Organum Improvisation:
The Vatican Organum Treatise

The Vatican Organum Treatise

Cristina Alís Raurich

The Organum is a polyphonic composition based on Plainchant with an elaborated melody placed over the original voice. As it is exemplified in surviving examples found in 13th-century manuscripts, the type composed and performed in Paris was truly exuberant. To really understand this type of piece it is crucial to look into its compositional practice and form of transmission. The Organum was strongly linked to an unwritten tradition and improvisation. Fortunately all this is explained with clarity in a treatise known as the Vatican Organum Treatise.

In this hands-on course we will utilize the Vatican Organum Treatise to study, step by step, how organum was improvised in Medieval Paris. Participants will study some the formulas presented in treatise and learn to use them to create an improvised organum on a Plainchant.