The century recording of the Capella Antiqua Munich is now available as a 3-CD set. Recorded in 1974 in Aicha vorm Wald in Lower Bavaria, it is not only a sound document of the highest quality that makes the inexpressible beauty of the old church songs come alive. Today it also serves as a testimony to the intensive examination of more than 1000 years of music practice. With the Gregorian chants of the most important feasts of the church year - Christmas, Easter and Pentecost - she presents a cross-section of the music that is today considered to be the origin of all occidental music. The recording of the Capella Antiqua Munich under Konrad Ruhland has long since become a classic - precisely because it represents a milestone in the attempt to demonstrate the timelessness of this timeless art of Gregorian singing. A remarkable album in many respects. The Capella Antiqua Munich was founded in 1951 as one of the pioneer ensembles of the early music movement. Under the direction of Konrad Ruhland (1932-2010), the formation established itself as a leading interpreter of medieval and early baroque music until its dissolution in 1981. For this reason, it was essential to look back into the profound past, so that the study of Gregorianism became indispensable. The Gregorian is derived from Pope Gregory the Great (560-604). The first orally transmitted chant spread from Rome to the entire western world and formed the basis for liturgical chants of the Catholic universal church for almost one and a half millennia. And that is understandable, since it opens up the whole cosmos: a music that serves and interprets, that means emotion and fulfillment of duty, that lets meditate and linger, that awakens and inspires, that can calm and excite (Konrad Ruhland).
