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Music before 1500

Last Updated: 30-Oct-2014

Research Skills

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Resources for the study of music history and theory, ca. 800-1500.

 

Reference works

Oxford music online [electronic resource].
[Oxford, England] : Oxford University Press
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
Includes Grove Music Online, the best place to begin research on any musical topic.

This title is also available in print in the Music Library Reference Room.

In addition to entries on individual composers, musical works, and geographical areas, see also these major articles:

Ars Antiqua Ars Nova Cantus Firmus
Counterpoint Manuscript Sources Mass
Medieval Medieval Drama Mode
Motet Notation Plainchant
Theory and Theorists    

 

 

The Oxford history of western music by Richard Taruskin.
New York : Oxford University Press, 2005.
Music Library » Stacks » ML160 .T18 2004 V.1
Taruskin's comprehensive history of Western music is quickly becoming a classic.  See volume I, "The earliest notations to the sixteenth century".

This title is online; also available in print in the Music Reference Room and stacks.
Medieval music : the sixth liberal art / Andrew Hughes.
Rev. ed. Toronto ; Buffalo : University of Toronto Press, 1980.
Music Library » Reference » ML114 .H893 1980
This bibliography lists important books, articles, scores, and reference sources on topics including history, philosophy, notation, rhythm, music in everyday life, iconography, instruments, geographical areas, plainsong, chant, tropes, treatises, vernacular song, lauda, theory and practice of polyphony, and performance practices. The general index will help you navigate to specific works.  See also, "A brief survey" which highlights works that are particularly excellent and/or provide a broad introduction to topical areas (p. xi-xii).
Medioevo musicale : bollettino bibliografico della musica medievale = Music in the Middle Ages : mediaeval music bibliographic bulletin.
Bottai [Firenze] : SISMEL, Edizioni del Galluzo, 1998-
Music Library » Reference » ML128 .M3 M43 V.16
Provides an annual summary of publications about music in the Middle Ages (500-1400). Annotations are in Italian. The indexes will guide you to mansucripts, names and noteworthy items, geographical areas, scholars, discographies, ensembles, and performing groups.  
International medieval bibliography [electronic resource].
Turnhout, Belgium : Brepols Publishers, c1995-
Green Library » Information Center: CDROMs
Offers more than 6000 entries on medieval music.
Lexicon musicum Latinum medii aevi = Wörterbuch der lateinischen Musikterminologie des Mittelalters bis zum Ausgang des 15. Jahrhunderts = Dictionary of medieval Latin musical terminology to the end of the 15th century / herausgegeben von Michael Bernhard.
2. erw. Aufl. München : Verlag der Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Kommission bei dem Verlag C.H. Beck, 2006-
Music Library » Reference » ML108 .L487 2006 1.FASZIKEL
Provides concise definitions in German and English, and lists occurrances of terms in early sources.
World chronology of music history / compiled and edited by Paul E. Eisler ; foreword by Fritz Kramer.
Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. : Oceana Publications, 1972-<1980>
Music Library » Reference » ML161 .E36 1972 V.1
A chronological list of significant events involving music and musicians, along with events in the arts, politics, and society.
The Oxford dictionary of the Middle Ages / edited by Robert E. Bjork.
Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2010.
Green Library » Lane Reading Room: Reference » D114 .O94 2010 V.1
"An essential new reference work covering all key aspects of European history, society, and culture from 500 to 1500 A.D., as well as the Byzantine Empire, Islamic dynasties, and Asiatic peoples of the era"--publisher's website.

A print copy is available in Green Library, Lane Room.

Books

Search in SearchWorks to identify books, dissertations, and conference proceedings. Try, for example, these subject terms:

Medieval music

Music 500-1400 history and criticism

Music theory 500-1400

 

Broswe the shelves:

ML 169-172 General histories from earliest times to the 16th century
ML 174 History of theory
ML 410 Composer biographies
MT 5.5 Early theoretical works

 

 

A sampling of books available:

The Cambridge companion to medieval music / edited by Mark Everist.
Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2011.
Music Library » Stacks » ML172 .C32 2011
Concise chapters preented on a vareity of topics.  Available in print and online.
Source readings in music history / Oliver Strunk, editor.
Rev. ed. / New York : Norton, c1998.
Green Library » Bender Room » ML160 .S89 1998 V.1
Anthologies of contemporary writings about music. See volume two: The Early Christian Period and the Latin Middle Ages. Print copies are available in the Music stacks and in Green Bender Room.
Music and medieval manuscripts : paleography and performance : essays dedicated to Andrew Hughes / edited by John Haines and Randall Rosenfeld.
Aldershot, Hants, England ; Burlington, VT : Ashgate, c2004.
Music Library » Stacks » ML170 .M84 2004
The origins of western notation / Constantin Floros ; revised and translated by Neil Moran with a report on The reception of the Universale Neumenkunde, 1970-2010.
Frankfurt am Main ; New York : Peter Lang, c2011.
Music Library » Stacks » ML174 .F6213 2011
Binchois studies / edited by Andrew Kirkman and Dennis Slavin.
Oxford [England] ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2000.
Music Library » Stacks » ML410 .B5885 B56 2000

Manuscript sources

Census-catalogue of manuscript sources of polyphonic music 1400-1550 / compiled by the University of Illinois Musicological Archives for Renaissance manuscripts Studies.
[S.l.] : American Institute of Musicology ; Neuhausen-Stuttgart : Hänssler-Verlag, 1979-1988.
Music Library » Reference » ML135.A2 C396 V.1
This catalogue lists all known manuscript sources of polyphonic music in mensural notation, 1400-1550. Entries are arranged by city, and include a siglum and location, library call number, contents, list of composers, physical description, date, provenance, and bibliography. Check the indexes for composers, and general names of persons, places, RISM numbers and watermarks.

Search the library name and call number in SearchWorks to find print and microform copies at Stanford.
Digital image archive of Medieval music [electronic resource].
London : University of Oxford, 2003-
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » INTERNET RESOURC


DIAMM seeks to conserve and provide information about European polyphonic music manuscripts, ca. 800-1550. It includes detailed information about all known manuscript sources, and provides high-quality digital images of a growing number of items. DIAMM includes all entries in RISM B:IV. 
Oxford music online [electronic resource].
[Oxford, England] : Oxford University Press
Stanford University Libraries » Online resource » eResource
 The Grove entry on manuscript sources describes in detail important sources for Western plainchant, secular monophony, organum and discant, the early motet, and English, French, and Italian polyphony. Also available in print in the Music Library.

Facsimiles

Manuscript facsimiles

Listed below are a number of deluxe facsimile publications in the Music Library. Some are browseable in the main stacks and some are kept in the Locked Stacks (please ask for assistance to view these).

Browse all facsimiles in SearchWorks by searching the subject term: music manuscripts facsimiles, and limiting results by ERA (in the far left column)

Bologna Q15 : the making and remaking of a musical manuscript : introductory study and facsimile edition / by Margaret Bent.
Lucca, Italy : Libreria musicale italiana ; Castello : printed by Genesi Gruppo Editoriale, c2008.
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » ML96.4 .B64 2008
Acquired through the Allen B. Cagle Book Fund.
Chansonnier de Jean de Montchenu.
Valencia : Vicent García Editores, S.A., 2007.
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » ML96.4 .C53 2007
Acquired through the Susan and Ruth Sharp Fund.
Codex Chantilly : Bibliothèque du château de Chantilly, Ms. 564 : Fac-similé / édité par Yolanda Plumley et Anne Stone.
Turnhout : Brepols, 2008.
Music Library » Folios » ML96.4 .M9863 2008 F
Acquired through the Susan and Ruth Sharp Fund.
Codex Calixtinus de la Catedral de Santiago de Compostela.
[Madrid?] : Kaydeda Ediciones, 1993.
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » Z105.5 .C62 1993
Il codice Squarcialupi : Ms. Mediceo Palatino 87, Biblioteca medicea laurenziana di Firenze / studi raccolti a cura di F. Alberto Gallo.
Firenze : Giunti Barbèra ; [Lucca] : Libreria musicale italiana, c1992.
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » ML96.4 .S773 FF
The Eton choirbook / facsimile and introductory study by Magnus Williamson.
Oxford, England : DIAMM Publications, c2010.
Music Library » Folios » ML96.4 .E85 2010 F
Liber magistri : Piacenza, Biblioteca capitolare C. 65.
Piacenza : Tip.Le.Co., 1997.
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » M2147 XII M5 COMMENTARY FF
Le Roman de Fauvel in the edition of Mesire Chaillou de Pesstain : a reproduction in facsimile of the complete manuscript, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, fonds franc̜ais 146 / introduction by Edward H. Roesner, Franc̜ois Avril and Nancy Freenman Regalado.
New York : Broude Brothers, 1990.
Music Library » Locked stacks: Ask at circulation desk » M2.1 .F271 1990 FF

Links of interest

Links of interest

DIAMM: Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music
"Archive of Early and Medieval music manuscripts and scores. Hundreds of scanned images available, with higher resolution ones for members"--website.
Digital Scriptorium
"The Digital Scriptorium is a growing image database of medieval and renaissance manuscripts that unites scattered resources from many institutions into an international tool for teaching and scholarly research. It bridges the gap between a diverse user community and the limited resources of libraries by means of sample imaging and extensive rather than intensive cataloguing"--website.
CANTUS: a database for Latin ecclesiastical chant
"CANTUS is a database that assembles indices of the Latin ecclesiastical chants found in early manuscript and printed sources for the liturgical Office, such as antiphoners and breviaries"--website.
Parker Library on the web
"Parker Library on the Web is a multi-year undertaking of Corpus Christi College, the Stanford University Libraries and Cambridge University Library, to produce a high-resolution digital copy of every imageable page of most manuscripts in the Parker Library of Corpus Christi College (Cambridge University Press, 1912)"--website. Stanford users, follow the SearchWorks link above.
Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
"HMML houses the world's largest collection of images of manuscripts from Europe, Ethiopia, the Middle East, and India"--website. Includes a searchable database, and many sample images of digitized objects.
Iter: Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
"Iter, meaning a journey or a path in Latin, is a not-for-profit partnership dedicated to the advancement of learning in the study and teaching of the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700) through the development and distribution of online resources"--website.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Gateway site presented by Fordham University.
Medieval Studies at Stanford
Medieval Academy of America
Institute of Medieval Studies, University of Leeds
Digital Medievalist
"Digital Medievalist is an international web-based community for medievalists working with digital media. It was established in 2003 to help scholars meet the increasingly sophisticated demands faced by designers of contemporary digital projects. Digital Medievalist publishes an open access journal, sponsors conference sessions, runs an email discussion list and encourages best practice in digital medieval resource creation"--website.
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