Today is the Feast of St. Gregory the Great. The 6th century saint was the pope from 590 A.D. to his death in 604 A.D. He is considered to be the father of Gregorian Chant, which bears his name. The plainchant, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred music has been the music of the Catholic Church since the Middle Ages and Gus welcomes Angela Rocchio of the International Chant Academy to shed a little light on the music form. She tells Gus about her love of it and what drew her to it. She talks about the music’s structure and goes into some of its long history. According to legend, the structure of the music came to St. Gregory through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but the only evidence we have of that is anecdotal. The music was actually developed during the reign of Charlamagne and the Holy Roman Empire, which existed from 768 A.D. to 814 A.D., over 160 years after the saint’s death. Angela also talks about how the music comports itself with the cycle of the Church’s liturgy. Afterwards, Gus talks more about the incredible life and legacy of Pope St. Gregory the Great.
And it's Monday, so Gus does a couple rounds of Tell Me Something Good with listeners.
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