Chants: Ancient and Modern

This is a series of three one-hour talks by Prof Mike Worboys on Wed 5, 12 and 19 May. It is organised in association with Berwick Arts Choir, and members of BAC can get tickets at half-price.

Chants are single melodic lines, often simple and highly repetitive. They form one of the earliest forms of music making and are found throughout the world. Early Christian chant developed into highly complex musical forms, culminating in the Gregorian chant regularized in the 19th century by the Monastery of Solesmes. Chants can be found in many forms of art music.

In these talks, we will survey the wide range of music known as chant, from plainchant to chants of the present day. Issues to be touched on include definitions, history, chants worldwide, chants in art music, contemporary chants and the practice of chanting.

Week 1. Definitions, examples, brief overview of types and functions of chants worldwide

Week 2. Plainchant: historical development from early Christian ritual and chant, the Gregorian repertory, influence of the Monastery of Solesmes, to the present day.

Week 3. Examples of chant in art music from the Renaissance to 20th and 21st century music. The practice of chanting.

These talks will be delivered via Zoom. If you haven’t used Zoom before, please go to www.zoom.us and look at the tutorials. Once you have booked, you will find the Zoom invitation in the Online Event Page on Eventbrite. You will also receive an email with the invitation 24 hours before the event. If you can’t find the invitation, please email berwickea@gmail.com.

If you book this course online, we will hold your personal data in accordance with our privacy policy. If you do not wish us to hold your personal data, please book by post (see www.berwickea.org) and do not supply an email address.