St Gall neumes (Early German neumes)
A leaf from a Gradual, in Latin, manuscript on vellum [Germany, mid-11th century]
A fine example of St Gall neumes.

c.269 x 165mm, 24 lines written in brown ink in a late German Carolingian minuscule, ruled space: c.200 x 120mm, 24 lines of early staffless adiastematic (unheightened) St Gall neumes (Early German neumes), rubrics and large initials in red, early foliation 'xlxii' (small cut in the upper part of the leaf with small loss to text and music, a little darkened). Bound in grey buckram at the Quaritch bindery.

Provenance:
(1) Antiquariat J. Voerster Collection, Stuttgart.

(2) Bernard Quaritch, acquired in 1993 by:

(3) Schøyen Collection, MS 1667.

Text:
The text of the fragment is the Masses for the Vigil of Sts Peter and Paul, the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, with versicles, gradual, offertory and communion, from '[Nimis con]fortatus est principatus eorum' to 'Qui operatus est Petro in apostolatu [operatus est]'.

Script and music:
This is a clear and neat example of German Carolingian script and St Gall notation: the virga is slightly curved and on a slant; the pes, clivis, and torculus are rounded. The script is made up of accent neumes, with the signs aligned horizontally above the words and not diastematic. Already in the 11th century we see a slight thickening of the cursive penwork.