This book thrusts the reader into the intellectual turmoil of
medieval Europe. In interrelated studies of largely unexplored
material dating from the ninth through to the fourteenth centuries,
the contributors explore changes in functions and forms of
liturgical poetry and music, and of biblical interpretation.
This book thrusts the reader into the intellectual turmoil of
medieval Europe. In interrelated studies of largely unexplored
material dating from the ninth through to the fourteenth centuries,
the contributors explore changes in functions and forms of
liturgical poetry and music, and of biblical interpretation.
Although the twelfth century constitutes the main focus, the
phenomena dealt with here had roots in earlier times and remained
in circulation in later centuries. The cultural heritage of the
Carolingian intellectuals tied to the palace school of Charles the
Bald is examined in a liturgical context. Forms and ideas from this
period were reused and transformed in the twelfth century, as
represented here by sequences, tropes, Abelard’s poetry, the
Gloss to Lamentations, and ritual representations or
‘liturgical drama’. The two final chapters treat
fourteenth-century uses and understandings of Boethius’s
De institutione musica and the new genre of sequence
commentaries, both dealing with later medieval views on music
theory and liturgical poetry from an earlier period, thus
connecting the end of the book to its beginning. The sections are
interspersed with philosophical reflections on overriding themes of
the contributions. The volume concludes with an anthology of poetic
texts in Latin with English translations and musical
transcriptions.
"Overall, the book offers a valuable exploration of the transition from the old monastic tradition into a new scholastic one in the twelfth century." (Mariusz Bęcławski, in Parergon 27.2, 2010, p. 239)
"The goal of this book is to represent the kind of collaborative research necessary to musical, ritualistic and exegetical parts. Overall, the book achieves this aim." (Kate Helsen, in: The journal of medieval latin, vol. 21, 2011, p. 284)