ABSTRACT
Plainchant forms the bedrock of Catholic church music. Plainchant is surrounded by a vast corpus of literature, contributions to which have been made in all periods. However, it is here that ambiguities emerge. According to Mary Berry, the measured system of plainchant had its roots in late fifteenth and early sixteenth-century developments. Key aspects were the development of mensural notation, the slowing down of tempi, and a simplification of melodies. Such devices also required the development of equivalencies between plainchant and 'modern' notation. The Sepulchrine manuscripts have compositions in both modern and plainchant notation. In 1577 Palestrina and Amabile Zoilo were commissioned by the Papacy to reform the plainchant books, and although the work was not completed this was the origin of the legend that the Medicean Gradual was really Palestrina's work. Adeste Fideles illustrates the importance of Wade for the transmission of plainchant into England.
