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Magnus Liber

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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 (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 and to a "Magnus liber organi de graduali et antiphonario pro servitio divino" by the English music theorist known simply as Anonymous IV.[1] Today it is known only from later manuscripts containing pieces named in Anonymous IV's description.

History

Although we cannot be absolutely certain whether the Magnus liber organi originated in Paris, [2] it was 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 3 surviving manuscripts commonly known as F (I-Fl Pluteo 29.1, Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Florence, originating in Paris), W1 & W2 (Wolfenbüttel Cod. Guelf. Helmst. 677 & 1099, both in the Herzog August Bibliothek (Ducal Library),[3] the first thought to originate in Scotland), and Ma (Madrid 20486, believed originally from Toledo), together with a number of fragments.[4][5] Catalogues referring to other lost copies attest to the wide diffusion through Western Europe of the repertoire later called ars antiqua.[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]

Music at Notre-Dame

Illustration from the Magnus liber organi
Folio 8 of MS F

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.[3]

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.[3]

The Magnus Liber represents a step in the evolution of Western music between plainchant and the intricate polyphony of the later 13th and 14th centuries (see Machaut and Ars Nova).[10] 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. 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 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, 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.[3]

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.[10]

References

  1. ^ Roesner 2001.
  2. ^ Husmann & Reaney 1963.
  3. ^ a b c d Yudkin 2005.
  4. ^ Tischler 1984.
  5. ^ Hoppin 1978.
  6. ^ Roesner 2001a.
  7. ^ Waite 1954.
  8. ^ Tischler 1989.
  9. ^ Roesner 1993.
  10. ^ a b Cedarville 2018.

Bibliography

Articles and books

  • Bonds, Mark Evan (2009). A History of Music in Western Culture (3rd ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-205-64531-2. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Hoppin, Richard H. (1978). Medieval Music. W. W. Norton & Co. ISBN 0393090906. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Husmann, Heinrich [in German]; Reaney, Gilbert (July 1963). "The Origin and Destination of the "Magnus liber organi"". The Musical Quarterly. 49 (3): 311–330. JSTOR 740561. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Roesner, Edward H., ed. (1993). Le Magnus Liber Organi de Notre-Dame de Paris 7 vols. Éd. de l'Oiseau-Lyre. ISBN 978-2-87855-000-9. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) see details
  • Roesner, E. H. (2001). "Who 'made' the Magnus liber?". Early Music History. 20: 227–266. JSTOR 853793. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
  • Tischler, Hans (Spring 1984). "The Evolution of the "Magnus Liber Organi"". The Musical Quarterly. 70 (2): 163–174. JSTOR 742208. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Tischler, Hans (1989). The Parisian Two-part Organa: The Complete Comparative Edition. Pendragon Press. ISBN 978-0-918728-89-0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |authormask= ignored (|author-mask= suggested) (help)
  • Waite, William G. (1954). The Rhythm of Twelfth-Century Polyphony: Its Theory and Practice. New Haven: Yale University Press. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Williams, Kallan (August 2008). "The Magnus Liber Organi: An Annotated Bibliography". Music Reference Services Quarterly. 11 (1): 37–65. doi:10.1080/10588160802157173. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Websites

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