288 GREGORIAN CHANT

note. 21 The not always clear. However, a

details of his explanations are
remark like the following can hardly be misunderstood: "It is particularly
in this tone [Aurelianus speaks about the authentic tetrardus, i.e., the
seventh mode], oh wise singer, that so many, not being careful and adopt-
ing improper usage, lengthen what is short, and shorten
what is long." 22
Indications of a critical attitude toward the treatment of long and short
syllables have been found in a
Franciscan Gradual of the late fourteenth
23 it is that in the sixteenth century this aspect of the
Certain
century.
Gregorian tradition became the center of attention and the point of de-
parture for far-reaching reforms. Blasius Rossetti, author of a Libellus de
rudimentibus musicae, published in 1529,2* deals at length with this
problem, saying that very frequently a syllable that should be short is
made long, which ill agrees with the rules of grammar, and that many
abuses of this type could or should be eliminated. He adds, however, that
this should not be done in the Responsories, Graduals, and Introits, be-
cause in these the grammar is the servant-maid of the music: hie gramma-
tica ancilla estmusicae. As an example he quotes the Introit Gaudeamus
omnes [437], in which "the syllable mi on Domino is textually short, but
seems to become long because of the ligature [neume, a-g-a-b^-a-by above
it." Rossetti makes a distinction between the simple chants, such as Anti-

phons, Hymns, and Sequences (often referred to in the sixteenth century

under the common designation of accentus) and the ornate chants, In-
troits, Graduals, etc. (concentus), insisting that in the former category the

syllables should be correctly treated according to their length and short-

ness,but at the same time recognizing in the latter group the superiority of
purely musical considerations.
This conservative and sensible attitude did not prevail. To the musi-
cians of a later generation, imbued with the humanistic tradition of classi-
cal Latinity, the appalling disregard of quantity, of the length and brevity
of syllables, appeared as plain "barbarism." They regarded the Gregorian
treatment as a violation of "nature," a heritage of the dark middle ages
which could not be tolerated in an enlightened era. The reform editions
of Gregorian chant, starting with Guidetti's Directorium chori of 1582
and culminating with the Editio Medicaea of 1614, clearly show evidence
of this line of thought. For curiosity's sake we show in Fig. 77 an
excerpt
(Gradual Haec dies) from the Graduate cum cantu Pauli V. Pont.
. . .

Max. jussu reformato of 1896, which is

essentially a reprint of the Editio
Medicaea.
21 Rather than two; cL
Wagner 111, j>68.
22 GSf I,
58b/5ga: Est hoc in tono, o prudens cantor, quod plerique non devitantes
[erroremf] usu improbo consectantes cbrreptiones producunt, et corripiunt productiones.
23 Cf.
Wagner II, 4822, especially 496.
2 * Cf. R. P.
Molitor, Die nach-tridentinische Choraheform I, isziff.
(1901),
 The Free Compositions; General Aspects 289

FIGURE 77

Graduate.
Modus 10.
La-uL di -
es, quam fe - cit Do -

mi-mis: exsul-te - -

-
e a.

In not a few cases the reformed version, although generally tending to-
ward a drastic reduction of the Gregorian melismas, has an even longer
group of notes on an accented syllable than the medieval sources, but al-
ways at the expense of the "unnatural" melismas on the weak syllables.
It is interesting to note that even such a profound Gregorianist as Wag-
ner ease in the presence of the "misplaced" melismas. He says
felt ill at

that this procedure (of emphasizing a secondary, rather than the main
"seems to be in contradiction to the congruence of word and
syllable)
tone, which
constitutes the supreme law of all vocal music," and that "the
modern musician cannot help criticizing the agglomerations of tones on
a short syllable following an accented one" [Formenlehre, p. 291]. Later
[p. 293] he expresses the view that this method is understandable in con-
nection with the "early medieval rhythmic system with its various com-
binations of long and short values," but "lost all its justification when the
groups of tones were performed in even values." It is difficult to see how
this change of rhythm (assuming that it took place) could affect the pic-
ture. There is no other way of dealing with it than to admit frankly that
the "supreme law of vocal music" had no validity, certainly no universal
validity, inGregorian chant; in other words, that here, as in so many
cases, themedieval mind simply did not function as we would like. Ex-
amples of downright mis-accentuation are not rare even in fifteenth-cen-
tury polyphonic music, a striking example being the passages "ange-
loriim" (correctly angeldrum) and "salv6 radix sanctd" (instead of salve
radix sdncta) in one of Dufay's settings of Ave regina celorum?* In cases
like thisone cannot help feeling that the seemingly "bad" accentuation is
actually a "good" one, dictated by the intention to counteract rather than
over-emphasize. Whether the "barbaric" melismas in Gregorian chant re-
sult from such an intention or from plain indifference, it is
impossible to
say.

THE TONIC ACCENT

We shall now turn to a consideration of the second method of musical
accentuation, the so-called tonic accent, that is, emphasis by means of
25 See W. Apel, The Notation of Polyphonic Music, p. 118.
<jgO
GREGORIAN CHANT

higher pitch. This accent has received even greater attention on the part
26

of Gregorianists than the melismatic accent undoubtedly with justifica-

tion because it is of considerably more fundamental importance. Nearly
the entire thirdvolume of the Paldographie musicale (published in 1892)
isdevoted to a study of the tonic accent, and practically every book dealing
with Gregorian chant contains a shorter or longer exposition of its nature
and function. Thus, Wagner formulates a "very important law of com-
position: in the syllabic and semi-syllabic
chants the melodic line care-

fully follows the arses and theses (strong and weak syllables) of the text,
and particularly the accented syllable of an important word is made to
stand out by a higher tone, a melodic peak" [Wagner III, p. 289]. More
recently, Ferretti devoted a large segment of his book to a study of this
problem, giving it the form of a strict and universal law, applicable to
ornate as well as simple chants, though subject to certain exceptions. 27
In view of such definite and authoritative statements it is hardly neces-
sary to say that we are indeed in the presence of a very basic principle,
verifications of which can be found on any page of the Liber usualis. We
could even let the matter rest here, were it not for the fact that both
Wagner and, especially, Ferretti have formulated this principle in such
a way as to create an impression which is not in agreement with the
actual state of affairs. Particularly the use of the term "law" (Wagner:

Kompositionsgesetz; Ferretti: la lot de I'accent) is misleading, because

there are simply too many cases that do not agree with the "law," even if
we admit exceptions resulting from the superior force of other laws, such
as have been formulated by Ferretti.
First of all we will have to define the exact meaning of tonic accent. This
is not as easy as it seems to be at first glance. No doubt it involves a
higher
pitch on the accented syllable, but higher than what? Higher than the
pitch of the preceding syllable, of the subsequent syllable, or of both?
What if the preceding or the
subsequent syllable shows the same pitch as
the accented syllable? And which criterion shall we use if some or all of the
syllables to be considered carry a group of notes, so that the accented
syllable is
sung to different pitches, some lower and some higher than
those in the neighboring groups? This last question is so involved that we
had better exclude it from our investigations or, rather, postpone it for
later consideration [see pp. 2g6fJ. This means restricting the present investi-
gation to syllabic chants, especially the Antiphons. Naturally there is no
reason to exclude examples involving short groups of notes (neumatic

26 The term "tonic accent" is

employed exclusively with reference to the music, not as
a term of prosody (e.g., "I'accent tonique latin").

WEsthttique, pp. 14-38. Partly translated in Reese, Music in the Middle Ages, pp.
i66ff. Mocquereau deals with the tonic accent (acuiti de
I'accent) in Nombre, II,
 The Free Compositions: General Aspects 291

style), provided that they present a clear-cut situation. Thus, if we con-

' / r /
sider a-f as an example of tonic accent, examples such as ag-f, a-gf , or gag-fe
obviously under the same category.
fall

what constitutes a tonic accent are not en-

Ferretti's explanations as to

tirely clear and unambiguous. His initial statement is that "the accented
syllable of each word is nearly always relatively higher than the weak sylla-
ble that follows, and often even higher than the 28 to
preceding one,"
which he adds a footnote saying that "strictly speaking, it is not necessary
that the accented syllable should be higher than the
preceding one." Later,
however, referring to a great number of examples given previously, he
remarks that in the great majority of the cases "the Latin accent is brought
out in an absolute manner, in the sense that the accented syllable is nearly
always higher than the syllable or syllables which precede or those which
follow" (p. 17.) Finally, he indicates three types of motion in which the
Latin accent has "only a relative, not an absolute value": (i) if the pre-
ceding note is in unison and the subsequent note lower; (2) if the preceding
note lower and the subsequent in unison; (3)
is if the preceding note is

higher and the subsequent note lower (pp. i8f).

On the basis of these statements
it is not
easy to form a clear idea as
to what and in which case this is "absolute" or
constitutes a tonic accent,
"relative." If the musical pitch of an accented syllable is considered in
relation to the pitches of both the preceding and the subsequent syllables,
it
appears that nine types of motion are possible, which can be diagrammed
as follows:

FIGURE 78
* 3 '
4 ' ** 7

As far as I can make out, Ferretti's explanations would mean that a tonic
accent exists:

according to p. 15: in cases 3, 6, 9 "I

according to p. 17: in cases 3, 4, 5, 6, 9 J

according to p. 18: in cases 3, 4, 9 relative

Naturally no valid investigation or profitable discussion can proceed from

such uncertain premises.
Actually, the Latin word which
the very basis of all these investiga-
is

tions provides an entirely accurate and, at the same time, the only valid
definition of the tonic accent. Since, without exception, all Latin words
2*
Esthltique, p. 15. Reese, in his translation (p. 166) says "higher than the one that
precedes it." Probably this is only due to an oversight, since otherwise he follows Ferretti
closely.
202 GREGORIAN CHANT
(ofmore than one syllable) have the accent on a syllable followed by one
or two weak syllables, a tonic accent (in the musical sense of the word)
exists only the accented syllable
if is higher in pitch than the subsequent
weak syllables or, at least, than the first of these. In other words, only cases

3, 6, and 9 of the above diagram constitute a

tonic accent. Cases 4 and 5,
in which the accented syllable is higher than the preceding one, in no
way agree with, or reflect the Latin accent. To include them under the
rubric of tonic accent is no more than wishful thinking. This would be
different, for instance, in the English language, in which many words end
on the accented syllable. For a word like "below" a melodic motion rising
up to the accented syllable would constitute a tonic accent. In Latin, where
this kind of accentuation does not exist, melodic motion descending from
the pitch of the accented syllable is the only condition under which a tonic
accent can be said to exist. Briefly, tonic accent is predicated upon what
follows, not on what precedes.
Before we turn to an examination of the tonic accent as just defined,
we must mention what Ferretti calls the "exceptions la loi de Faccent"
(p. 25), that is, formative principles of a higher order
which prevent the
tonic accent from functioning. Ferretti's explanations can be summed up
as follows: 29
1. Certain
types of chant are to be disregarded, namely: (a) the psalm
tones (also introit tones and, of course, the simple, recitation tones) be-
cause they are based on the principle of monotone recitation; (b) chants of
a later date, such as hymns, sequences, tropes, because they were written
at a time when the rules of Latin prosody were carelessly treated; (c) late
adaptations of new texts which were underlaid without regard to the origi-
nal principles.
2. Cadences are subject to special laws which often overrule the applica-

tion of the tonic accent. This is particularly the case in cadences closing
/ /

with one or two notes of the same pitch, e.g., e-d-d or f-d-d-d (e.g., "cor
m-um" [690], or "dicit D6-mi-nus" [494]).80
3. Another exception results from the "phrase accent" (accent phrase-

ologique), that is, an accent formed by the melodic peak of a phrase and
coinciding with an important word. If, as is often the case, this peak is
29 See the and 4
summary in Reese, p. 167, where, however, cases nos. 2 of our sum-
mary are omitted.
so A much more
important source of exceptions are the cursive terminations of the
tones for the Introits and Responsories [see pp. 231, 238], in which the five last syllables
are underlaid without regard to the position of the accent. It is one of the many indica-
tions of Mocquereau's unscholarly methods that he
presents even these cursive termina-
tions in such a manner as to make them appear (at least, for the credulous reader) as
evidence in favor of his theories. See Nombre, H, 193, where the termination of the fourth
responsorial tone is given with eight texts, all (except one) of the same textual structure,
A- A