Riches of organum

The repertory of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris stands as one of the great monuments of Western culture, matching the scope and significance of the remarkable edifice whose vaults it was designed to fill. Coming down to us are a handful of manuscripts that contain polyphonic elaborations of portions of the liturgical plainchant that was sung at mass and office every day throughout the year at the spectacular new cathedral. We know that the building was begun in 1163 and that its east end, the choir, was completed on the Feast of Pentecost in 1182, when the dedication of the high altar took place. During this period a vital imaginative breakthrough-the invention of the flying buttress, that elegant, airy leap of stone-transformed the technology of making tall buildings and the resultant atmosphere of light and colour within them. Similarly, and at exactly the same time, an innovative musical concept transformed the sound of the music of the special feasts of the church calendar. The idea of combining musical voices in harmony to enrich the chant was not new, but up to this time there had been no rational method devised to co-ordinate them. The musical leap was the invention of such a system, based on patterns of short and long notes, and, simultaneously, a notational convention for indicating these durations in writing. We know who dreamed up this scheme: his name was Leonius (1135-c.1200), and he was a distinguished poet, scholar, musician and cathedral administrator. Of the identity of the architectural genius who invented the flying buttress we know nothing.

These three volumes are part of a series of seven devoted to modern editions of the music of the Magnus liber, the name given by a 13th-century theorist to the body of polyphonic music designed for the liturgy of Notre Dame. Vol.1 contains the three- and four-part compositions; vol.2 the two-part office pieces from the manuscript Florence, Biblioteca Medicea-Laurenziana, Pluteus 29.1; vols.3 and 4 the two-part mass pieces from the same manuscript; vol.5 the clausulae, or recomposed alternatives for sections of the polyphony, from the Florence manuscript; vols.6a and 6b the two-part compositions from the manuscript Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 1099 Helmst. (reviewed by Guillaume Gross in EM, xxxiii (2005), pp.337-40); and vol.7 (still unpublished) the two-part compositions and clausulae from the manuscript Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Bibliothek, Cod. Guelf. 628 Helmst. The series is under the general editorship of Edward Roesner, who is also responsible for the actual work for vols.1 and 7; Thomas Payne prepared vols.6a and 6b; vols.2, 3 and 4 are under discussion here; Rebecca Baltzer was in charge of vol.5.

There are several problems faced by a transcriber of this music. In the first place, the manuscripts contain only the polyphonic sections of the pieces; the remaining plainchant portions have to be supplied from elsewhere, and intelligent decisions have to be made where these are not compatible. Text underlay is often unclear, as is accurate co-ordination of the parts. Although the notation is a triumph, many areas of ambiguity remain: among the unresolved questions are those pertaining to tempo, vocal production, timbre, style, breathing, and number and disposition of the performers, as well as the question of the entire rhythmic profile of those portions of the two-part compositions where the lower voice projects sustained notes...