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Manuscript leaves removed from antiphonaries

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: 6240

Scope and Contents

A collection of two manuscript leaves removed from two different antiphonaries. Each leaf consists of two pages of handwritten music for use in a liturgical choir. Both leaves were likely created some time between the 14th and 16th centuries.

One of the leaves begins with the chant: "Protector noster aspice Deus," an Introit chant from the Mass from Dom. 14.p Pentecost: Pentecost V, XIV. The recto page is numbered 22. The placement of the Pentecost chant as folio 22 suggests that the leaf came from an antiphoner bound in sections, dividing the liturgical season into separate volumes. The squareness of the notes and the illuminated "D" of "Domine" on the verso side suggest a date in the late fifteenth or sixteenth century, while other elements, such as the "P" of "Propter" and the shape of the flats on b, align with styles that were commonly used in the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries.

The second leaf begins with the chant: "Stabant juxta crucem Jesu mater eius," an Introit chant from the Mass of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The "Stabant juxta crucem Jesu mater eius" leaf uses a different tone I/II (Dorian/Hypodorian) melody from that in the Liber Usualis, and the only other source in the Cantus Database to contain this Introit is a Portuguese manuscript (P-BRs MS 34) that gives the same spelling of "Stabat," instead of "Stabant," but uses another chant, this time in tone IV (Hypophrygian).

Dates

  • Creation: circa 1350-1550

Conditions Governing Access

Advance notice required for access.

Conditions Governing Use

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Collections at specol@usc.edu. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Rights Statement for Archival Description

Finding aid description and metadata are licensed under an Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

Extent

0.02 Linear Feet (2 oversize folders)

Language of Materials

Latin

Abstract

A collection of two manuscript leaves removed from two different antiphonaries. Each leaf consists of two pages of handwritten music for use in a liturgical choir. Both leaves were likely created some time between the 14th and 16th centuries. One of the leaves begins with the chant: "Protector noster aspice Deus," an Introit chant from the Mass from Dom. 14.p Pentecost: Pentecost V, XIV. The other leaf begins with the chant: "Stabant juxta crucem Jesu mater eius," an Introit chant from the Mass of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The provenance of both of these manuscript leaves is largely unknown. The "Protector noster aspice Deus" leaf was framed and on display in a USC Libraries Special Collections space (Doheny Memorial Library, Room 206) for many years. The "Stabant juxta crucem Jesu mater eius" leaf was framed and on display in the Music Library (Doheny Memorial Library, Room G-24). Both leaves were subsequently removed from their frames and described in this finding aid during 2021.

Physical Description

One leaf measures approximately 25 by 34 and a half inches and the other mesaures approximately 31.75 by 23 inches.

Title
Finding aid for the Manuscript leaves removed from antiphonaries
Status
Completed
Author
Bo Doub, Adam Gilbert, Leah A. Morrison, Adam Bregman, and Andrew Justice
Date
2021 September
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the USC Libraries Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles California 90089-0189 United States