PRoMs - The Production and Reading of Music Sources

Mise-en-page in manuscripts and printed books containing polyphonic music, 1480—1530

Manuscript: St Gall, Switzerland, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 461

Manuscript type: choirbook

RISM siglum: CH-SGs 461

DIAMM Source Key: 958

Image repositories: E-codices

Folio(s): All folios

Date: c. 1515-1545

c. 1515 (Fallows 1996); before 1545 (Scarpatetti 2008)

Location of origin: St Gall, Switzerland

Provenance

1. Previously assumed to be of Netherlandish or Italian origin, now considered to be in the hand of Fridolin Sicher (1490-1546), organist of Benedictine monastery at Saint Gall (Fallows 1996 and Scarpatetti 2008). Completed in in 1545 as witnessed by Sicher's inscription on p. 1: 'Liber Fridolini Sicherij canonici capituli Zellensis nee non capellani S. Jacobí et organiste in Sancto Gallo 1545'. 2. Presumably came into the possession of the Stiftsbibliothek after Sicher's death in 1546.

Artists/Scribes

Person: Sicher, Fridolin
Person type: scribe
Location of origin: St Gall, Switzerland

Basis for description: original

St Gall, Switzerland, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 461, All folios

Physical description

Material: parchment

Number of leaves: 47

Format: upright

Page dimensions: 175 x 140

Quire structure: Text version

Title page / Frontispiece: owner's note and librarian's note on front pastedown (see [[Scarpatetti 2008]])

Other devices: 1. Library pagination, black ink top corners, by Ildefons von Arx (1755-1833).

Page details (zoom):

Preparation and Copying

All folios

Preparation

Disposition of Voice Parts Key

Pricking always,
top line of every stave pricked
Ruled grid always,
no bounding lines, but pricks at the top lines of every stave which were obviously applied along a ruler, serving as horizontal as well as vertical guides for staves
Ruling pattern highly regular
10 pentagrams, lines ruled with pen and straightedge based on pricked grid, very even
Staves omitted from grid never
Incomplete staves never
Medium and colour of grid Frequency Folios Note
n/a always
Colour of staves Frequency Folios Note
brown always
Ruling medium Frequency Folios Note
straightedge always
Indentation for initials Frequency Folios Note
single normally stave 1 and 6 normally indented, c. 10 mm. Where a voice begins where no indented stave, music and text indented by the same amount to accommodate initial; superfluous indent in those cases normally filled in
Extra space between voice parts Frequency Folios Note
empty ruled staves on grid often
Space provided for separate text Frequency Folios Note
no separate text always
Adhoc adaptation Frequency Folios Note
Indentation for initials filled in sometimes

Copying of text and music

Language(s) Latin
Order of Copying music first
always
Presence/absence of text Voice part Frequency Folios Note
untexted all voice parts often
provided with single incipit discantus often
untexted all except discantus often
Music
Colour(s) of notation black
Type(s) of notation void mensural
Type of notation note teardrop shape with stem out of notehead for upstem notes
Monophonic notation absent
Level of calligraphy fair
Non verbal performance instructions Folios Note
signes-de-renvoi occasionally
signa congruentiae occasionally
Text
Types of script cursive (German)
Level of calligraphy fair
Colour(s) of text black brown
Multiple texts no
Text repetitions n/a
Abbreviations some
Non underlaid vocal text none
Liminary text Voice designations either as initials or first letter of text, normally; Composer ascriptions above D, sometimes

Decoration

Level of Decoration fair
Decoration initial type Frequency Folios Initial type(s) Size position Description Discrepancies
penned initials always calligraphic , calligraphic with grotesque heads, flourished large cadel-type initials, some Lombards towards the beginning. Alternating in red and blue, on indentation at the beginning of every voice part, some with elaborate penflourishing (pp. 2, 10, 12, 14, 16, 24, 68). Occasional grotesque heads integrated into penflourishing
Other decoration frequency Folios Other decoration type(s) Size position Description Discrepancies
occasionally ornament ornamental birds drawn in blue and red ink in blank spaces (same type of ink and apparently same artist as initials, according to [[Scarpatetti 2008]] Sicher himself), pp. 61, 65, 68, 72, 82-84