A Case Study of 15th Century Gregorian Chant Leaves

Year: 
2016
Recipient Name: 
Nicholas Grieneisen
Faculty Mentor Name: 
James Cassaro
Faculty Mentor Department: 
University Library System
Librarian / Archivist: 
James Cassaro
Description: 
University of Pittsburgh’s Hillman Library Special Collections Department holds 29 Gregorian chant leaves ranging from the 12th to 17th centuries from multiple locations in Western Europe. One set of six leaves, dating from the 15th century Netherlands, Is particularly interesting in that many of the originally scribed neumes, and occasionally the corresponding text, were erased and replaced with newly scribed neumes and text. My goals for this project were: 1) to analyize the musical differences between the pre-edited and post-edited chants, and 2) to research the socio-cultural atmosphere of the Catholic Church in 15th century Netherlands to determine what compelled the scribe to make these edits. In order to accomplish these tasks, I transcribed each of the pre-edited and post-edited versions of the chants using Sibelius notation software and subsequently analyzed the chants musically, as well as consulted multiple digital and print sources on subjects ranging from general church practices during the 15th century to specific performance practices in Netherlands. This project is meant to serve as a case study that will augment the growing knowledge base of Gregorian chant.
Photo: 
Nick with Jim standing next to Nick's poster