Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/79



is the first writer to use the letter-names (A to G) as is now the custom, and also the name gamma for the tone below the lowest A. He applied strange names to the modes (including 'Dorian' for the first) and to their characteristic tones or compass, implying a usage otherwise quite unknown. A tractate attributed to Berno of Reichenau (d. 1048) is also sometimes referred back to Oddo; it contains notable remarks upon some chromatic tones (C#, Eb, F# besides Bb).

Hermannus Contractus (d. 1054), a monk of Reichenau, but trained at St. Gall, used a peculiar letter-notation designed to clarify the neume-system by indicating the exact interval and the motion intended.

Guido d'Arezzo (d. 1050?) is the most famous personality in the whole early period. He is now thought to have been born near Paris and educated there, migrating thence to northern Italy. He was a noted singer and expert teacher, and in 1026 was called to Rome by the Pope to explain his system. He died as Prior at Avellano. His renown led later writers to assign various discoveries and inventions to him. Probably he was the originator of the four-line staff—F red, C yellow, A and E black, both lines and spaces being used for placing neumes or letters—and perhaps of solmization (see sec. 28). Whether he knew the hexachord-system is doubtful, though this and the invention of the Guidonian Hand have been ascribed to him.

32. Instruments.—Before 1100 the history of instruments is very meagre. At the outset, of course, various ancient forms, both Greek and Roman, long continued in use. But gradually these were replaced by new forms, of various origin. Of the process of invention and improvement we are but slightly informed.

The one partial exception is the organ, which early became notable because used in churches. Scattered references and even sculptured representations begin as far back as the 4th century, and from the 8th onward the data rapidly accumulate, especially in western Europe. The line of derivation was plainly by way of Byzantium and the Venetians, and thence to Germany, the Low Countries and England. The date of the first use of the organ in public worship is not known, but was not later than the 3d century, since it was common in Spain by 450.

Of course, the ancient idea of compressing the air by water was early replaced by the use of bellows. For centuries, however, the wind-supply was clumsy and inefficient (as late as 950 we read of "70 men" acting as blowers in Winchester Cathedral). The pipes, made of lead, copper, brass, bronze or iron, ranged in number from about 8 up to 15-26 in the 4th century and to 400 in the 10th. The compass was at first only one octave, and before 1200 probably did not exceed 2-1/2 octaves—the scale