Gregorian chant

From ChoralWiki

See also: Ambrosian chant

Background

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical chant of Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services. This vast repertory of chants is the oldest music known as it is the first repertory to have been adequately notated in the 10th century. In general, the chants were learnt by the viva voce method, that is by following the given example orally, which took many years of experience in the Schola Cantorum. Gregorian chant originated in Monastic life, in which singing the 'Divine Service' nine times a day at the proper hours was upheld according to the rule of St. Benedict. Singing psalms made up a large part of the life in a monastic community, while a smaller group and soloists sang the chants. In its long history Gregorian chant has been subjected to many gradual changes and some reforms.

The above is an excerpt from Wikipedia. For the full article, click here.

See also:

• Category:Mass propers for categorization by function.
• Category:Ambrosian chant compositions for the usage of Milan

The following list is maintained by hand; check also Category:Gregorian chant compositions for all compositions with Gregorian chant in the composer field.

List of works

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= EXTERNAL SITE (DISCLAIMER)    = EXTERNAL PDF FILE    = EXTERNAL MIDI FILE    = SCORE ERROR    = HELP