rankin winchester polyphony

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ss Michel Huglo

sides. According to Planchart, one of the two Winchester neumaticnotations is closely related to that of Saint-Denis; 34 at the same time wemust recognize that certain insular notations are so close to the Corbie/Beauvais type that a more rigorous examination is necessary in order todistinguish them. 35 Thus, at the end of this enquiry into the repertory ofalleluias and office responsories, it seems more or less impossible to decide

definitively whether the influence of Saint-Denis was more pervasive thanthat of Saint-Pierre-de-Corbie in the elaboration of the Winchesterrepertory.

None the less, it remains the case that the repertory on to which theorgana were grafted was borrowed from two abbeys known for theirabstention in the use of tropes, but which might well have practised vocalorganum in offices, as at Saint-Maur-des-Fosses. To consolidate thisconjecture it would be necessary to pursue in dept h the enquiry which hasscarcely been started in the preceding pages and consult the sources fromother important centres such as Chartres, Cluny, and especially Fleury, onthe question of the choice of responsories for the end of each nocturn.

History has conserved a precise reminder of the relations between SaintDenis and Bury, one of the English abbeys in contact with the French royal

abbey, at least in the eleventh century. After Edward the Confessor (d.1066) had given to Saint-Denis the priory of Deerhurst, the monkBaudouin de Chartres , physician to the English king in 1059, became abbotof Bury in 1065. 36 According to Jean Vezin, Baudouin had probablybrought with him a copy ofBede's commentary on the Gospel of St Luke,prepared at Saint-Deni s at the beginning of he ninth century and recordedin the catalogue of books at Bury between uso and II75. 37 Edward theConfessor's donation to Saint-Denis and .l:Ethelwold's call to Winchester ofcantors from Corbie were hardly chance occurrences: both episodes allowus to perceive a wide network of relations between the north of France andthe south of England during the period preceding the Conquest of 1066.

Seen from this perspective, Winchester aligns itself beside Sain t-Ma urdes-Fosses in the category of indirect sources which reflect some light on

the history of Parisian organum before the establishment of the school ofNotre-Dame.

Planchart, Winchester, 1, 61.33 S. Rankin, 'Neumatic Notations in Anglo-Saxon England', Musicologie midievale:

.\ otation et sequences Actes de Ia Table Ronde du CNRS a l Institut de Recherche etd'Histoire des Textes, 6-7 Septembre 1982, ed. M. Huglo (Paris, 1987), 129-44, esp. 141,no. 3 (Cambridge 473) and 142, no. 12 (Oxford 775).

' A. Gransden, 'Baldwin, Abbot of Bury St Edmunds, 1065-1097', Proceedings o heBattle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies 4, ed. R. A. Brown (Woodbridge, 1982), 65-76.

F r Yezin, Les Relations entre StDenis et d'autres scriptoria pendant le haut moyenage'. The Role ~ t h eBook in ,Uedieval Culture, ed. P. Ganz, Bibliologia 3 (Turnhout, 1986),17-40.

Rankin Susan. Winchester Polyphony: The Early Theory and Practice of Organum. In u s i ~in the Medieval EnglishLiturgy; Plainsong MedicevalMusic Society Centennial Essays, ed. Susan Rankill and David Hiley: 59-99.Oxford, 1993.

4

Winchester Polyphony

The Early Theory and Practice of OrganumSUSAN RANKIN

(University of Cambridge)

voxprincipali.s : : l < ~ ) ~~ ~ : ~ ~ = ~ ~ = ~ = ~ = ~ ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ s ~ ~vo x orgQ talis ~

Tu pa-tris sem-pi-ter-nus es fi-li-us

Sic enim duobus aut pluribus in unum canendo modesta dumtaxat et concordimorositate, quod suum est huius meli, videbis suavem nasci ex hac sonorumcommixtione con centum. 1

When the author of the Music a Ench iriadis refers to 'two or more singingtogether', his words could be interpreted as indicating extempore performance of a second melodic line (to accompany one already known) by morethan one singer-with the corollary that any two trained singers could beexpected to formulate a s ~ o n dvoice in the same way. Described by Fri tzReckow as 'characterised by the search for a thoroughly automat icprocess in polyphonic performance', 2 the Musica Enchiriadis teachingpresumes an unusually close relationship between the theory and practiceof organum singing: the practice based on theoretical rules, the theory-inproviding a thorough basic network of rules-sufficient to establish therealizations. This restrictive attitude finds an explanation in the nature ofthe whole Musica Enchiriadis treatise, and in the place accorded to parallelorganum technique within a gra nder conception. For the treatise's primary

t Thus, by the simultaneous singing of wo or more voices with restrained and agreeableslowness, because it is proper to this music, you will see that out of his mixture of sounds,a smooth harmony is born': Musica Enchiriadis, De proprietate symphoniarum'. Thechapters dealing with organum are edited in E. L Waeltner, Die Lehre vom Organum biszur Mitte des II Jahrhunderts, Miinchner Veroffentlichungen zur Musikgeschichte 13(Tutzing, 1975), 2.

2 F. Reckow, 'Organum', The New Grove Dictionary o Music and Musicians, ed. S.Sadie, 20 vols. (London, 1980), XIII, 799


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6o Susan ankin

concern is 'a theory of the tetrachord as an organizing principle for song ingeneral ;- at the time when Musica Enchiriadis was written (before 900), thesensuous impact' of parallel organum validated the concept of the

tetrachord on which the theory of tonal order was based. 4 It is in thecontext of a lateral rather than direct interest in polyphonic singing that thesix chapters on organum should be read, the procedures they describerecognized as the projection of a forceful qidactic spirit.

The highly prescriptive approach of the Musica Enchiriadis representsan extreme; other theorists dealing with this type of organum (as opposedto the 'new' type discussed by twelfth-century theorists) allow thepractitioner more freedom. In the Micrologus (written circa 1030), 5 Guidoof Arezzo expresses himself principally in terms of definitive rules, butallows for exceptions, thus according some place to ' the singers experienceand j u d g e m e n t . ~Guido's less constrained attitude is unlikely to represen tthe outcome of an evolutionary process: against the testimony of MusicaEnchiriadis can be set that of other early examples of organum theory. Ashort passage on organum written no later than the first half of the tenthcentury-the so-called Cologne treatise'-advises that the performance oforganum demands care and reflection, implicitly rejecting a mechanicalapproach: Poscit autem semper organum diligenti et modesta morositatefieri . 7 Yet even in these more liberal treatises the concept that the singingof polyphony depended largely on a tho rough knowledge of the chant andfacility in the application of rules for the improvisation of a second voicein other words, that theory formed the basis of and controlled practiceremained fundamental.

This theory-dominated view of practice remains influential 1000 yearso n . ~l\lodern accounts of early organum have tended to rely heavily ontheoretical descriptions and examples as evidence of musical practice,leaYing extant practical examples in the background and neglecting all

L. Gushee, I\lusica Enchiriadis , The New Grove XII, 801.Ibid.Dated b Smits van Waesberghe between 1028 and 1032: see Guidonis Aretini,

\fianlnpts. ed. Smits van Waesberghe, Corpus Scriptorum de Musica 4 (AmericanInstitute of\lusicology, 1955); an earlier date of 1025-6 was proposed by H. Oesch, Guidomr .-lrc::.::.n (Berne. 1954). For a translation of the Micrologus see Hucba/d Guido and Joh n

.\fusir ed. \\ . Babb, with introductions by C V. Palisca, index of chants by A. E.Planchart ( Jew Haven, Conn., and London, 1978).

Reckow, Organum , 799.HoweYer. organum always requires to be made with care and measured thought.

Edited in Waeltner, Die Llhrt 54. with details of manuscript sources, 52-3; in two of itsfour sources. this short tract is associated with the Musica and Scolica Enchiriadis treatises.

With the exception of an excellent account, publishedtoo late to be extensively used inthis qudv: S. Fuller. Early Polyphony , in R. Crocker and D. Hiley (eds.), The EarlyIIddle- .-lgts tn r ;oo. The Nt:rr O . ~ { n r dl l i s t n ~ )n Music 2 (2nd edn., Oxford, 1990),

48:;-:;:;6.

The Early Theory and Practice o f Organum 61

considerations of their musical character. More seriously, it has simplybeen assumed - ra ther than proven t h a t the aesthetic ethos of the theorYapplies equally to the practice. A recently published study of pre-twelfth:_century organum theory is a case in point. In 'Die Mchrstimmigkeitslehrevon ihren Anfangen bis zum 12 . Jahrhundert', Hans Heinrich Eggebrechtraises no objection to the potential historical inaccuracy of the theoristsview of r a ~ t i c e ;

rather, he denies the existence of examples which might

show practice to have gone beyond the limitations of theory:In dcr Lehre des alten Organums, in der Musica Enchiriadis und in GuidosMicrologus waren Lehre und Praxis gcwissermassen noch ungeschieden beieinander: Eine artifizielle Praxis jenseits der Lehre ist hier nicht nur nicht greifbar,sondern auch vorstellungsmassig wohl noch kaum gegeben. 10

Eggebrecht s belief that no creativity or originality was brought to bear in apractical situation is based on the observation that theory, even in the lessdogmatic provisions of Guido's Micrologus simply docs not envisage sucha dimension:

Doch schon bei den exempla der Organumlehre Guidos handelt cs sich urnBeispiele ftir ein Organizieren mit wahlweisen Miiglichkciten . Glcichwohl gab esauch hier zwischen den Regeln und dcren musikalischcr Ausfuhrung noch kcinDrittes, d.h. noch nicht das p o i e t i s c ~ eMoment, das iiber die Rcgcln verfiigte unddie Praxis im artifiziellen Sinne als ttgenstandige, kreative Instanz bcgriindcte. 11

But is there really no evidence of'creativity' in examples of early organum?What was actually going on in practice? In what way do the survivingtreatises help us to understand examples of practice?

Winchester Polyphony: 1 Years of Scholarship

In 1894-six years after the founding of the Plainsong Medieval MusicSociety-a volume published by the Henry Bradshaw Society contained inits preface these words: ' the closing section of MS CC is a collection oforgana: the term is used here and in many other places at this date as theequivalent of diaphony, that is early part-music This collection is themost considerable practical document which has yet come to light on thesubject of early harmony, and deserves to be closely studied in connection

In H. H. Eggebrecht, F. A. Gallo, M. Haas, and K.-J. Sachs, Die Afittelalttrlicheu h r e von der Mehrstimmigkeit Geschichte der Musiktheorie 5 (Darmstadt, 1984), 9-87.

10 Eggebrecht, Mchrstimmigkcitslchre ,86.

II Ibid.


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with the theoretical works of the time.' 12 The source referred to wasmanuscript 473 in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, thewriter \Valter Howard Frere.u Now famous as a source of tropes andsequences, as well as organa, this early eleventh-century manuscript hadreceived but one mention in a publication dealing with sequences AnalectaLiturf ica 2/ix-x, pub. March 1892), and had appeared neither among them n ~ s c r i p t sused for the edition of sequences in Analecta Hymnica, 4 nor in

Leon Gautier's seminal study: Histoire de Ia poesie liturgique au moyen age: lestropes (Paris, I886). But a reproduction offols. I6 v-17r was included amongthe plates issued to accompany the second and third volumes of Paliographiemusicale (in 1891-2), and Frere's description, study, and edition, Thelrindrfsttr Tropcr, followed shortly after. Whether Frere's knowledge of themanuscript's existence came from the Solesmes monks, or theirs from him,is not known; Frere had been born in Cambridge, retained many familyconnections there, and had read Classics at Trinity College (1882-5). Evenafter his departure in I 886 to train and serve as an Anglican priest, he musthave returned frequently to the university town. 15 What is clear is that therewas direct contact between Frere and Solesmes: his name appears among thesubscribers to Volume 1 of Pa eographie musicale, published in 1889(interestinglv not in the list of members of the Plainsong & Medi.eval MusicSociety a p p ~ n d e dat the end of this impressive list of subscribers). 16 And

11 The Henn Bradshaw Society had been founded in 1890 in memory of HenryBradshaw (d. 18S6). Librarian of he Cambridge University Library, 'for the editing of rareliturgical texts'. Although both this and the Plainsong Media:val Music Society owe theirinception to a renewed historical interest in liturgy, and both elected John Wordsworth,Bishop of Salisbury. as their first President, the two societies had quite different aims andmemberships.

D \ \ . H. Frere. The Winchester Troper, Henry Bradshaw Society 8 (London, 1894).Frere's work on the volume must have taken the best part of a year: the minutes of amcctine: of the Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College on '27 Oct. 1893 include thenote 'also that l \ l r Frere have permission to transcribe for the purpose of publication by th eBradshaw Society, the Winchester Tr opary MS 473 of Archp. Parker's Collection, and tophotograph certain pages of the same'. Fr ere then completed his I ntroduct on on 25 ~ u g of

the following year. 1894. t is characteristic of Frere's approach to the 'plamsong revtval and informative about the very differing objectives of the PMMS and the HBS-that theSarum Gradual should ha,e been reproduced in facsimile by the PMMS (during t89z-4),and the Tropers edited, as text with accompanying plates, by the HBS. While the Troperwas recognized as a document of historical interest, the Gradual was intended to provide adirect basis for liturgical practice.

1 :\nalecta Hvmnica Medii Aevi; the early volumes dealing with sequences are 7-10, ed.G. ;\I. Dreves (Leipzig, 1 89-


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from that of the chan t', first Jamme rs (1955) and later Holschneider (1968)made significant progress in transcribing the Wincheste r organa. 20 In thisfirst monograph on the Winchester organa, Holschneider also recognizedthe usefulness of the thirteenth-century Worcester Antiphonal as a sourceof English Benedictine origin offering many 'concorda nt' chant versions. 21

The conclusions reached by Jammers and Holschneider confirm anddeepen rather than alter Frere's early observations on the stylistic attri

butes of the Winchester organa. In summary, the interval relationshipbetween c:ox principalis and pox organa/is is based on the fourth, and themovement of the added voice is governed by three procedures or, inFrere's words, 'types of harmonic motion': parallel (Frere: similar motion),the holding of one pitch by the l OX organa/is against a moving voxprincipalis (Frere: oblique motion), and, occasionally, contrary motion. 22

Holschneider's transcriptions highlighted one further technique of especialsignificance in the Winchester organa: the occursus (coming together ofboth voices on a unison or 'cadential convergence'), often with an extratone in the ro:r organa/is.

Frere 's hope that more such sources might be discovered has never beenrealized: the Winchester manus cript stands on its own as a large practicalcollection of polyphonic pieces copied in the first quarter of the eleventhcenturv. Only with the various Saint-Martial codices-none copied beforethe e a ~ l yt w ~ l f t hcentury-do we next find polyphonic pieces assembledtogether in a relatively systematic way. From the intervening period a fewscattered sources, often fragmentary, contain small groups of polyphonicpieces copied as additions to monophonic repertories or scribbled onempty flyleaves. l\lainly identified with Chartres, Fle ury or Tours andSaint-i\laur-des-Fosscs, these continental sources present a corp_us oftwenty or so pieces. Despi te their stylistic diversity, an underlying trend ofchange towards a freer style, analogous to that described in the Montpellierand i\lilan treatises, is dearY But it is the 'old' organum tha t is representedin the Winchester manuscript. And, precisely because of its evident use ofprocedures of the type described in Musica Enchiriadis and its associated

treatises and in Guido's AJicrologus

this collection offers a specific

' E. Jammers, .4nfiinge der Abendliindischen Musik (Strasbourg, 1955), 11-21; A.Jlolschneider, Die Organa ron Winchester (Hildesheim, 1968). For a discussion of previousattempts at transcription see Holschneider, ibid. 12-13.

Anriphonaire monastique XIII sihle: Codex F. r6o de fa Bibliotheque de Ia Cathidralede IJ nrcester, Paleographic musicale 12 (Solesmes, 1922).

See Frere, Winchester Troper pp. xxxvii-xli, and Holschneider, Winchester passimesp. 94-5. 109. and 119-121.

:\ comprehensive study of these pieces is presented in W. Arlt, 'Stylistic Layers inEleHnth-Century Polyphony', infra.

i.

The Early Theory and Practice of Organum s

opportunity for study of the relation between theory and practice in theearly period.

The conceptual picture presented by Eggebrecht allows no historicalposition for practice independent of that occupied by theory, and at nopoint does he even mention the existence of the Winchester collection. Butit is only through direct and precise knowledge of the Winchester piecesand the musical techniques by which they were formulated that an open

assessment can be made of the extent to which theoretical rules actuallvreflected practice-as exemplified in this one surviving repertory-and ~ fthe degree of freedom exercised by the Winchester musicians. While studvof practical examples cannot afford to abandon theory (in that the latte-rp r o v i ~ smuch of the basic information necessary for transcription),theoretical rules and concepts may only be regarded as a starting-point forinterpretation of the practical examples, rather than as controlling andlimiting factors.

The following discussion concerns itself first with the transcription andanalytical examination of two Winchester organa in different modes,second with an investigation of the treatment of similar chant phrases indifferent organa, and third with a new evaluation of the Winchester organaas witnesses of musical practice. Finally, the puzzle of Cambridge 473-awritten source of organa, copie4 at a time when polyphony was notnormally notated-is reconsidered.

Sint Lumbi Vestri Precincti

/ Sint lumbi vestri precincti is the third of thirteen organa for officeresponsories copied under the rubric ISTORIA DE SANCTO SWITHUNO (fols.186v-189r). Its text combines two New Testament evocations of theSecond Coming:

Sint lumbi vestri precincti et lucerne ardentes in manibus vestris et vossimiles hominibus expectantibus dominum suum quando revertatur anuptiis [Luke 12 . 35-6]V. Vigilate ergo quia nescitis qua hora dominus noster venturus sit

Repetendum: Et vos similes[Mark 13. 35]

In both biblical passages Christ speaks to his disciples. In a liturgicalcontext, these words may be understood as addressed to those entrustedwith stewardship of the Church; they, especially, must watch and wait,ready for Christ's return. And in singing these words, the worshippersappeal for the vigilance of their stewards, so that they may be prepared toact as intercessors on the Day of Judgement.


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Although Sin lumbi restri may represent a late addition to the Gregorianrepertory of office responsories, 24 it enjoyed considerable popularity,especially in monastic liturgies. 25 The responsory was variously employed:for All Saints, for the Common of martyrs and Common of confessors, andfor local saints, as in the case of Winchester. The diversity of its useobviously stems from the appositeness of the text to the feast of anydisciple, martyr, or confessor. In the antiphonal copied by Hartker at

Saint-Gall, for example, Sint lumbi vestri was entered five times (althoughnever in Hanker s own hand): for St Otmar, for the Common of martyrsand in another assortment of chants for the Common (all in hands of thefirst half of the eleventh century), and in the Common of a martyr orconfessor and the vigil of All Saints (hand of the thirteenth century). 26

,\loreo\er, the parallel between the use of Sint lumbi vestri for Otmar'sfeast at Saint-Gall and for Swithun's feast at Winchester highlights itsspecial relevance in a local situation. For Otmar and Swithun were bothidentified not only as priests, but also as leaders within their owncommunities-Otmar as first abbot of Saint-Gall and Swi thun as bishop ofWinchester. Each was celebrated as a prominent (in Swithun's case themost prominent) local patron, thei r shrines acting as a focus for prayer andworship. Rather than lose relevance in being transferred from one localsituation to another, the responsory text makes a direct appeal to tangiblemediators.

Both the respond and verse elements of Sint lumbi vestri have 'uni que'melodies (see Example I): the respond opens with a common second-modeintonation formula, but does not follow any recognized model thereafter,nor does the verse adopt t he second-mode responsorial tone. The principalcharacteristic of the respond melody is the way in which it is built up inshort phrases, each corresponding to two, three, or four syllables of thetext. almost all of which lead to D. This is not to say that the melody lacksmomentum or sounds monotonous; 27 rather it builds its own specialstructure. Some returns to D are heard only fleetingly, e.g. at (lucer)ne);others are prepared in a more deliberate way, e.g. (manibus ves)tris), and

some of these stronger re turns are repeated formulaically. This process of1' :\s Frere considered it to be: sec Antiphonale Sarisburienu, facs. edn. with a

dissertation and anal)tical index by \V. H. Frere (London, 1901-24), 13.Corpus .4ntiphonalium Officii, ed. R.-J. Hesbert, 6 vols. (Rome, 1963-79), no. 7675;

Smt luml>i appears in all six monastic sources edited in CAO." Antiphonaire de foffiu monastique transcrit par Hartker: MSS. St Gall 39o-]91

98o-TOTT . Paleographic musicale 2nd ser. 1 (Solesmes, 1900); the entries are on pages34-5. 366, IQZ, zo8, and 332 respectively.

- Writing about a responsory melody which moves within a restricted tessitura-ratherlike that of Sine lumbi Peter Wagner uses the description 'monotonous', continuing: Fastsieht es aus, als oh die Schwungkraft des Sangers vcrsagte, der diesen Iangen Text zukomponieren hatte': Gregorianischc Formmlchre (Leipzig, 1921), 335

The Early Theory and Practice of Organum

Example 1. Responsory Sint lumbi vestri

4 *4 .;..-;:_,_ 'o . . . . . . . ..... ourn-bi vestri pre cine- tit

f * . . . . ;;a *et lu- eer - ne ;6 ar-den-tes in ;.;; rna - n i- bus V S tr s' :::s: ' ;--:; ' ;; ; ~.. ~ ~~ . . . - .

et vos si-mi-les ho- mi-ni - bus ex- pee-tan ti - bus

f ; ; ;.; ' ~.do - mi-num su - urnquan-do re-ver-ta - tur a

f : w ~up- It - IS

~ c ;; ;:;a ;- ; :;;:;; .;; =-.;__V Vi- gi-late er - go qui- a nes- ei - tis qua hora

=-.:; ; ;.-; do-mi-nus noster ven - tu - rus sit

.t ;s: ..Rep. Et vos si-mi-les

constant retur n to one pitch, approaching it in different manners, but withsome repetition of forms of approach, creates a cadential hierarchy, i.e. thereturns to D are heard as stronger or weaker forms of arrival at a tonallvstable pitch. The musical phrase structure is clearly derived from that ~ fthe text, musical intonations, melismas, and cadences being used toarticulate sense units in an extremely subtle way. In Figure I a schema of


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E'\ample 2-cnnt .~ ~

; -;; ..-;; z ; ; z ; .-;; ..-;; .-; ;;.

~ rJr .. . - If ' fl ( ll II l /

. -;;;-.. . .quan-do r ~ v e r ta tur a

jJI . ,1\'

nup- ti - is

with the chant on a unison (occursus). The whole organum can be dividedup into short groups based on one or other of these procedures. Theunderlving principle of movement is basically parallel fourths, but theseare o t ~ nabandoned in favour of oblique movement against a held pitch inthe organa voice, this in its tum leading to unison meetings of chant and;:ox nrganalis. The three proced ures follow each other in regular sequences(although in some phrases the parallel component is abandoned):

parallel movement : oblique movement (held tone) : unisonDescribed thus, Sint lumbi vestri conforms to the general principles of

diaphonia mnllis laid out in Guido's Micrologus, but there are manydifferences of procedure between Guido's teaching and this Winchesterpiece. One major area of divergence is in the use of 'holding tones'(Halterijne). Sint lumbi vestri uses the pitch D, as well as C and F forholding tones. Guido advised that the most apt (aptissimt) tones to be heldagainst the rox principalis were C, F, and G, because of the pattern ofintervals above t h e m - a tone, ditone (major third), and perfect fourth.The three intervals above D comprise the tone, semiditone (minor third),and diatessaron. While he does not expressly forbid the use of thesemiditone (minor third), Guido nevertheless opposes it:

Troporum Yero alii apti, alii aptiores, alii aptissimi existunt. Apti sun_t qui persolam diatessaron quartis a se vocibus organum rcddunt, ut deuterus m B et E.:\ptiorcs sunt, qui non solum quartis, sed etiam tertiis et secundis per tonum et

The Early Theory and Practice o f Organum 71

semiditonum licet raro respondent, ut protus in A et D. Aptissimi vero, quisepissime suaviusque id faciunt, ut tctrardus et tritus in C et F ct G. Hac enimtono et ditono et diatessaron obsequuntur. 20

In using the available notes more freely than Guido wanted to allow, Sintlumbi vestri is typical of the Winchester corpus of organa. In his discussionof the Winchester organa style and its relation to theory, Holsehneiderexplains the significance of holding tones as determinants of pitchboundaries in theoretical treatises up to and including that of Guido. Hepoints out that, in the Winchester organa, holding tones- 'a governingelement of this style -can be pitched on other notes besides the C, F, andG characterized as most suitable by Guido, and also that their function asboundary tones (Grenztiine) is lost, since the vox principalis frequentlymoves below a pitch held by the vox organalis. 30

Example 3 Two interpretations of the neumes for the pre cincti) melisma

p . .-..-..- -..- A

1) - - or

I7}' '--

v o

Wpre' .pre

Nevertheless, although there are plenty of places where the notation forSint lumbi vestri suggests stepping over a notional pitch boundary, nowhereis the notation prescriptive enough to specify this unquestionably; forexample, when the vox principalis sings for the syllable pre(cinctz) thenotes DE FG, two interpretations of the vox organa/is neumes are possible(Example 3). But in another passage the notation for the vox organa/isnecessitates an interpretation which breaks one or other of Guido'sguidelines (Example 4). At the end of the pre(cinctz) melisma the rox

principalis sings CF FE; the vox organa/is neumes either imply a first notebelow C, moving to C (thus breaking the boundary established by C), or Cmoving to D (creating a semiditone D/F). These two examples illustrate

' Waeltner, Die Lehre, 92; Of the tropes, some are serviceable, others more serviceable,and still others most serviceable. Those are serviceable that provide organum only at thediatessaron, with the notes a fourth from each other, like the deuterus on B and E; moreserviceable are t hose that harmonize not only with fourths but also with thirds and seconds,by a tone, and though only rarely, a semiditone, like the protus on A and D. Mostserviceable are t hose that make organum most frequently and more smoothly, namely, thetetrardus and tritus on C and F and G; for these harmonize at the distance of a tone, aditone and a diatessaron' (Hucbald, Guido, and John, 78). .

l1l. Holschneider, Winchester, 124.


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how the uncertaintY as to whether or not a concept of boundary pitches isin operation in S i ~ tlumbi wstri actually constitutes the only remainingobstacle to a completely secure interpretation of the notation.

Example 4 Two interpretations of the neumes for the precincti cadence

ft * ~ ;-- ~ ~~ I J ..

~ FF=It: ; ; = .. ;;

pre cine - ti

_.., or J .. -., I

:; ~ - ;; ~ .re cine- ti

The whole question of the function and pitches of holding tones leadsinto another sphere of procedural discrepancies between Guido's theoryand Winchester practice: the manner and frequency of arrivals at a unison.Two short examples will illustrate how the choice of pitches for holdingtones and arrival at a unison are inextricably related: in Examples s a) and~ h )two passages are reconstructed according to Guido's rules, and se tbeside the Winchester versions. In both cases, the Winchester notation isunequi\ocal in asking the vox organa/is to hold D until the end of thefalling group GFED, resulting in a unison. But Guido's teaching suggests

Example 5 Reconstructions according to Guido's rules and the Winchesterneumes

( a )

cHGuidn

~ ~ ~ - - ~ - - - = ~ ~ ~ < ~ : ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~: . . ~ : : = .pre -- - cinc-ti

(h)a tGuido

Winchester

pre

;.:.:.;;:;:r . . I 1 r

1 J i -iJ - I~ ~ ~ ~.. . . . . . . . .

cinc-ti

Winchester

I...I

._- :- ="" ~ ~

do '------------- mi - num


Example 6. Micrologus: passage from antiphon 0 Sapientia

v o ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~... ... .. .... ... . ..........nose - ni ad do-cen-dum

vi - am pru-den-ti-e

73

quite different solutions to such situations; in the groups marked, the roxorgana/is would first keep moving down, parallel to the vox principalis, untilit reached the lower pitch limit (C) and then hold this until the appropriatemoment for occursus. Guido envisages occursus as wholly related to phrasestructure in the chant: in the section entitled 'Dictae diaphoniae perexempla probatio', where through a series of examples he demonstratesways to achieve occursus, the melodic unit referred to throughout is thedistinctio. Earlier in th e treatise he had defined this in two ways: as the sumof one or more 'parts' (partes: 'sounds' are grouped in 'syllables', andsyllables in neumes or 'parts') and as 'a suitable place to breath ; 31 in his

terms, the distinctio represented the largest of the units into which a chantcould be divided, thus a phrase,. of some substance. Guido's examplesillustrate the extent to which he respected the integrity of the distinctio as atextual and musical phenomenon, for example in a passage from theMagnificat antiphon 0 sapientia (Example 6 _32 Here he does not allowoccursus on the final of the mode (D) at '(docen) dum', but waits for the endof the sense unit ' Veni ad docendum nos'. In contrast, occursus takes place inSint lumbi vestri much more often than at the end of what might beconsidered to be a distinctio; in the two passages transcribed in Examples7(a) and 7(b) the moments of occursus are indicated by vertical arrows.

Example 7 Occursus in passages from organum Sint lumbi

a) 1 1 1 1 L L

. I l j '" '- - J

... ___ ........Ium-bi vcs tr pre cinc ti

- See Hucba d, Guido, and John, 70, and Micrologus, ed. Smits van Wacsberghe, 162-3-

2 Waeltner, Die Lehre, 99-


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74 Susan Rankin

E l:ample 7-cnnt.

Ib I j_

t ~ ; . ~ .;. )..;{* ; ( ; - : . ~ .; .;; - ;)- . p . 1 . '"'- U 'l , J : Jl (1 - .. II:

..::..

. . :.:zsi:: -;;= >- > ;


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76 Susan Rankin

E l:amplc q Ocmr ) is heard twice in the melisma on the first syllable of do(minum), thepassage in Example 9(a) belongs to the last syllable of ( l u c ~ r ) n e .In ~ h elatter case, the end of a sense unit is marked by an emphasized mus1calclose, but the inappropriateness of mechanically r ~ p e a t i n gsuch a procedure in the middle of do(minum) has been recogmzed. Only at the end ofthe whole phrase formed by dominum suum is a similarly emphasizedcadence heard.

Example 1 0 . Intonation phrases

~ .=;:s,

fr

et VOS

Another pair of examples illustrates an entirely different kind of relationbetween prolongation, tonal arrangement, and s t r u ~ t u : e .~ x a m p l e sro(a)and o(b) show similar situations in the vox prmctpalts, both phrasebeginnings and two different behaviours in the vox organa/is. In Example10 (a) t h e r ~ . , .organa/is adopts the lower tessitura around A, t ~ : a r d swhichthe rox principalis descends; for the occursus the vox organalls m c l u e ~anextra note, drawing attention to this meeting on the low A. (Thts IS afamiliar Winchester formula: the pattern can be recognized in many othersecond-mode pieces with the same intonation phrase, and_ is. d i ~ c u s s ~ dfurther below.) But when, later in the responsory, the vox prmctpalls agam

The Early Theory and Practice of Organum 77

falls DDCA at the beginning of a phrase, the vox organa/is holds the Dabove- organum suspensum in Guido s terminology. Because the voxorgana/is remains a fourth above the vox principalis, there can be nooccursus on the low A. Thus at this intermediate point in the responsorythere is less emphasis of the melodic intonation gesture than at thebeginning of the organum. This suggests that the behaviour of the voxorgana/is has been governed by a sense of the overall struct ure of the piece,

the opening of the respond treated with rhetorical emphasisY As a result,the structure of the organum has developed into something more complexthan t he bipartite st ructure given to the chant by its two similar intonations.

In other senses, however, the structure of the original chant has beenstrictly preserved by the organum. The two voices often move apart fromor meet t ogether in unisons. But usc of the prolonged occur sus is relativelyrestricted; Figure 2 shows the position of nine examples in the responsory.36 A comparison of Figures r and 2 quickly reveals the closeassociation between the structure of the chant and prolonged occursus inthe organum: apart from the opening, the cadential pattern of the chantand the occasions of prolonged occursus exactly match. Had all the points ofoccursus been prolonged, the structur e of the chant could have been lost ina confusion of detail; instead it i s . ~ s l e a r l yarticulated.

Sint lumbi vestri pre- - - - - -cincti

et lucerne ardentes in manibus vestris

et vos similes hominibus expectantibus d o - - - - - -minum suum

quando revertatur a- - - - - - nuptiis

Figure 2 Points of prolonged occursus in organum Sint lumbi

15 The prolonged occursus occurs so often at the beginning and end of individual organain the Winchester repertory that it may be considered a standard procedure in thesepositions.

16 At the end of the mclisma on a ( nuptiis), the vox organa/is has a prolongation, butthere is no unison meeting.


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In terms of sonorities too, the pattern of the original chant has beenmaintained. A long first section of the chant melody oscillates around D,nner moving far away, and always returning quickly to it. In the organum,the emphasis on D has been intensified through the consta nt return of bothvoices to this tone. And when the rox principa/is shifts to a recitation on Ffor the last phrase quando retertatur a nuptiis), so also does the voxorgana/is, using F as a holding tone, and only moving back to the lowertessitura for the final cadence.

Both the emphasis on D and the shift to an F sonority for the last phrasewould have resulted from the application of simple rules for the formulation of a second \oice. Other qualities of Sint lumbi vestri, however, reflectconsiderably more complexity of organization than anything producedaccording to simple rules such as Guido's or those in the MusicaF.nclririadis is likely to have possessed.

Gloriosus Vir Sanctus Swithunus

The use of the title 'ISTORIA' for the thirte en Swith un responsories revealsan intention to create a cycle for the whole Swithun office, in emulation ofother famous offices such as that for Trinity (for which the Winchestermanuscript also includes a group of organa). 37 However, the creator of this'History' did not go as far as to compose a completely new set of texts andmelodies, but drew largely on existing liturgy, especially that for othersaints of the same grade as Swithun (confessor). Not only Sint /umbi vestribut most of the Swithun responsories can be shown to have been importedto the Winchester liturgy. 38 That the series of thirteen does not follow anarrative thread or refer in any recognizably unique way to Swithun'sdeeds as man or saint is thus hardly surprising, if somewhat disappointing.

In contrast to the general picture, one or two of the responsories may

well have been composed at Winchester, or at least somewhere on Englishsoil. Gloriosus tir is one of these. t appears in the Worcester Antiphonalfor the office of St Oswald (as does much of the Winchester Swithun office)

,. Cambridge 473, fols. 18IT-182v.See :\L Huglo. 'Remarks on the Alleluia and Responsory Series in the Winchester

Troper .mpra, and S. Rankin, 'Music forSt Swithun', in The Cult of St Swithun, ed. M.Lapidge, Winchester Studies 4: ii (Oxford, forthcoming).

T ~ eEarly Theory and Practice o f Organum 79and in several books in an office for St Cuthbert. 39 The onlv continentalc o ~ c o r d a n c e sof which I am aware appear in books from the abbev ofS a _ m t ~ e n o i t s ~ r ~ o i r eat_ Fleury. In a ninth-century copy of Be-de s

Hzsto_rza E c c / e ~ z a s t z c aGentts Anglorum (Bern, Burgerbibliothek 49), Glorio~ u svzr was wntten on to a flyleaf (in honour of St Gregory). The text handIS of the second half of the tenth century, the semi-diastematic neumesc e n t ~ a lFrench, and easily attributable to Fleury; in its nuances, this chantversiOn m a t c ~ e sthe Winchester organa precisely. And, like the Worcesterbook, the thirteenth-century Fleury Consuetudines prescribe this responsory for several saints' feasts. 40 It is highly likely that Gloriosus rir came toF_leury through some direct line of communication with Winchester, orVIce versa.

T h ~~ e s p o n s o r ytext is both short and straightforward, using a commonapposltlon, terrena-ce/estia:

Gloriosus vir sanctus swithunusrelinquens terrena mercatus est celestiaGlorious man holy Swithunw ~ oin relinquishing earthly things has exchanged them for heavenlvthmgs. -

The. rich language and imagery lJf this albeit brief text is matched bvconsiderable melismatic development in the melody (Example I I _.ii

Example r 1. Responsory Gloriosus vir

f Glo - r o - sus vir sane- tus [Swi- 1hu- nus]

.--=---->0 ~ /. ~re- lin - quens ter - re

mer - ca- tus est ce

.....

na

lcs ti . a

Antiph?naire__ de Worcestt:r, 390 (Oswald) and 295 (Cuthbert); the other Cuthberts o u ~ c e sare hsted m C Hohler, 'The Durham Services in Honour of St Cuthbert', in TheR e ~ c sof St Cuthbert _ ed. C F. Battiscombe (Oxford, 1956), 190.

Dom. A. Davnl (ed.), Consuetudines Floriacenses Saeculi Tertii Decimi Corpuso n s u e t ~ d m u mMonasticarum 9 (Sicgburg, 1976), and 'Fragments liturgiques dans des

m:?.uscnts du fonds de Fleury', _Questions liturgiques 71 ( r990/2), r 16.Reconstructed here followmg the Worcester version for Oswald .1ntiphnnaire de

Worcester, 390).


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Successive portions of this melody occupy different tessituras: from arecitation on G, the melody jumps in one movement to d, then moveswithin the fourth between c and f towards c. The next phrase starts from dand moves quickly to the high g; through a series of patterns based_on afalling fourth it returns again to d; the next phrase descends V I ~anelaborate mclisma from d to G. Up to this point the melody has descnbedan arch shape, its highest point sung to the words relinquens terrena. Thelast part, for celestia, develops a new sonority, based not on the G-c-d-gframework set up before, but on the contrasting chain F-a-c-f. And t h ~ snew sonoritv is only abandoned at the very end, where the final G ISapproached through the one tone common to both tonal systems, c.

The pattern set up by melody and text together is one of short phrases,each onlv one or two words long, set off from each other by melismas, andclosing ~ n a series of different pitches, as set out in Figure 3

l i G:Gloriosus vir :

I

G c;sanctus Swithunus- - - - - - 1

I

d d d Grclinqucns terre- - - - - -na 1 mcrcatus est- - - - - -

I

F Gce- - - - - -les- - -tia

figure 3. Phrase divisions in Gloriosus vir, with opening and closing pitches

Unlike int lumbi restri the shape and many details of the melodicformulation of Gloriosus t ir are traceable to a family of 7th-moderesponsories.u The melody usually p ~ e r sin a longer fo?TI associatedwith a longer text; rather than summanze the whole m_elod1c pattern, th_ecomposer of Gloriosus t ir chose to include some phrases mtegrally and omit

o t h e r s . ~ ~The group of melodies to which Gloriosus vir belongs was one ofthe more extensive 7th-mode groups, and the basic framework (the orderof phrases, the shapes of melismas, and ~ h eclosing i t ~ ~ e sof phrases) musthave been extremclv familiar to the Wmchester mus1c1ans.

:\ realization of the Winchester organa is shown in Example 12 . As inint fumbi restri the typical patt ern followed by each phrase of he organum

The melodic elements of this family are tabulated in Frere (ed.), AntiphonaleSarrsf urienY -H-5- . .

" e.g. this melody corresponds to the 1st, 4th, sth, begmnmg of the 6th, and the 7thphrases of the Responsory ,\fissus est Gabrid.

The Early Theory and Practice o f Organum

Example 12. Responsory organum Gloriosus vir

~ I J _.v 0

l Glo - r i -o-sus

I J l J

l re-Iin - quens ter - re

) ; I

l merca-tus est

Jf . . . . .- _.._._..__vir sane- tus Swi- thu - nus

j l ~

na

flJ I

ce les

I

ti - a

is parallel movement, held tone, unison. Again, the organa voice reinforcesimportant characteristics of the basic chant, while at the same timebringing new dimensions to the structure of the whole. The prolonged

occursus is used much less than in int /umbi vestri; here it appears onlythree times, at the beginning, once in the middle, and at the end. Asremarked above, the use of prolonged occursus at the beginning and end ofa piece belongs to the standard rules of 'how to make an organum' atWinchester. But the use of a prolongation on the last syllable of (terre)nademonstrates neatly how the tec hnique could be exploited to underline therhetoric of a specific text; here it highlights the rhymed and contrastingwords which frame and articulate the whole, terrena-celestia.

This kind of cadential emphasis represents one of the new compositionaldimensions offered by a two-part texture. But simple arrivals at a unison(both contrary and oblique) and movements of both voices in unison can


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S z

lG G GGloriosus ,ir

Susarz Rankin

r1 l1 d C 1I I sanctus Swithunus- - - - - - 1

l lc d d aa G1 F a a G

rclinquens terre- - - - - -na mercatus est- - - - : ce-- - -les- - -tia

Figure ~ Unisons and prolonged occursus cadences in organum loriosus vir

also underline pattern s already present in the basic melody. In l o r ~ o s u ~virunisons are made on a variety of pitches: F G a, c, d, each occurrmg m apart of the organum where that pitch is crucial to the _overall struct_ure.On two occasions, (sanc)tus and (merca)tus , the umsons are arnvedat bv leaps rather than by stepwise convergence. At the beginningsof ~ ophrases both voices move away from the same note (relinquenscclestia . . . ; since the voices had already come together at the end of eachprevious phrase, this sets up a unison movement-the simplest means bywhich to emphasize the contour of the vox principalis. In both c a s e ~thesonoritv to which the two voices move together turns out to be cructal to

the t o n ~structure of the phrase which follows. Figure 4 shows how these,arious unisons and three prolonged cadences are placed in relation to thetext.

F:xample 13. Winchester setting of terrena

A striking example of the manipulation of holding tones and unisons isprovided by the setting of the word terrena . The notation ~ o rthis passageis unequivocal in its pitch indications (Example 13). Followmg a long heldc, the first unison comes on c at the end of the third group. In the fourthgroup the organa voice moves up to a held tone on and again t h ~twoparts meet in unison; in th e fifth gro up the organa vmce falls to c agam, sothat an occursus can be made at the end of the sixth group. The choice ofholding tones and pitch of unison meetings means that:


1. unison meetings occur, successively, on the pitches c d d; only the lastis arrived at through contrary movement, and involves prolongation;

2. excepting the first group ( ter- ), the vox organa/is sings only twopitches throughout the whole phrase: d/c/d/ c/d;

3 the first two unisons, heard at the end of the third and fourth groups,coincide with the repetition of a melodic pattern in the vox principalis

(a fall of a tone and then a third); these unisons underline the contrastalready inherent between the two vox principalis groups (falling to cand then d);

4 the fact that d was not chosen as a holding tone for the second groupis worthy of note, the more so since in int lumbi vestri and otherWinchester pieces a scalic descent to the lower D is often accompanied by a held D; within the stylistic norms of this repertory the cconstitutes an unusual and deliberate choice. By holding the c for alonger period the move upwards to d is set in starker relief. Thecombined effect of these various musical patterns is thus to stronglyemphasize the upwards progress from c to d.

The most interesting point, however, is not the reinforcement by theorganum of the chant's tonal structure, but the level of detail and the artfulmanner in which this has been accotyplished. If we turn again to Guido'srules and examples, we do not find holding tones 'exchanged' with thesame degree of frequency, least of all on the pitches c and d. A Guidoniantreatment might have been more dominated by repeated cs, as shown in ahypothetical reconstruction (Example 14). In this Example, the bracketoutlines a series of three notes sung as d in the Winchester organum, andcrucial to that setting's parallel treatment of similar shapes in the chant, aswell as the emphasis of the tone d at this point in the phrase. Thecomparison of this with the Winchester version shows the degree to whichthe Winchester organum is sensitive to this individual musical context,taking into account both the place of the phrase in a larger tonal structureand small details of melodic patterning.

Example 14. Reconstruction of terrena passage according to Guido's rules


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Susan Rankin

E-xample I 5 Closing passage of Gloriosus ir

4 6 8 9 10 II 12 13 14.. ......

;....- ? ;;;; i . -; . r .Jfl

fL Jl ' J r - l '

:;.. ... : .. ; ; ; ; . ::; .ce les ti - a

One last example deals with a similar set of variables: the pitches andplacing of holding tones and unisons at the end of the o r ~ a n u mE x a ~ p l er s). Again the context is melismatic, and some of the a r n v ~ l sa ~a umsoncreate a purely musical effect. The procedures of o v e m e n ~m this last partof the organum are summarized in Figure 5 The four arnvals at a umsonbreak the passage into four parts; the proportion of a r a l l e lm o v ~ m n ttoholding tones is much higher than usual. The two arnvals at a umson on aarc ton.ally significant, in that they reinforce the new sonority F-a-c-f of_thechant mclodv for celcstia (groups 5-14). That another organa solutiOn,

without the -unisons on a, was possible within the Winchester systembecomes clear from a comparison of the beginning and end of the passage(groups 1- 4 , 1o-14); for the pattern cdca followed by a fall toG is i n t e g r ~ lto the chant melodv at both ends. But in groups 1o-12 the vox organaltsholds resolutely to ;, only falling to G for the penultimate group, whereasin groups 3 - ~there is no hint of any e m p h ~ s i sof a o t ~ e rthan that createdh\ the chant melodv on its own). As m the settmg of terrena thep ~ o c e d u r e schosen f o ~each of these short passages depend on the largescale tonal structure of the basic chant.

groupsI-+s 78 I 2

I J q

unison beginningaF

type of movementparallel occursusparallel occursusparallel held toneparallel occursus

unison endGaaG

Figure 5 Procedures in the closing passage of organum Gloriosus vir

At the same time, a significant characteristic of this passage is_variety forits own sake. While the different treatment s of the cdca patte rn m groups 3and ro - 12 mav have been dictated by their different musical contexts, nosuch argument could be advanced about another pair of chant phrases, 6-7and r ~ r 2 .In both cases the organum ends on a unison a, but this is

The arly Theory and Practice of Organum ssarrived at through parallel movement and an occursus on the first occasion,and thro ugh a held a in the organa voice on the second occasion. Twodifferent solutions were available; both were used.

Patterns and Conventions

Three procedures form the basis of the 'Winchester style', following eachother in simple patterns. The close analysis of the responsories Sint lumbivestri and Gloriosus vir has revealed how the frequency with which each ofthese is used, and the points at which one gives way to another, arcgoverned by the musical and textual str ucture of both the chant itself andthat of the composite organum. It has also produced examples of repetitionand variation of organa configurations for similar melodic phrases in thechant. This raises questions about the e xtent to which particular melodicpatterns in chant melodies invoked standard responses in the behaviour ofthe vox organa/is. When Holschncider observed that several pairs ofalleluias based on the same melodic model received similar organatreatment, he came to the conclusion that the Winchester 'contrapuntal

style' was 'subject to fixed rules', allowing little room for variation.44

Ata certain level of abstraction this selfus to present a correct assessment ofthe organa; but it confuses common procedures and specific examples.Whereas it would indeed be surprising if the Winchester organa did n otgenerally repeat similar procedures in similar situations, the detailedexamination of two organa has intimated that the Wi nchester singers had agreat deal more room for manreuvre, and critical sense of musical results,than Holschneidcr's comments suggest.

Besides, the extensive marginalia (the vast majority of which arc clearlycontemporary, some even by the main organa scribe) indicate that theformulation of short phrases, even down to two-note groups, mattered toWinchester musicians. 45 Wheth er verifying the notation of the first versionor presenting an alternative reading, these marginalia document, page bypage, a c oncern with even the tiniest nuance. The actual function of eachmarginal addition may vary; yet, whether the annotation 1J for 1 in themain text was made because the chant itself was to be sung in a different

. Winchester 118: 'Die gleiche Vertonung gleicher Grundmelodien im Hauptcorpussowie die Konkordanzen der Nachtriige erlauben vielrnehr den verallgemeinerndenSchluss, dass jeder Cantus-Abschnitt nur in ganz bestimmter, melodisch kaum abwandelbarer Weise kontrapunktiert werden konnte, der kontrapunktische Stil also iiberaus festenRegeln unterworfen war.'

45 See Reckow, 'Organum', 8oo.


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86 Susan Rankin

Yersion, If> or in order to alter the contour of the vox organa/is, the factremains that the annotator believed it worth while to record a differentnotation.

An eYaluation of the degree of variation available in Winchester practicerequires a wide-ranging and meticulous investigation of the conventions,possibilities, and limitations of the organa copied into Cambridge 473- Forthe present study, discussion will be confined to the exploration of organa

'solutions' to two short chant phrases. Since itis

already understood thatthe \Vinchester organa are in some measure governed by conventions, anobYious place to look for repeated organa solutions is in association withcommonly recurring chant formulations.

The next part of this discussion deals with two such cases. The first acadence formula is frequently used in responsories of the 1st and 2ndmodes. Its formulation is fixed, as is its function; unlike others which maybe used as intonation or cadence, this figure always closes phrases, and iscadentially strong enough to be used at the end of a chant. Among thechants in the Worcester Antiphonal corresponding to Winchester responsory organa, this cadence appears fourteen times. The sixteen matchingorgana notations (including one marginal annotation, and one instancenotated twice) are shown in Example 16. The order of listing in theExample does not follow the order of appearance in the Winchester

Example I 6. Organa( solutions to a D-mode cadence

a) b) c)

l . J . / ~ / Ill Jp Je- ta-mi ni an ti sti tis isra-he - li - ta

d)

~ The e ~ a m p l eis from the Responsory organum Descendit de celis, Cambridge 473, fol.li6Y.

The Early Theory and Practice of Organum 87Example 16-cont.

f) g)

II . fl... /

lI

- nam glo-ri . ae [sic] ver-sa-tus est

h) i) r e p ~ t e n d u m )

I

que rit que rit

j) k) l)

Jf ....I jl J jl. . /

nup - ti is de-us nos - ter ter re

n) a)

7

fir rna- men - tum e o rum

urn


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88 Susan ankin

KEY

Rr. >prmsf1n

Agmina ~ a c r a..h Laudemu< Dominum ..

fa/.187v

. . . . . . . . 188r. . . 18 vEcce ,ere

d laudemus Dominum . . . . . . . . . . 18 re Celi enarrant tmarF inal annotation) . 177rf Magnifica,it eum . . . . . . 189r

lc; te ~ n c t u < i ; . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189rh 0 quam gloriosum . . . . . . . . 186r

0 quam gloriosum 186rj Sint lumb i. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187rk Benedic at nos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181r

Benedicat nos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 rm Celi enarran t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177rn Celi enarrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177ro Celi enarran t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177rp Sint 1umbi 187r

manuscript. but is based on notational similarity: notations correspondingto repetitions of the cadence within one chant are separated if they differ,e.g. two versions from Sint lumbi vestri are shown as r6 ;) and r6(p), whileJl)(m), 16(11), r6(o), and r6(e) all come from Celi enarrant. Throughout thediscussion, 'first group' refers to the notes for the penultimate syllable (notthe ante-penultimate, although this is shown in the transcriptions). Thesesixteen versions present among them a total of five different notationalpatterns. In two of these ( r6(h)/(i) a nd r6 p)) the first group includes more

notes than the chant's four. In the case of r6(h)/(i) t he neumes J( -1 insteadof l imply the same pitch series as in r6( a)-(g); th e significance of theextension within the clivis shape is unclear. The neumes of the first groupof t6(p). on the other hand, indicate a different melodic pattern. Withoutmore precise knowledge of the corresponding melodic pattern in the chant,i.e. confirmation of its exact identity, these versions cannot be interpretedin anY more detail.

In the three remaining notational patterns (r6(a)-(g), r6 ;)- /), and r6(m)--(n)), the four notes in the first group of he vox organa/is correspond tofour notes in the tox principalis and the three notes of the second groupallow for a prolonged occursus with the two-note close of the vox principalison the final D. The marginal possibility that the three patterns do not allcorrespond to the same chant figure is somewhat diminished by the factthat t6(e) appears as a marginal substitution for r6(m). The notationalimplications and possible interpretations of each of these three patternswill now he separately pursued.J6(,r)-{e-)\Yhen preceded by a punctum the horizontal stroke of the opening pes isusually written on the same vertical level (r6(a), b), f), (g)). But theprmaum may have denoted any of the pitches A, C, or D. When precededhy a irga. however. the horizontal stroke of the pes is always written at alower vertical level ( r6(c), d)). Taking into account the transcribed pitchesof the preceding notes, the implication of this placing is that the first note


?f the pes ~ o u n d slower than D, thus A or C. This leads to two possiblemterpretat10ns, depending on whether the first three notes of J areunderstoo? to m ~ a n~ o r : .While the series of three rising notes mightseem a SUitable hteral Interpretation of J t is by no means clear that itdoes. Winchester scribes often used ) for three rising notes and J forr : Leaving this question open, howe.ver, there are two ways' of realizingthese notations (Examples 17(a) and 17(b)). It cannot be excluded that thesame notation denoted bot h organa solutions, and that the choice betweenthem_ d e p e n d ~ don the .nature of the preceding passage. However, thenotatiOn ~ r o v i d e sno evidence to support this: no significative letters orother t p i c ~ lways of rendering the notation more precise ever appear inthese situations.

Example 17. Realizations of organa) solutions to a D-mode cadencea) b) c)

v p ~ ~I

1

r6{;)-(/)The difference between this and r6(a)-(g) consists of the use of twoseparate notational signs, a virga and punctum I. instead of a clivis r . Inthe former n o t ~ t i o nthe r:lation of the last note of the first group to the firstof the second Is unambrguous, the two puncti being written beside eachother without division: J ~ . This notation leads to exactlv the samerealizations as r6(a)-(g), shown in Examples 17(a) and 17(b) above. If ther6(a)-(g) and r6 j)- /) versions had ever been mixed within one piece theo ~ d sa g a i ~ s ttheir i n d ~ c a t i n gthe same series of organa pitches ( l e a ~ i n gaside details of expressiOn and phrasing, of which we know so little) wouldhave ? e e ~h ~ g h e r .As it is, the two notations may have been interchangeable, mdicatmg the same melodic outline.r6(m)-(o)Although in each of these three instances, the first two signs in the firstgroup differ, the pitches involved would not alter since each notationindicates a held tone pattern. All three can only b ~realized in one way(Example 17(c)).

h e juxtaposition of these realizations indicates that th e same chant figureIs matched by at least two different and possibly three organa solutions.One of these (17(a)j(b)) is used in a minimum of five separate


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qo Susan Rankin

organa, the other (17(c)) in only one. Finding what was evidently anunusual version in Ce/i enarrant (16(m}-(o) = (17(c)), a Winchester scribewas prompted to add the more usual version in the margin (r6(g) = 17(a)j(b)). Despite the many unresolved questions, the general picture is clear:this chant cadence formula usually inspired the same response in the voxorgana/is, but not always; anothe r solution was possible.

The principal difference between these solutions lies in the pitch of the

first note of the first group, and the concord or discord thereby effected.Allowing that 17(a) and (b) may individually or together represent correctrealizations of the neumes in 16(a)-(g), the interval sounded at thebeginning of the first group is either a tone or a fourth; whereas the other,ersion (17(< )) hegins with a unison D. A comparison of 16(;) and r6(o)underlines the difference of effect sought in the organum Celi enarrant. In16(n), rather than accompany the two-note group DC with a held tone CC,the organa) voice holds on D, above the chant, thus avoiding a unison C,and allowing the unison D to be heard on its own without conflict.

Example 18. Responsory 0 quam admirabilis: intonation

..------- quam ad - mi ra - bi - lis

For a second set of organal conventions associated with a common chantformula. I have chosen an intonat ion sung in responsories classified in the2nd mode; this provides an equally large number of examples in theWinchester repertory (including two in Sint lumbi vestrt). Beginning on D,the melody falls through C to low A, rising quickly to D again, usuallythrough C (Example 18). The formula is often extended with a series ofrepeated Ds at the beginning; in individual instances other variationsoccur, without upsetti ng the basic outline. At least as significant for a studyof organal treatment as the variants is the fact that the figure may eitherform a closed statement in itself, or the beginning of a longer figure. Thisflexibility inevitably complicates the co mparison of different examples pasta certain point. Example 19 shows fifteen instances drawn from theWinchester responsories; multiple instances from the same chant areshown in sequence. Immediately, the contrast of an occursus with prolongation on the low A to a held tone solution is evident: 19(a), d), (e), f ) , g),i), (k), and (m) have the occursus, while in 19(b), (c), h), j) , (/), (n), and o)

one pitch is held. The two procedures are equally popular. The prolongednc omus is a more usual choice at the beginning of an organum (19(a), (d),l "). (i), k)), but a held tone may also be used (19(c)). Nor must the sameversion he retained throughout one organum; whereas 0 quam admirabilis


Example 19. Organa solutions to a znd-m ode intonation formulaa) fol. 187r

1 1 1 . ~ 1 II

:;;:Sint lum - bi ves - tri pre cincti

~ 1/I f ..

et vos si - mi - les ho - mi-ni . bus

c) A fo/. 88v

\'

1A

u ~ IIJ Jll

J ~

11 ........ .. .. ........ , .. ...Ec-ce ve - re is-ra - he li ta

d) A fol /86v

' .... . . . . ... ~ f..

";,...---r., J P- . P ~

l l ~ .....0 quam ad - mi ra bi - lis

e) A fol. 86v

.... ... . .I l l r , I.

11 -=- ... . _ _ .......... ......,

et fu-tu - rus pre - bu - it


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92 Susan Rankin The Early Theory and Practice of Organum 93

E \amplc 19-cont. Example 19-cont.

n r ~ r TR6, (k)

r,- ;... ; ;+::;; I I j.c..l If f:~ -....

2 s:: .....:..... .....un-dc fc li ci ter do mi-nusg) rl 87r (l)

I ~ j / t l ~ l ..... I wJ -II Jf Jf

... ... . .Pa ter in - sig nis so - Ius et be n e - die - t um

(h) t ~ l . 177, foi.J83r

........ .

I fI f .. I L II / . - rM '/

......... Psal li te mi no In vi - si - 0 ne vi di

(i) fvl./78 (n) foL 186r

" r I pJ

rankin winchester polyphony

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