Gregorian Chants
Gregorian Chant: The name is often taken as synonymous with plain chant (q.v.), comprising not only the Church music of the early Middle Ages, but also later compositions (elaborate melodies for the Ordinary of the Mass, sequences, etc.) written in a similar style down to the sixteenth century and even in modern times(Catholic Encyclopedia). Gregorian Chant is a melody set to sacred Latin texts and sung a capella (without accompaniment). This chant is usually monophonic in texture and its rhythm is flexible, without even the simplest harmonies(Kaimen). It is interesting to note that these melodies do not have the regular "beat" which is characteristic of nearly all the music of the last millennium and this tends to give the music a very spiritual quality (ntu.edu). In a stricter sense Gregorian chant means that Roman form of early plain chant as distinguished from the Ambrosian, Galliean, and Mozarabic chants, which were equivalent to it, but were gradually supplanted by i!t from the eighth to the eleventh century(Catholic Encyclopedia). Gregorian chants represent the voice of the Church which were passed down from generation to generation through oral tradition. Then over time the number of chants grew into the thousands
Gastoue, Les origines du Chant Romain (Pris, 1907), pt. II, i; WYATT, St. Gregory and the Gregorian Music (London, 1904). Wagner, Introduction to the Gregorian Melodies, Pt. I (1901, English ed. by the Plainsong and Medieval Music Society, London, chapter xi) The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VI, Copyright c 1909 by Robert Appleton Company. Columns 70-74: (CAO Number) The first four columns contain the number assigned to the text of this chant by Hesbert in CAO. If the text is not in CAO, a letter followed by a three-digit number is supplied in this space. Columns 58-69: (CAO Concordances) Entries as necessary to indicate those manuscripts of both the Roman cursus surveyed in volume 1 (CGBEMV) and the monastic cursus surveyed in volume 2 (HRDFSL) of CAO in which this chant is found. Idem, La Melopee Antique dans le Chant de l'eglise Latine (Ghent, 1895) Columns 54-55: (Mode) The apparent mode of the chant. A question mark in the left-hand column is used to show that the mode was not identifiable; an asterisk (*) indicates that notation was not provided. A question mark in the right-hand column (following a mode number) indicates uncertainty concerning the modal assignment. The Chant was borne by the missionaries to the newly converted lands ( England, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Moravia, Bohemia, Russia, Poland, and Hungary) thus extending its domain until it permeated every phase of musical activity and reigned supreme, not only in the realm of sacred music, but, in fact, of all music(Thuis). In the government of the Church at large, much of the havoc of this time was due to the confounding of spiritual with the temporal; the world of music, the havoc to the Chant would be due largely to the fact that the new musica mensurabilis - which was, of course, a perfectly legitimate development-was being confounded with musica plana and the theorists were endeavoring to treat both on the same basis, to the detriment of the latter(Thuis). http://publish.uwo.ca/~cantus/fdes80.html Thuis, Stephen. Gregorian Chant: A Barometer of Religious Fervor. O.S.B., M. Mus. St. Namque Gregorii tanti vestigia iusti and they were notated to ensure musical uniformity throughout the Western Church. The composers of most of the chants are unknown(Kaimen). This, however, is not a main concern of those who study chant except for purposes of dating the material, nor to the original composers; because the focus was not to be on the composer, but the Creator.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2037
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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