Chant

Chant, unaccompanied sung melody, the rhythms and melodic contours of which are closely tied to the spoken rhythms and inflections of the text. Chant texts can be either sacred or secular, but the term usually refers to sacred liturgical music. Chant has been used in religious ceremonies since ancient times. In terms of present-day chant styles in the Western world, the most important of the early repertories is Jewish liturgical chant, or cantillation (see Jewish Music). The early Christian church borrowed not only its modes, or scales, but also some Hebrew melodies and melodic fragments. Most of the texts in Christian chant are taken from or based on the Psalms, a biblical book shared by Jews and Christians.

Several types of Christian chant, which is often called plainsong, developed during the first 1000 years of the Christian era. A repertory called Ambrosian chant developed at Milan, Italy; named after St. Ambrose, it is still used in some Roman Catholic services in Milan. In Spain, until about the 11th century, there was a chant repertory called Mozarabic chant, named after the Mozarab Christians who lived in Arab-dominated Spain during the Middle Ages. Today Mozarabic chant survives in a few Spanish cathedrals. Until the 9th century, France had its own chant repertory, called Gallican chant; a few traces of it remain today in the Gregorian repertory. In Rome a separate repertory developed that eventually spread throughout Europe and superseded the others. It is now called Gregorian chant after Pope Gregory I, known as the Great, who was active in collecting Roman chants, having them assigned specific places within the liturgy, and seeing that they were adopted by churches in other cities and countries. Today about 3000 different Gregorian melodies are known.

The Eastern Christian churches developed several types of chant before ad 1000, variants of which are still used. The Armenian, Byzantine, Russian, Greek, and Syrian repertories are the most important. Many of the original melodies in these repertories were incorporated into the Gregorian repertory.

Among Protestant denominations only the Church of England has encouraged an extensive use of chant; its repertory, which is harmonized, is called Anglican chant.