Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1968, Side 14
sequences, — words and music. And along with the registration I began
researches into this matter, which captivated me more and more.
My interest in our medieval sequences, however, was of rather long
standing. During two trips to Iceland, in 1921 and ’25, I had — in the
Museum in Reykjavik, - found and photographed fragments of 3 se-
quences, — one, a pendant to the Olavus-sequence “Lux illuxit”1, an-
other on St. Pantaleon, and the third, a little of “Lauda Syon salva-
torem”.
Then, for many a year, I had no occasion to work on this topic, —
until the appeal from the State Archivist gave me a welcome incentive.
And now the Icelandic manuscripts.
As stated above, a couple of parchment leaves reposing in the Nation-
al Museum in Reykjavik, containing the bulk of three sequences, are
embodied in this work.
Furthermore, in the spring of 1951, the Keeper of the Museum, on
application, was so kind as to take and send me photos of a few more
specimens of similar documents reposing there.
But long before this my attention had been directed toward the so-
called “Arnamagnæan Collection”, then in the University Library in Co-
penhagen. According both to Dr. Reiss (in his book named above) and
to pastor Bjarni Porsteinsson in his book “Islenzk PjoSlog” (Icelandic
folk melodies) some Icelandic vellum pages containing sequence matter
are stored there. Certainly, both these authors give a transcript of the
sequences they speak of, with the music in modern notation. But fac-
similes were required.
Partly through the kind intervention of the University Library in
Oslo I got photos of these pages. And if they were the only ones of
this kind, the photos would have been sufficient for my purpose. But
I learned incidentally that at least two more sequences were to be found
in the said collection; and I suspected that there might be still more.
Therefore, in the summer of 1951, I went there to investigate.
Before going farther, some words about the collection may here be
appropriate.
1. An article about this find I published in “Norsk Aarbok” 1922: “Nyfunnen
Olavs-musikk”, and another about the Pantaleon-sequence in “Musikbladet og
Sangerposten” 1926. And upon some peculiarities in the “Lauda”-fragment I dwelt
in articles both in the fortnightly just named, and in the newspaper “Morgen-
bladet” 1929.
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