Sources of Roman Monophonic Chant: From Pagan and Jewish Antiquity to Gregory the Great

This paper will trace the development of the uniquely monophonic Roman chant which reached its purest form around the time of the pontificate of Gregory I. Data examined will include plainchant\u27s beginning in polyphonic Jewish and Pagan Antiquity; the incorporation and adaptation of Jewish synagogue music by the Judeo-Christian New Testament Church; and the eventual rejection of all forms of polyphonic music in the Patristic period as evidenced in the enunciation of the concept of una voce dicentes. In addition, musical/liturgical history from the fourth through the night centuries will be examined in order to show the formation of a (Old) Roman Chant. This chant, contemporary to Gregory the Great, will be shown to one of the outgrowths of the above-mentioned development. It will be differentiated from the misnamed Gregorian Chant, which is actually an eighth to ninth century amalgam of Frankish and Roman musical elements