Gradus ad Parnassum

For other uses, seeGradus (disambiguation).

TheLatin phrasegradus ad Parnassummeans "a step towards Parnassus".It is sometimes shortened togradus.Parnassusis the prominence of a mountain range in central Greece, a few kilometres north ofDelphi,of which the two summits, in Classical times, were calledTithoreaandLycoreia.InGreek mythology,one of the peaks was sacred toApolloand the nineMuses,the inspiring deities of the arts, and the other toDionysus.The phrase came to be used by authors of various books of instruction with the aid of whichgradualprogress and mastery in an art or scholarly discipline is sought.

Classics

The first application of the phrase is to a kind ofLatinorGreekdictionary,in which thequantities of the vowelsare marked in the words, to help beginners to understand the principles of Latin verse composition, in relation to the values of themetrical feet.

TheGradus ad Parnassummade famous under the name ofJesuitPaul Aler (1656–1727),a schoolmaster, published in 1686, presented anew an earlier Thesaurus attributed to Pierre Joulet, sieur de Chastillon (1545–1621).This was not a general dictionary but a thesaurus ofsynonyms,epithets,verses and phrases in classical poetic usage. The work in Alers' form existed into the 19th century with the definitions as well as the entries written in Latin. Known to many generations of students throughout Europe, and passing through numerous editions, 19th century English-speaking schoolchildren knew the 1818 revision by Dr John Carey (1756–1826)simply as 'Carey's Gradus'. It was specially intended for the study and appreciation of Latin poetry of the classical period, and to aid students in the practice of verse composition. There is also 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).

The large general dictionaries of Greek and Latin adopted this pattern of information. For example, the Liddell-Scott-JonesGreek-English Lexicon(1843) and its current derivatives give quantity information where it is crucial and where it is available; so doCharlton T. LewisandCharles Short'sA Latin Dictionary(1879) and its derivatives. The synonyms, epithets, poetical expressions and extracts became incorporated under the more important headings.

Yonge

Charles Duke YongepublishedA gradus ad Parnassum: For the use of Eton, Westminster, Harrow, and Charterhouse schools, King's college, London, and Marlborough collegein 1850 a work that was still in print in 1902, by then titled...For the use of Eton, Westminster, Harrow, Charterhouse and Rugby schools, King's college, London, and Marlborough collegeand bound withA Dictionary of Epithets: Classified according to their English meaning.

Music and art

Works entitledGradus ad Parnassuminclude:

• a seminal textbook oncounterpointwritten byJohann Joseph Fuxin 1725, still used today for instruction inmusical theoryandcomposition;Leopold Mozartis said to have taught his sonWolfgangfrom its pages.Beethovenheld it in great esteem, andHaydnmeticulously worked out each of its exercises.
• a collection of 100 instructional piano pieces byMuzio Clementi
• a collection of instructional piano pieces byCarl Czerny
• a collection of instructional violin studies by Ernst Heim
• a series of pedagogical works for violin byJakob Dont
• a collection of 24 double bass studies byFranz Simandl
• a collection of pedagogical studies for violin byÉmile Sauret
• a collection of pedagogical studies for harmonium bySigfrid Karg-Elert
• a piano sonatina byHanns Eisler
• an album cd or streaming from 2023 by harpsichord playerJean Rondeau

Doctor Gradus ad Parnassumis a satirical piano composition byClaude Debussy,from his suiteChildren's Corner,poking fun at one or the other of these sets of exercises (Czerny's, according to Myriam Chimènes's notes to theArturo Benedetti Michelangeliversion).

Samuel Coleridge-Taylorwrote a nonet, his Op. 2, subtitledGradus ad Parnassum,not as a pedagogical work but to display composition skills while he was a student at London'sRoyal College of Music.

Ad Parnassumis a significant painting in thedivisioniststyle byPaul Klee.

Since the year 2000, the name Gradus ad Parnassum was incorporated as the name of a small music school in New Jersey, Gradus ad Parnassum Inc.

References

• Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)."Gradus".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 12 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 314.