• DOI:10.2307/2855230
• Corpus ID: 161832131

The Role of the Parisian Sequence in the Evolution of Notre-Dame Polyphony

@article{Fassler1987TheRO,
  title={The Role of the Parisian Sequence in the Evolution of Notre-Dame Polyphony},
  author={Margot E. Fassler},
  journal={Speculum},
  year={1987},
  volume={62},
  pages={345 - 374}
}

• M. Fassler
• Published 1 April 1987
• Art
• Speculum

In his discussion of rhythmic poetry the ninth-century theorist Aurelian of Reome said that "meter is system with measure (ratio cum modulatione), but rhythm is measure without system and is discerned through the number of syllables."' For Aurelian rhythm pertained to a particular type of Latin poetry, one which bore a certain similarity to metric poetry but did not scan by the system of metrics. In rhythmic poetry the number of syllables per line and the "judgment of the ear"2 determine the structure of the verse. This was poetry without a set of laws to govern it, the unlearned work of "vulgar" poets.3 During the eleventh century rhythmic poetry began to acquire a more elevated status. In his De rhythmicis Alberic of Monte Cassino (d. 1105) offered a set of rules for the writer of rhythmic verse and in so doing demonstrated that the rhythmic style had developed a learned tradition of its own.4 In Alberic's time the rhythmic style was becoming increasingly popular; by the middle of the twelfth century it had come to prevail in new texts written for liturgical celebration. Rhythmic Latin poetry underwent some changes as its