Une Tradition en chantier: les méthodes de plain-chant “nouvelles et faciles” sous l’Ancien Régime

Abstract

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, French ecclesiastical authors described chant as a symbol of stability for the Church. Despite this symbolic role for chant, numerous methods designed to teach plainsong were developed, which contrasted with traditional learning because of the ease and innovation of their application. This article explores the apparent contradiction by examining the context and content of these methods over a period from Jacques Cossard’s Methodes pour apprendre a lire, a escripre, chanter le plain-chant, et compter (1633) to Pierre-Nicolas Poisson’s Nouvelle méthode pour apprendre le plain-chant (1789). These publications show that chant notation and theory were employed pragmatically rather than ideologically, and that pedagogical innovation remained dependent on pastoral needs during the Catholic Reform.