Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/675

 Frankfort, and Bayreuth, where he made his reputation on July 28, 1882, at the second performance of 'Parsifal,' and in 1884 at the German Opera, Covent Garden, where he made his début June 4 as Walther ('Meistersinger'). He was very successful in this part, and subsequently as Max, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, and Tristan. On Nov. 10 and 15 of the same year he sang at the Albert Hall at the concert performances of 'Parsifal,' then introduced into England for the first time in its entirety by the Albert Hall Choral Society under the direction of Mr. Barnby. He played Parsifal and Tristan at Bayreuth in 1886. [ A. C. ]

GUÉDRON,. See vol. iii. p. 593b, note 3.

GUIDO D' AREZZO (Guido Aretinus; Fra Guittone; Guy of Arezzo). Though this name is more frequently quoted by musical historians than that of any other writer of equal antiquity, it would be difficult to point to a teacher whose method has been more commonly misrepresented, or whose claim to originality of invention has been more keenly contested. The doubts which have been expressed with regard to the true nature of his contributions to musical science, may be partly accounted for by the ambiguity of his own language and partly by the retirement of his monastic life, which afforded him but little opportunity for making his learning known to the world at large; though, after his death, his fame spread so rapidly that almost every discovery made during the next hundred and fifty years was attributed to him.

Fortunately, the uncertainty which hangs over his system does not&mdash;as in the case of Magister Franco&mdash;extend to his personal identity. He was born at or near Arezzo, not long before the close of the 10th century; and, in due time, became a Monk of the Order of S. Benedict. An annotation on the back of the oldest known MS. of his 'Micrologus,' which he is generally believed to have written in, or about, the year 1024, asserts that he completed the work in the thirty-fourth year of his age&mdash;thus referring us to 990 as the probable year of his birth. His talent must have been very early developed; for, Pope Benedict VIII., hearing that he had invented a new method of teaching Music, invited him to Rome&mdash;Baronius says, in 1022&mdash;for the purpose of questioning him about it, and treated him with marked consideration, during the short time that he remained in the city. Pope Benedict died in 1024; and his successor, John XIX., after sending three special messengers to induce Guido to return, accorded him a highly honourable reception, on the occasion of his second visit, and consulted him frequently on the details of his method. Guido brought with him, on this occasion, an Antiphonarium, written in accordance with his new system; and the Pope was so struck with this, that he refused to terminate the audience until he had himself learned to sing from it. After completely mastering the system, he desired to retain the learned Benedictine in his service; but Guido, urging his delicate health as an excuse, quitted Rome under promise of returning again during the following winter. In the meantime, he accepted an invitation to the Monastery of Pomposo, in the Duchy of Ferrara, and at the request of the Abbot remained there for some considerable time, for the purpose of teaching his method to the Monks and the children of the Choir. Here he seems to have written the greater part of his works; among them the Micrologus, which he dedicated to Teobaldo, Bishop of Arezzo. Finally, we hear of him as Abbot of the Monastery of Santa Croce, at Avellano, near Arezzo; and there he is believed to have died, about the year 1050.

Guido's works consist of:&mdash;

1. The Micrologus; already described in vol. ii. pp. 326, 327.

2. The Antiphonarium; quoted by P. Martini, under the title of Formulæ Tonorum. In some early MSS. this is preceded, by way of Prologue, by&mdash;

3. Epistola Guidonis ad Michaelem Monachum Pomposianum; a letter written by Guido, during his second visit to Rome, to his friend, Brother Michael, at Pomposo.

4. De artificio novi Cantus.

5. De Divisione Monochordi secundum Boëtium.

To which may be added the less clearly authenticated works&mdash;

6. De sex motibus vocum à se invicem, et dimensione earum.

7. Quid est Musica.

8. Guidonis Aretini de Musica Dialogus. Quid est Musica.

9. De Constitutionibus in Musica.

10. De Tonis.

11. Quid est Musica. (Different from Nos. 7 and 8).

Early MS. copies of the 'Micrologus,' the 'Antiphonarium,' and the 'Epistola ad Michaelem' are preserved at the Vatican, the Paris Library, the British Museum, and in some other large national Collections. These three works were first printed by Gerbert von Hornau, in 1784; and the 'Micrologus' was reprinted, at Treves, by Hermesdorff, in 1876. The MSS. of Nos. 4, and 5, are in the Medicean Library, at Florence. Nos. 6, 7, and 8, are in the Paris Library. No. 7 is also in the Library of Balliol College, Oxford, where it is bound up with a copy of the 'Micrologus.' No. 8, which corresponds with the preceding, in every respect except that of its more prolix title, is also in the Vatican Library. The Oxford copy of this tract was once falsely attributed to S. Odo of Cluny. Nos. 9 and 10 are in the British Museum, bound up with an incomplete copy (Cap. i-xv) of the 'Micrologus.' No. 11, in the Vatican Library, is really a transcript of the 'Enchiridion' of S. Odo.

The principal inventions, and discoveries, with which Guido has been credited, are: the Gamut; the Hexachords, with their several Mutations; Solmisation; the Stave, including the use of Lines, and Spaces; the Clefs; Diaphonia or Discant, Organum, and Counterpoint; the Harmonic Hand; the Monochord; and even the Spinet (Polyplectrum). Kircher gravely mentions not only this last-named invention, but, also, Polyphonia, and the modern Stave of five