Modus (medieval music)
In
Modal scales
In describing the
Authentic modes
|
Plagal modes
| ||
---|---|---|---|
I. | Dorian | II. | Hypodorian |
III. | Phrygian | IV. | Hypophrygian |
V. | Lydian | VI. | Hypolydian |
VII. | Mixolydian | VIII. | Hypomixolydian
|
Modus (modal notation)
In the medieval theory of rhythmic organisation, a mode was understood as a patterned sequence of long and short values. The expressions "rhythmic mode" and "modal rhythm", however, are modern names applied to the medieval concept. Just what relationship may have existed with a metric
- Long-short (trochee)
- Short-long (iamb)
- Long-short-short (dactyl)[citation needed]
- Short-short-long (anapest)[citation needed]
- Long-long (spondee)
- Short-short (pyrrhic)
Rhythmic modes were the basis for the notation technique of modal notation, the first system in European music to notate musical rhythms and thereby make the notation of complex polyphonic music possible, which was devised around 1200 AD and later superseded by the more complex mensural notation. Modal notation indicated modes by grouping notes together in ligatures—a single written symbol representing two or more notes. A three-note ligature followed by a succession of duple ligatures indicated mode 1; the reverse—a succession of duple ligatures ending with a ternary on—indicated mode 2; a single note followed by a series of ternary ligatures mean mode 3 and the reverse mode 4; uniform ternary ligatures signified mode 5, and a four-note ligature followed by a chain of ternary ligatures meant indicated mode 6.[6]
Modus (mensural notation)
In the notation system of
References
- ^ Curtis 1998.
- ^ Roesner 2001.
- ^ Reese 1940, 207.
- ^ Apel 1961, 220.
- ^ Reese 1940, 272.
- ^ Apel 1961, 224–225.
- ^ Apel 1961, 99, 124.
Sources
- Apel, Willi (1961). The Notation of Polyphonic Music, 900–1600, fifth edition, revised and with commentary. Publications of the Mediaeval Academy of America, no. 38. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Mediaeval Academy of America.
- Curtis, Liane (1998). "Mode". In Companion to Medieval and Renaissance Music, edited by Tess Knighton and David Fallows. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-21081-6.
- Reese, Gustave (1940). Music in the Middle Ages: With an Introduction on the Music of Ancient Times. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-09750-1.
- Roesner, Edward H. (2001). "Rhythmic Modes [Modal Rhythm]". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.