M U 
rifpo/ta; or anfwer, was to be made. If in the 4th, 5th, 8th, 
&c. tjie words diatefferon, diapente, diapajon, Sec. occur. 
If thefe terms are uled timely and unaccompanied, they 
generally imply that the anfwer is made in fuch interval 
above; but, if fome expletive is not added to the in¬ 
terval in which the anfwer is made, the performer is un¬ 
certain whether it is- above or below the text or fubjedl 
propofed. 
Padre Martini fays (Saggio di Contrappunto) that there 
are fo many canons dill preferved of the old ecclefiallical 
compofers, each of which is upon fome peculiar con- 
ftruftion, that it would require a long treatiie even fuper- 
ficially to explain them. A canon that is, written and 
compofed in a myfterious and fingular manner, is called 
by the Italians canone chiujb; a canon in fcore, or clearly 
explained, canone aperto. A canon written only on one 
line, and feemingly in one part or melody, fometimes has 
its folution pointed out by different clefs and rells at the 
beginning. In old compofers, whether the rifpojla is made 
above or below the fubjefl, is often determined by the 
Latin particle fuper or jub, or by the Greek hyper or 
hypo. So many of the molt ancient canons are locked up 
in the myftery of enigmatical inferiptions or mottos, that 
the good Padre Martini has colle&ed and explained be¬ 
tween fifty and fixty of thefe oracular decrees: fuch as 
1. Clama ne cedes. 
2. Ocia dant vitia. 
3. Dii faciant fine me non moriar ego. 
4. Omnia fi perdas famam fervare memento. 
Qua femel amifl'a, poftea nullus eris. 
5. Sperari & preftolari multos facit morari. 
6. Ocia fecuris infidiofa nocent. 
7. Tarda folet magnis rebus inefle fides. 
8. Fuge morulas. 
Each of thefe enigmas implies, that the parts which an- 
fwer the leader are to pay no attention to the relts, but to 
fing the notes without them. 
The twelve next enigmas imply nothing more than that 
the firlt of the two anfwers begins with the firlt note of the 
fubjedl propofed, and advances ftraight forward to the 
end ; while the lecond anfwer begins at the end, and 
moves backward to the beginning. It is eafy enough 
(fays M. Ginguene) to conceive the difficulty of con- 
ftrufting fuch canons, and how impollibie it is to divine 
the author’s meaning, if fome written clue is not given 
to it; but it is not fo eafy to conceive what pleafure can 
refult from the execution of fuch a talk, or the merit of 
taking fuch great pains for fo little pleafure. 
Marpurg defines canon, “ a mulical compofition, in 
which the parts are difperfed according to the rules of 
imitation.” 
Compofition in plain and florid counterpoint lhould be 
ftudied, and its rules and exceptions well digefted, by a 
mufical ftudent, before he attaches himlelf to fugue and 
canon, which will make him indifferent about melody, 
provided, under canonical reftridtions, he can make his 
harmony corredl. 
All that now remains for us to do, in order to fmooth 
the way in this kind of ftudy when the young compofer 
thinks it expedient to undertake it, is to give a few fliort 
fpecimens of the principal kinds of canons that have been 
cultivated by great mafterg of the old fchool, when no¬ 
thing elfe was prized, and all their powers were devoted 
to that almoft exclufively. 
Canons may be either 2 parts in 1 melody, viz. two 
parts performing the fame melody, or 3 parts in x ; 4 in 1 ; 
5 in 1 ; 4 in 2 melodies; 5 in 2, viz. 3 in 1, and 2 in the 
other; 6 in 2 ; 7 in 2, viz. 4 in 1, and 3 in the other; 
8 in 2 ; 6 in 3 ; or 8 in 4. The fubjedl may be anfwered 
on the unifon; on the odlave or fifteenth above or below; 
on the fourth or eleventh above or below, or on any 
other note ; but the above-mentioned are of the moll: 
eafy conllrudlion. Thus, a canon two in one on the 
unifon, fignifies that two parts perform the fame melody, 
both beginning on the fame note j three in one on the 
S I C. 043 
fifth and eighth above, means, that three parts perform 
one melody, the anfwers beginning refpedlively a fifth 
and an odlave above the firlt note of the fubjedl. 
For a canon two in one on the unifon, fee Ex. 1. In 
framing a canon, write as much of the fubjedl as exilts 
before the anfwer begins, fuppofe one bar, as at a; then 
tranferibe it into the anfwer, as at h. Compole a fimilar 
portion, as at c, making a good accompaniment to b; 
then tranferibe it to d ; to which add e, f, g, See. The 
diftance at which the anfwer is made is optional. If too 
far,>it will appear flimfy, and pofl'efs little merit; if too 
near, the fubjedl will not be diftinguilhed by the ear, be¬ 
fore its anfwer commences. 
Ex. 2. is a canon 2 in 1 on the odfave below. Ex. 3. 
2 in 1 on the odtave above. Ex. 4. 3 in 1 on the eighth 
and fifteenth bc-low. Ex. 5. 4 in 2 on the eighth below ; 
here are two fubjedls and two anfwers. Ex. 6. 2 in 1 on 
the twelfth below, with modulation or change of key. 
A perpetual canon is one in which a certain number of 
bars are marked to be repeated as often as the performers 
choofe, and then the canon is concluded either by a paufs 
over one of the notes ; by a double bar; or by a coda, 
viz. a few bars either in canon or not, as the coinpofer 
think fit. See one of the former, at Ex. 7. 
A canon by inverfion is one in which the anfwer conlifts 
of the fame melody as the fubjedl, but all the motion in¬ 
verted : where the fubjedl afeends, the anfwer is to de- 
feend ; and vice verfd. Previoully to a compofition of this 
fort, the ftudent lhould make a l'cale of the fubjedl and 
anfwer, the one afeending, the other defeending, by fimi¬ 
lar intervals, as in Ex. 8. where it will be found, that, 
when the fubjedl begins on the key-note of the major key, 
an anfwer on the third or tenth above, or fixth or thir¬ 
teenth below, will be the moll eafy to conftrudl. Ex. 9. 
is a canon 2 in 1 by inverfion (or per arlin et thefin) on the 
fixth below. Other preparatory arrangements of feales 
will be neceffary, according to the diftance of the anfwer. 
A canon by augmentation is one in which the notes of 
the anfwer are double the length of thofe of the fubjedl. 
Double augmentation is when the notes of the fecond 
anfwer are twice the length of the firft, and four times the 
length of the fubjedl. Ex. 10. is a canon 3 in » by aug¬ 
mentation and double augmentation on the unifon and 
fifteenth below. 
A canon by diminution is when the notes of the anfwer 
are half the length of thofe of the fubjedl. In double di¬ 
minution, the notes of the fecond anfwer are one quarter 
the length of thofe of the fubjedl. Ex. n. is a canon 3 in 1 
by diminution and double diminution on the odlave 
above. 
Other pieces of mufic, in which the intervals are not 
exadlly preferved in the anfwers, have neverthelefs ob¬ 
tained the name of canons. Such are melodies that are 
firft played forwards and afterwards backwards. The - 
melody in two parts at Ex. 12. is to be firft performed in 
the ufual manner from left to right, and then from right 
to left, or per rede et retro. A melody alia rovefcio is one 
which is firft performed in the ufual way, and then with 
the paper inverted, as in Ex. 13. The name of canon has 
alfo been improperly bellowed on fuch a melody as Ex. 14. 
which is firft to be performed in the ufual way, from left 
to right, and then from right to left; then the paper is 
inverted, and the melody performed from left to right, 
and from right to left; this, however, not producing a 
full clofe, the paper mull be returned to its former pofi- 
tion, and the melody again performed from left to right, 
and from right to left; and this has been called a canon 
3 in 1, per rede et retro, and alia rovefcio. 
Modern times have furnilhed us with fomejeux d'ejpril 
of this kind. When Haydn was to receive his doctor’s 
diploma at Oxford, he addrefled to his judges a ftieet of 
mufic fo compofed, that whether read backwards or for¬ 
wards, beginning at the top, the bottom, or the middle, 
it always prefented an air with an original accompani¬ 
ment. And the writer of this article has frequently 
played 
