Odo of Clugny

879-942

Old French musician; born in the Province of Maine, and educated at the Court of Foulques, Count of Anjou, or at that of William, Duke of Aquitaine. After taking Holy Orders he became canon and chapel-singer at St. Martin's in Tours, and later studied music under Remi d'Auxerre at Paris. He returned to Tours, and in the capacity of archicantor composed three hymns and twelve antiphones to St. Martin. In 909 he went to Baume monastery, where he was choirmaster, and probably wrote the Dialogus de musica. This book, in the form of a dialogue between master and pupij, is an important work on the monochord, and gives rules for antiphonal singing and the construction of plainsong. In it first appears the system of modern letter notation of the minor series. The authorship of this work, however, is much disputed, it being attributed by some to Guido, and by others is thought to be the same as the Enchiridion or Musica Enchiriadis, supposed to be the work of Hucbald. In 927 Odo became abbot of Clugny (now spelled Cluny), where he died in 942. Dialogus de Musica was printed by Gerbert in his Scriptores, vol. I. Another work, Toniarum, attributed to Odo, appeared in the second volume of Scriptores, printed by Coussemaker, and in manuscript at St. Die.