Il ms. Q.11 del Museo della Musica di Bologna tra Francia e ‘Lombardia’

Abstract

The manuscript I-Bc Q.11 is a miscellaneous codex from the late 13th and early 14th centuries, which belonged to the collection of Father G.B. Martini. It contains monodic and polyphonic pieces from the Mass and Office, tropes and sequences, a total of 13 unica and 10 polyphonic pieces. There are several indications that it belonged to a female monastery in northern Italy; in particular, the source contains three chants (two Alleluias and a sequence) dedicated to Saint Margaret. The second fascicle of the manuscript, which contains several pieces for two voices, is notable for its uniform layout and writing, and the chants it contains are linked to the Paris repertoire of Nôtre-Dame. In other parts of the manuscript, the polyphonic writing follows the style known as ‘simple polyphony’, which was most widespread in monastic circles. A detailed study of the scribe who signs his name Stephanus de Laudosio in c. 11 (a figure already known to scholars as the author of a Summula de cantu planu) has finally made it possible to reconstruct some facts of his biography and to formulate hypotheses about the history of the manuscript: its possible origin in Lombardy, its possession by a female community in Bologna and its introduction into Father Martini’s collection.