One of the most popular songs of the Beatles has Gregorian Chant in a part of it.

Gail with Friar Augustine

A few years ago the Gregorian Chant sung by the Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos became a top selling recording. The beautiful, serene Gregorian Chant was both enchanting and peaceful to the ear. Listening to the music was easy but trying to read it was another story. Gregorian Chant is sung in Latin.

Long before the Christian era, Babylonian Jews devised a system of symbols indicating the rise and fall of pitch. These hand signals or cheironomics were used for chanting the Pentateuch in 11th century France and Germany. Next imitations of the hand signals were written down showing an upward or downward curve of the musical phrase. Similar iar ways were developed by the Greeks.

Our modern notation is the culmination of centuries of trying to find a way to write down sound on paper. It wasn't until 1532 that round notes were first used by Etienne Briard at Avignon. Gradually it was realized that it was easier to write round notes than the square notes used in Gregorian Chant. Our staff of five lines for the treble and five lines for the bass clef has been the same since the 16th century. Nobody has come up with anything better. It's always difficult to interpret someone's music when you haven't heard it performed. Besides the notes being difficult to read, the tempo and rhythm is hard to write down.

For many years I've been fascinated with the beautiful vellum manuscripts with the shaped black neumes and illuminations. Vellum is dried calf skin which was used by many monks to write on. The exquisite artwork from centuries past written by unknown monks seemed like a foreign code. I wondered how the manuscripts in my collection sounded. What was the secret to finding the hidden melody?

A few months ago I received a flyer in the mail to attend a workshop on Enders Island in Mystic, Connecticut. It was a workshop to learn Gregorian Chant. I signed up immediately. The professor was Dr. William Tortolano, a most remarkable gentleman who had translated our textbook from the French edition. Dr. Tortolano met Sir Paul McCarthy in London many years ago. Dr. Tortolano asked Sir Paul about his popular song "Michelle" that seemed to have a hint of Gregorian Chant in the chorus. Sir Paul told him that when he was a choir boy he sang Gregorian Chant and the phrase in "Michelle" was no doubt the result of his early training singing chant. Dr. Tortolano said he thought it sounded like a Kyrie in the first mode.

One of many spots to enjoy on the island.

The wonderful week in Mystic went by too fast. Each day we sang Gregorian Chant in Latin at the morning Mass and at Evening vespers. We learned that the neumes were written either as squares or diamond shaped if the pitch was descending. Regardless of the shape of the neume, the beat was the same except if the neume had a dot along side of it, then the neume was held twice as long. We also learned that the two dots at the beginning of the staff meant that the line between the dots was C. If there were three dots the note between the dots was an F.

Transcribing the chant for piano music was my goal and the music at the end of this article is the result. You will see a page of Gregorian Chant reduced from a large page approximately 16x24 inches. Next, the Gregorian Chant is transcribed to the treble. The piano adaptation with artistic liberty follows. For an additional chant piano solo you may enjoy playing "O Choruscans lux stellarum" by Hildegard von Bingen (1098 1179) in the book or CD Great Women Composers, published by Mel Bay.