Cantor (church)

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Cantor (church)

A cantor or chanter (Gk. ???t?? - psaltis) is the chief singer (and ofttimes instructor) employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir

Choir

A choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral Music, in turn, is the music written specifically for a choir to perform....
; also called the precentor. The cantor's duties and qualifications have varied considerably according to time and place; but generally he must be competent to conduct the vocals for the choir, to start any chant on demand, and to be able to identify and correct the missteps of singers placed under him.

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A cantor or chanter (Gk. ???t?? - psaltis) is the chief singer (and ofttimes instructor) employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir

Choir

Melody

In music, a melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity....
by movements of the hand(s), similar to a conductor.

Eastern Christianity

In the Eastern Orthodox

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest single Christian communion in the world with an estimated 225 million members worldwide. It is considered by its adherents to be the Four Marks of the Church established by Jesus Christ and his Apostles nearly 2000 years ago....
, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, the position of chanter (psaltis) is one of the minor clerical orders

Minor orders

The minor orders are the lowest ranks in the Clergy#Christian clergy. The most recognized minor orders are porter , Reader , exorcist, Cantor and acolyte....
, though it is not unusual for an unordained singer to fill the role of chanter for an indefinite period. The chief chanter is called the protopsaltis (Gk. p??t????t??). The cantor or chanters sing the many hymns called for during the Divine Services

Canonical hours

Canonical hours are divisions of time, developed by the Christianity Christian Church, serving as increments between the prescribed prayers of the daily round....
. A chanter must be knowledgeable about the ecclesiastical mode

Musical mode

Mode is a term from Western music theory having three senses: the rhythmic relationship between long and short values in the late medieval period; in early medieval theory, Interval ; and, most commonly, a concept involving Musical scale and melody type ....
s as well as the complex structure of the services. A chanter must be Orthodox and must have the blessing of the pastor to serve in the kliros

Kliros

The kliros is the section of an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic Churches Church dedicated to the choir. It refers both to the general space in which Cantor or singers assemble for the services, as well as to the actual musical stand or shelves on which music is stored and read....
.

In the Greek tradition, a psaltis will often wear the exorason, a black outer cassock with angel-wing sleeves. The Slavic tradition—which tends more commonly to use a choir

Choir

A choir, chorale, or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral Music, in turn, is the music written specifically for a choir to perform....
rather than a cantor—assigns no specific vestment to the chanters, unless an individual has been ordained a Reader, in which case he would wear only the inner cassock (podryasnik) and put on the sticharion

Sticharion

The sticharion is a Divine Liturgy vestment of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Churches, roughly analogous in function to the alb of the Western Church....
when he receives Holy Communion.

Western Christianity

Before Vatican II, in the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
a cantor was the lead singer of the choir, a bona fide clerical role. The chief singer of the Gregorian

Gregorian

Gregorian might refer to:*Named for Pope Gregory I:**Gregorian chant**Brotherhood of Saint Gregory*Gregorian reform *Named for Pope Gregory XIII...
Schola cantorum

Schola cantorum

The Schola cantorum was the trained papal choir during the Middle Ages, specializing in the performance of plainchant. Although legend associates them with the papacy of Pope Gregory the Great, who is popularly but falsely credited with creating the Gregorian repertory, there is no historical evidence to support this claim....
was called Prior scholae or Primicerius
Primicerius

The term primicerius was applied in the later Roman Empire to the head of any administration — thus primicerius notariorum, primicerius protectorum etc....
. Today, the cantor is a role that can be performed by a lay person. In parishes without a choir, the cantor serves to lead the responsorial and as the choir.

In medieval cathedrals, the cantor was principal of music and chant, but also commonly one of the dignitaries of the chapter. During the 14th century in many churches, the cantor began to delegate his instruction of the singers to a master of music. After the introduction of harmonized music, some duties naturally fell to the conductor or choir-master.

The cantor's locality in the church is most generally to the right of the choir, and directly to his left is his assistant, formerly called the "Succentor". A common custom for cantors was the bearing of the staff, which was the mark of his dignity and a visual representative of his sacred role inside the church. This custom still survives in some places.

In Protestant Churches the role of the cantor can be lay or pastoral.

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.