Codex Turin J.II.9

Codex Turin J.II.9 – Libreria Musicale Italiana – cod. J.II.9 – Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino (Turin, Italy)

Court of King Janus, Northern Italy, possibly Brescia, or Cyprus — Early 15th century

Gregorian chorals, polyphonic chants, motets, and polyphonic repertoire: the most comprehensive and only 15th century songbook devoted exclusively to French music

  1. Plainchant, polyphonic mass movements, motets, and polyphonic chansons are all found in this splendid songbook

  2. It is the sole source dateable to the early-15th century that is devoted exclusively to French music

  3. Music from the court of King Janus of Cyprus (1375–1432) and Charlotte de Bourbon (1388–1422) is also included

Codex Turin J.II.9

  1. Description
  2. Facsimile Editions (1)
Description
Codex Turin J.II.9

Europe was undergoing a musical revolution in the Late Middle Ages, particularly in France and the Burgundian Low Countries. Nonetheless, this is the sole manuscript from the period dedicated purely to French music, as well as the largest of the period. This large tome is a priceless source for the history of European music.

Codex Turin J.II.9

This collection of plainchant, polyphonic mass movements, motets, and polyphonic chansons represents the sole source dateable to the early–15th century that is devoted exclusively to French music. The codex is also the largest corpus of French music from the period and contains music from the court of King Janus of Cyprus (1375–1432), who also titular King of Armenian Cilicia and Jerusalem from 1398–1432, and his second wife Charlotte de Bourbon (1388–1422). The manuscript also contains one of the oldest masses of a cantus firmus composed outside the British Isles, which was presumably copied in the area of Savoy. As such, these 334 compositions are of fundamental importance for the study of early–15th century music.

Codicology

Alternative Titles
Codice J.II.9
Codex J.II.9
MS J.II.9 “Cypriot-French”
Size / Format
318 pages / 37.5 × 27.0 cm
Origin
Italy
Date
Early 15th century
Style
Script
Gothic Textura Gothic cursive
Illustrations
1 miniature of St. Hylarion (fol. 1); floral and ornamental border decorations; blue and red initials on gold; fleuronné initials
Content
Polyphony
Patron
Bagarotti family (?)
Charlotte of Bourbon (?)
Previous Owners
Anne de Lusignan (?)

Available facsimile editions:
Codex Turin J.II.9 – Libreria Musicale Italiana – cod. J.II.9 – Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino (Turin, Italy)
Libreria Musicale Italiana – Lucca, 1999
Facsimile Editions

#1 Il Codice J.II.9

Publisher: Libreria Musicale Italiana – Lucca, 1999
Commentary: 1 volume by Isabella Data and Karl Kügle
Languages: English, Italian
1 volume: This facsimile is not complete. Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The pages are presented on a larger white background. The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
Facsimile Copy Available!
Price Category: €€
(1,000€ - 3,000€)
You might also be interested in:
Oswald of Wolkenstein: Manuscript A – Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt (ADEVA) – Cod. Vindob. 2777 – Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Vienna, Austria)
Oswald of Wolkenstein: Manuscript A
Probably Neustift Abbey near Brixen (Italy) – Ca. 1425

One of the oldest surviving song manuscripts, commissioned by a musician and jack-of-all-trades: 100 songs and their sheet music with the oldest authentic portrait of a German poet ever painted

Experience More
Squarcialupi Codex – Giunti Editore – Ms. Mediceo Palatino 87 – Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (Florence, Italy)
Squarcialupi Codex
Monastery of Santa Maria degli Angeli, Florence (Italy) – 1410–1420

The secular music of the Florentine Trecento collected in a magnificent manuscript: 352 works by 14 famous Italian composers presented in gold-adorned Renaissance portraits

Experience More
Chantilly Codex – Brepols Publishers – Ms. 564 – Bibliothèque du Château (Chantilly, France)
Chantilly Codex
Southern France or Italy – End of the 14th or beginning of the 15th century

Unfinished and yet one of the most important testimonies to the ars subtilior: 112 polyphonic songs by the most famous courtly composers of the 14th century, compiled for a wealthy music lover

Experience More
Collection of Songs and Hymns – University of Chicago Press – MS. Canon. Misc. 213 – Bodleian Library (Oxford, United Kingdom)
Collection of Songs and Hymns
Italy – Ca. 1428–1436

The most comprehensive collection of secular music from the late-14th and early-15th centuries to survive today: 216 of the 326 compositions are not to be found in any other source

Experience More
Codex Cryptensi – La Liberia dello Stato – E. γ. II – Biblioteca Statale del Monumento Nazionale della Badia (Cava de' Tirreni, Italy)
Codex Cryptensi
Probably Basilian Monastery of Santa Maria in Grottaferrata (Italy) – Second half of the 13th century (completed in 1281)

One of the most beautiful and extensive collections of Byzantine heirmoi: almost 2,000 model stanzas for the liturgical odes of the canons, created in the Basilian monastery of Santa Maria in Grottaferrata

Experience More
Medici Codex of 1518 – University of Chicago Press – Private Collection
Medici Codex of 1518
Italy – 1518

Pope Leo X's exquisite wedding gift to his nephew and his bride: 53 enchanting motets by 21 of the most significant composers of the Renaissance as expression of the generous Medici patronage

Experience More
Blog articles worth reading
Filter selection
Publisher