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the just intonation system of nicola vicentino
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The Just Intonation System of Nicola Vicentino:
Nicola Vicentino (1511-c.1576) was a remarkable theorist and composer whose fame today rests chiefly with his advocacy of chromatic and even microtonal music. Unlike the traditional theorist of the Middle Ages, he was not content to just confine himself to abstract mathematical theory; he showed how his theories could be applied to practical composition and tuning. In fact, he designed and built at least two keyboard instruments designed to play in all of the Greek genera: a harpsichord with thirty-six keys per octave which he called the archicembalo and a comparable portative organ, the arciorgano. His tuning system included thirty-one pitches within an octave, which, as Barbour reasonably interprets it, was most probably applied to the archicembalo through a cycle of fifths tempered by 1/4-syntonic comma, the same interval commonly used in meantone temperament at the time [1]. However, it is less well known that he also defined the intervals of his system either implicitly or explicitly at least two other ways: as just ratios derived from ancient theorists, and as divisions of other intervals.
Humanism began having a profound effect on music theory and aesthetics in the sixteenth century, when musicians began rediscovering or reevaluating the writings of ancient theorists such as Boethius and Ptolemy. The ancient theories of modes and tetrachordal divisions, though often misunderstood, were widely considered prerequisite knowledge to the art of composition. Vicentino presented his own theories and interpretations of ancient theory in his treatise L'antica musica ridotta alla moderna prattica (Ancient Music Restored to Modern Practice), first published in Rome in 1555 ...
Nicola Vicentino (1511-c.1576) was a remarkable theorist and composer whose fame today rests chiefly with his advocacy of chromatic and even microtonal music. Unlike the traditional theorist of the Middle Ages, he was not content to just confine himself to abstract mathematical theory; he showed how his theories could be applied to practical composition and tuning. In fact, he designed and built at least two keyboard instruments designed to play in all of the Greek genera: a harpsichord with thirty-six keys per octave which he called the archicembalo and a comparable portative organ, the arciorgano. His tuning system included thirty-one pitches within an octave, which, as Barbour reasonably interprets it, was most probably applied to the archicembalo through a cycle of fifths tempered by 1/4-syntonic comma, the same interval commonly used in meantone temperament at the time [1]. However, it is less well known that he also defined the intervals of his system either implicitly or explicitly at least two other ways: as just ratios derived from ancient theorists, and as divisions of other intervals.
Humanism began having a profound effect on music theory and aesthetics in the sixteenth century, when musicians began rediscovering or reevaluating the writings of ancient theorists such as Boethius and Ptolemy. The ancient theories of modes and tetrachordal divisions, though often misunderstood, were widely considered prerequisite knowledge to the art of composition. Vicentino presented his own theories and interpretations of ancient theory in his treatise L'antica musica ridotta alla moderna prattica (Ancient Music Restored to Modern Practice), first published in Rome in 1555 ...
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Dec 11, 2005
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Hexachords, solmization, and musica ficta.
Foreword: Why learn hexachords?
When I asked Margo Schulter to write an article explaining medieval hexachords and the issues underlying their application in performance, one of my primary motivations was obvious: In order to understand how medieval music was constructed and performed, in order to determine what in modern notation become required accidentals, one must understand hexachords. From the time Guido d'Arezzo developed the hexachord syllables (ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la) in his Epistola de ignoto cantu (c.1029-33), following closely upon his magnum theoretical opus Micrologus (c.1025-32), they became the basis of Western musical education and persisted as such until the dawn of the modern era. For someone accustomed to modern musical notation, hexachords may seem to be so much baggage, begging a question: Isn't the practical modern musician better off ignoring them, leaving to scholars the arcane task of supplying accidentals in modern editions?
When evaluating what may seem to be the convoluted & quaint aspects of Guido's system of hexachords and solmization (whether Guido himself supplied the incipits which would make his syllables a proper solmization system is an open question), the reader should be mindful of three facts: 1) It was Guido who developed and described staff notation in Micrologus; 2) Guido's contemporary fame was first as a teacher with an unprecedented ability to teach chants quickly; and, 3) Solmization systems of various kinds are found around the world. It is only too easy to view the hexachord system as a pointless medieval exercise in sophistry, as the debate regarding angels on the head of a pin or the endless syllogisms of Peter of Spain replaced today by a few simple rules of logic. Yet, it was first of all the sheer practical relevance of the system which demanded its introduction. If Guido could envision the staff, an innovation we certainly feel no need to mock, might not we grant him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to hexachords as a concomitant of his system? Moreover, can we profitably use hexachords today?...
Foreword: Why learn hexachords?
When I asked Margo Schulter to write an article explaining medieval hexachords and the issues underlying their application in performance, one of my primary motivations was obvious: In order to understand how medieval music was constructed and performed, in order to determine what in modern notation become required accidentals, one must understand hexachords. From the time Guido d'Arezzo developed the hexachord syllables (ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la) in his Epistola de ignoto cantu (c.1029-33), following closely upon his magnum theoretical opus Micrologus (c.1025-32), they became the basis of Western musical education and persisted as such until the dawn of the modern era. For someone accustomed to modern musical notation, hexachords may seem to be so much baggage, begging a question: Isn't the practical modern musician better off ignoring them, leaving to scholars the arcane task of supplying accidentals in modern editions?
When evaluating what may seem to be the convoluted & quaint aspects of Guido's system of hexachords and solmization (whether Guido himself supplied the incipits which would make his syllables a proper solmization system is an open question), the reader should be mindful of three facts: 1) It was Guido who developed and described staff notation in Micrologus; 2) Guido's contemporary fame was first as a teacher with an unprecedented ability to teach chants quickly; and, 3) Solmization systems of various kinds are found around the world. It is only too easy to view the hexachord system as a pointless medieval exercise in sophistry, as the debate regarding angels on the head of a pin or the endless syllogisms of Peter of Spain replaced today by a few simple rules of logic. Yet, it was first of all the sheer practical relevance of the system which demanded its introduction. If Guido could envision the staff, an innovation we certainly feel no need to mock, might not we grant him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to hexachords as a concomitant of his system? Moreover, can we profitably use hexachords today?...
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Website of the Huygens-Fokker Foundation, centre for microtonal music..
Microtonal music, tuning, centre, concert, temperament,
instrument, music, archive, 31-tone tuning, non-western, intonation, just
intonation, meantone, microtone, organ, chord
Microtonal music, tuning, centre, concert, temperament,
instrument, music, archive, 31-tone tuning, non-western, intonation, just
intonation, meantone, microtone, organ, chord
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Perfect Pitch: The #1 best-selling ear training method. Learn Perfect Pitch: how to recognize EXACT tones and chords -- BY EAR, For ALL musicians ...
In classical times, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin -- and most all the music greats -- had Perfect Pitch.
From CLASSICAL to ROCK, from JAZZ to POP, many current and recent superstars also possess (or did possess) Perfect Pitch:
Frank Sinatra, Leonard Bernstein, Barbra Streisand, Julie Andrews, Andre Previn, Stevie Wonder, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Glenn Gould, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Johnson (below), Tommy Mars, Bela Bartok, Jascha Heifetz, Paul Shaffer, Yo-Yo Ma, Yanni -- the list goes on and on....
perfect pitch, ear training
In classical times, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Chopin -- and most all the music greats -- had Perfect Pitch.
From CLASSICAL to ROCK, from JAZZ to POP, many current and recent superstars also possess (or did possess) Perfect Pitch:
Frank Sinatra, Leonard Bernstein, Barbra Streisand, Julie Andrews, Andre Previn, Stevie Wonder, Nat King Cole, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Glenn Gould, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Johnson (below), Tommy Mars, Bela Bartok, Jascha Heifetz, Paul Shaffer, Yo-Yo Ma, Yanni -- the list goes on and on....
perfect pitch, ear training
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Faq: The Guide to Chord Theory: understanding chord construction/naming.
Category:
Systematic Music Theory:
The structure of the Western tonal system is explained, from the ground up. This presentation is oriented towards seeing and hearing. Previous experience with music theory is not necessary. DISCLAIMER: Straighforward logic is used here; i.e. this is not an historical account, although historical background is sometimes given ...
The structure of the Western tonal system is explained, from the ground up. This presentation is oriented towards seeing and hearing. Previous experience with music theory is not necessary. DISCLAIMER: Straighforward logic is used here; i.e. this is not an historical account, although historical background is sometimes given ...
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