Initial C: The Creation of the World

Wearing a sweeping pink and gray robe, God creates the elements of the world with a touch of his finger. The new life inside the initial spills chaotically into the left margin of the page. The text and music shown here celebrating the "nurturing creator of the stars," are the sung and spoken prayers used in the Divine Office and found in breviaries. In most cases monks memorized such chant melodies, but more elaborate musical passages like this one required written musical notation.