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 |
Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile
|
|
Animuccia, Giovanni
c.1520–1571
|
5 |
|
Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile - Convertimini ad me
|
|
Regnart, Jacob
1540-1545–1599
|
5 |
|
Ecce oculi Domini
|
|
Coclico, Adrianus Petit
1499/1500–1562
|
4 |
Musica reservata consolationes piae e... (RISM C3258)
Musica reservata consolationes piae ex psalmis Davidicis ornatae suavissimis concentibus musicis, a peritissimo musico Adriano Petit Coclico Discipulo Iosquini de Pratis. Cantionum quatuor vocum
Nuremberg: Berg, Johann, 1552
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#30
|
|
Attrib: Adriano Petit Coclico |
|
|
Ecce odor filii
|
|
Massaino, Tiburtio
before 1550–after 1608
|
1 |
|
Ecce odor filii mei
|
|
Brouck, Jacob de
fl.1568–1583
|
5 |
|
Ecce odor filii mei
|
|
Crivelli, Archangelo
1546–1617
|
6 |
|
Ecce odor filii mei
|
|
Massaino, Tiburtio
before 1550–after 1608
|
8 |
|
Ecce odor filii mei - Esto Dominus fratrum tuorum
|
|
Conflicting attributions
|
4 |
|
Ecce odor filii mei - Esto Dominus fratrum tuorum
Pothárn Imre
|
|
Rore, Cipriano de
1515/1516–1565
|
5 |
|
Ecce odor filii mei - Esto Dominus fratrum tuorum
|
|
Anon
|
6 |
(D-Mbs 77)
c.1565-c.1580
(Choirbook, MS)
RISM
#2
|
|
Attrib: Anon |
Cantus firmus = Vivat Guilhelmus |
|
Ecce panis angelorum
|
|
Jordan, Petrus
|
4 |
Liber tertius ecclesiasticarum cantio... (RISM 1553/10)
Liber tertius ecclesiasticarum cantionum quatuor vocum
Antwerp: Susato, Tylman, 1553
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#20
|
|
Attrib: Petrus Iordanus |
|
Tertius tomus evangeliorum quatuor qu... (RISM 1555/11)
Tertius tomus evangeliorum quatuor quinque sex et plurium vocum continens historias et doctrinam, quae in ecclesia proponi solet: de Trinitate, de Dedicatione Templi, De coena Domini
Nuremberg: Berg, Johann and Neuber, Ulrich, 1555
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#28
|
|
Attrib: Petrus Iordan |
|
|
Ecce panis angelorum
|
|
Croce, Giovanni
c.1557–1609
|
8 |
|
Ecce panis angelorum
|
|
Philips, Peter
1560–1628
|
8 |
Cantiones sacrae, octonis vocibus (RISM P1975)
Antwerp: Phalèse the Elder, Pierre, 1613
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#22
|
|
Attrib: Petro Philippi |
|
Promptuarii Musici, sacras harmonias ... (RISM 1617/1)
Promptuarii Musici, sacras harmonias V. VI. VII. & VIII. vocum... pars quarta
Strasbourg: Bertram, Anton, Ledertz, Paul, and Vincentius, Caspar, 1617
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#17
|
|
Attrib: Petr. Philippi |
|
Cantiones sacrae, octonis vocibus, cu... (RISM P1976)
Cantiones sacrae, octonis vocibus, cum Basso Continuo ad Organum
Antwerp: Phalèse the Elder, Pierre, 1625
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#22
|
|
Attrib: Petro Philippi |
|
|
Ecce panis angelorum
|
|
Reiner, Jacob
before 1560–1606
|
3 |
|
Ecce panis angelorum
|
|
Anon
|
4 |
(I-MOd IX)
Vecchi, Orazio, c.1520-1530
(Choirbook, MS)
#21
|
|
Attrib: Anon |
|
|
Ecce panis angelorum - Bone pastor panis vere
|
|
Molinaro, Simone
c.1570–after 1633
|
5 |
|
Ecce patris verbum
|
|
Croce, Giovanni
c.1557–1609
|
8 |
|
Ecce petit Catharina
|
|
Meiland, Jacob
1542–1577
|
5 |
Cantiones aliquot novae, quas vulgo m... (RISM M2181)
Cantiones aliquot novae, quas vulgo motetas ocant, quinque vocibus summo studio compositae: quibus adiuncta sunt officia duo, de S. Iohanne Evangelista, & Innocentibus
Frankfurt: Corvinus, Georg and Feyerabend, Sigmund, 1576
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#2
|
|
Attrib: Iacobo Meilando Germano |
|
|
Ecce plenus miseriis venio ad te
|
|
Gallus, Joannes (Jean le Cocq)
fl.1514–1543
|
4 |
|
Ecce praemium nostrum
|
|
Mechi, Giovanni Battista
|
5 |
|
Ecce prandium meum paravi - Comedite panem
|
|
Sweelinck, Jan Pieterszoon
1562–1621
|
5 |
|
Ecce prudens virgo migravit ad Christum
|
|
Handl, Jacob (Gallus)
1550–1591
|
8 |
Quartus tomus musici operis harmoniar... (RISM H1985)
Quartus tomus musici operis harmoniarum quatuor, quinque, sex, octo et plurium vicum, quae ex sancto catholicae ecclesiae usu ita sunt dispositae, ut omni tempore inservire queant
Prague: Nigrinus, Georg, 1590
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#31
|
|
Attrib: Iacobo Hándl |
|
|
Ecce quam bonum
|
|
Lange, Gregor
c.1540–1587
|
5 |
|
Ecce quam bonum
Pothárn Imre
|
|
Lassus, Orlande de
c.1532–1594
|
8 |
Magnum opus musicum ... Complectens o... (RISM L1019)
Magnum opus musicum ... Complectens omnes cantiones quas motetas vulgo vocant, tam antea editas quam hactenus nondum publicatas II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. IIX. IX. X. XII. vocum a Ferdinando serenissimi bavariae ducis maximiliani musicorum praefecto, & Rudolpho, eidem Principi ab Organis; Authoris filiis summo studio collectum, & impensis eorundem Typis mandatum
Munich: Heinrich, Nikolaus, 1604
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#503
|
|
Attrib: Orlandi de Lasso |
|
|
Ecce quam bonum
|
|
Dressler, Gallus
1533–1580-1589
|
5 |
XC cantiones quatuor, quinque et plur... (RISM D3520)
XC cantiones quatuor, quinque et plurium vocum
Magdeburg: Kirchner, Wolfgang, 1570
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#38
|
|
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
#37
|
|
Attrib: Galli Dressleri Nebraei |
|
|