Constantin Floros Modern music notation developed out of the so-called square notation and this out of the Latin neumes. The question of where these neumes came from has long been the subject of scholarly debate. As the author demonstrated in his three-volume Universale Neumenkunde published in German in 1970, there is a very close relationship between the Paleo-Byzantine notation and the Latin neumes. Although the study aroused a great deal of dispute, more recent studies have revealed that the relevance of the Neumenkunde re- mains essentially unchallenged after 40 years. Those path-breaking research results on the relationship of the Greek and Latin notational systems are now available for the first time in a completely revised and augmented English translation. “[Floros’] work, while not giving the last word in the domain of semiology, could today certainly again be the point of departure for productive develop- ments, both in the domain of Byzantine music as well as in the area of Gregorian chant.” (Luca Basilio Ricossa) The Origins of Western Notation Western Western Notation Revised and Translated by Neil Moran The Origins of of Origins The Constantin Floros is a professor emeritus of musicology at the University of Hamburg and a prolific writer on diverse subjects. He was the first researcher who systematically examined, compared and decoded the oldest Byzantine, Slavic and Latin neumatic notations. Neil K. Moran is the author of numerous studies on European cultural history in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. His books are of fundamental importance · Floros Constantin for those interested in the Ordinary chants of the Byzantine rite and for the iconography of church singers in the Middle Ages. www.peterlang.de ISBN 978-3-631-61559-1 PETER LANG LANG Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Floros 261559-A5HC-TP.indd 1 25.02.11 23:13:41 Uhr Constantin Floros Modern music notation developed out of the so-called square notation and this out of the Latin neumes. The question of where these neumes came from has long been the subject of scholarly debate. As the author demonstrated in his three-volume Universale Neumenkunde published in German in 1970, there is a very close relationship between the Paleo-Byzantine notation and the Latin neumes. Although the study aroused a great deal of dispute, more recent studies have revealed that the relevance of the Neumenkunde re- mains essentially unchallenged after 40 years. Those path-breaking research results on the relationship of the Greek and Latin notational systems are now available for the first time in a completely revised and augmented English translation. “[Floros’] work, while not giving the last word in the domain of semiology, could today certainly again be the point of departure for productive develop- ments, both in the domain of Byzantine music as well as in the area of Gregorian chant.” (Luca Basilio Ricossa) The Origins of Western Notation Western Western Notation Revised and Translated by Neil Moran The Origins of of Origins The Constantin Floros is a professor emeritus of musicology at the University of Hamburg and a prolific writer on diverse subjects. He was the first researcher who systematically examined, compared and decoded the oldest Byzantine, Slavic and Latin neumatic notations. Neil K. Moran is the author of numerous studies on European cultural history in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. His books are of fundamental importance · Floros Constantin for those interested in the Ordinary chants of the Byzantine rite and for the iconography of church singers in the Middle Ages. www.peterlang.de PETER LANG LANG Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften Floros 261559-A5HC-TP.indd 1 25.02.11 23:13:41 Uhr The Origins of Western Notation Constantin Floros The Origins of Western Notation Revised and Translated by Neil Moran With a Report on „The Reception of the Universale Neumenkunde, 1970 –2010“ PETER LANG Frankfurt am Main · Berlin · Bern · Bruxelles · New York · Oxford · Wien Bibliographic Information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available in the internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de. Cover Design: Olaf Glöckler, Atelier Platen, Friedberg Translated and revised from volume 2 of the Universale Neumenkunde (Kassel 1970) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Floros, Constantin. [Universale Neumenkunde. English] The origins of western notation / Constantin Floros ; revised and translated by Neil Moran with a report on The reception of the Universale Neumenkunde, 1970-2010. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-3-631-61559-1 1. Neumes. 2. Musical notation. I. Moran, Neil K. II. Title. ML174.F6213 2011 780.1‘48--dc22 2011007080 ISBN 978-3-631-61559-1 (Print) E-ISBN 978-3-631-72395-1 (E-PDF) E-ISBN 978-3-631-72396-8 (EPUB) E-ISBN 978-3-631-72397-5 (MOBI) DOI 10.3726/b11178 © for the English edition: Peter Lang GmbH Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, Frankfurt am Main 2011 This book is an open access book and available on www.oapen.org and www.peterlang.com. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 which means that the text may be used for non-commercial purposes, provided credit is given to the author. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ www.peterlang.de Foreword It has long been recognized that Byzantine art undoubtedly exerted a significant influence on the West. This has particularly been shown to be the case of art history. The Byzantine dome as well as Byzantine mosaics and panel paintings inspired many artists in the West. One only needs to refer to the architecture of San Marco in Venice, to the mosaics of San Vitale in Ravenna and in the cathedral Santa Maria Nuova in Monreale (Sicily). Extremely significant for the acceptance of the Byzantine heritage is not least the Quadriga from the Hippodrome of Constantinople, which today decorates the San Marco in Venice.1 The relationship between Byzantine church music and Gregorian chant is not so unambiguous. It is generally believed that both can be traced back to a common root, but each developed totally independently. The very close political, ecclesiastical and music historical relationships between Rome (the capital of the West Roman empire) and Constantinople (the capital of the East Roman empire) in the 6th,7th and 8th centuries have been thoroughly documented. Until the middle of the 8th century papal Rome belonged to the Byzantine Empire. At least in political terms, the popes were in a dependent relationship with Constantinople. During this period several Syrians and Greeks occupied the apostolic throne. During this time, numerous festivals, procession and chants of the Byzantine rite were introduced in the Roman Church. In many cases, the original Byzantine melodies were also adopted.2 The eminently important question of the relationship of Latin to Byzantine neumatic notation has long been unclear – understandable because systematic comparative studies of the neumatic notations had not been undertaken. My own investigations at the University of Hamburg into this complex date from at least 1957. This first involved an intensive study of the oldest surviving notations. The main difficulty was that the oldest neumatic notations were adiastematic (i.e. they did not designate the intervals precisely) and were therefore regarded as being indecipherable. One could formulate it as follows: the notation concealed a secret – an aspect which appealed to me even more so as I imagined myself to be searching for the solution of riddle. After many attempts over many years of research I managed to gradually decipher the mysterious ancient notations. In 1970 I published my three-volume Universale Neumenkunde – a work which caused an enormous sensation. Suddenly amazing connections between Byzantine Church music and the notation of Gregorian chant were exposed. Numerous Latin neumes and corresponding 1 Otto Demus, Byzantine Art and the West (New York, 1970). 2 Constantin Floros, Introduction to early Medical Notation, Enlarged second edition (Warren, Michigan: Harmonie Park Press, 2005). V Byzantine signs (semata) proved to be neumatically, paleographically and semasiologically (semantically) related and in many cases identical. This book is also dedicated to the memory of my former mentor and universal scholar in Hamburg, Prof. Dr. Heinrich Husmann. Of the many methodological stimuli that I owe to him, the demand that the music researcher has to continually expand his or her scientific horizons is one of the most important. My heartfelt thanks go to my friend Dr. Neil K. Moran, who has undertaken the task of translating and updating this voluminous book into English. IwishtoextendmythanksaswelltoProfessorLucaBasilioRicossafor permission to publish an English translation of his article on my Universale Neumenkunde in the appendix of this book. Luca Ricossa – a prominent Gregorian specialist – is a professor at thecollegeofmusicinGenevaandhas for many years taught Gregorian chant at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and at the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne. He belongs to a small number of specialists including Dr. Moran who are also well grounded in Byzantine music. The publication of this voluminous book would not have been possible without the assistance of Michael Rücker (of the international Peter Lang Publishing Group) and Michael Bock. Constantin Floros,