Chanter : member of the schola or soloist, performing at a religious celebration. In the past, whether layman or priest, secular or religious, he was a specialist in music, knowing the repertoire by heart. But also a man of prayer, meditating on Scripture every day.

Introit: Gregorian entrance chant to the Mass. The text, always brief, is taken from a psalm and gives the theme of the Sunday or feast.

Roman liturgy: this is the set of prayers and rites used for Mass and other services by the Church of Rome and all those founded by it or dependent on it. Initially in Greek, it was for a long time celebrated solely in Latin, and today it is also celebrated in the various modern languages.

Neume: this refers to the emission of voices on a single syllable, comprising one or more notes linked together and hierarchically arranged; it also refers to the graphic symbol representing these neumes in manuscripts from around the 10th to the 13th century.

Word of God: the texts of the Bible faithfully transmit it to us, when read in the Church in the light of the Holy Spirit.

Psalms: prayers included in the Hebrew Bible, taken up by Christians because Christ prayed them and expressed his religious feelings through them.

Schola: the group of singers who take special responsibility for certain, more difficult, parts of the song.

Verse: a phrase from a psalm, meditated on at length, becomes a prayer, a song.

Solesmes: abbey near Le Mans, where Benedictine monastic life, suppressed after the French Revolution, was revived.

Synagogue: Jesus was a Jew, heir to the long tradition of prayer of God’s chosen people. At meetings (this is the meaning of the word synagogue), texts from the Bible were always read out in song.