The Monks of Chevetogne and the Songs of Light

Program: #13-02   Air Date: Jan 07, 2013

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The latest recordings by our friends from Belgium takes us through the church year with the theme of Light--a welcome to the new Year!

Dear Friends of Millennium of Music:

Even by the standards of our most popular program, we have
been gratified (and taken aback) by the overwhelming response we have received from this series dedicated to the work of the monks of Chevetogne. To this end, we are providing some extra information on how to reach the monks on line or by mail.

Monastère de l'Exaltation de la Sainte Croix
Rue du monastère 65
B - 5590 - Chevetogne
Belgique

Tel.: + 32 (0)83 21.17.63<BR>Fax: + 32 (0)83 21.60.45

www.monasterechevetogne.com

Email addresses of the Monastery:

• Main address: [email protected]

NOTE: This is the current e mail address of Fr. Thomas
Pott, current music director.

--This is CD 104/312:

Fr. Thomas writes: What is there in common between light and song, light and music? Both are elusive, yet not fugacious. Both unfold in space without being detached from the source. Both emerge in people and seek to be received by them. Both go their way, yet only in a human being do they leave an imprint when radiance or sound have vanished. Each is thus a symbol of the immaterial dimension of Creation, carrying the ability to restore the vertical dimension in a person and in the Creation. Herein, the human voice is the privileged instrument that unites the hands of God and humans, sometimes in cacophony, yet often in harmony or echo. As it applies to all disciplines, it is only through continuous practicing and exercising that separate notes are joined together into music, that hands play together, and that the perfection of the instrument resounds in both sublime and interior harmony. The locus of this creative and indefatigable practicing is liturgy. Preeminently here, through the sung texts, God’s Word becomes incarnated in humanity and human word, consequently, becomes Divine Word.

The liturgical chants collected in this album relate to ‘Light’, either because they mention Light, or because they are sung at key moments of the liturgy, when the light from the sun, from oil-lamps or from candles plays an important role.

The chants are selected from two liturgical cycles that intersect, as shown in the diagram on pp. 10-11. The starting point is the daily cycle that unfolds from vespers and sunset, through the darkness of Compline, to Matins and dawn. During Matins, at about the moment of sunrise, the Exapostilarion (Slavonic: Svetilen, the ‘Chant of Light’) is sung. Every feast of the liturgical year has its own Svetilen, in which the peculiarity of the feast is interwoven with the theme of Light. These hymns from the annual cycle are performed at the place where, during the the day cycle, the Svetilen is sung. All but eight chants on this CD have been recorded by the monks of Chevetogne between 2002 and 2011, and were edited on previous CDs. New also are the recordings of the 11 Byzantine bells at the beginning of this CD and of all the bells of Chevetogne (11 Byzantine and 6 Latin, which can be heard on Christmas Eve and on Easter), with which the CD concludes.

Set 1
"Lumière Joyeuse" (Joyous Light) 3:02
"Dieu Est Avec Nous" (God is with you) 5:32
Cantique De Siméon (Song of Simeon) 2:21
Magnificat 6:08

Set 2
Exapostilaire De 8 Septembre 3:22
Exapostilaire De 14 Septembre 1:31
Exapostilaire De 21 Novembre 1:52
Exapostilaire De 25 Décembre 1:23
Exapostilaire De 6 Janvier 1:58
Exapostilaire De 2 Février 2:41
Exapostilaire De 25 Mars 3:25
Jeudi Saint 1:36
Vendredi Saint 1:27
Samedi Saint 0:46

Set 3
Pâques 1:48
Ascension 2:03
Pentecôte 3:36
6 Août 1:50
15 Août 1:34

CD Info

CD 104/312