“While the scientists say it’s alpha waves, the Church calls it ‘the beautiful mystery.’” “The mystery being?” “Why these chants, more than any other church music, are so powerful. Since I’m a monk I think I’ll go with the theory they’re the voice of God.
“We talked about neumes yesterday, but do you know what they are?” the Dominican asked. While unexpected, the question didn’t totally surprise Gamache. “It’s the first musical notation. Before there were notes there were neumes.” “Oui. We tend to think the five-line staff was always there. Clefs, treble clefs, notes and half notes. Chords and keys. But they didn’t just spring into the world. They evolved. From neumes. They meant to mimic hand movements. To show the shape of the sound.” Frère Sébastien lifted his hand and moved it back and forth, up and down. It glided through the chilly autumn air, gra...
“The word ‘neume’ comes from the Greek for ‘breath.’ The monks who first wrote down the chants believed that the deeper we breathe the more we draw God into ourselves. And there’s no deeper breath than when we’re singing. Have you ever noticed that the deeper you breathe, the calmer you get?” the monk asked. “I have. As have Hindus and Buddhists and pagans for millennia.” “Exactly. Every culture, every spiritual belief, has some form of chanting, or meditation. And at their core is the breath.” “So where do neumes come in?” Gamache asked. He was leaning toward the Dominican, holding his large ...more
“That dot,” said Frère Sébastien. There was a look of awe, of astonishment on his face. “This is it. The very first book of Gregorian chant. And this,” he lifted his finger a fraction, “is the very first musical note. It must’ve somehow come into the possession of Gilbert of Sempringham, in the twelfth century,” said the Dominican, speaking to the page and not the men around him. “Maybe as a gift, a thank-you from the Church, for his loyalty to Thomas à Becket. But Gilbert couldn’t have known how valuable it was. No one would, at the time. They couldn’t have known it was unique.