Spanish Benedictines' 'Chant' CD returns in 10th anniversary edition

Published: 2004-04-29

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The music world has had to deal with its share of pop stars who would just as soon make their music and then be left alone. But nobody takes it to the level of the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain, who recorded their Gregorian chants between 1973 and 1979 while maintaining their cloistered lifestyle. It took more than a decade, but the monks' chants caught on. The first wave of success came from their native Spain. That was followed in 1994 by top-10 status for "Chant" on Billboard's pop charts for eight weeks; it spent 25 weeks atop Billboard's classical music chart. And it's still selling at a clip of about 300 copies a week, according to Mark Forlow, vice president of classics for EMI Classics and Virgin Classics, which distribute the monks' recordings on the Angel label. Now, the monks' original music is returning. EMI-Virgin's Spanish subsidiary developed a "greatest hits" compilation of sorts for European audiences -- selling 300,000 copies -- and offered it to EMI-Virgin in the States. Forlow said EMI-Virgin tweaked it somewhat and has named it "Chant: The Anniversary Edition," a two-CD set. It was to be available in record stores May 4.

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