The Tongeren collection, belonging to one of the oldest churches of Onze-Lieve-Vrouwekerk in de Nederlanden (Our Lady in the Low Countries), forms an exceptional collection of Gregorian manuscripts. Primarily, the manuscripts contain numerous chants from the local repertoire, for example, offices for Saints Remaclus, Maternus and Servatius. Additionally, this collection documents the significant liturgical reform of Radulphus de Rivo, inspired by the Modern Devotion and the Windesheim Congregation, and is an important witness to the Liège rite in Flanders. The ‘Liber ordinarius’ is one of the most remarkable sources for this.
The antiphonary is a musical manuscript on parchment. It is a choir book with chants used by the church choir during the singing of the Divine Office. This antiphonary was intended for the cantor and contains only the intonations and the solo verses; those parts sung solo by the cantor. The notes are in Hufnagel notation. The text is written in black Gothic letters. There are also so-called ‘flourish initials’ at the beginning of an office in blue or red with penwork in pink-red or violet. Unfortunately, this manuscript has suffered greatly: more than half of the folios have been cut out of the codex. The original manuscript likely consisted of about 400 folios.
Source: Unknown, 15th century, Antifonarium van de Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Geboortebasiliek, Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Geboortebasiliek Tongeren (Basilica of Our Lady of the Assumption Tongeren), Public Domain