This year's annual study of the Plainsong and Medieval Music Society will take place at Worcester Cathedral on Saturday, 13 May 2017. The day is aimed at the general public, as well as at students, scholars and performers of medieval music.
Worcester cathedral offers a fascinating window into medieval religious practice and culture. We can still see elements of how monks lived and practised, in the cathedral itself, the cloister and the precincts more widely. Our keynote speaker will be Professor David Hiley, acclaimed author of Western Plainchant: A Handbook and Gregorian Chant. This will be his inaugural address as incoming President of the Plainsong and Medieval Music Society. Professor Hiley will introduce us to some of the ways in which new liturgies were created for English saints during the middle ages, at Worcester and elsewhere.
Worcester cathedral was the original home of some precious witnesses to musical practice in the 13th-14th century. Broken up for use as flyleaves when the repertoire was no longer sung, these “Worcester fragments” were scattered in various archives and libraries. The songs were rediscovered, and their relationship with Worcester uncovered, in the 20th century. Julia Craig-McFeely will show us some of the challenges of digitally restoring manuscript fragments of medieval music, such as the Worcester fragments. Giovanni Varelli will introduce us to some of the Worcester fragments that have ended up in Oxford.
This promises to be an informative and lively day, rounded off by a tour of the Cathedral library, with viewings of some of its medieval liturgical and musical holdings, and Evensong sung by the cathedral choir, including some of the Worcester fragment repertoire. There will be a brief AGM for PMMS members during the lunch break.
Schedule
11.00–12.00 Medieval plainchant offices for the saints—a tour through the land (Professor David Hiley, Universität Regensburg)
12.10–12.55 The work of DIAMM, the Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music (Dr Julia Craig-McFeely, University of Oxford)
12.55–14.05 lunch/AGM
14.10-14.45 The Worcester polyphony fragments (Dr Giovanni Varelli, Magdalen College, Oxford)
15.00–16.00 Tour of the cathedral library
16.30 Tea in cloister (included in registration fee)
17.30 Evensong (will include some of the polyphony in the Worcester fragments)
To register, please visit the Society's website at http://plainsong.org.uk/events/
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