Concentus

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The concentus ( singing style ) is the second important style in Gregorian chant , alongside the accentus .

In it, the musical design of the melody is given its own validity compared to the text. According to melodic richness, a distinction is made between three types of melodies in the Concentus:

• In syllabic melodies, each syllable is assigned a tone. Hymns are mostly syllabic.
• In neumatic melodies, individual syllables are divided into several tones.
• In melismatic melodies, the text is only the reason for the music, in which the syllables are distributed over many tones in wide, curved melisms , so that the text is barely understandable.

See also:

• Concentus musicus , book series
• Concentus Musicus Wien , an instrumental ensemble that specializes in performing early music