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BY KIRK KRAMER Northwest Arkansas Times
Posted on Sunday, March 6, 2005
Ralph Stanley singing “Angel Band,” the strains of “Amazing Grace” and “Just as I am,” often sung at the altar call, are the sort of sacred music most often heard in Northwest Arkansas, given the region’s deep associations with evangelical Protestantism.
But for some people in the area, the ancient form of music known as Gregorian chant has a unique power and appeal. “The chant has proven itself over the centuries to be a powerful way to bring oneself into a spiritual state,” said Roger Gross, a drama professor at the University of Arkansas. “Nothing has ever been so conducive to worship as Gregorian chant.”
Justitiae Domini dulciora super mel et favum. The ordinances of the Lord… are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.
The origins of Gregorian chant, or plainsong, date back to the ancient Jewish synagogue. Its melodies would have been familiar to Jewish worshippers in the first century A. D. St. Gregory the Great, pope from 590 to 604, developed and codified the use of the music by the Catholic Church. Often associated with the monasteries and cathedrals of the Middle Ages, recordings of Gregorian chant have sold millions of copies in recent years. . .
nwanews.com/story_print.php?paper=nwat&News=section&storyid=25941
Posted on Sunday, March 6, 2005
Ralph Stanley singing “Angel Band,” the strains of “Amazing Grace” and “Just as I am,” often sung at the altar call, are the sort of sacred music most often heard in Northwest Arkansas, given the region’s deep associations with evangelical Protestantism.
But for some people in the area, the ancient form of music known as Gregorian chant has a unique power and appeal. “The chant has proven itself over the centuries to be a powerful way to bring oneself into a spiritual state,” said Roger Gross, a drama professor at the University of Arkansas. “Nothing has ever been so conducive to worship as Gregorian chant.”
Justitiae Domini dulciora super mel et favum. The ordinances of the Lord… are sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.
The origins of Gregorian chant, or plainsong, date back to the ancient Jewish synagogue. Its melodies would have been familiar to Jewish worshippers in the first century A. D. St. Gregory the Great, pope from 590 to 604, developed and codified the use of the music by the Catholic Church. Often associated with the monasteries and cathedrals of the Middle Ages, recordings of Gregorian chant have sold millions of copies in recent years. . .
nwanews.com/story_print.php?paper=nwat&News=section&storyid=25941