Gregorian Melodies II: Gregorian Chant

Gregorian Melodies II: Gregorian Chant

The Monastic Choir of St. Peter's Abbey of Solesmes (By (artist))
$18.99
Publication Date: March 1st, 2004
Publisher:
Paraclete Press
ISBN:
9781557253880
Pages:
0

Description

Popular Gregorian chants from the Monks of Solesmes

Following the success of Gregorian Melodies, the monks of Solesmes have released Gregorian Melodies II. This volume contains more of the most popular chants including the Te Deum, Stabat Mater, and Ave Maria. There are also chants for the Liturgical Year from Advent to Pentecost, chants devoted to Our Lady and the Blessed Sacrament, and the Mass of the Angels. All of the Gregorian chants on the recording have a corresponding page number next to the listing that refers to the Liber Cantualis.

This is an ideal CD with which to become acquainted with Gregorian chant. The sensitive performances by Dom Richard Gagneë and the monks of Solesmes enhance the value of this series.

     Mass of the Angels
     Track 1-Sprinkling of Holy Water     Asperges me
     Track 2-Sprinkling, Eastertide     Vidi aquam
     Track 3-Kyrie VIII
     Track 4-Gloria VIII
     Track 5-Alleluia     Tu es Petrus
     Track 6-Sanctus VIII
     Track 7-Agnus VIII
     
Advent
     Track 8-Hymn     Conditor alme siderum
     Track 9-Alleluia     Ostende nobis
    
Christmas
     Track 10-Puer nobis in Bethlehem
     Track 11-Alleluia     Dominus dixit
    
 The Passion
     Track 12-Hymn     Gloria laus
     Track 13-Sequence     Stabat Mater
     
Easter
     Track 14-Alleluia     Confitemini Domino
     
Pentecost
     Track 15-Brief Responsory     Spiritus Paraclitus
    
 Benediction of the Holy Sacrament
     Track 16-Chant of Exposition     O salutaris
     Track 17-Chant of Exposition     Ecce panis
     Track 18-Hymn     Pange lingua gloriosi
     Track 19-Psalm 116     Laudate Dominum
     
Chants to Our Lady
     Track 20-Antiphon     Alma Redemptoris
     Track 21-Antiphon     Ave Maria
     Track 22-Antiphon     Ave Regina caelorum
     Track 23-Brief Responsory     Ave Maria
     Track 24-Hymn     Ave maris stella
     
From the Office for the Departed
     Track 25-Antiphon and Benedictus     Ego sum
    
 Thanksgiving
     Track 26-Hymn     Te Deum
 

About the Author

Since the re-founding of the Abbey of St. Peter of Solesmes in 1833 under Dom Prosper Gueranger, this Benedictine monastery on the River Sarthe in western France has set the world standard both for the performance of Gregorian chant and the authenticity of the music itself. Commissioned by Pope Pius X to research the role of chant in liturgy and to edit books on chant that reflect this research, Solesmes enjoys an enviable reputation. Its work in liturgical reform and in the current revival of Gregorian chant has been likened to that of the great abbey of Cluny in the Middle Ages. These recordings incorporate new understandings of ancient manuscripts and represent a distillation of nearly 200 years of scholarship in the chant: musical paleography, semiology, and modality. The groundbreaking work by the monks of Solesmes has contributed to today’s resurgence of interest in Gregorian chant as the foundation of Western music.

Praise for Gregorian Melodies II: Gregorian Chant

“The most famous and ‘authentic’ recordings of Gregorian chant for generations have been those made by the Solesmes monks.”   —The Boston Globe

“The music is utterly magnificent and the singing of this great choir is thrilling beyond words…it’s better to starve to this music than to live without it.”   —Classic CD

“Supremely ethereal.”   —USA Today

“Solesmes sets the standard for Gregorian chant performance.”  —American Record Guide

"The success of Gregorian chant in the past century, and the centered richness of prayer it brings to all of us, is almost singularly due to the herculean efforts of the Benedictine Monks of Solesmes, France." 

"Communicates a mood of mystery, timelessness, peace, beauty, and contemplation." 

"The Monks of Solesmes ... use the most authentic manuscripts and ancient documents to recover the original melodies." 

"The monks' chanting is living, strong, unvarnished." 

"The chant is organic and text-based ... the singing is full and well-supported." 

"There's something incredible fresh and new ... which is well worth your attention." 

—New Liturgical Movement 


"Beauty and immense spiritual power when sung by the Monastic Choir of St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes, France" 

"The music is exceptionally inviting, engaging listeners' ears with beauty and elevating their thoughts no matter what their spiritual or religious beliefs and doctrines may be." 

"The beauties of Gregorian chant...encourage inward looking, contemplation, thoughtfulness, a kind of separation from mundane affairs ... Gregorian chant resonates." 

"The sensitive, careful, beautifully measured performances here can be used as an entry point to an earlier time." 

—TransCentury Communications 

"The program of the two discs (Gregorian Melodies I and II) are similar, offering alternate settings on each disc of the sprinkling of water, the Ordinary of the Mass (two cycles on the first disc, another on the second), Benediction hymns, and the most familiar pieces marking the liturgical year. The final antiphons of Our Lady are sung in the simple (more modern) tone, two on each disc. Sung so superbly as they are here, these two discs are exactly what are needed for those who long to hear the familiar chants again."  — Fanfare

"Here we have clean, sensibly phrased performances of 29 Gregorian melodies taken from the Liber Cantualis, each with its corresponding number in the Liber and respective place in the service and/or liturgical calendar. This recording contributes an intriguing strain to the debate over historical performance. The Monastic Choir of St. Peter's Abbey in Solesmes sings in a different dimension. Their tone is essentially clean, and their intonation impeccable. The result is a focused, calm, and consistent performance. They sing in a historically authentic mindset. This is a wholly satisfying offering, and a fine supplement to the body of recorded Gregorian chant."  —Early Music America