Theology And Music At The Early University: The Case Of Robert Grosseteste And Anonymous Iv (brill's Studies In Intellectual History)

At the climax of one of his most important and comprehensive works, 'De cessatione legalium', the thirteenth-century theologian and natural philosopher, Robert Grosseteste, uses a musical example to make a point fundamental to the treatise. Music, using time as its material, located between the abstract and the concrete, served as an analogy, thus making a difficult philosophical concept perceptible. In using music as an analogy, Gorsseteste drew upon a long tradition established by Augustine, confirmed within the new Aristotelian reception, and a newly-translated Platonic dialogue. But the first rector of the University of Oxford was also demonstrating music's place within the curriculum of the early university, namely, as a ministry discipline, efficiently and efficaciously exemplifying traditional Augustinian, as well as new Aristotelian principles. This book unites the most important theological-philosophical subjects discussed by Robert Grosseteste throughout his prodigious output, with those exemplified by an anonymous contemporary English writer on music. The work shows how music collaborated with the other liberal arts, operating within the early university curriculum as a ministry discipline. Music made accessible through the figurae of its notation, and through sound, otherwise nearly unapproachable, new Aristotelian concepts. The influence was reciprocal in that new Aristotelian tools and conceptualization greatly influenced music notation and style. Music theory has been studied in isolation, as pertaining only to music. This study is the first to relate music of the early thirteenth century to its intellectual context, overturning dogma, uncritically accepted since the beginning of this century, concerning so-called 'modal rhythm', and showing how 'contrary motion', rather than forming a musical convention, demonstrated a key Aristotelian concept. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE. THIRTEENTH-CENTURY MOTION THEORIES AND THEIR MUSICAL APPLICATIONS: ROBERT GROSSETESTE AND ANONYMOUS IV CHAPTER TWO. UBI LEX? ROBERT GROSSETESTES DISCUSSION OF LAW, LETTER, AND TIME AND ITS MUSICAL EXEMPLIFICATION CHAPTER THREE. DUCTUS, TRACTUS, CONDUCTUS: THE INTELLECTUAL CONTEXT OF A MUSICAL GENRE CHAPTER FOUR. CHANGE IN A CONCEPT OF "MODE" CHAPTER FIVE. GROSSETESTE'S CONCEPT OF FIGURA, AND ITS APPLICATION TO MUSIC NOTATION CHAPTER SIX. OPERATIO: TOWARDS A THEORY OF PERFORMANCE IN THIRTEENTH-CENTURY INTELLECTUAL CULTURE CHAPTER SEVEN. COMPOSITE HARMONY: AN ASPECT OF THE CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND TO THE PROBLEM CHAPTER EIGHT. A THEORY OF COMPOSITION AND ITS INFLUENCE CHAPTER NINE. OPUS: A CONCEPTION OF THE MUSICAL WORK CHAPTER TEN. FIRMAMENTUM AND MOTET: A THEOLOGICAL BASIS FOR A MUSICAL GENRE CHAPTER ELEVEN. PLANUS, CANTUS PLANUS: THE THEOLOGICAL BACKGROUND OF A SIGNIFICANT CONCEPT CHAPTER TWELVE. THE MUSICAL EXEMPLIFICATION OF QUADRIVIAL PURSUITS: THE INTELLECTUAL RELATIONSHIP OF ROBERT GROSSETESTE AND "ANONYMOUS IV" CHAPTER THIRTEEN. CONCLUSIONS ABBREVIATIONS OF WORKS CITED BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX This work unites important theological-philosophical subjects discussed by Robert Grosseteste throughout his prodigious output, with those exemplified by an anonymous contemporary English writer on music. It thus relates music of the early 13th century to its intellectual context. By Nancy Van Deusen. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [212]-218) And Index.