Posted on 07/28/2008 10:07:53 AM PDT by Pyro7480
It isn't every day that a group of Catholic monks find themselves on the pop charts. Yet that's what happened to the monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz, a 12th-century Cistercian monastery near Vienna....
After its European release in May, "Chant: Music for the Soul" became the top classical album in Britain before crossing over to the pop charts, at one point outselling recordings by Madonna and Amy Winehouse....
...The record company had wanted to capitalize on the growing sales of chant music — which were due in part to the popularity of the video game Halo, which uses chantlike melodies in its soundtrack. Universal found the monks after their spokesperson, Father Karl Wallner... sent in a link to a YouTube video of their chanting that he had posted last September following a visit to the monastery by Pope Benedict XVI
I spoke with Father Karl, 45, last week by phone....
How do you explain the attraction of ancient, sacred music to a modern, largely secular audience?
I think it's because the music is calm. It's healthy. It's touching. And you can feel that we sing it with some religious enthusiasm. People write me e-mails, and they say: "I feel touched by the finger of God when I'm listening to your singing."
We can also see that people, even atheistic or agnostic people, are very much attracted by our way of living. Many of them come to us (the monastery) and they listen, they just sit back and listen. I think we are showing them as a religious community, by praising God, that our way of life represents something that has been lost to them. I know it's something that many people in Europe feel they have lost....
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Catholic ping!
It could become a habit...
People are desparate for something other than the crap being played in church.
We will have nun of that.
Oh groan.....very punny!
The introductory song to Civilization IV was The Lord’s Prayer sung in Swahili by an African choir. It was powerful and moving. The forums for the game were loaded with people wondering what the song was, what it translated to, and how to get a copy of the music.
Sacred music is beautiful and life affirming even if you can’t understand the words. The spirit of the song, and the Holy Spirit that uses these songs to speak to people, feeds the soul unlike most “modern” music.
we just love Gregorian chants and am so glad to see quality music win out over trash. Thanks for this post.
I was tonsure whether to go for it...
Good one! Keep ‘em coming. Best laugh I’ve had today.
Thanks for posting. Very young toddlers like chant as well. We’ve used it more than once to calm a cranky baby in the car. With my youngest granddaughter, the effect was instantaneous.
Gregorian chants went through a fad phase about 15 years ago when the album Chant came out. Sextuple platinum.
This thread is expanding my musical tastes
The group Enigma uses chant in their music and has alot of fans because of it.
Nice link Papa Bear
I like their music. Have a CD racked up in my car that I listen to often.
I like two tracks of theirs, “Gravity of Love,” and “Following the Sun,” because the vocals are done by a British vocalist named Ruth-Ann Boyle, who was part of an electronic music group called Olive in the mid 1990s. I like her voice.
Along Comes Mary by The Association is also a Gregorian chant.
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