Mass for Christmas Day

Mass for Christmas Day

Music’s earliest and most basic for can be traced back to chant. Roman plainchant is considered one of the greatest treasures of Western civilization. One of the main uses of chant is in church music. The most recognizable, and most important, service of the Catholic church is the Mass. The Mass contains two principal text settings, the Ordinary and the Proper. The Ordinary contains fixed texts which include the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei. The Proper contains text that changes according to the time of year. It includes the Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Tract, Offertory, and Communion.

Hiley describes chant as “music to be performed during the celebration of a divine service.” These chants are primarily text driven, which influences the functionality of the music. The varying melodies, which are melismatic, solemn, or monotone, were considered a more worthy way to worship God than plain spoken words. The music for each text was “… determined by the sense of what was proper, that is appropriate, for the liturgical occasion.” Many of the same texts are used over but sung different ways, according to the point in the liturgy. Each song is restricted to the context of the liturgy, as well as the text itself.

There are several distinct characteristics to chant music. One such characteristic is a neum. A neum is a combination of two or more notes to one syllable. Another distinct trait is the notation of breath marks. A short vertical line allows for a quick breath. A line crossing the second and third lines indicates a pause of about one beat. A long vertical line, from the top of the staff to the bottom, allows for a slightly longer pause. A double bar indicates the end of a phrase. Chant can also be categorized into three styles; syllabic, neumatic, and melismatic. Syllabic refers to only one note per syllable, or very few neums. Neumatic is a chant in which neums appear frequently. Melismatic describes a chant where there are many notes to one word or to one syllable.

An example of a chant is the “Mass for Christmas Day”. It contains the Introit, Kyrie, Gloria, Alleluia, Credo, Offertory, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, Communion, and Ite, missa est. This Mass is used for one of the major feasts of the church calendar and has special qualities. Each of its Proper chants are unique for that day. A variety of Ordinary chant can be used, but it must include the Gloria.

The Introit is the beginning of the sung portion of the Mass. This Introit was often troped to distinguish it from other sections. After the Introit is sung, the choir chants the Kyrie. The words of the Kyrie are translated into an invocation of “Lord have mercy” and “Christ have mercy”. This portion is significantly melismatic. It also uses the same melody for both of the “Kyrie eleison” sections but a different melody for the