Ancient antiphonary, forerunner of the musical score, found in Pavia. It is perhaps the oldest ever

At the University Library of Pavia, during the restoration of a seventeenth-century volume, an antiphonary dating back to 1100, probably the oldest known so far, was found. It is a manuscript parchment page, a forerunner of the musical score.

In addition to the inscriptions, there are very small notations of medieval music on the page. This had been used as reinforcement for the binding of the seventeenth-century volume.

Author of the discovery is researcher and restorer Alessandra Furlotti. For the first verifications, Dominique Gatté, an expert musicologist, was called in, who confirmed the dating around 1100 and affirmed that the manuscript parchment can be located in the Novara area. Furlotti had been entrusted with the restoration of the seventeenth-century volume, and it was she who noticed the presence of the manuscript parchment: during the work, in fact, the rear counter-guard of the volume had detached, returning the parchment. It was customary for bookbinders to use resulting fragments of other texts as material to reinforce the bindings. The special feature is that it is a whole sheet, still clearly legible, despite having been sprinkled with animal glue so that it would adhere to the cardboard. Moreover, the document is decorated with a miniature that is difficult to interpret, depicting a mythological animal with colorful legs and snake-like features.

Cultural Heritage Minister Bonisoli said this discovery “demonstrates the importance of protection and the relationship with the university world and its library system.”

Paola Passarelli, director general of the Libraries and Cultural Institutes of Mibac, on the other hand, stressed that “this discovery is the fruit of different synergies capable of using the tools of the present to find the words and, in this case, the ’notes’ of the past. The ancient antiphonary is a return to the origins, a fragment of the past that continues to remain in the present, feeding the inexhaustible dialogue with our cultural memory. For this is what books, and with them Libraries, are: treasure chests of knowledge, narrative custodians of knowledge to challenge our future. The rediscovered parchment has already been placed in a passe-partout that allows it to be read recto-verso, ready to be studied.”

Ancient antiphonary, forerunner of the musical score, found in Pavia. It is perhaps the oldest ever

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