Tempo for chant
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    If someone were to ask you: what is a good tempo for chant? What would you say?

    I would suggest 120 pulses per minute. Two punctums per second. Then work from there, some things faster, some things slower.

    Do you think this is a good starting point?
  • David AndrewDavid Andrew
    Posts: 1,204
    With my metro-gnome in hand, I tested the melody of the hymn, "Ad cenam agni providi," (I've been teaching it to a choir in preparation for Solemn Vespers in "Tempus Paschale") and that tempo seems pretty good.

    Having said that, several things come to mind:

    Does the Liber Usualis discuss tempo in the introductory section on interpretation? I seem to remember, though I don't have it in front of me, that it does make some mention of tempo and pulse, and how to deal with it.

    Also, historically, it seems that there has always been some kind of connection between "ictus" and one's heartbeat. Of course, that could be right up there with the whole "Mozart stole the Allegri Miserere from the Vatican" story. (Ain't I a devil?!?)

    More importantly, I think tempo for chant can vary wildly depending on everything from the more obvious - accoustics of the building - to the more essoteric - vagaries of semiological interpretation. I also wonder if there's not a school of thought that suggests the flow of the chant and its rhythm is more connected to the type of chant rather than the notation, that is, a florid gradual, tract or offertory as against a more regular hymn.

    The short answer is yes, 120 to the punctum seems a good place to start.
  • incantuincantu
    Posts: 989
    Gabriel Faure on the proper tempo for his song:

    "If the singer is bad, very fast."

    I think the same applies to chant. Take the familiar Agnus Dei XVIII. At . = 120 it seems to float along smoothly. But just a few clicks down at 100, each individual note seems to get its own beat, completely losing the sense of rhythmic pulse. I have yet to hear chant performed too fast for my taste, especially by thecongregation.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    My personal preference is much faster. I'm just thinking of a good rule of thumb.
  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,185
    If there isn't a school of thought that suggests the flow and rhythm of the chant is connected to the type of chant, it should be founded. I'd enroll.

    I think 2 puncta per second (120/min.) is a good starting point, especially for the ordinary chants and responses. However, it seems to me that 2 pp/sec. takes the life out the more melismatic chants (graduals, tracts, offertories). I find that with these chants, and depending on the acoustics of the church, my direction can have scholas approach 3 pp/sec. (180/min.)
  • priorstf
    Posts: 460
    I agree with the starting point of 120. That both keeps it from dragging and avoids turning it into the Bladensburg Races. Working through the simple Adoro Te and Regina Coeli, it also seems to provide an interesting way of evaluating epismas and dots. (Is there a more formal term than 'dotted punctum'?) The music and the words begin to take a life of their own, of course, but 120 is good for much.
  • Stella611
    Posts: 112
    I've also heard from my music director that different modes tend to have different speeds. I don't remember the speed for all the modes, but he has definitely said that mode 1 is one of the "slower" modes. and I believe 2 and 4 are in the middle, 7 and 8 tend to be faster. Has anyone ever heard of this?
    Also, in my opinion, I think the chants generally can be taken slower with a schola because you can stagger breathe. Having done 4 chants in my senior recital two weeks ago, 3 of which were a graduals and tracts, I can say they must be sung quite differently when doing them solo. Then, they do need to move more quickly so that you can carry a whole line smoothly, as well as for other reasons.
  • Palestrina
    Posts: 364
    If you can get yourself a copy of the Liber Usualis with modern notation, you'll find that there are metronome markings throughout. I think this can be quite useful to study as it gives one an idea of where Solesmes stood on tempi for various pieces.
  • dad29
    Posts: 2,217
    The 2pps works for us. In gentle contradistinction to K Depatie, however, I've always measured the tempo against the wind required to get from breathing point to breathing point--meaning that some longer melismas are done a bit more quickly.

    It's also my experience that slllloooooooowwwww Chant is the worst.
  • Jeffrey TuckerJeffrey Tucker
    Posts: 3,624
    When our pastor first came to our parish, we told him that we sing Gregorian chant. He sort of winced and said, oh, I hope you don't sing it too slowly! Slow chant has had an unfortunate effect on the reputation of chant.
  • Chris
    Posts: 80
    We tend to move along between 2 to 3pps, usually falling on the faster side. Familiarity and certainty with the notes/neums is essential. Slow chant is definately not good for "chant health!"
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