Cistercian Monks Rock May 16, 2008
Posted by Michael in Music, Religion.Tags: Add new tag
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With Gregorian chants.
HEILIGENKREUZ, Austria (Reuters) - Monks in Austria hailed a “miracle” on Friday as they released an album of Gregorian chants under the same record label as Amy Winehouse and Eminem. The Cistercian monks were signed up by Universal Music — beating more than 200 entries from around the world — after they sent in a YouTube video in response to its international advertisement for a choir.
“I did not even know what Universal Music was. For us it is like a miracle,” said the order’s Father Karl as the CD “Chant - Music for Paradise” went on sale in Germany and Austria ahead of a wider international release.
Austria’s singing monks hail miracle debut album
Here’s the story as told by one of the monks.
You can read about the Rule of St. Benedict here. It is pretty hard for me to imagine a medieval lifestyle that involves eight church services every day, on top of a job.
UPDATE BELOW THE BREAK:
Thanks to Kishnevi for this link.
Spem In Alium Thomas Tallis
Not only eight services a day, but getting up in the middle of the night for at least one of them!
Gregorian Chant goes through cycles of popularity. Last time around it was a Spanish monastery that led the way. However, at the moment, the Pope is urging a greater use of Gregorian chant, and scholars over the last couple of decades are re-evaluating the evidence about medieval folks actually sang Gregorian chant. But it remains true that Western “serious” music (that is, the classical tradition) sprouted from the seedbed of Gregorian chant.
That said, my favorite piece of music comes later, from the Elizabethan era. Those of you who have never heard of it, need to sit down and prepare for 10 minutes of heaven:
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=spem+in+alium&search_type=
Thanks, Kishnevi. I’ve added that video to the post.
Heh. Uncle B just Skyped me while I was listening to Spem in Alium and he said, “Oh! Spam and onions!” Silly man.
He said the deal with that piece is, it’s supposed to be best heard with the singers arranged in a circle around you. It has the most amazing acoustic properties then.
I’m guessing the YouTube audio version misses some of those subtleties
Last time around it was a Spanish monastery that led the way.
Yeah, I picked up that album during that cycle.
…need to sit down and prepare for 10 minutes of heaven
Thanks Kishnevi. It was spiritually regenerating.
*also wondering what words were sung*
Uncle B was correct.
It was written for eight groups of five singers each, and the music is passed from one group to another, and combined among groups, in a way that clearly indicates Tallis envisioned a “SurroundSound” performance. If the singers were in a circle, the music would go all around the room and then start to combine in different directions until by the end everyone has joined in the act.
The YouTube version is that recorded by the Tallis Scholars, which is one of the best available; unfortunately, out of the YouTube options, Michael chose the one that is visually the best, but adds on the organ part (which is optional and nowadays usually omitted) to the actual recording via what sounds like (to me) a .wav file.
You can get a complete score through ChoralWiki (look on the link list of my blog if you don’t have the URL ). Then all you need is 39 of your friends to come around for a good singalong
Cathy–the words are a Latin (of course) text used in the old Sarum (preReformation English) rite as an antiphon, based on two verses from the Book of Judith. Tallis was a cryptoCatholic and would have labelled this a Lutheran Heresy Site.
Spem in alium, numquam habui praeter in te, Deus Israel, qui irasceris, et propitius eris, et omnia peccata hominum in tribulatione dimittis. Domine Deus, Creator coeli et terrae, recpice humilitatem nostram.
I have never put my hope in any other than you, God of Israel, who will be angry and yet become again gracious, and who forgives all the sins of suffering man. Lord God, Creator of Heaven and Earth, look upon our lowliness.
Holy shit.
http://tinyurl.com/6xx5k9
Thanks Kishnevi for the Latin and translation into English.
*rusty on the Latin*
@#8 I guess he pissed her off.
The testimony from the daughter is illuminating.
We once visited the ruins of the Old Sarum cathedral. It’s in the same area as Stonehenge and you can visit both on the same day. Plus, you’ll have time to squeeze in a stop at Salisbury Cathedral (which replaced Sarum), where you may view one of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta. That was one of the awesomest days of sightseeing that I can recall.
Sort of been there done that (not Old Sarum). The cathedral precinct in Salisbury is wonderful–the noise of the modern world just vanishes the minute you walk through the gates. We were on a package tour, and the group director forgot to tell us that there was a copy of the MC inside, only talked about the entrance fee, so we just wandered around outside admiring the views.Very Barchester. Some of the pictures I took (this was before digital cameras, so I only scanned the best dozen or so prints):
http://public.fotki.com/jbennetsmith/travel_britain/
Salisbury is on row three. “salsbur1″ is the place we ate lunch; “salbur2″ and “salsbur3″ are views of the Cathedral Close. IIRC, I was standing with the Cathedral behind me and to the right, so the pictures approxmate the view you would have coming out of the main door of the Cathedral. Stonehenge is at the bottom of the album. The first picture is from the door of the Assembly Rooms at Bath, and should be familiar if you’ve seen the movie version of Persuasion (it’s the street featured in the very last shot). At Chester, they were doing the Mystery performances, and have street parades to go with it, so that’s where those shots came from. “Shakesper” is the back of Shakespeare’s birthplace, featuring the garden.
Now, if you excuse me, I better get out my travel brochures again so I can remind myself how expensive it is to travel right now…
Nice photos.
If you’re in London, you can go to the Public Records Office and see a copy of the Doomsday Book.