Gregorian Chant

Gregorian Chant is the term commonly applied to the vast repertoire of liturgical plainchant assembled during the period from roughly A.D. 700 to 1300. The chants were named after Pope Gregory I, who died in A.D. 604. Almost 3,000 extant chants comprise the Gregorian repertoire, with texts specific to each day of the Roman Catholic Church’s liturgical year. The chants that make up the Ordinary of the Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, and Agnus Dei) are used throughout the year. Other chants are used on specific feast days and are known as the Propers.

Our earliest chant books are preserved from around A.D. 900, so the very early development of the chant is unclear. The first books of chant, prepared in France and Germany circa 900, contain nearly 600 examples. The style changed around A.D. 1000, with the  “mysterious irregularity” of earlier chants replaced by phrasing that is more familiar today.