Gregorian
Chant
Propers from the
'Graduale Romanum' · Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Gregorian Chant, the
monophonic (Latin)
ritual melody of the Roman Catholic Church, draws its name from Pope
Gregory I, by whom it was collected and codified around the year 600.
From Rome, and probably through its early adoption in Franconia, the
chant became widely established with state approval in the ninth
century in the singing schools (schola cantorum) of cathedrals and
monasteries. The term Gregorian Chant is generally synonymous with
Plainsong (Plainchant) and as the 'Cantus choralis' (i.e. the music
sung 'in choro' — in the choir / chancel, by the altar), became in the
Germanic lands, the 'Choral'. This implies that it was not sung by all
present. The repertory of Gregorian Chant in current use is set out in
the 1974 Graduale Romanum. The earlier sections
comprise the
melodies for those parts of the Mass which vary according to the church
calendar, to underline the character of a season, feast or saint's day.
This is the Proper (Proprium) as distinct from the
musically and textually unvarying Ordinary (Ordinarium): Kyrie, Gloria,
Sanctus, Agnus Dei.
The melodies do not conform to the familiar major-minor key system, but
to that of the church 'tones' or 'modes'. The varying place of the
semitones within the scale determines the character of a mode, and each
mode was considered to have a different ethical / moral effect on
singers and congregation. The especially important notes within an
ecclesiastical mode are the final note (Finalis), the reciting note
(Tuba or Repercussa), and the Tenor (sustaining note), which lies a
fifth above the Finalis and around which the Psalm melody moves.
Finalis and Tenor determine the modes and its expressive character.
There are eight of these church modes (Dorian / Hypodorian; Phrygian /
Hypophrygian; Lydian / Hypolydian; Mixolydian / Hypomixolydian). The
seventh, the Mixolydian, was held to be radiant and festive and the
sixth, the Hypolydian, warm-hearted and introspective.
For all the wealth and diversity of Gregorian Chant, certain formal
principles may be recognised — the 'Parallelismus membrorum' and the
arch form. The first comes from the nature of the prayer and meditation
in the Psalms. In 'parallel' texts, each of the two halves of a Psalm
verse illuminates and balances the other by expressing a similar idea
in different words or a different idea in similar words (Sanctus,
sanctus, sanctus, Dominus, Deus, Sabaoth). This textual 'Parallelismus
membrorum' is also reflected in the music in the form of two or more
melodic arches within the chant. In the case of longer texts or more
extended chants, a rest point (flexa) is inserted half-way in each
arch; a long chant might comprise Initium, Recitation, Flexa,
Recitation, Mediation; Initium, Recitation, Flexa, Recitation,
Terminatio.
In addition to 10 chants from the Proper, appropriate to different
Sundays, this recording includes a complete choral office for the Feast
of the Immaculate Conception,
which has been observed since December 8, 1854. The Catholic dogma does
not refer to the conception and birth of Christ, but asserts that the
mother of Jesus was without original sin and that Jesus was conceived
without blemish. The Introit and Communion
are
processional chants, which accompany respectively the entry of the
celebrants at the start of the Mass and the defile of the congregation
to Communion. The Alleluia and Gradual
are meditational; the almost theatrical and virtuosic Offertory
is notably for a near absence of recitation. The Antiphon 'Salve
Regina'
hails the mother of the Lord before the departure of the congregation.
All the chants make it clear that the synthesis of sagacity,
dedication, discipline, devotion, and fervour fosters the kind of
singing that Bishop Ambrose of Milan designated 'sobria ebrietas'
(sober intoxication).
Uwe Kraemer
(Translation: Miriam Verhey-Lewis)