Gradus

The Latin phrase Gradus ad Parnassum means "A Step to Parnassus". It is sometimes shortened to Gradus. The name Parnassus was used to denote the loftiest part of a mountain range in central Greece, a few miles north of Delphi, of which the two summits, in Classical times, were called Tithorea and Lycoreia. In Greek mythology, Mount Parnassus was sacred to Apollo and the nine Muses, the inspiring deities of the arts.^[1] The phrase has often been used to refer to various books of instruction, or guides, in which gradual progress in literature, language instruction, music, or the arts in general, is sought.

The first application of the phrase is to a kind of Latin or Greek dictionary, in which the quantities of the vowels are marked in the words, to help beginners. The first gradus was compiled in 1687 by the Jesuit Paul Aler (1656-1727), a famous schoolmaster. Modern dictionaries of Greek and Latin are usually of this type. For example, the Liddell-Scott-Jones Greek-English Lexicon (1843) and its current derivatives give quantity information where it is crucial and where it is available; so do Charles Lewis and Charlton Short's A Latin Dictionary (1879) and its derivatives. Synonyms, epithets, and poetical expressions and extracts are also included under the more important headings, the whole being intended as an aid for students in Greek and Latin verse composition. There is a Latin gradus by C.D. Yonge (1850); English-Latin by AC Ainger and HG Wintle (1890); Latin-French by F.J.M. Noël (1810); Greek by Thomas Morell (1762, new ed. ed. by E. Maltby, Bishop of Durham (1815); John Brasse (1828).

Gradus ad Parnassum is the name of a seminal textbook on counterpoint written by Johann Joseph Fux in 1725, but used well into the 20th century for instruction in musical theory and composition. Leopold Mozart is said to have taught his son Wolfgang from its pages. JS Bach and Beethoven both held it in great esteem, and Haydn meticulously worked out each of its exercises.

Gradus ad Parnassum is a collection of instructional piano pieces by Muzio Clementi and also a collection of instruction piano pieces by Carl Czerny.

Gradus ad Parnassum is also a collection of instructional violin studies by Ernst Heim.

Gradus ad Parnassum is also a collection of 24 double bass studies by Franz Simandl.

"Gradus ad Parnassum" is also the name of a music school in Palisades Park, New Jersey "Grandus ad Parnassum Inc." Michael Hinton President.

Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum is a satirical piano composition by Claude Debussy, from his suite Children's Corner, poking fun at Muzio Clementi's collection (or, as Myriam Chimènes states in the notes to the Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli version, at Czerny's collection).

References

1. ^ Warrington, John. (1961) Everyman's Classical Dictionary, J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London.

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.