Melisma : wordless song in medieval chant / Thomas Forrest Kelly.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kelly, Thomas Forrest, author.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gregorian chants--History and criticism.

Gregorian chants.

Gregorian chants--Analysis, appreciation.

Vocalises.

Melody--History--To 1500.

Melody.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (256 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2025]

Summary:

This text is about the melisma as a phenomenon, how it works, how melismas appear when they are written in chant, and how they function as part of a text and as part of a song. Many scholars have dealt with this body of music, but this is the first book to treat it as a self-standing subject. Using the evidence of medieval creative minds, Thomas Forrest Kelly uncovers how melismas were heard, analyzed, and performed by medieval singers. He presents a vast assemblage of information: past studies are reviewed and analysed, and many medieval manuscripts are brought to bear through facsimiles. The chief investigative tool is the various sets of contemplative words that medieval creators added to melismas: careful study reveals that the words, and their patterning, their grouping, their accentuation, often reflect the poet's understanding of the underlying melisma.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Table of Contents

Preface

Abbreviations

1 Songs Without Words

Jubilare Sine Verbis

How Do You Sing a Melisma? Stylistic Considerations

Melismas and Language

Whether Melismas Stand Outside of Time

How Do You Write a Melisma?

Musical Notational Systems

The Shape and Effect of Melismas

Syllable Placement

Functional Positions

Melismas and Mode

Musical Nature of Melismas

2 Some Historical Considerations

Melismas in Time and Place

The Earliest Notations of Melismas

Medieval Words for Melismas

Medieval Descriptions of Melismas and Their Usage

3 Melismas Within Chants of the Mass

Style and Genre

Tracts

Graduals

Alleluia

Offertories and Their Verses

Benedictiones

Appendix A Opening Melismas in Offertories

4 Melismas, Mostly Added, and Mostly in the Divine Office

Independent Melismas

Caudae for Antiphons

Melismas for Responsories

Borrowed Melismas

Composed Melismas

Modal Melismas

Melismas in Antiphons

Later Medieval Adjustments to Melismas

Appendix B: Added Responsory- Melismas Borrowed from Offertories

5 Melismas Added to Chants in the Mass

Two Types of Addition

Introits

Sequentiae

Appendix C: Melismas in Aquitanian Graduals and Tropers

6 Melismas in the Ordinary of the Mass

Kyrieleison

Gloria in Excelsis

Sanctus: Osanna Melismas

7 Melismas With Words: Prosula

Introduction

Genres

Offertory

Fabrice mundi

Ordinary of the Mass

Style and Performance

8 Melismas With Words: Prosa

The Importance of Prosas for Understanding Melismas

Text and Music

Specific Melodiae and Prosas

Sequence, Prosula, and Notation

9 Conclusions, Details, Examples

Music and Language

Detailed Examinations of Melismas and Their Subdivisions.

Conclusions

Bibliography

Credits and Permissions

Index of Manuscripts

Index of Chants

General Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource and publisher information; title from PDF title page (viewed on February 7, 2025).

ISBN:

0-19-776351-0

0-19-776349-9

0-19-776350-2

OCLC:

1467888562