Abstract
The musical culture of the Czech Lands before 1420 is characterized by a formidable variety of genres, musical forms, and sources of inspiration. Manuscript no. 42 from the library of the Cistercian Abbey of Vyšší Brod provides a unique insight into this musical environment.
Its repertoire exemplifies the seminal role of Late Medieval Chant as well as the beginnings of trends fully developed later in the 15th century. The announced papers focus on phenomena for which manuscript no. 42 is the earliest and unsubstitutable source: song traditions and Late Medieval chant.
Both musical worlds adopted a fashion of rhythmizing monophonic melodies - cantus fractus - and setting to polyphony which presented new challenges for the local composers. All contributions ask the question of transfer of musical repertoire within the Central European cultural space.