Plainchant is undoubtedly the music that fits most exactly the prose texts of both the Bible and the liturgy. All other types of music impose formal, metrical and rhythmical schemes upon these texts, alien to their nature, while chant shows itself the most suitable music for the delivery of such liturgical texts. For example, Byzantine or Gregorian melody, with its small-range musical units and flexibility in accommodating itself to the length, accents, and structure of the text, approaches most closely the quality of a prayer spoken aloud. Through its many genres it is capable of representing various liturgical "events", so that music attached to different functions (reading, prayer, responses, processional chant, refrain, meditation in solo chant etc.) is clearly differentiated. Gregorian chant, though it incorporates artistic elaboration, nonetheless uses a reduced set of musical means, based on primary human musical experience (universalia). Lacking the triadic harmonies, counterpoint, instrumentation and other achievements specific to European music history it thus remains more universal, and is much more independent of history, social and musical environment, and individual learning and taste, than many other styles of music, and so can be easily adapted to changing conditions. As a primarily melogenous music, it is intimately linked to the innermost sphere of human consciousness. It is the only style which is not added to the Roman liturgy, but was born within it. In other words, Gregorian or Old Roman chant is the sung Western Roman liturgy. - László Dobszay