Critical and Historical Essays
B, in the German system stands for B[flat], which is more
logical than our English usage, since our flat is merely a
slightly modified form of _b_. The German B natural is our
letter _h_, which is merely a corruption of the square _b_,
[illustration], which by the addition of a line in time
became our [natural]. The Germans have carried the flatting
and sharping of tones to a logical conclusion in their present
nomenclature, for by "sharping" the sound of a single letter it
is raised a semitone from its normal diapason, thus F becomes
_Fis_, G _Gis_. On the other hand, in order to lower a tone,
the letter representing it is "flatted," and F is called _Fes_,
G _Ges_, the only exception to these rules being the B which
we have already considered.
In France the Guidonian system was adhered to closely, and
to this day the _becarre_ is used only as an accidental, to
indicate that the note to which it refers has been flatted
before. The _naturel_ (which has the same shape) is used
to designate a note that is natural to the key; thus the
distinction is made between an accidental and a note that is
common to the key. In F major, for instance, B[natural] is
_si becarre_, A[natural] would be _la naturel_. Our modern
sharp is merely another form of the natural or square B
([natural]) which gradually came to be used before _any_ note,
signifying that it was raised or sharped a half-tone; the flat
lowered it a semitone, and after a while the natural received
its present place between the sharp and flat. The first instance
we have of the sharp being used is in the thirteenth century,
when (in the Rondels of Adam de la Hale) it takes the form
of a cross [x] (the German word for the sharp still remains
_kreuz_). The French word _diese_ (sharp) comes from the Greek
_diesis_, a term used to indicate the raising of the voice in
the chromatic scale.
And now we have to speak of notation and its development.
Thus far we have found only two ways in which musical sounds
were indicated by the ancients. First, we remember the invention
of Aristophanes of Alexandria, his accents, high, low, and
circumflex. Then we know from Ptolemy, Boethius, and Alypius
that letters were used to designate the different tones; but as
there is no music extant in this notation to prove the theory,
we need not trouble ourselves with it.
The system of Aristophanes, however, was destined to become the
nucleus from which our modern notation sprang. We know that
an elementary idea, clearly expressed, has more chances of
living than has a more complicated system, however ingenious
the latter may be. Now this system is so plain that we will
find it is common to many aboriginal peoples, for instance
the American Indians have a system very similar.
In the period now under consideration (from the third to the
tenth century), music was noted in this way: an upstroke of
the pen meant a raising of the voice, a downstroke lowered it,
a flat stroke meant a repetition of the same note, thus [/ \ -]
[G: c' g' c' c']. Gradually it became necessary to indicate
the contour of the melodies with more accuracy; therefore the
circumflex was added [Over-slur] [G: g' c'' g'] and reversed
[Under-slur] [G: g' e' g']. Still later a sign for two steps was
invented [Step] [G: e' g' b'] and when the progression was to
be diatonically stepwise the strokes were thicker [Thick Step]
[G: g' a' b']. So this notation developed, and by combining
the many signs together, simple non-rhythmic melodies could be
indicated with comparative clearness and simplicity. The flat
stroke for a single note [-], indicating [G: b'], eventually
became smaller and thicker, thus [Thick -]. By combining these
different signs, a skip of a third and back came to be noted
[Crenellation], and if the note came down on a second instead
of the original note it became [Podium] [G: g' b' a']. The
_quilisma_ ([Upper Mordent]) indicated a repetition of two
notes, one above the other, and we still use much the same
sign for our trill. Also the two forms of the circumflex,
[Over-slur] [Under-slur], were joined ([Turn]) and thus we
have the modern turn, so much used by Wagner.
Now while this notation was ingenious, it still left much
to be desired as to pitch. To remedy this a red line was
drawn before writing these signs or _neumes_, as they were
called. This line represented a given pitch, generally E;
above and below it were then written the signs for the notes,
their pitch being determined by the relative position they held
in regard to the _line_. Thus [Podium, Turn, Upper Mordent] was
the equivalent of [G: c' e' d' e' d' c' d' e' d' e' d' e' d'],
considering the line as being middle C pitch, a fourth higher F.
This was the condition of musical notation in 1000 A.D.
To Guido d'Arezzo is ascribed its development up to some
semblance of our present system, although the claim has often
been denied. It is certain, however, that the innovations
were made at this period. In the first place Guido made the
red line _always_ stand for the pitch of F, and at a little
distance above it he added another line, this time yellow,
which was to indicate the pitch of C. Thus the signs began to
take very definite meaning as regards pitch; for, given a sign
extending from one line to the other, the reader could see
at a glance that the music progressed a fifth, from F to C,
or _vice-versa_. And now the copyists, seeing the value of
these lines in determining the pitch of the different signs,
of their own account added two more in black ink, one of which
they drew between the F and the C line, and the other above
the C line, thus [illustration]. By doing this they accurately
decided the pitch of every note, for the lowest line, being F,
the line between that and the C line must stand for A, and the
two spaces for G and B; the top line would stand for E, and the
space between it and the yellow line for D. Little by little
these copyists grew careless about making the lines in yellow,
red, and black, and sometimes drew them all in black or red,
thereby losing the distinguishing mark of the F and C lines. In
order to remedy this, Guido placed the letters F and C before
the lines representing these notes, thus [illustration]. In
this way our modern _clefs_ (_clavis_ or key) originated, for
the C clef, as it is called, gradually changed its shape to
[illustration] and [illustration], and the F clef changed to
[illustration], which is our bass clef in a rudimentary form.
Later, still another line was added to the set, thus giving
us our modern staff, and another clef, [illustration], was
added on the next to the lowest line. This, in turn, became
our present treble clef, [G:]. In the course of time the signs
themselves underwent many changes, until at last from [Podium],
etc., they became our modern signs.
Before this, however, a grave defect in the notation had to
be remedied. There was as yet no way of designating the length
of time a note was to be sustained; something definite in the
way of noting _rhythm_ was necessary. This was accomplished
by Franco of Cologne, in the beginning of the thirteenth
century. By disconnecting the parts of the sign [Podium] one
from another, the following individual signs were acquired
[illustration of Podium broken into three pieces]. In order
to have two distinct values of length, these signs were
called longs and shorts, _longa_ [illustration], and _brevis_
[illustration], to which was added the _brevis_ in another
position [illustration], called _semibrevis_. The _longa_
was twice the value of the _brevis_, and the _semibrevis_
was half the length of the _brevis_ ([L = B B B = S S]).
When notes of equal length were slurred, they were written
[illustration]. When two or more notes were to be sung to
one syllable in quicker time, the _brevi_ were joined one to
the other [illustration], as for instance in the songs of the
thirteenth century,
DIRGE FOR KING RICHARD'S DEATH
GAUCELM FAIDIT.
[W: Fortz chose est que tot le maur major dam]
ROI THIBAUT DE NAVARRE (1250).
[W: Si li dis sans de laies | Belle diex vous doint bon jour]
or, in modern style,
[G: g' a' b' c'' (d'' c'') (b' a' g') |
a' b' (c'' b') (b' a' g') (a' b') g']
In this example we find the first indication of the measuring
off of phrases into bars. As we see, it consisted of a little
stroke, which served to show the beginning of a new line,
and was not restricted to regularity of any kind except that
necessitated by the verse.
The use of the _semibrevis_ is shown in the following chanson
of Raoul de Coucy (1192):
[W: Quant li rossignol jolis | chante
Seur la flor d'este | que n'est la rose et le lis]
[G: d'' (c'' a') b-' (a' (g' f')) g' (a' b-' a' f') f' | f' g'
a' (b-' a') (c'' d'' c'' b-') (a' g') a' |
d'' (c'' a') b-' a' (g' f') g' (a' (b-' a') f') f']
The French troubadours and the German minnesingers of the
thirteenth century used these forms of notes only, and even
then restricted themselves to two kinds, either the _longa_
and _brevis_, or _brevis_ and _semibrevis_.
The necessity for rests very soon manifested itself, and the
following signs were invented to correspond to the _longa_,
_brevis_, and _semibrevis_ [illustration]. Also the number of
note symbols was increased by the _maxima_ or double _longa_
[illustration], and the _minima_ [illustration], which
represented half the value of the _semibrevis_.
Now that music began taking a more definite rhythmic form
than before, a more regular dividing off of the phrases
became necessary. This was accomplished by the use of a
dot, and another form, the perpendicular line, which we
have noticed in the song of the King of Navarre (1250). At
first a means to indicate triple time was invented, and the
measure corresponding to our [9/8] was indicated by placing
the sign [O.] at the beginning of the line. This was called
perfect. Then, for plain triple time the dot was omitted [O];
for [6/8] time the sign [C.] was adopted, and for ordinary
common time [C] was taken. Consequently, when these signs
were placed at the beginning of the line they changed the
value of the notes to correspond to the time marked. Thus in
[O.] (_tempus perfectum_, _prolatio major_) or [9/8], the
_brevis_ was reckoned worth three _semibrevi_ [B = S S S]
([1. = 4. 4. 4.]); the _semibrevis_ three _minimi_ [S = M M M]
([4. = 8 8 8]). In [O] or [3/4] time [B = S S S] ([2. = 4 4 4]);
but the _semibrevis_ was only as long as two _minimi_ [S = M M]
([4 = 8 8]). In [C.] or [6/8] time [B = S S] ([2. = 4. 4.]),
but [S = M M M] ([4. = 8 8 8]). In [C] or [2/2] time [B = S S]
([1 = 2 2]), and [S = M M] ([2 = 4 4]).
In the beginning of the fifteenth century the notes began to
be written in an open form
[Illustration] _Maxima_.
[Illustration] _Longa_.
[Illustration] _Brevis_.
[Illustration] _Semibrevis_.
[Illustration] _Minima_.
[Illustration] _Semiminima_, which was added later.
As still smaller units of value were added, the _semiminima_
was replaced by [filled minima], and the half _semiminima_
thus became [minima with tail], and the next smaller values,
[two tails] and [three tails]. The rest to correspond to
the _semiminima_ was [illustration]; for the _semibrevis_
[illustration], and _minima_ [illustration].
Thus we have the following values and their corresponding rests:
_Maxima_ [Illustration]
_Longa_ [Illustration]
_Brevis_ [Illustration]
_Semibrevis_ [Illustration]
_Minima_ [Illustration]
_Semiminima_ or _crocheta_ [Illustration]
_Fusa_ or _crocheta_ [Illustration]