The Divine Office in the Latin Middle Ages: Methodology and Source Studies, Regional Developments, Hagiography

by Margot E. Fassler (Editor), Rebecca A. Baltzer (Editor)

Overview

The Divine Office—the cycle of daily worship other than the Mass—is the richest source of liturgical texts and music from the Latin Middle Ages. However, its richness, the great diversity of its manuscripts, and its many variations from community to community have made it difficult to study, and it remains largely unexplored terrain. This volume is a practical guide to the Divine Office for students and scholars throughout the field of medieval studies. The book surveys the many questions related to the Office and presents the leading analytical tools and research methods now used in the field.

Beginning with the Office in the early Middle Ages, the book covers manuscript sources and their contents; regional developments and variations; the relationship between the Office, the Mass, and other ceremonies and repertories; and the deep links between the Office and medieval hagiography. The book concludes with a discussion of recent technical advances for handling the enormous amounts of evidence on the Office and its performance, in particular CANTUS, the vast electronic database developed by Ruth Steiner of Catholic University for the analysis of chant repertories.
The Divine Office in the Latin Middle Ages is an essential resource for anyone studying medieval liturgy. Its accessible style and broad coverage make it an important basic reference for a wide range of students and scholars in art history, religious studies, social history, literature, musicology, and theology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195124538
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/17/2000
Pages:	656
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.63(d)
Lexile:	1550L (what's this?)

About the Author

Margot E. Fassler is Robert S. Tangeman Professor of Musicology and Director of the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale University.

Rebecca A. Baltzer is Professor of Musicology at the University of Texas, Austin.

Table of Contents

Prelude: Charting the Divine Office, Lila CollamorePart I. A Methodological Introduction1. Sermons, Sacramentaries, and Early Sources for the Office in the Latin West: The Example of Advent, Margot E. Fassler2. Reading an Office Book, László DobszayPart II. The Pre-Carolingian Office3. The Origins of the Western Office, James W. McKinnon4. Observations on the Divine Office in the Rule of the Master, Joseph Dyer5. Eastern and Western Elements in the Irish Monastic Prayer of the Hours, Peter JefferyPart III. Manuscript Studies6. The Antiphoner of Compiègne, Paris, BNF lat. 17436, Ritva Jacobsson7. The Divine Office at St. Martial in the Early Eleventh Century: Paris, BN lat. 1085, James Grier8. The Cluniac Processional of Solesmes, Bibliothèque de l'Abbaye, Michael Huglo9. Taking the Rough with the Smooth: Melodic Versions and Manuscript Status, Susan RankinPart IV. Regional Developments: Carolingian Period to the Later Middle Ages10. Office Compositions from St. Gall: Saints Gallus and Othmar, Hartmut Möller11. The Development and Chronology of the Ambrosian Sanctorale: The Evidence of the Antiphon Texts, Terence Bailey12. Performing Latin Verse: Text and Music in Early Medieval Versified Offices, Gunilla Björkvall and Andreas Haug13. From Office to Mass: The Antiphons of Vespers and Lauds and the Antiphons before the Gospel in Northern France, Anne Walters Robertson14. The Office for the Feast of the Circumcision from Le Puy, Wulf Arlt15. The Palm Sunday Processional in Medieval Chartres, Craig Wright16. Nonconformity in the Use of Cambrai Cathedral: Guillaume Du Fay's Foundations, Barbara HagghPart V. Hagiography17. Transforming a Viking into a Saint: The Divine Office of St. Olav, Gunilla Iversen18. On the Prose Historia of St. Augustine, Janka Szendrei19. The Historia of St. Julian of Le Mans by Létald of Micy: Some Comments and Questions about a North French Office of the Early Eleventh Century, David Hiley20. The Little Office of the Virgin and Mary's Role at Paris, Rebecca A. Baltzer21. The Carmelite Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin: A Study in Musical Adaptation, James John BoycePart VI. The Office and Computers22. Large Projects and Small Resources: Late Medieval Liturgical Offices, Andrew Hughes23. CANTUS and Tonaries, Lora Matthews & Paul MerkleyBibliography of Writings by Ruth Steiner, Lila Collamore

Editorial Reviews

"We owe thanks to the authors of this volume for making these difficult matters more accessible to nonspecialists." — Journal of the American Musicological Society

"Peter Jeffery's study, in a class by itself, is a major contribution to the study of the earliest Irish offices."—Peritia

From the Publisher