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To: Loyalist
Gregorian chant is too difficult to sing.

Whew! I thought you were serious. There's nothing easier to sing than chant. Trust me on this. I just tried to sight-read Stravinsky.
58 posted on 05/13/2003 5:42:47 PM PDT by Desdemona
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To: Desdemona; ninenot
Christos Voskrese!

There's nothing easier to sing than chant. Trust me on this.

In the Byzantine Rite, chanting is the only game in town. The whole Divine Liturgy is chanted (no musical instruments), including the readings, except for the homily and a pre-Communion prayer. EVERYBODY chants, you have to. Men, women, (doddering seniors ;-)Even the children as young as 3 and 4 years old chant the Liturgy (at the top of their lungs, no less)! And since the Liturgy was written at the time, and to counter, the great Trinitarian and Christological heresies (Arianism and Nestorinism) in Church history, these kids are chanting on a weekly basis the central truths of our Faith! No minor detail, that.

I suppose it's the "Eastern form" of Gregorian chant. Anybody could pick it up by their second Divine Liturgy. Even people who can't carry a tune! That's part of the genius of chant. That, and it reverently, in a mystical way, lifts the mind and heart to God with voice in a way that is not understood as being "performed".

I don't understand why people think chanting is so hard...

178 posted on 05/13/2003 11:25:32 PM PDT by TotusTuus ( Voistinu Voskrese!)
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To: Desdemona
Des, you and I have spoken briefly in the past about singing: Specifically, we talked about how jealous I am that you have a beautiful voice, and I, alas, have a voice more like that of the caterwauling of two cats in a burlap sack (and the cats are wet).

I remain jealous, but I have to agree with you. Even I can sing chant. It really is very easy. I say, "Bring on the chant!"

I certainly hope this report is true and that I can once again enjoy a solomn Mass on a weekly basis.

Regards,
254 posted on 05/14/2003 1:41:13 PM PDT by VermiciousKnid
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