# Early Organum



## masi

Hello!

I'm new to this forum and new in the field of medieval sacral music. Now I try to find out more about how Gregorian chant (cantus planus) turned into polyphony.

I found some information about organum scattered on the Internet, but I have trouble to make ou real pieces before the school of Notre Dame. Eg. I'm looking for examples of works in the style that's decribed in the Micrologus.

Where kind I find out more about organum, the music theory of it and (authentic) scores? Ok, scores in readeable form. I think I can manage neumen with lines, but the squiggly things that started the notation of Western music is beyond me (or my imagination of what I can learn).

With kind regards,
Masi


----------



## Pugg

masi said:


> Hello!
> 
> I'm new to this forum and new in the field of medieval sacral music. Now I try to find out more about how Gregorian chant (cantus planus) turned into polyphony.
> 
> I found some information about organum scattered on the Internet, but I have trouble to make ou real pieces before the school of Notre Dame. Eg. I'm looking for examples of works in the style that's decribed in the Micrologus.
> 
> Where kind I find out more about organum, the music theory of it and (authentic) scores? Ok, scores in readeable form. I think I can manage neumen with lines, but the squiggly things that started the notation of Western music is beyond me (or my imagination of what I can learn).
> 
> With kind regards,
> Masi


http://www.talkclassical.com/search.php?searchid=3402305

Dig in the threads our dear member deprodundis made, he's the expert.

I do hope you don't mind deprofunis..........


----------



## Josquin13

I'm no expert, but it looks like the wikipedia page is a good starting point for providing some basic information about Early Organum and what pre-Notre Dame School treatises to explore:

Musica enchiriadis (c 895) attributed to Hucbald of St. Amand
Scolica enchiriadis
Ad Organum faciendum (Anonymous, c. 1100)

Micrologus (around AD 1020)-Guido of Arezzo
https://archive.org/details/micrologusguido00hermgoog (only if you can read Latin)

Otherwise, here are three modern editions of Guido of Arezzo's Micrologus:

Italian Translation by Ambrosii M. Amelli. Pallazo Doria 1904 (Available on IMSLP)
Micrologus, edited by Jos. Smits Van Waeberghe. Corpus Scriptorum de Musica/American Institute of Musicology 1955
"Hucbald, Guido and John on Music" Translated by Warren Babb. Yale University Press, 1978.

The Winchester Troper-"the oldest large collections of two-part music in Europe, along with the Chartres Manuscript, which is approximately contemporaneous or a little later." The Wiki page mentions four scholars that have made the 'squiggly' notations performable (Andreas Holschneider, Mary Berry, Susan Rankin & Christopher Page--leader of the Gothic Voices), and a recording by Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge, directed by Mary Berry (see link below):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Troper

(On a side note, I wonder if "Wulfstan the Cantor" is a great ancestor of the late David Wulfstan?, the Tallis, White, & Sheppard scholar, and former leader of The Clerkes of Oxenford.)

It sounds to me like you should explore the music (fragments) of the Winchester Troper and Chartres Manuscript, along with the works of Johannes Cotto (John Cotton or Joannes Afflighemensis), and most especially the development of florid organum, with its two different schools: "Aquitanian polyphony" (the Saint Martial school, centered around the Abbey of Saint Martial in Limoges), and the later school of Notre Dame in Paris, represented by Léonin (sometimes Leoninus) and Pérotin. Personally, I'm partial to the later Notre Dame school myself, along with music from the Codex Calixtinus (held in the Santiago Cathedral), though it's all beautiful music.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Cotto

https://www.amazon.com/JOHANNES-AFF...qid=1517247860&sr=8-1&keywords=johannes+Cotto

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organum

Otherwise, all I can help you with are the various ensembles that have performed this music & made recordings, of which there are quite a few good ones (and there may be some helpful information in the CD booklets, as they're usually written by scholars & musicians, along with critical reviews on Amazon & elsewhere). In addition, if you have the scores, it might help you to make better sense of the notations if you are able to hear the actual music while looking at the pages. (Note that where I found multiple listings on Amazon, I've posted them all--though there may be less pricey ones that I missed):

Two recordings of The Winchester Troper (including Mary Berry's Cambridge recording that I mentioned above):

https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Ro...=1517245902&sr=1-1&keywords=winchester+troper
https://www.amazon.com/Music-King-W...246284&sr=8-1&keywords=lesne+winchester+kings

A CD devoted to Saint Bernard & the Cistercian Abbey of Clairvaux that has examples from the 9th century Laon manuscript!, which is one of the earliest sources for Gregorian Chant:

https://www.amazon.com/Chants-Voute...7249037&sr=1-4-fkmr0&keywords=venace+fortunat

Recordings of Aquitanian Polyphony--the Saint Martial school:

https://www.amazon.com/Polyphonie-A...&qid=1517246481&sr=1-1&keywords=limoges+chant (since this is pricey, you may want to look elsewhere.)
https://www.amazon.com/Campus-Stell...-1-fkmr1&keywords=peres+limoges+saint+martial
https://www.amazon.com/Aquitania-Ch...UTF8&qid=1517245860&sr=1-2&keywords=aquitania
https://www.amazon.com/Shining-Ligh...rd_wg=BJ0lJ&psc=1&refRID=8KA87ZN5DXENTAE2N4FZ

And later (the recordings listed below are among my favorites from the various ensembles listed--Anonymous 4, Early Music Consort of London, Red Bryd, Hilliard Ensemble & Gothic Voices):

https://www.amazon.com/Miracles-San...d=1517248480&sr=1-2&keywords=codex+calixtinus
https://www.amazon.com/Codex-Calixt...d=1517248480&sr=1-3&keywords=codex+calixtinus
https://www.amazon.com/Vox-Iberica-...d=1517248480&sr=1-4&keywords=codex+calixtinus
https://www.amazon.com/Premieres-Po...=1-11&keywords=ensemble+gilles+binchois+chant
https://www.amazon.com/Music-Gothic...rd_wg=yuWz8&psc=1&refRID=0D2E5DWA4NRSCW9BDT7N
https://www.amazon.com/Music-Gothic...r=1-2&keywords=music+of+the+gothic+era+munrow
https://www.amazon.com/Music-Gothic...r=1-1&keywords=music+of+the+gothic+era+munrow (--this is a one CD compilation of the 2 CD box set.)
https://www.amazon.com/Leonin-Magis...7247262&sr=1-1&keywords=music+leonin+red+byrd
https://www.amazon.com/Magister-Leo...=UTF8&qid=1517247365&sr=1-3&keywords=red+byrd
https://www.amazon.com/Magister-Leo...UTF8&qid=1517247430&sr=1-16&keywords=red+byrd
https://www.amazon.com/Perotin/dp/B...339&sr=1-1&keywords=perotin+hilliard+ensemble
https://www.amazon.com/Music-Lion-H...ds=music+lion+hearted+king+page+gothic+voices

ETC.

Hope that helps.


----------



## Mandryka

Mary Berry and Schola Gregoriana Cambridge made a good recording of 10th century chant from the Winchester Troper called something like An Anglo Saxon Christmas at Winchester. One other avenue for you to explore is the recordings which Godehard Joppich made with the singers Die Singphoniker for CPO, I believe there is a substantial amount of very early chant there- but I haven't checked the details, dates etc.


----------



## masi

Josquin13 said:


> Micrologus (around AD 1020)-Guido of Arezzo
> https://archive.org/details/micrologusguido00hermgoog (only if you can read Latin)


Or you can read German (which I do), my Latin is dead for more than 25 years now 

But if one can read Latin there you can read all (?) medieval text at the Thesaurus Musicarum Latinarum, eg different versions of the Micrologus:

http://www.chmtl.indiana.edu/tml/9th-11th/GUIMIC
http://www.chmtl.indiana.edu/tml/9th-11th/GUIMICR
http://www.chmtl.indiana.edu/tml/9th-11th/GUIMICRO
http://www.chmtl.indiana.edu/tml/9th-11th/GUIMICB_MBBR2784

With kind regards,
Masi


----------



## masi

Josquin13 said:


> I'm no expert, but it looks like the wikipedia page is a good starting point for providing some basic information about Early Organum and what pre-Notre Dame School treatises to explore:
> 
> Musica enchiriadis (c 895) attributed to Hucbald of St. Amand
> Scolica enchiriadis
> Ad Organum faciendum (Anonymous, c. 1100)


Mr Wegman has been so kind to provide some translations (registration required):
http://princeton.academia.edu/RobCWegman

And thanks - especially to Josquin - for your help.

Masi


----------



## Richannes Wrahms

Love the thing, not to be misread as "Early Orgasm" which is another matter entire.


----------

