cantus, a song. Inexact synonym, Organum). A term, applied, by Guido d'Arezzo, in his Micrologus, to a form of composition in which a second Part, called Organum, was added below a given Cantus firmus. Writers, of somewhat later date, while generally describing Diaphonia under its Latinized name, Discantus, have treated that word as the exact synonym of Organum. Guido, however, clearly restricts the term, Organum, to the Part added below the Cantus firmus; and not without good reason, since it is only to the union of the two Parts that the terms, Diaphonia, or Discantus, can be logically applied. In its oldest known form, the added Part moved in uninterrupted Fourths below the Cantus firmus. Guido disapproved of this, and recommended, as a more agreeable (mollis) method, that the Major Second, and the Major and Minor Third, should be used in alternation with the Fourth. When a third Part was added, by doubling the Organum in the Octave above, the form of composition was called Triphonia. Tetraphonia was produced by doubling both the Organum and the Cantus firmus, in the Octave above. Guido called the third Part, Organum duplicatum. In later times, it was called Triplum (= Treble), and the fourth Part, Quadruplum.
For Hucbald's treatment of Discantus and Organum, see vol. ii. p. 609, and vol. iii. p. 427.
DIBDIN, Charles. Correct statement as to his being the originator of 'table entertainments' by a reference to vol. iv. p. 51 a.
DICTIONARIES OF MUSIC. For amplification of first sentence, see Tinctoris, vol. iv. p. 128 a. P. 444 b, bottom line, add a reference to Brossard, in Appendix. P. 446 a, l. 1, add that the supplement to Fétis was published in 1878 by M. Arthur Pougin, in 2 vols. Add to second paragraph that Mendel's Lexicon has been completed in 11 vols., together with a supplementary volume edited by Dr. August Reissmann, in 1883. Mention should also be made of Dr. Hugo Riemann's handy 'Musik-Lexicon' published in Leipzig in 1882 (second edition, 1887). P. 446 b, l. 13, add that the musical articles in the Encyc. Brit, have been more recently written by Mr. W. S. Rockstro.
DIES IRÆ (Prosa de Mortuis. Prosa de Die Judicii. Sequentia in Commemoratione Defunctorum. Ώ όργης έκείν ημερα). The Sequence, or Prose, appointed, in the Roman Missal, to be sung, between the Epistle and Gospel—that is to say, immediately after the Gradual and Tractus—in Masses for the Dead.
The truth of the tradition which ascribes the Poetry to Thomas de Celano, the friend, disciple, and biographer, of S. Francis of Assisi, seems to be established, beyond all controversy. F. Thomas was admitted to the Order of the Friars Minor soon after its formation; enjoyed the privilege of the closest intimacy with its saintly Founder; and is proved, by clear internal evidence, to have written his 'Vita Sancti Francisci' between Oct. 4, 1226, on which day the death of the Saint took place, and May 25, 1230—the date of the translation of his Relics. This well-established fact materially strengthens the tradition that the 'Dies iræ' was written not very many years after the beginning of the 13th century; and effectually disposes of the date given by some modern Hymnologists, who, though attributing the Sequence to Thomas de Celano, assert that it was composed circa 1150. F. Bartholomoeus Pisanus (ob. 1401) says that it was written by Frater Thomas, who came from Celanum; and that it was sung in Masses for the Dead. But, many years seem to have elapsed before its use became general. It is very rarely found, in early MS. Missals, either in England, France, or Germany; and is wanting in many dating as late as the close of the 15th century, or the beginning of the 16th. It is doubtful, indeed, whether its use was recognized in all countries, until its insertion in the Missale Romanum rendered it a matter of obligation.
As an example of the grandest form of mediæval Latin Poetry—the rhymed prose[1] which here attains its highest point of perfection—the 'Dies iræ' stands unrivalled. Not even the 'Stabat Mater' of Jacobus de Benedictis, written nearly a century later, can be fairly said to equal it. For, in that, the verses are pervaded, throughout, by one unchanging sentiment of overwhelming sorrow; whereas, in the 'Dies iræ,' wrath, terror, hope, devotion, are each, in turn, used as a natural preparation for the concluding prayer for 'Eternal rest.' The tenderness of expression which has rendered some of its stanzas so deservedly famous, is contrasted, in other verses, with a power of diction, which, whether clothed in epic or dramatic form, is forcible enough to invest its awful subject with an all-absorbing interest, a terrible reality, which the hearer finds it impossible to resist. A great variety of unfamiliar 'readings' is to be found in early copies. The version believed to be the oldest is that known as the Marmor Mantuanum, in which, among other variations from the version contained in the Roman Missal, four stanzas, each consisting of three rhymed verses, precede the authorized text.
- ↑ See vol. iii. p. 465 b.
