Abstrakt
Vernacular planctus are documented in both Czech and German sources dating from the Late Middle Ages. Up to now their melodies have never been subject of a detailed comparison between the two traditions.
In 19th century philology the Czech planctus were either seen as direct translations of their German counterparts or as a tradition completely independent of German models. This article analyses the three known Czech planctus containing melodies and compares them with melodies from German planctus.
In that way similarities and differences between the two traditions can easily be detected. The strophic part of two Czech planctus from the late 14th century has a melody not found in German sources.
The second part of these two planctus makes use of several f-mode melodies, many of which are also documented in German planctus. All but one are not taken from the Latin model Planctus ante nescia, so the Latin Planctus cannot be the source of the melodies both traditions have in common.