Heinrich Loriti of Glarus, a Swiss Nobleman

Dodecachordon, Book I.

Chapter I. On the division and definition of Music.

A large woodcut historiated initial letter 'M' at the beginning of the text. Within the body of the 'M', two men dressed in scholar's robes are in a room; one plays a lute and the other looks on. A window shows a building and trees in the distance.

Music is of two kinds: theoretical and practical. Theoretical music is concerned with the contemplation of musical matters. According to the author Boethius Annius Manlius Severinus Boethius, a 6th-century philosopher whose "Fundamentals of Music" was the standard textbook for a millennium (Book 1, Chapter 2), this is threefold: First, Worldly original: "Mundana", which considers the harmony of the entire universe and the parts of the world. Second, Human original: "Humana", which treats the proportions of the body and the soul, and how these parts relate to each other. Third, that which is said to consist in certain instruments original: "Instrumentalis"; the same author discusses this in five books. Practical music consists of the performance of song. This is found in rhythms, in meters, and in sounds. And sounds are found partly in instruments (which are themselves varied) and partly in the human voice, which we will now attempt to discuss most specifically—namely, concerning "regulated" music, which pertains to song. Furthermore, song is of two kinds: one is simple and uniform, which is now commonly used in churches, and this is the subject of plainchant, which they call Gregorian; the other is varied and multiform, which some now call figured music original: "figuralem" and others call mensural music referring to music with precise rhythmic notation, as opposed to the free rhythm of chant. Since nothing certain concerning this [mensural] song is found among the ancients, as far as I know, we shall follow the tradition of the authors of our own age in later chapters.

Music is the faculty of weighing the differences between high and low sounds by means of sense and reason. Boethius, Book 5, Chapter 1.

Music is the science of correct melody-making modulandi. Saint Augustine.

On the elements of Practice

Chapter II.

Since all mathematical learning consists in demonstration, and because neither the things themselves can enter into a debate nor can sounds original: "voces" be written down, musicians invented signs for sounds. These consist partly of figures, which they now call notes, and partly of the naming of syllables, of which six are received by common use: Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la. They now call these "voices" original: "voces" with a more frequent word, using the sign for the thing signified. However, they call the locations of these voices "keys" original: "clauies"; these are the positions on the musical staff or the hexachord system.