Gregorian Chant Tradition

Timeline

1. 800–1400Abbey of St. Gall · SwitzerlandFrom the Carolingian era onward, Gregorian chant manuscripts were copied at monasteries such as St. Gall; the repertories for the Divine Office and Mass were fixed, and neume notation recorded melodies, becoming the shared vocabulary of religious vocal music in medieval Europe.
2. 1441–1450Rome · ItalyIn the 1440s the Papal States and cathedrals still relied on Gregorian chant for the Mass and the Divine Office; although polyphonic ornamental music rose, monophonic chant retained its canonical liturgical status, and Roman school performance norms influenced all of Europe.
3. 1451–1600Paris · FranceIn the late fifteenth century humanists began comparing differences among chant manuscripts from various regions; the Reformation spurred the organization of liturgical music, paving the way for scholarly editions of Gregorian chant and the Vatican edition in the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries.