Please, please, please - if you're looking into Gregorian chant, and decide to purchase a CD to check it out, buy this one, not this one.
First the yucky stuff:
"Frank Peterson, whose production credits include Sarah Brightman, Ofra Haza, Jose Carreras, Alannah Myles, Placido Domingo, Andrea Bocelli and Marky Mark, created the idea of the Masters of Chant, by fusing pop and choral music, performed by ten classically trained singers. Peterson has been pursuing his vision of a harmonic fusion of pop and choral music ever since 1999."
"....Incorporating well-known classic songs with a new sound transporting the listener into the timeless world of Gregorian chant, the Gregorian Masters of Chant CD includes: 'Brothers In Arms,' 'Tears In Heaven,' 'Wish You Were Here,' 'Close My Eyes Forever,' 'Bridge Over Troubled Water,' 'Heroes' and more."
How did Peterson manage to get it so wrong? Gregorian chant is a sacred music used in religious rites. It's designed to praise God and support the liturgy of the Mass. The thought of mixing Gregorian chant and 'Heroes' is just awful! Cringe, cringe. The use of Gregorian chant video game Halo didn't bother me, but this does. I'll have to think about why, what's the difference between these two.
If you want the real deal, buy this CD instead, Chant Music for the Soul, a recording of the Cistercian Monks of the Stift Heiligenkreuz in Austria. Very lovely and incredibly well done. The pauses in their chanting stop the world for a moment. The rhythms of the psalms (Track 1, Psalm 121, for example) convey the plaintive yearning of the psalms themselves.
Good interview with the head of the Cistersian Abbey about Gregorian chant and what the monks do all day can be found here.
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