Melodic Variance in Anglo-Saxon Pontificals

Abstract

The study of music at Anglo-Saxon Canterbury has been called “the most unstudied and most important outstanding issue in the history of early musical notation in England” (Rankin and Gullick, 2009). This thesis examines three Anglo-Saxon pontificals with controversial attributions linked, in some way, to manuscript production at Christ Church, Canterbury. Using a new methodology developed by Emma Hornby and Rebecca Maloy (2009, 2016), I examine melodic variance in these pontificals in order to determine where they received their musical notation. Using this analysis, I have been able to more precisely date one of these pontificals and uncover evidence of a musical transition at eleventh-century Canterbury. Considering the attribution debates that have surrounded these manuscripts and the small number of extant sources from this time, this study aims to affirm the value of music in the medieval book as a means to contribute to debates about origin and provenance.