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The Medieval Music

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Ars Antiqua. 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.

The Apostolic Tradition, attributed to the theologian Hippolytus, attests the singing of Hallel psalms with Alleluia as the refrain in early Christian agape feasts.[8] Chants of the Office, sung during the canonical hours, have their roots in the early 4th century, when desert monks following St. Origins of mature plainchant[edit] Dissemination and hegemony[edit] Gregorian Chant. Help support New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99... The name is often taken as synonymous with plain chant, 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.

In a stricter sense Gregorian chant means that Roman form of early plain chant as distinguished from the Ambrosian, Gallican, and Mozarabic chants, which were akin to it, but were gradually supplanted by it from the eighth to the eleventh century. Of the Gallican and Mozarabic chants only a few remains are extant, but they were probably closely related to the Ambrosian chant. The principal proofs for a Gregorian tradition may be summarized thus: Comments Sources About this page APA citation. MLA citation. Pope Gregory I. Pope Gregory I (Latin: Gregorius I; c. 540 – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great,[1] was Pope from 3 September 590 to his death in 604. Gregory is well known for his writings, which were more prolific than those of any of his predecessors as pope.[2] He is also known as St. Gregory the Dialogist in Eastern Orthodoxy because of his Dialogues.

For this reason, English translations of Orthodox texts will sometimes list him as "Gregory Dialogus". Throughout the Middle Ages he was known as “the Father of Christian Worship” because of his exceptional efforts in revising the Roman worship of his day.[3] His contributions to the development of the Divine Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, still in use in the Eastern Orthodox Church, were so significant that he is generally recognized as its de facto author. He was the first of the popes to come from a monastic background. Early life[edit] The monks of St. Monastic years[edit] Gregory had a deep respect for the monastic life. Prague - the international service of Czech Radio. In an exploration of medieval music, we encounter the the most distant and longest era of "real" musical history. Saint Gregory (Svaty Rehor in Czech) is credited with arranging a large number of choral works, which arose in the early centuries of Christianity in Europe.

He was Pope (Pope Gregory I) from the year 590 AD to 604 AD and from his name we get the term Gregorian chant. The Medieval era lasted until the 14th century, which means it covers a period of history of almost 1,000 years. One problem, in fact an essential one, which has to be dealt with in the study of medieval music is that the system of musical notation developed only slowly, if it was even in use at all. The first preserved finds of musical notation come from the 9th century. Rhythmic notation wasn't developed until the 12th - 13th century. Gregorian chant is monophonic, that is, music composed with only one melodic line without accompaniment. A famous period of spiritual songs was the Czech Reformation. Gregorian Chant Benedictinos. Plainsong. Plainsong (also plainchant; Latin: cantus planus) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church.

Though the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Western Church did not split until long after the origin of plainsong, Byzantine chants are generally not classified as plainsong. Plainsong is monophonic, consisting of a single, unaccompanied melodic line. Its rhythm is generally freer than the metered rhythm of later Western music. History[edit] Plainsong developed during the earliest centuries of Christianity, influenced possibly by the music of the Jewish synagogue and certainly by the Greek modal system. Two methods of singing psalms or other chants are responsorial and antiphonal. Gregorian chant is a variety of plainsong named after Pope Gregory I (6th century A.D.), although Gregory himself did not invent the chant. For several centuries, different plainchant styles existed concurrently.

Chant types[edit] The following is a classification of Gregorian chants into types. Gregorian chant (music.