This investigation traces the history and development of music theory in Mexico from the date of the first Mexican treatise available (1776) to the early second half of the nineteenth century (1866). This period of ninety years represents an era of special importance in the development of music theory in Mexico. It was during this time that the old modal system was finally abandoned in favor of the new tonal system and that Mexican authors began to pen music treatises which could be favorably compared with the imported European treatises which were the only authoritative source of instruction for serious musicians in Mexico.

This thesis offers a technically informed examination of Plato's pervasive, though not innocent, use of musical theory, practice and musical concepts more generally within the ambitious ethical project outlined in many of his dialogues: fostering the ‘excellence' of the soul. Starting from Republic 3, Chapter 1 will focus specifically on music stricto sensu in order to assess Plato's interpretation of the basic ‘building blocks' of musical performances, creating a core repertoire of musical concepts that will prepare the way to analyse Plato's use of musical terms or categories in areas that, at first sight, do not appear to be immediately connected to this art, such as politics, ethics and psychology. Chapter 2 examines a selection of passages from Laws 2 concerning the concept of musical beauty and its role in ethical education, demonstrating how Plato's definition is far from being moralistic and, instead, pays close attention to the technical performative aspects of dramatic musical representations. Chapter 3 looks first at the harmonic characterisation of the two central virtues of the ideal city, sophrosyne and dikaiosyne, showing how their musical depictions are not purely metaphoric: on the contrary, Plato exploited their cultural implications to emphasise the characteristics and the functions of these virtues in the ideal constitution. The second half of Chapter 3 analyses the Platonic portrayal of musical παρανομία, studying both its educational and psychological repercussions in the dialogue and in relations to contemporary Athenian musical practices. Chapter 4 looks at how different types of music may be used to create an inner harmonic order of passions in the soul in different contexts: the musical-mimetic education outlined in the Republic, the musical enhancement of the psychological energies in the members of the Chorus of Dionysus in the Laws, and finally the role of the aulos in the Symposium.

Doctorat en philosophie et lettres / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Ugolino (c. 1380-1457) wrote one of the largest treatises on music theory in the first half of the fifteenth century. This work, the "Declaratio musicae disciplinae," is comprised of five books that cover everything a musician of the era would need to know, from plainchant to harmonic proportions, from musica practica to musica speculativa. However, the treatise has received contradictory interpretations by modern scholars, some viewing it as mainly practical, others as mainly theoretical. I argue that in Book 2, which deals with counterpoint, Ugolino crystallizes the relationship between theory and practice, while offering distinctive contrapuntal practices. Ugolino presents a unique view music's place in the structure of knowledge, one which is highly dependent on Aristotelian philosophy. He posits that music is a science and that it is a branch not of mathematics, as it had traditionally been categorized, but of natural philosophy. This viewpoint shapes the entire treatise and is evident in the book on counterpoint. There, he presents an Italian tradition of teaching counterpoint known as the "regola del grado." Ugolino is the first author to present this tradition entirely in Latin. In addition, he offers an unusual description of musica ficta. In it, he presents a diagram, the "duplex manus," that mixes together both musica recta and musica ficta. Ugolino's work suggests that theory and practice, although arranged hierarchically, need not be in conflict, and that a treatise such as his can be both eminently practical and highly theoretical.

Etude des relations entre musique et astrologie par (1) un panorama européen de la présence de l’astrologie dans les traités de théorie musicale de la fin du 15ème siècle au début du 18ème siècle (Burzio, Gaffurio, Finck, Zarlino, Mersenne et l’horoscope du parfait musicien, Bartolus, Werckmeister) et dans les « Accademie » italiennes (l’Academia Ortolana d’Antonfrancesco Doni et l’Academia dei Gelati de Bologne), (2) l’étude des écrits astrologiques manuscrits et édités de compositeurs Italiens du 17ème siècle (Zacconi, Osio, P. F. Valentini) et (3) le décodage de l’astrologie dans un corpus de partitions musicales (analyse de Milleville, « Madrigali », 1617 ;Strozzi, « Elementorum », 1683 ;des sonates « Zodiacus Musicus »…). Lue en parallèle avec les énigmes musicales et « canoni enigmatici » italiens du 17ème siècle étudiés sous l’angle de l’expression de l’hermétisme et de l’ésotérisme musical. Les fonctions sociales, sacrées et symboliques de cette forme musicale ainsi que des caractéristiques esthétiques et herméneutiques propres au 17ème siècle se dégagent de l’analyse des sources (analyses détaillées des œuvres de Romano Micheli, du manuscrit de canons de P. F. Valentini et du manuscrit des « Hiéroglyphes musicaux » de Zacconi ;présentation des manuscrits de canons énigmes conservés au Museo Civico Musicale de Bologne (Nanino, Agostini, Costanzo Porta, Milanta, Martini, Mattei) et analyse des énigmes dans les messes romaines, Anerio, Soriano, Agostini…). Plus de 80 sources manuscrites (Venise, Pesaro, Milan, Bologne, Rome, Vatican, Londres) et de 120 sources anciennes (Agrippa, Bruno, Cardano, Ficino, Kircher ;Banchieri, Cerreto, Liberati, Rodio, Steffani…), 44 reproductions hors texte. / Doctorat en philosophie et lettres, Orientation histoire de l'art et archéologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished