Opening the Geese Book: A Medieval Manuscript Disseminated through Electronic Media
FAIN: RZ-50071-03
Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ 85281-3670)
Corine Schleif (Project Director: September 2002 to September 2006)
To support the digitization and scholarly apparatus for a facsimile of "The Geese Book," a two-volume gradual used in Nuremburg in the late medieval period, owned by the Pierpont Morgan Library. (12 months)
A multimedia work from the late Middle Ages will be explored through the multimedia technologies of our day. This pilot project focuses on the large two-volume, lavishly and whimsically illuminated manuscript known as the Geese Book, today housed in the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York (M. 905). Fashioned between 1504 and 1510, this gradual contains the complete liturgy sung by the choir in the parish of St. Lorenz in Nuremberg before the Reformation. The threefold goal is to provide a full facsimile on the Internet, to produce an audio CD with recordings of selected chants, and to present explanatory, comparative, and interpretive material on a multimedia interactive CD ROM. The scholarly community of manuscript specialists, art historians, musicologists, and historians together with interested and educated non-specialists form the intended audience.
Media Coverage
DAS GÄNSEBUCH (THE GEESE BOOK) German Medieval Chant (Review)
Author(s): David Vernier
Publication: Classics Today
Date: 2/1/2012
URL: http://http://www.classicstoday.com/review.asp?ReviewNum=9052
The Geese Book (Review)
Publication: The Guardian
Date: 3/6/2005
The Geese Book. German Medieval Chant (Review)
Publication: The Independent
Date: 6/18/2005
The Geese Book. German Medieval Chant (Review)
Author(s): Jerome Weber
Publication: Fanfare
Date: 11/1/2005
Abstract: “The Schola Hungarica is every bit as brilliant as ever. Their trademark fast tempos, semiological interpretations, and alternation among men, women, and boys make the chants always fresh and vivid [...]. This disc will have a permanent place among chant recordings of unique significance. Don`t pass it by .”(Jerome Weber)
The Geese Book. German Medieval Chant (Review)
Author(s): Ivan Moody
Publication: Early Music
Date: 1/1/2006
Abstract: “I have long admired Schola Hunbarica`s forthright, steel-toned chant singing, and this recording proves to be no disappointment...” (Ivan Moody)
The Geese Book. German Medieval Chant (Review)
Author(s): Johan van Veen
Publication: MusicWeb
Date: 3/6/2006
Abstract: “Considering the historical importance of this repertoire and the quality of both music and performance I recommend this disc to anyone interested in liturgical music.” (Johan van Veen)
DAS GÄNSEBUCH (THE GEESE BOOK) German Medieval Chant (Review)
Publication: Fono Forum, Germany
Date: 11/1/2005
Abstract: “In den sehr gerade und schlank geführten Stimmen der Schola Hungarica haben die kunstvollen Gesänge ihre idealen Interpreten gefunden.”
DAS GÄNSEBUCH (THE GEESE BOOK) German Medieval Chant (Review)
Author(s): Carsten Niemann
Publication: Rondo
Date: 12/12/2005
Abstract: “Die Schola Hungarica bietet die einstimmigen Messgesänge in einer vergleichsweise frischen und zupackenden Interpretation, wobei besonders die kluge Mischung der hohen Stimmen überzeugt: in die historisch korrekten Kinderstimmen mischen sich bruchlos einige Frauenstimmen, die, da heute der Stimmbruch früher erfolgt als um 1500, dem Klang die nötige Fülle und Reife verleihen.” (Carsten Niemann)
Associated Products
Das Gänsebuch (The Geese Book): German Medieval Chant (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)Title: Das Gänsebuch (The Geese Book): German Medieval Chant
Director: Corine Schleif
Producer: Volker Schier
Abstract: Chants characteristic for the medieval liturgy of St. Lorenz in Nuremberg, Germany, were recorded for the first time by the Schola Hungarica, a leading ensemble for the performance of medieval chant. One of the highlights of the repertoire, also a world premier recording, is the mass formula for the feast of the Holy Lance, the most important festival celebrated annually in the city of Nuremberg between 1424 and 1524. Portions of this performance were used in a television documentary about the Holy Lance aired on Channel 2 of the BBC and on the Discovery Channel. Other chants recorded were taken from the formulas of saints venerated locally, for example, Saint Sebaldus, Saint Deocarus, Saint Martha, Saint Monica and Saint Lawrence. The recordings was produced in collaboration with Bavarian Radio, Studio Franconia and it is marketed by HNH International (Naxos).
Date: 06/21/2005
Primary URL:
http://www.public.asu.edu/~cschleif/Recording%20Session.htmPrimary URL Description: Project web site
Format: CD