--Frei Manuel Cardoso-- Cardoso was born about 1566 in Lisbon. Part of the Portuguese renaissance (only recently becoming a topic of major study), his musical influences seem to lag behind a bit the rest of Europe, but have strong staying power also. A member of a Carmelite order in Lisbon, Cardoso was musically trained for liturgical and choir music; he had the Portuguese King John IV as a patron, who (like the Emperor of Austria who was a patron of the arts during Mozart's time) had a fine appreciation for music, and was himself a performer and composer. Cardoso produced many masses, motets, and some other kinds of music; he was directly influenced by Palestrina, among others. He died in 1650
If you're like me you may not be too enthralled by listening to religious music. Saying that though, you are missing out on something that is very relaxing. You can put this album on and just listen to it, or play it as background music whilst doing something else (as I do).
Many people like me have found that listening to Gregorian Chant (named after Pope Gregory the Great), has a very relaxing influence and seems to help to de-stress. So, even if you are not religious you can still appreciate something to help cope with todays hectic lifestyles.
This has been recorded by the Cistercian monks of Stift Heiligenkreuz, which is apparently in the Vienna Woods and was founded in 1133. What they have produced is something that ... Read More:
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This Cistercian abbey has a continous history since its foundation. My only criticsm is that according to the Rule Cistercians should chant in the Ambrosian mode - very slow & ponderous, and this CD is a little too fast. One of the plus points is that Cistercians do not have choir boys so the overall effect is a deeper more inspiring chant.
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That the calm and the serenity conveyed by these chants, which have survived for approximately 1,500 years, is still relevant today, can be readily appreciated by the fact this recording stayed at the top of the best seller list an inordinately long period of time upon its release.
In addition, if one has a sense of history, listening to this music is like peering through a window into the distance past. The intervening hundreds of years seem to melt away.
Listening to this fascinating CD, one is transported several hundred years back in time to the peace and serenity of a medieval cloister. Gregorian chant has a mystical quality all its own; there is no instrumental to complicate ... Read More:
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