Study Guide - Unit III - Chant
Your task, as a small group, is to write an original chant which will look and sound much like the chants of the Middle Ages. Choose or write a 4-6 line poem/text and then compose a chant, as if you were a musician from the Middle Ages. You may use modern paper and pencil, but not staff paper or computer. If you are not fluent in Latin, your work may be in English. Use the square-note neums on a four line staff, as in the example in your textbook. Be sure to include examples of syllabic, neumatic and melismatic setting of the text.
Look at a few of the examples linked below, and notice the beautiful illuminations on some of them. You may want to add some of this sort of "decoration" to your work.
Practice your chant so that you can perform it for the class. One person in your group should be prepared to give an introduction to your piece before you perform it for the class.
Be sure to study your text carefully as you develop your project, and remember that chant:
is monophonic, consisting of a single-line melody
is generally free from regular accent, following the inflections of the text
avoids wide leaps and dynamic contrasts, creating a kind of musical speech.
The following are some links which will be useful to an you develop your knowledge and understanding of Chant:
Illuminated early 16c manuscript
"Astiterunt regem terrae" - Illuminated early 16c manuscript
"Dominus
dixit ad me" -manuscript: from the Editio Medicea of 1614
"Ave maris stella" (with sound)
Gregorian
chant notation. This page provides an explanation of the notation.
