plainsong
Sign in to saveAlso known as plainchant, cantus planus
Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ; ) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive form of the Western Christian church music until the ninth century and the introduction of polyphony.
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- church music
Show 3 more facts
- facet of
- Christian liturgy
- Commons category
- Cantus planus
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
via Wikidata · CC0
~9 min read
Encyclopedic overview
8 sectionsContents
- History
- Chant types and traditions
- Composers
- Modes
- Example
- See also
- References
- External links
Plainsong or plainchant (calque from the French ; ) is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Western Church. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text. Plainsong was the exclusive form of the Western Christian church music until the ninth century and the introduction of polyphony.
The monophonic chants of plainsong have a non-metric rhythm, which is generally considered freer than the metered rhythms of later Western music. They are also traditionally sung without musical accompaniment, though recent scholarship has unearthed a widespread custom of accompanied chant that transcended religious and geographical borders.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “plainsong” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.