German accent neumes - photo 1
German accent neumes - photo 2

German accent neumes

Sold
£ 5 670
Auction dateClassic
08.11.2023 11:00UTC +01:00
Auctioneer
CHRISTIE'S
Event location
United Kingdom, London
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 1053130
Lot 16 | German accent neumes
German accent neumes
A leaf from a Benedictine Proser, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, Bamberg/Würzburg area, second half 11th century]
A handsome example of Carolingian script and classic German accent neumes from a Proser or Sequentiary doubtless produced for a Benedictine abbey.

A substantial fragment of a single leaf, 282 x 207mm, originally part of a full bifolium, 2 columns of 35 lines written in a fine Carolingian minuscule in brown ink, one full column of music and one partial column in the outer margins, ruled space: 247 x 79; 247 x 40; 247x 79mm, classic German accent neumes, rubrics and large initials in red (perhaps recovered from a binding, consequently with some creasing and marginal staining). Loose in a folder.

Provenance:
(1) In a letter of 24 March 1982 to Albi Rosenthal, John. A. Emerson, musicologist and music librarian at the University of California, Berkeley, states that the provenance of the manuscript is 'certainly southern Germany, an area confined between Switzerland and Bamberg. It absolutely came from a Benedictine abbey from the region, such as Bamberg, Ingoldstadt, Heidenheim, Weissenburg, Würzburg, etc.'

(2) Albi Rosenthal (1914-2004), London, December 1988.

(3) Schøyen Collection, MS 205.

Text:
This leaf provides the texts of five Sequences (or Prosae), a poetic elaboration on the melody of the Alleluia chant in the Mass. The texts are: 'Johannes Jesu Christo, with partial melody (Feast of St John the Evangelist, 27 December); 'Laus tibi Christe', complete with melody (Feast of the Holy Innocents, 28 December); 'Nato canunt omnia, text only (Octave of Christmas, 1 January); 'Festa Christi omnis', complete with melody (Epiphany, 6 January); 'Concentu parili', text only (Feast of the Purification, 2 February).

Prosers from this period are often small books in single columns, and it is relatively unusual to find a collection of sequences written in this large two-column format. This suggests that the proser from which this page came may well have formed a component of a Gradual, the book of chants for the Mass.

Script and music:
The present fragment has affinities with a Gradual dated c.1040-60 in Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. 1845. Emerson remarks on how the two-columnar layout is unusual, as is the presence and placement of 'Nato canunt omnia', which is not St Gall practice, but is found at Bamberg. The melodies for each line of the text are written in German neumes in the margin alongside the text, a position unique to sequences, where other chants normally have neumes written above the words.
Place of origin:Germany
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
02.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
03.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
04.11.2023 12:00 – 17:00
05.11.2023 12:00 – 17:00
06.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
07.11.2023 09:00 – 17:00
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.