Part 7

=Influence of Art on Music=.—All of the fine arts, with the exception of Music had, by the year 1100, reached a fairly high stage of development due, no doubt, to the fact that they are to a great extent composed of concrete materials. Music, owing to its lack of the concrete and the inability of men literally to place their hands upon its material, had lagged behind, so that in 1100 we find only a small amount of material, and that in a most chaotic condition. This material was, however, sufficient to produce definite musical forms if united into a homogeneous whole; such a state, however, could be produced only as the result of some great influence which would galvanize the component parts into action. Fortunately, there was just such an influence, one which had passed through an evolution similar to that needed in music, though because of its more concrete form and its necessity to man, this evolution had occurred at a proportionately earlier date. This influence was an art form, a phase of architecture known as the Gothic. Gothic architecture was a form built up by the unifying of the principal styles of architecture into one uniform whole, and composed of a _multiplicity_ of _details_, but of such evident _relation to each other_ as to make a distinct art form. This form was first used in Paris about the year 1000 A. D. Music was, approximately, in the same condition as Architecture before the birth of the Gothic principle, and needed a stimulus, a comrade art undergoing much the same evolution, to start it on its path of polyphonic development. In the year 1100 musical chaos became united into one uniform art by means of Measured Music or Proportion, thus allowing the systematizing of the mass of then existing material, and the construction of definite art forms. Since Architecture had undergone just such a change one century before, it is more than probable that the effect of this change was the starting of a similar one in Music, though the result was not to show until one hundred years after its occurrence in the kindred art.

=Paris the Centre of Europe=.—It was natural that these two great changes should take place in Paris, at that time the centre of wealth and learning for all Europe. Paris, in addition to its many other advantages, had long possessed a great university which had produced many scholars and theologians. The influence of the Church in all art was then paramount, for all art was employed in the service of the Church; Architecture gave to the Church its Gothic cathedrals; Painting and Frescoing its marvelous interior decorations; while Music made possible the richer forms of the service or liturgy. In that sense the Church, in its centre of theological study, would undoubtedly react on the practice of music and produce more beautiful forms for the service. In this period it is worthy of note that all the _famous musicians_, as before, were _monks_, or men employed in the Church, and the reason for this condition is plain: there was no art of music outside of the Church.

=Measured Music=.—Just as the use of many voices produced singing in parts, so did it produce Measured Music. To make it possible to use more than two parts at the same time it was necessary to have some definite agreement as to the value of the notes, in order to have certain uniform times for beginning, ending and performing the different portions of a composition agreeably; and so Measured Music was born. It may be said here that the different metrical divisions were not shown by means of bar lines as we now use them, but by different groupings of the notes, the time value of each depending on its relative position to the others. Perhaps of all forms produced by this system, the _Organum Purum_ was the earliest and most peculiar. It consisted of a _Cantus Firmus_ set to words, and metrical in form; a second voice freely extemporized a higher part, evidently the only rule being that the two finish together. At a late date, strict Discant sometimes alternated with the old Organum, making it much less free in character.

=The Important Forms=.—In reality, the important forms produced were entirely in strict metrical divisions. Of these, the most important were the so-called strict Organum, the Conductus, the Roundel and the Motet. Of the strict Organum very little is known, excepting that it was a strictly metrical form, differing, in that sense only, from the Organum Purum; it had also words for all parts and not only for the Cantus Firmus, as had the older forms. The Conductus, from the Latin _conducere_, to conduct, was important, and was a secular form having as its basis a popular melody or a newly invented one, secular words and much freer intervals than church compositions. Each part was expected to be melodious; and it varied from two to four in the number of voices used. It was sung during a march, a funeral cortège or procession.

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Conductus for three voices showing that each part is a distinct melody. Oxford History of Music, Vol. I.

=The Roundel=, from an historical view-point, was the most important form, for in it much use was made of Imitation. It can best be explained in the words of Walter Odington, a theorist of the time: “Let a melody, with or without a text, in one of the regular modes of rhythm, and as beautiful as possible, be devised, and let each voice sing this in turn. And at the same time let other melodies be devised to accompany it in the second and (if there be three voices) in the third voice; let them proceed in consonances, and so that when one voice ascends another descends, and let the third not follow too closely the movement of either of the others, except perhaps for the sake of greater beauty. And let all of these melodies be sung by each voice in turn.” While the use of Imitation is important in that it recognizes the _repetition_ of a set phrase as an _aid_ to _Unity_, its importance is detracted from, at least at this period, because it was not used in any of the other forms then in vogue.

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Roundel for three voices showing Imitation. There are six distinct melodic phrases, and by numbering these wherever they appear, the Imitation can readily be observed.

=Imitation a Means of Securing Unity=.—An art form must submit to the laws of the human mind, which demand that a work of art shall show three principles: Unity, Variety or Contrast and Proportion or Symmetry. The problem set before the old composers was to produce musical works which should exhibit obedience to the canons of art as determined in the sister arts which had already reached great perfection. Unity in a musical work means that it is a development of one central thought, in elaborate works, of several leading ideas. The germ of a musical composition is in the Theme. The composer’s problem is to elaborate a piece of some length from this Theme, in that way to secure Unity of idea. If he were limited to writing in one part, he would be compelled to _repeat_ the Theme a number of times, either on the _same_ or on a _different_ degree. When he must write for three or more voices the problem becomes more complicated. Let us imagine a composer of the 12th-century at his work. He has a theme to use, like the one in the example at the end of the preceding paragraph, which he is to use in three parts. From the composers of the preceding centuries he received the principle of _transposing_ the theme a fourth or fifth or octave higher or lower, thus singing the same melody _simultaneously_ at different pitches; but this he rejects as crude; he has passed that stage and wishes to use a newer, more advanced method. Obviously his recourse will be to let each of the other two voices sing the opening theme _successively_ at the same pitch. To stop with this change would result only in three successive repetitions of the opening theme; so he makes the second and third voices sing the phrases used by the first voice after the first theme has been given, which serve as an accompaniment to the second and third entries of the first theme; thus all the voices sing the various phrases, at different times and in different successions, as shown by the numbering of the phrases. In later times the principal phrases were sung _successively and transposed_ at the same time. This principle of Imitation is the very foundation of the later complicated polyphonic system.

=The Motet=.—In the form of the Motet we note many peculiarities. Each voice had different words, though the Tenor or foundation of the composition used but _one_ single word throughout; also, the Tenor was composed of a certain metrical and melodic figure closely adhered to and built up out of some popular song. The words and the form were sacred in that they were used in worship.

=The Men of the Time=.—There are many men who wrote in these forms but it is only necessary to examine those of importance. =Franco of Cologne= (1150-1220), (dates disputed), an organist, was probably the pioneer in the adoption of Measured Music. He first advocated the use of triple meter and classified the dissonances of major and minor thirds and sixths. He used his influence _against_ the use of _consecutive fourths_ and _fifths_, and _for_ the use of _contrary motion_. The result is in many ways shown in the following example:

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=Leonin= (about 1140) and =Perotin= (his pupil) were organists at Notre Dame in Paris. The former was noteworthy in the reform of notation, while the latter is known principally for his use of crude Imitation, and a tendency not to use consecutive fourths and fifths, though he never entirely succeeded in eradicating them. =Franco of Paris= (1150———), often confused with his namesake of Cologne, was a theoretician, improved notation, and wrote a treatise on Mensural Music. =Jean de Garlande= (1170-125—) not only wrote a very valuable treatise on Mensural Music, but was also a composer of note; his writings contained specimens of Double Counterpoint, though probably used without the intention of producing them. =Jerome de Moravie= (1260) wrote a scholarly treatise on Discant, and such was his ability that he illustrated it with his own compositions, making it one of the most valuable reference works in existence. It is worthy of mention that all of these men were churchmen in the sense that their work was all done in, or with the approval of, the Church, and was therefore influenced by the peculiar beliefs and customs then obtaining in that institution. This point must ever be kept in mind, for any prolonged contact with Folk-music must have changed the entire development of the art; therefore we must regard the Church as the dominant influence of early music.

=Summary=.—The work of this period can hardly be over-estimated. First we see the influence of the Gothic in architecture, producing a corresponding unity in music; a unity which was concomitant with Measured or Mensural Music. We next see the attempt to combine metrical with unmetrical forms in the Organum Purum, and the final result in the strict form of Organum. Then we note the freedom shown in the Conductus, Roundel and Motet, as well as freedom in the use of more pleasing intervals, with the tendency to eradicate consecutive fourths and fifths; the use of contrary motion instead of parallel, and the consequent melodic freedom of the voices, and finally the use of Imitation, though perhaps unintentionally, except in the Roundel. This period then marks the acquisition not only of new intervals, new forms, new styles of melodic writing, imitation, measured music and simple counterpoint of note against note, but also forms the foundation for a rapid development by bequeathing to the Gallo-Belgic School a wealth of material, bound up with rules and only half-suspected as to its value, it is true, but broad and firm enough to sustain a mighty structure of true Polyphonic Music.

REFERENCES.

Naumann.—History of Music, Vol. I.

Grove.—Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Article on Schools of Composition, section relating to early French music.

Hope.—Mediæval Music. Technical Explanation of Mensural Music.

Oxford History of Music, Vol. I, pages 74-388. Technical explanation of measured music.

Luebke.—History of Art, for an account of Byzantine, Romanesque and Gothic Architecture.

Guizot.—History of France, for an account of Paris in 1100, with a statement of manners and customs.

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS.

How did art influence music?

What made Paris the centre of Europe?

What was Measured Music?

What forms of music were developed in this period? Explain them.

Why is Imitation a logical process toward securing Unity in musical construction?

Who are leading composers of this period?

What are the successive steps of development as shown in this period?

The historical period corresponding with this lesson extends from the death of William Rufus, son of William the Conqueror, to the death of Richard the Lion-Hearted, and includes the Crusade in which that hero was the principal figure. It will be remembered that Richard was a great patron of minstrelsy.

LESSON X.

THE GALLO-BELGIC SCHOOL.

=A New Art Centre=.—The development of any art, and more especially Music, requires the dominance of wealth, learning and general civilizing forces, to form an epoch-marking school. Paris for a time satisfactorily filled these conditions, and then gave place to a school, stronger and better equipped: that of the Netherlands. There were several reasons for this change in the centre of musical activity. So long as Paris was dominant in wealth and civilization, and so long as she maintained her supremacy in the intellectual fields of the Church and university, so long did she retain the centre of culture; but when her wealth became such as to produce degeneracy in the taste for pure art, and love of show rather than real worth became predominant, then her native pupils began to lose their intellectual strength, and the pupils from foreign countries began to furnish the real culture. The establishment of the Papal See at Avignon in the south of France doubtless contributed to the supremacy of France in music and the liberal arts. When the See was restored to Rome, in 1377, Paris and her school of music were relegated to the background. From this period on it was but a matter of time for these pupils to carry the centre of musical culture from Paris to a place possessing a foundation for musical growth, and a greater number of strong minded scholars, and where political conditions were favorable. The Netherlands surpassed Paris in all of these important particulars, though not at the time when the Paris School ceased to be of importance. There was a school of transition which filled the space left between the important work of Paris and the supremacy of the Netherlands; that school was the Gallo-Belgic, located northeast from Paris on the borderline between France and Belgium, Tournay being the centre. The school at Paris was occupied in acquiring material for use; the school of the Netherlands developed polyphonic music emotionally; the step from acquisition to arrangement of material was necessary before emotional development could occur, and that was the work of the Gallo-Belgic School. This school was located in the country of Hucbald and Odo, who had built up there, a little while before, a system of music which was the foundation of the polyphonic style, and which had prepared the people for a culture of greater value and importance. Thus we see that musical development followed the line of greatest preparation, and utilized the preparatory work furnished by these two men. And finally, it was a direct step toward the Netherlands which were even then beginning the struggle in which they were victorious, for supremacy in commerce, art, and music.

=Contribution of the Paris School=.—When the Paris school ceased to be of utmost importance to the world of music it had bequeathed to the later schools Measured Music, and its forms of Organum, Motet, Conductus and Roundel, and the use of certain not unpleasing intervals, though occasional consecutive fourths, fifths, and octaves appeared. It was, then, the business of the Gallo-Belgic school to refine these intervals, develop measured music, and so improve and develop these old primary forms, eliminating some and evolving others, as to give the school of the Netherlands, one century later, forms pleasing in intervals and of sufficient unity and design to afford opportunity for the infusion of the emotional. In the matter of intervals much was done to develop and use the old ones, excepting the consecutive fourths and fifths which were abolished never to appear again, and many new, or previously unused intervals, were made use of. In the matter of forms, we hear no more of the crude Organum and Conductus, but a little about the Motet, and nothing at all in regard to the Roundel, as such. It is, however, due entirely to this last form that polyphonic music developed; though we hear no more of the Roundel, we do hear much in regard to the Canon, and the Canon was but a highly developed species of the Roundel.

=Imitation and the Canon=.—The use of Imitation, as we have seen, gradually became more and more important. The old monks, in the very beginning, imitated melody in the fourth and fifth; at the time of the Paris school these melodies were combined with new ones making Imitation with more than one melody, though the melody underwent no real organic development. Now we see in the inception of the Canon a development of real Imitation of only one melody, but given _Variety_ by use of the devices of Inversion, Augmentation, Diminution, etc. And not only did this occur in the Canon, but we find it also in the other forms, in a freer style, adding materially to the _Unity_. Imitation is the foundation principle of polyphonic music, and this principle was present in the crude efforts of the old monks, in the more intelligent efforts of the Paris school, and now for the first time, receives, in the Gallo-Belgic school, a partial recognition of its real value, and a commensurate use.

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Naumann, History of Music, Vol. I, page 315, extract from a chanson by Dufay. Figure 1 shows the principal melody, figure 2 shows the same at the fifth below. The entire chanson is quoted in Naumann with the various imitations fairly well marked; the student should refer to it.

=The Value of Imitation=.—We must understand, however, that mere Imitation is in itself not a remarkable phenomenon. We imitate, more or less unconsciously, in all arts, and even in our daily habits; but this would be of no lasting importance did we not take that imitation as a foundation for future development, as did the composers of this school. And in these polyphonic schools the imitation was unintentional, as a definite aid to the structure of a musical idea, until it was seen that the _imitation_ must be _confined_ to _one definite idea_ or melody. It was then that the original treatment of melodic development began, and the various devices for developing a melody, without changing its organic structure, inaugurated. This marked the beginning of a school of musical art, a school of definite, and not chance evolution; or in other words, arrangement and development of the earlier acquired ideas.

=A Technical Principle=.—A little consideration will show how the principle of Imitation was developed. The first step was to imitate a melody at a lower or higher pitch and sing the two or more versions _simultaneously_; the next step was to bring in the second and other imitating voices _successively_, at the same or different pitch; thus making the imitation more prominent. So long as composers confined their efforts to using fixed melodies, they could not go far. When they began to adapt well-known melodies and later to invent their own it became possible to make a lengthy work, this leading to a composition in which each of the accompanying voices imitated the first; sometimes only two voices used imitation, the other having a somewhat free part. A next step was to _vary_ the _imitation_, by changing the motion of the imitating part; if the melody moved up, the imitating part moved downward and _vice versa_; sometimes the movement was reversed, the imitation beginning with the last note of the phrase and proceeding to the first; sometimes it was made in notes of smaller value (diminution), sometimes in larger (augmentation). These and other devices were experimented with and worked out by the Gallo-Belgic composers. One readily sees that this is _intellectual_ work, that it puts a premium on cleverness and lays expression aside. Yet the technic of an art must first be acquired and the composers of this period were doing this in working out a system of technic in composition with Imitation as the foundation.

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Illustration from Naumann, “History of Music,” page 321, Vol. I, showing at 1 and 2 the principal melody and its imitation, and at 3, imitation and inversion. The student should examine the entire example in Naumann.

=The Work of the Gallo-Belgic School=.—We note that many of the new ideas came into being at this time, all of them, however, tending toward the arranging of material or the preparing of it for the emotional style. The Canon, and the principle of Imitation, developed a set of strict rules which tended to produce more adequate command of material and assisted in shaping the Fugue; though we, in our own day, regard these rules as positively detrimental to the real expression of emotion, yet they were necessary adjuncts to the real command of _technic_. With Imitation came Counterpoint of a more highly developed form; an inevitable step toward the fugal style of the later polyphonic periods. And lastly came a use of _Folk-music melodies_ and the _Leading Tone_, important because they foreshadow the abandonment of the old Church Modes, and the _adoption of the Natural Scale_. This marks the important point in the Gallo-Belgic school; for with the introduction of the Natural Scale there came increasing tendency for emotional expression, which could never have occurred had the Church Modes retained their former position in music. The idea of this preparation of material for emotional development cannot be emphasized too strongly. Upon the Gallo-Belgic school rested the burden of preparing this material for the later schools, so that these could demonstrate to the world that while polyphonic music could not be surpassed as a means of expressing certain impersonal, almost religious emotions, it could not express to the fullest, the intimate, personal, emotional ideas of the romantic composers.