Portuguese Early Music Database (PEM)

The difference between a lozenge and a more or less square punctum is generally clearly defined. In some chants the lozenge is lacking at all (there are only square puncta). When found, the lozenge is used both isolated and as part of ascending and descending compound neumes. The lozenge, however, does not always carry semitonal meaning and even when it does, the confusion sometimes persists. For instance, in both the responsory ‘Laetabitur iustus’ (Cantus ID 007064) and its verse ‘Letamini in domino’ (Cantus ID 007064a) on fol. Av. the lozenge was occasionally written on consecutive steps (see for example ‘sperabit in’ in the responsory or the beginning of the verse ‘Letamini in’ on the same page). Despite this, it seems possible to identify the mode of this responsory as the 7th (with the red line meaning B and the finalis on G).

Further confusion is created by the fact that the virga is made of a lozenge with a descending stem placed on the left and by the poor condition of the fragment. Similar situation occurs with the oriscus, which is made of a lozenge followed by a smaller lozenge with a descending stem on the right, see for example on fol. Br (right half) the first music line with the beginning of the antiphon “E(…) sancta dixit” (Cantus ID 003024) or the oriscus on “Lignum”, on the third music line below. 

There are no custodes.