Bābēl

This contribution aims to analyze can. XII of the XXIV session of the Council of Trent, approved on 11 November 1563. This is a rule of particular importance for sacred music not only because it prescribes that in song the words are called "distincte devoteque", but above all because, through a legislativedelegation- conferring-jurisdiction, identifies the bodies responsible for issuing new regulatory acts in the provincial synods. The principle of territoriality is mitigated by the reference expressed to custom. One wonders: is there a naturalis ratio in music? In an attempt to offer answers, the author takes as reference two moments characterizing the musical phenomenon: the original duplicity inscribed in the Greek word mousiké and the law of the Church of Rome, in particular natural law.