What Does Diatessaron Mean?

The Greek term diatessaron is used in music as a synonym for the interval of the perfect fourth, dia meaning “over”, tessaron “four”.

See also hemidiapente, diapente and diapason.

(Very) Select Bibliography

Baragwanath, Nicholas. Note-Naming, Galant Schemata, and the “Thread” of Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins, Op. 3 No. 10 (RV 580), in: Music Theory & Analysis 11/1 (2024), 48–77.

Mattheson, Johann. Der vollkommene Capellmeister (Hamburg, 1739).

Walther, Johann Gottfried. Musicalisches Lexicon (Leipzig, 1732).