Digital Paths Through History: Phylogenetic Analysis of Medieval Chants based on the Graduale Synopticum Dataset

Abstract

The Graduale Synopticum project is an especially significant data source for researching medieval chants by presenting early versions of these in a synoptic view. With a re-digitized, computer-readable version of the melodies, which were obtained from purely graphical synopses, we examine the variants of the melodies using digital methods.

For this purpose, we develop a generative evolutionary model that allows us to reconstruct a phylogenetic tree, illustrating the relationships of variations within and between the manuscripts vividly. This model enables us not only to trace a possible historical development but also to simulate how the chants might have changed and how the relationships of similarities within individual manuscripts, as well as between different manuscripts, have emerged.

Fabian C. Moss

Assistant Professor for Digital Music Philology and Music Theory

Fabian C. Moss is an assistant professor for Digital Music Philology and Music Theory at Julius-Maximilians University Würzburg (JMU), Germany.