Introitus
Over decades, the gregorian chant has caught admiration and attention of different listeners, religious or not religious, professionals or amateurs, within or outside the liturgical context. Nowadays, one can look for, watch, read and listen to numerous records, videos, monastic choirs and books.
Despite all that, not much accurate information has been offered on its textual and musical elements, nature, social and liturgical aspects and history. In general, simple tips are delivered by sites and books which gives the impression that it can be studied and performed observing a limited range of rules valid for the whole repertoire, regardless its musical, social, historical, geographical and liturgical details and differences.
To offer a deeper understanding of its richness this to all those interested on it is our goal .
Its nature
The musical and liturgical comprehensive repertoire known as "gregorian chant" is in fact a complex of roman and frankish (in its turn "heir" of the previous galican) repertoires synthesis taken by its respective masters and intensified due to the rise of the carolingian dinasty. Its genesis and development had been undertaken during the course of centuries within a vast and diversified geographical, social and institutional realities.
An adequate approach to the gregorian chant must take into account these comprehensive and rich "layers" elaborated over a period of four centuries during which monasteries created and developed written musical systems, the so called "neumatic", and its articulation, dynamics, melodic and textual expressions signified by a sophisticated and rich diversity of signs.
Besides, this approach involves manuscripts, texts, documents, caligraphies, latin, liturgy, spirituality, philosophy research and interpretation, vocal techniques and music reading, a whole of knowledges that provides researches and performers the latin text-melodic-modal relationship and spiritual meaning, its contexts, form and variations.
As an incomparable way of expression of the sacred text, the gregorian chant, as part of the liturgical and extra-liturgical actions, reveals to us "beauty", the sensible expression to God's Grace.
Be all welcome
