Gregorian chant is named after Pope Gregory I (6th century), to whom tradition credits the systematization of these chants. All melodies are monophonic, sung without instrumental accompaniment, in one of eight church modes.
This is an art of contemplation: slow, undulating melodies lift the listener out of time into eternity. Gregorian texts — Latin psalms, antiphons, sequences — became the foundation of Western liturgy for a thousand years. Today the chant is performed by Benedictine monasteries (most famously the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos), and its sound has inspired composers from Debussy to Arvo Pärt.
