An antiphon (Greek ἀντίφωνον, ἀντί "opposite" + φωνή "voice") in Christian music and ritual, is a "responsory" by a choir or congregation, usually in Gregorian chant, to a psalm or other text in a religious service or musical work.
This gives rise to the general term 'antiphony', which may be used for any call and response style of singing such as the kirtan and the sea shanty. Particularly, any piece of music performed by two semi-independent choirs in interaction, often singing alternate musical phrases, is known as 'antiphonal'.[1] Antiphonal psalmody is the singing or musical playing of psalms by alternating groups of performers.[2]
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The "mirror" structure of the Hebrew psalms renders it probable that the antiphonal method was present in the services of the ancient Israelites. According to the historian Socrates of Constantinople, it was introduced into Christian worship by Ignatius of Antioch (died 107) who, in a vision, had seen angels singing in alternating choirs.[3]
Antiphons have remained an integral part of the worship in the Greek Orthodox church[4] and the Eastern Catholic churches.[5] The practice was not found in the Latin Church until more than two centuries later. Ambrose, bishop of Milan and Gregory the Great, known for their contribution to the formulation of Gregorian chant, are credited with 'antiphonaries', collections of works suitable for antiphon, that are still in use in the Roman Catholic Church today.[6]
Polyphonic votive antiphons emerged in England in the fourteenth century as settings of texts honouring the Virgin Mary separately from the mass and office, often after compline.[7] Towards the end of the fifteenth century English composers produced expanded settings for as many as nine parts with increasing complexity and vocal range.[7] The largest collection of such antiphons is the late fifteenth century Eton choirbook.[8] As a result antiphony remains particularly common in the Anglican musical tradition: the choir, often divided into two equal halves on opposite sides of the quire, is then regarded as two, termed Decani and Cantoris.[9]
The Greater Advent or O Antiphons are antiphons used at daily prayer in the evenings of the last days of Advent in various liturgical Christian traditions.[10] Each antiphon is a name of Christ, one of his attributes mentioned in Scripture. In the Roman Catholic tradition, they are sung or recited at Vespers from December 17 to December 23.[11] In the Church of England they have traditionally been used as antiphons to the Magnificat at Evening Prayer.[12] More recently they have found a place in primary liturgical documents throughout the Anglican Communion, including the Church of England's Common Worship liturgy. Use of the O Antiphons was preserved in Lutheranism at the German Reformation and continues to be used in Lutheran churches.[13]
When two or more groups of singers sing in alternation the style of music can also be called 'polychoral'. Specifically, this term is usually applied to music of the late Renaissance and early Baroque. Polychoral techniques are a definitive characteristic of the music of the Venetian school, exemplified by the works of Giovanni Gabrieli; this music is often known as the Venetian polychoral style.[14] The Venetian polychoral style was an important innovation of the late Renaissance, and this style, with its variations as it spread across Europe after 1600, helped to define the beginning of the Baroque era. Polychoral music was not limited to Italy in the Renaissance; it was popular in Spain and Germany, and there are examples from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from composers as diverse as Hector Berlioz, Igor Stravinsky and Karlheinz Stockhausen.[15]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed (1913). "Antiphon". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company.
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