Franco of Cologne (fl. mid to late 13th century; also Franco of Paris) was a German music theorist, possibly a composer, one of the most influential theorists of the Late Middle Ages, and was the first to propose an idea which was to transform musical notation permanently: that the duration of any note should be determined by its appearance on the page, and not from context alone. The result was Franconian notation, described most famously in his Ars cantus mensurabilis.
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👉 Franco of Cologne in the context of Mensural notation
Mensural notation is the musical notation system used for polyphonic European vocal music from the late 13th century until the early 17th century. The term "mensural" refers to the ability of this system to describe precisely measured rhythmic durations in terms of numerical proportions amongst note values. Its modern name is derived from the terminology of medieval theorists, who used terms like musica mensurata ("measured music") or cantus mensurabilis ("measurable song") to refer to the rhythmically defined polyphonic music of their age, as opposed to musica plana or musica choralis, i.e., Gregorian plainchant. Mensural notation was employed principally for compositions in the tradition of vocal polyphony, whereas plainchant retained its own, older system of neume notation throughout the period. Besides these, some solely instrumental music could be written in various forms of instrument-specific tablature notation.
Mensural notation grew out of an earlier, more limited method of notating rhythms in terms of fixed repetitive patterns, the so-called rhythmic modes, which were developed in France around 1200. An early form of mensural notation was first described and codified in the treatise Ars cantus mensurabilis ("The art of measured chant") by Franco of Cologne (c. 1280). A much expanded system allowing for greater rhythmic complexity was introduced in France with the stylistic movement of the Ars nova in the 14th century, while Italian 14th-century music developed its own, somewhat different variant. Around 1400, the French system was adopted across Europe, and became the standard form of notation of the Renaissance music of the 15th and 16th centuries. Over the course of the 17th century, mensural notation gradually evolved into modern measure (or bar) notation.
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Franco of Cologne in the context of List of medieval music theorists
Medieval music is the music of the Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. The first and longest era of Western classical music, medieval music saw the presence of various music theorists, such as Boethius, Hucbald, Guido of Arezzo, Johannes Cotto, Franco of Cologne and Philippe de Vitry.
View the full Wikipedia page for List of medieval music theoristsFranco of Cologne in the context of Anonymous IV
Anonymous IV is the designation given to the writer of an important treatise of medieval music theory. He was probably an English student working at Notre Dame de Paris, most likely in the 1270s or 1280s. Nothing is known about his life. His writings survive in two partial copies from Bury St Edmunds; one from the 13th century, and one from the 14th.
Along with Johannes de Garlandia and Franco of Cologne, whose work precedes his, Anonymous IV's writings are the main source for understanding the Notre Dame school of polyphony. He wrote about Léonin and Pérotin, thereby assigning names to two of the composers of the music of the Notre Dame school who otherwise would have been anonymous. Léonin and Pérotin are among the earliest European composers whose names are known. Although they probably died at least fifty years earlier, he described them as still famous and part of the living tradition.
View the full Wikipedia page for Anonymous IV