When visiting The Catholic University of America in 1983 for the International Symposium on Gregorian Chant Abbot Jean Prou stated “Gregorian chant is … biblical, liturgical and contemplative.” 

It is biblical in that it “clothes the text in a musical garment of ‘noble simplicity’”
SC 34, Abbot Jean Prou, 1911-1999. 

It is liturgical in that it is “the official commentary of liturgical texts, authentically given by the Church herself”
Dom Joseph Gajard, 1875-1972. 

It is contemplative in that “the beauty and novelty of the Gregorian melody is due to the fact that the chant makes no use, or as little as possible, of the sensory world; it passes by way of the senses but it is not to them that it speaks.”
Dom André Mocquereau, 1849-1930.

Gregorian Chant Schola (MUS 547B) is offered each Spring Semester dependent on enrollment. The course combines lecture with practicum. 

MUS  547B - Gregorian Chant Schola
Career: Graduate Units: 1 credit

Course Description:  Reading, singing and conducting basic Gregorian chants according to the principles of Dom André Mocquereau OSB.  Exploration of repertory of available chants for application to current liturgical practice in light of Second Vatican Council Sacrosanctum Concilium.  Instructional Methods:  Lecture with practicum (including introductory solfege exercises); preparation and chanting of selected liturgies.  For graduate students; undergraduates may enroll with permission of the instructor.

Please contact the director, Mrs. Amy Zuberbueler, for more information.
zuberbueler@cua.edu.