Music of the Early Christian Church

Early Christianityand

The Middle Ages

313 Constantine I legalizes Christianity392 Theodosius I makes Christianity official religion395 Roman Empire splits

Western Empire Eastern Empire

Present Day Italy, France, Germany Turkey, Greece, Eastern Europe, EgyptRuled from Rome or Milan Constantinople (Byzantium/Istanbul)Language Latin GreekLed by Pope—bishop of Rome (after fall) emperorBecame Roman Catholic Church Byzantine Church/Orthodox chuches

476 Roman Empire collapses 800 Holy Roman Empire

A History Lesson

What is chant?

Chant is the singing of the liturgy in a religious service. Liturgy is the texts (and actions) of a religious service.

Who sings chant?Chant is sung by the celebrants of the mass and the offices, the Roman Catholic religious services.

Church: mass and offices celebrated by priests and deacons, and witnessed by the congregation.

Monastery: mass and offices celebrated by monks.

Where did chant come from?• Judaic ritual influenced

Christian services– Chanting of Scripture– Singing of psalms—biblical

songs• Early Christian Church

– Chanting helped carry text through large space

– Late 4th century: Regular singing of psalms, non-biblical hymns

• Christian writers: music as reminder of divine beauty, not for pleasure

• Church leaders: music must promote religion

• No instrumental music

Regional dialects

• Each branch/region develops rite (church calendar, liturgy, repertory of plainchant)

• Byzantine Chant– Chanted scriptural readings, psalms, *hymns*– Echoi—modes used for melodies

• Ambrosian Chant– Milan, similar to Roman

• Old Roman Chant– Rome

• Gregorian Chant– Rome

A Gregorian Chant History Lesson

Pepin the Short Pope Stephen II

700s: Schola Cantorum (the Pope’s choir) standardized chant melodies

Texts and melodies assigned to services throughout the year, unchanged 800 yrs750s:

Pope Stephen II brought Schola Cantorum to Frankish Kingdom. Pepin the Short, the Frankish king, wanted this repertory performed in all churches in his domain to help unify the church and his kingdom. The myth of St. Gregory was propaganda used by the Catholic Church to spread the chant repertory throughout Pepin’s lands, which became the Holy Roman Empire in 800.

The Myth of Pope Gregory I

Sometime in the 6th century, Pope Gregory I was dictating his homilies on Ezekiel. A curtain was drawn between his secretary and himself. The secretary noticed that the pope remained silent for long periods at a time. The secretary made a hole in the curtain and, looking through, saw that a dove (the Holy Spirit) was revealing the homilies to Gregory, who then dictated them to his secretary.

Oral TransmissionChants possibly

improvised w/in strict conventions

How were church leaders able to standardize chant?

Chant Notation

•11th Century•Lines and Spaces—Guido d’Arezzo (c. 991-1033+)• music no longer dependent on oral

transmission

Stages of Notation

•Late 9th century: earliest surviving notated chant•Neumes

• indicate a certain number of notes and general melodic direction

•10th and 11th cent•Diastemic Neumes• show relative size and direction of intervals

Solesmes Chant Notation

•Modern chant notation (turn of 20th cent)•4 lines•neumes—notes/notegroups •C and F clefs•Composite neumes—note on left read first; if notes are aligned vertically, note on bottom read first•Successive same note—tied or pulsed•Small notes—voiced consonant•Accidentals—b-flat or b natural•flat only valid until beginning of next word or vertical division line

Follow the Bouncing Neume

How did the west become influenced by Greek theory?

• Martianus Capella– The Marriage of Mercury and Philology

• famous textbook used throughout the middle ages• described 7 liberal arts, including harmonics (music)• Section on music adapted from Aristides Quintilianus

• Boethius (ca. 480-ca. 524)– Music as science– 3 types of music

• music of the universe• human music• instrumental music

– Compiled from Greek sources (Nichomachus and Ptolemy)

Latin Treatises

The Church Modes

Final RangeTenor

•Greek names were used incorrectly•modes characterized by final, range, and tenor•Final: the main note in the mode, usually the last note in the melody• There are 4 finals (each final used in 2 modes)• Each final has a unique combination of intervals surrounding it• Each pair of modes uses the same final

•Range: span of notes in a mode•Tenor: reciting tone; often most frequent or prominent note in a chant, or a center of gravity around which a phrase is oriented

Go back two frames. In what mode is Viderunt Omnes sung?

Practical Theory

Guido and his followers developed solmization using hexachords, the gamut, and the guidonian hand

Guido d’Arezzo (ca. 1025-1028)

Solmization• Ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la—syllables correspond to scale tones

The Hexachord System

•Solmization pattern developed into system of hexachords.•Hexachords only followed the pattern ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la—no other interval patterns were used. •Chants only contained “white” notes and B-flat, so hexachords could only begin on C, F, and G

Gamut•basic scale described by medieval theorists, notes named by letter and position w/in all hexachords•mutation: changing hexachords in a chant

Guidonian HandJoints on the hand correspond to notes in the Gamut

Music in the Middle Ages

500-1450

sung in Latin

standardized by the 8th and 9th c.

used in Christian churches until Reformation (16th c.)

used in Catholic churches until Vatican II (20th c.)

Services in the Roman Church Mass

Most important service in the Roman Church

Office (the “liturgy of the hours”) a series of 8

services celebrated daily at specified times

THE OFFICE

To Mass

What types of chant are sung during the office? Many of these types are also found in the mass.

Back to office

Psalm Tones Psalm tones

• Formulas for singing psalms in Office• Can be adapted to fit any psalm• One per mode/tenor is reciting tone• Parts:

Intonation—rising motive at beginning Recitation (on tenor) Median—cadence at middle of verse Recitation (on tenor) Termination—final cadence for each verse

Last 2 verses sung to lesser doxology• “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy

Spirit/As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.”

THE MASS•Proper• texts change from day

to day• named by their

function• set forms•Ordinary of the Mass• texts do not change• named by their

initial words• forms reflect text

Proper Ordinary

Introductory 1. Introit

Section 2. Kyrie

3. Gloria

4. Collect

Liturgy of 5. Epistle

the Word 6. Gradual

7. Alleluia (or Tract)

8. Sequence (on major feasts)

9. Gospel

10. Sermon (optional)

11. Credo

Liturgy of 12. Offertory

the Eucharist 13. Prayers

14. Secret

15. Preface

16. Sanctus

17. Canon

18. Pater noster (Lord's Prayer)

19. Agnus Dei

20. Communion

21. Postcommunion

22. Ite, missa est

SUNG BY CHOIR INTONED SPOKEN

Proper ChantsAntiphon

Achoir

1 psalm verseB

Soloists-choir

Lesser DoxologyB’

Soloists-choir

AntiphonA

Choir

RespondA

choir

VerseB

Soloists—last phrase choir

AlleluiaA

soloist

Alleluia-jubilusA B

choir

Verse-last phraseC A Soloist-choir

AlleluiaA

soloist

JulilusB

choir

Direct

Direct

Ordinary ChantsKyrie—Greek—Byzantine

Gloria—Greater Doxology: Praises God, States doctrine of Trinity, asks for Mercy

--Long, neumatic text--recurring motives; no set form

Credo—”creed”—statement of faith--long, syllabic text--recurring motives; no set form

Sanctus—angelic chorus of praise from vision of Isaiah --neumatic --repetition in texts

and motives

Agnus Dei—neumatic

Kyrie Eleison x3Christe Eleison x3Kyrie Eleison x3

Lord have mercy x3Christ have mercy x3Lord have mercy x3

Choir 1Choir 2All

Gloria in excelsis deo…

Glory be to God on high…

Direct

Credo in unum Deum…

I believe in one God…

Direct

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Holy, holy, holy

Direct

Agnus DeiDirect

Lamb of God

Antiphonal

Ite, missa est—”Go, you are dismissed” --responsorial--Many melodies set for this chant in Middle Ages; in Modern performance—melody of 1st Kyrie used--If no Gloria, replaced by Benedictus Domino

Additions to the authorized chants

TROPES (10TH AND 11TH C.) SEQUENCES (9TH-12TH C.) expanded existing

chants music following the

Alleluia Part of Mass Ordinary Wipo of Burgundy:

Victimae paschali laudes

Both were banned by the council of Trent (1545-63)

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)◦Prioress/abbess of convent◦Writer/composer◦Songs praise Mary, Trinity, saints

a

Ordo Virtutum

Chant today

The Second Vatican Council took place in 1962-1965. It was decided that the Catholic Mass could be presented in vernacular languages, to increase the participation of the congregation. This led to the virtual disappearance of chant from outside monasteries and convents.

In 2007, Pope Benedict allowed for the Tridentine Mass, the version of the Catholic Mass used before Vatican II and after the Council of Trent, to be used by priests without the congregation present. This allows priests to perform the mass in Latin.