 |
|
Glorious
Antiphonal 13th century
Reproduced
with the kind permission of the State Library
of South Australia
|
Glorious
Antiphonal
13th century
This
magnificent thirteenth-century Antiphonal
originated in central Italy, possibly near Bologna.
It is written on vellum—animal skin which has
been stripped of its hair and put through a series
of processes to refine it to an even surface.
This
manuscript contains the text and music for the
sung responses in the church services of a central
Italian monastery celebrating the birth and life
of Christ from Christmas Eve to the end of the
feast of the Epiphany (January 13). This period
was part of the Church’s temporal cycle, which
determined the appropriate services for each day
to honour the life of Christ. It appears that
St Stephen was the patron saint of the monastery
in which the manuscript originated, and illustrated
here is the elaborate illuminated letter ‘S’ which
begins the first service for the feast of Saint
Stephen. The beginning of each service is marked
with an illuminated initial letter, painted in
lovely colours and gilded. The services were at
set hours of the day and night, and each had its
own name: Matins, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None,
Vespers and Compline. Instructions for these services
are to be found in red throughout the text, in
abbreviated Latin which is difficult for a contemporary
reader to understand.
This
manuscript is very large (57 x 39.5 centimetres).
The volume was meant to stand on a lectern so
that all members of the choir could see it and
sing from it together. The symbols for the music
pre-date the musical notes used today, and are
known as neumes. The Antiphonal was purchased
in 1945 for £77.10.0 (equivalent to AUD $155.00),
a considerable sum of money then, at the sale
of the library of Arthur Bryant Triggs, grazier
and antiquarian collector, from Yass, New South
Wales.
|