Viderunt omnes by magister leo
Viderunt omnes by magister leoMagister Leoninus
Viderunt Omnes
When George Gershwin wrote "I Got Rhythm," he knew that, for generations to come, listeners and performers alike would have a good idea of what he meant. After all, there would be recordings and piano rolls of his actual performances of the piece. Not to mention a standardized notation system to guide future performers. Alas, no such musical preservatives were available to Magister Leoninus in the last half of the 12th century, presuming he would have wanted them even if they had existed. What were his sonic intentions? We'll cover some of the possibilities using two very different recordings of his version of the Gradual, from the Mass Proper, "Viderunt Omnes." One interpretation, by the EMCL (C. 1975), utilizes a strict metrical rhythmic structure, while the other example, by the Ensemble Organum (C. 1990), features a much freer rhythmic approach. These will be referred to as "metric" and "free" respectively.
The metric version has a Western feel that would seem more "correct" to ears of European leaning (or learning). Much as we tend to view the past through the prism of today, those who eventually set these ancient chants in standardized notation saw them through an equally tainted gaze. The Benedictine monks left most ornamentation out of their chant settings (C. 1900) because they viewed it as an 18th Century tradition.1 This bias, along with a need to have an easily learnable piece of music, tended to simplify, rather than embellish, the standardized arrangement. True, it could be argued that the text has a certain rhythmic lilt (conspectum gentium . . . ); however, only one writer from the period, around 1300, noted any parallel between the rhythmic modes and poetic meter.2 Hardly a case for common practice. To my ears, this metric version sounds stilted and stoic. Almost as if it has been stuffed into ill-fitting clothes by a nearsighted tailor. I find the addition of a bell, reinforcing certain downbeats, insipid at best. For people who had yet to be enslaved by the clock, this is too square.
The free version sounds much more organic to me; flowing and cascading like a winding river. Could this be more in line with what Leonin intended? Composers of early polyphony were still using a horizontal (additive) method in which each line was its own entity. This would not impart strict rhythm as the later vertical (simultaneous) method of the renaissance would. Regardless of the composer's original intentions, he must have known that this particular piece would be performed with varying gusto and attention throughout the year depending on the occasion. Yes, it could be argued that the discant sections use the very Western concept of sequences; however, I believe it is the Eastern practice of centonization at play here. Keeping that...
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