Gregorian Chant
Andrew Fenner
Gregorian chant
had been all but lost till it began to be revived as monks and other scholars made progress in deciphering the “neumes” by which early chants were notated musically. The restoration of Gregorian is mainly due to the monks of the French Abbey of Solemes in the second half of the last century. Alas, some variants such as Celtic chant have been lost to oblivion.
The original sources of plainsong are to be found among Hebrew, Greek, Roman, and even Chaldean and Egyptian musical forms. Most likely the earliest attempts derived from new Christians attempting to emulate the high holy music of Judaism and the rituals of its temple. Being familiar only with the melodies of whatever land they themselves originated from, they invented their own music, attempting to divest it of its often pagan origins by stripping away any superfluous adornments such as dancing, clapping, instrumental accompanyment, and even harmony.
Plainsong is exactly that, plain song. It consists entirely of unisonous voices all singing the same notes. It wasn’t untill the advent of “organum” centuries later that simple concurrent harmonic parts (in fourths) were allowed. Chant is also notated without any marked tempo and sung without noticable rhythm. The melodies are in modes, rather than major or minor keys as in the diatonic “tonal” music tradition, although some of the eight Gregorian modes sound quite diatonic in character.
Chant is today enjoying a tremendous surge in popularity and there are many websites which are devoted to this wonderfully ethereal music. Here are some other chant links for your enjoyment:
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