Cantus Planus in Venice

Abstract

Nearly a hundred chant scholars from all over the world met at the island of San Servolo in the Venetian Lagoon from 28 July to 1 August 2014 to attend the 17th meeting of the International Musicological Society’s Study Group ‘Cantus Planus’. The venue, owned by Venice International University, is located a ten-minute vaporetto ride from the centre of Venice, far enough from the overwhelming crowds of tourists. Monks and nuns inhabited San Servolo during the Middle Ages, and consequently plainchant was practised there for years. If we ignore the catering of its main restaurant (some attendees confessed that it made them miss even the food provided at previous International Congresses on Medieval Studies in Kalamazoo, Michigan) and the fact that San Servolo had no other restaurant (or any other establishment for that matter) open after 6.30pm to compensate, this venue would have been absolutely perfect. Over 80 scholars presented the most recent findings of their investigations in a programme consisting of 29 sessions held in parallel, two at a time. A strong presence of Italian topics was noticeable from the beginning—the inspiring inaugural session, featuring papers by internationally renowned scholars, contrasted Peter Jeffery’s findings on the early rite of Venice with vestiges of Venetian influence in a 15th-century Lisbon Order of Canons traced by Manuel Pedro Ferreira. Attendees were also greeted with a splendid concert at San Servolo Church in which Letizia Butterin performed Giovanni Battista Fasolo’s Missa Beatae Mariae Virginis, ‘in cantu gregoriano et organo alternatim’, displaying remarkable skill in both organ playing and chanting.