The Diocesan Archive in Nitra and Unknown Liturgical Manuscripts of the 15th and 16th Centuries Cover Image

Diecézny archív v Nitre a neznáme liturgické rukopisy z 15. a 16. storočia
The Diocesan Archive in Nitra and Unknown Liturgical Manuscripts of the 15th and 16th Centuries

Author(s): Eva Veselovská, Marek Ďurčo
Subject(s): Music, Local History / Microhistory, Theology and Religion, 15th Century, 16th Century, History of Art
Published by: Ústav hudobnej vedy Slovenskej akadémie vied
Keywords: Slovakia; Nitra; Bishop archive; medieval times; fragment; notation; liturgy

Summary/Abstract: In the assessment of liturgical musical codices from the territory of Slovakia dating from the medieval period and the early modern period, the town of Nitra has a special status. From Nitra’s church institutional funds only one liturgical manuscript has been preserved in its original place – the Nitra Codex from the 12th century (ekphonetic symbols, elements of German adiastematic neume notation). From the subsequent period (12th to 16th centuries) religious books with notation have not been preserved. All the more surprising, then, is the discovery of 7 antiphonary fragments from the turn of the 16th century with the Esztergom notation system in the Nitra Diocesan Archive, which is one of the oldest church archives in the Slovak Republic. On account of the historic status of the Nitra diocese and its church archive, we regard the finding of these fragments as an exceptional discovery in the field of medieval musical research in Slovakia.

  • Issue Year: 4/2013
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 77-103
  • Page Count: 27
  • Language: Slovak