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With their choral CD “Chant – Music for Paradise” (US title: “Chant – Music for the Soul”) the Cistercian Monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz, in the Vienna Woods, landed a huge hit. Their 1000‐year-old vocal music launched them into the top ten of the British pop charts, a feat that only two Austrians, Falco and DJ Ötzi, had achieved before them. The CD went platinum in England and Germany, 7x platinum in Austria, gold in Holland, Belgium, Poland, France, Switzerland, and many other countries, and spent numerous weeks at the top of America’s Billboard charts.
The monks of Heiligenkreuz have won the 2009 Echo Classic Award in the “Bestseller of the Year” category, the Lower Austrian Tourism Prize, and many other honours. The American cable TV network HBO filmed a 30‐minute documentary on the singers titled “Top Ten Monks”, which was broadcast around the world. The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) produced a 56‐minute documentary with the title “Bestseller Monks”. Several books have analysed this surprisingly successful phenomenon, such as “The Song of the Monks” and “The Fascination of the Monastery”. The monks even appeared on German TV’s “Wetten, dass…” entertainment show.
“All this hype was a challenge for us. After all, we want to be monks and not pop stars. But with God’s help we have remained normal. Our community has by no means been weakened by the success, but rather strengthened!” declares Father Karl Wallner, the abbey’s press spokesman.
For a long period it was unclear if a second CD would follow. Although all the major record companies trekked to Heiligenkreuz to make their pitch to the monks, the brothers steadfastly declined, even in the face of tempting financial offers.
“We firmly rejected all proposals by the large music companies to make a second CD. We also turned down invitations to perform live concerts, although we were offered a great deal of money. This is because our music is sacred. It is a prayer, which is why it has so much power”, says Father Karl Wallner.
For the monks, Gregorian chant is “sung prayer”, and as such it should not become a plaything for commercial interests. But at the same time it is certainly in the interest of the monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz that these prayers are heard beyond the monastery walls. For this reason they came up with the idea of creating their own music label. They called their new label “Obsculta Music”, a reference to the first words of the Rule of St. Benedict: “Obsculta, o fili!”, Latin for “Listen, my son!”
The monks of Heiligenkreuz have won the 2009 Echo Classic Award in the “Bestseller of the Year” category, the Lower Austrian Tourism Prize, and many other honours. The American cable TV network HBO filmed a 30‐minute documentary on the singers titled “Top Ten Monks”, which was broadcast around the world. The Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF) produced a 56‐minute documentary with the title “Bestseller Monks”. Several books have analysed this surprisingly successful phenomenon, such as “The Song of the Monks” and “The Fascination of the Monastery”. The monks even appeared on German TV’s “Wetten, dass…” entertainment show.
“All this hype was a challenge for us. After all, we want to be monks and not pop stars. But with God’s help we have remained normal. Our community has by no means been weakened by the success, but rather strengthened!” declares Father Karl Wallner, the abbey’s press spokesman.
For a long period it was unclear if a second CD would follow. Although all the major record companies trekked to Heiligenkreuz to make their pitch to the monks, the brothers steadfastly declined, even in the face of tempting financial offers.
“We firmly rejected all proposals by the large music companies to make a second CD. We also turned down invitations to perform live concerts, although we were offered a great deal of money. This is because our music is sacred. It is a prayer, which is why it has so much power”, says Father Karl Wallner.
For the monks, Gregorian chant is “sung prayer”, and as such it should not become a plaything for commercial interests. But at the same time it is certainly in the interest of the monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz that these prayers are heard beyond the monastery walls. For this reason they came up with the idea of creating their own music label. They called their new label “Obsculta Music”, a reference to the first words of the Rule of St. Benedict: “Obsculta, o fili!”, Latin for “Listen, my son!”
Chant and Piano
You can read some thoughts about this unusual combination on my blog MusicOratio.
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Photo: © Georg Burdicek