In this post, I demonstrate chanting the solemn Salve Regina from the Liber Usualis. Start the audio and see if you can follow along. The image below is courtesy of the Liber Pro app.
A Few Notes
In the audio clip, I recorded myself in a room with practically no acoustics and added some convolution using the Audacity reverb effect. Since it is just me, there are a few more pauses than there would be if there was a group employing staggered breathing. (I also touched up a spot where I ran out of breath.)
Chant really should be sung with feeling. When it isn’t, it becomes very tedious and even monotonous because all of the notes are treated the same. Musical feeling in chant is especially expressed through fluid movement and dynamic contrast (changes in volume). I hope the feeling comes through in this recording. You should hear growth on rising passages, diminishment at the conclusion of phrases, and a delicacy on certain notes in neums, which are the smaller, fundamental constellations of notes. Really, there should be an almost continuous motion of increase and decrease that pulls the beauty of the words through music.
Interested in deciphering the notation, getting into interpretation, and learning Gregorian Chant? Check out my four-part tutorial beginning with: Gregorian Chant Notation: Getting Started
Related Posts
- Drake’s Salve Regina (Polyphonic for SATBB)
- The Angelus – A Six Part Polyphonic Setting
- Tota Pulchra Es Maria for Male Voices
- Drake’s Ave Maria
About the Featured Image
The featured image is the Coronation of Mary by Fra Angelico. It is in the public domain in the United States, according to WikiMedia.