Volpiano

In principle, Volpiano is primarily a technical tool, a simple font designed to simplify the processing of Gregorian melodies in databases. In addition, however, it is increasingly developing into a cross-platform option for the simple notation of melodies within a wide variety of word processing programmes. The advantage is obvious: everyone can continue to work with the programme they are used to using – only the basic principle of Volpiano needs to be understood at the beginning.

This basic principle is very simple: there is one letter on the keyboard for each pitch. In Saint-Bénigne’s Antiphonary, this notation model is used with the letters a-p. The corresponding note symbols are now assigned to these letters in the Volpiano font on a five-line system.

The result is a simple and machine-readable version of Gregorian melodies that can also be ‘human-readable’ with the help of Volpiano. This idea, developed by Prof Dr David Hiley, has ultimately significantly expanded the possibilities for comparing melodies.

The fact that certain information ‘falls by the wayside’ when using Volpiano (e.g. whether it is a virga or a punctum etc.) is a deliberate blurring: melodies should be made comparable by recording melodic progressions rather than exact notation. Large database projects such as Cantus Planus in Regensburg or Cantus in Waterloo (Canada) successfully apply this principle.

For the use of Volpiano in classical notation tasks, which was not initially intended, the development of a separate version of the font is conceivable in the long term, which will be optimised for use in editions.

Volpiano basic is the original version of the font. Its characters are based on the Guido font of the Department of Early Music of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest. The characters were adapted in some details for Volpiano.

Until version 3 (2009), Volpiano consisted of a single font file. In order not to jeopardise the basic principle of assigning letters and tones, a separate font file was created for Oriscus and Quilisma during the expansion in version 4.

Volpiano basic is freeware (but not open source!) and is available to download (see below) an use free of charge.

Versions history

Version 6.0 (1. June 2025)

• Octave treble clef (bassa)
• Sharp accidentals for f°,g°, c¹, f¹, g¹, c², f², g², c³
• Natural accidentals analogue to the sharp accicentals

Version 5.1 (1. May 2017) · Version 5.01 (28. November 2014)

• Note heads ‘f°’ for all note variants
• Short staves (½- and ¼-width)
• Graphic corrections
• File formats: OTF, TTF, PS, WOFF (und other webfonts)

Version 4 (12. August 2011)

• 19 noteheads (‘g°–d²’) each for Oriscus und Quilisma in a separate font file (‘Volpiano2’)
• 2 noteheads in small size (‘g°/d²’)
• Divisio maior and minima
• Graphic corrections

Version 3 (10. March 2009)

• Abbreviations for Versus, Respons and ‘All’
• Graphic corrections

Version 2 (23. April 2006)

• 17 noteheads in small size (‘a°–c²’, Liquescens)
• Flat accidentals for e¹ and e²
• Natural accidentals analogue to the flat accicentals
• Graphic corrections

Version 1 (18.1.2003)

• 19 noteheads in normal size (‘g°–d²’)
• G and F clefs (treble/bass clef)
• Blank stave, Divisio maxima und final barlines.
• Flat accidentals for h°, h¹, h²
• File formats: TTF und PS

A further development step is to be taken with Volpiano pro: This version, with a graphically revised character set and further improvements to the music display, is specifically intended for use in editions.

In contrast to the basic version, Volpiano pro will not be available as freeware. You will find more detailed information here in due course.

Suggestions welcome …

Do you have any suggestions or wishes for the development of Volpiano pro? Write to us, we look forward to your suggestions and ideas!

The following projects use Volpiano to process their data:

• Cantus · A Database for Latin Ecclesiastical Chant – University of Waterloo (Kanada)
• Cantus Planus – Regensburg database for gregorian chant – University of Regensburg, Institute of Musicology

Additions?

Your project created with the help of Volpiano is missing in this overview? Please send us a short message and a description so that it can be added to this list. Thank you very much!

Currently up to date: Version 6.0 from 1 June 2025.

Volpiano basic is available in different font formats, the arrangement of the characters is identical. In addition to the actual font files, each zip file contains a character table for printing and a file with the licence agreement.

• volpiano60_otf.zip – Recommended as standard for all applications
• volpiano60_ttf.zip – Alternative in case of problems with the OTF version (e.g. in older Windows versions)
• volpiano60_type1.zip – Type1 files for Windows and Unix
• volpiano60_web.zip – Font files for use as a web font

Please note:

To ensure that the latest version is available to all users, Volpiano will in future only be offered for download from this server. The operators of other websites on which Volpiano is available are requested to remove the corresponding copy and to provide the following link instead: www.fawe.de/volpiano

William (Guglielmo) of Volpiano was born in June or July 962 on the San Giulio Island in Lake Orta (northern Italy). He was the son of Count Robert of Volpiano, who came from an Alemannic noble family, and his wife Perinza, who was related to the Lombard royal family. The child’s godfather and patron was Emperor Otto the Great.

Wilhelm began his education at the age of seven at the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria di Lucedio near Vercelli and continued his studies in Pavia. After returning to Vercelli, he finally joined the order and became a scholastic of the monastery. In 987, he followed the call of Abbot Maiolus of Cluny and joined the monastery there as a monk.

William’s assertiveness and skill in carrying out reforms made him a sought-after man in various monasteries of the Benedictine order: as early as 988, he became prior at the Saint-Saturnin monastery in Pont-Saint-Esprit (near Nîmes), and the following year Bishop Brunon de Roucy called him to reform the Saint-Bénigne monastery in Dijon. After the previous convent had moved out, the monastery was repopulated with monks from Cluny and William was ordained priest and abbot in 990.

Saint-Bénigne subsequently developed into a centre of the Cluniac reform movement, which spread to monasteries throughout France. Spirituality, education and culture flourished and the monastery was also run in an exemplary manner economically. Around the year 1000, William began to rebuild the monastery church of Saint-Bénigne after the previous building, which was around 450 years old, showed clear signs of decay. As a sought-after advisor, William of Volpiano was commissioned by many houses of the Burgundian high nobility to reform their respective monasteries in the spirit of Cluny. Around sixty convents in Burgundy, Lorraine, Normandy and Paries were eventually reformed from Dijon. William acted as abbot in each case, appointing a new prior from Saint-Bénigne in the monasteries and monitoring the progress of the reforms during his visitations.

In 1001, William was commissioned by Richard II to reorganise Fécamp Abbey – the family burial place of the Dukes of Normandy. In 1003, he finally founded the new Abbey of Fruttuaria on his family’s property in San Benigno Canavese near Turin. Monastic life in Saint-Bénigne continued to flourish under William of Volpiano, and numerous monks from all classes joined the order, bringing the number of monks to around eighty by 1020. His austerity and simple personal lifestyle made him the ‘Abbas supra regulam’. On 1 January 1031, William of Volpiano died in Fécamp and was buried in a chapel in the monastery church there. After his death, the association of monasteries under his authority no longer existed. In 1950, Pope Pius XII canonised William.