Plainchant is a large repertory of music composed with Latin words from Sacred texts used in the liturgical services of the Christian (and later called the Roman Catholic Church). Monks sang without instrumental accompaniment (A Capella) Singing the text to a simple melody helps monks remember the words and is a means to focus inward on spiritual work that illuminates the Christian message. The singing is unemotional; the music is simple and in a small range of pitches.
During the early centuries of the M.A. (500-1000) every monk sang the same melody (in unison): The form was Monophonic(one sound). In its earliest (and simplest) form Chant is also syllabic (each syllable is sung to a single musical note). The music served the words and did not demand attention as a separate activity.
Medieval music notation was not precise. Block notes called neumes were placed on, above or below
staff lines that began with a single line and developed to four lines. There were no metric measure divisions: The meter followed the syllables of text. Because this music notation system had no metric markings and the neumes did not indicate how long the note should be held in singing, it has become common practice to sing all of the notes at the same length. The music serves the inflections of the text and the length of the syllables.
For a brief history visit The Gregorian Chant Homepage. In the tiny menu bar near the top click on The Roots of Chant. You can listen to many types of Plainchant from this website.
