Gregorian Chant was among the very first music genres in Europe.  It developed as a form of "plain chant" in the early middle ages, and was mainly used for church music. There were chants for each part of the religious service, the mass.  Also, chants were used throughout the day by monks in monasteries and nuns in convents, with certain chants for certain hours of the day.  In fact, Gregorian Chant is still used in these ways in some religious communites and churches.

Today, there is also a modern boys choir in South London that sings chants, among other songs, as entertainment.  They go on singing tours, appear on TV, and make recordings (they are signed under EMI).  This musical group is known as Libera.  The boys, ages 7 to 16,  are trained in singing harmonies and often perform inspirational and religious music.  There are about 40 boys, led by their Director Robert Prizeman.  In addition to concerts, they sing regularly in church services along with a full choir at Saint Phillips parish, in London.  Here is their version of Kyrie Eleison, a Gregorian chant:

Although most Gregorian chants are in Latin, this one is in Greek; the words are "Kyrie eleison,  Christe 
eleison" and mean "Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy."  The version by Libera used just the first phrase.  
Here is one-- with a single singer-- that uses both, created by Antoine Daniel Mass, and available through 
Corpus Christi Watershed.

The melody is different here, and you can see the notation that was used for these chants-- there is a four-line staff, with square notes.  This was a forerunner to our current staff of five lines, with round notes.

Now, you might think that Gregorian Chant and hip-hop would be strange bedfellows . . . but I came across an experimental music video that combined these, and really, it sounds like they actually fit together . . .

So here is the same melody as above, but with the addition of a beat track; this was created by a YouTuber who calls himself "freshaintdead."

What do you think? 

     Psalm 23 in the Bible is a song that has been sung for thousands of years, in many different ways.  Written by the Hebrew king David, this song was most likely originally used for corporate worship by the ancient Jews.

     Composers through the centuries have written many variations-- both musically and lyrically-- using the words of this Jewish psalm.

     One of my favorite versions is a fairly modern song, by Keith and Melody Green, "The Lord is My Shepherd."  Written in a minor key, its melody fits in well with traditional Jewish music.  Melody Green composed the music, and she and her husband Keith Green slightly adapted the words from Psalm 23.  The result was a beautiful, smoothly flowing song.

     Keith was a Christian contemporary artist in the '70's and early '80's.  He was well-known for his talent as a performer as well as for his own songwriting. 

     I have memories of hearing him sing at a Christian music festival in the '70's, when I was a teenager; I remember him as being a big man with big hair (!)  He had curly hair, in an "Afro" style, though he was not African-American.  And I will always remember his songs-- they were creative, interesting, often energetic, and had such compelling lyrics.

     Keith sang and recorded the song Melody had composed and he had helped to write; it was on his Songs for the Shepherd album (1982).    Here is a YouTube video in which a slide show of nature photos makes a pleasing visual accompaniment.

     If you'd like to listen to some other songs Keith wrote, you can visit the website of Last Days Ministries; click on Keith>music . . . scroll down, and you will see that there are many song samples available to hear.  You can also purchase albums. 

     Some of my favorite songs by Keith are "Dear John Letter to the Devil" (No Compromise album),  "So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt" (co-written with Melody -- So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt album), and "Run to the End of the Highway" (Jesus Commands Us to Go album).

     What are your favorites?

In Christmas carols, much attention is given to an angel choir, the appearance of a star bringing acclaimed foreigners with rich gifts, and a general proclamation of excitement, as in "Joy to the World."

But this Christmas song by Audrey Assad, "Winter Snow," shows a different aspect of the traditional nativity story.

The birth of Jesus as a Jewish infant happened in relative obscurity-- at the time, the Roman Empire was a major force in the world, Palestine being just one of many small provinces ruled by the might of Rome.  Although a few shepherds told their story of an angelic message to the townspeople in Bethlehem, for the most part the birth of this jewish peasant was quiet and mostly unknown.

Audrey's song uses the simile of being "like a winter snow" to describe the coming of Jesus "falling from the sky in the night to the earth below."  The arrival of Christ is celebrated in the song, but she points out something that is easy to forget in the clamor and fanfare of our Christmas holiday-- that his coming was "quiet and soft and slow."

Here is the song, in a video created by Jóel Rósinkrans Kristjánsson with some nice images AND the lyrics:

Audrey is an acclaimed singer-songwriter, having had her first album by Sparrow Records named as Christian album of 2010 on Amazon.com, and as Christian Breakthrough Album of the Year on iTunes.  Her style is a folk-jazz mix, at least to my ears . . . and it perfectly complements the lyrics of this song.

Audrey has created two new albums since the first.  Her three albums are The House You're Building (2010),
Heart (2012), and Fortunate Fall (2013).    "Winter Snow" is a part of Chris Tomlin's 2009 album, Glory in the Highest: Christmas Songs of Worship.

My daughter has a new Gungor vinyl LP.  It was the first album she got when she bought her turntable record player, so I've heard it numerous times.  Now she has a more diverse collection of old and new vinyls, but every time I hear the Gungor one on, I get a feeling of sweetness and a smile in my soul.

This music is just pleasant.  It's also unique and interesting to listen to.  There are a variety of instruments-- from glockenspiel and cello to banjo and harmonica-- besides the usual singer-songwriter's guitar.  And there are lovely vocal harmonies; the two lead singers are Michael Gungor and his wife Lisa Gungor.

Gungor (the name of their group), has released three albums in recent years, and all three have been nominated for Grammies in various categories.  

"Beautiful Things" is one of my favorite Gungor songs.  Its simple words are especially welcome to a generation that seeks purpose and possibilities in an increasingly violent and hostile world.  It speaks of how God "makes beautiful things" out of the dust. 

Here are two videos of this same song; one allows a view of the musicians and all the instruments being played  (a cello, guitar, glockenspiel, and pianica). 

              Beautiful Things-- performed live at RELEVANT Studios:
                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyPBtExE4W0

The other has a really creative presentation of the words.  It's awesome!  The filmmaker must have had to practice the choreography of the camera movements for this one.

        Beautiful Things-- lyric video by StarsFallProductions (Youtube):
       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1spkhp41ig4&feature=fvwrel

Fast forward from the 1940's when Woodie Guthrie was writing and performing his songs, to the present-- 2012.

I'd like to introduce to you a modern day folk artist, if you haven't met her already. After one of her songs was danced to in an audition for So You Think You Can Dance, and was picked up by Christian radio stations (2008), she quickly gained a large following.

My teenage daughter told me about this artist, JJ Heller, and I was glad to listen to some of her songs on You Tube. Most of the songs are mellow sounding, and I enjoyed listening to all 41 songs on the You Tube Mix.

The song that was in the audition, "Your Hands," is one of my favorites. It is about being in God's hands, even though it might look like things are topsy-turvy and out of control (those are my words-- they're not ones used in the song, but that is the general idea). Here is a video of JJ singing that song at a K-LOVE radio station.

JJ sings, and is accompanied by her husband, Dave, who plays guitar. They have recorded six albums; "Your Hands" is from the Painted Red album.