The Modal System of Illuminato Aiguino
A conservative thinker about whom little is known, Aiguino had highly original notions: (1) that species of interval are the sole definers of pairs of mode; (2) that six irregular modes can be constructed in imitation of the eight regular ones; (3) that a 14-mode system can be built from these; (4) that melodic direction can be used to distinguish plagal from authentic modes; and (5) that melodic commixture with a foreign mode calls for the cadence to the final of that mode. This last is his most interesting idea, as it links small-scale melodic motions to vertical/structural musical events. Aiguino's modal theories, in Il tesoro illuminato ... (1581), are examined against related music theory of the previous five centuries. [DissA-abbrev]
