#17: The Monks of l'Abbaye du Bec-Hellouin: Gregorian Chant and Polyphony

Details: The Monks of l'Abbaye du Bec-Hellouin: Gregorian Chant and Polyphony. EMI, 1995. Total time: 66:07.

The early to mid 1990s saw a huge revival of interest in Gregorian chant,  so much so that recordings by obscure European monks began to sell like crazy and win awards. 

This album is a hybrid of CD and book. The recordings are by monks (both male and female) from a French monastery. 

The chants include songs designated for Holy Week, Easter,  Pentecost,  and Advent. The price tag -- from the now-defunct Borders -- is still on the back which is a clue that this was a gift from my dad.

A peaceful way to spend some contemplative time indoors on a snowy windy Sunday.

#10: Chants for Life

Details: Choir of the Vienna Hofsburgkappelle: Chants for Life. Director: Joseph Schabasser.  Excelsior, 1994. Total time: 63:37.

Not much to say about this one as not much detail is known beyond the above.

I've always found Gregorian chant,  an ancient church musical form, to be timeless and contemplative.  A few years ago while visiting relatives in California I somehow ended up attending Mass one Sunday morning at the cathedral in San Francisco (which is an amazing architectural piece,  incidentally) and much of the liturgical music at that Mass was Gregorian chant performed by the small choir. In such an acoustical environment it was perfect.

Chant has a healing effect and immediately causes a hush in the listener. The nearly two dozen chants on this hour-plus disc are designated for holy days including Easter and Christmas and include introits, offertories, communions and alleluias.

The sound always conjures for me images of monks in robes walking single file in an interior courtyard in a monastery, along a long corridor between and beneath columns and arches, at dusk or dawn.

Great music for early evening on Spirit Sunday.