The Augustinian monastery of Vorau in eastern Styria was built by Salzburg’s Archbishop Eberhard I. (c. 1085-1164) in 1163 following an endowment by Ottokar III., Margrave of Traungau (1129-1164), and became part of the group of Salzburg canons. The monastery’s first provost was Liupold (1163-1185), who had been dean of the Augustinian monastery of Seckau, while four canons came from Salzburg cathedral chapter. As attested by the many manuscripts surviving from this time, including numerous liturgica, Vorau’s library already began to flourish significantly under the second provost, Bernhard I. (1185-1202), who had previously been custodian and librarian in Seckau. The Liber ordinarius (Vorau Cod. 99) governing the liturgical practice of this monastery, which was situated in the easternmost part of the Archdiocese of Salzburg, was a copy of the Salzburg ordinarius of 1198 (A-Su M II 6). It had come to Vorau from Suben and was subsequently revised and tailored to the needs of its new location. This book served as a template for numerous liturgica produced in Vorau itself until a liturgical reform introduced the “pure” rite of Salzburg Cathedral (while retaining some local propria) in the 15th century. This reform is attested in numerous surviving 15th-century Salzburg missals and breviaries that follow the cathedral rite. A monastery’s liturgical order is based upon Libri ordinarii, of which Vorau has one with full musical notation (Cod. 99, early 13th century) as well as two with partial or no notation (Cod. 333, second half of the 13th century and Cod. 30, 14th century). Vorau monastery is thus one of the few places whose medieval liturgy and liturgical music is documented more or less seamlessly with no major gaps.
Verleger:
Institute for History of Art and Musicology, Department of Musicology,
Austrian Academy of Sciences
Beitragender:
National Foundation for Research, Technology and
Development
co-funded by the European Commission