Gallican chant refers to the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Gallican rite of the Roman Catholic Church in Gaul, prior to the introduction and development of elements of the Roman rite from which Gregorian chant evolved. Although the music was largely lost, traces are believed to remain in the Gregorian corpus. Broadly speaking, plainsong is the name given to the body of traditional songs used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. ... The Gallican Rite is a historical sub-grouping of Christianity in western Europe; it is not a single rite but actually a family of rites within the Western Rite which comprised the majority use of most of Christianity in western Europe for the greater part of the 1st millennium AD... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article, refers to the sui juris particular Church of the Roman Catholic Church that developed in the area of western Europe and northern Africa where Latin was for many centuries the language of education and culture. ... Gregorian chant is also known as plainchant or plainsong and is a form of monophonic, unaccompanied singing, which was developed in the Catholic church, mainly during the period 800-1000. ...

History

Several sources attest the existence of a distinctive Gallican rite in the Frankish lands between the 5th and 9th centuries. The Celtic and Mozarabic rites, which are liturgically related to the Gallican, are sometimes collectively referred to as "Gallican" as opposed to the different structure of the Roman rite. Lack of a central authority led to the development of local traditions of the Gallican rite in Francia, sharing a basic structure but varying in details. These traditions endured until the Carolingian dynasty. During a papal visit in 752-3, Pope Stephen II had Mass celebrated using Roman chant. According to Charlemagne, his father Pepin abolished the Gallican rites in favor of the Roman use, in order to strengthen ties with Rome that would culminate in Charlemagne's elevation to Holy Roman Emperor. Charlemagne completed the job his father had begun, so that by the 9th century the Gallican rite and chant had effectively been eliminated. However, the Roman chant brought to the Carolingian churches was incomplete, and ended up incorporating musical and liturgical elements from the local Gallican traditions. The resulting Carolingian chant, which developed into Gregorian chant, was a Romanized chant, but one in which traces of the lost Gallican repertory may still be found. The Gallican Rite is a historical sub-grouping of Christianity in western Europe; it is not a single rite but actually a family of rites within the Western Rite which comprised the majority use of most of Christianity in western Europe for the greater part of the 1st millennium AD... // Overview Events Romulus Augustus, Last Western Roman Emperor 410: Rome sacked by Visigoths 452: Pope Leo I allegedly meets personally with Attila the Hun and convinces him not to sack Rome 439: Vandals conquer Carthage At some point after 440, the Anglo-Saxons settle in Britain. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was that century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... The Mozarabic rite is a form of Catholic worship within the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church. ... Latin Rite, in the singular and accompanied, in English, by the definite article, refers to the sui juris particular Church of the Roman Catholic Church that developed in the area of western Europe and northern Africa where Latin was for many centuries the language of education and culture. ... Statue of Charlemagne (also called Karl der Große, Charles the Great) in Frankfurt, Germany. ... Also see: France in the Middle Ages. ... Events Pope Stephen II, pope for 3 days in March. ... Events Pope Stephen II, pope for 3 days in March. ... Stephen, elected pope in March of 752 to succeed Pope Zacharias, died of apoplexy three days later, before being consecrated. ... The Eucharist or Communion or The Lords Supper, is the rite that Christians perform in fulfillment of Jesus instruction, recorded in the New Testament[1], to do in memory of him what he did at his Last Supper. ... Charlemagne (742 or 747 – 28 January 814) (also Charles the Great[1]; from Latin, Carolus Magnus or Karolus Magnus), son of King Pippin the Short and Bertrada of Laon, was the king of the Franks from 768 to 814 and king of the Lombards from 774 to 814. ... Pippin, often also spelt Pepin, was the name of several important figures in the Carolingian family that ruled the Frankish Empire in what is now France and the western parts of Germany in the Middle Ages: Pippin of Landen Pippin of Herstal Pippin III (father of Charlemagne) Pippin the Hunchback... The Holy Roman Emperor was, with some variation, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the predecessor of modern Germany, during its existence from the 10th century until its collapse in 1806. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was that century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... Gregorian chant is also known as plainchant or plainsong and is a form of monophonic, unaccompanied singing, which was developed in the Catholic church, mainly during the period 800-1000. ...

General characteristics

No chantbooks of Gallican chant have survived, although the first documented reference to a book of Western plainchant is of a Gallican text with psalms and chants. What we know of Gallican chant comes from contemporary descriptions of the chant, and Gallican elements that survived in later Gregorian sources. Gregorian chant is also known as plainchant or plainsong and is a form of monophonic, unaccompanied singing, which was developed in the Catholic church, mainly during the period 800-1000. ...

Gallican chant was said to be recognizably different from Roman chant in both its texts and its music. Walahfrid Strabo, writing in the 9th century, judged Roman chant as "more perfect" and Gallican as incorrect and "inelegant." The Gallican rite and texts were often florid and dramatic compared with their Roman counterparts, which may be reflected in the importance of melismatic music in Gallican chant compared with Roman. The use of two reciting tones in Gregorian psalmody may derive from Gallican chant. Another element of Gregorian chant not found in Roman chant, which may reflect Gallican conventions, is the "Gallican cadence," in which the final neume, found only in Gaulish sources, is an upward step whose second pitch is repeated, such as C-D-D. Some types of Gallican chant show direct influence from Byzantine chant, including the use of Greek texts. Walafrid (also Walahfrid), surnamed Strabo (or Strabus, i. ... In music, melisma is the technique of changing the note (pitch) of a syllable of text while it is being sung. ... In the church modes of Gregorian chant the reciting tone (also dominant, tenor, tubae) is the melodic formula used for reciting psalm tones. ... Psalms (Tehilim תהילים, in Hebrew) is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, and of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Byzantine music is the music of the Byzantine Empire and by extension the music of its culture(s) as they continued in the Orthodox Christian parts of the population after the fall of the empire to the rule of the Ottoman Empire. ...

Compositional techniques included certain common incipits, cadences, and the use of centonization. The incipit of a text, such as a poem, song, or book, is its first few words. ... In Western musical theory a cadence (Latin cadentia, a falling) is a particular series of intervals or chords that ends a phrase, section, or piece of music. ... Centonization refers to the practice of composing melodies based on pre-existing melodic figures and formulas. ...

The chief candidates for chants in the Gregorian repertory that may be Gallican fossils are those chants not occurring in the Roman tradition, but having counterparts in the Mozarabic chant and Ambrosian chant traditions, and local and votive chants specific to French saints and locations. Ambrosian chant (also known as Milanese chant) is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Ambrosian rite of the Roman Catholic Church, related to but distinct from Gregorian chant. ...

External links

• Huglo, Michel: Gallican Chant, Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 7 May 2006), Grove Music - Access by subscription only

References

• Apel, Willi (1990). Gregorian Chant. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-20601-4.
• Hiley, David (1995). Western Plainchant: A Handbook. Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-816572-2.
• Hoppin, Richard (1978). Medieval Music. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-09090-6.
• Wilson, David (1990). Music of the Middle Ages. Schirmer Books. ISBN 0-02-872951-X.