Volume 16, Number 2 - Cantors Assembly

22
2. The Notation (see Fig. I)
The melody is notated, according to the usage of the Christian Hebraists of
the time, from right to left.23 There are no visible staff-lines, but the diastematic
rigor of the notation leaves no doubt as to the pitch of the notes on intended
staves of four lines each. The shape of the notes is typical of the German ductus
of the period. The scribe systematically used the two letters C and F to indicate
the clefs of Do and Fa. There are no mensuration signs. The notes are all white,
of two values: minim ( d ) and semi-breve (0); breve ( o ) and longa ( 9 )
appear only at the end of the strophes, and, as far as can be seen, with no
rhythmic significance differentiating between these two long values. The
notation comprises five staves, one for each strophe. Only the initial words of
L
Figure 1: &N rn&~elkj a&al&, Mub, Cod. ms. 757 (4O), f. 95b.
23. Jewish scribes usually notated music in the conventional way from left to right,
even when the Hebrew text-underlay was not transcribed in Latin characters (cf. I. Adler,
La pratique musicale savanre dans quelques communaulh juives en Europe aux X Vlle-
XVII/e sikles (Paris, La Haye, 1966). I, p. 64).