Questions we’re often asked – with answers from our director, Mary Jane Ballou:

Q.  I thought that only monks sing chant.  Are you monks?

A.  No.  For openers, we’re all women. The St. Augustine Schola Cantorae includes musicians, a librarian, and a translator, among others .  What we have in common is our love of this music and a desire to bring it to other people.   While we focus on chant, the Schola Cantorae also sings other sacred music that complements chant.
 

Q. What is chant?

A. Here’s the short answer – Chant is sung prayer.  To learn more, keep reading. 

The text is the most important.  The words may be taken from Scripture, other prose, or religious poetry. The style is a melody with free rhythm.  Chant doesn’t have a time signature or a meter – you don’t count 1-2-3-4.  It uses a basic pulse and a sense of forward momentum. It is lyrical and the rhythm is inseparable from the melody.

Chant is unison singing – only melody, no other parts or accompaniment.  While it can be accompanied very lightly on the organ, it is really meant for voices only. It was important to the fathers of the early church that the church speak “as in one voice.” 

Chant is NOT slow, lugubrious, sad, meant only for funerals and Lent or odd backup on rock albums or video games.

Q. So this must be really complicated to sing?

A. Not necessarily. There are chants for all the parts of the Mass and of the Liturgy of the Hours – some are very simple and some are very challenging.  It’s true that Gregorian chant uses a different system of notation and style than contemporary popular or art singing.  However, “different” doesn’t mean “impossible,” does it? What chant does require is a clean, low-vibrato voice that blends well and a willingness to learn and sing.

Q.  I thought Gregorian chant was dead, like about 45 years ago.  So what are you doing?

A.  Gregorian chant never died.  In fact, numerous Vatican documents refer to its “privileged place” among types of music for the celebration of the liturgy.  In Sacrosanctum Concilium (1964, Second Vatican Council) – “The Church acknowledges Gregorian chant as specially suited to the Roman liturgy: therefore, other things being equal, it should be given pride of place in liturgical services.” In Musicam Sacram (1967) – “Above all, the study and practice of Gregorian chant is to be promoted, because, with its special characteristics, it is a basis of great importance for the development of sacred music.” The 2003 General Instruction on the Roman Missal just re-emphasized this - “All other things being equal, Gregorian chant holds pride of place because it is proper to the Roman Liturgy. Other types of sacred music, in particular polyphony, are in no way excluded, provided that they correspond to the spirit of the liturgical action and that they foster the participation of all the faithful. Since faithful from different countries come together ever more frequently, it is fitting that they know how to sing together at least some parts of the Ordinary of the Mass in Latin, especially the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer, set to the simpler melodies." 

Over the last 15 years, there has been a slow revival of chant in the Catholic Church, bringing it back from academic specialists and professional musicians in the concert hall. However, it is still more common to hear chant in just about any place except a Catholic Church – other denominations, internet radio, background in films, new-age retreats.  This second revival has accelerated with the new Pope and because of the increased interest in recovering solemnity in worship and a sense of the timeless and universal that chant can afford.  Chant only exists as sacred music – setting it aside from other musical styles that can be local, time-bound, and used in a variety of settings.

Q. Where did it come from?

A. This is a good question and keeps musicologists up nights working on the answer (and arguing at conferences).  There were a plethora of chant types and melodies – all over the Christian world in the early centuries. The chant we know today is a combination of the Carolingian and Roman.  Metz was an important center for culture and liturgy in the Frankish kingdom. The Carolingian king, Charlemagne, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 and wanted to standardize chant in his “new roman empire.”  Cantors were imported from Rome with their manuscripts.  In the long run, there was a merger of styles.  Calling the chant “Gregorian” gave the standardized chant that spread throughout Europe a certain prestige by connecting it with a famous saint and pope. The earliest collections of chant were for the Propers of the Mass – introit, gradual, offertory, communion.  We find these starting around 900.

To learn more about the history of chant, there are some great websites out there. I recommend you start with this one:

Musica Sacra, home page for the Church Music Association of America - http://www.musicasacra.com/

This site is extremely useful.  It provides updates on the activities of the Association, but even more important for the neophyte singer and/or choir director getting started with chant is the wealth of downloads.  There are textbooks, the Liber Usualis, mp3s, links to scholas all over the place.