Ambrosian Chant

Ambrosian chant is the monophonic Latin chant of the Ambrosian rite of Milan, a repertory traditionally linked to St Ambrose and preserved in the liturgy of the Milanese church to the present day. Sung unaccompanied by choir or cantor, it unfolds in free rhythm through antiphons, responsories, hymns and the distinctive ingressa, psalmellus and transitorium of the Milanese Mass and Office. Its melodies, transmitted in their own notation and codified in twelfth-century antiphoners, differ from the Roman repertory in text, assignment and melodic dialect, favouring syllabic declamation crowned by long melismatic flourishes at phrase endings.