How do I adequately present a complex issue?
The Magnus liber organi (Great Book of Organum) gives a simple answer to this – sometimes difficult – question: in a dress. Right on the first page it shows us Musica – crowned and in elegant robes. This personification of music theory appears three times, proving to be the embodiment of Boethius’ teachings: in order to grasp music in its perfection, he divided it into three types.
Split personality?
Turn one into three!
The ideas of Boethius, who lived around 500, were well known in the western Middle Ages and thus found their way into this featured manuscript centuries later. The illumination with the three personifications can be viewed line by line from top to bottom: the top register is about musica mundana, the cosmic music of the spheres. Boethius describes how stars and planets cannot possibly move at their high speeds without making noise. However, their sounds are not perceptible to humans. The middle panels show the musica humana. Human music describes an inner harmony that connects the disembodied reason (in Boethius’ Latin: ratio) with the physical body in every person. The bottom line shows the musica instrumentalis. This sounding music is produced by instruments and is the only audible music. In this arrangement, each type of music stands on its own. This is emphasised by the strict, grid-like division of the image. However, the alternating colours dissolve this rigid division: Musica’s throne and clothing change colours, as does the background. Boethius’ idea that the three types can only describe music as a cosmic phenomenon when they come together is also visualised by the colours.
Musica mundana
Musica holds a white pointer in her right hand. It is used in every register and forms the connection between the adjacent image fields, i.e. the personification on the left and the scenic diagram on the right. The personifications here have no attributes, so the right-hand depiction makes it clear which type of music is meant: the cosmos can be seen next to the musica mundana.
Musica humana
Musica holds the pointer horizontally and looks in the direction of the figures clothed in beige and red. Their hairstyles can be assigned to different communities: the tonsure distinguishes the clergy, while the other two figures presumably represent laypeople. This constellation shows a layperson and a cleric looking at each other and having lively conversation.
Musica instrumentalis
The last personification holds the teaching pointer with her left hand. The right hand is more in focus, as it is raised in a warning gesture demanding attention. This gesture is directed at the figure playing music, who, based on the instruments depicted, we can assume is in a courtly music room and probably playing secular music. Secular music is to be viewed negatively in a religious context and must therefore be restrained – especially in a book with liturgical chants.
