the text out and disrupt the overall structure while Aquitanian melismas keeps the flow going. Much of the surviving repertoire is contained in the Florence Manuscript and also the manuscript Wolfenbüttel 1099. In early documents, the conductus was often called “Benedicamus trope” or “benedictio.” The early conducti are simple and free from the section of melismatic flourishes known as caudae. Caudae appear more often in conducti composed after 1200. Most conducti in the large thirteenthh-century manuscript collections from Notre Dame are for two or three voices. Authorship Many but not all conducti are anonymous. Some are attributed to some well-known poets and musicians of the time, such as Philip the Chancellor, Walter of Châtillon, Bernard of Clairvaux, Peter of Blois, and Perotinus. For instance, the text of the conductus Beata viscera was written by Philip the Chacellor and its music was attributed to Perotinus. Common subjects of the poems are the lives of the saints, feasts of the Lord, the Nativity, as well as more current subjects such as exemplary behavior of contemporary witnesses to the faith, such as Thomas Becket. Some conducti from later period consist of songs which criticize abuses by the clergy, including some that are quite outraged. Other conducti refer to significant historical events. Philip the Chancellor’s composition, Aurelianis civitas is associated with a student riot of 1200 in a French city, Orléans. In the poem, Philip lamented the conflict and its fatal consequences. Musical Characteristics Number of Voices The conductus can include either one voice or multiple voices, known as monophonic and polyphonic compositions. The surviving repertories indicates the monophonic conducti are about double sizes of the polyphony type. But it was the polyphonic conductus that become one of principal musical genres in Parisian polyphony. Some melodies form monophonic compositions provide the basis for the multiple-voice writing. Form The composition can be either in strophic or through-composed form. Unlike the motet, the conductus is not “based on pre-existing material.” The composer invented the overall structure. In strophic form, the structure of each stanza is the same. In through-composed form, each stanza does not repeat. The strophic composition is typical in the earlier works. The through-composed composition came after 1200. Style and declamation In the conductus, the voices sang together in a style known as discant. Stylistically, it was different from the other principal liturgical polyphonic style of the time, organum, in which the voices usually