ABSTRACT
Chiefly what gave rise to Friedrich Ludwig's Modaltheorie was the apparent analogy between modal patterns and certain basic metrical schemes of poetry, which could be seen to have some degree of applicability in the motet repertoire of the first half of the thirteenth century. Ludwig's insistence on scholarly rigor, however, cannot be said to account completely for his Modaltheorie, which appeared to posit the applicability of modal rhythm to all music of the Notre Dame period–except organal style–and of the pre-Garlandian thirteenth century, including particularly the musical settings of poetry. Garlandia mentions the conductus in only two suggestive sentences. Lambertus's view of ligatures also crops up repeatedly in examples given by the St.-Emmeram Anonymous. In evaluating the notational evidence, one must keep in mind, first of all, that the datable specimens of conducti show the species to have flourished for at least three quarters of a century.
