CC BY-SA 4.0, DOI: 10.3986/dmd20.1-2.07  PREPRINT VERSION 
 
 
 
 
 
KATARINA ŠTER 
Znanstvenoraziskovalni center Slovenske akademije znanosti in umetnosti, Ljubljana 
 
 
 
“ALLORA PIÙ GRADITO, CHE PIÙ BATTUTO”:  
FRANCISCANS FROM KOPER AND THEIR  
BAROQUE CANTUS FRACTUS 
 
 
 
Izvleček: Osrednja knjižnica Srečka Vilharja Ko-
per hrani rokopis 15, kirial iz 17. in 18. stoletja, ki 
je bil v rabi v koprskem frančiškanskem konventu 
sv. Ane. Rokopis vsebuje eksplicitne navezave na 
Koper in je najpomembnejši lokalni vir baroč-
nega repertoarja cantus fractus, ki v muzikološki 
literaturi še ni bil obravnavan. Članek prelimi-
narno predstavlja rokopis in njegovo vsebino, 
obenem pa razpravlja o pomenu in vlogi tovrst-
nega lokalnega repertoarja nekega monastičnega 
reda v širšem okviru. 
 
 
Ključne besede: Koper/Capodistria (Justinopo-
lis), cantus fractus, frančiškani, kirial, 18. stoletje 
 
Abstract: Manuscript 15 from the Srečko Vilhar 
Central Library in Koper is a seventeenth- and 
eighteenth-century Kyriale from the Franciscan 
Observant Convent of St Anne in Koper. Be-
cause of its explicit connections to this town, the 
manuscript is locally the most important source 
of the cantus fractus repertoire; it was noticed be-
fore but has not yet been discussed in scholarly 
literature. This paper offers preliminary observa-
tions about the manuscript and its contents 
while simultaneously discussing the role and rel-
evance of the local cantus fractus repertoire of a 
specific monastic order within a broader context. 
Keywords: Koper/Capodistria (Justinopolis), 
cantus fractus, Franciscans, Kyriale, eighteenth 
century 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
HE Srečko Vilhar Central Library in Koper (Osrednja knjižnica Srečka Vilharja Koper / 
Biblioteca centrale Srečko Vilhar Capodistria; SI-Ko) keeps several seventeenth- and 
eighteenth-century manuscript volumes transmitting various chant repertoires sung in 
the churches of the Franciscan Friars in Koper and other Slovenian coastal towns. Next to the 
liturgical plainchant, some sources also contain a repertoire written in the style of cantus fractus. 
Due to various reasons, this musical phenomenon has not yet received scholarly attention in 
Slovenia. However, it is of local as well as broader importance. It represents a part of the Fran-
ciscan liturgical history in the northern and eastern Adriatic, within the shared history of the 
T

2 
Franciscan Province of St Jerome and the history of the Franciscan convents in the Venetian 
Republic. 
This paper will present one of the most important cantus fractus sources from the Francis-
can Observant Convent of St Anne in Koper: Manuscript 15 from the Srečko Vilhar Central Li-
brary, a Kyriale written in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. It contains “stand-
ard” plainchant melodies written in the plainchant square notation and later melodies written in 
the cantus fractus-style notation, where the duration of notes is measured. The paper will focus 
mainly on the cantus fractus repertoire, which consists of Mass Ordinaries and individual Credos. 
The aims of the paper are three-fold: a) to bring attention, through the preliminary presen-
tation of the selected manuscript, to the hitherto unknown Baroque cantus fractus repertoire of 
the Franciscan Observant Convent of St Anne in Koper; b) to show its specific local and other 
characteristics and speculate on who its creators and users might have been; and c) to stress the 
need for more profound international research of this repertoire within the context of the Fran-
ciscan history and broader area once influenced by the Serenissima. The ecclesiastical and polit-
ical borders that shaped the existence and transmission of this repertoire should thus be taken 
into consideration – and, as many researchers have pointed out before me, they will not coincide 
with today’s state borders of Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, and possibly some other countries. Thus, 
the Koper cantus fractus might be seen as a piece in a much larger and more complex but tightly 
connected puzzle of Franciscan music. 
 
 
CANTUS FRACTUS AND UNDEFINED BORDERS OF ITS TERRITORIES 
 
Cantus fractus,
1
 a relatively unknown “younger brother” of cantus planus,
2
 still rising as a Cinder-
ella from the ashes,
3
 is a very broad and highly inconclusive term for which we might search in 
 
This article was written within the research project Old Traditions in New Vestments: Musical and Textual Re-
workings in the Performing Practices of Liturgical Music (J6-1809) and the research programme Researches in the 
History of Music in Slovenia (P6-0004), both funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS). 
I wish to thank Matej Veider for preparing the transcriptions, the Franciscan Father Bogdan Rus from the 
Convent of St Anne for his generous help with questions regarding the history of the convent and church, Peter 
Štoka from the Srečko Vilhar Central Library in Koper for assistance with accessing and researching the sources, 
Prof. Jurij Snoj for his valuable comments on the draft of this text, and the editor of this volume, Dr Klemen Grab-
nar, for his work. I would also like to thank the reviewers for their insightful and helpful comments. 
1
  The term cantus fractus (canto fratto in Italian), which will be discussed in more detail later, was primarily used 
by Italian scholars and has now achieved general acceptance in scholarship. Throughout history, however, the 
repertoire covered by this umbrella term has been known by different names. Dyer writes (after Fabio Sebas-
tiano Santoro’s treatise published in 1715) that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, canto fratto was 
regarded as a canto misto because it combined elements of plainchant (canto fermo) with the rhythmic features 
of canto figurato (polyphony); hence also the name canto semifigurato. Štefancová also presents very similar 
alternatives for the term cantus fractus: canto misto, canto figurato, and canto mensurato. See Gabrielli, “Cantus 
fractus”, 53; Dyer, “A New Source”, 5 77; Štefancová, “Cantus fractus”. 
2
  Based on the works of the theorists he consulted, Dyer uses the terms canto fermo (not “Gregorian chant”) and 
plainsong. Dyer, “A New Source”, 569. 
3
  Both the images of a “younger brother” and Cinderella are borrowed from Giacomo Baroffio and Eun Ju Kim, 
as they remain as suggestive and true as they were twenty years ago. Baroffio and Kim, “La tradizione fran-
cescano-veneta”, 85. 

3 
vain in the musicological terminological toolbox. In the preface to two special issues of the Jour-
nal of the Alamire Foundation, Hana Vlhová-Wörner and Rhianydd Hallas pointed out the fact 
that the term cantus fractus does not appear in the leading musicological encyclopaedias such as 
Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart and Grove Music Online and that there is only a very short 
entry in Oxford Companion to Music.
4
 In the basic musicological literature, the knowledge and 
writing on the topic are scarce and fragmentary. Vlhová-Wörner and Hallas suggested this as the 
broadest definition: Cantus fractus repertoire includes monophonic melodies for the Roman lit-
urgy, which contain some element of fixed rhythmic realisation.
5
 
Marco Gozzi, a leading expert on this repertoire, offered a similar definition of cantus frac-
tus as “canto cristiano liturgico con elementi ritmico-proporzionali”, a “Christian liturgical chant 
with the rhythmical-proportional elements”.
6
 In another place, he says a similar thing: this is “a 
type of Christian liturgical chant in Latin that makes use of proportional rhythmic values in its 
notation and is therefore measured”.
7
 Note, however, that even between these two very broad 
and general definitions, there is no agreement on the monophonic nature of the repertoire. 
Based on the discovery that early (14
th
-century) sources of the famous cantus fractus Credo car-
dinalis are polyphonic – the main melody is always the same, but the second part not necessarily 
– Marco Gozzi developed a working hypothesis that, in practice, more music was performed in 
two parts that we can assume from monodic sources.
8
 He stated: “In the search for the origins of 
cantus fractus, all clues point towards simple polyphony or, if another term is preferred, towards 
the polyvocal amplification of the alleged liturgical ‘monody’”.
9
 
Joseph Dyer, among others, stressed the fact that the melodies of cantus fractus are “much 
closer to contemporary musical idioms than they are to the Gregorian chant melodies”.
10
 Its li-
turgical context, placement in standard liturgical books alongside plainchant and intentional vis-
ual aspects of notation (square- and mensural-like notation, primarily on four but also five lines 
in the staff), as well as contemporary understanding of it tightly link this repertoire to cantus 
planus. Therefore, cantus fractus should further remain in the domain of (plain)chant scholars – 
but not only that. Since the sound of this music belies the sight of its antiquity, chant researchers 
should join forces with music scholars dealing with later periods. Only then will the sources be 
more fully understood, and the picture will gain new depth and more dimensions. 
However, questions regarding monophony vs. polyphony and the repertoire’s antiquity 
vs. contemporaneity (i.e., meaning the reworkings of Gregorian chant and composing entirely 
new melodies) are only some of the issues regarding the elusive term of cantus fractus. There are 
 
4
  Vlhová-Wörner and Hallas, “Introduction”, 197. 
5
  Vlhová-Wörner and Hallas, “Introduction”, 197. 
6
  Gozzi, “Alle origini del canto fratto”, 245. 
7
  Dyer, “A New Source”, 571, quotes Gozzi, “Prefazione”, in Cantus fractus italiano: Un’antologia, ed. by Marco 
Gozzi (Hildesheim: Olms, 2012), 1. 
8
  Gozzi, “Alle origini del canto fratto”, 247. 
9
  “Nella ricercar sulle origini del canto fratto tutti gli indizi portano verso la polifonia semplice o, se si preferisce 
un altro termine, verso l’amplificazione polivocale della presunta ‘monodia’ liturgica.” Gozzi claims that this 
has new implications also for music of the so-called Gregorian chant: “credo non si possa più parlare del cosi-
detto canto ‘gregoriano’ come di ‘canto cristiano monodico’”. Gozzi, “Alle origini del canto fratto”, 248. 
10
  Dyer, “A New Source”, 576. 

4 
further questions related to modality vs. tonality of individual chants, the inclusion of the reper-
toire such as rhythmicised chant on the one hand but perhaps also strophic song and other rep-
ertoires on the other, the vast temporal (from the fourteenth to the nineteenth century) and 
geographical span of this extensive repertoire, and others. 
In the geographical sense, the cantus fractus repertoire constantly gains territory and is still 
widening its map. Extensive pioneering work was carried out by scholars in Italy, who defined 
our first insights into the phenomenon and where the work continues; the majority of the now-
known repertoire comes from there, which might also reflect the intensity of research activity.
11
 
However, the phenomenon was seen and recognised elsewhere as well. Recent larger projects in 
the Czech Republic
12
 and Croatia
13
 (where there were some earlier studies as well),
14
 which re-
sulted in a number of publications and events, brought to light new sources, repertoires and their 
connections: the earlier repertoires in Bohemian sources and Central Europe, and many new 
sources, especially along the Dalmatian coast. In Austria, the phenomenon was recognised with 
individual studies
15
 and within the project Musikleben des Spätmittelalters in der Region Öster-
reich.
16
 
Even with such a recent expansion, the musicological coverage of the repertoire is still rel-
atively small. Joseph Dyer noted that “a comprehensive survey of the phenomenon in Italy or 
elsewhere in Europe remains to be written, so large and widely disseminated was this reper-
toire”.
17
 There is still a considerable need to know more (about) sources, many of which lie for-
gotten in the archives and libraries; since many originated in the Modern Era, they were not as 
interesting for digitisation as medieval music manuscripts. New case studies and source editions 
would enable scholars to make further comparisons, even if, at the moment, it seems that some 
later repertoires were mostly locally bound.
18
 Barbara Haggh-Huglo pointed out that compari-
sons and thorough examinations of the repertoire will remain challenging until we have a data-
base for the cantus fractus compositions.
19
 Such a database on an international level is indeed 
necessary, and we hope that it will not take too long before it can be realised.
20
 
 
11
  “Most of the sources discovered and catalogued thus far originated in north-eastern Italy (especially Tren-
tino)”. Dyer, “A New Source”, 576. See also Baroffio and Kim, “La tradizione francescano-veneta”, 85–86. 
12
  Such was, for example, the project Old Myths, New Facts (joint project of the Masaryk Institute and Archive 
of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Charles University, 2019–2023, https://www.smnf.cz/en) led by 
Hana Vlhová-Wörner. 
13
  The CROMUSCODEX70 project (Cro atian Musical and Liturgical Chant Codices – Interdisciplinary Re-
search, 2017–2021, www.cromuscodex70.com), which was also dedicated to studying the sources of cantus frac-
tus, was led by Hana Breko Kustura. 
14
  There have been several studies related to the cantus fractus repertoire in the context of Baroque music in Cro-
atia, such as Katalinić’s “Pregled izvora”, and Soldo’s “Glazbena ostavština”. 
15
  The primary focus of the research was mainly on the music of the Franciscans from the seventeenth and eight-
eenth centuries. See, for example, Paech, “‘Hymnus novus’”, and Prassl, “Choralquellen” and “Ein spätes 
Zeugnis”. 
16
  Gozzi, “Rhytmischer Choralgesang”. 
17
  Dyer, “A New Source”, 576–577. 
18
  Baroffio and Kim, “La tradizione francescano-veneta”, 90. 
19
  Haggh-Huglo, “Cantus fractus in CA 6 and 11”. 
20
  In discussion, Debra Lacoste proposed a great solution: creating a cantus fractus database within the Cantus 
database platform. Such a database would stand on its own but would, at the same time, enable comparisons 
and analyses throughout the whole repertoire as well as with the plainchant melodies. 

5 
Cantus fractus, then, remains a very broad and vague term which does not have precise 
borders. However, with all its musical differentiation, its liturgical function and visual aspects 
play a prominent role in making it a specific and uniquely understood repertoire. In other words, 
the term has as much to do with “what” is written down (notated) as it has with “where” and 
“how” it is written down and performed. The question of “with whom” the repertoire was espe-
cially connected might also be relevant since there seems to exist a particular connection with 
different branches of the Franciscan Minor Friars.
21
 This connection also brings us to the hith-
erto unknown territories – to the coastal towns of today’s Slovenia, where the cantus fractus was 
performed foremostly within the different branches of the Minor Friars (the so-called Ob-
servants and Conventuals). Their primary cantus fractus sources, preserved mainly in Koper, 
have been occasionally noted but never discussed. By beginning to include them “in the picture”, 
this article aims to place Slovenia on the cantus fractus map while simultaneously contributing 
another small piece to the larger puzzle in the making. It should already be mentioned that strong 
monastic connections within the provinces of the order, along with the special ties of territories 
that once belonged to the Venetian Republic, also played a significant role in shaping and per-
forming this repertoire in Slovenia. 
 
 
THE CONVENT OF ST ANNE, ITS MUSICAL LIFE AND  
ITS CANTUS FRACTUS SOURCES  
 
One of the most significant sources of Baroque cantus fractus from the Slovenian coast is Manu-
script 15 from the Srečko Vilhar Central Library of Koper, originating from the Koper Observant 
Franciscan Convent of St Anne. The musical history of this institution has not yet garnered sig-
nificant individual scholarly attention; however, it has been referenced several times in the con-
text of Koper’s music history and its cathedral. 
Koper/Capodistria, the Head of Istria (Caput Histriae),
22
 was one of the most important 
Istrian towns. From the thirteenth century, when it was formally incorporated into the Venetian 
Republic,
23
 it had the largest Istrian community and was the seat of the Venetian government in 
 
21
  Despite their modesty and poverty, the Franciscans in the eighteenth century found ways to create rich musi-
cal environments (to which the cantus fractus repertoire also belonged): “Provided that out of the scope of the 
European musical culture we were to choose an order whose tradition was most unique, original and distinct 
from music-making in other circles, one would undoubtedly point to the Franciscan Brothers.” Jochymczyk, 
“Musica figuralis franciscana”, 105–106. Dyer stresses that many important theorists who wrote on cantus fractus 
were Franciscans. Dyer, “A New Source”, 571. 
22
  With the old Roman name Capris, or later name Capo d’Istria. 
23
  Watching Venice from the other side of the bay, Koper had a long history with it. The first pact with Venice 
was reached in 932, but the inhabitants of Koper tried to break free from it several times, in 976, 1279, and 1348, 
when the rebellion was carried out in the context of the large plague and was suppressed by the Republic. It 
was after the fight of 1279 that Koper had to become su bjected to Venice. Later in the Middle Ages, Koper suf-
fered under plague many times (in 1338, 1348, and 1382, as well as later). One of the most eventful periods was 
the time of the War of Chioggia (La Guerra di Chioggia) between 1371 and 1381, when it was occupied by 
Genoa and its famous relics of the local bishop and town patron St Nazarius were infamously stolen by the 
Genoese; they were returned only in 1422. Mlacović, “Frederic C. Lane”, 455–456. 

6 
Istria.
24
 In Renaissance and Humanism, the town prided itself on being “the Athens of Istria” due 
to its rich humanistic learning and culture.
25
 Although Koper was still important, it lost its prom-
inence with the end of the Venetian Republic in 1797 ; until then, it was, even in the musical sense, 
“the cultural centre of Istria”,
26
 which could also be proud of music in its many churches. Until 
at least the end of the eighteenth century, several institutions had a rich liturgical and musical 
life, among them the cathedral of Koper (re-established in the twelfth century), several male and 
female monasteries (the Sisters of St Augustine, Benedictine Nuns, Dominicans, Servites, and 
several branches of the Franciscans).
27
 
By the early eighteenth century, when Manuscript 15 was completed, the Convent of St 
Anne had already developed a rich history.
28
 In 1229, the first community of Franciscan friars in 
Koper was founded, presumably by St. Anthony of Padua. The earliest known records mention 
the Order of the Poor Friars of Assisi in Koper in 1264, when the Bishop of Koper permitted 
them to construct a new church, as the old one was in poor condition. The history of the present 
convent began in 1493 with the building of a new church in a different location; along with the 
convent, it was completed and furnished by 1513. It was considerably smaller than the present 
church. For nearly a decade, St Mary of the Angels was its patroness, but afterwards, the church 
was dedicated to St Anne. The pr esent church was renovated in 1627.
29
 In addition to the large 
central nave, an oratory is located behind the main altar; it was in this space that the Franciscan 
friars recited the Liturgy of the Hours. Its beautifully carved choir stalls date from the late fif-
teenth or early sixteenth century and have recently been restored. From the beginning, the con-
vent served as a house of education and a novitiate for the Dalmatian Observant Province, mean-
ing it was always a place of learning, particularly in theology and philosophy. In the eighteenth 
century, it became a house of general studies (studium generale) and was authorised to grant the 
degree of lector theologiae, which was recognised throughout the Franciscan Observant commu-
nity.
30
 Such an intellectual centre must have also been a place of musical learning and creativity. 
The Church of St. Anne was beautifully adorned wi th paintings, and one can imagine that 
– within the constraints of their rules – the Observants applied the same level of attention to 
their musical “decoration” of the liturgy, particularly as they were among the most musically sig-
nificant and unique orders in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
31
 Today, directly above 
the church entrance, the organ loft houses the organ built by the Venetian master Francesco 
Merlini in 1805. It is a well-preserved Venetian organ with its original disposition and probably a 
successor to a previous instrument. The church also held many processions, where music prob-
ably played a significant role, as evidenced by the procession signs displaying statues of patron 
 
24
  Radole La musica a Capodistria, 12. 
25
  Radole, La musica a Capodistria, 11–12. 
26
  This, in any case, was the opinion of Baccio Zill iotto, mentioned by Radole, “Musica e musicisti”, 147. 
27
  Höfler, “Glasbeniki koprske stolnice”. See also Bonin, “Samostani v Kopru”. 
28
  The basic information about the history of St Anne’s ch urch, convent and library presented here is available on 
the website of the convent, especially in the chapters about history. See Frančiškanski samostan Koper,  “His-
tory: History of the Franciscan Friary”, “History: St Anne’s Church”, and “Zgodovina: Prihod frančiškanov in 
zgodovina samostana”. 
29
  See also Košak, “Sv. Didak iz Alkale”, 26. 
30
  Frančiškanski samostan Koper, “History: History of the Franciscan Friary”, “Zgodovina: Prihod frančiškanov 
in zgodovina samostana”. 
31
  Jochymczyk, “Musica figuralis franciscana”, 105–109. 

7 
saints from various confraternities. In the treasury, gold-plated lanterns used during these pro-
cessions can also be found. At the outset of the eighteenth century, Bishop Naldini observed that 
the Observants of St Anne were held in high esteem by the people of Koper because they led a 
devout life, were popular confessors, and were renowned for their beautiful liturgical singing.
32
 
Until 1920, the convent had been part of the Franciscan Dalmatian Province of St Jerome, 
based in Zadar. Following the Treaty of Rapallo in the aftermath of the First World War in 1922, 
it was taken over by the Italian Franciscan Friars of the Venetian Province. After the Second 
World War, it was once more incorporated into the Zadar province and later, in 1953, into the 
Slovenian Franciscan Province of the Holy Cross. By 1954, the state had transformed the Koper 
convent into a prison. Nevertheless, the Franciscans did not abandon their church, which they 
were still allowed to use, and they continued to live in modest conditions in the utility rooms 
adjacent to it. In 1997, the property was returned to the Franciscans, who were able to move back 
in 2004. Today, the Franciscan community, although with very few members, remains active in 
the convent. 
The Convent of St Anne’s shared its history with its library. Following the dissolution of 
many other monasteries due to various historical events in the early nineteenth century, the con-
vent library of St Anne received books from the Franciscan Observant Convent of St Bernardine 
of Siena in Portorož/Portorose, as well as from the monastery in Piran, where the Conventual 
Franciscan Friars resided based. Thus, it hosted several cantus fractus and cantus planus sources, 
some originating from other institutions.
33
 Some of the sources received could be incorporated 
into the liturgical life of St Anne’s community.
34
 
St Anne’s library was largely left intact until 1945,
35
 but it did not entirely escape the fate of 
other Koper church libraries and religious communities. Their musical and cultural heritage was 
dispersed over time – some in the nineteenth century, but most recently in the twentieth century 
when, in 1940 and the years that followed, nume rous famous paintings and other items from the 
 
32
  Naldini, Corografia ecclesiastica, 196. 
33
  There is, for example, a miscellaneous music manuscript containing cantus planus repertoire with some cantus 
fractus chants (especially Credos), originating from the Convent of St Andrea in Rovinj/Rovigno. Another 
example is an antiphoner preserved in the Srečko Vilhar Central Library (Ms 11) which explicitly says: “Ex 
con[vento] s[ancti] Bernar[di]ni […] Anno 1806. fratres S. Bernar dini obtulerunt in conventum S. Annae 
hunc codicem, qui ex tunc pertinent ad conventum S. Annae Justinopoli”. It seems that liturgical books from 
other Observant (or perhaps even Conventual) convents could be further used in the liturgy of St Anne’s 
church. 
34
  For example, there exists a manuscript that seems to be strongly connected to the previously mentioned Ms 15. 
There is a kyriale which is also housed in the Srečko Vi lhar Central Library as Manuscript 13. Similar to Ms 15, 
it bears the St Anne’s library sticker and a pencil mark with the number 640, although it has a different shelf 
mark (i.e, 13). During the period of their coexistence at St Anne’s, the two manuscripts might have been seen 
as complementary or somewhat related. They contain th e same type of repertoire but share only a few Credo 
melodies. Ms 13 includes several later additions, and it is challenging to ascertain whether these were made in 
Portorož or later in Koper. 
35
  Di Paoli Paulovich, Musica a Capodistria, 168. According to the catalogue ma de by the Franciscan Father Hi-
jacint Repič, the library contained ca 12.000 volumes in the beginning of the twentieth century; there were also 
59 incunabula and 83 rare and valuable books. Between 1942 and 1944, following the orders of the Italian au-
thorities, the catalogue and more valuable books were taken to Venice. Frančiškanski samostan Koper, 
“Zgodovina: Knjižnica”. 

8 
Koper churches were taken to Italy and elsewhere.
36
 During the nationalisation process follow-
ing the Second World War in 1945, the library of St Anne was transferred to the collection centre 
in Portorož and subsequently to the Koper Central Library of Srečko Vilhar, along with its 
sources from other monasteries.
37
 A part of it was returned to the Franciscans in 1977.
38
 Together 
with the library of the Capuchin Convent of St Martha, this library nevertheless remains one of 
the relatively well-preserved monastic libraries; almost nothing from the libraries of the Domin-
ican monks and the musically famous Convent of St Francis (Conventuals) survives.
39
 We may 
never know to the full extent what was contained in the Koper archives, nor what the musical life 
of the various religious communities in Koper was like. However, there is another library where 
diverse sources and information about the musical life in St. Anne can also be found: the cathe-
dral library, which is now mainly preserved in the Episcopal Archives (Škofijski arhiv) of Koper. 
In their studies on musical life in Koper, musicologists primarily focused on notable town 
musicians and the music in the cathedral, as most sources have been preserved for this institution 
and it had a rich musical tradition.
40
 Since St Anne’s music sources and other relevant documents 
are not sufficiently known yet, our knowledge about musical life in this convent is tightly inter-
twined with what we know about the history of the church music in Koper in general. 
Until the Council of Trent, the liturgy and chant in Koper – including liturgical music – 
followed mainly the Aquileian use;
41
 the Franciscans had their own tradition that closely fol-
lowed the Roman one. After the Council and until the end of the eighteenth century, many mu-
sicians came to Koper because of its good economic situation;
42
 some internationally renowned 
ones were invited to perform on festive occasions in the cathedral and even to stay and teach 
chant and polyphony to the clergy. The level of musical performance must have been relatively 
high and “up-to-date” with the international standards of the time. However, local institutions 
also had skilled musicians and likely a rich musical life. In providing music for the cathedral’s 
liturgy, there was, at least during specific historical periods, a regular collaboration between the 
cathedral and certain Koper monastic institutions, particularly the Convent of St Francis (Con-
ventual Friars) and the Convent of St Anne (Observant Friars). Janez Höfler states that singers 
from both convents regularly performed on more festive occasions.
43
 It seems that the Convent 
 
36
  In an informal conversation in 2021, the priest of th e nearby coastal town of Piran, Zorko Bajc, mentioned that 
various people also took musical items from the church archives and libraries in Piran; sometimes, these ob-
jects would be returned because the next generation would bring them back or find no use for them. Unfortu-
nately, the disappearance of one music manuscript is much less visible than the disappearance of an altar 
painting. 
37
  Marković, Fondi librari e biblioteche, 145–154. 
38
  According to the St Anne Convent website, the library experienced additional losses during that time. On 
these travels between the centre, the Srečko Vilhar Library, and the convent, many books vanished into the 
private collections of enthusiastic collectors; some returned, but others did not. Frančiškanski samostan Ko-
per, “Zgodovina: Knjižnica”. 
39
  Marković in Štoka, Knjižna dediščina, 20. 
40
  Among others, there were Janez Höfler (“Glasbeniki koprske stolnice”), and Metoda Kokole (“Glasba v kopr-
ski stolnici”), who also wrote extensively on life and music of Antonio Tarsia (1643–1722). 
41
  Studies about music in Koper before the end of the sixteenth century were carried out by Jurij Snoj and Janez 
Höfler. See Snoj, “Koralni kodeksi”; Snoj, Zgodovina glasbe na Slovenskem; Höfler, Tokovi glasbene kulture, 33. 
42
  Höfler, Tokovi glasbene kulture, 34. 
43
  Höfler, Tokovi glasbene kulture, 79–80. 

9 
of St Francis had some primacy and a very prosperous musical life, but there are some hints about 
the skills of musicians at the more rigorous Convent of St Anne as well. 
Although indirectly, the cathedral records can partially inform us about the music in the 
two Franciscan convents. There are even names of musicians that we may not have known oth-
erwise. On Christmas of 1688, we thus have t he first mention of the organist and singer, Padre 
Giacomo Cocever, di Antonio (or Coccever d’Antonio, in Slovenian Jakob Kočever) from the 
Convent of St Anne, a local from Koper.
44
 The accounting books of t he cathedral mention him 
as a singer and singing teacher (“maestro di canto e cantante”) to the cathedral priests for a year 
(between 1678 and 1688): “insegnò nel 1688 ai preti il canto fermo”.
45
 He was likely a good musi-
cian, as he appears to have become a regular and popular guest in the cathedral.
46
 Höfler writes 
that he was the convent’s meritable organist, who, with another Franciscan of St Anne’s, sang 
solemn masses and vespers for the feast of St Ursula (October 21)
47
 and possibly on some other 
occasions. The accounts of the cat hedral mention him again in 1713.
48
 Alisi says that he was men-
tioned in the cathedral documents as an organist as late as 1718 and – with regular appearances 
as a musician in the cathedral – must have been well-trained in contemporary musical styles.
49
 
The musical sources of St Anne that remain confirm this opinion, as they attest to the 
Franciscans respecting the Order’s tradition while also adopting contemporary musical styles, a 
point noted by the scholars. Janez Höfler writes that, although polyphony was in general prohib-
ited in the Franciscan Observant Order,
50
 contemporary Baroque vocal and vocal-instrumental 
music must have been present in the churches of St Anne and St Francis; otherwise, the friars 
would not have been included as musicians in the cathedral. Here, he mentions the cantus fractus 
chants, noting their modern musical world and rhythmic aspect: 
 
It seems that the focus of their church music creation was still the monophonic liturgical chant, 
which they had already greatly adapted to the general demands of the time. Their chant legacy 
from the Baroque period is preserved in several manuscripts […] The chant as it appears in these 
manuscripts is partly preserved in its original and traditional non-rhythmical form without in-
strumental support, and partly transformed into monophonic rhythmic chants, supported by or-
gan accompaniment written in basso continuo form. The notation is still black square chant no-
tation [hic], where its individual elements have been given rhythmic meaning. Particular empha-
sis was placed on individual Mass chants, especially the Credo, which were to replace the solemn 
Baroque Mass compositions.
51
 
 
 
44
  His family owned the sepulchre no. 43 in the cloister of the Franciscan Conventuals. Tommasich, Famiglie 
Capodistrane, 26. 
45
  “Haver anno uno continuo insegnato canto fermo alli Pretti”. Radole, La musica a Capodistria, 49; Alisi, Il 
duomo di Capodistria, 54; Höfler, “Glasbeniki koprske stolnice”, 141. 
46
  Höfler, Tokovi glasbene kulture, 79. 
47
  In Koper, St Ursula was an important feast, with a grand fair of ten days, where many visitors would come and 
music performances had to be on a very high level. Radole, La musica a Capodistria, 48. 
48
  Höfler, “Glasbeniki koprske stolnice,” 141. 
49
  “Fra Giacomo Cocever suonava sempre l’organo, ma talvolta si prendeva a prestito un organo piccolo e si rin-
forzava l’effetto e si fondevano i suoni con violini, trombe e tamburini (1718).” Alisi, Il duomo di Capodistria, 55. 
50
  Höfler, Tokovi glasbene kulture, 55. 
51
  Höfler, Tokovi glasbene kulture, 79–80. 

10 
Höfler did not list or delve deeper into these sources, but his observations were correct, 
and he was able to draw attention to the fact that the friars of St Anne must have been trained in 
the musical style that would also fit the practice in the cathedral. Their musical abilities were 
acknowledged by their contemporaries, most notably by the aforementioned Bishop of Koper, 
Paolo Naldini (1632–1713), who specifically mentioned their singing in his description of Koper – 
and not every institution was noted for its music. Were the Friars also able to perform some of 
their own repertoire in the Koper cathedral (which would suggest that their books, such as Man-
uscript 15, could have been used there)? 
An observation by Giuseppe Radole leads us to consider that this could indeed be the case. 
He mentions the cantus fractus repertoire in connection with the work of Giuseppe Maria Cord-
ans, a Franciscan Observant Friar and a copyist of several music manuscripts, at the Srečko Vil-
har Central Library: “Le antifone gregoriane sono ritmate ed accompagnate da un basso con-
tinuo.” He accounts further that, in the time of his youth, he saw something similar in the Koper 
cathedral: a collection of two-part Credos.
52
 The two-part manuscript might have been used in 
the cathedral or brought there from some other Koper institution after the Second World War. 
The Koper cantus fractus sources were also noticed by David di Paoli Paulovich.
53
 
 
 
MANUSCRIPT 15 AND ITS CHARACTERISTICS 
 
Manuscript 15 from the Srečko Vilhar Central Library thus fits into a broader history of music in 
both the convent and the town of Koper. It is a Kyriale written between the seventeenth and 
nineteenth centuries. Today, it contains 142 pages measuring approximately 25x40 cm (the last 
page with written content is 141, while page 142 is blank) and a cover. The printed leaf pasted to 
the back cover is dated 1875, indicating that the manuscript may have still been in use or received 
a new cover in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
54
 
The manuscript bears the St Anne’s library sticker with the inscription “Convent[um] 
fr[atrum] min[orum] Justinopoli”. On several pages, we find the convent’s round stamp (“Con-
vent[um] Sanctae Annae Iustinopoli – Sigillum”). There are two pencil markings: the number 
640 (on the outside cover as well as inside),
55
 and an interesting inscription on the internal side 
of the cover: “II/12451 Kyriale – raccolto di Messe in uso anche oltre quelli romani [sic] in vari 
luoghi dal ord[ine] francescano”. It seems that the person who wrote this inscription initially 
considered the fractus chants to be a standard part of the Roman liturgy during a particular pe-
riod but later revised their view and labelled it as characteristic of the Franciscan repertoire. A 
small white sticker displaying the number 15 on t he upper left side of the cover indicates the shelf 
mark of the Srečko Vilhar Central Library, where the manuscript is preserved (from here, the 
 
52
  Radole, Musica a Capodistria, 62. About the Credo collection, which was in bad condition because the ink cor-
roded the paper, Radole says: “si trattava di una raccolta di Credo a due voci. Il volume in folio [i.e., about 
30x48 cm], dove l’inchiostro aveva corroso la carta, appariva tutto bucherellato.” – To my knowledge, no such 
source is known today. 
53
  Di Paoli Paulovich, Musica a Capodistria, 168. 
54
  The leaf is unrelated to the manusc ript’s contents. It contains an Italian poem (signed D. F. P.) for the Ursu-
line nun Maria Giuseppina’s taking of monastic vows on October 21, 1875, and was printed in Koper. 
55
  Ms 13 has the same pencil inscription; see above. 

11 
manuscript will be referred to as Ms 15). Sever al indications suggest that this manuscript was 
written in, or at least for, the Koper Convent of St Anne. However, apart from a few later addi-
tions in the margins and two (probably) nineteenth-century inserts, it seems to be well-pre-
served and likely served primarily as a reference manuscript or a book for careful occasional 
(probably festive) use rather than one intended for everyday use. 
The main characteristics of the Ms 15, whi ch will be presented in the following, are: 
 
(a) it contains plainchant and cantus fractus Mass Ordinaries and cantus fractus Credos; 
(b) it consists of two main consequently written parts (“hands”) and contains two later 
inserts; 
(c) it records some written simple polyphony (diaphony), either in places within mo-
nodic chants or in two-part pieces; 
(d) it contains two works of a known composer; 
(e) some of its Credos are specifically connected to the locality of Koper. 
 
The Ms 15 (see also Table 2 with the contents of the manuscript in the Appendix below) 
contains three plainchant Mass Ordinaries (the first one, beginning on p. 1, is specified for the 
feasts of the Franciscan saints by a later hand, and the third one, later addition in the manuscript, 
is to be used in Advent and during Lent), eight cantus fractus Mass Ordinaries, including a two-
part Ordinary, and ten cantus fractus Credos with nine melodies (the melody of one Credo is 
used for two saints of the Order, St Didacus of Alcalá and St Peter of Alcántara, and is written 
out in both places). Two Credos are connected to important saints of the Franciscan Order, one 
to the apostle St Peter and one to the Virgin Mary, while two bear a local designation (“Napoli-
tano” and “Justinopolitano”). Several Mass Ordinaries and Credos have been intended for an 
alternatim performance (see Tables 2 and 3 in the Appendices 1 and 2). 
Based on the preliminary palaeographical observations and the information in the manu-
script, its possible genesis and date might be reconstructed as follows. The manuscript seems to 
have been written in two parts (possibly by two or three major scribes), A and B. In general, 
scribe A (or two scribes with very similar handwriting) wrote the first part of the manuscript (pp. 
1–98), and scribe B wrote the second part of the ma nuscript (pp. 98–142), continuing directly on 
the same page after scribe A (p. 98). It is challenging to assert with complete certainty that only 
two individuals worked on these two parts: one potential alternate scribal beginning in the A 
part could be found on p. 57, which starts after the incomplete Mass Ordinary (implying that 
some pages may be missing from the manuscript) and temporarily introduces a new form of the 
letter “i” along with certain notational peculiarities (see below). Nevertheless, the primary char-
acteristics of each part are cohesive enough to support the working hypothesis of only two 
scribes. In the work of scribe A, the pages retain more or less similar and unified layout. Scribe 
B, however, works with a changeable layout and spacing; hence, his writing is slightly adapted 
and varies. The sharpness of the feather and the qu ality of the paper may also influence his work 
(see Table 1 below). The first part of the manuscript is interrupted with two later inserts written 
by the scribes C and D.  
Ms 15 can be more precisely dated with the hel p of several facts. The first one is an attrib-
ution of two Mass Ordinaries to the composer Francesco Antonio da Budrio by the scribe A. 

12 
Padre da Budrio was a Franciscan Observant friar and a well-known musician and theologian, 
who flourished between the 1690s and 1710s and wa s known for his cantatas and oratorios in 
Italian language.
56
 Many Franciscan manuscripts also contain his music for the Franciscan litur-
gical use, although it is written in a much simpler style when compared to his other works. Dou-
ble appearance of his name (“del Padre Budrio” on p. 61 and “del P[ad]re Fran[ces]co Antonio, 
di Budrio” on p. 74 –most likely referring to the same composer) most probably means that the 
first part of the manuscript was written at the end of the seventeenth or the beginning of the 
eighteenth century, but not after 1723. 
The title of one of the Credos by scribe B gives us further clues about the date of the Ms 
15. Credo Sancti Petri di Alcantara could not have been titled so before 1669 since St Peter had 
only been canonised then.
57
 This Credo has the same melody as the one for St Didacus (Diego), 
which might mean that both saints (the only Franciscan saints to get a Credo in this manu-
script!) have an equal status in the Order and therefore both get special Franciscan melody. Or 
it could mean that, in the time when the manuscript was being written down, the new melody 
for St Peter had not been composed yet due to the lack of time and was borrowed from St Diego, 
which would place the start of the scribe B’s writing in the 1670s. This, however, does not seem 
very likely: the rich and seemingly never-ending melodic invention in the Credos does not imply 
a lack of invention, and the conclusion of the manuscript gives us another date for the work of 
scribe B. Another reason for adopting a well-established Franciscan Credo for a Franciscan saint 
may be the manuscript’s inclination to create complete Mass Ordinary cycles: this Credo mel-
ody fits well musically with the plainchant Mass Ordinary for the Franciscan saints (p. 1),
58
 and 
it might just be a fortunate “nomen est omen” coincidence that the Franciscans are musically 
represented by the chosen F-mode (and tonality). 
Next to the manuscript’s last item, Credo Justinopolitano, we find written the year 1723 (see 
Figure 5 below), most probably meaning th at this piece was composed in 1723.
59
 A less probable 
explanation would be that the year 1723 refers to the completion of the whole manuscript in gen-
eral and is not strictly related to Credo Justinopolitano (which would imply that this Credo might 
have been composed earlier). However, such cases are more often found at the end of manu-
scripts and not by the title of the last item. In any case, the time of Padre da Budrio’s activity and 
1723 are very close, and the bulk of the manu script seems to be a product of one period rather 
than of several centuries as was supposed previously on the basis of its more ancient-looking 
plainchant masses. This fact is further confirmed by the direct following of the second hand to 
the first one in the manuscript. The main manuscrip t corpus by scribes A and B is interrupted 
with two later additions, written by scribes C and D, which shows that it was in use even in later 
times (see Table 1 below). 
 
 
56
  More about da Budrio in Giorgi, “Ex tenebris lux”. 
57
  Reagan, “St. Peter of Alcántara”. 
58
  This Mass seems to be officially or at least more widely recognised as the Mass for the Franciscan saints. See, 
for example, an illustration from d’Andri’s missal from 1707 (the version in Ms 15 appears more ancient and the 
grouping of the notes is different, but it is still the same melody). Breko Kustura, “Svjedočanstvo ritmiziranog 
korala”, 464. 
59
  By now, I have not yet managed to establish whether there was a special ecclesiastical occasion connected with 
the composition of a new Credo in Koper in 1723. 

13 
Table 1 | Compilation of Koper, the Srečko Vilhar Central Library, Ms 15 
SCRIBE PAGES PAGES AND THEIR LAYOUT REMARKS 
A 1–40 six staves of four red lines ca 1700 
C 41–44 six staves of four red lines 
later insert – nine-
teenth century? 
A 45–88 
45–65: six staves of four red lines 
66–86: five staves of five red lines 
87: three staves of five red lines realised 
88: empty page 
ca 1700 
D 89–92 six staves of four purple lines 
later insert – nine-
teenth century? 
A 93–98 six staves of four red lines ca 1700 
B 98–142 
98–108: six staves of four red lines 
109–110: six staves of four brown lines 
111–114: eight staves of four brown lines (after two staves 
on p. 114, a new layout of five lines begins) 
114–126: seven staves of five brown lines 
127–134: nine staves of four brown lines 
135–140: seven staves of four brown lines 
141: four staves out of seven realised 
142: empty page 
finished 1723 
continues directly af-
ter scribe A 
 
The majority of the manuscript was written by t he first scribe, who wrote most of the Mass 
Ordinaries (including two plainchant Masses at the beginning) and some Credos. Both the 
planus and fractus repertoires in this section are monophonic, with few instances where notes for 
a potential second voice are added, particularly in the cadences. No Mass Ordinary or Credo in 
this section of the manuscript bears any special title, though the name of one composer is known. 
As shown above (Table 1), this section is quite consistent in its layout: it contains six staves of 
four red or occasionally brown lines per page, except for the part where we find five staves of five 
red lines per page (beginning in the middle of the first Mass Ordinary by Padre di Budrio on 
p. 65). 
The handwriting ( rotunda textualis formata) in this section is simple and neat. There is a 
consistent exchange of basic red and blue initials (and capitals); occasionally, yellow (golden) 
and orange/pale red ones also appear (the yellow colour seems to replace blue in some instances, 
such as in Sanctus on p. 9 and in the first Mass by Padre Budrio on pp. 62–73). Later in the man-
uscript, green initials begin to appear occasionally (for example, on p. 72). The initials that des-
ignate the beginnings of the chants are slightly larger than those that merely divide the longer 
texts into smaller units (capitals). The initials are unembellished, with the exception of two in-
stances of a moderately ornamented letter “P”, which retains the same shape in both cases 
(“Patrem”, pp. 57 and 93). Two text sections within the same chant and with the same capital 
following one another might exhibit different shapes for the same letter, thereby emphasising 
the visual contrast between the two sections of the text. The concluding “Amen” section of the 
Gloria typically features an even simpler capital than the rest in this part; one such initial (p. 23) 

14 
was left uncoloured, which could imply that the initials were originally drawn (perhaps with the 
aid of a ruler) and coloured later. 
The prevalent use of serif in the A part of the manuscript gives the initials a slightly “squar-
ish” yet still elegant appearance. Typically, a thicker penstroke for the stem represents the prin-
cipal pillar of the letter, while other lines are thinner and subordinate to it. The letters “K” 
(“Kyrie”) and “T” (“Tu”), for example, feature a serif ending in a triangular shape, while the letter 
“A” (“Agnus”) generally has a prolonged serif ending with ornamental rounding, while rounder 
letters such as “G” (“Gratias”), “D” (“Domine”), and “Q” (“Quoniam”) also employ prolonged 
lines that conclude with rounding shape. 
The scribe A usually concludes indi vidual phrases in the text with a dot positioned in the 
middle of the writing, within the text body. He also employs specific signs, albeit inconsistently; 
several different signs appear on the same page (as seen on p. 57, Figure 1). A horizontal “unfin-
ished 8” or “mirrored S” shape designates missing letters (as in “magna[m]”). The word-ending 
abbreviation for “bus” is indicated with a distinctive “9” sign. A right-slanted custos shape (with 
a notehead on top) indicates a specific shortening for “s[un]t” or for some other words. The sign 
of “cedille” placed under a vowel indicates a diphthong (as in “terrę”, meaning “terrae”). The 
vowel “i” generally has a right-slanted line at the top (“í”). However, in some instances, “i” is used 
with a dot (pp. 57–88), which appears atypical for the scribe A; the handwriting, however, re-
mains the same. After a while, however, it continues with the usual “í,” so I still consider this part 
to be the work of scribe A. 
The second major part of the manuscript (by scribe B) follows directly after that by scribe 
A and appears to be a straightforward continuation by another individual, although it also intro-
duces a new style to the repertoire (a two-part Mass). The part written by this scribe includes 
several significant specifics missing from the first part of the manuscript: it employs titles associ-
ated with saints’ names and locations, and only here is “si suona” noted next to the solmization 
syllables, when present. Its layout is much less unified than in the first part; its varying conditions 
lead the scribe to write in a more condensed style and with slightly vertically elongated letters, 
particularly from p. 111 onward. In this and several other instances (such as p. 127), it is challeng-
ing to determine with complete certainty whether only one scribe copied the B-part of the man-
uscript; however, a closer examination confirms that hypothesis. Scribe B adapts the number of 
staves and the writing of the text to the contents as he works through the manuscript; he leaves 
blank spaces for titles and so forth. The number of staves per page varies significantly, ranging 
from six to nine, with sometimes four and sometimes five lines in a staff, also differing in colour 
(see Table 1 above). Some paper was likely prepared in advance, but for certain pieces, one could 
argue that the number of lines in a staff adjusts to the ambitus of a piece (e.g., Credo Justinopoli-
tano on pp. 135–141, see Figure 5). This is the on ly part of the manuscript that uses descriptive 
names for the Credos. 
In this part of the manuscript, the initials are only red: larger ones for the beginnings of 
individual chants and smaller ones for individual sections of chants. The writing appears 
smoother and more rounded in general, and the serif is less pronounced. This scribe consistently 
uses dots above the vowel “i” and incorporates written-out diphthongs “ae” (as in “terrae”). 
Some letters, such as “g”, exhibit specific forms that differ from those of the A-scribe. Text units 
are concluded with a dot at the lower line of the text (similar to a dot in modern punctuation). 

15 
In some instances, individual mass movements are ended with a small ornament (for example, 
on pp. 100, 103, 118, and 126), which also follows the title of Credo Justinopolitano (Figure 5). 
The first four-page insert by a later hand in the manuscript (scribe C on pp. 41–44, see 
Figure 3) contains a simple cantus fractus Mass Ordinary (perhaps it could serve as a basis for 
polyphonic improvisation at certain points). The paper appears to be the same as in part A: there 
are still four red lines in a staff, with six staves per page. However, this part is clearly an insert, 
since it appears in the middle of another cantus fractus Mass, before the Agnus Dei. The scribe 
was not as skilled as the others, or perhaps he worked hastily; the initial letters also appear more 
clumsy. Some inconsistencies in his writing (e.g., between “Chÿrie” and “Chirie” on the same 
page of the Kyrie) might reveal a specific template used in his copying or a greater influence of 
Germanic pronunciation on his Latin. This scribe employs a special sign for “et” (“&”) and places 
a corona sign at the end; there is a specific type of F-clef. At the beginning of the insert, numerous 
vertical lines (consistent with regular barlines) appear in the staff; their number decreases 
throughout the insert, leaving nearly none on the final page. 
The plainchant Mass for Advent and Lent by scribe D (pp. 89–92, see Figure 4) is likely 
the most recent addition to the manuscript. It is written on six staves of four purple lines per 
page. The text is presented neatly and clearly, with short dashes between individual syllables in-
dicating the continuation of the words. Such a late addition demonstrates that the manuscript 
was in use even in the nineteenth century. During the more restrained liturgical periods, such as 
Advent and Lent, richer cantus fractus Masses were perhaps deemed less appropriate. Conse-
quently, Ms 15 is conveniently supplemented with the missing Ordinary for those liturgical sea-
sons. 
The plainchant Mass Ordinaries are notated using square plainchant notation on four red 
lines, typically following the C-clefs. The custos at the end is usually slanted, with a notehead 
positioned at the bottom. Thi s notation employs oblique shapes (ligatures) and preserves the 
visual representation of more ancient neume groupings; unlike many other manuscripts of the 
time, it does not present the melody in a simplified sequence of square notes. (Here, one might 
argue that the beginning of the manuscript could have been written much earlier than the late 
1600s, but the plainchant is directly followed by the more modern fractus Mass Ordinaries.) The 
notation employs some unique forms, such as a ligature that points downward to indicate an 
independent sequence of descending notes (instead of pes), or an interesting shape of porrectus, 
which looks like an upside-down torculus. Another special form is that of climacus, which adds an 
additional note to the usual pes form, resulting in a sequence of three rising notes. The initial and 
final notes often feature special signs indicating a kind of prolongation; they may resemble an 
extended longa, sometimes an undulation, or occasionally two connected puncti interrupted by 
a penstroke upwards. This visual prolongation can also be found in other plainchant manu-
scripts, connecting it to the cantus fractus repertoire as well. 
The cantus fractus repertoire, at least in the main two parts, employs a consistent system 
throughout the manuscript. The clefs used are C and F (scribe B uses different forms compared 
to scribe A), and the mensural notation signs used are those of longa (which is unusual, but here 
longa actually represents brevis),
60
 semibrevis, minima, and, occasionally, semiminima (scribe C 
 
60
  For comparison: Ms 13 uses shapes breves and semibreves, keeping longae for the even longer notes or not using 
them at all. 

16 
employs a different type of notation, using brevis instead of longa; the typical figure here is that 
of a dotted brevis, followed by a minima).
61
 The larger note always consists of two notes of the 
next level, even in the triple meter; thus, the longa has two semibreves, a semibrevis has two mimi-
nae, and a minima consists of two semiminimae. Perhaps, at least for this manuscript, this was 
regarded as the notational “house style” of the convent. The semiminima by scribe A features a 
straight flag angled sharply to the stem of the note, while the one by scribe B has a more rounded 
angle where the flag meets the stem. (A new ligature form indicating the downward movement 
of two notes (semibreves or “longae”) inserted between the groups of minimae appears from p. 57, 
along with the visual triple prolongation of the first or last note.) Scribe B frequently marks acci-
dentals, sometimes using brown colour (the same as the notes) and sometimes red: his b-flats 
are rounder and larger, and the custodes exhibit a less straight line compared to the work of scribe 
A. Also in the fractus chants, the initial or closing note of many chants is written as doubled; this 
is a scribal habit and does not necessarily imply that each beginning or ending should be as 
lengthy as indicated.
62
 The undulating shapes of concluding notes are more pronounced in scribe 
B’s work. 
The measure of the cantus fractus pieces is rarely specified, but it usually— with a few ex-
ceptions in triple meter—follows tempus imperfectum diminutum. Barlines in the modern met-
rical sense are not regularly used, except in the two-part mass, where they might be notated more 
consistently for purely practical reasons, and in the Credo Justinopolitano. It is true that they only 
appear before the accented beats of selected phrases, but not randomly: their meaning and role 
seem to serve multiple functions, including strong visual and performative help. 
The majority of keys used in the repertoire of these two manuscripts are F and C major, 
with some pieces in G major, along with D, A, and E minor (as well as earlier modes for chant). 
This choice of keys is likely linked to the possibi lities of the organ. The beginnings of several Mass 
Ordinaries or individual Credos feature pitch or transposition designations using solmisation 
syllables (such as “A la mi re”), indicating that the organ was played at that point, either as an 
accompaniment or in an alternatim performance. More direct indications for playing exist, such 
as “si suona in De La Sol Re.” For the fractus chants, these designations were written by the orig-
inal scribe beside the title; the marking “De la sol re” for the first plainchant Mass was noted by 
a later hand. 
 
 
61
  Angela Fiore suggests that it should be called “rhomboid” rather than “square” notation; rhomboid notation is 
also different from mensural notation. Fiore, “La tradizione musicale”, 45. 
62
  Note shapes indicating prolongation are common in these types of manuscripts; in some instances, they may 
indeed serve to extend the note, while in others, they function more ornamentally. See the examples in Gozzi, 
“‘Notazione quadrata’”, 464–474. 

17 
 
Figure 1 | Koper, the Srečko Vilhar Central Library (SI-Ko), Ms 15: Part A, p. 79 

18 
 
Figure 2 | Koper, the Srečko Vilhar Central Library (SI-Ko), Ms 15: Part B, p. 124 (“In S. Diego”) 

19 
 
Figure 3 | Koper, the Srečko Vilhar Central Library (SI-Ko), Ms 15: Part C, p. 41 

20 
 
Figure 4 | Koper, the Srečko Vilhar Central Library (SI-Ko), Ms 15: Part D, p. 89 

21 
 
Figure 5 | Koper, the Srečko Vilhar Central Library (SI-Ko), Ms 15: “Credo Justinopolitano”, p. 135 

22 
 
THE CANTUS FRACTUS CHANTS IN MS 15 AND KOPER:  
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS 
 
For the closing part of this preliminary study of MS 15, I would like to focus on its connection to 
Koper, which can be established foremostly from the Credo repertoire. Credos appear to be a 
representative “parade horse” of the cantus fractus repertoire for numerous reasons, both theo-
logical and musical. Marco Gozzi posits that since the Credos did not have such early melodies 
as other Gregorian chant repertoires, they were quicker to adopt new, rhythmically specified 
melodies alongside other later genres; or perhaps this was a means to create more variety in the 
lengthy Credo text.
63
 Harrison Russin connects the explosion of the Credos between 1300 and 
1500 with the broader theological context of the time and the new catechesis, in which it was 
expected that every believer should know the Ten Commandments as well as the Creed.
64
 In 
later times, it could possibly be connected to the objectives of the Catholic Restoration following 
the Reformation. Some cantus fractus Credo names suggest they might hold a special local sig-
nificance and were likely linked to specific festivities. 
In his important article, Joseph Dyer highlights many key aspects of the cantus fractus rep-
ertoire in relation to the so-called Robbins-Landon manuscript of the possibly Venetian prove-
nance and provides a list of incipits for all the Credos found there.
65
 Most of the Credo fractus 
melodies from the manuscript he discusses are likely unica, although he was able to find some 
concordances for the others. A comparison of all the Credos of Ms 15 (including those from the 
complete Mass Ordinaries) with his list yielded two concordances. These were both instances of 
the Credos transmitted individually, outside Mass Ordinaries (which suggests that the Mass Or-
dinaries were usually disseminated as a whole). An untitled Credo (Ms 15, Credo fractus no. 2, 
on p. 93; see Appendix 3) from Ms 15 represents a variant of Dyer’s Credo Veneziano with a slight 
difference (no. 11), and the Credo in S. Diego (Ms 15, Credo fractus no. 6, p. 124; see Appendix 3) 
resembles the Credo Padoano (no. 4) – except that the ornament is somewhat different and the 
second part of the incipit melody is transposed a fifth higher in Ms 15.
66
 The beginning of the 
Credo Maggiore della Madonna (Ms 15, Credo fractus no. 5, p. 118; see Appendix 3) resembles a 
simpler, less ornamented version of the untitled Credo (no. 7), but their continuations are quite 
different. Both “concordant” Credos – the Robbins Landon manuscript’s Veneziano and Pado-
ano – also appear without specific names in another Koper manuscript, Ms 13 from the Srečko 
Vilhar Central Library (beginning on pp. 5 and 74). In the case of Veneziano, Ms 13 has the same 
variant as Ms 15, whereas for Padoano, its version matches that of the Robbins Landon manu-
script. It seems that some melodies were more widely disseminated, while others remained more 
locally, or even institutionally, bound. Ms 13 and Ms 15 do not share any further concordances, 
even if Ms 13 contains twenty-one cantus fractus Credos. 
 
63
  Gozzi, “Canto gregoriano e canto fratto”, 28 and 30. 
64
  Russin, “Late-Medieval Catechesis”. 
65
  Dyer, “A New Source”, 605–607. 
66
  The incipits of these Credos are listed in Dyer, “A New Source”, 606. 

23 
The local names of the Credos are not necessarily associated with the same melodies in 
every source; it seems that the more geographically distant the name is, the more interchangea-
ble it may become with another name. However, it appears that the more recognisable melodies 
are more likely to receive a specific name. Another typical repertoire issue, linked to partly oral 
transmission and performance practice possibilities of this repertoire, is presented here: the 
question of the difference between a variant and a new melody. 
Two masses in Ms 15 are attributed to the Italian Franciscan composer Francesco Antonio 
da Budrio, who was active at the end of the seventeenth century and in the first half of the eight-
eenth century. Not many of his “Franciscan” works seem to be preserved, but we find copies of 
them in the archives of today’s Slovenia and Croatia, which means there must have existed some 
lines of dissemination.
67
 
Many characteristic aspects of the fractus Mass and Credo settings discussed by Joseph 
Dyer (regarding the Robbins Landon manuscript) and other scholars can also be observed in 
Ms 15.
68
 New compositions function in the realm of tonality rather than modality, even if they 
occasionally mimic the melismas of Gregorian chant. They also feature virtuosic ornamentation, 
leaps in the melody, and sequences of melodic progression.
69
 
The Mass Ordinaries often exhibit a significant degree of thematic unity, as evidenced by 
the transcriptions of the incipits of their movements (see Appendix 3). They typically adhere to 
fundamental harmonies, although their melodies may become highly ornamented – here we en-
counter something akin to a theme and variations, which notably reflects the creative process 
involved in composing this music. Since many melodies abide by similar principles (triadic 
movements, typically avoiding large leaps in the melodies in favour of stepwise motions), some 
Mass Ordinaries bear similarities to one another and tend to be rather formulaic than distinctive. 
Conversely, there are compositions that are very individual, such as Credo Maggiore della Ma-
donna or Credo Justinopolitano. 
There is evidence that both Mass Ordinaries and Credos were performed either in com-
plete or in alternatim.
70
 If the Mass Ordinary was performed alternatim, so was usually its Credo 
as well as some individually written Credos (see Table 2 in Appendix 1). Even though the alter-
natim performance was discouraged in the case of Credo, where every word had to be sung or 
spoken,
71
 Ms. 15 appears to utilise that practice frequently, which would mean that the non-sung 
words had to be spoken aloud. Gloria, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei consistently follow the same writ-
ten pattern of alternatim performance, the situation is somewhat different for Kyrie and Credo 
(see Table 3 in Appendix 2). Kyrie can be written in different ways, such as one “Kyrie”, two 
“Christe” sections, and then one “Kyrie”; or each section may be written out just once (occa-
sionally marked with “III”), likely indicating an alternatim performance with repetition of the 
 
67
  Zdravko Blažeković highlights the dissemination of da Budrio’s works among the Franciscan musicians in Sla-
vonia. For instance, the Observant Franciscan Franjo from Vukovar copied a volume of his one- and two-part 
Masses while studying in Ferrara in 1722. Another Franciscan named Vlahović copied another of da Budrio’s 
works (a Martirologium, in his Consonans dissonantia), which is also dated to 1722. Blažeković, “The Music 
Repertoire”. 
68
  Dyer, “A New Source” 
69
  Fiore, “La tradizione musicale”, 45. 
70
  More about the alternatim practice is described in Beban, “Fra Petar Knežević”. 
71
  Dyer, “A New Source”, 597. 

24 
same melody where necessary, or sung with three repetitions in each part. The Credo consist-
ently follows the same pattern, with the choir always singing the “Patrem” and later the obliga-
tory sung kneeling verse, “Et incarnatus est”. However, in one case, the regular exchange with 
the organ is interrupted, allowing the choir to additionally sing “Crucifixus etiam pro nobis” 
which was typically performed by the organ in this manuscript (in the Mass Ordinary fractus no. 
5, beginning on p. 45).
72
 
As observed in the case of the Robbins Landon manuscript, particular attention is given 
to certain Credo verses, especially “Et incarnatus est” and “Et resurrexit.” These characteristics 
can also be found in Ms 15; there are textual feat ures (such as “homo” written in red letters, along 
with repetitions of specific words) and musical indications (the change of meter or even tempo 
markings like “adagio” – although these are quite rare) that distinguish these sections of the 
Credo. Particularly in Gloria and Credo, the words might be repeated several times in specific 
sections for expressive purposes; here, these chants move away from the “recitation” of the sa-
cred text towards more “composed” secular music of the time. In these two chants, we also find 
characteristically florid settings – virtuosic even – of the concluding “Amen”. 
In the Credo Justinopolitano, the verse “Et incarnatus est” is presented as a two-part canon 
(see the transcription in Appendix 4), accompanied by specific written instructions on how it 
should be performed by two choirs. This serves as just one example of how individual manu-
scripts can provide valuable insights into performance practice: even though this Credo occa-
sionally resembles a potentially virtuosic solo piece (perhaps even further ornamented), it is 
clear that the involvement of the choir was foreseen, at least for certain sections. If polyphony 
was possible here, why not in other places? Some parts, while written monophonically, could 
easily be transformed into short canons or embellished with parallel thirds or mirrored voice 
leadings – both procedures can be seen in Ms 15 in various places. 
Ms 15 contains a two-part Mass written in simp le polyphony, based on the principle of 
mirroring between the voices and moving within triads, making use of jumps or leaps of thirds.
73
 
Polyphonic writing primarily results in parallel thirds, with occasional fifths and fourths. The 
two-part Mass of Ms 15 partially supports the thesis that this was probably not a manuscript for 
daily use but rather intended for reference: in Kyrie and Gloria, the “Basso” and “Tenore” parts 
of the Mass follow one another and are not written on mirroring pages, so that both singers (or 
groups) could not use the manuscript simultaneously. However, this situation changes in the 
Credo, where “Basso” is written on the even page, and the simultaneous “Tenore” appears on 
the following odd page of the manuscript. The term s “Basso” and “Tenore” appear to describe a 
function rather than an ambitus, as the voices sometimes simply exchange their melodies, as seen 
in the incipits of Kyrie and Gloria (cantus fractus Mass Ordinary no. 8, see Appendix 3). 
Certain sections of chants, featuring black or white notes above the melody—particularly 
in cadences, also suggest a two-part performance. Such instances are seldom written out clearly 
and completely, as seen with the canon in Credo Justinopolitano, but appear to be executed in 
haste, perhaps to indicate a suitable polyphonic solution for a specific spot in a particular chant. 
This suggests that polyphonic improvisation was feasible and indeed practiced. Given that the 
 
72
  A similar case is described in Dyer, “A New Source”, 598. 
73
  Similar style, for example, can be found in the polyphonic Masses composed by suor Bonito, a nun from the 
convent of Poor Clares in Naples. Fiore, “La tradizione musicale”, 45. 

25 
Convent of St Anne also functioned as a pedagogical institution of the Order, this practice may 
even be considered a way to learn the fundamentals of music composition.
74
 In contrast to the 
earlier observation, these few scribbled instances of improvisation indicate that, even if this man-
uscript was perhaps primarily intended as a reference, it also had significant practical use and 
value. The intentionally simple polyphony is also regarded as a reflection of the Franciscan ideal 
of simplicity and poverty. 
The copyists of Ms 15 – although signed copies of similar manuscripts were not particularly 
rare in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries – will most likely remain unknown. 
However, some names are associated with the manuscripts of the St Anne and St Bernardine 
convents, many of them with attested widespread scribal and compositional activities within the 
broader region (for instance, the Dalmatian Franciscan Observant Province of St Jerome to 
which both convents belonged). One notable figure is the Franciscan Frane Divnić (1612–1693), 
who served in various monasteries within the province and copied several manuscripts, includ-
ing some in Piran and others in different houses of the province.
75
 Thus, in November 1668, he 
completed a gradual in the Convent of St Bernardine, but his writing differs from all the hands 
of Ms 15.
76
 Another name of a copyist from a few decades later is associated with St Anne’s Con-
vent. In 1727, Giuseppe d’Andri, on behalf of himself and his two nephews, donated twelve valu-
able manuscript books to the Convent of St Anne to free the family from the perpetual legacy. 
D’Andri indicated that from those books, the Franciscans could sing the Mass and the Vespers, 
signifying that these were liturgical musical liturgical books.
77
 Therefore, the books must have 
been musical liturgical manuscripts suitable for use by Franciscan Observants, and they must 
have included a specific repertoire. Further studies have shown that d’Andri was more than just 
a generous donor – he was actually the one who copied and embellished all of these (and many 
more) books.
78
 Don Giuseppe d’Andri (1665–1743) was a local from Koper who, after a brief 
period of being an Observant Franciscan of St Anne, became a secular priest and served most of 
his life in various roles in Venice. He returned to Koper in 1721 to assist his nephews after they 
had lost their father but seemed to have maintained regular contact with the family and local 
community throughout. In 1739, after more than 50 years of priestly service, he celebrated “the 
New Mass” once again in his native city – at the Convent of St Anne, where he is also buried. In 
his memories, he notes that he is known as a famous scribe and claims to have produced manu-
scripts for institutions in northern Italy, Dalmatia, Bosnia, Istria, and other regions, for the use 
 
74
  The importance of cantus fractus repertoire as pedagogical was mentioned several times by Giulia Gabrielli, as 
well as noticed by the organist Edoardo Bellotti who played this repertoire in a recent concert in Radovljica. 
75
  He wrote at least thirteen manuscripts, most of which are today kept in the Franciscan convents in Zadar in 
Croatia. A repertoire analysis of his manuscripts copied in various places remains to be done. Stipčević, “Ba-
roque Music and Popular Culture”, 59. 
76
  Koper, the Srečko Vilhar Central Library, Ms 19. 
77
  Manara mentions D’Andri’s donation within the context of writing about the richness of the convent church 
in the terms of paintings and musical manuscripts: “ricco […] per codici gregoriani del principio del Cinque-
cento, ai quali s’aggiunsero nel 1727, per donazione di Don Giuseppe D’Andri, parecchi graduali e vesperali 
pure del Cinquecento, e più tardi tutta la biblioteca del convento soppresso di San Bernardino di Pirano”. A 
document he quotes is the one already named in Caprin’s work. Caprin, L’Istria nobilissima, 69; Manara, “Il 
Convento di Sant’Anna”, 331. 
78
  Gianni, “Di un miniatore capodistriano”, 45. The biogra phical facts about d’Andri are taken from this author. 

26 
of monastic orders such as the Franciscans and Augustinians.
79
 Hana Breko Kustura recently 
highlighted his contribution to the field of chantbook production and the cantus fractus reper-
toire: d’Andri was namely he copyist of a manuscript (a book combining a kyriale, gradual, and 
sequentiary) copied in 1707 in Koper and preserved in Split.
80
 From the reproductions and de-
tailed descriptions available in Breko Kustura’s article, one can view Giuseppe d’Andri as a cop-
yist with a particular style.
81
 He was clearly familiar with the repertoire of the Dalmatian Ob-
servant Franciscan province and had strong ties to St Anne’s Convent during the production of 
Ms 15. However, his writing of text and music, as well as the ornamentation, does not appear to 
align with any of the hands of the Koper Ms 15, though some features are comparable. Given the 
possible concluding year of 1723, Ms 15 would like ly be too early to be part of d’Andri’s legacy 
established in 1727. 
The scribes of Ms 15 must remain anonymous for a while longer; however, it is still possible 
to make assumptions about the individual musicians who might have used this manuscript. They 
may or may not have been identical to one of the scribes. (It would seem that, at that time, such 
books were produced by (semi)professional scribes both within the Order and outside of it.) 
The production time of this manuscript coincides with the musical activities of the aforemen-
tioned Giacomo Cocever (Jakob Kočever or Kočevar), an organist, singer, and music teacher, 
active in the cathedral as well as in his “home” convent church. It is conceivable that he, as or-
ganist, would have had such a collection at his disposal – for playing the organ or singing.
82
 
It is difficult to say whether he would be able to perform the same repertoire also in the 
cathedral. Ms 15, however, is closely bound to the town as well as to the Observant Franciscans 
and their church of St Anne. The title of the first Mass Ordinary, “Sanctorum ordinis nostri”, 
appears to have been typical for the Franciscans,
83
 and two of the Credos with the Franciscan 
saints point directly to their use within the Order. St Didacus of Alcalá (Diego; ca 1400–1463) 
and St Peter of Alcántara (1499–1562) were very popular, but the Credos for the most important 
saints of the Order (St Francis and St Anthony) are notably missing. 
Didacus of Alcalá was the first Franciscan lay brother to become a saint,
84
 and he was well 
known in Koper. The church of St. Anne still houses Pi etro Mera’s painting of St Didacus healing 
the sick from 1629; it was probably commissi oned during the architectural renovation of the 
church in the 1620s;
85
 His altar is the last one on the right side, near the church entrance. This is 
one of the earlier uses of the motif in this region, and it is quite possible that St Didacus is not 
healing a blind man but rather a person suffering from something else – perhaps even plague.
86
 
Following a disastrous outbreak of plague in Koper between 1630 and 1632, many new churches 
 
79
  Gianni quotes D’Andri’s memories: “sappia ognuno ch e io di questo scrivere son maestro, perchè tutto il 
corso di mia vita sempre ho scritto di tali e consimili libri”. Gianni, “Di un miniatore capodistriano”, 47. 
80
  Breko Kustura, “Svjedočanstvo ritmiziranog korala”. In this article, Hana Breko Kustura also stresses the need 
for deeper study of the repertoire across the whole province as well as its connections to Venetian area from 
where many chants possibly originated. 
81
  Breko Kustura, “Svjedočanstvo ritmiziranog korala”, 14–15. 
82
  Research on his work and life - as yet to be done. 
83
  Dyer, “A New Source”. 
84
  He was canonized in 1588 by Pope Sixtus V. Donovan, “St. Didacus”. 
85
  The painting is mentioned by Naldini in 1700. Naldini, Corografia eclesiastica, 195; Košak, “Sv. Didak”, 26. 
86
  Košak, “Sv. Didak iz Alkale”. 

27 
dedicated to the patrons protecting against the plague were built.
87
 It is possible that, after that 
time, the Franciscan Observants encouraged devotion to their saints, who were known for their 
works and miracles against the plague. St Didacus performed miraculous cures of the plague in 
Rome and cared for the sick during the outbreak in Spain. Both the altar painting and the special 
Credo for this saint indicate that he was particularly venerated in the Convent of St Anne.
88
 I 
have not yet managed to gather any information about the instrument at the convent during that 
time, but the written record of this Credo in alternatim (along with the presence of an excellent 
organist at the convent then) suggests that there must have been an organ prior to the one ac-
quired in 1806. 
Not all cantus fractus sources refer to saints’ names, suggesting that this was not a rule but 
rather a choice made by the specific convent. Next to the titles associated with saints, Ms 15 also 
includes two chants with local designations: Credo Napolitano and Credo Justinopolitano (see the 
transcription in Appendix 4). The title of the first chant appears to be widely known, even if it 
does not imply that it is always linked to the same melody. The final piece in the manuscript 
(probably positioned there intentionally) is Credo Justinopolitano, or the Credo of Koper (Jus-
tinopolis). The title aligns with the Franciscan tradition of local names for Credos, but may also 
imply that the piece was composed in or for Koper. It may also suggest a reference to Koper’s 
co-patron saint, St Justin the Philosopher. The feas t of the translation of his relics was celebrated 
with great solemnity in the cathedral on 21 Apri l 1687 (they were brought to the Koper cathedral 
from Rome by Bishop Paolo Naldini), and another solemn celebration of this feast with music 
is mentioned in 1702.
89
 
Credo Justinopolitano is undoubtedly a crown piece of the collection: it stands out as one 
of the longest and most complex pieces with unusual music, which also appears to be the most 
perfectly “composed.” Other fractus compositions apply bar lines more freely, but the Credo Jus-
tinopolitano uses them consistently as modern bar lines. The melody is quite dramatic and skill-
fully crafted, beginning with large leaps and chromatic nuances; its ambitus is also quite large. 
The use of a simple yet expressive two-part cano n in the most important section of the Credo 
(“Et incarnatus est”) with a written-out cadence and special performing instructions was already 
mentioned. We may never understand why the melody was given this name or how it was actu-
ally performed,
90
 but it was probably known and popular locally – within the Convent of St Anne 
and beyond its walls. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
87
  Kramar, “Epidemije v slovenski Istri”, 100–101. 
88
  Some other cantus fractus sources demonstrate similar close connections with the local patrons. The Robbins 
Landon manuscript contains the feast of the Saviour (Holy Redeemer), protector against the plague; the feast 
was typical for Venice. Dyer, “A New Source”, 575–576. 
89
  Radole, La musica a Capodistria, 56; Höfler, “Glasbeniki koprske stolnice”, 141. 
90
  A recent performance at the Radovljica Festival in August 2024, featuring four singers trained in Medieval and 
Baroque music alongside improvisation specialist Edoardo Bellotti on the organ, along with the previous prac-
tical workshop on cantus fractus from Koper sources, revealed numerous new possibilities. 

28 
CONCLUSION: THE MEASURED GREGORIAN CHANT 
 
A great deal has been written about cantus fractus, its role and meaning, with sincere attempts to 
grasp the nature of this specific repertoire within its historical context, along with warnings 
against too modern an understanding of the phenomenon. Alongside the question of “what” is 
recorded regarding the repertoire, there are also questions concerning “how” and “why” this is 
so. The preliminary examination of Ms 15 confirm s much of what has been said about the phe-
nomenon: with its blend of plainchant and fractus chants, its “plainchant-imitating” and visually 
cohesive style, together with unified functionality, this manuscript is not viewed as a compilation 
of various (possibly incompatible) styles and genres, but rather as a reference book containing 
the music of the Mass Ordinary for Sundays and solemn feasts. The characteristic notation seems 
to intentionally represent a visual connection to the ancient and venerable, as well as authorita-
tive, chant melodies, even though musically its melodies reflect the modern Baroque sensibilities 
of their performers and listeners. 
Several statements from that time prove that the cantus fractus repertoire was not under-
stood as a separate genre, but simply – as has been suggested by Marco Gozzi – as “l’altro grego-
riano”, “the other Gregorian [chant]”. The cantus fractus repertoire was part of the musical prac-
tice of many religious orders and appears to be especially popular among the pastorally oriented 
Franciscans. In view of Angela Fiore, this liturgical music (exemplified by the Santa Chiara Con-
vent of Poor Clares in Naples) delighted the faithful (“potesse dilettare il fedele”) and, at the 
same time, did not diminish the sanctity of Gregorian chant; it merely made the music appealing 
by incorporating the characteristics of vocal and instrumental music of the time.
91
 Regarding its 
function, she defined it as “liturgical chant which tries to bring into dialogue distinctive traits of 
the ‘modern’ music with the Gregorian practice”.
92
 
In her article, Fiore described musical life of the Santa Chiara Convent and offered a beau-
tiful example of a contemporary understanding of the cantus fractus repertoire. Stimulated by 
the performances of the Real Cappella, the convent sisters repeatedly expressed their wish to be 
allowed to make more music in the convent. In order to appease the Nuns and their families 
(which contributed rich dowries to the convent), the authorities offered them a compromise: 
 
[...] that the Nuns might introduce the use of Gregorian chant in the manner that is done here in 
the Pontifical Chapel, for with such formality they would be able to practise singing, which, even 
if it is not of the same kind as other music, is equally virtuosic, and, what is important, much 
more devout, and congenial to the religious state.
93
 
 
It is clear that, when contemporaries speak about cantus fractus of their time, they refer to a spe-
cific style or manner of performing “Gregorian” chant. We are fortunate that something similar 
 
91
  Fiore, “La tradizione musicale”, 44. 
92
  Fiore, “La tradizione musicale”, 45. 
93
  “[...] che potrebbero le Signore Monache introdure l’uso del Canto Gregoriano nella maniera che si fa qui 
nella Cappella Pontificia, poiché con tal formalitá avrebbero campo d’esercitare il canto che se bene non è 
della medesima specie della Musica è però egualmente virtuoso, e quello che importa, assai più divoto, e con-
facevole allo stato religioso.” ASN, S. Chiara, Copr. Rel. Soppr., f. 2554, c. 361r/v. Quoted after Fiore, “La tradi-
zione musicale”, 43–44. 

29 
was also documented regarding the Convent of St Anne. In his historiographical sketch of the 
Diocese of Koper, Bishop Paolo Naldini described its many churches. Although he did not gen-
erally pay much attention to music in his descriptions, he mentioned it in relation to the Convent 
of St Anne, claiming that the Observants of St Anne were very popular due to their exemplary 
living, as confessors, and also for their singing: 
 
[People] are also attracted by the assiduous assistance of the religious in confessionals; the pre-
cise execution in the choir, contrasted with Gregorian chant, which is all the more cherished, the 
more it is measured; and religious restraint in the cloister, all the more revered by the laity, the 
less it is observed [elsewhere].
94
 
 
What the Franciscans sang, then, was perceived as measured Gregorian chant. This is also the 
case in Ms 15, which, even in a preliminary sket ch, is widely opening the door to future possible 
research. Much remains to be done regarding this and many other sources. A study of the musi-
cal life in the Convent of St Anne through history still needs to be undertaken, with the help of 
the remaining sources and the Franciscan archives preserved in Koper, Venice, and elsewhere  
Regarding the convent’s cantus fractus repertoire, further comparisons with other sources, par-
ticularly within the St Jerome Franciscan Province and the Franciscan sources of Venice and the 
wider Veneto, would likely reveal much more about the dissemination and adaptation of these 
melodies. Additionally, taking a broader perspective, a comparative analysis of liturgical melo-
dies from various regions and sources would constitute another level of exploration; however, 
this will necessitate some initial melody identification. 
Practical workshops and performances of this repertoire, historically and liturgically in-
formed, using appropriate instruments, would open up possibilities for experimentation and re-
alisation of what is possible. This “other Gregorian chant,” intended to please the ear and praise 
God, simple and predictable yet ever-changing and challenging, offers great potential for im-
provisation and flexible performances. If I may once again borrow Baroffio and Kim’s Cinderella 
image for the conclusion: if we wish to see her truly rise from the ashes and beyond, it is worth-
while to continue searching for her glass slipper. 
 
  
 
94
  “L’attraono pure l’assidua assistenza de’ Religiosi alle Sedie Confessionali; l’esatta uficiatura del Coro, contra 
puntata col Canto Gregoriano, allora più gradito, che più battuto; e la religiosa ritirateza nel Chiostro, dal se-
colo tanto più venerata, quanto meno veduta.” Naldini, Corografia ecclesiastica, 196. 

30 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
Sources 
Naldini, Paolo. Corografia ecclesiastica ossia Descrizione della Città e della Diocesi di Giustinopoli 
Detto Volgarmente Capo d’Istria. Venice: Girolamo Albrizzi, 1700. 
Ms 13: Koper, Osrednja knjižnica Srečka Vilharja / Capodistria, Biblioteca Centrale Srečko Vi-
lhar (SI-Ko), Ms 13, Convent of St Bernardine, Portorož, Franciscan Observant use, Ky-
riale, sixteenth-eighteenth centuries 
Ms 15: Koper, Osrednja knjižnica Srečka Vilharja / Capodistria, Biblioteca Centrale Srečko Vi-
lhar (SI-Ko), Ms 15, Convent of St Anne, Koper, Franciscan Observant use, Kyriale, se-
venteenth-eighteenth centuries 
 
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fratto”. In Il canto fratto: L’altro gregoriano; Atti del convegno internazionale di studi, 
Parma – Arezzo, 3–6 dicembre 2003, edited by Marco Gozzi and Francesco Luisi, 85–92. 
Rome: Torre d’Orfeo, 2005. 
Beban, Hrvoje. “Fra Petar Knežević i orguljska misa: o izvedbenom aspektu cantus fractus mi-
snih ordinarija iz Kneževićevih kantuala”. Arti musices 50, nos. 1–2 (2019): 43–73. 
Blažeković, Zdravko. “The Music Repertoire of the Franciscan Provincia Bosnae Argentinae 
and the Provincia Sancti Joannis a Capistrano in Slavonia in the Eighteenth and Nine-
teenth Centuries”. TheMA: Open Access Research Journal for Theatre, Music Arts 8, nos. 1–
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34 
Povzetek 
 
“ALLORA PIÙ GRADITO, CHE PIÙ BATTUTO”:  
KOPRSKI FRANČIŠKANI IN NJIHOV BAROČNI CANTUS FRACTUS 
 
Osrednja knjižnica Srečka Vilharja Koper hrani rokopis 15, kirial iz 17. in 18. stoletja, ki je bil v rabi 
v koprskem frančiškanskem konventu sv. Ane. Rokopis vsebuje eksplicitne navezave na Koper 
in je najpomembnejši lokalni vir baročnega repertoarja cantus fractus, ki v muzikološki literaturi 
še ni bil obravnavan. Članek preliminarno predstavlja rokopis in njegovo vsebino, obenem pa 
razpravlja o pomenu in vlogi tovrstnega lokalnega repertoarja nekega monastičnega reda v šir-
šem okviru. 
Rokopis vsebuje »standardne« koralne melodije v kvadratni koralni notaciji in kasnejše 
melodije, zapisane v slogu cantus fractus, kjer je trajanje not merjeno. Razprava se bo usmerila 
predvsem na ta repertoar, ki vsebuje predvsem cikle mašnega ordinarija in posamezne stavke 
Credo. S tem predvsem opozarja na obstoj baročnega cantus fractus repertoarja v konventu sv. 
Ane v Kopru. Rokopis je oblikovno in vsebinsko predstavljen, izkaže pa se, da je njegov nastanek 
tesno povezan s Koprom, saj vsebuje nekaj lokalnih značilnosti. Razprava odpira še vprašanja 
njegovih ustvarjalcev in uporabnikov ter druga z repertoarjem povezana vprašanja, poudarja pa 
tudi pomen širših mednarodnih primerjalnih raziskav v okviru glasbene zgodovine frančiškan-
skega reda Province sv. Hieronima in območja Beneške republike. Na ta način koprski cantus 
fractus postaja košček v veliko večji in kompleksnejši sliki frančiškanske glasbe. 
  

35 
APPENDIX 1 
 
Table 2 | Contents of Koper, the Srečko Vilhar Central Library (SI-Ko), Ms 15 
MO = Mass Ordinary (including Credo, if present); K = Kyrie eleison; G = Gloria; C = Credo (in the Mass or 
individual composition); S = Sanctus; A = Agnus Dei 
PAGE  
CAN-
TUS 
  TITLE OF THE COMPOSITION; REMARKS 
1 MO planus 1 
F-mode 
(5) 
“De la sol 
re” 
[later 
hand] 
“Sanctorum Ordinis Nostri” 
no C 
5 MO planus 2 
F-mode 
(5) 
variant of De angelis 
no C 
simple diaphony in the final cadences 
 
11 MO fractus 1 
A-minor 
“A la mi 
re” 
K: each invocation written out once, marks for three 
repetitions of each (“III”) – or alternatim, as the rest of 
the Mass 
G, C, S, A: alternatim 
18 MO fractus 2 
F-major 
“EF fa ut” 
K: alternatim 
G, C, S: complete 
A: two invocations, probably the first one would be re-
peated 
C: ternary meter 
expressive word repetitions 
diaphony: thirds in some cadences 
31 MO fractus 3 
F-major 
“EF fa ut” 
K, G, C, S, A: alternatim 
[A continues on p. 45] 
41 MO fractus 4 
F-mode 
(5) 
 
later insert 
based on chant 
K: each invocation written out once 
G, S, A: alternatim 
no C 
45 MO fractus 5 
C-major 
“A la mi 
re” 
[A of the previous MO] 
K, G, C**: alternatim 
incomplete 
S, A: missing 
tempo markings 
57 C fractus 1 D-minor 
K, G, C, S, A: alternatim 
expressive word repetitions 
new note shapes 
61 MO fractus 6 C-major 
“Messa del Padre Budrio” 
K, G, C, S, A: alternatim 
expressive word repetitions (added later) 

36 
“B fa B mi
quinto 
Tuono” 
diaphony: octaves in some cadences 
74 MO fractus 7 
C-major 
“A la mi 
re 
3a mag-
giore” 
“del P[ad]re Franc[esc]o Antonio, di Budrio” 
K, G, C, S, A: alternatim 
tempo markings 
89 MO planus 3  
later insert 
“In Dominicis Adventis et Quadragesimae” 
no G (Lent and Advent) 
no C 
93 C fractus 2 F-major 
very syllabic 
“homo” written out in red letters 
98 MO fractus 8 F-major 
“Messa a Due Voci” 
two-part Mass (T, B) 
K, G, C, S, A: alternatim 
K, G: T part written one after the B part 
C: B and T parts written on mirroring pages (odd – 
even), possible simultaneous singing 
S, A: B and T parts written on the same page 
111 C fractus 3 A-minor very simple, formulaic melody 
114 C fractus 4 
D-minor 
(?) 
“A la mi 
re 
Per 3. B” 
 
“Credo sancti Petri” 
formulaic melody 
most cadences on a and e in exchange 
“unfinished” cadences – leading to D? 
118 C fractus 5 G-major 
“Credo maggiore della Madonna” 
exchange of verses in binary and ternary meter 
unusual notation in ternary meter 
expressive word repetitions 
124 C fractus 6 F-major 
“In S. Diego” 
alternatim 
marking “Adasio” on the word “Prophetas” 
expressive word repetitions 
127 C fractus 7 
F-major 
“Si suona
in C sol fa 
ut” 
“Credo Napolitano” 
characteristic rhythm with syncopation connects most 
phrases 
129 C fractus 8 
F-major 
“Si suona
in C sol fa 
ut” 
“Credo infra Octava a feria Quinta in cena Domini” 
132 C fractus 9 F-major 
“Credo sancti Petri di Alcantara” 
[= C fractus 6 for St Didacus] 
alternatim 

37 
“Si suona
in C sol fa 
ut” 
marking “Adasio” on the word “Prophetas” 
expressive word repetitions 
135 C fractus 10 A-minor 
“Credo Justinopolitano – 1723” 
short two-part canon on “Et incarnatus est” 
relatively large ambitus: octave plus fourth 
cromaticism 
Not such exact writing as for previous Credo composi-
tions (notes) – maybe the previous ones were copied 
and this one composed 
 
 
 
APPENDIX 2 
 
Table 3 | Form of the alternatim Chants in Koper, the Srečko Vilhar Central Library (SI-Ko), Ms 15 
(verse incipits) 
Kyrie eleison 
 
choir organ 
  
 Kyrie eleison 
Kyrie eleison  
 Kyrie eleison 
Christe eleison  
 Christe eleison 
Christe eleison  
 Kyrie eleison 
Kyrie eleison  
 Kyrie eleison
 
Gloria in excelsis Deo 
(intoned by the priest) 
 
choir organ
 Et in terra pax 
Laudamus te 
 Benedicimus te 
Adoramus te  
 Glorificamus te 
Gratias agimus tibi  
 Domine Deus, rex caelestis 
Domine Fili unigenite  

38 
 Domine Deus, Agnus Dei
Qui tollis […] miserere  
 Qui tollis […] suscipe 
Qui sedes ad dexteram  
 Quoniam tu solus 
Tu solus Dominus  
 Tu solus Altissimus 
Cum sancto spiritu  
Amen  
  
Credo in unum Deum 
(intoned by the priest) 
*version 1 
** version 2 [Credo from the cantus fractus MO 5] 
 
choir organ 
Patrem omnipotentem  
 Et in unum Dominum 
Et ex Patre natum  
 Deum de Deo 
Genitum non factum 
 Qui propter nos homines
Et incarnatus est  
**Crucifixus etiam pro nobis *Crucifixus etiam pro nobis 
Et resurrexit tertia die 
 Et ascendit in caelum
Et iterum venturus est 
 Et in Spiritum Sanctum
Qui cum Patre et Filio 
 Et unam sanctam catholicam
Confiteor unum baptisma  
 Et expecto resurrectionem 
Et vitam venturi saeculi  
Amen  
  
Sanctus 
 
choir organ 
 Sanctus
Sanctus 
 Sanctus Dominus Deus
Pleni sunt caeli et terra 

39 
 Benedictus qui venit
  
Agnus Dei 
 
choir organ 
 Agnus Dei […] miserere nobis 
Agnus Dei […] miserere nobis 
 Agnus Dei […] dona nobis 
 
 
 
APPENDIX 3 
 
Cantus fractus chants in Koper, the Srečko Vilhar Central Library (SI-Ko), Ms 15 
The text of the chants in the transcription is provided in modern Latin orthography, but with-
out punctuation except for capital letters at the beginning and in certain words. In Ms 15, the 
initial note of many chants is written as doubled and is transcribed here in the same manner; 
this does not imply that each beginning should be as lengthy as indicated. The same applies to 
the final notes of pieces. The transcription maintains the position of bar lines from the manu-
script. 
 
 
1. Mass Ordinary in A-minor (“A la mi re”) – cantus fractus MO 1, pp. 11–18 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

40 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Mass Ordinary in F-major (“EF fa ut”) – cantus fractus MO 2, pp. 18–31 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Mass Ordinary in F (“EF fa ut”) – cantus fractus MO 3, pp. 31–40 and 45 
 
 
 

41 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. Mass Ordinary in F-mode, cantus fractus MO 4, pp. 41–44 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Mass Ordinary in C-major (“A la mi re”), cantus fractus MO 5 (incomplete), pp. 45–56 
 

42 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Credo in D-minor, cantus fractus C 1, pp. 57–61 
 
 
 
 
 
7. “Messa del Padre Budrio” in C-major (“B fa B mi quinto Tuono”), cantus fractus MO 6, pp. 
61–73 

43 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. Mass Ordinary “del P[ad]re Fran[ces]co Antonio, di Budrio” in C-major (“A la mi re 3a 
maggiore”), cantus fractus MO 7, pp. 74–92 
 
 
 

44 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Credo in F-major, cantus fractus C 2, pp. 93–98 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Mass Ordinary “Messa a Due Voci” in F-major, cantus fractus MO 8, pp. 98–110 
 

45 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

46 
 
 
 
 
11. Credo in A-minor, cantus fractus C 3, pp. 111–114 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. “Credo Sancti Petri” in D-minor (?) (“A la mi re Per 3. b”), cantus fractus C 4, pp. 114–118 
 
 
 
 
 
13. “Credo Maggiore della Madonna”, cantus fractus C 5, pp. 118–123 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Credo “In S. Diego” in F-major, cantus fractus C 6, pp. 124–127 
 

47 
 
 
 
 
15. “Credo Napolitano” in F-major (“Si suona in C sol fa ut”), cantus fractus C 7, pp. 127–134 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. “Credo infra Octava e feria Quinta in Cena Do mini” in F-major (“Si suona in C sol fa ut”), 
cantus fractus C 8, pp. 129–132 
 
 
 
 
 
17. “Credo Sancti Petri de Alcantara” in F-major (“Si suona in C sol fa ut”), cantus fractus C 6, 
pp. 132–134 
 
 
 
 
 
18. “Credo Justinopolitano” in A-minor, cantus fractus C 9, pp. 135–141 

48 
 
 
 
  

49 
 
APPENDIX 3 
 
Koper, the Srečko Vilhar Central Library (SI-Ko), Ms. 15: Credo Justinopolitano, pp. 135–
141 
 

50 
 

51 
 

52