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"revertimini ad fontes Gregorii": variantes mélodiques, textuelles, ornementations, absonia, SI bémol-SI bécarre...
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Message from Svetlana Kujumdzieva
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
This is just to inform you that my last book has just been published by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The title of the book is: "THE EARLY OKTOECHOI: SOURCES, LITURGY AND CHANT REPERTORY (BASED ON SOURCES UNTIL THE 13TH CENTURY)", 288 pages, ISBN 978-954-9787-21-4.
In the book are studied more than 90 primary sources from the 4th/5th to the 13th century in Greek, Syriac, Georgian and Armenian in order to find out when exactly the book of the Oktoechos was compiled and what kind of repertory like was included in the earliest sources.
The book could be ordered at the following e mail address: kmnc@kmnc.bg kmnc@bas.bg
All the best,
Svetlana Kujumdzieva
New Article: Byzantinische Zeitschrift. Volume 106, Issue 1, pages 65–82.
Altrömische Offertoriums-Gesänge in medialen Tonarten. Zum Verhältnis des byzantinischen zum altrömischen und gregorianischen Choral
Neil K. Moran
Abstract
The present study should be understood as a contribution to the disputed relationship of Byzantine to Old Roman and Gregorian chant. It is based on a study of offertory chants in the relatively little-known medial modes. The author discusses four Old Roman offertories in the second medial mode in the recently published book Inside the Offertory by Rebecca Maloy: In die sollemnitatis, Erit vobis, Confirma hoc and Oravi deum meum. Comparisons are made with chants based on Crucem tuam of the Old Roman repertory. In a previous article in Plainsong and Medieval Music the author demonstrated that the medial characteristics disappeared in the same texts in the Gregorian repertoire. In her comparisons of Old Roman and Gregorian sources Rebecca Maloy comes to a completely different conclusion. She argues that the so-called „Old Roman“ melodies are late medieval creations and she characterizes them with the negative term ‘formulaicism’. In this article her conclusions are called into question.
With respect to medieval music notation, it is significant that the third century Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 1786 preserves a Christian hymn in honour of the Holy Trinity with musical notation. In his thought-provoking brochure Evgenij Gertsman draws attention to the fact that Cassiodorus mentions a treatise by Gaudentius which “vir dissertissimus Matianus transtulit in Latinum” (ΠΡΟΠΑВШИЕ СТОЛЕТИЯ ВИЗАНТИЙСОЙ МУЫКИ, St. Petersburg, 2001, pp. 54-55). Beginning with the 21st chapter of the Greek original (Γαυδεντιου φιλοσοφου Αρμονικη εισαγωγη) the author offers a description of ancient Greek notation. Gertsman writes: “Anyone who gets acquainted with the works of Gaudentius, Bellermann’s Anonyms, or the work of Bacchius ... will easily see that Hellenic notation was included in the courses on theory in order for students to obtain an ability to understand the notation material” (ΠΡΟΠΑВШИЕ СТОЛЕТИЯ, pp. 70-71). At the conclusion of his essay Gertsman asks if there were there actually five-hundred years without a single notated music manuscript or is this a result of our confusion? (pp. 86-88)
The terms ‘progressive homogenization’ and ‘perfunctory formulaicism’ are used by Rebecca Maloy to describe the weakly articulated melodies of the so-called Old Roman repertoire, which she believes is a late Medieval creation first written down in the late 11th century. In a review of her work in Early Music History Joseph Dyer suggests that if is such is the case, then” the local Roman repertory might better be characterised as ‘late’ or ‘new’ Roman chant.” Any comments?
paragraph from MEDIEVAL MODE OFFERTORIES:
In contrast the O.R. versions of Confirma hoc for Pentecost and Oravi deum for Dominica XVI make liberal use of the colouration of the upper tetrachord. In her discussion of the Gregorian settings of Oravi deum Maloy comments on the ‘nondiatonic pitches … employed in the pretheoretical tradition’! The versions in Paris, lat. 1121 and Montpellier, H 159 clearly outline the two medial tetrachords, yet Maloy states that “Oravi begins as a deuteros melody and in the majority of sources, closes on E” but then adds “In the pretheoretical tradition, however, it most likely closed on D, with a deuteros E flat’ (sic).[i] To order to accommodate her theory she rejects the readings in the manuscripts and proposes a ‘hypothetical performance level’ one tone lower. However both verse 3 of Confirma hoc and verse 2 of Oravi deum include a similar descent from c to D, so why was the introduction of a ‘hypothetical performance level’ only necessary in the second piece? In fact the same c – D – G flourish appears in lines 6 and as c – D – E in lines 7, 9 and 10 of the O.R. version of Confirma hoc. Most of these difficulties together with the introduction of all the sharps and flats would disappear if she had given priority to the O.R. versions.
[i] R. Maloy, Inside the offertory, pp.357-358. Maloy discusses Oravi deum in her article’ Scolica enchiriadis and the 'non-diatonic' plainsong tradition, Early Music History, 28, pp 61-96.
I have completed a study on MEDIAL MODE OFFERTORIES and have submitted it for publication.