Aberystwyth, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru (National Library of Wales), 20541 E

Cantus Siglum

GB-AB 20541 E

Holding Institution

Aberystwyth, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru (National Library of Wales) (GB-AB)

Manuscript/Printed

Manuscript

Summary

Antiphoner (Sarum Use) prepared for a non-monastic church in Wales, probably in the diocese of St. David's. Mid-fourteenth century (ca. 1320-1390). Quadratic staff notation. Cathedral cursus. Several lacunae. 324 folios.

Liturgical Occasions

Ff. 1-157: Temporale. 1r, Christmas (sections in the beginning and middle are missing); 8v, Stephen; 20v, Thomas Becket; 28v, Hours of the Virgin; 32r, Epiphany; 40r, Ferial Office; 57r, Septuagesima (large section is missing); 79r, Passion Sunday (third week of Lent, fourth Sunday and week of Lent, and part of Passion Sunday are missing); 87r, Holy Thursday (beginning is missing); 95v, Easter; 120v, Pentecost; 131r, Corpus Christi (end is missing); 134r, Summer Histories (brief section of Kings missing); 150r, Sundays after Pentecost; 155v, Dedication of a Church (incomplete).
Ff. 158-176: Psalter with music (incomplete). 159v, Matins psalms and antiphons (end of Feria 6, Saturday); 165r, Second Vespers psalms and antiphons (Sunday to Saturday, part of Feriae 4-6 missing). 171v, Canticles and other texts.
Ff. 177-300: Sanctorale. 177r, Andrew; 187r, Fabian and Sebastian (lacuna after second nocturn of Matins); 189r, Agnes (fragmentary); 189v, Vincent; 197v, Purification (lacuna after Lauds); 202r, Agatha (fragmentary); 205r, Dewi (or David); lacuna; 209r, Annuntiation (partial Matins only); lacuna; 210r, Philip and James; 215r, John the Baptist (lacuna after part of Lauds); 218r, John and Paul; 219v, Peter and Paul (some of Matins missing in lacuna); 233v, Finding of Stephen (most of Matins lost in lacuna); 235r, Laurence; 258v, Feast of Relics; 262v, Matthew; 270v, Denis (Matins missing in lacuna); 272r, Virgin Martyrs of Cologne; 279r, All Souls' Day (Office for the Dead); 283v, Leonard of Noblac; 297r, Catherine of Alexandria.
Ff. 301-324: Commons (extremely fragmentary).

Description

One group of folios near the end of the manuscript is misbound. The correct order is as follows: 236, 238, 237, 240, 239, 241. In the index, these folios have been renumbered in order to restore the correct order of chants; sorting on the numbers in the "Marginalia" field will restore the misbound order of the folios in the manuscript. The ordering of these folios is also corrected in the facsimile reproduction of the Penpont Antiphoner. There is a detailed codicological analysis of the manuscript in the introduction to that work.

The numbering of the differentiae in this index follows that of the Sarum Tonale (published by Frere in The Use of Sarum). In it, as here, the tonus peregrinus is assigned to mode 8 differentia 5. Six of the differentiae in the "Penpont" antiphoner are indicated by pitches or neumations that are slightly different from those in the Sarum Tonale: these are 1.8, 2.2, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, and 4.2. In addition, two differentiae (4.9 and 7.7) that appear in the Sarum Tonale are lacking in the "Penpont" antiphoner. One differentia in "Penpont," 2.3, appears to be a variant of either 2.1 or 2.2, but it is impossible to determine which. This differentia is not in the Sarum Tonale.

Selected Bibliography

• Edwards, Owain Tudor. Matins, Lauds, and Vespers for St. David's Day. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1990.
• Frere, Walter Howard, ed. The Use of Sarum, II. The Ordinal and Tonale. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1901.
• National Library of Wales MS. 20541 E: The Penpont Antiphonal. With an Introduction by Owain Tudor Edwards. Publications of Mediaeval Musical Manuscripts, No. 22 (Facsimile Reproduction of the Manuscript). Ottawa: The Institute of Mediaeval Music, 1997.

Notes on the Inventory

The inventory for GB-AB 20541 E was prepared by Owain Tudor Edwards, Professor Emeritus (retired, 2008) of Music History at the Norwegian State Academy of Music, Oslo. It was revised and expanded at the Catholic University of America by Keith Glaeske, Charles Downey, and Lila Collamore.

Full/Partial Inventory

Full Inventory

Complete Source/Fragment

Complete source