Celtic Chant

Celtic Chant

Celtic chant is the one of the liturgical plainchants of the early western church, akin to Gallican, Mozarabic, etc. that comprised the sung repetory of the Celtic Rite. It is, therefore, related to Gregorian chant which later supplanted it in the Britain and Brittany. There are no manuscripts documenting Celtic chant, as it was not notated, so all sung examples are efforts at recreation using the few traces of its musical style that are identified to still exist.

OVERVIEW

The Celtic Rite and its chant traces its roots back to the establishment of Christianity in Britain by St Patrick in the 5th century. In the absence of central authority, the diocese and churches of Britain, Wales, Scotland and Ireland developed local rites and chant forms which were replaced beginning in the 7th century by St Augustine of Canterbury who installed the Roman rite. Standardization of versions of the Roman rite, such as the Sarum Rite at Salisbury, occurred over subsequent centuries, so that by the 12th century the Roman rite was the norm—and likely all remnants of Celtic chant had been replaced as well.

The monks of Ireland, famous for restoring Christianity by their missionary efforts on the continent and the establishment of monasteries there undoubtedly encountered other regional chant forms (and perhaps even Byzantine chant forms), which may have influenced the further development of Celtic chant. However, as the Celitc rite was supplanted by the Roman before Celtic chant was notated, no manuscripts exist that pre-date the broad use of the Roman rite.

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

Liturgica.com offers the following additional content on this subject:

1. Early Western Liturgics

2. Early Western Chant

3. Gregorian Reforms

4. Carolingian Reforms

5. Gregorian Chant

6. Development of manuscript notation

The Liturgica.com Web Store offers:

1. CDs of various minor western chant forms

2. A wide range of books on the development of liturgical worship

3. A selection of books on chant and its development