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.
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]
Gregorian Chant Resources and History Gregoran chants are a body of chants of the Roman Catholic Church, most of which are part of two liturgical rites, the Mass and the Offices. Origins are traditionally are ascribed to the period of Pope Gregory I 590-604. The sacred music of the Gregorian Chant was also known as plainchant, or plainsong and named after Pope Gregory. This music consisted of a single line of melody with a flexible rhythm sung to Latin words by unaccompanied male voices. Manuscripts date from ninth century and used a system of modes, specific patterns of whole and half steps. History of Gregorian Chant Unaccompanied singing has been part of the Christian liturgy since the earliest days of the Church. The Gregorian repertory was systematized for use in the Roman Rite. Scholars debate whether the essentials of the melodies originated in Rome, before the 7th century, or in Francia, in the 8th and early 9th centuries. Gregorian chant appeared in a remarkably uniform state across Europe within a short time.
Gregorian chant This is a page from a book whose title is Graduale Aboense. Here you can see a song about St. Henry, a holy man from Finland. The black marks, which are above the words, show what the music looks like. The song starts at the large letter G in the middle of the page. Example Hynn to John, sung in Latin Veni Sancte Spiritus, usually sung at Pentecost How it developed[change | edit source] Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe during the 9th and 10th centuries, but people wrote new songs and changed the old ones later. Usually men and boys sang Gregorian chant in churches, and holy women and men sang Gregorian chants in their daily prayers. Christians have sung songs without music since the earliest days of the Church. The New Testament, tells how Jesus and his friends sang together: "When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives" (Matthew|26.30). When Charlemagne had become Holy Roman Emperor he made everyone in Europe use this Gregorian chant.
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.
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.
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 history of Gregorian Chant has been quite checkered. Let us trace roughly the main events that occurred in the history of Gregorian Chant. The Old Testament The Gregorian Chant has been present in the world much before Jesus Christ or even Pope Gregory the First, for that matter, walked on the face on the earth. The Period of Christ When Christ made His first followers from the Jews, they continued their worship in their same age-old tradition.
The Middle Ages for Kids - Gregorian Chants There was a special kind of music sung in some churches, the chant. A chant is simple, slow, and always religious. Usually, chants are sung "a cappella", which means without musical instruments. In medieval times within the monasteries these chants were developed into a new art form. They are named after Pope Gregory I who developed a system of musical notation that anyone could learn to read. Explore Chant ppt A guide to Medieval instruments 6-minute medieval music marathon Free Presentations in PowerPoint format Free Online Games for the Middle Ages Free Middle Ages Clipart for Kids & Teachers Free Clip Art Middle Ages for Teachers Return to The Middle Ages for Kids