Leonin

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Leonin

Leonin was born in Paris, France in the year 1135 AD (Estrella, 2004). He had such a musical influence to the pioneers of our medieval time period even after his death in the year 1201 AD (Estrella, 2004). Leonin was even considered one of the greatest musical minds in the history of Western Music. He received his well earned education at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Eventually, he served as a canon (Estrella, 2004). He was a French composer as well as poet (Estrella, 2004). Though his significance came from his work with music, his poetry was also well recognized. Though very little is known about the life and details of Leonin, the impact he made in the music world has lasted for ages now. The only writings on Leonin from his earlier life time, came from a later student at the Cathedral known as Anonymous IV (Estrella, 2004). This person is supposed to be an Englishman who left a treatise on theory (Estrella, 2004). Anonymous IV mentions Leonin as the great composer of the Magnus liber (Estrella, 2004). One of Leonin’s greatest achievements was the creation of the Magnus liber organi (The Great Book of Organum).
The Great Book of Organum, is a cycle of two-part Graduals, Alleluias, and responsories for the entire church year (Grout, p 77). Unfortunately, the Magnus liber does not exist in its original form (Grout, p 78). . There are manuscripts preserved in libraries at Florence, Wolfenbuttel, Madrid, and elsewhere (Grout, p 78). There is no knowledge of exactly how much of the Magnus liber Leonin composed (Grout, p 79). . Organum is the earliest form of medieval polyphonic music (Estrella, 2004). Before any of the works of Leonin, there is no evidence of any type of comprehensive rhythmic system (Estrella, 2004). Leonin improved organum by adding rhythmic structure to the tenor (Grout, p 79). This rhythmic system is based on six different rhythmic patterns known as rhythmic modes (Estrella, 2004)....