plainsong in English

noun

1

unaccompanied church music sung in unison in medieval modes and in free rhythm corresponding to the accentuation of the words, which are taken from the liturgy.

Melody, harmony, and rhythm became as important to music as plainsong and counterpoint, and the arts of ornamentation and virtuoso extemporization thrived among the virginalists, and among the lute and consort players.

noun

plainchant

Use "plainsong" in a sentence

1. They gather only for services of prayer and plainsong.

2. This style became known as a chant or plainsong.

3. Chants such as Ave Maris Stella and the Salve Regina emerged and became staples of monastic plainsong.

4. Most chanting is unaccompanied, often because no one is available with the required skill, especially to accompany plainsong.

5. A slowly changing plainsong pedal note was elaborated by upper voices, which did not follow the main melody note for note as before.

6. The first choral work ever existed was believed to be the Gregorian chant , unison plainsong sung in church services at the time of Pope Gregory I (590-6.

7. If this manuscript hardly recognizes polyphony, notwithstanding the influence of the proses of the school of Saint-Martial-de-Limoges, this is because the author seems to have gone to the limit possible in non-Accentual plainsong.

8. Ambrose, only provides for the recitation of the Psalter once a fortnight.’ ‘St Gregory the Great added four more to the original Ambrosian modes, and this system forms the basis of Gregorian plainsong, still used in the Roman Catholic Church.’

9. Chant: 1 n a repetitive song in which as many syllables as necessary are assigned to a single tone Examples: Hallel (Judaism) a Chant of praise (Psalms 113 through 118) used at Passover and Shabuoth and Sukkoth and Hanukkah and Rosh Hodesh Hare Krishna a Chant to the Hindu god Krishna Types: Gregorian Chant , plainChant , plainsong a