The rhythmic issue in post-tridentine Portuguese plainchant sources

Abstract

The plainchant practice presents a problem concerning its earliness. Much has been accomplished in terms of interpreting ancient sources; however, rhythm still stands as a controversial issue. Many distinct propositions were adopted until the twentieth-century’s first decades, when generally the plainchant rhythm practice seems to have been standardized in the Catholic Church. This article discusses a possible coexistence of different plainchant rhythm practices in Portugal in the period between the Council of Trent and the early nineteenth-century.
Keywords: Plainchant. Rhythm. Gregorian notation.