Intonation

Intonation. The opening phrase of any plain-song melody, sung usually either by the officiating priest alone, or by one or more selected choristers. The term is most commonly applied to the first member (consisting of two or three notes) of a Gregorian Psalm-tone, the other members of it being the dominant (or reciting-note), the mediation, and the ending. Its use is confined usually to the first verse of the psalm or canticle, except in the case of the Magnificat, Benedictus, and Venite, to give greater solemnity to which it recurs in each successive verse.