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the reign of Emperor Charlemagne, when an attempt was tones which make up a progression of notes similar to a scale. made to bring Roman-style church worship into the Interestingly, the Lydian mode contains the augmented 4th inter- Fran! regions of Gaul. In this, Charlemagne saw himself as val (B, the fourth note above the F starting note) that was so the divinely appointed ruler of the chosen people, similar perhaps despised by the Roman Church and banned as "the Devil's inter- to King David and his new Israel. This presented a considerable val" in the 12th century. A problem arose in the 8th and 9th centuries, especially in Each mode contains a different sequence of half-tones and whole challenge to the Franks, who had tremendous difficulty in master- Other music of the mediaeval period was related to the aural ing the subtleties of Roman chant, while the Roman singers delib- tradition of European folk music, and from this derived the long- erately protected the secrets of their own skills. Consequently, standing troubadour melodies. confusion was created instead of harmony! Meanwhile, from ancient times, non-European cultures were The eventual outcome of this, as some scholars would have us developing their own modal systems, like the Arabic mdégam and believe, was a quite different chant in the 13th century—a chant the Indian raga systems. called "Gregorian". This is said to be a Byzantine imperial liturgy Several aspects of moral and expressive values were attached to which emanated from the Pope's own chapel, as opposed to the the various modes in the Middle Ages and some of these have various basilicas. But there is good reason to believe that this bizarre stories attached to them. In one instance, a young man chant was actually Frankish, not Byzantine, and that it was intend- was so aroused by a melody in the Phrygian mode that he was ed to codify the oral repertory. Somewhat conveniently, however, about to break into the room of a young lady, when suddenly, a it is claimed that the Frankish city of Metz (seemingly involved in change to the Hypophrygian mode restored him to a proper frame the establishment of this musical model) "lost" all its chant books, of mind! Others of the mediaeval period related the eight modes and the only manuscripts surviving onwards from the late 9th cen- to celestial bodies and to the masculine and feminine aspects. tury emanate from other places. The Frankish Empire was Plato and Aristotle wrote about harmoniai which, interestingly, responsible for three musical genres: sequences, tropes (tones), had the names Ionian, Lydian, Dorian and Phrygian—and each of and liturgical drama, which added these required a separate tuning of the local repertoires to the services for the lyre. Plato also praised Egyptian patron saints of their churches. In one instance, a young man musical standards, and it would there- A number of theoretical books about A fore be fair to assume that the associa- chant were written in the 9th century, Was SO aroused by a melody In tion with modal form links the Greek and some of these attempted to recon- the Phrygian mode that he was and Roman systems. Within these cile the non-traditional chant with about to break into the room of modes were other tunings of the dia- what survived of Greek musical theo- tonic, chromatic and enharmonic ry. By the 12th century, the repertoire | @ YOUNG lady, when suddenly, a forms, while along with the Greek had become ever more complicated, change to the Hypophrygian modal forms came melodies and and the Cistercian Order of monks rhythms mainly associated with Greek reacted against this over-elaboration of mode restored him toa lyric metres and poetry. This afforded ritual by excluding particular notes . Greek composers less freedom than (tenths) from the wider range and proper frame of mind! their Roman successors in setting eliminating the long meandering words to music. (melisma) of certain single words. The principal influence on Plato and Since this period there have been occasional changes, including Aristotle was Pythagoras (c. 550 BC), who investigated musical many of the mediaeval forms which re-appeared in the 18th and theory in Egypt before being instructed by the priests of Babylon 19th centuries. Notational changes were apparent with the transi- in the secrets of arithmetic, music and other disciplines. tion from a no-line stave to a four-line stave and, eventually, to Unfortunately, none of his writings remains and so we must rely the five-line stave that is familiar today. Expression markings to on later sources to trace his work on the mathematics and acoustic the chant notations also changed along with these, together with geometry of music. His ideas, such as the Tetrad, the Golden rhythmic stem indications, even as far back as the 13th century. Section and harmonic proportions, became applied to aesthetics However, the Old Roman system still contains a more primitive and various mystical beliefs. Pythagoras is known for revealing modal form than does Gregorian chant, and it is easy enough to the mathematical correspondence between the pitch of a note and discover the root stem modes. the length of a string. However, there is much evidence that this The Greek names for the four main root modes or tropes are: relationship was known as far back as the early Babylonian and Protus, Deutorus, Tritus and Tetradus, while out of these came Sumerian eras. others like the eight psalm tones of a Frankish innovation con- Grecian thought is still unmistakable today in the belief that nected to the Byzantines. The eight modes are: Dorian (D), music influences ethical life, and in the idea that music can be Hypodorian, Phrygian (E), Hypophrygian, Lydian (F), explained in an abstract way as a reflection of some higher source. Hypolydian, Mixolydian (G) and Hypomixolydian. (To hear how Pythagoreans believed in the principle of the "kinship of all these modes sound, play the white notes on a keyboard sequen- beings". tially from a starting note; e.g., Dorian mode plays from D to the As a result of his nexus with the god Apollo, Pythagoras octave D, Phrygian plays from E to E, etc. The "Hypo-" modes believed that he was able to remember his earlier incarnations contain the starting note aspect but with a slight cadence differ- and, hence, to know more than others knew. He used music to ence by implication of the fourth note beneath; e.g., Hypodorian teach the purification of the soul in order to reach higher levels. starts on the note A beneath the main root of D, allowing for a ris- "To be like your Master" and so "to come nearer to the gods" was ing cadence.) his challenge to his pupils. Salvation was thereby achieved Later, in the 16th century, four more modes were added: through a union with the Divine Cosmos and the study of the cos- Aeolian (A), Hypoaeolian (E), Ionian (C) and Hypoionian (G). mic order through the Music of the Spheres. 36 = NEXUS proper frame of mind! DECEMBER 1999 — JANUARY 2000