An Introduction to Gregorian Chant [Hardcover]

Professor Richard L. Crocker (Author), Richard L. Crocker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2000

For modern listeners, the sounds of Gregorian chant are compelling, with words and rhythms that seem at once familiar and remote. Even without a musical background or knowledge of the religious significance of Gregorian chant, listeners respond to the unique qualities of this music. Richard L. Crocker, a world-renowned authority on chant, offers in this book and its accompanying compact disc an eloquent introduction to the history and meaning of the Gregorian chant. He explains how Gregorian chant began, what functions and meanings it had over time, who heard it and where, and how it was composed, learned, written down, and handed on. His guided tour of the Gregorian chant provides for any interested listener a richer understanding of this enduringly powerful music. Crocker explains Gregorian chant and its functions within modern catholic liturgy as well as its position outside this liturgy, where the modern listener may hear it just as music. He describes the origins of the chant in the early Middle Ages, details its medieval development and use, and considers how it survived without, and later with, musical notation. The author probes the paradoxical position of the chant in monastic life, where it served as an expression of liturgical fellowship on the one hand, and as the medium of solitary, mystical ascent on the other. The book also includes a detailed commentary on each of twenty-six complete chants performed by the author on the accompanying free compact disc.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An appealing blend of erudition and practical insights gleaned from a long and distinguished career. . . . Highly recommended." -- Choice

About the Author

Richard L. Crocker is professor emeritus, University of California at Berkeley, and the author of A History of Musical Style and The Early Medieval Sequence.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (May 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300083106
• ISBN-13: 978-0300083101
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,176,926 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Introduction in the Truest Sense of the Word, September 17, 2001

By 

Truth Seeker - See all my reviews

This review is from: An Introduction to Gregorian Chant (Hardcover)

If a thorough historical description is what you're looking for then this book will provide that more than adequately.

Mr. Crocker places the kind of chant known as Gregorian in its native environment as he takes you along with him from "the back of the cathedral" ever closer to the choir. He goes on to map out the evolution of Gregorian chant in depth, from its beginnings in Roman Catholic liturgy to its termination as part of everyday worship at Vatican II. If it is this kind of extensive historical treatment you seek, then buy this book.

However, be forewarned: if all you want is a better understanding and appreciation of plainchant purely through a knowledge of its mechanics (classification of different types of chant, melodic contour, texts used, etc.) you might come away unfulfilled, if not overloaded. Some time is indeed spent on this, but the focus is mainly a historical one.

Mr. Crocker does speak eloquently, at times almost philosophically. Thanks to this, you not only gain a thorough understanding of where chant "came from," but you walk away from the choir and out of the cathedral with a profound sense of affinity for this old and venerable sound.

You also leave with a strangely immediate awareness of your European roots.

Then again, such is the power of Gregorian chant; that it in some way, somehow, seems "familiar" to us, like something we once knew well but had forgotten. Mr. Crocker delves into this phenomenon, and tries to help us understand why this is -- an account which I personally found fascinating.

The compact disc is unspectacular in itself but a perfect learning companion to the book. No technical knowledge of music is assumed. Whether you buy this book now or later, it is an indispensable addition to any collection of tomes on plainsong, whether you be an enthusiastic novice or a weathered scholar.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars CANNOT ENJOY, January 27, 2011

By 

Kohtaro Hayashi "Isayah" (Itoh Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: An Introduction to Gregorian Chant (Hardcover)

"There is no assumption of a technical understanding of music. ............, Crocker's aim is merely to promote greater knowledge and enjoyment of Gregorian chant".
This is the end-part of Product Description from Editorial Reviews.

Generally, it must be true and enough for this book. But, I am not satisfying. The reason of what I am not satisfying is caused by Mr Crocker's singing (CDs).
In fact, his singing is utterly tedious monologue. Moreover, his singing is just like a light-headed-humming-song which is sung in a bathroom. Neither piety nor dignity is there, though true Gregorian chant has an essence of Faith and Art.
Such as Crocker's Gregorian singing is allowed for when there is only one person, just as for his own himself. Absolutely, we cannot to sing it with all together in his style. Clearly saying, it should never be performed at the public places anywhere.

I know his valuable works. (e.g. for the splendid Chanticleer's CD liner-note, etc.) But I do not want to listen to his singing again. I do want to imagine the pure singing by monks at St. Gall in the Middle Ages.

Perhaps this book has shown anew to us that the faith exists only in the individual person.