Gregorian chant. Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song of the western Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe during the 9th and 10th centuries, with later additions and redactions. Although popular legend credits Pope St. Gregory the Great with inventing Gregorian chant, scholars believe that it arose from a later Carolingian synthesis of Roman chant and Gallican chant.
History[edit] Development of earlier plainchant[edit] Musical elements that would later be used in the Roman Rite began to appear in the 3rd century. Scholars are still debating how plainchant developed during the 5th through the 9th centuries, as information from this period is scarce. John the Deacon, biographer (c. 872) of Pope Gregory I, modestly claimed that the saint "compiled a patchwork antiphonary",[11] unsurprisingly, given his considerable work with liturgical development. Origins of mature plainchant[edit] The History Of Gregorian Chant. The Gregorian Chant is the collective name given to a whole tradition of chants that evolved in the world from the times of the Old Testament of The Christian Bible and have survived even today. These chants have been quite associated with Christianity and indeed they have been sung in churches for over two thousand years now.
It is certain that the Gregorian chant - though not in that name - existed even during the times of Jesus Christ, and Christ might have sung these chants in His teachings to people. The Gregorian Chant contains a collection of what is known as the plainchant (from the French plein chant, which means 'full song') - a series of unaccompanied vocal music that follows a monophone. They are most commonly heard in churches, and some of the more popular ones are Ave Maria, Te Deum and Dies Irae, Spiritus Domini among others. The history of Gregorian Chant has been quite checkered. Let us trace roughly the main events that occurred in the history of Gregorian Chant. The Gregorian Chant History. The Gregorian chant is the oldest musical manifestation of the Occident and it has its roots in the songs of the old synagogues, since Jesus Christ`s times.
The first Christians and disciples of Christ, were converted Jewish that, persevering in prayer, continued to sing the psalms and songs of the Old Testament as they were used, although with other sense. As long as the Greek, not Jews and Romans were also becoming Christian, elements of the music and the Greek-French-Roman culture were being included to the Jewish songs. The formation period of the Gregorian chant includes the centuries I to VI, reaching the peak in the centuries IX, X and XI, beginning of the Medium Age; it begins, then, its decadence. The name is an homage to Pope Gregory I (540-604) that did a collection of pieces, publishing them in two books: Antiphonarium, group or referring melodies at the Canonical Hours, and the Graduale Romanum, containing Santa Mass`s songs.
Starting from the initiative talent of D. Why is chant called Gregorian? That "Gregorian" chant was named for and credited to Pope Gregory I (r. 590-604) is an accident of politics and spin doctoring. Tension between the Pope (the Bishop of Rome) and other Bishops regarding the authority of the Pope as "first among equals" was matched by tension between the Pope, as spiritual ruler of Rome, and Rome's secular rulers. This tension was an off and on thing until as late as the 15th century, when the "Conciliar Conflict" (c. 1409-1460) pitted the power of the Council of Bishops against the power of the Pope and Cardinals.
Gregory I has been credited with many things, including the writing, collecting, or organizing of the body of plainchant in use at the time, as well founding the first singing school (Schola Cantorum) in Rome to train singers for the church, organizing the church's annual cycle of liturgical readings, and first establishing the church's authority over the secular rulers of Rome. Whether he actually did any of these things is questionable. Gregorian chant (music. Gregorian Chant | The Medieval Classroom. History of the Gregorian Chant Gregorian Chant takes its name from Pope Gregory I also known as Gregory the Great. He was believed to be responsible to bring the chants to the West based on Eastern Byzantine music, however, there is no real evidence for this.
Because of the time lapsed since the Gregorian Chant first made its appearance hundreds of thousands of years ago it is hard to determine when the Gregorian Chant really started and where it came from. Scholars still debate to this day when the Chant actually emerged, and where it came from. Some like James McKinnon, believe it emerged in the later dates of the 7th century, however others like scholar Andreas Pfisterer argue it was earlier that this.
In the earlier centuries such as the fifth and the sixth century, the chant was very distinct for different regions. The Music and it’s Performers In most Western Music since the Renaissance the pieces are based on one of two modes: Major or Minor. Gregorian Chant in Liturgy The Introit H.