CD Review: "The Assumption" by the Monastic Choir of the Abbey Notre Dame de Fontgombault

I was recently contacted by Valley Entertainment who is releasing an album The Assumption by the Monastic Choir of the Abbey Notre Dame de Fontgombault on January 13th, 2017.

The album is described as follows by Valley Entertainment:

When attending a liturgical Office in the beautiful Abbey of Notre Dame de Fontgombault, one is easily penetrated with the prayerful atmosphere diffused by the chant of the monks. This famous recording of those very monks displays the atmosphere of peace and praise of the historical abbey church located near Bourges, France. The chants, recorded one after another as in an Office, are accompanied by the organ whose echo reminds us that we are really inside a church. A Catholic Benedictine monastery of the Solesmes Congregation, they have preserved the ancient Latin monastic liturgy with Gregorian chant. Simplicity, respect, peaceful devotion: everything in this albums leads to divine praise.

I was given a copy of their CD to review and this morning listened to the chants on that CD.  You can preview them by clicking here.

The quality is fantastic.  The chant sounds absolutely outstanding and offers a chance for those of us who do not live in a monastic setting to experience the great joy, bliss, and peace in hearing these ancient prayers chanted by the monks.  The album deserves 5 out of 5 stars and I would encourage you to pre-order it by clicking here.

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Monks of Norcia Launch CD: Benedicta

Theirs have always been hours of study, industry, prayer, service - and song. Monastic chant echoed off the walls of the Monastero di San Benedetto di Norcia for more than 800 years before Napoleonic laws suppressed this branch of the Benedictine order in 1810, causing a break in the continuity of music in Norcia for nearly 200 years. But when a Benedictine Community founded in 1998 by Father Cassian Folsom sought a monastery, the town of Norcia welcomed the monks back to the birthplace of St. Benedict, and the music began again.  

This is the story of The Monks of Norcia. Their alluring chant has been masterfully captured by 11x Grammy Award winning producer Christopher Alder. De Montfort Music has teamed with Universal Music Classics and Decca Records to bring this transcendent debut to you directly from within the monastery walls of Norcia.

Benedicta consists of songs dedicated to the life of Mary, Our Lady, including previously unrecorded chant versions of responsories and an original piece composed by the monks,      "Nos Qui Christi Iugum".

Benedicta will be available on  June 2nd, 2015.

Order now on Amazon.com by clicking here.

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Lent at Ephesus debuts at No. 1 on Billboard’s Classical Overall Music Chart

Atlanta, GA, Feb. 20, 2014 – LENT AT EPHESUS from the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles debuted at No. 1 on Billboard magazine’s Classical Overall Music Chart and Classical Traditional Music Chart this week. The album also earned the No. 49 spot on Billboard’s Top 200 Chart, the No. 2 spot on the Contemporary Christian Chart and the No. 3 spot on the Christian Gospel and Internet charts.

The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles bested albums from prominent classical music articles such as Andrea Bocelli, the Piano Guys and Il Divo, among others.

The Sisters’ second album, ANGELS AND SAINTS AT EPHESUS, skyrocketed back up the Billboard charts,  earning the No. 4 spot on the Classical Overall Chart, the No. 23 spot on the Contemporary Christian and Christian Gospel charts, and the No. 35 spot on the Internet chart.

“We are amazed and humbled by the undeniable role of Divine Providence in the success story behind the ethereal music from the monastic Benedictines of Mary,” said Monica Fitzgibbons, co-founder of De Montfort Music. “Even more remarkable is the sentiment which resounds throughout their faithful life which is this: It is wonderful to do great things for God but even more wonderful to be something great for God. We congratulate the Sisters on their collective FIAT and extend our gratitude to all who have made possible this uplifting chart-topping success!”


LENT AT EPHESUS is a stunning compilation of poignant chants, elaborate harmonies and inspiring hymns of glory and redemption produced by Grammy Award-winning classical producer Blanton Alspaugh.

Founded in 1995, The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles are a young, monastic order of Sisters. The Sisters sing together eight times a day as they chant the Divine Office in Latin.

For ordering information and samples, please click here.

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Music Review: Songs for the Eucharist, Ancient and New

I recently had the opportunity to review a wonderful CD: Songs for the Eucharist, Ancient and New.

The repertoire of Songs for the Eucharist, Ancient and New consists entirely of pieces sung at the Eucharistic liturgy when it is celebrated in the Traditional Latin Rite, this being the primary function of a schola cantorum. The repertoire here illustrates this pedagogical function of the schola cantorum, for it spans the centuries from the ancient Church to the near-present, giving appropriate emphasis to Gregorian Chant and Renaissance polyphony.

I can happily recommend this CD to all!

1. Invocabit me, Gregorian Introit, Mode VIII (GN)
2. Oculi mei, Gregorian Introit, Mode VII (GN)
3. Pater manifestavi, Gregorian Office Antiphon, Mode VI (AM)
4. Laudabo, Gregorian Office Antiphon, Mode IV* (PsM)
5. Cum venerit, Gregorian Office Antiphon Mode, VIII (AM)
6. Cantate Domino, Gregorian Office Antiphon, Mode II (GS)
7. Per illud Ave, Josquin des Prez
8. Ego, ego ipse consolabor vos, Ludwig Senfl
9. Benedictus, Orlando di Lasso
10. Hear Ye, Israel, from Elijah, Op. 70 - Felix Mendelssohn
11. Kyrie - Messe Basse, Gabriel Fauré
12. Sanctus - Messe Basse, Gabriel Fauré
13. Benedictus - Messe Basse, Gabriel Fauré
14. Agnus Dei - Messe Basse, Gabriel Fauré
15. Eucaristica, Pablo Casals
16. Tantum ergo, Georges-Émile Tanguay
17. Ave Maria, Jehan Alain
18. Ego sum panis vivus, Valentino Miserachs Grau 

Click here to listen to samples.

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Music Review: Ecce Fiat - The Annunciation

Ecce Fiat – The Annunciation is the first Gregorian chant recording of the Monastic Choir of Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey in Hulbert, OK. This album, perfectly suited for the time leading up to Christmas, includes the principle chants, which occur in the Divine Office and Holy Mass for the feast of the Annunciation.

I received a copy of this album and can wholeheartedly attest to its beauty.  I most highly recommend this to all of you as a wonderful addition to your collection, thus allowing you to listen to beautiful and sacred music at home, in your car, and on your Ipod.  It is stunningly beautiful!  Please click here to listen to a sample.

The album features the following tracts:

1. Sequence Mittit ad Virginem

2. Mass of the Feast of the Annunciation, Introit Vultum tuum

3. Gradual Diffusa est

4. Alleluia Ave Maria

5. Offertory Ave Maria

6. Communion Ecce Virgo

7. Vespers Deus in adjutorium

8. Antiphon Missus est

9. Antiphon Ave Maria

10. Antiphon Ne timeas, Maria

11. Antiphon Dabit ei Dominus

12. Antiphon Ecce ancilla Domini with psalmody

13. Prolix Responsory Gaude Maria

14. Hymn Ave maris stella

15. Magnificat Antiphon of 1st Vespers Spiritus Sanctus

16. Benedictus Antiphon of Lauds Quomodo fiet istud

17. Short Responsory Angelus Domini

18. Versicle and Responsory

19. Magnificat Antiphon of 2nd Vespers Gabriel Angelus

20. Collect prayer of the feast of the Annunciation

21. Antiphon of Compline Ave Regina Caelorum

22. Hymn Salutatio Sanctae Mariae

23. Angelus prayer and the bells of Clear Creek

24. Pax aeterna

  
Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey is a Benedictine monastery located in the diocese of Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was founded in 1999 by Notre-Dame de Fontgombault, a French Abbey which belongs to the Solesmes Congregation, as does Clear Creek. The Patron Saint of Clear Creek Abbey is the Blessed Virgin Mary under the mystery of her Annunciation. 

 

Like the other monasteries of the Solesmes Congregation, Clear Creek Abbey belongs to those institutes of religious life entirely dedicated to contemplative prayer, without apostolic works. A particular emphasis is placed on the solemn celebration of the liturgy in the Traditional (Tridentine) Rite.

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The Benedictines of Mary: "Angels and Saints at Ephesus"

As you may be aware the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles are about to release their second album- Angels and Saints; set for release on May 7!  Please listen to some excerpts above as well as some insightful interviews with members of the community.

Last Nov./ Dec., the Sisters’ debut album, ADVENT AT EPHESUS, with De Montfort Music/Decca, spent six weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Classical Music Chart, and the Sisters ended up as the #1 Classical Traditional Artist of 2012, according to Nielson’s Soundscan. (That has NEVER happened for a group of cloistered nuns.) Featured on NPR, USA Today, People Magazine and The Washington Times as well as countless other critically acclaimed press outlets, the Benedictines of Mary have created another beautiful recording of their music.

The sisters' second album, a year-round collection, will entertain and inspire, featuring 17 English and Latin pieces sung a cappella for the feasts of the holy saints and angels. Recorded once again at their Priory in the heartland of America, this new album is a dynamic yet pure fusion of their contemplative sound. The sisters call to mind the glory of the future vision of God in the company of all of His angels and saints.

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Gregorian Chant: Together on the Way

Tuesday, besides being the release of Christmas in the Cloister, was the release of Gregorian Chant: Together on the Way.  This is the 4th album Jade Music is doing with the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael's Abbey.  I have written about prior releases before as well. This newest album includes chant performed with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra at Segerstrom Hall. Liner notes are by Carl St.Clair, the music director of the Pacific Symphony.
 

The album features the following tracts:
 

1. Dominabitur Gradual, Feast of Christ the King

2. Oremus pro Pontifice for the Holy Father

3. Anima Christi in honor of the Blessed Sacrament

4. Adoremus in honor of the Blessed Sacrament

5. Qui sunt isti Responsory, Common of Apostles

6. Resurrexi Introit, Easter Sunday

7. Lætatus sum Gradual, Fourth Sunday of Lent (Lætare Sunday)

8. Cantemus Tract, Easter Vigil

9. Tota pulchra es Hymn, in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary

10. Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

11. Anima mea Antiphon, in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary

12. Christus Gradual, Good Friday

13. Dum fabricator Antiphon, Good Friday

 

For three grace-filled nights in February of 2011 the choir of St. Michael’s chanted at Segerstrom Hall to introduce and complement Maestro Carl St. Clair’s conception of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony 9 as performed by the Pacific Symphony Orchestra. Then, in March of 2012, Biola University asked the Norbertines to chant at the close of their Art Symposium on Sacred Space as a demonstration of what sacred music should fill a sacred space.

Although the Fathers knew those who heard them would for the most part not understand what they were chanting, it was their fondest hope that by listening they would be inspired to join their hearts in prayer.

Since none of these concerts were recorded, the Norbertines thought to capture the experience in the only way possible—to produce this album with the same pieces sung before, yet in the very homely studio of their own abbey church and now with translations provided.

 

I have been pleased to review the entirety of this album prior to its release and I am very pleased to fully endorse and recommend this to everyone.  Please purchase a copy today (either as a CD or digitally) and help support the Norbertine Fathers.

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Christmas in the Cloister: Traditional Gregorian Chants

Today is the release of Jade's newest album, Christmas in the Cloister.  Christmas in the Cloister is Jade Music's first collaboration with the Nuns of Mount St. Mary's. The album combines traditional Gregorian Chant with more recent and popular Christmas Carols. 

 

The album features the following tracts:

 

1. Christmas Midnight Mass (Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Communion)

2. Christmas Lauds Hymn: A Solis Ortus Cardine

3. Third Mass of Christmas Morning  (Introit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Communion)

4. Susani

5. In Dulce Jubilo

6. Il est Ne

7. Silent Night

8. How Far to Bethlehem

9. Coventry Carol

10. While Shepherds in Meadows

11. Welcome, Son of Mary

12. Lullay, My Liking

13. The Christmas Child

14. Abbey Bells

 

At the time of the founding of Mount St. Mary's, in the age-long tradition of the Church, the music for the Eucharist and the Divine Office was all Gregorian Chant in Latin. However, almost from the beginning, the sisters sang a program of carols before Midnight Mass.

The community, which began with thirteen sisters, grew rapidly, and by 1962, there were over sixty members. We were blessed with two outstanding mentors: Dom Desroquettes, O.S.B. for chant, and C. Alexander Peloquin, director of music at the cathedral of Providence, Rhode Island, for polyphony. It seemed a good time to make a recording—a long-playing record at the time--Christmas in the Cloister.

That was 50 years ago. Since good music has a timeless appeal, and since there is a growing interest in chant, this seemed like a good time to reissue the original record as a CD.

It is only natural that song, the inseparable companion of joy and love, is so often on the lips of the contemplative. This recording is a celebration of God's greatest expression of love for us - the gift of Christ. The song in which the sisters are here reflecting on the mystery of Christmas is of two kinds: first, Christmas Biblical texts set to ancient and prayerful melodies of Gregorian Chant, and secondly, carols in modern polyphonic arrangements.   

I have been pleased to review the entirety of this album prior to its release and I am very pleased to fully endorse and recommend this to everyone.  Please purchase a copy today (either as a CD or digitally) and help support the Nuns of Mount St. Marys.

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Music Review: A Blessed Day Has Dawned by the St. Vincent Camerata Scholars

Out of all of the wonderful musical CDs that I have reviewed for Jade Music, my recent review of "A Blessed Day Has Dawned: Sacred Choral Music: Palestrina, Laude, Gregorian Chant" is probably my favorite CD so far.

A Blessed Day Has Dawned is the inaugural recording by the The Saint Vincent Camerata Scholars under the direction of Fr. Stephen Concordia, OSB. The choir is associated with Saint Vincent Archabbey, which was founded in 1846 and is the oldest Benedictine monastery in the United States.

The musical program on this album revolves around the Mass setting of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina entitled "Missa: Dies Sanctificatus," one of Palestrina's most popular works. It includes the various parts of the Mass: Kyrie, Gloria, Creed, Sanctus, Agnus Dei. The album also includes Gregorian Chant as sung during the Renaissance. 

1. O MARIA, DIANA STELLA
2. SOPRA IL FIENO COLCATO
3. LODATE DIO
4. INTROIT: PUER NATUS EST
5. MOTET: DIES SANCTIFICATUS
6. KYRIE
7. CHRISTE
8. KYRIE II
9. GLORIA
10. ALLELUIA: DIES SANCTIFICATUS
11. INITIUM SANCTI EVANGELII SECUNDUM IOANNES
12. CREDO
13. SANCTUS/BENEDICTUS
14. AGNUS DEI I
15. AGNUS DEI II
16. COMMUNION: VIDERUNT OMNES
17. HYMN: CHRISTE REDEMPTOR OMNIUM
18. MOTET: ALMA REDEMPTORIS MATER

The CD features the above tracks. I highly recommend this CD to all Catholics.  You may listen to samples of the chants by clicking here.

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The Soul of Orthodox Chant: CD Review

I was recently given the opportunity to review "The Soul of Orthodox Chant". The CD features the recordings of some beautiful Orthodox chants.  If you are like many Roman Catholics and are not familiar with the music of the Eastern Rite Churches, you simply must begin to listen to these musical and spiritual gems.

The CD features 15 beautiful chants appropriate for this season of Advent. I highly recommend this CD to all Catholics.  You may listen to samples of the chants by clicking here.

Divna: The Soul of Orthodox Chant

The latest recording by Divna and the Melodi Choir is a selection of hymns from the festal cycle of the Nativity. This recording has the pure and intimate feeling of a small choir and is a perfect fit for Christmas. In addition to the festal hymns, the album features two carols. Divna is recognized as one of the finest female chanters alive, and one who has worked diligently to help the world rediscover the beauty of Orthodox chant.

Tracklisting
1.    Kontakion on the Nativity of Christ
2.    Sticheron
3.    God is With Us
4.    O Yulelog, O, Yulelog!
5.    Prokimenon
6.    Photagogikon
7.    Polyeleos
8.    Kontakion
9.    Prokimenon for the Epistle
10.    At the Little Entrance
11.    Troparion
12.    Kontakion
13.    Communion Hymn
14.    Sessional Hymn
15.    All ye Nations clap your hands!

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Our Lady, Mother of God: 18 Chants to Celebrate the Virgin Mary

I was recently given the opportunity to review "Our Lady, Mother of God: 18 Chants to Celebrate the Virgin Mary". The CD features the recordings of various religious communities including the Choir of Monks of the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos and the Choir of Nuns of the Monastery of Saint Elizabeth of Minsk.

The CD features 18 beautifully Catholic titles including Ave Mater, O Virgin Pure, Stabat Mater, Paradisi Portae, O Holy Virgin Rejoice, and more! I highly recommend this CD to all Catholics.  You may listen to samples of the chants by clicking here.  I plan on playing some of these chants during my prayers of the Divine Office.

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Gregorian Chant: Requiem from Jade Music

I recently had the opportunity to receive an advance copy of Gregorian Chant: Requiem from Jade Music. I have posted in the past about fine music produced by Jade Music and this soon-to-be released item is no exception! Jade Music has put together an inspiring collection of chants from the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael's Abbey.

Rating: Highly recommended

Visit Amazon for previews of the songs.  Some of the items on the CD include

• Introit: Requiem
• Kyrie
• Gradual: Requiem
• Gradual: Si Ambulem
• Prose: Dies Irae
• Tract: De Profundis
• Offertory: Domine Jesus Christe
• Preface
• Sanctus
• ...and others!

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American Abbeys that Record Their Own Chant?

Hello there,

I am reaching out to you with a completely different matter - not to announce the release of an album or to share the latest news of a current success.

I am reaching out to see if you know of the next project we should be working on. Jade Music has created a reputation for producing and releasing high-quality Gregorian Chant albums. Now we are looking for the next Gregorian Chant album to produce and release.

A couple of years ago, we established a relationship with the Norbertine Fathers of Orange County, CA, when we heard that they had made private recordings in their church for archival purposes. The recordings were of such high quality and beauty that we decided to re-master them in the studio and distribute them domestically and abroad.

If you know of an American abbey that has recorded its own chant without making it available to a larger audience, I look forward to hearing from you; and don't hesitate to spread the word among family and friends.

Warm regards,
Stefan

Stefan Karrer
Head of Jade Music U.S.
Jade Music / Milan Entertainment, Inc.
3630 Tacoma Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90065
Phone: (818) 849-3349
Fax: (818) 849-3341
stefan[at]jade-music.com
http://www.jade-music.com/
www.youtube.com/jademusic54

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Release of Hymns of Mount Athos & The Glory of Byzantium: Christmas Hymns

On November 17, Jade Music/Milan Entertainment, Inc. is releasing the album "Hymns of Mount Athos" by the Choir of Monks from the Monastery of Simonos Petra. Legendary Mount Athos is home to twenty Orthodox monasteries with more than two thousand monks living, praying, singing and meditating. For centuries they have dedicated several hours of the day to liturgical chant, reflecting on their faith and the depth of Byzantine culture. Simonos Petra is a beautiful symbol of monastic life. Built in the 13th century, it is home today to sixty monks. This recording, Hymns of Mount Athos, is a testimony to the pure beauty of Orthodox chant.

Two weeks later, on December 1, we will release the album "The Glory of Byzantium: Christmas Hymns".

Following the success of The Glory Of Byzantium, Jade Music is releasing The Glory of Byzantium: Christmas Hymns. The album features the Byzantine Choir Of Greece under the direction of Lycourgos Angelopoulos. Compositions on this recording were mostly written by composers of the 17th and 18th centuries; Petros Bereketis, Hourmouzios Hartofylax, Petros Lampadarios, and Petros Peloponnisios among others. These centuries belong to the most important when it comes to post-Byzantine art.

While I have not listened to either of these CDs yet, I am interested in them since Jade Music has consistently provided high quality products in the past. For a list of other Music CDs by them, please click on "Music Reviews."

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Jade Music: 99 Essential Chants

A Catholic Life is proud to again support the efforts of Jade Music in the promotion of sacred and holy music. I have attended beautiful Masses with outstanding orchestras as well as simple, elegant Gregorian Chant at St. Agnes Parish (St. Paul, Minnesota) for example. And, I am proud to continue promoting sacred music. In the past I have reviewed Anthology: Chants and Polyphony from St. Michael's Abbey, Into Great Silence: Office of the Night, Marriage of the Heavens and the Earth, Into Great Silence: Soundtrack, Oliver Messiaen: Never Before Released. A Catholic Life is pleased to again promote this new offering by Jade Music!

Hi there, Exciting news! On Saturday June 20, one day before Father's Day, we are offering 99 Essential Chants for 99 cents on Amazon.com. The selection includes chant music from around the world that we have been collecting and distributing over the last 20 years! Our first effort with Amazon.com released a few months ago, 99 Perfectly Relaxing Songs, charted #28 on the Billboard Top 200. The entire bundle of 99 Chants is available for 99 cents on June 20 - a perfect gift for Father's Day. Please find our PR below and attached. Also attached is the cover art. I'm happy to answer any questions. Sincerely, Stefan

Please visit Amazon.com for purchasing information. In addition, below is the Press Release about this exciting new offer. View the Press Release They are right now priced at $5.99 but tomorrow lowered to $0.99. Visit the link below on Saturday and take advantage of this outstanding offer!

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Anthology: Chants and Polyphony from St. Michael's Abbey

I was recently given the opportunity to review "Anthology: Chants and Polyphony from St. Michael's Abbey". The CD features the recordings of the Norbertine Fathers of St. Michael's Abbey. While I have heard first-hand experience of the Norbertine order falling headfirst into liberalism, St. Michael's Abbey remains as a beacon of hope for the order. The CD features 18 beautifully Catholic titles including Exultet, Attende Coelum, Panis Angelicus, Ave Maria, Verbum Caro, and more! I highly recommend this CD to all Catholics.

Product Description

After "Christmas at St. Michael's Abbey" - "The singing on this album is so very beautiful, and thoroughly authentic," California Catholic Daily - Jade Music is proud to release the second album by the Norbertine Fathers: Anthology: Chants and Polyphony from St. Michael's Abbey, another rare release of chants and polyphony from a domestic U.S. abbey.

The eclectic selection on this album is a cross-section of music sung at the abbey that includes chants from the liturgy as well as motets and music from the Renaissance era. These latter are sung on more solemn occasions like Easter, Pentecost, Christmas, and other great feasts of the liturgical year. "Anthology: Chants and Polyphony from St. Michael's Abbey" is a testimony of the vigor and subtle beauty of Gregorian chant as sung today in the USA.

St. Michael's Abbey is a community of Norbertine Canons Regular in Orange County, California. Its first members were Hungarian priests who escaped communism to find refuge in the United States in 1957. The community was raised to the status of an abbey in 1984, because of its growth. St. Michael's Abbey now numbers nearly 70 members.

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Into Great Silence: Office of the Night

I was recently given the opportunity to review "Into Great Silence: Office of the Night". The CD features the recording of the Monks of the Grande Chartreuse chanting the Sunday offices of Matins and Lauds. I tremendously enjoyed listening to this CD on Sunday mornings as I sat outside and watched the sun rise. As I listened to the beautiful chant, I prayed along with the monks with my Douay Rheims Bible. I highly recommend this CD to all Catholics.

Product Description
Only in complete silence, one starts to hear.
Only when language resigns, one starts to see.

In 1984, German filmmaker Philip Gröning wrote to the Carthusian order for permission to make a documentary about them. They said they would get back to him. Sixteen years later, they were ready.

In 2007, the documentary film Into Great Silence came to American theaters. Audiences and critics embraced it immediately. After releasing the soundtrack to the film, Jade Music is proud to release Into Great Silence: Office of the Night.

This is the first time that any recording of the Office of the Night at the Grande Chartreuse is made available in its entirety. The two-CD album is a collection of chants, readings, prayers, and sounds of silence recorded by the film director Philip Gröning during his six-month stay at the monastery.

This Office of the Night appeared to me to be the core of the Monks life and spirituality, the heartbeat of the Order for more than 1000 years. I wanted to share my experience with an audience. - Philip Gröning

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Hildengard von Bingen's "Marriage of the Heavens and the Earth"

I have also had an opportunity to review Hildengard von Bingen's "Marriage of the Heavens and the Earth". This CD is a collection of Hildengard's best compositions - a true gem to own!

After being forgotten for several centuries, Hildegard von Bingen is recognized today as one of the universal minds in Western culture. The abbess at the monastery of Saint-Rupert close to the town of Bingen, Hildegard was a composer, writer, physician and visionary who lived in the 12th century A.D.

Hildegard von Bingen s music is undoubtedly her most inspiring legacy. She is considered one of the leading composers of the Middle Ages. One of her works, the Ordo Virtutum, has been called the first form, and possibly the origin, of opera. She composed seventy-seven more songs mostly for her monastery. Only a few decades ago, this incredible treasure was rediscovered and presented to a larger audience.

Jade Music is proud to release Marriage of the Heavens and the Earth, an album by Catherine Braslavsky and Joseph Rowe that contains some of von Bingen s best known compositions.

For more than 15 years, Catherine Braslavsky has been playing Hildegard von Bingen s music. Herself a composer and Greogorian chant enthusiast, she also studied Indian, Judeo-Spanish and harmonic chant. She is currently also pursuing her research on ancient music. Soloist, musical director, and teacher, she has performed all over Europe, the United States and Japan. With Joseph Rowe, she recorded six albums that explore contemporary sacred music, and sacred music of Europe, and the Mediterranean.

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Into Great Silence Soundtrack

Although it is stereo-typically identified as a silent film, "Into Great Silence" features a variety of sounds, including beautiful Gregorian Chant. I have already watched the film three times, and I whole-heatedly recommend the soundtrack for "Into Great Silence". Tracks include "Matins", "Pentecost Matins", "Corpus Christi", "Salve Regina", and others!

Click here to preview some of the songs.

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Olivier Messiaen: Never Before Released

I was recently given the opportunity to review Olivier Messiaen's "Never Before Released" CD. Featuring "La Mort Du Nombre", "Offrande Au Saint Sacrement", and twelve other tracks, I enjoyed listening to this CD, even though it certainly was not my favorite soundtrack of piano. If you enjoy piano music, you should appreciate adding this CD to your collection.

Jade Music, the specialty arm of Milan Records, is proud to commemorate Olivier Messiaen s 100th birthday with the album entitled Never Before Released. Messiaen was born in the French town of Avignon into a literary family and entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of 11.

He would become a leading composer and organist of his time, traveling the globe and performing in major concert venues. In 1949, Messiaen s Turangalîla-Symphonie was performed for the first time in the United States and conducted by Leonard Bernstein. He drew his inspiration from very diverse influences such as Japanese music, Greek and Hindu sources and Roman Catholicism.

The album Never Before Released regroups works from three different sources. Some songs were unpublished and kept only in Messiaen s archives Offrande au Saint Sacrement, Prélude pour Orgue, Chant dans le style Mozart, Quatre Inédits pour Piano et Onde Martenot, and Prélude pour Piano. Some songs were published but never available to the public Monodie, Pièce pour le Tombeau de Dukas, Pièce pour Piano et Quatuor à cordes, and Chant des Déportés. Finally, some songs were published but are no longer available on CD La Mort du Nombre, and Le Merle Noir.

This exceptional recording includes, among others, performances by his wife, Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen, the BBC Choir and Orchestra, Guy Deplus, and is a tribute to a major figure of 20th century contemporary music

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