In mainstream western Christian Europe, music was originally monophony and liturgical music was chant--a single melodic line. Polyphony began when a second melodic line was added to chant at the consonant intervals of fourth, fifth and octave. Later, third and fourth parts were added, and other,

EARLIEST POLYPHONY

The earliest notated polyphony is found in theoretical treatises, Musica enchiriadis and Scolica enchiriadis, of the mid-ninth century. (1) These examples showed how the Franks embellished the chants with harmony, much as they did with notation, modal theory, and troping. The anthologies of music that were recorded on vinyl (2) all included some of these selections, each less than a minute in duration, but there is nothing of this on compact disc yet. The Winchester Troper (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College 473), a liturgical book dating to the end of the tenth century, (3) has fared better, although transcribing the pitches is problematic. Four selections were included on vinyl in Mary Berry's Anglo-Saxon Easter, (4) but these are not yet on compact disc. Her group recorded three other selections in Anglo-Saxon Christmas (see the discography below for all recommended compact discs), and both of these discs are fine liturgical reconstructions. Two more selections are included in Brigitte Lesne's Eya Mater sun g by a vocal ensemble of women that specializes in medieval sacred music.

A later theoretical treatise, Ad organum faciendum, (5) was also represented by two pieces in the old anthologies of music. "Alleluia, Justus ut palma" is included in Sequentia's Aquitania, a later collection discussed below. "Kyrie Cunctipotens genitor," however, is found only in the compact discs that accompany Sarah Fuller's textbook. (6) Another piece, "Ut tuo propitiatus," appears in an eleventh-century source, Oxford, Bodleian Library 572. The Hilliard Ensemble (7) sings it in the context of the chant responsory "Sancte Dei," of which it is the verse. (Most previous recordings omitted the chant.)

The most impressive recording devoted to this period is Eleventh-Century French Polyphony, directed by Dominique Vellard in collaboration with Wulf Arlt, who has written an article about most of the organa. (8) It includes monophonic tropes as well as eight organa, all from Chartres and northern France. (9) The documentation of sources in the booklet notes is incomplete, but the selections recorded go beyond the one source (Ghartres 109) that was found in earlier anthologies of music. Vellard's vocal ensemble specializes in medieval sacred music. This disc deserves extended study, along with clarification of its methods.

TWELFTH-CENTURY POLYPHONY

Systematic collections of polyphony of the twelfth century are found in five principal manuscripts. (10) These works are the oldest liturgical polyphony whose pitches can be transcribed with confidence, though the rhythm remains in dispute. (11) One collection of French origin was made for Santiago de Compostela. (12) Three others were deposited in the former abbey of St. Martial in Limoges by the thirteenth century, and another is associated with these by concordances. (13)

Three complete sets of the Compostela repertory of twenty-one polyphonic pieces have been recorded, and most of these pieces had been recorded frequently before that.(14) Sequentia's Sons of Thunder includes four monophonic pieces as well. Anne-Marie Deschamps's The Great Book of Santiago de Compostela offers only the polyphony. The third complete set is one of four discs that comprise the entire Codex Galixtinus. The hundred chants on the first three discs of Coro Ultreia's Jacobus, only a quarter of which had ever been recorded before this time, include the monophonic originals of the polyphonic works. This set is elegantly packaged with an elaborate booklet. Another disc, Miracles of Sant' Iago, includes eleven polyphonic and ten chant selections, but Anonymous 4 makes a splendid program out of this group. Brigitte Lesne's Campus Stellae includes four polyphonic and two monophonic pieces, but it also has two Aquitanian selections and other pieces from contemporary sources.

Aquitanian polyphony consists of seventy pieces, many of them found in two or three of the sources. Over forty of them have been recorded. (15) Two recent discs from Sequentia, Aquitania and Shining Light offer twenty-one pieces between them, along with almost as many monophonic pieces from the same sources. Twelfth-Century Polyphony in Aquitaine was Marcel Peres's first recording. Only two of the six polyphonic pieces from this repertory are duplicated on Sequentia's discs, with chants filling out the program. Heliotrope's The Fire and the Rose adds four pieces not included on the other discs, all of them from British Library Additional MS 36881, but instruments are used in a few of the performances.

The Cambridge Songbook, (16) copied in France about 1200, has been recorded in Christopher Page's The Earliest Songbook in England, which offers twenty-three pieces, some of them polyphonic, including "Verbum patris umanatur o o" and "Ad honorem salvatoris." This three-voice "Verbum" is also heard on Shining Light.

NOTRE-DAME POLYPHONY

The largest body of early polyphony is connected with the new cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, begun in 1163. (17) Four large thirteenth-century manuscripts preserve polyphony of the period, with some concordances and some variant versions of the liturgical pieces. A treatise that Coussemaker (18) attributed to Anonymous 4 refers to Leonin and Perotin, attributing seven works to the latter. But it seems unlikely that all of this music was composed by two men, and simplistic to think that Leonin composed all the two-part works and Perotin all the three- and four-part works. Yet some records are generously attributed to Leonin or Perotin. (Coussemaker first adopted the forms Leonin and Perotin in his 1864 edition.)

The gems of this repertory are two organa quadrupla, graduals for Circumcision as well as Christmas ("Viderunt") and St. Stephen ("Sederunt"). They form the bookends of the Hilliard Ensemble's Perotin, a disc that also includes "Alleluia Nativitas" and "Alleluia Posui adjutorium" along with two conductus ("Dum sigillum" and the monophonic "Beata viscera"), all attributed to Perotin, as well as three anonymous conductus. For the choice of pieces and the superb performances, this disc belongs in every collection of early polyphony.

A later recording made after Paul Hillier left the ensemble is Perotin and the Ars Antiqua. The program duplicates four works from the earlier disc, including both quadrupla, but it also includes all three surviving four-voice conductus and four other anonymous pieces. Luis Lozano Virumbrales's Codice de Madrid draws on a Notre-Dame source (Ma) that is not always mentioned in the same breath with [W.sub.1], F, and [W.sub.2]. (19) It includes "Sederunt" with the conductus motet "Adesse festina monas," as well as nine other organa with conductus motets. The only four-voice clausula, "Mors," is properly sung in the context of "Alleluia Christus resurgens." For "Salvatoris hodie," the one remaining conductus attributed to Perotin, the most recent recording is in Diabolus in Musica's Vox Sonora, a collection mostly of conductus of the Notre-Dame school, but the piece is also found in The French Ars Antiqua, discussed below. (20)

Among other recordings of perotin, a lovely version of "Sederunt" is heard on the Orlando Consort's Mystery of Notre Dame, enhanced by a small chant schola of men and boys on the monophonic sections. The disc also includes five two- or three-voice organa not generally duplicated on discs, along with chants assigned to the same feasts as the organa. (21) Dominique Vellard's Ecole de Notre Dame de Paris, 1163-1245 includes "Alleluia Nativitas" and "Beata viscera" along with a dozen other pieces not widely available on discs. "Alleluia Nativitas" and 'Beata viscera" are also included in Marcel Peres's Mass for the Nativity of the Virgin, along with other organa and chant in a liturgical reconstruction. Mora Vocis's Mystery of Ancient Voices includes "Alleluia Nativitas" and "Alleluia Posui adjutorium" along with five organa and motets, some preceded by the original chants.

Two landmark recordings of "Sederunt" are again available. Safford Gape's version and its original coupling, "judaea et Jerusalem," are newly grouped on compact disc with Machaut and Du Fay. (22) Russell Oberlin's version, as first issued with "Alleluia Nativitas" and four two-part organa (attributed here to Leonin), has been issued on compact disc as Notre Dame Organa. "Viderunt" and "Sederunt" were also coupled in two later issues of the vinyl era. The Deller Consort grouped both quadrupla with four other pieces: "Alleluria Nativitas," the chant "Alleluria Christus resurgens" with the clausula "Mors," and two conductus. David Munrow later recorded both quadrupla (organ-accompanied) with four two-voice organa (with bells added, again attributed to Leonin). a collection of motets with instrumental accompaniment, and some Ars Nova motets as Music of the Gothic Era. Paul Hillier's The Age of Cathedrals includes repertory of Compostela and Aquitaine as well as Notre Dame. The monophonic conductus "Beta viscera" on this disc seems to be the only rendition of the full seven verses, but unfortunately the clausula "Mors" is sung divorced from its chant context.

Not one of the seven works of Perotin is included in the remaining collections. Konrad Ruhland's pathbreaking survey, even earlier than David Munrow's, also used instruments in a style no longer accepted. It has not been reissued on compact disc. (23) Thomas Binkley's early example of liturgical reconstruction, including the Easter gradual "Haec dies" (for two voices) and "Alleluia Pascha nostrum" (for three voices), has also not been reissued on compact disc. (24) But similar programs are available. Les Six's Haec Dies, a different reconstruction of the Easter Mass, uses the three-voice gradual and the two-voice alleluia instead. Another of Marcel Peres's early recordings, Mass for Christmas Day (originally tided Leonin on vinyl), offers the Third Mass of Christmas in chants from Parisian sources with the two-voice organa "Viderunt" and "Alleluia Dies sanctificatus." For a full disc of two-voice organa, Red Byrd's Magister Leoninus offers nine pieces including the two-voice gradual "Viderunt" and seven allel uia verses. Red Byrd has followed this with Leoninus Magister II, a disc devoted to two-part organa for the Office. The selection includes seven responsories (including Judea et Jerusalem), a processional antiphon, and a Benedicamus Domino.

THE MOTET

The thirteenth century was marked by the motets of the Notre-Dame school, principally found in Montpellier, Faculte tie Medecine, H 196. (25) At least 86 motets of the 345 in Montpellier have been recorded, 29 of them on Anonymous 4's beautiful Love's Illusion program. Russell Oberlin's much earlier disc, The French Ars Antiqua, also exquisitely sung, offers nineteen motets, fifteen of them not on the other disc. (26) All other motet recordings are scattered through broader collections of medieval music.

(1.) Richard Crocker and David Hiley, The Early Middle Ages to 1300. vol. 2 of The New Oxford History of Music, 2d ed. (Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1990), 492-503.

(2.) History of Music in Sound, vol. 2, Brompton Oratory Choir. Henry Washington, RCA Victor LM 6015, rec. 1950, rel. 1954. Masterpieces of Music before 1750. vol. 1, Schola Cantorum Copenhagen, Bernhard Lewkovitch, Haydn Society HSL 2071 and HS 9038, rel. 1952. A Thousand Years of Music History, various performers, Eterna 820347, rel. ca. 1965. Historical Anthology of Music, St. Meinrad Abbey Choir, Columba Kelly. Pleiades P 248, rec. 1968. History of European Music, vol. 2, Schola Cantorum Londiniensis, Edgar Fleet, Musical Heritage Society OR-350 and Harmonia Mundi France HM 442, rec. 1968, rel. 1971. A Thousand Years of Music, Hortus Musicus, Andres Mustonen. Melodiya C 06499-500 and Chant du Monde LDX 78620, rel. 1977. Oxford Anthology of Music, Pro Cantione Antiqua. Edgar Fleet. Oxford OUP 164 and Peters International PLE 115. rel. 1978.

(3.) Crocker and Hiley, 503-8.

(4.) Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge, Mary Berry, Archiv 413546-1, rec. 1983, rel. 1984.

(5.) Crocker and Hiley, 508-17.

(6.) The European Musical Heritage (New York: Knopf, 1987). The performance on compact disc is by Schola Gregoriana of cologne. Hermann Josef Kney, Knopf 394-36769-3. This selection was originally released in the Opus Musicum series, OM 101-03, 1978.

(7.) Sumer is icumen in, Hilliard Ensemble, Paul Hillier, Harmonia Mundi France HMC 901154, rec. 984, rel. 1985, not currently available.

(8.) Wulf Arlt, "Stylistic Layers in Eleventh-Century Polyphony," in Music in the Medieval English Liturgy, ed. Susan Rankin and David Hiley (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1993), 101-41.

(9.) Crocker and Hiley, 518-23.

(10.) The five sources are: Santiago de Compostela, Cathedral Archive, no shelfmark; Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France, lat. 3549, lat. 3719, and lat. 1139; London, British Library, Additional MS 36881.

(11.) Two different transcriptions of the five sources were published almost simultaneously: Theodore Karp, The Polyphony of Saint Martial and Santiago de Compostela, 2 vols. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992) and Hendrik van der Werf, The Oldest Extant Part Music and the Origin of Western Polyphony, 2 vols. (Rochester, N.Y.: the author, 1993). For a detailed review, see Richard Crocker, "Two Recent Editions of Aquitanian Polyphony," Plainsong & Medieval Music 3, pt.1 (April 1994):57-101.

(12.) Crocker and Hiley, 541-48.

(13.) Cracker and Hiley, 528-41.

(14.) Only "Congaudeant catholici" was recorded on shellac, in A Thousand Years of Music. Berlin State Academy Choir, Hermann Halbig, Farlophone R 1017 and Decca 20157, rec. 1930. A few pieces appeared in the vinyl anthologies of music.

(15.) Only "Mira lege" appeared on shellac, in columbia History of Music by Ear and Eye, choir, Richard Terry, Columbia 5710 and set M 231, rec. 1930. A few pieces appeared in the vinyl anthologies of music.

(16.) Crocker and Hiley, 548-53.

(17.) Crocker and Hiley, 557-632.

(18.) Charles-Edmond-Henri de Coussemaker, Scriptorum de musica medii aevi nova series, 1 (Paris: A. Durand, 1864; reprint, Hildesheim: G. Olms, 1963).

(19.) The Notre-Dame sources are Madrid, Biblioteca nacional 20486 (Ma); Wolfenbuttel, Herzog August Bibliothek 677 (olim Helmstad 628) ([W.sub.1]); Florence, Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana, Pluteo 29.1 (F); Wolfenbuttel, Herzog August Bibliothek 1206 (olim Helmstad 1099) ([W.sub.2]).

(20.) "Salvatoris hodie," "Alleluia Postu adjutorium," and an anonymous conductus are also heard on Vox Humana, Studio der frubhen Musik, Thomas Binkley, EMI Reflexe CDM 7 63148 2. rec. 1976, rel. 1989. not currently available.

(21.) The Orlando Consort's early recording of "Viderunt" on Med leval Christmas, Metronome MET CD 1001, rel. 1994, is also available in a broad anthology, Seeing Salvation, Metronome MET CD 1042, rel. 2000.

(22.) Messe de Nostre Dame [etc.], Pro Musica Antiqua, Safford Cape, Archiv Codex 453162, rec. 1956, rel. 1996.

(23.) Ars Anliqua, Capella Antiqua Munchen, Konrad Ruhland, Telefunken SAWT 9530/31 and 6.35010, rec. 1968, rel. 1969.

(24.) Osterspiel, Ostermesse aus Notre Dame de Paris, Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Thomas Binkley, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi IC 165-99925/26T, rec. 1981, rel. 1982.

(25.) Crocker and Hiley, 636-78.

(26.) A rare recording made about the same time as Oberlin's is Notre Dame de Paris in the 13th Century, ensemble, Thurston Dart, announced as Oiseau-Lyre SXOL 20501, rec. 1957, rel. 1970 as Fontana SFL 14133 or 700444 WGY.

DISCOGRAPHY

All entries are compact discs.

* Denotes an essential selection.

NA denotes not available at the time of writing.

Anglo-Saxon Christmas. Schola Gregoriana of Cambridge, Mary Berry. Herald HAVPCD 151, rec. & rel. 1992.

Eya Mater. Discantus, Brigitte Lesne. Opus 111 OPS 30-143, rec. & rel. 1995.

* Eleventh-Century French Polyphony. Ensemble Gilles Binchois, Dominique Vellard. Virgin 5 45135 2; also 5 61640 2, two discs with Jehan de Lescurel; also 5 61940 2, two discs with Le manuscrit du Puy, rec. 1994, re]. 2001.

* Sons of Thunder. Sequentia, Benjamin Bagby and Barbara Thornton. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 05472-77199-2, rec. 1989, rel. 1992.

The Great Book of Santiago de Compostela. Ensemble Venance Fortunat, Anne-Marie Deschamps. L'Empreinte Digitale ED 13023, rec. & rel. 1993.

Jacobus. Coro Ultreia, Fernando Olbes Duran. Punteiro 301-CD, four discs, rel. 1999. Orders: info@claverecords.com

Miracles of Sant'Iago. Anonymous 4. Harmonia Mundi France HMU 907156, rec. & rel. 1995.

Campus Stellae. Discantus, Brigitte Lesne. Opus 111 OPS 30-102, rec. & rel. 1994.

* Aquitania. Sequentia, Benjamin Bagby and Barbara Thornton. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 05472-77383-2, rec. 1994 and 1996, rel. 1997.

* Shining Light. Sequentia, Benjamin Bagby and Barbara Thornton. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 05472-77370-2, rec. & rel. 1996.

Twelfth-Century Polyphony in Aquitaine. Ensemble Organum, Marcel Peres. Harmonia Mundi France HMA 1901134, rec. 1983, rel. 1998.

The Fire and the Rose. Heliotrope, Joyce Todd. Koch International 3-7356-2, rec. 1995 and 1996, rel. 1998.

The Earliest Son gbook in England. Gothic Voices, Christopher Page. Hyperion CDA 67177, rec. 1999, rel. 2000.

* Perotin. Hilliard Ensemble, Paul Hillier. ECM New Series 1385 or 837751 or 78118-21385-2, rec. 1988, rel. 1989.

Perotin and the Ars Antiqua. Hilliard Ensemble. Hilliard Live HL 1001, rec. & rel. 1996. Orders: info@hilliardensemble.demon.co.uk

Codice de Madrid. Grupo de Musica A]fonso X el Sabio, Luis Lozano Virumbrales; Polifonistes de Barcelona, Josep Benet. Sony SK 60074, rec. & rel. tin Spain] 1997.

Vox Sonora. Diabolus in Musica, Antoine Guerber, Studio SM D2673, rec. 1997, rel. 1998.

Mystery of Notre Dame. Orlando Consort with chant schola. Archiv 453487, rec. 1996, rel. 1997.

Ecole de Notre Dame de Paris. 1163-1245. Ensemble Gilles Binchois, Dominique Vellard. Harmonic H/CD 8611, rec. & rel. 1986. NA.

Mass for the Nativity of the Virgin. Ensemble Organum, Marcel Peres. Harmonia Mundi France HMC 901538, rec. 1994, rel. 1995. NA.

Mystery of Ancient Voices. Mora Vocis. Pierre Verany PV 793101, rec. & rel. 1993.

Notre Dame Organa. Russell Oberlin, countertenor, Charles Bressler, tenor, Donald Perry, tenor, Seymour Barab, viol. Lyrichord LEMS 8002, rec. ca. 1957, rel. 1994.

Guillaume de Macha at, Notre Dame Mass, and Other Sacred Music of Medieval France. Deller Consort. Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 77064-2-RG or 5472-77416-2; Vanguard OVC 8107, rec. 1960, rel. 1996.

Music of the Gothic Era. Early Music Consort of London, David Munrow. Archiv 439424 or 453185 or 469027, or Musical Heritage Society MHS 524643F, all two discs, rec. 1975, rel. 2001. Archiv 415292 is incomplete.

The Age of Cathedrals. Theatre of Voices, Paul Hillier. Harmonia Mundi France HMU 907157, rec. 1995, rel. 1996.

Haec dies. Les Six. Move MD 3144, rel. 1994. Orders: www.move.com.au/ search.cfm

Mass for Christmas Day. Ensemble Organum, Marcel Peres. Harmonia Mundi France HMA 1901148, rec. 1984, rel. 1989. NA.

Magister Leoninus. Red Byrd (John Potter and Richard Wistreich) with Capella Amsterdam. Hyperion CDA 66944, rec. 1996, rel. 1997.

Leoninus Magister II. Red Byrd (John Potter and Richard Wistreich) with Yarvox. Hyperion CDA 67289, rec. & rel. 2001.

* Love's Illusion. Anonymous 4. Harmonia Mundi France HMU 907109, rec. 1993 and 1994, rel. 1994.

The French Ars Antiqua. Russell Oberlin, countertenor, Charles Bressler, tenor, Gordon Myers, baritone. Lyrichord LEMS 8007, rec. ca. 1957, rel. 1994.