The title of this album, Kyrie: Chant for Quiet Meditation, is not an entirely accurate description of its contents. Chant refers specifically to vocal music, and generally to plainchant, that most often has a single line (sometimes with an added drone note) sung as a solo, or by an ensemble in unison. This album includes some tracks of solo and unison singing, but also a large number of polyphonic pieces -- music with several independent voices -- sometimes played by an instrumental ensemble, and sometimes with instruments ...
Read More
The title of this album, Kyrie: Chant for Quiet Meditation, is not an entirely accurate description of its contents. Chant refers specifically to vocal music, and generally to plainchant, that most often has a single line (sometimes with an added drone note) sung as a solo, or by an ensemble in unison. This album includes some tracks of solo and unison singing, but also a large number of polyphonic pieces -- music with several independent voices -- sometimes played by an instrumental ensemble, and sometimes with instruments and voices together. Most of the 33 tracks are very short, so there is a lot of stopping and starting, and switching back and forth between vocal and instrumental music, some of which is so active that it's hard to imagine it being conducive to conventional meditation practices. The album may not be what it purports to be, but if one takes it simply as a collection of Medieval vocal, choral, and instrumental liturgical works, it's highly successful. It does indeed consist almost...
Read Less
