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  4. Area of specialisation in Historical Musicology
  5. Music Palaeography

Music Palaeography

Objectives

a) To be acquainted with the fundamental problematics related to the study of musical palaeography and philology.
b) To get familiarised with the main systems of notation used in Western music between the late Middle Ages and early Modern Period, particularly polyphonic mensural notation from the 15th century onwards.
c) To acquire the tools for making palaeographic transcriptions.
d) To have knowledge of the methodologies for accomplishing a critical edition of music.

General characterization

Code

02113684

Credits

10.0

Responsible teacher

João Pedro Carvalho de Alvarenga

Hours

Weekly - 3

Total - 280

Teaching language

Portuguese

Prerequisites

N/A

Bibliography

  • Apel, W. (1953). The notation of polyphonic music 900-1600 (5th ed. revised with commentary). The Mediaeval Academy of America.
  • Caldwell, J. (1985). Editing early music. Clarendon P.
  • Colette, M.-N., Popin, M., & Vendrix, P. (2003). Histoire de la notation du Moyen Âge à la Renaissance. Minerve.
  • Grier, J. (1996). The critical editing of music: History, method, and practice. Cambridge UP.
  • Rastall, R. (1983). The notation of western music: An introduction. J. M. Dent & Sons.
  • Rossi, F. R. (2013). De musica mensurabili: Manuale di notazione rinascimentali. Libreria Musicale Italiana.
  • Vela, M. C. (2005). La filologia musicale: Istituzioni, storia, strumenti critici, vol. 1: Fondamenti storici e metodologici della Filologiamusicale. Libreria Musicale Italiana.
  • Vela, M. C. (2009). La filologia musicale: Istituzioni, storia, strumenti critici (vol. 2: Approfondimenti). Libreria Musicale Italiana.

Teaching method

Exposition, aimed at proposing, contextualising and exemplifying the subjects under study, and monitoring and discussion of practical exercises.

Evaluation method

Continuous assessment - Attendance and Participation(20%), Carrying out of a portfolio of practical exercises(30%), Completion and presentation, at the end of the semester, of a critical edition of a 15th-, 16th-, or 17th-century work(50%)

Subject matter

1. Brief overview of the systems of musical notation found in Portuguese collections, from the Middle Ages to the Modern Period (monody and polyphony).
2. White mensural notation.
2.1. Notational signs: clefs, note and rest figures, ligatures, complementary signs. Formats of notation.
2.2. Mensuration and the tactus. Modus, tempus, and prolatio. Imperfection and alteration.
2.3. Coloration.
2.4. Double, triple, and sesquialtera proportions. Other proportions. Resolution of proportion canons.
2.5. Performance-related issues: musica ficta and text underlay.
3. Critical editing of music.
3.1. Principles of Philology. Work and text/source and text. The hermeneutic circle.
3.2. Steps of the editorial process.
3.3. Identification of the editorial interventions: conventions and special signs.
3.4. Explanation of the editorial principles. Apparatus and critical commentary.