Cantatorium

c. 922-925

Held by Abbey Library of St Gall, Cod. Sang. 359read here

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The Cantatorium of St Gallen is a book of 166 pages holding the solo chants sung at Mass, written with early musical signs called neumes. It is the oldest known cantatorium in which every chant carries them. Its cover is an ivory diptych carved with reliefs of Dionysos, and inside are a title page and large decorated initials, such as the A that opens Ad te levavi for the first Sunday of Advent.

Where it happens

St Gallen, Abbey Library Where the book was made and is still kept.¹

Through time

922Start of Abbot Hartmann's time, when the book was made.¹
925End of the likely period of writing, 922 to 925.¹
931Latest date when the oak of the binding could have been felled.¹

Who is in it, and behind it

Hartmann abbot of St Gallen

The book dates to his time, 922 to 925.¹

Ekkehart IV monk and chronicler

Described the cantatorium in his history of the abbey.¹

Fridiburc named in the book

Her name was added in the tenth century.¹

What it is about

Music before staves

The neumes record the rise and fall of a melody without fixed pitch lines.¹

Ivory from the East

The carved cover is much older than the book and comes from the Eastern Mediterranean.¹

Chants for the soloist

A cantatorium holds only the solo parts of the Mass, not the choir chants.¹

Pages worth stopping at

Image 0Front cover, an ivory diptych with Dionysos reliefs.¹
Page 23Page 24, the title page.¹
Page 24Page 25, the large initial A of Ad te levavi, the first Sunday of Advent.¹
Page 164Page 165, where the name Fridiburc appears, added in the tenth century.¹

How it came to be here

The manuscript was made at St Gallen around 922 to 925, in the time of Abbot Hartmann. Wood from the oak used in the binding was felled between 923 and 931. Scholars identify it with the cantatorium that the monk Ekkehart IV described in his chronicle of the abbey. The ivory panels are far older than the book, perhaps sixth century and of Eastern origin. A name, Fridiburc, was added in the tenth century.

Sources

Images: e-codices - Virtual Manuscript Library of Switzerland. CC BY-NC 4.0.

Holder's record · IIIF manifest