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Grattan Flood - A History of Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 28

Grattan Flood - A History of Irish Music, Volume 1, Issue 1, Page 28
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periodical Publisher
Browne and Nolan Ltd, Dublin 1913
periodical Editor
[none]
periodical Title
Grattan Flood - A History of Irish Music
volume Number
1
issue Content
40 HISTORY OF IRISH MUSIC.IRISH MUSIC BEFORE THE ANGLO-NORMAN INVASION. 41whether either of them dates from the Norse period, oreven from medimval days.Despite the troubled condition of Ireland duringthese two or three centuries, as Dr. I ouglas Hydewrites, she produced a large number of poets andscholars, the impulse given by the enthusiam of thesixth and seventh centuries being still strong upon her.Among the distinguished bards of the tenth century wasFlann Mac Lonain. In one of his eight poems thathave come down to our days he describes a harpercalled Ilbrechtach, of Slieve Aughty, near Kinalehin.King Brian, ere his sad death at the glorious victoryof Cloptarf, in 5054, did a great deal towards repairingthe ravages wrought during three centuries. Accordingto the Wars of the Gael with the Gall, a valuablemanuscript that was written during the first quarter ofthe eleventh century, Brian sent professors andmasters to teach wisdom and knowledge, but he wascompelled to buy books beyond the sea and the greatocean, because the writings and books 0/ tIle churches andsanctuaries had bee i burned and drowned by the jlzsn.derers.Whilst we must for ever lament the destruction of ourancient literary and musical manuscripts by the Norse-men, it is gratifying to know that some few musicaltreasures, written by Irish monks, still remain on thecontinent. Only to quote one instance, at ZurIch, in thelibrary of the Antiquarian Society, may yet be seen a frag-ment of an Irish Sacramentarjjtrn and Anti honarium.Our Irish St. Helias, a native of Monaghan, waselected Abbot of Cologne, in Germany, in 1015. Hewas the bosom friend of St. Heribert, and ruled the twomonasteries of St. Martins and St. Pantaleons, from1015 to 1040. Mabillon tells us that not only was St.Helias a most distinuished musician, but that he wasthe first to introduce the Roman chant to Cologne,* andhe is, most probably, the stranger and pilgrim towhom Berno of Riechenau dedicated his well-knownmusical work, The Laws of Symphony and Tone.tNo greater tribute to the esteem in which the Irishmonks were held at Reichenau can be cited than thefact that this monastery (founded in 724 by our Irish St.Pirminius) was placed under the patronage of St. Fintan,a Leinster saint, who flourished circa 830. WalafridusStrabo, Dean of St. Galls, was Abbot of Reichenaufrom 824 to 849.The famous Guido of Arezzo (born in cj5, and diedMay 17th, 105o) , Benedictine Prior of the monastery ofAvellina, perfected the gamut of twenty sounds, andimproved diaphony. He devised the hexachordal scale,U I, Re, 1 I1, Fa, Sol, La, from the first syllables of thehymn to St. John the Baptist, commencing Ut queantlaxis. It is not a little remarkable that the melody towhich this hymn was sung before Guidos time was notan original one, but had been, years before, composedfor an Ode of Horace, commencing Est inihi nonus,and which is to be met with in a Montpellier MS. of thetenth century. This interesting fact strengthens theview put forward in a previous chapter, that many Irish* The Annals of Ulster tell us that Donuchad, Abbot of Dun-shaughuin, died on a pilgrimage at Cologne in 102?, as also didEochagan, Archdeacon of Slane, in 1042; and, similarly. Brian.King of Leinster, died there in 1052. Of course, the great musicaltheorist, Franco of Cologne, roust have imbibed some of the Irishtraditions as to discant or organumt Mabillon, Annales Ben dictinorum, torn. iv., p. s .
issue Number
1
page Number
28
periodical Author
Grattan Flood, Wm. H.
issue Publication Date
1913-01-01T00:00:00
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anonymous,guest,friend,member

Grattan Flood - A History of Irish Music

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