Gregorian chanting? Angels and demons.

[Azara]

Well we all know the great goose-bump inspiring chanting that movies use to get us all emotional.

e.g. the music and chanting used in the angels and demons movie trailer (remember the da vinci code? same writer).

As well as crap loads of other movies, shows, whatever.

I heard that it was gregorian chanting but beefed up a bit to suit the mood but im wondering is it really? Are they able to sing even remotely like they do in trailers and whatnot or is it mostly sound effects?

Also, am i the only surprised that angels and demons is actually being made? If its at all faithful to the book then the films going to cause an even bigger huffing fit then the da vinci code did, or i would have thought so anyway. Another christian strike in America on the horizon?

Gives me hope that the sequel to The Golden Compass will be made though.

[Starfisher]

... what is this thread about?

[Kalamain]

I think its about Gregorian Chanting in films (Media?) and in the Film mentions specifically?

If so then...yes....I rather like it.
Agnus Dei is a form of Gregorian Chanting I think. And thats in Homeworld. Doesn't get much better than that I don' think B-)

[SquidDNA]

Fuck Dan Brown in his idiot eye.

Oh, and Gregorian chanting is not the same thing as "singing in Latin." :/

[Starblade]

Another christian strike in America on the horizon?

There was a first?

[Sethero]

I think there's a matter of nomenclature here to work out. Choral music, particularly the sorts that get used in films, is similar but not equal to gregorian chanting. Gregorian chanting is a form of choral music, but choral music encompasses a great many more traditions than that narrow definition.

In effect, for a piece to be considered Gregorian chant, it either has to be performed by or originate as a musical piece created by Gregorian monks. Other music may have more than a passing similarity to Gregorian chant, but it's not.

Okay, I'm off my semantic soapbox.

[Mordakii]

I have an album of Gregorian Chanting called Adorate Deum Grgorian Chant from the Proper of the Mass, very relaxing and the kind of thing you are looking for I guess. Its weird as I am a Nihilist, but hey life is full of contradictions.

[Malarky]

I think Type O Negative has some of this... Christian Woman has it near the end set to a great riff. And then there's an entire track of monks chanting, entitled... Monks Chanting.

I find it relaxing and a great for silent introspection.

[Harmanoff]

I have not seen the trailer thank god and will never go near a movie version let alone actual book that Dan Browne made but i am still confident that it was not gregorian chanting in the trailer. More likely it is the 'dramatic' chorus a la Duel of the Fates or more low key 'mysterious' chorus very common in movie trailers and blockbusters. Gregorian chanting is a fairly strict kind of music that has indeed played a huge part in western choral music or simply music in general but you can't really deviate very far from it before it becomes something else(if you're a fan of genres that is).

[Ammon Ra]

<insert halo music reference here>

Someone had to mention it.

Regarding 'angels vs demons' (had to change it ), the words "Angels", "Demons", and "Illuminati" just put me off completely. Not to mention that i got a massive flashback of Deus Ex when Tom Hanks said that word.

Also reminds me of End of days where The terminator fights Satan(?), and Constantine with Neo being all /EMO and /wrists. I guess it's the topic matter.

[BmB]

I actually thought Constantine was a pretty awesome take on Christianity.

[Retroboy]

I've also read Angles and Daemons. Was a glorious insight into the applications of trigonometry with respect to efficient auto-invoked programmed subroutines.

-- Retro, nerding out.

[Zir]

Constantine was kool, yo.

This thread is weird. Yes, people can really sing like that. I'm not one of those that "knows" the goose-bump inspiring chanting, since I find most trailer music manipulative and forced. Requiem for a Tower was used infinitely and yet so many films that used it failed to live up to their own hype.

Music like this tries to imply awesomeness on an epic scale, which is always a lie.

[CommodoreKitty]

I like chanting when used in the proper context and with moderation. I find it very soothing (again, not when it is the only thing I hear for a long time, then it just grates) and fits dark moods very, very well. Who says you need to understand words, or even hear words, to like a song?

[BmB]

"I don't mind what language an opera is sung in so long as it is the language I don't understand." - Sir Edward Appleton

Or so Google tells me.

[Azara]

... what is this thread about?

Do you like Gregorian chanting or similar styles of music, if so post some of your thoughts regarding it. What do you think of the Angels and demons film, potential? Will there be a huge fuss over this film like there was over the Da Vinci Code or will reactions be more damped down, speculate, post whatever comes to mind no matter how remotely linked to film or chanting for perusal or discussion.

There was a first?

Strictly speaking no, but there was a lot of fuss made by them when the first film came out and a lot of them refused to see the film and urged others not to, whole churches with their congregations said 'NO!' to the film, refusing to see it.

Same thing happened with The Golden Compass film though to a lesser degree.

"I don't mind what language an opera is sung in so long as it is the language I don't understand." - Sir Edward Appleton

Makes me think of rammstein...

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Come on Ammon Ra, how can you say that about Constantine with the happy clappy 'lets kick ass and chew bubblegum' ending.


Thanks for the references to bands by the way, will have a see.

Oh, and Gregorian chanting is not the same thing as "singing in Latin."

Isn't this...well, self-evident? Same as saying not all singing music is pop-music. Do you know any other types of singing in latin?


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Also thanks for the info on Choral music Sethero

[trash.the.ego]

Though it was a soul sapping experience for both books... Angels and Demons was far superior to The Da Vinci Code. But that's like saying I'd rather be stabbed to death by a clean blade rather than a dirty one.

In conclusion I second SquidDNA.

On the chanting? Dunno haven't seen the trailer mentioned, but it can be extremely overused in trailers. Though with the right context and execution it can be quite effective within a films score.

[Paladin]

Constantine was an awesome movie.

[SquidDNA]

Any music that happens to be set to Latin text and is not directly influenced by the Gregorian order, yes.

Berber's "Adagio for Strings" is not a Gregorian chant.
Orff's "O Fortuna" is not a Gregorian chant.
Palestrina's "Sicut Cervus" is not a Gregorian chant.
Haazen's "Missa Luba" is not a Gregorian chant.

Also I think it's a bad idea to start a thread about two topics which are related only by something as tenuous as the fact that someone made a movie trailer that relates to both of them.

[Mokino]

BTW, we probably won't see a sequel to The Golden Compass. It bombed pretty heavily sales-wise.

Probably a good thing, too, as a lot was cut out of the first to obviously avoid the religious right.

[MagosMechanicus]

Anyone ever listened to Gregorian the band? While they break the rules enough to include instruments and the occasional female soloist, they're quite particular about singing properly and only taking on songs that fit the Gregorian scale. They mostly do covers of modern music like, say Where the Wild Roses Grow, but also make some of their own stuff like Moment of Peace.

I've not heard that much "proper" liturgical Gregorian myself, but it is indeed quite a beautiful form of music.

[Surrealitycheck]

Constantine was an awesome movie.

I thought they missed out the fact he was actually gay though. I remember being surprised by the absence!

Maybe I'm misremembering.

[Paladin]

Believe it or not, I've never read the comics beyond an issue here and there of other things he appears in. So I had no preconceptions (Except the knowledge that he's one of Gaiman's characters, and must therefore be awesome).

[QuixotesGhost]

@Magos

Being a huge Nick Cave fan, when I heard there was a Gregorian Chant version of Where the Wild Roses Grow I couldn't click the link fast enough.

After listening to it:

Meh.

It struck me as very weird to have a choral arrangement in a song about two very specific characters singing from their own distinct points of view.

I might check out their other stuff though.

On choral music in general - it's not a Gregorian chant, persay, but I have to strongly, strongly recommend Richard Einhorn's Voices of Light.

Inspired by the 1929 silent film, The Passion of Joan of Arc , Einhorn wrote the score in the early 90's then traveled around the country conducting it alongside a showing of the movie. You can either get the CD separate or it's available on the Criterion edition of the DVD (you should be able to get it from your local library).

Best Choral accompaniment to a film ever made.

[MagosMechanicus]

Last year there was actually a live performance of Voices of Light with the film and all in the cathedral a few hundred years from my door. I tried to get tickets but it sold out before I heard it was coming. Maybe I should try to find it somewhere else.

You are right in that it might not be the best song for them to cover. It's certainly a big difference from Cave's much darker singing to the high-pitched chorus there, too.