(Lat., from Gk.: ‘sounding beside’). A term used in the writings of a number of Greek theorists (notably Thrasyllus, Pseudo-Longinus and Bryennius) to designate the intervals of the 4th and 5th. In 1928, Peter Wagner called attention to the appearance of a similar term in the Ordines romani I–III (7th–8th centuries). Of the seven members of the Schola Cantorum listed in the Ordines, the fourth is called archiparaphonista and the last three paraphonistae. Wagner also found references to paraphonistae in French sources and in a sequence text. He concluded that the designation paraphonista described a singer who sang in paraphonic intervals, that is, in parallel 4ths and 5ths. He thus suggested that organum-like polyphony existed in the Church well before it was first described, and that, owing to the word's Greek origin, the practice came from Byzantine music.
Wagner’s theories were disputed by Gastoué on philological grounds. Gastoué argued that paraphonista did not come from paraphonia, but instead was the result of adding the prefix para (‘beside’) to phonista (‘singer’). Thus the term would mean ‘singer standing beside’, referring to the physical placement of the paraphonistae beside the boys’ choir (also mentioned in the Ordines). In Gastoué’s view, the paraphonistae sang in support of the boys’ choir, and occasionally sang solos.
Gastoué was answered in turn by both Wagner and Moberg who argued that his combination para-phonista was philologically impossible. Moberg went on to interpret a passage in Pseudo-Longinus so as to demonstrate that there was indeed a Byzantine practice of singing in polyphonic 4ths and 5ths.
Subsequently Handschin, who discussed the subject at some length, agreeing with Gastoué that the paraphonistae did not sing in parallel 4ths and 5ths, put forward yet another interpretation: that para meant ‘inferior’ (‘untergeordnet’), and that the paraphonista was a singer in the chorus, or one in an inferior position to the cantor, the word itself being a paraphase of the Latin succentor. Tomasello, however, has defined the paraphonistae as ‘adult singers who were cantors or song leaders at the patriarchal churches [of Rome]’ in the 12th century, who sometimes took the place of the primicerius of the papal Schola in ceremonies.
Reese and Ludwig also disagreed with Wagner and Moberg, but did not go into detail. Later, Eggebrecht tended to favour Wagner’s theories; he did not consider, however, that the use of the word reflected a very early beginning of organized polyphony (diaphonia), but rather some sort of improvisatory practice.
RiemannL12 (H.H. Eggebrecht)
A. Gastoué: ‘Paraphonie et paraphonistes’, RdM, ix (1928), 61–3
P. Wagner: ‘La paraphonie’, RdM, ix (1928), 15–19
P. Wagner: ‘A propos de la paraphonie’, RdM, x (1929), 4 only
C.-A. Moberg: ‘Eine vergessene Pseudo-Longinus-Stelle über die Musik’, ZMw, xii (1929–30), 220–25
F. Ludwig: ‘Weltliche und mehrstimmige kirchliche Musik bis 1030’, AdlerH
G. Reese: Music in the Middle Ages (New York, 1940), 252
J. Handschin: Musikgeschichte im Überblick (Lucerne, 1948), 129–32
A. Tomasello: ‘Ritual, Tradition, and Polyphony at the Court of Rome’, JM, iv (1985–6), 447–71
RICHARD SHERR