The history of tropes can be compared to the history of the sequence, using evidence drawn from the manuscript Vienna, Nationalbibliothek, 1609. The notation of this manuscript places it among the group of existing tenth-century St. Gall tropers. A comparative list of tropes found in V. 1609 and St. Gall MS 484 is provided. Three distinct groups of tropes can be identified. Group I consists of purely musical inserts found after each phrase of the liturgical composition. This type was already in decline and disappeared by the eleventh century. Group II includes a metrical introduction to the liturgical composition, while troping within the piece remains melismatic. Group III is similar to this type, but both both textual and purely melodic troping are found. The melodic inserts are sung twice, first with text and next without it. The interpolated texts were added to existing melismas. Later, the text and music for the interpolations were composed together.

Index Classifications: Monophony to 1300

Contributed by: Felix Cox