Medici Antiphoner

This small manuscript contains twenty-seven collections of all the most important types of Latin musical texts (polyphonic chants and motets) starting from the middle of the twelfth century; it is the largest and most important collection of the musical repertory of Notre-Dame in Paris.

The fine decoration of the manuscript consists of fourteen miniatures. The first (on folio 1v), illustrated here, represents the classification of music according to Boethius (c. 480–c. 525 A.D.). In his "De institutione musica", Boethius introduced the threefold classification of music: Musica mundana (music of the spheres/world), Musica humana (harmony of human body and spiritual harmony) and Musica instrumentalis (instrumental music).

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 9 minutes): Carl Anonymous (French): Judea et Jerusalem, organum