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The sacredness and beauty of Gregorian Chant
- Adriana Vicente
- Feb 9
- 3 min read
Since I was little, I don't know why, I've been passionate about Gregorian chant. I don't remember exactly where I first heard it, but every time I listen to it I feel at home, a mix of relaxation and tranquility, as if I've already been a part of it. It's a strange feeling (past lives, perhaps?!), and since then I've been researching it.
Gregorian chant, also known as plainchant, is a type of sacred music inherited from the Medieval Catholic Church. Created by Pope Gregory the Great (who led the Church from 590 to 604) in the 6th century (hence the name "Gregorian"), it was adopted by the Church as a type of sung prayer, a meditative moment. Sung in Latin and without instruments (occasionally accompanied by organ or piano), it has only one melody. It is a liturgical chant that was widely used in masses. The voices ended up being amplified due to the acoustics of the cathedrals, which created a different sound effect.
In addition to Gregorian Chant, Pope Gregory the Great also founded the Schola Cantorum , an institution whose purpose was to teach and improve liturgical chant. Many monks were sent to Rome to learn more about the technique and later bring it to the parish community to which they belonged. In its early stages, Gregorian Chant consisted only of psalms and biblical phrases. Over time, the monks also began to compose music and poems to be sung liturgically, in Latin. The authorship of most of the chants remains unknown to this day; what is known is that most of the compositions were created by monks from ancient monasteries scattered throughout medieval Europe.
"He who sings, prays twice."
From its inception, Christian music was a sung prayer, to be performed not in a purely material way, but with devotion or, as Saint Paul said, "singing to God in your hearts." The text was therefore the raison d'être of Gregorian Chant. In reality, the singing of the text is based on the principle that, according to Saint Augustine, "he who sings, prays twice." Gregorian Chant can never be understood without the text, which takes precedence over the melody and is what gives it meaning. Therefore, when interpreting it, singers must have a very good understanding of the meaning of the text. Consequently, any operatic vocal style that seeks to exalt the performer's brilliance should be avoided.
Gregorian chant is the origin of the Gregorian modes (scales), which are the basis of Western music. From them come the major and minor modes, and five other lesser-known modes. It is sung in unison – only one note at a time – which means that all singers sing the same melody, in free rhythm, according to the development of the literary text. It is modal music, written in particular scales of sounds. It was believed that these scales (and not the music created from them) served to awaken varied feelings, such as meditation, joy, sadness, serenity, among others. Its melody is sometimes syllabic (when each syllable of the text corresponds to a sound), and sometimes melismatic (when one syllable corresponds to several sounds).
The text is in Latin, the official language of the Roman Empire, which extended throughout Europe (the Romance languages did not yet exist). These texts were taken from the Psalms and other books of the Old Testament. Some came from the Gospels, and others were original inspiration, generally anonymous. However, some liturgical pieces are in Greek. Gregorian chant is written on tetragrams, that is, on four lines, unlike the pentagram (five lines) of modern music. The notes are called square notes ( punctum quadratum , or "square point").
The peak of this liturgical chant was in the High Middle Ages (476 to 1000 AD). At the time of its creation, Gregorian Chant was considered elevated, pure music, in contrast to other types of popular music of the time, which were seen as profane.
Even though it originated in medieval times, many monasteries still use this sacred chant in their masses. The Monastery of São Bento , for example, holds masses celebrated with Gregorian chant every Sunday at 10 am. The masses and chants are also accompanied by an organ.
For anyone who wants to hear some Gregorian chant, I recommend this video of a performance by the monks of the São Bento Monastery in São Paulo, at the São Francisco das Chagas Cathedral in Taubaté. It's absolutely beautiful <3
And for those who want to learn more about it, I recommend the website Canto Gregoriano Brasil , which aims to disseminate and promote Gregorian Chant because of its intrinsic relationship with the Mass celebrated in the Traditional Roman Rite.
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