Gregorian Chant: Medieval Music, Notation, and Liturgical Contexts

Gregorian chant

Official chant repertory of the Roman Catholic (Western) Church, standardized during the Middle Ages.

Chant / Plainchant

Religious vocal music, usually monophonic, to accompany public religious rituals (= liturgy).

Christian plainchant

Influence of Jewish practice, esp. in emphasis on Psalms and a strong preference for vocal music in worship.

Monophonic

A musical texture consisting of a single melodic line without accompaniment.

Unmetered

Music that does not have a regular rhythmic pattern or meter.

Conjunct melody

A melody that primarily moves by steps (small intervals).

Mass

Most important Catholic religious ritual held once per day to commemorate the Last Supper of Jesus.

Proper

Parts of the Mass that change depending on the liturgical calendar (e.g. Introit, Gradual, Alleluia).

Ordinary

Parts of the Mass that do not change (e.g. Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei).

Divine Office

Eight services throughout the day, dominated by readings of psalms and other biblical texts.

Text-setting

The method of assigning musical notes to the syllables of text.

Syllabic

A text-setting style where one note is sung per syllable.

Melismatic

A text-setting style where many notes are sung per syllable.

Antiphony

A performance style involving a soloist and choir or a choir divided into two groups.

Direct performance style

Performance by the whole choir (tutti).

Antiphonal performance style

Performance style where the choir is divided into two groups.

Eucharist

The central event of the Mass, commemorating the Last Supper.

Liturgical contextualization

Using antiphons to connect the meaning of a biblical text to a specific religious occasion.

Recitation formulas

Chant melodies used for many different texts, such as psalm tones.

Compositions

Chant melodies associated with specific texts, which are mostly anonymous.

Development of musical notation

A long-term influence of Gregorian chant that allowed for the writing down of music.

Polyphonic music

Music with more than one line being sung/played at the same time.

Intonation

The beginning of a chant where the soloist (cantor) sings the first few words.

Performance style

Determined by liturgical considerations, such as length of text and presence/absence of liturgical action.

Rise of Christianity

The growth of Christianity within the Roman Empire.

Collapse of Roman Empire

Occurred in 476, leading to the division of the Christian Church into Roman and Byzantine Churches.

Late Antiquity

Period from the 3rd to 8th century A.D., also known as the Dark Ages.

Recurring warfare

Conflict in Europe between Christians and Barbarian invaders during Late Antiquity.

Loss of literacy

Primarily occurred among the general population, except for the clergy.

Political decentralization

A period of social instability and decentralization of church governance.

Regional rites

Different liturgical traditions that emerged in the Western (Roman Catholic) Church.

Frankish Empire

Political stabilization in the middle of the 8th century that benefited the Roman Church.

Charlemagne

Crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day, 800.

Standardization of Gregorian chant

The chant dialect codified and standardized by the papal choir in Rome.

Legend of Pope Gregory I

The belief that Gregory received Gregorian chant directly from God.

Musical notation

Emerges and becomes more precise to ensure correct transmission of Gregorian chant.

Unheighte(ne)d neumes

Indicate melodic direction only, not precise notes or intervals; used in the late 9th century.

Heighte(ne)d neumes

Neumes placed at varying heights to indicate size and direction of intervals more precisely.

Political centralization

Linked to greater centralization of church governance in the Roman Church under the Frankish Empire.

Guide note

A particular note scratched into manuscripts to clarify the relative position of other notes.

Guidonian notation

The earliest form of staff notation in the West, introduced by Guido of Arezzo in the 11th century.

Heighted neumes

Certain notes, most often F and C, indicated with lines drawn in ink.

Four-line staff

A standard notation system that evolved from earlier methods, with all lines drawn in ink.

Five-line staff

A notation system that emerged in the 13th century and superseded the four-line staff during the Renaissance.

Pitch

A relative measure in music, not an absolute one.

Notation

A system that does not indicate rhythm or meter.

Oral transmission

The practice of passing music by memory, co-existing with notation.

Diatonic scale

The most common scale in Western music, consisting of seven notes separated by whole and half steps.

Half-steps

Intervals that occur only twice in the diatonic scale, specifically a perfect 4th/5th apart.

Modality

A system governing most music of the Middle Ages and Renaissance, based on four of the seven diatonic modes.

Tonality

A system that emerged in the late Renaissance and early Baroque, supplanting the four church modes.

Dorian mode

A church mode with the final or tonic note D.

Phrygian mode

A church mode with the final note E.

Lydian mode

A church mode with the final note F.

Mixolydian mode

A church mode with the final note G.

Plagal modes

Counterparts to the authentic church modes, sharing the same final but differing in note range.

Major mode

Also known as Ionian, it is represented by the C-C scale.

Natural minor mode

Also known as Aeolian, it is represented by the A-A scale.

Locrian mode

A mode that occurs extremely rarely in actual music, represented by the B-B scale.

Solmization

A technique for sight-singing, the ancestor of modern solfège.

Guidonian hand

A pedagogical aid used to teach solmization.

Musica ficta

The practice of improvising accidentals to alter the music as notated.