Much of this CD will seem funny to some, but it will be fun to many more. At some points you don't know whether to laugh or cry, and simply end up doing both.
Monastery of chant
These two discs are a compilation of tracks taken from a variety of sources, all supposedly with a spiritual dimension. You have a great deal of genuine (if boring) monastic plainchant, the occasional 19th century classical choral item, and a number of contemporary ambient contributions as ill-defined as they are unmemorable. The reverse cover shows a barefoot and hooded monk reclining on a sofa.
What this product represents is not the modification of the classical tradition but the corporate packaging of items drawn from it. Whoever was responsible for its creation is not in the serious classical music business, and probably wouldn't claim to be.
These items are about as genuinely spiritual as the film of Lord of the Rings was genuinely Tolkien. If the items are not pastiche in the first place, they are made to seem so by their context.
Even so, it will probably find a following in Taiwan where, after all, there is a marked taste for kitsch, a willingness to give anything a try, and a cheerful acceptance of whatever commercial interests put on offer.
If these CDs had been grotesque or lugubrious, they might have been good for a laugh. As it is, their humorlessness is at the heart of what's wrong with them.
And as for their being what their title claims for them, they are in reality neither classical nor especially chilled-out, not a guide to anything, and most definitely not essential for anyone.
The real gem among these discs is therefore nature's prodigy, the 15-year-old violinist Chloe Hanslip. The Filippa Giordano CD is entertaining in its way, and Monastery of Chant unworthy of any serious consideration.
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