A musical fragment from Anglo-Saxon England
John Haines is Associate Professor of Musicology at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Eight centuries of troubadours and trouvères: the changing identity of medieval music (Cambridge University Press, 2004), and various articles on medieval music and its reception. He is a contributor to the forthcoming Cambridge companion to French music and the Cambridge history of musical performance
Correspondence: j.haines{at}utoronto.ca
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Abstract |
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This article argues that a neume fragment found in the famous ‘Durham Cassiodorus’ (Durham, Cathedral Library, Ms.B.II.30) may date from the first half of the 8th century. As part of this argument, I suggest the possibility of notated music in Anglo-Saxon England prior to the 10th century. Since the Durham Cassiodorus was likely read by Alcuin of York who played an important part in the Carolingian liturgical reform, the Durham Cassiodorus neume fragment may be linked to Alcuin and to what Kenneth Levy has called a ‘Carolingian archetype’, that is, a now-lost antiphoner with music compiled around 800. Other unreported English neume fragments found in the 8th-century ‘Tiberius Bede’ (London, British Library, Cotton Tiberius C.II) are presented here.
Key Words: ‘Durham Cassiodorus’ • Alcuin • Bede • Wearmouth • Jarrow • neume