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{{short description|13th collection of music}}
{{short description|13th collection of music}}

{{italic title}}
{{Infobox book
{{Infobox book
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| website = {{url|https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/sing_polyphony/2}}
| website = {{url|https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/sing_polyphony/2}}
}}
}}
The '''''Magnus Liber''''' or '''''Magnus Liber Organi''''' (Latin for "Great Book of Organum") contained a repertory of [[medieval music]] known as [[organum]] in use by the Parisian [[School of Notre Dame]] around the turn of the 12th & 13th centuries and is known from references to a ''"magnum volumen"'' by [[Johannes de Garlandia (music theorist)|Johannes de Garlandia]] and to a ''"Magnus liber organi de graduali et antiphonario pro servitio divino"'' by the [[England|English]] music theorist known simply as [[Anonymous IV]].{{sfn|Roesner|2001}} Today it is known only from later manuscripts containing pieces named in Anonymous IV's description.
The '''''Magnus Liber''''' or '''''Magnus liber organi''''' (English translation: '''''Great Book of Organum'''''), written in [[Latin]], is a repertory of [[medieval music]] known as [[organum]]. This collection of organum survives today in three major manuscripts. This repertoire was in use by the [[Notre-Dame school]] composers working in [[Paris]] around the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth centuries, though it is well agreed upon by scholars that [[Leonin]] contributed a bulk of the organum in the repertoire. This large body of repertoire is known from references to a ''"magnum volumen"'' by [[Johannes de Garlandia (music theorist)|Johannes de Garlandia]] and to a ''"Magnus liber organi de graduali et antiphonario pro servitio divino"'' by the [[England|English]] music theorist known as [[Anonymous IV]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Baltzer|first=Rebecca A.|date=1987-07-01|title=Notre Dame Manuscripts and Their Owners: Lost and Found|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/jm/article-abstract/5/3/380/63711/Notre-Dame-Manuscripts-and-Their-Owners-Lost-and?redirectedFrom=fulltext|journal=Journal of Musicology|language=en|volume=5|issue=3|pages=380–399|doi=10.2307/763698|jstor=763698|issn=0277-9269}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Roesner|first=Edward H.|title=Who 'Made' the Magnus Liber? |date=September 2001|url=http://www.journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0261127901001061|journal=Early Music History|language=en|volume=20|doi=10.1017/S0261127901001061|s2cid=190695312|issn=0261-1279}}</ref> Today it is known only from later manuscripts containing compositions named in Anonymous IV's description. The ''Magnus Liber'' is regarded as one of the earliest collections of polyphony.


== History ==
== Surviving Manuscripts ==
The ''Magnus Liber organi'' most likely to have originated in Paris and is known today from only a few surviving manuscripts and fragments, and there are records of at least seventeen lost versions.<ref name=":0" /> Today its contents can be inferred from the three surviving major manuscripts:


* '''Florence Manuscript [F]''' (I-Fl [[Pluteo 29.1]], [[Laurentian Library|Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence]] ) 1,023 compositions | 1250 A.D.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Wright, Craig M.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/18521286|title=Music and ceremony at Notre Dame of Paris, 500-1550|date=1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-24492-7|location=Cambridge [England]|oclc=18521286}}</ref>
Although little is known of the [[provenance]] of the ''Magnus liber organi'', it is considered most likely to have originated in Paris, and is known today by only a few surviving manuscripts and fragments, although there are records of at least seventeen lost versions.{{sfn|Baltzer|1987}}{{sfn|Husmann|Reaney|1963}}. The ''Liber'' is supposed to have been created by [[Léonin]] (1135–c.1200) and revised by [[Pérotin]] (fl. 1200) and contained compositions attributed to each. Today its contents can be inferred from the 3 surviving major manuscripts. The most complete is commonly known as F (I-Fl [[Pluteo 29.1]], [[Laurentian Library|Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence]], which first appeared in the library of [[Piero di Cosimo de' Medici|Piero de' Medici]] by 1456.{{sfn|Baltzer|1987}} Of the two others, referred to as W1 & W2 (Wolfenbüttel Cod. Guelf. Helmst. 677 & 1099), both in the [[Herzog August Library|Herzog August Bibliothek (Ducal Library)]],{{sfn|Yudkin|2005}} the first is thought to have originated in the cathedral priory of St Andrews, Scotland.{{sfn|Baltzer|1987}} The Ma fragment (Madrid 20486) is, believed to be originally from Toledo.{{sfn|Tischler|1984}}{{sfn|Hoppin|1978}} Catalogues referring to other lost copies attest to the wide diffusion through Western Europe of the repertoire later called ''[[ars antiqua]]''.{{sfn|Roesner|2001a}}
* '''Wolfenbüttel 677 [W1]''' (Wolfenbüttel Cod. Guelf. 628 Helmst.) Saint Andrews, Scotland | 1250 A.D.<ref name=":1" />
* '''Wolfenbüttel 1099 [W2]''' (Wolfenbüttel Cod. Guelf. 1099 Helmst.) French manuscript | after 1250 A.D.<ref name=":1" />


These three manuscripts date from later than the original ''Magnus Liber,'' but careful study has revealed many details regarding origin and development.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Norman E.|date=January 1973|title=Interrelationships among the Graduals of the Magnus Liber Organi|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/932223|journal=Acta Musicologica|volume=45|issue=1|pages=73–97|doi=10.2307/932223|jstor=932223}}</ref> "Evidence of lost Notre Dame manuscripts, including the names of their owners, is plentiful indeed",<ref name=":0" /> tracing back to year 1456 when manuscript '''F''' first appeared in the library of [[Piero di Cosimo de' Medici|Piero de' Medici]]. Of the two others, referred to as '''W1''' & '''W2''', both in the [[Herzog August Library|Herzog August Bibliothek (Ducal Library)]], the first is thought to have originated in the cathedral [[priory]] of St Andrews, Scotland, and less is known about '''W2.''' Catalogues referring to other lost copies attest to the wide diffusion through Western Europe of the repertoire later called ''[[ars antiqua]]''.
The music from the ''Liber'' has been published in modern times by [[William Waite]] (1954){{sfn|Waite|1954}}, [[Hans Tischler]] (1989){{sfn|Tischler|1989}} and by [[Edward Roesner]] (1993–2009).{{sfn|Roesner|1993}}


Heinrich Husmann summarizes that "these manuscripts, then, do not represent any more the original state of the ''Magnus Liber,'' but rather enlarged forms of it, differing from each other. In fact, these manuscripts embody different stylistic developments of the ''Magnus Liber'' itself, particularly in the field of composition mentioned by Anonymous IV, the [[Clausula (music)|clausula]]. This is born out by the differing versions of the discantus parts".<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Husmann|first1=Heinrich|last2=Briner|first2=Andres P.|date=1963-07-01|title=The Enlargement of the Magnus liber organi and the Paris Churches St. Germain l'Auxerrois and Ste. Geneviève-du-Mont|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/jams/article/16/2/176/48319/The-Enlargement-of-the-Magnus-liber-organi-and-the|journal=Journal of the American Musicological Society|language=en|volume=16|issue=2|pages=176–203|doi=10.2307/829940|jstor=829940|issn=0003-0139}}</ref>  Husmann also notes that a comparison of the repertory contained in the three manuscripts shows there "are a great many pieces common to all three sources" and that "the most reasonable attitude is obviously to consider the pieces in common to all three sources as the original body, consequently as the true ''Magnus Liber organi".''<ref name=":2" />
== Music at Notre-Dame ==
⚫
[[File:Magnus Liber Organi.jpg|thumb|upright|Folio 8 of MS F|alt=Illustration from the Magnus liber organi]]
⚫
The [[early music]] repertoire of repertory of Notre Dame cathedral represents one of the highlights of Western culture, coinciding with the architectural innovation that produced the structure itself, from the beginning of its construction in 1163. A handful of surviving manuscripts demonstrate the evolution of polyphonic elaboration of the liturgical [[plainchant]] that was used at the cathedral every day throughout the year. While the concept of combining voices in harmony to enrich plainsong chant, was not new, there lacked the musical theory to enable the rational construction of such pieces.{{sfn|Yudkin|2005}}


== Contributors to the Liber ==
The innovations at Notre Dame consisted of patterns of short and long [[musical notes]] and the system of [[musical notation]] for directing the duration of the notes in writing. This is attributed to Léonin, who is considered to have been a distinguished poet, scholar, musician and cathedral administrator.{{sfn|Yudkin|2005}}
It is unknown whether the ''Magnus'' ''Liber'' had one sole contributor, though it is noted by scholars that large parts were composed by [[Léonin]] (1135–c.1200) and this conclusion is drawn from the writings of Anonymous IV.<ref name=":1" />  Though it is a controversial topic among scholars, some believe parts of the ''Magnus Liber organi'' may have been revised by [[Pérotin]] (fl. 1200), while others such as Heinrich Husmann note that the finding is from 'the rather slim report of Anonymous IV' and that 'as for its connections with Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the name of Pérotin alone is adduced' in connection with his books having only been ''used''. This 'by no means confirms that Pérotin himself was active at Notre Dame, or anywhere else in Paris for that matter'.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Husmann|first=Heinrich|title=The Origin and Destination of the Magnus Liber Organi|date=1963|url=https://academic.oup.com/mq/article-lookup/doi/10.1093/mq/XLIX.3.311|journal=The Musical Quarterly|language=en|volume=XLIX|issue=3|pages=311–330|doi=10.1093/mq/XLIX.3.311|issn=0027-4631}}</ref>


The music from the ''Liber'' has been published in modern times by [[William Waite]] (1954),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Waite|first=William G.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/622500|title=The rhythm of twelfth-century polyphony : its theory and practice|date=1973|orig-date=1954|publisher=Greenwood Press|others=Léonin|isbn=0-8371-6815-5|location=Westport, Conn.|oclc=622500}}</ref> [[Hans Tischler]] (1989),<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tischler|first=Hans|date=July 1977|title=The Structure of Notre-Dame Organa|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/932589|journal=Acta Musicologica|volume=49|issue=2|pages=193–199|doi=10.2307/932589|jstor=932589}}</ref>  and by Edward Roesner (1993–2009).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/17699186|title=Le Magnus liber organi de Notre-Dame de Paris|date=1993|publisher=Editions de l'Oiseau-Lyre|others=Roesner, Edward H.|isbn=2-87855-000-5|location=Monaco|oclc=17699186}}</ref>
The ''Magnus Liber'' represents a step in the evolution of [[Classical music|Western music]] between [[plainchant]] and the intricate [[polyphony]] of the later 13th and 14th centuries (see [[Guillaume de Machaut|Machaut]] and [[Ars Nova]]).{{sfn|Cedarville|2018}} The music of the ''Magnus Liber'' displays a connection to the emerging [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style of architecture; just as ornate [[cathedral]]s were built to house holy [[relic]]s, organa were written to elaborate [[Gregorian chant]], which too was considered holy. One voice sang the notes of the Gregorian chant elongated to enormous length (called the tenor, which comes from the Latin for "to hold"); this voice, known as the ''vox principalis'', held the chant, although the words were obscured by the length of notes. One, two, or three voices, known as the ''vox organalis'' (or ''vinnola vox'', the "vining voice") were notated above it with quicker lines moving and weaving together. The evolution from a [[Single-line (music)|single line]] of music to one where multiple lines all had the same weight moved through the writing of organa. The practice of keeping a slow moving "tenor" line continued into secular music, and the words of the original chant survived in some cases, as well. One of the most common types of organa in the ''Magnus Liber'' is the [[Clausula (music)|clausula]], which are sections of polyphony that can be substituted into longer organa. The extant manuscripts provide a number of notational challenges to modern practice, since they contain only the polyphonic elements, from which the chant has to be inferred.{{sfn|Yudkin|2005}}


== Styles and Genres of the Repertoire ==
The music of the ''Magnus Liber'' was used in the [[liturgy]] of the church throughout the feasts of the church year. The text contains only the polyphonic lines and the notation is not exact, as barlines were still several centuries from invention. The chant was added to the notated music, and it was up to the performers to fit the disparate lines together into a coherent whole. But the fact that the music was even written down is a fairly new development in the history of Western music.{{sfn|Cedarville|2018}}
⚫
[[File:Magnus Liber Organi.jpg|thumb|Folio 8 of manuscript F]]


⚫
The [[early music]] of Notre Dame cathedral represents a transitional time for Western culture. This time of change coincided with the architectural innovation that produced the structure of the Cathedral itself (earliest start of construction in 1163). A handful of surviving manuscripts demonstrate the evolution of [[Polyphony|polyphonic]] elaboration of the liturgical [[plainchant]] that was used at the cathedral every day throughout the year. While the concept of combining voices in harmony to enrich plainsong chant was not new, there lacked the established and codified [[Music theory|musical theory]] techniques to enable the rational construction of such pieces.
⚫
== References ==
⚫
{{Reflist|20em}}


The ''Magnus Liber'' represents a step in the development of [[Classical music|Western music]] between [[plainchant]] and the intricate [[polyphony]] of the later thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (see [[Guillaume de Machaut|Machaut]] and [[Ars Nova]]). The music of the ''Magnus Liber'' displays a connection to the emerging [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] style of architecture; just as ornate [[cathedral]]s were built to house holy [[relic]]s, organa were written to elaborate [[Gregorian chant]], which too was considered holy.
== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin|30em}}


The innovations at Notre Dame consisted of a system of [[musical notation]] which included patterns of short and long [[musical notes]] known as longs and [[Double whole note|breves]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Magnus liber|url=https://publications.cedarville.edu/bhg/sing_to_the_lord/magnus_liber/|access-date=2020-12-09|website=publications.cedarville.edu}}</ref> This system is referred to as mensural music as it demonstrates the beginning of "measured time" in music, organizing lengths of pitches within plainchant and later, the [[motet]] genre. In the organi of the ''Magnus Liber,'' one voice sang the notes of the Gregorian chant elongated to enormous length called the tenor (from Latin 'to hold'), but was also known as the ''vox principalis.'' As many as three voices, known as the ''vox organalis'' (or ''vinnola vox'', the "vining voice") were notated above the tenor, with quicker lines moving and weaving together, a style also known as ''florid organum''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bradley|first=Catherine A.|date=2019|title=Choosing a Thirteenth-Century Motet Tenor: From the Magnus liber organi to Adam de la Halle|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/jams.2019.72.2.431|journal=Journal of the American Musicological Society|volume=72|issue=2|pages=431–492|doi=10.1525/jams.2019.72.2.431|issn=0003-0139|hdl=10852/76335|s2cid=202522259 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> The development from a single line of music ([[monophony]]) to one where multiple lines all carried the same weight ([[polyphony]]) is shown through the writing of organa. The practice of keeping a slow moving "tenor" line continued into secular music, and the words of the original chant survived in some cases as well. One of the most common genres in the ''Magnus Liber'' is the [[Clausula (music)|clausula]], which are "sections where, in [[discant]] style, the tenor uses rhythmic patterns as well as the upper part".<ref name=":2"/> These sections of polyphony were substituted into longer organa. The extant manuscripts provide a number of notational challenges for modern editors since they contain only the polyphonic sections to which the monophonic chant must be added.
=== Articles and books ===


⚫
== References ==
* {{cite journal |last1=Baltzer |first1=Rebecca A. |title=Notre Dame Manuscripts and Their Owners: Lost and Found |journal=[[The Journal of Musicology]] |date=July 1987 |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=380–399 |doi=10.2307/763698|jstor=63698|ref=harv}}
⚫
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite book|last=Bonds|first=Mark Evan|title=A History of Music in Western Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h9UXAQAAIAAJ|date=2009|publisher=[[Prentice Hall]]|location=New Jersey|edition=3rd|isbn=978-0-205-64531-2|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Flotzinger|first=Rudolf|authorlink=:de:Rudolf Flotzinger|title=Leoninus musicus und der Magnus liber organi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hmsXAQAAIAAJ|year=2003|publisher=[[Bärenreiter]]|isbn=978-3-7618-1736-0|language=de}}
* {{cite book|last=Hoppin|first=Richard H.|title=Medieval Music|publisher=W. W. Norton & Co.|date=1978|isbn=0393090906|ref=harv}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Husmann |first1=Heinrich |last2=Reaney |first2=Gilbert (trans.)|authorlink1=:de:Heinrich Husmann| title=The Origin and Destination of the "Magnus liber organi" |journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]] |date=July 1963 |volume=49 |issue=3 |pages=311-330 |jstor=740561|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Roesner|editor-first=Edward H.|title=Le Magnus Liber Organi de Notre-Dame de Paris 7 vols.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BFUzngEACAAJ|publisher=[[ l'Oiseau-Lyre|Éd. de l'Oiseau-Lyre]]|isbn=978-2-87855-000-9|date=1993|ref=harv}} see [https://finearts-music.unimelb.edu.au/about/publications/editions-de-loiseau-lyre/medieval/magnus-liber-organi details]
** {{cite journal |last1=Yudkin |first1=Jeremy |title=Riches of organum: Le magnus liber organi de Notre-Dame de Paris |journal=[[Early Music (journal)|Early Music]] |date=November 2005 |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=708–710 |type=Review|doi=10.1093/em/cah165|ref=harv}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Roesner |first1=E. H. |authormask=1|title=Who 'made' the Magnus liber? |journal=[[Early Music History |Early Music History]] |date=2001 |volume=20 |pages=227-266|jstor=853793 |ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|editor-last=Roesner|editor-first=Edward H.|editormask=1|title=Ars antiqua: Organum, Conductus, Motet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzArDwAAQBAJ|date= 2009|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|isbn=978-1-351-57583-6}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Tischler |first1=Hans |authorlink=Hans Tischler|title=The Evolution of the "Magnus Liber Organi" |journal=[[The Musical Quarterly]] |date=Spring 1984 |volume=70 |issue=2 |pages=163-174 |jstor=742208|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Tischler|first=Hans|authormask=1|title=The Parisian Two-part Organa: The Complete Comparative Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eZB_aKwvvWkC|date=1989|publisher=[[Pendragon Press]]|isbn=978-0-918728-89-0|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book|last=Waite|first=William G.|authorlink=William Waite|title=The Rhythm of Twelfth-Century Polyphony: Its Theory and Practice|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_V4XAQAAIAAJ|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven|date=1954|ref=harv}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Kallan |title=The Magnus Liber Organi: An Annotated Bibliography |journal=Music Reference Services Quarterly |date=August 2008 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=37–65 |doi=10.1080/10588160802157173|ref=harv}}


=== Websites ===
==Further reading==
* {{cite journal|last= Chew|first= Geoffrey|author-link= Geoffrey Chew (musicologist)|title= A ''Magnus Liber Organi'' Fragment at Aberdeen |journal= [[Journal of the American Musicological Society]]|volume=31|issue=2|pages=326–343|date= Summer 1978|doi= 10.2307/831000|jstor= 831000}}


⚫
{{Ars antiqua|state=open}}
* {{cite web |title=Magnus Liber Organi circa 1250 |url=https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/sing_polyphony/2/ |website=Early Polyphony |publisher=Centennial Library, [[Cedarville University]] |accessdate=29 January 2019 |location=Cedarville, Ohio |date=2018|ref={{harvid|Cedarville|2018}}}} includes access to complete text
{{Medieval music manuscript sources}}
* {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Roesner |first1=Edward |authormask=|title= Magnus liber (Lat.: ‘great book’)|date=2001a|website=Oxford Music Online: [[Grove Music Online]] |publisher=[[OUP]] |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.17458|ref=harv }} (subscription access)
* {{cite web |title=Magnus Liber Organi |url=https://imslp.org/wiki/Magnus_Liber_Organi_(Various) |publisher=[[IMSLP]] |accessdate=1 February 2019}} (includes scores and detailed contents of I-Fl MS Pluteus 29.1)
{{refend}}


⚫
{{Ars antiqua}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Medieval music manuscript sources]]
[[Category:Medieval music manuscript sources]]
[[Category:Ars antiqua]]
[[Category:13th-century books in Latin]]

Latest revision as of 12:38, 8 April 2024

Magnus Liber Organi
Illustration at beginning of manuscript F of the Magnus liber
MS F
AuthorAnonymous
LanguageLatin
SubjectMusical score
Published13th century
Publication placeFrance
Websitedigitalcommons.cedarville.edu/sing_polyphony/2

The Magnus Liber or Magnus liber organi (English translation: Great Book of Organum), written in Latin, is a repertory of medieval music known as organum. This collection of organum survives today in three major manuscripts. This repertoire was in use by the Notre-Dame school composers working in Paris around the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth centuries, though it is well agreed upon by scholars that Leonin contributed a bulk of the organum in the repertoire. This large body of repertoire is known from references to a "magnum volumen" by Johannes de Garlandia and to a "Magnus liber organi de graduali et antiphonario pro servitio divino" by the English music theorist known as Anonymous IV.[1][2] Today it is known only from later manuscripts containing compositions named in Anonymous IV's description. The Magnus Liber is regarded as one of the earliest collections of polyphony.

Surviving Manuscripts

[edit]

The Magnus Liber organi most likely to have originated in Paris and is known today from only a few surviving manuscripts and fragments, and there are records of at least seventeen lost versions.[1] Today its contents can be inferred from the three surviving major manuscripts:

  • Florence Manuscript [F] (I-Fl Pluteo 29.1, Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence ) 1,023 compositions | 1250 A.D.[3]
  • Wolfenbüttel 677 [W1] (Wolfenbüttel Cod. Guelf. 628 Helmst.) Saint Andrews, Scotland | 1250 A.D.[3]
  • Wolfenbüttel 1099 [W2] (Wolfenbüttel Cod. Guelf. 1099 Helmst.) French manuscript | after 1250 A.D.[3]

These three manuscripts date from later than the original Magnus Liber, but careful study has revealed many details regarding origin and development.[4] "Evidence of lost Notre Dame manuscripts, including the names of their owners, is plentiful indeed",[1] tracing back to year 1456 when manuscript F first appeared in the library of Piero de' Medici. Of the two others, referred to as W1 & W2, both in the Herzog August Bibliothek (Ducal Library), the first is thought to have originated in the cathedral priory of St Andrews, Scotland, and less is known about W2. Catalogues referring to other lost copies attest to the wide diffusion through Western Europe of the repertoire later called ars antiqua.

Heinrich Husmann summarizes that "these manuscripts, then, do not represent any more the original state of the Magnus Liber, but rather enlarged forms of it, differing from each other. In fact, these manuscripts embody different stylistic developments of the Magnus Liber itself, particularly in the field of composition mentioned by Anonymous IV, the clausula. This is born out by the differing versions of the discantus parts".[5]  Husmann also notes that a comparison of the repertory contained in the three manuscripts shows there "are a great many pieces common to all three sources" and that "the most reasonable attitude is obviously to consider the pieces in common to all three sources as the original body, consequently as the true Magnus Liber organi".[5]

Contributors to the Liber

[edit]

It is unknown whether the Magnus Liber had one sole contributor, though it is noted by scholars that large parts were composed by Léonin (1135–c.1200) and this conclusion is drawn from the writings of Anonymous IV.[3]  Though it is a controversial topic among scholars, some believe parts of the Magnus Liber organi may have been revised by Pérotin (fl. 1200), while others such as Heinrich Husmann note that the finding is from 'the rather slim report of Anonymous IV' and that 'as for its connections with Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the name of Pérotin alone is adduced' in connection with his books having only been used. This 'by no means confirms that Pérotin himself was active at Notre Dame, or anywhere else in Paris for that matter'.[6]

The music from the Liber has been published in modern times by William Waite (1954),[7] Hans Tischler (1989),[8]  and by Edward Roesner (1993–2009).[9]

Styles and Genres of the Repertoire

[edit]
Folio 8 of manuscript F

The early music of Notre Dame cathedral represents a transitional time for Western culture. This time of change coincided with the architectural innovation that produced the structure of the Cathedral itself (earliest start of construction in 1163). A handful of surviving manuscripts demonstrate the evolution of polyphonic elaboration of the liturgical plainchant that was used at the cathedral every day throughout the year. While the concept of combining voices in harmony to enrich plainsong chant was not new, there lacked the established and codified musical theory techniques to enable the rational construction of such pieces.

The Magnus Liber represents a step in the development of Western music between plainchant and the intricate polyphony of the later thirteenth and fourteenth centuries (see Machaut and Ars Nova). The music of the Magnus Liber displays a connection to the emerging Gothic style of architecture; just as ornate cathedrals were built to house holy relics, organa were written to elaborate Gregorian chant, which too was considered holy.

The innovations at Notre Dame consisted of a system of musical notation which included patterns of short and long musical notes known as longs and breves.[10] This system is referred to as mensural music as it demonstrates the beginning of "measured time" in music, organizing lengths of pitches within plainchant and later, the motet genre. In the organi of the Magnus Liber, one voice sang the notes of the Gregorian chant elongated to enormous length called the tenor (from Latin 'to hold'), but was also known as the vox principalis. As many as three voices, known as the vox organalis (or vinnola vox, the "vining voice") were notated above the tenor, with quicker lines moving and weaving together, a style also known as florid organum.[11] The development from a single line of music (monophony) to one where multiple lines all carried the same weight (polyphony) is shown through the writing of organa. The practice of keeping a slow moving "tenor" line continued into secular music, and the words of the original chant survived in some cases as well. One of the most common genres in the Magnus Liber is the clausula, which are "sections where, in discant style, the tenor uses rhythmic patterns as well as the upper part".[5] These sections of polyphony were substituted into longer organa. The extant manuscripts provide a number of notational challenges for modern editors since they contain only the polyphonic sections to which the monophonic chant must be added.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c Baltzer, Rebecca A. (1987-07-01). "Notre Dame Manuscripts and Their Owners: Lost and Found". Journal of Musicology. 5 (3): 380–399. doi:10.2307/763698. ISSN 0277-9269. JSTOR 763698.
  2. ^ Roesner, Edward H. (September 2001). "Who 'Made' the Magnus Liber?". Early Music History. 20. doi:10.1017/S0261127901001061. ISSN 0261-1279. S2CID 190695312.
  3. ^ a b c d Wright, Craig M. (1989). Music and ceremony at Notre Dame of Paris, 500-1550. Cambridge [England]: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24492-7. OCLC 18521286.
  4. ^ Smith, Norman E. (January 1973). "Interrelationships among the Graduals of the Magnus Liber Organi". Acta Musicologica. 45 (1): 73–97. doi:10.2307/932223. JSTOR 932223.
  5. ^ a b c Husmann, Heinrich; Briner, Andres P. (1963-07-01). "The Enlargement of the Magnus liber organi and the Paris Churches St. Germain l'Auxerrois and Ste. Geneviève-du-Mont". Journal of the American Musicological Society. 16 (2): 176–203. doi:10.2307/829940. ISSN 0003-0139. JSTOR 829940.
  6. ^ Husmann, Heinrich (1963). "The Origin and Destination of the Magnus Liber Organi". The Musical Quarterly. XLIX (3): 311–330. doi:10.1093/mq/XLIX.3.311. ISSN 0027-4631.
  7. ^ Waite, William G. (1973) [1954]. The rhythm of twelfth-century polyphony : its theory and practice. Léonin. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-8371-6815-5. OCLC 622500.
  8. ^ Tischler, Hans (July 1977). "The Structure of Notre-Dame Organa". Acta Musicologica. 49 (2): 193–199. doi:10.2307/932589. JSTOR 932589.
  9. ^ Le Magnus liber organi de Notre-Dame de Paris. Roesner, Edward H. Monaco: Editions de l'Oiseau-Lyre. 1993. ISBN 2-87855-000-5. OCLC 17699186.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  10. ^ "Magnus liber". publications.cedarville.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
  11. ^ Bradley, Catherine A. (2019). "Choosing a Thirteenth-Century Motet Tenor: From the Magnus liber organi to Adam de la Halle". Journal of the American Musicological Society. 72 (2): 431–492. doi:10.1525/jams.2019.72.2.431. hdl:10852/76335. ISSN 0003-0139. S2CID 202522259.

Further reading

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