P-LA (Lamego) Arquivo da Sé Caixa 2, Fragmento 017 (olim ver s I - II)

This fragment, although probably part of a book copied elsewhere, is a witness to the adoption of the Hispanic rite in northern Portugal. It is dated by Ferreira to the second half of the tenth century / eleventh century (Três fragmentos de Lamego", p. 64). The palaeographical similarity between the Lamego fragment and the notation of the Léon Antiphoner is the main argument that supports the dating of the fragment to the tenth century. In spite of the lack of elegance and refinement in the notation of the Lamego fragment, the scribe who wrote the music here shared the same neumatic alphabet of the scribe who notated the same chants in the Leon Antiphoner. Both scribes used similar graphical varieties for basic neume shapes and the same kind of graphical elements placed near the notation (with the purpose of adding musical information). The palaeographical examination of the fragment allowed its attribution to the so called 'Leon tradition', along with León, Archivo de la Catedral (E-L) Ms. 8, Santiago de Compostela, Biblioteca Universitaria (E-SCu) Ms 609 (Res. 1), Salamanca, Biblioteca General Universitaria (E-SAu) Ms. 2668. On the 'León tradition' see RANDEL, The Responsorial Psalm Tones for the Mozarabic Office, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969, pp. 10-52.