The Mass as the Liturgical Calendar and Computus

Authors

  • Irène Guletsky Author

Keywords:

Roman liturgy, Renaissance mass, ecclesiastic (catholic) calendar, computes

Abstract

This study explores the first origins of the mass proto-form (5-6 -part Ordinary), the early stages of the formation and evolution of its primary structures.  As it is known, the text of the Ordinary (unlike the Proper) is constant and performed throughout the year. A thorough analysis of the mass proto-form revealed an unusual concurrence between a series of numerical parameters of its text and some key astronomical, computus and church calendar data.  Such concurrences, particularly when we deal with three-digit numbers, are unlikely to be accidental. Rather, they suggest that the Ordinary had a double or even triple function: externally, it represented an established sequence of sacred texts for the liturgical service; while internally it served as some sort of numerological code containing certain concealed information of the calendar-computus and serving, at the same time, as a mnemonic device used to compute and memorize this information.

Author Biography

  • Irène Guletsky

    Irène Guletsky was born in Kiev (Ukraine). In 1983 she graduated from the Glinka State Conservatory in Gorky (Nizhny Novgorod), Musicology Department (MA). In 1988 she completed her post-graduate studies on polyphony and analysis at The Russian Gnesins’ Academy of Music in Moscow. In 2000 she earned a PhD degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Musicology). Her articles on the form and symbolism of the Renaissance mass were published in: Acta musicologica; Music in Art; Opera musicologica; Symmetry: Culture and Science and others. She is the author of a computer program designed to analyze the form of the Mass.

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Published

2024-04-23

Issue

Vol. 13 (2016)

Section

Articles