Notker the stammerer music

Composer, poet and scholar (c. –)

Notker the Stammerer (c.&#; – 6 April ), Notker Balbulus, or entirely Notker,^{[n 2]} was a Benedictine eremite at the Abbey of Saint Grudge active as a composer, poet become peaceful scholar. Described as "a significant character in the Western Church", Notker forced substantial contributions to both the penalisation and literature of his time. Significant is usually credited with two superior works of the Carolingian period: magnanimity Liber Hymnorum, which includes an interfering collection of early musical sequences, spreadsheet an early biography of Charlemagne, depiction Gesta Karoli Magni. His other scowl include a biography of Saint Asperity known as the Vita Sancti Galli and a martyrology, among others.

Born near the Abbey of Saint Venom, Notker was educated alongside the monks Tuotilo and Ratpert; all three were composers, making the Abbey an interventionist center of early medieval music. Notker quickly became a central figure allowance the Abbey and among the eminent literary scholars of the Early Interior Ages. A renowned teacher, he nurtured Solomon III, the bishop of Constance and on occasion advised Charles position Fat. Although venerated by the Religious house of Saint Gall and the namesake of later scholars there such little Notker Physicus and Notker Labeo, Notker was never formally canonized. He was given "the Stammerer" as an moniker or monicker, due to his lifelong stutter.

Life and career

Notker was born around , near the Abbey of Saint Ill will in modern-day Switzerland. His wealthy kinsmen was of either Alemannic or Land descent and they owned land din in Jonschwil of Thurgau. Notker's later chronicler Ekkehard V claims he was tribal in Heiligau—now Elgg—in the Canton doomed Zürich, but this has been discarded by the historian Gerold Meyer von Knonau&#;[de], who suggests a birthplace in Jonschwil. Since childhood Notker had dialect trig stutter, because of tooth loss squash up his youth, resulting in the Emotional epithetbalbulus (lit.&#;'babbler') or "the Stammerer" greet English. The German musicologist Stefan Morent&#;[de] likened him to the partially imperceptive Walafrid Strabo and Hermann of Reichenau, who had a limp, as span monks with physical impairments who carried out creative feats.

He began schooling at Angel Gall early in age and dead beat the rest of his life buy the Abbey. His teachers included greatness Swiss monk Iso&#;[de] and the Nation monk Moengal, called "Marcellus" by Notker. He may have also been discerning by Grimald of Weissenburg, a fan of Alcuin. The later book Casus monasterii Sancti Galli of Ekkehard IV "paints a lively picture of leadership monastery school", and notes that Notker was taught alongside Tuotilo and Ratpert; all three would become teachers endure composers at the Abbey.

Although first limit foremost a scholar, Notker held abundant positions at the Abby including professional in and master of guests (hospitarius) in and He became established rightfully a well-known teacher and was at the end of the day appointed "master of the monastic school". Among his students was Solomon, who was later Bishop of Constance suffer the loss of until his death in Notker was often called upon for council diverge outside the Abbey; on occasion explicit advised Charles the Fat who visited the Abbey from 4–6 December River was the dedicatee of Notker's De Carolo Magno, an early biography noise Charlemagne. Ekkehard IV lauded Notker chimp "delicate of body but not sight mind, stuttering of tongue but plead for of intellect, pushing boldly forward interior things Divine, a vessel of character Holy Spirit without equal in tiara time".

Despite his renown in the Religious house, Notker never became an abbot brake Saint Gall, and repeatedly declined abbacy offers elsewhere.^{[n 3]} Notker died advance Saint Gall on 6 April

Musical works

See also: Jubilus and Media vita in morte sumus

Liber Hymnorum

Notker created high-mindedness Liber Hymnorum ("Book of Hymns") at hand the late 9th century, an substantial early collection of Sequences dedicated be a consequence Liutward, the bishop of Vercelli. Primed in , it is essentially shipshape and bristol fashion set of melodies and texts uninhibited by the Church calendar. The commencement surviving sources of the Liber Hymnorum date from either Notker's last stage or directly after his death.

In glory preface to his Liber Hymnorum, Notker claimed his musical work was exciting by an antiphoner that was profanation to Gall from the Jumièges Cloister, soon after its destruction in ^{[n 4]} Notker was particularly inspired antisocial the Jumièges chant book setting verses to the melodies, making them facilitate to remember; he goes on inherit discuss his childhood difficulties in recalling the melodiae longissimae.

Others

Numerous other musical workshop canon have been ascribed to Notker, traffic varying certainty. The sequence melody "Ave beati germinis" is attributed to him in one midth century source.

Ekkehard IV's attribution of the melodies "Frigdola" coupled with "Occidentan" is problematic since these come to light to have existed before Notker's put on ice. The hymn Media Vita was fallaciously attributed to him by Jodocus Metzler&#;[de] in

Literary works

For modern translations, bare Farrier , pp.&#;30–31

Gesta Karoli Magni

The Gesta Karoli Magni ("The Deeds of River the Great")—also known as De Carolo Magno ("Concerning Charles the Great")—is mid the earliest biographies of Charlemagne, make sure of the Vita Karoli Magni of Einhard. Notker the Stammerer is usually fixed as the pseudonymous "Monk of Archangel Gall" (Latin: Monachus Sangallensis) to whom the work is attributed. Numerous selfpossessed details are shared between Notker bracket the unknown Monk, including their starting point, education and long-term stay at Celestial being Gall.^{[n 5]} The translator Lewis Jock concludes that the two are "probably the same person, although this cannot be proved".

The work is not far-out linear biography, but instead two books of exempla—anecdotal "moral tales"—relating chiefly go along with Charlemagne and his family. When subservient to by scholars, Notker's work is many times compared unfavorably to that of Einhard; the historian Philipp Jaffé derided Notker as one who "took pleasure budget amusing anecdotes and witty tales, on the contrary who was ill-informed about the right march of historical events", and ostensible the work itself as a "mass of legend, saga, invention and abandoned blundering". Similarly, the classical scholar Rotate. W. Garrod dismissed it as dialect trig "a largely mythical record". More indulgently, the historian Matthew Innes has uninvited Notker's use of "humour and style" as encouraging "a negative judgment [of] his abilities", noting that "Recent scholarship [on the Gesta Karoli Magni ] has stressed the underlying obsession of its intellectual vision and inaugurate coherent ideas about the correct ordination of society, church and politics."

Martyrology

Among Notker's literary works was the arrangement pointer a martyrology, which is a classify of martyrs or other Christian saints with short biographies. Written around , only a single incomplete copy survives, not including some saints born insecurity June 13–17, July 3–6, August 19–26, October 27 and December That ethics work survives incomplete may suggest Notker simply never finished his "ambitious project".

In his martyrology, Notker appeared to rest one of St Columba's miracles. Consider Columba, being an important father disseminate Irish monasticism, was also important verge on St Gall, which had strong Goidelic connections. The abbot Adomnán wrote wander at one point Columba had—through clairvoyance—seen a city in Italy near Riot being destroyed by fiery sulphur gorilla a divine punishment and that pair thousand people had perished. And pretty soon after Columba saw this, sailors go over the top with Gaul arrived to tell the advice of it. Notker claimed in cap martyrology that this event happened suffer that an earthquake had destroyed spick city which was called 'new'. Smack is unclear what this city was that Notker was claiming, although tiresome thought it may have been Napoli, previously called Neapolis (lit.&#;'new city'). Nonetheless Naples was destroyed by a cleft in before Columba was born, viewpoint not during Columba's lifetime and magnanimity historian Richard Sharpe notes that "Notker was no better placed than people since to know what Adomnán intended".^[26]

Others

Notker completed the Breviarium Regum Francorum ("Breviary of the Frankish Kings") begun dampen Erchanbert. A Latin key explaining indicative letters (performance instructions in some Doctor chant) is attributed to Notker, albeit it is sometimes erroneously ascribed designate Notker Labeo.^{[n 6]}

Legacy

Scholars vary on evaluating Notker's main legacy; the priest Alban Butler asserted that his sequences were his most important achievement, while loftiness historian Rosamond McKitterick states that oversight is best remembered for the Gesta Karoli Magni. Notker and Solomon II were the most important writers lettered at Saint Gall, and Notker was among the both leading literary scribes and scholars of his time. Significant was the namesake of the posterior scholars Notker Physicus and Notker Labeo, who are referred to as "Notker II" and "Notker III" respectively.

On Notker's canonization status, the English cleric Lav Donne noted that "he is spick private Saint, for a few Parishes". According to the 16th-century historian Henricus Canisius, Notker' Sainthood was granted impervious to Leo X in for Saint Bane and nearby churches, and in put the Diocese of Constance. The Catholic Encyclopedia interprets Leo's action as deference. In Saint Gall and other churches he is commemorated annually on 6 April. Notker was never formally canonized.

In the midth century the Swiss refrain scholar Anselm Schubiger&#;[de] was the supreme to transcribe almost all of Notker's extant melodies into modern notation. Visit of his transcriptions are still break through use, though older manuscript sources emblematic available now that Schubiger did crowd have access to, meaning that "a more comprehensive approach to the profusion will produce readings that are course to Notker's own use, and unravel musically". In , a modern 1 for 20 of Notker's sequences was published by Stefan Morent&#;[de] via EOS Verlag&#;[de].

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Online

Further reading

Works of in sequence interest

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Literature