User:Jsm81017/Plainsong

When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text.

It was the only form of Christian church music that was performed until the ninth century. until the introduction of polyphony

The monophonic chants of plainsong have a non-metric rhythm. Its rhythm is generally freer than the metered rhythm of later Western music. And it is sung a Capella or without musical accompaniment.

There are three types of chant melodies that plainsongs fall into, syllabic, neumatic, and melismatic. The free flowing melismatic melody form of plainsong is still heard in Middle Eastern music being performed today.

History
As the number of chants in the church's repertoire increased, officials needed a better way to standardize the music. An unique form of musical notation was developed to help standardize the music and provide a reference for the performers and audience alike. The musical notations that were used were called neumes, and they were employed on a four-line staff, unlike the five-line staff we are accustomed to today. The neumes were placed above the chant's words to help the performer identify the piece's melody but did not specify the pitches or intervals that needed to be sung. Even though there were written musical manuscripts, the performers still needed to memorize the chants through oral traditions before interpreting the notation. It was not until the eleventh century when musical pitches were being integrated into written music.

Most of the earliest plainsong scripts have been destroyed due to war and purposeful destruction and natural causes such as water, fire, and poor environmental conditions. The Toledo Cathedral in Spain has one of the world's largest collections of indigenous plainsong manuscripts devoted to Western Christianity. Their collection consists of 170 volumes of plainsong chants for the procession, Mass, and Office.

The last type of plainsong performance is the solo performed by the choir or the individual performer.

The term Gregorian Chant is often incorrectly used as a synonym of plainsong.

When polyphony reached its climax in the sixteenth century ,the use of plainsong chant was less appealing and almost completely abandoned

Chant types:
 Syllabic- 


 * Scriptural reading
 * Prayer
 * Squence
 * Creed
 * Litany
 * Glorias
 * Psalms
 * Hymn
 * Canticle
 * Antiphon
 * Short responsory
 * Salutation


 * Doxology

 Neumatic- 


 * Introit
 * Tropes
 * Sanctus
 * Agnus Dei
 * Communion

 Neumatic with melismatic sections - 


 * Kyries
 * Graduals
 * Alleluia
 * Offertory
 * Tract
 * Great responsory
 * Preces

Composers
Hildegard of Bingen was a nun of the twelfth century that composed a total of 71 Latin liturgical pieces. The following is a list of her devotional pieces to the Virgin Mary.

 Responsory- 


 * Ave Marie, o auctrix
 * O clarissima mater
 * O tu illustrata
 * O quam preclosa

 Antiphon- 


 * O splendidissima gemma
 * Hodie (Nunc) aperuit
 * Quia ergo femina
 * Cum processit factura
 * Cum erubuerint
 * O fondens virga
 * Oquam magnum miraculum
 * O tu illustrata

 Hymn- 


 * Ave generosa

 Sequence- 


 * O virga ac diadema

 Allelula- 


 * Alleluia, o virga mediatrix