Re-Envisioning Past Musical Cultures: Ethnomusicology in the Study of Gregorian Chant

by Peter Jeffery

Studying Gregorian chant presents many problems to the researcher because its most important stages of development were not recorded in writing. From the sixth to the tenth century, this form of music existed only in song as medieval musicians relied on their memories and voices to pass each verse from one generation to the next.

Peter Jeffery offers an innovative new approach for understanding how these melodies were created, memorized, performed, and modified. Drawing on a variety of disciplines, including anthropology and ethnomusicology, he identifies characteristics of Gregorian chant that closely resemble other oral traditions in non-Western cultures and demonstrates ways music historians can take into account the social, cultural, and anthropological contexts of chant's development.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

222 pages, Hardcover

First published July 15, 1992

About the author

Peter Jeffery was born in 1937. In 1955, at the age of 17, he became a Christian — in spite of the fact that the very day he was converted he vowed, ‘I will never become a Christian!’ Peter married his high school sweetheart, Lorna, at the age of 21 and they had their first child two years later. Nine days after the birth the baby died of spina bifida.

Though Peter had been preaching since he was 18, this incident was used by God to call Peter into his service. He was ordained to the ministry in 1963 and served as the Minister at Ebenezer Congregational Church in Cwmbran, Wales. In 1972 he accepted a call to Rugby Evangelical Free Church where he ministered until 1986.

In 1986 Peter went to Bethlehem Evangelical Church in Port Talbot, South Wales (‘Sandfields’, where Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones had previously ministered), where he pastored until 1994. Since then he has had an itinerant ministry of preaching and evangelism allowing him to preach at churches and conferences around the world.

Now retired, Peter Jeffery has been preaching for more than 50 years. He has written over forty books, which have been translated into many languages. Many of his works focus on new Christians, the foundations of faith, evangelism and salvation. The Trust has published his titles, Windows of Truth, and Stepping-Stones: A New Testament Guide for Beginners (the latter also in Spanish – De Piedra en Piedra).

Reviews

[Horus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this almost 30 years after it was published makes this text unfortunately dated to some extent. Jeffery may have indeed been at the forefront of the movement to look at the bigger picture of chant music, in the framework of ethnomusicology. Certainly many historical disciplines have argued over the past few decades about the necessity of not viewing their own subject through a narrow spyglass that does not take into account the historical world around it. This book may have been ground breaking when originally printed, but is nothing out of the ordinary now.

While I am an experienced musician, I am not formally trained, so much of the discussion in this text is somewhat esoteric with terminology that is unfamiliar. I found the last chapter and the conclusion the most interesting and likely the most of use to those with little music experience. Despite the fact that this is a treatise on trying to view chant in a broader view, Jeffery doesn’t venture far from discussions of music theory and doesn’t venture much into the world that surrounded chant culture.

The book has only two examples, which does not help when envisioning the specific points he tries to make, or comparison examples between cultures. Referring to other texts for these is not helpful except for those currently sitting in a library containing all the cited publications.

My main problem with this book is Jeffery’s repeated use of citations (most specifically his own) that have not yet been published (at the time the book was written). This is not an uncommon occurrence in such academic texts, but the preponderance of these citations to prove points or provide further examples all only existing in unpublished documents is unhelpful at best and make some of his points questionable at worst.

I’m not sure this was the groundbreaking text the author had intended it to be, but there are some interesting points worth gleaning especially in his discussion of chant comparisons across cultures.

[Ameliedanjou]

I'm currently taking a class on early chant. I brought this book up in discussion, and asked the teacher if the author's suggestion, that an ethnomusicological approach be taken in regards to chant, had been taken up by anyone in the field. He said unfortunately no. I think that is a missed opportunity.

Most books about chant seem to be written for others in the field - if you are trying to learn about it and don't already know something, it's really hard to grasp what they are talking about. It's a very insular field that could really benefit from an outside look, like that suggested by this author.

[James Steichen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an amazing short introduction to the very complicated field of Gregorian Chant studies. If you are studying for PhD exams or want a quick introduction to the field, it's one of the best places to start. Peter Jeffery writes in a clear and concise manner and his discussion of the relevance of ethnomusicological research methods for the study of chant is very thought provoking.