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The Offertory Has Played A Crucial Role In Recent Vigorous Debates About The Origins Of Gregorian Chant. Its Elaborate Solo Verses Are Among The Most Splendid Of Chant Melodies, Yet The Verses Ceased To Be Performed In The Twelfth And Thirteenth Centuries, Making Them Among The Least Known And Studied Members Of The Repertory. Rebecca Maloy Now Offers The First Comprehensive Investigation Of The Offertory, Drawing Upon Its Music, Texts, And Liturgical History To Shed New Light On Its Origins And Chronology. Maloy Addresses Issues That Are At The Very Heart Of Chant Scholarship, Such As The Relationship Between The Gregorian And Old Roman Melodies, The Nature Of Oral Transmission, The Presence Of Non-roman Pieces In The Gregorian Repertory, And The Influence Of Theoretical Thought On The Transmission Of The Melodies. Although The Old Roman Chant Versions Were Not Recorded In Writing Until The Eleventh Century, It Has Long Been Assumed That They Closely Reflect The Eighth-century State Of The Melodies. Maloy Illustrates, However, That Rather Than Preserving A Pristine Earlier Version Of The Melodies, The Prolonged Period Of Oral Transmission From The Eighth To The Eleventh Centuries Instead Enforced A Formulaic Trend. Demonstrating That Certain Musical And Textual Traits Of The Offertory Are Distributed In Distinct Patterns By Liturgical Season, She Outlines New Chronological Layers Within The Repertory, And Along The Way, Explores The Presence And Implications Of Foreign Imports Into The Roman And Gregorian Repertories. Carefully Weighing Questions Surrounding The Origins Of Elaborate Verse Melodies, Maloy Deftly Establishes That These Melodies Reached Their Final Form At A Relatively Late Date. Available For The First Time As A Complete Critical Edition, Ninety-four Gregorian And Old Roman Offertories Are Presented On A Companion Website In Transcriptions Which Readers Can View Side-by-side. The Book Also Provides Music Examples And Essays That Elucidate These Trans
This book investigates the origins, chronology, and liturgical function of the Offertory, a neglected yet significant component of the Gregorian chant repertory. Rebecca Maloy, a scholar of medieval music, utilizes a combination of musical analysis, textual examination, and liturgical history to challenge long-standing assumptions about the transmission of these melodies. By comparing Gregorian and Old Roman versions, she argues that the prolonged oral transmission of these chants resulted in a formulaic evolution rather than the preservation of a pristine eighth-century state.
What You Will Find
Scholars recognize this work as a significant contribution to chant studies, particularly for its rigorous methodology in dating the final forms of these melodies. The text is noted for its academic density and is considered a primary resource for those specializing in medieval liturgical music and oral transmission history.
Page Count:
464
Publication Date:
2010-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0199717982
ISBN-13:
9780199717989
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