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(Lat.).

Old art. The medieval W. European mus. style, based on plainsong and organum, employed by composers (notably Leonin and Pérotin) of the Notre Dame or Parisian sch. in the 12th and 13th cents....

(Lat., ‘the more subtle art’).

A term used to describe French vocal music of the late 14th century. Composers after Machaut developed a sophisticated and complex musical style using the ...

(Lat., ‘crowned song’).

A medieval term for a type of embellished trouvère song, perhaps so called because it or its composer had won a prize.

To chant is to utter words musically in a prescribed ritualistic manner, particularly in sacred music, for example, to chant bhajans or psalms. As a noun, chant means ‘a short ...

Section of the Proper of the Mass frequently set by composers. Operatically speaking, the ‘Credo’ refers to Iago's aria in Act II of Verdi's Otello in which he states his belief in a cruel god.

A formula, generally including a response, sung or spoken to dismiss the congregation at the end of a service (e.g. Ite missa est, Deo gratias).

Solo and unison plainsong choral chants assoc. with Pope Gregory I which became the fundamental mus. of the RC Church. See Plainsong.

(b nr. Tournai, c.840; d Saint‐Amand, Tournai, 930).

Fr. monk, remembered for his treatise De harmonica institutione (? c.880) which describes the gamut and the modes.

(Lat., ‘reproaches’).

A series of chants sung in the Roman rite during the Veneration of the Cross on Good Friday. In modern books there are three greater Reproaches based on ...

The name given in Latin antiquity to a joyful work sung without text. First applied to melismatic Christian chant by Amalarius of Metz (9th century), it has customarily been defined ...