Otfrid von Weißenburg: Gospel Harmony

Otfrid von Weißenburg: Gospel Harmony

Otfrid von Weißenburg´s songbook, the so-called Gospel Harmony was compiled during his lifetime and presumably at his behest. Carefully written and attractively illuminated, the manuscript has been well preserved; and its lines and colors have remained intact despite six centuries of use, yielding an equally clear and bright facsimile. To be sure, the portrait of the author has suffered the ravages of time; therefore, this edition also reproduces a later, yet satisfactory, reconstructed copy.

A Valuable Source on Late Medieval Music

The poetic texts and musical scores are preceded by a detailed and technical history and description of the manuscript by the editor, Francesco Delbono, who performed his task with true thoroughness, scrutinizing the folios painstakingly and noting every peculiarity of the protective cover, binding, format, parchment, ink, initials, script, catalogue numbers, marginal notes, etc. From these and other bits of evidence he has been able to deduce an acceptable history of Ms. A. Now that Ms. B is no longer considered merely a corrected and expanded copy of Ms. A, but a compilation of the same separate texts, it is evident that any further textual study must take Ms. A. into account; and therefore the ardent confraternity of Oswaldians should welcome this handsome addition to the Codices Selecti, as should all students of medieval music.