THE monks and the Schola Cantorum of Downside Abbey recorded these two discs, apparently privately, in 1996-7.
Some marketing whiz has now hit on a 'cool' title as pretext for rescuing them from oblivion and persuaded Virgin to pick up the tab. Half the 40 tracks are actually Gregorian in origin, though many of those are organ-accompanied hymns and therefore not strictly the advertised chant.
The remainder are mainly communion-style anthems and motets, from Taverner and Byrd to Vaughan Williams, that mostly fall into the 'smooth, relaxing classics' category so beloved by Classic FM.
The singers do little to counteract the very spongy, often mushy, acoustic of Downside Abbey. Pleasing treble sound is counteracted by scratchy, forward bass. Diction is poor.
An appallingly proof-read booklet, without notes, does nothing to help. Chillout? Only on a long car-journey, perhaps. Not for the serious listener.
Updated: 15:06 Thursday, May 30, 2002
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