# Gregorian Chant acompanied with organ music



## training

I recently purchased a CD of Gregorian chant which was accompanied with the organ.
Does anyone know any more CD's like this as I find unaccompanied singing dull?


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## joen_cph

Gabarek´s noted two "Officium" CDs from the ECM label might be of interest, though they are very creative in the handling of the material.

MP3 samples on Amazon, for example
http://www.amazon.fr/Officium-Jan-G...=1439145904&sr=1-2&keywords=garbarek+officium


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## Woodduck

The _Requiem_ of Maurice Durufle, and much of his other music, is based on plainchant melodies. His output, mostly for organ and/or chorus, is small, but his style is sensuously beautiful and emotionally touching.


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## Bridge

With all due respect, you are missing the point of plainchant if you find it boring unaccompanied. In fact, it loses all of its subtlety and mystique as soon as you harmonize it - not to mention that the chants are often harmonized in vanilla major or minor, which completely destroys the modal quality of many of the melodies. I personally think the beauty of Gregorian chant lies in the sublimity of the modulations and the natural flow of the rhythms. In my experience singing harmonized chants, the accompaniment invariably forces the choir to sing the rhythms more or less exactly as written which give them a boring squared quality which has no place in chant. I personally can't stand accompaniment in plainchant, but power to you if it appeals to you. I urge you to give unaccompanied chant another chance though, as there is a great deal of depth that I suspect you haven't noticed.

EDIT: But to be fair there are a lot of boring chants out there. Here's a classic for you that you might not have heard:


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## Mandryka

training said:


> I recently purchased a CD of Gregorian chant which was accompanied with the organ.


What CD did you buy?



training said:


> Does anyone know any more CD's like this?


This is what happens in "organ masses"

Try Sergio Vartolo's recording of Frescobaldi's Fiori Musicale and Cavazzoni masses, Markus Goeke's and Serge Schoonbrodt's recording of the Titelouze hymns, and Bernard Coudurier's recording of the Grigny masses.

This week I've been listening with great pleasure to the recording by Cantus Modalis which features Heinrich Isaac's Missa Paschalis sung with organ alternatim. They also include some chanted graduals (Gregorian chant) with organ - it's not really what you were asking for but you may like it.


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## Mandryka

Bridge said:


> it loses all of its subtlety and mystique as soon as you harmonize it


The organ is often used in alternatim in Renaissance and baroque music.


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