Medieval Academy of America

"Cum Multimodi Curiositatis": A Musical Treatise from Eleventh-Century Catalonia Author(s): Kristine T. Utterback Reviewed work(s): Source: Speculum, Vol. 54, No. 2 (Apr., 1979), pp. 283-296 Published by: Medieval Academy of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2854974 . Accessed: 23/02/2012 07:42
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"CUM MULTIMODI CURIOSITATIS": A MUSICAL TREATISE FROM ELEVENTH-CENTURY CATALONIA

BY KRISTINE T. UTTERBACK THE Breviarium de musica by a monk named Oliva is the initial treatise found

in MS Ripoll 42, and it indicates the state of musica speculativa at the monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll in the mid-eleventh century. Ripoll, located near the Spanish-French border north of Barcelona, was a major intellectual center in medieval Catalonia. Its scriptorium began ca. 935, during the abbacy of Arnulfus, and by the mid-eleventh century its library contained nearly two hundred books.1 Musical manuscripts from the eleventh century indicate that Ripoll was actively concerned with musica practica; Angles suggested that Ripoll was among the earliest monasteries to employ the singleline staff.2 The unique treatise to be considered here indicates that members of the community were also interested in theoretical music, musica speculativa. Much can be ascertained about the level of this interest from Oliva's introduction to his treatise. In it he explained that he was writing for someone who wanted to learn about the theory of the monochord. Since he was writing to fill a void, it is obvious that Ripoll had no copy of Boethius's De institutione musicae, the sixth-century treatise which played such an enormous role in medieval musical study. However, Oliva had been sufficiently trained in Boethian theory to give a summary of portions of De musica from memory. Further, there was someone else at the monastery who was anxious to learn that theory, anxious enough to send messengers to neighboring monasteries to beg for books, after the petitioner's friend had refused to lend them to him. Unfortunately, Oliva did not mention the monasteries to which the ardent student had sent messengers, nor is the friend from whom he had hoped to borrow books named. If Oliva were known as a music teacher, the petitioner would presumably have applied to him first for instruction. The mention of the promise of favors and kindnesses to be bestowed on the author indicates that the student was his superior. Oliva did not mention the name of the student for whom he was writing, although Angles referred to a monk named Peter as the dedicatee.3 Presumably Angles assumed this from the poem on folio 5r, also by Oliva, which is usually called Versus de monocordo. It is written in a different but contemporary hand. In it Peter is mentioned twice, once as "fratre Petre." This may be the same Peter who became abbot of Ripoll in 1046 and died in 1056.4 Discussions of MS Ripoll 42 have centered on the
Jose Masferrer, El monasterio de Ripoll (Ripoll, 1888), pp. 25-26. Higinio Angles, "Latin Chant before St. Gregory," Early Medieval Music Up to 1300, vol. 2 of The New Oxford History of Music, rev. ed. (London, 1955), pp. 90-91. 3 Higinio Angles, La Catalognt a l'epoque romane (Paris, 1932), p. 168. 4 Jaime Villanueva, Viaje literario d las iglesias de Espana, 22 vols. in 17 (Madrid, 1821-1851), 8:222-226. 2

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Versus de monocordoand on the Prosopopeia on folio 6r, both of which have been printed several times.5 The Prosopopeia was copied too late to be relevant and the Versus de monocordois important here primarily because of its dedication and because it identifies its author as "monachus Oliva." The presence of the Breviarium de musica and the Versus de monocordoat Ripoll indicates an interest in and awareness of musical theory as it was then studied in France and Italy.
OLIVA'S TREATISE AND MUSICA SPECULATIVA

Musica speculativa was derived from the study of ancient Greek musical writers as transmitted by such early Christian writers as Augustine, Cassiodorus, and especially Boethius. This study of music was fashionable in the Middle Ages, because it required the use of reason, not mere skill which any performer might possess.6 There is evidence for the teaching of speculative music in the monastic schools at Ferrieres, Auxerre, St. Martin of Tours and St. Gall from at least the eighth century. As a part of the quadrivium, music was taught along with arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy. The teaching of speculative music was widely diffused and practiced throughout the tenth and eleventh centuries. In the twelfth century the Cluniac and Cistercian reform movements emphasized the teaching of musica practica at the expense of musica speculativa.7 The monastery of Ripoll, which was established in 888, could have played no part in the earliest stages of this development. It has been suggested, however, that when Gerbert of Aurillac, later Pope Sylvester II (999-1003), was sent to a Catalonian school for the study of the liberal arts, the choice must have been Ripoll, the only Catalonian monastery which was suitably equipped to teach all of the liberal arts.8 The treatise by Oliva is a concrete example of musica speculativa as it was practiced at Ripoll. The author of the treatise stated in his introduction that he intended to summarize the writing of Boethius on music, that is, De institutionemusicae quinque libri. While citing Boethius was a common practice, writers on musical theory rarely produced such summaries. Oliva claimed to be writing from memory; if so, he must have been well trained in the subject to remember so much as accurately as he did. The major topics of Oliva's treatise are the division of the monochord, the intervals within the three genera, and the eight modes, all subjects discussed by Boethius. Boethius's ideas on the difference between cantus and musicus and his arbor musicae, showing the three-part division of music, although frequently cited by other authors, do not appear in this work. Oliva's treatise relies heavily on the fourth book of De institutione musicae, with scattered references to the first book and a few to the second book. The treatment of
Beer, Die Handschriften des KlostersSanta Maria Ripoll, 2 vols. (Vienna, 1907), 1:44. 6Boethius, De institutione musice libri quinque, ed. Godfried Friedlein (Leipzig, 1867; repr. Frankfurt-am-Main, 1966), 1.32, p. 222. 7 Nan Cooke Carpenter, Music in the Medieval and Renaissance Universities (Norman, Okla., 1958), pp. 17-18. 8 Beer, Die Handschriften, 1:53 ff.
5Rudolf

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the division of the monochord is much simpler than the description given by Boethius, and it more closely resembles Hucbald's division into four parts in his De musica.9 Oliva's method for determining the whole tone differed from the one commonly used by other medieval music theorists, who copied Boethius. According to Oliva, the division of the monochord string is based on a series of bisections, rather than the trisections used by Boethius. Since it used the correct proportion for the whole tone, nine to eight, this procedure will produce the results Oliva claimed, but it differed from the traditional method. As a result of the bisections, Oliva began at the middle of the bisdiapason, at mese, and determined the pitches in descending order, while Boethius began at the lowest note, proslambanomenos, and determined the pitches in ascending order.10 In his summary of Boethius, Oliva chose the most practical and simplest concepts to explain. He did not explain the speculative concepts discussed by Boethius, nor did he explain the mathematical proportions, except for the diapason, diapente, diatesseron, tone, and semitone. In fact, the only numerical proportion he actually used was the nine to eight proportion of the whole tone. He also tried to explain why a semitone was not equal to half a tone. His discussion of the eight modes is correspondingly brief. If he was indeed writing from memory, it seems reasonable that those would be the topics he would most easily remember. Perhaps his audience did not require a philosophical discourse or an elaborate treatment of the physical phenomena, but simply desired an elementary introduction to music. For whatever reason, Oliva wrote a very practical speculative treatise.
RIPOLLMS 42

Ripoll MS 42, currently in the Archivo de la Corona de Aragon in Barcelona, contains several treatises dealing with music or rhetoric, as indicated on the title page, which bears the label Musica cum retorica. There is in addition one grammatical treatise at the end of the manuscript. The title,
9 Martin Gerbert, ecclesiastici de musicasacra potissimiex variis Italiae, Galliae & Germaniae Scriptores

3 vols. (St. Blasien, 1784; repr. Hildesheim, 1963), 2:50. codicibus collectis, manuscriptis 10Oliva first bisected the string, producing the pitch mese, an octave higher than the open string. He then divided half the string into eight equal parts. To these eight parts he added another eighth, producing the whole tone below mese, licanos meson. To produce the next whole tone lower, parhypatemeson, licanos meson is treated as the open string was; the string is divided into two equal parts, and half the string is divided into eight equal parts. Another eighth is added, producing a whole tone. To complete the diatesseron, a half step is needed, which is produced by beginning with mese, and dividing the string into four equal parts. The third of those four parts will produce the semitone, licanos hypaton. According to Boethius, from whom Oliva claimed to derive his method, the monochord string is first divided into nine equal parts. The open string produces the pitch proslambanomenos, and the pitch'which sounds when the proportion nine to eight is stopped will be a whole step higher, hypate hypaton. Subsequentwhole tones would be determined in the same manner, beginning with a pitch, dividing the remainder of the string into nine equal parts and markingoff the eighth. The semitone is produced by the proportion four to three (Boethius,De musica4.5, p. 316).

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which is in a later hand than the first portion of the manuscript, was probably added when the various treatises were bound together, sometime in the later Middle Ages. As it now exists, the manuscript contains 113 parchment folios. Those folios are of two different sizes. The first fascicle contains the Breviarium and the Versus de monocordo,and measures 240 mm by 320 mm. The remainder of the manuscript, beginning with what is now folio 6, measures 257 mm by 347 mm."1 The first fascicle originally contained eight folios, but the three folios following folio 4 have been removed, presumably after binding, since about a fifteen-millimeter portion of each folio remains. Part of a Visigothic capital letter is visible on one of the removed folios. Since the script on folio 4v, Vita Philippi apostoli, is also Visigothic and the page is not a complete life of Phillip, it seems reasonable to assume that the manuscript originally contained the continuation of the Vita Philippi apostoli, which for some reason was removed. Perhaps the three folios were removed because they did not fit with the rest of the treatises, which deal with music or rhetoric. Oliva's Versus de monocordo now immediately follows the treatise, separated only by the beginning of Vita Philippi apostoli. The missing folios may also have been removed to bring the treatise and the poem together.
AUTHORSHIP, DATE, AND PROVENANCE OF THE TREATISE

In the Breviarium, the author identified himself as "monachus subiectus Oliva," and in the Versus de monocordoas "monachus Oliva" and simply as "Oliva." It was originally assumed that the author of the treatise was the famous bishop Oliva, abbot of Ripoll (1008-1046) and bishop of Vich (1018-1046). Later it was suggested that there were actually two Olivas at Ripoll at nearly the same time, an idea disputed at first, but established as fact by two letters printed by Jaime Villanueva in the nineteenth century. The first letter concerned the day of Christ's birth; it was written in 1037 and was sent by the monk Oliva to the bishop Oliva. The second letter, also concerning the day of Christ's birth, was written by the monk Oliva to a monk named Dalmacium in 1065, nineteen years after the bishop's death.12 Villanueva also mentioned two professions by two Olivas with different signatures, but he did not list the dates or his sources.13 Bishop Oliva entered the monastery in 1002,14 but I have not yet found the date of the profession of the monk Oliva. Since writings from both Olivas are recorded, there is no way to be certain which one actually composed the treatise and the poem. However, there are reasons to suppose that the author was the monk rather than the bishop. Bishop Oliva's writings include the "Song to Gaucilinum," beginning "Germine conspicuos pulcro decorando," written ca. 1023; a song about the
11Zacharias Garcia, Bibliothecapatrum Latinorum hispaniensis (1915; repr. Hildesheim, 1973), p. 316. 12 Villanueva, Viaje literario, 8:222-226. 13 Ibid., 8:56. 14 Masferrer, El monasterio, pp. 36-37.

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monastery of Ripoll, "Hoc adiens templum genitricis," ca. 1032; and a song about his brother the count, "Conditur hic primus Guifredus," written after Guifredus's death in 1032.15 Among the abbot's other attested writing are pastoral sermons and letters, including one to Sancho the Great of Navarre; several of these letters are printed in volumes six and eight of Villanueva's collection. While Bishop Oliva's writings do contain songs and poems, there are no learned treatises among his attested writings. It seems unlikely that the introduction, mentioning the promise of benefits and kindnesses to the author, would have been written by an abbot or bishop. Nor is the identification of the author as "humble monk Oliva" a very likely appellation for a prelate; in the abbot's surviving correspondence or when he is signatory of a document, he calls himself abbot or bishop and clearly identifies himself. If the bishop was the author, it would be likely that he wrote the treatise before becoming abbot, that is, between 1002 and 1008. While that is possible, it would mean that the Ripoll manuscript was copied much later, since the hand dates from the mid-century. That Oliva was interested in scholarship is shown by the increase in the size of the monastery's archives during his abbacy, increasing from 121 volumes to 192,16 but if he did write the musical treatise, it is his only surviving scholarly work. It is simpler and more consistent with the evidence to attribute the treatise and poem to the monk Oliva. He was a monk of Ripoll, which would account for the presence of the manuscript, and it could have been copied in his own lifetime. He is known to have written a treatise Regulae abaci, and the Epistola de paschali Dionysiali. Villanueva felt it likely that he had also written the treatise De ponderibus et mensuris, based on his knowledge of mathematics.17 Given the monk's knowledge of at least one branch of mathematics, it seems plausible that he may also have been knowledgeable in others, including music. The style of the introduction seems more appropriate for a monk to employ in writing to a superior than for a dignitary, such as an abbot or a bishop to use. Villanueva did not hesitate to attribute the Breviarium to the monk Oliva, on the basis of his knowledge of mathematics.18 The poem on folio 5r, Versus de monocordo,is also attributed to the same Oliva. Since the poem concerns the use of the monochord, as does the treatise, and since the poem, like the treatise, identifies its author as Oliva, it seems reasonable to assume that the same person was the author of both works. In conjunction with his treatise Regulae abaci, the monk Oliva also wrote a poem, a portion of which is included in the letter to Dalmacium cited above, and the pairing of poem and treatise would be another indication of authorship by the monk. Oliva's treatise and poem must have been written between 1002 and ca.
15 Latinorummedii aevi Hispanorum, Filosofia y Letras 13, Manuel C. Diaz y Diaz, Index scriptorum No. 1 (Salamanca, 1958), pp. 172-173. 16 Jos Maria Pellicer y Pages, Breve resena del resulads de la visita al Real Monasterio de Santa Maria de Ripoll (Gerona, 1875), pp. 25-26. 17 Villanueva, Viaje literario, 8:55-56. 18 Ibid., 8:57-58.

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1065, the years when one or the other Oliva was at Ripoll. The treatise is generally dated prior to 1046, even by those who suspect that the bishop may not have composed it. If, as has been strongly suggested, the monk Oliva was the author, it could have been written as late as ca. 1065. To find the terminus ante quem for the treatise, several authors have referred to the inventory of the Ripoll library made after Bishop Oliva's death in 1046. According to Villanueva, the inventory stated that the library contained 192 books.19 The 1047 inventory has apparently disappeared. All that is known about it is the total number of volumes listed in it. Villanueva printed the text of an inventory of the Ripoll library that is often referred to as the 1047 inventory, but in fact Villanueva himself stated that it was a twelfth-century list. Villanueva described one book named in the 1047 inventory, the Psalteriumargenteum, giving the definite impression that he had seen the catalogue himself, but the inventory which he copied does not contain that entry.20 Beer felt that Villanueva's twelfth-century date may have been a typographical error,21 but since Villanueva referred to his printed inventory as "another catalogue," there is little doubt that he did not believe that the published list was the 1047 inventory. Aragonese customary law required that an inventory be made after the death of an ecclesiastical dignitary. This would account for the existence of several eleventh- and twelfth-century inventories of the Ripoll library.22 Even the twelfth-century inventory that Villanueva printed does not unequivocally include the Oliva treatise, since the individual titles of books were not always indicated.23 Beer felt that the treatise was included under the listing "Boethius," but he gave no evidence to substantiate his belief.24 While there is little doubt that the treatise was present at that time, the inventory is equivocal on the point. A date ca. 1050 for the treatise seems paleographically appropriate and agrees with the other external evidence. The manuscript was written in a late Carolingian hand, with rounded letter forms and very clear word separation. The forms are consistent and appear to be the work of a highly trained scribe. The display letters in the left margin and in the diagram on folio 2r may be the work of a different scribe. Like the letter forms, the abbreviations and spellings are reasonably consistent. The major spelling inconsistency is a typically Spanish one, the haphazard substitution of t for c, as Boecio, folio Ir, 1. ult. On line fourteen of the same folio the scribe spelled the name Boetius. He is also inconsistent in the spelling of chromatica,sometimes omitting the h entirely, and sometimes reversing the r and h, crhomatica. Abbreviations are found often, but they are standard abbreviations; one which is typically Spanish is the use of 94 for quia. Although
19 Ibid., 8:35: "Et sunt libri, numero centum XC duo." 20 Ibid., 8:35-36: "Otro catalogo de los libros existentes aqui en siglo XII, va copiado de un codice de ese tiempo por su curiosidad." 21 Rudolf Beer, Los manuscriptsdel monastirde Santa Maria de Ripoll, trans. Pere Barnils y Giol (Barcelona, 1910), pp. 21-22. 22Fori, quibus in iudiciis nec extra ad praesens non utimur (Zaragoza, 1624), 5.1.2. 23 Villanueva, Viaje literario, 8:216-217, Appendix IV. 24 Beer, Los manuscrits, p. 22.

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letters within a word are often joined, actual ligations are rare, except for the use of & for et. The scribe frequently used the cedilla for ae, but he is not consistent, nor are his usages always correct, such as his use of ee for esse. While the poem is in a different hand from the treatise, the differences appear mainly in a few letter forms, particularly the g and d, rather than in the style as a whole. Abbreviations are consistent with those of the treatise, but the scribe used them less frequently. The script is clearly Spanish, and the provenance of the manuscript is probably Ripoll, since the author was at Ripoll. The treatise does not seem ever to have left the monastery from the time of its composition until 1835. Then, after the monastery was burned and much of the library destroyed, Dom Prospero de Bofarull took the surviving manuscripts to the Archivo de la Corona de Aragon in Barcelona, where MS Ripoll 42 remains today.25 BREVIARIUM DE MUSICA Cum multimodi curiositatis instantissima studia ferventissimum tui animum discendique cupidum adquodque scibile sollicitarent, artemque musicam praecipue quia iam deceteris aliquam noveras, impacientissima cupiditate desiderares, an bene tandem totius beneficientie gratiam obsequendo, quod te eam pro facultate noticiae doceremus si librorum copia suppeteret obtinuisti. Cum autem nec libros quos ab amico tuo quidam sperabas qui tibi non dederat invenisses, et ex his quae voluntati tuae maxime inerant quid aliud faceres non haberes. Cum iam nuncios per vicina caenobia petendorum librorum causa delegasses, mensurandi monocordi regularis racionem affectione preocupatoria poposcisti. Quod cum non oportere facere respondissemus, quoniam a boetio in omni disciplinarum genere prudentissimo artis huius scriptore, post, perfectissimam a veteribus philosophis translationem plene ac evidentissime describeretur, tu quidem vehementius ut id tibi fieret incubueras obsecrando etiam si qua tui erga nos debitum retributionis nullomodo beneficia quandoque profeterant, negaretur praecedenti famulicio gratissime largitionis. Qua ex causa ne beneficiorum tuorum pronique in nos famulandi habitus immemores videremur, ex repetite memorie promptuariis ambigentes tantum utrum impacientie tue sufficere possemus an earum partem quae in musiciis Boetii continentur attingere agressi sumus. Quorum rationem quantulacumque sit solo tantum tui amore susceptam non efficatiae confidentia familiariter nulli alii publicandam tibi soli afferimus. Sed siquid in ea commissum fuerit, cum plenariam facultatem cognoveris, non adeo redarguendum in minis perfectis repetite memoriae arbitraberis. Cuius in praesentiarum haec summa est. Cum omnis musice ratio tribus in generibus versetur, "diatonicum," scilicet, "cromaticum,"a etb "enarmonium," regularis monocordi divisio secundum prefata genera, omnino modo videtur triformiter variari. Cuius quidem
25

Garcia, Bibliotheca, pp. 544-545.

a MS cromaticu, corr. ad cromatici b MS add. et

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rationem primum diatonic(i),c quia et comuni musicae familiariter servit, per quinque tetracordorum variationes expediat. Quorum nominum interpretationisque ratio sic habetur. Ipaton, ab ipatis, id est gravibus. Meson, a mediis. Sinemenon, a sinemenis, id est coniunctis. Diezeugmenon, a diezeugmenis, id est disiunctis. Yperboleon, ab excellentibus. Predictorum vero duorum, sinemenon, ac diezeugmenon, alterum a coniunctis, alterum a disiunctis ideo dicitur, quoniam sinemenon, duobus tonis emensis, ad mesen semitonio coniungitur. Diezeugmenon vero, tono seiunctum a mese duobus tonis ac semitonio, diatesseron simphonie debitam servitutem expendit. Sed quoniam unius (corde)d in plures voces quas cordas dicimus facienda est sectio, ipsarum cordarum quae a boecio tradita sunt nomina adscribenda videntur, quae per bis diapason consonantiam difuse, unicuique octo troporum in quibus totius musice abundantia continetur plenam sui corporis substantiam profitentur. Quarum nomina haec sunt proslambanomenos, ypate ipaton, perypate ipaton, lycanos ypaton, ypate meson, perypate meson, lycanos meson, mese, trite sinemenon, parinetee si(ne)menon,f nete sinemetriteh diezeugmenon, paranete di(e)zeugmenon,1 nete non, par(a)mese, diezeugmenon, trite yperboleon, parinete yperboleon, nete yperboleon. Quo enim modo sive tonis, sive semitoniis, a se praescriptarum cordarum spacia discrepent, subiecta descriptione clarebit.
1Ltttn.&w aa^,s F
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AijC *ql

lo"ow.

parmese.:
m%

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MS dizeugmenon

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Quoniam praeposita disposicione cordarum, differentie patuerentur, nunc ad propositae divisionis rationem sequentiam convertamus. In musica igitur omnium totius monocordis divisio, in duo equaea sumitur. Eodemque modo unaqueque medietatis pars in duo iterum equalia separatur. Que quidem partes iam quattuor cognoscuntur. Proslambanomenos,j licanos ipaton, mese, nete yperboleon. A proslambanomenos enim, ad licanos ypaton, diatesseron consonantia continetur. A licanos vero ypaton, ad mesen, diapente simphonia concordat. Quae quidem mese, ad nete yperboleon diapason. Sed ne simphonias proponamus antequam de ratione earum quicquam tractemus, dicendum videtur, quot sint quave mensura constent. Sunt enim tres, quibus quarta additur. Duae simplices due vero composite. Diatesseron et diapente, diapason ac bis diapason. Diatesseron et diapente simplices. Diapason ac bis diapason composite. Quae quidem ideo composite, quia primorum compositione iunguntur. Constat enim diapason, diapente ac diatesseron. Bis diapason vero quibus constet ipsa nominis interpretatione cognoscitur. Diatesseron enim quam simplicem diximus quia prior erat, et aliis simphoniis nullomodo componebatur; constat tantum duobus tonis ac semitonio. Diapente vero, in qua eadem huius rei ratio consideratur, tribus tonis ac semitonio compaginatur. Tonum autem esse noveris quod sesquioctava proportione colligitur. Semitonium vero, quod non plenitoni mensuram attingit. Quapropter quoniam consonanciarum toni ac semitonii ratio patuit, divisio spacii quod est a mese, ad prolambanomenos, hac dimensione probetur. A mese enim usque ad terminum ultimum in octo partes fiat divisio, harumque octava mese super ponatur. Signeturque corda licanos meson, sesquioctava proportione collecta. Eodemque modo a licanos meson collecta super ponatur octava, describaturque peripate meson. Collectis igitur duobus tonis a mese, solum super est semitonium ad diatesseron constituendam, quod hoc modo provenient. A mese enim versum spacium triparciatur, terciaque pars super addatur. Quo facto facillime semitonium pernotabitur, diceturque determinatio illius ypate meson. Preterea ab ypate meson simili modo ad diatesseron constituendam, duo toni (ac)k semitonium usque in ypate ypaton constituuntur, a qua proslambanomenos tono distabit, quae cum praefatis duobus tonis ac semitonio diapente consonantiam reddit. Hac igitur ratione totius diapason corpore proporcion(a)liter1 emenso, nete iperboleon spacium, ad meson legitime dimensionis censura requirat. A nete igitur yperboleon, ad nete diezeugmenon supradicta ratione octavarum parcium super adiectione, tercieque eius partis spacii a quo octavarum collectio fieri ceperat, diatesseron simphonia succrescat. A qua quidem nete diezeugmenon duo toni ac semitonium praedicta ratione collecti, usque in paramesen constituantur, inter paramesen ac mesen tono more solito interveniente. Quibus hoc modo ordinatis diapente simphoniam consonare videbis, quae cum diatesseron sequente,
k

MS corr. ex prolambanomenos

1 MS corr. ex proporcioneliter

MS hac

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duple proportionis quae est diapason universitatem adimplet quae inter mesen et nete yperboleon vera ratione colligitur. Sed quoniam quinque tetracordorum genera proposuimus quattuor quidem suo ordine locis propriis collocantes, quintum quod super est qua censura proveniat aperiamus. Diximus superius a nete yperboleon ad mesen diapason consistere simphoniam, in qua quidem illud inherat tetracordum, quod a nete yperboleon incipiens, in nete diezeugmenon usque descendit. A quam quidem nete diezeugmenon toni ratio procedat, nete sinemenon suo loco constituens. A qua in trite sinemenon duorum tonorum ratio continuetur. Inter hanc igitur et mesen spacium quod relinquitur, sinemenon semitonium quidam suavitate decantat ad mesen coniunctum faciens tetracordum. Hac igitur ratione mensure totius diatonici generis corpus existit, per quod quidem relicorum duorum generem c(hr)omaticim scilicet (ac)n enarmoni, quodamodo poterit dimensionis ratio declarari. Quam quidem hoc modo constat haberi. In diatonico igitur genere a nete yperboleon, in nete diezeugmenon tetracordum diatesseron efficiens, duorum tonorum ac semitonii mensura constabat. In cromate vero continui unius triemitonii ac duorum semitoniorum legitima spacia continentur. Quae qua dimensionis ratione inveniantur hoc modo patebit. Ad tria enim semitonia colligenda, a nete yperboleon ex utraque parte duorum tonorum mensura legitima componatur. Ex ea autem parte qua tonus exterior terminatur, tercia pars eius spacii quasi ad diatesseron consonatiam constituendam praefatis tonis duobus super ponatur, sicque unius toni ac semitonii continuatio, quod triemitonium dicitur facillime invenitur. Hoc etiam in ceteris pernotando, quatenus sicut in diatonico gener(e) unumquodque tetracordum duobus tonis ac semitonio texitur. Ita in c(hr)omateP semper triemitoniorum continuatio, ac duorum semitoniorum divisa spacia collocentur. De quibus quidem semitoniis post triemitonium constituendis, hec certe dimensionis ratio habeatur. Propositis enim a nete yperboleon duobus tonis, interposito tantum ibi triemitonio quam ratione superius diximus, spacium quod relinquitur semitonii maioris quod apotome dicitur nomine pernotatur. Alterum vero duobus eisdem tonis ab eorum exteriori termino pars tercia super adiecta monstrabit. Quod in ceteris huius generis tetracordis fieri pernotabis. Quoniam diatonici generis et cromatici dimensionis legitime rationem per sua tetracorda descripsimus, de tercio quod super enarmonia scilicet expediamus. Cuius quidem dimensionis ratio longe a ceteris duobus d(i)visaq cognoscitur haud tantum dificilis, si diatonici generis per tetracorda sua mensura sciatur. Patuit enim diatonici generis tetracorda duorum tonorum uniusque semitonii compositione formari. Cromatici vero, triemitonii unius
m MS crhomatici
n

generae P MS crhomate q MS dvisa.

MS hac

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continui duorumque semitoniorum spaciis contineri. In enarmonio vero hanc colligas universali ratione mensuram. Unumquodque igitur enarmonios tetracordum, ditoni unius continuationem ac semitonii quidem in duas diesis separationem, per totam sui corporis universalitatem requirit, de procul dubio fieri doctoris nostri Boetii auctoritate firmatum ab omnibus huius artis lectoribus, verissima ratione credatur. Hoc tantum in unoquoque trium generem sinemenon tetracordo diligentissime pernotato, quod ad mesen semitonio coniuncto, in diatonico duos tonos constituens, in cromate eodem semitonio constituto, semitonium prae se constans triemitoniumque continuum. In enarmonio eodem iterum semitonio in duas diesis separato ditonum collocande, hanc certe rationis mensuram compones. Iam igitur totius regularis monocordi dimensionis legitime ratione perspecta, quaedam de semitoniorum ratione tractemus. Diximus enim tonum in sesquioctava proportione constare, cuius sectionem, in duo equa fieri non patitur ratio, et ob id semitonium non dimidia toni pars set non plena dinoscitur. Qua ex causa cum toni divisio, in duo semitonia non aequalia sit, constat veraque ratione colligitur, unum eorum maius, alterum minus ess(e),r quorum minus lima, maius apotome nominatum ad antiquis artium scriptoribus traditum palam ess(e)s cognoscitur. Quo autem loco in ipso monocordo evidentissime cognosci possitur, facile dabimus experimentum. Verum quia in diatonico genere cum plura semitonia per sua tetracorda incidant, non sit agnoscere quae maiora minorave sint. Ad hoc cognoscendum divisi c(hr)omatist spacia pervidenda querantur. In eo enim post triemitonii emensi spacium, duo semitonia commanentia per singula tetracorda ponuntur. In quibus id certissime denotetur, quod semitonium post triemitonium continuum collocatum, maioris semitonii quod apotome dicitur ratione formatur. Minoris vero sequens semitonium nominem quod limma est praenotatur. Semitonii praeterea divisionem in duas diesis, per singula enarmonici generis tetracorda superius dixisse sufficiat. Sed quia superius tres simphonias, quibus quarta ex eis composita addebatur ess(e)u descripsimus, eas iam nunc in species deducamus. Diatesseron enim duobus tonis ac semitonio constare sepe monstratus est, ergo [?] quod quidem semitonium mutationis suae vice, omnium simphoniarum species format. Quot enim loca in unaquaque simphonia mutare poterit, tot eorum species vera ratione conficiet. In diatesseron enim tres species esse cognoveris, quia tocies posse cernitur permutari. In diapente vero quia trium tonorum uniusque semitonii est, quattuor loca vicissitudinis variatione suscipies, quattuor diapent(e)v species facit. Preterea diapason cum diapente et diatesseron consonanciis componatur, quinque tonorum duorumque semitoniorum compaginatione constare cognoscitur. Quae duo locorum viiem variatione per mensura, septem diapason species conficiunt.
s MS essae t MS crhomatis u MS essae v MS diapentae
r MS essae

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Ex diapason igitur speciebus cui adeo cuncta persequendi studium fuerit cognoscere poterit bis diapason species non posse ignorari. In cuius etiam corporis, octo troporum substanciam consistere cernimus fundamentis. Quorum quia diverse nature variationes sunt, diversis non quilibet (genere)w susceptis, aput quam versabantur sunt vocabulis nuncupati. Quorum quidem quattuor principalis nature et diffusioris continentie sunt. Ex quibus reliquii iiiior sue rationis vim totamque suorum corporum matheriam sorciuntur. Quorum omnium nominata sic habeto. Dorius, et qui sub eo est, ypodorius, a dorio dictus. Frigius, et qui sub eo est ypofrigius, a frigio dictus. Lidius, dirivativus eius ypolidius. Mixolidius, subiugalis eius, ypomixolidius. Omnis igitur totius musice facultas, per hos vii0 versatur. Quos tonos vulgares cantores solent dicere, recto nominate tropos vocandos, cum non solum pluribus tonis verum etiam consonanciis pluribus constantes latius difundantur. Per hos igitur omnia mela discurrunt. Nec quicquam in totius musice varietatibus invenitur, quod non alicui eorum verissima ratione subdatur. Quia igitur totius huius artis universalitas in eorum fundamentis consistit, qua certa rationis regula contineantur, adiciendum videtur. Tria enim in unoquoque eorum pervidenda concurrit. Terminalis depositio. Finalis commoratio. Determinata progressio. Quorum rationem in sequentibus demonstrabimus. Diximus superius viii" modorum melis facultatem huius artis amministrari. Ex quibus iiiior naturae continentia principaliter reliquos precesserant, eosque quasi suorum corporum matherie conformabant. Quod quia ita haberi palam est, quo quasi instrumento capitis informantur, quaedam quibusque duobus utensilia proponamus. Claruit autem in superioribus diapente consonantiam speciebus iiiior contineri. Quae quidem ad informationem praedictorum troporum, quasi quaedam utensilia et inchoationis iniciamenta fixa locis propriis proponuntur. Cognito autem cui eorum quodlibet quod canitur subiciatur, si sub primo dorio vel sub ypodorio continetur in ea diapente specie quae a mese incipiens semitonium finali tono coniunctum retinuerit, informati capitis officium celebrabitur. Sub frigio vero (vel)x subiugali suo compositum praedicta consonantie semitonium proprie finalis determinatione concludet. Lidii vero vel ypolidii mela, capitale praeferens semitonium eadem simphonia trium tonorum finali determinatione formabit. Mixolidii ut vel subsequentis ypomixolidii corpus semitonium capiti subiunctum post duorum tonorum sequentia finali determinata conformandum suscipiet. Et sic he quattuor species diapente, viii troporum informativa instrumenta dicuntur, finales eorum in extremis fidibus collocantes. A quibus quidem finalibus usque in earum octavas iiiior troporum principalium paratur ascensus, et in quintas quidem per curvatur descensus. Reliquorum vero iiiior, ab eisdem finalibus ex utraque parte sive ascensus sive descensus, quintarum determinatione comprimitur.
w MS gente x MS add. vel

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EPILOGUS. Et quoniam regularis monocordi mensuram per tria genera descripsimus, simphonias earumque species cum tonis ac semitoniis edocuimus, viii quoque modorum rationes per quinque tetracordorum variationes expressimus. Et quid quodque horum esset, quave ratione constaret. Quae omnium vocabula ess(e)nt,Y et a quibus dicerentur, pro captu memorie fraterne noticiae subiecimus. lam nunc parvi operis sentencias terminemus. Nec nos obtrectantis lingue preiudicia mordeant, nec oblatrantis invidie iurgia detraant, vel iniuria condempnet. Cum quanta sit cuique memoriae penuria viderat, multorumque negociorum ocupationes quemque detineant. Studiorum quoque diversorum affectiones, quominus erga unum aliquid quisque valeat multiphariam contrahant.z Quocirca fratres amatissime, Christo mente pia, monachus subiectus Oliva, hoc breviarium praerogativa tuae dilectionis assumptum placida benignitate suscipias. Si qua etiam deicierint concordibus (hil)aritateaa subiungas. Indigne posita prona facilitate comutes. Super (vacuis)ab iudicio equitatis excludas. Verum tua tibi huius conscriptionis rogatione compendium, debita rogamus ratione defendas. Illi quam tenuis opusculi non meretur effector. Laurealis serti victa coronetur assertor.

VERSUS DE MONOCORDO Maiores tropos, veteres dixere quaternos; Omnibus ac proprios, istis posuere minores. Tertius ac quartum, fert primus iure secundum; Sextum nam quintus, octavum septimus ambit; Maior in ascensu, cordas sibi vendicat octo;
Finaliaac propria, etad quinis descendit ab ipsa;

Sique minor quinis, constat superis et inimis; Quatuor in cordis, post mesen continuatis. Troporum finis, cunctorum cernitur omnis; Post mesen quinta, primus finitur in ipsa; Qualiter est tropis, cantus quoque subditus omnis. Principio metaque sui, denotat gloria patri; Fine quidem cantus, monstratur perpete tropus. Ut pateat cantus, constet si legibus aptus. Simphonias recte diatesseron et diapente.

YMS essaent z MS corr. ex contraant

aa MS aritate ab MS vacanea

ac MS corr. ex Finali
ad MS add. et

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Melis intensas, attendes necne remissas; Iam nunc Petre tibi, placeant versus monocordi. Quos prece multimoda, monachus tibi fecit Oliva. Hic Petre mente pia, fratre te poscit Oliva, Emendes recte, quod videris esse necesse:

MILWAUKEE,

WISCONSIN