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 |
O Domine Jesu
|
|
Schramm, Melchior
c.1553–1619
|
5 |
|
O Domine Jesu christe
|
|
Bagni, Benedetto
fl.1608
|
8 |
|
O Domine Jesu christe
|
|
Anon
|
4 |
|
O Domine Jesu christe
|
|
Anon
|
5 |
(P-Cug 70)
Coimbra, after 1570
(Partbook, MS)
#83
|
|
Attrib: Anon |
Canon in unisonus |
|
O Domine Jesu christe
|
|
Anon
|
5 |
(P-Cug 70)
Coimbra, after 1570
(Partbook, MS)
#84
|
|
Attrib: Anon |
Canon in secundam |
|
O Domine Jesu christe
|
|
Anon
|
5 |
(P-Cug 70)
Coimbra, after 1570
(Partbook, MS)
#85
|
|
Attrib: Anon |
|
|
O Domine Jesu christe
|
|
Anon
|
6 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
Pothárn Imre (Chiavette)
Pothárn Imre (Down a fourth)
|
|
Palestrina, Giovanni Pierluigi da
c.1525–1594
|
6 |
(P-VV 4)
Vila Viçosa
(Choirbook, MS)
#12
|
|
Attrib: Prenestine |
Missing last page |
Liber Primus Joannis Petraloisii Prae... (RISM P700)
Liber Primus Joannis Petraloisii Praenestini Mottettorum...
Rome: Dorico, Valerio and Dorico, Luigi, 1569
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#29
|
|
Attrib: Joannis Petraloisii Praenestini |
|
Liber primus motectorum quae partim q... (RISM P701)
Liber primus motectorum quae partim quinis, partim senis, partim septenis vocibus concinantur
Venice: Gardano, Angelo, 1579
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#31
|
|
Attrib: Io. Petri Aloysii Praenestini |
|
Mottetorum quae partim quinis, partim... (RISM P702)
Mottetorum quae partim quinis, partim senis, partim septenis vocibus concinantur Liber Primus
Venice: Scotto, Girolamo, 1586
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#29
|
|
Attrib: Iohannis Petraloysii Praenestini |
|
Liber primus motectorum, quae partim ... (RISM P703)
Liber primus motectorum, quae partim quinis, partim senis, partim septenis vocibus concinantur.
Venice: Gardano, Angelo, 1590
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#31
|
|
Attrib: Ioan. Petrialoysii Praenestini |
|
(E-E 3)
c.1600-1604
(Choirbook, MS)
#24
|
|
Attrib: Palestrina |
|
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Rota, Andrea
c.1553–1597
|
6 |
Motectorum quae quinque, sex, septem,... (RISM R2783)
Motectorum quae quinque, sex, septem, octo, & decem vocibus concinuntur Liber Secundus
Venice: Gardano, Angelo, 1595
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#13
|
|
Attrib: Andreae Rotae |
|
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Aichinger, Gregor
1564–1628
|
4 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Bassano, Giovanni
c.1561–1617
|
8 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Hassler, Hans Leo
1564–1612
|
8 |
Sacri concentus quatuor, 5, 6, 7, 8, ... (RISM H2328)
Sacri concentus quatuor, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, & 12, Vocum
Augsburg: Schönigk, Valentin, 1601
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#31
|
|
Attrib: Ioanne Leone Haslero |
|
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
#14
|
|
Attrib: Joh. Leo Hasleri |
|
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Dering, Richard
c.1580–1630
|
2 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Mechi, Giovanni Battista
|
8 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
Francis Bevan (SAATTB)
|
|
Vecchi, Orazio
1550–1605
|
6 |
Sacrarum cantionum... Quinque, Sex, S... (RISM V1006)
Sacrarum cantionum... Quinque, Sex, Septem, & Octo Vocibus Liber Secundus. Nunc primum in lucem editus.
Venice: Gardano, Angelo, 1597
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#9
|
|
Attrib: Horatii Vecchii |
|
Sacrarum symphoniarum continuatio div... (RISM 1600/2)
Sacrarum symphoniarum continuatio diversorum excellentissimorum authorum quaternis, V. VI. VII. VIII. X. & XII. vocibus tam vivis, quam instrumentalibus accommodata
Nuremberg: Kauffmann, Paul, 1600
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#34
|
|
Attrib: Horatii Vecchi |
|
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Felis, Stefano
c.1550–1603
|
6 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Bagni, Benedetto
fl.1608
|
8 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Gabrieli, Giovanni
c.1554–1612
|
8 |
Sacrae symphoniae Ioannis Gabrielii (RISM G86)
Venice: Gardano, Angelo, 1597
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#9
|
|
Attrib: Ioannis Gabrielii |
|
Sacrae symphoniae diversorum excellen... (RISM 1598/2)
Sacrae symphoniae diversorum excellentissimorum authorum quaternis, v. vi. vii. viii. x. xii. & xvi vocibus
Nuremberg: Kauffmann, Paul, 1598
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#53
|
|
Attrib: Ioann. Gabrielii |
|
Sacrae symphoniae diversorum excellen... (RISM 1601/2)
Sacrae symphoniae diversorum excellentissimorum authorum quaternis, v. vi. vii. viii. x. xii. & xvi vocibus
Nuremberg: Kauffmann, Paul, 1601
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#53
|
|
Attrib: Ioann. Gabrielii |
|
Florilegium selectissimarum cantionum... (RISM 1603/1)
Florilegium selectissimarum cantionum, praestantissimorum aetatis nostrae autorum, 4. 5. 6. 7, & 8. vocum
Leipzig: Lamberg, Abraham, 1603
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#41
|
|
Attrib: Iohan Gabriel |
|
Basso per l'organo Concerti di Andrea... (D-As Tonk.Sch. 200a)
Basso per l'organo Concerti di Andrea et di Gio: Gabrieli organisti della sereniss. sig. di Venetia. Continenti musica DI CHIESA, Madrigali, & altro, per voci, & stromenti Musicali; a 6. 7. 8. 10. 12. & 16. Novamente con ogni diligentia dati in luce Libro primo et Secondo
Augsburg, 1636
(Partbook, MS)
RISM
#53
|
|
Attrib: Ioannis Gabrielii |
|
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Leoni, Leone
c.1560–1627
|
8 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Sweelinck, Jan Pieterszoon
1562–1621
|
5 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Mosto, Giovanni Battista
before 1550–1596
|
5 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Zucchini, Gregorio
c.1540–after 1615
|
4 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Massaino, Tiburtio
before 1550–after 1608
|
4 |
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Rue, Pierre de la
c.1452–1518
|
4 |
(A-Wn 9814)
Vienna: Alamire, Petrus, c.1519-c.1525
(Partbook, MS)
#9
|
|
Attrib: Rue |
|
|
O Domine Jesu Christe
|
|
Vernizzi, Ottavio
1569–1649
|
6 |
Motectorum specimen, quae quinque, se... (RISM V1292)
Motectorum specimen, quae quinque, sex, septem, octo, novem, et decem vocibus concinuntur cum parte organi pro duplicis chori motectis. Liber Primus
Venice: Amadino, Ricciardo, 1603
(Partbook, Print)
RISM
#9
|
|
Attrib: Octavii Vernitii Bononiensis |
|
|