Cantigas de Santa Maria
The Cantigas de Santa Maria manuscripts were written during the reign of Alfonso X El Sabio (1221-1284) and are one of the largest collections of monophonic (solo) songs from the middle ages. All of the songs at least mention the Virgin Mary, and every 10th is a religious hymn. Some of the manucsripts containing this music also contain color illuminations of pairs of musicians, playing a wide variety of instruments.The lyrics of the Cantigas are written in Galician-Portuguese, the literary language of Castile at the time. A complete transcription is available, as is a recent English translation. The music is written in notation which is similar to the notation used for chant, but also contains some information about the length of the notes. Several transcriptions exist.
The Cantigas are frequently recorded and performed by Early Music groups, and quite a few CDs featuring music from the Cantigas are available.
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