CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Chant: Music For The Soul

from: Decca

Release Date July 01, 2008

This is one of the most beautiful sacred music ever, you reach peace, sublimity in a humble heart.
Please visit Heiligenkreuz when in Vienna, a delightful short trip (try to find out when the Cistercian monks sing in the church) you'll never forget the experience.

Walter M. Reimann
Toronto,Canada

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Chant

by: Gregorian Chant, The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos

Release Date March 15, 1994
CHANT arrived in good condition ahead of the promised delivery date and for a bargain price. The singing is well done. However, I never recognized one selection of the ultra long list of chants that are a radical departure from Kyrie Eleison and Magnificat anima mea. I played it while in bed and drifted off to sleep even after being kinda disappointed in the selections. This is not saying YOU won't be transfixed and inspired by the rhythm, melodies, and selections chosen by the totally-dedicated monks.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Chant II

by: Gregorian Chant, Ismael Fernandez de la Cuesta, Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos

Release Date October 17, 1995
If you like this type of modern music presented in a unique style with some excellent voices give this a try. the style is not to everyones tast, I'm hooked and my usual preference for music is more like linkin park and evanescence. But i love this in heavy traffic on the way home, it keeps down the road rage without having to listen to archaic religious latin verse.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

The Mystery Of Santo Domingo De Silos Gregorian Chant From Spain

from: Deutsche Grammophon

Release Date May 10, 1994
I purchased this version of the monks of Santo Dominto De Silos at the same time I bought the 2008 edition of the Gregorian chant by the Cistercian Monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz (Chant: Music for the Soul). While the effort of the Santo Domingo monks was highly praised when it was released, I fully understand why the version by the Cistercian monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz was so brightly hailed. The Spanish recording seems regimented, in contrast to that of the Austrian Cistercian monks of 2008, who seem quite sublime, un-regimented, and singing only in response to their devotion to God. Even so, this recording by the Spanish monks is clear, pure, and by the books; it is authentic. If you are interested in Gregorian chant, you should have ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Salve Regina: Gregorian Chant

from: Philips

Release Date October 25, 1990

Listening to this CD was indeed a very spiritual experience. It makes me yearn for the peace and tranquility of a monastary.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Words of the Angel

by: Trio Mediaeval, Ivan Moody, Anonymous, Gregorian Chant

Release Date January 29, 2002
I'm a big fan of religious choral classical music, and this album was not nearly as good as I was expecting it to be. It is good music, and the performers do a fine job, but it is not as awe inspiring as most of the music I listen to.

The music has very little variance of dynamics. Many people like music where one setting of the volume control works throughout the entire piece, but I prefer music that has quieter parts and louder parts. Music is more expressive when it changes dynamics, or especially when the composer tastefully uses silence. These composers did not use any silence at all in their pieces. That, combined with the performers swinging their notes made the pieces feel too hurried. The embellishments were also annoying, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Catholic Latin Classics

from: Gia Publications

Release Date October 17, 2000
I so love the Catholic Latin Classics. we now have the Latin Mass in the City where I live, so it's great to listen to this CD on the way to Latin Mass :-)

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Into Great Silence: Office of the Night

from: JADE RECORDS

Release Date June 24, 2008
The sung offices and readings of the monks prayer services throughout the day and night are featured. Their chant is much less "flashy" and unadorned than that of Trappists or Benedictine monks. It fits with the austerity and solitude of Carthusian life. The austere chants are haunting.

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Christmas at St. Michael's Abbey: Chants for the Three Masses of Christmas

from: JADE RECORDS

Release Date September 09, 2008
It is very difficult to take it all in when you are at St. Michael's Abbey for the midnight Holy Mass. The chant, the warm candle lighting, the incense and much more. I am very visual and in order to appreciate the nuances of the Gregorian chant I close my eyes and take it in. Well, then I miss the beauty of the low light. This recording lets me take in the Chant by itself. Next Christmas I will enjoy again the Midnight Mass with a better appreciation for Gregorian Chant. As the late JPII wrote in his letter to artists "Gregorian chant, were beauty is wedded to truth". Thank you St. Michael's Abbey for this great recording.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Gregorian Chant for Meditation

from: Naxos

Release Date May 17, 2005
It is very difficult to take it all in when you are at St. Michael's Abbey for the midnight Holy Mass. The chant, the warm candle lighting, the incense and much more. I am very visual and in order to appreciate the nuances of the Gregorian chant I close my eyes and take it in. Well, then I miss the beauty of the low light. This recording lets me take in the Chant by itself. Next Christmas I will enjoy again the Midnight Mass with a better appreciation for Gregorian Chant. As the late JPII wrote in his letter to artists "Gregorian chant, were beauty is wedded to truth". Thank you St. Michael's Abbey for this great recording.