Heiligenkreuz Monks on YouTube
Austrian Cisterian Monks from Holy Cross Signed to Universal Music
A YouTube video clip sends a group of Cisterian monks from the quiet abbey halls to Universal Music's studio.
What happens when 900-year-old abbey halls meet infant social networking technology? A record contract with one of the world's biggest labels is born.
Last month in February, Universal Music issued a call for "monks, men of the cloth and sacred singers." Many responded to the call, but only a few were chosen, namely a group of Cisterian monks from the Heiligenkreuz (Holy Cross) monastery in the Vienna woods.
A friend in London notified the monastery of Universal Music's request. Combining a recording of their Gregorian chant with film footage of their monastery, the monks put together a video which they submitted to Universal Music via YouTube, a popular do-it-yourself website that allows users to upload and publish their own videos for free.
The beautiful monastery, built in 1133 and nestled in the green Vienna woods, provides a fitting "other worldly" backdrop to the contemplative mood of the chant. For a link to the video, please see the sources below.
Though the abbey contains about 80 monks, only 12 of them will appear on the record, scheduled to be recorded next month. Rev. Karl Wallner of the monastery is excited that Universal Music was interested in what he sees as a profoundly spiritual medium. He stated that "It's a fun experience because I didn't think they would choose us - it was just for fun that we [contacted] them. It's a good thing because Gregorian chant is part of spirituality and our life."
Wallner also seemed amused that his monks had landed a contract with a label that boasts an impressive list of household names, including Amy Winehouse and Eminem. "We're not Robbie Williams or Michael Jackson, we're just a group of monks who sing every day," he commented.
Yet if the monks' Gregorian chant does soar to instant global popularity through their Universal Music contract, it won't be the first worldwide revival of interest in this music with a tradition that spans more than a thousand years of history. In the 1990s, a group of Benedictine monks from Santo Domingo De Silos in northern Spain sold over five million copies of their recording of Gregorian chant.
Apparently the music of cloistered halls, suggestive of an era almost beyond our collective memory, does still resonate in the modern age.
Sources
"Austrian Monks Win Recording Contract with YouTube Clip." March 24, 2008. CBC News.
Wallner, Karl. Quoted in CBC News.
"YouTube Clip Wins Austrian Monks Record Deal." March 24, 2008. The Telegraph.
YouTube Clip of Heiligenkreuz Monks.
