A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Decani
DECANI. The words Decani and Cantoris are used to distinguish the two sides of the choir for the purposes of antiphonal singing in the Anglican Church. The names are derived from the position of the stalls of the Decanus or Dean and the Cantor or Precentor, which are the first on either side on entering the choir of a cathedral, the Dean always on the south side.
[ C. H. H. P. ]