Medieval authors denoted or described liturgical song in a number of ways; among these the notion of sweetness has a central place. With St Augustin’s nervousness about a too sensuous appeal of liturgical song in Book X of his Confessiones in mind, so that he even considered removing ‘melos omne cantilenarum suauium’ from his own ears as well as from those of the Church, it may seem surprising to what extent Carolingian and later medieval authors emphasised the notion of musical sweetness in chant, e.g. famously in the definition of music in the Scolica enchiriadis: ‘Musica quid est? [...] Melos suavisonum moderari.’

 

Whether the notion of sweet melody should be taken as a devotional or theological prescription or as descriptive of the actual musical sound seems to vary with the context of a specific statement. In this paper I propose to discuss the notion of sweet melody through various statements by medieval authors writing in different contexts: music theory, theological and liturgical treatises as well as from sources concerning concrete devotional ceremonies.