Ars musica
Ars musica is a term that in the Middle Ages referred to the discipline of music within the Quadrivium of the Artes Liberales and was of great importance for the medieval view of music and its development.
term
In a broader sense, Ars refers to the scientific research and manual mastery as well as the practice of music, i.e. to its entire field; in the narrower sense, however, only to the skill or activity of the musician. Because of this ambiguous use of the term, the term is inconsistent with the modern conception of art . Many music writers of the Middle Ages replaced it in its general meaning with the word scientia , but in its practical meaning with the word usus .
Development and importance
Ancient music theory had explored the harmony of the spheres . Building on older models, Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans had developed the mathematical type of scientia musica , the effects of which extended into the Middle Ages. There was ars musica as "Musicology" first in monasteries , monastic schools and cathedral schools taught and later in the emerging since the 11th and 12th centuries universities added. No other art at this time had a comparable position in the canon of knowledge, because only music was founded on a recognized science .
This science was about theoria , a consideration of natural laws that were audible in tones and could be represented as measurable numbers and structures. These laws were understood as the true being , as the principle of the cosmos . In the dualistic view of the world, theory stood above practice - like reason above the body - and provided the rules of "true" music as opposed to simple singing and playing. In Plato's doctrine of the state, music should serve education; their dangerous effects on the soul had to be controlled.
The meaning of the term ars musica changed in the course of time, as music gradually freed itself from the rest of the artes liberales as purely scientific disciplines and became independent. The change took place through several different definitions of what was understood as music and led to a convergence with the art conception of modern language usage. In the end there was the complete liberation of music from the other disciplines.
Aftermath
In the 20th century, Ars Musica was the title of a collection of choral pieces edited by Gottfried Wolters . The five-volume work was published by Möseler Verlag in Wolfenbüttel from 1962 to 1971 as a result of the singing movement . The musical work for secondary schools combined folk songs, secular and spiritual choir pieces and was widespread in schools and choirs.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Music in the past and present Ars musica , Vol. 1, p. 698, Bärenreiter, 1986
- ↑ Music in Past and Present Musicology , Vol. 9, p. 1193 Bärenreiter, 1986
- ↑ Music in the past and present Ars musica , Vol. 1, p. 698, Bärenreiter, 1986
literature
- Gerhard Pietzsch: The classification of music from Boetius to Ugolino by Orvieto , Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1968.
- Hermann Abert : The music conception of the Middle Ages and its basics , Tutzing, 1964