#singing monks

[arosescrow]

you should say more. about the gregorian chants

OKAY!

So. Gregorian chants are, historically speaking, incredibly significant, as they're one of the first kinds of music to be recorded on paper in notation in Church history. A lot of modern church people really liked them in the 90s because, along with a very successful marketing campaign by the particular monks responsible for the album in the original post, they saw it as an opportunity to bring sacred rhythms back into everyday life. An awful lot of Church tradition is about being connected with the past, and the rest of it is about looking to the future, so having this tradition from the past brought into the present was likely a big selling factor.

In addition, New Age spirituality got ahold of Gregorian Chant when this album came out. No matter if you were part of the Church or even any church at all, the unique qualities of Gregorian chant (in marked contrast to pop and rock music of the day) lent themselves to meditation, and the aforementioned rhythms of the day likely also appealed to at least some of the non-Christian listeners. I don't know a lot about modern spirituality or even New Age spirituality, so if someone wants to add to this post I'd love to see it.

Now we get to the really neat part, the part that I'm actually good at and can definitively say something about. This is the part that's full of jargon (or it should be), and I'll do my best to define it all for you.

Gregorian chant, as you can find on Wikipedia, is a part of an only slightly larger category called "Western plainchant". Western in this context refers to Europe, specifically Western Europe (the area around modern England, France, Germany, and to some extent Italy). Plainchant is a kind of monophonic (with only one melodic line and no harmony or accompaniment) music that was sacred, which means that this style was never used in the secular music of the day.

Gregorian chant comes in one of three "levels of complexity" so to speak, and in one of two "styles" (this is the wrong word but I can't think of the right one right now). The levels of complexity are: 1. Syllabic. The entire chant is made up of single syllables on individual notes, with rare or no instances of movement between notes on the same syllable. The melody could move, but it would not (as a general rule) have more than one note on any given syllable. 2. Neumatic. Most of the chant is made up of single syllables stretched out between 2-4 notes, with rare or no instances of movement between notes on the same syllable lasting for more or less notes than this. 3. Mellismatic. Most of the chant is made up of single syllables stretched out between more than 4 notes, up to a single syllable being used for an entire piece (later in the period, once people started to get freaky with it). I honestly don't remember very much about the styles but here you go @effemimaniac knowledge for you!

[slavicafire]

i love being a monk i am so chaste and pure and humble and i for sure don't imbibe with the superiors or indulge in impure thoughts about my fellow novices. and i for sure am not here just to murder a fella. ora et labora, i've been saying. lorem ipsum

[boipel50269]

The total neglect of my rain world au is real

I think this is how growing up looks like

Also have a Lowb , My little Silly monster

[stottlemonk-moments]

Stottlemonk Moments:

Monk s06ep14: "Mr. Monk Paints His Masterpiece"

[mismess]

I need them in these trying times

[ahopefulbromantic]

What do you do to celebrate the Feast Day of St Francis?? (i've never celebrated a feast day before)

For me the best way to spend any feast day is to:

Attend the mass! and get excited for the collect prayer and for the colors of the garments

Pray the Liturgy of the Hours, mainly lauds and vespers - they have special hymns and prayers about the saints and other features depending on what type of saint it is (martyr/virgin/scholastic), a hymn to St Francis rocks btw

Read about the saint, pray with them, spend some time with them - if you haven't read Canticle of the Sun yet, I can guarantee you'll love it!

If there is a special tradition or activity associated with the saint, it's awesome to participate in it, especially in a community. So for the feast of St Francis I blessed my animals and gave them their favorite treats ☺️

Have fun and happy feast!

[bluesey-182]

novellas, i think, are even more hit or miss than full length novels cause i always end up leaving them thinking either "holy shit i can't believe this author accomplished a story like that in so few pages" or "eh. the author needed way more space to achieve any of the things they attempted in this" and there is so very, very rarely any in between

[akkivee]

does kuukou’s tone of voice here with all that tEAsE make you lose your entire mind or are you considerably more normal

[supercalifragipopculturevomit]

VAYA CON DIOS (2002) Daniel Brühl as Arbo

Just noticed I had all these extra Arbo GIFs left unposted.

[chedelat]

one of our profs is constantly giving us random mid movies to watch as an assignment for her course and almost no one watches them but i do and it's kinda fascinating. like without her i'd never know that there was this kinda uninteresting movie that's not too well made and now i have watched it and got nothing out of the experience.

[girl-monkey-odalys]

Haha, here’s another one!

[stottlemonk-moments]

Stottlemonk Moments:

Monk s02e03: "Mr Monk Goes to Mexico"

[mismess]

[notmoreflippingelves]

So apparently, there is a second Sofia the First spinoff in the works right now. And so while this is still admittedly hardly the ideal time for me to get unnaturally and unhealthy invested in the Ever Realm Cinematic Universe (and especially in Elena of Avalor) , it's also not hypothetically the worst time for me to get invested in it either.

[godlovesdykes]

i took my darling to compline and she wasn’t freaked out by it! i was worried cause like. we reverence icons and stuff at my church and she is very protestant. but she was happy and felt the wonderful calm that compline brings :)

[lancedoncrimsonwings]

Augusnippets Day 29

Path of Comfort Prompt; "Singing"

Day 29 of @augusnippets August 2024 Whump writing challenge! (Augusnippets Masterlist)

Characters;

- POV; Lancelot - The Weeping Monk

- Gawain - The Green Knight

(Character Masterlist)

(Ao3 Link)

Wordcount; 453

TWs; N/A

Song; Rauðr Loginn Brann by Skáld

Lancelot stared into the torch sconce of his lonely cell. Voices he hadn't heard for over a decade echoing in his ears as the sound of music, ancient and haunting reached his ears. Gawain had fallen silent too when the music began, leaned as he was on the other side of the bars that shielded the Fey from he, Lancelot, the monster locked within them.

Just as Lancelot's thoughts began to spiral down the particular train of thought; of the monster he was, he was distracted by Gawain who began quietly humming the tune. Lancelot almost felt tempted to join him. The whispers in his ears grew louder the longer he stared into the fire, into his mind they told him the words, and as a Fey woman outside began a chant he recognised somewhere deep within his soul, he quietly gave in and began to sing.

"Villr fór hann, Hljóðnaði hann, Rauðr loginn bran..."

Lancelot looked up, falling silent as the verse ended, listening to a older Fey man begin a faster chant now, finally noticing Gawain staring open mouthed at him in an amusing mix of shock and fascination. Lancelot felt oddly compelled to sit with him; and so he did, he knelt just the other side of the bars, half facing Gawain, half facing the torch sconce.

Quietly he resumed the song. Their melodic, rhythmic verses seemed to repeat over and over like casting a spell. Lancelot faltered for a moment as Gawain too began to sing; like him, voice low, quiet and almost conversational, before he almost found... courage in the other's voice as he closed his eyes to continue.

"Nú treðr hann hauðr of heiði,

Hundvillr því fet hann illa,

Viða braut í votri vífs gorninga drífu..."

Their voices merged with the Fey chanting outside, one with the chorus, one with the spell. Lancelot found himself unable to tear his gaze away from Gawain, entranced by his voice, enraptured by the melody within the music. Likewise Gawain seemed unable to look away from him, green eyes fixed upon him. The rhythmic drums stamped out the same melody as their hearts, the repetitive verses over and over utterly trancelike and spellbinding.

Lancelot physically ached as the music died down, his heart still beating the song where the drum had ceased, whispering what he knew was the final verse, some yearning part of him wishing it wouldn't end. When the silence came, he still couldn't look away from Gawain, and to his suprise, he felt almost overwhelmed by a powerful wave of something akin to grief.

In another life, would he have sung this with Gawain as an ally or even a friend, instead of as his enemy behind bars?

Aaaaand that's the Path of Comfort completed! I did admittedly write this one very last minute and very quickly so please bare with on the clunkiness.

The song they are singing is "Rauðr Loginn Brann" by Skáld (linked above) and the lyric translation is as follows;

"Villr fór hann, Hljóðnaði hann, Rauðr loginn brann..." He lost the way and fell silent as the flame burned red...

"Nú treðr hann hauðr of heiði, Hundvillr því fet hann illa, Viða braut í votri vífs gorninga drífu..." Now he wanders about the heath, completely astray; for he cannot find his way in the storm summoned by the witch...

I figured this song was fairly apt for Lancelot especially, being Ashfolk, and reminded me of Nimue summoning the storm that made the Red Paladins attack each other at the windmill in Episode 7.

Thanks for reading as always, let me know if you enjoyed this! Onto the next!