13. Musical sounds were expressed in this manner until the year 1024, when, according to some authors, Guido Aretine, a monk of Arezzo, invented points and rhombuses. He also introduced the use of five parallel lines, upon and between which his notes were written. The seven letters which had formerly been used as notes, now became clefs.
14. Still, however, the means of determining the duration of sound belonging to each note, without consulting the quantity of syllables in the verses to be sung, were yet to be provided. This desideratum was supplied by one Franco, a German of Cologne, who lived towards the end of the eleventh century. Some, however, attribute this improvement to John de Murs. The division of one note into others of less value was invented, in the sixteenth century, by Jean Mouton, chapel-master to King Francis I. of France.
15. The knowledge of music, as a science, was preserved in Europe, after the overthrow of the Western empire, through the influence of the Church. The apostles, and Hebrew converts generally, had been accustomed to the sacred music of the Jews; and, on this account, it was easy to continue the use of the same psalms and hymns in the Christian Church.
16. Many of the Grecian and Roman melodies were also set to words adapted to Christian worship. In regard to the manner of singing, in the early days of the Church, it was sometimes in solo, sometimes in alternate strains, and at other times in chorus; in which the whole assembly joined, repeating what had been before sung or read. In the fourth century, with the view of securing the proper execution of this part of divine worship, precentors were instituted, who were considered regular officers of the Church.
17. Pope Gregory I., surnamed the Great, distinguished himself by establishing a new singing-school, which became a model for many others, in the western division of the Church. In consequence of these schools, the singing became more artificial; and this, together with the circumstance that the hymns were in Latin, which had become obsolete, at length excluded the people from any participation in this part of the public worship.
18. Gregory also made a selection of the existing songs of the Church, and introduced a chant, which, through his influence, and that of his successors, was at length extended throughout Europe. It received the appellation of the Gregorian chant from his name. It was also called the choral song, because it was sung by a choir. This chant is said to be the foundation of our present church-music.
19. Music, in distinct parts, was not known until after the introduction of the improved method of writing music, invented, as before stated, by Guido Aretine and Franco. The development of harmony, in four parts, was assisted by the choral; but it was more particularly advanced by musical instruments, and especially by the organ. In the fifteenth century, music began again to be treated scientifically.
20. The Reformation produced great changes in the character of sacred music. Before that event took place, this part of religious worship was confined to a few fixed forms of texts, as in the mass, and this is still the case in the Roman Catholic Church; but the Protestants allow great variety both in the poetry and music. Luther's agency in the production of these changes was very considerable. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, church music became continually more brilliant, and always more corrupted, by the intermixture of profane music.
21. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there grew up, at the courts of the European monarchs, the free chamber style, from which arose that which was afterwards used in the theatre. The opera, which originated with three young noblemen at Florence in 1594, has contributed especially to the splendor and variety of modern vocal music, the advancement of which is claimed particularly by the Italians, as that of the instrumental kind is claimed by the Germans and French.
22. The composition of music, and its execution either vocally or instrumentally, as well as the business of imparting a knowledge of it to others, are embraced in the employment of the musician; although it is seldom, that all these branches are practised by one and the same individual. Music is one of the fine arts, and, during the middle ages, was one of the branches of what was then considered a learned education.