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Origin, Forms, and Impact of the Gregorian Chant
The Gregorian chant, or what is often referred to as “Plainchant” or “Plainsong”, is a musical repertory comprised of chants used in the liturgical services of the Roman Catholic Church. In the past, the Gregorian chant has been called a “sung Bible”, for it is traditionally a vocal, monophonic style of music composed along with Latin words coming from sacred texts. The exact origin of the chant, however, is slightly ambiguous to date. The stories of its origin, the differing forms of the chant, along with its impact on music that followed, will be covered in the coming paragraphs. ... They sang hymns, and generally sang in two forms of singing: responsorial, which is solo singing along with a refrain sung by the congregation, and antiphonal, which is the alternation between two choirs. After the legalization of Christianity in 313, early signs of the chant began to surface: “Etheria, a Spanish nun on pilgrimage to the holy places in about 385, mentions hymns, psalms, responsories and antiphons as part of the Easter liturgy at Jerusalem, the first three being forms familiar from Jewish liturgy” (Hope, 1). Following this time period, a number of forms of chant began to emerge, and were unique to certain regions. The Ambrosian chant, named after St. Ambrose, came from Milan; from France, which was once known as Gaul, came the Gallican chant; from England emerged the Sarum chant; from the Church in the East came the Byzantine, Coptic, Syrian, Armenian and Ethiopian chant; and finally, from Rome
came the Gregorian chant. ... Other chants were overtaken when the region adopted what it considered a superior chant or liturgy. This allowed the Gregorian chant to become the leading chant of liturgical music in the West during the 8th century.
Although the Gregorian chant prevailed while others dwindled, it did not simply emerge out of thin air. ... Several stories explaining the chant’s origin have surfaced over the centuries proceeding its supposed date of conception, yet few have remained pertinent and plausible. ... Supposedly at this time, the schola cantorum, who were a group of ministers dedicated to the Roman basilicas, were credited to the care and a number of the chant‘s compositions.
Approximate Word count = 1741
Approximate Pages = 7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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