Chant Culture in Female Dominican Convents with a Focus on Portugal: Repertoire, Sources, and Practical Performance

The project explores chant culture in female Dominican convents with a focus on Portugal. The Dominican order, whose origins lie in the Iberian Peninsula, is a particularly pertinent example of a pan-European monastic community. The Jesus Convent in Aveiro was the first female Dominican convent in Portugal to fully apply strict Observance and this project explores how the production of chant books is connected to its implementation and export to other convents. These books constitute a unique corpus that prompts questions about the daily use of these material objects within the conventual space, together with other art objects and relics. In relation to Reform, we ask ourselves whether the production of the books by the highly literate sisters shows features of their musical education that can be seen in the notation or choice of chants. Does the repertoire mirror local devotions and practices, transmitted from generation to generation through constant re-creation? More precisely, we want to investigate the variability of melodies so as to provide a unique insight into a specific female chant repertoire, and place it in a wider European perspective.

The major objectives are 1) the identification and edition of the chant repertoire from female Dominican convents in Portugal, 2) the study of the variability of Dominican melodies, 3) the exploration of the European context of transmission and tradition, 4) the development of an analytical approach to gendered features of the chant corpus and 5) the performance of the chants.

The project explores Portuguese chant books as carriers of material and immaterial cultural heritage from two different perspectives: that of the music historian and that of the artist-performer. It goes well beyond the documentation and edition of the new sources from Aveiro as it offers an exploration of chant books by women and their active use in medieval conventual life (offices, processions, feasts, private devotion) and in physical spaces (church, choir, cloister). The experimental approach proposed here combines scientific research and artistic performance linked to historical sites and their associated sensory experiences.

The outcomes include a monograph on chant culture in female Dominican convents, a range of scholarly articles, conference papers, workshops (for professionals and amateurs), concerts, public lectures, and professional recordings. The project is designed for both high-level scientific exchange and high-quality engagement of an audience of medieval music amateurs, so it aligns with the 2030 Agenda’s goal of Quality Education. To achieve this goal, an institutional partnership with the Museum of Aveiro and the conservatories of Lisbon and Porto is planned. Engagement with civil society is also planned as the project is focused on the innovation and creativity of the cultural heritage of women. It meets one of the main aims of CESEM on further study and dissemination of Portuguese-Iberian music.