Graz, Universitätsbibliothek, 29 (olim 38/8 f.)

Cantus Siglum

A-Gu 29 (olim 38/8 f.)

Holding Institution

Graz, Universitätsbibliothek (A-Gu)

Manuscript/Printed

Manuscript

Summary

Fourteenth-century antiphoner in two volumes (with A-Gu 30) from the Abbey of Sankt Lambrecht (Steiermark, Austria). Monastic cursus. 382 and 376 fols.

Liturgical Occasions

Ff. 1v-199r: Winter Temporale. 1v, First Sunday of Advent; 32r, Great “O” Antiphons; 38r, Christmas; 55r, Epiphany; 65v, Ferial Office; 83v, Septuagesima; 97r, Ash Wednesday; 137v, Palm Sunday; 149r, Maundy Thursday; 168v, Tones for the Lamentations of Jeremiah during the Triduum; 187r, Polyphonic Settings of the Solemn Readings for Christmas.
Ff. 199v-308r: Winter Sanctorale. 199v, Agnes; 205r, Andrew; 221v, Stephen; 261v, Purification; 268r, Blaise; 285v, Gregory; 292v, Benedict; 299r, Annunciation.
Ff. 308v-352v: Common of Saints. Ff. 352v-363r: Office of the Dead. Ff. 363v-376v: Invitatory Tones. Ff. 377r-379r: Tonary. Ff. 379r-382r: Polyphonic Hymn Settings, Added Miscellanea.

Description

Differentiae are indicated in the margins of both A-Gu 29 and A-Gu 30 using the two-letter system (one letter for mode, one for differentia) found in Switzerland and some regions of Germany and Austria. These tonary letters are given in the differentia field of the indexed records. The Arabic numerals in the field for mode have been supplied by the Cantus staff on the basis of the tonary letters. A few unusual tonary letters in Graz 30 (34r, 36v, 38r, 50r, 120r, and 221r), which appear to be "m," have been interpreted instead as "w," that is, omega. The index does not distinguish between tonary letters in the original series and those that appear written over or in place of an earlier designation.

Some differentiae have been notated on the staff instead of, or in addition to, a tonary letter (for example, in Graz 29, 65v, 149r, 253v, 268r, 285r, and 344v). Such notated differentiae may or may not match those found in the tonary (Graz 29, ff. 377r-379r). No attempt has been made in the indexed records to indicate when differentiae are notated, even if they differ from what is implied by the tonary letter in the margin. Some antiphons without tonary letters include differentiae notated on the staff. When these could be matched to tonary letters through reference to the manuscript tonary, the appropriate letters have been supplied.

Ff. 199-204 in Graz 29 are the work of a different text hand inserted, out of liturgical order, before the Sanctorale section of the manuscript (Andrew, 205r). Therefore, the group of folios that precedes them (ff. 187-198, containing polyphonic settings of the Solemn Readings for Christmas) may also have been added to the manuscript at a later date, between the Temporale and Sanctorale sections. The hand of these folios containing polyphony, however, is more similar to the main body of the manuscript. The ends of both manuscripts appear to include a few folios appended at a later date.

The two volumes overlap in interesting ways. Although only slightly longer, Graz 29 contains some unusual items (tones for the Lamentations of Jeremiah, 168v; the Office of the Dead, 352v; the Invitatory Tones, 363v; the Tonary, 377r; Polyphonic Settings, 187r and 379r) which are not included in Graz 30. By contrast, Graz 30 contains the majority of the important occasions of the Sanctorale. Both manuscripts include the Commons, a fortunate duplication because a folio lost in the Common of Virgins in Graz 30 (between ff. 369 and 370) may be reconstructed from Graz 29, beginning on f. 346r.

The Commons in Graz 30 were probably copied from Graz 29, judging by the stray rubric (“In commemoratione animarum fidelium”) added by the copyist at the bottom of f. 374v. In Graz 29, this rubric precedes the Office of the Dead, after the Commons, which the scribe evidently copied into Graz 30 before deciding not to include that Office in the second volume. It is uncertain how much time may have elapsed between the production of the two volumes, but there are a few differences between the two versions of the Commons.

In addition, the end of the summer Sanctorale in Graz 30 (Saturninus, 324r; Andrew, 324v; Nicholas, 330v; the Octave of Andrew, 336v; and Damasus, 336v) overlaps the beginning of the Advent Sanctorale in Graz 29 (Andrew, 205r; Nicholas, 212r; the Octave of Andrew, 219r; and Damasus, 219r). Comparison of these sections of the two manuscripts reveals some interesting changes in the Abbey liturgy in the period between the production of the two volumes. The feast of Saturninus appears to have been added in this time; incipits for the Magnificat and Benedictus antiphons as found in Graz 30 (324r-v) have been added to Graz 29 in the top margin of f. 205r.
An antiphon intended for a procession after Lauds on St. Andrew’s Day (Graz 29, 211v) appears, by its absence from Graz 30 (330r), to have been removed from that function. The Benedictus antiphon selected for Damasus is different in Graz 29 and 30, although both are Common antiphons. The few minor variants which may be observed between versions of individual melodies in the two manuscripts (for example, the antiphon “Ambulans Jesus juxta mare”) suggest that the copyist of Graz 30 may have worked at least in part from memory rather than slavishly copying melodies from Graz 29 into Graz 30.

The Polyphony in Graz, Universitätsbibliothek, 29 and 30

Graz 29 and 30 present the solemn record of a highly developed body of music for the Office as it was celebrated at the Austrian monastery of Sankt Lambrecht. Among the important aspects of the abbey’s musical sophistication, the large number of polyphonic pieces is perhaps the most obvious. Two thirds of this important repertory--approximately sixty hymns, conductus, responsory verses and doxologies--has already been indexed in Gilbert Reaney, ed., Repertoire International des Sources Musicales, series B, no. 4, Manuscripts of Polyphonic Music (c. 1320- 1400) (Munich: G. Henle Verlag, 1969), 2: 327-333. These items are listed in Tables I & II. The other polyphonic settings in Graz 29 and Graz 30 have remained unknown. The opportunity afforded to CANTUS in compiling complete indices of these two manuscripts has made it possible to remedy this problem. Tables III & IV list all polyphony--responsory verses and doxologies--not indexed by RISM.

TABLE I

Polyphonic Items in GRAZ 29 Catalogued in RISM
Folio	#	FeastName	Genre	Incipit
187r	01	Nativitas Domini	M	Gaudens in domino in hoc
187v	01	Nativitas Domini	M	Jube domne silentium fieri
187v	02	Nativitas Domini	L	Primo tempore alleviata est
189v	03	Nativitas Domini	M	Jube domne silentium fieri
190r	01	Nativitas Domini	L	Primo tempore alleviata est
192r	02	Nativitas Domini	M	Jube domne benedicere
192r	03	Nativitas Domini	L	Consolamini consolamini
194v	01	Nativitas Domini	M	Jube domne silentium fieri
194v	02	Nativitas Domini	L	Consurge consurge induere
197r	03	Nativitas Domini	M	Jube domne silentium fieri
197r	04	Nativitas Domini	L	Salvator noster dilectissimi
202v	01	Agnetis	V	Gloria patri et filio et
203r	01	Agnetis	V	Gloria patri et filio et
289v	01	Gregorii	V	A domino factum est istud et
289v	02	Gregorii	V	Gloria patri et filio et
291r	02	Gregorii	V	Memor esto congregationis
291r	03	Gregorii	V	Gloria patri et filio et
293v	01	Benedicti	V	Gloria patri et filio et
293v	02	Benedicti	I	Ut Christo celebri jubilemus [Intonation only]
297r	01	Benedicti	V	Per te ducem clarissimum ut
297r	02	Benedicti	V	Gloria patri et filio et
301r	01	Annuntiatio Mariae	V	O sancta et benedicta o
301v	01	Annuntiatio Mariae	V	Gloria patri et filio et
303v	01	Annuntiatio Mariae	V	Quoniam peccatorum mole
303v	02	Annuntiatio Mariae	V	Gloria patri et filio et
305v	01	Annuntiatio Mariae	V	Gloria patri parilique proli
379r	01	Hymni	H	Te lucis ante terminum rerum
379r	02	Hymni	H	Te lucis ante terminum rerum
379v	01	Hymni	H	Te lucis ante terminum rerum
379v	02	Hymni	H	Te lucis ante terminum rerum

TABLE II

Polyphonic Items in GRAZ 30 Catalogued in RISM
Folio	#	FeastName	Genre	Incipit
108r	02	In Dedicatione Eccl.	V	Vidit Jacob in somnis scalam
108v	01	In Dedicatione Eccl.	V	Gloria patri et filio et
112r	02	In Dedicatione Eccl.	V	Gloria patri et filio et
172r	01	Transl. Benedicti	V	Per te ducem clarissimum ut
172r	02	Transl. Benedicti	V	Gloria patri et filio et
228v	01	Assumptio Mariae	R	Quae est ista quae ascendit
229r	01	Assumptio Mariae	V	Gloria patri et filio et
229v	01	Assumptio Mariae	V	Gloria patri et filio et
229v	02	Assumptio Mariae	V	Gloria patri et filio et

TABLE III

Polyphonic Items in GRAZ 29 Not Catalogued in RISM
Folio	#	FeastName	Genre	Incipit
037v	04	Vigilia Nat. Domini	V	Constantes estote videbitis
037v	05	Vigilia Nat. Domini	V	Gloria patri et filio et
202r	08	Agnetis	V	Sponsa Christi a Christo
202v	08	Agnetis	V	Per quem facta sunt omnia
293r	02	Benedicti	V	Inter choros confessorum
305r	02	Annuntiatio Mariae	V	Odor tuus super cuncta

TABLE IV

Polyphonic Items in GRAZ 30 Not Catalogued in RISM
Folio	#	FeastName	Genre	Incipit
112r	01	In Dedicatione Eccl.	V	Conserva domine in ea
228v	02	Assumptio Mariae	V	Ista est speciosa inter
229r	02	Assumptio Mariae	V	Ista est speciosa inter
229v	02	Assumptio Mariae	V	Quae est ista quae ascendit
247r	03	Nativitas Mariae	V	Cernere divinum lumen gaudete
247r	04	Nativitas Mariae	V	Gloria patri et filio et
249v	04	Nativitas Mariae	V	Ut vitium virtus operiret
249v	05	Nativitas Mariae	V	Gloria patri et filio et
333v	04	Nicolai	V	Gloria patri et filio et
334r	03	Nicolai	V	Ut apud Christum ejus
349r	03	Comm. plur. Mart.	V	Tradiderunt corpora sua propter
349r	04	Comm. plur. Mart.	V	Gloria patri et filio et
356v	05	Comm. unius Mart.	V	Gloria patri et filio et
357r	02	Comm. unius Mart.	V	Immortalis est enim memoria
365r	01	Comm. un. Conf.Epi.	V	Vigilate ergo quia nescitis
365r	02	Comm. un. Conf.Epi.	V	Gloria patri et filio et
372r	05	Comm. Virginum	V	Eructavit cor meum verbum
372v	01	Comm. Virginum	V	Gloria patri et filio et

The polyphonic item in Graz 29 “Constantes estote videbitis” was added by a later hand in the lower margin of f. 37v, where the original monophonic melodies of both verse and doxology found in the main body of the page reappear with discant voices added to them. Four small staves have been added to accommodate this musical material. This item may have been excluded from the list of polyphonic items in RISM because it was a later addition to the manuscript; yet the verse “Per te ducem” for Benedict’s Translation [Graz 30, 172r] was included there even though its polyphonic version appears on an added half-folio inserted into the manuscript.

In Graz 30 the polyphony not listed in RISM is disguised by the fact that the added voices were written in the lower margin of the page rather than next to the chants. The discants for the two verses for the Nativity of Mary [247r, 249r] were added in the lower margin in a text hand and musical notation similar to those of the original body of the manuscript. In the remaining five added discants, the text hand is similar to that of the original script but the staff notation is of a later type. In all five cases, the voice added to the doxology was notated in the lower margin of the preceding folio. In two cases [334r, 357r] doxologies with discant were added on two staves for responsories that did not originally include doxologies.

There is some consistency in the liturgical assignment of responsory verses for which polyphony is supplied. With one exception, each of the final responsories for Matins in the Commons of Graz 30 has a polyphonic verse; the exception is the Common of Apostles. (The Commons in Graz 29, in most respects quite similar to those of Graz 30, lack the added voice parts.) The non-standard verse melodies are the same in both manuscripts [in Graz 29, “Tradiderunt,” 322v; “Immortalis,” 332r; “Vigilate,” 340v; “Eructavit,” 350r]. Actually, the verse “Tradiderunt” is set to both non-standard and standard verse formulae in both manuscripts.

A single musical style is common to all Sankt Lambrecht polyphony, both for those items included in the main body of the manuscript and the marginal items. A cantor familiar with the rules for producing this type of discant might have been able to improvise an accompaniment to a familiar melody, much as fauxbourdon was used to ornament a single line. In fact, the marginal discants in both manuscripts may be the results of--or plans for--such improvisations. The fact that not all responsories include polyphonic intonations for the respond after the verse may reflect the relative ease with which a cantor could have improvised the discant part.

The polyphonic musical style in these manuscripts is primarily homophonic with the discant matching the original melody neume for neume. This is true of the simplest items (such as the second “Jube domne silentium,” Graz 29, 189v, which is basically an ornamented recitation tone) as well as more melismatic pieces (such as “Per te ducem,” Graz 29, 297r, or Graz 30, 172r). A single pitch is occasionally held for the duration of several pitches in the opposite voice (see the first “Jube domne silentium,” Graz 29, 187v, the final neume of each strophe). Furthermore, this single pitch may be notated either as several repeated puncta or as a long (compare in the same piece the ending of the first and second strophes).

The discant voice stays most commonly at the interval of a perfect fifth and progresses in parallel motion with the chant. In order to preserve the perfect fifth, E-flats are usually notated in the accompanying part when B-flats occur in the principal voice. In cases where there is contrary motion, perfect intervals (unison, fifth, octave, and the occasional fourth) are strictly maintained between the two voices. An exception is the occasional third that results from contrary motion in passing from a fifth to a unison, or vice versa. This rigorous maintenance of certain intervals occasionally produces discant lines that are rather disjunct (such as the opening of the discant for the verse “Inter choros confessorum” for Benedict, Graz 29, 293r).

When other Austrian manuscripts are examined, the Sankt Lambrecht polyphony proves even more interesting. All responsory verses set polyphonically in Graz 29 and 30 involve non-standard melodies. Comparison of indices in the Cantus database facilitates the study of these melodies, which are often part of numerical series (such as in the late Offices for Benedict or Gregory). Rather than being modal formulae, as are standard responsory verses, these melodies are individual compositions transmitted from source to source with few changes. Most of these special melodies have a rather wide geographical distribution, and many appear in the other Austrian sources indexed by Cantus--Vorau 287 (from Salzburg) and Klosterneuburg 1017 and 1018 (from Klosterneuburg). The melodies for Commons responsory verses also appear in the Commons of both other sources either in Vespers or as supplemental Matins responsories. The musicians of Sankt Lambrecht sought to elaborate these special melodies even further by adding discant voices. The fourth melody for the hymn “Te lucis ante terminum” [Graz 29, 379v] has also been added to Vorau 287 for hymn texts for the feast of the Immaculate Conception (“Maria mater domini aeterni” and “Maria virgo regia ex stirpe,” 311v) and for Anne (“Assunt Annae sollemnia,” 319r). The discant lines, however, appear to be unique to Sankt Lambrecht.

Selected Bibliography

• Downey, Charles and Glaeske, Keith. “The Music and Text of the Lamentations: A Comparison of Cambrai XVI C 4 and Graz 29,” Medieval Perspectives 10 (1995): 86-100.
• Haggh, Barbara. Two Offices for St Elizabeth of Hungary: Introduction and Edition. Musicological Studies LXV/1. Ottawa: Institute of Mediaeval Music, 1995.
• Heckenbach, Willibrord. “Das mittelalterlichen Reimoffizium ‘Praeclarum late’ zu den Festen das Heiligen Benedict.” In Itinera Domini: Festschrift fuer Emmanuel von Severus OSB zum 80. Geburtstag, 189-210. Münster: Aschendorff, 1988.
• Reaney, Gilbert. Répetoire International des Sources Musicales: Manuscripts of Polyphonic Music (c. 1320-1400), pp. 327-333. Series B IV 2. München: G. Henle, 1969.

Notes on the Inventory

The inventory for A-Gu 29 was prepared at the Catholic University of America by Charles Downey and Keith Glaeske. Essays by Charles Downey (c.1995), edited by Debra Lacoste (2005, 2015).

Full Texts Entered by

Marta Borowska

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