Gregorian Chant

GREGORIAN CHANT • Monks & Novices of St. Frideswide • THE GIFT OF MUSIC 1278 (54:57) This program of 19 chants consists of the Mass for Easter with a few Office chants, all sung according to the Sarum use, the variant version of liturgical chant sung at Salisbury (Sarum) and extended to most of the English dioceses in the late Middle Ages. The different readings were comparable to the local variants found in every diocese on the Continent: varied melodies of standard repertoire and special chants for local saints. The “monks and novices” sound like a small professional men’s ensemble, for there is no such monastery known to me. The name St. Frideswide is taken from a 12th-century Augustinian establishment at Oxford (she is the patron saint of Oxford) that survives only as the chapel of Christ Church College. The singing is skilled, the tempo deliberate, probably reflecting an idea of pre-Reformation style. The solo verses are well done. The disc is at least a d