Music In The Worship Of The Early Church

Very little can be said with certainty about the music of the first three centuries of the church beyond texts used and liturgical forms followed. Judging from later music in the Eastern churches and in Gregorian chant in the West, the musical settings of these texts probably shared characteristics with much Eastern music, including tunes in various modes. Ecstatic song continued in the practice of the thanksgiving of the "prophets" in some early liturgies. It is evident that a set pattern of liturgy emerged at a very early date. In a letter to the Corinthian church (a. d. 96), Clement of Rome included a long, noble prayer which is closely related to eucharistic prayers of later centuries; it also refers to the Sanctus (Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts ), which was a common feature of both Jewish and early Christian worship. The Didache (c. a. d. 100) records that the Communion celebration was combined with a common meal (an agape or love feast) and that it was preceded by the confess…