The earliest of western sacred music, going back to the time of Gregory the Great in the 6th century. Varied, mutated and elaborated for hundreds of years, the settings of Latin texts from the Vulgate eventually transformed into most of the types of music of later ages. Not only was the development astonishing but the beauty of the original endures; there is a kind of timeless peace and serenity one can get from listening to Gregorian chant which is not quite attainable anywhere else. One of the priceless gems of the early middle ages.
