Week 5: Voices

Precedent

Giving credit where credit is due is a large theme in the arts. The voice of those who came before us is ever present in day-to-day life, but we rarely stop to ponder and respect the precedents that made innovation possible. It would be impossible for the architects of the Middle Ages to build their greatest masterpieces without the innovations that came before them. Below I have set some space to appreciate where structures came from.

The Column- The Arch-The Vault

Aisle Contruction- The Arcade Post- Cruck Construction- Hammer Beam Construction
“Distances of span were governed by materials and construction technique, … therefore, if the distance was too great it was essential that intermediate support be included.” (Blakemore 73)

The Transverse Vault- The Dome- The Tripartite Plan (Hearth Porch Court)- The Roman Bath
The Basilica




The Basilica of Saint Peter is steeped with architectural precedents. The Basilica features a narthex that includes the tripartite plan, Vaults at the intersection of the nave and transept, domes, and a series of hallways that are similar not only to the baths of Rome but the earlist building form- the megaron!(5)

(6) Interior of St. Peter's Rome features stunning mosaic interior work, (mosaics seen earlier in Roman Baths!) the pendentive form, the arch and vault, the occulus and the rib vault. This stunning interior (completed by Michelangelo) would not have been possible without the innovations of many previous artists.

The Basilica- The Dome

The Carolingian Church, The Norman Building Style, The Gothic Cathedral

Duality

"Commodity Firmness and Delight" Are all important factors in architectural design- this much we know. Often, when a large shift in history happens- one of these factors takes more importance on than the others. In the case of the Early motte castle- Firmness and Commodity became the focus factors. "Atop the motte-- a natural hillock or heaped up earth-- a wooden tower structure was built, serving both as a place of refuge and a resident of the local lord..."(Roth 305)



(7)These early castles might not have been the prettiest place to live, but they certainly fulfilled their purpose. As cities died with the fall of the Roman Empire, the architects focus shifted to the countryside and how to best serve the needs of their patrons.

Moments

There is no greater experience as a musician, than to perform well, in an acoustically sound room as a part of a large group. A close second to this experience is sitting in the audience, watching this experience happen. That said, if composition and performance do not work together, the above experience would never happen. Composers for monastery choirs in the Middle Ages composed music that would create moments for the congregants in their audiences.
Of course, my scanner pooped out when I went to scan in the copy of this excerpt from the Musica enchiriadis. But-the organization of the organum is still present. Because the interval between notes is constant and the scale has no diminished (crunchy) qualities, vibrations within the cathedral would resonate consistently and without dissonance.
The Musica enchiriadis (Music handbook) was one of the foremost musicians handbooks used in the Middle Ages. This treatise stressed the importance of “singing together” to create polyphony in the performance. The music in this treatise also used scale systems of parallel fifths, creating open, resonant chords that carried well in the open space of the Gothic Cathedral(1) .

Presence

"In the new phase into which medieval architecture mow passed, the presence of light, the symbol of God's Divine Grace, became the preeminent symbol; the church building had to become transparent, and when it did so it as no longer Romanesque but Gothic." (Roth 323)

In addition to the creation of the moment, a presence of higher power could be felt in the florid organum of the mass chants of the Middle Ages. One of the most moving works that I can think of was composed by a particular group of musicians in residence at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Leonin’s Viderunt omnes was clearly written for the experience of the congregation at Notre Dame. The work is nearly three times as long as works for Christmas Day mass that came before it (2).

(4)This is one of my absolute favorite pictures of the Cathedral at Notre Dame. It is not picture of the interior (which I spoke about above) but I believe it is the best (or most cliche) picture I have seen to evoke the feeling of a greater presence in a cathedral.

It is with much sadness that I realize that I can not post an actual clip of the Viderunt omnes on this blog without getting in serious copyright trouble. SO- I recommend anyone who is interested to go on Naxos (as a UNCG student you have an account that gives you unlimited access) and look up the group Tonus Peregrinus. They have a stunning recording of this work on their cd “Leonin, Perotin- Sacred Music from the Notre-Dame Cathedral.”

Metric

“The Gothic Church…was a monument that seems to dwarf the man who inters it, for space, light, structure, and the plastic effects of masonry are organized to produce a visionary scale. There is no fixed set of proportions in the parts, … and no standard relationship between solid and void.” (3)
The people of the High Middle Ages were pushed by a new found respect for earthly life. Roth calls this appreciation, "emphatically aspired to heaven." Language and art served as unifiers for the scattered nation-states (much like the meter does in Europe today). Nation-states develop their own unique styles for design, but that is not to say that they don't have one major thing in common: DESIGN. The fact that in this period- there was a forward push again (after the devestating fall of the Roman Empire) is very important for the re-growth of what was for generations- the Empire of all Empires.

Synthesis

Concepts for architecture and surface decorations seen in the early Christian church may have grown from the duality that can be observed in the Roman baths. The Roman Baths served many purposes and were chosen and laid out with a plan in mind. Roth explains that "Constantine and church officials looked to secular buildings...the basilica has originally been devised for public gatherings and its symbolic connotation, having to do with the equitable administration of earthly justice, was positive..."(Roth 80). This duality in function can be observed in the social classes serviced and the activities that take place in the Roman baths. The baths served as a bathhouse and meeting forum for upper middle and lower class citizens.

Our discussions this week have reinforced the idea that the Middle Ages might not have been the completely dark era that they are made out to be. Working with the precedent set by the basilica form and the dome form the basic building block of the pendentive arose. This innovation gave architects the ability to build buildings with ever increasing size and splendor.

These churches and monasteries were set on a metric scale that sought to bring heaven to the earth. There is an imminent presence of something greater in these great cathedrals. Geometric study from the movie on the cathedral of Amiens suggests that the basic measurement of the cathedral was the human foot- yet the cathedral effectively transports its inhabitants to a world that could only be described as of another world.

The experience of mass in a Gothic Cathedral is one that can be shared as a member of any class. The architecture is a common element that brings together people to share in truly special moments. History is created when a historian is moved to remember a moment in time. Without the passion that comes from experience, our history would be and endless stretch of dispassionate wasteland.



1. Musica enchiriadis and Scolia enchiriadis, trans. With intro and notes by Raymond Erickson, ed. Claude V. Palisca (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995)

2. Burkholder, Peter H and Claude V. Palisca. “Leonin: Viderunt omnes, organum duplum.” Northon Anthology of Western Music Volume One. New York, New York: Norton, 2006. 67-76.

3. Page 301: Robert Branner, Gothic Architecture, 1961. Quoted in Roth. Understanding Architecture

4. Photograph from the Portfolio Blog of Adam Goldberg. Posted September 11, 2007. Accessed February 24, 2009.

5. /EarlyChristianByzantine/BasilicaPlanChurches/oldstpetersplan.gif> Cited as information from http://www.coco.cc.az.us

6. Interior of St. Peter's. Photograph by John Heseltine 1992. Accessed February 24, 2009

7. Artists Rendering of Ammanford Castle by Richard Jones 2002. Accessed February 24, 2009.