Project: Reconstruction of a medieval music manuscript Omnia Beneficia
Omnia Beneficia is a polyphonic music piece from the beginning of the 14th century, one of the earliest such pieces found in Poland. The manuscript page survived because it was used as a cover for other book.
In cooperation with musicologists, I copied the manuscript with slight adjustments to make a legible version, comfortable for singing (without changing the original notation).
The original musical notation was mostly readable, however the main initial (first letter of the text) with its ornaments required a lot of analysis, because of stains and fading of the blue ink. I studied letters and ornaments preserved in sources from similar period to understand the style and to reconstruct the ornamentation in an accurate way.
The project was done in a traditional way, black ink (Winsor Newton) on A3 paper. I made many measurements to design a clean, easy-to-read layout for singers. Different nib sizes were tested for text and notation.
This copy of Omnia Beneficia was used many times during musical performances (including well-known musicologist and singer Marcel Pérès). It was also recorded and published on album "Liberator Hominis" by Schola Cantorum Minorum Chosoviensis.
