GALLICAN CHANT. — In a broad sense the term Gallican chant (c. g.) extends to all forms of monodic liturgical music of the Western Church that are not of the Roman Church, namely chant in use in Gaul, Spain, Ireland, and Milan, in contrast especially to Gregorian chant. In a strict sense, by the term c. g. is meant the chant of the Churches beyond the Alps and especially between the Rhine and the Pyrenees. In a third, little-used sense, c. g. could refer to that established in the 17th and 18th centuries in France following political and religious Gallicanism, which brought with it liturgical innovations.
The conditions concerning c. g. in the second sense are rather vague, whereas ancient Gallican liturgy is better known. Indeed, no complete manuscripts of c. g. exist, as do hundreds for Gregorian chant. The melodies called Gallican in their present form exist only in Gregorian or Ambrosian codices into which they were introduced along with Gallican rites and prayer formulas. They are recognized by their often prolix structure, and by deductions from comparisons between pure Roman sources and authentic Gallican liturgical books, namely the Antiphonaries of Fleury, Marseilles, Tours, and Lyons, the Missale Francorum, and perhaps also the Lectionary of Luxeuil and Alcuin’s Omnivium. The least doubtful pieces of c. g. would be the “Pange