Library Exhibits at the Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library: The Alfred Cortot Collection

The Alfred Cortot Collection (dated 1491-1853; 375 volumes) is a library of music works once owned by pianist and music educator, Alfred Cortot. As a pianist and music educator, Alfred Cortot actively collected materials relevant to his study of the history and theoretical structure of music and music performance. This collection contains primarily theoretical and historical treatises from the 15th to the 19th centuries that were once owned by Cortot.

To learn more about the Cortot Collection and its contents, please read its record in ExploreUK.

Items on display (case 1):

1.
Harmonicorum elementorum (“Elements of Harmony”), Aristoxenus  (1562 edition, edited by Antonius Gogava)

Pythagoras (c. 570 – c. 495 BC) is considered by many to be the father of musical mathematics, having discovered the precise ratios of a string required to create the intervals of the perfect octave (2:1) and the perfect fifth (3:2). Aristoxenus (c. 375, fl. 335 BC), the son of a musician himself, emphasized a more practice-based approach to music. He observed that to create the different tunings needed to create the three genera of tetrachords, practiced musicians would measure out the ratios prescribed by Pythagoras and then adjust the tuning slightly to fit what sounded good to the ear. This debate between these two ways of thinking (Pythagorean mathematical precision versus Aristoxenian practicality and relying on one’s musical inclinations) continues throughout history. Volume three of the Harmonicorum, presented here, includes information on the different tunings of the genera, intervals, and the tonoi (the ancient predecessor of what we call modes), as well as his philosophy on how these should be treated.

2.

Politikōn, Biblia Okto  (“Politics, Book 8”), Aristotle (1549 edition, Provenance: Weingartenensis Monastery, dated 1598)

Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC), one of the most respected philosophers and mathematicians of all time, had opinions on many of the great disciplines that were, and are still, the topics of general education. In this book, the eighth and final of his series Politics,  Aristotle references the quadrivium, or the four main subjects of education at the time: reading, writing, gymnastics, and music. He argues for and against the inclusion of music in the curriculum for young boys (whom were, of course, the only people allowed to be educated), stating that learning music as a youth for the sake of entertainment is noble, while playing it as an adult, for money, for leisure, or competition is vulgar.1 He even goes so far to stipulate that one should not learn to play an instrument that uses the mouth, as it robs one of one’s ability to speak, making one no better than the animals.2 Even certain scales (used by the people of the mentioned regions) were said to have certain qualities on one’s character! The Mixolydians resided in a “mournful and restrained state,” whereas the Dorians had “the greatest composure,” and the Phrygian mode made listeners “enthusiastic.”3  

1 Aristotle, excerpt from Politics, in Source Readings in Music History, edited by Oliver Strunk and Leo Treitler, New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company, 1998, 13.
2 Ibid., 23.
3 Ibid., 19.

3.

Armonikōn, Biblia 3 (“Harmonics, Book 3”), Ptolemy  (1682 edition, edited and translated by John Wallis)

Similarly to Aristoxenus’ Harmonicorum elementorum, the Armonikōn, written by Ptolemy (c.100-c.170 AD), also provides insight as to the tuning of the time period. However, rather than choosing a side in the Pythagoras versus Aristoxenus debate, Ptolemy resides decidedly in the middle. He advocates for Pythagoras’ tuning by use of mathematical ratios, but also for trusting one’s ear and observation of practicing musicians like the followers of Aristoxenus. In fact, he discusses ratios at length in the Armonikōn, which is why he is pictured here in the plate before the title page holding a string in his hands. In this book, he proposes his own tuning system, not so strictly based around the 3:2:1 ratios of Pythagorean tuning, but still involving the general tetrachord and octave structures involved in the Greek Greater Perfect System (the way in which pitches were distributed at the time). Ptolemy also discusses the importance of harmony to the alignment of the soul with the heavenly bodies, emphasizing that music is what unites the music of the body with the music of the spheres.

4.

Philomela Gregoriana, Fra Claudio (Gallus) Le Vol (1669)

In this work, of which there are only seven existing preserved copies, Father Claudio Le Vol (1624-1678) lays out the musical practices of Gregorian chant, including how to both learn and teach it. Perhaps one of the most well-known mnemonic devices of Gregorian chant is included in its pages, the Guidonian Hand (pictured).1 Largely attributed to Guido d’Arezzo (c.990 – 1050), although it does not appear in any of his own writings, this learning tool meant that young monks could actually learn and sightread melodies for themselves for the first time, rather than simply memorizing them by repetition alone. Starting at the thumb of one’s left hand, the pattern ut, re, mi, fa, sol can be traced down to the base of the thumb and up across the first knuckle of the pointer, middle, and ring fingers. This makes up the hexachord, the main musical unit. You might notice that this is also the progenitor of the current solfège scale as well: do, re, mi, fa, sol (or sometimes, just so), la, ti, and arriving back to do. These solmization syllables come from a hymn composed by Guido, Ut queant laxis, another mnemonic to help remember the pitches included in the hexachord: Ut queant laxis, resonare fibris, mira gestorum, famuli tuorum, solve pollutis, labii renatum, Sancta Iohannes. In order to continue past the six notes of the hexachord, one would treat one of the pitches as a pivot tone into the next hexachord needed (depending on arrangements of half and whole steps in the melody) and continue in a spiral pattern around the knuckles of the fingers. Fun fact: the system starts on G ut (the tip of the thumb), or Gamma ut, which is from whence the expression “the whole gamut” originates!

1 Fra Claudio (Gallus) Le Vol,  Philomela Gregoriana: clara, et brevi methodo decantans veras, ac certas regulas ad benè, perfectèque cantum ecclesiasticum addiscendum, & docendum: opvs sané tvm regvlaribvs, tvms aecvlaribvs cantum ecclesiasticum scire cupientibus vtilissimum, maximèque necessarium, Venetiis: Typis Marci Philippi, 1669, 8-9.

5.

Rerum musicarum opusculum (“A Small Work of Musical Things”), Johannes Frosch (1535)

This is another one of the rarest items in the Cortot collection, with only 5 copies of the original publication in libraries worldwide! This facsimile is wrapped in vellum printed with Gregorian chant on the outside. The treatise includes information on the elements of music, the ratios and mathematical properties of tuning and intervals, the application of these pitches to the Greek monochord, and even some discussion of compositional methods.

6.

Dodekachordon, Henricus Glareanus (1547)

While this book is another that begins with a general discussion of pitches, intervals, and modes, it is also one that made history for music. At the time, there were only 8 generally accepted modes: Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Mixolydian, and their plagal forms Hypodorian, Hypophrygian, Hypolydian, and Hypomixolydian. In the Dodekachordon, Glareanus (1488-1563) proposes four new modes to adapt to the ever-growing musical language being used by new composers: Ionian and Hypoionian, as well as Aeolian and Hypoaeolian, or the modes that are equivalent to today’s major and minor scales, respectively. These modes can be seen in the illustration on the open page on the large swooping curves that denote the beginning and ending pitch of each mode.

7.

Le institutione harmoniche, Gioseffo Zarlino  (1573 edition, originally published in 1558)

Gioseffo Zarlino (1517-1590) accepted the new twelve-mode system proposed by Glareanus and set forth to mathematically rationalize the increased usage of major and minor thirds and sixths as harmonic consonances. For Pythagoras, the emphasis was on the number “3”, resulting in the perfect ratio 3:2:1, allowing for the creation of the perfect octave, perfect fifth, and by subtracting the fifth from the octave, the perfect fourth. However, in Le institutione harmoniche, Zarlino puts forth the numero senario, or “senary number” 6. This number was seen as special because its factors (1, 2, and 3) can be either added or multiplied to yield 6 as the result. The ratios 6:5:4:3:2:1 allowed for the addition of the major third (5:4), major third (6:5), and by subtracting them from the octave, the minor sixth and major sixth, as consonances in harmony, as one can see on the open page here. For the most part, this parallels our modern-day idea of consonances: major and minor thirds, the perfect fourth (see Fux’ Gradus ad Parnassum for when this changes), the perfect fifth, major and minor sixths, and the perfect octave.

The Lucille Caudill Little Fine Arts Library presents selections from the Alfred Cortot Collection, curated by Beth Woodall, Fall 2023

Items on display (case 2):

1.

Traité de l’Harmonie (“Treatise of Harmony”), Jean-Philippe Rameau (1722)

It is thanks to Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764), composer and theorist, that we think of harmonic triads as invertible – in other words, a C major chord still has the same root, the tone he calls the son fundamental (“fundamental sound”), whether its bass note is C, E, or G. Before Rameau, a chord spelled E-G-C (from bass upwards) would be called an E chord of the sixth, emphasizing E as the root. This is what is depicted on the open page here, in the triangular diagram. A root-position (accord parfait, or “perfect chord”) is on the bottom with ut (“do”) mi, and sol, the first inversion triad (accord de sixte, “chord of the sixth”) on the right with mi (the chordal third) in the bass, and the second inversion triad (accord de sixte-quatre, “chord of six-four”) on the left with the chordal fifth sol in the bass.

2.

Gradus ad Parnassum (“Steps to Parnassus”), Johann Fux (1725)

One of the first instructional treatises on counterpoint, Gradus ad Parnassum by Johann Fux (1660-1741) is still a cornerstone text in music theory courses today. In this treatise, not only does Fux characterize the interval of the perfect fourth as a dissonance (the first theoretical treatise to do so), but he also, by means of a dialogue, gives instruction on the five species of counterpoint (first species: 1 note to 1 note, or punctus contra punctus, thus counterpoint; second species: 2 notes to one counterpoint; third species: four notes to one counterpoint; fourth species: point against point, but offset to create retardations (what we would now call suspensions); and fifth species, or florid counterpoint: a combination of all of the previous species to create a composition. First-year music majors in theory courses still practice these skills today!

3.

Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversiere zu spielen (“Attempt at an Instruction on How to Play the Transverse Flute”), Johann Quantz (1789 edition, originally published in 1752)

As one might expect, this manual by Johann Quantz (1697-1773) instructs the reader on several aspects of playing the flute, including position, placement, fingerings, tonguing, breath, and trills. However, in later chapters, Quantz also states his opinions on how music ought to be played in general, as well as how one should judge a piece’s and/or musician’s performance. For example, “without words and without the human voice, instrumental music, quite as much as vocal music, should express certain passions and transport the listeners from one to another. But if this is to be properly managed, to compensate for the absence of words and of the human voice, neither the composer nor the performer may have a soul of wood.”1 He weaves in other opinions of varied subjectivity and wit on the evolution of compositional styles as well, providing an eyebrow-raising and entertaining read.

1 Johann Joachim Quantz, “Chapter 18. How a Performer and a Piece of Music Ought to Be Judged” Chapter. In Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversière zu spielen, trans. Oliver Strunk. Source Readings in Music History, Rev. Ed., ed. Leo Treitler (NY: Norton, 1998), 799-806, 799-800.

4.

Generation harmonique, Jean-Philippe Rameau (1737)

In this text, Rameau invites the reader to conduct seven different experiments that use household items, such as tongs and twine, ”in order to demonstrate the natural origin of harmony.”1 This allows the reader to fully understand the evolution of harmony over time and gives them what feels like an active role in history.

1 Abigail D. Shupe, “Rameau’s Experiments in Génération Harmonique and His Material Mangle,” Indiana Theory Review 35, no. 1–2 (2018): 26–57, 27.