Library › Latin: Didactic & Technical › Musica
This treatise on music theory by William, abbot of Hirsau, is written as a dialogue between William and Otloh, the scholar monk of Saint Emmeram in Regensburg. In the opening Otloh says that since William has satisfied his questions on astronomy, the discussion should move to music, whose origin and nature remain hidden; William replies that it is an arduous subject, but agrees to begin the next day. The treatise discusses the construction of the monochord, the four principal tetrachords, the species of fourth, fifth and octave, and the modes, with reference to Boethius and Ptolemy; the sample discusses the eighth mode added by Ptolemy.
William was among the leading music theorists of the eleventh century, and his Musica is an important link between the theory of Boethius and the practical reforms of Guido of Arezzo. It was influential in German monasteries, where Hirsau’s liturgical customs spread. The dialogue form and the reference to William’s astronomical studies show the breadth of learning in the quadrivium cultivated in the reformed monasteries.
About this edition. The Latin text comes from Corpus Corporum, the Latin text repository of the University of Zurich (edition: Jacques-Paul Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 150, Parisiis 1854), reused with attribution for non-commercial purposes (CC BY-NC-SA). Every word has been analyzed with LatinCy, a neural language model for Latin — click or tap any word for its dictionary form, part of speech, and complete morphology, together with the full entry from Lewis & Short’s A Latin Dictionary.