Term derived from cantus planus, a 13th-century name for Gregorian Chant. It is used synonymously with the latter, but also is employed as a generic term for the ancient style of monophonic and rhythmically free melody that is common to various Western liturgies (Gregorian, Ambrosian, Gallican, Mozarabic chant) as well as of those of the East (Byzantine, Syrian, Armenian chant). It may also be used for similar kinds of non-Christian liturgical music (Jewish, Hindu) in order to indicate that this music is neither harmonic nor strictly measured.
(1) Byzantine chant, begun shortly after 330, was the earliest form of chant developed after the establishment of the Eastern church by Constantine, and is still sung in the Greek orthodox church.
(2) Amborsian chant, named for Bishop Ambrose of Milan, comes from Northen Italy, and was written largely after his time.
(3) Gallican chant was used in France until about 800; no notated manuscripts of it survive.
(4) Mozarabic chant was the chant of Spain, with origins prior to to the 8th century.
(5) Greogorian chant has been the most widely used, and is so named because it was collected and organized under the leadership of Pope Gregory (pope from 590-604). As the secular power of the Roman Catholic Church was consolidated in Rome, Gregorian chant became the prescribed form of chant for liturgical services throughout the Roman Catholic world.
Syllabic chant is one of three types. In it, each note is set to a single syllable of the text. A second type, called neumatic, is one in which a small group of notes is sung to one syllable. Florid, or melismatic chant, is a third type in which extended groups of notes are set to one syllable.
Chants of the Mass and hours of the Divine Offices were sung by the clergy, but the congregation joined in the singing of hymns and some processional chants.