plainsong

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Related to Plain-song: Gregorian chant

plain·song

(plān′sông′, -sŏng′)

n. Ecclesiastical

1. Gregorian chant.

2. Monophonic medieval liturgical music without strict meter and traditionally sung without accompaniment. In both senses also called plainchant.

[Translation of Medieval Latin cantus plānus.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

plainsong

(ˈpleɪnˌsɒŋ)

(Music, other) the style of unison unaccompanied vocal music used in the medieval Church, esp in Gregorian chant. Also called: plainchant

[C16: translation of Medieval Latin cantus plānus]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

plain•song

(ˈpleɪnˌsɔŋ, -ˌsɒŋ)

n.

the ancient traditional unisonal music of the Christian Church, having its form set and its use prescribed by ecclesiastical tradition.

[1505–15; translation of Medieval Latin cantus plānus]

plainsong

A nonmetrical church chant.

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Noun

plainsong - a liturgical chant of the Roman Catholic Church

Gregorian chant, plainchant

chant - a repetitive song in which as many syllables as necessary are assigned to a single tone

cantus firmus - a melody used as the basis for a polyphonic composition

Translations

canto gregoriano

plainsong

[ˈpleɪnsɒŋ] N → canto m llano

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

plainsong

[ˈpleɪnˌsɒŋ] n → canto piano

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References in periodicals archive ?

Inside, a choir of nuns sang a plain-song, while outside on the steps young songsters harmonized a different sort of hymn, Oasis' "Wonderwall" ("Maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me"), each bringing together the faithful of a different sort.

Proust's way home

"I try to pick music to suit the season such as oratorios at Easter, or even medieval plain-song near Christmas, and I can hear the groans as it starts but I always ensure the volume is high," the Telegraph quoted him as saying.

The Brit school that calls in Mozart, Verdi, Blake to calm disruptive pupils!

It cleverly fused many of Davies's great inspirations: plain-song, folksong and Renaissance polyphony.