Recovered from wallpaper in rooms of New College, Oxford. Music fragments apparently the only surviving remnants of two large choirbooks, one containing Masses, the other, Magnificats and votive antiphons. Probably copied in Oxford, for use by the New College chapel choir (Roger Bowers). Original manuscripts disassembled c. 1550(?) and used as backing for painted decoration of ceiling beams in main quadrangle of New College. Fragments discovered and removed by decorators in early 1960's, then placed in New College Library; deposited in Bodleian Library in 1978.
| Archive | New College, Oxford, England (GB-Onc) |
|---|---|
| Shelfmark | MS 368/1 |
| Surface | Parchment |
| Measurements | irregular shapes and widely varying sizes mm |
| Other Identifiers |
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| Notations |
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| 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 |
| Relationships |
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| Provenance |
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| Contents | Contains 3 compositions, 2 from 2 composers, 1 is anonymous. |
General Description
Physical Description
Highly fragile condition; accessible for study, but not yet for photography.
Binding
Fragments provisionally arranged in eight folders, of which the first three contain music: 368/1-music fragments numbered by Roger Bowers, #1-7A, 7B-10, #21-22, #31-41 (# 37 consists of two fragments stuck together); 368/2 - smaller musical fragments, numbered #1-9; 368/3 -non-musical fragments with musical offsets, numbered #1-3.
Notation
Black mensural notation with red coloration and black mensural notation with black void semiminims
Foliation
No original foliation remains.
Foliation
1-7A, 7B-10, 21-22, 31-41 (in Bodley)
Index
Modern inventory
Surface
Parchment
Census Catalogue of Music Description
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1 Mass, 1 Gloria-Credo pair, 2 Credo-Sanctus pairs, 2 Glorias, 3 Sanctus, 2 Magnificats, 5 motets, 5 unidentified pieces (probably motets) = 21 (all fragmentary)
(Turges)-1, anon-20
At least 140 parchment fragments (37 of which contain music), of irregular shapes and widely varying sizes, recovered from wallpaper in rooms of New College, Oxford. Highly fragile condition; accessible for study, but not yet for photography. Music fragments apparently the only surviving remnants of two large choirbooks, one containing Masses, the other, Magnificats and votive antiphons. No original foliation remains.
Fragments provisionally arranged in eight folders, of which the first three contain music: 368/1-music fragments numbered by Roger Bowers, #1-7A, 7B-10, #21-22, #31-41 (# 37 consists of two fragments stuck together); 368/2 - smaller musical fragments, numbered #1-9; 368/3 -non-musical fragments with musical offsets, numbered #1-3. Modern inventory. Black mensural notation with red coloration (Magnificats and motets); black mensural notation with black void semiminims (Masses).
Ca. 1490 (Magnificats and motets); ca. 1510 (Masses). Probably copied in Oxford, for use by the New College chapel choir (Roger Bowers). Original manuscripts disassembled ca. 1550(?) and used as backing for painted decoration of ceiling beams in main quadrangle of New College. Fragments discovered and removed by decorators in early 1960's, then placed in New College Library; deposited in Bodleian Library in 1978.
1
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‡ denotes primary source study
Curtis, Gareth R K, and Andrew B Wathey. 1994. Fifteenth-Century English Liturgical Music: A List of the Surviving Repertory. Royal Musical Association Research Chronicle, 27: 1-69.
de la Mare, A C, and Bruce C Barker-Benfield (editors). 1980. Manuscripts at Oxford: an exhibition in memory of Richard William Hunt (1908-1979), Keeper of Western Manuscripts at the Bodleian Library Oxford, 1945-1975. Oxford. Pages: 115-6, Fig. 75. Notes: physical description (partial); contents list (partial); facsimile (partial).
Hamm, Charles E, and Herbert Kellman (editors). 1979-1988. Census-Catalogue of Manuscript Sources of Polyphonic Music 1400-1550. Renaissance Manuscript Studies, vol. 1-5. 5 vols. Neuhausen nr. Stuttgart: American Institute of Musicology, Hänssler Verlag.
Hunt, Richard William. 1979. The Medieval Library. New College 1379-1979, 317-45. Oxford. Pages: 339. Notes: mention of MS.
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Angus Williams
Friday, 10 April, 2026
Pointed out that the 'O bone Jesu' antiphon in this partbook and in the Matthew Bible, GB-EVa 1537 (both previously listed as 'anonymous' on DIAMM) is a fragment of Fayrfax's setting - attributed to the composer in Curtis and Wathey's inventory and confirmed to be the same setting in Bray's edition.
Julia Craig-McFeely
Thursday, 17 August, 2023
DIAMM, 2016
Monday, 23 January, 2017
NB: Migrated from old site. Credit for notes may not be completely accurate. General Description; Physical Description Note; Binding Note; Notation Note; Foliation Note; Foliation Note; Contents Note; Surface Note
Census-Catalogue of Manuscript Sources of Polyphonic Music 1400-1550
Monday, 23 January, 2017
NB: Migrated from old site. Credit for notes may not be completely accurate. Census Catalogue of Music Description