Most of what people call "Gregorian Chants" aren't. The true Gregorian chant as sung during the years after Pope Gregory were monophonic, meaning that only a single melody was sung in unison by all singers. The older, common name for this was plainchant.
That all ended sometime in the tenth century with the emergence of polyphony - different people singing different parts, just like we have today.. We don't know precisely when, because there is no historical record of that music. We do know that it was widespread, because the first written record contained 160 two-part chants in this new form. It's not known that Wulfstan was the composer or simply the collector, or if in fact he did neither and just got the credit.
What we do know is that this is the oldest music on earth that you will still run into every year (probably around the holidays). It dates to Anglo-Saxon England of around 1000 A.D. Because the songs were liturgical music they were in Latin, not the Old English of Wulfstan's day.
If you go to Winchester (highly recommended), the cathedral there is the "new" one, built by the Normans a century after the Winchester Troper was written. Winchester was the Royal Seat of the Anglo-Saxon Kings, and the William the Conqueror was determined to overawe his new subjects. The Old Minster where Wulfstan was Cantor was torn down and the new one built on (almost) the same site. The foundations of the old Anglo-Saxon Cathedral are marked on the lawn.
Amazon has a CD of this, Christmas in Royal Anglo-Saxon Winchester. Somewhat ironically, Amazon has it categorized as a Gregorian Chant.
I never cease to be amazed at the clarity and purity of the voices... sigh...
ReplyDeleteLovely - and there are some other nice selections when this one finishes. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteProbably someone decided after hearing harmony, intentional or otherwise when two or more voices sing together, that hey, that is pretty neat.
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite Christmas disks are chants. It adds a certain flavor that complements Christmas carols. I load up the 5 disk changer with a mix of carols, chants and modern versions of Christmas songs and hit "shuffle". Great fun.
Didn't mean to be impatient today, I just always look forward to Sunday mornings.
Have fun at the blogmeet today, and as my grandmother would say, "Give my best to all inquiring friends."
I suspect that polyphony led to the rise of the West. If you can organize multiple voices, you can organize lots of other things, such as industrial processes.
ReplyDeleteI was outside Southwell (pronounced Suthull) Minster, completed in 1150AD, one cold and frosty Autumnal evening in the early 70s. No-one was about. I was on my own. I heard a sound from within the Minster so I entered.
ReplyDeleteI could feel the age of the stones forming the columns supporting the layers of arches. The body of the Minster was only dimly lit, the choir and organ loft were illuminated.
The Choir was practising polyphony chant. I was the only audience.
It was beautiful.
I remember reading an article about 30 years ago in some forgotten magazine that polyphony might have led to the discovery of metrical time, the idea that instead of days and nights that appeared to be of different durations in winter and summer, day and night together were of equal duration, and that led to clocks and manufacturing and industrialization.
ReplyDelete