Singing by Chants an exploration of the Church s musical heritage Beverly Catholic Collaborative 2016 by Patrick Valentino
Chant is the oldest musical heritage of the Catholic Church, dating back to the very institution of the Liturgy (Mt 26:30). Many other threads of liturgical music, from polyphony to modern works, take their inspiration from chant and thus it continues to influence our religious musical culture. Here are some great quotes on Chant: "The Church recognizes Gregorian chant as being specially suited to the Roman liturgy. Therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services." (Second Vatican Council) Gregorian chant, with its inspired modulations, was to become down the centuries the music of the Church's faith in the liturgical celebration of the sacred mysteries. The 'beautiful' was thus wedded to the 'true', so that through art too souls might be lifted up from the world of the senses to the eternal." (Pope John Paul II) The Gregorian chant which has been used in the Church over the course of so many centuries, and which may be called, as it were, its patrimony, is gloriously outstanding for this holiness. This chant, because of the close adaptation of the melody to the sacred text, is not only most intimately conformed to the words, but also in a way interprets their force and efficacy and brings delight to the minds of the hearers. It does this by the use of musical modes that are simple and plain, but which are still composed with such sublime and holy art that they move everyone to sincere admiration and constitute an almost inexhaustible source from which musicians and composers draw new melodies." (Pope Pius XII, "Musicae Sacrae", 1955) Gregorian chant is uniquely the Church s own music. Chant is a living connection with our forebears in the faith, the traditional music of the Roman rite, a sign of communion with the universal Church, a bond of unity across cultures, a means for diverse communities to participate together in song, and a summons to contemplative participation in the Liturgy. (USCCB 2007)
But how to we define chant? Chant is Monophonic (a single melody line without accompaniment) A capella (performed by voice without instruments) A proclamation/amplification of sacred text In this last point, the composer decides whether certain text is set syllabically (one pitch per syllable) or melismatically (many pitches per syllable), as well as which mode a chant is in. Modes Like modern scales, modes are distinct compasses of pitches which give both a range to a chant and also a particular harmonic color. --- A (very) brief History of Chant Once believed it derived from Judaic practice, unclear now Numerous mentions in the OT and NT 3 rd c. = Musical elements from Roman Rite 4 th c. = Monastic Psalm chanting (St. Anthony) 4 th -5 th c. = Responsive Psalmnody (Sts. Ambrose & Augustine) Ambrosian Gloria 6 th c. = Divine Office created (St. Benedict) 7 th c. = Chant spreads rapidly in Europe 9 th c. = Organization/Standardization (Pope St. Gregory I) 10 th -16 th c. Chant in standard use, inspires new musical compositions (polyphony) Aquinas, Hildegard von Bingen, Lasso, Palestrina, Victoria, Allegri 16 th -19 th c. Chant continues to be used and often is reformed due to localized corruptions. 19 th -20 th c. Solesmes Abbey finishes most recent major reform 20 th -21 st c. Chant continues to be used in traditional liturgies, and is the basis for much contemporary sacred music. Pärt, Gorecki, Durufle, Tournemire, Tavener, modern chant composers, many others!
Elements of Chant Biblical Text (usually from Psalms, syllabic vs. melismatic text setting) Musical Form (hymns, antiphons/propers, sequences, ordinary) Mode and Melody Chant uses 8 distinct Modes, akin to modern scales. How are Modes/Scales the same? Modes range upward from a home base note (called a Final ) The intervals between tones are similar to modern melodies How are they different? Scales need separate harmony to color the melody & guide it home Modes have inherent harmonic color based on where the Final is The Range of a Mode is very important, while in a Scale less so Mode Low Tone* Final Name Range (modern) Modern equiv. I D D Dorian DEFGABCD Dorian re re II D A Hyopdorian ABCDEFGA Aeolian re la III E E Phrygian EFGABCDE Phrygian mi mi IV E mi B ti Hypophrygian BCDE(F)GAB Locrian V F F Lydian Lydian/Ionian FGAB(b)CDEF fa fa (depends on flat) VI F C Hypolydian Ionian/Mixolydian CDEFGAB(b)C fa do (depends on flat) VII G G Mixolydian GABCDEFG Mixolydian sol sol VIII G sol D re Hypomixolydian DEFGABCD Dorian *In the odd numbered (authentic) modes, using one tone below the Final is permitted
Singing Chant Solfege names for tones: do-re-mi-fa-sol-la-ti-(do) You may know do as the modern note C, but chant uses a moveable do system, so do can be moved anywhere to make the chant s range lie comfortably. Half-steps exist between mi and fa and between ti and do. Ever wonder where solfege came from? CHANT! Before do, ut was used (and still is in France). This solfege system ut-re-mi-fa-sol-la-si was taught by Guido d Arezzo 1000 years ago using this chant, where each phrase begins with the next solfege tone. This chant has no tone for the 7 th step of the mode. This step is often avoided. There is an apocryphal tale that the reason European solfege uses si rather than our ti for this missing step is the patron of this chant, Sancte Ioannes.
Let s recap what mode corresponds to what solfege syllables There are 2 helpful tricks for the eight chant modes. Trick #1: Authentic and Plagal The odd modes are called Authentic Modes, the even ones Plagal. Each pair (1&2, 3&4, etc) are to our modern eyes the same collection of notes, just with a different tone as their Final. In this way some modern musicians think of Hypodorian (mode 2) as the notes of Dorian (mode 1) but starting on A instead of D. But if that were true, Mode 1 and Mode 8 would be identical and interchangeable. The answer to why they are not lies in this location of the Final. Trick #2: The Circle of Fifths The circle of fifths is a musical tool with which one can travel the interval of a fifth (five notes) repeatedly and eventually end up where one started. The 8 modes traverse the circle of fifths if you think of their lowest note (although this is not always the Final). Mode # Low Tone 1 D 2 A 3 E 4 B 5 F 6 C 7 G 8 D Now we ll try to sing some well-known simple chants by rote, and explore their syllabic and phrase structure to see what makes them effective.
Chant Notation Chant notation, like modern music notation, developed over centuries. Chant was originally taught by rote, but this was limiting. Written notation allowed 3 main benefits: Clarity of intent (standardizing of chants) Participation (schola/choir, congregation) Dissemination (publishing v word of mouth) Printed music could travel far and wide, and choirbooks allowed scholas and even congregations to partake in the chant. But it is the Clarity we will look at here, and see how chant notation is 1) quite clear, 2) closely related to modern notation, and in some ways 3) better! Elements of Notation Note indicator (in chant called a Neume) to show relative pitch A Staff to show definite, measurable pitch relations A Clef to indicate which line is which pitch In modern notation we have many indications of duration, but the prevailing interpretation now is that chant generally had a steady pulse and each tone sung was equal. **This is one of the more controversial inheritances from the Solesmes reform in the late 19 th century, as we will see but it does simplify things!! ----- NB. The Chant staff as seen in hymnals has 4 lines compared to modern notation s five lines, but this is irrelevant as the lines serve the same purpose.
The Clef Once you know what one of the lines of the staff is, you can figure out all the others by filling in the solfege (mentally or otherwise) Note on the fa-clef staff, the high do is off the staff. The staff s line-space alternation is extended with a leger line as it is in modern notation. Before we explore neumes, it is important to note you do not need to know all their names! What is important is recognizing which collection of sounds the blob of ink on the page represents. Since chant is notated syllabically, neumes can comprise any number of distinct pitches, depending on how many tones are sung to any given syllable.
One-Pitch Neumes You may notice the punctum and the virga look different, but represent the same single note. Why? This is what has been passed on from Solesmes. Remember by the Solesmes method, each pitch is of equal duration, so the bistropha and tristropha are used if the composer desires a longer duration. Like in modern notation, a dot can be used to extend the duration, but unlike modern notation, the dot extends it one more pulse. A long horizontal line can do the same thing. Two-tone Neumes Chant is notated syllabically, which means if a syllable is sung on 2 pitches, chant notation uses special neumes which indicate two pitches. There are 2, as there are only 2 ways a group of two notes can move: Notice the higher note of the podatus can be any interval away from the low note, not just a step. The same is true for the clivis. Also note the ascending podatus is a vertical group, and the descending clivis is slightly diagonal. This convention holds true for all larger neumes.
Three-tone Neumes Now we get into the fun stuff. Three tone groups can appear 4 ways: ascending, descending, lo-hi-lo, or hi-lo-hi. Ascending: Descending: lo-hi-lo: hi-lo-hi: Notice the descending climacus has diamond shaped neumes. And then forget it. They are the same duration as the square neume; most likely they were diamonds due to the calligraphy quill used to ink them. Also note the 3 neumes in the torculus are connected with vertical lines, showing they are not 3 separate punctums (puncta?) but one grouping for one syllable. Also note the heavy diagonal line in the porrectus, which again may be a biproduct of a quill and the attempt to connect related neumes. Let s look at some simple chants and see what we can decipher.
In the Hosanna Filio David above, there is a large neume group on the ra of Israel, can you deconstruct it? There are many other neumes and details in chant, but what you have learned so far will help you decipher pretty much anything you see. There are a few things we have not covered which you might see though
The Flat Just like in modern notation, the flat lowers a tone one half-step. In chant though, it only appears on the tone B (ti in solfege). It looks like a square version of the flat sign: This B-flat was used to avoid an interval between F and B so dissonant is was called diabolus in musica and was banned on pain of excommunication from liturgical music. The Custos My personal favorite marking, and something we have lost in modern notation. Look carefully at the end of each line of a chant there is a partial neume which looks like it was cut off this small mark was an indication of what the first pitch on the next line would be extremely helpful for page turns! The Different Barlines Revised notation for chant uses many barlines, but each is about one degree less in importance as you might think: No rhythmic interruption, no rhythmic interruption like a rest like a rest breath only if necessary Slight lift breath deliberate breath deliberate breath
Chants in a Schola Most chants have an * near the beginning; since they are not accompanied, and use a moveable do system, how would a group of people know what note they are starting on? They can t, so a solo cantor starts the chant, and the group joins in after the *. If this section is repeated later, everyone sings the whole text though, as the tonality has been established. You can witness this when we chant the Agnus Dei at St. Mary s. Antiphons One main way we encounter chant in the modern liturgy is when we intone the Propers. These chants are called antiphons because they are sung antiphonally (in alternation of groups). One way to perform an antiphon is to have a cantor sing, then a larger group repeat the whole antiphon (like our responsorial psalm). Another way is to have a smaller group continue after the *.
Antiphons are often elongated by adding verses (as we do for the psalm and the alleluia). The verses would be sung by a cantor, and following each one, the antiphon is repeated. The verses are written in pointed text, which saves space. The music for the verses is in the two small measures after the antiphon, with pitch changes indicated by italics and bold.
Responsive Psalmnody When chanting the liturgy of the hours or similar litanies, responsive psalmody is employed. These chants can exist with or without an antiphon (a refrain ); that is, they can just be a collection of verses. Often when they have an antiphon, it is only chanted first and last, not in between every verse. To chant psalmnody, the group is devided into two halves, and often each half has a cantor (lector). The psalm versicles are devided into two parts. The first half begins with an initio, a kind of pick-up note or notes, which leads to the reciting tone. In the middle (at the barline above) is a mediant candence on the other side of this cadence, the second group of the schola continues the chant until the final cadence. This canticle is extended with many verses, and all except the first one is pointed. In short order though, everyone catches on to the melody. This is the method originated by St. Benedict and still the model used in monasteries throughout the world for chanting the liturgy of the hours. The trick to responsive psalmnody is that a pause is taken at the mediant cadence the change from the end of verse 1 to the start
of verse 2 is immediate. This seemingly illogical structure is employed to promote meditation on the text in mid-sentence.