Note 61 — Chapter V · THE AGE OF PLAIN-SONG

The Alleluja is not really a word but a sort of shrilling effect of great antiquity among the Hebrews and other people of the Orient. It was produced by choruses of women in triumphal processions and other joyous celebrations, and seems to have been about half way between a song and a cheer. The early Christians used it in songs of joy and praise, and perhaps sang it to take the place of the instrumental prelude of the psalms. ‘Laudes, hoc est alleluia canere, canticum est Hebræorum,’ says Isidore of Seville. (De off., I, 13.)