Léonin

Léonin

Léonin (also Leoninus, Leonius, Leo) (fl. 1150s — d. ? 1201) is the first known significant composer of polyphonic organum. He was probably French, probably lived and worked in Paris at the Notre Dame Cathedral and was the earliest member of the Notre Dame school of polyphony and the ars antiqua style who is known by name. The name Léonin is derived from "Leoninus," which is the Latin diminutive of the name Leo; therefore it is likely that Léonin's given French name was Léo.

All that is known about him comes from the writings of a later student at the cathedral known as Anonymous IV, an Englishman who left a treatise on theory and who mentions Léonin as the composer of the Magnus Liber, the "great book" of organum. Much of the Magnus Liber is devoted to clausulaemelismatic portions of Gregorian chant which were extracted into separate pieces where the original note values of the chant were greatly slowed down and a fast-moving upper part is superimposed. Léonin might have been the first composer to use the rhythmic modes, and maybe he invented a notation for them. According to W.G. Waite, writing in 1954: "It was Léonin's incomparable achievement to introduce a rational system of rhythm into polyphonic music for the first time, and, equally important, to create a method of notation expressive of this rhythm."

The Magnus Liber was intended for liturgical use. According to Anonymous IV, "Magister Leoninus (Léonin) was the finest composer of organum; he wrote the great book (Magnus Liber) for the gradual and antiphoner for the sacred service." All of the Magnus Liber is for two voices, although little is known about actual performance practice: the two voices were not necessarily soloists.

According to Anonymous IV, Léonin's work was improved and expanded by the later composer Pérotin. See also Medieval music.

The musicologist Craig Wright believes that Léonin may have been the same person as a contemporaneous Parisian poet, Leonius, after whom Leonine verse may have been named. This could make Léonin's use of meter even more significant.[1]

References

  • W.G.Waite: The Rhythm of Twelfth-Century Polyphony: its Theory and Practice. Yale Studies in the History of Music, New Haven, 1954.
  • Richard H. Hoppin, Medieval Music. New York, W.W. Norton & Co., 1978. (ISBN 0393090906)
  • Harold Gleason and Warren Becker, Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance (Music Literature Outlines Series I). Bloomington, Indiana. Frangipani Press, 1986. (ISBN 089917034X)
  • Articles Anonymous theoretical writings, Organum, Leonin, Perotin, The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie. 20 vol. London, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1980. (ISBN 1561591742)

External links


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  • Leonin — Léonin (* um 1150; † um 1210, auch Leoninus) war Magister an der Klosterkirche und Kathedrale zu Notre Dame in Paris und einer der wichtigsten Vertreter der Notre Dame Schule. Léonin war Wegbereiter der Mehrstimmigkeit. Seine zweistimmige Musik… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Léonin — (en latin Leoninus, né vers 1150 mort vers 1210) est un maître de musique de la cathédrale Notre Dame de Paris et de l « école de Notre Dame » à laquelle il suit un certain maître Albert dont on ne connaît que le nom, et précède Pérotin …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Léonin — (* um 1150; † um 1210, auch Leoninus) war Magister an der Klosterkirche und Kathedrale zu Notre Dame in Paris und einer der wichtigsten Vertreter der Notre Dame Schule. Léonin war Wegbereiter der Mehrstimmigkeit. Seine zweistimmige Musik hat als… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Léonin — Leonín o Magister Leoninus, en francés Léonin (1135 1201), es, junto con Perotín, el primer compositor conocido de órganum polifónico. Un monje anónimo inglés (conocido actualmente por el nombre de Anonymous IV ) escribió un siglo después de su… …   Wikipedia Español

  • léonin — léonin, ine 1. (lé o nin, ni n ) adj. Propre au lion.    Fig. Société léonine, société où tous les avantages sont pour un ou pour quelques uns des associés, au détriment des autres ; locution tirée de la fable où le lion, étant en association… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • leonin — Leonin, [leo]nine. Qui appartient au lion, qui est propre du lion. Il n a guere d usage qu en cette phrase, Societé leonine, qui veut dire, Societé inegale, où le plus fort tire tout l avantage de son costé. On appelle, Vers leonins, Certains… …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • léonin — 1. léonin, ine [ leɔnɛ̃, in ] adj. • 1160; lat. leoninus 1 ♦ Qui appartient au lion. « En trois mois, la colonie léonine fut entièrement décimée » (Hampaté Bâ). Qui évoque le lion. Mirabeau : « Son immense chevelure, sa tête léonine » (Michelet) …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • leonin — LEONÍN2, Ă, leonini, e, adj. (În sintagma) Versuri leonine = versuri ale căror emistihuri rimează. Rimă leonină = rimă în care două sau trei silabe sunt asemănătoare. [pr.: le o ] – Din fr. léonin. Trimis de RACAI, 13.09.2007. Sursa: DEX 98 … …   Dicționar Român

  • LÉONIN — INE. adj. Qui appartient au lion, qui est propre au lion. Il est principalement usité dans cette locution, Société léonine, Société où tous les avantages sont pour un ou pour quelques uns des associés, au détriment des autres. On dit, dans le… …   Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise, 7eme edition (1835)

  • léonin — (леонин, леонинский стих | léonin) Стих, два члена которого рифмуются (леонинская рифма – rime léonine); считают, что название дано в честь Леона, каноника из Сен Виктора, который ввел в моду этот тип стиха …   Пятиязычный словарь лингвистических терминов

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