PLAIDY, Louis, born Nov. 28, 1810, at Wermsdorf, in Saxony, learnt the pianoforte from Agthe, and the violin from Haase, of Dresden. He was first known as a violinist in the Dresden concerts, but afterwards turned his attention especially to the pianoforte, and was so successful as to attract the notice of Mendelssohn, who in 1843 induced him to take the post of pianoforte teacher in the Leipzig Conservatorium. There he attained a great and deserved reputation. His class was always thronged, and his instruction eagerly sought by pupils from all parts of the world. This popularity arose from his remarkable gift (for it was a gift) of imparting technical power. Were a pupil ever so deficient in execution, under Plaidy's care his faults would disappear, his fingers grow strong, his touch become smooth, singing, and equal, and slovenliness be replaced by neatness. He devoted his life to technical teaching, and brought all his powers and experience to bear upon his celebrated work 'Technische Studien,' which is now a standard textbook in every music school. Great attention to every detail, unwearying patience, and a genuine enthusiasm for the mechanical part of pianoforte-playing were his most striking characteristics. He was a man of a most simple and kindly nature, and took a warm interest in his pupils. He died at Grimma, March 3, 1874.
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PLAIN SONG (Lat. Cantus planus, Cantus Gregorianus; Ital. Canto piano, Canto fermo, Canto Gregoriano; Fr. Plain Chant, Chant Grigorien; Gregorian Chant, Gregorian Music, Plain Chant). A solemn style of unisonous Music, which is believed to have been sung in the Christian Church since its first foundation.
The origin of Plain Song—the only kind of Church Music the use of which has ever been formally prescribed by Ecclesiastical authority—has given rise to much discussion and many diverse theories.[1] On one point, however, all authorities are agreed, viz. that it exhibits peculiarities which can be detected in no other kind of Music whatever; peculiarities so marked, that they can scarcely fail to attract the attention of the most superficial hearer, and so constant, that we shall find no difficulty in tracing them through every successive stage of development through which the system has passed, from the beginning of the Christian Æra to the present time.
Turning, then, to the history of this development, we find that, for nearly four hundred years after its introduction into the Services of the Church, Plain Song was transmitted from age to age by oral tradition only. After the Conversion of Constantino, when Christianity became the established Religion of the Empire, and the Church was no longer compelled to worship in the Catacombs, Schools of Singing were established, for preserving the old traditions, and ensuring an uniform method of singing. A Schola Cantorum of this description was founded at Rome, early in the 4th century, by S. Sylvester, and much good work resulted from the establishment of this and similar institutions in other places. Boys[2] were admitted into them at a very early age, and instructed in all that it was necessary for a devout Chorister to know, under the supervision of a 'Primicerius,' and 'Secundicerius,' of high rank, and well-known erudition; and by this means the primitive Melodies were passed on from mouth to mouth with as little danger as might be of unauthorised corruption. But oral tradition is at best but an uncertain guide; and in process of time the necessity for some safer method of transmission began to excite serious attention. The first attempt to reduce the traditional Melodies to a definite system was made towards the close of the 4th century, by S. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan (ob. 397), who, taking the praxis of the Eastern Church as his model, promulgated a series of regulations which enabled his Clergy to sing the Psalms, Canticles and Hymns, of the Divine Office, with a far greater amount of precision and purity than had hitherto been attainable. It is difficult, now, to determine the exact nature of the work effected by this learned Bishop, though it seems tolerably certain that we are indebted to him for a definite elucidation of the four Authentic Modes, in which alone all the most antient Melodies are written.[3] [See Modes, The Ecclesiastical.] He is also credited with having first introduced into the Western Church the custom of Antiphonal Singing, in which the Psalms are divided, Verse by Verse, between two alternate Choirs, in contradistinction to the Responsorial method, till then prevalent in Italy, wherein the entire Choir responded to the Voice of a single Chorister. Another account, however, attributes its introduction to S. Hilarius, as an imitation of the usage of the Eastern Church, at Poictiers, from whence—and not from Milan—S. Cœlestin is said to have imported it to Rome.
The next great attempt to arrange in systematic order the rich treasury of Plain Song Melodies bequeathed to the Church by tradition, was made, some two hundred years after the death of S. Ambrose, by S. Gregory the Great. The work undertaken by this celebrated reformer was far more exhaustive than that wrought by his predecessor. During the two centuries which had elapsed since the introduction of the Ambrosian Chaunt at Milan, innumerable Hymns had been composed, and innumerable Melodies added to the already lengthy catalogue. All these S. Gregory collected, and carefully revised, adding to them no small number of his own compositions, and forming them into a volume sufficiently comprehensive to suffice for
- ↑ Consult, for the different views:—(1) P. Martini, 'Storia della Musica.' Tom. i. pp. 350, et seq.; Gerbert, 'De Cantu et Mus. Sacr.'; Coussemaker, 'Memoire sur Hucbald,' pp. 5–7; Père Lambillotte, 'Esthétique theor. et prat. du Chant Gregorien,' p. 14; Jakob, 'Die Kunst im Dienste der Kirche.' p. 193, etc. etc. (2) Menestrier, 'Traité des Representations en Musique, anciennes et modernes.' (3) Rousseau. 'Ce Chant, tel qu'il subsiste encore aujourd'hui, est un reste bleu défiguré, mais bien précieux, de l'ancienne Musique Grecque.' (Dict, de Mus., art. Plain-Chant.) Consult also Mersennus, 'Harmon. universelle.' (4) 'Ambros, Geschichte der Musik.' ii. 11. (5) Forkel. 'Allgemeine Geschichte der Musik.' Tom. ii. p. 91. See also Kiesewetter. 'Geschichte der Europ.-abendländischen Musik,' Introd. p. 2.
- ↑ Mostly orphans whence the Schools were called 'Orphanotropia.' (Anastasius Bibliothecarius, in vit. Sergii II. Pontif.)
- ↑ Consult, on this subject, a tract by the R. P. Cam. Perego, entitled 'La regola del Canto Fermo Ambrosiano.' (Milano, 1022.)
