Voices of scripture · Bible
The monks
of Solesmes
Gregorian chant: the Psalms and scripture sung on a single line, with no metre and no instruments, restored by a French abbey.
Snapshot
At the Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, in the Sarthe valley of western France, Benedictine monks have sung the daily offices since the community was refounded in the 1830s by Dom Prosper Guéranger; the monastery dates its founding to 1010. Over the next century, monks there, among them Dom André Mocquereau (1849–1930), studied medieval manuscripts to recover how chant was sung. In 1903 Pope Pius X entrusted Solesmes with preparing the chant books for the whole Church. Their recordings, from 1930 onwards, taught the world what Gregorian chant sounds like.
Watch
From the abbey's own channel
The abbey's channel also has films of its scriptorium and palaeography workshop.
From the East
Byzantine chant
Byzantine chant, in Greek and in many other languages, is the sung prayer of the Orthodox churches. Gospel books were marked with ekphonetic signs so that the deacon could chant the reading aloud, just as the Qur'an carries tajwid signs and the Hebrew Bible its cantillation marks.
Cappella Romana with Stanford University's “Icons of Sound” research into the acoustics of great domed churches.
Hear the difference: West and East
Gregorian chant at Solesmes, and Byzantine chant sung by Cappella Romana. Both sing scripture and prayer on a single melodic line; listen for the steady drone, the ison, beneath the Byzantine melody.
Bible · CambridgeNine Lessons and CarolsNine readings, nine voices, every Christmas Eve.
Qur'an · the craftThe art of recitationStyles, tajwid, the ten readings and the maqamat.Sources
- The Diapason, “Abbey of Solesmes celebrates 1000 years”
- Films: Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes official channel; Cappella Romana.
Picture credits
Watch more: The monks of Solesmes
7 films and talks, chosen for this page. They play here.
Atelier de paleographie à l'Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes
Abbaye Saint-Pierre de Solesmes · 1 min
Abbaye de Solesmes: the palaeography workshop where chant manuscripts are studied.
PSALM 90 / 91 (Gregorian chant)
Harpa Dei · 13 min
Drop down, ye heavens #advent #plainsong #music #westminsterabbey
Westminster Abbey · 1 min
O Clavis David - The Great O Antiphons #advent #plainsong #christmas #westminsterabbey
Westminster Abbey · 1 min
Psalm 150 (chant: Stanford) | The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge · 2 min
The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge: Psalm 150 in Anglican chant, chant's English descendant.
Chant: The Love Song of the Church - Episode 9: Monks of Solesmes
St. John Cantius · 3 min
“Learning About Gregorian Chant” from The Monastic Choir of St. Peter's Abbey of Solesmes
Paraclete Press · 1 min
- More films and talks on F-ILMWatch free