羅馬聖詠Chant和宗教禮儀

羅馬教會的聖詠chants是西方文明的一座大寶庫。就像羅馬式的建築一樣，它們像一座紀念碑，屹立於中世紀的宗教信仰中，體現了當時的社團意識和美學鑒賞力。 素歌plainchant這一龐大之物，不僅包括一些前所未有的最古老和最高貴的旋律，而且也起到16世紀以前許多西方藝術音樂的源泉和靈感的作用。聖詠聽起來如此美麗，但不能誤以為它們只是純粹的音樂，因為它們是同禮儀的內容和目的分不開的。

素歌是音樂的祈禱，是加強了的講話，它把信仰同通過旋律和節奏表達的神聖思想聯繫起來。但它又是經文（它的措辭、標點和句法），賦予歌唱載體以形式。 聖詠可以簡單到如吟誦那樣只有單獨的一個音高，就像我們在彌撒中讀福音書所聽到的那樣。從吟誦音的音高上稍微下降一點，就標誌著一種意念的結束。從詠誦音上升高，是要求對一次讀經的開始或主要段落的開始引起注意。《詩篇》聖詠的公式是在這種簡單的吟誦上精心製造的，方法是在吟誦開始、收束、半收束和恢復時給予不同的音高形式。更多的旋律性的聖詠雖然也是從這個基本結構上擴展的，但仍堅持文字信息的形式。旋律如何精心製作，要視場合的重要性或莊嚴性。 經文在儀式中的作用如何，以及由誰來唱聖詠，是一個獨唱者，一個唱詩班，還是全體會眾，都取決於教會禮儀。

教會禮儀就是組成神聖儀式的經文和儀式本體。隨著時間的推移，某些經文和儀式增加或刪去了。讀經、祈禱和歌唱標誌或者紀念特殊的個人、事件、節日或一年的某一時間。在早期的基督教中，這種禮儀集中在回憶耶穌“最後晚餐”的一個儀式上，在《新約》中則是他的門徒們在講述往事。這種禮儀發展為彌撒。從改編自猶太教做法的集體禱告、唱贊美詩，發展為宗教禮儀中的日課或祈禱時刻。

教會禮儀和它的聖詠已經發展了很多世紀。即使某些儀式仍然未變，但曲目已經發生變化，數量已擴大。寫下來的說明被稱為禮儀，保存了儀式的正規序，成冊的手稿則記載了祈禱詞和誦讀本身。後來在歌詞上方加上記號，指明詠唱的形式。我們擁有的最古老的手稿保存了9世紀加上去的音樂記號，但這些文件的音高指示只是大約的，是為了幫助記憶，而不是對所唱內容的記錄或規定。更為準確的音高音程的記譜，還是一兩個世紀以後的事。保存在後來手稿中的某些聖詠，很可能反映了前幾個世紀演唱這些歌詞的旋律。在旋律被寫下來以前，歌唱者只憑記憶演唱，或者是按照老歌手傳下來的公式用即興演唱的方法去再造它們。這就是說，按口口相授的傳統去辦。後來，某些傳統的聖詠被寫了下來，特別是那些最難記憶或最少演唱的。

大多數基督教聖詠都起源於中世紀，但從那時起，它就被保存著，並繼續得到演唱，雖然所唱的往往是有缺陷的版本。1962—1965年梵蒂岡第二次公會議想使會眾更直接地參加禮拜，用地方語言代替了儀式中的拉丁語。到了今天，聖詠實際上已經從天主教教會的正規儀式中消失了。在歐洲，聖詠只在一些修道院和更大的教區的某些儀式中存在著。在美國，就更少獲得支持了。雖然拉丁語還仍舊是官方語言，素歌也仍然是教會的官方音樂，但被認為更適合於整個會眾演唱的音樂，幾乎已經完全取代了傳統的聖詠，因為那種音樂更簡單，熟悉的聖詠旋律有本國言的翻譯，音調是新創作的，音樂風格是大眾化的。

今天，聖詠chants已是慶典的音樂，它可能仍在使用；同時它還是歷史性的曲目，在音樂會和唱片中仍能聽到。音樂史學家想使聖詠版本真實地反映中世紀的實踐，他們卻碰到問題，因為新近的版本反映了當前的解釋。許多唱片都是根據梵蒂岡官方批准的出版物製作的，由19世紀末到20世紀初索萊姆的本篤會修道院Abbey of Solesmes的僧侶們所編輯的。因此，為了實際上的理由，我們必須認為，這一聖詠曲目是近代的反映，即使這樣做模糊了風格和實踐的年代順序。

聖詠的類型、形式和分類

所有的聖詠都可以分為聖經歌詞和非聖經歌詞兩類，這兩類又可細分為散文歌詞和韻文歌詞兩種。聖經散文歌詞的例子有日課中的功課，以及彌撒中的宗徒書信和福音書；聖經韻文歌詞的例子有《詩篇》和短歌。非聖經散文歌詞是《感恩贊》Te Deum、大量交替聖歌和四首瑪利亞交替聖歌中的三首。非聖經韻文歌詞的聖詠是贊美詩和繼抒詠。

聖詠亦可按早期演唱方式來劃分。交替式聖詠由幾個唱詩班交替演唱；應答式聖詠由一個獨唱者和唱詩班交替演唱；直接式聖詠就是沒有交替的演唱。

還有一種分類法以音符和音節的關係為依據。幾乎每一音節都有一個音符的那種聖詠，被稱為“音節式聖詠”syllabic；一個音節有一長段旋律經過句的，被稱為“花唱式聖詠”melismatic。這種分類並非總是清清楚楚的，以花唱式為主的聖詠中，往往包括某些音節式段落或樂句；而除此之外，許多音節式聖詠也偶爾在某些音節和樂句上有四五個音符的小花唱，這有時候被叫做“紐姆式聖詠”neumatic。
一般說來，聖詠的旋律輪廓反映了拉丁語詞的發音方法，重要的音節譜以更高的音或更多的音。這種方法稱為“主”重音，但也有許多例外。它不能充分地應用在宣敘式的聖詠上，因為在這裡許多相續的音節是唱同一音的；也不能用在贊美詩上，因為在那裡每一個詩節都必須唱同一旋律。在華麗的聖詠中，旋律曲線往往比歌詞重音更具重要性，結果在最後的弱音節中有長的花唱，如“alleluia”的最後音節“a”，或“Dominus”和“exultemus”中的“us”，或“Kyrie”中的“e”。在這些情況下，一個樂句中重要的歌詞和音節，就用簡單的音樂譜寫，以便同裝飾華麗的非重要音節形成對比。在素歌中，很少有單詞或詞組的重復，旋律要適應歌詞的節奏，適應它的一般情態，以及適應聖詠的宗教禮儀功能。只有很少的情況下，旋律才企圖去表達感情或如畫般的效果。這並不是說，聖詠是無表情的，它的目的就是表明歌詞，有時是直截了當的，有時則是高度裝飾性的。

每一首聖詠的旋律都分為樂句和樂段，同歌詞的片語和句子相一致。在現代聖詠集中，這些段落都以線譜中的縱線標誌來劃分，按照細分項目的重要性或長或短，大多數旋律線往往採取拱形，開始時低，上升到更高的音高，在那兒停留一會，然後在樂句的末尾下降。


西方音乐史（第六版） 第32-35頁


【文本來源：Donald Jay Grout_ Claude Victor Palisca- 西方音乐史-人民音乐出版社（2010）（第六版）, 第26-27, 32-36頁】

ROMAN CHANT AND LITURGY

The chants of the Roman Church are one of the great treasures of Western civilization. Like Romanesque architecture, they stand as a memorial to religious faith in the Middle Ages, embodying the sense of community and esthetic sensibility of the time. Not only does this body of plainchant include some of the oldest and noblest melodies ever created, it also served as the source and inspiration for much Western art music up to the sixteenth century. As beautiful as the chants are to listen to, it would be misleading to treat them purely as music, for they cannot be separated from their ceremonial context and purpose.

Plainchant is musical prayer, heightened speech that unites the faithful through melody and rhythm in the articulation of devout thoughts. But it is the text — its phraseology, punctuation, and syntax — that gives form to the songful delivery. Chant can be as simple as recitation on a single pitch, heard in the Gospel reading at Mass. A slight fall in pitch from the reciting tone may mark the end of a thought. A rise to the reciting tone calls attention to the beginning of a reading or to a major section of the text. The formulas for chanting the Psalms elaborate on this simple recitation by offering a variety of pitch patterns for beginnings, endings, half-endings, and resumptions of the recitation. More melodious chants, although they expand on this basic structure, still cling to the form of the verbal message. How elaborate the melody is depends on how weighty or solemn the occasion, how the text functions in the ritual, and who is performing the chant — a soloist, a choir, or the congregation. In short, it is determined by the liturgy.

Liturgy is the body of texts and rites that make up a sacred service. Over time, certain texts and rituals have been added or deleted. The readings,prayers, and songs mark or commemorate special individuals, events, days, or times of the year. In the early Christian church, the liturgy centered on a ritual recalling the Last Supper of Jesus and his disciples as recounted in the New Testament. This liturgy developed into the Mass. From the collective praying and singing of psalms, which was adapted from Jewish practice, grew the liturgy of the Divine Office, or the Canonical Hours.

The liturgy and, with it, the chant developed over many centuries. The repertory changed and expanded, even as certain rituals remained stable. Written descriptions, called ceremonials, preserved the formal order of ceremonies, while manuscript books recorded the prayers and readings themselves. Eventually signs inserted above the words indicated patterns of chanting. The oldest manuscripts we have that preserve musical signs date from the ninth century, but the indication of pitch in these documents is only approximate, a memory aid rather than a record or prescription of what was to be sung. Notation of pitch intervals became more precise only a century or two later. Some of the chants preserved in these later manuscripts probably reflect melodies sung to their texts in earlier centuries. Before melodies were written down, singers memorized them or recreated them by improvising on formulas handed down from older singers, that is, by oral tradition. Ultimately, some of the traditional chants were written down, especially those that were hardest to remember or least often sung.

Most Christian chant originated in the Middle Ages, but it has been kept alive and continuously sung since, although often in corrupt versions. The Second Vatican Council of 1962-65, in an effort to engage congregations more directly in worship, replaced the Latin language of the rituals with the local vernacular, and today chant has virtually disappeared from regular services of the Catholic Church. In Europe, chant survives in some monasteries and for certain services of larger parochial churches. In America, it is cultivated even less. Although Latin remains the official language and plainchant the official music of the church, the traditional chants have been mostly replaced by music considered more suitable for an entire congregation to sing: simplified versions with vernacular translations of the familiar chant melodies, newly composed tunes, and music in popular styles.

Today, chant is ceremonial music that may still be in use, as well as a historical repertory that can be heard in concerts and recordings. The music historian who wants to represent chant in versions that are true to medieval practices faces a problem because recent editions reflect current interpretations. Many recordings are based on the Vatican's officially approved publications, edited by the monks of the Benedictine Abbey of Solesmes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. For practical reasons, then, we must consider the chant repertory as reflected in recent times, even if this obscures the chronological succession of styles and practices.

CLASSES, FORMS, AND TYPES OF CHANT

All chants may be divided into those with biblical and those with nonbiblical texts, and both categories may be subdivided into chants with prose texts and those with poetical texts. Examples of biblical prose texts are the lessons of the Office and the Epistle and Gospel of the Mass. Poetic biblical texts include the Psalms and canticles. Among nonbiblical prose texts are the Te Deum, many antiphons, and three of the four Marian antiphons. The hymns and sequences are chants with nonbiblical poetical texts.

Chants may also be classified according to the manner in which they were sung in earlier times. Antiphonal chants were sung by alternating choirs, responsorial by a soloist alternating with a choir, direct without alternation.

Still another classification is based on the relation of notes to syllables. Chants in which almost each syllable has a single note are called syllabic. Those characterized by long melodic passages on a single syllable are called melismatic. This distinction is not always clear-cut, since chants that are prevailingly melismatic usually include some syllabic sections or phrases, and many otherwise syllabic chants have occasional short melismas of four or five notes on some syllables, passages that are sometimes called neumatic.

In general, the melodic outline of a chant reflects the way the Latin words were pronounced, with prominent syllables set to higher notes or to more notes. This procedure, called tonic accent, has many exceptions. It cannot be fully applied in recitative-like chants, where many successive syllables are sung to the same note, or in hymns, where every strophe has to be sung to the same melody. In florid chants, the melodic curve is often given greater importance than the word accent, resulting in long melismas on final, weak syllables, as on the final "a" of "alleluia," or the "us" of "Dominus" and "exultemus," or the "e" of "Kyrie." In such cases, the important words and syllables of a phrase are emphasized by simple settings, which stand in contrast to the rich ornamentation of the unstressed syllables. In plainchant there is seldom any repetition of single words or word groups. The melody is adapted to the rhythm of the text, to its general mood, and to the liturgical function of the chant. Only rarely does the melody attempt to express emotional or pictorial effects. This is not to say that chant is inexpressive; its purpose is to proclaim the text, sometimes in straightforward, other times in highly ornamented ways.

Every chant melody is divided into phrases and periods corresponding to the phrases and periods of the text. These sections are marked in modern chant books by a vertical line in the staff, shorter or longer according to the importance of the subdivision. Most often the melodic curve takes the form of an arch; it begins low, rises to a higher pitch, where it remains for some time, then descends at the end of the phrase.

[Source: Donald Jay Grout_ Claude V. Palisca - A history of western music-6th Edition - Norton (2001) - 6th Edition, pp.31-32,38-42]