Abstract

This essay studies graphic change in music script of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, a crucial period in the standardization of square notation. Changes in three note shapes (punctus, pes and climacus) are surveyed in manuscripts datable to within twenty-five years. From the very early 1200s, music scripts exhibit a markedly more angular and quadratic aspect than in the 1100s. New tendencies include a larger letter module, the suppression of finials, increased shading, and a greater tendency to connect notes.

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