In Medieval and Renaissance times, a common practice among composers was to take an existing work, such as a plainchant or Gregorian chant/hymn, augment each syllable into a half or whole, or even quarter, note, and write melodies and musical lines above or below the chant. Composers like William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, John Bull, and many others, found that writing settings of ancient Gregorian chants was useful for producing quick and beautiful pieces of music, and many of these composers wrote their works not only for keyboards, but also for viol consorts, and even for masses and other vocal works.
Here, I took the plainchant "Gloria tibi Trinitas" and converted each syllable or note into a whole note. You will be able to see, and hear, that the plainchant, for the first half of this setting, is located on the lowest voice (in the bass clef). For the second half, the chant shifts to the treble clef. The "a 3" signifies that this piece has three voices: the chant, a melody (the eighth note lines), and what I'd call a "supporting" line, or a "third voice" (the other whole and half notes).
The words to the chant are as follows:
Gloria tibi Trinitas
Aequalis una Deitas
Et ante omnia saecula
Et nunc et in perpetuum.
Glory to you, O Trinity,
All equal, one God.
From before all ages
now, and for evermore.
This was a quick work, and is very helpful for beginner composers like myself. Taking an existing chant, "translating" it to modern notation, and then writing music based on the chant, is a very helpful tool and allows for great creative output. I will definitely be producing more plainchant settings in the near future. I hope you all enjoy this piece!
