Sound and Space in Twelfth-Century Notre-Dame of Paris
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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Voice of the Cathedral: Sound and Space in Twelfth-Century Notre-Dame of Paris A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology by Kacie Morgan 2021 © Copyright by Kacie Morgan 2021 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Voice of the Cathedral: Sound and Space in Twelfth-Century Notre-Dame of Paris by Kacie Morgan Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology University of California, Los Angeles, 2021 Professor Nina Eidsheim, Co-Chair Professor Elizabeth Randell Upton, Co-Chair My dissertation project examines the relation between sound and space of twelfth-century polyphony in Notre-Dame cathedral during its construction. Beginning in the second half of the twelfth century, a dramatic shift in rhythmic organization in the polyphonic repertoire at Notre-Dame cathedral occured, moving from Gregorian chant to a highly rhythmic note-to-note texture of discant polyphony. In order to analyze the connection between rhythm and acoustics, my project incorporates methods from sound studies, art history, and the digital humanities with historical musicology. My research enables the reconfiguration of sound as an interactive process between the performing body, the vibration of sound waves, and the physical space that contains the performance. I use digital tools and recent research in art history to reconstruct Notre-Dame cathedral as it might have stood at the end of the twelfth century to ii examine the material condition in the changing performance space and to test the acoustics of the space. My re-analysis demonstrates how the material conditions of the cathedral throughout construction directly impacted the sound production and performance within the cathedral, requiring new musical setting and performance practices. To examine the connection between architecture, acoustics, rhythmic developments, and performance conditions, each chapter examines a new facet of sound and space. In chapter one, I ground a sound-based analysis in the score, and consider the vibrational actualization of notated music to reanalyze polyphonic settings from Wolfenbüttel 1 and the Florence Manuscript. I analyze how rhythmic and textural elements could have functioned as techniques of sound production, the emission of vibrations, and/or sonic emphasis, musical elements designed to highlight, or resound a melodic, harmonic, or rhythmic gesture, in response to the new cathedral acoustics. In chapter two, I investigate the construction history of the cathedral and how the physical and material conditions, including noise and the addition and subtraction of materials, affected performance practice. In chapter three, I analyze the acoustics of the cathedral choir through digital modeling and acoustic simulation, to test elements such as reverberation time, clarity, echo, and sound levels to better understand how the number of singers and the location of singers and listeners affected aural feedback. Finally, in chapter four I analyze the aural feedback of singers and listeners as well as the sonic effects of each polyphonic texture within the acoustics of the choir. All four chapters culminate in this final analysis of how each polyphonic texture sounded to listeners throughout the choir, to provide a new understanding of how the acoustics impacted polyphonic performance. iii The dissertation of Kacie Renee Morgan is approved. Meredith Marie Cohen Sharon Elizabeth Gerstel Jessica A Schwartz Nina Eidsheim, Committee Co-Chair Elizabeth Randell Upton, Committee Co-Chair University of California, Los Angeles 2021 iv In loving memory of Ruth Yancey v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations…. vii List of Figures...vii List of Tables...viii Acknowledgments...viii Vita...x Laying the Foundations: Origin and Context...1 Sounding Structures: A Re-analysis of Notated Musical Features...54 The Structures for Sounding: The Physical Space and Performance Requirements...109 Space Sounded: Acoustic Testing and Analysis...177 Sounding Space: Listening and Polyphony within the Choir...229 Appendix I… 271 Appendix II...283 Bibliography...311 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS List of Figures Figure 1.1 Intonation of response and verse of Sederunt… ……………………………………….82 Figure 1.2 Intonation of response and verse of Terribilis………………………………………….. 82 Figure 1.3 Intonation of “Alleluya,” verse, and closing “Alleluya”.………………………………...82 Figure 1.4 Musical excerpt, perfections 155-184, “Somp-” from T erribilis………………… ……..86 Figure 1.5 Musical excerpt, “Adiuva me Domine” in Sederunt… ………………………………….87 Figure 1.6 Sederunt, Gesture One...………………………………………………………………....96 Figure 1.7 Sederunt, Gesture Two..………………………………………………………………….96 Figure 1.8 The second and third iteration of the unit in “Ad-” Sederunt… ……………………….97 Figure 1.9 Musical excerpt, perfections 1-10, Terribilis …………………………………………….98 Figure 1.10 Musical excerpt, perfections 1-20, T erribilis verse…………………………………...100 Figure 1.11 Musical excerpt, perfections 41-51,T erribilis verse…………………………………..101 Figure 1.12 Musical excerpt, perfections 1-21, S ederunt… ………………………………………102 Figure 1.13 Musical excerpt, perfections 48-61, Sederunt… ……………………………………..103 Figure 1.14 Musical excerpt, perfections 116-157, “De-” in Sederunt… …………………………105 Figure 2.1 St. Étienne and the old Notre-Dame…………………………………………………….116 Figure 2.2 Notre-Dame floor plan with Tallon and Sandon construction dates………………….118 Figure 2.3 Construction progress on the chevet in 1170…………………………………………..119 Figure 2.4 Construction progress in 1177…………………………………………………………...121 Figure 2.5 Construction progress in 1182…………………………………………………………...123 Figure 2.6 Construction progress in 1208…………………………………………………………..127 Figure 2.7 Construction progress in 1225…………………………………………………………..131 Figure 2.8 Image of four-story elevation…………………………………………………………….133 Figure 2.9 Lateral chapel dedications……………………………………………………………….134 Figure 2.10 Map of Medieval Paris…………………………………………………………………..138 Figure 2.11 Seating locations of chapter members within the choir of Notre-Dame…………...154 Figure 2.12 Image of cope, dated to the fourteenth century……………………………………...160 Figure 2.13 Image of Medieval builders……………………………………………………………..164 Figure 2.14 Image of Medieval masons……………………………………………………………..164 Figure 3.1 Vocal Ranges as they correlate with staff notation and pitch range………………...188 Figure 3.2 Labeled Floor Plan………………………………………………………………………..197 Figure 3.3 Image: mirroring of rectangular side aisle bays………………………………………..200 Figure 3.4 Image: wireframe of hemicycle vaults on floor level from top view………….………201 Figure 3.5 Image: wireframe of gallery vaults from top view……..……………………………….204 Figure 3.6 Image: wireframe of central aisle vaults from top view……………………………….206 Figure 3.7 Image: external coverings over vaults………………………………………………….212 Figure 4.1 Echo music visualization, four raised male voices…………………………………….239 Figure 4.2 Echo music visualization, single normal male voice…………………………………..239 Figure 4.3 First sixteen tones in the overtone series from fundamental C………………………241 Figure 4.4 Seating chart of Notre-Dame chapter within the choir space………………………...244 Figure 4.5 Center Time values for four voices……………………………………………………...245 Figure 4.6 Center Time values for single voice…………………………………………………….245 Figure 4.7 Clarity visualization for four raised voices……………………………………………...247 Figure 4.8 Definition visualization for two raised voices…………………………………………..247 vii List of Tables Table 0.1 Codification of score as music…………………………...………………………………...11 Table 0.2 Rhythmic modes in Garlandia, Lambertus, and Franco………………………………...22 Table 1.1 Rhythmic shifts in “Dies Sanctificatus”........................................................................92 Table 2.1 Construction stages and dating………………………………………………………..….113 Table 3.1 Means from 1987 and 2015 Notre-Dame Acoustic Studies…………………………...186 Table 3.2 Frequency to Pitch Comparison………………………………………………………….189 Table 3.3 Single normal voice acoustic measures....………………………………………………217 Table 3.4 Single raised voice acoustic measures………………………………………………….218 Table 3.5 Single voices additional measures……………………………………………………….218 Table 3.6 Two normal voices acoustic measures…………………………………………………..220 Table 3.7 Two raised voices acoustic measures…………………………………………………...220 Table 3.8 Four normal voices acoustic measures………………………………………………….222 Table 3.9 Four raised voices acoustic measures…………………………………………………..222 Table 3.10 Four voices additional measures………………………………………………………..222 viii Acknowledgments I have many, many people to thank for their guidance, support, and encouragement that not only allowed me to complete my dissertation in wild times but also enabled me to finish my graduate education as a whole. I had a fantastic committee and terrific advisors who were all willing to go on this intellectual journey with me. I deeply appreciate the time, energy, and genuine interest and investment in me and my project. My thanks also to Jennifer Saltzstein for encouraging my early interest in musicology and facilitating my entrance into the field. Thanks first and foremost to my family—in which I include my parents, brother, Laura, Melissa, Jessica, and Emily—for their love and support from day one in all the forms it was expressed. Honorable mention to Smith, for being my constant work companion and enforcing some good work/life balance while I was dissertating. I’m extremely grateful to Farrah O’Shea, Anne Le, and Kersti Francis for our countless working days, all your intellectual and emotional support, and