Hucbald

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Hucald's Musica, page 125 in the Codex 169(468) from the Abbey library of Saint Gall

Hucbald (c. 850 – 20 June 930; also Hucbaldus or Hubaldus) was a Benedictine monk active as a music theorist, poet, composer, teacher, and hagiographer.[1] He was long associated with the Saint-Amand Abbey, so is often known as Hucbald of St Amand.[2] Deeply influenced by Boethius' De Institutione Musica, Hucbald's (De) Musica, formerly known as De harmonica institutione, aims at reconciling through many notated examples ancient Greek music theory and the contemporary practice of Gregorian chant. Among the leading music theorists of the Carolingian era, he was likely a near contemporary of fellow theorist Aurelian of Réôme, the unknown author of the Musica enchiriadis, as well as the anonymous authors of other music theory texts Commemeratio brevis, Alia musica and De modis.[1]

Life

Born in Northern France, about 850,[1] Hucbald's exact birthplace and date are unknown.[3] He studied at Elnone Abbey (later named Saint-Amand Abbey, after its 7th-century founder) where his uncle Milo was chief master of studies (scholasticus), in the diocese of Doornik.[4] Hucbald made rapid progress in the sciences of the quadrivium, including that of practical music, and, according to a laudatory 11th-century biographical account, at an early age composed a hymn in honour of St Andrew, which met with such success as to excite the jealousy of his uncle. It is said that Hucbald in consequence was compelled to leave St Amand and to seek protection from the bishop of Nevers.

He was also a companion of studies of such future masters as Remigius of Auxerre and Heiric of Auxerre, perhaps as a disciple of the court philosopher Johannes Scottus Eriugena ('John the Scot', i.e., Irish). In 872 he was back again at Saint-Amand as the successor in the headmastership of the monastery school of his uncle, to whom he would have been presumably reconciled. Between 883 and 900 Hucbald went on several missions of reforming and reconstructing, after Norman destructions, various schools of music, including those of St. Bertin and Rheims. In 900, however, he returned to Saint-Amand, where he remained to the day of his death on 20 June 930.

Works

Theory

A 19th century piano depicting Hucbald (far left) among other Christian and musical figures.

The only theoretical work which can positively be ascribed to him is his Musica (formerly known as De harmonica institutione), probably written about 880.[5][6] The work shows considerable influence from the writings of Boethius, and by extension Ptolemy.[5]

The Musica enchiriadis, published with other writings of minor importance in Gerbert's Scriptores de Musica, and containing a complete system of musical science as well as instructions regarding notation, has now been proved to have originated elsewhere about the same time and to have been the work of unknown writers belonging to the same intellectual milieu. This work is celebrated chiefly for an essay on a new form of notation described today as Daseian notation and its readable transmission of the first record of Western polyphonic music.[citation needed]

Compositions

A few sacred compositions can be somewhat securely attributed to Hucbald,[7] some are found in the Winchester Troper and Sarum antiphoner.[8] Literary sources suggest that he wrote many other now lost works.[8] Among his works is the noted song "Carmina clarisonae calvis cantate Camenae" for Charles the Bold.[8] In 146 hexameters, the beginning of each verse begins with the letter C, initial of Carolus Calvus.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b c Chartier 2001, "Introduction".
  2. ^ Chartier 2001, "1. Life".
  3. ^ Weakland 1956, p. 67.
  4. ^ Britannica 2021.
  5. ^ a b Palisca 1978, p. 5.
  6. ^ Chartier 2001, "3. The theorist".
  7. ^ Chartier 2001, "3. The composer".
  8. ^ a b c d Palisca 1978, p. 4.

Sources

  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hucbald". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  • Chartier, Yves (2001). "Hucbald of St Amand". Grove Music Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.13475. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  • Palisca, Claude V., ed. (1978). Hucbald, Guido, and John on music: Three Medieval Treatises. Translated by Babb, Warren. Index of chants by Alejandro Enrique Planchart. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-02040-3.
  • Weakland, Rembert (January 1956). "Hucbald as Musician and Theorist". The Musical Quarterly. 42 (1). Oxford University Press: 66–84. JSTOR 740475.
  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica (1 January 2021). "Hucbald | French music theorist | Britannica". Encyclopædia Britannica. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Archived from the original on 27 August 2021. {{cite encyclopedia}}: |author= has generic name (help)

Further reading

  • CHARTIER, Yves, L'oeuvre musicale d'Hucbald de Saint-Amand: les compositions et le traité de musique, Saint-Laurent (Québec), Éditions Bellarmin (distribution: Éditions Fides, Montréal; Éditions Vrin, Paris), 1995.
  • Fuller, Sarah (Spring 2008). "Interpreting Hucbald on Mode". Journal of Music Theory. 52 (1): 13–40. JSTOR 40607028.
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