Yeah, you read right. About a month back a rather unusual album dominated the European album charts. The album in question was Chant - Music for Paradise, performed by the monks of the Cistercian abbey of Stift Heilingreiz in Vienna, and in the last couple weeks it has outsold many of your usual popstars and whatnot you’d expect to see in the top ten. Released on May 19th, Chant - Music for Paradise soon conquered the classic charts and threatened the pristine throats of Madonna and the like at the overall charts by penetrating the top ten in the UK, Austria and Germany.

The monks’ unusual success story started when a video of the Cistercian monks, who start their days at the generous time of 5:15 by praying, chanting at their monastery was posted on YouTube. The video soon became a minor internet hit, and when one of the monks sent an application for a contest held by Universal Records, they were soon offered a record contract. This was followed by the setting of a recording studio in their monastery, the recording of a full album, the filming a professional music video and the invasion of the European music charts.

If you’re in any way at all interested in medieval or classical music, you should really take at least a peek at Chant’s work. I’m sure you can enjoy them even if you’re not catholic or religious at all, I know I’m not either and I still did. There are various ways to check them out: you can hear a few songs on their website (player in the up-right corner), download the free song Hymnus ‘Veni Creator Spiritus’ here or just kind of watch the original video where it all started embedded after the break. You can order the album on Amazon, here for those stateside (the American version of the CD is titled Chant - Music for the Soul) and here for Europeans. I hid the rather huge tracklisting behind the link.

Tracklisting for Chant - Music for Paradise by Cistercian Monks Of Stift Heiligenkreuz
1. Antiphon “In Paradisum” et Psalmus 121 (122)
2. Responsorium “Subvenite”
3. Responsorium “Libera Me”
4. Stift Heiligenkreuz Bells
5. Missa pro defunctis: Introitus “Requiem aeternam”
6. Missa pro defunctis: Kyrie
7. Missa pro defunctis: Graduale “Requiem aeternam”
8. Missa pro defunctis: Tractus “Absolve Domine”
9. Missa pro defunctis: Offertorium “Domine Iesu Christe”
10. Missa pro defunctis: Sanctus
11. Missa pro defunctis: Post Elevationem: “Pie Iesu Domine”
12. Missa pro defunctis: Agnus Dei
13. Missa pro defunctis: Communio “Lux aeterna”
14. Ad Completorium: Deus in adiutorium
15. Ad Completorium: Hymnus “Te lucis ante terminum”
16. Ad Completorium: Psalmus 4
17. Ad Completorium: Psalmus 90 (91)
18. Ad Completorium: Pslamus 133
19. Ad Completorium: Lectio brevis
20. Ad Completorium: Responsorium breve
21. Ad Completorium: Canticum Simeonis “Nunc dimittis”
22. Ad Completorium: Kyrie
23. Ad Completorium: Oratio conclusive
24. Ad Completorium: Antiphona ad Beatam Mariam Virginem “Salve Regina”
25. Ad Completorium: Benedictio
26. Stift Heiligenkreuz Bells
27. Hymnus “Veni Creator Spiritus”
28. Introitus Dominica Pentecostes “Spiritus Domini”
29. Communio Dominica Pentecostes “Factus est repente”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 7:20 pm and is filed under Cistercian Monks, Classical, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.