Ars Nova notation

1-2v

parchment

RISM B/IV 2: Part of a series of unreferenced fragments arranged as paleographical specimens, which were separated in 1895. The present volume consists of i +7 folios, which can be divided into two parts. The first is made up of 2 musical flyleaves of the late 14th century meas. 281 x 199 and 279 x 211 mm. respectively (f. 1-2). It is not now possible to ascertain which manuscript these adjacent pages were removed from, but they were doubtless glued to the front and back covers of some non-musical codex. The second part of Mus. d. 143 does not concern us here: it contains a Quadran Galliard, and an Almayne by Dowland for keyboard. The 4 oblong 8vo pages form f. 3-6, whereby f. 4 is below f. 3 and f. 6 below f. 5. Fol.i and 7 are modern blank paper flyleaves belonging to the modern brown morocco cloth binding over thin pulp boards. The gilt title on the spine reads: "FRAGMENTS (FRENCH 14TH CENT.,&C)". The binding probably dates from 1895, or shortly after that. The foliation is a modern pencil one at t.r.r. Both 14th century leaves are cut away a little at the sides, 1 stave is missing at the top of f. 1, and f. 2 is cut away a little at the top and bottom. The Ars Nova notation was originally written on 12 red five-line staves per page; f. 2 apparently had 13, but the bottom one is lost. The main hand, which wrote nos. 1-3, used large notes, while the second hand of nos. 4-5 employed smaller oblong notes, many accidentals and ligatures with ascending tails in the middle. The latter feature is peculiar to English music of this period, like the so-called dovetailed caret, which also turns up here. The contents of this fragment are very varied, namely 2 motets of which 1 is isorhythmic and the other has the same text in both upper voices, an Agnus in three-part score with the c. f. in the middle, a three-part setting in score of 0 benigne redemptor and a similar one of the Alleluya. V. Hic est vere martir, with the plainsong in the tenor. Finally there is a 15th century setting of the 5th Gregorian psalm-tone in white notes in three-part score once again, by a third hand.

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