Polyphony and Practices of Music Writing in Worcester Cathedral Priory, c. 1150-1350

FAIN: FEL-281888-22

Karen Desmond
Brandeis University (Waltham, MA 02453-2728)

Research and writing of a book about music, writing, and medieval culture at Worcester Benedictine Cathedral Priory, from 1150 to 1350.

This book project focuses on the culture of music and writing at Worcester's Benedictine Cathedral Priory during the later Middle Ages and explores the role music writing and music books play in the creation of community. Through close and distant readings of the monophonic and polyphonic repertoire of a single prolific institution, this project analyzes and theorizes the synergy between individual creativity and communal ritual practices within the context of religious communities and their networks. It examines the interface between the material artifacts and the written medium of music notation—the techniques, limitations, and possibilities—and the realization of those artifacts into sound.