AURELIAN OF RÉÔME
(fl. late 9th c.). The Musica disciplina, a collection of theoretical texts drawn from a wide
variety of disparate sources, is attributed to one Aurelian of Réôme. The manuscript
tradition and the compiler’s relation to the Benedictine house of Saint-Jean de Réôme
suggest the treatise originated in the late 9th century, probably in Burgundy.
The compilation is one of the earliest collections of music theory treating medieval
liturgical practice. It begins (Chapters 2–7) with an extended essay on music as a liberal
art, basically a collection of material drawn from Boethius and glosses on De institutione
musica, from Cassiodorus, and from Isidore. A chapter on the modes follows, which,
while a curious compilation of sources, is an important witness to modal terminology of
the Carolingian era. The core of the collection (Chapters 8–18) presents a primitive
theoretical tonary—a discussion of each mode, or “tone”—citing over a hundred
examples of liturgical melodies in all genres. A chapter on the psalm tones follows,
which in the earliest manuscripts includes musical notation in paleo-Frankish neumes, the
only place any form of musical notation is found. The treatise concludes (Chapter 20)
with an essay concerning genres of liturgical melodies and an epilogue.
The centonate nature of the treatise itself is reflected in the manuscript tradition, for
only three sources contain the work as a whole, while over twenty codices contain pieces
from the whole. It is by no means clear if these “pieces” are excerpted from Musica
disciplina or if they have an independent textual history. Aurelian’s compilation is
nevertheless a major accomplishment in the history of medieval music theory, for
through this collection one can establish the nature of texts that were being read and
circulated in the 9th century.
Calvin M.Bower
[See also: MUSIC THEORY; MUSICAL NOTATION (NEUMATIC)]
Aurelian of Réôme. Musica disciplina, ed. Lawrence Gushee. N.p.: American Institute of
Musicology, 1975.
——. The Discipline of Music (Musica Disciplina), trans. Joseph Ponte. Colorado Springs:
Colorado College Music Press, 1968.
Bernhard, Michael. “Textkritisches zu Aurelianus Reomensis.” Musica disciplina 40(1986):49–61.
——. “Das musikalische Fachschriftum im lateinischen Mittelalter.” In Geschichte der
Musiktheorie. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, 1990, Vol. 3: Rezeption des
antiken Fachs im Mittelalter, ed. Frieder Zaminer, pp. 37–103.
AUSTRASIA
. Austrasia, “the eastern land,” was the northeastern region of the Frankish kingdom. It
stretched from near the Seine to the Rhine and included the important Meuse and Moselle
river valleys. In general, its population was more Germanic-speaking and Germanic in
culture than the other regions of the Frankish kingdom, and in fact it included most of the
Franks themselves. It was especially the region inhabited by the Ripuarian, or Rhineland,
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