For centuries Gregorian Chant has been the pre-eminently liturgical music in the Latin rite of the Catholic Church but since the introduction of the vernacular by the second Vatican Council (1962-1965), it has disappeared from the liturgy in most European countries. Recent years have, however, seen a revival of Gregorian chant. Gregorian chant was always treated with the utmost care. Its song emerges from silence and leads to an even deeper silence. Music has a material element – rhythm – and a spiritual one – melody and rhythm is at the service of both melody and words. Since melodic and word accents often coincide, one has to deduce that the words that are sung are of a paramount importance. Therefore, since not everybody understands Latin, it is necessary for the conductor to make sure that the texts are translated so that everybody knows what has been sung. One may assume that since the foundation of the Norbertine abbey in 1126, Gregorian chants have been sung by the Norbertine monks. The way Gregorian chants were sung was more than likely totally different from the way we know gregorian music today. Gregorian chants have known prosperous times but there were also times of decadence and decay.
At the turn of the century, Benedictine monks of Solesmes have revitalised the identity and the strenght of this wonderful music and the benedictine monks made this music accessible to a larger public by publicizing books of chants. At the Premonstratensian order, new books of Gregorian songs were publicized proper to the Norbertine tradition.
The Choir itself..
The Gregorian Choir of Grimbergen Abbey was founded in 1968 by its members and has since been directed by Gereon van Boesschoten, a Premonstratensian in the Abbey and since 1991 parish priest of the Abbey Basilica of St. Servatius at Grimbergen, near Brussels.
There, each Sunday at 10 a.m. , the choir sings during holy
Liturgy, and people come from afar to take part in the celebration of mass. An abbey is not only a center of cultural and scholarly life,but needs tot be a centre of spiritual life in the first place. That is the purpose of the Gregorian Choir of Grimbergen Abbey.
The choir started modestly with a handful of young idealists. Slowly but steadily the choir matured to what it is today : a group of enthusiastic friends who want to sing Holy Liturgy ad maioirem Dei gloriam. Therefore, the choir rehearses every Thursday from 8h15 p.m. 'till 21h45.
Aside the other parish choirs, the Gregorian Choir is and remains a parish choir of amateurs.
Regularly, the choir is to be seen or heard at the television or radio broadcast of Holy mass from the Grimbergen basilica. Over the 45 years that the choir is singing to the greater honour and glory of our Lord and Father, it has been giving lots of concerts. Just to mention a few : Heiligdomsvaart in Maastricht, the Netherlands, participation to the Gregorian festival in Watou,…
The choir was also honoured to sing at the funeral of King Boudewijn in 1993.
If you need any further information on the Choir, please contact us at the following clicking
here.
Gregoriaans Abdijkoor GrimbergenKerkplein 1
1850 Grimbergen
BELGIUM
