The earliest written words are 3400-3100 BC and the earliest coherent texts about 2600 BC. The earliest form of musical notation found is about 1400 BC. It contains fragmentary instructions for performing music. It is music composed in harmonies of thirds.
The scholar and music theorist Isidore of Seville, while writing in the early 7th century, considered that "unless sounds are held by the memory of man, they perish, because they cannot be written down."
But they were written by the 9th century to capture the Gregorian chant sung in monasteries. The earliest is about 850. Notation developed fine for melody, but took longer for rhythm - and in the 13th-century a treatise explains a set of six rhythmic modes in use at the time. The pictures of early music notation show blocks rather than our current ovals. I quite liked the blocks and yet am equally attracted to ovals. I find musical notation visually pleasing without knowing what the song is. That certainly isn't the case with mathematical notation which seems visually dense. I guess it doesn't have rhythm portrayed.
So our pictures today are an appreciation of the great rock face on the train layout in Sacramento. The first image has the sky replacement so that sky and rock seem to meld together. It is as thought the sky is flowing into the rock and down the cliff. In the second you can see how amazing the colours and details are. Such an artist - it seems too bad he wasn't creating sculptures rather than sides of hills.
No comments:
Post a Comment