Prague, Národní knihovna České republiky (National Library), XIV.B.13

Cantus Siglum

CZ-Pu XIV.B.13

Holding Institution

Prague, Národní knihovna České republiky (National Library) (CZ-Pu)

Manuscript/Printed

Manuscript

Summary

Antiphoner. First half of the fourteenth century. From the convent of Benedictine nuns at the monastery of St. George, Prague Castle. Gothic notation on a four-line staff with F- or C-clefs. F and C lines traced in red and yellow. Alternating red and blue initials. 159 parchment folios. This is the first of three volumes of the Office repertory (Advent to Easter). The Temporale and Sanctorale are separated by season.

Liturgical Occasions

Ff. 1v-158v: Winter Temporale and Sanctorale. 1v, first Sunday of Advent; 9r, Antiphonae Majores; 22v, Christmas; 28v, Stephen; 44r, Epiphany; 52v, Ferial Office; 58v, Nicholas; 62v, Lucy; 64r, Sebastian; 68r, Agnes; 71v, Conversion of Paul; 73r, Purification; 77r, Agatha; 80v, Scholastica; 83r, Walburga; 84r, Gregory; 88r, Benedict; 92v, Annunciation; 96v, Septuagesima; 108r, Ash Wednesday; 132r, Palm Sunday; 139r, Maundy Thursday; 145v, Holy Saturday; 148r, Matthew; 150r, Exaltation of the Cross; 155v, George.
Ff 159r-159v: Additamenta.

Description

It is quite clear that the monastery was under the influence of the Hirsau reform. See article by Janka Szendrei in bibliography; the comparison with south German sources, such as the Zwiefalten antiphoner (Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek - Musikabteilung, Aug. LX), seems to confirm it.
*It is problematic that this antiphoner contains almost no rubrics.* For example, the distribution of antiphons for the weekdays is not clear. It is evident, however, from the size of the initials that the chants are organized, and are not merely unstructured lists of items. The initials suggest a distribution of items for individual days of the week even when there are no explicit rubrics. Since the Office of the St. George monastery is well documented – it is one of the most numerous manuscript collections in Czech libraries – concordances have been located in two breviaries from the same époque: (See online images of these breviaries in the Manuscriptorium digital library: http://www.manuscriptorium.com/apps/main/en/index.php)
1. The breviary of Kunegunda of Kolovraty, a nun who commanded the manuscript between 1365 and 1385, shortly before she became abbess of the St. George Monastery. Shelfmark: Prague, Národní knihovna (National Library), XIII E 14a.
Click (as of 2012): http://www.manuscriptorium.com/apps/main/index.php?request=show_record_n...
2. Shelfmark: Prague, Národní knihovna (National Library), XIII C 1a
Click (as of 2012): http://www.manuscriptorium.com/apps/main/en/index.php?request=show_recor...
Comparison with these two breviaries has enabled interpretation of the St. George monastery antiphoner in some ambiguous situations.
The differentiae of each mode have been numbered with a two-digit system: an upper-case letter indicating the final pitch of the differentia and a sequentially-ordered numeral.

Selected Bibliography

Václav PLOCEK: Catalogus codicum notis musicis instructorum, qui in Bibliotheca publica rei publicae Bohemicae socialisticae in Bibliotheca universitatis Pragensis servantur I, Praha 1973.
Janka SZENDREI: Prager Quellen zum Hirsauer Choral, in: Cantus Planus, Sopron 1995, p. 555-571.

Notes on the Inventory

The index for CZ-Pu XIV B 13 was prepared by David Eben and his students Veronika Mráčková, Veronika Brambůrková, Jan Koláček, František Kolář, and Michal Turek at the Charles University, Prague. Proofreading by Pascale Duhamel (University of Western Ontario). Final editing by Debra Lacoste (University of Waterloo).

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