Monumenta Monodica Medii Aevi Volume 9 The Music of the Beneventan Rite

Monumenta Monodica Medii Aevi Volume 9 The Music of the Beneventan Rite

One still uncharted area of European music history is monophonic chant from early Christian times to the end of the Middle Ages. It is the goal of Monumenta Monodica Medii Aevi to open up the genres of this extensive and many-sided repertoire which was crucial to the evolution of polyphonic music. Over a period of nearly forty years the founder of this series, Bruno Stäblein, collected source material dispersed in libraries and archives in many countries and stored it on microfilm at the Institute for Music Research, University of Würzburg.

This extensive collection of over 4.000 manuscripts from some 300 libraries in thirteen countries makes it possible to produce critical editions on a broad foundation of sources. Like the overall division of the series, each volume classifies the material systematically and introduces it with detailed accounts of the music's style, history, liturgical usage and other relevant matters. If necessary, the volume is broken down with appropriate indices. Each volume also contains a critical report and facsimiles from the sources.