A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Stave

by William Smyth Rockstro

STAVE (Lat. Systema; Ital. Sistema, Le linee su cui si scrivon le note; Germ. Linien-system, System: Fr. Portée; Eng. Stave, Staff). A series of horizontal lines, so arranged that the signs used for the representation of musical notes may be written upon, or between them.

Though the etymology of the term cannot be proved, its derivation from the familiar Saxon root is too obvious to admit of doubt. Its use, as applied to the verses of a Psalm, Canticle, or Ditty of any kind, is very antient, and, as we shall presently show, the music sung to such verses was originally noted down in such close connection with the verbal text that it may fairly be said to form part of it. When a system of lines and spaces was engrafted on the primitive form of Notation, the old term was still retained; and we now apply it to this, even more familiarly than to the verse itself. The best proof that this is the true derivation of the term lies in the fact that Morley calls the Stave a Verse, and describes the Verse as consisting of Rules^[1] and Spaces. Dr. Callcott, and some few other writers, call it a Staff: but, Stave and Staff are both derived from the same primitive root, and are similarly written—though not similarly pronounced—in the plural form.

These signs—first called Neumæ, then Points, and now Notes—were originally written above the verbal text with which they were connected, in positions which vaguely indicated the comparative gravity or acuteness of the sounds they represented, but not with sufficient clearness to teach the Melody to Singers who had not previously learned it by ear.^[2] Attempts were made, from time to time, to distinguish the actual, as well as the comparative pitch of the sounds indicated; or, at least, to demonstrate the comparative pitch with greater certainty. But, no radical improvement was introduced, until about the year 900, when a single horizontal line was drawn across the parchment, to serve as a guide to the position of the Neumæ written upon, above, or below it.^[3] This line, the germ of our present Stave, has exercised more direct influence upon the Art of Notation than any other invention, either of early or modern date. It was originally drawn in red. All Neumæ placed upon it were understood to represent the note F. A Neuma written immediately above it represented G; one immediately below it, E. The places of three signs were, therefore, definitely fixed; while those written at greater distances above or below the line, though less certain in their signification, were at least more intelligible than they had been under the previous system.

A yellow line was soon afterwards added, at a little distance above the red one. Neumæ written on this line represented the note C; and the position of a whole septenary of signs was thus fixed, with tolerable clearness: for, signs placed exactly half way between the two lines would naturally represent A; while the positions of D, and B, above and below the yellow line, and G and F, above and below the red one, were open to very little doubt, in carefully-written MSS. When black lines were used, instead of coloured ones, the letters F, and C, were written at the beginning of their respective 'rules'; and because these afforded a key to the Notation, they were called Claves, or, as we now say, Clefs.^[4]

Early in the 11th century, two more black lines were added to the Stave: one, above the yellow line; and the other, between the yellow and red ones. The upper black line then represented E, and the lower one, A; and the combined effect of the whole was, to produce a four-lined Stave, exactly like that now used in the Gregorian system of Notation. In fact, when convenience suggested—as it very soon did—the practice of changing the position of the Clefs from one line to another, there remained but little to distinguish the Notation of the 12th and 13th century from that now invariably used for Plain Chaunt.

The invention of the two additional lines has been ascribed to Guido d'Arezzo; but it seems more probable that he was the first to mention the improvements known in his day, than that he himself first introduced them. We do not possess sufficient evidence to set this question at rest. A MS. Troparium, in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, dating from the reign of King Ethelred II (978–1016), contains examples of mediæval Notation, in which the position of the Neumæ is expressed both with, and without, the assistance of the rudimentary Stave.^[5] In the earlier pages of this MS.—extending as far as fol. 131—the Neumæ are not even accompanied by the single line: but, in the middle of fol. 131 b, a four-lined Stave is introduced, with Neumæ written both on the lines, and in the spaces between them.^[6] The date of the pages written in simple Neumæ is proved, beyond all dispute, by a Litany containing the words 'Ut Æthebredum regem et exercitum Anglorum conservare digneris.'^[7] This point has never been disputed; and if we could assume the remainder of the document to be of equal antiquity, as was once thought, we should have evidence enough to prove that the system based upon the combined employment of lines and spaces was used, in England, some considerable time before Guido described it in Italy. But the four-lined Stave in question proves on examination by the microscope,^[8] to be a mere modern substitution for the original notation of the MS., which is in some places still to be seen through the imperfect erasures. The opinion expressed in the article Notation (on the authority of the late Librarian of the Bodleian) is therefore no longer tenable. [See vol. ii. p. 470.]

The difficulty, however, is one of dates only. Whenever or wherever it was first employed, the four-lined Stave can only be regarded as the natural development of the system, which, in its rudimentary form, used a single red line to determine the place of a single note. The employment of the spaces between the lines springs from the custom of writing Neumæ above, or below, the normal red line, as well as upon it. The advantage of the system lies in the combination of these two methods. Yet this advantage was not, at first, very generally understood. Early in the 10th century, Hucbaldus invented a Stave consisting of an indefinite number of lines, between which he wrote the syllables he intended to be sung, without the aid of Neumæ, upon a principle which will be found fully explained at page 469 of our second volume. Here, then, was a Stave, of which the spaces only were used, while the lines lay idle. Contemporary with this as nearly as can be ascertained was another kind of Stave, also consisting of an indefinite number of lines, on which the notes to be sung were indicated by points. An example of this form, in which the spaces lay idle, will also be found at page 469b, vol. ii. But, these collateral inventions soon fell into disuse. The system of alternate lines and spaces was adopted, to the exclusion of all others, in every country in Europe. Henceforth, the only difference lay in the number of lines employed. The natural tendency, at first, was, to multiply them. In early MSS. we constantly find Staves of six, eight, twelve, fifteen, and even a still greater number of lines, embracing a compass sufficient for the transcription of an entire Vocal Score.^[9] After a time, the difficulty of reading so many lines at once, led to the adoption of a more commodious form, consisting of two groups, with four black lines in each, separated by a single red line. Staves of this kind are rare; but an example may be seen at fol. 201a of the Chaucer MS. in the British Museum.^[10] Finally, these variable forms were relinquished, in favour of a fixed standard, which, in the 15th and 16th centuries, admitted the use of four, five, or six lines only. The Stave of four lines was used exclusively for Plain Chaunt, and is retained for that purpose to the present day. That of six lines was used for Organ Music, and Music for the Virginals. That of five lines was used for all Vocal Music, except Plain Chaunt; and, after the invention of printing, for Music of every kind.

It seems scarcely likely that the Stave of five lines will ever be superseded; or that that with four lines will be discontinued for Plain Chaunt. A private attempt made, some twenty years ago, to revive the six-lined Stave, for the purpose of reducing the F and G clefs to a common standard, failed instantly.

[ W. S. R. ]

1. 'Rules,' i.e. lines. Printers still employ the same term.
2. See the upper example on p. 468, vol. ii.
3. See the lower example on the same page.
4. See the first example on p. 469 a, vol. ii.
5. Bodley MSS. 775.
6. A facsimile of the middle portion of fol. 1315 of the Ethelred MS., will be found in vol. ii. p. 470.
7. Fol. 18b.
8. The Editor is indebted for this to Professor Moseley, F.R.S., who kindly made the examination at his request.
9. See vol. iii. p. 428.
10. Arundel MSS. 248.