Download Fact Sheet 1

ALCUIN AND THE CAROLINGIAN RENAISSANCE
A TEACHING RESOURCE
MUSIC OF ALCUIN’S
TIME
FACT
SHEET
1
Gregorian Chant
It is virtually impossible to tell what the music of Alcuin’s time sounded like,
because the earliest surviving copies of notated music date from
approximately 900 AD, nearly 100 years after Alcuin’s death. We do know,
however, that one of the musical styles that was to play a very important
role in cathedrals and monasteries during the Middle Ages and beyond was
under development during this time.
The musical style is called Gregorian Chant. Gregorian Chant is a type of
Plainchant. Plainchant is a single melodic line sung by a solo voice or by
several unison voices with no accompaniment. It was used (and is still sung
today) to communicate the text of Christian worship (liturgy), perhaps to
make it sound more ceremonial. It is not certain where or when Gregorian
Chant developed (see Fact Sheet 2 for details) but we do know that the use
of Gregorian Chant in Christian worship spread throughout England and the
Frankish empire before, during and after Alcuin’s time. Today Gregorian
Chant is the official chant of the Roman Catholic Church.
Gregorian Chant
There are many different kinds of Gregorian Chant, which are
designed for different purposes during Christian worship. Some
kinds, such as those used for chanting the Psalms, involve
reciting most of the text on one note. Psalms are divided into
small sections (called verses) and every verse is usually in two
halves. The singers begin and end the verses (or half verses) of
the Psalm with a pattern of different pitches, according to
which ‘formula’ or ‘Psalm tone’ is being used. Monks and
priests would sometimes use these formulae to recite all 150
Psalms one after the other (called reciting the Psalter). Psalms
were also chanted during services in monasteries, churches or
cathedrals.
Other kinds of Gregorian Chant are more tuneful. Some contain
mostly one note per syllable of text (this is called syllabic)
others involve singing many notes to the same syllable (this is
called melismatic). Some Gregorian Chant would have been
performed by a large group of people (for example, all the
monks in a monastery) other kinds would have been performed
by specialist singers, either the choir singing together or a
cantor singing alone. Some kinds alternate solo and group
singing. The learning resources pages of the NCEM website
contain examples of chants which may date from Carolingian
times.
Figure 1
Ivory panel from
the 10th century,
Showing
Archbishop,
Priest and Choir
(Fitzwilliam
Museum)
Questions to ask when
listening to Plainchant
• Is the Plainchant syllabic (one note
to each syllable), melismatic (more
than one note to each syllable) or a
mixture of the two?
• Does the text rhyme?
• Does the Plainchant have a regular
meter?
• Is the Plainchant sung by one voice
or more than one?
• Is the Plainchant sung in unison, or
organum? Is the organum parallel or
free organum?
Page 2 contains information about each piece.
Page 1
ALCUIN AND THE CAROLINGIAN RENAISSANCE
A TEACHING RESOURCE
MUSIC OF ALCUIN’S
TIME
FACT
SHEET
1
salvation of the swan is achieved after its death and
Introits are sung as the clergy process to their places the new land is representative of heaven. The melody
shares very few similarities with Gregorian Chant, and
at the beginning of the service. We know that the
its style may be based on secular Carolingian music.
chant is very old because it appears in ancient mass
books and because it is depicted in a carving from the The melody closely reflects the development of the
story. It rises higher and becomes more agitated with
10th century (figure 1). This carving shows an
the swan’s anguish and blossoms into a beautiful tune
archbishop, priests and a choir singing. The
Archbishop is holding a book, which is open to reveal as the poem tells of the song sung by the swan as she
safely reaches dry land.
the words ‘Ad te levavi’. This piece of Plainchant is
quite melismatic.
Rex caeli
This is an example of sacred music sung in two parts.
Alleluia and a troped Alleluia
Although Plainchant was usually made up of just one
There are many Gregorian ‘Alleluias’ for singing at
part sung in unison, singers would make it more
different occasions during worship. They are even
interesting by using a technique called ‘organum’.
more melismatic than the Introit, as the whole chant There are two kinds of organum. ‘Parallel organum’
involves singing just one word (Alleluia) to many
involved two groups of singers performing exactly the
different notes. During the time of Charlemagne, extra same
words were sometimes added to alleluias. This was
melodic pattern at the same time, but beginning at
called ‘troping’. A Carolingian monk called Notker
two different pitches, usually a perfect 4th or 5th
Balbulus explained that it was done because singers
apart. ‘Rex caeli’ is a beautiful example of ‘free
(himself included) had difficulty remembering the
organum’, where the intervals between the two parts
twists and turns of the melody when it was sung to
vary. The two parts often begin, and always end on
just one word. Adding more words helped the singers the same pitch. ‘Rex caeli’ comes from a musical
remember the melody. The new words
treatise of the 9th century called Musica Enchiriadis.
cleverly retain the sound of the Alleluia within them.
Introit (Ad te levavi)
Hymn (Veni Creator Spiritus)
Christus vincit
This is an ‘Acclamation’ or ‘Laudes Regiae’ from
Unlike Antiphons, hymns are usually syllabic. They are Charlemagne’s Psalter. Acclamations were an Ancient
also strophic, which means that the same music is
Roman tradition; people would shout out particular
used for several different verses of text. The poetic
words or phrases to acknowledge someone or
texts follow a particular meter and rhyme scheme,
something (rather like today people might shout
making them much easier to remember than some
‘three cheers’ to praise someone, or say ‘hear, hear’
other kinds of Gregorian Chant.
when they agree with what a speaker is saying). In
Ancient Rome, Acclamations were shouted at the
Sequences
entrance of an Emperor, and it would seem that the
Lament of the Swan
tradition continued with the coronation of the Holy
Many sequences were composed during the
Roman Emperor. These acclamations repeat the words
Carolingian period. Like Hymns, they are Plainchant
‘Christus vincit, Christus regnat, Christus
settings of poetry. Sequences are made up of two
imperat’ (Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ
sections of text sung to the same music. ‘Lament of
commands) and call upon the saints to help the
the Swan’ is one of the finest surviving examples. In
Emperor. The original acclamation is very long – the
the first part of the poem, an exhausted swan cries
website contains a shortened version!
out in anguish to heaven during a long flight across
the oceans. In the second part, the speaker’s voice
Secular Music
tells of the coming of dawn and the swan’s gathering We know very little about secular music from Alcuin’s
strength as she flies towards land. The flight of the
time. ‘O admirabile’ probably dates from the 11th
swan can be seen to represent a human soul’s journey century, 200 years after Alcuin died. It originated in
towards redemption. Tradition maintains that a swan Italy, but was known across Europe and appears in a
only sings as it approaches death – perhaps the
12th century manuscript of English songs.
Page 2