We love plainsong, plainchant (Gregorian and other forms) and try to raise the profile of this beautiful but all too rarely heard form of music.

Beautiful and seemingly very simple, chant evolved with the early Roman church and is thus much older than the oldest church in existence in Britain. Nevertheless it is easy to appreciate the long tradition of chant in one of our many beautiful and ancient churches, such as St John the Baptist Church, Fleet Street, Coventry where we normally sing.

There are different forms of chant for different purposes. Some are simple and sung mostly on the same note, and some are very elaborate where one syllable runs over many many notes. Sometimes a chant is shared between two choirs, or between a cantor (lead singer) and a choir, or with the congregation.

Historically, and occasionally nowadays in monastic communities, there would be many church services every day, most of them (the “Office Hours”) performed only by priests, but some (for example Mass) was (and is) for members of the public coming in. Plainchant is traditionally sung without instruments and in Latin. In those days chanters would know all their chants off by heart but as we all have day jobs and don’t have time for a 10 year apprenticeship in a monastery or convent we use sheet music, using chant notation which is better adapted to chant than modern “dots”.

Catholics whose memories go back to the early 1960s will remember plainchant Mass but for most people plainchant remains something we very rarely hear, especially performed live, but it remains a lovely and sometimes quite ethereal form of music, prayerful or meditative.

If you would like to join our journey of discovery and study, talk, learn, hear us or sing with us, please contact us here.