Chants de la cathedrale de Benevento

Earlier in origin than the Roman chant that has come down to us under the name Gregorian, the Beneventan repertory is emblematic of a unique cultural and aesthetic period. Its value today is not the relative one of rediscovering music that is archaic, indeed outmoded: it is an example of stylistic purity and maturity from a culture of which it was the supreme artistic expression.