The father of organized western monasticism, Saint Benedict, is celebrated with Mass and Office chants as well as organ music played on the Grandes orgues at Solesmes. This recording reflects the unmatched authenticity which characterizes the exquisitely gracious and moving performances of Gregorian chant by the Monks of Solesmes. "Paraclete Press offers a superb list of outstanding Christian music which is magnificently performed by the monks of Solesmes. Each of these highly recommended exceptional recordings is flawlessly produced and showcases centuries of devotions, chants, celebrations, and the glorification of God." (Reviewer's Bookwatch) "Setting the standard for Gregorian performance." (American Record Guide)

This recording of Gregorian Chants includes Introits, Graduals, Alleluias, Sequences, Offertories, Communions, and Hymns from Easter Mass, and the Mass for the First Sunday after Easter. This recording reflects the unmatched authenticity which characterizes the exquisitely gracious and moving performances of Gregorian chant by the Monks of Solesmes. "Paraclete Press offers a superb list of outstanding Christian music which is magnificently performed by the monks of Solesmes." (Reviewer's Bookwatch) "Setting the standard for Gregorian performance." (American Record Guide) In the late 19th century Pope Leo XIII charged the Abbey of Solesmes with the restoration and preservation of Gregorian Chant according to the original 10th-11th century manuscripts. The care and zeal with which the monks undertook this mission quickly extended the Abbey's influence beyond Europe.

Church Sings Her Saints Volume 1 - This beautiful collection includes Introits, Graduals, Alleluias, Offertories, Communion pieces, Lauds & Vespers Antiphons, and Hymns. For over a century and a half, the Monks of Solesmes have chanted the liturgy of the Church, while at the same time achieving remarkable breakthroughs in musical scholarship. The clarity, accuracy - and haunting, compelling power - of their sound has no equal. According to experts, the recordings of the Monks of Solesmes are the purest, most genuine, and finest recordings of Gregorian Chant available anywhere. "Paraclete Press offers a superb list of outstanding Christian music which is magnificently performed by the monks of Solesmes." (Reviewer's Bookwatch) "Setting the standard for Gregorian performance." (American Record Guide)

The second volume of this beautiful collection includes Gregorian Chants from the Liturgy of Bishops, Doctors of the Church, and Saints, with Introits, Graduals, Alleluias, Offertories, Communion pieces, Antiphons and Hymns. For over a century and a half, the Monks of Solesmes have chanted the liturgy of the Church, while at the same time achieving remarkable breakthroughs in musical scholarship. The clarity, accuracy - and haunting, compelling power - of their sound has no equal. According to experts, the recordings of the Monks of Solesmes are the purest, most genuine, and finest recordings of Gregorian Chant available anywhere. "Paraclete Press offers a superb list of outstanding Christian music which is magnificently performed by the monks of Solesmes." (Reviewer's Bookwatch) "Setting the standard for Gregorian performance." (American Record Guide)

A very useful tool for helping people to understand what Gregorian chant really is, how it was created and for what purpose. The combination of spoken explanation (in plain English!) and the carefully chosen sung examples is the best way to begin one's acquaintance with Gregorian chant. When you finish listening to this CD, you will have a wonderful sense of just how rich and diverse is this artistic and religious treasure of Western civilization.
—Fr. Columba Kelly, OSB, St. Meinrad Archabbey

“Solesmes sets the standard for Gregorian chant performance.”        
—American Record Guide

The monks’ chanting is living, strong, unvarnished, and imperfect. . . Wherever you are, do yourself the favor and check out these recently re-released recordings. . . There’s something incredibly fresh and new, even with the oldest 1930 recording, which is well worth your attention. Thank you again to Jim Jordan and the team at Paraclete Press, for their generosity in making these recordings available again, anew.
—Joel Morehouse, New Liturgical Movement

A rich experience of the church's liturgical year through Gregorian chant. This release delivers a stirring collection of Gregorian chants, celebrating "Ordinary Time" - the season of the liturgical year between the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord and Lent, and from Pentecost Sunday until the beginning of the Advent season. Ordinary Time is the thread of the liturgical year, commemorating each Sunday with the Resurrection and the Paschal mystery. Expertly sung by the world-renowned monastic choir of Solesmes, France, this Gregorian chant recording enables listeners to participate in a rich experience of the church's liturgical year. "This recording has remained a touchstone of chant singing... It's elegance, it's utter rightness once more becoming evident." (Fanfare)

CHRIST IN GETHSEMANE - Two Gregorian chant offices of Maundy Thursday- the Office of Tenebrae and the Ceremony of Foot-washing- are presented here, sung in the dramatic style appropriate to the night before the Savior's Passion. "This recording... is utterly magnificent and the singing of this great choir is thrilling beyond words. Buy this album if you expend your last pence; it's better to starve to this music than to live without it." (Classics CD) "This album is a marvelous evocation of Holy Thursday's Tenebrae and foot-washing ceremonies, important for understanding the evolution of chant interpretation at the home base of chant restoration. Some of the antiphons have never been recorded before." (Fanfare) "Setting the standard for Gregorian performance." (American Record Guide)

Tenebrae of Good Friday - This recording will assist in personal or group praying of the liturgy of the hours in Gregorian chant for Good Friday. It includes all three nocturnes of the office of Matins and the antiphons and psalms of Lauds the Good Friday liturgy of the hours. This recording reflects the unmatched authenticity which characterizes the exquisitely gracious and moving performances of Gregorian chant by the Monks of Solesmes. "The latest edition of haunting, crystalline chant by the monks of the Abbey of Solesmes, at the forefront of the Gregorian revival from 1833 to the present. Flawless presentations... unrivalled in authenticity... A feast for the Gregorian aficionado." (Theological Book Service) "Setting the standard for Gregorian performance." (American Record Guide)

“The music is utterly magnificent and the singing of this great choir is thrilling beyond words…it’s better to starve to this music than to live without it.”       
—Classic CD

“Supremely ethereal.”        
—USA Today

“Solesmes sets the standard for Gregorian chant performance.”        
—American Record Guide

This anthology of Gregorian chants is of great interest as the contents are in liturgical order, following the principal seasons (Christmas, Holy Week, Easter, and Marian Feasts) representing the entire liturgical year. The beautiful Gregorian chant illumunates the liturgical texts, inviting the listener to contemplate the life of Christ and the foundation of the church. This overview will provide more enjoyment for the experienced listener while making a splendid introduction to the beauty of Gregorian chant for the novice. Throughout the anthology the unique interpretive insights that are the hallmark of Solesmes' recordings are carefully preserved. In the late 19th century, Pope Leo XIII charged the Abbey of Solesmes with the restoration and preservation of Gregorian Chant according to the original 10th-11th century manuscripts. The care and zeal with which the monks undertook this mission quickly extended the Abbey's influence beyond Europe. Their goal: that Gregorian Chant be available to all people so they may "pray with the help of beauty" (Pop St. Pius X). Today, the Abbey continues to be a vibrant source of research and liturgical prayer with their library of over 200,000 volumes, and a musical palaeography workshop second only to the Vatican. But above all, Solesmes is a living community of Benedictine monks searching for God and sharing their spirituality, community life, and heritage.

Feasts of Our Lady - This recording includes two Masses of Our Lady plus the four Antiphons to the Holy Virgin in both Solemn and Simple tones celebrating the humble maiden whom all generations call Blessed. This recording reflects the unmatched authenticity which characterizes the exquisitely gracious and moving performances of Gregorian chant by The Monks of Solesmes. "Paraclete Press offers a superb list of outstanding Christian music which is magnificently performed by The Monks of Solesmes." (Reviewer's Bookwatch) "Setting the standard for Gregorian performance." (American Record Guide) In the late 19th century Pope Leo XIII charged the Abbey of Solesmes with the restoration and preservation of Gregorian Chant according to the original 10th-11th century manuscripts. The care and zeal with which the monks undertook this mission quickly extended the Abbey's influence beyond Europe.

Through the E. M. Skinner Organ at the Church of the Transfiguration in Orleans, Massachusetts, Dr. SharonRose Pfeiffer gives voice to works by master composers from the Baroque to the twentieth century. The program on this Super Audio CD includes Sonate der 94ste Psalm by Reubke, Job for Organ VI by Eben, the Allegro from Symphonie No.6 by Widor, J.S. Bach's Fantasia BWV651, Resurrection: Lament, the Rising, the Ecstasy, Reflection by Larry King, and the finale of Messiaen's Messe de la Pentecote. The inspiration for all of these text-based works is outlined in the detailed program notes.

Messiaen: The Mystical Colors of Christ - Explore the musical sound-world of French composer Olivier Messiaen in this collection of his organ works based on events from the life of Christ. The program booklet includes beautiful original artwork created especially for the recording, and insightful notes on the featured works. Recorded by the organists of Gloriae Dei Artes Foundation, on the E.M. Skinner organ of the Church of the Transfiguration. "At approximately 100 ranks, it has a wonderful clarity and color, and the performers do it ample justice. All three performers are up to the formidable task of recreating Messiaen's music very much, one feels as he envisioned it. " - The Diapason

Solesmes' He Was Placed in the Tomb contains the Gregorian Office for Holy (or "Great") Saturday, the evening service that observes the time Christ spent in the bonds of death; it is signified by the lighting of the candle of Paschali... This performance of the Office is by the Monastic Choir of St. Peter's Abbey in Solesmes, presumably from their own edition, which has been the Vatican standard since 1903... This one of the very last recordings of the Solesmes choir as led by it's longtime director, the late Dom Jean Claire, who retired shortly thereafter. The choir is in excellent voice; the pacing of the chant is as it should be and the acoustic in the Abbey Church at Solesmes is warm and bathes the voices in a benevolent ambience. This office consists of four Nocturnes, Lauds, and Vespers, with the pieces toward the ends of the Nocturnes being the most captivating within the office, particularly the Mode 4 and 5 Responsory at the end of the first Nocturne and the breathtakingly beautiful Responsories in Modes 8 and 4 that conclude the Second Nocturne. "As a representation of the Holy Saturday service in Gregorian terms, this is about as liturgically accurate, and as well performed, as it gets. Outside of it's purely religious context, Solesmes' He Was Placed In The Tomb would be an excellent album to accompany late-night reading or other nocturnal, quiet activities. " (AllMusic. Com)

This recording includes musical highlights of the Gregorian church year sung in 1930 under the direction of Solesmes choir director Dom Gajard and they have been digitally remastered. This recording reflects the unmatched authenticity which characterizes the exquisitely gracious and moving performances of Gregorian chant by the Monks of Solesmes. In the late 19th century, Pope Leo XIII charged the Abbey of Solesmes with the restoration and preservation of Gregorian Chant according to the original 10th-11th century manuscripts. The care and zeal with which the monks undertook this mission quickly extended the Abbey’s influence beyond Europe. Their goal: that Gregorian Chant be available to all people so they may “pray with the help of beauty” (Pop St. Pius X). Today, the Abbey continues to be a vibrant source of research and liturgical prayer with their library of over 200,000 volumes, and a musical palaeography workshop second only to the Vatican. But above all, Solesmes is a living community of Benedictine monks searching for God and sharing their spirituality, community life, and heritage.