This chapter addresses the writings of Hucbald of St. Amand and Regino of Prüm. Hucbald's work represents the first attempt to fuse Boethian theory with chant theory, and it is, in many ways, a remarkable accomplishment. Two rather different kinds of music theory were current in the later 9th century, one deriving its terminology and approach from the practice of singing plainchant—often called cantus theory—and the other strongly influenced by ancient Greek harmonic theory as transmitted into the Middle Ages by writers such as Boethius. The dichotomy that obviously existed around 900 is both...

This chapter addresses the writings of Hucbald of St. Amand and Regino of Prüm. Hucbald's work represents the first attempt to fuse Boethian theory with chant theory, and it is, in many ways, a remarkable accomplishment. Two rather different kinds of music theory were current in the later 9th century, one deriving its terminology and approach from the practice of singing plainchant—often called cantus theory—and the other strongly influenced by ancient Greek harmonic theory as transmitted into the Middle Ages by writers such as Boethius. The dichotomy that obviously existed around 900 is both reflected and acknowledged by Regino of Prüm in his Epistola de harmonica institutione.