Home/The Chants
Repertorium
The Chants
The great chants of the Church — each one a door into prayer.
The Repertoire
About these chants.
Gregorian chant is the Church’s own music — a single unaccompanied line of melody, sung in Latin, shaped over more than a thousand years to carry the words of Scripture and the liturgy. It has no fixed beat and no harmony; it follows the rise and fall of the text, so that the words are never buried by the music. That is why it still sounds unlike anything else, and why it remains, in the Church’s own words, the music proper to the Roman liturgy.
Every chant gathered here is given in full: the Latin text, an English translation, its place in the liturgy, and the story of where it came from. The texts are drawn from the public-domain liturgical books — the Roman Missal, the Roman Breviary, and the Liber Usualis — and checked against authoritative editions. You do not need Latin to begin. Read the English, listen to the line, and let the Latin become familiar the way the faithful always learned it: by repetition.
If you are new, begin with the Salve Regina or the Kyrie. To understand what you are hearing, the eight modes explain the scales chant is built on, and the Scriptorium teaches the notation.
Questions
On the chants.
What is Gregorian chant?
Gregorian chant is the traditional plainchant of the Roman Catholic Church: a single line of unaccompanied melody, sung in Latin, without fixed rhythm or harmony. It developed over centuries and remains the music proper to the Roman liturgy.
Do I need to understand Latin to listen?
No. Every chant on this site is given with an English translation alongside the Latin. Most people come to know the texts by hearing them repeatedly, which is how the faithful have always learned them.
Which chant should I start with?
The Salve Regina and the Kyrie eleison are among the most approachable and most widely sung. The Pange Lingua and Adoro Te Devote are the great Eucharistic hymns traditionally attributed to St Thomas Aquinas.
Where do these Latin texts come from?
From the public-domain liturgical books of the Church — the Roman Missal, the Roman Breviary, and the Liber Usualis — verified against authoritative editions before publishing.