e-sequence

Digital edition of the Saint Gall corpus of Sequences by Notker Balbulus


St. Gall Manuscript

Nisi enim ab homine memoria teneantur, soni pereunt, quia scribi non possunt.

Unless sounds are remembered by man, they perish, for they cannot be written down

Isidore of Sevilla, around 625

Digital Edition » About »

At the time of the Carolingians, in the 9th century, the musical notation of the neumes was developed which allowed for the first time notating the liturgical chant of the church, the so-called Gregorian chant and new liturgal poetry like tropes and sequences in a radically new way, by preserving the details of performance as close as possible. Although the music that once resounded within the walls of monasteries like St. Gall has faded away for ever, the manuscripts written in St. Gall provide a precious basis for bringing new life to this music. By a close study of these manuscripts and in combination with new digital techniques it is possible to reconstruct the music of St. Gall Abbey as far as possible and to refind the lost “soni”.

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