diastema

With the advent of diastematic notation and the staff, something was gained (readable pitch) and something lost (the expressive gestures of neumatic notation).

The illustrations provide detailed testimony to methods of neumation, including neumes that move up and down (diastematic neumes) and those that do not (adiastematic neumes).

Moreover, though manipulated through such straightforward devices as augmentation, diminution, inversion and contrapuntal combination, Stephan's themes undergo little diastematic, harmonic or rhythmic transformation no organic unfolding in the sense of the Schoengbergian developing variation.

As to the question of just what caused Stockhausen to choose this series, it is necessary rather to consider that in composition with groups diastematic shaping functions are no longer the primary use of the prearranged tone-row, but rather that its individual elements function as representatives of note groups, and are responsible for the determination of qualitative characteristics of these groups of notes.

The study of these two manuscripts is likely to interest any scholar of paleography, since the oldest manuscript (CT 60, twelfth century) is in adiastematic neumatic notation, while CT 61 (early thirteenth century) makes use of perfectly diastematic neumes.