Benedictine Monk and Music Theorist. The son of a Gallic nobleman, he studied music and theology in Paris before taking holy orders in 898. He became a Benedictine monk in 909 and Abbot of Cluny in 927. Odo was greatly admired for his learning and administrative skills, and in 931 Pope John XI ordered him to reform the monasteries of northern France and Italy. He negotiated peace settlements between several feuding fifedoms and persuaded other royals to return monastery lands to the Church. But his lasting achievement was neither religious nor political, but secular and artistic. Asked by his Benedictine brothers to provide "a few simple rules" that would make music study more accessible to the layman, Odo wrote the book "Enchiridion Muses" (935), in which he defined the notes of the diatonic scale and named them with the letters A to G. This system laid the foundation of modern western music and is universally used today. Odo died at 63 in Tours and was buried at the St. Julian Monastery there; the site was replaced by the present Church of St. Julian in the 1200s. He was probably canonized around this time (the records declaring his sainthood are lost, but the Catholic Church has observed November 18 as his feast day for centuries). Odo is recognized as a Patron Saint---not of music, but of rain.
Benedictine Monk and Music Theorist. The son of a Gallic nobleman, he studied music and theology in Paris before taking holy orders in 898. He became a Benedictine monk in 909 and Abbot of Cluny in 927. Odo was greatly admired for his learning and administrative skills, and in 931 Pope John XI ordered him to reform the monasteries of northern France and Italy. He negotiated peace settlements between several feuding fifedoms and persuaded other royals to return monastery lands to the Church. But his lasting achievement was neither religious nor political, but secular and artistic. Asked by his Benedictine brothers to provide "a few simple rules" that would make music study more accessible to the layman, Odo wrote the book "Enchiridion Muses" (935), in which he defined the notes of the diatonic scale and named them with the letters A to G. This system laid the foundation of modern western music and is universally used today. Odo died at 63 in Tours and was buried at the St. Julian Monastery there; the site was replaced by the present Church of St. Julian in the 1200s. He was probably canonized around this time (the records declaring his sainthood are lost, but the Catholic Church has observed November 18 as his feast day for centuries). Odo is recognized as a Patron Saint---not of music, but of rain.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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