Cantus Database
Cantus is a database of chants and chant sources, including:
- medieval and early modern European manuscripts
- printed liturgical books
- fragmented leaves that have been removed from their original volumes
- sources of chant in both Latin and other languages that derive from the western, European tradition.
This searchable digital archive has source lists and descriptions, as well as inventories of the individual chants within sources with links to the Cantus Index chant research hub and, when available, links to online images of the original sources.
The Cantus Database is a part of the Cantus Index network of chant databases.
For our full catalogue of chants as well as access to the integrated network of partner databases, see Cantus Index (Central Hub for Chant Research).
Funding for the development and maintenance of the Cantus Database and Cantus Index is provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through the Partnership Grant (895-2023-1002) held by the Digital Analysis of Chant Transmission project administered at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia (Principal Investigator: Jennifer Bain). The Cantus Database website is hosted on the Digital Research Alliance of Canada. Access to the Cantus Database and Cantus Index is free, in accordance with the aims of the International Musicological Society’s Study Group Cantus Planus which include the exchange of data in electronic form.
Following the Tri-Agency Statement on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), the Cantus Database, while committed to excellence in research and research training, recognizes that achieving a more equitable, diverse and inclusive Canadian research enterprise is essential to creating the innovative and impactful research necessary to advance knowledge and understanding, and to respond to local, national and global challenges. The Cantus Database will work with those involved in the research system to develop the inclusive culture needed for research excellence and to achieve outcomes that are rigorous, relevant and accessible to diverse populations.