Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music 7, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Boydell and Brewer, 2008
Young singers played a central role in a variety of religious institutional settings: urban cathe... more Young singers played a central role in a variety of religious institutional settings: urban cathedrals, collegiate churches, monasteries, guilds, and confraternities. The training of singers for performance in religious services was so crucial as to shape the very structures of ecclesiastical institutions, which developed to meet the need for educating their youngest members; while the development of musical repertories and styles directly reflected the ubiquitous participation of children's voices in both chant and polyphony. Once choristers' voices had broken, they often pursued more advanced studies either through an apprenticeship system or at university, frequently with the help of the institutions to which they belonged.
This volume provides the first wide-ranging book-length treatment of the subject, and will be of interest to music historians - indeed, all historians - who wish to understand the role of the young in sacred musical culture before 1700.
While sound is probably the most difficult component of the past to reconstruct, it was also the ... more While sound is probably the most difficult component of the past to reconstruct, it was also the most pervasive, whether planned or unplanned, instrumental or vocal, occasional or ambient. Acoustics were central to the perception of performance; images in liturgical manuscripts were embedded in a context of song and ritual actions; and architecture provided both visual and spatial frameworks for music and sound. Resounding Images brings together specialists in the history of art, architecture, and music to explore the manifold roles of sound in the experience of medieval art. Moving beyond the field of musical iconography, the contributors reconsider the relationship between sound, space and image in the long Middle Ages. This study brings together for the first time scholars of Christian, Islamic and Jewish art and music to reconstruct the complex intersection between art, architecture and sound in the medieval world. Case studies explore how ambient and programmatic sound, including chant and speech, and its opposite, silence, interacted with objects and the built environment to create the multisensory experiences that characterized medieval life.
Silent Music explores the importance of music and liturgy in an eighteenth-century vision of Span... more Silent Music explores the importance of music and liturgy in an eighteenth-century vision of Spanish culture and national identity. From 1750 to 1755, the Jesuit Andres Marcos Burriel (1719-1762) and the calligrapher Francisco Xavier Santiago y Palomares (1728-1796) worked together in Toledo Cathedral for the Royal Commission on the Archives, which the government created to obtain evidence for the royal patronage of church benefices in Spain. With Burriel as director, the Commission transcribed not only archival documents, but also manuscripts of canon law, history, literature, and liturgy, in order to write a new ecclesiastical history of Spain. At the center of this ambitious project of cultural nationalism stood the medieval manuscripts of the Old Hispanic rite, the liturgy associated with Toledo's Mozarabs, or Christians who had continued to practice their religion under Muslim rule. Burriel was the first to realize that the medieval manuscripts differed significantly from the early-modern editions of the Mozarabic rite. Palomares, building on his work with Burriel, wrote a history of the Visigothic script in which he noted the indecipherability of the music notation in manuscripts of the Old Hispanic rite. Palomares not only studied manuscripts, but also copied them, producing numerous drawings and a full-size, full-color parchment facsimile of the liturgical manuscript Toledo, Biblioteca Capitular 35.7 (from the late eleventh or early twelfth century),which was presented to King Ferdinand VI of Spain. Another product of this antiquarian concern with song is Palomares's copy (dedicated to Barbara de Braganza) of the Toledo codex of the Cantigas de Santa Maria. For both men, this silent music was invaluable as a graphic legacy of Spain's past. While many historians in the Spanish Enlightenment articulated the idea of the modern nation through the study of the Middle Ages, Burriel and Palomares are exceptional for their treatment of musical notation as an object of historical study and their conception of music as an integral part of history.
In this volume, specialists in literature, theology, liturgy, manuscript studies, and history int... more In this volume, specialists in literature, theology, liturgy, manuscript studies, and history introduce the medieval culture of the Bible in Western Christianity. Emphasizing the living quality of the text and the unique literary traditions that arose from it, they show the many ways in which the Bible was read, performed, recorded, and interpreted by various groups in medieval Europe. An initial orientation introduces the origins, components, and organization of medieval Bibles. Subsequent chapters address the use of the Bible in teaching and preaching, the production and purpose of Biblical manuscripts in religious life, early vernacular versions of the Bible, its influence on medieval historical accounts, the relationship between the Bible and monasticism, and instances of privileged and practical use, as well as the various forms the text took in different parts of Europe. The dedicated merging of disciplines, both within each chapter and overall in the book, enable readers to encounter the Bible in much the same way as it was once experienced: on multiple levels and registers, through different lenses and screens, and always personally and intimately.
"During the eleventh and early twelfth centuries, the imperial abbey of Farfa was one of the most... more "During the eleventh and early twelfth centuries, the imperial abbey of Farfa was one of the most powerful institutions on the Italian peninsula. In this period many of the lands of central Italy fell under its sway, and it enjoyed the protection of the emperor until the 1120s, when it passed gradually into the control of the papacy. At the same time, the monastery was an influential religious center, and the monks of Farfa filled their days with the celebration of the liturgy through prayers, processions, sermons, chants, and hymns.
Susan Boynton, a historian of medieval music, addresses several of the major themes of present-day medieval historiography through a close study of the liturgical practices of the abbey of Farfa. Boynton's findings are a striking demonstration of the local nature of liturgical practices in the centuries before church ritual was controlled and codified by the papacy. Boynton shows that the liturgy was highly flexible, continually adapting to the monastery's changing circumstances. The monks regularly modified traditional forms to reflect new realities, often in the service of Farfa's power and prestige. Equally fascinating is Boynton's examination of the process by which Farfa, like other monasteries, cathedral chapters, and royal houses, constantly rewrote its history—particularly the stories of its founding—as part of the continuous negotiation of power that was central to medieval politics and culture."
Young singers played a central role in a variety of religious institutional settings: urban cathe... more Young singers played a central role in a variety of religious institutional settings: urban cathedrals, collegiate churches, monasteries, guilds, and confraternities. The training of singers for performance in religious services was so crucial as to shape the very structures of ecclesiastical institutions, which developed to meet the need for educating their youngest members; while the development of musical repertories and styles directly reflected the ubiquitous participation of children's voices in both chant and polyphony. Once choristers' voices had broken, they often pursued more advanced studies either through an apprenticeship system or at university, frequently with the help of the institutions to which they belonged. This volume provides the first wide-ranging book-length treatment of the subject, and will be of interest to music historians - indeed, all historians - who wish to understand the role of the young in sacred musical culture before 1700.
Children have rarely been central to musicological or anthropological studies, and childhood was ... more Children have rarely been central to musicological or anthropological studies, and childhood was once dismissed as too early in the human developmental process to be of significant interest. In a variety of historical, social, and cultural frameworks, these 10 essays address subjects as diverse as choirboys in early modern Seville, the griot culture of West Africa, and Jewish youth at summer camp. The essays reveal childhood as a time all its own, a time when individual identities are forged through music, and when voices emerge in ways that are as personal as they are communally bound and musically varied. This is an important book for music scholars, educators, cultural and social historians, and for scholars across the social sciences, as well as anyone interested in childhood. It sheds new light on children and youth cultures as alternately dependent upon and independent from the “grown-up” musical worlds that surround them.
"At the heart of the various articles in this book are four customaries, compiled over the course... more "At the heart of the various articles in this book are four customaries, compiled over the course of nearly a hundred years beginning at the end of the tenth century, that describe daily life and liturgy at the abbey of Cluny. Two principal objectives motivated the creation of the present volume of essays : first, to bring out the unequaled richness of these monastic customaries for scholars, primarily medievalists in all disciplines; and second, to facilitate the use of these sources, which can be challenging at first sight. Drawing upon the multiple disciplines needed to account for the full range of information presented by the customaries, the editors have brought together varied and complementary approaches to these multifaceted documents. Among the principal themes common to the studies in this volume are the genesis and transmission of the customaries, the relationship between texts and practice, and the evidence they offer for the function of monastic spaces as well as for the ritualization of communal life.
Au coeur des divers articles de cet ouvrage collectif sont quatre coutumiers, rédigés au cours d'une centaine d'année environ à partir de la fin du Xe siècle, qui décrivent la vie quotidienne et liturgique de l'abbaye de Cluny. Deux objectifs principaux motivèrent la création de ce volume: premièrement mettre en valeur la richesse inégalée des coutumiers monastiques pour les chercheurs, à commencer par les médiévistes, toutes disciplines confondues, et deuxièmement faciliter l'emploi de ces sources qui peuvent paraître à première vue difficile d'un abord. Seule une approche multidisciplinaire pouvait permettre d'illustrer tout l'éventail d'informations contenues dans ces sources; c'est pourquoi les éditrices ont réuni des études extrêment variées mais complémentaires, qui mettent bien en valeur la richesse de ces écrits. Parmi les thèmes principaux abordés en ce livre se trouvent la genèse et la transmission des coutumiers, la relation entre ces textes et la pratique, l'information qu'ils offrent sur la fonction des espaces monastiques ainsi que la ritualisation de la vie communautaire."
Description and inventory of manuscript fragments at the Benedictine abbey of Farfa based on my w... more Description and inventory of manuscript fragments at the Benedictine abbey of Farfa based on my work there in the late 1990s. The provenance of some of the fragments, particularly the Benevantan ones, is unknown. When I first consulted them, some were in folders grouped together under a single number, and some were stocked haphazardly in a drawer. Most are now catalogued in MANUS. This is a PDF made from my author's file. The journal seems not to be available digitally. The publication is: “Frammenti medievali nell’Archivio dell’Abbazia di Farfa,” Benedictina 48 (2001): 325-53
Les figurations visuelles de la parole, du son musical et du bruit, de l'Antiquité à la Renaissance, 2022
I wrote the conclusion (pp. 241-248) to the conference report volume published by the Institut de... more I wrote the conclusion (pp. 241-248) to the conference report volume published by the Institut de recherche en musicologie (Paris) in 2022, but copyright year is 2021
Musical Childhoods and the Cultures of Youth is an immensely rich contribution to childhood studi... more Musical Childhoods and the Cultures of Youth is an immensely rich contribution to childhood studies and shows how children are socialized into the musical life of their communities. Children have rarely been central to musicological or anthropological studies, and childhood was once dismissed as too early in the human developmental process to be of significant interest. In a variety of historical, social, and cultural frameworks, these 10 essays address subjects as diverse as choirboys in early modern Seville, the griot culture of West Africa, and Jewish youth at summer camp. The essays reveal childhood as a time all its own, a time when individual identities are forged through music, and when voices emerge in ways that are as personal as they are communally bound and musically varied. This is an important book for music scholars, educators, cultural and social historians, and for scholars across the social sciences, as well as anyone interested in childhood. It sheds new light on c...
This beautifully illustrated volume offers not only the first extended treatment of pre-Tridentin... more This beautifully illustrated volume offers not only the first extended treatment of pre-Tridentine liturgical books from the cathedral of Florence, but also the first detailed account of their historical significance and cultural context. It is a truly interdisciplinary study, drawing on painstaking analysis of the manuscript evidence to reach conclusions about the many meanings the written record held for its makers, patrons, and users, as well as for the inhabitants of the city of Florence, over a period of four centuries. The only extant manuscripts specifically made for the first cathedral, which was dedicated to Santa Reparata (consecrated in the late ninth century), are three books produced in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. (Two earlier sacramentaries, both produced outside Florence, entered the cathedral’s collection at an undetermined date.) The remaining sixty-two codices studied by Tacconi were all produced for the new cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, which was f...
Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Music 7, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK: Boydell and Brewer, 2008
Young singers played a central role in a variety of religious institutional settings: urban cathe... more Young singers played a central role in a variety of religious institutional settings: urban cathedrals, collegiate churches, monasteries, guilds, and confraternities. The training of singers for performance in religious services was so crucial as to shape the very structures of ecclesiastical institutions, which developed to meet the need for educating their youngest members; while the development of musical repertories and styles directly reflected the ubiquitous participation of children's voices in both chant and polyphony. Once choristers' voices had broken, they often pursued more advanced studies either through an apprenticeship system or at university, frequently with the help of the institutions to which they belonged.
This volume provides the first wide-ranging book-length treatment of the subject, and will be of interest to music historians - indeed, all historians - who wish to understand the role of the young in sacred musical culture before 1700.
While sound is probably the most difficult component of the past to reconstruct, it was also the ... more While sound is probably the most difficult component of the past to reconstruct, it was also the most pervasive, whether planned or unplanned, instrumental or vocal, occasional or ambient. Acoustics were central to the perception of performance; images in liturgical manuscripts were embedded in a context of song and ritual actions; and architecture provided both visual and spatial frameworks for music and sound. Resounding Images brings together specialists in the history of art, architecture, and music to explore the manifold roles of sound in the experience of medieval art. Moving beyond the field of musical iconography, the contributors reconsider the relationship between sound, space and image in the long Middle Ages. This study brings together for the first time scholars of Christian, Islamic and Jewish art and music to reconstruct the complex intersection between art, architecture and sound in the medieval world. Case studies explore how ambient and programmatic sound, including chant and speech, and its opposite, silence, interacted with objects and the built environment to create the multisensory experiences that characterized medieval life.
Silent Music explores the importance of music and liturgy in an eighteenth-century vision of Span... more Silent Music explores the importance of music and liturgy in an eighteenth-century vision of Spanish culture and national identity. From 1750 to 1755, the Jesuit Andres Marcos Burriel (1719-1762) and the calligrapher Francisco Xavier Santiago y Palomares (1728-1796) worked together in Toledo Cathedral for the Royal Commission on the Archives, which the government created to obtain evidence for the royal patronage of church benefices in Spain. With Burriel as director, the Commission transcribed not only archival documents, but also manuscripts of canon law, history, literature, and liturgy, in order to write a new ecclesiastical history of Spain. At the center of this ambitious project of cultural nationalism stood the medieval manuscripts of the Old Hispanic rite, the liturgy associated with Toledo's Mozarabs, or Christians who had continued to practice their religion under Muslim rule. Burriel was the first to realize that the medieval manuscripts differed significantly from the early-modern editions of the Mozarabic rite. Palomares, building on his work with Burriel, wrote a history of the Visigothic script in which he noted the indecipherability of the music notation in manuscripts of the Old Hispanic rite. Palomares not only studied manuscripts, but also copied them, producing numerous drawings and a full-size, full-color parchment facsimile of the liturgical manuscript Toledo, Biblioteca Capitular 35.7 (from the late eleventh or early twelfth century),which was presented to King Ferdinand VI of Spain. Another product of this antiquarian concern with song is Palomares's copy (dedicated to Barbara de Braganza) of the Toledo codex of the Cantigas de Santa Maria. For both men, this silent music was invaluable as a graphic legacy of Spain's past. While many historians in the Spanish Enlightenment articulated the idea of the modern nation through the study of the Middle Ages, Burriel and Palomares are exceptional for their treatment of musical notation as an object of historical study and their conception of music as an integral part of history.
In this volume, specialists in literature, theology, liturgy, manuscript studies, and history int... more In this volume, specialists in literature, theology, liturgy, manuscript studies, and history introduce the medieval culture of the Bible in Western Christianity. Emphasizing the living quality of the text and the unique literary traditions that arose from it, they show the many ways in which the Bible was read, performed, recorded, and interpreted by various groups in medieval Europe. An initial orientation introduces the origins, components, and organization of medieval Bibles. Subsequent chapters address the use of the Bible in teaching and preaching, the production and purpose of Biblical manuscripts in religious life, early vernacular versions of the Bible, its influence on medieval historical accounts, the relationship between the Bible and monasticism, and instances of privileged and practical use, as well as the various forms the text took in different parts of Europe. The dedicated merging of disciplines, both within each chapter and overall in the book, enable readers to encounter the Bible in much the same way as it was once experienced: on multiple levels and registers, through different lenses and screens, and always personally and intimately.
"During the eleventh and early twelfth centuries, the imperial abbey of Farfa was one of the most... more "During the eleventh and early twelfth centuries, the imperial abbey of Farfa was one of the most powerful institutions on the Italian peninsula. In this period many of the lands of central Italy fell under its sway, and it enjoyed the protection of the emperor until the 1120s, when it passed gradually into the control of the papacy. At the same time, the monastery was an influential religious center, and the monks of Farfa filled their days with the celebration of the liturgy through prayers, processions, sermons, chants, and hymns.
Susan Boynton, a historian of medieval music, addresses several of the major themes of present-day medieval historiography through a close study of the liturgical practices of the abbey of Farfa. Boynton's findings are a striking demonstration of the local nature of liturgical practices in the centuries before church ritual was controlled and codified by the papacy. Boynton shows that the liturgy was highly flexible, continually adapting to the monastery's changing circumstances. The monks regularly modified traditional forms to reflect new realities, often in the service of Farfa's power and prestige. Equally fascinating is Boynton's examination of the process by which Farfa, like other monasteries, cathedral chapters, and royal houses, constantly rewrote its history—particularly the stories of its founding—as part of the continuous negotiation of power that was central to medieval politics and culture."
Young singers played a central role in a variety of religious institutional settings: urban cathe... more Young singers played a central role in a variety of religious institutional settings: urban cathedrals, collegiate churches, monasteries, guilds, and confraternities. The training of singers for performance in religious services was so crucial as to shape the very structures of ecclesiastical institutions, which developed to meet the need for educating their youngest members; while the development of musical repertories and styles directly reflected the ubiquitous participation of children's voices in both chant and polyphony. Once choristers' voices had broken, they often pursued more advanced studies either through an apprenticeship system or at university, frequently with the help of the institutions to which they belonged. This volume provides the first wide-ranging book-length treatment of the subject, and will be of interest to music historians - indeed, all historians - who wish to understand the role of the young in sacred musical culture before 1700.
Children have rarely been central to musicological or anthropological studies, and childhood was ... more Children have rarely been central to musicological or anthropological studies, and childhood was once dismissed as too early in the human developmental process to be of significant interest. In a variety of historical, social, and cultural frameworks, these 10 essays address subjects as diverse as choirboys in early modern Seville, the griot culture of West Africa, and Jewish youth at summer camp. The essays reveal childhood as a time all its own, a time when individual identities are forged through music, and when voices emerge in ways that are as personal as they are communally bound and musically varied. This is an important book for music scholars, educators, cultural and social historians, and for scholars across the social sciences, as well as anyone interested in childhood. It sheds new light on children and youth cultures as alternately dependent upon and independent from the “grown-up” musical worlds that surround them.
"At the heart of the various articles in this book are four customaries, compiled over the course... more "At the heart of the various articles in this book are four customaries, compiled over the course of nearly a hundred years beginning at the end of the tenth century, that describe daily life and liturgy at the abbey of Cluny. Two principal objectives motivated the creation of the present volume of essays : first, to bring out the unequaled richness of these monastic customaries for scholars, primarily medievalists in all disciplines; and second, to facilitate the use of these sources, which can be challenging at first sight. Drawing upon the multiple disciplines needed to account for the full range of information presented by the customaries, the editors have brought together varied and complementary approaches to these multifaceted documents. Among the principal themes common to the studies in this volume are the genesis and transmission of the customaries, the relationship between texts and practice, and the evidence they offer for the function of monastic spaces as well as for the ritualization of communal life.
Au coeur des divers articles de cet ouvrage collectif sont quatre coutumiers, rédigés au cours d'une centaine d'année environ à partir de la fin du Xe siècle, qui décrivent la vie quotidienne et liturgique de l'abbaye de Cluny. Deux objectifs principaux motivèrent la création de ce volume: premièrement mettre en valeur la richesse inégalée des coutumiers monastiques pour les chercheurs, à commencer par les médiévistes, toutes disciplines confondues, et deuxièmement faciliter l'emploi de ces sources qui peuvent paraître à première vue difficile d'un abord. Seule une approche multidisciplinaire pouvait permettre d'illustrer tout l'éventail d'informations contenues dans ces sources; c'est pourquoi les éditrices ont réuni des études extrêment variées mais complémentaires, qui mettent bien en valeur la richesse de ces écrits. Parmi les thèmes principaux abordés en ce livre se trouvent la genèse et la transmission des coutumiers, la relation entre ces textes et la pratique, l'information qu'ils offrent sur la fonction des espaces monastiques ainsi que la ritualisation de la vie communautaire."
Description and inventory of manuscript fragments at the Benedictine abbey of Farfa based on my w... more Description and inventory of manuscript fragments at the Benedictine abbey of Farfa based on my work there in the late 1990s. The provenance of some of the fragments, particularly the Benevantan ones, is unknown. When I first consulted them, some were in folders grouped together under a single number, and some were stocked haphazardly in a drawer. Most are now catalogued in MANUS. This is a PDF made from my author's file. The journal seems not to be available digitally. The publication is: “Frammenti medievali nell’Archivio dell’Abbazia di Farfa,” Benedictina 48 (2001): 325-53
Les figurations visuelles de la parole, du son musical et du bruit, de l'Antiquité à la Renaissance, 2022
I wrote the conclusion (pp. 241-248) to the conference report volume published by the Institut de... more I wrote the conclusion (pp. 241-248) to the conference report volume published by the Institut de recherche en musicologie (Paris) in 2022, but copyright year is 2021
Musical Childhoods and the Cultures of Youth is an immensely rich contribution to childhood studi... more Musical Childhoods and the Cultures of Youth is an immensely rich contribution to childhood studies and shows how children are socialized into the musical life of their communities. Children have rarely been central to musicological or anthropological studies, and childhood was once dismissed as too early in the human developmental process to be of significant interest. In a variety of historical, social, and cultural frameworks, these 10 essays address subjects as diverse as choirboys in early modern Seville, the griot culture of West Africa, and Jewish youth at summer camp. The essays reveal childhood as a time all its own, a time when individual identities are forged through music, and when voices emerge in ways that are as personal as they are communally bound and musically varied. This is an important book for music scholars, educators, cultural and social historians, and for scholars across the social sciences, as well as anyone interested in childhood. It sheds new light on c...
This beautifully illustrated volume offers not only the first extended treatment of pre-Tridentin... more This beautifully illustrated volume offers not only the first extended treatment of pre-Tridentine liturgical books from the cathedral of Florence, but also the first detailed account of their historical significance and cultural context. It is a truly interdisciplinary study, drawing on painstaking analysis of the manuscript evidence to reach conclusions about the many meanings the written record held for its makers, patrons, and users, as well as for the inhabitants of the city of Florence, over a period of four centuries. The only extant manuscripts specifically made for the first cathedral, which was dedicated to Santa Reparata (consecrated in the late ninth century), are three books produced in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. (Two earlier sacramentaries, both produced outside Florence, entered the cathedral’s collection at an undetermined date.) The remaining sixty-two codices studied by Tacconi were all produced for the new cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, which was f...
religious practices, and kingdom. The problems Aethelstan chose to solve provide a fascinating gl... more religious practices, and kingdom. The problems Aethelstan chose to solve provide a fascinating glimpse of early-tenthcentury England. The fact, for example, that he saw theft as disloyalty to the monarch offers insights into the evolution of England’s law codes. Foot also explores the deeds of the King at war and his reflections on death to examine the monarch’s cultural reality. In the spiritual context, Aethelstan had an obsession with acquiring and distributing relics. His interest in relics helps us understand his continental policy initiatives and his acts of patronage toward the English church. Foot offers a vivid biographical account of King Aethelstan, whom William of Malmesbury evaluated as a man whose years were full of glory, though brief. She lists, for example, the gifts sent by continental rulers to Aethelstan in their attempt to solidify marital alliances with members of his extended family. These offerings indicate the respect others had for the King who remained unmarried for religious reasons yet lived an active political life. Aethelstan was also a rational lawgiver: for religious and possibly even anti-Semitic reasons, he legislated against Sunday trading, but he also relaxed the death penalty for juveniles. Foot brings Aethelstan out of the shadows into the full light of history so that his life can be celebrated and not just commemorated. She has also added two appendices, one on how to evaluate the work of William of Malmesbury and one on the places where the King stayed during his life. The latter appendix is crucial for understanding Aethelstan’s political anxieties and accomplishments. Foot’s biography is a creative display of how early medieval sources can be used to provide a more extensive knowledge of life at the royal and societal levels. We gain a real knowledge of Aethelstan as a multidimensional character even though no source encapsulates him as a person. This work is a good example of what can be done using such artifacts as charters and coins to explain the attitudes and behaviors at least of kings.
HUiiC/(UltUre A series from Wesleyan University Press Edited by Robert Walser, Susan Fast, and Ha... more HUiiC/(UltUre A series from Wesleyan University Press Edited by Robert Walser, Susan Fast, and Harris Berger Originating editors, George Lipsitz, Susan McClary, and Robert Walser Listening to Salsa: Gender, Latin Popular Music, and Puerto Rican Cultures by Frances ...
The Library: The Transactions of the Bibliographical Society, 2007
The first part of the book consists of several introductory essays that outline the context for t... more The first part of the book consists of several introductory essays that outline the context for the manuscripts. Carla Frova and Anna Imelde Galletti summarize the history of the Perugia Dominicans in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The founding of the first convent in 1234 was ...
SHAPING A MONASTIC IDENTITY LITURGY AND HISTORY AT THE IMPERIAL ABBEY OF FARFA, 1000-1125 SUSAN B... more SHAPING A MONASTIC IDENTITY LITURGY AND HISTORY AT THE IMPERIAL ABBEY OF FARFA, 1000-1125 SUSAN BOYNTON During the eleventh and early twelfth centuries, the impe-rial abbey of Farfa was one of the most powerful institutions on the Italian ...
The Childhood and Youth Study Group of the American Musicological Society is a forum for scholars... more The Childhood and Youth Study Group of the American Musicological Society is a forum for scholars interested in music and childhood, broadly conceived. While gender, race, sexuality, and disability have received increasing attention, musicology has largely overlooked the importance of children and youth in various aspects of music culture. Historically, the study of childhood has been limited in part because of the scarcity of child-related documents deemed worthy of preservation and the perception of childhood as a temporary stage of life on the way to adulthood. This limitation has held across disciplines. However, in recent decades, scholars in disciplines such as history, cultural studies, literary studies, medieval studies, sociology, and feminist, gender, and sexuality studies have turned to efforts to recover the lived experiences of children as well as the cultures that construct the category of the child. We aim to bring attention to the ways in which children and youth have played a central role in music history and institutions, shaping while being shaped by them. Because music for, by, and about children and youth has been marginalized in various canons, we believe that centering their agency as music makers, students, performers, and audiences will further our understanding of music and of its cultural as well as historical significance.
The study group will foster the many types of inquiry available for the investigation of these intersecting aspects of music, children, and childhood. Scholarly approaches to music and childhood include, but are not limited to, archival research into primary sources, the study of music composed for or about children and youth, criticism which theorizes marginalized or disenfranchised groups, and interdisciplinary and cultural studies that incorporate research from other disciplines, including ethnography, which is the core research method of contemporary childhood studies. The members of the group are broadly representative of these approaches, including scholars who engage with ethnomusicology, music theory, and music education, as well as historical musicology. These methods shed light on previously overlooked materials, performances, and performers, including young musicians and composers and vast repertoires of music created for educational purposes. It is our belief that a Music and Childhood study group is timely, necessary, and sustainable as a forum to introduce curious scholars to a new sphere of musicological inquiry while providing a formal space for scholars engaged in the study of children’s culture in music to share ideas, new research, and creative solutions to shared problems.
This website, recently rebuilt by Alex Gil and John Glasenapp, OSB, replaces Celebrating the Litu... more This website, recently rebuilt by Alex Gil and John Glasenapp, OSB, replaces Celebrating the Liturgy's Books, which was antiquated (created in 2001) and had to be replaced.
http://chantmanuscripts.omeka.net presents selected manuscripts of Latin chant and liturgy in the... more http://chantmanuscripts.omeka.net presents selected manuscripts of Latin chant and liturgy in the collection of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University in New York City. Each manuscript is represented by a complete set of digital images described with metadata fields based on the Dublin Core. Contributors are Susan Boynton, Lindsay Cook, Consuelo Dutschke, John Glasenapp OSB, Julia Hamilton, Velia Ivanova, Qingfan Jiang, and Russell O'Rourke.
http://hildemar.org
Hildemar of Corbie's Commentary on the Rule of Benedict (ca. 845CE) is a m... more http://hildemar.org
Hildemar of Corbie's Commentary on the Rule of Benedict (ca. 845CE) is a major source for the history of monasticism, but it has long been accessible only in two obscure nineteenth-century editions of its Latin text. The goal of the Hildemar Project is to make the entire commentary more accessible for research and teaching purposes. The first step is to provide a fully searchable version of the Latin text along with an English translation. This translation is a collaborative effort of more than fifty scholars, including specialists in monasticism, Latin, manuscripts studies, and Carolingian history.
Currently a slightly revised version of the Latin text from Rupert Mittermüller’s edition [Regensburg, 1880] is available on the site. The translation of all seventy-three chapters – one for each chapter of Benedict’s Rule – is now complete.
The website also provides a complete list of the manuscripts of Hildemar’s Commentary (with links to manuscript catalogues and manuscripts available online) and a complete bibliography of scholarship on Hildemar and his work.
The next step in the project will be to improve the Latin text presented on the website by providing links to the different versions of Hildemar’s work. Users will be able to compare the (problematic) nineteenth-century edition with the original manuscripts. A long-term goal of the Hildemar Project is to provide a new edition of Hildemar’s Commentary that meets the standards of a critical edition but also capitalizes on the greater flexibility and customization available in a digital environment.
The Hildemar Project is a collaborative project that profits from the expertise of as many scholars as possible and is tailored to the needs and interests of its users. Any form of feedback, suggestions for improvement, identification of sources, or commentary on the Latin text are welcome. Please either use the Forum or contact us directly.
In recent years, renewed attention has been paid by scholars and performers to the Dominican dial... more In recent years, renewed attention has been paid by scholars and performers to the Dominican dialect of Gregorian chant, used by Dominican friars and cloistered nuns throughout the middle ages through the present day. This symposium will focus on recent scholarship and ongoing projects undertaken by scholars and practitioners of Dominican chant.
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This volume provides the first wide-ranging book-length treatment of the subject, and will be of interest to music historians - indeed, all historians - who wish to understand the role of the young in sacred musical culture before 1700.
The Practice of the Bible in the Middle Ages
Production, Reception, and Performance in Western Christianity
Edited by Susan Boynton and Diane J. Reilly
Columbia University Press
Susan Boynton, a historian of medieval music, addresses several of the major themes of present-day medieval historiography through a close study of the liturgical practices of the abbey of Farfa. Boynton's findings are a striking demonstration of the local nature of liturgical practices in the centuries before church ritual was controlled and codified by the papacy. Boynton shows that the liturgy was highly flexible, continually adapting to the monastery's changing circumstances. The monks regularly modified traditional forms to reflect new realities, often in the service of Farfa's power and prestige. Equally fascinating is Boynton's examination of the process by which Farfa, like other monasteries, cathedral chapters, and royal houses, constantly rewrote its history—particularly the stories of its founding—as part of the continuous negotiation of power that was central to medieval politics and culture."
This volume provides the first wide-ranging book-length treatment of the subject, and will be of interest to music historians - indeed, all historians - who wish to understand the role of the young in sacred musical culture before 1700.
Au coeur des divers articles de cet ouvrage collectif sont quatre coutumiers, rédigés au cours d'une centaine d'année environ à partir de la fin du Xe siècle, qui décrivent la vie quotidienne et liturgique de l'abbaye de Cluny. Deux objectifs principaux motivèrent la création de ce volume: premièrement mettre en valeur la richesse inégalée des coutumiers monastiques pour les chercheurs, à commencer par les médiévistes, toutes disciplines confondues, et deuxièmement faciliter l'emploi de ces sources qui peuvent paraître à première vue difficile d'un abord. Seule une approche multidisciplinaire pouvait permettre d'illustrer tout l'éventail d'informations contenues dans ces sources; c'est pourquoi les éditrices ont réuni des études extrêment variées mais complémentaires, qui mettent bien en valeur la richesse de ces écrits. Parmi les thèmes principaux abordés en ce livre se trouvent la genèse et la transmission des coutumiers, la relation entre ces textes et la pratique, l'information qu'ils offrent sur la fonction des espaces monastiques ainsi que la ritualisation de la vie communautaire."
Most are now catalogued in MANUS.
This is a PDF made from my author's file. The journal seems not to be available digitally. The publication is: “Frammenti medievali nell’Archivio dell’Abbazia di Farfa,” Benedictina 48 (2001): 325-53
This volume provides the first wide-ranging book-length treatment of the subject, and will be of interest to music historians - indeed, all historians - who wish to understand the role of the young in sacred musical culture before 1700.
The Practice of the Bible in the Middle Ages
Production, Reception, and Performance in Western Christianity
Edited by Susan Boynton and Diane J. Reilly
Columbia University Press
Susan Boynton, a historian of medieval music, addresses several of the major themes of present-day medieval historiography through a close study of the liturgical practices of the abbey of Farfa. Boynton's findings are a striking demonstration of the local nature of liturgical practices in the centuries before church ritual was controlled and codified by the papacy. Boynton shows that the liturgy was highly flexible, continually adapting to the monastery's changing circumstances. The monks regularly modified traditional forms to reflect new realities, often in the service of Farfa's power and prestige. Equally fascinating is Boynton's examination of the process by which Farfa, like other monasteries, cathedral chapters, and royal houses, constantly rewrote its history—particularly the stories of its founding—as part of the continuous negotiation of power that was central to medieval politics and culture."
This volume provides the first wide-ranging book-length treatment of the subject, and will be of interest to music historians - indeed, all historians - who wish to understand the role of the young in sacred musical culture before 1700.
Au coeur des divers articles de cet ouvrage collectif sont quatre coutumiers, rédigés au cours d'une centaine d'année environ à partir de la fin du Xe siècle, qui décrivent la vie quotidienne et liturgique de l'abbaye de Cluny. Deux objectifs principaux motivèrent la création de ce volume: premièrement mettre en valeur la richesse inégalée des coutumiers monastiques pour les chercheurs, à commencer par les médiévistes, toutes disciplines confondues, et deuxièmement faciliter l'emploi de ces sources qui peuvent paraître à première vue difficile d'un abord. Seule une approche multidisciplinaire pouvait permettre d'illustrer tout l'éventail d'informations contenues dans ces sources; c'est pourquoi les éditrices ont réuni des études extrêment variées mais complémentaires, qui mettent bien en valeur la richesse de ces écrits. Parmi les thèmes principaux abordés en ce livre se trouvent la genèse et la transmission des coutumiers, la relation entre ces textes et la pratique, l'information qu'ils offrent sur la fonction des espaces monastiques ainsi que la ritualisation de la vie communautaire."
Most are now catalogued in MANUS.
This is a PDF made from my author's file. The journal seems not to be available digitally. The publication is: “Frammenti medievali nell’Archivio dell’Abbazia di Farfa,” Benedictina 48 (2001): 325-53
The study group will foster the many types of inquiry available for the investigation of these intersecting aspects of music, children, and childhood. Scholarly approaches to music and childhood include, but are not limited to, archival research into primary sources, the study of music composed for or about children and youth, criticism which theorizes marginalized or disenfranchised groups, and interdisciplinary and cultural studies that incorporate research from other disciplines, including ethnography, which is the core research method of contemporary childhood studies. The members of the group are broadly representative of these approaches, including scholars who engage with ethnomusicology, music theory, and music education, as well as historical musicology. These methods shed light on previously overlooked materials, performances, and performers, including young musicians and composers and vast repertoires of music created for educational purposes. It is our belief that a Music and Childhood study group is timely, necessary, and sustainable as a forum to introduce curious scholars to a new sphere of musicological inquiry while providing a formal space for scholars engaged in the study of children’s culture in music to share ideas, new research, and creative solutions to shared problems.
Hildemar of Corbie's Commentary on the Rule of Benedict (ca. 845CE) is a major source for the history of monasticism, but it has long been accessible only in two obscure nineteenth-century editions of its Latin text. The goal of the Hildemar Project is to make the entire commentary more accessible for research and teaching purposes. The first step is to provide a fully searchable version of the Latin text along with an English translation. This translation is a collaborative effort of more than fifty scholars, including specialists in monasticism, Latin, manuscripts studies, and Carolingian history.
Currently a slightly revised version of the Latin text from Rupert Mittermüller’s edition [Regensburg, 1880] is available on the site. The translation of all seventy-three chapters – one for each chapter of Benedict’s Rule – is now complete.
The website also provides a complete list of the manuscripts of Hildemar’s Commentary (with links to manuscript catalogues and manuscripts available online) and a complete bibliography of scholarship on Hildemar and his work.
The next step in the project will be to improve the Latin text presented on the website by providing links to the different versions of Hildemar’s work. Users will be able to compare the (problematic) nineteenth-century edition with the original manuscripts. A long-term goal of the Hildemar Project is to provide a new edition of Hildemar’s Commentary that meets the standards of a critical edition but also capitalizes on the greater flexibility and customization available in a digital environment.
The Hildemar Project is a collaborative project that profits from the expertise of as many scholars as possible and is tailored to the needs and interests of its users. Any form of feedback, suggestions for improvement, identification of sources, or commentary on the Latin text are welcome. Please either use the Forum or contact us directly.