Introducing a central European fragment of medieval polyphonic song

ABSTRACT A newly identified musical source (Columbus, Ohio, Private collection, JP.MS.220, here Ohio 220) was publicised on social media in 2019. Recognising the value of the fragment, our research prioritised establishing its contents and provenance. The single parchment folio contains four polyphonic songs for two and three voices that once sat within a larger collection. Although aspects of the notation and repertoire within Ohio 220 resemble Ars Antiqua or early Ars Nova motets from northern Europe – with which one lyric shares a poetic concordance – our examination of the source’s artistic, textual and musical features supports a provenance within central European devotional culture approximately a century later. The polyphonic songs – not motets, but in the tradition of cantiones – draw on material and notational strategies with a long, pan-European heritage. We present an edition of all four pieces, outlining, in broad terms, the original provenance for the fragment and its music.