Eleanor Giraud


Contact Details

Lecturer above the bar in Ritual Chant and Song
Irish World Academy Building
T: 061 23-4743
 
researcher

Biography

I joined the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, in August 2016 as the Course Director for the MA in Ritual Chant and Song.  Click here for a short video about my research activities.  For more information about the MA Ritual Chant and Song, check out this video, this webpage, or feel free to get in touch with me directly (Eleanor.Giraud -at- ul.ie). 

Alongside teaching on the MA, I research medieval chant books of the Dominican Order.  I began this project, studying the nature of the chant and liturgy of early Dominican Order, at Lincoln College Oxford, where I held the Lord Crewe Junior Research Fellow in Music 2014-2016. I have set up a mailing list for the field of medieval Dominican studies, which anyone with related interests is welcome to join: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/MEDIEVAL-DOMINICANS

I gained my Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, graduating in February 2014.  My thesis examined the role of the music notator within the process of producing manuscripts: who would have been notating music, how notators worked together (if at all), and what relation they had with other trades involved in book production, e.g. text scribes.  I focussed on manuscripts made for the Dominican convent in Paris in the thirteenth century.

In 2009-2010 I studied for an M.Phil. in Musicology at the University of Cambridge, which I gained with distinction.  My dissertation examined the polyphonic music contained within the Codex Calixtinus, a twelfth-century manuscript dedicated to the cult of St James in Santiago de Compostela. 

I completed my B.Mus. at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 2009.  As part of the degree, I spent a year at the Université de Haute Bretagne in France.  I was supervised by Dr. Magnus Williamson and it was with him that I gained an appetite for working with manuscripts.  I graduated with upper first class honours and the David Barlow Memorial Prize.

Research Interests

Since undergraduate level, I have been fascinated by the study of chant and its manuscripts. My PhD dissertation examined the Production and Notation of Dominican Manuscripts in Thirteenth-Century Paris, asking who was involved with production of Dominican chant books, how was the notation copied, and how was the work of text and music scribes organised?  My research revealed that, in the authoritative manuscripts of the Dominican liturgy, a sizeable group of professional notators were involved in their copying, and that the notation was copied separately from the text.
Building on my doctoral project, my current research examines Dominican chant and liturgy, seeking to discover the choices made during the Dominican liturgical reform in the mid-thirteenth century, and to understand how Dominican chant relates to other families of Gregorian chant. I plan to publish a monograph, Dominican Chant and its Books, incorporating both my doctoral work on the material nature of Dominican chant books and my postdoctoral research into their musico-liturgical contents. 

Edited Books

  Year Publication
2021 The Medieval Dominicans: Books, Buildings, Music and Liturgy
Eleanor J. Giraud and Christian T. Leitmeir (Ed.). (2021) The Medieval Dominicans: Books, Buildings, Music and Liturgy Turnhout: Brepols. [DOI] [Details]
2021 A Companion to the English Dominican Province: From Its Beginnings to the Reformation
Eleanor J. Giraud and J. Cornelia Linde (Ed.). (2021) A Companion to the English Dominican Province: From Its Beginnings to the Reformation Leiden: Brill. [DOI] [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
2022 'Differentiating hands in square chant notation'
Eleanor J. Giraud (2022) 'Differentiating hands in square chant notation'. Plainsong & Medieval Music, 31 (2):99-121 [DOI] [Details]
2017 'Melodic lection marks in Latin manuscripts for Mass'
Eleanor J Giraud (2017) 'Melodic lection marks in Latin manuscripts for Mass'. Scriptorium, 71 (1):3-37 [ULIR Link] [Details]

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
2022 'The Dominicans and their Identity in Medieval Britain and Ireland: Evidence from Dominican Gospel Lections'
Eleanor J. Giraud (2022) 'The Dominicans and their Identity in Medieval Britain and Ireland: Evidence from Dominican Gospel Lections' In: Ann Buckley and Lisa Colton (eds). Music and Liturgy in Medieval Britain and Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [DOI] [Details]
2021 'Dominican Mass Books before Humbert of Romans'
Eleanor J. Giraud (2021) 'Dominican Mass Books before Humbert of Romans' In: Eleanor J. Giraud and Christian T. Leitmeir (eds). The Medieval Dominicans: Books, Buildings, Music and Liturgy. Turnhout: Brepols. [DOI] [Details]
2021 'Introduction'
Eleanor J. Giraud and Christian T. Leitmeir (2021) 'Introduction' In: Eleanor J. Giraud and Christian T. Leitmeir (eds). The Medieval Dominicans: Books, Buildings, Music and Liturgy. Turnhout: Brepols. [DOI] [Details]
2021 'Dominican Chant and Liturgical Practices in the English Province'
Eleanor J. Giraud (2021) 'Dominican Chant and Liturgical Practices in the English Province' In: Eleanor J. Giraud and J. Cornelia Linde (eds). A Companion to the English Dominican Province: From Its Beginnings to the Reformation. Leiden: Brill. [DOI] [ULIR Link] [Details]
2021 'The English Dominican Province From Its Beginnings to the Reformation: An Introduction'
Eleanor J. Giraud and J. Cornelia Linde (2021) 'The English Dominican Province From Its Beginnings to the Reformation: An Introduction' In: Eleanor J. Giraud and J. Cornelia Linde (eds). A Companion to the English Dominican Province: From Its Beginnings to the Reformation. Leiden: Brill. [DOI] [ULIR Link] [Details]
2018 'Totum officium bene correctum habeatur in domo: Uniformity in the Dominican Liturgy'
Eleanor J. Giraud (2018) 'Totum officium bene correctum habeatur in domo: Uniformity in the Dominican Liturgy' In: Linde, Cornelia (eds). Making and Breaking the Rules: Discussion, Implementation, and Consequences of Dominican Legislation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [ULIR Link] [Details]
2015 'The Dominican Scriptorium at Saint-Jacques, and its Production of Liturgical Exemplars'
Eleanor J Giraud (2015) 'The Dominican Scriptorium at Saint-Jacques, and its Production of Liturgical Exemplars' In: Scriptorium: Wesen, Funktion, Eigenheiten. Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften. [ULIR Link] [Details]

Encyclopedia Entry

  Year Publication
2019 'Chant', in The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture.
Eleanor J Giraud (2019) 'Chant', in The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Music and Culture. Encyclopedia Entry [DOI] [ULIR Link] [Details]

Book Review

  Year Publication
2019 review of Jeffrey F. Hamburger, Eva Schlotheuber, Susan Marti and Margot E. Fassler, Liturgical Life and Latin Learning at Paradies bei Soest, 1300–1425: Inscription and Illumination in the Choir Books of a North German Dominican Convent. Münster: Aschendorff, 2017. 2 vols, xiii + 781, ix + 634 pp. €178. ISBN 978 3 402 13072 8.
Eleanor J Giraud (2019) review of Jeffrey F. Hamburger, Eva Schlotheuber, Susan Marti and Margot E. Fassler, Liturgical Life and Latin Learning at Paradies bei Soest, 1300–1425: Inscription and Illumination in the Choir Books of a North German Dominican Convent. Münster: Aschendorff, 2017. 2 vols, xiii + 781, ix + 634 pp. €178. ISBN 978 3 402 13072 8. Book Review [DOI] [Details]
2018 review of Medieval Cantors and their Craft: Music, Liturgy and the Shaping of History, 800-1500 (ed, by Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis, A. B. Kraebel, and Margot E. Fassler).
Eleanor J. Giraud (2018) review of Medieval Cantors and their Craft: Music, Liturgy and the Shaping of History, 800-1500 (ed, by Katie Ann-Marie Bugyis, A. B. Kraebel, and Margot E. Fassler). Book Review [DOI] [Details]
2012 Motets and prosulas from the Notre Dame school.
Eleanor J Giraud (2012) Motets and prosulas from the Notre Dame school. Book Review [DOI] [ULIR Link] [Details]

Published Reports

  Year Publication
2014 Sources of Identity: Makers, Owners and Users of Music Sources Before 1600.
Eleanor J Giraud, Elina Hamilton (2014) Sources of Identity: Makers, Owners and Users of Music Sources Before 1600. RMA Newsletter, Manchester, UK. [ULIR Link] [Details]
2010 MedRen 2010.
Eleanor Rutherford [Giraud] and Louise McInnes (2010) MedRen 2010. Early Music, Oxford. [ULIR Link] [Details]

Radio Presentation

  Year Publication
2018 The Lyric Feature - Chorus Noster Recolat.
Eleanor Giraud (interviewee) (2018) The Lyric Feature - Chorus Noster Recolat. Radio Presentation [Details]

Professional Associations

  Association Function From / To
Henry Bradshaw Society Council Member 01-APR-16 /
Archivum Fratrum Praedicatorum Scientific Committee 01-OCT-15 /
Plainsong and Medieval Music Society Executive Trustee 01-APR-16 /

Committees

  Committee Function From / To
BA Performing Arts (Voice pathway) Design team Member 2016 / 2017
MA Choral Practice, Advisory group Member 2016 / 2017
MA Ritual Chant and Song Board Chair 2016 /

Employment

  Employer Position From / To
Lincoln College, Oxford Lord Crewe Junior Research Fellow in Music 01-SEP-14 / 31-AUG-16
Warburg Institute, University of London Postdoctoral fellow 01-FEB-14 / 08-JUN-14
Royal Holloway, University of London Visiting Lecturer 12-JAN-14 / 31-JUL-14

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2013 University of Cambridge PhD Music
2010 University of Cambridge M.Phil. Musicology
2009 University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne BMus Music

Languages

  Language Reading Writing Speaking
Latin Functional Functional Functional
French Fluent Fluent Fluent

Outreach Activities

  Description

Gave a public lecture and workshop on the Sweetheart Breviary as part of exhibition at Dumfries Museum, Scotland. Featured on ITV Border Life: http://www.itv.com/news/border/update/2017-10-31/watch-border-life-h/ (starting at 7m30s)

An invited public lecture, related to article in press on notation in manuscripts of mass lections.

I co-organised a week-long university-taster programme in music for school pupils from low to middling socio-economic backgrounds.  I selected students for admission to the programme, co-ordinated lecturers for the week, and gave tutorials to individual students.

As part of a music summer school encouraging 6th-form students from state schools to apply to the University of Cambridge, I delivered seminars on library/research skills (2011-2014), medieval notation (2014, 2016-2017) and tonal skills (2013).

Discussion of my doctoral research.  Part of PhDcast series 2, CRASSH, University of Cambridge.

Modules Taught

  Term (ID)) Title Link Subject
2016-9 Materials, Methods & Context for Western Chant 1 MD6151The historical and liturgical context of Western plainchant (12 lectures)
2016-9 Materials Methods & Context for Western Chant 2 MD6142Further contexts: non Gregorian chant repertories and plainsong in polyphony (12 lectures)
2018-9 Critical Encounters with Western Art Music and Dance MU4012Music history
2018-9 Voice and Dance Skills for Performance 5 MD4067Conducting and sight-singing
2018-9 Voice and Dance Skills for Performance 6 MD4078Conducting and sight-singing
2016-7 Repertoire, Improvisation and Composition 1 MD4071-
2016-7 Repertoire, Improvisation and Composition 2 MD4072-

International Collaborators

  Name Organisation / Institute Country
Laura Albiero Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) France
Christian Leitmeir University of Oxford England