CHRISTIAN CHANT AT BYZANTIUM AND IN THE WESTERN CHURCHES
Giulio Cattin|Steven Botterill
Greco-Byzantine chant In the early centuries of Christian era comparative independence individual communities encouraged, at expense any tendency to centralisation, uninhibited development local liturgies and their gradual coalescence in regional groups, distinguished further from one another by use different languages. We have already considered position liturgy East with its numerous rites. Each rite also developed own musical tradition, variety richness these traditions is visible evidence extraordinary vitality Christianity. Taken as a whole, they not only certain functional characteristics common – that several are variant forms same worship but reveal more or less striking uniformity structure itself. Nowadays it usual, quite rightly, call ‘plainchant’; true name cantus planus musica plana does appear before twelfth century, then contrast mensurata . But expression has gradually taken on specific yet broader meaning, so that, for example, French plain-chant , Italian canto gregoriano (‘Gregorian chant’) English ‘plainchant’ cover whole monodic church music. Since this latter used nowadays precise technical sense, better (‘plainsong’) denote entire range music churches West alike, emphasising thereby elements implicit
Cambridge University Press eBooks