Royal Musical Association Student Conference 2013

  • Sean Dunnahoe (Participant)

Activity: Participating in or organising an eventParticipation in conference

Description

Reconsidering the Pistoia Choirbooks using the Recently Discovered Fragments of a Twelfth-Century Antiphoner

Long Beach, University Library, PA3895 .A3, a Venetian incunabula of Aristotle’s works, surreptitiously contains as pastedown bindings two folio fragments of an early twelfth- century antiphoner with music in central Italian notation. Contained on the fragments' visible sides are parts of four responsories and eight antiphons for the nocturnal office of St. Agnes. The fragments include some unusual melodies for the antiphons, and represent a version of St. Agnes’ feast prior to its stabilisation. The internal codicological and palaeographic evidence—for example, the measurements of drypoint lines and the shapes of the neumes—allow the suggestion that these fragments are directly related to the scribal project at San Zeno in Pistoia in the early twelfth century, under canon Martin, that produced the so-called 'Pistoia choirbooks' (Corpus Troporum sigla C.119, C.120, and C.121). By linking them to the scriptorium of San Zeno, these fragments contribute new evidence to the heretofore unproven existence of a companion antiphoner for the Pistoia choirbooks (a hypothesis suggested by James Maiello), and also offer testimony to the notion that the musical canons of San Zeno participated in the composition of new chant.

'Medieval Music', Plainsong and Medieval Music Society sponsored session
Period3 Jan 2013
Event typeConference
LocationSouthampton, United KingdomShow on map

Keywords

  • Chant
  • Music
  • Medieval
  • Manuscripts
  • Liturgy