Around , a new style of music called Ars Nova New Art emerged. Ars Nova includes both sacred and secular music, though secular music gained importance during this period. Ars Nova saw the appearance of a grand form for sacred music- the mass ordinary. The mass ordinary consists of five prayers set to music as five different movements. The prayers are:. Because of diminishing influence of the Church, secular music became more prominent in the Ars Nova Period.
Instruments were used more often, though the music was still primarily vocal. A new secular form of the Ars Nova period is the ballata. A ballata is also known as a falala for its use of this line throughout its pieces. From Wikibooks, open books for an open world. There is 1 pending change awaiting review.
Category : Book:IB Music. Namespaces Book Discussion. Reading room forum Community portal Bulletin Board Help out! Policies and guidelines Contact us. True, the altar is incensed again, but if there is any procession, it is one of considerably less motion than at the introit.
Rather, the mood at this point is one of greater reflection and introspection in preparation for the more solemn moments immediately to come. This more melismatic style perfectly reflects the mixture of processional motion with reflective anticipation characteristic of the offertory. The truly melismatic chants, however, are the gradual and the alleluia. These serve a quite different purpose, complementing the singing of the lessons. The rest of the chant proceeds likewise: the final melisma of the respond is thirty-one notes long; melismas in the verse are up to thirty-seven notes long.
In this very different melismatic style, the purpose must also be very different. My own observation about the gradual is that with the singing of these chants under optimal conditions, all ambient noise in the church ceases, no rustling, no coughing; a pin-dropping silence witnesses to the fact that the attention of the entire congregation is upon listening to the music, and the effect of listening to it is one that elicits a kind of meditation: all distractions are set aside, the person is at repose, but thoroughly attentive.
I have seen this effect only with melismatic chants, and I infer that this is an essential part of its liturgical purpose: this attentive repose elicited by the chants is a perfect preparation to hearing the lessons. When the lessons are sung, the continuity between the melismatic chants and the recitative lessons is established, and their complementarity is evident.
The alleluia is the quintessential melismatic chant. This extended melismatic writing serves two functions: first, it extends the purely musical aspect of the piece even farther than the gradual did; second, this, in turn, makes its purpose absolutely unambiguous: a more modestly melismatic chant might have been mistaken to have been just for the projection of its text, but here the melisma has been developed to the extent that one must acknowledge the alternate purpose—the alleluia is a meditation chant, whose melismatic style elicits an attentive repose that provides an effective, purposeful reflection on the lesson that has just been heard and a preparation for the hearing of the gospel which follows.
Moreover, the progression from gradual to alleluia creates an increase of intensity that effectively underlines the sense of climax of which the singing of the gospel is the peak.
When it comes to the Ordinary of the Mass, a different principle obtains. Here the degree of elaboration characterizes the solemnity of the day. Melodies for the Ordinary allow some choice, there being eighteen sets of such melodies plus some optional alternatives ad lib.
These sets of melodies are arranged in a generally hierarchical order, beginning with the most solemn. As a rule, the higher the degree of the feast, the more elaborate the chants for it.
If the congregation sings the Ordinary, then they are afforded a sophisticated manner of participation: they are asked to sing more elaborate chants on higher feast days, and this enhances their role by making them participants in the substantive expression of the solemnity of the day.
The range of syllabic density demonstrated above suggests a further reflection upon the sacred character of the chant. If the normal pace of the delivery of the text is that of the chanting of a psalm to a psalm tone, then the somewhat slower pace of the Mass propers represents a slowing down of the time of the psalm. When it comes to the gradual and alleluia, the pace of the psalm text is considerably slowed down; this is a pace one can experience readily, since it is placed in direct juxtaposition with the lessons, which are sung at a recitative pace, just like the psalms of the office.
In the case of the gradual and alleluia, this slowing down of the sacred text approaches at times a kind of stasis, and this stasis is as close as we may come to a sense of the suspension of the passage of time.
In turn, this sense of the suspension of the passage of time is an intimation of the experience of eternity. It can only be through the use of music that is not mere utility music. Cardinal Ratzinger spoke of utility music:. For her mission is a far higher one. The Church must not settle down with what is merely comfortable and serviceable at the parish level, she must arouse the voice of the cosmos and, by glorifying the Creator, elicit the glory of the cosmos itself, making it also glorious, beautiful, habitable, and beloved.
Thus, the intimate relation of musical styles to liturgical function, whether in lessons or prayers, proper chants or ordinary, is a most purposeful use of music in showing forth in a clear and radiant way the nature of the liturgical actions themselves; it is the most fundamental projection of the beauty of the liturgy. Email: mahrt stanford edu. Thomas Aquinas, Summa theologica, tr. Albert the Great, De pulchro et bono, I, 2c; cf. Hugh Bredin Cambridge, Mass. Paul Boston: St. Paul Editions, , pp.
Francis A. Brunner, 2 vols. New York: Benziger, , , Vol. I: Seeing the Form, tr. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis, ed. Joseph Fessio, S. For the detals of singing these prayer tones, see Liber , pp. Missale Romanum , p.
For the system of psalm tones, see Liber, pp. Each of these is special in its own way, and all are exemplary in their execution of chant. The subtle differences in the manner of singing the chant show a legitimate variety of interpretations of this ancient art form. By far the best deal for a set of truly excellent recordings is this one.
Here is a sample of their sound:. Peter Kwasniewski. Reprinted with permission from LifeSite and Peter Kwasniewski. The original article can be found here. Peter Kwasniewski holds a B. He is now a full-time author, speaker, editor, publisher, and composer. His website is here. Serving Catholics for 25 Years. Contact Us. Primacy of the word Chant is music in service of God's word.
Free rhythm On account of the foregoing, chant is "ametrical" or "non-metrical" — the only music of its kind in the Western tradition. Unison singing Because the focus in chant is on the word of God as it gathers us into the one Body of Christ, it is sung in unison — that is, everyone singing the same melody at the same time. Unaccompanied vocalization Chant is traditionally sung "a cappella" or without instrumental accompaniment. Modality After free rhythm, modality is the next most distinctive characteristic of Gregorian chant.
Anonymity The vast majority of chants were composed by anonymous monks, cantors, and canons. Emotional moderation It would be a mistake to say chant is without emotion. Unambiguous sacrality This is perhaps the most obvious fact, yet its significance is seldom fully appreciated: Gregorian chant arose exclusively for divine worship, and lends itself to no other profane use.
Peter By far the best deal for a set of truly excellent recordings is this one.
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