CHAPTER FIVE

GROSSETESTE'S CONCEPT OF FIGURA, AND ITS APPLICATION TO MUSIC NOTATION

Psalm 118 (119) which commences: Beati immaculati in via, Quia ambulant in lege Domini, Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord, is the longest of the . The Psalm is divided into discrete sections, each one delineated by a letter or character of the Hebrew alphabet, either spelled out as in the Latin , or with the actual sign. (Example 1: Notice that the King James English version presents both the Hebrew characters and divisions.) This chapter will discuss the medieval tradition of figura, showing the use Grosseteste made of it, and demonstrating how music notation exemplifies the concept in particular ways during the course of the thirteenth century. , commencing with Beati immaculati, is a consideration of particulars together in the totality of a group; a study of plurality in contrast to the individual in , , "blessed is the man." Each of the sections of this psalm incisively identifies a trait or potency and links this trait to a character or a figura. Each section, therefore, has a certain autonomous nature and is complete. All of the characters of the Hebrew alphabet that identify the sections are particular. All are necessary, and they pass by as various and diverse figures, in ordered continuity. These outward characters delineate inner subjects. When one carefully reads this entire psalm—and without Cassiodorus' psalm commentary to point this out, one must read it several times to get this point—one discovers that each section, in fact, delineates a profound aspect of the human personality. Furthermore, similar subjects, very much like contours, are presented in varied formulation. The subjects themselves could be understood as analogies to letters, which, presented in varied formulation, resulted in words. Writers in late antiquity and the early medieval period noticed this, and Cassiodorus, in his listing of the nine modes of the (in the prologue to his Expositio psalmorum) speaks of the "modo hebraei alphabeti virtute profundi" Psalm 118 is the principal psalm in this mode. The concept of charactere sive figure variare, which this psalm presents and makes comprehensible, had important consequences throughout the Middle Ages. One could describe the 118th Psalm as an aggregate of both conceptual and visual figures. Figurae, as we will see, is a term which is interchangeable with such expressions as letters, characters, virtues, signs, and designs, as geometric designs, and rhythms. It is an extraordinarily GROSSETESTES CONCEPT OF FIGURA 77

Example 1: Psalm 118 (119)

12 Hlcsscd art thou, O LORD : * teach me thv statutes. 1 \ Vi'ith my lips have I declared all the judgments oi thy mouth. 14 ! have'rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. 15 I will 'meditate in thy precepts, •nd have respect unto thy ways. I ίι I will ' delight myself in thy statutes : 1 will not forget thy word. Kl-MfL. 17 * Deal bountifully with thy serv­ ant, that I may live, and keep thy word. 1H »Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. 19 I am »a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. 20 'My soul breakcth for the long­ ing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. 21 Thou hast rebuked the ' proud that are • cursed, which do err from thy commandments. KAUYPH. 22 Remove from me ' reproach and LESSED arc the «undcfiled in contempt ; lor I have "kept thy testil· j the way, who walk in the law of monies. Bthe LORD. 2.* 'Princes also did sit and speak 2 Blessed are they th;it keep lus against me: but thy servant did testimonies» and that seek him with meditate in thy statutes. the whole heart. 24 Thy testimonies also are *my 3 'They also do no iniquity: they delight and &my counsellors. walk in his ways. 4 Thou hast commanded us to keep ΤΠΧ'-ΙΓΤΗ. thy precepts diligently. 25 • My soul clcaveth unto the dust : 5 O that my ways were directed to * quicken thou me according to thy keep thy statutes! word. 6 Then shall 1 not be ashamed, 2*> I have declared my ways, and when I have respect unto all thy thou heardest me: dteach me thy commandments. statutes. 7 I will praise thee with uprightness 27 Make me to understand the way lof heart, when I shall have learned of thy precepts: so shall 1 'talk of thy I *thv righteous » judgments. 1 wondrous works. s I will keep thv statutes : O forsake 28 * My soul 'mcltcth for heaviness: me not utterly. strengthen thou me according unto 3 BETH, thy word. 2*> Remove from me the way of 9 * Wherewithal shall a young man lying: and grant me thy law gra­ cleanse his way? by taking heed ciously. thereto according to thy word. 30 I have chosen the way of truth : 10 With my whole heart have I thy judgments have I laid before me. sought thee: O let me not 'wander 31 I have stuck unto thy testimo­ from thv commandments. nies: Ο LORD, "put me not to shame. 11 * Thy Word have I hid in mine 32 I will run the way of thy com­ heart, that I might not sin against mandments, when thou shall "en­ Ithec. large my heart.