Johannes de Garlandia (music theorist)
Encyclopedia
Johannes de Garlandia (fl. c. 1270 – 1320) was a French music theorist
of the late ars antiqua
period of medieval music
. He is known for his work on the first treatise to explore the practice of musical notation
of rhythm
, De mensurabili musica; prior to this time, music notation applied to pitch only.
s, De mensurabili musica and De plana musica, and thus was intimately connected with the composers of the Notre Dame school
, at least one of whom — Pérotin
— may still have been alive in the earlier part of his career. Unfortunately the linking of his name with those two works only began after 1270, and it now seems likely that Garlandia was one Jehan de Garlandia, a keeper of a bookshop in Paris
, records of whom appear on various official Parisian documents between 1296 and 1319. Most likely he was an editor of the two previous anonymous treatises, and while he did much to clarify them and transmit to them to posterity, he did not write them.
Sources writing about Garlandia in the late 13th and early 14th century also call him a magister, indicating he probably had a role as a teacher at the University of Paris
.
s. In this system, notes on the page are assigned to groups of long and short values based on their context. De mensurabili musica describes six rhythmic modes, corresponding to poetic feet: long-short (trochee
), short-long (iamb), long-short-short (dactyl
), short-short-long (anapest), long-long (spondee
), and short-short (pyrrhic
). Notation had not yet evolved to the point where the appearance of each note gave its duration; that had still to be understood from the position of a note in a phrase, which of the six rhythmic modes was being employed, and a number of other factors.
Modal rhythm is the defining rhythmic characteristic of the music of the Notre Dame school, giving it an utterly distinct sound, one which was to prevail throughout the 13th century. Usually one mode prevailed through a phrase, changing to a different mode only after a cadence. Only with the development of the music of the ars nova
in the early 14th century was the regular modal rhythm to break down and be supplanted by freer rhythms, as made possible by the development of precise notation.
It is not certain how much of the treatise was written anonymously, and how much Garlandia edited it, except that Garlandia probably wrote some of the later chapters in their entirety. Franco of Cologne
, writing around 1250, clearly borrowed portions of the unedited version. Garlandia's achievement was to refine and disseminate it; his position as a bookseller may have something to do with its wide distribution and influence.
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
of the late ars antiqua
Ars antiqua
Ars antiqua, also called ars veterum or ars vetus, refers to the music of Europe of the late Middle Ages between approximately 1170 and 1310, covering the period of the Notre Dame school of polyphony and the subsequent years which saw the early development of the motet...
period of medieval music
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
. He is known for his work on the first treatise to explore the practice of musical notation
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
of rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
, De mensurabili musica; prior to this time, music notation applied to pitch only.
Life and problems of identification
Until the mid 1980s it was believed that Johannes de Garlandia lived in the first half of the 13th century and wrote two treatiseTreatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject.-Noteworthy treatises:...
s, De mensurabili musica and De plana musica, and thus was intimately connected with the composers of the Notre Dame school
Notre Dame school
The group of composers working at or near the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris from about 1160 to 1250, along with the music they produced, is referred to as the Notre Dame school, or the Notre Dame School of Polyphony....
, at least one of whom — Pérotin
Pérotin
Pérotin , also called Perotin the Great, was a European composer, believed to be French, who lived around the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th century. He was the most famous member of the Notre Dame school of polyphony and the ars antiqua style...
— may still have been alive in the earlier part of his career. Unfortunately the linking of his name with those two works only began after 1270, and it now seems likely that Garlandia was one Jehan de Garlandia, a keeper of a bookshop in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, records of whom appear on various official Parisian documents between 1296 and 1319. Most likely he was an editor of the two previous anonymous treatises, and while he did much to clarify them and transmit to them to posterity, he did not write them.
Sources writing about Garlandia in the late 13th and early 14th century also call him a magister, indicating he probably had a role as a teacher at the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
.
Works
De mensurabili musica, most likely written around 1240, is the single most important treatise in the early history of rhythmic notation, for it is the first to propose notation of rhythm. Specifically, it describes a practice already in use, known as modal rhythm, which used the rhythmic modeRhythmic mode
In medieval music, the rhythmic modes were set patterns of long and short durations . The value of each note is not determined by the form of the written note , but rather by its position within a group of notes written as a single figure called a "ligature", and by the position of the ligature...
s. In this system, notes on the page are assigned to groups of long and short values based on their context. De mensurabili musica describes six rhythmic modes, corresponding to poetic feet: long-short (trochee
Trochee
A trochee or choree, choreus, is a metrical foot used in formal poetry consisting of a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed one...
), short-long (iamb), long-short-short (dactyl
Dactyl (poetry)
A dactyl is a foot in meter in poetry. In quantitative verse, such as Greek or Latin, a dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllables, as determined by syllable weight...
), short-short-long (anapest), long-long (spondee
Spondee
In poetry, a spondee is a metrical foot consisting of two long syllables, as determined by syllable weight in classical meters, or two stressed syllables, as determined by stress in modern meters...
), and short-short (pyrrhic
Pyrrhic
A pyrrhic is a metrical foot used in formal poetry. It consists of two unaccented, short syllables. It is also known as a dibrach.Tennyson used pyrrhics and spondees quite frequently, for example, in In Memoriam: "When the blood creeps and the nerves prick." "When the" and "and the" in the second...
). Notation had not yet evolved to the point where the appearance of each note gave its duration; that had still to be understood from the position of a note in a phrase, which of the six rhythmic modes was being employed, and a number of other factors.
Modal rhythm is the defining rhythmic characteristic of the music of the Notre Dame school, giving it an utterly distinct sound, one which was to prevail throughout the 13th century. Usually one mode prevailed through a phrase, changing to a different mode only after a cadence. Only with the development of the music of the ars nova
Ars nova
Ars nova refers to a musical style which flourished in France and the Burgundian Low Countries in the Late Middle Ages: more particularly, in the period between the preparation of the Roman de Fauvel and the death of the composer Guillaume de Machaut in 1377...
in the early 14th century was the regular modal rhythm to break down and be supplanted by freer rhythms, as made possible by the development of precise notation.
It is not certain how much of the treatise was written anonymously, and how much Garlandia edited it, except that Garlandia probably wrote some of the later chapters in their entirety. Franco of Cologne
Franco of Cologne
Franco of Cologne was a German music theorist and possibly composer. He was one of the most influential theorists of the late Medieval era, and was the first to propose an idea which was to transform musical notation permanently: that the duration of any note should be determined by its...
, writing around 1250, clearly borrowed portions of the unedited version. Garlandia's achievement was to refine and disseminate it; his position as a bookseller may have something to do with its wide distribution and influence.