Miss Cassandra C Fenton

I am a PhD Student at the University of Bristol, co-supervised by the University of Exeter and funded by the South, West, and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership. My research examines notated chants in English pontifical manuscripts produced between the 10^th and 13^th centuries. In addition to completing a survey and analysis of notated chants in surviving pontifical manuscripts from this period, this project examines the role of notation in assessing the musico-liturgical function of English pontificals. Through a series of chronologically-based case studies, I also consider how aspects of the music and liturgy in these manuscripts develop over time.

I have presented preliminary findings from these case studies at the International Musicological Society Cantus Planus Study Group Conference, Medieval and Renaissance Music Conference, and the British Forum for Ethnomusicology (BFE) and Royal Musical Association (RMA) Research Students’ Conference, and I look forward to engaging with further opportunities to share my research as this project progresses. Outside of my research, I am an active member of Bristol’s Centre for Medieval Studies, the SWW DTP Student Committee, and the RMA Student Committee.