On the performance of the Epistola in the Monastery of St. Peter and Paul in Merseburg (according to manuscript f. 183 No. 1913 from the Russian State Library in Moscow) in the light of the Bursfelde Reform

Annotation

The article is devoted to the consideration of the ways of performing the epistola (the first reading of the Mass) in the monastery of St Peter and Paul in Merseburg according to the manuscript f. 183 No. 1913 from the Russian State Library in Moscow (Epistolary) and taking into account the changes in the singing practice after the monastery of Merseburg joined the Bursfelde Congregation, which had a unified statute, liturgy, and singing repertoire. Two different manners of chanting the lectionary according to their status have been identified: 1) epistolae proper (readings from the Apostolic Epistles) and 2) additional Old Testament readings or readings from the votive Mass. A comparison with a treatise from the Lectionary of the Officium of the Benedictine monastery of St. James in Mainz has shown that the rules of interpunctuation and the melodic formulas of the treatise apply only to the second group of readings of the Merseburg Epistolary. More reference sources are planned for the future of the study.

Key words

Book Epistolary, Bursfelde Congregation, Monastery of St Peter and St Paul in Merseburg, accentus, cadences, musical notation of lections, interpunctation marks, neumes