(from Lat. antiphona; antiphonarius [liber], antiphonarium, antiphonale).
Liturgical book of the Western Church containing the antiphons and other choir chants sung at the services of the Divine Office.
1. Origins of the Gregorian antiphoner.
2. Evolution of the Gregorian antiphoner.
3. Important manuscript antiphoners.
MICHEL HUGLO/DAVID HILEY
Although the word antiphona as a term for a liturgical chant can be traced back to the 3rd century, the term antiphonarius (rarely also antiphonale – see below) for a book of chants first appears in the 8th century. In his Dialogus ecclesiasticae institutionis Archbishop Egbert of York (d 766) refers to an ‘antiphonarium’ and even ‘antiphonaria’ of Gregory the Great (d 604), which he had seen in Rome in the 730s (PL, lxxxix, 440–42). The term was also used in Carolingian library catalogues from the end of the 8th century:Catalogue from St Wandrille de Fontenelle in Normandy, compiled between 787 and 806 (‘antiphonarii romanae ecclesiae’; G. Becker: Catalogi bibliothecarum antiqui, Bonn, 1885/R, §4, no.21);Catalogue from St Riquier in Picardy, in 831 (‘antiphonarii sex’: ibid., §11, no.238);Catalogue from Cologne, in the 9th century (ibid., §16, nos.7, 18, 33);Catalogue from St Gallen in the mid-9th century (‘antiphonarii III et veteres II’; P. Lehmann, ed.: Mittelalterliche Bibliothekskataloge Deutschlands und der Schweiz, i: Die Bistümer Konstanz und Chur, Munich, 1918/R, p.77);Catalogue from Reichenau, at the end of the 8th century (ibid., i, 236)
Another source is Amalarius of Metz (c775–c850), who at Corbie consulted Roman antiphoners presented to Abbot Wala (822–35) and compiled at the time of Pope Hadrian I (772–95). The antiphoner of Gregory the Great is mentioned again later in the 9th century by the pope’s biographer John the Deacon (Sancti Gregorii magni vita, ii, §6: PL, lxxv, 90). There is further evidence of Roman antiphoners in a note made by the copyist of the Codex Blandiniensis (B-Br lat.10127–44) at the end of the 8th century: he noted that the Mass for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost was not in the Roman books (‘ista ebdomata non est in antefonarios romanos’; see R.-J. Hesbert, Antiphonale missarum sextuplex, Rome, 1935/R, no.179). It is noteworthy that this copyist did not use the word graduale for his collection of Mass chants (see Gradual (ii)), but the word antiphonarius. At this period the antiphoner often contained both Mass and Office chants. The late 8th-century Lucca fragments (I-Lc 490), for example, contain chants (for Advent only) divided into two categories for each Sunday: first for the Office, then for the Mass.
According to Amalarius in the prologue to his Liber de ordine antiphonarii, the antiphoner once contained the Office antiphons and also the antiphons of the Mass (i.e. introits and communions), whereas the Office responsories were collected in a different book, the responsorial. This unexpected statement is confirmed by a phrase in a letter of Pope Paul I in about 760: ‘antiphonale et responsoriale … necnon et horologium nocturnum’ (MGH, Epistolae, iii, Karolini aevi, i, Berlin, 1899/R, p.529). The division provides a clue about the process of transition from the earliest Roman system (a single book for all types of chant), found also in the Ambrosian (Milanese) and Spanish liturgies, to the subsequent Gregorian system, in which Mass chants were collected in the gradual and separated from the Office chants (antiphons and responsories) in the antiphoner.
For the sake of clarity in modern writings, it is best to avoid using the word ‘antiphonale’ (antiphoner) to signify a book of Mass chants (as Pamelius, Hesbert and Gamber have done); the latter is more appropriately termed a gradual, particularly when the word antiphonarius is by contrast to be reserved for a book of Office chants (as it has been by Gamber).
The traditional attribution of the antiphoner to St Gregory the Great has an echo in the verse prologue (‘Gregorius praesul’) that preceded the antiphoners (found in I-Lc 490), and in miniatures representing St Gregory setting down liturgical melodies under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, as in the antiphoner of Hartker of St Gallen (see below, §3(i); for further details of the prologue see Gregory the Great). The new attribution of the chant to St Gregory was necessary to give it authority – an essential factor in medieval liturgy as much as in canon law or theology to provide a certain juridical validity. This is the time when ‘Gregorian’ chant was established in the Frankish kingdom, codified in the earliest known chant books to have survived (such as I-Lc 490, late 8th century) and organized into the eight-mode system (e.g. in the earliest surviving tonary F-Pn lat.15139, late 8th century).
Most 9th-century antiphoners contain all the chants for the period from Advent to Eastertide grouped into Offices according to the liturgical calendar. In the sequence of Sundays after Pentecost, the responsories were copied separately from the antiphons in five groups according to the months from July to November, corresponding with the sapiential and prophetic books read on the Sundays of summer and autumn. The antiphons ‘ex evangelio’ to the Benedictus and Magnificat for the Sundays after Pentecost were grouped according to Sundays, corresponding with the Gospel readings. These ‘Gospel antiphons’ may not originally have been included in the book, as is suggested by a remark of Amalarius (Liber de ordine antiphonarii, lxviii) and by their omission in some antiphoners as well as their inclusion as an isolated group in others (F-CHRm 47: PalMus, 1st ser., xi, 1912/R, p.134; Pn lat.909, f.260v; Pn lat.1121, f.187) as a kind of supplement (see Antiphon, §4).
In these early antiphoners, the chants of the Proper of the Saints (Sanctorale) were partly mingled with those of the movable feasts of the Proper of the Time (Temporale). The Common of the Saints (Commune sanctorum) and the invitatory psalm of Matins were usually copied at the end. Occasionally these antiphoners ended with a brief tonary, in which the chants were grouped according to the eight psalm tones and, within each tone, by psalm endings (differentiae).
Antiphoners may be divided into two main classes, secular and monastic. The two are distinguished by the number of chants they contain for Matins, the Little Hours (Prime, Terce, Sext and None) and Vespers. Secular antiphoners were used by ordinary clergy, canons and friars of the 13th-century mendicant orders (Franciscans and Dominicans); they contain nine antiphons and nine responsories in groups of three for each of the three nocturns of Matins, a short responsory for the Little Hours and five psalms for Vespers. Monastic antiphoners (those used in monasteries, e.g. of the Benedictines, Cistercians and Carthusians) contain 12 antiphons and 12 responsories in groups of four for Matins, as well as another antiphon for the Old Testament canticles in the third nocturn of Matins. They contain no short responsories for the Little Hours and only four psalms for Vespers.
The majority of antiphoners contain antiphons and responsories for the Temporale and Sanctorale, with chants for the Commune sanctorum in sets in the middle (for Eastertide – ‘tempore paschali’) and at the end (the rest of the year) of the Temporale. Chants for the ordinary weekly (‘ferial’) Office cycle are less often included, being commonly placed alongside the appropriate psalms in a psalter. Some antiphoners also give hymns at the appropriate places in these cycles, but it is more common for them to be grouped together in a separate section, or in a book of their own or as part of a psalter.
The Gregorian antiphoner was imposed throughout the Frankish kingdoms at the end of the 8th century; it spread throughout the Western Church at the same time as the Gregorian sacramentary and lectionary. At this time antiphoners lacked musical notation: according to Guido of Arezzo (11th century) the melodies were memorized, a feat that took 10 years to achieve. Consequently (according to a letter from Helisachar to Nibridius, archbishop of Narbonne, written some time between 819–22) an experienced singer accompanied an antiphoner to a church in order to teach the singers the melodies.
In the second half of the 9th century neumatic notation was introduced; this saved the singers some, though not all, of the effort of memorization. Traditional practice was disrupted at this time: copyists had formerly written the texts of chants in continuous lines of script, and had now to set them down with wider spaces between the lines and to break up words in antiphons and responsories where the syllables carried melismas that were at all elaborate. To do this, the copyists needed to know the traditional melodies or to work in association with singers who did.
This transition in practice was made only gradually. The conventional manuscript text abbreviations had to be expanded and the amount of space needed for the melismas had to be found by trial and error. If the space was insufficient, the copyist of the music would be forced to crowd the neumes along the margin; this can be seen in the antiphoner of Mont-Renaud (PalMus, 1st ser., xvi, 1956), where the text was written in the ordinary unbroken manner and neumatic notation (not originally envisaged) added to it some time later (fig.1).
It was presumably also during the 9th and 10th centuries that most of the local traditions were established which modern research has been able to distinguish by comparing the choice and order of liturgical items, their modality, and details of textual and musical readings. Generally speaking, sources from the German language area are both relatively homogeneous and clearly distinct from those of other areas. The latter, by contrast, tend to fall into smaller groups among themselves; their similarities can often be explained by mere geographical proximity. Groups may also be related because of historical circumstance (e.g. English antiphoners influenced by Norman traditions after the Conquest). Sources from monastic institutions may be related because of the circumstances of their foundation (daughter to mother relationship), or because of some monastic affiliation (e.g. Cluniac) or reform movement (e.g. Hirsau). The later religious orders (Cistercians, Carthusians, Dominicans etc.) used books based on a centrally preserved reference copy.
In consequence, the study of a particular melody or group of melodies involves investigation of its regional transmission, since its liturgical position, mode and textual and melodic readings might vary considerably.
(iii) Western sources; sources from the central region; England.
(v) Manuscripts of the religious orders.
Antiphoner, §3: Important manuscript antiphoners
The earliest manuscript antiphoners contained the text alone, since they were written when the melodies were still memorized. The earliest of all is the Lucca fragment (I-Lc 490) mentioned above (§1), copied at the end of the 8th century. Its Mass chant texts have been edited by Hesbert (Antiphonale missarum sextuplex, Rome, 1935/R, p.xxvi with facs.) and its Office texts by Huglo (1951). The St Gallen fragments (CH-SGs 1399) contain a few texts for the Office of 2 February and of the 2nd Sunday in Lent, copied by Winithar in the second half of the 8th century (ed. A. Dold: ‘Ein neues Winitharfragment mit liturgischen Texten’, Texte und Arbeiten, xxxi, 1940, pp.77–84). Finally, in F-R A 292 (catal.26), there are a few texts without notation for Advent and for 27 December, copied in the 9th century but later erased to accommodate other texts; these were texts of pieces added to adapt the Roman antiphoner to the monastic use of Jumièges, as Hesbert (1954) has shown.
The only complete 9th-century antiphoner is the antiphoner of Compiègne (more accurately, the antiphoner of Charles the Bald: F-Pn lat.17436), which contains the texts of Mass chants followed by texts of the Office chants; this royal manuscript was probably copied at St Médard, Soissons (see Huglo, 1993), subsequently coming into the possession of Emperor Charles. An edition was made by the Benedictines of St Maur (1705, repr. in PL, lxxviii, 725–850) but it has been superseded by that of Hesbert (CAO, i, 1963). (See also Barber, 1972.)
Because of the importance of Metz in Carolingian times, much interest has been accorded to two 9th-century witnesses to its repertory of Office chants: the Liber de ordine antiphonarii (c830) by Amalarius of Metz (ed. Hanssens, 1950, with reconstruction of the Metz antiphoner); and the Metz tonary (c850), F-ME 351 (ed. W. Lipphardt: Der karolingische Tonar von Metz, Münster, 1965).
In addition to antiphoners with musical notation it is necessary to study breviaries, which are in effect antiphoners completed with lessons and prayers so that the Office may be read using a single book (see Breviary).
Antiphoner, §3: Important manuscript antiphoners
The earliest eastern antiphoner with neumes was written and notated by Hartker, a monk of St Gallen (c980–1000) (facs. edn. in PalMus, 2nd ser., i, 1900, 2/1970; text ed. Hesbert, CAO, ii, 1965). It begins with a tonary and contains marginal letters indicating the psalm endings (differentiae) appropriate to the antiphons (see Huglo, 1971, pp.233–9). CH-SGs 388 is a 12th-century copy of this antiphoner.
The St Gallen group also contains the following, of which the first two are breviaries with neumatic notation: CH-SGs 414 (copied c1030); SGs 413 and 387 (copied between 1034 and 1047); Zz Rh.28 (the Rheinau antiphoner: ed. Hesbert, CAO, ii, 1965, pp.ix–xi).
Other important antiphoners with neumatic notation from the eastern area include the monastic antiphoner from Quedlinburg dating from about 1018, D-Bsb mus.40047 (study, with inventory and facs., by Möller, 1990); the so-called Codex Albensis, A-Gu 211, of the early 12th century, a secular antiphoner possibly from Transylvania or Székesfehérvár (Stuhlweissenburg) in Hungary (facs. ed. Falvy and Mezey, 1963; text ed. Barber); and two antiphoners of Bamberg Cathedral, D-BAs lit.23 (11th or 12th century; text ed. Hesbert, CAO, ii, 1965) and BAs lit.24 (12th or 13th century). The noted breviary Mbs Clm 23037 (c1140), from Prüfening near Regensburg, is a representative of an important group of monastic sources linked by the reform movement emanating from Hirsau in the Black Forest (sources from Hirsau itself have not survived). Austrian sources include A-Wn series nova 2700 (Ssp a.XIII.7 until 1937), a 12th-century gradual and antiphoner from St Peter’s, Salzburg (facs., 1969–74; Engels, 1994); Wn Cpv 1826 (11th-century noted breviary); and Wn Cpv 14319 (12th century).
Not all centres in the eastern area adopted staff notation before the late Middle Ages. 12th- and 13th-century antiphoners with staff notation from this area are therefore not common. Among the earliest are the 12th-century manuscripts of the canons of Klosterneuburg (A-KN 1010, 1012 and 1013). The monastic antiphoner D-KA Aug.LX, from Zwiefalten, of the Hirsau congregation, had very fine 12th-century staff notation, which was erased and replaced by upright early Gothic notation (facs. ed. Möller, 1995; see also K. Hain: Ein musikalischer Palimpsest, Fribourg, 1925). Among the manuscripts copied by Franco, canon of Aachen Cathedral (d 1318) is the antiphoner D-AAm G.20 (see O. Gatzweiler: Die liturgiegeschichtlichen Handschriften des Aachener Münsterstifts, Münster, 1926, pp.109–25).
From Bohemia, the following two manuscripts may be mentioned: CZ-Pu VI.E.4.C (12th-century antiphoner from St Jiří, Prague); and Pu XII.C.3 (12th-century Bohemian antiphoner).
Staff notation was widely used in Hungary by the 13th century, but the earliest surviving Office books in which it is used are of the 14th: the notated breviary of Esztergom (Gran, Strigonium) and the antiphoner now in Istanbul (facs. ed. Szendrei, 1998, and 1999, respectively).
Antiphoner, §3: Important manuscript antiphoners
As in the eastern area, notated antiphoners in Western Europe do not appear before the end of the millennium. For example, the combined gradual and secular antiphoner F-AI 44 (late 9th or early 10th century), from Aquitaine, has almost no notation. The troper from St Martial, Limoges, Pn lat.1240 (c930) contains a table of incipits of chants for Vespers and Matins. In the abridged monastic antiphoner from St Martial Pn lat.1085 (late 10th century), notation is used only sparsely. The earliest fully notated Aquitanian antiphoner, E-Tc 44.1 (perhaps from Auch), of the early 11th century, was taken to Spain (see below, §3(iv)).
This pattern is repeated, for example, in northern France. The gradual-antiphoner of Mont-Renaud, originating at the monastery of Corbie, was written in the first half of the 10th century without musical notation; notation was subsequently added throughout, in the late 10th or early 11th century (fig.1; facs. in PalMus, 1st ser., xvi, 1955; see also Beyssac, 1957). The liturgical practice of Corbie was closely related to that of St Denis. At the end of the gradual from St Denis Pm 384 (11th century), there is a table of incipits of Office chants. Office chants then appear with staff notation in the 12th-century St Denis antiphoner Pn lat.17296 (text ed. Hesbert, CAO, ii, 1965). The 12th-century noted breviary of Vendôme VEN 17C is related to Corbie-St Denis use. On the other hand, the 13th-century noted breviary of Corbie AM 115 was written after Corbie had become affiliated to Cluny.
From Cluny itself there survives the late 11th-century noted breviary F-Pn lat.12601 (summer volume only). The monastery of St Maur-des-Fossés near Paris was a member of the Cluniac congregation, and its manuscripts include two antiphoners: the combined gradual-antiphoner with neumatic notation Pn lat.12584, of the late 11th or early 12th century (text of antiphoner ed. Hesbert, CAO, ii, 1965); and the antiphoner with staff notation Pn 12044, of the first half of the 12th century.
Norman monasteries are represented by F-R 209–10 (Y.175), a two-volume monastic noted breviary from Jumièges, partly provided with neumatic notation (12th century); and R 244 (A.261), a monastic breviary from Fécamp with staff notation (late 12th century).
Other important 12th-century antiphoners with staff notation include F-VAL 114, from St Amand; Pn n.a.lat.1535, from Sens; and Pn n.a.lat.1236, from Nevers. The latter is only the winter volume of what must originally have been a two-volume antiphoner. The hymns are in the third volume of the set (a gradual with sequences and tropes), Pn n.a.lat.1235 (hymns ed. B. Stäblein in MMMA, i, 1956).
Lyons manuscripts represent a special tradition going back to the time of Bishop Agobard (d 840), the author of the Epistola de correctione antiphonarii; in them all chants with texts not drawn from the scriptures are excluded. Their musical tradition is seen, for example, in F-LYm 357 (457), from the 11th–12th century, with neumatic notation; C 43, a 13th-century noted breviary; and the printed antiphoner of Lyons of 1738.
Antiphoners from regions bordering the German area often display similarities with manuscripts of the eastern groups. Among them are sources from Metz, Liège and Utrecht. The significance of Metz in the Carolingian era was mentioned above (§3(i)). Two manuscript antiphoners of Metz were destroyed during World War II but survive in photographs: F-ME 83 and 461. D-Bsb Phillips 1678 is a 12th-century noted breviary from Metz. GB-DRc B.III.11 (facs. ed. Frere, 1923; text ed. Hesbert, CAO, i, 1963) is an 11th-century antiphoner (surviving only in part) from Liège diocese. Important sources from another area close to the eastern zone are those from Utrecht: NL-Uu 406 [3.J.7] (12th century; facs. ed. de Loos, Downey and Steiner, 1997) and D-Ngm 4984 (13th century).
The liturgical tradition established in England in the 7th and 8th centuries was unfortunately extinguished by Norse invasions in the 9th. Unless it survives in some way in the Gregorian tradition, to which Anglo-Saxons such as St Boniface and Alcuin may have contributed, no trace of it remains. English monastic antiphoners reflect traditions imported, from the 10th century onwards, from Corbie, and from Fécamp and Le Bec in Normandy. (See D. Hiley: Proceedings of the British Academy, lxxii, 1986, pp.57–90.) The most important sources are the following: GB-Lbl Harl.2961, a notated Office collectar with hymnal, from Exeter, from the mid-11th century, with neumatic notation (text ed. E.S. Dewick and W.H. Frere: The Leofric Collectar (Harl. ms. 2961), London, 1914–21); Ccc 391, an Office collectar with selected portions of the breviary, from Worcester, 1065–6, with neumatic notation (text ed. A. Hughes: The Portiforium of St Wulstan, Leighton Buzzard, 1958–60); WO F.160, a book containing chants for the whole of the liturgy, Mass and processions as well as the Office, 13th century (facs. of the antiphoner, processional and hymnary in PalMus, 1st ser., xii, 1922/R); Cmc F.4.10, an antiphoner from Peterborough, 13th century; and Ojec 10, a diurnal from Gloucester, 13th century. The last three manuscripts have staff notation.
The Cluniacs were not strongly represented in England, but the 13th-century noted breviary-missal of Lewes GB-Cfm 369 (see Leroquais, 1935) is an important document of Cluniac use.
A development in the early 13th century which proved to be of major significance was the codification of the liturgy and its plainchant at Salisbury, in which Richard Poore (bishop of Salisbury 1217–28) played a leading role. The ‘Use of Sarum’, as it became known, appears to have been identical to that of the English royal chapel, and was eventually adopted by many parish churches and even secular cathedrals in England (with exceptions in the archdiocese of York), Scotland, Wales and Ireland (see Salisbury, Use of). A list of Sarum antiphoners was compiled by Frere in his introduction to a facsimile of a 13th-century Sarum antiphoner (AS, 76ff; facs. of GB-Cu Mm.II.9, completed from SB 152). Later additions to the list include the early 14th-century noted breviary used at Penwortham in Lancashire, Lbl Add.52359 (fig.2; and see D.H. Turner, British Museum Quarterly, xxviii, 1964, pp.85–8).
Antiphoner, §3: Important manuscript antiphoners
The indigenous chant tradition of Rome known as Old Roman chant was not codified until the 11th century. Two 12th-century Old Roman antiphoners survive: I-Rvat S Pietro B.79 (facs. ed. Baroffio and Kim, 1995) and GB-Lbl Add.29988 (fig.3).
Antiphoners of another non-Gregorian chant tradition of southern Italy, Beneventan chant, have not survived, although many old Beneventan Office chants have been recovered from Gregorian manuscripts of the area. Gregorian antiphoners from Benevento and Monte Cassino are among the most important of their kind and received particular attention when the Antiphonale monasticum (Solesmes, 1934) was being prepared. They include the following 12th-century manuscripts: I-BV 21 (text ed. Hesbert, CAO, ii, 1965), BV 19 and 20, and MC 542; and the 11th-century noted breviary MC 420.
Two important central Italian antiphoners survive from Norcia, I-Rv C5 and C13, both of the 12th century, with staff notation. An early 12th-century antiphoner from the archiepiscopal archives at Florence has outstandingly beautiful notation (see Huglo, 1971, p.186 and pl.iii). There exist numerous important antiphoners from northern Italy of the 11th century onwards, for example, from Pomposa, Emilia, Bobbio, Piacenza, and the northern cities of Ivrea, Pavia, Vercelli, Monza, Brescia and Verona. They occasionally display similarities with German or southern French traditions. Three were selected by Hesbert for his edition of Office chant texts (CAO, i, 1963): IV CVI, the neumed antiphoner of Ivrea (11th century); MZ C.12/75, the 11th-century Monza antiphoner; and VEcap XCVIII, the 11th-century antiphoner from Verona. UD f.20 is a breviary with neumatic notation from Pomposa; Rvat lat.7018, a noted breviary-missal of the 11th century from Emilia (see P. Salmon, Mélanges Eugène Tisserant, Vatican City, 1964, pp.327–43); Tn F.II.10, an antiphoner from Bobbio; PCsa 65, a magnificent manuscript begun in 1142 containing the complete liturgy of Piacenza and its chant in staff notation (facs. edn in Liber magistri, Piacenza, Biblioteca capitulare c. 65, Piacenza, 1997); IV LXIV, another early Ivrea antiphoner; MZ C.15/79, of the late 11th century, from Pavia; VCd LXX, a 13th-century antiphoner of Vercelli; GB-Ob Misc.lit.366, an 11th-century gradual-breviary with neumes from Brescia.
The Ambrosian chant of Milan and the Mozarabic chant of Spain were codified in books in which Mass and Office chants appeared side by side. The term ‘antiphoner’ is used of these manuscripts in its more general sense of ‘chant book’. (See Ambrosian chant and Mozarabic chant).
In the 11th century, after most of Spain had been reclaimed from the Moors, the Spanish Church preferred to import the Roman liturgy and Gregorian chant rather than preserve the Mozarabic rite. Thus in Spain a number of antiphoners exist that were imported from southern France or modelled on southern French exemplars. E-Tc 44.1, of the early 11th century, and Tc 44.2, of the 11th–12th centuries, with diastematic notation, were both imported from Aquitaine. Aquitanian notation was used for F-Pn lat.742, the noted breviary of Ripoll in Catalonia (the abbey was reformed from St Victor in Marseilles; see Lemarié, 1965). On the other hand, the antiphoners of Montserrat, E-MO 72, and S Feliù at Gerona use Catalan notation. At San Domingo de Silos the first Gregorian antiphoners were copied in Mozarabic script and notation: GB-Lbl Add.30850 (11th century; fig.4; facs. ed. Fernández de la Cuesta, 1985; text ed. Hesbert, CAO, ii, 1965) and Lbl Add.30848 (11th-century noted breviary). Later, Aquitanian notation was used at Silos as well, to be seen in E-SI, a 12th-century antiphoner from a dependent priory of Silos.
Antiphoner, §3: Important manuscript antiphoners
The Benedictines sometimes used a liturgy adapted from that of the diocese in which they lived. Very often, however, a liturgical use would be perpetuated from mother to daughter house, so that correspondences arise which transcend diocesan and geographical boundaries. This is also the case when monasteries became affiliated in congregations under the leadership of a house such as Cluny or Hirsau (both mentioned above).
The Augustinians (whose canonical use followed the secular cursus) were similarly flexible in matters of liturgical use, although some groups of affiliated sources may be distinguished. Antiphoners survive from many houses of Austrian Augustinian canons, such as Klosterneuburg (see §3(ii) above). Other examples of antiphoners from Augustinian houses are F-Pm 385, dating from about 1400, from the Augustinian canons of Utrecht, or GB-Lbl Add.35285, 13th century, from Guisborough in Yorkshire, where an antiphoner is bound together with two tonaries, a missal (without notation), calendar, psalter, an Office lectionary and a processional.
The Premonstratensians formed a particular congregation following the Augustinian canonical rule. Their liturgy was established under the successor of their founder St Norbert (c1080–1134). F-Pn lat.9425 is a 13th-century Premonstratensian antiphoner from Auxerre. An important group of antiphoners survives from the Premonstratensian monastery of Schäftlarn in Bavaria (see P. Ruf: ‘Die Handschriften des Klosters Schäftlarn’, 1200: Zwölfhundert Jahre Kloster Schäftlarn, 762–1962, Munich, 1962, pp.21–122): D-Mbs Clm 17010 (12th century), Clm 17004 (dated 1331), and the 15th-century antiphoners Clm 17003, 17002, 17007, 17018 and 17001.
A Vallombrosan antiphoner survives: I-Fl Conventi soppressi 560 (11th–12th century, with diastematic notation); and two 12th-century manuscripts reflecting Camaldolese use: Lc 601 (with staff notation; facs. in PalMus, 1st ser., ix, 1906/R) and E-Tc 48.14.
In contrast to the above, the Carthusians, Cistercians, Dominicans and Franciscans celebrated the liturgy exclusively from books conforming to an approved norm.
The Carthusians used only chants with scriptural texts, as was the practice at Lyons. Their tradition is seen in the Carthusian antiphoner F-G 91(867), written between 1282 and 1318, and in seven later manuscripts (G 92–8); besides these there are about 30 antiphoners in various European libraries, including GB-Lbl Add.17302.
The Cistercians initiated their own tradition only after the order had existed for 30 years. In 1185 and 1191 the official liturgy and chant were gathered together in a single collection (F-Dm 114) in which all the liturgical books, with and without musical notation, were included. This collection served as a standard reference source for books copied for new foundations. Today the gradual and antiphoner are lost; the latter was originally preceded by a prologue (Cantum quem cisterciensis ordinis: PL, clxxxii, 1121–32) drawn up according to the regulae of the Cistercian Guido of Eu. This prologue set out principles underlying chant reform rather similar to those in the prologue of the Cistercian tonary (see Huglo, 1971, pp.357–67, with a table showing the psalm endings (differentiae) in the antiphons). About 75 Cistercian antiphoners survive; the earliest seems to be one in Gethsemane (USA) mentioned by Marosszéki (1952, p.142). Most large libraries have Cistercian antiphoners from the first period of the order (the 12th century), for example: B-Br 142 [cat.661]; Br 268 [cat.662]; F-Pn lat.8882; Pn n.a.lat.1410, 1411 and 1412 (from Morimondo). Examples from the beginning of the 13th century include GB-Lbl Eg.2977 (from Columbo in the diocese of Piacenza) and a manuscript in D-KA. Some of the sources remain in Cistercian abbeys: A-HE 20 (12th century); HE 65 (13th century); Mount Melleray, Co. Waterford, Ireland (from Hauterive, diocese of Fribourg in Switzerland); Westmalle, Belgium (12th century).
The Dominicans’ reform was based on that of the Cistercians, though not identical in every detail. They collated their chant books with a standard copy at the convent of St Jacques in Paris (now in I-Rss); this was drawn up a little before 1254. The vicar-general of the order checked the accuracy of performance in the chant with a small book which he took with him when he visited Dominican houses (GB-Lbl Add.23935). All the Dominican antiphoners in European libraries (especially at Brussels, Colmar, Freiburg, Karlsruhe and Rome) are thus identical. They did not all, however, contain the prologue setting out the rules of transcription for books with music (see M. Huglo: ‘Règlement du XIIIe siècle pour la transcription des livres notés’, Festschrift Bruno Stäblein zum 70. Geburtstag, ed. M. Ruhnke, Kassel, 1967, pp.121–33).
The Franciscans adopted the Roman curial breviary and antiphoner in 1223. In 1230 the chapter general sent copies of the new book to the provinces, and in 1254 an official prototype of the books of the order was drawn up, with square notation in place of the central Italian notation of the earliest notated Franciscan breviaries (I-Ac 694; antiphoner in D-Ma; I-Nn VI.E.20; Rvat lat.8737 and Borgia 405 (227)).
The Carmelites followed the tradition of the Roman antiphoner, except in a few details of ceremonial.
The earliest printed antiphoners with musical notation were German: the antiphoner of Augsburg (1495; copies in GB-Lbl (IB 6753) and Ob), and the antiphoner of Würzburg (between 1496–9) using German Gothic notation. The earliest known antiphoners with square notation are the Hieronymite antiphoner (Seville, 1491; copy in F-Pn rés.vél.807) and, above all, the Roman antiphoner printed by Spira at Venice (1499; a copy at GB-Lbl (IC 24247)). Various churches began printing their own antiphoners, for example, Salisbury in 1519–20.
At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, in order to improve the performance of the chant, performing editions of the antiphoner and diurnal were published, some for parish churches, others for religious orders, for example, the Liber antiphonarius pro diurnis horis (Solesmes, 1891) by Dom Pothier, and the Antiphonale monasticum (Tournai, 1934) by Dom Gajard. The Vatican edition of the Roman antiphoner, for parish use, was published in 1912. In 1903 the Cistercian antiphoner was printed as two folio choirbooks at Westmalle in Belgium. The Dominican antiphoner printed at Mechelen in 1862 was replaced by a vesperal in 1900. The Carthusians printed their antiphoner in 1876 and 1878 and published an Antiphonarium abbreviatum in 1881. Finally, the Benedictines of the Swiss Congregation published the Antiphonale monasticum secundum traditionem helveticae congregationis in 1943. The work of Solesmes in editing chant books has continued after the drastic liturgical changes determined at the Second Vatican Council. Their publications include the Psalterium monasticum (1981) and the Liber hymnarius cum invitatoriis & aliquibus responsoriis (1982).
Two goals have determined the direction of modern research into the antiphoner. The pioneering work of the monks of Solesmes was largely directed towards the restitution of the medieval melodies for modern worship, even though the Office in its full medieval form was almost never celebrated. A second impulse has been to trace the origins and development of the Office repertory recorded in medieval manuscripts. In both cases the immense number of medieval sources and the considerable disparity among them present formidable obstacles. Furthermore, the very size of the repertories involved – a typical antiphoner will contain approximately 1500 antiphons and as many as 1000 responsories – means that the investigation of even a single document is a matter of some complexity.
No complete restoration of Matins – by far the longest and musically most interesting of the Office Hours – was attempted by the Solesmes monks. Their editions are based on selected manuscripts whose tradition could be identified as authoritative: first those with neumatic notation such as Hartker’s antiphoner (CH-SGs 390–91: see above §3 (ii)), complemented by later sources with diastematic notation such as those of Benevento (see above §3 (iv)).
In the Corpus antiphonalium officii (CAO), R.-J. Hesbert tackled the issue of a critical edition by first listing the contents of 12 early antiphoners, six following the secular cursus (i, 1963) and six the monastic cursus (ii, 1965); the full text of each chant was then edited individually (iii–iv, 1968–70), and finally the selection of responsories and their verses for the Sundays of Advent in no less than 800 sources was compared, and sources with the same or similar selection and ordering were identified (v–vi, 1974–9). One of Hesbert’s aims was to trace a common ancestor from which the sources might have descended. Although both the concept of a common ancestor and Hesbert’s method of identifying it have been questioned, the patterns of relationships between the sources which he revealed have shed invaluable light on the manuscript corpus.
The work of making inventories of important antiphoners has been pursued most notably in the project CANTUS directed by Ruth Steiner and Terence Bailey. By the end of the century, the contents of over 50 were available in machine-readable or machine-sortable form, including information on modal assignment not given by Hesbert. Volumes published in the series Corpus antiphonalium officii ecclesiarum centralis Europae (CAO–ECE, also available in machine-readable form) by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences present incipits of all chants of a particular liturgical use, based on the critical comparison of multiple sources of the use in question.
These projects have shed much light on the great variety among medieval antiphoners, and they provide valuable data on which to base future work on the ‘genealogy’ of sources. Similar work on the chant melodies has hardly begun. A critical edition of a substantial and clearly defined Office chant corpus is the three-volume Antiphonen edited by László Dobszay and Janka Szendrei in the series Monumenta monodica medii aevi, which presents the complete antiphon repertory (over 2500 items) of two traditions in parallel – that of the Hungarian archdiocese of Esztergom (see §3(ii) above) and Franciscan-Roman use.
It is not unreasonable to hope that through the combination of work on the make-up of Office repertories (e.g. CAO, CANTUS, CAO–ECE) and critical editions of selected groups of sources, the outlines of development of the antiphoner from its beginnings in the 8th–9th century to its multifarious late-medieval manifestations, and post-medieval reformations, will become clearer.
For a list of catalogues of large libraries with numerous antiphoners in their holdings, and also for brief descriptions of many antiphoners and other Office chant books, see Sources, MS, §II.
MGG1 (B. Stäblein) [chronological handlist of antiphoners]
Amalarius of Metz: Liber de ordine antiphonarii [c830], ed. J.M. Hanssens, Amalarii episcopi opera liturgica omnia, ii (Vatican City, 1950)
Agobard of Lyons: Liber de correctione antiphonarii [9th century], MGH, Epistolae, v, Karolini aevi, iii (1898–9/R), 232–8
P.C.C. Bogaerts and E. Duval: Etudes sur les livres choraux (Mechelen, 1855)
J. Baudot: L’antiphonaire (Paris, 1913)
A. Gastoué: Musique et liturgie: le graduel et l’antiphonaire romains: histoire et description (Lyons, 1913/R)
P. Alfonso: L’antifonario dell’Ufficio romano: note sull’origine della composizione dei testi (Subiaco, 1935)
R.-J. Hesbert, ed.: Fontes earumque prima ordinatio, CAO, v (1975) [collation of antiphoners and breviaries for a critical edn]
M. Huglo: Les tonaires: inventaire, analyse, comparaison (Paris, 1971), 22–3, 349–76, 390–94
R.-J. Hesbert, ed.: Secunda et tertia ordinationes, CAO, vi (1979)
M. Huglo: ‘Les remaniements de l’antiphonaire grégorien au IXe siècle: Hélisachar, Agobard, Amalaire’, Culto cristiano, politica imperiale carolingia: Todi 1977 (Todi, 1979), 87–120
A. Hughes: Medieval Manuscripts for Mass and Office: a Guide to their Organization and Terminology (Toronto, 1982)
P. Underwood: ‘Melodic Traditions in Medieval English Antiphoners’, JPMMS, v (1982), 1–12
K. Ottosen: L’antiphonaire latin au Moyen-Age: réorganisation des séries de répons de l’Avent classés par R.-J. Hesbert (Rome, 1986)
O.T. Edwards: ‘How many Sarum Antiphonals were there in England and Wales in the Middle of the Sixteenth Century’, Revue bénédictine, xcix (1989), 155–80
Antiphonarium ambrosianum du Musée britannique (XIIe siècle); codex Additional 34209, PalMus, 1st ser., v–vi (1896–1900/R)
Antiphonale officii monastici, écrit par le P. Hartker, no.390–391 de la Bibliothèque de Saint-Gall, PalMus, 2nd ser., i (1900, 2/1970 as Antiphonaire de Hartker: manuscrits Saint-Gall, 390–391)
W.H. Frere, ed.: Antiphonale sarisburiense (London, 1901–25/R), esp. i, 1–3, 76–83 [GB-Cu Mm.II.9]
Antiphonaire monastique, XIIe siècle: codex 601 de la Bibliothèque capitulaire de Lucques, PalMus, 1st ser., ix (1906/R)
Antiphonaire monastique, XIIIe siècle: codex F.160 de la Bibliothèque de la Cathédrale de Worcester, PalMus, 1st ser., xii (1922/R)
W.H. Frere, ed.: Pars antiphonarii (London, 1923) [facs. of GB-DRc B.III.11]
L. Brou and J. Vives, eds.: Antifonario visigótico mozárabe de la Catedral de León (Madrid and Barcelona, 1953–9)
L’antiphonaire du Mont-Renaud: antiphonaire de la messe et de l’office, Xe siècle, collection privée, PalMus, 1st ser., xvi (1955/R)
Z. Falvy and L. Mezey, eds.: Codex albensis: ein Antiphonar aus dem 12. Jahrhundert (Graz, 1963) [A-Gu 211]
Antiphonar von St. Peter [A-Wn series nova 2700] (Graz, 1969–74)
K. Schlager, ed.: Antiphonale pataviense (Wien 1519), EDM, 1st ser., lxxxviii (1985) [facs.]
I. Fernández de la Cuesta, ed.: Antiphonale silense: British Library Mss. Add. 30.850 (Madrid, 1985)
Antiphonale hispaniae vetus (s. XXI): biblioteca de la Universidad de Zaragoza (Zaragoza, 1986)
H. Möller, ed.: Das Quedlinburger Antiphonar (Berlin Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz Mus. ms. 40047) (Tutzing, 1990)
B.G. Baroffio and S.J. Kim, eds.: Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, archivio S. Pietro B 79: antifonario della Basilica di S. Pietro (Sec.XII) (Florence, 1995) [Old Roman antiphoner]
H. Möller, ed.: Antiphonarium: Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek, Aug. perg. 60 (Munich, 1995)
Antiphonarium de Tempore/Antiphonarium de Sanctis, Illustrissimi Domini Alfonsi Gregorii Archiep. Caesaraugustani iussu aeditum: Caesaraugustae, ex typographia Paschalis Perez M D XC IIX/M D XC VI (Zaragoza, 1996) [with introduction by P. Calahorra, I. Fernández de la Cuesta and A.Z. Gracia]
I. de Loos, C. Downey and R. Steiner, eds.: Utrecht, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit, MS 406 (3.J.7) (Ottawa, 1997)
O.T. Edwards, ed.: National Library of Wales MS. 20541 E: the Penpont Antiphonal (Ottawa, 1997)
J. Szendrei, ed.: Breviarum notatum strigoniense (s. XIII) (Budapest, 1998)
J. Szendrei, ed.: The Istanbul Antiphonal, about 1360 (Budapest, 1999) [colour facs. of TR-Itks Deissmann 42]
G.M. Tomasi, ed.: Responsorialia et antiphonaria romanae ecclesiae, i–ccxv (Rome, 1686); also in A.F. Vezzosi, ed.: G.M. Tomasi: Opera omnia, iv (Rome, 1747–54), 1–170 [from I-Rvat S Pietro B 79]
Sancti Gregorii papae I, cognomento magni: opera omnia (Paris, 1705); also in PL, lxxviii, 725–850 [Compiègne antiphoner, F-PN lat.17436]
R.-J. Hesbert, ed.: Manuscripti ‘cursus romanus’, CAO, i (1963) [D-BAs lit.23; F-Pn lat.17436; GB-DRc B.III.11; I-IV CVI, MZ C 12/75, VEcap XCVIII]
R.-J. Hesbert, ed.: Manuscripti ‘cursus monasticus’, CAO, ii (1965) [CH-SGs 390–91, Zz Rh.28; F-Pn lat.17296, lat.12584; GB-Lbl Add.30850; I-BV V.21]
C.C. Barber, ed.: Codex compendiensis (diss., U. of Oxford, 1972) [F-Pn lat.17436]
C.C. Barber, ed.: Codex albensis [A-Gu 211] (MS, GB-AB, Lbl, Ob]
L. Dobszay and G. Prószéky: CAO–ECE: a Preliminary Report (Budapest, 1988)
L. Dobszay, ed.: Corpus Antiphonalium Officii – Ecclesiarium Centralis Europae, I/A: Salzburg (Temporale) (Budapest, 1990)
H. Möller, ed.: Das Quedlinburger Antiphonar (Berlin Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz Mus. ms. 40047) (Tutzing, 1990)
Z. Czagány, ed.: Corpus Antiphonalium Officii – Ecclesiarium Centralis Europae, II/A: Bamberg (Temporale) (Budapest, 1994)
Antiphonarium sedlecense – Antiphonary of Sedlec, Memoriae mundi series bohemicae, i (Prague, 1995) [CD-ROM]
R.T. Olexy and others, eds.: An Aquitanian Antiphoner: Toledo, Biblioteca capitular, 44.2 (Ottawa, 1992) [also as CANTUS on-line database]
K. Glaeske and others, eds.: Piacenza, Biblioteca capitolare 65 (Ottawa, 1993) [also as CANTUS on-line database]
M. Czernin, ed.: A Monastic Breviary of Austrian Provenance: Linz, Bundesstaatliche Studienbibliothek 290 (183) (Ottawa, 1995) [also as CANTUS on-line database]
B. Haggh and others, eds.: Cambrai, Médiathèque municipale, 38 & Impr. XVI C 4 (Ottawa, 1995) [also as CANTUS on-line database]
Z. Czagány, ed.: Corpus Antiphonalium Officii – Ecclesiarium Centralis Europae, III/A: Praha (Temporale) (Budapest, 1996)
J.P. Metzinger and others, eds.: The Zwiefalten Antiphoner: Karlsruhe, Badische Landesbibliothek, Aug. perg. LX (Ottawa, 1996) [also as CANTUS on-line database]
C. Downey, ed.: An Utrecht Antiphoner: Utrecht, Bibliotheek der Rijksuniversiteit 406 (3.J.7) (Ottawa, 1997) [also as CANTUS on-line database]
Liber antiphonarius (Solesmes, 1891)
Liber responsorialis pro festis I. classis et communi sanctorum juxta ritum monasticum (Solesmes, 1894)
Antiphonale sacrosanctae romanae ecclesiae (Rome, 1912)
Liber usualis missae et officii pro dominicis et festis I. vel II. classis (Rome, 1921)
Antiphonale monasticum pro diurnis horis (Tournai, 1934)
Liber vesperalis juxta ritum sanctae ecclesiae mediolanensis, ed. G.M. Suñol (Rome, 1939)
Antiphonale monasticum secundum traditionem Helveticae Congregationis Benedictinae (1943)
Psalterium monasticum (Solesmes, 1981)
Liber hymnarius cum invitatoriis & aliquibus responsoriis (Solesmes, 1982)
V. Leroquais: Le bréviaire-missel du prieuré clunisien de Lewes (Paris, 1935)
R.-J. Hesbert, ed.: Fontes earumque prima ordinatio, CAO, v (1975) [collation of antiphoners and breviaries for a critical edn]
M. Huglo: ‘Die Adventsgesänge nach den Fragmenten von Lucca’, KJb, xxxv (1951), 10–15
S.R. Marosszéki: Les origines du chant cistercien: recherches sur les réformes du plain-chant cistercien au XIIe siècle, Analecta sacri Ordinis Cisterciensis, viii (1952), 1–179
R.-J. Hesbert: ‘Un curieux antiphonaire palimpseste de l’office’, Revue bénédictine, lxiv (1954), 28–45 [F-R A 292 (catal.26)]
W. Lipphardt: ‘Ein Quedlinburger Antiphonale des XI. Jahrhunderts’, KJb, xxxviii (1954), 13–24 [D-Bsb mus.40047]
F. Bussi: L’antifonario-graduale della basilica di S. Antonino in Piacenza, sec. XII: saggio storico-critico(Piacenza, 1956) [I-PCsa 65]
G. Beyssac: ‘Le graduel-antiphonaire du Mont-Renaud’, RdM, xl (1957), 131–50
J. Lemarié: Le bréviaire de Ripoll: Paris B. N. lat. 742 (Montserrat, 1965)
H. Ossing: Untersuchungen zum Antiphonale Monasteriense (Alopecius Druck 1537): ein Vergleich mit den Handschriften des Münsterlandes (Regensburg, 1966)
A. Renaudin: ‘Deux antiphonaires de Saint-Maur: BN lat.12584 et 12044’, EG, xiii (1972), 53–150
B. Lambres: ‘L’antiphonaire des Chartreux’, EG, xiv (1973), 213–18
L. Gjerløw, ed.: Antiphonarium nidrosiensis ecclesiae (Oslo, 1979)
J. Froger: ‘Le lieu de destination et de provenance du “Compendiensis”’, Ut mens concordet voci: Festschrift Eugène Cardine, ed. J.B. Göschl (St Ottilien, 1980), 338–53
F. Unterkircher: ‘Fragmente eines karolingischen Chorantiphonars mit Neumen (Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Cod. Ser. n. 3645 und München, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Vorsatzblätter in Cgm 6943)’, Codices manuscripti, xi (1985), 97–109
M.P. Bezuidenhout, ed.: An Italian Office Book of the Late Thirteenth Century (Cape Town, 1990)
H. Möller, ed.: Das Quedlinburger Antiphonar (Berlin Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz Mus. ms. 40047) (Tutzing, 1990)
M. Huglo: ‘Observations codicologiques sur l'antiphonaire de Compiègne (Paris, B.N.lat. 17436)’, De musica et cantu: Studien zur Geschichte der kirchenmusik und der Oper: Helmut Hucke zum 60. Geburtstag, ed. P. Cahn and A.-K. Heimer (Hildesheim, 1993), 117–30
S. Engels: Das Antiphonar von St. Peter in Salzburg, Codex ÖNB Ser. Nov. 2700 (Paderborn, 1994)
R. Crosatti: Il codice Brescia Biblioteca capitolare 13, Liber antiphonarius divinorum officiorum cum notis musicis scriptus circa saeculum XIII: studio codicologico-liturgico-musicale del più antico antifonario della cattedrale di Brescia (Cremona, 1996)
I. de Loos: ‘Das Antiphonarfragment Wien ÖND, Cod. ser. nov. 3645’, Musicologia austriaca, xiv–xv (1996), 167–72