Medieval Chant: Polyphony and Gregorian
A Reflection by Fred Schaeffer, OFS

Today, I would like to write about my favorite subject, Medieval Chant. I am not specifically talking about Gregorian Chant, but rather "Polyphony."

Polyphonic Chant usually refers to music of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. It is a musical texture in which two or three lines simultaneously sound, each line retaining its identity. Polyphony rose prior to, and during the period of the Western Schism. Avignon, the seat of the antipopes, was a vigorous center of secular music-making, much of which influenced sacred polyphony. For a period of time, polyphony was banned in the Church.

It was in 1364, during the pontificate of Pope Urban V, that composer and priest Guillaume de Machaut composed the first polyphonic setting of the mass called Le Masse de Notre Dame. (Mass of Our Lady) This was the first time that the Church officially sanctioned polyphony in sacred music. One of the great masterpieces of medieval music and of all religious music, it is the earliest complete setting of the Ordinary of the Mass attributable to a single composer.

The Masse de Notre Dame consists of 5 movements, the Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, followed by the Dismissal Ite Missa Est ("Go, the Mass is ended"). As well as composing new music for the Mass, Machaut also selected appropriate chants for each section, each chant he selected being for the feast in honor of the Virgin Mary.

This Liturgy is sung in four voices rather than the more common three (at that time). Machaut added a contra tenor voice that moved in the same low range as the tenor, sometimes replacing it as the lowest voice. This work irrevocably influenced the course of the composition of sacred music, Machaut being the first person to propose the concept of a single composer organizing all of the Ordinary movements of a mass into an artistic whole.

This Mass is still available today on the Hyperion, and possibly other, labels. Unfortunately, I do not have it myself.

The type of music sung by that marvelous group, the "Anonymous 4" such as:

"Legends of St. Nicholas" and "On Yoolis Night: medieval carols & motets" (both offered on the French Harmonia Mundi label, are good examples of the precise music I so love. Also, the CD, "Canticles of Ecstasy" composed by St. Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179), a contemplative nun and mystic, who not only wrote her own lyrics but also the music. This particular CD is published on the German Harmonia Mundi label.

I've been in choirs from 1985 onward, and had to stop attending in 2020 due to Covid-19. I cannot return to it because I do not have the strength to climb up to the choir loft at St. Helen Parish (Vero Beach, Florida), but I miss singing in choir very much. I particularly miss singing during Holy Mass, the beautiful Gregorian Chant that evokes in me a sense of Holiness and Awe, inner beauty and great Peace. Last time I sang true Gregorian Chant was in the period 1998-2002, when I was with the "Monks of Adoration, an Order that ceased to exist in 2005 due to lack of vocations. I left in 2002 because I had experienced one or more TIA's and the Monks did not have health insurance. I was reluctant to leave because I was very happy there. Then I resumed the Franciscan vocation, was professed; also professed Vows (that's not part of the Secular Franciscan regime). Actually, the Secular Franciscan Order Charism and Vocation allows me to maintain a very Spiritual life of a "retired Monk." The best of both worlds, if you will. I've been doing Spiritual Writing (Reflections and Teachings) ever since. Can't explain it: I'm a very private and quiet man but my mind is always with the Lord. I wish others could feel the joy I feel all the time. 

In 1998-2001, I was in Petersham, Massachusetts, where I attended Holy Mass daily at contemplative Benedictines, down the road. Their liturgy which is their Charism, is Gregorian Chant but on special occasions, Christmas, Easter, and many of their feasts and solemnities, a schola consisting of Benedictine Monks (St. Mary's Monastery) and Nuns (St. Scholastica Priory) would sing a Medieval polyphonic Chant, and they did it so marvelously, I thought I was in heaven. I always will recall Sr. Mary Francis, OSB, an accomplished musician, director, and organist, as well as some of the other cloistered Benedictine nuns who played the organ with great love and beauty.

"The music St. Scholastica Priory uses, in the liturgy, is Gregorian Chant, the great liturgical gift of the church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “The musical tradition of the universal church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art... a combination of sacred music and words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy.” This ancient vocal, monophonic music is a rich repertoire of Latin chant that uses sacred texts taken mainly from the Bible. Gregorian chant has been called the “Word of God made music,” for the integral linking of melody to text illuminates and “exfolds” the meaning of the Sacred Word. It is a life-giving catechism that fosters our spiritual growth and understanding." (From: Website of St. Scholastica Priory - written many years ago).

Why do I make such a fuss about Chant? Well, simply because Chant brings to our Church the solemnity and awe-provoking atmosphere that I so dearly miss in post Vatican II liturgy. Chant is part of the rich history of the Catholic Church. But you can't Chant in English because it was never composed for English. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining that the Mass is in English or other languages we speak in these modern times, but there must be some way to maintain some Chant, be it only at Solemnities and/or Feasts. It takes a well-disciplined choir and a motivated Choir Director to sing Chant well (Gregorian or Polyphonic). Let's just not forget what we're all about. We strive to honor and love our Lord Jesus Christ, and no effort on our part is enough to accomplish this. One choir, very available to us via Television, Internet, Radio, and other means, is the choir so ably led by  Mr. Derek Paul Kluz.

I virtually "attend" EWTN's Holy Mass at 8:00 AM (7:00 AM, their time), because I no longer have a car so I am "homebound." I feel so blessed to have that Liturgy available to me. Their Friars, by the way, are Franciscans, so they are "part of the Family." My God and my All. Thank You.

God bless you, and keep you well!

Fred Schaeffer, OFS

December 2006, rev. 2021

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