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Alamire
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IDEM
Integrated Database for Early music
IDEM – Integrated Database for Early Music

IDEM is an interdisciplinary and multifaceted database of manuscripts and printed books that are relevant to the Alamire Foundation's research and activities. It therefore especially focuses on the musical heritage of the Low Countries from the early Middle Ages until 1800.

IDEM contains digital images of manuscripts and prints digitized by the Alamire Digital Lab, the high-technology photography centre of the Alamire Foundation (KU Leuven – Musicology Research Unit). Its state-of-the-art equipment allows musical sources to be photographed following the strictest standards and quality requirements.

The core database is complemented by interrelated sub-databases that enable the consultation and study of manuscript and printed sources from multiple perspectives. IDEM will eventually contain information about every aspect of the manuscripts and books concerned, including their physical characteristics, their content and illumination, as well as recordings, editions and so-called 'fake-similes' (adapted versions of the original images, facilitating performance from the original notation).

IDEM is thus designed to be an online, freely accessible platform and tool for the preservation, study, and valorisation of the music heritage of the Low Countries.

November 2024 - In the spotlight: the antiphoner of Nazareth

Many liturgical manuscripts from the medieval Low Countries have survived. A significant proportion of them contain musical notation. The antiphoner from the former abbey of Nazareth is particularly remarkable for several reasons. It contains about 200 folios of plainchant melodies, written in square notation and were sung exclusively during Matins. Such so-called ‘nocturals’ are very rare, certainly in the thirteenth century.

Thanks to the two colophons at the end of the manuscript, we not only know the destination of the manuscript, the former Cistercian abbey of Nazareth in Lier, but we can also date it to 1244-1245. Moreover, two of its contributors are mentioned: Agnes, the scriptrix who wrote the texts, and Christina, the notatrix who took care of the musical notation. It is likely that the latter is the Christina we know as one of the sisters of Beatrice of Nazareth, the mystic and first prioress of the abbey. Most likely, Beatrice herself was involved in the creation of the noctural. Three of the chants mentioned in her vita relate to her mystical experiences and are also noted in this antiphoner.

A few years ago, organist and singer Iris Eysermans rediscovered this unique source and coordinated a project that resulted in a new publication, De nachtelijke gezangen van Beatrijs.  Pieter Mannaerts, staff member at the Alamire Foundation, provided the analysis of the musical characteristics of the manuscript.

View the source:   Antiphoner of Nazareth