Overview

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. An ideal CD with which to become acquainted with Gregorian chant.

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9781557253880

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Reviews

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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

Author Information

The Recorded Legacy of Solesmes Since the refounding of the monastery 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 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. Paraclete Press is proud to be the North American distributor of the recordings of the monks of Solesmes. These recordings have won numerous prestigious international awards, including the Grand Prix du Disque, Deutsche Schallplatten Prize, Diapason d'Or, and the Edison Prize.

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