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Exaudiam Eum – Gregorian Chant for Lent and Holy Week

Alexander M. Schweitzer, Consortium Vocale

16,9933,49
(1 customer review)
(2 press reviews)
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Original Recording Format: DXD
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Consortivm Vocale Oslo’s album Exadiam Eum has been widely praised as one of the best recorded albums of Gregorian chants.  Reviewers have praised this recording for capturing the excellent acoustics of Ringsaker Church, the exceptional singers and the top flight sound quality achieved by 2L’s Morten Lindberg.

2L says “Gregorian chant, in its all-embracing spirituality and poetry, appeals to the deeper levels of the human heart. Monks in the Middle Ages composed and performed this music as an integrated part of their daily occupation with Sacred Scripture. Throughout the centuries Gregorian chant has enriched and deepened the liturgy of the church, and has been a source of inspiration in every period of European music history. Under the leadership of Alexander M. Schweitzer Consortium Vocale presents chants from the five Sundays of Lent, Palm Sunday and Good Friday, recorded in the medieval church at Ringsaker in Norway.”

Tracklist

Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.
1.
Introitus - Invocabit Me
02:47
2.
Graduale - Angelis Suis
03:58
3.
Introitus - Reminiscere
03:33
4.
Communio - Visionem Quam Vidistis
01:24
5.
Introitus - Oculi Mei
03:36
6.
Graduale - Exsurge Domine
05:53
7.
Introitus - Laetare Ierusalem
03:52
8.
Kyrie Xvii A - Kyrie Salve
01:33
9.
Graduale - Laetatus Sum
02:55
10.
Tractus - Qui Confidunt
03:21
11.
Evangelium - De Caeco Nato
05:02
12.
Offertorium - Laudate Dominum
03:47
13.
Oratio Super Oblata - Praefatio - Sanctus Xii
04:21
14.
Agnus Dei Xii - Pater Cuncta
01:10
15.
Communio - Lutum Fecit
01:33
16.
Introitus - Iudica Me
03:12
17.
Communio - Videns Dominus
02:19
18.
Offertorium - Improperium
05:05
19.
Improperia - Popule Meus - Trishagion
04:56
20.
Hymnus - Crux Fidelis
05:06
21.
Graduale Christus Factus Est
03:23

Total time: 01:12:46

Additional information

Label

SKU

2L043

Qualities

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Channels

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Artists

,

Composers

Genres

,

Amplifiers

Millennia Media

Digital Converters

Sphynx2, Merging Technologies

Editing Software

Pyramix, Merging Technogies

Mastering Engineer

Morten Lindberg

Microphones

DPA Microphones

Instruments

,

Original Recording Format

Producer

Morten Lindberg

Recording Engineer

Morten Lindberg and Hans Peter L’Orange

Recording Location

Ringsaker Church in September 2006

Recording Software

Pyramix, Merging Technogies

Recording Type & Bit Rate

DXD

Release DateJune 20, 2019

Press reviews

HRAudio.Net 5 out of 5

If your impression of Gregorian Chant is of pleasant, fashionably stress-busting strains echoing around vaulted mountain-top monasteries, this production from 2L is for you. Consortium Vocale is a group of eight male singers under the direction of Alexander M Schweitzer, and are based in Oslo, Norway.

The recording itself is fully a partner in capturing these performances. It was made in a 12th Century church in the small country town of Ringsaker, north of Oslo. Producer Morten Lindberg and his engineers have captured the ideally warm, responsive acoustic of this building in their multi-channel track. The choir are in front of us, just far enough away to hear their soft intakes of breath if one’s listening room is quiet. The sound-field allows all the detail to come through but adds its own distinctive contribution to the music. I was amazed by the silence surrounding the building: even with my subwoofer on, I could not detect any disturbing traffic rumble in the 5.0 track (my amp always puts the LF into the sub channel).

There is very little Gregorian Chant available in DSD, but this 2L release would be an important addition even in the CD market. Welcome indeed, for this reviewer! More than mere stress-busting; a deeply moving musical experience with consummate engineering.

Audiophile Audition 4 out of 5

This is my first encounter with a DXD recording of the venerable Gregorian chant. The label 2L, also new to me, has given us a treasure-trove of a recital, the gorgeous Lenten melodies swirling around us in glistening 5.0 five-channel sound, and the experience is ravishing.

Of course, there are a zillion Gregorian chant albums out there, and unfortunately, many of the more popular ones, like the huge-selling Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos, are also among the most awful recordings ever made, supped-up for popular consumption. You can find them for Lent, Christmas, meditation, relaxation, you name it. And I suppose that these kinds of recordings might have their place. But for the real deal, one needs to pursue a known ensemble that has the credentials to undertake this sort of project. Gloria Dei Cantores, for instance, has a number of recordings to their credit that shows musicality, intelligence, and scholarship.

The Consortium Vocale Oslo is the male vocal ensemble of the Cathedral of Oslo, and they are also aligned, along with their director Alexander Schweitzer, with the International Society for the Study of Gregorian Chant (AISCGre), an organization that spends much time and effort attempting to prepare standardized editions of the chant, at least for those manuscripts that are in multiples, at variance, and yet reconcilable. Some of the results of this effort are heard on this disc.

We are given music from the first five Sundays of Lent, plus Palm Sunday and Holy Friday. The fourth Sunday gets more attention than the others because of its Easter-flavoring, a turn of emphasis that occurs in the Western and Eastern liturgical cycles.
The nine-member choir sings with precision and energy, yet is adept at allowing for the many textual changes that dictate the emotional tone of the chant. It is a most impressive sound, fluid and yet disciplined, and this disc is certainly worthy of a general recommendation for anyone just acquainting themselves with the beauties of this body of work (and some authorities date it back to the fifth century or earlier), or even for specialists with a host of recordings already on their shelves.

1 review for Exaudiam Eum – Gregorian Chant for Lent and Holy Week

    This album is absolutely impressive. Turn off the lights, take a deep breath and enjoy more than an hour of wonderful singing.

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