Hucbald's system of parallel motion of fifths and octaves was soon succeeded by attempts at contrary motion, and counterpart as we know it, that is, point against point (or note against note) was born. To the Gregorian melody which now became
firmus,a that is, tin changeable melody, were added one or more others. In giving birth to the new system and continuing to be its foundation and the source whence polyphony drew its life and being, the Gregorian chant lost its most distinguishing characteristic, that is, its natural rhythm. The themes taken from the chant and used by con trapuntists as •canti fermi') were forced into the rhythmical straight-jacket Each note of the cantos firmus had now to assume a definite value in order that the added melodies simultaneously sung might harmonize with it. Polyphony, or the new school of music, increased in favor very rapidly to the detriment of the old chant. In strumental music, which was gradually develop ing, also had a deteriorating influence on the execution and cultivation of the ancient music of the Church. Counterpoint in many instances lost its original purpose and degenerated into artificiality. Composers used it to display their skill rather than to give expression to the ideas and emotions latent in and suggested by the text to which it was wedded. A reform move ment toward primitive simplicity set in toward the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century. The Council of Trent enacted laws concerning the abuses that had crept into the chant as well as against the extravagances which the display of skill for its own sake had brought about and which in fact almost caused the total exclusion of figured music from the Church. In a brief dated 25 Oct. 1577, Pope Gregory XIII directs Giovanni Perluigi Pales trina and Annibale Zoilo (Palestrina was at the time director of the papal choir and Zoilo a member of the same) to revise the chants con tained in the "Antiphonaria," "Gradualia," and "Psalteria," and "eliminate" therefrom "all bar barisms, obscure passages, contradictions and superfluous additions which, through the igno rance, neglect, and also through the malice of composers, copyists and singers, have crept into these books?' A pupil of Palestrina, Giovanni Guidetti, had, a few years previously, edited the various chants for the celebrant contained in the Missal, which had been newly revised by a com mission of cardinals appointed for this purpose after the Tridentine Council. Palestrina, Zoilo and Guidetti in their labors of revision acted upon the principle which had been lost sight of for a time, but which was now generally ac cepted by musicians in Rome, that the words of the texts should be sung to the notes as they ought to be spoken or declaimed without notes. This principle in its application brought into universal use the three different kinds of note values: the longa, the brevis and the semi brevis. The work of revision, of the Graduale only, which was continued and completed after Palestrina's death (2 Feb. 1594) by Felice Amerio and Francesco Suriano involved many excisions and abbreviations; reduced many chants which had been elaborately melismatic to a syllabic form. This revised
derived its name "editio
from the fact that it was printed by the "stamperia" or press of that name established in Rome by Cardinal Ferdinand de Medici. The Congregation of Sacred Rites, in 1595, appointed Giovanni Maria Nanino, Giovanni Andrea Dragoni, Luca Marenzio and Fulgentio Valesio to edit, in ac cordance with the principles stated above, the
were now printed and published with the appro bation of Pope Paul V (1605-21) and that of the prefect of the Congregation of Sacred Rites. This approbation did not carry with it the prohibition of the use of the old, more elab orate, now called traditional, versions of the chant. No doubt because of the latitude thus permitted, the abbreviated version did not make much headway outside of the papal territory. Besides this, monody (solo singing) and the theatrical style in general came into vogue in Italy at the beginning of the 17th century. It took such a hold of public taste that even the works of Palestrina and the masters of his school were temporarily forgotten for the trashy and trivial products which now had the upper hand. This being the case with regard to the polyphonic style, it was natural that the austere, chaste and simple Gregorian melodies should suffer even greater neglect. While in Italy and in some other parts of the world the chant was for a time neglected, there were countries, such as France. Belgium, Spain and the Catholic parts of Holland where it never ceased to be cultivated according either to the traditional or the abbreviated version. Many different edi tions came into use, notably in France, where many dioceses had their own versions. Toward the middle of the 19th century the plan enter tained by Gregory XIII, Clement VIII and Paul V, of having uniformity for the whole Catholic world in everything pertaining to the liturgy, including the chant, was revived with new vigor. Pope Pius IX, in 1868, appointed a commission to whom he entrusted the task of editing, in accordance with existing require ments, the "editio medicea," which Pius IX and his successor, Leo XIII, repeatedly declared to be the official version of the Gregorian chant for the whole Church, and archaeologists — not ably the Benedictines of Solesmes, A. Dechev rens, S. J., of Paris, the Belgian savant, G. A. Gevaerts, Dr. Peter Wagner of Freiburg, Switz erland, and others — made exhaustive studies of the manuscripts dating from the 9th century (the oldest so far discovered) up to the Renais sance. The results of these studies induced Pius X, to appoint (1904) a commission for the purpose of preparing the "editio vaticana," embodying the fruits of the researches and labors of learned men for many years past. Whatever may be the differences between this latest version and the many that have gone be fore, they in no sense change the essential character of the chant. This character has its root primarily in the nature of the scales or modes used, as has been shown above, and, sec ondly, in the intervals in the construction of the melodies. As has been pointed out, the melo dies sprang from the sacred texts of the liturgy: they were their complement and splendor. The Church has always declared the chant to be her own music par excellence. Other forms of music which she admits in her cult, the Pales trina, orpolyphonic, and the modern styles, are to be judged as to their fitness in the light of the Gregorian chant, which is the norm and standard of excellence because it best expresses the attitude of prayer.
Some of the works on the Gregorian chant which may be profitably con sulted are Haberl, Choralis' ; Kienle, ; Gietmann, (Vol. III) Kornmiiller, (Lexikon der Kirchlichen Tonkunst' • Gevaert, Melopee Antique dans le Chant, de l'Eglise the Benedictines of Solesmes, Musicale' ; Dechev rens, 'Etudes de Science Musicale.'