I-BGrt MS. 42

Biblioteca Mons. G. M. Radini Tedeschi, Bergamo, Italy

processional with added polyphony: 1501

Archive Biblioteca Mons. G. M. Radini Tedeschi, Bergamo, Italy (I-BGrt)
Shelfmark MS. 42
Image Availability DIAMM does not have images of this source.
Surface Parchment
Numbering System Foliation
Format portrait
Measurements 165 x 117mm (writing block 117 x 87mm)
Other Identifiers
  • RISM: I-BGrt
Notations
  • black square
Inventory This MS has not yet been inventoried by DIAMM. If you would like to submit an inventory, please send it to diamm@music.ox.ac.uk
Provenance
  • Bergamo, Italy
Contents Contains 2 compositions, 2 are anonymous.
General Description

This processional was written and notated in 1501 by Brother Peter of Soncino, subprior of the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria della Basella near Urgnano. It was commissioned by Sister Archangela de la Sale, daughter of the noble Merolfo de la Sale of Bergamo. An inscription records that the book was made for Sister Archangela’s personal use during her lifetime at the Dominican convent of Santa Marta in Bergamo, with the permission of the prioress, Sister Paola di Bari, after which it was to passed to the convent. Towards the end of the manuscript (fols. 158v–159r) is a three-voice setting of a Benedicamus Domino chant melody (Barclay no. 69), followed by four monophonic Benedicamus melodies (fols. 159v–160r). The three-voice Benedicamus polyphony is the only polyphony in this source. It is notated in non-mensural square notation. On fol. 159v, the upper voice is unlabelled and the voice below (carrying the chant melody) is labelled ‘tenor’; both are notated using C-clefs. On fol. 160r, a third voice, labelled ‘contra’, is the lowest voice and is notated using an F-clef. A fourth voice was later added above the ‘contra’ part on fol. 160r in black semi-mensural notation, but it is not compatible with the other three voices. Rusconi proposes that this three-voice setting may represent an adaptation of an original two-voice version, the more common form for polyphonic settings of this Benedicamus (also found in D-B Ham. 554).

Thomas Phillips, as part of the European Research Council-funded project BENEDICAMUS, 2026
Notation

Black non-mensural square

Thomas Phillips, as part of the European Research Council-funded project BENEDICAMUS, 2026
Ruling

Five four-line systems per page

Thomas Phillips, as part of the European Research Council-funded project BENEDICAMUS, 2026
Inventory

Only partial inventory provided here (focussing on polyphonic pieces/Benedicamus domino settings)

DIAMM, 2026

Click an entry to see more information about that item.

Folio / Pages Composition / Item title Number of voices Source attribution Composers (? Uncertain)
158v–159r Benedicamus Domino (3vv) - - Anonymous
Appears on: 158v–159r
Genres: Benedicamus Domino
159v–160r Four monophonic Benedicamus melodies - - Anonymous
Appears on: 159v–160r
Genres: Benedicamus Domino
Composer Compositions
Anonymous
Composition Composers (? Uncertain) Folios / Pages
Benedicamus Domino (3vv) Anonymous 158v–159r
Four monophonic Benedicamus melodies Anonymous 159v–160r

denotes primary source study

Rusconi, Angelo. 2002. Testimonianze di “polifonia semplice” nelle biblioteche di Bergamo. Un millennio di polifonia liturgica tra oralità e scrittura, edited by Angelo Rusconi, 133–60. Bologna: Il Mulino.

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