Oral and Written Transmission in Chant (Music in Medieval Europe)

The writing down of music is one of the triumphant technologies of the West. Without writing, the performance of music involves some combination of memory and improvisation. Isidore of Seville famously wrote that unless sounds are remembered by man, they perish, for they cannot be written down. This volume deals with the materials of chant from the point of view of transmission. The early history of chant is a history of orality, of transmission by mouth to ear, and yet we can study it only through the use of written documents. Scholars of medieval music have taken up the ideas and techniques of scholars of folklore, of oral transmission, of ethnomusicology; for the chant is, in fact, an ancient music transmitted for a time in oral culture; and we study a culture not our own, whose informants are not people but manuscripts. All depends, ironically, on deducing oral issues from written documents. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Series Preface 10 Introduction 12 PART I MUSIC-WRITING 18 1 Leo Treitler (1982), 'The Early History of Music Writing in the West’ 20 2 Charles M. Atkinson (1995), 'De Accentibus Toni Oritur Nota Quae Dicitur Neuma: Prosodic Accents, the Accent Theory and the Paleofrankish Script’ 64 PART II NOTATION AND PERFORMANCE 90 3 Mary Berry (1979), 'Gregorian Chant: The Restoration of the Chant and Seventy-Five Years of Recording’ 92 4 Nino Albarosa (1983), 'The Pontificio Istituto di Musica Sacra in Rome and the Semiological School of Dom Eugène Cardine’ 108 5 Lance W. Brunner (1982), 'The Performance of Plainchant: Some Preliminary Observations of the New Era’ 116 PART III ORAL AND WRITTEN TRANSMISSION 130 6 Leo Treitler (1974), 'Homer and Gregory: The Transmission of Epic Poetry and Plainchant’ 132 7 Leo Treitler (1975), '“Centonate” Chant: Übles Flickwerk or E pluribus unus?' 172 8 David G. Hughes (1987), 'Evidence for the Traditional View of the Transmission of Gregorian Chant’ 196 9 Kenneth Levy (1987), 'Charlemagne’s Archetype of Gregorian Chant’ 224 10 Leo Treitler (1988), 'Communications’ 254 11 László Dobszay (1993), 'The Debate about the Oral and Written Transmission of Chant’ 268 12 Kenneth Levy (1990), 'On Gregorian Orality’ 292 13 Emma Hornby (2004), 'The Transmission of Western Chant in the 8th and 9th Centuries: Evaluating Kenneth Levy’s Reading of the Evidence’ 336 14 Edward Nowacki (1998), 'Chant Research at the Turn of the Century and the Analytical Programme of Helmut Hucke’ 376 15 Susan Rankin (1995), 'Ways of Telling Stories’ 402 16 Theodore Karp (1990), 'Interrelationships among Gregorian Chants: An Alternative View of Creativity in Early Chant’ 426 Index 466 Aufsatzsammlung; Canto gregoriano; Chant grégorien Histoire et critique; Criticism,interpretation,etc; Geschichte; Gregoriaanse muziek; Gregorian chants; Gregorian chants History and criticism; Gregorianischer Gesang; Gregoriansk sång historia; History; Musical notation; Musical notation History; Musical notation History 500-1400; Musical notation History To 1500; Musique Notation Histoire 500-1400; Notation historia före 1500; Textgeschichte; Texttradering; To 1500; Transmission de textes; Transmission of texts Aufsatzsammlung,Canto gregoriano,Chant grégorien Histoire et critique,Criticism,interpretation,etc,Geschichte,Gregoriaanse muziek,Gregorian chants,Gregorian chants History and criticism,Gregorianischer Gesang,Gregoriansk sång historia,History,Musical notation,Musical notation History,Musical notation History 500-1400,Musical notation History To 1500,Musique Notation Histoire 500-1400,Notation historia före 1500,Textgeschichte,Texttradering,To 1500,Transmission de textes,Transmission of texts The writing down of music is one of the triumphant technologies of the West. Without writing, the performance of music involves some combination of memory and improvisation. Isidore of Seville famously wrote that unless sounds are remembered by man, they perish, for they cannot be written down. This volume deals with the materials of chant from the point of view of transmission. The early history of chant is a history of orality, of transmission by mouth to ear, and yet we can study it only through the use of written documents. Scholars of medieval music have taken up the ideas and techniques of scholars of folklore, of oral transmission, of ethnomusicology; for the chant is, in fact, an ancient music transmitted for a time in oral culture; and we study a culture not our own, whose informants are not people but manuscripts. All depends, ironically, on deducing oral issues from written documents. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 8 Series Preface 10 Introduction 12 PART I MUSIC-WRITING 18 1 Leo Treitler (1982), 'The Early History of Music Writing in the West’ 20 2 Charles M. Atkinson (1995), 'De Accentibus Toni Oritur Nota Quae Dicitur Neuma: Prosodic Accents, the Accent Theory and the Paleofrankish Script’ 64 PART II NOTATION AND PERFORMANCE 90 3 Mary Berry (1979), 'Gregorian Chant: The Restoration of the Chant and Seventy-Five Years of Recording’ 92 4 Nino Albarosa (1983), 'The Pontificio Istituto di Musica Sacra in Rome and the Semiological School of Dom Eugène Cardine’ 108 5 Lance W. Brunner (1982), 'The Performance of Plainchant: Some Preliminary Observations of the New Era’ 116 PART III ORAL AND WRITTEN TRANSMISSION 130 6 Leo Treitler (1974), 'Homer and Gregory: The Transmission of Epic Poetry and Plainchant’ 132 7 Leo Treitler (1975), '“Centonate” Chant: Übles Flickwerk or E pluribus unus?' 172 8 David G. Hughes (1987), 'Evidence for the Traditional View of the Transmission of Gregorian Chant’ 196 9 Kenneth Levy (1987), 'Charlemagne’s Archetype of Gregorian Chant’ 224 10 Leo Treitler (1988), 'Communications’ 254 11 László Dobszay (1993), 'The Debate about the Oral and Written Transmission of Chant’ 268 12 Kenneth Levy (1990), 'On Gregorian Orality’ 292 13 Emma Hornby (2004), 'The Transmission of Western Chant in the 8th and 9th Centuries: Evaluating Kenneth Levy’s Reading of the Evidence’ 336 14 Edward Nowacki (1998), 'Chant Research at the Turn of the Century and the Analytical Programme of Helmut Hucke’ 376 15 Susan Rankin (1995), 'Ways of Telling Stories’ 402 16 Theodore Karp (1990), 'Interrelationships among Gregorian Chants: An Alternative View of Creativity in Early Chant’ 426 Index 466 Aufsatzsammlung; Canto gregoriano; Chant grégorien Histoire et critique; Criticism,interpretation,etc; Geschichte; Gregoriaanse muziek; Gregorian chants; Gregorian chants History and criticism; Gregorianischer Gesang; Gregoriansk sång historia; History; Musical notation; Musical notation History; Musical notation History 500-1400; Musical notation History To 1500; Musique Notation Histoire 500-1400; Notation historia före 1500; Textgeschichte; Texttradering; To 1500; Transmission de textes; Transmission of texts Aufsatzsammlung,Canto gregoriano,Chant grégorien Histoire et critique,Criticism,interpretation,etc,Geschichte,Gregoriaanse muziek,Gregorian chants,Gregorian chants History and criticism,Gregorianischer Gesang,Gregoriansk sång historia,History,Musical notation,Musical notation History,Musical notation History 500-1400,Musical notation History To 1500,Musique Notation Histoire 500-1400,Notation historia före 1500,Textgeschichte,Texttradering,To 1500,Transmission de textes,Transmission of texts Part I. Music-writing. The Early History Of Music Writing In The West / Leo Treitler ; De Accentibus Toni Oritur Nota Quae Dicitur Neuma : Prosodic Accents, The Accent Theory, And The Paleofrankish Script / Charles M. Atkinson -- Part Ii. Notation And Performance. Gregorian Chant : The Restoration Of The Chant And Seventy-five Years Of Recording / Mary Berry ; The Pontificio Istituto Di Musica Sacra In Rome And The Semiological School Of Dom Eugène Cardine / Nino Albarosa ; The Performance Of Plainchant : Some Preliminary Observations Of The New Era / Lance W. Brunner -- Part Iii. Oral And Written Transmission. Homer And Gregory : The Transmission Of Epic Poetry And Plainchant ; 'centonate' Chant : Übles Flickwerk Or E Pluribus Unus? / Leo Treitler ; Evidence For The Traditional View Of The Transmission Of Gregorian Chant / David G. Hughes ; Charlemagne's Archetype Of Gregorian Chant / Kenneth Levy ; Communications, Concerning Levy And Hughes, Above / Leo Treitler ; The Debate About The Oral And Written Transmission Of Chant / László Dobszay ; On Gregorian Orality / Kenneth Levy ; The Transmission Of Western Chant In The 8th And 9th Centuries : Evaluating Kenneth Levy's Reading Of The Evidence / Emma Hornby ; Chant Research At The Turn Of The Century And The Analytical Programme Of Helmut Hucke / Edward Nowacki ; Ways Of Telling Stories / Susan Rankin ; Interrelationships Among Gregorian Chants : An Alternative View Of Creativity In Early Chant / Theodore Karp. Edited By Thomas Forrest Kelly. Collection Of Previously Published Articles. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.