ABSTRACT
T his paper is a b o u t Gregorian c h a n t - w h e r e i t came from a n d h o w i t has reached us. T h e m a j o r issues are o f t w o kinds, which m i g h t be described as "transmissional" a n d " n a t i o n a l . " P r o m i n e n t as atransmis-
sional issue is t h e shift f r o m deliveries t h a t w e r e i n s o m e sense fresh o n successive occasions, t o melodic states t h a t were fixed i n m e m o r y and accurately r e p r o d u c e d . Parallel b u t separate is t h e shift from " o r a l " deliveries t h a t were n o t s u p p o r t e d by w r i t t e n m e m o r a n d a , t o t h o s e where m e m o r y w e n t h a n d in h a n d w i t h neumes. T h e prevailing t h e o r y a b o u t G r e g o r i a n c h a n t has b e e n t h a t i t received its definitive musical shaping, i n t h e form o f fixed melodies, d u r i n g t h e l a t e r e i g h t h century, a n d t h a t this was d o n e w i t h o u t n o t a t i o n , by means o f m e m o r y alone. I t t h e n c o n t i n u e d notationless for over acentury, w i t h neumes e n t e r i n g t h e picture only a r o u n d 9 0 0 . F u r t h e r , t h e varied regional styles o f t e n t h - c e n t u r y neurning arose i n d e p e n d e n t l y a t differe n t places. 1F o r s o m e t i m e , Ihave b e e n d e v e l o p i n g an alternative theory, a c c o r d i n g t o w h i c h afixed G r e g o r i a n mass r e p e r t o r y was s p r e a d a m o n g Carolingian dependencies by means o f an archetypal n e u m i n g o f t h e l a t e r e i g h t h century, anow-lost m o d e l from which t h e diverse t e n t h - c e n t u r y neumings w o u l d descend. 2
T h e transmissional issues find little place in w h a t follows. I n s t e a d , Ifocus o n national issues, c h i e f o f t h e m t h e musical practice o f R o m e . Am a j o r p r o b - lem arises from t h e fact t h a t medieval R o m e is r e p r e s e n t e d , n o t by asingle p l a i n c h a n t r e p e r t o r y , b u t by t w o full r e p e r t o r i e s , e a c h b e a r i n g s u b s t a n t i a l marks o f R o m a n ancestry. T h e " G r e g o r i a n " r e p e r t o r y ( G R E G ) was u s e d t h r o u g h o u t Carolingian E u r o p e . I t is generally u n d e r s t o o d - Ibelieve correcdy - t o have o r i g i n a t e d as aFrankish compilation o f t h e middle e i g h t h century. 3 T h e " O l d R o m a n " r e p e r t o r y ( R O M ) survives o n l y in arecension o f t h e later eleventh a n d twelfth centuries, diffused in t h e r e g i o n a r o u n d Rome. T h e s e repertories t e n d t o be r e l a t e d in t h e i r musical substance, b u t t h e n a t u r e o f t h e relationships a n d t h e historical circumstances giving rise t o t h e m have y e t t o be comprehensively explained. C o m m o n t o practically all explanations is t h e n o t i o n t h a t R o m e supplied t h e Frankish compilers o f G R E G w i t h large a m o u n t s o f fixed melodic material, which t h e Franks m o r e o r less t h o r o u g h l y revised. I n place o f t h a t , Ip r o p o s e ahistorical flow i n essentially t h e o t h e r direction. T h e musical relationship b e t w e e n G R E G a n d R O M , t h e n , results from t h e arrival o f t h e a u t h o r i z e d Frankish G R E G a t R o m e , w h e r e i t was m e a n t t o replace t h e local R O M repertory. B u t R o m a n musicians, instead o f a b a n d o n i n g t h e i r music, effected acompromise. T h e y accepted considerable a m o u n t s o f G R E G music, b u t r e m o d e l e d w h a t t h e y t o o k i n t o c o n f o r m i t y w i t h t h e i r o w n R O M style. Ahandful o f abbreviations will identifY musical repertories: R O M stands
for O l d R o m a n , G R E G for G r e g o r i a n , GALL for Gallican ( o n l y traces o f p r o p e r l y GALL r e p e r t o r i e s survive), M O Z for M o z a r a b i c o r O l d Hispanic, M O Z / G A L L for amixed usage perhaps partly discernible t h r o u g h M O Z , a n d B y z for Byzantine. W h e r e numerals are a t t a c h e d , t h e y d e n o t e ac e n t u r y o r r a n g e o f centuries: M O Z - 8 / 1 0 refers t o Mozarabic r e p e r t o r y o f t h e m i d - d l e e i g h t h c e n t u r y , w i t h first a b u n d a n t witnesses o f t h e t e n t h c e n t u r y ; 4 G R E G - 8 / 1 0 t o G r e g o r i a n r e p e r t o r y w i t h verbal texts o f t h e late e i g h t h centuryS a n d first a b u n d a n t musical witnesses o f t h e early t e n t h c e n t u r y ; 6R O M -8 t o conjectural O l d R o m a n states o f t h e e i g h t h c e n t u r y ; R O M - 8 / l l t o con-
C h a n t a n d its Origins 4 2 9
j e c t u r a l O l d R o m a n states o f t h e e i g h t h t h r o u g h early e l e v e n t h c e n t u r i e s ; a n d R O M - l l t o t h e received R o m a n musical recension o f t h e l a t e r eleventh c e n t u r y ?
