Chant and Polyphony at the National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi in San Francisco

A detail from a painting by Giovanni Cimabue, in the lower level of the Basilica at Assisi.

The National Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi in San Francisco

Chant and Polyphony

Introduction | Some Useful Definitions

We really don’t know much about early Christian music. We do know that Saint Paul encouraged his churches to worship with “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16; see also Ephesians 5:19). This comes as no surprise, since singing and chanting had long been a part of the tradition of the synagogue.

The first written evidence we have of any discussion about the sort of music appropriate to Christian worship comes from Clement of Alexandria in the third century. Among other things, he directed that music not be of the kind associated with erotic dance music. This is probably in reaction to many Gnostic abuses of the time which threatened true Christianity.

Then we have the testimony of Saint Augustine, in the fourth century, who, in his Confessions, describes how he was moved to tears by the psalm chants in Milan. After 33 years of dark spiritual struggle, he was baptized in 387 by Saint Ambrose, who likely composed the very music—known as Ambrosian chant—that so affected Augustine.

A detail from the Salve Regina. By the end of the sixth century, the Roman style of plain song became a norm for other churches; by the ninth century this style of chant had become attributed to Pope Gregory the Great who served from 590–604 AD. Hence the name, Gregorian chant. Gregorian chant is characterized by free rhythm and the limited Gregorian scale, and it is sung in unison without accompaniment.

Later, in the middle ages, as harmony developed, a style of singing known as polyphony emerged. The art of these beautiful compositions involves the adding of a related but independent melody or melodies to a basic melody, all in accord with complex rules of harmony.

Some Useful Definitions

Ambrosian chant a type of liturgical chant characterized by a greater ornamentation of melody than Gregorian chant.

antiphon 1. a short sentence recited (or sung) before and after a psalm or Gospel canticle in the Divine Office.
2. a piece of music chanted or sung in responsive, alternating parts.

antiphonal singing two groups of singers chanting alternately.

counterpoint the art of adding a related but independent melody or melodies to a basic melody, in accordance with fixed rules of harmony, to make a harmonic whole.

contrapuntal according to the principles of counterpoint.

Gregorian chant the ritual plain song traditionally ascribed to Pope Gregory I; it is unharmonized, unaccompanied, and without meter.

motet a contrapuntal, polyphonic song of a sacred nature, generally unaccompanied.

plain chant another name for plain song.

plain song a type of chant characterized by free rhythm and the limited Gregorian scale, and sung in unison without accompaniment.

polyphony a combining of a number of individual but harmonizing melodies; also called counterpoint.