C 9617 CANTO GREGORIANO [11,99 Euro]

Qobuz - C 9617 Canto Gregoriano

e> What is Gregorian chant? To have to ask this question about a repertoire of which millions of discs have been sold worldwide denotes the degenerative process suffered by this music, provoked by its own success and by the very unlucky attitude of some of its most important "defenders" (especially the monks of Solesmes, in France, and Silos, in Spain). If what we want is to rediscover the essence of the purest Gregorian chant, its authentic melodic, rhythmic and colour characteristics, we need the aid of the specialised musicologists and singers, and of course to avoid the prototype of monk equally well versed to sing Gregorian or to make TV advertisements for "Abbatial Cheese" and the like. This recording provides a revealing listening experience of the true Gregorian chant according to medieval theory, spanning the 8 musical modes.

Recognised as the foremost specialists in the performance of vocal medieval music, the Ensemble Gilles Binchois has used traditional oral sources to discover the rhythmic relationship between the manuscripts, the ornaments, and the ancient melodies. With the assistance of experts in Eastern and Western orally transmitted repertoires, and based on the common elements that can be traced in both traditions as well as the rhythmic and melodic indications that have come from various sources, Dominique Vellard invites us on a fascinating journey across the eight modes. The ensemble recovers many elements until now totally lost and forgotten in the performances of the Solesmes and Silos' monks: the purity of the lines, the beautiful ornamentations, the power of the Gregorian sound and, in short, the variety and richness of the authentic Gregorian chant.

Qobuz - C 9617 Canto Gregoriano