Gregorian Chants

[Jesusismylife]

I've been drawn to listen to Gregorian Chants. They are so beautiful and peaceful, though I don't understand the Latin, I still derive devotional edification from hearing them.

Does anyone else listen to them regularly and which ones would you recommend.

Can anyone also tell me more about them.

Thanks!

 

[Virgil the Roman]

I do. I am currently in possession of a Gregorian Chants compact disk entitled: Lost in Meditation (Meditative Gregorian Chants is the undertitle beneath it.) It is very peaceful, calming, relaxing, and tranquil and thus serves its purpose to aid one in the practice of meditation very well indeed.

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

Yes, I love Gregorian Chant, I am a member of my parish's schola and we use the Liber Usualis to chant the propers for Mass every Sunday.

I recommend this CD
http://www.amazon.com/Salve-Regina-..._bbs_sr_2/104-4683586-3886345?ie=UTF8&s=music

However, my favorite CD's come the Monastery of Fontgombault (the Assumption CD is my all time favorite) and the CD's from Fontgombault's daughterhouse in Clear Creek Oklahoma.

You can get these CDs by contacting

http://www.clearcreekmonks.org

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

What about Gregorian Chant would you like to know?

 

[Jesusismylife]

Thanks for the recommendations. I am familiar with both Lost in Meditation and Salve Regina. I really like them and need to add them to my collection.

I was just wondering: Do the chants follow the mass in order? Is it basically a mass that is sung?

Thanks for the website. It's excellent!

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

Thanks for the recommendations. I am familiar with both Lost in Meditation and Salve Regina. I really like them and need to add them to my collection.

I was just wondering: Do the chants follow the mass in order? Is it basically a mass that is sung?

Thanks for the website. It's excellent!

Most chants that people are familiar with, the Salve Regina, Alma Redemptoris Mater, Pange Lingue Gloriosi, Tantum Ergo Sacramentum, etc. are not part of the Mass per se. They are hymns which can be sung in places of the Mass that would be appropriate for a hymn.

In regards to the Mass there are two categories of music which is actually a part of the Mass. The Ordinaries and the Propers.

The Ordinaries are texts which are the same each week, here is a list of the Ordinaries:

Kyrie Eleison
Gloria
Credo
Sanctus and Benedictus
Agnus Dei

The Propers are texts which change each week, the texts often come from the Psalms, and if not then they will come from another part of the Scriptures, they consist of:

Introit
Gradual
Alleluia or Tract (depends on which season we are in)
Offertory
Communion

Again the texts used for each of these parts are different each week, but are the same year to year. For instance this Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday, because the first word used for the Introit this Sunday is Gaudete.

At the site posted below, you can see the sheet music and hear a recording of these weekly propers being chanted. I use this site to practice, as I am a part of a schola for my parish.

http://www.christusrex.org/www2/cantgreg/calend_ensaios_eng.html

Hopefully that will help some. Any more questions?

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

Actually, here is a CD of Gregorian Chant put out by the FSSP which is the Mass for Maundy Thursday (aka Holy Thursday, the night before Good Friday), so this CD shows you in a way what I was talking about above.

You can see that Ordinaries and the Propers and other hymns and how they would be sung in Mass.

http://www.fssp.com/main/chant.htmhttp://www.christianforums.com/showthread.php?p=29732813#post29732813

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

Jesusismylife,

I hope that by being in the main part of OBOB that your questions will receive more answers.

 

[GorrionGris]

I'd recomend you the Veni Creator Spiritus "Come Holy Spirit" which could be sung by any denomination

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

I'd recomend you the Veni Creator Spiritus "Come Holy Spirit" which could be sung by any denomination

Which is the last track on the Salve Regina Chant CD that I recommended.

We sang that chant during the Confirmation rite by Bishop Olmsted back in September, very fitting and beautiful.

 

[MrJim]

Yes, I love Gregorian Chant, I am a member of my parish's schola and we use the Liber Usualis to chant the propers for Mass every Sunday.

I recommend this CD
http://www.amazon.com/Salve-Regina-..._bbs_sr_2/104-4683586-3886345?ie=UTF8&s=music

However, my favorite CD's come the Monastery of Fontgombault (the Assumption CD is my all time favorite) and the CD's from Fontgombault's daughterhouse in Clear Creek Oklahoma.

You can get these CDs by contacting

http://www.clearcreekmonks.org

Funny thing as I sit here listening to

http://www.live365.com/stations/vocideltesoro

I recognized Fontgombault and went to my mail pile. I got an unsolicited CD from these folks titled "St. Benedict Gregorian Chant Monastic Choir of the Abey of Notre Dame de Fontgombault". I've not played it yet (since the radio "Choral Treasures" is usual on) but I will get it into the CD player asap. I find it soothing yet stirring music, even when I know not what is being sung.

 

[Rising_Suns]

Yes, I love Gregorian Chant, I am a member of my parish's schola and we use the Liber Usualis to chant the propers for Mass every Sunday.

I recommend this CD
http://www.amazon.com/Salve-Regina-..._bbs_sr_2/104-4683586-3886345?ie=UTF8&s=music

However, my favorite CD's come the Monastery of Fontgombault (the Assumption CD is my all time favorite) and the CD's from Fontgombault's daughterhouse in Clear Creek Oklahoma.

You can get these CDs by contacting

http://www.clearcreekmonks.org

The 2 links that Brian listed above are by far the best and most authentic Gregorian Chant available today. I don't purport to be an expert in Chant, but nothing I have heard comes close to the recordings put out by those communties.

By the way, there are many more Fontgombault (Solesmes) CD's at Amazon. They even have an instructional CD on how to sing Chant, with commentary;

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_...?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=solesmes



-Davide

 

[Jesusismylife]

ProCommunioneFacior,
Thanks for all the information -- that clears things up a lot!

I've seen some chants about vespers. Is that a special part of mass?

And thanks for moving the thread!

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

Jesusismylife,

To be quick (my wife wants to go to bed), Vespers is not a part of Mass, however it is part of the Church's Liturgy. It is one of the hours of the Liturgy of the Hours (aka Divine Office, Breviary).

I will post a link to the wikipedia, and will come to this thread tomorrow to give a more detailed answer if necessary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespers

 

[Rising_Suns]

ProCommunioneFacior,
Thanks for all the information -- that clears things up a lot!

I've seen some chants about vespers. Is that a special part of mass?

And thanks for moving the thread!

As Brian noted, Vespers is part of the Divine Office, which is a type of prayer that dates back to the very first centuries of Christianity. This prayer started in monasteries, who strived to lived by Paul's exortation to "pray without ceasing".

It is rooted in the psalms, which as you know as songs of praise to the Lord. Early desert fathers tended to be literalists, and thus tried to literally pray the psalms without ceasing, 24 hours/day, but found it to interfer with other human needs, like eating and sleeping. Since that time, this type of prayer has evolved into 'partitions', broken up throughout the day.

All monasteries today say the Divine Office (most still chant them). Listed below is a commom daily schedule for monasteries. As you can see, the Divine Office is deeply integrated into the monks daily life (bolded mine);

Rise:
4:50 a.m.

Matins:
5:15

Lauds:
6:15

Low Mass:
6:50

Prime:
8:00

Lectio Divina:
9:00

Terce, High Mass:
10:00

Study or Work:
11:15

Sext:
12:50 p.m.

Recreation:
2:00

None:
2:35

Manual Labor:
3:00

Vespers:
6:00

Silent Prayer:
6:30

Lectio Divina or Conference:
7:00

Compline:
8:25

 

[FLMike]

...
The Propers are texts which change each week, the texts often come from the Psalms, and if not then they will come from another part of the Scriptures, they consist of:

Introit
Gradual
Alleluia or Tract (depends on which season we are in)
Offertory
Communion

Again the texts used for each of these parts are different each week, but are the same year to year. For instance this Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday, because the first word used for the Introit this Sunday is Gaudete.

Just to add one bit of information for the OP, on recordings one will sometimes see (IN), (OF), (CO), etc, in the track listing for a particular chant. These markings indicate which type of Proper the marked chant is (IN = Introit, etc).

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

Just to add one bit of information for the OP, on recordings one will sometimes see (IN), (OF), (CO), etc, in the track listing for a particular chant. These markings indicate which type of Proper the marked chant is (IN = Introit, etc).

Most excellent, thank you Mike, btw I am loving your website (http://www.choraltreasure.org)

 

[ProCommunioneFacior]

As Brian noted, Vespers is part of the Divine Office, which is a type of prayer that dates back to the very first centuries of Christianity. This prayer started in monasteries, who strived to lived by Paul's exortation to "pray without ceasing".

It is rooted in the psalms, which as you know as songs of praise to the Lord. Early desert fathers tended to be literalists, and thus tried to literally pray the psalms without ceasing, 24 hours/day, but found it to interfer with other human needs, like eating and sleeping. Since that time, this type of prayer has evolved into 'partitions', broken up throughout the day.

All monasteries today say the Divine Office (most still chant them). Listed below is a commom daily schedule for monasteries. As you can see, the Divine Office is deeply integrated into the monks daily life (bolded mine);

Rise:
4:50 a.m.

Matins:
5:15

Lauds:
6:15

Low Mass:
6:50

Prime:
8:00

Lectio Divina:
9:00

Terce, High Mass:
10:00

Study or Work:
11:15

Sext:
12:50 p.m.

Recreation:
2:00

None:
2:35

Manual Labor:
3:00

Vespers:
6:00

Silent Prayer:
6:30

Lectio Divina or Conference:
7:00

Compline:
8:25

Awesome, thanks for the explanation Davide!