Welcome
The following files are made available in accordance with the aims of the IMS Study Group Cantus Planus, which include the exchange of data in electronic form. They have been made as accurate as possible, but they have not in all cases been checked as rigorously as would be necessary for a traditional publication. They are rather in the nature of raw data which, it is hoped, will be useful for future chant research.
This website was first set up in 2001, designed by Keith Falconer. It made available a number of files under the MS-DOS system (Windows did not yet exist), some text files and some databases (dBase programme): lists of sources, inventories of sources, full texts of the antiphons and responsories in Hesbert's CAO, a melodic concordance to three editions of hymns, and a chant bibliography. A much enlarged group of files came on line in 2006, with greatly extended search facilities, master-minded by the co-editor Robert Klugseder. All interactive database files were converted from text documents by Klugseder, and he continues to manage the website and contents. In 2022, the websites were completely revised and redesigned. In this process, the older dBase data were transformed into the Excel format commonly used today. In addition, a Mirador IIIF viewer for digital images of medieval music manuscripts from the Bavarian State Library Munich has been integrated.
Two types of data are offered here
"Datafiles (read or download)" are text and Excel files with lists of chant incipits (Herbert's AMS, Chartres missal, Moosburg gradual, York gradual, feasts of the Sanctorale in Hesbert's CAO, hymns and their melodies), lists of sources (Le Graduel Romain, CAO vol. 5), and full chant texts (sequences in AH, antiphons and responsories in CAO vols. 3 and 4).
"Databases (interactive)" are files with facilities for searching for texts or musical incipits. They include two chant bibliographies, catalogues of sources in British, German and French libraries, a list of the sources microfilmed for the Bruno St?blein Archiv and used in studies based on the Archiv. A special project is devoted to sources from Augsburg, and there is information on sources from Aquileia and Regensburg. There is a catalogue of chant incipits of saint's offices (historiae). There are search facilities for the series of responsories for Advent and for the Office of the Dead, and for series of alleluias of the post-Pentecost season and the Easter season (the latter in preparation), together with statistical computation of the results. The office chant texts in Hesbert's CAO vol. 3 and 4 can be searched. Bannister's "Monumenti vaticani di paleografia musicale latina" has been scanned and formatted to enable searches for notations and manuscript information.
We are grateful to all those who have assisted in the typing and compilation of these files. Their names are given in the respective introductory notes. We remain responsible for errors and inaccuracies and will be glad to receive comments by email.