Portal:Christianity/Selected article/September 2009

 

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song of the Catholic Church, performed in the Mass and the monastic Office. Although popular legend credits Pope St. Gregory the Great with inventing Gregorian chant, scholars believe that it arose from a later synthesis of Roman chant and Gallican chant commissioned by Carolingian rulers, especially Charlemagne. Gregorian chant supplanted or marginalized the other indigenous plainchant traditions of the Christian West to become the official music of the Catholic liturgy. Although Gregorian chant is no longer obligatory, the Catholic Church still officially considers it the music most suitable for worship.

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