Music in medieval Riga – experienced today? The Story of Missale Rigense / Article

“For the book in the footsteps. For the Latvian book 500”

How can the text and margins of the text be read today in the oldest evidence of the history of music in Latvia “Riga Missal”, which was used in the Riga Dome in the second half of the 15th century? In the program “Book in Footprints” we go to the Riga Dome Academy and the Academic Library of the University of Latvia to find out what testimonies of this medieval manuscript provide to modern researchers in the history of spiritual culture and music.

The medieval manuscript “Riga Missal” is a book with cultural and historical significance, a relic of the spiritual culture of the city of Riga and Livonia. In the second half of the 15th century, the church contains liturgical texts and sheet music.

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Gregorian chant as a cultural-historical phenomenon occupies a unique place in the history of world music, but relatively recently we have realized that the origins of Latvian professional music, which can be found in the musical events of medieval Riga, are also related to it. Missale Rigensedating from the 1960s to the 1990s reveals not only the fact that Gregorian chants played an important role in the musical life of medieval Riga, but also that here they sounded a little different – in their local musical version. However, like the same folk song in different geographical locations, the text and melody may sound slightly different.

As one of the few medieval Livonian liturgical manuscripts that has survived to the present day, it clearly shows that the cultural events of medieval Riga are closely connected with the cultural and religious life of Europe at that time and that the Riga Cathedral was active at that time. were highly educated musicians with a subtle perception of musical nuances and professional singing skills. The notes of the missal notes, in turn, reveal the presence of an oral tradition in the playing process. In particular, the many intonations of the songs, which record only the very beginning of the song, are evidence that it was sung “from the head”. This suggests the presence of certain improvisational practices and variability in songs that were not dogmatically reproduced but creatively interpreted. The manuscript makes it possible to justify this variability and proves once again that

medieval songs are also subject to the law to which the living spirit of creation of all mankind is subject: those who live and thrive are evolving; only that which is dead and cold remains frozen and unchanging.

The driving force that is active at all times and serves art also works in the Gregorian chant tradition.¹

Missale Rigense tells about the musical liturgical life in the cathedral of the Archbishop of Riga, Livonia – St. Maria Dome in the late Middle Ages, in which members of the Riga Cathedral Chapter played an active role. The transcripts of the songs next to the prayer and reading texts are made in a Gothic horseshoe notation, which corresponds to the wider regional context of the tradition. The musical margins and the many margins of the text – short notes on the edges of the pages – show a strong practical significance for the needs of the liturgical ritual. The content recorded in the book is revealed as a living text that was in motion, that is, it could change over time. This is also evidenced by several melodic versions of the same song. The songs documented in the manuscript and the newly discovered margins of singing quite well illustrate the local Gregorian tradition of Riga, which is not very different from the late medieval manuscripts found elsewhere, but includes nuanced elements in both the melody and rhythm of the songs.

This unique manuscript is also the oldest written record of the history of music in the Baltics.

It is a testimony that is not only visible, but also sung, heard, and experienced.

The Riga Missal is also a testimony saturated with political culture. For a broader view of the history and time related to the Riga Missal, we offer what Professor Andris Levāns of the Faculty of History and Philosophy of the University of Latvia has said:

“For the book in the footsteps. For the Latvian book 500”

In preparation for 2025, when it will be 500 years since the first book in Latvian was published, Latvijas Radio 1, in cooperation with the National Library of Latvia (LNL), examines the development of the Latvian language and book publishing over five centuries. influencing the dynamics of knowledge, ideas and creativity in Latvia and promoting our belonging to the European cultural space.

¹ Peter Wagner neumatic knowledge. A Handbook of Choral Studies. Georg Olms, 1970.