Chants of the Vatican Graduale - MusicaSacra

10 Structure and Expressiveness of the Variable Mass-Chants
This naturally demands a restraint of the purely personal element and
a renunciation of those traits which correspond to the inclinations and
experiences of the individual.
-The reverence for God and the attitude of the community often
effect this community of sentiment, which is indicated rather than expressed.
Religious activities are, in fact, less demonstrative.
This is especially noticeable in those chants which were designated
above as "chants of rest," namely, Gradual (Alleluia-verse), Tract, and
also the psalm-verse of the Introit. They are either composed entirely
of typical melodies, which are adapted to different texts, moods, and
feasts, or they make liberal use of typical forms. And it is precisely this
that distinguishes religious and sacred art, that it rises above the natural
propensities of the individual, and that it has a style of its own. All the
forms of religious art—painting, sculpture, architecture, and also music
and song—have these characteristics.
The melody in these cases does not serve as an interpretation, but
rather as an embellishment of the text; it clothes the text with a more
or less festal garb. Occasionally interesting attempts are made to sacrifice
the typical form for individual expression.
Gregorian music, however, is not merely a music of embellishment;
it does not describe the text in the manner in which a garland entwines
itself about a pillar, effecting no inner connection with it. Chant can also
make the text interpretative, expressive, and explanative. It often brings
its gradations at the very point where a declamatory rendition of the
text grows in warmth, and it emphasizes that word which marks its
climax. Much would be gained for the proper understanding and rendition
of the melody if we would first ask ourselves the question: How would
I read or render this text according to its sense? It will become evident
that chant unites text and melody well, and that there is an intimate
relationship, a union of spirit, between them. Choral music, morevoer,
makes prominent use of the esthetics of the interval.
The chants referred to above as processional hymns may be described
as expressive of emotion. True, they make use of many typical
forms, but the more these hymns are studied and analyzed the more
apparent it becomes that they are more than mere feelers in the realm
of emotionally expressive music. It is difficult to reconcile the opinion of
Oswald Spengler 9 when, writing of the church music of the early Middle
Ages, he says that its subjective emotions and sentiments are not conceivable
by us. Indeed, plain chant with its limited means and devices
to portray emotion and expression will not create the immediate reaction
Untergang des Abendlandes, I, 224.