MANUSCRIPTS FOR PRAYER AND MUSIC IN HOUGHTON LIBRARY
Friday, October 27
Professor Thomas Forrest Kelly
Harvard University
Visit Houghton Library, Harvard’s incomparable rare books collection, and examine some of the world’s most beautiful manuscripts devoted to prayer and music. Professor Kelly will present a series of medieval liturgical books, explaining their functions in the celebration of the Mass or the Divine Office, as well as some beautiful manuscript Books of Hours for private devotion.
Thomas Forrest Kelly
Thomas Forrest Kelly is the Morton B. Knafel Research Professor of Music at Harvard University, where he was named a Harvard College Professor in recognition of his teaching. He also served as Chair of the Music Department. An internationally recognized authority on medieval and early modern music, and on the performance of music in historical settings, he has lectured widely throughout the U.S. and Europe. He has written numerous books and articles for both scholarly and general audiences, including The Role of the Scroll: An Illustrated Introduction to Scrolls in the Middle Ages (Norton, 2019), Capturing Music: The Story of Notation (Norton, 2014), The Practice of Medieval Music (Ashgate Variorum, 2010), and First Nights: Five Musical Premieres (Yale, 2000). Professor Kelly received his PhD from Harvard, as well as diplomas from the Schola Cantorum in Paris and the Royal Academy of Music in London.