[Smt-talk] Seven-letter scale notation

[art samplaski]

Fiona McAlpine writes:

> Perhaps we should just get rid of Pesudo-Odo, as if he is a person,

> & refer to the C10th treatise Dialogus de Musica.

 

Well, I think that's going just a wee bit extreme, eh? Not only are there

waaay too many treatises only called "De musica" floating around down the

centuries, but presumably SOME human wrote this particular one--unless

one wants to suggest, e.g., the cat Pangur Ban from that Old Irish poem or

one of his descendants did. (A _very_ intriguing hypothesis, to be sure, but

difficult to defend on paleography grounds if nothing else.:) Considering

there are Pseudo-Aristotle, Pseudo-Plutarch, and I can't remember how

many other Pseudos running around music history, it seems to me perfectly

fine and simple (and needing zero new rewriting of history texts:) to just

keep calling the (presumed) guy "Pseudo-Odo." (Else, we'd have to start

saying, "the author formerly known as 'Pseudo-Odo, nee Odo of Cluny.'":)

 

(Now, the _Alia musica_ is a completely different herd of cats. How many

people--I think "contributors" is a much more appropriate term than "authors"

here--helped compile it? To date I've seen suggested 3 (Chailley), 4 (Atkinson),

and 5 (Muehlmann)...)

 

And thank you so very much for jogging my neuron about the _Musica Enchiriadis_'

use of letter notation re the diapason!

 

Art Samplaski

Ithaca, NY

 		 	   		  
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