As part of the same trip that took me to the Monastary of Montecassino (see some manuscripts, more manuscripts or the sights ), I spend about 2 days in the small town of Benevento, about 30 min farther south.
Introduction
Benevento was the seat of the local archbishop, and for a while in the 9th-11th century, the capitol of a small, independent Lombard kingdom. They had a unique style of liturgical chant which was supplanted by Gregorian chant by the 12th Century. The manuscripts we were there to see are the last witnesses of the older, native tradition called Old Beneventan Chant.
The first set of pictures are of the most important manuscripts for that genre, they'll be identified by their shelf numbers. First is a brief explanation of the manuscript forms. For more information, see Thomas Kelly's The Beneventan Chant, or the intro to Paleographie Musical 22
| Shelf Number | Date | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben19 | 12th C | Missal and Breviary | non-monastic, covers the feast of St. Nicholas to Wednesday of Lent, companion to Ben20 |
| Ben20 | 12th C | Missal and Breviary | non-monastic, covers from Easter Tuesday through Sts. Cosmos and Damian, companion to Ben19 |
| Ben21 | 12th-13th C | Antiphoner | nearly complete monastic antiphoner, begins Tuesday before Advent |
| Ben29 | 12th C | Missal | This was taken from Benevento under "unusual" circumstances at the end of WWII and held by the British Library as Edgerton 3511 until 2009 |
| Ben30 | 13th C | Missal | Only partially notated, nearly complete manuscript though Beneventan chant is limited to a few pieces |
| Ben33 | 10th C | Missal | Possibly written in Salerno, one of the oldest witnesses for Gregorian chant in southern Italy, in Beneventan script and notation |
| Ben34 | 12th C, 1st half | Gradual | nearly complete, includes tropes, sequences and Kyrie. Includes C and F clef lines and drypoint between. The latest of the 5 Graduals |
| Ben35 | early 12th C | Gradual | incomplete, includes tropes, sequences and Kyrie. Includes C and F clef lines and drypoint between. |
| Ben35-flyleaf | 11th C | Gradual | a single page of a purely Beneventan Gradual, no Gregorian pieces appear, that was bound into Ben35. Includes the end of Xmas mass and beginning of St. Stephen |
| Ben39 | late 11th C | Gradual | probably from one of the convents of St. Peter in Benevento due to the quantity of liturgy on St. Peter |
| Ben40 | 1st half 11th C | Gradual | includes sequences and tropes. Possibly originally from Santa Sofia in Benevento, this includes 13 doublet masses |
(Information derived from Kelly, T. The Beneventan Chant. 299-303)
Manuscripts
| A List of saints names, starting with Peter, Paul and Andrew (Petri, Pauli, Andree) from Benevento 20 | Benvento 30 |
 |  |
| A block of text from Benevento 30. The illuminated letter starts a sequence | Column of text from Benevento 30, gregorian chant is to the right |
 |  |
| A page of music and a large decorative element from Benevento 20 | A large decoration from the top of folio 160r of Benevento 29, formerly in the British Library |
 |  |
| Some lines of gregorian chant from Benevento 35. The red F line and yellow C line are visible | Geometrically decorated O, beginning Omnia, from Benevento 35 |
 |  |
| Ben 35 f. 202v, 2nd line | Large illuminated R from Benevento 34. |
 |  |
There are some more manuscript pictures and some of the town of Benevento that I'll post in the coming days
A
Leave a comment