CHANT, a short musical composition adapted to the singing of the psalms and canti cles. Chants are single when adapted to a single verse, and double when adapted to two verses, the former consisting of two strains of three and four bars respectively, and the latter being twice that length. More recently quad ruple chants extending over four verses have been introduced. The complete chant consists of four parts, namely: (1) The intonation or initial phrase leading up to the reciting note; (2) the reciting note, which is the dominant of the mode employed; (3) the mediation, or main body of the chant; and (4) the termina tion or concluding phrase. In modern Angli can however, there is no intonation. The origin of the plain song of the Church is unknown, but the first attempt to reduce the traditional music to some definite system was made by Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan. (d. 397). More important, however, by far is the Antiphonarium of Gregory the Great, which appeared in the latter half of the 6th century and soon established itself as the chief and in fact only authority on Church music. The Gre
gorian tones were introduced into England by Saint Augustine, and in the course of their history in that country they underwent many modifications in the various local °uses' Dur ing the civil war and the Commonwealth they went out of use, but were revived at the Res toration. Not long afterward, however, the Gregorian chants began to give place to the modern double chants, and it is only in quite recent years that attempts have been made to revive them. A new impetus has been given to the use and popularization of plain chant in recent times by the first encyclical letter of Pius X, his and the introduction of Gregorian music in all the Catholic churches throughout the world. See GREGORIAN CHANT.