Folia with chants for Epiphany, Nativity, and St. Stephen
F-gmyn
https://cantusdatabase.org/source/1000382
General Information
Main text hand: anonymous scribe, writing throughout in Protogothic (Praegothica) script. A possible second hand, also in Praegothica, may have supplied text beneath the neumes in certain sections.
Two folia, trimmed from their original bifolia, containing parts of the Proper of the Mass. The surviving chants span the fests of Epiphany (Vidimus stellam, Festa Christi sequence, Reges Tharsis), Nativity (Tui sunt caeli, Viderunt omnes), and St. Stephen (Etenim sederunt, sequence Propria ruit hostis). Margins preserve a narrow folded strip of the original shoulder, showing evidence of binding stress. Decoration is minimal, rubrics are abbreviated, and music was entered in two layers.
Book Decoration and Musical Notation
Decoration is modest. Initials appear as litterae notabiliores in black ink highlighted with a red stroke; fol. 2v contains a larger, simple red initial. Rubrics are sparse, often abbreviated, and provide minimal liturgical or biblical references (e.g., “Secundum Matheum”). No penwork or ornament beyond functional marking.
Adiastematic neumes, written above the text without staff lines. Two phases are visible: A more deliberate layer of neumes, including compound signs, carefully pre-planned and aligned with the text. A lighter, perhaps later layer of puncta and virgae, possibly added to clarify performance for syllabic chant but less systematically placed.