CHANT ACCENT. - Under this heading are included: a) the elements that formed primitive musical notation; b) the signs used in the reading or simple chanting of liturgical recitatives, especially lessons; c) the distribution of syllables in the cadence.
Among all the hypotheses on the origin of the musical notation of the Latin Church, the principle remains demonstrated that fixes its origin in the writing of the tonic accentuation of the text, from which part of the Latin musical repertoire took its inspiration and norm. The written sign of the tonic accent (elevation), corresponding to the upward gesture of the classical orator or of the director of the ancient dance, was adopted to indicate the relatively high note; hence the sign called virgo; and note that this was traced from lower left to upper right. The grave accent, on the other hand, was traced from upper right to lower left, later stylized into the punctum, more or less round or horizontal. From the combination of these two elements (virgo and punctum) the whole of ancient musical notation is formed, called "in open field," without a staff, and in which the entire sign, and not merely its extremes, has an integral meaning, unlike present-day signs indicating the note.
The use of tonic accents (only acute) in liturgical recitatives was not constant in the choir books. At times no accent is found, at times only trisyllabic words are graphically accented, at times all words, always excepting monosyllables.
Since Gregorian cadences may have one or two accents, the signs of the accent were used in certain cantorals (Epistolaries, Evangeliaries, Lectionaries of the Office) to facilitate the adaptation to be made afterward by the readers to the musical formulaic prefixes. Giorgio M. Suñol