Introduction

Summary

Liturgy was fundamental to the practice and expression of Christian faith in the medieval West, and liturgy was mediated through melody. Liturgical texts were neither read silently from the page, as so often in modern scholarly experience, nor were they spoken. Those explicitly understood as being musical range from ornate soloists' chants to the simple weekday hymns sung regularly by an entire monastic or clerical community. Beyond this, however, readings and prayers were intoned rather than spoken. The melodic articulation of liturgical text is thus fundamental to any understanding of how those texts were experienced within the medieval liturgy. In modern secular circles, liturgical music is often appreciated primarily on an abstractly aesthetic level, as a beautiful and uplifting sound. We hope here to build a more nuanced understanding of the way melody and liturgical surroundings contributed to and enhanced textual meaning within medieval religious ritual. We argue that the Old Hispanic chant texts were purposefully chosen, adapted, and organized to promote particular theological meanings within the liturgy, and that the melodies shape the way these meanings were conveyed and understood. Through their carefully conceived combinations of text and melody the chants guided their hearers through Lenten penitence, enacted the Passion of Christ, and accompanied the initiation rites through which neophytes were brought to the faith.