Chant (Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos album)

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Chant
Chant (album).jpg
Compilation album by
Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos
ReleasedMarch 15, 1994
Recorded1972–1982
Genre Gregorian chant
Length58:26
Label Angel
Producer Maria Francisca Bonmati
Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos chronology
Chant
(1994)		 Chant Noël: Chants for the Holiday Season
(1994)

Chant is a compilation album of Gregorian chant, performed by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain.

Contents

The performances were recorded perhaps as early as the 1970s, either in the province of Burgos or in Madrid, the Spanish capital. [1] The music did not sell significantly until it was re-released by Angel Records in 1994 when it was marketed as an antidote to the stress of modern life. Chant is the best-selling album of Gregorian chant ever released. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 music chart, and was certified as double platinum, meaning two million copies were sold in the United States and four million worldwide. [2]

Performers

The monks of Santo Domingo de Silos have been singing Gregorian chant since the 11th century (before that, they used Mozarabic chant). There was a break in the tradition in the 1830s when the abbey was closed by the government as part of the so-called Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal. The abbey was reestablished with the help of monks from Solesmes Abbey in France. [3] Solesmes is known for its commitment to plainsong and the Solesmes style of singing has influenced the monks of Santo Domingo de Silos, [4] although the monks' pronunciation of Latin reflects their Spanish background.

Sources agree that the music on Chant had been recorded some years before it achieved worldwide fame. However, the exact dates appear to be elusive. According to the records posted on the Gregorian Association site, Chant consists of recordings made 1972-1982. [5] Blair Sanderson suggests that a seminary in the Spanish city of Logroño invited the monks to record a vinyl album of chant in order to popularize it among churchgoers, and that most of the music was recorded around 1980, while there is a greater proportion of music recorded in the 1970s in the follow-up album Chant II. [1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [1]

Reviewers expressed surprise at the commercial success of the album. [6] Not only had Gregorian chant been regarded as a specialist market by record companies, but also other monastic choirs, such as that of Solesmes Abbey, had enjoyed a higher profile as recording artists than the Silos monks. [4] However, there had already been evidence that Gregorian chant could break through to a mass market with the success in the classical charts of the 1982 album A Feather on the Breath of God and in the pop charts the project Enigma in 1990/91, specifically the single "Sadeness (Part I)".

The monks normally follow a routine based on their monastic duties. However, following the commercial success of Chant, they made publicity appearances and were interviewed on The Tonight Show and Good Morning America .

Sequel albums

Chant Noël: Chants For The Holiday Season was released 1 November 1994, [7] with Chant II released 17 October 1995 [8] and Chant III on 17 September 1996. [9]

In 1998, Chant was reissued as a gold-audiophile CD by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. In 2004, it was re-issued along with its follow-up, Chant II as Chant: The Anniversary Edition by Angel/EMI Classics.

The album was spoofed by members of the comedy rock band Big Daddy, performing as the Benzedrine Monks of Santa Domonica, in their album Chantmania, [10] which included Gregorian-inspired versions of notable pop songs. Sandra Boynton also produced a book and CD entitled Grunt: Pigorian Chant from Snouto Domoinko de Silo. [11]

Ravi Shankar claimed that his album of Indian chants, Chants of India (1997), was conceived when Angel were looking to repeat the commercial success of Chant. [12]

Track listing

  1. "Puer Natus Est Nobis": Introit (Mode VII) – 3:36
  2. "Os Iusti": Gradual (Mode I) – 2:49
  3. "Christus Factus Est Pro Nobis": Gradual (Mode V) – 2:39
  4. "Mandatum Novum Do Vobis": Antiphonal And Psalm 132 (Mode III) – 1:41
  5. "Media Vita In Morte Sumus": Responsorio (Mode IV) – 6:11
  6. "Alleluia, Beatus Vir Qui Suffert": Alleluia (Mode I) – 3:10
  7. "Spiritus Domini": Introit (Mode VIII) – 3:46
  8. "Improperium": Offertorio (Mode VIII) – 2:36
  9. "Laetatus Sum": Gradual (Mode VII) – 2:17
  10. "Kyrie XI A": Kyrie (Mode I) – 1:06
  11. "Puer Natus In Bethlehem": Ritmo (Mode I) – 1:58
  12. "Jacta Cogitatum Tuum": Gradual (Mode VII) – 3:34
  13. "Verbum Caro Factum Est": Responsorio (Mode VII) – 4:04
  14. "Genuit Puerpera Regem": Antiphonal And Psalm 99 (Mode II) – 2:56
  15. "Occuli Omnium": Gradual (Mode VII) – 3:21
  16. "Ave Mundi Spes Maria": Sequenza (Mode I) – 4:18
  17. "Kyrie Fons Bonitatis": Trope (Mode III) – 4:00
  18. "Veni Sancte Spiritus": Sequenza (Mode I) – 2:42
  19. "Hosanna Filio David": Antiphonal (Mode VII) – 0:42

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Chant
Chart (1994)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [13] 11
US Billboard 200 [14] 3

Certifications and sales

Sales and certifications for Chant
RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [15] Platinum100,000^
Italy—50,000 [16]
Netherlands (NVPI) [17] 3× Platinum75,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [18] 4× Platinum500,000 [19]
Sweden (GLF) [20] Gold50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [21] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [22] 2× Platinum2,000,000^
Summaries
Worldwide—4,000,000 [2]

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

Semiology is a branch of Gregorian Chant research. Semiology refers specifically to the study of the neumes as found in the earliest fully notated manuscripts of Gregorian Chant, the oldest of which have been dated to the 9th century. The first application of the term 'semiology' for the study of Latin chant was made by Dom Eugène Cardine (1905–1988), a monk of the Abbey of Solesmes. In this context, 'semiology' is understood as 'the study of musical signs'. Text and neumatic notation, together with significative letters adjoined to the neumes, presents an effective and integrated mnemonic for the rhythmical interpretation and the melody. While Gregorian palaeography offers a description of the various neumes and their rhythmical and melodic values, Gregorian semiology explains their meaning for practical interpretation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregorian chant</span> Form of song

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe during the 9th and 10th centuries, with later additions and redactions. Although popular legend credits Pope Gregory I with inventing Gregorian chant, scholars believe that it arose from a later Carolingian synthesis of the Old Roman chant and Gallican chant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos</span> Benedictine monastery in Santo Domingo village, northern Spain

Santo Domingo de Silos Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the village of Santo Domingo de Silos in the southern part of Burgos Province in northern Spain. The monastery is named after the eleventh-century saint Dominic of Silos.

<i>Liber Usualis</i> Book of commonly used Gregorian chants

The Liber Usualis is a book of commonly used Gregorian chants in the Catholic tradition, compiled by the monks of the Abbey of Solesmes in France. According to Willi Apel, the chants in the Liber Usualis originated in the 11th century.

Mozarabic chant is the liturgical plainchant repertory of the Visigothic/Mozarabic rite of the Catholic Church, related to the Gregorian chant. It is primarily associated with Hispania under Visigothic rule and later with the Mozarabs and was replaced by the chant of the Roman rite following the Christian Reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula. Although its original medieval form is largely lost, a few chants have survived with readable musical notation, and the chanted rite was later revived in altered form and continues to be used in a few isolated locations in Spain, primarily in Toledo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyriale</span> Collection of Gregorian chant settings

The Kyriale is a collection of Gregorian chant settings for the Ordinary of the Mass. It contains eighteen Masses, six Credos, and several ad libitum chants. This collection is included in liturgical books such as the Graduale Romanum and Liber Usualis, and it is also published as a separate book by the monks of Solesmes Abbey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Pothier</span> French prelate, liturgist and scholar

Dom Joseph Pothier, O.S.B. (1835–1923) was a worldwide known French prelate, liturgist and scholar who reconstituted the Gregorian chant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solesmes Abbey</span> Abbey located in Sarthe, in France

Solesmes Abbey or St. Peter's Abbey, Solesmes is a Benedictine monastery in Solesmes, Sarthe, France, and the source of the restoration of Benedictine monastic life in the country under Dom Prosper Guéranger after the French Revolution. The current abbot is the Right Reverend Dom Abbot Geoffrey Kemlin, O.S.B., elected in 2022.

The Cecilian Movement for church music reform began in Germany in the second half of the 1800s as a reaction to the liberalization of the Enlightenment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominic of Silos</span> Spanish monk, 1000-1073

Dominic of Silos was a Spanish monk, to whom the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, where he served as the abbot, is dedicated. He is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church. His feast day is 20 December.

The Church of the Ascension is an Anglo-Catholic parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. Founded in 1857 as a mission of St. James Church, it is now located on North La Salle Drive on Chicago's Near North Side. The church became a part of the Anglo-Catholic movement in 1869. The principal service on Sunday is the Solemn High Mass celebrated at 11 a.m., according to Rite II in the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer (1979). This Mass is celebrated at the High Altar, and includes three sacred ministers, many acolytes, incense, and music provided by a professional choir. The mass includes processions and other devotions on certain feasts and holy days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solesmes Congregation</span> Association of Benedictine monasteries

The Solesmes Congregation is an association of monasteries within the Benedictine Confederation headed by the Abbey of Solesmes.

St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes is a Benedictine convent, founded in 1866 by Dom Prosper Guéranger, the restorer of Benedictine life in France after the destruction of the revolution. It is located in Solesmes, Sarthe, and is the women's counterpart of Solesmes Abbey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis-Charles Couturier</span> French Benedictine monk

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<i>Chant Noël: Chants for the Holiday Season</i> 1994 compilation album by Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo De Silos

Chant Noël: Chants for the Holiday Season is a compilation album of plainsong sung in Latin by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo De Silos under the direction of Francisco Lara. It was released in November 1994 by Angel Records, following the success of Chant which had been released earlier the same year. As well as a number of items sung at Christmas, the album features Ubi Caritas, which is associated with Easter.

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<i>Chant II</i> 1995 studio album by Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos

Chant II is a 1995 album of Gregorian chant, performed by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos in Burgos, Spain. It is a follow-up to the 1994 release Chant, the best-selling album of Gregorian chant. Like the first album, it included material which had been recorded by the monks some years previously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gregorio (software)</span> Open source scorewriter for Gregorian chant

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Chant at AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-12-02.
  2. 1 2 Harringtonenkaer, Richard (20 July 1994). "Chants of A Lifetime". Washington Post . Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  3. ↑ Alston, George Cyprian. "Abbey of St. Solesmes". The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 23 March 2015
  4. 1 2 Selective Chant Discography, The Gregorian Association (London, England)
  5. ↑ Monks of S. Domingo de Silos, The Gregorian Association
  6. ↑ Lister, David (29 March 1994). "Plainsong soars up the charts". The Independent . London. Retrieved August 31, 2012.
  7. ↑ Chant Noël at Amazon.com
  8. ↑ Chant II at Amazon.com
  9. ↑ Chant III at Amazon.com
  10. ↑ Chantmania at Amazon.com
  11. ↑ Grunt at Amazon.com
  12. ↑ Al Weisel, "Ravi Shankar on his pal George Harrison and 'Chants of India'", Rolling Stone , 15 May 1997 (retrieved 7 August 2022).
  13. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Monks of Santo Domingo – Gregorian Chants". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  14. ↑ "Billboard 200: Week of May 28, 1994". Billboard . Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Monks – Canto Gregoriano". Music Canada . Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  16. ↑ Llewellyn, Howell (2 April 1994). "Gregorian Chants Becomes An Internationa Hit For EMI Classics". Billboard . p. 75. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  17. ↑ "Dutch jazz certifications – Coro de Monjs del MonasterioBenedictine Monks – Canto Gregorino" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers . Retrieved 8 October 2022.Enter Canto Gregorino in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1994 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  18. ↑ Salaverrie, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (PDF) (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Madrid: Fundación Autor/SGAE. p. 937. ISBN   84-8048-639-2.
  19. ↑ Llewellyn, Howell (9 July 1994). "Timeless Success Story" (PDF). Billboard . p. 54. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  20. ↑ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  21. ↑ "British album certifications – Monks' Chorus Silos – Canto Gregoriano". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  22. ↑ "American album certifications – Benedictine Monks – Chant". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 8 October 2022.
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