Author Description

The late fifteenth-century musical manuscript preserved at the abbey of Montecassino is one of the most important musical manuscripts of the period. Known as MS871, it contains an international repertoire of sacred and secular music performed at the Argonese Court of Naples in the second half of the fifteenth century. The liturgical music includes hymns, psalms, Magnificants, and Lamentations by French, Italian, and Spanish composers. The secular compositions comprise French chansons, Italian ballate strambotti, and Spanish canciones. Many of the compositions are unique to this manuscript. This edition comprises a study of the origins and physical state of the manuscript; a musical and literary description of the 141 surviing compositions; musical transcriptions designed to provide a practical, performing edition as well as a scholarly rendering of the original text; a critical commentary on each piece with details of the musical and literary cocordances; and a bibliography.