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The Chants of Christmas / Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola
Gloriae Dei Cantores

The Chants of Christmas / Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola

$18.99

Details

Composer
TRADITIONAL
Artist
Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola
Format
CD
Label
Gloriae Dei Cantores
Released
Dec 01, 2012
Catalog #
GDCD125
UPC
709887012525

About

This Christmas, give the gift of music – the earliest, purest music of the church. Gregorian chant lifts us out of the ordinary stresses of life and invites us to contemplate the timeless and unchanging love of God. The Chants of Christmas presents some of the most beautiful Gregorian chants, including the Christmas Day Mass. Avoid the commercial frenzy of the season and enjoy this beautiful collection of peace and tranquility. This CD features the well known Introits: Dominus dixit and Puer natus, as well as the Christmas Day Mass and the Antiphons to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

"The Christmas collection offers four different masses that celebrate different parts of the nativity story: anticipation of the holy birth, the traditional hour of Christ's birth, the dawning of Christmas Day, and the Missa in Die that ties it all together. Each mass differs in character and mood, according to its purpose. The Christmas Day mass is the most joyous of the lot. Two sets of medieval Marian antiphons are included, even though they are not strictly a part of Christmas liturgy...Plainchant, despite its outward simplicity, is not easy to sing properly. It has no set rhythm; the melody line follows the flow of the language, and dynamic variation follows its meaning. Coherent phrasing is a constant challenge, requiring much practice and close attention to the texts. Not even the most seasoned monastic group delivers it better than the Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola, a group that specializes in Gregorian chant. They sing in daily services and appear often in concert with (and as part of) the Gloriae Dei Cantores. Like them, the Schola singers are renowned for their smooth sound, rhythmic flexibility, and intense sacred sentiment."
—Lindsay Koob, American Record Guide
"In The Chants of Christmas, the ancient Gregorian melodies deliver a mystical aura that envelops the listener, and the mesmerizing impact is equally effective during the holiday season and throughout the year....the professionalism of this ensemble is self-apparent. The delivery is crisp and balanced, and the intonations move seamlessly as the chants rise and fall. When Gregorian chants are beautifully executed, as they certainly are here, the product provides a magic carpet ride of relaxation, yet stimulation. For me, this music provides the ideal backdrop for contemplation on a cold December night--or any night of the year, really. Every chant has a featured cantor who opens the piece before others join in. There is a lovely balance of male and female chants. Kudos to the Gloriae Dei Cantores Schola for their superb work on The Chants of Christmas. The talent required to deliver the tone quality and control demonstrated here is downright divine!"
—Carol Swanson, Christmasreviews.com
"This recording...is a remarkable success. The music consists of the Mass Propers for the four Masses of Christmas (including the vigil Mass) along with the four final antiphons of the Office in both solemn and simple melodies...Textually, these chants follow the latest edition of theGraduale Romanum, and the final antiphons are taken from the Antiphonale Monasticum, a better edition than the Liber Usualis. As a program it's cohesive, yet it combines familiar chants with the less frequently recorded Vigil and Dawn Masses. About half of the pieces are sung by the men, the rest by the women, with no octave singing; the verses of all the Mass pieces (except for the Offertories) are sung by solo cantors of uniformly high ability. The engineering is expert, favoring clarity. The notes are informative, with texts and translations printed."
—J.F. Weber, Fanfare

Tracklist 28 tracks

  1. 1 Hodie scietis [Ad Missam in Vigilia: Introit] 01:59
    Track
    1
    Title
    Hodie scietis [Ad Missam in Vigilia: Introit]
    Duration
    01:59
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  2. 2 Hodie scietis [Ad Missam in Vigilia: Gradual] 04:12
    Track
    2
    Title
    Hodie scietis [Ad Missam in Vigilia: Gradual]
    Duration
    04:12
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  3. 3 Crastina die [Ad Missam in Vigilia: Alleluia] 01:55
    Track
    3
    Title
    Crastina die [Ad Missam in Vigilia: Alleluia]
    Duration
    01:55
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  4. 4 Tollite partas [Ad Missam in Vigilia: Offertory] 01:28
    Track
    4
    Title
    Tollite partas [Ad Missam in Vigilia: Offertory]
    Duration
    01:28
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  5. 5 Revelabitur [Ad Missam in Vigilia: Communion] 03:32
    Track
    5
    Title
    Revelabitur [Ad Missam in Vigilia: Communion]
    Duration
    03:32
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  6. 6 Dominus dixit [Ad Missam in Nocte: Introit] 03:09
    Track
    6
    Title
    Dominus dixit [Ad Missam in Nocte: Introit]
    Duration
    03:09
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  7. 7 Tecim principium [Ad Missam in Nocte: Gradual] 05:15
    Track
    7
    Title
    Tecim principium [Ad Missam in Nocte: Gradual]
    Duration
    05:15
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  8. 8 Dominus dixit [Ad Missam in Nocte: Alleluia] 02:22
    Track
    8
    Title
    Dominus dixit [Ad Missam in Nocte: Alleluia]
    Duration
    02:22
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  9. 9 Laetentur caeli [Ad Missam in Nocte: Offertory] 01:11
    Track
    9
    Title
    Laetentur caeli [Ad Missam in Nocte: Offertory]
    Duration
    01:11
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  10. 10 In splendoribus [Ad Missam in Nocte: Communion] 02:53
    Track
    10
    Title
    In splendoribus [Ad Missam in Nocte: Communion]
    Duration
    02:53
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  11. 11 Lux fulgebit [Ad Missam in Aurora: Introit] 03:14
    Track
    11
    Title
    Lux fulgebit [Ad Missam in Aurora: Introit]
    Duration
    03:14
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  12. 12 Benedictus qui venit [Ad Missam in Aurora: Gradual] 03:21
    Track
    12
    Title
    Benedictus qui venit [Ad Missam in Aurora: Gradual]
    Duration
    03:21
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  13. 13 Dominus regnavit [Ad Missam in Aurora: Alleluia] 02:21
    Track
    13
    Title
    Dominus regnavit [Ad Missam in Aurora: Alleluia]
    Duration
    02:21
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  14. 14 Deus enim firmavit [Ad Missam in Aurora: Offertory] 01:42
    Track
    14
    Title
    Deus enim firmavit [Ad Missam in Aurora: Offertory]
    Duration
    01:42
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  15. 15 Exsulta filia Sion [Ad Missam in Aurora: Communion] 04:25
    Track
    15
    Title
    Exsulta filia Sion [Ad Missam in Aurora: Communion]
    Duration
    04:25
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  16. 16 Puer natus est nobis [Ad Missam in Die: Introit] 02:54
    Track
    16
    Title
    Puer natus est nobis [Ad Missam in Die: Introit]
    Duration
    02:54
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  17. 17 Viderunt omnes [Ad Missam in Die: Gradual] 04:13
    Track
    17
    Title
    Viderunt omnes [Ad Missam in Die: Gradual]
    Duration
    04:13
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  18. 18 Dies sanctificatus [Ad Missam in Die: Alleluia] 02:19
    Track
    18
    Title
    Dies sanctificatus [Ad Missam in Die: Alleluia]
    Duration
    02:19
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  19. 19 Tui sunt caeli [Ad Missam in Die: Offertory] 02:00
    Track
    19
    Title
    Tui sunt caeli [Ad Missam in Die: Offertory]
    Duration
    02:00
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  20. 20 Viderunt omnes [Ad Missam in Die: Communion] 03:31
    Track
    20
    Title
    Viderunt omnes [Ad Missam in Die: Communion]
    Duration
    03:31
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  21. 21 Alma Redemptoris mater 01:53
    Track
    21
    Title
    Alma Redemptoris mater
    Duration
    01:53
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  22. 22 Ave regina caelorum 01:38
    Track
    22
    Title
    Ave regina caelorum
    Duration
    01:38
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  23. 23 Regina caeli 01:53
    Track
    23
    Title
    Regina caeli
    Duration
    01:53
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  24. 24 Salve Regina 02:52
    Track
    24
    Title
    Salve Regina
    Duration
    02:52
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  25. 25 Alma Redemptoris mater 01:19
    Track
    25
    Title
    Alma Redemptoris mater
    Duration
    01:19
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  26. 26 Ave regina caelorum 00:58
    Track
    26
    Title
    Ave regina caelorum
    Duration
    00:58
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  27. 27 Regina caeli 00:49
    Track
    27
    Title
    Regina caeli
    Duration
    00:49
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores
  28. 28 Salve Regina 01:53
    Track
    28
    Title
    Salve Regina
    Duration
    01:53
    Composer
    Anonymous
    Ensemble
    Gloriæ Dei Cantores