Gaudentius was a Greek
music theorist
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
in
Classical Antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
. Nothing is known of his life or background, or when he lived, except what can be inferred from his sole surviving work, (English: ''Harmonic Introduction''), a
treatise
A treatise is a formal and systematic written discourse on some subject, generally longer and treating it in greater depth than an essay, and more concerned with investigating or exposing the principles of the subject and its conclusions."Treat ...
.
Leonhard Schmitz
Leonhard Schmitz FRSE (1807 – May 1890) was a Prussian-born classical scholar and educational author, mainly active in the United Kingdom. He is sometimes referred to in the Anglicised version of his name Leonard Schmitz.
Biography
Schmitz wa ...
and
Karl von Jan say that he seems to have known the writings of
Aristoxenus
Aristoxenus of Tarentum ( el, Ἀριστόξενος ὁ Ταραντῖνος; born 375, fl. 335 BC) was a Greek Peripatetic philosopher, and a pupil of Aristotle. Most of his writings, which dealt with philosophy, ethics and music, have been ...
();
but Schmitz says, not those of
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
().
Hugo Riemann
Karl Wilhelm Julius Hugo Riemann (18 July 1849 – 10 July 1919) was a German musicologist and composer who was among the founders of modern musicology. The leading European music scholar of his time, he was active and influential as both a musi ...
says he may have been a younger contemporary of Ptolemy.
Cassiodorus
Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Roman statesman, renowned scholar of antiquity, and writer serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senator'' w ...
() praises the treatise, and mentions a contemporary Latin translation for use in schools by one Mutianus,
which has not survived.
The treatise was first printed in 1652 by
Marcus Meibomius Marcus Meibomius (c. 1630, Tönningen – 1710/1711, Utrecht) was a DanishOr possibly German, from Holstein. scholar. He is best known as a historian of music, as an antiquarian, and as the first librarian at the Denmark's Royal Library. He was ...
, together with a commentary and a Latin translation, in his ''Antiquae musicae auctores septem'' (English: ''Ancient Music by Seven Authors'').
References
Further reading
*
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External links
* A French translation of , with commentary.
Date of birth unknown
Place of birth unknown
Date of death unknown
Place of death unknown
Ancient Greek music theorists
{{musicologist-stub