Andreas Pfisterer: Skizzen zu einer gregorianischen Formenlehre

Since Peter Wagner’s and Paolo Ferretti’s landmark studies, Gregorian formal theory has drifted to the periphery of chant scholarship. This essay proposes a new approach to the musical form of Gregorian melodies. Spanning the various liturgical genres, melodies can be grouped into either psalmodic two-part or songlike three-part types, which are distinguished by characteristic patterns of correspondence in the phrases’ cadences. These traits tend to be preserved even when lines are shortened or extended due to textual considerations. As three exemplary analyses illustrate, such a theory of form additionally facilitates a more exact frame of reference toward modal issues and the relationship between text and music.

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