Medieval Spain 2 - Codex Las Huelgas

The Codex Las Huelgas or Codex Musical de Las Huelgas (E-BUlh) is a music manuscript or codex from c. 1300 which originated in and has remained in the Cistercian convent of Santa María La Real de Las Huelgas in Burgos, in northwestern Spain, then Castile. It was rediscovered in 1904 by two Benedictine monks. The manuscript is written on parchment, with the staves written in red ink with Franconian notation. The bulk of material is written in one hand, however as many as 12 people contributed to it, including corrections and later additions. The manuscript contains 45 monophonic pieces (20 sequences, 5 conductus, 10 Benedicamus tropes) and 141 polyphonic compositions, 1 of which doesn't have music. Most of the music dates from the late 13th century, with some music from the first half of the 13th century (Notre Dame repertory), and a few later additions from the first quarter of the 14th century.Johannes Roderici (Johan Rodrigues) inscribed his name in a number of places in the manuscript. He may have composed a couple of the pieces in the manuscript, as well as being scribe, compiler, and corrector, according to his own inscriptions.

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Codex Las Huelgas - Manuscript Facsimile

Medieval Spain 1 - Mozarabic Antiphonary of Leon

The manuscript was copied by Totmundo Abbot in the year 1069, in the leonine monastery of San Cipriano of the County and was dedicated it to Ikila Abbot, who got to be bishop of Leon. In a note in folio 25, one says that in the year was directly copied of another manuscript of the time of the king Wamba 672 . At the moment Cathedral of Leon is in .

The manuscript begins, like is habitual in many Spanish codices of the high average age, with a Cross of Oviedo (in memory, according to the legend, of that it appeared to him to king Pelayo in the battle of Covadonga) and a miniature in which it is seen the cotrack, Totmundo, giving the finished book once, to Ikila Abbot. Totmundo takes on the head the pronoun ille in humility signal. This representation of the delivery of the finished work was also very frequent in the first incunables.

The book contains sung antiphons in the celebrations of the liturgical cycle and the saints. Mozarabic Antiphonary is unique that has arrived to us complete. Of other Mozarabic antiphonaries, like both of Silos, the one of San Juan of the Rock or the one of San Zoilo de Carrión has only conserved small fragments.

The antiphonary presents/displays the musical annotation in Neumas without pentagrama, in visigótica Annotation, and it could not have been deciphered until the moment, in spite of the efforts realized by the musicologists. It contains many illustrations, especially scenes of the life of Jesus. Some letters own interlaces that remember but to the art carolingio that to the visigótico.

Antiphonary of Leon Codex Manuscript

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