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| Laboratoire de Paléographie Musicale | |
|---|---|
| Name | Laboratoire de Paléographie Musicale |
| Formation | 1977 |
| Founder | Denis Oswald; Gustave Reese (influential figures) |
| Type | Research laboratory |
| Location | Paris, France |
| Parent organization | École pratique des hautes études; CNRS |
| Fields | Musicology; Medieval music; Renaissance music |
Laboratoire de Paléographie Musicale is a Paris-based research laboratory specializing in the study, preservation, and editing of historical musical manuscripts and notation. It operates within the contexts of École pratique des hautes études, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, and collaborates with major institutions such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Institut de France, and international partners including the British Library and Library of Congress. The laboratory engages scholars across disciplines associated with figures like Guido of Arezzo, Johannes Ciconia, and Guillaume de Machaut.
Founded in the late 20th century with antecedents in 19th-century palaeography, the laboratory arose from scholarly initiatives linked to Denis Oswald and echoes of work by Gustave Reese, Vivian Perlis, and Leo Treitler. Early collaborations involved cataloging projects at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, exchanges with the British Museum, and partnerships with university departments such as Sorbonne University and Université Paris-Sorbonne. The laboratory contributed to international congresses hosted by organizations like the American Musicological Society, International Musicological Society, and impacted editorial norms established in forums including the Royal Musical Association and the International Council on Archives.
The laboratory's mission encompasses paleographical analysis, diplomatic facsimile production, and critical editing connected to repertoires associated with Gregorian chant, Notre-Dame school, Ars nova, and Ars subtilior. Activities include training programs with the École des Chartes, seminars featuring scholars such as Margaret Bent, John Stevens, and Richard Taruskin, and workshops for conservators from institutions like the Museums of France and the Vatican Library. It organizes colloquia in partnership with the Collège de France, curates exhibitions with the Musée de l'Armée, and participates in digitization initiatives alongside the Gallica platform and the Europeana network.
Collections maintained or cataloged by the laboratory include manuscript holdings tied to repositories like the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Abbey of Saint Gall, Monastery of Santa Maria de Ripoll, and municipal libraries of Chartres and Amiens. The laboratory publishes critical editions, facsimiles, and monographs in series comparable to those of Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Corpus Christianorum, and RISM. Its periodical output has been distributed through presses associated with Peeters Publishers, Brepols, and academic houses such as Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press. Notable publication collaborations have involved editors and authors including Robert Pratt, François Lesure, Philippe Vendrix, and Leo Treitler.
Major research projects have focused on the reconstruction of lost repertories linked to Notre-Dame de Paris, performance practice studies pertaining to Guillaume de Machaut and Hildegard of Bingen, and notation transcription methodologies inspired by Guido of Arezzo and the Anglo-Norman tradition. Grants and funded programs have been secured from bodies such as the European Research Council, Agence Nationale de la Recherche, and foundations like the Kress Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Projects have produced databases interoperable with RISM, the Digital Image Archive of Medieval Music, and the International Music Score Library Project.
The laboratory has produced diplomatic editions, modern performing editions, and critical apparatuses for repertoires including Gregorian chant, troubadour and trouvère songs, and polyphonic works of the Renaissance. Editorial practices draw on philological standards promulgated by Ernest H. Sanders, Bernhard Meier, and editorial committees of the Neue Schubert-Ausgabe and Corpus mensurabilis musicae. Work on chant includes comparative studies with manuscripts from the Abbey of Saint Gall, Solesmes Abbey, and repositories such as the Vatican Library and the Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon.
Collaborations extend to academic partners like Yale University, Harvard University, University of Cambridge, and cultural institutions such as the Vatican Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, British Library, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The laboratory has influenced curricula at conservatories including the Conservatoire de Paris and informed performance practice through contacts with ensembles such as Ensemble Organum, Hilliard Ensemble, and Les Arts Florissants. International conferences and edited volumes involving the International Musicological Society and American Musicological Society disseminated its methodologies to scholars like Edward Lowinsky and Charles Hamm.
Facilities include specialized reading rooms within École pratique des hautes études, conservation laboratories equipped for paper and parchment analysis, and digitization suites compatible with standards of the International Council on Archives and the Digital Humanities community. Archival holdings range from medieval choirbooks and Renaissance partbooks to modern scholarly correspondence with figures such as Denis Oswald, François Lesure, and Margaret Bent, deposited in municipal and national repositories including the Bibliothèque nationale de France and university archives at Sorbonne University.
Category:Research institutes in France Category:Musicology