara.  The  inter- 
locutors in  it  are  Gratioso  Desiderio,  who,  although 
the  title  of  the  book  is  taken  from  his  name,  seems 
to  be  a  fictitious  person,  and  the  author  himself  under 
the  name  of  Alemanno  Benelli.  In  the  course  of  the 
conversation,  the  principles  of  harmony,  as  delivered 
by  the  Greek  and  Italian  writers,  are  investigated 
with  great  learning  and  ingenuity,  with  a  view  to 
ectablish  a  preference  of  the  modern  to  the  ancient 


music.  In  support  of  his  argument,  the  author 
recurs  to  that  which  is  ostensibly  the  subject  of  his 
book,  and  speaks  fii'st  of  the  concerts  at  Venice ; 
next  of  those  of  the  Academici  Filarmonici  at 
Verona ;  *  and,  lastly,  of  those  performed  in  the 
ducal  palace  at  Ferrara,  of  which  he  gives  a  par- 
ticular description ;  for  after  taking  notice  of  the 
grandeur  and  elegance  of  the  apartments,  and  par- 
ticularly of  that  splendid  room  in  which  the  concert 
was  accustomed  to  be  given,  he  relates  that  the  duke 
had  in  his  service  a  great  number  of  singers  with 
fine  voices,  and  excellent  performers  on  various  in- 
struments, as  well  foreigners  as  Italians  ;  and  that 
the  instruments  made  use  of  in  concert  were  the 
cornet,  trumpet,  dulzain,  flutes  of  various  kinds,  the 
viol,  rebec,  lute,  cittern,  harp,  and  harpsichord,  and 
these  to  a  considerable  number. 

After  this  general  account  of  the  instruments,  the 
author  mentions  certain  others  which  himself  saw  at 
the  palace  of  the  duke,  and  were  there  preserved, 
some  for  their  antiquity,  and  others  in  respect  of  the 
singularity  of  their  construction ;  among  these  he 
takes  notice  of  a  curious  organ,  formed  to  the  re- 
semblance of  a  screw,  with  pipes  of  box-wood  all  of 
one  piece,  like  a  flute ;  and  a  harpsichord  invented 
by  Don  Nicola  Vicentino  surnamed  Arcimusico, 
comprehending  in  the  division  of  it  the  three  har- 
monic genera.  He  adds  that  the  multitude  of  chords 
in  this  astonishing  instrument  rendered  it  very 
difficult  to  tune,  and  more  so  to  play ;  and  that  for 
this  latter  reason  the  most  skilful  performers  would 
seldom  care  to  meddle  with  it :  nevertheless,  he 
adds,  that  Luzzasco,  the  chief  organist  of  his  high- 
ness, who  it  is  supposed  must  have  understood  and 
been  familiar  with  the  instrument,  was  able  to  play 
on  it  with  wonderful  skill.  He  says  that  this  in- 
strument by  way  of  pre-eminence  was  called  the 
Archicembalo  ;  and  that  after  the  model  of  it  two 
organs  were  built,  the  one  at  Rome,  by  the  order  of 
the  Cardinal  of  Ferrara,  and  the  other  at  Milan, 
under  the  direction  of  the  inventor  Don  Nicola,  in 
or  about  the  year  1575,  who  died  of  the  plague  soon 
after  it  was  finished. 

The  author  relates  that  the  duke  of  Ferrara  had 
many  Italian  and  foreign  musicians  retained  in  his 
service ;  and  a  very  large  collection  of  musical  com- 
positions, in  print  and  in  manuscript,  and  a  great 
number  of  servants,  whose  employment  it  was  to 
keep  the  books  and  instruments  in  order,  and  to  tune 
the  latter.      The  principal  director  of  the  musical 

*  The  Accademia  degli  Filarmonici  was  instituted  first  at  Vicenza. 
The  time  when  cannot  be  precisely  ascertained  ;  but  appears  by  an  in- 
strument of  a  public  notary,  yet  extant,  that  so  early  as  the  year  1565  the 
Accademia  degli  Incatenati  was  incorporated  with  it,  after  which  the 
members,  upon  their  joint  application  to  the  magistracy  of  Verona,  ob- 
tained a  grant  of  a  piece  of  ground,  whereon  a  sumptuous  edifice  was 
erected ;  to  this  the  nobility  and  gentrj-  of  the  city  were  used  to  resort 
once  a  week,  and  entertain  themselves  with  music:  about  the  year  1732 
a  theatre  was  added  to  the  great  hall  for  the  performance  of  operas. 
Walth.  Lex.  pag.  4. 

The  academy  above-mentioned  is  supposed  to  be  the  most  ancient  of 
the  kind  of  any  in  Italy,  but  since  the  institution  of  it  others  have  been 
established,  which,  as  they  will  be  occasionally  spoken  of  hereafter,  it  may 
not  be  improper  to  give  an  account  of  here.  And  'first  it  is  to  be  noted 
that  in  the  year  1G22  a  society  was  established  at  Bologna  by  Girolamo 
Giacobbi,  called  the  Accademia  de'  Filomusi ;  the  symbol  of  this  fraternity 
was  a  little  hill  with  reeds  or  canes  growing  on  it,  the  motto  '  Vocis  dul- 
'  cedine  captant.'  In  1633  another  was  instituted  in  the  same  city  by 
Domenico  Uurnetti  and  Francesco  Bertacchi,  called  the  Accademia  de' 
Musici  Filacliisi,  having  for  its  symbol  a  pair  of  kettle-drums,  and  for  a 
motto  '  Orbem  demulcet  attactu."  One  of  the  two  is  yet  subsisting,  bat 
it  is  uncertain  which.     Ibid. 


Chap.  XCITI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


W, 


performances  was  [Ippolito]  Fiorino,  maestro  di 
cappella  to  his  highness  the  duke. 

Whenever  a  concert  was  to  be  performed  at  the 
duke's  palace,  circular  letters  were  issued,  requiring 
the  attendance  of  the  several  performers,  who  were 
only  such  as  had  been  previously  approved  of  by 
the  duke  and  Luzzasco ;  and  after  repeated  rehearsals, 
was  exhibited  that  musical  entertainment,  which,  for 
order,  exactness,  and  harmony,  could  not  be  equalled 
by  any  of  the  like  kind  in  the  world. 

Meloni  says  that  of  the  vocal  music  usually  per- 
formed in  this  and  other  concerts  in  Italy,  the  can- 
zones of  the  Flemish  and  French  composers  were 
some  of  the  best.  He  speaks  of  a  custom  in  Bologna, 
though  it  is  common  in  most  cities  of  Italy,  Spain, 
and  Portugal,  viz.,  that  of  serenading  or  entertaining 
ladies  and  great  personages  with  ambulatory  con- 
certs under  their  windows,  and  in  the  night ;  and, 
lastly,  he  celebrates  for  their  skill  in  music,  and  ex- 
quisite performance  on  sundry  instruments,  the 
ladies  of  the  duchess  of  Ferrara,  and  the  nuns  of  St. 
Vito,*  whom  he  resembles  to  the  Graces. 

CHAP.  XCIII. 

SciPiONB  Cerreto,  (a  Portrait,)  a  Neapolitan, 
was  the  author  of  a  treatise  entitled  '  Delia  prattica 
'  musica  vocal e,  et  strumentale,'  quarto,  1601.  This, 
though  it  appears  to  be  an  elaborate  work,  and  pro- 
mises great  instruction  to  such  as  delight  in  music, 
contains  little  more  respecting  the  science  than  is  to 
be  found  in  Boetius,  Franchinus,  Zarlino,  Zaccone, 
and  other  of  the  Italian  writers.  It  appears  by  this 
author  that  in  his  time  instrumental  music  was 
arrived  at  great  perfection  in  Italy,  and  more  par- 
ticularly at  Naples,  for  he  gives  a  copious  list  of 
composers  and  excellent  performers  on  the  lute,  the 
organ,  the  viol,  the  guitar,  the  trumpet,  and  the  harp, 
who  flourished  in  his  time,  and  were  either  natives  of, 
or  resident  in  that  city. 

In  the  eighth  chapter  of  his  fourth  book  the  author 
intimates  that  he  himself  was  a  performer  on  the  lute  ; 


8.  Cord.   Ce )5(- 

c 

7.  Cord.  De )«- 

b 

-  «(- 
9 


6.  Cord.  Ge 

5.  Cord.  Ce 

4.  Cord.  Fe- 

3.  Cord.  Ae 


2.  Cord.  De- 
1.  Cord.  Ge 


c 

-« 1- 

/ 
1 


b 


b 


-2 ^- 

b 
-2- 

-2- 

-2- 


-2— 


/ 


-3— 
-3— 
-3- 


-M 3- 

b 

-« 3- 

ff 
3— 

c 
3— 


/ 


e 
f 


and,  besides  giving  directions  for  the  holding  and 
touching  it,  he  explains  with  great  perspicuity  the 
tablature  of  the  Italians  adapted  to  the  lute  of  eight 
chords ;  and  first,  he  gives  the  characters  for  time, 
which  are  no  other  than  those  described  by  Adrian 
le  Roy,  and  which  have  already  been  exhibited.  And 
after  that  the  tuning  as  here  represented  : — 

iH^_ , r^=^ r 1,^  ■   a 


-m 


^t=^ 


tt: 


fe^ 


X-- 


ii 


Then  follows  the  succession  of  tones  and  semitones 
on  each  of  the  chords  in  this  order  : — 


J3 
OS 


TJ^t- 


Sfl^^E^ 


:fc 


W± 


^-^ 


"W= 


i^^^'-M± 


ST' 


t^ 


^^- 


I 


■P-5- 


££ 


!??-ffi— ^ 


t^ 


^± 


^=Z^SI±± 


te 


*♦ 


Hi 


■o 
o 
■C. 


^ 


=i^ 


s 


t^- 


±=:3± 


:faE 


'tSE 


M 


^ 


ia 


IS 

i3  .r-|g- 


¥^ 


*^ 


:t2: 


^ 


teE 


-pSr 


"^ol^ 


t^ 


W^ 


o. 


:[:: 


V  ^^r-^ 


t^ 


fe^ 


:fc 


^3^&- 


And  after  these,  the  tablature  by  figures  according 
to  the  Italian  manner,  as  here  represented  : — 


-4— 


-4- 
-4- 


a 

-«- 
e 

-S- 

/ 

V 

Cap.  IX.  of  the  same  book  treats  of  an  instrument 
resembling  a  lute  of  seven   chords,  called   by  the 

*  These  nuns  are  celebrated  for  their  skill  in  music  by  Artusi,  in  the 
beginning  of  his  discourse,  '  Delle  Imperfettioni  della  moderna  musica.' 


—4— 
— 4 


/ 


-5— 
-5— 
-5— 


-« 6— 

/ 
-§ 6- 

9 
6— 


/ 


-5— 

5— 

-5— 

-5 


c 
/ 


-S 6- 

b 
-« 6- 

9 
-« 6- 


-7— 
-7— 
-7— 
-7— 
-7— 
-7— 


-7— 
-7- 


-S- 


-8— 
-8— 


^ 8- 

b 
-« 8- 

9 

■« 8— 


/ 


b 


-8— 
-8— 
-8— 


author  Bordelletto  alia  Taliana ;  and  cap.  X.  of 
another  of  the  same  kind,  called  the  Lira  in  Gamba, 
having  eleven  chords,  with  their  several  tunings,  and 
of  the  tablature  proper  to  each,  in  figures. 


448 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


Cap.  XI.  treats  of  the  Viola  da  Gamba,  an  instru- 
ment, as  the  author  remarks,  proper  to  accompany 
the  voice  in  singing.  It  appears  that  the  ancient 
method  of  notation  for  this  instrument  among  the 
Italians  was  by  figures.  This  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  learn  ;  Vincentio  Galilei  explained  and 
improved  it ;  but,  notwithstanding  this,  it  has  long 
since  given  way  to  the  French,  perhaps  as  being 
more  legible  and  less  intricate. 

This  book  of  Cerreto  abounds  with  curious  ])ar- 
ticulars  relating  to  music,  but  it  has  been  remarked 
that  the  language  and  style  of  it  are  very  indifferent. 

Besides  the  several  persons  herein-before  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  compositions,  or  their  skill  and  exquisite 
performance  on  the  organ :  among  the  former  these 
are  highly  celebrated,  Giovanni  Cavaccio  of  Bergamo, 
maestro  di  cappella  di  S.  Maria  Maggiore ;  Jacques 
Arcadelt,  a  Frenchman,  a  disciple  of  Josquin,  and 
maestro  di  cappella  to  the  Cardinal  of  Lorrain ; 
Johannes  Knefel,  a  German,  maestro  di  cappella  to 
the  elector  Palatine ;  Ludovicus  Senfelius,  born  at 
Zurich,  maestro  di  cappella  to  the  elector  of  Bavaria  ; 
Antonio  Scandelli,  maestro  di  cappella  at  Dresden ; 
Gio.  Maria  Rossi,  of  Brescia ;  Nicolaus  Rostius,  a 
native  of  Weimar,  and  master  of  music  in  the  court 
of  the  elector  Palatine;  Gio.  Battista  Pinelli,  a  Genoese 
by  birth,  and  mastro  di  cappella  at  Dresden.  As  are 
also  these  : — 

Agresta,  Agostino.  Ingegneri,  Marc.  Ant. 

Angelini,  Orazio.  lijiura,  Dominico. 

Animuccia,  Paolo.  Leoni,  Leon. 

Baccusi,  Hippolito.  Lucatello,  Gio.  Batt. 

■    Bassani,  Orazio.  Macque,  Giov.  de, 

Bellasio,  Paolo.  Mancini,  Curtio. 

Belli,  Giulio.  Manenti,  Giov.  Pietro. 

Bellhaver,  Vincenzo.  Marsolo,  Pietro  Maria. 

Bertani,  Lelio.  Masorelli,  Paolo. 

Blotagrio,  Guglielmo.         Massanio,  Tiburtio. 

Bhisius,  Amnion.  Molinaro,  Simone. 

Bonhomius,  Petrus.  Moscaglia,  Giov.  Batt. 

Casati,  Girolamo.  Mosto,  Gio.  Batt. 

Colombi,  Gio.  Bernardi.      Nasco,  Giov. 

Comis,  Michele.  Nenna,  Pomponio. 

Conversi,  Girolamo.  Nodari,  Gio.  Paolo. 

Corregio,  Claudio.  Nucetus,  Flaminius. 

Donati,  Baldassare.  Palma,  Gio.  Vincenzo. 

Duetto,  Antonio.  Pace,  Antonio. 

Eremita,  Giulio.  Pesenti,  Benedetto. 

Faignient,  Noe.  Pevernagius,  Andreas. 

Farino,  Francesco.  Pizzoni,  Giov. 

Fattorini,  Gabriello.  Ponte,  Giaches  de. 

Felis,  Stefano.  Pordenone,  Marc.  Ant. 

Ferretti,  Giovanni.  Pra3torius,  Hieronynius. 

Fonteijo,  Gio.  Quartiero,  Pietro  Paolo. 

Gabrieli,  Andrea.  Quagliata,  Paolo. 

Gastoldi,  Giacomo.  Heggio,  Spirito. 

llandl,  Jacobus.  Rossi,  Salomon. 


Rubiconi,  Chrysostom.        Turnhout,  Giov. 

lluffo,  Vincenzo.  Utendahl,  Alessandro. 

Sabiiio,  Hippolito.  Valcarapi,  Curtio. 

Santini,  Marsilio.  Verdonck,  Cornelius. 

Scaletta,  Orazio.  Vespa,  Geronimo. 

Scarabeus,  Damianus.         Violante,  Giov.  Franc. 

Spongia,  Francesco.  Waelrant,  Huljert. 

Spontone,  Alessandro.        Zoilo,  Annibale. 

Stabile,  Annibale. 

Of  organists,  the  following  were  some  of  the  nn)st 
eminent:  GioseffoGuammi,  of  Lucca;  OttavioBariola, 
organist  of  Milan  ;  and  Annibale  Patavina,  of  Venice  ; 
Johannes  Leo  Hasler,  of  Nuremberg  ;  Jacobus  Paix, 
a  native  of  Augsburg,  and  oi\ganist  of  Lawingen. 

Of  these  it  is  to  be  observed  that  they  were  for  the 
most  part  natives  of  Italy,  Germany,  and  Flanders ; 
fur  it  is  strange  to  say,  that,  excepting  England,  those 
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  course 
of  a  century  produced  only  two  men  of  eminence  in 
music,  namely,  Christopher  Morales  and  Franciscus 
Salinas  ;  and  among  the  French  scarce  any  musicians 
of  note  are  mentioned  besides  Jusquin  de  Prez,  Jean 
Mouton,  Crequilon,  and  Claude  le  Jeune.*  In  Eng- 
land, Tye,  Tallis,  Bird,  Bull,  and  Dowland,  were 
highly  esteemed  ;  and  it  is  confidently  asserted  that 
in  the  general  opinion  they  were  equal  to  the  best 
musicians  of  any  country  ;  and  the  same  is  said  of 
Peter  Phillips,  an  Englishman,  organist  to  the  arch- 
duke and  duchess  of  Austria,  Albert  and  Isabella, 
governors  of  the  Netherlands,  residing  at  Brussels ; 
but  of  these,  and  other  of  our  countrymen,  mention 
will  be  made  hereafter. 

It  has  been  already  remarked,  that  during  the  last 
half  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  madrigal  was  the 
species  of  vocal  composition  most  practised  and  en- 
couraged ;  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  variety  was  so  great  as  to  excite  an 
emulation  in  all  that  were  qualified  for  it,  to  excel 
in  this  kind  of  composition  ;  and  innumerable  were 
the  collections  of  madrigals  which  about  this  time 
were  given  to  the  world  by  their  respective  authors. 
They  were  generally  published  in  an  oblong  quarto 
size,  with  both  the  notes  and  words  printed  in  a 
good  character  on  letter -press  types,  and  without 
bars  ;  from  such  books  as  these  it  was  held  a  disgrace 
for  any  person  of  rank  or  education  not  to  be  able 
to  sing.f 

*  Jusquin  dc  Prez  is  justly  reckoned  among  the  earliest  of  tlie  French 
composers,  but  the  science  of  counterpoint  had  been  cultivated  to  some 
degree  before  his  time  ;  one  Guillaume  Guerson  of  Longueville,  a  town 
in  Upper  Normandy,  was  the  author  of  a  treatise  printed  at  Paris  by 
Michael  Thouloze,  with  this  title,  '  Utillissinie  musicales  regule  cunctis 
'  sumopere  necessarie  plani  catus  siplisis  tOtrapuncti  reru  factaru  toTioru 
'et  artis  accentuandi  tam  exfiplariter  quam  practice.'  [The  Colophon 
after  the  word  factaru  adds  '  seu  organorum.']  The  book  bears  no  date, 
but  from  the  style  and  character  of  it,  it  is  conjectured  to  be  nearly  as 
ancient  as  the  time  of  Franchinus. 

t  Castiglione  requires  of  his  courtier  that  he  be  able  to  sing  his  part  at 
sight.  Bandello,  in  one  of  his  novels,  speaking  of  an  accomplisbed  young 
man,  says,  '  Era  il  detto  Giouine  molto  costumatn  e  vertuoso.  ed  oltra  le 
'  buone  lettere,  si  dilettaua  mirahilmente  de  la  musica,  cantaua  bene  la 
'sua  parte  e  soura  d' ogni  struniento.'  Novelle  del  Bandello,  part  II. 
Nov.  XXV.,  and  in  Morley's  Introduction,  the  reason  given  by  I'liilomathes 
for  applying  to  a  master  for  instruction  in  music  is  as  follows:  Being  at 
'a  banket  of  master  Sophobulus,    suiiper  being  ended    and   musicke 


Chap.  XCIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


449 


In  consequence  of  this  disposition  in  the  public, 
such  a  profusion  of  vocal  harmony  was  poured  forth, 
as  served  rather  to  distract  than  oblige  the  votaries 
of  the  science  ;  and  it  became  necessary  to  direct 
their  choice  by  a  judicious  selection  of  such  com- 
positions as  were  most  worthy  of  their  regard  :  to 
this  end,  one  Melchior  Borchgrevinck,  organist  to  the 
king  of  Denmark,  published  at  Copenhagen,  in  the 
year  IGOG,  a  collection  of  madrigals  for  five  voices, 
entitled  '  Giardino  novo  bellissimo  de  varii  fiori 
'  musicali  scieltissimi,'  in  two  parts,  the  latter  whereof 
is  dedicated  to  our  king  James  I ;  and  about  the  same 
time,  four  persons,  namely,  Pietro  Phalesio,  a  book- 
seller of  Antwerp,  and  Andrea  Pevernage,  Hubert 
Waelrant,  and  Pietro  Philippi  above-named,  three 
excellent  musicians,  in  a  kind  of  emulation  severally 
published  a  collection  of  madrigals  with  the  following 
titles,  Musica  Divina,  Harmonia  Celeste,  Symphonia 
Angelica,  ]\Ielodia  Olympica,  with  this  uniform  de- 
claration of  their  contents  in  these  words.  '  Nella 
'  quale  si  contengono  i  piu  eccellenti  madrigali  che 
'  hoggidi  si  cantino.'  They  were  printed  for  Phalesio, 
and  sold  at  his  shop,  the  sign  of  king  David,  in 
Antwerp. 

These  compositions  were  to  words  of  Petrarch, 
Guarini,  Tasso,  IMarino,  Fulvio  Testi,  and  other 
Italian  poets ;  and  in  the  memory  of  such  as  under- 
stood and  admired  music,  a  favourite  madrigal  held 
the  place  of  a  popular  song  ;  among  other  evidences 
to  this  purpose,  a  little  poem  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney, 
printed  with  the  sonnets  at  the  end  of  his  Arcadia, 
beginning  '  Sleep  baby  mine,'  may  be  reckoned  as 
one,  as  it  is  directed  to  be  sung  to  the  tune  of 
*  Basciami  vita  mia,'  a  fine  madrigal  of  Noe  Faignient, 
printed  in  the  Musica  Divina.. 

CHAP.    XCIV. 

Op  English  musicians,  the  first  of  note  after  the 
reformation  of  religion,  and  indeed  of  music  itself, 
which  had  been  greatly  corrupted  by  the  use  of  in- 
tricate measures,  was  John  Marbeck,  of  Windsor, 
a  man  to  whom  church -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  are  at  this  day 
sung  in  choral  service,  w^ere  of  his  composition. 

The  history  of  this  man  has  entitled  him  to  a  place 
in  the  Martyrology  of  the  zealous  and  laborious  John 
Fox,  and  is  as  follows  : — 

About  the  year  1544:,  a  number  of  persons  at 
Windsor,  who  favoured  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 
his  skill  in  music,  and  whose  name  occurs  in  Morley's 
Catalogue  of  eminent  English  musicians  at  the  end 

bookes,  according  to  the  custorae,  being  brought  to  the  table,  the 
'mistresse  of  the  house  presented  mee  with  a  part,  earnestlie  requesting 
'  mee  to  sing.  But  when,  after  manie  excuses,  I  protested  unfainedly 
'  that  I  could  not,  everie  one  began  to  wonder.  Yea,  some  whispered  to 
'  others,  demanding  how  I  was  brought  up.  So  that  for  shame  of  mine 
'  ignorance,  I  go  now  to  seek  out  mine  olde  frinde  Master  Gnorimus,  to 
■  make  myself  his  scholler.' 


of  his  Introduction  ;  the  above-named  John  IMavbeck, 
who  by  a  mistake  of  bishop  Burnet  is  also  called  a 
singing-man,  but  in  truth  was  organist  of  the  chapel 
of  St.  George  at  Windsor,*  and  one  Henry  Filmer, 
a  tradesman  of  the  same  town.  Upon  intimation 
given  that  these  persons  held  frequent  meetings, 
Gardiner,  bishop  of  Winchester,  procured  a  com- 
mission from  the  king  to  search  suspected  houses 
in  the  town  for  heretical  books ;  f  upon  which  the 
four  persons  above-named  were  apprehended,  and 
their  books  seized,  among  which  Avere  found  some 
papers  of  notes  on  the  Bible,  and  a  Concordance  in 
English,  in  the  hand-writing  of  IMarbeck.  Upon  his 
examination  before  the  commissioners  of  tlie  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 ;  ±  and  as  to  the  Concordance,  that 
being  a  poor  inan,  he  could  not  afford  to  buy  a  copy 
of  the  English  Bible,  which  had  then  lately  been 
published  with  notes  by  Thomas  Matthews ;  and 
therefore  had  set  himself  to  Avrite  one  out,  and  was 
entering  into  the  book  of  Joshua,  when  a  friend  of  his, 
one  Turner,§  knowing  his  industry,  suggested  to  him 
the  writing  of  a  Concordance  in  English,  but  he  told 
him  he  knew  not  what  that  meant,  upon  which  his 
friend  explained  the  word  to  him,  and  furnished  him 
with  a  Latin  Concordance  and  an  English  Bible ; 
and  having  in  his  youth  learned  a  little  Latin,  he,  by 
the  helj)  of  these,  and  comparing  the  English  with 
the  Latin,  was  enabled  to  draw  out  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,  j\Iarbeck  desired  they  would  draw 
out  any  words  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  friends  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  against  it,  which  it  seems 
was  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  alabaster  image  of  the 

*  Wood  so  describes  him,  vide  Fasti,  Oxon.  anno  1550;  and  he  is  so 
styled  at  the  end  of  a  composition  of  his  hereinafter  inserted,  taken  from 
a  MS.  in  the  hand-writing  of  John  Baldwine,  a  musician  of  Windsor 
which  was  completed  in  the  year  1591.  Nevertheless,  Bishop  Burnet 
calls  him  a  singing-man.     Hist.  Reform,  vol.  I.  pag.  325. 

t  Acts  and  Monuments,  edit.  1041,  vol.  II.  pag.  546. 

:  Ibid.  550.        §  Ibid.        ||   Ibid.        H  Ibid.  553. 

2g 


450 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


Virgin  Mary,  which  stood  behind  the  high  altar  of 
St.  George's  chapeL*  It  is  also  related  of  him,  that 
in  the  course  of  divine  service  one  of  the  same  chapel, 
named  Robert  Phillips,  f  singing,  as  his  duty  re- 
quired, on  one  side  of  the  choir,  these  woi-ds,  '  O 
'  redemptrix  et  salvatrix,'  was  answered  by  Testwood 
singing  on  the  other  side,  *  Non  redemptrix  nee 
'  salvatrix.'  J 

For  these  offences,  the  four  Windsor  men,  as  they 
are  called,  were  severally  indicted,  and  by  the  verdict 
of  a  partial  jury,  composed  of  farmers  under  the 
college  of  Windsor,  grounded  on  the  testimony  of 
witnesses,  three  of  whom  were  aiterwards  convicted 
of  perjuiy,  in  their  evidence  at  the  trial,  they  were 
all  found  guilty  of  heresy,  and  condemned  to  be 
burnt,  which  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  Humfrey  Foster,  one  of  the 
commissioners  that  sat  at  the  trial,  together,  he  asked 
them  how  his  laws  were  executed  at  Windsor,  and 
upon  their  answering  that  they  never  sat  on  matter 
that  went  so  much  against  their  consciences  as  the 
trial  of  Person  and  his  fellows,  the  king,  turning  his 
horse's  head  to  depart,  said  'Alas,  poor  innocents!' 

But  iMarbeck  being  a  man  of  a  meek  and  harmless 
temper,  and  highly  esteemed  for  his  skill  in  music, 
was  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  discoveries  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  VIII.  which  happened  about  two 
years  after,  when  he  found  himself  at  liberty  to  make 
a  public  profession  of  his  faith,  as  an  evidence  whereof 
he  completed  his  Concordance,  and  published  it  in 

*  Acts  and  Monuments,  edit.  1641,  vol.  II.  pag.  543. 

t  Of  this  man,  Fox  says  that  he  was  so  notable  a  singing-man,  wherein 
he  gloried,  that  wheresoever  he  came  the  longest  song  with  most  counter- 
verses  in  it  should  be  set  up  at  his  coming.  His  name,  spelt  Phelipp, 
occurs  as  a  gentleman  of  the  chapel  in  the  lists  of  the  chapel  establish- 
ment both  of  Edward  VI.  and  queen  Mary. 

t  Acts  and  Monuments,  vol.  II.  pag.  544.  §  Ibid.  543. 

H  It  appears  by  sundry  expressions  of  Gardiner  to  Marbeck,  that  he 
had  an  affection  for  him,  possibly  grounded  on  his  great  skill  in  his  pro- 
fession. Fox  relates  that  at  the  third  examination  of  Marbeck  at  VViii- 
chester-house,  in  Southwark,  upon  his  appearance  in  the  hall  he  found 
the  bishop  with  a  roll  in  his  hand,  and  going  toward  the  window,  he 
called  to  him,  and  said,  'Marbeck,  wilt  thou  cast  away  thyself  ?'  upon 
his  answering  No,  'Yes,'  replied  the  bishop,  'thou  goest  about  it,  for 
'thou  wilt  utter  nothing.  AVhat  a  devil  made  thee  to  meddle  with  the 
'Scriptures  ?  Thy  vocation  was  another  way,  wherein  thou  hast  a  goodly 
'gift,  if  thou  ididdest  esteeme  it.'  'Yes,'  answered  Marbeck,  'I  do 
'  esteeme  it,  and  have  done  my  part  therein  according  to  that  little  know- 
Medge  that  God  hath  given  me.'  '  And  why  the  devil,'  said  the  bishop, 
'  didst  thou  not  liold  thee  there  V  And  when  Marbeck  confessed  that  he 
had  compiled  the  Concordance,  and  that  without  any  help  save  of  God, 
the  bishop  said,  '  I  do  not  discommend  thy  diligence,  but  what  shouldest 
'thou  meddle  with  that  thing  which  pertaineth  not  to  thee?'  Acts  and 
Monuments,  edit.  1641,  vol.  If.  pag.  548.  These  expressions,  harsh  as 
they  were,  seem  to  indicate  a  concern  in  Gardiner  that  Marbeck  had 
brought  himself  into  trouble. 


1550  :  he  wrote  also  the  following  other  books,  'The 
'  Lives  of  holy  Saincts,  Prophets,  Patriai'chs,  and 
'  others,'  quarto,  1574.  '  A  Book  of  Notes  and 
'  Common  Places  with  their  Expositions,  collected 
'  and  gathered  together  out  of  the  workes  of  divers 
'singular  writers,'  quarto,  15S1.  'The  ripping  up 
'  of  the  Pope's  Fardel,'  15cSl.  '  A  Dialogue  between 
'  Youth  and  Age  ; '  and  other  books.^ 

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  his  Acts  and 
Monuments,  published  in  1562,  instead  of  a  con- 
fessor, has  made  him  a  martyr,  by  asserting  that  he 
actually  suffered  in  the  flames  at  Windsor  with 
Person  and  the  other  two ;  which  mistake,  though 
he  corrected  it  in  the  subsequent  edition  of  his  work,** 
exposed  him  to  very  severe  censures  from  Cope, 
Parsons,  and  other  Romish  writers.ff 

The  musical  service  thus  framed  by  Marbeck,  and, 
for  aught  that  appears,  without  the  least  assistance 
from  any  of  his  profession,  was  published  with  this 
title,  '  The  Boke  of  Common  Praier,  noted.'  The 
Colophon,  '  Imprinted  by  Richard  Grafton,  printer 
'  to  the  kinges  majestie,  1550,  cum  privilegio  ad 
'  imprimendum  solum,'  with  the  name  John  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  say 
that  it  was  formed  on  the  model  of  the  Romish  ritual ; 
as  first,  there  was  a  general  recitatory  intonation  for 
the  Loi'd's  Prayer,  the  Apostles'  Creed,  and  such 
other  parts  of  the  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- 
strained 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  with 
the  note  of  the  key  in  ^^hich  the  whole  was  to  be 
sung. 

The  abilities  of  Marbeck  as  a  musician  may  be 
judged  of  by  the  following  hymn  of  his  composition. 

IT  Vide  Fasti,  Oxon.  anno  1550. 

**  Vol. II. printed  in  1576,  in  which  he  says  of  Marbeck,  'he  is  yet  not 
'  dead,  but  liveth,  God  be  praised,  and  yet  to  this  present  singeth'  merrily, 
'and  pla5'eth  on  the  organs.' 

tt  To  say  the  truth.  Fox's  zeal  for  the  Protestant  cause  has  very  much 
hurt  the  credit  of  his  liistory  ;  as  a  jiroof  of  his  lightness  of  belief,  take 
the  following  story,  which  lord  chief  justice  Coke  once  told  of  him.  Fox 
in  his  Martyrology  had  related  of  one  Greenwood,  of  Suffolk,  that  he  had 
been  guilty  of  perjury,  in  testifying  before  the  bishop  of  Norwich  against 
a  martyr  during  the  persecution  in  the  reign  of  queen  Mary;  and  that 
afterwards  he  went  home  to  his  house,  and  there  by  the  judgment  of  God 
his  bowels  rotted  out  of  his  belly,  as  an  exemplary  punishment  for  his 
perjury.  A  priest,  who  had  newly  been  made  parson  of  the  parish  where 
Greenwood  lived,  and  was  but  little  acquainted  with  his  parishioners, 
preaching  against  the  sin  of  perjury,  cited  this  story  from  Fox,  mention- 
ing Greenwood  by  name,  who  was  then  in  the  church  listening  attentively 
to  the  sermon  :  the  man,  extremely  scandalized  by  so  foul  an  aspersion, 
brought  his  action  against  the  parson,  which  was  tried  at  the  assizes  be- 
fore Anderson,  who  ruled  that  the  action  lay  not,  inasmuch  as  the  words 
were  not  spoken  with  a  malicious  intent,  but  merely  to  exemplify  the 
divine  vengeance  for  so  heinous  a  sin.     Rolle's  Abridgm.  87.  PI.  5. 


Chap.  XCIV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


451 


iSf 


B? 


-r*- 


:l=F=J= 


It: 


ZflZZTiOZ 


:t==t: 


_o>_ 


zutz 


^^^ 


:-P 


g^?EgE^^gEE=^^E^ 


A  QUEENE  ce  -   les-ti  -  al,      as  thisdaye 


EE 


:1c!t: 


A      VIRGINEand  Mo 


ther. 


aQUEENEce -les- ti  -  al,     as     thisdaye 


S^ 


eeeE 


c* o- 


» ^-^ — *» — t 


A    VIRGINEand     Mo 


ther,     aQUEENEce -les 


ti 


al, 


as      this 


=F- 


i^m 

:!== 


t-\—^-. 


712. 


=^'^=^[^ 


-t: 


zP—m- 


-xn 


mak-eth         ex    -     em  -  pli  - fi  -  ca     -    ci 


on, 


If ^-^ ^^^ 


ZfXZ 


bare    our  Sa 


vi- our,  our   Sa 


VI 


-i& — ^ — ^- 


EE=£=t 


— m 


:|r: 


^ 


mak  -eth         ex 


em 


pli 


fi  -  ca 


ci 


on, 


ft 


iiS; 


rjcc 


bare  our 

-<2 ^T 


i^^ 


-«5»— ^— • 


=F- 


=F=t 


daye  mak  -  eth     ex    -   em 


pli  -   fi    -    ca  -  ci  -   on, 


bare 


our    Sa  -  vi  -  our 


P 


ZT2Z 


--^ 


zioz 


-n — 


i=r-=?2 


=P8= 


Eilj 


i 


our 


tli^ 


Christ 


the  Lord    im  -  pe   -  ri  -  al, 


:t: 


32: 


-C2_ 


■X.—- 


fX- 


the  Lord   .     .     .     im    -    pe      -     ri 


al, 


-0 — P^ 


Sa 


vi  -  our       Christ 


^^P= 


I n — <»- 


-tr- 


ZiJtZ 


the    Lordim-pe  -  ri 


zifx^^Sr 


Christ  the   Lord   im  -  pe   -    ri 


al. 


im  -  pc 


n 


al, 


who 


suff    - 


'rtz 


-fx—&- 


^ 


zrtz 


zxtz 


3=^=P=^F: 


3i: 


-x^ 


^ii?^ 


rol 


who     suff 


'red  death  for    our    sal  -  va    -   ci     -    on. 


m 


£;;ES^P= 


^^2 O- 


it    pleased  him    so      to 


zjzx:^ 


:i^ 


-</     ji 


ijei^ii: 


— e»^=:p= 


EE^^£Z 


al 


who       suff 


'red       death 


for     our    sal  -  va  -  ci  -  on,      it    pleased  him     so      to 


Hi 


iS 


'red     death 


-?n — c» 


:|=: 


p— — ^- 

't t 


^: 


==|i 


zzt 


:^::::rrj!— : 


for    our    sal  -  va   -  ci     -    on,       it    pleas -ed       him     so     to 


>^-. «» 2-» 1- 


ft? 


do 


ft? 


-1=^ 


nai 


=^; 


E^=^E^E^^^ 


^ri==,-=rj^ 


^E 


rgz: 1- 


do         for  our  transgrcs 


SI  -  on, 


-|0 — e»- 


-l=— E 


zfxz 


^i- 


ZZfXZ 


wherefore 


nrt 


F== 


±=t 


z^^zrzxjtz 


P^E^: 


for    our    transgres 


si  -  on,     wherefore    with 


i=E^s 


Eg^EE 


:d=f: 


do 


for  our  transgres  -  si  -   on. 


trans 


gres 


SI 


on, 


where  - 


-gz      _    g 


-ft — a. 


OL. 


-<r-f- 


ZZCfZ 


-^ 


^      </   -_<^- 


withmeekede -vo    -    ci 


on 


sing  we      in 


:p:=t 


the 

<2- 


ho  -  nor         of 


his 


lEz: 


=f^?e=i=pe 


_-»^C3>. 


-CR- 


-•— •■ 


=F 


in  -  car  -  na 


^^^ 


-Ct- 


^? 


::lc2t 


EE 


meeke     de    -    vo 


ci  -  on  sing  we  in  the  ho -nor  of      his    incar-na 


fts 


i^t: 


jcez 


:>3- 


:p: 


;zi 


=^.zd=a= 


=Jr 


=23 «,- 


:P 


E^^ 


_Q_ 


-  fore  with  meekc  de  -  vo    -   ci  -  on       sing  we      in      the      ho  -  nor 


of 


his 


m  -  car  -  na 


452 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


=12= 


-<2— »- 


rrv 


^^i—ctzmz 


:z2i 


? 


:%^ 


_<:*_ 


=(12: 


ci  -  on. 


-«2_ 


r>- 


A 
-c»- 


3«2C: 


^^ 


J\Iayde  im  -  ma 

L ^Ol 


CI 


dS: 


-_-o— ^= 


on. 


JMayde  ini  -  ina 


cu    -   late, 


:a= 


i2=^ 


-^^ — »- 


==t: 


lap 


=83= 


=£i= 


=»=?>— p 


CI 


on. 


Slayde  im 


ma  -  cu    -    late, 


of 


all 


:$=in=P!="^= 


^z:r*= 


=i;^-p!: 


^^^ 


:^= 


^E 


=p= 


:^:=i-pszz 


— „ r6» 10- 


=tr= 


^ 


^^^=^?=i 


=t:= 


cu      -       late,        of .    .    all  ^Yomcn  the  flo 


ure,      hath  borne  Christ   Je  -  su  our     Sa  -  vi-our.  our 


^J= 


=a3= 


=«=^ 


iCT 


G- 


ig; 


-Q- 


=?a= 


i: 


=&=»=£' 


=t= 


t- 


of     all      women  the     flo 


ure. 


^ 


3i 


-I"— o- 


_       lO 


[== 


=12 (t!= 


=E 


hath    borne     Christ  Je 
=?2; 


su 


:»a— J-o— =1= 


wo  -  men  the       flo 


ure, 


hath  borne  Christ  Je 


su 


our  Sa 


VI 


our. 


S^lEf^ 


=p=^=in— ^— 


=t==t= 


-JflZ 


=?2= 


=t== 


=t=t= 


piE^ii 


:?2= 


rKt:=^^=jiz 


=t=^ 


=t= 


g^-Egggfl 


Sa 


I 


-<2- 


=&i= 


=?z= 


^ 


==p!= 


=?2= 


vi  -  our,         hath  borne  Christ 

„       -16»       ,r>      -<^-      -16»- 


Je   -   su  our  Sa 


VI 


=C:= 


r=es£ 


our    Sa    -   vi  -  our, 


hath  borne  Christ  Jesu  our    Sa 


VI 


i^E^^=EE=^E 


-TtL 


=in= 


=^ 


hath  borne  Christ  Je 


su 


CHAP.  XCV. 

Christopher  Tye,  born  at  Westminster,  and 
brought  np  in  tlie  royal  chapel,  was  musical  pre- 
ceptor to  prince  Edward,  and  probably  to  the  other 
children  of  Henry  VIII.  In  the  year  1545  he  was 
admitted  to  the  degree  of  doctor  in  music  at  Cam- 
bridge ;  and  in  1548  was  incorporated  a  member  of 
the  university  of  Oxford ;  in  the  reign  of  queen 
Elizabeth  he  was  organist  of  the  royal  chapel,  and  a 
man  of  some  literature.  In  music  he  was  excellent ; 
and  notwithstanding  that  Wood,  speaking  of  his 
compositions,  says  they  are  antiquated,  and  not  at 
all  valued,  there  are  very  few  compositions  for  the 
church  of  equal  merit  with  his  anthems. 

In  an  old  comedy  or  scenical  history,  whichever  it 
is  proper  to  call  it,  with  the  following  whimsical 
title,  '  When  you  see  me  you  know  me,'  by  Samuel 
Rowley,  printed  in  1613,  wherein  are  represented  in 
the  manner  of  a  drama,  some  of  the  remarkable  events 
during  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  is  a  conversation 
between  prince  Edward  and  Dr.  Tye  on  the  subject 
of  music,  which  for  its  curiosity  is  here  inserted  : — 

'  Prince. Doctor  Tye, 

'  Our  musick's  lecturer  ?     Pray  draw  near  :  indeed  I 
'  Take  much  delight  in  ye. 

'  Tye.     In  musicke  may  your  grace  ever  delight, 
'  Though  not  in  me.     Musicke  is  fit  for  kings, 
'  And  not  for  those  know  not  the  chime  of  strings. 

'  Prince.     Truely  I  love  it,  yet  there  are  a  sort 
'  Seeming  more  pure  than  wise,  that  will  upbraid  it, 
'  Calling  it  idle,  vaine,  and  frivolous. 


our         Sa       -  -  -  -       vi     -        -     our. 

John  Marbeck,  Organist  of  Winusore. 

'  Tye.     Your  grace  hath  said,  indeed  they  do  upbraid 
'  That  tearme  it  so,  and  those  that  doe  are  such 
'  As  in  themselves  no  happy  concords  hold, 
'  All  musicke  jarres  with  them,  but  sounds  of  good  ; 
'  But  would  your  grace  awhile  be  patient, 
'  In  musicke's  praise,  thus  will  I  better  it  : 

Musicke  is  heavenly,  for  in  heaven  is  musicke. 

For  there  the  seraphins  do  sing  continually  ; 

And  when  the  best  was  born  that  ever  was  man, 

A  quire  of  angels  sang  for  joy  of  it ; 

What  of  celestial  was  reveald  to  man 
'  Was  much  of  musicke  :   'tis  said  the  beasts  did  worship 
'  And  sang  before  the  deitie  supernall  ; 
'  The  kingly  prophet  sang  before  the  arke, 
'  And  with  his  musicke  charm'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'  musicke  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  praise  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  musiche, 

'  Prince.     'Tis  well  :  methinkes  in  this  sound  I  prova 
'  A  compleat  age, 

'  As  musicke,  so  is  man  govern'd  by  stops 
'  And  by  dividing  notes,  sometimes  aloft, 
'  Sometimes  below,  and  when  he  hath  attaiud 


Chap, 


XCV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


453 


'  His  liigh  and  lofty  pitch,  breathed  his  sharpest  and  most 
'  Shrillest  ayre  ;  yet  at  length  'tis  gone, 
'  And  fals  downe  flat  to  his  conclusion.     \_Soft  music,'] 
'  Another  sweetnesse  and  harmonious  sound, 

A  milder  straine,  another  kind  agreement ; 

Yet  'mongst  these  many  strings,  be  one  imtun'd, 
'  Or  jarreth  low  or  higher  than  his  course, 
'  Nor  keeping  steddie  meane  amongst  the  rest, 
'  Corrupts  them  all,  so  doth  bad  man  the  best. 

'  Tije.    Ynough,  let  voices  now  delight  his  princely  eare. 
*  A  song. 

'  Prince.     '  Doctor  I  thank  j'ou,  and  commend  your 
'  I  oft  have  heard  my  father  merrily  speake        [cunning, 
'  In  j'our  high  ])raise  ;   and  thus  his  highnesse  saith, 
'  England  one  God,  one  truth,  one  doctor  hath 
'  For  musickes  art,  and  that  is  Doctor  Tye,* 
'  Admired  for  skill  in  musick's  harmony. 

'  Tije.  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  unto  yoiu-  grace  have  dedicate. 

'  Prince.     What  is  the  title  ? 

'  Tije.    The  Actes  of  ihe  holy  Apostles  turn'd  into  verse, 
'  Which  I  have  set  in  several  parts  to  sing  : 
'  Worthy  acts  and  worthily  in  you  remembred. 

'  Prince.     I'll  peruse  them,  and  satisfy  j'our  paines. 
'  And  have  them  sung  within  my  father's  chapel. f 

*  At  the  time  when  Farinelli  was  in  England,  viz.,  about  the  year  1735, 
an  exclamation  of  the  like  kind,  and  applied  to  that  celebrated  singer, 
gave  great  offence ;  he  was  singing  in  the  opera,  and  as  soon  as  he  had 
finished  a  favourite  song,  a  lady  from  the  boxes  cried  out  aloud,  'One 
'  God,  one  Farinelli.'  Mr.  Hogarth  has  recorded  this  egregious  in- 
stance of  musical  enthusiasm,  in  his  Rake's  Progress,  plate  II.  by  re- 
presenting Farinelli  as  seated  on  a  pedestal,  before  which  is  an  altar,  at 
which  a  number  of  ladies  are  kneeling  and  offering  to  him,  each  a  flaming 
heart ;  from  the  mouth  of  the  foremost  of  these  enraptured  devotees 
issues  a  label  with  the  words  '  One  G — d,  one  FarineDi.' 

+  In  another  part  of  this  old  comedy  Cranmer  and  T3'e  appear,  and  are 
met  by  one  young  Browne  (supposed  to  he  the  son  of  Sir  Anthonij  Browne, 
master  of  the  horse  to  Henry  I'lII.  and  one  of  his  executors)  with  the 
prince's  cloak  and  hat ;  Cranmer  enquires  of  him  what  has  become  of  the 
prince,  and  is  told  that  he  is  at  tennis  with  the  marquis  of  Dorset. 
Upon  which  follows  this  dialogue  : — 

Cranmer.     Goe  beare  this  youngster  to  the  chappell  straight, 
And  bid  the  maister  of  the  children  whippe  him  well, 
The  prince  will  not  learne.  Sir,  and  you  shall  smart  for  it. 

Browne.     O  good  my  lord,  I'll  make  him  ply  his  booke  to-morrow. 

Cranmer.    That  shall  not  serve  your  turne.     Away  I  say.       \_Exit.'\ 
So  Sir,  this  policie  was  well  devised  ;  since  he  was  whipt  thus 
For  the  prince's  faults 

His  grace  hath  got  more  knowledge  in  a  moneth, 
Than  he  attained  in  a  year  before  ; 
For  still  the  fearful  boy,  to  save  his  breech, 
Doth  hourely  haunt  him  whereso'ere  he  goes. 

Tije.    'Tis  true  my  lord,  and  now  the  prince  perceives  it. 
As  loath  to  see  him  punisht  for  his  faults, 
Plies  it  of  purpose  to  redeeme  the  boy. 

Upon  whi."h  passage  it  is  observable  that  there  appears  by  an  extract 
from  the  Liber  Xiger,  inserted  in  a  preceding  chapter,  to  have  been  in 
the  royal  household  two  distinct  masters,  the  one  called  Master  of  Song, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  teach  the  children  of  the  chapel  singing;  the  other 
a  Master  of  the  Grammar-school,  who  taught  them  also,  and  probably 
other  children  in  the  palace,  the  rudiments  of  the  Latin  tongue;  and  as 
Browne  does  not  appear  to  be  a  child  of  the  chapel,  it  seems  as  if 
Cranmer  meant  to  send  him  for  correction,  not  to  the  master  of  the 
children  properly  so  called,  i.  e.  the  master  of  song,  but  to  the  master  of 
the  grammar-school. 

It  will  doubtless  seem  very  strange,  seeing  he  had  not  been  guilty  of 
any  fault,  that  Browne  should  be  whipt  at  all,  but  Cranmer's  order  may 
be  accounted  for.  The  practice  of  whipping  the  royal  children  by  proxy 
had  probably  its  rise  in  the  education  of  prince  Edward,  and  may  be 
traced  down  to  the  time  when  Charles  the  First  was  prince.  Besides 
Brownehere  mentioned,  it  appears  that  the  prince  had  another  proxy  for 
correction,  namely,  Barnaby  Fitzpatrick.  a  very  ingenious  and  accom- 
plished youth,  who  became  the  founder  of  a  noble  family  of  that  name 
in  Ireland.  He  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  journal  of  king  Edward 
VI.  by  the  name  of  Mr.  Barnaby ;  and  in  Fuller's  Worthies,  Middlesex, 
pag.  179,  are  several  letters  from  the  king  to  him  when  upon  his  travels, 
containing  directions  for  his  conduct,  and  many  expressions  of  affection 
and  concern  for  his  welfare.  Burnet,  in  his  account  of  Mr.  Murray  of 
the  bed-chamber.  Hist,  of  his  own  Times,  vol.  I.  pag.  244,  says  he  was 
whipping-boy  to  king  Charles  I.  In  the  Spectator,  No.  313,  is  a  story 
somewhat  to  this  pupose  of  Mr.  Wake,  father  to  the  archbishop  of  that 
name.    A  schoolfellow  of  his,  whom  he  loved,  had  committed  a  fault, 


The  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  meutioned  in  the  fore- 
going dialogue,  were  never  completed,  but  the  first 
fourteen  chapters  thereof  were  iu  1553  printed  by 
^YyIlyam  Seres,  with  the  following  quaint  title  : — 

'  The  Actes  of  the  Apostles,  translated  into  Eng- 
'  lyshe  metre,  and  dedicated  to  the  kynges  moste 
'  excellent  maiestye  by  Christofer  Tye,  Doctor  in 
'  musyke,  and  one  of  the  gentylmen  of  bys  graces 
'  moste  honourable  Chappell,  wyth  notes  to  eche 
'  Chapter,  to  synge  and  also  to  play  upon  the  Lute, 
'  very  necessarye  for  studentes  after  theyr  studye,  to 
'  fyle  theyr  wyttes,  and  alsoe  for  all  Christians  that 
'  cannot  synge  to  reade  the  good  and  Godlye  storyes 
'  of  the  lives  of  Christ  hys  Apostles.' 

The  dedication  is  '  To  the  vertuous  and  godlye 

'  learned  piynce  Edwarde  the  VI.'  and  is  in  stanzas 

of  alternate  metre,  of  which  the  following  may  serve 

as  a  specimen  : — 

^        ^       iji        ^        ^        ^       ^ 

'  Your  grace  may  note  fro  tyme  to  tyme 

*  That  fome  doth  undertake 
'  Upon  the  Pfalnies  to  write  in  ryme, 

'  The  verfe  pleafaunt  to  make. 

'  And  fome  doth  take  in  hande  to  wryte 

'  Out  of  the  booke  of  Kynges,  J 
'  Becaufe  they  fe  your  grace  delyte 

'  In  fuche  like  godlye  thynges. 

'  And  laft  of  all,  I  youre  poore  man 

'  Whofe  doinges  are  full  bafe, 
'  Yet  glad  to  do  the  belt  I  can, 

'  To  geue  unto  your  grace, 

which  Wake  took  upon  himself,  and  was  whipped  for  at  Westminster 
school.  Mr.  Wake  was  a  cavalier,  and  had  borne  arms  under  Penruddock 
and  Grove  in  the  West,  and  being  taken  prisoner,  was  indicted  for  high- 
treason  against  the  commonwealth,  at  Exeter,  and  after  a  short  trial 
convicted.  It  happened  that  the  judge  of  assize  who  presided  in  court 
was  the  very  person  for  whom  Mr.  Wake  had  been  whipt  when  a  school- 
boy, and  recollecting  his  name  and  face,  he  asked  him  some  questions, 
the  answers  to  which  convinced  him  that  he  was  about  to  pass  sentence 
on  one  to  whom  he  was  indebted  for  a  very  singular  instance  of  friend- 
ship, the  reflection  on  which  inspired  him  with  such  a  sense  of  gratitude, 
that  he  rode  immediately  to  London,  and  by  his  interest  with  the  Pro- 
tector procured  his  pardon.  It  is  to  Dr.  Grey's  edition  of  Hudibras,  vol.  I. 
pag.  392,  in  not.  that  we  are  indebted  for  the  name  of  the  gentleman ; 
and  as  Penruddock  in  the  course  of  the  trial  takes  occasion  to  mention 
that  he  sees  judge  Nicholas  upon  the  bench,  there  is  very  little  doubt 
but  that  he  was  the  judge  to  whom  the  story  refers.  See  the  State  Trials, 
vol.  II.  pag.  2G0. 

t  Thomas  Sternhold  was  the  first  that  attempted  a  version  of  the 
Psalms  in  English.  He  did  to  the  number  of  about  forty  of  them  :  the 
rest  in  the  printed  collection  used  in  churches  were  afterwards  translated 
by  John  Hopkins,  William  Whittingham,  Thomas  Norton,  and  others. 
Sternhold's  version  was  first  published  in  the  year  1549. 

In  the  same  year  was  published  a  version  of  the  Penitential  Psalms  by 
Sir  Thomas  Wyat,  and  in  the  year  after  '  Certayne  Psalmes  chosen  out 
'  of  the  Psalter  of  David,  and  drawen  furth  into  English  meter  by 
'  William  Hunnis,  servant  to  the  ryght  honorable  Sir  William  Harberde, 
'knight.'  This  William  Hunnis  was  a  gentleman  of  the  chapel,  temp. 
Edward  VI.  and  upon  the  death  of  Richard  Edwards,  in  1566,  was  ap- 
pointed master  of  the  children.  He  died  June  6,  1597,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Nathaniel,  afterwards  Dr.  Giles.  Cheque-book  of  the  royal  chapel. 
Farther  mention  of  him  will  be  made  hereafter. 

In  the  year  last  above-mentioned,  viz.,  1550,  were  also  published 
'  Certayn  chapters  taken  out  of  the  proverbcs  of  Solomon,  with  other 
'  chapters  of  the  holy  scripture,  and  certayne  Psalmes  of  David,  translated 
'  into  English  metre  by  John  Hall.  Whych  Proverbes  of  late  were  set 
'  forth,  imprinted,  and  untruely  entitled  to  be  the  doynges  of  Mayster 
'  Thomas  Sternhold,  late  grome  of  the  kynge's  maiestes  robes,  as  by  thys 
'copye  it  may  be  perceaved,  MDL.'  The  chapters  above-mentioned  are 
the  sixth  of  the  book  of  Wisdom  called  Sapientia ;  the  ninth  of  Ecclesi- 
asticus,  and  the  third  of  the  second  epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Thessalo- 
nians  :  the  Psalms  are  Psalm  xxi.  xxiii.  liii.  Ixiv.  cxi.  cxii.  cxiii.  and 
cxliv. 

The  whole  Psalter  was  translated  into  English  metre  by  Dr.  Matthew 
Parker,  afterw.irds  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  printed  by  John  Day 
about  the  year  1 500.  The  book  is  very  little  known,  and  is  supposed  to 
have  been  printed  only  for  presents.  An  account  of  it  wDl  be  given 
hereafter. 

The  passage  to  which  this  note  refers  has  a  plain  allusion  to  these 
parts  of  scripture  thus  rendered  into  metre,  and  to  a  version  of  part  of 
the  book  of  Kings,  which  has  escaped  a  diligent  enquiry.  In  prosecution 
of  this  design  of  turning  select  portions  of  scripture  for  the  purpose  of 
singing  them  in  churches,  Dr.  Tye  versified  some  chapters  of  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  and  set  them  to  musical  notes  as  above  is  related. 


4.5i 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


'  Haue  thought  it  good  nowe  to  recyte 

'  The  ftories  of  the  a£les 
'  Euen  of  the  twelve,  as  Luke  dotli  \vr3-:e, 

'  Of  all  their  worthy  fadles. 

'  Unto  the  text  I  do  not  ad, 

'  Nor  nothynge  take  awaye  ; 
'  And  though  my  ftyle  be  grolTe  and  baa. 

'  The  truth  perceyue  you  maye. 

'  And  yf  your  grace  fhall  in  good  parte 

'  My  fymple  worke  fo  take, 
'  My  wyttes  to  this  I  will  conuart 

'  All  vayne  thynges  to  forfake. 

'  My  callynge  is  another  waye, 
'  Your  grace  fhall  herein  fynde, 

'  By  notes  fet  forthe  to  fynge  or  playe, 
'  To  recreate  the  mynde. 

'  And  though  they  be  not  curious, 

'  But  for  the  letter  mete, 
'  Ye  fhall  them  fynde  harmonious, 

'  And  eke  plealaunt  and  fwete. 


'  That  fuch  good  thinges  your  grace  might  moue 

'  Your  lute  when  ye  afTaye, 
*  Inftede  of  fonges  of  wanton  loue 

'  Thefe  flories  then  to  playe.* 

'  So  fhall  your  grace  pleafe  God  the  Lorde, 

'  In  walkynge  in  his  waye, 
'  His  lawes  and  flatutes  to  recorde 

'  In  your  heart  nyght  and  daye. 

'  And  eke  your  realme  fhall  florifh  ftyll, 

'  No  good  thynge  fhall  decaye : 
'  Your  f'ubjedles  fhall  with  right  good  wyll 

'  Thefe  wordes  recorde  and  faye, 

"Thy  lyfe,  O  kynge,  to  us  doth  fhyne 

"  As  Gods  boke  doth  thee  reache: 
*  Thou  dofl;  us  fede  with  fuch  doftrine 
"  As  Chrifte's  elcdt  dyd  preache. 
*  H=  *  *  *  *  * 

Here  follow  the  two  initial  stanzas  of  the  foiu'- 
teenth  chapter  of  the  version  of  the  Acts  of  the 
x\postles,  with  the  music  by  Dr.  Tye.  In  the 
original  the  author  has  given  the  music  in  separate 
parts,  but  here  it  is  in  score. 


o 


n 


O 


o 

H 


2-! 


n 


I 


o 


^Ei= 


zrz; 


-I — 


it= 


'^- 


-X--- 


r?zi 


S=g=^ 


IT 


chaun  -  ced      in 


CO 


ni 


um, 


m 


i: 


I?Z_ 


as 


=1= 


^If^ 


IT 


chaunced       in 


CO 


Dl 


um, 


as      the}' 


oft 


izi; 


ICH 


=.^: 


IT 


chaun-ced       in 


Co 


E^^:3: 


ni    -    imi. 


i^ 


d: 


as      they      oft 


m^-^ 


-t» r> — 


d= 


Id*; 


zeti 


::X 


zdz 


E^= 


:=!=:p=ai 


IT 


chaiuiccd      in 


I     -      CO 


-    m 


— «-»- 

um, 


m 


d: 


as      they      oft    tymes  dyd 


tymes  dyd 


use, 


To  -  ge   -  ther  they    in  -  to     dyd    cum  the     Si  -  na  -  goge         of  Jues,  where 


1^^ 


-jfE 


=t=^ 


-Ps: 


=F 


^^ii 


zrii 


:^==F 


?^E 


tymes  dyd  use. 


To  -  ge  -   ther  thej'     in  -  to     dyd 


m 


■«» -V— 


=r^ 


cum  the       Si 


na  -  goge      of 


-— ^- 


-^- 


-nz 


use, 


To 


ge  -  tliertliey    in    -   to     dyd        cum 


the     Si  -  na  -  goge 


of 


Jues, 


m. 


Jues,  where  they  dyd  preache  and  one 


Ij-e  seke  God's  grace  then  to       atcheve,  Thattheysospake 


-F= 


E^EEEE 


=B^rjgE^|>^F^^ 


4: 


they  dyd  preaclie    . 


and  one 


lye  seke  God's  grace  then     to  atcheve.  That  they  so  spake   to 


*£ 


— f^ — 

Jues, 


z^—h^=az 


123(1 


i^=S^= 


-T>- 


=i=  = 


where  they  dj-d   preache      and         one  -  lye  seke  God's  grace  then  to     at    -    cheve. 


That 


m 


-fi- 


-^ 


z^==:i 


zdz 


^i. 


J^=3E 


^z 


=4; 


d:rr=-«^ 


^=F 


where  they     dyd     preache      and      one  -  lye  seke  God's  grace  then    to    at  -  cheve, 

*  This  stanza,  were  other  evidence  wanting,  would  be  a  proof  that  the  king  played  on  the  lute. 


That  they       so 


Chap.  XCV. 


AND  PEACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


455 


t' 


S=iE 


zd: 


-laz 


m 


EFJ 


— e»- 


'<i "- 


=1= 


^E 


:d^ 


:^ 


to 


Jue       and  Greke,  that       manye  dyd     be  -  leve,  that      manye 


dvd 


be 


lev( 


r:4: 


-r- 


ijn_ 


zjiz 


loi 


'-^^ 


m 


-■^■=V=:\ 


===!: 


^— — fi^- 


:S«=i-^ 


Jue       and  Greke,  Tliat      manye  dyd       be   -    leve,  that  manye  dyd  . 


be   -   leve,      be 


leve. 


*il 


r* 


S^= 


:?2:: 


— J=z 


they       so     spake     to       Jue      and         Greke, 


That    manj-e 


dyd      be    -  leve,      be    -  leve. 


id: 


^i 


— =-^ — -I — I- 


m-. 


:l= 


:az 


-^^=ff 


spake      to       Jue      and 


Greke, 


That      many 


dvd 


he 


leve, 


be 


leve. 


The  Acts  of  the  Apostles  set  to  music  by  Dr.  Tye, 
\Yere  sung  in  the  chapel  of  Edward  VI.  and  prol»ably 
in  other  places  where  choral  service  was  performed  ; 
but  the  success  of  them  not  answering  the  expectation 
of  their  author,  he  applied  himself  to  another  kind  of 
study,  the  composing  of  music  to  words  selected 
from  the  Psalms  of  David,  in  foui',  five,  and  more 
parts ;  to  which  species  of  harmony,  for  want  of 
a  better,  the  name  of  Anthem,  a  corruption  of  Anti- 
phon,  was  given. 

In  Dr.  Boyce's  collection  of  cathedral  music,  lately 
published,  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  Ashmolean  MS.  fol.  189,  is  the  following 
note  in  the  hand-writing  of  Anthony  Wood  :  '  Dr. 
'  Tye  was  a  peevish  and  humoursome  man,  especially 
'  in  his  latter  days,  and  sometimes  playing  on  the 
'  organ  in  the  chapel  of  Qu.  Eliz.  which  contained 
'  much  music,  but  little  delight  to  the  ear,  she  would 
'  send  the  verger  to  tell  him  that  he  played  out  of 
'  tune,  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  ruined 
by  the  dissolution  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  said  to  have  been 
organist  of  the  royal  chapel  to  king  Henry  VIII. 
king  Edward  VI.  queen  Mary,  and  queen  Elizabeth ; 
but  the  inscription  on  his  grave-stone  warrants  no 
such  assertion  ;  and  it  is  certain  that  in  the  reigns  of 
Edward  VI.  and  queen  IMary  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  Tallis  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 

*  This  manuscript,  containing  brief  notes  and  memoirs  of  famous 
musicians,  is  in  the  hanil-writinii  of  Antony  Wood.  In  the  Catalogue  of 
tlie  Manuscripts  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  published  by  Mr.  Huddes- 
ford  in  17()1,  it  is  thus  numbered  and  described:  '  S,')(iS.  lOij.  Some 
'  materials  toward  a  history  of  the  lives  and  compositions  of  all  English 
'musicians;  drawn  up  according  to  alphabetical  order  in  210  pages 
'  by  A.  W.' 


Doctor  CnBisTOPnEr.  TrE. 


the  many  disciples  who  had  profited  by  his  in- 
struction, Bird  seems  to  have  jiossessed  the  greatest 
share  of  his  affection,  one  proof  whereof  was  a  joint 
publication  by  them  both  of  one  of  the  noblest 
collections  of  hymns  and  other  compositions  for  the 
service  of  the  church  that  ever  appeared  in  any  age 
or  country. 

The  v.^ork  above  alluded  to  was  printed  by 
Vautroliier  in  1575,  with  the  title  of  '  Cantiones 
'  quas  ab  argumento  sacrse  vocantiir  quinque  et  sex 
'  partium,  Autoribus  Thoma  Tallisio  et  Guilielmo 
'  Eirdo,  Anglis,  serenissimaj  reginaj  majestati  a 
'  priuato  sacello  generosis  et  organistis.' 

This  work  was  published  under  the  protection  of 
a  patent  of  queen  Elizabeth,  the  first  of  the  kind  that 
had  ever  been  granted ;  and  as  the  privileges  con- 
tained in  it  are  verj-  singidar,  and  serve  to  show 
what  a  share  of  royal  favour  they  possessed,  the 
substance  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,  Eraunce,  and  Irelande,  defender  of  the  faith, 
&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  our  letters  patents  dated  the 
xxii.  of  January  in  the  xvii.  yere  of  our  raio'ne, 
have  graunted  full  priviledge  and  licence  unto  our 
welbeloved  servants  Thomas  Tallis  and  William 
Birde  Gent,  of  our  chappell,  and  to  the  overlyver 
of  them,  and  to  the  assignes  of  them,  and  of  the 
surviver  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,  Latine,  French, 
Italian,  or  other  tongues  that  may  serve  for  musicke 
either  in  churche  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  pricking  of  any  songe  or  songes, 
and  may  sell  and  utter  any  printed  bokes  or  papers 
of  any  songe  or  songes,  or  any  bookes  or  quieres  of 
such  ruled  paper,  imprinted,  Also  we  straightly  by 
the  same  forbid  all  printers,  bookesellers,  subjects 
and  strangers,  other  then  as  is  aforesaid,  to  do  any 
the  premisses,  or  to  bring  or  cause  to  be  brouglit 


456 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book.  X. 


'  out  of  any  forren  realmes  into  any  our  dominions, 
'  any  songe  or  songes  made  and  printed  in  any  forren 
'  countrie,  to  sell  or  put  to  sale,  uppon  paine  of  our 
'  higli  displeasure,  And  the  offender  in  any  of  the 
•'  premisses  for  every  time  to  forfet  to  us  our  heires 

*  and  successors  fortie  shillings,  and  to  the  said  Thomas 
'  Tallis  and  William  Birde,  or  to  their  assignes,  and  to 

*  the  assignes  of  the  survivor  of  the,  all  and  every  the 
'  said  bokes,  papers,  songe  or  songes,  We  have  also 
'  by  the  same  willed  and  commaunded  our  printers, 
'  maistei's  and  wardens  of  tlie  misterie  of  stacioners, 
'  to  assist  the  said  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 
Elizabeth  is  very  remarkable  ;  he  does  not  say  for 
Avhat,  but  it  is  obvious  that  he  means  for  its  com- 
position and  style,  which  is  most  pure  and  elegant 
Latin.  The  epistle  dedicatory  it  is  more  than  pro- 
bable vas  written  by  Richard  IMulcaster,  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  name  to  them,  in 
which  is  the  following  compliment  to  queen  Elizabeth 
upon  lier  skill  in  nuisic  : — 

'Regia  majestas,  jetatis  gloria  nostrse  ; 

'  Hanc  in  deliciis  semper  habere  solet, 

'  Nee  conteuta  graves  aliorum  audire  labores 

'Ipsa  etiam  egregie  voce  manuque  canit.'f 

In  this  work  is  contained  that  admirable  com- 
position of  Tallis,  '  0  sacrum  convivium,'  better 
known  t(j  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  Butler,  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  Cantiones 
SacrjB  of  Tallis,  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 
beginning  of  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth,  when 
Tallis  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, 

*  The  power  of  the  crown  to  grant  such  privileges  as  are  contained  in 
this  and  other  patents  of  the  like  kind,  is  expressly  denied  by  Sir  Joseph 
Yates,  in  his  argument  in  the  great  case  of  literary  property,  Millar  v. 
Taylor,  where  speaking  of  the  patent  of  Tallis  and  IJird,  and  also  of  that 
granted  to  Worley,  he  says  they  are  arbitrary,  gross,  and  absurd.  Question 
concerning  literary  property,  published  by  Sir  James  Burrow,  4to.  1773, 
pag.  85.  And  it  appears  that  Morley  was  (jafstioncd  by  the  House  of 
Cummons  three  years  after  the  (/ranting  it.     Ames's  Typogr.  Antiq.  509. 

t  Thus  translated  in  the  Biogr.  Brit.,  Art.  John  Bull,  page  1007,  in 
note : — 

'  The  Queen,  the  glory  of  our  age  and  isle, 
'  With  royal  favor  bids  tliis  science  smile; 
'  Nnr  hears  she  only  others'  lat>or'd  lays, 
'But,  artist-like  herself  both  sings  and  plays.' 


take  not  the  least  notice  of  such  an  officer  as  the 
organist,  but  are  endowments  uniformly  in  favour  of 
canons,  the  greater  and  the  less,  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  queen 
Mary,  though  in  both,  trumpeters  and  players  on  the 
sackbut  occur.  Hence  it  may  fairly  be  presumed, 
and  Dr.  Benjamin  Rogers  was  of  that  opinion,  that 
anciently  the  duty  of  the  organist,  as  well  in  cathedral 
and  collegiate  churches  and  chapels,  as  in  abbies, 
monasteries,  and  other  religious  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  organist  to  Henry  VIII.  Edward  VI. 
and  queen  IMary. 

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  he  may  justly  be  said  to  be  the  father  of  the 
cathedral  style ;  and  though  a  like  appellation  is 
given  by  the  Italians  to  Palestrina,  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 
emulation  to  excel  even  these,  may  be  presumed 
from  the  following  particular.  Johannes  Okenheim, 
a  native  of  the  Low  Countries,  and  a  disciple  of 
lodocus  Pratensis,  had  made  a  composition  for  no 
fewer  than  thirty -six  voices,  which  Glareanus  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  queen 
Elizabeth,  to  the  following  words,  '  Spem  in  alium 
'  nunquam  habui  praster  in  te  Deus  Israel,  qui  iras- 
'  ceris,  et  propitius  eris,  et  omnia  peccata  hominum, 
'  in  tribulatione  dimittis,  Domine  Deus,  creator  coeli 
'  et  terra?,  respice  humilitatem  nostram.'  In  the 
'  reign  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 
'  was  probably  sung  on  some  public  occasion ;  but 
'  the  composition  with  the  Latin  woi'ds  coming  to 
'  the  hands  of  Mr.  Hawlcins,  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 

X  In  the  statutes  of  St.  Taul's  cathedral,  tit.  de  Gartionibus  [;'.  c. 
of  the  grooms,  from  Garcio,  a  poor  servile  lad,  or  boy-servant.  CowEt.J 
it  is  said  that  the  duty  of  these  servants  is,  '  exculpent  ecclesiam,  com- 
'  panas  pulsant  exsufflent  crgana,  et  omne  aliud  humile  oflicium  ex- 
'  erceant  in  ecclesia  ad  iniperium  vergiferorum  ; '  but  though  provision 
is  thus  made  for  blowing  the  organ,  tlie  statutes  are  silent  as  to  who  is  to 
play  it.  For  some  years  past  there  has  been  an  organist  of  St.  Paul's, 
with  a  salary,  which,  upon  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Greene,  was  augmented 
with  the  revenue  of  a  lay  vicar's  place. 


Chap.  XCV. 


AND  PEACTICE  OP  MUSIC. 


457 


Museum,  but  witliout  effect.  As  to  tlie  music,  it  is 
adapted  to  voices  of  five  different  kinds,  that  is, 
tenor,  counter-tenor,  altus,  or  mean,  and  treble,  eight 
of  each ;  and  though  every  musician  knows  that,  in 
strictness  of  speech,  in  a  musical  composition  there 
can  in  reality  be  but  four  parts,  for  where  there  ai'e 
more,  some  must  rest  while  others  sing ;  yet  this  of 
Tallis  is  so  contrived,  that  the  melody  of  the  four 
jDarts  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  publi- 
cation of  the  Cantiones  Sacr£)e  in  the  original  Latin 
words  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  Calvinists,  or  to  persevere  in  the  use 
of  the  solemn  choral  service  ;  and  accordingly  we  see 
them  both  practised  at  this  day  ;  but  that  the  singing 
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 
Bird,  is  not  to  be  accounted  for  but  upon  a  suppo- 
sition, which  there  is  nothing  to  contradict,  that  they 
were  of  the  Romish  persuasion,  and  that  the  Can- 
tiones Sacrje  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 
establishment  yet  extant ;  and  as  to  Bird,  that  besides 
his  share  in  the  above  work,  there  are  several  masses 
of  his  composition  in  print,  which  favour  the  opinion 
that  he  was  once  of  the  same  communion. 

But  notwithstanding  his  supposed  attachment  to  the 
Eomish  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, 
naiuely,  the  two  morning  services,  the  one  compre- 
hending the  Venite  exultemus,  TeDeum,  and  Benedic- 
tus  ;  and  the  other,  which  is  part  of  the  Communion 
office,  consisting  of  the  Kyrie  Eleisotf,  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  Tallis's  first  service, 
as  being  the  first  of  two  composed  by  him.*  He 
also  set  musical  Notes  to  the  Preces  and  Responses, 
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 

*  It  may  be  remarked  that  neither  the  psalms,  Jubilate  Deo  in  the 
morning,  nor  Cantate  Domino  and  Deus  misereatur  in  the  evening 
]ir.ayer,  occur  in  the  service  of  Tallis  ;  the  reason  is,  that  in  the  first 
settlement  of  the  choral  service  they  were  not  included,  the  most  ancient 
.lubilate  being  that  of  Dr.  Giles,  and  the  most  ancient  Deus  misereatur 
that  of  Jlr.  Strogers,  both  printed  in  Barnard's  Collection,  hereafter 
mentioned.    When  the  Cantate  Domine  was  first  taken  it  appears  not. 


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  judicious  contrast  between  the  sup- 
plications of  the  priest  and  the  suffrages  of  the  people, 
as  represented  by  the  choir. 

The  services  of  Tallis  contain  also  chants  for  the 
Venite  exultemus  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.* 

*  This  method  of  singing,  though  it  corresponds  with  that  aniiphoiial 
singing  which  was  introduced  into  the  church  about  the  year  350,  by 
Flavianus  and  Diodorus,  the  one  bishop  of  Antioch,  the  other  of  Tarsus, 
and  is  in  truth  that  part  of  choral  service  which  is  best  warranted  by  the 
practice  of  the  primitive  Christians,  and  the  judgment  of  the  fathers.  Is 
that  which  the  Puritans  mean  when  they  inveigh  against  the  practice  of 
'  tossing  the  Psalms  about  like  tennis-balls  ;  '  their  sentiments  are  con- 
tained in  that  '.  irulent  libel,  the  first  of  those  two  Admonitions  to  the 
Parliament,  the  one  written  by  Field,  minister  of  Aldermary,  London, 
the  other  by  Thomas  Cartwright,  printed  in  the  year  1572,  wherein  is  the 
following  bitter  invective  against  the  form  of  divine  worship  as  then 
lately  established  :  '  In  all  theyr  order  of  service  there  is  no  edification 
'  according  to  the  rule  of  the  Apostle  but  confusion :  they  tosse  the 
'  Psalmes  in  most  places  like  tennice-balles.  They  pray  that  all  men 
'maybe  saved,  and  that  they  may  be  delivered  from  thundering  and 
'  tempest,  when  no  danger  is  nigh.  That  they  sing  Benedictus,  Nunc 
'  Dimittis,  and  Magnificat,  we  know  not  to  what  purpose,  except  some 
'  of  them  were  ready  to  die,  or  except  they  would  celebrate  the  memory 
'  of  the  Virgine  and  John  Baptist,  &c.  Thus  they  prophane  the  holy 
'  scriptures.  The  people,  some  standing,  some  walking,  some  talking, 
'  some  reading,  some  praying  by  themselves,  attend  not  to  the  minister. 
'  He  againe  posteth  it  over  as  fast  as  he  can  galloppe ;  for  eytlier  he  hath 
'  two  places  to  serve,  or  else  there  are  some  games  to  be  playde  in  the 
'  afternoone,  as  lying  for  Ihe  whetstone,  heathenishe  dauncing  for  the 
'  ring,  a  beare  or  a  bull  to  be  baited,  or  else  jackanapes  to  ride  on  horse- 
'  backe,  or  an  interlude  to  be  plaide  ;  and  if  no  place  else  can  be  gotten, 
'  this  enterlude  must  be  playde  in  the  church,  &'c.  Now  the  people  sit, 
'  and  now  they  stand  up.  When  the  Old  Testament  is  read,  or  the 
'  lessons,  they  make  no  reverence,  but  when  Gospel  commeth  then  they 
'  al  stand  up,  for  why,  they  thinke  that  to  be  of  greatest  authoritie,  and 
'  are  ignorant  that  the  Scriptures  came  from  one  spirite.  When  Jesus  is 
'named,  then  of  goeth  the  cap,  and  downe  goeth  the  knees,  wyth  such  • 
'  a  scraping  on  the  ground,  that  they  cannot  heare  a  good  while  after,  so 
'tliat  the  word  is  hindered;  but  when  any  other  names  of  God  are 
'  mentioned,  they  make  no  curtesie  at  all,  as  though  the  names  of  God 
'  were  not  equal,  or  as  though  all  reverence  ought  to  be  given  to  the 
'  syllables.  We  speake  not  of  ringing  when  mattens  is  done,  and  other 
'  abuses  incident,  bicause  we  shal  be  answered  that  by  the  boke  they  are 
'  not  maintayned,  only  we  desire  to  have  a  boke  to  reforme  it.  As  for 
'  organes  and  curious  singing,  thoughe  they  be  properto  Popyshe  dennes, 
'  I  meane  to  cathedrall  churches  ;  yet  some  others  also  must  have  them. 
'  The  queenes  chapell,  and  these  churches  (whych  should  be  spectacles 
'  of  Chrystian  reformation)  are  rather  patternes  and  presidentes  to  the 
'  people  of  all  superstition.' 

Hooker,  Eccles.  Pol.  book  V.  sect.  33,  has  defended  with  great 
learning  and  jugment  the  practice  of  chanting  or  singing  the  Psalms  by 
course,  or  side  after  side,  against  an  objection  of  Cartwright,  in  another 
part  of  his  works,  to  wit,  that  'it  is  the  more  to  be  suspected,  as  the 
•  Devil  hath  gone  about  to  get  it  authority  ;  '  nevertheless,  so  lately  as 
the  time  of  king  William,  endeavours  were  used  to  get  it  banished  from 
the  church, /cir  !H  1689,  an  ecclesiastical  commission  issued,  and  we  are 
told  that  in  execution  thereof  it  U'as  proposed,  among  other  reformations  of 
ihe  church-service,  to  laij  aside  chanting  in  cathedrals.  Vide,  Calamy's 
Abridgment  of  Baxter's  History  of  his  Life  and  Times,  Vol.  I.  p.  440-453. 
Hooker  professes  to  wonder,  as  indeed  any  man  would,  how  the 
Devil  can  be  benefited  by  our  singing  of  Psalms  ;  and  for  singing  the 
Binedictus  and  other  hymns  he  thus  apologizes :  '  Of  reading  or  singing 
'  ^^agnificat,  Benedictus,  and  Nunc  Dimittis  oftener  than  the  rest  of  the 
'  Psalms,  the  causes  are  no  whit  less  reasonable  ;  so  that  if  the  one  may 
'  very  well  monthly,  the  other  may  as  well  even  daily  be  iterated.  They 
'  are  songs  which  concern  us  so  much  more  than  the  songs  of  David, 
'  as  the  Gospel  toucheth  us  more  than  the  law,  the  New  Testament 
'than  the  Old.  And  if  the  Psalms,  for  the  excellency  of  their  use, 
'deserve  to  be  oftner  repeated  tlian  they  are,  but  that  the  multitude  of 
'  them  permitteth  not  any  oftner  repetition,  what  disorder  is  it,  if 
'these  few  Evangelical  hymns,  which  are  in  no  respect  less  wortliy,  and 
'  may  be,  by  reason  of  their  paucity,  imprinted  with  much  more  ease  in 
'  all  men's  memories,  be  for  that  cause  every  day  rehearsed  ?  In  our  own 
'behalf  it  is  convenient  and  orderly  enough,  that  both  they  and  we 
'  make  day  by  day  prayers  and  supplications  the  very  same ;  Why  not  as 
'  fit  and  convenient  to  magnifie  the  name  of  God  day  by  day  with  certain 
'  the  very  self-same  Psalms  of  praise  and  thanksgiving :  Either  let 
'  them  not  allow  the  one,  or  else  cease  to  reprove  the  other.  For  the 
'ancient  received  use  of  intermingling  hym.ns  and  psalms  vnih  divine 
'  readings,  enough  hath  been  written.     And  if  any  may  fitly  serve  unto 


458 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


EooK  X. 


The  care  of  selecting  from  the  Common  Prayer 
the  offices  most  proper  to  be  simg,  was  a  matter  of 
some  importance,  especially  as  the  Rubric  contains 
no  directions  about  it ;  for  this  reason  it  is  supposed 
that  the  musical  part  of  queen  Elizabeth's  liturgy  was 
settled  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  skilful  musician."'  Besides  the  offices 
above-mentioned,  constituting  what  are  now  termed 
the  Morning,  Communion,  and  Evening  Services  in 
four  parts,  with  the  preces,  responses,  and  litany, 
that  is  to  say,  the  versicles  and  suffrages,  Tallis 
composed  many  anthems,  as  namely,  '  O  Lord,  give 
'  thy  holy  spirit,'  in  four  parts  ;  '  With  all  our  hearts,' 
'  Blessed"^  be  thy  name,'  '  ^Yipe  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.  Paul,"  1641. 

Tallis  died  the  twenty-third  day  of  November,  1585, 
and  was  buried  in  the  parish  church  of  Greenwich  in 
Kent.     Strype,  in  his  Continuation  of  Stow's  Survey, 


published  in  1720,  says  that  in  his  circuit-walk  round 
London  he  found  in  the  chancel  of  that  church,  upon 
a  stone  before  the  rails,  a  brass  plate  thus  inscriljed  iu 
old  letters  : — 

Enterred  here  doth  ly  a  worthy  wyght, 

Who  for  long  tyme  in  mufick  bore  the  bell  : 

His  name  to  fhew,  was  Thomas  Tallys  hyght, 
In  honeft  uertuous  lyff  he  dyd  excelU 

He  feru'd  long  tyme  in  chappel  with  grate  prayfe, 
Fower  fouereygncs  reygncs  (a  thing  not  often  feene) 

I  mean  kyng  Henry  and  prynce  Edward's  dayes, 
Quene  Mary,  and  Elizabeth  our  quene. 

He  maryed  was,  though  children  he  had  none, 

And  lyu'd  in  loue  ful  thre  and  thirty  yeres 
Wyth  loyal  fpowfe,  whos  name  yclept  was  Jone, 

Who  here  entomb'd,  him  company  now  bears. 
As  he  dyd  lyue,  fo  alfo  did  he  dy, 

In  myld  and  quyet  fort,  O  happy  man  ! 
To  God  ful  oft  for  mercy  did  he  cry, 

Wherefore  he  lyues,  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  Cantiones  Sacrre  published  by  him  and 
Bird  in  1575.  The  Miserere  that  here  follows  it,  is 
the  last  composition  in  the  same  collection : — 


ge     Do   - 


'  that  purpose,  how  sliould  it  better  have  been  devised,  than  that  a  com- 
'  petent  number  of  the  old  being  first  read,  tliese  of  the  new  sliould 
'  succeed  in  the  place  where  now  they  are  set?  In  which  place  iiotwith- 
'  standing,  there  is  joined  with  Benedictus,  the  hundred  Psalm;  with 
'  Magnificat,  the  ninety-eight ;  the  sixty-seventh  with  Nunc  Dimittis  ; 
'  and  in  every  of  them  the  choice  left  free  for  the  minister  to  use  in- 
'  differently,  the  one  for  the  other.  Seeing,  therefore,  they  pretend  no 
'  quarrel  at  other  Psalms  which  are  in  like  manner  appointed  also  to  be 
'  daily  read.  Why  do  these  so  much  offend  and  displease  their  taste  ? 
'  They  are  the  first  gratulations  wherewith  our  Lord  and  Saviour  was 
'joyfully  received  at  his  entrance  into  the  world,  by  such  as  in  their 
'hearts,  arms,  and  very  bowels,  embraced  him;  being  prophetical  dis- 
'  coveries  of  Christ  already  present,  whose  future  coming  the  other 
'  Psalm  did  but  fore-signifie  ;  they  are  against  the  obstinate  incredulity 
'of  the  Jews,  the  most  luculent  testimonies  that  Christian  religion  hath  : 
'  yea,  the  only  sacred  hymns  they  are  that  Christianity  hath  peculiar  unto 
'  itself;  the  other  being  songs  too  of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  but  songs 
'wherewith  as  we  serve  God,  so  the  Jew  likewise.'  Kecks.  Polity,  bk.V. 
sect.  40. 


*  SIrype,  in  his  life  of  this  prelate,  page  4,  relates  that  in  his  youth  he 
had  been  taught  to  sing  by  one  Love,  a  priest,  and  also  by  one  JLanthorp, 
clerk  of  St.  Stephen's  in  Norwich  ;  and  in  his  translation  of  the  Psalms 
of  David,  a  book  but  little  known,  and  which  he  composed  during  his 
retreat  from  the  persecution  of  queen  Mary,  are  certain  observations  on 
the  ecclesiastical  tones,  which  shew  him  to  have  been  deeply  skilled  in 
church-music. 

t  There  was  also  in  the  old  church  of  Greenwich  an  inscription  on 
brass  in  memory  of  Richard  Bowyer,  gentleman  of  the  chapel  and  master 
of  the  children  under  king  Henry  VIII.  Edward  VI.  queen  Mary,  and 
queen  Elizabeth.  He  died  2G  July,  1561,  and  was  succeeded  by  Richard 
Edwards,  from  Oxford. 

There  was  also  in  the  same  church  a  stone,  purporting  that  Ralph 
Dallans,  organ-maker,  deceased  while  he  was  making  the  organ,  which 
was  begun  by  him  F'ebruary,  lu72,  and  finished  by  James  White,  his 
partner,  who  completed  it,  and  erected  the  stone,  1673.  But  tlie  old 
church  being  pulled  down  soon  after  the  year  1720,  in  order  to  the  re- 
building it,  not  the  least  trace  of  any  of  these  memorials  is  now  re- 
maining. 


(Jhap.  XCV. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


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HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


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AND  PKACTICE  OF  MUSIC 


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sis   memor  Do  -  mi  -  nc,     sis    memor  Do     - 


-     mi   -  ne. 


bo  -  n£e  vo  -lun  -  ta  -  tis    tu 


m 


-I" ol 


'-^- 


zmzzmz 


zjcn 


-Wi- 


-pi 


-^==^- 


rz2i 


-rf- 


i^ofz 


m 


mi  -  ne, 


mi  -  ne, 


^ 


sis  memor  Do         -  -  - 

•  ^ [— ^:iai-Z2 — ^ — 01^1— ce «j — e> — Gf—Y-f* — ff — G>- 


bo  -  nse 


_-fid: 


sis      memor  Do 


mi-ne,  bo 


na;   vo  -  lun  -  ta  -  tis       tu 


Ei^ 


d; 


-ri- 


E^E 


£ 


=(a: 


^E 


ler: 


is 


Id— jiq: 


irii 


3E=^ 


sis  memor  Do  -  mi    -  ne,    sis  memor  Do 


mi   -    ne. 


-^^. 


-jjJZZ^HiBZSIlgE 


hO- 


=?z=:;;gr 


^t==--F 


-?2- 


bo  -  nse    vo  -lun  -  ta  -  tis 


'^r^E-^ 


Efe 


ta  -  tis 


tu 


33, 


bo  -  nas  vo  -lun  -  ta  -  tis     tu 


W- 


idnt: 


I23I 


=P 


SfP 


±=d: 


^ Gt —  — ^ 


It 


EgEE^^J^^^E^ 


fp, 


fe^3EEfe3 


G> — ri- 


ICSI 


bo      -     nfB    vo  -lun  -  ta  -  tis       tu 


EE 


:j=di 


-y* JT"- 


vo-lun-ta  -  tis 


tu 


33, 


bo    -  n£e  vo  -  lun   -   ta  -  tis       tu 


S^ 


12=I 


I- _ «I 


-c»- 


::rp!=iza 


^=1= 


eS 


loh 


in!i 


rp^=^- 


eE^ 


=d- 


.^--E^-t 


fel2= 


^ 


E3^E 


bo  -  nae    vo  -  lun  -  ta-tis  tu 


ae, 


tu 


laz 


-j±=^SL 


-^E± 


--■^■=x 


-^ T*- 


idi 


3ii= 


-e» 


tu 


se. 


bo    -    nae  vo   -  lun    -    ta  -  tis,  bo  -  nae    vo  -  lun  -  ta  -  tis 


tu 


1^3^ 


m 


^Sdc^ti 


03, 


i^ 


^Ofll 


33, 


rk—Z=^ 


'^. 


^ g^ 


^S:^E^. 


EEE 


t: 


Nuno  ex  -  au    -    di  pre 


m\ 


zaz 


ces    me  -  as, 
i^E 


^ 


^3^g=y 


^=^fe 


^ 


Nunc  ex    -     au    -    di  pre-ces     me 


laz 


1221 


il^^ 


Nunc  ex  -  au    -  di  pre  -  ces 


me 


as. 


ia=&- 


^5^Je^3 


ifg^^E^g^^ 


d=^== 


Nunc  ex  -  au    -   di    pre    -     ces    me 


as,         Nunc  ex  -  au  -    di  pre 


H=E 


Hi 


^Z 


'^ 


Nunc  ex  -  au    -   di  pre  -   ces       me 


as 


;a^i=i 


Nunc   ex  -  au      -    di  pro 


4B2 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


W 


i=j- 


FPf= 


=l=t= 


^^: 


r^' 


:p: 


:=p=^ 


E»=^ 


Id 


Nunc  ex  -  au 


di  pre 


ces   me 


as, 


et 


=q^r 


^E3E^=E 


?=t= 


ijcs: 


:zir 


-    as, 


Nunc   ex  -  au     -    di  pre  -  ces  me 


as,   et    ser  -    vi-et    per      aj 


jizS: 


izi: 


i^S 


r:l=):=o= 


zff—ii^iXz 


iiji 


izt: 


=?z= 


SgiS 


Nunc  ex  -  au   -    di  pre     -    ces      me 


as,   pre -ces   me  -  as, 


et      ser 


VI- 


:± 


:z|=zt: 


I23I 


^iS: 


^2>- 


_     ce^^ 


Nunc  ex  -   au  -  di     pre 


ces, 


pre-ces    me  -  as, 


et 


Tit- 


fei^ 


ser    -  vi-et    per 


^aii=i 


cfc 


^-    -    ces 


me 


as. 


-e> — fn — tji- 


:3^: 


pre-ces    me 


as. 


:ct: 


=d=ri 


rz2i 


s^ 


/>    *=> 


ioti 


ser    -   VI -et  per       s 


vum, 


ct   ser     -    vi-et    per  -  as 


vum. 


:tss3 


3^=S: 


ict 


^^ai[ 


[3i3| 


33fc 


-TTJ- 


vum, 


et      ser    -  vi-et  per 


33 


vum. 


per 


se 


1^ 


^EE^ 


zuiz 


-^ 


xiz 


-Tj- 


7i-- 


l£J>- 


zpz 


E^= 


ZEiz 


zdz 


=rl= 


ZEtzeL: 


^^ 


;3S 


et    per    a3 


vum, 


et 


ser    -    vi-et     per 


se 


ig 


rd=2i=:z 


:=n1i 


.xtz 


r* 


i^ 


-yj- 


yj" 


ZTiZ 


ZZX- 


zxiz 


Si      -    vum,  per    sb 


vum, 


et      ser  -  vi  -  et     per 


T> 


vum,  per  a 


-t» — 

vum, 


ii 


i=i= 


3^ 


=!:: 


zc 


^£ 


zuLl 


*-s 


et 


^= 


-yi^ 


:1= 


ser    -    VI -et      per 


33 


vum, 


et    ser  -  vi  -  et      per    33 


w 


;SSS=5= 


'^. 


i-lO- 


E:^ 


=,=«z«r.iF:. 


-o — 


ZZfXZ 


:t==t 


:»z^ 


ti-bi     spi   -  ri-tus, 


ti-bi  spi    -    ritus    me 


us, 


ti-bi 


r3--=^i2= 


=t 


s; 


=J«3t 


vum. 


ti-bi  spi 


ritus    me 


us, 


m 


JEiESEl 


'*»    \ 


-^ 


^^ 


=in- 


EE 


lOLZ 


\ 1 1 

Z* g, — .  _ 


-     vum,  ti-bi  spi  -  ri  -  tus        me 


us, 


E^ 


:r=i 


i2:=-'-'-hi 


il^i 


==^-^-1^ £ 


*=t:: 


ti-bi  spi    -  ri  -  tus  me 


us. 


^ 


i=J= 


h-^ — -d— t 


ti-bi  spi  -    ri  -  tus  me 


ijiotc 


ii?E 


t^ 


^^ 


— o — 

vum. 


m 


s 


us. 


ti-bi  spi    -  ri  -  tus    me  -  us,  ti-bi     spi  -  ri-tus    me 


ti-bi    spi    -    ri-tus  me 


us. 


i«-o 


::t: 


^i^gg^ 


i^Z:=S«- 


it= 


i^^: 


ti-bi    spi    -  ri-tus    me 

I 


_4C2 t- 


L-_-Z=0-tt 


t:^^ 


spi    -    ri-tus       me 


us. 


_t? lUI 


3il 


z^ntz 


et      ser  -  vi  -  et. 


et    ser     -    vi-et      per 


'-J3Z 


-t: 


ti-bi   spi    -    ritus   me 


us. 


et    ser    -    vi-et  per    aj 


^^^_ 


^=f^ 


^ 


■X 


ZjQlZ 


:t 


It 


:lzz 


E3 


-^ 


ZJfl. 


SES 


i: 


zfc 


rZKJLZ 


ti-bi  spi-ri- tus  .  .me 


us,      et     ser  -  vi-et       perse 


i^a^.^!^ 


-o— It' 


--:^- 


:j: 


^ 


~r?: 


vum, 


^^ 


us. 


pg 


Sg-^— r^— "=iEg- 


=:r*= 


me     -        -    us,   et  ser  -    vi-et  per       se 

EiE§^=^[^^^^^ 

^-^ C ^» C 


f2Z 


vum, 


ti  -bi  spi   -    ri 


:t=: 


'-p—t,- 


us,     ti-bi  spi    -     ri-tus      me 


us. 


et     ser  -  vi-et  per  se 


vum,  . 


Chap.  XCV. 
y 


* 


SrbS^ 


--^i:i::=ier 


ZT2~. 


^Eg==E 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC 


ae    -    vum, 


te^ 


::lat= 


ti-bi    spi    -  ritus     me 


us. 


men. 


E^E^ 


3i_« «r 


=tzt: 


igo^LT^^ 


s^ 


322:: 


vum. 


ti-bi  sj'ji    -    ritus    me 


us. 


men. 


i^^=g 


H*2--^^-F 


g[^^a^=j^g^:F^feE^=j 


/^ 


a: L dc3 


;«3t 


ti-bi  spi    -    ri  -  tus   me 


us, 


ii 


=ia=zi5 


=3E5 


:d= 


^ 


if^ 


ti-bi  spiri-tus  .   .  me 


us, 


men. 


/7\ 


tus  me  -  us,  ti-bi    spi  -   ritus   me 


us, 


^^-^ 


i^^^E^ 


~=^= 


z^lzzo!:: 


=^: 


3at 


me 


us, 


men. 


ti-bi    spi  -   ri-tus  me 


us,    ti-bi  spi    -    ritus       mo 


CANOK 


^1' 


us, 


men. 


Thomas  Tallis. 


f^ 


-^z,z=^— 


;d: 


-jrtz 


-.xir. 


=ff=» 


=:!- 


tzTj 


MI   -  SE  -  RE 


RE 


nos 


tri 


Do 


1^ 


_J? M --J 1— aT,^ 


11 


nni 


:p- 


"m 


E^^^^E^=E 


Ml 


SE-RE 


RE 


nos     - 


-     tri  . 


"^^^EEE^^^^ 


:C— 


a^sa 


fe^ 


tr 


s^s:S=^Si^ 


=«^i: 


acs 


]MI   -  SE  -  RE  -  RE   nos  -  tri  Do 


^ 


^^■^■ 


mme,mi  -  se  -  re  -  re 

r 


nos 


:3^EE 


MI 


^^^=^- 


SE 

— <2 i 


RE 


-■^-- 


=t:- 


MI 


SS^^ 


SE    -  _RE_ 


RE         nos 


tri, 


mi  . 


MI 


-^ 


-y>- 


MI 


SE 


RE    -        -     RE 


nos 


tri 


Do 


EEE 


=^ 


^Jsl^iii^d 


ig~~~c8: 


mi  -  ne, 


f^ 


=^=^-: 


!=:«z=j2: 


mi  -  se  -    re 


re 


-o- 


laai 


1 


Do 


mi-ne, 


mi     -    se     -     re 


i|5^P^g=g=^£zgE^EgSgg^g^iiEiigSp^g 


tri, 


mi 


se  -  re 


re  nos 


tri,     mi  - 


^^ 


El^^E 


^^ 


~r        * »- 


_<3^ 


EEtz 


iCB- 


RE 


nos 


i^ 


tri  Do 


;=d=«-.-iir 


-*> ^i.: -a — -A—^—*- 


se  -  re 
1^ 


re 


nos 


tri 


Do 


Je»r 


E^E^a^EE 


Ei 


SE 


RE 


-«^- 


» o — -•— *  -I —  -4-  - 


^=!?-=ii=F 


mi 


ue, 


mi 


se 


re  -  re 


nos  - 


464: 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


W 


e# jp- 


i«=i: 


nos 


tii, 


mi   -   so  -  re 


re 


:=Efe 


f 


:z2z 


^^l^^Pi 


:d=3E 


10 


nos 


tri, 


mi  -  se  -  re 


re 


E^=3= 


ip=Pi 


s^.^^g^lli^ 


^^ 


sa=3: 


:«::=: 


se  -  re  -  re 


nos  -  tri    Do 


mi  - 


U^^ 


^ 


zjon 


I  £21 


mi 


ne. 


mi 


iJtZ 


i4= 


--dz 


i^E 


icz: 


mi 


ne, 


mi  -  se  -  re 


re         nos 


tri, 


se 


lip 


mi  -  se 


^E 


EE 


nos 


m^ 


-ri- 


tn, 


mi 


ZJ±Z 


■=\- 


se 


re 


E^^ 


— ^ — [-     I 


t^ 


-ri rr- 


:zptz 


nos 


tri, 


mi  -  se  -  re 


t= 


1.-^=:^= 


:p«= 


"»T  "jT        ~r 


:zj n>z 


znz 


re 


-,«! .HZ]; 


:rfi 


nos 


tri, 


mi  -   se     -    re 


re 


t5-- 


-lO- 


fe^iEp^g^^EE^ 


ne. 


-    se  -  re 


re     nos 


tri, 


1 


iilzzHC*: 


3=^ 


nos    - 


:J2=: 


-t^ «:*- 


tO=r2- 


e- rn- 


'^Of~ 


=zj. 


ei—=f2Z 


Jfe^ 


-    re 


re 


nos 


^^m 


o   '■  iJ- 


:rz: 


icz: 


S^^ 


rcr: 


re 


re,  . 


mi     -    se  -  re 


E£:=:^iat:i 


tn 


--if^- 


it=3i: 


zHz 


-!«?!'- 


re 

E3^ 


nos 


H 


:^=P! 


=f:: 


E^E^ 


re     nos 


-o- 


-H- 


,:1=pd===l: 


tri, 


mi     - 


se    -    re 


t= 


£EeS=se3 


xtz 


zctz 


zjjLz 


^! 


g^gj^g 


:p=± 


_fji 


-*? — «> — I — 


1«t 


nos 


tn, 


nos 


ZEtZ 


-^^ 


jiz 


P^ 


EE^^ 


:^= 


:?2i 


-<2- 


tri. 

/7\ 


nos 


l5^r3^Z=ag|^^^E^ga^'Ei^ 


tn, 

:± 


nos 


^^t^ 


^^^ 


_c*_ 


1^^ 


_<:*_ 


tn. 


^^: 


E3^E 


tn. 

SE 


Jfei^^Eg 


tn. 


nos 


tri. 


-o- 


-e» (OZ 


-t^^ 


^^J^ 


irfz* 


E^ 


:zit 


3at= 


tri, 


tri, 


nos 


tri. 


W^=^^ 


zzi:^t 


5E^ 


rjat: 


^•^^ 


1 


EEEEEE 


-«» H*? 


mi 

-l«2 » 


ne. 


B=EEE^SE 


I^E=^^E 


I^CE 


i4at= 


nos 


tii    . 


Do 


mi 


ne. 


/TN 


/r\ 


met 


:^ 


1 


Thomas  Tallis. 


Chap.  XCVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


4G5 


The  ]Miserere  above  exhibited  is  in  its  contexture 
extremely  curious  and  artificial,  as  will  appear  by  the 
following  analysis  of  its  parts  : — 

(  DuK!  Partes  in  una,  Canon  in 
(      unisono. 
Canon  in  unisono. 
Quatuor  partes  in  una,  Canon 
in  unisono,  crescit  in  duplo, 
Arsin  et  Thesin. 
Canon  in  unisono. 
Voluntaria  pars. 
Canon  in  unisono. 
Canon  in  unisono. 


Superius  primus   - 
Superius  Secundus 

Discantus  -     -     - 


4  Contratenor     - 

5  Tenor    -     -     - 
G  Bassus  primus 
7  Bassus  secundus 


Richard  Farrant,  a  fine  old  composer  for  the 
church,  was  a  gentleman  of  the  chapel  royal  in  1564, 
and  after  that  master  of  the  children  of  St.  George's 
chapel  at  Windsor,  with  an  allowance  of  81/.  Cjs.  8d. 
per  annum  for  their  diet  and  teaching.  He  was  also 
one  of  the  clerks  and  one  of  the  organists  of  the  same 
chapel.  Upon  occasion  of  these  latter  appointments 
he  resigned  his  place  in  the  chapel  royal,  but  in  1569 
was  called  to  it  again,  and  held  it  till  1580,  when 
Anthony  Todd  was  appointed  in  his  room.  His  places 
in  the  chapel  at  Windsor  he  enjoyed  to  the  time  of 
his  death,  which  is  supposed  to  have  been  in  1585, 
Nathaniel  Giles,  then  a  bachelor  in  music,  being 
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  Church-music 
above-mentioned,  and  a  few  in  Dr.  Boyce's  cathe- 
dral music. 

Robert  Parsons,  or,  as  his  name  is  spelt  by 
Morley,  Persons,  was  organist  of  Westminster  abbey. 
The  following  epitaph  on  him  is  in  Camden's  Remains. 

Upon  Master  Parsons,  Organist  at  Westminster. 

Death  passing  by  and  hearing  Parsons  play, 
Stood  much  amazed  at  his  depth  of  skill. 
And  said  'This  artist  must  with  me  away,' 
For  death  bereaves  us  of  the  better  still  ; 

But  let  the  quire,  while  he  keeps  time,  sing  on, 
For  Parsons  rests,  his  service  being  done. 

He  was  sworn  of  queen  Elizabeth's  chapel  on  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  Qxtant  in  MS. 

Butler,  in  his  Principles  of  Music,  page  91,  speaks 
in  terms  of  high  commendation  of  the  "  In  Nomines" 
of  Parsons,  and  those  also  of  Tye  and  Taverner.'* 

*  The  term  In  Nomine  is  a  very  obscure  designation  of  a  musical 
composition,  for  it  may  signify  a  fugue,  in  which  the  principal  and  the 
reply  differ  in  the  order  of  solmisation ;  such  a  fugue  being  called  by 
musicians  a  Fugue  in  Nomine,  as  not  being  a  fugue  in  strictness.  Again, 
it  may  seem  to  mean  some  office  in  divine  service,  for  in  the  Gradual  of 
the  Romish  church  the  Introitus,  In  festos  sanctissimi  nominisJesu,  has 
this  beginning,  'In  nomine  Jesu  omne  genu  flectatur:'  and  this  latter 
circumstance  seems  to  be  decisive  of  the  question.  But  upon  looking 
into  an  In  Nomine  of  Master  Taverner,  in  that  venerable  old  book 
entitled  '  Morning  and  Evening  Praier  and  Communion  set  forth  in 
'  fower  partes,  to  be  song  in  churches,' printed  by  John  Day  in  1565,  it 
clearly  appears  that  the  term  refers  to  the  nineteenth  Psalm,  as  it  stands 
in  the  Vulgate,  though  it  is  the  twentieth  in  our  translation,  and  that  by 
reason  of  the  following  verse  in  it,  '  Latabimur  in  salutari  tuo :  et  in 
'  nomine  Dei  nostri  magnificabimur.' 

In  the  Life  of  Milton  by  his  nephew  Phillips,  prefixed  to  the  English 
translation  of  his  State  Letters,  it  is  said  that  John  Milton  the  father, 
who  was  so  eminently  skilled  in  music  as  to  be  ranked  among  the 
masters  of  the  science  in  his  time,  composed  an  In  Nomine,  for  which 
he  received  of  a  Polish  prince  a  present  of  a  gold  chain  and  medal.    


Parsons  left  behind  Mm  a  son  oiamed  John,  who 
lecame  master  of  the  choristers  in  Westminster 
Abbey.  ■  In  the  year  1616,  xipon  the  recommend- 
ation of  Dr.  Iloxmtain,  the  Dean,  he  rvas  elected 
one  of  the  parish  clerks,  aiid  also  organist  of  the 
Parish  church  of  St.  Ifargarefs,  Westminster. 
See  a  subsequent  part  of  this  morh. 

CHAP.  XCVI. 

In  what  manner  the  theory  of  music  was  anciently 
taught  in  the  universities  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  to 
the  practice  of  it,  it  is  evident  that  for  many  years  it 
was  only  to  be  acquired  in  monasteries,  and  in  the 
schools  of  cathedral  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  consideration,  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  these  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  fifth  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  successors,  willing  and 
'  disposing  that  they  shall  every  year  give  and  dis- 
•■  tribute  to  and  for  the  sustentation,  maynetenaunce, 
■'  and  findinge  foure  persons,  from  tyme  to  tyme  to  be 
'  chosen,  nominated,  and  appointed  by  the  said  maior 
'  and  cominalty  and  cittezens,  and  their  successors, 
'  mete  to  rede  the  lectures  of  divynitye,  astronomy, 
'  musicke,  and  geometry,  within  his  then  dwelling- 
'  house  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  sallaries  and  stipendes 
'  mete  for  four  sufficiently  learned  to  reade  the  said 
'  lectures,  the  same  to  be  paid  at  two  usual  tearmes 
'  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  concernins:  the  other  moietv  which  he  had 
by  his  said  will  disposed  to  the  wardens  and  coini- 

2  H 


4G6 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


nalty  of  the  misteiy  of  the  mercers  of  the  cittye  of 
London,  the  testator  wills  and  disposes  it  to  them 
and  their  successors  that  they  shall  '  yerely  pay  and 
'  distribute  to  and  for  the  finding,  sustentation,  and 
'  mayntenaunce,  of  three  persons  mete  to  read  the 
'  lectures  of  law,  phisicke,  and  rethoricke,  within  his 
'  dwelling-house  aforesaid,  150^.,  viz.  501.  to  each  of 
'  the  said  three  persons.' 

These  endowments,  by  the  terms  of  the  will,  were 
postponed  during  the  life  of  lady  Gresham.  Sir 
Thomas  died  on  the  twenty-first  day  of  November, 
1571),  and  his  lady  on  the  third  of  November,  IB'JO  ; 
upon  which  the  provisions  for  the  lectures  took  effect. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  year  succeeding  the  death  of 
lady  Gresham,  the  maj^or,  &c.  of  London,  and  the 
Mercers'  Company,  wrote  to  the  imiversities  of  Oxford 
and  Cambridge,  requesting  a  nomination  to  them  seve- 
rally of  persons  properly  qualified  for  professors,  in 
consequence  of  which  nomination  three  were  chosen 
from  each  university ;  the  seventh,  that  is  to  say,  the 
music  professor.  Dr.  John  Bull,  was  appointed  by  the 
special  recommendation  of  queen  Elizabeth. 

Having  elected  the  professors,  the  city  and  the 
Mercers'  Company  next  proceeded  to  settle  the  course 
and  subjects  of  the  lectures ;  and  this  was  done  by 
certain  ordinances  and  agreements,  bearing  date  the 
sixteenth  day  of  January,  1597,  between  the  mayor 
and  commonalty  and  citizens  of  London  on  the  first 
part,  the  wardens  and  commonalty  of  the  mystery  of 
Mercers  of  the  saiiie  city  of  the  second  part,  and  the 
lecturers  elected  and  appointed  and  placed  in  Gresham 
house  on  the  third  part. 

It  was  for  some  time  a  matter  of  debate  whether 
the  lectures  should  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  Survey,  but  at  length  it  was 
agreed  that  they  should  be  read  in  both  languages. 

The  ordinances  above-mentioned  may  be  seen  at 
large  in  Strype's  edition  of  Stowe,  vol.  II.  Append.  II. 
page  2,  and  also  in  the  preface  to  Ward's  Lives  of 
the  Gresham  Professors  :  what  concerns  the  music 
lecture  is  in  these  words  : — 

'  The  solemn  musick  lecture  is  to  be  read  twice 

*  every  week,  in  manner  following,  viz.,  the  theorique 
'  part  for  half  an  hour,  or  thereabouts  ;  and  the  prac- 
'  tique  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 
'  tongue.  The  days  appointed  for  the  solemn  lectures 
'  of  musick  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  by  the  queen's  most  excellent 
'  majesty,  being  not  able  to  speak  Latin,  his  lectures 
'  are  permitted  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  hours  for  reading  the  several  lectures  ;  but  these 
were  not  finally  adjusted  till  the  year  1631,  when 

*  Book  I.  pag.  12S,  edit.  1720.  '■ 


the  reading  was  confined  to  the  law  terms,  and  that 
in  the  following  order  : — 

IMonday,  Divinity. 

Tuesday,  Civil  Law, 

Wednesday,  Astronomy. 

Thursday,  Geometry. 

Friday,  Khetoric. 

Saturday,  |  f^y^^^^■ 

And  this  is  the  order  now  observed.f 

William  Bird,  supposed  to  be  the  son  of  Thomas 
Bird,  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  chapel  in  the  reign 
of  Edward  VI.^:  was  one  of  the  children  of  the  same  ; 
and,  as  it  is  asserted  by  Wood  in  the  Ashmolean  MS. 
was  bred  up  under  Tallis.  There  are  some  par- 
ticulars relating  to  this  eminent  person  that  embarrass 
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  flourished. 
That  he  was  very  young  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI. 
may  be  concluded  from  the  circumstance  that  ho 
lived  till  the  year  1623,  at  M'hich  time,  supposing 
him  to  have  been  born  in  the  first  year  of  that 
prince's  reign,  viz.  anno  154:6,  he  must  have  been  of 
the  age  of  seventy-seven.  And  yet  there  are  many 
of  his  compositions,  particularly  masses,  extant,  which 
must  be  supposed  to  have  been  made  while  the 
church  service  was  in  Latin,  and  bespeak  him  to 
have  arrived  at  great  excellence  in  his  faculty  before 
the  final  establishment  of  the  liturgy  under  queen 
Elizabeth.  The  most  probable  conjecture  that  can 
be  formed  touching  this  particular  seems  to  be,  that 
he  was  a  child  of  the  chapel  under  Edward  VI.  and 
as  his  name  does  not  occur  in  the  chapel  establish- 
ment of  queen  Mary,  that  he  Avas  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  very  little  doubt,  considering  the 
time  when  they  lived,  and  the  compositions  by  them 
published  separately  and  in  conjunction,  but  that 
both  Tallis  and  Bird  were  of  the  Romish  com- 
munion. It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  in  those 
times  the  servants  of  the  chapel  should  be  either 
divines  or  casuists,  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  reformation  was  com- 
pleted ;  or  that  he  and  Bird  should  afterwards  fall  in 

t  In  the  eighth  year  of  the  present  king  an  act  of  parliament  passed 
for  carrying  into  execution  an  agreement  of  the  city  and  the  mercer's 
company  with  the  commissioners  of  the  excise  revenue  for  the  purchase 
of  Gresham-college,  and  the  ground  and  buildings  thereunto  belonging, 
and  for  vesting  the  same  in  the  crown  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  and 
building  an  excise-office  there,  and  for  enabling  the  lecturers  of  the  said 
college  to  marry,  notwithstanding  any  restriction  contained  in  the  will 
of  Sir  Thomas  Gresham,  knight,  deceased. 

The  bill  was  strongly  opposed  in  the  house  of  commons  by  the  pro- 
fessors, with  Dr.  Pemberton,  the  physic  professor,  at  their  head ;  but 
a  clause  being  inserted  therein  that  gave  him  an  additional  sum  of  501. 
a  year  for  his  life,  he  was  satisfied,  as  were  the  other  professors  with  the 
simi  of  501.  a  year  in  lieu  of  their  apartments  in  the  college  over  and 
above  their  stipends,  and  that  provision  in  the  act  that  left  them  at  liberty 
to  marry.  The  city,  and  also  the  mercer's  company  were  obliged  to  find 
and  provide  a  proper  and  sufficient  place  or  places  for  the  professors  to 
read  in ;  and  accordingly  the  lectures  are  now  read  in  a  room  over  the 
Royal  Exchange. 

X  Besides  being  a  gentleman  of  the  chapel,  it  seems  that  he  was  clerk 
of  the  cheque.    He  died  in  15G1. 


Chap.  XCVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


467 


with  that  establishment  which  banished  superstition 
and  error  from  the  church,  and  become  good  and 
sincere  protestants. 

Upon  the  accession  of  queen  Elizabeth,  and  the 
resolutions  taken  by  her  to  reform  the  choral  service, 
Richard  Bowyer,  who  had  been  master  of  the 
children  under  king  Henry  VIII.  Edward  VI.  and 
queen  Mary,  was  continued  in  that  station  ;  Dr.  Tye, 
who  seems  to  have  been  out  of  employ  during  the 
reign  of  queen  IMarj^  and  William  Blitheman,  were 
made  organists,  and  Tallis  continued  a  gentleman  of 
the  chapel  royal.  As  to  Bird,  there  seems  to  have 
been  no  provision  made  for  him  at  court ;  on  the 
contrar}. ,  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  chapel  till 
the  year  1569,  when  he  was  appointed  a  gentleman 
thereof  in  the  room  of  Robert  Parsons,  who  about 
a  month  before,  by  accident,  was  drowned  at  Newark- 
upon-Trent.*  Upon  his  being  elected  into  the 
chapel,  Bird  was  permitted  by  the  dean  and  chapter 
to  execute  his  office  of  organist  of  Lincoln  by  a 
substitute  named  Butler,  of  whom  there  are  no  me- 
morials remaining. 

It  appears  that  in  1575,  Tallis  and  Bird  were  both 
gentlemen,  and  also  organists  of  the  royal  chapel ; 
but  the  time  of  their  appointment  to  this  latter  office 
cannot  now  be  ascertained. 

Wood,  in  his  account  of  IMorley,  Fasti,  anno  1588, 
says  of  Bird  that  he  was  skilled  in  the  mathematics  ; 
and  it  there  and  elsewhere  appears  that  Morley,  who 
was  his  disciple,  was  taught  by  him  as  well  mathe- 
matics as  music. 

These  are  all  the  particulars  of  his  life  that  can 
now  be  recovered,  excepting  that  ho  died  on  the 
fourth  day  of  July  in  the  year  1623,  and  that  he  had 
a  son  named  Thomas,  educated  in  his  own  profession, 
who  in  the  year  1601  was  the  substitute  of  Dr.  John 
Bull,  and  while  he  was  travelling  abroad  for  the 
recovery  of  his  health,  read  the  music  lecture  for  him 
at  Gresham  college. 

The  compositions  of  Bird  are  many  and  various  ; 
those  of  his  younger  years  were  mostly  for  the 
service  of  the  church,  and  favour  strongly  the  sup- 
position that  he  then  adhered  to  the  Romish  commu- 
nion ;  for  with  what  reason  can  it  be  imagined  that 
a  protestant  musician  should,  not  to  mention  other 
Latin  offices,  compose  masses  ?  and  of  these  there 
are  three  at  least  of  Bird's  actually  in  print,  one  for 
three,  another  for  four,  and  another  for  five  voices. 

The  .work  herein  before  spoken  of,  entitled  '  Can- 
'  tiones,  quje  ab  argumento  sacraj  vocantur,  quin- 
*  que  et  sex  partium,  Autoribus  Thoma  Tallisio  et 
'  Guilielmo  Birdo,'  London  1575,  oblong  quarto,  was 
composed  by  Bird,  in  conjunction  with  Tallis,  and 
seems  to  be  the  eai'liest  of  his  publications,  though 
he  must  at  that  time  have  been  somewhat  advanced  in 
years.  He  also  composed  a  work  of  the  same  kind  en- 
titled '  Sacrarum  Cantionum,  quinque  vocum,'  printed 
in  1589,  among  which  is  that  noble  composition 
'  Civitas  sancti  tui,'  which  for  many  years  past  has 

*  This  disaster  befel  Parsons  January  25,  ISfiO,  and  Bird  was  svrom 
in  his  room  Februai-y  22,  in  the  same  year.     Clifque  Book. 


been  sung  in  the  church  as  an  anthem  to  the  words 
'  Bow  thine  ear,  O  Lord.' 

Besides  these  he  was  the  author  of  a  work  entitled 
'  Gradualia,  ac  Cantiones  sacrce,  quinis,  quaternis 
'  trinisque  vocibus  concinnatai.  lib.  primus.  Authore 
'  Gulielmo  Byrde,  Organista  regio  Anglo.'  Of  this 
there  are  two  editions,  the  latter  published  in  1610. 

In  the  dedication  of  this  work  to  Henry  Howard, 
earl  of  Northampton,  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  suasore 
'  ac  rogatore,  serenissimus  rex  (exemplo  post  regis 
'  Edouardi  tertii  retatem  inaudito)  me  sociosq  ;  meos, 
'  qui  ipsius  majestati  in  musicis  deservimus,  novis 
*  auxit  beneficiis,  et  stipendiorum  incrementis.f 

The  contents  of  this  first  book  of  the  Gradualia  are 
antiphons,  hymns,  and  other  offices,  in  the  Latin 
tongue  for  the  festivals,  that  is  to  say.  In  festo  Puri- 
ficationis.  In  festo  omnium  sanctorum.  In  festo  cor- 
poris Chi-isti,  In  festo  nativitatis  beataj  Mariaj  Vir- 
ginis,  and  others,  probably  composed  during  the 
reign  of  queen  Slary. 

Another  collection  of  the  like  sort,  and  by  the 
same  author,  was  published  by  him  in  the  same  year 
1610,  with  this  title,  '  Gradualia,  seu  cantionum 
'  sacrarum  :  quarum  alise  ad  qimtuor,  aliaj  vero  ad 
'  quinque  et  sex  voces  editae  sunt.' 

These,  with  the  masses  above-mentioned,  after  a 
careful  enquiry,  seem  to  be  the  whole  of  the  com- 
positions for  the  church,  published  by  Bird  himself; 
and,  that  he  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 
offices  of  the  like  kind,  which  formerly  made  a  part 
of  divine  service,  can  only  be  accounted  for  by  that 
disposition  which  then  prevailed  in  the  public  to 
receive  and  admire  whatever  had  the  sanction  of  his 
name. 

Although  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 
secular  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  Ariosto,  which 
he  set  in  that  form  for  five  voices,  being  the  most 
ancient  musical  composition  of  the  kind  to  be  met 
with  in  the  works  of  English  authors. 

To  speak  of  his  compositions  for  private  entertain- 
ment, there  are  extant  these  that  follow  : — 

'  Songs  of  sundry  natures,  some  of  gravitie,  and 
'  others  of  myrth,  fit  for  all  companies  and  voyces, 
'  printed  in  1589.' 

'  Psalmes,  sonets,  and  songs  of  sadness  and  pietie 
'  made  into  musicke  of  five  parts,  whereof  eome  of 

+  This  passage  has  an  allusion  to  a  grant  of  James  I.  anno  1604,  after 
a  Ions  ami  chargeable  suit,  with  the  furtherance  of  the  earl  of  North- 
ampton, and  other  honourable  persons,  whereby  the  stipends  of  the 
gentlemen  of  the  chapel  were  increased  from  thirty  to  forty  pounds  per 
annum,  and  the  allowance  for  the  twelve  children  from  sixpence  to  ten- 
pence  per  diem,  with  a  proportionable  increase  of  salary  to  the  Serjeant, 
the  two  yeomen,  and  the  groom  of  the  vestry.  A  memorial  of  this  grant 
is  entered  in  the  cheque-book  of  the  chapel-royal,  with  an  anathema 
upon  whosoever  shall  take  out  the  leaf.  A  copy  of  the  whole  verbatim  is 
inserted  in  a  subsecjuent  page  of  this  work. 


468 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X 


*  them  going  abroad  among  divors  in  untrue  coppies, 
'  are  here  truly  corrected  ;  and  th'  other  being  songs 
'  very  rare  and  newly  composed,  are  here  published 
'  for  the  recreation  of  all  such  as  delight  in  musicke, 
'  by  William  Byrd,  one  of  the  Gent,  of  the  Queens 

*  Majesties  royall  chappell.' 

The  last  of  his  works  published  by  himself  is 
entitled  '  Psalmes,  Songs,  and  Sonets  :  some  solemne, 
'  others  joy  full,  framed  to  the  life  of  the  words,  fit 
'  for  voyces  or  viols  of  3,  4,  5,  and  G  parts.'  Lond. 
1611. 

Besides  these  he  was  the  author  of  many  com- 
positions published  in  collections  made  by  other 
persons,  namely,  that  entitled  '  Parthenia,  or  the 
'  maiden  -  head  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- 
pell,' in  which  are  three  lessons  for  that  instrument 

of  his  composition.  In  the  printed  collections  of 
services  and  anthems  published  at  sundry  times, 
namely,  those  of  Day  and  Barnard,  are  many  com- 
posed by  him,  and  still  many  more  which  exist  only 
in  the  manuscript  books  of  the  king's  chapel,  the 
cathedral,  and  collegiate  churches  of  this  kingdom. 

That  he  was  an  admirable  organist  there  cannot 
be  the  least  doubt :  a  very  good  judge  of  music,  who 
was  well  acquainted  with  him,  says  that  '  with  fingers 
*and  with  pen  he  had  not  his  peer  ;'*  and  we  need 
but  advert  to  his  compositions  to  judge  of  his  style 
and  manner  of  playing  on  that  noble  instrument.  If 
he  had,  as  the  passage  above-cited  seems  to  indicate, 
a  free  and  voluble  hand,  we  may  reasonably  conclude 
that  the  exercise  of  it  was  sufficiently  restrained  and 
corrected  by  his  judgment ;  and  that  his  voluntaries 
were  enriched  with  varied  motion,  lofty  fugues,  artful 
Byncopations,  original  and  unexpected  cadences,  and, 
in  short,  all  the  ornaments  of  figurate  descant,  form- 
ing a  style  solemn,  majestic,  and  devout. 

His  music  for  the  virginals,  or,  as  we  should  now 
say,  his  lessons  for  the  harpsichord,  are  of  a  cast 
proper  for  the  instrument ;  and  as  we  cannot  but 
suppose  that  he  was  able  to  play  them  himself, 
bespeak  in  him  a  command  of  hand  beyond  w'hat 
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  vocal  music, 
have  been  increasing  for  two  centuries  past  even  to 
this  day.  In  the  collection  entitled  Parthenia  above- 
Hientioned,  the  lessons  of  Bird  are  none  of  the  easiest ; 
but  in  a  manuscript  collection,  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 
'  Walsingham.'  f 

*  See  the  verses  of  John  Baldwin  in  a  subsequent  page. 

+  This  lesson  is  mentioned  by  Dr.  Ward,  as  being  in  a  manuscript 
volume  in  the  library  of  Dr.  Pepuscb,  the  contents  whereof  he  has 
given  at  large ;  in  that  collection  it  stands  tlie  first,  and  is  called  only 
Walsingham.  The  Doctor  in  a  note  styles  it  '  As  I  went  to  Walsingham,' 
and  says,  without  vouching  any  authority,  that  this  tune  was  first  com- 
posed by  Bird  with  twenty-two  variations,  and  tliat  afterwards  thirty 
others  were  added  to  it  at  ditferent  times  by  Dr.  Bull. 

Dr.  Ward  in  this  note  seems  to  confound  the  lesson  with  the  tune ;  for 


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  the  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 
w^hich  in  this  place  it  is  necessary  to  be  somewhat 
particular. 

There  seems  to  be  a  dispute  between  us  and  the 
Italians  whether  the  canon  '  Non  nobis  Domine' 
be  of  the  composition  of  our  countryman  Bird  or  of 
Palestrina.  That  it  has  long  been  deposited  in  the 
Vatican  library,  and  there  preserved  with  great 
care,  has  been  confidently  asserted,  and  is  generally 
believed ;  and  that  the  opinion  of  the  Italian  mu- 
sicians is  that  it  was  composed  by  Palestrina  may  be 
collected  from  this,  that  it  has  lately  been  wrought 
into  a  concerto  in  eight  parts,  and  published  at 
Amsterdam  in  the  name  of  Carlo  Ricciotti,  with  a 
note  that  the  subject  of  the  fugue  of  the  concerto  is 
a  canon  of  Palestrina ;  and  that  sul)ject  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 
Avorks  of  Bird  above  enumerated,  and  that  its  first 
publication  was  by  John  Hilton,  at  the  end  of  his 
collection  of  Catches,  Rounds,  and  Canons,  printed  in 
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  such  a  case  as  this,  tradition 

it  is  more  than  probable  that  it  was  composed  upon  the  ground  of  a  tune 
to  an  old  interlude  or  ballad  in  Pepy's  collection  mentioned  by  Dr.  Percy 
in  his  Reliques  of  ancient  English  Poetry,  vol.  II.  pag.  91,  and  begin- 
ning thus : — 

'  As  I  -went  to  Walsingham, 

'  To  the  shrine  with  speede, 
'  Met  I  with  a  jolly  palmer 
'  In  a  pilgrime's  weede. 

"  Now  God  you  save  yon  jolly  palmer ! 

"  Welcome  lady  gay, 
"  Oft  have  I  sued  to  thee  for  love, 

"  Oft  have  I  said  you  nay." 
To  confirm  this  opinion  of  the  Doctor's  mistake,  it  may  be  observed 
that  many  of  Bird's  lessons  were  composed  on  old  grounds  or  popular 
tunes :  to  give  an  instance  of  one  in  particular,  in  Lady  Nevil's  book 
above-mentioned  is  a  lesson  of  Bird,  entitled  Sellenger's,  i.  e.  St.  Leger's 
Round  ;  this  Sellenger's  Round  was  an  old  country  dance,  and  was  not 
quite  out  of  knowledge  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  there 
being  persons  now  living  who  remember  it.  Morley  mentions  it  in  his 
Introduction,  pag.  118,  and  Taylor  the  water-poet,  in  his  tract  en- 
titled '  The  world  runs  on  wheels.'  And  it  is  printed  in  a  collection  of 
country- dances  published  by  John  Playford  in  1G79,  the  notes  of  it  are  as 
follow : — 


iPigi^iigi.^ 


i^iHi^^ii^i^ii 


^ 


ISSg^g^^g^lfi^P 


i^^ 


3Ep£fe|EfeFgigE3!EEEESEJEE 


^^^H^^E^^i 


&-^-f»- 


Bird's  lesson  called  Sellenger's  Round  above  mentioned,  is  apparently 
a  set  of  variations  on  the  country-dance  of  the  same  name;  and  it  is 
highly  probable  that  the  lesson  '  As  I  went  to  Walsingham,'  was  also 
a  set  of  variations  on  the  tune  of  some  old  ballad  which  had  these  for  its 
initial  words. 


Chap.  XCVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


469 


must  be  deemed  of  some  weight,  it  is  hard  to  con- 
ceive that  a  falsehood  of  this  kind  could  ever  gain 
credit,  and  still  harder  that  it  should  maintain  its 
ground  for  nearly  two  centuries.  Dr.  Pepusch  in  his 
Treatise  of  Harmony  has  expressly  ascribed  it  to 
Bird,  and  if  he  and  the  rest  of  the  world  concurred 
in  believing  it  to  be  a  composition  of  his,  we  at  this 
day,  without  any  substantial  evidence  to  the  contrary, 
can  hardly  be  justified  in  doubting  whether  he  or 
another  was  the  author  of  it. 

From  the  nature  of  his  works  it  is  easy  to  discover 
that  Bird  was  a  man  of  a  grave  and  serious  temper, 
the  far  greater  part  of  them  being  for  the  church ; 
and  as  to  the  rest,  they  are  in  general  as  he  terms 
them,  '  Psalmes  and  songs  of  sadnes  and  pietie.' 
Nevertheless  he  could  upon  occasion  exercise  his 
fancy  on  lighter  subjects,  but  never  in  the  composition 
to  Avords  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  the  madrigals,  '  La 
'  Verginella  e  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  "^nly  essay  in 
that  kind  of  composition  which  tends  to  promote 
mirth  and  good  fellowship  by  drinking  and  singing, 
namely,  the  Round  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  virtuous  contention,  as  he 
terms  it,  in  love  betwixt  themselves,  made  wpon  the 
plain-song  of  a  IMiserere  each  to  the  number  of  forty 
ways,  and  that  they  could  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  his  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 
they  both  lived. 

The  testimonies  to  the  merits  of  this  most  ex- 
cellent musician  are  almost  as  numerous  as  the 
authors,  at  least  of  this  country,  who  have  written 
on  the  science  or  practice  of  music  since  his  time. 
In  the  cheque-book  of  the  chapel-royal  he  is  called 
the  father  of  music  ;  and  in  the  commendatory  verses 
before  the  second  part  of  the  Gradualia,  '  Britannico 
'  musics  parenti.'  Morley  styles  him  '  his  loving 
'  master  never  without  reverence  to  be  named  of 
'  musicians  ; '  and  Peacham  asserts,  that  even  by  the 
judgment  of  France  and  Italy  he  was  not  excelled  by 
the  musicians  of  either  of  those  countries.  Speaking 
of  his  Cantiones  sacra3  and  Gradualia,  he  says,  what 
all  must  allow  who  shall  peruse  them,  that  they  are 
angelical  and  divine  ;  anel  of  the  madrigal  La  Ver- 

*  Taken  from  the  Orlando  Furioso,  canto  primo.  The  first  of  these 
madrigals  is  in  fi%-e  parts,  and  is  printed  at  the  end  of  the  '  Psalmes, 
Sonets,  and  songs  of  sadness  and  pietie;'  a  translation  of  the  words 
fitted  to  the  same  notes,  may  be  seen  in  a  collection  entitled  '  Musica 
'  Transalpine;  '  the  other  madrigal  is  printed  in  a  collection  entitled 
'  The  first  sett  of  Italian  madrigals  Englished  by  Thomas  Watson,'  it  is 
set  both  in  five  and  six  parts.  In  the  title-page  of  the  latter  boob  the 
two  latter  madrigals  are  said  to  be  composed  after  '  the  Italian  vaine  at 
the  request  of  the  sayd  Thomas  Watson,' 


ginella,  and  some  other  compositions  in  the  same  set, 
that  they  cannot  be  mended  by  the  best  Italian  of 
them  all. 

Besides  his  salaries  and  other  emoluments  of  his 
profession,  it  is  to  be  supposed  that  Bird  derived 
some  advantages  from  the  patent  granted  by  queen 
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  Este,  for  he  spelt  his  name  in  all  of  these 
three  ways,  who  printed  music  imder  that  patent. 

Tallis  died  in  1585,  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  1505;  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 
given  to  the  world  in  a  very  elegant  form,  for  the 
initial  letters  of  the  several  songs  were  finely  orna- 
mented with  fanciful  devices ;  every  page  had  an 
ornamented  border,  and  the  notes,  the  heads  whereof 
were  in  the  form  of  a  lozenge,  were  well  cut,  and  to 
a  remarkable  degree  legible. 

Wood  seems  to  have  erred  in  ascribing  to  Bird  an 
admired  composition  in  forty  parts,  which  he  says  is 
not  extant.  Compositions  in  forty  parts  are  not  very 
common  ;  there  is  one  of  Tallis,  of  which  an  account 
has  been  given  in  a  preceding  page,  and  is  probably 
the  composition  alluded  to  by  Wood,  who  seems  to 
have  been  guiltj^  of  a  very  excusable  mistake  of  one 
eminent  musician  for  another. 

In  a  manuscript  collection  of  motetts,  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  eulogium  on  Bird  is  so  laboured 
and  bespeaks  so  loudly  the  estimation  in  which  he 
was  held,  as  well  abroad  as  at  home,  that  the  in- 
sertion of  the  whole  \a  ill  hardly  be  thought  to  need 
an  apology  : — 

Reede,  here,  behold  and  fee  all  that  muficions  bee  : 
What  is  inclofde  herein,  declare  1  will  begine. 

A  ftore-houfTe  ot'treafure  this  booke  may  be  faiede 

Of  fon^es  moft  excelente  and  the  befte  that  is  made, 
CoUedled  and  chofen  out  of  the  beft  autours 

Both  ftranger  and  Englifh  borne,  whiche  be  the  beft  makers 
And  fkilfulft  in  muficke,  the  fcyence  to  fett  foorthe 

As  herein  you  fhall  finde  if  you  will  fpeake  the  truthe. 
There  is  here  no  badd  longe,  but  the  beft  can  be  hadd, 

The  cheefeft  from  all  men  :  yea  there  is  not  one  badd. 
And  fuch  fweet  muficke  as  dothe  much  delite  yeelde 

Bothe  unto  men  at  home  and  birds  abroade  in  fielde. 
The  autors  for  to  name  I  maye  not  here  forgett. 

But  will  them  now  downe  put  and  all  in  order  fett. 


470 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book.  X. 


I  will  beglne  with  White,  Shepper,  Tye,  and  Tallis, 

Parfons,  Gyles,  Mundie  th'oulde  one  of  the  queenes  pallis, 
Mundie  yonge,  th'oulde  man's  fonne  and  like  wyfe  others  moe  ; 

There  names  would  be  to  longe,  therefore  I  let  them  goe  ; 
Yet  mufl:  I  fpeake  of  moe  euen  of  ftraingers  alio  : 

And  firfte  I  muft  bringe  in  Alfonlb  Ferabofco, 
A  ftrainger  borne  he  was  in  Italie  as  I  here  j 

Italians  faie  of  hime  in  fkill  he  had  no  peere. 
Luca  Merenfio  with  others  manie  moe, 

As  Philipp  Demonte  the  cmperour's  man  alfo  ; 
And  Orlando  by  name  and  eeke  Crequillion, 

Cipriano  Rore  :  and  alfo  Andreon. 
All  famous  in  there  arte,  there  is  of  that  no  doute  : 

There  workes  no  lefTe  declare  in  euerie  place  aboute, 
Yet  let  not  ftraingers  bragg,  nor  they  thefe  foe  commende  ; 

For  they  maye  now  geve  place  and  fett  themfelves  behynd 
An  Englifhe  man,  by  name,  Willm  Birde  for  his  /kill 

Which  I  fhould  haue  fctt  firft,  for  foe  it  was  my  will  ; 
Whofe  greate  fkill  and  knowledge  dothe  excelle  all  at  this  tyme 

And  far  to  ftrange  countries  abroade  his  (kill  dothe  fhyne  : 
Famus  men  be  abroade,  and  /kilful  in  the  arte, 

I  do  confeiTe  the  fame  and  will  not  from  it  ftarte  5 
But  in  Ewropp  is  none  like  to  our  Englifhe  man. 

Which  doth  fo  farre  exceede,  as  trulie  I  it  lean. 
As  ye  cannot  finde  out  his  equale  in  all  thinges 

Throwghe  out  the  worlde  lb  wide,  and  fo  his  fame  now  ringes. 
With  fingers  and  with  penne  he  hathe  not  now  his  peere; 

For  in  this  world  fo  wide  is  none  can  him  come  neere. 
The  rareft  man  he  is  in  muficks  worthy  arte 

That  now  on  earthe  doth  liue  :  I  fpeake  it  from  my  harte 
Or  heere  to  fore  hath  been  or  after  him  fhall  come  : 

None  fuch  I  feare  fhall  rife  that  may  be  calde  his  ionne. 


O  famus  man  !  of  fkill  and  judgemente  greate  profounde; 

Lett  heaucn  and  earth  ringe  out  thy  worthye  praife  to  fbwnde  ; 
Ney  lett  thy  fkill  it  felfe  thy  worthie  fame  recorde 

To  all  pofteretie  thy  due  defert  afforde  ; 
And  lett  them  all  whicii  hecre  of  thy  greate  fkill  then  faie 

Fare  well,  fare  well  thou  prince  of  muficke  now  and  aye  ; 
Fare  well  I  fay,  fare  well,  fare  well  and  here  I  end 

Fare  well  melodious  Birde,  fare  well  fweet  mufickes  frende  1 
All  thefe  things  do  I  fpeake  not  for  reward  or  bribe; 

Nor  yet  to  flatter  him  or  fett  him  upp  in  pride, 
Nor  for  aftcccion  or  ought  might  moue  there  towe. 

But  euen  the  truth  reporte  and  that  make  known  to  yowe. 
Lo  heere  I  end  farewell,  committinge  all  to  God, 

Who  kepe  us  in  his  grace  and  fhilde  us  from  his  rodd. 

Finis —  Jo  Baldwine. 

The  two  following  motets,  the  one  printed  in  the 
second  part  of  the  Gradualia,  and  the  other  in  the 
Cantiones  Sacra;,  are  evidences  of  the  skill  and 
ahilitics  of  this  admirable  church  musician. 

Of  the  latter  of  these  compositions  it  is  to  be 
remarked  that  it  is  in  eight  parts,  that  is  to  say, 
Superius  primus  et  secnndus,  Contratenor  primus  et 
secundus,  Tenor  primus  et  secundus,  and  Bassus 
primus  et  secundus ;  and  that  in  the  printed  book 
each  of  these  eight  parts  is  in  canon  of  two  in  one, 
recte  et  retro.  The  whole  is  in  the  judgment  of 
some  of  the  ablest  musicians  at  this  day  living,  a 
most  stupendous  contrivance. 


f 


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VE  -  NI 


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ex   -  111  -  tc  -  mus 


=^: 


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rzzr 


^=^1-- 


=?z: 


g^^E^g^jgi^ 


qn: 


E  -NI 


TE     ex   -  ul  -  te-mus  Do    -     mi  -  no,      ex  -  ul  -  to     -      mus 


Do 


nu 


^^-^ 


^ 


i^ 


ii^Sii^:^ 


VE-NI 


TE 


ex  -  ul-te  -mus   Do  -  mi -no. 


EEE 


li 


VE 


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^^1 


VE 


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t!5==n 


Do 


mi  -no,  Do 


mi   -  no. 


ex  -  ul  -  te-mus      Do 


mi  -  no. 


^ 


r^- 


-X.- 


1^'- 


^ig£ 


:T« 


-x.-- 


;s= 


nn: 

:|== 


no, 


ve    -    ni 


te 


ex  -  ul  -  te-raus 


Do 


mi 


no. 


Do 


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nu 


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razzz? 


EiEfe 


z«3: 


.-zfzrlizb 


^ 


ex  -  ul-temus  Do  -  mino. 


ve 


ni 


to 


ex  -  ul  -  te  -mus    Do 


mi- 


izz 


1^ 


it 


EE 


■^x 


tE 


-=]; 


:ri:: 


TE 


ex  -  ultemus     Do 


mi  -  no,  Ju  -    bi 


Do 


mi 


'^ 


^z 


-*.>- 

-■X- 


E^: 


:t= 


wr-- 


=3=:: 


ve     -      ni 


te 


ex  -  te  -  te  mus  Do 


mi 


VE 


NI 


TE 


l^i^ig 


IE 


Jd- 


rj= 


■.-Tt:. 


zxAz 


ex  -  ul  -  temus     Do 


mi 


no. 


Do 


mi 


Chap.  XCVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


471 


-^■== 


ES 


ace 


-I — 


'^^ 


'jfx: 


Xz 


Ju  -  bi  -  le 


mus  De      -    o. 


Ju    -     bi  -  le 


mus  De 


t 


S 


=t=^ 


zziz 


^ 


•A — \- 


:±>= 


no, 


pSSEp 


eSS 


Ju      -      bi  -  le     -  mus  De 


:^: 


Ju  -  Li-  le  -mus 


iig 


H^pi 


no. 


Ju  -  bi  -  le 


mus  De 


0,     De 


o, 


Ju 


bi-le 


mus    Dc-o,      Ju  -  bi  - 


m 


Ju  -bi-le  -  mus  De 


±=t 


:?3- 


!^EES=^^ 


=p:: 


ZTiz 


no. 


0, 


i^i^^ 


no, 


Ju  -  bi  -  le  -  mus  De 


E^-^EE 


Ju  -  bi-le  -mus  De     - 


-FE=^ 


:t: 


^ 


Ju 


bi  -  le 


mus     De 


m 


^ 


no, 


E^ 


I  J       ^ 

~S=— I — 


E^^ 


Ju 


bi  -  le     -   mus   De 


^m 


o,     Ju  -  bi  -  lo  -  mus  De  -o, 


=fei 


^■ 


g^f^s^i 


rj- 


§^= 


JCZ- 


=e=t 


Ju- bi-le -mus     De 


Ju  -  bi  -  Ic-mus  De 


sa 


lu 


*= 


P1S^3 


^^^m- 


De 


sa 


lu  -  ta  -  ri     nos 


tro, 


i|s=E 


mm 


e3= 


— n*- 


sa  -  lu  -ta  -  ri  nos     - 


=*:=t: 


:i: 


-    -    le-mus  De    -    o, 


Ju  -  bi-le  -  mus     Do    -    o     sa 


tgi^f^p^^g=e;|^^^^ 


lu  -  ta 

LI 


n 


nos 


r- 


P^ 


EE 


tro,      sa    -  lu 


pzitz 


Ju  -  bi  -  le-mus  De 


sa 


lu-ta-  ri     nos 


m 


:t=: 


-^=1 U-LEi 


Ju    -     bi- le-mus  De 


0, 


De 


^ 


sa 


m 


i=^^ 


T^ 


-•di 


Ju  -  bi-le-  mus  De 


De 


0, 


^mmm 


sa 


lu  -  ta  -  ri     nos 


=fe=;3E 


t= 


idz: 


IC^I 


ta  -  n        nos 


tro, 


sa     - 


^^  -     tro, 


re cs: 


-p=g- 


g^ggpr^pg: 


sa 


lu  -    ta  -    ri       nos 


tro, 


iEi^^ggi^iR=i^=i=E: 


aass 


zS=Mz 


=P=E- 


ElE=^i^ 


sa 


*? 


ta    -  ri     nos     -     tro. 


lu  -  ta    -    ri    nos 


tro, 


sa 


lu  -  ta    -  ri     nos     - 


EEE 


-m — 4i 


rt== 


"^ 


=^~ 


1=:^^ 


-     tro. 


lu  -  ta    -  ri      nos 


tro, 


sa    -lu-ta  -  ri 


ig=^^_^ 


vdz 


lu    -    ta-ri       nos 


tro. 


:E=^^^=' 


zaz 


zutz 


^ 


^^^ 


sa 


-*— K- 


lu  -   ta 


n 


—I        I— |-^J-J-j-»- 


nos 
znziz^ 


tro, 


111 


tro, 


sa  -    lu  -  ta  -  ri   -  nos 


tro, 


sa 


lu 


472 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Bock  X. 


:5=pt: 


tT 


t=== 


#=*= 


:r=|==tz= 


rir 


jr. 


E^f^f^ 


ZWJC 


lu 


ta  - 11      uos 


tro, 


prte     -   oc 


^ 


-ef- 

sa 


Ei=[3=:^^^li 


'^^^ 


ii 


lit 


cu 

— zfe- 


SE 


lu   -    ta 


11     nos 


:fc^= 


=3- 


bei; 


tro, 


prse-oc-cu  -  pe  -    mus 


fa 


ci  -  em 


F     _       o 


-     -  tro, 


sa 


lu 


EE 


:e 


^cc 


E:r= 


ta  -  ri      nos     -     tro, 


^ 


-W=g 


ttli 


prie     -     oc 

-r    J — g— K- 


cu 


nos  -  tro,  sa 


m^^ 


lu  -  ta  -    ri     nos 


tro, 


?2- 


tt=: 


:ci= 


prse-oc-cu  -  pe 


mus 


sa  -  lu  -  ta  -  ri   nos 


tro 


^. 


-xAi 


pra; 


1=^3=1^; 


1^1 


-   ta 


ri, 


sa 


lu  -  ta 


ri 


nos 


tro, 


« 


zoz 


:rfi 


E^ 


+ 


sctz 


i^i^P^=g=E 


-    pe 


mus 


fa  -  ci  -  em    e 


JUS, 


praj  -  oc  -  cu    - 


t 


.^E 


^^^=3: 


d^z 


?2: 


-J— 


t: 


:ziz 


i^jii 


rj: 


e 
rin=z 


JUS, 


prse  -  oc  -  cu  -  pe      -    mus 


fa  -  ci-em      e 


^= 


=!= 


SiS 


-•:?? 


s^e 


pe 


mus  fa 


ci  em   e  -  jus. 


pra3  -  oc  -  cu  -  pe    -      mus 


fa 


ci-em 


m 


tep 


^^- 


t?=t 


fa  -    ci  -  em 


i%-:=t 


oc 


m 


:q-:j: 


cu 


pe 


rdi 


-«»- 


?E 


::^i 


e[^ 


dtn; 


JUS, 


praj  -  oc  -  cu  -  pe    -      mus 


fa 


:n^i 


ci  -  em     e 


|=Ei3^'ii^i=31 


mus  fa 


ci-em     e 


jus, 


pra3 


oc 


cu 


i=^gi=f^i 


pe     -      mus  fa    -     ci-cm    e 


:=!— = 


1^ 


t^ 


roi 


pe 


f: 


It 


=?:=?= 


^=3ifi^^i=i^^ 


mus      fa 


ci-em 


JUS 


=l3ggiiga=^^gg^ 


-    JUS 


fa 


iriii^ii^^^^^pj- 


ci-em       e 


JUS 


iTZti 


JUS 


:^rp 


JUS, 


fa 


ZJl- 


S^=t 


^^J^^-^LH^ 


CI  -  em  e 


JUS 


:rpi 

EEE 


P^E 


I 


eI 


m 


con  -  fes     -    si 


-JEFj=r=-T^^-^=E 


fa    -    ci  -  em    e 


fe- 


xi-. 


JUS, 


fa 


jus 


con  -    fes  -  si  -  o 


Chap.  XCVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


473 


t 


ICC 


in 


w 


m 


m 


~r>- 


:ri; 


^=: 


izizzz 


1*^: 


-CZI- 


-KtZ 


con     -     fes    -     si     -       o 


ne, 


in 


con 


-f3Z 


±z 


ill        con  -  fes  -  si  -  o 


ne, 


in 


^Tt- 


i: 


liiEES^ 


r?2z 


-Fo^ 


EE&^ 


^^ 


-«»- 

"^ 


-^ 


in  con     -     fes  -  bi  -  o 


ne. 


in 


con-fes     -  si 


=E 


fe^: 


rt: 


11 


:di 


^s=E5g^ 


il= 


:i=±m-£=^. 


^EEEE 


^= 


ne, 


in    con  -  fes    -   si     -     o 


^1^* 


-iiii: 


ig 


Si 


:zi; 


ne, 


in 


con  - 


:t=r 


=^|^^^1 


JUS 


m 


con  -  fes    -  si 


ne, 


^^^^^^ 


:=1= 


fes  -  si  -  o 


iie^eee^^e; 


-I 


ne, 


di 


-=1= 


t: 


^1^ 


EE^E 


-I — «^- 


^^ 


con-fes -si 


ne, 


Ju 


bi  -  le  -  mus      e 


=F= 


idr 


FtJ: 


^g^EEfE 


izn 


Elr=['zC=SEEE^^=F^r=^==P^fe 


:*a: 


-    ne, 


et 


in     Psal  -  mis       Ju  -  bi  -  le     -    mus,  Ju    -     bi  -  le  -  mus 


^=^^>. 


tP= 


re 


-  nc, 


in  con  -  fes 


SI 


ne. 


g=zFz=r=£= 


:^^=3^ 


irt 


i^ 


fes    -     si 


ne, 


i^-- 


Ju  -  bi  -  le     -     mus, 


rzar 


et 


in     Psal  -  mis       Ju  -  bi  -  le     -     mus,  Ju    -    bi  -  le  -  mus 


t= 


«: 


;SS=-- 


^ 


Tjri 


^^^^=^m^^smm^ 


et 


in    Psal  -  mis       Ju    -   bi  -  le   -   mus,  Ju  -  bi  -  le  -  mus      e 


i 


'I^E~- 


Zf2Z 


X 


E^ 


izai: 


Ju  -  bi  -  le  -  mus 


w^^ 


EEt= 


Si 


EE^E 


ry?  Cl^C-fey- 


^1^ 


-*2- 


rjcc 


^^E?^"s^ 


HEg 


et      in    Paal  -  mis       Ju   -  bi  -  le    -   mus,  Ju  -  bi-le-mus       c 


EEii 


-Jct: 


gg=^^=3^p^^^|g 


m 


^: 


et  ill    Psal  -  mis       Ju   -   bi  -  le    -    mus,  Ju  -  bi  -  le  -  mus      e 

EI>^EE^^^-:^EEg^EZrZZZZ[^EEg^^^EE;^^E[= 


HISTOEY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X- 


^ 


tf 


isn: 


^t 


~az 


=t=i 


^ 


et 


in      Psal  -  mis 


Ju 


hi   -   le 


mils 


rz2: 


nnzzn 


et 


in     Psal  -  mis, 


^^az 


m 


ts 


@fc 


:=^=rtr; 


— P!=rvj=i::  -^z: =zr  j: 


=t: 


183; 


la; 


riici 


et 


in      Psal  -  mis       Ju    -  Li 


le 


mus 


i,        Ju     -     -    bi  -  le-nms 


^=x?-- 


EEE 


znz 


e    - 


^^^ F-F 


EE 


Ju      -     bi   -    le   -  mus 

^z 


^-g— 3z=i 


:4= 


^r:^ 


et 


in     Psal  -  mis. 


et 


in      Psal  -  mis, 


et 


±z=^z 


et 


in     Psal 


-»- 


zzzifz 


ZCJtZ 


Ju 


bi 


lo    -  mus 


in 


-I — 

.ZZ'Z~ 

et 


:p=:t 


in 


P=^ 


EEE£ 


IDC 


Psal    -  mis 


=:c 


t= 


PH 


ZS2I 


r^iiz 


— T— »__5 1 — ^?i — 


et 


in 


f^ 


-^— I"- 


3E!z: 


-  —         t_z±:— biz 7zJr — '^-zzti 


ztz=D>: 


et 


in    Psal   -    mis         Ju  -  bi-lemus,    Ju   -   bile-nuis 


m 


ii^ii^; 


d= 


=± 


mpiiiei^i^i 


Ju  -  bi-le-mus,  Ju  -  bi  le-mus      e 


m^l 


rd: 


"^^^^^ 


x^-- 


— i-^_jzz=zii 


Psal  -  mis 


~<ry 


Ju  -  bi-le-mus        e 


et 


111 


Ju  -  bi-lc-mus      e 


e 


IKPlI 


i. 


^=ii^ 


xiz^" — tzz 


=-— jl 


zot 


zd: 


^iE 


Psal    -    mis 


Ju  -   bi-lenms 


i. 


E?3 

Ju  -  bi  -lemus,  Ju   -    bi  - 


zzzziaz 


*==;.: 


e^i 


zzo?: 


H 


LiC>Z 


z=-— czzt^zz^: 


zri>z 


Psal  -  mis 


Ju  -  bi-le-mus 


ct 


Psal 


mis 


t 


zzzzriz 


i^l; 


zaz 


S3i 


3=ii^ 


lEii «=:  :=z> 


^^=^frz 


?^f 


^^ 


et 
=d:=zz 


in     Psal 


mis 


Ju  -  bi  -  le-mus     e 


et 


113  ZZ 


--3EEFfe^3^iEE 


in 

-9 — r 


et     in  Psal-mis     Ju    -     bi  -  le  - 


e^Se 


'-\=^=^- 


■igi^g^g 


Ju  -  bi-le-mus       e 


ct       in      Psal    -    mis 


ElBE^^: 


■<2- 


EEE 


1X31 


Ju  -  bi-le-mus 

E^^EE^EiE^3=E 


-  le-mus  e 


ct 


in 


m 


§-- 


i^ffi^^^E 


*=E= 


iraz 


^:E 


Ju  -  bi  -  Icnius,  Ju  -  bi  -  le-mus    c 


et 


in      Psal 


mis 


Chap.  XCVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


475 


f 


=^: 


t: 


31^ 


W 


zaz 


:i2Z 


-■!^ 


Ju    -    bi  -  le  -  mus, 


Ju 


bi  -  le  -  mus     e 


Al 


le 


lu  -  ia, 


^ 


^^^^^^ 


t= 


zctz 


Psal 


i 


mis 


Ju     -    bi-lc-mus,   Ju 


-o 


iscc: 


bi-le-mus     e 


ic 


± 


izzi 


^1=^1 


::ni 


mus 


i 


1, 


Ju 


bi   -   le 


mus    e 


Al 


-    1, 


Ju  -  bi  -  le    -    -    mus 


e 


^zzi— 


331 


S3 


ZJfZ 


-     le 

-J— i"- 


lu   - 


ip: 


Al 


^i 


i: 


;f= 


:^= 


EEz 


Psal     -     mis 


Ju 


bi-le- 


mus     e 


IZII 


:^^.Ep 


a: 


le    -    lu 
rstz 


la. 


irai 


f^i 


Al 


le 


lu   -    ia, 


feE= 


=3= 


Ju     -bi-le  -  mus      e 


di 


gg^^^ 


EE3EE 


Ju 


bi-le-mus     e 


w 


^- 


IS 


m 


=t= 


i^^^ 


Al-le-lu    -    ia,       Al-le-lu    -  ia, 


t- 


-^ 


Fm^^^ O 


Al-le-lu   -    ia,   Al-le-lu    - 


Al 


le    -  lu  -  ia. 


i 


=?z= 


:nr 


E&i^ 


:zz: 


SH 


:pr: 


Al-le-lu   -  ia,     Al-le-lu   -  ia. 


:^: 


33= 


.»<-> 


— I 


Al 


le    -   lu   -  ia. 


^i2=z3===3 


Ti 


Iz:^ F 


EEBEEE^ 


Al-le-lu    -   ia,       Al-le-lu  -  ia,  Al  -  le-lu  -  ia. 


;^=E=:t== 


Al-le  -lu  -  ia,      Al-le 


-i=-— 7- 


P 


Al     -le-lu  -   ia,      Al-le-lu   -    ia,       Al-le-lu 


la, 


Al-le-lu  -  ia,       Al-le-lu  -  ia,     Al-le    - 


=P=^ 


zmz 


-Q- 


EEEEt: 


Al 


le 


lu 


la, 


Al 


m 


-im 


ZjOZ 


ip— :, 


_o_ 


Al 


le 


lu    -  ia, 


Al     -    -     le     -    lu     -    -     ia, 


f^ 


la. 


Al     -    -    le-lu 


la. 


i 


feSEEgg: 


?z: 


t: 


Al-le-lu    -    ia,     Al-le-lu 


la. 


Al 


i 


3^^ 


?^ 


=t: 


-  — — b-  r-;^ 


zuz 


li 


lu  -  la,       Al-le  -  lu  -  ia. 


Al 


le-lu 


Al 


le-lu 


-     la, 


'^^^ 


=t 


^m. 


3E^EiEE 


le-lu    - 


** 


K? 


ni: 


=^z:=arr^ 


ITE 


:t=?: 


It: 


:E= 


:z«; 


lu 


la. 


Al  -  le  -lu     -     ia. 


Al 


le-lu 


ia,      Al 


le-lu  -  ia,    Al  - 


m 


le  -  lu    -    ia, 


=a: 


Al 


m^ 


le 


lu 


la. 


Al-  le 


Al 


Ic    -    lu 


ia, 


Al 


ZiJtZ 


le 


476 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


fe^-= 


?E 


33; 


/7\ 


t 


Al 


t: 


=?fz. 


?i 


331 


le  -  lu      -        ia, 


Al      - 


^E 


-T^ 


le 


lu 


32: 


la, 


men. 


-^ 


^^ 


± 


Ji^ 


FEE 


ferrfz 


Al 


le 


lu 


la, 


A 


r^^ 


i=^ 


^ 


E=E 


s 


i 


le-lu 


Si 


1 


la, 


men, 


;e^^ 


rrzi 


rzai 


lu 


la, 


Al 


le 


lu 


fc: 


"«3~ 

ia, 


:zi: 


331 


in!; 


ZZ3: 


::===]i 


-«■  yJ 


lu 


la, 


Al 


le     -    lu 


la, 


^^^m 


m 


Z<OtL 


ZVkl 


ipc: 


zipz 


?^ 


men, 


men. 


eE 


331 


~r>- 


i^ 


-Ut: 


men, 


men. 


11 


=:ir?zi 


f^; 


W^. 


(=p- 


Egi£= 


t 


men. 


men,  A 


men. 


^^ 


(y -i-m 


-^■g 


x=::== 


^z 


men. 


men. 


-a <3- 


— C» — 

men. 


@^=3e 


-g* Tjl- 


5at 


A 


men. 


^•^-* 


K 


32; 


r-ic»r- 


n 


men, 


men. 


William  Bird. 


CANON  RECTE  ET  KETRO. 


=^ 


ZJCJtZ 


E^g^ 


F==i; 


33~ 


\- 


* 


-«S> 


;PF 


331 


3i: 


zjictzzfrz 


DI  -  LI  -  GES 


* 


§^i^^ 


3z: 

;t: 


Do  -  mi  -  nuni       De    - 


=t=t: 


33; 


um    tu  -  um,     ex        to -to       cor    -   de 


tu     -     o, 


-n—rxiz 


^^EE^^ 


'Xzz 


:r3=::rjai3zz 


-Xz 


:cz— ii2z::j3i 


:t=i=; 


'^ 


Jf 


'f*     f » 


=!!=i±=r 


DI  -  LI  -  GES       Do  -  mi  -  num     De-um       tu   -  um,  De    -    um    tu 


um. 


ex 


■zrzx- *3z 


r,S=pcrp(n; 

lEEEEE^btE 


;==^=F=: 


ziz 


I=li=d=C 


^- 


zjcjt: 


zxiz 


— <5 &—<!» 


-o> — o>- 


Zinr=I2Z 


zaz 


DI  -  LI  -  GES       Do  -  mi  -  num      De-um 


^: 


d=i-pd: 


-«s» t3>—ty «■ 


=d 


:=!; 


tu  -  imi,  ex 
33: 


to  -  to     cor 


de    tu 


-o- 


ni: 


o,    tu    - 


:?z=F 


DI  -  LIGES  Do-mi-num 


De  -  um       tu   -    um,  tu  -    um, 


ex  to  -to       COP  -  de  tu 


^P=^^ 


E3": 


DI  -  LIGES  Do- 


mi-num* 


1^ 


33- 

De-um  tu 


=:q=d= 


ZE^-zt: 


m 


^=^ 


^=?=: 


um,  ex  to  -  to 


:i: 


:zi: 


^- 


Z3C2Z 


zziz 


cor  -  de  tu   -  o,  tu  -  o, 


ex 


=i=:^ 


Xtz 


DI 


S^Ies 


-OB- 
LIGES Do- 


=p; 


^- 


-z>- 


mi-num 


De-um  tu 


—z>— 

um. 


ex 


3==1= 


—T^T*- 


ntz 


to -to    cor 


de     tu    - 


=Et=JZ 


=J,=S: 


:d; 


DI  -  LI -GES 


.z*~ 


ii]zr^f=s= 


m^. 


~«3~ 

DI 


E^^fe-^E^E^^E 


Do  -  mi-num   De  -  um 

^z 


-«3 

tu    -    um, 


ex 


^=^-J — 1-1-: 


to  -  to  cor-de 


tu 


LI  -  GES  Do-mi 


~«3 «3- 

num       De 


um    tu  -  um,      tu 


um, 


ex  to -to 


Chap.  XCVI. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


477 


1 


feiS3£ 


-fX fjL, 


mi 


-«^ «- 


S^E 


:t=z^ 


ZUkZ. 


zi:n 


d=^4 


-ff G> O 


:=!-  = 


33 rt- 


ex  to  -  to      cor    -    de 


et 


in     to 


^- 


ZU — <2- 


33: 


=p 


T2- 


ta    a  -  ni   -   ma 


tu 


a, 


a  -  ni  -  ma      tu 


r«n 


•^•j- 

-\^- 


to  -  to      cor    -de     tu    -    o,       cor    -   de    tu 


o, 


et 


r=^-- 


T-±l 


ICC 


m      to     -     ta 


ex     to  -  to    cor 


de   tu 


0, 


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47S 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


m 


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t 


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2Zt 


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-  a,         Di    -    li 
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prox  -  i  -  mum       tu  -  um,        tu  -  um,  Di  -  li  -  ges  prox  -   i  -  mum 


% 


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um, 


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Chap.  XCVIL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


479 


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Di 


li  -  ges    prox   -    i-mum      tu  -  um,       si  -cut     te        ip-sum,      ip 


sum. 


Di    -    li  -ges     prox-i-mura  tu  -  um,       prox-i-mumtu-um,       si-cut  te 


ip-  sum, 


-h- 


^=3=i^^ 


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Id: 


^^SE^. 


=i- ^1=1=  =ii==] 


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id^ 


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te 

=d= 


ip  -  sum. 


i  -  mum  tu  .  um,     si  -  cut        te    ip  -  sum 

I f], C* ^-P— H- 


— o 

si  -  cut  te    ip 


-if 1 — €> 


iB 


sum, 


SI  -    cut    te     ip 


sum. 


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1*3; 


iH 


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^EgE 


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«c»~ 


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te  ip-sum, 


cut  te     ip 


--Tri=^ 


sum,      Di  -  li -ges  prox  -  i- mum  tu  -  um,     si  -cut    te   ip-sum. 
^ 1 ^ 


Di 


li   -    ges       pi'ox-imum  tu  -  um, 


te  ip    -  sum,  te 


ip      -        -    sum. 
William  Bikd. 


CHAP.  XCVII. 

Alfonso  Ferabosco,  as  Dr.  Wilson  used  to  say, 
was  born  of  Italian  parents,  at  Greenwich  in  Kent. 
He  never  arrived  to  any  academical  honours  in  the 
faculty  of  music,  nor  does  it  appear  that  he  had  even 
any  employment  in  the  royal  chapel,  or  about  court  ;* 
nevertheless  he  is  ranked  among  the  first  musicians 
of  Elizabeth's  time.  Morley  says  that  in  a  virtuous 
contention  betwixt  them,  he  and  Bird  made  about 
forty  waies,  as  he  terms  it,  upon  the  plain-song  of"  a 
certain  Miserere  ;  and  Peacham  speaks  of  another 
between  the  same  persons,  to  wit,  who  of  the  two 
should  best  set  the  words  of  a  certain  ditty,  '  The 
Nightingale  so  pleasant  and  so  gay,'  in  which 
Ferabosco  succeeded  so  well,  that,  in  the  judgment  of 
Peacham,  this  composition,  as  also  another  of  his, 
'  I  saw  my  lady  weeping,'  for  five  voices,  cannot  be 
bettered  for  sweetness  of  air  and  depth  of  judgment.f 

He  had  a  son  of  the  same  Christian  name,  who  for 
that  reason  is  often  mistaken  for  his  father ;  he  was 
the  author  of  a  book  with  this  simple  title,  '  Ayres 
by  Alfonso  Ferabosco,'  printed  in  folio,  1609, 
with  the  following  commendatory  verses  by  Ben 
Johnson  : — 

To  my  excellent  friend  Alfonso  Ferrabosco. 

To  urge  my  lov'd  Alfonso  that  bold  fame 

Of  building  townes  and  making  wild  beasts  tame 

"Which  musique  had  ;  or  speak  her  known  effects, 
That  she  removeth  cares,  sadness  ejects, 

Declineth  anger,  persuades  clemency. 
Doth  sweeten  mirth  and  heighten  pietie, 

»  In  Rijmer's  Feadera  Vol.  16,  pngcGW,  is  a  grant,  of  an  annvily  of 
£50  a  1/car  to  Alfonso  Fi^rahosco,  who  is  tints  descrilted,  "one  of  the  ex- 
traordinary grooms  of  our  privy  cliambcr."  The  grant  is  dated  22nd  March , 
1C05,  and  is  said  to  be  made  in  regard  of  Ferabosco's  attendance  upon 
prince  Henry,  and  instructing  him  in  the  art  of  music.  The  annuity  is  to 
te  paid  quarterly  from  the  previous  Christmas. 

t  Both  iirinted  in  the  Musica  Transalpina,  published  bj  N".  Yonge 
in  15SS. 


And  is't  a  body  often  ill  inclin'd, 

No  less  a  soveraign  cure  then  to  the  mind. 
T'  alledge  that  greatest  men  were  not  asham'd 

Of  old,  even  by  her  practice  to  be  fam'd, 
To  say,  indeed,  she  were  the  soul  of  heaven, 

That  the  eight  sphere,  no  less  than  planets  seaven 
]\Iov'd  by  her  order,  and  the  ninth  more  high, 

Including  all  were  thence  call'd  harmony  ; 
I  yet  had  utter'd  nothing  on  thy  part, 

When  these  were  but  the  praises  of  the  art, 
But  wlien  I  have  saide  the  proofes  of  all  these  be 

Shed  in  thy  songs,  'tis  true,  but  short  of  thee. 

Besides  tjie.se  verses,  tliere  ai'e  prefixed  to  the  book 
the  following  : — 

Musick's  maister  and  the  offsjiring 

Of  rich  musick's  father. 
Old  Alfonso's  image  living, 

These  fair  flowers  you  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  deserts  can  never  raise  thee. 

By  T.  Campion,  Doctor  in  Physicke.t 

Besides  the  two  above-mentioned,  there  was 
another  named  John,  of  the  family  of  Fei'abosco, 
a  musician  also,  as  appears  bj'  an  evening  service  of 
his  composing,  in  D,  with  the  major  third,  well  known 
in  Canterbury  and  other  cathedrals ;  as  one  of  the 

X  Of  tills  Thomas  Campion,  Wood  says,  Fasti,  vol.  I.  pag.  229,  that  he 
\vas  an  admired  poet  and  musician ;  there  is  extant  of  his  an  Art  of 
Poesie  in  12mo ;  and  it  appears  that  he  wrote  the  words  of  a  masque 
represented  in  the  hanquetting-room  at  Whitehall  on  St.  Stephen's  nlRht, 
1614,  on  occasion  of  the  marriage  of  Carr  earl  of  Somerset  and  the  lady 
Frances  Howard,  the  divorced  countess  of  Essex,  the  music  to  which 
was  composed  by  Nicolas  Laniere,  John  Cooper,  or  Coperario,  as  ha 
aftected  to  call  himself,  and  others.  One  of  that  name,  a  Dr.  Thomaa 
Campion,  supposed  to  be  the  same  jjerson,  was  the  author  of  a  book 
entitled  '  A  new  way  of  making  four  parts  in  counterpoint,'  and  of 
another  entitled  '  The  art  of  setting  or  composing  music  in  parts  ;'  printed 
at  the  end  of  Playford's  Introduction,  the  second  edition,  1660,  with 
annotations  by  Christopher  Simpson. 


480 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  X. 


same  surname  was  formerly  organist  of  Ely  minster, 
it  is  not  improbable  but  that  the  above  person  was  he. 
A  few  years  ago  there  was  a  Mostyn  Ferabosco,  a  lieu- 
tenant in  the  royal  navy,  from  which  circumstance  it 
is  very  probable  that  the  family  is  yet  in  being. 

"William  Blitheman,  a  gentleman  of  queen  Eliza- 
beth's chapel,  and  one  of  the  organists  of  the  same,  is 
by  Wood  [Fasti,  anno  15SG,]  celebrated  as  the  ex- 
cellent master  of  the  famous  Dr.  John  Bull.  He 
died  greatly  lamented  on  Whitsunday,  1591,  and 
was  buried  in  the  parish  church  of  St.  Nicholas  Cole- 
Abbey,  London.  The  following  epitaph  was  en- 
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  : — 

Here  Blitheman  lies,  a  worthy  wight, 

Who  feared  God  aboue, 
A  friend  to  all,  a  foe  to  none, 

Whom  rich  and  poore  did  loue  ; 
Of  princes  chappell  gentleman 

Unto  his  dying  day, 
Whom  all  tooke  great  delight  to  heare 

Him  on  the  organs  play  ; 
Whofe  paffing  fkill  in  mufickes  art 

A  fcholar  left  behinde, 
John  Bull  by  name,  his  mafters  ueine 

Exprefling  in  each  kinde  ; 
But  nothing  here  continues  long, 

Nor  refting  place  can  haue, 
His  foule  departed  hence  to  heauen, 

His  body  here  in  graue. 

It  seems  that  as  a  musician  Blitheman's  performance 
on  the  organ  was  his  greatest  excellence.  Wood, 
who  was  likely  to  have  known  it,  had  he  been  a 
composer  for  the  church,  gives  not  the  least  hint  to 
favour  an  opinion  of  the  kind ;  in  short,  he  was  a 
singular  instance  of  a  limited  talent  in  the  science  of 
his  profession. 

John  Bull  (a  Portrait,)  was  born  in  Somerset- 
shire, 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  university  of  Cambridge. 
In  1591  he  was  appointed  organist  of  the  queen's 
chapel  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  Gresham  professors,  made  anno  1597,  it  is 
declared,  that  because  Dr.  Bull  is  recommended  to 
the  place  of  music  professor  by  the  queen's  most 
excellent  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  second,  and  probably  in  the  first  edition  of  his  Survey, 
mentions  that  Blitheman,  an  excellent  organist  of  the  queen's  chapel, 
lay  buried  there  with  an  epitaph.  In  a  subsequent  edition,  published  in 
1633,  with  additions,  by  A.  M.  [Anthony  Munday]  and  others,  the 
epitaph  as  above  is  inserted. 

t  In  this  instance  it  seems  that  the  queen's  affection  for  Bull  got  the 
better  of  her  judgment,  for  not  being  able  to  speak  Latin,  it  may  be 
presumed  that  he  was  unable  to  read  it ;  and  if  so,  he  must  have  been 
ignorant  of  the  verj-  principles  of  the  science,  and  consequently  but  very 
indifferently  qualified  to  lectiue  on  it  even  in  English. 


In  the  year  1  GOl ,  he  went  abroad  for  the  recoverv 
of  his  health,  which  at  that  time  was  declining ;  and 
during  his  absence  was  permitted  to  substitute  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  rea:der  shall  have  in  his  own 
words  : — • 

'  Dr.  Bull  hearing  of  a  famous  musician  belonging 
'  to  a  certain  cathedral  at  St.  Omer's,  he  applied 
'  himself  as  a  novice,  to  him,  to  learn  something  of 
'  his  faculty,  and  to  see  and  admire  his  works.  This 
'  musician,  after  some  discourse  had  passed  between 
'  them,  conducted  Bull  to  a  vestry  or  music-school 
'joining  to  the  cathedral,  and  shewed  to  him  a 
'  lesson  or  song  of  forty  parts,  and  then  made  a 
'  vaunting  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 
'  as  we  call  musical  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  said  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  God  that  he 
'  that  added  those  forty  parts  must  either  be  the 
'  Devil  or  Dr.  Bull,  &c.:j:  Whereupon  Bull  making 
'  himself  knowai,  the  musician  fell  down  and  adored 
'  him.  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  France,  or  Spain  ; 
'  but  the  tidings  of  these  transactions  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  Elizabeth  he  became  chief 
organist  to  king  James,  §  and  had  the  honour  of  en- 
tertaining his  majesty  and  prince  Henry  at  Merchant 
Taylors'  hall  with  his  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  his  majesty,  he 
'  said  he  was  already  free  of  another  company,  but 
'that  the  prince  should  grace  them  with  the  ac- 
'  ceptance  of  his  freedom,  and  that  he  would  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  'exclamation  perhaps  suggested  by  the  recollection  of  that  of 
Sir  Thomas  More,  '  Aut  tu  es  Erasmus,  aut  Diabolus.' 

§  The  fact  is  that  he  succeeded  Tallis,  and  was  sworn  in  his  room,  Jai-. 
1585  [Chequebook].  He  was  also  in  the  service  of  prince  Henry;  the 
name  John  Bull,  doctor  of  music,  stands  the  first  in  the  list  of  the 
prince's  musicians  in  ICll,  with  a  salary  of  40/.  per  annum.  Append,  tc 
the  Life  of  Henry  Prince  of  Wales  by  Dr.  Birch. 


Chap.  XCVIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


481 


'  speeches.  And  while  the  king  sat  at  dinner,  Dr. 
'  Bull  (who  as  Stow  says). was  free  of  that  company, 
'  being  in  a  cittizen's  gowne,  cappe,  and  hood,  played 
'  most  excellent  melodic  uppon  a  small  payre  of 
'  organs,  placed  there  for  that  purpose  onely.'  The 
author  proceeds  to  relate  that  in  1613  Bull  quitted 
England,  and  went  to  reside  in  the  Netherlands,* 
where  he  was  admitted  into  the  service  of  the  arch- 
duke. Woodf  says  that  he  died  at  Hamburg,  or 
rather,  as  others  who  remembered  the  man  have 
said,  at  Lubec. 

A  picture  of  Dr.  .Bull  is  yet  remaining  in  the 
music-school  at  Oxford.  It  is  painted  on  a  board, 
and  represents  him  in  the  habit  of  a  bachelor  of 
music.  On  the  left  side  of  the  head  are  the  words 
AN.  AETATIS  SVAE  26.  1589  ;  and  on  the  right 
side  an  hour-glass,  upon  which  is  placed  a  human 
skull,  with  a  bone  cross  the  mouth ;  round  the  four  sides 
of  the  frame  is  written  the  following  homely  distich  : — 
'  The  bull  by  force  in  field  doth  raigne, 
'  But  Bull  by  skill  good  will  doth  gayne.' 


The  only  works  of  Bull  in  print  are  lessons  in  the 
collection  entitled  '  Parthenia,  or  the  maiden-head  of 
the  first  music  that  ever  was  printed  for  the  virginals,' 
of  which  mention  has  already  been  made.  An 
anthem  of  his,  '  Deliver  me,  0  God,'  is  to  be  found 
in  Barnard's  Collection  of  Church-music. 

Dr.  Ward  has  given  a  long  list  of  compositions  of 
Dr.  Bull  in  manuscript  in  the  collection  of  the  late 
Dr.  Pepusch,  by  which  it  appears  that  he  was  equally 
excellent  in  vocal  and  instrumental  harmony.  By 
some  of  the  lessons  in  the  Parthenia  it  seems  that  he 
was  possessed  of  a  power  of  execution  on  the  harpsi- 
chord far  beyond  what  is  generally  conceived  of  the 
masters  of  that  time.  As  to  his  lessons,  they  were, 
in  the  estimation  of  Dr.  Pepusch,  not  only  for  the 
harmony  and  contrivance,  but  for  air  and  modulation, 
80  excellent,  that  he  scrupled  not  to  prefer  them  to 
those  of  Couperin,  Scarlatti,  and  others  of  the  modern 
composers  for  the  harpsichord.^ 


BOOK    XI. 

John  Dowland,  the  famous  lutenist,  was  born  in 
1562,  and  admitted  to  his  bachelor's  degree  together 
with    Morley.     [Wood   Fasti   anno   1588.  §]     The 

*  Dr.  Ward  suggests  as  the  reason  for  Bull's  retirement,  that  the 
science  began  to  sink  in  the  reign  of  king  James,  which  he  infers  from 
that  want  of  court  patronage  which  it  seems  induced  the  musicians  of 
that  day  to  dedicate  their  works  to  one  another.  There  is  some  truth  in 
this  observation,  but  see  the  next  note.  Morley  complains  of  the  lack  of 
MecEenates  in  his  time,  for  notwithstanding  the  love  which  queen 
Elizabeth  bore  to  music,  the  professors  of  it  began  to  be  neglected  even 
in  her  reign.  John  Boswell,  who  in  1572  published  a  book  entitled 
'  Workes  of  Armorie,'  describing  a  coat-armour  in  which  are  organ-pipes, 
uses  this  exclamation,  '  What  say  I,  music  one  of  the  seven  liberal 
'  sciences  ;  it  is  almost  banished  the  realme.  If  it  were  not  the  queenes 
'majesty  that  did  favour  that  excellente  science,  singing -men  and 
'  choristers  might  go  a-begging,  together  with  their  master  the  player  on 
'  the  organes.' 

As  to  singing-men  in  general,  not  to  speak  of  the  gentlemen  of  the 
royal  chapel,  who  appear  at  all  times  to  have  been  a  set  of  decent  orderly 
men,  and  many  of  them  exquisite  artists  in  their  profession,  they  seem  to 
have  had  but  little  claim  to  the  protection  of  their  betters.  Dr.  Knight, 
in  his  Life  of  Dean  Colet,  pag.  87,  represents  the  choirmen  about  the 
time  of  the  reformation  as  very  disorderly  fellows  ;  as  an  instance  whereof 
he  relates  that  one  at  St.  Paul's,  and  a  priest  too,  in  the  time  of  divine 
service,  flung  a  bottle  down  upon  the  heads  of  the  congregation.  And 
Cowley,  in  a  poem  of  his  entitled  '  The  Wish,'  printed  in  his  Sylva,  has 
these  lines : — 

'  From  singing-men's  religion,  who  are 

'  Always  at  church,  just  like  the  crows,  'cause  there 
'  'They  build  themselves  a  nest ; 

'  From  too  much  poetry,  which  shines  ., 

'  With  gold  in  nothing  but  its  lines, 
'  Free,  O  ye  pow'rs,  ray  breast.' 
Osborne,  somewhere  in  his  works,  represents  them  as  leud  and  dis- 
solute fellows  in  his  time ;  and  Dr.  Earle,  who  lived  some  years  after 
Osborne,  and,  being  a  dignitary  of  the  church,  must  be  supposed  ac- 
quainted with  their  manners,  gives  the  following  character  of  them, 
perhaps  not  less  just  than  it  is  humorous : — 

'  The  common  singing-men  are  a  bad  society,  and  yet  a  company  of 

•  good  fellows,  that  roar  deep  in  the  quire,  deeper  in  the  tavern.  They 
'  are  the  eight  parts  of  speech  which  go  to  the  Syiitaxis  of  service,  and 

•  are  distinguished  by  their  noises  much  like  bells,  for  they  make  not  a 
'  consort  but  a  peal.  Their  pastime  or  recreation  is  prayers,  their  ex- 
'  ercise  drinking,  yet  herein  so  religiously  addicted,  that  they  serve  God 
'  oftest  when  they  are  drunk.  Their  humanity  is  a  leg  to  the  Residencer, 
'  their  learning,  a  chapter,  for  they  learn  it  commonly  before  they  read 
'it;  yet  the  old  Hebrew  names  are  little  beholden  to  them,  for  they 
•miscall  them  worse  than  one  another.  Though  they  never  expound 
'  the  scripture  they  handle  it  much,  and  pollute  the  Gospel  with  two 

•  things,  their  conversation  and  their  thumbs.  Upon  worky-days  they 
'  behave  themselves  at  prayers  as  at  their  pots,  for  they  swallow  them 
'  down  in  an  instant.  Their  gowns  are  laced  commonly  with  streamings 
'  of  ale,  the  superfluities  of  a  cup  or  throat  above  measure.  Their  skill 
'  in  melody  makes  them  the  better  companions  abroad,  and  their  anthems 
'  abler  to  sing  catches.  Long  lived  for  the  most  part  they  are  not, 
'  especially  the  base,  they  overflow  their  banks  so  oft  to  drown  the 
'organs.  Briefly,  if  they  esr»ape  arresting,  they  die  constantly  in  God's 
'service;  and  to  take  their  death  with  more  patience,  they  have  wine 


CHAP.    XCVIII. 

same  author  says  that  he  was  the  rarest  musician 
that  his   age   did   behold,   which,   though    he   was 

'  and  cakes  at  their  funeral ;  and  now  they  keep  the  church  a  great  deal 
'  better,  and  help  to  fill  it  with  their  bones  as  before  with  their  noise.' 
*  Microcosmography,  or  a  piece  of  the  world  discovered  in  essays  and 
characters,'  printed  without  a  name  in  1633,  but  in  a  subsequent  edition 
of  1732,  ascribed  to  Dr.  John  Earle,  successively  bishop  of  Worcester 
and  Salisbury. 

James  I.  though  it  does  not  appear  that  he  understood  or  loved  music, 
yet  was  disposed  to  encourage  it,  for,  after  the  example  of  Charles  the 
Ninth  of  France,  who  had  founded  a  musical  academy,  he  by  his  letters 
patent  incorporated  the  musicians  of  London,  who  are  still  a  society  and 
corporation,  and  bear  for  their  arms  Azure,  a  swan  Argent  within  a 
tressure  counterflure  Or ;  and  in  a  chief  Gules,  a  rose  between  two  lions, 
Or :  and  for  their  crest  the  sign  called  by  astronomers  the  Orphean  lyre. 
See  the  dedication  to  the  Principles  of  Harmony  by  Charles  Butler. 

By  this  act  of  regal  authority  the  only  one  of  the  liberal  sciences  that 
conferred  the  degree  of  Doctor,  was  itself  degraded,  and  put  upon  a  foot- 
ing with  the  lowest  of  the  mechanic  arts ;  and  under  the  protection  of 
their  charter  the  honourable  fraternity  of  musicians  of  the  city  of  London 
derive  the  sole  and  exclusive  privilege  of  fiddling  and  trumpeting  to  the 
mayor  and  aldermen,  and  of  scrambling  for  the  fragments  of  a  city  feast. 

t  Bull  had  none  of  those  reasons  to  complain  of  being  slighted  that 
others  of  his  profession  had.  He  was  in  the  service  of  the  chapel,  and 
at  the  head  of  the  prince's  musicians ;  in  the  year  1604  his  salary  for  the 
chapel  duty  had  been  augmented.  The  circumstance  of  his  departure 
from  England  may  be  collected  from  the  following  entry,  now  to  be  seen 
in  the  cheque  book,  '  1613,  John  Bull,  doctor  of  music,  went  beyond  the 
'  seas  without  license,  and  was  admitted  into  the  archduke's  service,  and 
'entered  into  paie  there  about  Mich,  and  Peter  Hopkins  a  base  fronj 
'  Paul's  was  sworn  into  his  place  the  27th  of  Dec.  following:  His  wages 
'  from  Mich,  unto  the  daye  of  the  swearing  of  the  said  Peter  Hopkins 
'  was  disposed  of  by  the  Deane  of  his  majesty's  chapel,'  By  this  it 
should  seem  that  Bull  was  not  only  one  of  the  organists,  but  a  gentleman 
of  the  chapel. 

%  This  is  a  fact  which  several  persons  now  living  can  attest,  together 
with  the  following  curious  particulars.  The  doctor  had  in  his  collection 
a  book  of  lessons  very  richly  bound,  which  had  once  been  queen 
Elizabeth's ;  in  this  were  contained  many  lessons  of  Bull,  so  very 
difficult,  that  hardly  any  master  of  the  Doctor's  time  was  able  to  play 
them.  It  is  well  known  that  Dr.  Pepusch  married  the  famous  opera 
singer,  Signora  Margarita  De  L'Pine,  who  had  a  very  fine  hand  on  the 
harpsichord :  as  soon  as  they  were  married,  the  Doctor  inspired  her  with 
the  same  sentiments  of  Bull  as  he  himself  had  long  entertained,  and 
prevailed  on  her  to  practise  his  lessons,  in  which  she  succeeded  so  well, 
as  to  excite  the  curiosity  of  numbers  to  resort  to  his  house  at  the  comer 
of  Bartlett's  Buildings  in  Fetter-Lane,  to  hear  her.  There  are  no  re- 
maining evidences  of  her  unwearied  application  in  order  to  attain  that 
degree  of  excellence  which  it  is  known  she  arrived  at,  but  the  book  itself 
yet  in  being,  which  in  some  parts  of  it  is  so  discoloured  by  continual 
use,  as  to  distinguish  with  the  utmost  degree  of  certainty  the  very  lessons 
with  which  she  was  most  delighted.  One  of  them  took  up  twenty 
minutes  to  go  through  it. 

§  Wood  says  he  was  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  her  majesty's  chapel,  but 
the  truth  of  this  assertion  is  doubtful ;  for  he  does  not  assume  that  title 
in  any  of  his  publications :  on  the  contrary,  he  complains  in  the  preface 
to  his  Pilf,'rime's  Solace,  that  he  never  could  attain  to  any  though  ever  bo 
mean  a  place. 

2i 


482 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE 


Book  XL 


doubtless  an  eminent  composer,  is  not  so  true  as 
that  he  was  one  of  the  most  excellent  lutenists  of  his 
time.  Mention  is  made  of  him  in  a  sonnet  ascribed 
to  Shakespeare,  but  how  truly  we  cannot  say.  It  is 
entitled  Friendly  Concord,  and  is  as  follows  : — 

'  If  musicke  and  sweet  poetry  agree, 
'  As  they  must  needs  (the  sister  and  the  brother), 
'  Then  must  the  love  be  great  twixt  thee  and  me, 
'  Because  thou  lov'st  the  one  and  I  the  other ; 
'  Dowland  to  thee  is  deer,  whose  heavenly  touch 
'  Upon  the  lute  doth  ravish  human  sense  ; 
'  Spenser  to  me  whose  deep  conceit  Is  such, 
'  As  passing  all  conceit,  needs  no  defence ; 
'  Thou  lov'st  to  hear  the  sweet  melodious  sound 
'  That  Phcfibus'  lute  (the  queen  of  musick)  makes, 
'  And  I  in  deep  delight  am  chiefly  drown 'd, 
'  When  as  himself  to  singing  he  betakes  : 

'  One  God  is  God  of  both,  as  poets  faine ; 

*  One  knight  loves  both,  and  both  in  thee  remain.'* 

Peacham,  who  was  intimate  with  him,  says  that  he 
had  slipped  many  opportunities  of  advancing  himself, 
in  allusion  to  which  his  misfortune  he  gave  him  an 
emblem  with  this  anagram, 

JOHANNES  DOVLANDUS 

Annos  ludendo  hausi. 

The  emblem  is  a  nightingale  singing  in  the  winter 
season  on  a  leafless  brier,  with  the  following  verses  : — 

*  Heere  Philomel  in  silence  sits  alone, 

*  In  depth  of  winter,  on  the  bared  brier, 

'  Whereas  the  rose  had  once  her  beautie  showen, 
'  Which  lordes  and  ladies  did  so  much  desire  : 
'  But  fruitless  now  ;  in  winter's  frost  and  snow 
'  It  doth  despis'd  and  unregarded  grow. 

'  So  since  (old  frend)  thy  yeares  have  made  thee  white, 
'  And  thou  for  others  hast  consum'd  thy  spring, 
'  How  few  regard  thee,  whome  thou  didst  delight, 
'  And  farre  and  neere  came  once  to  heare  thee  sing ! 
'  Ingratefull  times,  and  worthless  age  of  ours, 
'  That  lets  us  pine  when  it  hath  cropt  our  flowers. 'f 

That  Dowland  missed  many  opportunities  of  ad- 
vancing his  fortunes  may  perhaps  be  justly  attributed 
to  a  rambling  disposition,  which  led  him  to  travel 
abroad  and  neglect  his  duty  in  the  chapel ;  for  that 
he  lived  much  abroad  appears  from  the  prefaces  to 
his  works,  published  by  him  at  sundry  times,  and 
these  furnish  the  following  particulars  of  his  life. 

In  the  year  1584  he  travelled  the  chief  parts  of 
France  ;  thence  he  bent  his  course  towards  Germany, 
where  he  was  kindly  entertained  by  Henry  Julio, 
duke  of  Brunswick,  and  the  learned  Maurice,  land- 
grave of  Hessen,  the  same  of  whom  Peacham  speaks, 
and  commends  as  being  himself  an  excellent  musician. 
Here  he  became  acquainted  with  Alessandro  Orologio, 
a  musician  of  great  eminence  in  the  service  of  the 
landgrave  Maurice,  and  Gregorio  Howet,  lutenist  to 
the  duke  of  Brunswick.  Having  spent  some  months 
in  Germany,  he  passed  over  the  Alps  into  Italy,  and 
saw  Venice,  Padua,  Genoa,  Ferrara,  Florence,  and 
divers  other  places.  At  Venice  he  became  intimate 
with  Giovanni  Croce,  who,  as  he  relates,  was  at  that 
time  vice-master  of  the  chapel  of  St.  Mark.     It  does 

•  From  the  Passionate  Pilgrime  of  Shakespeare,  first  printed  in  lfi09, 
and  Poems  written  by  Wil.  Shakespeare,  Gent.  12mo.  1640. 
t  Garden  of  Heroical  Devices  by  Henry  Peacham,  pag.  71. 


not  appear  that  he  visited  Rome,  but  he  enjoyed  the 
proffered  amity  of  Luca  Marenzio,  and  received  from 
him  sundry  letters,  one  whereof  was  as  follows  : — 

'  Multo  magnifico  Signior  mio  osservandissimo. 
'  Per  una  lettera  del  Signior  Maluezi  ho  inteso 
'  quanto  con  cortese  affetto  si  mostri  desideroso  di 
'  essermi  congiouto  d'  amicitia,  deve  infinitamente  la 
'  ringratio  di  questo  suo  buon'  animo,  ofiferendo 
'  megli  air  incontro  se  in  alcuna  cosa  la  posso  servire, 

*  poi  che  gli  meriti  delle  sue  infinite  virtu,  et  qualita 
'  meritano  che  ogni  uno  et  me  I  ammirino  et  osser- 
'  vino,  et  per  fine  di  questo  le  bascio  le  mani.  Di 
'  Roma  a  13  di  Luglio  1595.  d.  v.  s.  Affettionatissimo 
'  servitore,  Luca  Marenzio.' 

All  these  particulars  are  contained  in  a  work  of 
Dowland   entitled   '  The  first  booke  of  Songes   or 

'Ayres  of  foure  Parts  with  Tablature  for  the  Lute.' 
In  a  second  book  of  Songs  or  Aires  by  Dowland  for 
the  lute  or  Orpherian,  with  the  viol  de  gamba, 
printed  in  1600,  he  styles  himself  lutenist  to  the 
king  of  Denmark  ;  to  this  book  is  prefixed  a  dedica- 
tion to  the  celebrated  Lucy  countess  of  Bedford, 
dated  from  Helsingnoure  in  Denmark  the  first  of 
June,  1600. 

In  1603  he  published  a  third  book  of  '  Songes  or 

'Aires  to  sing  to  the  lute,  Orpharion,  or  VioUs.' 
Some  time  after  this,  but  in  what  year  is  not 
mentioned,  he  pxiblished  a  work  with  this  title 
'  Lachrimse,  or  seaven  Teares  figured  in  seaven  pas- 
'  sionate  Pavans,  with  divers  other  Pavans,  Galiards, 
'  and    Almands,   set    forth  for  the   Lute,   Viols,   or 

*  Violons,  in  five  parts.'  |  This  book  is  dedicated  to 
Anne,  the  queen  of  king  James  the  First,  and  sister 
of  Christian  IV.  king  of  Denmark.  In  the  epistle 
the  author  tells  her  that  hastening  his  return  to  her 
brother  and  his  master,  he  was  by  contrary  winds 
and  frost,  forced  back  and  compelled  to  winter  in 
England,  during  his  stay  wherein,  he  had  presumed 
to  dedicate  to  her  hands  a  work  that  was  begun 
where  she  was  born,  and  ended  where  she  reigned. 

In  1609  Dowland  published  a  translation  of  the 
Micrologus  of  Andreas  Ornithoparcus  ;  at  this  time 
it  seems  that  Dowland  had  quitted  the  service  of  the 
king  of  Denmark,  for  he  styles  himself  only  lutenist, 
lute-player,  and  bachelor  of  music  in  both  universities. 
In  1612  he  published  a  book  entitled  '  A  Pilgrime's 
'  Solace,  wherein  is  contained  musical  harmony  of  3, 
'  4,  and  5  parts  to  be  sung  and  plaid  with  lute  and 
'  viols.'  In  the  title-page  he  styles  himself  lutenist 
to  the  Lord  Walden.§     In  the  preface  to  this  book 

X  This  it  seems  was  a  celebrated  work :  it  is  alluded  to  in  a  comedy  of 
Thomas  Middleton,  entitled  '  No  wit  like  a  woman's,'  in  which  a  servant 
tells  bad  news,  and  is  thus  answered : — 

'  Now  thou  plaiest  Dowland's  Lachrymae  to  thy  master.' 

§  Wood  is  preatly  mistaken  in  the  account  which  he  gives  of  Dowland, 
whom  he  supposes  to  have  been  taken  into  the  service  of  the  king  of 
Denmark  in  1606,  whereas  it  is  plain  that  he  was  his  lutenist  in  1600, 
and  probably  somewhat  before ;  again,  there  is  not  the  least  reason  to 
suppose,  as  Wood  does,  that  he  died  in  Denmark,  for  he  was  in  England 
in  1612,  and  lutenist  to  Lord  Walden  ;  and  it  nowhere  appears  that  after 
this  he  went  abroad.  He  might,  as  he  says,  have  a  son  named  Robert 
trained  up  to  the  lute  at  the  charge  of  Sir  'Thomas  Monson,  who  it  is 
well  known  was  a  great  patron  of  music ;  but  that  the  Pilgrim's  Solace 
was  composed  by  him  and  not  by  his  father,  is  not  to  be  reconciled  with 
the  title,  the  dedication,  or  the  preface  to  the  book,  which  afford  the  best 
evidence  of  the  fact  that  can  be  required.  It  may  not  be  improper  here 
to  mention  that  the  king  of  Denmark  had  begged  Dowland  of  James,  aa 
he  did  afterwards  Thomas  Cutting,  another  celebrated  lutenist,  of  his 
mistress  the  lady  Arabella  Stuart. 


Chap.  XCVIIL 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


483 


he  says  that  he  had  received  a  kingly  entertainment 
in  a  foreign  climate,  though  he  could  not  attain  to 
any,  though  never  so  mean,  place  at  home.  He  says 
that  some  part  of  his  poor  labours  had  been  printed 
in  eight  most  famous  cities  beyond  the  seas,  viz., 
Paris,  Antwerpe,  Collein,  Nuremburg,  Frankfort, 
Liepsig,  Amsterdam,  and  Hamburg,  but  that  not- 
withstanding he  had  found  strange  entertainment 
since  his  return  by  the  opposition  of  two  sorts  of 
people,  the  first  simply  Cantors  or  vocal  singers,  the 
second  young  men  professors  of  the  lute,  against 
whom  he  vindicates  himself.  He  adds  that  he  is 
entered  into  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  age,  and  because 
he  wants  both  means,  leisure,  and  encouragement, 
recommends  to  the  more  learned  sort  of  musicians, 
who  labour  under  no  such  difficulties,  the  defence  of 
their  lute-profession. 

The  preface  of  Dowland  to  this  his  translation  of 
Ornithoparcus  is  dated  from  his  house  in  Fetter-lane, 
10th  of  April,  1609.  This  is  the  last  of  his  publi- 
cations, for  it  appears  that  he  died  in  1615. 

Peter  Phillips,  an  Englishman  by  birth,  better 
known  to  the  world  by  the  Italian  name  Pietro 
Philippi,  was  an  exquisite  composer  of  vocal  music 
both  sacred  and  profane.  He  styles  himself  Canonicus 
Sogniensis,  i.  e.  a  canon  of  Soigny,  a  city  or  town 
in  Hainault,  and  was  besides  organist  to  the  arch- 
duke and  duchess  of  Austria,  Albert  and  Isabella, 
governors  of  the  Low  countries.  Peacham  calls  him 
our  rare  countryman,  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of 
music  in  Europe,  adding,  that  he  hath  sent  us  over 


many  excellent  songs,  as  well  motets  as  madrigals, 
and  that  he  affecteth  altogether  the  Italian  vein. 
The  works  published  by  him,  besides  the  collection 
of  madrigals  entitled  Melodia  Olympica,  heretofore 
mentioned,  are  Madrigali  a  8  voci,  in  4to.  an.  1599, 
Cantiones  sacr«  5  vocum,  in  4to.  an.  1612.  Gem- 
mulaj  sacrse  2  et  3  vocum,  in  4to.  an.  1613.  Litaniae 
B.  M.  V.  in  Ecclesia  Loretana  cani  solitae  4,  5, 
9  vocum,  in  4to.  an.  1623.  He  is  celebrated  by 
Draudius  in  his  Bibliotheca  Classica. 

His  employments  and  the  nature  of  his  com- 
positions for  the  church  bespeak  him  to  have  been 
of  the  Romish  communion.  The  Cantiones  Sacrsa 
are  dedicated  to  the  Virgin  Mary  in  the  following 
terms  : — 

'  Gloriosissimaj  Virgini  Marise,  Dei  nostri  parenti 
'  dignissimse,  cceli,terraeque  reginae,  angelorum,  homi- 
'  num,  et  omnium  creaturarum  visibilium,  et  in  vi- 
'  sibilium  post  Deum  Dominse :  in  honorem  ejus  sa- 
*  crae  aedis  AspricoUis,  ubi  ad  D.  O.  M.  gloriam, 
'  Christiani  populi  consolationem,  et  salutem  ;  Catho- 
'  licse,  Apostolicae,  et  Romanaj  fidei  confirmationem, 
'  et  amplificationem  ;  cunctarum  hajresnm,  et  ha3re- 
'  ticorum  extirpationem,  et  confusionem,  per  poten- 
'  tissimam  ejus  interventionem,  frequentissinia,  di- 
'  vinissima,  et  exploratissima  patrantur  miracula,  hoc 
'  sacrarum  cantionum  opusculum  Petrus  Philippi  cum 
'  omni  humilitate  offert,  dicat  consecratque.' 

The  following  madrigal,  printed  in  the  Melodia 
Olympica,  is  of  the  composition  of  Peter  Phillips  : — 


m 


JIZ 


-^- 


321 


i^ 


E6^=S 


^cc; 


vol      vo  -  le 


te  ch'io     muo 


la. 


E    mi     da  -  te,    Do  -  lor  si     cru 


d'e 


S 


FF^^ 


gFF 


for 


331 


;t= 


^JXZ 


it: 


-t^ K^ —  ■ — a — m 


=*Z- 


VOI      vo  -  le 


te  ch'io      muo 


la, 


E    mi     da  -  te,    Do  -  lor  si     crud'e 


for 


^ 


^^=^^^^^^^^-=^^^^1 


I 


£^ 


hd: 


Hzg: 


32; 


vol      vo  -  le 


:^2^ 


te  ch'io      muo 


la, 


E    mi     da  -  te,    Do  -  lor         si      cru  -    d'e       for 


^:^^ 


It 


vol      vo  -  le 


te  ch'io  mao 


la. 


E    mi     da  -  te,    Do  -  lor 


61 


cru 


^m 


^ 


4= 


t:: 


t^-^^i 


—ZflZ 


i: 


te,   si        cru  -  d'e         for 


fx- 


3y 


e, 

ZiZMZ 


Che  mi     con  -  du     -     ce  a  mor 


te,  che  mi 


i 


^ 


-  te, 


si  crud'e  for 


te. 


Che     .      mi     con    -    du  -  ce  a        mor  -  te,  che        mi 


i=t 


^sm^^ 


^e 


^ss 


^m 


& 


te,         si        cru  -  d'e     for 


d'e  for 


te, 
te. 


Che     . 


mi      con    -    du  -  ce  a        mor  -  te, 


^ 


Che        mi 


484 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE. 


Book.  XI. 


^^ 


1^ 


^^ 


m 


g 


con  -  du  -  ce  a     mor  -  te, 


che         mi      con    -    du    -    ce  a   .     mor  -  te, 


ie 


^ 


l=S 


t 


fc=h 


ZZI 


isii 


E^= 


g 


-?^- 


^ 


±EE 


:7ct: 


con  -  du    -    ce        a     mor  -  te,  che  mi  con    -    du  -  cc  a  mor-te,      che   mi  con-du-ce  a  mor   -   te. 


1 


f=iSE 


S 


-«- 


che    .        mi    con  -  du    -  ce  a       mor 


te,      che        mi  con-du-ce  a  mor-te. 


'■fi. 


^^^^^. 


^ 


r=^ 


^= 


con  -  du    -  ce  a    mor  -    te,  che    mi   .     con-du-ce  a  mor 


te. 


^^ 


S^^S 


^£ 


E^ 


ma 


i^ig 


per 


ve  -   der      ne 


vol        CO 


BI 


con 


ten    - 


ta  men  -  tr'io    mo  -  r'il  mo  - 


ijzr 


^ 


-nz 


^^ 


ZJDC 


EgE 


az: 


g — g 


^=F= 


=p: 


:{: 


:t: 


It 


=1=:: 


ma 


per       ve  -  der       ne 


vol 


CO  -  si  con  -  ten    - 


ta 


mentr'io     mo-r'il        mo 


^-EE^- 


TDCL 


^ 


:?x: 


Tn= 


IjOC 


~Tf     '     r 


it 


ma 


m 


per 


ve  -  der       ne 


vol        CO 


^^ 


81 


cou 


ten 


ta         mentr'io     mo-r'il       mo  • 


^ 


ma 


per 


ve  -  der       ne        voi       co 


81 


con 


ten 


ta 


gzTTrr^g 


-fi- 


g 


iEi^ii 


nr 


i 


vi  -  ta  di-ven 


ta 


on    -de      ve  -  dend'     ohi 


mi ! 


ohi 


ZjOZ 


:p— J 


rir  vi  -  ta  di  -  ven   -  ta,    vi  -  ta    di  ven      -     ta 


on    -    de 


ve  -  dend'     ohi 


mi 


ohi 


m 


*=i=gg 


i^i^S=^ 


zui 


g 


=?2= 


.^fl' 


It 


-  rir  vi-ta    di  -  ven 


=F=S 


^ 


^ 


ta, 

-/2_ 


vi  -  ta  di  ven 


^ 


ta 


on 


de 


ve  -  dend' '  ohi 


^=-^^F^- 


^ 


t;r 


men  -  tr'io     mo  -   r'il  mo  -  rir 


VI 


ta  di-yen   -    ta       on 


de 


ve  -  dend'    ohi   -    mi !      do     - 


lEi 


^ 


ZfXl 


^ 


3t 


rat 


=?2= 


t=t 


^ 


eS 


^ 


iza>i 


mi !     do    -    len  -  te 


vo 


ziz 


zzz 


*q«i 


±=t; 


iziz 


is^ 


3=tto: 


In      ques  -  ta    vi 


i: 


eE 


ta    po    -    i,  mi 

-<2_ 


^- 


t:. 


mi !     do 


len 


te      voi,     do    -     len  -  te 


vo 


i,       In      ques  -  ta  vi 


ta    po    -    i. 


m 


fii 


^ 


^ 


g 


xc 


=t:= 


mi 


rpc^pr: 


33: 


:*i- 


i^c 


=^ 


-0- 


:t:=t: 


mi !    .     .      .      ohi    -    mi !     do 


len  -  te 


vo 


ritzi 


F^E 


^^ 


E^ 


i,        In       ques  -  ta    vi 
-o » , — „ — p^ 


32- 


ta   po 


mi 


len   -  te  vo 


do  -  len  -  te 


vo 


i,        In       ques  -  ta    vi 


ta    po 


Chap.  XCVIII. 


AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


485 


^^^^ 


^ 


-«»- 


p=«=:rp!: 


n       *f 


It 


iE=i 


vien    tan  -  to 


mar-ti  -  re, 


mi  vien      tan-to 


mar-ti 


^.^^m^^W^^^^s^- 


.0 •i_P^8 _ 


re,  Ch'ogn'  or     giung'al 

H<2 


1^1^ 


vien    tan-to     .    .  mar-ti  -   re,      tan-to    .  .    mar-ti     -      re,       tan-to   .  .  mar-ti     -     re,  Ch'ogn'     or     giung'al 


^^^^^^^^'^^^^^^W- 


=t= 


i= 


s 


vien    tan-to    .    .  mar-ti  -  re,  tan  -  to  .     .  mai-ti      -      re,      tan -to  .  .  mar-ti     -      re,  Ch'ogn'     or  giung'  al 


s 


W=itz 


^=>=P 


E 


IZt 


19 0- 


mi    vien    tan-to  .    .   mar-ti 


re, 


Ch'ogn'    or  giung'al 


i^ 


'^m 


^ 


rg__L_<A 


W 


lat 


l6»- 


g     •     •■ 


# ^ 


mo-ri    -  re,    gixmg'      al        mo    -    ri 
ran » 


re, 


E  CO  -    si 


mil-le    mil-le  volt'il 


f^^^^g^^ 


'-^- 


12= 


'^—r-^ 


JX- 


i^-^ 


^ 


^^ 


.     mo-ri    -    re,     giung'       al    -   mo 


n 


re, 


E      CO    -   si       mil  -  le    mil-le       volt'il  giorno, . 


* 


Eig^^S 


32Z 


nry 


?2;: 


5^ 


mo    -    rire,  giung'  al  mo  -  ri 


re, 


zr: 


<?- 


E 


^gl 


mo-ri  -  re,    giung'       al 


mo- 


n 


re. 


E 


CO 


P 


f:^ 


^m 


TOr 


-•— »- 


^ 


-J <i: 


»   •_• 


giomo, 


E 


CO 


61 


mil  -  le  mil-le     volt'il  gior   -      no,  E   co 


=■ — W 


i 


^g^^^ 


#— t- 


i^iS 


si  mil-le 

fX— 


^T*r. 


=»ni 


eE^ 


*^ 


5^^ 


It 


E    CO 


81 


% 


=P!; 


i2=t 


CO 


^^ 


mil-le     mill-le  volt'il,     gior    -  no. 


mil  -  le    mil-le  mil-le     gior  -    no,     E 


'^^^S 


^ 


:pi; 


^^ 


?i 


^. 


si    mil      -      le  mil-lo      volt'il    gior    -     no, 


mil-le  mil-le    volt'        il 


giomo,  mil-le 


J  r  r  I J — r 


r=lT=^ 


f- — t^ 


i^ 


si         mil  -  le,  mil-le  volt'il    gior  ^  -    no,        mil  -  le  mil-le    volt'    -    il  gior  -    no. 


i^ 


^^Fe 


-rm- 


3a: 


X. 


m 


mil-le  volt'il    gior 


It 


il 


t 


It 


no. 


per 


vol 


mo 


ro. 


per    vol 


ly?     tf- 


iaz=r:rjc: 


CO -si   mil-le    mil-le       volt'-il        gior 


no. 


per 


vol 


mo 


ro. 


331 


I^ 


~*     j>    a: 


K       g 


^jl-^Uf^' 


3ar 


^=E 


-r»' 


tll=t=tl 


t — r 


mil-le  volt'il     gior 


^ 


g^=^=^i 


no,  per       voi 


mo 


ro,       per     voi 


mo 


ro,      per 


^ 


33: 


E   CO 


BI 


mil  -  le  mil    -   le      volt'  -  il 


gior 


no. 


per 


vol 


486 


HISTORY  OF  THE  SCIENCE  AND  PRACTICE  OF  MUSIC. 


Book  XI. 


^^^^^^^^^m 


F=P= 


^ 


^f2- 


?^^ 


fC 


w 


mo 


jg       f- 


ro 


e         mo-ren  -    do, 


mo-ren 


do, 


e    mo  -  len   -  do 


?-. 


?z= 


^ 


-f — f^ 


m 


rri: 


g 


per     vol 


mo 


m 


aac 


ro 


mo-ren  -  do. 


e        mo-ren  -  do,  mo-rend'  in        vi 


ta 


E 


g 


Sl^ 


vol 


m^ 


w=ft 


mo 

— *»- 


ro,    e 


mo-ren   -  do, 


mo-ren  -  do,  e        mo-ren  -  do 


in 


F=fc 


mo 


ro, 


e        mo-ren  -  do  in    vi-ta 


:t 


g^g^^FF^fe^^^^ 


in    vi-ta    tor   -  no, 


in  vi  -  ta  tomo,    in  vi       -     ta      tor 


f/       dr. 


-m—ff- 


r=r=f^- 


?2zrr?2i 


-w-rr 


^ 


?y        »_L=m: 


no. 


1 


^^ 


^E£ 


t==t: 


.   .    tor-no,    . 


e      .       .      mo-rend'     .    in  vi-ta    tor  -  no,        in  vi 


ta       tor 


e^^f=P=F 


^ 


no. 


i^1°t 


^^ 


m 


icmzrfu 


laz 


ZjCTL 


■50- 


:t: 


rr-i — hr 


vi-ta  tor    -    no,  in      vi-ta  torn'     -    in     vi-ta  torn* in  vi 


ta 


tor 


fi=^^^£j^ 


« *9-- 


<2— r— «»- 


no. 


^Eg 


=t= 


tor    -   no,  in  vi-ta     tor    -    no, 


in  vi-ta     tor 


no,    in        vi    -    ta       tor       -        -       no. 

PlETBO  PhILIPPI  . 


'turn  on 
""^fore 


WELLESLEY  COLLEGE  LIBRARY 


3  5002  03073  6651 


ML    159    .H393    1 

Havkins,     John,     1719-1789. 

A    general    his-tory    of    t.he 
science    and    prac-tice    of 


ML  159  . 

H393 

1 

Hawkins, 

John, 

1719- 

1789. 

A  genera 

1  hist.ory  of 

the 

science 

and 

pr 

actlce  of 

M^-V-4^b€L    4<xkeu.    (rem  it-^e   (■