Gregorian Chant

An indispensable guide to this key topic in music studies, examining what Gregorian chant is, and its form and features.

David Hiley (Author)

9780521690355, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 17 December 2009

272 pages, 4 b/w illus. 1 map 11 tables 39 music examples
24.6 x 17.4 x 1.3 cm, 0.54 kg

'… comprehensive, written in a deliberately engaging and accessible manner, and invokes the typical twentieth-century priorities, such as the distinction between 'sacred' and 'secular', 'The Church' viewed as a more or less monolithic entity, the 'evolution' of monastic groups, 'forms' and 'styles', and the notion of 'repertory'.' Nancy van Deusen, Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Teaching

What is Gregorian chant, and where does it come from? What purpose does it serve, and how did it take on the form and features which make it instantly recognizable? Designed to guide students through this key topic, this book answers these questions and many more. David Hiley describes the church services in which chant is performed, takes the reader through the church year, explains what Latin texts were used, and, taking Worcester Cathedral as an example, describes the buildings in which it was sung. The history of chant is traced from its beginnings in the early centuries of Christianity, through the Middle Ages, the revisions in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the restoration in the nineteenth and twentieth. Using numerous music examples, the book shows how chants are made and how they were notated. An indispensable guide for all those interested in the fascinating world of Gregorian chant.

Preface
1. Gregorian chant in the service of the church
2. The beginnings of Roman chant
other rites and other sorts of chant
3. Tradition and innovation in medieval chant: from the ninth to the sixteenth century
4. Thinking about Gregorian chant in the Middle Ages, and notating it
5. New chants for new times: from the sixteenth century to the present
Aspects of performance
Glossary.

Subject Areas: Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups [AVH], Music [AV]