Editing Plainsong (section)

{{Short description|Chants used in the liturgies of the Western Christian Church}}
{{Other uses}}

'''Plainsong''' or '''plainchant''' ([[calque]] from the French {{Lang|fr|plain-chant}}; {{langx|la|cantus planus}}) is a body of [[chants]] used in the [[liturgy|liturgies]] of the [[Western Church]]. When referring to the term plainsong, it is those sacred pieces that are composed in Latin text.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Levy|first1=Kenneth|url=http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000040099|title=Plainchant|last2=Emerson|first2=John A.|last3=Bellingham|first3=Jane|last4=Hiley|first4=David|last5=Zon|first5=Bennett Mitchell|date=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|volume=1|language=en|doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40099|isbn=978-1-56159-263-0 }}</ref> Plainsong was the exclusive form of the Western [[Christian]] church music until the ninth century, and the introduction of [[polyphony]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Bewerunge|first=H|date=1911|title=Plainchant|url=https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2021-02-16|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>

The [[Monophony|monophonic]] chants of plainsong have a non-metric rhythm,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Forney|first=Kristine|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/900609692|title=The enjoyment of music|date=2015|others=Joseph Machlis, Andrew Dell'Antonio|isbn=978-0-393-93637-7|edition=Twelfth edition, full version|location=New York|oclc=900609692}}</ref> which is generally considered freer than the metered rhythms of later Western music.<ref name=":0" /> They are also traditionally sung [[A cappella|without musical accompaniment]], though recent scholarship has unearthed a widespread custom of accompanied chant that transcended religious and geographical borders.<ref name="long2022">{{cite thesis |last=Long |first=Cillian |date=2022 |title=The Accompaniment of Plainchant in France, Belgium and Certain Other Catholic Regions: A Chronological Study of Theory and Practice from the French Revolution to the Second Vatican Council |url=https://www.tara.tcd.ie/handle/2262/100565 |degree=PhD |publisher=The University of Dublin, Trinity College|hdl=2262/100565 }}</ref>

There are three types of chant melodies that plainsongs fall into: [[Syllabic verse|syllabic]], [[Neume|neumatic]], and [[melismatic]].<ref name=":0" /> The free flowing melismatic melody form of plainsong is still heard in Middle Eastern music being performed today.<ref name=":0" />

Although the [[Catholic Church]] and the [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox churches]] did not [[East–West Schism|split]] until long after the origin of plainsong, [[Byzantine chant]]s are generally not classified as plainsong.