The Performance of Parisian Organum

Author(s): Edward Roesner

Source: Early Music , Apr., 1979, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Apr., 1979), pp. 174-189
Published by: Oxford University Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3126336

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 The brilliant cycle of organum created over se
The Perotin, and their fellow composers at the Cath
other Parisian churches 'for the enhancement of t
English writer Anonymous IV puts it, circulated t
performance Europe.' Great libri organi containing the Par
religious institutions from Scotland and the Engli
of Parisian east as Poland, and a substantial body of theore
explain and teach the style. The repertory led a
added to by organistae from both Paris and elsewhe

organum large body of two-voice organa (organa dupla)

continuous recomposition throughout its hist
still is today-as a virtuoso art, a tour de force for
EDWARD RO ESNER alike. Small wonder, then, that an elaborate and h
ance practice grew up around the organa, deve
style of' the music and, in turn, moulding the na
small way. It is primarily for this reason that the t
struggling to come to grips with the organum sty
of information on its performance. Although i
from many sources, none of the writers havi
performance manual as would a later Quantz or
that emerges is a richer and more detailed one th
for perhaps any other kind of medieval polyphony
directly influence our understanding of Parisian o
suspect, remove much of the aura of forbidding e
has caused modern performances of this genre
successful.

First a note on the performing forces called f

The conclusion seems inescapable that this gen
from the ars antiqua, was intended for voices alon
are for the most part settings of the solo part
chant that follows Scripture readings in M
alleluias and great responsories. As such they
tradition
Miniature from the I J13th-century 'Notre Dame' of virtuoso cantorial singing that goes b
manuscript, Florence, plul. 29.I,Jf99r. (A detail
Christianity, and before.2 The continuation of
pfom f65 r is shown on p. 176)
confirmed by the small size of surviving manu
display copies of them, which precludes use by
performers. (Indeed these sources provide no mus
of the chant at all; this must be obtained from a
Equally significant, the notation can often sug
'correct' rhythmic interpretations, even to music
with the style.3 This is particularly true of organu
-T I voice organum in which the duplum voice moves
over sustained notes in the tenor), but is less ofte
sections (where both duplum and tenor move r
triplum and quadruplum, in all of which the n
between the moving parts restrains both the r
duplum and, as a consequence, the vagueness o
IMI
modern performers may find it expedient to sup
in organum purum with an organ, I know of n
existed at Notre Dame in the 12th or 13th cent
instrument was ever used to accompany responsor
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 service. (The organ did participate in the liturgy at many institutions, of
course, being used most commonly with the singing of the Te Deum and
other hymns, and the sequence at Mass, i.e. with choral chants.)5 The use of
bells, hurdy-gurdy, or other instruments on either the tenor or one of the
upper parts, while attractive to some modern audiences, is completely
foreign to this music and results in little more than a parody of the style
cultivated by the medieval organistae.6
'Solo' does not necessarily imply that every part was sung by only one
man, however. An edict of 1198 by the Bishop of Paris, Eude de Sully,
mentions the singing of responsories by four subdeacons in the same
sentence in which it alludes to performance of the Vespers responsory and
Benedicamus 'in triplo vel quadruplo vel organo'.7 The use of four singers
for monophonic as well as four-part performance of responsorial chant
suggests that several singers could also have taken part in the presentation
of organum duplum.8 Although the upper voice would of necessity have been
taken by one singer only, the other performers could have joined forces on
the tenor. There can be no doubt that the tenor in organum purum is to be
held out, despite its notation as simple longs. Anonymous IV alludes to the
variable duration of longs in organum tenors,9 and the scribe of
Wolfenbattel 628 often repeats a tenor note at the beginning of a new stave
if it is carried over from the preceding one. Several singers, breathing alter-
nately, would greatly reduce the strain of singing such a tenor. But the
tenor was not meant to be brought forth as a mere drone. In the recently
discovered Aberdeen fragment, the one duplum melisma of major propor-
tions is supported by a tenor note written out three times, while readings of
the same music in other sources present the pitch only once.'0 The tenor
notes in Aberdeen are aligned with pauses in the duplum melisma. And in
the organa tripla preserved in the Montpellier codex, strokes indicating
Presul nostri a 2 (Wolfenbiittel 1099 Helms.t
either a rest or a suspiratio (breathing place) appear several times in the
.f.92r) tenor, ar from the nearest written note and, like the repeated note in
Aberdeen, aligned with phrase endings in the upper voices. They presum-
ably indicate points at which the singer could catch his breath, and should
... undoubtedly be followed by a resumption of the preceding pitch." The
. .. .. +.'+,+.+.+' .+.y
evidence in these two sources suggests a broader practice, one that permits .:i:-
-???q- ?????- ? +-
v . .. ... ..... ... . .. the individual tenor singer to pause for breath as often as he wishes, but in
? - mr f * ' ..... concert with the duplum or another upper part. (I take the indications in
Montpellier and Aberdeen to be mere suggestions for interpretation,
perhaps taken over from exemplars that were 'edited' performance copies,
rather than signs that the singer is obliged to follow.) As a result the tenor
singer, whose burden is less oppressive than might at first appear, con-
?- - ' -" .....^ . .... tributes subtly to the articulation of the musical fabric.
The music of the Parisian *tradition is organized primarily around
+,..... xL ++.5. ....... .I????? 5.Ji;i~a;l ~
consonant sonorities, dissonance appearing primarily in unaccented
. . ,? .+ .+ + ... ..
.... ... ... .. . . . . . .+, .. . ..:+ . .. . . ..
positions. The one major exception to this is the penultimate sonority in a
phrase or section, where strong-beat dissonance is not only tolerated but
even sought after.'2 Within this consonant framework, however, the
extended melismas in organum purum clearly occupied a rather special
position, since the likelihood of long notes in the duplum forming
dissonances with the tenor is obviously very great. To quote Anonymous
IV: 'Sometimes there are a great many longs on account of the flavour
(color) or beauty of the melody, whether concords or not'."3 In organum
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 purum long, consonant, stab
structural points in the mus
long, dissonant notes elsew
part of the organum idiom,
special treatment in perfor
singer 'let the tenor be silen
heavily reliant on Franco,
dissonance occurs in discant
i t regarding organurn triplum
:I ?
what Franco had in mind
unlikely that he meant the
thought in terms of a descr
the note as though it wer
emphasizing the dissonan
possibility finds support i
follower of' Franco, that the
event ofa discord'.'6 Tremul
but all of' them imply som
encounter it again in the
Odington's remark on p. 18
theother alternative, that t
the essential point: the teno
a flexible and expressive ma
other voices. This conclusi
regarding the introduction
the use of an organ on the t

*" Despite the importance of

draw most attention to the
Ia . duplum may be, it appears
ment in performance, and
....~
ornamental organum purum
on the same pitch, whether
as a longa florata'"7 (litera
'fragrant long'). Franco agre
pitch occur in succession, on
sung in floratura.'8 Anony
consonant tenor-duplum son
florata'9-that is, held out
excessive use of' such emb
when, in one of his frequen
Sabilone, one of Perotin's su
style, 'caused the singing
vagantly'.20
S I

What form did these embellishments take? Our most specific infor-
mation comes from the Dominican pedagogue Jerome of Moravia. In a
chapter on organumrn triplum added to the text of Garlandia's treatise on the
Parisian style (included in Jeromne's compilation of writings about music)
Jerome mentions an ornamental device that he calls florificatio vocis
('embellishment of the pitch').21 He says only that it should be performed
conjunctly rather than disjunctly, and he offers the following example:
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 Ex. 1

This example is reminiscent of figures that occur with some frequency in

Wolfenbittel 628, and also in the Worcester Fragments and some other
manuscripts. (See, for example, the beginnings of major sections in illus. 2
and 3 and, in illus. 3, the end of the second duplum stave.) Without doubt
Jerome's example is also related to the devices mentioned by Franco and
Anonymous IV. It is anything but clear, however, leaving us in the dark as
to exactly what is being illustrated-the ornamentation of a single note, F,
or of two notes, F and E in alternation-and offering no explanation as to
just how the repeated notes are to be performed. Fortunately, Jerome
provides clues to the nature of theflorificatio vocis elsewhere in his treatise, in
a chapter on the rendition of plainchant, from which it appears that he
intended the repeated-note figure to connote some form of trill. (It is not
an attempted graphic representation of some medieval ancestor of the early
Baroque trillo.) Jerome's remarks on the ornamentation of plainchant22
bear consideration here, since, although they are intended specifically for
monophony, the author briefly mentions the subject of organum, noting
that singers often mix it with the chant. (After all, the organum singer and
the solo chant-singer are likely to have been one and the same person.)
Moreover his comments agree in general with the little we have gleaned so
far from Franco and Anonymous IV.
Ornamentation, as applied by Jerome to plainchant, is only to be used
on long notes (in chant, forJerome, these include the penultimate and final
notes of a phrase, some plicae,23 many initial notes and a few others).
Although Jerome supplies no examples of the ornaments he recommends,
as he has done for theflorificatio vocis, his descriptions of them are relatively
explicit. A long note may be introduced by a reverberatio, a short, rapid,
appoggiatura-like ornament that approaches the main note from below,
usually from a semitone or whole tone, but occasionally from some other
interval. The reverberatio, moreover, serves as an obligatory preparation for
another ornament, theflos harmonicus. This 'musical flower' consists of a
slow oscillation (vibratio) between the main note and an ornamental tone
introduced a half or whole step above it, depending on the mode. The
plicated long is sung with a flos in which the oscillation gains in speed
(Jerome mentions only vibratio at the half step, but it seems unlikely that
this ornament was only performed at that interval). The concluding note of
a phrase is to be sung as a nota procellaris ('agitated note'), in which the main
note oscillates slowly with an ornamental one that appears to lie a half step
away, and that has 'the definite appearance of movement, but without
interrupting the sound or the pitch'.24 IS Jerome attempting to describe
vibrato?

However rigidly the academic Jerome may have codified his ornaments,
he himself admits that his French contemporaries used them with conside
able flexibility, avoiding the nota procellaris altogether and declarin
everyone using it to have quavery voices' (voces tremulae).25 We ought not
view them, then, as highly stylized ornamental formulas-in the manner o
many ornaments used in the French Baroque, for example. They are rathe
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 suggestions of the kinds and flavours of extemporary flourishes appro-
priate to 13th-century solo singers performing either plainchant or
polyphonic settings of it. The practice of adding aflos to the first note of a
phrase is reminiscent of Anonymous IV's suggestions for treating opening
sonorities, and the reverberatio that introduces theflos may help to explain
the written-in 'appoggiaturas' at the beginning of many sections of organum
purum (and, less often, discantus). Anonymous IV describes a method for
singing these figures that is very different from Jerome's reverberatio,
however.26 Since his views are ignored by most modern editors and
performers, I quote them here in full:

In organum purum the longs and breves are recognized in many a way and
manner. One technique is this: every initial note-whether or not it be
consonant in one of the above-mentioned concords-is either a longa
parva, a longa tarda, or a media, whatever the ligature [in which it appears],
whether it be of two [notes] or of three, etc. But the difference will be as
follows: if it be consonant, the tenor will sound or be held over, but if it is
not consonant the tenor will be silent or quiet. ... Also, there is a certain
duplex longa florata. This is placed at the beginning-in nomine sanctissimi
Alpha-and is called 'the beginning before the beginning', and is always
consonant. Moreover, there are some who put two or three [notes] in the
place of one; the first may be either consonant or dissonant, however, and
[, if dissonant,] it always begins shortly before the tenor and the tenor
begins with the second one, if it is consonant, or with the third. And [then]
this third note is elongated, as described above, and ornamented. And
some may place three or four in ligature before the start of the tenor; if the
last one is consonant the tenor will begin with it, and if it is dissonant the
entrance will be with the first concord to follow.

The sense of this passage seems clear: if the first note of the duplum at
the start of a piece or internal section in organum purum is not consonant
with the tenor, the entrance of the tenor should be delayed until the
duplum reaches a note that will be suitably concordant with it. This first
consonant sonority is to be sung as a duplex longaflorata, and the value of
any preceding note or notes in the duplum is subject to considerable
variation in performance ('poor long' probably indicates one shorter than
usual, 'late long', one longer than usual, 'medium', one of normal length).
In numerous written-out opening appoggiaturas the ex-tempore
elongation of the first duplum note is graphically suggested in the
notation. And in many of the local works added to the Parisian repertory in
Wolfenbtittel 628 (organa by insular composers, copied from books that may
have indicated nuances of performance more fully than the books from
which the Notre-Dame works were drawn), the ornamental character of the
duplex longa forata and its dissonant preparation are clearly shown in the
notation. These graphic hints may be seen in illus. 1, 2, and 3, the first from
the Parisian repertory of the Wolfenbattel manuscript, the others from its
local works, organa of English or Scottish origin. They are transcribed here
in ex. 2a-c, with a rhythmic interpretation that holds to the spirit of
Anonymous IV's recommendations while following the suggestions in the
Discantus positio vulgaris for reading elongated ligatures.27 (- indicates a
note of indefinite but usually extended length, o a very short note, - afios,
notes that should be sung together in one flourish, and " a place
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 21

2 s~~:;ni~i;~:ii-?:: ? ....:I-:- :: ;''::.+::?:: . ..:

-01
:p-~p m ~:FV3U:"5tW ~ " "jaf

71 AL_
. ....
--

... . ..
'ENV~
it .. . :: .;:::.~i!

U:

3---- --- -

J3

jJIFS,
s/

; C..,-. -- ,
::4w
lo g . , .:.... ....
~~k.-O A

1.Aoifo h aiinrpror nteWBebitlmnsrp

I. A folio ftom the Parisian repertory in the Wolfenbuttel manuscript .i::!::ij-.
(Wolfenbtte628,f. 2r) :
2. Organaof English or Scottish rorigin (heWolfenbzittel 628,f.23v)

2. Organa of English or Scottish origin ( Wolfenbiitte1 628

3. Wo~fenbzittel
3. 628J.Wolfenbzittel1628,f
~197v : 197v ... ....

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 where the tenor might 'be silent or feign concord'.)
Ex. 2. Wolfenbiittel 628
a Alleluia, Nativitas (opening), cf. illus. 1
0 t---

OI Kr I T
Na -

b Propter veritatern (opening), cf. illus. 2

i {J W LJ I

Prop -

c Alleluia, Salve virgo (opening), cf. illus. 3

A -O

r 1

Al- -le -

In all examples bra

rhomb-shaped note
note stem indicates t

Note that the dup

the pitch-a sensi
much greater diff
both as intonation
organum, but no
Florence t copy of
and its verse, not
duplum singer sh
ning of an organum
already present in
to regard Anony
local, non-Parisia
sustained or quick
scriptions should
Other passages in
penultimate sonor
with the second n
the theorists' long
'-le-' and '-ya-' in
positions as well (
should always be g
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 : . ~_ lp_ S-.
wio -wi-calk

..... ?
COO aas. luo m ?:::::: . M I . " Mir: i?.:::?,i'
iSii~i!,ii::i

-1~.~? -
5 ?Awk

...4 . . . .
...........

, 4w ? :l. :
::: ..

TrLL??4 _

4 ?~ ?

. .. ....... f :.::..:.

4. The opening ofAlleluia, Nativitas in the also should another form of dup
Florence copy,f. 129r (compare with the dissonance and its resolution fal
Wofienbiittel manuscript in illus. 1)
5. Berlin, : fIv, showing the scribe'~ attention to
change of syllable. (See illus.
rhYthmic details consistently notated to suggest
in which the scribe is at pains to
other sources as well on occasi
'-le-' and above '-ya-', the latt
resolution followed by a secon
another cadence. Both passages a
'penultimates' occur in successio
the other over the final note, th
so that one leads naturally into
figure he wishes to embellish.
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 Ex. 3. Alleluia, Nativitas (conclusion) after Berlin, cf. illus. 5

Al- -le-

do I

- lu -

- ya

[I assume that the flat at the beginning of the duplum in the MS applies only to th
organum purum clausula on 'Alle-'. Note that the following duplum stave has no flat.]

One other ornamental device in organum purum needs mention here, the
long descending chain of rhomb-shaped currentes ('running notes') that is
often found near a cadential point and that is likely to span an octave or
more. Anonymous IV discusses the performance of such figures
immediately after mentioning the longaflorata, and uses as an example an
eleven-note descending flourish from the two-voice Viderunt omnes:30

[These notes] have a style different from others: whether consonant or not
they descend as evenly and quickly as possible. If the first note be a currens,
then its preparation is the one before it, the one before that, or the third
before, etc. In the descending passage cited here the preparation is not the
one before [the first currens], but the second one before, and it is long, and
the one before, despite the fact that it ascends, is regarded as a currens. Thus
there are twelve currentes and not eleven, and the second one before is long,
sounding at the concord of the fifth. It would be long even if it were not
consonant, however, but the tenor would be silent, because every note
before [the start of the flourish], or the second or third before, must be
long to facilitate the descent.

A glance at the passage mentioned by Anonymous IV will clarify these

somewhat laboured remarks (ex. 4). The flourish, performed rapidly and
evenly, should be preceded by a sustained preparatory note, probably to
allow the singer time to ready himself for the coming cadenza. It is worth
noting that according to Anonymous IV the flourish may begin before the
chain of currentes proper, a nuance of performance that cannot be divined
from the notation.

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 Ex. 4. Currentes flourish from Viderunt omnes after Wolfenbtittel 628 f.25r

I " I F I .?

- runt

11

Although Anonymous IV does not say so, I assume that the last note of the
figure should fall on the beat and be a long. One final point: Odington's
allusion to tremulo in the tenor, mentioned earlier, was made specifically in
connection with rapid descending passages in the duplum, suggesting that
the tenor singer might enhance the flourish by embellishing his own part in
an appropriate manner.
Singing in floratura has obvious implications for the tempo at which
organum should be performed. Although the St Emmeram Anonymous,
among others, refers to a quick pace in organum purum, such remarks tend
to be concerned with the profusion of rapid notes in this highly florid style,
not with the tempo per se.3' The unit of measure in the 13th century was
the tempus, defined by Anonymous IV as 'a duration that is neither the
smallest nor the largest, but that can be produced in a moderately short
space of time, so that it can be divided into two, three, or four more notes
by the human voice in rapid motion'.32 The tempus falls on the breve, and
the long of three breves ordinarily carries the beat. The result is precisely
the kind of moderate tempo needed for the addition of embellishments
and other refinements in performance. (Jerome observes that the breve of
one tempus can be divided into three instantiae. The instantia, he notes, had at
one time been regarded as the tempus,33 a hint that the tempo of plainchant
had slowed down by the second half of the 13th century, possibly owing to
attempts, like Jerome's, to adapt the chant to a system of measured
rhythm.)
This moderate pace may not have been kept throughout an entire work,
however. Franco describes a style that he calls copula, which appears to use
a sustained-note texture, and in which the duplum melisma is sung much
more rapidly than usual.34 Regarding an example that appears to be in the
second rhythmic mode, Franco notes that 'it differs in performance from
the second mode, since the second [mode] is brought forth in normal
breves and imperfect longs, while that copula is performed quickly, as
though in semibreves and breves through to the end'. Another example,
written all in breves, is said to require a rapid delivery, probably with the
breves being treated as semibreves. It may be that this cryptic passage refers
to the stereotyped duplum formulas, sung over sustained tenor notes, that
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 often appear at the end of a discantus clausula or sections of organum purum.
If so, passages like this one from the end of Concede as preserved in the
Berlin fragment (ex. 5; see also illus. 5) ought to be performed much more
quickly than the music that precedes them. Such a technique, if it is indeed
what Franco had in mind, would be yet another performance device for
embellishing a structural point in the composition.

Ex. 5. Concede (conclusion) after Berlin, cf. illus. 5

i II

(-de )
3 3 3

II i d I I

IA~ p a i~ [ J. r j I Ir

The rather flexible treatment of rhythm that we have noticed from tim
to time is, in fact, a major feature of organum performance. The autho
the Discantus positio vulgaris observes that a rest in discantus-he mentio
the motet specifically-could be held 'at pleasure' when it appears sim
taneously in all voices."3 Anonymous IV writes that rests in organum pur
may be treated 'with considerable freedom, according to what seems bet
to the cantor or operator, and this with regard to the smallest, larger,
medium-sized ones (but duplex [longa rests] are seldom found in organum
purum)'.36 Ad libitum treatment of rests by the performer can do muc
alleviate the seeming abruptness of a shift from the patterns of o
rhythmic mode to those of another, and can contribute significantly to
sense of rhythmic plasticity that is one of the most striking features o
organum purum. (However, it is a device that should be used sparingly i
discantus, to avoid disrupting the steady forward motion of the tenor th
one of the most important elements of this style.)
The flexible rhythmic character of organum purum often appears to ha
only a slight relationship with the patterns of rhythmic modes taught
theorists of the 13th century. The sustained tenor notes permit the dup
to flow in wide-ranging, often rhapsodic and seemingly improvisat
lines, with a profusion of decorative writing and, going hand-in-hand w
it, a rhythmic movement that is often rapid and highly varied. T
rhythmic modes, in comparison, often appear to be little more th
theoretical constructs, formalized reductions of the living rhythm
language to its most basic components. (In somewhat the same way
metre, organizing the music into regular 'measures' with consisten
recurring patterns of strong and weak beats, is a theoretical reduction o
the richly varied rhythmic elements in the works of Mozart or Brahms
Organum purum is conceived in 'modal rhythm', but the 'modes' that ar
formulated by the theorists to describe this rhythm are skeleton outlin
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 To one of these writers, the St Emmeram Anonymous, the disparity
between practice and theory in organum purum is great enough for him to
conclude that the sustained-note style 'abandons strict mode and the
proper arrangement of the figures', producing a music 'out of which
irregularity rebounds'.37
This 'irregularity'-absence of the mensura recta ('correct measure')
provided by the strict repetition of a modal pattern-has an analogue of
sorts in another kind of 'irregularity', one that could be cultivated by the
performer, for the duplum singer was free to treat durations of individual
note-values with considerable latitude. Anonymous IV, a true child of the
Age of Scholasticism, codifies this freedom in a set of seven 'irregular
modes', a systematic formalization of the ad-libitum ('voluntarii')
alterations in performance of the values suggested by the notation.38 His
treatment is at once telegraphic and verbose. But it is nevertheless worth
examining here in some detail because it is the only extended discussion of
the rhythmic liberties available to the performer at a time when most
theorists were striving to provide exact measurements for all note values.
(Indeed, this 'system' is the only known attempt from before the 16th
century to consider this aspect of performance.)
The first six irregular modes are indistinguishable in writing from the six
rhythmic modes taught by Garlandia and other theorists, differing from
them only in the way in which they are performed. The first mode (long-
breve-long etc, J J, ) is to be performed thus: longa duplex (a note held
longer than a normal long)-semibreve or minim (i.e. a very short note)-
longa debita ('owing long', perhaps a synonym for, or scribal corruption of,
longa duplex). The result would be ;S- , not unlike the notes ine'gales of the

French Baroque. The second mode (breve-long-breve etc, , , ) reverses

this pattern: brevis parva ('meagre breve') or minim-longa duplex or nimia
longa ('overlong long') etc, thus hJ
Anonymous IV describes a tew different possibilities for the irregular

treatment of the third, mode (long-breve-breve-long etc, . , . ). The

pattern begins with a nimia followed by two longae tardae ('late longs', i.e.
sung tenuto) and a mediocris (a 'medium' note, probably a normal long). If
the singer wishes, he may change from this irregular pattern to a different
one. Thus he might sing the breve-breve-long pattern as two nimiae breves
('overlong breves') and a mediocris or a nimia longa. Or he might execute the
pattern first with its normal values and then as two festinantes ('hurried
notes') followed by either a mediocris or a nimia. Whatever the exact forms of
the irregular third mode may be-they are far from clear-there can be no
doubt that they involve a rhythmic delivery of extraordinary flexibility.
Unlike the first and second irregular modes, an irregular reading of the
third mode would appear to disregard the underlying beat. At the outset of
the pattern the 'overlong long', held beyond its normal value of three
tempora, removes the rhythm from coordination with the beat, and many of
the notes that follow increase the lack of coordination still further.
The fourth mode (breve-breve-long etc, .h J ) can be altered in ways

similar to the third. The fifth, which moves entirely in longs (. . . . ), uses
all longae mediae (normal longs) except for the first and penultimate notes of
the pattern, which are nimia: ii " ".. In the sixth mode, all in breves
( ,rmm , notated as a single four-note ligature followed by a chain of
three-note ones), the penultimate note of each ligature is nimia while all the

185

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 rest are normal, i.e. ;r;., . In the fourth, fifth, and sixth
irregular modes, then, the rhythmic flow is again disassociated from the
underlying pulse.
Finally, Anonymous IV describes a seventh irregular mode, 'the noblest
and worthiest lof all], freer and more pleasing [than the others]. This mode
is a mixed, common mode, and it is made up of all the two-note ligatures
mentioned above, and of all the three-note and four-note ones, etc.' This
'mode' is without doubt an attempt by the theorist to embrace within his
system those rhythmic elements that, to borrow the words of the St
Emmeram Anonymous, 'abandon strict mode and the proper arrange-
inent of the figures'-i.e. the many passages in which no one rhythmic
pattern appears without variation throughout a phrase.
Nowhere does Anonymous IV imply that irregular delivery should be
used throughout a passage of organum purum; to do so would surely be to
invite bizarre results. These 'modes' must be viewed, like the conventional
rhythmic modes on which they are modelled, as theoretical abstractions,
systematic presentations of durational relationships that might be intro-
duced only sparingly in performance. One phrase might be performed
normally, the Following one with some 'irregularities'. The irregular modes
would appear to be particularly well suited to passages involving sequential
repetition or variation, commonly featured in many organum melismas. A
single ligature, perhaps, or even a single note might be rendered
irregularly. As an example of the first irregular mode, Anonymous IV cites
a passage froin Perotin's Alleluia, Posui adiutorium, music that appears in the
Montpellier manuscript notated in a way that corresponds graphically to
the alterations in duration mentioned by the theorist.39 Significantly, I
believe, it is only the very beginning of the phrase that is notated
irregularly. (See ex. 6; I would treat the first two notes after the opening
flourish in ex. 2a in a similar manner.)

Ex. 6-tromn Perotin: Alleluia, Posui adiutorium, after Montpellier t'. 17r

1 m0 I' - I I-

- le -

Elsewhere in a composition an irregular mode can be used to produce-or

to 'explain', using the rhythmic vocabulary of the ars antiqua-a cadential
ritardando or a lingering on a melodic peak. Used with restraint, this
tradition of rhythmic flexibility can breathe life and meaning into music
that we too often hear as abstruse, or even as somewhat aimless and
mechanical.
The opening section from the responsary Cornelius centurio may be
included here to illustrate many of the points mentioned in the preceding
pages (ex. 7).

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 Ex. 7. Cornelius centurio (opening), after Florence f73v-74r

I J

Cor -

OO

ne -

- ii -

I US

- us

In the opening phrase the scribe has written the second-

as a duplex longa, suggesting that this line is to be sung i
irregular fifth mode. The music of this phrase is a stan
beginning of many organa, but is usually notated wi
indications for performance.
Anonymous IV has been our principal witness to th
performance tradition of Parisian organuin. Althou
certain that some of the techniques described by this Eng
simply local ones, most are corroborated by other theor
organi themselves. Thus 'irregular' rhythmic performance
by elongated notes in some manuscripts and, in the vagu
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1 See the remarks of Anonymous IV, our
principal historical witness to the creation
and dissemination of the Parisian repertory,
in the edition of Fritz Reckow, Der
Musiktraktat des Anonymus 4, 2 vols (Beihefte
zurn Archiv fur Musikwissenschaft, 4 and 5,
Wiesbaden, 1967), 1, pp. 46, 50f and passim.
The two-part organa in Wolfenbfittel,
Herzog-August-Bibliothek, MS 628 Helmst.
are edited in William G. Waite, The Rhythm of
Twelfth-Century Polyphony (New Haven, 1954),
and all the three- and four-voice organa are
transcribed in Heinrich Husmann ed., Die
drei- und vierstimmigen Notre-Dame-Organa
(Publikationen ilterer Musik, 11, Leipzig,
1940). Hans Tischler has announced a
complete edition of all the two-voice organa,
to be published by A-R Editions. Performers
using these or other editions should also
consult the MS sources, nearly all of which
have been published in facsimile. The most
important for organum are: Florence, Bibl.
Medicea Laurenziana, plut. 29.1, facsimile in
Luther A. Dittmer, Firenze, Biblioteca Mediceo-
Laurenziana, pluteo 29.1, 2 vols (Publications
of Mediaeval Musical Manuscripts, 10 and
11, Brooklyn, n.d.); Wolfenbuttel 628
188
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a German writer, the St Emmeram Anonymous.40 Although my method of
juxtaposing information drawn from sources of differing backgrounds may
seem dangerously eclectic, reminiscent of writers on baroque performance
who lump together Caccini and Quantz, I feel that this approach is justified
owing to the relative paucity of information, the consistency of most of it,
and its general character which reveals little evidence of local or personal
performance practices. Even Jerome'sflores and Anonymous IV's irregular
patterns are not so much fixed agriments or stylized formulas as hints of the
kinds of things a performer might do with this music. I have concentrated
on organum, but many of the practices outlined here can be applied to
other kinds of Parisian polyphony if suitable adjustments are made for
different textures and manners of declamation, and for the effect these have
on harmonic usage and melodic and rhythmic style. Many conducti begin
with a duplex longaflorata, and Jerome mentions the monophonic conductus
in the same phrase as theflorificatio vocis. For the music of the Parisian liber
organi-whether organum, conductus, or the motet in its early forms-is all
conceived in essentially the same language, just as a Haydn Mass and
symphony share a common style. The Parisian organum style, like that of
the Gothic cathedral, took Europe by storm. Performed as its creators
intended, it is not difficult to see why.
Edward H. Roesner teaches at New York University. He is preparingfor publication
a number of organa dupla and the complete repertory of three- and four-part
organa, and will present a lecture on filiation, chronology and style in the organa
dupla at the conference on medieval and renaissance music at King's College,
Cambridge, in August 1979.
Helmnst., facsimile inJ. H. Baxter, An Old St St Emmeram Anonymous-Heinrich Sowa
Andrews Music Book (St Andrews University ed., Ein anonymer glossierter Mensuraltraktat
Publications, 30, London, 1931); 1279 (Kassel, 1930), pp. 128f--are, as a
Wolfenbilttel 1099 Helmnst., facsimile in careful reading will show, made for the
Dittmer, Wolfenbittel 1099 (Publications of purpose of analogy or as scholastic asides
Mediaeval Musical Manuscripts, 2, sparked by the word 'organum'. For the
Brooklyn, 1960). The standard guide to these different connotations of this 'verbum
MSS is Friedrich Ludwig, Repertorium aequivocum', see Reckow, 'Organum-Begrifi
organorum recentioris et motetorurn vetustissimi und fruihe Mehrstimmigkeit', Forum
stili, vol 1, part 1 (Halle, 1910). musicologicum, 1 (1975), pp. 31-167, and idem
2 For a 13th-centurv view of the nature of' 'Organum', Ilandw6rterbuch der musikalischen
responsorial chant see Guillelmus Duranti, Terminologie (Wiesbaden, 1971).
Rationale divinorum officiorum (various 6 On the use of bells in the service see
editions), Lib. 4, 19f and 5,2, summarized Richard Rastall, 'Minstrelsy, Church, and
and analysed in Herbert Douteil, Studien zur Clergy in Medieval England', Proceedings of-
Durantis 'Rationale divinorum officiorurn' als the Royal Musical Association, 97 (1970/1), pp.
kirchenmusikalischer Quelle (Kl1ner Beitrage zur 93-8, and Duranti, as discussed in Douteil,
op cit, pp. 31-8. Regarding the hurdy-gurdy
Musikforschung, 52, Regensburg, 1969), pp.
82-113 and 242-50. and similar instruments compare the
unconvincing arguments in Marianne
See the revealing comments of Anonymous
IV in Reckow, op cit, 1, pp. 49fand 51. BrLcker, Die Drehleier, 2 vols (Disseldorf,
4 Seejean Perrot, L'Orgue de ses origines 1973), 1, pp. 259-81.
hellinestiques d lafin du XIIIe sidcle (Paris,
7 Printed inJacques Handschin, 'Zur
Geschichte von Notre Dame', Acta
1965), pp. 300 and 302; cf. Craig Wright,
'Performance Practices at the Cathedral of musicologica, 4 (1932), p. 6 (cf. pp. 7-10).
Cambrai 1475-1550', Musical Quarterly, 64 8 The use of more than one singer to a part
(1978), pp. 324f. in discantus is mentioned byJacques de Li&ge
5 See Frank Ll. Harrison, Music in Medieval writing in the 1320s, in his Speculum musicae
Britain, 2nd edition (London, 1963), pp. 202- (Roger Bragard ed., 7 vols, Corpus
8. References made during a discussion of scriptorum de musica, 3, American Institute
organum to an 'instrurnentum' by of Musicology, 1955-73, 7, p. 8) and,
Anonymous IV (e.g. Reckow, 1, pp. 56 and perhaps, in the Summa attributed by Gerbert
86) or to an 'instrumenturn artificiale' by theto Jean de Muris-Martin Gerbert ed.,
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 Scriptores ecclesiastici de musica, 3 vols (St
Blasien, 1784), 3, p. 240.
9 Reckow, Anon 4, 1, p. 44.
10 Aberdeen, University Library MS 2379/1,
discovered by Geoffrey Chew, who describes
it and provides a facsimile in 'A Magnus Liber
Organi Fragment at Aberdeen',Journal of the
American Musicological Society, 31 (1978), pp.
326-43. I am grateful to Professor Chew for
sharing his work with me prior to its
publication.
1 See, for example, the facsimile of
Montpellier, f: 16v, in Yvonne Rokseth ed.,
Polyphonies du XIlle siecle, 4 vols (Paris, 1935-
9), vol 1. This solution was first proposed in
Heinrich Husmann, Die dreistimmigen Organa
der Notre-Dame-Schule (Leipzig, 1935), pp.
46f, and is adopted in Mme Rokseth's
Montpellier edition, but not in Husman's
Die drei- und vierstimmigen Notre-Dame-
Organa.
12 See, for example, Reckow, Anon 4, 1, pp.
80, 86, and 88F.
13 Reckow, Anon 4, 1, p. 88. On the intimate
relationship between consonance and long
notes in organum purum see Johannes de
Garlandia, in Erich Reimer ed.,Johannes de
Garlandia: De mensurabili musica, 2 vols
(Beihefte zum Archiv fur Musikwissenschaft,
10 and 11, Wiesbaden, 1972), 1, p. 89, and
the gloss of this passage by Anonymous IV,
in Reckow, 1, pp. 86f.
14 Franco of Cologne, Ars cantus mensurabilis,
ed. Gilbert Reaney and Andre Gilles (Corpus
scriptorum de musica, 18, American
Institute of Musicology, 1974), pp. 80f;
quoted here from the translation in Oliver
Strunk, Source Readings in Music History (New
York, 1950), p. 158.
15 Anonymous II, Edmonde de
Coussemaker ed., Scriptorum de musica medii-
aevi, 4 vols (Paris, 1864-76), 1, p. 312;
Anonymous IV, Reckow, 1, p. 83.
16 Walter Odington, Summa de speculatione
musicae, ed. Frederick F. Hammond (Corpus
scriptorum de musica, 14, American
Institute of Musicology, 1970), p. 141.
17 Reckow, Anon 4, 1, p. 87.
18 Franco, loc cit, p. 81.
19 Reckow, Anon 4, 1, p. 88.
20 ibid, p. 50.
21 Reimer, op cit, 1, p. 95.
22 Simon M. Cserba ed., Hieronymus de
Moravia O.P., Tractatus de musica (Freiburger
Studien zur Musikwissenschaft, 2,
Regensburg, 1935), pp. 183-8.
23 The plica is a note with stems on both sides
of the note head and is meant to be sung as
two pitches, the first one specified by the
position of the note head, the second one
unspecified, but lying above or below the
first note, depending on the direction of the
stems.
24 Cserba, op cit, p. 185.
25 ibid, p. 187.
3, Keckow, Anon 4, 1, pp. 84f:
39 ibid, p. 84. Cf. the facsimile of
26 Reckow, Anon 4, 1, pp. 86 and 88.
27 Cserba, p. 190.
Montpellier, f17r, in Rokseth, 1.
28 In addition to Jerome's suggestion
40 that it p. 53.
Sowa,
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be sung with aflos, evidence pointing to the
ornamental character of the plica includes the
variable pitch of the unwritten note (see
Lambertus, in Coussemaker, 1, p. 273), its
appearance in some copies of a work but not
others (it is totally absent from the Aberdeen
fragment), and the novel, if vaguely
described style of vocal production that some
writers recommend for it (see Lambertus, loc
cit, and Ars musicae mensurabilis secundum HARPSICHORD
Franconem, ed. Gilbert Reaney and Andrie
Gilles (Corpus scriptorum de musica, 15, SYMPOSIUM
American Institute of Musicology, 1971),
p. 45. FOR PLAYERS
29 Berlin-Dahlem, Staatsbibliothek der
Stiftung Preussischer Kulturbesitz, lat. 40 & BUILDERS
523; facsimile in Kurt von Fischer, 'Neue
Quellen zur Musik des 13., 14., und 15.
Jahrhunderts', Acta musicologica, 36 (1964), pl. A repeat of last year's unique
1-3. It must be admitted that opinions are Symposium, but with a larger faculty,
divided regarding the rhythmic new topics, wider scope. Two Smith-
interpretation of such figures, their sonian Institution harpsichord
alignment with the tenor, and even where the authorities will be on the staff.
syllable change takes place in the duplum.
Theodore Karp argues against the necessity o~ta FACULTY (oo
of changing syllables at the beginning of a David Fuller
ligature in 'Text Underlay and Rhythmic State University of N.Y.
Interpretation in 12th C. Polyphony', Buffalo, N.Y.
International Musicological Society: Report of the Scott Odell Helen Hollis
11th Congress, Copenhagen, 1972, 2 vols Smithsonian Institution
(Copenhagen, 1974), 2, pp. 482-6. The Washington D.C.
theory that such figures should be read long- Mark Lindley
long whether or not the notation expressly Washington University
St Louis, MO.
indicates it finds some support-although
Sven Hansell
vague-in a passage in Anonymous IV; see
State Univ., iowa City, Iowa
Reckow, 1, pp.
transcriptions 79f.beAgain,
should Waite's
emended where o PLUS OTHERS % o
necessary.
30 Reckow, Anon 4, 1, pp. 87f. This Symposium is geared for both the
31 Sowa, op cit, p. 130. A fast pace, involving
players (beginner & advanced) and pro-
the use of numerous short values, was widely
fessional & kit builders. Lectures,
associated with instrumental music and with
demonstrations, master-classes.
hockets; see Reckow, Anon 4, 1, p. 39, and
Sessions on tuning, voicing, repairing.
Ernst Rohloff ed., Die Quellenhandschriften
Private lessons, evening concerts.
zum Musiktraktat desJohannes de Grocheio
(Leipzig, 1967), p. 146.
" Reckow, Anon 4, 1, p. 23.
33 Cserba, p. 180. Over 40 Harpsichords Virginals and
34 Franco, loc cit, pp. 75-7. See the Clavichords will be on display. If you
interpretation of this passage in Reckow, Die
are interested in buying or building an
Copula (Wiesbaden, 1972), pp. 28-45. instrument, this Symposium will have
35 Cserba, p. 193. special interest for you.
36 Reckow, Anon 4, 1, p. 85.
37 Sowa, pp. 130 and 127. The relations
between the rhythmic modes and organum
purum continue to be a topic of controversy, Dates: June 17-23, 1979
one that I plan to pursue in a forthcoming Fee: $110*
study and in the revised edition of Music in the Dormitory facilities available
Middle Ages by the late Gustave Reese and
myself(to be finished in 1979). Cf. the
Write for details:
discussions in Waite, op cit; Reckow, Anon 4,
2; and Theodore Karp, 'Towards a Critical HARPSICHORD SYMPOSIUM
Edition of Notre Dame Organa Dupla', MACALESTER COLLEGE, Music Dept
St Paul, Minn. USA, 55105
Musical Quarterly, 52 (1966), pp. 350-67.
(612-6466382)
*No fee for overseas attendees
189
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