The Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos - Chant

A family friend downsized and gave me a whole bunch of CDs that they would have otherwise thrown away. Guessing from the abundance of christmas music, celtic new age music, and sacred choral music in the lot that I got from her, she’s probably Irish and Catholic. It’s New Jersey, the odds are pretty good. The “old lady albums” are going to take up the bulk of my shortform writing over the next few months, so buckle up. I decided to dip my toe in with three of the most recognizable albums in the collection.

The history surrounding this record is fascinating. These songs were recorded in situ at the monastery, some in the early 80s, some in the early 70s. Somehow, EMI subsidiary Angel Records came into possession of the master tapes in 1994 and repackaged the tracks into a new age relaxation aid for people who were afraid of the new age. It sold four million copies. It is not on S*****y.

Gregorian chant, claims the insert, is “the oldest music we have”, unburdened by such frivolities as harmony, tempo, or meter. It’s an analog recording of a bunch of classical singers who are not “classically trained”, so there are some flams and some sibilance that you probably wouldn’t get from a classical choir singing the same songs with a conductor. That’s not really what I mind about Chant. In fact, that’s the whole point. The monastery itself smooths over any imperfections anyway, and the reverb trails are (pardon me) heavenly.

My personal favorite recording of all time is just three double-tracked dudes, some light compression, and a plate reverb. Unfortunately, none of these sacred chants pulls at my soul with even one fifth of the power of Stan Rogers. The record itself is pretty difficult active listening; because of the very strict limitations of Gregorian chant as a genre, it’s hard to find something for my rock-addled brain to latch onto. Also, my Latin is pretty rusty. Every song runs into each other because they didn’t put enough time between the tracks on the CD. The packaging is pretty dull and cheap-looking as well.

It serves better as passive listening. It’s bad driving music, better study or working music. If you’re looking for something to put on in the nursing home, you could do worse than this. I can’t help but feel like some of the monks themselves wouldn’t want their sacred rituals to be used as the backdrop for a suburban mom’s reading or meditation session. On the other hand, a monastery in rural Spain could use all the diversified income it can get. I guess I should stop taking modern western musical conventions for granted.

Chant by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos is a bad album, and I don’t like it.