Burgess, Francis
The rudiments of Gregorian
music
MT
S60
THE
RUDIMENTS OF
GREGORIAN Music
FRANCIS" BURGESS
F.S.A., Scot.
Second Impression.
WILLIAM REEVES 83 CHARING CROSS ROAD,
BOOKSELLER LIMITED LONDON, W.C.2
Printed by The New Temple Preee, Norbury Crescent, Lfndon, S.W.16, Gt. Britain
London, S.W.]
THE RUDIMENTS OF GREGORIAN
MUSIC.
PLAINSONG, or Gregorian Music, is the generk
name given to that great system of ecclesiasti-
cal melody formulated by the primitive Church and
retained in later ages as the official Chant for use
during the most solemn acts of Christian worship. As
a system it represents the accumulated knowledge of
several centuries usually accounted great by those who
respect Tradition, while its peculiar and characteristic
solemnity marks it out as an ideal form of sacred music
which the modern composer may study with profit.
Scientifically, Plainsong divides itself into two dis-
tinct categories : t- .
4 The Riidiments of Gregorian Music.
1. Psalmodic (or Recitative) Plainchant.
2. Antiphonal (or Melodic) Plainchant
The two species, which grew up together and were
used alongside each other are not always easy to dis-
tinguish at first sight. The first may be simply des-
cribed as a systematization of the oratorical inflexions
. of the human voice, not altogether unlike the older
Greek system of declamation. The simplest forms of
this species are to be found in the inflexions with which
the ordinary ferial responses at Matins and Evensong
are sung. They consist merely of a monotonic recita-
tion with an oratorical cadence at the end, which may
be said to represent in musical form the ordinary rise
and fall of the human voice in public speaking. The
Gregorian psalm-tones also belong to this category
and it would save a good deal of misapprehension as
well as a certain amount of ill-conceived and sadly
misapplied humour, if it were recognised that these
Tones are simple recitatives leading on to distinct
melodies rather than self-contained chant forms.
The other species (the Antiphonal) comprises all that
part of the music which has definite melody even in its
simplest forms. The most ancient instances are to be
found in certain of the Antiphons which in very early
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music. 5
times were sung as choruses between the psalm verses.
The following musical examples will help to show
more clearly the distinction between the two species.
The first is purely recitative while the second is the
melodic form into which the first leads.
Psalm Tone I, ending 4.
Be - hold, how good and joyful
breth - ren, to dwell to - geth - er in u - ni - ty.
Psalm Antiphon, Mode I.
zrdsc^tezJEijsz. :_q>_:r^_
Be - hold, how good and joy - ful a thing it is
The reason for the difficulty which occurs in assigning
certain melodies to their proper class is due to the fact
that some of the Psalmodic music in course of time
became rather ornate, its simple recitative character
being somewhat obscured and overlaid by the elabora-
tion which occurred. Thus, the following instance
falls, technically, within the Recitative species in spite
of its profuse ornamentation.
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music.
From the point of view of the performer no very great
difficulty is to be apprehended from this apparent con-
fusion of styles. The rules governing the singing of
Plain chant apply with equal force to the melodies
contained in either species. In an elementary treatise
like this it would not have been necessary to touch upon
the matter had it not been for the mistaken impres-
sion caused by certain ill-worded lectures which have
allowed enquirers to think that the Psalmodic and
Antiphonal species really signify Simple (i.e., syllabic)
and Ornate (neumatic) melodies respectively.
Having dealt, then, with the technical classification
of the music we may go on to observe that there is a
practical classification also which has been in vogue
for many centuries that which distinguishes the Solo
Chants from the Chorus Chants. From the earliest
times it has been recognised that there is a real function
in religious worship, both for the highly trained soloist
and for the less skilled chorus singer, as well as for the
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music. 7
laity who form the congregation. The particular
method of apportioning the musical parts of the service
was not always and in all places the same. The scheme
varied in different ages up to and, in some places,
perhaps beyond the settlement of the music by Gregory
the Great (died A.D. 604). In the Middle Ages those
variable portions of the Mass known as the Gradual,
Tract and Alleluya were reserved to the soloist, the
remainder being left to the choir, while certain num-
bers (such as the Credo] were sufficiently simple to
permit of all present taking part.
The notation, rhythm and general method of per-
formance being practically identical, whether it be a
psalm tone which is being sung or an elaborate
Gradual, we may now proceed to consider the rules
which govern the interpretation of the music. The first
thing which the student should master is the
The C clef *-- ; ' C or r- T denotes
that the line upon which it is placed is C or Do> all
other intervals above or below being reckoned from it
as on the white notes of the piano.
8 The Rudiments of Gregorian Music.
The F clef _ ^C or sometimes fT denotes
that the line upon which it is placed is F.
The more rarely used ; clef denotes that the
third space contains B flat throughout the piece, the
other intervals being reckoned accordingly.
The following list of notes and note-groups (taken
from the later mediaeval MSS.) will be found in all
trustworthy Plain chant publications of the present
day.
Single notes.
These are of equal
value and each might be represented in modern nota-
tion by a quaver.
Groups containing two or three notes.
a descending group =#=^
equal to W ic+ i -
i.^ g ^ an ascending group
"~" equal to
a descending group
equal to
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music.
an ascending group ~
equal to J
a group equal to pfefagfcjbcfzzz
a group equal to
Compound note-groups.
a combination of -ft-
Nos. 2 and I. ||
a duplication of
No. i.
a combination of -
Nos. 2 and 3.
When the concluding note of any group is printed in
small type it denotes the fact that it is allied to a sylla-
ble with a liquescent ending and that the note is
shortened by being merged into the pronunciation of
the final consonant.
Other editorial marks in printed Plainsong books
include :
10
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music.
The first signifies a "half breath," the second a
breathing space of the value of one note while the third
denotes the end of a phrase with a consequent diminu-
endo and rallentando in the melody. In a piece of
extended compass the use of ledger lines is avoided by
the transposition of the clef where necessary, as in the
following example :
-*-?- a 1., f a p.
which would thus be transcribed into modern notation.
So far we have seen the meaning of the Plainchant
Notation so far as its pitch is concerned. It would,
however, be quite possible to render the music accur-
ately, as regards its notes, while missing its entire
meaning and character. Closely allied with the rules
of Notation, therefore, are the principles governing
Plainsong rhythm.
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music. 11
RHYTHM.
The shortest phrase which can convey the idea of
movement must contain at least two syllables or notes.
An isolated sound cannot convey any feeling of
rhythm. The shortest division possible in language or
music is termed the Rhythmic Foot, and while it may
not consist of less than two members it cannot contain
more than three. The rhythmic foot may therefore be
divided into two species :
Binary that which contains two parts (one strong
syllable and one weak).
Ternary that which contains three parts (one strong
syllable and two weak).
The following line is written in Binary form :
Praise the Lord, his | glo-ries | show.
while Ternary form is shown by the phrase :
? i t ? t
Praise to the | Lord, the Al- | migh-ty, the | King of ere- | a-tion.
All language may be divided up in this kind of way,
and the fundamental difference between poetry and
prose is that in the former the strong or accented sylla-
bles are regularly disposed at uniform distances while
12 The Rudiments of Gregorian Music.
in the latter the accents fall irregularly. That is to say
in poetry the rhythm is fixed (being either Binary or
Ternary) while in prose the rhythm is free, possessing
both forms indiscriminately. This contrast illustrates
the fundamental distinction between modern music and
Plainsong. Historically, modern music is a develop-
ment of the dance-form and is written in feet of uni-
form length. Plainsong is an artistic development of
declamatory prose and is written in feet of varying
length. This contrast, which is a commonplace of
ancient musical history, may be regarded as a sufficient
answer to those short-sighted partizans whose zeal in
denouncing Plainchant as a barbarous and
undeveloped form of modern music is only equalled by
their lack of exact knowledge as to its rudiments.
The practical application of the rhythmic principles
of Plainsong may best be seen in the recitation of the
Psalter, and, as a number of choirs sing this portion of
the service to the ancient Tones even in places where
the remainder of the music used is of later date, it may
be well to give a few instances of the correct treatment
of certain verses in the Psalms. For it must be con-
fessed that, during the last forty years an unfortunate
custom has arisen of chanting the notes of the Gre-
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music. 13
gorian Tones without any reference to Gregorian
rhythm. This abuse has led to a very natural dislike
of what is termed "Gregorian music" although the
truth is that true Gregorian music has not yet received
an adequate hearing in this country.
We will take one or two stanzas from Psalm 119, one
of the most rhythmically beautiful of all in the Psalter.
Verse 33, "Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy
statutes : and I shall keep it unto the end." Taking
the melody of the third Tone, we will first of all see
how it should not be sung.
Teach me, O Lord, the way of Thy
and I shall keep it -m - to the end.
It will be observed that it is possible to count two
beats in a bar to the above except at the Recitation,
".^SS**
which is often only a confused jumble of sound. We
will now set it out, still in modern notation, making
the rhythm of the melody follow the rhythm of the
words.
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music.
Teach me, O
Lord, the
t
way
of
sta - tutes:
and I
the
shall keep it un -
Now, if it be remembered that the single note in
Plainchant (here represented by the quaver) is indivisi-
ble and cannot be split into two notes of less value
(semiquavers) nor lengthened into a note of greater
value (a crotchet) the result will be an effect of remark-
able smoothness and evenness such as cannot be
obtained under the debased method of chanting. One
or two further instances of correct phrasing will serve
to show the extraordinary flexibility of the Tone and,
of course, the principles here enunciated apply, with
equal force, to all the Tones and their endings.
f f T Iff
The proud have dig-gcd pits for me : which are not af - ter thy law.
f t f
Bles-sed art thou, O Lord : O teach me thy sta-tutes.
If the foregoing instances be compared with the
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music. 15
Tones as often sung it will be noticed that the syllables
taken on the reciting note are more deliberate than
usual while the notes sung to the inflexions are quicker.
That is to say, the verse is sung at an even speed
throughout and this is of the essence of good chanting.
The only exceptions allowed are slight rallentandos
on the concluding syllables of each half verse and
these should also be sung rather more softly than the
rest. Finally, it must be noted that strong accents are
marked by a stress of the voice and not by dwelling
longer on the accented syllable that is to say, accent
means increased loudness and not extra duration, a
truth which is learnt from ordinary speech.
Having seen how the Binary and Ternary forms may
be combined in the recitation of the Psalter we must
now proceed to examine the rules of rhythm as they
affect the more ornate specimens of the music. Here,
apart from the words, the note-groups themselves have
a definite rhythm, groups I and 2 of the examples of
notation given above being Binary in form and consist-
ing of a stress followed by a non-stress thus :
1 6 The Rudiments of Gregorian Music.
Groups 3, 4, 5 and 6 are in Ternary form having each
a stress followed by two weak notes thus :
The single notes possess no rhythmic value apart from
the syllable to which they are allied but the compound
note-groups are phrased according to the accents of the
neumes of which they are made up. Thus, the three
compound groups given above would be rendered
respectively :
H-H-d H
--* * *~
The general rule, therefore, is that while a single note
may be either accented or unaccented according to the
weight of the syllable to which it is sung, a group of
notes invariably has a stress upon its first member the
exact weight of which depends on the importance of
the syllable which it embellishes. Moreover, a group
of more than three notes must, in accordance with the
laws of rhythm, possess a subsidiary stress and this
will be exemplified in the instances which are about to
be given, but it is the initial stress that demands the
greatest care, as it is only by giving it its proper weight
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music. i?
that the balance between accented syllables and non-
accented syllables can be preserved. We will now con-
sider the following quotation from the Introit for As-
cension Day :
e^ j. >fra * I ^ * 3
YK mon of Ga-li-lee. why slant! ye
j>s-in up in - to hca - veil? al-Ic-Ju-ya
In interpreting the above we have first to safeguard
the sense of the text by selecting the accented syllables
apart from any musical stress whatever. In the tran-
scription printed below all accentuated syllables will
be found printed with an accent mark over them.
These demand in every case an emphatic stress in the
music whether they are allied to a single note or to a
group. Then we have to go on to analyse the note-
groups. When these fall on a strong syllable their
initial stress is already provided for. If they fall on
any other syllable a musical stress must be provided
for them but in no case must it be sufficiently promin-
ent to sound like a syllabic accent. All note-groups
with more than three members must have a secondary
stress but this should be so slight as to be barely dis-
1 8 The Rudiments of Gregorian Music.
cernible. In the following transcription three degrees
of stress are used :
1. The syllabic accent preserving the rhythm of the
words, marked with the sign x .
2. The musical stress used for the initial note of a
group placed on a weak syllable, marked by the sign f .
3. The subsidiary stress used in groups of more than
three notes, very slight in character, marked by the sign *.
t t
Ye men of Ga - - li - lee, why stand ye
_XI X X f X f X
y 1^~ - __
gaz - ing up in - to hea - ven 1 Al - le - - - lu - - - ya.
Another example may be given of a melody which,
though not syllabic, is rather less ornate than the fore-
going :
5
-3 >
GLO-RY be to Cod on high and in earth peace
e-= =
Sens:
^
food - will to -wards men We praise Tho.
r* a
bless The. We wor ship Thee.
which would thus be transcribed :
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music. 19
? T ft
Glo - ry be to God on high, and in tarth peace, good-will
to - wards men. We nraise thee. We bless thee. We wor - ship thee.
The rules of Plain chant rhythm as briefly given
above apply with equal force to the Psalmodic and
Antiphonal species and to the Simple and Ornate
varieties contained in either species. It is essential that
they be carefully observed as they are necessary to a
successful rendering of the music. It is advisable that
the more ornate melodies be memorized before per-
formance and as these usually are reserved to trained
singers there need be no difficulty in the way of this
being done. Plainsong, having originally been un-
accompanied, depends entirely on the voices of the
singers for its effect. Any organ accompaniment which
may be used should be restrained and modest in its
scope, providing only the minimum amount of support
necessary for maintaining the pitch.
It is impossible to conclude these remarks without
some reference, necessarily inadequate, to the question
of Plain-song tonality.
2O The Rudiments of Gregorian Music.
TONALITY.
Here we have to exclude the whole of the Psalmodic
species from the scope of our enquiry. That section
of the music which is founded on the oratorical
Recitatives is outside the Modal classification. It is
not altogether unconnected with it for one of the
musical examples already given has shown that an
Antiphon in Mode I requires the use of Tone I for the
accompanying Psalm. And a further examination will
show that the reciting-note of Tone I is identical with
the Dominant of Mode I. But beyond this there is no
affinity and the whole of the Recitative species must be
left outside any Modal classification. Nor must it be
forgotten that the entire Modal systematization is a
good deal later, in point of date, than a vast amount of
the music itself. Possibly the early Plainchant writers
composed their melodies without being fettered by any
highly developed system of tonality. It is generally
believed that the method of modal classification which
now applies to the Antiphonal species of Plainsong was
evolved somewhere about the ninth century. Probably
the earlier compositions were then fitted into the system
by a certain amount of alteration. Even then we are
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music. 21
left with certain compositions which show the charac-
teristics of more than one Mode.
The following table will show the compass of the
Eight Church Modes together with the Final and
Dominant of each. It will be recollected that modern
music contains but two distinct Modes, the Major and
the Minor (the various keys are only repetitions of
one or other of these at varying pitches). The old
writers had a considerable choice of melodic variety
therefore which, we are largely out of touch with in
these days. It should be explained that the Dominant
in the Modes is not regarded harmonically as the fifth
from the Tonic, but in the much more important sense
that it actually dominates its Mode, being really of
greater importance than the Final.
I. Final. Dominant.
II. derived from No. I. Final. Dominant.
III. Final. Dominant.
22 The Rudiments of Gregorian Music.
IV. derived from No. III. Final. Dominant.
V.
VI. derived from No. V.
VII.
Final. Dominant.
Final. Dominant.
VIII. derived from No. VII.
It will be noticed that the Modes run in pairs. Thus
No. I, an authentic or governing Mode, is followed by
No. 2, a derived or plagal Mode, having the same final
as that with which it is allied.
In examining a melody with a view to ascertaining
the Modal family to which it belongs it is necessary
to notice its range or compass, its Final and its
Dominant round which the melody usually circles. Al-
though there is no necessity for the would-be singer
of Plainsong to be intimately acquainted with the
The Rudiments of Gregorian Music. 23
Modal system, it is important that an organist who
has to accompany this type of music should thoroughly
steep himself in the tonality of the various modes if
he wishes to endow his accompaniments with the spirit
of the music in which he is assisting. Nothing can
be more distressing to a cultured listener than an organ
part which betrays not only an absence of appreciation
or affection for the music which the Church has hal-
lowed by many centuries of usage, but also a lack of
knowledge as to the fundamental law which governs
the tonality of the ancient melodies.
The foregoing account of the rudiments of Plainsong
is necessarily very brief and inadequate. The writer
trusts, however, that he may have succeeded in arousing
enough interest in the subject to induce the earnest
student to embark upon a more detailed study of the
Chant. With this desirable object in view the titles and
publishers of a number of works which may be con-
sulted by those desirous of obtaining further informa-
tion is appended.
LIST OF WORKS FOR FURTHER STUDY.
"The Elements of Plainsong." (Plainsong and
Mediaeval Music Society).
24 The Rudiments of Gregorian Music.
"A Grammar of Plainsong." (Burns and Gates,
Limited).
"Gregorian Music." (Art and Book Company,
Limited).
U A Textbook of Plainsong." (Vincent Music Com-
pany, Limited).
"Primer of Plainsong." (Novello and Company,
Limited),
Printed by The New Temple Press, Norbury Crescent, London, S.W.16, Gt. Britain.
MT
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Burgess, Francis
The rudiments of Gregorian
music
Music
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