Date:
17thc/ 18th century with 20th-century additions
Contents:
2 Antiphons; 1 Canticle; 5 Lessons; 2 Masses; 1 Requiem Mass (with 7 sections); 3 Motets; 9 Psalms; 1 Response; 6 Responsories (= 36)
Foliation/Pagination:
i + 102 + vi fols.
Fols 1-30 in pencil; thereafter, more than one foliation sequence in pencil visible, and missing fols. There are additionally five sequences of original foliation in ink visible from different fascicles and/ or choirbooks
Gathering:
This choirbook was compiled from the collation of fascicles from several different choirbooks. There appear to be six different sections, many of which are separated by title pages. The original foliation from most of these former choirbooks (in ink) is visible on many folios/fascicles succeeding the initial two sections comprised of the Mass Antiphons and Palestrina’s Missa Iste confessor (up to PEM fol 30r). The following sections/fascicles form a similar or near uniform notational group, but evidently originated in a number of former choirbooks. These are comprised of the following: (a-b) 2 Passions, and music for Vespers (old ink foliation 46v-63r); (c) Benayas’s Missa Defensor alme Hispaniae (old ink foliation 36v-43r); (d) Officium defunctorum (old ink foliation 55v-59r); (e) Requiem mass (old ink foliation 83v-91r); (f) motets (old ink foliation 68v-76). There are also some missing folios in the MS, notably 6 folios after the Missa Iste confessor by Palestrina, which would have corresponded to (pencilled) fols 30v-36r. This means that the sequence of fols on PEM after fol 30r no longer corresponds with the newer pencilled foliation. However, there is more than one sequence of pencilled foliation visible, indicating that there are lacunae in the MS. There are 5 insertions of new psalms by the composer Martínez Posse (1858-1935) in the Pro defunctis section entered by the scribe Bargiela Martínez (see Inscriptions)
Bindings:
Brown leather over boards; metal bosses, corners and clasps
Decoration:
Early 20thc frontis., pen and in drawing showing floral design with snake entwined; it also has inscription ‘S.I.C. de TUY / CANTO / DE / ATRIL’. Depicted in the centre of this page is an open book inscribed with the words: ‘Mag. Emm. Martinez Posse / Bargiela me fecit Anno MC MIII’ (1903).
Some red initials; stamped decorative initials in the Palestrina mass (scribe: Cassianus López Navarro; see also E-TUY 1, P-EVc 2)
Description of the notation:
Mensural (white) mostly using stamped noteheads
