Chant (Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos album)
| Chant | ||||
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| Studio album by Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos | ||||
| Released | March 15, 1994 | |||
| Recorded | 1973 | |||
| Genre | Gregorian chant | |||
| Length | 58:26 | |||
| Label | Angel | |||
| Producer | Maria Francisca Bonmati | |||
| Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos chronology | ||||
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| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |
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Chant is an album of Gregorian chant, performed by the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos at their monastery in Burgos, Spain. The music was recorded perhaps as early as the 1970s, but it did not sell significantly until it was re-released by Angel in 1994 when it was strongly marketed as an antidote to the stress of modern life.Chant is the best-selling album of Gregorian chant ever released. It peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 music chart, and was certified as double platinum, meaning two million copies were sold in the United States. Worldwide, the album sold around six million copies.
The monks of Santo Domingo de Silos have been singing Gregorian chant since the 11th century (before that, they used Mozarabic chant). There was a break in the tradition the nineteenth century when the abbey was closed by the government as part of the so-called Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal. The abbey was reestablished with the help of monks from Solesmes Abbey in France. Solesmes is known for its commitment to plainsong and the Solesmes style of singing has influenced the Spanish monks of Santo Domingo de Silos.
Sources agree that the music had been recorded some years before it achieved worldwide fame. However, the exact dates appear to be elusive. According to the Gregorian Association, Chant consists of recordings made 1972-1982.AllMusic suggests that most of the music was recorded around 1980, while there is a greater proportion of music recorded in the 1970s in the follow-up album Chant II. Also according to Allmusic, a seminary in the Spanish city of Logroño invited the monks to record a vinyl album of chant in order to popularize it among churchgoers.
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