Instructions and Observations of Our Church for the Entire Year: A Translated Edition of a Roman Jesuit Liturgical Manual from 1584–1585
- Format:
- Dissertation
- Year:
- 2006
- University:
- Kent State University
- Thesis type:
- Doctoral Dissertation
- Place published:
- Kent, OH
- Language:
- Abstract:
This dissertation project comprises an investigation of the role of music in the liturgical celebrations at the Church of the Gesu in Rome, the mother church of the Society of Jesus, especially as delineated in the primary source document, Chiesa del Gesu Busta XI, 968, Ordine et Osservationi della nostra Chiesa per tutto L'Anno. The transcription and translation of CDG968, provided herein, offers to an English-speaking audience the details concerning the ubiquitous use of music in the public liturgies of the Gesu in its inaugural year, A.D. 1584–1585. The project began in March, 2000, when I traveled to Italy with a group of students to celebrate the year of Jubilee and the history of Rome. I went to the library of the Jesuit Historical Institute (Rome) to begin my research for a dissertation topic, initially concerning the composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, an employee of the Jesuits in Paris in the eighteenth century. Looking through the indices of Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu, the journal of the Jesuits’ Historical Institute in Rome, I came upon an article contained in a bound volume of journals entitled “Musical Activity in the Church of the Gesu in Rome during the Early Baroque” by Graham Dixon. While reading the article, I quickly found a reference in one of the footnotes that piqued my interest. This reference began with a four-letter prefix that I did not know. It read “ARSI Chiesa del Gesu, libro 2007, Or dine et Osservationi della nostra Chiesa per tutto L’Anno.” Though I immediately recognized the reference to the Church of the Gesu, the four upper-case letters confused me. At this point, the librarian interrupted me by announcing that the library planned to close and would reopen later in the afternoon. I quickly made a copy of the article and continued on my way. I proceeded to lunch, always a great experience in Rome, and to my own queries about what I had found. After lunch, I decided to continue my quest at the Jesuit Archives, with the suspicion that the archivist could potentially identify the citation. I filled out the holdings request form, and, within minutes, I held the document in my hand. To my surprise, it was written in Italian, rather than Latin. I wondered how many details it might provide to answer the question of the Jesuits’ early use of liturgical music. During the remainder of the week I searched further, looking through seemingly endless boxes of original musical manuscripts from the seventeenth century, interesting potentials for other projects in the future. Particularly in light of the belief of some that the Jesuits were anti-musical and that Ignatius had turned his back on music, I began by looking for a primary source book or original project that was connected to music and the Jesuits. Through all the searching I found myself repeatedly coming back to CDG2007, a reference book of ceremonial instructions on the liturgical rituals performed at the Gesu. Drawn to these handwritten pages whose full content I could only begin to surmise, at the end of the week I ordered its contents be placed on CD-ROM.
- What (Subjects):
- Where (Locations):
- Worldcat URL: