"Description" - contains inventory data as well as notes on special features in the manuscript of historical and musical significance.

"Table of contents"

"Manuscript pages" - click this link to access the manuscript in a two-page reader platform.

"Digitized copies" - click this link to access thumbnails of all scans.

"Musical special features"

"Notation" - describes the use of adiastematic Znamenny style, as well as uninscribed notation.

To access the "Vocal Collection from the library of the Kirillo-Belozerskiy Monastery" scroll up and click the tab at the top of the page titled "Просмотр рукописи"

"Three types of notation intersect in the Blagoveshchenskiy Kondakar: kondakar-style, Znamenny, and 'mixed.'"

"In the Blagoveshchenskiy Kondakar, created in the early 13th century, there are certain chants which include a peculiar type of notation--kondakar style. The name of both the manuscript and the notation style are related to the title of the chant genre found in the book: 'kondak' (from the Greek -- 'short'). This chant in short form transmits the point of the event being celebrated."

"Notation"

"In all, only six Russian Kondakars from the 11th-16th centuries using kondakar-style have remained; of these, the Blagoveshchenskiy Kondakar stands out from the rest for the special features of its collection and artistic composition. The manuscript is also interesting for its inclusion of not only kondakar-style but also Znamenny notation, and also the intermediary style between Znamenny and mixed notation (kondakar-style with the inclusion of Znamenny neumes)."

"This resource represents one of the oldest vocal-music manuscripts, equal in significance (from the perspective of the history of vocal culture) to the outstanding projects on ancient Russian literacy."

"Special features of the notation"

"Manuscript description"

"Manuscript contents"

Click here to view the scanned manuscript.

"About the manuscript"

"About the project"

"Manuscript table of contents"

Click here for the inventory description.

The Ostromir Gospel is the most ancient extant East Slavic manuscript, dating from the 11th century. Follow this link to access the scanned manuscript as well as descriptions of its history and significance. You can toggle to English at the top of the Ostromir Gospel's homepage, unlike for the two annotated projects below.

This collection of hymns from the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, dating from the reign of Ivan the Terrible, constitutes an authoritative resource on foundational genres such as the Irmologion; Oktoikh; Obikhod; and monthly, Lenten, and Bright Sticheria.

The Blagoveshchenskiy Kondakar, an ancient hymnal in kondakar-style notation, bears witness to the cultural ties between Byzantium and Novgorod. Follow this link to access the digital scans, co-curated by the National Russian Library and the Department of Ancient Russian Vocal Art at the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

Click the "View Manuscripts" tab above to access the vocal music manuscripts and follow the annotated category amongst all the Russian-language choices.

Even if you toggle the language to English at the top of the View Manuscripts" page, the column under "subject headings" remains in Russian. Click this link to access collections for singers dating from the 16th century.

Follow this link to view the scan of the Blagoveschenkiy Kondakar.

Collection of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books from the Svyato-Troitskaya Sergieva Lavra

Russian State Library. Follow this link to access digitized archives of manuscripts and early printed works, including musical settings, in multiple collections.

This collection also houses digitized administrative records dating from the 18th century.

These collections date from the 18th century and feature mostly administrative documents.

Collection of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books - follow this link to go up a level and access digitized collections from other libraries.

Follow "Collection 113. Assembly of manuscript books from the Iosifo-Volotsky Monastery" to access, among many other sources, a 14th-century sticheron featuring Znamenny notation.

Collection 113, No. 3 - This Sticheron, featuring Znamenny hooked-style notation, covers the annual cycle from the 1st of September to the following year's 29th of August. Dates from the 2nd half of the XIV century.

Select "Описание фонда" ("description of the collection") to access a scanned catalogue about Collection 113 from the Russian State Library.

Download the manuscript in full as PDF (382 megabytes)

Select this second tab, "Описание," for a description of the sticheron.

Rubric: Iosifo-Volokolamsky Monastery. Manuscript on parchment. Date: 2nd half of the XIV century. Page count: 220pp. Note: Znamenny notation. In the General Inventory of Hieromonach Iosif--XIV century. Pages 4-5 are from later, ca. the XV century. (Stroyev P.: A description of manuscripts of the Volokolamsky, New Jerusalem, Savvina-Storozhevsky and Pafnutieva-Borovsky monasteries. St. Petersburg, 1891. No. 245. P. 101.) In quarto. Arranged without end. Page 184 should follow p. 182.

Note: Written in two columns per page. Other dating methods mark the manuscript as from the XII century to the beginning of the XIII (per the main inventory); the XI or XII (P. Stroyev); XII or XIII (V. D. Stasov); XIII-XIV (G.A. Voskresensky); XIV (A. Nekrasov). Charter. Without end. After p. 134 a page is missing. The order of pages is ruined: p. 140 should follow p. 138; p. 141 - p. 139; p. 147 - p. 145; p. 148 - p. 146.

The Russian version of the Svyato-Troitskaya Sergieva Lavra links to this digitized manuscript collection, made available only in Russian through the Russian State Library. Here is an example of one indexed manuscript from the collection; to access others like it, select "Ф 113. Собрание рукописных книг Иосифо-Волоцкого монастыря" under the page's heading.

Rubric: Iosifo-Volokolamsky Monastery. Manuscript on parchment.

Fund 113, No. 1

Fund (collection) 113: Collection of manuscript books from the Iosifo-Volotskiy Monastery

Date: End of XIII century

Collection of Manuscripts and Early Printed Books

Page length: 152 p.

Gospel, arranged by day (starting with Pascha). Clarified heading according to the Dop. inventory:] Gospel-Aprakos (full)

Russian State Library Manuscript Section