Gregorian Chant

Gregorian chant is the plainchant of the Roman Catholic Church: a single melodic line, sung in Latin, usually without accompaniment and without a regular beat. Its rhythm follows the words. Its melodies are built on the church modes rather than on major and minor keys.

Where the name comes from

The chant is named after Pope Gregory I (who died in 604), and a medieval legend pictured him receiving the melodies from the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove. Historians, however, believe the repertory took the shape we know later, mainly in the Frankish kingdoms of the 8th and 9th centuries, when Roman chant was combined with local traditions and spread across Europe.

What it sounds like

• Monophonic: everyone sings the same line, in unison or in octaves.
• Free rhythm: no time signature; the natural stresses of the Latin text shape the flow.
• Narrow range and mostly stepwise motion, with occasional leaps.
• Modal melodies that often end on the mode's final note.

Chant melodies are described by how many notes they give each syllable: syllabic (one note per syllable), neumatic (a few notes per syllable) and melismatic, where one syllable stretches over many notes, as in the long "Alleluias" (see melisma).

How it is written

Chant is traditionally written in square notes, called neumes, on a four-line staff with a movable C or F clef. That notation descends from medieval sources. Modern editions sometimes transcribe it into standard notation with stemless noteheads.

Where it is sung

Chant was written for the Mass and for the Divine Office, the cycle of daily services sung in monasteries. In the 19th century, the Benedictine monks of Solesmes in France led a long effort to restore the chant from medieval manuscripts. After the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), most parishes switched to singing in their own languages, but the Council still named Gregorian chant as the music especially suited to the Roman liturgy, and monasteries, cathedral choirs and early-music ensembles continue to sing it.

Why it matters

For musicians, chant is the root of Western music. Medieval composers built the first polyphony on chant melodies, staff notation was developed largely to preserve it, and the syllables of solfège come from a chant hymn. Many later composers, from Renaissance masters to 20th-century composers, quoted or reworked chant melodies.