Playing Gregorian chant on wire harp (part 2) Comparing neumes to modern music notation
Medieval chant neums look very different from today’s music notation… until you get to know them better and discover they’re what made the language of modern sheet music possible. They do however, have their own arcane code, which has been left by the wayside, perhaps in part because few today write anymore with quill pens and […]
Playing Gregorian chant on wire harp (Part I) Introduction and a little historical background
Every Sunday for our service prelude I play the liturgically appropriate Gregorian chant for the day from the Roman Catholic Liber Usualis (this is a fairly conservative traditional New England Episcopal church). I also play another one for the Communion, sometimes with husband George accompanying on the pipe organ. Usually I start out by playing […]