New England Conservatory of Music - Neume Yearbook (Boston, MA)

Page 11 text:

Table uf Clluntents Secliofz Pdge 1. CONSERVATORY AND SURROUNDINGS ....... 7 2. ADMINISTRATION AND FACULTY ..... 13 3. SENIORS ...... 23 4. UNDERCLASSMEN ....... 51 5. ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES ..... 59 6. CANDIDS .... 83 7. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....... 89 8. ADVERTISEMENTS ....... 90 E51

Page 10 text:

Eehiratinn It is with great pleasure and deep respect that we, the class of 1953, dedicate this year book to you, MR. LEHMANN. We feel that you like many noble men who work behind the scenes , have contributed inhnite and un- selfish efforts to guide our class through the broadening channels of this most worthy institution. In recognition of the assistance you have most freely given, we welcome this opportunity to pay you tribute. E41

Page 12 text:

FROM NEUMES TO NOTES The evolution of Neumes into the present day notation serves as a guide to the grouping of the context of this book. This, we hope, will clarify the product of a long historical development as the complexity of musical thought increased. The history of musical notation begins with symbols called Neumes , from the Greek neuma, a nod or command. These' were written above the words, one or more characters to a syl- lable, and were used only as a reminder of previously learned melodies by showing proper group- ing, direction of melody and accentuation of syllables. The first step toward a more precise meas- urement of intervals came about when a staff similar to that of present day notation was used. The staff contained six lines, and the words were put in the spaces which signified the approximate location of their pitches. This graphic representation was later modified by Hermannus Contractus who designated all the intervals from the unison to the major sixth with a system of letters. Liflame- Sigzzifcalizfae. The coloring of the lines gave an even more precise method of measurement. To color the line and assume that all neumes on that line had the pitch designated by its color, was to give an alpha- betical name to the line and to the note on that line. Guido d' Arrezo strengthened these lines by leaving them black and putting the letters F and C on the appropriate ones. These key letters were called clmfer, Ckeysj, and were originally the letters G. F, and C. There was no fixed number of lines, the staff contained as many as needed for the melody. The invention of the staff created a new need, that of musical notation with rhythmical ac- centuations. The lirst two symbols of measured music were derived from the longa, a square black head with a stem, or mzzda, descending from the right side, and the brevif, the same note head without the stem. The two symbols were initially used in the triple beat for the learned polyphony as the long and breve with two beats and one respectively. The beginnings of a more complex poly- phony produced the femibreve, a diamond shaped note without a stem, and the duplex longa, a rectangle with a stem, The reader interpreted the text through a set of fixed rules with each note use'd in relation to the musical phrase. Witli this, pauses, presently known as rests, were indicated by vertical lines drawn through the staff and were measured by the number of spaces between the lines. When two or more notes were sung to a single syllable, the notes were joined and called ligatllref. The notes ascended and descended according to the direction of the grouping, and the length depended upon the notes in the group. Duple time, which was finally recognized, produced the mifzima, a semibreve with a stem. Its modern equivalent is the half note. In order to distinguish between triple and duplex time, a kind of time signature was devised in which the longa, breve, and semibreve could be divided into three or two parts, and were called perfect and imperfect. These signs were the circle and half circle, which is equal to the modern connotion of compound and simple measure signatures. These square notes survived until the fifteenth century at which time they were replaced by open or white notes, and the black ones were modified to smooth oval forms. The time value of the notes ranged from the breve to the semifusa. Respectively, the modern equivalents were the double whole note to the sixteenth note. Since that time the staff and its notation have been modified only slightly to simplify reading for the various musical media. Each modification has evolved into a single connotation of the present score, which meets almost every need of musical production from the composer to the audience. E61