Chant Discography

Chantdiscography.com offers a relational database of Western Plainchant on sound recordings. (The term “record” is used here to describe any sound carrier, including but not limited to shellac 78s, vinyl 45s, vinyl LPs, cassette tapes and compact discs.) It is a revision and expansion of A Gregorian Chant Discography, published in 1990. Data entry began in February 2010 and public access has been offered since November 2010, even though data entry has not been completed. The entry of known records issued since 1990 is virtually complete, and the entry of records listed in the 1990 book is also virtually complete. New issues and records newly discovered are continually being entered.

Each chant is identified by one or more editions. The first page number identifies the edition heard on the record. The following page numbers identify editions that may be the same or different, but are variant or related versions of the same chant. For example, most hymns found in LH, AM and LU vary in text or melody or both; the doxology or final strophe is usually a different text in each of the three editions. A chant sung from none of the editions listed is noted as a variant manuscript or variant edition with the source cited if known. Chants that are not found in any modern liturgical edition may be identified from one of various sources identified in the list of abbreviations.

A large number of previously unknown recordings has been lent to the compiler for analysis by Manuel Alberto Díaz-Blanco González-Mohíno of Belfort, France.

Searching

In June 2012, three indexes were added to the site.

Chants is an alphabetical list of every chant title that occurs in the database. As in any title search, it is best to repeat the search on the desired book and page.

Records is a list of record titles as they are listed in the database. This index is of more limited usefulness because record titles are not always the same among the various reissues of the same record. It will be useful to repeat the search on a keyword in the title of the record.

Performers is a list of performing groups as identified in the database. It is best to repeat the search on a keyword in the name of the group.

Note that Hispanic chants are now HISP, so the keyword hisp will provide a complete search. Search also CMC for additional entries.

A keyword will produce search results if it is part of a record title, a record issue number, a chant genre, a chant title, a page number of a chant, a performing group, conductor or soloist. A page number must be cited as used here, e.g. "GT 91b" (in quotes).

Double quotation marks must enclose the search term unless it is a single word.

The search is not case-sensitive.

Always omit punctuation marks in chant titles: hence, "magister quid faciendo".

Any search leading to a record will produce a link to the complete contents of that record.

Any search for a chant will produce a link to the complete contents of the relevant record.

The keyword in a chant incipit may produce more than one result. The search for the desired chant may then be narrowed down by repeating the search on the "book page" citation. The "book page" search will also produce a more complete result in some cases.

For example, a search for "Exsurge quare" will yield "Exsurge quare INTR (1) GT 91b LU 504c WG 62b". But a repeat search on "GT 91b" will yield all three of these page numbers, including "Exurge quare" in the Cistercian version.

A search for "Conditor alme siderum" will yield "Conditor alme siderum HYMN (4) LH 3 AM 182b LC 81 WH 17 LU 324d" with recordings sung from LH, AM, LC and WH. But a repeat search on "AM 182b" will yield all of these as well as "Creator alme siderum HYMN (4) LU 324d AM 182b LH 3 LC 81 WH 17" with recordings of the revised text sung from LU.

Certain single words (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus) will require a repeat search on the desired page number. Gaudeamus will produce a long list of introits on the same melody with slight textual variants.

Some recordings are listed more than once if the format is different, e.g., when a CD is issued with additional chants added to the original LP program. The duplicate chants can be identified by the identical description and, most important, by the identical timing.

To search for tropes, see Tropes.