Project description DEENESFRITPL Benedicamus Domino in Western Christian liturgy 'Benedicamus Domino', Latin for 'Let us bless the Lord', is an exclamation sung in the Western Christian liturgy throughout the centuries. The EU-funded project BENEDICAMUS aims to chart half a millennium of musical and ritual activity, musical compositions, poetic texts and manuscript sources surrounding this exclamation. The main objective of the research is to offer a pan-European perspective on 'Benedicamus Domino' from c. 1000-1500. In addition, the project will develop new methods of music analysis to uncover traces of performative practices of singing 'Benedicamus Domino' that were not explicitly recorded in writing. Overall, the project will reflect music’s complex relationship with spirituality, ritual and the sacred. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective BENEDICAMUS pursues a transformative focus on creative practices surrounding a particular moment in the Western Christian liturgy: the exclamation Benedicamus Domino (“Let us Bless the Lord”), which sounded in song several times a day from c.1000 to 1500. This moment was granted special musical licence c.1000: singers of plainchant melodies could choose to reprise a favourite tune from the Church music for the day, re-texting it with the words Benedicamus Domino. In consequence, Benedicamus Domino enjoyed unprecedented longevity and significance as a focus of compositional interest, prompting some of the earliest experiments in multi-voiced polyphonic composition c.1100 as well as a lasting tradition of popular, devotional carols in the 1300s and 1400s. Histories of music have principally told the stories of particular composers, genres, institutions, or geographical centres. BENEDICAMUS undertakes the first longue durée study of musical and poetic responses to an exceptional liturgical moment, using this innovative perspective to work productively across established historiographical and disciplinary boundaries. Encompassing half a millennium of musical and ritual activity, hundreds of musical compositions, poetic texts, and manuscript sources, it offers pan-European perspectives on a chronologically and geographically diverse range of musical and poetic genres never before considered in conjunction. It develops new methods of music analysis to uncover traces of ad hoc or improvisatory performative practices that were not explicitly recorded in writing, forging interdisciplinary contexts for thinking about artistic creativity and experimentation in a time-period where these concepts have been little studied. BENEDICAMUS engages with the beginnings of musical and poetic genres and techniques that were crucial in shaping practices still current today, and reflects on music’s enduringly complex relationship with spirituality, ritual, and the sacred. Fields of science humanitieshistory and archaeologyhistory Keywords Music Creativity Liturgy Ritual History Poetry Middle Ages Renaissance Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2019-COG - ERC Consolidator Grant Call for proposal ERC-2019-COG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant Host institution UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Net EU contribution € 1 990 328,75 Address PROBLEMVEIEN 5-7 0313 Oslo Norway See on map Region Norge Oslo og Viken Oslo Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 990 328,75 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Norway Net EU contribution € 1 990 328,75 Address PROBLEMVEIEN 5-7 0313 Oslo See on map Region Norge Oslo og Viken Oslo Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 990 328,75