Viderunt omnes by magister leo

Magister Leoninus Viderunt Omnes When George Gershwin wrote I Got Rhythm, he knew that, for generations to come, listeners and performers alike would pay a dependable idea of what he meant. After all, there would be recordings and subdued rolls of his actual performances of the gash. Not to mention a standardized no(prenominal) of hand system to guide future performers. Alas, no such(prenominal) practice of medicineal preservatives were available to Magister Leoninus in the croak half of the twelfth century, presuming he would befool wanted them even if they had existed. What were his transonic intentions? Well think of al about of the possibilities using deuce really various recordings of his variant of the Gradual, from the mound Proper, Viderunt Omnes. One interpretation, by the EMCL (C. 1975), utilizes a stern metrical regular recurrenceic structure, while the other example, by the tout ensemble Organum (C. 1990), features a a great deal forgor rhythmic approach. These ordain be referred to as metric and forego respectively. The metric edition has a Western feel that would bet to a greater extent correct to ears of European leaning (or learning). Much as we tend to view the past through the prism of today, those who last set these ancient chants in standardized notation aphorism them through an equally tainted gaze. The Benedictine monks left more or less embellishment out of their chant settings (C. 1900) beca enforce they viewed it as an 18th cytidine monophosphate tradition.1 This bias, along with a need to have an easily learnable erect of music, tended to simplify, rather than embellish, the standardized arrangement. True, it could be argued that the text has a real rhythmic lilt (conspectum gentium . . . ); however, only one writer from the period, most 1300, noted any parallel between the rhythmic modes and poetical meter.2 Hardly a case for common dedicate. To my ears, this metric dis placement sounds stilted and stoic. Almost ! as if it has been stuffed into ill-fitting clothes by a nearsighted tailor. I think the addition of a bell, reinforcing indisputable buckbeats, insipid at best. For people who had yet to be enslaved by the clock, this is too squ atomic number 18. The complimentary version sounds much more motif to me; flowing and cascading like a winding river. Could this be more in line with what Leonin intended? Composers of early polyphony were sedate off using a horizontal (additive) method in which severally line was its own entity. This would not impart stringent rhythm as the later vertical (simultaneous) method of the reincarnation would. disregardless of the composers original intentions, he must have cognize that this event piece would be performed with varying gusto and maintenance passim the year depending on the occasion. Yes, it could be argued that the discant sections use the very Western concept of sequences; however, I turn oer it is the eastern practice of centonization at play here. Keeping that in mind, the more Eastern practice of melodic mordents, trills, and frills is not as conducive to strict rhythmic performance as a stark line of business melody would be. Marcel Peres turn overs a lot of these chants were performed using ornamentation that is still living in Byzantine, Syriac, or Coptic pieces.3 preceding(prenominal) all, this piece beneficial sounds more apparitional to me. Immediately the atm struck me as more church-like. rigid rhythm is for dancing, and no one was dancing to this chant. I think. Im convert that music adoptd gibe to the surroundings in which it existed. As music became used for more secular purposes, it moved out of the sonic sanctuary of the mediaeval churches and into the light. Without the stoney layers of natural reverb to meld entrances and changes in angle into a launder of sound, I belive composers and musicians became more aware of clearcutness and the need for it in new sur roundings that were not so forgiving of sloppiness. ! This situation piece remains rooted in the sloppy age. throbbing notation was an emerging craft as was polyphonic composition. In lieu of this, I would not demand singers in the thirteenth Century to be consistently competent at their execution. Personally, I think the original intention of Leonin was someplace between the two versions weve dicussed. Once again, Im assuming Leonin had a proper(postnominal) intention. Like a few 20th Century composers, he might have been merely creating a loose framework, erudite the piece would evolve and change with each performance. Back to my get through - I believe the melismatic organum sections were to be performed in an ad-lib free manner. Then, as the discant clausulae appear, the rhythm becomes more important and pulse-like. The close section, the copula, would then table service as a centering to unfurl that rhythm into the nebulous organum of the beginning. Leonin was, after all, starting down this path of polyphony w ithout a map. By victorious taking the old and adding to it (troping), he could realise about new textures without abandoning the old. He was playing with polyphony and discovering the rhythmic athletics it offered. Melodic variation of the time (tuning, 1/4 or 1/3 tones) would require another makeup to discuss. In conclusion, I believe that trying to pinpoint a definitive rendering of this piece, or any others from that time period, is not only impossible, but unwarranted. flush today, one can find examples of fairly new tunes that are play oppositely in different places on different occasions. Thelonious Monks Round Midnight, within a tenner of its release, was already being played with East Coast changes or West Coast changes. Things would have been much more versatile before mass communication. However, if I were to pick between the free or metric renditions, I would pick the free version. It just sounds more authentic to my new(a) ears. Besides, an internet s earch tells the ca-ca: Peres 12, Morrow 0. ! If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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