Pietro Aaron on musica plana

366 Pages·2013·5.82 MB·English

Pietro Aaron on musica plana:
A Translation and Commentary on Book I of the
Libri tres de institutione harmonica (1516)

Dissertation

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy
in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University

By
Matthew Joseph Bester, B.A., M.A.
Graduate Program in Music

The Ohio State University

2013

Dissertation Committee:

Graeme M. Boone, Advisor

Charles Atkinson

Burdette Green
Copyright by

Matthew Joseph Bester

2013
Abstract

Historians of music theory long have recognized the importance of the sixteenth-
century Florentine theorist Pietro Aaron for his influential vernacular treatises on
practical matters concerning polyphony, most notably his Toscanello in musica (Venice,
1523) and his Trattato della natura et cognitione de tutti gli tuoni di canto figurato
(Venice, 1525). Less often discussed is Aaron’s treatment of plainsong, the most
complete statement of which occurs in the opening book of his first published treatise, the
Libri tres de institutione harmonica (Bologna, 1516). The present dissertation aims to
assess and contextualize Aaron’s perspective on the subject with a translation and
commentary on the first book of the De institutione harmonica.
The extensive commentary endeavors to situate Aaron’s treatment of plainsong
more concretely within the history of music theory, with particular focus on some of the
most prominent treatises that were circulating in the decades prior to the publication of
the De institutione harmonica. This includes works by such well-known theorists as
Marchetto da Padova, Johannes Tinctoris, and Franchinus Gaffurius, but equally
significant are certain lesser-known practical works on the topic of plainsong from
around the turn of the century, some of which are in the vernacular Italian, including
Bonaventura da Brescia’s Breviloquium musicale (1497), the anonymous Compendium
musices (1499), and the anonymous Quaestiones et solutiones (c.1500).

ii
The topic of plainsong remained fertile ground for discussion and controversy
among theorists in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as arguments over solmization,
tuning, and mode attest. Aaron, because of his overriding concern with practical matters,
offers unique insight into many of these issues in the De institutione harmonica, the only
one of his publications to appear in Latin. The treatise frequently has been overshadowed
in part because of its uneven quality and numerous errors, characteristics that have
prompted some scholars to question the rigor of Aaron’s early training in theoretical
matters. Despite these deficiencies, Aaron’s first treatise deserves a fresh look, for it has
much to tell us about an important period in the history of music history as well as about
Aaron himself, an earnest musician who was striving to reconcile theory and practice,
insofar as he understood both at the time.

iii
Dedication

Dedicated to Stefanie,
my wife, my companion, and my best friend

iv
Acknowledgments

I would not have been able to complete this project without the generous support
and assistance of a great number of people. First and foremost I want to extend my
deepest gratitude to my advisor, Graeme Boone, for his guidance and support throughout
my graduate career. Over the years I have benefitted greatly from our many wide-ranging
discussions, over many cups of coffee, and I look forward to many more stimulating
conversations in the years to come.
I am also very grateful to the other members of my dissertation committee,
Charles Atkinson and Burdette Green. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the
opportunity to learn from both of them, both formally in many enjoyable seminars and
informally in the course of many casual conversations. I have been profoundly influenced
by the example that all three of my committee members have set, both in the high level of
their scholarship and in the spirit of collegiality with which they interact with their
colleagues and students.
I also offer my sincerest gratitude to Lois Rosow, chair of the Musicology
Department. I am humbled by the level of confidence that she routinely showed in me
throughout my graduate career, granting me innumerable professional and teaching
opportunities. It was also from her that I first learned the basics of textual criticism. I also
thank the other faculty members from the musicology department under whom I was

v
fortunate to study, including Arved Ashby, Margarita Mazo, and Udo Will. It has been a
pleasure to be part of such an esteemed and supportive department.
I also wish to thank Professors Frank Coulson and Will Batstone in the Classics
Department at Ohio State, to whom I owe my training in reading and translating Latin as
well as the basics of paleography. Whatever is accurate in my Latin translations can be
traced to their instruction; any mistakes are mine alone.
In addition, I am very grateful to the wonderful staff of the Music and Dance
Library at Ohio State, especially Alan Green, Gretchen Atkinson, Sean Ferguson, and
Michael Murray. I have benefitted greatly from their assistance throughout my graduate
career, both as a student and as an educator, and I very much appreciate their kindness,
support, and expertise.
Through the years I also have been fortunate to learn from and enjoy the
friendship of many fine graduate school colleagues, many of whom have gone on to
become outstanding scholars. In particular I wish to acknowledge my dear friends Nick
Johnson, Alejandro Madrid, Andrew Martin, Libby McDaniel, Billee Mitchell, Nick
Poss, Debbie Ruhl, Erica and Tadd Russo, Beth Szczepanski, Joan Titus, and Josh
Veltman.
I also thank my colleagues at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, especially Paul St.
Germain, Stephanie Arps, and Jessica Ellis, for allowing me the flexibility to pursue the
completion of this project while continuing to work full time as Director of Music. I am
very grateful for their support, encouragement, and understanding. I also am thankful to

vi
the many members of the church who have expressed their support, particularly in the
end stages of this project.
I am also exceedingly grateful to Roberta Morton, Mary Mae Riego, and Dianne
Silliman for volunteering their time in recent years to provide childcare, allowing me the
opportunity to get away periodically in order to make progress on this dissertation. I
could not have sustained the momentum necessary to complete this project without their
assistance.
I am particularly thankful to the many friends who have expressed interest in this
project and have offered their support over the years. I am especially grateful to Dennis
Bassett, Matt Croy, Gary Garber, Bevan Keating, Ted Meyers, Michael Murray, and Jim
Vaigl, whose friendship has been a source of strength and encouragement.
Lastly, I thank my family for their tireless and unwavering support. In particular, I
thank my mother and stepfather, whose constant encouragement has always been a
source of strength. Most importantly, I am forever grateful to my wife, Stefanie, whose
unconditional love, support, and encouragement has meant more to me than I can say.
Finally, although they were latecomers to this project, I also thank my two young
daughters, Elisa and Maria, for their love, their patience, and their support, particularly in
the busy final months of this project.

vii
Vita

April 20, 1975 Born – Minneapolis, MN
1997 B.A. cum laude Music, Harvard University
2000–2001 University Fellow, The Ohio State
University
2001–2005 Graduate Teaching Associate, Department
of Music, The Ohio State University
2006 M.A. Music, The Ohio State University
2006–2009, 2011–12 Lecturer, Department of Music, The Ohio
State University

Publications

1. D.W. Latham, B. Nordström, J. Andersen, G. Torres, R.P. Stefanik, M. Thaller,
and M.J. Bester, “Accurate Mass Determination for Double-lined Spectroscopic Binaries
by Digital Cross-correlation Spectroscopy: DM Virginis Revisited,” Astronomy and
Astrophysics 314 (1996): 864–70.

Fields of Study

Major Field: Music

viii
Table of Contents

Abstract ii
Dedication iv
Acknowledgments v
Vita viii
List of Tables x
List of Figures xi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Biography and Works 8
Chapter 2: Aaron’s Introduction to Plainsong 31
Chapter 3: The Gamut 61
Chapter 4: Solmization and Mutation in Plainsong 128
Chapter 5: Intervals and Modes 187
Chapter 6: Conclusion 238
Text and Translation 245
Bibliography 336
Appendix A: Extant Copies of Pietro Aaron’s Libri tres de institutione harmonica 351

ix