Schola Cantorum of Rome - Knowledge (XXG)

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These chants were not easy, nor sung in a dull and monotonous manner. The singers filled them with great richness and variety. This employment of trained singers acted as a precursor to the institution which was later reorganized by Pope Gregory I. The purpose of the schola was to teach both singing techniques and the plainsong repertory learned by the oral tradition. However, it was Pope Gregory I who standardized the liturgical repertory on a firm basis. This Roman school lasted a period of nine years which furnished the choir at most of the papal functions and was facilitated by the

148:. The choir, clergy, and congregation, sang the ensembles of the service, leaving the most important parts of the service for the trained vocalists. The chant maintained its dominance in ecclesiastic music up until the rise of polyphony in the eleventh century. The idea of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody accompanied by high and low pitched voices seemed more suitable for ecclesiastic music in the eleventh century. The polyphonic composition was constantly developing up until the seventeenth century when opera began to dominate the musical world of the church. 84:, which decreed religious tolerance throughout the empire. With more and more converts, it was clear that services could no longer be conducted in the informal manner of the early days. This freedom in religion allowed the church to build for large basilicas which made it possible for public worship and for Christians to finally assume a new dignity. Music, in particular had its own place in these newly constructed basilicas. As the early church of Jerusalem spread westward to Western Europe, it brought along musical elements from diverse areas. It was during this time that the 97:

musical elements in a slightly different form. This caused each region to produce several distinct liturgies and bodies of liturgical music of its own. Although each region shared the same language of Latin, they had different texts and music. We know for certain that there existed Beneventan chant, Roman Chant, Ambrosian chant, Hispanic chant, and several types of Gallican chant. Each of these political divisions developed their own repertory of melodies for singing sacred texts.

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ancient songs and hymns of the classical era. From these surviving specimens, we can see that primitive music developed in two major ways. The first was that singing was primarily monophonic – that is, melody without harmony or counterpoint. The soloist would sing based on the repetition of two neighboring tones with no accompaniment. The second was of an improvisatory style where the melody and rhythm were intimately bound up with the melody and rhythm of poetry.

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talented pupil was called paraphonist and was responsible for singing the solos of the “alleluia”. The studies of the Schola Cantorum lasted a total of nine years. It was a long period because the school made it mandatory for pupils to memorize the chants. During service, only the director or the paraphonists was permitted to have a book.

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taken up and this inevitably led to the management of breath, which led to the discovery of the fundamental elements of vocal technique. The school of Sylvester demanded that chants were to be sung in a perfectly smooth, flowing kind of melody. Instructors often pushed their pupils to their limits, as they recognized that pure

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Singing is so basic to man that its origins are long lost in antiquity and predate the development of the spoken language. We do know however, that music of the early Middle Ages in Western Europe was derived from the ancient Greeks in terms of form and concept. The singer would sing improvised or

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to assign him two cantors of the Gregorian school. Peter and Romanus were sent out to Francia in 789. Unfortunately, Romanus fell sick and remained behind, but Peter was able to make it to Metz and established a school of Gregorian chant. Nonetheless, the Schola Cantorum played a significant role

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Pope Sylvester’s Schola Cantorum of Rome was instituted for the study of chants, not for the vocal technique. Chanting in unity was an obvious and a must, but it did not take long for Sylvester to realize that they needed to impart some sort of style onto it. In this, the subject of uniformity was

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during the first two centuries. Leaders of the early Christian church wanted to exterminate music which had memories associated with the revels and rituals with Roman music. However, it was during this period that art, architecture, music, philosophy, new religious rites, and many other aspects of

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The Lombards, Franks, and Goths dominated the face of Western Europe in the seventh and early eighth centuries. The idea of unity and centralization was simply unknown during this time so local churches were relatively independent. Each region of the West probably received the Eastern heritage of

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The employment of professional singers in the church played a prominent role in the development of the simple plain chant. The singers had mastered a style united with a technical finish of elegance and began to flourish their singing with ornamentation which had existed during classical times.

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could not help but admire the customs of Roman liturgy. Pepin realized that these customs could help to ensure religious unity throughout his territories and thus strengthen their political unity. The King therefore adopted the Roman liturgy and mixed it with the Gallican chant repertory. The

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in 590, he founded the Schola Cantorum. This was the school of singers which established the authoritative delivery of the musical liturgy for all of Europe. Of the schools that were directed by the church, pupils with the best voices were chosen for training in the Schola Cantorum. The most

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Due to the lack of a system of notation and theoretical writings, there is very little known about the musical systems prior to the Greeks. Musicians of the middle age did not have a single example of Greek or Roman music. It was not until the Renaissance that historians discovered only a few

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The first Schola Cantorum of Rome was said to be founded by Pope Sylvester in the year of 314. Music evolved from a simple unison chant to a highly developed polyphonic choral style. Singing was usually performed by the clergy, however in 367, the

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banned congregational singing and placed the musical service in the hands of the trained choir. With trained singers for the musical part of the liturgy, the clergy could focus their attention to what was most important, and that was their office.

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Greek culture were brought in from the Hellenistic world. It is uncertain whether or not Romans made any significant contributions to the theory or practice of music, but historians are certain that their music was derived from the Greeks.

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overall structure of the Roman chant was accepted by the Gallican musicians, but they covered it with a completely different style of ornamentation. The fusion of Roman and Gallican chant evolved into what we now know as

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who established the school on a firm basis and endowed it. The choir ranged anywhere from twenty to thirty boys or men. Only the most skilled in singing were selected to participate in the Schola Cantorum.

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The ensemble consisted of anywhere between twenty and thirty boys or men. Women were not allowed to be a part of the Schola Cantorum. This group of boys and men had to have their head shaved and wore

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monophonic melodies with the rhythm, accent, and movement according to the text. This ancient heritage would greatly influence development of music in Western Europe through the Christian Church.

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Peace between the Church and the Roman Empire greatly effected the liturgical life and musical practice of Christians. In the fourth century AD,

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during the Middle Ages, specializing in the performance of plainchant for the purpose of rendering the music in church. In the fourth century,

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From Rome, the institution spread to other parts of the Church. When the pope visited France with his court, the Frankish King

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To the west, the Romans left very few traces of musical development partly because it was deliberately suppressed during the

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Between the years 876 and 1073, the prior of the Schola is recorded to have performed a curious dance with clearly

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became the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. This conversion led to the proclamation of the

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Several institutions today have modeled themselves after the medieval Schola, including

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Music Literature Outlines, Series I: Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

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Music Literature Outlines, Series I: Music in the Middle Ages and Renaissance

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Carolingian Culture: Emulation and Innovation edited by Rosamond McKitterick

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Carolingian Culture: Emulation and Innovation edited by Rosamond McKitterick

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made its first appearance at the service of liturgical celebration.

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Saulnier, "Gregorian Chant: A Guide to the History and Liturgy", 2.

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was said to have inaugurated the first Schola Cantorum, but it was

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Music of the Middle Ages I, trans. By Steven Botterill

310:(Rochester, New York: Levi Music Stores, 1951), I-3. 734: