The CD Chant: Music For The Soul by the Cistercian Monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz (Holy Cross Abbey) is a surprising hit. It made the top of the charts in Europe. In Austria it reached double platinum, and in Germany gold. It appeared amongst the Top 10 hits from the USA to New Zealand.
The primary motivation of the 80 monks living in this monastery has been for “God’s words to reach the ears of ordinary people.” The abbey, founded in 1133 by St. Leopold III Margrave of Austria, is located about 15km from Vienna. The story of their entering a CD competition began with someone spotting one of the monk’s youtube video on their chanting and emailing the monastery about the competition. They entered the competition on the last day possible.
Experts in Gregorian chant may compare the style here with Solemes or even dislike Teutonic pronunciation of Latin. I have a reasonable collection of CDs with Gregorian chant – I found this particular CD a mellow, gentle introduction to this tradition. If you are looking for an introduction to this meditative musical prayer tradition I would look no further than this CD.
