Hexachords, solmization, and musica ficta

Hoxe, navegando, encontrei un traballo bastante documentado sobre a Historia dos hexacordos medievais, a musica ficta e os métodos de solfexar coñecidos como “solmisación”. Publicouno Margo Schulter na páxina, imprescindible como referencia na música antiga, Early Music FAQ.

O traballo está dividido en catro capítulos e leva por título “Hexachords, solmization, and musica ficta”. O prólogo, de Todd M. McComb, pregúntase “¿por que aprende-los hexacordos?”:

[...] For someone accustomed to modern musical notation, hexachords may seem to be so much baggage, begging a question: Isn’t the practical modern musician better off ignoring them, leaving to scholars the arcane task of supplying accidentals in modern editions?

[...] Solmization systems of various kinds are found around the world. It is only too easy to view the hexachord system as a pointless medieval exercise in sophistry, as the debate regarding angels on the head of a pin or the endless syllogisms of Peter of Spain replaced today by a few simple rules of logic. Yet, it was first of all the sheer practical relevance of the system which demanded its introduction. If Guido could envision the staff, an innovation we certainly feel no need to mock, might not we grant him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to hexachords as a concomitant of his system? Moreover, can we profitably use hexachords today?

Non vou copiar todo… resumindo: quen queira interpretar correctamente a música medieval debe coñece-los hexacordos.

Por certo, tiven que parar de ler cando cheguei ó nome de “Peter of Spain”, porque non sabía quen era. Resultou ser un filósofo do século XIII, un tal “Petrus Hispanus”, pero sobre a súa auténtica identidade hai tres teorías diferentes. Todo isto e máis encontreino mirando o artigo sobre “Peter of Spain” na Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.