Neumes!

November 13, 2015 by Chris Gallant 6 Comments

I’ve begun working on the From Ink to Sound course from the University of Basel.  If you are interested in ancient manuscripts and exploring the evolution of musical notation you will find this course fascinating.

I decided to try my hand at some neumes yesterday, and there’s one thing I can say.

Thank you, Guido of Arezzo (also here).

Neumes are small squiggles (this seems to be the most commonly used term for them in English) above text meant to be used as religious music.  The neumes give an indication of how the melody line is supposed to rise and fall.  But they are completely relative; there is no music staff to anchor the notes to a particular pitch.  Sort of like typing “123 Main Street” into Google Maps.  Useful, but insufficient information.

But to be fair, the neumes were never intended for learning a piece of music you had never seen before.  They were a mnemonic device for people who had already memorized (or were in the process of memorizing) the vast quantity of music associated with religious services of the time.  It’s the graphical equivalent of “How does this one go again?”

Here is a quick table of what neumes look like and what they mean.  This is only a few of the ways neumes are written.  There were regional differences in the manuscripts. Click on image to enlarge.

Here’s my not-entirely-faithful attempt to reproduce a manuscript with neumes that was presented in the course.  I am not ready for the scriptorium yet. I did not use a quill here, these are calligraphy pens.  Though I know of a farm in the area, I couldn’t bring myself to wander in asking for fallen feathers to write neumes.

You can explore the original codex here.  Click the manuscript, and in the drop-down box that says Front Cover go to page 44 to see the original page.  Or you can see it in the video linked below.

Here’s what it sounds like (funky medieval hand, but where’s the thumb?)

_____

Scribe.  Public domain image. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Scribe2.jpg

Original codex citation: Einsiedeln, Stiftsbibliothek, Codex 121(1151) : Graduale – Notkeri Sequentiae | Notker Balbulus http://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/9200211/doi_10_5076_e_codices_sbe_0121.html

The introitus Sacerdotes Tui is performed by the Ensemble Gilles Binchois under the direction of Dominique Vellard.  The ensemble sings after the manuscript Einsiedln, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 121, p. 44.