Chant
Te Deum is committed to the study and presentation of one of the oldest forms of written music, Gregorian Chant. Through the implementation of cutting-edge research, we share with the community thoughtful, historically informed, and detailed presentations of this ancient music. We regularly present fully chanted Vespers services as a free public offering, and often incorporate chant into our concerts to provide liturgical context and musical understanding to the polyphonic music being performed.
What’s unique about our chant singing?
Contemporary scholarship has revealed that chant printed on the ubiquitous 4-line notation (diastematic neumes), while offering great clarity of pitch and melody, has lost the rhythmic variety, detail, and fervor of earlier notation.
(Diastematic notation from the Liber Usualis, 1896)
The notation that depicts the dynamic and nuanced rhythms of the ancient monks is called adiastematic, and is made up of lines, loops, and letters written above the words in prayer books.
(Adiastematic notation from the the Hartker Antiphonary at Sankt Gallen Kirche, late 10th century)
Te Deum has studied with the world’s leading experts in semiology and chant performance to learn how to read these ancient neumes. Transcribing the adiastematic neumes from the original manuscripts, we bring a semiological approach to all of our chant singing. It is our aim to perform these chants with the vast rhythmic and melodic intricacies that are revealed with careful study and understanding of the ancient prayer books.
Upcoming Concerts featuring Chant:
Chanted Vespers for Lent
Sunday, March 10, 2024 at 7:15 p.m.
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (map)
Vespers is a FREE offering to the public
Past Concerts featuring Chant:
Summer Vespers
July 18, 2021
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
Gregorian Chant Workshop Vespers Service
February 16, 2020
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
