Full Description
The first study focusing on the composition of new plainchant in northern-French confraternities for masses and offices in honor of saints thought to have healing powers
Starting in the fourteenth century, northern France saw the rise of confraternities and other lay communities of men and women, organized around trades and religious devotions dedicated to specific patron saints. The composition of new plainchant for masses and offices in honor of saints thought to have healing powers occupied an important place in the devotional landscape of the region.
Sarah Ann Long's deeply researched new book highlights the decentralized nature of religious and spiritual authority from 1300-1550, which allowed confraternities to cultivate liturgical practices heavily influenced by popular devotional literature. It challenges pre-conceived notions of the power of the Catholic Church at that time, and the extent to which religious devotions were regulated and standardized. The resulting conclusion is that confraternity devotions occupied a liminal space that provided a certain amount of musical freedom. Examining musical culture at the intersection of the medieval and early modern eras, this work explores such subjects as manuscript production and early music printing; and it investigates not only plainchant, but a broad range of musical styles from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries. These include polyphonic embellishments of chant written by some of the most famous composers of the era, which were performed at the French, Burgundian, and Papal Courts.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Editorial Procedures for Foreign Languages and Music Examples
Introduction
Confraternities and Popular Devotions to St. Barbara in Tournai
Relic Translation and Healing in Liturgies for St. Catherine and St. Nicholas in Paris
Historical Narratives and the Importance of Place in Masses for St. Sebastian
Compositional Practice, Networks, and the Dissemination of the Mass Ordinary in Confraternity Sources
The Role of the Parisian Book Production Community in the Perpetuation of Popular Devotions
Conclusion
Appendix 1 Sources
Appendix 2 Inventories of Sources from Tournai
Appendix 3 Scribal Hands and Gatherings in the Tournai Notary Confraternity Manuscripts
Notes
Bibliography
Index of Chant and Polyphonic Compositions
Index of Early Printed Liturgical Books
Index of Manuscripts
General Index
