Download 2 Chants Ancient Roo.. - Paul Ayick Vintage Brass

In order to fully understand the origins of plainsong or chant, actually all of Western
music, one must go back to the ancient Greeks. In approximately 500 B.C. Pythagoras, perhaps
history’s first music theorist and other ancient Greek scientists developed the system of scales
(modes) and division of the octave still in use to this day. It was these early Greek thinkers that
essentially developed a system of tonal organization that is the foundation for all Western music.
Pythagoras developed the concept of the order, the mathematical order if you will, inherent in
Western music and in all its tonal relationships. The mathematical relationships he discovered
between divisions of a vibrating string and sound intervals define the very musical divisions we
use to this day. “These were discovered by means of the monochord. The monochord, as the
name implies, is a one-stringed instrument. By stopping the string at one point, plucking it, then
stopping it at another and plucking it again, it is possible to establish a relationship between the
sounds produced and the lengths of the vibrating strings. That relationship is known today as
the Law of Pythagoras, and it states, “When a string and its tension remain unaltered, but the
length is varied, the period of vibration is proportional to the length of the string.” (Amore.
1998.) In early Greek music octaves, fourths, and fifths were considered to be consonant or
concordant intervals while thirds, sixths were considered discordant or dissonant in nature.
Consequently the earliest forms of polyphonic Western music such as Organum employ mostly
these open rather hollow concordant, sounds. It begins to become apparent that music as we
recognize it today evolved through a slow process over some 2500 years and those original
concepts formulated in Greece live on to this day. In fact music has a cyclical nature for even in
art, history we find, does in fact repeat itself. Many of the modes and harmonies developed 2500
years ago again came back in favor with modern jazz and orchestral composers in the 20th
century. For instance, many jazz musicians in the late 1950’s following the lead of Miles Davis
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and Bill Evans (famed jazz pianist) abandoned the traditional diatonic methods of improvising
and voicing chords and began to use modal scales and harmonic backgrounds with an abundance
of open fourths and fifths. (Illustration pg iii ) One also finds this approach to composition with
some post-Beethoven orchestral composers such as Scriabin, Debussy, and Leos Janacek.
Janacek’s composition for orchestra Sinfonietta comes immediately to mind for in this piece the
first movement begins with trombones playing a simple repetitive motiff voiced in open fifths, a
very “chant-like” musical feeling is the result. Often what’s thought of as new is actually quite
old. The Pythagorean system of tonal organization with its resultant tetra chords, modes, and
scales remained relatively unchanged for some 2200 years until the time of J.S. Bach and the
implementation of equal temperament which refined the scale divisions discovered by
Pythagoras. “It was Pythagoras whose mathematical analysis resulted in the standardization of
the ordinary diatonic scale which has remained the normal scale for Western music ever since
(to be improved upon only by Mersenne’s equally-tempered scale in 1636, and later popularized
by J.S. Bach.” (Amore. 1998.)
Like most other forms of what we know consider art music, plainsong or chant evolved
from folk music. This is an interesting concept in that in these modern times one tends to think of
chant itself as a form of folk music. Jazz evolved from Delta Blues and Ragtime. Classical
composers used the dance rhythms and folk melodies of their day as thematic and inspirational
material in their great works. Ancient Jewish tradition was to sing together at meals, especially
the meals of the Sabbath and Passover. This tradition of group singing in praise of the Lord was
passed onto the Christians. Just as the Catholic tradition of celebrating communion involves the
ingestion of a wafer and wine to symbolize the body and blood of Jesus, the early Christian
tradition of singing praise at meals was symbolic of Jesus’ meals with his disciples. It is from
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this that the Christian Eucharist service evolved. The Eucharist or mass is actually a celebration
of the life of Jesus, his Immaculate Conception, persecution, and resurrection. The mass is a sort
of playing out or re-enactment of these events and the concept of putting these events to music
go back to the very beginnings of the Christian faith. (Smith 1996, 35) Since the earliest
Christians were subject to persecution for their beliefs these earliest hymns, psalms, and spiritual
songs were not sung in temples but in select homes and gathering places of the earliest practicing
Christians. These chants are sung to this day and actually experienced a new wave of popularity
in the 1960’s. As the 60’s drug culture unfolded people were turning inward, becoming more
introspective and searching for the inner peace associated with the 60’s mindset. Chant, Indian
music, the monotone uttering of Buddhist monks, and other ethereal sounding types of music
became increasingly popular. It made a soothing, calm -inducing background appropriate for
those exploring the concepts of meditation, yoga, and other similar disciplines that had become
increasingly popular. The real popularity break through came however some twenty-five years
later in 1993. The EMI record company re-released some recordings of chant by a group of
Benedictine monks recorded in Spain some twenty years earlier. The recordings were packaged
attractively and the single word “Chant” adorned the front cover, the public responded and this
release actually outsold much of the then current commercial pop music. One can speculate that
it is the simplistic serene quality inherent in this music that is in direct contrast to the overly
produced, overly synthesized music so common nowadays in which lays its appeal. (Foil 1995.
12-13) It is somewhat amusing to me that this music whose original purpose was to enhance
prayer would some 1500 years after the fact become a significant commercial entity, “It is easier
to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven?” Oh well, my
cynical sensibilities aside I think it is the purity of this music that my friend Noah alluded to that
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lends to it’s longevity, there is a basic human quality to it that communicates to a part of us that
seeks to be soothed. I find the following quote from the 5th century Roman mathematician and
philosopher Boethius to be most appropriate and interesting, “Nothing is more characteristic of
human nature than to be soothed by sweet modes and stirred by their opposites. Infants, youths,
and old people as well are so naturally attuned to musical modes by a kind of spontaneous
feeling that no age is without delight in sweet song.” (Machlis 1984. 300) This idea of
wonderful melody and purity of tone is something that was stressed at the very beginnings of
plainsong or chant and is still a vital element in the music of today. So much so that these 1500
plus year old melodies can still have the appeal today to compete favorably with contemporary
fare which was manufactured to have commercial appeal by design. How is it though that these
chants have remained with us, relatively in tact through some 1500 years? Through what process
was this enchanting ancient music saved and passed on over such a wide piece of time?
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