THE ADIASTEMATIC NOTATION

The chironomic notation and then the neumonic one, at least until the end of the 10th century, is defined

adiastematic (= non-intervalling, that is, devoid of indications of intervals), that is, "in open field"
Why does it not use reference lines to indicate the heights of the sounds yet.

Adiastematic notation
Neumatic writing takes on different graphic characteristics in the numerous writing centers.
from different geographical areas, with a development that is not temporally linear.
 Among the most important diastematic neumatic notations, we remember the Sangallese, at the
writers' centers of the Monastery of St. Gallen (now abbey, in Switzerland) at the end of the 9th century, and the

held at the writers' centers of the monasteries of Metz and Laon (northeast of France) in the 10th
century.
 The neumes seem to derive graphically from the grammatical accents of Greek and Latin, that is
directly from chironomic notation: from the two acute (/) and grave (") accents would derive the
virga, which indicates a higher pitch sound, and the punctum, which indicates a lower pitch sound than the previous one.
by combining with each other, punctum virga form other neumes of two, three, or more sounds. These first
These are called neumi-accenti.
 These neume accents are capable of graphically recording the flow of singing in all the
its rhythmic and expressive aspects. Each neume can have a series of graphic variations that
allows for greater execution precision. For example, if the same neume takes on a more
angled with respect to its standard rounded shape, prescribes a more pronounced execution;
or, if the neums are accompanied by horizontal lines, called episemes, the sound or sounds from
these represented acquire an extension of duration compared to the one or those that are
deprived. Moreover, there are special neumes, such as the oriscuse ilquilisma, added to the basic neumes.
As for the melodic movement, they have the same meaning as the neumes already described,
but that add to them particular phraseological, expressive, or even ornamental meanings; they are
difficult neumes that demonstrate the enormous richness and rhythmic variety of the Gregorian repertoire and

therefore of its notation. In fact, this richness complicates the problem concerning its
graphic recording, due to the fact that Gregorian chant does not have measurable durations in an exact way
through arithmetic relations between the notes, as music will have starting from the late Middle Ages
until modern times, which will be measured: it cannot, therefore, be
tied up in a rhythmic flow regulated by periodic time scans. On the contrary, the
the rhythm of Gregorian chant closely follows that of the verbal text and adapts to it
progress1.

1
Despite the need for measurable durations, a consequence of the achievement of polyphony, the rhythmic element will have little development in the
music in the West, as associated by the Church with the body and, therefore, with sin, with the consequence that it will remain relegated, like audiotactility,
to the popular sphere of music (of which very little is known, due to a lack of written evidence) or filtered through a strict censorship of
choreographic movements, inseparably linked to the rhythm.
Thus, the distinction between low or folk dance, which is freer, and high dance, which is more composed and controlled, is firmly established in the courts.
during the first half of the 15th century and taught by the new professional figure of the master.
The poor development of the rhythmic element will lead, as a 'compensation', to an exaltation of the other elements of music, until the birth
of harmony and the conquest of tonality.
In 1439, a bull from Pope Eugene IV authorized the holding of certain choreographic events, as a testimony of a mitigated, albeit still
always quite cautious, the Church's attitude towards the art of dance.
Subsequently, with the discovery of the Americas (1492) and the end of the 'medieval millennium', from the Renaissance onwards, dance (however not
popularesca) will gradually conquer a greater space both in customs and at an institutional level.
However, only with the advent of syncopation and the off-beats of ragtime in the United States at the end of the 19th century and then with the spread
mainly of jazz, but also of other forms, all strongly rhythmic and polyrhythmic, of Afro-American music, the dance will be liberated, despite
of attempts at repression (consider that ragtime was even banned by municipal ordinance in some towns). This will lead to a rediscovery
of the psychophysical unity of the human being. And at the beginning of 'modern music'!