DE INSTITUTIONE MUSICA From the De institutione musica* BOOK ONE, I Introduction Music Is Related To Us By Nature and Can Ennoble or Corrupt The Character sneperetivepwertal senses sospontneu anata racirincermn ving eretues batt conceive ofan animal witout te paras of ein wil tl te ses art eis and cet wernt te west Fee ee te cd ye toch anderig ae ees saree te nvl ese a ean wha he gsi propery of cone Nh paren lige soe 67 ope ret adte ed rein apne rt abt here oma ea amar eto he ce fa dou Snr nh er teem ts a orange our ey eos Aare Se amow he aur sguae oan he mut ingle of ‘sbemaas “Potash ld far mate eral fe st ata whxe owe epcens oun at 8 se pce eens btrotelped when he ee were on panel when Gerd a veto fied be sme ns a te or maken cps, he nnn ipa eat sre here Nog chances SE ee ote soobed yee mde a sed VEY Sa sted open pron or ta taf yosemite Text Boston, entation mac spenrsinO, Sra’ Sowrer Reads Trina itary NewYork oa 190, pp. 19-86, Tx uber oes Sun 66 BOETHIUS sonatually attuned to musical modes by aknd of spontaneous feeling ‘thato age without delight sweetsong. Prom thiemay be discerned the truth of what Plato not ily said, thatthe soul ofthe universe is ‘united by musical concord*For when, by means of whatin ouselvesis ‘well and fitly ordered, we apprehend what in sounds is well and ily combined, and take pleasure in it, we recognize that we ourselves are ‘united thiskeness. Forlikenesis agreeable, ualikeness hateful and contrary From this source, also, the greatest alterations of character arise. A lascivious mind takes pleasure in the moe lascivious modes, of often ‘hearing them is softened and coeruped. Contrarivise, a sterner mind ther fds jy nthe more stirring modes oris aroused by them. Tis is ‘why the musical modes are called by the names of peoples, asthe [Lydian and Phrygian modes, for whatevermode each people, asitwer, delights in is named after i For a people takes pleasure in modet ‘resembling is own characte, nor could tbe thatthe sot shouldbe akin ‘oordelightthe hard orth hard delight the softer, but as Thave sald it likeness which causes love and delight. For this reason Plato holds that any change in musi of right moral tendency should be especialy avoided delving that there couldbeno greater detriment the morale ‘ofa community than a gradual perversion ofchaste and modest music? For the minds of those hearing it are immediately affected and gradually go astray, retaining no trace ofhonesty and right ether the lascivious modes implant something shameful in thet minds, ofthe harsher modes something savage and monstrous For discipline has no more open pathway tothe mind than through the ear. When by this path rhythms and modeshave reached:he mind it isevident that they also alfectitand conformitto thei nature. Thismay be seen in peoples. Ruder peoples delight inthe harsher modes ofthe ‘Thracians; civilized peoples, inmore restrained modes; though nthese days tis almost never oceurs. Since humanity is now lascivious and ‘effeminate, iis wholly captivated by scenic and theatrical modes, Masi was chaste and modest so long as it was played on simpler instruments, but since thas come tobe played in a variety of manners and confused, it has lost the mode of gravity snd vitae and fallen almost o basenes, preserving only a remnant of its ancient beauty. ‘This is why Plato prescribes that boys should not be trained inal 7_DE INSTITUTIONE MUSICA ‘modes, but only in thoe which are strong and simple And we shoul! above al bear in mind that iin such a mater a series of very slight changes is made, afresh change will aot be felt, but ater wil eeate a ‘great diference an wl passthrough the tense ofhearingintothe mind. ‘ence Plato consiers that music of the highest moral quality and chastely composed, so that tis modest and simple and masculine, and rot effeminate or savage or i-assored, is a great guardian of the ‘commonwealth? This the Lacedaemonians insured when Thaletas, of Gortyna in Crete, brought to theircity at great expense, was raining boysinthe ar. of musie* This was customary among ancient peoples and long endured. When Timotheus of Miletus added a single string to those hich he found already in use and made musie more complicated, he was expelled from Laconia’ by a decree which T give in the orginal Greek words, premising tht Spartan speech hat the peculiarity of convering the eter sigma into rho: ‘Whereas Totus the Milesin, having come tou ty, bs dsbonoed ‘he ancen mas and whereas, by darting te seven stringed ears a Inducing a malic of tenes, he corps the er af he young, and whereas, bythe use of many sings and byte novelty his lody be decks ‘hose ots igoble and intial fasten of simple and order, embelshing ‘he melody with the chromatic genus instead of te enharmonic. othe Astroph response and whereas arteries pariah contest ‘he Elesnian Demeter, be suguetsanccemlythopht tthe young by “icking oat urbecomingly the myth a he pangs of Semele: luisdecreed concerning hese matters, with Divine favor, thatthe Kingsand "phors shall ensure Tothes and come! him to cutaway the speruous ‘i 890 (p § sore, "Ii, OTD (pave {Cc Phaae, De mun 1145 "Athena (SE) tl a ny nar om “Amon inthe rt book fe ‘fom On the Dinaic Gu aye tha Tot flee ld by mee {tories have sped an arangumentof rings wthno ent eb pey| ‘Semaphore he ws ever abot tbe diplaed ty he Lacesnema ‘te tocorutetranentmse noone one waron the pate ny he ‘Sins stags when pled a sal image of Aplo mons them int Iyeuthtesanermberaadarasgentt stig thiowes endear sated (From he tian by CB. Caleta te Lach Chis Lia) Asehag Pasa te Laedaeeninr bang he ir Tantei So ‘xpos ceapporal( isin te wsoneoar aw ano sre BoETHIUS sens ofthe eleven, leaving the seven, in orer that everyone, heeding the ‘digo the cy, my bowareointodcing anything ign iio Sparen that the good name ofthe contests may never be impaired ‘This decree sets fort thatthe Spartans were indignant at Timotheus the Milesian, because by complicating musi he had harmed the minds ‘ofthe boys whom he had taken as pupils and had ume them from the ‘modesty of virtue, and Because he had perverted harmony, which he found modest, nto the chromate genus, which is more effeminate, ‘Such was theirzeal for music that they believed itt take possession of ‘he min, Indeed, itis wellknown how often song has overcome anger, how ‘many wonders it has performed in affections ofthe body ormind. Who 's unaware that Pythagoras, by means ofa spondale melody, calmed and restored to selfmastery a youth of Taormina who had become ‘wrought upby the sound of the Phrygian mode? For when, one night certain harlot was in is riva’s house, withthe doors locked, andthe youth nhs frenzy was abouttosetfiretothe house and Pythagoras was ‘observing the motion ofthe stars, as his custom was; etraing tht the ‘youth, wrought up bythe sound of the Phrygian mode, was daft the ‘many pleas of his fiends to restrain him fom the ere he diected themto change the mode, and thus reduced the youth fury to astate of perfect calm. Cicero in his De consi, ll the story ifeently, in his manner “ButifT may compare ating matter toa weighty one, truck y some similarity, itis sald that when certain drunken youths, aroused, as 5 ‘wontto happen, by the music of the bie, wee abou fo break int the house of a modest woman, Pythagoras urged the player to play a spondaic melody, When he had done this, the slowness ofthe measures and the gravity of the player calmed ther wanton fury.” ‘To add briefly a few more illustrations, Terpander and Arion of ‘Methymaa rescued the Lesbians and the Tonians from the gravest, maladies by the aid of song. Then Ismenias the Theban, wher the torments of siatiea were troubling a numberof Bootans, is reported ‘have rid them ofall their afictions by his melodies. And Empedcles, ‘Petaps he dt fog document own o muses, Wiemowi, wo stat ce enfant tex (Fimao Di Pear Lag 190 9 89 ‘places tn werd century Banden gory one ‘leat somal °DE INSTITUTIONE MUSICA when a infuriated youth drew his sword upon 2 guest of his for having passed sentence upon his father, ssid to have altered the mode ofthe Singing and thus to have tempered the young man's ange. Tadeed, the power ofthe art of music became so evident through the studies of anciont philosophy that the Pythagoreans used to free ‘hemselvesfrom the ears ofthe day by certain melodies, which eaused ‘gente and quiet slumber to steal upon them. Similarly, upon sing they dispelled the stupor and confusion of sleep by certain other ‘melodies, knowing tha the whole structure fsoul andbody is unitodby ‘asia! harmony. For the impulses ofthe sou are stirred by emotions corresponding othe state ofthe body, as Democritus i sid to have informed the physician Hippocrates, who came to treat him when he was in custody as a lunatic, being so regarded by all his fellow ‘But to what purpose all these examples? For there can be no doubt thatthe state of our soul and body stems somehow to be combined together by the same proportions as our later discussion will show to combine and link together the modulations ofharmony. Hence its that ‘weet singing dlights even children, whereas any harsh sound interrupts their pleasure in listening Indeed, this is experienced by all ages and both Sexes; though they lifer in thie actions, they ae united bythe enjoyment of musi. ‘Why dothe sorowing, in their lamentations, express thet very et with musical modulations? This is especially ahabitof women, tomake ‘he cause oftheir weeping seem the sweeter with some song. Tt was also fn ancient custom that the music of the thie preceded funeral lamentations as witness the lines of Stati: ‘The bia with curving end, ‘Wont oad the finer ies of fender shades, Sounds a deep note? ‘And he who cannot sing agreeably still hums something to himself not because what he sings gives him pleasure, no matter what the manner Tsitnotevident that the sprit of warriors isrousedby the sound ofthe trumpets Ifitistre that a peaceful state of mind can be converted into ‘wrath and fury, then beyond doubt gentler mode can temper the wrath and passionate desire of @ perturbed mind, What does it signify that "Theale, V1, 120123 ROETHIUS ‘when anyone's eats andmind are pleased by a melody, he involuntarily Keeps time by some bodily motion and his memory gammers ome stain ‘fit From al this appears the clear and certain prof that mic 30 mucha patofournature that we cannot do without tevenifwe wishto coro. “The power ofthe mind should therfore be dreted tothe purpose of ‘comprehending by science what is inherent by ature, Just as inthe studY of vison the learned are not content to behold colors and forms without investigating ther properties, so they are not content to be delighted by melodies without knowing by what proportion of sounds these ae intoelate, 2. The Three Kinds of Musi, With A Consideration of The Power af Music A writer upon music shoul therefore stat at the beginning how ‘many kinds of misc thse who have investigated the subject ae known to have recognized. There are thee Kinds the fret the music ofthe universe; the second, human musi; the third, instrimeatal music, a5 that ofthe cithara or the tibiae or the other instruments which serve for melody. ‘The frst, dhe music ofthe universe, i especialy tobe staid nthe ‘combining of the elements and the variety of the seasons which are ‘observed in the heavens. How indeed could the swift mechanism ofthe sky move silently inits course? And although ths sound does nt reach ‘our ears (as must for many reasons be the ce), the extremely rapid ‘motion of such great bodies could not be altogether without sound, especially since the courses of the stars are joined together by such ‘mutual adaptation that nothing mre equally compacted or united could ‘be imagined. For some are bore higher and ther lower, and all are revolved witha just impulse, and from thei diferent inequalities an ‘established order oftheir courses may be deduced. For this reason an ‘stblished order of modulation cannot be lacking in this celestial revolution. [Now unless a certain hamony united the diferences and contrary powers ofthe four elements, how could they form a single body and ‘mechanism? But ll his diversity produces the variety of seasons and fruits, and thereby makes the year @ unity. Wherefore if you could imagine any one of the factors which produce sucha variety removed, all would perish, nor, s0 10 speak, would they relan a vestige of n