An intriguing practice…
There was, if not every Sunday, at least on major solemnities, an intriguing practice that still existed in some parishes at the beginning of the 20th century.
Two cantors, dressed in chasubles (capes, liturgical vestments), would walk back and forth, their books in hand, with a waddling gait, each on their own side along the choir stalls where the men stood. They alternated the singing of the Mass propers or psalm verses. At the top and bottom of the choir, they would bow to each other, then resume their walk: this was called “battre chape“.
Before the Gloria or the Credo, one of them would go to the epistle corner. The priest would turn toward him: they would exchange a bow, and then the cantor would intone the chant; the officiant would then take up the chant in turn.
Excerpt from “Les offices religieux au diocèse de Chartres (1824-1852)” by Ernest Sevrin.
Mastery of Chartres Cathedral © Chartres Mediatheque