EARLY MUSIC

Press, Volume C, Issue 29472, 25 March 1961, Page 3

EARLY MUSIC

The Pelican History of Music. Volume I, Ancient Forms of Polyphony. Edited by Denis Stevens and Alec Robertson. Penguin Books. 344 pp. Index.

The average concert-goer and music-lover rarely shows great enthusiasm for the music of the. twentieth cen--1 tury, and many- and long are the cries of the pro-moderns against this lack of feeling for the music of our own age, but how much less enthusiasm is shown for music before the sixteenth century. One does occasionally hear a recording from one abbey or other of a Gregorian chant Mass, but can this be all that iis worthy of remark in the many centuries of musicmaking that proceeded the 1 works of Byrd and Palestrina. How easy it is to say that music is a comparatively young art. and that the cen- | turies proceeding the six- ; teenth are important only in I that they are . links in the (chain which leads up to the I masterpieces of Bach, Beetjhoven and Brahms. the . glories of the Romantic Age, land all that is new and exciting. as well as all that is I incomprehensible in our contemporary music.

Denis Stevens and Alec Robertson, the editors of Volume 1, of the new Pelican History of Music, stress from the beginning that the music prior to Bach and Handel is more than antiquarianism, and can and should stand on its own merit. To ignore the importance of the music of these centuries is just as incomprehensible as it would be to reject the poetry of Dante and Chaucer, and the paintings of van Eyck, Botticelli, and Michelangelo. The Pelican History of Music consists of three volumes, and this, the first volume, contains an account of primitive and non-western music, early liturgical and medieval music. It is divided into four sections: non-west-ern music, written by Peter Crossley-Holland; Plainsong, by Alec Robertson; Ars Antiqua (the music of the thirteenth century, which is marked by the birth of organised polyphony), by Denis Stevens; and Ars Nova (the music of the fourteenth century, when new and more stable systems of notation are introduced, and there is a further development of polyphony), by Gilbert Reaney. The first section is completely fascinating. It contains a wealth of detail about music in non-western countries from very early times (as far back as the fourth millennia B.C. in the cases of Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, and India), and brings us from those far distant ages up to the present day with regard to the music of India. China. Japan. Tibet, South-east Asia, and the Arabic World. There are also chapters on the music of Ancient Greece, and the music of the Jews. Perhaps what is most amazing is the number and variety of musical instruments found in the early civilisations. Many of the countries mentioned had early forms of flute, oboe, clarinet, reed pipe, harp, lyre, lute, zither, drum (in Ancient Mesopotamia there was a form of kettledrum, and a type of tambourine), handbell, cymbals, triangle, and gong. In China only, we find a stone chime (a series of 14 to 24 “L” shaped plates suspended in a

frame), a bell chime, and a reed mouth organ. While in the Middle East one discovers a spike fiddle, a viol-like instrument with a long iron foot, and in the classical Indonesian orchestra (gamelan), an early form of xylophone. Certainly the most intriguing of all are two instruments found in Tibet, a trumpet made of human thigh-bone, and a clapper hand-drum formed of two half skulls in the shape of an hour-glass. Of course the very early music cannot be reproduced now, as practically none of the ancient civilisations had stable notation systems, but we do learn a great deal about the various scalic systems.

The scales used and the instruments played during this early part of the history of music are but two of the many topics discussed by Peter Crossley-Holland. The melodic and rhythmic systems of India and Arabia (Raga-tala in India, and Maqam-iqa in Arabia), the classical orchestra of Indonesia (Gamelan), the music associated with the theatre in Japan (the No plays of the men. and the Kabuki theatre of the women), the musical plays of Tibet, the musico-dramas of Ancient Greece (the tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, and the comedies of Aristophanes made use of music and dancing as well as poetry); all this and much more is covered in this most comprehensive section on non-western music. Peter Crossley-Holland has indeed given us a rich and vivid picture of the wealth of musical activity existing before, and continuing on during the birth and development of our western art.

Plainsong, the second section of this volume, is handled by Alec Robertson with a true feeling for the liturgical spirit of Gregorian Chant. There are many quotations, and the Mass and the Divine Office according to the Roman Rite are thoroughly examined.

The simple perfection of the single line of melody found in Gregorian Chant held sway until towards the end of the twelfth century, when some composers began to experiment with adding another part to certain sections of the Mass and the Divine Office. This was the birth of polyphony, and the beginning of the period known as Ars Antiqua, section three of this volume, which is covered by Denis Stevens. The early Polyphony was nothing more than a doubling in fourths, fifths, and octaves of the chant, and

was called Organum. Later, more flexible and variable rhythms were used, and in a new form, Conductus, we see a breaking away from the plainchant basis, though here there was a similarity of rhythm in all parts. Then Clausula, or florid substitute sections were inserted into a Conductus, and finally words were added to the Clausula to give us the beginning of the Motet.

Existing at the same time as this great growth of part singing, there was a flourishing art of solo singing. Accompanied by minstrels on plucked, bowed, reed or flute type instruments, the French Troubadours and later Trouveres, and the Minnesingers and later Mastersingers of Germany sang songs of a wide range of type and theme, both poetic and musical, though love songs, of course, were in great abundance.

And so to the music of the fourteenth century, Ars Nova, which Gilbert Reaney deals with in the last section of the volume. In this century just prior to the Golden Age of Polyphony, and the glories of Palestrina and Byrd, we learn of the stabilising of the notation system, the development of the Motet, and the appearance of the Ballade, Rondeau, Virelai, Madrigal. Caccia, and Ballata. Gilbert Reaney devotes a chapter to the historical and cultural background of the period, and one to sources of the period, and then he proceeds to take each country and examine its contribution. Germany, Holland. Spain, and Cyprus all produced only a small quantity, and while there was much more activity in England and Italy, France was clearly the centre of musical art, for the technical finish of French music was matched by the mathematical correctness of its theory. This volume, then, is a most important addition to the existing material which deals with the beginnings and early development of the art of music. The two editors, and the two writers who have assisted them, have produced a book which fulfills its purpose most admirably—that of bringing to the attention of the average music enthusiast the variety, colour, and beauty to be found in music even from the earliest of times.

Besides an index, the volume contains a Discography, and a section devoted to suggested books for further reading. There is also a group of illustrations, which though they do occasionally elucidate points in the text, have been chosen rather to set the scene of the particular periods under discussion.