The liturgical chants go on. This time it is a recording of French monks from the abbey of Argentan in the Northwest of France. The faith I talked about in my previous post is there, undoubtedly helped by the habits of the time, as this was before the Second Vatican Council.
That Second Vatican council, colloquially known as Vatican 2, changed the Catholic Church drastically. It took place from 1962 until 1965, and had a lot of influence on how we perceive the church as an institution today. Something I want to give some attention here is the position of the priest in the church. Before the Council priests were turned with their backs to the congregation. What they did was between them and the Lord, no explanation needed.
Then they turned around, and really spoke to the people. This was a revolution in thinking. With this turning of the priest, also the whole attitude of the church needed to change. For purposes of this short piece: monks had to allow other people into their world. Before that, the world of monks was completely, many times literally closed off from the rest of the world. They went in the order relatively young, and never came out until they died.
This recording is from before that time, and is a revolution in itself. It is the first sign of a modern world entering the lives of the monks. Or as the case may be, sisters.
I think this is the only liturgical recording I have published by Decca. Decca is best known for their opera recordings.