- Adam of Saint Victor
Adam of Saint Victor ("d." 1146) [It was previously believed that he died late 12th century, but that is now believed to be false] was a prolific poet and composer of
Latin hymn s and sequences. He is believed to have sparked the expansion of the poetic and musical repertoire in theNotre Dame school with his strongly rhythmic and imagery-filled poetry.The first reference to him is from 1098, in the archives of Notre Dame Cathedral, where he was first a subdeacon, and later a
precentor . He left the cathedral for theAbbey of Saint Victor around 1133, probably because of his attempts at imposing theRule of St Augustine at the cathedral.Adam probably had contact with a number of important theologians, poets, and musicians of his day, including
Peter Abelard andHugh of St Victor , and he may have taughtAlbertus Parisiensis .Thirty-seven of his hymns were published in the "
Elucidatorium Ecclesiasticum " ofJodocus Clichtovaeus , aCatholic theologian of the 16th century. The remaining seventy hymns were preserved in the Abbey of Saint Victor until its dissolution during theFrench Revolution . They were then transferred to theBibliothèque Nationale , where they were discovered byLéon Gautier , who edited the first complete edition of them (Paris, 1858). However, most attributions to Adam are speculative.References
*Margot E. Fassler. "Adam of St Victor", "Grove Music Online", ed. L. Macy (accessed May 20, 2006), [http://www.grovemusic.com/ grovemusic.com] (subscription access).
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