Jacques Viret (born 19 October 1943) is a contemporary French

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

of Swiss origin.

Life

Born in Lausanne, Viret is a pianist and

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

, graduated in classic literature from the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...

, habilitated for the teaching of

music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...

(Société suisse de pédagogie musicale), Jacques Viret perfected his studies in

musicology Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, ...

at the

Paris-Sorbonne University Paris-Sorbonne University (also known as Paris IV; ) was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, active from 1971 to 2017. It was the main inheritor of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Paris. In 2018, it m ...

, with Jacques Chailley who conducted his Ph.D. thesis on

gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek language, Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed main ...

(1981). Since 1972, Jacques Viret has been teaching musicology at the

university of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, as an assistant and then lecturer and professor, emeritus since 2009.

Gregorian chant and medieval music

The research and reflection of Jacques Viret refer essentially to the notion of tradition as defined by René Guénon in the line of the perennialism (or

Gnosis Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge ( γνῶσις, ''gnōsis'', f.). The term was used among various Hellenistic religions and philosophies in the Greco-Roman world. It is best known for its implication within Gnosticism, where ...

): Not as the preservation of a fixed legacy, more or less ancient, but as the manifestation, diversified according to cultures, epochs and disciplines, of a "sacred, universal and timeless truth", a fruitful source of inspiration and creativity, in perpetual becoming and renewal. For music,

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (; BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...

remains, in this respect, a permanent reference. The series of

harmonics In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'' of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the ''1st harm ...

thus appears, as an audible expression of numbers and proportions, as an image of the cosmic order. The universal creative principle is symbolized by the

fundamental frequency The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the ''fundamental'' (abbreviated as 0 or 1 ), is defined as the lowest frequency of a Periodic signal, periodic waveform. In music, the fundamental is the musical pitch (music), pitch of a n ...

in the har:monic order, by the tonic of the modes in the melodic order (all traditional music is of modal essence). In particular, the tonic ''sol'', "sun" in Latin, the central element of the

theological Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...

and

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

cryptogram A cryptogram is a type of puzzle that consists of a short piece of encrypted text. Generally the cipher used to encrypt the text is simple enough that the cryptogram can be solved by hand. Substitution ciphers where each letter is replaced by ...

that Jacques Viret discovered in 1978 in the notes of the range (''ut'', ''ré'', ''mi'', taken from the

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

to Saint

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

''Ut queant laxis'') and of which Jacques Chailley completed the explanation. The official

liturgical Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

chant of the Roman Catholic Church, the Gregorian chant is especially the expression par excellence of tradition for the music of the West. Jacques Viret studies it in this light. He highlights, upstream, the rooting of this corpus in the other musical traditions of the world, especially oriental (and, probably, the ancient

celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celts (modern), Celtic people of Northwestern Europe (the modern Celtic nations). It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and ...

; Downstream, its importance as a breeding ground for European music, both scholarly and - in part - folkloric. This truly traditional approach illuminates Latin liturgical chant in its true light and allows the rediscovering, as far as possible, of its authentic interpretation (cf

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...

) before the year 1000, which is very different from the style instituted in the Nineteenth by the Benedictines of the Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes. Nevertheless, it benefits from the careful study of neumes by Dom and his pupils ("Gregorian semiotics", musical

palaeography Palaeography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, UK) or paleography (American and British English spelling differences#ae and oe, US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic disciplin ...

). It is a comparativism tributary to

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

, insofar as it relates to each other the writings of the Middle Ages (noted manuscripts, treaties) and the traditions currently alive. This approach is also illustrated by the work of Hungarian musicologist Benjámin Rajeczky, as well as by the interpretations of Marcel Pérès. According to the same spirit, the series ''Diaphonia'', created by Jacques Viret in 2000 with the "À Cœur Joie" publishing house in Lyon, provides amateur choristers with a repertoire of medieval songs transcribed in modern

musical notation Musical notation is any system used to visually represent music. Systems of notation generally represent the elements of a piece of music that are considered important for its performance in the context of a given musical tradition. The proce ...

so as to restore all the finenesses of the original notations and add data which are not included therein and come from other sources.

An integral science of music

The work of Jacques Viret is based on a rigorous investigation from sources, as required by scientific musicology. However, they broaden the historicist

positivism Positivism is a philosophical school that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positivemeaning '' a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. Gerber, ''Soci ...

and music analysis, where it is generally confined to two correlated movements: On the one hand, the musical philology of Jacques Chailley, which elucidates the general laws of musical languages and their perception; On the other hand, the , which reconciles

modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular Society, socio-Culture, cultural Norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the ...

and tradition, science and spirituality. Jacques Viret is today one of the very rare musicologists claiming the New Paradigm; In this capacity, he joined the team by . His perspective, therefore, is defined as totalizing and holistic: the musical fact is considered not only from the objective and partial angle of ordinary musicology, but from that of the receptive or active subject (his consciousness), beyond the cleavage between the various types of music. Explanation and commentary then restore its legitimate primacy to sound in the face of writing, and closely link the musical meaning to the human being in its threefold constitution of body, soul, spirit. They restore, in a new form, the "musical science" of Pythagorean obedience cultivated in Ancient times and in the Middle Ages: highly rational on one side, in its mathematical slope; Irrationality of the other, in its sensitive, intuitive, even magical (

ethos ''Ethos'' is a Greek word meaning 'character' that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the ...

theory, derived from the primitive

incantation An incantation, spell, charm, enchantment, or bewitchery is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects. The formula can be spoken, sung, or chanted. An incantation can also be performed during ceremonial ri ...

). In the eyes of the thinkers of German

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

also - among others Schopenhauer, admired by

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

–, music is much better than an art of pleasure: language of the soul, interiority, revelation of the unspeakable, it opens an access to the "Soul of the world" (

empathy Empathy is generally described as the ability to take on another person's perspective, to understand, feel, and possibly share and respond to their experience. There are more (sometimes conflicting) definitions of empathy that include but are ...

, ''Einfühlung'' according to

Herder A herder is a pastoralism, pastoral worker responsible for the care and management of a herd or flock of domestic animals, usually on extensive management, open pasture. It is particularly associated with nomadic pastoralism, nomadic or transhuma ...

, ''correspondances'' according to Baudelaire). The

anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour, wh ...

humanist musicology, which is promoted by Jacques Viret, integrates the contributions of

Carl Gustav Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of over 20 books, illustrator, and correspondent, Jung was a ...

's psychology,

Gestalt psychology Gestalt psychology, gestaltism, or configurationism is a school of psychology and a theory of perception that emphasises the processing of entire patterns and configurations, and not merely individual components. It emerged in the early twent ...

analytical psychology Analytical psychology (, sometimes translated as analytic psychology; also Jungian analysis) is a term referring to the psychological practices of Carl Jung. It was designed to distinguish it from Freud's psychoanalytic theories as their ...

transpersonal psychology Transpersonal psychology, or spiritual psychology, is an area of psychology that seeks to integrate the spiritual and transcendent human experiences within the framework of modern psychology. Evolving from the humanistic psychology movement, ...

neuropsychology Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology focus on how injuries or illnesses of the brai ...

). It ramifies towards

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

hermeneutics Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. As necessary, hermeneutics may include the art of understanding and communication. ...

, symbolism,

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

, psycho - pedagogy, and

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

, and includes research on the interpretation (''Aufführungspraxis'') allowing to execute the old repertoires according to their authenticity. It revalues the orality as a living vehicle of traditional practices and knowledge, bearing precious values: vital, human, spiritual (cf. Marcel Jousse). This broad, open, spiritualist conception of musical science confers their originality to the works that Jacques Viret has published since 2004 at , about gregorian chant,

Medieval music Medieval music encompasses the sacred music, sacred and secular music of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, from approximately the 6th to 15th centuries. It is the Dates of classical music eras, first and longest major era of Western class ...

, Richard Wagner, musicothérapy,

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Classical music, Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance music, Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Class ...

, and

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

. Among the transverse problems that they expose, one will particularly mention that of singing in relation (vocal, rhythmic, emotional) with the speech, as the most direct expression of the feeling or musical instinct, and this, from the early childhood (spontaneous childish chantings where emerge elementary musical materials, melodic and rhythmic

archetype The concept of an archetype ( ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main mo ...

s).

Bibliography

*1981: ''Aloÿs Fornerod, ou le musicien et le pays'', Lausanne, Cahiers de la Renaissance Vaudoise *1986: ''Le Chant grégorien, musique de la parole sacrée'', Lausanne, Éditions L'Âge d'Homme *1987: ''La Modalité grégorienne, un langage pour quel message ?'', Lyon, , augmented reissue in 1996. *1988: ''Le Symbolisme de la gamme – L'hymne UT QUEANT LAXIS et ses quatre cryptogrammes'' (in collaboration with Jacques Chailley), Paris, in '' La Revue Musicale'' *1990–1992. ''La musique d'orgue du XVIe et son interprétation'', five articles, ''L'Orgue francophone'' *1992: ''Regards sur la musique vocale de la Renaissance italienne'', Lyon, À Cœur Joie *1993–1994: ''Aux sources de l’expression musicale : la créativité mélodique enfantine'', three articles, ''L’Éducation musicale'' *2000: ''Les Premières Polyphonies, 800–1100'', Lyon, À Cœur Joie, (''Diaphonia'' 1) *2001: ''Le Chant grégorien et la tradition grégorienne'', Lausanne, L'Âge d'Homme *2001: ''Approches herméneutiques de la musique'' (dir. J. Viret), *2001: ''L’École de Notre-Dame et ses conduits polyphoniques'', Lyon, à Cœur Joie, (''Diaphonia'' 2). *2004: ''B.A.-BA du chant grégorien'', éditions Pardès *2005: ''B.A.-BA de la musique médiévale'', éditions Pardès *2005: ''Le « Libre Vermell » de Montserrat'', Lyon, À Cœur Joie, (''Diaphonia'' 3). *2005: ''Métamorphoses de l’harmonie : la musique occidentale et la Tradition'', in ''Les Pouvoirs de la musique, à l’écoute du sacré'', dossier de la revue ''Connaissance des Religions'', Paris, *2006: ''Qui suis-je ? Wagner'', éditions Pardès, 2006. *2006: ''De la Musique et des Vaudois, itinéraire photographique 1905-2005'', Lausanne, Bibliothèque Cantonale et Universitaire *2007: ''B.A.-BA de la musicothérapie'', éditions Pardès *2008: ''B.A.-BA de la musique baroque'', éditions Pardès *2009: ''B.A.-BA de l'opéra'', éditions Pardès *2012: ''Le chant grégorien'',''Le chant grégorien''
/ref>, 206 p. (CD audio inserted: 75 min). *2012: ''Philologie musicale et modes grégoriens : de la théorie à l’instinct'' in ''Musurgia'', vol. XIX/1-3 (hommage to Jacques Chailley), () *2017: ''Les deux chemins, Dialogue sur la musique'', (in collaboration with Aurelio Porfiri), Hong Kong, Chorabooks

Life

Gregorian chant and medieval music

An integral science of music

Bibliography

References

External links