About
Cantus Planus
Distinguished by its extensive geographical spread and remarkable longevity, sacred song, or chant, holds a singular position within the vast landscape of musical repertoires. The transmission of specific chant collections across cultural and linguistic divides spurred the development of numerous forms of notation to capture both vocal and instrumental lines. The survival of thousands of historical documents – manuscripts, fragments, incunabula, and prints dating from the 9th century – now housed worldwide, attests to its enduring significance. Notably, aspects of these ancient musical forms persist as a living tradition in various contemporary contexts. Throughout its long and often complex history, sacred song has played diverse roles, serving as a political instrument, a site for negotiating identity and belief, a platform for individual vocal expression, and a social practice deeply intertwined with the daily and spiritual lives of local communities.
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History of the Study Group
The Study Group ‘Cantus Planus’ was founded in response to an initiative of the Directorium of the International Musicological Society. It meets both at the international Congresses of the IMS and independently in the intervening period. The principal aim of the Study Group “Cantus Planus” is to cooperate in the scholarly investigation of the chant traditions of Eastern and Western Christendom, by holding conferences, publishing proceedings, and by collaborating on joint projects. A persistent goal of Cantus Planus as a global research network is to encourage partnership in new territories, like the West Balkans and Ukraine. As a result, the cultural span and depth of chant research has grown immensely since the study group’s beginnings, now including fresh explorations into manuscripts, printed works, and fragments – sometimes the results of book destruction – in North America and Australia, as well as, for example, the story of chant in Taiwanese missions, musical notations in Japanese Buddhist practices, and a project aimed at teaching Coptic liturgical chant to diaspora communities in New Jersey.
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Meetings and Events
The members of Cantus Planus convene at the quinquennial congress of the IMS and at specific conferences arranged for the study group, which are usually conducted biennially. Furthermore, panels and informal meetings of Cantus Planus members frequently occur at other larger academic gatherings, for instance, the American Musicological Society, MedRen, Kalamazoo, Leeds, etc. The study group held its first Digital Research Forum in July 2021 and anticipates continuing this format on a regular basis as a means of presenting current scholarly work.
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Chair, Vice-Chair and Advisory Board Members
Chair
Hana Vlhova-Wörner (CZ): vlhova@mua.cas.cz
Vice Chair
Emma Hornby (UK)
Advisory Board
Alison Altstatt (US), David Andrés Fernández (ES), Miklós Földváry (HU), Karin Lagergren (SE), Alexander Lingas (UK), Rebecca Maloy (US), Giovanni Varelli (IT)
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Former Chairs
Helmut Hucke †, Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst, Frankfurt
David Hiley, University of Regensburg
Ruth Steiner †, Catholic University of America, Washington
Charles Atkinson, The Ohio State University, Columbus and University of Würzburg
Barbara Haggh-Huglo, University of Maryland
Roman Hankeln, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology
James Borders, University of Michigan
Jeremy Llewellyn, Universität Wien
Supplementary Regulations to the Statutes of the International Musicological Society (IMS) and Internal Regulations for IMS Study Groups
Study Group Cantus Planus
1. The IMS Study Group Cantus Planus consists primarily of members who are engaged in musicological research on chant, musicians, and scholars of other disciplines conducting complementary research.
2. The Steering Committee of the Study Group consists of a Chair, a Vice-Chair, and seven Board members. Three Board members serve as officers: the Secretary, the Webmaster, and the Director of Publications (coordinating publication of SG meeting papers). The term of office of the Chair, the Vice-Chair and a Board member is five years. If they wish, Board members may stand for election for one additional term. Upon mutual agreement, the immediate Past Chair may attend Board meetings in an advisory, non-voting capacity for some or all of a Chair’s term of office.
3. Elections of the Chair, the Vice-Chair and the Board members are usually completed online during Study Group meetings. IMS membership is required to vote.
4. The Study Group meets (a) at the Quinquennial IMS Congresses; (b) in-person at least every two to three years taking place between Quinquennial IMS Congresses; and (c) at shorter online colloquia. The Program Committee for Study Group in-person meetings comprises the Study Group Chair, Vice-Chair, Board, and one member of the Local Arrangements Committee who is also a member of Cantus Planus.
5. Members of Cantus Planus are encouraged to organise session(s) within other conferences (Leeds, Kalamazoo, Med-Ren conference, or others), especially those that bring together speakers from different countries, to carry on the work of Cantus Planus.
6. The Study Group Cantus Planus is dissolved automatically after a five-year term, unless its renewal is requested by its Chair and approved by the IMS.
May 2025