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Gregorian Chant
An unaccompanied Christian song
used for prayer in the Catholic Church.
At first, Christianity prohibited any use of instruments, which were associated
with pagan worship. Pope Gregorius
gathered, in the 6th century, all liturgical hymns, 630 of them, into one
collection that included all the chants required for the Christian sevices,
including the weekly mass, for the entire year. He set 8 modes
(ancient scales) for church singing, and these
exist to this very day.
The Gregorian chant is sung, as
mentioned above, a-cappella,
meaning without accompaniment, and with no defined meter
or rhythm.
It is sung by one voice or several voices singing the same tune exactly
(in unison).
The historical origins of Gregorian
chant are ancient Christian songs, based on Jewish
tunes already sung in the Jewish temple, and
Greek
and Roman
influences.
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