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Book Review
Feb. 19th, 2014 12:14 pmThe Musical World of a Medieval Monk: Ademar de Chabannes in Eleventh-Century Aquitaine
by James Grier
This book was very technical and detailed, but endlessly fascinating. It covers the musical activities of Ademar de Chabannes, an eleventh century Aquitanian monk. Ademar was very active as a music scribe, singer, and composer, as well as compiler and editor of liturgical music. Not only did he produce important manuscripts and compose many new chants, Ademar also pioneered and introduced accurate heighting of neumes to indicate intervallic relationships. One of Ademar's most fascinating achievements is his creation of a new liturgy for St. Martial in order to promulgate the idea that Martial was an apostle, despite the fact that Ademar knew that Martial was not and could not have been an apostle.
Grier details each of Ademar's activities and achievements with meticulous detail and copious evidence from the primary sources. He paints a wonderfully vivid picture of a medieval monastic musician and world he inhabited. In the process, the reader gets a glimpse at the eleventh century's technological innovations in writing and the functions, use, and meaning of music in the medieval religious world. It's all beautifully done and Grier's writing prevents the technical detail from dragging the book into tedium.
by James Grier
This book was very technical and detailed, but endlessly fascinating. It covers the musical activities of Ademar de Chabannes, an eleventh century Aquitanian monk. Ademar was very active as a music scribe, singer, and composer, as well as compiler and editor of liturgical music. Not only did he produce important manuscripts and compose many new chants, Ademar also pioneered and introduced accurate heighting of neumes to indicate intervallic relationships. One of Ademar's most fascinating achievements is his creation of a new liturgy for St. Martial in order to promulgate the idea that Martial was an apostle, despite the fact that Ademar knew that Martial was not and could not have been an apostle.
Grier details each of Ademar's activities and achievements with meticulous detail and copious evidence from the primary sources. He paints a wonderfully vivid picture of a medieval monastic musician and world he inhabited. In the process, the reader gets a glimpse at the eleventh century's technological innovations in writing and the functions, use, and meaning of music in the medieval religious world. It's all beautifully done and Grier's writing prevents the technical detail from dragging the book into tedium.
