Berno VOn Reichenau

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Berno VOn Reichenau

Berno VOn Reichenau, writer on music; b. c.970; d. Reichenau, June 7, 1048. He may have been of German birth. After serving at the Prüm monastery, Emperor Henry II made him abbot of Reichenau in 1008, a position he held until his death. He traveled to Rome in 1014 for the coronation of Emperor Henry II, was again in Italy with the emperor in 1023, and returned to Rome in 1027 for the coronation of Emperor Conrad II. Berno’s most distinguished student was Hermannus Contractus. His major work is a tonary in which he treats the subjects of transposition and the so-called middle modes. An early MS source also attributes several compositions to him.

Bibliography

H. Oesch, B. una Hermann von Reichenau als Musik-theoretiker, Publikationen der schweizerischen musikfor-schenden Gesellschaft, 2nd series, IX (Bern, 1961).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire