This thesis examines formularity and formal structure in the extant Mass Proper melodies of the Old Beneventan rite. The musical style of this early, south Italian repertory is distinguished by its frequently repeating melodic formulas, which generally operate at a single pitch level, giving the melodies their characteristic prolix surface detail and modal character. While other Western chant traditions also use formulaic procedures, the frequent use of formularity in the Beneventan Mass Propers is exceptional. There has been no detailed analysis of the grammar governing the Beneventan musical style, though scholars have commented on and analyzed the formulaic usage of Beneventan chant, especially with an aim for transcription into pitch-specific notation. My research examines three main aspects of Beneventan music: the formulas of the Beneventan melodic fund in respect to their formal function within the melodies' phrase structure, the long-range voice leading and pitch organization underlying the ornamental melodic surface, and the form of the pieces (as established through repetition, either literal or functional). This study is based on the Beneventan Mass Proper melodies contained in the two principal extant sources of the chant: Benevento Biblioteca capitolare Ms. 38 and 40. This study contributes to scholarly dialogue regarding formulaic chant because it provides insight into the melodic construction of one family of pre-octoechos chant melodies. In particular, this examination of formularity and modality in Beneventan chant has yielded three primary findings. First, it demonstrates that throughout the repertory, Beneventan chant's ornate surface conceals an underlying structure built mostly of conjunct and disjunct thirds. Second, it gives a picture of mostly consistent functional usage of specific formulas as either openings, mid-phrase material, or cadences, but also shows that the function of a given formula can vary according to its context and surrounding melodic material. Third, it reveals that many of the Beneventan melodies have forms based on a repetition of only a few phrases, with multiple variations on each phrase. Along with their many nuances, exceptions, and expansions, these conclusions form the core of this research.

Thomas Forrest Kelly has identified and collected the surviving sources of an important repertory of early medieval music, the so-called Beneventan Chant used in southern Italy in the early middle ages, before this area's adoption of the now-universal Gregorian chant. Because the Beneventan Chant was suppressed during the eleventh century, the music survives mostly in fragments and palimpsests, and the process of restoring the repertory piece by piece is the focus of the studies here.

This book is the first comprehensive study of the neo-Gregorian chants for the Proper of the Mass that circulated in the Beneventan region between the tenth and the thirteenth centuries. This extensive repertory demonstrates in extraordinary ways the struggles of local cantors to mediate between conformity to a standardized liturgy pursued by the Carolingians and the papacy, and a desire to maintain elements of the local musical culture. Some neo-Gregorian chants were locally composed, while others were imported from other regions. Both imported and local chants reveal the stylistic preferences of local cantors and the interconnections between chant composition and saints' cults and thereby shed light on issues related to the oldest musical repertories of medieval Europe, such as the Byzantine, Roman, Ambrosian, and Beneventan chants. Ultimately, they lead us into a deeper understanding of the musical culture of medieval southern Italy, a territory that, at different times, had been the theatre of incursions and invasions by many peoples (Lombards, Byzantines, Muslims, Normans, Franks, and Romans) and that was also the home to several flourishing Jewish communities. The book's rigorous historical analysis is supported by comprehensive tables, appendices, and indexes; it is also enriched by musical and textual transcriptions as well as images from relevant manuscripts.

It has become widely accepted among musicologists that medieval music is most profitably studied from interdisciplinary perspectives that situate it within broad cultural contexts. The origins of this consensus lie in a decisive reorientation of the field that began approximately four decades ago. For much of the twentieth century, research on medieval music had focused on the discovery and evaluation of musical and theoretical sources. The 1970s and 1980s, by contrast, witnessed calls for broader methodologies and more fully contextual approaches that in turn anticipated the emergence of the so-called 'New Musicology'. The fifteen essays in the present collection explore three interrelated areas of inquiry that proved particularly significant: the liturgy, sources (musical and archival), and musical symbolism. In so doing, these essays not only acknowledge past achievements but also illustrate how this broad, interdisciplinary approach remains a source for scholarly innovation.

Musical notation has not always existed: in the West, musical traditions have often depended on transmission from mouth to ear, and ear to mouth. Although the Ancient Greeks had a form of musical notation, it was not passed on to the medieval Latin West. This comprehensive study investigates the breadth of use of musical notation in Carolingian Europe, including many examples previously unknown in studies of notation, to deliver a crucial foundational model for the understanding of later Western notations. An overview of the study of neumatic notations from the French monastic scholar Dom Jean Mabillon (1632–1707) up to the present day precedes an examination of the function and potential of writing in support of a musical practice which continued to depend on trained memory. Later chapters examine passages of notation to reveal those ways in which scripts were shaped by contemporary rationalizations of musical sound. Finally, the new scripts are situated in the cultural and social contexts in which they emerged.

Plainchant is the oldest substantial body of music that has been preserved in any shape or form. It was first written down in Western Europe in the eighth to ninth centuries. Many thousands of chants have been sung at different times or places in a multitude of forms and styles, responding to the differing needs of the church through the ages. This book provides a clear and concise introduction, designed both for those to whom the subject is new and those who require a reference work for advanced study. It begins with an explanation of the liturgies that plainchant was designed to serve. It describes all the chief genres of chant, different types of liturgical book, and plainchant notations. After an exposition of early medieval theoretical writing on plainchant, Hiley provides a historical survey that traces the constantly changing nature of the repertory. He also discusses important musicians and centers of composition. Copiously illustrated with over 200 musical examples, this book highlights the diversity of practice and richness of the chant repertory in the Middle Ages. It will be an indispensable introduction and reference source on this important music for many years to come.