Biography

The Codex Calixtinus (SC ss), or Liber Sancti Jacobi, is a 196-page manuscript source maintained at the Library of the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. In the ninth century, C.E., the remains of the apostle St. James are said to have been discovered there, leading to the building of the city and its magnificent gothic cathedral. Word of miracles at Santiago de Compostela helped make it the third largest tourist attraction in medieval Christendom. The Codex Calixtinus was compiled between 1137 and 1140 by scribes working near Vézelay in southern France and may have been carried down to Santiago de Compostela by Aymeric Picaud, chancellor to Pope Calixtus II and perhaps the author of the final book in the Codex. Originally, the manuscript ran 226 pages and was divided into five books, the musical components appearing in the first and fifth books. Books II through IV comprise a narrative about miracles associated with St. James and his shrine, and an account of Charlemagne driving the Moors out of Spain. In 1619, Book IV was judged inauthentic and expunged from the Codex Calixtinus on the command of King Philip. The Codex also contains inauthentic letters from Pope Calixtus II (hence the name "Calixtinus") and Pope Innocent II. The fifth book is a travelogue, "The Pilgrim's Guide to the Road to Compostela," and it contains more music in the form of an appendix. Of the musical portions of the Codex Calixtinus, the two relevant books contain about 50 pieces of music taken together. Save for Picaud's famous pilgrim song Ad honorem regis summi, all are liturgical works representing a mixture of monophonic and polyphonic settings. There is some debate as to whether the piece Congaudeant Catholici in the fifth book represents a true three-voice texture; if so, it is the earliest three-voice setting in Western music. Transcribing the reasonably clear east-central French neumes into modern notation so far has proved to have produced mixed results; and there is some controversy as to whether certain of the pieces should be played in duple or triple meter. Nonetheless, practically everything in the Codex Calixtinus has been recorded at least once, and it remains perhaps the most popular source for the earliest early music. ~ Uncle Dave Lewis, All Music Guide