Chant: The Origins, Form, Practice, and Healing Power of Gregorian Chant

Since the spring of 1994 there have been sales of almost two million copies of the Angel recording of Chant, sung by the Benedictine monks of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain. People are drawn irresistibly to its peaceful sound, but very few of them know anything about the tradition or meaning of Gregorian Chant or understand the language in which it is sung. In this companion book, which includes the full text of the Chant CD with translations from the Latin, Katharine Le Mee traces the historical and liturgical sources of the chant and provides answers to everyone's questions about what Gregorian Chant is, how it is written and sung, the latest research on its therapeutic qualities, and the extraordinary effect its simple, pure, unaccompanied tones can have on the body, mind, and heart.

At a time when we are all feeling so overworked and under pressure, the calm, measured, almost transcendent sound of the monks singing these ancient melodies seems to put us in touch with our true selves. It is as though, in listening to their song, we share in the monks' aspirations, devotion, and experience. The sudden popularity of this music today -- after 1,300 years -- is indicative of the deep spiritual hunger manifesting everywhere. Here is a book that explains how and in what ways Gregorian Chant can begin to nourish us and transform our lives.

"Gregorian Chant has suddenly become America's newest pop-music phenomenon."

Time

"What we're talking about is inner peace, transcendence, a serenity, beyond mortal care. For a generation that frowns on organized religious movements (or organized anything), this is, without a doubt, the new soul music."

The San Francisco Examiner

"Not since the Singing Nun went gold in 1963 has there been such a clerical chartbuster as Chant."

People

"Gregorian Chant is the original mystical minimalism .... In addition to comprising glorious sounds, pure and simple, it represents the beginning of Western music as it has come down to us."

The New York Times

"Gregorian Chant is ... intensely, ecstatically contemplative."

The Washington Post