Chant accompaniments (for those who actually use them) are written in arbitrarily chosen 'keys' which reflect a congregation's presumed pitch range. You are free to choose whatever pitch, or finalis, is comfortable with your voice. You do not have to sing your gloria at the pitch given in a hymnal. If needful for 'accompaniment' you may very well transpose that hymnal version to an appropriate pitch. You are correct, though, that 'lower and higher pitches give different feelings'. Bearing this in mind, one should consider the mood of the chant when choosing his comfortable register. Any hymnal versions of chant are far from being scholastically authoritative.

We're all baritones and mezzos (most people are) so we pitch the reciting tone at either A or Bb, which pits the final at D/Eb in authentic modes, and keeps most things in our D-D "golden octave". Mode 2 with F clef we start on F, which means it can be read in treble with 1 flat. Mode 8 is down a step. We'll adjust that if a particular chant has a problem tessitura (e.g., Emendemus in melius for Wednesday is up a half step from our usual to try to improve the grumbling at "miserere".)

Accompanied chant is a different matter. My organist has the Campion book with Bragers and Rossini. He tends to the low, but I find that often it's too low, and the high is too high. We only accompany Ordinaries, because we want the PiPs to sing (and some do).

I just wanted to add that it was Dr. Mahrt who introduced me to that way of thinking about chant pitch, in the context of an alternatim setting...which ALSO, finally, made the whole concept of chiavette make sense, as a "hermeneutic of continuity" with chant. So thanks!

henrik, I'm not sure what you're saying here. Gloria XV is marked as in mode 4, it starts and ends on mi, the bulk of it is on A, so it definitely IS Mode 4. So starting it on E is perfect. Since it has such a narrow ambitus, F would be fine, or maybe even F#. But there's certainly no reason to take it lower.

I sing chant in mixed voice. I shift around e'-f'. I seldom have to sing in head voice, nor drop the jaw much for low notes.

>> Sometimes, though, I have considered that the choir get a free pass on the ( Alleluya) when rehearsing anthems for Easter.

I had heard that one might substitute "la la la la" instead of that four syllable word, and proposed it last year,
but got so much push back from the singers that I gave up.
For practice, regardless of season, we just use what's written. (sigh)

Henrik -
At the risk of being repetitive, you may sing chant at any pitch that is comfortable for you. In the example you give from your hymnal, Herre, forbarma dig over oss, C is the first and lowest note. I, myself, would likely begin it on D if not E; perhaps, on certain days, even F or G. You are not bound to the actual pitch given in your hymnal. In fact, it seems to me that C is ridiculously low for this chant - unless one's congregation are Russian basses. Perhaps the editors of your hymnal thought that C was a comfortable pitch for most Swedes. You are not bound by their suggested pitch.

When we first practice a given chant, I mark an intended start pitch at the beginning of everything. Every part of the Ordinary. Every part of the Propers. Every motet. That is based on that moment. For chants that we sometimes sing proper tone; sometimes sing in psalm tone, I have an FT pitch and a PT pitch marked.

Sometimes, during practice, a given chant may seem a bit too high or too low - and I'll adjust the pitch by a half step or two in either direction. Sometimes, a pitch that worked well in rehearsal is not working when we practice just before Mass, and I'll make an adjustment at that time. Sometimes, cantors being different, it makes sense to adjust higher or lower in either the rehearsal or the Mass.

There are even a few chants for which I have provided a half-step or two range, and then I know if I have lower-voiced cantors I'll use the lower pitch in the range; higher voiced cantors the higher pitch in the range. There are also maybe 2-3 chants (Corpus Christi Sequence comes to mind as one) where I have a practice pitch that is a bit lower than the performance pitch. We have nearly 800 pages of chant repertoire in our books, so you can see that is fairly rare.

Having said that, the initial starting pitch I've chosen is generally in the right ballpark, and I only adjust it if needed.

As MJO says above:

At the risk of being repetitive, you may sing chant at any pitch that is comfortable for you.

You are missunderstanding me.
If the organist starts a tune with C as starting pitch. I cannot sing higher as I am at church singing with others. I can only sing higher at home. Plainchant is often sung low at church.
Dont tenors have a problem singing then?
How are church musicians thinking when choosing low keys? Shouldnt even tenors be able to sing plainchant with others? It is hard to sing plainchant with all you low baritones!

During our console rebuild on the mighty Schantz, they installed a transposer. It makes it easier to accompany chant in the range where the singers are best, that is, when I need to accompany them.

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My tenor hasn't had a problem with A as a reciting tone. I will say though that as my group gets better, we've tended to use Bb more often.

Most people are baritones. If you're singing with most people, you'll probably have to Offer It Up. If you're solo, put it where it sounds good.