[Sequentiary]

[Sequentiary]

Parchment; f. 1; 9 lines of text and music; the text written in a formal gothic book hand; the music in square notation on 4-line red staves, with the custos added at the end of the staves in a light, noting hand. One historiated initial, the height of 2 lines of text and music: the Virgin, seated on a cushion in a garden, with the baby Jesus (both with rosy cheeks) standing in her lap and reaching his arms up to her face; extending from the pale brown leafy initial, and across the upper margin, a vine with green leaves and clusters of colored berries; gold dots. The second sequence introduced by an initial of the height of 1 line of text and music in particolored red and blue, with infilling of light brown leaves, and with red penwork surrounding the initial on 3 sides (not the top). Alternating plain red and blue initials, the height of 1 line of text and music. In the mid outer margin of the recto, foliation in red roman numerals: CCXXXIX. Early foliation (?) in the lowermost right corner of the recto: xvi (but cropped?); early modern foliation (?) in the uppermost right corner of the recto: 7 (?).

Written in Germany (or rather, in a Germanic area, including Austria) during the 15th century. The book which contained this leaf has here been termed a sequentiary, although it could have been a gradual. Belonged to Louis Charles Elson (1848-1920) who was a professor of music theory and history at the New England Conservatory of Music from age 34 onwards; he had begun studying music with his mother, then went on to study in Leipzig; he composed songs, operetta and works for the piano, but mainly he studied and wrote on the history of music; he published in a number of Boston newspapers, and was the editor-in-chief of Modern Music and Musicians (1912; 20 vols.) and of the University Musical Encyclopedia (1912-14; 10 vols.), among the ca. 50 items that he published over the course of his life. The collection of medieval fragments of music that had belonged to Louis Charles Elson was acquired in 1924 by the Grosvenor Library in Buffalo NY; this library, together with the Erie County Library and the Buffalo Public Library merged in 1953 to form today's Buffalo and Erie County Public Library. This leaf was n. 12 in the Elson collection.

Leaf numbered 239.[CCXXXIX]

Title and date from De Ricci.

Bibliography: De Ricci. Census, p. 1210, no. 11

Sequences for Christmas Day (and other feasts) and for Easter.

Formerly classified as RBR MSS. C33G75 1400Z

[15th century]

2023-12-19

Louis C. Elson Collection. no. 12

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Text

image/jpg

1 leaf (9 lines) of music ; 47 x 31 cm

parchment (animal material)

RBR Mss. C33S47 1400z

[Germany]

//In Natalis Domini et duobus diebus sequentibus et in Epyphania et in purificatione, Sequencia, Letabundus exultet fidelis chorus alleluya. Regem regum intacte profudit thorus res miranda. Angelus consilii natus est de virgine . . . Quem docet littera natum considera ipsum genuit puerpera alleluya. In pascha domini in diebus sequentibus, Sequencia, Victime paschali laudes immolent//