ARETINO Coin°, a native of Arezzo, in Tuscany, celebrated for his improvements in music, flourished. in the eleventh century. He became a monk of the or der of St. Benedict, in Pomposa, near Ravenna ; and afterwards was made abbot of the convent of the Holy Cross, at Avellano, in the neighbourhood of his native city.
His new mode of musical notation was suggested to him during the performance of the following hymn to St. John, composed in 770, by Paul, a deacon of the church of Aquileia The reiteration of the words, and the frequent re turns of UT, RE, MI, FA, SOL, LA, made an im pression upon his mind, and suggested to him the thought of using these six syllables in perfecting an im provement, viz. that of converting the ancient tetra chords into hexachords.
This new system, though opposed at its first promul gation, was soon universally introduced, and thus spread the fame of its inventor over all Europe. Aretino was invited to Rome by Benedict VIII. in 1022, and after wards by Pope John XIX. He was received by this holy father with great kindness ; and, upon spewing him an antiphonary, with the syllables marked according to the new notation, the pope was so much delighted with it, that he refused to stir from his seat till he had learned, by means of it, to sing a verse. On his return from
Rome, Guido visited the abbot of Pomposa, in the du chy of Ferrara, who persuaded him to settle in the mo nastery of that place. There he composed a tract on music, entitled Micrologus, which w/s finished in the 34th year of his age. He published also another trea tise, entitled Antinhonarium ; but it is in a work, en titled ?rgumentura novi Cantus inveniendi, that he has explained his new system of notation.
Guido likewise improved the ancient method of writ ing music. Formerly all the notes were placed upon one line, and distinguished by the letters of the alpha bet ; but Guido introduced the use of lines and spaces, upon which points were placed instead of the letters of the alphabet. These points were first disposed upon four lines, and afterwards upon five ; and from them the term counterpoint is derived. See Hawkins's History of Music ; Busby's Illus. Diet. and Burney's Hist. of Music, vol. ii. (o)