The Polyphony Database
polyphonydatabase@gmail.com
About the database❯
PolyphonyDatabase.com is a detailed catalogue of early music sources designed to help musicians perform, academics study, and enthusiasts explore a vast and glorious repertoire quickly and easily. It aims to combine the practicality of CPDL with the academic rigour and ambition of the RISM census, to make use of similar projects where possible, and to directly combat the frustrations performing musicians have with all existing resources.
Its three main goals are:
- To assist performers, directors, and editors by cataloguing the contents of primary sources, source concordances, and basic information about how each piece of music can be performed.
- To provide a reliable starting point for academic research by linking to library catalogues, other existing databases, and facsimile images of early music manuscripts and prints.
- To provide a repository for properly sourced critical editions, performing scores, and recordings of as much of this music as possible, each carefully vetted for typesetting quality and accuracy, and made available for free download, so that this music might be discovered and appreciated by a wider audience.
The database was founded by Francis Bevan in 2014 as an outlet for his editing hobby and is regularly updated by him and a small team of enthusiasts. If you would like to contribute some cataloguing time, recordings or editions, submit corrections, commission an edition or just donate some cash, please get in touch with Francis via email: polyphonydatabase@gmail.com. Read more about the project's history at the 2018 Crowdfunder page.
The best way to help fund the project is to commission performing editions. New editions can be made quickly for as little as £10.
Understanding the clef images
A red clef means the voice is missing from this source. Where there are no concordances to fill in the gaps, this means the piece will require reconstruction.
A green clef means the voice is incomplete in this source. This might denote a fragment of a larger work, or a e.g. canonic voice that isn't written out in full.
A faded clef means much of the piece can be performed without this voice. For example, an extra 6th voice in the Agnus Dei of an otherwise 5vv Mass setting, or a short gimel in a big votive antiphon. Filtering by number of voices will exclude these clefs, while filtering by a specific voice combination will include them.
A blue clef denotes a voice that uses more than one clef in this source - this is particularly prevalent in earlier printed sources. We've estimated the larger clef on the left to be the most used to give an idea of voice distribution at a glance.
An X clef is used as a placeholder for voices we know are necessary, but haven't yet worked out which! This can be because there are no extant sources for a missing voice and no reconstruction has yet been attempted (it will normally become obvious which voice is missing once editing starts), or because we have catalogued a source from an incomplete facsimile that we know to be complete elsewhere.
Title |
Function(s) |
Composer |
# |
Sources |
Versa est in luctum
|
|
Handl, Jacob (Gallus)
1550–1591
|
5 |
|
Versa est in luctum
|
|
Nanino, Giovanni Maria
1543/1544–1607
|
3 |
|
Versa est in luctum
|
|
Bianciardi, Francesco
1571-1572–1607
|
4 |
|
Versa est in luctum
|
|
Viadana, Lodovico
c.1540-1560–1627
|
1 |
|
Versa est in luctum
|
|
Patta, Serafino
fl.1606–1619
|
1 |
|
Versa est in luctum
|
|
Torres y Martínez Bravo, José de
c.1670–1738
|
4 |
Missarum liber, ad usum sanctuarum ec... (RISM T1009)
Missarum liber, ad usum sanctuarum ecclesiarum utilissimus, in quo continentur octo missae
Madrid, 1703
(Choirbook, Print)
RISM
#11
|
|
Attrib: Iosepho de Torres |
|
|
Versa est in luctum
Francis Bevan (SSATB)
|
|
Padilla, Juan Gutiérrez de
c.1590–1664
|
5 |
(Mex-Pc 3)
Puebla
(Choirbook, MS)
#5
|
|
Attrib: Anon |
|
(Mex-Pc 15)
Puebla
(Choirbook, MS)
#42
|
|
Attrib: Ioannes de padilla |
|
|
Versa est in luctum
|
|
Reiner, Jacob
before 1560–1606
|
6 |
|
Versa est in luctum - Cuius mea denigrata est
|
|
Anon
|
4 |
|
Versa est in luctum - Cutis mea denigrata est
|
|
Gallet, François
c.1555–after 1585
|
5 |
|
Versa est in luctum - Cutis mea denigrata est
Francis Bevan (SAATTB)
|
|
Gerarde, Derrick
fl.c.1540–1580
|
6 |
|
Vers les monts j'ai leve
|
|
Goudimel, Claude
1514-1520–1572
|
4 |
|
Versor ubiquae miser
|
|
Tonsor, Michael
before 1546–after 1606
|
4 |
|
Vesame y abraçame
|
|
Anon
|
3 |
|
Vespera iam venit
|
|
Knöfel, Johann
1525-1530–1617
|
5 |
|
Vespera iam venit
|
|
Maistre, Matthaeus le
c.1505–1577
|
5 |
|
Vespera iam venit
|
|
Schede, Paul Melissus
1539–1602
|
5 |
|
Vespera nunc venit
|
|
Dressler, Gallus
1533–1580-1589
|
4 |
XC cantiones quatuor, quinque et plur... (RISM D3520)
XC cantiones quatuor, quinque et plurium vocum
Magdeburg: Kirchner, Wolfgang, 1570
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#59
|
|
Attrib: Galli Dreßleri |
|
Opus sacrarum cantionum, quatuor, qui... (RISM D3522)
Opus sacrarum cantionum, quatuor, quinque et plurium vocum, nunc denuo recognitum, et multo quam antea correctius in gratiam Musicorum editum
Nuremberg: Berg, Johann and Gerlach, Katharina, 1577
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#56
|
|
Attrib: Galli Dressleri Nebraei |
|
|
Vespera nunc venit
|
|
Steurlein, Johann
1546–1613
|
4 |
|
Vespere autem facto solus erat - Domine si tu es
|
|
Peetrinus, Jacobus
c.1553–1591
|
5 |
|
Vespere autem Sabbati
|
|
Ghibel, Eliseo
c.1520–after 1581
|
5 |
|
Vespere autem Sabbati
|
|
Garugli, Bernardo
1535–after 1565
|
5 |
|
Vespere autem Sabbati
|
|
Paminger, Leonhard
1495–1567
|
4 |
Secundus tomus ecclesiasticarum canti... (RISM P829)
Secundus tomus ecclesiasticarum cantionum, quatuor, quinque, sex, et plurium vocum, a passionem Domini et salvatoris nostri Jesu Christiu usque ad primam Dominicam post Festum S. Trinitatis
Nuremberg: Gerlach, Dietrich, 1573
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#52
|
|
Attrib: Leonartum Pamingerum |
|
|
Vespere autem Sabbati
|
|
Ruffo, Vincenzo
c.1508–1587
|
6 |
|
Vespere autem Sabbati
|
|
Anon
|
4 |
|